The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Like a lot of male Republican politicians, Idaho State Representative Vito Barbieri appears to be quite confused about the female body. With regard to a state bill which would ban doctors from providing abortion-inducing medication through telemedicine, the House State Affairs Committee heard three hours of testimony on Monday, which is when Representative Barbieri would soon make it known to the world that he knows as much about a woman's body as a fetus knows about the "Internets" (thanks, Dubya). Here's basically how the back-and-forth between Representative Barbieri and Dr. Julie Madsen, who opposes the bill, went: Dr. Madsen: "...Some colonoscopy patients may swallow a small device to give doctors a closer look at parts of their colon." Rep. Barbieri: "Can this same procedure then be done in a pregnancy? Swallowing a camera and helping the doctor determine what the situation is?" Dr. Madsen: "That would be impossible because swa...

Two months ago, it became legal for those with enhanced concealed-carry permits to bring guns onto college campuses in the state of Idaho. Well, earlier this week, the new law got off to a banging good start, as in front of 20 students in the Physical Science department, an Idaho State University professor's gun went off, shooting himself in the foot in the process. The injuries were said to be non-life threatening and it's uncertain at this time whether or not the professor will be charged with a misdemeanor for discharging a firearm within city limits. When asked about the situation, Idaho State University President Arthur Vailas said, "When they passed this law it was bound to happen. [The incident is] scary and embarrassing." While it doesn't appear as if the professor has made a statement regarding the matter yet, I can only imagine that when he does, he'll say this: "Never in my life did I think I'd be able to tell people that I shot myself ...

President Obama reported not long ago that when the government shutdown finally ended, he'd work on passing immigration reform. Here's what Republican Idaho Representative Raul Labrador said to the Huffington Post about the matter: "For us to go to a negotiation, to the negotiating table with President Obama after what he has done over the last two and a half weeks, I think would be probably a very big mistake." It gets better from there. He then continued by saying this: "I think what he (Obama) has done over the past two and a half weeks - he's trying to destroy the Republican Party. I think that anything we do right now with this president on immigration will be with that same goal in mind, which is to destroy the Republican Party and not to get good policies." Sadly, it appears as if some House Republicans won't learn a thing about the shutdown it enabled. President Obama hasn't set out to destroy the Republican Party. He doesn'...

Want to hear (or read, I suppose) something funny? Republican Idaho Representative Raul Labrador recently made the following statement: "It's absolutely false that the GOP sought an Obamacare repeal. We have never asked for a full repeal of Obamacare..." Yet the following press release can be found on the representative's own website: "Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) announced today that he is a cosponsor of a resolution introduced by Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) to fund the government for Fiscal year 2014 while fully delaying and defunding Obamacare until 2015. The Graves resolution - which has 59 cosponsors - would prevent a government shutdown from taking place after September 30, 2013, when current funding for the government expires. 'If there's any single issue that can unite House Republicans and has the strong support of the American people, it's getting rid of ObamaCare,' said Rep. Labrador." No, the GOP never wanted to repeal Obamacare; ...

Sheryl Nuxoll - Republican Idaho State Senator - just recently stated that the states, through the electoral college, can still refuse to election President Barack Obama to a second term in office, while giving the next four years to Republican nominee Mitt Romney. What is Nuxoll's reasoning? She said that the "states are going to have to stand up for our individual rights and for our collective rights," because Obama is "depriving us of our freedoms." Of course, she's wrong. As even the wacky right-wing conspiracy website World Net Daily noted, "Since this column was posted it has been discovered that the premise presented about the Electoral College and the Constitution is in error. According to the 12th Amendment, a two-thirds quorum is required in the House of Representatives, not the Electoral College." What I find both so appalling, yet hilarious, is the fact that Nuxoll is asking the states to take away the voters' rights - you kno...