Month: August 2013

Cook: It’s Back to the ’90s for GOP

Buck Banks

With all of the talk among some Republicans in Congress about impeachment and shutting down the government to stop Obamacare or force entitlement-spending cuts, you’d think that they were living in another reality back in the 1990s. Republicans were pursuing similar missions then, and things didn’t work out so well for the GOP. For those in need of a quick history lesson, all you need to know is that Republicans managed to lose House seats in the midterm elections of 1998. It was the only time since World War II that the party in the White House (Democrats) gained seats in a second-term, midterm election. Talk about seizing defeat from the jaws of victory!

— Charlie Cook

Big Majority Say Copngressional Approval Required for Syria Intervention

Buck Banks

80%

Of Americans believe President Obama should receive congressional approval before using force in Syria, a new NBC News poll finds. Key findings: 50% believe the United States should not intervene in the wake of suspected chemical weapons attacks by Syrian President Bashar Assad. But 50% favor military action limited to launching cruise missiles from U.S. naval ships, while 44% oppose it.

Lewis: Don’t Underestimate Progress Made Since March on Washington

Buck Banks

Come and walk in my shoes. Come walk in the shoes of those attacked by police dogs, fire hoses and night sticks, arrested and thrown in jail… Fifty years later, we can ride where we want to ride … and those signs that said ‘white only’ and ‘colored’ are gone.

— Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), one of the few speakers at Wednesday’s March on Washington anniversary who was also at the march 50 years ago, said nobody should underestimate the progress made over that span.

Fox News Analysis Finds a Way to Co-Opt the ’50 Years After March on Washington’ Meme

Buck Banks

If you’re Fox News, how do you deal with the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington? Co-opt it!

Thanks to Josh Barro at Business Insider for bringing this insightful analysis from Fox News to our attention. As WonkBlog points out, the construction lends itself to a wide variety of useful insights:

The great thing about this is that the formulation works for anything. “50 years after March on Washington, the bees are dying.” “50 years after March on Washington, some worry about Miley Cyrus’s ‘twerking’.” “”50 years after March on Washington, my sink is leaking.” “50 years after the March on Washington, we still don’t have jetpacks.”

We have a few more to add:

  • 50 years after March on Washington, Congress still at loggerheads
  • 50 years after March on Washington, Kanye West thinks he’s a god
  • 50 years after March on Washington, black people are still black
  • 50 years after March on Washington, some think tattoos are cool

Do you have any “50 years after March on Washington” insights to share? Leave a comment.

Pat Robertson Alleges Gays in San Francisco Viciously Spreading HIV

Buck Banks

You know what they do in San Francisco, some in the gay community there, they want to get people, so if they got the stuff they’ll have a ring, you shake hands, and the ring’s got a little thing where you cut your finger… It’s that kind of vicious stuff, which would be the equivalent of murder.

— Pat Robertson, quoted by The Atlantic, asserting that gay men in San Francisco use special rings to spread HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.