He had a great seat! Courtside, close enough to hear what the commentators were saying. A seat that was sure to set him back a few hundred dollars. And as the camera focused on Chris Webber for his opening statement, the nose digger, we’ll call him Mr. Bugga – went in for the gold.
And to cap it all off, he looked right into the camera at the end of his adventure and winked at the audience.
New York Assemblyman Steve Katz is the Putnam County politician who just last year voted down a bill to legalize medical marijuana in New York. Now fast forward to yesterday at 10 a.m., when Katz was pulled over for doing 80 in a 65 on I-87. The officer who pulled Katz over reportedly smelled pot in the car, at which point he discovered that Katz had a small bag of weed in his possession.
It’s too bad Katz, who is a Republican, is so anti-marijuana in his professional life, because he sounds like he’d be a blast to smoke a joint with.
Yes, we’ve heard it all before. This is story-line is quite frankly beginning to sound like a broken record – another republican rejects the president’s outreach.
While doing his outreach to Republicans AGAIN on Wednesday, President Obama invited the Head of the Republicans in the House of Representatives to travel with Vice President and a delegation from the United States, to witness installation of the new Pope.
Boehner refused, stating that he had better things to do.
The Ohio Republican says in a statement that he’d like to go, but it’s impossible with his duties including the budget debate and hosting the Irish prime minister at the Capitol.
Vice President Joe Biden, the first Roman Catholic to be elected vice president, is leading the delegation. Boehner’s office said that after Obama spoke to House Republicans Wednesday, the president invited Boehner, who is Catholic, to accompany Biden.
Boehner says he is grateful for the invitation. He wished the vice president well and said he hopes Biden will send prayers and warm regards from all Americans, especially Catholics, to the first pope from the Americas.
So ObamaCare was passed by the United States Senate, it was approved by the House of Representatives, it was signed into law by the President of The United States, and the case was adjudicated by The United States Supreme Court. All three branches of government approved of the law.
ObamaCare is now being implemented throughout the land. But Republicans in Congress are still wagering their fruitless battle lying to their followers by promising to repeal it.
Earlier in the week, Paul Ryan wrote a budget calling for the repeal of ObamaCare. His budget will be expected to perform a mystifying leap of faith, because while it calls for the repeal of ObamaCare, Ryan’s budget can only be balanced using funds that ObamaCare is saving the nation.
And now Mitch McConnell, using his CPAC speech, McConnell is promising to repeal ObamaCare.
Md. — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is vowing to repeal President Barack Obama’s sweeping health care law.
McConnell spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference next to a tower of 20,000 pages of health care rules and regulations. He calls it a “monument to liberalism” and says Republicans will not back down from the fight.
McConnell faces re-election next year. He says Republicans need to rebound from election losses last year and, quote, “punch back.” He says Democrats haven’t had a new idea, quote, “since the days of the Studebaker.”
He compares the possibility of Democrats nominating Hillary Rodham Clinton or Joe Biden for president in 2016 to, quote, a “rerun of ‘The Golden Girls.'”
After 34 tries at Repeal, Republican voters are still being fooled into thinking that the 35th time will be the charm. And the sad part of all this is, these unfortunate voters who apparently depend only on Fox for news, continue believing the empty rhetoric from their leaders.
Corporal Punishment or ‘The Death Penalty’, has been a topic of national debate for years, especially on a state-by-state basis. Now, after eight years since its last execution, Maryland is planning to become the 18th state to abolish the ultimate punishment. Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley has been pushing for this legislation since his very first year in office. If the Bill passes, convictions will be downgraded to life without the possibility of parole as the most severe sentence statewide.
The House advanced the legislation this week after delegates rejected nearly 20 amendments, mostly from Republicans, aimed at keeping capital punishment for the most heinous crimes.
Death Penalties have been a subject of divisiveness since its inception. Supporters of repeal argue that the death penalty is costly, error-prone, racially biased and a poor deterrent of crime. But supporters of the death penalty say it is a necessary tool to punish lawbreakers who commit the most egregious crimes.
