Kagro in the Morning - April 18, 2013

Tough news everywhere today, from the Senate floor to West, Texas. We spent a little more time clearing up issues of procedure, and pointed out that maybe Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey, both conservatives, have a little bit of thinking to do about who supports you when you go out on a limb to do what you think is the right thing, and who leaves you hanging out to dry. Turns out that Republicans aren't just opposed to collecting, studying and disseminating data about gun injuries. They also oppose it when it comes to Twinkies. Rep. Aaron Schock declares in an op-ed in Politico that food and beverage makers "shouldn't have to worry" about "their tax money" being used by the government to "attack" their products. Good corporate PR is now a government entitlement. The attacks in Boston give rise to renewed inquiry into the nature of terrorism, and the political symbolism of using the word.