My Little Hell Beast Has Competition for the Title

Yeah, I said I wasn't going to post anything other than Sunday Sensational Science.  But I dropped by Jerry Coyne's blog, and found a growling kitty that made me laugh so hard my own kitty got disgusted and quit my lap.  I figured I'd best share the mirth with you, my dear regulars.

Here ye go:



Little hell beast, indeed.

Sunday Sensational Science

Getting Acquainted with Agassiz
Parte the First: Introductions


Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz, Swiss geologist, paleontologist, and dear friend of famous American poets, has been a part of my life since childhood.  I'll tell you why in just a moment.  First, a few facts about the man, and then a guessing game.

Agassiz is world-famous for his work on glaciers.  He strode the ice of the Swiss Alps, the snowy Jura Mountains.  He visited mountains in the American West.  His world was white.

Now for the guess, and no clicking on the photo to cheat: which snowy mountain ridge is this?

Think you've got it?  Given up?  Follow me after the jump for the answer, and then we'll get to know Louis.

Screw Pollyticks. Got A Cat to Cuddle and a Novel to Write

You'll get your Sunday Sensational Science, but politics shall have to wait for Tuesday.  I'm behind on my writing.  You can see why:

Now that the weather's turned cold, the cat's turned cuddly.  And when you've got a purring feline trying to crawl into your arms, typing becomes difficult. 

But even the cat recognizes when it's time to get to work:

So we're getting back to storytelling.  Take this as a prime opportunity to get your submission ready for COTEB.  Or go do something IRL - like, y'know, cuddling a kitty that believes it's freezing to death.

Attention, Americans: Time to Get Economically Literate

The fact that the majority of Americans believe Con talking points about the deficit and who's responsible for our current mess, and think more jobs would be saved by ditching the stimulus, is unacceptably stupid.

Digby does some edimicatin'.  And Cujo has a simple primer here.

I expect better results on the next quiz, damn it.

Your Daily Dose of Health Care Reform Stupidity

Sen. Tom Coburn, ladies and gentlemen, never afraid to lie for the cause:

Sen. Tom Coburn, a right-wing Republican from Oklahoma, is apparently not above callous opportunism. He saw headlines about mammogram screening, headlines about a proposed tax on elective cosmetic surgery, and in his drive to kill health care reform, decided to combine some disparate talking points.

[Yesterday], Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, who is a physician and staunchly opposed to this legislation, suggested on the Senate floor that a woman would be taxed if she had breast reconstruction surgery following cancer.
"In this bill is a 5% tax on cosmetic surgery," Coburn said. "Just yesterday -- the day before yesterday, U.S. preventive task forces, services, recommended because it's not cost effective that women under 50 not get mammograms unless they have risk factors. Well, you tell that to the thousands of women who were diagnosed with breast cancer lat last -- last year under 50 with a mammogram. You tell them it's not cost effective. Also in this bill is a 5% tax on the breast reconstruction surgery after they had a mastectomy. They're going to tax having your breast rebuilt after your breast is taken off because it is elective plastic surgery. It is elective cosmetic surgery. We're going to have a tax on it because we've taxed elective cosmetic surgery. We're in trouble as a nation because we've taken our eye off the ball."

As Republican lies on health care go, this one's pretty despicable.

For one thing, Coburn doesn't understand what the Preventive Services Task Force said -- the mammogram recommendation had to do with research-based standards, not cost.

More important, though, the legislation's provision on a 5% tax on elective cosmetic surgery clearly excludes procedures for those with congenital abnormalities, disfiguring diseases, or traumatic injuries. Anyone requiring reconstructive surgery resulting from accidents or diseases would be exempt.

There is no "5% tax on the breast reconstruction surgery after they had a mastectomy." Coburn's making it up, hoping no one notices how offensive his lying really is.

Send that around to all the Cons you know.  Rub their noses in how disgusting their little heroes are.

Meanwhile, we're gearing up for a big vote in the Senate.  Who's on board?  Nelson's deigned to allow proceedings to proceed, but only for now.  Landrieu and her bestest buddy Blanche are still dithering.  I have a suggestion for the Dem leadership: stop giving them shit to make them stop digging in their heels.  All they're doing is milking you for all they're worth, and giving you fuck-all in return.  Don't encourage them.  We've made compromises.  We're done.  Tell them to put up or shut up. 

And also let them know what happens to Dems who vote against health care bills like good little Con tools.  They get fucked over anyway:

Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-Fla.), who is considered a vulnerable House incumbent next year, voted against health care reform two weeks ago. She'd been under fire from the National Republican Congressional Committee, and when push came to shove, Kosmas sided with the GOP on the bill.

Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell wrote a column recently about how Kosmas' vote didn't stop the Republican attacks.

