Rham-bo isn’t going anywhere (thank god), and he’s still on the warpath. I’ll Let Peter Baker describe Emanuel’s take on his career-

(If health care passes) “Emanuel will be hailed as a savior. If not, well, he does not even allow for that possibility.”

In what is one of the hardest to tolerate examples of free speech, The Supreme Court has decided to hear a case involving the Westboro Baptist Church. If you’ve had the good fortune of being able to forget these bastards, they’re the ones who go to the funerals of American soldiers to protest because, apparently, god killed them for the US being “tolerant” of gays. I’m not sure what’s worse about this- that these people think this is the proper way to express their lunacy or that they think the US is tolerant of gays (let’s look to our over 1,000 laws that only apply to straight couples.) But the father of a Marine who lost his life in Iraq has opted to sue the church, which survived their last legal battle under defense of the First Amendment. The father wants damages for the anguish he suffered, and the exploitation of his sons last hours alive.

This is where it gets hard. In my mind, picketing gay funerals is as (pardon the pun) hellworthy a trespass as ever really happens in America. Using the loss of human life to frame a point based in nothing but hate is as disgusting, ignorant, and most of all ineffective an approach to making your claim as burning a cross in someones front yard. Sadly. this IS America. We have the right to say whatever we want to whoever we want. It keeps us free above anything else. You can have more guns then Ted Nugent in your police proof bunker, but the inability to speak your mind and rationally fix problems is the absolute most integral key to the life we are so privileged to lead. So I have to defend the Westboro church. If there is a more embarrassing group of Americans out there, please let me know to put some comedy in the piece, but no matter what they say, they have the right to say it. Regardless of the courts decision, I will be angry. I want these people silenced, but fear so dramatically the repercussions if they are. I’ll be posting on this in the near future.

Nancy Pelosi might just be losing her choke hold on the house, and it really couldn’t be at a worse time. Democrats, weak willed to begin, had her as the only strong voice for party unity. Rham Emanuel has his hands full, you know, running the White House, and President Obama is apparently really worked up in playing WOW or something, because it looks like he’s got free time, yet Pelosi has stayed firm. In the face of not just opposition, instead downright hatred from the right, with an insurrection from within to boot (both the Black Caucus and the Blue Dogs), she has the unenviable position of getting an agenda across that her constituents DO want while trying to help the nation as a whole. Here’s hoping she doesn’t crack, because someone needs to be in charge.

In election news, it turns out that having lower opinion polling then Elliot Spitzer isn’t the kind of thing you can recover from, as David Patterson drops out of the race in New York.

Well, after the health care summit, there is one thing we can all agree on- President Obama is in charge of the Democrats for a reason.

In the category of things that would have been great ideas in 2008-9, the Treasury is considering a ban on foreclosures. The Treasury openly stated it was considering such an option, and would most likely be in the form of requiring 60 days of discussion over a modification program to keep the home.

In your occasional dose of Bat Shit Crazy, we have a frequent contributor, our old friend Mommar Gadhafi. This time, he’s calling for a jihad against the Swiss, for their recent banning of minarets, thus halting productions of any mosque in Switzerland. The law is vile, and whether you like it or not, everyone deserves religious freedom. Or it could be his grudge match with the Swiss over arresting that son of his a while back. Who can tell. But since it hasn’t aroused anger anywhere but Libya, I think we can focus on more important things, like suing people who don’t serve pork in their burgers, which is clearly a bigger deal.

I honestly just follow the guy for the sake of comedy.

Look out, you spoiled Tea Party folk! Prepare for your ultimate match, the the Coffee Party! With the generally ignorant liberal bias against corporatism looming in the background, the Coffee Party is posed to be of literally no threat to the Tea Party, because anyone with enough knowledge of corporate activity to take one down has taken a job with one to pay off at least that nasty college debt. Come on people. We have a party. Don’t think it’s progressive enough? Then don’t force through a guy who votes right of Hillary Clinton on most issues and blatantly avoids what his hardcore constituents want.

