{"id":14779,"date":"2015-02-23T12:51:33","date_gmt":"2015-02-23T20:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=14779"},"modified":"2015-02-23T12:51:33","modified_gmt":"2015-02-23T20:51:33","slug":"open-thread2232015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/23\/open-thread2232015\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–2\/23\/2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m pretty buried with preparing my grocery list for this week, housework, and getting ready for my volunteer day in prison on Thursday.  My mail-order pharmacy got back to me.  They admitted that they were at fault, apologized for my inconvenience, have removed the charge for the wrong medication, and are not charging me for the correct medication, which they mailed this morning.  They exceeded my expectations.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today\u2019s took me 3:12 (average 5:11).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How dod you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From Daily Kos<\/a>: <\/font>Why would anyone vote Republican? Well, here are 10 reasons.<\/p>\n

1. You are a bigot<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s true that not all Republicans are bigots. But if you ARE a bigot, the Republican party will be much more your group than the Democratic party. Remember that there are lots of ways to be a bigot: You could be a racist, a homophobe, an Islamophobe, or lots of other things.<\/p>\n

2. You like eating, drinking and breathing poison.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many Republicans are calling for or voting for shrinking or eliminating agencies that protect us against poison. They seem to think that the corporations will do the right thing, without any pressure from the government. Uh huh. Read The Jungle.  Look at the way Monsanto is hiding facts about Round Up. Look at food safety and outbreaks of E. Coli.  <\/p>\n

Corporations exist to make money. They will do so any way they can. The government needs to stop them from doing so in ways that hurt people.<\/p>\n

3. You think the rich don’t have enough money<\/strong><\/p>\n

The idea that giving more money to rich people (via tax breaks) will help poor people is nonsensical and has been shown wrong time and again in history. Huge tax breaks for the rich (a la George Bush) don’t work.<\/p>\n

These aye just the top three. Click through for the other seven.<\/font><\/p>\n

From NY Times<\/a>: <\/font>It was a memorable political ad<\/a> [Barf Bag Alert!!<\/font><\/em><\/strong>]: Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin spoke directly into the camera in a 30-second spot last fall and called abortion an \u201cagonizing\u201d decision. He described himself as pro-life but, borrowing the language of the abortion rights movement, pointed to legislation he signed that leaves \u201cthe final decision to a woman and her doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n

That language was gone when Mr. Walker met privately with Iowa Republicans in a hotel conference room last month, according to a person who attended the meeting. There, he highlighted his early support for a \u201cpersonhood amendment,\u201d which defines life as beginning at conception and would effectively prohibit all abortions and some methods of birth control.<\/p>\n

Mr. Walker has quickly vaulted into the top tier of likely Republican candidates in the presidential race, surging on the reputation he earned by taking on labor unions and surviving a bitter recall election in a swing state.<\/p>\n

Was the Fartfuhrer of Fitzwalkerstan lying in that political ad last fall? Was he lying to Iowa Republicans? Has he ever told the truth?<\/font><\/p>\n

From Crooks and Liars<\/a>: <\/font>Unlike CNN’s Gloria Borger who brought Paul Wolfowitz on this Sunday for some Republican rehab<\/a>, MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry took former governor and GOP 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush to task for seeking advice from the former Deputy Secretary of Defense and reminded us of the fact that he was wrong about just about everything when he was working for Bush’s brother.<\/p>\n