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Billie Holiday - Good Morning Heartache Today would have been...

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 13:50:20 -0400

Billie Holiday - Good Morning Heartache

Today would have been her 100th birthday. An excuse to post some Lady Day?

I’ll take it.

Obama urges Walker to 'bone up on foreign policy'

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 11:38:04 -0400

Obama urges Walker to 'bone up on foreign policy':

(Steve Benen) From a purely electoral perspective, it’s interesting to see President Obama go after Scott Walker by name – again.

Mark Kirk will back Loretta Lynch, assuring confirmation

Thu, 02 Apr 2015 16:20:34 -0400

Mark Kirk will back Loretta Lynch, assuring confirmation:

Attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch won’t need Vice President Joe Biden’s vote after all. Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, who was complimentary of Lynch after meeting with her last month, said at a Thursday event in Chicago that he would vote to confirm her. He becomes the fifth Republican to publicly support Lynch…

And Lynch is a lock.

Photo

Tue, 24 Mar 2015 17:50:57 -0400

Video Shows Dallas Police Shooting Schizophrenic Man Within Seconds Of Knocking On His Door

Tue, 17 Mar 2015 11:47:51 -0400

Video Shows Dallas Police Shooting Schizophrenic Man Within Seconds Of Knocking On His Door:

(ThinkProgress) Harrison’s mother had called the police for help getting her mentally ill son to the hospital.

Ferguson police chief resigns

Wed, 11 Mar 2015 17:05:51 -0400

Ferguson police chief resigns:

(The Hill) The resignation follows a report that found police discriminated against black residents.

Clinton leads Walker in Wisconsin

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 18:40:52 -0400

Clinton leads Walker in Wisconsin:

(PPP) PPP’s newest Wisconsin poll finds that Scott Walker’s recent actions have significantly increased enthusiasm among Republicans in the state for his White House bid- but also left him well behind Hillary Clinton in a potential general election match up.

Overall only 35% of voters in Wisconsin want Walker to run for President, compared to 58% who don’t think he should run. Those findings are pretty much par for the course for a Presidential candidate in their own state- voters are rarely enthusiastic about their native sons aiming for the White House.

Walker’s approval numbers have also significantly dipped over the last few months though. Right before the election last fall we found him with a 49/47 approval spread. That’s now dropped to 43/52. His numbers with both Democrats and Republicans are pretty much where they were four months ago. But he’s seen a large decline with independents- where he was on narrowly positive ground with them before the election at a 48/45 spread, he’s now dropped down to 36/57. The new right to work law is likely part of what’s causing Walker problems- only 42% of voters support it, pretty much mirroring his approval rating.

Walker trails Hillary Clinton 52/43 in a hypothetical contest. When we tested the same match up in September of 2013, he was only down 49/44. It’s not just Clinton that Walker trails though- he would also be down 48/45 when matched against Joe Biden or Elizabeth Warren. For the most part this year we’ve been finding Biden and Warren trailing even in places where Clinton’s leading, but against Walker in Wisconsin they all have an advantage.

Madison police shoot and kill black teen; protests...

Sat, 07 Mar 2015 10:17:42 -0500

Madison police shoot and kill black teen; protests follow

(Wisconsin State Journal) A Madison police officer shot and killed a black teenager Friday night after the youth allegedly assaulted the officer, according to media reports.

The 19-year-old was shot shortly before 6:30 p.m. in the 1100 block of Williamson St., the Wisconsin State Journal reported. Protesters took to the streets near the scene, claiming the shooting was unjustified, according to WMTV in Madison.

Madison Police Chief Michael Koval told the newspaper that officers were responding to a call of a man who was responsible for a battery jumping in and out of traffic.

According to the newspaper, Koval said an officer went to an apartment that the man had gone into and made a forced entry after hearing a disturbance inside.

The officer was then assaulted by the man before shooting him, said Koval, who also said he did not know if the man was armed.

According to a post on the website of WISC-TV in Madison, the man who was shot was black.

The teen has been identified as 19 year old Tony Robinson, pictured above.

Feingold to travel Wisconsin ‘extensively’ ahead of potential Senate bid

Tue, 03 Mar 2015 15:31:18 -0500

Feingold to travel Wisconsin ‘extensively’ ahead of potential Senate bid:

(Washington Post) The former senator sounds like he is gearing up for a run.

I really wish Russ hadn’t sat out the two gubernatorial races. He had a damned good shot at running and, to be honest, a warm cinderblock could probably beat Ron Johnson in 2016. Still, it would be nice to see him back in the Senate, kicking ass and taking names.

Cardinal Dolan finally makes sense: Comparing ISIS to Christian terrorists is an ‘accurate’ analogy

Tue, 03 Mar 2015 11:12:39 -0500

Cardinal Dolan finally makes sense: Comparing ISIS to Christian terrorists is an ‘accurate’ analogy:

(Raw Story) Cardinal Dolan, one of the most conservative and outspoken Catholic leaders in the U.S., on Tuesday echoed President Barack Obama by drawing a “parallel” between ISIS and Christian terrorists.

At the National Prayer Breakfast earlier this year, the president had reminded Christians not to get on a “high horse” while denouncing Islamic terrorism because their religion had also been perverted to justify slavery and the Crusades.

“These extremist do not represent genuine Islamic thought,” Dolan told CNN host Chris Cuomo on Tuesday. “Even the majority of temperate, peace-loving Muslims would say, ‘I’m afraid they have a particular strand of erroneous Islam.’ But I do think they are. They are distorting it.”

“You know the parallel I’ve drawn?” he continued. “And enough people have been kind enough to tell me they think the analogy is accurate. Remember 30-35 years ago with the IRA in Ireland? The IRA claimed to be Catholic. And they were baptized, they had a Catholic identity. What they were doing was a perversion of everything the church stood for.”

“The analogy I think is somewhat accurate. These are not pure — these are not real Muslims.”