++James Dobson of Focus on Your Family, Not Mine is very discouraged about the prospects of stopping same-sex marriage. On a talk show with Janet Porter, who is famous for a documentary about how gays will outlaw Christianity, he thought we may had have a civil war. On another radio show, he predicted that the collapse of families will bring the end of America in a decade.
++But never fear, Ted Cruz is authoring legislation for the Senate prohibiting the Supreme Court from ruling on same-sex marriage because it is beyond their jurisdiction.
++A caller to these talk shows, said that a remnent can make a difference by just pushing a button on a mail list could mean 1 million "restraining orders". The caller went on to advocate personally going after judges.
++I guess there will adopt the ole' bomb abortion clinics strategy.
Showing posts with label Same Sex Marriage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Same Sex Marriage. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Andrew Sullivan Meep Meep Watch
++With John Boehner about to get the House Ok to sue the President and Sarah Palin and the Iowa GOP Senate candidate asking for impeachment, Andrew Sullivan reverts to form to ask about how President Obama is doing in his second term.
++The ACA went in one year from a bomb to a success. The rate of healthcare costs have moderated. Andrew cites the new Commonwealth Study which documents the in-roads the ACA has made.
++The Imperial Post, "the humanitarian interventionists" and the neo-conservatives have blasted the President on Syria. But as Andrew points out that the most significant development in non-proliferation has been the removal and now destruction of Syria's chemical weapons without the United States firing a shot.
++The threat of Putin has gone away. The Ukraine has signed an agreement with the EU and Putin even looks like he is holding the separatists out to dry.
++The economy, which Obama has been criticized by the GOP from the beginning, has marked a record number of months with job creation and soon we will slip underneath the 6% unemployment mark.
++The Deficit has gone from 10%GDP to 2%GDP,which if under a Republican there would be dancing in the streets.
++The two remaining unknowns are the negotiations with Iran on the nuclear program and immigration reform.
++The last year has seen the GOP squander any advantages they might have gained. It is quite clear that the GOP is against contraceptives,have been put into a box on immigration reform and their impeachment talk has alienated middle America.
++Oh by the way, Colorado ruled for same sex marriage. It appears ,according to SCOTUSBLOG that it is likely the Supreme Court will take the case in the fall of 2014, hear arguments in March 2015 and decide in June 2015. Probably the case they will rule on is the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Decision.
++The ACA went in one year from a bomb to a success. The rate of healthcare costs have moderated. Andrew cites the new Commonwealth Study which documents the in-roads the ACA has made.
++The Imperial Post, "the humanitarian interventionists" and the neo-conservatives have blasted the President on Syria. But as Andrew points out that the most significant development in non-proliferation has been the removal and now destruction of Syria's chemical weapons without the United States firing a shot.
++The threat of Putin has gone away. The Ukraine has signed an agreement with the EU and Putin even looks like he is holding the separatists out to dry.
++The economy, which Obama has been criticized by the GOP from the beginning, has marked a record number of months with job creation and soon we will slip underneath the 6% unemployment mark.
++The Deficit has gone from 10%GDP to 2%GDP,which if under a Republican there would be dancing in the streets.
++The two remaining unknowns are the negotiations with Iran on the nuclear program and immigration reform.
++The last year has seen the GOP squander any advantages they might have gained. It is quite clear that the GOP is against contraceptives,have been put into a box on immigration reform and their impeachment talk has alienated middle America.
++Oh by the way, Colorado ruled for same sex marriage. It appears ,according to SCOTUSBLOG that it is likely the Supreme Court will take the case in the fall of 2014, hear arguments in March 2015 and decide in June 2015. Probably the case they will rule on is the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Decision.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
New York Is Saved and Other Sunday Notes
++Sean Hannity made good on his promise and has moved to Florida but keeping a ranch in Texas. New Yorkers can breathe easier now.
++In the ceremony opening the 9-11 Museum,the program deleted the scheduled musical interlude of "A Bridge over Troubled Waters" after Chris Christie spoke.
++California is burning as forest fires ramped up again as the entire state is considered a drought zone.
++April was the second hottest in recorded history.
