Politics – Page 1122 – Politics Plus

Open Thread–6/14/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:05 am Open Thread, Personal, Plus, Politics

Jun 142014

I’m writing for tomorrow, and I’m feeling pretty groggy, because I slept most of the day. Fortunately I got most of my research done, before I ran out of gas. I’ve fallen behind on housework, and I thought the gal I pay to help was coming over today, but she couldn’t make it, so for the next few days, I’ll have to be on a major cleaning jag including the most dreaded task of all. Day 54.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:59 (average 4:30). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: OR-Sen: In the wake of McLaughlin & Associates’ epic debacle in the Eric Cantor race, anyone thinking about releasing any internal polling from any GOP pollster right now should consider his or her decision very carefully—especially if your numbers cut against the bulk of data already out there. Even Republican pollster Frank Luntz acknowledged this reality and shredded his own party:

"Right now there are 230 House Republicans who are waking up praying that they do not have Eric Cantor’s pollster. Honestly, and I’m one of them, we Republican pollsters suck. We have no ability to be able to analyze the electorate."

Now, Monica Wehby may think it’s unfair—after all, she’s using Tarrance, not McLaughlin—but she doesn’t seem to have realized the credibility problem she’s facing in publishing a poll that shows her trailing Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley by just a 41-39 margin. Just a few weeks ago, after all, the much more reliable PPP found Merkley up 50-36.

But Wehby’s timing could not have been worse, because a brand-new independent poll from SurveyUSA for KATU-TV in Portland dropped just hours later. What did SUSA find?

Merkley: 50
Wehby: 32

Next time, listen to Frank Luntz… [emphasis original]

It won’t matter. As a rule stalkers, like Wehby, ignore the facts in favor of belief in a super-optimistic outcome for their dysfunctional behavior. If she had an accurate pollster, she would fire the company, because it isn’t what she wants to hear.

From Vimeo: Every year, Store to Door volunteers make 7,000 deliveries of fresh food, medications, and household items to Portland area elders.

Nourishment. Connection. Dignity. from Store to Door on Vimeo.

I couldn’t resist sharing this video from the volunteers that bring me my groceries every week. Every community needs such a service, and they do it extremely well.

From The New Yorker: The morning after Tuesday’s stunning Tea Party victory in Virginia, House Republicans unveiled a sweeping new legislative agenda, proposing an end to Social Security, a return to child labor, and unprecedented gun rights for pets.

“The Republican Party is the party of common sense,” said House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). “And such common-sense proposals as electronic ankle bracelets for immigrant babies and a barbed-wire fence with Canada are long overdue.”

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) echoed Speaker Boehner’s sentiments as he touted his signature legislation, “to put Americans under the age of twelve back to work.”

“Instead of spending all day playing with Xboxes, our kids should be in factories assembling them,” he said.

As for what is perhaps the most controversial G.O.P. proposal, guaranteeing gun rights for pets, Boehner said, “It’s clear that the authors of the Second Amendment meant it to apply to all mammals. All our new law says is, if you have four legs and a tail, you get a gun.”

LOL Andy!! I can’t speak for dawgs, but for Republicans to arm cats would be a big mistake! Dirty litter? Dry food in the bowl? BLAM!! 😉

Cartoon:

0614Cartoon

Open Thread–6/13/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:07 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 132014

I’m writing for tomorrow and feeling quite tired. Physical therapy was tiring and painful, and every time I’ve gotten to sleep, I’ve gotten a phone call. Day 53.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:05 (average 4:43). To do it. click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: In a development that few had thought possible, Republicans in the Seventh District of Virginia on Tuesday night found an even bigger tool than Rep. Eric Cantor to represent them in the United States Congress.

Apparently deciding that Cantor was insufficiently heartless to represent their district, Republicans turned out to the polls to elect David Brat, a man whose political views “border on sociopathy,” according to exit-poll responses from voters who supported him.

During his concession speech, Rep. Cantor reflected on the mistakes that might have led to his defeat: “Should I have cut more school-lunch programs for poor children? Perhaps. Should I have cast more votes to screw over disaster victims? Definitely. Should I have not said the thing about treating children of immigrants like human beings? Man, do I wish I could take that one back. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, but at the end of the day I was just too damn empathic for this district.”

Andy’s satire rings completely true.

From Upworthy: No one would argue that learning disabilities don’t exist or shouldn’t be diagnosed, but let’s take a step back to see what happens to some kids who get that label.

0613Disability

This picture truly IS worth a thousand words.

From Daily Kos: After only one day Fox News has already eliminated coverage of the Tea Party Cop Killers in Las Vegas who went on a murderous rampage Sunday. On Monday, Fox’s primetime programs (Bill O’Reilly, Megyn Kelly, and Sean Hannity) were silent on the subject except for four sentences on Kelly’s show.

