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The Ledes

Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Washington Post's liveblog of developments in the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse is here: “Divers recovered the bodies of two construction workers who died when a massive cargo ship struck and collapsed a Baltimore bridge, as investigators revealed Wednesday that hazardous material was leaking from breached containers on the stranded vessel and state and federal lawmakers rushed to begin the recovery from the disaster that crippled the Port of Baltimore. Rescue crews found the victims shortly before 10 a.m. trapped in a red pickup truck in about 25 feet of water in the Patapsco River near the mid-span of the hulking wreck of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Maryland State Police Secretary Roland L. Butler Jr. said at a news conference. The conditions were treacherous for the divers, so Butler said they were suspending the search for the bodies of four other construction workers who plunged to their deaths when the container ship in distress struck the bridge shortly before 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, causing it to fall.

“The workers are believed to be the only victims in the disaster.... The victims recovered were identified as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk, Md. Other victims identified Wednesday were Maynor Suazo Sandoval, 38, from Honduras, and Miguel Luna, from El Salvador, who was the father of three. The names of the remaining two victims have not been released.” ~~~

~~~ CNN's live updates are here.

The Wires
powered by Surfing Waves
The Ledes

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Washington Post: “As a cargo ship the size of a skyscraper drifted dangerously close to a major Baltimore bridge that carried more than 30,000 cars a day, the crew of the Dali issued an urgent 'mayday,' hoping to avert disaster Tuesday. First responders sprang into action, shutting down most traffic on the four-lane Francis Scott Key Bridge just before the 95,000 gross-ton vessel plowed into a bridge piling at about 1:30 a.m., causing multiple sections of the span to bow and snap in a harrowing scene captured on video.... Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) hailed those who carried out the quick work as 'heroes' and said they saved lives, but the scale of the destruction was catastrophic and will probably have far-reaching impacts for the economy and travel on the East Coast for months to come.” ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates are here. CNN's live updates are here. ~~~

     ~~~ A Washington Post liveblog of developments is here: “Six people [-- bridge construction workers --] were presumed dead Tuesday evening, authorities announced as they shifted from a search and rescue operation to a recovery effort.... The governor declared a state of emergency, and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) announced that the city has deployed its emergency operations plan. Vessel traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore was 'suspended until further notice.'”

Public Service Announcement

The Washington Post offers tips on how to keep your EV battery running in frigid temperatures. The link at the end of this graf is supposed to be a "gift link" (from me, Marie Burns, the giftor!), meaning that non-subscribers can read the article. Hope it works: https://wapo.st/3u8Z705

The Hollywood Reporter has the full list of 2024 Oscar winners here.

Ryan Gosling performs "I'm Just Ken" at the Academy Awards: ~~~

Marie: If you don't like birthing stories, don't watch this video. But I thought it was pretty sweet -- and funny:

If you like Larry David, you may find this interview enjoyable:


Tracy Chapman & Luke Combs at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Allison Hope comments in a CNN opinion piece:

