VOTING RIGHTS (AND WRONGS)

Justice Antonin Scalia has given up any pretense of judicial open-mindedness and deliberation: it's all about justifying a preordained conclusion (and in his outrageous extremism, he might push some justices to the other side)

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/02/chasing_scalia.php

[JM] Searching for consistency from Justice Scalia is a sucker’s chore, but his comments today are especially gobsmacking. . . . [read on]

Strict constructionism: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/02/good_point.php

[JS] Compare and contrast.

1. Justice Scalia today regarding the voting rights act: “This is not the kind of question you can leave to Congress.”
2. The United States Constitution, Amendment XV:
“SECTION 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
SECTION 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/02/scalia-attacks-congress-for-renewing-voting-rights-act.php 
Scalia: Voting Rights Act Is A ‘Perpetuation Of Racial Entitlement’

http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/scalia-voting-rights-act-perpetual-racial#sthash.C3oRnRPP.dpbs

More: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/27/1190254/-Antonin-Scalia-shows-once-again-what-a-vile-creature-he-is

http://prospect.org/article/scalias-weird-vra-spat

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/02/scalia_top_democratic_plant.php

Scalia, Top Democratic Plant?

Hope for Justice Kennedy? http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/02/anthony-kennedy-voting-rights-act.php

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/02/27/is-the-voting-rights-act-in-trouble/

Is the Voting Rights Act in trouble?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_02/vra_on_the_ropes043243.php

VRA On the Ropes

Just say it!

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2013/02/the-gop-does-not-want-black-people-to.html

The Republican Party does not want black people to vote. 

Bob Woodward has become a hero of the Right

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/02/inside_the_woodward_fainting_couch.php 
So last we spoke, Bob Woodward was doubling and tripling down on dudgeon-ly tantrum at the Obama White House. Ben Smith first reported and I can confirm that the ‘aide’ who told Woodward he’d regret his willfully false claim that the sequester deal required that there’d only be spending cuts (no new revenues) was Gene Sperling.

So was Sperling threatening to sic the black helicopters on Woodward and like fully take him out? The blog and twitter-hordes of the right think so. And they’re circling round Woodward tonight in a glorious defense. . .

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/27/woodward-obama-aide_n_2778007.html

More: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/woodward-obama-not-sending-aircraft-carrier-to-persian

Woodward: Obama Not Sending Aircraft Carrier To Persian Gulf ‘A Kind Of Madness’

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/02/27/17117597-woodward-its-madness-for-obama-to-follow-federal-law

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/28/bob-woodward-obama-military-sequester

Bob Woodward embodies US political culture in a single outburst

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/02/the_establishments_obama_derangement_syndrome.php

 

The sequester could make the deficit worse (but that's okay - the GOP doesn't really care about the deficit)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/27/bernanke-the-sequester-could-make-it-harder-to-reduce-the-deficit-not-easier/

  

More: http://prospect.org/article/five-most-terrifying-things-about-sequester

Closing the circle

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/27/1190229/-GOP-senator-says-police-budgets-are-getting-cut-so-you-d-better-go-buy-a-gun

GOP senator says police budgets are getting cut so you'd better go buy a gun

The kind of people they are

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/nh-lawmaker-says-some-people-might-like-being

Speaking out in support of a bill that would shift the penalty for simple assault from a misdemeanor crime to a violation-level offense in certain cases, a Republican legislator in New Hampshire on Tuesday suggested that "a lot of people like being in abusive relationships."

The argument was floated by state Rep. Mark Warden (R), one of only four members of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee to vote in favor of the bill, which drew opposition from both law enforcement and domestic violence groups alike. . . .

"Some people could make the argument that a lot of people like being in abusive relationships," Warden said during a meeting held by the committee. "It's a love-hate relationship. It's very, very common for people to stick around with somebody they love who also abuses him or her."

He continued, "Is the solution to those kind of dysfunctional relationships going to be more government, another law? I tend to say no. People are always free to leave."