Scott Brown is seated a week early, pissing Patrick Kennedy right off. I’ll let him say it for himself;

“Seven out of ten of Brown’s voters were labor households and he stressed that he was independent. And while he was originally scheduled to be sworn in next week, they moved it up to today so he could cast his first vote, the most anti-labor, the most anti-what his constituents thought they were voting for when they voted for him.”

Brown is claiming the statement to be nothing more then partisan politics, and of course there’s validity to that. Two months ago any Democrat taking pot shots at Brown would be looked at as bullying a small timer with no chance. Now, Scott Brown is enemy number one (I bet Joe Lieberman was overjoyed he got elected). These seating’s are a big deal, people. Right now they operate on a two man panel, when five are needed to keep up the bi-laws. Anyone working in labor should be terrified right now, and with the rights history of being anti union, people should remember what jobs went away in the recession. These seating’s could be a litmus test of where Brown stands, and if he has any intention of keeping obligations to his base in Massachusetts. If the party of No goes ahead as it has, NOTHING is going to change, and right now, we need a lot of change.

In other party line bickering, after a month of work Richard Shelby won’t go along on financial overhaul. The big threat possibly keeping the bill stalled? A new consumer advocacy branch. No details yet on what it will cost or how far it would reach.

More on Richard Shelby- He’s blocking 70 of President Obama’s nominations. 70. 70 positions that need filling. Why, you ask? Over $40 Billion dollars in earmarks the White House doesn’t want to sign off on. When Ben Nelson did the same thing, but with health care reform, even NPR is on the guy. My mistake, though. The GOP is the little guy, so playing politics is what they have to do to compete.

The next person to blame on health care? President Obama, via David Axlerod. Al Franken, both in public and in private, has blasted White House leadership for urging them to finish health care, then giving no direction as to how.

The National Tea Party Convention was held last night, to a crowd of some 600 (who paid $549 each, making some $329,000!), and I heard a fun fact. Tom Tancredo says Obama could not have won without illiterates voting for him. Lets do the math on this. I know lots of conservatives are big on issuing a civics test before allowing people to vote. Same thing as the Voter ID card, which has always cracked me up how the conservative party is by it’s nature cautious of anyone getting information about them, but very for another ID card. I personally could go either way on it. I don’t mind a civics test before i vote. If i had to get a card, I of course would. It would just be one more thing to do when I’m registering voters, which I do a lot.

After reading the statement’s made, the implications of Tancredo are three fold; first, there is an illiteracy problem. Second, there is in immigration problem. Third, these two factors are what got Obama in office. So take that retroactively. Eight of the top ten states with the most immigration Voted McCain, , and six of those states are in the top ten for illiteracy. That said, the states with the highest immigrant populations, only four voted McCain. This is interesting to look at, because while the south does not have the highest population of immigrants, it does have the highest percentage, and they dominate illiteracy. What this means is yes, there is a strong chance that an illiterate person can vote for Obama, but by percentage of the state, he was more likely to vote McCain.

The Baptist church suspected of child kidnapping are charged today, with a closed door trial to begin soon. It’s now believed that only one of the ten charged had any idea of the actual intent, the remaining nine were actual charity workers there on good faith.

It happens on our side too; An AP writer has debunked the Huffington Post’s staffer, Luis Carlos Montalván, looking into his claims of PTSD and how he earned his decorations, and finding a very different story.

Big Brother phobia? If you’re reading this from your BlackBerry, I’d sit down for this. Google and the NSA are teaming together to figure out how they were hacked in China. Google is saying that any shared information with the NSA will not violate the site’s conditions or privacy agreements, but for some reason I can still see a lot of people being nervous about this.

State Farm to pull coverage from 125 thousand homes, just in time for hurricane season.

