It's getting really hard to keep up with the insanity pouring from the piehole of ignorant theocratic bully Rick Santorum. Whether proclaiming that birth control leads to immorality and saying states should be allowed to ban it, or claiming that most Christians aren't Christian because they don't adhere to HIS so-called "values," or calling Obama a "phony Christian" (look in a mirror, Rick), he is a fountain of religion-based bigotry.

Now he's going after pre-natal tests — tests that are used by doctors to gather information about the health or the mother and the fetus and make decisions about necessary treatments and interventions.

This weekend at the Ohio Christian Alliance lunch in Columbus that I mentioned in a post yesterday, he said this:

One of the mandates is they require free prenatal testing in every insurance policy in America. Why? Because it saves money in health care. Why? Because free prenatal testing ends up in more abortions and therefore less care that has to be done, because we cull the ranks of the disabled in our society.

Someone should snatch Rick, handcuff him to something, and read this article to him:

http://open.salon.com/blog/sarah_gale/2012/02/19/why_rick_santorum_would...

I wonder if he even has enough of a heart to be moved by it and enough humility to admit he was wrong.

Author Sarah Fister Gale relates the story of her 11-year-old daughter who had Rh factor disease, which occurs when the mother's blood type is negative and the fetus' is positive, resulting in the mother's body attacking the fetus' blood cells. It used to be almost always fatal, resulting in a stillbirth or a baby that died shortly after birth or one that was profoundly handicapped. Now it can be treated if discovered in time.

Gale says,

Congresswoman Betty Sutton

Hundreds of enthusiastic Democratics wedged into the storefront office building at 5734 Ridge Road in Parma Monday afternoon to kick off the Obama campaign in that city. Cars were parking up and down surrounding side streets, as the ample parking lot beside the building filled quickly.

Mayor Tim DeGeeter opened the program by welcoming everyone to Parma — and it’s clear that more different types of people are welcome in Parma now since back in the day when it was known for cross-burnings and white power meetings in German bars. There were a lot of black faces in the crowd.

DeGeeter introduced Congresswoman Betty Sutton who, thanks to GOP gerrymandering, now represents the southern half of Parma as well as other southwestern Cuyahoga cities not currently in her district. May the GOP live to regret their trickery! Sutton is a dynamic speaker who got the crowd fired up and demonstrated her warmth by mingling comfortably and chatting with people afterward. She hit all the right notes, focusing on jobs and the importance of manufacturing to the region.

The special guest speaker was the tiny but feisty Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, now also chairperson of the DCCC, the group tasked with electing Democrats to Congress. A head shorter than the tall, lanky Sutton, Wasserman-Schultz stood on a folding chair so people in the back could see her. She was there to get people even more revved up for Sutton, emphasizing what a tough fighter she is.

Look what a Florida state legislator did a couple of weeks ago:

http://www.commonblog.com/2012/01/31/alec-exposed-for-24-hours/

For the past year, the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has, to its dismay, gotten a lot of publicity and blowback for the fact that it was basically writing legislation like Ohio's union-busting SB 5 and voter suppression bill HB 194, and handing it to its member legislators (aka "stooges") who would introduce this "model legislation" into their legislatures, often verbatim. That's why suddenly we saw so much identical ultra-right-wing, corporate-friendly legislation being introduced across the country: it all had ALEC's fingerprints on it.

ALEC hasn't been too happy about the increased attention it's gotten since it functioned in secrecy for decades. But with idiot stooges like Florida Rep. Rachel Burgin, who needs critics?

All ALEC model resolutions contain a boilerplate paragraph, describing ALEC’s adherence to free market principles and limited government. When legislators introduce one of ALEC’s bills, they normally remove this paragraph. ... Rep. Burgin didn’t do that. Instead she introduced a bill that was the same as the model word-for-word, forgetting even to remove the paragraph naming ALEC and describing its principles.

Oops. Nice work, Rachel.

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2012/02/josh_mandel_to_skip_city...

"Josh Mandel to skip City Club debate among Republican contenders for U.S. Senate seat."

Me! Me!

Damn, why didn't I find some suckers and make some sizable bets on this? How does $10,000 sound?

