P.M. Headlines

(USA): "Rand Paul edges Marco Rubio in CPAC poll"

(The Hill): "Bachmann attacks Obama over a 'life of excess' during address at CPAC"

(CNN International): "Portman reversal highlights GOP generational split"

(Reuters): "Comedian's sister, philandering ex-governor in South Carolina race"

(New York Times): "Objections to US troops intensifies in Afghanistan"

Scott Walker considers a presidential run in 2016

By Richard K. Barry

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker had his 15 minutes of right-wing blather before the massed wing-nuts at the CPAC conference this week. According to Politico, his comments were mostly about how to end what he called the "culture of government dependency."

This president and his allies measure success in government by how many people are dependent on the government. We measure success in government by just the opposite: by how many people are no longer dependent on the government.

Yes, you goddamned morons, that's how President Obama and his allies measure success. I know. That's the line. Earlier in the week Marco Rubio's speech was all about makers and takers. 

I realize it's red meat for the faithful, but it amazes me that they are continuing with a perspective that has been market tested and shown to fail so badly. 

Read more »

All in the family

By Mustang Bobby

Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) has changed his views on marriage equality because he has a gay son.

“I’m announcing today a change of heart on an issue that a lot of people feel strongly about,” Portman said. “It has to do with gay couples’ opportunity to marry. And during my career in the House and also last couple years here in the Senate, you know, I’ve taken a position against gay marriage, rooted in part in my faith and my faith tradition. And had a very personal experience, which is my son came to Jane, my wife, and I, told us that he was gay and that it was not a choice and that, you know he, that’s just part of who he is, and he’d been that way ever since he could remember.”

Portman said his son’s revelation led him to drop his opposition to same-sex marriage. “And that launched an interesting process for me, which was kind of rethinking my position,” he said. “You know, talking to my pastor and other religious leaders and going through a process of, at the end, changing my position on the issue. I now believe people ought to have the right to get married.”

I have heard a number of my friends and fellow bloggers react to this news with a bit of cynicism, including speculation that since Will Portman came out to his parents two years ago, it’s taken the senator a pretty long time to come to terms with it and announce it publicly, especially since he was on the short list of VP candidates for Mitt Romney last year.

Read more »

Debra Milke and the injustice system

By Frank Moraes

This is a picture of Debra Milke. You can see she's a pretty woman but there is a lot of pain in that face. She has suffered a lot. Her 4-year-old son was murdered 23 years ago. And for the last 22 years, she's been on death row of taking part in his murder. She's innocent, of course. Hopefully, she will be released from prison very soon.

Milke is, of course, yet another example of the evilness of the death penalty. If most proponents of these laws had their way, Milke would be long dead. "I don't want to pay for them to sit in jail! Just kill the bastards!" Sadly, I've heard that time and again over the years—even from liberals. The government has a hard time keeping the roads free of potholes, but somehow it is perfect when it chooses to kill.

What is most appalling about the case of Debra Milke is how she was convicted. There was no physical evidence. There was no eyewitness evidence. There was just the claim by a cop that he "didn't buy" her reaction to hearing that her son had died. This was apparently enough to not only arrest and convict her; it was enough to sentence her to death.

Read more »

A.M. Headlines

(The Seattle Times): "Obama: US should fund research for cleaner cars"

(Washington Post): "Venezuelans debate how to preserve Chavez's legacy - and his body"

(John Chait): "Rob Portman, gay marriage, and the politics of selfishness"

(Ballot Box): "Romney urges GOP to learn from mistakes he made in 2012"

(Talking Points Memo): "House Republicans unanimously vote down minimum wage hike"

(The National Journal): "The GOP keeps getting whiter"

Joe Scarborough blasts Ted Cruz, displays characteristic lack of self-awareness

By Michael J.W. Stickings 

ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) tweeted at 6:00 PM on Fri, Mar 15, 2013: 

Morning Joe blasts Tea Party darling Ted Cruz: "Willfully ignorant," "condescending," "playing to illiterates" (link)

Yes, Cruz is an ignorant goon, but there's a reason he's so popular among conservatives, which has become an ideology of ignorant goonery, not to mention a rising superstar in Joe's own Republican Party, and, what's more, if Joe "my gut is smarter than Paul Krugman" Scarborough really wants to see some willful ignorance, condescension, and playing to illiteracy, he should take a good long look in the mirror sometime, or maybe watch himself on the teevee, because you know what they say about those living in glass houses.

