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Obama, Following Bush, Issues Signing Statement On Detainee Measure

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He will implement the law limiting his transfer of detainees “in a manner that avoids … constitutional conflict.” Obama also promises to protect the “rights of gay and lesbian service members” despite a “conscience” clause in the defense bill.

Image by Pool photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images via Abaca Press/MCT

WASHINGTON — President Obama issued a lengthy statement along with his signing of the National Defense Authorization Act, noting that several provisions, including provisions limiting the transfer of detainees in Parwan, Afghanistan and from Guantanamo, "raise constitutional concerns."

As to both, Obama stated that "my Administration will implement them in a manner that avoids the constitutional conflict." The statement also asserts that the implementation of other provisions, which Obama stated could interfere with his ability to "conduct diplomacy" and "manage and direct executive branch officials," will be consistent with and not interfere with his authority.

The use of signing statements, as they are called, was criticized as having the potential to "undermine the rule of law and our constitutional system of separation of powers," as a panel of the American Bar Association concluded under President George W. Bush, but Obama has continued the practice.

The first specific section Obama mentioned in the signing statement was the military "conscience" provision that bars punishing soldiers and military chaplains for their beliefs. The provision is similar to one advanced by backers of the former ban on open gay and lesbian service, and was added by the House and eventually approved, in compromise language, by Congress.

Of that provision, which purports to require the military to accommodate the beliefs of servicemembers and chaplains regarding their "moral principles or religious beliefs" and prohibit the use of such beliefs as the basis for any "adverse personnel action," Obama stated:

Section 533 is an unnecessary and ill-advised provision, as the military already appropriately protects the freedom of conscience of chaplains and service members. The Secretary of Defense will ensure that the implementing regulations do not permit or condone discriminatory actions that compromise good order and discipline or otherwise violate military codes of conduct. My Administration remains fully committed to continuing the successful implementation of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and to protecting the rights of gay and lesbian service members; Section 533 will not alter that.


Republicans Open New Congress Slamming "Lapdog" Democrats With Corgis

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“Nancy Pelosi's Obedience School.”

Image by Joshua Roberts / Reuters

WASHINGTON — House Republicans Thursday are rolling partisan welcome mat for newly elected Democrats, circulating a tongue-in-cheek guide for being the perfect “lap dog” for Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Unlike previous election cycles when the campaign committees went into hibernation for a period of time after an election, Democrats and Republicans have kept their foot on the gas since November and are already laying the groundwork for the 2014 midterm contests.

In releases targeting all of Pelosi’s new colleagues, the National Republican Congressional Committee is welcoming new members “to Washington with his very own official Nancy Pelosi Obedience School Lap Dog Kit.”

Pelosi is the right’s favorite boogeyman, and Republicans have used her name successfully in past elections to tar Democrats in conservative or moderate leaning districts as liberals.

According to a draft of the release accompanying the “kit,” it comes “complete with a ‘Yes, Nancy Pelosi’ stamp and an official Lap Dog membership card … [so new members] will be prepared to rubber stamp her tax and spend, big-government policies and support Democrats’ failed agenda.”

A brochure accompanying the kit features an adorable corgi, of course.


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Why Women Run New Hampshire

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The all-female delegation that will take charge of New Hampshire on January 3 is the product of a unique political system. A flawed, but effective model for putting women in positions of power.

Image by John Gara/Buzzfeed

"Hi! I'm your new governor!"

Maggie Hassan cheerfully introduces herself to the security guard in the corner at the newly reopened Gorham Paper Mill in northern New Hampshire. The female guard shakes her hand, a little confused. The scene repeats itself several times during the half-hour tour, with the biker guys and bearded men in plaid shirts who work the tissue-producing machines.

When she is inaugurated on January 3, Hassan will become the country's only female Democratic governor, and the chief executive of the first state to elect an all-female state delegation, consisting of returning Democratic senator Jeanne Shaheen (who was governor from 1997 to 2003), returning Republican senator Kelly Ayotte, and congressional representatives Anne McLane-Kuster and Carol Shea-Porter. Thirteen years ago, Hassan didn't even want to be in politics.

