1/22/2014::Snoozing, then your losing, yesterday's news

Watch this teacher refuse to accept an award from Paul Ryan in the middle of a ceremony

During a ceremony last week in Wisconsin, a teacher outright refused to accept a reward from Rep. Paul Ryan, saying he couldn’t do so “in good conscience” because of the GOP congressman’s politics.

Al Levie, a high school social studies teacher, was one of three recipients of a Martin Luther King Jr. humanitarian award during a celebration honoring the late civil rights leader. Ryan, who represents the district, attended the ceremony and presented congressional recognitions to each award winner.

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After Ryan spoke, Levie criticized the congressman’s policies before being walked off the stage. Levie had earlier stated that he would like to see collective bargaining restored in Wisconsin, fair immigration reform and a fair tax system among other suggestions.

Why Would A State Government Honor An Admitted Racist Murderer? That’s What Will Moredock Wants To Know

In fact, shortly after the Civil War, Tillman was commander of the Edgefield County’s Sweetwater Sabre Club, a militant protest group that threatened and attacked Republicans who controlled state government at the time. In 1876, he and his group helped organize the Hamburg Massacre, slaying blacks who served in the Union forces.

After gaining reputation as a white supremacist for that terrorist event, he quickly became active in politics. In 1890 Tillman was elected governor of South Carolina, serving a four-year period during which he helped rewrite the state constitution to remove African Americans from representation by government. He spent the next 24 years until his 1918 death in the U.S. Senate, where he not only formally spoke of restraining the black population, but openly admitted to torturing and murdering them, too.

So why, then, is Tillman honored with a memorial on the State House grounds? That’s what Moredock wants to know. And has wanted to know for quite some time.

WI GOP Bill Would Give Inlaws Power to Stop a Daughter-In-Law's Abortion

Wisconsin's Republicans have a new twist on taking away choice that is sure to please the ladyfolk: Allowing the woman's husband, parents or mother and father-in-law to stop a planned abortion.

Under an obscure provision of SB 201, which provides injunctive relief for a "parent or a grandparent," particularly meddling inlaws who got wind of a planned abortion could go to court and get an injunction against the abortion provider, ordering them not to perform the abortion,,,

Now is the Moment to Save Our Postal Commons

For some, the postal service has become an ideological punching bag, proof that “government programs” don’t work and that the state inevitably bureaucratizes services better left to the private sector. In the case of the postal service, this narrative lacks a critical element: fidelity to truth.

As an independent agency under the umbrella of the federal government, the United States Postal Service receives little-to-no government funding; it pays for itself through sales of its stamps and services, and is only in financial trouble because of a vindictive, unfair law that forces it to fund its pensions seventy-five years into the future. As Jim Hightower points out, the postal service hasn’t taken a penny from taxpayers since 1971.

Whatever the reasons for the public's conception of the postal service as an institution weighted down by socialistic bureaucracy, current events suggest otherwise. Over the 2013 holiday season, it was a private carrier, United Parcel Service, which collapsed under the weight of demand and inefficiency,,,

Wendy Davis Drops an Atomic Truth Bomb on Desperate Sexist Republicans

Apparently the Texas Republicans haven’t met Wendy Davis yet. Wendy Davis is a fighter for all people, and she isn’t about to let a few cheap shots at her family or her personal struggles take her down. State Senator Wendy Davis issued a statement today, saying in part, “The truth is that at age 19, I was a teenage mother living alone with my daughter in a trailer and struggling to keep us afloat on my way to a divorce… I am proud of where I came from and I am proud of what I’ve been able to achieve through hard work and perseverance. And I guarantee you that anyone who tries to say otherwise hasn’t walked a day in my shoes.”

Conservatives were claiming that Davis lied about her status at the age of 19 because she wasn’t technically divorced yet and thus couldn’t possibly be a single mother (don’t ask), but as I explained earlier, before the divorce one gets the separation and before the separation, one gets the unraveling of the relationship which often impacts the living situation. Then there is the time spent after filing for divorce. Welcome to reality.