The Daily Drift

Hey, wingnuts, yeah we're talking to you ...!  

 

The Truth Be Told is read in 203 countries around the world.

 
Some republicans have a complete void of space between their ears while others have a solid block of stone - either way they have no functioning grey matter (AKA: Brains)... !

Today is - International Space Day
 

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Some of our readers today have been in:

The Americas

Maraba, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Beauharnois, Chelsea, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Red Deer, Canada

Mexico City, Mexico

Boaco, Nicaragua

Barquisimeto, Venezuela

Europe

Vienna, Austria

Minsk, Belarus

Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Glavinitsa, Sofia, Varna, Bulgaria

Prague, Tirnec, Czech Republic

Cambridge, Colney, London, Staines, England

Cerny, Paris, Roubaix, Rouen, France

Berlin, Gunzenhausen, Hurth, Germany

Reykjavik, Iceland

Dublin, Ireland

Eboli, Milan, Palermo, Rome, Terlizzi, Italy

Riga, Latvia

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Bergen, Gjerstad, Trondheim, Norway

Warsaw, Poland

Moscow, Novgorod, Ryazan, Saint Petersburg, Vladivostok, Russia

Uddingston, Scotland

Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Spain

Geneva, Switzerland

Ankara, Istanbul, Turkey

Dnipropetrovsk, Kiev, Ukraine

Asia

Baku, Azerbaijan

Manama, Bahrain

Dhaka, Bangladesh

Thimphu, Bhutan

Mandalay, Burma

Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, China

Bangalore, Bokaro, Calicut, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Shillong, Trichur, India

Jakarta, Kebon, Indonesia

Seoul, Korea

Kota Kinabalu, Petaling Jaya, Sibu, Sungai Ara, Malaysia

Karachi, Pakistan

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Africa

Alexandria, Al Jizah, Egypt

Tunis, Tunisia

Pretoria, South Africa

Lusaka, Zambia

The Pacific

Homebush, Sydney, Australia

Auckland, New Zealand

Quezon City, Philippines

Editorial Comment

We are pleased to report that our crackdown on the wingnut trolls here has been very successful with a number of trolls being arrested for their trolling (and other illegal activities).
These trolls are too stupid to realize that trolling is classified as a hate crime and so when caught they squeal like stuck pigs when the reality of prison slaps them in the face.

We posted about one troll here already who was under investigation for his trolling was also arrested for beating his wife.
Others have been arrested for human trafficking (which has led to further arrests both domestic and foreign),
guns and weapons charges, drug trafficking and domestic terrorism - thus proving what we here say daily ... wingnuts are stupid morons.

Seems to be that if you are engaged in Domestic Violence, Human Trafficking, Illegal Gun Sales, Drug Trafficking or Terrorism you would want to be a little more discreet about your behavior,  but we all can see that is not the case with wingnut trolls.
Speaking of all can see; there are a couple of patients of ours that we have kept after our retirement to maintain their treatment for their mental illness who read the trolls' sputum here and both have said that they know they are mentally ill but that those trolls are insane. You know you are really bad off when the mentally ill know you are insane.

So, any remaining wingnut trolls be on notice we will be getting to you and as the past lets you know, if you are only arrested for trolling you'll be lucky and we all know you are not lucky.

Now for more happy news.

The youngest granddaughter just turned fifteen and actually insisted that her grandparents come to her birthday party - when is the last time that has happened? OK, so it was her fourth birthday party of the week - she had one at school, she had one her friends put on at at local eatery, she had one at the local hangout with a different set of friends and then had one at home and that's the one we were 'required' to attend with family and even more friends - turns out she is popular.

Yes, it's been a good week ... more wingnut trolls going to jail and getting to party like we were teenagers again (which hasn't happened since they ceased production of the Edsel).

Have Fun and Enjoy

NC Republican bills would require teaching Koch principles or rather the lack there of while banning teachers’ political views in class

Republican-sponsored bills introduced in the North Carolina state Senate this month would force high schools to teach students about wingnut lack of principles before they can graduate while silencing the political opinions of teachers in the classroom.

Teaching the Koch's Lack of Principles

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Not allowing a teacher's political views t be forced on students is in of itself not a bad idea - no political discussion in the classroom (other than Political Science class) is the best way.
The trouble comes from the fact that those 'teachers' who espouse the 'wingnut' ideology are the ones by in large spouting off on political themes in the classroom and would ignore any such ban with the full support of the wingnuts in government, whereas any teacher who dares to speak a moderate or liberal ideology would be immediately arrested (which isn't that far removed from how it is today - with liberal teachers harassed at the very least and ultimately fired by wingnuts in government) ... This is especially true in any 'Political Science' classroom where discussing politics is the reason for the class, but only the 'correct' politics is 'allowed' ... you now the 'wingnut delusion'.

