TomCat

Fast Track Cracked!

Posted by TomCat at 1:24 pm Politics

Jun 132015

I’d be willing to bet that you already know that House Democrats had the integrity to deny Obama Fast Track authority on the TPP. I hope you also know that the lid in the coffin is not sealed, because John Boehner, aka Agent Orange, is bring it back for another vote on Tuesday. On this issue, I’m proud of House Democrats and very ashamed of my President.

He made it personal. He appealed to their loyalty. He asked them to give him what every modern president has had. He argued the facts, disputed the politics, quarreled over the history and at times lashed out at those who still refused to stand with him.

Yet in the end, after years of frustration with Republicans blocking his ideas in Congress, President Obama on Friday found the most sweeping legislative initiative left on his agenda thwarted not by the opposition but by his own party. If not for his fellow Democrats, Mr. Obama would have a landmark trade bill heading to his desk for signature.

The sting of defeat may be temporary. The White House adamantly insisted on Friday that it made important progress by passing part of the trade package and still has a chance to turn around the vote on the other part. If that proves true, Mr. Obama may yet secure the negotiating authority he needs to seal a legacy-building 12-nation Pacific trade agreement and the day’s setback may ultimately be overshadowed.

But for the moment, at least, the defeat laid bare a fundamental schism within the party over economics and, according to some analysts and officials, exposed a stark divide between Democratic lawmakers and a Democratic president late in his tenure. Once eager to support Mr. Obama, Democrats now are less willing to buck their own labor-dominated base or their own convictions to advance their president’s program… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Chris Hayes and his panel covered the story quite well.

Oregon and Pete DeFazio helped lead the way. It’s coming again Tuesday. Rattle your Congress Critter again.

Open Thread–6/13/2015

Posted by TomCat at 1:23 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 132015

The good news is that I got enough sleep. The bad thing is that I slept through many tasks and am now running way behind. Pardon my brevity, please.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Todays took me 2:32 (average 4:51). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Fantasy Football Recruiting:

We still need two new players for Lefty Blog Friends, our fantasy football league. How about you? For more information, click here.

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos:

0613TSXTweet

UPDATE: Karen Fitzgibbons was just fired.

Yes, that’s a real post from a real elementary school teacher in Texas responding to the mess in McKinney. Karen Fitzgibbons, an elementary school teacher at Bennett Elementary School, had the nerve, the racist gall, the ignorance, to log into Facebook and post:

"I’m going to just go ahead and say it … the blacks are the ones causing the problems and this ‘racial tension.’ I guess that’s what happens when you flunk out of school and have no education. I’m sure their parents are just as guilty for not knowing what their kids were doing; or knew it and didn’t care. I’m almost to the point of wanting them all segregated on one side of town so they can hurt each other and leave the innocent people alone. Maybe the 50s and 60s were really on to something. Now, let the bashing of my true and honest opinion begin….GO! #imnotracist #imsickofthemcausingtrouble #itwasatagedcommunity"

Among TX Republicans, Fitzgibbons is what they call a moderate.

From NY Times: A month and a half after six officers were charged in Mr. Gray’s death, policing has dwindled in some of Baltimore’s most dangerous neighborhoods, and murders have risen to levels not seen in four decades. The totals include a 29-year-old man fatally shot on this drug corner last month. Police union officials say that officers are still coming to work, but that some feel a newfound reluctance and are stepping back, questioning whether they will be prosecuted for actions they take on the job.

What’s going on here is that Baltimore police are shirking their duties to punish the community, because their brother officers have been charged for their criminal acts. Police have long believed that being above the law is their right for protecting the community from criminals. It’s shameful.

From USA Today: A former Republican campaign operative was sentenced to two years in prison Friday in what the Department of Justice says is the nation’s first criminal prosecution for illegal coordination between a candidate’s campaign and an outside group.

Prosecutors said Tyler Harber’s case should serve as a warning to others as the 2016 campaign heats up and an array of super PACs and other outside groups spring to life to help individual presidential and congressional candidates.

Harber, 34, admitted this year that he helped create a super PAC and used it to buy $325,000 in advertising to help Virginia 2012 congressional candidate Chris Perkins. Harber also managed Perkins’ unsuccessful campaign.

Federal law bars candidates, who face strict contribution limits, from coordinating their spending with outside groups, which can take unlimited sums.

Can America afford to jail all the Republicans that deserve to be in the cell with Harber?

Cartoon:

Probable Cause: Now What?

Posted by TomCat at 12:18 pm Politics

Jun 122015

When I learned that community activists had filed a motion before an Ohio court to indict the police officers, who murdered Tamir Rice, I expected to wait weeks, if not months, for a decision. To my great surprise, it came in just a couple days. It was not everything I had hoped, but almost.

