Last Call

In another 5-4 decision where Justice Kennedy sided with the Roberts-Alito-Thomas-Scalia bloc as the deciding vote, SCOTUS struck down Arizona's campaign finance provision designed to even the playing field between privately funded candidates and publicly funded ones.

The law allowed candidates who qualified for public financing to receive a lump sum grant from the government if they refused to accept private contributions. It also allowed participating candidates to qualify for additional matching government funds if their opponents who chose not to participate in public funding spent more than the initial grant.

In its opinion, the majority targeted the so-called "trigger mechanism," which aimed to direct more public money to qualified candidates, and found that it violated the free speech rights of nonparticipating candidates.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for himself and the four other conservatives on the bench, stated that the matching funds provision "substantially burdens the speech of privately financed candidates and independent expenditure groups without serving a compelling state interest."

He said that laws "like Arizona's matching funds provision that inhibit robust and wide-open political debate without sufficient justification cannot stand."

In other words, evening up the playing field between privately funded campaigns and publicly funded ones is a violation of the first amendment rights of the privately-funded candidate, that inhibits their right to use money as free speech.

If that seems counter-intuitive and even downright fishy, it's because it is:  it's the same argument used in Citizens United, that any government limits on private campaign money use is an inhibition of free speech.  Yes, the first amendment absolutely exists to protect free speech from government interference, but this ruling basically says that not only is campaign money equivalent to free speech to the point it garners first amendment protections from the government regulation of it, but that only private campaign money gets this protection.

Chief Justice Roberts completely threw out the argument that the candidate who didn't have the resources was at the disadvantage, rather the candidate with the far greater amount of private money donations was in fact the one needing the protection.

Taking this argument to its endpoint is a rather frightening exercise.  Those who have money have more free speech rights than those who don't, and they have every right to exercise its use as they see fit in order to influence political contests.  The ruling leaves public financing of campaigns intact...for now.  But I'd have to say that we can't be far away from the day where a publicly financed candidate who wins an election is sued over this by their privately funded opponent, claiming that public campaign funding of any type is unconstitutional.

When that happens, the corporations really will own the country.

[UPDATE] In completely non-related news, I'm guest blogging for DougJ this week over at Balloon Juice.  Do behave yourselves over there.

Bla-Gone-Jevich

Former Dem Gov. of Illinois and national embarrassment Rod Blagojevich got the hammer dropped on him today in his bribery and extortion retrial: Guilty on 17 of 20 counts.

The jury acquitted Blagojevich on one count of bribery and was unable to reach verdicts on two counts of attempted extortion.

The charges against Blagojevich included trying to peddle the U.S. Senate seat held by Barack Obama before he resigned to become president. Blagojevich has denied any intention of bribery.

Last August, after a two-month trial and 14 days of deliberation, jurors deadlocked on 23 of the 24 charges Blagojevich had faced. They found him guilty on one count of lying to FBI investigators, a conviction that could carry a prison sentence of five years.

The accusation that Blagojevich tried to profit as he considered whom to appoint to succeed Obama, among other allegations, prompted his impeachment by Illinois' House of Representatives and his removal from office by the state Senate in 2009.

Ten of the counts against him in the current trial are wire fraud. The other 10 involve extortion and bribery. Most of the counts have a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Blago will certainly appeal, but at this point it's up to a judge to see how long he spends in jail.  He's pushing 55 as it is, so he could conceivably get a Madoff special and hundreds of years in jail, or something much shorter.  Dunno.

Either way, I am neither surprised or saddened by this.

Shot In The Dark

Earth suffers a near-miss from an asteroid today.  A near-miss as far as astronomy goes, anyway.

Astronomers have just discovered an asteroid that is expected come close enough to Earth Monday that it will be visible with amateur telescopes.

The Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research centre (LINEAR) spotted Asteroid 2011 MD on June 22. It has an orbit similar to Earth's.

The asteroid will be visible from parts of South Africa and Antarctica when it makes its closest approach at 1:14 p.m. EDT (1714 GMT), passing just 7,500 miles (12,000 kilometers) from the Earth's surface. The rock will be so close that its trajectory will be sharply altered by the Earth's gravity.

"There is no chance that 2011 MD will hit Earth but scientists will use the close pass as opportunity to study it w/ radar observations," NASA's @AsteroidWatch tweeted last week.

