Justin's Political Corner

This is pretty breathtaking. Graham (no relation) is suggesting that an American citizen, captured on American soil, should be deprived of basic constitutional rights.

Keep in mind that Graham isn’t just an angry citizen; he’s not even just a U.S. senator. He is also a trained lawyer, a colonel in Air Force Reserve, and a member of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, the legal arm of the Air Force.

h/t: The Atlantic

In an email to members of his Pray In Jesus Name Project yesterday, Gordon Klingenschmitt said that Religious Right activists must become “the voice” of the “abused kids” raised by same-sex parents, who he says are “not only recruited into but used as pawns for the homosexual agenda.”

Klingenschmitt responded to Justice Kennedy’s statement about the need to remember the “voice of those children” who “live with same-sex parents” while hearing the Proposition 8 case by arguing that “those abused children really wanted one mom and one dad, they just didn’t know better having been misled by California Judges who impose homosexual parents upon innocent kids, against their will, and against the will of California voters.”

He also claimed that Christians cannot support politicians who favor legalizing same-sex marriage and warned that gay rights advocates are bent on “taxing heterosexuals more to pay homosexuals to engage in immorality” and “reward their acts of sodomy.”

h/t: Right Wing Watch

Despite calls from LGBT and immigrant rights groups, the draft immigration reform legislation released by the Senate “Gang of 8” doesn’t include provisions that would allow same-sex couples to access the nation’s visa and immigration system. 

Under the current immigration system, individuals cannot sponsor a same-sex partner or spouse for a family visa, effectively forcing many families into exile abroad. This is codified by the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which is now under review by the Supreme Court, and activists have been pushing lawmakers to include provisions expanding rights to gay couples in the immigration bill.

The immigration bill also allows citizens and permanent residents in America to sponsor children, parents, and spouses from abroad to come to the country as “registered provisional immigrants,” the same limited legal status that would be made available to existing undocumented immigrants in the United States if it passes. But people in same-sex relationships would not be able to sponsor their spouse or partner under this provision. A recent studyestimated that there are 267,000 undocumented LGBT immigrants in America today and another 637,000 who are legal immigrants.

LGBT and immigration activists think they have a strong chance of adding protections later through the amendment process, however. Especially now that the majority of the Senate openly endorses gay marriage.

An envelope sent to the U.S. Senate office of Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) included a substance that has tested positive for Ricin, two sources say.

It was not immediately clear when the envelope was received. But it arrived in a Senate mail facility, which has now been closed for more testing. All congressional mail will now be processed through the U.S. House facility.

The Senate went into recess shortly after 6 p.m. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and FBI Director Robert Mueller were briefing senators on Tuesday afternoon. A DHS official said that the briefing was intended to address cyber-security, but that the letter involving Ricin came up.

Ricin is a toxic substance made from castor beans. Ricin poisoning could cause symptoms such as respiratory distress, fever, cough, nausea, and tightness in the chest, as well as heavy sweating and chest tightness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

H/T: Politico.com

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) likely has the votes on gun control legislation to clear its first procedural hurdle — a victory for the gun control community, though one that hardly guarantees the bill’s passage.

The majority leader announced on Tuesday evening he would submit for a vote the bill to expand background checks, implement a federal trafficking statute and enhance school safety measures. That would set up a Senate vote on Thursday. To help push matters along, President Barack Obama was spending Tuesday calling senators to lobby them on the gun measures, a White House official confirmed. The official did not reveal which senators would be receiving calls.

At least eight Republican senators said that they would support bringing the measures to the Senate floor for amendment and debate. A number of others said they had not ruled out voting to clear that first procedural hurdle.

Should those numbers hold, Reid will have the 60 votes needed to move forward on gun policy reform. Two members of his own caucus said they were noncommittal on the first procedural vote, but their defections (should they happen) would be insufficient to sustain a filibuster.

The procedural victory would give gun control advocates much-needed time to alter the language of the bill. Reid announced that negotiations over the bill were still ongoing between the two parties. But it won’t resolve the bill’s fate: Reid will have to secure 60 votes once more to end the debate and amendment period. And none of the Republican senators who said they’d support the first procedural vote would go as far as to say they’d sign off on the second.

In the high-stakes debate over gun policy, however, procedural victories are nothing to scoff at, especially with 14 Republican senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) threatening a filibuster of all measures.

Among the GOP congressmen set to buck their own leadership on the vote is Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who called a filibuster “incomprehensible.” McCain was joined by Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), who told CBS’ “This Morning” that the legislation “deserves an vote up or down.”

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who has negotiated background check legislation, has said he would not support an initial filibuster. “Absolutely,” his spokesman John Hart replied, when asked if that position still stood. “Eschewing this debate is a ‘stupid party’ strategy.”

Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) announced on Wednesday that he won’t back a filibuster, stating that “the discussion needs to be had” on gun legislation.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said it was her “hope” that the Senate “can have a fully open debate, and if that occurs, I will certainly vote to proceed to the bill.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) offered similar conditions for his support on the first cloture vote.

