Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad fires a torpedo at a potential Steve King senate campaign

Political Wire: Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) appeared to suggest that Rep. Steve King (R-IA) “either is not running or should not run for the U.S. Senate,” Radio Iowa reports.

Said Branstad: “I really believe that Iowans want somebody that will serve in the Senate that will be an Iowa problem solver, not another congressman. You know congress is a mess. We’ve seen them spend a trillion dollars more than they take in every year and so the Democrats have decided, ‘Well, we’re going to send up another congressman.’ That’s the last thing we need is another congressman in the United States Senate.”

My money’s on Branstad saying King “should not run.” You don’t say that congress critters like Steve King suck and everyone hates them if you’re a big fan of the man. It looks a lot more like he’s trying to sabotage any potential King campaign.

And why wouldn’t he? Steve King is Michele Bachmann in boxer shorts. The guy is rightwing loon and everyone in the GOP with any brains predicts he’d become the next Todd Akin if he ran for Senate. It would most likely be a disaster. He’d blow the seat and embarrass the party at the same time.

It’s not that “the last thing we need is another congressman in the United States Senate,” it’s that the last thing Republicans need is this congressman on the campaign trail, being himself.

[photo by Gage Skidmore]

Winning over women voters: you’re doing it wrong

Raw Story:

A bill introduced by nine Republican state lawmakers in Iowa on Wednesday would define abortion as “murder,” sending doctors and raped women who terminate pregnancies to jail.

State Rep. Tom Shaw says that he authored House File 138 to protect human life, whether “you’re a zygote, an infant, a teenager or an adult.”

The bill defines a “person” as “an individual human being, without regard to age of development, from the moment of conception, when a zygote is formed, until natural death.”

“Murder includes killing another person through any means that terminates the life of the other person including but not limited to the use of abortion-inducing drugs,” the measure states without making any exceptions for rape or incest.

Republican state Rep. Rob Bacon, who is co-sponsoring the bill, told the Ames Tribune that he wanted to “protect the life of the unborn” because “[t]here’s still some of us that believe life begins at conception.”

Remember, Republicans are totally different now, so women are encouraged to flock to the party. How are they different? Well, don’t you worry your pretty little head over that. Just remember that the GOP has a big tent and the only price of admission is a kick in the head — provided you’re not a white male. They still get in for free.

A bad day for Mitt Romney

Associated Press:

Republican Mitt Romney is struggling in the swing state of Iowa at a perilous point: just as voters there start casting early ballots in the presidential race.

President Barack Obama has a clear lead in Iowa opinion polls, helped by the fact that the state’s economy is far more robust than that of other battleground states. The president’s polling edge is so wide, it has prompted grumbling among Iowa Republicans who fault Romney for failing to take advantage of Obama’s weakened standing in the four years since Iowa launched his bid for the White House in 2008.

“There still is time to win, but we are in the fourth quarter,” said Nick Ryan, a veteran Iowa Republican strategist.

That’s a not quite accurate metaphor. According to the report, “A Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist Poll taken last week found Romney trailing Obama by 8 percentage points, a finding that mirrored recent internal polls from Democrats and Republicans alike. The poll also found that just 40% had positive feelings about Romney, down from 43% in May. Conversely, Obama saw his favorability rating improve to 53% from 48% over that same period.”

So Romney’s down 8 and voting is happening right now. Mitt needs to make up a lot of lost ground and every minute, as voters cast their ballots, that ground is becoming more and more unrecoverable, because every time a vote is cast, it represents one more mind that it’s too late to change.

News Roundup for 1/11/12

Rick Perry

-Headline of the Day-
"CNN Apparently Waives Its Own Debate Rules To Let Rick Perry In."

The endless series of GOP debates marches on, this time in South Carolina, and Rick Perry will be there.

Whether he should be there is another question entirely. According to the report, in "CNN’s criteria for inclusion, a candidate must get at least 4th place in either Iowa or New Hampshire, or get 7% support in at least three national Republican or three South Carolina primary polls released in January. The requirements were posted online last Tuesday afternoon, several hours before before the Iowa caucuses began later that night."

The problem: Rick has done almost none of that. "Perry came in fifth place in Iowa, and sixth in New Hampshire," the report says. "And currently, his national and South Carolina poll numbers do not show him meeting that threshold, either."

Worse, the only poll that shows Perry reaching the crucial 7% is from Reuters -- CNN's own polling has Rick at 5% in South Carolina (pdf).

Asked what the hell the deal was, Edie Emery, director of public relations for Turner Broadcasting Systems, said, "Yes, Gov. Perry will be invited to next week’s CNN debate. He has met the criteria."

