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Quote of the day

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 21:45:00 +0000

Reporters approached Vice President Joe Biden about his strategy in tonight's debate against Paul Ryan. The vice president left them grasping: "You ever see me rope-a-dope?"

Quote of the day: Sotomayor explains the stakes

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 22:40:00 +0000

The United States Supreme Court heard arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas today, the court's first major affirmative action case about admission to public universities since 2003. The case was brought on by Abigail Fisher, a woman who was denied admission to The University of Texas at Austin in 2008, claiming that she was discriminated against on the basis of race.

Fisher's case will force the Supreme Court to re-examine policies set forth in 2003--which allow for race to play a limited role in admission at public universities. If overturned, the case could end affirmative action admission policies at public universities.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor summed up the issue at the heart of the case: “At what point — when — do we stop deferring to the university’s judgment that race is still necessary?” she asked. “That’s the bottom line of this case.”

Quote of the day: Big Bird bites back

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 21:17:00 +0000

Even the Obama campaign has capitalized on Romney's "Big Bird" comment during last week's presidential debate, coming out today with an ad depicting Big Bird as a corrupt business executive. “Mitt Romney knows it isn’t Wall Street you need to worry about, it’s Sesame Street," says the narrator in a foreboding tone.

But the real Big Bird isn't amused. The Sesame Workshop released the following statement in response to the character's appearance in any type of campaign ad:

Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and we do not endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns. We have approved no campaign ads and, as is our general practice, have requested that the ad be taken down.

As of 4:55 PM, the video is still on Obama for America's YouTube channel, however:

Quote of the day: “Fanged vampire parrot”

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 22:31:00 +0000

Paleontologists at the University of Chicago recently unveiled a species of dinosaur, Pegomastax africanus. The small, cat-size creature lived around 200 million years ago, scientists believe. As the Guardian reported, Professor Paul Sereno, who discovered the dinosaur fossil, colorfully described what he believes the dinosaur once looked like:

"It looks like a fanged vampire parrot ... And it probably had bristles, too. So it was a bristled, vampire parrot-like dinosaur."

Quote of the day

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 20:54:00 +0000

India's Sikh community has condemned J.K. Rowling's recent novel, "The Casual Vacancy," for describing one of the female characters, Sukhvinder, as "mustachioed, yet large-mammaried" and portraying her as a "hairy man-woman." (Traditionally, followers of the Sikh religion are forbidden from cutting or trimming their hair).

India’s Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), a Sikh group, has spoken out regarding the depiction. The Daily Mail reports:

Quote of the day: In memoriam

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 21:32:00 +0000

Celebrated Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawn left behind a wealth of insightful critiques and comments when he passed away early Monday morning. We find this simple thought, which Hobsbawn uttered in 1998, bears repeating:

"The world will not get better on its own."

Quote of the day: Lowering expectations

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 21:11:00 +0000

Both the Obama and Romney campaigns have been managing expectations for the presidential debates, but today Team Obama took things to a hilarious extreme.

"Well, he could fall off the stage," said press secretary Jen Psaki, according to BuzzFeed, when asked about the worst possible thing that could happen to Obama during the debates.

Quote of the day: “Balls”

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 20:56:00 +0000

A Washington Post poll shows that 64 percent of registered voters in Ohio think the federal auto bailout was "mostly good" for the economy, while 29 percent said it was "mostly bad."

According to CNN, one Republican strategist in Ohio summed up what these numbers mean for the Romney campaign: "A kick in the balls."

Quote of the day: Akin Spice

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:13:00 +0000

Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour defended his call for Todd Akin to drop out of the race for the Missouri Senate, telling Bloomberg Businessweek that Democrats want Akin to stay in the race so it'll be a smoother ride for Claire McCaskill.

Barbour said he can't pick Akin “out of a line-up with the Spice Girls,” but “I just don’t want us having Harry Reid’s favorite Republican running against Claire McCaskill.”

Quote of the day: “Not winning”

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 22:51:00 +0000

Conservative blogger Erick Erickson wrote a column Monday, called "If The Election Were Held Today Barack Obama Would Win." It's pretty self-explanatory:

"Contra Dick Morris, Mitt Romney is not winning this election. At least Mitt Romney is not winning the election right now. Conservatives are obsessing over every poll, the turn out models used, and the media bias that is on ful display. Yes, some of the polling models seem screwy, though we all forget the pollsters apply a secret sauce known only to them on top. Yes, reporters are fully beclowning themselves to get their god-king re-elected. But while we may be focused there, the fact is the Romney campaign isn’t functioning well. Lucky for you and me the election is not today. But something needs to happen in Boston and I am less and less hopeful anything will happen."

In response, Romney campaign adviser Bay Buchanan dismissed Erickson's post, saying on MSNBC that "Erick Erickson has never been with us ... This is Governor Romney's campaign and he is running it and it is his message."

Erickson responded to Buchanan in a tweet:

[embedtweet id="247689368725241856"]

Quote of the day: “Thugs”

Fri, 14 Sep 2012 22:21:00 +0000

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint joked around at the Values Voter Summit about how easily he gets confused by protesters:

“You know, we had a lot of bad news this week,” DeMint said. “On my way over, I was reading another story about a distant place where thugs had put 400,000 children out in the streets. And then I realized that was a story of the Chicago teachers strike. But we’ve got to think of good things.”

Via ThinkProgress.

Quote of the day

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 21:35:00 +0000

Long before Jonah Lehrer plagiarized text and fabricated Bob Dylan quotes for "Imagine," Bob Dylan himself stood in the middle of several copycat controversies (some baseless, others not so much). The singer-songwriter can get touchy about it, too: He was surprisingly dismissive when discussing Shakespeare in relation to his most recent album, "Tempest," which came out yesterday, telling Rolling Stone, "Shakespeare's last play was called 'The Tempest.' It wasn't called just plain 'Tempest.' The name of my record is just plain 'Tempest.' It's two different titles."

But if Dylan seemed overly defensive then, he goes far on the offense this month. In an interview in this Friday's issue of Rolling Stone, he calls critics who accuse him of borrowing lyrics "wussies and pussies." Below is an excerpt:

Quote of the day: Exit right

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 21:49:00 +0000

Rush Limbaugh predicted big problems for conservatives -- and economic collapse within 18 months -- if Romney loses in November.

"If Obama wins, it’s the end of the Republican Party,” he said.

Quote of the day: Deliciously clean

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 20:12:00 +0000

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wants the Consumer Product Safety Commission to crack down on laundry detergent "pods" that look so much like candy, he can barely stop himself from eating one:

“These pods were supposed to make household chores easier, not tempt our children to swallow harmful chemicals," Schumer said. "I saw one on my staffer's desk and I wanted to eat it.”

Quote of the day: Newt’s apology

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 18:40:00 +0000

Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign is officially kaput. His dreams of being a real-life Rocky are probably dead as well, after several months of lawsuits over his campaign's use of the Survivor song "Eye of the Tiger":

"We are very sorry that your song "Eye of the Tiger" was associated with the 2012 Newt Gingrich campaign," Newt wrote to the song owners, TMZ reported. "We will do our utmost to assure that this does not happen again."

He's just the latest Republican to apologize to the rock gods.

Quote of the day

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 22:47:00 +0000

Haley Barbour, the Republican power broker and former governor of Mississippi, thought Chris Christie did well in his Republican National Convention speech, but could have been better:

"While I would love for [Chris] Christie to put a hot poker to Obama’s butt," Barbour told Bloomberg Businessweek. “I thought he did what he was supposed to do.”

Quote of the day

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 21:46:00 +0000

Ann Romney told Entertainment Tonight that "Modern Family"-- a show about families unlike her own--is her favorite television program. The show's co-creator, Steve Levitan, responded in tweet form:

Thrilled Ann Romney says ModFam is her favorite show. We'll offer her the role of officiant at Mitch & Cam's wedding. As soon as it's legal.

— Steve Levitan (@SteveLevitan) August 28, 2012

Quote of the day

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:56:00 +0000

According to The Washington Post, Jon Voight has replaced Charlton Heston as the dean of Hollywood Republicans. The 73-year-old Oscar winner describes himself as a party "cheerleader," after being an ardent conservative for most of his life. Voight told The Post:

“The Hollywood community is historically conservative,” he said. “All the people that I so admired growing up were very patriotic and loved the country.” But then came the left-wing “nonsense” of the 1960’s, which Voight admits he also got caught up in it. “I’m quite ashamed of it, actually. . . I know as much as anybody about this stuff and I know how poisonous it is.”

Quote of the day

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 23:07:00 +0000

After Mitt Romney cracked a birther joke at a rally in Michigan, he explained himself to CBS:

"I've said throughout the campaign and before, there's no question about where he was born. He was born in the U.S. This was fun about us, and coming home. And humor, you know -- we've got to have a little humor in a campaign."

Quote of the day

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 23:11:00 +0000

Lubbock County Judge Tom Head has some strong feelings about the President. Per the Fox affiliate:

“He's going to try to hand over the sovereignty of the United States to the UN, and what is going to happen when that happens?,” Head asked.

“I'm thinking the worst. Civil unrest, civil disobedience, civil war maybe. And we're not just talking a few riots here and demonstrations, we're talking Lexington, Concord, take up arms and get rid of the guy.

"Now what's going to happen if we do that, if the public decides to do that? He's going to send in U.N. troops. I don't want 'em in Lubbock County. OK. So I'm going to stand in front of their armored personnel carrier and say 'you're not coming in here'.

"And the sheriff, I've already asked him, I said 'you gonna back me' he said, 'yeah, I'll back you'. Well, I don't want a bunch of rookies back there. I want trained, equipped, seasoned veteran officers to back me."