Tuesday
Sep012015
The Commentariat -- Sept. 2, 2015
Internal links & defunct video removed.
David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "President Obama all but clinched victory for his Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday, as two Democratic senators threw crucial support behind the landmark accord. The announcements by the senators, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Chris Coons of Delaware, came a week before the Senate was to formally debate a Republican resolution disapproving the agreement between Iran and six world powers. Mr. Obama would veto any such resolution, and with further announcements of support for the accord expected as soon as Wednesday, any move to override him would almost certainly fail. Mr. Coons's decision in particular is likely to have resonance with the few remaining undecided Democrats."
Peter Eavis & David Jolly of the New York Times: "Stock markets around the world tumbled again on Tuesday, dashing hopes that financial markets would calm down after two weeks of turbulence. Investors appear to be growing more nervous about the strength of the global economy. China released a weak report on manufacturing on Tuesday, and an influential international policy maker sounded a downbeat note on the outlook for Asian economies."
Greg Miller of the Washington Post: "The CIA and U.S. Special Operations forces have launched a secret campaign to hunt terrorism suspects in Syria as part of a targeted killing program that is run separately from the broader U.S. military offensive against the Islamic State, U.S. officials said. The CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) are flying drones over Syria in a collaboration responsible for several recent strikes against senior Islamic State operatives, the officials said. Among those killed was a British militant thought to be an architect of the terrorist group's effort to use social media to incite attacks in the United States, the officials said." CW: I guess it isn't secret any more.
Julie Davis of the New York Times: "President Obama on Wednesday will pledge to step up government aid for Arctic communities whose shorelines and infrastructure are crumbling as warming seas melt their foundations, intensifying his administration's effort to cope with the effects of climate change where they are being felt most acutely. Venturing north of the Arctic Circle to Kotzebue, where he will become the first sitting president to visit Arctic Alaska, Mr. Obama will announce federal grant programs to help villages there cope with coastal erosion and high energy costs, and, in some extreme cases, relocate altogether, the White House said." ...
President Obama near the Exit Glacier, viewed from Kenai Fjords National Park. AP photo via the Guardian.... Issi Lapowsky of Wired: "Over the next few days, the President will be posting photos [on Instagram] of his trip to Alaska -- photos we're told he's taking himself -- where he'll be meeting with world leaders to discuss the pressing problem of climate change."
Melinda Deslatte of the AP: "The U.S. Justice Department told a federal judge that Gov. Bobby Jindal's decision to oust Planned Parenthood from Louisiana's Medicaid program appears to violate federal law by denying Medicaid patients the right to choose their health care providers. In a court filing, the agency said the Jindal administration hasn't offered 'sufficient reasons' to keep Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast's clinics in New Orleans and Baton Rouge from receiving Medicaid payments. Removing Planned Parenthood from the Medicaid program 'without providing any justification related to (the organization's) qualifications to provide medical services would violate Louisiana's obligations under the Medicaid statute's "free choice of provider" provision,' the Justice Department wrote." ...
... Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "With the calls to stop funding for Planned Parenthood, a visit to New Orleans and Baton Rouge suggests that it would not be as easy to do without the nonprofit centers as some Republicans and their anti-abortion allies say. Other states would face similar problems. Louisiana is among a number of states counted as medically underserved: It has a large poor and unhealthy population, with high rates of unintended pregnancies, a shortage of health professionals and too few who will accept Medicaid, as Planned Parenthood does."
Lisa Miller of New York on Pope Francis's letter re: absolution for abortions (story linked yesterday): "... what's breathtaking about this move is that Francis has chosen abortion, of all things, as the issue on which to stake this vision of mercy.... He singled out abortion, which just so happens to be the most divisive culture-war issue of the past half-century -- the issue around which the politically powerful religious right coalesced..., the issue that has won and lost innumerable elections and pitted whole American tribes against one another in red-faced screaming battles of 'values.' He is making a bet that his vision of a compassionate church can overcome all of that.... Francis knows that Catholics have hardly been bystanders in this culture war, but active participants -- that is another reason his choice of cause is so stunning.... Francis is not changing doctrine. He has not condoned abortion...."
