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So said a CBS/NYT poll a couple of days ago to much ballyhoo, the results spread far and wide by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Drudge, Joe Scarborough, and on the conservative blogs. But were the numbers an accurate reflection of reality or not? Many were skeptical.

A just released Fox News poll paints a completely different picture. Indeed, the NY Times felt obliged to post a statement of methodology used after immediate criticism of their outlier numbers were published.

And while Limbaugh, Scarborough, Drudge, and the rest of those degenerates were championing the results of a poll which usually skews slightly Democratic they have been strangely mute about a poll which usually skews Republican. Funny about that. Perhaps the fact that Obama was leading in the Fox News poll 46-39 also had something to do with it.

Bottom-line: while neither uses a pollster that has a particularly good reputation for accuracy it's important not to rely on the numbers from any one single poll, instead look at them in aggregate for a complete picture.

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Peter joins the Tea Party to get rid of the annoying government, only to find the "grassroots" organization run by his billionaire father-in-law Carter Pewterschmidt for his own evil ends. (SPOILER ALERT: After dispensing with their local government --and the ensuing chaos which results from that-- the residents of Quahog invent a new system which looks strangely familiar to their old one.)

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This kind of remark likely won't be popular with the residents of either state but I suppose when you're not running for re-election you're allowed to call something for what it truly is. With the passage of Amendment One last week North Carolina becomes just another backwards state.

Greenville, NC (WITN) -- North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue says Tuesday's passage of Amendment One makes the state look like Mississippi. Perdue made the remarks in response to a question from WITN's Brittany Gunter while in Greenville Friday morning.

On Tuesday, 61% of the state's voters approved the constitutional amendment which bans same sex marriages. State law already prohibits gay marriages.

The governor, a Democrat who said leading up to the vote that she was against the amendment, told WITN that the result is wrong for the state.

"People around the country are watching us, and they're really confused to have been such a progressive forward thinking economically driven state that invested in education and that stood up for the civil rights people including the civil rights marches back in the 50s and 60s and 70s," said Perdue. "People are saying what in the world is going on with North Carolina, we look like Mississippi."

Perdue, who lives in New Bern, decided earlier this year not to seek a second term.

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The American Taliban in the House took front row center yesterday in what was ostensibly a markup for the 2013 National Defense Authorization Bill. Things didn't quite work as planned in their marathon session.

via Fox News:

The House Armed Services Committee labored throughout the day Wednesday and into the wee hours of Thursday morning, crafting a massive Pentagon funding measure. But the heat yielded by the gay marriage issue was so incandescent that it cauterized traditional military topics and spurred the feistiest debate of the marathon session.

Most of these lengthy Armed Services meetings are sprinkled with discussions about MRAPs, JDAMs, engines for the Joint Strike Fighter and troop rotations.

But the colloquy about providing for the common defense of the United States devolved into a debate about stoning, sin, parsonical rights, "gayness" and canonical interpretations of the Old Testament.

Steven Palazzo (R-MS) wanted a provision banning same-sex marriages ceremonies on all military facilities. Todd Akin (R-MO) wanted a "conscience clause" so that military chaplains could refuse to wed gay and lesbian couples. And on and on it went. For hours.

Loretta Sanchez and other Democrats took the "conscience clause" to it's logical conclusion, wondering what happens when a service member just doesn't believe in others' "gayness". Austin Scott (R-GA) took exception to her reasoning, especially using the nasty bits from the Old Testament about stoning and putting gays to death.

Again, Chad Pergram at Fox's Politics Blog captured some of the exchange between Austin Scott (R-GA) and Loretta Sanchez (D-CA).

But Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) took particular issue with Akin's amendment. In addition to giving protection to chaplains, Akin's effort shields service members morally opposed to homosexuality.

Sanchez posed a hypothetical scenario to her colleagues about the consequences service members might face if they didn't, as she put it, "believe in ‘gayness.'"

Her use of the word "gayness" triggered chortles from the audience and raised the eyebrows of lawmakers and Congressional aides alike, stationed on the hearing room dais.

Sanchez then dipped into an interpretation of the Scriptures.

"Let's just say I read the Bible and it says gays should be killed. Stoned," Sanchez began.

Lawmakers who were slumped in their chairs suddenly sat up, ram-rod straight. Those listening to the proceedings, leafing through copies of Roll Call set the publications aside. Reporters posted in the back of the hearing room began pecking feverishly on laptop keyboards. Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL) and other GOP members shot steely glances at Sanchez and demanded doctrinal clarification from the Bible.

Moments later, Sanchez quoted Scripture.

