I wrote earlier today about how necessary it is that Democrats stand up against Republican efforts to slime Planned Parenthood with a patently bogus video. Then, later, I read this:

Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) asked U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and California Attorney General Kamala Harris on Tuesday to review whether the anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress broke state and federal laws when it created a fake human tissue procurement company in order to gain access to and secretly film Planned Parenthood staffers. The Huffington Post reported on Friday that the CMP may have also illegally deceived the IRS and its donors by posing as a biomedicine charity in 2013.

“I am deeply concerned about the allegations that federal and state laws were violated in an attempt to attack Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides critical health care services to more than three million men and women each year, and that the attack was coordinated by conservative activists who want to discredit Planned Parenthood and its work,” Clarke said in a statement. “I urge Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the Honorable Kamala Harris, Attorney General of California, to initiate a full investigation into this incident to determine if any fraud or other illegal activities were committed.”

The Center for Medical Progress, which has ties to the violent anti-abortion activists at Operation Rescue, has released two heavily edited undercover videos that purport to show Planned Parenthood employees discussing the sale of fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood said the videos actually show employees discussing the donation of fetal tissue to scientific research, which is legal, not-for-profit and done only with the permission of the woman seeking the abortion. FactCheck.org debunked the CMP’s claims, noting that Planned Parenthood cannot possibly profit from the donation of fetal tissue based on the small reimbursement costs the doctor was caught discussing.

Nobody from Missouri’s on that list of righteous Democats – right, Claire McCaskill? In Missouri they line up with the Republicans – am I telling the truth Chris Koster – or else they keep their mouths shut and hope nobody notices.

But, outside Missouri the news is getting out that as far as “scandal” goes, there’s no there there in the CMP video, As today’s New York Times writes in an excellent editorial:

The Center for Medical Progress video campaign is a dishonest attempt to make legal, voluntary and potentially lifesaving tissue donations appear nefarious and illegal. Lawmakers responding by promoting their own anti-choice agenda are rewarding deception and putting women’s health and their constitutionally protected rights at risk.

Now just tell me how we go about getting some good, stand-up Democrats in Missouri to get that message out there.

Representative Karla May (D) [2013 file photo].

There’s this, from Representative Linda Black (r) (her bio still lists her as a “Democrat”, that’ll possibly reassure her constituents):

HB 124 Requires the Department of Health and Senior Services to create a video that contains all of the information that must be provided to a woman considering an abortion

Sponsor: Black, Linda (117)

Proposed Effective Date: 8/28/2015

LR Number: 0532H.01I

Last Action: 12/03/2014 – Prefiled (H)

Bill String: HB 124

[…]

Representative Linda Black (r) [2013 file photo].

Election Results: 117th Legislative District (November 5, 2014)

….Still, Linda Black (r) is now free to cosponsor any legislation on Agenda 21, Sharia law, or nullification that she’d like.

Go figure, a member of the Missouri General Assembly introduces a seventy-hour waiting period AND a mandatory requirement to watch a video before, oh, wait…

A bill, pre-filed by Representative Karla May (D):

FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 176 [pdf]

98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE MAY.

0353L.01I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk

AN ACT

To amend chapter 571, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to the purchase of a

firearm, with penalty provisions.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Chapter 571, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 571.084, to read as follows:

571.084. 1. Beginning January 1, 2016, there shall be a mandatory three-day waiting period, excluding weekends and legal holidays, between the purchase and the delivery at retail of any firearm. Such three-day waiting period shall not apply to firearms being purchased by concealed carry permit holders under sections 571.101 to 571.126.

2. Prior to the sale of any firearm at retail, a purchaser of a firearm shall be required to view a video on gun violence prior to any sale of a firearm. The retailer shall make such video available to the purchaser for viewing. Such video shall be approved by the department of public safety. The department may promulgate rules to implement the provisions of this subsection. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2015, shall be invalid and void.

3. Records of all firearms sales at retail shall be available for inspection by any law enforcement agency during normal business hours of the retailer to ensure compliance with the provisions of this section.

4. Any retailer, or any employee or agent of a retailer, who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a class D felony.

5. Any purchaser who obtains delivery of a firearm at retail by fraud, misrepresentation, or false pretense is guilty of a class D felony until December 31, 2016, and a class E felony beginning January 1, 2017.

