Squatch Open Thread 07/11/2016

 Posted by at 3:37 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Nov 082016
 

I am in a hurry to get this out as I have a meeting to go to.  Please, if you are an American citizen at home or abroad, please vote, and vote BLUE!

Short Takes

RobertReich.org — Even if he loses (and I believe he will), Donald Trump has done incalculable damage to America – eroding the trust and social cohesion the nation depends on.  

But he couldn’t have accomplished this without three sets of enablers. They must he held accountable, too.

The first enabler was the Republican Party.

For years the GOP has nurtured the xenophobia, racism, fact-free allegations, and wanton disregard for democratic institutions that Trump has fed on. 

Republican fear-mongering over immigrants predated Trump. It forced Marco Rubio to abandon his immigration legislation, and, in 2012, pushed Mitt Romney to ludicrously recommend “self-deportation.”

During this year’s Republican primaries, Ben Carson opined that no Muslim should be president of the United States, and Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz suggested Syrian refugees be divided into Christians and Muslims, with only the former allowed entry.

Trump’s racism is nothing new, either. Republicans have long played the race card – charging Democrats with coddling black “welfare queens” and being soft on black crime (remember “Willie Horton”).

Trump’s disdain of facts is also preceded by a long Republican tradition  – denying, for example, that carbon emissions cause climate change, and tax cuts increase budget deficits.

And Trump’s threats not to be bound by the outcome of the election are consistent with the GOP’s persistent threats to shut down the government over policy disagreements, and oft-repeated calls for nullification of Supreme Court decisions.

Click through for the other two enablers.  Nothing ever happens in a vacuum, and this is no exception.

Haaretz — America is a great country. Far from perfect, but great nonetheless, Other than Donald Trump and millions of Americans who have been bamboozled by the GOP into thinking otherwise, everyone knows America is great. The Chinese know it. The Russians know it. The Europeans know it. The Muslims know it. Even Israelis know it. ISIS certainly knows that America is great, which is why it’s hell bent on taking it down.
Some people think America used to be greater, but that’s debatable. It’s true that life may have become tougher economically, that America used to be able to dictate terms to the world and that all sorts of foreign countries have become uppity in recent years. But the past that so many Trump supporters seem to be pining for also included African Americans who knew their place, Hispanics who smiled when waiting on tables, women who stayed in the kitchen and gay people who lived in fear and darkness. A lot of people who want to make America great again only want to make white America great again.  …

The world takes a very dim view of Donald Trump. He arouses disbelief, ridicule and deep apprehension. If and when Trump was to become president, his election would cause many people around the world to reconsider whether America is still great or has simply gone off the rails forever.

As the Napster (Lona) would say 'A View from Afar'!  Americans need to see and understand how they are viewed globally.  Drumpf really messes things up for the US, and should he win, things will get worse.

MSN.com — John Shingara will be unhappy if Donald Trump doesn’t win, but he already knows how he’ll keep the movement alive.

He’ll go to McDonald’s.

Shingara, 67, is a member of the Oath Keepers, a right-wing militia group, and he has a plan for “civil disobedience.” If Trump loses the presidential election on Tuesday, he will drive into the drive-thru lane of a restaurant he thinks is employing an illegal immigrant.

“You park the car in the drive-thru lane and you lock the keys in it,” he explained outside Trump’s Friday rally in Hershey, Penn., where he was part of the stage-assembly crew. “You call 911 and say, ‘There’s an illegal working here, the McDonald’s owner should be arrested for hiring an illegal.’ People think there’s nothing they can do? There’s an example of what they can do.”

Click through for more Drumpfolyte actions should Drumpf lose, which I hope he does.  This is not 1776!

NY Times — Millions of Americans will cast their ballots on Tuesday under intense scrutiny both from vigilantes who fear the election will be rigged and from thousands of voting rights advocates who fear the tally will be distorted by intimidation and, perhaps, the suppression of a minority vote that may be crucial to the outcome.

On one side are groups like the Oath Keepers, one of dozens of right-wing and militia groups responding to Donald J. Trump’s warnings about a stolen election. The organization has issued a nationwide “call to action” to its members, urging them to go “incognito” to polling stations on Election Day to “hunt down” instances of fraud.

On the other side are more than 100 civic and legal groups, claiming at least 10,000 volunteers, and perhaps many more. They plan to deploy at polling places nationwide to watch for signs of voter intimidation and other roadblocks to voting. Election officials and observers say they are hoping for an orderly final day of voting, but they are girding for the possibility of fights, intimidation and, perhaps, worse.

