Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert has been among the loudest voices on the birther fringe. Now he’s talking up another false conspiracy to defend gun rights in this country. According to ThinkProgress, Gohmert says Americans need guns to protect the nation from Sharia law. As if there’s any threat of Sharia law actually taking hold anywhere in the country. It’s frightening to think that a U.S. congressman could sink to this level of fear-mongering, but sadly we’ve come to expect things like this from the extreme Tea Party right, a faction that has demonstrated its willingness to gain power by preying on the ignorance of others. And where are the Republican grown-ups to put a stop to this sort of talk?
Meanwhile Sen. John McCain is facing harsh criticism from the parents of an Aurora shooting victim. The victim’s mom says McCain belittled her question about gun safety by offering “some straight talk” and pandered to the pro-gun crowd. Read the story and watch the video here.
President Obama is getting what The New York Times calls “an unexpected assist” from Republican governors who have reversed their positions on Obamacare and are now expanding Medicare programs in their states in compliance with the sweeping health care reform law. Florida’s Rick Scott, who was one of the loudest critics of the president’s plan, is the latest to change course and accept it.
Paul Krugman has a must-read column about the fallacy of the latest manufactured crisis in Washington — the sequester. And Politico asks this provocative question: Is President Obama overplaying his hand?
15 Republican Senators have signed onto a letter to President Obama requesting that he withdraw the nomination of Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary.
Kentucky’s Democratic Governor called actress Ashley Judd a “serious candidate” as she weighs a campaign against the most powerful Republican in the Senate — Mitch McConnell.
A ban on human-animal hybrids? That’s just one of the wacky laws being considered by state legislature around the country.
Hardball staff