The Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, Andre Bauer, recently stirred up controversy and found himself skewered on the Daily Show after comparing poor children on free or reduced lunch plans to stray animals. He stated, at a town hall, ”My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed! You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don’t think too much further than that.”

In  recession, where millions of Americans are struggling, Mr. Bauer’s comments are insensitive and ignorant. As a public official, he should have a basic understanding of why so many people are struggling. Further, Mr. Bauer ignores the root causes of poverty. Instead, he compares those who in need to animals, and animals who “don’t thing too much further” than getting food and reproducing. Read more…

Most people can agree that Fox News isn’t an unbiased news source. White House representatives are now going on the record trying to get Fox to admit this.

Interim Communications Director Anita Dunn was one of the first official White House reps to go on the record saying that Fox News isn’t a real news source. Surprisingly, other valid news organizations went up in arms at this accusation.

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According to artist Jon McNaughton, Jesus wrote the Constitution.

What?

Jesus wrote the Constitution- not our forefathers.

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Despite the serious problems our country is facing every day, it seems that President Obama is still able to laugh and poke some fun at himself and other members of his administration.

At a dinner for White House correspondents Obama gave a speech that was a bit more akin to a 20 minute stand-up comedy routine. He cracked jokes aimed at himself, Joe Biden, Timothy Geithner, Mayor Bloomberg,  and many, many others.

“I believe my next 100 days will be so successful I will be able to complete them in 72 days,” Obama joked. “And on the 73rd day, I will rest.”

Check behind the jump for the full 20 minute “speech.”

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When President Obama won election in November, he didn’t abandon the network of millions of Americans he recruited online. Instead, he changed the name of his Web site from “Obama for America” to “Organizing for America” and began the odious and tenuous task of keeping the connection and conversation with millions of people that began in the campaign relevant and mutually beneficial. In the months that have passed since the election, the site has become a collecting place for Americans to watch the weekly address, read the Presidents remarks, find local ‘listening tours’ and connect with other people.

Recently, “Organizing for America” has reached out to college students and recent graduates. They’ve created an eight week Summer Organizer’s Program. This unpaid position offers students interested in public service, politics and grassroots advocacy an opportunity to gain invaluable insight into how the system works. Students will work 40 hour weeks within communities on such issues as health care, education or clean energy–three of Obama’s top priorities. Applications for the program are due May 5 at the Web site and more information can be found in the FAQ section.

I guess I should be knocking on wood, but CNN is reporting that Obama is likely to pick former Washington governor Gary Locke to be commerce secretary (third time’s the charm, right?). Here’s to hoping we see many appearances similar to this during his time in DC:

(p.s. Almost Live is on NBC after SNL every saturday. I highly recommend it. Awesome for local ’90s fun. Thanks to Kipp for this particular clip.)

Always wanting to be a step ahead of other states and currently in the middle of a terrible budget deficit to the tune of $16 billion due to the recession, California may become the first state in the U.S. to legalize marijuana for recreational use and therefore make a killing off of taxes on the drug.

The Snitch, the San Francisco Weekly’s blog, broke the news yesterday that Assemblyman Tom Ammiano will introduce legislation to legalize marijuana in all forms, removing “all penalties in California law on cultivation, transportation, sale, purchase, possession, or use of marijuana, natural THC, or paraphernalia for persons over the age of 21,” according to Ammiano’s press secretary Quintin Mecke.

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