I just came back from visiting my mother, and all is fine. When I awoke this morning, it was a bloody miracle that I had not literally rolled out of bed onto the floor. My three furbabes were lying across the bed and had pushed me towards the precipice of the bed. Tomorrow is physio and a day that perhaps I can catch up on some chores. My student has an appointment elsewhere so I won't be teaching.
Short Takes
CBC — In her solipsistic return to the campaign trail last week, Sarah Palin blamed President Barack Obama for the fact that her military reservist son punched his girlfriend in the face, then drunkenly threatened to kill himself with an assault rifle before winding up under arrest, facing criminal charges.
Track Palin had been "fighting for you-all, America," shouted his mother in Oklahoma, suggesting that her son's time in Iraq eight years ago left him with PTSD.
"It is now or never, for the sake of America's finest, that we have that commander-in-chief that will respect them and honour them!"
The audience roared.
Ah geeeee buttercup!
Palin then explained that the better commander-in-chief would be Donald Trump, her pick for the Republican presidential nomination.
Veterans, you see, would never punch their girlfriends or need to be handcuffed by police if Trump was president. They'd feel his deep respect, and calm down and be more nurturing.
I know, we're all getting tired of Sarah Palin. But CBC senior correspondent, Neil Macdonald, has a way of getting to the truth in a succinct way, laying waste to her BS. Too bad the Republican base, intoxicated by fear, won't hear the truth.
Alternet — The Republican Party’s “serious people” wing has issued an anti-Donald Trump manifesto in the vaunted conservative journal, National Review. The piece is filled with irony, humor and blunt assessments of how the GOP is crumbling from within. But it’s all there, confirming everything that’s been said about what Trump represents and how he has exacerbated the Republican Party’s identity crisis. …
A dictator who will make Obama’s executive orders seem quaint.
“Equally troubling is his idea of the presidency — his promise that he’s the guy, the man on a white horse, who can ride into Washington, fire the stupid people, hire the best people and fix everything. He doesn’t talk about policy or working with Congress. He’s effectively vowing to be an American Mussolini, concentrating power in the Trump White House and governing by fiat.”
— David Boaz, Cato Institute executive vice president
To paraphrase Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways." This is the 2nd of "18 Reasons Why Donald Trump Is a Vulgar, Two-Bit Caesar, According to America's Conservatives". To make things worse (or maybe not) from a conservative point of view, the RNC has folded its tent dealing with Trump. The party would appear to be imploding on itself so I read earlier this week. Click through for the rest. If nothing else, it gives progressives a chuckle. But don't be lured into complacency, he's dragging a lot of low information, disaffected conservative voters along with him.
Mother Jones — In the summer of 2010, she [Jane Mayer] published a pathbreaking, in-depth piece, headlined "Covert Operations," which chronicled the rise of the Kochs' ideological network—dubbed the "Kochtopus"—and the efforts of the publicity-shy libertarian brothers to guide the burgeoning tea party toward policies that favor Koch Industries. The article depicted the Kochs as secretive bankrollers waging a war against President Barack Obama and opposing environmental safety measures. The Kochs were enraged by the story. A lawyer for their company complained; David Koch called the story "ludicrous." But the New Yorker saw no reason to correct anything. And the kerfuffle seemed to die down. Or so Mayer thought.
The Kochtopus
Click through for the rest of Mayer's fight against the Kochtopus. The article she wrote in 2010 that angered the Kochs, "Covert Operations" is a long but interesting piece.
My Universe —
9 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 24/01/2016”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
CBC: She (Mama Moose), never took responsibility for her son's behavior. However, on reading Track’s discharge paper, there is no Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) award issued designation. He was a driver for officers, and did not see combat. imho, Track is guilty of 'Stolen Valor'. * see democraticunderground
AlterNet: '' Call it unreality TV.” So true, so true!!
My Universe: I wouldn't see my cat for days!! LOL.
So nice you got to visit with your mother. Hope that you have a good day w/physio, enjoy your day. Thanks, Lynn.
Pretty much documents that Track Palin NEVER saw a day of combat (and more background on Track)
http://mnprogressiveproject.com/conservatives-inaccuracy-hypocrisy-vulgarity-and-lack-of-accountability-part-2-palin/
http://bipartisanreport.com/2016/01/24/pants-on-fire-sarah-palins-abusive-kid-never-saw-a-day-of-combat-document/
http://winningdemocrats.com/track-palin-didnt-see-a-single-second-of-combat-before-obama-and-ptsd-made-him-beat-his-girlfriend/
Bottom Line: As I said in an earlier Comment, this guy clearly has some significant mental issues – which means he should have NEVER had access to a gun.
