Diane Judith Nash (born May 15, 1938) was a leader and strategist of the student wing of the 1960s Movement. A historian described her as: “…bright, focused, utterly fearless, with an unerring instinct for the correct tactical move at each increment of the crisis; as a leader, her instincts had been flawless, and she was the kind of person who pushed those around her to be at their best—that, or be gone from the movement.”[1]
Nash’s campaigns were among the most successful of the era. Her efforts included the first successful civil rights campaign to de-segregate lunch counters (Nashville);[2] the Freedom riders, who de-segregated interstate travel;[3] founding the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); and the Selma Voting Rights Movement campaign, which resulted in African Americans getting the vote and political power throughout the South.
Hallelujah I’m a travellin’
Hallelujah Ain’t it fine
Hallelujah I’m a travellin’
Down freedom’s main line
LO shut that rightwinger chick down who testified today at the gun hearing.
She was nutty as hell. The woman couldn’t even come up with a name. Just lying her ass off.
Gabrielle Giffords At The Oval Office: Former Rep Visits Obama After Testimony
Karen Finney: Crazy Crackers On The Right Who Use Hateful Language.
http://youtu.be/blslOBejfeE
**************************
Investigator Says Alabama Hostage Taker Is A ‘Survivalist’ http://tpm.ly/X8CYSK
January 30, 2013 12:25 PM
The Divergent Fates of Sarah Palin and Shirley Sherrod
By Ryan Cooper
With the recent retirement of Sarah Palin from her grotesquely lucrative career as a Fox commentator, I immediately thought of another person who was inadvertently catapulted to national prominence: Shirley Sherrod (backstory here). Not to compare the content of their thoughts or ideologies, of course, just the trajectory of their lives. Because Sherrod could have easily parleyed her burst of fame into one of those sumptuous TV commentator/author/lecturer careers, abandoning all her previous work and crisscrossing the country to give milquetoast addresses to executive retreats.
But she did not. Instead, even after both she and a nonprofit she works for got a sizable settlement from the USDA for discrimination in decades past, she didn’t change much. She still does the same thing she’s always done: help poor farmers in rural Georgia, where she grew up. I interviewed her for our latest issue; here’s what she’s done with part of the money:
With that money, and under Sherrod’s leadership, New Communities was able in June 2011 to buy a new piece of property, called Cypress Pond. A 1,638-acre estate, complete with a colossal white-pillared antebellum mansion, it was originally owned by the largest slaveholder and richest man in Georgia. Due to the housing collapse, the price had been marked down from $21 million to $4.5 million. Sherrod plans to establish an agricultural training program there, as well as a program that will bring local blacks and whites together in partnership and promote racial healing. The old mansion is currently being renovated to make room for a conference center and additional meeting space. “White and black together in this area, I think it becomes the perfect place for being helpful in getting folks to get beyond race,” she says. In the meantime, they’re doing some actual farming. Just over the last year, they harvested $50,000 worth of pecans from previously planted trees to help defray maintenance costs
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_01/the_divergent_fates_of_sarah_p042718.php
Ass clown!
Graham spewed NRA talking points. Nothing but fear, and he used a mother’s love for her child to advocate buying more guns and ammunition to bolster GUN SALES. I LOATHE these people… just disgusting!
Tue Jan 22, 2013 at 06:28 AM PST.
Politico has a sad because it doesn’t think Obama has done enough to cut Medicare or Social Security
by Jed Lewison
Woe is Politico:
The president has never precisely defined what hard choices he would be willing to make on Medicare and Social Security. It’s not even clear what he would do if he had the power to remake the programs on his own, without worrying about opposition from Republicans or Democrats.
/……………………..
How incredibly sad. President Barack Obama just isn’t willing to make hard choices on Medicare and Social Security. And, as everybody knows, with an unemployment rate of 7.8 percent, America’s top priority is making “hard choices” to cut not just those programs, but Medicaid as well.
