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Oh, silly naive me. When I last wrote about Minnesota's government shutdown, I attributed it entirely to a failure of the legislature to authorize tax increases. While tax increases were certainly part of the reason for the shutdown, they weren't the only reason. As Rachel Maddow, explains, there was much, much more on the table.

Yes, in addition to refusing to agree to tax increases, Republicans put abortion, stem cell research, and voter ID on the table. In budget negotiations.

Star Tribune:

Talks may have also broken down because an earlier GOP offer asked Dayton to accept controversial policy positions the Republicans pushed for this year, including photo ID requirements at the polls and abortion restrictions. An offer sheet provided to the Star Tribune said the policy adoptions were in exchange for "new revenue in a compromise offer."

That deal also would have required tuition caps to be put in place at the University of Minnesota and MnSCU as well as a 15 percent reduction in the number of state workers by 2015. Tendered Wednesday night, the offer would have required a special session Thursday.

Gosh, I can see the thugs at the bargaining table now. "Ban abortion, stem cell research, require photo ID to vote and we'll agree to a tax increase. NOT." Because you know they wouldn't. This is not how they roll. They would have gotten their big government policy demands and then still never agreed to a tax increase.

Their behavior tells all anyone needs to know about these people. MinnPost.com reports:

Republican behavior while Dayton was speaking late Thursday night was boorish in an unprecedented way. Members of the House and Senate caucuses hooted and jeered when Dayton, who was holding a news conference, said things that offended them.

Longtime Capitol reporters said they'd never heard a governor receive the sort of disrespectful treatment Dayton received.

That behavior goes to either the zealotry or the inexperience of many Republican legislators, who apparently haven't yet learned basic lessons of political civility.

Republican leaders wouldn't comment on the surprising outbursts of their members, saying they weren't in the room at the time.

This is the New Republican Party. Civility is not in their vocabulary, nor is compromise. They've more or less skipped the letter "c" in their alphabet vocabulary, and moved right on to "d" -- damned idiots.

In perhaps one of the largest turnarounds in modern political history, only six months after winning reelection, Bush has apparently squandered his mandate and now finds himself a lame duck, his powerful political capitol spent. Yes, dear readers, America is finally on to the man and it is doubtful that his presidency will survive the next two years.

So unlikely is his political survival that we here at the RECOVERING LIBERAL feel completely comfortable in beginning what amounts to as a countdown to IMPEACHMENT (Drum Roll Please!).

And what a lovely impeachment it will be, televised and tivo'd, and commented on by AL and Randi at AIR AMERICA while being dutifully dissected by our brothers and sisters in the BLOGGING COMMUNITY Including: BLONDESENSE, AMERICAblog, ,  DAILY KOS, and of course here in the red, white and blue pages of the LIB.

We are confident that in the next twenty-four months Dubya and the gang will be relegated to their rightful place in history as the war criminals, thieves and zealots that they most definitely are.

That they will be taken to task for lying about the WMD'S and for generally disregarding the will of the American people, who mostly believe that war should only be fought only when our nation is at jeopardy and not because war is good business.

We further believe that they will be held to answer for the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives squandered as collateral damage in this War for Oil as well as for the senseless loss of our own troops, and for the ongoing pain and suffering of those soldiers, sailors and marines lucky enough to survive their tour of duty in Iraq.

Additionally, it is our sincere hope that they will be charged for their crimes against the environment and for the senseless destruction of the air that we breath, the water that we drink, and the food that we eat in the name of shameless profit.

Lastly, it is our fondest desire they be made to pay dearly for the climate of hate, which they have engendered, endorsed and fueled with their draconian approach to the maters of gay rights, stem cell research and evolution, as well as their support for those who preach hate in God's name.

And these are just some of the things which we would like to see them answer for in this life. God, I'm sure, has a few issues of his own to discuss with them.CROOKS AND LIARS, DAILY KOS, and of course here in the red, white and blue pages of the LIB.

We are confident that in the next twenty-four months Dubya and the gang will be relegated to their rightful place in history as the war criminals, thieves and zealots that they most definitely are.

That they will be taken to task for lying about the WMD'S and for generally disregarding the will of the American people, who mostly believe that war should only be fought only when our nation is at jeopardy and not because war is good business.

We further believe that they will be held to answer for the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives squandered as collateral damage in this War for Oil as well as for the senseless loss of our own troops, and for the ongoing pain and suffering of those soldiers, sailors and marines lucky enough to survive their tour of duty in Iraq.