++Richard Scaife, the 81-year old owner of the Pittsburgh Tribune has incurable cancer. Dick Scaife was a primary funder of conservative causes and institutions for generations.
++This week you can read about the largest funders of the Right in the new book "Sons of Wichita", which chronicles the history of the Scaife family and their emergence on the political scene. Goodies include inter-family disputes ,including private eyes, in the dispute over the father's estate,David's hedonistic heydays,the family's blackmailing the gay son, and the long history of federal violations. The book doesn't flinch from Dad, who favored Mussolini.
++Australia reports that "carbon sink", the capacity of the ocean to absorb carbon, has reached the tipping point where it threatens the entire marine food chain.
++Greenland is melting at a faster rate than previously thought but here in North America, glaciers in British Columbia and Alaska are melting even faster and getting now news coverage.
++Karl Rove this morning doubled down on Hillary's "brain damage" and Rinse Penis said that Hillary's health and age are fair game.
++This week may not be a good one for Karl Rove. There is a story about to emerge about his divorce and his ex-wife accusing Karl of having an affair with a man. I'm betting it doesn't emerge because of Rovian pressures and that gay is so passé.
++There has been an explosion of same-sex marriage decisions and stays it's getting confusing. Arkansas, Utah, Idaho, and the list goes on.
++Michael Lind has a provocative article in Salon about possible party alignments because of the death of "social conservatism".
++Conservative websites are attacking Jeb Bush for a host of imaginary ideological crimes but the nastiest writing is attacking his wife. They claim she doesn't like being a political wife,she isn't fluent in English,has the well-documented problem with Customs, bringing in significant purchases without declaring them. But I guess if you can attack Michelle Obama , you can attack Jeb's wife. Doonesbury today has a fake Jeb interview for good fun.
++The Right--or at least the social conservatives who met the other year at Mount Vernon--met here in Washington behind closed doors. Considering the GOP thinks this is their year,what are the Right complaining about--the nature of the GOP.
++Rubio must be running. He again asserted his anti-choice position and denied climate change. That's pretty ballsy considering this week scientific blogs ran maps how Miami and southern Florida will disappear because of the rise in the sea.
++This past week's announcement that the West Antarctic ice sheets are collapsing faster than expected raise the issue of how conservative climate scientists are. The UN report undervalued the impact of the melting poles and glaciers on the climate. What you have read is really worse.
++Ms. Geller is back hiring busses to run her anti-Islam ads and ,of course, invoked the Holocaust. Could we reach agreement that the term "Holocaust" be used only for the Holocaust. And "Hitler" is the historical figure Hitler and not Barack Obama.
++In the ceremony opening the 9-11 Museum,the program deleted the scheduled musical interlude of "A Bridge over Troubled Waters" after Chris Christie spoke.
++California is burning as forest fires ramped up again as the entire state is considered a drought zone.
++April was the second hottest in recorded history.
++Richard Scaife, the 81-year old owner of the Pittsburgh Tribune has incurable cancer. Dick Scaife was a primary funder of conservative causes and institutions for generations.
++This week you can read about the largest funders of the Right in the new book "Sons of Wichita", which chronicles the history of the Scaife family and their emergence on the political scene. Goodies include inter-family disputes ,including private eyes, in the dispute over the father's estate,David's hedonistic heydays,the family's blackmailing the gay son, and the long history of federal violations. The book doesn't flinch from Dad, who favored Mussolini.
++Australia reports that "carbon sink", the capacity of the ocean to absorb carbon, has reached the tipping point where it threatens the entire marine food chain.
++Greenland is melting at a faster rate than previously thought but here in North America, glaciers in British Columbia and Alaska are melting even faster and getting now news coverage.
++Karl Rove this morning doubled down on Hillary's "brain damage" and Rinse Penis said that Hillary's health and age are fair game.
++This week may not be a good one for Karl Rove. There is a story about to emerge about his divorce and his ex-wife accusing Karl of having an affair with a man. I'm betting it doesn't emerge because of Rovian pressures and that gay is so passé.
++There has been an explosion of same-sex marriage decisions and stays it's getting confusing. Arkansas, Utah, Idaho, and the list goes on.
