Bristol Palin’s new PSA here admonishes kids to, well, not do what she did.  As the saying goes, “Not that there is anything wrong with that” (trying to help kids).  Well, maybe there is. While it may help for kids to hear hard lessons from other kids, Bristol Palin still didn’t practice what she preached.  Bristol is probably a good kid.  She made a mistake, which many kids have.  I wish her well and hope she has a good life.  But the message seems to be pitched only at disadvantaged kids, not those whose mothers made, say, $75,000 a pop for an air-headed speech, more than a million from a poorly ghost-written memoir, and buckets of money spreading FAUX “news.” Not everyone can be so (monetarily, at least) lucky.

Listen to the PSA at the link above. That’s just a little hypocritical. After all, as the above-linked article shows,

Interestingly, the abstinence driven campaign is very much a reversal for Bristol, who told Fox News that she thought abstinence campaigns were “not realistic at all.”

The “abstinence only,” message she now preaches outside this PSA is a nice wholesome thought, but it is also wishful thinking.  Research shows specifically that abstinence only programs do not work.  And abstinence-only most certainly did not work for Bristol Palin. She’s a poster child, not just for the need for sex education, but also, specifically, for family planning. Given the evidence, you’d think that would be the end of abstinence-only programs.  But that’s not in the Republican play book. The GOP has to appease the base.  (Take note, Obama administration, you, who don’t appease your base (ever)).  Instead, you throw money by the millions at the other side’s base.  And they still  act horribly to you).  There is more and it may shock you…

These programs waste really, really big bucks.  You may be surprised to learn that there is $250 million ($50 million in each of five years) for such abstinence “ed” plans in the health care bill!!!!!  It’s another case of white-collar, radical, “right”-wing Republican welfare.  Think of all the medicine for the sick and cancer treatment for the poor that could have been delivered for that much money!  I haven’t even discussed here all the hundreds of millions wasted on such programs overseas.  This is worse than pandering.  It’s unethical to spend money on ineffective programs, however potentially benign the message.

But the Republican radicals are never satisfied.  Now, in five Wisconsin school districts, lawfully delivering sex education classes including birth control information, permitted under a new state statute, meets threats of criminal prosecution by an errant prosecutor.  You have to read the details of this story to believe it.  This errant bully is twisting, contorting and taking the law into his own hands.  And he hurts the very programs which reduce teen sexual activity AND reduce teen pregnancies.

So, a worthless program receiving millions at the public trough (an evil –because it is a complete waste of money and therefore theft from the public, at the expense of the sick) is OK with Republicans, and (alas) even the Obama administration.  But those lawfully and effectively teaching classes delivering information teens need are treated as criminals by a Republican that might give Cuccinelli bad ideas. This is what you get from the political party which hoisted Bristol Palin to reluctant fame and fortune via her half-witted, half-governor mother (who winks her way into the Hypocrites Hall of Fame). Do they see any irony here?

Strong words from the Democratic Party of Virginia:

Paperwork to establish Cuccinelli’s new Liberty Now PAC was filed with the Virginia State Board of Elections on March 23.

That’s the same day President Obama signed the health care reform bill into law. And the same day Cuccinelli filed suit on behalf of Virginia against the law, arguing Congress exceeded its Constitutional power in requiring individuals to purchase health insurance.

[…]

Jared Leopold, a spokesman for the Democrats, said the timing makes “Ken Cuccinelli’s motives crystal clear: The Attorney General is using Virginians’ tax dollars as a piggy bank for his personal political agenda….It seems clear that this health care lawsuit is nothing more than a taxpayer-funded stunt to increase Ken Cuccinelli’s campaign kitty.“

Ouch.

Meanwhile, in other, completely unrelated news, “just last week, Gov. Bob McDonnell held his first fundraiser at the [Governor’s] mansion, hosting a reception for the 40 or so people who pledged $1,000 or more to Richmond’s soon-to-be-opened charter school.” The problem? “Traditionally, Virginia governors have not used the mansion to raise money, though no state law prohibits it.” Hmmmm.

You’ve seen the jobs added/lost chart. Via Ezra Klein, here are two more:

This is truly pitiful.

