Jezebel: Tim Kaine

The Vatican: Vote Against Abortion Or Be Damned

Megan Carpentier — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:30:00 EDT

By Vatican standards, American Catholics (and particularly American politicians) are some of the worst misbehave-ers in the world. Long gone are the halcyon days of JFK, when he could stand up and proudly say that as a politician in America, he was answerable only to his constituents and not to the Pope in Rome. What's worse, long-gone are the days where the Pope in Rome was okay with that. These days, as far as the Pope is concerned, if you aren't toeing the line on abortion in America (which means advocating that it be made illegal), you're going to hell, as the International Herald Tribune reports. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not go to Confession because you will not be forgiven. Well, that's one way to bump up the rolls of the Church, I guess. More »

Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe, Some Of These Veep Picks Have To Go

Megan Carpentier — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Okay, now, seriously. Obama's VP pick — whoever it's going to be — is going to be giving the most important speech of his (or her) political career in less than eight days and almost no one knows who that person is going to be. It's time to start whittling that list down a little! And the same goes for John McCain, who's had two months longer to think about his decision and still reportedly has more people on his short list than Obama. Stop the madness! Do Spencer Ackerman and I have to do all the work for everyone? Fine. We're up for the challenge even if they aren't. More »

Raised Eyebrows Edition (Also, John McCain Is Really Old)

Megan Carpentier — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:30:00 EDT

Nancy Pelosi said aloud today what everyone knows implicitly and no one ever acknowledges: when the right-wingers talk about "San Francisco values," they're condemning San Franciscans for not spitting on the LGBT community with a wink and a nod. Tolerance is so for liberals. [HuffPo]
Speaking of the intolerance of the right, an inspector general's report has unsurprisingly concluded that Monica Goodling and Kyle Sampson inappropriately used political considerations when hiring at the Justice Department. Goodling asked interviewees what they liked most about Bush, what their stances on abortion were and, in one case, refused to renew a prosecutor's appointment believing him to be gay or at least, very metrosexual. Hey, it was 2006, that phrase was still acceptable! [Washington Post] More »

I Know, If Only You Could Write In "Pabst Blue Ribbon" For VP…

Moe — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EDT

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It's speedmating, readers! The weekend's New Republic has a big veep-speculation package and Megan and I — well, mostly Megan — read it so you don't have to! Sad notes: they don't think Hillary's in the running; Satan conquerer Bobby Jindal, the Republican governor of Louisiana, is not profiled. But Ed Rendell is! Rendell's sick jokemaking, Mike uckabee's guitar, Tim Pawlenty's "plush" mullet and Jim Webb's (invariably described as "scrappy") Scots-Irish upbringing are belabored; Sam's Club, cheap chardonnay and What's The Matter With Kansas are invoked; add a scene at an outsourced meatpacking plant and a few nights at various American Legion outposts and you've got one rollicking serenade to all the folksily vapid traditions, accessories and consumer goods that make representative democracy so great. That and Geraldine Ferraro's fascinating rationale for voting McCain, with me and the admittedly glamorous Megan Carpentier after the jump. More »