You know what else sucks?

Republicans. Because they hold a minority opinion and lost an election (several elections, actually) but are holding policy hostage anyway.

Democrats. Because they are so scared to lose their majority that they’d rather hide under their desks than to do what they were elected to do (hint: LEAD).

Blue Dog Democrats: Because they’d rather make plays to increase their power base than do what they were elected to do (hint: LEAD).

Ok. So suffrage isn’t really under attack. But twice this year I’ve read accounts of writers who think it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to deny women the right to vote. It makes me wonder if the Republican party, having just this year burned major bridges with minorities and gays, is going for the trifecta.

For me, this summer started with my mother's death. It's ending with daily reminders of just how far some will go to prevent benefit to the many at the expense of profit to the few.

For months, Republicans have been saying anything they think will elicit fear, a powerful agent against change. Creating fear and confusion is the swiftest way to get people to act against their own interests. But, as usual, the fear and confusion they seek to sow is dishonest, disingenuous, and disrespectful.

If zombies actually existed, an attack by them would lead to the collapse of civilisation (sic) unless dealt with quickly and aggressively.

This according to an article at the BBC Web site that reports on a scientific paper written by researchers in Canada. It’s almost as if Bob and Doug MacKenzie were unleashed on an unsuspecting university math department.

A long time ago, I worked on a statewide political campaign for fifteen months. It’s hard work for very little pay and it requires an intense level of commitment.

In Washington on Tuesday, Republican Minority Whip Eric Cantor announced that the GOP would hold a banquet in September to honor outstanding Americans for their contribution to public debate.

Said Cantor, “The President gets to hand out the Presidential Medal of Freedom to whoever he wants. Just this week, President Obama handed out the medal to two dead guys. Our award will have much stricter eligibility requirements.”

Inaugural award nominees include:

When I want to learn about something, I generally start with my good friend, the Google. Depending on how much I want to know, it can stop there, or lead me to the local public library. Sometimes, when I want to know a lot about one particular thing, I even head for one of the university libraries in town.

Will wonders never cease?

Last week, Congressman Mark Souder, a conservative Republican from Indiana's 3rd district, voted--with 12 of his conservative Republican colleagues on the House Education and Labor Committee--for an amendment that would allow states to opt out of the federal health insurance reform plan as long as they set up a single payer system in their state. The amendment was sponsored by uber-liberal Dennis Kucinich (D-OH).

Yesterday, Steve Benen at the Washington Monthly pointed out that Paul Ryan had a piece at the American Spectator Web site. In it, Ryan writes:

The American character itself and the principles of free market democracy which protect and preserve it may be lost beyond recovery if Congress chooses the wrong path to health care reform

I didn't grow up in a family with a lot of money. In fact, we apparently started out poor. I didn't know this, because I was three and thought a walk shuffling through leaves was the best entertainment ever. But my mom and dad both worked really hard and my mom was a serious penny pincher. So, they saved.

I can admit when I'm wrong. Sometimes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/09/AR2009070902908.html

I was absolutely certain that Roland Burris would never let go of his senate seat without a contentious primary. I was also pretty sure that Lisa Madigan would challenge him in a primary.

Looks like the Illinois Democratic party might have something up its sleeve. I can't wait to see who the final candidate will be

Mitt Romney was on Meet the Press on Sunday, where he argued essentially that the United States doesn’t need a public health insurance option because Americans like to have choice when it comes to health care. After hearing this, I realized a couple of things.

First, Romney needs a Thesaurus for Christmas. Badly. Desperately, too.

I've been sort of hounding my elected officials lately; sending them poll results, asking them to commit to the public option, following up on their correspondence with me to ask them to please answer my questions instead of responding with canned crap that somebody on their staff wrote.

Seriously, how hard is it to answer the question "Do you support a public option for health insurance?" Yes? No? You haven't made up your mind yet because you get a lot of money from the insurance industry and you're afraid the Republicans will use the issue to run against you in 2010?

Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN) and Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA) have introduced a resolution expressing support for Iranian citizens, condemning the violence in Iran, and spouting off about the importance of free and fair elections.

No, seriously. I want to know why.

They get six years of free reign during which they drive the country into a ditch. Not just any ditch, either--a snow-filled ditch with a pond of thin ice at the bottom, far, far away from the nearest gas station.

Then, they start losing. So, instead of asking themselves why they are losing, they double down, and lose some more.

This feels like a strange thing to share so publicly, but since I've written about my mom a few times, I also feel compelled to tell you that she has finally passed away.

The end was as fast as the disease was agonizingly slow. I got a call and six hours later she was gone. There were no signs that the end was coming, at least that I would have recognized. Monday she was fine. Tuesday she was gone. It was a very peaceful death. She simply slipped away, with her family around her.

I should disclose at the outset that this is not a "How To" piece. If I knew how to find my joy, I'd surely have located it by now. But I've been thinking about happiness since Ross "What Women Want" Douthat declared why women are unhappy in his New York Times column last week.

I love it when men pontificate about what is wrong with women. Really (not really). I mean it (I don’t mean it).

Love. It.

That’s why I was so pleased to see Ross Douthat’s New York Times column today in which he discusses a new paper that a couple of economists have written, detailing how American women are less happy today than their 1960s counterparts (and also less happy than men).

Right after the election was over, I started a series of posts called Stuff I Learned, about the history of American presidents, as I read a book called The American Presidency. I didn't get very far into the book, and now I can't find it. I'm not all that worried about finishing, not being a fan of non-fiction.

So, at least for now, I won't be sharing with you the stuff I learned about American history. Instead, I'm hoping you'll share with me stuff you already know, because I'm confused.