He's got a "scheduling conflict," says his communications director. More likely, he thinks he's too high and mighty to appear on the same stage with the conglomeration of no-names and Tea Party wingnuts also running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. Plus he would be forced to actually say something, and maybe reveal where he stands on more than two or three issues. You can't fill up your whole time by repeating over and over that you served two tours of duty in Iraq.

There was some good news in this story though. Sez the communications director, "We also informed them that we are committed to participating in the City Club debate with Sen. [Sherrod] Brown this fall."

I can hardly wait!

According to this story, the Empty Suit has been avoiding all local community events, focusing on raising massive amounts of cash out of state. That means that Mandel, without much to run on and an inexperienced debater who's never been known for his outspoken public advocacy of much of anything, won't have had much practice for the big event. I eagerly await his saying to Brown's face that he (Brown) hasn't focused enough on jobs. Brown better be practicing keeping a straight face – before he opens his mouth and blows little Joshie away with actual facts.

This will be a can't-miss event.

Well, OK, it's probably more accurate to say he threw a few more logs on the fire of Crazy. The Crazy was already here.

Last Saturday, Rick Santorum was in Columbus, where he spoke at the so-called "freedom luncheon" of a group called the Ohio Christian Alliance.

Who are they? Here's what their "about us" page says their mission is:

To inform Christians about timely issues and pending legislation
To speak for truth and morality in the public arena
To educate voters through voter guides, score cards, and candidate forums
To train Christian leaders for effective social and political action
To defend the legal rights of Christians against an ever-growing anti-Christian bias

They were doing OK until that last one. It's fascinating how such groups have ratcheted up their paranoia to a delusional level even while they are actively attacking other peoples' faiths.

The group repeatedly talks about its "pro-life/pro-family" agenda, codewords that say nothing while saying everything the religious ultra-right wants to hear.

And here's their current "pro-life/pro-family" agenda:

1) Instilling Knowledge of Founding Documents. Study after study demonstrates that America's schoolchildren have a shocking lack of knowledge when it comes to our nation's history and government. It is foolish to believe these students will grow into active, valuable citizens if we fail to educate them in American History and Government. We support legislation to ensure that Ohio's schoolchildren receive a civics education grounded in our nation and state's founding documents.

2) Ohio's Ban on Human Cloning and Animal-Human Hybrid. This bill would implement stiff penalties and imprisonment on those individuals and laboratories conducting human cloning and/or animal-human hybrid research.

http://www.truth-out.org/how-ohio-gops-attempts-game-voting-rules-backfi...

Former secretary of state Jennifer Brunner has a good piece up at AlterNet, relating the recent history (since 2005) of Republican attempts to screw with voting in Ohio and how their attempts to make voting more difficult have (mostly) backfired.

She goes back to the sadly failed Reform Ohio Now efforts of 2005 (which failed for a lot of reasons, including the calculation of some Democrats, like Cuyahoga County party chair Jimmy Dimora, that keeping the current unfair system of districting would benefit Democrats in 2010 — so they failed to support them).

She believes that the recent mumbling from the GOP about repealing HB 194 — which has already been approved for referendum this November — on their own in the legislature and "replacing" it with God only knows what will back fire too. We'll see. She says that Fair Elections Ohio, of which she is part, is prepared to go to court to challenge any potential end run around a referendum.

She says, "Perhaps the Ohio GOP would be best advised to put its efforts into winning an election than changing its rules."

Unfortunately for them, that would probably require dialing down the crazy, stopping the attacks on women and working people, and offering some pragmatic solutions to real problems like unemployment, foreclosure, and a still-reeling economy. So far, they don't seem inclined to do that.

As the level of hatred, bigotry, and demonization ratchets up to never-before-seen levels in the Republican presidential primary, Newt Gingrich's campaign bus broke down in West Hollywood this week.

http://www.scpr.org/blogs/news/2012/02/16/4709/newt-gingrich-bus-breaks-...

Why is this funny? Every gay man reading this knows. It would be like him breaking down on Detroit Avenue in front of Bounce/Union Station on a Saturday night — multiplied by 100.

