The proposed new bill working its way through the Indiana state legislature today seems to negate the worst things about the RFRA law: It doesn’t undue Hobby Lobby or other grievances. The changes would not establish sexual orientation and gender identity as a protected class under the state’s civil right’s laws. That will have to come another day. All this does is … Read More
Arkansas Governor Wisely Seeks To Avoid Same Headache That Indiana Has
Moments ago, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said that he does not plan to sign the version of the religious freedom bill that currently sits on his desk and called on the state legislature to make changes before sending it back to him. Hutchinson, who called the issue “divisive” and cited his own son as an example of someone urging him … Read More
Bigots Get It
At yesterday’s press conference, Indiana Governor Mike Pence spent a great deal of time blaming the media for its representation that Indiana’s RFRA law allows businesses to discriminate against gay people. “Not true”, Pence said. Well, it is true if you read the actual law, and apparently, even the bigots think so: WALKERTON, Ind. -A small-town pizza shop is saying they … Read More
Pence Lies Himself Into A Corner
UPDATE: Pence is giving a press conference this morning in which he re-asserts that the Indiana RFRA is just like the federal RFRA and the RFRAs passed in 30 other states. He is lying (or is stupid). It is similar, but has important differences. He’s playing the victim, claiming (repeatedly) that he and Indiana are being “smeared”. Still, he’s calling on the … Read More
You Would Think These People Should Know Better Than To Opine
Unbelievable: Idaho state Rep. Paul Shepherd (R) reportedly compared gay people to slave owners by noting that both were “good people” who made terrible decisions, Idaho Reports, a program of Idaho Public television, reported on Friday. Shepherd’s comments were made to a reporter from Idaho Reports who met with the congressman after his website was commandeered by a gay rights … Read More
Schock Out
It wasn’t the Dowton Abbey-themed office, or the private jets to the Taylor Swift concerts, or the $5k custom-made “Presidential” lectern that finally sent Rep. Schock scrambling for the exit — it was a classic sales grift. According to Politico: … Schock billed the federal government and his campaign for logging roughly 170,000 miles on his personal car from January 2010 … Read More
“Isn’t This The Ultimate Degree of the Collapse of Political Ethics and the US System’s Internal Disintegration?”
That’s a direct quote from the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, in reference to letter written to Iran and signed by 47 Republican senators essentially trying to sabotage negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. Thanks, GOP, for showing how divided and unreliable and unresolute America is.
47 Traitors Get Schooled By Iranian Foreign Minister, Who Understands The US Constitution
A GOP letter from Senate Republicans to Iran about the pending nuclear deal warns Iranian leaders that any agreement between Washington and Tehran could be voided by Congress and simply not upheld once Obama leaves the White House in 2017. The letter was spearheaded by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). Naturally, it received some backlash. White House press secretary Josh Earnest was unusually blunt … Read More
Senate Republicans Overstepping Their Authority
Can you imagine if this was 2006 and the Democrats did this to Bush? A group of 47 Republican senators has written an open letter to Iran’s leaders warning them that any nuclear deal they sign with President Barack Obama’s administration won’t last after Obama leaves office. Organized by freshman Senator Tom Cotton and signed by the chamber’s entire party … Read More
Be Careful What You Wish For….
Republicans seemed bitter that the State of the Union Address wasn’t some kowtow by Obama, crying in his cups about the Republican Party’s success in the midterm elections. But now that they control Congress, they don’t seem to know what to do. This is a party that gets its energy from the rage machine, not from leadership. .At the Plum Line, … Read More
3rd Highest Ranking Republican Admits Speaking At White Supremacist Group Conference
A rather auspicious start for the GOP’s attempt to re-brand itself and make itself appealing to minorities: Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the House majority whip, acknowledged Monday that he spoke at a gathering hosted by white-supremacist leaders while serving as a state representative in 2002, thrusting a racial controversy into House Republican ranks days before the party assumes control of … Read More
This Is Not A Gaffe
Republicans are popping the champagne based on 15 words, taken out of context in the video above, specifically the words: Don’t let anybody tell you that, you know, it’s corporations and businesses that create jobs. Unfortunately, reliance on this phrase (to stab Hillary with it) will likely backfire. Why? Because it’s substantively identical to a gaffe they seized upon two years … Read More
Oh, By The Way, No Benghazi Scandal
I wonder if Fox will touch this: Military officers testified that there was no "stand-down order" that held back military assets that could have saved the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans killed at a diplomatic outpost and CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya. Their testimony undercut the contention of Republican lawmakers. The "stand-down" theory centers on a Special Operations team … Read More
The Cantor Earthquake
The House Republican leadership, so solid in its opposition to President Obama, was torn apart yesterday by the defeat of its most influential conservative voice, Representative Eric Cantor, the House majority leader. Cantor, with a 96% conservative rating, was defeated by a tea party candidate, David Brat. Brat spent a total of $200,000 on his campaign; Cantor spent that much just … Read More
This Is Real
This is being packaged and sold. It's not about getting to the truth or uncovering any wrongdoing. It's about politics, Hillary, and 2016.