Recently by Desperado

Following President Obama's announcement that he supports same-sex marriage, the typical response from those who see themselves as defenders of so-called "traditional" marriage, but who are in fact defenders of discrimination, is that same-sex marriage has been put on the ballot in some 30+ states and has been defeated in every one. (Not surprisingly our old friend at the Chronicle has parroted this right-wing talking point. Also not surprisingly, she refuses to post my response.)Let's...

President Obama's re-election campaign released this ad highlighting Obama's decision to get Osama bin Laden:John McCain blew a gasket:"Shame on Barack Obama for diminishing the memory of September 11th and the killing of Osama bin Laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad...This is the same President who said, after bin Laden was dead, that we shouldn't 'spike the ball' after the touchdown. And now Barack Obama is not only trying to score...

It would be funny if it weren't true. Via Newshoggers:...

Same song, different verse:"Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, joined by the court's conservative wing, wrote that..."This time it's about driving another nail into the coffin of the Fourth Amendment and the protection against unreasonable search and seizure. Strip searches for everybody! "Every detainee who will be admitted to the general population may be required to undergo a close visual inspection while undressed," Justice Kennedy wrote, adding that about 13 million people are admitted each year to...

Let's take a look at the Florida "Stand Your Ground" law and put the shoe on the other foot, or in the Trayvon Martin case, the gun in the other hand. The law reads: "A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her...

Now that the Supremes have finished hearing arguments and begin to deliberate the fate of the Affordable Care Act it seems to be the time for predictions on how they'll rule, so I'll throw in my $0.02 worth.I see a 5-4 decision to not only throw out the individual mandate but the entire law. The reason being that without the individual mandate the entire law collapses. Justice Scalia said as much when he remarked about...

...the saddest are these, it might have been: "With the Supreme Court arguing the legality of the Affordable Care Act, it is a good time to remember that almost nobody disputes that single payer, such as Medicare for All, would be undoubtedly constitutional. Even Michael Carvin, one of the lead lawyers arguing (for the non-state private opponents) that the individual mandate is unconstitutional admitted today that single payer would be clearly legal. From the Supreme...

AFP (Americans For Prosperity) sponsored a rally attended by AFP (Astroturf Fools and Pawns) yesterday across the street from the Supreme Court. The speakers at this gathering of people against government interference in health care included Rep. Michele Bachmann, Sen. Jim DeMint, Rep. Steve King, Rep. Allen West, Sen. Ron Johnson, and Sen. Pat Toomey. Notice a pattern there? They all receive government health care. Here's a photo of the crowd. Seems to be quite...

Geraldo Rivera on Fox and Friends this morning, via Media Matters: "I believe that George Zimmerman, the overzealous neighborhood watch captain should be investigated to the fullest extent of the law and if he is criminally liable, he should be prosecuted. But I am urging the parents of black and Latino youngsters particularly to not let their children go out wearing hoodies. I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin's death as George...

Now that Big Brother is taking the time and the $2 billion expense of building a  massive data collection center in Utah (details later), they need something to put in it. So here we go:"The Obama administration is moving to relax restrictions on how counterterrorism analysts may retrieve, store and search information about Americans gathered by government agencies for purposes other than national security threats. [...]The guidelines will lengthen to five years -- from 180...

If there's one thing you can take to the bank, so to speak, in these times of political polarization in Washington it's this-any bill that passes the House and Senate with margins like 390-23 and 73-26 isn't, in the words of John Nance Garner, worth a warm bucket of spit. The passage of the so-called JOBS Act yesterday is no exception.(Just as an aside, giving bad legislation names with catchy acronyms like JOBS Act is...

Mitt Romney---the flip that keeps on flopping. Coming on the heels of his top adviser's "Etch-a-Sketch" remark yesterday, there was this report from NBC about a Santorum spokeswoman handing out Etch-A-Sketches at a Romney town hall meeting in Maryland. Apparently, this got under the Mittster's skin just a little bit:    "A Rick Santorum spokeswoman was handing out Etch A Sketches before a Mitt Romney town hall Wednesday in Arbutus, Md., furthering the goading of...

If 'drill, baby, drill' was anything more than a simple slogan for simple minds shouldn't these lines be going in opposite directions?And that's just the last five years. Let's go back a little further:"A statistical analysis of 36 years of monthly, inflation-adjusted gasoline prices and U.S. domestic oil production by The Associated Press shows no statistical correlation between how much oil comes out of U.S. wells and the price at the pump.If more domestic oil...

You would think that sooner or later the Romney campaign would either run out of feet or bullets. But apparently not, since they managed to fire off two more into the target yesterday. First, one of Romney's senior advisers, Eric Fehrnstrom, pretty much confirmed the fears and suspicions the Tea Party crowd has had all along about the Mittster---that he's not really the "severe" conservative he's claims to be, he's just playing one to get...

The poster child for deadbeat dads, Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) wants a law requiring proof of citizenship in order to vote:I think we need a law requiring proof of being current on child support payments in order to hold public office....

Coverage of the Trayvon Martin story:Here's what Fox is showing instead. Bill O'Reilly runs a video of 4 people who somehow represent a "sub-culture" of those who abuse the system: Regarding the Martin tragedy in Florida, take a look at the comments harvested from the Fox site....

Rick Santorum on State of the Union yesterday, via Crooks and Liars:...

"If a group of people - leaders - can convince a group of folk who barely have a pot to piss in that the rich shouldn't be taxed---- THAT is leadership!" ~ Lewis Black....

I feel your pain, my little winged brother:"They were young males on the make, and they struck out not once, not twice, but a dozen times with a group of attractive females hovering nearby. So they did what so many men do after being repeatedly rejected: they got drunk, using alcohol as a balm for unfulfilled desire.Fruit flies apparently self-medicate just like many humans do, drowning their sorrows or frustrations for some of the same...

Ladies and gentlemen, I don't understand this...and this...and this:How has this happened under three years of Marxist rule? Congressman Allen West has the explanation:<br /><br />...