A Solid Majority Of Young Voters Want Democrats To Keep The White House

A survey from the Harvard University Institute of Politics contained good news for Democrats. The younger voters that were a key part of President Obama’s victories solidly want to keep a Democrat in the White House.

The survey found that Obama coalition is going to keep their support with Democrats in 2016:

Overall, young Americans prefer that a Democrat (55%) win the White House over a Republican (40%) in the 2016 race for president, a view held within the younger (18-24 year-olds – 53%: Democrat; 41%: Republican) and older (25-29 year-olds – 57%: Democrat; 39%: Republican) segments of the age-group. ‎This view is stronger among young African-Americans (87%: Democrat; 8%: Republican) and young Hispanics (68%: Democrat; 27%: Republican). A majority of young whites, however, prefer Republican White House control after 2016 (53%: Republican; 41%: Democrat).

….

Among 18-to 29- year-olds, President Obama’s job performance has improved seven percentage points over the past six months (50%: Mar. 2015; 43%: Oct. 2014). The president’s job approval also increased across all major subgroups, including among young Hispanics – rising sixteen ‎percentage points over the same time period (65%: Mar 2015; 49%: Oct. 2014). The president’s approval ratings on handling the economy (47%: Mar. 2015; 36%: Oct. 2014), health care (43%: Mar. 2015; 37%: Oct. 2014) and race relations (50%: Mar. 2015; 47%: Oct. 2014) all also increased since October. Tracking with the president, job approval of Democrats in Congress improved five percentage points (40%: Mar. 2015; 35%: Oct. 2014) since the fall, while approval of Republicans in Congress remained at 23% for the third straight IOP poll.

It is no surprise that Hillary Clinton is running away with the Democratic nomination. Younger voters support Hillary Clinton over Elizabeth Warren 47%-11%. Clinton leads Bernie Sanders 47%-1%. No Republican candidate was able to break 10% support with younger Republicans. Ben Carson (10%), Rand Paul (8%), Jeb Bush (7%), Mike Huckabee (7%), and Scott Walker (5%) were the top five Republicans.

Many Republicans had embraced the hopeful delusion that young voters would be up for grabs without President Obama on the ballot, but it looks like the Obama coalition is holding strong and ready to support Hillary Clinton in 2016. What Republicans refuse to admit is that it is their policies that are pushing younger voters away. Republicans are wrong on immigration, same-sex marriage, women’s issues, climate change, the war on drugs, income inequality.

These are issues that matter to voters regardless of age, but on social issues, Republicans are completely out of step with younger voters. The Republican fantasy that the Obama coalition would crumble in 2016 is getting a stiff dose of reality. The 2016 election cycle is beginning with Democrats being powered by many of the demographic groups that powered President Obama to victory in 2008 and 2012.

Senate Democrats Tell Government Contractors They Must Pay Their Employees A Living Wage

Democratic Senators sent a letter to the Rules Committee requesting that contractors who do business with the Senate pay a living wage.…

On Monday, eight Democratic U.S. Senators plus Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, sent a letter to Senate Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-MO), requesting that contractors who do business with the U.S. Senate be required to pay their employees a living wage and to provide them with health care benefits. The letter came after a strike by Senate cafeteria workers drew attention to the low wages U.S. Senate employees earn.

Nine Senators signed the letter to Blunt. The Senators who signed the request for paying Senate workers a living wage were Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Casey (D-PA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Mark Warner (D-VA).

The letter to Blunt read, in part:

President Obama’s Executive Order requires government contractors to pay employees $10.10 per hour.  Assuming a full-time schedule with no earned vacation or sick days, a worker could earn about $21,000 annually.

With the cost of living in the Washington DC metropolitan area among the highest in the United States, the Rules Committee should build on this minimum wage by requiring contractors doing business with the U.S. Senate to be model employers who treat their employees fairly.  People who work full time should be able to support themselves and their families.

Contractors should not be allowed to keep food and restaurant services prices low for Senators, Senate staff and visitors to the Senate while failing to pay their workers a living wage.  Nor should American taxpayers subsidize these contractors by allowing them to pay low wages that must be augmented by taxpayer-funded benefits.

