The Morning Flap: March 15, 2012

These are my links for March 14th through March 15th:

• CA-25: Life Long Republican Cathie Wright Joins Congressional Race | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – CA-25: Life Long Republican Cathie Wright Joins Congressional Race
• CDC Using Scary Graphic Ads to Combat Smoking – Today Begins Ad Campaign | Smiles For A Lifetime – Temporary (Locum Tenens) Dentistry – CDC Using Scary Graphic Ads to Combat Smoking – Today Begins Ad Campaign
• Flap’s California Morning Collection: March 15, 2012 » Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Morning Collection: March 15, 2012

• Four Questions for Bill Maher – Jake Tapper – 

• TAPPER: And that’s not comparable to what Limbaugh said about Sandra Fluke?

• MAHER: To compare that to Rush is ridiculous – he went after a
  civilian about very specific behavior, that was a lie, speaking for a
  party that has systematically gone after women’s rights all year, on
  the public airwaves. I used a rude word about a public figure who
  gives as good as she gets, who’s called people “terrorist” and
  “unAmerican.” Sarah Barracuda. The First Amendment was specifically
  designed for citizens to insult politicians. Libel laws were written
  to protect law students speaking out on political issues from getting
  called whores by Oxycontin addicts.

  TAPPER: What about all the clips of you saying rather “edgy” things –
  offensive to many people, no doubt – from your show on HBO, “Real
  Time”?

  MAHER: Of course if you take out of context over 10 years snippets
  inside comedy bits you can make anyone look bad – and sometimes, I
  have been! Not perfect, but not misogyny. In general, this is an
  obvious right wing attempt to dredge up some old shit about me to
  deflect from their self-inflicted problems. They are the kings of
  false equivalencies.

  And through it all, I have defended Rush’s right to stay on the air!
  Not what he said, that was disgusting – but the right to not disappear
  because people who don’t even listen to you don’t like what you said.
  That really bothers me. I never hear Rush Limbaugh unless a guy in the
  next truck at a stop light has it on; it would be arrogant for me to
  say “he has to disappear” and deprive the people who do listen to him
  of what they like. We all have different tastes and different
  opinions, that’s America.

• Why Ron Paul May Cut a Deal With Mitt Romney – For Ron Paul, victory is finally in sight. No, not a swearing-in ceremony next January 20, or even a single statewide win. Halfway through the primary season, Paul has won only a preference poll in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and he is running dead last in delegates among the four GOP candidates for President. He has spent a lot, if not always wisely: the $31.55 he has dropped per vote (more than even Mitt Romney) is a sum that might shock even a Democrat.

  But winning the presidency was never Paul’s foremost goal, and as he nears the end of his last presidential crusade, he has one more chance to promote his ideas. The Republican race is a muddled mess. Even after his southern losses, only Romney has a real shot at amassing the 1,144 delegates required to wrap up the nomination, and he would then face the task of unifying the GOP’s warring factions. Which is why Paul’s campaign has sent discreet signals to Camp Romney that the keys to Paul’s shop can be had for the right price.

• Obama’s Top Campaign Bundlers Among State Dinner Guests – – More than three dozen of President Obama’s top re-election campaign financiers are guests at tonight’s White House state dinner in honor of British Prime Minister David Cameron.

  They include Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, media mogul Fred Eychaner, Pfizer executive Sally Susman, Stoneyfield Farms president and CEO Gary Hirschberg, and Microsoft executives Suzi Levine and John Frank. Several have each raised more than half a million dollars for 2012, according to estimates provided by Obama’s campaign.

• Racial Quota Fallout – Re: Derrick Bell by Thomas Sowell – Derrick Bell’s options were to be a nobody, living in the shadow of more accomplished legal scholars — or to go off on some wild tangent of his own, and appeal to a radical racial constituency on campus and beyond.

  His writings showed clearly that the latter was the path he chose. His previous writings had been those of a sensible man saying sensible things about civil rights issues that he understood from his years of experience as an attorney. But now he wrote all sorts of incoherent speculations and pronouncements, the main drift of which was that white people were the cause of black people’s problems.

  Bell even said that he took it as his mission to say things to annoy white people. Perhaps he thought that was better than being insignificant in his academic setting. But it was in fact far worse, because the real damage was to impressionable young blacks who took him seriously, including one who went on to become President of the United States. 