++Michael Lind has a provocative article in Salon about possible party alignments because of the death of "social conservatism".
++Conservative websites are attacking Jeb Bush for a host of imaginary ideological crimes but the nastiest writing is attacking his wife. They claim she doesn't like being a political wife,she isn't fluent in English,has the well-documented problem with Customs, bringing in significant purchases without declaring them. But I guess if you can attack Michelle Obama , you can attack Jeb's wife. Doonesbury today has a fake Jeb interview for good fun.
++The Right--or at least the social conservatives who met the other year at Mount Vernon--met here in Washington behind closed doors. Considering the GOP thinks this is their year,what are the Right complaining about--the nature of the GOP.
++Rubio must be running. He again asserted his anti-choice position and denied climate change. That's pretty ballsy considering this week scientific blogs ran maps how Miami and southern Florida will disappear because of the rise in the sea.
++This past week's announcement that the West Antarctic ice sheets are collapsing faster than expected raise the issue of how conservative climate scientists are. The UN report undervalued the impact of the melting poles and glaciers on the climate. What you have read is really worse.
++Ms. Geller is back hiring busses to run her anti-Islam ads and ,of course, invoked the Holocaust. Could we reach agreement that the term "Holocaust" be used only for the Holocaust. And "Hitler" is the historical figure Hitler and not Barack Obama.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Knock,Knock,Knockin' on the Dragon's Door*
*The lyrics as sung by Bob Dylan, Neil Young and the Band at Kezar's stadium in 1975.
For the death of Margaret Thatcher, I've been listening to Sinead O'Connor's "Black Boys on Mopeds".
More important deaths occurred in the past week--Virgil Trucks,who had two no-hitters and was the most traded baseball card I ever had, Bob Turley, Yankees' Cy Young Award winner, and Annette Funicello, the original member of the Mickey Mouse Fan Club.
Kobe Bryant passed Wilt Chamberlain on the all-time NBA scorer's list.
The Washington Post proclaimed that the problem with the 5 and 2 Nationals was that they were hitting too many home-runs. Their real problem is that they lack a left-handed reliever and Soriano is giving too many runs in relief.
The New York Times sportswriters were competing with the Post this past week by inserting an AP story of Andy Pettite's win over the Boston Red Sox which neglected to mention that Mariano Rivero picked up his first save since his injury last year.
As of this time yesterday, guns deaths in the United States since the Sandy Hill killings were 3,335. At this rate the number of deaths should surpass the casualties in Iraq by June. The deaths in Iraq took ten years to reach.
This morning Senators Manchin and Toomey reached an agreement on background checks and the Republicans backed away from their threat to filibuster gun violence legislation. None of the 14 Republican Senators who vowed to filibuster would appear on national television to be interviewed.
Restrictions on magazine sizes and assault weapons do not appear likely in the near or distant future.
The Gang of 8 appear to have developed legislation for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Conservative think tanks have now done a 180 and claim that the immigrations are a net economic plus for the economy, reversing nearly ten years of saying the opposite. Think tanks and corporate grass-roots groups have taken to criticizing the Heritage Foundation, who released a new report that says the opposite.
Over half the U.S. Senate now supports same sex marriage. Only two Republican Senators do--Rob Portman and Mark Kirk.
With the movement toward same sex marriage has come the inevitable backlash. Dr. Ben Carson, a new conservative favorite, likened same sex marriage to the Man-Boy Love Association and bestiality. A former chaplain for the Naval Academy said it was the equivalent of sex with a horse. Louie Gohlmert melded gun control with same sex marriage saying that limiting the size of gun magazines is like same sex marriage because there are no real limits and you can have sex with a horse. Virginia's Cooch, who is running for Governor, went beyond his vaginal probe idea to asking a Federal Court to restore Virginia's laws against oral and anal sex. The Federal Court unanimously turned him down.
North Carolina stepped away from declaring a state religion. 34% of Americans want Christianity to be the national state religion. 42% did not know this was unconstitutional and 40% wanted more mixing of politics and religion.
In that vein ole Frothy Mix Santorum said he was interested in running for President in 2016. Rick Perry also didn't rule it out.