Scientists say there is no danger of the bus-sized object striking Earth this time, but an impact is possible when it makes the next pass in 2022.

Hey, maybe we'll have a space program by then too.  That would be nice, in case the thing, you know, is going to plow into a major population center 11 years from now.  If Republicans are in charge, well it'll be your fault for living in an asteroid-prone area without insurance.

In Which Zandar Answers Your Burning Questions

So in the space of 24 hours, FOX News Sunday host Chris Wallace asked if Michele Bachmann was a "flake", Wallace apologized yesterday evening, and Bachmann told him this morning to go to hell.

Via POLITICO's Jennifer Epstein, Michele Bachmann isn't accepting an apology from Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace for asking her yesterday, "Are you a flake?"

ABC News' Jon Karl, who's been getting face-time with Bachmann in Waterloo in advance of her formal campaign announcement, played a clip of the web video in which Wallace said, "I messed up. I'm sorry."

When Karl asked if she accepts the apology, Bachmann brushed aside the question this way: "I think that it's insulting to insinuate that a candidate for president is less than serious."

Trying the question again, Bachmann replied, "Those are the small issues. I'm focused on the big ones."

Steve M. asks today:

The only thing I can't figure out is whether this is all theater -- Wallace and Bachmann creating a phony controversy just to give her hero status. It seems unlikely -- Wallace, if anything, sullied the Fox brand by launching a red-on-red attack, though he sure directed some eyeballs to Fox, which may be the point. And I'm not sure whether Murdoch and Ailes want to pump Bachmann up (because the core audience needs a new hero), or would rather steer the rubes toward someone more electable (even at the expense of not giving the punters someone to cheer for). I'm going to guess that Wallace just went rogue here, and that his bosses like the attention but don't really want this Bachmania to get out of hand (she can't win and she hasn't been on the payroll) -- but I'm really not sure.

... Or maybe the whole sequence -- question, reaction, apology, refusal to accept apology -- is a staged, eyeball-grabbing, pro-wrestling-style scripted feud. You think? Am I being too cynical?

No, old friend, you're not.  The simple fact that this is bouncing off FOX, ABC, and Politico.com pretty much confirms this is most likely a Village snow job with Ed Rollins's stinky fingerprints all over it.  This is straight out of the Palin Victim playbook, only it's being controlled by FOX.

It's a loud a clear message that red on red violence against Bachmann will not be tolerated and I absolutely see this as scripted as an episode of WWE RAW.  It's not the people that watch MSNBC that Ailes and Rollins are trying to reach here with this little poutrage bomb.  And better yet, FOX can just shift from "Chris Wallace said this" to "the mean old media said this" and get him off the hook too, all in time for her official campaign kickoff.

With all this violin-playing, somebody needs to be looking for the conductor.

On the other hand, it's entirely possible Bachmann is just stupid, petulant, ignorant, and thin-skinned too.

Murder With A Twist

A 13-year-old boy is in custody following the death of a woman in South Lanarkshire, Strathclyde Police have confirmed.

Police and ambulance services were called to a flat in Deveron Crescent, Hamilton, at about 2010 BST on Friday, where 34-year-old Dawn McKenzie was found seriously injured.

Not many details are out, but it is becoming a strange pattern to see kids involved in serious crimes.  I've read about several lately, and it does seem to be happening in a cluster.


Expect a follow-up to clarify as soon as more becomes known. 


And thus, an International Stupidity tag was born.  It's a good day to be a tag.

Billy The Kid Is Laughing

"The" Billy The Kid picture was auctioned for $2.3 million in Denver.  It's the only known picture, and the one used in every documentary, book and film.  He is reported to have paid a quarter for the picture.  He would be thrilled to know the return on his investment.

"When the bidding ended, the whole room erupted in clapping and people leapt to their feet," said Melissa McCracken, spokeswoman for the auction. "I've never experienced anything like this before."

The winning bidder was billionaire William Koch who founded Oxbow Carbon, with reported sales of $4 billion annually. Koch comes from a well-known family whose last name has made headlines in the past year for their political involvement.

Thus, the  Spiffy tag was born.