Kali Holloway of AlterNet has a long piece, republished in Salon, on how the Walton Family Foundation tried to privatize public schools in Arkansas (and do so around the country), & -- at least in the short term -- failed in their own home territory. CW: I don't think there's a bigger scam going in this country than privatization of K-12 schools, & that effort, more than any other, is why I would not vote for Jeb!. Ever.
Ken Belson of the New York Times: "In dozens of studio emails unearthed by hackers, Sony executives; ['Concussion'] director Peter Landesman; and representatives of [lead actor Will] Smith discussed how to avoid antagonizing the N.F.L. by altering the script and marketing the film more as a whistle-blower story, rather than a condemnation of football or the league."
Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "Barvetta Singletary, "a White House staffer, has been indicted on assault charges stemming from a dispute in which she allegedly fired a gun at her U.S. Capitol Police boyfriend." Singletary, a special assistant to the President, has been on unpaid leave since the White House learned of the incident.
Presidential Race
Shocking New Video Proves Hillary Clinton Is a Hardened Criminal. Dana Milbank: "Conservative activist James O'Keefe, whose undercover videos brought down ACORN and embarrassed National Public Radio, came to Washington Tuesday to unveil evidence of 'illegal activity conducted by high-level employees within Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.' He then rolled tape of ... a Canadian woman attempting to buy a T-shirt and some campaign pins at a Clinton rally. To O'Keefe, this was evidence of foreign contributions being made to Clinton -- an 'illegal activity' with a total value of $75." Then it turns out that the Clinton campaign refused to sell the shirt to the supposed foreigner (O'Keefe couldn't verify that the woman actually was Canadian -- [maybe she kept saying "eh"]), so O'Keefe's videographer bought the shirt for her. "Even in the anything-goes world of the Clinton scandal industry, though, O'Keefe's latest exercise suggests her accusers are running out of ammunition. O'Keefe's video did show evidence of law-breaking -- by his own organization."
CW: Watching Joe's Every Move. Vice President Biden is off to Miami to give a couple of speeches & attend a fundraiser. Also, "On Saturday, he turned up unannounced at an annual event given by the Sussex County Democratic Party in Delaware." Never mind that Delaware is Biden's home state & that the Miami events are routine for the Vice President, the tea leaves say these are moves toward another presidential run.
Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "The organizers of the next Republican presidential debate have announced changes to debate criteria that mean former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina will almost certainly join the rest of the top-tier candidates on the main stage at the Reagan Library on Sept. 16. 'CNN reevaluated its criteria and decided to add a provision that better reflects the state of the race since the first Republican presidential debate in August,' the network announced. 'Now, any candidate who ranks in the top 10 in polling between August 6 and September 10 will be included.'" ...
... CW: Tumulty writes of one advantage to having Fiorina on the stage: "In the enormous Republican field, she is the only one who has demonstrated anything that rivals the thrust-and-parry skills of front-runner Donald Trump.... Trump dominated the main stage in Cleveland, in part because none of his rivals had any idea how to take him on." ...
... The Manly Party. Steve M.: "... now we have fifteen conservative men running against a bully named Donald Trump -- including Christie, a guy we were old for years was tough as nails. And yet the Daddy Party may believe a woman is the only person who might be able to back the bully down. Hilarious, I tell you."
Meet the Trump Voters. Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling: "Our new poll finds that Trump is benefiting from a GOP electorate that thinks Barack Obama is a Muslim and was born in another country, and that immigrant children should be deported. 66% of Trump's supporters believe that Obama is a Muslim to just 12% that grant he's a Christian. 61% think Obama was not born in the United States to only 21% who accept that he was. And 63% want to amend the Constitution to eliminate birthright citizenship, to only 20% who want to keep things the way they are. Trump's beliefs represent the consensus among the GOP electorate. 51% overall want to eliminate birthright citizenship. 54% think President Obama is a Muslim. And only 29% grant that President Obama was born in the United States. That's less than the 40% who think Canadian born Ted Cruz was born in the United States." ...
... Greg Sargent: "... vowing to 'make America great again' by building a wall on the Mexican border and deporting 11 million people ... is not 'telling it like it is.' It is not 'straight talk.' Yet many of [Trump's] supporters seem to enjoy being told these 'truths.' So perhaps the better way to understand what's happening here is that Trump's supporters like the story he is telling them, which is largely that immigrants are to blame for the suffering of American workers." CW: You might call it old-fashioned scapegoating. hey, at least its' "traditional." ...