Collecting pee for fun and profit

By Frank Moraes 

Yesterday, The Post Game reported, "Bizarre Location For NFLer's Drug Test." It tells the story of Washington Redskins backup quarterback Kirk Cousins being drug tested during a visit to his grandmother. The article expresses some surprise at such behavior from the league, but is still supportive of it.

I'm not. I couldn't give half a "fuck you" about the NFL. But I do care about worker rights. This kind of thing is pure bullshit. The NFL has much bigger problems than its players using steroids.

In general, I don't understand the big deal about steroid use. As a society, we have decided that our sports are going to require people who are very tall, heavy, and fast. What's more, we've elevated these freakish pituitary cases to the status of hero. Is it any wonder that many of those with normal bodies would try to compensate with drugs?

Read more »

Conservatives in denial

By Richard K. Barry

Speaking at CPAC on Thursday, Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry isn't buying that silly idea that there is anything wrong with conservative ideas.

The popular media narrative is that this country has shifted away from conservative ideas, as evidenced by the last two presidential elections. That might be true if Republicans had actually nominated conservative candidates in 2008 and 2012.

The obvious implication is that Republicans would have done a lot better if they had nominated real conservatives.

Perhaps the best response to that came from South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham just after the 2012 election as he commented on Romney's failure to capture the White House.

If I hear anyone say it was because Romney wasn't conservative enough, I' going to go nuts. We're not losing 95% of African-Americans and two-thirds of Hispanics and voters under 30 because we're not being hard-ass enough.

No. No you're not.

Not so Breitbart strikes again

By tmcbpatriot 

Andrew Breitbart is still dead! That much is true. Not much else coming out of his namesake's "news" site may be, though. For the second time in a month, Breitbart.com posted a false story that was later taken down after it turned out to be totally untrue.

Apparently, a story about Paul Krugman going bankrupt vent viral, getting picked up and reposted on the popular conservative website. Turns out, the story was satire, invented by a fake news website called The Daily Currant. Who knew? Well, Breitbart.com should have. However, before it was proven to be a non-story, it also wound up on Boston.com, which is actually a serious news source. Asked why Breitbart picked up the story in the first place without first vetting it for accuracy, they replied it was because Boston.com was a "trusted" news source. Great answer. It would later come out that Boston.com posted the story "by accident" while Brietbart did it on purpose.

It should come as no surprise that a hyper-partisan website like Breitbart.com would post satire as truth, especially when it is a story that bashes a well known liberal like Krugman. I am pretty sure, too, that the folks over at Breitbart wanted to believe this story, even if perhaps they doubted its veracity.

As a result, is it any wonder that our so-called news organizations are considered to be so untrustworthy? Additionally, can we even call them news organizations when stories such as this one trump actual news stories that are actually true and virtually ignored?


Read more »

Boehner has good reasons for snubbing Obama

By Frank Moraes 

This is a follow-up to my post "Death Throes of the GOP." In that post, I discussed how Republicans have gone out of their way to snub President Obama and what that said about them being a revolutionary group. Well, we had another example of Republicans snubbing the president for no good reason.

Obama offered John Boehner the opportunity to go to Rome with Biden to be part of the official U.S. delegation to the installation of Pope Francis. Boehner is a Catholic. But he had to turn down the president. He had good reasons, though. He has to be around to deal with the budget.

Oh yes! What would Congress do without his leadership? After all, he has to be around to not negotiate with the president. He has to be around to not compromise on new revenue. He has to be around to not prevent a government shutdown. Yes: all of Washington would be completely lost if John Boehner left for a couple of days.

Please someone: make all this stop!

(Cross-posted at Frankly Curious.)

