With a blue “Tedstrong” bracelet around his wrist and 22 pens (19 to be handed out as souvenirs, two for posterity, and one for himself), President Barack Obama signed a health-care reform bill that will extend coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans. “This is a big fucking deal,” said Vice President Joe Biden. Republican lawmakers, not one of whom voted to pass the law, were outraged. Corey Poitier, a Florida GOP candidate for Congress, compared Obama to a Little Rascal: “Listen up, Buckwheat. This is not how it is done!” Poitier, who is black, defended the remark. “People love Buckwheat,” he said, then looked at his palms to prove he wasn’t racist. “This isn’t a spray tan. This is real.” Sarah Palin urged her supporters to act, Tweeting “Don’t retreat, instead—RELOAD!” A propane line was cut at the house of Representative Tom Perriello’s (D., Va.) brother after right-wing bloggers mistakenly identified the home as that of the congressman; a coffin was left in front of Representative Russ Carnahan’s (D., Mo.) house; a Minnesota congresswoman received a letter containing an unwrapped condom and reading, “Betty McCollum, you’ve been dry fucked by the liberal party”; and an anonymous caller told the anti-abortion Representative Bart Stupak (D., Mich.), “I hope you bleed out your ass, got cancer and die, you motherfucker.” A Texas newborn with a heart defect was denied health insurance because of his pre-existing condition.

Rafe Bartholomew, Harper’s Weekly Review*