Daily Archives: January 3, 2013

January 3, 2013 · 6:29 PM

Thank A Liberal

Reblogged from The Fifth Column:

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Thank a liberal

From dKosopedia

If you do not have skin cancer, and have ever stood outside without having a peeling sunburn within moments, thank the ozone layer, thank the ban on CFCs, and thank a liberal.

If you have not died in a heat wave, drought, hurricane, flood, wildfire, or other climate change disaster, and like the idea of your children and grandchildren not living in desert wastelands, thank a liberal.

Read more… 1,074 more words

I love this piece by American journalist, author and political commentator, Joe Conason. Since the 112th Congress has adjourned and the 113th has just begun, it seemed appropriate to put things into perspective. Thanks, Liberals...

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· 4:06 PM

The wingnut trifecta

The wingnut trifecta

In this instance, Joan Walsh says what most pundits won’t…

Salon

Crazy GOP claims that Hillary Clinton is faking her illness slur the country’s three most popular Democrats

Right-wing claims that Hillary Clinton faked illness to avoid testifying about the Benghazi tragedy would be funny if they weren’t so ugly. It’s the wingnut trifecta, smearing our most popular past Democratic president, Bill Clinton, along with our current president, Barack Obama, and the current 2016 front-runner, all with one shot. Imagine birtherism crossed with the worst of the hateful anti-Clinton lies, like the “Vince Foster was murdered” claim. That’s Hillary-health trutherism.

But so far right-wingers claiming that Clinton somehow faked her concussion have gone virtually unchallenged on Fox News and right-wing sites like Newsbusters and the Daily Caller. Everyone from Charles Krauthammer to Sean Hannity to Laura Ingraham and former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton have gotten into the act. Even after reports that Clinton also suffered a dangerous blood clot between her brain and skull, Bolton not only failed to apologize, he suggested that she was dodging Benghazi questions in order to protect her 2016 chances.

This is crazy. Obviously, the Benghazi-coverup stories began as a way to hurt Obama, by alleging that he wasn’t telling the truth about Libya because he didn’t want to reveal that al-Qaida was a factor in the murder of Ambassador Chris Stevens, especially at the height of election season. After the election, the claims continued, and they mainly focused on the Sunday-show statements of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice. They managed to torpedo Rice’s chances to succeed Clinton as secretary of state.

Now they’re going after Clinton herself, and no doubt some of it is designed to hurt her 2016 chances, even though she herself insists she won’t run. It’s remarkable to me how few mainstream, respectable Republicans have come to Clinton’s defense.  The Washington Post’s  Kathleen Parker did so today, in a column that declared “the attacks on Clinton during her illness, essentially attacks on her character, have been cruel and unfair.” But Parker is the rare Republican known for fairness and honesty (she was an early public critic of Sarah Palin, when others merely trashed the V.P. nominee anonymously).

It would be nice to see the three amigos, Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte, who cruelly and vindictively railroaded Susan Rice, get together and tell their wingnut friends the same thing. But tolerating Clinton health trutherism is like tolerating birtherism for the GOP: You don’t necessarily share in the craziness (and in the case of birtherism, the racism) that inspires it, but you benefit from its toxic half-life nonetheless.

I talked about the crazy Benghazi allegations on “Hardball” today and I was surprised to find myself in strong disagreement with the Daily Beast’s Lauren Ashburn. Ashburn acted shocked at the Clinton slurs; I argued they’re just the latest outbreak of Clinton-Obama derangement syndrome. But even more significant, Ashburn tried to declare that both sides are somehow equally to blame for the “incivility” of our current political debate, claiming that someone (she didn’t say who or where) had wished death on former President George Bush when the news broke that he was in the intensive care unit.

I’m on record, often, saying that false equivalence about haters on the right and left is dangerous. To equate Democrats and Republicans on this front, you’d have to imagine, say, Susan Rice suggesting something that crazy, not to mention unethical, about Mitt Romney’s secretary of state, had the 2012 race ended differently. And you can’t equate some random commenter on the HuffPost with people like Krauthammer and Hannity who have regular perches atop Fox News. That would be like Chris Matthews wishing death on the former president; it would never happen.

