Month: February 2012
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Maine’s Really, Really Screwed Up Caucus
So, you thought the people running the Iowa Caucuses, who had to count something like seven votes and yet declared the wrong winner, had egg on their face. Well, their buddies in Maine have upped the ante.
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Contraception Politics
So, on the one hand we have the administration championing to right of women to get access to contraception (even to the point of them getting it free of charge) and on the other hand we have one of the two main GOP candidates saying things like this (as quoted by Doug Mataconis earlier today):…
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A Key Example of What is Wrong with Politics
Via TPM: D’oh! Romney Backer Attacks Santorum For Same Votes He Cast Himself In a call with reporters, [former Sen. JIm Talent (R-MO)] slammed Santorum for his Medicare Part D vote, calling it a “big expansion of a federal entitlement.” Asked by a reporter how he could criticize Santorum for taking the same position, Talent…
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From the “Sheer Genius” File
Via WSFA: Coach resigns over nude photo on Facebook Oxford Hills Superintendent Rick Colpitts said Paul Withee apparently meant to send a naked picture of himself to his girlfriend, but accidentally posted the image on his Facebook page. Withee took down the picture in a matter of minutes, but the damage was done. A student…
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Herman Cain On ‘Dancing With The Stars’? Sadly, No
Apparently, the producers of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars tried to get Herman Cain as one of the “celebrities” for the upcoming season: A spokeswoman for Herman Cain confirmed this morning that the former GOP presidential candidate was approached by ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” to appear on this season’s competition. But Cain nixed the…
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Rick Santorum: Let’s Talk About Sex
Meet Rick Santorum, who’s apparently running for Moralist In Chief.
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Wayne’s World 20th Anniversary
Today’s the 20th anniversary of Wayne’s World
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Rising Gas Prices And The 2012 Elections
Rising prices at the pump could lead to problems at the voting booth.
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The Evolution of Birth Control
An interesting gallery via Newsweek: click.
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Another Reason to Question Rick Perry’s Intelligence?
Via The Hill: Gov. Perry: ‘Absolutely’ will consider running again.
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Santorum Surging Into The Lead Nationally
Once again, the face of the Republican race has changed.
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Today in Political Fantasies…
I give you Bernie Quigley at The Hill: A brokered convention: Jeb Bush vs. Sarah Palin.
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Contraceptive Coverage Rules: Not a New Thing
The issue of contraception coverage and religious charities is not a new one, despite the way it may sound.
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Gingrich Rejects Calls For Him To Drop Out
Yesterday afternoon, Newt Gingrich dismissed the suggestion made in a National Review editorial that he drop out of the race: SOUTH EL MONTE, Calif. (AP) – Republican Newt Gingrich on Monday dismissed calls to drop out of the presidential contest in order to set up a direct contest between rivals Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.…
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Washington Becomes The 7th State To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage
Same-sex marriage has made its way to the West Coast: OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed into law a bill that legalizes gay marriage in Washington state, making it the nation’s seventh to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed. It’s a historic moment, but same-sex couples can’t walk down the aisle just…
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Another Debt Ceiling Debacle Before The Election?
We may have to deal with the debt ceiling again before the November elections.
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U.S. Mint Loses 6 Cents On Every Nickel It Produces
Ezra Klein notes that one of the items in the President’s new budget includes giving the U.S. Mint the authority to explore the use of cheaper metals in U.S. coinage. That’s a good thing, because we’re apparently losing money on at least two of them: The Mint’s primary cost driver is the price of metal,…
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Grieving Over Dead Celebrities
We can feel that we “know” athletes, entertainers, politicians, and others that we’ve followed, rooted for, or whatnot over a period of time and feel a genuine sense of loss when they’re gone.
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House GOP: Let’s Extend The Payroll Tax Without Pay-Fors
House Republicans are now offering to extend the Payroll Tax Cut without offsetting spending cuts or tax increases, which has been the issue holding up an extension since December: Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) — Congressional Republicans are offering to drop their demand to finance a 10-month extension of the payroll tax cut with spending reductions, three…
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Santorum Leading Romney In Michigan?
Four years ago, Mitt Romney won the Michigan Republican Primary quite handily. It wasn’t really a surprise, of course, since Romney’s father had been Governor there back in the day and Michigan was considered as much “Romney Country” as Massachusetts was even though he hadn’t lived there in many years. According to a new poll…
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Why Toxicology is So Slow
Unlike TV, real life medical examiners take weeks, even months, to establish a cause of death.
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National Review To Newt: Drop Out And Endorse Santorum
It’s the beginning of the end for Newt Gingrich, but it’s unlikely he’ll recognize that fact.
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Paying Adjunct Professors Like Real Professors
The MLA is pushing to guarantee adjunct professors $40,000 a year.