A.M. Headlines

(NBC News): "GOP's Rob Portman announces support for same-sex marriage"

(Tampa Bay Times): "Grand jury investigating Sen. Menendez"

(New York Times): "New jobless claims at a 5-year low"

(Ballot Box): "Paul chastises 'stale and moss covered" GOP establishment"

(NBC News): "CPAC chair: Christie didn't 'deserve' an invite this year"

P.M. Headlines

(Palm Beach Post): "Rubio leads off showcase of GOP’s 2016 presidential aspirants"

(BBC): "Detroit gets new financial manager: Kevyn Orr"

(Fox News): "Senate committee approves assault weapons ban"

(New York Times): "Chris Hayes to take over 8 p.m. slot on MSNBC"

(Talking Points Memo): "Dick Morris delivers bad news to Republicans: give up on Roe v. Wade"

(Politico): "CPAC's absent GOP rock stars"

Again with the idea that only conservatives are true Americans

By Richard K. Barry

In a speech at CPAC, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida let loose a bunch of quips that show Republicans never tire of breaking the country down into makers and takers, and by extension into real Americans and the pretend kind.

One comment was this gem:

We don't need new ideas. The idea is called America and it still works.

It seems that conservative ideas are American ideas and everything else is either European or Kenyan or socialist or liberal, anything but American. Anybody that wants to change anything about America, other than whatever it takes to return it to its previous pristine state, ought to be run out of town on a rail.

Yee-haw!!!

L. Ron Hubbard

By Frank Moraes

It's the birthday of a couple of conservatives I find repellent: Charles Krauthammer (63) and Jamie Dimon (57). And yes, I know Dimon is a Democrat, but that doesn't mean he's not a conservative. As I write about a lot: the democratic party is not liberal; America does not have a liberal party. I would be happy if either of these guys died, but I'd be more happy if it were Dimon.

It is also Neil Sedaka 74th birthday. I never stop being amazed that he isn't gay. And the Mad Magazine cartoonist Al Jaffee is 92.

But today is a big day because L. Ron Hubbard was born 102 years ago! Now he was a total hack. I'm not talking about Scientology, here; I haven't read Dianetics or any of its successors. But I do think this video is pretty cool. It must have happened:



(Cross-posted at Frankly Curious.)

Biden to lead U.S delegation to Rome

By Richard K. Barry

According to administration officials, Vice President Biden will lead the U.S. delegation for the installation ceremony of Pope Francis. Of note is the fact that Biden is the first Catholic to be elected to the vice presidency.

There are times when I think that religion plays little or no role in how one is perceived these days as a candidate for high office. I know that's naive of me, but at least it is not 1960.

Then again, America surely is not ready for a Muslim president, as much as many idiots think they currently have one. And is American antisematism really a thing of the past? As well, the idea that one could declare as an atheist and be a viable candidate is obviously foolishness.

OK. As long as you have a religion and it's some form of Christianity, Bob's yer uncle.

Tax and entitlement "reform"

By Frank Moraes

This afternoon, Greg Sargent wrote, Republicans Say They Want Entitlement Cuts. But They Want Dems to Own Them. In it, he shows that all this Republican talk about entitlement reform is just a way for them to trick Democrats into owning Medicare and Social Security cuts so that they can campaign against them in 2014 and 2016. As usual Sargent is dead on. What would be really surprising is if Obama does not fall into that trap.

But Sargent—a good, strong liberal—makes a mistake in how he writes about the issue. Word is that Republicans will accept a small tax increase if the Democrats make a big show of owning large entitlement cuts. The Republicans will finesse the coverage of such a tax increase by calling it "tax reform." And that is just how Sargent writes it: he puts "tax reform" in quotes, because it is a euphemism. But he has no problem writing a sentences like this, "Dems would have no choice but to offer up significant entitlement reforms." Do you see it? He writes as though "entitlement reforms" is what it claims to be.

Read more »

A.M. Headlines

USA Today): "Pope Francis starts first day in new job"

(Esquire): "Meet your new pope"

(New York Times): "Veterans testify on rapes and scant hope of justice"

(Politico): "CPAC's absent GOP rock stars"

(Reuters): "Colorado lawmakers approve sweeping gun-control measures"

HABEMUS PAPAM FRANCISCUM: Popetastic conclavular 2013 ends with a surprise win for Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio

By Michael J.W. Stickings

A surprise pick: Jorge Mario Bergoglio becomes Pope Francis

Okay, so I was wrong.

