On Catholicism and the sanctity of life

Pope Francis gave an address to a joint session of Congress today. I hope to have an essay on the broader themes of his speech for tomorrow, but today I want to focus on one aspect which seems to have tarnished his halo with leftists who have pinned their hopes on him and are now disappointed, just as they did with President Obama.

Here is the offending passage:

The Golden Rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development.

That’s it. That was his only glancing reference to abortion. And he didn’t even use the word abortion.

But look at what he said: human life must be protected at every stage of its development.

As I’ve written before, I was raised Catholic. And although I can’t in good conscience call myself a believer any longer, that upbringing undergirds who I am. I can no more dispense with it than I can dispense with all the skeins of life which have made me who I am.

I’ve always been a liberal. And as early as I can remember, I’ve always disagreed with the Church’s position on abortion and birth control. Many times, I’ve disagreed vehemently with the Church, wanting finally to cast aside that part of me.

But as I’ve grown older, I have, I hope, grown wiser. What used to be black and white in my youth has become a symphony of grays. I still disagree with the Church on abortion and birth control. But I can respect its stance, at least on abortion.

How can I do this? Because unlike many of the evangelical Religious Right, the Catholic position on life is a total one. Again, turn to Pope Francis’ words: life must be protected at every stage of development.

ObamaCare: The President’s Day

President Barack Obama speaks at the Catholic Hospital Association conference in Washington, DC. President Obama discussed what healthcare reform has meant to millions of Americans and the affordable coverage options for individuals in general

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Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, Debra can walk and hold hands with her husband again → http://t.co/goqQCL4Eah http://t.co/6xRwN5Qxjg

— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) June 9, 2015

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Read the full letter Debra wrote @POTUS in February. This is health care in America: http://t.co/3ME208mLS0 #ACAWorks pic.twitter.com/xoWQ3Lv3u0

— Lindsay Holst (NARA) (@Holst44) June 9, 2015

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President Barack Obama greets a nun in the audience

The President’s Day

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President Barack Obama participates a discussion on poverty at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Georgetown hosted the Catholic Evangelical Leadership Summit on fighting poverty in America

President Barack Obama participates in a discussion on poverty with (L-R) moderator E.J. Dionne, Jr., Robert Putman Professor at Harvard University, and Arthur Brooks President of the American Enterprise Institute

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“I am a black man who grew up without a father, and I know the costs that I paid for that." —Obama #PovertySummit http://t.co/Q8xoMilr7U

— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) May 12, 2015

“It would be powerful for our faith-based organizations to speak out on this.” —Obama on poverty #PovertySummit http://t.co/nxijdV7Nmf

— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) May 12, 2015

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President Obama on the need to make common investments that expand opportunity for our kids. #PovertySummit http://t.co/OJc8DsAuC1

— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) May 12, 2015

RT if you agree: It’s time to expand opportunity by investing in early childhood education. #PovertySummit pic.twitter.com/jGFM67ogN5

— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) May 12, 2015

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evening all

People reach out to grasp hands with President Obama after he spoke at the University of Miami, February 23

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Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Fla

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First Lady Michelle Obama views The Slave Pen exhibit while touring the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 23. Pictured, from left, are: Dina Bailey, Associate Curator of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center; Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory; Verna Williams; and Allison Singleton. (Official White House Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)

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Friday:

11:15 AM: PBO attends the Democratic Governors’ Association meeting.

3:00 PM: PBO holds a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt of Denmark.

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More photos from Miami:

Denver Post

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ThinkProgress

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Greg Sargent: It’s becoming clearer and clearer that the auto bailout will be central to Campaign 2012’s argument over government and the economy, and Pew Research releases some striking numbers….

The latest national survey …finds that 56% say the loans the government made to GM and Chrysler were mostly good for the economy, while 38% say the loans to the automakers were mostly bad for the economy.

Opinion about the auto loans has reversed since October 2009. At that time, just 37% said the loans were mostly good for the economy while 54% expressed negative views…..

…. independents think the auto bailout was good for the economy by a wide margin, 54-40. Even moderate/liberal Republicans agree, 57-39. And Pew tells me that non-college-degree whites – a key swing constituency that will be pivotal in the Rust Belt states – also agree, 51-40.

More here

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Mother Jones

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ThinkProgress: Earlier this month, the nation was barraged with media coverage of the Catholic Bishops’ opposition to regulations promulgated under the Affordable Care Act protecting working women’s access to contraception. The loudness of the bishops’ complaints ….  easily could have conveyed the misimpression that churches and other religious groups are at odds with the Affordable Care Act.

On Friday, however, a broad coalition of religious organizations filed an amicus brief supporting the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion that should give the lie to any claim that the faith community opposes the ACA …. the brief’s signatories include a wide range of Catholic groups….