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An Observation about the Greek Debt Crisis
My previous two posts on Greece reminded me of something I meant to comment upon the other day. On Friday’s Morning Edition there was a story on the Greek crisis that had the following observation that struck me: Resolving this crisis has taken years, and there’s a reason: a debt crisis has never really been…
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Chart of the Day: Greek Crisis
Also via the BBC:
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Austerity Package Passes Greek Parliament
Via the BBC: Greek MPs pass austerity plan amid violent protests Greece’s parliament has passed a controversial package of austerity measures, demanded by the eurozone and IMF in return for a 130bn-euro ($170bn; £110bn) bailout to avoid default. […] The austerity measures include: 15,000 public-sector job cuts liberalisation of labour laws lowering the minimum wage…
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Tom Friedman is Seeking a Second Party
Friedman shifts from calling for a third party, to calling on the GOP to get serious.
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People Who Thought Oprah Was Whitney Houston
Buzzfeed’s Matt Stopera posts some Facebook updates from people who, for some reason, could not tell Oprah Winfrey and Whitney Houston apart. This one is may favorite: I’m really not sure what to say.
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Newt Gingrich Loses His Sugar Daddy
Newt Gingrich may soon find it very hard to compete against Mitt Romney, or even Rick Santorum, now that the man who was funding his SuperPAC with multimillion dollar donations has decided it’s time to close the checkbook: Newt Gingrich was just days away from the Jan. 31 Florida Republican presidential primary when he told…
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Santorum: Romney May Have Rigged CPAC Vote
I wholly agree with James Joyner’s statements earlier today about the general uselessness of any straw poll, including the one conducted annually at the Conservative Political Action Conference, which this year was won by Mitt Romney. Which is why I find Rick Santorum’s whining about the process rather amusing: A groggy Rick Santorum, donning suit…
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Frank Gaffney Banned from CPAC
While I’ve expressed my dissatisfaction with the degree that CPAC has embraced the worst elements of the conservative movement in recent years, it does appear that there is a line.
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Whitney Houston Dead at 48
Whitney Houston, once one of the biggest stars in American popular culture, has died.
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Romney Wins CPAC Straw Poll (Again)
The Massachusetts Moderate has won the Conservative Political Action Conference poll for a fourth time.
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Military Less Republican Than You Think
The popular notion that the United States military is monolithically Republican is mistaken.
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Maybe The GOP Should Just Go Ahead And Nominate Rick Santorum
At the very least, nominating Santorum would let the GOP test a hypothesis that’s been debated for years.
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Catholic Bishops Call White House Contraceptive Coverage Policy Change “Unacceptable”
Late yesterday, the nation’s Catholic Bishops came out with a statement that noted at least two strong objections to the revised contraceptive coverage plan unveiled yesterday by the White House: Hours after calling the Obama administration’s contraceptives compromise a “first step,” the Catholic bishops said Friday night they have “two serious objections” to the new…
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A Santorum Surge? Or, A Statistical Blip?
A new poll shows Santorum surging ahead of Mitt Romney nationally
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Kim Jong-Un Is Still Not Dead
Yesterday, rumors swept the Internet, primarily via Twitter, that the new leader of North Korea had been assassinated in Beijing: The claim that Kim, supreme leader of North Korea since the death of his father Kim Jong Il in December, had died apparently stemmed from a message sent out by a man who works near…
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Reviving American Manufacturing
Contrary to myth, the USA is still a major manufacturing power. But the factory has changed radically.
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Photo of US Marines Posing with SS Flag Surfaces
Via the AP: US Marines posed with Nazi symbol in Afghanistan The Marine Corps on Thursday once again did damage control after a photograph surfaced of a sniper team in Afghanistan posing in front of a flag with a logo resembling that of the notorious Nazi SS — a special unit that murdered millions of…
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In All Likelihood, Your Kid Is Not Going To Be The Next Tim Tebow Or Cliff Lee
Tony Manfred at Business Insider reports on some statistics from the NCAA on the likelihood that a college athlete will become a professional athlete: Even if your kid is good at sports in high school, gets a scholarship, and excels in college, there’s almost no way they are going to go pro. Scott Soshnick of…
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White House’s Revised Contraceptive Proposal Unlikely To Satisfy Critics
The Obama Administration’s proposed solution to the impasse over contraceptives is unlikely to end the debate.
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French Moms Ain’t All That Great
French mothers do not have some magical formula for raising well behaved children.
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Pepsi Cuts 8700 Jobs Despite Rising Profits
Pepsi’s profits and revenues are up. Naturally, it’s time to fire 3 percent of its global workforce.
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Apparently Arizona Has Solved All Its Serious Problems
There must not be any serious problems left for the Arizona State Legislature to worry about, because they are presently considering a bill that would bar teachers and professors from using bad language: In what has to be the most hilariously unconstitutional piece of legislation that I’ve seen in quite some time, senators in the…
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Low Turnout A Sign Of Burnout?
Are the American people tuning out of politics altogether?
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Report: Obama Administration To Offer “Accomodation” On Contraceptive Rule
ABC News’s Jake Tapper is reporting this morning that the Obama Administration will be offering a compromise of some form regarding its controversial new rule requiring employers to provide coverage for contraceptives to their employees: With the White House under fire for its new rule requiring employers including religious organizations to offer health insurance that…