... And the Winner Is.... Brian Beutler of the New Republic: "Short of sabotaging Trump by changing the rules in the middle of the race, which would risk driving him to mount an independent candidacy, the race itself will have to take on a completely new character for Trump to lose steam. Otherwise, he will win." ...
... Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: Donald "Trump invited Javier Palomarez, president of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, to his Manhattan office for a meeting to clear the air. Each were joined by two staff members for a 90-minute meeting that Mr. Palomarez described as surprisingly cordial and productive." ...
Ed O'Keefe & Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Jeb Bush went on the offensive Tuesday against GOP presidential front-runner and frequent antagonist Donald Trump, releasing an attack video portraying the mogul as a closet liberal and signaling that he will attempt to bring Trump down in coming weeks.... Allies of the former Florida governor insist that he had no choice but to adopt a more aggressive posture, elevating his feud with Trump to the marquee contest in the GOP primary contest." ...
... Nice work, Jeb! Your vid makes Trump look pretty good:
Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "... while almost all Republicans were upstaged by the bombast of Donald J. Trump in recent months, [Ben] Carson, a retired neurosurgeon whose low-key personality and celebrated medical career are the antithesis of a politician's usual path, gained ground as few seemed to notice."
Andy Borowitz: "Saying that 'things just didn't work out,' the billionaire Koch brothers have decided to put Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker up for sale. The Kochs, who earlier had purchased Gov. Walker with great fanfare, announced their plan to sell the politician in a terse statement from Koch Industries headquarters in Wichita." ...
... Joshua Green of Bloomberg: "... standard-issue Republican candidates such as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who have tried to emulate Trump, typically fail and will always fail" because if they were honest & forthcoming, "it upsets the patrons and supporters they depend on for their livelihood (this is another Trump straight-talk point)." ...
... CW: There's the Koch-22: GOP candidates must be devious & evasive to please the Kochs, but to win public support, they must say things that would displease the Kochs. This works out okay if all the candidates follow a phony, evasive party script (think 2012). But an outsider candidacy like Trump's breaks the official GOP liars' code. Remember Mitt's saying that one only talks about wealth inequality "in quiet rooms." What he meant was that he & his billionaire friends might discuss these matters among themselves, but publicly politicians should talk only about realizing the American dream through hard work, innovation, freeedom, blah-blah. ...
... Walker Rule 1(f): When You Say Something Monumentally Stupid (and we're talking 5,500-mile Monument Stupid here), Pretend It Was "Just a Joke." Tierney Sneed of TPM: "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) said Tuesday that things had 'run amok' with reports that he was open to building a wall on the U.S.' northern border and that all the talk was 'just a joke.'"... He said Sunday that building a wall was a 'legitimate issue' to be considered." CW: Every word Walker utters is a lie, including "and" and "the." (Thank you, Mary McCarthy.)
Rick Perry's Iowa staff is down to one paid worker. Don't worry, Iowa pols. Bernie's hiring. ...
... CW: Let's hope the DOJ arrests Bobby Jindal for breaking federal law in his anti-Planned Parenthood pander (story linked above). Otherwise, if Perry leaves the race, there won't be a single GOP candidate who's currently under indictment. ...
... FINALLY, there's always room for Mitt. Via Paul Waldman. Because ...
These guys like Walker and Perry, they were big deals in their states, but you get them onto the national stage and it's a different story. It's like they were in middle school, and now they're freshmen in high school and they're getting their faces slammed in the toilets. -- A former Romney advisor
Beyond the Beltway
Ian Lovett of the New York Times: "California has agreed to an overhaul of its use of solitary confinement in its prisons, including strict limits on the prolonged isolation of inmates, as part of a landmark legal settlement filed in federal court on Tuesday. The settlement is expected to sharply reduce the number of inmates held in the state's isolation units, where inmates are often kept alone for more than 22 hours a day inside cells that sometimes have no windows, and cap the length of time prisoners can spend there."
