The Commentariat -- Oct. 25, 2012
My column in the New York Times eXaminer is on Steven Pinker's NYT post "Why Are States So Red and Blue?" Another column, by a professor of religious studies, Ira Chernus, also disagrees with Pinker, though Chernus is meaner than I am. I actually disagree with Chernus, too, but what the hell?
October Surprise. Ben Protess of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors in New York sued Bank of America on Wednesday, accusing it of carrying out a mortgage scheme that defrauded the government during the depths of the financial crisis. In a civil complaint that seeks to collect $1 billion from the bank, the Justice Department took aim at a home loan program known as the 'hustle,' a venture that has become emblematic of the risk-fueled mortgage bubble. The complaint adds to a flurry of federal and private lawsuits facing Bank of America's beleaguered mortgage business."
Presidential Race
Des Moines Register: "Without comment, campaign officials for President Obama this morning released to the Des Moines Register a transcript of an interview he had Tuesday with Laura Hollingsworth, president and publisher of the Register, and Rick Green, editor/vice-president of news. Initially, the White House had asked that the conversation be considered off-the-record and its details not shared with readers. Its release comes on the heels of a Tuesday evening DesMoinesRegister.com blog post by Green questioning why an endorsement interview with the Register would be off-the-record." So here's the transcript of the interview. Definitely worth reading. P.S. he's still loving that granny-starving Grand Bargain. ...
... Update. Lori Montgomery & Peter Wallsten of the Washington Post: "President Obama, criticized as failing to offer a vision for a potential second term, has begun sketching out his agenda with greater specificity in recent days, including a pledge to solve the nation's budget problems within 'the first six months.' In an interview made public Wednesday, Obama said he would pursue a 'grand bargain' with Republicans to tame the national debt and would quickly follow that with a push to overhaul the nation's immigration laws." ...
... Jamelle Bouie in the Washington Post: "If this interview raises a question, it’s this: Why hasn't Obama been this clear more often in articulating his case for a second term, and his plans for the next four years? It's not that he doesn't have them, but until recently, talking about them has been less of a priority for Team Obama. Why?"
Jeff Zeleny & Ashley Parker of the New York Times: Mitt Romney assures supporters that he will win the presidency, but "the Romney team is mindful that the new enthusiasm has not opened any new paths to winning 270 electoral votes.... While both campaigns are still advertising in nine battleground states, advisers to both sides say that the most competitive fight is now taking place in seven: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin. A huge get-out-the-vote effort is under way in all states, with only a sliver of undecided voters remaining." CW: gee, a sane report from the New York Times. Refreshing, especially considering the reporters here are Fox "News" contributor Zeleny & Maureen Dowd acolyte Parker. ...
Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling: "A new Public Policy Polling survey in Virginia ... finds Barack Obama expanding his lead in the aftermath of his debate victory Monday night. He now has 51% to 46% for Mitt Romney, up from a 49/47 advantage last weekend." Greg Sargent points out that the PPP poll is "out of sync with the averages."
Lydia Saad of Gallup: "For the first time in more than five years, slightly more Americans are feeling financially better off, rather than worse off, compared with a year ago, by 38% to 34%. This represents a significant improvement since May of President Barack Obama's first year as president, when the majority -- 54% -- said they were worse off."
Republican Colin Powell endorses Barack Obama again. It's a realistic & well-informed endorsement, & he has to repeatedly correct that ignorant blowhard Charlie Rose. CBS News print story here:
Women Get Stupid. Jennifer Agiesta & Nancy Benac of the AP: "... Mitt Romney has erased President Barack Obama's 16-point advantage among women, a new Associated Press-GfK poll shows. And the president, in turn, has largely eliminated Romney's edge among men. Those churning gender dynamics leave the presidential race still a virtual dead heat, with Romney favored by 47 percent of likely voters and Obama by 45 percent, a result within the poll's margin of sampling error...."
Deborah Charles of Reuters: "Two weeks before what could be one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history, efforts to mislead, intimidate or pressure voters are an increasingly prominent part of the political landscape. Analysts say tactics typically seen in the last few days before an election are already in play."