On Tuesday morning’s edition of Fox & Friends, the curvy couch potatoes failed to mention Jerad Miller and his wife Amanda. Later, on Happening Now, Fox ignored the story entirely. Outnumbered also declined to report on the Millers, despite having guest co-host "doctor" Keith Ablow who has psychoanalyzed every criminal, politician, and other public figure this century (without ever examining, or even meeting, any of them)…

…Fox has replaced the Sunday massacre with older stories about the Bergdahl prisoner swap, the Veterans Administration, and Hillary Clinton’s book release and presidential aspirations. The producers and editors at Fox News have never been shy about reporting acts of alleged terrorism, even before any evidence has emerged. But for this story they have refused to even refer to the crime as terrorism.

There are some obvious reasons why Fox would skew their reporting and ultimately remove this story from their news coverage. And all of them represent biases that are a long-standing part of what can be called the Fox News Creed: Racism, Guns, Anti-Government, and Tea Party.

Is it any surprise that the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, is not covering an act of terrorism committed by a Republican designated patriot? If the sheeple found out, it could be very, very BA-A-A-A-A-AD!

Cartoon:

0613Cartoon

Cantor TEAbuggered!

Posted by TomCat at 12:03 am Politics

Jun 122014

I have said many times that the Republican Party has sown the wind by embracing the racism, hatred and extremism so beloved by the Tea Party pseudo-patriots. I have said many times that they shall reap the whirlwind. But beyond those general predictions I was a surprised as everyone else that one small manifestation of that whirlwind would be the TEAbuggery that will kick Eric cantor from the House Majority leader’s chair and send him scurrying off to K street.

The House Republican leadership, so solid in its opposition to President Obama, was torn apart Tuesday by the defeat of its most influential conservative voice, Representative Eric Cantor, the House majority leader. His demise will reverberate all the way to the speaker’s chair, pull the top echelons of the House even further to the right and most likely doom any ambitious legislation, possibly through the next presidential election.

Conservatives who have helped fuel some of the most contentious showdowns over the last three years on issues such as immigration and raising the federal debt ceiling are likely to be emboldened by Mr. Cantor’s shocking loss as they seek to replace him with someone even more closely aligned with their views.

Further, House Republicans began to immediately plot a new leadership structure that before Tuesday night had hinged merely on whether Speaker John A. Boehner would seek to keep his post next year.

One measure of the extraordinary defeat could be seen in the candidate’s finances. Since the beginning of last year, Mr. Cantor’s campaign had spent about $168,637 at steakhouses compared with the $200,000 his challenger, David Brat, had spent on his entire campaign. With Mr. Cantor out, members from solidly Republican states will almost certainly be vying for one of the top jobs, if not Mr. Boehner’s gavel. The current Republican leadership slate is filled with members from swing states where the pressure to moderate views on topics such as immigration looms… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

You can be sure that virtually any House Republican who was considering the slightest compromises will be running scared because of this. That bodes ill for America, because it guarantees a continuation of Republican sabotage, obstruction, and sedition. Our only hope is that continuation causes a backlash that sends centrists to the polls in November to kick them out.

The best coverage of this story came from Rachel Maddow, and I have five clips from her coverage.

I do predict that one effect of Republican retrenchment even further to the right will be to alienate themselves even more from the American people, making a Democratic sweep probable in 2016.

Open Thread–6/12/2014

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

Jun 122014

I’m writing for tomorrow, and trying to get as much rest as I can, because tomorrow is a physical therapy day. Because that is sure to involve pain, I may have little or nothing to post on Friday. Day 52.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:02 (average 4:58). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: Here’s a video that sorta shows what could happen to different cities as the tides rise. I get it; we don’t know exactly what that world will actually look like after this goes down. I’m guessing there will be levees, water pumps, sandbags, and other city-saving devices to protect the coasts for a little while. However, this artist wanted to make a point — an important point — about protecting what we’ve got.

You can be sure that the 1% will allow is the exclusive use of inundated dwellings.

From The New Yorker: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today that she is “seriously considering” not running for President in 2016 after reading an avalanche of scathing one-star reviews on Amazon for her new book, “Hard Choices.”

Secretary Clinton said that she was “shattered” to discover that dozens of people had apparently purchased her book on its first day of publication, read all six hundred and fifty-six pages in one sitting, and judged the finished product so unsatisfactory that it only merited one star on Amazon.

“These people all read my book cover to cover on the very first day it was published, so they must have really been looking forward to it,” a shaken Clinton told reporters. “It’s devastating for me to think about how I must have let them down.”

But Andy, we already knew it stunk, because you told us Idiot, Son of Idiot, Named after Idiot refused to plagiarize it.

From Daily Kos: Guns everywhere does mean everywhere:

Montgomery, Alabama officials have mere weeks to sort out whether gun-toting voters should be allowed in polling places under a new state law.

