So the Ferengi media dutifully and solemnly asked President Obama about the usual drek NeoConfederates fling at Democratic Presidents; namely, an accusation of using appeasement in regards to foreign affairs:
I don’t think that turned out the way the questioner intended. By the way, he’ll be easy to spot at the next soiree – he’ll be the one wearing the omelet on his face for asking that question on camera.
OK, perhaps the title “King Of Dunces” will rotate from time to time, but for now, it’s George Allen’s to lose (via TPM and Balloon Juice):
Later on, Allen criticized Kaine for accepting the role of chairman of the Democratic National Committee, saying he should have spent his final year as governor on state priorities, “not the national partisan role of advocating for the likes of, not only President Obama’s policies, but those of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.”
“The likes of President Obama?” Kaine responded.
“Well, the policies and agenda of President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid,” said Allen. “Were you or were you not advocating for their agenda? And their agenda surely wasn’t consistent with what’s in the best interests of the people of Virginia.”
“Wiping out al-Qaeda?” Kaine responded “Stopping the Iraq War? Saving the auto industry? Is that not being consistent with Virginia’s interests? I just see it a different way than you do, George.”
You’ll never believe it, but it actually got worse:
Later in the debate, Allen had a fumble on some basic science. The candidates were asked about conservative proposals to declare that life begins at conception. Kaine opposed this, explaining that it would not only outlaw abortion, but would outlaw contraception such as the birth control pill and intra-uterine devices.
Allen said that defining life as beginning at conception would not outlaw contraception, as “contraception” means stopping conception — that is, preventing fertilization from taking place.
Later on, there was this awkward exchange with a moderator:
Moderator: Could you tell us, how do you think birth control pills and intra-uterine devices work?
Allen: I’m not – I don’t profess to be a doctor. i’m just using logic of — maybe a little bit of Latin, that contraception means it stops conception – and so you do not have a fertilized egg.
Moderator: Don’t they work by preventing implantation of a fertilized egg?
Allen: Well if the egg is not fertilized, there is not conception.
When Kaine’s turn came up to speak, he explained that the common birth control pill works by a dual mechanism — both preventing fertilization, and preventing successful implantation when fertilization does occur. Also, he added, intra-uterine devices work singly by preventing implantation.
Note to the Ferengi Controlled Media: THIS is how you ask questions of a political candidate.
Via ABL, the story about someone who though President Obama hadn’t done anything for her – until:
As more and more people find out about the benefits of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Republicans are going to find it difficult to continue the “Repeal Obaaaaahmaacare” siren song. And the fact that health insurers are cutting their lobbying costs because theDepartment of Health and Human Services has stated that such lobbying costs cannot be counted as providing healthcare is just icing on the cake.
I agree. Nothing tends to turn people around about things faster than personal experience.
From the whitehouse.gov site:
Sometimes, watching what appears to be the literal devolution of the Republican party to the cheers of the 27 percenters saddens me. Not because the GOP doesn’t deserve it; a Whig-like slide into obscurity is richly deserved. Rather, it is because so many among our citizenry have become addicted to the Two Minutes Hate. Then I see news like this:
This summer, William Gheen of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC appeared on the Janet Mefferd program where he declared that President Obama had become a dictator with plans to create a police state and use undocumented immigrants to wage war on “White America.”
Gheen went on to suggest that there was no “peaceful, political recourse” to Obama’s dictatorship and so people might need to start contemplating “some type of extra-political activities that I can’t really talk about because they’re all illegal and violent.”
Today, Gheen sent out an email to supporters reporting that due to anemic fundraising, ALIPAC is on the verge of being forced to shut down operations:
I’ll pass on including an excerpt of the email – suffice to say that Mr. Gheen has some issues, and even with the lunacy that passes for Republican/”conservative” politics at the moment, there is (at least for now) a bridge some of them won’t cross.
My Ready Room 