No. Just no. (Is that Colin Mochrie on stage left? What?)
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
A daily miasma of frivolity by two wanna-be cultural critics. Or: just, like, some good links, dude.
Tag Archives: politics
Paul Ryan apologizes for military criticism
Paul Ryan apologizes for military criticism
The AP:
Representative Paul Ryan said Sunday that he has apologized in a telephone call to the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman for accusing the military of not giving its “true advice” on President Obama’s budget plan.
Military generals are required under oath to provide lawmakers their personal views on security matters, even if those views conflict with the White House.
In this case, General Martin Dempsey had testified that he thought Obama’s $614 billion plan for defense spending next year was adequate.
Does anyone actually like this guy?
Incidentally, do you just wake up in the morning and think to yourself, “I am going to accuse the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of lying under oath”? How exactly does that work?
Romney, rivals court Southern support ahead of primaries
Romney, rivals court Southern support ahead of primaries
David Espo, AP:
In the Deep South, one of the most conservative regions of the country, Romney and his Republican rivals polished their credentials with attacks on President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy and the nation’s use of energy. “The dangers of carbon dioxide? Tell that to a plant, how dangerous carbon dioxide is,” said Rick Santorum.
Hahahahahahaha.
See, it’s funny because Rick Santorum has no idea what ecology or biology is.
The dangers of cyanide? Tell that to a plant, how dangerous cyanide is.
Related story from The Onion: “Voters Slowly Realizing Santorum Believes Every Deranged Word That Comes Out Of His Mouth.”
Douglas County Assemblyman Kite wants to bring back ‘Brianna’s Law’ for 2013 Legislature
Douglas County Assemblyman Kite wants to bring back ‘Brianna’s Law’ for 2013 Legislature
One of the most contentious crimes in recent Nevada history was the murder of Brianna Denison, a young woman who was killed by serial rapist James Biela. In response to the case, a bill dubbed “Brianna’s Law,” which would require anyone arrested on suspicion of a felony (not necessarily convicted) to have their DNA sampled, was introduced in the Nevada Legislature in 2011. It blasted through the Assembly, but it wasn’t taken up by the full Senate largely because of privacy and financial concerns. Samantha Stone wrote up a long piece on the bill for Nevada News Channel if this actually interests you.
The Nevada legislature meets only every other year, so the next time the bill can be reintroduced is 2013. According to Reno Gazette-Journal political reporter Ray Hagar, Assemblyman Kelly Kite of Minden plans to do just that if he’s re-elected:
“My grandson is in Afghanistan right now and they took his fingerprints and DNA and he will never have a chance to get that taken out of the file,” Kite said. “If you are arrested for a felony, I don’t see where you would have more rights than someone defending our country.”
Hey jackass, maybe we should just not treat our veterans like shit, how about that.
Josefina Vazquez Mota bids to become Mexico’s first female president
Josefina Vazquez Mota bids to become Mexico’s first female president
The Telegraph:
Josefina Vazquez Mota, a 51-year-old economist, became the first female presidential candidate from any of Mexico’s major parties when she convincingly won the National Action Party’s primary.
Excellent.
Mrs Vazquez Mota said that she had experienced sexism first-hand during her campaign.
“One of the hardest questions I have been asked is ‘How will you manage the army if you are having menstrual cramps?’” she told a Mexican newspaper.
What.
New Nixon Tapes Reveal Details of Meeting With Anti-War Activists
New Nixon Tapes Reveal Details of Meeting With Anti-War Activists
Absolutely crazy story + interview by Ray Suarez for PBS Newshour on a jaunt out of the White House by President Nixon in the middle of the night to meet with anti-Vietnam war protestors. Here’s Melvin Small of Wayne State University:
It’s a little odd, because Nixon had been on the phone. He had made 50 phone calls from about 9:00 until 3:30. He called Henry Kissinger eight times. He was in a very odd situation mentally, I think. The country was falling apart, from his perspective. He later said this was the darkest period of his presidency.
Henry Kissinger said Washington and the White House was besieged. There were district buses lined up around the White House for who knows what. The 82nd Airborne was in the basement of the Executive Office Building across the street. This was a very tense and, in many ways, from his professional, dangerous period.
And, then, all of a sudden, he says, let’s go look at the Lincoln Memorial.
South Korean MP lets off teargas in parliament
South Korean MP lets off teargas in parliament
How not to spend your Thanksgiving, by Haroon Siddique for The Guardian:
An opposition MP set off a teargas canister in the South Korean parliament in a failed attempt to prevent the ruling party passing a free trade deal with the US.
…
Members of the ruling Grand National party were greeted with shouts and screams as they occupied the national assembly’s main hall to railroad the deal. Opposition MPs tried to physically block them, leading to scuffles and Democratic party’s Kim Sun-dong set off teargas.
He shouted: “Let me go, bastards. No FTA”, as he was been taken out of the chamber by security guards.
For whatever reason, it has proven difficult in states like Wisconsin and Ohio to convey the message that limiting collective bargaining is necessary to help local governments manage their budgets.
John McCormack, pondering a puzzler at The Weekly Standard. Yesterday, Ohio voted quite soundly to repeal a law limiting collective bargaining rights of public workers.
I’ve been pretty burnt out on politics lately, but I’ve been following the Republican caucus scheduling fiasco pretty closely. (I admit the thing keeping me interested is probably schadenfreude.) This cartoon by Brian Duffy is a fantastic summary, although it unfortunately leaves out the situation in Nevada.
Here’s Michael A. Memoli for the Los Angeles Times:
Nevada Republicans on Saturday voted to move the date of their nominating caucuses to February, a decision that likely ends uncertainty over the 2012 election calendar and avoids having the first votes for president cast this year.
The state party’s executive committee shifted the GOP caucuses to Feb. 4, after New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner said he was prepared to call the first-in-the-nation primary in December if Nevada’s caucuses remained on Jan. 14.
…
The Republican National Committee had initially adopted rules calling for presidential nominating contests to begin in February in four states: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. But Florida leaders announced last month that they would hold the state’s primary on Jan. 31. South Carolina Republicans then called for a Jan. 21 primary, followed by Nevada’s initial decision to move to the 14th.
But then Gardner, citing state law that requires seven days between the New Hampshire primary and any “similar election,” said he would be forced in that scenario to call his state’s vote in December. Most Republican presidential candidates then said they would boycott Nevada’s caucuses if the state did not move to allow New Hampshire to remain in January.
“The Real Third Rail of American Politics: Barbecue”
“The Real Third Rail of American Politics: Barbecue”
Robert F. Moss for the Los Angeles Times on the role of delicious, delicious barbecue in American politics:
… Rufus Edmisten, who ran for governor of North Carolina in 1984. Late in the campaign, after eating barbecue at rallies three times a day for almost a year, he broke down at a public feed in Raleigh. “We haven’t had any of the damnable barbecue,” he proclaimed. “I’ve eaten enough barbecue. I am not going to eat any more!” The quote ran in local newspapers, and Edmisten lost by almost 200,000 votes.