And if [a wife] divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery. -- Jesus, according to the Gospel of Mark 10:12
Marriage is between a woman and a man; and a woman and another man; and a woman and still another man; and a woman and yet another man. But if a man shall lie down with another man and shall marry that man, or if a woman shall lie down with another woman and marry that woman, the whole fornicating lot of them will go straight to burning hell, so sayeth the Lord. -- Jesus's friend Kim, according to the Gospel of Kim 1:1-6 ...
... Welcome to Kentucky! Steven Nelson of US News: "The Kentucky county clerk facing potentially stiff penalties for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses has been married four times, raising questions of hypocrisy and selective application of the Bible to her life. The marriages are documented in court records obtained by U.S. News, which show that Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis divorced three times, first in 1994, then 2006 and again in 2008. She gave birth to twins five months after divorcing her first husband. They were fathered by her third husband but adopted by her second. Davis worked at the clerk's office at the time of each divorce and has since remarried." Emphasis added because I couldn't help it. ...
... Clare Galofalo of TPM: "U.S. District Judge David Bunning moved swiftly Tuesday after a lesbian couple asked him to find Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis in contempt.... A hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday...."
CBS Chicago: "A manhunt is underway in far north [Chicago] suburban Fox Lake, after a police officer was shot and killed while chasing three suspects on foot.... At a late-morning news conference, Lake County Sheriff's Det. Chris Covelli said, around 7:50 a.m., the officer radioed he was pursuing three suspects, after looking into their 'suspicious activity.'... Shortly after the news conference, Covelli confirmed that the officer died. The officer was identified as Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, a 32-year police veteran.... Covelli said police were conducting a ground and air search for three suspects -- two white males and a black male."
AP: "Police officers who arrived at the wrong metro Atlanta home after a report of suspicious activity shot the man who lives there, killed his dog and 'likely' shot a fellow officer, leaving him seriously wounded, authorities said Tuesday."
AP: "A white ex-police chief agreed Tuesday to plead guilty to misconduct in office in the shooting death of an unarmed black man, a far lesser offense than the murder charge that ended in two mistrials. Prosecutors agreed to drop the murder charge against 38-year-old Richard Combs, who is the former police chief of the small town of Eutawville[, South Carolina].... Authorities say Combs shot Walter Bailey in May 2011 as he tried to arrest him on an obstruction of justice charge weeks after he argued about his daughter's traffic ticket.... When Bailey came to talk to the police chief at Eutawville town hall about the traffic ticket, Combs was not threatened and could have stepped away, but fired his weapon anyway, hitting Bailey three times, prosecutors said."
Way Beyond
Griff Witte & Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "Just 216 Syrian refugees have qualified for the [British] government's official relocation program, according to data released last week. (Tube trains seat about 300.) British Prime Minister David Cameron has reassured his anxious public that the total number won't rise above 1,000. As Germany prepares for an expected onslaught of 800,000 asylum applications just this year, the contrast between the two biggest powers in Europe couldn't be sharper. On a continent that is supposed to be bound together by a common set of rules and values, the impact of this summer's migrant crisis is being felt disproportionately by a handful of countries while others, such as Britain, have resisted efforts to more equitably share the burden. Britain's approach helps explain why efforts to forge a unified European asylum policy have failed, and it could become a major obstacle to agreement when top officials gather for an emergency meeting later this month."
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Reader Comments (20)
@Patrick wrote, in part, yesterday, re: Pope Francis & abortion,
"What I couldn't figure out was why it was a news story. Even in the article itself, the writers state that a priest has always been able to absolve a penitent's contrite confession.
"What I also couldn't figure out was whether abortion had somehow become a 'special' sin, not absolvable by your parish priest. Nope, the text says not so. Bishops confirm their dioceses' priests' authority to absolve (sort of a license to forgive) routinely, for all sins. The Church considers abortion a grievous mortal sin, but has never said priests can't absolve it in contrite confession.
"So ... why is this a story? Because Francis made a point of saying that absolution is available? That's not news. And it's not a liberalization of any church teachings or standards, although the headline implies it is some kind of change."