Wrong about Marc Ouellet winning the big prize, then, having doubts earlier today, about Angelo Scola taking it. But I was right about the white smoke coming today -- even though a conclave with no clear frontrunner could have been expected to go longer -- and when it did, after just five ballots, I really did think it was Scola, whose election, as experts like John Allen were saying, would have been a vote for continuity, as he's an orthodox thinker in the mold of Ratzinger/Benedict (if more personable), and so a fairly safe pick at a time of crisis and uncertainty throughout the Church.

But if not Ouellet or Scola, then maybe one of other leading non-Europeans like Peter Turkson or Odilo Scherer, or maybe even an American, Sean O'Malley.

And so when Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the senior cardinal deacon, appeared on the balcony at St. Peter's to say (in Latin) those famous two words -- habemus papam -- and announce the name of the new pope, and I heard the name Bergoglio, I was surprised, to say the least. Who? What? Bergoglio? That guy? Really?

Yes, that guy.

Read more »

P.M. Headlines

(Washington Post): "Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina elected pope, takes name Pope Francis"

(CNN): "Biden to lead delegation for new pope's installation"

(The Guardian): "Obama tests House Republicans' resolve in 'useful' budget meeting"

(Washington Post): "Obama's approval numbers drop as Americans take a dimmer view of economic policies"

(Florida Times Union): "Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll resigns"

Familiar sound

By Mustang Bobby

As previously noted, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) came out with his budget proposal. Not only is it that same thing he’s proposed before, he didn’t even bother to change the title: it’s still calledPathway to Prosperity. What, Pathway to Prosperity – The Movie was already taken?

The only difference is that this time it craters the economy and nails the middle class in ten years, not forty. And what it lacks in revenue it makes up for in irony: it keeps the tax increases the GOP screamed about in the fiscal cliff deal because, well, that law has passed and it’s a done deal. But then he calls for the repeal of Obamacare (but keeps the tax increases from it) because, well, he doesn’t like the law. Hamana hamana.

Ezra Klein chimes in:

Here is Paul Ryan’s path to a balanced budget in three sentences: He cuts deep into spending on health care for the poor and some combination of education, infrastructure, research, public-safety, and low-income programs. The Affordable Care Act’s Medicare cuts remain, but the military is spared, as is Social Security. There’s a vague individual tax reform plan that leaves only two tax brackets — 10 percent and 25 percent — and will require either huge, deficit-busting tax cuts or increasing taxes on poor and middle-class households, as well as a vague corporate tax reform plan that lowers the rate from 35 percent to 25 percent.

But the real point of Ryan’s budget is its ambitious reforms, not its savings. It turns Medicare into a voucher program, turns Medicaid, food stamps, and a host of other programs for the poor into block grants managed by the states, shrinks the federal role on priorities like infrastructure and education to a tiny fraction of its current level, and envisions an entirely new tax code that will do much less to encourage home buying and health insurance.

Ryan’s budget is intended to do nothing less than fundamentally transform the relationship between Americans and their government.

Read more »

The new pope: Bergoglio of Argentina

By Richard K. Barry

The news you've all been waiting for, from the New York Times:

With a puff of white smoke from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and to the cheers of thousands of rain-soaked faithful, a gathering of Catholic cardinals picked a new pope from among their midst on Wednesday — choosing the cardinal from Argentina, the first South American to ever lead the church.

The new pope, 76, Jorge Mario Bergoglio (pronounced Ber-GOAL-io) will be called Francis, the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. He is also the first non-European leader of the church in more than 1,000 years.

Much of the early press coverage has focused on the new pope's humility, concern for the poor and that he is from Latin America where the church continues to grow.

Seems like a nice enough old guy if you're into the Catholic Church. The last seemingly nice old guy lasted 33 days. 

There's an old African saying...

By Carl

When two elephants battle, it is the grass that suffers. Welcome to my blog, fellow blade! The Dueling Budgets battle has begun, and Republicans, Inc. are playing the banjo:

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are sending mixed signals in agreeing to meet with President Barack Obama for talks over the budget impasse, while Obama is conceding that a political accommodation may be impossible.

On the one hand, many Republicans who long have chided Obama for failing to engage their party on the nation's biggest problems are applauding his newfound outreach — part of a concerted effort by the president to mend ties with Congress in hopes of reaching a grand compromise on fiscal issues.