Fair enough. Except he hasn't. (Talking Points Memo)


-Mittens clarifies-



Surprisingly accurate. (McClatchy)



-Bonus HotD-
"C-SPAN caller asks if 'Romney has a big penis.'"

I think I see what's happening here. The caller overheard a conversation.

Let me straighten this out: what you heard someone say is that Romney is a big dick.

Hope you find this helpful. (Raw Story)

Stories to Watch: 12/28/11

I made a ham and cheese frittata last night and tonight it's grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. Ham is probably my favorite leftover. Now here's the news...


Rick Santorum moves closer to becoming the next GOP fad candidate. Erick-Erick is less than impressed.


In case Rick is the next flavor of the month, let me be the first to remind everyone that he's a clown who tried to claim that we'd found those WMD in Iraq.


This is fun; Newt Gingrich blames his failure to get on the Virginia ballot on "one guy" who turned in about fifteen hundred fraudulent signatures. Gingrich had been paying a bounty for signatures, so he's basically admitting that "free market" incentives encourage corruption.


And it's time once again for reporters to explain how the Iowa caucuses work. Let me save you a little time; they're stupid and practically designed to keep the casual voter out of the primaries.


Rick Perry desperately struggles to be seen as the most acceptably crazy candidate, but no one bites.


A book put out by the Girl Scouts tells kids not to believe everything they hear and to check Snopes.com and Media Matters to see if stuff they find on the internet has been debunked. Needless to say, this is the worst thing ever. Can't have sweet little girls finding out that Fox News is a bullshit factory.


The Obama administration has a disturbing love for the killing machines known as drones.


Finally, even as Hispanics find Obama's deportation record appalling, they figure he beats the alternatives.

Related articles

• New CNN Iowa Poll: Romney Now Leading, Paul Second, Gingrich Nosediving & Santorum (themoderatevoice.com)
• Paul maintains Iowa lead in first post-Christmas poll (thehill.com)
• Iowa GOP to Count Votes at Secret Location (newser.com)
• Perry Sues to Get On Va. Ballot (newser.com)

Stories to Watch: 12/21/11

Pretty much done with my Christmas sourdough pancake project. I still have more to make, but they can wait. I've got to make some for a buddy who's over in Czech and won't be back until after the holidays -- and a batch to make for myself. When you're making everyone else pancakes, you really develop a hankerin' for a stack to call your own. Now here's the news...


Mittens takes up residency in an alternate universe where the crazy-assed stuff they say on rightwing talk radio is true, true, true. It's a tremendous strawman argument where President Obama tries to "create equal outcomes" in an "entitlement society," in which "everyone receives the same or similar rewards, regardless of education, effort, and willingness to take risk." Needless to say, this resembles the things Obama has said and done in absolutely no way. "This is nuts, Glenn Beck–level insane," writes Jonathan Chait.


On the other hand, old Romney habits are hard to break -- even as you're trying to convince GOP voters that you're Herman-Cain-league insane. Mittens just can't bring himself to form an opinion of the House Republicans' payroll tax cut debacle.


Romney's also having trouble agreeing with himself on the issue of the Iraq War.


And on the question of that debacle, Karl Rove agrees with the Wall Street Journal.


If you're trying to make the GOP's position on the payroll tax cut fiasco look good, this is not the way you want to do it.


Ron Paul is now the frontrunner in Iowa. I stand by my assertion that this will be meaningless outside of Iowa.


Wisconsin's own big-bottomed GOP Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner is a jackass.


The EPA sets new limits on mercury emissions from power plants.


Man, is Iowa religious freak Bob Vander Plaats ever fickle.


Finally, this must really steam anti-gay Republicans.

Related articles

• Scott Brown Denounces House Republicans Over Payroll Tax Cut Deal (huffingtonpost.com)
• Republicans Walk Out on Payroll Tax Vote, Cut Off C-SPAN Cameras (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• Tom McMahon: Merry Christmas, Middle Class! House Republicans Just Voted To Raise Your Taxes By $1,000 (huffingtonpost.com)
• WATCH: Maddow Hammers John Boehner And House Republicans (huffingtonpost.com)

Stories to Watch: 12/20/11

Failed to make fudge today. It's like the only thing I have absolutely no talent for cooking. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm done trying. You win fudge. Now here's the news...


Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker doesn't have the guts to put his new first amendment curbs on protests to the test.