Adding to the anxiety is fear of Election Day hacking, perhaps by foreign interests.

Don't be denied your constitutional right to vote.  If you are challenged at the voting polls, stand your ground.  Know your rights.

CNN — I didn't want to write this. I avoided making a decision as long as I could. I schlepped my absentee ballot all over the country for almost four weeks. I would periodically take it out of the envelope, look at it, shake my head in disgust, and put it back in my suitcase.

I had decided to write-in my mother as a symbolic protest vote against the Democratic and Republican nominees. I didn't want to vote for either of them.

I had hoped that a week before the election, Trump would be losing Florida by a large enough margin that my vote wouldn't matter. But darn it, my home state is too close to call. Florida could be the decisive state (again) as to who ultimately becomes the next president of the United States. I thought back to the 2000 election, which was decided by 537 votes in Florida. I thought about how I would feel if the same thing happened in 2016. I thought and I thought and I thought….

Then I cast my vote for Hillary Clinton. Let me rephrase that. I cast my vote against Donald Trump. I did it without joy or enthusiasm. I did it out of civic duty and love for our country.

Hat-tip to Cal at Care2.  Read the entire article because it is well worth the read.  Ir certainly puts things into perspective.

My Universe — Today, a little political humour from Daily Kos.

gettyimages-621561964Making Amerikkka Hate Again

So, as I was mowing my lawn this morning, I noticed that one of our local intelligentsia had egged my car…I’m gonna take a wild ass guess here and say that my new Clinton and Murphy signs in the side windows might have had something to do with it.  So I added a back window sign:

DEMOCRAT:

CLEANING

UP REPUBLICAN

MESSES

SINCE 1968

DON'T BE COMPLACENT!

GET OUT THE VOTE!!

VOTE BLUE AL DOWN THE TICKET!!!

 

Posted to Care2 at http://www.care2.com/news/member/775377582/4020103

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Two PSAs – Public Service Announcemets

 Posted by at 2:06 pm  Politics
Nov 082016
 

[1]

vote-go_sign

[2]

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From November 7th through the 9th "The New York Times" is providing for FREE access to digital users – including phones, tablets, etc.

So if you tend to ration your visits like I too, to avoid their 10/month quota – this is a great opportunity to go back and read – or grab – any articles you passed up.

I'm pretty well caught up on Op-Eds and Krugman stuff that I wanted to keep – plus some election articles, endorsements, etc. for my records.

You just can't be FREE!

The New York Times is inviting readers to take advantage of its reporting, analysis and commentary from the lead-up through the aftermath of the 2016 election. Readers will have unlimited access to NYTimes.com for 72 hours from 12:01 a.m. ET on Monday, November 7 until 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, November 9.

Link to the NY Times article

[TC: When I just copy/paste the NY Times URL to the quote, it comes up as the picture – which goes to the article if you click it.  But I also added a text link.  Why does the straight URL insert itself as a photo?]

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Open Thread – 11/8/2016

 Posted by at 10:05 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 082016
 

At last election day has come.  Last night I was so exhausted that I went to bed at 6:00 PM and did not get up until 5:00 AM.  If you are a US citizen, and haven't, please vote.  If you don't, Republican government is exactly what what you deserve.  Even a Trump voter rates more respect than you do.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today's took me 3:02 (average 5:42).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report:

Here's the latest from our own fantasy football league, Lefty Blog Friends.

Scores:

9Scores

This week, it was Jack's turn to kick my butt.

Standings:

9Standings

Congrats to Rob and Vivian for leading the league.

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Delivering her closing argument of the 2016 campaign, Hillary Clinton has replaced her campaign slogan, “Stronger Together,” with a new one, “Won’t Blow Up Planet.”

According to Clinton-campaign sources, the new slogan is designed to appeal to suburban women, a group of voters that has historically opposed blowing up the planet.

Clinton launched the slogan at a campaign appearance in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she told supporters, “On Day One of my Administration, I will work for you. I will fight for you. And I will not blow up the planet.”

That's on-the-ball reporting, Andy. The distinction between the two candidates on that issue is clear.

From NY Times: Hispanic voters were largely credited with President Obama’s victory in 2012, but they weren’t as crucial as many believed. Mr. Obama didn’t even need to win the Hispanic vote to put him over the top, thanks to high black turnout and support among white voters in the North. The turnout among Hispanic voters didn’t surge, even though exit polls implied that it had.

This year, Hispanic voters, perhaps motivated by Donald J. Trump’s policy proposals (including deportation) and harsh language aimed at undocumented Hispanic immigrants, really might decide this election.

