Stories to Watch: 4/27/12

Friday. Got nothing planned but a brain on standby and a TV. Now here's the news...


Breitbart may be dead, but his love of total bullshit lives on.


Is every, single criticism Republican criticism of the Obama 2012 campaign hypocritical? When you break them down one by one, it sure looks that way.


Mitt Romney's advice for for students who want to make it in the world: get yourself some rich parents.


Ill-advised austerity measures slow the economy down a bit. But the good news is that consumer demand has kept us out of the worst of it.


Grover Norquist urges (nay, demands) that Republicans become politically suicidal on student loans.


No, both sides aren't equally to blame. Not even close.


Finally, austerity continues to be boneheaded.

Related articles

• The GOP's Preteen Philosophy: "Cut Taxes, Regardless Of The Question" (duanegraham.wordpress.com)
• Blame Budget Austerity for Poor GDP Growth (usnews.com)
• 'Fairy Tale' of Austerity Is Finally Dead (newser.com)
• Conservative Policies Fail In U.K. (lezgetreal.com)

Stories to Watch: 3/11/11

Whoops! Running late. So you get the headlines after dinner. Hope it was good. Now here's the news...


Radiation from an earthquake-damaged nuke plant in Japan reached levels "1,000 times normal," according to reports. The same report tells us that the government issued "an unprecedented order" to release pressure -- and one assumes radiation -- from the plant. As evidence of how serious this is, the government ordered a mass evacuation of the area. Reuters reports that coolant from the US was not delivered, presumably because of the order to open the valve. In other words, it seems it would've come too late.


A spokesperson for the State Department calls the treatment of detained leaker Bradley Manning "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid." Amen.


Five terrorists have been arrested in Alaska for plotting to kidnap and kill state troopers and a judge. Note to Rep. Peter King -- they aren't Muslim, they're right wing nutjobs.


Scott Walker signs his union-buster into law, while a judge refuses to issue a temporary restraining order against it. However, it seems a lawsuit against the law will go forward. Remember Wisconsin people, vote for JoAnne Kloppenburg on April 5. This fight is going to the courts.


In related news, some Walker backers are losing their shirts. Great investment there, guys.


President Obama defends NPR and PBS from pointless, partisan cuts.


Finally, new polling shows Independents turning all big gummint socialist.

News Roundup for 2/8/11

GOP motto

-Headline of the day-
"CNN Poll: Republicans want winner over ideology in 2012."

Turns out that ideological purity isn't super-important to the teabagging right. Who knew? What they want is someone who can win, because Barack HUSSEIN Obama is the worst president ever and anything would be better than that commie!

At least, that's what Republican respondents told survey takers for a CNN poll. According to the report, "nearly seven out of ten Republicans say they would prefer a GOP presidential nominee who can top Obama in the next election, with 29 percent saying a nominee who agrees with them on every issue that matters the most is more important."

Republicans being open minded! It's a miracle!

Except, they aren't. When asked who they'd support for president, the three top vote-getters were Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, and Mittens Romney.

You know, real middle-of-the-road types. (CNN)


-Yeah, is this the number for tech support?-
Came across this on reddit today:


Click for full image

Sums everything up nicely, I think. (Reddit)


-Bonus HotD-
"Rep. Posey Can't Say If He Takes Govt. Health Care Because He Doesn't 'Know' If He's 'A Federal Employee'

So, not only doesn't Bill Posey know that, yes, he's a fed employee, but he doesn't know whether or not he has health insurance.

Good job, voters of Florida's 15th district. You really picked a winner here. (ThinkProgress, with video)

News Roundup for 1/27/11

Future home of Sens. Vitter and Paul

-Headline of the day-
"Rand Paul, David Vitter join forces to violate Constitution."

According to the report, "Freshman Tea Party pseudo-libertarian Sen. Rand Paul and Louisiana embarrassment David Vitter are introducing legislation that will end birthright citizenship. While birthright citizenship stems directly from the 14th Amendment, which means that banning it would require a constitutional amendment, Vitter and Paul have figured out a loophole: Their bill claims that the 14th Amendment doesn't mean what it says. Brilliant!"

While Randy and Dave say they "do not believe that the 14th Amendment confers birthright citizenship to the children of illegal aliens," the amendment itself says, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." So, yeah, that's exactly what it does. Sorry guys.

So, basically, the idea is to define the Fourth Amendment for the Supreme Court, so they can't say it means what it says. Do I need to point out that this is stupid and would never work in a million years?

I mean, as long as we're writing laws that hinge on deliberately misunderstanding what the Constitution clearly states, why don't we write one that defines the Third Amendment guarantee that you won't be required to house soldiers as really meaning that David Vitter and Rand Paul have to be on display in a cage at the National Zoo?

And Dave and Randy wouldn't be able to complain, because it says so right there in the Constitution. What, do they hate America? (War Room)


-Cartoon time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, do you want to go to a magical place? How about...

Click for animation

AT&T's real boy now! (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"'Tea Party News Brief': The New News Network For the Insane."

I can't do better than Wonkette, who say the internet news outlet was necessary, because "Fox News seemed suspiciously lucid and organized." (Wonkette)