Wherever tyrants suppress free speech, free association, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, the people will revolt. It’s happened again today.

No…it isn’t another revolution in the Middle East. This time it’s that other tinderbox of a region known as the Midwest where the people’s fight against tyrannical despots has spread to another state (via Politico):

In a move straight out of the Wisconsin playbook, Indiana Democratic lawmakers fled the state today in a bid to kill a proposed right-to-work bill ahead of a vote.

Citing a source, the Indianapolis Star reported that Democrats “are headed to Illinois, though it was possible some also might go to Kentucky.”

Wisconsin’s Democratic senators have been in Illinois for days, depriving Republicans the quorum needed to vote on Gov. Scott Walker’s legislation to roll back collectively bargaining rights for state workers.

No word yet from Gov. Mitch Daniels about activating the National Guard….

Update: Has Gov. Walker (R-WI) killed the Internet for protesters? What will Mitch Daniels (R-IN) have to do to top that? Declare that he’ll die a martyr?

Update II: Another all-out assault on public employees! And the protests spread to another State in the unstable Midwest region of America. This time it’s Ohio.

Protests continue today.

Moderate Republicans are trying to put together a compromise. Even so, the Republicans may start passing non-fiscal legislation (that doesn’t require a quorum) as a threat bargaining tactic:

And one of those [bargaining] chips may be a bill to require voters to show ID at the polls – a change Republicans have long wanted and Democrats fear will disenfranchise voters.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) on Monday said Republicans who control the Legislature may bring that bill to the floor if Democrats continue to boycott Senate sessions for much longer. Democrats went to Illinois Thursday to prevent passage of the bill on union rights.

Of course…the Republicans can pass that legislation anyway, and they no doubt will, so it doesn’t seem like much of an incentive.

Wisconsin’s Republican Senators need to quit being whimps. They need to think BIG. Given Walker’s credentials as a good God-fearing Republican extremist (e.g. on reproductive rights), Republicans should use the absence of the Democrats to make a few adjustments in Wisconsin.

Here are some “bargaining chips” the Senate could work on, inspired by fellow Republicans around the country:

• Allow people to carry guns at State universities and colleges.
• And open up the airports to guns while they are at it.
• Require all adults to own a gun.
• Outlaw oral and anal sex between consenting adults in their own bedrooms.
• Pass an “unborn child” defense act, that would justify the murder of abortion doctors.
• Allow doctors to lie to women about the health of their fetus.
• Redefine rape as “forcible rape”.
• Criminalize same-sex marriage.
• Require doctors to show women an ultrasound of her fetus within two hours before receiving an abortion.
• Pass legislation that requires brown people to carry papers proving citizenship.
• Strip “anchor babies” of their citizenship.
• Pass a law to require presidential candidates to present a birth certificate.
• Declare State sovereignty.
• Create an official Wisconsin state currency.
• Make a state holiday around John Birch Society founder Robert Welch’s birthday.
• Opt out of Obamacare.
• Pass a resolution apologizing to BP.
• Require schools to teach a 6000-year-old earth “theory” in biology class.
• Declare global warming beneficial.
• Create an internet kill switch for the governor to use in the event of civil unrest.

And that’s the week one agenda.

Oh, one other thing…rename the state Wississippi.

Update: Oops…I forgot one other of piece of legislation for the Republican’s gonzo week agenda: Weaken child labor laws. This legislation might spark controversy among the Wisconsin Republicans. Some lawmakers would still support Wississippi; others would push for Wiscongladesh.

Ann Telnaes: Another Haley Barbour controversy .

Young Turks: G.O.P. Rep.’s ‘Olive Complexion’ controversy.

Roy Zimmerman: “To the Victims of This Tragedy We Send Our Thoughts and Prayers”:

Mark Fiore: Military math boot camp.

Young Turks: Poll shows FAUX News viewers are most frightened of Muslims.

Boehner’s Boner:

• Newsy: “So be it”.
• Young Turks: Boehner is okay with Americans losing jobs.
• Ann Telnaes: Read Boehner’s lips.
• Pelosi blasts G.O.P.’s “so be it” attitude (via DailyKos).

Newsy: Government shutdown looming.

The past or the future?

Jon: I like big cuts (via OneGoodMove).

Funny or Die: NPR pledge drives.

