I'm Back From Vacation!

So... uh... what did I miss?

Man! What a week to be away. Let's just bullet point it:

 Todd Akin's crazy week

 GOP leaders going apeshit over Akin's comments and urging him to quit his Missouri Senate race.

 Mitt Romney deciding to courageously voice his opinion that Akin should drop out of his Senate race a convenient 15 minutes after Rush Limbaugh suggested the same.

 Mitt Romney's ridiculous suggestion that he doesn't want to release his taxes because he wants how much he tithes to the LDS to remain private. HA!

 Mitt Romney going Birther at an event in Michigan.

 Another shooting, this time by the Empire State Building

 Phyllis Diller died.

 Neil Armstrong died.



I'll be back to comment on a more regular basis starting tomorrow, but in the meantime, enjoy this picture of the Grand Canyon... yes, I vacationed in Arizona and actually brought my passport... just in case.

Quote of the Day

If the debt ceiling talks fail, independents voters will see that Democrats were willing to compromise but Republicans were not. If responsible Republicans don’t take control, independents will conclude that Republican fanaticism caused this default. They will conclude that Republicans are not fit to govern.

And they will be right.

~David Brooks, July 4th, 2011 New York Times Op-Ed

When a dyed in the wool conservative like David Brooks can see the writing on the wall, you know that the GOP is in trouble.

Democrats can not cave to a debt ceiling deal with absolutely no revenue increases.

WEINER!

Rep. Anthony Weiner to GOP: Did you get your feelings hurt? Get over it.

Via Crooks and Liars:

Dumbass Quote of the Day

"I believe that the videos we saw of ACORN accurately reflected the activities of ACORN and the culture of ACORN, and the videos we have seen of Planned Parenthood accurately reflect the culture and the activities of Planned Parenthood." On the funding battle, King pledged a "smackdown vote to shut down every dollar going to Planned Parenthood."...

..."Harry Reid can defend those ghoulish and ghastly and gruesome practices that Planned Parenthood is advocating along with child prostitution and illegal immigration. He can play defense on that. They didn't do very well in the Senate when they tried to defend ACORN. I don't think they'll do any better this time."

~Rep. Steve King (R-Doucheland) in the GOP's attack on Planned Parenthood to further restrict health services to women.

Patriot Act Extension Fails! - UPDATED

Breaking News:



The vote was 277-148. With a two-thirds vote necessary, 290 votes were needed to pass the legislation. Welcome, Tea Party, to the fractured GOP. More to follow.

UPDATE (2/9/11): From Raw Story:

The House voted 277 to 148 for the PATRIOT Act extension... short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass it under a procedure that allows bills that aren't controversial to pass quickly.

But it appears the bill was controversial enough to convince some two dozen tea party-backed Republican freshmen to join a majority of Democrats in voting against it, The Hill reported.

Now here's the bad news.

The measure is now expected to return to the House floor for a regular vote that would require a simple majority to pass. If House members vote then as they did Tuesday, the extension will pass easily.