On the other hand, neither side is backing down from entrenched positions that have prevented deals in the past — a status quo scenario that Obama acknowledged could preclude any agreement.

To be sure, Obama is at least going into this phase of things without being deliberately ignorant of what the Republicans are up to, as he has insisted in the past:

President Obama says he's reaching out to Republicans, but isn't sure it will lead to a major budget deal.

"Ultimately, it may be that the differences are just too wide," Obama told ABC News.

The president added: "It may be that, ideologically, if their position is, 'We can't do any revenue,' or, 'We can only do revenue if we gut Medicare or gut Social Security or gut Medicaid,' if that's the position, then we're probably not going to be able to get a deal."

Read more »

The next generation

By Mustang Bobby

Another Bush enters politics.

George P. Bush is officially running for Texas land commissioner — ending months of speculation about which statewide office the grandson of one former president and nephew of another planned to seek.

His spokesman, Trey Newton told The Associated Press that Bush spoke with current Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson before filing the official paperwork Tuesday.

An attorney from Fort Worth and Spanish-speaker whose mother is originally from Mexico, Bush is considered a rising star among conservative Hispanics.

Land commissioner can be a stepping stone to higher office in Texas. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst served in the post before winning his current job.

Yet another argument for free contraception.

This is Jeb’s son, and while I’m sure he’ll do fine in Texas, I wonder why he isn’t running for office here in Florida. After all, this is where his dad did his carpetbagging. Can it be that the market is already saturated with young hot Hispanic Tea Party favorites?

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

Liberal priorities

By Frank Moraes 

Maybe I'm just a cynical old guy. But Rachel Maddow spent the entire A section of her show talking about gun control. I'm cool with gun control. As I've argued before: by the time we notice that the government is coming for us, our guns won't do bit of good. (It is interesting that those most concerned about their guns being taken away, are not at all concerned about targeted assassination and executive overreach. Instead, they cheer it on: We're number one! We're number one!) So I'm fine with the government coming in and taking away all our guns. The idea that universal background checks will destroy our liberty is more than ridiculous.

But it isn't that important either. With tighter gun control, we might reduce the number of gun homicides by a thousand per year. That's a very big deal to those thousand people who don't get murdered. My question is just how big a deal it is more generally. Families USA reported that 26,000 Americans die every year because they lack health insurance. It is hard to say how many people die early because of poverty. We do, however, know that people in the upper half of income earners live six years longer than those in the bottom half of income earners. So I tend to think it is millions.

This isn't just about what's most important. I believe that Rachel Maddow is pushing the gun control story -- which she has been doing for months -- because it is one issue that looks like a winner for liberals. But is that really what liberals should be pushing? I find that liberals do this much too much for my tastes. There was much rejoicing after the Fiscal Cliff deal, "We made the Republicans cave on taxes!" The fact that the president didn't get a good deal didn't seem to matter. And now it looks like a Pyrrhic victory.

Read more »

The Republicans' Obamacare lie and why it will continue to help them

By tmcbpatriot 

When I think if the GOP, I often hear the voice of Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore as he sits in the helicopter looking down at the carnage he is dropping onto that Vietnamese village. In a forever frustrated voice, he utters, as only he can: "Don't these people ever give up?"

Well there's that voice again because Paul Ryan is at it again. He is making the rounds in his forever lame attempt to remain relevant while touting yet another budget plan, same as the old plan, that promises to make the world a better place, provided of course that Obamacare is not part of it. Ugh. I feel your frustration, Bill.

Thing is, though, this boring regurgitation of repealing Obamacare, while tired and rote, continues to provide returns for the GOP and will for years to come. Obamacare is much like those other pesky liberal initiatives, like Medicare and civil rights, and much like those we intelligent people understand that Obamacare is here to stay while Republicans need to pretend it's not. Politicians like Ryan need to play dumb in order to maintain support among their fast-dying, brain-dead followers who need to believe otherwise.

Read more »

Death throes of the GOP

By Frank Moraes

Steve Benen at The Maddow Blow noted a really telling anecdote over at The New York Times about Obama's GOP outreach. Four months ago, the president invited five GOP congressional leaders to a secret screening of Lincoln with some of the stars of the film. All five people declined.