Early voting data unequivocally indicates that Hillary Clinton will benefit from a long awaited surge in Hispanic turnout, vastly exceeding the Hispanic turnout from four years ago.

It’s too soon to say whether it will be decisive for her. The geographic distribution of Hispanic voters means that many of her gains will help her in noncompetitive states like Texas and California, not Michigan and Pennsylvania.

But the surge is real, and it’s big.

I hope Republicans never learn that people will fight back when subjected to organized hatred and violence, because eventually, folks will realize that Republicans are subjecting them to such hatred unless they are wearing a &1,000+ suit, a sheet and hood, or a swastika.

From YouTube (Full Frontal Channel): Don't Fuck This Up

 

Amen Sam! America, don't fuck this up!

Cartoon:

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Open Thread – 11/7/2016

 Posted by at 3:16 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 072016
 

I’d like to do more today, but I’m about to leave to see Megan, my PCP, to go over labs finalize on 300 mg gabapentin per day, and for a foot care solution that Medicare will cover.  Tomorrow I will put up a mostly empty Election Day article and update it throughout the day and evening with whatever I can find.  I’ll add more after I return.

I’m back, and TriMet Lift was horrid today.  My 45 minute appointment took me 5 1/2 hours, and on the way home  I was in the bus with a screamer for over 1/2 hour.  I don’t blame the woman.  That is the nature of her disability, but sending a bus full with three other people way out of the way to be subjected to that was inconsiderate to all.  ARGH!!!  On the plus side, my A1C was down to 0.6% from 0.72%, and all my other labs looked good and getting better.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:40 (average 5:27).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Extreme Religious Agony:

1106Broncos20-Raiders30

They wiped the floor with us.  The score does nor reflect just how ugly a beating it was.

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: …Whether Trump himself is an anti-Semite or is merely willing to lend his name to the effort is beside the larger point; his campaign had time for one last showy pitch, one last argument for voters to keep in mind as they filed into the polls. The campaign chose an ad intended to resonate explicitly with the paranoias of the anti-Semitic far right. Trump began his campaign talking about the inherent criminality of the non-white; he moved through the primaries by appealing to raw racism in a manner that even the farthest-right of his opponents were reluctant to match; he promised mass deportations and other solutions to the nation’s problems that, in his rhetoric, required only an authoritarian resolve; he surrounded himself with those that would feed his appetite for bizarre but self-promoting conspiracy theories; his new staff guided him from primaries to general election not by toning or polishing his rhetoric, but adding new enemies to his list of anti-American dangers so that it would more fully encompass not just paranoias about Latino enemies but “inner city” black Americans (described as living in cesspools of violence and in need of more rigorous policing, as cribbed from militant groups and the NRA) and “international” Jewish plotters (as cribbed from the white nationalists that rushed to Trump’s side.)

This has gone quite beyond Trump at this point. He is not screaming into the void but catering to a pre-made Republican audience that continues to be obsessively receptive to his messages. The Republican elites that have condemned him are, among leadership, Not Many; the Republican House Speaker himself "came home" dramatically these last few days with a message that regardless of Trump’s words or deeds the needs of the party still come first; rumor mills continue to churn over whether the end result of this will be a new arch-right network promoting the malevolent messages the Trump campaign has proven would have a receptive and paranoid audience. Trump, meanwhile, continues to stoke claims that even the election itself may be illegitimate, if it produces the wrong result.

Racism, misogyny, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and nationalism promoted through blatant misinformation and the peddling of an unending stream of conspiracy theories; a distain for both the opposition party and democracy itself; this describes not just Trump, but his audience. But come home, say Republican leaders to the segment of the party uneasy with such things; we can work with this. This is no reason to leave.

And that’s more alarming than what Trump or his own campaign may say. The Trump campaign will soon be ending, but the movement it caters to will be seeking a new leader and new banner—and even now, there are few among current Republican leaders who would turn them away. [emphasis added]

Click through for more about Trumps Alt-Right anti-Semitic GOTV ad.   I say it again. The Republican Party’s only problem with Trump is that they wish he didn’t state openly want they believe and keep doing, without admitting it.

From The New Yorker: James Comey, the F.B.I. director, held a press conference on Sunday to “regretfully announce” that Hillary Clinton had committed no crimes related to her e-mails while Secretary of State.

“It is with a deep sense of sadness in my heart that I report that Hillary Clinton committed no crimes,” a visibly emotional Comey said.

Calling the discovery that Clinton could not be prosecuted for wrongdoing “probably the darkest hour of my career at the F.B.I.,” Comey said that he would try to move on from what he called “a shattering disappointment for me personally.”

