Justin's Political Corner

Rand Paul Announces 2016 Campaign For Senate and Possible GOP Presidential Nominee Bid

Sat, 25 May 2013 20:27:50 -0500

Rand Paul Announces 2016 Campaign For Senate and Possible GOP Presidential Nominee Bid:

(CNN) — He’s running.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul announced Friday he will be on ballots in November 2016, but he told voters in his home state that they might be the only ones with a chance to vote for him.

The freshman Republican senator was returning to Kentucky from visits to a trio of states that hold sway in the presidential nominating process, visits which further stoked the speculation about his presidential interests. He indicated his intention to be on the ballot for re-election that year, but downplayed any White House ambitions.

“For now, (what) we know for sure is we’re going to run for the U.S. Senate,” he said, according to a report from The Independent. “The other decision can come later.”

Paul posted online a link to a separate report on his appearance at the Woodford County Republican Dinner, one which did not include the quote. Both articles noted state law allows him to run simultaneously for the White House and re-election to his Senate seat.

h/t: Fox2now

Larry Conners’ lie deferred - St. Louis American: Columnists

Sat, 25 May 2013 19:34:11 -0500

Larry Conners’ lie deferred - St. Louis American: Columnists:

It’s smoking-gun simple. KMOV’s Larry Conners lied.

That’s right. Last week on his “Larry Conners, KMOV” Facebook page, Larry Conners, a 28-year veteran news reporter with KMOV, Emmy Award-winning journalist and a political science graduate of West Texas State University, lied.

And even by Facebook standards, this lie was an absurd whopper.

According to Conners, back in April of 2012 he interviewed President Obama. What Conners posted about the interview on Facebook was this: “I do know that almost immediately after the interview, the IRS started hammering me.”

That statement was simply not true, and news reporter Larry Conners knew it was not true at the time he posted on his KMOV Facebook page. As the Post-Dispatch reported shortly afterwards and Conners later admitted, the IRS had been “hammering” on him from 2008 to 2010 – “hammering” to the tune of over $85,000 in unpaid small business/self-employment taxes.

Four days after Conners lied, according to the Post-Dispatch, KMOV removed the anchorman from the air. According to KMOV management, Conners is not fired, not suspended, just “off the air” until further notice. KMOV was “still looking into the situation and weighing our options” – until Wednesday, when the station announced that Conners “was no longer a news reporter.”

I can see why.

For one, KMOV’s news anchorman lied on a sitting president of the United States.

And as if that was not enough, Conners’ lie forever sullied KMOV’s presidential interview “get.” It is no small thing for a news station to snag an interview with a president, and it is also no small thing that the lead anchor used that moment to springboard his lie: “I do know that almost immediately after the interview, the IRS started hammering me.”

KMOV also seems to have understood that Larry Conners’ Facebook page is not simply a “Larry Conners” Facebook page. The heading for his Facebook page is “Larry Conners, KMOV”. Additionally, his Facebook page is open to everyone, and Conners used it to report on upcoming news stories on KMOV.

It would have been a mistake, however, for KMOV to conclude that this is simply a case of a dishonest/dunderheaded newsman unable to grasp how social media works. No, the motivations behind Conners’ actions appear to be journalistically ruinous.

A complete read of Conners’ KMOV Facebook post and a quick viewing of his 2012 interview with President Obama reveal a clearly right-wing, partisan and paranoid worldview more suited for FOX commentators. Surely viewers tuning into the place where “news never stops” aren’t well served when the anchorman embraces GOP talking points, tea party IRS sentiments and then easily lies on the president of the United States.

I do have to wonder, however: what do you suppose would have happened the longer this lie of anchorman Larry Conners sat deferred in the news studios of KMOV?

It’s simple. We’ve all read enough Langston Hughes to know that it doesn’t dry up like a raisin in the sun … it explodes.

h/t: STLamerican.com

Hey Jack, it’s time for Illinois to pass marriage...

Sat, 25 May 2013 14:21:27 -0500

Hey Jack, it’s time for Illinois to pass marriage equality! Uncle Si says so.

