The Friday Political Thread: Gay Pedophiles and Tears Edition

Hey, did anything happen this week? Ah, yes:

– Hillary Clinton won the New Hampshire primary because of (pick any two): Barack Obama calling her "likeable enough" in the final debate, shock jocks heckling her about laundry, Clinton herself crying in a diner, or the marrow-deep racism of New Hampshire Democrats.

– John McCain won the New Hampshire primary because he got to run against Mitt Romney.

– McCain's victory gave him an uptick in national and state primary polls. Clinton got no such boost, and Obama won the endorsements of mighty Nevada unions, John Kerry, and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano.

– The New Republic reported on many years of Ron Paul's newsletters, containing more racist, homophobic and conspiratorial passages than had ever been publicized up to now.

Quote of the week:

"Within many of our own lifetimes, a man who looked like Barack Obama had a difficult time even using the public restrooms in our state. What is happening may well say a lot about America, and I do think as an early primary state we should earnestly shoulder our responsibility in determining how this part of history is ultimately written."—South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R)

Below the fold…

– As John McCain gets set to win the Michigan primary, Henry Payne pokes around in his environmental record.

– Lawrence O'Donnell compares John Edwards to Bull Conner, or something.

– Max Blumenthal takes a close look at Mike Huckabee's holy pals.

– Phil Klein discovers that it takes a woman to run a nanny state.

– Steve Sailer criticizes Christopher Hitchens criticizing Barack Obama.

This week's Politics 'n' Prog, in keeping with the themes of crying and severe depression, comes to us from Marillion. (If you're not crying halfway in, check out the outfit sported by mini-Fish.)