The Onion awakens a sleeping giant

Well, it's about time. Yesterday the traditional media was finally outraged over House Republicans' repeated use of the hostage-taking strategy to pander to their tea party base. So, what happened? After watching the GOP shut down the FAA, threaten to shut down the entire government over birth control, and bring us to the very brink of economic disaster, was their refusal to fund FEMA in the face of flooding, tornadoes and wildfires finally a (washed-out) bridge too far? Not even close.

From ABC News:

Did The Onion Go Too Far?

The New York Times:

The Onion's twitter posts draw scrutiny

Time:

Is The Onion Going Too Far With Its #CongressHostage Twitter Satire?

That's right. This is the hostage situation that made the media sit up and take notice:

Brandishing shotguns and semiautomatic pistols, members of the 112th U.S. Congress took a class of visiting schoolchildren hostage today, barricading themselves inside the Capitol rotunda and demanding $12 trillion dollars in cash.

Now granted, it isn't as far-fetched as it would have been before the GOP had its group HPV vaccine?at approximately noon ET on January 20, 2009?but come on! It's The Onion.

A satiric site?one that currently features the headline: Pediatricians Announce 2011 Newborns Are Ugliest Babies in 30 Years?starts tweeting its brand of humor and we get this?

A few weeks after the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and one day after a man was arrested and charged in connection with a plot to attack the Capitol ...

Which only seems to raise the question of what the point-of-no-return is for citing proximity to 9/11 to make an idiotic point.  

And the most ridiculous part of this story?

The United States Capitol Police on Thursday said they were investigating The Onion, a satiric media organization, for making false reports on Twitter claiming that there was a hostage situation ...

A satiric media organization is being investigated for engaging in satire? It's straight out of The Onion.

But really, you can't blame the media for getting so worked up about this. After all, it's not everyday they get to cover a breaking hostage situation ... because when it happens in Washington, it's called Democrats and Republicans are unable to reach an agreement.  

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/1CNjNy_0Pa8/-The-Onion-awakens-a-sleeping-giant

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Romney says Perry is too liberal

Romney's campaign is knocking Perry for having 'liberal' views
 

Markos, yesterday:

Perry is now the liberal in the race. And if that makes you laugh incredulously, see Rush Limbaugh, taking a dig at Perry (and Romney) while discussing Herman Cain's straw poll victory in Florida.

Headline on Romney web video, last night:

Exposed: Rick Perry and his liberal immigration views

Romney's aggressive attacks may be hurting Perry, but as Markos pointed out, Romney isn't gaining ground. Romney's leading the most recent Fox poll, but not because his support has grown ? he's leading because Perry has stumbled. It's Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich who have picked up ground, and Chris Christie has become the talk of the GOP town.

That leaves the GOP establishment in a bit of a pickle: it's clear they don't want Rick Perry to get the nomination, but they've got to be afraid that Romney can't close the deal. That doesn't mean they aren't doing their best to boost Romney ? check out these clips from Wednesday and Thursday in which Fox anchors Shepard Smith and Megyn Kelly work with Carl Cameron to redeclare Romney as the frontrunner:

(You can also check out this clip and this clip for more examples of Perry's Fox problem.)

Still, not even Fox can point to any actual enthusiasm for Romney from Republican primary voters. The best they can do is compare him to a tortoise, and hope that the latest distraction of the day ? whether it's Herman Cain or Chris Christie or Donald Trump or Sarah Palin ? is enough to keep the GOP primary field unsettled as Romney methodically makes his way to the finish line, hoping to be the last option standing.

In short, the Romney strategy is to let everybody else lose first. That's not exactly inspiring, but with both Fox and the GOP establishment on his side (unless Chris Christie enters the race), it's plausible ? and given his weaknesses, it's probably his best shot.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/dNGlmzVxDws/-Romney-says-Perry-is-too-liberal

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The Caucus: Romney and Huckabee Meet on TV, and Get Along Fine

In the race for the Republican nomination in 2008, then-candidates Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee seemed to take every chance to disparage one another. In a television interview on Saturday, they were downright civil.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=ecd946834518715c548b743127b1d7f1

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Obama to Republicans: On Jobs, What Are You for and Against?

In his weekly address, President Obama pressed Republicans in Congress to justify their opposition to his $447 billion jobs bill and reiterated his plea for them to ?pass this jobs bill.? ?Some Republicans in Congress have said that they agree with certain parts of this...

Source: http://feeds.abcnews.com/click.phdo?i=39959492638ca5b735d8f42c8f404a3f

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Perry says slowing carbon emissions hurts economy

ATKINSON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry, struggling to regain his status as front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, expressed fresh doubt on Saturday about whether humans are causing climate change.

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/Reuters/PoliticsNews/~3/kcnJ4WOyIYc/us-usa-campaign-perry-climate-idUSTRE79100620111002

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Authorities: CA murder suspect killed in manhunt

Aaron Bassler, suspect in the fatal shootings of a councilman and a county land trust official, died after massive manhunt

Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsMain/~3/JOd4vLSuyhQ/main20114370.shtml

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Health care promises landmark high court term

One of the little-known prerogatives of the U.S. Supreme Court is the justices' discretion to refuse any case on the merits presented to them for review. Only one in 10 petitions actually gets accepted. But though the justices usually say no, when epic disputes arrive at the courthouse steps -- by tradition and political reality -- the nine members know they are powerless to turn away.

Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_allpolitics/~3/ImbXKaY3RLQ/index.html

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