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"She's brilliant and she's dedicated, she's tough. She also happens to be, by far, the best looking attorney general." -- President Obama, quoted by the Washington Post, on California Attorney General Kamala Harris (D). Yes, it was a comment, and yes, a compliment, on Harris' appearance. But it is also a joke. He said it to get a laugh and a cheer. He obviously did not say it to belittle her, as some who are yelling sexism are saying. To the contrary, he said as a joke, or a bonus, after he listed Harris' true and most relevant characteristics.

Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert of Texas opposes gun control because gay marriage leads to bestiality.

In fact, I had this discussion with some wonderful, caring Democrats earlier this week on the issue of, well, they said "surely you could agree to limit the number of rounds in a magazine, couldn't you? How would that be problematic?" [...] And I pointed out, well, once you make it ten, then why would you draw the line at ten? What's wrong with nine? Or eleven? And the problem is once you draw that limit ; it's kind of like marriage when you say it's not a man and a woman any more, then why not have three men and one woman, or four women and one man, or why not somebody has a love for an animal? There is no clear place to draw the line once you eliminate the traditional marriage and it's the same once you start putting limits on what guns can be used, then it's just really easy to have laws that make them all illegal.

You know, I get that conservatives, by their very nature and by definition, are supposed to fight change. That's their role. And I understand that opposing these very popular, very sane and very reasonable changes in our society can be very difficult, especially when you have no logical or understandable reason for it, which is why these insane conservatives often sound insane and delusional. It is because they have no logical or rational reason to oppose these changes. But they must oppose them, because they are conservatives, and so they have to come up with a reason. The problem for today's conservatives is that they let the very dim bulbs of their movement speak too often. Gohmert. Steven King. Sarah Palin. Michele Bachmann. They speak way too often. Probably because the smart and intelligent conservatives are way too embarrassed to be speaking out against change anymore.

PPP did their weekly national poll this week on Conspiracy Theories. This is sometimes cringe-worthy, but pretty hysterical. Take a look at the state of mind of Americans:

Pandora mentioned this in the open thread yesterday, but I think it deserves more attention. For we here at Delaware Liberal are ready to criticize the both Congressman John Carney and Senator Tom Carper for their centrist corporatist tendencies on any given day, we should at least recognize them when they do what we want. But first, allow me to put on my cynical and analytical hat and note that both waited until it was absolutely clear that there would be no negative political and electoral ramifications for coming out (pun intended) in support of marriage equality. Indeed, I suspect they both acted this week because it became clear that there would be negative political and electoral ramifications for not supporting marriage equality in this deeply blue state. While I do respect an 'evolution' of position on this issue since I myself was once a "yes civil unions no gay marriage" kind of guy, I also admire someone who just came out and said he was for marriage equality, period. That was Chris Coons in 2010. I am glad Carney and Carper saw fit to join him.

Jedi Knight is now the biggest religion among "other religions" in Great Britton - so I guess there will be a lot of bowing in the direction of Coruscant in…

These helpful tips were written with entrepreneurs in mind, but they have a lot of utility as general life tips.

Ten Tips Guaranteed to Improve Your Startup Success 1) Be raised with access to clean drinking water and sanitation. (Every tech billionaire I've ever spoken to has a toilet!) 2) Try to be born in a region that is politically and militarily stable. 3) Grow up with a family that is as steady and secure as possible. 4) Have access to at least a basic free education in core subjects. 5) Avoid being abused by family members, loved ones, friends or acquaintances during the formative years of your life.

The next five are good as well.

A small sampling of polls showing a close race in Virginia for governor, a blowout in New Jersey, a tightening Senate primary in Massachusetts, and yet another poll showing that pretty much every single American alive today supports background checks.

I have a new thing. Whenever I see "Fish Taco" on a menu I order it. So far - after an infinitesimally small number of tests (3) - Dogfish on Rehoboth Ave is in the lead. The fish was great, and the cabbage salad had a nice tang to it. And yet, this fish taco is easily beatable by anyone who combines nice fresh fish, a decent tortilla and and some imaginative savory/sweet salad. Fins on Rehoboth Ave was pretty weak - but at least the fish was good. That same can't be said for Mango's in Bethany which was a train-wreck wrapped around a few Mrs. Paul's fish sticks. The fish taco appetizer at Iron Hill was equally weak but for more for lack of trying than crappy ingredients. Had I known that I was going to be doing this feature I'd have paid more attention to why I didn't like it. So hook me up. Bookmark this post and let me know if you find a good one. Thanks!