Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were charged Tuesday with illegally accepting gifts, luxury vacations and large loans from a wealthy Richmond-area businessman who sought special treatment from state government.

Authorities alleged that for nearly two years, the McDonnells hit up executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr. again and again, lodging near constant requests for large loans, clothes, trips, golf accessories and private plane rides.

In exchange, authorities allege, the McDonnells worked in concert to lend the prestige of the governorship to Williams’ struggling company, a small former cigarette manufacturer that now sells dietary supplements.

Republican Rep. Gordon Denlinger, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Fiscal Policy, an elder in the Zeltenreich Reformed Church of New Holland, Pa., is circulating a memo seeking co-sponsors for his effort.

"Specifically, I plan to propose a new section in Article I - the Pennsylvania 'bill of rights' - that will prohibit government from punishing an individual or entity if the individual or entity makes hiring or other employment decisions, or provides services, accommodations (including housing accommodations), advantages, facilities, goods or privileges based on sincerely held beliefs," the memo says.

Denlinger calls his proposal the "Freedom of Conscience Amendment."

In other words, those whose conscience suggests that they act contrary to nondiscriminatory statutes are free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, free at last to do so.

As Americans honored the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, a Republican candidate for Florida House District 68 said President Barack Obama should be hanged for war crimes.

"I'm past impeachment," Joshua Black wrote on Twitter. "It's time to arrest and hang him high."
[...]
Hours after the tweet, Black defended his comment. Obama should be held responsible for ordering a drone strike that killed a U.S. citizen overseas, he said.

"He should be executed for treason," Black said. "I think the appropriate punishment is death. They killed Benedict Arnold. (Obama) shouldn't be allowed to kill Americans without a trial."

Rep. Joe Fischer of Ft. Thomas says he believes abortion is a form of domestic violence.

“The most brutal form of domestic violence is the violence against unborn children. And, this particular bill would prohibit abortions after the fetus feels pain, which is 20 weeks and older," Fischer says.

It’s a claim that most scientists find dubious...

Missouri Republicans have drafted a bill that would allow parents to pull their children from science classes that are teaching the theory of evolution. According to the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), Missouri’s House Bill 1472 would effectively “eviscerate” the teaching of biology in the state.