It’s a hot day, and Julie was here. We ordered a new Service Animal Vest for Killer Dawg, shined and polished the Puddy Tat, did some housework, installed a new mouse and keyboard for the computer, and cooked and shared a big spaghetti dinner. The Portland Rose Festival is upon us, and tonight we have the Starlight Parade in high heat. The temperature may drop to 90° by the time the parade begins a little after 8:00 PM.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:55 (average 4:24). To do it, click here.
Short Takes:
From PR Watch: A case that advocates hope could go up to the U.S. Supreme Court and set a new standard against partisan gerrymandering is being heard in federal court in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin this week.
A group of Democratic Wisconsin voters are suing the State of Wisconsin, arguing that the legislative district maps drawn by GOP politicians in 2011 are so skewed and long-lasting that their voting rights were violated.
University of Chicago Law School Professor Nicholas Stephanopoulous charged that Wisconsin’s Republican party engaged in the "worst gerrymander of modern American history" in opening arguments today. Stephanopoulous asked the three judge federal panel to "intervene to safeguard the democratic process."
The Fartfuhrer of Fitzwalkerstan and all his minions belong in cells.
From Daily Kos: Hillary’s take down today [Thursday] of a befuddled Donald Trump was absolutely epic.
As a public speaker, Hillary has never impressed me, but on this occasion, she outdid herself.
From NY Times: After running a congressional oversight committee like a Republican opposition research shop for more than two years, Representative Trey Gowdy appears to be gearing up for the finale. Democrats on the Select Committee on Benghazi expect that a final report will drop soon, just as Hillary Clinton appears poised to clinch the Democratic nomination.
If things had gone his way, Mr. Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor, would have found a way to torpedo Mrs. Clinton’s presidential ambitions. After all, Republican lawmakers have admitted that this is precisely what they set out to do.
But things have not gone well for Mr. Gowdy, who has run the investigation with the dexterity and grace of a blindfolded toddler swinging at a piñata. Having pored over reams of documents, grilled Mrs. Clinton in an 11-hour session in October and hauled in more than 100 people for interviews, the Republicans seem to have come up with nothing.
Could this spell the end of Benghazi Bullshit?
Cartoon:
18 Responses to “Open Thread – 6/4/2016”
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4:08 (4:24) Maybe fish.
So glad your frustrating "conversation" with UPS ended up fruitful. Enjoy yout new mousie, and of course the keyboard too. I do hope it cools down for you. It is supposedly 84 in the room where I am typing this, but it feels more like 78 to me.
PR Watch: I would not be a bit surprised if Scotty Four-Letter-Word-Ending-in-K-er did accomplish the worst gerrymander of all time. He single-handedly and systematically accomplished the "Wisconsin Idea," basically the concept that education is for the purpose of truth. After claiming it was a mistake, the records are out now, and it was no mistake, it was him. The jerk.
DKos – I heard this was good. It has gotten too difficult for me to read just about anything at Daily Kos about either Hillary or Bernie. I'm looking elsewhere for now.
NY Times – "Could this spell the end of Benghazi bullshit?" Only officially. There are plenty of truthers and conspiracy theorists who will keep it alive in popuar culture.
Cartoon – By God, you have nailed him! He did do that! The photo is not doctored!
Most analysts are saying this speech puts Clinton to the right of Trump on national security and foreign policy, the areas that affect other countries the most.
JL, I googled that, and it seems that the source for that notion is the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, who are now trying to paint Rump Dump as a moderate.
DK: Good speech by HRC.
NYT: Mr. Cummings said it best, "“If you want a case study of why people are frustrated with government, this investigation is it,” “They see all this effort, all this money, a budget that is endless, addressing issues that have already been addressed.” and at the tune of 7M. ugh.
I would think the noise factor is going to be high tonight, for you. Hope you get a chance to rest. Graduation time is here, so I'm off to see some of my old students graduate! Where did the time go to?? Take care, and Thanks, Tom.
Hillary put the pedal down on Drumpf!!! Great speech! I rarely watch the vids all the way through. But this one, this one had some FIRE in it!! So glad to see she is hitting back on Drumpf's BS!!! His tweets on this speech are about like a 5 yr. old would do!!! Amazing speech, Ms. Clinton!!!
VOTE BLUE, NO MATTER WHO!!!
Here we go AGAIN! Benghazi, Smenghazi!!! The amount of money spent on this crap would do a lot of good to our budget woes!!!
Cartoon was EXACTLY right!!!
PR Watch: Nail the bastards!
DK: I actually sspent the time to watch the hole thing, and I thought she was marvelous!
NYT: Hillary pilloried the Gowdy thing!
I hope your ac is working if the temp was expected to "drop" to 90!
PR Watch: I hope the Wisconsin voters win their suit. This gerrymandering has to be stopped,maybe this is a beginning.
Daily Kos: Good speech and I agree with her on several points.
NY Times: I certainly hope it is the end of the BS the Republicans have done on Benghazi.
Cartoon: True, so true!