The Republican War on Workers:

• Thom: WI Governor declares war on workers.
• Newsy: Wisconsin workers protest.
• Democracy Now: On Wisconsin, Part I.
• Democracy Now: On Wisconsin, Part II.
• Young Turks: Does Obama watch network news?’>WI Governor holds jobs hostage.
• Rep. Ryan: It’s like Cairo has moved To Madison (via TalkingPointsMemo).
• GritTV: Protests for workers spreading.
• Maddow: Wisconsin & union rights.
• Ed: Gov. Walker (WI) is lying about budget crisis.
• Pap: What Wisconsin has learned from Cairo.
• Thom with The Nation‘s John Nichols: 35,000 strong and more to come.
• Wisconsin protesters on FAUX News: “FAUX Lies” (via TalkingPointsMemo).

ONN: Report finds troubling rise in teen uranium enrichment.

Newsy: Facebook accepts LGBT partnerships (thereby undermining the very fabric of the intertubes).

Obama in Portland: Out-educating the competition (8:45).

Jon: Pyramid scheme (via OneGoodMove).

Young Turks: How Dan Savage destroyed Rick S******m.

The Republican War on Women:

• Cenk: The G.O.P. hit job on Planned Parenthood.
• GritTV: Killing doctors by redefining personhood.
• O’Donnell Thank you Jackie Speir.
• Rep. Jim McDermott on anti-women Republicans:
• Newsy: The South Dakota “Kill an abortion provider” bill?
• Democracy Now: G.O.P. bill targets abortion and family planning, Part I
• Democracy Now: G.O.P. bill targets abortion and family planning, Part II
• Democracy Now: G.O.P. bill targets abortion and family planning, Part III
• O’Donnell: Palin attacks Michelle Obama over breastfeeding.
• Cenk: Michelle Bachmann on breast pumps (and other batshit crazy Republicans).
• O’Donnell: Bachmann goes after Michelle Obama on breast pumps.

Daily Show: The QOsby Show (via DailyKos).

Pap: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is spying on you.

Ann Telnaes: Obama takes on defense spending.

Young Turks: Nut case Glenn Beck gets his Google hate on.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

This photo was taken last month on the University of Washington Campus. I was on my way to a class which limited our conversation to about a minute.

The man was elusive about his purpose. He seemed sincere and said the sign wasn’t mean to be ironic. He wanted to know what the sign meant to me, but he denied this was research (like for a psychology class or something). And, no, this wasn’t some sort of performance art. He said nothing to suggest it was a religious thing.

He wanted to tell me all about the meaning of the sign, but said it would require a longer conversation (and, I presume, some thinking). I never saw him again.

Anyone have a clue?

I love Madison. I really do.

I began the third grade living with my (recently divorced) mother and two sisters in a one bedroom apartment in an inner-city Chicago neighborhood. In January 1970, over Christmas break, we moved to Madison. It was an distinct improvement; that part of third grade became transformational.

The University of Wisconsin campus spaces (where my mother was a new student) were filled with singing and anti-war protests. I became aware of the struggle over the Vietnam war and, at the same time, I learned about police brutality. The UW campus community filled the public schools on the first earth day–I became aware of the environment, resource limitations, and population problems. Life was kaleidescope of lessons in politics, populism, environmentalism, radicalism…and even violent extremism, when four young anti-war activists blew up the Army Math Research Center, unintentionally killing a physics researcher in another part of the building. And, damn, there was some good music.

I was too young to participate, or even identify with, the movement, but I soaked it up—I was an observer.

Madison was home for two more decades. I went to the University of Wisconsin–Madison and earned Bachelors and Masters degrees. I worked my way through college, for small companies, for the University, and by starting my own company. By the time I left in 1990, Madison, like much of the country, had become tame, domesticated, pacified. The radicals of the 1970s were now raising their own teenagers, if not becoming grandparents. They were living the Big Chill. Priorities change.

Most of my family still live in Madison, so I visit a couple time a year. The past decade had been hard on the region, economically and psychologically. A mild gloom and sense of struggle has taken hold. And then, in 2010, Wisconsin experienced some kind of collective depression; they voted a bunch of radical right wing whack-jobs into office.

On Wednesday morning I got a call from my niece. “Uncle Darryl…I’m not in school today. Know why?”

