Political Heat

Former Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) has conceded to Democratic challenger and former SNL comedian Al Franken, finally giving up a lengthy legal battle challenging the validity of a recount that Franken had (legally) brought up in the aftermath of the election nearly eight months ago. The concession came following a ruling from the Minnesota Supreme Court, which ruled in Franken's favor over Coleman's legal qualms. With the victory, Democrats now control a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, though some of those Democrats are still conservative-leaning, Blue Dog Dems that favor a moderate fiscal policy. Still, it's all the more easier to pass important legislation now that Franken is the Senator from Minnesota.

Iraqi security forces took control of their own cities today as American military personnel left in what many are calling a major move in the six-plus year campaign to secure Iraq. Many critics of the move -- among them former Vice President Dick Cheney -- maintain that the insurgency that plagued American soldiers in the months following the takeover of Iraq will return as we remove our troops from the beleaguered nation. But most Iraqis have celebrated the move, even as a car bomb killed dozens today and injured scores more. While violence may spike up here and there during the transition, it is no longer the responsibility of the United States to curtail that violence. The Iraqi people need to become responsible for their own safety and security, and are in fact able to do that. Even George W. Bush said that, when Iraqis stand up we should begin to step aside and allow them to control their own lives. We should keep that promise to them, and remove our troops as they become more abl...

Norm Coleman concedes to Al Franken, giving Democrats a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. More tonight...

he Supreme Court released its decision today regarding the so-called "reverse discrimination" case involving white firefighters from New Haven, Connecticut. In a 5-4 decision, the Court overturned an appeals court ruling that allowed the city to toss the results of a promotions exam due to fears of litigation stemming from an overwhelmingly low number of minority applicants qualifying for the promotion. Justice Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion, stated that, "Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer's reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions." The case was controversial on its own merits; affirmative action cases always are. But the case had additional drama added to it since Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was part of the appellate court that had made the original decision to allow the city to toss out the exam results. Because of this, she is now susceptible to conservative...

More than six in ten Americans support confirming Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, according to a new Washington Post and ABC News poll . That's the highest rating a nominee has received since Clarence Thomas. But Republicans remain skeptical -- only 36 percent want to see her confirmed. What should be more troubling to Republicans, however, is the view Americans have on Roe v. Wade. According to the poll, six in ten once again would like to see Sotomayor uphold the landmark case that preserved the right for women to choose whether or not they should have an abortion. Among Republicans in the poll, men opposed such an idea, but women were split, with half believing that the precedent should stand. Also from the poll , a majority of Americans approve of Barack Obama's job performance (65 percent), with the president receiving positive reviews in his handling of the economy (56 percent), health care (53 percent), and international affairs (a whopping 61 percent). Democrats ...

Since I don't post too regularly on the weekends, it would seem only fair of me to leave you with some entertainment. So, each week I will leave a music video for you to watch, a song of inspiration or a song I just happen to have in my head that day. This week: Townes Van Zandt.

The Supreme Court ruled today that strip searches for middle and high school students were unconstitutional if conducted without reasonable cause. At age 13, Savana Redding was suspected of having prescription strength ibuprofen at Safford Middle School in Arizona. When school authorities searched her personal belongings and found nothing there, they demanded that she strip to her underwear. The high Court heard the case, and determined (in an 8-1 ruling) that such searches were unreasonable. Typically, schools need only "reasonable suspicion" -- that is, just a slight belief without even much cause usually needed for non-school situations -- to search a student's belongings. But the Court has changed that rule, stating that, in situations like Redding's, a strip search was an excessive one, unreasonable even for the "reasonable suspicion" This ruling is a just one; such a search is unreasonable and unnecessarily places the student in an embarrassing situati...

A video posted on YouTube recently depicts a gay exorcism. A teenage boy is held up in the air, placed on the ground, surrounded by parishioners, who shout, "Rip it from his throat!," and, "It's in his stomach!" while attempting to remove the "gayness" from him. It ends with the young man vomiting. It's troubling that, in a society as advanced as ours is today, people still look at homosexuality as a disease, as something that needs to be cured of. Whatever your religious beliefs are -- you can believe it's a sin, it's wrong, or whatever -- it's disturbing that people still believe it's unnatural, it's an illness, and so forth. It's equally disturbing how far people will take their beliefs; this video is one example of that. At some point, I imagine, God wants us to accept the logical, the reasonable things in this world. We cannot rely on blind faith for every situation -- sometimes we have to use the judgment God has given...

