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30 Jun 2011 13:41

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Culture: So, Stephen Colbert has his own PAC.

  • Making a better tomorrow, tomorrow.
  • The slogan for Stephen Colbert’s PAC • Yeah, you read that right. Stephen Colbert now heads a PAC, and he can raise money and run ads for candidates at his choosing, so long as he has the money. The main battle Colbert has been fighting, though, is when he has to disclose what he’s paying for the ads. As long as they air during his show, he won’t have to say how much he’s paying because of a media exemption. In trying to get an exemption, Colbert was able to expose some loopholes in the law, causing for a pretty narrow ruling on it…which is a good thing, as it leads to more disclosure from big companies contributing to political campaigns. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Jun 2011 13:18

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Tech, U.S.: Obama’s high-tech version of Fireside Chats — via Twitter

Obama is really embracing this whole Twitter thing. On July 6, he’s going to be on Twitter talking about the economy, hashtags and all. Be sure to tune in to talk to our prez … virtually. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Jun 2011 10:37

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Politics: The Senate’s skipping its upcoming recess, working straight through

  • All because of that pesky debt ceiling thing: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the only fireworks members of the Senate would see next week would be strictly of the political kind — all in an effort to solve the pesky debt ceiling issue that’s been dogging Congress for a couple of months. If they can’t figure it out by August, it could have a dire effect on the overall economy, but Republicans want cuts to coincide with any sort of debt ceiling deal. Not every Senator is on board with this recess idea, by the way. We’re feeling less confident about their ability to fix this mess by the day. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Jun 2011 17:00

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Politics: President Obama dismisses congressional “fuss” on Libya

  • A lot of this fuss is politics… I said there would be no troops on the ground. I said we would not be carrying the lion’s share of the operation, but as members of NATO we would be supportive of it because it’s in our national security interest and it’s the right thing to do. We have done exactly what I said we would do.
  • President Obama • Defending his military intervention in Libya, and dismissing complaints from Congress. In the process of doing so, Obama struck a more confrontational tone towards his critics than is common for his administration. There’s a definite argument that one can make for the warfare going on in Libya, on fairly simply moral grounds — nobody really doubts what would have happened in Benghazi had nobody moved to stop it. Making that sort of argument would, we think, go a lot further to appeal to American sensibilities than judicial wrangling over defining “hostilities” would. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Jun 2011 14:38

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Politics: Palin is still unsure of running — or is she?

  • It’s a tough decision, it’s a big decision to decide whether to run for office or not. I’m still contemplating. I am still thinking about the decision and you know a lot goes into such a life-changing, relatively earth-shattering type of decision.
  • Sarah Palin • talking about her decision to run for President. She still isn’t giving anyone a straight answer on what she plans on doing, but her daughter Bristol said some stuff on Fox that says she does have a plan. She told the news station that Palin knows what she’s going to do, and Bristol thinks her mom should go for it. But why would Palin run if Bachmann already did? They’re basically the same kind of candidate — and Palin has pretty much already lost her opportunity to get back into the national spotlight after her bus tour kind of sputtered. It’ll be interesting to see what happens. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jun 2011 13:31

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U.S.: Blagojevich saga might finally come to an end

  • Guilty as charged? Rod Blagojevich may learn his fate later this afternoon. About a year ago, Blagojevich, accused of trying to appoint a senator to replace Obama’s senate seat that would help him personally, went to trial for similar reasons. However, the jury at that time could only make up their minds on two of the charges (see the Red Eye cover, via Flickr user quinn.anya, above). It’s not because of a lack of evidence, however: Federal regulators secretly began recording Blagojevich’s phone calls after Obama’s presidential win, after getting word that the former Illinois governor was scheming for campaign contributions, a cabinet post, or even a new job in exchange for appointing someone to Obama’s former senate seat. We’ll see where this one goes — a partial verdict should come out at 1 p.m. Central time. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jun 2011 15:19

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U.S.: Obama’s being pressured to support gay marriage

  • My baseline is a strong civil union that provides them the protections and the legal rights that married couples have. And I think that’s the right thing to do. But I recognize that from their perspective it is not enough, and I think (it) is something that we’re going to continue to debate, and I personally am going to continue to wrestle with going forward.
  • President Barack Obama, in a December news conference • Discussing his “evolving” views on gay marriage. Tonight, Obama will host a gala as a fundraiser for his campaign — the first of its kind for gay donors. With the gay marriage bill in New York being hanging over his head, this gala will really put his “evolving” view on the issue to the test. Lots of people are criticizing Obama for his stance on gay marriage — especially his progressive base. It’s also worth noting that Obama supported gay marriage back in 1996. It’ll be interesting to see how this gala pans out tonight, because this will come up. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

22 Jun 2011 14:44

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Politics: Sarah Palin’s “One Nation” bus tour runs out of gas

  • Sarah’s tour has made a premature stop. It’s pretty unclear exactly why. There she was, soaking up the national spotlight, making moves to make herself a top contender for the GOP’s presidential nomination. Then, after getting some facts wrong about Paul Revere, she vanished from the spotlight. Now, she’s back in Alaska, and her plans for the rest of her road trip are on hold. She never did get a chance to meet up with prominent people in those always-important early voting states, and heading home early could cost her a lot of the momentum she’d built thus far. She’s doing a few other things — namely, she has a documentary coming out — but other than that, she’s left her followers wondering what she’s doing. Frankly, we are too. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Jun 2011 14:26

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Politics: Anderson Cooper questions Obama’s sincerity on gay issues

  • Hard to see how the president’s position has changed so much, The only thing that has changed is his need for a wider audience to vote for him. … Democrats attack conservatives for being hypocritical on issues that they’re hypocritical about. But I don’t hear a lot of Democrats attacking their own president for hypocrisy.
  • CNN anchor Anderson Cooper • Giving voice to dissatisfaction with President Obama’s tact on gay rights issues. We happen to agree strongly with his premise, if not entirely his closing (Democrats on the left end of the spectrum were fairly vocal about Obama’s listlessness during the push for DADT repeal). There’s an extent to which candidate Obama’s stance against gay marriage never seemed terribly genuine. When you consider that he supported the idea in 1996, the reality starts to look pretty stark — a flip-flop for political expedience. But, Mr. President — gay marriage has since polled with majority support! And considering you have tepid enthusiasm from the liberal Democratic base ahead of the election, would there ever be a better time to give up the game? The LGBT movement deserves better than this, frankly. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jun 2011 15:26

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U.S.: Obama faces lawsuit over American role in Libya conflict

  • With regard to the war in Libya, we believe that the law was violated. We have asked the courts to move to protect the American people from the results of these illegal policies.
  • Rep. Dennis Kucinich • Expressing anger over the current military presence in Libya. He and a bipartisan group of representatives have brought a lawsuit against President Obama for foregoing Congress on Libya and, in the process, violating the War Powers Resolution, a law meant to stop the President from sending troops overseas without Congressional approval. Kucinich has backing from unlikely allies such as John Boehner and Ron Paul on this matter. Meanwhile, the White House disputes the lawsuit: “The president has acted in a manner that is consistent with the War Powers Resolution,” said Press Secretary Jay Carney. Definitely one to watch. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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