Democrat Suzanne Kosmas may have irritated her liberal base when she voted against Nancy Pelosi's health-care bill. But she also backed the National Republican Congressional Committee into a corner ... at least she would have if the party hacks had any shame or integrity.

For months, the NRCC had been sending out releases, asking whether Kosmas had the courage to do the right thing (in its mind anyway) and stand up to "Pelosi's health-care takeover."

Well, she did. She voted against it.

This apparently confused the simpletons at the NRCC, who don't know how to do anything but gripe. So now, they are continuing to bash her on the topic, saying: OK, she may have done what they wanted -- but not for the reasons they wanted. So they still hate her.

And the constituents of these Conservadems may not want their reps voting for the bill, but they don't want them voting against cloture, either.  So fucking vote for fucking cloture, you fucking idiots.

Thank you.

News for all those morons who're on about the size of the bill: those 2,000 pages are actually about the size of Sarah Palin's work of fiction in regular double-spaced type.  So shut the fuck up about how big it is.

So, it appears the White House is in favor of the Senate bill, and in even better news, Wyden's putting forward an amendment to give more folks access to the public option.  I hope that amendment passes, but with its success riding on the whims of the Conservadems, I'm not optimistic. 

If you think all of the shit going on around this health care reform effort is a fiasco, you need to hop in the wayback machine and recall the circus surrounding the Cons' passage of Medicare Part D.  At least Dems are paying for their bill and fucking the democratic process over in order to get it passed. 

And, finally, Teabaggers are returning to D.C. for yet another rally against health care reform.  I'm having a heart attack from not surprised - I hope that doesn't mean my coverage will be rescinded.

Let's Talk About Boobs

Specifically, the boobs who are throwing a hysterical fit over the new breast cancer screening recommendations:

On Wednesday, a group of women GOP lawmakers held a press conference to denounce a new recommendation by the federal Preventive Services Task Force that women receive mammograms less frequently. “This is how rationing begins,” said Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). “This is the little toe in the edge of the water.”

[snip]

As the Washington Independent’s Mike Lillis notes, the concern of the congresswomen about rationed mammograms is especially ironic considering that they oppose legislation that “would require insurance companies that cover diagnostic mammograms also to cover routine, annual breast cancer screenings for all women 40 and older.”

Lessee.  Hypocrisy, check.  Ridiculous fearmongering, check.  Failure to comprehend simple words like "recommendation," check.  Pure Con dumbfuckery.

But if you're tempted to fall for a Con, or if you're just confused over what's best for your health, or if you want to see a breast cancer researcher take down the bullshit in stunning detail, you can head on over to Orac's Repectful Insolence blog and read the following:

"Obama's fixin' death panels for your mama," the misogyny gambit, and other idiotic responses to the updated USPSTF mammography recommendations

"Obama's fixin' death panels for your mama": The USPSTF recommendations for mammography used as a political weapon

A two-part takedown that is truly Oracian in scope and insolence.  And if you still want more, there's always really rethinking breast cancer screening.

Funny how Con talking points and fearmongering just don't have the same impact when you're armed with the facts, innit?

Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

We haven't had a good McCain-bashing session in a long time.  Let's make up for that lack, shall we? 

It appears that McCain's in deep shit, and so has flopped neck-deep in right wing bullshit in order to save his ass.  A man who used to be sensible on climate change is now sounding like every two-bit global warming denier:

Sens. John Kerry, Lindsey Graham, and Joe Lieberman -- a tri-partisan group -- have been crafting a climate change bill that can generate broad support in the Senate. All three are personal friends with Sen. John McCain, and all three would love to get the Arizona Republican's support on this issue that he's historically cared about.

So, how's that going?

"Their start has been horrendous," McCain said Thursday. "Obviously, they're going nowhere."

McCain has emerged as a vocal opponent of the climate bill -- a major reversal for the self-proclaimed maverick who once made defying his party on global warming a signature issue of his career.

Now the Arizona Republican is more likely to repeat GOP talking points on cap and trade than to help usher the bill through the thorny politics of the Senate.

McCain refers to the bill as "cap and tax," calls the climate legislation that passed the House in June "a 1,400-page monstrosity" and dismisses a cap-and-trade proposal included in the White House budget as "a government slush fund."

Former aides are mystified by what they see as a retreat on the issue, given McCain's long history of leadership on climate legislation.

No one should be mystified. John McCain's core beliefs don't appear to exist.

McCain co-sponsored climate-change legislation three in three separate Congresses during the Bush era, and endorsed cap and trade as a sound policy. In 2008, however, McCain decided to oppose the same ideas he'd already endorsed, and he's sticking with this far-right persona.

Asked for an explanation, McCain spokesperson Brooke Buchanan said, "This really hasn't been done in a bipartisan fashion."

