Saturday at the Texas Capitol, thousands (by mainstream media estimates) gathered to celebrate the war on women’s rights. Many had been bused in from around the state to reinforce the numbers in the notoriously liberal capitol city. Standing against them were a tiny group, Austin’s newly formed “Feminist Vigilante Gang.”

As disgusting as the Right’s ugly character attacks upon Trayvon Martin are, they are made even uglier by the cynical tactical thinking that motivates them. The Rush Limbaughs, Matt Drudges, and Michelle Malkins of the world know that blowing the racist dog whistle galvanizes white racist voters. And there are a lot of white racist voters, and all of them vote Republican.

I think we’re close to politicians calling for a nationwide foreclosure moratorium, including in non-judicial foreclosure states. The AFL-CIO is already there. One analyst told WaPo “Right now, there’s no question we’re headed into a moratorium period.”

The tipping point could be California, the largest state in the union but also one where a judicial sign-off is not required for foreclosures.

What comes next is cleanup, and a determination of damages. Though scientists believe that the Atlantic coast will be spared from oil pollution, the new PR push that the oil in the Gulf has somehow disappeared is just not true. In addition to plenty of patches of skimmable oil all over the Gulf, the use of dispersant – always with the go-ahead from the Coast Guard but well beyond EPA directives – has dissolved the oil but pushed it under the surface, into the water column and into the food supply of the Gulf Coast ecosystem. The dangers remain great.