Politics Plus

Yesterday I was very tired and slept most of the day.  Today I slept late and will be spending the afternoon and evening in prison helping with victim impact meetings.  Again this Open Thread is all for today. I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow will probably be the same, because I will not return home until late tonight.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:27 (average 4:20).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Seven Statistics Will Make You Question If Congress Understands Your Interests

My only disagreement is that I’d like to see Congress more educated than it is.

From: Huffington Post: Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced legislation late Wednesday to protest the Obama administration’s refusal to share information about controversial trade negotiations with the senator.

The administration’s blockade against Wyden, who chairs a subcommittee on international trade, conflicts with its prior statements to the press, and raises concerns that President Barack Obama’s administration is selectively icing out critics of the administration’s trade strategy.

Hat-Tip: Lisa G

Either Obama has some bas appointees, or this is happening because so many Republicans politicos, who were appointed to temporary partisan jobs, burrowed into permanent nonpartisan staff positions during the Bush Regime.

From NY Times: G.O.P. Nightmare Charts

Their nightmares are our wet dreams!

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I allowed myself to sleep in this morning, as I will be volunteering in prison and won’t get home until late tonight. So this Open Thread is all there is today.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow depends on how wiped out I am after today.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:46 (average 4:45).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: One Really Embarrassing Question For The GOP

I know how!  Thanks RepubliCorp!

From Eclectablog: It’s not often you see an elected official act like this much of an asshole and to do it such a dickish and public way.

Ten minutes before the filing deadline to run for the Michigan House of Representatives on Tuesday, Rep. Roy Schmidt, a “Democrat” from the 76th District in Grand Rapids, switched parties and decided to run as a Republican. This gave the Democratic party no candidate in a very tough district for Democrats after last year’s redistricting.

It was a cowardly act and seems nearly inexplicable given Schmidt’s own bad-mouthing of Michigan Republicans. It’s particularly dickish given that he had Democrats out knocking doors for him during the previous week.

Given the level of Republican sleaze here, the Dems should get an extension.  However, in Herr Schneider’s regime, notorious for upending elected governments, that won’t happen.

From NY Times: In an effort to show a unified front in their campaign against the birth control mandate, 43 Roman Catholic dioceses, schools, social service agencies and other institutions filed lawsuits in 12 federal courts on Monday, challenging the Obama administration’s rule that their employees receive coverage for contraception in their health insurance policies.

No doubt the GOP is in cahoots with this, as they want to take themselves off front street, given that more people are finally realizing that the Republican War on Women is real.

Cartoon: Let us learn from history

Yesterday was another bad air day, but I’m still going.  I’m putting off my errands until after the blog is up.  I’m current on replies.  Tomorrow I have to prepare a meeting plan for Tuesday’s volunteer work in prison.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:33 (average 5:20).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: What Have We Gained (And Lost) In The Two Years Since Obamacare Was Enacted?

Republicans are desperate that Americans don’t learn about this, let alone the parts yet to come.

From MSNBC: JP Morgan Chase and the Dark Markets

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

This is the best explanation of this Bankster scandal that I have encountered.

From NY Times: Leaders of the world’s richest countries banded together on Saturday to press Germany to back more pro-growth policies to halt the deepening debt crisis in Europe, as President Obama for the first time gained widespread support for his argument that Europe, and the United States by extension, cannot afford Chancellor Angela Merkel’s one-size-fits-all approach emphasizing austerity.

Merkel, whose party has lost six out of the last seven state elections to social democrats, is backing down. Now only US Republicans, and Canadian conservatives, are pushing this failed policy.

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Yesterday and today my COPD and bursitis have been severe, but since it’s cool, I can publish through that.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow I have errands to run.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:01 (average 4:42).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Three Words In The Bible That Some People Totally Ignore

Perhaps that’s because Republican supply-side pseudo-Christianity is based on hate, fear, and greed, not love.

From LA Times: A group behind a costly endeavor to field an independent presidential ticket this fall acknowledged Thursday that its efforts to nominate a candidate had failed.

Americans Elect succeeded in getting on the ballot in 29 states, but none of its prospective candidates received the minimum support needed to participate in a Web-based series of primaries that were to be held this month…

…The top declared candidate, former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer, had tallied about 6,300 clicks of support on the Americans Elect website by Thursday – far short of the minimum 10,000 required.

From the beginning, this has been a right wing attempt to field a left wing 3rd party candidate to draw votes away from Obama.  Good riddance!

From MS-NBC: Senators go after corporate miscreants.

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

Go!  Go!  Go!

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