Competence!

Your MSNBC Morning news crowd:

OK, so did anybody tell Joe Scarborough that the 900 people at the sold-out Everglades Foundation dinner dance on Friday night were there because they want to save the River of Grass? Or maybe the Teleprompter was fuzzy. The news show host and former Florida congressman, speaking as emcee of the event, said that the Everglades would be around “long after we’re gone,” and that “the Everglades don’t need to be saved; we need to be saved.”

It's always something

I suppose they've made some improvements to Blogger.

But why does it now hiccup and stall so badly when you are trying to delete something?

Just Another Round of Stupidity

When we last left Rick Santorum (okay maybe not when we last left him) he was absolving himself from not correct flat-out bullshit when one of the mouth-breathing base insisted on calling Obama a Muslim. So now he's saying Obama this:

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum challenged President Barack Obama's Christian beliefs on Saturday, saying White House policies were motivated by a "different theology."

But then, of course, to Rick Santorum most Christians are not Christian:

...this was a Protestant country and the Protestant ethic, mainstream, mainline Protestantism, and of course we look at the shape of mainline Protestantism in this country and it is in shambles, it is gone from the world of Christianity as I see it.

And, of course, same with Veterans:

At the behest of the Roman Catholic Church, and unbeknownst to the [Armed Forces Retirement Home, which is run by the Department of Defense], Santorum slipped an amendment into the 1999 National Defense Authorization Act handcuffing how the home could cash in on those 49 acres. The amendment forced the Home to sell—and not lease—the land to its next-door neighbor, the Catholic University of America. Ultimately, the Catholic Church bought 46 acres of the tract for $22 million. The Home lost the land for good, and by its own estimates, pocketed $27 million less than the land's value and $83 million less than what it could've made under the lease plan. Santorum's amendment sparked an outcry from veterans' groups and fellow US senators, who barraged his office with complaints. Laurence Branch, then the executive director of the Home's board, says Santorum's amendment was "a travesty" and the Church's lobbying for the land a case of "coveting thy neighborhood's goods." To this day, Branch says he blames Santorum for the Home not receiving more money for the 49-acre parcel of land. "I'm convinced Sen. Santorum is no friend of veterans," Branch says. (A spokesman for Catholic University did not respond to a request for comment.)

Just over 50 years ago, John Kennedy had to stupidly, repeatedly state he would not govern by way of the Vatican's theology. Now, apparently, it's the only way Rick Santorum believes one should govern. Which is, of course, quite stupid.

It's a "brown-shirted tradition"

Altogether now...

BUT. OF. COURSE!!! 

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu — who became the face of Arizona border security nationally after he started stridently opposing illegal immigration — threatened his Mexican ex-lover with deportation when the man refused to promise never to disclose their years-long relationship, the former boyfriend and his lawyer tell New Times. 

So he's closeted within another closet?

Oh, wait, he shot to fame appearing with White Supremists, so it's a closet within a closet within a closet.

I know from personal experience, this guy is the Sheriff of a county with a LOT of FoxNews watching retirees who bought this asshole's act hook, line, and burning cross.  So this should be a real bit of fuck-nuttery to watch.


(h/t Balloon Juice)

404 Error

This is kind of a nasty way to change an endorsement:

According to DeWine, Romney has shown an “astounding inability to provide voters with a rationale to support him.” As for Santorum, “People like him — he’s human!” DeWine said.

Romney angrily responded that this changed endorsement placed Will Robinson in danger.

Yes, Republicans it's just like 2008 for the Democrats

Nice try, but I don't remember the Democrats saying this in the late Winter four years ago:

A prominent Republican senator just told me that if Romney can’t win in Michigan, the Republican Party needs to go back to the drawing board and convince somebody new to get into the race. “If Romney cannot win Michigan, we need a new candidate,” said the senator, who has not endorsed anyone and requested anonymity.

Has David Brooks ever been to a sporting event?

I mean what a cretinous idiot -- or more realistically, craven liar:

Jeremy Lin is anomalous in all sorts of ways. He’s a Harvard grad in the N.B.A., an Asian-American man in professional sports. But we shouldn’t neglect the biggest anomaly. He’s a religious person in professional sports.

Perhaps Bobo just thinks black (or Canadian) religious people don't count?

Ta-Nehisi Coates has been deconstructing the stupidity all morning.

Ugh...

I still cannot get over the wretchedness and vileness of Virginia's proposed "let's get a bit Rapey" law.
 

These alternative whacked history movies

About American Presidents are one thing. But how about something like these?

"Martin Van Buren: Competitive Eater"

"Chester A. Arthur: Mutton-Chopper"

"Warren G. Harding: Pimp Daddy"

Finally a place to get historical art

This is starting to get into head meeting desk repeatedly territory:

Pretty much sums up yesterday

TPM pretty much sums up the GOP's "Women? What's their deal?!" day:

So there you have it: modern women being told by Republicans that they’re not qualified to talk about their own sexual health, are dressed like “whores” and probably need birth control because they’re so slutty. And this is just in one day.