AND his parents, unlike so many ofther vets, certainly are financially capable of paying for w/e help he needs. Why haven't they done so?
He enlisted in 2007, served in Iraq in 2008 as a driver. Obama took office 1/20/2009. So how is this Pres. Obama's fault?
Mama Moose is a certified nut job! Personally, I think she has mental illness of some sort.
Roll back. You moght get clawed, but you won't splat the cat!
If more heard the truth, they'd deport him to his homeland!
When the National Review, a lying propaganda rag, if ever there was one, bails on a Republican candidate, watch out!!
Kudos to Jane Mater. She's no Koch Sucker!!
Wooo Hooo!! Kitty Party Time!!
You must have a stern talk with your furbabes soon, Lynn, and tell them who's boss before the claim the bed as their own. You will end up on the floor if you don't because, like many cat lovers, you adapt to the pressure of their bodies while you are asleep. I've stopped letting the cats in the bedroom when my husband is away for the same reason: I ended up sleeping curled up on my pillow while they had taken possession of my side of the bed, and left my husband's side untouched, too often.
CBC: It's absolutely amazing that Canadian Neil Macdonald could make any sense out of the gibberish that Sarah Palin spewed as an endorsement speech for Donald Trump. But it alarms him too: "Watching Palin and Trump, it was impossible not to wonder, once again, how America, a country that has achieved such excellence, and has so often shown the world a better way, descended into a political discourse that demonizes enlightened thought and glamorizes mean-spirited, lowbrow crudeness." Macdonald thinks this is due to a specific type of American religion: "he messianic, aggressive religion of certain evangelical Christian sects, which believe that even other streams of Christianity, never mind other faiths, are false, and that their job is not just to spread the word of God but to impose it, and that the best way to do that is to run the government." I think Macdonald is spot on.
Alternet: Finally a manifesto with great entertainment value LOL. A pity Donald Trump will be the last one to read it as will those of his enthusiastic fans, if they can read, that is. I had to laugh, because each of the 18 points against Trump in this manifesto is brought to the table by a die-hard Republican. And I had to laugh to keep me from crying because there never was a flicker of recognition, never even the slightest hint of understanding that they themselves, the GOP, are the Frankenstein that have created this monster by catering to the fringes of their base, to the talibangelists, the white supremacists, the KKK and the ammosexuals. Trump is their king.
Mother Jones: Sorry, that one will have to wait to later tonight. It's to good to just skip through.
My Universe: I must have a secret catnip plantation in my garden somewhere too, because my cats come out of the bushes looking like that sometimes!
CBC – On the one hand, you do not have to have served in combat to have PTSD. On the other hand, if you get PTSD from something other than having served in combat, the symptoms do not include beating people up. I am not trying to defend Sarah Palin. No question that she is full of – um, fertilizer. But I don't want, for instance, victims of rape, child abuse, child sexual abuse, or other survivors of extreme stress, to be dismissed as grandstanding if they suffer from PTSD. Consider this.
AlterNet – It's almost funny that after decades of working to create The Perfect Republican Voter, the party has now succeeded, and that Perfect Republican Voter is voting for Trump. The serious people can write all they want – and what they are writing appears to be spot on – but The Perfect Republican Voter will not read what they say or pay attention to ir, because they have trained him not to.
MoJo – They don't forget and they don't forgive. They think they are god, and the god they think they are is the jealous god of the "Old Testament." They are also a big reason why I do NOT want to go into my own "roots." I realize the name "Koch" is so common among German speaking peoples as to be similar to Smith or Wong; nevertheless it is in my family tree and I want to continue to believe that there is ABSOLUTELY no relation.
Universe – Are you sure that is "Frank" and not "Sean"?
Alternet: All these are true, but the one that hit me was that he has none of the qualifications for the office of President. If the media would quit bowing to him he would be long gone.
Mother Jones: I share this on FB. Too many in this country are unaware of the power the Koch's and people like them have.
Thanks,Lynn. Care 2 seems to be working for me tonight, keeping my fingers crossed. I am behind on all my mail.
My Universe: I grow catnip year round for my babies so they don't have to search the underground.
Thanks everyone!