If only the president had done something courageous, like passing landmark health care reform legislation that will achieve $716 billion in Medicare savings over the next decade. If only he had been willing to take such a step despite the virtual guarantee that the Republican presidential nominee would run ads attacking him for it. If only he’d been willing to do something bold, like taking the risk of having Republicans claim that he had created death panels when what he really did was create an Independent Payment Advisory Board aimed at reducing Medicare costs.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/22/1181079/-Politico-has-a-sad-because-it-doesn-t-think-Obama-has-done-enough-to-cut-Medicare-or-Social-Security
Wed Jan 30, 2013 at 07:58 AM PST.
Republicans in disarray over immigration
by Joan McCarter
The immigration debate is exposing the fissures in the Republican Party more than any other debate has yet, between the Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove faction and the crazy teabagger Rush Limbaugh/Glenn Beck/Michelle Malkin crowd. For them, electoral politics takes second place to hating on brown people, apparently. It parallels, basically, the split between the Senate Republicans, who can’t rely on extreme gerrymandering to keep their seats, and House Republicans, who can be crazy as they want to be. The results are, at the very least, fun to watch.
Take this from Limbaugh, at his meglomaniacal best.
In a sign of how divisive the issue has become among conservatives, Limbaugh said Monday that it was “up to me and Fox News” to stop a deal that would provide a path to citizenship to illegal immigrants unless they had been convicted of a major felony. But Limbaugh doubted that even Fox News had the backbone to join him in that crusade. “It’s up to me and Fox News, and I don’t think Fox News is that invested in this. I don’t think there’s any Republican opposition to this of any majority consequence or size,” Limbaugh said on his radio program.
He’s not actually on his own, with Beck and Malkin both frothing at the mouth over the very idea of considering immigration reform. Malkin basically is calling for war against the Republican senators involved calling them “suicidal” and “self-deluded.” They are, she says, “GOP illegal alien amnesty promoters” and “capitulationist Republicans.”
Meanwhile, Rove, whose only job ever has been to try and get a permanent Republican majority, is sounding downright reasonable. He’s calling the bipartisan proposal “a huge step forward.” Now he’s trying to show some distance between “mainstream” Republicans and the crazies, but this is the bed Rove made by appealing to the worst of the extremist base to grow his party. Welcome to your GOP, Karl. So far, Malkin hasn’t called for his head on a spike, but that’s coming.
Maybe the most entertaining spin on this comes from Peggy Noonan, who’s looking really hard for the silver lining. She says that the intraparty fight is just proof that the party is still viable, because “[o]nly things that are alive have battles,” then tries a headfake, saying this is really an American fight, and that the Democratic base has “mixed feelings,” too. Nice try, Noonan. But she’s only slightly less ridiculous than David Brooks, who’s arguing that the GOP needs to split into two parties, so the moderates can do their own thing.
The GOP fight might not help us finally get to sane immigration policy in the short term, but it makes for some entertainment. And it might just be the fissure that finally cracks the party.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/30/1183311/-Republicans-in-disarray-over-immigration
Rachel Maddow Calls Out Sen.Ted Cruz, ‘That’s Some Brass, Senator’
By: Sarah JonesJan. 30th, 2013
Rachel Maddow called out the “brass” of Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz for claiming that decorated veterans Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and former Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) don’t support the military. Why? Because Senator Cruz has never served in the military.
Senator John Kerry has been nominated and now confirmed as the new Secretary of State and former Senator Chuck Hagel has been nominated as the Secretary of Defense. Republicans have been reaching deep to try to block both nominations (it’s what they do).
Kerry, the son of an Army Air Corps veteran, is the recipient of the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts earned while serving in Vietnam. Hagel is the recipient of two Purple Hearts while an infantry squad leader in the Vietnam War.
Whereas, Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz is a junior tea party Senator from Texas who never served in the military. Ted Cruz was born in Canada to a Cuban immigrant (his father) to the U.S., he did very well at Princeton and then went to Harvard Law School. Good for him. Naturally, given his expertise on the matter and his junior status in the Senate, he had no problem saying that two decorated war veterans don’t support the military.
Rachel didn’t take to that too well. She said, “It was therefore pretty breathtaking when Senator Ted Cruz voiced his opposition to Senator Kerry’s nomination to the State Department and to the nomination of Chuck Hagel to the Defense Department. Chuck Hagel received two purple hearts in Vietnam and walks around every day with shrapnel in his chest.
