News Roundup for 5/7/12

Mittens the Clown

-Headline of the Day-
"Romney Supporter: Obama Taking Credit For Bin Laden Like ‘Giving Ronald McDonald Credit’ For Big Mac."

So sayeth Dave Yost. Who's Dave Yost? Why, he's the Ohio state Auditor. In other words, nobody.

So why is this news? Well, to tell the truth, it's not. But it allows me to comment on a bigger picture going on out there, namely the Republican Party's Bin Laden denialism. This is basically what every GOPer out there is saying -- that Obama shouldn't take credit because he didn't actually kill Bin Laden personally -- and it makes no damned sense at all.

Here's the thing; contrary to what conservatives seem to believe, SEAL Team 6 doesn't wander the world aimlessly, looking for bad guys. They aren't like cops on a beat who just happened to stumble across Osama Bin Laden and took it upon themselves to take care of him. They were sent there. By this one guy. A guy named Barack Obama.

On the other hand, Mitt Romney said categorically that he would never, ever, not once in a million years send troops into Pakistan to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden. Now, of course, Mittens says something 180 degrees opposite -- which is kind of a hobby of his. Romney switched positions only after it became clear that Obama's way was a good idea. If Bin Laden were still alive, it's pretty clear a President Romney would not send SEAL 6 into Pakistan to take him out. And, as we've already established, SEAL Team 6 doesn't wander around looking for baddies to knock off all on their lonesome.

So who is Dave Yost again? On this issue, he's identical to every other Republican moron. Call him the GOP everyman. (ThinkProgress)


-Here come the waterworks again-



Looks like Boehner's going to have to head over to Earl Scheib's to get another coat. (GoComics)


-Bonus HotD-
"Failed AL Governor Has Ditched Wife To Knock Up Lesbians In New Zealand."

Oh sure, it's a Wonkette headline, but here's the thing: not a word of that is untrue. (Wonkette)

News Roundup for 11/2/11

Herman Cain harasses an Iowa crowd with a sexually suggestive gesture

-Headline of the day-
"Oklahoma Consultant Claims He Witnessed Cain Harassment."

Herman Cain's sexy sexual harassment sex scandal (SEX!) may have just moved from the abstract to the concrete. And, in the process, moved into the icky. According to the report, "Oklahoma political consultant Chris Wilson says if the woman behind the reported sexual harassment complaint against GOP Presidential hopeful Herman Cain is allowed to speak publicly, it'll be the end of Cain's run for the White House."

"I was the pollster at the National Restaurant Association when Herman Cain was head of it and I was around a couple of times when this happened and anyone who was involved with the NRA at the time, knew that this was gonna come up," Wilson told an Oklahoma radio station.

"This occurred at a restaurant in Crystal City [Virginia] and everybody was aware of it," he said. "It was only a matter of time because so many people were aware of what took place, so many people were aware of her situation, the fact she left---everybody knew with the campaign that this would eventually come up."

Wilson described the woman as a "a low level staffer who was maybe two years out of college" and says that, for legal reasons, he can't get too into it. But that it's pretty bad. "[I]f she comes out and talks about it, like I said, it'll probably be the end of his campaign."

Cain defenders are making a big deal about the fact that Wilson is a Perry backer. But if the allegations are true, would you really expect him to be supporting Herman Cain?

Think about it. (KTOK)


-This isn't going to help-
A lawyer for one of the women Cain is accused of harassing says that the confidentiality agreement keeping her from coming forward is out the window -- because Herman was bound by it as well.

According to the report, "[O]ne of the stipulations of the confidentiality agreement was that neither party could make disparaging remarks about the other. [Attorney Joel] Bennett said Cain violated that agreement on Fox News on Monday when he said that he had been told that the accuser’s performance in the workplace 'was not up to par.'"

FLASHBACK TO PREVIOUS ITEM: "If she comes out and talks about it... it'll probably be the end of his campaign."

She wants to come out and talk about.

OK, GOP voters. Back to the drawing board. (The Hill)


-Bonus HotD-
"AP Exclusive: Third worker says Cain harassed her."

Oh man, Herman. You are so screwed! (AP)

News Roundup for 9/1/11

Turns out this is illegal

-Headline of the Day-
"Justice Department Tougher On Abortion Protesters."

People who yell at ladies outside women's health clinics are shocked to discover the President Barack HUSSEIN Obama isn't as willing to look the other way as the Oh-so-Christian GWB was. See, it seems there's a law against that sort of thing and people have been breaking it -- a lot. According to the report, "Under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act, the Justice Department's civil rights division has filed eight civil cases since the start of the Obama administration. That's a big increase over the George W. Bush years, when one case was filed in eight years."

The FACE basically makes it illegal to keep people from entering a clinic, but it also includes penalties for trespassing. Clinics have used the trespassing provision to create a "buffer zone" to keep the nuts away, but the Bush administration had a bad habit of not giving a fuck. Now the free ride is over.

"There's been a substantial difference between this administration and the one immediately prior," says Ellen Gertzog, director of security for Planned Parenthood. "From where we sit, there's currently much greater willingness to carefully assess incidents when they occur and to proceed with legal action when appropriate."

Now would seem to be a good time to point out another news story of the day: the US ranks 41st in the world in terms of infant mortality, which -- for the record -- is just awful.

Want to save some babies in real numbers? Put down the aborted fetus signs, quit the Republican Party, and become activists for real healthcare reform.

Just sayin'. (NPR)


-Moammar and the monster-
Qadaffi gets some really solid advice from a fellow human rights violator.


Click to embiggen

Actually, that doesn't really seem to be working for Dick. (Truthdig)


-BonusHotD-
"Arizona GOP Fundraiser Remembers Giffords Shooting With Glock Raffle."

Pure class... (Wonkette)

News Roundup for 4/7/11

Tool used to determine Wisconsin election results

-Headline of the Day-
"Winnebago County vote-count change alters Supreme Court race."

Aw crap. Turns out the Associated Press misreported some numbers from Winnebago County and JoAnne Kloppenburg takes a hit. The new, revised count puts incumbent Supreme Court Justice David Prosser in the lead by 40 votes. That's right now as I'm writing this. Could change in a minute.

See these numbers aren't final either. According to the report, AP "is working to reach the Winnebago County clerk, but the clerk is participating in the canvass of the vote and has not returned a message." So something's going on up there.

In any case, a recount is definitely in the cards. When the difference in the totals is less than half a percent, you can call for a recount at the state's expense. I think 40 votes meets that criteria under anyone's definition of "easily."

But before that, all the votes have to be verified, which means these stories may bust out again occasionally -- Kloppenburg up, Prosser up, Kloppenburg up, etc. It's election night all over again.

"Keep in mind that spreadsheet errors and adjustments happen in nearly every election -- but most elections aren't so close that people start to notice or care," writes Eric Kleefeld for Talking Points Memo. "And once all of them are discovered, they often tend to roughly balance out and only barely move the numbers. Then again, in an election this close, even a tiny movement of the numbers could have an effect.

"But bottom line: We didn't truly know who won the election on Wednesday, and we don't know right now, either. It's probably going to be a while."

Settle in, folks. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)


-Cartoon time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, scary people want to do bad things to America! Should we be tough or should we wuss out?


Click for animation

OK, so I guess we're going with "wuss" then? (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"Idaho Rejects Rape Exception In Abortion Bill Because 'The Hand Of The Almighty' Was At Work."

I don't think I like Republican's Rape God very much... (ThinkProgress)

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.


***

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?


***

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.