~~~ Here's Chapman singing "Fast Car" at the Oakland Coliseum in December 1988. ~~~

~~~ Here's the full 2024 Grammy winner's list, via CBS.

He Shot the Messenger. Washington Post: “The Messenger is shutting down immediately, the news site’s founder told employees in an email Wednesday, marking the abrupt demise of one of the stranger and more expensive recent experiments in digital media. In his email, Jimmy Finkelstein said he was 'personally devastated' to announce that he had failed in a last-ditch effort to raise more money for the site, saying that he had been fundraising as recently as the night before. Finkelstein said the site, which launched last year with outsize ambitions and a mammoth $50 million budget, would close 'effective immediately.' The New York Times first reported the site’s closure late Wednesday afternoon, appearing to catch many staffers off-guard, including editor in chief Dan Wakeford. As employees read the news story, the internal work chat service Slack erupted in what one employee called 'pandemonium.'... Minutes later, as staffers read Finkelstein’s email, its message was underscored as they were forcibly logged out of their Slack accounts. Former Messenger reporter Jim LaPorta posted on social media that employees would not receive health care or severance.”

Washington Post: “The last known location of 'Portrait of Fräulein Lieser' by world-renowned Austrian artist Gustav Klimt was in Vienna in the mid-1920s. The vivid painting featuring a young woman was listed as property of a 'Mrs Lieser' — believed to be Henriette Lieser, who was deported and killed by the Nazis. The only remaining record of the work was a black and white photograph from 1925, around the time it was last exhibited, which was kept in the archives of the Austrian National Library. Now, almost 100 years later, this painting by one of the world’s most famous modernist artists is on display and up for sale — having been rediscovered in what the auction house has hailed as a sensational find.... It is unclear which member of the Lieser family is depicted in the piece[.]”

CNN: “Jon Stewart is heading back to 'The Daily Show.' The comedian, who during his 16-year run as host of the Comedy Central program established it as an entertainment and cultural force, will return to host the show each week on Mondays starting February 12, Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios announced Wednesday. Stewart, who returns as the 2024 presidential election season heats up, will also executive produce the show and work with a rotating line-up of comedians who will helm the program the rest of the week, Tuesdays through Thursdays.”

~~~ Marie: I don't know if this podcast will update automatically, or if I have to do it manually. In any event, both you and I can find the latest update of the published episodes here. The episodes begin with ads, but you can fast-forward through them.

Contact Marie

Click on this link to e-mail Marie.

Wednesday
Nov122014

The Commentariat -- Nov. 13, 2014

Internal links, comic strip removed.

Karen Tumulty & Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "When his party got walloped last week in the midterm election, an unbowed President Obama declared that he would 'squeeze every last little bit of opportunity' to push his agenda in the waning years of his presidency. In the past few days, he has shown that he meant it." ...

... Jonathan Cohn of the New Republic: "The failed Obamacare presidency continued not to fail this week. Twice. The first time it happened was on Tuesday morning, when Craig Spencer left Bellevue Hospital in New York..... Obama's other non-failure came late on Tuesday night, when, while traveling in Asia, he announced that he'd secured a major agreement on climate change with the Chinese."

Manu Raju & John Bresnahan of Politico: "The incoming Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, is engaged in private talks with [Elizabeth Warren,] the Massachusetts freshman, to create a special leadership post for the former Harvard professor, according to several people familiar with the matter."

Gail Collins on the lame-duck session of Congress as reality show. It has possibilities.

Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "For the first time in the six-year fight over the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, both houses of Congress will hold a vote on the proposed project, giving each side in a Louisiana Senate election a chance to boost its candidate. The two lawmakers locked in the runoff contest, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) and Rep. Bill Cassidy (R), seized control of the congressional agenda Wednesday, extracting assurances from House and Senate leaders that votes will be held to bypass President Obama's authority and authorize construction of the pipeline."

Greg Sargent: "For House Republicans, their guiding fiscal and economic lodestar remains -- and will forever remain -- the hallowed Paul Ryan budget. In its various iterations, it would repeal Obamacare, radically restructure Medicare to the detriment of beneficiaries, block-grant Medicaid, and aim most of its draconian budget cuts at programs benefiting people with lower incomes. Robert Greenstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has said earlier versions would result in 'the largest redistribution of income from bottom to top in modern U.S. history.' So it's not surprising that House Republicans appear to be reading their big victory in the 2014 elections as a mandate to bring it back once again." (No link.)

The guy's awesome. -- Eric Cantor, on Joe Biden. Read the Cantor interview by Zeke Miller of Time.

Apparently serving 36 years in "the greatest deliberative body on Earth" is fairly good prep for handling Eric Cantor. -- Constant Weader

Daniel Drezner of the Washington Post on "the best APEC summit ever." ...