Watch my segment with Ashburn and Michael Smerconish…

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· 3:25 AM

The 112th Congress: A farewell list

Daily Kos

Per the 20th Amendment, the terms of the members of the 112th Congress expire at noon on Thursday, ready or not. As I did two years ago, it’s worth taking a moment to say farewell, thank you, and in some cases good riddance to those members of Congress who now depart the institution.  Via Roll Call:

Defeated in General Election – (27 House: 10D, 17R; 1 Senate: 1R)
House
Joe Baca, D-Calif., 65, 6 terms
Roscoe G. Bartlett, R-Md., 86, 10 terms
Charles Bass, R-N.H., 60, 1 term
Howard L. Berman, D-Calif., 71, 15 terms
Judy Biggert, R-Ill., 75, 7 terms
Brian P. Bilbray, R-Calif., 61, 3 terms
Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., 51, 7 terms
Leonard L. Boswell, D-Iowa, 78, 8 terms
Ann Marie Buerkle, R-N.Y., 61, 1 term
Francisco “Quico” Canseco, R-Texas, 63, 1 term
Ben Chandler, D-Ky., 53, 4 terms
Chip Cravaack, R-Minn., 52, 1 term
Mark Critz, D-Pa., 50, 1 term
Robert Dold, R-Ill., 43, 1 term
Frank Guinta, R-N.H., 42, 1 term
Nan Hayworth, R-N.Y., 53, 1 term
Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., 54, 1 term
Larry Kissell, D-N.C., 61, 2 terms
Jeff Landry, R-La., 42, 1 term
Dan Lungren, R-Calif., 66, 4 terms
Laura Richardson, D-Calif., 50, 2 terms
David Rivera, R-Fla., 47, 1 term
Bobby Schilling, R-Ill., 48, 1 term
Pete Stark, D-Calif., 81, 20 terms
Betty Sutton, D-Ohio, 49, 3 terms
Joe Walsh, R-Ill., 51, 1 term
Allen B. West, R-Fla., 51, 1 termSenate
Scott P. Brown, R-Mass., 53, 1 term

Defeated for Other Office – (6 House: 1D, 5R)
Todd Akin, R-Mo., 65, 6 terms
Rick Berg, R-N.D., 53, 1 term
Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., 61, 7 terms
Connie Mack, R-Fla., 45, 4 terms
Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., 57, 6 terms
Bob Turner, R-N.Y., 71, 1 term

Retiring – (25 House: 14D, 11R; 10 Senate: 6D, 1I, 3R)
House
Gary L. Ackerman, D-N.Y., 70, 14 terms
Steve Austria, R-Ohio, 54, 2 terms
Dan Boren, D-Okla., 39, 4 terms
Dan Burton, R-Ind., 74, 15 terms
Jerry F. Costello, D-Ill., 63, 12 terms
Norm Dicks, D-Wash., 72, 18 terms
David Dreier, R-Calif., 60, 16 terms
Barney Frank, D-Mass., 72, 16 terms
Elton Gallegly, R-Calif., 68, 13 terms
Charlie Gonzalez, D-Texas, 67, 7 terms
Wally Herger, R-Calif., 67, 13 terms
Maurice D. Hinchey, D-N.Y., 74, 10 terms
Timothy V. Johnson, R-Ill., 66, 6 terms
Dale E. Kildee, D-Mich., 83, 18 terms
Steven C. LaTourette, R-Ohio, 58, 9 terms
Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., 78, 17 terms
Brad Miller, D-N.C., 59, 5 terms
Sue Myrick, R-N.C., 71, 9 terms
John W. Olver, D-Mass., 76, 10 terms
Ron Paul, R-Texas, 77, 8 terms
Todd R. Platts, R-Pa., 50, 6 terms
Mike Ross, D-Ark., 51, 6 terms
Heath Shuler, D-N.C., 40, 3 terms
Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., 78, 15 terms
Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., 75, 10 termsSenate
Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawaii, 88, 3 terms
Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., 69, 5 terms
Kent Conrad, D-N.D., 64, 4 terms
Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, 69, 3 terms
Herb Kohl, D-Wis., 77, 4 terms
Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., 70, 3 terms
Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., 70, 4 terms
Ben Nelson, D-Neb., 71, 2 terms
Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, 65, 3 terms
Jim Webb, D-Va., 66, 1 term

Defeated in Primary – (13 House: 7D, 6R; 1 Senate: 1R)
House
Sandy Adams, R-Fla., 56, 1 term
Jason Altmire, D-Pa., 44, 3 terms
Russ Carnahan D-Mo., 54, 4 terms
Hansen Clarke, D-Mich., 55, 1 term
Tim Holden, D-Pa., 55, 10 terms
Dennis J. Kucinich, D-Ohio, 66, 8 terms
Donald Manzullo, R-Ill., 68, 10 terms
Ben Quayle, R-Ariz., 36, 1 term
Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, 68, 8 terms
Steven R. Rothman, D-N.J., 60, 8 terms
Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, 61, 3 terms
Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., 71, 12 terms
John Sullivan, R-Okla., 47, 5 termsSenate
Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., 80, 6 terms

In addition, several members have resigned before the end of their terms. Remember these names?

