Last night, congressional Republicans conceded that privatizing Medicare won't be part of a deal reached to raise the debt ceiling:
Senior Republicans conceded Wednesday that a deal is unlikely on a contentious plan to overhaul Medicare and offered to open budget talks with the White House by focusing on areas where both parties can agree, such as cutting farm subsidies…
Whether or not Obama wins reelection in 2012, the death of Osama bin Laden is a big success story of his presidency, and that puts conservatives in a tight spot. So far, conservatives like Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post have been working hard to give Bush some of the credit; and as Patrick Caldwell pointed out, they are using the incident to tout the effectiveness of torture as well. Then there's a third tack: Deny bin Laden is dead. Here's Fox News promoting bin Laden-death denialism (via Media Matters):
Amanda Hesshas a great post about the backlash to the royal wedding, specifically thisDvorak column. The point being, society thinks it's great when men get together to watch football, but think it's silly when women gather to watch the Kate and William get married:
When thinking about how the birth-certificate fiasco reached such fever-pitch, leading the President of the United States to take to a podium and prove his citizenship, we shouldn’t give racism and irresponsible politicians all the credit. Certainly, this racially-fueled conspiracy wouldn’t have gotten far with a white president; and conservative politicians have welcomed the birther conspiracy as a way to undermine his legitimacy. But the culprit who should really feel ashamed is the media.
Rick Perlsteinhas a great piece in Mother Jones right now on why lies and conspiracies dominate our political culture today. Here's how it starts:
The motion to vacate a gay judge's ruling in the Proposition 8 case isn't just homophobic. It could open minority judges up to challenges in all kinds of cases.
Chief District Judge Vaughn R. Walker, of the Northern District of California (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Earlier this month, Vaughn Walker -- the federal judge in California who ruled that Proposition 8, the state's same-sex-marriage ban, was unconstitutional -- confirmed rumors that he was gay and in a long-term relationship. Seizing on this revelation, those defending the ban filed a motion on Monday to vacate his landmark ruling, claiming he should have recused himself from the case.