“I sure do, Elena.”

I was delighted that school had been cancelled in Madison as tens of thousands of public employees flocked to the Capitol building to protest the extremist legislation proposed by Gov. Walker.

The Governor proposes to strip away rights for public employees that have been in place for decades. Well fuck him.

My darling niece then proceeded to describe the injustice she felt was being done to teachers and other public employees and how she and her friends wouldn’t stand for it. I do believe I teared up very slightly.

Now I’m thinking that after some decades of slumber…these people have awakened. They feel again, and they don’t like what the extremists in office are shoving up their back side. Yeah…I fully expect that Walker will get his chance to shit all over the public employees. But his party is going to pay.

My prediction…2012 will be a bad year for Republicans in Wisconsin.

Wow…

Luke Esser, the former state Republican chairman who lost his position in an upset election last month, is back in Olympia as a lobbyist – and his new client may cause a few jaws to drop at the statehouse.

Esser will represent Service Employees International Union Local 775, the union local that represents some 40,000 home-care workers.

I was wondering what would become of my former Senator after his defeat as party Chairman. I wondered because I kinda liked Luke based on the one and only time we met—when he rang my doorbell during his 2006 Senate campaign. We had a friendly conversation, even though we each stuck to our beliefs.

I just never imagined he would go all progressive on our asses! But…hey, better late than never, brother Luke!

(H/T Publicola.)

Over at Slog, Goldy points out the millions in new special interest tax breaks happening in Olympia:

…a total adding up to over $97 million of lost revenues in Fiscal Year 2013, according to a tally released today by the Our Economic Future Coalition.

Health insurance subsidies for small children? No. Tax subsidies for small breweries? Yes. Nice to know our legislators have their priorities in place.

In other words, “Sorry, kid, there’s no money left to treat you. But, here, have a beer…. It’ll dull the pain.”

Roll Call provides a history of the savage Santorum smear concocted (so to speak) by Dan Savage. Former Pennsylvania Senator and likely 2012 GOP presidential primary candidate Rick Santorum has a rather persistent “Google problem.”

Santorum’s Google problem began in 2003, when gay sex-advice columnist Dan Savage sought to mock Santorum’s comments on homosexuality. Then the third-most-powerful Republican in the Senate, Santorum told the Associated Press that April that gay sex could “undermine the fabric of our society.” The interview touched on a Supreme Court case related to sexual privacy, and Santorum compared homosexual acts to allowing for “man on child, man on dog” relationships.
[…]

Savage soon created the website spreadingsantorum.com, tied to a contest in which he asked readers to submit definitions for the term “santorum.”

The winning entry…see santorum.

As a former constituent of Sen. Santorum, my initial reaction upon hearing the neologism was, “Brilliant!” Two reasons why.

First, it just feels…um, maybe I should say, it just sounds right. Dan Savage wouldn’t talk to Roll Call about it, but in 2003 he completely nailed the “sounds right” aspect:

What works so well about santorum is that a smart Savage Love reader linked Senator Santorum’s vaguely clinical-sounding name with something distinctly scatological, an anal-sex-induced bodily fluid that had previously lacked a really good name. ‘Santorum’ sounds like it could be what that frothy mix of lube and fecal matter has always been called, and that’s why it’s caught on.

Yeah…that’s it!

The second reason is…I don’t know why, but Rick Santorum always struck me as a deeply repressed gay man, full of self-loathing, and trapped in his life as an anal retentive conservative Republican. You know…like a younger, more uptight, Eastern version of Larry Craig minus the restless leg syndrome. It wouldn’t surprise me if Santorum is one day discovered in a cheap motel room, tied up to the bed posts (wait…posts on a motel bed?!?) naked and face down, with a leather-clad young man, whip in hand, lashing and scolding him for being a bad boy. No santorum involved. Just punishment.

Yes…a Santorum presidential bid will cause Dan Savage’s Google monster to come alive with good clean fun and salacious innuendo. (That’s right…we’re talkin’ santorum innuendo.)

Speaking of which, Goldy leaves HA with his own legacy of Google search results. Google Luke Esser and the second entry still points to Goldy’s Luke Esser Fucks Pigs complaint to the Legislative Ethics Board. Sen. Esser lost the election, so I guess the Ethics Board never got around to following up on the complaint….

