News & Politics Blog 750 items | updated May 26 2012

By Stephanie Miller / Host of "Talking Liberally"

It's amazing how Republicans, who say they view government intrusion into personal behavior as bad, are so quick use it as a sledgehammer on people they don't like ... and by "people," I mean liberals.

When Republican (and would-be vice presidential candidate) Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia favored a vaginal probe for women who were contemplating abortions, he got smacked down like the neo-con bitch he is. Monday, Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona — who actually has a vagina — signed into law a bill that eliminates funding for Planned Parenthood and we saw what Republicans really believe.

By Stephanie Whiteside / current.com

Europe is revolting, with Sunday's elections resulting in new leadership for Greece, Germany and France. The changes come in the wake of a European push for austerity measures as an economic strategy.

After wading through the endless stream of articles on how the election are affecting Wall St., we've rounded up some commentary on what the results could mean for austerity politics.

By Stephanie Miller / Host of "Talking Liberally"

It's hard to be funny when people don't have the ability to laugh at themselves. It's like doing stand-up comedy at an undertakers convention: "Hey, did you hear the one about the embalmer who accidentally pumped a Republican full of fertilizer? The guy is still full of shit, but now there's a corsage growing out of his lapel."

Not a chuckle.

This week, President Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan, thousands demonstrated on May Day and Newt Gingrich finally ended his presidential campaign. Get caught up with The Week in Photos:

LINK: http://current.com/week-in-photos-4-28-to-5-4/

By Leslie Hart / current.com

UPDATE, May 15: Ron Paul announced a new chapter of his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in an email to supporters on Monday, stating that he will no longer invest money in the remaining primary battles but will continue to fight for delegates to represent his platform at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. On Tuesday, Jesse Benton, Paul’s chief strategist, acknowledged Paul lacks the momentum to wrest the nomination from Mitt Romney but clarified that Dr. Paul is not “dropping out” of the race and reiterated Paul’s intention for his “campaign for Liberty” to maintain a presence at the state convention level.

An adviser to Ron Paul has hinted that the “delegate strategy” could be designed to help pave the way for a potential successor to carry the mantle of Ron Paul’s platform in 2016 — his son, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

Regardless of the reasons, the strategy or the plans for the future, what we'll miss most are those ardent and creatively expressive Paul fans. See some of our favorites below.

By Stephanie Whiteside / current.com

When it comes to policies on sex education, it's the GOP that's pushing for abstinence-only policies, right? Not necessarily; the Obama administration quietly added an abstinence-only curriculum to the list of officially sanctioned guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The program is the South Carolina-based Heritage Keepers program, which is included as one of the 31 evidence-based programs for preventing teen pregnancy and it was included in the list this spring.

By Stephanie Miller / Host of "Talking Liberally"

Richard Grenell, Mitt Romney's newly named spokesman on foreign policy and national security just resigned because of what he euphemistically (and hysterically) described as "the hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign."

Hyper-partisan? Well that's true, except that the partisanship didn't come from Democrats. It was Romney's "friends" at the National Review and the Daily Caller who called for Grenell's head. And so he had to quit because the campaign had literally stopped letting him speak. It turns out there's not much value in having a mime as your media spokesman.

Also known as International Workers Day, this May Day included protests across the nation. A global holiday connected to labor unions and workers rights, this May Day the Occupy movement called for a day of rallies, demonstrations and marches in over 100 cities across the U.S.

We rounded up some of the coverage of May Day and asked you if you were participating in the protests or think they will make a difference. Our teams in New York, L.A. and San Francisco were also on the ground to document the coverage first-hand.

By Leslie Hart and Paula Neudorf / current.com

As Newt Gingrich prepares to bow out of the race for the Republican nomination, we paused to reflect on what we'll miss most about his candidacy.

1. Gingrich's toughest competitor — himself  

Gingrich grabbed headlines with bravura performances in two debates leading up to his victory in the South Carolina primary on Jan. 21, 2012. But just days later, Mitt Romney trounced him in a debate prior to the Florida primary and Gingrich seemed to lose momentum. In this photo taken on the afternoon of that debate, Gingrich’s reflection is seen as he walks out the mirrored doors of the Tampa Bay Church and Revival Ministries International World Headquarters on Jan. 23, 2012 in Tampa, Fla.

By Carrie Mihalcik / current.com

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, President Barack Obama signaled that he may finally be ready to take a stand on climate change.

