Quote of the Day

“I strongly oppose what Governor Pence did. We should not enshrine bigotry under the cover of religion. It’s not just bad practice – it’s un-American.”

Sen. Mark Kirk

Mike Pence Has Always Been Anti-Gay

The New Civil Rights Movement did some digging and found web archive of Mike Pence's 2000 Congressional campaign website. It turns out that even back then Pence was staunchly anti-gay.

The thing about bigots is they are cowards and will never have the conviction to stand by their principles. Pence may try to run away from his anti-gay positions but the internet will archive everything.

Wilco Cancels Indiana Show

Wilco announced on Facebook that they are cancelling their Indiana show because of the anti-gay "Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act."

We are canceling our May 7 show at the Murat in Indianapolis. The “Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act” feels like thinly disguised legal discrimination to us. Hope to get back to the Hoosier State someday soon, when this odious measure is repealed. Refunds available at point of purchase.

Indiana is going to experience more boycotts because of this stupid piece of legislation.

Why GOP Stalling Budget

Mike Pence: We are trying to score a victory for the Republican people.

Oops. Freudian slip.

What Passes As Journalism In the Beltway

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Rachel Maddow calls out Politico for just running quotes without checking facts. An off-the-record Republican staffer claimed to

The roots of the partisan standoff that led to the postponement of the bipartisan White House summit scheduled for Thursday date back to January, when President Barack Obama dominated a GOP meeting in Baltimore and delivered a humiliating rebuke to House Republicans.

The one-sided televised presidential lecture, which many Republicans decried as a political ambush — Obama’s staff wanted the event to be broadcast and GOP aides agreed reluctantly at the last minute — has left a lingering distrust of Obama invitations and a wariness about accommodating every scheduling request emanating from the West Wing, aides tell POLITICO.

“He has a ways to go to rebuild the trust,” said a top Republican Hill staffer “The Baltimore thing was unbelievable.”

The original version of the Politico article had the GOP staffer claim that House Republicans didn't even know Obama was going to come to speak at their event. That is rather surprising considering Republicans invited Obama. Rep. Mike Pence sent out a press release announcing Obama would be at the retreat.

House Republicans are grateful that the President of the United States has accepted our invitation to meet with the Republican Conference later this month.

House Republicans look forward to presenting the president with our proposals to protect our nation, create jobs, control federal spending, lower the cost of health care, achieve energy independence and strengthen families.

What House Republicans are really angry about is that they offered the invitation with the thought that Obama would not come. Republicans thought they could get good PR by using the retreat to prove Obama is not bipartisan. Unfortunately for Republicans, Obama is bipartisan to a fault and much better on television. Obama won a debate with a bunch of Republicans that aren't used to getting called out on their talking points.

GOP Unleashes America Speaking Out

The Republican Party has released the web site America Speaking Out. The goal of the web site is to get the GOP's 2010 election year message out. As usual, Republicans fail epically with new media.

Chief Deputy Minority Whip Kevin McCarthy described ASO.

“This is an open community and a debate of ideas; you submit the idea, you debate the idea, you put it into your network and you’ll continue to have that dialogue,” said project chairman and Chief Deputy Minority Whip Kevin McCarthy (Calif.).

The web site allows open posting. The Huffington Post reports one post said the Civils Right Act was "UNCONSTITUTIONAL, PROGRESSIVE and HITLER." Apparently, wingnuts aren't aware that Hitler would not congratulate Jesse Owens or other African-American winners at the 1936 Olympics. Another poster suggested Orwellian level surveillance on Muslim Americans. So much for the Republican Party for building a big tent.

ASO is not run by the RNC or a political action committee. This is paid for by tax dollars. Republicans use the legal pretense that ASO is to shape policy. Thomas Mann and Meredith McGehee explain how this couldn't be further from the truth.

Congressional scholar Thomas Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said it is not credible to say the agenda is not intended for the 2010 campaign cycle.

“Its only purpose is as a campaign document,” Mann said in an e-mail. “They are in no position to shape policy before the election. It is a defensive move, to deal with the criticism that they are the party of ‘no.’”

But Meredith McGehee, policy director at the Campaign Legal Center, said Republicans have to maintain that the document is not meant for the campaign trail, even if it is only a charade. “If they don’t, they are in danger of using taxpayer funds for campaign purposes,” she said.

Blogger Steve Benen reports that Congressman Mike Pence would not elaborate on how the ASO web site will be paid for. This is why I never take Republicans seriously when they talk about fiscal conservatism.

RNC Chairman Michael Steele had similarly disastrous relaunching GOP.com. GOP.com had a future leadership page that was empty. The web site also mislabeled Jackie Robinson a GOP hero. The site was so amatuerish that it was hacked into. The GOP is a top to down party.

The reason grassroots activism and the internet work better for the net is because Democrats needs the votes and contributions of people not in the upper tax bracket. Democrats will not vote in force if they do not believe the candidate talks to grassroots issues. If Obama made offshore drilling and sending more troops to Afghanistan his two central campaign issues then John McCain would be President. Republicans rely on redistricting, fearmongering and winning presidential elections by razor thin margins. A conservative can post a comment about clawing back money from Goldman Sachs on ASO. The current Republicans are more concerned with getting Wall Street campaign dollars then creating regulations to prevent another economic meltdown. The open dialogue with voters is an election year sham.