Iowa Repubs lose a moderate candidate, go with an extreme teabagger for Senate: obviously they followed the 2012 voting results very closely

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/02/27/17120205-why-steve-king-and-iowa-dems-are-smiling-today

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_02/run_steve_run043250.php

Heh heh

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/02/27/the-morning-plum-hows-that-gop-makeover-going/

How’s that GOP “makeover” going? 

http://theweek.com/article/index/240616/the-republican-makeover-falters

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/02/27/17116916-the-party-in-need-of-a-major-makeover

It's Obama's fault! http://www.newrepublic.com/article/112493/republican-self-pity-obamas-secret-plot-end-gop#

Fun! Keith Ellison (D-MN) takes down Sean Hannity (thanks to SC for the link)

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/02/27/ellison_takes_on_hannity.html

Bonus item: Pa-thetic. Michelle Malkin HAS TO attack Michelle Obama for her "Evolution of the Mom Dance"

http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/02/27/michelle-malkin-reacts-to-backlash-for-lampooning-the-first-ladys-dance-spoof-with-jimmy-fallon/

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/cnn-slams-michelle-obama-oscars-fonzie#sthash.pneNMcXU.dpbs

A totally unfunny parody: http://nation.foxnews.com/liberals/2013/02/25/michelle-malkins-evolution-liberal-dance

http://tinyurl.com/csjvaj4

It’s kinda sorta funny for a few seconds if you don’t mind that Malkin has none of the charm, sweetness or self-effacing qualities of the original.. . . 

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL: http://pbd.blogspot.com 

To get PBD by email: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#!forum/todays-news 

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

ASSES

House, Senate argue over who's sitting on their rear ends

http://occupyamerica.crooksandliars.com/diane-sweet/boehner-tells-senate-get-their-ass
Boehner Tells Senate to 'Get Off Their Ass' This Time

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/02/26/reid-says-its-the-house-sitting-on-posterior 
Reid says it’s the House sitting on ‘posterior’

Boehner Tells Senate to 'Get Off Their Ass' This Time - See more at: http://occupyamerica.crooksandliars.com/diane-sweet/boehner-tells-senate-get-their-ass#sthash.3sNYxP4O.dpuf

More: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/02/sequestration-republicans-mcconnell.php
But the vote on a Republican alternative appears likely to be delayed because as of Tuesday afternoon, Senate Republicans couldn’t agree among themselves on whether or how to proceed.

“I would be happy to give the President more flexibility and rely on the agency heads to apportion the amount of spending reduction in a different way than the sequester [requires],” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told reporters at his weekly Capitol briefing. “There are some members of our conference who are suspicious of the administration taking advantage of such flexibility — would seek to punish their political enemies. So there are differences of opinions about that.” [read on]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/26/obama-budget-flexibility_n_2767830.html
If Republicans Now Want Obama To Have Budget 'Flexibility,' What Was All The Fighting For?

Chuck Hagel confirmed as Def Sec, Republican whining wasted

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/senate-confirms-hagel-for-defense-secretary.php

Was all the fuss-up worth it? http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/02/26/the-gops-anti-hagel-crusade-was-it-worth-it/

GOP sets new records in blocking judicial appointments

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/02/26/17101946-when-the-judicial-confirmation-process-gets-stupid

http://www.politico.com/politico44/2013/01/obama-dings-senate-on-judicial-confirmations-153279.html

More: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/02/the-tortuous-protracted-wait-to-confirm-judges-from-abe-to-obama/273485/

More backpedaling

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/02/house-gop-backs-down-on-violence-against-women-act.php
House Republicans Backing Down On Violence Against Women Act

Who killed the debt deal?

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/02/it-was-eric-cantor-who-killed-debt-ceiling-deal

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/02/26/17105106-cantors-candid-confession
  
REPUBLICAN Rep. Walter Jones (N.C.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/post/rep-walter-jones-cheney-to-rot-in-hell-for-iraq-war/2013/02/26/0beb36a8-802a-11e2-a350-49866afab584_blog.html
Rep. Walter Jones: Cheney to ‘rot in hell’ for Iraq war

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is meeting, with their eyes firmly fixed on the past not the future. Popular NJ governor Chris Christie is OUT, the Mittster and Sarah are IN

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/02/in_a_bad_way.php
[Josh Marshall] I’m not sure there’s a better example of the bad position the GOP is currently in than the fact that a year ago Chris Christie was the big hope to jump into the presidential race and save Republicans from their lame list of candidates. This year he’s apparently too liberal to be allowed to appear at the country’s top annual conservative confab, CPAC.

Romney: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/20/1188567/-Mitt-Romney-heading-to-CPAC-ready-to-insult-Americans-some-more
“This is really an opportunity for Governor Romney to thank all his supporters and friends,” says a senior Romney aide.

[NB: THAT shouldn't take long!]
 