The U.S. Congress should be working to improve the economic security of middle class families across the country.  We should start right here in the U.S. Senate.

We ask that you work with the Sergeant at Arms to require U.S. Senate contractors, including Restaurant Associates, the current food and restaurant service contractor, to provide a living wage, fair healthcare and other benefits, and that give employees a voice in their workplace.

Ironically, some Senate Democrats were instrumental in privatizing Senate cafeteria work in 2008. At that time, Senate cafeteria workers earned 37,000 dollars annually, which is nearly double what some of the privately contracted employees make seven years later in 2015.

Fortunately, many leading Democrats now recognize that contracting Senate work out to private companies that pay substandard wages was a mistake, and now they are attempting to fix the problem. Senate workers deserve a living wage. Democratic Senators are acknowledging the need to raise the wages of Senate workers. Now it is up to Roy Blunt and the Republicans to join them and make it happen.

Republican Sandoval Wants To Pass Biggest Tax Hike In Nevada History

Nevada Republicans made history last election when they took control of every statewide office and both houses of the Legislature for the first time since 1929.
Now, they're on the verge of leaving an even more stunning legacy by implementing the biggest tax hike in state history.
Gov. Brian Sandoval has shaped a budget plan around raising or extending $1.1 billion in taxes, and intends to funnel the new revenue into the state's low-ranking public school system.
The tax package passed the state Senate last week and is up for consideration in the more-conservative Assembly. If it passes, Sandoval could rewrite the definition of the Republican Party.
But anti-tax conservatives are furious. They say the governor is hurting the Republican brand and ruining political prospects for himself and lawmakers.

Biggest Tax Hike In Nevada History

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Huh, we thought republicans were all about eliminating taxes? 

Oh, wait, that's right, Ronald Reagan passed the largest tax increase in American history, never mind, our bad.

Senate kills amendment that would have made Iran agreement a treaty

Condoleeza Rice says the Iran deal is "classically an executive agreement and doesn't need to be a treaty... " The Senate voted 39-57 Tuesday night for an amendment that would have required the upcoming nuclear agreement with Iran to be a treaty needing 67 votes for approval in the Senate. If the amendment submitted by Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin had passed, it most likely would have stripped away much if not most of the bill's Democratic support and guaranteed a veto from President Obama. But, while this one was killed, there are some 60 other amendments to consider, including several poison pills. Republicans have submitted all the amendments. Although not enthusiastic about it, Obama has given the bill tacit approval, saying he would sign it in its current form. Sen. Bob Corker, the Tennessee Republican who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has so far been successful, with the help of ranking committee Democrat Ben Cardin of Maryland, in steering the bill past all the shoals. The bill currently has 66 co-sponsors, including 20 Democrats.

“Now look, if I could wave a magic wand, or if all of [a] sudden donkeys flew around the Capitol, I would love for us to have the ability to deem this a treaty,” Corker said. “I really would.”

Corker has personally favored some other amendments, too, including one that would have required President Obama to certify that Iran is not supporting terrorism that harms Americans. But Corker has been all about getting the bill passed, and the certification provision was removed from the original text in order to get more Democratic support. Its deletion was also essential in getting Obama to say he would sign the bill.
The Johnson amendment was attached to S. 615—The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act. That bill, passed by the Foreign Relations Committee on a unanimous vote April 14, would give Congress 30 days to review and, if it so chose, reject any deal curtailing Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions. If Obama vetoed such a rejection, it would take 67 senators to override. While there might be enough senators to do so, Speaker John Boehner has said he doesn't have enough override votes in the House if Congress did, in fact, reject an agreement, which is expected to be completely negotiated by June 30. Come below the fold for more on the bill's prospects.

The shrub Reminds Americans Why He Was a Failure and An Idiot

It is true, the shrub is hapless, but he is also an idiot for not recognizing his own failures as pretender and in fact actually regards his junta a success…

Any reasonable person would think that the course of wisdom for a person who created a mess at their place of work would be to quietly resign in disgrace never to be heard from again. It would seem all the more likely that a politician would slink into obscurity after being convicted of war crimes, crashed the world’s economy, invaded one sovereign nation over a criminal act and another based on the wishes of a foreigner, caused the deaths of over 655,000 innocent civilians, destabilized an entire geographical region, and created a dangerous extremist religious group.