"It's been easy for the other side to pour millions of dollars into a campaign to debunk climate-change science. I suspect that over the next six months, this is going to be a debate that will become part of the campaign, and I will be very clear in voicing my belief that we're going to have to take further steps to deal with climate change in a serious way," Obama told Rolling Stone.

One possible reason for the president's new stance, polls now show that a majority of Americans believe extreme weather is linked to global warming. And with presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney's recent shift to the right on global warming, climate change is set to become a wedge issue during the 2012 presidential election.

By Stephanie Miller / Host of "Talking Liberally"

Dear Mr. President: 

I've got a real problem with you.  Sure you're smart, strong, handsome, a brilliant orator and you can even sing like Al Green (although I'll match you note for note any day on "Leavin' on a Jet Plane"). But who the hell gave you permission to be funny? I'm talking to you, Mr. Leader-of-the-Free World! Give a comic a break! I'm fine with the occasional funny line in a speech, but when you turn into the Sexy-Liberal-in-Chief like you did on Saturday at the White House Correspondents Dinner, that's my turf you're treading on...and you don't want to mess with Mama.

By Stephanie Miller / Host of "Talking Liberally"

If you were watching the show today, you know that I've been experiencing what people commonly refer to as "floaters." That disturbing phenomenon where strange objects seem to be moving through your field of vision that aren't really there.

I usually call that cocktail hour. When I called my doctor, she immediately advised me to stop drinking. I thanked her, hung up and poured myself a glass of Chardonnay (Mama doesn't like bad news without her medicine).

By Carrie Mihalcik / current.com

Voters that supported Rick Santorum during the Republican primary have accepted Mitt Romney as the presumptive nominee — but they still don't like him. 

For the first time during the Republican primary fight, Romney is over 50 percent in national polls, Current's Poll Positions tracker shows. He gained 13 points after Santorum dropped out of the race, and with Newt Gingrich set to drop out next Tuesday, Romney's support is only likely to rise.

This week, Mitt Romney propelled his GOP nomination, and activists protested Internet restrictions, Wells Fargo's fraudulent foreclosure practices and Arizona's Immigration Law. Get caught up with The Week in Photos:

LINK: http://current.com/week-in-photos-april-21-to-27/

By Stephanie Miller / Host of "Talking Liberally"

A few weeks ago, when Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang asked Mitt Romney's top advisor, Eric Fehrnstrom, how they would run a general election campaign against President Obama, John got him to admit that they think it will be easy. Fehrnstrom said, "You hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes. It's almost like an Etch-A-Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart all over again."

By Stephanie Whiteside / current.com

The Senate has scrambled to prevent the closing of hundreds of local post offices and give communities a right to appeal closures after the U.S. Postal Service proposed the closings in response to a budget gap.

Officials claim the gap is due to a move towards other services  — people paying bills and conducting business online rather than relying on the postal service. But is email the main reason for the gap?

By Carrie Mihalcik / current.com

There was one noticeable omission from President Barack Obama's 2012 Earth Day proclamation -- any mention of climate change. In the 2011 Earth Day proclamation, Obama declared that no person could "escape the impact of climate change," but did his best to avoid the topic this year. The only line that hints at the existence of global warming is about cutting "greenhouse gas emissions."

Certainly the president is trying to avoid touching on controversial topics during an election year, but is climate change controversial anymore. Polls show a majority of Americans now believe in climate change, and ABC news reports that extreme weather, not campaigns by global warming denialists, is the only thing likely to change voters minds on the issue.

Obama holds a 39 percent lead over Mitt Romney among voters who are concerned about the environment, and his campaign is actively courting environmentalists. Maybe it's time for the president to stop avoiding climate change -- at least on Earth Day.

By Stephanie Miller / Host of "Talking Liberally"

Do you know what Mitt Romney's Secret Sevice code name is? "Javelin." Yes, that's really true, and what's more he chose it himself.

I've always believed that you can learn a lot a about a person by how they describe themselves. Apparently, Mitt sees himself as an inanimate object. Shockingly, that shows an uncharacteristic level of self-awareness on his part. But let's not miss the subtlety in his spearheadedness. He also sees himself as a weapon that other people can aim, toss and throw around as they please. Can't you just picture Ted Nugent picking up Mitt and heaving him across the room at Joe Biden?

Rallies, concerts and community service events are being held around the world on Sunday to celebrate Earth Day. It's a day to appreciate nature, increase awareness and take action.

Here at Current TV, we're celebrating Earth Day by covering the environmental issues that matter. Here's a roundup of our Earth Day content: