Politics Plus

I did my online grocery shopping yesterday, but returned to bed afterward.  I’m current with replies.  Soon, I hope.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:58 (average 4:41).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Joe Scarborough, Long-Time Pro-Gun Supporter, Changes His Mind After Newtown

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The times when he and I agree are few and far between, but this is one. Kudos to Joe and to Barack Obama for supporting regulations to help prevent such tragedies.

From NY Times: Mrs. Clinton accepted all of the panel’s 29 recommendations and has already begun to make changes. The trick will be enhancing security for diplomats while not confining them so much that they cannot do their jobs. Two of her top lieutenants are scheduled to testify on the report to Congress on Thursday because she has been ill. But, as the secretary, she should also make herself available for public questioning as soon as possible.

If Congressional Republicans are truly interested in protecting American diplomats abroad they should support increased financing for improved security, without forcing the State Department to divert money from an underfinanced budget that has been earmarked for other uses.

Mrs. Clinton is seeking to transfer $1.3 billion slated for Iraq-related expenses to put $553 million into additional Marine security guards worldwide, $130 million for diplomatic security personnel and $691 million for improved security at overseas facilities. Even if the State Department makes the needed reforms, it will not be able to carry them out without a commitment of new money to the project.

Since it was the Republican Party that slashed funding for diplomatic security in the first place, they should stop making unjust accusations and join the Democrats to help fix the problem. I’m not holding my breath.

From MSNBC: Class Warfare Campaign Style

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Had Little Lord Willard been able to lie his way into the White House, he would now be conducting class warfare through vulture capitalism against the American people. Thank God we defeated him!

Cartoon:

I’m still down.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow I hope.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:04 (average 5:42).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report:

Here is the playoff bracket from our fantasy football league, Lefty Blog Friends.

The underdogs (but not the progressive ones), won both games.  I hope that trend does not continue.

Short Takes:

From NY Times: So we have found real reason to find hope in the determination to effect change that followed the murders of 20 children and seven adults in Newtown, Conn., last Friday. President Obama said it unequivocally on Sunday — the enormity of controlling the culture of guns and the epidemic of gun violence “can’t be an excuse for inaction.”

Yes, Mr. Obama has said that before, after two previous mass killings during his tenure, and did nothing. The hurdles are just as big as they were before, but there are signs that people are willing to rethink their views.

Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Mark Warner of Virginia, Democrats with “A” ratings from the National Rifle Association, have both said it is time to talk about restrictions on gun sales and ownership. Joe Scarborough, the former Republican congressman and now morning host on MSNBC, said Monday that the Newtown killings had changed his mind about gun control.

This incident is so horrific that the NRA has been mute, too fearful to go to CT and hold a pro-gun rally, like they did after Columbine and Aurora. This is the best time there has been to act, because only the vilest Republicans will not be afraid to oppose reasonable firearms regulation now.

From MSNBC: The Great Gun Divide

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I agree that there need be nothing to threaten the legitimate rights of gun enthusiasts who use them for legitimate purposes. As a former hunter, I can assure you that an assault weapon and an automatic pistol with a 30 round clip make for lousy hunting weapons.

From US News: Pursuing an archaic legal theory that punctuated pre-Civil War disputes between the federal government and states, South Carolina state Rep. Bill Chumley last week pre-filed a bill for the upcoming legislative session that would criminalize implementation of President Barack Obama’s 2010 healthcare reform law.

If his bill becomes law, any state official caught enforcing the healthcare law would be guilty of a misdemeanor and "must be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."

Federal officials caught enforcing the law, however, would be given stiffer punishment under the proposal.

Any federal employee or contractor enforcing the law "is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both," the bill proposes.

Nullification and InsaniTEA are still alive and well in SC.

Cartoon:

A shame for past Democrats.  A plan for present Republicans.

I’m afraid I’m still down, but I took a leap of faith and planned a menu to feed folks on Christmas, so I better be better in time.  I’m current with replies.  Maybe tomorrow.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:45 (average 5:50).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Young Boy Has A Big, Big Problem With Fish DNA Inside Of A Tomato, And He’s Doing Something About It

What children can understand, criminal corporate farmers can too. They just care more about profit, and they know the Republican Party has their back.

From NY Times: The subject of deceptive restaurant menus took on new life last week when Oceana, an international organization dedicated to ocean conservation, released a report with the headline “Widespread Seafood Fraud Found in New York City.”

Using genetic testing, the group found tilapia and tilefish posing as red snapper. Farmed salmon was sold as wild. Escolar, which can also legally be called oil fish, was disguised as white tuna, which is an unofficial nickname for albacore tuna.

Every one of 16 sushi bars investigated sold the researchers mislabeled fish. In all, 39 percent of the seafood from 81 grocery stores and restaurants was not what the establishment claimed it was.

This is yet more proof of the importance of knowing what we eat, but Republicans want to cut and slash funding for the enforcement of even the inadequate safeguards we have.

From Think Progress: Rock Hill Herald, a newspaper in South Carolina, printed a large ad for a big gun sale in Rock Hill on the same page as its coverage of Friday’s massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. The ad, which touted Christmas discounts on Smith & Wesson assault rifles, ran in Saturday’s edition on pages A4-A5:

The paper has to be Republican owned and operated. They alone could be this insensitive.

Cartoon:

Once again, the US needs to follow Canada’s example.

I’m getting so sick of sick.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow, I hope.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:03 (average 5:08).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: We’d Just Like To Say ‘Ditto’ To Everything Jennifer Granholm Says In This Clip

Mathematically, Herr Snyder:Governors::Herr Scalia:Injustices. Republicans are trying to convert the 98% into just another third world country they can exploit with ease.

From NY Times: It’s important to make this point, because I keep seeing articles about the “fiscal cliff” that do, in fact, describe it — often in the headline — as a debt crisis. But it isn’t. The U.S. government is having no trouble borrowing to cover its deficit. In fact, its borrowing costs are near historic lows. And even the confrontation over the debt ceiling that looms a few months from now if we do somehow manage to avoid going over the fiscal cliff isn’t really about debt.

No, what we’re having is a political crisis, born of the fact that one of our two great political parties has reached the end of a 30-year road. The modern Republican Party’s grand, radical agenda lies in ruins — but the party doesn’t know how to deal with that failure, and it retains enough power to do immense damage as it strikes out in frustration.

Before I talk about that reality, a word about the current state of budget “negotiations.”

Here is another can’t miss editorial by Paul Krugman. Click through. See also Bernie Sanders take on the negotiations.

From MSNBC: Pope Grover’s Demonstrates Republican Love

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If anyone needs a short leash, it’s Norquist, with a spiked choke collar. Like the Republican party, he is flailing desperately to stay relevant and failing miserably. But his grotesque characterizations exemplify what Republicans love.

Cartoon:

Republican Theocons attribute this discovery, without which modern electronics would not be possible, to the devil.