Mad In The Middle

Creepy Ricky On Abortion

2012-01-27T19:42:00.001-05:00

Rick Santorum On Opposition To Abortion In Cases Of Rape: 'Make The Best Out Of A Bad Situation'

GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum explained his opposition to abortion even in cases of rape during an interview Friday, saying that women who face such circumstances should "make the best out of a bad situation..."

There's more red meat for the crazies at the link.

Toad Analysis Well-Broiled

2012-01-27T16:26:00.001-05:00

Deconstructing a Demagogue - NYTimes.com

...Gingrich, as he showed in a gasping effort in Thursday night’s debate in Florida, is a demagogue distilled, like a French sauce, to the purest essence of the word’s meaning. He has no shame. He thinks the rules do not apply to him. And he turns questions about his odious personal behavior into mock outrage over the audacity of the questioner.
After inventing, and then perfecting, the modern politics of personal destruction, Gingrich has decided now to bank on the dark fears of the worst element of the Republican base to seize the nomination — using skills refined over four decades...

Well. I think Jesse Helms really invented this personal destruction gambit back when he first ran for office, but Newt knows how to do it for sure.

Lying Liars Lying Lies About Each Other

2012-01-27T16:03:00.001-05:00

Gingrich professes shock at Romney’s ‘dishonest’ debate performance - The Washington Post

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich said Friday that the reason he seemed less combative during Thursday’s televised debate was that he was shocked by what he described as rival Mitt Romney’s “totally dishonest” replies to several questions...

Gingrich Family Values

2012-01-27T13:04:00.000-05:00

"Gingrich Family Values: Using daughters from your first wife to convince everyone that your second wife is lying about your third wife."---from a Facebook post by Nathan Crawford attribted to a Yahoo commenter.

Bill Clinton Redux

2012-01-26T23:22:00.001-05:00

Time to bring back Bill Clinton - The Washington Post

...It is tit for tat all the way when it comes to those two. Still sick, after all these years, of Clinton and his melodrama? Who can say that with a straight face and not be equally tired of Gingrich? Still feeling queasy about the character questions surrounding the Arkansas traveler’s sexual behavior? How does that hurt him in a world where Pope Limbaugh pronounces that it was a “mark of character” for Newt to ask his second wife for permission while cheating on her. If nothing else, Clinton vs. Gingrich might banish from campaign rhetoric all pious baloney about sex. Not a word could be uttered about Clinton’s impeachment, not with the hindsight that the married Javert of the House was at the same time fooling around with an aide named Callista down at the agriculture committee...

Questions Of Respect

2012-01-26T18:10:00.001-05:00

Jan Brewer vs. Obama: Can you respect the presidency but insult the president? - CSMonitor.com

Class Warfare Or Just Jealousy?

2012-01-26T15:23:00.001-05:00

Jonathan Weiler: Mitt Romney and the Politics of Envy

...The growth in economic inequality and wealth concentration in America has become an ever more incontrovertible fact. Thanks in substantial measure to Occupy Wall Street, wealth distribution has made its long overdue entry into the mainstream of American political discourse. In response, Republicans in general and Mitt Romney in particular have fallen back on a single, simple "insight" to explain the traction of wealth distribution as a galvanizing political issue: envy.
In a recent interview, NBC's Matt Lauer asked Romney whether "anyone who questions the policies and practices of Wall Street and financial institutions, anyone who has questions about the distribution of wealth and power in this country is envious? Is it about jealousy or fairness?"...

Follow The Lies

2012-01-26T14:49:00.001-05:00

Gingrich Campaign: Newt Was Wrong - The Daily Beast

Tough Questions In AZ Race

2012-01-26T14:35:00.001-05:00

Arizona Candidate’s English Under Challenge - NYTimes.com

Mr. Third Person Rips The Toad

2012-01-26T14:31:00.001-05:00

Bob Dole blasts Newt Gingrich

Former GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole is unleashing a torrent of criticism at Newt Gingrich, saying he was a "one man band" who always wanted "his way or the highway."
In an open letter released by Mitt Romney's campaign, Dole comes out swinging against Gingrich just five days before the Florida primary. The GOP presidential candidates meet at 8 p.m. ET tonight in their latest debate...

