Froth Slosh B'Gosh

Faux News

They're not even pretending anymore.

 

In Order To Form A More Undemocratic Union

Florida continues is purge of those pesky, dusky voters who might cast a ballot for the Kenyan Usurper.

UPDATE:  A ray of sunshine in the Sunshine State:  Florida's onerous voter registration laws are ruled unconstitutional. 

Chipping Away At The Constitution

The Supreme Court, along the usual pro-state/anti-citizen 6-3 split, erodes the double jeopardy provision. 

The 6-3 decision holds that a jury's unanimous but tentative vote to acquit a defendant on some charges does not count as a verdict.

It came in the case of an Arkansas man who in 2009 was tried for murder and manslaughter in the death of his girlfriend's 1-year-old baby. The jury voted unanimously against the murder charge, but the foreman said they were "hopelessly deadlocked" on whether he was guilty of manslaughter. The judge declared a mistrial.

Note that the defense was not arguing that the defendant could not be retried on the charges the jury failed to agree on, but the radical Roberts court declared he can be retried on all charges, even the one the jury aquitted him of!  Outrageous!

The conservative majority of this court are not sober jurists.  They are radical fanatics, determined to do whatever they can to limit the protections offered by the Constitution to those who lack power or access to those who weild it. 

Your Backdoor Man

Daryl Metcalfe, The Shame of Butler County, tries the old end around on abortion funding.

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Cranberry, said in a Wednesday news conference introducing the measure that it would end the "flow of taxpayer money to support abortionists."

The bill, similar to legislation attempted in a half-dozen states and supported by several Republican legislators and anti-abortion groups, prioritizes funding for hospitals, rural health care clinics and other providers, but prohibits Department of Health funds from going to any of those organizations that provide abortions.

As the article points out, the laws on the books already prohibit taxpayer dollars from going towards abortions, so the real effect this law would have should it pass is cut off money for other health services that have nothing to do with abortion.  That loss of service will likely impact poorer residents who lack insurance or who live in rural areas.

The law could have an unintended consequence as well.  By eliminating state funding to those health care facilities that perform abortions, it very well likely make those hospitals and clinics facilities provide abortions only, as the funding for that proceedure isn't supplied by tax dollars. 

Just as an aside, I get the distinct impression that every far right bill that comes up in Harrisburg is associated with Daryl Metcalfe, The Shame of Butler County.  Those bills are usually ones that have been introduced in other states first, or authored by ALEC, which leads me to suspect that Metcalfe is probably too stupid to actually write any orginal legislation on his own.

 

The Full Wingnut

Iowa's GOP strips off the veneer of civility, reason, and thoughtfulness to reveal the naked insanity of the modern Republican Party in all its fleshy glory!

I could post excerpts, but it is so chockablock filled with insane, far right fringe reactionariness and boogeymen that I'd be typing all day.  Read it for yourself and bask in the lunacy!

Ruth Ann Vomits Up Another Article

This time she complains about a politician engaging in politics, takes veiled swipe at Teh Gays, and then pivots to a whine about how ebil liberuls are trying to keep religious people from engaging in bigotry and discrimination.  My favorite part, though, was this: 

But it's possible the cynicism runs deeper -- and the failure of leadership is greater -- than conveniently evolving into a gay marriage advocate just in time to rake in millions from big donors in Hollywood (where the institution of marriage is of course so highly prized).

It's possible.  Of course, there are lots of things that are possible, aren't there?  Ruth Ann should understand that nearly half of all marriages, be they in Hollywood or elsewhere, end in divorce.  Of course, the institution of marriage isn't too prized in Washington D.C. either (just ask Newt Gingrich) or among far right radio talkers (just ask Rush Limbaugh).  Meanwhile, President Obama has gotten along just fine with a single spouse, unlike say, a certain opinion columnist in the pages of the P-G who is, if I'm not mistaken, on husband number 2.

Swiss Miss

Michele Bachmann claims Swiss citizenship.  There's nothing inherently wrong in that.  Many US citizens hold duel citizenship.  I can claim duel citizenship in Ireland, for example.  But is Bachmann aware that Switzerland has socialized medicine and allows teh gay to form civil unions??

Flipping Like A Pancake, Popping Like A Cork

There is absolutly nothing that Mitt Romney will not lie about.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney often finds himself on the defensive in Rust Belt states for having been against the government's auto bailout, which many credit with saving the industry. Now he is taking a new tack on the issue: He is taking credit for the industry's rebound.

North Carolina Enshrines Bigotry

Since when are rights subject to a plebiscite?  I guess ever since religious bigots are allowed anywhere near the levers of power.  To wit:

"I think it sends a message to the rest of the country that marriage is between one man and one woman," Fitzgerald said at a celebration Tuesday night. "The whole point is simply that you don't rewrite the nature of God's design based on the demands of a group of adults."

Gay marriage goes against you religion?  Fine.  Don't have one.  Stop forcing your bronze age religious intolerance upon everyone else.

The Purge Continues

Dick Lugar gets teabagged.  Never mind his generally high "conservative" ratings. How DARE he try to work with demoncrats to try and get things done!!11!!

Another reason why its pointless to try and reach a compromise with the modern republican party.  They aren't interested, and the few remaining senators who understand the concept of The Grand Bargian are being eliminated by purity tests.

I like what John Cole had to say about it: 

“Reasonable Republicans” everywhere will have to think of a new excuse for why they are remaining in a party of fanatics, bigots, homophobes, and fascists.