If you don’t believe in science or math you’ll tend to double-down

Yesterday's "DE-LIGHT-FUL" one-sided hearing by Darrell Issa on ladies and their sinful lady-parts not only managed to include no ladies, it even excluded women from pronouns:

Issa's opening statements that "a man's conscience" should guide laws in America

Well, and accurately, played Issa. Keep it up.
It is clearly working:

A new Democracy Corps (D) survey finds the Republican brand "is in a state of collapse -- over 50 percent of voters give the Republican Party a cool, negative rating. The presidential race and the congressional battles are interacting with each other to drive down their lead candidate, the party, and perceptions of the congressional Republicans."

And who is leading the sticking of the shivs?
Unmarried women:

(Chart and data from Democracy Corps)

So if you want to lose MASSIVELY keep it up "fellas" -- oh look...you are...you really are. [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Says it all

And I therefore deduce...

Issa was asked to include a woman on the all-male panel, and refused:

As the hearing is not about reproductive rights and contraception but instead about the Administration's actions as they relate to freedom of religion and conscience, he believes that Ms. Fluke is not an appropriate witness.

...Darrell Issa was just saying that WOMEN have neither freedom, religion, or conscience.

How Republican Darrell Issa runs a hearing on contraception

Those allowed to testify today make up the tables and immediately behind, the rest of the room is made up of those NOT ALLOWED to testify.

Notice any particular "gender" difference?

If NOT the Culture Wars

I imagine that now that the economy is starting to recover it will be time for the Right to say LET'S START A NEW WAR! 

Or better yet, let Israel start it so we can come in through the back door...all Santorum-like.

Meanwhile, what is happening in IMPORTANT JOURNALISM this morning?

So, quality as ever.

Time for another week of ginning up the Culture Wars

Via TPM:

Weekly unemployment applications dropped to 348,000, the AP reports, the lowest level in four years.

Analysts expected about 365,000, Business Insider reports.

I hear that Obama once used a condom in college...it's unsourced and unknown...but I'm sure Daily Caller will say it was with a white woman, no make that two white women...but only one condom.

One thing I'll say about him...

Santorum always does look like he's at the beginning of a 4-hour erection.

(Brian Losness/Reuters) 


It's like Jim Bob Duggar is giving him his prescription extra-strength cialis.

It's probably

Not a good sign when the actress who appeared in Michigan Senate Candidate Pete Hoekstra's racist ad, apologizes:

"I am deeply sorry for any pain that the character I portrayed brought to my communities. As a recent college grad who has spent time working to improve communities and empower those without a voice, this role is not in any way representative of who I am. It was absolutely a mistake on my part and one that, over time, I hope can be forgiven. I feel horrible about my participation and I am determined to resolve my actions."

That one's going to be a little harder for them to dismiss...but I'm sure they'll manage.

Yeah, don't get your hopes up...

I think this is absolutely important and the right thing to do. However, the media has ignored this for generations and one cannot expect the limited talents of Chris Matthews and David Gregory to have the capacity to ask actual questions...

...when it comes to many other Catholic teachings, Santorum, Gingrich and other Catholic conservatives completely ignore the church. Among others, Juan Cole has compiled an excellent list of the “Top Ten Catholic Teachings Santorum Rejects While Obsessing about Birth Control.” Conservative Catholics would be quick to point out that not all 10 teachings Cole lists are as central as the one on birth control, because the latter’s authority lies in the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae, issued in 1968 by Pope Paul VI. But even a cursory survey of papal encyclicals finds numerous holdings that Santorum, Gingrich and other conservative Catholics disagree with.

So what if the Catholic Church is pro-Universal Health Care, anti-poverty, pro-living wage, and anti-War. What really matters is not wearing a rubber or taking the pill.

In an effort to boost his popularity

Mitt Romney would like you to know he's a Vampire Hunter.

Unless, of course, you are a young woman just turning voting age -- in which case he would like you to know he's both sparkly and on Team Jacob.

Good job...so you want to do that here?

Surely the best plan possible for getting money out of a country deep in debt is to make sure it makes no money:

"On the current path - which is not sustainable in my view - we may very well see Greek GDP go down 25-30 percent, which would be historically unprecedented. It's a disastrous crisis for them," Dadush, a former senior World Bank official, said.

And in order to make sure banks bail out banks, the people will suffer:

For ordinary Greeks, the outlook is dire. Some civil servants have seen their salaries cut by half. Retirement before the age of 65 is a fading dream for those still in work. Some drugs are now in short supply.

About the only thing collapsing faster than Greece's economy are the popularity ratings of Republican candidates. In fact they are cratering so fast, it may lead to the most renowned of the previously collapsed getting  involved, that's right Sarah Palin says she's ready to answer the call of the wild if it's made at a brokered convention.