Republicans are not normal politicians in myriad ways; particularly in acknowledging they were failures or having a sense of shame. America’s greatest failure in the modern era, George W. Bush is, if nothing else, a typically shameless Republican and an idiot. It is true, George W. Bush is hapless, but he is also an idiot for not recognizing his own failures as president and in fact actually regards himself as a raging success. It is worse because Bush took the time to criticize the man who replaced him and has spent the duration of his tenure cleaning up the catastrophic messes Bush left in America and parts of the Middle East.

Bush was in Las Vegas speaking for money over the weekend and although his comments were not for public consumption, a lot of people were reminded what an ignoramus George W. Bush really is. It is, of course, noteworthy that Bush was running his mouth at a closed-door meeting of Jewish donors, including corrupt Sheldon Adelson, when he publicly criticized President Obama’s foreign policy and six-year struggle to clean up Bush’s eight year-in-the-making disaster in Iraq. There is a good reason Bush promoted his preemptive, regime-change war before a group of assembled Israeli supporters, because one of the driving forces for Bush to invade, occupy, and destabilize Iraq was to satiate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloodlust against Muslims.

Bush’s unnecessary war literally exterminated over 655,000 innocent Iraqi Muslim civilians as of 2006 over one of Netanyahu’s favorite fear-mongering subjects; non-existent nuclear weapons. It is why Bush said in front of the gathering of Israeli supporters, just like Netanyahu has for well over a year, that President Barack Obama is being naïve about Iran and criticized the pending nuclear deal between the United Nations’ P5+1 and Iran.

He also said the President is losing the war against the Islamic State; one of the George W. Bush creations to come out of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. It is also a telling neo-con statement because America is not at war against the non-nation of ISIL, IS, or whatever moniker the former Iraqi Sunnis and expelled Iraqi military forces call themselves. Bush could not keep himself  out of the limelight any longer and unbelievably criticized President Obama for “ruining all the good work he and his administration had done in Iraq.” Before the invasion and occupation of Iraq, there was no ISIS, Sunni and Shia Muslims and Christians lived in peace, and the Islamic Republic of Iran was held in check by Saddam Hussein.

Bush also took the neo-con position that the solution to everything everywhere is tens-of-thousands of American boots on the ground and condemned President Obama’s policies in fighting the Islamic State; that non-nation that America or Congress has not formally declared war on. He also spent no small amount of time criticizing the way the President deals with the monumental chaos Bush created in Iraq and stunningly repeated warmonger Lindsey Graham’s assertion that President Obama had made a “strategic blunder” by withdrawing all U.S. troops in Iraq at the end of 2011 in accordance with the agreement that Bush signed with the Iraqi government. Unlike Bush and Republicans, President Obama believes that as a world leader, it is important for America to honor its agreements with other nations.

Bush, as much a deluded idiot as he is a liar, claimed he created a Middle Eastern Utopia in Iraq with the surge. However, what slowed down the sectarian violence in Iraq was not the surge, but General David Petraeus’ decision to allow Iraqi Shia’s free rein to religiously cleanse Iraqi Sunnis out of the country and into Syria to destabilize that country. It was not, as Bush boastfully claimed, his savvy “commander-in-chiefing” of acknowledging that “When the plan wasn’t working in Iraq, we changed.” The so-called change was so unsuccessful that well-armed Iraqi Shia’s purged Sunnis from Iraq into Syria where they joined forces with religious extremists, became ISIS, destabilized Syria, and began their crusade to create an Islamic caliphate threatening Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Kurds and the entire region.

To show just how little he knows now, or ever knew about Al Qaeda, Bush said the Islamic State that he created is the “second act of Al Qaeda” even though the two groups are not friends by any means. If there was a ‘second act’ of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda, it was what Al Qaeda in Iraq became. An entity that never existed until Bush invaded Iraq because under the iron-fisted rule of Saddam Hussein, the terrorist group was never allowed to gain a foothold in the country. As noted by Salon’s Simon Maloy, “the Islamic State is actually Al Qaeda’s third act” that grew out of Al Qaeda in Iraq. In fact, the Bush-created Islamic State is the result of his brilliant neo-con idea of disbanding and chasing Saddam’s army and intelligence officers into Syria where they parlayed their ‘special‘ talents, and American-provided weaponry, into the successful war strategies in use by ISIL wreaking havoc in the region.

