Clay Aiken (yes, that Clay Aiken) has officially announced his long rumored run for Congress in North Carolina, as a Democrat, and this introductory video is fascinating for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that it is five minutes long with no cuts. George Lakeoff might be appalled by the way […]
Goldy
Posted inPolitics
Seattle Council Member Kshama Sawant at Inauguration: “I Wear the Badge of Socialist with Honor”
Oh man are the folks at Fox News going to go apoplectic over this one: The transcript of Seattle Council Member (and proud Socialist) Kshama Sawant‘s inauguration speech yesterday: My brothers and sisters, Thank you for your presence here today. This city has made glittering fortunes for the super wealthy and for the major corporations […]
Posted inPolitics
US Senate Goes “Nuclear,” Changes Filibuster Rules for Nominees
About fucking time: The Senate has voted to change its rules so that a simple majority is required to confirm judicial nominations and executive branch picks — the so-called “nuclear option.” The final vote was 52-48. “The threshold for cloture on nominations not including the Supreme Court, is now a majority,” Sen Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), […]
Posted inMedia
Bill Moyers on Shutdown: “Secession by Another Means”
Remember when we could watch thoughtful, honest political commentary without the need to distract from the horror by peppering it with jokes? That’s kinda what Bill Moyers is—The Daily Show, but without the laughs. And man does he nail it.
Posted inReligion
I Blame Jesus! (For the Debt-Ceiling Crisis)
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) says that the end is nigh! “This happened and as of today the United States is willingly, knowingly, intentionally sending arms to terrorists, now what this says to me, I’m a believer in Jesus Christ, as I look at the End Times scripture, this says to me that the leaf is […]
Posted inJerk
Welcome to the Teapocalypse!
The federal government officially shut down at midnight Eastern time, you know, just because. Previous government shutdowns have tended to be expensive and painful, but brief. This time though, I’m not so sure about the brief part. A couple weeks ago somebody asked me if I thought House Republicans would follow through on their threat […]
Posted inPolitics
Let’s Make a Deal
I don’t really care who gets the credit, or how it came about, but if Syria manages to avoid a US military strike by agreeing to hand over its chemical weapons to international control, can’t we all agree that this is a good thing? I mean, that would actually accomplish something positive, right? Prevent future […]
Posted inGun Club
New Study: Gun Ownership, Not Suicidal Behavior, Is Strongest Predictor of Death by Suicide
State by state data has long shown a strong correlation between rates of gun ownership and rates of suicide, but whether there is a causal relationship, well, that has been harder to discern. A variety of factors influence suicide rates, including poverty, population density, and crime. For example, I’d probably kill myself were I forced […]
Posted inLGBTQIA+
In Which My Cosmetic Surgeon Explains the Hurdles Facing Chelsea Manning
Dr. Sherman Leis bills himself as “one of the world’s leading transgender surgeons.” Also, when I was a kid, he once put a couple plastic stitches in the bridge of my nose (freak golfing accident), and he did a lovely job. So I was interested to read what he had to say about what Chelsea […]
Posted inHistory
Fifty Years Ago Today, Martin Luther King Jr. Marched on Washington to Demand a $15 an Hour Minimum Wage
Fifty years ago today, Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to deliver his landmark “I Have a Dream” speech. But while it was an inspiring moment that defined a major milepost in the struggle for civil rights, King’s speech looms so large in the popular imagination that it has […]
Posted inMedia
Should Presidential Primary Debates Be Run by Partisan Moderators?
Angry at CNN and NBC for their respective plans to produce a Hillary Clinton documentary and biopic, the Republican National Committee voted Friday to bar the two networks from 2016 Republican presidential debate coverage, essentially leaving the debates in the hands of Fox News and their highly partisan right-wing moderators. And there’s a growing consensus […]
Posted inPolitics
Because Nothing Succeeds Like Secession
Ten rural Colorado counties are drawing up plans to secede from Colorado and become a 51st state. Should the secession plan fail, county commissioners could propose a ballot initiative that would alter the state Senate so that each of Colorado’s 64 counties would have its own senator to represent its interests. “We need to figure […]