Federal Judge Finds Violations of Latinos' Constituional Rights by Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:04:17 -0500

Federal Judge Finds Violations of Latinos' Constituional Rights by Sheriff Joe Arpaio:

…The ruling handed down by a federal judge is peppered with stinging criticism of the policies and practices of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, saying the sheriff relied on racial profiling and illegal detentions.

The ruling is a result of a federal civil trial last summer in which Sheriff Arpaio and his office were accused in a class-action lawsuit of singling out Latinos for stops, questioning and detention. It says deputies considered the prevalence of Latinos when deciding where to carry out enforcement operations, in many cases in response to complaints based solely on assumptions that Latinos or “Mexicans,” as some complainants put it, were necessarily illegal immigrants.

Regardless of the type of enforcement — workplace raids, traffic stops or targeted patrols in areas frequented by day laborers — Sheriff Arpaio’s deputies were required to keep track of the number of people arrested on federal immigration violations, as well as state charges, Judge Snow said. In news releases, Sheriff Arpaio’s office often referred to the operations as integral parts of the sheriff’s “illegal immigrant stance.”

Cecillia Wang, director of the Immigrants’ Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, one of the groups that brought the lawsuit, said, “Let this be a warning to anyone who hides behind a badge to wage their own private campaign against Latinos or immigrants that there is no exception in the Constitution for violating people’s rights in immigration enforcement.”…read more at New York Times.

This has the real and unbiased facts about IL SB10.

Sat, 25 May 2013 02:54:00 -0500

This has the real and unbiased facts about IL SB10.

Photo

Fri, 24 May 2013 23:43:01 -0500

Illinois House extends consideration for marriage equality bill; Harris says ‘We will win’ - chicagophoenix.com

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:01:20 -0500

Illinois House extends consideration for marriage equality bill; Harris says ‘We will win’ - chicagophoenix.com:

With just seven days to go, all signs are pointing to a potential victory for supporters of marriage equality legislation in Illinois.

In a procedural action, leaders in the Illinois House on Friday extended the deadline for consideration of a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage by one week, or the the scheduled end of session May 31.

With the May 24 deadline for bills sent over from the Illinois Senate, the extension allows the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act to remain on the legislative calendar in the House so that lawmakers in the chamber can still take the measure up for consideration — its final hurdle before it can signed into law by Gov. Pat Quinn.

Since the Senate approved the bill on Valentine’s Day, observers have seen little action in the House other than a close Feb. 26 committee vote. The bill has languished with inaction for over three months while sponsoring lawmakers like Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) and other advocates pushing the bill secured the 60-vote simple majority needed for victory.

But just this week as adjournment approaches, marriage equality advocates said they are confident the bill will pass in the final days of session and Harris issued a strong message to supporters Friday: “We will win.”

“There’s exactly one week left in the legislative session,” Harris said in the message. “And let me make one thing clear: in the next seven days, we can — and we will — secure the freedom to marry.”

However, Harris won’t say exactly when he plans to call the bill up for vote or how many votes he has secured, but now, with the extension for consideration, activists such as Randy Hannig, Jr. of Equality Illinois predict Harris will call the vote any day now.

“We expect final action to occur next week,” Hannig, Jr. said in an email, courtesy of Equality Illinois.

On Wednesday, advocates anticipating the procedural extension, assured anxious members of the community marriage equality will become the law of the land before time runs out.

“We are confident that it will pass by next Friday,” said Jim Bennett, the Midwest regional director at Lambda Legal.

If the House approves the bill, Illinois would become the 13th state to legalize the full recognition of gay and lesbian nuptials, just weeks after three other states — Rhode Island, Delaware and Minnesota — approved similar marriage equality bills.

Gov. Quinn, a strong proponent of the marriage bill, is expected to sign it into law immediately after a House victory, starting the 30-day countdown until gay and lesbian couples will be eligible for marriage licenses.

Follow Chicago Phoenix for breaking updates on the bill.

H/T: Chicago Phoenix

(via Fischer on AFR’s Focal Point: “The Boy Scouts...

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:18:22 -0500

(via Fischer on AFR’s Focal Point: “The Boy Scouts Are Now the ‘Boy Sodomizers of America’”| Right Wing Watch)

On his radio program today, Bryan Fischer weighed in on the decision by the Boy Scouts of America to drop its ban on gay scouts last night.

