In hardly shocking news, a Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll revealed that Southerners and Republicans buy into the birther nonsense more than anybody else. The poll asked a simple question “Do you believe Barack Obama was born in the United States or not?”

First by region. Note how Southerners are half as likely to believe Barack Obama is a citizen, while at least three times as likely to believe he is a foreigner, or they simply don’t have a clue.

Next by party affiliation. No real surprises here.

It seems that while perceived as a fringe movement from the outside, among Southerners, and by-and-large most Republicans, the birther movement is practically mainstream.

The poll did ask one other interesting question barely covered in the media reports. The question was “Do you believe that Africa and America were once a part of the same continent?” The results are shall we say, interesting…

Rep. Alcee Hastings (D) of Florida appeared on Rachel Maddow to discuss an amendment he introduced and then later withdrew at the urging of the White House, a measure which would have suspended funding of discharges under DADT, effectively shutting the policy down.

As many had feared, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made dramatic cuts to AIDS-related services in an effort to make up for a $489 million shortfall in the final California budget.

Calling the revised budget “kind of like the good, the bad, and the ugly,” Schwarzenegger used line-item veto power to make steep cuts in child welfare, child healthcare, and programs for the elderly, in addition to HIV/AIDS services. Though the governor’s office cited an overall $52 million in cuts to HIV programs, the California Department of Public Health’s Office of AIDS estimated the total figure will likely climb as high as $80 to $85 million.

“There are no general funds remaining for care and support [this year],” Michelle Roland, chief of the Office of AIDS, said in a Tuesday conference call with care providers. Some care programs will receive only one-fifth the funding compared to the last year, she said.

Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation responded to the cuts.

“With a single stroke of his blue pencil, Governor Schwarzenegger has terminated the state’s AIDS programs and, along with it, the lives of some of the state’s most vulnerable citizens. The Governor’s heartless act is not only deadly, but guaranteed to cost California taxpayers millions more in the future. With HIV testing programs sidelined and the state’s ability to prevent new infections stymied, new infections in California will increase—each new infection can mean up to $600,000 dollars in lifetime health care costs. A 100% cut to the Therapeutic Monitoring Program is the definition of penny-wise and pound-foolish—with the ability to monitor the effectiveness of lifesaving AIDS drugs hampered, the state’s already cash-strapped AIDS Drug Assistance Program will only end up spending more for drugs.”

It’s a sad day in California. Thanks to cuts like these and other draconian measures taken in this economic free fall, California seems well on its way to becoming a third world country.

As in poetry. Conan O’Brien brings William Shatner on the Tonight Show to read part of Palin’s farewell speech as the bad poetry it was meant to be. Priceless…

And more vocal stylings from the master thespian/poet in a great mashup featuring the Star Trek animated series and his track “Common People” from the album Has Been.