Monday, March 26, 2012

Weekly Roundup, March 19-25, 2012

By Blueberry T

PoliticalGates is the proud winner of the 2011 Bloggers Choice Award for Best Political Blog – congratulations to our whole team of writers, researchers and readers!!


March 20, 2011
I wish I could say I was surprised to learn that such an extremist as Pastor Dennis Terry of the Greenwell Baptist Church was praying over and urging his flock to support Rick Perry. I’m disgusted, but I’m not surprised, at the flagrant violation of prohibitions against churches supporting candidates for public office; the unvarnished bigotry against liberal or non-Christian beliefs; and the overt Dominionism. Kathleen’s excellent post also delves into the extreme homophobia that Santorum and his supporters share. I found a clip recently on Daily Kos that may be the best antidote to gay-bashing: “If you’re homophobic, you’re probably gay.”


Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Women of America Unite! (And Men, Too.)
Kathleen alerts us to rallies being organized around the country on April 28th to protest the GOP’s War on Women. It is time to fight back against the attacks against the rights that women have won, after great struggle, over the past century. If you need further inspiration to be motivated to get out and march for women, here is a link to Ebbtide’s recent guest post, including many links regarding the GOP’s extremist efforts to undo women’s progress. It seems like a depraved competition to see who can come up with the most outrageous ideas of how to turn back the clock on women’s rights. Get out to a march near you on April 28th (or organize one!). Be there or be square. Let’s have lots of Politicalgates boots on the ground.


Thursday, March 22, 2012
Sunnyjane offers her usual brilliant combination of relevant, timely information and inspired snark. In this post, she disputes the GOP’s convenient but false claim that President Obama is responsible for increasing gas prices. She offers a terrific, very clear one paragraph primer on the factors that do influence gas prices, and then presents the who’s who of GOP information-distortionists (aka liars) on this subject. Sarah Palin, America’s top expert on energy (according to John McCain and NOBODY else on the planet), offers her own inimitable punditry and word salad about “fungible commodities,” leaving some of us to wonder whether we should laugh or cry. (Okay, we laughed.) Numerous experts have come to President Obama’s defense recently, but let’s not fool ourselves. The American Petroleum Institute took out a full page ad in the Sunday Boston Globe (and I’ll bet other papers too) urging people to call their Senators to oppose President Obama’s efforts to end tax breaks to Big Oil. This will be a very tough fight.

Saturday, March 24, 2012
Kathleen is on a roll this week! She highlights another in a long series of blatant, easily proven lies by Sarah Palin – this one, her claim that President Obama insulted Special Olympians and didn’t apologize for it. He did say something that he regretted, but, true to his classy persona, he immediately contacted Tim Shriver of the Special Olympics to offer his sincere apologies and express his support and admiration for the Special Olympics and the wonderful athletes who participate. The post includes a video clip that Patrick put together, including Palin’s dishonest claim juxtaposed with the report of the President’s apology. Her mean spirit and her slipping wig are in clear view in the Hannity interview.

Some Comments and Links:
JCos: Perhaps I missed it, but has Israel ever offered to abolish its own nuclear program if Iran does too?
Cheeriogirl: So let me see if I have this straight: first, conservatives want to make sure you get pregnant by limiting access to birth control, then force you to have the baby by limiting access to abortions, then if you get fired for taking time off to have the baby, you have no right to recourse for being fired. Great. All these things that have been litigated decades ago and established as basic rights have been inverted.
Leadfoot (responding to HopeforAmerica’s report of polls showing Palin might do well in a brokered convention): Who did they poll for that?! The home for the criminally insane?
Maelewis: One more word about health care, especially the well orchestrated program of humiliating women who want birth control information and medication, abortions or any kind of health care (mammogram, pap smear): The Republicans (and their kissing cousins, the Tea Party) have one meme, "Get big government off my back and out of my life. And, cut costs, too." For a group who does not want government interfering in their lives, they certainly want to poke their noses and vaginal ultrasound wands in some pretty intimate places. Their programs of forced sonograms would add unnecessary cost. I don't think they are even considering the ultimate cost of the increased population that would result from less birth control and no abortions. Who is going to absorb the cost of feeding all of those extra mouths? Food stamps won't. They are placing an added burden on the working class that is already struggling with the rising costs of everything. When they picked women as their target for their culture war, I don't think that they even considered the consequences of what they were doing.
Older_Wiser: As a working class woman, I generally tend to think like a Marxist but act like a social democrat. Like a good lawyer, I know that you always ask for more than you think you'll get because in praxis (implementing theory into practice), you are dealing with human beings, not robots. This is something that politicians and bureaucrats often forget, whether in a communist state or a republic. Thus, whether I was working in the civil rights movement, the women's movement, the union movement, I tended to think about what tactic was more likely to bring about the best results for everyone with the least amount of damage. Personally, I can be quite fierce in my convictions, but bloody revolution and war are not conditions I see myself promoting to achieve those goals. Destruction and bloodshed aren't necessary to promote ideas of equality and justice for all, but patience, perseverance and preservation of all life are. It is easier and faster to pick up the gun and destroy ourselves as a species, but it takes more discipline and patience to rock the cradle of civilization.
Cheeriogirl pointed out this on 20 experts who say more drilling won’t lower gas prices; she also linked to this on the same topic.
sunnyjane highlighted an interesting message from a GOP Congressman: women, give money to Democrats. Brave man.
Do Not Miss This (found on Twitter).
HonestyinGov found this – Republican bill has language supporting Obama Administration’s position on health care reform, justifying ACA.
CacklinRad pointed out this interview proving that Palin knew she was on McCain’s short list in early March 2008.
I have to include this Rachel Maddow commentary on the Ryan budget that Romney loves.
Here is the great collage that PalinStuff made at HopeforAmerica’s request – well done!


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