Or Google Bradley Marshall and the number three entry is Goldy’s Bradley Marshall is a pussy post. (The number two entry is Dan Savage’s contribution based on Goldy’s post.)

Bradley Marshall, a Seattle lawyer, was upset by something Michael Hood posted at Blatherwatch—a post that was both tame and factual. Marshall had a suspended law license at the time, and was under investigation by the Washington State Bar Association. It couldn’t have helped that he mailed a cease and desist letter using his official letterhead (implying he was licensed to practice law). The Bar Association was made aware. A year later, perhaps for totally unrelated reasons, the Washington Supreme Court disbarred him. Almost everyone came out a winner on that one.

Google David Irons and the second entry, Raging Bullshitter: the sad twisted tale of the Irons family feud documents some of the weaknesses (and strengths!) of the candidate for King County Executive. Irons lost.

Or, from another perspective, his mother won.

Please join us tonight for an evening of politics under the influence at the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally. We meet at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E.. We start at 8:00 pm, and sometimes even earlier for dinner.

Not in Seattle? There is a good chance you live near one of the 211 other chapters of Drinking Liberally.

I stumbled across this article today:

Woodinville’s Tourist District Roundabout Transportation Improvement Project received an engineering excellence award from the Washington State Chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). The award was presented to the Woodinville City Council on February 8.

The roundabout project won a gold award in the category of exceeding client/owner needs. […]

A number of other national professional engineering groups have also recognized Woodinville’s project for its innovative use of three roundabouts. […]

What drew my attention is that I use this bit of road at least several times a month. It reminded me that I been meaning to post a RANT about Washington drivers and their seeming inability to use roundabouts effectively.

Before I take up a menacing stance upon my mighty soapbox, let me first add to the praises of this project. For many years now, I have made almost weekly trips from my home in Redmond to Snohomish. I take SR 202 (or the Redmond–Woodinville road) to Woodinville and then pick up SR 9 to Snohomish. The intersection of SR 202 and Northeast 145th, was sometimes a mess. During rush hour, SR 202 used to back up for a mile or two. But even during low traffic periods, the intersection of roads at odd angles, combined with the particular traffic flows rendered an annoyingly low throughput at this intersection. According to this 2006 Seattle Times article, people have been trying to find a fix for this problem since the 1970s.

Roundabouts were the answer. Not those wimpy little traffic calming circles that one finds all over Seattle. These are real (if smallish) traffic roundabouts. About a year ago, they finished the project that consists of one main 2-lane roundabout. And there are two satellite roundabouts (see image) that, in part, serve to slow traffic down and permit a smaller main roundabout footprint.

My assessment: Fantastic! The one-way time between my house and my destination in Snohomish was reduced from 40 minutes to just under 35 minutes. Also the variance in trip time was reduced. Essentially, getting through the SR 202/NE 145th intersection is now both faster and accomplished in about the same amount of time each trip. I truly love these things.

What annoys me about roundabouts is the stupid-ass drivers who have no idea how to use them effectively. There are some simple tricks that, when everyone is in on it, makes them much more efficient. So, at the risk of being dubbed “The Traffic Nazi” by someone other than my significant other (Happy Valentines day, dear!), allow me to offer some advice to the traffic circle novice.