So what about you? How do you weigh in on ending someone’s life? Personally, I’ve teetered from one end of the spectrum to the other. I had been one that didn’t believe in putting someone to death for any reasons but over the years, as more and more senseless murders occur, I’ve leaned more towards Death.
Let’s look at the Mass Murderer or even a Serial Killer as an example. As they are initiating the act of murder, it appears to me to be premeditated, meaning their intentions are to deliberately take someone’s life without hesitation. I’m sorry, but if they are non-remorseful in their actions against an innocent human being, why should we be remorseful in saving there’s? Kind of cold I know, but aren’t they being just as cold, callous and calculated?
We have to look at this decision seriously and very closely. I know there are cases where some convictions are questionable; racially biased, wrongful convictions, etc., but in cases that are absolute, non-questionable convictions where the defendant is beyond the shadow of a doubt guilty, then we should pull the hammer, flip the switch, insert the needle… whatever the method, say goodnight. Some advocates claim this to be a costly solution to evil. Well, how much does it cost to keep them imprisoned for life? I don’t know the answer to that but I’m sure there are some figures out there.
What I do know is everyone has an opinion on this matter. And just think of some of the most heinous murders and murderers of our time and tell me where you side on it:
I know this debate will rage on, probably forever, but as Maryland attempts to be the 18th state to abolish the death penalty, families of those brutally and senselessly taken are left to wonder if justice is truly being served. Killing the killer will never bring back loved-ones but, sometimes, there is Justice in Satisfaction.
Buzzfeed is reporting that failed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will use his speech at CPAC today, to apologize to the conservative movement. He just wants to say, he’s sorry.
Friends and former advisers of the failed Republican presidential candidate told BuzzFeed that Romney has come to CPAC as a good-faith effort to renew some measure of goodwill between himself and the conservative movement — many of whom blame him for their party’s current stagnant state.
“I don’t think the governor is concerned about creating a faction in the party; some sort of Romney bloc,” said Robert O’Brien, a longtime friend and adviser who stays in touch with the ex-candidate. “He really doesn’t have a personal political agenda, and he’s not trying to raise his profile.”
While many CPAC speakers — Sarah Palin, Herman Cain — come to the conference in pursuit of political celebrity, Romney’s friends say he has no such ambitions.
“I think he’s going to speak out on issues that are important to him because he cares about this country, as opposed to trying to advance some type of platform in the party,” O’Brien said, adding, “Frankly, I think he enjoys business more than politics.”
One source said Romney hadn’t even considered speaking at CPAC until organizers approached him personally. He accepted, sources said, to thank the conservative conference-goers who were present at every turn of his five-year bid for the presidency, and in hopes of warming the frigid relationship he has with the party’s base.
A person familiar with the speech said his remarks will be more personal in nature, invoking humor and some light self-deprecation, which the governor’s most loyal fans hope will endear him to conservatives.
We’ve seen this story played out many times in the past. If a Republican is not directly affected by something, then they are going to be against it. That was Ohio’s Senator Rob Portman’s position on gay marriage until the gayness came knocking on his door.
Portman’s change of heart came in February 2011 when he found out that his own 21 year old son was gay. “That isn’t how I’ve always felt,” Portman said, acknowledging that he was once against the very idea that two people in love should get married. He revealed to CNN. ““I’ve come to the conclusion that for me, personally, I think this is something that we should allow people to do, to get married, and to have the joy and stability of marriage that I’ve had for over 26 years. That I want all of my children to have, including our son, who is gay.”
And in an op-ed in the Columbus Dispatch, Portman wrote, “I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn’t deny them the opportunity to get married. As a Congressman, and more recently as a Senator, I opposed marriage for same-sex couples. Then something happened that led me to think through my position in a much deeper way.”
