Wednesday Open Thread

Welcome to your Wednesday open thread. I’ve been having a really lonely week at work. I did get to talk to an actual person yesterday, so, progress! It is amazing how much you can get done when not constantly in meetings.

Hahahahahaha *breathe* hahahahahaha. Freshman GOP Rep. Andy Harris didn’t get the committee assignment he wanted.

Here’s a story that might give you a holiday chuckle:

WASHINGTON — Rep.-elect Andy Harris won’t be on the front lines in the GOP fight to repeal health care reform, as he had hoped.

The Maryland Republican didn’t get his top choice for a committee assignment, the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over public health issues.

OK, well, so what?

Wait, there’s more!

Harris, who campaigned on an anti-Obamacare platform, made news last month when he asked during a freshman orientation class why it would take so long for his government health insurance to kick in. The question, first reported by Politico, has become a running joke here, with David Waldman of the liberal Congress Matters website keeping a daily countdown of how many days Harris must wait “for his sweet, sweet government health care.”

Reigrut said he doubts the negative publicity affected Harris’ chances of getting on the Energy and Commerce Committee, citing the high number of incoming Republican freshmen as a more likely reason.

The annual conservative conference CPAC, may have gay cooties!

The feuding on the right continues over the gay conservative group GOProud, with two more social conservative groups announcing that they won’t attend the big Conservative Political Action Conference this February — in part because the gay group is participating.

As the right-wing World Net Daily reports:

“We’ve been very involved in CPAC for over a decade and have managed a couple of popular sessions. However, we will no longer be involved with CPAC because of the organization’s financial mismanagement and movement away from conservative principles,” said Tom McClusky, senior vice president for FRC Action.

“CWA [Concerned Women for America] has decided not to participate in part because of GOProud,” CWA President Penny Nance told WND. [Ed. note: Penny Nance’s title is chief executive officer of CWA. Another individual, Wendy Wright, holds the title of president.]

A few other social conservative organizations — including the National Organization for Marriage, which was at last year’s conference — have also withdrawn from the event.

It will be interesting to see if the right is giving up on the LGBT rights front or if this is just temporary. I have to believe that social conservative voters make up a big part of the GOP base, much more than LGBTs.