Go back to the top, there, as Steve Benen did, and note that the bill is being worked on by a Con, a Dem, and an Independent.  I suppose, then, McCain's lame excuse is, by a strict definition, correct.  It's not bipartisan, but tripartisan.  How horrible, right?

McCain's dumbfuckery could be explained by the fact he is, for the first time in recent memory, in serious danger of losing his Senate seat:

You may have seen the new Rasmussen poll finding that John McCain is locked in an uncomfortably close GOP primary with conservative challenger J. D. Hayworth.

So who will save McCain’s hide and career? Bill Kristol has a suggestion:

Still, who could help McCain beat back a populist conservative challenger? Sarah Palin. I predict that Palin will come to Arizona next summer to campaign for McCain, will make an impassioned case for him, and will help him win. She will thereby repay McCain for his confidence in picking her last year, help keep McCain as a crucial voice in the Senate for a strong foreign policy, and get credit for being a different kind of populist conservative — a Reaganite, not a Buchananite, populist — than the immigration-obsessed, voter-alienating (he was ousted in 2006 in a Republican district) Hayworth.

Yeah, okay, because Palin is known to harbor a bottomless reserve of gratitude towards the McCain camp for plucking her from relative obscurity and turning her into a national celebrity, right?

Yup.

Greg Sargent seems to be popping the popcorn already, but he might want to hold off - Sarah Palin may not be the mover-and-shaker (either for or against McCain) that he believes.  It seems she's been busy pissing off her biggest fans:

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin was in Indiana yesterday for a book-signing at a Borders store. One thousand lucky fans with wristbands to meet Palin stood in the rain all day waiting for her to arrive. However, Palin quit the event before she had the chance to sign all the books, leaving 100 supporters out in the cold:

“I’m very disappointed. I think it was very rude. She could have at least apologized, and she didn’t even do that,” said Teresa Hedrick. [...]

“We bought two books from Borders to have our receipt and our wristband to get it signed tonight,” said one woman. “My books are going back to Borders tomorrow.”

“We gave up our entire workday, stayed in the cold. My kids were crying,” said one man. “They went home with my wife. She was out here in the freezing cold all day. I feel like I don’t want to support Sarah.“

People who didn’t get to meet Palin “went home only with a piece of paper with Palin’s signature.”

Deary, deary me.   Looks like somebody should've picked up a copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People before she left the scene.  I'm sure there's a word or two in there about keeping promises.

At least Palin still has one loyal zombie following her around - what an impressive parroting of the "gotcha journalism" talking point.  Say hello to the next generation of con-American fucktards, my darlings.

And there's still plenty of anti-government Teabagging fucktards around.  Check out this Missouri billboard:

Fired Up! Missouri points out that the Lafayette County Republican Central Committee is highlighting a new billboard in the state with steps for a “citizens guide to revolution of a corrupt government“:

This billboard replaces one that warned that the socialist “Obama-Nation” is “coming for you.”

Any doubts that right-wingers everywhere have gone completely batshit fucking insane?  I didn't think so.

Moving on to news of people no less noxious than the creators of said billboard, it seems that the Muslim Mafia author has let the terrorists win.  Oh, sweet justice. 

Utah state fucktard Chris Buttars wants us all to know he doesn't mind gays.  They were even in his house a couple of weeks ago.  He just doesn't want 'em stuffing it down my throat all the time.  Certainly not in my kid's face."  Interesting choice of words, there, Buttars.  Sounds positively Freudian.

Mark Sanford's facing possible impeachment.  I think he should go hike the Appalachian Trail again - it would certainly be more fun than waiting for angry legislators to dump him out on his ear.

If you think Dana Perino's new job is richly undeserved, you can make your opinion clear here.

"Read the Stimulus!" crusader Dick Armey, strangely enough, didn't read the stimulus bill he's been crusading against.

Cons are busy blaming employers' nefariousness on undocumented immigrants who had nothing to do with the fuckery.  Is anyone surprised?

And, finally, for a measure of how stupid this anti-KSM trial bullshit has become, here are the latest folks to speak out in favor:

Saying that critics are “understating the criminal justice system’s capacities,” two top Bush Justice officials came out in support of Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other Guantanamo detainees in federal court. Writing in the Washington Post, Jim Comey, former deputy attorney general and U.S. attorney in Manhattan, and Jack Goldsmith, a former assistant attorney general who now teaches at Harvard Law School, wrote that the move is “unlikely to make New York a bigger target” and that civilian courts are a proven venue for terror trials:

[T]here is no question about the legitimacy of U.S. federal courts to incapacitate terrorists. Many of Holder’s critics appear to have forgotten that the Bush administration used civilian courts to put away dozens of terrorists, including “shoe bomber” Richard Reid; al-Qaeda agent Jose Padilla; “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh; the Lackawanna Six; and Zacarias Moussaoui, who was prosecuted for the same conspiracy for which Mohammed is likely to be charged. Many of these terrorists are locked in a supermax prison in Colorado, never to be seen again.