Additionally, it is our sincere hope that they will be charged for their crimes against the environment and for the senseless destruction of the air that we breath, the water that we drink, and the food that we eat in the name of shameless profit.

Lastly, it is our fondest desire they be made to pay dearly for the climate of hate, which they have engendered, endorsed and fueled with their draconian approach to the maters of gay rights, stem cell research and evolution, as well as their support for those who preach hate in God's name.

And these are just some of the things which we would like to see them answer for in this life. God, I'm sure, has a few issues of his own to discuss with them.

C&L takes the culture of life pledge

Check out my new post at Jesus General: "That god-fearing patriot from Crooks and Liars has come up with a living will for stem cell research. I hope it catches on. Greater love hath no man than he lay down the life of his family for that of a gooey collection of protoplasm."

Stem Cell Research Living Will

Stem Cell Research Living Will

The Culture of Life Pledge

I hereby certify that neither I, nor any member of my family, including but not limited to: children, grandchildren, cats, dogs, etc. and any "after acquired" family will never, ever, under any circumstances (even with my fingers crossed) take or ingest any form of drug treatment or medical breakthroughs that are in any way associated with or connected to Stem Cell research. I am morally opposed to this type of medical malfeasance that our lord and Savior and Dr. Dobson most assuredly rebuke. I declare that I am of sound mind and body (as so it is hence with respect to the aforementioned family members) as we execute this irrevocable document and thusly said, this document shall not be challenged in a court of law. This is so despite the fact that I or said parties, would either now or in the future, be the beneficial recipient of such a repugnant life enhancing treatment . Only the Devil's greatest tool, i.e. "temptation" could lead us into sinful thoughts of partaking of this reprehensible policy.

____________________________
XXXXXXXX

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Rest of Family

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Pets

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Notary Public

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Witness

The Battle Begins between Dobson and Specter!

James Dobson attacks Arlen Specter for his words about judicial court nominees and begins to apply the pressure from the Christian right on President Bush. Also when Stephanapoulos questioned a hate remark he made, Dobson replied:

"Do you think you ought to lecture me on what a Christian is all about?"

Video

Arlen Specter responds to Dobson's charges on Face the Nation, also explaining his moderate stances on stem cell research.

Video

From Don Reed, national stem cell research advocate:

The next 12 days are crucial in the stem cell research struggle.

Here's why.

Remember when President Obama signed that document removing the Bush stem

cell restrictions? That same day he called upon the National Institutes of Health to draft a new set of guidelines for scientists wanting federal

funding.

Those guidelines have just been issued. see

http://stemcells.nih.gov/policy/2009draft.htm

The next 14 days are the comment period for the new guidelines for stem cell research, which American scientists will have to live with if they want federal funding. This is the public's only chance to shape those guidelines, which can be improved-or made worse.

Unfortunately, there are problems with the proposed guidelines!

Not only are the guidelines far more conservative than we had hoped, but

opponents of the research are systematically flooding the comment process.

Conservative religious bodies, have launched a national campaign to attack early stem cell research by mass emails to the NIH.

Go to this page and leave your comments. You can simply copy and paste the phrase "I support embryonic stem cell research, and am glad some of the restrictions are being loosened." There are longer boilerplates and snail mail addresses/contacts available here.

As someone who has watched and grieved as loved ones suffered and passed away from Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and cancer, there really is too much at stake to allow ourselves to be limited by anti-science and religious rhetoric.

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On his Fox News show yesterday, Glenn Beck fretted about President Obama's executive order ending the federal ban on funding for certain kinds of stem-cell research:

Beck: This is what bothers me. When we are -- when we put science in front of ethics, we start having a bunch of people walking around -- especially progressive scientists -- walking around in little white coats and talking about, 'Hey, we could make the master race. Why don't we go ahead and use eugenics?' That happened in America with progressives and science, when they decided that we can make people better, and they took out all of the ethics. I mean, what's to say, when we don't attach principles and ethics to things, that this just doesn't go off the road?

Speaking of going off the road ...

Beck was using this line earlier in the day on his radio program. Think Progress has the audio:

BECK: So here you have Barack Obama going in and spending the money on embryonic stem cell research, and then some, fundamentally changing – remember, those great progressive doctors are the ones who brought us Eugenics. It was the progressive movement and it science. Let’s put science truly in her place. If evolution is right, why don’t we just help out evolution? That was the idea. And sane people agreed with it!