Opa! [Cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Part Dues Ex Machina

More non-anticipating:

Greece’s economy, reeling from austerity measures demanded by creditors in exchange for rescue funds, contracted almost a percentage point more last year than the government forecast, according to Bloomberg calculations. Gross domestic product fell 7 percent from a year earlier in the fourth quarter after contracting a revised 5 percent on an annual basis in the previous three months

Somebody should just keep shoveling these to David Gregory, just to discovery the manner in which he ignores them while demanding the poor need to suffer more than he and his tax bracket. (via AmericaBlog)

How's austerity workin' out for ya', part infinitum

And if the Republicans have their way we'll catch up:

For the first time since the Great Recession began in the second quarter of 2008, the UK has a higher unemployment rate than the United States. Data out today shows the UK unemployment rate for the period September to December 2011 was up 0.1 percentage point to 8.4 per cent. By contrast, the latest US jobs figures which were released earlier this month, fell to 8.3 per cent.

Austerity!

The UK had been commended during the Great Recession for keeping levels of job losses comparatively low despite the rapid fall in GDP. Schemes like the Future Jobs Fund, scrapped by the coalition government, appeared to hold off sharp increases in unemployment of the kind suffered by the United States. The latest figures show that this accolade is no longer justified.

But...of...course

Nobody could have anticipated that the world's douchiest hall-monitor in a sweater-vest would run a self-serving sanctimonious charity as a piggy-bank:

Santorum charity for the poor spent most of its money on management, political friends Before it folded in 2007, the foundation raised $2.58 million, with 39 percent of that donated directly to groups helping the needy. By industry standards, such philanthropic groups should be donating nearly twice that, from 75 to 85 percent of their funds. “That’s exceptionally poor,” Ken Berger, president of Charity Navigator, a national organization that rates charitable groups, said of the Santorum group’s giving. “We would tell donors to run with fear from this organization.”

Spillin' Seed

Natually:

Tamara Lowe, a frequent guest on “The 700 Club” and author of the book Get Motivated, and her husband Peter are in the midst of an acrimonious divorce that just got uglier: in court documents, Peter accused Tamara and her new boyfriend of stealing his porn.

The ex-husband did get to keep the old towels.

Yeah, good luck with that...

A whole lot of carts are getting put before the horse in the Romney campaign -- but their aspirations are as uninspiring as their candidate:

Another Romney adviser said the governor would spend just enough time on social issues to dispatch Santorum and then move on.

“He’s going to pivot back,” the adviser said. “He’s not going to go far from the core set of Romney issues, which is economic turnaround, recovery, jobs.”

Mitt wants to get off the pill as soon as possible.
Good luck getting Pandora's box closed (Pandora can't afford contraceptives):

Catholic bishops, energized by a battle over contraception funding, are planning an aggressive campaign to rally Americans against a long list of government measures which they say intrude on religious liberty...they are aiming higher still, lobbying Congress to enact a law that would let any employer opt out of covering any medical treatment he disagreed with as a matter of his personal faith.

Note the story's use of masculine pronouns.

Maybe Obama did give them the inch upon which they'll demand a mile -- but only one candidate is going to be pressured to buy all that nonsense hook, line and "sinking".

Congratulations Willard -- if you make it that far, you get to argue in favor of denying vaccinations and surgery on an employer's religious grounds.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

But of course

How's that anti-birth control thing working out for you Republicans?

Obama has a 21-point lead over both Romney and Santorum among women. The margin is 59-38 percent.

Oh and this little nugget on whether or not a certain kind of voter demographic might be just a weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee bit racist:

Among white voters, Obama leads or is tied against Romney in every every section of the country except one: The South, where he trails by 36 points, 29-65.

This section is also seems to be the one that drives our national cable news agendas...so that's comforting.

Oh lord

This is just pathetic:

A panel of conservative religious leaders assembled by Fox News host Sean Hannity Friday night had increasingly apocalyptic responses to President Obama’s new contraception policy, saying they were eager to go to jail or even die before violating their conscious by providing birth control to women. Rich Land of the Southern Baptist Convention hit the two poles of overly emphatic rhetoric in one breath, first invoking the Holocaust by reciting Martin Niemöller famous poem “First they came…,”

Yes, which is why one needs birth control.

Although seeing a panel comprised of Rich Land, Bill Donohue, and Rick Warren pretend they'll give their lives over a law that already exists in most of their states of residence is rather hilarious...not to mention just seeing them and Hannity certainly killed a lot of moods just before Valentine's Day.

Once again, the ability of religious males to lie (and look at the picture at the first link it is ALL middle-aged to old men) is a far far lesser sin than letting ladies control their lady parts. I didn't know an explicitly listed COMMANDMENT took precedence over unsourced appendices -- but there you go.

