Sunday Open Thread [2.17.13]

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Last weekend, I watched all thirteen episodes of the new series House of Cards on my Netflix Streaming Account. If you are a political junkie, this is a great show for you to watch, much like the West Wing was. Although it is much darker, and more evil. Indeed, I described it on Facebook as the Evil West Wing. Here are a few clips:

Ultrasound bill a ‘priority’ for Wisconsin Republicans

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What they lack in human decency, they make up for with tunnel vision.
“We have a pro-life Legislature, pro-life governor in Scott Walker and a pro-life attorney general (J.B. Van Hollen). We can all wrap our arms around this agenda.” And it sounds like the first bill to get a warm reception from Republicans will be what's being dubbed the “Woman’s Right to Know her Unborn Child Act,” also being termed the "ultrasound bill" by pro-choice forces. The bill would require a woman seeking an abortion to receive an ultrasound and be informed of what is visible on the monitoring screen — although the woman would not be forced to look at the image. “This bill is a priority,” Fitzgerald said. “It is long overdue.”
Priorities....

Saturday Open Thread [2.16.13]

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I gotta give credit where credit is due. The freshman Republican Congressman from Michigan, Rep. Justin Amash, said the following true statement (a rarity for a Republican):
"I think it's a mistake on the part of Republicans to try to pin the sequester on Obama. It's totally disingenuous. [...] [Y]ou can't vote for something and, with a straight face, go blame the other guy for its existence in law."
This is on top of Amash's denouncing John McCain for making a racist joke earlier this year. Good job Amash.

Winners and Losers of the Week [2.16.13]

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Angelo Cataldi has a feature every Friday morning on his talk show on 94WIP, in which he names his choice for the winner of the week and the weasel (or loser) of the week in the local and national world of sports. For example, this week the winner was an Swedish LPGA golfer who was bitten by a black widow spider while golfing. Instead of quitting the tour, and the game, she took a golf tee, but punctured the bite wound on her ankle to release the poison, and then she completed all 18 holes. The weasel of the week was new Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly, who hired lackluster assistant coaches and re-signed failed QB Michael Vick. Then, for the rest of the Friday show, callers call in to offer better choices than Angelo's for the winner and weasels of the week and Angelo's cohosts vote on which is better. I am wholly stealing this idea for a new Saturday morning column outlining my choices on who is the winner and loser of the week. I can't call the loser a weasel, because I am told the conservative blowhard Rick Jensen already awards a weasel of the week. Rick must have stole from Angelo too. Candidates for each can be from local Delaware or national politics. I will select my winner and loser based on something they did or said during the previous week (Saturday, February 9 to Friday, February 15), and then our wonderful commenters will debate my choices, and offer what they think are better options for each. And my fellow contributors can judge whose choices are better. My choices, and yours, are relegated to the world of politics and government. I can't chose that Blade Runner guy from South Africa for allegedly murdering his model wife, because he is not in politics or government. For my Loser of the week....

A Shooting In Arden?

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As you know, I live here. Apparently, there has been a shooting at Harvey Road and Lorelei Lane, and the shooter is, or was, at large. Two victims reported, one of them seriously injured. Harvey Road was shut down, and we've had helicopters circling over us. The copters have left. Harvey Road has apparently reopened. I don't know any more than that, but it's definitely surreal.

You Can’t Be Both.

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As I drove out of the Christiana Hilton yesterday and onto the I-95 ramp, I was following a car with a very long and loud bumper sticker that said something to the affect of "If Mary was Pro-Choice, there would be no Christmas" and "Pro-Choice or Catholic. You can't be both." Once again, the Anti-Choice brigades have purposefully confused being pro-choice with being pro-abortion and in so doing came up with some unique bumper stickers (unique only in the fact that I have never seen them before). Well, two can play that assumption game. As someone who is Catholic and who is pro-choice (and yes, I can be both since I have a proper understanding of the word "choice"), I have always assumed that since anti-choice abortion opponents, since they view abortion as murder, then they all must be in favor of imprisoning the doctors, the nurses and the pregnant women who conspire to commit murder. And since the murder involved conspiracy and aggravating factors like the death of a child, then they must be in favor of the death penalty for the doctors, the nurses and the pregnant women. For you can't call abortion murder and not punish the murderer, right? Now, deep down, my assumption is correct. The "Pro-Life" extremists do believe this. They do want this. But they know that such a position would backfire and be massively politically unpopular. At least, the smart ones now this. Iowa State Rep. Rob Bacon (R) appears to not be so smart.