It was pretty remarkable when we heard the reason that Senator Ted Cruz said that those two wounded combat veterans are not going to get his vote in the Senate.”
http://www.politicususa.com/rachel-maddow-gop-sen-cruz-thats-brass-senator.html
Graham: Clinton ‘got away with murder’
By Steve Benen
Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:46 AM EST.
Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) approach to September’s deadly attack in Benghazi has gotten a little out of hand. Indeed, in some corners, it’s become a running joke — Lindsey Graham is considering putting a hold on the Super Bowl until he gets answers on Benghazi. Lindsey Graham doesn’t want anyone to finish the third season of Downton Abbey until he gets answers on Benghazi. Lindsey Graham won’t let me have breakfast until he gets answers on Benghazi.
But as he gets more agitated, Graham’s rhetoric is getting more disturbing (via ThinkProgress)
http://youtu.be/vU88kzQRPpk
For those who can’t watch clips online, Graham appeared on Fox News this week and was asked about whether he’d consider voting for Chuck Hagel’s Defense Secretary nomination. The senator said it would depend on the upcoming confirmation hearing, before adding:
“But the one thing I’m not going to do is vote on a new secretary of defense until the old secretary of defense, Leon Panetta, who I like very much, testifies about what happened in Benghazi.
“I haven’t forgotten about Benghazi. Hillary Clinton got away with murder, in my view.”
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/01/30/16772167-graham-clinton-got-away-with-murder?lite
Like it or not, the sequester is coming
By Steve Benen
Wed Jan 30, 2013 12:46 PM EST
I know you don’t want to hear about automatic sequestration spending cuts; I don’t either. We just wrapped up a big fiscal fight a few weeks ago, and the very mention of the word “sequester” makes eyes glaze over from coast to coast. I get that.
But it’s time start taking this seriously, anyway, because in about 30 days, some significant, deliberately painful cuts are due to kick, and they pose an important risk to the fragile economic recovery.
Remember, the sequester was designed to be horrible. Jon Stewart recently noted that these cuts are the equivalent of policymakers tying someone you care about to train tracks, on purpose, in order to create an incentive to find a solution before the train arrives. In this case, the solution would mean striking a bipartisan deal to replace $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/01/30/16774183-like-it-or-not-the-sequester-is-coming?lite
MUST SEE VIDEO, PLEASE.
Gabrielle Giffords’ husband smacks down Wayne LaPierre
Posted by Greg Sargent on January 30, 2013 at 1:38 pm
Perhaps the most important moment so far in today’s Senate Judiciary hearing on guns came when astronaut Mark Kelly directly confronted NRA head Wayne LaPierre over the shooting of his wife, Gabrielle Giffords. Between that exchange and another one involving Senator Dick Durbin, LaPierre’s argument was completely unmasked for the sham that it is.
During the hearing, LaPierre repeatedly voiced the talking point that there’s no need to expand the background check system because criminals don’t cooperate with background checks. Kelly responded:
The Tuscon shooter was an admitted drug user. He was rejected from the U.S. Army because of his drug use. He was clearly mentally ill. And when he purchased that gun in November, his plan was to assassinate my wife and commit mass murder at that Safeway in Tucson. He was a criminal. Because of his drug use, and because of what he was planning on doing. But because of these gaps in the mental health system, in this case, those 121,000 records, I admit did not include a record on him. But it could have.
And if it did, he would have failed that background check. he would have likely gone to a gun show, or a private seller, and avoided that background check. But if we close that gun show loophole, if we require private sellers to complete a background check, and we get those 121,000 records and others into the systems, we will prevent gun crime. That is an absolute truth. It would have happened in Tucson. My wife would not have been sitting here today if we had stronger background checks.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/01/30/gabrielle-giffords-husband-smacks-down-wayne-lapierre/
Mark Kelly is NOT playing with these crazy MOFOs who would die with a gun in their hands, before they’d admit their fear of a BLACK PLANET.
Ohio state senator Nina Turner unveils new Voter Protection Act
by Brittany Tom | January 29, 2013 at 2:51 PM
Ohio, one of the biggest battleground states during this past presidential election, may be getting an update on the state’s voting regulations.
