He can throw his white hood in the air!

To the tune of Love is All Around, Lyrics by Sonny Curtis (Theme from The Mary Tyler Moore Show:

♬Who can turn the right on with his bile?
Who can take a sunny day, and turn it into a big stinking pile?
Well, it’s you, Roy, and you should know it,
With each slur and with that tiny pistol, you show it. ♪

♫ They’ll slap you on the back and get all tribal,
So spread your hate around, and thump your bible.
It’s Alabama after all,
It’s Alabama after all. ♪

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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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“You’re ridiculous!”

From THINK PROGRESS:

Back in September, godfather of global warming deniers Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) announced that he would be going to the U.N.’s climate change summit in Copenhagen this week to present “another view.” “I think somebody has to be there — a one-man truth squad,” he said. His “truth squad” later expanded to three, with Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) joining in.

…snip…

Inhofe did travel to Copenhagen however — with a single staffer and when he got there, all he could muster was an “impromptu” press conference and spent a grand total of two hours in the Danish capital.

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Shhh! It’s a secret!

From The Plum Line:

A rather intriguing reaction from one of John Ensign’s Senate GOP colleagues to the news of Ensign’s extramarital affair:

“I think he will be welcomed back by his colleagues and go back to being a good senator,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, who said Ensign shouldn’t have resigned his leadership spot.

Graham downplayed the political impact this would have on the GOP, saying, “Most Americans look at this as a personal situation.”

Graham let out a laugh and said: “I’ve got plenty of sins that I’m not going to share with anyone else.”

Sins? Well, kids, you know that your intrepid reporter (that would be me) cannot let that go without an investigation. Through my sources, I was able to obtain a photograph of what goes on when the Senate Republican are not voting no or making speeches about why they voted no.

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(With a little bit of help from this poster)

Hell, No! They Won’t Go!

From MSNBC:

Sen. Pat Roberts (KS) is now the eighth Republican senator to announce that they will not attend the GOP Convention in St. Paul, Minn., next month.

Roberts spokeswoman told the Topeka Capital Journal today that Roberts will be campaigning that week, finishing up his 105 county statewide tour during the convention week.

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Defense of Hypocrisy Act

It’s back, kids! The Defense of Marriage Act is being reintroduced! From The Carpetbagger Report:

Just this week, a group of Republican senators re-introduced the Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution, which, as we know, would ban gay marriage.

And once again, the language is pretty straightforward:

Section 1. This article may be cited as the `Marriage Protection Amendment’.

Section 2. Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.’.

But the funny part is looking over the list of the 10 original sponsors. Most of the names are predictable — Brownback and Inhofe, for example — but there are two others whose names stand out: Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho).

Yes, two of the principal sponsors of a constitutional amendment to “protect” marriage include one far-right Republican who hired prostitutes and another far-right Republican who was arrested for soliciting gay sex an airport men’s room.

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(From left to right: David Vitter, Wendy Vitter, Larry Craig, Captain Underpants, Vito Fossella, David Dreier)

Is This Seat Taken?

From CBS News:

(The Politico) Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has named Rep. Roger Wicker as the next Republican senator from Mississippi, ushering in a new era for the state in wake of Sen. Trent Lott’s surprise retirement from the Senate.

Barbour made the announcement on the last day of the year in order to avoid a special election. But Wicker’s appointment is only temporary — he will have to run for reelection in November 2008.

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