Adding to the political awkwardness of the Obama Administration's stance on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the Justice Department has filed its opposition to a possible court injunction halting enforcement of DADT. The injunction is under consideration by the federal judge in California who last month declared DADT unconstitutional.
--David Kurtz
Axelrod tells TPM: GOP at fault for decision not to hold tax cut vote.
--Josh Marshall
In our investigation into the growth of Sharia Law in the USA we came across some surprising findings. Numerous American cities now have one or more Muslim 'religious courts' in operation where believers go to adjudicate family law disputes, real estate transactions and various other matters according to Sharia Law by binding arbitration. These religious court verdicts can then be enforced by civilian American courts. Various states have also passed laws to codify Muslim dietary laws, though a few of these laws have been struck down. And numerous national corporations now process foods to suit Muslim dietary standards. Finally, one jurisdiction in New York has been settled entirely by devout Muslims; no candidates run for office except those approved by the local imam; road signs in the town are all printed in both English and Arabic; and various local practices have been brought into line with Sharia.
--Josh Marshall
It looks like there was a big plan in the works by the tea party and the GOP to purge voters from the rolls in Wisconsin. The state GOP now says the plan has been shelved. Ryan Reilly takes a look at the details of the plan.
--David Kurtz
So now Republicans are talking up reconciliation as a way to repeal ObamaCare. You remember reconciliation, right? During the health care reform debate, Republicans called it a threat to democracy and to all that is right and good in the world.
But rather than focusing on the hypocrisy, Matt Yglesias makes the excellent point that this is the way it's supposed to work:
--David Kurtz
Dorgan on tax cut question ...
"The question is when--it'll be before the end of the year--and the question is what is extended, is it all of it or just up to $250,000. I mean, I think those questions need to be answered, and they certainly will be answered before the end of the year."
--Josh Marshall
Sounds like some of the opposition to a pre-election vote in the Senate may be coming from some very unexpected quarters.
--Josh Marshall
Bill Clinton says Dems should present a national platform for the midterm. See the video.
I mean, yeah. What an idea.
--Josh Marshall
TPM Reader KK sets the stage:
If the reports are true that the Senate is going to close up shop without holding the damn votes on the tax cut proposals, I think it's worth considering the double whammy the Democrats have set themselves up for.
--David Kurtz
TPM Reader DG gets it ...
So Democrats think they are better off facing Republican ads saying that Dems are going to increase taxes on all Americans by $3.9 trillion than Republican ads saying that Dems are going to increase taxes on the wealthiest 2% by $700 billion.
--Josh Marshall
House Dems finally cave on pre-election tax cut vote.
They'll consider doing it as lame ducks post-election.
--Josh Marshall
Among the many wrong-headed reasons for not voting on middle class tax cuts before the election, this one is the one that puts me over the edge: After getting shellacked at the polls in the midterms, Democrats can come back in a lame-duck session and pass the tax cuts then.
Huh?
--David Kurtz
A senior Senate Democratic aide tells us a vote on tax cuts pretty clearly ain't gonna happen before the election. "Absent a stunning turn of events, we're not going to do tax cuts before the election," the aide just told our Brian Beutler.
--Josh Marshall
Even the most far-fetched myths usually start from a kernel of fact. So we set out to find the origin of the idea, now commonly accepted in far right circles, that there is a move afoot among Muslims to supplant the Anglo-American legal system with Islamic Sharia law.
Rachel Slajda did the sleuthing and what she found is that disparate facts -- a piece of documentary evidence in a trial of a Muslim charity, a highly questionable court ruling in New Jersey, and Muslim cabbies in the Twin Cities refusing to carry passengers with alcohol -- were used by some of the hardest-core neocons to plant the seed for this "stealth jihad." That myth is now in full bloom and is readily accepted within the conservative mainstream. Interesting read.
--David Kurtz
50 year old Army vet Roman Otto Conaway was arrested yesterday in Fairview Heights, Illinois after threatening to kill President Obama, start a holy war between Christians and Muslims and falsely claiming to be wearing a suicide explosives belt. Conaway apparently believed that President Obama had threatened Pastor Terry Jones into canceling his planned Koran burning.
--Josh Marshall
Justin Elliott has a good piece up on GOP Senate nominee Joe Miller's support from among Alaska militia types. "It's safe to say that Joe Miller is a friend of patriots," Norm Olson, commander of the Alaska Citizens Militia, tells Justin. "His beliefs and platform favor Second Amendment rights as well as the power of nullification when the federal government intrudes into the private lives of Alaskans." Good stuff.
--David Kurtz
During his appearance on the The O'Reilly Factor last night, Jon Stewart told Bill O'Reilly that Fox News has "been overtaken by a more extreme version of you." Watch.
--David Kurtz
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