- Senate Confirms Federal Judge Who Once Worked at Planned Parenthood
- A 63-33 tally advanced President Obama’s nomination past the 60 votes needed to overcome the GOP filibuster. 11 Republicans joined Democrats to overcome the 60 vote threshold. Gosh, I remember when the Republicans were claiming that filibusters were un-American and unconstitutional. Perhaps they can borrow one of those pocket Constitutions their freshman Tea Party brethren brought to DC, just to brush up?
The Republican plan to filibuster McConnell’s nomination failed, allowing the Senate to then vote 50-44 along party lines to confirm lawyer John McConnell, knowing that he had at one time dared to dally in women’s freedom of choice as director of a Rhode Island Planned Parenthood from 1997 until 2001. He also had the temerity to give to Emily’s list.
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- The U.S. House of Representatives Rapist’s Roll of Shame
- H.R. 3 is supposed to be an anti-abortion bill, but it has a provision that says rape had to be “forced,” as if there can be any other kind of rape. It also brings the IRS into the war against women’s reproductive rights. The avowed purpose is, of course, to prevent funding for abortions in cases of rape and incest. But as well as attacking abortion, H.R. 3 attacks women and supports rape. The prime agent of evil here is the primary sponsor of the bill, Chris Smith (R-NJ)….
- Shadow of the Torturers – NYTimes.com – Paul Krugman
- Once in a while I mention, in passing, that the Bush administration saw torturing people as a plus, not a cost. …
But it’s true — not because they’re sadists, but because it suited their self-image.
From day one of the War on Terror (TM), it was clear that the Bush people reveled in the notion that they were tough guys, willing to Do What Needs to be Done. …
And so they are, inevitably, deeply upset that someone who isn’t a tough guy by their standards seems to be doing a better job of getting the terrorists than they did.
- The big one? | Hullabaloo by digby
- While the news media continues to obsess over the bin Laden operation, an epic disaster is unfolding in slow motion along the Mississippi river. 300-400 percent above average rainfall over the last month has led to massive flooding, evacuations, blowing up levees to protect towns downriver, all kinds of destruction, tragedy and chaos — in the wake of equally epic tornadoes. …
This post by Doug Kahn over [at] Down with Tyranny gives a sweeping overview of the flood and the Mississippi from a historical perspective … It's a fascinating story if somebody wants to tell it.
- A Challenge to the Superintendent in the Texas Cheerleader Assault Case
- My report on the Silsbee, Texas cheerleader assaulted by a high school sports hero and then extensively revictimized by the Hardin County community has occasioned a huge outpouring of concern over a court decision requiring the victim to pay the school’s attorneys’ fees of $45,000. The assessment seems particularly outrageous in view of a court having fined the victim’s assailant only $2,500. I have issued a challenge to Silsbee Schools Superintendent Richard Bain, the details of which are below. We will be publishing a later update as to whether Superintendent Bain and the school’s attorneys have agreed to waive the $45,000 fee, or if they would prefer to have individuals from all over send in one cent each until the $45,000 fee is paid in full.
[My bookmarks live at delicious.com/camryl. In case it needs to be said: I don't agree with every word of everything I link to. Also, signal boosts are awesome! --L.]
The Of interest (Sat, May 7th, 12pm) by Lee Salazar, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Terms and conditions beyond the scope of this license may be available at leesalazar.com.