Admitting that he was shocked by the vote since he was positive that it was going to be retained, Fischer declared that the BSA should change its name to the “Boy Sodomizers of America.” Fischer eventually read a passage from the Book of Luke in which Jesus says it is better to have a stone tied around ones neck and be tossed into the sea than to lead a child to sin as a warning to BSA leaders that they will face the judgment of God for endorsing this change in policy.

Deranged Lunatic Lila Rose Compares Anti-Choice Movement to...

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:18:53 -0500

Deranged Lunatic Lila Rose Compares Anti-Choice Movement to Women’s Movement, Revolutionary War (by RWWBlog)

That Lila lady is something else.

Right Wing Watch Blog:

Who says we can’t have an America completely free, with the complete end of abortion? We can have that America. We overcame many things in our history. We’ve overcome many things, from slavery to civil rights abuses in the 20th century to child labor. We’ve overcome many things, even the Revolutionary War to have our independence won. We’ve overcome many things in this country. The women’s rights movement for suffrage. And we can overcome, to defeat the hopelessness and the lies and the despair that says that we need abortion somehow. And it’s happening.

Beck: 'Wussified Leaders' Are Leaving Our Children a World 'Run By Crazy-Ass Muslims' | Right Wing Watch

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:10:29 -0500

Beck: 'Wussified Leaders' Are Leaving Our Children a World 'Run By Crazy-Ass Muslims' | Right Wing Watch:

On his radio program today, Glenn Beck went off on the “sheep in the streets of London” who stood by as two radical Muslims attacked and murdered a British soldier instead of collective attacking them.

Comparing the current generation to the “Greatest Generation,” Beck said the previous generation didn’t have “wussified leaders” who were too afraid to stand up to their enemies, blasting today’s leaders and bellowing “why don’t you take your little girl underpants off and put some man pants on and man up and tell the American people and the world the truth.”

Eventually, Beck grew somber and teary-eyed, saying that nobody has anything they are willing to die for any longer and so we are dooming our children to a world “run by crazy-ass Muslims.”

From the 05.24.2013 edition of Premiere Radio Networks’/TheBlazeTV’s The Glenn Beck Program:

h/t: RWW

Public Shaming: Hateful Bigots Think Gay Children Will Destroy The Boy Scouts

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:57:33 -0500

Public Shaming: Hateful Bigots Think Gay Children Will Destroy The Boy Scouts:

publicshaming:

Governor of Texas and failed GOP 2012 Presidential candidate Rick Perry took to Twitter this morning to pray to the Lord Almighty that the Boy Scouts of America uphold the teachings of Jesus and discriminate against those filthy, filthy gays.

Rick Perry got his way…SORT OF. The Boy Scouts of America will now allow openly gay scouts, however they are still banning gay scout leaders. Basically, the Boy Scouts would like all the gays under 18 to stand up tall and proud and come out of that closet…and then promptly get yourself back in that closet when you turn 18.

Still, some are VERY UNHAPPY that the Boy Scouts are no longer discriminating against gay CHILDREN. The following people are not only horrible bigots, but even more embarrassing, they are with the man who can’t remember three things, Rick Perry!

“Gays want everything nowadays.”

“Why do ‘homos’ infiltrate ever piece of society?!?!”

“‘Faggots’ wanna take over everything now.”

Can’t believe gay people have the nerve to want to be treated just like EVERYBODY ELSE!

THE GAY MAFIA. L O F’N L.

Not everyone can be as creative as Abraham here with simply adding his two cents of “fags.”

Hear that gays? You are the root of all evil!

‘Butt Scouts.’ Such a wordsmith!

Garrett and Mikey over here seem to believe for some odd reason that the Boy Scouts are some government run operation and that the “law” has been changed by “judges.” You’re right, Garrett! What is the world coming to? So many idiots such as yourself!

Poor Fred here must have heard the news through the grapevine, because he’s wrong about scout leaders. The pedophile part though is really why gay scouts are banned though, the folks that run Boy Scouts of America assume gay adult men = pedophiles.

THANKS, OBAMA.

And if you don’t blame him directly it’s those liberal heathens’ fault!