While gay rights are making a surge right now,the patriarchy has to strike back. The Obama Administration has gone to court to stop the Archdiocese of New York from getting internal memos from the executive branch about its policies in Obamacare to cover contraceptives.
North Dakota passed the most restrictive legislation on reproductive rights, then Arkansas wouldn't be outdone, and then Kansas ruled that conception began with fertilization. None of them accepted the McColm doctrine that conception began with ejaculation.
If the women must be hammered, why not African-Americans. Voter ID laws have been passed in the last month in North Carolina, Georgia,Pennsylvania,Wisconsin. By the time we hit 2014 expect a whole to more.
The President released his budget today. For progressives it is a bitter disappointment because he linked Social Security to the CPI, not the regular Cola and proposed cutting back Medicare. He did increase taxation on the healthy and limited 501-Ks with millions in them. The whole idea was to show he could compromise but the GOP has been unwilling to deal.
Which brings me to the actual legacy of President Obama. It is likely he will see comprehensive immigration reform of some sort pass. That's all I expect from Congress this whole term. Hopefully, some gun control. But don't expect that President Obama by the time he leaves office will have completely erased the damage down by the Second Great Depression. It will take at least five more years.
Instead, he is presiding over the cultural transformation of the United States. While he can't get out in front of it, he has nudged the progress along. For all those Americans, mainly Baby Boomers caught up in the 1980s, you will see those years in the rearview mirror. The paradigm has changed. Whatever the Supreme Court rules, same sex marriage is here to stay and will expand into other states. The legalization of marijuana, which the Administration has fought, will continue and grow. The expansion of ethnic minorities in politics will grow and despite voter suppression efforts by the GOP is unstoppable.
Whether the United States can ever deal with the issue of poverty remains to be seen. 97% of all corporations remain in the hands of white males. Even with demographic changes, the Southern states will just double down on the most regressive forms of politics and these practices will make their way into Midwestern states as we have seen in Ohio,Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. The next two elections are the last gasp of the white male hegemony.
President Obama is the personification of the cultural change and sometimes the unwitting accomplice of it. His failure will be seen as not unravelling the national security state which created a stranglehold on our national government. The hunger strikes at Gitmo only show that this facility should have been closed years ago. We have not come to grips with the policy of drone attacks around the world and our civil liberties are still restricted because of the "war on terror". The Fourth Amendment still doesn't exist because of bipartisan actions.
For his faults, the comparison with the Republicans is awesome. The Republicans are now down to the deficit and being on the side of those who kill pre-school kids at Sandy Hill. They can not come to any budget agreement with the President because their whole raison d'être would disappear. Their goal is nothing short of ending the social welfare net for Americans. To no other end, then some ideology, which no longer promises prosperity or economic growth. We haven't had a political party run on nihilism for a long time.
Our short-term future is a hybrid political system where the Republicans will control the House until 2020 and make slight inroads into the Senate, which they control anyway through filibuster. The states will move in totally opposite directions--accelerating progressive changes before the nation does and instituting reactionary positions to thwart change.
Hopefully, there will be enough of the country left after the looting ends.
For the death of Margaret Thatcher, I've been listening to Sinead O'Connor's "Black Boys on Mopeds".
More important deaths occurred in the past week--Virgil Trucks,who had two no-hitters and was the most traded baseball card I ever had, Bob Turley, Yankees' Cy Young Award winner, and Annette Funicello, the original member of the Mickey Mouse Fan Club.
Kobe Bryant passed Wilt Chamberlain on the all-time NBA scorer's list.
The Washington Post proclaimed that the problem with the 5 and 2 Nationals was that they were hitting too many home-runs. Their real problem is that they lack a left-handed reliever and Soriano is giving too many runs in relief.
The New York Times sportswriters were competing with the Post this past week by inserting an AP story of Andy Pettite's win over the Boston Red Sox which neglected to mention that Mariano Rivero picked up his first save since his injury last year.
As of this time yesterday, guns deaths in the United States since the Sandy Hill killings were 3,335. At this rate the number of deaths should surpass the casualties in Iraq by June. The deaths in Iraq took ten years to reach.
