For Santorum: "Life Begins at Erection"

Why Virginia Delegates Kathy Byron and Mark Cole are Assholes

Republican Delegate Kathy Byron is an asshole, who wants Virginia women raped.

Byron is sponsor of an anti-abortion bill that would likely force women in the early stages of pregnancy to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound probe. Or -- as defined by the Justice Department -- [state mandated] rape.

How else can you describe the insertion of an object into a woman's vagina against her will?

According to the Justice Department:

"The new definition of rape is: 'The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.' ...

"The revised definition includes any gender of victim or perpetrator, and includes instances in which the victim is incapable of giving consent because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity, including due to the influence of drugs or alcohol or because of age. The ability of the victim to give consent must be determined in accordance with state statute. Physical resistance from the victim is not required to demonstrate lack of consent. The new definition does not change federal or state criminal codes or impact charging and prosecution on the local level."

If Byron gets her way, and it looks like she will, Virginia women may need to invoke the Violence Against Women Act to stop this madness.

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Virginia Delegate Mark Cole is an asshole because he wants to force poor women to carry a fetus to term -- even if it has no chance for survival outside the womb.

First Read - DMV reports:

"Democratic Sen. Ralph Northam, a physician, said the bill would deny poor women the ability to terminate pregnancies in cases of “gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or mental deficiency” yet force them to bear staggering costs of caring for special needs children.

"In a concession to Northam's point, the committee amended the bill to place critically disabled children born to indigent women who are denied state-funded abortions atop a long waiting list for Medicaid waivers, or public aid that helps disabled people live near home instead of a distant, long-state institution." [...]

“We're not going to force the taxpayers, many of them who think it's immoral ... to pay for that abortion,” Cole said. [...]

Opponents noted the miniscule cost of state-funded abortions. A Virginia Department of Planning and Budget fiscal analysis that accompanies the bill reported that the Department of Health paid for only 10 abortions in the fiscal year that ended June 30 with a total cost of $2,784. The average cost for the procedure that year was $529.

 “This means that every person in Virginia was on the line for only four-10,000ths of a penny,” said Christie Brooks -- who terminated a pregnancy in 2003 after doctors determined the lungs of her fetus were so deformed that it would have suffocated at birth.

Fasten your seat belts ...

Or ... I’d like to propose a new drinking game following the mid-term election. Every time John Boehner cries … take a drink! It could make the next two years much easier to tolerate.

Jon Stewart on The "New" GOP

Ken Mehlman (Finally) Comes Out

Was there every any question?

Ken Mehlman, former chairman of the Republican National Committee and the former campaign manager for George W. Bush's 2004 re-election bid, has told his family and colleagues that he is gay, according to The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder.

From Ambinder's report:

"It's taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life," Mehlman said. "Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I've told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they've been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that's made me a happier and better person. It's something I wish I had done years ago."

Mehlman would like to play a greater role as an advocate for same-sex marriage. Well good for him, but his announcement does nothing to negate the years he spent getting anti-gay, anti-women, anti-anything progressive Republicans elected. If Mehlman truly wants to play a "greater role" he needs to work for the defeat of ALL the mean-spirited, hate-filled members of his own party.

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Extra...Extra...Bush Campaign Chief and Former RNC Chair Ken Mehlman: "I'm gay"
from Pam's House Blend

Mitch McConnell's tax cut lies

Joan Walsh, at Salon, has got Mitch McConnell's number ... and if we're smart, it's up. The American public simply has to wake up and realize that every time McConnell's lips are moving he's lying.

Walsh asks: "Why does the GOP get away with saying tax cuts for the rich are "existing tax policy"? Or that they create jobs?" She goes on to say:

I don't see the Park51 controversy as a mere distraction from the country's "real" issues of unemployment and economic trouble. What matters more than our nation's tradition of religious and political freedom? But it's clear to me that the "mosque" issue is this August's version of last August's "death panels" – another faux-Fox controversy manufactured by divisive right-wingers to keep us from focusing on our country's serious problems.

What would Republicans do without the "mosque" flap, if they had to vigorously defend, in detail, their economic program? Sunday on "Meet the Press," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was as preposterous as House Minority Leader John Boehner on the same show two weeks ago, blustering about having to account for how much extending the Bush tax cuts for the megarich – set to expire in 2011 -- will deepen the deficit. Just as Boehner sputtered and refused to answer repeatedly, then blamed "this Washington game and their funny accounting" for the vexing fact that protecting the megarich will add $3.2 trillion to the deficit, so did McConnell obfuscate. "Why did it all of a sudden become something that we, quote, 'pay for'?" McConnell asked host David Gregory, calling the tax cuts "existing tax policy."

