Happy Birther to You!

From Salon:

President Obama released his long-form birth certificate months ago, but leading Birther activist Orly Taitz is still insisting to anyone who will listen that the president is not a natural-born citizen. Last Thursday she traveled to Capitol Hill to make her pitch to staffers for some of the most influential conservative members of Congress, some of whom were apparently quite receptive to her message.

Taitz told me she flew on the red-eye from her home state of California to Washington  for a series of meetings on Thursday with aides to Reps. Steve King (R-IA) and Allen West (R-FL), and Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jim Inhofe (R-OK), among others.

“The ones that were most positive was a meeting with two counsels for Marco Rubio. They read all the pleadings, they are aware of the issues,” said Taitz, reached at her Orange County dental office.

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Stoopid Warmed Over

From THINK PROGRESS GREEN:

The heat wave now battering much of the nation is centered on Oklahoma, where record heat and drought have crippled the state for the entire summer. With August on the way, there is no end in sight. The prolonged heat — Oklahoma City has been above 100°F for 30 days this summer — has probably killed over a dozen Oklahoma residents […]

…snip…

The oil-rich state is also the epicenter of global warming denial, led by its senior U.S. Senator, Jim Inhofe (R-OK). The oil-funded senator has a long history of finding humor in the misery caused by extreme weather disturbed by greenhouse pollution, including the record snowstorms of this winter. This deadly heat wave is no exception. In a tweet on Thursday, Inhofe’s press office mocked the killer heat, arguing that Al Gore could cool it off:

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You Can Run, But You Can’t Formaldehyde

From THINK PROGRESS:

Large manufacturers and chemical producers have lobbied ferociously to stop the National Institutes of Health from classifying formaldehyde as a carcinogen. A wide body of research has linked the chemical to cancer, but industrial polluters have stymied regulators from action.

Last year, the New Yorker’s Jane Mayer reported that billionaire David Koch, whose company Georgia Pacfic (a subsidiary of Koch Industries) is one of the country’s top producers of formaldehyde, was appointed to the NIH cancer board at a time when the NIH delayed action on the chemical. The news was met with protests from environmental groups. Faced with mounting pressure from Greenpeace and the scientific community, Koch […] offered an early resignation from the board in October.

Yesterday, the NIH finally handed down a report officially classifying formaldehyde as a carcinogen […]

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A Wingnut Takes Wing

From Swampland (blog) at TIME:

Since they can’t agree on much else, maybe Congress can come to a consensus on a resolution to keep Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe out of the pilot’s seat.

The Smoking Gun has obtained FAA documents that show Inhofe, who’s a licensed private pilot, landed his Cessna plane on a closed runway last October in Port Isabel, Texas, even though there were men and construction equipment on the runway — and a giant X to warn people not to land there.

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(Scroll down for actual photo of the incident)

Ask and Tell

From TALKING POINTS MEMO:

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who helped shepherd through today’s Senate repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, told reporters after the final vote this afternoon that ending the military’s ban on openly gay servicemembers is a big step for LGBT rights.

“To me, it is a step forward to a larger societal acceptance [of gay rights,]” Lieberman said. “This is a civil rights piece of legislation in my opinion.”

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“I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley.”

I just read that Leslie Nielsen, one of my favorite actors, died at the age of 84.  I hope he won’t mind if I recycle some of his movies that I already recycled.  I had 2 versions of The Naked Gun, one with Fred Thompson, who was gunnin’ for votes…

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James Inhofe Has Crystal Balls!

From THINK PROGRESS:

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), right-wing conspiracy theorist and oil-industry apologist, has promised that Republicans are “certainties” to win at least the ten seats necessary to regain control of the U.S. Senate on November 2. In an interview while stumping for Colorado U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck on Thursday, Inhofe told the National Review Online that extremist candidates such as Buck, John Raese (WV), Dino Rossi (WA), Pat Toomey (PA), and Carly Fiorina (CA) are guaranteed to win. Inhofe even said that Tea Party favorite Christine O’Donnell (DE) has a shot:

Little Chrissie may be a witch, but I bet she can’t see the future!

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Quick on the Uptake

From U.S. News & WORLD REPORT:

Not everybody was pleased with President Obama’s uncharacteristic line on the Today Show, spoken in the pre-school hours Tuesday morning, that he wants some “ass to kick” in the Gulf oil crisis.

Becky Quick, who co-hosts Squawk Box with lead anchor Joe Kernen and co-host Carl Quintanilla, slapped Obama for using unpresidential language in an interview he knew would be aired as children prepared for school.

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Oh my, my! Such language! Why, it’s enough to give a proper lady with a delicate constitution the vapors!