Tuesday, June 30, 2015
New Envoy Appointed To Close Gitmo
++Secretary of State Kerry appointed Leon Wolosky to be the special envoy entrusted with closing Gitmo. Wolosky served on the NSC under Clinton and George W, Bush. The prison population is now down to 116 people, less than half the number when President Obama took office.
The UCC Divests From Israel
++The United Church of Christ voted to divest from companies who invest in the Israeli settlements.
++The Times of Israel reported last week that investments in Israel have dropped 50% since the divestment movement started.
++That's why a major story in the Israeli press is that the Congress passed a law to outlaw any Divestment schemes in a trade pact.
++The New York Times is finally reporting that the American Jewish community is a player in the divestment movement.
++The Times of Israel reported last week that investments in Israel have dropped 50% since the divestment movement started.
++That's why a major story in the Israeli press is that the Congress passed a law to outlaw any Divestment schemes in a trade pact.
++The New York Times is finally reporting that the American Jewish community is a player in the divestment movement.
Riddle Me This
++Albert Camus wrote: "Revolutions Come First. Thoughts Come Afterwards."
++This will occupy me the remainder of the night. Is this really true? The implications challenge working assumptions of alot of us who deal with this issue.
++This will occupy me the remainder of the night. Is this really true? The implications challenge working assumptions of alot of us who deal with this issue.
Jim Webb To Announce In The Next Few Days
++The kerfluffle has to do with where Webb will do this. This led me to think that on the Republican side they should all announce in the same place and use a set family as their own. This eliminate the problems of the media lugging gear to Livingstone , New Jersey and the family deciding what they are going to wear. With The Donald's television career going down the tubes, he could be the producer.
Today, the United States and Brazil Reach Climate Agreement
++With Dilma Rousseff at the White House, the United States and Brazil both pledged that renewables would compose 20% of our energy mix by 2030. Brazil committed to restore and reforest 12 million hectares--about the size of Pennsylvania--and also eliminate illegal deforestation.
++President Rousseff promised Brazil would fight for an ambitious climate agreement at the December Paris meeting.
++The Joint pledge came only hours after China submitted its official submission of climate levels to the United Nations.
++Today's agreement was a very big deal.
++President Rousseff promised Brazil would fight for an ambitious climate agreement at the December Paris meeting.
++The Joint pledge came only hours after China submitted its official submission of climate levels to the United Nations.
++Today's agreement was a very big deal.
Tomorrow, John Kerry and President Obama To Make A Big Announcement
++Tomorrow, the United States and Cuba will announce they have reached an agreement to open embassies in the respective countries.
++As I have noted throughout this process,there have been dozens of bilateral meetings and recently a visit by a bipartisan group of congresspeople to Havana to discuss the opening of an embassy.
++There has been virtual silence from any opponents to this move. But we will hear the roars afterward.
++As I have noted throughout this process,there have been dozens of bilateral meetings and recently a visit by a bipartisan group of congresspeople to Havana to discuss the opening of an embassy.
++There has been virtual silence from any opponents to this move. But we will hear the roars afterward.
Rand Paul Says If Homos Can Marry No One Can
++Rand Paul believes there should be no licenses for guns. He also now believes government should get out of the marriage business. So his solution to gay marriage is to simply not issue licenses. His reasoning is that for thousands of years humans didn't need licenses to marry so why now.
++And for thousands of years marriage had nothing to do with tax deductions, inheritage,medical care or other things that government is involved in.
++And for thousands of years marriage had nothing to do with tax deductions, inheritage,medical care or other things that government is involved in.
So You Are For Trade? Ex-Im Bank Expires At Midnight
++Obscure looney conspiracists made it their focus to eliminate the Export-Import Bank, which has enjoyed bipartisan support for decades without controversy. Tonight the lunatics finally won. The charter of the Export-Import Bank will expire at midnight. Late last week Mitch McConnell has promised the business community he had the votes to continue it.
9,500 to attend Sanders Rally Tomorrow
++Wisconsin was the site for many of Obama's largest rallies. Tomorrow 9,500+ have RSVP'd to Bernie Sanders rally.
++Bernie is the biggest draw of the season. But does anyone remember some of Obama's rallies. I also liked the massive 200,000 strong rally in Oregon. The Decembrists paid for Obama, which tipped the crowd off to how hip Obama was. Conservatives, still into the Obama as leftist rants,said that the Communists were holding the rally with Obama--Decembrists--get it.
++It will be interesting to see who will win the rally sweepstakes this coming year.
++Bernie is the biggest draw of the season. But does anyone remember some of Obama's rallies. I also liked the massive 200,000 strong rally in Oregon. The Decembrists paid for Obama, which tipped the crowd off to how hip Obama was. Conservatives, still into the Obama as leftist rants,said that the Communists were holding the rally with Obama--Decembrists--get it.
++It will be interesting to see who will win the rally sweepstakes this coming year.
Coincidence? Not.
++Cory Booker, New Jersey's Senator and only African-American Democrat in the Senate , endorsed Hillary Clinton today, the same say Chris Christie entered the 2016 election sweepstakes.
The Donald Rising
++He may have lost his deals with NBC and Carlos Slim, but The Donald is in second place behind Scott Walker in the PPP poll in Michigan. He is at 14% along with Jeb Bush and Ben Carson. Walker is at 15%.
Ted Cruz Does An Audition For the Simpsons On Buzzfeed
++OK, today must be silly season for the campaign. Ted Cruz did an audition for the Simpsons where he does the voices for all the characters. Actually not bad. One of the producers who is a liberal Democrat actually liked it.
Rand Paul meets with Cliven Bundy
++So far this must be the oddest campaign event of the 2016 season. Cliven Bundy came down from his fortress to attend a Rand Paul rally. He met with Rand for 40 minutes and came away saying he supported him because both men believe the land is ours, not the government's.
Obamacare More Popular Than Gay Marriage
++The same CNN/ORC poll which gave us Obama's 50% approval rating , reveals overwhelming support for the two Supreme Court rulings. 63% support the Obamacare ruling, while 59% support the same sex marriage ruling. What's curious about the poll is that independents align with Democrats in support of the ruling,marking a wide gap with Republicans.
Iranian Nuclear Deal
++The talks have been extended until July 7th. Congressional opinion is that there can take as long as they want--since they aren't around anyway. An op-ed in the New York Times by former Obama advisers urged the talks to be extended to solve problems that they say existed. Bibi says it is still a bad deal and the West ha given away the store.
What Is It With GOP Candidates And The Disconnect With Their Family Backgrounds?
++Chris Christie talked about his family moving from Newark to Livingstone to live their version of the American dream. Both parents were raised by single moms, having lost their spouses to early death. His father got into Columbia but could not afford to go to college. His father went into the military and came home to work at the Breyer's Ice Cream plant in Newark (hooray) and then went to Rutgers at night and completed his degree in accounting in six years. His mother had a hard commute taking two busses to work at the IRS.
++Now you would expect some sympathy from single-family moms,college students with enormous debt, and an appreciation of the work done at the IRS.
++But Christie is not alone in this. He wants cuts in Social Security but is softer on other aspects of the social welfare state.
++But we will hear the same saga when Walker announces and then later with Kasich. What is it that Republicans don't get about being part of a political economy that requires some of those difficulties being ameliorated?
++Now you would expect some sympathy from single-family moms,college students with enormous debt, and an appreciation of the work done at the IRS.
++But Christie is not alone in this. He wants cuts in Social Security but is softer on other aspects of the social welfare state.
++But we will hear the same saga when Walker announces and then later with Kasich. What is it that Republicans don't get about being part of a political economy that requires some of those difficulties being ameliorated?
Monday, June 29, 2015
Obama To Give 5 million A Raise
++President Obama is going to announce tomorrow his new guidelines for overtime pay, which will affect some 5 million people. Last year he ordered Labor Secretary Perez to review overtime laws with the view to alter payments to those earning $55,000 or less.
++Steve Benen pipes up with an analysis of last week's Pew poll which shows that Obama's approval ratings around the word are up and that majorities in Africa and Europe believe he tries to do the right thing. His marks increased in India. Benen point is that the reality is totally contradictory to claims by GOP candidates.
++The Whale is going to announce tomorrow at a school in New Jersey. Ironic, heh. Christie to announce in a school when he gutted New Jersey's educational budget.
++NBC fired the Donald for his racist remarks about Mexicans . The Donald in Iowa says he will have to change his hairstyle when he is elected President because he won't have as much time to spend on it. He says he will probably comb it back.
++Ben Carson admitted he really didn't want to run for President. I guess The devil made him do it. Now what's the excuse for the other 15 candidates in all. Yes, there are 16 GOP candidates for President--among the known. There are hundreds of lesser name people.
++We are lucky that Steve Benen picked up in the 2012 cycle that Mitt Romney lied all the time. This was a great contribution to political education. But what to make of Scott Walker? He brazenly lies about his record in Wisconsin and actually boasted in a fund-raiser that he created so many jobs. The guy is pathological.
++Talk about not there. Jeb! says that the problems in Baltimore and Ferguson were caused by the lack of mentoring. How about talking about all the blacks who are incarcerated? Think they are free and about to mentor? Jeb! is going to travel to Charleston to meet with six black pastors. I am sure he will convey his condolences.
++Jeb! has drawn the attention of the Imperial Post for his history of shady business deals with his family connections.
++The Washington Monthly has a piece about how to gauge the top-tier political candidates. That is judge who they are hiring and their track record. That should tell you about their strategy. Walker has hired Joni Ernst gang in Iowa to project his competitiveness in the race. Jeb is hiring TV guys to maintain a long-term strategy. Marco Rubio's hires show someone who wants to maintain flexibility yet project his popularity.
++Meanwhile Hillary is trucking along with a defense of Obamacare and healthcare in general and applause for the marriage equality decision by the Supreme Court. Progressive critics say that her vote for the Iraq war and her defense of traditional marriage will hurt her. I don't thinks so.
++Conservatives are thrilled that FOX continues its coverage of # Benghazi!. Today's Business section had a long piece of the arms shipments by the CIA into LIbya during the war to overthrow Qaddafhi. Somehow this was criminal and linked to Hillary.
++The Bernie surge continues. Bernie draws larger and larger crowds speaking his populist message.
++Steve Benen pipes up with an analysis of last week's Pew poll which shows that Obama's approval ratings around the word are up and that majorities in Africa and Europe believe he tries to do the right thing. His marks increased in India. Benen point is that the reality is totally contradictory to claims by GOP candidates.
++The Whale is going to announce tomorrow at a school in New Jersey. Ironic, heh. Christie to announce in a school when he gutted New Jersey's educational budget.