Holy Misdirection

Maybe there's a reason America's Catholic Bishops are desperate to be up in arms about something, anything, they can get there hands on domestically. It distracts from this:

...leaked letters by an archbishop who was transferred after he blew the whistle on what he saw as a web of corruption and cronyism, to a leaked poison pen memo which puts a number of cardinals in a bad light, to new suspicions about its bank, Vatican spokesmen have had their work cut out responding.

And why not get in hysterics over the provision of prophylactics when you have scenarios right out of the Borgia playbook?

Last week, an Italian newspaper that has published some of the leaks ran a bizarre internal Vatican memo that involved one cardinal complaining about another cardinal who spoke about a possible assassination attempt against the pope within 12 months and openly speculated on who the next pope should be.

I'm not theologian but the prohibition on that one right in the Ten Commandments...as opposed to birth control which was at best is found in an unsourced appendix.

And, then there's this.

No wonder they need to lash out against the one group that have nothing to do with their self-inflicted wounds -- Women. [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Iowa's shame

When the GOP lets Steve King lead them around, you get idiocy like this:

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) likened birth control to abortion Friday on MSNBC and said he isn’t convinced contraception helps prevent pregnancies.

But then again, King also believes, Mary got pregnant without having sex (because otherwise God got a little rapey).

*rim shot*
(which, by the way, DOES prevent pregnancy)

And they say it cannot speak to the present

Like many a person who does not know who the fuck is at the Grammys, I watched 'Downton Abbey' last night. And while the soap opera-ish life of the former 1% is like syrupy and lavish crack, it did contain a perfect description of Andrew Breitbart -- for which I must pay tribute to writer Julian Fellows:

“The nameless offshoot of a drudge.”

And it is put forth as an alternative to 'bastard' so it is even more appropriate.

Touche!

BTW -- here are your Downton Valentine's Cards.

One thing that is clear

"Get the government out of my medicare!" might as well be our new National Motto as far as the GOP base is concerned.

As the Europeans impose even more austerity upon the Greeks (oh, good idea!) the Greek people -- who suffer while those who benefited survive relatively unscathed are not at all happy.

For example:

Source: @mmgeissler / via: @Alex_Ogle This might be one of the few Starbucks where their coffee tasting incredibly burnt makes sense.

The Have Nots must have less

It isn't just contraceptives the Republicans want to take away:

A little-noted provision in the House Republicans' controversial energy and transportation bill would strip several thousand workers within the rail-industry of their federal minimum-wage and overtime protections, potentially making low-wage jobs pay even less...

And then they can pay hundreds every year for contraceptives or there will be more mouths to feed -- because abortion isn't an option. Or perhaps the Republicans will just make sex among the poor -- married or not -- illegal?

But Mitt Romney's taxes could be even lower, so obviously it will all end up being fair and balanced. [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Yuck!

OM-effing-Gawd!!!

 ABC’s This Week: Rick Santorum.  Then, White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew. Also, House Budget Committee Chair Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). Roundtable: George Will, Donna Brazile, Liz Cheney, David Ignatius.

OM-effing-Gawdier!!!!

 NBC’s Meet the Press: Rick Santorum.  Then, White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew. Roundtable: Head of the Super PAC supporting Pres. Obama, Bill Burton; Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan; Washington Post’s EJ Dionne, and MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough.

It almost makes me miss John McCain...that is a heavy-heavy-concentration of assholery.

Feel the lack of enthusiasm

Oh that base sure is enthused:

Out of Maine's 258,000 registered Republicans, nearly 5,600 cast ballots in the weeklong contest. But questions about Romney's durability as the party's presumed front-runner persist. Fully 61 percent of Maine voters selected another candidate than Romney in a state practically in his back yard. And Romney's showing was down considerably from 2008, when he won 51 percent of the vote.

One week to get 5,600 total voters?

The Huffington Post story alone has 2,000 more comments on the caucus than the caucus had participants.

There's a word most college students know for College Republicans...

And that word is "Douchebags".

For example.

"I don't think my dad would let me move back home," said a male student from Catholic University.

"Oh, mine either," said his friend. "He'd say, 'Oh, that's why you went to school.' But I'll absolutely have a plan senior year. I want to do lobbying."

"I'm going to go to grad school," said another.

A single student admitted to having lived in the basement at his parents' house in high school. "The basement was very nice, though," he assured me. "It was very comfortable."

Rebecca, the only senior in the Palm Beach Atlantic group, said she would go back home after graduation—but not to a basement. She would definitely not be living in a basement.

"I'm from Orlando, so I'm gonna go back to Orlando," she explained. "My major's marketing, so I'd like to work in advertising with my dad, either with the Disney cruise line or Universal Studios.


"He has work connections," she added.

Rebecca will get back to you though, she has to attend the seminar on the evils of 'affirmative action' right now.

So, look in the mirror much?

