Political Ruminations

Morning Quote: Claire McCaskill

On Morning Joe today, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo) discussed how far to the right her challenger, Todd Akin (R), actually is by noting that in contrast, Michele Bachmann, with her odd assortment of completely crazy-ass views, looks like a “hippie”:

“I mean, this is somebody who kind of makes Michele Bachmann look like a hippie.”

If you’re unfamiliar with Todd Akin, he’s the guy who differentiates between “rape” and “legitimate rape”. Akin is a certified member of the He-Man Woman Haters Club, so ladies, if you have a few bucks to spare, help Sen. McCaskill beat this guy by donating to her re-election fund!

Adding…yesterday, Akin accused Sen. McCaskill of not being as “ladylike” as she was in 2006. Republicans, after insisting that Akin drop out of the race at the time he made his controversial comments about women and their ladyparts, they are back on board with supporting this woman hating Neanderthal. Yet another reason why we can not allow McCaskill to lose.

Sen. Roy Blunt Flip-Flops on Akin

On Tuesday, Missouri’s Republican Senator Roy Blunt released a statement in support of Todd Akin, aka the “legitimate rape” guy, contradicting his stance on Akin last August:

“Congressman Akin and I don’t agree on everything, but he and I agree the Senate majority must change. From Governor Romney to the county courthouse, I’ll be working for the Republican ticket in Missouri, and that includes Todd Akin.”

But, geez, back in August, Sen. Blunt was just so eager to get Akin out of government:

“Todd needs to get out of this race…it’s not helpful.”

Today, it seems, Republicans are more concerned about their determination to win a majority in the Senate. According to Nate Silver, that likelihood is pretty slim.

RELATED POSTS:

+ Todd Akin and Paul Ryan in the He-Man Woman Haters Club
+ Republican War on Women

+ Paul Ryan + Todd Akin Sympatico on Women's Reproductive Rights

+ Quote of the Day: Steve King
+ Morning Quote: Todd Akin

Morning Quote: Todd Akin

Over the weekend, the right wing nut job Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo) talked up his position re abortion, which is he wouldn’t condone abortion even for cases of rape or incest:

“First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

“Legitimate rape”…..wah????

There you have it. Another crazy trying to get elected to the Senate (as if we didn't already have way too many of them in the House), in his case, attempting to unseat Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo), and ahead in the polls.

Oh, and by the way, on the non-rarity of pregnancies occurring as a result of rape,  TPM notes that “a 1996 study by the American Journal of Obstetricians and Gynecologists found “rape-related pregnancy occurs with significant frequency” and is “a cause of many unwanted pregnancies” — an estimated “32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year.””.

UPDATE: Outraged as I was by Akin’s reference to “legitimate”  rape,  I obviously didn’t touch on the other part of Akin’s statement, you know, the one where he claims that women have magical powers or something that can prevent them from becoming pregnant if it’s a “legitimate rape”. 

There are times lately when I have to wonder if I’m living in an alternate universe. Really.

Scott Brown + Mitt Romney Are BFFs

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Ma) has been making strong efforts to cozy up to President Obama in order to distance himself from Mitt Romney and GOP branding, since, well, since it’s highly unlikely that Mitt will win the general election. In fact, recent polls show that the likelihood of President Obama winning re-election is 85-99%.

So, here’s this great video showing the reality of the relationship between Mitt Romney and Scott Brown......why, they’re best friends!  Watch:

Sen. Scott Brown Cozying Up to President Obama

MSNBC’s First Read on Sen. Scott Brown’s (R-Ma) efforts to back away from Romney and GOP branding, emphasis mine:

It’s not every day you see this kind of press release from a Republican senator: “Two major pieces of legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) will be signed into law by President Obama at White House ceremonies this week. As the first to introduce both the STOCK Act and crowdfunding legislation in the Senate, Senator Brown was invited and will attend both signing ceremonies. ‘I’m honored to receive these invitations from President Obama and I look forward to standing next to him as he signs these bills into law.’” So we’ve seen likely Democratic opponent Elizabeth Warren star in Obama’s campaign documentary. And now Brown is shouting from the mountain top that he’ll be standing next to Obama at signing ceremonies this week. Brown has two major hurdles to overcome if he’s going to win a full term: One, he’s trying to win as a Republican in a blue state during a presidential year. And two, how does he avoid getting defined by Romney? Well, we see what Brown is TRYING to do, have photo-ops with Romney’s opponent. Here’s betting we see Brown use his appearances at these signing ceremonies in TV ads while trying like mad to avoid appearances with Romney.