Iowa religious nutjob Bob Vander Plaats urged Michele Bachmann to drop out, I guess because she was hurting Rick Santorum's chances. Newsflash for Vander Plaats: Rick Santorum is the one hurting Rick Santorum's chances. Then again Bob and the Family Leader are completely insane.


Today proves that John Boehner isn't blessed with leadership skills. Want a payroll tax cut extension to help you get through the holidays? OK, here's a bust of Winston Churchill. Close enough.


Bloomberg News gives the 1% a chance to tell their side of the story -- a chance they promptly blow by being whiny, bitchy, pissy, and hopelessly out of touch. In short, every bit the fat-cat stereotype you envision when you think of them. I'll bet they were chomping on cigars. Check out Felix Salmon's take on the piece.


Tim Tebow's message for gay teens considering suicide; it does not get better. Like 99% of hardcore evangelicals, Tebow is an ass.


Rocker Jon Bon Jovi shares a trait with Schrödinger's cat; he is both dead and alive.


Finally, this is a real headline: "Arrested man dies from eating cocaine hidden in brother’s butt." Happy Holidays, everyone!

Related articles

• One Iowa: Vander Plaats Out of Touch with Iowa Voters (bilerico.com)
• Rick Santorum Endorsed by Fundamentalist Birther Vander Plaats (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• Anti-Gay Marriage Leaders Endorse Rick Santorum (thinkprogress.org)
• Iowa's Leading Anti-Gay, 'Pro-Family' Activist Endorses Rick Santorum: VIDEO (towleroad.com)

Stories to Watch: 12/13/11

Still waiting for snow here. Things are getting desperate. Now here's the news...


Lowe's decision to pull their ads from All-American Muslim is quickly turning into a PR disaster. I have to admit some personal fascination with this story. Somewhere, some Lowe's suit or roomful of suits said, "Yup, this is a good idea!" Who could possibly have come to that conclusion? That's what fascinates me. Whenever I see a story about some crazy thing someone has done, I always want to ask them, "At what point did any of this seem like a good idea?" Not in a smart-alecky way, but because I really want to know -- what makes obviously lousy ideas seem rational?


Does a strong showing in Iowa polling mean that it's Ron Paul's turn to be the not-Romney? I kind of doubt it. Paul's made a huge effort to get votes in Iowa and I think it's paying off. According to ABC News, Paul's "ground game hasn’t gone unnoticed by Iowa’s Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, who called Paul’s operation the best of any of the Republican candidates in the state." Outside Iowa, Gingrich's lead widens.


Donald Trump pulls out of moderating the all but dead Newsmax debate. In doing so, he manages to blame the GOP candidates and basically says they're afraid of him. What a massive ego.


Gallup polling indicates some trouble for Obama in swing states, but things are still pretty unpredictable right now. I think this is a pretty good, if brief, analysis.


Harry Reid hopes to head off GOP gamesmanship on a payroll tax-cut extension.


The National Transportation Safety Board calls for a national ban on the use of cell phones while driving. I'm waiting for some wingnut blogger to show how this is exactly like Nazi Germany.


James Murdoch knew phone hacking was going on.


Finally, Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS PAC is a bullshit factory. Try to act surprised.

Related articles

• Trump Steps Down As Moderator Of Ridiculed Debate (huffingtonpost.com)
• Paul Surges in Iowa (politicalwire.com)
• Poll: Newt Gingrich Continues to Lead GOP Field in Iowa (usnews.com)
• Simmons Buys Ads for 'All-American Muslim' (theroot.com)

News Roundup for 9/30/11

One of the many once-new things that have failed to go away

-Headline of the Day-
"Newt Gingrich: Marriage Equality 'Is A Temporary Aberration That Will Dissipate.'"

Newt Gingrich's strategy for staying relevant to the 2012 Republican Primary seems to involve saying increasingly stupid things. Of course, if that worked we'd still be talking about Michele Bachmann.

Anyway, Newt's breaking new ground in ways to protect marriage from the Homosexual Menace -- ignore gay marriage and it'll go away.

"I believe that marriage is between a man and woman," Gingrich said in Iowa today. "It has been for all of recorded history and I think this is a temporary aberration that will dissipate. I think that it is just fundamentally goes against everything we know."

The problem here is that you can apply this reasoning to a whole bunch of stuff that hasn't gone away -- butt floss swimsuits, hula hoops, and democracy are a few that leap immediately to mind.

"Given his own marital history," the report opines, "Gingrich's belief in the solvent nature of same-sex marriage is mildly amusing."

Wait, "mildly amusing?" It'e freakin' hilarious. (ThinkProgress)


-Cartoon time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, you know how we used to turn to FEMA in a natinal emergency? Well, that's all changed! Now we turn to...