1. In America, you travel counterclockwise around the roundabout. Yes…I’ve witnessed (more than once) the car in front of me approach the roundabout in total confusion and then hang a left. Sigh.
2. Enter, traverse, and exit the traffic circle at a fairly constant speed. There is almost no excuse for stopping. Never stop in the circle unless not stopping would result in death (wayward pedestrian) or property damage (an idiot stopped in front of you). There is no need for slowing or accelerating through the circle. Just hang a constant 20 MPH (or whatever is appropriate for the circle size). If you find yourself changing speeds…you have probably fucked something up.
3. There is never ANY reason to panic in a traffic circle. In the past year of near weekly use of this newly redesigned stretch of highway, I cannot tell you how many times drivers in front of me have slammed on their brakes in confusion, or have exited in front of me only to pull a semi-panicked U-turn in front of me on the main drag. Dude…don’t panic. If you’re confused, and going counterclockwise, just chill and continue to circle. (On the other hand, if you are confused and going clockwise…panic!!!) Seriously, you can drive around a roundabout all day, and nobody will notice (except for that other pitifully confused driver going around in circles…but who cares what that dumb-ass thinks!). If you miss your turn, take a lap or two and exit with a Zen calmness once you’ve figured it all out.
4. When exiting the roundabout, USE YOUR GOD-DAMMED BLINKER…without fail. And USE YOUR DAMN BLINKER, TOO. Blinker good. Blinky-blinker-blink! By my estimates, only about one percent of drivers in Woodinville understand this small, but important, form of communication. In Europe, the compliance approaches 100% in my experience. Really…it helps everyone (especially the car waiting on you before entering the roundabout) if you signal your exit about midway between the previous exit and your desired exit. Not signaling means you have wasted other people’s time and fuel.
5. When approaching the roundabout, time your entrance so that you don’t have to stop. There is no stop sign at the entrance. Except in heavy traffic conditions, a full stop probably means you have failed to plan properly, and everyone behind you suffers. Of course you must yield right of way to traffic in the roundabout. But, like freeway on-ramps, you should plan the maneuver from early-on for a smooth merge with existing traffic (and don’t get me started about idiots braking on freeway on-ramps!). By the way…if a vehicle in the roundabout has to adjust for your entrance…you’ve fucked up. It was your responsibility to enter without affecting the flow within the circle.

Whew! I’m glad I finally got that off of my chest.

(Via The Hill.)

This morning at 9:00 Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn will be Steve Scher’s guest on KUOW’s Weekday.

Be prepared to hear how much McGinn hates the deep bore tunnel, how much he hates the Seattle City Council for approving agreements with the State, how he is so totally going to veto the agreement, and how much he is going to seriously hate the City Council when they override his veto.

Oh…and happy Valentines Day.

Three days ago Joel Connelly reported it as imminent. Now King County Councilmember Bob Ferguson has announced his candidacy for Washington State Attorney General:

Bob may have some Democratic competition from former Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg. On the Republican side, it’s hard to tell. But…

[t]he King County GOP last week registered the Internet domain name “DunnForAG.com.”

That would be Reagan Dunn, son of the late Rep. Jennifer Dunn, who represented Washington’s 8th CD from 1993 to 2005. Reagan Dunn, like Bob Ferguson, currently serves on the King County Council.

No word from Richard Pope yet on whether or not he will also run….

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) wrapped up Saturday on its third and final day. One function of the annual conference is to allow potential Republican presidential candidates to telegraph their intentions to run, while strutting their conservative stuff to the hungry conservative masses.

And there was a lot of telegraphy (and strutting) this year. We got coded messages from Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN), Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX), Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS), Newt Gingrich, John Thune, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), and The Donald Trump. There were probably others there that I’ve forgotten about.

Two CPAC no-shows, Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee, are both expected to join competition as well. I mean, it isn’t a coincidence that Sarah Palin hired a chief of staff just today—the same person who worked for her 2008 VP campaign. She was telegraphing from a distance….

The G.O.P. 2012 primary field is still a little fuzzy as very few of these folks have actually admitted they are running.

The Democratic race is pretty clear. President Obama will run for reelection. There will be a couple of Democratic also-rans and crank candidates, but unless an authentic Kenyan long-form birth certificate is found, or someone uncovers a third grade report by Obama where he swears his allegiance to Chairman Mao, Obama is going to be the Democratic nominee.

Today a new FOX News poll does head-to-head match-ups between Obama and the top Republican (probable) candidates.

I know some readers will be dubious about a Fox News Poll. However, this one is done jointly by Anderson Robbins Research, a Democratic pollster, and Shaw & Company Research, a Republican pollster. The poll uses live interviews on a national sample of 911 registered voters from Feb 7-9. Both landlines and cell phones were included. The margin of error is 3%.

Here is a summary of answers to the question “thinking ahead to the next presidential election, if the election were held today, how would you vote if the candidates were…”

• Obama (48%), Romney (41%)
• Obama (49%), Huckabee (41%)
• Obama (56%), Palin (35%)
• Obama (55%), Gingrich (35%)
• Obama (54%), Jeb Bush (34%)

The findings for Palin, Gingrich and Jeb Bush are not overly surprising. However, Obama’s substantial lead over the two individuals who are widely considered the front runners is great news for Obama.