This morning Senators Manchin and Toomey reached an agreement on background checks and the Republicans backed away from their threat to filibuster gun violence legislation. None of the 14 Republican Senators who vowed to filibuster would appear on national television to be interviewed.
Restrictions on magazine sizes and assault weapons do not appear likely in the near or distant future.
The Gang of 8 appear to have developed legislation for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Conservative think tanks have now done a 180 and claim that the immigrations are a net economic plus for the economy, reversing nearly ten years of saying the opposite. Think tanks and corporate grass-roots groups have taken to criticizing the Heritage Foundation, who released a new report that says the opposite.
Over half the U.S. Senate now supports same sex marriage. Only two Republican Senators do--Rob Portman and Mark Kirk.
With the movement toward same sex marriage has come the inevitable backlash. Dr. Ben Carson, a new conservative favorite, likened same sex marriage to the Man-Boy Love Association and bestiality. A former chaplain for the Naval Academy said it was the equivalent of sex with a horse. Louie Gohlmert melded gun control with same sex marriage saying that limiting the size of gun magazines is like same sex marriage because there are no real limits and you can have sex with a horse. Virginia's Cooch, who is running for Governor, went beyond his vaginal probe idea to asking a Federal Court to restore Virginia's laws against oral and anal sex. The Federal Court unanimously turned him down.
North Carolina stepped away from declaring a state religion. 34% of Americans want Christianity to be the national state religion. 42% did not know this was unconstitutional and 40% wanted more mixing of politics and religion.
In that vein ole Frothy Mix Santorum said he was interested in running for President in 2016. Rick Perry also didn't rule it out.
While gay rights are making a surge right now,the patriarchy has to strike back. The Obama Administration has gone to court to stop the Archdiocese of New York from getting internal memos from the executive branch about its policies in Obamacare to cover contraceptives.
North Dakota passed the most restrictive legislation on reproductive rights, then Arkansas wouldn't be outdone, and then Kansas ruled that conception began with fertilization. None of them accepted the McColm doctrine that conception began with ejaculation.
If the women must be hammered, why not African-Americans. Voter ID laws have been passed in the last month in North Carolina, Georgia,Pennsylvania,Wisconsin. By the time we hit 2014 expect a whole to more.
The President released his budget today. For progressives it is a bitter disappointment because he linked Social Security to the CPI, not the regular Cola and proposed cutting back Medicare. He did increase taxation on the healthy and limited 501-Ks with millions in them. The whole idea was to show he could compromise but the GOP has been unwilling to deal.
Which brings me to the actual legacy of President Obama. It is likely he will see comprehensive immigration reform of some sort pass. That's all I expect from Congress this whole term. Hopefully, some gun control. But don't expect that President Obama by the time he leaves office will have completely erased the damage down by the Second Great Depression. It will take at least five more years.
Instead, he is presiding over the cultural transformation of the United States. While he can't get out in front of it, he has nudged the progress along. For all those Americans, mainly Baby Boomers caught up in the 1980s, you will see those years in the rearview mirror. The paradigm has changed. Whatever the Supreme Court rules, same sex marriage is here to stay and will expand into other states. The legalization of marijuana, which the Administration has fought, will continue and grow. The expansion of ethnic minorities in politics will grow and despite voter suppression efforts by the GOP is unstoppable.
Whether the United States can ever deal with the issue of poverty remains to be seen. 97% of all corporations remain in the hands of white males. Even with demographic changes, the Southern states will just double down on the most regressive forms of politics and these practices will make their way into Midwestern states as we have seen in Ohio,Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. The next two elections are the last gasp of the white male hegemony.
President Obama is the personification of the cultural change and sometimes the unwitting accomplice of it. His failure will be seen as not unravelling the national security state which created a stranglehold on our national government. The hunger strikes at Gitmo only show that this facility should have been closed years ago. We have not come to grips with the policy of drone attacks around the world and our civil liberties are still restricted because of the "war on terror". The Fourth Amendment still doesn't exist because of bipartisan actions.