Palin: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/26/1190027/-Top-conservative-conference-keeps-Christie-away
Christie has a “limited future” in the national Republican party given his position on gun control, the source tells National Review Online. As a result, the CPAC insider says, the focus of this year’s conference, “the future of conservatism,” made Christie a bad fit.

[NB: "Limited future" should be the theme of the entire conference!]
  
The politics of scheming

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/25/what-chinas-hackers-get-wrong-about-washington/
[Ezra Klein] This is the most pervasive of of all Washington legends: that politicians in Washington are ceaselessly, ruthlessly, effectively scheming. That everything that happens fits into somebody’s plan. It doesn’t. Maybe it started out with a scheme, but soon enough everyone is, at best, reacting, and at worst, failing to react, and always, always they’re doing it with less information than they need.

That’s been a key lesson I’ve learned working as a reporter and political observer in Washington: No one can carry out complicated plans. All parties and groups are fractious and bumbling. But everyone always thinks everyone else is efficiently and ruthlessly implementing long-term schemes. [read on]

More: http://prospect.org/article/nobody-knows-what-theyre-doing
 

Bonus item: "Obamaquester"?!?? What overpaid spin consultant thought THAT was going to work?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/26/1189908/-Sorry-Republicans-Obamaquester-didn-t-do-the-trick-You-re-still-losing-sequester-blame-game

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL: http://pbd.blogspot.com

To get PBD by email: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#!forum/todays-news

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

ABSOLUTE PRESSURE

One side is losing the argument on sequestration -- can you guess?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-sequester-nears-no-sign-of-progress/2013/02/25/ebd40a56-7f76-11e2-b948-9fe1f979ed17_story.html 
GOP pushes back on Obama sequester warnings, says he should seek deal

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/02/25/obama-trying-to-scare-americans-jindal-says/
Obama trying to ‘scare’ Americans, Jindal says

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/boehner-obama-using-service-members-as-campaign-props
Boehner: Obama Using Service Members As ‘Campaign Props’

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/25/i-dont-understand-the-republican-position-on-the-sequester
I don’t understand the Republican position on the sequester

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/02/25/17087809-a-muddled-message-gets-messier-and-more-mendacious
A muddled message gets messier and more mendacious 

Meanwhile . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/02/25/the-morning-plum-republican-governors-urge-gop-to-act-on-sequesetr/
Republican governors urge GOP to act on sequester

More: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/02/white-house-state-by-state-sequester-harm.php
White House Breaks Down Sequester Damage In Each State 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/02/25/obama-to-governors-keep-pressing-congress/
Obama to governors: Keep pressing Congress

More: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/02/why-democrats-are-so-confident-of-a-sequestration-victory.php
Why Democrats Are So Confident Of A Sequestration Victory

What the sequester will do

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/25/wonkbook-the-sequester-stops-being-polite-and-starts-getting-specific
 
Self-immolation

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/02/house-gop-in-a-bind-on-violence-against-women-act.php
House GOP In A Bind On Violence Against Women Act 

The state of the Grand Old Party

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_02/drunk_uncle043197.php
Drunk Uncle

Ted Cruz (R-Koo-kooland): I was right, there REALLY WERE Communist revolutionaries on the Harvard Law School faculty!

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/02/cruz_defends_government_overthrow_lie.php
 
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/02/25/17087582-ted-cruzs-curious-defense
 
They still haven't given up

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/02/25/gop-electoral-vote-rigging-scheme-still-alive-and-well/
GOP electoral vote-rigging schemes still alive and well

Wow, blockbuster Watergate story

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/bork-nixon-offered-me-scotus-seat-for-saturday-night-massacre.php
Robert Bork says President Richard Nixon promised him the next Supreme Court vacancy after Bork complied with Nixon’s order to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox in 1973. . . .

Bonus item: Theocracy watch: haunted sweaters!

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/25/1189735/-Pat-Robertson-assures-concerned-teen-that-not-every-sweater-you-get-from-Goodwill-has-demons-in-it

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL: http://pbd.blogspot.com

To get PBD by email: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#!forum/todays-news

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

O.D.S.

The sequester fight is all about 2014. I think the Obama admin has decided that there is no working with a party controlled by a group of members who will not support ANYTHING Obama proposes, simply because he proposed it. With the "fiscal cliff," then the debt limit, and now the sequester, the dysfunctionality of the GOP has been on broad public display. I think the calculus is that letting the sequester happen (for a while) is a way of highlighting the state of the party, and laying the groundwork for Obama's push to retake the House in the next election. Then maybe something can get done

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/02/congress-lumbers-toward-sequestration.php

Congress Lumbers Toward Sequestration  

http://theweek.com/article/index/240524/three-reasons-why-obama-isnt-leading-on-the-sequester

3 reasons why Obama isn't leading on the sequester

 

More: http://www.rollcall.com/news/does_boehner_even_have_the_votes_to_replace_the_sequester-222593-1.html

Does Boehner Even Have the Votes to Replace the Sequester?

