I actually got some sleep last night, but I’m still feeling pretty pooped. I’m cleaning and waiting for my grocery delivery so I can put them away. I’d like to spend some time in the sun, but the elevator is out of commission. I hope it’s fixed, before Store to Door gets here, so the volunteer does not have to lug them up two flights of steps.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:04 (average 4:54). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From The New Yorker: Koch Industries is defending its acquisition of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker against charges that it overpaid for the Midwestern politician.
After co-owner David Koch revealed that Walker had become a wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries, he set off a firestorm of criticism that the company had spent too much for a worthless asset.
“There was absolutely no bidding war for Walker,” an industry analyst familiar with the market value of politicians said. “Even Sheldon Adelson had no interest in acquiring him.”
While Koch Industries did not disclose the purchase price of the Walker subsidiary, it said that Koch Industries would spend nine hundred million dollars between now and November, 2016, for a variety of upgrades to the Wisconsin governor.
Andy should have added that, even if they paid only fifty cents for the Fartfuhrer of Fitzwalkerstan, they paid fifty cents too much.
From Daily Kos: On the latest Daily Show, Jon Stewart blasted Dick Cheney’s criticism of President Obama’s negotiations with Iran. Calling the former vice president "a man rotten to his very core, which is in itself a tiny black hole from which no joy or light can escape" and "the jagged-toothed forest demon who steals our children," Stewart went on to say that "now and then he [Cheney] slithers out from his lair inside a mountain of kitten corpses and goes on TV or radio saying awful things. Usually we ignore it … but sometimes, we just can’t."
Humor aside, Stewart demonstrated that Benedict Arnold seems like a patriot compared to ChickenHawk Cheney.
From NY Times: In her first week as a 2016 presidential candidate, Hillary Rodham Clinton seemed to channel another high-profile Democrat. “The deck is stacked in their favor,” Mrs. Clinton said of the wealthy and powerful. “My job is to reshuffle the cards.”
The line echoed a phrase that helped make Senator Elizabeth Warren the populist icon of her party. “The game is rigged,” Ms. Warren often says. “Rigged to work for those who have money and power.”
Before that, there was Mrs. Clinton’s tribute to Ms. Warren in Time magazine. “She never hesitates to hold powerful people’s feet to the fire,” Mrs. Clinton wrote in the issue honoring the top 100 influential people.
For anyone who wondered what kind of economic message Mrs. Clinton would deliver in her campaign, the first few days made it clear: She is embracing the ideas trumpeted by Ms. Warren and the populist movement — that the wealthy have been benefiting disproportionately from the economy while the middle class and the poor have been left behind. And the policies Mrs. Clinton is advancing, like paid sick leave for employees and an increase in the minimum wage, align with that emphasis.
I must confess that Hillary’s rollout is a pleasant, albeit dubious, surprise, but even if this is mostly lip-serviced to the liberal/progressive base, the best of the Republicans is less progressive than Benito Mussolini.
Cartoon:
He’s still a Republican hero.
15 Responses to “Open Thread–4/22/2015”
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I don’t know if Hillary is gonna try all of Ms. Warren’s ideas, but Elizabeth Warren has some FANTASTIC ideas and the Student Loan Debt crisis is one that I would LOCE to Ms. Clinton grab on to!
Andy as spot on, as usual!
2:50 No birds for your dinner tonight!
2:58 Definitely, no birdie fricassée today!
You meanies are starving a poor hungry kitten!!
"… a poor hungry kitten"?? More like a mangy old snaggle-puss Puddy Tat!
2:50 Looks like I snuck in there and grabbed half the bird.
New Yorker ~ Hopefully, like Andy thinks, only the Kochs want him.
Daily Kos ~ I was laughing so hard, I was snorting while watching this. I liked it so much I posted it on FB last week. It's always fun to watch it again. I love the air head serving as Cheney. Jon Stewart said he was getting too depressed watching FAUX NOISE every day for the material and that's why he's leaving the show Aug. 6, 2015.
NY Times ~ The Repugnant pundits are saying she is copying Liz Warren in order to fool the American people into voting for her.
Cartoon ~ They would love to do this.
4:29 average still 4:54. That is one "superb" starling, all right. The local ones are pretty much dark gray.
New Yorker – I certainly have been hoping that this is the time they overreached themselves. Looks like Andy thinks so.