This is just weird. Remember recently when the Swiss voted to Ban Minarets? Well, now they’ve offered to take two of the most difficult to place Gitmo detainees. The two Chinese Uighur brothers will shortly be on their way to a new home, where they are expected to look for new jobs and homes as soon as possible.

Immigration reform to return to the national forefront? If it does, California is back in the middle, with a “proud racist” in the line of fire. At least someone is being honest.

State of the Union drama erupts, as Justice Alito’s little nonverbal retort overruns the internet today. A brief rundown, provided by Newser.

* Shannen Coffin, National Review: “That Justice Alito betrayed his feelings in a minor way is understandable. … In his preening, Obama flatly misrepresented the ruling” and showed an “utter lack of tact.”

* Glenn Greenwald, Salon: The judge made “a serious and substantive breach of protocol that reflects very poorly on Alito and only further undermines the credibility of the court. It has nothing to do with etiquette. … (The court) must remain apolitical, separate, and detached from partisan wars.”

* Sarah Palin, Fox News: Obama is “embarrassing our Supreme Court and not respecting the separation of powers. … I think that this is going to be a huge take-away moment.”

* Doug Kendall, Huffington Post: If Alito feels this way, he should have written a concurring opinion and explained how the ruling “doesn’t change course on over a century of campaign finance law … and showed us that the court’s formalistic approach to the First Amendment and corporations won’t lead to foreign corporate spending in US elections. But muttering at the State of the Union clarifies nothing.”

Looks like Hillary Clinton is a one term wonder, explaining that the 24/7 job isn’t something she can do twice. Or maybe she’s smarter then the rest of the current Democrats and is leaving herself outs. And no, her missing the State of the Union has nothing to do with it.

Yet another show in conservative protest tactics, this time by taking over several house websites. The flavor text to all this?

“F— OBAMA!! Red Eye CREW !!!!! O RESTO E HACKER !!! by HADES; m4V3RiCk; T4ph0d4 — FROM BRASIL.”

RELATED- The entire conservative party turns it’s back on O’Keefe.

Man, this is just a day of great quotes. Chris Matthews take on the state of the unionChris Matthews take on the state of the union- “I Forgot Obama Was Black”.

As Prop 8 goes to a judge, President Obama actually answers questions on the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, and mentions the congressional bill to give equal rights to at least federal employees. Wow. All it took was a guy from Tampa to put him on the spot.

Abortion Doctor killers claims his confessed killing was not a murder.

LATE EDITION!- Think you know Scott Brown? Think again. Follow the original link to cross check the references. Here’s the short list.

1. Scott Brown suggested on television that President Obama was born out of wedlock, then tried to claim that Martha Coakley was making things up when her campaign called attention to it.

2. Scott Brown voted against aid to 9/11 recovery workers because it was too expensive, while at the same time he was trying to fund a golf course in his district and give tax subsidies to corporations.

3. Scott Brown tried to deny emergency contraception to rape victims. When he was called on it, he tried to deny the truth, then hid behind his daughters.

4. Scott Brown claimed he didn’t know anything about any Tea Parties, even though he’d appeared at their rallies and publicized fundraisers they threw for him.

5. Scott Brown opposes a fee to get back bailout money from the biggest banks.

6. Scott Brown supports a constitutional ban on gay marriage and thinks two women raising a child is “just not normal.

Remember the guys who pulled the pimp scheme on ACORN? They’re back, and this time they’re looking at jail time. Turns out breaking into an elected officials office can backfire. Who knew.

Next time I think of pizza, I’ll think of Haiti. Why? They just give the stuff away. An eatery in Haiti is serving up literally thousands of customers a day, totally free of charge.

The staff of Quantum Conservative have been green for years, and didn’t even know it! Apparently, the new eco-friendly, pro-recycling move is to drink beer from a growler, something we’ve been doing (and quite honestly, collecting) for years.

Looks like the Democrats are fighting amongst themselves, again.

China bans eating cats and dogs, but kidnapping dissidents is still fine.

