Politics Plus

Yesterday was the coolest forecast of the heat wave, and the temperature in my apartment dropped below 90° a little after midnight, so I’m pretty pooped.  I actually have three articles today, but I will not have time to distribute the links before tomorrow, because of today’s medical appointment. I’m current with replies, albeit very briefly. Tomorrow I have to stay home, because my Medicare Advantage company is visiting for my annual O₂ check.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:17 (average 4:54).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: All Men Are Created Equal. Except For One Of These Twins, Apparently.

I was happy to see the recurring theme last night at the DNC that marrying whomever you love is a basic human right.

From Bloomberg: BP Plc (BP/), the owner of the Macondo well that caused the worst U.S. oil spill two years ago, declined in London after the Department of Justice reiterated it will pursue charges of gross negligence in the case.

Good! It’s sad the wheels of justice move so slowly!

From Boston Globe: Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren will be looking to boost her campaign with a speech to the Democratic National Convention.

Warren is scheduled to be among those speaking to the delegates on Wednesday night. The Harvard Law School professor and consumer advocate is trying to unseat Republican Sen. Scott Brown, who won a special election to succeed the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Go Warren!!!

Cartoon:

Now that summer is virtually over, I’m heading into four days of heat, but the nights should be cool enough to help mitigate it.  I hope you are all enjoying your holiday.  I’m current with replies, and tomorrow appears routine.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:19 (average 4:14).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: The Graphic For Anyone Who Thinks Paul Ryan Couldn’t Get Any Worse

It would be difficult to find any member of Congress his age, who has voted FOR more debt than this so-called budget hawk.  Now he and his party want to take what you paid have already paid for.

From NY Times: Hugh Hewitt, a right-wing talk-radio host, interviewed Mr. Ryan. In that interview, the vice-presidential candidate boasted about his fitness, declaring that he had once run a marathon in less than three hours.

This claim piqued the interest of Runner’s World magazine, which noted that marathon times are recorded — and that it was unable to find any evidence of Mr. Ryan’s accomplishment. It eventually transpired that Mr. Ryan had indeed once run a marathon, but that his time was actually more than four hours.

In a statement issued by a spokesman, Mr. Ryan tried to laugh the whole thing off as a simple error. But serious runners find that implausible: the difference between sub-three and over-four is the difference between extraordinary and perfectly ordinary, and it’s not something a runner could get wrong, unless he’s a fabulist who imagines his own reality. And does suggesting that Mr. Ryan is delusional rather than dishonest actually make the situation any better?

It’s simple. If Ryan is lying, vote Obama/Biden. If Ryan is delusional, vote Obama/Biden.

From Politico: Americans scored Mitt Romney’s GOP convention speech the lowest since Bob Dole’s acceptance speech in 1996, according to a Gallup Poll released Monday.

Following the Republican National Convention in Tampa, 40 percent of voters said that they were more likely to support Mitt Romney for president, compared with 38 percent who were less likely — a net impact of +2.

This is lowest net impact for a convention going back to 1984. By comparison, the 2008 GOP convention featuring Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was +5, and that year’s Democratic convention nominating Barack Obama was +14.

An uninspiring reaction to an uninspiring speech by an uninspiring man, or should I say mannequin?

Cartoon:

We have made it through another month, and I’m a bit behind schedule, because of data collection for tomorrow’s Monthly Report.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow appears routine.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:05 (4:51 average).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: The Tax Calculator For Anyone Opposed To Putting Their Cash Through A Shredder

At their lie fest, Republicans clamed that Obama raised taxes on the middle class. That is not true. This is.

From The New Yorker: In a development that the Republican campaign is sure to find troubling, a new poll of likely voters showed nominee Mitt Romney trailing badly behind the empty chair Clint Eastwood talked to onstage at the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

When asked the question, “Who cares more about people like me?” thirty-seven per cent of voters responded, “Mitt Romney,” while fifty-two per cent said, “Chair.”

The chair certainly has my vote!

From TPM: An attendee at the Republican National Convention in Tampa on Tuesday allegedly threw nuts at a black camerawoman working for CNN and said “This is how we feed animals” before being removed from the convention, a network official confirmed to TPM.

How very Republican that is!

Cartoon:

And the 1% cleaned up!  Some kept doing business with the Nazis even after the US entered the war.

Yesterday, I slept most of the day on and off, leaving me quite groggy this morning.  This is today’s only article, as I have to leave for an ultrasound on my bad leg.  I’m not current with replies, but will cat65ch up soon.  Barring unforeseen circumstances,  I’ll be blogging normally tomorrow.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:51 (average 4:54).  To do it, click here.  How did you do.

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: 10 Things The Romney Campaign Doesn’t Want You To Know About Paul Ryan

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

From NY Times: The party that claims to have all the answers on Medicare seemed to have no interest in sharing them with the American people at its convention on Wednesday. The session, devoted to the theme of “We Can Change It,” never went any deeper than that slogan or a few others: Reform Medicare. Strengthen Medicare. Protect Medicare.

All without the slightest hint of how that supposed reform or strengthening would take place, regarding that program and many others. “We will not duck the tough issues; we will lead,” said Representative Paul Ryan, in his speech accepting the vice-presidential nomination. “We will not spend four years blaming others; we will take responsibility.”

Sounds great, except that the speech ducked the tough issues and blamed others for the problems.

Also consider this.

Never have I seen a more dishonest political speech!

From Upworthy (Hat-Tip Lynn Squance):

Complete accuracy plus eye candy for the ladies.

Cartoon:

Comparing his successor to him is enough to make a person throw up.