{"id":21061,"date":"2016-04-03T12:58:25","date_gmt":"2016-04-03T19:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=21061"},"modified":"2016-04-03T12:58:25","modified_gmt":"2016-04-03T19:58:25","slug":"open-thread432016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2016\/04\/03\/open-thread432016\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–4\/3\/2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night I slept poorly and felt so tired this morning, that I was dozing off, while doing my research, so after I finished, I uncorked a much needed Lona nap.  That\u2019s why I\u2019m running late today.  Tomorrow I have an appointment with my kitty cousin Scanner.  Sadly he\u2019s quite aloof, and every time I go in for my annual Cat Scan, he refuses to come out and play.  In any case, I may have no more that a Personal Update.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today\u2019s took me 3:46 (average 5:46).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From Daily Kos<\/a> (classic 9\/2011): <\/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

4. You don’t support our veterans<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran’s Association (IAVA) rates every member of congress on how well they support our veterans.  In the Senate, 9 people got A or A+: All were Democrats. 30 got D or F: 29 Republicans and one Democrat.  More on this<\/a><\/p>\n

How little they have changed!! I shared the first four. Click through for the other six.<\/font><\/p>\n

From NY Times<\/a>: <\/font>The wall of Republican opposition to the nomination of Judge Merrick B. Garland to the Supreme Court<\/a> has been shored up by two Republican senators revoking their support for holding confirmation hearings.<\/p>\n

Their moves highlight the immense pressure that Republican leaders are placing on senators as they try to build unified opposition to President Obama\u2019s choice to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February.<\/p>\n

As the White House heralds the growing number of Republicans agreeing to meet with Judge Garland, Senators Jerry Moran of Kansas and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have reversed themselves and say they now back the decision made by Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, not to hold hearings.<\/p>\n

The Republicans who agreed to meet with him were trying to appear responsible, but were really, as I predicted, just stalling for time.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Raw Story<\/a>: <\/font>SNL took on one of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump\u2019s most ardent supporters who frequently pops up on cable broadcasts to defend the actions and words of the consistently offensive candidate.<\/p>\n