So why is Portman coming out now in support of gay marriage? He is directly affected. Portman explains;
“Now it’s different, you know. I hadn’t expected to be in this position. But I do think, you know, having spent a lot of time thinking about it and working through this issue personally that, you know, this is where I am, for reasons that are consistent with my political philosophy, including family values, including being a conservative who believes the family is a building block of society, so I’m comfortable there now.”
John Fugelsang said it best today on the Stephanie Miller Show, when he said that we can’t wait for Portman’s son to come out as the middle class. Maybe then, Portman will be inclined to do more for the jobless and suffering in this country.
Portman was on the short list to be Mitt Romney’s vice presidential candidate. He admitted to telling Romney that he had a gay son. Romney eventually chose Paul Ryan as his VP.
Beer-battered Fish Fry
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 pint vegetable oil
2 lb fresh fish fillets (snapper or grouper)
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
4oz flour
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can beer
Directions:
Fill a deep saucepan three-quarter full with oil. Heat to 375°F. Cut the fish fillets into serving-size pieces and brush with lime juice.
Mix two thirds of the flour with the salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the beer gradually, beating until the batter is smooth. Put the remaining flour on a plate.
Coat each piece of fish with flour, then dip it into the batter, coating well. Fry in the hot oil for 7-8 minutes, turning once. Drain on paper towel or brown paper.
Serve hot with fried potatoes and coleslaw.
The assault weapons ban was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, but is expected to die on the Senate floor because of Republican opposition.
WASHINGTON – The Senate Judiciary Committee passed an assault weapons ban in a party line vote after an at times angry hearing in which Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., invoked her own experience with gun violence and lectured committee Republicans on the Constitution.
“I saw people shot” said Feinstein who was feet away from the famous 1978 assassination of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and fellow Board of Supervisors member Harvey Milk by another board member. Feinstein rarely speaks of the event, which made her the city’s mayor.
“I cannot get out of my mind walking into a crime scene and seeing brain matter all over,” she said.
The 10-8 vote came on the four month anniversary of the massacre in Newtown.
It may mark the high water mark for the proposal to ban hundreds of semi-automatic weapons opponents argue are meant for military use, not self-defense or recreation.
Committee Republicans unanimously opposed the proposal, and opposition from their party, along with that of some Democrats, is expected to sink the bill in the full Senate.
For those of us who depend on Google Reader for news, this is both a shock and a surprise. Google has announced that beginning in July, Google Reader will be no more.
From the Reader’s Blog;
We have just announced on the Official Google Blog that we will soon retire Google Reader (the actual date is July 1, 2013). We know Reader has a devoted following who will be very sad to see it go. We’re sad too.
There are two simple reasons for this: usage of Google Reader has declined, and as a company we’re pouring all of our energy into fewer products. We think that kind of focus will make for a better user experience.To ensure a smooth transition, we’re providing a three-month sunset period so you have sufficient time to find an alternative feed-reading solution. If you want to retain your Reader data, including subscriptions, you can do so through Google Takeout.
Thank you again for using Reader as your RSS platform.
Chris Hayes will take over the 8 p.m. time slot on MSNBC in the next month, the channel is expected to announce on Thursday morning, the day after the current host of that hour, Ed Schultz, said he was moving from the weekdays to the weekends.
Mr. Hayes, a liberal intellectual who has hosted a well-regarded weekend morning program on MSNBC for the past 18 months, is a protégé of Rachel Maddow, the highest-rated host on the channel. He will become the lead-in for her 9 p.m. program, “The Rachel Maddow Show.”
The change is predicated on the belief that MSNBC can win a wider audience with Mr. Hayes than it did with Mr. Schultz, a champion of the working class whose bluster didn’t always pair well with Ms. Maddow and the channel’s other prime-time program, “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.” Mr. Hayes, on the other hand, is just as wonky as Ms. Maddow and Mr. O’Donnell, and is a regular contributor to both of their programs.
h/t Times