Another Milepost On The Road To Oblivion

If you're wondering why we can't afford a space program, it's probably because of things like...air conditioning our military in Afghanistan.

No, seriously.

The United States spends $20.2 billion annually on air conditioning for troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan — more than NASA's entire budget, NPR reported.

In fact, the same amount of money that keeps soldiers cool is the amount the G-8 has committed to helping the fledgling democracies in Tunisia and Egypt.

The necessary cooling costs so much because of the remote locations and danger involved in delivery equipment and fuel, Steven Anderson, a retired logistician who served under Gen. David Petraeus in Iraq.

"When you consider the cost to deliver the fuel to some of the most isolated places in the world — escorting, command and control, medevac support — when you throw all that infrastructure in, we're talking over $20 billion," Anderson told NPR. "You've got risks that are associated with moving the fuel almost every mile of the way."

And it's a long way to move the fuel: 800 miles of "improved goat trails" separate Karachi, where the fuel is shipped in, to Afghanistan. The transport takes 18 days. 

That's right, we spend more money on air conditioning in Afghanistan than we do on NASA.  Not "Our military budget is more than NASA" or "Our Afghanistan budget is more than NASA" or "Our vehicle budget is more than NASA" or "Our food bill in Afghanistan is more than NASA" but just the freakin A/C bill.

Makes me mad enough to put my fist through the monitor almost.  Air conditioning for a war of choice where billions and billions are wasted and stolen, not to mention the human cost.  And this is why we've shelved our space program.

Air conditioning.  America the Beautiful.

Exciting New Horizons In Obama Derangement Syndrome

The "Obama's just not like us" meme continues into the realm of dangerous "otherism" as over the weekend now one but two national newspaper op-eds ran full tilt with this nonsense.  I've talked about Obama As The Other before, and David Corn summed it up expertly:

Anti-Obama otherists have wrapped themselves in the flag of American exceptionalism, contending that Obama is different because he doesn't believe that the United States is special and superior to other nations. Last summer, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who at the time was mulling a bid for the GOP's 2012 presidential nomination, told Politico that Obama's "worldview is dramatically different than any president, Republican or Democrat, we've had… He grew up more as a globalist than an American. To deny American exceptionalism is in essence to deny the heart and soul of this nation." (In March, Huckabee, à la Gingrich, claimed, wrongly, that Obama had grown up in Kenya and had thus absorbed an anti-colonialist sentiment that prompted him to have a "very different view" of the British than "the average American.") In November, former GOP Sen. Rick Santorum, another 2012 wannabe, told College Republicans at American University, "America is exceptional, and Americans are concerned that there are a group of people in Washington who don't believe that any more."

Over the weekend both Maureen Dowd and Michael Barone got into the Cult of the Other.  Dowd was especially repugnant:

On the budget, he wants to cut spending and increase spending. On the environment, he wants to increase energy production but is reluctant to drill. On health care, he wants to get everybody covered but will not press for a universal system. On Wall Street, he assails fat cats, but at cocktail parties, he wants to collect some of their fat for his campaign.

On politics, he likes to be friends with the other side but bash ’em at the same time. For others, bipartisanship means transcending their own prior political identities. For President Obama, it means that he participates in all political identities. He does not seem deeply affiliated with any side except his own. 

And lo and behold we're right back to Obama the self-obsessed narcissist again.  Not one of us.  Not American.  Not human.  A mysterious cypher.  Too "other".  Michael Barone isn't much better:

Conservative critics have taken to comparing him, as you might imagine, with Jimmy Carter. The more cruel among them, like the Weekly Standard's Jay Cost, say the comparison is not to Obama's advantage.

But there is another comparison I think more appropriate for a president who, according to one of his foreign-policy staffers, prefers to "lead from behind." The man I have in mind is Chauncey Gardiner, the character played by Peter Sellers in the 1979 movie "Being There." 

As you may remember, Gardiner is a clueless gardener who is mistaken for a Washington eminence and becomes a presidential adviser. Asked if you can stimulate growth through temporary incentives, Gardiner says, "As long as the roots are not severed, all is well and all will be well in the garden." 

"First comes the spring and summer," he explains, "but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again." The president is awed as Gardiner sums up, "There will be growth in the spring."

Kind of reminds you of Obama's approach to the federal budget, doesn't it? 

