A clown car with a new paint job and faster internet is still a clown car

I’m hoping that LOLGOP will forgive me for stealing his User Picture but it just seems so apropos to this piece. I say that because, considering how much money political consultants make giving bad advice to Republican candidates and their leadership, the GOP elephant pleasuring itself sums up their party to a tee right now.

My take on the current state of the Grand Old Party after the jump.

Lethal ideology

This guest post is the first in a three-part series by Lynn Miller (aka VeloVixen from Daily Kos.) She’ll be posting all three parts here at Eclectablog over the next few days.

The story of Savita Halappanavar is both heartbreaking and, sadly, preventable. It was literally the triumph of small-minded Catholic ideology, misapplied in this particular instance, over the life of a healthy woman.

Part 1 of this story after the jump.

NFTT- Who Will You Buy4 This Christmas?

As many of you know, I have been involved with Netroots for Troops for several years. Each year at the national Netroots Nation conference, a bunch of us liberal hippies assemble hundreds of CARE packages to send to our troops stationed overseas. (Previous posts HERE and HERE, for example.) I have recently joined the Board of Directors for NFTT and am thrilled to continue my work with them.

With Black Friday only days away, and Cyber Monday right after, if your thoughts aren’t already on Christmas shopping, chances are they soon will be. After the turkey (or in my case, Vegetable Wellington) and trimmings are cleared, and before the decorations are up, while you’re browsing online for gift ideas, take five minutes to learn how you can shop your favorite online stores AND make a small donation to Netroots For The Troops, Inc.!

Details after the jump.

This is why we need to be thinking about the 2014 midterm election

Back in August, I wrote about how the repeal of Public Act 4 — Michigan’s anti-democratic Emergency Manager Law — would, by law, leave Michigan without any law creating Emergency Managers or Emergency Financial Managers. I showed pretty clearly how the law prevents PA 72, the predecessor to PA 4, from coming back.

This week, the Michigan Court of Appeals chose to completely disregard the Michigan constitution and, in essence, allow the resurrection of Zombie Law PA 72 anyway.

Mitt Romney’s tax breaks did not win the last election. The GOP is still at war with facts, ObamaCare health insurance exchanges and Planned Parenthood. But when it comes to the Bush tax breaks for the rich, Republicans want a pass. President Obama extended the Bush tax cuts for all Americans in 2010 to order to secure the only job […]

We couldn’t have done it without you! Last weekend, my wife Anne and I threw a party to celebrate our victories on election day and to thank many of the volunteers that worked so hard in the Ann Arbor area to make those victories possible. One of the sweetest victories that we achieved was the repeal of Public Act 4 […]

Game ON! I walked out of my hotel room this morning and this greeted me: It was a beautiful sight: President Obama setting a firm and adult-like tone against childish Republicans John “Who?” McCain and Lindsey “What about ME?” Graham who have suggested that they would filibuster an appointment of UN ambassador Susan Rice to be Secretary of State. President […]

Yes, Ronald Reagan Socialized Medicine In The United States There are two dirty secrets in American politics. The first is that the GOP is the real “food stamp party”. The second is that we already pay for each other’s health care in the dumbest possible way, thanks to Ronald Reagan. Every time an uninsured person waits to the last possible […]

Letting ideology trump protecting our most vulnerable citizens

Michigan’s Tea Party Republicans are doing everything in their power to block the formation of a state-run health insurance exchange. These state exchanges are mandated by the Affordable Care Act and, if they are not formed, the federal government will do it for them, taking away the state’s ability to control their own destiny. As I wrote last summer, this self-defeating behavior is harmful to Michigan’s most vulnerable citizens.

Details after the jump.

Lazy blogging

You might have noticed we’re in a bit of a lazy mode at the moment after the election and the celebrations last weekend. Never fear: we’ll be back in frantic blogging mode soon enough. In the meantime, here’s another Open Thread with fun links for you and the kids (after the jump.)

This’ll never work…

I don’t generally do Open Threads because there is nothing lamer than an Open Thread with no comments. But, what the hell, I’m not afraid of lame. I embrace lame from time to time.

Some fun links after the jump to get you started.