Aug 042015
 

Today’s high is forecast at 80°, but the building is still hot.  Tomorrow will be busy because I have a nurse coming in the morning to do an annual health care evaluation, and tomorrow afternoon is a grocery delivery day.  I’m sad to report that I’m taking Immodium AD for Republicosis.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

I received the link in email, but the site is still down.  If you’d like to try it later, click here.

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Political life in America never ceases to astonish. Take last week’s pronouncements from the Republican Presidential field. Please. Mike Huckabee predicted that President Obama’s seven-nation agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear capabilities “will take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven.” Ted Cruz anointed the American President “the world’s leading financier of radical Islamic terrorism.” Marco Rubio tweeted, “Look at all this outrage over a dead lion, but where is all the outrage over the planned parenthood dead babies.” And the (face it) current front-runner, the halfway hirsute hotelier Donald Trump, having insulted the bulk of his (count ’em) sixteen major rivals plus (countless) millions of citizens of the (according to him) not-so-hot nation he proposes to lead, announced via social media that in this week’s Fox News debate he plans “to be very nice & highly respectful of the other candidates.” Really, now. Who’s writing this stuff? Jon Stewart?

Over the decades, our country has been lucky in many things, not least in the subversive comic spirits who, in varying ways, employ a joy buzzer, a whoopee cushion, and a fun-house mirror to knock the self-regard out of an endless parade of fatuous pols. Thomas Nast drew caricatures so devastating that they roiled the ample guts of our town’s Boss, William Marcy Tweed. Will Rogers’s homespun barbs humbled the devious of the early twentieth century. Mort Sahl, the Eisenhower-era comic whose prop was a rolled-up newspaper, used conventional one-liners to wage radical battle: “I’ve arranged with my executor to be buried in Chicago, because when I die I want to still remain politically active.” Later, Dick Gregory, Richard Pryor, and Joan Rivers continued to draw comic sustenance from what Philip Roth called “the indigenous American berserk.”

Four nights a week for sixteen years, Jon Stewart, the host and impresario of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” has taken to the air to expose our civic bizarreries. He has been heroic and persistent. Blasted into orbit by a trumped-up (if you will) impeachment and a stolen Presidential election, and then rocketing through the war in Iraq and right up to the current electoral circus, with its commodious clown car teeming with would-be Commanders-in-Chief, Stewart has lasered away the layers of hypocrisy in politics and in the media. On any given night, a quick montage of absurdist video clips culled from cable or network news followed by Stewart’s vaudeville reactions can be ten times as deflating to the self-regard of the powerful as any solemn editorial—and twice as illuminating as the purportedly non-fake news that provides his fuel.

Kudos to the David Remnick for a most fitting tribute. Click through for the rest of it.

From Common Dreams: New Jersey Republican governor and straggling 2016 presidential hopeful Chris Christie faces a call to resign after he declared Sunday that teachers’ unions are "the single most destructive force in public education in America" and deserve to be punched in the face.

Christie made the comments on CNN’s State of the Union program with host Jack Tapper, who asked: "At the national level, who deserves a punch in the face?"

Christie responded: "Oh the national teachers union," referring specifically to the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

Extra-wide Barf Bag Alert!!

 

PIGnocchio is typically Republican in his preference to respond to learning with violence.

From The New Yorker: As preparations get under way for the first Republican Presidential debate, on Thursday night, a new poll shows that Americans are deeply concerned that the rest of the world might see it.

According to the poll, there is widespread fear that, if the debate were to be viewed in foreign countries, the cost to the United States’ prestige around the world would be incalculable.

On a more personal level, many expressed concern that any international broadcast of the debate would greatly diminish their desire to ever travel abroad or talk to foreigners.

As Andy later suggests international broadcast of the Criminal Clown Cavalcade should be blocked. Out reputation requires that the world never know.

Cartoon:

0804Cartoon

Today’s Republicans would celebrate the arrest.

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  35 Responses to “Open Thread–8/4/2015”

  1. JigZone was down for me too.  I keep looking from time to time.

    New Yorker – A fitting tribute indeed.

    Common Dreams – Well, this should salve our wounds a little:  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/03/1408276/-Christie-booed-mercilessly-twice-at-the-Haskell

    New Yorker 2 – Weel, but, sorry, Andy, with the internet, they would be able to see it anyway.  Not to mention I am afraid our reputation is already pretty trashed.

    Cartoon – So, so sad.  Today's Republicans would probably photoshop her to black, though.