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/02/25/republicans_losing_message_war_on_sequester.html

Republicans Losing Message War on Sequester

The NRA goes further off the deep end

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/wayne-lapierre-obama-wants-national-registry-to-take

Wayne LaPierre: Obama Wants National Registry To Take Away Guns

http://tinyurl.com/aqxhmtj

The NRA’s claim that Joe Biden’s gun advice is illegal

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/authoritarian-freedom-fighters-yes-im.html

More: http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/gun-fools-worry-obama-will-turn-his-secret

Gun Fools Worry Obama Will Turn His Secret Black Army On Them

In case you missed the Sunday talk shows

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/24/sunday-morning-liveblog_n_2753278.html

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/02/24/sunday-show-sequester-primer

Bonus Oscar item: History tells us what the best movies were, whether they win Best Picture or not

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/beautiful-losers-top-10-oscar-snubs-by.html
Beautiful losers: Top 10 Oscar snubs

[NB: Plus my personal candidate, "Witness," which lost to the forgettable "Out of Africa" in 1985.]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL: http://pbd.blogspot.com

To get PBD by email: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#!forum/todays-news

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

THE EVOLUTION OF MOM DANCING

Crank it up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Hq-URl9F17Y

 
 

The latest Republican whine: before the election, in 2011, when nobody knew what would happen, Obama was reluctant to talk about tax increases as a way to reach a budget deal and avoid the sequester; after the election, which he overwhelmingly won, he changed his priorities. This is supposed to be an outrage

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/23/on-the-sequester-the-american-people-moved-the-goalposts/

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/02/woodward_misses_the_mark.php

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/02/sequester-not-same-thing-substitute-sequester

Paul Ryan hates the sequester! Paul Ryan loves the sequester!

http://occupyamerica.crooksandliars.com/diane-sweet/watch-paul-ryan-sequester

The drone debate continues

http://my.firedoglake.com/davidswanson/2013/02/23/witnesses-at-a-drone-hearing/

http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/02/22/the-white-houses-self-authorization-to-use-military-force-in-algeria-and-mali/

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/02/more-drones-ever-more-drones

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/22/obama-brennan-paul-assassinations-filibuster

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/02/can-president-target-american-citizens-us-soil 

The Sunday talk show line-ups

http://firedoglake.com/2013/02/24/sunday-talking-heads-february-24-2013/
ABC’S THIS WEEK:  Foreign Affairs Roundtable:  House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), and Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), George Will, Christiane Amanpour.  Political Roundtable: George Will; Donna Brazile; Steven Brill, author of this week’s cover story “Bitter Pill” on rising health care costs; former Lead Auto Adviser and Counselor to the Treasury Secretary Steven Rattner; Kimberley Strassel.

CBS’ FACE THE NATION:  Major Garrett hosts. Sequestration, immigration and guns: View from the states. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA). Gov. Martin O’Malley (D-MD) and Bob McDonnell (R-VA).  Then, Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) and Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO). Roundtable: Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), a psychologist who specialized in treating at-risk families and children exhibiting violent behavior before he was elected to Congress; National Alliance on Mental Illness Executive Director Michael Fitzpatrick; Parents Television Council President Tim Winter; former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O’Toole; and Texas A&M International’s Chris Ferguson. Plus, National Journal’s Nancy Cook, Washington Post’s Scott Wilson and CBS News’ John Dickerson.

CHRIS HAYES:   The press, the sequester, cyber-war.  David Sanger, chief Washington correspondent for The New York Times.  Robert Gibbs, former White House press secretary.  Neera Tanden, president and CEO for Center for American Progress.  Michael Hastings, author of “Panic 2012 – The Sublime and Terrifying Inside Story of Obama’s Final Campaign.”  Ana Marie Cox, columnist for The Guardian.  Brandon Valeriano, lecturer at the University of Glasgow in the Social and Political Sciences.  Steve Ellis,  vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense.  Phyllis Bennis, director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.  Bill Black, associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, former litigation director of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board.  Oscar Joyner, president and chief operating officer of Reach Media, Inc.  Kimberly Peretti, partner in Alston’s White Collar Crime Group and co-chair of their security incident management and response team.