The Voter Protection Act, a new election reform submitted by state senator Nina Turner of Ohio, will make it easier for eligible Ohioans to vote.
The bill is said to “promote and facilitate ballot access, preventing arbitrary disenfranchisement of voters, and encouraging county election boards to make bipartisan adjustments to meet the needs of their communities.” Some of the provisions in the bill include the creation of an online voter registration system, expanding time windows for ballot casting, increasing the number of registered Ohioan voters and even shorten long lines to voting polls.
In a press conference, early this morning Senator Turner emphasized the myriad of problem withing Ohio’s voting system:
“Last year’s elections were plagued by lots of confusion,” she said. “Ohio in 2012, like 2004, was once again the epicenter of election controversy.”
The Democratic senator also openly criticized her Republican colleague, Secretary of State Jon Husted, for the long lines at the polls and also for spending “tax dollars to hire lawyers to pursue frivolous lawsuits while shutting down chances to vote.”
She also noted that he went to court to attempt to block early voters just three before the November 6th election.
http://thegrio.com/2013/01/29/ohio-state-senator-nina-turner-unveils-new-voter-protection-act/
Louisiana Will Eliminate Health Benefits For HIV Patients, Poor Children, And First Time Moms This Week
By Sy Mukherjee on Jan 29, 2013 at 3:20 pm
Last week, Louisiana’s poor and terminally ill residents won a surprising victory when Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) announced that his state would not stop providing hospice care to its Medicaid beneficiaries. Unfortunately, that’s about the only piece of good news for low-income Louisianans’ health coverage, as the state is still set to implement massive cuts for Medicaid programs that “provide behavioral health services for at-risk children, offer case management visits for low-income HIV patients and pay for at-home visits by nurses who teach poor, first-time mothers how to care for their newborns” this Friday.
While Jindal administration officials argue that the cuts could be mitigated by Medicare and private managed care programs, the reality is that many of these specialty services are simply unavailable — or unaffordable — outside of Medicaid:
Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein said he targeted programs that were duplicative, costly and optional under the state’s participation in the state-federal Medicaid program.
Greenstein said in many instances, people can get the care they’re losing through other government-funded programs. But he acknowledged that won’t happen in every case, meaning some people will simply lose the services or receive reduced services. […]
Jan Moller heads the Louisiana Budget Project, which advocates for low- to moderate-income families. Moller said he’s most distressed by the cut to the Nurse-Family Partnership Program.
The health department is eliminating the portion of the program that offers at-home visits to low-income women who are pregnant with their first child. Registered nurses visit the women early in their pregnancy and until their children’s second birthday, offering advice on preventive health care, diet and nutrition, smoking cessation and other child developmental issues. […]
“What the Nurse-Family Partnership does goes above and beyond what a good obstetrician does,” Moller said. “It’s really about teaching life-skills to at-risk moms to make them better parents and make them better able to care for their children, and it’s been proven to work.”
Speech therapy programs for low-income children are also on the chopping block. The cuts — as well as Jindal’s proposals to raise taxes on the poor while slashing public education and other health care funding — are meant to plug a midyear budget deficit. But they are more likely to raise health care costs and poverty levels in a state that already ranks among America’s least-insured and poorest locales by pushing people poor people into finding services that they will no longer be able to afford.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/01/29/1510161/louisiana-will-eliminate-benefits-for-hiv-patients-poor-children-and-first-time-moms-this-week/?mobile=nc
found this at POU:
conlakappa
The VoteVets put out a call to action for the Hagel confirmation hearing. Banding military folks as a progressive electorate is another thing that coincided with the Obama Administration.
This is it. Tomorrow, President Obama’s choice for Secretary of Defense, former Senator and Vietnam Veteran Chuck Hagel, has his confirmation hearing in the Senate. It’s time for us to stand up.
Right now, conservative groups are spending millions of dollars on television and organizing, trying to scare Senators into opposing him. It’s urgent that you fight back.
EMAIL YOUR SENATOR TO SUPPORT HAGEL, HERE
Let’s be clear on why conservatives are working against Senator Hagel. He was one of the first Republicans to stand up to the Bush Administration on Iraq, and has long believed that the use of the military is a last resort. That goes against neocon philosophy, which is to invade any nation whose regime they don’t like.
