If every scholar were subject to the same scrutiny Churchill was, there would be very few clean hands.

Some of what Churchill did probably goes on all the time. Distorting sources to agree with you and such. But the wholesale fabrication and the lengths he went to to make it happen are just over the top. Ghostwriting sources? Are you freaking kidding me?!?

If I were gay, I'd spend my tourist dollars in Iowa instead</>

As a resident of Iowa, I'm not sure that Vermont might not be more fun. We do have good pork products here though

Monday, I thought Michelle Bachmann was going to have the dumbest thing said all week.

Tuesday, Paglia claimed that conservatives are more fact based than liberals.

Now this.

This just might be the dumbest week ever.

Article 1, section 6

Laws uniform. SEC. 6. All laws of a general nature shall have a uniform operation; the general assembly shall not grant to any citizen, or class of citizens, privileges or immunities, which, upon the same terms shall not equally belong to all citizens.

As I understand it, this is the original 1857 text, which is notable because it predates the 14th amendment by a decade, and because it is worded to be tremendously inclusive. Essentially, the Iowa supreme court could not have ruled any other way. I was discussing the case with one of my colleagues the other day and we both agreed there was no need for a 65 page decision. It could have read in it's entirety "you cannot ban gay marriage, see Article 1, section 6."

Point taken. I suppose we had the agreed caveat that the interpreter not be a right wing whack job.

It's worth noting, also, that there are real concerns here that the decision may not be safe. What has saved it for now is that the Democratic leadership kept the amendment from coming to a vote. I get the impression that it would have passed, even with a democratic majority in both houses, as a fair number of reps/senators are from pretty conservative western districts.

If you can come up with enough legitimizing myths to support your bigotry.

Would it be gauche to drop a Harriet Beecher Stowe reference on him?

I'm not sure that sending a 9 year old on the NYC subway is a great idea, but it does seem like many people are sheltering to the point of really endagering a kid's independence down the road.

I'm guessing most, but where the Republicans have been an utter failure is on the last point- don't just come across as obstructionist. Of course, probably they will just try to sound constructive without being it.

The right wing trolls that come out for the Paglia columns are even more unhinged than usual tonight.

You don't get to walk out on Booth when Texas is talking about seceding.

Booth was subscribing to a tenet of contemporary right wing thought, and your initial statement was simply stupid.

The more I read from about 4 trolls here, the more I wish someone would come out and oppress white guys. Maybe outlaw Nascar and Pontoon boats or something

That the ABA rates nominees on a scale well qualified, qualified, not qualified, and issues split ratings when the committee is not unanimous. Interestingly, Sotomayor got a split qualified/well qualified in her initial appointment, whereas Thomas got a split qualified/unqualified (Both are majority first, then minority). FWIW Souter was a unanimous WQ

But it bears repeating:

Clarence Thomas got a split qualified/unqualified rating from the ABA when he was nominated, which is the worst rating in recent memory, if not ever. FWIW Souter and Alito were Unanimous Well Qualifieds.

Maybe it's time to vote out all of New York's incumbents. It would appear they are all jackasses.

@Juliebird

Yup, Franken grew up in St. Louis park which is a first ring suburb of minneapolis

1. The effect may be, to some extent, part of the continued decline of GOP identification. Over the last 6 months or so, the ranks of GOP voters are way down, leaving only the most hard core. Of course, this would work to Palin's advantage in a primary, since those are the people likely to vote, whereas in the general it hurst.

2. The question, as posed, isn't all that useful since it doesn't ask her relative ranking to other republicans.

Rasmussen has a trial heat poll up that goes 25% Romney, 24% Palin. 22% Huckabee, 14% Gingrich among Republicans (this is from 7/6). Not clear if they had asked this previously or how it compared, but given the zero profile that Romney has had lately, and relatively low Huck profile, this probably isn't great news for Palin. Of course, this is also 2 years out, so a few things could change between now and then.

What she was doing was legal, she should have been able to keep her legal name private, and it shouldn't impact the relationship with her kid.

Munchausen by Cable. The need to constantly provoke the press so that people feel sorry for you.

regardless of who is doing it. Borat had a few funny moments, but they mostly involved the actors (the naked wrestling with his manager for example). Putting the joke on regular folks, just not that funny.

It isn't just SBC. It is also the Steve-O/Bam Margera dichotomy on Jackass. Neither one is exactly Woody Allen, but I found Steve-O funny because most of his humor was (literally) self inflicted. Piercing your own butt cheeks: Comic Gold (I guess). Bam, on the other hand, was all outward directed, and it just felt mean spirited.