{"id":13610,"date":"2014-09-05T00:23:51","date_gmt":"2014-09-05T07:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=13610"},"modified":"2014-09-05T00:23:51","modified_gmt":"2014-09-05T07:23:51","slug":"open-thread952014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2014\/09\/05\/open-thread952014\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–9\/5\/2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m writing for tomorrow, day 137.  I\u2019m running way late, because I slept earlier.  The Church of the Ellipsoid Orb starts in ten minutes.  So I will be meditating and composing at the same time, as the Ellipsoid Orb shines its holy light fully for the first time since the Super Bowl.  I have to be up early in the morning for physical therapy, and because of that, I will probably have an Open Thread at most on Saturday morning.  I hear that in Virginia, it was a bad day for slime.<\/font><\/p>\n

Jig Zone Puzzle<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

Today it took me 2:58 (average 4:54).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

Short Takes<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

From Daily Kos<\/a>: <\/font>In the last twenty years, there have been three occasions when the Republicans have won national elections, but received less votes than the Democrats.<\/p>\n

The direction of the nation would be vastly different, and the progressive legacy so much more profound, if, in each instance, power had simply been granted to the side that won the most votes.<\/p>\n

In the 1996 Congressional elections, the House Democrats received 60,000 more votes than the Republicans, but the Republicans remained in the majority, and in control of the legislative agenda.<\/p>\n

The Congressional term produced the Balanced budget act and tax relief act of 1997, but beyond that, it was a period of extreme volatility and confrontational politics, personified by Speaker Gingrich, whose management style was so disorganized and unpredictable that within three years, his own lieutenants tried to depose him in a chaotic coup. By the time he was forced out in 1998, many former members say they were terrified to open up the newspaper in the morning, fearful he had said or done that could cause them political heartburn.<\/p>\n

If the Democrats had taken back the House \u2013 because they got the most votes \u2013 the nation would have been spared the dysfunction, and there would have been far less of a sense of the country remaining fundamentally conservative. Although the Republicans would still have retained the Senate, the Democratic House, under Dick Gephardt, would have controlled the legislative agenda, which would have been decidedly more progressive.<\/p>\n

Click through for analysis of the other two times Republicans won by losing and how much America has suffered because of it. Every Republican in office is one Republican too many!<\/font><\/p>\n

From The New Yorker<\/a>: <\/font>Arguing that his motto \u201cDon\u2019t do stupid stuff\u201d is not a coherent foreign policy, critics of President Obama are pressuring him to do something stupid without further delay.<\/p>\n

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) led the attack on Thursday, blasting Obama for failing to craft a stupid response to crises in Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of reacting to these events with the haste and recklessness they deserve, the President has chosen to waste valuable time thinking,\u201d McCain said. \u201cThis goes against the most fundamental principles of American foreign policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Andy, If Obama did something stupid enough to completely satisfy McConJob and Lindsey Poo, he’d be deporting himself to Kenya.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Upworthy<\/a>: <\/font>Well-meaning people sometimes make off-handed remarks to each other and to people of color that are hurtful and offensive. Calling out friends and acquaintances on remarks like those in this clip is beyond frustrating because no one ever wants to admit that racism is nuanced. Thank the heavens for comedians.<\/p>\n