Nicholas Kristof: "If you want to see how Romney's economic policies would work out, take a look at Europe. And weep. In the last few years, Germany and Britain, in particular, have implemented precisely the policies that Romney favors, and they have been richly praised by Republicans here as a result. Yet these days those economies seem, to use a German technical term, kaput."
The Leno interview is a five-parter. Here's Part 1. The other four parts are here:
... Helene Cooper of the New York Times writes a "Caucus" post on the interview. Jeff Mason of Reuters also covers the interview. Both lead with the President's comments on Indiana GOP candidate Richard Mourdock's remarks about rape.
Kevin Drum of Mother Jones: Benghazi is so not a scandal.
Michelle Obama appears in a generic GOTV Spanish-language campaign ad. According to Sarah Wheaton of the New York Times, this is the First Lady's first (& only) ad:
Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: Mitt Romney doubles down on "misstatements" [a/k/a lies] he told during the final presidential debate.
Ouch! "Mitt Romney IS Bain Capital." This Workers Voice PAC ad will run in Ohio & Wisconsin:
Charles Blow: Paul "Ryan — the man whose budget would wreak havoc on the poor — steps to a podium and pretends to be a defender of the poor [in a speech in Ohio]. Sometimes you just run out of words for galling."
Henry Decker of the National Memo lists ten Romney scandals that the mainstream media have forgot about. CW: it is inconceivable that a Democrat could get away with this kind of resume'.
Alec MacGillis of The New Republic is bummed that the media are so lacking in self-awareness that they think they have no influence over people's perceptions of events.
Paul Krugman's worst-case-scenario result of a Romney presidency. "There's almost no bottom on what can happen":
Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times: blogger David Twede of MormonThink is quitting the Mormon Church rather than face excommunication for his posts criticizing Mormon beliefs & Mitt Romney. Twede's Website is here.
Denise Lavoie of the AP: "A Massachusetts judge will hold another hearing before deciding whether to unseal testimony that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave in the divorce case of Staples founder Tom Stemberg. Ex-wife Maureen Sullivan Stemberg appeared in court Wednesday with lawyer Gloria Allred. They said they did not object to a Boston Globe motion to lift an impoundment order on Romney's 1991 testimony in the case. Attorneys said Romney's testimony dealt with financial matters." ...
... TMZ has the scoop on what that's all about: "Mitt Romney LIED under oath when he testified in the divorce of his good friend and screwed the friend's wife out of a lot of money in the process ... so claims the ex-wife of Staples' founder Tom Stemberg. Multiple sources ... tell TMZ ... during Tom's uber nasty divorce case with ex-wife Maureen, Mitt Romney gave a deposition and testified during the trial that Staples was worth virtually nothing.... Partly as a result of Romney's testimony, Maureen got relatively little in the divorce, but we're told just weeks after the divorce ended, Romney and Tom went to Goldman Sachs and cashed in THEIR stock for a fortune." There's more. ...
... David Corn of Mother Jones has some more info & corroborating evidence.
Whatever Happened to Sarah Palin? Oh, She's Still Around. Neetzam Zimmerman of Gawker: "... on her Facebook page, Palin called on President Obama to end his 'shuck and jive shtick with these Benghazi lies.' Palin ... is purposely aiming slave-owner terminology at a black person." ...
... Greg Krieg of ABC News: "'Shuck and jive' is a racially loaded expression that has mostly disappeared from public discourse over the past half-century. 'She never ceases to amaze," ABC News political analyst Nicolle Wallace, a former aide to Palin during the 2008 election, said today. 'It's entirely possible that she was ignorant about the racial implications of her comments, but at this point, I'm not sure what's more incredible -- her ignorance or her eagerness to offend.'"
Russell Goldman of ABC News: "Donald Trump's 'major news" is now Twitter laughingstock.... Trump today pledged $5 million to a charity of President Obama's choice, provided the president makes public his college applications and transcripts and releases his passport history, a far cry from the October-surprise bombshell Trump had promised.... When asked about Trump's comments, Obama campaign chief David Plouffe told reporters: 'Direct your questions to Boston [Mitt Romney's campaign headquarters], he's Romney's biggest supporter.'" Here are some other Twitter responses. ...
