{"id":23589,"date":"2016-08-20T13:51:01","date_gmt":"2016-08-20T20:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=23589"},"modified":"2016-08-20T13:51:01","modified_gmt":"2016-08-20T20:51:01","slug":"open-thread-8202016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2016\/08\/20\/open-thread-8202016\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread – 8\/20\/2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday the temperature hit 102\u00b0.  Today may well be worse.  My A\/C is holding it’s own, but the building’s hallways and restrooms have become super-heated.  After my morning regal trip to the throne at 5:30 AM, taken to contemplate the odor of the Republican Party, I had to change my shirt to one that wasn’t sweat-soaked.  Today I plan to write, attend the live draft of our fantasy football league, care for personal needs, and as little else as I can.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today’s took me 3:25 (average 5:03).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From The Nation<\/a>: <\/font>If you watch cable news, you\u2019ve seen someone from an outfit called the \u201cIndependent Women\u2019s Forum\u201d promoting a conservative take on the women\u2019s issue of the day. It\u2019s no secret that the group leans right; it grew out of \u201cWomen for Judge Thomas,\u201d which formed during Anita Hill\u2019s testimony about Clarence Thomas at his 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearing, and was formally launched in 1992 by the late Barbara Olson and Rosalie \u201cRicky\u201d Silberman, along with a cadre of powerful conservative women that included former second lady Lynne Cheney. Still, it\u2019s always billed itself as \u201cnon-partisan\u201d and \u201cindependent.\u201d In its early years, it promoted IWF-affiliated author Christina Hoff Sommers\u2019s brand of \u201cequity feminism\u201d and opposed the \u201cradical feminism\u201d of the \u201990s women\u2019s movement, which it argued was pushing myths about sexual harassment, pay inequities, and discrimination in the workplace and widespread abuse on college campuses. For years it played no formal role in electoral politics.<\/p>\n

But an analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy<\/a> (CMD), provided exclusively to The Nation, reveals that since 2010, IWF and its political arm, Independent Women\u2019s Voice, have become aggressive players in Republican politics, embedded in the network of organizations backed by Charles and David Koch, advocating for the Koch brothers\u2019 myriad concerns, and playing on their \u201cindependent\u201d label to elect GOP candidates. If this country is to elect its first woman president, Hillary Clinton will have to face down this powerful conservative women\u2019s group to get there. <\/p>\n

RepubliSpeak Dictionary<\/strong>
Independent Nonpartisan<\/em>: Koch Sucker<\/font><\/p>\n

From Media Matters<\/a>: <\/font>The Fox Cycle<\/a> is the process by which Fox News pushes right-wing fringe stories into the mainstream news. Fox distorts facts, spreads myths as truths and devotes heavy, one-sided coverage to make viewers believe in baseless, manufactured stories — and, worse, to convince mainstream media outlets to cover these lies.<\/p>\n