Politics – Page 1109 – Politics Plus

Open Thread–8/6/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:03 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 062014

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 107. I don’t know why, but I just could not get comfortable last night, and I could not sleep. I had a short nap this morning, but it was nowhere near enough. I’m hoping I can catch some serious Zs, when I finish writing.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:02 (average 6:24). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren cares a lot about making student loans affordable—and she happens to be a bankruptcy expert. This week, she turned that passion and that wealth of knowledge on Richard Hunt, president and CEO of the Consumer Bankers Association.

You would think bankers would learn not to try to get sneaky in response to Warren’s pointed questioning. But this one had not learned that.

Was Lizzie munching on Bankster Butt or what? Bankruptcy relief should include student loans, and the death of the borrower should terminate any student loan.

From YouTube: Another Journey into the Parallel World of ALEC

Kudos to Chris Taylor and Ed Schultz. When Republican politicians introduce ALEC boilerplate, they must be exposed and dumped.

From AlterNet: What someone is paid has little or no relationship to what their work is worth to society.

Does anyone seriously believe hedge-fund mogul Steven A. Cohen is worth the $2.3 billion he raked in last year, despite being slapped with a $1.8 billion fine after his firm pleaded guilty to insider trading?

On the other hand, what’s the worth to society of social workers who put in long and difficult hours dealing with patients suffering from mental illness or substance abuse? Probably higher than their average pay of $18.14 an hour, which translates into less than $38,000 a year.

How much does society gain from personal-care aides who assist the elderly, convalescents, and persons with disabilities? Likely more than their average pay of $9.67 an hour, or just over $20,000 a year.

As always the Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right, while the Reich on the Right, the Republican Reich, is wrong. Click through for in depth coverage of this subject.

Cartoon:

0806Cartoon

Wehby Is Now a Koch Sucker

Posted by TomCat at 12:02 am Politics

Aug 052014

Most of you know that I did some volunteer work for Jeff Merkley six years ago when he defeated Goose-step Gordon Smith, the so-called moderate Republican, who often cast progressive votes in the Senate, but only when it made no difference, whatsoever. Jeff has gone on to become a reliably progressive Senator. Now Jeff is opposed by Monica Wehby, who claims to be moderate. Here is the proof that she is no such thing.

Monica Wehby, an Oregon pediatric neurosurgeon, has become one of this cycle’s conservative stars on the strength of her résumé and strong victory over four opponents in the May GOP Senate primary – and because of her gender. In a column, George Will wrote that given the primacy of health care in the nation’s economy, the Senate could use more physicians and that “another doctor may be coming, straight from the operating room to her first elected office.” Mitt Romney endorsed her. Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell said women would love her. And Sens. Kelly Ayotte, John McCain and Susan Collins have all donated to her campaign. Her match-up against the Democratic incumbent Sen. Jeff Merkley helps the GOP broaden their Senate map and their chances of taking the upper chamber in November. Now Wehby, whose catchy slogan is “Keep your doctor, change your Senator,” is about to get the biggest boost of her campaign, with the Koch-affiliated group Freedom Partners set to pour millions into a television ad blitz, according to the Oregonian. The influx of cash comes as Wehby is still introducing herself to voters in her match-up against Merkley, who, according to The Washington Post Election Lab, has a 99 percent of winning. Merkley also has the edge in fundraising, with about $6.7 million raised to Wehby’s $2 million, an uneven playing field that the outside money will help to level. Wehby’s campaign team, which is not allowed to coordinate with any outside groups, said they are still regrouping after a tough primary, with plans to continue to introduce Wehby to voters around Oregon throughout August. Their internal polls show Wehby down by only two, while other public polls show Wehby lagging by double digits. “We don’t have any control over who or what comes into the race, but the willingness of outside groups to take a look means that Oregon is back on the map,” said Dean Petrone, communications director for Wehby’s campaign. “Outside groups like them wouldn’t be putting money in this early if they didn’t think there was a real opportunity in the fall.” Merkley’s campaign is trying to turn the Koch-linked investment into a liability, following a strategy already seen in several races, particularly in North Carolina, where Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan has faced a barrage of ads from Koch-affiliated groups. In advance of Wednesday, when the television ads are set to begin, the Merkley campaign put out a Web ad of their own, framing Wehby as a tool of the Koch brothers and big money interests. A call and e-mail to Freedom Partners was not returned… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Washington Post>