Resigned – (11 House: 8D, 3R; 1 Senate: 2R)
House
Dennis Cardoza, D-Calif., 53, 5 terms
Geoff Davis, R-Ky., 54, 4 terms
Bob Filner, D-Calif., 70, 10 terms
Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., 42, 3 terms
Jane Harman, D-Calif., 67, 6 terms
Jay Inslee, D-Wash., 61, 8 terms
Jesse L. Jackson Jr., D-Ill., 47, 8 terms
Christopher Lee, R-N.Y., 48, 2 terms
Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., 47, 5 terms
Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., 48, 7 terms
David Wu, D-Ore., 57, 7 termsSenate
John Ensign, R-Nev., 54, 2 terms
Jim DeMint, R-S.C., 61, 2 terms

While several House members will be switching chambers on Thursday (Baldwin, Donnelly, Flake, Heinrich, Hirono, and C. Murphy), only one will be leaving for state office—Gov.-elect Mike Pence, Indiana.

Finally, Rep. Donald Payne and Sen. Daniel Inouye died before the end of this Congress.

As with many here, I’ve got a special place in my heart for North Carolina’s Rep. Brad Miller, who elected not to engage Rep. David Price in a bruising primary when his district had been destroyed by Republican gerrymandering. No member of Congress has been a truer friend to the Netroots, on policy issues and just … as a friend, coming to Netroots Nation year after year, and conferring with us is so many other ways. No one on the Hill understood housing and consumer banking issues better, and a Congress without Brad Miller will be a less interesting place. Here’s hoping Brad, and the other departing members, continue to find ways to serve their communities, and the public at large.

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· 1:31 AM

Rachel Maddow Wins Best Video Clip Of The Year 2012

This is my favorite  Rachel Maddow Show segment thusfar…

You Tube: Emmy Nominee, Rachel Maddow wins the Best Video Clip Of The Year Award for 2012.

H/t: Democratic Underground

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· 12:29 AM

House GOP blocks Violence Against Women Act

No wonder pundits are calling the 112th Congress the worst in the history of our nation.  Their last day (yesterday) was a particularly repugnant one.  Good riddance 112th “do nothing” Congress…

Rachel Maddow Blog

Congress had a lengthy to-do list as the end of the year approached, with a series of measures that needed action before 2013 began. Some of the items passed (a fiscal agreement, a temporary farm bill), while others didn’t (relief funding for victims of Hurricane Sandy).

And then there’s the Violence Against Women Act, which was supposed to be one of the year’s easy ones. It wasn’t.

Back in April, the Senate approved VAWA reauthorization fairly easily, with a 68 to 31 vote. The bill was co-written by a liberal Democrat (Vermont’s Pat Leahy) and a conservative Republican (Idaho’s Mike Crapo), and seemed on track to be reauthorized without much of a fuss, just as it was in 2000 and 2005.

But House Republicans insisted the bill is too supportive of immigrants, the LGBT community, and Native Americans — and they’d rather let the law expire than approve a slightly expanded proposal. Vice President Biden, who helped write the original law, tried to persuade House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to keep the law alive, but the efforts didn’t go anywhere.

And so, for the first time since 1994, the Violence Against Women Act is no more. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the Democratic point person on VAWA, said in a statement:

“The House Republican leadership’s failure to take up and pass the Senate’s bipartisan and inclusive VAWA bill is inexcusable. This is a bill that passed with 68 votes in the Senate and that extends the bill’s protections to 30 million more women. But this seems to be how House Republican leadership operates. No matter how broad the bipartisan support, no matter who gets hurt in the process, the politics of the right wing of their party always comes first.”

Proponents of the law hope to revive the law in the new Congress, starting from scratch, but in the meantime, there will be far fewer resources available for state and local governments to combat domestic violence.

As for electoral considerations, Republicans lost badly in the 2012 elections, thanks in large part to the largest gender gap in modern times, but if that changed GOP attitudes towards legislation affecting women, the party is hiding it well.

Update: Reader AG asks about the House version that was approved several months ago. As I reported at the time, the House gutted the bipartisan Senate bill with a watered-down version, which was widely seen by everyone involved as a joke that undermined the interests of victims. It had no support in the Senate and drew a White House veto threat. House Republicans knew this, and instead of revisiting the issue and/or working with the Senate on a compromise, GOP leaders simply decided the law was not a priority. The result was this week’s outcome.

Ed. Note: This clip from the award winning HBO series “The Newsroom“ examines  some of this right-wing extremist madness…

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