... Charles Pierce writes a brief history of political opposition to U.S. international treaties. Enter McConnell, Boehner & Inhofe, stage far-right. ...

... Christopher Flavelle of Bloomberg View: "By linking the EPA rules to Chinese action, President Barack Obama has taken the most compelling case against those rules and co-opted it overnight. For a lame-duck president, that's a pretty neat trick." ...

... Rebecca Leber of the New Republic: "Remarkably, the party that’s become synonymous with climate-change denial has avoided any mention of it this time.... Even Senator James Inhofe -- Congress' most vigilant climate-change denier -- neglected to mention what he really thinks of global warming."

Ezra Klein: "In September, the Kaiser Family Foundation looked at [48 cities] ... and found that ... on average, prices [for health insurance] are falling by 0.2 percent. 'Falling' is not a word that people associate with health-insurance premiums.... But this data [sic!] ... shows that Obamacare is doing a better job holding down costs than anyone seriously predicted.... Obamacare's competitive insurance marketplaces are actually doing what they promised to do: forcing insurers to compete for customers by cutting costs." ...

... BUT NEVER MIND ALL THAT ...

... "The Stupidity of the American Voter," Ctd. Robert Costa & Jose DelReal of the Washington Post: "Congressional Republicans seized Wednesday on controversial comments made by [Jonathan Gruber,] a former health-care consultant to the Obama administration, with one leading House conservative suggesting that hearings could be called in response as part of the GOP effort to dismantle the law in the next Congress and turn public opinion ahead of the 2016 election.... On Tuesday evening, Fox News' Megyn Kelly aired a second video, of Gruber calling voters stupid, also from 2013." ...

... Here's Kelly's segment, which suggested to me a more consequential scandal: Is Kelly wearing hair extenders? ...

... Dylan Scott of TPM scores a White House response to Gruber: "'Transparency is a key goal of the ACA: consumers now have more access to information about their health insurance than ever before,' White House spokesperson Jessica Santillo said in a statement to TPM. 'The Affordable Care Act was publicly debated over the course of 14 months, with dozens of Congressional hearings, and countless town halls, speeches, and debates. The tax credits in the law that help millions of middle class Americans afford coverage were no secret, and in fact were central to the legislation.... Not only do we disagree with [Gruber's] comments, they're simply not true.' [Emphasis added.] An administration official also noted to TPM that -- while Gruber is often described as an 'architect' of Obamacare because he was a key consultant to the administration and was heavily involved in developing the Massachusetts health reform law that served as a starting point for the ACA -- 'he did not work in the White House or play the same role in developing the Affordable Care Act.'" ...

... Reality Chek. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... while it's clear this is hardly Obamacare's proudest moment, the idea that Gruber's comments will suddenly swing public sentiment against Obamacare is wishful thinking. That's because, throughout the law's history, support and opposition have been pretty consistent." ...

... Brian Beutler: "The ObamaCare debate was one of the most transparent in recent memory.... The people who brought you the phony arithmetic of the Bush tax cuts and Medicare Part D and the self-financing Iraq war are upset about the ACA, which is genuinely fiscally sound. By any reasonable standard, ACA respected budgetary constraints much better than most other laws." (And, yes, Beutler typed "dupe the pubic." It happens to us all. ...

... "The Stupidity of the Republican Party." Steve M.: "Gruber is a blowhard, but no one held a gun to Republicans' heads and forced them not to read the bill, or to contradict any statement from Democrats they considered misleading. No one in the public was prevented from reading the bill. The structure of the bill was much discussed; if you wanted to know what was in it, you had every opportunity to find out. This hearing [proposed by Republicans], if it happens, is just one more GOP show trial, held only because there's an unpleasant Democrat to put in the dock, and meant, ironically, to make voters stupider, by persuading them that somehow a bill got passed the contents of which were unknowable." (Also, see Yastreblyansky's comment to Steve's post; you might label it "The Stupidity of the American Professor.") ...