It is just too bad that George W. Bush decided not to stay sequestered on his Texas ranch pretending to be an artist. Although the nation will feel the effects of his myriad failures as president for a generation, and the region in and around Iraq will suffer from his unprovoked wars for decades, at least he was not running his mouth; especially to criticize President Barack Obama who has spent the past six years cleaning up his monumental messes both at home and around the world. Bush needs to crawl back to his hole in Texas, paint some shower pictures, and for dog’s sake keep his stupid mouth shut before somebody gets irritated and sends him to the Hague to be tried and convicted of war crimes and being a first class idiot.

House Republicans Want To Block Predatory Lending Protections For Troops

Only in Washington would some politicians even consider a calculus that places the demands of special interests above the compelling needs of both the nation's military preparedness and the well-being of the nation's defenders themselves.

~ Ed Mierzwinski

Republicans Want To Block Protections For Troops

Scott Walker's campaign plan: Find a sugar-daddy donor and don't gaffe too hard on policy

by Laura Clawson

Scott Walker knows he's outmatched in the early stages of the Republican primary. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush also has the executive experience that often plays well in presidential races. He's raising a lot more money than Walker. And he knows a lot more about policy than Walker. So Walker's campaign is laying the groundwork for less-than-impressive fundraising numbers by talking about his long game. Walker, they say, is content to go slow and steady and peak when it counts:

Advisers said that Mr. Walker, conceding that he has no hope of raising more than Mr. Bush this spring and summer, is devoting considerable time instead to addressing a weakness that could derail him with a single gaffe no matter how much some donors love him: his lack of depth on issues facing a president, especially national security. He is attending near daily policy briefings and crafting Wisconsin’s next state budget, while his team is quietly recruiting volunteer fund-raisers, known as bundlers. They now number about 50 in 30 states — a shadow corps ready to compete with Mr. Bush as soon as Mr. Walker officially announces his candidacy, which will likely be in June. At the same time, Mr. Walker — who enthusiastically enjoys fund-raising, his advisers say — is personally courting megadonors like Todd Ricketts, who will back Mr. Walker if he runs, and David H. and Charles G. Koch, the conservative billionaires, according to the advisers and donors, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to maintain their access to confidential campaign planning. Several top-tier Republican donors joined Mr. Walker for a dinner last week at the Ricketts apartment in Time Warner Center in Manhattan, including David Koch; Mr. Ricketts and his father, Joe; the investor Roger Hertog; and the supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis.

So ... the plan is to cram like it's the night before the final of a class he skipped all semester, hoping in the mean time to avoid saying anything too stupid publicly, and try to lock down a couple really rich people to bankroll a super PAC. Got it. But it makes you wonder: Does this make a sadder statement about Scott Walker, about the Republican field, or about the state of American electoral politics? Because it could work! "Suck up to a billionaire and study up on your CliffsNotes" is a strategy that could propel someone to a major party presidential nomination.

Texas Republicans Reach New Low as They Demand Non-Viable Pregnancies Be Carried to Term

Once again Republicans show they haven't read their bibles - or their Constitution - before they start legislating jesus into law…

‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.’
~ jesus of Nazareth, The Parable of the Last Judgment

Though new testament scholar Geza Vermes calls this an “inauthentic” parable, dating from later in the first century of the Common Era, he points to its ancient origins in jewish thought  and compares it to the metaphor of the shepherd dividing his “good” sheep from the “evil” goats.

The ancient jewish thinking followed here is the idea that people should imitate dog, Vermes says. Furthermore, the idea that “man’s behavior toward his fellow man” is a “moral yardstick by which good and evil actions are ultimately distinguished” is an “essential concept in the teachings of jesus.”

So where does the amendment to H.B. 2510, espoused by Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler), “that would make it illegal to terminate a pregnancy after 20 weeks, even if a fetus “has a severe and irreversible abnormality,” effectively forcing families with wanted, but unsustainable pregnancies to carry to term at the behest of the state and against the advice of their doctors or their own wishes,” become something jesus could get behind?

I ask this because Schaefer himself, in proposing the amendment, appealed to scripture. As Andrea Grimes at RH Reality Check puts it, “Schaefer said, during debate over his amendment, that suffering is ‘part of the human condition, since sin entered the world.'”

Schaefer told Breibart,

This is an issue that is not going to go away for those who believe in it. I came to Austin to do the right thing, to do things that matter. This is important. If we are not going to get the chance to have our bills heard in committee or get to a hearing, then we will use the procedural mechanisms that are available for us, including amendments. We have to value what dog values.

Of course, Schaefer does not tell us exactly where in the bible dog wants non-viable fetuses carried to term. He ordered plenty of them torn out of their mothers’ wombs in the old testament, after all.