Click for animation

I'll bet we could blow people up in another country without too much bother, though. (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"Huckabee looks again at Republican presidential bid."

Long story short, a group of "Republican and conservative activists" are saying, "Anyone but this bunch of clowns who are already running!" (Reuters)

News Roundup for 8/31/11

Bitter rivalry

-Headline of the Day-
"Sarah Palin Appearance at Tea Party Rally in Iowa 'No Longer Confirmed.'"

There was going to be a big tea party rally in Iowa Saturday. Or maybe there isn't. Who even knows?

See, here's what happened: Sarah Palin was going to show up for this thing, but then she found out Christine O'Donnell was going to be there too. Christine's selling this big important book nobody wants, so she's like all over the place lately. So Sarah sees that Christine's on the bill and she's all like, "No way! She's younger and prettier and -- let's face it -- crazier than I am! No way am I going to get upstaged by that witch!"

Which is totally unfair, because Christine is famously not a witch.

Anyway the 'baggers had to boot Christine or Sarah wasn't going to show. That was final. So they did. Or maybe they didn't. It's all very confusing. Sarah's saying that the organizers have lied to her. I guess she found out that Christine was going to pop out of a cake and surprise everyone with sparklers or something while Sarah did her big dance routine. I'm guessing. I don't have the details. Just piecing stuff together from the info I have, like Sherlock Holmes.

Of course, Sarah cancelled. And then she didn't cancel. And then her appearance was "on hold." She might even throw together a different shindig someplace else just to show up that snotty little witch. Who knows? It's all very indefinite and up in the air and crazy right now. And the 'bagger group, Tea Party of America, is already out $100,000 whether anything happens or not.

You know, it's organizational skills like this that got us the S&P downgrade. These people couldn't put together a peanut butter sandwich without incurring a death toll. (Wall Street Journal)


-Doh!-
GOP frontrunners as characters from The Simpsons.


Click to embiggen

Amazingly accurate. (Reddit)


-Bonus HotD-
"Dim Michele Bachmann Wants To Drill Everglades For Oil That Isn't There."

That's right, Shelly's energy policy is just poke holes wherever you think there might be oil and screw those crazy geologists who want to dictate to Everyday Americans where there is or isn't oil. Science is our enemy! (Wonkette)

News Roundup for 8/29/11

Texas Governor Rick Perry

-Headline of the Day-
"Rick Perry: Social Security Is, In Fact, A Ponzi Scheme."

"Sometimes campaign spin works to distance a candidate from his controversial past statements," writes TPM's Evan McMorris-Santoro. "And sometimes the candidate comes back and makes a hash of all the work his staff has done for him."

Guess which one this story is about? That's candidate extracts foot from mouth, only to immediately jam it back in there. See, Rick Perry continues to try to have his cake and eat it too, with alternating attacks and defenses of Social Security. First it was unconstitutional, then it wasn't, now it's a scam. Tomorrow, it probably won't be. It all depends on who he's talking to, I guess. And if he remembers which stance he's supposed to be taking.

"It is a Ponzi scheme for these young people," he told an audience in Iowa, "The idea that they're working and paying into Social Security today, that the current program is going to be there for them, is a lie. It is a monstrous lie on this generation, and we can't do that to them."

Does that argument sound familiar? It should; every rightwing nut has been making that argument since SS began in 1935. For the record, exactly zero of them have been right. But hey, what's a perfect historical record mean to a Republican?

Not a lot, that's what. (Talking Points Memo)


-Hurricane Dimwit-
Can we start calling Republicans soft on national defense now?


Click to embiggen

Because they are. (McClatchy)


-Bonus HotD-
"Is Rick Perry dumb?"

Yes. Next question, please. (Politico)

News Roundup for 8/10/11

Ron Paul supporters arrive in Iowa

-Headline of the Day-
"Ron Paul busing 30 family members in to Iowa."

One of the more entertaining aspects of watching Paulistas is their habit of creating realities that they later celebrate. You'll check in on a messageboard or a comment thread on Reddit and you'll see a link to an online poll or something about who's gonna win what race in what state sometime maybe. All the Paulistas will rush off to totally skew the poll in their direction, then they'll later point to the poll as proof that RON PAUL IS DEFINITELY GONNA WIN!! They have as good a grasp on the concepts of logic, evidence, and cause and effect as their creationist, global-warming-denier hero. Seriously, when you look at it objectively [ED: get it?], it's freakin' hilarious.

