From Satan’s Congressional Representative:

Slavery, said Franks, "is a crushing mark on America's soul, yet today half of all black children are aborted. Half of all black children are aborted. Far more black children, far more of the African American community is being devastated by the policies of today than were being devastated by the policies of slavery."

As Ryan Grim notes, “One hundred percent of African Americans born into slavery, however, were born into slavery.”

Besides, when you start a sentence disparaging something abhorrent, there is no room for a ‘yet’ in the second half. Try these on for size:

• Racism is really bad, yet …,
• The European genocide of native Americans was truly awful, yet …
• I sure am sorry I raped and disemboweled your 11 year-old daughter, yet …

Here’s the video – clip starts about 6 minutes in:

On a side note – and I can’t believe I’m even taking the bait on this ridiculous spew – but Franks is likely referring to this study on the abortion rate, though the study itself highlighted lack of contraceptive access over policy.  Moreover, the comparison is unfair anyway as we have no real data on abortion policy during either slavery or medical prohibition.  How many slaves were forcefully aborted by landowners not wanting to sacrifice their free labor in the name of childrearing?  How many more slaves underwent amateur abortions so as not to incur their master’s wrath?  Just because it is no longer underground and undocumented does not mean it didn’t exist.

Almost missed this piece from the National Journal – a profile of Jan Larimer, the GOP’s kinder, gentler face for recruiting more women to the privileged white male party:

Larimer has spearheaded the party's efforts to recruit and train more women candidates. And based on the GOP's efforts this year, the party needs the help … "We're working with the women in Congress ... to empower the women in their states to get involved and to participate," Larimer told Hotline OnCall in an interview at the party's annual Winter meeting in Honolulu.

"Women sometimes need a little more handholding, or they need their friends to help them make a decision. And by our going in and talking to them and recruiting and educating and training them to either get involved in a campaign or become a candidate, we're giving them the tools so that they can do that on their own," Larimer added.

Lest there be any confusion, this isn;t some low-level PR lackey - this is the RNC co-chair! Off the record, Larimer later noted that the GOP is far more gender-evolved today than ever before.  Women can wear trousers, drive cars, and even decide for themselves when they should have dinner on the table.

Ali A. Rizvi has an excellent piece up at THP on the anti-intellectual faction that seems to be dominating the Teabaggers.

By painting educated, well-earning, science-embracing, articulate, introspective, intellectual citizens as un-American, the Republican party has built an entire base made up of those who not only don't possess these attributes, but enthusiastically abhor those who do. Not only are these factions now split along lines of educational achievement, socioeconomic status, and cultural and religious values, but most significantly, along an "intellectual divide".

The entire article is worth a read.  This is something that’s been increasingly irking me for the last decade.  I mean, it’s one thing to be ignorant – a state of being with which I am more than a little familiar.  But it’s another thing entirely to wear that ignorance like a badge of honor.  I mean, these are the kids that sat in the back of class throwing spitballs at each other and now they’re on the precipice of public office.

The latest inanity, of course, comes from FOXNews wingnuts gleefully pointing to a snowstorm as somehow debunking mountains of data showing a steady rise in global mean temperatures.  Because, you know … it’s snowing.  And, er , it can’t snow when it’s, ya know, warming out.

On a totally unrelated note, I ate eggs this morning.  That means that I will eat eggs every morning.  And THAT means that EVERYONE will too.  Mu-ha-ahahah!!!

Oh, an for my dear friends outside the United States, check out this link to find out how to view the above clip.

Betty Bowers, America’s “greatest” Christian, explains the finer points of biblical marriage.

If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of discovering Garfunkel and Oates then I truly recommend a quick romp through youtube lane.  Here they are weighing in on teh gay:

I want you all to remember this moment well, for you will never again go back to a time when this cat did not haunt your dreams!

Ok, I’m sure this has gone viral by now, but I laughed so hard I nearly popped a spleen (or something). Enjoy!

We are talking about terrorist fist jabs now, yes?