Get ready for a lot more Scott Brown for president rambling. By the time Newsweek has a story about it, it’s been looked into for about six months by everyone who actually pays attention.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen(also the Prime Minister of Denmark) comes out with a more conservative estimate then the US on Afghanistan. Interesting talking points include the direct mention of Americas new troops in Afghanistan, but no direct mentioning of America itself. Does this mean even leftist powerhouses in northern Europe could be leaning a bit more to the right? With attempted attacks on political figures in the aforementioned Denmark and a Swiss ban on minarets, it looks like it.

No less then 50 of the Gitmo detainees cannot be released, and we still don’t know where the rest would go. Looks like the great super prison lives on a little longer.

Gay marriage opponents still claim pedophilia will run rampant, as gays are 12 times more likely to do so.
I’m sure that’ll hold water.

In the realm of talk radio, one thing has been made clear- people who actually win senate seats (Al Franken) don’t know how to run a radio station. Air America is going the way of the ever terrifying super majority. Looks like we’ll just have to watch MSNBC now.

How much should the Democrats panic?
Depends on who you ask. The question now is does President Obama prioritize his own agenda or his career? If he wants to put health care through, it could be done. Thing is, that would probably spell single term faster then you can make a peanut joke at Jimmy Carter.

This should be an interesting week for Republicans. First, you have “purity tests”. Second, while the Democrats will be dealing with Arlen Specter all week, at least we don’t have anyone blatantly in favor of racial profiling. We’ve managed to skip body scans and go straight to the bottom of the barrel.

The result? The DOW drops 300 points in two days, and the punches start flying against everything Obama has (or hasn’t) done. I’m also going to throw out there that President Obama wasn’t running in Massachusetts, so the Democratic loss there is not exactly his fault. Let’s focus on the party, not the leadership.

The effect on health care? Pelosi doesn’t think it can pass, and most Americans want to start over anyways. When the likes of Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi want out of the bill, it’s dead in the water.

The Supreme Court votes to allow corporations to spend money however they please, angering Chuck Schumer and many others interested in regulating what boils down as free speech, albeit from a corporate entity.

Cindy McCain joins the fight for gay marriage, and doesn’t look bad doing it.

43% of Americans have a bias against Muslims.

Arlen Specter to Michelle Bachmann- “I’m going to treat you like a lady. Now act like one.” No way that’ll ever come back to haunt him.

The Washington Post, specifically Harold Meyerson agrees.

Health care reform has 48 hours to live, and top Democrats, including Barney Frank, are saying we should just watch it die. That fast. One seat changes hands and the most aggressive proponents of reform are already planning an escape exit. You know, this whole dump the incumbents thing suddenly doesn’t sound that bad.

Brown will be seated, but he’ll have to wait a bit.

The New York Times announces an internet paywall plan.

Obama’s TSA nominee is out.

To cut the deficit, sell Fort Knox? Hmm. Treating the US gold reserves like an old bass amp you pawn off to make rent in college doesn’t really seem like the most positive way to rustle up some cash.

Haiti survives yet another aftershock, and has now buried 72,000.

Olbermann and Huffington on the loss last night? “It’s a blessing in disguise.” Come the fuck on. Really? I normally don’t comment on failed attempts at spin, but this is just insulting.

Well, shit. Best of luck to the new senator.

More polls say that Obama remains likable, but unpopular. I read one of these most days, and I’m beginning to wonder what, if anything, they are exactly supposed to do. George W. Bush had catastrophically low approval ratings for some time, but it wasn’t plastered on the face of every news site in America.

Anderson Cooper enters the fray in Haiti, saving the life of a severely injured Haitian boy. I’ll bet 20$ US dollars that Glenn Beck calls Cooper a socialist, asking if the boy wanted to be saved, or Cooper just decided for him.

Even George Bush thinks Rush Limbaugh is an asshole for his Haiti comments.

Think the FBI tapping phone lines was a short term thing? Think again. How very FISA of us.