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who, this week, admitted to an ongoing affair and went missing for several days while visiting his mistress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, should resign from his post as governor. But not because of the affair. Politicians have had affairs for decades, centuries even, without it interfering with their jobs. We may not like their actions, but if they're able to perform their duties properly while still carrying on the affair, we should not demand a resignation; we should wait until the following election, and see then if we want new leadership, either in the primary challenges they may face or in the general election. But when that politician comes who is unable to perform his duties DUE to the affair in question, then that politician becomes a liability. In this instance, Gov. Sanford's actions warrant resignation on his behalf. Sanford left the country for several days to be with this woman. He left without anyone knowing where he was. What if hi...

Several GOP Senators are causing a stir on Capitol Hill over Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Most recently, these Republicans have questioned whether Sotomayor would uphold the Constitution in her rulings. It's a silly question to even ask -- Sotomayor has years of experience as a federal judge, and you'd think that, if her decisions were a legitimate concern, something would have been done by now to remedy that (such as impeachment of a judge who is ruling outside the law). If you're still not convinced, however, take a look at her record: not only does she have the years of experience a Supreme Court Justice needs, but her decisions have been consistently upheld (the Supreme Court has only heard five cases of hers of the 232 she has authored an opinion on, overturning only 3 of those heard). It isn't right that these attacks are being made on Sotomayor. The Republicans need to do some actual research instead of carrying out baseless attacks upon her.

"English-only" legislation is something Republicans like to promote in order to divide the electorate in their favor. It's one of those issues that will always energize close-minded people, the kind that blame the economic crisis and unemployment on immigrants (this isn't a new phenomenon; such sentiments have been a fixture of our nation ever since immigrants began coming to our country). But when ultra-conservative Pat Buchanan suggests, along with other conservative voices, that Republicans should actively support such legislation in order to regain seats in Congress, it may help to have mastered the language yourself. While criticizing Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor , Buchanan and other panelists suggested that Obama would force Americans to speak Spanish if English were not the official language -- all the while standing underneath a sign that read, "2009 National Conferenece ." Scare tactics won't help the conservative cause; and apparently,...

The health care crisis in this country is a monumental catastrophe: we spend more money on health care than any other nation, and yet tens of millions of us can't get basic coverage, while millions more are denied coverage because of "pre-existing" conditions. 72 percent of Americans support a public health insurance option. With numbers like that, you'd think that Democrats in Congress would get the idea. But timid, moderate Democrats remain skeptical, and are still pushing for a compromise between them and uncompromising Republicans. This raises two questions for these "Blue Dog" Democrats: first, after an election where Dem's won an overwhelming majority of seats in Congress (as well as the presidency itself) in large part due to public support for health care reform, does it make much sense to back down from a public option now? And second: after failing to see Republicans cooperate -- both presently and in the past -- on health care reform, why sho...

Democracy never comes easy. Throughout history, it has been earned, through tears and bloodshed. With the U.S., it came through years of revolution (and even then, countless more years until some were truly free). In Britain, it was centuries of civil strife that brought about an eventual democracy. In India, it took radical ideas like passive resistance to gain democratic rights and freedom -- but just because the people refused to use violence as a means to an end doesn't mean bloodshed wasn't spilled in the process. I write this tonight because Iran is facing a crossroads. In a month's time, a week's time, perhaps even tomorrow, the people of that nation will have to decide: is democracy worth the bloodshed they have already seen, worth the bloodshed they are yet to see? It's a dark question to have to ask. If given the choice, even some American citizens would opt out of democratic rights if it meant they're lives would be secure. No one wants to die for the...

A new segment that I hope you'll check back for each week. Since I don't post too regularly on the weekends, it would seem only fair of me to leave you with some entertainment. So, each week I will leave a music video for you to watch, a song of inspiration or a song I just happen to have in my head that day. This week, however, I picked a song that I listened to while canvassing during the election. Here it is: Mr. Tom Petty.