++NBC fired the Donald for his racist remarks about Mexicans . The Donald in Iowa says he will have to change his hairstyle when he is elected President because he won't have as much time to spend on it. He says he will probably comb it back.
++Ben Carson admitted he really didn't want to run for President. I guess The devil made him do it. Now what's the excuse for the other 15 candidates in all. Yes, there are 16 GOP candidates for President--among the known. There are hundreds of lesser name people.
++We are lucky that Steve Benen picked up in the 2012 cycle that Mitt Romney lied all the time. This was a great contribution to political education. But what to make of Scott Walker? He brazenly lies about his record in Wisconsin and actually boasted in a fund-raiser that he created so many jobs. The guy is pathological.
++Talk about not there. Jeb! says that the problems in Baltimore and Ferguson were caused by the lack of mentoring. How about talking about all the blacks who are incarcerated? Think they are free and about to mentor? Jeb! is going to travel to Charleston to meet with six black pastors. I am sure he will convey his condolences.
++Jeb! has drawn the attention of the Imperial Post for his history of shady business deals with his family connections.
++The Washington Monthly has a piece about how to gauge the top-tier political candidates. That is judge who they are hiring and their track record. That should tell you about their strategy. Walker has hired Joni Ernst gang in Iowa to project his competitiveness in the race. Jeb is hiring TV guys to maintain a long-term strategy. Marco Rubio's hires show someone who wants to maintain flexibility yet project his popularity.
++Meanwhile Hillary is trucking along with a defense of Obamacare and healthcare in general and applause for the marriage equality decision by the Supreme Court. Progressive critics say that her vote for the Iraq war and her defense of traditional marriage will hurt her. I don't thinks so.
++Conservatives are thrilled that FOX continues its coverage of # Benghazi!. Today's Business section had a long piece of the arms shipments by the CIA into LIbya during the war to overthrow Qaddafhi. Somehow this was criminal and linked to Hillary.
++The Bernie surge continues. Bernie draws larger and larger crowds speaking his populist message.
Save The Date--July 18
++The Grand Titan of the KKK has reserved the state fairgrounds in South Carolina for a rally to honor the confederate flag on July 18. He says it is an emblem of "white culture." Be there or be Square. Grand Titan?
The Marriage Dead-Enders and Other Stuff
++While same sex marriage was celebrated this weekend,the resistance mounts. The religious right is trying to get assurances that religious organizations and institutions will be immune. Justice Kennedy had said that the First Amendments still protect those who are opposed to same sex marriage for religious reasons.
++Mississippi is trying to figure out a way that the state doesn't have to approve marriages at all. In fact, Rand Paul proposed yesterday to "privatize" marriage. Of course, marriage also includes some 1,100 legal benefits under the law. So will these disappear?
++My conservative e-mail is running hot and heavy about the Supreme Court being the election issue in 2016. I agree and I am sorry that the Right has waken up to this idea.
++Alabama is trying to put a 30-day hold on the marriage equality order because Justice Moore, he of the famous 10 commandments, can.
++Texas clerks are going ahead even though the governor and the attorney general has said they don't have to and that they will be provided lawyers to defend them.
++The real "religious" issue is that some religious organizations and institutions receive federal tax money. When asked whether they should fear the fate of Bob Jones University who was stripped of its tax free status when it refused to integrate, Solicitor General Verrilli said"that may become a problem." Watch for ferocious court battles like those over Obamacare on this one.
++The Court by 5 to 4 overruled President Obama's EPA for their plan to regulate carbon emissions on America's power plants. The conservative judges said that the EPA had to take into account the costs for doing so. It is not insurmountable but was a blow to the Obama admission to address climate change.
++The Court also ruled that the Texas abortion c;clinics can stay open. But the scary problem is that the Supreme Court is going to take up the whole abortion at the next session. While gay rights has been galloping into the forefront, women's reproductive rights have been hammered.
++The Court also ruled that independent commissions can rule on gerrymandering dealing a blow to Arizona and Texas Republicans. Earlier a vote rigging scheme by Republicans in North Carolina was voted down.
++Mike Huckabee was actually right when he said that same-sex marriage would not have gained such strength if the President,in this case President obama had not pushed it.
++Progressive bloggers over the weekend suggested that the defeats of the Right by the Supreme Court will galvanize the Right and provide them with the motivation to win in 2016. The idea is that only during FDR-Truman did the Democrats run the course and Reagan Bush afterwards. The Democrats will have it hard to win three in a row. Sadly with the polarized atmosphere in this country, this would be an utter disaster on every level--from foreign policy to domestic policy and to a cultural environment. There is no evidence as of yet that the GOP even considers we are in the 21st Century.
++This week we are coming up on the Iranian nuclear deal and the Beltway games are also getting dangerous to sabotage any deal. For your own edification, please read Jeffrey Goldberg's interview with former Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren about Obama and Israel. When you attack Leon Weseltier as a self-hating Jew, you have real problems. But Oren's view of the Iranian nuclear deal is scary because it reveals the mentality that is trying to defeat it.
++Mississippi is trying to figure out a way that the state doesn't have to approve marriages at all. In fact, Rand Paul proposed yesterday to "privatize" marriage. Of course, marriage also includes some 1,100 legal benefits under the law. So will these disappear?
++My conservative e-mail is running hot and heavy about the Supreme Court being the election issue in 2016. I agree and I am sorry that the Right has waken up to this idea.
++Alabama is trying to put a 30-day hold on the marriage equality order because Justice Moore, he of the famous 10 commandments, can.
++Texas clerks are going ahead even though the governor and the attorney general has said they don't have to and that they will be provided lawyers to defend them.
++The real "religious" issue is that some religious organizations and institutions receive federal tax money. When asked whether they should fear the fate of Bob Jones University who was stripped of its tax free status when it refused to integrate, Solicitor General Verrilli said"that may become a problem." Watch for ferocious court battles like those over Obamacare on this one.
++The Court by 5 to 4 overruled President Obama's EPA for their plan to regulate carbon emissions on America's power plants. The conservative judges said that the EPA had to take into account the costs for doing so. It is not insurmountable but was a blow to the Obama admission to address climate change.
++The Court also ruled that the Texas abortion c;clinics can stay open. But the scary problem is that the Supreme Court is going to take up the whole abortion at the next session. While gay rights has been galloping into the forefront, women's reproductive rights have been hammered.
++The Court also ruled that independent commissions can rule on gerrymandering dealing a blow to Arizona and Texas Republicans. Earlier a vote rigging scheme by Republicans in North Carolina was voted down.
++Mike Huckabee was actually right when he said that same-sex marriage would not have gained such strength if the President,in this case President obama had not pushed it.
++Progressive bloggers over the weekend suggested that the defeats of the Right by the Supreme Court will galvanize the Right and provide them with the motivation to win in 2016. The idea is that only during FDR-Truman did the Democrats run the course and Reagan Bush afterwards. The Democrats will have it hard to win three in a row. Sadly with the polarized atmosphere in this country, this would be an utter disaster on every level--from foreign policy to domestic policy and to a cultural environment. There is no evidence as of yet that the GOP even considers we are in the 21st Century.
++This week we are coming up on the Iranian nuclear deal and the Beltway games are also getting dangerous to sabotage any deal. For your own edification, please read Jeffrey Goldberg's interview with former Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren about Obama and Israel. When you attack Leon Weseltier as a self-hating Jew, you have real problems. But Oren's view of the Iranian nuclear deal is scary because it reveals the mentality that is trying to defeat it.
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Another Republican Failed Governor to Enter Race
++On July 21, John Kasich is scheduled to announce his candidacy for President.
++On Jule 13, Scott Walker will announce.
++On Tuesday, Chris Christie will announce.
++On Jule 13, Scott Walker will announce.
++On Tuesday, Chris Christie will announce.
Mike Huckabee's Tweet On Gay Marriage
++ Huckabee tweeted " The decision on same sex marriage was when "Jesus wept".
++Fred Phelps'son, who turned against his father, tweeted under the tag Jesus H. Christ,"Those were tears of joy, you nitwit."
++Fred Phelps'son, who turned against his father, tweeted under the tag Jesus H. Christ,"Those were tears of joy, you nitwit."
Brainwrap goes Gay
++After taking a victory lap over the Obamacare ruling,Charles Gaba aka Brainwrap estimates that the marriage equality ruling could add 120,000 + to Obamacare because you can enjoy as married couples which reduces your premiums.
The Backlash
++Mike Huckabee vows a Martin Luther King-like resistance to same sex marriage.
++The Southern Baptist Conference vowed a "Bonhoffer moment".
++The Texas Attorney General says that county clerks don't have to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. He told them they should expect being sued but there were plenty of lawyers to assist them defend their "religious rights".
++Buried in the marriage-equality opinion by Justice Kennedy is the bombshell that "religious belief should not influence policy." He basically ruled out religious objections to same-sex marriage.
++Hidden from view also was President Obama's desire to get the KKK and other extreme right organizations to disclose their members. The President disclosed this with the mayor of Charleston just after the massacre at Mother Emmanuel.
++This coming week will be the fulminations of the Right about both Supreme Court opinions.
++Also expect the drumbeat of propaganda from israel and AIPAC on the Iranian deal. It is likely the deal will be concluded a few days after the deadline.
++How this will effect 2016 is too early to tell but there will be a reaction and it is too soon to tell whether the Democrats can counter it.
++Meanwhile the New York Times has an editorial about the many efforts the Republicans in Congress are trying to defund the various ways by which Obamacare is implemented.
++The Southern Baptist Conference vowed a "Bonhoffer moment".
++The Texas Attorney General says that county clerks don't have to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. He told them they should expect being sued but there were plenty of lawyers to assist them defend their "religious rights".
++Buried in the marriage-equality opinion by Justice Kennedy is the bombshell that "religious belief should not influence policy." He basically ruled out religious objections to same-sex marriage.
++Hidden from view also was President Obama's desire to get the KKK and other extreme right organizations to disclose their members. The President disclosed this with the mayor of Charleston just after the massacre at Mother Emmanuel.
++This coming week will be the fulminations of the Right about both Supreme Court opinions.
++Also expect the drumbeat of propaganda from israel and AIPAC on the Iranian deal. It is likely the deal will be concluded a few days after the deadline.
++How this will effect 2016 is too early to tell but there will be a reaction and it is too soon to tell whether the Democrats can counter it.
++Meanwhile the New York Times has an editorial about the many efforts the Republicans in Congress are trying to defund the various ways by which Obamacare is implemented.
Senator Vitter Tweets About Same Sex Ruling--Isn't this rich?
