How to Make the 2014 Hurricane Season Way More Interesting
They’re serious about this too. You can sign the petition from 350Action at climatenamechange.org.
Year: 2014
Zaltzman: Phelps’ Death Was “Tragically Late”
There’ve been two main stories that have been absolutely bombarding our inbox this week. One, I’ll come to in due course. And the other is the tragically late death of the Westboro Baptist Church leader, Fred Phelps, the massively anti-gay, hate-fueled preacher who died at the undeserved age of 84.
— Andy Zaltzman, asking co-host of the Bugle Podcast John Oliver (most recently of the Daily Show) if he was preparing one of the show’s “fuckeulogies” for Phelps. Oliver responded that Phelps was unworthy of a fuckeulogy, heretofore reserved for the likes of Osama bin Laden and Moammar Gadhafi, calling him a “sniveling little prick” who doesn’t deserve the oxygen it would take to create one. Oliver continued that the sooner Phelps is forgotten, the better. Which kind of sounded like a fuckeulogy.
Fox News Compares Missing Malaysian Flight to Benghazi
At 5:42pm ET on Thursday, March 20th:
During a segment on The Five about the distressed families of the missing passengers, [Andrea] Tantaros remarked that they reminded her of the families of the four Americans killed in Benghazi …
Conway wanted to Be ‘On the Right Side of History’ with Ruling on Gay Marriage Ban
I felt like that from a fiscal responsibility standpoint, I didn’t need to be wasting taxpayer resources in a lawsuit that we weren’t going to win or in an appeal that we weren’t going to win. For the sake of my daughter’s view on my public service in the future, I wanted to be on the right side of history.
— Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway (D), explaining to the Huffington Post why he refused to defend Kentucky’s gay marriage ban.
Bevin Offers McConnell a Chance to ‘Retire with Dignity’
There’s no one, myself included, who could go to Washington for 20-30-40 years and not change. It’s cathartic, good, refreshing for there to be turnover. You’ve gotta be careful of staying anywhere too long. It’s best to retire with dignity. I’m offering Mitch McConnell the chance to do so.
— Kentucky U.S. Senate candidate Matt Bevin (R), quoted by Time.
Campaign Funds Sources Getting Harder to Identify
$336 million
Spending by “dark money” groups — organizations that do not have to disclose the sources of their political money — in 2012, according to Federal Election Commission and Internal Revenue Service data. Dark money has skyrocketed from about $25 million in 2000.
Texas GOP Leader Says Men Are Better Negotiators
Men are better negotiators, and I would encourage women, instead of pursuing the courts for action, to become better negotiators.
— Texas Republican Party Executive Director Beth Cubriel, quoted by Huffington Post, explaining the GOP’s position on fair pay legislation.
Carville Hoping for ‘Political Climate Change’ Before November
If the election were held in the current climate, it wouldn’t be hard to argue that the Democrats might have a bad, perhaps even awful, election ahead of them. However, the one thing we know is that it is not going to be held now — it is going to be held in November. This is a case where we don’t know if there is going to be a political climate change or not. Suffice to say, I am pulling for some political climate change.
— James Carville, in a column in The Hill, on the 2014 midterms.
With Friends Like Charlie Rangel, Who Needs Republicans?
Maybe it was the water that they drink at Harvard.
— Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), quoted by the New York Observer, on why President Barack Obama thought he could work with what Rangel calls the “mean, racist people” in the Tea Party.
Note to Republicans: Most Poor Americans Are White
Despite the stereotypes — and the reality behind them that blacks and Hispanics are disproportionately poor — the largest group of poor people in America are white people.
