News Roundup for 5/16/12

Potentially the world's worst lifeguard

-Headline of the Day-
"Poll: Walker Leads Barrett By 6 Points In Wisconsin Recall."

The Wisconsin recall election is just around he corner and Gov. Scott Walker has the lead -- 50%-44%. It's a Marquette University poll, which is pretty solid. "Three polls out in the last few days show a very consistent picture," writes Josh Marshall. "Gov. Scott Walker has a small but solid lead over Democrat Tom Barrett in the Wisconsin recall election. The TPM Poll Average has it at Walker 50.5% to Barrett 44.2%."

But don't worry, the Democratic National Committee is going to help -- yay! According to Buzzfeed, "DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz will visit Wisconsin this month to campaign with Walker's challenger — but there's still no indication that the Wisconsinites can expect more help than that."

Basically, Debbie's going to come to Wisconsin to hold a fundraiser for Democratic challenger Tom Barrett. Which is just real sharp thinking. We've been at this for months -- we're tapped out. We're kind of the ones who need the help here. This is like Sarah McLachlan asking the sad dogs in her sad dogs ad to please help the sad dogs in her sad dogs ad. A little out of state money wouldn't be out of order here. I'm not sure Schultz understands what "help" actually means.

It's a good thing Debbie's not a lifeguard. If she saw someone drowning, she'd just holler, "Swim!" (Talking Points Memo)


-The logic behind licensing-



Don't worry, if that were really true, North Korea would have a rogue gay marriage program. (Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal)


-Bonus HotD-
"The Joke Jimmy Kimmel Didn't Tell."

Kimmel to Howard Stern: "I had some jokes about -- like Rick Santorum. I said something like -- well, I didn't say it, but: Newt Gingrich's campaign is so dead Mitt Romney wants to baptize it and Rick Santorum wants to put it in a jar and show it to his kids." (Political Wire)

Stories to Watch: 5/15/12

The White House threatens to veto a Republican-weakened Violence Against Women Act -- or, as the version would be better named, the "Go Ahead and Slap Around Lesbians and Immigrants Act."


How long before Mitt Romney trots out a few "gay friends" to demonstrate how cool they are with his rabid homophobia?


Michele Bachmann just can't stop lying.


DNC head Debbie Wasserman Schultz announces on Twitter that she's heading off to Wisconsin to "raise money & recruit [volunteers]" for Barrett. Her timeline is immediately overrun with people thinking maybe the DNC should pony up a little money instead. Still, the pressure is on the DNC to get their shit together and they're obviously feeling the heat. Leaving the recall folks to twist in the wind would be a seriously lousy idea, so someone has to save the DNC from themselves here. If you haven't done it already, drop them a line and (politely) request that they stop being so damned stupid.


Also, recall target Scott Walker transferred $60,000 to his legal defense fund from his recall campaign fund. This raises the question: if Walker's not the target of the John Doe investigation, by what legal rationale can he even have such a fund? Wisconsin Democrats want to know. Sure, it's a way to keep the words "Scott Walker" and "legal defense fund" together in headlines -- but that doesn't mean they don't have a point.


This hopeless mess of illogic is what passes for reasoning among the religious right.


Kill the filibuster. Kill it dead. Drive a stake through its heart. Then salt the Earth so that nothing grows on the grave. Democracy requires no less.


Everything Republicans say about taxes, spending, deficits, and Pres. Obama is wrong. Everything.


Pfinally, Pfizer says "Pfuck you!" to Pfolks on Pfacebook (sorry, I couldn't help myself).

Related articles

• Scott Walker recall has Wisconsin Democrats frustrated with lack of national party support
• DNC Hits Romney On Women's Rights: VIDEO
• Who Gives a Shit if Mitt Romney is Nice to People He Already Likes? [Politics]

News Roundup for 7/21/11

Totally not-insane Rep. Allen West greeting visitors to his office

-Headline of the Day-
"West: Wasserman Schultz And Dems Attack Me Because I’m A Black Conservative."

When Allen West let his rage get away from him, it got him into a little hot water. After Debbie Wasserman Schultz said she didn't like the way West voted, West fired off an email that stopped just short of accusing her of being the Whore of Babylon. I guess because he's a thin-skinned prick or something. Really Al, if you want nothing but praise, you really picked the wrong profession.

Anyhoo, West's email struck a lot of people as pretty sexist (how would he have responded if Schultz wrote to tell him he proved he wasn't a man?) and now a bunch of Democratic women are demanding his apology.

Well, that's not going to happen. See, these commie whores -- including this one and this one -- are just being racist. They're mad because a black man had the guts to leave the liberal "21st-century plantation" -- whatever the hell that's supposed to mean (conservatives really seem to like inapt slavery metaphors).

"The thing that really most aggravates me is that there is this double standard, in that the people on the hard left can continue to attack conservatives and especially minority conservatives, and female conservatives," said West. "But yet when all of a sudden you stand up and you say that you will not tolerate this anymore, then they claim to be a victim -- which I find just absolutely laughable."

This strikes me as an odd statement to make while you're playing both the victim and the race cards. (Talking Points Memo)


-Cartoon time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, have you heard about the big drought in Africa? No? There's a reason for that...


Click for animation

The thing about starving people is that, if you ignore them, they really will go away. (MarkFiore.com)


-Headline of the Day-
"Fox Host: Free Birth Control Is Liberal Conspiracy To 'Eradicate The Poor.'"

Kinda, yeah. If people aren't having kids that they can't afford, a lot fewer of them will wind up in poverty.

Explain to me again how that's a bad thing? (ThinkProgress, with video)

Stories to Watch: 4/5/11

Voted today, which is always awesome. Big crowd at the polling place, everyone cheerful, got me my sticker. The last number I heard from my ward was voter #1,054 -- which means turnout is almost certain to reach 50% or higher. Good news for democracy and good news for JoAnne Kloppenburg. Keep your fingers crossed. Now here's the news...


Middle class, playng by the rules, and paying taxes, expecting to get something in return? Then you're a greedy welfare queen who should be ashamed of yourself. The next time you hear a Republican say they're looking out for you, go ahead and laugh long and laugh bitterly.


In related news: Paul Ryan's plan to gut Medicaid hits a little hitch when it's revealed that the program is a lot more popular than anyone had thought.


Debbie Wasserman Schultz is the new DNC chair, a sign that Democrats have no interest in moving further to the right. The old DNC chair, Tim Kaine, will be running for the Virginia senate seat vacated by the retiring Jim Webb.


For someone who sucks at abstinence, Bristol Palin sure made a bundle as a spokesperson for it.


Here's a fun headline: "Michele Bachmann Lies About Her Own Family History To Sound More Iowan."


Finally, the lunatic factory that is Liberty University -- founded by the late, unlamented Jerry Falwell -- received more federal funding last year than NPR. Tell us again how terrible it is for taxpayer money going to support opinions some of us don't agree with, Republicans.