... Okay, we're back to normal Ron Fournier: "... I have to admit, as a supporter, that Obamacare was built and sold on a foundation of lies."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday wrestled with the role race may play in drawing legislative maps. The issue was an old one, but the case had a novel twist: Wednesday's challenge came from black and Democratic lawmakers in Alabama who said the State Legislature had relied too heavily on race in its 2012 state redistricting by maintaining high concentrations of black voters in some districts." Here's a transcript of the oral arguments.

Lyle Denniston of ScotusBlog: "The Supreme Court, with two Justices dissenting, on Wednesday afternoon cleared the way for same-sex couples to marry in Kansas -- the thirty-third state on the list. In a brief order, the Court voted to leave intact a federal judge's order nullifying the state's ban on same-sex marriages.... Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas noted only that they would have granted the delay sought by the Kansas attorney general.... There was no explanation, for the order or by the dissenters.... State officials are now under a federal court requirement to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Annals of "Justice," Ctd.

... Richard Wolf of USA Today: "... a media campaign being unveiled Wednesday ... targets the Supreme Court.... They don't publicize their schedules. They don't state their conflicts when recusing themselves from cases. They don't put their financial disclosures online. They don't bind themselves to a code of conduct. And they don't let cameras in the courtroom. 'The Supreme Court has taken on a larger role in American life in recent years. With that increased power comes the need for increased accountability,' says Gabe Roth, former manager of the Coalition for Court Transparency.... The new effort, to be called 'Fix the Court'..., opens Wednesday with a six-figure advertising campaign aimed at politically active fans of Fox and MSNBC, as well as online sites. Funding comes from the non-partisan New Venture Fund." The group's Website is here.

** Linda Greenhouse knocks the Supremes in a way this careful journalist has never done in public remarks (that I can recall). On the Court's agreeing to hear King v. Burwell: "There was no urgency. There was no crisis of governance, not even a potential one.... This is a naked power grab by conservative justices who two years ago just missed killing the Affordable Care Act in its cradle, before it fully took effect. There is, rather, a politically manufactured argument over how to interpret several sections of the Affordable Care Act There is simply no way to describe what the court did last Friday as a neutral act." Read the whole column. ...

... Rick Hasen in the Los Angeles Times: "... it seems entirely possible that [Chief Justice John] Roberts might focus narrowly this time on the snippet of the act extending subsidies only to those insured by exchanges 'established by the state.' One argument he might make in defense of that position is that Congress has the ability to go back and fix any unclear language through a revised statute. Roberts telegraphed his willingness to take such an approach in the 2013 Shelby County vs. Holder case, which struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.... Roberts' opinion for the majority ordered the provision struck because ... Congress, he reasoned, could simply [fix the problematic provision] ... if it wished to." ...

... CW: Hasen makes a good point. It is not completely unreasonable to tell Congress to fix the bill, especially when the fix is so simple. Certainly Roberts fully understands Congress wont' do that, just as he knew Congress wouldn't fix the Voting Rights Act, as Hasen points out. Gutting the VRA meant that GOP legislatures could deprive minorities of the right to vote. Gutting ObamaCare could mean that some millions of Americans would lose health insurance & some of those would get sick & die because of it. So the question may come down to this: is John Roberts more righteous than Congressional Republicans? Tune in next June to find out.


Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Alan Rappeport
of the New York Times: "The biggest business lobby group in the United States is not happy that President Obama is pressuring the Federal Communications Commission to impose stricter rules on broadband providers. Hoping to ward off regulations that would prevent companies like Comcast and Verizon from giving priority to some Internet traffic over others, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said that such a move would slow innovation and job creation, and that it was 'strongly opposed.'" ...

... CW: At some point, just crying "jobs" every time you want to privilege the wealthy is not going to snooker even the "stupid" American voter (see Gruber, Jonathan).

 

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.