Today's Toad News

2012-01-25T11:23:00.001-05:00

Newt Gingrich rips Nancy Pelosi’s ‘strange fantasies’ - Tim Mak - POLITICO.com

Saying that Nancy Pelosi “lives in a San Francisco environment of strange fantasies,” Newt Gingrich on Wednesday dismissed the House Democratic leader’s odd claim that she knows something that will prevent him from becoming president...

Newt Gingrich vs. John King, Round 2 - MJ Lee - POLITICO.com

Newt Gingrich unleashed on John King once again about CNN’s decision to start the Republican presidential debate last week with a question about his ex-wife, telling him in an interview Tuesday evening, “You didn’t have to take the bait...”

Hoping For Unions

2012-01-24T17:58:00.001-05:00

Is the union movement making a comeback? - CNN.com

...But the fate of unionism is all about class power in American society and the ideologies that motivate those who either defend or defame these institutions. The Occupy Wall Street protests have moved issues of economic inequality closer to the top of the contemporary political agenda, but it's the unions -- in their sometimes plodding and prosaic fashion -- that have long ameliorated the stark disparities of wealth and income that an unfettered capitalism so naturally produces.
Tax fairness is a big political issue this campaign season, but of far greater impact on the distribution of American wealth and power is the existence of a union movement and the prospect that it might one day grow again...

Mitt Gets Semi-Tough

2012-01-23T10:33:00.001-05:00

Gingrich and Romney Trade Jabs as G.O.P. Race Rolls On - NYTimes.com

Mitt Romney, facing a restive Republican Party and a resurgent Newt Gingrich, opened a combative new phase of the presidential campaign on Monday and warned of the prospect of an “October surprise” if Mr. Gingrich emerged as the party’s nominee...

The Corruption Of High Education

2012-01-22T11:08:00.001-05:00

How Big-Time Sports Ate College Life - NYTimes.com

...It is that point — “this commercial thing” in the middle of academia, as Charles T. Clotfelter, a public policy professor at Duke, put it — that some believe has thrown the system out of kilter. In his recent book “Big-Time Sports in American Universities,” Dr. Clotfelter notes that between 1985 and 2010, average salaries at public universities rose 32 percent for full professors, 90 percent for presidents and 650 percent for football coaches...

Mitt Looks To FL

2012-01-22T10:58:00.001-05:00

South Carolina Raises New Doubts About Republican Contest - NYTimes.com

...The confidence that carried Mr. Romney into South Carolina 12 days ago with two victories under his belt was gone by Saturday. He limps away from the state Sunday with one win fewer and primary results that have started turning the race into exactly what he did not want it to be: a faceoff against a conservative candidate.

O v. The Unrisen Jobs

2012-01-21T22:01:00.001-05:00

The comment thread at this post is really interesting, in a dumb-as-rocks sort of way. Obama sparred with Steve Jobs over outsourcing - POLITICO.com

Christian Conundrum

2012-01-21T16:04:00.001-05:00

The evangelical dilemma in South Carolina: adulterer or Mormon? | The Ticket - Yahoo! News

For South Carolina conservatives, especially evangelical Christians, the 2012 campaign season is the year of magical rethinking. Look at the frontrunners:
If you want a president with a legacy of marital fidelity, you're going to have to work around Newt Gingrich's adultery.
If you believe that Mormons don't really qualify as Christian, you may find yourself struggling with Mitt Romney.
Of course, there's also Rick Santorum and Ron Paul. Then you just have to convince yourself either man can win; the probability fluctuates from week to week....