Clueless.  Stupid.  Aloof.  Arrogant.  Undeserving.  Unqualified.  Not like us.  The "He's only President because of white guilt and affirmative action" is merely implied.  And it's still 17 months to go until the election.

The Siege Of Fort Calhoun

Given my extensive coverage of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and subsequent cover-up by TEPCO and Japan's government, we know the exactly the lengths to which a government will go to -- even a "democracy" will go to -- in order to try to hide a nuclear disaster from the world.

As the disaster in Japan continues to unfold, people here in the US have asked if any American nuclear plants are at the same risk of flooding or earthquakes, with a similar design to the Fukushima Daiichi plant.  The answer unfortunately is yes, there are several nuclear power plants in flood zones and quake zones in the US.  One of them, in a flood zone, is the plant at Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, some twenty miles north of Omaha.

If you've been paying attention to the news, you know that flooding along the Missouri, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers has been devastating this spring and continues into the early summer.  Fort Calhoun is on the Missouri River.

And the Missouri River has flooded the nuclear plant this weekend.

The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station turned to diesel-powered generators Sunday after disconnecting from the main grid because of rising floodwaters.

That move came after water surrounded several buildings when a water-filled floodwall collapsed.

The plant, about 19 miles north of Omaha, remains safe, Omaha Public Power District officials said Sunday afternoon.

Sunday's event offers even more evidence that the relentlessly rising Missouri River is testing the flood worthiness of an American nuclear power plant like never before. The now-idle plant has become an island. And unlike other plants in the past, Fort Calhoun faces months of flooding.

This can't be a good thing.  Months of flooding?  Is the plant designed to handle that?  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission of course says everything is fine.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is monitoring the Missouri River at the plant, which has been shut down since early April for refueling. The Fort Calhoun plant will remain surrounded at least through August as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues dumping unprecedented amounts of water from upstream dams.

The 2,000-foot berm collapsed about 1:25 a.m. Sunday due to “onsite activities,” OPPD officials said. The Aqua Dam provided supplemental flood protection and was not required under NRC regulations.

“We put up the aqua-berm as additional protection,” said OPPD spokesman Mike Jones. “(The plant) is in the same situation it would have been in if the berm had not been added. We're still within NRC regulations.”

And that's exactly what TEPCO officials said three months ago.   Worth keeping an eye on this story, especially if you have friends or family near Omaha or Lincoln.  The news has gone out of their way to in fact stress that nobody's worried.

Just like Japan.

StupidiNews!

• African Union leaders say Moammar Qaddafi will not be part of planned peace talks as the country's neighbors try to craft a cease fire.
• Israel is warning any media reporters who try to cover the latest Gaza flotilla will be banned from the country for 10 years.
• Republicans from western states are renewing their attacks on the Endangered Species Act, saying wolf and lizard populations need to be managed by states.
• A new Bloomberg poll finds Americans firmly reject both Republican and Democratic party views of the debt crisis.
• Hacker group Lulz Security has disbanded after 50 days, saying "mission accomplished."

Last Call

Want to know the real reason Indiana Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels isn't running for President?  Here's a hint:  it has everything to do with the absolute failure of the central Republican argument of the last several years -- that privatization of vital government services is the only way to save these services.  Under Mitch Daniels, Indiana privatized the state's public assistance services.  The results were nothing short of horrific.

Though the $1.37-billion project proved disastrous for many of the state's poor, elderly and disabled, it was a financial bonanza for a handful of firms with ties to Daniels and his political allies, which landed state contracts worth millions.

The disparate effects underscore the risks of handing control over public services to the private sector. Whether the approach will ultimately improve services and save money remains a matter of fierce debate in Indiana. But the state's experience shows that without adequate safeguards, privatization can compound the very problems it is designed to correct: bureaucratic burdens, perceptions of influence-peddling and a lack of competition.

It's an issue that is likely to persist, as Republicans in statehouses nationwide turn to private companies as they seek to shrink government and weaken the hold of public-sector unions. One of the main proponents has been Daniels, who privatized a prison and a major toll road and sought unsuccessfully to lease out the state lottery, cultivating a reputation for fiscal discipline that led major party figures to urge him to run for president in 2012. He recently declined, but retains considerable influence in his party.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin is seeking to privatize aspects of his state's welfare programs, much as Daniels did — an idea that has drawn warnings from federal officials who noted the problems Indiana encountered.