As Benen notes, "Are we to believe that all five -- invited in secret so they wouldn't have to take heat from Fox or the GOP base -- were all washing their hair that night?" He thinks the GOP is just being unreasonable, but I think there is something more profound going on here. The modern Republican Party (as I've said again and again) is a revolutionary party. They are not the loyal opposition. They are the disloyal opposition. They do not think that the Democratic Party is legitimate.

So these Republicans refusing to go to the White House is all about snubbing him. The fact that the president is offering fine food, entertainment, and Tommy Lee Jones makes the event all the more repellent. It highlights the fact that Barack Obama really is the President of the United States. He really does have the power to screen films with movie stars.

Read more »

Stupidest Shithole in America: Mississippi

By Michael J.W. Stickings

(It's our second entry in this new series. For the first -- Nelson, Georgia -- see here.)

I'm no great fan of Mayor Bloomberg's "abritrary and capricious" ban (or, rather, attempted ban, now that a judge has blocked it) on large sugary beverages, but from a public health perspective, and pretty much from any civilized perspective, this is worse: 

Fattest State in the Country Passes 'Anti-Bloomberg Law'

Mississippi's governor is poised to sign legislation — referred to (at least by NPR) as the "Anti-Bloomberg Bill" — that would ban local governments from regulating menu calorie counts, portion sizes, or "consumer incentive items" (e.g., Happy Meal toys) at restaurants and in vending machines. Mississippi has a solid winning streak going and it doesn't need anyone mucking it up.

There's something to be said for, you know, consumer choice, and for freedom generally, but this willful, and indeed gleeful, embrace of obesity and general unhealthiness is just obscene.

The cost of democracy

By Richard K. Barry

An organization called MapLight has published the average amount it cost in the 2012 campaign to run for the House or Senate:

• House members, on average, each raised $1,689,580, an average of $2,315 every day during the 2012 cycle.

• Senators, on average, each raised $10,476,451, an average of $14,351 every day during the 2012 cycle.

According to The Week, Maine Sen. Angus King got away the cheapest, raising about $3 million in campaign contributions:

Progressive icon and Wall Street critic Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) raised $42.5 million, by far the highest total of any 2012 winner, in her bid to unseat Republican Scott Brown. That sum was more than twice the amount raised by all but two other victorious candidates in Senate or House races, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio), who raised about $26 and $22 million, respectively.

Read more »

A.M. Headlines

(CBS News): "The budget battle: What the heck is going on in DC?"

(ABC News): "President Obama won't balance budget 'just for the sake of balance'"

(New York Times): "Karzai bets on vilifying U.S. to shed his image as a lackey"

USA Today): "LA archdioceses pays $10M in priest abuse case"

(Fox News): "Black smoke signals no new pope after cardinals vote for second and third times"

Crisis in the Conclave: First day of 2013 Popetacular reaches popeless conclusion

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Black smoke = the absence of God, or failure, or something

So here we are. A few hours into the papal election and still no pope. What are these guys waiting for? Isn't their "God" telling them what to do?

Actually, we're only one vote into the conclave. The 115 cardinals (all cardinals under the age of 80) entered the Sistine Chapel at 4:30 pm Vatican time and conducted a single vote that, not surprisingly, failed to produce the necessary two-thirds majority for any one candidate.

And so the smoke was black. (Check out this interesting piece on the mysteries of the smoke.)

There will now be four votes daily -- two in the morning and two in the afternoon, with ballots burned afterwards, black and finally white -- until there's a winner.

Apparently there's no campaigning in the Sistine Chapel itself, with the politicking taking place during dinner and other breaks. So what happened today is that the cardinals stated their initial preferences. It may be that the first vote today determined the obvious frontrunners, as it did last time when Ratzinger emerged as the likely pick, or it may just be that the cardinals are divided behind a number of choices. Either way, today's vote no doubt set the table for the quiet discussions and deliberations to come, and that the situation will be much clearer by the morning.

