Union Thugs With Assault Rifles

So, to all those gun nuts who want to arm schoolteachers, weren't these the same teachers characterized by you idiots as a bunch of violent union thugs in recent months? Forgive me if I seem confused by this.

Politics Getting in the Way of Starving Old People

Too bad there are such entrenched interests on the left. If only the greedy old people and the poors on food stamps and Social Security would get up off their lazy butts:

Congressman Chris Gibson said he's pushed hard for a bi-partisan agreement to reduce the nation's deficit over the long term, but politics are getting in the way.

"What you see is entrenched factions on both sides on the left and on the right that don't want to move and that's not helping our country at this point," said Gibson, a Republican.

Do tell us more, congressman. On one side you have poor people who have actually PAID for their "entitlements" of approximately $1200 per month, and on the other you have people who spend $1200 on breakfast.

It's no contest. The rich are simply overburdened.

Crapo's "Apology" is All Hot Air

So, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) was busted for DUI in Virginia over the weekend:

Idaho Sen. Michael Crapo was arrested early Sunday morning and charged with driving under the influence in a Washington, D.C., suburb, authorities said.

Police in Alexandria, Va., said Sunday that the three-term Republican was pulled over after his vehicle ran a red light. Police spokesman Jody Donaldson said Crapo failed field sobriety tests and was arrested at about 12:45 a.m. He was transported to the Alexandria jail and released on an unsecured $1,000 bond at about 5 a.m.

Normally, this kind of thing wouldn't be that big of a deal. People are human and make stupid mistakes, even U.S. senators. But there is something that bugs me about this. Crapo is a Mormon, which means he's supposed to teetotal as a matter of faith:

Our body is a precious gift from God. To help keep our bodies and our minds healthy and strong, God gave a law of health to Joseph Smith in 1833. This law is known as the Word of Wisdom (see Doctrine and Covenants 89:1-21).

In addition to emphasizing the benefits of proper eating and physical and spiritual health, God has spoken against the use of:

Tobacco.
Alcohol.
Coffee and tea.
Illegal drugs.

God promises great physical and spiritual blessings to those who follow the Word of Wisdom. Today, the scientific community promotes some of the same principles that a loving God gave to Joseph Smith nearly two centuries ago.

Mormons can't even drink a Coke. Seriously. So, when a Mormon gets pulled over for DUI, this is a bigger story. Especially given that anyone in law enforcement will tell you that a person drinks and drives an average of about 80 times before getting popped by the cops. In other words, it is extremely likely that Crapo has been at this for a very long time, only now getting his deserved comeuppance.

And this is what bugs me about sanctimonious right-wingers. They all talk endlessly about how society should bow down to their perception of morality, a morality almost none of them actually practice themselves. Add Crapo to the long list of do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do Republicans.

It's the hypocrisy, stupid.

LaPierre: "Call Me Crazy"

Don't mind if I do:

“If it’s crazy to call for putting police and armed security in our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy,” LaPierre said.

It appears he's yet to develop any ironic self-awareness.

NYC Tabloids Blast NRA

All I can say is, "wow":

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this is the point of no return for the gun worshipers.

Borked

So, the the GOP's poster-boy for right-wing extremism has gone to meet his maker:

Robert H. Bork, whose failed Supreme Court nomination in 1987 infuriated conservatives and politicized the confirmation process for the ensuing decades, died Wednesday at the age of 85.

The former Yale law professor and judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit had a history of heart problems and had been in poor health for some time.