Campbell Brown: Governor, I’ve got to ask you, you did refuse to endorse the Democrat who ran against Bob McDonnell last year, do you regret that…?

Doug Wilder: No…I don’t regret that at all, I think that the Bob McDonnell that spoke at the inaugural when he was sworn in is the Bob McDonnell that’s speaking to amend the proclamation that he issued. He’s recognized the mistake. He’s not the Bob McDonnell that was a part of that thesis that Creigh Deeds focused upon.  No, the candidate for the Democrats, in my judgment, did not represent the values that I think most Virginians believed in, and I think that this hiccup, as far as the McDonnell administration, is something that could be and should be cured, I hope that it is.

As much as I’m not a huge Creigh Deeds fan, this is pathetic. Doug Wilder seriously doesn’t regret his failure, when it really mattered, to endorse the Democratic candidate – as flawed as that candidate most certainly was, by pretty much all accounts – over Pat Robertson/George W. Bush disciple Bob McDonnell?  So, what part of McDonnell’s policies does Wilder like, the anti-gay part, the anti-environment part, the slash-education part, the theocratic part, or the corporate welfare part?

P.S. In sharp contrast, State Sen. Henry Marsh said that “this is a pattern of this governor…He says the wrong thing, he sends a signal to his base and then he makes an apology.”  

As CBS reports, “President Obama signs a major pact with Russian President Medvedev, cutting the number of nuclear weapons by a third.” Most of us are thrilled about this, I’m fairly certain. But not the boys and girls over at Faux “News” (“unfair and unbalanced”)!  For instance, check out this post, aptly titled, “Teh Stupidz! It Burnz!” Apparently, the right-wingnuts at Faux think we’re all DOOOOOOOMED!!!! because President Obama and President Medvedev have just signed a New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. So, what’s so horrible in this treaty to make us all DOOOOOOOMED? As nuclear expert Page van der Linden points out, absolutely nothing. For instance:

MYTH: President Obama does not have the support of top military brass on his nuclear weapons plans.

Not true. I’ll just point you to comments from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen and the Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Cartwright upon the release of the Nuclear Posture Review. That other important (former military) guy, Secretary of Defense Gates, also has good things to say about the Nuclear Posture Review as well as the New START treaty.

As Page van der Linden, aka “Plutonium Page,” notes, the lying isn’t just laughable, “but it’s also sinister, because people start to believe it.” Of course, that never stopped Faux and the rest of the right-wing noise machine before. Fortunately, there are smart people out there like Page van der Linden, who earned her nickname “working with the nuclear waste at the Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington State,” to set the record straight.

P.S. My own expertise on nuclear weapons is limited to graduate-level work on U.S. National Security Policy at GWU. I also have a modest degree of experience on nuclear power from my 17 years at the US Energy Information Administration.

You really have to wonder — if Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s legal case against climate action is really as watertight as he claims, why can’t he talk about it without lying repeatedly?

In an interview with the Roanoke Free Press, Cuccinelli repeats an old Republican lie about the results of an MIT study on the costs of clean energy & climate legislation. Strangely, Cuccinelli repeats the lie even though the MIT professor behind the study asked Republicans to stop lying about his research over a year ago.

How much would a bill like the American Clean Energy & Security Act that passed the House last year cost the average family? According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, about a postage stamp a day — $175 a year. And low-income families would actually save $40 a year thanks to energy rebates. Pretty cheap for a bill that would create 1.7 million new jobs & curb the worst effects of global warming.

Showing that he must get his climate news from Rush Limbaugh, Cuccinelli also cites illegally hacked climate scientist emails as proof the Environmental Protection Agency should throw out decades of scientific research. Does Cuccinelli know the Associated Press had a team of 5 reporters comb through every word of those emails & found “none of the emails” changed the fact that “global warming is man-made and a threat“? Or is he happy to keep ignoring reality & instead live in a science-denying bubble?

Thanks to Tom Whipple for the Thursday “Clips.”

1. VIRGINIA GOVERNOR AMENDS CONFEDERATE HISTORY PROCLAMATION TO INCLUDE SLAVERY

5. WHIPPLE TAKES MCDONNELL CRITICISM NATIONAL

6. TOP MCDONNELL SUPPORTER CONDEMNS GOVERNOR FOR CONFEDERATE HISTORY MONTH

7. MCDONNELL’S APOLOGY RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT HE REALLY BELIEVES

14. GOVERNOR SIGNS ONLINE LEARNING BILL AT BROOKVILLE

16. VIRGINIA GOVERNOR’S MANSION TO BE A NEW VENUE FOR FUNDRAISERS

18. LOCAL BUDGETS: YELLOW LIGHT

21. A WELCOME APOLOGY FROM MCDONNELL

25. BAY’S HEALTH IMPROVES BUT REMAINS POOR, GROUP SAYS

45. N. VA. MAN ACQUITTED OF INDECENT EXPOSURE IN HIS HOME

46. ARREST IS MADE IN BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY SHOOTINGS

48. MINING INTERESTS ARE HEAVILY INVESTED IN CAPITOL HILL

NBC 12 political reporter Ryan Nobles tweets the breaking news:

Now McDonnell: “The failure to include any reference to slavery was a mistake, and..I apologize to any..Virginian who has been offended.”

BREAKING: Bob McDonnell has issued revised proclamation on Confederate History Month that includes slavery. Calls ommission a “‘mistake”. Mo adds, “I wonder what Romney, Pawlenty, Palin and other 2012 GOPers think of their buddy Bob McDonnell’s Confederate proclamation.”

Incredible national attention given to McDonnell Confederate month flap. What impact could it have on his nat’l political future?

This comes after Tim Kaine said, “the ommission of slavery from the McDonnell proclamation: ‘offends millions of Americans of all races.'” McDonnell’s retreat also follows the story going national, Sheila Johnson condemning him, and Terry McAuliffe saying he’s “disappointed that Governor McDonnell has decided to focus on this divisive issue.”

UPDATE: Mo Elleithee tweets, “Amazing how quickly this killed his ‘rising star’ buzz.”

UPDATE #2: Here’s McDonnell’s statement, which finally gets it right after relentless pounding for the past couple days. Again, better late than never?

The proclamation issued by this Office designating April as Confederate History Month contained a major omission. The failure to include any reference to slavery was a mistake, and for that I apologize to any fellow Virginian who has been offended or disappointed. The abomination of slavery divided our nation, deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights, and led to the Civil War. Slavery was an evil, vicious and inhumane practice which degraded human beings to property, and it has left a stain on the soul of this state and nation. In 2007, the Virginia General Assembly approved a formal statement of “profound regret” for the Commonwealth’s history of slavery, which was the right thing to do.

the rest of the statement is after the “flip”

When I signed the Proclamation designating February as Black History Month, and as I look out my window at the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial, I am reminded that, even 150 years later, Virginia’s past is inextricably part of our present. The Confederate History Month proclamation issued was solely intended to promote the study of our history, encourage tourism in our state in advance of the 150th Anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, and recognize Virginia’s unique role in the story of America. The Virginia General Assembly unanimously approved the establishment of a Sesquicentennial American Civil War Commission to prepare for and commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the War, in order to promote history and create recognition programs and activities.

As Virginians we carry with us both the burdens and the blessings of our history. Virginia history undeniably includes the fact that we were the Capitol of the Confederacy, the site of more battlefields than any other state, and the home of the signing of the peace agreement at Appomattox. Our history is perhaps best encapsulated in a fact I noted in my Inaugural Address in January: The state that served as the Capitol of the Confederacy was also the first in the nation to elect an African-American governor, my friend, L. Douglas Wilder. America’s history has been written in Virginia. We cannot avoid our past; instead we must demand that it be discussed with civility and responsibility. During the commemoration of the Civil War over the next four years, I intend to lead an effort to promote greater understanding and harmony in our state among our citizens.”

In addition the Governor announced that the following language will be added to the Proclamation:

WHEREAS, it is important for all Virginians to understand that the institution of slavery led to this war and was an evil and inhumane practice that deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights and all Virginians are thankful for its permanent eradication from our borders, and the study of this time period should reflect upon and learn from this painful part of our history…