{"id":16662,"date":"2015-10-23T13:42:42","date_gmt":"2015-10-23T20:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=16662"},"modified":"2015-10-23T13:59:35","modified_gmt":"2015-10-23T20:59:35","slug":"squatchs-open-thread-23102015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2015\/10\/23\/squatchs-open-thread-23102015\/","title":{"rendered":"Squatch\u2019s Open Thread 23\/10\/2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, it seems that I have come down with a cold, sore throat and flu.  Just getting this Open Thread done has been an exercise in "write some, sleep a lot" and repeat.  I am not a happy camper. Tomorrow, Nameless will be producing the Open Thread which is so good!  I'll be back on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Puzzle — <\/strong>Today’s took me 3:52 (average 6:42). To do it, <\/span>click here<\/strong><\/span><\/a>. Diamonds are not necessarily a girl's best friend!<\/span><\/p>\n

Short Takes<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

Alternet <\/strong><\/span><\/a>— After Trey Gowdy called for proper decorum to be observed — then promptly broke it himself when he went directly after “Democrats” on the committee for performing a “lousy” investigation during his opening statement — ranking minority member of the House Select Committee on Benghazi Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) ripped into his Republican colleagues with an opening statement that painstakingly laid out clear evidence that this latest investigation into the attacks in Benghazi is a political charade meant to undercut Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.<\/p>\n