They fear that Chuck Hagel will finally shut them out, and return to an era of responsibility in military policy.
That’s exactly why we need to support him.
MAKE YOUR STAND FOR CHUCK HAGEL, NOW!
Chuck Hagel loves our military. He volunteered for combat in Vietnam and was awarded two Purple Hearts. As the first enlisted man to lead the Pentagon, Chuck Hagel will always have our troops’ best interests at heart. He’s made for this job, but won’t get there unless we stand up. Please take a moment to click the link above, and support him, now.
Thanks for your support.
Sincerely,
Rick Hegdahl
Iraq War Veteran
National Field Director, VoteVets.org
@VoteVets
Thanks for the info, Rik.
This crazy bitch right here:
I’m sure Adam Lanz’s mom felt the same as Gayle Trotter, huh?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xAWggN2Ovm0
great comment from Pbomb:
PBomb
There is a period of time in American History nicknamed the Nadir of Racial Relations. It occurred roughly between 1870-1920?. During this period of time, there was tons of growth within the black community. Blacks were highly educated, had tons of inventions, owned banks, lived in nice neighborhoods, and were fairly successful.
If you noticed, most of the factoids that I post are centered around that era and onward. Some of the first college degrees that blacks achieved were in the time frame.
Then all of sudden, things changed. There are two reasons that “Real” historians give about what happened. They are Jim Crow and the envy of whites.
Whites had to create laws to stifle black ingenuity and success. They were shocked that about how successful these supposed “savages” were after being freed.
In a book that I recently read, the author discusses how today, we feel that America in the past was so archaic and that we as a country have moved forward. But in 1872, there was a wealthy white Senator from a small county in Mississippi who was married to an educated black woman, and he got reelected twice. There are many cases of this.
How did go from being prosperous to living in a shanty below poverty level?
How did we go from marrying and completely integrating into society to the Loving Case and Brown vs. the Board of Education?
We really haven’t moved that much further along. The first thing that need to change is how we teach our history. We are lie to as a nation.
http://twitter.com/kseelye/status/296656194850918402/photo/1
MASSACHUSETTS SENATE ANNOUNCEMENT
Video
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/81982-1
Later in the afternoon, the President will be interviewed by Jose Diaz Balart of Telemundo and Maria Elena Salinas of Univision to discuss immigration reform. These interviews are embargoed until 6:30PM EST. The interviews, in the Library, are closed press
loomberg Praises Biden For Having A ‘Set Of Balls’
Source: TPM
IGOR BOBIC 6:22 PM EST, TUESDAY JANUARY 29, 2013
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg praised Vice President Joe Biden in a Tuesday interview with Politico for having a “set of balls” in standing up for his beliefs:
“You know, Joe Biden — you can joke about him all you want, he’s got a set of balls, and he says what he believes,” Bloomberg said. “And he forced the focus (on gay marriage).”
He added sardonically: “I’m sure the president was evolving and was about to do it anyways. But Biden deserves the credit. He should be the hero of the pro-gay marriage community.”
Read more: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/bloomberg-praises-biden-for-having-set-of-balls
SHORT; JOE’S GOT BALLS & PBO DOESN’T! We see you Bloomberg.
Bloomberg can kick a pitch fork.
WUH?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BvOWRrkaqaQ
Whatdaya say to this nonsense?
Deval Patrick —>rockin & rollin!
Patrick Picks Mo Cowan: For First Time in History, 2 Blacks Will Serve in Senate
http://politic365.com/2013/01/30/patrick-picks-william-mo-cowan-for-first-time-in-history-two-blacks-will-serve-in-senate/ …
There has never been two African Americans serving in the United States Senate at the same time in American history. Today at 11 a.m., Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick will announce that his former chief of staff, William “Mo” Cowan, will take the place of departing Senator John Kerry. Kerry became the Secretary of State this week. Cowan will serve along with Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. Cowan will become only the eighth African American U.S. Senator in U.S. history.
“He grew up in a largely segregated tobacco town in rural North Carolina, the son of a machinist and a seamstress. As a boy, he watched the Ku Klux Klan burn a cross in town, march on his high school, and hand out literature on Main Street,” wrote Michael Levenson of Cowan in a profile in the Boston Globe in 2010.