Actually, Brown is running as an Independent  in Massachusetts, against a real champion of the middle class, Democrat Elizabeth Warren. The Koch brothers have contributed heavily to Brown’s campaigns.

Need any more be said?’

UPDATE: Brown + Romney = BFF’s!

Breaking: Sen. Snowe Will Not Seek Re-election

One of very few moderate Republicans left in the Senate, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) will not seek re-election in 2012:

In a statement issued by her campaign, Snowe said that both she and her husband, former Gov. John R. McKernan, are in good health and she is certain she would have won re-election.

One of a dwindling group of GOP Senate moderates, Snowe said she no longer wanted to serve in an increasingly partisan and polarized Senate.
“As I have long said, what motivates me is producing results for those who have entrusted me to be their voice and their champion,” Snowe said in a statement. “I do find it frustrating, however, that an atmosphere of polarization and ‘my way or the highway’ ideologies has become pervasive in campaigns and in our governing institutions.”

Quote of the Day: John McCain Bashes Harry Reid for Living in a Fancy Apartment

Campaigning for Sharron Angle in Nevada on election day, John McCain bashed Harry Reid for living in a penthouse apartment. I know. Unbelieveable.

We are going to kick Harry Reid out of his penthouse at the Ritz-Carlton and send him back to [his hometown of] Searchlight!

Yet  another sign of the terrible incongruity inherent in this election season.

After all, this is the man who famously couldn’t remember how many houses he owns when he was asked during his 2008 campaign for the presidency.

Oh noes….Look, the Mother Country is laughing at us! And with good reason. The Guardian [emphasis mine]:

This has been, perhaps above all else, the election campaign in which hypocrisy became so audaciously unashamed that it seemed to lose all meaning as a concept. Is there still any point condemning a politician for not practicing what they preach when the anti-establishment movement galvanizing the American right is funded by unprecedented floods of establishment cash? So perhaps it's par for the course, as opposed to jaw-dislocatingly outrageous, to hear John McCain, campaigning in Nevada for the Tea Partier Sharron Angle, mock her opponent, Harry Reid, for – and please, make sure you're sitting down – residing in fancy apartments.

I can agree with that. The Right Wing’s hypocrisy has become “audaciously unashamed”.

Adding…. For the record, Sharron Angle has also been bashing Reid for his fancy apartment. If she wins, she had better live in a hovel in Virginia or Maryland.

HT Bob Cesca

VIDEO: Who is Secretly Buying Our Elections?

Chilling. And as someone else said [can't remember exactly who], this election is for all of the marbles. VOTE.

 

Morning Quote

Sharron Angle denies the existence of the doctrine of the separation of church and state in an interview with John Ralston:

RALSTON: The separation of church and state arises out of the Constitution.

ANGLE: No, it doesn't, John.

RALSTON: Oh it doesn't? Oh, the Founding Fathers didn't believe in the separation of church and state, the Establishment Clause, the First Amendment?

ANGLE: Actually, Thomas Jefferson has been misquoted, like I've been misquoted out of context. Thomas Jefferson was actually addressing a church and telling them through his address that there had been a wall of separation put up between the church and the state precisely to protect the church

RALSTON: So there should be no separation.

ANGLE: To protect the church from being taken over by a state religion. And that's what they meant by that.

UPDATE: Victim of Attack by Rand Paul Campaign Coordinator Speaks Out

You can view the video of the attack here. 

UPDATE 1 - The man who stomped on Lauren Valle's head and neck is Tim Profitt, a campaign coordinator from the Paul campaign. Mike Pezzano, mentioned in my original post, is the man who held Valle down. From Talking Points Memo:

The Rand Paul campaign has just severed ties with their Bourbon County coordinator -- a man by the name of Tim Profitt -- who has identified himself as the supporter who stomped on the head and neck of a MoveOn activist outside of the Senate debate in Lexington, KY last night, according to Fox News.