++ " A Chick-A-Fil" kind of day. This from a man who said same sex marriage was the most important issue facing the nation.
++The feedback was raucous. A presumably gay responded: "adult diapers and you criticize my lifestyle". Others tweeted,"Marriage is a man and his wife and his prostitutes."
""But no one has tweeted about Senator Vitter wearing the "most beautiful lingerie you ever saw".
++The feedback was raucous. A presumably gay responded: "adult diapers and you criticize my lifestyle". Others tweeted,"Marriage is a man and his wife and his prostitutes."
""But no one has tweeted about Senator Vitter wearing the "most beautiful lingerie you ever saw".
Which Is It?
++Right-wing pundits have now claimed that same-sex marriage, Obamacare, and giving Gitmo detainees the fourth amendment guarantees of habeas corpus are the worst decisions since Dred Scott.
++Now I propose that the GOP actually favors the Dred Scott decision in its recent formation. But,let's say there are being honest.
++Which is the worst decision since Dred Scott? I propose Citizens United.
++Ross Douhat says that conservatives are responsible for the same sex ruling. In a way he is right. Andrew Sullivan was the pioneer in proposing same sex marriage from a conservative point of view. He was the sole conservative ,fighting more leftwing gay activists. But I noticed no conservatives leaping to Andrew's defense or the conservatives objecting to the Defense of Marriage law or objecting to Don't Ask, Don't Tell. But it is progress when a conservative touts the decision as the result of the conservative movement's efforts.
The same applies to the new conservative line about why should Republicans defend the "Democratic" confederate flag? Why indeed since the GOP was led by the Great Emancipator and the President who win the Civil War. Be nice to see the GOP drifting back to its roots. But don't hold your breathe.
++Now I propose that the GOP actually favors the Dred Scott decision in its recent formation. But,let's say there are being honest.
++Which is the worst decision since Dred Scott? I propose Citizens United.
++Ross Douhat says that conservatives are responsible for the same sex ruling. In a way he is right. Andrew Sullivan was the pioneer in proposing same sex marriage from a conservative point of view. He was the sole conservative ,fighting more leftwing gay activists. But I noticed no conservatives leaping to Andrew's defense or the conservatives objecting to the Defense of Marriage law or objecting to Don't Ask, Don't Tell. But it is progress when a conservative touts the decision as the result of the conservative movement's efforts.
The same applies to the new conservative line about why should Republicans defend the "Democratic" confederate flag? Why indeed since the GOP was led by the Great Emancipator and the President who win the Civil War. Be nice to see the GOP drifting back to its roots. But don't hold your breathe.
Painting His Masterpiece
++Rachel Maddow is to be commended for her showing President Obama's eulogy in Charleston, South Carolina, without commercial break on MSNBC.
++It is worth seeing again as early returns are in that this was President Obama's greatest speech as President. In fact, it is said that no American President could have given this speech, except our first black President, both speaking to the black community and for America as whole.
++James Fellows has an excellent article in the Atlantic analyzing the structure of the speech and how President Obama brilliantly used "amazing grace" as his unifying theme and how the President changed registers from who the "we" were throughout the speech.
++It is said that President Obama could not have given this speech anytime in his presidency until now. In his second term,having endured the painful sequences of mass shootings and police killings of unarmed blacks,he frankly looked and sounded beat, frustrated and tired. Earlier articles said he sounded defeated from the orgy of gun violence. As he said he meditated on the idea of having "an open heart" and how that would make up for any failure in policy prescriptions. From that he drew the inspiration of his speech where he too was humbled.
++The speech itself was a masterpiece. Not my favorite Obama speech but the one that would resound longer and live longer than any he has given.
++His Selma speech was also a masterpiece where criticized for having a different vision of America, he outlined his idea of "American exceptionalism" and invoked the "better angels" of the Republic.
++I thought his eulogy of Pastor Pinckney invoked the hard harshness of American and black life. It was realistic in its approach to today's America but reserved its hope in being granted God's "amazing grace".
++In a strange way,it was an elaboration of the second half of James Winthrop's "Shining City on the Hill" speech which invoked the hard times America would face if it did not live up to its ideals.
++I have always cringed at President Obama's invocation of Christian themes but in this setting in oldest black church in the South, which once had been burned down because it pastor wanted to eliminate slavery, it was fitting and President Obama clearly felt at home in the black church. Gone was Mr. No Drama Obama and Enter Preacher Obama.
++James fellows reminds us that rhetoric has a structure and that Obama's eulogy was a brilliant use of that structure. Like Martin Luther King,his religious rhetoric also was many to invoke a shared sense of humanity in the audience.
++It is worth seeing again as early returns are in that this was President Obama's greatest speech as President. In fact, it is said that no American President could have given this speech, except our first black President, both speaking to the black community and for America as whole.
++James Fellows has an excellent article in the Atlantic analyzing the structure of the speech and how President Obama brilliantly used "amazing grace" as his unifying theme and how the President changed registers from who the "we" were throughout the speech.
++It is said that President Obama could not have given this speech anytime in his presidency until now. In his second term,having endured the painful sequences of mass shootings and police killings of unarmed blacks,he frankly looked and sounded beat, frustrated and tired. Earlier articles said he sounded defeated from the orgy of gun violence. As he said he meditated on the idea of having "an open heart" and how that would make up for any failure in policy prescriptions. From that he drew the inspiration of his speech where he too was humbled.
++The speech itself was a masterpiece. Not my favorite Obama speech but the one that would resound longer and live longer than any he has given.
++His Selma speech was also a masterpiece where criticized for having a different vision of America, he outlined his idea of "American exceptionalism" and invoked the "better angels" of the Republic.
++I thought his eulogy of Pastor Pinckney invoked the hard harshness of American and black life. It was realistic in its approach to today's America but reserved its hope in being granted God's "amazing grace".
++In a strange way,it was an elaboration of the second half of James Winthrop's "Shining City on the Hill" speech which invoked the hard times America would face if it did not live up to its ideals.
++I have always cringed at President Obama's invocation of Christian themes but in this setting in oldest black church in the South, which once had been burned down because it pastor wanted to eliminate slavery, it was fitting and President Obama clearly felt at home in the black church. Gone was Mr. No Drama Obama and Enter Preacher Obama.
++James fellows reminds us that rhetoric has a structure and that Obama's eulogy was a brilliant use of that structure. Like Martin Luther King,his religious rhetoric also was many to invoke a shared sense of humanity in the audience.
Again at Gitmo
++The military commissions at Gitmo ran into another massive problem. The defense lawyers just discovered that the CIA didn't turn over 14,000 photos from their black sites and as a result the trials of the Gitmo detainees are postponed again. Now there has to be a process by which defense determines which photos are relevant to their case. The commissions were Lindsey Graham's idea.
Friday, June 26, 2015
From The Sublime To The Ridiculous
++The Donald will not reveal his birth certificate or passport information. The Donald is banning all Univision personnel from his properties. The Donald is suing Univision for canceling his Miss America pageant because of his remarks against Mexicans. Ari-Fleischer is upset that The Donald is acting like a car wreck for the Republican race--everyone stares at it while everything goes by.
++Fat Tony Scalia has had a bad two days. When the same sex verdict came down, his dissent waxed on about intimacy and spirituality. Then he said,"Ask your nearest "Hippie". Well ,Huffington Post did, they asked David Crosby, certainly a hippie, who said Scalia was dissing both gays and hippies.
++Piyush Jindal says we should save money and get rid of the courts.
++Mike Huckabee said he would not obey the judicial tyranny.
++Ben Carson just said it was the law of the land. You have to admit it is scary when Carson both on the killings at Mother Emmanuel Church and the verdict on same sex marriage is the voice of reason in the GOP.
++Ms.Lindsey Graham said that it is futile to fight the ruling.
++Jeb! said he wished the courts left it to the states.
++You see what I mean that you will miss Barack when he goes. You will be left with these knuckleheads.
++Fat Tony Scalia has had a bad two days. When the same sex verdict came down, his dissent waxed on about intimacy and spirituality. Then he said,"Ask your nearest "Hippie". Well ,Huffington Post did, they asked David Crosby, certainly a hippie, who said Scalia was dissing both gays and hippies.
++Piyush Jindal says we should save money and get rid of the courts.
++Mike Huckabee said he would not obey the judicial tyranny.
++Ben Carson just said it was the law of the land. You have to admit it is scary when Carson both on the killings at Mother Emmanuel Church and the verdict on same sex marriage is the voice of reason in the GOP.
++Ms.Lindsey Graham said that it is futile to fight the ruling.
++Jeb! said he wished the courts left it to the states.
++You see what I mean that you will miss Barack when he goes. You will be left with these knuckleheads.
Obama Has Lift
++You're going to feel lonesome when he goes.
++Rude Pundit had to drop the cynical mask to day and admit President Obama is a transformational president. The country is a better place today than when he came into office.
++It is a sequence of lightening events like this week that demonstrate it. The almost wholesale national rejection of the Confederate flag,the Obamacare decision,the acknowledgement of same sex marriage rights in all states,culminating in the sight of the President singing Amazing Grace a cappella in his eulogy to Pastor Pinckney.
++Right at the beginning of the second term, Paul Krugman had mentioned in Rolling Stone that President Obama was a consequential president. Within months, President Obama started his rapid-fire executive actions and climate action moves.
++The problem is that the spaces in between these moments and this week's are mired in the sorry business of politicians wallowing in the mud.
++What political figure gives good lift as President Obama? There are no Republicans and the Democrats look like imitations.
++As we get burdened by the GOP clown car and the "will Hillary Make it?", let's not take our eyes off the prize. President Obama has to keep the big Mo until next year and he will stand a good chance of being great.
++But then, consider the music of the next President? Eegads. What a nightmare.
++Rude Pundit had to drop the cynical mask to day and admit President Obama is a transformational president. The country is a better place today than when he came into office.
++It is a sequence of lightening events like this week that demonstrate it. The almost wholesale national rejection of the Confederate flag,the Obamacare decision,the acknowledgement of same sex marriage rights in all states,culminating in the sight of the President singing Amazing Grace a cappella in his eulogy to Pastor Pinckney.
++Right at the beginning of the second term, Paul Krugman had mentioned in Rolling Stone that President Obama was a consequential president. Within months, President Obama started his rapid-fire executive actions and climate action moves.
++The problem is that the spaces in between these moments and this week's are mired in the sorry business of politicians wallowing in the mud.
++What political figure gives good lift as President Obama? There are no Republicans and the Democrats look like imitations.
++As we get burdened by the GOP clown car and the "will Hillary Make it?", let's not take our eyes off the prize. President Obama has to keep the big Mo until next year and he will stand a good chance of being great.