Bricks And Bibles

2012-01-21T15:57:00.001-05:00

Protesters Throw Bricks and Bibles at Police in San Francisco - ABC News

Good (Piracy) Question

2012-01-21T15:04:00.001-05:00

If feds can bust Megaupload, why bother with anti-piracy bills? - CSMonitor.com

Religion And Politics

2012-01-21T12:46:00.001-05:00

The Confluence: Another Reason to Go to Washington DC

...We can not continue to govern ourselves in a modern world using the texts of a tribal people from 3000 years ago. There are a lot of things we don’t do in this country because we recognize them as barbaric and cruel. We don’t burn witches, beat children in school, own slaves or prevent women from voting. We figured out that these things were wrong and we civilized ourselves. It is now time to put The Scriptures in their proper historical context and free ourselves from their ancient rules and regulations that no longer apply to a modern people. Failure to do so means we will fail to evolve as a civilized society. That doesn’t mean you have to give up your belief in God. It means your definition of God will get bigger and more awesome. God stops being irrational, jealous, vengeful, a capricious, mysterious enigma, a fudge factor in the equation of the universe. Or it may mean that you can navigate through the world using your own resources and with greater attention to the suffering of the men and women around you because their hardships are not always the result of sin or some supernatural plan. Sometimes, those hardships are the result of injustice, ignorance, cruelty or just a series of unfortunate events...

It's A Male Problem

2012-01-20T20:53:00.001-05:00

Ultra-Orthodox Jews and the Modesty Fight - NYTimes.com

...It seems, then, that a religious tenet that begins with men’s sexual thoughts ends with men controlling women’s bodies.
This is not a problem unique to Judaism. But the Talmud, the basis for Jewish law, offers a perhaps surprising answer: It places the responsibility for controlling men’s licentious thoughts about women squarely on the men.
Put more plainly, the Talmud says: It’s your problem, sir; not hers...

Amen.

The Sound Of Chickens...

2012-01-20T12:23:00.001-05:00

...coming home to roost. Newt the Toad tries channeling his inner Rush but I doubt he sways any unbelievers.

Newt Gingrich’s Alleged Open Marriage Request Sparks Outburst Towards John King at GOP Debate

...Gingrich allegedly asked her to share him with a congressional aide, all while skewering President Bill Clinton for his own extramarital affairs. The former speaker also allegedly called Marianne to say good night while sleeping next to his mistress—and now third wife—Callista....

O'Apologist Vents

2012-01-20T12:16:00.001-05:00

Andrew Sullivan: How Obama's Long Game Will Outsmart His Critics - The Daily Beast

...And what have we seen? A recurring pattern. To use the terms Obama first employed in his inaugural address: the president begins by extending a hand to his opponents; when they respond by raising a fist, he demonstrates that they are the source of the problem; then, finally, he moves to his preferred position of moderate liberalism and fights for it without being effectively tarred as an ideologue or a divider. This kind of strategy takes time. And it means there are long stretches when Obama seems incapable of defending himself, or willing to let others to define him, or simply weak. I remember those stretches during the campaign against Hillary Clinton. I also remember whose strategy won out in the end...
Gaseous vapors notwithstanding, Mr.Sullivan bends history to suit his vision. Obama did not win the nomination; Clinton received more votes. Like all his laurels, Obama was given the nomination by a corrupt process. Sullivan may think Obama is a master of the eleven-stack chessboard; I think he is more like grey water seeking the path of least resistance as gravity forces it to the sewer.

Huh. SOPA Love

2012-01-19T20:52:00.001-05:00

Click the link to follow along.

I hope SOPA passes.

Abortions Higher When Illegal

2012-01-19T15:57:00.001-05:00

Abortion more common where it's illegal: Where are rates highest? - HealthPop - CBS News

Abortion rates are highest where the procedure is illegal, according to a new study. The study also found nearly half of all abortions worldwide are unsafe, with the vast majority of unsafe abortions occurring in developing countries...