BIG UP to Governor Deval Patrick. He sent a message to all the white paternal, tell the negro what to do CROWD!
LOL! He sent a big fuck you to them!
THIS Barney & nem thought they could bully Gov Patrick. Bye Bitches!
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick names Mo Cowan to fill John Kerry’s Senate seat
http://huff.to/11eYPum
WASHINGTON — Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) will appoint William “Mo” Cowan to the Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry after he was confirmed Tuesday, according to CBS Boston, The Boston Globe and the Associated Press. Cowan will hold the seat in an interim capacity until an election in June.
Cowan, 43, is a former chief of staff and former legal counsel to Gov. Patrick. Like Patrick, who grew up on the South Side of Chicago before attending Milton Academy, Harvard and Harvard Law, Cowan came from a poor background to Boston for education and made a career there. After growing up in poverty in rural North Carolina, Cowan went to Duke University and then Northeastern University School of Law. He never left, and became a prominent Boston lawyer.
Gov. Patrick has consistently said that the pick to succeed Kerry should not run in the general election slated for June 25. The late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) requested in a letter written before his death that the interim pick not run in the general election, a principle that Patrick honored after Kennedy died by picking Kennedy’s longtime chief of staff, Paul Kirk.
Thank you! Lawrence O’Donnell can go straight to HELL with his push to get Barney Frank as Senator. Enough already with recycling the old. We need new, fresh, bold leadership. Aprpeciate all Frank has done, but it time to move on.
BTW, Gov. Deval will be on The Last Word tonight to discuss his pick.
Say it, sista!
I was put out with Lawrence trying to push Deval Patrick to appoint Barney Frank!
Thank you, Deval Patrick! Big up!
When Cowan takes the oath of office today, he will become the first African-American senator from Massachusetts since Republican Edward Brooke held the position for two terms from 1967 to 1979 when he was defeated by the late Sen. Paul Tsongas.
Cowan, 43, lives in Stoughton with his wife and two sons, ages eight and four. A native of North Carolina, he graduated from Duke University and Northeastern University Law School. Before joining the administration in 2009, Cowan was a partner at Mintz Levin in Boston practicing civil litigation.
http://www.wbjournal.com/APPS/PBCS.DLL/ARTICLE?AID=%2F20130130%2FNEWS01%2F130139993&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WBJ+(WBJournal+%7C+Latest+Headlines)
Giffords: “We must do something. It will be hard but the time is now.” http://tpm.ly/VvJdpr
She so inspires me.
Live video: Senate Judiciary Committee hears testimony on gun control; Gabrielle Giffords expected to speak
http://www.breakingnews.com/topic/senate-judiciary-committee-hearing-on-gun-violence-jan-30-2013
Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ husband Mark Kelly and National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre will testify before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013.
Giffords says ‘speaking is difficult, but I need to say something important’
Love this woman. TELL THEM GABBY! Than you.
Obstacle: Conservative Judiciary Committee
by BooMan
Tue Jan 29th, 2013 at 10:35:38 PM EST
Because the Senate Judiciary Committee has the responsibility to vet nominees for federal judgeships, both parties are normally careful to put only the most ideologically reliable members on the panel. When they don’t, as when the pro-choice Arlen Specter assumed the chair of Judiciary, it can cause a lot of heartburn. Arlen was kept in line with constant threats, but who needs that kind of hassle? I don’t think we’ll ever see an anti-choice Democrat on the committee. It’s all part of the politicization of the courts.
Because there are no moderate Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, it makes it harder for the rest of the Republicans to agree to anything. Whether we’re talking about guns or immigration, it’s unlikely that more than a couple of the Republicans who will be marking up the bills in Judiciary hearings will be voting for the legislation once it is done.