UPDATE 2 - Valle has a concussion and a sprained arm. From The Washington Post:

She has told MoveOn officials that she suffered a concussion and sprained shoulder and arm, a MoveOn spokesperson confirms.

The woman, Lauren Valle of MoveOn, had approached Paul and tried to give him an "employee of the month" award from a fake company called Republicorp, when Paul supporters dragged her to the ground and stepped on her head and shoulder.

UPDATE 3 - The Tea Party Republicans who felt the need to tackle and stomp on a woman are pathetically unmanly, and should be sitting in a jail cell.

Our remedy, as a group, is to VOTE. Drag everyone you know to the polls with you, and vote Democratic. Not voting is just another way of casting your ballot, but for a Republican.

From HuffPost:

On Tuesday, Lauren Valle spoke for the first time since being thrust into the center of an alarming campaign fracas. Valle said that she recognized the Paul supporters who went after her and felt frightened almost immediately after they claimed they were there to do "crowd control." Her treatment, she said, was "premeditated."

“I have been at a bunch of events before, the previous debate, and the Rand Paul campaign knows me and they have expressed their distastes for my work before. What happened last night was that about five minutes before Rand Paul's car arrived they identified me and my partner, Alex, who was with me. They surrounded me. There was five of them. They motioned to each other and got behind me. My partner Alex heard them say 'We are here to do crowd control we might have to take someone out.'”

“When Rand Paul's car arrived a couple of them stepped in front of me so I stepped off the curb to get around them to get back out front. At that point they started grabbing for me and I ran all the way around the car with them in pursuit. The footage is after I've run all the way around the car and I'm in front of the car and that is when they took me down. One or two people twisted my arms behind my back and took me down... It was about two-to-three second after that that another person stomped on my head. And I lay there for 20 seconds or so and my partner Alex came and got me up and that's the point where there is the media clip of me speaking.”

A spokesman for the Lexington Police Department said on Tuesday afternoon that "Mr. Profitt is currently being served with a criminal summons ordering him to appear before a Fayette County District Court Judge."

Teabagger Rand Paul Supporters Attack MoveOn Activist at Rally Last Night

This is horrifically awful. One of the teabaggers even stomped on her head. Stunning use of brute force by Tea Party thugs.

One of the perpetrators was identified as Mike Pezzano, a Kentucky open carry advocate, and a Rand Paul supporter.

These men should go to jail, but it isn't likely to happen. I guess only the right wing has first ammendment rights now.

Digby:

Look for Breitbart and the boyz to say she "provoked" the crowd by being there and got what she deserved.

Adding.....these creeps also indulged themselves in a little bre@st [the use of the @ is to fool google, which shuts you out of safe search if the word is used] fondling when they were pushing her to the ground. Scum.

via Bob Cesca

ht IntoxiNation

Further updates

UPDATE: 2010 Closest Senate Races: 538 Forecasts for Senate Outcomes

The races have tightened, and Nate Silver's forecasts indicate that Democrats can expect a very different Senate in 2011. Tea Party GOP candidates, including extremists Sharron Angle [NV], Joe Miller [AK], Pat Toomey [PA], and Rand Paul [KY], have the potential to move our politics even further right. So far right that these people could never have won prior to this election due to their extremist positions on a wide variety of policies.

Three more states were added to the list of close races; Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Illinois.

CALIFORNIA	Projected Vote	Chances of Winning
BOXER	50.7%	84%
FIORINA	46.4%	16%

WASHINGTON	Projected Vote	Chances of Winning
MURRAY	52.1%	84.6%
ROSSI	47.9%	15.4%

KENTUCKY	Projected Vote	Chances of Winning
PAUL	53.0%	88.3%
CONWAY	47.0%	11.7%

NEVADA	Projected Vote	Chances of Winning
ANGLE	49.6%	66.8%
REID	47.7%	33.2%

COLORADO	Projected Vote	Chances of Winning
BUCK	48.9%	68.1%
BENNET	45.6%	54.4%

ALASKA	Projected Vote	Chances of Winning
MILLER	38.9%	68.4%
MURKOWSKI	33.9%	27.5%
MCADAMS	4.1%	5%

ILLINOIS	Projected Vote	Chances of Winning
KIRK	49.3%	65.6%
GIANNOULIAS	47.6%	34.4%

WEST VIRGINIA	Projected Vote	Chances of Winning
MANCHIN	49.7%	66.3%
RAESE	47.9%	33.7%

PENNSYLVANIA	Projected Vote	Chances of Winning
TOOMEY	52.0%	84.0%
SESTAK	48.0%	16.0%

Blech.

