{"id":15740,"date":"2015-08-01T09:45:15","date_gmt":"2015-08-01T16:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=15740"},"modified":"2015-08-01T09:45:15","modified_gmt":"2015-08-01T16:45:15","slug":"open-thread812015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2015\/08\/01\/open-thread812015\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–8\/1\/2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

I won’t be too verbose. because I\u2019ve been up since 4:00 this morning, making the graphs and collecting the data for tomorrow\u2019s Monthly Report.  I also made a rice, eggs, veggies, and chili concoction for two or three dinners.  After I get my articles up, it\u2019s nap time.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today\u2019s took me 2:27 (4:32 Average).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From Media Matters<\/a>: <\/font>Republican insiders are complaining that the right-wing media "is shaping the party’s agenda in ways that are impeding Republicans’ ability to govern and to win presidential elections," according to a new Harvard report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New York Times reporter Jackie Calmes<\/a>, a Joan Shorenstein fellow at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, spent nearly four months researching how the conservative media is increasingly influencing the Republican Party. She found "unanimity among establishment Republicans — many of them conservatives by the definition of anyone but purists — that rightwing media has become a big problem for the party, and their readiness to talk about it, was something of a surprise to this reporter of three decades’ experience in Washington."<\/p>\n

Since its founding in 2004, Media Matters has documented the increasingly extreme rhetoric and policy positions of conservative media. But party Republicans are now complaining that conservative commentators, many of whom are lining their pockets with big salaries, are making it difficult for Republicans to govern and win national elections.<\/p>\n

Dave Schnittger, a longtime former top aide to House Republican leaders, told Calmes that conservative media are loudest in opposing actions "that leaders have to get done as part of governing," such as meeting basic fiscal deadlines.<\/p>\n

Another top Republican aide, who asked for anonymity, complained of the conservative media: "There’s no money, ratings or clicks in everyone going along to get along." Calmes added, "Asked whether he could offer examples of legislative outcomes affected by conservative media, this Republican all but snapped, ‘Sure. All of ’em.’ Does he worry more broadly then about the small-d democratic process? ‘Yeah, absolutely. Because the loudest voices drown out the sensible ones and there’s no real space to have serious discussions.’"<\/p>\n

While what they say is essentially true, the article misses the real point. The biggest reason that the Republican Bubble Machine is so harmful to establishment Republicans is that by saying what the rabid base, recruited by those same establishment Republicans, wants to hear, they are making it more difficult for those establishment Republicans to mislead voters about their true intentions.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Daily Kos<\/a>: <\/font>In one simple quote, Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B. sums up the hypocrisy of some in the ‘pro-life’ movement:<\/p>\n

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"I do not believe that just because you’re opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don’t? Because you don’t want any tax money to go there. That’s not pro-life. That’s pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is."<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This quote applies well to many Republican lawmakers and anti-choice extremists who continue to introduce\/pass misogynist laws<\/a> restricting a woman’s reproductive rights.<\/p>\n

While I may disagree with the Sister’s views on a woman’s right to choose, I have to respect her belief. No respect is warranted for the beliefs of Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians, who preach that the right to life ends at birth, because they would impose their will on people who do not share their beliefs.<\/font><\/p>\n

From YouTube<\/a>: <\/font>Hillary Clinton: \u2018Racial disparities go against everything I believe in\u2019<\/p>\n

During a speech at the National Urban League conference, Hillary Clinton talks about racial inequality in America, saying unfortunately, race determines who gets ahead in America and who gets left behind. She says this occurs because of discrimination that is still ongoing.<\/p>\n