David Edwards of Raw Story: Fox "News" hosts can't understand John Fogarty lyrics; bash Springsteen, Creedence Clearwater. Springsteen, Dave Grohl & Zack Brown's performance at Tuesday's Concert for Valor is here. ...

... Charles Pierce has a nice pictorial explanation of "Fortunate Son," which the Fox people should probably look at since they can't understand words.

Dylan Byers of Politico: "Fox News is reevaluating Mike Huckabee's status with the network following a new report that he is eyeing a 2016 presidential bid." See also the WashPo report under "Presidential Election" below. ...

... ** Steve M. notes how awkward a Huckabee run would be for the press's preordained "narrative." Steve cites a few of Huck's lunatic remarks, then contrasts them with the WashPo's characterization of Huckabee in the piece linked below:

An ordained Southern Baptist preacher with an easy-going demeanor, Huckabee presents himself as both a social conservative and an economic populist.... [2008 campaign manager Chip] Saltsman ..., said Huckabee would be a formidable opponent for the Democratic front-runner, Hillary Rodham Clinton, in part because he has studied her since their shared Arkansas days. He said Huckabee's 'common touch' and his ability to talk about income inequality would contrast with Clinton.

     ... Not exactly, "Crazy Old Bigot & Nullification/Impeachment Kook Makes Another Quixotic White House Run." ...

... Ed Kilgore: "As for 'income inequality....' I'd be interested in hearing what if anything Huck has to say. He's sure not in favor of more progressive taxation; he's a big 'Fair Tax' guy, devoted to flattening tax rates and moving towards a consumption-based system that would inherently be more regressive. But more to the point, how media folk treat Huck may determine whether the 'economic inequality' debate in 2016 is real or entirely symbolic."

Presidential Election

Contributer P. D. Pepe flags this piece by Noam Scheiber of the New Republic. It is indeed a good summary of the Democrats' Dilemma, as also outlined in some of the posts linked under today's "November Elections": "Long story short, there's a coalition available to Democrats that knits together working class minorities and college-educated voters and slices heavily into the GOP's margins among the white working class.... It's ... possible that Hillary's extensive ties to the one percent will strangle the populist project before it ever gets going, in which case some of those unnamed lefty challengers the Times wrote off start to look pretty attractive. However you feel about it, though, it's the question for Democrats to consider once they realize they need a lasting majority, not just control of the White House."

Tom Hamburger & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who turned his stunning victory in the 2008 Iowa caucuses into a thriving talk-show career, is reconnecting with activists and enlisting staff to position himself in a growing field of potential Republican presidential candidates. This week, Huckabee is leading more than 100 pastors and GOP insiders from early primary states on a 10-day overseas trip with stops in Poland and England." ...

... CW: Anyways, I want Huck to tap Santorum as his running mate & I want the National Enquirer to catch the two of them in bed together in a motel room in Laconia, New Hampshire. Photos, please. Such are the dreams of the everyday liberal. ...

... Paul Waldman also is enthusiastic about a Huckabee run. No mention of Laconia.

Sam Youngman of the Lexington Herald-Leader, in a Politico Magazine piece, looks at the failed but and enthusiastic efforts -- to curb Rand Paul's political career.

November Elections

Ed Kilgore takes a look at Iowa's exit polls & sees a serious problem for Democrats, one we discussed here yesterday: "non-southern non-college-educated whites" are voting Republican in higher numbers. ...

... ** New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in the Huffington Post: "This year, too many Democratic candidates lost sight of [the party's] core principles -- opting instead to clip their progressive wings in deference to a conventional wisdom that says bold ideas aren't politically practical. To working people, it showed Democratic weakness -- a weak commitment to the change desperately sought by struggling families, and a weak alternative to a Republican philosophy that has held America back. Bold, progressive ideas win elections. Just ask Senator Al Franken, who has fought fearlessly to rein in Wall Street, and won by a larger margin on Tuesday than President Obama did in Minnesota in 2012." ...

... Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senior members of the Democratic Party say congressional leaders need to look in the mirror after a disastrous Election Day. Several former chairmen of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) say the party waged a tepid fight this year and hasn't had enough of an internal deliberation about what went wrong."

Jay Root of the Texas Tribune: "Consultants for Democrat Wendy Davis warned her campaign months ago that the Fort Worth senator was headed for a humiliating defeat in the Texas governor's race unless she adopted a more centrist message and put a stop to staggering internal dysfunction. The warnings are contained in two internal communications obtained by The Texas Tribune and written at the beginning of the year...."

Beyond the Beltway

Donna St. George of the Washington Post: "Christmas and Easter have been stricken from next year's school calendar in Montgomery County. So have Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. Montgomery's Board of Education voted 7 to 1 Tuesday to eliminate references to all religious holidays on the published calendar for 2015-2016, a decision that followed a request from Muslim community leaders to give equal billing to the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha. In practical terms, Montgomery schools will still be closed for the Christian and Jewish holidays, as in previous years, and students will still get the same days off, as planned."

     ... CW: If Bill O'Reilly doesn't run a segment titled something like, "Maryland Muslims Win War on Christmas," I'll eat a loofah for lunch.

Elicia Dover of KATV Little Rock: "Gov. Mike Beebe [D] says he will pardon his son, Kyle, for a felony crime from his past.... Kyle Beebe, now 34, was charged in 2003 with possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, with intent to deliver, a class C felony. He was given 3 years supervised probation and fines. Gov. Beebe was serving as the state's attorney general at the time. At the time of the arrest, Gov. Beebe was quoted in a local newspaper saying, 'If he broke the law, he needs to pay for it. He needs to be treated like everybody else-no better, worse.'"

News Lede

New York Times: "President Obama will ignore angry protests from Republicans and announce as soon as next week a broad overhaul of the nation's immigration enforcement system that will protect up to five million undocumented immigrants from the threat of deportation and provide many of them with work permits, according to administration officials who have direct knowledge of the plan."

Reader Comments (20)

Joan McCarter has a fascinating piece on a new PAC aimed at encouraging the Supreme Court to be more transparent. The organization has five specific goals, all of which sound promising. Sorry I can't post a link -Apple has screwed up that function on my tablet apparently.

November 12, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterVictoria D.

Marie, thanks for the cartoon, it says it all. I've always wanted to confront a someone like Huckabee and tell him that if there was a Designer who created him, he wasn't very intelligent.

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterMarvin Schwalb

Sam! Sam! Sam! Of course, there's no evidence!
As another (small) 4.8-Magnitude earthquake rattles Kansas & parts of Oklahoma.

"Studies have shown earthquakes can be caused when fluid, which is a byproduct of various methods of oil and gas production, is injected into disposal wells. A panel commissioned by Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback found there wasn't enough evidence to link the Kansas quakes to oil and gas exploration."

Frack away, my friends!

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterMAG

From Noam Scheiber: "The big question Democrats Need to Ask themselves Before they Nominate Hillary." good piece:

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120256/hillary-clinton-presidency-could-have-same-problem-obama

What fun to have Huckabee run for President! Signs everywhere that may say, "Fuck Huck" and something maybe about bees buzzing around all those sugar daddies he went on about when he riled against contraceptives.

And good for Linda Greenhouse to sock it to that Supreme group that pretends to be Apolitical. Her surrendering is scary.

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

MAG,

Members of a similar panel in L'Aquila, Italy, were charged and convicted of manslaughter for downplaying the threat of a catastrophic earthquake. Six days after the release of their "Don't worry, be happy" report, a 5.9 earthquake killed 309 people. Most of those convicted have, just this week, been released after a successful appeal, all except the leader of the group who is serving out his sentence.

I guess it's not surprising that most Italians take their science seriously and most wingnuts don't. They had Leonardo. We've got Brownback.