As you can see at the link, the locals had great fun with this, tweeting things like "OMG! did a leather daddy put out spike strips?," "I saw the Newt Bus parked next to my hotel Hyatt Andaz yesterday, I put a hex on it. I had no idea my power," and "Is the Newt bus covered in glitter yet?"

Now if only the Santorum campaign bus would break down at the corner of Market and Castro in San Francisco. We could send a chorus line of buff young men in silver lame hot pants to surround it, singing 'It's Raining Men." Pffffft! End of little Rickie. They'd find a splotch of grease and an empty sweater vest where he used to be.

Oh and don't forget to click here: http://spreadingsantorum.com/ and keep this at the top of Google search,

Sharen Neuhardt:The sunflowers are from her campaign website. I did not add them!

In 2008, Dayton-area attorney Sharen Neuhardt ran against Steve “Who?” Austria for the congressional seat in what’s now Ohio’s 7th district and lost. Now Austria himself is on his way out of Congress after two terms. Redistricting pitted him again fellow Republican incumbent Mike “Who?” Turner, and Austria agreed to step aside (It will be interesting to see what cushy gig he gets as a reward). But Neuhardt has decided to try to take on Turner, who has inexplicably skated to victory since 2002, despite doing virtually nothing of note.

http://www.neuhardtforcongress.com/

Turner’s current district is the 3rd, which is now the number assigned to the new Democratic-leaning district in Columbus. The new Dayton district, which includes Montgomery County, Greene County (where Neuhardt lives), and northern Fayette County, is the 10th, now the number of the northeast Ohio district currently served by Dennis! Kucinich.

"Medina County mistake prompts voters to cast wrong primary ballots"

Read on:

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2012/02/medina_county_snafu_prompted_v.h...

The Ohio legislature placed a number of Medina County voters in new congressional districts when it modified the state's already redrawn political boundaries late last year. But election officials didn't know to tell those voters.

So nearly 400 voters may have gotten the wrong ballot. Currently, most of Medina County is in the 16th district, represented by Jim Renacci. Under the new map, some of it is in the new 7th district where Bob Gibbs, currently representing the 18th district, is running. Apparently, there was confusion between the first map released in September and the final map in December.

The new 7th district wraps around the 16th district, going from Canton in the east all the way up to nearly the shores of Lake Erie to take in a bunch of Lorain County. Medina appears to be in the way of that move and these neighborhoods are collateral damage. It's hardly surprising that a confused Board of Elections sends out some incorrect ballots. And it won't be surprising, given the way the districts leap around all over the place, when voters get their ballots and unexpectedly see names they're unfamiliar with, of candidates they may never see if their little piece of the district is small and random enough.

This is one more piece of evidence that the districts were drawn for politicians and not for voters — and one more reason why Ohio needs nonpartisan districting, and needs it as soon as possible.

I am not really sure what the point is, but MoveOn.org has a poll up to decide who it should endorse in the congressional race in the new 3rd district in Columbus.

http://pol.moveon.org/2012c/e/oh03.html?id=35880-21507631-gdtWjFx&t=2

While our overall national election strategy is set by MoveOn members everywhere, decisions about MoveOn endorsements are made by a vote of MoveOn members in the state or district. Because you live in a district with a key race, we're asking you to vote on whether we should make an endorsement. In races with more than two candidates, like this one, the candidate who receives a majority of votes cast will win the endorsement. If no candidate meets our threshold, we won't endorse a candidate.

GIven that the race has four good-to-outstanding Democratic candidates and that the district has packed Democratic voters to the point where the Republican just isn't going to win, this poll seems like an exercise in irrelevance to me. While I'm sure it would be a feather in the cap of a candidate who gets a majority of the vote, I don't exactly see why this is a burning issue for MoveOn.

Also, I am perplexed to see five candidates listed in their poll when the Franklin County Board of Elections lists only four: Joyce Beatty, Ted Celeste, Mary Jo Kilroy, and Priscilla Tyson. Can anyone tell me who Jeff Brown is and why he would be included on a list of candidates but the Franklin BoE apparently doesn't know anything about him and isn't putting him on the ballot?

If you are a fan of any of the candidates, you can vote for them at the link above.

http://fudge.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=231&parentid=8&sectiontree=8,...