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/2/16
Clinton clobbers Trump with his own words
Rachel Maddow reviews Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's foreign policy speech in which she highlighted past statements of Republican Donald Trump to the point of mockery. Duration: 19:05
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/clinton-clobbers-trump-with-his-own-words-698031683633
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THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/3/16
Weak response from 'counterpuncher' Trump to Clinton offensive
Rachel Maddow notes that in the wake of Hillary Clinton's foreign policy attack on Donald Trump, the most effective of the campaign, self-described "counterpuncher" Donald Trump hasn't presented much of a response. Duration: 7:12
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/weak-response-from-trump-to-clinton-attack-698801731542
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Trump threatens HRC w/ prison "after what she said about me."
"This is the stuff of which dangerous dictatorships are made. Trump is now threatening to use criminal prosecution of Hillary as political revenge. Twice on Friday I heard CBS radio network news reports on KCBS-AM in San Francisco, that Trump said that if he is elected, he will seek to have Hillary “prosecuted” and “jailed.” The way he said it sounded clearly like a personal vendetta."
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/6/4/1534311/-Trump-threatens-HRC-w-prison-after-what-she-said-about-me
If you have time, be sure to read what "The press and blogosphere reacted to the speech, and it has been awesome to behold. Very positive reactions, so I thought I share some of the best reactions with the community here." in the Daily Kos link above. Some very interesting discussions are presented.
Be sure to watch "Hillary’s take down today of a befuddled Donald Trump was absolutely epic." in the Kos link. "EPIC!
Trump! You’ve been…. THUNDERSTRUCK
Musical Song: Thunderstruck by AC/DC Link provided. The next song afterwards is Highway to Hell as appropriate for Drumpf and his followers. lol.
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Puzzle — 7:58 I really need to make time to get a mouse for my laptop!
PR Watch — "Under the current maps politicians choose their voters. We want a map where voters choose their politicians instead." — Sachin Chheda, director of the Fair Elections Project. The Wisconsin Republican Party needs to be excommunicated from state politics. The Fartfuhrer is the most corrupt and contemptible Republican.
Daily Kos — One of my favourite parts is:
She splayed, fileted and flambéed Drumpf!
NY Times — The only way to get rid of the Benghazi Bullshit is to torpedo every Republican all the way down the line!
Cartoon — I thought that Obama said he would never negotiate with terrorists?
Sounds like we had a similar meal today . . . mine was wholewheat linguini with marinara sauce. And garlic toast. Yum! Temperatures were up to 31 C (90 F) and tomorrow is supposed to go to 34 C (95 F). This really sucks! Keep cool!!!
Love the cooking terms, "She splayed, fileted and flambéed Drumpf!", you used to describe how Hillary played dear old Drumpf. Excellent choice of descriptive words. Drumpf deserved them. lol!
The GOP/TP are having a hard time "swallowing" him as their candidate. Most likely they are "choking" on him… No need for a barf bag. lol.
You don't really need a mouse.
Brilliant cartoon!!!
Sounds like you had a busy but good day, TomCat. I hope the temperatures have dropped a bit more than you predicted and that you were able to enjoy the Starlight Parade from your window, but weren't kept from necessary sleep by partiers all through the night. Your mouse and keyboard finally came, I see, so you'll be unbeatable at the puzzle soon, if you weren't already. You must show us Killer Dawg in his new vest when it arrives. Good to see a feline like you get on with a dawg so well, and you and Julie too.
PR Watch: While I don't have much faith in the abuse of gerrymandering were the shoe on the other foot, it is all to clear that Wisconsin's Republican far overstepped the boundaries of what Americans consider acceptable gerrymandering. The accusation that "The case shows how Governor Walker and the Wisconsin GOP attempted "to transform Wisconsin into a one-party state," is a very serious one and the Wisconsin Democratic voters are justified in bringing this before the federal court in the U.S. District Court from where it may end up before SCOTUS. Their objective, "Under the current maps politicians choose their voters. We want a map where voters choose their politicians instead," may not be met in time for the federal 2016 election, but hopefully a ruling has passed before the next Wisconsin state elections.
DK: Hillary's take down of Drumpf was on the news here big time too, with the BBC – an hour in time behind Western Europe – was able to add Drumpf's "answer" to it in its late news edition. Without any comment, by the way and they didn't need to as it was blatantly pathetic, weak and childish and therefore so very Drumpf. All he could come up with was: "Let me tell you, she isn't very presidential" as an answer and as an afterthought "She's a liar", so again Drumpf showed what presidential stuff he was made of… It's going to be a long, hot and very ugly summer.
NYT: Gowdy's committee will come up with absolutely nothing, but they'll do it GOP style: insinuating again all the things they've insinuated before, saying that they'll have to look into it further, blame people for not cooperating, pick on some minor detail and blow it out of proportions until it's disproved again, tie it to her e-mail problems… their tactics are transparent and loathsome, but the timing of it all will hurt her campaign and that is all they care about.
Cartoon: Yup, he is.
Rachel is my hero!
Ditto!
Thanks all. Hugs!!