In terrorist trials over the past 15 years, federal prosecutors and judges have gained extensive experience protecting intelligence sources and methods, limiting a defendant’s ability to raise irrelevant issues and tightly controlling the courtroom.

Comey and Goldsmith are hardly the first conservatives to support Holder’s faith in the U.S. justice system.

The fact that so many dyed-in-the-wool Cons, ones deeply associated with the biggest assclowns in our nation's history, are showing some sense in these matters should be an indication of just how unbelievably, breathtakingly, batshit fucking insane our current Cons in Congress have become.

I guess all that's left is to continue pointing, laughing, and working to get these fucktards voted out.

Coyne Pwns Palin With Pun

Only a biologist, my darlings, can pwn Palin with a pun like this:

Here’s her argument in all its glory:

“I believed in the evidence for microevolution—that geologic and species change occurs incrementally over time, (…) But I didn’t believe in the theory that human beings—thinking, loving beings—originated from fish that sprouted legs and crawled out of the sea. Or that human beings began as single-celled organisms that developed into monkeys who eventually swung down from trees; I believed we came about not through a random process, but were created by God.”

Leaving aside the tiresome misinterpretation that natural selection is “random” (where has any evolutionist said this?), this needs some robust rebuttal, which was provided by Jerry Coyne, in an e-mail published over at The Daily Beast:

“University of Chicago ecology and evolution professor at Jerry Coyne calls the passage in Palin’s book a “typical creationist ploy” easily refuted by fossil evidence suggesting transitions between animals as fish and amphibians or land animals and whales. “Her stand is basically a biblically oriented stand…that has no basis in fact,” Coyne told The Daily Beast in an e-mail. “It is a ridiculous ploy of the ‘duck kind,’ i.e. a canard.”

‘Nuff said.

Indeed.

Your Daily Dose of Health Care Reform Stupidity

Things are on the move, my darlings.  Sen. Reid has filed for cloture.

In a rare show of sense, Sen. Coburn has decided not to be an absolute ass, and is no longer demanding the entire bill be read.  I wonder if they slipped him some anti-psychotics.

So, what's in this bill that won't be read on the Senate floor?  Steve Benen has a rundown - along with Hatch's promise that this will be "holy war."  The Cons do love using terrorist lingo, don't they?

Here's a side-by-side comparison of the Senate and House bills.

The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities calls it an "enormous step forward." 

That stupid state opt-out is in there, and it looks like states can opt out immediately.  That means that one-third of the population of this country could be fucked over because Cons are too fucking stupid to allow them the choice of an anemic public option. 

And abstinence-only funding oiled its way in there somehow.  Heellloooo, teen pregnancies!

That brings us to the subject of abortion.  The Senate's language on abortion is a lot less noxious than the Stupak Stupidity.  And what does that mean, kids?  Why, it means Sen. Ben Nelson will take the opportunity to play the grandstanding fucktard, and the Cons will lie and lie and lie about how the bill will force everybody to pay an abortion fee, and how a vote to proceed is a vote for abortions.  To hear them tell it, the bill is a veritable mandatory abortion fest.  Dems fought back fast and hard with, y'know, actual facts.  Like, nothing the Cons have said is in any way connected to reality.  Color me shocked.

At least Sen. Bayh's claiming he'll allow the bill to come to the floor.  Look, people, if even Evan "Deficit Hock" Bayh can vote with his party for once, and Coburn's showing a sliver of sanity, perhaps the rest of you foot-dragging, tantrum-throwing, lying, cheating fuckwits can scrape around in the bottom of the barrel and come up with a shred of human decency?  A thread?  An atom, even?

Do we need more incentive?  Yes?  How about realizing that, under the status quo, health insurance companies are perfectly comfortable condemning a little girl to a lifetime of deafness:

One of the worst abuses of the private health insurance industry is its practice of denying claims to pay for necessary care for patients. This practice has become so rampant in the industry that a recent study by the California Nurses Association found that a whopping 21 percent of all insurance claims filed in the first half of 2009 in the state of California were denied by insurers.

As the story of six-year-old Madison Leuchtmann of Franklin County, MO, demonstrates, even children are victims of this insurance company abuse. Madison was born with bilateral atresia, which means she lacks ear canals in both ears. In order to hear, she wears a special device on a headband that allows her to make out sounds. Despite her disability, Madison is at the top of her kindergarten class and is slowly learning to read.

Yet Madison, due to her growth, will soon require a new hearing implant to be able to recognize sounds. Her hearing and speech therapist warns that “if she doesn’t get her implants by age seven, she’s not going to be able to blend her words. … She won’t be able to hear herself [talk].” Madison’s pediatrician, Dr. Randall Clary, also insists that without the implant, the girl may never be able to hear again.

