Politics Plus

Please pardon me for being very brief.  I slept very poorly last night, and feel very tired.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:52 (average 4:51).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: It was somewhere around North Dakota when the realization began to take hold. Donald Trump really is going to be the Republican nominee for president.

Republican insiders were looking forward to cavorting in Cleveland with their regular cast of money men, evangelicals on vacation, and money men, but Trump has frightened away most of the big donors along with what passes for the cool crowd in the GOP (can I get a “let’s replace income tax with a value added tax?” Whoop!). It all points to one terrible conclusion: the parties are going to suck.

Many GOP regulars are skipping Cleveland entirely. (“I would rather attend the public hanging of a good friend,” says Will Ritter, an up-and-coming Republican digital strategist who worked on the three previous conventions.) And among those who are making the trek, there’s an overwhelming sense it won’t be fun at all. At a time when many Republicans are deeply dissatisfied with their nominee, pessimistic about their prospects for victory in the fall and alarmed about the direction of their party, there’s a reluctance about attending the convention more typically reserved for going to the DMV, being summoned for jury duty or undergoing a root canal.

When I lived in Phoenix I had a friend, who was a high-end call girl (non-professional friendship) She explained to me that when groups of Republicans and/or Talibangical pseudo-Christians had conventions there, the working girls imported backup from Vegas, because the demand was far more that the local talent could bear. That said, other than strutting with guns, we know what kind of "Family Values" parties Republicans will throw for themselves in Cleveland.

From NY Times: After a startlingly swift transfer of power that made her Britain’s prime minister, Theresa May took charge of a new government on Wednesday, vowing to honor the referendum to leave the European Union and naming Boris Johnson, the former London mayor who had been widely considered politically dead, as foreign minister.

Correct me, if I’m wrong, but isn’t Johnson the UK version of Rump Dump Rectum?

From CNN: Donald Trump is currently winning more of the white evangelical vote than 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, according to a Pew Research Center poll released Wednesday.

Trump — a Presbyterian who has been married three times and has said he has never sought forgiveness from God — is hardly a prototypical candidate for evangelicals, and Romney, a Mormon, also faced questions about the authenticity of his Christian faith.

But if the election were held today, 78% of white evangelical registered voters say they would vote for Trump, including about a third who "strongly" back his campaign. That number is higher than the 73% of white evangelicals who supported Romney at a similar point during the 2012 election.

There is propaganda from lefty regressives that lefties should vote third party, because Trump is not a serious threat. Hogwash!  We thought Crawford Caligula could never win reelection  in 2004.  I still remember the shame of apologizing to foreign friends all over the world, because we thought the win was in the bag.

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I’m expecting Wendy momentarily to shine and polish the TomCat, but I may as well get what I can done before she gets here.  She got here, so I’m clean and my floors are done.  It hasn’t been hot here, but the mugginess sure makes up for it.  Today is a grocery delivery day.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:03 (average 4:07).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Former Republican congressman Joe Walsh was quick to become, in the wake of the Dallas mass murder, one of the worst human beings on Twitter. For his tweet: "This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you" he was temporarily suspended from Twitter—but was quickly rewarded with an invitation to appear on CNN.

Because, apparently, of all the individuals in all of America who might have insights into the shooting, CNN decided that his "analysis" was the one they wanted to run with.

Shame on CNN for parroting Republican hate propaganda!

From NY Times: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg needs to drop the political punditry and the name-calling.

Three times in the past week, Justice Ginsburg has publicly discussed her view of the presidential race, in the sharpest terms…

…Mr. Trump responded on Tuesday. “I think it’s highly inappropriate that a United States Supreme Court judge gets involved in a political campaign, frankly,” he told The Times. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw it.”

There is no legal requirement that Supreme Court justices refrain from commenting on a presidential campaign. But Justice Ginsburg’s comments show why their tradition has been to keep silent.

Technically the Times is correct that Ginsburg was ill advised, to tell the truth.   However, why do I remember no piece from their Editorial Board condemning Scalia or Thomas for attending fund raising events for the Koch Brothers? At times the Gray Lady is a total hypocrite.

From YouTube: President Obama COMPLETE REMARKS at Dallas Memorial Service (C-SPAN)

Kudos to Obama!! If you have not seen this yet, you should.

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It’s a muggy day, as it was yesterday, so I’m really looking forward to Wendy’s return tomorrow.  It did interfere with my sleep last night, so I’ll be brief.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:48 (average 4:26).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: President Obama will travel to Dallas on Tuesday to mourn the deaths of five white police officers gunned down by a black Army veteran, his latest effort to help bridge one of the starkest divides in American society.

He huddled with his speechwriters for much of Monday, hoping to find words that would not only console the officers’ grief-stricken families but also reassure a nation fearful that racial divisions are worsening after the Dallas slaughter and the killing days before of black men by the police in Louisiana and Minnesota.

Mr. Obama approached the effort with the frustration of a man who has poured his heart and soul into similar speeches, only to later feel that nothing has changed and no one is listening. This will be the 11th time in his presidency that he has sought to comfort a city after a mass killing, and the second time in a month that such a killing grew out of bias.

“The president recognizes that it’s not just people in Dallas who are grieving, it’s people all across the country who are concerned about the violence that so many Americans have witnessed in the last week or so,” Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said on Monday.

Republicans have criticized Obama for not leaving Europe to go to Dallas sooner. For the record, Obama asked the Speaker of the House to accompany him. Lyin’ Ryan is too busy with bogus investigations and spreading hate to go to Dallas.  Hypocrite!!

From Alternet: Election lawyers in academia are wringing their hands over comments Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made to the New York Times about how she doesn’t want to consider what America—and the Court—would be like under a President Trump.