For his faults, the comparison with the Republicans is awesome. The Republicans are now down to the deficit and being on the side of those who kill pre-school kids at Sandy Hill. They can not come to any budget agreement with the President because their whole raison d'être would disappear. Their goal is nothing short of ending the social welfare net for Americans. To no other end, then some ideology, which no longer promises prosperity or economic growth. We haven't had a political party run on nihilism for a long time.
Our short-term future is a hybrid political system where the Republicans will control the House until 2020 and make slight inroads into the Senate, which they control anyway through filibuster. The states will move in totally opposite directions--accelerating progressive changes before the nation does and instituting reactionary positions to thwart change.
Hopefully, there will be enough of the country left after the looting ends.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Only Hours Away from Rapture
89 year old retired civil engineer Harold Camping has built a ministry worth over $104 million in assets. His radio station is near the Oakland Airport stuck between an auto shop and a palm reader. While his flock are home praying and waiting for the end, he said he was going to spend today with his wife in the mountains and wait for the end there. Nice idea. And if it doesn't happen, he still has the cash.
The problem seems to be that the end is supposed to start in New Zealand and the media there are reporting no earthquakes, well-nothing much is going on at all. It is New Zealand after all.
When this stuff started hitting the media in force,a scientific blogger wrote how much he enjoyed these end time speculations. He pointed out that the Mayan year 2012, when the world was supposed to end, actually occurred several years ago. He claimed the Mayan calender was geared to Venus and hence did not calibrate to our calender. I have no idea how true this is.
Tim LaHaye of the Left Behind series claims people like Harold Camping give people like him a bad name because he was too specific, unlike LaHaye. Although LaHaye was specific in the old days saying Mikhail Gorbachev was the anti-Christ.
A couple of suggestions are fun. Tell fundamentalists that Rapture happened, sorry they didn't make the grade. Or leave clothing outside fundamentalist churches with little notes saying goodby. A website was created offering to take care of your pets when you are raptured.
But Camping's conceit is relatively harmless unless his parishioners gave him their life savings. Someone who is a menance is anti-gay preacher Bradlee Dean, who for some unexplained reason gave the opening prayer at the Minnesota Legislature. Among his highlights was his accusation that President Obama was not a Christian. Even the Republicans said the prayer sounded like something from Nazi Germany. The Speaker interrupted the session and began it all over again with someone else giving the opening prayer.
Meanwhile President Obama is off to his ancestral homeland of Ireland, where his distant cousin campaigned for him to visit Moneygall,the town of his Irish ancestors.
Before you are raptured, make sure you watch a video of John Lithgow reading the press release from Newt Gingrich's campaign about the attacks on the Newt for his comments on the Paul Ryan Medicare Plan.
Newt hasn't had such a great week. He apologized to Paul Ryan, sucked up to Rush Limbaugh claiming inprobably that he never said those things about the Ryan Plan, even though all of YouTubeLand have his comments for eternity. He sent out an e-mail to everyone whom he could reach saying that people saying these things are the liberal media.
After being blasted by teabaggers for advocating tests for potential voters, he backed away from his statement only to double down on his belief that students and immigrants should take an American history test before they can vote. I seem to remember that immigrants actually do take a test to become a citizen, which is still a requirement for voting. He said these things in Iowa to a wildly applauding audience. He again backed away from his remarks.
Newt refused to answer any questions about he and Callista owing between $250,000 and $500,000 to Tiffany's. He did remind everyone that his campaign only comes around once in a lifetime.
Jon Huntsman obviously is serious about running for President. The reason you know is that he is changing every position he ever had about anything.
Willie Nelson endorsed libertarian Republican candidate Gary Johnson. And then, after a few joints, he decided not to.
Herman Cain, the creator of Godfather's Pizza,announced today he was running for the Republican nomination. I guess he saves Alan Keyes the trouble.
Michelle Bachmann, who grew up in Iowa, senses an opening now that Mike Huckabee has turned down a bid for the nomination. She is going full-tilt boogie into Iowa.
Sarah Palin says she has the fire in her belly and is still considering a run.
