Yet more suggesting those assassinations of the prosecutor and DA in Kaufman, Texas are the work of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.
Remember the guy who’s suspected of assassinating the Colorado prisons chief just after being released from prison? Turns out he was released four years early because of a clerical error.
If you listen to the cable chat shows, you hear that Marco Rubio is the key player who is required to make immigration reform happen. Only that’s almost certainly not true. Immigration reform was pretty clearly going to happen without Rubio’s involvement, albeit quite possibly more painfully for the GOP. And even on top of that reality, at least so far, Tea Partiers in the House have ended up being considerably more flexible on the issue than many folks would have anticipated. Rubio’s not the one who’s going to make reform happen. If anything, he’s made himself the one best positioned, if he chooses, to kill it. Read More
Along the lines of turning the GOP ship off the 2012 course, lots of reasons why it might not be that easy. TPM Reader RY points to one key reason …
It’s revealing to note how often RNC members make news by uttering nutty, culturally anxious remarks. I’m sure TPM could call up a large number of such stories it has posted during the Obama years. (It might be an interesting exercise to do just that.)
Understanding Rubio and why he clings to the immigration reform escape hatch.
Let’s take another look at the immigration reform paradox I wrote about yesterday. I think these ultimately amount to different ways of explaining the same thing, but that this analysis might be better for heuristic purposes.
In a polarized two-party political system, it makes sense that big national policy reform ideas are often partisan. There are exceptions, obviously. But since only one party can ultimately reap a net electoral benefit from any single reform, it stands to reason that the other party would broadly oppose it. Immigration reform in 2013 violates this rule of thumb. Or at least it appears to. But when you put the emerging consensus in context it doesn’t seem quite so irrational. Read More
TPM Reader CC shares thoughts on the happenings out of Rome …
First, I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your respectful coverage of the historic events of the past month, which has seen the first papal abdication in six centuries, the election of the first Jesuit Pope, and all of the other firsts. I know that religion is not part of TPM’s normal beat, except where it intersects with the world of politics, but I am glad that you are recognizing the historic nature of the news out of Rome.
We’re very interested in what’s happening down in Kaufman County, Texas, where a prosecutor was gunned down in broad daylight at the end of January and then the DA and his wife were gunned down in the home over the weekend. What makes it especially chilling are suggestions that the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas may be behind the killings. Here’s our read on what we know so far.