My response:
@Patrick: The Pope's letter presents one major difference: as of now, priests must have the approval of their bishops to forgive a woman for having an abortion. In practice, many bishops already give priests a blanket authority to do so, according to news stories I read. However, this is not a universal Church rule, so some priests, who know their bishops may not approve a specific absolution, take it upon themselves to absolve the woman. At least for the Jubilee Year, Francis is raising priest's authority on this issue. It's a slap on the wrist, IMO, to hard-line bishops.
Moreover, I would say Francis is regularizing policy, at least for a year, kind of like the Supreme Court regularizing gay marriage throughout the states (except in Kentucky!).
Abortion is a "special" sin in that it is one for which a woman can be excommunicated. There are nine excommunicable sins.
You're right in that Francis is neither changing canon law nor condoning abortion. He has acknowledged that his papacy will be a short one, & I think that makes him reluctant to try to revolutionize the Church; in fact, he probably realizes he doesn't have time to make substantive change. I think his hope is to change the direction of the Church, from being one of rigid conformity to an outdated, unrealistic & inhumane canon to one that embraces ordinary people. You saw that in his comment on homosexuality: "Who am I to judge?" He didn't change the Church's position at all, but he did suggest it was up to God, not man, to decide if gayness was sinful.
I see the abortion letter as another way in which Francis is encouraging the Church to be as forgiving as he believes Jesus was -- changing practices without trying to change the canon. And, as Lisa Miller, points out (linked above), that he chose the hot-button issue of abortion to emphasize the shift is noteworthy. Also, the fact that he chose a "sin" that only women can commit is important -- in an organization in which men make all the rules for women, this is a small act of feminism. That he released the letter shortly before his visit to the U.S. suggests to me he's sending a political message to U.S. bishops to tone it down.
So I do think the letter is newsworthy, & I'm glad quite a few news organizations picked up on it. Yes, the Catholic Church is still a misogynistic, sex-obsessed outfit, but Francis is, as Obama might say, bending it toward justice.
Marie
More on the god front.
According to biblestudytools.com, "God hates divorce".
Which prompted me to check out actual Bible verses concerning divorce rather dee-vorce according to the Book of Kim:
Deuteronomy 22:19
Moreover, she will continue to be his wife, and he can never divorce her as long as he lives. (Already it doesn't sound good, especially for practitioners of serial dee-vorce.)
Matthew 5:31-32
"I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery. (Lots and lots of adultery going around the Davis household. Isn't there a commandment against that?)
Matthew 10:2-12
Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery." (More bad news for adulterers like Davis.)
Corinthians 7:39
A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. (Unless, I guess, you're Kim Davis.)
Romans 7:2-3
...by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. ("Adulteress, adulteress...Kim Davis is an adulteress..." You mean like that?)
And my personal fave for hypocrites like Davis:
Hebrews 13:4
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
(Got that? Sex-you-al-lee im-mor-al.)
So, hmmm...let's see. According to haters like Davis, the gay lifestyle is sexually immoral. But according to god, so is hers. But I guess it's all good if you're a Republican far-right fundamentalist. You can do whatever you want AND you still get to sit in judgment on those of whom you do not approve and/or hate. It appears however that Davis's opinion outweighs that of god. But wait, aren't the Christianists always telling us that only god's word matters and we all have to do what he says even if secular law says we can do otherwise?
I'm confused...does this mean that god's word is only valid when people like Davis say it is? Which means that god's word isn't worth jack and likewise any religion supposedly based on the idea of god's word being sacrosanct. OR does it mean that people like Davis are only interested in religion as a weapon to use against people and ideas they hate?
Or it could mean she's just another hypocritical Confederate asshole.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
Two things:
On God Talk, since we've moved the Sabbath up a few days. My older son sent this one along a few days ago...
Quoted by E. O. Wilson,
"The distinguished physiologist Anton (Ajax) J. Carlson, when asked what he thought of the 1950 ex cathedra (that is, infallible) pronouncement by Pius XII that the Virgin Mary ascended bodily into heaven, is reported to have responded that he couldn’t be sure because he wasn’t there, but of one thing he was certain, that she passed out at thirty thousand feet.”
And Edsall continues our discussion of What Wrong with These People? in this morning's Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/02/opinion/what-donald-trump-understands-about-republicans.html?
