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Many of us have suspected this for a long time, but now we have proof:

Republicans Vote Against Moms; No Word Yet on Puppies, Kittens

On Wednesday afternoon, the House had just voted, 412 to 0, to pass H. Res. 1113, "Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day," when Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), rose in protest.

"Mr. Speaker, I move to reconsider the vote," he announced.

Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), who has two young daughters, moved to table Tiahrt's request, setting up a revote. This time, 178 Republicans cast their votes against mothers.

It has long been the custom to compare a popular piece of legislation to motherhood and apple pie. Evidently, that is no longer the standard. Worse, Republicans are now confronted with a John Kerry-esque predicament: They actually voted for motherhood before they voted against it.

In fairness, this was the result of procedural negativism, a continued attempt by the Republican minority to prevent any real work from being accomplished, so they can later accuse the Democratic majority of failing to stomp them hard enough get anything done, rather than being an actual vote against mothers. Rumor has it that at least half of the Republicans actually had mothers at one time, after all.

For all you mothers and children of mothers, Happy Mother's Day (even if you're not ina place that celebrates it)!

Another Spectacular Sports Story...

...this time, from Texas high school girls' track and field.

Her name is Bonnie Richardson. She represents Rochelle High School in Texas, competing in the 1A track and field team championships.

That is, she is the team. And this past week, over the course of two 90-degree-plus days, here's what she did:

[O]n Friday ... she won the high jump (5 feet, 5 inches), placed second in the long jump (18-7) and was third in the discus (121-0).

On Saturday, she won the 200 meters in 25.03 seconds and nearly pulled off a huge upset in the 100 before finishing second (12.19) to defending champion Kendra Coleman of Santa Anna. Richardson, a junior, earned a total of 42 team points to edge team runner-up Chilton (36).

It was a good thing the 1A events were split over two days because Richardson said the heat -- temperatures were in the high 90s both days -- might have knocked her down. She laughed off a suggestion that she could have won more if UIL rules didn't limit individual participation to five events.

More to the point, all of that activity won the team championship.

Solo.

It's been done before, but not since the 1970s, by Frank Pollard, who eventually played for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL.

Congratulations to Ms. Richardson, on a spectacular achievement. Let's hope it leads to as much continued success for her as it did for her predecessor in the role.