Quote Unquote: The History of Marriage

Sen. Al Franken in response to Sen. Chuck Grassley's testimony against the Respect for Marriage Act (not to be confused with the Defense of Marriage Act, which the Respect for Marriage Act is seeking to repeal)…

"I just believe you misstated the history of marriage. Marriage has not existed as a union between one man and one woman for thousands of years in every culture. In many cultures, men have been able to marry many women and even young girls. For centuries, women were treated as chattel in marriage. Further, if the religious purpose for marriage is procreation, why would we sanction marriage between an 89 year-old widower and an 80 year-old widow? I just think we need to be accurate when we talk about the history of man and woman and the history of our institutions."

"So, essentially this means that the Respect for Marriage Act is an attempt by the liberals to take away an elderly person's right to get married." — Guy Who Purposefully Misunderstands Easy-to-Grasp Concepts

Tags: Al Franken, Chuck Grassley, DOMA, LGBT, Marriage Equality, Quote Unquote, Senate

The Daily Show on the Fall of Muammar Qaddafi

I'm gonna have to say that if the news of your violent death causes nationwide celebration in the country you ruled and praise for France from U.S. Republicans, you're probably doing something wrong.

Coverage continues with John Oliver and Libyan Ambassador Ali Suleiman Aujali after the jump.

The Daily Show airs Monday through Thursday at 11/10c.

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Tags: Barack Obama, Chuck Grassley, Condoleezza Rice, Fox, Hillary Clinton, John Bolton, John McCain, John Oliver, Jon Stewart, Libya, Marco Rubio, Muammar Qaddafi, Steve Doocy, The Daily Show, Video

Chuck Grassley Wants to Come Between Barack Obama and His Doctor

"Reconciliation" of the health care legislation took place in the Senate late last night, but that's a terrible word for what happened — maybe someone should revise the title of the bill to "the Health Care and Education GOP Punching Bag Act."

In the end, Democrats defeated more than two dozen amendments aimed at weakening/destroying/rewriting health care reform, and the GOP was only able to nitpick apart a couple minor provisions relating to the distribution of Pell education grants. Our friend Chuck Grassley, previously riding a high from all his successful work on health care, saw one of his own amendments get struck down…

Under another proposal, offered by Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), Obama and members of Congress would have been required to buy insurance through state-run exchanges that were created by the legislation and that will start in 2014. The amendment failed, but the White House announced that Obama would use the exchanges anyway, apparently assuming he will win reelection in 2012. That prompted Grassley to quip: "This is a little presumptuous."

Indeed.

Now that health care reform has passed, how can President Obama assume anyone will even be alive to vote in 2012?

Tags: Barack Obama, Chuck Grassley, Health Care, Republicans, Senate

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley Takes Well-Deserved Credit for Health Care/Grandmom Killing Bill

Can you guess the first (of, almost certainly, many) Republican legislator to come out and publicly take credit for the recently passed health care reform bill that a grand total of zero of them voted for and that they are even now using their best kindergarten tactics to try to derail?

If you said Sen. Chuck Grassley — proud Cassandra of the death panel horrors — then you're either a genius or you read the headline of this post…

In the memo send out to reporters by his staff on on the Senate Finance Commitee, Grassley claims that the bill will ensure that "Congress, the IRS, and the public will now have additional tools and information to ensure that charitable hospitals act charitably."

There's a reason the bill is so good when it comes to hospitals, Grassley's staff writes — bipartisanship.

"The health care legislation signed into law yesterday includes provisions Grassley co-authored to impose standards for the tax exemption of charitable hospitals for the first time," his Finance Committee press staff writes.

Well, at least Obama is finally getting the bipartisan support he so desperately wanted.

Tags: Chuck Grassley, Health Care, Senate

Rachel Maddow on Rick Warren's Misrepresentation Driven Video

Yesterday, in a very Christian-like manner, Rick Warren posted an open-video message to Uganda, asking them to please!!! please!!! not use his name while murdering gay people. (Oh, and also, please don't murder of gay people.)

Rachel Maddow examines some of the claims the good pastor makes…

Tags: Chuck Grassley, James Inhofe, LGBT, MSNBC, Rachel Maddow, Rick Warren, The Family, Uganda