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Jim McDermott, my hometown congressman, is known for being many things: A psychiatrist, a featured interviewee in Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, an alleged unwitting spokesperson for Saddam Hussein, and indeed, a civil liberties-minded liberal (like a lot of folks from Seattle).
The latter McDermott characteristic in fact seems to be part of what inspired him to get involved with Fahrenheit 9/11, and proclaim back in 2004 that by getting the film produced and distributed, "We really...

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I missed this on Friday:
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is circulating a number of clips to reporters suggesting that Sen. Scott Brown's (R-Mass.) revelations of sexual abuse as a child is either a political stunt or a hypocritical move in the light of his endorsement of a congressional candidate who was accused of insensitivity to sexual assault...
This is, at a minimum, classless, tasteless and unacceptable. Dino Rossi supporters always said that Murray's political...

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I can't say this any better than Garrett Quinn, so I won't bother trying.
Scott Brown went through something traumatic, something we wouldn't wish upon our worst enemy and he managed to rise above it. He is an exception to the norm though. Victims of child abuse struggle with it for their rest of their lives often suffering from depression and other aliments. Brown, somehow, managed to overcome his struggles and rise all the way to the U.S. Senate. This new memoir and interview with...

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... same as the old boss. From TechDirt (H/T Soren Dayton and Julian Sanchez on the Twitterz):
Remember how President Obama, while campaigning, promised to reject the questionable spying practices of the federal government of President Bush? Yeah, forget all that. Over the past two years, we've seen time and time again that he's actually extended those abuses even further. The latest to come out is that the Justice Department is now claiming that the FBI has the right to get phone...

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Last week, GOProud, a group founded by prominent gay conservatives I am proud to call my friends, announced that I would be joining its Advisory Council. In the aftermath of that, I’ve heard from friends, family, and others asking or passing on one big question: Why in the world would gays choose to affiliate with the Republican Party and/or conservatism?
Well… with GOProud’s presence at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) having prompted at least some...

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Tomorrow, 168 members of the Republican National Committee will convene to elect a Chairman to lead the organization over its next two-year term.
The incumbent, Michael Steele, faces odds so bad in his attempt to win a second turn at bat that many RNC observers have questioned just why he has remained in the race to-date; universally, he is expected to fall short of the votes needed to win tomorrow. Thus, speculation has turned to the other four contenders as on-lookers try to handicap...

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Fresh news potentially impacting the RNC Chairman's race in a big way tonight: Roger Villere, Jr., Chairman of the Louisiana GOP, has announced he is running for RNC Co-Chair.
This is, to be blunt, a big deal given the RNC rule to ensure gender balance in leadership. Some of the 168 who ultimately will vote in the RNC Chairman's race have expressed reluctance to support either Ann Wagner or Maria Cino for the top job in view of the rule, and the lack of declared male candidates for the...

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And good on him, too:
“As I’ve said previously, my highest priority is to have the policy that best enables our armed services to do their job,” Senator-Elect Toomey said. “Our civilian and professional military leadership have now spoken and said we should repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. I would support a free-standing measure to do so.”
As NRO's Daniel Foster correctly notes, assuming a freestanding DADT repeal bill passes the Senate this...

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I'm generally not a huge Jim DeMint booster (first of all, I've always been more a fan of Tom Coburn; second of all, DeMint has enough of those out there already; and third, my genuine sense is that DeMint has been a bit more concerned with fire-breathing rhetoric than action at certain junctures, and some of his rhetoric-- e.g., with regard to gay/single female schoolteachers I just don't like).
But, all that being said, this is a very good thing:
If you thought Sen. Bernie...

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This afternoon, I got a tip from a self-described Maria Cino fan, one "Maggie O'Hooligan" (yes, I see what they did there). Michael Steele's images directory related to his re-election site was available for review by visiting this page!!! Ooh, the temptation of finding secret pictures of Michael Steele himself partying in a lesbian-bondage-themed Hollywood night club!
Not so fast... the thousands (I'm guessing-- review the screenshots way, way below and judge for yourself) of images...

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