Former Clarence Thomas Paramour Talks: “He Was Obsessed With Porn”

Lillian McEwen was never called on during the Clarence Thomas hearings when he was nominated for the Supreme Court, even though she made her relationship with him known to Joe Biden who was running the hearings. She believes that, had she been, he wouldn’t have made it to the court. McEwen, a former assistant U.S. attorney and counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee,  had a long-term relationship with Thomas. After news came of Clarence Thomas’s wife, Virginia, calling the woman who accused him of harassment years ago, Anita Hill, McEwen decided to be silent no more.

Now, she …

The Future Of Higher Education?

by Stuart Shapiro

Texas is trying out some new and controversial policies to evaluate and improve higher education.

A 265-page spreadsheet, released last month by the chancellor of the Texas A&M University system, amounted to a profit-and-loss statement for each faculty member, weighing annual salary against students taught, tuition generated, and research grants obtained.

I have deeply mixed feelings about this. (I am a tenured professor at a public university).  On the one hand I sympathize with my colleagues voicing reactions like this:

And they point out that the data do not take into account the many hours spent preparing …

Florida’s Marco Rubio And Charlie Crist Defend Iraq War

In a debate on CNN for Florida’s Senate seat, only Rep. Kendrick Meek argued that going into Iraq was a bad idea, while Governor Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio defended the action. (via Think Progress)

MODERATOR: Mr. Rubio, is America safer and better off for having gone to war in Iraq?

RUBIO: I think ultimately, yes. First of all, the world is better off because Saddam Hussein is no longer in charge. He is no longer in charge of that country. Let’s understand one thing. Right now we’re worrying about Iran possessing a nuclear weapon. If Saddam …

Correcting The Lies About Health Care Reform

The New York Times lead editorial sets the record straight about health care reform, correcting lies put forth by Republican candidates and other detractors of change.  Yes, costs are rising, and some employers are dropping coverage, but that’s because of a still-bad but recovering economy, and fear generated by the lies being told about reform. Most of the reforms don’t even take hold until 2014. Here are some of the lies:

New Hampshire’s Largest Newspaper Won’t Publish Gay Marriage Announcements

Even though gay marriage is legal in New Hampshire, as it is in four other states, the Manchester Union Leader refused to publish the wedding notice of two gay men this weekend.

The newspaper says it has a constitutional right to choose what to print and opposes the new law. Publisher Joe McQuaid says the paper isn’t anti-gay but believes marriage is between a man and a woman.

Democratic Senate candidate Paul Hodes is asking the paper to change the policy and as calling on his Republican opponent, Kelly Ayotte, to do the same.…

U.S. To Give $2 Billion More To Pakistan’s Military

I want to hear the fiscal conservatives shout about this. If the Obama administration announced a $2 billion stimulus package they’d be shouting from the rooftops.  But here, we are raising our annual amount to $400 million over five years, on top of $7.5 billion already being spent for civilian purposes. Let the outrage begin.…

Joe Miller Runs Away From Questions About Benefits He Collects

Alaska PR man Bill Scannell reports that Alaska’s U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller ran away from him at a “meet and greet” when Scannell asked Miller to reveal  his service-connected disability.

Looking away from your correspondent, Miller yelped to no one in particular, “We’ve gotta go!” He then pointed to his wife and said, “Let’s move!” The Millers hustled to the back of the vacant strip mall office next to the pizza place and surrounded themselves with campaign staffers.

This time, Miller’s phalanx of creepy skinheads dressed as Secret Service agents — last seen assaulting and restraining a local journalist…

WikiLeaks Founder Walks Out Of CNN Interview When Asked About Rape Case

Jullian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who just released a ton of documents about the Iraq war, walked out of an interview with CNN’s Atika Shubert when Shubert asked him about rape charges against him. The question was relevant in light of Assange’s statement that attacks on him are part of a Pentagon campaign of “dirty tricks to ruin us.” Shubert pressed Assange, even after he warned, “It’s completely disgusting, Atika. I’m going to walk if you’re going to contaminate us revealing the deaths of 104,000 people with attacks against my person.” It gets ugly at 2:37.

…

Actor Randy Quaid And Wife Seek Refugee Status In Canada; Fear They’ll Be Killed In U.S.

Randy Quaid and wife and wife Evi are seeking refugee status Canada, saying they’ve been persecuted by authorities in the United States for twenty years.

The Quaids told the hearing Friday that eight of their close friends had been killed in recent years and they now felt endangered themselves.

Evi Quaid said friends such as actors David Carradine and Heath Ledger were “murdered” under mysterious circumstances and she’s worried something will happen to her husband.

“We feel our lives are in danger,” she said.

Heath Ledger died of an overdose in 2008.  Carradine hanged himself in Thailand in 2009. The …

Republicans: Elect Us And The We’ll Give You Our Plan

South Dakota Senator John Thune, a possible 2012 presidential contender, spent his Saturday rebuttal to the weekly presidential address attacking President Obama and Democrats but offered no substantial plan of his own.  Thune’s message was that the “Obama experiment has failed,” but what is the new plan? We’re waiting.

Pennsylvania Republican Mike Kelly, looking to replace Democrat Kathy Dahlkemper, was stumped when asked what cuts he would make, even though he used the word “specific” eight times (h/t Think Progress).

Moderator: Could you please tell us what specific savings; where would you find massive cuts in the federal …

Republican Consultant Predicts Rise Of Third Party

by Stuart Shapiro

Mark McKinnon, a longtime Republican adviser, nailed critical problems with the evolution of politics in the US recently, although I may not  fully agree with his conclusions.

The “mainstream media is dying,” McKinnon stated, and as a result, politicians like Sarah Palin who use social media are able to have complete control over their media image, and do not have to answer to a larger media entity that would hold them accountable and ask them questions.

Elections are being reshaped by the “increasing influence of outside money,” McKinnon said. “Campaigns are being outspent” by unions and special …