Differing interpretations of the new law became a problem in Tuesday’s primary after men showed up with guns in at least two precincts near Birmingham. Also, an east Alabama county first banned guns from polling places only to change the policy.

A law enforcement leader in Shelby County says someone needs to sort out the confusion before the runoff election on July 15. Two armed voters tried to cast ballots there.

Boy, I sure would hate to be a black voter in Alabama when a bunch of open carry nuts decide to show up with their high-powered rifles and Confederate T-shirts. Let me guess the response from the gun nuts: "Hey … just exercising our rights! Wanna make something of it?"

When Bill Maher coined the term Ammosexual, did he nail it, or what?

Cartoon:

0612Cartoon

Oregon Shocked Over School Shooting

Posted by TomCat at 12:03 am Politics

Jun 112014

0611reynolds

I still know very little. A gun-nut opened fire at Reynolds High School in Troutdale, OR, a few mile away. The shooter is dead. One student is dead. Neither has been identified and we know nothing about the what motivated the perpetrator. One teacher was wounded, but was treated at the scene. By the time I post this, we will probably have more info.

Update: The victim is 14-year-old freshman Emilio Hoffman. The shooter, an apparent suicide, has still not been identified. He uses an assault weapon: an AR-15.

Tuesday morning's fatal shooting at Reynolds High School is the 74th shooting on an American school campus since a lone gunman's attack on Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012.

The list of shootings, which includes 13 school shootings in the first six weeks of this year, was compiled by Moms Demand Action for Guns Sense in America.

The 73rd shooting, according to the group, was last week's shooting at Seattle Pacific University, which claimed the life of a 19-year-old Westview High School graduate.

"We continue to keep it updated," said Stacey Radnor, a spokeswoman for the organization…

Inserted from <The Oregonian>

I feel a bit stunned. It hits home harder when it’s local. But the list above makes it crystal clear that it’s local if far too many places. Gun violence in schools has become epidemic.

From the right, the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, seems to care only about demeaning the people who want responsible laws passed.

Fox News resident psychiatrist and Medical A-Team member Dr. Keith Ablow used an active shooting situation at an Oregon high school to pre-emptively attack “anti-gun nuts” for wanting to talk about gun saftey laws.

As the news was breaking of a shooting at Reynolds High School in Troutdale that reportedly left at least one person dead, Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle asked Ablow to talk about what could have led to the shooting…

Inserted from <Raw Story>

Dr. (using that term MOST loosely) Ablow failed to mention that the reason that the mental health delivery system is so shoddy in this country is that Republicans keep cutting the funding to the agencies that provide those services. However, all he cared about was labeling reformers as “anti gun-nuts”.

Good gun reform will not solve the problem of school-shootings. No single thing will, since our culture is dysfunctional in so many ways, but if common sense gun reform laws, like closing the gun show loophole, will save the life of one child, wouldn’t it be worth it?

As for Faux Noise and Republican Ammosexuals. they can take a long flying frack off a short pier!

Open Thread–6/11/2014

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

Jun 112014

I’m writing for tomorrow and listening to news coverage of the Reynolds High School Shooting a few miles away (see lead article). I had a long talk with the Director of Public Relations at my Medical Equipment Company. She took responsibility and admitted that there was absolutely no reason they could now have waited until next month for by blood O₂ levels. In future they will send a med-tech here to get them, which they should have done this time. The woman who overstepped her authority and acted so imperiously to my doctor’s assistant is in trouble. Tomorrow is grocery delivery day, and I have lots of cleaning to do. Day 51.

Breaking:

I’m overjoyed to announce that Eric Cantor (R-VA) has been TEAbuggered! A Bagger beat him ion the primary!! It is the first time a sitting Majority was defeated in a primary since 1899. Bratt said he won because of Republican Supply-side Jesus (the polar opposite of the real Jesus) and ran on hatred for Latinos. Hid Democrat opponent and he are professors at the same college, and the Dem is more popular among the students than the Bagger, but the district is one of the most heavily Gerrymandered in the country, so engineered to protect Cantor. No doubt Cantor will become a well paid lobbyist.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:58 (average 5:26). To do it click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) ripped former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s new book, “Hard Choices,” today, telling reporters, “I read it, and honestly, I didn’t find anything in it worth plagiarizing.”

Calling the new book “disappointing,” Sen. Paul said, “I read a lot of books, and it’s rare that I don’t find a passage or two to lift here or there. I just read the second Harry Potter book and I thought there was some dialogue of Voldemort’s that could work well in my stump speech. But this Hillary book? Nada.”

Hillary’s book must really be horrid. Before this, nobody had ever written anything so bad that Idiot, Son of Idiot, Named after Idiot wouldn’t steal it!