That's right: under the state's privatization program, tens of thousands of Indiana's citizens lost their public assistance, while the companies that administered the program made millions at taxpayer expense.  Worse, those same companies were -- you guessed it -- major donors and friends to Indiana Republicans like Mitch Daniels.

Critics say that in Indiana, the privatization process barreled forward with little public input and was marred by the appearance of conflicts of interest. Despite the massive nature of the changes he was proposing, Daniels insisted he did not need legislative approval. And the only public hearing occurred after he announced he would proceed with the project.

Key players involved in the process had ties to Affiliated Computer Services, the company that benefited the most from the deal. Mitch Roob — a Daniels appointee who ran the state's Family and Social Services Administration when it awarded the contract — was a former ACS vice president. As the state began the project, Roob occasionally sought advice from former Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, a political ally of Daniels and fellow privatization advocate who also had been an ACS vice president.

It proves that the whole "free markets" and "privatization" scheme is nothing more than another avenue for the GOP to give taxpayer money to their corporate owners.  Imagine that.  Oh, but let's remember this is exactly what Republicans want to do at a national level with their plan to "reform" Medicare and Medicaid.  Scott Walker is trying the exact same plan in Wisconsin next.  And if Republicans get control of the White House and the Senate in 2012, then they'll do the same thing to the entire country.

Republicans don't want anyone taking a look at Mitch Daniels' record too closely.  There's a reason why he suddenly decided he wasn't going to run in 2012, and I guarantee you this disaster of a privatization program is exactly why.

They have to screw the entire country over before Mitch Daniels gets too much attention in the press.

Still On The Wrong Side Of History

Reaction to New York's same-sex marriage law has been slowly coming in from the 2012 Clown Car Candidates, and on the Sunday shows today the differing reactions of two of those hopefuls are notable.  First, GOP Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey vowed once again that any measure similar to New York's would immediately meet his veto pen.

"In our state we're going to continue to pursue civil unions. I am not a fan of same sex marriage. It's not something that I support. I believe marriage should be between one man and one woman. That's my view. And-- and that'll be the view of our state because I wouldn't sign a bill like the one that was in New York."

On the other hand, Michele Bachmann seems to have the opposite reaction...on the surface.

BACHMANN: In New York state, they have passed the law at the state legislative level and, under the 10th amendment, the states have the right to set the laws that they want to set.

WALLACE: So even though you oppose it, then its ok from — your point of view — for New York to say that same-sex marriage is legal.

BACHMANN: That is up to the people of New York. I think that it’s best to allow the people to decide on this issue. I think it’s best if there is an amendment that goes on the ballot, where people can weigh in. [...]

WALLACE: But you would agree, if its passed by the state legislature and signed by the governor then that’s the state’s position.

BACHMANN: It’s state law. And the 10th amendment reserves to the states that right.

 Now that's interesting, but before we start in with the "ZOMG Bachmann is better on gay rights than Obama!" idiocy, let's note she's punting here, and she freely admits here that she would much rather see A) a US Constitutional amendment that outlaws gay marriage for the entire country, and B) State constitutional amendments that ban it by popular vote.

All she is saying here is that she respects New York's state same-sex marriage law...right up until the second it's overridden by a federal constitutional amendment.  Clever move on her part, but completely transparent.  Let's not kid ourselves here:  Republicans still want to eliminate gay marriage and other gay rights, and no amount of tenther punting will cover that up.

She's still homophobic as Chris Christie and the rest of the GOP crazies, period.

PS, LA Times has a very interesting piece on an old story that, now that Bachmann is in the race, the Villagers are starting to pay attention to:  our "fiscal conservative" Tea Party Michele sure loves her federal farm subsidies, to the tune of a cool quarter of a million dollars.

Judge Prosser Needs A Check-Up From The Neck Up

A rather disturbing story out of Wisconsin this weekend:  State Supreme Court Justice David Prosser, who won this year's special election and recount under very dubious circumstances and then was the key vote in allowing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting bill to become law, is now being accused of trying to choke a female justice on the court after a heated argument.

