The candidates have said it all. This line up is simply amazing. Not in my Virginia…please!!
The core problem is that there can be no re-branding of the Republican Party. How do you re-brand core beliefs? If you feel homosexuality is a sin, you can’t re-brand that. If you have strong anti immigration feelings, how is that re-branded? There is no magic wand that waves away these feelings. At best, Republicans can tone down the rhetoric and stop trying to legislate the social issues. Other than that, I simply don’t know what can be done.You are still talking about the same core party members and people who vote for their beliefs. One’s common core of values simply doesn’t re brand.
Many of the moderate Republicans are chased out of office these days to the screams and shouts of “RINO!” There doesn’t seem to be room for these people under the big tent any more. some of my favorite people are moderate Republicans, which should come as no shock. I eschew zealots of any flavor.
Perhaps what we will soon hear is the swan song for the Grand Old Party. I think that is sad. Perhaps we have already heard it, as the Old Guard dies off or goes out of office, often in disgust. My feeling is the Grand Old Party died off a few years ago and the swan song was sung. What’s left? The Republicans who I just don’t feel can claim the Grand Old Party logo.
Does this guy have any responsibility for decency or (gasp) telling the truth? At what point is there a limit to free speech?
Should this type of threat cause the involvement of the FBI? Secret Service?Is there a difference in the rhetoric found here and the obviously bad taste tweet of Lizz Winstead? (tornadoes are targetting conservatives.) Winstead did self correct and admit her timing was horrible and she should have known better. Has Santilli issued any remarks admitting stupidity?
Living proof that Michelle Bachmann is not getting saner. With a flair for the dramatic, Rep. Bachmann pleads with Congress to repeal Obamacare with the threat that it is going to kill women, children and senior citizens. Huh? Even those who don’t like it haven’t said they thought it would kill them. No explanation was provided as to HOW the ACA was supposed to kill anyone.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday invalidated Virginia’s law prohibiting anal and oral sex, citing the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas that held Texas’ anti-sodomy law unconstitutional. In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that the state’s provision banning “crimes against nature,” which include “’carnal knowledge’ by one person of another by the anus or the mouth” “cannot be squared with Lawrence.” The 2003 high court decision held that “statutes criminalizing private acts of consensual sodomy between adults are inconsistent with the protections of liberty” in the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause.
By JOE SCARBOROUGH | 02/20/2013 09:02 AM EST | Updated: 02/21/2013 03:04 PM EST (Politico)
Glenn Beck says he doesn’t like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Why should he?
Christie, after all, has done nothing conservative since his surprising win over Democrat Jon Corzine four years ago – nothing other than declaring war against the most extreme government union bosses, fighting for education reform across the Garden State, spending less in this year’s FY13 budget than Corzine spent in actual dollars in FY08, reforming and keeping afloat the state’s dying public pension and health benefit programs by eliminating COLAs, increasing employee contributions, raising the retirement age while saving the moribund system $120 billion over 30 years.
Several decades ago, when Virginia adopted the slogan “Virginia is for Lovers” someone apparently hadn’t read the Code of Virginia. Nothing could be further from the truth. Virginia is for the nunnery!
For some proof, let’s see what Huffington Post has uncovered (blush).
Only one or two centuries late, Virginia lawmakers have decided it is none of their business if unmarried couples share a roof. So the legislators are now working diligently to repeal the state’s law against “lewd and lascivious cohabitation.” Huzzahs all ’round for that.
But do not unclutch thy bodice yet. Virginia law is riddled with antiquated provisions meant to govern the “morals and decency” of the fair people of the commonwealth. And while the law against shacking up apparently never gets enforced, others do.
The State of Virginia might just be well on its way to making honest men and women out of all of us. There is legislation, introduced by Sen. Adam Ebbin, to repeal the ban on unmarried couples living together. Sen. Ebbin is the only openly gay legislator in Virginia. I don’t believe, however, it is illegal for same sex couples to live together. If that is the case, a whole lot of colleges are breaking the antiquated Virginia law when assigning student housing. But I digress…..
RICHMOND — A Senate panel on Monday unanimously advanced a bill to repeal an old law that makes it illegal for unmarried couples to live together in Virginia.
It is a misdemeanor in the state, under a law dating to the late 19th century, for “any persons, not married to each other, [to] lewdly and lasciviously associate and cohabit together.”
It appears that Sarah Palin’s rising star is crashing to earth. According to Thedailybeast.com:
Fox News offered Sarah Palin a new contract before she decided to part ways with the network where she has held forth as a commentator for the last three years.