Read more »

P.M. Headlines

(New York Times): "Ryan budget plan aims to roll back Obama agenda"

(The Hill): "Senate Democrats pepper Obama with questions on entitlements"

(Salon): "A reality check for Ashley Judd"

(Reuters): "Cyber attacks leading threat against U.S.: Spy agencies"

(New York Times): Black smoke from conclave signals no pope on first day"

Where to relax in Rome

By Mustang Bobby

After a tough day at the Vatican, there's just one place to go to relax:

A day ahead of the papal conclave, faces at the scandal-struck Vatican were even redder than usual after it emerged that the Holy See had purchased a €23 million (£21 million) share of a Rome apartment block that houses Europe's biggest gay sauna.

The senior Vatican figure sweating the most due to the unlikely proximity of the gay Europa Multiclub is probably Cardinal Ivan Dias, the head of the Congregation for Evangelisation of Peoples, who is due to participate in tomorrow's election at the Sistine Chapel.

This 76-year-old "prince of the church" enjoys a 12-room apartment on the first-floor of the imposing palazzo, at 2 Via Carducci, just yards from the ground floor entrance to the steamy flesh pot. There are 18 other Vatican apartments in the block, many of which house priests.

The surprise isn't that the Vatican owns a gay bathhouse; it's that they haven't franchised it yet.

Via JMG.

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

Here we go again

By Mustang Bobby

Ed Kilgore has a good idea of what we’re in for if the MSM has their way:

President Obama, having “shifted to the left” since winning re-election, is in a popularity free fall because of his harsh partisan treatment of Republicans and his false prophecies of the negative impact of the taste of austerity offered by an appropriations sequester his staff invented in the first place. Moderate Democrats are fleeing him in hordes, and/or preparing to triangulate against his old-school liberalism.

Republicans, meanwhile, having “rebranded” themselves and shown they are willing to adjust to defeat by bravely attacking the memory of Todd Akin and considering a change in their posture on immigration that’s half-way down the path back to that of George W. Bush, have at the same time held fast on making “runaway spending” their obsession. And they have a new hero: Rand Paul, whose 13-hour filibuster last week showed that principle-based confrontation is the best, the only, the eternal way to secure conservative victory.

In other words, it’s 2009 again and there’s no way that the Democrats, let alone President Obama, can survive the tide of rising Republicanism and their fringed idea of “common sense,” which is all too common and bears little resemblance to sense.

But this is what passes for sage wisdom in a business where the trivial and the trite are the breaking news (did you see how many candy bars Rand Paul scarfed during his filibuster?) and the only difference between Washington and Hollywood is that in real show business, ratings and box office matter.

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

Think of it as evolution in action

By Carl

Retailers were poised, return crates at the ready. Movie theatres had already started recycling. Bodegas held clearance sales. Things were in place to execute Mayor Mike Bloomberg's most obnoxious public health initiative since dismantling the oldest government public health program in the nation's history.

And then....

But in a last-minute ruling, State Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling dismissed the law, explaining that the New York City's Board of Health lacked the jurisdiction to enforce it. He further went on to find that the rule was "arbitrary and capricious" -- that it did not accomplish what it set out to do. Or, as HuffPost Live host (and resident legal expert) Mike Sacks put it, "law-speak for too stupid to be legal."

Tingling made clear that the city's Board of Health was only meant to intervene "when the City is facing eminent danger due to disease," he wrote in the decision. "That has not been demonstrated herein."

Here's the thing: Mayor Mike is not wrong. There is a clear threat from obesity in this country, and even in New York, famed for its gyms and incidental commitment to health -- it's hard to find a parking space even in the outer boroughs now, so everyone walks anyway -- there are significant reasons to sound an alarm for obesity and how it impacts the city.

Here's the other thing: he's not right, either. And he need only look at the other health issue that the city has dealt with, properly and deliberately: smoking.


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Joe Lieberman, officially a conservative

By tmcbpatriot

Joe Lieberman has a new job. He will be co-chair of the American Enterprise Institute's "American Internationalism Project," led by former Senator Jon Kyl. 

Of the AIP, Kyl writes: "Fiscal constraints, weariness with war and isolationism are eroding the American will to lead. The nation has often chafed 'at the burden of our obligations.' But what once appeared to be a truism of an earlier era – the willingness to shoulder 'the burdens of leadership in the free world' – has ceased to resonate with many Americans. American internationalism has never been simply a response to threats, but an expression of who Americans are and what kind of world we want to live in."