“I can’t imagine what this place would be—I can’t imagine what the country would be—with Donald Trump as our president,” Ginsburg told the Times. “For the country, it could be four years. For the court, it could be—I don’t even want to contemplate that.”

The Washington Post, which is perpetually infected with a self-assigned puritanical streak, was quick to question whether Ginsburg had “crossed a very important line,” because it’s possible the 2016 presidential election could end up before the Court in a vote count dispute.

“Generally, though, you don’t hear a Supreme Court justice talking like this,” wrote WaPo’s Aaron Blake. “In fact, you generally don’t hear a Supreme Court justice talking at all—much less about the big political issues of the day.”

I agree that it is certainly uncommon for a Justice to weigh-in, but for a monster like the presumptive Rectum of the Republican Party to be in such a position is unprecedented. Ginsburg actually went even further, saying that she would consider relocating to New Zealand, if Rump Dump wins the White House.

From Politicus USA: This is that time that Republicans stopped Americans from getting protection from the Zika virus because they feel they must first have the right to fly the Confederate flag over cemeteries.

I wish I were kidding. But behold. Yesterday, Senator Harry Reid excoriated Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for his cowardice after McConnell stabbed the American people in the back by allowing House Republicans to ruin the bipartisan MilCon-VA-Zika conference report.

You see, after Senate Republicans and Democrats hashed out a compromise on Zika funding that was less than what scientists asked for and thus less than what Democrats wanted but more than Republicans wanted, they sent that to the House. What came back?

Oh, sorry an American died from Zika and so sorry to the nearly 3,700 people in the U.S. (and territories) who have it, but Republicans will only fund the Zika emergency if they can fly the Confederate flag, create more abortions by refusing to fund birth control provided by Planned Parenthood, poison more water by exempting pesticides from the Clean Water Act, cut veterans funding and more.

Republicans care nothing for protecting the American People. We need protection from the Republican Party!

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In about forty minutes, I have a telephone interview scheduled with a Providence pharmacist for my annual prescription review.  After that I have a week free of medical mayhem for the first time in God only knows!  I think it’s time to sneak up on Lona the Napster and filch a couple hi grade naps!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:27 (average 5:30).  Top do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: BERNIE SANDERS: Former student organizer for the Congress of Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Led the first ever civil rights sit-in in Chicago history to protest segregated housing. One of only 2 sitting US Senators to have heard MLK’s "I have a Dream Speech" in person in the march on Washington, DC. Former professor of political science at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and at Hamilton College. Former mayor of Burlington, VT. Elected by the state of Vermont 8 times to serve in the House of Representatives. The longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history. He was dubbed the "amendment king" in the House of Representatives for passing more amendments than any other member of Congress. Ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee. Author of 2 books, and co-author of 3 others. Has recorded and released a folk music album. Self-described Democratic Socialist. Married to a woman named Jane, who is a former president of Burlington College.

~In a stunning upset in 1981, Sanders wins the mayoral race in Burlington, Vermont’s largest city, by a mere 10 votes. Running as an independent, he shocks the city’s political establishment by defeating a six-term, local machine mayor.

~During his tenure as mayor, he balanced the city budget, drew a minor league baseball team to Burlington, turned the formerly industrial waterfront into a mixed-use district featuring housing, parks, and public space. Burlington is now reported to be one of the most livable cities in the nation.

~In 1991, he was the first independent elected to the House in 40 years. He will be re-elected by the people of Vermont to serve eight terms.

~Votes against a measure providing President George H. W. Bush with authorization to use military force in the Gulf War. "I have a real fear that the region is not going to be more peaceful or more stable after the war," he says at the time.

These are the last seven of 28 listed things that Bernie Sanders has done for America. I’ll add two more He has won every party platform battle except trade, and he has moved to unify the party by stressing that we must elect Hillary Clinton.  Thank you Bernie!

From NY Times: The awkward dance between Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders, her top Democratic primary opponent, is set to conclude on Tuesday, with Mr. Sanders appearing alongside her at a rally in Portsmouth, N.H.

The event, confirmed in a news release put out by the Sanders campaign on Monday morning, could do much to appease Sanders supporters who remain skeptical of Mrs. Clinton as she heads to the party’s convention July 25-28 in Philadelphia. Mrs. Clinton has secured enough delegates for the presidential nomination but is not yet officially the nominee.

The rally, which will be held at Portsmouth High School, in a state where Mr. Sanders defeated Mrs. Clinton by 22 percentage points in a hard-fought February primary, is the result of weeks of private negotiations and policy debates between the Sanders and Clinton camps. While the endorsement event is widely expected to happen, Mrs. Clinton had to reschedule two recent events, one with President Obama and the other with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., because of the shootings in Orlando, Fla., and Dallas.

I look forward to it. I just hope his so-called supporters listen to him then.

From CNN:Republican Party leaders, donors and important delegates will flock to Cleveland this week for a series of meetings and negotiations that will determine whether or not Donald Trump can be stopped.

The anti-Trump forces will make their last stand — fighting to alter party rules that would free up delegates bound to Trump and potentially block the presumptive presidential nominee from actually winning the nomination.

The long-shot challenge will also be the first major test for the somewhat tenuous alliance for Trump and Republican Party loyalists led by chairman Reince Priebus.

If the Dump Trump fascists are successful, the Rump Dump Rectumites will stage an armed conflict that is likely to destroy the Republican Reich. If The Dump Trump fascists are not successful,. Rump Dump and his Rectumites are likely to destroy the Republican Reich by faithfully representing Republican beliefs and policies. without hiding behind Dog Whistles.   Let the festivities in Cleveland begin!

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