Oregon voters need to be informed that Wehbe sucking in all those Koch dollars guarantees that she’ll be sucking up to Koch policies. Jeff does that well.

In addition, I don’t think this woman is mentally fit. This article is 2 1/2 months old:

Until recently, Oregon Republican Senate hopeful Monica Wehby was known mostly as a rare chance for the GOP hopeful to be competitive in a blue state, and a candidate with a campaign ad quickly dubbed one of the best of the year. But on the eve of the state’s primary Tuesday, Wehby’s Republican and Democratic opponents are seizing on another way to define her – as an unstable stalker.

On Monday, The Oregonian published a 2007 police report about an altercation between Wehby and her soon-to-be-ex-husband Jim Grant, in which he accused her of “ongoing harassment.” The couple has accused each other of acting violently, with Grant admitting to it: ”Jim said over the last year Monica has pulled his hair, slapped him and thrown items at him. Jim said he had been violent with her in the past approximately three years or so ago.”

This follows revelations that in April 2013, Wehby’s ex-boyfriend, Andrew Miller, called the police to complain that she was “stalking” him and had repeatedly entered his home uninvited. Politico reported on the incident Friday, on the morning of the primary debate. On the same day, The Oregonian published audio of the call…

Inserted from <MSNBC>

Here’s the audio from that call.

Because I am not Republican, integrity demands that I add that Miller has since stated that he regrets making that police report and that he supports her candidacy. But I won’t pass it off as a mistake, because her stalking and harassment are recurring patterns of behavior.

Oregonians, convince everyone you know that their votes are important and to vote for Jeff Merkley. For my previous articles involving Wehby click here and here.

Open Thread–8/5/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:02 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Aug 052014

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 106. It’s been a busy day. I cleaned up a three day mess. It was huge, I got a haircut. It was hot, but the barber shop is only three blocks away, I had a big bowl of Gehenna chili. You know, when someone in the surrounding area lights a match, the fireball can be quite dramatic. And, of course, I researched.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:10 (average 4:46). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: I’ll keep the commentary low, because the event speaks for itself. So much for the religious tradition the Republican party prides itself on and uses as the basis to deny so many rights. A recent bill introduced in the house suggests a resolution honoring the Pope "for his inspirational statements and actions" as well as his goals to ameliorate inequality and promote solidarity.

What do the Republicans think about this? According to reports from The Hill, it looks like they aren’t too happy.

Only 19 of the 221 co-sponsors are Republicans. The dearth of GOP members on the measure could be attributable to assertions that the pope is “too liberal,” according to a Republican backer of the legislation.

The source noted that Francis last year denounced “trickle-down economics.”

Some Republicans believe the pope is “sounding like [President] Obama. [The pope] talks about equality — he actually used the term ‘trickle-down economics,’ which is politically charged,” the GOP official said.

There is a simple enough explanation for why the Pope sounds so like Obama to Republicans that they object. Pope Francis and Obama are both Christians. Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians are NOT Christians.

From NY Times: The nation’s largest environmental group is earning money from an oil well on land it controls in Texas, despite pledging a decade ago not to permit new oil and gas drilling on land supposedly set aside for conservation.

That revelation is contained in a forthcoming book about climate change by the writer and activist Naomi Klein, and the essential facts of the case were confirmed last week by the Nature Conservancy, the environmental group in question.