Morning Quote

The Republican candidate for the Senate in Nevada, Sharron Angle, speaking to a group of Hispanic students last week. She tells them that they look a little Asian. ack.

So that's what we want is a secure and sovereign nation and, you know, I don't know that all of you are Latino. Some of you look a little more Asian to me. I don't know that. [Note: it's the Hispanic Student Union. The whole room is Hispanic teenagers.] What we know, what we know about ourselves is that we are a melting pot in this country. My grandchildren are evidence of that. I'm evidence of that. I've been called the first Asian legislator in our Nevada State Assembly

The Asian thing appears to have come out of nowhere. She is not Asian.

She does have one daughter-in-law who is Hispanic.

Note to Harry Reid: I will never forgive you if this batshit crazy woman wins your seat!

 

Joe Miller: Communist East Germany is a Good Example of a Nation That Achieved Border Security

Miller made this comment during the same forum where his guards thugs handcuffed the founder and editor of an online magazine, Tony Hopfinger, because Miller didn’t like the questions he was asking. Miller’s thugs held Hopfinger until police intervened. Very creepy on both counts. The Anchorage Daily News:

The scuffle between the editor of Alaska Dispatch and Joe Miller's security guards at a public forum in Anchorage late Sunday is getting much national attention today. Getting lesser but growing attention is Miller's answer at the forum to a question from the audience about how he would deal with illegal immigration. Anchorage blogger Steve Aufrecht was there and is among those today who are criticizing Miller's response that Communist East Germany is a good example of a nation achieving border security. He quotes Miller as saying: "The first thing that has to be done is secure the border. ... East Germany was very, very able to reduce the flow. Now, obviously, other things were involved. We have the capacity to, as a great nation, secure the border. If East Germany could do it, we could do it."

Well then.

2010 Closest Senate Races: 538 Forecasts for Senate Outcomes

CALIFORNIA	Projected Vote	Chances of Winning
BOXER	51.3%	86%
FIORINA	45.8%	14%

WASHINGTON	Projected Vote	Chances of Winning
MURRAY	50.8%	78.3%
ROSSI	46.7%	21.8%

KENTUCKY	Projected Vote	Chances of Winning
PAUL	51.7%	85.7%
CONWAY	45.7%	14.3%

NEVADA	Projected Vote	Chances of Winning
ANGLE	48.9%	55.7%
REID	48.3%	44.4%

COLORADO	Projected Vote	Chances of Winning
BUCK	49.8%	68.1%
BENNET	47.5%	31.9%

ALASKA	Projected Vote	Chances of Winning
MILLER	39.7%	73.8%
MURKOWSKI	32.8%	21.2
MCADAMS	26.5%	5%

UPDATE - OCTOBER 26

Joe Miller’s Thugs aka Guards, Arrest a Reporter at Town Hall Event

So much for the First Amendment.

A week ago, Miller announced that he would no longer answer questions from the press. Yesterday, he employed what I would certainly call fascist tactics at a public town hall meeting.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that Tony Hopfinger, who founded and edits "Alaska Dispatch," was arrested by Miller's private guards at an Anchorage school. The senate hopeful was on hand as part of a town hall event…..

According to the Alaska Dispatch:

Hopfinger had been trying to ask Miller questions when two or three guards told him to leave or risk being charged with trespassing.

When Hopfinger continued to try to ask questions, one of the guards put the reporter in an arm-bar and then handcuffed him.

Hopfinger was released after police arrived.

The reporter was on public property where a public event was being held at the time of the incident.

Anchorage Police freed Alaska Dispatcher editor Tony Hopfinger from Senate candidate Joe Mlller's body guards at Central Middle School early Sunday evening. Sergeant Mark Rein of the Anchorage Police Department said Hopfinger is not in custody or under arrest.

Hopfinger had been trying to ask Miller questions when two or three guards told him to leave or risk being charged with trespassing.

When Hopfinger continued to try to ask questions, one of the guards put the reporter in an arm-bar and then handcuffed him.