More here

Thanks Loriah

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ThinkProgress: As further proof that conservative efforts to paint President Obama as the enemy of religion are a red herring, nearly two dozen leading Catholic nuns filed a brief in the Supreme Court last week supporting the president’s signature legislative accomplishment. The Catholic sisters who joined the brief include the leaders of many prominent religious orders providing health care and other services to the needy…

More here

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Full interview here

Thanks CTGirl

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Thanks Edwina

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The Clowns:

Esquire

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Get your iPhone case – now!

evening all

@liberalgirl007

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Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi and Sen. Carmelo Rios unveil a bronze statue of President Barack Obama, along the “Avenue of Heroes” outside the Capitol building, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Feb. 20. Puerto Rican officials unveiled statues of Obama and former President Lyndon B. Johnson. Every sitting U.S. president who has ever visited Puerto Rico is honored with a statue, dating back to Theodore Roosevelt. Obama became the eighth when he visited in June.

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Steve Benen’s growing list of achievements by PBO’s administration on gay rights:

* announced it will not defend the constitutionality of statutes blocking same-sex military spouses from receiving marriage benefits

* successfully repealed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law

* expanded federal benefits for the same-sex partners of executive-branch employees

* signed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law

* cleared the way for hospital-visitation rights for same-sex couples

* lifted the travel/immigration ban on those with HIV/AIDS

* ordered the Federal Housing Authority to no longer consider the sexual orientation of applicants on loans

* expanded the Census to include the number of people who report being in a same-sex relationship

* directed U.S. agencies abroad to ensure our humanitarian and diplomatic efforts “promote and protect” the rights of gays and lesbians

* endorsed repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act

* stopped trying to defend DOMA against federal court challenges

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O……kay:

A carnival float depicts US President Barack Obama as Captain America during the traditional parade in Cologne, Germany, Feb. 20

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Charles P. Pierce (Esquire): ….. Having aligned itself in the mid-1960’s with the angry remnants of American apartheid, the Republican party – and the conservative “movement” which is its only real energy – is now scrambling, one state at a time, to undo the achievements of the Civil Rights Movement on the wrong side of which it decided to place itself for political advantage…..

….. The shift is driven by the fact that people do not want black people, or poor people, or Democrats in general, to vote. This was obvious from the voter cadging in Florida in 2000, and in the mischief with the voting machine placements in Ohio in 2004. It was energized recently by the fact that black people and poor people helped elect a black person president, and a substantial portion of the Republican party and its conservative base found that to be an illegitimate outcome and has worked ever since his inauguration to delegitimize him on the grounds that he is a black man who was elected and is, therefore, not really president.

Full post here

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SmartyPants: One of the things that concerns me as we watch the Republicans revert to their old culture wars against women, people of color, gays & lesbians, poor people, unions, etc. is that we will all divide again into our camps to defend our root causes and forget the bigger picture that binds us. Other than fear, the right’s most effective weapon against us is division.

What will keep us united is to always remember the big picture of what’s happening. As I’ve been saying, keeping an eye on the forest means recognizing that the old white male heterosexual patriarchy is dying and the Republican Party is in chaos. What we can expect is that the old beast is going to strike out at anything it perceives as a threat and therefore the cause of its demise.

Full post here

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Carter Eskew (Washington Post): I was thinking of taking today off, but Rick Santorum wouldn’t let me.

Rick Santorum went and said another stupid thing. “The Earth is not the objective,” he told “Face The Nation.” “Man is the objective. And, I think a lot of radical environmentalists have it upside down.”

I think he says these things not because he is, in fact, stupid, but because he is angry, and anger fuels his supporters.

More here

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Go to OFA for the interactive graphic

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Ed Kilgore: A good deal of the excitement over the recent contraception coverage mandate has resulted from the hopes of Republicans, and the fears of some Catholic liberals, that the controversy could prove to be a “wedge issue” that would drive significant numbers of Catholic voters into the GOP column in November.

The assumption behind such scenarios, of course, is that there is a self-conscious “Catholic vote” that operates independently of the rest of the electorate, and that can be moved by the pronouncements of Catholic religious leaders.

My latest column for The New Republic examines this assumption, and finds it uncompelling in several respects: Catholic voters are remarkably similar to all voters in their partisan inclinations; they do not have any overall inclination to follow the Church hierarchy on hot-button cultural issues; and in fact, they are not responding differently from other Americans to the contraception coverage mandate controversy. “The Catholic Vote” looks just like America.

More here

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Tuesday: 11:35 AM – PBO hosts a payroll tax cut event, VP Biden also attends.

The President and First Lady will invite music legends and contemporary major artists to the White House for a celebration of Blues music and in recognition of Black History Month as part of their “In Performance at the White House” series.

Wednesday: The President will deliver remarks at the construction site of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Thursday: The President will travel to the University of Miami to continue to discuss his blueprint for an economy built to last.