My favorite paragraph is:

I also don't understand why, if as the Republicans claim, these tax cuts are the secret to job growth, two Bush terms only saw the number of jobs grow by 1.1 million, when jobs grew by 22.7 million under Bill Clinton, at the same time that taxes on the rich were higher.

It's hard to argue with the facts.

Republicans in Congress

Obama Speech to Students Draws Out Conservative Crazies

What's all this fuss about President Obama addressing school children as they begin a new year? You'd think he was planning to kill puppies. Maybe conservatives are as confused as Emily Litella, in her Weekend Update editorial response about schoolchildren:

"I'm here tonight to speak out against busting schoolchildren. Busting schoolchildren is a terrible, terrible thing. I hear this is going on all over the country. Mean policemen arrest little children and put them in jail in the wrong neighborhood, so they can't even play with their little friends. Imagine, busting schoolchildren! The food in jail isn't good, and even though they get bread, I don't believe they can get toast..."

The president announces he will deliver a back to school address and conservatives go crazy!

"As far as I am concerned, this is not civics education - it gives the appearance of creating a cult of personality," said Oklahoma state Sen. Steve Russell. "This is something you'd expect to see in North Korea or in Saddam Hussein's Iraq."

I particularly liked this comment:

PTA council president Cara Mendelsohn said Obama is "cutting out the parent" by speaking to kids during school hours.

"Why can't a parent be watching this with their kid in the evening?" Mendelsohn said. "Because that's what makes a powerful statement, when a parent is sitting there saying, 'This is what I dream for you. This is what I want you to achieve.'"

I would be willing to bet these same parents have no problem sending their children to school to pray with strangers. Yes, school prayer certainly builds stronger families then having mom and dad pray with their children before sending them off to school in the morning.

So what is Obama planning to do?

Obama plans to speak directly to students Tuesday about the need to work hard and stay in school. His address will be shown live on the White House Web site and on C-SPAN at noon EDT, a time when classrooms across the country will be able to tune in.

Schools don't have to show it. But districts across the country have been inundated with phone calls from parents and are struggling to address the controversy that broke out after Education Secretary Arne Duncan sent a letter to principals urging schools to watch.

Districts in states including Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Virginia, Wisconsin have decided not to show the speech to students. Others are still thinking it over or are letting parents have their kids opt out.

Some conservatives, driven by radio pundits and bloggers, are urging schools and parents to boycott the address. They say Obama is using the opportunity to promote a political agenda and is overstepping the boundaries of federal involvement in schools.

Well heck ... I certainly think getting parenting advise from radio talk show pundits is the way to go! Geezz...

This might sum it up for everyone:

In Florida, GOP chairman Jim Greer released a statement that he was "absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama's socialist ideology."

Yeah, urging kids to stay in school and get from it all that they can is a pretty socialist idea alright. So what would our friend Emily say?

Birthers on the Hill

One Reason Sen. John Kyl is ...

an asshole. Kyl announced he will attempt to filibuster any Supreme Court nominee who has the audacity to try and understand how decisions my impact some one's life.

The Senate's No. 2 Republican on Sunday refused to rule out a filibuster if President Barack Obama seeks a Supreme Court justice who decides cases based on "emotions or feelings or preconceived ideas."

Sen. Jon Kyl made clear he would use the procedural delay if Obama follows through on his pledge to nominate someone who takes into account human suffering and employs empathy from the bench. The Arizona Republican acknowledged that his party likely does not have enough votes to sustain a filibuster, but he said nonetheless he would try to delay or derail the nomination if Obama ventures outside what Kyl called the mainstream.

"We will distinguish between a liberal judge on one side and one who doesn't decide cases on the merits but, rather, on the basis of his or her preconceived ideas," Kyl said.

The Democrats handed these jerks Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito, and they dare to say they will filibuster someone who holds basically the same judicial philosophy as Justice Souter?

What assholes.

WTF is up with this tortured controversy?

Why are we still talking about Pelosi and torture? Dick Cheney ordered detainees tortured, and now Speaker Pleosi is under attack? This is clearly a case of Republican desperation.

Republicans view the current controversy -- sparked a month ago by Pelosi's calls for a truth commission to investigate the Bush White House's approval of interrogation techniques -- as their first successful effort to dent the speaker's image.

So let's recap this: Pelosi wants to get at the truth behind Cheney's torture agenda -- and now SHE is responsible for the torture?