Unfortunately, the Leuchtmann’s family insurer, Cigna, has issued “one denial after another,” flatly refusing to cover the $20,000 bill for the implant. In a written statement to the local news station Fox 2, Cigna explained, “It is not unusual for commercial benefit plans to exclude hearing assisted devices,” prompting Dr. Clary to angrily respond, “This is obviously medically necessary. You have a child that has no ear canals!” Dr. Clary also told Fox 2 that he sees these sort of denials “on a weekly basis.”

Let's have some reform before a six year-old loses her hearing for good, before others face a choice between bankruptcy or death because their insurance companies decided they didn't need treatment, or rescinded the insurance for some bullshit reason.

And let's hope Congressional Dems get the drug companies to explain why, exactly, they've decided to hike prices just enough to negate the savings they promised.

The moment of truth is coming.  We'll see exactly which of our elected leaders have our best interests at heart, and which are telling us to go fuck off and die.

A Sentiment With Which I Wholeheartedly Agree

Exactly.

Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

Oops, they did it again:

Yesterday, ThinkProgress first reported that Fox News aired old file footage of Sarah Palin rallies to claim that she’s “continuing to draw huge crowds while she’s promoting her brand new book.” Host Gregg Jarrett presented the video with commentary that suggested the footage was “just coming in.” (Watch it.) Media Matters noted that one of the scenes was from a Nov. 1, 2008 Palin rally in Florida. Crooks and Liars’ John Amato filed an FCC complaint for passing on “false information” to the public. By day’s end yesterday, Fox released this statement responding to the controversy:

“This was a production error in which the copy editor changed a script and didn’t alert the control room to update the video,” Michael Clemente, senior vice president of news at FOX, sad this evening. “There will be an on-air explanation during Happening Now on Thursday.”

Uh-huh.  Faux News faux paux are becoming rather a bit of a habit, aren't they? 

Elsewhere in media assclownery, Rush Limbaugh thinks Gallup is deliberately over-sampling blacks to push up Obama's approval rating, and Dana Perino has landed a job she's manifestly not qualified for.  What the fuck was the administration thinking when they appointed her?

This is the perfect place to insert our Quote o' the Day:

From The Ed Schultz Show, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) says President Obama is not being served well by his economic advisors and that there is a growing consensus from the Congressional Progressive Caucus that the president needs to dump Tim Geithner and Larry Summers. DeFazio added that "We may have to sacrifice just two more jobs to get millions back for Americans."

Classic.  And might we add Dana Perino's new job to the list of sacrificial victims?

For those interested in the Sanford Saga, looks like ol' Appalachian Trail will be facing a sharp slap on the wrist.

Congratulations, Virginia.  You managed to elect a fucktard who refuses to condemn Pat Robertson's reprehensible rhetoric.  I hope you're all real proud of yourselves.

Speaking of elections, I have some really amusing news for ye:

Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate in the NY-23 election, is going further in revoking his election-night concession to Democrat Bill Owens -- who was sworn into office a few days later -- and alleging that ACORN has attempted to steal the election!

They win by three votes, it's a triumph of democracy and a sign our elections are fair.  They lose by three thousand, and suddenly it's ZOMG ACORN BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA!  How pathetic is this?  So pathetic that local Cons debunked it:

The Watertown Daily Times reports:

Jerry O. Eaton, Jefferson County Republican elections commissioner, called Mr. Hoffman's assertion "absolutely false."

"No one has touched those ballots or has access to those ballots except Board of Elections staff -- and in a bipartisan manner," he said.

A county Republican chairman also chimed in:

George J. Williams, Oswego County Republican chairman, said Mr. Hoffman's assertion "is not accurate." He said he roamed the county on Election Day and saw no evidence of tampering.

"We're not going to take the blame because he didn't hold his concession speech," Mr. Williams said. "If there's any doubt, I would never concede. I know things could happen. Did illegal things happen? No, I do not believe that."

Something tells me they don't like the Teabaggers' favorite candidate.

And Hoffman can kick and scream and pull a Coleman for all he's worth, but he's still a big fat loser.

Let's move on to national Cons, who've been clamoring for their turn with the Smack-o-Matic.  If your credit card bill goes up dramatically, and you weren't out shopping, here's who you can thank:

From Sen. Chris Dodd--Republicans Block Dodd’s Effort to Immediately Stop Credit Card Rate Hikes:

Senate Republicans blocked Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodds (D-CT) attempt to pass legislation to stop credit card interest rate hikes.