A judge in Cleveland ruled Thursday that probable cause existed to charge two Cleveland police officers in the death of a 12-year-old boy, Tamir Rice, but the judge also said he did not have the power to order arrests without a complaint being filed by a prosecutor.

In his ruling, Judge Ronald B. Adrine, presiding judge of the Municipal Court, found probable cause to charge Officer Timothy Loehmann, who fired the fatal shot, with murder, involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide and dereliction of duty. He also found probable cause to charge Officer Loehmann’s partner, Officer Frank Garmback, with negligent homicide and dereliction of duty.

“This court determines that complaints should be filed by the prosecutor of the City of Cleveland and/or the Cuyahoga County prosecutor,” Judge Adrine wrote…

Inserted from <NY Times>

The problem is that the judge did not order the prosecutor to indict, and the decision will be left to a Grand Jury.

Chris Hayes provided excellent coverage, with three different guests.

Now what? Will the Grand Jury even be allowed to know about Judge Adrine’s decision? When officers Loehmann and Garmback testiLIE, recounting a deceitful account of the shooting, will the prosecutor challenge their perjury, or let it stand as fact?

Despite a major victory for the truth, justice remains far from assured.

Open Thread–6/12/2015

Posted by TomCat at 12:17 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 122015

I didn’t get as much sleep as I needed, but enough to write. The heat wave is past, so kitty solar basking can wait until afternoon. TGIF!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:41 (average 4:58). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Fantasy Football Recruiting:

We still need two new players for Lefty Blog Friends, our fantasy football league. How about you? For more information, click here.

Short Takes:

From PRWatch: Jeb Bush is the highest profile speaker at a secretive three-day retreat in Bristol, Virginia, hosted by the CEOs of six coal companies, according to materials for the invitation-only event obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) and shared with the Guardian.

The event, dubbed the "Coal & Investment Leadership Forum," which started Sunday and goes through Tuesday, is taking place at an exclusive private golf course and resort called the "Olde Farm," owned by the founder of United Coal Company, Jim McGlothlin. The private country club is known for its annual golf tournament in which players take sides in the Civil War for the South or the Union and which is described by McGlothlin as "our most cherished tradition."

In addition to United Coal, the forum is being hosted by the CEOs of five other coal companies: Alliance Resource Partners, Alpha Natural Resources, Consol Energy, Drummond Company, and Arch Coal.

Strike Three is clearly ready to suck a little nevermind.

From Daily Kos:

Alberto Iber is in hot water after took to the comments section of a Miami Herald article on the Texas pool party to defend the Texas officer who pulled a gun on unarmed teens:

The Miami-Dade County school district announced Wednesday that Alberto Iber had been removed as principal after going online to defend a white Texas police officer who waved a gun at black teens while responding to a call about an unruly pool party.

In a brief statement, the district said employees are required to conduct themselves, both personally and professionally, in a manner that represents the school district’s core values. The district said a replacement would be named shortly and that Iber would be reassigned to administrative duties.

I fully agree with this action, especially considering that 88% of the students ay Iber’s school are black. He was a Republican disaster waiting to happen.

From Media Matters: Rupert Murdoch is reportedly planning to step down as CEO of Fox News parent company 21st Century Fox "and hand that title to his son James," according to CNBC. James Murdoch previously resigned his role as the head of News International — which published several tabloids and newspapers abroad — amid the widespread scandal over phone hacking at News of the World, a since-shuttered UK tabloid he oversaw. As part of the fallout from that scandal, Murdoch also resigned his position as chairman of UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB.

According to CNBC, "Rupert Murdoch will continue to be the executive chairman of Fox, while his son Lachlan would also become an executive co-chairman of the company."

James Murdoch has reportedly drawn the ire of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, who allegedly called him a "fucking dope" over his inability to contain the hacking scandal. (Fox News media critic Howard Kurtz claims that despite James Murdoch’s new position, "Ailes will still report to Rupert.")

No matter whish Murdoch is in charge, Faux Noise will continue, as the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, to keep offering infoganda for brain dead sheeple.

Cartoon:

0612Cartoon

Personal Update–6/11/2015

Posted by TomCat at 9:47 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 112015

For no particular reason, I could not sleep last night. I tossed and turned. So rather than put myself behind the eight ball, I’m taking the day off and going back to bed.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:58 (average 5:26). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

0611Cartoon

Politics Plus Fantasy Football 2015

Posted by TomCat at 2:06 pm Blog News, Personal

Jun 102015

LeftyBlogFriends

If you’ve been following Politics Plus you may know that every year, in obedience to the divine call of the holy Ellipsoid Orb, we host a fantasy football league, called Lefty Blog Friends. This will be our sixth year. Last year we only had eight teams. One of our players passed away, and I’d like to expand the league back to ten teams, so we need three more players. I hope you will consider joining.