There was a poll released yesterday by Public Policy Polling that did head-to-head match-ups in nine swing states (defined as states that Barack Obama won in 2008 and that George Bush won in 2004. Indiana was excluded because of legal difficulties polling in the state. Nebraska CD 2 is also included because Obama won an electoral vote from there). The take-home message:

If he stood for reelection today against one of the current Republican front runners Obama would almost certainly win the same number of electoral votes he did in 2008, if not more.

Here are the numbers:

Obama v.	2008 Vote	Gingrich	Huckabee	Palin	Romney
Colorado	+9	+14	+9	+19	+6
Florida	+3	+5	+5	+14	+2
Iowa	+10	+13	+4	+16	+6
NE-2	+1	+19	+11	+24	+9
Nevada	+12	+11	+10	+13	+1
New Mexico	+15	+21	+19	+29	+16
North Carolina	+0	+6	+4	+9	+3
Ohio	+4	+6	+1	+7	+2
Virginia	+6	+11	+5	+11	+5

Clearly, the Republicans have a lot of work to do to catch up with Obama. After two years of ceaseless smears, Obama is still going very strong. Further smears aren’t going to cut it for the Republicans.

And Obama has most of the advantages. He is the power of incumbency. He will not have a bloody primary to fight. He will not have to shift his positions between the primary and general elections. And he has a long list of accomplishments to date.

Finally…Obama should achieve higher approval ratings over the next year. Political scientists have long noted that presidential approval suffers when his party is also in control of Congress. The House takeover by the Republicans last fall means that people’s opinions of Obama’s should rise. And that has been the trend since January.

You might say that Republicans taking the House in 2010 is Obama’s ticket to an easy re-election in 2012.

Newsy: Obama proposes clean energy tax cut.

Young Turks: Teabagger Rep. wrong about stimulus bill.

Ann Telnaes: Time to look beyond oil.

Lawrence O’Donnell and Bill Maher on John Boehner, Glenn Beck, Christine O’Donnell, & Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Mike Papantonio and Shannyn Moore discuss the importance of progressive media for an informed, intelligent democratic society.

Young Turks: FAUX News insider tells all, “just make stuff up:

Ed and Pap: The CPAC freak show.

Maddow: Are Republicans beginning to understand the real cost of war?.

Newsy: New magazine for Teabaggers.

Ann Telnaes: The G.O.P. moves to restrict abortion funding.

Cheney called “war criminal” at CPAC.

President Obama addresses the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Topless Takedown:

• Newsy: Chris Lee scandal to resignation.
• Young Turks: “Values guy” resigns.

ONN Radio News: U.S. Takes out debt consolidation loan.

Newsy: O’Reilly’s Interupt-a-thon.

Ed and Pap: GOP Congress bows to Koch brother’s power.

Liberal Viewer: Colbert, cops say taser of innocent not excessive?.

Newsy: Mubarak refuses to resign despite rumors.

Sam Seder: G.O.P. meltdown over Patriot Act.

Cenk: The truth about Ronald Reagan.

Mark Fiore: Aggregation!

Egypt in Political Turmoil:

• Cenk: Revolution well done.
• Maddow: The Caliphate is Coming, The Caliphate is Coming.
• The Partisans: A message for Egypt:
• Cafferty files: Palin’s “opinion” on Egypt.
• Sam Seder and Juan Cole on crisis in Egypt.
• Newsy: Mubarak resigns–for real this time
• Pres. Obama on a historic day in Egypt.

Young Turks: Conservative blogger gives more details on Nikki Haley’s affair.

Newsy: Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) to retire.

VP Joe Biden: Building a 21st century infrastructure.

ONN: Nation elects first openly drunk Senator.

Ann Telnaes: Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife forms lobbying firm.

Teabagging Troubles:

• Young Turks: Congressional teabaggers kill Patriot Act.
• GRIT TV: A bipartisan future on civil liberties?
• Newsy: Trouble in the House.
• Young Turks: Palin v. Santorum.

Young Turks: GOP Rep. on how being gay is deadly.

My Congressman (Rep. Jay Inslee) Inslee questions Senator Inhofe in E&C Committee hearing.

Pap: Lobbyists already control the new GOP Congressmen.

Newsy: Trump for Preznit.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.