Now, let’s hear from good ole’ Fox News host Todd Starnes…

Ah, yes. That’s all the gays are about! SEX SEX SEX! They can’t do anything withsexualizing it! That’s why the straights never ever come across gay people when they go about their daily business.

lmao.

Yes! Let the mass exodus of bigots’ shitty demon spawn begin!

Finally, I leave you with ole’ noted nutjob Bryan Fischer. He sees the writing on the walls for the Boy Scouts of America and has written an absolutely beautiful obituary…

Tears in my eyes, Bryan. Tears in my eyes…

…from all the fucking laughter.

Congressman Gohmert (R): "Women Should Be Forced To Give Birth To Fetuses With No Brain Function"

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:51:06 -0500

Congressman Gohmert (R): "Women Should Be Forced To Give Birth To Fetuses With No Brain Function" :

At a congressional committee hearing to discuss a proposed measure to criminalize abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, a Texas lawmaker told a woman who made the difficult choice to terminate a non-viable pregnancy that she should have carried the fetus to term anyway — even though an MRI had already revealed that he was missing a large part of his brain and didn’t have much chance of survival.

On Thursday, Christy Zink testified in opposition to H.R. 1797, a 20-week abortion ban that anti-abortion representatives of Congress keep attempting to impose upon the women in the nation’s capital. Abortion opponents claim that 20-week bans are necessary to prevent “fetal pain.” But in her testimony, Zink pointed out it’s misleading to suggest that this abortion restriction would serve this purpose, since forcing her to carry her pregnancy to term would have actually caused her unborn son considerable pain.

At 21 weeks, Zink’s doctors discovered that her fetus had no brain function. That type of fetal abnormality was impossible to detect earlier in her pregnancy. “If this bill had been passed before my pregnancy, I would have had to carry to term and give birth to a baby whom the doctors concurred had no chance of a life and would have experienced near-constant pain,” Zink explained. “If he had survived the pregnancy — which was not certain — he might never have left the hospital. My daughter’s life, too, would have been irrevocably hurt by an almost always-absent parent.”

In order to justify his support for H.R. 1797, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) suggested that Zink should have given birth to her son anyway, regardless of the pain that may have caused her family. The congressman told a story about a different couple who decided to give birth to a fetus with different types of disabilities — suggesting that Zink should have made the same choice for her son, instead of deciding to “rip him apart”:

GOHMERT: Ms. Zink, having my great sympathy and empathy both. I still come back wondering, shouldn’t we wait, like that couple did, and see if the child can survive before we decide to rip him apart? So. These are ethical issues, they’re moral issues, they’re difficult issues, and the parents should certainly be consulted. But it just seems like, it’s a more educated decision if the child is in front of you to make those decisions.

Watch it (around the 5 minute mark):

Even though medical experts have repeatedly warned that cutting off legal abortion access at 20 weeks will force more women to carry non-viable fetuses to term, several states have enacted “fetal pain” bans over the past several years. After Arizona passed this type of stringent measure in 2012, the volunteer organizations that counsel women whose unborn children die from fatal fetal defects braced for an influx of new families dealing with that grief. When that restrictive law ended up in court, and opponents pointed out that it’s cruel to require women to give birth to children only to be forced to watch them die, Arizona defended its abortion ban by claiming that those fetal abnormalities are “the woman’s problem.”

Just earlier this week, Arizona’s abortion ban was struck down by a panel of judges, sparing the women in that state from potentially devastating effects of being denied the choice that Zink had. Nonetheless, that hasn’t deterred the anti-choice politicians in the state. Arizona Rep. Trent Franks (R), who has repeatedly pushed the 20-week abortion ban for the District of Columbia, recently announced that he intends to expand H.R. 1797 to apply to women in every state.

h/t: Tara Culp-Ressler at Think Progress Health

Todd Akin Lectures Republicans on How to Win | Right Wing Watch

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:18:13 -0500

Todd Akin Lectures Republicans on How to Win | Right Wing Watch:

You know the Republican Party is lost when failed GOP Senate candidate Todd Akin of “legitimate rape” fame takes to the conspiracy theory website WorldNetDaily to lecture his fellow conservatives on how to win elections. Akin, who received just 39 percent of the vote against Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) in a state Mitt Romney won by ten points, claims that the Republican Party is struggling because it is not conservative enough. Because we all know Akin would have defeated McCaskill if only he was more conservative!