His conclusion is hardly surprising. Turns out that the numbers do support what we already knew. The elephant in the Republican room, which Trump is making his chops by talking about openly, is deeply racist.
Looks like Republicans today are most like the little white Dutch boy with a finger in a leaking dike, temporarily holding back a demographic tsunami.
Climate change is by no means the only change the Right is denying.
"Adulteress, adulteress...Kim Davis is an adulteress..." You mean like that? -AK
"She gave birth to twins five months after divorcing her first husband. They were fathered by her third husband but adopted by her second. Davis worked at the clerk's office at the time of each divorce and has since remarried." Emphasis added because I couldn't help it. ..." -CW
I got two nice laughs in today thanks to RC, and that brings me to another point too often overlooked after reading through the last couple days of news.
In the interminable bickering that is and will be between "Black Lives Matter" and "All Lives Matter", it seems to me that we as a nation are going on tangents and missing the main point: "Life Matters", or maybe, even better, "Living Matters".
With the renewed media interest in police abuse and the constant spotlight on daily violence between fellow citizens (and immigrants) in this country, we seem to be degenerating as a whole into a society that values material goods over immaterial wealth (those things you can't buy but certainly would if you could: friendship, family, health, sharing, kindness, a perfect summer day...), yet human lives hardly register value. Political con jobs leave people to suffer. Police impunity creates an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty. The influence of money permeates society and reigns supreme. Rising inequalities further distort the cycle of need and despair. Stagnancy leads to despondency. I know the statistics say violence has been declining overall since the 90s, but it's still out of control as we're obligated to witness with each passing day.
According to Jeb! we need to work more hours, according to economists we need to buy more stuff, according to our corporate masters we need to work harder, according to politicians we need to STFU and make due...
Lost in the daily banter and the daily news and the daily interactions with our fellow beings is our ultimate raison d'être. Maybe it's Pope Francis opening up his kind heart towards women who've 'sinned' through abortion (only until Dec. 31 at midnight! Kindness has expiration dates you know!?) that brought these ideas on, but it seems we need to take a collective anti-violence chill pill and appreciate "Living" a bit more.
Can somebody campaign on that message please? (Ha!)
Wouldn't it be splendid if Ak's long list of biblical blather could be sent to Ms Kim to skim and respond? What would she say, I wonder? Pray( with hands folded) that someone will call her out on this.
There was one verse that puzzles me:
Matthew 5:31-32
"I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery."
If a man divorces his wife because she is unfaithful she is already considered an adulteress therefore the divorce would not suddenly make her so. Maybe Matt (or whomever) had a little too much of that potent drink of the day or became confused with all the hanky panky pandering.
Safari,
It's a great idea, making an appreciation of living as a campaign platform, with a plan to ensure all (hey, I'll even take some) of the elements necessary for that goal: a job with a living wage, health insurance, decent education, housing, fair treatment under the law, and a live and let live attitude (which automatically discounts zealots telling everyone else how to live, or else).
Unfortunately, you'll have to hope a Democrat picks up on this. Jeb(!) had the ill advised notion of momentarily thinking of undocumented immigrants as human beings which caused him to consider the possibility of their coming to this country in order to find a better life for their kids as an act of love. He's been on the run ever since. Trump painted him as the Mother of All Wussies for mentioning the word "love", a word Confederates only use when connected to guns, war, and money.
Now, if you want someone to adopt an appreciation of torture, punching people in the face, shooting them, incarcerating them for decades, ensuring income inequality for years to come, and taking away health insurance from those who have just gotten it, as part of a campaign platform, I can point you to at least a dozen candidates who've already done just that.
And to add a tag-on to safari's messages: Why wouldn't we have mandated family leave time in this country for ALL women ( and fathers) after giving birth. If the message is to protect that fetus at all costs then one would think giving a family time to recuperate, bond with their baby, and put their house in order would be the next step–-the humane step. Perhaps the pious Pope could add that to HIS message when he comes to the US of A.
PD,
Talk about confused. I'm still trying to connect the dots of Kim Davis' fundamentalist bed-hopping, marriage, adultery, marriage, more adultery, more marriage, more adultery, and just plain ol' fucking around adventures in sex-you-al im-mor-al-i-tee.