The Nature Conservancy — which says it helps protect about 20 million acres in the United States — argues that it has had no choice in the case of the well. Under the terms of a lease it signed years ago with an oil and gas company and later came to regret, the group says it had to permit the drilling of the well in 2007.

But the lease contains termination clauses, and Ms. Klein argues in the book that the Nature Conservancy could most likely have stopped the 2007 drilling. The group has earned millions of dollars over the years from gas and oil production on the property, though the 2007 well was not especially lucrative.

Unless there is more about this issue that I do not know, I would suggest that there are better environmental groups to support than they are.

From TPM: An Evanston, Ill. man fatally shot himself Sunday night while showing off a shotgun he thought wasn’t loaded to a group of friends, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Police were called to an Evanston home for an accidental shooting. They found Eric Zyzanski on the floor with a shotgun wound to the head, lying next to the shotgun.

He was taken to the hospital and died about two hours later, according to police.

According to witnesses, Zyzanski was in his apartment with friends, where he took out a shotgun and "began showing it off."

His friends told him to put the gun away, so he proceeded to take two or three rounds out of the gun, according to police. He then pointed the gun at his cheek, said the gun was empty and pulled the trigger, witnesses said.

Bye Bye Gunny Boo Boo!! Any needless loss of life is tragic and regrettable, but at least that Republican Ammosexual won’t be voting in November.

Cartoon:

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Last Week’s Demented Republican Moments

Posted by TomCat at 2:35 am Politics

Aug 042014

Every week, Republicans join a competition to see who can say the most outlandish things, and in the process, every week they push the envelope on just how demented InsaniTEA can become. I trust that you will believe it, when I tell you that last week was no exception.

Ann Coulter wonders why we can’t deal with our border the way Netanyahu deals with Hamas.

The headline kind of says it all. Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu is Ann Coulter’s kind of president. He bombs civilians and seems pretty unconcerned about killing hundreds of Palestinian kids. Or, even if he is concerned, at least he still does it. She segued to a discussion of Netanyahu’s iron fist in a discussion on Fox News’ Hannity about tunnels found at the U.S./Mexican border. Tunnels, hey, that reminds Ann of the tunnels in Gaza used by Hamas.

“More than a hundred tunnels have been found on our border,” Coulter told Hannity. “To smuggle in weapons, guns, they’re invading, they’re murdering, they’re raping. The head of the DEA said about a year ago that he thinks the surge of homicides in Chicago is a Mexican drug cartel.”

Then she added: “I just wish we would talk about our border the way we talk about Israel’s border.”

Now she was on a roll.

“We need a Netanyahu here. Can you imagine all these — yes, sometimes Palestinian kids get killed, ” she said as she began to laugh. Then she laughed and laughed, and then her head started spinning around and she vomited green fluid…

Inserted from <AlterNet>

You can always count on the Coultergeist for thoroughly demented hatred. If Butcher Ben (R-IS) is unavailable, perhaps she can unleash Vladimir Putin (R-RU), aka GOP Pootie, on the refugee children. Sadly this is just one of five demented Republican moments from last week alone. Click through for the other four.

Open Thread–8/4/2014

Posted by TomCat at 2:34 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 042014

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 105. I got a very late start on the day. As I was cooking up a batch of my infamous chili, I broke my only can opener. I has to dress and go out, because tomato sauce is a key ingredient. Of course the corner store was closed, so I walked to another almost a half mile away. I made it back and finishes cooking. Although I am very tired, I have the power to produce a green cloud that sets off smoke detectors in my wake. Angel

Late/Early Update: I overslept big time.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:23 (average 4:59). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: Neil deGrasse Tyson is more than just an excellent tour guide through the cosmos — he’s a true voice for our endangered space program. In this piece, he reminds us how our passion for space missions began and makes a compelling case that we must not abandon our quests and dreams.

Let us renew our commitment to lead the world in space exploration and let us resolve to reach to the heavens once again so that our species may one day truly go where no one has gone before.

