Stories to Watch: 5/9/12

Barack Obama's marriage position is sucking all the air out of newsrooms, so this one will be brief and marriage-heavy. Now here's the news...


After President Obama comes out in favor of same sex marriage, the religious right warns that America is doomed -- DOOMED!


Meanwhile, Mittens responds with his usual degree of political courage. Santorum is predictably a dick about it. And for the wingnut blogosphere it's -- do I really have to say it? -- absolutely, positively the worst thing ever!


More ugly reactions.


And if all that hate isn't enough for you, how about white supremacists planning a race war?


We haven't forgotten about how awful a corporate citizen Bank of America has become.


There's a Republican who supports Planned Parenthood. Just the one, sure, but you've got to start someplace.


Finally, in the upcoming recall election, Gov. Walker's most dangerous enemy isn't Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett or labor unions, it's his own record.

Related articles

• Obama Comes Out for Gay Marriage -- Finally
• Obama now backs gay marriage
• Gay Republicans Attack Obama For Announcing Same-Sex Marriage Support

Stories to Watch: 3/14/12

The weather is unseasonable, I've got some brats, and I'm grilling. Now here's the news...


Dueling incompetences: Rick Santorum didn't get his paperwork in on time and it could've cost him delegates in Illinois before a single vote was cast. But never mind; Team Romney failed to challenge, so the race is now competitive.


You'd think Wisconsin Republicans would be doing the very least they could to piss off voters ahead of the recall elections -- but you'd be wrong.


Even roughly one third of Republicans think Rush Limbaugh should be canned.


Breitbart's clown show desperately struggles to remain relevant. And fails.


Harry Reid scores a win against judicial obstructionism.


If Santorum can stay in until April 24, he's got a big win coming.


Although, that'll be hard if Rick keeps being such an incredible asshole.


The all but deceased Keyston XL pipeline would be more trouble than it's worth.


Finally, House Republicans' word ain't worth shit.

Related articles

• BLOCKADE: The GOP's Unending Effort to Block Obama's Nominees (ynative77.wordpress.com)
• After Wisconsin Voters Revolt Against GOP Lawmakers, GOP Lawmakers Approve Amendment Preventing Recall Elections (thinkprogress.org)
• Remember to Pray to Limbaugh Five Times a Day (thedailybeast.com)
• Recall elections against four Wisconsin Republican state senators to go forward (dailykos.com)

News Roundup for 2/15/12

Not Scott Walker's friend

-Headline of the Day-
"Wisconsin Gov. Walker seeks 2 more weeks to review signatures on recall petitions."

The roundup is back! Yay!

And we kick off the festivities with a fun story about embattled Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and his struggles with math.

OK, so here's the deal: Scott Walker sucks, right? So a bunch of people got together to kick him out of office and got a million signatures to put him up for a recall election (full disclosure: I'm one of that bunch). That's about twice as many as the law requires. You with me so far here?

Scooter doesn't want to be recalled. So he's filed suit in court to get more time to review all these crazy signatures.

"The time needed to search for duplicates, as well as to provide a factual basis for objections to more than 100,000 signatures, cannot be met within the existing time limits," Walker said in his filing.

100,000 vs half a million. You see the problem here, right? He's pretty much doomed on that count. He would need to throw out more than half a million signatures -- better than 5 times the amount he's contesting -- to stop the recall election.

What Scooter's hoping to do is delay the recall another two weeks. Why? Because of a loophole that allows him unlimited fundraising until the recall. He actually has no hope at all of stopping the recall election from happening -- his 100,000 "objectionable" signatures just aren't even close to enough. He just wants more time to rake in big out-of-state money, while complaining that he's the victim of big out-of-state money.

And here I thought Republicans were against frivolous lawsuits. (Associated Press)


-Cartoon time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, want a surefire way to fight terrorism? Then you need...


Click for animation

We used to do this with cruise missiles and that worked out just great. This will be even better. Technology marches on! (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"Who's Going to Die on 'Community.'"

According to the report, "Joel McHale's confirmed that, whenever Community comes back, 'someone you've seen a lot' will die in the show."

My carefully considered response: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Unless it's Starburns. He's a good character, but he doesn't do much. I could handle that.