• Day By Day March 15, 2012 – Drive-By Theater | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day March 15, 2012 – Drive-By Theater
• Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-03-15 » Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-03-15
• Initial Claims Beat Expectations For Week Of March 10 – RT @businessinsider: INITIAL CLAIMS BEAT SINKING TO 351K
• Whether Romney or Santorum wins, the road to the nomination will be ugly – The Washington Post – RT @washingtonpost: As #2012 race drags on, #GOP convention could turn from pep rally to brawl
• (404) http://t.co/3PZCF – RT @WestWingReport: Latest polls: 48% approve of #Obama, 45% don’t (Gallup); 47%-52% (Rasmussen). Avg. of all polls in …
• CDC unveils graphic ads to combat smoking –
• Battle of addition: 165 days until GOP convention – Battle of addition: 165 days until GOP convention
• Bill Maher: Rush Limbaugh attacked a ‘civilian’ – Bill Maher: Rush Limbaugh attacked a ‘civilian’
• CDC unveils graphic ads to combat smoking – CNN.com – CDC unveils graphic anti-smoking ads
• Google Gives Search a Refresh – WSJ.com – Google Gives Search a Refresh –
• The Tea Party has drowned – The Tea Party is over. In the way of parties that end, there are still people around. Those who remain search for a return of the old energy and make unconvincing demonstrations of people having a good time. But the central focus, the excitement, the purpose of the thing is dissipating. That is because the bad stuff that its members and boosters put out — lies, slanders, paranoia, ignorance — is losing what grip it had over the minds of people with minds. What’s left, though, is something else, which will not go away: the identification of moral choices blurred and contemporary indifferences ignored.
• Untitled (http://getglue.com/Fullosseousflap/stickers/checkin_rookie?s=ts&ref=Fullosseousflap) – I unlocked the Check-in Rookie sticker on @GetGlue!
• Brokered convention | GOP | Mitt Romney | The Daily Caller – ‘Brokered’ GOP convention? Get ready, say political strategists
• @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-03-15 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-03-15
• Untitled (http://getglue.com/tv_shows/criminal_minds?s=tch&ref=Fullosseousflap) – I’m watching Criminal Minds (1610 others checked-in) @GetGlue @CrimMinds_CBS
• Untitled (http://getglue.com/topics/p/los_angeles_lakers?s=tch&ref=Fullosseousflap) – Almost time for a short run… @GetGlue #LosAngelesLakers
• Untitled (http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/initiatives/pdfs/i1056_12-0008_(pension_reform).pdf) – RT @JudyLinAP: GOP attorney Tom Hiltachk begins circulating Government Employee Pension Reform Act. ?
• Jerry Brown and Teacher’s Union Reach Compromise Tax Increase Initiative Deal » Flap’s California Blog – Jerry Brown and Teacher’s Union Reach Compromise Tax Increase Initiative Deal
• GRAPH: The escalating cost of Obamacare – So I’ve created the updated graph below. Notice how low the numbers are in the 2010 to 2013 time period and how they quickly soar. All the spending to the right of the black line wasn’t reflected in the CBO’s estimate for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) at the time of passage.
• Untitled (http://getglue.com/tv_shows/special_report_with_bret_baier?s=tch&ref=Fullosseousflap) – I’m watching Special Report with Bret Baier @GetGlue #SpecialReport
• CA-25: Dante Acosta Agrees to Substitute for Rep Buck McKeon for Lunch Auction | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – CA-25: Dante Acosta Agrees to Substitute for Rep Buck McKeon for Lunch Auction
• Football: Oaks Christian Coach Bill Redell announces retirement – latimes.com – RT @latimessports: Oaks Christian football coach Bill Redell retires
• Untitled (http://getglue.com/tv_shows/espn?s=tch&ref=Fullosseousflap) – Mets vs Tigers @GetGlue #ESPN
• President 2012 Poll Watch: In North Carolina President Obama Leading Republican Field | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012 Poll Watch: In North Carolina President Obama Leading Republican Field
• Stratfor on Methamphetamine Production in Mexico | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Stratfor on Methamphetamine Production in Mexico
• Flap’s California Morning Collection: March 14, 2012 » Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Morning Collection: March 14, 2012
• Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: March 14, 2012 – The Morning Drill: March 14, 2012
• The Morning Flap: March 14, 2012 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Morning Flap: March 14, 2012