“No one ever said this job would be a picnic,” he said. “As dismayed as I was to learn that Hillary Clinton committed no crimes, it’s my duty as a professional to find a way forward somehow.”

Comey doesn’t have to worry, Andy. The seditious damage he did to America will stand, because 90% of the people who know of his original disclosure, without understanding that it was a partisan violation of the Hatch Act, will never hear about his retraction, and half of those that do won’t believe it anyway.

From NY Times: Donald J. Trump maligned undocumented immigrants as murderers and rapists. Hillary Clinton hired a woman who had lived undocumented for many years as her national director of Latino outreach.

Clinton organizers rolled through the streets of Orlando, Fla., blasting reggaeton music from their cars, calling out to Puerto Rican residents to vote for the woman many of them know as “La Hillary.”

And in Arizona, a grass-roots group released an online video game that rewards players with points every time they smack Mr. Trump and the Maricopa County sheriff, Joe Arpaio, in the face with a flip-flop, but that also tells those who play where to vote.

Many votes have yet to be counted, but this much is already clear: Hispanic America has been mobilized like never before in the 2016 election, and is emerging as a formidable force with the power to elect a president.

Wooo Hooo!! I played the game and scored 59!! How did you do? Seriously, this increase won’t be reflected in the polls, because pollsters use past participation levels to allocate demographic categories, so this Latinos are under-polled.

Cartoon:

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Last Prediction for 2016 Presidential Election

 Posted by at 6:23 am  Editorial, Politics
Nov 062016
 

1106ElecMapTC

In 2008, I accurately predicted the winner in every state except Florida.  In 2012, I accurately predicted the winner in every state.  In 2016, I accurately predict that pigs will fly before I can do that well this year, in spite of several years experience as an opinion research professional at a market research firm.

There has never been an election like this before, so instead, I've painted what I consider to be a worst-case scenario.  I put every state in Trump's column, unless I was confident of a Clinton win there.  There are several such states in which I think Clinton will win, such as NV, and NC.  The main reason I didn't give her Ohio is that Republican State governments there have a long history of counting more Republican votes in some districts than there are eligible voters.

The reason I did not strive for greater accuracy, is to show you that my worst case scenario is so close that complacency is not an option.  Your vote is too important to waste.  If I'm right about every state except FL and PA, the United States of America will die.

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Open Thread – 11/6/2016

 Posted by at 6:21 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 062016
 

I’m writing as much as I can of this article on Friday night, as Wendy will be here bright and early and I have lots to get done.  Go Broncos!!

Good morning!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:29 (average 4:54).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a more effective Closing GOTV ad before.

 

Roar!! Then…

Vote Blue!!!

From The New Yorker: Infused with a sense of urgency as Election Day nears, the Trump campaign has enlisted President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, to appear with the Republican nominee in a dizzying array of swing-state rallies over the weekend.

Putin will be the most visible Trump surrogate in the final weekend of the campaign, as he tries to fire up voters in Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, and Nevada.

The Russian President seemed to relish the warm response he got at his first Trump rally, in Tampa, where he led the crowd in a raucous chant of “Lock her up.”

Dang Andy!! If he could, GOP Putin (R-RU) would do anything for his Rump Dump dawg!!

From OpEd News: We need a president who will be in our corner, not one who will put us in a corner. Watch and share the video now!, download the resources, and stand with us on Nov. 8.

 

I included the full version instead of the one referenced in the article. The Trump Effect will last after the election is over, because Trump is nothing more that the culmination of the Republican effect.

Cartoon:

1106Cartoon

The other was TR.  IKE?  Fair.

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New Rule Plus Barack

 Posted by at 10:04 am  Politics, Religion
Nov 052016
 

Last week several of you expressed the hope that I could share Bill Maher's interview with Barack Obama on Real Time.  I can and shall, but if you saw it on TV, watch anyway, because this is the full version, about twice as long as the televised one.  But first, Bill takes on Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian Bible Trumpers.

New Rule: Bible Trumpers

 

This is the first time Bill has discussed Religion, when, in addition to laughing at him, I have agreed with virtually everything he said, with one small exception. Jesus would have recognized Trump. Then he would have braided cords to make a lash and driven him out of the temple with the rest of the Republican Party. Authentic Christians are not Trump Supporters.

President Obama: FULL INTERVIEW

 

I can't remember another interviewer that has done such an effective job in drawing Obama out on the topics on which they disagreed.  I don't agree with either 100%, but major kudos to both!

Vote Blue!

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