Politics Plus

Writing for day 39, I’m sad to report that the cool spell lasted just one day, but it has stayed cloudy today, so far, so maybe the weatherman will be wrong again.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:29 (average 5:42).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Opponents of Florida’s Stand Your Ground law are attempting to mobilize support for a new law called Don’t Shoot Me for Absolutely No Reason.

The proposed law, which faces major opposition in the Florida legislature, would make it illegal for people in the state to shoot each other for no reason whatsoever.

“Under the provisions of Don’t Shoot Me for Absolutely No Reason, you will be required to have an actual reason for shooting someone,” said a spokesman for the measure, Harland Dorrinson. “This will be a first in Florida.”

The controversial bill has already drawn the ire of the National Rifle Association, which issued a statement today saying that requiring someone to have a reason to shoot another person would violate the Second Amendment…

Andy’s Satire is almost too close to true to be humor.

From Truthdig: It looks like The New York Times will have a major hole to fill for its coverage of the 2014 midterm elections. That’s because election forecaster extraordinaire Nate Silver is reportedly packing up his FiveThirtyEight blog and taking it over to ESPN, according to the Times’ Brian Stelter. The media reporter says he learned of Silver’s departure from a source at the sports network. Stelter also reports that Silver informed the Times on Friday of his decision to leave.

In addition to number-crunching and writing columns, Silver is expected to be a regular contributor on “Olbermann,” a new program hosted by former “Sportscenter” anchor and MSNBC host Keith Olbermann that’s set to debut on ESPN2 next month. He will also factor in ABC News’ political coverage during election years. Both ESPN and ABC News are owned by Disney.

That is a huge loss for the Times. In 2012, He was the only major prognosticator to out perform me. I missed one state in the Presidential race and one Senate race. He got them all!  On the plus side, I will sure listen to what he says about fantasy football!

From MSNBC: House Takes 39th Vote on Obamacare.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Republicans will not be able to stop Obamacare no matter how many $millions of taxpayers dollars they waste on go-nowhere votes such as this. Voters need to remove them, because refusing to govern is anti-American sedition.

Cartoon:

Republicans probably want to reserve them for the 1% only.

I’m running on little sleep, as I write for day 37, because the next door neighbor from hell, a likeable enough fellow, but playing with a 48 card deck, decided to have a noisy day and night.  Asking him to shut-up works, but only for a few minutes.  ARGH!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:43 (average 6:07).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: After days of angry protests and mounting public pressure, President Obama summoned five of his closest advisers to the Oval Office on Thursday evening. It was time, he told them, for him to speak to the nation about the Trayvon Martin verdict, and he had a pretty good idea what he wanted to say.

For the next 15 minutes, according to a senior aide, Mr. Obama spoke without interruption, laying out his message of why the not-guilty ruling had caused such pain among African-Americans, particularly young black men accustomed to arousing the kind of suspicion that led to the shooting death of Mr. Martin in a gated Florida neighborhood.

On Friday, reading an unusually personal, handwritten statement, Mr. Obama summed up his views with a single line: “Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.”

It is a shameful thing that almost 50 years after the Voting Rights Act, now emasculated by Republican Injustices on SCROTUS, black families are talking to their children about how they can act around white people. Republicans see this as not being so uppity. I see this as second class citizenship. Shame!

From Roll Call: A meeting of Senate Republicans on Wednesday grew tense as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told his members he could have gotten a better deal on nominations than the one negotiated by rank-and-file Republicans.

McConnell’s tone, according to multiple sources, implied that he had been kept in the dark about the talks between some in his own ranks and Democrats. However, those same Republicans say they kept McConnell updated throughout their negotiating process.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., got so frustrated with McConnell’s presentation of events, that he called “bullshit” loud enough for the room to hear, nearly a half-dozen sources said. The heated exchange underscored the “buyer’s remorse” among some Republicans, especially leaders, one senior Republican said on background. [emphasis added]

This is one of few chances you’ll get to witness me saying this about a Republican. Kudos to Bob Corker (R-TN).

From Daily Kos: In about two weeks, House Republicans will begin their summer vacation, taking nearly the entire month of August off and returning to work after Labor Day. And what will their schedule look like after returning from vacation?

