Recently by AstrosGirlKel

Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally this weekend showed the true power and magnitude of Beck and his message. The supposed noble goal: Restoring honor, taking back the civil rights movement, and to pay tribute to America's military personnel and others "who embody our nation's founding principles of integrity, truth and honor." While most attention has been paid to the bold goal of taking the civil rights movement back, it's the 'restoring honor' part I'd...

Yep, the headline is correct. Five major newspapers in the state's largest cities (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, and Fort Worth) have scheduled a debate for October 19th at the University of Texas.  All five papers ran editorials this morning urging Governor Rick Perry to stop playing games and step up to give Texans the debate that we deserve.  Click the city name to get the editorial. In conjunction with KLRU-TV of Austin, the newspapers...

From The Daily Herald:  Under the theory that perhaps thousands of Utah college students are having babies paid for by Medicaid that they could pay for themselves, one lawmaker has a plan: cut all elective epidurals and elective C-sections. Sen. Dan Liljenquist, R-Bountiful, has vowed massive Medicaid reform in next year's legislative session, and first on the list is people who may be freeloading. Medicaid pays for 15,000 births a year in Utah, a third...

Cab driver Ahmed Sharif is in stable condition at Bellevue Hospital in NYC after being stabbed by a passenger earlier this week.  Michael Enright, 21, reportedly asked Sharif if he was a Muslim.  He asked where he was from, how long he'd been in America, and if he planned on fasting for Ramadan.  Sharif answered all his questions, and Enright then yelled, "Assalami Alakium, consider this a checkpoint." and slashed his throat. Sharif,  in a...

This week you'll be subject to hours and hours of political commentary about Glenn Beck's rally this weekend on the Washington Monument called "Restoring Honor".  He's holding the rally on the anniversary of Dr. King's speech in the very place he delivered what has been regarded as perhaps the greatest speech in American history.  I'm not going to use this blog to talk about Glenn Beck.  He can not hijack this day.  This is not...

Las Vegas Review-Journal reports: Angle campaign spokesman Jerry Stacy said the Republican is anxious to face the Democratic incumbent and Senate majority leader. "I want to thank Harry Reid for finally agreeing with us that the voters deserve to know where the two candidates stand on the issues before early voting begins," Stacy said. "Sharron Angle is looking forward to debating Harry Reid," he added, saying details are being worked out. Reid campaign spokesman...

Ok, Ok, they didn't "acquire" them.  Technically. Business Week (Bloomberg): ...[G]overnors' associations can take in unlimited amounts from corporations, and companies are showing their interest. News Corp., the media company controlled by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rupert Murdoch, gave the [Republican Governors Association] $1 million in June. Politico's Ben Smith reports, "UPDATE: News Corp. Spokesman Jack Horner emails, "News Corporation believes in the power of free markets, and the RGA's pro-business agenda supports our...

MSNBC Reports: The federal judge who overturned California's same-sex marriage ban ruled Thursday that gay marriages can resume starting Aug. 18. The decision by Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker means gay and lesbian couples will have to wait six days before they can get married. That gives gay marriage opponents time to appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If the appeals court fails to act by 5 p.m. local time next...

From MSNBC entertainment: The Palins might want to start thinking about moving. Levi Johnston has teamed with a production company to shop a reality series called "Loving Levi: The Road to the Mayor's Office," which will--just as the title implies--chronicle his life as he runs for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. Or since the mayor's job won't be up for grabs until 2012, as his new campaign manager points out, maybe he'll make a run for...

Sometimes government can work more efficiently than expected. From CNN.com: Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced Tuesday that the Census Bureau, which compiles the U.S. population survey every 10 years, is returning $1.6 billion of its almost $7 billion operational budget. According to a statement from Locke, the savings included: • $800 million from an emergency fund that never was needed; • $650 million in the door-to-door questioning phase of the census survey because 72 percent...

Roseto, Pennsylvania - Our Lady of Mount Carmel held a "Big Time" fair and festival last weekend.  One game sparked complaints.  The image, of a black man holding a health bill and wearing a belt buckle with a rudimentary presidential seal drawn on it - was set up as a shooting target (Note the red circle bulls-eyes over the head and heart) for the general amusement of the parishioners.  If you hit those targets, you...

If you can't win a case based on the merits of the law, then the next logical step is to publicly discredit those we trust to uphold it, right?  That seems to be the Rovian strategy coming from Fox News - who preemptively published a bash piece by Gerard Bradley about U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker - alleging that his ruling was possibly biased because he is openly gay. I'm sure that most people would question...

From the New York Times: Saying that it unfairly targets gay men and women, a federal judge in San Francisco struck down California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage on Wednesday, handing supporters of such unions a temporary victory in a legal battle that seems all but certain to be settled by the Supreme Court. The judge stayed his decision immediately so as to block any marriages until appeals are heard by higher courts.  The proponents of...

As if we needed further proof that Republicans have absolutely no intention of working with Democrats on anything, they filibustered a bill yesterday that comes straight from their own talking points.  The small business lending bill would have given tax breaks and guaranteed loans from small banks to aid small businesses in today's tight credit market.  Every single Republican voted to continue the filibuster, claiming that Democrats wouldn't discuss their own amendments to the bill. From MSNBC: Much...

Late last year we examined the possible flawed science that was the basis of conviction of Cameron Todd Willingham, a father of three who was alone with his children when his home mysteriously caught fire and burned all three of his children to death.  Willingham exited the home without his children. You can read the first three pieces in this series here, here, and here. Using science available at the time to an undertrained Fire Marshall,...

Really. Desperado has already discussed the Sherrod incident here, shared excellent commentary here and here, so I won't rehash the whole mess.  You know what happened. But it's ok, really, it's not the right-wing media's fault, you see.  According to Ann Coulter, Breitbart was set-up by evil liberals.  The whole key to this story is that Andrew Breitbart was set-up. He was sent a tape as we now know was massively out of context. It didn't look...

At what point in time are the American people going to take a look at our nation's history and realize that deregulation and non-enforcement of regulation as a tool to stimulate the economy doesn't work? Not only does it NOT work, but it's a disaster and has the opposite desired economic effect? I am literally shocked every time I hear an educated adult making the argument that deregulation benefits consumers. I won't disagree that...

In a continuous effort to keep it classy among right wingers, Rush Limbaugh, Head of the GOP,  yesterday offered the following commentary regarding the death of Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. From Media Matters: "That cracker made a lot of African-American millionaires.  He fired a bunch of white guys as managers left and right." Listen for more:   I'm not going to say he can't say this stuff, that's what free speech is for.  I am just so...

Texas Democrats filed an ethics complaint against Governor Rick Perry this week.  The complaint alleges that Rick Perry claimed a homestead exemption on a home he never lived in, and that he failed to report approximately $202,000 in debt on a home he purchased in College Station, TX. We've all heard about Perry's fancy rental mansion, so we know exactly how long he's lived there and how much he's spent on it (it's just at...

From businessinsider.com:   The chart speaks for itself.  Happy Fourth!...