Although this post isn't about it (this one is), I have been positively engrossed in reading Barton Gellman's gripping book on the Cheney (vice) presidency, Angler. There are many conclusions one can draw from his writing but one is surely that criminals-- like Cheney and his gang of accomplices-- should never be allowed to evade justice. I'll cover that in upcoming posts.
Sunday evening there was an itsy-bitsy rumor of a teensy-weensy Revolt of the Moderates. It fizzled into Peter King, Mario Diaz-Balart and Charlie Dent, 3 very electorally vulnerable Obama-district Republicans, joining 8 crackpot wing nuts to oppose Boehner's latest shut-down-the-government move. They needed 17 votes; King bragged he had 30.
And it's not just Maddow who is pointing out that this wasn't just a bunch of random berserk teabaggers causing this. This is official, well-planned out Republican Party strategy, as Jonathan Chait explained to New York magazine readers yesterday.
Martin County won't care... They love Rand Paul there anywayRepublicans just can't help themselves when it comes to their latest bout of nihilism-- the fake battle to "defund" the Affordable Care Act and deny health insurance to millions of Americans. It's not just their instinctual hatred for minorities and poor people. It's a business model.
In a comprehensive new study of the state of women in America, the Center for American Progress gets into great depth about how women are faring in terms of economic security, leadership and health. The differences between the states are startling.
Disasters are good for the media. Disasters drive up ratings and allow increases in ad rates. And in the world of professional fundraisers... there's gold in them thar hills-- lots of it. Yesterday one wag tweeted that a GOP House leadership aide, presumably someone from Cantor's office, accused unhinged Texas Senator Ted Cruz of being the head of a left-wing cabal to destroy the Republican Party from within. Karl Rove may be thinking along the same lines!
Remember when Wisconsin was the model state for the GOP's jihad against democracy? Things have calmed down there a bit. And North Carolina has taken over the spotlight entirely. But wherever the cloud is darkest, there is always the most room for rays of sunshine. Our old friend Cecil Bothwell is certainly a bright ray of sunshine in the Carolina gloom right now. The Asheville City Councilmember was voted first place “Best Local Politician” by city voters in the annual Mountain Xpress “Best of WNC” poll-- for the fourth year in a row.
On April 29, 2009, the House passed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, 249-175, 18 Republican abandoning their hate-filled and bigoted leaders, crossing the aisle and voting with the Democrats. Boehner, Cantor, Ryan and McCarthy were against the bill and they had support from 17 of the most racist and conservative Democrats in the House:
Barney Frank retired from Congress last year. Obama picked a series of crooked Wall Street operators for positions he should have tried filling with brilliant and proven tribunes of the public like Barney and Brad Miller (D-NC), who also resigned last year. I'm not certain what Brad is up to now but Barney has certainly not faded away. Having been for so many years the most noteworthy openly gay Member of Congress, media turned to him in droves for comments about the grudging and narrow Supreme Court ruling that struck down DOMA and kind of struck down California's hateful Prop 8.