Today's Tom Friedman lecture "for the ages":

"Watching the Republican Party struggling to agree on a presidential candidate, one wonders whether the G.O.P. shouldn't just sit this election out -- just give 2012 a pass."

Aren't they pretty much doing that already?

And now the balls...

...maybe the best thing would be for it to get crushed in this election and forced into a fundamental rethink

Why would being plainly, spectacularly WRONG force them to do that...did "Suck on this" do anything other than get you a raise? It certainly did not force a fundamental rethink about of Tom Friedman.

Not to be too ironic about it

But Santorum is really coming up on Romney from behind:

If Romney loses one of his adopted states -- well, he's in it deep.

And again, there is no double-entendre too hard with Santorum... ...see?

The Brain-Trust

Who needs actual celebrities when the Republicans have Pat Sajak and Chuck Woolery.

Bachmann, while doing radio interviews on "radio row" at CPAC, met up with Chuck Woolery, the former TV game show host, most notably of the "Love Connection," and they shared a warm embrace as Bachmann giddily called out, "Chuck! Chuck!"

Woolery is promoting "Reset Congress," a project that he outlines on his web site, Save Us Chuck Woolery. He, too, slammed the Prop 8 ruling, and said gays don’t need civil rights. In fact, he believes African-Americans need no civil rights.

That, according to Chuck is because they have "God-Given" natural rights in the Constitution.

That's right he managed to conflate the two of them like a true moron.

I'm sorry that's wrong, he's only 3/5ths of the way to a Moron...not being capable of reading the 13th, 14th or 15th Amendments.

So this is "the Face" of the anti-contraception forces?

Bring it on!

His "holiness" Arch-Bishop Fuckface* doesn't look at ALL like a guy who would might poo-poo the cover up of pederasty but have a conniption over whether a woman gets to use a diaphragm.

Oh, and his faux-outrage face is VERY appropriate:

Hours after President Obama phoned to share his decision with Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York, who is president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the bishops’ headquarters in Washington posted on its Web site a video of Archbishop Dolan, which had been recorded the day before.

(pic via Seth Wenig/Associated Press)

* Sorry for the inappropriate name-calling...in a few days he shall be known as Cardinal Fuckface.   We regret the error.

What Howie Klein says

You know Republicans, at least Alf Landon wasn't an incredible douche.

Another Republican Dream Candidate

Currently losing "re-match" polling by 20% has a plan for regaining popularity... ...impersonating people with Parkinsons.

Governor John Kasich Imitates A Patient With Parkinsons

Oh well, I'm sure Rush Limbaugh thought it was hilarious.

Some Perry Como and baby oil ought to do it...

That's right...

THE HUMAN MITTIPEDE!

What the Village Scribes have taught me...

I don't claim special insight into the human condition, but I think I am somewhat informed. But I admit I did learn something new from Politico yesterday.

In an article entitled "High-profile Catholic Dems bail on Obama on contraceptives" comes this quote:

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), an Orthodox Jew, tweeted Wednesday that he opposed the administration’s mandate.

So Orthodox Jews, are they part of the Franciscans, Dominicans, Benedictines, Carmelites, or some new branch of Catholicism?

The other notable aspect of the article is its slavish devotion only to the words of D.C. insiders exclusively -- while simultaneously having this graphic at the top of the article -- which is never, ever, discussed.

It is truly the ultimate Politico article...ignoring the truth before its eyes to create a narrative of insider fiction.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

So it is about punishing ALL WOMEN

It is decidedly NOT about religion, it is about banning contraception coverage in ALL insurance plans for ALL women.

Anthony Picarello, general counsel for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "There has been a lot of talk in the last couple days about compromise, but it sounds to us like a way to turn down the heat, to placate people without doing anything in particular," Picarello said. "We're not going to do anything until this is fixed."

That means removing the provision from the health care law altogether, he said, not simply changing it for Catholic employers and their insurers. He cited the problem that would create for "good Catholic business people who can't in good conscience cooperate with this."

"If I quit this job and opened a Taco Bell, I'd be covered by the mandate," Picarello said.

Meanwhile, no fucking problem at all with Viagra being covered.

Other than USA Today will this fucking nutjob of a demand get any press coverage?

It was undoubtedly from a canker-sore

RIP

As I've said before...the world's douchiest hall monitor

What Rick Santorum sends out for Hanukkah:

That's right, "Happy Hanukkah, too bad you're goin' to Hell".

Classy.

Oh how I wish this would actually happen

From the Onion:
In The Know Panel Analyzes Obama's Furious, Profanity-Filled Rant At Nation

MAN OF THE PEOPLE!

This should help the ol' public perception:

Your self-proclaimed supreme moral arbiters

On the subject of lady parts and the things women should have available to them.

In 2002, at the height of the outcry over the sexual abuse of minors by Roman Catholic priests, the Archbishop of New York, Edward M. Egan...offered an apology about the church’s handling of sex-abuse cases in New York and in Bridgeport, Conn., where he was previously posted.