DKos – I keep having a harder and harder time believing that anyone could possibly even listen to Dick Cheney. And yet they do. Talk about the inmates running the asylum. At least when Benedict Arnold was caught, Americans quit listening to him.
NY Times – The thing about Hillary running a progressive campaign is that if she is doing so, she has come to the conclusion that progressive is the way to win. That will change the look and feel of the entire party, even if it changes nothing else. At least we shouldn't have another train wreck like 2014 when everyone was running from Obama and progressivism like they were Ebola, and look what it got us. If she is elected on this campaign, them every time she departs from it while in office, she will be placed on the defensive. And she's not stupid; she must know that.
If we get a Democratic President and Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, sure, some of them will be DINOs – that is inevitable. But even the DINOs will have had to run progressive campaigns. And while it's not impossible to back pedal from that, it's harder.
Off topic – The People's Email Network (PEN – you know, the folks who made the movie "Citizens United – The Movie") have a campaign going now (yes, they often do things this way) to send FAXES to Senators, Congresscritters, and the President, and they will throw in your local newspaper at your option, regarding the TPP. Their way, instead of pols getting one petition with a lot of signatures, or even separate emails, they may actually be getting separate pireces of paper from everyone who takes part. Not good for the environment, but it makes an impression. Plus you get a free bumper sticker if you like. My favorite for this campaign is "Expressway to Trade Hell TPP" but you can choose from everything they have, or decline it. Their link is http://www.peaceteam.net/stop_fast_track_tpp.php
Cartoon – We didn't have a TV then, and later, when we did get one – well, my mother was no child abuser.
I can't think of the McCarthy hearings without thinking of how many appearances were ones from Hollywood courtesy of Ronald Reagan.
Love that AB dose…what happens when Walker declares bankruptcy?
Cheney feels darker than Dark Shadows.
I'm still waiting to see whether Hilary keeps her policy statements consistent and progressive–climate action and offshore drilling do not meet that test, for example.
I hope you got your groceries put away early enough to get some rest.
The New Yorker: Sadly, I am sure he has been bought by them, let us hope their money doesn't get him elected. two cents would be too much to pay for him.
Daily Kos: I only got a minute and a half of the video before it froze, but that was enough. Dick Cheney is responsible, along with Dubya, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz for ninety percent of the problems we have today. It sickens me that otherwise intelligent Americans still listen to his drivel.
NY Times: If Hillary Clinton follows Warren's agenda, I will support her whole heartedly. If she is the Dem. nominee for President, I will vote for her, with reservations, unless she does show she is more progressive thatn she has been in the past. You are right, TC, there are no progressive Republicans.
Cartoon: We didn't have a tv then, and I probably would not have watched this if we did, I was more interested in cartoons and Lassie. However, he is what most of the Republican candidates want to be, and I am sure they would love to burn witches, too.
Puzzle — 2:58 Definitely, no birdie fricassée today!
The New Yorker — To anyone else I'd say "Caveat emptor". But to the Kochs I say "Fill your boots"! The Fartfuhrer is a useless POS!
Daily Kos — Cheney is still so full of his own self importance that he thinks anyone cares what he says. The truth will set you free? If Cheney ever told the truth, he'd be locked up for the rest of his life . . . and that isn't long enough!
NY Times — If Hillary remains consistent to what she is saying, maybe progressives will have "Elizabeth Warren" in the White House.
Cartoon — The hearings were rated 'R' and I was too young to watch. Besides, we did not have television then. When I studied modern American history, I learned more than I wanted to know. A dark time in American history, especially considering the 1st amendment.
TY TC. Feeling awful again. Does anyone have any advice on getting my body's pH up to normal – it has been 5 for some time and it needs to be 7.).
Update on the Fartfuhrer ~ Buyer's' remorse? http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/04/22/walker-dumped/
Oh, really. In a way that's too bad. Wouldn't it have been fun to see him get the nomination and then get indicted, convicted, sentenced, and incarcerated? And have the GOP have to scramble for a replacement? Yeah, I really do know he would not get that far if anyone in the GOP thought the charges would stick. They wouldn't be able to forget him fast enough. But it's a nice dream.
Thanks all. They frinally just got the elevatir fixed, so maybe I can get a bit of fresh air, though I think it's raining now.