Last Call For The Republican Legal Rump

A new USA TODAY poll shows that most Americans believe that June's Supreme Court decisions have put an end to the Obamacare and marriage equality fights.

Well, I take that back.  Republicans are going to fight for bigotry and being uninsured forever.

By 52%-36%, those polled say officials who oppose the Affordable Care Act should take steps to improve the law but end efforts to repeal it, given the high court's decision rejecting its most serious legal challenge. But Republicans by more than 2-1, 63%-27%, say the campaign to overturn the law should continue. 

On same-sex marriage, Americans by 51%-33% say local and state officials now should allow gay couples to wed in their jurisdictions even if they oppose gay marriage. On that, Republicans also tend to disagree: 49% say officials who oppose same-sex unions should take steps to resist the court's ruling and block them while 38% say they should allow them to take place. 

The issue of gay marriage in particular seems to have lost some of its potential to affect next year's presidential election. Four in 10 say the issue will have no impact on their vote.

So yeah, half of Republicans want to show their "civil disobedience" bigoted intolerance towards same-sex marriage, and two-thirds want to take health insurance away from millions of people.

Please make overturning marriage equality and Obamacare the central theme of the GOP in 2016, guys.  Democrats are begging you to try that. Please remaind everyone how mean-spirited and awful Republicans really are, and do it as often as possible between now and November 2016.

Just begging you.

Tragedy In Chattanooga

A pretty horrific event in Chattanooga, Tennessee this afternoon as a gunman opened fire on a series of military recruitment centers in the city.  The gunman is dead, as are four Marines, and a police officer has also been injured.

Four people plus a gunman were killed in shootings at multiple military sites in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the city's mayor announced at a Thursday afternoon press conference.

A police officer who was shot in the leg remained in stable condition at a local hospital, according to NBC’s Chattanooga affiliate WRBC. 

The attacks took place at the Naval and Marine Reserve Center on Amnicola highway and the Army Recruiting Center on Lee highway. 

Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke announced earlier today that there had been a “horrific incident in our community."

The fact that the gunman went to multiple recruitment centers for different branches of the US military doesn't really leave any room for doubt that these recruitment centers, and the personnel inside them, were being targeted deliberately.  Somebody had a definite problem with our men and women in uniform, enough to open fire on multiple recruitment centers over it.  This was a planned, domestic terrorist attack in my eyes, and the FBI is treating it as such until they otherwise have reason not to do so, according to the news conference.

JUST IN: Chattanooga, TN shooting suspect identified as Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, law enforcement sources tell @CBSNews.

— CBSN (@CBSNLive) July 16, 2015

More on this as it comes in.

Bobbying For Crapples

So on Tuesday, a heavily edited hit video was posted to YouTube, purported to show a Planned Parenthood employee discuss using late-term abortions to harvest baby parts.  Which is kind of odd, since 1) Planned Parenthood doesn't do late-term abortions (only 4 clinics in the US do period) and 2) the video is a screaming fake from the James O'Keefe School Of Complete Horsecrap.

But that's not stopping Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal from using the fake video as an excuse to harass Planned Parenthood and score cheap points.

Gov. Bobby Jindal on Tuesday announced he's directed the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals to investigate Planned Parenthood activities in the state after a video surfaced that claims the organization is selling fetal body parts. 

The video, which was posted to YouTube by the Center for Medical Progress, shows a woman discussing the harvest of fetal organs and body parts from partial-birth abortions. The Center for Medical Progress identifies the woman as Dr. Deborah Nucatola, who is Planned Parenthood Federation of America's national medical director. 

There was no indication that the video or the activities described in it had ties to Louisiana. But Jindal said he was ordering an investigation in part because Planned Parenthood is planning to open a clinic in New Orleans.

But here's the kicker (and the real reason why Jindal is pretending to believe this nonsense):

The investigation means the $4 million clinic planned for New Orleans will not be able to open because Jindal's order includes suspending the issuance of new licenses by DHH.

So yes, Jindal is a manipulative slimy bastard.  Oh, and where is he getting the money to investigate Planned Parenthood when the state is running a $1.6 billion deficit under his budget?

And he's running for President!?!?

My guess is he won't be for much longer when this blows up in his face.

StupidiNews!

• Swiss officials say that they will extradite a FIFA official to the US, the unnamed official of soccer's governing body is cooperating with law enforcement and agreed to be extradited.
• Congressional Democrats are coming out in support of the Iranian nuclear deal as Republicans continue to vow to destroy the accord.
• Former President George HW Bush is in stable condition after fracturing a bone in his neck in a fall, he is expected to recover and be in a neck brace for some time.
• Greek lawmakers have voted to accept the EU bailout deal imposing harsh austerity measures, the first 7 billion euro installment to be announced today.
• Netflix says it will support the proposed Charter/Time Warner Cable merger after the cable giants offered the streaming movie service a free network connection to its customers.