And it was from America. Progressive movement in America. Eugenics. In case you don’t know what Eugenics led us to: the Final Solution. A master race! A perfect person. …. The stuff that we are facing is absolutely frightening. So I guess I have to put my name on yes, I hope Barack Obama fails. But I just want his policies to fail; I want America to wake up.

As Ryan Powers at TP observes:

In reality, of course, stem-cell research has nothing to do with the search for a “master race.” Rather, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) explained this morning, “Obama’s executive order is a huge win for the millions of people who suffer from spinal cord injuries, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis and many other illnesses.”

You can read more about eugenics here. Of course, it's worth remembering that in recent years, eugenics has been primarily a right wing obsession (remember The Bell Curve? Or how about the recent eugenics revival at NRO?). It's also worth remembering that even in its original incarnation -- in which progressives were indeed involved -- it was also ardently adopted by such conservatives as the Ku Klux Klan, not to mention the fact that it had a religious component as well.

Beck also appears to be confusing eugenics with genetics. The latter is a "hard" science built out of biochemistry, and ethics are indeed a constant concern for geneticists -- having learned the lessons of eugenics.

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The War on Science is finally over. Science won.

The key to Obama's executive order lifting limits on federal funding for stem-cell research, which he signed this morning:

This Order is an important step in advancing the cause of science in America. But let’s be clear: promoting science isn’t just about providing resources – it is also about protecting free and open inquiry. It is about letting scientists like those here today do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us, even when it’s inconvenient – especially when it’s inconvenient. It is about ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda – and that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology.

By doing this, we will ensure America’s continued global leadership in scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs. That is essential not only for our economic prosperity, but for the progress of all humanity.

This is part of Obama's broader vision of how government engages with science, as the WaPo's Rob Stein reported this morning. It's an approach that has drawn the approval of traditional conservatives like Nancy Reagan.

However, the religious-right nutcases will never be mollified, because apparently all human embryos are sacred vials of life that must be preserved all costs. (No word yet on what to do about that evil "periods" thing.) As Howie notes, this includes Rep. Eric Cantor.

Likewise Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, cited by MSNBC's Tamron Hall in the clip above:

I believe it is unethical to use human life, even young embryonic life, to advance science. While such research is unfortunately legal, taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for experiments that require the destruction of human life.

Rep. Jim Langerin, D-R.I., gave a succinct and powerful response to this nonsense:

Well, as a pro-life Democrat, I say, what could be more pro-life than research that would extend and improve the quality of life for millions of people who are struggling with some of life's most challenging chronic conditions and diseases. You know, why should a child who has diabetes have to endure a lifetime of painful shots and tests? Why should someone who, especially a child who may have a juvenile form of cancer, whose life may very well be cut short, not know the promise of a full and rewarding life? By supporting stem-cell research, and finding treatments and cures that may be offered, we are doing just that -- extending and improving quality of life for millions of people. And that, I say, we have a moral obligation to support.

The Existentialist Cowboy: Six years on, amid a failed invasion and war, only 3 percent of Americans believe the US will bring democracy to the Middle East.

Vagabond Scholar: Right-wing cartoon watch

GOOD 006:  Speaking of cartoons, this is an awesome strip

Simply Left Behind: Bad Air Day

HOLY CRAP: Punditosis often enables Holy Crap...Crackpot Creationists are taking their war on evolution to Turkey...More "Christian Nation" nonsense...Know thine enemy--The Libertarian Theocrats:...How Neoconservatives and the Religious Right have joined forces to fight stem cell research...We linked this story last week, but it deserves more attention...Taxpayer dollars used to promote Kentucky's Creation Museum... Presidential religiosity, race, and gender...

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: Papamoka Straight Talk, Last Left Turn Before Hooterville, the field negro, earthfamilyalpha

This is unbelievable. Remember this ad?

Sen. Claire McCaskill, who had been invited to speak at her daughter's Catholic high school commencement, was told last week that she was no longer invited because of church policy rejecting her positions on abortion and embryonic stem cell research.[..]

McCaskill's camp, however, puts the blame for the decision on Archbishop Raymond Burke.[..]

The disinvitation of McCaskill comes less than a week after Burke resigned from the board of the Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center Foundation because singer Sheryl Crow - an outspoken supporter of embryonic stem cell research - was scheduled to headline the annual fundraiser and concert.

I do think that the school has the right to have whomever they wish as a speaker. But the part that irks me is that the students asked for McCaskill and the school had already invited her. I'm confident that McCaskill would not be mentioning abortion or stem cells during the course of her speech. This just seems like an unnecessary injection of politicization at the expense of the students.