Congrats to @MHarrisPerry On @MHPshow - I'm LOVING your big debut XO #nerdland
— kerry washington (@kerrywashington) February 18, 2012
Good morning, #nerdland! Whether or not you are actress Kerry Washington, thank you for watching our debut yesterday! (If you missed any part of it, you can find every segment here.) Today's show is still cooking, but that doesn't mean we haven't made time to check out what's happening. Here's what we're reading:
The GOP won the payroll tax extension fight! So says Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), because "more than half the Republicans voted for it." Yes, but a greater percentage of House Democrats voted for it, and most Republican Senators opposed it after the House voted. Victory!
New York Times columnist Ross Douthat tries to punch holes in the alleged liberal abortion mantra, "safe, legal and rare."
The Times also profiles a Rhode Island priest who rails against contraception and President Obama from the pulpit.
"Soccer moms" are so 1996. Politico attempts to coin another meme: "birth control moms."
Mother Jones profiles Melissa's fellow New Orleans resident, actor and food-justice advocate Wendell Pierce.
We'd missed the Daily Caller column from earlier this week asking, "What Are Women For?". Feministe blogger Jill Filipovic had an answer.
Meet Peta Lindsay, a 27-year-old Black woman who is running for President as a socialist.
And do you remember this John McCain "Complete the Danged Fence" presidential campaign ad from 2008? Remember the Arizona sheriff whom he was walking alongside?
Paul Babeu is now famous for something else: allegations that he threatened his Mexican ex-boyfriend with deportation should their affair ever be revealed. The Pinal County Sheriff, who is running for Congress, revealed he was gay, but denied the allegations. (And he resigned as Mitt Romney's Arizona co-chair. So no new ad, I'm guessing.)
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Loved PREMATURE SPECULATION! Oh, M. Harris-Perry, you so totally rock!
And everybody who is even remotely interested in REAL presidential election coverage should read Joan Didion's definitive take on this whole business, "Insider Baseball." http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1988/oct/27/insider-baseball/?pagination=false
Witness the birth of the idea of "spin doctors" in the political conventions of 1988 (my friend was actually working the spin room for Clinton way back then, when Didion was researching this famous essay). Witness the idea of "winning the day" and the utter entrenchment of horserace coverage, and how deeply it feeds the media ecosystem, if not the needs of actual voters.
Then go watch the wonderful documentary, "The War Room," on the Clinton/HW Bush race (unfortunately, Netflix says it is no longer available for streaming).
Melissa - loved your topics this weekend. One suggestion - when you ask a question like 'where is the product that will be coming through the proposed pipeline from Canada go to - USA gas pumps?' please get an answer & not let your guests go on to what they want to talk about. Where will that gas go to? Where is the gas from Alaska going to? Another good question. Maybe have a 'follow-up' each week on what wasn't answered the week before.