As usual, the Republicans have managed to engage our tragically gullible main stream media in the wrong fight. This time it is over the White House's "lost" emails and the spin is "our poor aides, in an effort to comply with two contradictory laws (the Hatch Act and the Presidential Records Act) may have inadvertantly used the wrong email system, but there was no intent to circumvent the laws requiring that official White House communications be saved. Heaven's no!"

The only problem with this spin is that it is patently false. The two laws are not contradictory unless you are doing something on government time that you ought not to be doing, like working on purely partisan activities. I suppose in this, the most partisan administration ever, aides may have become sincerely confused about what constitutes official vs. party activities. The adminstration clearly makes no distinction. That in itself is a big story. I can guarantee you that there are millions of us out here who don't want our tax dollars going to salaries for Republican operatives disquised as humble civil servents doing their business on our time--even if that business had been completely innocent, which it clearly was not.

Which brings up another point: Would any other employer allow an employee to bring personal equipment from an outside activity into the workplace and use it on their dime? Of course not. Why are people not outraged that salaried government employees were using their thumbs in furtherance of Republican party goals while our tax dollars subsidized their income and benefits?

So MSM, here's the real story: This White House uses taxpayer money to pay salaries for partisan operatives to further their political agenda and circumvent the law. Don't know about you, but I want my money back.

http://mickeymusing.vox.com/

Norm Coleman Votes Against Stem Cell Research Bill.

Disappointed, but not surprised. Here are a couple of things to remember about Coleman:

1.) He's orignally from New York and is Jewish. He has only recently (since the Republican ascension in 2000) assumed the mantle of a conservative Christian.

2.) He and his wife live separately--in separate states as a matter of fact--and he is notorious around Minneapolis for his indescretions. Frankly, I could care less about a politician's personal life EXCEPT when they are pandering to the morality Nazi's on the right while living a double-life themselves.

3.) Norm Coleman began his political career in Minnesota as a Democrat--a Humphrey/Mondale style Democrat, no less. When it became clear that the MN Democratic field was full of rising stars and that his prospects were not strong, he switched party affiliation in a stunning display of lack of personal integrity. People change their minds-- happens all the time--but to go from the hard left to the hard right virtually overnight certainly raises the possibility that he has no internal moral compass, only career aspirations.

4.) Most egregious of all, the Coleman's have lost children (I believe two) to a rare genetic disease, precisely the kind of disorder targeted by stem cell research. One would hope that suffering these personal tragedies would moderate even the staunchest of Christian critics (which Coleman is when it suits him). I wonder how his wife feels about his stem cell stance? Maybe he should give her a call. Long distance nights and weekends are free.

All of which goes to show that he is the consumate, finger-in-the-wind politician. It is clear from his double life that he lacks strongly held beliefs and values and supports whatever is politically expedient.

Garrison Keillor did a nice expose on him a couple of years ago, I think for Salon. Keillor was frustrated the the MN press didn't do any digging into Coleman's past and essentially allowed him to preach morality on behalf of the Republican party while ignoring his notorious personal behavior in the Twin Cities.

We can only hope he is a one-termer.

http://mickeymusing.vox.com/