Politics Plus

Yesterday I celebrated with a nice long nap and a lazy day.  As dull as that may sound, I’m not al all disappointed and the hundreds of greetings I received really made my day.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow appears routine.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:30 (average 5:24).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NPR: Lawyers for former Sen. Larry Craig argued today that using campaign money for a legal defense over his 2007 arrest was proper because he was arrested while on official business.

If you recall, Craig, a Republican from Idaho, was arrested during a sting at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Craig used a bathroom there during a layover, when an undercover officer said Craig sexually solicited him by tapping his foot.

Craig pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor but after his case became public he tried to renege.

The Federal Elections Commission sued him for using more than $216,000 in campaign money for that legal fight.

I don’t know about you, but I’m sure relieved to hear that this family values Republican trolling airport bathrooms with his wide stance was official business.

From The New Yorker: A puff of white smoke over Vatican City today raised hopes among the faithful who jammed St. Peter’s Square until an official spokesman explained that the Vatican was “just burning some documents.”

“Wednesday is the day we traditionally burn documents and other legal evidence, and we totally forgot about the white smoke thing,” the Vatican spokesman said. “We apologize for any misunderstanding this might have caused.”

Actually that is a deception. What really happened was that the Cardinals were relaxing in a circle, when some of what they were smoking went up the chimney by mistake. Once they realized that the white smoke had been seen, they elected the guy that brought the stash of Argentinian Ass Kicker, because he had the best stuff.

From Blog for Arizona: The dimmest bulbs in the political marquee, state of Maricopa Tea Party teabaggers, are upset that the recall effort against their beloved Crazy Uncle Joe Arpaio is going so well. So they are throwing a bit of a temper tantrum by retaliating for the recall by filing a recall of their own against House Minority Leader (and exploring for a gubernatorial bid) Chad Campbell.

Don’t try to make sense of it, there isn’t any. They are just cherry-picking a high profile Democrat whom they dislike. These are people who have not advanced beyond the emotional development of a three year old with the "terrible threes."

All I can say is this author has done three year olds a grave injustice by comparing even their worst tantrums to this vile TEAbuggery!  Crazy Joe must go!

Cartoon:

In that, he truly represents the Republican Party.

Yesterday I could not sleep.  I have no idea why.  My COPD was no more severe than normal.  Sleep just would not come.  The upshot is that I feel exhausted, so I’m posting just this to avoid overtaxing myself.  I’m current with replies and should return to normal tomorrow.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:25 (average 7:23).  To do it click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Salem News: America has moved backward over the last half century. There is now representation without taxation, which is the opposite of the founding philosophy. What America has now is a culture where a few thousand people control the political and corporate worlds and are not taxed. Because they control the political process, they have almost entirely freed themselves of a tax burden.

The reality of inequity has become skewed beyond recognition, and preventing more equity is the mission of the Republican Party.

From NY Times: What’s really needed is a new act that makes access to the polls a universal American right. The Voting Rights Act remains necessary to prevent continuing racial discrimination, but bringing lawsuits under Section 2 of the act (which applies to the entire country and is not being challenged) is enormously difficult and costly. Preliminary injunctions to stop discriminatory election practices outside covered areas are rarely granted.

Racial prejudice was the principal target of the 1965 act, but the partisans who control so many state election systems have often gone beyond race in their attempts to rig voting to their advantage. Voter ID laws that impose a burden on students, the elderly or the poor, for example, should become as presumptively illegal as racial burdens are now. So should registration systems that make it harder for immigrants or non-English speakers to get on the rolls, or districts gerrymandered for political gain.

A country that takes pride in its democratic system should provide all voters with basic voting standards. Though Ms. Miller and other Republicans seem to think that federal mandates “would disrupt our already well-run system of elections” in the states, millions of voters have experienced something very different. Solving that problem is as urgent now as it was 50 years ago.

I could not agree more.

From MSNBC: Ed Schultz covered the same Republican hate that I did Sunday.

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

In the Republican War on Women violence and threats of violence are too extreme a tactic to allow.

Cartoon:

This was the first move in the “banana wars” to maker Latin America safe for United Fruit.

After yesterday’s grocery delivery, I’m quite pooped, but still going.  I’m current with replies, and tomorrow appears routine.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:14 (average 4:35).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: Right now, a sustainable deficit would be around $460 billion. The actual deficit is bigger than that. But according to new estimates by the budget office, half of our current deficit reflects the effects of a still-depressed economy. The “cyclically adjusted” deficit — what the deficit would be if we were near full employment — is only about $423 billion, which puts it in the sustainable range; next year the budget office expects that number to fall to just $172 billion. And that’s why budget office projections show the nation’s debt position more or less stable over the next decade.

So we do not, repeat do not, face any kind of deficit crisis either now or for years to come.

There are, of course, longer-term fiscal issues: rising health costs and an aging population will put the budget under growing pressure over the course of the 2020s. But I have yet to see any coherent explanation of why these longer-run concerns should determine budget policy right now. And as I said, given the needs of the economy, the deficit is currently too small.

Put it this way: Smart fiscal policy involves having the government spend when the private sector won’t, supporting the economy when it is weak and reducing debt only when it is strong. Yet the cyclically adjusted deficit as a share of G.D.P. is currently about what it was in 2006, at the height of the housing boom — and it is headed down.

Click through for the rest of Krugman’s editorial on what Republicans don’t want you to know.

From The Guardian: New York City took a step closer to having its first female and openly gay mayor on Sunday with the formal announcement that strongly tipped Democrat Christine Quinn will run for the post.

The city council speaker and veteran of New York politics confirmed her intention via a tweet and released a video in which she vowed to fight for middle- and working-class New Yorkers.

An early favourite to get the Democratic nomination for the mayoralty, she is also expected to get the backing of Republican-turned-independent mayor Michael Bloomberg.

She sounds like she may be an improvement.

From UPI: U.S. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan says his budget blueprint will promote repealing President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.

Oh my! What a surprise!

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I don’t know why, but my COPD was very severe yesterday and I’ve only had about an hour’s sleep because of it.  I’m going to reply to comments, post this and go to bed.  Hopefully I’ll be rested tomorrow.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:57 (average 4:43).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: There Are 17,000 Of These Now. What If There Was Zero?

Nukes in silos are like Republicans in office. Every one is one too many.

From NY Times: A fresh feud over federal judgeships has again begun to agitate the Senate, with Republicans so far blocking President Obama from filling any of the four vacancies on the nation’s most prestigious and important appeals court…

…If Republicans were to continue to steadfastly block a series of appeals court nominees, Democrats say they might then have justification to revisit Senate rules and claim new power to thwart filibusters.

This is the so called nuclear option. It has never been used before. Nuke the filibastards!

From NBC: Republicans have lashed out against the Obama administration’s decision to bring a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden to New York City for trial, a high-profile move that would help the president follow through on one of his earliest campaign pledges.

One of the unmet promises from President Barack Obama’s first term involved closing the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and bringing suspects to the continental United States for trial.

Article Three courts have successfully convicted dozens of terrorists. Military tribunals have convicted only 5. Gitmo should be closed and would have been were it not for Congressional cowards.

Cartoon:

In 2012, Republicans copied the threats.