... Dana Milbank: "This was trumped up even by the Donald's self-aggrandizing standards. Denunciations and derision rang out from the political left, right and center. The bookmaker that took bets on Trump's bombshell refunded the wagers. The real estate mogul had managed to make his real announcement resemble the Onion's spoof article: 'Donald Trump announced that he is a very sad man who has nothing to live for other than drawing attention to himself.'" ...
... ** Michael Grunwald of Time: Donald Trump's latest flame-out reminds us that Americans should get over the cult of the CEO. "... there is no reason to think that CEO's have any more insight into the national interest than their workers do."
Congressional Races
Rosalind Helderman & Jason Horowitz of the Washington Post: "In the battle for control of the U.S. Senate, there are now at least eight critical contests in which polling shows essentially a dead heat, encouraging Republicans' hopes that they may yet snag the chamber, which very recently seemed beyond their reach. Some of the GOP boost is coming from the top of the ticket in the form of Mitt Romney, whose recent surge in the polls seems to be helping Republican candidates across the country." CW: this tells quite a different story from the Real Clear Politics story I linked yesterday which opined that Republicans were not likely to gain control of the Senate. How would this be a disaster? See Krugman's remarks above.
Lizette Alvarez of the New York Times reports on contentious Florida Congressional races. CW: Alvarez' piece is like reading Gail Collins, only the candidates are the jokes & provide the snark. I was born in Florida. I grew up here. And now, after a decades-long sojourn in other parts, I am back. Nonetheless, I do think I'll update my passport, pack my bags in due course & apply for a visa to Calyban's Enlightened States of America.
Gail Collins: "'I got into the race after looking at the faces of my six little grandchildren,' said Linda McMahon. She is the Republican candidate for the United States Senate in Connecticut, and, over the last three years, she has spent more than $77 million attempting to get elected. When the little grandchildren are grown into the heirs to the McMahon family fortune, do you think they'll regard that as a good choice?"
New York Times Editors: "Representative Joe Walsh, a Republican freshman congressman known for legislation like the Save Christmas Act and for shooting off his mouth, is battling Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat and war veteran, in a race that stands out for its saturating quantities of rancor, negativity and outside cash. The lowlights of Mr. Walsh's campaign include screaming at constituents, denigrating Ms. Duckworth's military service and, most recently, insisting that there is no such thing as an abortion to protect a woman's life or health because of 'advances in science and technology.' Beyond his deplorable remarks, Mr. Walsh has also drawn criticism for the questionable amounts of money flooding into his race." One of his biggest contributors: a Super PAC he helped found.
Other Stuff
Fareed Zakaria in the Washington Post: "Increasingly, the evidence suggests that the United States has come out of the financial crisis of 2008 in better shape than its peers -- because of the actions of its government."
Lynn Beisner (a pseudonym) explains the conservative Christian's view of why bad things happen to bad people: see, girls, if you're going out & about without the protection of male family members, you're asking to be raped. It's god's way of teaching you to be more virtuous. "The idea that rape is God's will is not an isolated misogynistic idea. It is but one logical outcome of a theology which says that God hurts us to help us -- that when we intervene in another person's suffering, we may be stopping God from doing his loving work in the person's life.... Think about ... what it would look like if you applied that theology to all public policy. And now you understand the Tea Party." CW: BTW, there is no such lesson in the Gospels; this is "theology" invented out of whole cloth. Rather, the lesson from the Sermon on the Mount is "[God] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (Matthew 5:45) The same thesis is expressed elsewhere in the Gospels. Thanks to contributor Marvin S. for the link.
The always-provocative Steven Pinker guest-blogs on the New York Times' "Opinionator" philosophy column "The Stone" to try to put the red state/blue state divide in historical context. I'll comment on his column in Thursday's New York Times eXaminer as I think Pinker is on the right track but misses some essential elements that help explain the philosophical divide. Thanks to contributor MAG for the link.
Do read the obituary of Judge Betty Binns Fletcher. What a woman!
New York Times Editors: Kentucky should abolish the death penalty. "The death penalty in Kentucky is colossally unfair, costly and riddled with constitutional error. From 1976 through last year, of the 78 people sentenced to death in the state, 50 had their sentences overturned on appeal, with 15 of those for prosecutorial mistakes or misconduct. Last December, a report conducted by the American Bar Association based on a two-year review by a team of lawyers, professors and former members of the State Supreme Court found enormous problems with the state's capital system."
Matthew Purdy & Christine Haughney of the New York Times: Mark Thompson, formerly head of the BBC & incoming Times CEO, has changed his story in the last 10 days on what he knew & when he knew it re: the Jimmy Savile sexual-abuse scandal. Said one former BBC producer who is now an MP, "Mr. Thompson was well paid 'to, apparently, not know what was going on under his own roof.'"
News Ledes
New York Times: "Margaret Osborne duPont, a tenacious and durable American tennis champion who won six Grand Slam singles titles in the middle decades of the 20th century while becoming one of the most dominant doubles players of her era, died Wednesday at her home in El Paso. She was 94."
New York Times: "Weeks after [Israeli PM Benjamin] Netanyahu struggled to repair a rift with the Obama administration about public comments on the Iranian nuclear threat, the prime minister and his aides were trying to head off any political problems over a report in The New York Times on Sunday saying that Washington and Tehran had agreed in principle to have direct talks after the American presidential election.... Both sides wanted to control the message to avoid further flare-up."
AP: "The U.S. military did not quickly intervene during the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya last month because military leaders did not have adequate intelligence information and felt they should not put American forces at risk, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday in his most extensive comments to date on the unfolding controversy surrounding the attack in Benghazi."
AP: "Hurricane Sandy made landfall Thursday just west of Santiago de Cuba in southern Cuba, where residents boarded over windows and cleared drainage gutters ahead of the strengthening storm that had roared across Jamaica and left two dead in the Caribbean. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Sandy, which had strengthened to a category 2 hurricane, was located over southeastern Cuba and moving north at 18 mph (30 kph), with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (165 kph) and is expected to remain a hurricane as it moves through the Bahamas."
Market Watch: "Sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. rose 5.7% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 389,000, the highest pace since April 2010, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported Wednesday." ...
... AND USA Today: "The number of first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 369,000 the week ended Oct. 20, the Labor Department said Thursday, reflecting an improving labor market." ...
... BUT Bloomberg News: "North American companies have announced plans to eliminate more than 62,600 positions at home and abroad since Sept. 1, the biggest two-month drop since the start of 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg."
Reuters: "President Bashar al-Assad's forces fired heavy tank and rocket barrages at a Damascus suburb on Thursday, killing five people, opposition activists said, a day before a UN-brokered ceasefire is due to come into force."
Share Article
Reader Comments (25)
Well, a "heartwarming" story on tonight's local news about one of Seattle's most popular bartenders. It seems this guy, who is known far and wide to be kind and sympathetic as well as good at his job, has developed a serious heart problem which will require expensive surgery. Plates are being passed and money raised all across the country and beyond for this wonderful man.
So far a whopping $35,000 has been collected.
It's almost as if we were in a third world country where people have to beg for charity to get health care. No mention of this strange paradox by the newsreaders, who thought the whole thing just too endearing.
Yes! the idea that this kind of thing is normal and appropriate brings my BP up. Living in a society where we see jars on restaurant counters to raise money for a child's cancer surgery, a society which raises public income on the backs of desperate poor folks who play the state lotteries and gamble at the casinos brought in to "bring jobs"--this is in the America which is the great hope of the world, or whatever cliche Romney used the other night!
This is a perfect explanation of how the religious use there god story to justify just about anything, including rape.
http://www.rolereboot.org/culture-and-politics/details/2012-10-why-it-is-gods-will-for-some-women-to-be-raped
Colin Powell not only endorses Obama enthusiastically, but explains why he won't be voting for Romney. Nice October surprise.
Re: Telling it like it is. You know folks, I always try and find a little humor in the follies of man. I figure if you don't laugh at our predicaments, many times self-affected, you faced with life of gloom. Even with that outlook I am mostly negative about the spirit I see in ourselves. I believe most people, including myself, given a choice of "self" or "other" chose "self". It's natural and in our genes to survive. A society does well when it balances the urge for individual with the needs for all. Today in America I see us way out of that balance. Many embrace greed and call it need. We as a nation live better and waste more than any other country in the world. I understand greed; I like shiny stuff too. Who doesn't?
But here is where I draw the line. I am good and fucking tired with the idea that God has given some the right to profess faith in defense of greed. I'm an American, born, raised, and proud. Proud of the freedom of speech, proud of the freedom of movement, proud of, yes, even, the freedom of religion. Ashamed of many things as well; the list is as long as the history of the country, if you wish you could start with the treatment of the native Americans. But over all, proud.
So, after that I have this to add. As a proud American I need to start speaking out against the god machine. I am not a believer in the red white and blue Jesus. I don't believe an argument can be settled by what you think god said. I don't give a flying fuck about your god beliefs. So have a big bowl of Shut the Fuck Up when it comes to your beliefs. I am sick and tired of the god card, it's the joker in the deck, it don't mean shit. Convince me of something without the stamp of your god; otherwise don't engage in dialog with me. I'm not buying your religious cant. I've left the fucking church a thousand years ago. God is an excuse for man.
Well, pastor, what do you think?
Look forward to your take, Marie, but first my immediate thought on Pinker:
Seems to me he skipped over the minor American experience of slavery, the Civil War, and the resultant resentment and racism which nakedly persist to this day. Taken along with the Mexican War and our history with the "conquered" Hispanics, the migration patterns from the Old South to the West which transported Southren attitudes as part of their furniture, the later transformation of the Midwest from poor subsistence farmers to millionaire landowners, that is, from share the wealth Democrats to don't tax me Republicans, I'd submit Mr. Pinker missed a few things. Not saying what he said wasn't worth some thought, but seems to me he took note of a few shrubs and missed the more obvious redwoods...and it made me wonder why..
Yesterday the first case to test the sexual orientation section of the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act passed in 2009, was decided.
Unfortunately, the test was made in Kentucky. The two men brought up on charges of kidnapping and attempting to murder a man because he was gay escaped all hate crime charges by simply claiming that it was a drug deal gone bad. The jury found this entirely believable. The defense attorney declared that it couldn't have been a hate crime because the defendants had been drinking heavily and did not have the capacity to formulate a hate crime. Hmmm....since when does perpetration of a hate crime require the ability to think and behave rationally? It would seem, in many instances, to be the exact opposite. But hey, what do I know?
Not to mention the fact that multiple parties were involved in the conspiracy to kidnap and beat and kill this man, including several women. Doesn't much sound like a "drug deal gone bad". Sounds like, well, like a hate crime.
In any event, it's certainly a possibility that in a severely red, uber religious state, where many people believe that god hates gays and lesbians and that they are bound for hell, simply because of who they are, that most or all of these jurors simply didn't want to be the first to declare that plotting to kill a gay man--because he was gay--was a crime.
Must have been the other thing.
The defense attorney made sure to invoke the name of Barack Obama as the man who signed this bill into law as a kind of governmental bogeyman trying to weasel his way into controlling everyone's lives. A very effective strategy in Kentucky. No guvmint should be allowed to tell us we can't kill someone because of who they sleep with! Damn commies.
Clarence Darrow also floated the idea that the victim was claiming it was a hate crime for political reasons, in other words, to push the Gay Agenda. Hey, of course! That should have been clear from the start. What a plan. Gay man plans to have himself kidnapped and nearly murdered in order to push the Gay Agenda! Luckily we have plenty of wingnuts around to save the day and keep the kids safe from Obama and his liberal/gay/commie conversion plot.
We can expect much, much more of this if the Rat gets his little rat claws on the keys to the White House. After all, he's buddy-buddy with Richard "Rape is a gift from god" Mourdock and Paul Ryan is Todd "legitimate rape" Akin's BFF.
Such stand up, highly moral guys. No wonder right-wingers are so proud of these creeps.
I would advise the Obama Campaign to scratch all the ads for just two and run them continually for the next 12 day.
One is FDR in the 1936 Election ad, entitled "Let Me Warn You."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3RHnKYNvx8
You see the joy and the good feeling he had in sticking this to the GOP's messengers of a failed policies begging for trust. Th fun and joy is super effective.
The other ad would be a poem by Phil Appleman, "Karma, Dharma, Pudding & Pie."
THE END OF THE WORLD
It could go up in a flash, of course:
a comet collision, a sneaky nuke,
or a gutting from some galactic god
we've never even heard of. But
those are long shots, after all,
doomsday daydreams. Ten to one
there'll be no Roman candles at all.,
only
some slick guy in a three-piece suit
staring out of the big screen, eyes
gazing into yours, sincere as a stockbroker, his voice like melting chocolate
telling you God is on our side,
but we need those big battalions;
saying conglomerates are good for you, treasure's tidbits tricking down;
telling you guns don't kill people, and
the pregnant power of prayer
will fix your furry fungus.
And
the very last words you'll hear
before the final blackout will be
"Trust me."
One can picture Romney and Ryan, but this was written in 2009, so you can see how constant and unchanging has been the GOP message for the last 70 years no matter who the candidates are at any time.
Good news from Minnesota.
Michele "Muslims are coming for your children" Bachmann is in a real fight for her seat in congress. Democrat Jim Graves is not one of the straw men she is used to facing. He's a (real) self-made businessman (not the Romney kind) who is trying to inject some realism and rationality into a district that has been force fed Bachmann hyperventilations and crackpot, crazoid, kookiness for too long.
But Bachmann is not giving up her old ways in this election. Exuberant irrationality is her forte. So she's running attack ads against Mr. Graves blaming him for, among other things, the Affordable Care Act, TARP, and the stimulus bill. The only problem with those charges is that he wasn't in congress when they were passed. Oops! No problem. Maybe he's printing copies of Sharia Law in his basement for nocturnal distribution to daycare centers!
Anyway, should Crazy Eyes Michie be forced to leave her cozy digs in the capitol, we can all bid a fond farewell as her propeller hat kicks into overdrive and carries her away somewhere beyond the rainbow. Maybe she can take her whackadoodle husband who can continue his job of curing other gays of their gayness, or whatever the hell he does with his free time.
She still has a huge warchest of $20 million, about a 10 to 1 disparity over Graves, but perhaps Minnesotans have had enough of stunned looks, screeds, and drooling idiocy. It could be that stupid has run its course in the sixth congressional district.
Removing any incorrect voter information, including billboards, should have been part of the orders that reversed voter limitations in various states. I have been really curious about why such a directive to desist displaying and distributing false material was not included in the orders. In Obama's 2nd term, he might do well to reinvigorate the Civil Rights division of the DOJ.
@JJG. Agree that personal religious beliefs have no part in governance or politics. I would prefer to see our money slogan to reflect fairness or justice instead of trust in God. When public figures break into that singsong reverent cadence that designates pious=right, it enrages me. Now, that sort of kabuki is required for politicians. Frankly, I cringe just as much when Obama use Faith as much as when Bush did it. It seems like an effective way to diminish Faith.
Dan,
Thanks for the poem and for the FDR clip. It's a roar. We don't often get to see film of FDR making jokes but he was a pretty good stand up comic. Perfect timing, great delivery. Plus that Roosevelt smile!
And his message is still an excellent description of Romney's campaign mantra, "Don't ask for details. Just trust me." (translation: "Fuck all you rubes.")
@Victoria D: it's 120 mile drive to the Canadian border from Seattle. Another 20 miles or so to a major hospital with a Level One Cardiac surgery facility. Canadians don't let each other (or even visitors) die for lack of medical care. Maybe we can learn something.
@Marie: when you get a chance would like your take on Charlie Rose whom you called "an ignorant blowhard."
Am looking forward to your Pinker piece. Much to ponder there.
@Marie and all others with pre-election day jitters. Here's a careful analysis of "momentum" and who really has it and who's bluffing:
http://election.princeton.edu/2012/10/21/anatomy-of-a-bounce/#more-7753
A brief report on responses I have gotten so far after sending Calyban's "Dear Red State" letter to friends and family around the country. I know you say you did not write the letter, Calyban, but I gave you credit, since you posted it here.
An old college friend in Santa Fe opined that New Mexico should be included in E.S.A., since they are "medium blue." Several of her friends wrote and whined that they could not bear the thought of being stuck with Alabama.
My former secretary in Northern VA thinks this should be published in the NYT. I say--why not the NYTX?
A childhood friend in Wisconsin wants to know if they will be bounced if Obama does not carry the state. She is frightened.
My son in Minneapolis asked: "What do you mean? Are you saying that Jonah was NOT swallowed by the whale? Now you tell me! Michele Bachmann says you are lying!"
There were more, but you get the idea. My question though is to PD Pepe: did you REALLY send that letter to your right wing brother in Wisconsin? If so, what was his response? I just did not have the nerve to start a food fight with my bellicose twin brother, so I wussed out.
In other news: Obama talked about women's rights and "that rape thing" with Jay Leno, but that's not all:
...."President Obama also reminded the viewers just what's at stake this election with a couple of Supreme Court nominations potentially in the balance." So, Barry thankfully Remembers the Supremes!
Yours in the E.S.A.
Did YOU write this, Akhilleus? Or JJG? Just wonderin' Too good not to share:
From Video Cafe:
STEPHEN COLBERT OFFERS DONALD TRUMP $1,000,000 TO CHARITY 'IF YOU'LL LET ME DIP MY BALLS IN YOUR MOUTH
After Trump made his "major announcement" yesterday that he'd donate $5 million to charity if President Obama would release his college and passport records, Stephen Colbert decided to make his own offer to The Donald in this inspired bit of parody. There is no word yet if Trump will accept Colbert's offer. Who knows though, 'Teabagging for Charity' might catch on if he does.
This proves yet again that PT Barnum was right in everything he said about the American public.
Richard Mourdock stood before an audience and stated his personal belief that fertilization of an egg is a blessing from god and therefore that the well-being of that egg takes precedent over that of its host. Obama grants interviews in camera and self censors every statement he utters. Romney/Ryan lie and deny. Mourcock should be praised as the last honest politician, Jimmy Stewart reincarnate but with a really bad scriptwriter. This is a case where the press could publish his statement without comment.
I'm a Charley Rose fan from way back but I really look forward to your comments on him. This election cycle I've noticed some really dumb or partisan statements from him that have grabbed my attention and some of his guest lineups have seemed biased toward the right. as in no liberals. Or is he just asking questions to inform the dumbest 20% of his viewers?
@Marie Just read your NYTimes eXaminer article, which I had hoped you would tackle (also read Chernus), however, you filled in many more historical & missing components, which offer a far better rationale than his and Pinker's did. There were historic details I remembered, others I had forgotten, but more importantly were the things I learned. I.e., about Sooners! The far less simplistic background on those red state settlers goes a long way to explaining Red attitudes!
Maybe so many seeking to find an explanation for the differences between Red vs. Blue states is the frustration "...of why the hell don't those people get it, when the right thing is so perfectly obvious?" I just watched a video with a NYTimes reporter K. Seelye speaking with (a few) women in New Hampshire...the one woman shopping in the Thrift Shop and who is obviously struggling and having to pinch pennies, SHE GETS IT. But, the (ahem, Christian) woman who was dropping things off at the Thrift Shop, SHE DID NOT!
Steven Pinker's article and Marie's response are interesting. Marie is correct in that Pinker, looking for the simple answer to a more complex question ignores a big part of the story. But my take is it doesn't matter how we got where we are. Were we are is a place incorrectly called the UNITED States of America. Actually there are two countries, the Blue one that resembles much of Western Europe and the Red one that looks more like Saudi Arabia. And as the Lynn Beisner post today reflected, a large part of this is view of religion. So as we play this game called elections, I have concluded that it makes absolutely no difference who wins. The Reds will always stick in their damage. There is no way to stop it and no way to end the god excuse for everything. In Europe they finally put an end to this view of the world as part of the education of their children after WWII. We are far too efficient in making sure our children never here the truth.
What we are looking at is a war. And just because the war is within the one country proves that it really is two countries.
@Marvin
'Scuze me, have you forgotten so soon about the Supremes? A Romney win will stack the court with a majority of right wingnuts! This will make a HUGE difference for our children, grandchildren and a couple of generations beyond that. (Did you see Akhilleus' list of possible Romey appointees?)
And how about women's reproductive rights? Yikes! And equal pay for equal work?
