I was so tired last night that I left this part of the Open Thread until today, Thursday morning. It is great to see TC back producing his On the Edge–10/29/2015 which includes short takes today. And Nameless produced the GOP Debate – Others Watched So You Didn’t Have To with his usual flair for humour which I am both appreciative of and in awe. I still have my cold but hopefully yesterday's nap and a long sleep last night will boost me forward. So here we go friends!
Puzzle — Today’s took me 2:49 (average 5:04). To do it, click here. How did you do? For those that don't know, we always do the 48 piece classic.
Short Takes
The Nation — But if Kasich were to call Carson, Trump, Bush and, yes, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and former CEO Carly Fiorina and the rest, out for their extreme stances, if he were to say bluntly and without apology that what the other contenders propose is bad craziness, he would not just help his own candidacy.
He would restore a measure of common sense to a race for the Republican nomination that does indeed raise the questions: “What has happened to our party? What has happened to the conservative movement?”
I remember reading a short time ago that Rachel Maddow commented that of all the Republicans, she was leaning towards John Kasich in the Republican residential primary. I was surprised. John Nichols seems to paint Kasich as "the reasonable one". Scary, when an avowed conservative like Kasich seems to be "the reasonable one".
MSNBC — Carson also gave an odd response when asked about his reported involvement with a company called Mannatech that made fantastical claims that its nutritional products could cure cancer, autism and other diseases.
The former neurosurgeon said he “didn’t have an involvement with them” and it was “total propaganda” to suggest so. Bizarrely, he then went on to say he gave paid speeches for them and that he supported their business. “Do I take the product? Yes. I think it’s a good product,” Carson said. Clear as mud.
Who knows if it will matter to Carson’s current supporters when the next polls come out. But if his goal was to prove he can appeal beyond a hardcore conservative base and convince other voting blocs to take him seriously, his answers did not help.
The third Republican presidential debate in Colorado last night, a slugfest over the media, specifically the debate moderators.. Here Chris Matthews goes over three takeaways. Click through for a video and the remainder of the takeaways.
Huffington Post — In his parting gift to the House, outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) hammered out the deal with his fellow leaders in Congress and the White House, enraging the very members of his conference who edged him out.
The two-year deal, unveiled at midnight Monday, lifts the caps on sequestration — automatic budget cuts first put in place in 2011 — evenly across defense and nondefense accounts by a total of $80 billion. That money will be divided with $50 billion budgeted for the first year and $30 billion for the second. In addition, the bill also increases defense spending through the overseas contingency fund, a side piggybank that helps the White House pay for war operations, adding $32 billion to it over the two years.
In a 266-167 vote, the House passed the deal, which will keep the government from a default on Nov. 3, and increase the debt ceiling into March 2017. All Democrats and 79 Republicans voted in favor of it.
There is a Telus commercial from a number of years ago in which a teenager is complaining to her grandfather about her mother. After the conversation ends, the grandfather says "It's payback time!". I somehow think that John Boehner must feel like that. I thought that the agreement would never pass the House, and certainly the very conservative Freedom Caucus is wanting to rip Boehner a new pair. The vote for the new Speaker is today, so will the Freedom Caucus repudiate Ryan as a tit-for-tat response to the budget decision? Get your mittens out. It is getting frosty. Update: Ryan is the new Speaker
My Universe — It has rained heavily here last night and much of today, stopping briefly around 4 pm. It is back to raining cats and dogs which more than pisses off the cats. So this picture is for all the cat parents that forgot to ensure that Puddy was warm AND dry.
10 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 29/10/2015”
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4:46 – average down a little to 4:59 – I expect that's partly your fauly, Lynn, with your tiny score.
Nation – Yeah, I had trouble believeing he actually said all of that. It it was anytime recent, it would be highly inconsistent with everything else he has said, and certainly inconcictent with everything he has done. Not that inconsistency is all that unusual for a Republican.
MSNBC – http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/29/1442016/-Even-the-National-Review-says-Carson-is-lying-about-Mannatech – Daily Kos today. Then there's all the stuff brought out yesterday about homicidal mania.
HuffPo – Well, it's better than it could have been. But I'm awfully tired of thet being the best thing I can say about something.
Universe – Oh, goodness, you didn't do that to your furbabies, I hope!
No JD, my babes are not allowed outside, When they do escape, I stay outside with them, rain or shine.
Universe: Fantastic! I love it!
MSNBC: THIS is the guy who moved ahead of Trump in the polls-Are these people absolutely bonzo, or what?
Okay, I just got it…the dumber any of them can sound, and they are realllly taking this capacity (Music maestro-"Take it to the limit, take it to the limit, take it to the limit one more time,") to the end! Well, the dumber they can sound the more the intensely the right wing-nuts respond! It's pavlovian, and the GOPigs know it! Sadly, that's the fucking truth.