++But then, consider the music of the next President? Eegads. What a nightmare.
Vatican Signs Treaty With The State Of Palestine
++The Vatican signed a treaty with the State of Palestine and called for a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
++Israel was outraged and said this would color its relationship with the Vatican.
++Israel was outraged and said this would color its relationship with the Vatican.
Brother Obama Preaches
++President Obama wove "Amazing Grace"" and even sung it during his eulogy for Rev. Clementa Pinckney in Charleston. It was a fabulous speech, almost matching my favorite "The Walls of Jericho" delivered in the 2008 campaign at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
++President Obama spoke about how American came to realize the pain the Confederate flag caused the "oppressed." He quoted Rev. Pinckney about how "We in the South understand history. It's just not that we understand each other's history."
++President Obama used the speech to again lament gun violence and how after the cameras disappear we don't spend the effort to help those in poverty or the young to get ahead.
++The President as preacher did himself proud today, channeling his inner Black American to shed his grace on the audience.
++Without a doubt, President Obama closes the week as the winner and ,in Howard Dean's words, had maybe one of his best weeks of his presidency.
++President Obama spoke about how American came to realize the pain the Confederate flag caused the "oppressed." He quoted Rev. Pinckney about how "We in the South understand history. It's just not that we understand each other's history."
++President Obama used the speech to again lament gun violence and how after the cameras disappear we don't spend the effort to help those in poverty or the young to get ahead.
++The President as preacher did himself proud today, channeling his inner Black American to shed his grace on the audience.
++Without a doubt, President Obama closes the week as the winner and ,in Howard Dean's words, had maybe one of his best weeks of his presidency.
Bravo to Andrew Sullivan! "It Is Accomplished."
++Andrew Sullivan came out of his bear cave and finally broke his silence. In "the Daily Dish", he writes "It is Accomplished!', a moving piece about the struggle for same sex marriage rights and gays rights in general. Andrew reminds us that Gary Bauer debating him said,"This is a loopy idea". Andrew runs down how even gays resisted his campaign for marriage when he began it. He cites the heroes who made it happened. Not the least was Andrew himself. Congratulations, Andrew!
++Bring back the Dish!
++Bring back the Dish!
Like A Thunderbolt,Justice Comes
++The same sex marriage ruling marks the culmination of the most rapid civil rights triumph in my lifetime. President Obama gave an eloquent talk on the meaning of the decision and that we became a "more perfect union " today. It is the culmination of millions of single acts that finally congealed into a critical mass.
++I doubt whether it could have come about without President Obama's "change of heart" and his push within his administration.
++There are numerous legal heroes. But let's not forget the pioneer in arguing the case for same sex marriage--Andrew Sullivan who defended it in the 1980s as a conservative idea. Dan Savage became the odd ethical voice for this when California began the pilgrimage. Ted Olson took it on as a grandee of the Federalist Society. Then there was the great Ms. Windsor who fought for her inheritance from her lifelong companion and eventual marriage partner.
The list is too numerous and the change points too numerous to mention.
++This past week Stonewall became an historical monument symbolizing the first overt manifestation of gay rights' resistance.
++I doubt whether it could have come about without President Obama's "change of heart" and his push within his administration.
++There are numerous legal heroes. But let's not forget the pioneer in arguing the case for same sex marriage--Andrew Sullivan who defended it in the 1980s as a conservative idea. Dan Savage became the odd ethical voice for this when California began the pilgrimage. Ted Olson took it on as a grandee of the Federalist Society. Then there was the great Ms. Windsor who fought for her inheritance from her lifelong companion and eventual marriage partner.
The list is too numerous and the change points too numerous to mention.
++This past week Stonewall became an historical monument symbolizing the first overt manifestation of gay rights' resistance.
Marriage Equality Wins 5 to 4!
++States must allow same sex marriage. The vote was 5 to 4. The Solicitor General has the winning nest Supreme Court session. It was granted on the basis of the 14th amendment. All four opponents filed dissents.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Yes, I congratulate President Obama
++ But,geessh, lay off the e-mails. I've received e-mails from every Democratic group asking to sign on to a congratulatory letter to President Obama and reminders if I didn't. Yes, Congratulations to President Obama and Solicitor Verrill for preserving Obamacare as the law of the land.
++As Howard Dean said President Obama may be having the best week of his presidency. Go for it.
++Now for same-sex marriage and the Iranian nuclear deal to close out the month.
++As Howard Dean said President Obama may be having the best week of his presidency. Go for it.
++Now for same-sex marriage and the Iranian nuclear deal to close out the month.
Think Progress
++Think Progress has the best article around on why the Supreme Court decision was the best possible victory for progressives.In effect, the law really can't be challenged again and that the argumentation by Roberts on why the Chevron precedent didn't apply saves subsidies for Obamacare enrollments past elections.
++The DailyKos has a detailed analysis on the Court's opinion.
++Josh Marshall prints a reader's view about how absurd the case was in the beginning and how we averted a massive disaster.
++My e-mails are outraged by the decision, quoting Scalia that "words don't matter anymore." Puhleese.
++The DailyKos has a detailed analysis on the Court's opinion.
++Josh Marshall prints a reader's view about how absurd the case was in the beginning and how we averted a massive disaster.
++My e-mails are outraged by the decision, quoting Scalia that "words don't matter anymore." Puhleese.
Ed Kilgore Enlightens Me
++Ed Kilgore at the Washington Monthly notes that my Chevron argument for maintaining subsidies for Obamacare would have led to a Republican administration interpreting the law another way. In the majority opinion, this is explicitly ruled out.
++Read Washington Monthly on the Right's blasts at Roberts calling him the Mitch McConnell of the Supreme Court.
++In a 5-4 decision the Court upheld the federal government's right to prohibit discriminatory housing.
++Now I have a complaint. Early this morning I received numerous fund-raising e-mails that the Koch Brothers were going to gut Obamacare,that the ACA would be decimated. Give money. Now I receive e-mails Obamacare won, give money. There is a limit to this since the opinions was written months ago.
++President Obama did a victory lap and Hillary Clinton yelled,"yes" on the Supreme Court decision.
++Tony Scalia was sarcastic as usually about the decision saying it should be called Scotuscare and he denounced Roberts for abandoning "textualism". With the confederate flag dying,maybe we are seeing the fading of textualism.
++Ed Kilgore wants to see the Right's heads explode if Kennedy writes that same-sex marriage decision.
++Read Washington Monthly on the Right's blasts at Roberts calling him the Mitch McConnell of the Supreme Court.
++In a 5-4 decision the Court upheld the federal government's right to prohibit discriminatory housing.
++Now I have a complaint. Early this morning I received numerous fund-raising e-mails that the Koch Brothers were going to gut Obamacare,that the ACA would be decimated. Give money. Now I receive e-mails Obamacare won, give money. There is a limit to this since the opinions was written months ago.
++President Obama did a victory lap and Hillary Clinton yelled,"yes" on the Supreme Court decision.
++Tony Scalia was sarcastic as usually about the decision saying it should be called Scotuscare and he denounced Roberts for abandoning "textualism". With the confederate flag dying,maybe we are seeing the fading of textualism.
++Ed Kilgore wants to see the Right's heads explode if Kennedy writes that same-sex marriage decision.
Interesting Takes on SCOTUS Decision
++I gave a cursory read of Roberts' majority decision. I found it interesting that he said Chevron didn't provide the necessary framework for deciding for the government. I thought it did. What is interesting that Roberts invoked avoiding a death spiral of the insurance markets, a play of the Right's critique of Obamacare. I found the majority opinion basically solid and well-reasoned. Kennedy, who voted against the ACA, not surprising joined the majority. I say this because in the oral hearing he said quite openly that he was concerned by the plaintiff's arguments from a federalist perspective. Business Insider had tagged this as sign the court would affirm Obamacare. Also I noticed that Roberts added in the ACA's benefit to millions,the first sign I have seen that Supreme Court Justices are aware of the outside world.
++The GOP was right off the mark saying that they should repeal Obamacare through budget reconciliation. Reince Preibus says that this is the reason you should vote for a Republican President so that he can repeal and replace. Reince used his statement as an opportunity to attack Hillary Clinton and her love of big government. Bill Kristol was quick off the block attacking the decision. Mike Huckabee said it was "judicial tyranny".
++I wonder now that they have run out of their judicial tricks, what the GOP alternative is?
++The GOP was right off the mark saying that they should repeal Obamacare through budget reconciliation. Reince Preibus says that this is the reason you should vote for a Republican President so that he can repeal and replace. Reince used his statement as an opportunity to attack Hillary Clinton and her love of big government. Bill Kristol was quick off the block attacking the decision. Mike Huckabee said it was "judicial tyranny".
++I wonder now that they have run out of their judicial tricks, what the GOP alternative is?
Bloomberg Democratic Poll
++Bloomberg used Selzer polling to find that Hillary has a 50-24% lead over Bernie Sanders in Iowa.
++In New Hampshire, Hillary leads with 56% to 24%.
++In New Hampshire, Hillary leads with 56% to 24%.
"I'm Tanned, Rested and Ready for This Fight" Bobby Jindal
++Bobby Jindal's announcement was the first of the season where hundreds of hecklers gathered outside the park where he threw his hat into the ring. He said he was not running with permission from the Washington headquarters--who is?
++Bobby has nowhere to go but up. He is polling,according to People Magazine, a stunning 0%.
++Bobby has nowhere to go but up. He is polling,according to People Magazine, a stunning 0%.
Foz News Poll-Bush and the Donald Get Bump
++Fox News has Bush at 15% of GOP candidates and the Donald at 12%. Walker has fallen to single digits.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
How Deep Is The Confederacy?
++I must pass the statute of the Confederate soldier on Washington Street everyday. He is turned away from Washington,D.C. with his head bowed down.
++I go to Barnes and Noble on Jefferson Davis Highway.
++I have a radiation test on Beauregard Avenue.
++There is not a place in northern Virginia where you can't escape the Confederacy.
++In traveling through the Virginia battlefields,narrations by our American park service are slanted to the South.
++Today, a black church burned down in Charlotte , North Carolina. Only two days ago I received an e-mail from a conservative who said black churches haven't been attacked in fifty years.
++Bill Kristol today reinforced Gore Vidal's observation that the neo-conservatives don't care what happened in the civil war. He was worried about disrespecting the confederate dead.
++I go to Barnes and Noble on Jefferson Davis Highway.
++I have a radiation test on Beauregard Avenue.
++There is not a place in northern Virginia where you can't escape the Confederacy.
