Billie Holiday - Good Morning Heartache

Today would have been her 100th birthday. An excuse to post some Lady Day?

I’ll take it.

(Steve Benen) From a purely electoral perspective, it's interesting to see President Obama go after Scott Walker by name -- again.

Attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch won’t need Vice President Joe Biden’s vote after all. Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, who was complimentary of Lynch after meeting with her last month, said at a Thursday event in Chicago that he would vote to confirm her. He becomes the fifth Republican to publicly support Lynch...

And Lynch is a lock.

http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2013/03/half-of-ted-cruzs-political-claims-are-false-politifact-reports/

Half of Ted Cruz’s political claims are false, PolitiFact reports

Since his arrival on the national political scene, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has been making headlines. He has become a hero to many on the right because of his relentless attacks on the Obama administration and his aggressive brand of constitutional conservatism. But liberals have likened the outspoken Houston Republican to the late Joe McCarthy, dubbed him the Senate’s “biggest loser” and, now point to the PolitiFact web site’s finding that he, well, often doesn’t tell the truth. PolitiFact is a Pulitzer prize winning project that rates the claims of office-seekers and office-holders. Its Texas branch is headed up by the Austin American-Statesman’s Gardner Selby, one of the most respected political reporters in the state capital. To assess Cruz’s accuracy rate, PolitiFact investigated 14 of the senator’s statements and found that he wasn’t telling the truth 50 percent of the time.

Ted’s managed to score ‘True” or “Mostly true” a mere 8% of the time. The guy’s a snake oil salesman and you’re all falling for him.

Took the camera up to Baraboo, WI today. These are all from original Ringling Brothers’ buildings at the Circus World Museum. It was  a great overcast day, which is good for this sort of work -- almost no shadows.

Had a lot of fun.

(ThinkProgress) Harrison’s mother had called the police for help getting her mentally ill son to the hospital.

Unskew them polls, because that worked out so well the last time you guys tried it.

(PPP) PPP’s newest Wisconsin poll finds that Scott Walker’s recent actions have significantly increased enthusiasm among Republicans in the state for his White House bid- but also left him well behind Hillary Clinton in a potential general election match up.

Overall only 35% of voters in Wisconsin want Walker to run for President, compared to 58% who don’t think he should run. Those findings are pretty much par for the course for a Presidential candidate in their own state- voters are rarely enthusiastic about their native sons aiming for the White House.

Walker’s approval numbers have also significantly dipped over the last few months though. Right before the election last fall we found him with a 49/47 approval spread. That’s now dropped to 43/52. His numbers with both Democrats and Republicans are pretty much where they were four months ago. But he’s seen a large decline with independents- where he was on narrowly positive ground with them before the election at a 48/45 spread, he’s now dropped down to 36/57. The new right to work law is likely part of what’s causing Walker problems- only 42% of voters support it, pretty much mirroring his approval rating.

Walker trails Hillary Clinton 52/43 in a hypothetical contest. When we tested the same match up in September of 2013, he was only down 49/44. It’s not just Clinton that Walker trails though- he would also be down 48/45 when matched against Joe Biden or Elizabeth Warren. For the most part this year we’ve been finding Biden and Warren trailing even in places where Clinton’s leading, but against Walker in Wisconsin they all have an advantage.

(The Hill) The resignation follows a report that found police discriminated against black residents.

(PPP) PPP's newest Wisconsin poll finds that Scott Walker's recent actions have significantly increased enthusiasm among Republicans in the state for his White House bid- but also left him well behind Hillary Clinton in a potential general election match up.

Overall only 35% of voters in Wisconsin want Walker to run for President, compared to 58% who don't think he should run. Those findings are pretty much par for the course for a Presidential candidate in their own state- voters are rarely enthusiastic about their native sons aiming for the White House.

Walker's approval numbers have also significantly dipped over the last few months though. Right before the election last fall we found him with a 49/47 approval spread. That's now dropped to 43/52. His numbers with both Democrats and Republicans are pretty much where they were four months ago. But he's seen a large decline with independents- where he was on narrowly positive ground with them before the election at a 48/45 spread, he's now dropped down to 36/57. The new right to work law is likely part of what's causing Walker problems- only 42% of voters support it, pretty much mirroring his approval rating.

