Kagan Advocated Centrist Policies In Clinton White House

Those trying to paint Supreme Court nominee as a radical are going to have a tough time, given the centrist advice nominee Elena Kagan gave President Clinton as an adviser during his presidency. Already known is that Kagan counseled Clinton to ban late-term abortions. New memos released tell a larger story of Kagan’s pragmatic centrism.

Why are we so MAD?

As Seen in the Bookstore…

by Gabe Berman

Gabe is a freelance writer for the Miami Herald and author of Live Like a Fruit Fly

Our beloved Alfred E. Neuman is the latest to jump on the anti-Obama bandwagon.

There he is on the front cover of this month’s MAD magazine proudly sporting an I “HEART” OBAMA t-shirt. However, art imitates life and Alfred scribbled ‘ED’ next to the heart indicating that he once loved our president, but no longer does.

“We’re writing off Obama,” is what it says on MAD’s website, but there’s no mention of …

Elena Kagan’s Law School Roommate: She’s Not Gay

Sarah Walzer, who was Elena Kagan’s roommate in law school and has remained one of her best friends, says she is not gay.

“I’ve known her for most of her adult life and I know she’s straight,” said…Walzer, Kagan’s roommate in law school and a close friend since then. “She dated men when we were in law school, we talked about men — who in our class was cute, who she would like to date, all of those things. She definitely dated when she was in D.C. after law school, when she was in Chicago – and she just …

Iran Allowing Mothers To Visit Three Imprisoned Americans

By The River Wanders

Following a bleak Mother’s Day, Iran announced it will issue visas for the mothers of the three American hikers currently being held (without formal charges) in Evin Prison in Tehran. Families are cautiously optimistic that Iran will furnish the necessary documentation. Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer, and Josh Fattal have been detained in Iran since July, 2009 when they accidentally may have crossed over an unmarked section of the Iranian border.

The mothers – Laura Fattal, Nora Shourd, and Cindy Hickey – stand ready to leave at a moment’s notice. In Philadelphia, Laura Fattal, mother of …

The Right Wing’s Constitutional Fetish

Gabriel Winant at Salon puts the so-called “constitutionalists” in perspective. The GOP stepped in it when it accused SCOTUS nominee Elena Kagan of not loving the Constitution because she once quoted the late Justice Thurgood Marshall calling it “defective.” Tea partiers running around in Revolutionary War garb may not be up on just how things were back then.

There is something upsetting about how eager folks on the right have been to say it’s all been downhill since the 1780s. Sure, if called on it, as in the Marshall-Kagan business, they’ll backtrack and say that they obviously think emancipation and …

Deepwater Oil Spill: Devastating For The Planet, But Not For BP

by Thomas Wellborn

ThinkProgress has calculated that British Petroleum (BP) could pay for the entire cost of the Deepwater oil spill cleanup thus far with approximately 4 days of profits.  The Washington Post reported BP spending about $17.5 million a day on the effort, which comes to about $350 million so far.

In the first quarter of 2009, BP earned $93 million per day, and the well continues to leak oil at a rate of about 5,000 barrels per day.

Even during a massive catastrophe, BP can continue to turn a nice profit. Go capitalism.…

On Tuesday’s Radio Show…

• Mat Staver, the conservative chairman of Liberty Counsel, tells Alan why evangelical leaders from across the political spectrum want a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

• What century are we in? Alan questions why conservative men and women have been making seemingly sexist comments about Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.

• Is John McCain pandering to tea partiers by flip-flopping on immigration? Alan examines the evidence.…

Why Do Conservatives Stand For This Sexism?

Rush Limbaugh doesn’t seem to think we can trust any of Elena Kagan’s positions. After all, he reasons, “she’s a woman.”

LIMBAUGH:I know Obama said during the campaign that he didn’t believe marriage, same-sex marriage, it was between a man and a woman. He said it during the campaign. I guess she can change her mind. She’s a woman.

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NRO’s K-Lo Has Problem With So Many Women On Court

Kathryn Jean Lopez gets away with Tweeting something that, if a man said it, would render him a sexist pig (h/t Wonkette).

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Sarah Palin To Have New Book Out In November

Sarah Palin will release her second book in November called, America by Heart: Reflections on Family Faith and Flag. It is being marketed as “a tribute to American values.”

It will include “selections from classic and contemporary readings that have moved her,” according to HarperCollins, along with “the nation’s founding documents to great speeches, sermons, letters, literature and poetry, biography, and even some of her favorite songs and movies.”

The book is inspired not only by her “strong belief in the importance of family, faith, and patriotism,” but by some of the people she met last year while promoting …

Tea Partiers’ Stunt Stolen From The Best

by James Frye

A deck of cards being sold by members of the Tea Party featuring some Democrats, but mostly Republicans (namely Congressman Joseph Cao and Senator John McCain, candidates they’re targeting), seems alarming at first.

Think Progress gives some background:

Around the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the U.S. government created a deck of playing cards showing “Iraq’s Most Wanted.” They were meant to “provide a reminder of key Iraqi personnel of interest,” who would eventually be captured or killed. Saddam Hussein, for example, was the military’s top target, and therefore given the Ace of Spades designation. Using these cards

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