Herman Cain Endorses Joe The Plumber

“We must outsmart liberals! We must outsmart stupid people!” decried Herman Cain at CPAC. Cain used the moment to endorse Joe the Plumber for Congress.

Cain said Joe the Plumber (née Wurzelbacher), is a leading proponent of his 9-9-9 tax plan — which largely fell flat with this crowd of conservative activists.

Cain, who was greeted to loud applause, appeared to lose the audience when he transitioned to a discussion of his signature legislative proposal — facing sporadic clapping or silence at what used to be enthusiastic applause lines from his stump speech.…

A Question For Conservatives

by Gabe Berman
Gabe is the author of Live Like a Fruit Fly

Have you read the Bible?

I know you speak of your Christian values, but have you really sat down and taken a glance at the Good Book?

I ask because from what I hear on the campaign trail, you may have skimmed over some of the good parts.

I know you’re too busy casting stones right now, so here’s a quick refresher course I put together just for you:

“If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” John …

U.S. Approves First New Nuclear Plant In 30 Years

Submitted by Cheston Catalano

In spite of a dissent from the chairman of the panel, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the first new nuclear plant in the United States in 30 years.

…NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko cast an extraordinary dissenting vote, citing the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in March 2011 that spurred the NRC to review whether existing and new U.S. reactors could withstand natural disasters like earthquakes and floods.

“I cannot support issuing this license as if Fukushima never happened.” said Jaczko, who has close ties to congressional Democrats. “I believe it requires some type of binding commitment …

Why The Oil Companies Deny Climate Change

by Stuart Shapiro

Fantastic essay by Bill McKibben on climate change deniers.  First he takes apart a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed that was standard fare in denialism.

The article was easily debunked. It was nothing but a mash-up of long-since-disproved arguments by people who turned out mostly not to be climate scientists at all, quoting other scientists who immediately said their actual work showed just the opposite.

It’s no secret where this denialism comes from: The fossil-fuel industry pays for it. (Of the 16 authors of the WSJ article, for instance, five had had ties to Exxon.) …

Santorum: Obama “Taking Faith And Crushing It” And “We’re Headed” For “The Guillotine”

Rick Santorum suggests that following President Obama’s path we are “taking faith and crushing it,” and headed toward the guillotine (or is that headed toward being beheaded?)

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More Anti-Liberal Hate At CPAC: Left Wants To Destroy Religion And Family

Jeffrey Bell of the American Principles Project says the left isn’t about Socialism, it’s about destroying religion and the family.

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McConnell At CPAC To Go After “Liberal Thugs”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell does the very thing he accuses his opponents of doing.

In a biting attack aimed at throwing red meat to a restive conservative base, McConnell will tell the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday that the “liberal playbook” boils down to this: “Pick a target, freeze it, personalize it, and then polarize it…”

He plans to add: “You know the drill. Expose these folks to public view, release the liberal thugs on them, and then hope the public pressure or the unwanted attention scares them from supporting similar causes down the road.”

 …

GOP Poll: 20% Of Republicans Leaning Toward Obama

Wenzel Strategies, run by Republican pollster Fritz Wenzel, shows that one in five GOPers are leaning toward President Obama.

The latest WND/Wenzel Poll shows none of the current crop of Republican presidential candidates has solidified the base of the party, with one in five GOP voters leaning toward support of Obama in November.

“The improvement in Obama’s prospects compared to the four remaining Republican challengers stems largely from two factors,” suggests pollster Fritz Wenzel. “First, Obama has largely avoided the political limelight while the GOP candidates savage each other with increasing intensity. Second, a smattering of evidence indicates that …

Supreme Court Stops Ohio Execution

Submitted by Cheston Catalano

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to overrule a lower court ruling that put the Ohio execution of a condemned killer on hold.

The court on Wednesday denied the state’s appeal of decisions in inmate Charles Lorraine’s case that said Ohio had strayed too far from its execution policies to be trusted to carry out the death sentence for now.

The office of Attorney General Mike DeWine had argued that minor deviations in policy don’t mean the system is unconstitutional.

DeWine had said that without Supreme Court action, Ohio is in danger of having dozens of executions …

Women In Combat Get New Rules

Submitted by William

Women will be permitted to serve closer to the front lines.

According to defense officials, the new rules are expected to continue the long-held prohibition that prevents women from serving as infantry, armor and special operations forces. But they will formally allow women to serve in other jobs at the battalion level, which until now had been considered too close to combat.…

Illinois Could Be Next

A marriage equality bill has been introduced.

Reps. Greg Harris, Deb Mell and Kelly Cassidy have introduced the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, which would allow same-sex couples to marry in Illinois.

“We commend these leaders for taking yet another step towards full equality for lesbian and gay families in Illinois, and we are grateful to them for their leadership. This is just the beginning: the road to marriage equality is sure to be long, but it is one that we must travel together,” said LGBT organization Equality Illinois in a statement.…