So Joe Lieberman, a man once considered for VP, who turned his back on Democrats when they needed him most, and who still pretends to be an independent, is now going to work for a Republican think tank to help them find new ways to start wars, all in the name of bipartisanship. Seriously, how does this guy sleep at night? 

(Cross-posted at Take My Country Back.)

When satire becomes news

By Frank Moraes 

We all make mistakes. But the tendency for conservative media outlets to fall for hoaxes and to assume that satire is straight news is amazing. But it is no accident. In David Brock's book Blinded By the Right, he describes himself not so much as a political extremist but as a journalistic amateur. His turn from conservatism was more about his learning how to do the job. The watershed came when he was writing The Seduction of Hillary Rodham. It was the first time he did enough research to get a full picture of his target. In his earlier Real Anita Hill, he only talked to people who said bad things about Hill and so that was the narrative he created of her. (He has since repudiated the work.)

I think this is more generally the problem with conservative media. And it is why they often get stung. They are so keen to slime anything that is not conservative that they do not stop and do the most basic research. I am no journalist, but when I find an article by an unknown writer or news agency, I research them. When I discovered Kathleen O'Brien Wilhelm, I spent much more time trying to figure out if she was for real than actually writing about her. This is basic "I don't want to look like an idiot" work. The conservative media do not seem to have any such concerns.

Last Wednesday, The Daily Currant published an article, Paul Krugman Declares Personal Bankruptcy. That seems a straightforward enough title. But check out the lede:

Economist and columnist Paul Krugman declared personal bankruptcy today following a failed attempt to spend his way out of debt.

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Has the Tea Party found its demagogue in Rand Paul?

By Richard K. Barry

Chris Cillizza at The Washington Post writes that veteran Republicans are almost unanimous in their belief that Sen. Rand Paul is "already a national leader within the party and will be a major factor if (but really when) he runs for president in 2016."

Okay. If you guys really think that's a good idea, go for it. I mean what could go wrong? Oh, maybe that whole libertarian thing that made him once argue that private businesses should not have to adhere to the 1964 Civil Rights Act because, you know, the marketplace will deal with bad actors like that?

Those Republicans who were asked pointed to his filibuster as a stroke of brilliance that catapulted him onto the national stage. They add that old guard attacks "solidified his position as leader of the new right." They say, as Cillizza writes, that he is a "person of principle" with a "showman's sense of the moment, a rare and underrated ability in politics."

But the point is that beside being a charter member of the Tea Party, he actually describes himself as a libertarian, the main point of which is to reduce the size of government as much as possible or, in extreme cases, eliminate it completely. 

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Crisis in the Conclave: The Picking of a Pope, 2013

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Canada's Marc Ouellet: Will this man be pope?

I was really into it the last time, back in the spring of 2005. Those were early blogging days for me. I'd started The Reaction on March 29 of that year, without all that much of a clue as to what I wanted to write about, and I was just finding my way around the blogosphere, and finding my voice. There were other things going on, of course, and my focus was generally on U.S. politics, but there was simply no denying the allure of the papal election.

I dove right in, reading everything I could, taking it all in, obsessing over the odds at Irish betting sites, learning about the various papabili, the leading contenders to the throne of the Bishop of Rome, names like Martini and Tettamanzi and Arinze and Hummes and Danneels, and, of course, Ratzinger, all while submerging myself in the inner workings of the Vatican and the politics of the conclave.

Yes, I was fascinated by the whole thing, even though I'm not a Catholic and actually find most of the "teachings" of the Church utterly repellent, not to mention most of Christianity complete bullshit, and I wrote a lot about the election that would produce Pope Benedict XVI. For example, picking four out of so many:

-- Cardinals in the home stretch...;
-- Smoke, mirrors, and bells: The Conclave begins;
-- The Conclave: Day Two; and
-- Habemus papam: How did Ratzinger win?

And now here we are again, sooner that we thought at the time but, then again, no one really expected Ratzinger to be pope for long, given his advanced age, even if resignation was largely unthinkable (and historically... well, you have to go back 600 years, to Pope Gregory XII in 1415, who was forced out, and so really back to Pope Celestine V in 1294, but he never really wanted to be pope anyway, and he was actually chosen in the last non-conclave papal election, so we're really in new territory now with Benedict. 

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