New details are emerging in this weekend's story that Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser -- a member of the court's 4-3 conservative majority who was just re-elected to a ten-year term in a heated race that involved a recount and vote-tabulating controversies -- allegedly attacked liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley during an argument over the court's recent decision regarding the upholding of Gov. Scott Walker's anti-public employee union legislation. Now, Bradley is speaking up, and saying publicly that she was assaulted by Prosser.

"The facts are that I was demanding that he get out of my office and he put his hands around my neck in anger in a chokehold," Bradley told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Meanwhile, an unnamed source who is on Prosser's side of the argument accused Bradley of initiating the violence. "She charged him with fists raised," the source told the paper, saying that Prosser "put his hands in a defensive posture" to block her, and made contact with her neck. Bradley is then said to have immediately complained of being choked, while another, unnamed Justice responded, "You were not choked."

In response, Bradley told the paper: "You can try to spin those facts and try to make it sound like I ran up to him and threw my neck into his hands, but that's only spin.

"Matters of abusive behavior in the workplace aren't resolved by competing press releases. I'm confident the appropriate authorities will conduct a thorough investigation of this incident involving abusive behavior in the workplace."

Assault like this is no laughing matter if it's true, and whatever investigation into this affair needs to be completely transparent and above board.  If it turns out Prosser did assault another judge on the court, I would have to imagine he'd face impeachment hearings at the very minimum.

Where this will go I have no idea, but I'll certainly be keeping an eye on this case.

Supreme Stupidity

The Supreme Court put the brakes on a massive job discrimination lawsuit against mega-retailer Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., saying sweeping class-action status that could potentially involve hundreds of thousands of current and former female workers was simply too large.

The ruling Monday was a big victory for the nation's largest private employer, and the business community at large.

The high-profile case– perhaps the most closely watched of the high court's term– is among the most important dealing with corporate versus worker rights that the justices have ever heard, and could eventually impact nearly every private employer, large and small.

So, their concern isn't that thousands upon thousands are being treated improperly under the law.  Discrimination?  Don't worry about it.  The fact that it's so bit it might make a difference is what is holding back the Supreme Freaking Court.  I am afraid I have to call bullshit, big time.  That is what the Supreme Court is for, and they should take a look at this and do their job.  


Right now, workers need protection more than ever.  With so many out of work and considered "working poor" businesses can exploit this. 

Gisel Ruiz, Executive Vice President for Wal-Mart U.S., said in a statement the company was "pleased" with the court's ruling.

"Walmart has had strong policies against discrimination for many years. The Court today unanimously rejected class certification and, as the majority made clear, the plaintiffs’ claims were worlds away from showing a companywide discriminatory pay and promotion policy," the statement said. "By reversing the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision, the majority effectively ends this class action lawsuit.

He's wrong.  Wal-Mart wasn't found innocent, the victims were found too plentiful.  As a woman who has gone through this many times, I share their frustration.  More than once I have worked longer hours, produced more results, and made measurable improvements only to be paid less than my male coworkers and promoted more slowly.  I'm not saying Wal-Mart is guilty, that hasn't been proven.  But this is plain cowardly and stupid, a chance to investigate and help has been turned down knowingly.  I'm disgusted.

It's About Darned Time

ALBANY, New York (Reuters) – Governor Andrew Cuomo made same-sex marriages legal in New York on Friday, a key victory for gay rights ahead of the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.

New York will become the sixth and most populous U.S. state to allow gay marriage. State senators voted 33-29 on Friday evening to approve marriage equality legislation and Cuomo, a Democrat who had introduced the measure, signed it into law.

I have lost some respect for Obama lately over his handling of a few issues, and this is one of them.  However, despite a lack of support, we finally have movement.  The "deeply troubled" bishops can start minding their own business, and take their concerns and apply it towards the divorce rate, drug addiction, the homeless, or something that is actually, you know... wrong.

GOP Lies In Arizona Spreads Like Wildfire

And the source of this big lie is the "reasonable Senator Emeritus" of the GOP, one John McCain, who said last week that undocumented immigrants were responsible for setting the wildfires that are ravaging eastern Arizona and western New Mexico right now.  Now everyone's getting in on the two-minute hate.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the infamously tough "Sheriff Joe," released a statement about the arrests, which occurred near the border where the wildfires blazed.