Grimes relates that,

Even some Republican lawmakers opposed Schaefer’s proposal, casting it as a cruel and unnecessary intrusion into the lives of grieving Texans.

“Why should the heavy, blunt hand of the government come into that most heartrending decision?” said Rep. J.D. Sheffield (R-Gatesville), a medical doctor.

Remember this amendment the next time a Republican tells you they are for limited government.

The “least of these” is certainly a newborn baby forced to suffer before an inevitable death, painful to both the child and to the parents. Schaefer can believe suffering is a consequence of sin if he likes – the First Amendment allows this – but the First Amendment does not allow the legislation of his religious belief.

On a deeper level, where christians are concerned, jesus does not order suffering. In fact, he is a champion of those who suffer, as his Sermon on the Mount demonstrates. It is difficult to believe a divine shepherd (jesus’ role here) would think Schaefer’s proposal a good one. After all, jesus said,

“Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs”.

In other words, in dividing his flock, jesus did not see sin in children. They were not to be punished, but like the poor, lifted up.

So why is Schaefer so eager to make children suffer? I get that he hates women – that’s a Republican condition – but children too? Little, newborn infants?

Yet the Republicans in state after state and across the nation, legislate again and again against women and children and against the poor and needy.

They are not the party of jesus. They are not even remotely followers of the rabbi from Galilee, and it is an outrage that they use his name to justify their evil.

How mainline protestants and catholics tolerate this bastardization of their religion is beyond me.

Schaefer’s logic could ultimately be extended to all sorts of evil acts. The world is a fallen place anyway, he is saying. So why not legalize murder and rape (the GOP has shown it is already behind the latter, I think) and incest and other forms of violence?

After all, when someone brutalizes your family, or someone you love, Schaefer, just remember suffering is ‘part of the human condition, since sin entered the world.'”

Believe it or not, Grimes tells us, “Schaefer’s amendment passed, briefly” by a vote of 83-46. Which says pretty much all you need to know about Texas Republicans, who are certainly the lowest form of humanity.

Thankfully, that was “before state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio) filed a legislative point of order that prompted the bill’s sponsor to pull down the entire piece of legislation for review.”

Of course, poor Schaefer is being persecuted for his beliefs because people had the audacity to disagree with him:

Melissa Conway of Texas Right to Life told Breitbart Texas, “We applaud Representative Matt Schaefer for taking a bold stand for all life. Yesterday, Rep. Schaefer clearly demonstrated that regardless of the political fallout from House leadership or the abortion crowd, he will fight to defend those who are voiceless and those who are the most vulnerable. Sadly, Representative Schaefer was persecuted—even by some of his colleagues who self-identify as Pro-Life.” Conway continued, “With majority passage, the most significant Pro-Life amendment championed by Rep. Schaefer would have corrected a tragic loophole in all the state’s Pro-Life laws that allow abortion when the unborn child is perceived as having a disability or an abnormality.” Conway concluded, “The ultimate outcome of the DSHS Sunset bill is yet to be determined. What we do know is that the majority of Texas legislators want to protect ALL unborn babies, even those who are ill and disabled, and simply perceived as less than perfect.”

Laughably, this interest in “protecting ALL unborn babies” doesn’t extend to them once they are born. Then the GOP loses all interest in them. Maybe it just wants to forward them all on to jesus more expeditiously so he can pay for their care.

Let us hope next time around saner minds prevail, or that public outrage dooms the legislation to the nether regions of the nearest trash can.

Supreme Court Justice Didn’t Know Marriage Can’t Legally Involve Churches or Religion

With the first day of hearings taking place before the United States Supreme Court, an awkward happening took place when Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts found out that both religion and religious establishments have nothing to do with the legality of same-sex marriage.The uncomfortable exchange began when Chief Justice Roberts asked famed gay rights lawyer Mary Bonauto why she believed that we should “force churches and religious leaders to preside over a homosexual wedding that, when taken as a whole, would offend their moral conscience.”
Although she seemed taken aback, Bonauto replied with little to no hesitation.
“Well, I’d cite the U.S. Constitution, previous Supreme Court decisions, and the Treaty of Tripoli.”
Chief Justice Roberts then asked Bonauto to elaborate on her answer.
Bonauto replied, “Thomas Jefferson clearly stated that the intent and function of the 1st Amendment was that the country could never establish any laws based on, or supporting, a specific religious view. He stated that ‘the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion.'”
She then continued by stating that, “This court has ruled in this manner time after time, and even the Treaty of Tripoli, which was unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate way back in 1797, clearly stated that our government was not established on any specific religious tradition. Not to mention, priests and churches will not be forced to marry anyone.”
Bonauto concluded by accurately saying, “Indeed, it is a fact that all you need to get married would be another person, a trip to a courthouse, a witness, and a signed document. When people get married in a church, it isn’t recognized by the government without the legal documentation.”
It was at this point that those in the court witnessed Chief Justice Roberts begin to whisper to fellow conservative Justices Scalia and Alito. Justice Roberts then became visibly red in the face at this point and some reports even state that you could audibly hear Roberts say, “Really!?”

