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On the day he became the first assemblyman in Nevada history to be expelled, Steven Brooks was arrested in California on charges of assault and fleeing police, Jon Ralston reports.
There’s an amazing video of Brooks being arrested after a high-speed chase. (Warning: The video contains offensive language.)
John Fund notes Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) raised a “third way” of looking at the same-sex marriage debate.
“On Meet the Press this month he remarked on how many young people have asked him why the debate is over whether the definition of marriage should be expanded. They think the question is rather ‘why the government is sanctioning it in the first place.’ The alternative would be to ‘not have the government sanction marriage period, and leave that up to the churches and the synagogues and others to define that.'”
While Walker was careful to note his thoughts weren’t “anything I’m advocating for,” he gave voice to many who would like to avoid a culture war over the issue.
“It is saddening to see the president today, once again, try to take advantage of this tragic murder to promote an agenda that will do nothing to stop violent crime, but will undermine the constitutional rights of all law-abiding Americans. I am committed to… use any procedural means necessary to protect those fundamental rights.”
— Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), quoted by the Huffington Post.
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Former Alabama candidate for agriculture commissioner Dale Peterson (R) — the one with the great law-and-order ad in 2010 — was arrested for shoplifting after he picked up a can of cashews, began eating the contents and put the empty can back on a shelf, the New York Daily News reports.
Peterson was arrested for shoplifting last month as well.
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) has nominated pro-life activist Terri Herring to sit on the Mississippi Board of Public Health — despite having no medical background, the Jackson Free Press reports.
The 11-member board “provides policy direction for the Mississippi Department of Health, appoints a state health officer to operate the agency; approves the state health plan; and approves all rules and regulations of the agency. Most of the board members are doctors and nurses.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said not to expect an announcement about a possible 2016 presidential bid until next year, Roll Call reports.
Said Paul: “I want to be part of the national debate. I think the country faces a lot of problems, and I do want to be a part of trying to bring about answers and solutions for making the Republican party big enough that we can be competitive again, but I won’t make any decision until 2014 or so.”
John Avlon notes Sarah Palin attempted to relaunch her political career this week with a new video which railed against “the big consultants, the big money men, and the big bad media.”
“But there’s an irony alert ahead: the current stated purpose of SarahPAC is to raise money ahead of the 2014 election–most of which will be spent on conservative consultants.”
“Seen through the lens of the invaluable Center for Responsive Politics, Palin’s PAC spent $5.1 million in the last election cycle (more than it raised in that time period, raising some questions about Palin’s claims of fiscal responsibility). But the real news comes when you look at how donors’ money was actually doled out: just $298,500 to candidates. The bulk of the rest of it, more than $4.8 million, went to–you guessed it–consultants.”
Rep. Don Young (R-AK), in an interview with KRBD, referred to Latinos by using the derogatory term “wetbacks.”
Said Young: “My father had a ranch. We used to hire 50 or 60 wetbacks and — to pick tomatoes. You know, it takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine.”
According to the Washington Post, Young later released a statement: “I used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in central California. I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect.”
Rush Limbaugh said those who oppose same-sex marriage must accept that they’ve “lost the issue.”
Said Limbaugh: “This issue is lost. I don’t care what the Supreme Court does, this is now inevitable — and it’s inevitable because we lost the language on this.”
He added that conservatives “lost the issue when we started allowing the word ‘marriage’ to be bastardized and redefined by simply adding words to it.”
Roll Call: “A federal judge has refused to dismiss a suit in which former Sen. Larry Craig is accused of improperly using campaign funds in a quest to vacate his guilty plea in a Minnesota airport bathroom sting.”
“The judge didn’t buy Craig’s contention that his travel to the airport
restroom was a part of his official duties because he was en route to
his state, and therefore he was entitled to use his campaign account.”
“In a voice vote masking how each individual lawmaker sided, the Nevada Assembly made the unprecedented decision to expel one of their own members — troubled Assemblyman Steven Brooks (D),” the Las Vegas Sun reports.
“What is this homophobic strain in our party?”
— Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY), in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, saying the GOP needed to “get over its hangup on gay rights.”
McKay Coppins: “As the Republican Party gears up to launch a concerted, well-funded outreach effort aimed at attracting elusive minority voters, it’s not just battling dismal poll numbers and tough demographic trends — it’s working to overcome its own overwhelming whiteness.”
“There is not a single racial minority among the 20 most senior officials who run the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, and National Republican Senatorial Committee — the three wings of the GOP apparatus charged with promoting candidates and winning elections. And a range of former Republican staffers told BuzzFeed that this lack of diversity has paralyzed the party’s ability to connect with minority communities…”
“After the sudden flip of several Senate Democrats from opposition to endorsement of gay marriage this week,” Alex Rogers notes “the stampede may have come to an end, leaving a handful of holdouts in states where opinion still lags the national trend.”
Just nine Senate Democrats remain in opposition, a core group that includes some of the party’s most socially conservative members: Joe Manchin (WV), Mark Pryor (AR), Bob Casey (PA), Bill Nelson (FL), Tom Carper (DE), Tim Johnson (SD), Mary Landrieu (LA), Heidi Heitkamp (ND) and Joe Donnelly (IN).
House Speaker John Boehner told the Republican caucus that they have “forged a new tactical plan” that is forcing President Obama to recalibrate on issues of taxes, spending and job creation, the Washington Post reports.
Boehner also quotes at length from Congressman Lincoln, a book recapping the 16th president’s brief tenure in the House citing Lincoln’s warnings about government debt “growing with a rapidity fearful to contemplate.”
He concludes: “Republicans may be the minority party in Washington – but because we forged a plan together and have stuck to it, our actions as a team over the past couple of months have made a difference for all Americans.”
“I have to admit, being able to go back to our own life and going to the grocery store and shopping on my own is kind of nice to be by myself without a bunch of people hanging around with me. I like the life of being an American citizen. It’s good to live a normal life again.”
— Mitt Romney, interviewed on Dennis Miller’s radio show.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) told the Chugiak-Eagle River Star that her views on gay marriage are “evolving” and that she’s reviewing her stance on the issue “very closely.”
Said Murkowski: “I think it’s important to acknowledge that there is a change afoot in this country in terms of how marriage is viewed.”
She added: “The term ‘evolving view’ has been perhaps overused, but I think it is an appropriate term for me to use.”
Former Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) will run for Congress again in a district that overlaps part of his area he used to represent, Roll Call reports.
Barr was the Libertarian Party nominee for president last year but will run for Congress as a Republican.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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