Tim Pawlenty officially announce on Monday if he hasn't been raptured. Earlier in the week he was asked why he was running for President. He said it was so he wouldn't stay at home and drink beer. His defenders said this was indicative of his being low-keyed. His detractors said that this was like Roger Mudd's interview with Ted Kennedy when Ted couldn't figure out why he was running.
Mitch Daniels got in the new for walking into a door, requiring several stitches.
Mitt Romney has been up to much. He did say that he favored Paul Ryan's Medicare Plan but, of course, he is filthy rich and doesn't need Medicare. Paul Begala cuts ads against Romney, which are being aired in South Carolina, which are aimed at making the elimination of Medicare a litmus test for all Republican candidates. Begala is a Democrat.
While Benjamin Netanyahu left his meeting with President Obama relieved, that hasn't stopped Orrin Hatch from drafting a Senate resolution opposing President Obama's position on Israel and Palestine. This reminds me of Eric Cantor saying he would protect Netanyahu from Obama, a statement that created several press clarifications.
Gallup reveals for the first time that a majority-- 53%-- of Americans support same sex marriage and 45% oppose. If you want to watch a fascinating discussion, Ted Olson and David Boies spoke at the CATO institute this week on the Proposition 8 case. You can access it on YouTube. It is about an hour discussion on the intricacies of federal marriage laws and their implications for rights.
I second the motion that President Obama should make Elizabeth Warren a recess appointment to the Consumer Protection Agency since both Senate and House Republicans have vowed to block her.
While New York 26 is exciting people because a Democrat could capture a House seat in an historically Republican district in New York state, I wouldn't get thrilled about this. It is true that democrat Kathy Hochul is campaigning against the Paul Ryan plan and that is generating alot of support. But Karl Rove and his billionaire friends have poured buckets of money in the campaign for Jane Corwin. Today Hochul has a 4-pt lead but Corwin is deep pockets herself.
In the funny history department, someone noted that 2012 will resemble 1984 in that the economy will be almost identical with 7.7% unemployment and just recovering from a severe recession with the incumbent sparking intense animosity from the rival party.
Joe Biden is in an undisclosed location trying to work out the deal on raising the debt ceiling. GOP Young Guns claim that not raising it for a while won't hurt but even under their plan--the Ryan budget--the debt ceiling would have to be raised multiple times within a short period to stave off a financial collapse of the country.
So far, no one has been able to tell me a single private health insurance company who will ensure seniors under the Ryan Plan.
Remember America is exceptional even under Harold Camp's vision of today. Over 200 million people will be saved tonight. According to his calculations, Americans will constitute the plurality.
The reader should know I took the Pew survey on political attitudes and I am one of the Disaffected.
The problem seems to be that the end is supposed to start in New Zealand and the media there are reporting no earthquakes, well-nothing much is going on at all. It is New Zealand after all.
When this stuff started hitting the media in force,a scientific blogger wrote how much he enjoyed these end time speculations. He pointed out that the Mayan year 2012, when the world was supposed to end, actually occurred several years ago. He claimed the Mayan calender was geared to Venus and hence did not calibrate to our calender. I have no idea how true this is.
Tim LaHaye of the Left Behind series claims people like Harold Camping give people like him a bad name because he was too specific, unlike LaHaye. Although LaHaye was specific in the old days saying Mikhail Gorbachev was the anti-Christ.
A couple of suggestions are fun. Tell fundamentalists that Rapture happened, sorry they didn't make the grade. Or leave clothing outside fundamentalist churches with little notes saying goodby. A website was created offering to take care of your pets when you are raptured.
But Camping's conceit is relatively harmless unless his parishioners gave him their life savings. Someone who is a menance is anti-gay preacher Bradlee Dean, who for some unexplained reason gave the opening prayer at the Minnesota Legislature. Among his highlights was his accusation that President Obama was not a Christian. Even the Republicans said the prayer sounded like something from Nazi Germany. The Speaker interrupted the session and began it all over again with someone else giving the opening prayer.
Meanwhile President Obama is off to his ancestral homeland of Ireland, where his distant cousin campaigned for him to visit Moneygall,the town of his Irish ancestors.
Before you are raptured, make sure you watch a video of John Lithgow reading the press release from Newt Gingrich's campaign about the attacks on the Newt for his comments on the Paul Ryan Medicare Plan.