For anyone unfamiliar with the U.S. Treaty of Tripoli, the phrase that Bonauto was referring to reads as such:
“The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion.”

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Shreds Opponent Of Same-Sex Marriage In Court

The Notorious R.B.G. strikes again!
Read more 

Florida Descends Into Budget Chaos As Republicans Squabble Over Medicaid Expansion

Although the Florida Republican Party has one-party control of the state government, they are simply unable and unwilling to govern.…

Although Florida has a Republican Governor, and the GOP controls both houses of the state legislature, state lawmakers appear destined to fail to pass a state budget when the legislative session ends on Friday. Republicans are proving themselves incapable of passing a simple budget resolution. In-party bickering over Medicaid expansion has derailed budget talks and all but guaranteed that no resolution will be reached any time soon.

The pragmatic Republican-controlled Florida State Senate wants to accept federal Medicaid funding to extend health care to more than 800,000 uninsured low-income Floridians. However, the more dogmatic GOP-controlled House and Republican Tea Party Governor Rick Scott are opposed to the plan, creating a budget impasse between the warring factions.

Florida voters are bearing the consequences of one-party rule under a party that is increasingly divided between traditional conservatives who still believe in governing, and hardcore ideologues who are more interested in appeasing anti-Obama Tea Party constituents in deep red House districts.

The anti-Obama nihilism of the House faction, aided and abetted by Governor Rick Scott, threatens to deny 800,000 Floridians affordable health care. In addition, the intransigence of right-wing lawmakers has also sent the entire budget process spiraling into chaos, with no resolution in sight.

In the current polarized political environment, it is easy for lawmakers to win election by appealing to conservatives with anti-government rhetoric. However, in practice those same lawmakers, once elected, ironically prove their point by demonstrating that they are incapable of governing. While their incompetence may further fuel anti-government ideology, it should come at the cost of creating a backlash against the elected officials spouting the rhetoric now that they are the government.

Whether Florida voters will wise up and throw Republican lawmakers out in 2016 remains to be seen. However, it has become clear that although the Florida Republican Party has one-party control of the state government, they are simply unable and unwilling to govern.

Religio-wingnut shrieking heads: Obama Persecuting Bachmann With 'End Times' Joke

At the White House Correspondents Dinner this weekend, President Obama made a joke about ex-Rep. Michele Bachmann’s repeated refrain that he is bringing about the Last Days, and the Minnesota moron is not pleased. She and other religio-wingnut shrieking heads pundits told the End Times outlet Wing Nut Daily... MORE

Oklahoma Reublican Says He’d Set Self on Fire Over Abortion ...

... if only his religion would let him

You really have to admire the courage of religio-wingnut figures who, like Jerry Boykin and the Benham brothers, say they are willing to die for their beliefs, especially when there is absolutely no risk at all of that actually happening.

I guess it makes them feel like men (or women) and they get some martyr sex when they get home. It’s all good.

Now we have a Republican, Oklahoma's Kevin Calvey (R), boldly proclaiming that he would set himself on fire to show his opposition to women having access to reproductive healthcare – if only his religion did not forbid it.

Oh the courage of what Oklahoma’s KFOR calls the “hypothetical suicide threat”!

Check it out courtesy of KFOR News Channel 4:

If I were not a christian, and didn’t have a prohibition against suicide, I’d walk across the street and douse myself in gasoline and set myself on fire! To protest the evil that is going on over there, killing, giving the death penalty, to the will of the people and the will of this body and protecting the least among us.

Doesn’t that make you swoon? What a man!

The problem is that the “threat” was made, as Jenny Kutner writes at Salon, during a debate “that was (at least in theory) about a bill to increase judicial salaries.”

You see, SB 548, sponsored by two Republicans, has to do with raising the pay of Supreme Court Justices – by a whopping 6 percent.