Here’s what to do. Join NFL.com, unless you are already a member. Then leave me a personal message here, with the email address you use for NFL.com. I will send you an invitation from inside the league. The first new player who joins is in. The second will be in, only if we get a third. This is because we have to have an even number of teams.

You don’t need to be experienced, and women are just as good at this as men are, if not better.

Two of our players are Care 2 denizens, Lynn Squance and I, and one used to be, Patty Lasek. Lynn’s Size Nine Stompers won the Regular Season last year. Patty’s Monster Mashers beat me twice. My TomCat Teabag Trashers won the playoffs.

We will have a live online draft on Saturday, July 25, at 11 AM PDT, 12N MDT, 1 PM CDT, 2 PM EDT.

May the divine Ellipsoid Orb warm all Lefties and scorch Republicans.

Don’t hesitate to contact me with questions.

PS: Watch out for that Sasquatch! She’s deadly! 😉

Open Thread–6/10/2015

Posted by TomCat at 2:05 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 102015

I’m off to a very late start today. I had a bunch of volunteer paperwork to get done. I had to complete my kitty solar basking, before it got too hot. I had to set up our fantasy football league for the coming season. And I had to clean house, because today is a grocery delivery day. I’m now waiting for Store to Door to arrive, do I can put them away.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:37 (average 5:36). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Ideas to Save the Economy: Make Polluters Pay

Let’s stop investing in dirty fuels and start charging polluters rent for poisoning our skies.

The Reich on the left is right again. To his solutions I would add an end to all; subsidies for polluters. This the ninth video in the series. Please click through to MoveOn and share it from there.

From Daily Kos: When Minnesota resident Jeff Gullickson:

posted a doctored image of Mr. Obama’s famous campaign poster, instead showing the president with his head in a noose, his eyes closed and his neck appearing broken as if he had been lynched

… to Twitter in response to President Obama’s first tweet from his brand-new account, he netted himself nationwide attention, a visit from the Secret Service, was fired from his automotive job, and permanently etched his own name into the pantheon of the internet’s famous Obama-era racist nutcases. This upsets him.

But the Plymouth resident insisted that his tweets were not racist.

That is not racist. The Pope is not Catholic. Bears never, ever shit in the woods.

From NY Times: A police officer in McKinney, Tex., who was seen on video pulling his gun on teenagers in swimsuits and shoving a young black girl’s face in the ground at a pool party has resigned, the police said Tuesday.

Cpl. David Eric Casebolt, who had been placed on administrative leave after the episode on Friday, remains under investigation, Chief Greg Conley said at a news conference. The corporal will keep his pension and benefits, the police chief said.

“Our policies, our training, our practice doesn’t support his actions,” Chief Conley said. “He came into the call out of control, and as the video shows was out of control during the incident.”

This does not go far enough. Not only does this Republican get to keep his pension and benefits, but also, he is eligible for hire as a police officer elsewhere. He needs to be criminally charged and convicted to keep him out of police work. If you think he should be allowed to work, he can always get a job as private security for Republican campaign events, where his employers would appreciate that kind of behavior.

Cartoon:

0610Cartoon

Even Toto Wants Out!

Posted by TomCat at 10:06 am Politics

Jun 092015

Once upon a time, Dorothy wanted nothing more that to be returned to her home and family in Kansas. But that was before Sam Brownback and his sidekick Kris Kobach, aka KoBIATCH made Kansas a Republican Reich. Now Dorothy says, “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore”, and even Toto wants out!

On Thursday, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signed a bill that threatens the entire state’s judiciary with destruction if it rules against a law he favors. Brownback has spent much of his tenure attempting to curb the state supreme court and consolidate power in the executive branch. Thursday’s startling maneuver suggests the deeply conservative governor has no compunction about simply obliterating separation of powers when another branch of government gets in his way.

The Kansas trouble started in 2014, when the state supreme court ruled that the disparity between school funding in rich and poor districts violated the state constitution. The justices ordered the legislature to fix the problem. Soon after, the legislature passed an administrative law that stripped the supreme court of its authority to appoint local chief judges and set district court budgets. (Instead, district court judges—who are often quite conservative—were allowed to elect their own chief judge.)

Arriving shortly after the school funding ruling, this law was widely seen as a retaliation against the court—and a warning. In their first ruling, the justices stopped short of declaring that the school system as a whole was constitutionally underfunded. But the court acknowledged that it would one day answer that question. And if the justices mandate more school funding, the legislature will have to raise taxes, a step few legislators are eager to take.

The administrative law, then, was likely an effort to scare the court out of issuing a dramatic ruling in favor of greater school funding…

Inserted from <Slate>

Rachel Maddow has this story and discusses the new powers he gave to Kris KoBIATCH with Dave Helling.

Although Toto is just a dawg, I don’t blame him one bit. This cat would want out too!

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