Today Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (Oh-11) held a briefing with several of her colleagues — John Conyers of Michigan, John Lewis of Georgia and Democratic whip Steny Hoyer — to address the subject of the swarm of bills attacking voting rights that are infesting state legislatures across the country.

The briefing, titled "The Evolution of Voting Rights in America: The Struggle Continues," was held in conjunction with the Congressional Black Caucus in recognition of Black History Month. But voter suppression is not just a black issue. (Hoyer is white, as are Fudge's colleagues from Ohio Tim Ryan, Betty Sutton, and Marcy Kaptur, who have joined her for previous hearings on the topic). Many of the bills create challenges to voting for students, the elderly, and poor people in general.

Fudge said,

"The disenfranchisement of eligible voters is one of the most pressing issues facing our nation. Changing voting laws to exclude a certain segment of the population is wrong and must not be tolerated. Proponents of suppressive laws say that fraud and cost drive the need for election reforms, but by looking at the kinds of reforms proposed, it is easy to tell the laws have only one true purpose: to suppress predetermined segments of the population. Limiting early voting periods, changing registration processes, eliminating Sunday voting, and limiting vote by mail will make it more difficult for young people, minorities, the disabled, seniors, and individuals with past criminal convictions to exercise their right to vote.

Angela Zimmann, who is running for Congress in Ohio's 5th district to try to unseat Republican incumbent Bob "Who?" Latta, has made it into the final 10 of Democracy for America's Grassroots All-Star competition.

200 candidates entered the first round of voting which concluded on Tuesday. Zimmann finished seventh in the field, along with candidates from Florida (2), California (2), Wisconsin (2), Illinois, New Mexico, and New Hampshire. She has been aggressively promoting the competition since it started.

Today begins the second round of voting to pick the winners from among the ten and continues through midnight, February 28. The winner will get DFA's official endorsement and fundraising assistance.

If you'd like to vote for Angela, go here:

http://www.grassrootsallstars.com/angela-zimmann?t=a_fb

If you'd like to know more about her first, go here:

http://www.facebook.com/zimmannforcongress

or here:

http://zimmannforcongress.com/

We have an interview with Angela in the can which we will be running very soon. She is unopposed in the Democratic primary.

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/how-the-gop-went-back-to-the-1...

Good read here about the Republican effort to impose way outdated sexual mores on contemporary women and how a Santorum backer revealed that the whole dust-up about contraception is indeed about how women should just stop being such sluts.

Will the GOP’s rhetoric Feb. 16 have ramifications felt on Nov. 6? The women on both sides of the aisle agreed that it could — and the polls back them up. After months of Republican fighting about abortion, and weeks of the GOP talking about contraception, Greg Sargent reported on a polling memo showing Obama was leading Mitt Romney 65-30 among unmarried women.

I'd love to see how this demo polls with Obama facing Santorum. I'll bet it's even more of a blow-out. I've been saying for a while that if they keep this up — continue to pass extreme abortion bills, work for a "Personhood" amendment, and now rail against contraception, something virtually every sexual active American supports — that this could motivate women, especially younger, single women who typically vote in lower percentages than most groups, to flock to the polls in November. And that would be bad news for Republicans.

It's like they can't stop themselves from leaping off a 100-story building. It's fascinating and weird. People may enjoy watching Mad Men on TV, but it's doubtful most people would want to go back and live there. As the communications director of Emily's List says in this article, “Darrell Issa, you are no Jon Hamm.”

Nobody's home inside John Mandel's suit

Apparently to distract from Josh “The Empty Suit” Mandel’s endless list of irresponsible actions — missed deadlines, failure to comply with FEC regulations, abdicating his job in favor of high-dollar fundraisers out of state, refusing to share his stances on issues with voters etc. etc. — Republicans have inserted a dinky little story about Sherrod Brown into the state media, and of course, as usual, Ohio’s woeful newspapers bit.

Yesterday, most of them laughably reported that — get ready to be shocked! — Sherrod was late in paying his property taxes on his D.C. apartment.

I’ll give you a minute to pick yourself up off the floor.

