The coal industry has taken incredible pains to make coal seem “clean,” “affordable,” and even “adorable.” In December, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity notoriously launched a campaign featuring animated lumps of coal singing Christmas carols. Now, the West Virginia Coal Association has posted six “Coal is West Virginia Ringtones.” Among the tunes are the “New Orleans Mix,” “Male Voice Choir (Up Tempo Mix),” and “Gospel Mix.” A sampling of the lyrics:

Coal is West Virginia,
Coal is me and you.
Coal is West Virginia,
We’ve got a job to do.
Coal is energy,
Coal is energy,
We need energy!

Yesterday, the DC Council overwhelmingly approved a bill recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states, by a vote of 12 to 1. It is the latest victory for LGBT rights, coming just days after the state legislatures in New Hampshire and Maine approved gay marriage, after Vermont became the fourth state to make gay marriage legal last month.

Marriage equality in the nation’s capitol, however, is too much for freshman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), who is refusing to let the issue “go softly into the night“:

“Some things are worth fighting for, and this is one of them,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (Utah), the ranking Republican on a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee that oversees the District. “It’s not something I can let go softly into the night. … I recognize the Democrats are in the majority, but I represent the majority of Americans on this issue.”

The City Desk noted Chaffetz’s Twitter explanation for why he would use Congress to intervene: “Why am I involved? Congress is set up to oversee the affairs of D.C. I am one of the Members of the relevant committee.”

Chaffetz’s disrespect for the District’s citizens by no means a new development. Opposing a bill to give DC residents a voting member in the House, Chaffetz insisted “the best” proposal was simply to give the city to Maryland:

The best alternative is retrocession of residential areas of D.C. back to Maryland, as was done with Arlington, Va. Under this option, D.C. residents would receive not only a vote in the House and two in the Senate, but a state legislature, a governor and many other benefits.

In March, Chaffetz railed, “Keep government limited, keep it out of our way, and empower the American people.” Apparently, he meant to add, “so long as they’re not gay.”

On “The Situation Room” this afternoon, former Bush counselor Ed Gillespie said that “it would be wrong” if President Obama looks at only women for potential Supreme Court nominees because he should be looking for “the most qualified candidates.” He explained that though Bush thought about nominating a woman to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, he just couldn’t find one with the requisite “temperament and intellect”:

BLITZER: You remember, your President — President Bush — he did find a woman, Harriet Miers, to be his nominee, and that didn’t exactly work out. Did he get gun shy after that?

GILLESPIE: He did not get gun shy after that, but I think that in the next round of the selection process, the person who emerged as clearly most qualified — really head and shoulders above others –was Samuel Alito, and there wasn’t a woman who was of a comparable experience and skill and temperament and intellect.

Watch it:

Matthew Yglesias has more on judicial qualifications.

Since Justice David Souter announced that he plans to retire from the Supreme Court, speculation kicked off about whether President Obama could potentially appoint the first openly gay Justice. Though Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the newly ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, says he would consider a gay nominee, Steve Benen points out that another GOP senator, John Thune, is adamantly opposed to the idea:

[C]onservative leaders have warned the nomination of a gay or lesbian justice could complicate Obama’s effort to confirm a replacement for Souter, and another Republican senator on Wednesday warned a gay nominee would be too polarizing.

“I know the administration is being pushed, but I think it would be a bridge too far right now,” said GOP Chief Deputy Whip John Thune. “It seems to me this first pick is going to be a kind of important one, and my hope is that he’ll play it a little more down the middle. A lot of people would react very negatively.”

Benen calls Thune’s declaration “transparent bigotry,” arguing that “Thune, as a practical matter, is establishing a litmus test — qualifications and merit are important, but homosexuality, regardless of any other factor, is more important. Why? Because Thune says so.”

After it was announced earlier this week that Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) would replace Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) as the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, bloggers, including ThinkProgress, noted that Sessions had a record of racial insensitivity that stopped his appointment to the federal bench in 1986. Now, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is hitting back at the blogs:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Republicans would fight back hard if Democrats or liberal groups try to make the Supreme Court confirmation process about Sessions’ record, rather than about Obama’s nominee to replace Justice David Souter.

“If people try to go down that road, it’ll blow up in their face, because Jeff is a good guy,” Graham said. “My hope is that our Democratic colleagues — if you start listening to the bloggers — if we’re going to let the bloggers run the country, then the country’s best days are behind us.”