In the column, Akin links secular government to violence, warns that the Democratic Party is turning the US into the Soviet Union and calls on conservative activists to run on their strict opposition to abortion rights, which obviously paid dividends for Akin.

We here at Right Wing Watch commend Akin’s efforts and hope future right-wing candidates follow in his path of disastrous election defeats. After they lose they can always write for WorldNetDaily. Just ask Rick Santorum.

H/T: RWW

shortformblog: From the Seattle Times twitter page, another...

Fri, 24 May 2013 03:12:36 -0500

shortformblog:

From the Seattle Times twitter page, another view of the bridge collapse in Washington. Check out more of the Times’ coverage over this way. (via @BreakingTweets)

glaad: The Boy Scouts of America has just voted to end the ban...

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:15:32 -0500

glaad:

The Boy Scouts of America has just voted to end the ban on gay Scouts in a major victory for gay youth. We will keep the pressure on until they remove the ban on gay and lesbian parents and leaders as well. http://glaad.org/scouts

Anti-Abortion Leader Compares Rape And Incest To Car Accidents, Floods (video)

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:15:06 -0500

Anti-Abortion Leader Compares Rape And Incest To Car Accidents, Floods (video):

holygoddamnshitballs:

The head of a pro-life group in Michigan made a controversial comparison on Wednesday, arguing that women in the state should be forced to pay extra for health insurance that covers abortions, even in cases of rape or incest.

“It’s simply, like, nobody plans to have an accident in a car accident, nobody plans to have their homes flooded. You have to buy extra insurance for those,” Barbara Listing, president of Right to Life of Michigan, told reporters on Wednesday when asked about the exceptions.

(Watch WILX-TV’s coverage of Listing’s comments above, clipped by Progress Michigan.)

Listing’s group is leading a ballot committee, No Taxes for Abortion, that is seeking to require health insurance companies to extend coverage of elective abortion procedures, including after incidents of incest or rape, via optional riders, rather than as a part of standard coverage plans.

The campaign was approved by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers on Wednesday. If supporters are able to collect 258,088 valid voter signatures, the proposal would go before the legislature or appear as a ballot initiative in 2014, allowing it to become law without Gov. Rick Snyder’s (R) signature. Snyder vetoed a similar proposal passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature last year.

Pro-choice advocates view the effort as a legislative overreach and took umbrage with Listing’s comments.

“This is something where we really have a small number of people in the legislature trying to determine what the private marketplace can offer,” Meghan Groen, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Michigan, told WILX-TV on Wednesday.

After calling Listing’s comparison “appalling,” Jessica Tramontana of Progress Michigan said, “Rape is not anywhere near … a flood or a car accident, because rape is not an accident. Nobody can anticipate being the victim of a crime.”

BREAKING: Openly gay youth permitted into the Boy Scouts, gay adults still banned

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:08:00 -0500

Great NEWS, even if it is only partial victory.

Help end the ban on gay leadership and troops in the Boy Scouts

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:43:56 -0500

Help end the ban on gay leadership and troops in the Boy Scouts

#JGRS (05.23.13)

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:14:00 -0500

Video streaming by Ustream

Musical Setlist:

The Dirty Heads/Rome - Lay Me Down
The Neighbourhood - Sweater Weather
Paramore - Still Into You
Foo Fighters - Best Of You
Phoenix - Trying To Be Cool
Kelly Clarkson - Catch My Breath
Demi Lovato - Heart Attack
New Politics - Harlem
Imagine Dragons - Demons
Daft Punk/Pharrell Williams - Get Lucky

Topics:

Today on #JGRS: Larry Conners, Oklahoma, Boy Scouts, Illinois Marriage Equality, Morgan v. Loesch, E.W. Jackson, Immigration Reform.

— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem)

May 23, 2013

(via Fox’s Tantaros: If You See Any Obama Voters Today,...

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:06:43 -0500

(via Fox’s Tantaros: If You See Any Obama Voters Today, “Do Me A Favor: Punch ‘Em In The Face” | Video | Media Matters for America)

FUCK YOU, Andrea Tantaros!