CNN’S STATE OF THE UNION:  Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).  Then, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT).  Roundtable: Gov. Dan Malloy (D-CT), Haley Barbour, Gwen Ifill, Jackie Calmes of the New York Times.FOX NEWS SUNDAY autostart:  Sequester. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO).  Then, Gov. Jack Markell (D-DE) and Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI).  Roundtable:  Bill Kristol, Mara Liasson, Nick Ayers, Evan Bayh.

CNN: Fareed Zakaria GPS: Reuel Marc Gerecht (Weekly Standard); Richard Haass (Council on Foreign Relations); Former Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA); Former NSA Director Gen. Michael Hayden; Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson; Karim Sadjadpour (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace); Author Hooman Majd.

MOYERS & COMPANY:  Taming Capitalism Run Wild.  Economist Richard Wolff and Restaurant Worker Advocate Saru Jayaraman talk about battling rampant capitalism, and fighting for economic justice.

NBC’S MEET THE PRESS: Gov. Deval Patrick (D-MA) and the Chair of the Republican Governors Association, Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA).  Then, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.  Roundtable: Harold Ford; Peggy Noonan; Host of NPR’s Morning Edition, Steve Inskeep; Maria Bartiromo; Jim Cramer.

Bonus item: The GOPers can't distinguish right-wing news sites from parodies any more

http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/mcconnell-staffer-falls-stupid-parody-blog

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/06/john-fleming-onion-planned-parenthood_n_1257763.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL: http://pbd.blogspot.com

To get PBD by email: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#!forum/todays-news

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

THERE, THERE, LITTLE MISSY

 

Republicans continue to grow the gender gap

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/indiana-bill-would-force-women-endure-two

Indiana Bill Would Force Women to Endure Two Medically Unnecessary Transvaginal Probes

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/02/indiana-republicans-advance-transvaginal-ultrasound-bill.php

More: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/22/1189081/-House-GOP-to-introduce-Violence-Against-Women-Act-that-only-protects-straight-non-Indian-women

 

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/02/patrick-leahy-patty-murray-gop-vawa.php 

Top Dems Reject House GOP’s Violence Against Women Act: ‘Simply Unacceptable’

Charles Krauthammer is so in the tank for Republicans that he endorses Marco Rubio's immigration bill before Rubio even releases it

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/02/mission_accomplished_krauthammer_edition.php

Marco Rubio’s political future is based on convincing Tea Partiers and base Republicans that his immigration reform plan is vastly preferable to the awful Obama plan — even though Rubio hasn’t decided what his plan includes on really any key point. So who’s the first anti-reform fish to get reeled in? Apparently, it’s Charles Krauthammer. He seems to get that there’s no real difference between the plans. And that both amount to what he calls “instant amnesty”. But still Rubio’s plan is worth getting behind because … well, he’s not Obama.  

More: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/02/rubios-white-house-attack-already-working-wonders-for-immigration-reform.php

Let's kick Ted Cruz (R-TX) around some more (note: he REALLY IS a McCarthyite!)

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/02/the_lies_the_lies_the_lies.php

http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/sarahposner/6866/ted_cruz_s_mccarthyism_and_the_christian_right/

 

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/22/1188589/-Ted-Cruz-is-disappointed-in-all-you-people-insulting-him-for-being-a-McCarthyite-jackass

Lots more: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2013/02/ted-cruz-sees-red-not-crimson-at-harvard.html

 

Used to be black helicopters, now it's drones

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/gohmert-suggests-voters-need-least-50-rounds

Gohmert Suggests Voters Need 'at Least 50 Rounds' in Magazines to Take Out Drones

Rush Limbaugh educates his listeners about the sequester

http://crooksandliars.com/blue-texan/limbaugh-says-hes-ashamed-us-first-time

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_02/dont_confuse_me_with_facts043153.php

Our lazy press

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/02/12_dimensional_chess.php

DC press so bored by sequester stand-off, now reduced to writing articles about how overwhelming public support may backfire on the President. 

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/22/obama-sequester-debate_n_2742739.html

Politico Is Pretty Sure That GOP Intransigence On Sequester Fight Is Obama's Fault, For Some Reason 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/22/obama-sequestration-plan_n_2741590.html

Obama's Sequestration Plan: Let's Show Some Journalists How To Find It, On The Internet

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL: http://pbd.blogspot.com

To get PBD by email: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#!forum/todays-news

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***