Politics Plus

Yesterday I caught up, replying to comments and returning visits.  Last night, I put the CPAP machine on hold and got eight hours of much needed sleep.  I feel rather groggy after all that, but expect to stay up to date today, despite a huge pile of paper on my desk that needs sorting, attention, and filing.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:21.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football:

To join our fantasy football league, click here.

Short Takes:

From CQ Politics: "House Democrats were more exposed in 1994 than they are this year," writes Rhodes Cook in Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball.

"Then, half the seats they were defending were in districts that had voted for the Republican presidential ticket in one or both of the previous two presidential elections (1988 and 1992).

"This year, just one third of Democratic seats are in similarly problematic terrain – an important distinction since the vast majority of House seats that the Democrats lost in 1994 were in "Red" or "Purple" districts."

The outlook for2010 and 2012 is not as bleak as the pundits claim.  We need to keep hammering the message that the GOP is intentionally undermining economic recovery, despie the suffering they cause by that tactic, to improve their political chances.

From News Hounds: Geraldo Rivera was on his high horse last night (6/25/10) over the now-infamous Rolling Stone profile that led to Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s resignation this week. According to Rivera, Rolling Stone should have known that printing McChrystal’s insubordinate comments would lead to his resignation. Therefore, Rivera argued, the magazine was comparable to Al Qaeda in its danger to U.S. national security. That was over the top enough. But it was even worse considering that this holier-than-thou-on-national-security-ethics reporter was the same Geraldo Rivera who got kicked out of Iraq for broadcasting details about troop movements. He did not even have the decency to acknowledge that he had not practiced what he was now preaching.

The hypocrisy of Faux Noise, the GOP Reichsministry of Propaganda, knows no bounds.

Hat-Tip: Daily Kos

Isn’t this ad a work of art? 

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

Have a great Sunday!

I’m running way behind schedule today, because I did not get home from the prison until quite late last night.  The men there always inspire me with their dedication to change.  One of the personal highlights for me was watching a man who spent three years on death row, before being resentenced to life without possibility of parole, give a brief presentation on how he had empowered himself to change.  I knew him well, because he is one of the people who helped me turn my life around.  He has dedicated himself to helping others change, before they make the same mistakes he did.  I’m proud to call him a friend.  Sometimes the awe and extreme respect with which these men treat me is difficult for me to accept.  I see me as just a regular person trying to do what I can to help.  They se me as one who made it, and look to me as an example of how they can make it too.  Please don’t expect too much of me today.  I’m worn out.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:07.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football:

To join our fantasy football league, click here.

Short Takes:

From NY Times: The House on Thursday approved legislation to curtail the ability of corporations and other special interest groups to influence elections by requiring greater disclosure of their role in paying for campaign advertising…

…The vote was 219 to 206, with just two Republicans joining Democrats in favor. Opposed were 170 Republicans and 36 Democrats. Republican leaders assailed the bill as an infringement on free speech and the First Amendment, and its chances are shaky in the Senate.

I expect the GOP to filibuster this in the Senate.  When they do, we need to paint them with it.

From LA Times: Senate Republicans on Thursday once again blocked legislation to reinstate long-term unemployment benefits for people who have exhausted their aid, prolonging a stalemate that has left more than a million people without federal help.

Have you friends that are unemployed?  Mobilize them to remove Republicans from office in November.  Their survival depends on that, because Republicans care to preserve the profits of their billionaire buddies and to return to power.  While they will create millions of jobs, jobs in Asia won’t help people here that are suffering from the GOP recession.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

TGIF!c

Yesterday I replied to the outstanding comments after I returned home and set up the CPAP machine.  I hope to return visits today, bit it’s iffy.  I have work to do in preparation for a board meeting tomorrow.  In addition, using the CPAP machine did not go well.  Instead of my normal 4-6 hours on my early sleep shift, I got just over one.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:52.  Top do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football:

To join our fantasy football league, click here.

Short Takes:

From Deseret News: Attorney Mike Lee appears to have defeated businessman Tim Bridgewater in the Utah GOP Senate primary.

"It looks like we’re not going to pull it off," Bridgewater said shortly before 11 p.m. He said he’s run a good campaign and could hold his head up.

"We fought passionately," he said, adding he had called Lee and conceded the race.

Does anyone have the wacky-doodle-d0 on this Teabagger?

From Common Dreams: Louisiana – In the largest citizen enforcement action ever taken under the Clean Water Act, the Center for Biological Diversity is suing BP and Transocean Ltd., for illegally spilling more than 100 million gallons of oil and other pollutants into the Gulf of Mexico. The suit was filed Friday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana…

…If the spill continues through August 1, 2010, BP’s liability will be approximately $19 billion.

And this is over and above the $20 billion Obama got. 🙂

From Politico.com: A new 527 group conceived by veteran GOP hands Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie and launched this year with predictions that it would raise $52 million to support Republican candidates has thus far failed to live up to the fundraising hype.

The group, American Crossroads, raised only $200 last month, according to a report it filed Monday with the Internal Revenue Service, bringing its total raised since launching in March to a little more than $1.25 million.

I’d like nothing better than to see Turd Blossom fall flat on his heinous face.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

Happy hump day!

Yesterday was the last full day of Spring, as Summer begins this morning at 7:28 AM PDT (4:28 EDT).  I stayed up to date on replying to comments and returning visits to bloggers who left comments.  I also visited a bunch of other blogs.   I expect to be able to at least stay up to date today.  My week starts getting busy tomorrow.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:17.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: The chairman of the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee released an internal BP document on Sunday showing that the company’s own analysis of damage to the well bore resulted in a worst-case estimate of 100,000 barrels of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico each day. The chairman, Representative Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, said the document provided a sharp contrast to BP’s initial claim that the leak was just 1,000 barrels a day. Mr. Markey said that when the document was made available to Congress, BP said that the leak was about 5,000 barrels a day and that the worst case was 60,000 barrels.

Will BP ever tell the truth about anything?

From McClatchy DC: Media consumers want to know why news outlets call the gusher in the Gulf an oil spill.

I started calling it a GOP Gusher on May 24.

From Crooks and Liars:

Once again we see that attempts at bipartisanship with the GOP are futile.

Cartoon:

OGIM!!