From Daily Kos: A new poll by Lake Research Partners finds some reasons for that. Walmart’s reputation is suffering among consumers, with 28 percent saying they have an unfavorable view of Walmart, compared to just 13 percent unfavorable for Target and just six percent unfavorable for Costco. Walmart’s low wages and bad treatment of its workers are registering on shoppers; just 27 percent say that "treats its employees well" is a good description of Walmart, while 42 percent say it is not. The numbers are even more skewed when people are asked if "well paid employees" applies to Walmart. And those views of the company are affecting how much people shop at its stores.

That’s great news. I can summarize my Wal-Fart shopping advice in one word: DON’T!

From NY Times: He is a Democrat in a marquee Senate race, pressed by a strong Republican in a state with a challenging political environment. So when a new proposal to limit power plant emissions was seen as posing a threat to allies of the Obama administration, Senator Mark Udall of Colorado acted quickly: He embraced the plan.

“Coloradans have seen firsthand the harmful effects of climate change, including severe drought, record wildfires and reduced snowpack,” Mr. Udall said in a statement shortly after the Environmental Protection Agency plan was made public last week. “The E.P.A.’s draft rule is a good start, and I will fight to ensure it complements the work we have already done in Colorado and provides states the flexibility they need to make it successful.”

The E.P.A. proposal to reduce carbon pollution from power plants was deemed a political gift from the Obama administration to Republicans running for Senate seats in the coal-producing states of Kentucky and West Virginia, and an anchor around the necks of their Democratic opponents. Elsewhere, the threat of higher electricity bills and Republican attacks about another federal power grab were supposed to send Democrats scurrying for cover and distance from the White House.

But Mr. Udall’s example shows that not all Democrats look at it that way.

Kudos to Mark Udall. The way to seal with opposition to the plan is to expose the Republican lies on which all such opposition is based.

Cartoon:

0611Cartoon

Personal Update–6/10/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:08 am Personal, Politics

Jun 102014

I’m writing for tomorrow after what has been a thoroughly frustrating, wasted day. The TriMet LIFT bus picked me up at 8:50 AM and dropped me at the doctor’s office at 10:00 AM for my 11:00 appointment. The doctor’s assistant came and got me and measured my resting blood O₂ level at 95%. Then I climbed a flight of stairs twice, without O₂, and she measured it at 88%. I climbed them again with 0₂, and she measured it again at 93%. I was done at 11:15, and all we learned is what we already knew. The culprit is not the insurance company, but the medical equipment company that the insurance company uses exclusively. They notified my doctor’s office late on 5/30, so her staff did not see the fax until 6/2. My doctor’s assistant called them to ask if they could do it during my already scheduled appointment on 7/14, and explained that, due to mobility and transit issues, an extra trip would be a hardship for me. They said no. It HAD to be done right away. I know the name of the person who made that demand, and I have a call in to the manager of her department. When I get done, they both may be candidates for rectal replacement. The TriMet LIFT bus picked me up at 1:20 PM and, after several side trips, dropped me off at 3:45 PM. Needless to say, it’s too late to begin research. Day 50.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:10 (average 5:46). To do it, click here. How did you do?

O₂ can be a real pain!

Last Week’s Republican Lunacies

Posted by TomCat at 12:04 am Politics

Jun 092014

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

…Virtually every Republican after new EPA rules came out: I’m not a scientist but… here’s a bunch of idiotic stuff I learned in grade school.

The “I’m not a scientist, but” statement of faux humility was the most popular refrain this week in Republican circles, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and press conferences. It was almost always followed by either second-grade level science like, “but carbon dioxide is good for plants, why do we have to limit it?” Or some other nonsensical argument against the new, much needed regulations.

There is, of course, only one retort to, “I’m not a scientist, but ….”

It’s, “That’s right, so shut up and listen to what actual scientists have been saying about this for, like, ever.”

We know, we know. We live in dreamland.

The stupid reactions to Obama’s announced coal restrictions ran the gamut.

You can read about them here. And here. But if we had to pick a favorite, just on the grounds of moronic immaturity, the prize has to go to this pathetic imbecile:

“Thanks to the Obama administration’s EPA and the new regulations released today, America is poised to become the ‘no pee’ section of the global swimming pool,” said Marita Noon, executive director of some bogus right-wing group called Citizens Alliance for Responsible Energy. “Just because we declare that we won’t pee in the pool, won’t stop the others.… We’ll be stuck in our little no-pee section with a crippled economy while the rest of the world will be frolicking in unfettered growth.”

Well now, that is a terrific way of deciding on matters of vital national (and international) interest. C’mon everybody, let’s keep peeing in the pool, until, well, the pool is entirely urine, and no longer any water whatsoever. Or, they catch us, whatever comes last…

Inserted from <Alternet>

Now this is the second in a list of six Republican lunacies from last week alone. These people belong in a padded room, not running the country! Click through for the other five.

Older Entries Newer Entries