I’m not going to link to any of these asinine and irrelevant stories. I’ve been told the National Republican Senatorial Committee — the group tasked with electing Republicans to the U.S. Senate — was behind it. Obviously, they have to use even the most unpromising materials in their attacks because they have been saddled with such an unpromising candidate in Ohio, one that has little to offer voters in the way of accomplishments or a record of policies and ideas he’s advocated. (That’s why we call him The Empty Suit.)

Yesterday it was the Ohio House. Today it was the U.S. House of Representatives putting on a disgraceful spectacle attacking women’s access to contraception. Apparently, the economy is fixed, everyone has a job, and there’s no more poverty.

Unfortunately, this display comes courtesy of a Cleveland, Ohio-born and -raised congressman, Darrell Issa, a Neanderthal from southern California. Today Issa, chairman of the Government Oversight Committee, conducted “hearings” on access to contraception, cynically disguised as a forum on “religious freedom.” Freedom, that is, for conservative religious groups to discriminate against all women who work for an institution run by one of those groups.

Outrageously, if Issa had his way, this so-called “religious freedom” would be extended to ANY employer who claims to have moral or religious misgivings about ANY treatment. But they’re not talking about ANY treatment here: they’re talking about birth control. And that primarily impacts women.

As usual with hearings on such inflammatory topics (remember the hearings back in the ’80s and ’90s on rock and rap lyrics?), there’s nothing sincere or honest here. Issa’s goal was not to gather information and listen to diverse opinions, but rather to do some partisan posturing.

Doubt that? Go to his committee page and read the description of the hearing, cutely named “Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State. Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience?”

http://oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=...

How can this NOT be construed as using tax dollars to campaign?

Issa’s statement is a gem:

Nationally noted education writer Diane Ravitch, a former supporter of charter schools who was open-minded enough to change her mind when she saw the real-life results, wrote a column this week for the Education Week website titled "Desperate Times in Cleveland and Ohio."

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/Bridging-Differences/2012/02/desperate_ti...

In it she sums up how the education policies of the state, exacerbated by Governor Kasich and eagerly supported by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, are shortchanging the state's and city's poorest kids. She talks about a recent trip she made to Cleveland to speak at the City Club, as well as to teacher and adminstrator groups.

She says,

After I spoke to the teachers, one came up and introduced herself as a 4th grade teacher. She said: "Thank you for giving me hope. I wish I could give some to my students. They have no hope for the future." That was the saddest thing I heard on my visit.

Cleveland has a level of urban decay that is alarming. Yet its municipal leaders have decided that their chief problem is bad teachers. Surely, I thought, the teachers didn't cause the flight of employers from the city, the collapse of its manufacturing base, and the massive loss of home mortgages.

Yes, surely. She mentions that Cleveland leaders think the solution is making it easier to fire teachers, to remove seniority and to somehow produce out of thin are "merit pay" for teachers who raise test scores, never mind that they want to shrink the available pool of money, so this "merit pay" is likely to be unaffordable.

And oh, yes, expanding charter schools. It's worth clicking through to see what Ravitch has to say about David Brennan and his ineffective, unaccountable, but self-enriching chain of White Hat charter schools with their education on the cheap.

She concludes,

The following is hilarious; Luis Gutierrez takes Newt Gingrich to task over the hypocrisy in his attempts to advocate for the Catholic Church.

One quote from the video:

"If Newt Gingrich can speak for American Catholics than it's true, in America anything is possible. Just consider what could happen, Maybe Charlie Sheen could become the spokesman for the Temperance Movement."

Check it out...

The City Club of Cleveland held its forum today with the five candidates running for Cuyahoga County prosecutor. If you are planning to vote, and you have not heard the candidates or don't know much about them, a Podcast of the event is online. It is well worth your time to listen.

http://www.cityclub.org/Media/Audio/CityClubPodcast-120215.mp3

You can probably guess that the GOP-controlled state House of Representatives did not spend today discussing how to put people back to work, or how to prevent harmful cuts to education, or how to insure appropriate oversight of tax dollars or ... well, anything that matters to the average Ohioan.