    • Great minds think alike and in sync with timing, too?

    • Thanks, Joanne, I shared this on Facebook. 

    • Wasn't that just priceless to see the King of Bridgegate booed so loudly!  I remember thinking at the time of superstorm Sandy when Christie reached out to Obama and appeared to be concerned about getting relief for the people of NJ, maybe he isn't your basic sociopath Republicanus/Teabaggerum.  Boy was I wrong! Between the misuse and disappearance of Sandy funds, bridgegate, and other sordid happenings, the elephant surely had a big crap on NJ!

    • My great mind fell in the same ditch.  See today's Open Thread,

  2. Remnick says it well. I think we have to laugh when there is so much to cry about.

    NJ booed Christie twice: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/03/1408276/-Christie-booed-mercilessly-twice-at-the-Haskell?detail=email

    AB is spot on yet again.

    Cartoon: two other horrific anniversaries nearing–Indonesian genocide and the bombing of Japan; no apology yet given to either…

  3. In case you hadn't heard yet:

    Donald Trump. Jeb Bush. Scott Walker. Mike Huckabee. Ben Carson. Ted Cruz. Marco Rubio. Rand Paul. Chris Christie. John Kasich.

    It's official: This is the GOP's A-team — the 10 candidates who get to be on stage in the primetime slot on Thursday.

  4. Today's good news (from down under) via a GetUp email:
    "

    "About an hour ago, Adani's Carmichael Mine approval was ruled invalid by the Federal Court!

    Faced with overwhelming evidence, both Environment Minister Greg Hunt and Adani have conceded defeat and withdrawn the approval for the largest coal mine in Australia. Minister Hunt must now make a new decision to accept or reject the mine."

  5. Going out on limb here, but I'm going to predict that Thursday's GOP "debate" is going to have a LOT less popcorn-worthy moments than most of us have expected or hoped for.

    I think The Donald is at least going to TRY to appear presidential.  He's got a healthy lead in the polls and everyone knows he can come down w/ a heavy hammer – so not much to gain doing it in front of millions.

    … UNLESS he's directly confronted by one of the other also-rans – then all bets are off.

    How they are going to deal w/ The Donald I'm not sure.  I suspect the "top tier" folks (Jebya, Snotty "Where-Are-the-Indictments" Walker & Marco "Where's-My-Gerbil-Bottle" Rubio) will be low-key.  The others – w/ nothing to lose – may very well try to bait Trump.  It'll be interesting.

  6. Rachel gave an excellent account of the FOX's selection process for the "10" candidates to appear for the debate. 

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 8/4/15
    Fox News bigfoots Republican primary with rule change
    Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, talks with Rachel Maddow about Fox News exerting undue influence on the Republican primary process and the struggle for viability the candidates Fox News did not choose will face.
    Duration: 12:09
    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show

    • I listened to Rachel tonight from iTunes and it was a much longer edition. It was 25:38 minutes long and in more depth and detail than what is being shown in the link above.

      You can view this version for free on iTunes using this to link in: MSNBC Rachel Maddow (video)

    • I have that video today too, Jim.

  7. Glad your temps are cooling down, sorry about the Imodium AD,I know this is not fun.

    The New Yorker:  "but sadly there are still some dark corners that our broom of justice has not reached yet>"  This is one of the most truthful statements I have ever read.  We are all going to miss Jon Stewart.  I hope his replacement has half the wit and intelligence.

    Common Dreams:  Oh, that horrible teachers union that wants the people who are educating our children to be paid a decent wage for doing it.  Christie has not problem with athletes being paid mega millions or CEO's to be paid thousands of dollars an hour, but don't let teachers in on any of this.  My sister taught for 27 years and paid for many of her school supplies out of her own pocket.  Now she is ineligible to receive Social Security benefits from her husbands acct. if he dies.  If she had never worked, she could.  wow.  Her teacher's pension is barely enough to survive on, but she is supposed to suck it up and shut up about this wrong.

    The New Yorker:  Andy is so right!  We will be the laughing stock of the world after these debates air.

    Cartoon:  A very sad day, indeed.

     

    • So sorry about your sister.  Educators with pensions, until recent history, were given the choice of opting out of Social Security and usually persuaded to do so until around the 1990's.  They were not permitted to change their choice ever.

      • Our Ky legislators have brought up a bill in the last three sessions to change this, the GOP has generated enough votes to block it. 

    • I'm stunned.  That's terrible.