But never you mind about an earthquake caused by fracking. There are plenty of other terrible things that can happen, like having fire come out of your faucet when you're trying to take a bath or wash the dishes ("Sorry about the scorched china, honey...")

And, hey, if there is an earthquake, it'll be Obama's fault anyway, or a warning from god not to take away the guns, or some lunatic bullshit.

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Does anyone else find it hysterical that every jamoke in Right Wing World is outraged--outraged, I tells ya--about the Gruber remarks regarding the stupidity of American voters?

Since Saint Ronald of Reagan turned your average political lie into a Hollywood production in big screen Rube-a Rama, complete with commie bad guys and shoot-em-up cowboys for additional distractions, Republicans have been playing voters like carney hucksters picking the pockets of slack-jawed hayseeds who needed a diagram to tie their shoes.

The fact that they're getting ready to run that flim-flam Ryan budget up the flagpole for the umpteenth time shows exactly what they think of the mental acuity of voters. "So, looka here. We take away your Medicaid and food stamps and safety net, 'cause only wussies need a safety net, but we'll make sure you and your family will have the benefit of the top of the line cost of living--from 1936! Now how 'bout that? Plus, what we save will go to job creators. Real Americans!"

Cry me a fuckin' river, Megyn Kelly. When you run that video of The Decider chest-thumping about how he worked hard for everything he ever got, and call that bullshit an insult to the intelligence of American voters, maybe I'll listen to your whining about Gruber.

Until then, please to be shutting up.

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Marie,

The best photo op would be Huckabee, Santorum, and a couple of dogs. I guess that means the dogs and Huck would have to take turns with santorum. And Santorum.

Ewww.

After Megyn Kelly's "Fuckabee" gaffe, the jokes will write themselves should the Huckster enter the race.

For my part, I'll be trying to come up with a decent rip-off of Monty Python's Eric the half-a-bee sketch (Eric the Huckabee?). Especially that part where they mention something about loving "semi-carnally."

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Something to feel good about, a letter published in the Detroit Free Press a day or so ago that I understand is making the Twitter rounds:

"Many of us Canadians are confused by the U.S. midterm elections.

Consider, right now in America, corporate profits are at record highs, the country's adding 200,000 jobs per month, unemployment is below 6%, U.S. gross national product growth is the best of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries.

The dollar is at its strongest levels in years, the stock market is near record highs, gasoline prices are falling, there's no inflation, interest rates are the lowest in 30 years, U.S. oil imports are declining, U.S. oil production is rapidly increasing, the deficit is rapidly declining, and the wealthy are still making astonishing amounts of money.

America is leading the world once again and respected internationally — in sharp contrast to the Bush years. Obama brought soldiers home from Iraq and killed Osama bin Laden.

So, Americans vote for the party that got you into the mess that Obama just dug you out of? This defies reason.

When you are done with Obama, could you send him our way?

Richard Brunt

Victoria, British Columbia"

We knew the mid-terms defied reason. Sounds like Canada has its Grubers, too.

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Marie,

Right again.

Loofah Boy O'Reilly has leaped on the story of the kerfuffle in Montgomery County, Maryland schools. And it's all the fault of those persnickety Muslims who just want EV-erything their way.

But because Muslim parents wanted recognition of one of their holy days, the school board decided to remove references to any and all religious holidays from the school calendar.

So first, I'm wanting to know why any religious holidays are listed on the calendar of a public school system. But not O'Reilly. At one point in this video, he almost seems like he's about to make sense and recognize the law, for once. But nooooooo....I said almost.

He starts to lecture the Muslim community with a finger wagging, "Now listen, this is a PUBLIC school..." and for a second I thought he was going to say "...and public schools can't support any religion, even though they apparently support Christian and Jewish holidays..."

Instead, what he says is so far removed from the law and the Constitution, and even basic fairness, you'd just want to go out and blow your head off, if you took him seriously, that is.