Newt hasn't had such a great week. He apologized to Paul Ryan, sucked up to Rush Limbaugh claiming inprobably that he never said those things about the Ryan Plan, even though all of YouTubeLand have his comments for eternity. He sent out an e-mail to everyone whom he could reach saying that people saying these things are the liberal media.
After being blasted by teabaggers for advocating tests for potential voters, he backed away from his statement only to double down on his belief that students and immigrants should take an American history test before they can vote. I seem to remember that immigrants actually do take a test to become a citizen, which is still a requirement for voting. He said these things in Iowa to a wildly applauding audience. He again backed away from his remarks.
Newt refused to answer any questions about he and Callista owing between $250,000 and $500,000 to Tiffany's. He did remind everyone that his campaign only comes around once in a lifetime.
Jon Huntsman obviously is serious about running for President. The reason you know is that he is changing every position he ever had about anything.
Willie Nelson endorsed libertarian Republican candidate Gary Johnson. And then, after a few joints, he decided not to.
Herman Cain, the creator of Godfather's Pizza,announced today he was running for the Republican nomination. I guess he saves Alan Keyes the trouble.
Michelle Bachmann, who grew up in Iowa, senses an opening now that Mike Huckabee has turned down a bid for the nomination. She is going full-tilt boogie into Iowa.
Sarah Palin says she has the fire in her belly and is still considering a run.
Tim Pawlenty officially announce on Monday if he hasn't been raptured. Earlier in the week he was asked why he was running for President. He said it was so he wouldn't stay at home and drink beer. His defenders said this was indicative of his being low-keyed. His detractors said that this was like Roger Mudd's interview with Ted Kennedy when Ted couldn't figure out why he was running.
Mitch Daniels got in the new for walking into a door, requiring several stitches.
Mitt Romney has been up to much. He did say that he favored Paul Ryan's Medicare Plan but, of course, he is filthy rich and doesn't need Medicare. Paul Begala cuts ads against Romney, which are being aired in South Carolina, which are aimed at making the elimination of Medicare a litmus test for all Republican candidates. Begala is a Democrat.
While Benjamin Netanyahu left his meeting with President Obama relieved, that hasn't stopped Orrin Hatch from drafting a Senate resolution opposing President Obama's position on Israel and Palestine. This reminds me of Eric Cantor saying he would protect Netanyahu from Obama, a statement that created several press clarifications.
Gallup reveals for the first time that a majority-- 53%-- of Americans support same sex marriage and 45% oppose. If you want to watch a fascinating discussion, Ted Olson and David Boies spoke at the CATO institute this week on the Proposition 8 case. You can access it on YouTube. It is about an hour discussion on the intricacies of federal marriage laws and their implications for rights.
I second the motion that President Obama should make Elizabeth Warren a recess appointment to the Consumer Protection Agency since both Senate and House Republicans have vowed to block her.
While New York 26 is exciting people because a Democrat could capture a House seat in an historically Republican district in New York state, I wouldn't get thrilled about this. It is true that democrat Kathy Hochul is campaigning against the Paul Ryan plan and that is generating alot of support. But Karl Rove and his billionaire friends have poured buckets of money in the campaign for Jane Corwin. Today Hochul has a 4-pt lead but Corwin is deep pockets herself.
In the funny history department, someone noted that 2012 will resemble 1984 in that the economy will be almost identical with 7.7% unemployment and just recovering from a severe recession with the incumbent sparking intense animosity from the rival party.
Joe Biden is in an undisclosed location trying to work out the deal on raising the debt ceiling. GOP Young Guns claim that not raising it for a while won't hurt but even under their plan--the Ryan budget--the debt ceiling would have to be raised multiple times within a short period to stave off a financial collapse of the country.
So far, no one has been able to tell me a single private health insurance company who will ensure seniors under the Ryan Plan.
Remember America is exceptional even under Harold Camp's vision of today. Over 200 million people will be saved tonight. According to his calculations, Americans will constitute the plurality.
The reader should know I took the Pew survey on political attitudes and I am one of the Disaffected.
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