There's nothing I can offer that would explain this, politically, but Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, has just announced that she will no only not seek re-election in 2010, but she will be stepping down as governor in a few weeks. Lt. Governor, Sean Parnell will be sworn-in later this summer.

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A very good omen for gay rights in a country that hasn't had very many.

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I have pulled the column I had originally written for this upcoming Monday's Star, in deference to some points raised by Dennis Ryerson, the editor. But I thought I'd post it here, for whatever comments it might generate.

Anyone who has been paying even the slightest attention knows that newspapers—at least in their current form--are dying.

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I have to admit to getting quite a bit of perverse joy in watching the GOP squirm their way through the Mark Sanford Affair, um, Affair. His first presser was a mesmerizing bit of chicanery, with him asserting that he was a "bottom line kind of guy" for about 8 minutes of the 18 before he got down to the bottom line and fessed up to boning an Argentinian babe.

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I really think Governor Sanford should resign and start writing romance novels...........he can sure paint a picture of tan lines and soft curves...........

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Check out the seriously concerning story on Fresh Air Today.....

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106115324

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Back when I was a lowly law clerk for the local federal court, I used to really struggle with cases where one party clearly had a better case than the other, but the other party had a much better lawyer.

It's probably no surprise that the guys with the good lawyers won most of those. Not fair, perhaps, but then reality is often unfair.

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It seems that it's always the religious ones. Anyone have an explanation?

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In my Law and Public Policy classes, I often use examples of good and bad policies plucked from current headlines. And more often than not, my "here's what NOT to do" examples come from Texas.

Which is why this is pathetic, but not surprising.

Sheila Suess Kennedy's blog | 1 comment

As the defenders of the status quo rev up their efforts to defeat healthcare reform, the essential Steve Benen reminds us that--despite their supposed reverence for consumer choice and free markets, the current healthcare landscape is devoid of both.

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Maybe we humans are just too stupid to live.

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Sightings is a weekly email publication of the Martin Marty Center at the Divinity School at the University of Chicago. It is generally thought-provoking, and the one I received this morning is no exception.

The author compares the religiosity of George W. Bush and Obama, and sees similarities in rhetoric that mask immense differences in message. Here's the essay:

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Here's the thing about the Southern Baptists: They're consistent.

read more | Lalita Amos's blog | 1 comment

Theda Skocpol has a trenchant, "telling it like it is" post up at TPMCafe.

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Evidently, there was a VERY right-wing conference over the weekend that included Pat Buchanan extolling "English-only" efforts. He spoke beneath a banner on which the word "conference" was misspelled.

But it was misspelled in ENGLISH...and isn't that what counts??

Sheila Suess Kennedy's blog | 2 comments