October 1, 2014

Scott Brown: People Don't 'Care About' Contraception, Equal Pay

By CAITLIN MCNEIL Published OCTOBER 1, 2014, 5:06 PM EDT

Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) on Tuesday suggested that women don't actually care about issues like equal pay and contraception.

During an appearance on Fox News' "The Real Story," host Gretchen Carlson asked Brown about accusations made by his opponent in the New Hampshire Senate race, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).

"Your opponent, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, she recently issued this statement on your record on women's issues. 'He doesn't stand up for women's reproductive rights and economic security. He co-sponsored legislation to deny women coverage for birth control or even mammograms. Had he two opportunities to vote for equal pay laws and both times voted no.' How do you respond to her claim?" Carlson asked.

"Well, unfortunately, I'm talking about issues that people care about," Brown responded.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/scott-brown-contraception-equal-pay

October 1, 2014

Romney is Still Buying Houses

New York Times: "Despite being dinged for conspicuous real estate consumption in 2012, he's building a not-at-all-humble mansion in Utah, with 5,900 square feet of living space, an outdoor gazebo, fire pit and spa. (Another 1 Percent touch: a 'secret door' leading to a storage room.) It will be Mr. Romney's fifth home - or his fourth - details, details - if he manages to sell his $12 million waterfront estate in La Jolla, Calif. (of car-elevator fame)"

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http://politicalwire.com/archives/2014/10/01/romney_is_still_buying_houses.html

October 1, 2014

Threat leads to evacuation of Sandy Hook school

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

MONROE, Conn. (AP) — A threat has led to the evacuation of the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

Nancy Bartosik of the superintendent’s office in the town of Monroe says the students are being moved Wednesday to a nearby school where they can be picked up by their parents. She says she does not immediately have information on the nature of the threat.

A gunman killed 20 first-grade students and six educators at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on December 2012. The students resumed classes in a school in the neighboring town of Monroe, also called Sandy Hook Elementary School. The original school building was torn down last year.

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Read more: http://www.salon.com/2014/10/01/threat_leads_to_evacuation_of_sandy_hook_school/

October 1, 2014

Poll: Crist Jumps Ahead Of Scott

By DANIEL STRAUSS Published OCTOBER 1, 2014, 11:31 AM EDT

A new Survey USA poll finds former Gov. Charlie Crist (D) has jumped ahead of Gov. Rick Scott (R) and now leads the current governor by 6 percentage points.

The Survey USA poll conducted for WFLA-TV in Florida found Crist leading 46 percent to 40 percent among likely voters.

That's a 7-point swing for Crist. A previous SurveyUSA poll, conducted from Sept. 19 to Sept. 22, found Scott leading Crist 43 percent to 42 percent among likely voters. That poll was also conducted for WFLA-TV.

From Sept. 26 to Sept. 29 among 750 Floridians.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/polltracker/charlie-crist-jumps-ahead-rick-scott-survey-usa

October 1, 2014

Texas appeals court upholds DeLay reversal

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON (AP) — The highest criminal court in Texas has refused to reinstate two money-laundering convictions of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday upheld a ruling last year from the 3rd Court of Appeals that tossed DeLay’s 2010 convictions for money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Prosecutors argued in June before the Austin-based Court of Criminal Appeals that the convictions be reinstated. But the appeals court said in its 8-1 ruling it agrees with the lower court findings, which said as a matter of law, what prosecutors proved in DeLay’s case did not constitute either offense.

The charges were related to corporate donations to DeLay’s political action committee that prosecutors say were illegally funneled to some Texas House candidates in 2002.

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Read more: http://www.salon.com/2014/10/01/texas_appeals_court_upholds_delay_reversal/

October 1, 2014

Fox host to CDC director: Obama lied about ‘things’ so maybe you’re lying about Ebola

Fox News host Steve Doocy on Wednesday asked CDC Director Dr. Tim Frieden how he could be trusted to tell the country the truth about Ebola when President Barack Obama had misled Americans about “a lot of things.”

Following the news that a case of Ebola had been diagnosed in Texas, Doocy told Frieden that his own daughter thought she might be at risk to contract the disease.

“I know you say the public does not need to worry about it,” Doocy said. “But I’ve got to tell you something, my daughter works in the building directly across the street from the hospital, and I talked to her last night. She’s a little freaked out.”

Frieden assured Doocy that his daughter was safe because she had not come in contact with the patient.

