Mitt Romney Won’t Say If He Supports Law That Takes Away Workers’ Rights–But He Did In June

Mitt Romney won’t declare his support for an Ohio law curtailing collective bargaining rights for public employee unions, even though he supported this as recently as June.

“My friends in Ohio are fighting to defend crucial reforms that the state has put in place to limit the power of union bosses and keep taxes low,” Romney wrote on his Facebook page in June. “I stand with John R. Kasich and Ohio’s leaders as they take on this important fight to get control of government spending…

Appearing today at a GOP phone bank near Cincinnati, Romney told reporters that he wouldn’t …

Louis Farrakhan Condemns The Killing Of Muammar Qaddafi; Says America Is “Through”

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan says the United States and Western allies will face severe consequences for the killing of the Libyan leader.

“I know something of the good of Moammar Gadhafi that made me to love him as a brother and to feel a great sense of loss at his assassination,” Farrakhan said during a two-hour interview with radio host Cliff Kelley on WVON-AM.

Later in the show, he said: “Gadhafi died in honor, fighting for the Libya that he believed in.”

…U.S. could find itself with a revolution of its own. He pointed to the Occupy Wall …

Rick Perry Reveals Republican Philosophy On Inequality

by Stuart Shapiro

Interviewed by John Harwood of the New York Times, Governor Perry defended his flat tax plan (h/t Kevin Drum):

Harwood: Your plan — by cutting the top rate to 20 percent, eliminating dividends and capital gains taxes, would provide a huge tax cut to wealthy people. Given what’s happened with income inequality, why is that a good idea?

Perry: We’re trying to get this country working again. And that’s what I focus on. We went through what are the ways to really give incentives to those that are going to risk their capital …

After Going Birther, Rick Perry Gets Mad At Reporter Who Asks Him About It

How dare Jim Acosta of CNN ask Rick Perry about his comments that he’s not sure where President Obama was born? Perry calls it a “distraction,” and yet he is the one distracting with it; distracting from his own descending candidacy.

During Rick Perry‘s press conference today about his flat tax plan, CNN reporter Jim Acosta posed a question to the Texas Governor about his recent comments about President Obama’s birth certificate. “You raised the issue of the president’s birth certificate over the weekend. I’m just curious what will it take to convince you that the president was born …

PETA: Whales Have Constitutional Rights

PETA is coming to the defense of whales at SeaWorld.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is accusing the SeaWorld parks of keeping five star-performer whales in conditions that violate the 13th Amendment ban on slavery. SeaWorld depicted the suit as baseless..

The suit, which PETA says it will file Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Diego, hinges on the fact that the 13th Amendment, while prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude, does not specify that only humans can be victims.

Jeff Kerr, PETA’s general counsel, says his five-member legal team – which spent 18 months preparing the case …

On Tuesday’s Radio Show…

• Rick Perry says Mitt Romney stands for nothing. Alan says Perry is 100% right.

• Satirist Roland Boyle discusses his new book, The Tea Party Guide to Being a Real American.

• Should schools allow anti-war activists to recruit students alongside the military? Lt. Col. Cary Miller of Oregon Army National Guard Recruiting explains his concerns.…

There’s An App For Getting Arrested While Occupying Wall Street

It’s called, “I’m Getting Arrested,” created by Brooklyn developer Jason Van Anden.

The free app–which has been downloaded more than 9,000 times since its release earlier this month–is currently available on the Android platform. According to Van Anden, a version of the app for Apple’s iPhone is currently in the works.

“It’s a technology that fits well with democracy,” Van Anden told the Brooklyn Paper. Van Anden is not himself an Occupy Wall Street protester, though he said he supports the movement.…

Anti-War Protesters To Recruit Alongside The Military In Portland

Counter-recruiters will be given the same access to high school students that the military has in Portland.

Instead of standing out on the school sidewalk waving signs and offering fliers, as they have done regularly outside Portland high schools, anti-war activists will be able to staff recruiting tables and hand out pamphlets in the school career center or cafeteria, just like military recruiters in uniform.

“What we want is a balanced account of military service,” said school board member Matt Morton, one of at least four board members lined up behind the new rule. “What’s key is giving them all …

Rick Perry: Birther Issue Is “A Good Issue To Keep Alive”

Rick Perry says he likes the birther issue.

“It’s a good issue to keep alive,” Perry told CNBC in an interview. “It’s fun to poke at him.”

Perry also said “I don’t have a clue” about “what that (Obama) birth certificate says.”

Perry went birther in Sunday’s Parade magazine, seemingly under the influence of Donald Trump.…

Police Declare “Occupy Oakland” A “Crime Scene”

The only “crime” was “unlawful assembly,” yet the Oakland police used heavy-handed tactics to clear out protesters.

…hundreds of police showed up wearing riot gear around 4:40 a.m. and proceeded to surround the small tent city at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, which protesters have taken to calling “Oscar Grant Plaza” in honor of a young man who was gunned down for no apparent reason by a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer almost three years ago.

Officers closed in on the camp within 20 minutes after donning gas masks, firing tear gas, rubber bullets and beanbags into the protest …

Libya Rebels Execute 53 Qaddafi Supporters

Human Rights Watch reports that 53 supporters of Muammar Qaddafi were executed at a Sirte hotel last week.

“We found 53 decomposing bodies, apparently Gaddafi supporters, at an abandoned hotel in Sirte, and some had their hands bound behind their backs when they were shot,” said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, who investigated the killings. “This requires the immediate attention of the Libyan authorities to investigate what happened and hold accountable those responsible…

“The evidence suggests that some of the victims were shot while being held as prisoners, when that part of Sirte was controlled by anti-Gaddafi …