Friday: The President will host Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt of Denmark for a meeting in the Oval Office.

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Reverend Keith A. Gordon: Blues fans, circle Monday, February 27th, 2012 on your calendars, ’cause we’re going to paint the White House blue! The Emmy Award-winning PBS series In Performance At The White House is going to document a historic celebration of the blues with a taping of a February 21st concert to be held in the East Room of the White House, the event hosted by President and Mrs. Obama in recognition of Black History Month.

In Performance At The White House program host Taraji P. Henson will oversee the concert, which will feature performances by Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, B.B. King, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy, Gary Clark, Jr., Keb’ Mo’, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Shemekia Copeland, Warren Haynes, and Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger. Stax Records legend Booker T. Jones will serve as the concert’s music director and bandleader.

….. The concert will be streamed live (from 7:20) on the White House, Public Broadcasting, and Black Public Media websites….

rise and shine

Thank you Video Queen Donna 😉

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President Barack Obama sits in the cockpit of a 787 Dreamliner during his tour of the Boeing Plant production facility in Everett, Wash., Feb. 17, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

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President Barack Obama arrives on the South Lawn of the White House after a three day West coast trip, early February 18

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The week ahead:

Monday: No public events.

Tuesday: The President and First Lady will invite music legends and contemporary major artists to the White House for a celebration of Blues music and in recognition of Black History Month as part of their “In Performance at the White House” series.

Wednesday: The President will deliver remarks at the construction site of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Thursday: The President will travel to Miami, Florida, to participate in an official event.

Friday: The President will host Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt of Denmark for a meeting in the Oval Office.

Thanks Meta

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John McDonough (Boston.com): I’ve written before about the Obama Administration’s breakthrough efforts to fight health care fraud and abuse. Now there’s more, $4.1 billion more.

Earlier this week, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that the federal government recovered $4.1 billion in taxpayer dollars from individuals and corporations attempting to steal Medicare and Medicaid payments to which they were not entitled.

What’s $4.1 billion? It is the largest amount of money ever recovered, by far, in the history of the programs since they were established in 1965. Here are the numbers from the most recent years….

More here

Thanks amk

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Robert Shrum: The unholy alliance between Catholic bishops and the GOP

Catholic leaders are self-righteously trying to infringe on the liberty of all Americans. And head-in-the-sand Republicans are cheering them on

The Episcopal Church used to be described as the Republican Party at prayer. Today’s GOP has moved far right, and suddenly the Catholic bishops are now the Republican Party in the pulpit.

For many Catholics — and I intermittently try to be part of the church I was raised in — this is a betrayal of their beliefs about the place of faith in public life….

Full post here

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The Week

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Morning everyone – will be back later 😉

evening all

President Barack Obama poses for a picture during a stop at Great Eastern restaurant in the Chinatown section of San Francisco, Calif., Feb. 16, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Have we seen this WH Photo of the Day before? 😕

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aspe.hhs.gov

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Steve Benen: Here was the witness table at the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, as discussion about contraception access and health care got underway:

More here

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TPM

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First Lady Michelle Obama greets members of the general public as they enter the Blue Room during their tour of the White House, Feb. 16, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

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Friday (all times ET)

12:00: PBO departs San Francisco en route to Everett, Washington

1:50: Arrives Everett

2:05: Tours the Boeing Everett Production Facility

2:25: Delivers remarks

5:00: Delivers remarks at a campaign event

6:45: Delivers remarks at a campaign event at the Westin Bellevue Hotel

8:00: Departs Everett en route to Washington, DC

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How excellent is this?

😎

OFA

Thanks Jessica!

afternoon all

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Greg Sargent: Despite birth control controversy, Obama suffers no erosion among Catholics

Since the birth control controversy broke, it has been an article of faith among even some neutral commentators that the battle would cause Obama to lose crucial support among Catholic swing voters.

But Gallup has performed a new analysis of its tracking data that should complicate this assertion: It finds that Obama has suffered no meaningful downturn in recent days among that consistuency, even among church-going Catholics.

More here

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TPM

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Later this afternoon, President Obama hosts another round of interviews with television stations – today’s lineup: KLAS, Las Vegas; WAGA, Atlanta; WFLA, Tampa; and WBTV, Charlotte, N.C.

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Steve Benen

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Ezra Klein

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President Barack Obama meets with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping in the Oval Office

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rise and shine

USA Today: President Obama’s re-election team is seeking help from Internet and on-the-ground backers to spread the word about Obama’s record in office, and to bash his Republican critics.

The purpose of the “Truth Team” is to “promote the President’s achievements, respond to attacks on his record and hold the eventual Republican nominee accountable,” said the announcement from the Obama re-election team.

The overall website – BarackObama.com/TruthTeam – includes three specialty websites: KeepingHisWord.com (devoted to Obama’s record), KeepingGOPHonest.com (attacking Republicans), and AttackWatch.com (responding to critical GOP ads).