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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/fox-host-to-cdc-director-obama-lied-about-things-so-maybe-youre-lying-about-ebola/

October 1, 2014

Recuse yourself! Conservatives freak out after Ruth Bader Ginsburg slams Texas abortion law

Conservatives are demanding that Ruth Bader Ginsburg should recuse herself from hearing abortion cases on the U.S. Supreme Court after she made remarks about a restrictive Texas law.

The Supreme Court justice said in a lengthy interview with The New Republic that the overturning of the Roe v. Wade decision would be a “worst-case” scenario – particularly for non-affluent women.

“Any woman who has the wherewithal to travel, to take a plane, to take a train to a state that provides access to abortion — that woman will never have a problem,” Ginsburg said. “It doesn’t matter what Congress or the state legislatures do, there will be other states that provide this facility, and women will have access to it if they can pay for it. Women who can’t pay are the only women who would be affected.”

Conservatives were most upset when she said state legislatures and courts could not be trusted to ensure poor women had access to reproductive health services.

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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/recuse-yourself-conservatives-freak-out-after-ruth-bader-ginsburg-slams-texas-abortion-law/

October 1, 2014

Sister of accused Boston Marathon bombers pleads not guilty to bomb threat

Source: Reuters

The sister of the accused Boston Marathon bombers pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges she made a threatening phone call to a woman, telling her she could “put a bomb where you live.”

Aliana Tsarnaev, 24, sister of Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was arraigned on two counts of aggravated harassment in the second degree, a misdemeanor, in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.

She was later released on $5,000 bail, under condition that she have no contact with the alleged victim. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of up to a year in jail.

Wearing a light brown head scarf and a black abaya, or floor-length cloak, she was accompanied by her husband and her attorney in the New York City courtroom. She remained silent throughout the hearing, clasping her hands together.

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Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/sister-of-accused-boston-marathon-bombers-pleads-not-guilty-to-bomb-threat/

October 1, 2014

How Gary Hart Became the First Political Sex Scandal Casualty

Lloyd Grove

In a new book on the 1987 scandal that wrecked Gary Hart’s presidential chances, Matt Bai argues that the episode marks the moment when political reporting went tabloid.

If Matt Bai becomes the instrument of redemption for former senator Gary Hart, best known as the central figure in a sex scandal that sank his front-running presidential campaign and provided endless fodder for the late-night comics, he’s probably just in time.

Hart—who, according to Bai’s new book, All the Truth Is Out, has struggled to find a purpose in life since his descent into tabloid hell a quarter-century ago—turns 78 in November.

It will surely come as a welcome balm to a failed statesman in his twilight years that a widely respected political journalist—and a wonderful writer to boot—has re-examined the senator’s stretch on the spit and basically signed on to his theory of the ordeal: namely, that Hart was the first victim of a political news media that had finally, in the spring of 1987, succumbed to the mob-pleasing temptation to display entertainment over serious reporting, gossip and trivialization over policy and substance, and take “character” simply to mean “character flaws.”

Woe to the Republic, Bai argues, that visionary if imperfect leaders like Hart aren’t permitted to put their talents to the benefit of the people because of a cheap, tawdry media barrier that is every bit as impassable as the Berlin Wall once was. “The Week Politics Went Tabloid” is Bai’s bold subtitle, suggesting that Hart’s nightmare was a transformational moment. (Bai’s argument is somewhat undercut by the fact that 15 years later, in an even less hospitable media environment, Bill Clinton survived a much tougher scandal—not only the Whitewater business and the Gennifer Flowers tapes but allegations of draft-dodging and lying about it—and went on to win two terms in the White House. Of course, maybe Clinton, who even post-Lewinsky ranks as one of the country’s most admired public figures, wasn’t as fine a president as Gary Hart would have been.)

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/01/how-gary-hart-became-the-first-political-sex-scandal-casualty.html

October 1, 2014

Boston Herald: Sorry If We Offended With Obama-Watermelon Cartoon

By AHIZA GARCIA Published OCTOBER 1, 2014, 10:25 AM EDT

The editors of The Boston Herald issued an apology of sorts Wednesday, saying they "sincerely regret if we inadvertently offended anyone" with a political cartoon that trafficked in racial stereotypes, according to a tweet from a news anchor at WBZ.

The cartoon by renowned cartoonist Jerry Holbert and printed in Wednesday's newspaper was accompanied by the caption: "White House Invader Got Farther Than Originally Thought." It showed President Obama brushing his teeth while the uninvited guest sat in the tub over his shoulder. As the intruder sudsed up, he asked Obama whether he'd "tried the new watermelon flavored toothpaste."

Here's the tweet via WBZ's Joe Mathieu about the paper's apology:

The Boston herald did not immiedately return calls seeking comment.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/boston-herald-obama-intruder-racist