++In traveling through the Virginia battlefields,narrations by our American park service are slanted to the South.
++Today, a black church burned down in Charlotte , North Carolina. Only two days ago I received an e-mail from a conservative who said black churches haven't been attacked in fifty years.
++Bill Kristol today reinforced Gore Vidal's observation that the neo-conservatives don't care what happened in the civil war. He was worried about disrespecting the confederate dead.
I Am Not A Number -I am Number 13
++Bobby Jindal announced today as the GOP's 13th candidate. Bobby has the worst approval rating of any sitting US governor. Maybe, that's why the decision was announced using a hidden video recording his kids in the backyard.
++Alabama become another state to eliminate the confederate flag.
++Alan Keyes said that the attack on Mother Emmanuel as an act of "gay rights terrorism".
++A human wall will separate Westboro Baptist Church from the mourners at Pastor Pickney's funeral. I guess they think it has something to do with gay rights also.
++The reaction is starting. A South Carolina legislator says that removing the flag is like Stalinism. Ted Cruz is holding firm on the flag because the GOP knows that about time for their big Southern primary the reaction will be set.
++Bill Kristol got into a screaming match with Bloomberg's editor saying this campaign will lead to disrespecting the Confederate war dead.
++I have news for Billy. The Daughters of the Confederacy thought bringing the flag back as a symbol of segregation and racism was disrespectful to the confederate dead.
++Alabama become another state to eliminate the confederate flag.
++Alan Keyes said that the attack on Mother Emmanuel as an act of "gay rights terrorism".
++A human wall will separate Westboro Baptist Church from the mourners at Pastor Pickney's funeral. I guess they think it has something to do with gay rights also.
++The reaction is starting. A South Carolina legislator says that removing the flag is like Stalinism. Ted Cruz is holding firm on the flag because the GOP knows that about time for their big Southern primary the reaction will be set.
++Bill Kristol got into a screaming match with Bloomberg's editor saying this campaign will lead to disrespecting the Confederate war dead.
++I have news for Billy. The Daughters of the Confederacy thought bringing the flag back as a symbol of segregation and racism was disrespectful to the confederate dead.
The Donald Is A Left-Wing Agent
++The National Review printed yesterday an article saying the Donald was a left-wing agent meant to disrupt the Republican primaries and ruin the GOP brand. First the piece said that his remarks about immigrants were meant to offend everyone . But also that they hide that he is a progressive. The Donald was inserted into the GOP to spread discord. The National Review quotes Glenn Beck as the authoritative source.
++Business Insider notes that the Suffolk poll that showed the Donald in second means that The Donald is the anti-Bush.
++Jon Stewart walked off the show last night when he heard that the Donald hadn't filed his papers with the FEC. He was only kidding because the Donald really did file.
++Rush Limbaugh says that the "Left's" campaign against the flag of the confederacy is just the first step because "the Left" aims to ban the American flag.
++The Hill writes that Nikki Haley's decision about the Confederate flag makes her prime Vice Presidential material. Just think Jindal-Haley--a Hindu and Sikh.
++Ann Coulter says that Haley is an immigrant and doesn't understand history. I guess like the South lost the war.
++A protestor outside the Charleston capitol said that taking down the confederate flag means that communism is coming. He said "The South is the only free place in the United States."
++Mitch McConnell actually asked that the statue of Jefferson Davis be removed from the Kentucky state house. I thought that was somewhat gratuitous.
++Josh Marshall has a piece up on Talkingpoints about the confederate flag being "the White Man's" flag.
++Today's the big day for Jindal. Is it because IBM refuses to attend the groundbreaking at their new Louisiana plant because of his anti-gay law? He had nothing better to do.
++Ed Kilgore has an interesting piece about President obama and the politics of change. He quotes relevant passages of two interviews the President has done,including his garage interview that gave the media a stroke with his use of the "N" word. Kilgore's piece raises interesting perspectives about the limits of change by a President.
++Business Insider thinks it will be 6-3 for same-sex marriage. Bill in Portland pleads with Pastor Scarborough not to set himself on fire.
++The Southern Baptist Convention claims now is the "Bonhoffer Moment". This puzzles me because Dietrich Bonhoffer was offended by America's treatment of blacks when he was at Union and travelled to the South. He blasted American evangelicals and fundamentalists for doing nothing about this. Now on same-sex marriage, the religion of the slave-holding south wants to do what? Bonhoffer joined the Abwehr with the intent to topple Adolf Hitler. Are the Baptists going to "assassinate" anyone? Are they going to secede from the union? Or are they going to set themselves on fire like Pastor Rick Scarborough plans?
++I think we are heading back to teabag times with the rhetoric from the Right.
++Business Insider notes that the Suffolk poll that showed the Donald in second means that The Donald is the anti-Bush.
++Jon Stewart walked off the show last night when he heard that the Donald hadn't filed his papers with the FEC. He was only kidding because the Donald really did file.
++Rush Limbaugh says that the "Left's" campaign against the flag of the confederacy is just the first step because "the Left" aims to ban the American flag.
++The Hill writes that Nikki Haley's decision about the Confederate flag makes her prime Vice Presidential material. Just think Jindal-Haley--a Hindu and Sikh.
++Ann Coulter says that Haley is an immigrant and doesn't understand history. I guess like the South lost the war.
++A protestor outside the Charleston capitol said that taking down the confederate flag means that communism is coming. He said "The South is the only free place in the United States."
++Mitch McConnell actually asked that the statue of Jefferson Davis be removed from the Kentucky state house. I thought that was somewhat gratuitous.
++Josh Marshall has a piece up on Talkingpoints about the confederate flag being "the White Man's" flag.
++Today's the big day for Jindal. Is it because IBM refuses to attend the groundbreaking at their new Louisiana plant because of his anti-gay law? He had nothing better to do.
++Ed Kilgore has an interesting piece about President obama and the politics of change. He quotes relevant passages of two interviews the President has done,including his garage interview that gave the media a stroke with his use of the "N" word. Kilgore's piece raises interesting perspectives about the limits of change by a President.
++Business Insider thinks it will be 6-3 for same-sex marriage. Bill in Portland pleads with Pastor Scarborough not to set himself on fire.
++The Southern Baptist Convention claims now is the "Bonhoffer Moment". This puzzles me because Dietrich Bonhoffer was offended by America's treatment of blacks when he was at Union and travelled to the South. He blasted American evangelicals and fundamentalists for doing nothing about this. Now on same-sex marriage, the religion of the slave-holding south wants to do what? Bonhoffer joined the Abwehr with the intent to topple Adolf Hitler. Are the Baptists going to "assassinate" anyone? Are they going to secede from the union? Or are they going to set themselves on fire like Pastor Rick Scarborough plans?
++I think we are heading back to teabag times with the rhetoric from the Right.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Pyush Jindal To Annouce Tomorrow
++If that isn't enough, The Whale,The Great White Whale next week. Chris Christie will enter the race.
Amazon Caves
++In following up the left-wing agenda, according to Bill Kristol, Amazon won't sell confederate flags and merchandise decorated with it.
++Right after the shooting, Kristol made his remakes about the Left wanting to get the flag out of circulation,
++Bill O'Reilly said the flag was a symbol of bravery.
++Kudos for Hillary Clinton's stance that the flag should not stand in Charleston or anywhere. She also said the killings were racist terrorism.
++Right after the shooting, Kristol made his remakes about the Left wanting to get the flag out of circulation,
++Bill O'Reilly said the flag was a symbol of bravery.
++Kudos for Hillary Clinton's stance that the flag should not stand in Charleston or anywhere. She also said the killings were racist terrorism.
The Flag Keeps Dropping
++NASCAR, of all organizations, asked that South Carolina abandon the confederate flag.
++Walmart, Sears and e-bay have banned confederate flag sales. Pressure isn on Amazon to do the same.
++Rick Perry said getting rid of the flag is a sign of healing. This after he said the killings were an accident and that the shooter was on drugs.
++Rand Paul denounced the flag as a sign of human bondage and slavery.
++T Mac ordered the Virginia DMV from issuing confederate license plates.
++Well, at least Haley Barbour says the flag doesn't make him feel ashamed.
++Don't count on the South Carolina legislature voting the right way. They have not done the right things for years.
++Walmart, Sears and e-bay have banned confederate flag sales. Pressure isn on Amazon to do the same.
++Rick Perry said getting rid of the flag is a sign of healing. This after he said the killings were an accident and that the shooter was on drugs.
++Rand Paul denounced the flag as a sign of human bondage and slavery.
++T Mac ordered the Virginia DMV from issuing confederate license plates.
++Well, at least Haley Barbour says the flag doesn't make him feel ashamed.
++Don't count on the South Carolina legislature voting the right way. They have not done the right things for years.
The Donald Surges in New Hampshire!
++Suffolk poll has the Donald surging in its New Hampshire poll. Jeb is still in first at 14% but the Donald is at 11%. Scott Walker is at 8% and Rubio at 7%.
++Remember James Carville saying New Hampshire is a must win for Jeb!
++Remember James Carville saying New Hampshire is a must win for Jeb!
Monday, June 22, 2015
Who Would You Vote For?
++Gallup asks would you vote for a presidential candidate who was..
1. Catholic 93%
2. A woman 92%
3. A Black 92%
4. Hispanic 91%
5. Jewish 91%
6. Mormon 81% 18% no
7. Gay/lesbian 74% 24% no
8. Evangelical Christian 73% 25% no
9. Muslim 60% 38% no
10. Atheist 58% 40% no
11. Socialist 47% 50% no
I would say 6 on down you get an honest answer. I think this also encourages Hillary.
1. Catholic 93%
2. A woman 92%
3. A Black 92%
4. Hispanic 91%
5. Jewish 91%
6. Mormon 81% 18% no
7. Gay/lesbian 74% 24% no
8. Evangelical Christian 73% 25% no
9. Muslim 60% 38% no
10. Atheist 58% 40% no
11. Socialist 47% 50% no
I would say 6 on down you get an honest answer. I think this also encourages Hillary.
Hear Now The Word
++The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol says about Donald Trump "I would not be surprised if he won." Bill who swooned over Sarah Palin believes The Donald could win over the Republican Party with his nationalism.
Correction: Hillary Is Even More Doomed
++Hillary is preferred by 75%, not 65% of the Democratic voters.
Hillary Is Doomed
++The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll today shows Hillary Clinton crushing her primary opposition and topping the leading Republicans.
++65% of Democrats are for Clinton
++15% for Bernie Sanders
++ 4% for Jim Webb
++ 2% for O'Malley
++A stunning 92% of Democrats could see themselves supporting Clinton. Only 8% could not.
