Steve Benen reports that the Senate ended debate on Chuck Hagel's confirmation as Secretary of Defense, thus ending the GOP filibuster and all-but ensuring a confirmation that will likely come later today. Looking back at the dust, smoke, and debris, he notes that it's a little hard to explain what it was all about:
While we wait for Hagel's now-inevitable confirmation, I'mstill not altogether sure what Republicans were thinking when they launched his doomed crusade against Hagel in the first place. Indeed, other than allowing everyone to laugh at Republican media over the "Friends of Hamas" fiasco last week, what was the point of forcing delays?
What did GOP officials hope to accomplish? There were a few fundraising letters, McCain got to appear on a few more Sunday shows, but the strategy never seemed to come together for the right in any kind of coherent way. They saw President Obama nominate a Republican to his cabinet; it drove them batty; they launched a weak smear campaign; and the whole effort collapsed without much effort. Last week, several Republicans, on the verge of defeat, pleadedwith the White House to pull Hagel's nomination anyway, just because.
If there was a point to the GOP's anti-Hagel campaign, it hid well.
As near as I can tell, the main point was to get Lindsey Graham reelected. By getting all bent out of shape over crazy-assed conspiracy theories and Benghazi posturing, Lindsey was able to prove to the 'bagger base that he's just as stupid and gullible as they are. Apparently, that's what it takes to win a GOP primary in South Carolina these days — you have to be (or at least pretend to be) sufficiently insane and/or moronic. Like a monkey whooping in a monkey cage, Lindsey managed to get all the other monkeys whooping and excited too.
That's pretty much what I got out of the whole mess — and it's still not a very good explanation. But the Republican Party is a party gone mad , so looking for rational reasons to explain their fits and tantrums is probably a fool's errand.
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Playing chicken with the defense hawks
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Oh racist Republican jackass birthers, don't ever stop reminding the American people just which party is full of bigots and crackpots whose awful views aren't just tolerated but are openly welcomed. Via Taegan Goddard:
Michigan state Sen. Tom Casperson (R) told a radio show he's not sure where Obama was born, according to Deadline Detroit.
Said Casperson: "I don't know because it seems like that issue was dropped immediately as far as the major media went. My gut tells me if it had been a different president, say George W. Bush, they'd have been digging into like there was no tomorrow and trying to get to the bottom of, which they never really tried to get to the bottom of."
That's because there's nothing to get to the bottom of, you moron. The President was born in Hawaii, period. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a racist clown, point blank. Stop it. It's the guy's second term already. If you're still questioning his birthplace at this point after five years, there's really nothing left but good ol' racism to explain it. End of line.
Ain't nobody got time for this, as they say.
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The University of North Carolina took revenge against one of their students, a rape survivor, who reported on their failed administrative policies on sexual assault. After the initial report, she discussed her experience with The Daily Tarheel and as a result, the school is bringing her up on honor code violations. Officially, she is being charged with:
II.C.1.c. – Disruptive or intimidating behavior that willfully abuses, disparages, or otherwise interferes with another … so as to adversely affect their academic pursuits, opportunities for University employment, participation in University-sponsored extracurricular activities, or opportunities to benefit from other aspects of University Life.
That's right, she's being charged with abusing her rapist. It should be noted that she never named her assailant.
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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI will be known as "emeritus pope" in his retirement and will continue to wear a white cassock, the Vatican announced Tuesday, again fueling concerns about potential conflicts arising from having both a reigning and a retired pope.
But what about THE RED SHOES?!
"Lombardi also further described Benedict's final 48 hours as pope: On Tuesday, he was packing, arranging for documents to be sent to the various archives at the Vatican and separating out the personal papers he will take with him into retirement."
Must be his spank-bank. Or all the stuff that implicates him in the sex abuse and cover-up.
(Yahoo News via THE CHARM SCHOOL DROPOUT)
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TPM: Bork: Nixon Offered Me SCOTUS Seat for Firing Archibald Cox
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Five More States Consider 'Ag Gag' Laws To Silence Factory Farm Whistleblowers
GOP Senator Launches The Most Dishonest Attack Against Obamacare You've Ever Heard
What Happens If The Voting Rights Act Loses In The Supreme Court
Yes, she really said that. As CityPages' Aaron Rupar reports, the woman who the AP gave up on fact-checking because she "was so full of shit, the AP would've needed round-the-clock staff to check all the claims she made" said this in an interview yesterday at Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia:
"If you are a conservative you can never get anything wrong. I was very proud of the fact that I didn't get anything wrong that I said during the course of the debates. I didn't get anything wrong and that's a huge arena." READ MORE »
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Oh, hey, here's a new twist on an old story! You already know how having to pay for insurance coverage for birth control is a violation of an employer's sacred right to tell employees how to live, but a genius state Senator in Oklahoma, Clark Jolley (R-Not All That Jolly) has just placed himself in the race for Wonkette Legislative Shitmuffin of the Year by introducing yet another bill that that would allow employers to opt out of covering slut pills.
The opt-out isn't a new idea, but the justification is truly novel: Jolley says he introduced the bill at the request of a constituent, Dr. Dominic Pedulla, of Oklahoma City. Pedulla is a cardiologist, but bills himself as "a natural family planning medical consultant and women's health researcher" and contends that contraception "suppresses and disables" women's true nature:
"Part of their identity is the potential to be a mother," Pedulla said. "They are being asked to suppress and radically contradict part of their own identity, and if that wasn't bad enough, they are being asked to poison their bodies."
We know we are somewhat stepping on the line of regular commenter Callyson here, but, Oh, for fuck's sake. READ MORE »
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High levels of a dangerous toxin found in bagged dog food on a grocery store shelf in Iowa have highlighted the prevalence of a problematic mold in last year's U.S. corn crop, as state and federal officials work on limiting the food safety concern. - reuters
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