“People seeking unemployment benefits or welfare would have to first pass a drug test under a proposal Sen. Orrin Hatch will try to add to legislation extending the social safety net during this time of economic turmoil.” [Salt Lake Tribune]

Meg Whitman has conducted the most imperial of campaigns for the GOP nomination for California Governor, refusing to speak to editorial boards, refusing to take questions from the audience at the few public events she has done, and plowing more and more of her money into her campaign ads that run ad nauseam on radio and TeeVee.  Her opponent, Steve Poizner, who was written off as dead in the water a few months ago, has pulled up with her in the polls. (On the back of endorsing Arizona’s SB 1070 and immigrant-bashing, but that is for another rant).

Whitman’s radio ads bashing welfare recipients are constant and continuous, even on my groovy progressive local San Francisco radio station KFOG.  So far I have been spared Whitman’s anti-immigrant ads playing in Sandy Eggo that torture Nojo.

Bashing the poor and voiceless has been a go-to strategy for politicians of both parties for generations, from Reagan to Clinton to Whitman, who to date has spent $64 million of her own money on her campaign.  While Clinton’s “End of Welfare as We Know It” in 1996 shows the equal-opportunism of campaigning by bashing the poor, the Cadillac-driving welfare queens have been the go-to boogieman in Republican primaries around the country for decades.  With the not-so-subtle coded racism and city-bashing imbedded in the attacks (nevermind that the majority of recipients of welfare assistance in this country are rural whites), it’s almost a cliché at this point.

Let’s deconstruct the ad, shall we? Read more »

“Lazy state residents are contributing to the number of illegal immigrants in South Carolina, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer said during a Republican gubernatorial debate Friday, living off public aid rather than working.” [TheState]

Although it was founded in 1972, the organization Feminists for Life (FFL) gained its largest to-date profile in mainstream media and the general public when John Roberts was nominated to be Supreme Court Chief Justice and it was disclosed that his wife Jane was the former Executive Vice President of the organization.  Our South Asian correspondent Nabisco recently mentioned them in a posting here, with the predictable resulting thought of many of “Feminists for What?”

So who are they? Let’s take a look, shall we?

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My pal oyster checks in from the SRLC in New Orleans:

Most importantly, there was no word yet on whether potential Senate candidate Stormy Daniels will make a surprise appearance at the conference. (Wild rumors were circulating yesterday that she wanted to meet Sarah Palin and perhaps lay some groundwork for an eventual endorsement.) Stormy recently made a highly publicized switch from the Democratic party to the Republican party in the wake of the embarrassing RNC/Voyeur club scandal.

From another post:

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Our afternoon guest columnist is noted political figure Stormy Daniels.

After months of careful deliberation and consult as to the true nature of my political affiliation I am ready today to declare that should I seek the office of US Senator from the great state of Louisiana that I will do so as a Republican.

While this decision has not been an easy one, recent events regarding Republican National Committee fundraising at Voyeur, an LA based lesbian bondage themed nightclub finally tipped the scales.

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“Carrie Prejean isn’t just opposed to gay marriage, she’s also opposed to paying more than $64,000 to the “Christian-focused” PR firm who helped her out, this according to a new lawsuit. The group — A. Larry Ross Communications — claims Prejean contacted them back in April, 2009 and logged “hundreds of hours” helping Prejean spread her “biblically correct” message.” [TMZ]