Last night, perennially bronzed Speaker of the House John Boehner was forced to abandon “Plan B,” his “solution” to the “fiscal cliff,” after failing to get enough Republican support to bring it to a vote. Ouch. Kinda embarrassing. But what was Plan B? And what is the significance of its failure? When I saw first saw that Plan B was all over the Twitter and the interwebs, I assumed everyone was talking about emergency contraception. Turns out, in an attempt to avoid automatic tax hikes scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, Boehner was proposing extending current tax rates for all Americans earning up to $1 million annually, as opposed to Obama’s income cut-off of $400,000.
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Expert Shit-Talker Donald Trump Sues Miss Pennsylvania for Talking Shit
Donald Trump has successfully sued former Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin for defaming his Miss Universe pageant by claiming the whole contest was rigged. The case went to arbitration and a very fair-minded judge ordered Monnin to pay the totally reasonable sum of $5 million to Donald’s humble org. Just to put this amount into context, the average payout from the September 11th Fund was $1.8 million.
In a statement, Trump said, “We cannot allow a disgruntled contestant to make false and reckless statements which are damaging to the many people who have devoted their hearts and souls to the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageant systems….While I feel very badly for Sheena, she did the wrong thing. She was really nasty, and we had no choice. It is an expensive lesson for her.”
Poor Trump. If anyone knows about defamation, it’s Donald, who dabbles in it almost daily. I’d like to do my own arbitration on some of Trump’s most egregious cases; just imagine me wearing a judicial robe while I dish out some fines.
Some Nutjobs Think Hillary Clinton Faked Her Concussion
Today, the State Department released its internal investigation into BenghaziGate, which cited “systemic failures” and resulted in the resignation of three officials. But where, oh, where, is the Madame Secretary of State? Hillary Clinton was scheduled to testify tomorrow about the Libyan tragedy, and the GOP is adamant that she does so. But an immunologically defiant Hillary will stay at home, recovering from the concussion she sustained last week when she had a stomach virus, became dehydrated and fainted. Sure, Deputy Secretaries of State Bill Burns and Tom Nides will testify in her place. And, sure, she is reading the report from home and promises to follow its recommendations. And, sure, resting is standard doctor-recommended post-concussion procedure. But is that really all there is to the story?
The right-wing truth-tellers (RWTT™) may have caught Clinton in a devious lie. Fox’s Megan Kelly and Monica Crowley as well as The Daily Caller‘s Jim Treacher have all suggested that Hillary is faking her illness to avoid testifying about Benghazigate. And John Bolton, the notoriously charming Bush-appointed ambassador to the UN, said, “You know, every foreign service officer in every foreign ministry in the world knows the phrase I am about to use. When you don’t want to go to a meeting or conference, or an event, you have a ‘diplomatic illness,’ … And this is a diplomatic illness…” Ah ha! An experienced fake-sicker, John Bolton knows playing hooky when he sees it.
Infographic: women represent
November 6, 2012 was truly historic. For the first time ever, the 20% of the United States Senate will be female. Of course, that’s far from the 50% that would mark a truly representative democracy. But here’s what it looks like.
Breaking news: first openly bisexual person elected to Congress
The election was too close to call before, but as of today, Kyrsten Sinema has defeated Tea Partier Vernon Parker in Arizona’s 9th Congressional District. Sinema is the only openly bisexual person in the Senate or the House, though she joins fellow LGBT officials like Senator Tammy Baldwin, and Reps. Jared Polis of Colorado, David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Mark Takano of California.
Obama responds to letter from girl with two dads
So, first there is this totally adorable and moving hand-written letter by 10-year old Sophia Bailey Klugh, who has two dads. (See the hand written letter and drawing below the jump). Sophia explains, “I am so glad that you agree two men can love each other because I have two dads and they love each other, but at school kids think that it’s gross and weird, but it really hurts my heart and feelings.” She then asks, “If you were me and you had two dads that loved each other and kids at school teased you about it, what would you do?”
And guess what! Obama wrote Sophia back. His advice: “A good rule is to treat others the way you hope they will treat you. Remind your friends at school about this rule if they say something that hurts your feelings.”
Musical Parody: “(Mitt’s got a) Fast Car”
This is a music video parody I made of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” It’s sung from the perspective of Seamus, the Romney dog who was strapped to the top of the car. It’s meant to be funny but actually speaks to the insensitivity of Mitt Romney. It’s the same insensitivity that caused him to state that he doesn’t really care about 47% of the country. It’s the same insensitivity that allowed him to continue endorsing Richard Mourdock, even after he said that that a pregnancy resulting from rape is “something God intended.” It’s the same insensitivity that made him say “I didn’t know you [LGBT people] had families.” It’s the same insensitivity we saw when he endorsed “self deportation” for immigrants.
Bette Midler Defies Hurricane, Fights Climate Change
Bette Midler knows that even when it comes to Hurricane Sandy, the show must go on. And so must her annual masquerade Hulaween — a major fundraiser for the New York Restoration Project. The nonprofit reclaims and restores New York City parks, community gardens, and open spaces throughout the five boroughs. Sandy makes the work of NYRP even more urgent.
When I asked Midler, dressed as the corpse of CoCo Chanel to go with the evening’s French theme, whether “super” hurricanes like Sandy will change the minds of climate change deniers, she said: “I have no idea. But I know, I know in my heart, the truth. And I will not be swayed. And you know what, if people knew simple physics, they would understand it as well.”
Midler told Us Weekly, “We had no idea that this was gonna happen of course, that we were gonna have the devastation of Sandy. But there’s never been a time where our organization is needed more.” […]
What Romney would do about Hurricane Sandy: not much
I’m writing from Manhattan, where the winds are roaring and we’re awaiting the full-on arrival of Hurricane Sandy, which has already flooded parts of the city, this photo of Red Hook Brooklyn shows, as well as New Jersey. As any responsible president would do, President Obama has declared a state of emergency in 7 states and DC, allowing them to receive federal funds for emergency disaster assistance. But WWRD? What Would Romney do? Probably not a whole lot.
During a June GOP debate, when asked about federal disaster relief for tornado and flood victims, Mitt Romney said that Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) should be privatized. It is, Romney argued, actually “immoral” for the federal government to spend money to provide disaster relief.
Finally, SOMEONE has the guts to blame Sandy on the gays!
Thank God. I mean, literally, you can thank god for bringing on Hurricane Sandy. Of course god isn’t just some sadistic schmuck, wreaking havoc for the sake of it. He’s trying to wake us up to a danger that is infinitely greater than any natural disaster you could imagine: homosexuality. I can’t take credit for this insight into god’s motives. It comes from author and Chaplain John McTernan, who also moonlights as a meteorological analyst.
During Hurricane Isaac, McTernan hypothesized, “It could be that God is putting an end to this city and its wickedness,” since “New Orleans is still hosting Southern Decadence with open homosexuality manifesting in the streets of the city.” And he warned “Let’s all watch this very closely, because if New Orleans is destroyed, it is a sure sign that the final judgment for the national sin of America has arrived.” New Orleans survived, so that wasn’t the final judgement.
katiehalper.com 