[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Mary Lyon

A one-sentence comment posted in the blogosphere really nails it. As the political hissy-fit over Barack Obama’s ‘bitter’ remarks continues to heave itself on the floor like some three-year-old tantrum-thrower in the canned soup aisle at the grocery store, a blogger calling herself Lugnut spells it out.

“If you’re not angry and bitter, you’re not paying attention.”

The conditions in this country now, after the GOP has owned the White House for almost eight years, dominated the Senate for most of that time, and the House of Representatives since the mid-90’s (except for the last year-and-a-half), have left America with a serious case of indigestion - at the very least. The bile from years of reckless Republican charging and spending, holding no one accountable for anything, and allowing Wall Street to run amok is indeed leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of Main Street by now.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Wayne Pacelle
President and Chief Executive Officer
Humane Society of the United States

There is stench emanating from the political waters of California. It's the worst kind of foul rot from special interests. It corrodes the political process, and we just cannot stand for it.

The two culprits—each driving its separate agendas—are the selfish animal haters at the National Rifle Association, and the athletic shoe company Adidas.

First, the thugs at the NRA. The gun lobby has been having a hissy fit over efforts to restrict sport hunters from using lead ammunition in areas populated by the highly endangered California condor. The carrion-feeding birds—only 70 are left in the wild in all of California—survive by picking apart the carcasses of wild animals, including those shot by hunters and not retrieved. They unwittingly ingest lead shot and they die.

California Assemblyman Pedro Nava (D-35th) introduced a bill, Assembly Bill 821, to ban hunters from using lead ammunition in areas populated by endangered condors. The bill was approved by both chambers in a near party-line vote—with Democrats siding with Nava and animal groups, and Republicans aligning with the NRA.