{"id":22799,"date":"2016-07-03T02:12:39","date_gmt":"2016-07-03T09:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=22799"},"modified":"2016-07-03T02:12:39","modified_gmt":"2016-07-03T09:12:39","slug":"squatchs-open-thread-02072016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2016\/07\/03\/squatchs-open-thread-02072016\/","title":{"rendered":"Squatch’s Open Thread 02\/07\/2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

I won't say it has been a busy day, but I have not sat idle.  I have this post and have finished the PP Monthly Report.  The weather has been rather muggy today but no rain.  Fortunately there were few fireworks around me yesterday so the furbabes were calm until this morning when a group of crows decided to dance along the peak of the garage roof.  They were not happy that going out to play was not allowed.  My brother and his wife will be arriving late Thursday for 2 days before boarding an Alaska bound cruise ship.  As a result, I will be scarce Friday and Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Obituary<\/strong><\/span><\/a> — Elie Wiesel, age 87, activist and writer, Second World War death camp survivor who won a Nobel Peace Prize for becoming the lifelong voice of millions of Holocaust victims, philosopher, speaker, playwright and professor.  Rest in Peace<\/span><\/p>\n

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Politico<\/strong><\/span><\/a> — Jackie Richter is the foul-mouthed, frank-talking owner of Heels and Hardhats, a small construction company near <\/b>Rockford, Illinois. For almost half a century, she lived as a man—an existence the 58-year-old transgender woman told me felt fundamentally wrong, like always having to wear her right shoe on her left foot. But in the summer of 2010, a few years after she finished transitioning, she applied for a United States passport saying she was female. That September, she got it. This, she said recently, was the first time she felt the full support of the federal government. The document saved her business, saved her family, and—she believes—saved her life.<\/p>\n

And for this, she credits Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n

"None of it would have been possible without what she did,” Richter said. “She was a forerunner on this.”<\/p>\n

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It’s not a label typically associated with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Over her quarter-century of national public life, Clinton mostly has enjoyed broad support from LGBT voters, donors and activists, but many of them considered her a laggard on the litmus-test issue of marriage equality, which she didn’t endorse until 2013. And during her surprisingly drawn-out primary fight with Senator Bernie Sanders, Clinton consistently was cast as the more centrist candidate. Sanders, not Clinton, was the full-throated social revolutionary.<\/p>\n

But five years before the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage and President Obama lit up the White House in the colors of the rainbow, Hillary Clinton <\/b>and her staff at the State Department made a change that for thousands of people was exactly that—revolutionary.<\/p>\n

I think that Clinton walks a line, or thinks she has to walk a line on some issues as illustrated in this quote.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Clinton, thought Julie Dorf, a senior adviser for the Council for Global Equality, was “quite comfortable” with the policy “personally.” But “politically,” Dorf told me, “she’s so much more calculating and cautious.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

She is a pragmatist, but as such, she might tend to keep some more progressive actions low key.  Unfortunately, for others, that pragmatism can cloud things.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alternet<\/strong><\/span><\/a> — Given all of his antics on the campaign trail, Donald Trump might seem like he's in a class by himself when it comes to pettiness. This is a man, after all, who narcissistically patted himself on the back for predicting terrorism would happen again, even as the bodies of the Orlando victims were still being identified, who celebrated the sharp drop in value of the British pound because it helped his golf course, and who has hissy fits when reporters point out his foibles and lies. He has openly talked about all the people who will regret “mistreating” him once he becomes King…uh, President…of the United States. There is little doubt that, should the unthinkable happen, President Trump would go down in history as a serial abuser of political power, hammering the final nails into the coffin of the Party of Lincoln (or the ghost of what remains of it).<\/p>\n

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But petty politicians are certainly not a new phenomenon. They existed in the past, and carry on today. And abuses of power need not always mean history-shaping acts of evil. Sometimes they can just be…well…small and petty. Here are some acts of political entitlement, some just bratty, some actually evil, committed by politicians that The Donald would, and in at least one case, does, feel right at home with:<\/p>\n

4. Humberto Benitez Trevino, Attorney General for Consumer Protection, Mexico<\/strong><\/p>\n

Humberto Benitez Trevino received a call from his daughter Andrea in 2013, and got an earful, as she complained how Maximo Bistrot, a trendy Mexico City eatery, was being mean to her. It was lunchtime, she wanted her favorite table, and they said it was not available. Daddy sprang into action. Trevino was the official in charge of Profeco, Mexico’s Consumer Protection Agency, and clearly his daughter, a consumer, needed protection. Soon several officials from his agency showed up at the bistro, and, in short order, they found several “violations,” such as incorrect reservation policies, and mislabeling of mescal. The restaurant was closed down. Sadly for Humberto, his daughter decided to brag about the incident on Twitter. Consumer outrage at such corrupt pettiness ensued, earning daughter Andrea the nickname “Lady Profeco”. Internet memes<\/font><\/a> even began to pop up. The restaurant was reopened. Oh, and Humberto was fired.<\/p>\n

Click through for the other five petty politicians.  I had a good chuckle but was surprised that Canada's former PM Stephen Harper didn't make the list.  After all, "Tony Turner, a physical scientist at Environment Canada and longtime singer-songwriter in Ottawa's folk music scene, wrote the controversial tune Harperman<\/em>. Turner was sent home in mid-August, according to his union, over concerns that his song breached Environment Canada's value and ethics code." (<\/span>CBC<\/strong><\/span><\/a>)  There were some suggestions from Harper that this was inapropriate.  Incase you need a laugh here is the video.  It is very explicit about Harper's failures.<\/span><\/p>\n