I am hoping you are just in a bad mood, perhaps despairing about how dumbed down are so many Kool-Aid drunk voters--hopefully not the majority.
If you continue this trend, you will be uninvited from the E.S.A. ):
PLEASE REMEMBER THE SUPREMES!
republican rape philosophers- new GOP name from the Helen and Margaret blog.
mae finch
I guess Rove figured no one has questioned the "social welfare" status of his mega secret money machines so why not just throw all semblance of compliance overboard. Cancer, a kid and Lord SB playing a Mormon Minister - "Vote for Mitt." Rove should spend the rest of his life in a very small cell with lifer Bubba who misses his girlfriend a lot.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/10/25/163577834/tax-exempt-crossroads-gps-airs-first-direct-vote-mitt-romney-ad?ft=1&f=1001
Kate: you left out about 30 million GLBT persons in your post.
And, sadly to say, lots of them will be voting for the Rat, and for
the life of me, I don't know the reasoning. Guess they're too young
to remember concentration camps, gay bashings, raiding bars, and
on and on. Canada is looking good. Italy looks better, and they
actually like us. :>)
For Kate eye's only: Yes, I did indeed send that link to my brother and my message was this:
It saddens me and sickens me to receive things like this. The fact that a historic boundary had been crossed when a black man was
elected president, this breakthrough did not cancel a
long sad record of historic American racism. Michelle Obama has done more for veterans and their families than any first lady in history. Shame on you for passing this on. You and I can share political barbs, but this kind of thing is different. This is emblematic of hatred and ignorance.
What response you ask? A video of cute dogs.
Today, however I received this:
YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS
At approximately 2:30 pm, September 6, 2012, I entered the Publix store on Main St. in Gainesville , FL to pick up a few items. I gathered my items and went to the 10 and under register to check-out. The person in front of me (a white female, approximate age 35-43, fake nails, big braided hair do, clean clothes, carrying a purse and a plastic drinking cup) put her purchase on the check out surface ONE GRAPE.
Yes, that is correct ONE GRAPE. The cashier asked if that was all, she replied yes. The cashier then weighted the GRAPE and told the women the cost was $.02 (TWO CENTS), the women then pulled out her Food Stamp EBT card and swiped it through the credit card machine, requesting $24.00 in cash back. The cashier asked if she wanted the GRAPE, the woman replied no and the GRAPE was put in the garbage can. The register recorded the sale as .02, cash back $24.00. The cashier then asked if two fives would be okay because was out of tens, the woman agreed and took the $24.00 folded it up and put it in her pocket and left the store.
As the next person in line I asked the cashier as a tax payer what in the hell just happened here she said she was on the clock and could not comment. I then asked if I had actually seen this person purchase and discard a GRAPE, then get cash back on her Food Stamp EBT card. The cashier responded that it happens all day every day in their store. She also said that if the person buying the GRAPE has it ring up over .02 they get mad and make her reweigh it.
My next comment was to ask the cashier if she planned to vote in November and she said she could hardly wait for 11/6/12 to get here as one tax payer to another. I paid for my groceries, in cash, and left the store madder than 10 wet hens.
My response:
You are not going to believe this? “ you bet your bippie! This is bullpocky.
Under the new system, each recipient has an account in which benefits are electronically deposited each month. A food stamp recipient can draw on the account in the checkout line of a grocery store, by sliding a plastic card through the same device used by other customers paying with commercial debit or credit cards. The food stamp recipient needs to punch in a four-digit personal identification number. The account is debited for the precise amount of the transaction, and food stamp recipients do not get cash back in change.
The above if from an article in the NYT re: food stamps. If you’d like the entire article I can send it to you. But I must say, “one grape?” makes a good story even though it isn’t true. Please send this along with the denunciation of the flag business to all those on your loooong list of right wing friends that I see on top of your emails.
Response?
"A liquor store up in Green Bay was closed this past summer by the city council. The store allowed using the food stamp card for booz and cigs."
And I said: Good for the city council––we will always have food stamp recipients who try and bilk the system just as we have those cute guys in suits on Wall Street who try and do the same thing.
So there you have it. More dog videos will be forthcoming, I'm sure.
The best thing about having friends is that you can tell your relatives to fuck off.