After taking almost the entire month of August off, House leadership has penciled in just nine workdays for September.

To be fair, September has just 30 days, and they’re already spending the first two of those days on vacation. If you subtract the 8 weekend days, that leaves just 20 workdays left in the month. So it’s not like they’re spending all of their time screwing around doing nothing—they’re only taking off 11 of the first 20 workdays after their vacation.

This is just how much Republicans care about solving America’s problems.

Cartoon:

Yesterday the cloud cover lasted longer than forecast, so the temperature never reached 80° outside.  Nevertheless it hovered at 90° inside all day, because of the way the brickwork here retains heat and radiates it through the walls.  It has currently dropped to 84°, but the heat is forecast to return with a vengeance today.  At least I got some sleep last night.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:06 (average 5:23).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: It’s been quite a day for Elizabeth Warren.  First, her CFPB finally gets its director, after Reid plus 50 finally show some cojones. Then she appears on CNBC’s The Squawk Box and responds to the hostile and ill-informed questioning of that crew.

It is so wonderful that America has a Senator with the knowledge to deflect the BS from Bankster backers like these.  Do those Republicans, masquerading as journalists, look like they just ate a bad clam, or what? Go Lizzie Go!!!

From YouTube: Rush Limbaugh’s Racism

For Limbarf to say he’s not racist is like a turd saying it doesn’t stink. I apologize to the turd for mentioning it with the philosophical head of the Republican Party, whose putrid ring they bow to kiss, almost without exception.

From MSNBC: Republicans would restrict what you can do in the bedroom.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

This did not come from The Onion or Andy Borowitz. If it passes, will they change the name of the state from Virginia to Vagina?

Cartoon:

Yesterday the temperature at my desk reached 102°, and today is forecast several degrees hotter. 🙁

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:59 (average 4:42).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Remember the Chambers Brothers? Lead singer Lester Chambers, 73, was attacked by a crazed woman while dedicating "People Get Ready" to Trayvon Martin at The Hayward Russell City Blues Festival in Hayward, California. Chambers was taken to an area hospital.

Republicans predicted there would be violence over the decision. Violence is easier to predict for the violent ones, the Republicans.  The video does not show the attack.  It’s just the song.

From Truthdig: Tell me it’s a sick joke: Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, the guy who tops the list of those responsible for sabotaging the world’s economy, is lobbying to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. But no, it makes perfect sense, since Summers has long succeeded spectacularly by failing. 

Why should his miserable record in the Clinton and Obama administrations hold him back from future disastrous adventures at our expense? With Ben Bernanke set to step down in January, and Obama still in deep denial over the pain and damage his former top economic adviser Summers brought to tens of millions of Americans, this darling of Wall Street has yet another shot to savage the economy.

Summers was one of the key players during the Clinton years in creating the mortgage derivative bubble that ended up costing tens of millions of Americans their homes and life savings. This is the genius who, as Clinton’s Treasury secretary, supported the banking lobby’s successful effort to make the sale of unregulated bundles of mortgage securities and the phony insurance swaps that backed them perfectly legal and totally unmonitored. Those are the toxic bundles that the Federal Reserve is still unloading from the banks at a cost of trillions of dollars.

The three blind mice, Bernanke, Geithner and Summers, were Obama’s three worst appointees. So I can sum up my feelings about putting Summers in charge of the Federal Reserve in a single word:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

From Think Progress: Not often is the general public able to witness the birth of a conspiracy theory in real-time. But deep in the conservative conscience, the immigration-reform-will-lead-to-massive-voter-fraud hypothesis took a big leap forward today, gestating from a peculiar idea espoused by one Tea Party group to a seemingly-credible theory advanced by an influential congresswoman.

The notion was first conceived in May when a Tea Party group organized to advance voter suppression laws, True The Vote, emailed supporters to warn that if immigration reform passes, it could result in “millions of fraudulent voters.” “If this bill passes,” founder Catherine Englebrecht warned, “millions of newly legalized immigrants could overwhelm local and state election offices.”

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) took the idea one step further on the radio Monday, arguing on Wallbuilders Live that once immigration reform passes, President Obama will simply wave a magic wand and “grant wholesale voting rights way ahead of whatever the bill says.”

What can I say? Batshit crazy to the very end!

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