Yo, Ben – no relation w/ these charlatans?
OK – let's take a gander:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQSoHRwtwvI
Gee, you had NO problem taking money from those folks while promoting their product.
Ben, baby … seems to me that if, as Romney claimed, "Corporations are people, my friend" – then you just got caught having an illicit affair.
Just love the evidence on YouTube you provided. Had to read the comments and the most recent one when I checked made me giggle!
The Nation: Do you know how crazy this election is?
We got one candidate that says we ought to abolish Medicaid and Medicare — telling our people in this country who are seniors or about to be seniors that we're gonna abolish Medicaid and Medicare.
We've got one person saying we ought to have a 10 percent flat tax that'll drive up the deficit in this country by trillions of dollars.
We got one guy that says we ought to take 10 or 11 million people and pick them up, take them to the border, and scream at them to get out of our country.
We got people proposing health care reform that's gonna leave millions of people without adequate insurance.
Those are the actual policy proposals from the GOP frontrunners. And you literally don't have to take our word for it.
Every word in the first five paragraphs of this email was from Republican presidential hopeful John Kasich — who, incidentally, also wants to gut Medicaid, cut retirement benefits for seniors, slash taxes for the wealthy while increasing the deficit, and repeal Obamacare.
John Kasich is anything but "the reasonable one" He is an extremist if not one of the worst ones.
Added: Kasich has an impressively divisive record on issues beyond the economy. He signed some of the most restrictive abortion regulations in the country, speaks out against marriage equality, and once told an african american legislator that he didn't "need your people" in his cabinet.
MSNBC: Don't think much about Carson as he "muddies the waters" with his pronouncements. Those who support Carson are just as complicit in mudding the waters. Who are those Carson supporters? Jeb "Dumya" Bush is on the way out… Cruz: Blasting the media as being liberal. Cruz got that wrong. If anything, the media is right-winged. MSNBC is following suit and changing its liberal format into a conservative format similar to "Morning Joe" and faux news. Ugh!
HuffPo: John Boehner did a favor for Paul Ryan is getting the budget passed for the next two years, Now, Ryan does not have to worry about it. Ryan has his own agenda to take care of before his speakership is up at the end of 2016. Not looking forward to Paul Ryan as Speaker of the house.
Cartoon: Yep, that kittie will definitely tear you a new one. lol.
Love the cartoon! I think if cats could speak, that might well be truth with bad intentions.
"Update: Ryan is the new Speaker"
Ryan and Ayn Rand. The most extreme Speaker we have ever had. Pray the President and Vice-President stay safe and healthy.
Keep reminding yourself that you've just had a bout with a nasty flu, Lynn, or your body will remind you of it. Keep up the regime of plenty of fluids and catnaps and you'll be fine in a few days, I'm sure.
The Nation: At times like this we can be grateful for your efforts and those of Nameless, Judi and Joanne to keep TomCat's thread alive, and especially kicking, by keeping us informed about the antics of those in the Clown's car, especially those of that wolf in sheep's clothing, Kasich. He may look like a gentle, moderate lamb when he's on stage for a debate televised by national television, but as soon as he's out on the road campaigning again, he's just as bigoted and extreme like the rest of them, catering to that that same rabid base with the vilest pronouncements. Thank you for keeping us up to scratch with all of them.
MSNBC: Dr. Carson is giving a lot of very strange responses lately. I'm really starting to think there's something wrong with his mental condition. He may have dipped his head once too often in his own medicine cabinet or he's self-prescribing to get him through the debates and interviews.
In general, attacking the media and the debate moderators instead of answering very relevant questions may work for their rabid base – the ones cheering and applauding in the hall – but it will drive more and more moderate Republican voters, who do want to have these questions answered, away from the GOP. If these candidates keep this up, the GOP will ultimately reduced to the Tea Party.
Huffington Post: Of course it was pay-back time for Boehner, striking a budget deal behind the back of the Freedom Caucus, something he couldn't have done if he stayed on as Speaker. It's not a very good deal (too many cuts in the welfare corner, too much money for Defense) but it's the most rational one in his time as speaker and without too many unrelated but damaging amendments riding piggyback. And it's a deal for two years, giving Obama time to worry about other things and build on his legacy. One thing is for sure, though, Paul Ryan is off to a rough start and it's hard to imagine he'll do any better than Boehner with the increasingly irrational Freedom Caucus, so we don't have to expect him back in the elections of 2020.
My Universe: His revenge was even worse when he noticed they took the time to make a picture before letting him in. Not my universe this time: the cats that own me have their own catnap and come and go as they please, although they have me well trained to open the glass sliding doors by sitting in front off them, sometimes three in a neat row.
Meke that catflap in the last paragraph. I getting a little obsessed with catnaps.
Do feel better. Hugs!