And now this most influential leader of Catholic Bishops has a new special message...PSYCHE!

Now, 10 years later and in retirement, Cardinal Egan has taken back his apology...“I never should have said that,” and added, “I don’t think we did anything wrong.”

Here's a succinct summary of what happened under Egan's watch which he now states NEVER happened.

The Bridgeport diocese has paid out nearly $38 million to settle abuse claims over the years involving allegations by more than 60 people who said they had been molested by priests. In court documents unsealed in 2009, Egan expressed skepticism over sexual abuse allegations and said he found it "marvelous" that so few priests had been accused over the years.

"Marvelous"...wow, that is not the word most people would choose. And of course...

Cardinal Egan said yesterday it "would be truly tragic" if lawmakers pass women's health care legislation that does not allow church-related employers to refuse to provide insurance coverage for birth control and fertility treatments.

That was 2001...the legislation became law.

And that was...Marvelous!

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

What she said

Maddow on the contraceptive insurance requirement is dead on.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Hey look Mitt Romney is raising money

Greatest advert I've seen today:

More bad news for Democrats

As there is no other kind of news...see here...but now here.

In each contest, turnout is lower than it was in 2008. On Twitter, comments flew about the thousands of voters who came out in 2008 and stayed home in 2012. Democrats are eager to paint this as showing a lack of enthusiasm for the Republican field and Mitt Romney in particular; the DNC chair saying: “In state after state, turnout among Republican voters is lower than it was in 2008, and they are increasingly dissatisfied with their choice of candidates.”

Obviously though, per peerless forecaster (and noted Liverpool and Luis Suarez affecianado) Joe Scarborough...this can only mean Santorum for the win.

We should just start a pool

On the number of days it takes for an ESPN talking head to be suspended for saying something outrageously racist and who it will be.

Obviously my money shall be placed on either Cowherd or Paige.

And shit for Seamus

Oh those industrious hard-workin' scions of the American Dream.

Mitt Romney's five sons -- Matt, Tagg, Craig, Ben and Josh -- are sitting pretty with a trust fund worth $100 million. Getting there took investments that produced great growth, according to the Romney campaign. It also took smart tax strategies... "You've got people who are paid $1 million a year to work 3,000 hours just to figure out ways to transfer money from older generations to younger generations, and Romney has the money to hire the best of the best," said Bergman.

But I'm sure the kids will tell you they WORKED for that money. But the best part of this story is the first comment:

To now one's surprise Obama unleashes his secret negotiating weapon

The Marshmallow Canon.  

 

(SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Well that was 30 seconds too long...

Apparently, according to Morning Joe's resident pack of old testicle bearers Mitt Romney taking it on the chin (keep in your pants Ricky!) repeatedly from the world's oldest and douchiest hall-monitor is STILL somehow bad news for Democrats.

Of...course...it...is

The Pundit Class doesn't care...

But one reason for Romney finishing so badly in Minnesota in spite of a former Governor's endorsement is that this former Governor, Tim Pawlenty is really disliked.

More physically demanding than Man-on-Dog

Is SuperPac Man on his mount:

The man fueling Rick Santorum’s presidential campaign is a Wyoming cowboy with a special interest in conservative cause who wears a tall, white hat and likes to call himself the “man atop the horse.”

That seems a somewhat cruel thing to call your catcher, but he does leave a lot of money on the dresser. Here he is, right behind Ricky as they both work up a frothy lather.

It's one of those mornings

I shall enjoy myself...

I believe Romney did worse in each of those states than in 2008.



Man that Trump nomination really worked.

A great day for human progress

9th Circuit upholds lower court's overturning California "hate-fest" Prop. 8 -- in spite of the millions Mitt Romney indirectly gave for it.

Lookin' out for No. 1

Nice job Komen. 

You hired a pro-lifer who, with your tacit approval, completely fucks up years worth of goodwill -- exposing a shitload of pink-hued hypocrisy.

And once she shoots one into each of your feet (making the "race for the cure" rather difficult), she finally steps down and doesn't accept blame.

And THEN in true "future FOXNEWS pundit" fashion posts her resignation letter at a special web domain she and her press agent purchased for the occasion.

Well done, quite well done indeed.

If nothing else

SuperPACS are clear evidence America's super rich have money deserving of taxation.

Oh no, not at all racist

Pete Hoekstra's wretched ad in Michigan is getting even more wretched:

Oh, sexist too.

My head...meets desk

I have had this page open in firefox for a while now...might as well realize it is accurate:

Across the country, activists with ties to the Tea Party are railing against all sorts of local and state efforts to control sprawl and conserve energy. They brand government action for things like expanding public transportation routes and preserving open space as part of a United Nations-led conspiracy to deny property rights and herd citizens toward cities... Local officials say they would dismiss such notions except that the growing and often heated protests are having an effect.