Would you trust a ten year old to hold onto your cell phone for you all day? How about your iPod? Even under complete supervision, many parents would probably squirm at the thought of ten year olds holding their most precious forms of technology. It's not because they don't trust kids at this age; it's because they understand that children at age ten are more susceptible to be clumsy, to have a small attention span, and are more likely to be jumping around when they should be responsible while holding on to these fragile items. But what if they were holding a weapon? Would you trust a ten year old, even with supervision, with a gun? The Wisconsin State Legislature has approved a bill to allow ten year olds the chance to hunt with "mentors," who must be 18 years or older and stay an arms length distance between their counterpart at all times while hunting. The two must only have one weapon between them, as well. While it's commendable that the state legislature...

Much criticism has been made as of late regarding President Obama's attitude towards the democratic crisis in Iran. Many conservative commentators have stated that Obama needs to have a more active role in the whole situation, and decry the election that took place as fraudulent. But would Obama calling out the election for what it was really benefit U.S. interests? Surely, we should promote fair elections whenever we can, and Obama should continue monitoring the fallout in Iran. But there is a case to be made that calling out Iran and meddling in its affairs TOO much could cause more harm than good. Suppose Obama calls current Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad a liar and a cheat -- two things that, it's pretty clear by now, the Iranian leader is. Ahmadinejad can then use those statements to rile up anti-American sentiment, gaining more favor with Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran who strongly opposes western influence of any kind. Such a move by Obama, then, co...

***Every week, I will post a segment called "In Defense of Liberalism." I will look at several topics that usually get a bad reputation, as being too "liberal" -- the way conservatives use the word as synonymous as "bad." I will instead show how the topic is good for America, and how liberalism overall is a good thing.*** Progressive Taxation Nobody likes paying taxes. That's why the IRS and taxes in general typically receive a bad reputation in our country. But at the same time, few would argue that a system that gets rid of taxes completely would work out. We need taxes, not only for social welfare programs but also for infrastructure, defense and other items essential to the survival of our nation. How we derive these funds, then, becomes the central debate. Traditionally, conservatives have preferred a "flat" tax, or one that taxes everyone at the same rate; in some conservative circles, they have also advocated a national sales tax to re...

Barack Obama is set to announce that the benefits given to federal employees and their significant others will be extended to same-sex employees as well . Though in reaction to recent criticism to his inaction in repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the move is a substantial step in the right direction for the gay marriage movement. But more should be done, argue critics, who believe the administration is not acting swiftly enough in opening the doors for gay and lesbian couples. I happen to agree with that sentiment; more should be done to give all homosexual couples, not just those who work for the federal government, the right to wed one another. Having said that, I also feel that the movement is overlooking the significance of this move; not only are benefits being granted to gay and lesbian couples within the federal government, but this action also gives the movement new leverage in what the gay marriage debate is really about. For too long, the argument on the ri...

After comedian David Letterman issued an apology to the Palin family for a joke he made at their daughter's expense, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin issued this response : Of course it's accepted on behalf of young women, like my daughters, who hope men who 'joke' about public displays of sexual exploitation of girls will soon evolve. Letterman certainly has the right to 'joke' about whatever he wants to, and thankfully we have the right to express our reaction. This is all thanks to our U.S. Military women and men putting their lives on the line for us to secure America's Right to Free Speech - in this case, may that right be used to promote equality and respect. It doesn't get much more heartfelt politically advantageous than that. It's clear that Palin is using the situation to her political advantage. When your response to an apology like Letterman's is more than, "Yes, I accept his apology," and instead includes topics ranging from femin...

Wear green sometime this week for Iranian democracy. The elections in Iran were stolen when current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won in a landslide despite all indications the race was a closer one between him and oppositional reform candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. In fact, looking at the previous election results (also between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi), Mousavi defeated Ahmadinejad in his (Mousavi's) home districts. But this time around, Ahmadinejad won by unbelievable margins, an impressive showing that raises serious doubts about the election's validity. Clearly there is something wrong here. And everyday Iranians aren't taking it too lightly. Show your support for democracy. Wear green sometime soon.

Late night comedian David Letterman is taking heat for a joke he made at the expense of the Palin family, namely Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol, who Letterman inferred got knocked up during a Yankee's baseball game by one of the players. The joke was in bad taste, to be sure, but some took greater offense to it seeing as Palin's eldest daughter wasn't in attendance, but that her 14-year old daughter was. It's pretty clear that Letterman was trying to have some fun at the Palin's expense. He wasn't intending to say that the 14-year old daughter would get knocked up, but rather the 18-year old one who is already famous for having a pregnancy (Bristol). Tonight, Dave is said to be extending an official apology to the family. It's good that he does, but such jokes at the expense of politicians' children are not rare. Take John McCain's joke, for example, at the Clinton family's expense: Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is ...