Even if we have a pretty good shot at picking up enough Republicans to overcome a filibuster, those senators might get a little frightened if the vote in the Judiciary Committee is (close to) a party-line vote. Two Republican members of the committee (Lindsey Graham and freshman Jeff Flake) are part of the Gang of Eight who are working on an immigration bill. That’s a promising start, but it’s not clear that they will be able to win over any of the other Republicans. After all, we’re talking about people like Utah’s Mike Lee and Orrin Hatch, Texas’ Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, and Alabama’s Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III. The Ranking Member is Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who can sometimes be a reasonable man, but who has increasingly behaved like a typical asshole since the Tea Party started capping his colleagues. If Grassley is on board, the bills will be bipartisan and there will be plenty of cover for other more moderate Republicans to vote ‘yes.’ But if Grassley is a ‘no’ vote in committee, then things could get very dicey.
If I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s not to trust committee chairs like Max Baucus, and that goes double for Ranking Members like Chuck Grassley.
http://www.boomantribune.com/
The Seniors’ Network
By mistermix January 30th, 2013
Fox ratings are down across the board in the key 25-54 demographic:
Fox News was down -6% in total viewers and -22% in the key adults 25-54 demo in total day in January, the lowest demo numbers since July 2008. In primetime, the network was down -17% in total viewers and -40% in the demo, posting its lowest demo numbers since May 2006. It is worth noting that January 2012 was a big one in the Republican primary race and FNC hosted two primary debates, but this month was no slouch either, with the inauguration and a number of big political stories.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/01/30/the-seniors-network/
Yep! and I have several friends whose fathers watches Fox. They’re always sick, headaches, heartburn, and full of fear all the time. Keep up the good work FNC. You’ll kill all the seniors and the network will fall into the great abyss
In an era of diminished expectations
By Steve Benen
Wed Jan 30, 2013 8:34 AM EST.
The first state to seriously consider changing its electoral-vote distribution method to rig future presidential elections was also the first start to formally reject the idea.
A [Virginia state] Senate panel voted Tuesday to kill a GOP plan to change the way Virginia allocates electoral college votes.
The Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections voted to bypass the bill indefinitely….The measure appeared headed for defeat after Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) came out against it Friday, as did two GOP senators who sit on the committee that would decide the bill’s fate.
The committee vote was 11 to 4. In other words, it wasn’t close.
What’s more, the vote came against a backdrop of a larger campaign that appears to be imploding. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R), who had expressed some tepid support for the scheme a few days ago, is now moving in the other direction, as is the state Senate’s president. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) started balking yesterday, and a few hours later, the idea effectively died in Ohio.
For those concerned with the integrity of our democratic process and the fairness of American elections, the apparent collapse of the election-rigging scheme is, to be sure, welcome news. The satisfaction is not about party or ideology, but rather, about the ideals of a level playing field in which candidates and parties can engage in a competitive battle of ideas.
But stepping back and looking at this in a larger context, I’d suggest there are two broader angles to keep in mind. The first is that while the relief of the scheme’s failure is understandable, but it’s the result of diminished expectations. After the Virginia committee vote yesterday afternoon, I saw some voting rights advocates effectively cheer, “Hooray! Republicans considered rigging a presidential election through shameless cheating, but then decided against it!”
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/01/30/16771462-in-an-era-of-diminished-expectations?lite
One week after attending inaugural, teen fatally shot
BY MITCH DUDEK Staff Reporter mdudek@suntimes.com January 29, 2013 10:08PM
Updated: January 30, 2013 7:30AM
A week after attending presidential inauguration festivities in the nation’s capital and with dreams of a summer trip to Paris swirling in her 15-year-old imagination, Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon in the South Side’s Kenwood neighborhood.
Police say Hadiya was shot in the back at a neighborhood park about 2:30 p.m. in the 4500 block of South Oakenwald. A teen boy was shot in the leg and taken to Comer’s Children’s Hospital in serious condition.
“As usual, the bad guy aims, but he never hits the other bad guy . . . He hits the one that hurts the most to lose,” said Chicago Police Officer Damon Stewart, 36, Hadiya ’s godfather. “I changed her diapers, I played with her growing up. My heart is broken.”
http://www.suntimes.com/17889243-761/one-week-after-attending-inaugural-teen-fatally-shot.html
Lawdy; too gut-wrenching for words…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76oVMtth9l4
this hat tip was from CAMILLE
Thanks for these videos. Can’t wait to view them when I get home tonight.