Dodd went to the Senate floor to ask for consent for the Senate to take up and pass his Credit Card Rate Freeze Act, which would prevent credit card companies from hiking interest rates, fees and finance charges on customers existing balances until Credit CARD Act protections take effect in February. Regrettably, Republican Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) objected to Dodds request, blocking the bill from Senate passage.

Consumers obviously have a responsibility to spend within our means and to pay what we owe. We bear that responsibility. But the credit card industry as well has a responsibility to deal with their customers honorably. There is nothing honorable about whats happened with these significant rate increases and fees. Most importantly, they dont have a right to rip off American families, especially when the Congress has already gone on record opposing the very actions they're engaging in, Dodd said on the Senate floor.

Happy Holidays from the GOP.

Aww, they gave us a middle finger.  How thoughtful!

In a blast from the past, Jay "Torture Memos R Us" Bybee's begging for cash for his legal defense fund.  This pleases me.  Hopefully, it means he'll have to defend himself soon, and isn't just a clever way of shaking down the poor-torture crowd for some ready cash.

Fred Thompson, by his own definition, is giving aid and comfort to the enemy.  Why do you love terrorists more than America, Fred?

And it's nice to see that Cons can still make Eric Holder laugh:

Attorney General Eric Holder talked to the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, primarily about the decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his alleged co-conspirators in federal court. It didn't go especially well -- Republicans on the panel didn't seem persuaded -- but Dahlia Lithwick highlighted the most troubling aspect of the Q&A.

Specifically, some GOP senators are concerned that some Justice Department officials, including the attorney general himself, may actually be terrorist sympathizers.

[Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) of Iowa] demanded that Holder explain the presence in the solicitor general's office of Neal Katyal, who represented Osama Bin Laden's driver at the Supreme Court. Grassley used a smear from the New York Post (penned by the writer who ridiculously claimed Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh believed "Sharia law could apply to disputes in US courts") to demand that Holder account for Jennifer Daskal as counsel in its National Security Division, who allegedly wants terrorists to have more time to write poetry. Grassley demanded that Holder produce a list of DoJ appointees who have ever acted as lawyers for terror detainees.

Then Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., read from an editorial suggesting that the reason these detainee trials have been so long delayed is all the "leftist lawyers" who stalled the military commissions by challenging them in the courts. Kyl noted many of those lawyers -- including Holder -- work for the Justice Department despite the fact that Holder's firm, Covington & Burling, "volunteered its services to at least 18 of America's enemies in lawsuits they brought against the American people." Remember in 2006 when the deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, Cully Stimson, had to resign his position at the Pentagon for urging U.S. corporations to boycott any law firm that defended terror suspects? Apparently those law firms are still un-American, and anyone associated with them should be barred from DoJ. (The subtext for much of this criticism, as Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., observed, is that all these lawyers are somehow in it for the money.)

Holder, quite literally, blurted "Hah" in response to this line of questioning, before patiently explaining to Republicans how misguided the argument is.

It's sad, but true: all you can really do with Cons these days is point and laugh.  I'm glad our Attorney General's realized that.

Finally, I want to reserve a very special smack o' the Smack-o-Matic for Sen. Evan Bayh, who has a rather breathtaking credibility problem:

Sen. Evan Bayh (D) of Indiana wrote a column for CNN, explaining why he intends to vote against raising the debt ceiling, "unless Congress adopts a credible process to balance our books and eliminate the red ink."

[snip]

What Bayh wants is a congressional commission to recommend a deficit-reduction package, which lawmakers would be forced to vote on, up or down. Without the commission, Bayh is prepared to let the United States default on its loans and send the global economy into turmoil. It's an interesting little hostage situation Bayh has created for himself.

There are, however, some issues to consider. For example, it was none other than Evan Bayh who recently voted to "reform" the estate tax, cutting taxes for the extraordinarily rich, at a cost of $750 billion over the next decade. To pay for it, he recommended ... nothing. The costs would simply all be added to the deficit. Given this, I hope he'll forgive my skepticism about his credibility on the subject of fiscal responsibility. [emphasis emphatically added]

Excuse me, Sen. Bayh?  STFU about the deficit you helped create.  There's quite enough stupidity flooding the Capitol from the Con side of the aisle without you turning on your own faucet.

Your Daily Dose of Health Care Reform Stupidity

Well, my darlings, the CBO score is back on the Senate bill, and the news is good:

The health care bill--which includes an opt-out public option--will require $849 billion over 10 years in new spending, to be paid for with cuts to Medicare, while reducing the deficit by $127 billion.

In that time it will extend coverage to 31 million Americans--94 percent of citizens will be covered by 2019.

Over the second 10 years, CBO projects even greater cost savings--up to $650 billion, with the caveat that after 10 years, their analyses become highly uncertain.

Suck on that, Conservadems.

So, that means we can have a fucking vote at last, right?  Mebbe not - Max Baucus's family emergency may delay things.  This is how insane things have gotten in the Senate. 

