I’m in a hurry this morning. WWWendy is due in about an hour and a half. Football starts in three hours. My Broncos play in six. We have a lot to do. Today should be the last day in the 80°s for a while.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:15 (average 5:17). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (Parody Project Channel): LIE LIE LIE – a Parody
Don has oversimplified. Strategic voting is honest common sense, not a lie. Regressive concrete thinking like this here is the reason Trump is in the White House. I’m embedding this video out of respect for the great work Don has done, but the truth is this. Every third party vote on the left increases the chance of electing a fascist Republican. Progressives are taking over the Democratic Party from within. The change won’t happen all at once. It’s incremental, but it is happening. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!
From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): Robert Reich: The Dangerous Myth of Deregulation
The Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right. The Reich on the right, the Republican Reich, hurts people for profit. Regulations exist to protect citizens against the many forms of damage Republican corporations would inflict upon them instead of paying the cost of preventing the damage. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!
From NY Times: A pair of top Republicans acknowledged in a private meeting on Saturday that the party was battling serious vulnerabilities in the midterm elections, including what one described as widespread “hate” for President Trump, and raised the prospect that Senator Ted Cruz of Texas could lose his bid for re-election because he is not seen as “likable” enough.
The two Republican leaders, Mick Mulvaney, the federal budget director, and Ronna McDaniel, the Republican National Committee chairwoman, assured party officials and donors at a closed-door event in New York City that the right would ultimately turn back a purported “blue wave” in November. Mr. Mulvaney also questioned whether Democrats could marshal support from outside the left, criticizing them as a party defined solely by opposition to Mr. Trump.
But Mr. Mulvaney and Ms. McDaniel also offered an unusually raw assessment of their own party’s strengths and weaknesses in the midterm elections. They pointed to the burning energy among Democratic voters and the dozens of open House seats, where Republican incumbents decided not to seek re-election, as fearsome obstacles to retaining control of Congress. And Mr. Mulvaney suggested Republicans would fare better if they could “subtract” the president’s divisive persona from voters’ minds, and stress instead that the country is in a “pretty good” condition.
Go, Beto, Go! If he beats Cruz, that’s a progressive wet dream! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!
Cartoon:
21 Responses to “Open Thread – 9/9/2018”
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5:28 “Oranges and lemons” say the bells of Saint Clement’s.
Petition to oppose an advertising scheme you may have difficulty believing, but apparently, real.
PP – Absolutely agree with you on Don. I learned my lesson in 1980. No, John Anderson did not unilaterally defeat Carter, but he took a big chunk of votes – and there’s no telling how many resources he pulled away from the Carter campaign. Reagan WAS a dangerous right wing radical, and Anderson (and the Libertarian) distracted from that. thank you for posting this – because properly to debunk something we must show what we are debunking.
Reich – Since the right wing has poisoned the word “regulations,” we need to redifine them by using another word. I prefer “protections,” and have been pushing it for a while. It certainly isn’t catching on. Maybe someone here can suggest a better term.
NYT – BTW, that’s Ronna ROMNEY McDaniel. She doesn’t want you to remember that. WRT Ted Cruz, has anyone ever seen what color his eyes are? In all the photos I have seen, they are just tinl little slits. Go Beto indeed (someone in a Disqus comment says he is going to be on Colbert? Any details?) But also, go ALL our candidates. We have a good slate.
Cartoon – That hat would never get by the election staff in MY state. Political slogans on clothing are not permitted at the polls.
I just checked our cable guide. Colbert is having Bob Woodward on Monday, Neil deGrasse Tyson on Tuesday and Beto (among others) on Wednesday. I would have it on anyways, but I’m excited!
Thank you!
I signed that petition. What a horrid concept! So, as well as stadia, and other venues named for banks, and the like, we’ll have kids virtual birthright sold for advertising purposes!!!!?????? Speak about personal dystopia: “Hi, my name is “Prudential, I am a totally owned subsidiary of an insurance company. We have a big presence in Newark, N.J., called ‘The Prudential Center,’ but they won’t let me play there because my free-throw percentages are abysmal. Who, or what, are you?”
That KFC-scheme is truly unbelievable. A modern form of slavery: sell your kids identity away for $11,000 worth of education. I would like to say: “Only in America”, but I’m sure KFC, or others, will try this in other countries too, especially the poor ones.
I signed.
If this is not a human rights violation it ought to be!
That was my thinking JD. Don’s message was so powerful that, had I not learned the hard way (I voted for Nader), I would be instantly convinced.
“Still we all just hear what we want to hear and disregard the rest.” All too true. Also, this applies to people all across the political spectrum – so don’t get smug, liberals.