“It’s a long shot I know,” Arpaio said. “But since we already gather information from them about their U.S. entry points and traveling routes and methods, this is simply one more area of intelligence to explore that may help us to determine the origins of these fires.“

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been criticized for the last week because he blamed undocumented immigrants as the cause of the fires.

"There is substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by people who have crossed our border illegally,” he said at a press conference last Saturday. “They have set fires because the want to signal others. They have set fires to keep warm and they have set fires in order to divert law enforcement agents and agencies from them.”

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Az) backed him, up, saying "he is correct."

Only one problem with this.  It's a total and complete load of crap.

U.S. Forest Service officials have directly discredited McCain and Kyl's claims.

Tom Berglund, the Forest Service official in charge of the Wallow blaze, told ABC News that it has been classified as an "escaped campfire." Asked if there was substantial evidence linking illegal immigrants and the fire, Berglund said, "Absolutely not, at this level."

"There's no evidence that I'm aware, no evidence that's been public, indicating such a thing," he said.

No evidence, no facts that support this wild conspiracy theory, no proof that undocumented immigrants had anything to do with this.  But that won't stop the GOP's crusade in Arizona to blame them for everything that goes wrong there.  If you fill the citizens' mind with hate, it's so much easier to demonize them, to dehumanize them, and demand that the state take violent action against them.

But remember, Republicans like John McCain and Jon Kyl are reasonable, moderate lawmakers.  John McCain was almost President, after all.  Can you imagine what President McCain would be doing right now in Arizona?

I sure as hell can.

Yelling At Gay Clouds

Via Balloon Juice, the National Organization for Marriage's Maggie Gallagher is vowing that the New York Republicans who allowed same-sex marriage to pass will pay "a grave price."

This is a woman who is promising that since some Republicans didn't hate gays enough, weren't bigoted enough, weren't hateful enough to their fellow New Yorkers, that they will be made to pay a price for doing so.  This is how the GOP operates in 2011, if you don't have enough hate in your heart, you're useless to them.

And I have to laugh, because the only people getting consigned to the dustbin of history are people like Maggie Gallagher.

A Real Attention Moose

Sarah Palin's egotism and narcissism just can't help themselves, whenever anybody in the 2012 clown-car lineup threatens to become the new GOP rising star, Sarah Palin absolutely has to step in and wrench the spotlight away by whatever means possible.

When the Sarah Palin documentary “The Undefeated” makes its premiere in Iowa next week, the film’s star will be on hand for the big debut.


The production company behind the film announced Saturday that Palin and her husband Todd would be in Pella, Iowa, for the showing on Tuesday.

“We are very excited to visit historic Pella and its opera house and look forward to seeing the finished film for the first time with fellow Americans from the heartland,” Palin said in a statement.

Iowa, which holds the first contest in the presidential caucus and primary calendar, is key for any politician thinking of running for the White House. Palin has said she is contemplating running for the Republican presidential nomination.

Sarah Palin pushing her own hagiographical feature film in Iowa of course has the Right buzzing that she's going to surprise us and use the occasion to launch her presidential campaign.  That won't happen of course, but it won't stop the big news in the GOP next week from being all about Sarah Palin for several news cycles.

Remember when Obama was called a messianic delusional narcissist with a dangerous cult of personality for just having a book?  The same people of course think Sarah Palin is completely normal for having a book, her own reality show, her daughter on her own reality show, her daughter with a book, Sarah's job as a FOX commentator and now her own freakin' movie.  But she's a real down to earth Real American, she is.  Not at all like that arrogant, uppity Obama with his book.

Your Political Cartoon Of The Moment

R.J. Matson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Diabetes Turnaround Possible

An extreme eight-week diet of 600 calories a day can reverse Type 2 diabetes in people newly diagnosed with the disease, says a Diabetologia study.

Newcastle University researchers found the low-calorie diet reduced fat levels in the pancreas and liver, which helped insulin production return to normal.

Seven out of 11 people studied were free of diabetes three months later, say findings published in the journal.

More research is needed to see whether the reversal is permanent, say experts.

This is a good sign, but backs up what has always been suspected.  It takes enormous discipline to stick to the diet and make the changes required, but it has the potential to either reverse or dramatically reduce the effects of the disease.