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I've been reeling a bit this week. It's hard for me to wrap my head around that in 2012, well into my forties, I'm being subjected to a national conversation on contraception and women's reproductive rights. Has this not been litigated and decided decades earlier? What the hell is going on?
But Chris Hayes helped talk me down this weekend. He's absolutely right: we liberals are winning the culture war and the proof of it is how desperately conservatives are trying to cast about for wedge issues to pull social conservatives into the voting sphere. But as the ever brilliant Amy Goodman put it last week, the "silenced majority" is just not having it. Be it the Wisconsin recall efforts, the Occupy protests, the Komen Foundation backlash, the Prop 8 backlash, we're just not having it. And though the pace of progress seems painfully glacial, it is progress, and we are winning. So pay no attention to the culture warrior Rick Santorum on every show, ignore that Liz Cheney and Joe Lieberman are on yet another Sunday, dismiss whatever Sarah Palin has to say. They're fighting tooth and nail to hold onto their perceived relevance...but we're not going to let them have it.
ABC's "This Week" - GOP presidential race: GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum. Contraception controversy; the budget; the economy; politics; Syria and Iran: White House chief of staff Jack Lew. Politics; payroll tax cut: Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Panel: George Will, Donna Brazile, Liz Cheney, David Ignatius.
NBC's "Meet the Press" - Politics: Santorum, Lew. Panel: Bill Burton, Peggy Noonan, EJ Dionne, Joe Scarborough.
NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: John Heilemann, Kathleen Parker, Clarence Page, Gloria Borger. Topics: Is Mitt Romney’s Problem Fatal? Barack Obama’s Political Judgment on Catholics and Contraceptives; To Win Conservatives, Would Romney Copy John McCain’s Palin Risk? Meter Questions: Will Romney still how low turnout in November? YES: 8 NO: 4; Will Mitt Romney's wealth be a voting issue in 2012? YES: 11 No: 1 .
MSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes" - Topics: Recap of the Maine Republican Caucus; CPAC straw poll results; Super PACs; Economic rebirth in America; The mortgage settlement; Analysis of the effectiveness of economic sanctions in Syria and Iran. Panelists: Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD); Jared Bernstein, Zephyr Teachout, Errol Louis.
CBS' "Face the Nation" - Religion, and the right; GOP presidential race; contraception regulations: GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Lew
CNN's "State of the Union with Candy Crowley" - GOP presidential race; 2012 elections: Santorum, Lew. Sen. Joe Liebermann (I-CT); Panel: Dana Bash, Mike Duffy.
CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" Syria: Elliott Abrams; Fawaz Gerges; Rami Khouri, director of the Issam Fares Institute of Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut. The economy; taxes; politcs; the euro; SuperPACs: George Soros.
CNN's "Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz" - Contraception regulation; Roland Martin; Lauren Ashburn. Coverage Santorum's wins; SuperPACs: Bill Press; Jim Geraghty, National Review; Lynn Sweet, Chicago Sun-Times. NBC Interview with former JFK intern: Amy Argetsinger, the Washington Post.
"Fox News Sunday" - The budget; GOP presidential race: Lew, former Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska. Panel: Bill Kristol, Mara Liasson, Kimberley Strassel, former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN.). Presidential historian: Richard Norton Smith.
So what's catching your eye this morning?
