Rep. Paul Ryan says he was misunderstood, mischaracterized. Now he says he was “inarticulate” in his discussion of a cultural aversion to work afflicting men in American “inner cities.” It is true that even for those operating in good faith the topic of entrenched poverty in socially and economically isolated urban areas can be treacherous to navigate. Persistent joblessness creates social ills that build upon themselves – isolation from capital, educational opportunities, being around persistent violence all reinforce each other. And none lead to anything good. But Ryan can’t get any pass because he simply doesn’t fit into this group of people operating in anything like good faith.
We’re holding a live chat about the latest developments on net neutrality policy (or the lack thereof) in The Hive at 5:00 PM eastern. Answering your questions will be Lowell Peterson, executive director of the Writers Guild of America. Get your questions in now and join us at 5 PM.
GOP lawmaker in Ohio is pretty sure that “public education in America is socialism.” By the way, he’s the vice-chair of the Ohio House Education Committee.
Colin Powell wins the internet with epic 60 year old selfie. Look.
I’ve covered sexual assault in its various forms for years, and it’s always astonishing to me when myths about this phenomenon come up over and over again. One of the most persistent myths about rape in the public consciousness is “but what was she wearing?”
The question, while posing as an innocent inquiry, is about investigating if perhaps somehow the victim should shoulder part of the blame. Last night, Twitter user @Steenfox, whose real name is Christina Fox, busted this myth in a very real way. After getting into an argument with another Twitter user about this, she threw out this question to her followers:
Over at TPM Cafe today, Seth D. Michaels talks about how Paul Ryan is totally out out to lunch on poverty.
House GOP plots new hostage taking crisis to stop Obamacare.
President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act four years ago this month and yet here we sit going into the third national election since then with the political impact of the law still unresolved.
A few new data points today that show just how up for grabs the Obamacare narrative remains:
We’ve got all the latest Obamacare enrollment numbers mapped by state — and we’ve broken out separately the state-level enrollments in the 11 tightest Senate races.