Free Republic

A newly-elected Republican Congressman is facing criticism after hiring a same-sex "marriage" supporter as his first Chief of Staff. Congressman-elect Tom Emmer is set to replace Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-MN, when the 114th Congress convenes in January. Just days after winning the race, however, Emmer picked one of his campaign consultants, outgoing state Rep. David FitzSimmons, as his highest-ranking staffer. FitzSimmons is one of four Republicans in the Minnesota House of Representatives to vote for same-sex "marriage" last year. "The state has gone through a lot of controversy over this issue recently, and state Rep. FitzSimmons was a major player...

Roll Call "Political Wire" editor Taegan Goddard selected a drawing by liberal Arizona Daily Star political cartoonist David Fitzsimmons for his August 1 "Cartoon of the Day." The cartoon (embedded after the page break) depicts a battle-scarred U.S. Capitol and White House in 1942 outside of which Nazi and Japanese Empire flags fly in lieu of the Stars and Stripes. A speech balloon coming from the Capitol dome reads, "At least we didn't go into debt," while the caption reads "If Congress had passed the Tea Party's Balanced Budget Amendment in 1940."