In stupid-opponents-of-reform news, yet another corporate front group has been revealed, up to the usual dirty tricks.  These things are like bacteria on a chicken salad sandwich that's been left on the counter for two days, aren't they?

A Chamber of Commerce lobbyist is saying that if their little sham study comes back with positive results, it should be buried as deep as they can bury it.  Smell that integrity, my darlings!

AFP project Patients First probably should've realized that naming their mascot turkey "Butterball" wouldn't please Butterball, LLC.

In much less amusing news, it turns out that Stupak's Stupidity would have some pretty radical implications - a new study shows that it would eliminate all coverage for abortions, including employer-provided and separately-purchased coverage. Rep. DeGette's happy to explain this to the idiot Dems who didn't realize what they were voting for.

Speaking of women's health, the new mammogram recommendations are not as horrific as the media wants you to believe.

And, finally, while it doesn't have much to do with actual reform, this is a shining example of businesses' care and concern for their employees' well-being.

Texas Anti-Gay Fervor Screws Homophobes

Happily married in Texas?  Are you sure you're married, happily or un?

Not according to the Texas constitution:

Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a 22-word clause in a 2005 constitutional amendment designed to ban gay marriages erroneously endangers the legal status of all marriages in the state.

The amendment, approved by the Legislature and overwhelmingly ratified by voters, declares that "marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman." But the troublemaking phrase, as Radnofsky sees it, is Subsection B, which declares:

"This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage."

Architects of the amendment included the clause to ban same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships. But Radnofsky, who was a member of the powerhouse Vinson & Elkins law firm in Houston for 27 years until retiring in 2006, says the wording of Subsection B effectively "eliminates marriage in Texas," including common-law marriages.

And if you don't think that amendment pertains to you just because one spouse has twig-and-berries and the other doesn't, and you're officially married with a license and everything, you've got another think coming.  Just ask any lawyer who knows what "legal status identical or similar to marriage" means.

Looks like the homophobes have fucked over their sacred institution rather badly, dunnit?  Excuse me while I go laugh my ass off.  Damn, I love poetic justice.

Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

It looks like Cons think they have a winner in this throw-a-fit-over-terrorists thing.  They started spewing the stupid from the instant KSM's trial in NYC was announced and they haven't paused for breath since.  They might be gaining traction with their terminally-terrified followers, but the rest of the country - not so much.

That hasn't stopped them from trying.  Rudy "9-11 Tourettes" Giuliani's demanding Obama return to the grand ol' days of using the "war on terror" rhetoric, as if that's the magic phrase that will make all our woes go away.  Steve Benen's not impressed:

The Attorney General told lawmakers this morning about the "war" the U.S. is fighting "against terrorism" and "a vicious enemy." According to the former mayor, Eric Holder's choice of words is inadequate, which leads the Justice Department to make bad decisions, which leads the Obama administration to undermine U.S. national security interests.

I know a wide variety of people, including most of the media establishment, take Giuliani seriously. I just don't understand why.

[snip]

It should be obvious, but the key here is the efficacy of the policy, not the semantics. And when it comes to counter-terrorism, Obama and his team have proven themselves quite effective at capturing, detaining, and occasionally killing terrorists. If Giuliani is unsatisfied with this, he'll have to do a far better job of explaining why.

He won't, because he can't.

But for sheer, over-the-top offensive stupidity, you can't top Rep. Gohmert:

Among members of Congress, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) has long stood out as a man a few fries short of a Happy Meal. Two weeks ago, he argued that health care reform proponents are trying to kill off senior citizens before they warn young people about the evils of the Democratic agenda. A few weeks before that, Gohmert argued that expanding hate crimes protections would lead to a legalization of necrophilia, pedophilia, and bestiality. He then compared those who disagree with him to Nazis.

And while Gohmert's name is not quite as familiar as Steve King's and Michele Bachmann's when it comes to the House Stark Raving Mad Caucus, he's clearly making a play for notoriety.

....Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas suggested yesterday that Democrats may actually want another terrorist attack because rebuilding the city would create jobs.

"You've got subways, tunnels, bridges all subject to terrorism. And unless they're trying to create a new jobs bill by allowing terrorism back in New York then this is insane. And even that would be insane."

Last night, Gohmert said that "it is extremely helpful to have a community organizer in the White House because you'll need lots of community organization in order to adequately evacuate massive areas of the most densely populated area in America."

[snip]

The guy has "future member of the House Republican leadership" written all over him.

I wish that was a joke.  Alas, it'll probably prove all-too-true.  Disgusting jackasses who have no connection to reality seem to be in vogue among the Con crowd.