For the incurious among us, Bork's true legacy was the firing of Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox:

On May 19, 1973, Cox took a leave of absence from Harvard Law School to accept appointment as the first Watergate special prosecutor. Cox's appointment was a key condition set by the leadership of the U.S. Senate for the confirmation of Elliot Richardson as the new attorney general of the United States, succeeding Richard G. Kleindienst, who had resigned during the spring of 1973, as a result of the Watergate scandal. That summer, Cox learned with the rest of America about the secret taping system installed in the White House on orders from President Richard M. Nixon. During the next few months, Cox, the United States Senate Watergate Committee, and U.S. District Judge John J. Sirica struggled with the Nixon Administration over whether Nixon could be compelled to yield those tapes in response to a grand jury subpoena. When Sirica ordered Nixon to comply with the committee's and Cox's demands, the President offered Cox a compromise: instead of producing the tapes, he would allow the Senator John Stennis (a Democrat from Mississippi) to listen to the tapes, with the help of a transcript prepared for him by the White House, and Stennis would then prepare summaries of the tapes' contents. Cox rejected this compromise on Friday, October 19, 1973. On Saturday, October 20, 1973, Cox held a press conference to explain his decision.

That evening, in an event dubbed the Saturday Night Massacre by journalists, President Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to dismiss Cox.[4] Rather than comply with this order, Attorney General Richardson resigned, leaving his second-in-command, Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus in charge of the Justice Department. Ruckelshaus likewise refused to dismiss Cox, and he, too, resigned. These resignations left Solicitor General Robert Bork as the highest-ranking member of the Justice Department; insisting that he believed the decision unwise but also that somebody had to obey the president's orders, Bork dismissed Cox. Bork also considered submitting his resignation, but Richardson and Ruckelshaus dissuaded him from resigning, arguing that Bork had to remain in office to ensure continuity of the administration of the Justice Department. Upon being dismissed, Cox stated, "whether ours shall be a government of laws and not of men is now for Congress and ultimately the American people to decide." His successor as special prosecutor was Leon Jaworski, named by Bork.

The dismissal of Cox suggested the use of independent counsel, prosecutors specifically appointed to investigate official misconduct. Ultimately, Congress enacted a law to provide for a procedure appointing independent counsels, a statute that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in 1986. This statute, which had an expiration date inserted on its original enactment, expired without renewal.

Ultimately, on August 8, 1974, after the U.S. Supreme Court voted by 8 to 0 to reject Nixon's claims of executive privilege and release the tapes (with then Associate Justice William H. Rehnquist recusing himself because, as an assistant attorney general during Nixon's first term, he had taken part in internal executive-branch discussions of the scope of executive privilege), Nixon announced his decision to resign as President.

Bork was a crypto-facsist swine. I'll not shed a single tear for him.

Amedore Claims Win, Tkaczyk Says "Not So Fast"

Assemblyman George Amedore thinks it's over in SD-46:

Republican George Amedore declared victory Monday in the race for the state’s new 46th Senate District, though Democrat Cecilia Tkaczyk’s spokesman said there are still outstanding objections to be ruled on and Amedore’s declaration is premature.

Amedore, citing a 39-vote lead over Tkaczyk, issued a statement claiming victory and thanking his supporters.

Tkaczyk has good reason not to concede. Unlike the race between Saland and Gipson, Tkczyk still has a path to victory:

“There are still hundreds of outstanding objections that have to be ruled on by the Appellate Court,” Tkaczyk spokesman Gary Ginsburg said in a statement. “These ballots include votes cast by election inspectors that voted early at the direction of both Republican and Democratic election commissioners and hundreds of affidavit ballots that were thrown out because of minor errors. When all the votes are counted, Cecilia Tkaczyk will be certified the winner of this election and will represent the residents of the 46th Senate District.”

I would agree with this. 39 votes isn't enough of a margin to declare victory when there are "hundreds" of ballots still out there. If all the ballots are counted, Tkaczyk wins, as the vast majority of challenged ballots are typically cast by Democratic voters (and the vast majority of those by persons of color, which is all just a big coincidence, I'm sure, and not an indication that the GOP is run by a bunch of racists, shutupshutupshutup!).

The judge is set to rule on Christmas Eve. Hopefully he puts a lump of coal in Amedore's stocking.