I fully agree with George Takei’s introduction and Neil deGrasse’s presentation. We need to invest in the future, not the 1%’s Republican greed.

From Daily Kos: Since Rep. Steve King says that Central American families have been lured by U.S. policies to "give their daughters birth control pills and send them down a rape path all the way through Mexico, and it’s a death path on the death train" to get to the United States, a more observant person than Steve King might wonder what is going on in some parts of Central America that would cause anyone to contemplate taking the "death train" that Steve King warns about.

According to fellow Congressional Three Stooges member Louie Gohmert, the answer is nothing. Those children aren’t fleeing from anything, they’re all are just filthy liars.

“Texas and the United States is [sic] being invaded and we’re in danger,” Gohmert said, before alleging that most of the unaccompanied minors are lying when they tell border patrol agents that they are escaping gang violence in Central America and have been coached to make such claims. Gohmert said minors end up telling officers that “we were told to say that we were fleeing gang violence.”

The author calls Go-Go Goosestep the dumbest Congressman in America. There is too much competition for that title for certainty, but Loony Louie is certainly in the running.

From TPM: Rep. Steve King (R-IA) refused to utter the word "impeachment" on Sunday, but warned that if President Obama used executive action to defer more deportations of undocumented immigrants, it might be the only option left for Congress.

"None of us want to do the thing that’s left for us as an alternative," King said on "Fox News Sunday" when host Chris Wallace asked if Obama delayed more deportations could lead to impeachment.

"I think Congress has to sit down, have a serious look at the rest of this constitution, and that includes that ‘i’ word that we don’t want to say," King continued, explaining that executive actions would trigger impeachment talk. "And I only say that now on this program because I want to encourage the president, ‘Please don’t put don’t put America into a constitutional crisis.’"

When Wallace pressed King on whether impeachment was "on the table," King echoed his concerns on immigration.

At the same time they Republicans claim that Democrats’ concern about impeachment is an Obama conspiracy.

Cartoon:

0804Cartoon

Monthly Report for July 2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:02 am Blog News, Monthly Report, Politics

Aug 032014

In July, Politics Plus slightly down in every category, except Pages. It’s mostly the time of year, and I’m surprised the summer doldrums missed us last month. Here is our latest summary:

usage7-2014

Stats7-2014

In the monthly totals, a Site is any website from which someone accessed our server, a Hit is every access attempt to our server, and a File is every access attempt to our server that returned data. The difference between Hits and Files is from access attempts that were sent in error or damaged in transit and failed attempts by hackers, spammers, phishers, and Republicans to access the back end and take control of the site. Any questions?

Here is our latest Clustrmap:

ClustrMap7-2014

ClusterMaps misses a lot of, because many visits can’t be easily traced to a location. It shows only the visits from March 2 to July 28, when it was last updated.

Here are our top five articles:

Jane Smiley: Capitalist Pigs 1/17/2010 1,637
A Republican Freedom 9/24/2013 856
Fighting the Republican war on voting 9/13/2011 776
Flight MH 17: Why? 7/20/2014 769
Last Week’s Republican Lunacies 6/9/25014 663

Several years are represented here.

Here are our top non-blog/news referrers.

Care2 4,571
Google 2,934
Stumbleupon 902

Were it not for a stellar performances from Care2, we would have really been hurting, because all the other majors fell way off..

Here are our top blog/news referrers.

http://crooksandliars.com/
http://xnerg.blogspot.com/
http://infidel753.blogspot.com/
http://disaffectedanditfeelssogood.blogspot.com/
http://bildungblog.blogspot.com/
http://oakcreekforum.blogspot.com/
http://alterx.blogspot.ca/
http://hamsandwich66.blogspot.com/
http://zenman1550.tumblr.com/
http://www.synapticstew.com/
http://theleftinme.blogspot.com/

Normally I include 15 here, but these are the only ones with two or more referrals. Putting their links here increases the ratings of their sites, so this “linkey love” is our thank you for their support.