Wisconsin Democrats selected Mike Tate , who just turned 30, to be the chairman of the Party in the state. But don't let his age fool you: Tate is a brilliant strategist, utilizing the internet for grassroots campaigning long before the Obama campaign, as well as working with strong Democratic leaders such as Jim Doyle, Russ Feingold and Howard Dean. He also led Fair Wisconsin during its campaign to defeat the gay marriage referendum in 2006. Though it wasn't a direct relationship, I've crossed paths with Tate on two separate occasions: first, in 2007 during the Democratic Leadership Institute, a weekend designed specifically for training young Democrats how to work in campaign settings; and second, during such a campaign setting in the 2008 presidential election for Advancing Wisconsin. Despite his young age -- something I'm sure Republicans are going to criticize -- Tate represents the new generation of Democrats who were so instrumental in the election of Barack Obam...

I've refrained from writing on the Holocaust Museum shooting because, when I had tried writing earlier, I couldn't form a coherent thought on the subject. I'm frustrated with these extreme conservative acts of violence -- they need to stop. I don't fault the ideology itself; I want to make that clear. It would be stupid to say that conservatism is responsible for the insane actions of a few die-hard psychopaths who feel that they're righteous in their actions, that they're doing humanity a favor by committing these acts of violence, of murdering their fellow man. The policies that conservatives espouse are nowhere near what those extremists believe. I just wish I could say the same of some conservative commentators, whose vile rhetoric sometimes mirrors that of the extremists who are perpetrating these acts of terror. I worry, because I know for a fact that these extremists listen to and base their beliefs around the words of these hate-filled commentators. I kn...

I'll bet Rush goes after him next: " And she was called by somebody a racist once . That's not right. I mean that's not fair. It doesn't help the process. You're out there name-calling." The former president is calling for a fair hearing for Sotomayor. It's commendable that, out of all the negative attention Republicans have been giving her, a former leader can say kind words about her and lead by example. But, who will follow? That remains to be seen.

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings are set to being July 13 , leaving many Republican Senators upset. They charge that Democrat's are trying to rush the process, attempting to confirm the nominee fast so that any past discrepancies won't matter afterward. But, as Rachel Maddow pointed out the other night, this time frame is on par for a nominee to be confirmed. As a matter of fact, Obama has said that he wanted Sotomayor confirmed by the summer recess on August 7 -- 73 days after he nominated her, which is roughly the average time frame for the current nine justices on the Court . So why are Republicans having a hissy fit about this? Simple: they want more time to dig up her record, in hopes of finding something damaging about her past. Not that they haven't already called her a reverse racist enough. Somehow, that "game" hasn't played well with the American public: 48 percent of Americans have a favorable view of her.

A new poll recently conducted among Republicans and person who identify themselves as leaning towards the Republican Party shows that members of the GOP don't think too highly of themselves. Nearly one-third of all self-identifying Republicans have a negative view of the party, which could be attributed to the fact that nearly half of all Republicans can't really tell you who leads the party. Some conservative lawmakers still contend, however, that they will make inroads in 2010. That's still a long way to go; anything is possible. But if these poll numbers hold true until then, it'll be an uphill climb for Republicans.

I write a column for a local blog called Dane101 , which focuses on issues pertaining to Dane County, Wisconsin. I will be posting my columns periodically on this blog as well, but do check out their site too. It's chock-full of goodies for Dane County residents. Pharmacists should do their jobs On the 44th anniversary of Griswold v. Connecticut, the landmark Supreme Court case that granted women privacy rights with regard to contraceptive devices, Pro-Life Wisconsin held a series of special protests across the state in favor of pharmacists that refused to dispense contraceptive medication due to religious convictions. While you’d think that the right-to-life movement would support birth control methods as a means to prevent unwanted pregnancies (thus reducing abortion in the country), you’d be wrong; any sexual behavior, in their view, should only be had with the intention of conceiving children. Such a viewpoint disregards basic rights one has over their own body, and favors a s...