His point was, that, in his opinion, this is a Christian country (it's not) and because there are a fair number of Jews, we let them in on the act too. But there aren't enough of you Muslims to let you guys horn in on the action, so tough shit.

That Bill, always a stickler for the rule of law.

The War on Christmas continues apace. Next, all department store Santas are forced to face Mecca; Christmas on life support! Holy reindeer scat, Rudolph!

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Ken,

Thanks, man.

Big smile for that letter, and I've needed something to smile about.

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Jonathan Chait "unpacks" Gruber's remarks. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/11/did-the-author-of-obamacare-admit-its-evil.html

2. The stupidity of the American voter. Here is where Gruber’s comment most rankles. “Stupidity” is unfair. Ignorance is a more accurate term.

Memo to self: Must remember to use ignorance.

Chait's article makes for better clarity of WHAT Gruber said than the chattering MSM's hysterics.

@Ak I remember that incident in Italy. Yeah, just wait until right-wingers think of this to add to their Obama lawsuits.

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterMAG

@AK; Shocked; we the canines of SoCal are "Shocked"; that you of all people would put any dog in bed with Huckleberry or Sexact. We demand a retraction. The last time we canines have been pleased with a film role of political nature was in "Where the Buffalo Roam". Hunter S. had a couple of Dobies that he was training. Remember that one? Balzac.

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterJJG

Jowly Boy McConnell is jumping on the Gruber bandwagon. His latest brainflash is that Gruber's indiscreet comment was a classic "Washington Gaffe" meaning something said that the person believes to be true.

Oh horrors. Well, let's see Mitch. People voted for you against their best interests, I'm guessing that doesn't qualify them for Nobel Prizes in Physics anytime soon.

And while we're on the subject, how about all those Republican comments about sluts and legitimate rape and moochers and blah people, to recall just a tiny fraction of their "Washington Gaffes" and all those other wingnuts who are always being "taken out of context"?

Or how about all the nasty comments made by McConnell's campaign myrmidons when they were laughing about how much fun it would be run against Ashley Judd so they could use her medical history against her. I guess they weren't gaffes, though.

That was just the McConnell camp being the kind of assholes he would hire.

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Oh Boy.

Regarding the insurance premium increase/decrease for 2015... I read the Daily Kos comments on their article about the slight decrease for 48 cities. Most were very unhappy and facing some big-time increases - 10, 20, 30%. Anecdotal of course, but generally the increase seemed to hit those who turned 50. They stressed the need for everyone to 'shop' for a better deal before signing up again. Also, there was one or two disturbing accounts of difficulty logging on healthcare.gov.

Ugh.

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterHaley Simon

Conservative responses to Ted Cruz's internet comments are nothing short of delicious.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/13/1344716/-After-nonsensical-comments-on-Net-Neutrality-conservatives-rage-against-Ted-Cruz?showAll=yes

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterJames Singer

Double ugh.

Should be "there were one or two"

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterHaley Simon

@AK: " A 'gaffe' is the opposite of a 'lie'; it is when a politician inadvertently tells the truth."
Michael Kingsley

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

I'm listening in my car to the spoken version of Sarah Vowell's "The Wordy Shipmates," which is read by the author and is brilliant. She makes many salient points, but one that jumps out at me is that from the start this country was founded by those who were patriotic to their deity first and to anything else second. That's why for many people even today the idea of separation of Church and State just doesn't compute. The late eighteenth century must have been a lull in the veins-in-your-teeth worship cult in America.

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterJack Mahoney

Speaking of Huckabee, my comment to Gail Collins's column today has it some Huckabee:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/opinion/gail-collins-the-lame-duck-dynasty.html?comments#permid=13317936

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterJack Mahoney

Here's the Daily Kos article with the scary comments about increasing premiums.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/12/1344367/-Obamacare-premiums-falling-in-48-major-nbsp-cities?detail=email#

November 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterHaley Simon
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