  8. Update on my cousin, Phillip:  First, I want to thank all of you who have prayed and kept him in your thoughts.  They removed the ventilator today and installed a trachea tube.  They also removed the other tubes and he is breathing.  He still is in the coma, though, so we don't know how well he is really doing.  Both his hands are black now, from lack of blood, so even if he recovers from the heart surgery he is facing some very difficult surgeries.  This is heartbreaking for all of us, to see this vital man in this condition and not able to do anything to help him.

  9. Good to hear the latest heat wave didn't last too long and you got yourself through it without too much damage, TomCat. After a completely chaotic summer weather wise in Holland, I was looking forward to a calm winter in Queensland (AUS) with cold nights but bright sunny days, but the weather is off the scale here too, with unusual cold fronts coming in from the Antarctic bringing snow and ice in places that have not seen them in 50 years or so. Queensland is too far to the North for that, but the nights are frosty and during the day a very cold wind (the Westerlies) keeps temperatures uncommonly low.

    The New Yorker: A very appropriate tribute to Jon Stewart and the way he gave sustenance to starving progressive minds. He'll be missed terribly, especially in the coming months leading up to the elections and I won't be able to see his last shows here, because the snail's pace internet connection I've got here won't allow me to see videos most of the time. Sigh…

    Common Dreams: As I've just mentioned, the internet connection doesn't allow me to watch videos, but I haven't got around to buying industrial size barf bags here yet and I don't think I could stand to watch the desperation in the eyes of a politician who knows his end is near. PIGnoccio probably wants to cut his suffering short and have his career over and done with by bashing the American Federation of Teachers. But I must say that I'm not so much dismayed by what Christie comes up with out of pure desperation as much as by a host who asks his guest: "At the national level, who deserves a punch in the face?" Really, that was a serious question?

    The New Yorker: Kudos to Andy. Though I can only confirm his hypothesis, I think he over-estimates the effect of the debate. People around the world have been brought individual Republican hopefuls to their attention and have seen what the GOP has done in the last 6.5 years of the Obama presidency and believe me, this debate won't lower America's prestige that much further, it hasn't much further to go.

  10. The New Yorker — Jon will certainly be missed!

    Common Dreams — Christie is an ass.  The single most destructive force in public education in America" is the Republicanus/Teabaggerum, without doubt!

    The New Yorker — "According to the poll, there is widespread fear that, if the debate were to be viewed in foreign countries, the cost to the United States’ prestige around the world would be incalculable." — I hate to tell you this but Andy is late on the uptake.  The news has been out for a very long time.

    Cartoon — A sad day indeed!  How the Republicanus/Teabaggerum could celebrate the arrest of an innocent Jewish girl, yet cozy up to Butcher Ben beggars belief.

  11. TY TC – sorry, in too much pain.  Back in a bit.

  12. Hi ALL. This a.m. 8/5 RiencePriebus.commented that Jeb,Bush,s comment re. Planned parenthood, were misunderstood,and were just "a fuss about nothing. So the REPUGS regard womens,s health as signifying nothing.!! Wow I would NEVER had guessed!

    • Jeb Bush "Not Sure We Need Half a Billion Dollars for Women’s Health"
          
      In more news from the campaign trail, Republican candidate Jeb Bush has sparked outrage with his statement that women’s healthcare is overfunded. Bush made the comments when responding to an interviewer’s question about the Planned Parenthood sting videos, which are edited to appear to suggest that the organization sells fetal tissue, an allegation Planned Parenthood vehemently denies.
      Interviewer: "Shouldn’t we make that an issue and say not one more red cent to Planned Parenthood?"
      Jeb Bush: "We should, and the next president should defund Planned Parenthood. I have the benefit of having been governor, and we did defund Planned Parenthood when I was governor. We tried to create a culture of life across the board. The argument against this is, well, women’s health issues are going to be — you’re attacking — it’s a war on women, and you’re attacking women’s health issues. You could take dollar for dollar, although I’m not sure we need a half a billion dollars for women’s health issues."
      Jeb Bush later partially walked back the statement, saying he was not speaking about community health centers but only about Planned Parenthood’s "hard-to-fathom $500 million in federal funding." He had a Twitter war with Hillary Clinton, who was questioning his saying he did not support women’s healthcare in America.

      http://democracynow.org/2015/8/5/headlines#852

      .

    • If Priebus said it, it's a lie.

      Sometimes an ad hominem argument is true anyway.

  13. Puzzle link is now working. lol. Hugzzz …

  14. Thanks all.  Hugs.

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