Maryland

Hate by state, Grim Sleeper and Celestial cults + this day in history w/Scientology's first church and our song of the day by Lake Street Dive on your Morning Monarchy for February 18, 2016.

Yesterday the House passed Lamar Smith's Scientific Research in the National Interest Act (H.R. 3293) 236-178, all but 7 Democrats voting NO and all but 4 Republicans voted YES. Donna Edwards wrote an amendment that was meant to allow scientific research about the national epidemic of gun violence and it was brought to the floor as the Democrats' Motion to Recommit.

-by Jeffrey HearnKathleen Matthews has had to face questions regarding her true political identity since day one of her campaign for the open congressional seat in Maryland's Eighth District.

In the last couple of days Republicans Reid Ribble or Wisconsin and Stephen Fincher of Tennessee have announced they won't be running for reelection. No loss-- in either case-- although, the corrupt, incompetent, basically moribund DCCC has no candidates in either district. For more interesting was an announcement from a far more accomplished congressman, Elijah Cummings (D-MD), filed to run again which is a big deal because it was thought he might run for the U.S.

Wednesday the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Fisher v. the University of Texas at Austin, a case challenging the right of state universities to use race-based affirmative action in their admissions policies. The most right-wing of the Justices, Antonin Scalia-- who will be 80 in March and has increasingly been having episodes of senility-- launched into a racist rant that was more in line with certain thinking back in the 1930s when he was growing up.

Chris Van Hollen, top Dem on the Budget Committee-- as slimy as any RepublicanAs you may have seen yesterday, I was going through the campaign contributions of the Members of Congress Wall Street likes best.

Bill Maher has told people that this Alan Grayson response to GOP hacks Nicolle Wallace and P.J. O'Rourke is the only instance of his Real Time audience ever giving one of his guests a standing ovation. And now there's a pretty good song based on it! Not a song, though, that the Senator from Wall Street, Chuck Schumer ($23,059,037), is likely to play at the next fundraising event he or one of his allies throws for Wall Street's pick for the open Florida senate seat, Patrick Murphy ($2,260,848). What are those number amounts next to their names?

Sunday is the last day of our Blue America giveaway for the rare and collectible RIAA-certified Steely Dan platinum award. We want very much to make sure that when Donna Edwards leaves her House seat-- MD-04, primarily DC suburbs in Prince George's County-- for the Senate, her successor is another committed and capable progressive.

Ted Cruz and his fascist-oriented wing of the Republican Party are still determined to shut down the government again, despite the overwhelming majority of Americans opposing it. The Americans who support the idea are in the backward, mostly Confederate districts represented by these ass-clowns. They haven't done it yet, and McConnell is ignoring their bellowing, so it's something that may be put off... till right before Christmas time! Fortunately, Democrats are pretty united against the crackpot scheme and Cruz's infantile blackmail strategy.

Walls. Wasn’t the Republican hero Ronald Reagan famous for tearing down walls? Now another famous Republican would like to build his version of the Great Wall of China on America’s southern border. Competing for the spotlight and citing "legitimate concerns" about security at the Canadian border, Wisconsin’s Scott Walker, before cutting and running, said he'd consider another wall up north.