The crazies are using their small condensed right-ward "nut-gouty" center to pretty much ruin local governments ability to do anything constructive. It's participatory thugocracy at its worst.

Safe bet

Bring back ye olde wire hanger

Having used evangelicals to win Iowa, Rick Santorum is appealing, somewhat successfully, to the same Midwestern strain in Minnesota. How? With rhetoric like this:

Look at what’s happened just in our tolerance for abortion. Fifty years ago…60 years ago, people who did abortions were in the shadows, people who were considered really bad doctors. Now, abortion is something to that is just accepted.

Yes, make it illegal again and make sure women and their lady-parts who get pregnant have to go back to an era of quacks and wire hangers. That'll teach 'em to be women. No wonder these guys are so popular outside the base. [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

David Gregory has his rehab work cut out for him...

Better get to work on that 1 percentin':

By better than 2 to 1, Americans say the more they learn about Romney, the less they like him.

And many of those folks haven't heard the "dog story".

Time to head to Tatoinne for the rescue mission

If you watch this video closely you can see Cee-Lo (or is it Vince Wilfork?) tell Madonna "I love you" and her say, "I know".

I will now predict

That this qualifies as a "nobody could have predicted" moment of supreme sarcasm:

Greece’s debt rose to 159.1 percent of its gross domestic product in the third quarter of 2011 from 138.8 percent a year earlier, according to data released Monday that illustrates the country’s worsening economic straits after two years of austerity budgets.

But by all means...

The Patriots may have come up short...

But Rush Limbaugh is still going for gold.

In case you needed a reason to be happy the Giants won.

Most accurate tweet of the night

It’s a real conundrum for Newt now

Valentine's Day is only 8 days away and it appears he will be on a fixed budget. Plus it will be hard to get that Tiffany's account renewed. Might I suggest something classy (and by classy, I mean cheap)? And at $20 bucks a piece you can afford to pick up another here and there for any new prospects before 2016 rolls around. Oh, sorry we're beyond that now.

Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino executive keeping Newt Gingrich’s presidential hopes alive, has relayed assurances to Mitt Romney that he will provide even more generous support to his candidacy if he becomes the Republican nominee

Et tu, sugar daddy? [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

What the fuck is "honest rape"?

One that doesn't involved Rohypnol? What a lunatic.

Hey, how strange

Saturday Night Live did something clever:

Oh my, that does suck

And they go on to proclaim Obama has an ego...

Oy:

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R), a Mitt Romney surrogate, said Sunday that the improving economic situation is thanks to Republican governors, not President Obama. "Look, I'm glad the economy is starting to recover but I think it's because of what Republican governors are doing in their states. Not because of the president," McDonnell said on CNN's State of the Union.

What we're all waiting for tonight...

Of course is...how on earth things are going to get fucked up for Anna and Mr. Bates this time?

Vigilance...

A Romney Supporter makes sure they didn't accidentally let in a person of ANY color whatsoever:

Reuters/Steve Nesius

I would have posted earlier about the involvement

Of Ari Fleischer in advising the Susan B. Komen Foundation in cutting ties to Planned Parenthood -- ruining years of goodwill in one monumentally stupid decision...

But I've been far too busy laughing about it.

Onward and downward with the clown show

There was some discussion this week about some obscure Georgia district court decision that the President and his counsel had to appear in court to answer Orly Taitz's latest birth certificate claim...not really and they did not appear.

So Taitz managed to be unopposed...and still had her case dismissed...as reality again has a heavy bias.

I think she's nearly out of states now.

How dare you liberals have an opinion

Those are for conservative assholes only! It's in the First Amendment. Charities are sovereign entities beyond the reach of opinion and in sole discretion of how they spend their money...unless of course they support liberal causes.

So as I understand it

Komen is at least partially aborting their earlier decision to not give money to Planned Parenthood, but they reserve the right to abort the rest at a future date so they can end funding of breast cancer screenings in the name of being pro-life?

If you are upset with this decision, you are welcome to purchased an approved pink handgun, to threaten to take the lives of whoever made you angry about their abandonment of pro-life forces in order to keep saving lives.

It certainly is the accessory Jesus would have killed with...in his mercy.

Hey, look a good jobs report

Before austerity measures take effect.

But by all means, let's inflict austerity on this recovery...because that never works!

You betcha

Considering the amount of converage given to America's biggest orange ass (something else for Boehner to cry about...finishing second) yesterday, this is a timely and poignant question:

Lazy

Too burned out to blog anything that even smells of originality (emphasis on smells), so allow this to serve as the perfect summary of the effect of Citizens United.

The Colbert Report
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How Mitt Romney views America

He believes this is the poor's "safety net"

Just a few isolated serial violations

First it was the News of the World that was caught phone-hacking.

And then just a week ago it was another Murdoch paper, as the Sun was implicated.

And now, it is yet another Murdoch publication, the Times of London, Rupert's most prestigious British publication.