KFOR reports that,

Authors of the SB 548 say it’s not a pro-life or pro-choice issue.

“I personally do not connect this bill the way he did, and made this that we punish the justices because of a ruling they made,” Earl Sears, co-author of SB 548, says.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court should be glad they are not in Iowa or Idaho, where Republicans do very much want to punish judges for not ruling the way they want them to rule.

Now we are used to women’s reproductive health being the topic of agriculture hearings but I do believe judicial salaries is a new one.

The would-be self-immolator’s logic was that, “The problem is, our state supreme court has killed every law going before it that is designed to protect women and babies form the predatory abortion industry.”

Geez, a “predatory abortion industry”? Hard not to laugh when you read this nonsense. But then, how do you take hypothetical martyrdom seriously?

Calvey said he made the non-threat, “To protest the evil that is going on over there, killing, giving the death penalty, to the will of the people and the will of this body and protecting the least among us.”

You see what he did there: invoking Jesus to legitimize his desire to control women. Jesus never said word one about abortion though dog in the old testament aborted the hell out of fetuses with wild abandon, ordering them torn from their mothers’ wombs.

Let’s face it: if there is one thing YHWH is not, it is “pro-life.” I suggest Calvey re-read his bible.

Still, he doesn’t regret threatening to hypothetically turn himself into a crispy critter:

“No, not one bit, I think that I’m hopeful to draw attention to this serious issue.”

It’s easy to be brave when you’re not risking anything.

Of course, christian martyrs were suicides, provoking Roman authorities or mobs to execute them, so Calvey is doing the typical religio-wingnut thing and dancing around the facts. All right, he’s lying.

He can martyr himself. He just won’t.

In fact, it got to the point where Roman officials became quite vexed. The second century apologist Tertullian (ad Scap. 5) tells us about the Roman proconsul of Asia, C. Arrius Antoninus, who cried out: “You wretches, if you want to die, you have cliffs to leap from and ropes to hang by.”

By the same token, if abortions are still not easy to get in Oklahoma, gasoline is easy to come by. Please proceed, Calvey.

Senator Gillibrand pushes for comprehensive online voter registration

File this one under “How is this not already a thing?”

Comprehensive online voter registration

Rand Paul moves to nullify new 'net neutrality' rules

 

Rand Paul is a snake in the grass

Texas’ ‘Poll Tax’ Goes On Trial

The year-long legal battle could decide whether hundreds of thousands of Texans can participate in future elections.

Fox News Inches Closer To Death As Its Median Audience Dropped In 2014

As Fox News’s audience continues to age, the conservative network inches close to death as in 2014 its median audience dropped to 1.1 million.

According to Pew Research’s 2015 State Of The Media Report:

The total median viewership over a 24-hour period for Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC combined dropped 7% in 2014 to 1.8 million, according to Pew Research Center analysis of Nielsen Media Research data. That marked the first such audience decline by that measure since 2010. MSNBC fared the worst, with a 14% decline to a median of 334,000 viewers. Fox was down 2% to 1.1 million viewers and CNN up 1% to 417,000.

In prime time – the premier time slot for advertisers – combined median viewership was down for these three news channels by 8% to 2.8 million. Fox News remained relatively steady, losing only 1% of its viewership with 1.7 million watching nightly. But CNN (down 9% to 495,000 viewers) and MSNBC (down 8% to 568,000) struggled.

Fox News is still racking up big profits due to the high carriage fees that they charge providers. Fox News earns $1.50 per subscriber. This is the third highest carriage fee of any network. Fox News trails on ESPN and TNT in the amount charged per subscriber. Any liberal or progressive that has cable or satellite is paying Fox News $18 a year per household. High fees paid by people who disagree with Fox News, and never watch it, are one of the reasons why the network can be highly profitable as viewership declines.

Make no mistake about it, the entire cable news industry is in decline. The audience for cable news is shrinking. The numbers are bad. Only CNN saw an increase in median viewership, and that is because the network had been on the decline for years. MSNBC is an absolute disaster. Viewers have fled the network, and the best option for NBC may be to blow MSNBC up and start again.

Fox News is in decline. If cable and satellite providers ever move to a la carte programming, Fox News will be devastated.

The Fox News audience remains the oldest on television. The audience is not growing. By the best measurements, Fox News is experiencing a small decline or stagnating.

Fox News is a big fish in a steadily shrinking pond, which is why it is time for the media to stop kowtowing to the small and angry tribe known as the Fox News Channel.