Sorry Starburns. Moral Orel was great and all, but TV is a harsh business. (ThinkProgress)

Stories to Watch: 8/9/11

It's really hard to type with all your fingers crossed, but I'm managing OK. Now here's the news...


Wisconsin's having our recalls and the thing that sucks is that there's almost literally nothing to report right now. Turnout seems to be high and that's about the size of it. I'll have more when I know more and will share it here.


A new CNN poll finds the Republican Party taking a nosedive. Only 33% approve of the party, down eight from 41% last month. Democrats are up a bit by two at 47% and the public is evenly divided on them with 47% disapproving. Most interestingly, only 41% believe that their personal House member should be reelected -- the first time in CNN's polling history that number has fallen below 50%. Bad news for the party that holds the majority in that chamber. And, as always, people are more convinced that everyone else's rep is the big problem; "the poll indicates only a quarter of the public says most members of Congress deserve to be reelected." This is one big reason why even crappy incumbents get reelected.


In somewhat related news, Texas Republican Rep. Michael Burgess thinks we ought to impeach Obama. The "High Crime and Misdemeanor" Burgess believes the President is guilty of? "Pushing his agenda." Way to ride that wave of GOP popularity into 2012, guys. Keep up the good work.


A plane buzzed S&P HQ today with a banner that read, "Thanks for the downgrade, you should all be fired." I would've just went with "YOU SUCK!" because it's important to be concise.


A very excellent take on the London riots. Today's must-read.


Shelly Bachmann is way too into institutional slavery.


The Dow is back up to 430 -- still way short of making up for lost ground.


Finally, I've been dying to write this headline for a while now: "Obama says it's gloves off with Mittens." Man, that was fun.

Related articles

• Tea Party Wants To Impeach Obama, GOP Congressman Agrees (huffingtonpost.com)
• Poll: 24% say most members of Congress deserve reelection (thehill.com)
• Poll: Dems up, GOP down, tea party out (politico.com)
• New wave of Wisconsin recall elections are here (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)

Stories to Watch: 7/20/11

Hot. I left some pig iron laying out in the backyard and it melted. True story. Now here's the news...


Even Eric Cantor's wealthy donors think the rich should pay more in taxes. Meanwhile, the forecast for a debt limit deal in time gets very, very cloudy.


After holding out for a "grand bargain," the White House now says it's open to a short-term debt deal to avoid default.


Sen. Tom Harkin dares state the obvious; "One of our two parties has morphed into kind of a cult driven by a singular fixation and obsession: preserving tax breaks for the wealthy at all costs."


Al Franken nails Focus on the Family to the wall during a Senate hearing on the Defense Of Marriage Act. Fact-based governance -- what a concept.


Tim Pawlenty makes it pretty obvious he was the one who dropped the Bachmann migraine story.


Rep. Allen West is such an asshole.


If the election were held today and it was between Obama and Romney, it would be tight.


Finally, the AFL-CIO points out that of six Wisconsin primaries against Republican plants running as Democrats and the first general recall election last night, Democrats have not lost a single recall contest so far.

Related articles

• Watch Al Franken destroy testimony of Focus on the Family witness at DOMA repeal hearing (americablog.com)
• The Rants of Allen West (mydd.com)
• Video: Al Franken Exposes Focus on the Family Spokesman As Liar (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• Democrat Retains Wisconsin Senate Seat In Recall (npr.org)

Stories to Watch: 6/3/11

Weekend ahead! Now here's the news...


Mittens says that global warming is real and that humans contribute to it. Expect this embrace of reality to be called a "gaffe" more than once.


It was not a good day for John Edwards.


RIP James Arness.


John Huntsman says he'll make an announcement soon.


Gallup asks, "Do you think our government should or should not redistribute wealth by heavy taxes on the rich?" and finds that Americans are split. Imagine what the results would've been if they hadn't have used the language of Limbaugh. Seriously awful, awful wording there.


Apparently, Paul Ryan believes the military is exempt from math.


Finally, is Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett -- who lost the Wisconsin gubernatorial race to Scott Walker -- up for a recall election rematch? The last poll I saw on the match-up had Barrett winning by seven.