Deregulation is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Deregulation means less reliable products, more pollution, more contamination of water and air and food and medicines. Also, it means lower wages and less protection from fraud, work hazards, etc. for the working class. Big Business has plenty of well-paid snarky propagandists that fart whatever their masters want. Trickle-down economics is an oxymoron – nothing trickles down, except suffering and risk.
PPC: Excellent, and truthful, passing on too.
RR: Great video, and if it continues like Mr. Reich says it is…it will ‘Feed the Rich’ more, & we’re still screwed.
Sad for all of us.
NYT: Finally! Texas is waking up!!! I hope (and pray) that Beto trounces Cruz, even some R’s here, that I know have expressed disdain for Cruz. When I asked one lady, she said three words. “That he’s slimy.” lol.Love Beto! GO BETO FOR THE WIN!!!
Cartoon: Yep!
Hi, WWWendy, how are you doing? Hope your boys bring you ecstasy, we lost. 27-20. Rained today, I’m gonna have to mow again. Hope that you have a good evening, take care, and Thanks, Tom.
*Joanne, re: your link. KFC?? Creepy. Signed petition,Thanks!
Truthful Pat? His message is not to Vote Blue.
Robert Reich is as usual VERY CORRECT!
Deregulation only benefits those at the top, NOTHING ever trickles down, it always trickles UP!!!
Isn’t there an actual word for “trickling up”? “Wicking”?
Yes. I spend so many hours a day in my power chair that I wear moisture-wicking under pants.
PPC: I saw the video earlier, and agree that 3rd party votes are like shooting oneself in the foot.
RRC: Deregulation allows todays version of robber barons to screw anyone they like, and be held harmless! This is a GOPIG’s wet dream!
NYT: It will be a loverly experience to be able, hopefully, to tell these clowns to shut up and shove it.
‘Toon: Aside from calling Democracy “…the best thing we have,” Churchill also said that one of the biggest failings thereof can be found “…by spending five minutes in conversation with the average voter.” Dunce GOPIGGIES!
Foot? BALLS!
I see what you (seasonably) did there.
Churchill said (quoting someone whom he didn’t name):
Somehow it got into my head that it was Chesterton he was quoting, because it sounds so much like Chesterton’s style, but if that were so someone would have discovered it by now.
Ted Cruz sounds very scared to me:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/09/politics/ted-cruz-texas/index.html
PP: Given the current very dark state of politics, I agree that the times call for strategic voting, i.e. voting for Democrats, and not some third party, but that doesn’t take away from all the truths Don is singing about in this parody. Voters need to be very aware that they are still being lied to and that all parties (and presidents) more or less lie. Change will only come if voters continue their opposition to the influence of big money in politics after the Republicans have been thrown out of office. Things must not be allowed to go back to ‘normal’, but need to continue until progressive becomes the new norm.
RR: Robert Reich is so glaringly obviously right that I’m surprised there’s still a need to put out these excellent videos. You’d thing people would have gotten the message by now and read the message on the wall by now. But there still seem to be so many people who bury their head in the sand which prevents them from reading anything at all. Or watch educational videos, I’m afraid.
NYT: They may try, but Mulvaney and McDaniel will never get people to the point where “Ted Cruz” and “likeable” in the same sentence will not make them cringe. They’ll have to focus on some other aspects that will redeem him. Now if they could only think of any.
Go Beto!
Cartoon: I thought that was engraved in mirror script on their foreheads.
Thanks and Hugs to all! OGIM!
Damn! I just lost my comment when a certain little girl walked across my keyboard!
Puzzle — 4:35 Too sweet for me! (and for you Puddy Tat?) My blood sugars would go through the roof!
Parody Project — I agree with some of what he sang, BUT . . . In Canada, we have more than 2 parties federally — Liberals (Democrats), Conservatives (Republican), New Democrats (Democratic Socialists), Green (Green) and in Québec only The Bloc Québecois — so split votes are the norm here. The NDP was established in 1961 and it was not until 2011, under the leadership of popular Jack Layton, when it became the official opposition for the first time — that is 50 years after its founding. In the US, 50 years is too long to wait, to build, especially given the fractious nature of politics. Republicans are always going to “fight dirty” and try to drive a wedge deep between Democrats and any other party with the goal of being the “last man standing”. IMO, the better way to go is to move the Democratic party to the left with the addition of Social Democrats. BTW, get rid of the money in politics, especially in election finance. and remove the political parties from any election administration such as registration of voters.
NY Times — “Mr. Mulvaney suggested Republicans would fare better if they could “subtract” the president’s divisive persona from voters’ minds, and stress instead that the country is in a “pretty good” condition.”
Mulvaney is an idiot! How does someone who has just lost their healthcare, Obamacare, cut Diaper Don and Republicans out of their minds when they are responsible for the loss??? And as to Ted Cruz, GO BETO GO!!!
Cartoon — Particularly if they voted for Diaper Don!