Colorado GOP Senate Candidate Says Being Gay Is A Choice, Compares It to Alcoholism

Ken Buck (left), the Republican-tea party candidate for U.S. Senate from Colorado against Democrat Michael Bennett (right), compared homosexuality to alcoholism on “Meet the Press” and said being gay is a choice.

Asked by host David Gregory to elaborate on a statement he made in an earlier debate about gays in the military, Buck said he believes sexual orientation is a choice.

Buck went on to say, “I think that birth has an influence over it, like alcoholism and some other things, but I think that basically you have a choice.”

Buck is trying to convince the tea party base …

Is Michael Bloomberg Readying A Run For Higher Office?

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is building his national profile as fiscally conservative and socially liberal.

He has attacked teachers’ unions on NBC, but also defended the rights of Muslims on CBS. He wants to expand gay rights and cut public workers’ pensions. He is flying around the country endorsing Republicans and Democrats alike.

For now, aides insist this is not part of any grand plan except to let Bloomberg be Bloomberg. It gives him something to do after nine years at the same desk, and he’s never minded anything that feeds his vanity.

Bloomberg has been a Democrat, a …

Palin To Republicans: “Soon We’ll All Be Dancing”; Most Californians Don’t Dance To That Tune

Stumping in California for the GOP, Sarah Palin told a crowd in Orange County, “Soon we’ll all be dancing.” That may sit well in conservative Orange County, but Palin doesn’t fare well in the state overall.

A Field Poll released last week found that 58 percent of the state’s registered voters hold a negative view of Palin, although she remains quite popular among Republicans. In addition, two-thirds of independent voters would be less inclined to support a candidate endorsed by her.

Maybe that’s why:

The state’s two most prominent Republican candidates this year — gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman and Senate …

Fed Says They’ll Go After Marijuana Users Even If California Legalizes It

Attorney General Eric Holder says regardless of the result of the vote on Proposition 19, the Justice Department will continue to enforce drug laws.

“Let me state clearly that the Department of Justice strongly opposes Proposition 19. If passed, this legislation will greatly complicate federal drug enforcement efforts to the detriment of our citizens,” it said.

Holder did not spell out exactly how he will proceed but said the Justice Department was “considering all available legal and policy options,” and intended to “aggressively enforce” federal drug laws.

The use of medical marijuana has been legal in California since 1996, …

Which Is The Party Of The Elites, Again?

Rush Limbaugh endorsed Republican West Virginia Senate candidate John Raese because they belong to the same club in Palm Beach, FL. (h/t Greg Sargent)

“I happen to know John Raese,” Limbaugh said on his radio show. “He is a part-time resident here in Palm Beach and he has a locker right across the, right across the bench from me at a prominent local club. I’ve never played golf with him, but I’ve met him.”

That ought to sit will with West Virginia residents.  Making matters even worse, Raees’s wife, Elizabeth, can’t vote for him because she’s registered in Florida…

California GOP Congressional Candidate Wants To Eliminate Public Eductation

California Tea Party candidate for Congress David Harmer, the son of former Lt. Governor John Harmer, referred to public schools as “socialism in education” and wrote an op-ed in 2000 called “Abolish the Public Schools.”

In that [San Franciso] Chronicle piece, Harmer argues that “government should exit the business of running and funding schools.” He contends that would allow for “quantum leaps in educational quality and opportunity” and notes that he’s simply pushing for a return to “the way things worked through the first century of American nationhood.”

And here’s what that would look like according to Harmer:

Schooling then …

Keith Richards Says Mick Jagger Is “Unbearable”

In his new autobiography, Life,  Keith Richards discusses his complicated relationship with Mick Jagger.

The memoir is peppered with references to other celebrities — from Johnny Depp to John Lennon — but it is the prickly dynamic between Richards and Jagger that dominates the 527-page book, which is to be serialized in The Times newspaper.

Richards, 66, who met Jagger at the age of four, says he has not stepped foot in Jagger’s dressing room in 20 years.

“It was the beginning of the Eighties when Mick started to become unbearable,” Richards writes in the memoir……

Social Security COLA Frozen For Second Consecutive Year

By Yashwanth Manjunath

Every year from 1975 to 2009 the Social Security Administration (SSA) has passed a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to combat inflation by raising Social Security retirement and disability benefits. This was the first year since the inception of COLA that no benefits increase was passed. Unfortunately for the retired and disabled, the SSA announced today that there will be no COLA for next year as well. According to the SSA, inflation has been too low since the last increase in 2009 to warrant a raise for 2011. To be fair to the SSA, today’s announcement was …

Mitt Romney Bought Himself A Best-Selling Book

When you see that asterisk after a book on the New York Times list, you often find that it’s because of bulk sales. Bulk sales means that an institution, such as a conservative think tank for example, bought many many copies.  This kind of arrangement helped Mitt Romney’s book,  No Apologies: The Case for American Greatness become a best seller. Romney asked those who hired him to speak to apply some or all of his fees to book purchases.

The hosts ranged from Claremont McKenna College to the Restaurant Leadership Conference, many of whom are accustomed to paying for high-profile …

On Friday’s Radio Show…

• New Jersey car dealer Brad Benson tells Alan why he’s giving Florida pastor Terry Jones a new car for promising not to burn a Quran.

• Deborah Westphal from the “Future Shock” team at Toffler Associates shares fascinating projections for politics, society and more over the next 40 years.

• It’s the Friday Night Free-For-All!…

Was Sharron Angle Sexist To Tell Harry Reid, “Man Up!”?

Tommy at Mediaite raises a good question. What if Harry Reid had turned to Sharron Angle during their Nevada Senate debate and said, “Act like a lady!”?

One of the sound bites to emerge from last night’s Harry Reid vs. Sharron Angle debate has Angle telling Reid to “man up,” a popular line of attack on Reid from both sides of the political spectrum. While this kind of gender-based attack tends to generate nothing more than an “Oh, snap!” from most observers, imagine what would happen if Reid had told Angle to “act like a lady,” or if President …