Nope, they spent the day pointlessly parading their seemingly constantly escalating hatred and contempt for women. They held hearing on HCR 35, a resolution sponsored by Republicans Barbara Sears and Peter Stautberg that would "rescind [the] federal rule requiring employee health insurance to include contraception."

WTF.

Once again, as with Issue 3 last November, they cannot legally rescind a federal rule, so this is merely a showboating display of their bottomless meanness and hypocrisy. It's truly jaw-dropping how, only months after unleashing some of the most extreme anti-abortion legislation we've seen in a generation, they're now fighting on every front to take access to contraception away from as many women as possible. They are making it crystal clear that the crocodile tears they cry for "unborn children" are nothing but cynical theater, and that animosity toward woman and not their deep concern for children drives their attempts to strip women of control of their bodies and their lives. These people should be given an electric shock every time they use their favorite catchwords, "liberty" and "freedom." They are working overtime to assure that more than half the people in this country have neither.

NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio's Kellie Copeland was in Columbus today testifying against this atrocity. She says,

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur of Toledo has landed the endorsement of every newspaper in the new 9th district that has endorsed a candidate in the Democratic primary, which pits her against fellow incumbent Dennis Kucinich and political newcomer Graham Veysey. That includes the Toledo Blade, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and the Lorain Morning Journal.

That Kaptur won the Blade's endorsement is not surprising.

http://www.toledoblade.com/Editorials/2012/02/12/Choices-for-U-S-House.h...

The paper says that Kaptur "has been a hard-working and effective advocate of this city, this region, and area residents" and that she has "delivered for her constituents." It calls Kucinich "erratic" and says he has displayed "a shoot-from-the-hip iconoclasm that sometimes has put him at odds with his party's leadership and diminished his effectiveness."

While not endorsing him, the paper praised Veysey, saying,

The other Democrat in the race, businessman and first-time candidate Graham Veysey of Cleveland, does not make an adequate case for displacing the incumbents. But he has useful ideas about economic development in the district and, at age 29, a seemingly bright career in politics if he chooses to pursue it. We hope to hear from him again.

The Lorain Morning Journal barely acknowledged Kucinich in its Sunday endorsement column, other than to describe his "stormy tenure" as Cleveland's mayor and his two "quirky" presidential campaigns.

http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2012/02/12/opinion/mj5727133.txt

It too praised Veysey saying his "grasp of the issues, his clever, low-budget campaign and his willingness to face tall odds to serve are admirable. He has good potential as a future leader."

But it picked Kaptur saying, "Her experience, her low-key, hard-working personal style and her high-profile committee positions will make her best able to serve constituents’ interests effectively."

With Ohio's mainstream daily papers mostly slanted far to the right, progressive blogs have provided a balancing voice — an alternative take on political news — over the last five or six years. At times, we've been the only ones paying attention to significant stories. Sometimes we've pointed out glaring omissions in mainstream coverage of issues. Sometimes we've even broken stories.

I've often wished there were more of us writing, because keeping up the pace when it isn't what you do for a living is difficult. Our output can rise and fall with what's going on in our lives — a problem professional journalists don't face and a key drawback to so-called "citizen journalism."

And sometimes it's time to step away. This blog's founder, Jeff Coryell, moved on after the 2008 election. His successor, Anthony Fossaceca, who is currently running for the state legislature, is about to do the same (I'm sure you've noticed he's been M.I.A. during most of the last year. He's been knocking on doors!)

And over at Plunderbund today, Brian Hester a.k.a. ModernEsquire, has announced that he is ending his stint as a blogger, as his day job as a lawyer began to conflict with his online writing.

http://www.plunderbund.com/2012/02/13/modern-esquire-2005-2012/

Plunderbund often provides in-depth analyses of legislative issues and activities in the governor's office you won't find in the Columbus Dispatch, and Brian's have been some of the most detailed. Although Plunderbund has several other regular writers — their education blogger Greg Mild is one of my favorite writers — he'll be missed.

Meanwhile, down in Cincinnati, journalist Bill Sloat has fired up his keyboard once again, reviving his dormant blog, the Daily Bellwether. It's great to see him posting nearly every day again, sharing professionally researched articles about Cincinnati's political scene.

http://thebellwetherdaily.blogspot.com/

http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-breeding-program-aimed-at-keeping-m...