However, it would be hard to describe it as a generous contract.
Palin was a hot property when Roger Ailes landed her in 2009, fresh off her colorful run for vice president, and paid her an annual salary of $1 million. Fox even built Palin a studio at her Wasilla home.
But relations cooled between the two sides, and Palin was appearing on Fox less often—complaining on Facebook one night during the Republican convention that the network had canceled her appearances.
Had GOP voters also followed Buckley’s advice to vote for the most electable conservative instead of the most right-wing choice, Harry Reid would be in retirement and a Republican would be the Senate majority leader.
For the GOP to win again, it must dare to embrace Buckley’s ruthless, pragmatic approach to primary elections and learn again to vote for candidates who can win sweeping majorities and just say no to ideological indulgences that only advance the Democrats’ cause.
NEW YORK (AP) — Saying the gay population has “suffered a history of discrimination,” a divided federal appeals court in Manhattan ruled Thursday that a federal law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman was unconstitutional, adding fuel to an issue expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court soon.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seemed interested in adding its voice to several other rulings already at the high court’s doorstep by issuing its 2-to-1 decision only three weeks after hearing arguments on a lower court judge’s findings that the 1996 law was unconstitutional.
For 43 years Big Bird has been the symbol of Sesame Street, the beloved childrens show featured on PBS that really made PBS America’s classroom. Many a child learned his or her colors, letters, and how to count from friends like Cookie Monster, the Count, Oscar the Grouch, Elmo and Big Bird. These colorful characters also taught some life lessons like not picking on the kid who wore classes and how to go get a police man or woman if you were in trouble. Sesame Street founds itself on the chopping blog during last night’s debates, in front of 50 million Americans.
Once again the PBS has been targeted by conservatives and is being plucked and defeathered for the old defunding stew pot in the sky. In fact, Mitt Romney ironically told the moderator, Jim Lehrer, a long time PBS anchor, that he would defund PBS during the debate.
At least one board member said members of the panel felt threatened by a memo from the office of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli that warned board members could lose legal representation from the Attorney General’s Office if they ignored its advice.
In June, the board had voted 7-4 to exempt existing abortion clinics from the new construction standards, only to have Cuccinelli’s office refuse to certify the regulations.
Yesterday, ThinkProgress reported that Rep. Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin (R-MO) and GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan both cosponsored the bill that introduced America to the despicable term “forcible rape.” As it turns out, this may only be the second most sweeping attack on reproductive freedom that both men partnered on. Ryan and Akin also cosponsored a federal personhood bill, the Sanctity of Human Life Act of 2009, which declares that a fertilized egg is entitled to the exact same legal rights as a human being:
(1) the Congress declares that–
(A) the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being, and is the paramount and most fundamental right of a person; and
(B) the life of each human being begins with fertilization, cloning, or its functional equivalent, irrespective of sex, health, function or disability, defect, stage of biological development, or condition of dependency, at which time every human being shall have all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood; and
(2) the Congress affirms that the Congress, each State, the District of Columbia, and all United States territories have the authority to protect the lives of all human beings residing in its respective jurisdictions.
Lest there be any doubt, this bill is unconstitutional. Congress does not have the power to overrule Roe v. Wade by an ordinary statue, only a constitutional amendment could serve that purpose. Moreover, even if Roe were overruled by the Supreme Court, Ryan and Akin’s bill still attempts to redefine who “the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution” applies to. Again, changing the meaning of the Constitution can only be done through an amendment, not through an ordinary Act of Congress.
The FBI probed a late-night swim in the Sea of Galilee that involved drinking, numerous GOP freshmen lawmakers, top leadership staff – and one nude member of Congress, according to more than a dozen sources, including eyewitnesses.
During a fact-finding congressional trip to the Holy Land last summer, Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) took off his clothes and jumped into the sea, joining a number of members, their families and GOP staff during a night out in Israel, the sources told POLITICO. Other participants, including the daughter of another congressman, swam fully clothed while some lawmakers partially disrobed. More than 20 people took part in the late-night dip in the sea, according to sources who were participants in the trip.
You know, why can’t members of Congress behave, especially when out of the country? Is this the same GOP who gets all prissy over behavior and wants ultrasounds for women seeking abortion? Is this the same GOP who wants us all to reliquish our reproductive rights? Is this the GOP who wants to tear down that wall of separation between church and state?