On Thursday, Mr Watson, a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said on Twitter: "The Met police have confirmed to me they are investigating [Rupert Murdoch's] newspaper The Times over email hacking."

Rupert has repeatedly said no such hacking of phone calls or email has happened in the United States. But then he has always been so honest and forthright.

On 26 January [2007] Clive Goodman, the News of the World's former royal editor, and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire are jailed for illegally accessing the royal phone messages. ... In March, Les Hinton, a senior aide to Rupert Murdoch, tells a Commons committee that a "rigorous internal investigation" found no evidence of widespread hacking at the paper.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Sing for your Supper

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Prenup?

Serial Adulterers swing together.

Word started leaking out in Las Vegas earlier that Donald Trump’s “major announcement” is to back Newt Gingrich, and sources are confirming it to POLITICO.

The only thing that was leaking was semen.

If ever an awkward picture

Were an appropriate metaphor...

Via Bluegal at C&L.

Mitt Romney really cares about somebody

And, shockingly, for a politician, it is himself. Although not enough to edit himself before he speaks...as ever.

During his presidential campaign in 2007, Republican candidate Mitt Romney promised that a trust overseeing his financial portfolio would shed any investments that conflicted with GOP positions toward Iran, China, stem cell research and other issues. But Romney's family trusts kept some of those stocks and repeatedly bought new investments in similar holdings as recently as 2010, when they were sold in advance of his latest White House campaign

Mitt may be willing to say he does not care about "the poors" because there's little profit in it. However, there was money to be made off of other things the GOP hates irrationally (redundant, I know) and ol' Mitt's Millions took priority for as long as possible. But that's not entirely the story, I'm sure if there was a good soylent green investment, Mitt would be willing to grind up poor people too --  unopposed by Republicans as long as the prospective veal had emerged from the womb for a bit (and been deprived of udder exams).

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Things you wonder this time of day when you are up

Just how many people could possibly be watching a re-run of Australian Soccer (Adelaide vs. Perth) this time of the morning?

I'm guessing...THIS nation-wide...150 people.

Science links I am never going to click

Spider's Detachable Penis Finishes Without Him

This Spiderman reboot with Andrew Garfield is going to be terrible.

What TBogg Said

Rare is the charitable organization that makes a decision sure to GREATLY ASSIST the disease which they claim to fight. But the Susan Komen Foundation's directors did just that by letting the right-wing dictate that poor and middle class women be denied breast examinations on the off-chance they may be close to a place where abortions occur.

It’s rare when you see such a high profile organization shit the bed so spectacularly particularly in the case where people can not only refuse to donate to the Komen Foundation, but also boycott all the products that carry the Komen Pink Ribbon of Caring logo, for which the Komen people are paid handsomely. We’ve done this before, but you can make a donation to Planned Parenthood and request a thank you card be sent to

Karen Handel
Senior VP of Fail
c/o Susan G. Komen Foundation
P.O. Box 650309
Dallas, TX 75265-0309

(UPDATE) From a reader: Hi TBogg, Just made a donation of 50 clams, but I would have loved to have gifted it to Karen Handel as you suggested in your post. maybe you could update the post to let people know that they need to do it as an “Honorary Giving” rather than a “One Time Gift”, which doesn’t offer the choice to send a card

A Ritual of Spring every 4 years

The battle against Republicans violating Copyright.

Newt Gingrich Not Allowed to Use "Eye of the Tiger," Says Guy Who Wrote "Eye of the Tiger"

Figures

Only the GOP would be pro-environmental devastation by Biblical villain.

Eh, he's done worse

In his desperation to stop the "settling" process underway in the GOP, Newt Romney played a late robocall asserting that Romney attempted to deny Jewish senior citizens kosher meals. It was based upon this actual event:

Mitt Romney is getting heat for a 2003 veto he cast as governor of Massachusetts to reject $600,000 in additional funds for poor Jewish nursing-home residents to get kosher meals.

At the time, Romney said he nixed the funding of about $5 per day because it “unnecessarily” would lead to an “increased rate for nursing facilities” — even as kosher nursing homes were complaining that state-funding-formula changes could force them to close their kitchens.

In other words, Mitt in 2003 had an undeniable message "Learn to vote Republican Jewish People!" Still it was probably not the most offensive thing Romney has done in this regard.

When Newsweek magazine asked Romney if he personally had performed posthumous baptisms on anyone, author Jonathan Darman wrote, “he looked slightly startled and answered, ‘I have in my life, but I haven’t recently.’

It is well-known that for years the Mormon Church has posthumously baptized non-adherents to Mormonism, in particular, Jewish Holocaust victims. Something in the continuum of somewhat offensive to effing creepy for pretty much everyone.

It is also known the Romney has done this for particular individuals, such as he late father-in-law an avowed atheist.

So Mitt, any comment? [cross-posted at Firedoglake]