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Scott Roeder, the right wing extremist/terrorist who shot down abortion doctor George Tiller a little more than a week ago (while in church, mind you), called the Associated Press today from his jail cell and told them that he knew of "similar events planned around the country as long as abortion remains legal." When asked to elaborate, he would not. Yet, back in April , such thoughts were "outrageous" and whoever drafted such a report deserved to be "fired," according to Newt Gingrich. A report on left-wing activities was also released by the Department of Homeland Security, but no one seemed to care that the agency was balancing it's ideological threats. The fact was, conservatives hated being told there were conservative terrorists, and thus found whatever way they could to deride the report. Except now we're seeing examples of conservative extremism in everyday life. Gun nuts who fear Obama is going to take their guns killing cops; anti-aborti...

The people over at Right View Wisconsin are complaining once again about President Barack Obama. This time, they're concerned with what the dictator Hugo Chavez is saying about the president. Chavez recently jested that Obama had moved more to the left than he or Fidel Castro. What's interesting is two things: number one, while under the leadership of President Bush, our standing in the world didn't seem to matter much to these writers on the right; if a world leader was critical of his policies, it didn't matter because what he was doing was in America's best interests. Suddenly, it matters a lot to them, enough to warrant concern when a world leader makes a joke at our expense. And a joke about socialism is a joke that conservatives don't take lightly. The second thing that's interesting is that, in the grand scheme of the American private sector, the percentage of private industry that we have nationalized under Obama is minimal; in fact, it's less t...

President Barack Obama's tour of the Middle East and Europe continues to garner criticism from the fringe right, who are likening his trip to an " apology tour " for America. While terrible and horrifying things were done under the Bush administration, Obama's tour has been anything but an apology tour. Rather, in fairly specific terms, Obama has laid out his goals and expectations for the Middle East, calling on both the Palestinians and Israel to cooperate with one another towards a common goal of peace in the region. (Following his speech, Israel lifted several checkpoints on the West Bank that restricted movement for the Palestinian people.) Obama also promoted the virtues of democracy to a region riddled with undemocratic regimes -- despite what you may have heard Elisabeth Hasselbeck and others say to the contrary. Conservative critics of Obama have continually maintained that he is part of the "blame America first" crowd. That "crowd," in ...

Let us never forget...

I should have written this earlier, but time constraints prevented me from commenting on it. I already wrote on Dr. George Tiller's death at the hands of a conservative extremist...but equally worthy of mention is the death of William Long this past week, a military recruiter who died at the hands of Abdulhakim Muhammad, who attacked Long and his recruiting partner Quinton Ezeagwula (who suffered injuries as well). Muhammad attacked the two because of past abuse done to Muslims captured by the U.S. military. As was the case with Tiller, Long's death is unjustifiable. Muhammad had no right to take this man's life, to engage in violent tactics to achieve his goals. Such brutality is cowardly; a person with true character engages in civil debate, protests in non-violent ways, and certainly refrains from murder as a means to their end. Having said this, and once again mentioning how terrible both incidents were, I must mention one thought going through my mind right now: it...

President Barack Obama is presently embarking on a tour of the Middle East, set to deliver his campaign-promised speech to the Muslim world tomorrow in Cairo, Egypt. He does so in hopes to normalize and better relations with a region that currently has a negative view of the United States. Such a goal is admirable, and Obama should be commended for his ambitions. There will, of course, be criticism from the fringe right (see Milwaukee Craigslist Political forum ), who will bring up his "bowing" incident once more and, in conjunction with this trip of goodwill, insist that Obama's interests lie within the Muslim world, not with America. Such assertions are bogus, and shouldn't be taken seriously. Reaching a hand out to other nations or cultures is a sign of strength, not weakness. Anyone in charge of the world's sole superpower can flex the might of that nation's military; but such action only antagonizes those we wish to influence. It takes true character, tru...

A man is dead because he provided late-term abortions to women in Wichita, Kansas. Dr. George Tiller was killed in his church while performing his duties as an usher on May 31, murdered because of his belief that he was helping women who had no option in regards to their own health. The abortion debate is one where, whatever opinion you have, you're pretty much going to hold it regardless of any argument you hear from anyone opposing you. I don't plan on writing anything here that has to do with why you should be pro-choice, why you should support so-called "late-term" abortions, or anything of the like. What is of concern is the rising trend of conservative extremists taking up arms and taking the lives of law-abiding citizens -- and doing so because of political differences. Whether you're killing cops in Pittsburgh because you fear liberals are going to take your guns, or you shoot up a Unitarian church in Tennessee because of their tolerance of liberal belie...