Hopfinger was released after police arrived.

The reporter was on public property where a public event was being held at the time of the incident.

Miller has been adamant about his desire to avoid talking to the Alaska media, but no one in the working press in Alaska has ever before seen a candidate go to this length to avoid questions.

---

UPDATE : Miller's campaign released a statement in which they claim that they didn't know that Hopfinger was a reporter, that he just appeared to be a threat to the candidate.

It is also important to note that the security personnel did not know that the individual they detained was a blogger who reporting on the campaign. To them, the blogger appeared irrational, angry and potentially violent.

But the Alaska Daily News claims otherwise:

While Hopfinger was still in handcuffs, the guards attempted to prevent other reporters from talking to him and threatened them too with arrest for trespass.

This is what you can look forward to if you elect Tea Party candidates such as Joe Miller, Sharon Angle, Rand Paul, et al.

For what it's worth, I'm hearing rumors that Hopfinger is a Conservative, and that the guards were bragging about being ex-Blackwater thugs.

UPDATE 2:

Full story now here, and you can view the rather ugly video here.

Morning Quote

During a debate last week between Chris Coons and Christine O’Donnell, the two Senatorial candidates in Delaware, O’Donnell, the GOP candidate, seemingly had little to say when asked by the moderator to name a recent Supreme Court decision that she disagreed with. O’Donnell:

Oh gosh. Give me a specific one ... I'm very sorry right off the top of my head, I know that there are a lot but, uh, I'll put it up on my website I promise you.

Shades of Palin and Couric, and the utter ignorance expressed by an actual candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Morning Quote

Sharron Angle alluding to armed insurrection during an interview in January with right wing radio show host, Lars Larson in Portland, Oregon. Larson asked her where she stands on Second Amendment issues, and this was Angle’s response:

You know, our Founding Fathers, they put that Second Amendment in there for a good reason and that was for the people to protect themselves against a tyrannical government. And in fact Thomas Jefferson said it's good for a country to have a revolution every 20 years.

I hope that's not where we're going, but you know if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies and saying my goodness what can we do to turn this country around? I'll tell you the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out

She’s your typical Republican these days. A few years ago, she would have been considered very fringe. She sounds like a hick, and she sounds like she’s putting out a hit on Harry Reid.

Quote of the Week: Rand Paul on Education

Rand Paul would not only like to abolish the Department of Education, but he does not want your kids thinking that "two mommies" in a family is acceptable or normal. Quote from the Kentucky Senate debate on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2010.

I would rather the local schools decide things. I don’t like the idea of somebody in Washington deciding that Susie has two mommies is an appropriate family situation and should be taught to my kindergardener at school. That’s what happens when we let things get to a federal level. I think I would rather have local school boards, teachers, parents, people in Paduka deciding about your schools and not have it in Washington.

 

Morning Quote

One of the dumbest remarks ever, by a guy who should definitely know better since as a former derivatives trader, he is intimately familiar with stock market fluctuations. Pat Toomey, the GOP candidate for the Senate in Pennsylvania, on social security privatization:

I would argue that you don’t really have to worry about a fluctuation in the stock market.

Via Bob Cesca

Chris Coons Ahead of O’Donnell in Delaware

Tea Party Republican Christine O’Donnell vs Democrat Chris Coons in Delaware, and Democrats are in the lead. Nate Silver with the good news:

Democrats are also close to closing out the race in Delaware, with new polls showing Chris Coons with leads of 17 and 19 percentage points over his controversial opponent, Christine O’Donnell, possibly expanding what had already been a double-digit lead. Like Ms. McMahon, Ms. O’Donnell’s campaign is flush with cash, thanks to a burst of donations from conservative and Tea Party activists following her victory in the Republican primary last month. But Ms. O’Donnell’s polling deficit will be difficult to overcome and the race is perhaps best considered a curiosity rather than an integral part of the Senate picture.

A word of caution. We can't afford to count Christine O’Donnell out in future elections. She is tenacious, and has lost elections in the past. She is someone to watch, if only so that we can kick O'Donnell and her nutjob views down the road in her future attempts at legitimacy.