And Rep. Hoekstra's treading right on his heels:

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) said today that the Obama administration is "bribing" economically suffering towns across the country as it attempts to relieve itself of the political problem of closing Guantanamo Bay.

"They're going into communities that are hard-pressed economically and holding out a pot of gold," he told reporters. Hoekstra was referring to the White House plan to bring terror suspects to prisons across the country. He said that the administration was taking advantage of hard-hit towns across the country by promoting the jobs that would be created by adding Guantanamo Bay detainees to their prison populations.

Looks like those two buffoons are trying to snatch the shining crowns of crazy from Reps. King and Bachmann.

It's getting on the nerves of the few Cons with a lick of sanity left:

The prospect of transferring detainees from Guantanamo Bay to a maximum-security prison in Thomson, Illinois, generated an interesting response from a Republican state lawmaker who represents a neighboring area.

Representative Jim Sacia of the state's 89th District accused Republicans in Washington -- including Senate candidate, Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill) -- of risking thousands of local jobs in their demagoguery of the detainee issue.

"My thinking on this is extremely positive," Sacia told the Huffington Post. "If we lose this opportunity. All I can think of is we literally are idiots. I mean that sincerely."

"I understand I'm on different pages of music with others in my party. First of all this should not be a partisan issue in anyway. If President Obama brings the detainees on U.S. soil and we sit here with a brand new state-of-the-art, max security prison, sitting vacant for the last eight years, and pass on an opportunity to sell it to the federal government, which we would fill it with 1,500 regular prisoners and 800 detainees, what is the problem? The building was designed to do that.

"The only reason we have rhetoric now is because of the closing of Gitmo," Sacia concluded. "It makes no sense at all. This is a tremendous opportunity and we would be idiots to waste it."

As Sacia, a former law enforcement official, sees it, the proposal could bring thousands of jobs to an area that has "suffered unbelievable economic hardship."

I hope that poor bugger wasn't planning on running for national office any time soon.  He talked sense.  Teabaggers'll probably be camped out on his doorstep burning him in effigy any minute now.

But we'll see if they're brave enough to pile on the retired generals who gave John Boehner the spanking of his life:

A group of retired Generals led by former Maine Rep. Tom Andrews (D) accused the House GOP leader John Boehner of putting politics before national security today with his plan to force a vote on a bill that would prevent prisoners from being transferred from Guantanamo Bay to the United States.

The National Campaign To Close Guantanamo called Republican arguments that transferring Gitmo detainees to New York will endanger Americans "fear mongering." In a statement, Andrews pointed to past terror trials in the U.S. as evidence of his claim that the GOP is making political hay in the days since Attorney General Eric Holder announced that terror suspects will be tried in the U.S..

"Since 2001, 195 terrorists have been tried, convicted and locked up in federal supermax prisons on US soil under the Bush and Cheney administration," Andrews said. Boehner and other GOP leaders "never uttered a word of concern and opposition " back then, he continued, "but now that a Democratic President is doing it, the sky is going to fall and America will soon be under attack."

 Proper little Chicken Littles, aren't they?  It's good to see the generals subjecting them to the scorn they so richly deserve.

Let's also not forget just how hard the Cons have flip-flopped on terror.  They've practically turned hypocrisy into an Olympic sport.

You might get the impression that stupidity today's been largely confined to fearmongering on terrorism, but that's not quite the case.  No, the Cons have been busy pouring lighter fluid on the flames of their stupidity.  Why, here they are, whining about the debt they created.  Let's have an educational chart, shall we?

Well, my goodness me, it looks like it's Cons who typically max out the national credit card and then run out without paying the bill.  Shocker, I'm sure.

If you need ammunition against a Born-Again Deficit Virgin, click the link that chart came from.  You'll have all the ammo you could possibly want.

The Tenther movement started with health care reform, but now some Cons are trying to use it to thwart hate-crimes legislation.  All in the name of freedom o' speech, of course, ignoring the fact that what's outlawed isn't speech, but causing actual harm.

And, finally, Sen. Tom Coburn has the dubious distinction of becoming the first Senate Con to jump on the House Cons' little Muslim-bashing bandwagon:

Via Dave Weigel, it looks like Tom Coburn (R-OK) has become the first senator to cast his lot with the group of House Republicans pursuing a campaign against the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Though not explicitly invoked in a new letter to the IRS, the effort stems from purported revelations in the book Muslim Mafia, whose author recently made -- then retracted -- a call for a "backlash" against Muslims in the wake of the Fort Hood shootings.

You stay classy there, Coburn.  Alas, if you're trying to claim the crown for Most Batshit Insane Con, you've got a lot of competition.

Random Observation o' the Day

I'm finally watching Discovering Ardi.  Partway through it, I'm struck by the fact that paleontologist Tim White is practically Vizzini's twin.  It's the mannerisms that really do it.

Look, I was amused.