Her story — as well as those of the other four women — is a reflection of a unique political system that has inadvertently produced a watershed moment. New Hampshire has, by accident, solved a problem that all three waves of modern feminism have faced: How to put women in positions of true power and authority. Rep. McLane-Kuster says her mother, who served as a state senator, used to joke that New Hampshire politics "is women's work," but it's not entirely a joke.

In a state with an abnormally large, unpaid legislature, the ground-level civic engagement that has always been the province of stay-at-home-moms — school boards, letter-writing campaigns — becomes the work of low-rent state legislators. These positions carry less of the fanfare or pay that come with legislatures in almost any other state. But they do something else: They offer a path past a glass ceiling that, in other states, can block women with similar career paths from running for Congress from their perches on, say, school boards or community groups.

The result is hard to argue with: Women wield virtually all of the political power in the state.

"I don't know that it's the best legislature,” says Marie Wilson, founder of the White House Project, a non-profit that works to put women in positions of power. “But the one thing it does is bring in women.”

The five women holding New Hampshire's top political offices, from left, Gov.-elect Maggie Hassan, U.S. Reps.-elect Ann McLane Kuster and Carol Shea-Porter, and U.S. Sens. Kelly Ayotte and Jeanne Shaheen

Image by Jim Cole / AP

In New Hampshire, Maggie Hassan's quick ascent in politics is, you could say, a fairly typical story, though it would be unusual in many other states. "I didn't intend to run for public office," she says, sitting in the passenger seat of her staffer's dirt green Jeep. "I didn't really think about it."

In the '90s, Hassan was a successful New England lawyer with a husband and two young children. Her life was steady, but not easy: Her son Ben, now 24, suffers from cerebral palsy, which leaves him unable to speak, walk, or use his hands. It requires, as Hassan puts it, "parenting in high relief." Though she didn't consider herself political, her combined corporate attorney’s background and understanding of special needs in education turned her into an obvious advocate. Her family had a household income that allowed them to hire help with Ben, but Hassan understood that most families didn't. So in 1999, the state's first female governor, Jeanne Shaheen, asked Hassan to serve on a school funding board, where she'd represent the interests of public-school parents. In Concord, she quickly met key players in the political scene, and by 2002, she was encouraged to run for a State Senate seat when a candidate dropped out of a race last minute. She won.

At first, she was hesitant. "I got the call asking me if I'd do it,” she says. “And I called my husband. He had a job, I had a job, and I told him I didn't think I should do it, because we were too busy," she says. Hassan’s husband works as the principal of Philips Exeter Academy, a prestigious boarding school in New Hampshire. The family lives in a house owned by the school near the campus. "But he said, you know, you'd be good at this, so let's make it work," sipping her second or third Dunkin' Donuts coffee of the day. She used to order a large because it was the most "financially efficient," but has recently switched to mediums because she could never finish the whole cup.

Hassan won that race. And, without placing a crippling financial burden on her family, she was able to take on the barely-paid work, thanks in part to the unusually flexible law firm for which she worked. While Hassan was able to earn income as a state senator, such flexible yet lucrative jobs are extremely rare.

Members of New Hampshire's state senate and state legislators are virtually unpaid. It's a part-time position, which isn't uncommon — but in every other state, representatives get either an annual salary of a few thousand dollars or a per diem payment of a few hundred. In California, legislators made $95,291 a year in 2012. In New Hampshire, they make $100 a year. This, local leaders agree, has been an essential factor in getting women into office.

"Not to diminish the social accomplishment [of the all-female delegation]," says Robin Comstock, President and CEO of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, who moderated a discussion between the five elected women in early December. "Our legislators are unpaid. So they're volunteers. Some of us talk that it's interesting that women have found this place of leadership."

And most New Hampshire leaders and political insiders don't couch the subject that much: They agree, nearly universally and without much reservation, that the unpaid, volunteer nature of the legislature has historically drawn in women — particularly, women whose husbands can support the family — while discouraging men.

"It's definitely a factor. It's not highly paid," says McLane-Kuster. It was particularly true, she says, a few decades ago when her mother served as a state senator. "For a lot people, if they had to be a breadwinner in the family they couldn't afford to do it. More and more women could, because they typically had someone in their family who was in the workplace."

Hassan agrees. "The fact that a New Hampshire legislator's position is not seen as a career or a way of supporting a family has meant that it draws women," she says. "At times I think men who might be looking for a paid career have known that they couldn't make one out of serving in the legislature. So there's a little more space for women."