Quote of the Weekend: Bob Cesca on Jim DeMint

Bob Cesca's response to Jim DeMint's [R-SC] stated positions on gays and unmarried women in the classroom:

“DeMint prefers a government small enough to fit into your bedroom.

Christine O'Donnell is a Big Spender

Christine O'Donnell is a Big Spender......on her own needs. When it comes to paying her staff, not so much. She didn't pay them. Yet....she wants Delaware voters to elect her to the U.S. Senate in November.

 

Tell Christine O'Donnell, "No, thanks"!

GOP's Nevada Candidate for the Senate, Sharron Angle, Mocks Health Care Coverage for Autism

Hey Tea Party People, this is your candidate in action. Like degrading victims of rape wasn't enough, now she thinks it's okay to go after people born with autism, even to the point of implying that it is not a "real" disease. Emphasis mine.

"Take off the mandates for coverage in the state of Nevada and all over the United States," she charged in making remarks that were captured on camera and now are being circulated by the Nevada State Democratic Party. "You know what I'm talking about. You're paying for things that you don't even need. They just passed the latest one, is everything that they want to throw at us now is covered under 'autism'."

In video shot of Angle making the criticism, she can be seen making air quotes as she says "autism."  [......]

 

Headline of the Year: “O’Donnell: No Witchcraft Since High School”

Oh. My. God.

This is what our country has now come to. Christine O’Donnell, a candidate for the U.S. Senate discussing her involvement in “witchcraft”.

Adding…. perhaps she and Palin can compare notes.

ht Bob Cesca

Thank You, Sarah Palin! Chris Coons FTW!

Unbelievably, Tea Party Liar, Christine O’Donnell, is poised to win Delawares’ Republican primary on Tuesday night.

It looks like there’s a real possibility of a major upset in the Delaware Senate primary on Tuesday night, with insurgent conservative Christine O’Donnell leading longtime Congressman and Governor Mike Castle 47-44. That 3 point lead is well within the poll’s margin of error.

Bob Cesca:

O'Donnell is a proven liar, and she was caught red-handed on the air by a conservative talk radio host. And that's on top of being an empty vessel.

The Washington Independent on the effect of Palin’s endorsement of O’Donnell:

Today a poll conducted over the weekend by Public Policy Polling puts O’Donnell ahead of the GOP backed Rep. Mike Castle 47% to 44%, a three point lead that is within the survey’s margin of error.

Not too much has changed for O’Donnell in the interim, with the exception of an endorsement from Sarah Palin on Thursday night and another show of support on Friday evening from Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) via Twitter, meaning these nods may be proving important:

Can we say it yet? Moderates no longer have any place in the Republican Party.

Also....

In the wake of the Palin endorsement in Delaware, another subplot is brewing. The Delaware GOP, which is backing Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) for the Republican Senate nomination, has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission that accuses Tea Party Express and their chosen candidate, Christine O’Donnell, of violating FEC coordination rules.

Adding…..

Listen to conservative talk radio host, Dan Gaffney, call O’Donnell out on her lies.

 

Alaska's GOP Senate Candidate Joe Miller Compares Sen. Lisa Murkowski to a Prostitute

Seriously, these people are so utterly moronic, it boggles the mind. Miller, the Teabagger endorsed by Palin, made the Tweet, then deleted it, but not before someone caught a screenshot, naturally.

Nice family values kinda guy/Republican/Teabagger. But hey, there's more. The tweet was deleted, Miller tweeted an apology, claiming it was a staffer who made the original tweet, and this time, I grabbed the screenshot. Just in case.

Sure it was a staffer. Just another low class Republican Moron.

Via @ShannynMoore on Twitter.

Rand Paul Gets Blasted by Kentucky Media

A must read if you're watching the state level races. Markos at Daily Kos reports on Rand Paul's major butt kicking by the state's newspapers.

Louisville Courier-Journal:

[T]he issue here is not whether Dr. Paul would be able to answer a “Jeopardy” question about Harlan's past. It's about whether an aspiring United States senator from Kentucky understands that coal is not, and never has been, just another industry in this state. When Dr. Paul speaks flippantly about how “accidents happen” — as he has in discussing mining fatalities — he betrays a lack of awareness of the tragic price in blood that has been paid for rapacious mining practices and inadequate regulation. And that's before one ponders the environmental predations associated with mining.