Stories to Watch: 3/15/11

Dave Weigel identifies a GOP problem for 2012: Republican governors suck and there's more than one state eager to vote Democrat to either get rid of them or hamstring their agendas.


After (actually, during) the Fukushima nuclear incident, the New York Times gets behind nuclear power. We just gotta go the extra mile to make sure it's safe, they argue. In case you missed it, here's what I think of that: join us in the real world, NYT editorial board.


Washington Post has a good visual blow-by-blow of the incident in Japan.


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Yesterday, Wispolitics.com got hold of an email from Wisconsin state Senate majority leader Scott Fitzgerald informing Senate Republicans that the Democrats were "still in contempt of the Senate" and, "when taking roll call votes on amendments and bills during executive sessions, Senate Democrats’ votes will not be reflected in the Records of Committee Proceedings or the Senate Journal."

Apparently, once that got out, stuff really hit the fan. Now Fitz is saying that he's dropping the whole contempt thing, Senate Democrats can have real votes, and can't everyone just put this little unpleasantness behind them?

Question for Fitzgerald; did you honestly believe we weren't watching?


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Shelly Bachmann gets mad because people expect a serious presidential candidate to, like, know stuff. Oooh, the media can be so unfair!


People don't want a government shutdown and would blame Republicans if it happened, polling shows. The Tea Party response? "Damn the torpedoes! Americans want a shutdown!" That ought to work out well for them.


Finally, Mainer Stephen King lets his politics out of the box. He's called Republican Govs. Walker (WI), Scott (FL), and LePage (ME) stooges, saying, "Larry, Curly and Moe. That's what we've got here." Now he's said that LePage is a "stone brain." Don't know if that's going to change anyone's mind, but it's fun and I like it.

Stories to Watch: 3/5/11

Remember that Wisconsin lawmaker who was tackled by cops at the Capitol Thursday? Rep. Nick Milroy doesn't blame the cops, he blames Gov. Scott Walker, who he says has been "a leader that creates chaos in the state."

"It's very disturbing that Scott Walker thinks that the Capitol is some sort of palace and he has his own palace guards guarding every entrance," he says, echoing Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney.


Hey, wanna read something ridiculous?


Jim DeMint decides that Senate Republicans haven't been nearly crazy enough lately; vows to drag the party back to teabagger fantasyland. Here's a fun game: use your browser to run a text search for the word "jobs" in that article. Yeah, Jimmy's really got his finger on the pulse of the nation here.


A lawmaker in Alabama wants his state to join others in the fight against the use of sharia law by state courts. There's a twist to this one; Sen. Gerald Allen admits that this has never happened. But he says it's gonna, you just wait and see.


Kevin Drum points out that the influence of the Tea Party on elections has been modest, at best.


An anti-Sharia counter-rally turns ridiculous(er) when the pro-Sharia crazies don't show up. But that doesn't stop the stood-up and outraged patriots from making complete jackasses of themselves anyway. Here's hoping this is a trend -- nutjob vs. nutjob and the rest of us get left out of it.


Finally, the New York Times helps David Koch do a little image repair. It actually seems to be part of a media tour, because Koch also told a Boston Globe reporter he has "no relationship with the governor and didn't directly support him."

Of course you didn't "directly support" him -- that's what Americans for Prosperity is for. They directly support Walker. Plausible deniability -- it's what astroturf organizations are all about.

The big takeaway here; Koch feels politically damaged, because he's practically become a brand name for shady, back-room deals and corporate ownership of elected politicians. You don't try to fix what you think ain't broke.