"It allowed a lot of women who in other states might not have a shot at being elected," says Ray Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "It certainly opens doors, where it's essentially volunteer, whether it's after women have raised kids, or have retired, or for one reason or another were wealthy."

In 2012, the five elected women all had established and successful careers before seeking office; they weren't riding their husbands' political coattails. But the financial ability of women in the state to take on these elected roles has been essential in paving the way for all the record-breaking of the past decade or so.

“The first generation of women in politics were widows of politicians, and the next generation were wives and daughters,” says McLane-Kuster. “In this group, it's very apparent that three of us are lawyers, one was a teacher, and one was a social worker. We're working mothers. We’re the next generation."

Of the five elected women, only two — Hassan and Shaheen — previously served in the state senate or legislature. Before she was Senator, Ayotte was the state's appointed attorney general, while McLane-Kuster was a lobbyist in the state house. Shea-Porter, a former social worker, reportedly decided to run after working as a volunteer in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

The current delegation may not have paved the road, but they have broken the records. Shaheen is the first woman to ever serve as both a governor and a senator. In 1999, New Hampshire became the first state to concurrently have a female as governor, Senate president, and state House speaker. And in 2008, the 24-person state Senate became the first majority female legislative body in the country, with 13 women and 11 men.

Those accomplishments — and the ones of the current delegation — are the products of a state that has long embraced and allowed women to participate in government in an unprecedented way. "The women rising to the top of the legislature in the '70s, '80s and '90s really set the stage for the successes of the women in the last decade," Buckley says.

The unpaid nature of the state legislature definitely opened more spots to women, but the abnormally huge number of seats is also highly important. In a state of just 1.3 million people, there are 400 seats in the House and 24 in the Senate. That means roughly in one every 3,000 people is a state senator or representative. By contrast, Pennsylvania has the second most State Representatives, and they only have 203. They also have twelve and a half million people. California, which has a population of 37 million, has just 80 seats in its House.


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Chris Christie Is A Dinosaur

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Life imitating art.

Image by Governor's Office/Tim Larsen

Image by Mel Evans / AP

Image by Mel Evans / AP

Image by Mel Evans / AP


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Here's The Memo Sent To Current TV Employees About The Sale To Al-Jazeera

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Current's CEO Joel Hyatt informed his staff that they had been purchased by Qatar-based Al-Jazeera, and that the network would no longer be carried by Time Warner Cable in an email on January 2. The subject line: “BIG NEWS FOR THE NEW YEAR!”

This memo was provided to BuzzFeed by a person close to the network. A spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

From: Joel Hyatt
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2013 6:37 PM
To: currentall
Cc: AG Contact
Subject: BIG NEWS FOR THE NEW YEAR!

Al and I are thrilled and proud to announce that a few moments ago Current was acquired by Al Jazeera, the award winning international news organization.

When considering the several suitors who were interested in acquiring Current, it became clear to us that Al Jazeera was founded with the same goals we had for Current: To give voice to those whose voices are not typically heard; to speak truth to power; to provide independent and diverse points of view; and to tell the important stories that no one else is telling. Al Jazeera, like Current, believes that facts and truth lead to a better understanding of the world around us.

Al and I did significant due diligence as part of our evaluation process. We were impressed with all that we learned about Al Jazeera and its journalistic integrity, global reach, award-winning programming, and growing influence around the world. That influence has recently been demonstrated by Al Jazeera’s important and impactful coverage of the Arab Spring, which was widely credited as being the most thorough and informative coverage from any media company. Colin Powell told Al that Al Jazeera is the only cable news network he watches (which he is able to do because Comcast carries it in the Washington, DC market).

As you may know, Al Jazeera is funded by the government of Qatar, which is the United States’ closest ally in the Gulf Region, and is where the United States bases its Middle East Air Force operations. I have had first-hand knowledge of Qatar’s policies as a result of my tenure on the Board of The Brookings Institution. The Saban Center for Middle East Policy is a joint venture of The Brookings Institution
and Qatar, and it has offices in Washington, DC and Doha, Qatar. Its purpose is to propose practical public policies that can contribute to peace in the Middle East, and its founding Director is my friend, Martin Indyk, the former U.S. Ambassador to Israel.