Anyway, the latest adventure in manipulating reality so that RON PAUL IS DEFINITELY GONNA WIN comes from the Great Man Himself, Ron Paul. In order to make sure that he comes out near the top in the Iowa straw poll, Ron's packing up 30 "sons, daughters, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and more" to the Hawkeye State to wander around "wearing their Ron Paul T-shirts" and "their Ron Paul dresses" and probably hats and pants and buttons and tattoos on their foreheads. Then all the Iowans are going to look around and say, "Wow, this Ron Paul guy is just super-popular -- I'm gonna hop on that bandwagon! All these people who coincidentally look like Ron Paul can't be wrong!"

And then Paul wins the Iowa straw poll, which automatically makes him the President of the United States. After that, we all live in a Libertarian paradise -- like Somalia.

You ever hear that phrase, "That's so crazy it just might work?"

Yeah, that's always bullshit. (Politico)


-Speaking of logic and evidence-
Some miracles just cannot be explained.


Click to embiggen

Clearly, this young man is a prophet. (SMBC)


-Bonus HotD-
"Wis. Dems: The Recalls Were A Win For Us!"

Wisconsin dem chairman Mike Tate: "[How can Walker] claim this is a real victory for him and his agenda, when his party lost two senators on his watch to recall elections? How can that be a win for Scott Walker when he lost two seats?"

Math always seems to hate Republicans as much as Republicans hate math. (Talking Points Memo)

Stories to Watch: 7/27/11

A lot of things will happen if the US loses our AAA credit rating. None of them are good.


House GOP compare themselves to a street gang beating people up. Not the best PR move ever.


Cranky old Grampa McCain tells the right kids to get off his lawn for once. He rails against the Tea Party and GOP leadership on the Senate floor -- which is good -- but in the process unfairly maligns hobbits.


Boehner responds all the "rudderless House Republicans" headlines by saying that a lot of Tea Party freshmen want to force a default. Is Boehner really worried about this or is he just using crazy 'baggers to play "good cop/bad cop?" I honestly don't know.


16th minute alert: Tea Party rally-goers answer the call to show grassroots opposition to any plan that falls short of 'bagger purity. How did that go? Not well. "At the start of the rally, which was organized by the American Grassroots Coalition and Tea Party Express, there were roughly 15 attendees waiting to hear... conservative lawmakers speak," Politico reports. "By the time the senators had spoken there were still fewer than 50 tea partiers in attendance."


Meanwhile, Sarah Palin is headlining a Tea Party event in Iowa. If you figure the DCs rally and the attendance of Palin's movie, expect upwards of dozens to attend.


Although the president has ruled it out, House dems call on Obama to invoke the 14th amendment and raise the debt limit on his own.


Finally, think you aren't going to get enough drama, histrionics, and stupidity out of the debt limit debate? Cheer up, the gas tax renewal is right around the corner... So there's a another chance for Republicans to run up the deficit, so they can complain about it later.

Related articles

• Palin: American Ideals Are 'Foreign To Our President' Because Of 'His Background' (kaystreet.wordpress.com)
• Tea baggers confuse leadership with ideological purity (kansasreflections.wordpress.com)
• Republican debt plan struggles in House - Los Angeles Times (news.google.com)
• Quotes of the Day: Tea Party Members of Congress and the Looming Debt Ceiling Limit Default (themoderatevoice.com)

Stories to Watch: 6/5/11

Beautiful weekend. Finally. Now here's the news...


If Somolia is the nation that most resembles Libertarian Utopia, what's the Republican paradise?Nicholas Kristof argues that it's Pakistan -- pretty convincingly.


Sarah Palin demonstrates how Republicans alternate praising "American exceptionalism" and running the country down.


Remember how the GOP was going "repeal and replace" healthcare reform? Yeah, they're still working on that "replace" part.


Climate scientists in Australia face death threats.


How shitty can religious extremists be? This shitty: Georgia Republicans would not only overturn Roe v. Wade, but would require miscarriages to be investigated as possible crimes.


For all the talk about Republicans and Iowa, polling shows that any Republican would lose the state to Obama in the general -- by a wide margin.


Finally, Wisconsin progressives set up a "Walkerville" at the state capitol to protest what can only be described as a corrupt budget.

Related articles

• Howard Dean: Don't Get Too Cocky, Even Sarah Palin Could Beat Obama With A Weak Economy (crooksandliars.com)
• Tea Party Utopia Already Exists - and It's Pakistan (newser.com)
• Who thinks there's a weak Republican field? Republicans do (dailykos.com)
• Howard Dean: Sarah Palin Could Beat Obama In 2012 (alan.com)