Walker trails Hillary Clinton 52/43 in a hypothetical contest. When we tested the same match up in September of 2013, he was only down 49/44. It's not just Clinton that Walker trails though- he would also be down 48/45 when matched against Joe Biden or Elizabeth Warren. For the most part this year we've been finding Biden and Warren trailing even in places where Clinton's leading, but against Walker in Wisconsin they all have an advantage.

Madison police shoot and kill black teen; protests follow

(Wisconsin State Journal) A Madison police officer shot and killed a black teenager Friday night after the youth allegedly assaulted the officer, according to media reports.

The 19-year-old was shot shortly before 6:30 p.m. in the 1100 block of Williamson St., the Wisconsin State Journal reported. Protesters took to the streets near the scene, claiming the shooting was unjustified, according to WMTV in Madison.

Madison Police Chief Michael Koval told the newspaper that officers were responding to a call of a man who was responsible for a battery jumping in and out of traffic.

According to the newspaper, Koval said an officer went to an apartment that the man had gone into and made a forced entry after hearing a disturbance inside.

The officer was then assaulted by the man before shooting him, said Koval, who also said he did not know if the man was armed.

According to a post on the website of WISC-TV in Madison, the man who was shot was black.

The teen has been identified as 19 year old Tony Robinson, pictured above.

(Washington Post) The former senator sounds like he is gearing up for a run.

I really wish Russ hadn't sat out the two gubernatorial races. He had a damned good shot at running and, to be honest, a warm cinderblock could probably beat Ron Johnson in 2016. Still, it would be nice to see him back in the Senate, kicking ass and taking names.

(Raw Story) Cardinal Dolan, one of the most conservative and outspoken Catholic leaders in the U.S., on Tuesday echoed President Barack Obama by drawing a “parallel” between ISIS and Christian terrorists.

At the National Prayer Breakfast earlier this year, the president had reminded Christians not to get on a “high horse” while denouncing Islamic terrorism because their religion had also been perverted to justify slavery and the Crusades.

“These extremist do not represent genuine Islamic thought,” Dolan told CNN host Chris Cuomo on Tuesday. “Even the majority of temperate, peace-loving Muslims would say, ‘I’m afraid they have a particular strand of erroneous Islam.’ But I do think they are. They are distorting it.”

“You know the parallel I’ve drawn?” he continued. “And enough people have been kind enough to tell me they think the analogy is accurate. Remember 30-35 years ago with the IRA in Ireland? The IRA claimed to be Catholic. And they were baptized, they had a Catholic identity. What they were doing was a perversion of everything the church stood for.”

“The analogy I think is somewhat accurate. These are not pure — these are not real Muslims.”

[Wisconsin Governor Scott] Walker is unusual in that he already possesses a national profile that greatly exceeds his readiness to be a candidate at the national level, and for that reason he has been disappointing donors that expect far too much of him.

Daniel Larison, The American Conservative, "Why Walker Keeps Stumbling."

tldr; Walker's in way over his head.

Texas Toddler Dies After Shooting Himself In The Head (VIDEO)

Texas Toddler Dies After Shooting Himself In The Head (VIDEO)

A three-year-old Harris County, Texas, boy shot himself in the head on Friday, February 27. He was taken by helicopter to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead just a few hours later.

According to click2Houston.com, the boy’s mother was at home at the time of the shooting, along with another child, age five.

Here’s more on this story from KHOU.

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/fed…

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(TPM) [Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace] asked Walker how he would handle the threat of the Islamic State if he were president.

"Would you commit U.S. ground forces to combat ISIS in any way, shape, or form?" Wallace asked.

"I believe we should not take any option off the table. I don't want to run into war," Walker responded.

"That doesn't quite answer my question," Wallace retorted. "You're president today — you talk about leadership — would you commit U.S. ground forces, whether it's a full scale invasion, whether it's special forces, would you commit U.S. ground forces to a combat role?"

Walker again does not lay out any specifics and said he would need to consult advisors and individuals in the field before making a decision.

This is the best explanation of gerrymandering you will ever see.