While considering this decision, I spent a week in Doha, Qatar, where Al Jazeera is headquartered, and I am pleased to tell you that I could not have been more impressed with their operation. First of all, they are bringing large-scale resources to journalism – something which we have not been able to do. Al Jazeera has more than 80 bureaus around the world, and is seen in more than 260 million homes in 130 countries. Al Jazeera has a staff of over 4000 people, including 400 journalists. Its journalists hail from more than 50 countries, with every conceivable nationality and religion represented on its professional team. Al Jazeera is a major global media player.

The rest of the world thinks so too. Al Jazeera English has won many, many awards including an Alfred I DuPont Award for Best Documentary, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Four Freedoms Awards for freedom of speech and expression, an Amnesty International Award for International TV and Radio, the prestigious Peabody Award, and the Huffington Post Ultimate Media Gamechanger award.

All of this is compelling, but what really convinced Al and me that Al Jazeera would be a great home for the people of Current was their publicly stated Values and Core Capabilities. Their mission includes the following: Diversity (“bringing stories from the underreported communities, societies and cultures from across the globe),
Journalistic Integrity (“committed to the uncompromising pursuit of truth and the ideals of journalism”), and A Voice for the Voiceless (“promoting the basic human right of the freedom of expression for people everywhere”).

Al Jazeera is planning to invest significantly in building “Al Jazeera America,” a network focused on international news for the American audience. Al and I will both serve on the Advisory Board of Al Jazeera America, and we look forward to helping build an important news network.

Obviously there will be a lot of transition work in the coming weeks. Al Jazeera does not have a management team in place in the U.S to run this new venture. They are extremely impressed with our people and our accomplishments. I will be holding staff meetings in the next few days and will introduce the senior folks from Al Jazeera who have led the planning for this entry into the United States. (I will
separately communicate as to the day and time for those staff meetings.) We will communicate more of the details of this acquisition during those meetings.

Getting this transaction done was very difficult. One of Current’s distributors, Time Warner Cable, did not consent to the sale to Al Jazeera. Consequently, Current will no longer be carried on TWC. This is unfortunate, but I am confident that Al Jazeera America will earn significant additional carriage in the months and years ahead.
In the United Kingdom, it has become the number three news network (behind the BBC and Sky News). It did that by investing in great programming – as it intends to do in the United States.

Al and I are incredibly proud of what all of us have been able to accomplish together. Throughout our short history, Current has been a thought leader for the media industry, innovating many exciting features that became standard after we introduced them. (Tweets on television anyone?!) Just this past year, we’ve been able to provide our viewers with fantastic interactive and social TV 2.0 coverage of
the Presidential Election, including a peek inside the Obama Campaign headquarters, in depth analysis of the Libor Scandal, the breaking and relentless coverage of the Trayvon Martin scandal, and the list goes on and on. We have won most of the important awards in the journalism profession. We have stayed true to our independence and courage. And in our choice of new corporate parent, we are continuing to strive to make a difference – to provide the American people with information and analysis they need to live better, more secure, happier lives. I am confident this will continue into the future.

As I reflected deeply about this decision – both to sell the company and to whom – I kept coming back to one basic notion: The purpose of journalism is to provide those who don’t know with information and knowledge so that they can become those who do know. Bias and hatred are fueled by ignorance. Information and knowledge are the only antidotes to that ignorance. That is the role journalism must play – to provide the knowledge that sweeps away the bias and hatred caused by ignorance. It is a noble pursuit. I am proud of each and every one of you for your dedication to pursuing that noble goal. And it is a privilege to have worked with all of you these past few years.

Please accept my best wishes for a happy, healthy, exciting and fulfilling New Year!

All the best,
Joel

Senator Tammy Baldwin

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Vice President Biden swore in Baldwin on Thursday, along with other senators elected this past November. The Wisconsin lesbian is the first out LGBT senator in the nation's history.

Via: @SenateDems

Sen. Baldwin's Ceremonial Swearing-In

Source: youtube.com

Meet Vladimir Franz, The Czech Presidential Candidate With Full Face Tattoos

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He's a self-described punk that has captured the attention of young voters all over Eastern Europe.

He's an opera singer, professor, and a painter.

He's an opera singer, professor, and a painter.

Source: vladimirfranz.cz

You can check out his discography here:

You can check out his discography here:

Via: discogs.com

He has no political experience, but he has a doctorate in law.

He has no political experience, but he has a doctorate in law.

Image by isifa / Getty Images

Franz collected almost 8,800 signatures during his first weekend of campaigning.

Franz collected almost 8,800 signatures during his first weekend of campaigning.

Image by MICHAL CIZEK / AFP / Getty Images


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Gerard Depardieu Loves Dictators

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Once France's biggest movie star, Depardieu has been granted Russian citizenship after ditching France in protest of high income taxes on the rich. He's popular among less-than-democratic rulers.

He collaborates on projects with the daughter of Uzbekistan's dictator.

Depardieu recorded a song with Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbekistan's iron-fisted longtime president Islam Karimov. Karimova, who is launching a pop career as "Googoosha," is being linked to a telecommunications fraud and corruption scandal currently under investigation by Swiss and Swedish authorities. Depardieu also agreed to play the role of a Byzantine emperor in a series written by Karimova.

He's gone to Chechnya to publicly support the Chechen president.

He's a big fan of the Chechen president, Ramzan Kadyrov, who's been accused of numerous human rights abuses. He attended Chechnya's annual celebration in Grozny in October and yelled "Glory to Kadyrov!" in Russian. Even before Putin officially granted him citizenship, there was speculation that Depardieu might settle down in Chechnya.

He bonded with Fidel Castro over pâté.

He bonded with Fidel Castro over pâté.

Depardieu said he bonded with Castro back in the '90s over a shared love of food and hunting. He attended his 80th birthday in Cuba in 2006.

Vladimir Putin personally decreed his Russian citizenship.

Vladimir Putin personally decreed his Russian citizenship.

Putin, who is not exactly a dictator, signed a decree giving Depardieu Russian citizenship even after Depardieu has purchased a home in Belgium where he still plans to live. Depardieu has appeared in Russian television commercials in the past and Putin seems to call him by his first name. According to Le Monde, Depardieu boasted to his friends that he would be welcomed in Belgium, Montenegro, and Russia, and that Putin had "already sent his passport."

Image by Alexei Nikolsky / AP


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Senator Makes Triumphant Return To Congress After Stroke

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Illinois Senator Mark Kirk returned to the Senate today for the 113th Congress by walking up the Capitol steps. Kirk suffered a massive stroke almost exactly a year ago. The Senator was greeted by massive applause from colleagues and Vice President joe Biden.

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Image by

Image by Joshua Roberts / Reuters

Image by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Image by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images


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John Boehner Lives To Fight Another Day As Speaker

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The much ballyhooed conservative uprising may never have happened, but that doesn't mean it's easy street for Boehner.

Image by J. Scott Applewhite / AP

WASHINGTON — The House re-elected embattled Speaker John Boehner to a second term Thursday, dashing the quixotic hopes of conservatives who had sought to drum up enough opposition to topple the Ohio Republican.

Boehner won with 220 votes, a thin majority.

Boehner’s chances of reelection were never actually in any danger, and the vote was no surprise. More than a dozen Republicans either didn’t vote, simply voted present or voted for others, ranging from serving members like Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Reps. Raul Labrador, Jim Jordan and Justin Amash to former Rep. Allen West and former GAO Comptroller David Walker.

Republicans voting for someone other than Boehner include Reps. Tom Massie, Ted Yoho, Justin Amash, Paul Broun, Louie Gohmert, Jim Bridenstine, Steve Pearce, Tim Huelskamp and Walter Jones, while Reps. Raul Labrador and Mick Mulveney refused to vote at all. Rep. Steve Stockman, a Republican, voted present.

At the same time, there were a number of conservatives who did vote for Boehner, including Rep. Tom Price, whom conservatives had sought to draft against Boehner, and Rep. David Schweikert, who was stripped of his committee slots last year in part of insubordination. Outgoing Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan also voted for Boehner.

A number of Democrats also cast protest votes against Pelosi, opting to vote for Reps. John Lewis, Jim Cooper and even Collin Powell.

Boehner’s nomination was made by House Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who, ironically, was the only member of elected leadership other than Boehner who voted for the fiscal cliff deal earlier this week.

McMorris Rodgers argued that Boehner was the best person to help “restore this land of freedom and opportunity.”

Conservative activists and media outlets in the days before the vote sought to drum up rumors of an organized move to oust Boehner or that he would end up resigning before the vote.

But while that coup never materialized, the showing of opposition to his speakership clearly shows how difficult it will be for him to regain control of the House Republican conference.

Foreign Newspapers Welcome Fiscal Cliff Deal

Joe Biden: "Spread Your Legs, You're Gonna Be Frisked"

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The vice president makes Sen. Heidi Heitkamp's swearing in, um, memorable.

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8 Firsts Of The New Congress

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The demographics of the 113th Congress reflect a changing country.

First Black Senator From The South Since the Reconstruction

First Black Senator From The South Since the Reconstruction

Tim Scott, Republican from South Carolina

Source: media.washtimes.com

First Openly Gay Senator

First Openly Gay Senator

Tammy Baldwin, Democrat from Wisconsin

Source: talkingpointsmemo.com

First Buddhist Senator

First Buddhist Senator

Mazie Hirono, Democrat from Hawaii

Source: washingtonpost.com

First Hindu Member of Congress

First Hindu Member of Congress

Tulsi Gabbard, Democrat from Hawaii

Source: go.bloomberg.com


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House Rules In New Congress Allow Continued DOMA Defense

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“Truly disheartening,” says LGBT rights advocate. But Boehner's office says it's just defending “checks and balances.”

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, left, and House Speaker John Boehner, along with House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (not pictured), are leading the House's defense of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Image by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives will continue to allow the House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group to defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act in the 113th Congress, according to rules adopted by the House Thursday on a 228-196 vote.

The vote approving the new rules, done as one of the first actions of the new Congress, is the first time that the entire House has acted to approve the House's defense of DOMA and comes as the Supreme Court is considering one of the challenges to the law. One Republican voted against the rules.

The only prior vote on the matter was the March 2011 vote by the members of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group to authorize the defense: Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer. Boehner, Cantor and McCarthy voted yes; Pelosi and Hoyer voted no. That move came in the month after President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder concluded that DOMA is unconstitutional and, accordingly, announced they would no longer be defending section three of the law, which limits federal recognition of marriages to only those between one man and one woman.

The new rules specifically authorize the defense of DOMA in that case, Windsor v. United States, but defense in other litigation "that involve[s] a challenge to the constitutionality of section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act or related [laws]" also is authorized.

In addition to authorizing the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group to continue defending DOMA, the rules state that "the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group continues to speak for, and articulate the institutional position of, the House in all litigation matters in which it appears, including in Windsor v. United States."

Pelosi, who has strongly opposed the defense and told this reporter she would not continue it if she had retaken the speakership, criticized the move.

"Today, House Republicans will send a clear message to LGBT families: their fiscal responsibility mantra does not extend to their efforts to stand firmly on the wrong side of the future. Republicans will take the extraordinary measure of including an authorization of their efforts to defend DOMA in the Rules of the House of Representatives and by doing so, continue to spend taxpayer funds, already adding up to $1.7 million, in their attempts to defend this shameful law in federal courts and the Supreme Court," Pelosi said in a statement.

Reps. Jerrold Nadler of New York, John Conyers of Michigan, Jared Polis of Colorado, David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Mark Takano of California, all members of the LGBT Equality Caucus, said in a statement that "all Members should object to the use of taxpayer dollars to pay costly legal fees to make arguments that lack adequate factual or legal support, in pursuit of a law that is not worthy of a defense."

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel, however, downplayed the significance of the action, putting the blame on the Obama administration for its decision not to defend the law.

"We continue to believe the constitutionality of the law should be judged by the court, not the president unilaterally — and will provide the resources needed to protect our system of checks and balances," Steel told BuzzFeed.

Pelosi also took note of the "speak for" language, which likely will be used by BLAG in its arguments before the Supreme Court that it has standing to be a party to the DOMA litigation, a question before the court in the Windsor case.

"Additionally, for the first time in the House Rules, the Republican leadership has decided to include an explicit acknowledgement that the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) ‘continues to speak for, and articulate the institutional position of, the House in all litigation matters in which it appears….' As House Democrats have time and time again made clear, the BLAG does not speak for all Members of the House of Representatives and we will continue to oppose this wasteful use of taxpayer funds to defend DOMA," she said.

