February 2011
136 posts
“The Democratic Party and its allies are making moves to make sure they are up to speed on independent spending.”
—Democrats Join the Battle
Trivia Time!
What senator appeared in the movie The Dark Knight?
Update, 10:45 a.m.: You all are right. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
Could Baja Arizona be 51st state in US? →
azstarnet.com
Pima County the 51st state?
A political committee made up of attorneys, including the former chairman of the Pima County Democratic Party, has been formed to try to get Southern Arizona to secede from the rest of the state.
Trivia Time!
What current governor did the late Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., refer to as “Little Caesar?”
UPDATE, 4:15 p.m.: cubicmetaphysics wins again! Gov. Mitch Daniels, R-Ind., is correct.
BREAKING: Pentagon Will Probe Psy-ops Were Used on U.S. Senators
General Petraeus will order a formal probe into a Rolling Stone report that the Army used psychological operations in order to get more funding and support from U.S. senators visiting troops in Afghanistan.
The orders to practice psy-ops on the senators allegedly came from the command of three-star Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, according to the story published last night. Practicing psychological operations on Americans is prohibited by federal law.
One of the senators allegedly targeted, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said, “I am confident that the chain of command will review any allegation that information operations have been improperly used in Afghanistan.”
The International Security Assistance Force issued a short statement saying Petraeus “is preparing to order an investigation to determine the facts and circumstances surrounding the issue.”
Rolling Stone will win the George Polk Award for Magazine Reporting for a controversial profile of General Stanley McChrystal, which led to his dismissal. Both stories were written by Michael Hastings.
Trivia Time!
The author of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act has since called for the law’s repeal. Who is this former member of Congress?
Update, 12:10 p.m.: Congrats! All are right. Bob Barr.
Timeline: Obama on gay marriage
From the time he was a candidate for the U.S. Senate from Illinois, Barack Obama has opposed the Defense of Marriage Act but maintained that he believes marriage was meant to be between a man and a woman.
* February 11, 2004: As a Senate candidate, Obama wrote in a Windy City Times letter to the editor that he found the Defense Against Marriage Act to be “abhorrent.”
“It should be repealed and I will vote for its repeal on the Senate floor. I will also oppose any proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gays and lesbians from marrying. This is an effort to demonize people for political advantage, and should be resisted,” wrote Obama.
* June, 5, 2006: On the Senate floor, Obama said he believed that marriage was between a man and a woman but that legislation prohibiting gay marriage was a political wedge.
“This is not what the majority of the American people want. And this is not about trying to build consensus in this country; it’s not about trying to bring people together,” he said.
* July 1, 2008: Obama said through a spokeswoman, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report, that he supports civil unions.
“Senator Obama supports civil unions, and he has consistently opposed federal and state constitutional marriage amendments because as we have seen in some states, enshrining a definition of marriage into the constitution can allow states to roll back the civil rights and benefits that are provided in domestic partnerships and civil unions,” the spokeswoman said.
* Oct. 10, 2009: At a Human Rights Campaign dinner in Washington, Obama said he opposed the 1996 act. “And I’ve called on Congress to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and to pass the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act,” he said.
* Oct. 27, 2010: In the Roosevelt Room during a roundtable interview with liberal bloggers, Obama said he was not prepared to reverse himself on his opposition to gay marriage. But he reiterated that he supported civil unions.
“I am a strong supporter of civil unions. … I have been to this point unwilling to sign on to same-sex marriage primarily because of my understandings of the traditional definitions of marriage,” the president said.
* Dec. 22, 2010: During a news conference, Obama came close to suggesting that he would support gay marriage. “I have friends, I have people who work for me, who are in powerful, strong, long-lasting gay or lesbian unions. And they are extraordinary people, and this is something that means a lot to them and they care deeply about,” Obama said.
Possible government shutdown next month? There’s a countdown clock and a Twitter account for that.