Hey Republicans, give it up! No one is buying your tortured, trumped up 'controversy'.

For the previous two years Republican attempts to turn Pelosi into a polarizing political figure have largely fallen flat. The GOP ran ad campaigns in Southern states linking Democratic candidates to her, for example, only to see the Democrats still prevail.

About the only thing Repubicans have accomplished is to shore up Speaker Pelosi's support from the Dems in Congress.

And even among the general public Pelosi does better than some former House Speakers:

Pelosi is by no means popular with the general public outside of her San Francisco district, but congressional leaders rarely are. A new CNN poll found that 39 percent of voters approve of her job performance. At a similar stage in his tenure as speaker, Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) was supported by 25 percent of voters in 1997.

And of course Panetta is going to side with his CIA pals ... he doesn't want to wake up and find a horse head in his bed!

So gee, is it possible the CIA might have made a few mistakes?

Former senator Bob Graham (D-Fla.), chairman of the Senate intelligence panel in 2002, also questioned the accuracy of the CIA's records, saying that its memos on other briefings wrongly showed him attending briefings at which he was not present. Graham has repeatedly said that his interrogation briefing did not include any mention of waterboarding -- a dramatically different account than the one offered by Shelby, who, along with Graham, was briefed by CIA officials three weeks after Pelosi's briefing.

Maybe in their rush to protect a Dick, the CIA is trying to help Republican create a controversy. After all, they were the ones who went along with Dick's tortured plan -- so why would they want a "truth commission" now?

Hey DeMint: "What The Hell Does That Mean"

This is a bit dated, but I've decided to go ahead and post it for your viewing pleasure! Take a look at back-to-back video of an exchange between CNN's Rich Sanchez and GOP Senator Jim DeMint -- with a little Jon Stewart thrown in for fun! DeMint is seriously out of touch with reality!


The complete interview:

Rove Epitomizes Republican Hypocrisy

Frank Schaeffer Calls Out Republican Traitors

Read more about what Frank Schaeffer has to say in: Open Letter to the Republican Traitors (From a Former Republican)

Senator Larry Craig to resign Saturday

The Associated Press is reporting:

Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig will resign from the Senate amid a furor over his arrest and guilty plea in a police sex sting in an airport men's room, Republican officials said Friday.

Craig will announce at a news conference in Boise Saturday morning that he will resign effective Sept. 30, four state GOP officials told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Word of the resignation came four days after the disclosure that Craig had pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge arising out of his June 11 arrest during a lewd-conduct investigation at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

The three-term Republican senator had maintained that he did nothing wrong except for making the guilty plea without consulting a lawyer. But he found almost no support among Republicans in his home state or Washington.

Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter appeared Friday to have already settled on a successor: Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, according to several Republicans familiar with internal deliberations.

So there you have it! Too bad the 'Bush problem' can't be resolved as quickly.

Okay, the LAST on Sen Larry Craig

UPDATE: Crooks and Liars has "1999 Video: Republican Larry Craig Calls Bill Clinton “A Nasty, Bad Naughty Boy”

Tennessee Guerilla Women has a great video of "Rep. Barney Frank on Sen. Larry Craig & Other GOP Hypocrites (Real Time Video)"

The final word on Sen. Craig

Well, maybe the final word ... unless something else as funny as this surfaces. From Jesus' General we get the following message:

Larry Craig wants to punish nasty, bad, naughty boys

For the rest of the story, visit Jesus' General.

UPDATE: NBC News4 in DC is reporting that a DC man has come forward claiming that he had sex with the Senator in a men's room in Union Station. The report also aired tape of a younger Craig talking about a 1982 charge that he was involved in a gay sex scandal with Congressional Pages. Yikes! Senator Craig says he's not gay, but it sure looks like his boyfriend is!

More on Larry Craig ...

from Susie Bright's Journal:

The GOP Narcissists aren't the exception to the rule— they ARE the rule. They personify the very sexuality they campaign against. If they vote against gays, we know they're queer. If they're hopped up about "child porn," we can guess their internet habits. If they hold up monogamous marriage as a Christian ideal, we know they're adulterous, blasphemous fools.

Here's what they all have in common; They pretend it didn't happen. They try to buy people off to shut them up. They cry that they've been victimized. And then they continue to persecute everyone else by:

Voting YES on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.
Voting NO on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes.
Voting NO on expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation.
Voting YES on prohibiting same-sex marriage.
Voting NO on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation.

For more on Republican hypocrisy check this out! You gotta love the tubes, and their ability to bring people the truth.