The Open Thread for Monday, July 29, 2013

A new Gallup Poll finds that if given the opportunity to vote on a law legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states, the slight majority of Americans, 52%, say they would cast their vote in favor, while 43% would vote against it.

Now, that is a little misleading. The poll is not saying a majority of the respondents in all 50 states are in favor or marriage equality. What the poll is saying is a majority of the respondents across the country as a whole are in favor of marriage equality in all 50 states. Indeed, there is one region of this country were a majority of the respondents are bigoted and against equality. But even there, it is a bare majority. Can you guess where?

John Avalon says the GOP should emulate the new Pope Francis, who “hasn’t been afraid to challenge the entrenched interests that have sullied his church’s perception. His style of reaching out is just what might save the Republican Party.”

“Much of the modern Republican Party seems content preaching to a smaller and smaller choir. They seem, unfairly or not, more concerned with the head than the heart. Absolute faith in the power of tax cuts takes the place of alternative plans to alleviate poverty or expand the ranks of the middle class. This is not just a problem with communication; it is a problem with policy content that appeals outside the base.”

Speaking of Pope Francis, the Pontiff said that he will not judge priests for their sexual orientation.

“If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”

Indeed. Does the same go for women? Married men? Open up the Church, your Holiness.

Cumulus Media, the second-biggest radio broadcaster in the country, is planning to drop both Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity from its stations at the end of the year,” Politico reports.

“Cumulus has decided that it will not renew its contracts with either host, the source said, a move that would remove the two most highly rated conservative talk personalities from more than 40 Cumulus channels in major markets.”.

I guess conservative hate speech is no longer profitable.

The President, in an interview with the New York Times, is exactly right:

“There’s not an action that I take that you don’t have some folks in Congress who say that I’m usurping my authority. Some of those folks think I usurp my authority by having the gall to win the presidency.”

Indeed, there are some Republicans who consider it a violation of the Constitution for a Democrat to get elected to anything, let alone serve and assume office. I remember the same indignity shown towards Bill Clinton in the 1990’s, after he dared to interrupt the GOP’s once-thought iron clad hold on the White House and the electoral college. This same indignity has been shown to President Obama, but it has been instensified by the fact that Mr. Obama is black.