Suppose you were kidnapped by someone who only had a little time left to live...

Maybe he botched the kidnapping and the cops put a bullet in him that didn't kill him but is fatal in the long run. You know that sooner or later, he'll be dead, and you'll still be alive.

How would you deal with the kidnapper's demands?

Would you drain your kids' college funds and your and your parents retirement accounts to pay his ransom? This guy is a career kidnapper, so even though he's dying, he'd have time to transfer your money to his friends and family so it would be difficult to impossible to recover.

Wouldn't you just stall and try to jolly him along until he loses consciousness and you can kick the gun away from him and leave, but give him as little as possible?

This is more or less the situation Obama is in now, with Republicans as the kidnappers, demographics as the bullet, and the last election as the cop that put the bullet in them.

The Democrats in the Senate are arguably cops just outside the kidnappers hideout, and they could end the whole thing a lot sooner if they bust in the door by ending the filibuster.

Of course part of why they don't break down the door is some of the cops are on the take from the same mobster the kidnappers work for, the other cops know it, but the dirty cops are too powerful to take down.

Is LINCOLN, a film about a progressive Republican, extra salt in the wounds of the GOP?

Does it hurt them to be reminded after they had their ass handed to them in the election that their first and most admired president was an unabashed PROGRESSIVE who fought a war to preserve the Union against states rights AND to free blacks who voted en masse against Mittsy Rich?

I hope so.

What do you think?

RAVITCH: corporate ed "reformers" want ONLINE KINDERGARTEN?

There are times when online ed is appropriate like for a bedridden kid, or a college student who is highly motivated and interested in the subject matter.

I doubt that kindergarteners have that kind of internal motivation.

What will Karl Rove's next job be since he won't get work as a political consultant again?

I'm thinking he'll play the Ned Beatty role in a dinner theater production of DELIVERANCE or become a birthday party clown like John Wayne Gacy since that's the only way he could up his creepiness factor.

PIC: US flag with Puerto Rico's star added:

If Obama cuts Social Security for deal with GOP, he'll repeat Baby Bush mistake

of blowing his political capital to please a handful of rich cranks by screwing everyone else.

Ironically, cutting benefits and raising the retirement age would do directly what Republicans could only come at indirectly through their privatization scam.

The one promise I don't want Obama to keep is more bipartisanship with the GOP.

Will Congress vote to allow Puerto Rico statehood?

Given the referendum that just passed there, it would be hard to justify denying it since doing so could be seen as giving up a little piece of empire by starting to push them out of our control.

Republicans would have to buck their xenophobic base, but they do need to court Latinos too.

So how will it go down?

Wisconsin voucher schools get worse test scores, so Walker EXEMPTS them

So why exactly are we giving our tax dollars to for-profit schools that do WORSE than existing public schools?

And when will the leaders of the Democratic Party admit that this is a scam and their support of it is blatant corruption?

Our education policy should not be dictated by right wing think tank and hedge fund managers looking for a way divert our shrinking education dollars in to their pockets.

Democrats at the top need to call this a failure and change course NOW.

What's the most iconic photo of Sandy's storm damage so far?

I had an idea for a simple photoshop that says, "Are oil & coal worth this?"