Tuesday Links: Axe Cop for President

* If Axe Cop were president, it would be pretty awesome.

* Fox News loves wars, real or invented.

* The New Yorker's political cartoon of the day.

* John Boehner is really getting into political comedy.

* Another position paper from McSweeney's APMAG.

* Thankfully, "techno" is much easier to explain nowadays.

* An interview with Zach Kanin, creator of SNL's "Cool Drones."

* President Obama's liberal agenda includes bringing sexy back.

* How to preserve your Inauguration Day newspaper, you Luddite.

Tags: Boing Boing, Daily Links, Democrats, Drones, Energy & Oil, Fox News, John Boehner, Michelle Obama, Nick Offerman, Republicans, Roe v. Wade, Sara Bennicasa, SNL, Splitsider, The New Yorker, War on Christmas

Crazies Gave Roe v. Wade an Anniversary Present

Today marks the fortieth anniversary of the landmark abortion-rights decision Roe v. Wade. And just as it looked like the case was about to enter its midlife crisis phase of declining popularity and constant legal siege, it got a boost from an unlikely source.

According to an NBC poll, more than 50 percent of Americans believe abortion should legal in all or most cases, while 70 percent want Roe to be upheld.

Pollster Bill McInturff cited the candidacies of Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock as the catalyzers behind the surge in support for abortion rights:

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Tags: Abortion, Polls, Roe v. Wade, Women's Rights

Newt Gingrich Vows to Treat Judicial Branch Worse Than 2nd Wife

The good thing about being President of the United States is that you get to do whatever the hell you want to do all the time. No?

Oh, well maybe someone should tell Newt Gingrich…

Newt Gingrich has pledged that on his first day as president he will set up a constitutional showdown by ordering the military to defy a supreme court ruling extending some legal rights to foreign terrorism suspects and captured enemy combatants in US custody.

The Republican contender told a forum of anti-abortion activists ahead of South Carolina's primary election that as president he would ignore supreme court rulings he regards as legally flawed. He implied that would also extend to the 1973 decision, Roe vs Wade, legalising abortion.

"If the court makes a fundamentally wrong decision, the president can in fact ignore it," said Gingrich to cheers.

Well spit fire and save the matches! If only the Bush administration had known about this rule they could have completely ignored the judiciary so many times! And President Obama must have only just recently heard about it, having expanded the rule to include Congress.

At that same forum, Rick Perry (Retire In Peace) echoed Gingrich's desire to overturn Roe vs Wade, solidifying the premature end of his campaign by saying…

Think about 35,000 children every day are aborted in China. That country is destined for the ash heap of history unless it changes its values.

That probably went too far for Gingrich. No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Damning China to an ash heap disregards a lot of it's rich traditional history, for instance, taking a concubine.

Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Abortion, Barack Obama, China, George W. Bush, Guantanamo Bay, House of Representatives, Judiciary, Newt Gingrich, Roe v. Wade, Senate, Supreme Court

Hey Media, Stop Pestering Candidates with Reasonable Questions

The media is always attacking GOP candidates with unfair "gotcha" questions, like "Name a Supreme Court justice," "Tell us the last book you read" or "count to three."

But according to Fox News' Andrea Tantaros, there's a vile new trick question this election season. Apparently, reporters want to know where the candidates stand on outlawing birth control…

"This question about contraception, this is the new media 'gotcha' question, right? They're bombarding Rick Santorum with this question, and I would encourge the GOP candidates not to take the bait on this.

"The Supreme  Court already ruled on this in Griswold vs. Connecticut. They said that states can't do this, and that's what the candidates should say. But, really, George Stephanopoulos asking about contraception when we still have high unemployment? It's absolutely ridiculous."

The question of whether states can ban contraception is absurd! Contraception's working just fine, and the matter was already settled by the Supreme Court in 1965's Griswold v. Connecticut. Sure, Griswold established the infamous "right of privacy" that formed the basis of conservative bête-noire Roe v. Wade, and questioning the validity of Griswold serves as a dog-whistle to the pro-life Republican base. But it's just such a ridiculous question!

And no one's even trying to outlaw birth control these days anyway, except for Colorado, Mississippi and the half-dozen other states trying to push through embryonic "personhood" laws. The candidates shouldn't be forced to answer silly little questions that could actually impact the health of millions of women.

Let's just return to asking politicians about their favorite basketball football team.

Tags: Abortion, Catholic Church, Christianity, Fox News, George Stephanopoulos, Judiciary, Men and Women, Religion, Republicans, Rick Santorum, Roe v. Wade, Sex, Supreme Court

100% Pro-Life Herman Cain Provides Flawless Defense of Roe v. Wade

This is the most eloquent argument for a woman's right to choose whether or not to have an abortion that I've ever heard a staunchly "100% pro-life" Republican presidential front-runner ever make on national television…

"No, it comes down to it's not the government's role or anybody else's role to make that decision. Secondly, if you look at the statistical incidents, you're not talking about that big a number. So what I'm saying is it ultimately gets down to a choice that that family or that mother has to make.

"Not me as president, not some politician, not a bureaucrat. It gets down to that family. And whatever they decide, they decide. I shouldn't have to tell them what decision to make for such a sensitive issue."

Can you believe that some people are trying to swing his full-throated defense of a woman's right to choose as being pro-choice? Have you ever heard anything so crazy in your life?

Photo by Steve Pope/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Abortion, Herman Cain, Primaries, Republicans, Roe v. Wade