So she's married to husband number 1. While she's married to him, she's screwing another guy who gets her pregnant. She divorces the first guy, marries yet another guy she's been fucking around with (not the guy who got her pregnant though), then ditches that dude so she can marry the first guy (or maybe the 21st) she was screwing, then divorces him (the father of her children, maybe), so she can marry another guy she was fooling around with, possibly while married to 2 and 3 and maybe even 1.
But two men who have been committed to each other for years in a loving and monogamous relationship are unworthy of the sacred bonds of matrimony, in her righteous opinion.
Fuck these people. But not literally.
You might catch something really nasty. Besides, you'd have to wait in line.
Brian Beutler's piece in the New Republic, linked above, reinforces my ever growing sense that Trump, increasingly, has a much better than even chance of winning the Republican primary and, unless HRC is able to turn things around, perhaps the White House. There are more than one tipping points in the offing here. A month ago, I would have to have sat myself down and given myself a good talking to about such balmy speculation, but no more.
I realize it's still a long time to the first primary, and things can (and have) happened to front runners in the past, but Trump has two things going for him that most of the others don't. First, he's never held political office so there is no track record to hold over him. He's never stepped on elementary school teachers or closed down the government. Second, he's been pretty much a known commodity for a long time. His peccadilloes, if you can call them that, are well known. If there are skeletons remaining in his closet they'd have to be huge (sex with children; on tape; or a secret fetish for Nazi S&M videos).
Also, he's had plenty of experience keeping the press at bay and controlling the message. Unless certain members of the press decide to demonstrate the emperor has no clothes, he's got smooth sailing on that front. And even if they do (see Kelly, Megyn), his fans won't believe it and will instead, stone the messenger.
The other Confederates have no idea how to handle Trumpy. This points out two things. First, it demonstrates the weakness of this field. Jeb(!) has been pitiful. Walker only wants to show that he can be Trump the Small. The Little One is in his own world of weirdness (as he's always been), Huckabee hasn't been heard from in weeks and when he speaks, he has to pull toenails out of his teeth.
The trick, I think, with this problem is that these people should be largely ignoring Trump. You're never gonna win going toe to toe with a bully who won't answer any direct questions except to call you names and punch you in the nose. But that might be difficult when every reporter you come into contact with will be asking you "What about King Donald?"
Confederate voters are comfortable with fantasy. They've been weaned on it. Reality is not their meat and they have no stomach for hard choices or serious discussion.
I really think, at this point, unless something drastic occurs, and given the appalling weakness of the other candidates, that Trump wins.
The White House will be saved (this time) from the barbarians, only if those imbecilic "undecideds" get off their ass and think about what a Trump presidency would be like, and if every registered Democrat stands up and says "Hell no!"
The answer, of course, is that Kim has repented of her sins, and, washed in the Blood of the Lamb, is now as pure and virtuous as any Saint. Until she sins again, after which she will again repent... repeat ad infinitum ad nauseam.
Same sex couples, on the other hand, are unrepentant and enjoy their sinful existence daily. Therefore our Loving Father in Heaven will cause them to be hideously tortured for all of Eternity.
Now that's not so hard to understand, is it?
I think everyone knew that HC would not have smooth sailing to the nomination nor the Presidency. Beyond her own less than welcoming personality and Wall Street leaning policies, she has the fetid Bill barge trailing behind. In media terms, that barge hasn't yet sailed.
I think Trump has a shelf life in the manner of "breaking news", like a train derailment or an especially nasty freeway pile up that goes on being "breaking news" until it's momentum fizzles. In the end, he's mentally ill, but more importantly, he's completely unpredictable. Trump will not follow the advise of his political handlers, nor can he sustain loyalty to any particular constituency. His mental illness controls his actions. ATTENTION is what he craves. Trump puts the powerful with the real wealth at risk ( not his measly 5B but real money). Never going to happen, the really powerful will not give up control. The right wing has spent the entire Obama years spitting and frothing at the mouth. They're not going to willingly hand over the reins to Trump.
Imagine Putin and Trump in a room. Now that would be "breaking news".
From the "I Knew if I Stayed Around Long Enough, Something Like This Might Happen" department.
GB Shaw's epitaph says it all.
