{"id":30868,"date":"2017-12-25T12:31:39","date_gmt":"2017-12-25T20:31:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=30868"},"modified":"2017-12-25T12:31:39","modified_gmt":"2017-12-25T20:31:39","slug":"open-thread-12-25-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2017\/12\/25\/open-thread-12-25-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread – 12\/25\/2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who would have imagined it.  Here in Portland, Oregon, infamous for liquid sunshine, we have a white Christmas.  I bet every Republican in town expects minorities to disappear.  My feast with Wendy was delicious, and we prepared a plate for the desk clerk who was stuck here for Christmas Eve.  She gave me a new bathrobe.  I gave her a necklace and jewelry for her piercings, some of which I’ll never get to see worn. \"Crying  When we saw the snow was sticking, I sent her home early to keep her safe.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today’s took me 3:22 (average 8:13).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

Religious Agony<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

\"1224Broncos11-Redskins27\"<\/font><\/p>\n

We’ll get the best draft order we’ve had in years.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From Politico<\/a>: <\/font>House Republicans are in trouble heading into 2018.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s unpopularity, voter distaste of Washington and a highly energized Democratic base have combined into a toxic brew for the GOP and its 24-seat House majority. A record number of Democratic candidates are piling into swing districts from Southern California to northern Maine and from the Florida Keys to suburban Seattle, and Republicans trail by double-digits in many national House polls.<\/p>\n

But ultimately, the battle for the House is a district-by-district affair. And a handful of seats scattered across the country reveal the trends that will dominate those battleground races for the next year, including huge Democratic primaries, Republicans\u2019 growing suburban problem, and the outbreak of sexual misconduct allegations roiling more and more campaigns every week.<\/p>\n

Here are POLITICO\u2019s 10 most important House races of 2018 \u2014 and why they matter in the battle for the House:<\/p>\n

Illinois\u2019 6th District: Revenge of the suburbs<\/h6>\n

GOP Rep. Peter Roskam won reelection handily in 2016, but his Chicagoland district saw a big shift, with President Donald Trump losing it by 7 points after Mitt Romney carried the seat by 8 points in 2012. And since Trump took office, elections in Virginia, New Jersey and a handful of congressional special elections around the country have seen local candidates fall to or even below Trump\u2019s levels in the suburbs.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a big warning sign for Roskam and other Republicans in suburbs of New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, Kansas City and more heading into 2018. Democrats have to wade through a crowded primary before they face Roskam. Kelly Mazeski, who picked up an EMILY\u2019s List endorsement and raised the most money last quarter, is leading the pack, though anything can happen in a field of seven candidates. But even a bruised Democratic opponent may not stem the tide against Roskam and other suburban congressmen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIncreasingly socially progressive, suburban voters have been drifting away from the GOP for years,\u201d said Ian Russell, former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee deputy executive director. \u201cTrump dramatically accelerated this movement, and the tax bill will only further alienate them.\u201d<\/p>\n

I shared one. Click through for the other nine. RESIST<\/strong>!!<\/font><\/p>\n

From BuzzFeed<\/a>: <\/font>Turns out, a guy named Robert Strong sent the Mnuchins a large wrapped box filled with horse poo in the name of the American people. Good, ole, organic horse shit that he "borrowed" from some friends to make a political statement\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026Strong also attached a hand-written card that read: "Dear Misters Trump and Mnuchin, we are returning your Christmas gift of the Republican tax plan because it’s complete horse shit. Sincerely, the American people."<\/p>\n

\"1225Strong\"<\/p>\n

Now you know who the hero is and what he looks like.  RESIST<\/strong>!!<\/font><\/p>\n

From Common Dreams<\/a>: <\/font>In an interview on CNN’s "State of the Union" on Sunday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) slammed President Donald Trump for "bragging" about a provision in the GOP tax bill that could leave 13 million more Americans<\/a> without health insurance and argued that the U.S. should instead be working toward guaranteeing healthcare to all Americans as a right.<\/p>\n

"Instead of bragging about more Americans without health insurance, we should join every other major country on Earth, guarantee healthcare for all people, and end the absurdity of paying twice as much per capita for healthcare as every other major nation," the Vermont senator said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Amen Bernie! Thank you! RESIST<\/strong>!!<\/font><\/p>\n

Cartoon<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

\"1225Cartoon\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who would have imagined it.  Here in Portland, Oregon, infamous for liquid sunshine, we have a white Christmas.  I bet every Republican in town expects minorities to disappear.  My feast with Wendy was delicious, and we prepared a plate for the desk clerk who was stuck here for Christmas Eve.  She gave me a new […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-open-thread","category-personal","category-politics","category-35-id","category-3-id","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30868\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}