"If you read Leviticus 20:13, it says man must be put to death if man has sexual relations with not a woman," Sanchez said.

"That's the Old Testament," protested Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA).

"It's the Bible!" shot back Sanchez.

Scott then blasted Sanchez, declaring he was "taken aback by those comments." She tried to get a word in edgewise, inquiring if the Georgia Republican would yield.

"I am not yielding any more time to you," snapped Scott. "I have heard enough."

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After President Obama affirmed his support for same-sex marriage Fox News anchor Shep Smith had an uncharacteristic reaction from someone who works for Fox:

“The president of the United States: now in the 21st century."

Ed Henry then intoned that after North Carolina had just banned same-sex marriage through a constitutional amendment only last night it might make it harder for Obama to carry the state in November.

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No, really, he did. Those were his exact words. Video via WEWS in Cleveland.

(AP) EUCLID, Ohio — Campaigning in the backyard of America’s auto industry, Mitt Romney re-ignited the bailout debate by suggesting he deserves “a lot of credit” for the recent successes of the nation’s largest car companies.

That claims comes in spite of his stance that Detroit should have been allowed to go bankrupt.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee told a Cleveland television station on Monday that President Barack Obama followed his lead when he ushered auto companies through a managed bankruptcy soon after taking office.

“I pushed the idea of a managed bankruptcy, and finally when that was done, and help was given, the companies got back on their feet,” Romney said in an interview inside a Cleveland-area auto parts maker. “So, I’ll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry has come back.”

Romney has repeatedly argued that Obama ultimately took his advice on the auto industry’s woes of 2008 and 2009. But he went further on Monday by saying he deserves credit for its ultimate turnaround.

The course Romney advocated differed greatly from the one that was ultimately taken. GM and Chrysler went into bankruptcy on the strength of a massive bailout that Romney opposed. Neither Republican President George W. Bush nor Democratic President Barack Obama believed the automakers would have survived without that backup from taxpayers.

Romney opposed taxpayer help.

Shameless. Completely and utterly without shame. The guy whose NY Times op-ed Let Detroit Go Bankrupt set the standard for Republican obstinance is now trying to claim credit.

The Obama campaign called it "a new low in dishonesty" and called on Romney to "have the courage and integrity" to admit he was wrong. Yeah, like that'll happen.

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Former basketball superstar and now commentator Charles Barkley had some choice words for Mitt Romney yesterday as the camera zoomed in on Romney who was attending the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks NBA playoff game.

"We're going to beat you like a drum in November," Barkley said as the camera cut to the former Massachusetts governor. "Don't take it personally. You seem like a nice guy, but you're going down, bro."

Charles Barkley being Charles Barkley though he also gave his less than flattering assessment of a Celtics fan, saying he looked like a "fag" and implored him not to have any children.

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Kate Beckinsale, Judy Greer and Andrea Savage "spread" the message that the one thing women really want in their vagina is the government.

Open Thread below...

via videographer Mimi Schiffman.

In a small school a little north and a little west of downtown Durham, N.C., a group of eleven-, twelve- and thirteen-year-olds has been busy organizing a field-trip.

Watch as a middle school's gay-straight alliance, GLOW, for Gay Lesbian or Whatever, embarks on an adventure in civic engagement with real consequences for many of the club's members.

"They don’t really see kids as having an idea of how they want their future to be like," said Sarah, a GLOW member, "but when we actually voice our opinion it really does make a difference.

Open Thread below....

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North Carolina's Amendment One vote (banning same-sex marriage) is stirring up the crazy something fierce this week, as the state prepares to vote on it on May 8th.

Here, the good pastor says he was only joking when he encouraged his parishioners to beat the hell out of their kids if they see them exhibiting effeminate or behavior contrary to their god-given genders. Or something like that. All in good fun though.

via WRAL in Raleigh

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A Fayetteville pastor said Wednesday that he was joking when he told parents in a Sunday sermon to punch their sons if they acted effeminate.

Rev. Sean Harris of Berean Baptist Church said he's been overwhelmed with angry emails and phone calls after comments he made while preaching about marriage. The sermon was tied to next week's vote on a state constitutional amendment that would make marriage between a man and a woman the only legal domestic union in the state.

The group Vote For Marriage NC urged church leaders to preach a marriage-themed sermon last Sunday and encourage church members to vote early this week in favor of the constitutional amendment.

Berean Baptist Church posted a video of the sermon on its website, and the congregation can be heard laughing when Harris tells fathers to "crack that wrist" if they see their sons "dropping the limp wrist."

"Man up. Give them a good punch. (Tell them), 'You're not going to act like that,'" he said in the sermon.

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