I thought we were done with those sob stories about rich people having to do without their mega-mansions and $30k prep schools.

Apparently someone still thinks we should pity people whose reduced bonus checks are still more than most families make all year.

Not gonna happen.

Reich has the proper attitude here. Instead of laughing at the insanity of the GOP – and, oh yes, it IS funny in a way – we should be very concerned both about what these folks plan to do when elected (and some of them will) as well as what their status as viable candidates says about this nation as a whole.

Rick Santorum is an idiot. A dangerous idiot that plays to the worst of America.

Virginia’s governor backed off a bit from willfully violating women whose stance on abortion he disagrees with, but I’m not one to give a medal to an idiot who accidentally does the right thing once in awhile.

So, he and his ilk still deserve scorn for even this small list.

And, really, what woman purposely supports and votes for these measures? I mean, every group has a history of people working against their own people just to survive. This, however, I just don’t get.

I really didn’t care one way or another about the Eastwood ad during the Super Bowl.

One, I didn’t watch the game. Two, they’ve done better ads.

Thing is though, Eastwood is avowedly conservative, so the GOP going full bonkers about what they – and only they – say is a pro-Obama ad is ridiculous. Not to mention insulting.

They say *they* are the patriots. Yet they don’t pay for the nation through taxes and our elected officials have done everything they could to ensure they never had to serve and possibly pay in blood. Jay Bookman discussed this recently and I am sick of the folks trying to trample on people’s rights get away with saying they are defending democracy.

Patriotism is for everyone, comes in many forms, and – this is key – has more to do with sacrificing for the good of all instead of taking whatever you can get from the body politic.

What I have learned this week – or at least have had reinforced aren’t on this list.

What I know is this: progressives can ignore a LOT of things in the hopes of keeping folks allied and working on the same goal. The Komen folks are sue-happy monsters who are led by some pretty staunch conservatives and can’t run their operation lean enough to be seen as a “good” charitable organization by nearly any measure.

But they were working on curing breast cancer, bringing awareness, and building a community. Which, of course, they have spent this week taking a steaming dump on.

And this leads to my other observation. When awoken to betrayal, progressives can teach religious zealots a thing or two about righteous indignation. By studiously ignoring some truly bad business practices, they woke up wondering how Komen got to be such horrible people. Well, they already WERE horrible people, they’d just been given a pass for too long.

And thus, when never getting their hand slapped the first dozen plus times for sneaking into the cookie jar, they, and everyone who wasn’t paying attention, were shocked at the reaction when they overreached the first time.

The lesson? Pay attention to the actions of people even when they are saying nice things to you. Eddie Haskell was probably stealing the Cleavers’ blind when they weren’t looking. You *knew* he was a snake. Why did they let him into the house in the first place?

The big update today is that the Stingy Goon Komen for the Crass people are “giving in” to their plan to defund Planned Parenthood. First, they haven’t. They have decided they’ll still open their mail when they ask for money. Which is like me telling the Klan/GOP I won’t immediately burn their mail on receipt. In short, it means nothing.

Second, an outfit with huge admin costs who went all in for the Galtists/Talibangelicals just wants to sweep their hatred under the rug. Those a-holes have got another thing coming if they think any pink item ends up in our shopping carts. Screw them.

Third, this is another of those damned non-apologies. Stop pretending they are.

Fourth, they swear they won’t give money to outfits under criminal investigation. So how did Penn State get $70-odd million dollars? Hmmm.

Anyway, here is some earlier reporting, starting off with this critique of the politics of the decision.

MaddowBlog reporting from the beginning, yesterday, and this morning.

Here is that deleted retweet you may have heard of from Komen’s VP of Bigotry Karen Handel.

Last but not least is this Joan Walsh article on the practice or GOP religious bullying and bigotry across the board.

I am sure many of you wonder about this and what is the appropriate term.

Here is the LA Times announcement referenced.

Me? You can’t go wrong using Latino/a around me. I have no use for the term Hispanic. Nixon first used the term and, well, if you think taking a term from a racist who came up with the divisive Southern Strategy is a good idea, then to hell with you too.

How you define yourself is an important as how your enemies do. Some folks want to move past labels and good for you if you do. But, like it or not, the world doesn’t work that way, and if you don’t have a name for what you are, someone will make the choice for you.

Hispanic is one of those names.

Felt compelled to find this today.

I usually do my basic patriotic duties: fly the flag on key dates, vote, watch the Super Bowl.

But this year the commercials include Jerry Seinfeld, an aborted fetus, and Dan the Racist Nebraskan. Plus what I feel is a very subpar performance by Matthew Broderick pimping Honda grocery getters as Ferris Bueller.

You know what? I’ve got other shit to do. Yeah, that’ll probably involve watching Caillou or something for five hours straight but I think I like my odds given what the alternative seems to be.