++Among Republicans only 75% could see themselves supporting Jeb,74% supporting Rubio.
++Clinton beats Bush 48 to 40
++Clinton beats Rubio 50 to 40.
++Clinton beats Walker 51 to 37.
For all the alleged scandals and the Bernie surge,Hillary Clinton is sitting in a good place.
++65% of Democrats are for Clinton
++15% for Bernie Sanders
++ 4% for Jim Webb
++ 2% for O'Malley
++A stunning 92% of Democrats could see themselves supporting Clinton. Only 8% could not.
++Among Republicans only 75% could see themselves supporting Jeb,74% supporting Rubio.
++Clinton beats Bush 48 to 40
++Clinton beats Rubio 50 to 40.
++Clinton beats Walker 51 to 37.
For all the alleged scandals and the Bernie surge,Hillary Clinton is sitting in a good place.
After being called the "N" word his entire presidency, President Obama uses it
++President Obama gave an interview covering racism on a private radio station in a garage. He was whimsical in that the station was near his college, Occidental, and said he would never have dreamed he would be President and give an interview in a garage studio.
++But then the outrage begins. President Obama reminded us that while it is no longer OK to use the "N" word in public that does not mean racism has disappeared from America. It exists in structures and a culture after several hundred years. Point Taken.
++Since the Right have gone into contortions to explain away the killing at Mother Emmanuel,they jumped on President Obama as "rapper-in-chief" and just trying to polarize America as we are now united in mourning the slain at Mother Emmanuel. Who's we white man?
++President Obama will eulogize Clementa Pinckney at his funeral. Pinckney and Obama were sold friends. I am sure the President will be accused of pandering.
++Speaking of pandering,the GOP presidential candidates did flip-flops on the confederate flag today. It was like dominos--seeing Jeb,Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham reverse course to demand that the flag be taken down. Jeb even admitted the killings were racist. Gov. Haley also said that the flag must be removed from in front of the capital.
++The killer's inspiration--the CCC--it turns out gave donations to this year's presidential candidates. Scott Walker,Rand Paul, Marco Rubio all have said they would return the money.
++As the tide turned on the confederacy, Rush Limbaugh reminded his audience that the flag used to be supported by the Democrats. Fox News even had a guest saying why is it that Republicans defend a Democratic flag? Anyone hear about the Republican Southern Strategy?
++So the killing were all the Democrats and Obama's fault. Amazing spin. So quick it makes your head explode.
++Remember the Southern Avenger who used to work for Rand Paul. He said he was mistaken and had thought the confederate flag was about heritage but he was wrong. Remember when Rachel Maddow revealed his identity a few years ago.
++But then the outrage begins. President Obama reminded us that while it is no longer OK to use the "N" word in public that does not mean racism has disappeared from America. It exists in structures and a culture after several hundred years. Point Taken.
++Since the Right have gone into contortions to explain away the killing at Mother Emmanuel,they jumped on President Obama as "rapper-in-chief" and just trying to polarize America as we are now united in mourning the slain at Mother Emmanuel. Who's we white man?
++President Obama will eulogize Clementa Pinckney at his funeral. Pinckney and Obama were sold friends. I am sure the President will be accused of pandering.
++Speaking of pandering,the GOP presidential candidates did flip-flops on the confederate flag today. It was like dominos--seeing Jeb,Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham reverse course to demand that the flag be taken down. Jeb even admitted the killings were racist. Gov. Haley also said that the flag must be removed from in front of the capital.
++The killer's inspiration--the CCC--it turns out gave donations to this year's presidential candidates. Scott Walker,Rand Paul, Marco Rubio all have said they would return the money.
++As the tide turned on the confederacy, Rush Limbaugh reminded his audience that the flag used to be supported by the Democrats. Fox News even had a guest saying why is it that Republicans defend a Democratic flag? Anyone hear about the Republican Southern Strategy?
++So the killing were all the Democrats and Obama's fault. Amazing spin. So quick it makes your head explode.
++Remember the Southern Avenger who used to work for Rand Paul. He said he was mistaken and had thought the confederate flag was about heritage but he was wrong. Remember when Rachel Maddow revealed his identity a few years ago.
Monday Morning
++With the soltisce and father's day behind us,we await the decisions of the Supreme Court. As we get further toward the end of the session,we have close decisions.
++The country keeps mourning the deaths at Mother Emmanuel and reactions still get confusing. Republicans are now admitting it was a racist attack. Within 24 hours, Lindsey Graham went from the confederate flag as part of us heritage to an emblem of racism.
++The shooter's manifesto shows influence of the CCC website. The CCC has numerous Republican politicians as members. Now true Guardian and the New York Times discover that the CCC and its leader Mr. Holt donated to presidential candidates such as Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Senator Rob Portman. You will remember that CCC participation led to the removal of Trent Lott from the Senate.
++I was treated yesterday to conservative e-mails saying that the NRA was created by religious Republicans to protect blacks in the South. What a great distance they have come.
++The CCC took down their website once it was learned that the shooter was inspired by them. However,they soon returned to defend the shooter's point of view.
++Charles Blow this morning reminds us that racism is like cockroaches after a nuclear explosion,they keep on living. Blow warns us that the shooter is a millennial and millennials are as susceptible to racism as the older generation.
++Timothy Egan says that the United States should apologize for slavery. Not that it would do anything but raise the issue to a greater awareness. He thinks there would be no better a spokesman than President Obama who has the skin but not the history in his life.
++Sheriff Arpaio sent his posse to protect black churches in Phoenix whether they wanted it or not.
++Nell Painter wrote an op-ed in the New York Times that said the real issue is that whites don't know who they are. She linked the shooter and the NAACP head who wants to pass as Black. She argues that blacks have a clear culture and a shared history but whites are a melange of ethnic groups who often were;t even considered white until close to the mid-mark of the last century.
++The shooter also turns out to be anti-semitic, something just being written about. For some reason, my rightwing e-mailers say that Jews and liberal Democrats resent the fact that the Southern Democrats were the racists. I tend to remember Jews being killed during the civil rights movement.
++President Obama looked defeated unlike after the bi-elections, a man deflated by the lack of action both here and around the country after the mass killings. His skin has grown ashen and his voice weary as he said someday soon this country will have to deal with gun violence.
++My right-wingers attacked him for a "politicized" speech that ignored other mass murder in modern Europe. They even argued that the Austria knife killings were compatible.
++A sensible blogger suggested that just put handguns and AR-15s on the National Gun Registry, which actually is a type of gun control that works. Some one commented that recent Supreme Court cases made that impractical.
++Pope Francis was on a roll this weekend. He basted the major powers for fostering war and not doing enough to prevent the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide. He was particularly rich in condemning arms manufacturers who prolong wars for profit.
++Mike Huckabee who not only defended the Confederate Flag and said he would stick the pole in someone where the sun don't shine. He also said that climate change is not a settled science, in a shot at the Pope's encyclical.
++The Bernie Surge continued with massive crowds in Denver. CNN says that he could win in Iowa or New Hampshire. A leftwing blogger posted photos of the crowds Ron Paul used to draw as a warning not to get one's hopes up.
++The Catholic Church sent out spokespeople to calm the right who are hysterical that Pope Francis buys into the "hoax" of climate change. You know no other country pretends to ignore the science of climate change, if anything it is too conservative. We are boiling up faster than they acknowledge.
++Wikileaks released thousands of Saudi diplomatic cables that showed the Kingdom bribed and bought their way in favor.
++The Iranian nuclear talks continued and it appears yes that the Iranian negotiators agree to allow inspections at military sites. The majlis however in Tehran voted against allowing such inspections. It seems we have a war of two different sets of tea baggers.
++Nancy Letourneau at Washington Monthly skewered Dana Millbank about why liberals are getting more numerous. Millbank argued that it was a reaction against the tea baggers. CNN argued that the Democrats have gone far left unlike the republicans going Right. Nancy says that the days the Democrats have to pretend to play by the GOP rules is over. The reason, the largest jobs creation in our history and the Affordable Care Act and gay marriage validate the Democratic values and liberal positions.
++Nancy also had pieces on racism in the South that were worth reading.
++Josh Marshall gave a shot at explaining Michael Oren's complaints about "Jewish" journalists. The former Israeli ambassador to the United States said that op-ed writers are predominantly Jewish but they are "too" critical of Israel. He noted his run-ins with Abe Rosenthal at the New York Times. Josh tries to fathom this strange position and finds out that Oren's account of the meeting is wrong.
++Desmond Tutu called on the United Church of Christ to divest from Israel because of its policies. The divestment campaign is gathering momentum and facing blowback from right-wing donors like Adelson.
++The country keeps mourning the deaths at Mother Emmanuel and reactions still get confusing. Republicans are now admitting it was a racist attack. Within 24 hours, Lindsey Graham went from the confederate flag as part of us heritage to an emblem of racism.
++The shooter's manifesto shows influence of the CCC website. The CCC has numerous Republican politicians as members. Now true Guardian and the New York Times discover that the CCC and its leader Mr. Holt donated to presidential candidates such as Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Senator Rob Portman. You will remember that CCC participation led to the removal of Trent Lott from the Senate.
++I was treated yesterday to conservative e-mails saying that the NRA was created by religious Republicans to protect blacks in the South. What a great distance they have come.
++The CCC took down their website once it was learned that the shooter was inspired by them. However,they soon returned to defend the shooter's point of view.
++Charles Blow this morning reminds us that racism is like cockroaches after a nuclear explosion,they keep on living. Blow warns us that the shooter is a millennial and millennials are as susceptible to racism as the older generation.
++Timothy Egan says that the United States should apologize for slavery. Not that it would do anything but raise the issue to a greater awareness. He thinks there would be no better a spokesman than President Obama who has the skin but not the history in his life.
++Sheriff Arpaio sent his posse to protect black churches in Phoenix whether they wanted it or not.
++Nell Painter wrote an op-ed in the New York Times that said the real issue is that whites don't know who they are. She linked the shooter and the NAACP head who wants to pass as Black. She argues that blacks have a clear culture and a shared history but whites are a melange of ethnic groups who often were;t even considered white until close to the mid-mark of the last century.
++The shooter also turns out to be anti-semitic, something just being written about. For some reason, my rightwing e-mailers say that Jews and liberal Democrats resent the fact that the Southern Democrats were the racists. I tend to remember Jews being killed during the civil rights movement.
++President Obama looked defeated unlike after the bi-elections, a man deflated by the lack of action both here and around the country after the mass killings. His skin has grown ashen and his voice weary as he said someday soon this country will have to deal with gun violence.