“The sites also contain tools for sharing materials via Facebook, Twitter and email, and empowers supporters to take further action by volunteering, writing letters to the editor, sending postcards to undecided voters with information about the President’s record, and more,” said the Obama announcement.

More here

The three sites: KeepingHisWord – AttackWatch – KeepingGOPHonest

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More ‘Keeping his Word’ videos here

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AP: President Barack Obama wants community colleges and businesses to work together to train 2 million workers in high-growth industries, and on Monday will request $8 billion to create a fund to encourage the effort.

Obama’s plan, to be spelled out at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Va., is called the “Community College to Career Fund,” the White House said. It would seek to train workers within areas such as health care, transportation and advanced manufacturing, and would be administered by the Education and Labor departments.

The proposed fund is part of a new budget Obama is sending to Congress. It aims to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade by restraining government spending and raising taxes on the wealthy. In an election year with a gridlocked Congress, nearly every aspect of the budget will face tough scrutiny.

More here

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Today:

11:00: PBO delivers remarks on his FY 2013 Budget to students at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale

1:45: PBO awards the 2011 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal. Michelle Obama also attends.

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TPM: It was a long road back, but President Obama is now back in positive territory in our TPM Poll Average.

The shift comes on the heels of a completed Iraq withdrawal, a legislative win on the payroll tax cut before Christmas, and perhaps most importantly, good economic numbers in January and early February. The President’s numbers have jumped in the last few days in both Gallup and Rasmussen tracking polls as well as individual national polls.

More here

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The Week

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BroadwayCarl: Many on the left have set their hair on fire over President Obama’s solution to the conflict between religious institutions, primarily the Catholic church, providing health care coverage which includes birth control to women and the teachings of the church. One would have to be in the wildest parts of Siberia to have missed this controversy, so I will not recount the drama that has unfolded.

However, once again the ubiquitous word “cave” has appeared in association with this decision. There was a time when this would infuriate me, but now I laugh at the predictability of the critical left.

Full post here

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White House

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ThinkProgress

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More ‘Keeping his Word’ videos here

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Washington Post

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TPM

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Morning everyone 😉

rise and shine

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They Gave Us A Republic: ….…I admit to watching, dumbfounded, as contraception became, in the immortal words of the Vice President, “a big fucking deal” over the last week or so…. I had a busy week, and just left it up to Obama…..

What he was up to, it looks to me like, was positioning his pieces to call “checkmate” in one of those games of eleventh dimensional chess that I am starting to believe might actually exist.

He must have been laughing his ass off when the Bishops and their GOP allies picked this fight… Some pro-choice republicans were aghast, and pleaded with the leadership not to, but they charged ahead, like a two-ton bull, right through the doors of the china shop. And Barack Obama smiled and stood aside, holding them open.

…. Obama wasn’t boxed in. Not at all. But now the Bishops are. So far, they have been silent after thunderously declaring that nothing short of total repeal of the mandate would suit them. And as they lost the healthcare reform battle, they are going to lose this one, too. Because they are wrong and their time is past. And by their silence, I think they are telling us all that they realize they’ve been had.

Full post here

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Deaniac (The People’s View): Nontroversy resolved. Another stroke of genius by Obama.

… now the President has stripped off all the cover for the GOP’s anti-women agenda, and they are still not smart enough to hide it. Now women know for sure that this fight is about birth control and not about religious liberty. Now women also know who stands in their corner to protect birth control and which party wants to take this very basic health care right away from them.

Full post here

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Smartypants: In The Atlantic, James Fallows has written one of the most interesting analyses of the Obama administration that I’ve seen.

…. if you’re like me, you won’t agree with some of the things he says. But what I appreciated about it is that he doesn’t seem to have an ax to grind from either side. He’s not trying to defend Obama or take him down. I’ll admit that its rare to see an analysis these days that doesn’t at least seem to have one or the other agenda – no matter how deep people try to bury it.

More here

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TPM – thanks Loriah

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Addictinginfo: The Republican Party is tearing itself apart and many conservative voters are considering abandoning the sinking ship to vote for none other than President Obama in 2012.

According to a poll conducted by Wenzel Strategies on behalf of conservative publication World Net Daily, 1 in 5 Republicans will vote for or are leaning towards voting for President Obama in the upcoming Presidential Election in November.

Full post here

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Otrainofthought

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Steve Benen: Chronicling Mitt’s mendacity

Several weeks ago, I launched a new Friday afternoon feature, highlighting the most blatant Mitt Romney falsehoods of the week. It moved to Maddow Blog last week, and here’s this week’s installment. (It does not include mendacity from Romney’s CPAC speech this afternoon.)

More here

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Toons

Bob Cesca

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Maddow Blog

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Eclectablog

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Morning everyone 😉