LGBT advocacy groups also decried the move, with the Human Rights Campaign's legislative director, Allison Herwitt, telling BuzzFeed, "In their very first act of the 113th Congress, House Republican leaders have written their commitment to their multi-million-dollar defense of the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act into the Rules of the House. It is particularly disappointing that this historic Congress – with the largest-ever class of openly lesbian, gay and bisexual Members and same-sex congressional spouses – has begun with a vote that disrespects those new Members and all LGBT Americans."

Freedom to Marry's national campaign director, Marc Solomon, concurred, saying, "It's truly disheartening that, on a day of new beginnings on Capitol Hill, the leadership of the House of Representatives is advancing a measure, through its rules, to continue spending taxpayer dollars on expensive lawyers to defend the so-called Defense of Marriage Act in court."

The BLAG Rule

The BLAG Rule


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After Illinois Marriage Equality Bill Movement, More Delays

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“For the first time in Illinois history, we had a vote on the recognition of same-sex marriages, and we won,” a state LGBT advocate said. UPDATE: Despite the committee vote, the bill has been pushed to the next general assembly, Windy City Times reports.

A standing-room only crowd listened to the Illinois Senate Executive Committee hearing Thursday on the marriage equality bill.

Via: @LambdaLegal

WASHINGTON — After a day of mixed reports on the status of the marriage equality bill in Illinois, the Senate Executive Committee approved the bill late Thursday afternoon on an 8-5 vote.

Sen. Heather Steans said the Senate floor vote could come Tuesday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. [See update below.] Rick Garcia, the director of the Equal Marriage Illinois Project and senior policy advisor to The Civil Rights Agenda, urged the full Senate to act on the bill:

"The Senate Committee did the right thing today and we look forward to the full Senate following their lead. For the first time in Illinois history, we had a vote on the recognition of same-sex marriages, and we won. If everyone calls their senator, we will continue to win. It is now time for marriage equality advocates to contact their Senators immediately and urge them to vote yes on this legislation."

The vote in the lame-duck session of the Senate came after a committee hearing, which included testimony from Lambda Legal's Camilla Taylor about the bill's religious exemptions.

UPDATE: Despite the committee vote, the bill has been pushed from the lame-duck session to the next general assembly, which begins next week.

From the Windy City Times:

With the limited time remaining in the lame duck session, advocates said Thursday night that there isn't enough time to pass the full Illinois marriage equality bill in the lame duck session, so they will focus instead on work in the next general assembly, which begins Jan. 9. ...

"Today, a few key Senators could not be here for family reasons. What's important when we reconvene is that we work to protect and strengthen all Illinois families, and that's what this legislation does," Democratic Senate President John Cullerton of Chicago said in a statement issued to the media. "I'm confident we can advance this bill in the coming weeks."


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11 Surprisingly Endearing Pictures Of Congressmen Getting Sworn In

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Adorable kids can make even politicians look like human beings. Sort of, anyway.

WASHINGTON — At the start of every Congress, there's the actual swearing in, and then the much cooler ceremonial swearing in later on (don't ask). Members queue up and wait their turn to stand next to Speaker John Boehner with their families around them, lay their hand on the religious text of their choice, and get blinded by the flash bulbs.

It’s a time-honored tradition, and one of the only endearing things about Congress.

First, make sure you have a Bible or Quran or something to pretend to swear on.

First, make sure you have a Bible or Quran or something to pretend to swear on.

Then wait...

Then wait...


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FBI Documents Show Anwar Al-Awlaki Bought Tickets For 9/11 Hijackers (Update: Documents Disputed)

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Documents obtained by Judicial Watch via a Freedom of information Act request show that the FBI found evidence showing the American-born cleric bought plane tickets for 9/11 hijackers. “We have FBI documents showing that the FBI knew that al-Awlaki had bought three tickets for three of the hijackers to fly into Florida and into Las Vegas, including the lead hijacker, Mohammad Atta,” Judicial Watch, told Fox News exclusively who first reported the news, but did not include the documents. Update Foreign Policy contributor J.M. Berger “calls shenanigans” on the Judicial Watch documents saying he's not sure the documents show the Al-Awlaki bought the tickets.


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Why The Next President Will Probably Be Black Too

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Politics is a repetitive business. And two of the best candidates are black.