++My right-wingers attacked him for a "politicized" speech that ignored other mass murder in modern Europe. They even argued that the Austria knife killings were compatible.
++A sensible blogger suggested that just put handguns and AR-15s on the National Gun Registry, which actually is a type of gun control that works. Some one commented that recent Supreme Court cases made that impractical.
++Pope Francis was on a roll this weekend. He basted the major powers for fostering war and not doing enough to prevent the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide. He was particularly rich in condemning arms manufacturers who prolong wars for profit.
++Mike Huckabee who not only defended the Confederate Flag and said he would stick the pole in someone where the sun don't shine. He also said that climate change is not a settled science, in a shot at the Pope's encyclical.
++The Bernie Surge continued with massive crowds in Denver. CNN says that he could win in Iowa or New Hampshire. A leftwing blogger posted photos of the crowds Ron Paul used to draw as a warning not to get one's hopes up.
++The Catholic Church sent out spokespeople to calm the right who are hysterical that Pope Francis buys into the "hoax" of climate change. You know no other country pretends to ignore the science of climate change, if anything it is too conservative. We are boiling up faster than they acknowledge.
++Wikileaks released thousands of Saudi diplomatic cables that showed the Kingdom bribed and bought their way in favor.
++The Iranian nuclear talks continued and it appears yes that the Iranian negotiators agree to allow inspections at military sites. The majlis however in Tehran voted against allowing such inspections. It seems we have a war of two different sets of tea baggers.
++Nancy Letourneau at Washington Monthly skewered Dana Millbank about why liberals are getting more numerous. Millbank argued that it was a reaction against the tea baggers. CNN argued that the Democrats have gone far left unlike the republicans going Right. Nancy says that the days the Democrats have to pretend to play by the GOP rules is over. The reason, the largest jobs creation in our history and the Affordable Care Act and gay marriage validate the Democratic values and liberal positions.
++Nancy also had pieces on racism in the South that were worth reading.
++Josh Marshall gave a shot at explaining Michael Oren's complaints about "Jewish" journalists. The former Israeli ambassador to the United States said that op-ed writers are predominantly Jewish but they are "too" critical of Israel. He noted his run-ins with Abe Rosenthal at the New York Times. Josh tries to fathom this strange position and finds out that Oren's account of the meeting is wrong.
++Desmond Tutu called on the United Church of Christ to divest from Israel because of its policies. The divestment campaign is gathering momentum and facing blowback from right-wing donors like Adelson.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Dribblings From the Right
++We got the racist manifesto from the shooter today and he was inspired by George Zimmerman killing Trayvon Martin. He registered a website The Last Rhodesian after being inspired by the white supremacists who elevate Rhodesia and South Africa as a religious cause. Get it =Three Lost Causes.
++Franklin Graham blamed the shootings on "Godless Hollywood", which glorifies gun violence.
++Willard "Mitt" Romney said the Confederate Flag must come down. This is actually the second time he's said that.
++Pope Francis is causing a nervous breakdown on the right. E-mails from a "Concerned Catholic" purportedly from a niece of an archbishop and related to missionaries who served the poor. The point was that our founding fathers created a capitalist system that generates over $358 billion in charitable giving and that the Pope shouldn't listen to "the cries of the earth" but the "cries of the poor", which is in the encyclical.
++Another Catholic writes that this is a Galileo moment for the Catholic Church and that the Pope damaged his office.
++Another worries that Pope Francis attack on capitalism aligns him with the economics of the Soviet Union,Cuba and Albania.
++Holy smokes.
++Franklin Graham blamed the shootings on "Godless Hollywood", which glorifies gun violence.
++Willard "Mitt" Romney said the Confederate Flag must come down. This is actually the second time he's said that.
++Pope Francis is causing a nervous breakdown on the right. E-mails from a "Concerned Catholic" purportedly from a niece of an archbishop and related to missionaries who served the poor. The point was that our founding fathers created a capitalist system that generates over $358 billion in charitable giving and that the Pope shouldn't listen to "the cries of the earth" but the "cries of the poor", which is in the encyclical.
++Another Catholic writes that this is a Galileo moment for the Catholic Church and that the Pope damaged his office.
++Another worries that Pope Francis attack on capitalism aligns him with the economics of the Soviet Union,Cuba and Albania.
++Holy smokes.
Howard Dean In Paris
++Despite early internet buzz that Howard Dean might run for President, Howard told me that he wasn't and that he supported Hillary Clinton.
++Despite polls saying he could win the Pennsylvania Senate race, Ed Rendell said he wasn't and that it was up to the younger generation.
++Howard participated in a seminar on the Middle East. He recapped what he said in 2004 and that since he was right then, why not take a stab at projecting now. He says that Syria and Iraq are failed states and there is no wishing them back together again. He was for a n-fly zone in southern Syria. He said we probably should supply the Kurds directly rather than wait on Baghdad to furnish the supplies. He said the only political entity that has anything resembling our values are the Kurds and that we should recognize that an independent Kurdish state looks inevitable. He believes the days of Sykes/Picot are dead and that a new political reality will emerge.
++Howard struck a chord that David Brooks months ago did. He said that the only values Americans should assert in the region are human rights and that we should back those forces and entities that protect those rights. It is silly to fall back on theocratic regimes or the dictatorships of old.
++He appeared at a forum with James Woolsey, former director of the CIA, who took another tack. Woolsey was hailed by people in the audience as a greater geopolitical thinker. I never knew he was. Woolsey went off on the United States must prepare itself to fight a major war against Iran. While he admitted it would be costly,he said we had to for the future of the West. I thought,"Beam me up,Scottie." It was such a strange talk as if he was channelling James Angleton,yapping about the Sino-Soviet conspiracy. He actually encouraged a widespread Sunni-Shia conflict through then Middle East to thwart Iranian expansionism. Maybe there is something that confuses dementia with gravitas. I find that alot with aging second string securitats.
++On the other hand, Howard is a Yankee with a common sense approach and an awareness of what is doable and not doable. I like the man.
++Despite polls saying he could win the Pennsylvania Senate race, Ed Rendell said he wasn't and that it was up to the younger generation.
++Howard participated in a seminar on the Middle East. He recapped what he said in 2004 and that since he was right then, why not take a stab at projecting now. He says that Syria and Iraq are failed states and there is no wishing them back together again. He was for a n-fly zone in southern Syria. He said we probably should supply the Kurds directly rather than wait on Baghdad to furnish the supplies. He said the only political entity that has anything resembling our values are the Kurds and that we should recognize that an independent Kurdish state looks inevitable. He believes the days of Sykes/Picot are dead and that a new political reality will emerge.
++Howard struck a chord that David Brooks months ago did. He said that the only values Americans should assert in the region are human rights and that we should back those forces and entities that protect those rights. It is silly to fall back on theocratic regimes or the dictatorships of old.
++He appeared at a forum with James Woolsey, former director of the CIA, who took another tack. Woolsey was hailed by people in the audience as a greater geopolitical thinker. I never knew he was. Woolsey went off on the United States must prepare itself to fight a major war against Iran. While he admitted it would be costly,he said we had to for the future of the West. I thought,"Beam me up,Scottie." It was such a strange talk as if he was channelling James Angleton,yapping about the Sino-Soviet conspiracy. He actually encouraged a widespread Sunni-Shia conflict through then Middle East to thwart Iranian expansionism. Maybe there is something that confuses dementia with gravitas. I find that alot with aging second string securitats.
++On the other hand, Howard is a Yankee with a common sense approach and an awareness of what is doable and not doable. I like the man.
Why Didn't I Think of That?
++President Obama said yesterday that the Confederate Flag belongs in a museum. People were outraged that the flag wasn't taken down or at least lowered to half-mast. Ed Kilgore at Washington Monthly went on a tirade as a Southerner about its being a disgrace.
++But Joe Lapointe at the Detroit Free Press suggested that since it is a symbol of racial hate and ,in other writers' views, treason, just burn it. We have seen the last few years of Tea Partiers and Sovereign Citizens parading around with it. Why not burn it?
++I got carried away by suggesting Charleston be burned down again. But Lapointe has a more moderate and effective solution--Burn the Rebel flag.
++But Joe Lapointe at the Detroit Free Press suggested that since it is a symbol of racial hate and ,in other writers' views, treason, just burn it. We have seen the last few years of Tea Partiers and Sovereign Citizens parading around with it. Why not burn it?
++I got carried away by suggesting Charleston be burned down again. But Lapointe has a more moderate and effective solution--Burn the Rebel flag.
The Faith and Freedom Crew Is In Town
++13 Republican candidates are speaking before the Faith and Freedom Coalition here in Washington this weekend, only 1 made it to the National Latin convention of over 1700 elected Latino officials. It sort of reminds me of the days when Republicans would boycott the NAACP.
++Jeb Bush got off to a flying start by reminding the audience of his fight for Terri Schaivo, one of the most unsightly episodes in our political history. I'm surprised Jeb didn't being the videos of the braindead Terri seemingly following a balloon.
++Yesterday,to capitalize on the right-wing theme that the attack on Mother Emmanuel was an attack on Christianity,the gathering had to be evacuated because Ralph Reed said there were "threats". Smell anything here?
++Texas pastor Rick Scarborough pledges to set himself on fire if the Supreme Court approves same-sex marriage.
++Louie Gohmert continuing Texas' tradition of genius said that the Supreme Court better be ready because this nation is founded on the laws of Moses and Jesus Christ (who was known as a superb litigator).
++Red State's Eric Ericksson said that we can't fight "evil" like the attack on Emmanuel if we accept transgender people. I guess Catlyn Jenner,a conservative Republican,poses a problem of identity for the right.
++Of course the gathering is for the Supreme Court ruling. So naturally people like Franklin Graham and Focus of your Family's Perkins and Dobson take full page ads out asserting the priority of "biblical marriage", which can mean anything.
++The Head of the Southern Baptist Conference as well as several of his processors took a vow never to perform a same sex wedding.
++Throwing a big stink bomb into the gathering was Pope Francis with his release of his encyclical on Climate Change and the imperatives of developed countries to assist poorer nations in sustainable development.
++Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio,Bobby Jindal,and Rick Santorum pretended that this was Francis' opinion and they disagreed. Catholic spokespeople insisted that the encyclical is now Catholic canon and you just can't be a cafeteria Catholic. As this spokesman said,"there is no room for Catholic libertarians."
++If you want an idea why the Republicans, with the exception of Ben Carson,seemed obtuse to the racial nature of the killings at Emmanuel--at least four pastors slain--it's because of the audience at the Faith and Freedom conference. They did not want to insult the largely southern evangelicals and fundamentalists by bringing up race,which has been a core element of their faith before, during and after the Civil War.