Hispanic Button
By Sunita Sohoni
Wed Jan 30, 2013 12:57 AM EST.
This visual goes a long way in explaining why Republicans decided to get on board with immigration reform.
The Republican share of the Hispanic vote is getting smaller and smaller with each presidential election, while the opposite is true for Democrats.
You can see this happening not only on the national level, but also in traditionally red states. In 2004, for example, in Arizona, George W. Bush lost the Hispanic vote to John Kerry by 13 percentage points. That gap widened to 55 points in 2012 when Mitt Romney garnered only 22% of the Hispanic vote to Barack Obama’s 77%.
Even deep red states like Texas registered their dismay. John McCain lost the Hispanic vote by 28 points to Barack Obama in 2008, but Mitt Romney managed to make even that loss look good. Romney finished 41 percentage points behind Obama among Hispanic voters in Texas.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/01/30/16762228-hispanic-button?lite
Good Morning, Everyone :)
This series is so informative. Thank you SG2, for reminding us about these true AMERICAN HEROES.
You’ll definitely want to see this amazing video!
Transplant patient says new arms feel like his own
Video: Twenty-six-year-old Brendan Marrocco was the first soldier to survive losing all four limbs in the Iraq War, and doctors revealed Monday that he received a double-arm transplant on Dec. 18 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/transplant-patient-says-new-arms-feel-like-his-own/2013/01/29/592548e2-6a44-11e2-95b3-272d604a10a3_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines
January 30, 2013
N.R.A. Defends Right to Own Politicians
Posted by Andy Borowitz
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, National Rifle Association C.E.O. Wayne LaPierre warned that the N.R.A. would vigorously oppose any legislation that “limits the sale, purchase, or ownership of politicians.”
“Politicians pose no danger to the public if used correctly,” said Mr. LaPierre, who claims to have over two hundred politicians in his personal collection. “Everyone hears about the bad guys in Congress. Well, the only thing that stops a bad guy with a vote is a good guy with a vote. I’m proud to be the owner of many of those guys.”
Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2013/01/nra-defends-right-to-own-politicians.html#ixzz2JT1T2pGw
Judd announces separation from Franchitti
Jan. 30 8:29 AM EST
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ashley Judd and Dario Franchitti are separating after 11 years of marriage.
Judd’s spokeswoman confirmed a Tuesday report from People magazine that the 44-year-old actress and 39-year-old Scottish race car driver are ending their marriage.
The star of such films as “Double Jeopardy” and “Kiss the Girls” says in a statement that the pair will “always be family” and will continue to cherish their relationship based on love, integrity and respect.
Last year, Judd starred in the ABC series “Missing” and attended the Democratic National Convention as a Tennessee delegate.
Franchitti has won the Indianapolis 500 race three times.
The couple wed in a private ceremony in Scotland in 2001.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/judd-announces-separation-franchitti
President Obama signs $50.5 billion Sandy relief bill
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has signed into law a $50.5 billion emergency measure for Superstorm Sandy victims.
Congress gave the measure its final approval late Monday. Obama signed it Tuesday night, minutes after returning to the White House from a visit to Nevada.
It took Congress three months after Sandy devastated areas along the East Coast to approve the emergency funding. Obama scolded lawmakers for delaying recovery efforts even as he commended them for providing the long-awaited aid.
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/politics&id=8971849
Good Morning, SG2 & Everyone. I am thoroughly engaged in this series. Ms Nash is an American HERO. Thanks for the series!
Buses Are A-Coming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRPRprE1p1Y
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**weeping**
Congressman John Lewis wrote a book about his life during the Civil Rights struggle titled “Walking With The Wind”. Here are a few excepts from the book.
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Corrupt lawless thugs parading around in police uniforms. They maimed and killed the innocents while the government turned a blind eye. How are you going to have laws and not enforce them?
Good morning, everyone!
I hope you’re enjoying the series on the Freedom Riders. Lets talk about Diane Nash. She was one FIERCE young woman. The Deep South & their Jim Crow Laws didn’t know who they were messing with & neither did Robert Kennedy. These were soldiers on the battlefield fighting a war. Jails, sticks & bricks didn’t scare them, nor did death. They changed America! They were FIERCE!
Enjoy the series.