It’s time for progressives to get out the popcorn.

CPAC is coming! Prepare your battleships, patriots. On March 14, the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference descends upon innocent Americans in order to spread the goodness of Dick Morris, movies sponsored by Citizens United and the liberty of fracking. Woo hoo!

But once again, there’s trouble in paradise, because once again, CPAC gave GOProud the boot. They invited Wayne La Pierre this year (along with Ralph Reed and conspiracy theorist Ben Shapiro) and last year, they had white supremacist John Derbyshire, but gays are too divisive.

Last year, GOPRoud was “kicked out” of CPAC because they are gay, according to GOProud Executive Director Jimmy LaSalvia. The gay conservatives are told they can come as individual registrants this year, but no booth. No seat at the figurative and literal table. Why? Because the loudest voices in the conservative movement don’t want RINOs; aka, no compromising just for a big tent. So, gay Republicans, you’re out.

To wit, the twitter wars:

More: CPAC: White Supremacists and Wayne LaPierre Are Welcome, but GOProud Is Banned

Dick Morris Pimps NRA conspiracy theory in his new book

mediamatters.org

The right-leaning Heritage Foundation has thrown cold water on the revival a conspiracy theory pushed on Fox News by contributor Dick Morris and the National Rifle Association that the United Nation’s Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is actually a sinister Obama administration plot to eliminate the right of private individuals to own a firearm.

During a Heritage Blogger Briefing, senior research fellow Ted Bromund stated, “I don’t think that the ATT is a gun confiscation measure for a variety of reasons. First, because I don’t regard that as within the bounds of possibility in the United States and secondly, because that is not what the text says.”

Bromund’s assessment is correct. The stated goal of the treaty is to regulate the international trade of firearms in order to prevent the diversion of arms to human rights abusers, and the most recent version of the treaty’s text expressly prohibits the regulation of firearm ownership within sovereign nations.

The preamble of the July 26 treaty draft clearly “reaffirm[s] the sovereign right and responsibility of any State to regulate and control transfers of conventional arms that take place exclusively within its territory, pursuant to its own legal or constitutional system.” Furthermore, the Department of State has stated that it will oppose any treaty that contains “restrictions on civilian possession or trade of firearms otherwise permitted by law or protected by the U.S. Constitution.”

Despite convincing evidence that the treaty seeks only to regulate international trade — and that any treaty limiting rights granted by the United States Constitution would be considered invalid — the conspiracy theory persists. Morris, who has pushed theory on Fox News, and NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, both dedicated space in their latest books to advance the claim

mediamatters.org

The Nate Silver Election  | American Journalism Review

Call it the Nate Silver election.

The New York Times’ acclaimed and assailed FiveThirtyEight blogger, who analyzes polls with his way-cool special algorithm, has been telling us for some time that President Barack Obama was going to win a second term.

This brought him all sorts of opprobrium from conservatives livid that he could be so blithely be predicting certain victory for the beleaguered incumbent when polls showed Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney were virtually tied in the popular vote.

But the critics were totally missing the point. Elections in this country are decided by the meshuganah electoral college. And those swing state polls were making it clear, although by the narrowest of margins, that Obama was going to once again be the One.

Silver, and much of the mainstream media, got it right. The polls were tight, but the analysis suggested correctly that Obama was going to win again. The much-maligned narrative wasn’t “skewed” — it was on target.

The obsessive focus on polls this time around was no doubt over the top. But given the tightness of the election, the intense passions surrounding it and insatiable thirst of so many to know who was going to win, I’m not sure it was a major war crime.

More

All the derp is below. I needn’t post a sample paragraph because the title says just how stupid this article is.

realclearpolitics.com

Meanwhile, Dave Weigel asks why The Hill (where this article first appeared) keeps featuring a clown like Dick Morris:

slate.com

From the May 11 edition of Fox News’ On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, via Media Matters for America

Sean Hannity went birther again today, this time discussing Robert Deniro’s slam of Donald Trump for his birther crusade. When it came time for Beckel’s turn to speak, the conversation came around to the likely Republican field, and when Hannity said that Morris had said this was “the strongest field he had ever seen,” Beckel is incredulous:

Beckel’s comments begin at 1:47, and his Morris slag at 2:18.

Morris isn’t crazy, he’s just wrong - and often dramatically wrong.

Another Day, Another Conservative Poll With Bad News For Scott Walker
Evan McMorris-Santoro | February 25, 2011, 3:05PM

A day after a conservative poll of Wisconsin showed voters there overwhelmingly opposed to Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) plan to eliminate collective bargaining for thousands of state workers, conservative stalwart Dick Morris dropped his own poll of the state showing a similar result.

Fifty-four percent of the respondents to Morris’ poll said they were opposed to eliminating collective bargaining. Just 41% said they favored it.

The voters Morris polled did want some changes made to the union worker’s compensation plan. Basically the same ones the union has already offered.

Continue reading.