[emphasis in original]

Nicely done. Heh.

Previously:

SB 519, HB 1307, HB 1313: wait, wait, wait (January 12, 2014)

Sen. David Pearce (r): fundamentally, a useful idiot (August 30, 2014)

Sen. David Pearce (r): poor, poor, pitiful me (August 30, 2014)

Until tomorrow (September 9, 2014)

Obama/Biden 2012 released a “theatrical trailer” video in anticipation of the start of the republican National Convention in Tampa:

[Romney advisers believe he’s viewed as “stiff, aloof, and distant”

and that the GOP convention will be “a chance for a fresh start”

their plan includes mad men “slick packaging” and a “theatrical,” Hollywood-style reinvention.]

Narrator: In a world where thousands of jobs were destroyed by his corporate takeovers.

Worker: One day we had a job, the next day we didn’t.

Narrator: From a state where his economic record was a failure, he faces an election where the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Mitt Romney (r): This a battle for the soul of America.

Narrator: And he’s tried it all.

Mitt Romney (r): I love this state. It seems right here, the trees are the right height.

Corporations are people, my friend.

I stand by whatever I said, whatever it was.

Narrator: But nothing is working.

Pundit: Mitt Romney’s favorability rating is about half President Obama’s.

Second Pundit: fifty percent of Americans view Mitt Romney unfavorably.

Narrator: His only hope is a convention reinvention.

And an etch-a-sketch of epic proportions will be shaken to its core.

Mitt Romney (r): I’m running for office, for Pete’s sake.

Narrator: On August 30th Mitt Romney stars in The Do-over. critics have called his previous work “wildly misleading”, “four pinocchios”, “pants on fire”.

Rated N, for not gonna work.

[conventionreincention.com]

Heh. Turn loose sarcastic people who love and understand popular culture and work in politics and see what you can do?

You’ve gotta love the audio of the scratchy optical sound track at the very beginning. We are not worthy.  

From the Obama/Biden 2012 campaign:

Al Sharpton: Now, Governor Strickland, uh, I was reading, uh, and watching a wise man. Uh, and let, uh, me read to you what he said about the President. He said, President Obama is betting on America and American workers and Mitt Romney is betting his resources in the Cayman Islands, in Bermuda, in Switzerland and god only knows where else. President Obama is the insourcer of jobs and Mitt Romney is the outsourcer of jobs. That wise man was you, Governor Strickland, introducing the President yesterday. Would you care to elaborate?

Former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D): Well, Reverend Al, I mean, we have two men who want to be the next President. And, uh, one of them, our President, our, our current President, has worked to build the middle class. Uh, he’s brought us out of this, uh, deep, deep recession and we’re moving forward. Uh, and on the other hand we have Mitt Romney, uh, a man who made great wealth, uh, as a result of the privileges that he had of living in this country. And, uh, what did he do with his wealth? Well, we don’t know everything he did with his wealth because he refuses to release his income tax returns. But we do know that he took part of his wealth and he invested that wealth in the Cayman Islands, uh, a recognized tax haven. Uh, he opened up a bank account in Switzerland. He established a corporation in Bermuda. Um, he, he went to South America when he formed Bain Capital and he got money from shadowy, um, uh, investors. Uh, some of them anonymous that we don’t know who they were. And, uh, and, and now he wants to be the President. And he says I’m the one who is worthy of leading this country because of my business experience. And I say give me a break. What is Mitt Romney hiding from the American people? Reverend Al, why isn’t he releasing his income tax returns? His father released twelve years of income tax returns when he ran for president. And Mitt Romney has released only one year. And, uh, we need to know, uh, more about this man’s business dealings. And, uh, he wants to be the President. The President, uh, has an obligation, I believe, to be candid and transparent and open with the American people. Someone said rightly that, uh, Mitt Romney is the most secretive, uh, American politician since Richard Nixon. And when it comes to his finances and what he’s done with his wealth, I think that’s absolutely the case.

Ouch.

Previously:

That’s a really good question (July 3, 2012)

That’s a really good question, part 2 (July 5, 2012)

Chris Dodd is promising that if the FISA bill makes it out of committee with the telecom immunity language intact, he will filibuster.  You can watch him make his argument for it on this video.