Related articles

• James Arness has died: Why he was the greatest TV law-man - Entertainment Weekly (news.google.com)
• Reports: John Edwards to be indicted for affair cover up - USA Today (news.google.com)
• Wisconsin Government Accountability Board approved recall elections for 6 Republicans (politicore.wordpress.com)
• John Edwards Sees Little Chance To Rehabilitate Image (huffingtonpost.com)

Stories to Watch: 4/2/11

Martin Luther King jr died on April 4th -- he was in Memphis supporting the right of sanitation workers to collective bargaining. Unions here in Madison will hold a weekend memorial today. Keep that in mind, the next time some rightwing nutjob says he was a conservative.


The Wisconsin Democratic Party says they'll have enough signatures to get at least six recall elections running for eight of the Republicans eligible.

***
President Obama wants most federal vehicles to be greener by 2015. Exceptions are "Certain specialized vehicles including those with law enforcement and security specifications." This includes the presidential limo, which is the worst thing ever!

Keep in mind that the presidential limo is basically a tank on a truck frame and you get why fuel efficiency shouldn't be a priority. Also keep in mind that, had Obama decided to replace the prez's tank with a fuel efficient car, these same wingnuts would be complaining about that, too. It's all about being reactionary.

***
If Barack Obama is reelected, the nation is doomed. DOOMED!!


The GOP is dropping serious money trying to erase an embarrassing video from history. In it, Rep. Sean Duffy talks about how hard it is to muddle through on only $174,000 a year. Sure, plenty of people have seen it, but that's not the point. The point is that it could wind up in a campaign ad. Did I mention that this is all happening in Wisconsin, were the GOP is currently running scared? Maybe I should have.


Finally, this is fun: House GOP bring in a rightwing scientists to debunk global warming, he doesn't stick to the script, and actual science breaks out.

News Roundup for 3/2/11

Stranger things have happened

-Headline of the day-
"Breaking: Wisconsin Dems throw their weight behind drive to recall GOP Senators."

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's plan to bust public sector unions in his state has hit a little snag -- turns out no one other than Republicans are for it. In a state where pretty everyone is an independent, because of the open primary, this poses a bit of a problem.

Call it "the danger of living inside an echo chamber" -- everyone Republicans talked to hated unions, everyone they talked to thought it would be a great idea to get rid off them, so they thought everyone agreed with them. But it turns out that Republicans an an insular little bunch and they must not get out much. Polling shows people don't like the idea much and that Scott Walker would lose the election if it were held today.

Good news for Scooter -- the election won't be held today. Wisconsin law includes a provision that allows a new guv a year to settle in. See, no one gets the hang of this stuff right off the bat and it's probably a little unfair to recall someone simply because they fell on their face right out of the gate. This is Wisconsin. We're nice. You get right back on that horse, Scooter, and you try that again (God bless his little heart, but he's tryin' doncha know).

Bad news for a bunch of other Republicans -- they've been around long enough that they oughta know better. And they can be recalled. Which could conceivably switch control of the state senate (the assembly's probably a lost cause right now). And, even if they don't, it might get some of them to get on the same side as their voters.

See, a recall election is an honest-to-goodness election -- complete with expensive campaigning. Even if they survive the race, they'd be hamstrung going into the regular election cycle from having already spent cash in the recall. And this becomes more true the tighter the race gets. So of course a recall election is a great time to aim that campaign bus straight down the middle of the road and play Mr. Reasonable I'm-Not-An-Extremist-This-Whole-Recall-Thing-Is-Crazy Guy. Wisconsinites (that's what we call ourselves. (No, really! It sounds like a rock, I know)) can expect to see a lot of "I reached across the aisle and worked to put an end to the partisan bickering in Madison" ads in the coming months, because a lot of these recall petitions are so going to get enough signatures.

Which is why the Democrats hopped on board. When Senator Reasonable reaches across the aisle, he'll be reaching toward them. (Plum Line)


-And it was cold!-
Since the Governor won't let the people in the Capitol (in defiance of a court order), a Democratic Rep does the people's business outside:



Do not ever doubt that people in Wisconsin are hardcore. (Twitpic, via @bluecheddar1)


-Bonus HotD-
"There Are Now TWO Fetuses Testifying In Ohio, and They Have a Music Video."

Just when you thought things couldn't get any stupider... (Wonkette, with video)