Image by Mike Segar / Reuters

If there is anything approaching an iron law of American politics, it's this: The next president will be a member of the same race as the current one. It's a rule that has held through 42 of 43 transfers of power. And there's every reason to think it will hold through the next one. The next president will, in all likelihood, be African-American, most likely one of the two African Americans who would make anybody's list of the top 10 contenders for the Democratic nomination.

This is, obviously, the sort of statistical bullshit with which political and sports pundits amuse themselves all day on cable TV and talk radio. It's equally true that 43 of 44 presidents have been white men.

But there are also strong reasons to believe that the Democratic nominee, at least, will be African-American. First, African-Americans represent a vital voting bloc in Democratic primaries, and they — like most ethnic groups — typically rally around the favorite son or daughter. Black voters represented an overwhelming 55 percent of the vote in South Carolina in 2008, and almost 20 percent in, for instance, Florida. And the liberal white Democrats who make up the primary electorate in places like Iowa obviously have no problem voting for a black candidate.

Indeed, as Obama showed, the two great tranches of the Democratic coalition are well-educated white voters and voters of color, of whom most primary voters are still black. (That has only become clearer as the Democrats shed, and win without, working class white voters.) The candidate who can unite those two constituencies is the one who wins the primary. Without a true white liberal champion, a la Howard Dean, an African-American primary candidate has a head-start in 2016.

Second, the strongest sub-rosa argument that backers of Hillary Clinton and John Edwards made against Barack Obama in 2008 is now moot: A black man, they claimed, simply wouldn't be able to win in November. He has twice. Indeed, you could easily argue from recent precedent that a black man has a better shot than anyone of getting elected President of the United States in the current decade.

Third, and most important, two of the very strongest candidates for the job are black. There's an establishment candidate, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, someone who might fill a cabinet post in the second Obama term and has the classic credentials of a Democratic nominee: He's a Harvard-educated blue state executive and former prosecutor. And there's the Obama-esque outside star, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, already a national figure with a national fundraising network, and on a cruise course to the Senate in 2014. Both are Obama allies (which won't hurt either), and if there was any lesson they should have taken from his 2008 run, it is: Don't wait. Booker, in particular, is perfectly positioned to unite those two key wings of the party, should he run from the Senate.

There are also a handful of strong white candidates, none without flaws. Hillary Clinton, assuming (and hoping) that her health issues subside, would face the same questions she did in 2008: How can she be the face of the future, not the past? Andrew Cuomo is at home with power, but personally and ideologically disliked within his party. Martin O'Malley has chosen to run to the left in general and toward, in particular, an African-American base he might find it hard to woo away from a strong black candidate.

There's an ahistorical tendency in politics to argue that because something just happened, it's not likely to happen again. In fact, politics is the sport of repetition and of copycats. (See also: train wrecks, House Republicans and.) Whatever just happened is about to happen again and again, as ambitious individuals see their opportunities, and as voters follow a familiar path of least resistance.

The way to get elected after a successful two-term presidency is to run as its continuation. It's what George H.W. Bush did in 1988, and what Al Gore is widely viewed as having failed to do in 2000. Should Obama finish strong, the more similar in profile his would-be successor is, the better.

Obama might also end his second term weak and unpopular, giving the Republican ticket the advantage. There isn't an obvious black Republican presidential candidate this cycle, though Condoleezza Rice has been acting like she's interested in politics. But the Romney-Ryan debacle did probably guarantee one thing: That the Republican Party will never again present a ticket with two white men on it.

Joe Biden Swears In First Infant Senator

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Sen. Chris Murphy's son, Rider, stole the show.

Woman Apologizes To Anthony Weiner For Exposing Him

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Lisa Weiss, who was on the receiving end of lewd sex message from Weiner — and is still friends with the former Congressman on Facebook — apologized to him on a Facebook picture he posted of him and his wife and child for causing his family pain. “I still think you are our liberal hero!!”

Via: facebook.com

Lisa Weiss, a Las Vegas blackjack dealer, told her story to Radar Online amid the scandal that forced the former congressman from office.

"So great to see you back!" she wrote on his Facebook page last year. "Your wife and son are beautiful! Please let me apologize again for any pain I caused your (sic) or the beautiful Huma…it was unintentional…I still think you are our liberal hero and we need you back in politics!!"

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