The Hollywood Liberal

Capehart: All hail Mayor Rahm
My reaction to Rahm Emanuel’s stunning and decisive victory over anyone else in the Chicago mayor’s race was neatly summed up by his friend and former White House colleague David Axelrod. “Two things are surreal: the nature of the victory and how fast it got counted,” Axelrod told the Chicago Sun…

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44: U.S. lawmakers step up criticism of Libya’s Gaddafi
House and Senate lawmakers on Wednesday continued their criticism of Moammar Gaddafi as international pressure has mounted on the Libyan leader to end his government’s violent crackdown that has left an estimated 300 civilians dead.

Obama Administration won’t support Defense of Marriage Act
Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) — The Obama administration said it won’t defend the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman, in two lawsuits in federal courts in New York and Connecticut.

Professors ask Congress for an ethics code for Supreme Court
A group of more than a hundred law professors from across the country has asked Congress to extend an ethical code of conduct to the Supreme Court – for the first time – and clarify when individual justices should step away from specific legal cases.

In Cash We Trust, But Unions We Bust
Gene Lyons, Salon
Recent events in Washington and Wisconsin have me thinking that maybe we should just go ahead and change the national motto to something more truly reflective of today's America. Forget “e pluribus unum” with its elitist overtones. Also, what people who make a big thing over “In God We Trust” really mean isn't so much that they approve of the deity, as that God approves of them.Anyway, here's my suggestion: “Money Talks.”Think about it. In Washington, GOP Speaker John Boehner, asked about the near-certain loss of several hundred thousand jobs…

New Immovable GOP is Like Goldwater
Mark Mellman, The Hill
Extremism has long held pride of place in Republicans' ideological pantheon. Whether it is eliminating the Department of Education, ending Medicare or outlawing all abortion, the GOP has long advocated positions that lie far from the American mainstream.Today's Republicans are bowing down before a new idol as well, worshiping at the altar of the uncompromising. Indeed, uncompromising extremism has become the driving dogma of Republicans since their 2010 victories. It's an animating principle most Americans reject, and one that will likely cost Republicans dearly in 2012. Just…

WI Only Part of GOP War on Unions
Harold Meyerson, Washington Post
Wisconsin is just the tip of the iceberg. The Republican war on unions goes far beyond Gov. Scott Walker's attempt to end collective-bargaining rights for public employees in his state or Gov. John Kasich's effort to do the same in Ohio.For a more comprehensive view of the Republicans' war on unions, we need to focus on what Republicans in Washington did last week. In the House, Republicans passed, as part of their continuing resolution to fund the federal government through September, a provision that slashed the funding of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) by…

The Underlying Strength of America
Caroline Baum, Bloomberg
Caroline BaumBefore you sell the house, auction the family heirlooms, gather up the kids and book passage on a boat to anywhere to escape the decline of the American Empire, take a deep breath. Things aren't as bad as some would have you believe. Perhaps you've read articles or seen statistics that claim the U.S. is among the worst of the worst when it comes to things like income inequality, life expectancy and student performance in math and science. If that's the case, you have to wonder why so many folks are risking life and limb to get in. The U.S. happens to be the No. 3…