“As long as we get amendments, no, I want to proceed to the bill,” he said, when asked about a filibuster. “I think we should be allowed to amend it. I’m not afraid of this debate, I welcome this debate.”

Even if Graham were to vote to sustain a filibuster, Reid could still have enough Republican support to overcome it. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) would be a likely “yes” on both the cloture vote and final passage of the bill, having been supportive of background check legislation in the past. His office, however, did not immediately return a request for comment.

Other Republicans left the door open to backing the first cloture vote on gun legislation. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) was noncommittal when asked by reporters on Tuesday. Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) both said they would look at the legislation before deciding whether to support a filibuster. But each said they would filibuster a measure that infringes on Second Amendment rights.

H/T: Huffington Post

A little known pro-gun lobby that’s well to the right of the National Rifle Association has complicated efforts to reach a solution on gun control legislation, top Democrats have said in recent days.

The Gun Owners of America has been around for decades, operating mostly in obscurity, dwarfed by the lobbying and fundraising prowess of the NRA. The group’s big gripe is that the NRA is too squishy and willing to compromise, and its recent efforts to scuttle gun control legislation appear to be scaring away Republicans amenable to background checks.

The results have frustrated Democrats trying to strike a bipartisan deal.

“The NRA — their lobbying efforts are being pushed even further to the extreme by virtue of the fact that there’s another organization called Gun Owners of America,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told Nevada Public Radio on Friday. “Whenever the NRA tries to be reasonable, the Gun Owners of America becomes more unreasonable, and it pushes the NRA [to the right].”

GOA is proud of its obstinacy against gun control. In a New York Times profile of the group last week, its executive director Larry Pratt took credit for scaring away Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) from discussions with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) about a bipartisan compromise on expanding background checks for gun purchases.

Less clear is the extent to which Gun Owners of America is the true foe of expanded background checks, rather than a scapegoat for Senate Democrats who are facing potentially tough reelection battles in red states and are skittish about supporting any significant new gun restrictions. For now, negotiations over background checks continue, as Democrats are now seeking to win over Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R-PA) support for a compromise deal.

Meanwhile, the Gun Owners of America is flexing its muscle in first major gun control effort in nearly two decades. Prominently featured on the front page of GOA’s website is a quote from Ron Paul calling the group “the only no-compromise gun lobby in Washington.”

H/T: TPMDC

Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD), one of the last remaining Democratic holdouts to oppose same-sex marriage, announced Monday that he now supports gay nuptials.

“After lengthy consideration, my views have evolved sufficiently to support marriage equality legislation,” Johnson said in a statement. “This position doesn’t require any religious denomination to alter any of its tenets; it simply forbids government from discrimination regarding who can marry whom.” 

As one Democrat after another came out in support of marriage equality over the last month, Johnson’s reticence on the subject confused some, as he will not seek re-election next year and therefore faced no political damage for changing positions. Some speculated that he remained silent in order to avoid undermining the political prospects of his son, U.S. attorney Brendan Johnson, who is said to be considering a run in next year’s open U.S. Senate race.

H/T: TPM LiveWire

Who will be the last Democratic senator to oppose gay marriage? At this rate, we may know the answer by the end of the day.

Two senators in conservative-leaning states came out for marriage equality on Friday morning. The announcements came within minutes of each other — first Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) via press release then Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) on his Facebook page.

Both Heitkamp and Donnelly were elected in 2012, giving their constituents a full six years to digest their new position. By that point we may be counting down the final Republican senators who don’t support gay marriage.

“In speaking with North Dakotans from every corner of our great state, and much personal reflection, I have concluded the federal government should no longer discriminate against people who want to make lifelong, loving commitments to each other or interfere in personal, private, and intimate relationships,” Heitkamp said in her statement.

“With the recent Supreme Court arguments and accompanying public discussion of same-sex marriage, I have been thinking about my past positions and votes,” Donnelly wrote. “In doing so, I have concluded that the right thing to do is to support marriage equality for all.”

The two are only the latest in a wave of Democrats and some Republicans who have come out for gay marriage over the last month. On Thursday, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) joined the equality movement, writing that “If we are endowed by our Creator with rights, then why shouldn’t those be attainable by Gays and Lesbians?” On Tuesday, Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) announced they backed same sex marriage.

That leaves the Democratic caucus down to the Final Four when it comes to marriage equality. At this point, it’s possible — maybe even likely — that one of them will go down in history as the last Democratic senator ever to oppose gay marriage.

They could be tougher nuts to crack, however. Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Mark Pryor (D-AR) are facing challenging re-election campaigns in two of the most socially conservative states in the nation. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has worked extremely hard to differentiate himself from national Democrats and might actually see some upside in being the lone holdout. Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) is retiring, which gives him more leeway to follow his heart in any direction he chooses.

The Republican side of the aisle might be more fertile ground for marriage equality advocates at this point. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) recently said she was “evolving” on the issue and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is likely to face intense pressure to change her stance in the run up to the Supreme Court’s expected June decision on a pair of marriage equality cases given her state’s liberal lean.

H/T: TPM