Here are our top commentators. As the resident Big Mouth, I don’t count. Those who leave their URLs in their comment headers, also get “linkey-love” here.

Lynn Squance (143)
Patty (91)
Joanne D (82)
Edie (81)
Rixar13 (44)
SoINeedAName (36)
Jerry Critter (34)
Pat A (25)
Jim Phillips (24)
Avril lomas (9)
Phil (9)
Steve (6)
Vivian B. (6)
Yvonne White (5)
Infidel753 (3)

We have 280,512 links on other websites.

Our Technorati rating no longer exists, because Technorati no longer exists as a blog rating entity. They have left a vacuum in blog authority rating. If you learn of someone filling that need before I do, please let me know.

As of Midnight, August 1, we have 5,011 articles and 55,076 comments.

I recommend using your own avatar. Go to Gravatar. Sign up using the email address you use to post comments here and upload the image you want to use as your avatar. Whenever you comment under that email address here or on any WordPress blog (several others too), that image will become your avatar.

The 2014 elections are only three months away. Republicans are returning home to their districts to lie to their constituents about all the wonderful things they have been doing in Congress. If one is holding a town hall near your home, please consider attending and calling them out on their lies. Please get out the vote!

I’m considering a new series to highlight and publicize your political activities. It’s not quite all the way gelled, but stay tuned.

You make this site successful. Thank you for everything that you do.

Open Thread–8/3/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:02 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 032014

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 104. After sleeping late, I’ve spent the entire day so far collecting the data tor the Monthly Report, and will spend most of the rest of it preparing the report itself. The downside is that I made a mess yesterday and today. Tomorrow I’ll need to clean up after myself.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:59 (average 5:22). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Republicans who were angered to learn on Wednesday that the former I.R.S. official Lois Lerner had referred to them as “crazies” and “assholes” responded later in the day by voting to sue the President of the United States.

“Calling us crazy assholes is insulting, derogatory, and beneath contempt,” House Speaker John Boehner told reporters. “And now if you’ll excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, I have to go sue Obama.”

Determined to burnish their reputation as extremely sane people who are not assholes at all, House Republicans in their lawsuit accuse the President of “coldly and arrogantly seizing power granted to him by the United States Constitution.”…

With respect to Andy, I am also angry at Lois Lerner. There is no justification for her to refer to Republicans in terms so much kinder and more generous than they deserve.

From Daily Kos: Ain’t freedom grand? And what says freedom better than being free from government mandates like the guarantee that you can’t be denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition?

As we all know, the South has forever been a place where people value freedom and liberty for everyone.

0803brief23Fig2

Aren’t those people lucky to be covered by the RepubliCare Death Benefit? They get to die for free, if they can’t pay.

From NY Times: \House and Senate lawmakers scrambled to leave town on Friday night for a five-week recess, with a failure to address the refugee crisis at the southern border only the latest indignity in a year that may redefine congressional dysfunction.

The 113th Congress this week took another step toward ignominy as one of the least productive, most divided in history. Vocal Republicans were empowered, virtually dictating terms of two House border security bills even after party leaders had spent much of the year trying to marginalize them.

The results were bills with no chance of becoming law, and ones diametrically opposed to the direction party elders had advised Republicans to go after their losses in 2012.

That’s nothing unexpected. The Republicans have sown the wind. May God grant a November whirlwind, but in case she doesn’t, get out the vote!

Cartoon:

0803Cartoon

Personal Update–8/2/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:03 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 022014

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 103. At physical therapy, Lady Torquemada was her usual loving self. Scheeesch!! If I were black, and if this wasn’t helping, I’d think she was a Republican. By the time I got home, both the temperature and the humidity were in the high 80s. At that point I was useless for all but one thing, (see below)

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:07: (average 4:51). To do it. click here. How did you do?

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