"New Breeding Program Aimed At Keeping Moderate Republicans From Going Extinct."

HIlarious and on the mark. Although given Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown's leaping aboard the anti-contraception bandwagon, it might be hard to view him as a moderate anymore — or as electable again in Massachusetts.

Oh darn.

Democratic Supreme Court candidate Bill O'Neill has created a funny video, emphasizing one of the main messages he's used in his previous two Supreme Court races as well: the unfortunate influence on money on the Ohio Supreme Court.

In his 2006 race against Justice Terrence O'Donnell, O'Neill's slogan was "No money from nobody." O'Donnell's appeared to be "I'll take money from anybody." He earned a big feature in the New York Times about a month before the election, exposing the fact that he decided in favor of campaign contributors 91 % of the time. He was, of course, reelected.

I'm ambivalent about the value of O'Neill's position. It's principled, but the system needs to be changed. I know there are progressives up in arms because President Obama has said he will be working with a SuperPAC. I'm not among them; I don't believe in unilateral disarmament to uphold lofty principles.

But as far as Ohio Supreme Court races go, everything about the system stinks. It would be hard to have faith that if you had a case against a big campaign donor in the Supreme Court, you could get a fair hearing. And that sense — whether accurate or not — reinforces the belief that our Supreme Court is owned by big money special interests.

Oh, and I also thought it was amusing how O'Neill tossed Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign slogan — "In your heart you know he's right" into his video. It's also amusing that Goldwater, a radical right-winger in 1964, would be considered way too liberal to even stay in the Republican Party today.

You need to have a sense of humor to be a Democrat in Oklahoma. The reliably Republican state is represented in the U.S. Senate by Tom Coburn and James Inhofe, a couple of real pieces of work. It once sent to Congress the infamous Ernest Istook, who lobbied to prevent minors fro getting their hands on birth control (hard to believe that at one point it was only about minors given the sudden dramatic escalation of this particular battle in the war against women). Then asked if he didn't think this would cause more abortions, he said no because if they couldn't get contraception, teenagers would just stop having sex.

Now Oklahoma has decided to up the ante in the "Personhood" sweepstakes. Personhood Amendments have been on the ballot in Colorado (twice) and Mississippi and been defeated. Oklahoma state senator Brian Crain doesn't want to wait for voters to weigh in; he's introduced a Personhood bill into the Oklahoma legislature which would declare that full-fledged "life" as a fully autonomous "person" begins at conception, whenever that is, since it's impossible to tell.

This clown says, ""Most Oklahomans recognize we need to protect the unborn child." It' already passed out of committee by a vote of 5-2.

http://www.news9.com/story/16911385/new-oklahoma-senate-bill-argues-life...

Democratic senator Constance Johnson has fired back with her "life begins at ejaculation" amendment.

http://bit.ly/wEYRO7

Demonstrating the absurdity of trying to assert by law exactly when "life" begins, she proposed to add to the bill,

Any action in which a man ejaculates or otherwise
deposits semen anywhere but in a woman’s vagina shall be interpreted
and construed as an action against an unborn child.

She admitted the amendment was satire, but there's nothing funny about the oppressive original proposal, which would declare a fertilized egg to be a person "with all the

http://www.hslf.org/press-releases/HSLF-endorses-sutton.html

Congresswoman Betty Sutton, running against incumbent Jim Renacci in the new 16th district, has been endorsed by the Human Society Legislative Fund.

“Betty Sutton has been an effective leader in protecting animals and fighting against cruelty throughout her career in the state legislature and in Congress,” said Michael Markarian, president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund. “She is working to protect pets, wildlife, and farm animals, and standing up for the values of kindness and compassion. We urge voters in the 16th District who care about the humane treatment of animals to support Betty Sutton.

Read a list of the legislation she's supported at the link above.

It's clear she's never put her dog in a cage and strapped it to the roof of her car for a 16-hour drive at high speeds. You know — like Mitt Romney, who probably won't be getting any endorsement from the Humane Society any time soon.

http://www.dogsagainstromney.com/