++Jeb Bush got off to a flying start by reminding the audience of his fight for Terri Schaivo, one of the most unsightly episodes in our political history. I'm surprised Jeb didn't being the videos of the braindead Terri seemingly following a balloon.
++Yesterday,to capitalize on the right-wing theme that the attack on Mother Emmanuel was an attack on Christianity,the gathering had to be evacuated because Ralph Reed said there were "threats". Smell anything here?
++Texas pastor Rick Scarborough pledges to set himself on fire if the Supreme Court approves same-sex marriage.
++Louie Gohmert continuing Texas' tradition of genius said that the Supreme Court better be ready because this nation is founded on the laws of Moses and Jesus Christ (who was known as a superb litigator).
++Red State's Eric Ericksson said that we can't fight "evil" like the attack on Emmanuel if we accept transgender people. I guess Catlyn Jenner,a conservative Republican,poses a problem of identity for the right.
++Of course the gathering is for the Supreme Court ruling. So naturally people like Franklin Graham and Focus of your Family's Perkins and Dobson take full page ads out asserting the priority of "biblical marriage", which can mean anything.
++The Head of the Southern Baptist Conference as well as several of his processors took a vow never to perform a same sex wedding.
++Throwing a big stink bomb into the gathering was Pope Francis with his release of his encyclical on Climate Change and the imperatives of developed countries to assist poorer nations in sustainable development.
++Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio,Bobby Jindal,and Rick Santorum pretended that this was Francis' opinion and they disagreed. Catholic spokespeople insisted that the encyclical is now Catholic canon and you just can't be a cafeteria Catholic. As this spokesman said,"there is no room for Catholic libertarians."
++If you want an idea why the Republicans, with the exception of Ben Carson,seemed obtuse to the racial nature of the killings at Emmanuel--at least four pastors slain--it's because of the audience at the Faith and Freedom conference. They did not want to insult the largely southern evangelicals and fundamentalists by bringing up race,which has been a core element of their faith before, during and after the Civil War.
Boot Jackson,Save The Caribbean Hamilton
++Alexander Hamilton had more to do with our dollar than any others pictured on our currency. Moreover, he is biracial and from the Caribbean. A great story.
++If Harriet Tubman is to replace anyone,it should be Andrew Jackson, who defied Judge Marshall and embarked on the extermination of the Cherokee nation. The underground railroad beats genocide any day of the week.
++If Harriet Tubman is to replace anyone,it should be Andrew Jackson, who defied Judge Marshall and embarked on the extermination of the Cherokee nation. The underground railroad beats genocide any day of the week.
Rasta Obama
++President Obama will be the first President of the United States to visit Ethiopia next month.
++The trip is also to meet with the leaders of the African Union as a follow-up of his U.S.-Africa summit last year in Washington.
++The trip is also to meet with the leaders of the African Union as a follow-up of his U.S.-Africa summit last year in Washington.
Friday, June 19, 2015
My poll with ISIDEWITH.com
++Occasionally I take polls on policy positions. My trend line keeps going left. In the recent ISIDEWITH poll I come out as strongly leftwing and my positions agree 100% with Bernie Sanders,92% with Hillary Clinton.
++I know why I have such discomfort in the DC area. The only people in the United States that have my political profile are people in Vermont and Western Massachusetts,actually the Berkshires where I was educated.
++The surprise was that the fourth presidential candidate I was closest to was Chris Christie--bizarre.
++I know why I have such discomfort in the DC area. The only people in the United States that have my political profile are people in Vermont and Western Massachusetts,actually the Berkshires where I was educated.
++The surprise was that the fourth presidential candidate I was closest to was Chris Christie--bizarre.
Can We Call It Like It Is?
++The killing of Rev. Pinckney was a political assassination. He had been the youngest state senator in South Carolina's history and remained revered by his colleagues--black and white.
++You can create your own context--but one of them is race. The sorry burden on the country in the 21st Century.
++David Remnick at the New Yorker said the killings were lynching. But could we be more explicit . It was an act of terrorism.
++Sadly, more white terrorists have killed Americans since 9/11 than Muslims. Isn't about time something be done about this.
++Martin O'Malley appeared on Morning Joe and discussed the mental illness involved in this event. And we can see the white 20ish males involved in the mass murders in recent years as all having some kind of mental illness.
++But this escapes that this was a political assassination carried out by a young person enamored of white supremacist propaganda.
++The e-mails from the right I have received that tried to mitigate this event without mentioning race are startling. The arguments about people should have been armed. That we haven't had a church killing in 50 years. But they conveniently forgot about the killings at the Universalist Unitarian Church because a white man wanted to kill liberals or the burning of the black church in Massachusetts because a white man wanted to protest the re-election of President Obama. Then an e-mail about some Townhall piece about how an attack on a Colorado Springs Church ended differently.
++God knows how the congregation actually told the killer "we forgive you." That's like the Amish forgiving the murderer of the girls years back.
++The AP had a story that blacks were frustrated after so many killings in the past two years. One black leader said that he can't tell his people not to get angry anymore.
++The forbearance of the Emmanuel congregation is amazing. I would have burned Charleston back down to the ground.
++You can create your own context--but one of them is race. The sorry burden on the country in the 21st Century.
++David Remnick at the New Yorker said the killings were lynching. But could we be more explicit . It was an act of terrorism.
++Sadly, more white terrorists have killed Americans since 9/11 than Muslims. Isn't about time something be done about this.
++Martin O'Malley appeared on Morning Joe and discussed the mental illness involved in this event. And we can see the white 20ish males involved in the mass murders in recent years as all having some kind of mental illness.
++But this escapes that this was a political assassination carried out by a young person enamored of white supremacist propaganda.
++The e-mails from the right I have received that tried to mitigate this event without mentioning race are startling. The arguments about people should have been armed. That we haven't had a church killing in 50 years. But they conveniently forgot about the killings at the Universalist Unitarian Church because a white man wanted to kill liberals or the burning of the black church in Massachusetts because a white man wanted to protest the re-election of President Obama. Then an e-mail about some Townhall piece about how an attack on a Colorado Springs Church ended differently.
++God knows how the congregation actually told the killer "we forgive you." That's like the Amish forgiving the murderer of the girls years back.
++The AP had a story that blacks were frustrated after so many killings in the past two years. One black leader said that he can't tell his people not to get angry anymore.
++The forbearance of the Emmanuel congregation is amazing. I would have burned Charleston back down to the ground.
Rick Perry Calls Emmanuel Shooting An Accident
++Last week, Texas Governor Abbot authorized the creation of a Fort Knox to hold Texas' share of the U.S. Golf reserves in case of an apocalypse.
++Today former Texas governor Rick Perry said that the shooting in Charleston, South Carolina was an "accident" caused by a drugged out man. He said President Obama's response was a typical effort by him to take guns away from Americans.
++The water must be different in Texas.
++Today former Texas governor Rick Perry said that the shooting in Charleston, South Carolina was an "accident" caused by a drugged out man. He said President Obama's response was a typical effort by him to take guns away from Americans.
++The water must be different in Texas.
Another Great Republican Idea
++Eliminating Obamacare ,according to the Congressional Budget Office, would cost the United States $353 billion over a ten year period.
++Dear Reader, please keep an eye on the cost of the GOP's programs. A full array of the Ryan Budget,repealing Obamacare,ballooning the Pentagon budget, and cutting taxes for the wealthy, will kill the country and we will not recover.
++Dear Reader, please keep an eye on the cost of the GOP's programs. A full array of the Ryan Budget,repealing Obamacare,ballooning the Pentagon budget, and cutting taxes for the wealthy, will kill the country and we will not recover.
The Continued Trashing Of the Donald
++The Donald continues to make news with late night comics.
++Today the Onion had a great profile of the Donald.
++A Mexican artist is going to make a piñata of the Donald.
++Yes, the Donald paid extras $50.00 to attend his announcement and cheer for him. He said he would be a jobs creator. But I think the fee came out to $16.00 an hour so I guess he won't create high-paying jobs.
++Washington Post's Gerson said obviously the Donald got attention because he was writing a column about him. One of the few Republicans who said his remarks about Mexicans were offensive,Gerson said The Donald's main problem was his progressive politics which he outlined.
++Hillary Clinton was the only one who made a swipe at the Donald at the National Latino Congress in Las Vegas, where she went beyond immigration reform and outlined her other programs to help poor immigrate--universal pre-K and free community college.
++Ring of Fire radio went after the Donald's business record and recited all the different companies he created that went bankrupt, including Trump airlines,a luxury magazine, a travel site to compete with Expedia,and two casinos as well as Trump Tower.
++Frank Rich called the Donald the Don Rickles of celebrity politicians.
++How about the Rodney Dangerfield. He can't get no respect.
++Today the Onion had a great profile of the Donald.
++A Mexican artist is going to make a piñata of the Donald.
++Yes, the Donald paid extras $50.00 to attend his announcement and cheer for him. He said he would be a jobs creator. But I think the fee came out to $16.00 an hour so I guess he won't create high-paying jobs.
++Washington Post's Gerson said obviously the Donald got attention because he was writing a column about him. One of the few Republicans who said his remarks about Mexicans were offensive,Gerson said The Donald's main problem was his progressive politics which he outlined.
++Hillary Clinton was the only one who made a swipe at the Donald at the National Latino Congress in Las Vegas, where she went beyond immigration reform and outlined her other programs to help poor immigrate--universal pre-K and free community college.
++Ring of Fire radio went after the Donald's business record and recited all the different companies he created that went bankrupt, including Trump airlines,a luxury magazine, a travel site to compete with Expedia,and two casinos as well as Trump Tower.
++Frank Rich called the Donald the Don Rickles of celebrity politicians.
++How about the Rodney Dangerfield. He can't get no respect.
"It's Who Were Are"
++Saith Lindsey Graham to explain why the Confederate flag flies over Charleston, South Carolina.
++In fact, the Confederate Flag can not be lowered to half mast because it is padlocked in place and only an act of the legislature can allow for its removal because of wear and tear.
++Ed Kilgore, a Southerner who is fed up with this nonsense, weighs in at Washington Monthly about what he would do.
++By the way the New York Times has an article that shows white terrorists have killed more than Muslim terrorists in the United States since 9/11.
++In fact, the Confederate Flag can not be lowered to half mast because it is padlocked in place and only an act of the legislature can allow for its removal because of wear and tear.
++Ed Kilgore, a Southerner who is fed up with this nonsense, weighs in at Washington Monthly about what he would do.
++By the way the New York Times has an article that shows white terrorists have killed more than Muslim terrorists in the United States since 9/11.
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