Remember, just a short while ago how I was bemoaning the weakness of the Republican fight card?
Don't look now, but it just got weaker:
A Rat Redux! Oh noes!
It appears that the Willard Fluffers are trying to crank up the Romney Mechanism for a return to the ring.
It appears he can't stand incivility. Pardon while I step out for a quick barf.
I say again, the 2016 run for the White House can't suck enough.
Diane,
Normally I would completely agree with you, but there's this little thing called the voters. Confederate billionaires have been pumping up their guys like crazy but the psychotic voters they've always counted on to go their way may not be inclined to oblige.
I probably shouldn't get too worked up this early in the game, and if Trump had some real competition, I'd agree with you about his shelf life.
But now that it looks like the Rat may come back for another grab at the Gorgonzola, anything can happen. None of it good.
RE: Kim Davis. She was elected as a Democrat.
In an article in the Sacbee this morning, Davis' self described "redneck hillbilly" husband stated that 4 yrs ago at the funeral of her mother-in-law (apparently a good sized group), Davis was "born again". That means "all the shit I did before doesn't count and you now have to follow my directives.....so there all you sinners".
Good take down of Kimmy the Krispy Kristian by Dan Savage.
@safari Your thoughtful comments about important things which cannot be purchased reminded me of two men. One was my hard working Irish American grandfather who used to say to his four children, one of whom was my courageous mother: "If money can fix it, it's not a problem." The second was Neil Diamond and his memorable lyrics in Forever In Blue Jeans: "Money talks, but it don't sing, and dance and it don't walk."
@D.C. Clark Thank you for your welcome reinstatement of Washington National!
Images The Decider is not painting, but has, in fact, created:
"The most heart-breaking one is a close-up of a drowned infant, his body so still and doll-like that he could be sleeping.
According to Reuters, Turkish media reported that the boy was 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, a child from a largely Kurdish-dominated region in northern Syria. His 5-year-old brother also reportedly died on the same boat."
The Decider, Dick (I had other priorities when it was my turn to go to war, sniff, sniff) Cheney, Condi Rice, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, all of them, but predominantly The Decider, are to blame for this human tragedy, this horror on an epic scale. The Decider's decision to lie in order to drop bombs on innocent human beings so he could talk tough and strut around like a dress-up doll, continues to stoke the fires of misery and death.
"The scale of the Syrian refugee crisis is hard to grasp: About 11 million people (half of Syria's population) have either died or fled their homes since the Syrian conflict began in 2011. About 4 million of that number have been forced out of the country."
This crisis is directly attributable--directly attributable--to the instability caused by the Bush War of Choice which instigated hordes of insurgents and created newer and more deadly armies of nihilism, terror, and murder. Jeb(!) wonders where ISIS came from? His god damned brother invented them.
I want to see this fucking asshole paint a picture of that dead little baby. Not puppies, not his toes, not his stupid ass taking a shower (such infantile subjects). I want him to own the decades of death, the devastation of millions of lives he has created. I want him to accept responsibility for this enormous tragedy. Oh, but I forgot. Republicans never accept responsibility.
Nevertheless, this poor little baby is dead because of George Fucking W. Bush. The horrors forged by these smug, indolent, lubricious, self-righteous Christian liars!!
Every single day this son of a bitch is alive, enjoying his easy existence, free from care or worry, with that ignorant monkey grin plastered across his twisted countenance is an affront to justice, an insult to the entire concept of morality.
Where is that new ring of hell?
Safari and Islander: Sorry for this old one, but couldn't resist:
CIRCLE GAME
An American businessman was on the pier of a coastal Mexican village when a small fishing boat docked. On the boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The fisherman replied that it only took a little while. The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish. The fisherman said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, señor." The American scoffed. "I am a Wharton MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then L.A., and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise." The fisherman asked, "How long will this all take?" To which the American replied, "Fifteen or twenty years." "But what then?" The American laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions." "Millions? Then what?" The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with friends."
@Whyte: An old one it may be, but its message has such an impact. I was just reading about the Wright brothers whose father told them, "All the money anyone needs is just enough to prevent one from being a burden on others."
The fisherman and Milton Wright had it right; so very few do.