Janeane Garofalo as "Katherine Harris" comments on the GOP candidate field and more

Janeane Garofalo, as a comedian and satirist, is absolutely on top of her game.

Here she is (again) as "Katherine Harris" on Sam Seder's new Majority Report, discussing the Republican debate, and more:



"We wanna pray that God will get out our toughest stains." Nice.

The conceit in all of these "Katherine Harris" episodes is that ex-non-senator Katherine Harris has now endorsed Michele Bachmann (and Sarah Palin doesn't exist — "Sarah who?") and is part of the Bachmann campaign.

"Kathy N" is Kathy Nickolaus, the woman who "found" all those votes in Wisconsin's David Prosser election, and whose precinct (CORR: county) was the apparent decider in the Alberta Darling recall win. More on her here.

GP



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Thirteen unions to sit out Democratic convention in Charlotte NC

I'll post without much comment. Trend? Not sure. (See below for what kind of trend.)

Per Channel 14 News in Charlotte NC (h/t commenter ezpz; my emphasis):

Some key allies of the Democratic Party say they won't participate in the 2012 convention in Charlotte.

Thirteen unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO voted to sit out because the members objected to selecting a right-to-work state as a host.

"It's easy to understand why folks are disappointed and frustrated," acknowledged MaryBe McMillan, with the NC AFL-CIO. "But I don't think that sitting out this convention because it's in the least-unionized state is going to do anything to help the situation in North Carolina and make us a more worker-friendly state."

There's more in the article.

Note that the battle is not between the "unions" and the Democratic party — it's between 13 individual unions and the AFL-CIO. As we noted here, the AFL-CIO is the original sinner in endorsing (in effect) Ronald Reagan's history-making union-busting PATCO strike in 1981.

Not that they're all-bad, mind you, the AFL-CIO types. But it does seem that the higher up the power chain you get, the more ... acquiescent? ... you become.

Will unions have to retake the union movement? Something to watch.

GP

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Bachmann won the Ames Straw Poll. Ron Paul finished second.

Republicans: you have a frontrunner.

Michele Bachmann just won the Ames Straw Poll. She edged out Ron Paul. Pawlenty was a distant third.

Check out our post on Gabe Adherold, the 17 year old who heckled Michele and Marcus over their anti-gay views.

And, Rick Perry announced that he's in the race today, too. Read the rest of this post...

Roubini: "capitalism could self destruct"

If you have a spare 22 minutes it's well worth it. Roubini believes that the chances for a double dip are above 50%. Read the rest of this post...

The GOP offers all kinds of music: both country and western

NOTE FROM JOHN: I want to welcome a new writer on the main AMERICAblog site, a pen pal I've had over the past several years who has always written me interesting and insightful analyses of what was going on at any one particular time in politics. After years of reading his emails, and forwarding them to Joe and Chris for their edification, I decided it was time to invite him to write on the site for real, and he graciously accepted. For now, he'll be writing under the pen name Myrrdin. I think you'll enjoy his writing as much as I have over the years. JOHN
_____________________

I did not listen to the GOP presidential debate but from what I read in the transcripts and the commentaries of those who did, the only policy difference that emerged was on the question of war with Iran: Santorum is for it, Ron Paul is opposed.

Most of them are faking of course, and to the extent that policy was mentioned at all it was in the form of attacks on the other candidates for only pretending to hew to the Tea Party line. So the GOP nomination choice boils down to either picking Michelle Bachmann, or picking someone who claims to hold all her views in the hope they revert to some semblance of sanity once the nomination is locked up.

This is not the way Presidential primaries are normally fought. Of course there is pandering to the core supporters most likely to vote in primaries. But in normal elections different candidates attempt to pander to different constituencies within the party. Today's Republican party has only one constituency that hates spending, believes in the tax fairy and is convinced that global warming is a hoax. The only choice is whether the hard right economic policy entrée is served with a side of bigotry or not.

Having a range of options helps the eventual nominee get elected. The minority know that their position is at least being represented in the party. The majority is reassured that their candidate is sincerely on their side. When all the candidates say the exact same thing they all appear to be pandering.

In a normal party this would create an opportunity for an alternative candidate to enter the race and run from the center. This won't happen of course -- Perry will enter the race but he will offer more of the same, not an alternative that's sane. The Republican party considers contrary opinions and inconvenient facts as a disease to be isolated and eliminated. lest the infection spread.

What does this type of behavior resemble most, a political party or a cult? Read the rest of this post...

Cell phone service blocked in San Francisco to stop protests

Phoning jamming isn't just for Third World dictators.

The operators of the Bay Area Rapid Transit subway system temporarily shut down cell service last night in four downtown San Francisco stations to interfere with a protest over a shooting by a BART police officer, a spokesman for the system said today.

"BART staff or contractors shut down power to the nodes and alerted the cell carriers," James Allison, deputy chief communications officer for BART, told CNET. The move was "one of many tactics to ensure the safety of everyone on the platform," he said in an initial statement provided to CNET earlier this afternoon.

Activists had planned to protest the fatal shooting of Charles Blair Hill, who BART police said went after them with a knife before an officer shot him on July 3.

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British PM backs eviction for rioters

Once again, fine, but how about equal treatment for the welfare-loving bankers who pillaged the system as well? The damage inflicted by the bankers cost many more jobs and loss of income so let's at least see an attempt to dish out punishment fairly.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has backed a call to withdraw welfare benefits from rioters as a London council became the first to begin evicting a tenant whose son faces unrest charges.

Cameron said on Friday people who "loot and pillage their own community" should no longer be allowed to live in social housing, reflecting the tough line he has taken over four nights of violence in London, Manchester and Birmingham.

"Obviously, that will mean they've got to be housed somewhere else - they'll have to find housing in the private sector - and that will be tougher for them, but they should have thought of that before they started burgling," he said.

Yes, and the bankers should have thought about their casino gambling before they ruined the global economy but now they're making as much money as ever. Lesson learned? Read the rest of this post...

FBI investigation into News Corp USA expands

Go figure.

Authorities are investigating if Britain's News Corp had a broader pattern of misconduct in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition on Saturday.

The latest investigation concerns past allegations of misconduct, including the company's supermarket-coupon and advertising unit that settled a lawsuit from a competitor alleging computer hacking, the newspaper said.

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