I’m preparing to leave for an appointment that will take all morning, and I will finish and post this article, after I return.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:53 (average 7:10)., To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From NY Times: President Obama, resigned to his failure to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, is looking past his time in office and weighing a plan that would preserve at least the principle of a two-state solution for his successor to pursue.
The White House is debating whether the president should lay down the outlines of an agreement, several officials said, perhaps through a resolution at the United Nations Security Council or in a presidential speech. The objective would not be to revive direct negotiations — almost nobody believes that is likely now — but to enshrine the proposals Secretary of State John Kerry made during his last failed effort at peacemaking in 2014.
As much as I hate to say it, this is nothing but smoke and mirrors. There can be no two state solution, as long as Israel remains in violation of treaties in their pursuit of a one state solution. The only proper role for the US is to cut all military aid and stop all military supply to Israel, until Israel decides to honor past agreements.
From Daily Kos: The National Republican Senatorial Committee quickly deleted the tweet below Tuesday afternoon, but “quickly” wasn’t soon enough for a screw-up of this magnitude.
1) Tammy Duckworth is a veteran.
2) Tammy Duckworth is a veteran whose combat-related injuries left her a DOUBLE AMPUTEE—she lost both legs. Under the circumstances, “standing up” may, just may, have been the wrong idiom to use.
Republican "support" for our troops extends no further than using them as cannon fodder in the pursuit of 0.1% profit. This tweet perfectly illustrates their compassion for and commitment to veterans.
From Real Clear Politics: The latest delegate count
|
State |
Date |
Delegates |
Clinton |
Sanders |
Delegate Allocation |
Open/ Closed |
|
(2,382 Needed to Win) |
– |
4763 |
1221 |
571 |
– |
– |
|
Delegates Won |
– |
4051 |
745 |
540 |
|
|
|
Superdelegates |
– |
(712) |
461 |
25 |
|
|
|
Iowa |
February 1 |
44 (8) |
23 |
21 |
Caucus |
Semi-open |
|
New Hampshire |
February 9 |
24 (8) |
9 |
15 |
Primary |
Semi-closed |
|
Nevada |
February 20 |
35 (8) |
19 |
15 |
Caucus |
Closed |
|
South Carolina |
February 27 |
53 (6) |
39 |
14 |
Primary |
Open |
|
Alabama |
March 1 |
53 (7) |
44 |
9 |
Primary |
Open |
|
American Samoa |
March 1 |
6 (4) |
|
|
Caucus |
Closed |
|
Arkansas |
March 1 |
32 (5) |
22 |
10 |
Primary |
Open |
|
Colorado |
March 1 |
66 (13) |
28 |
38 |
Caucus |
Closed |
|
Democrats Abroad |
March 1-8 |
13 (4) |
|
|
Primary |
Closed |
|
Georgia |
March 1 |
102 (14) |
72 |
28 |
Primary |
Open |
|
Massachusetts |
March 1 |
91 (25) |
46 |
45 |
Primary |
Semi-closed |
|
Minnesota |
March 1 |
77 (16) |
29 |
46 |
Caucus |
Open |
|
Oklahoma |
March 1 |
38 (4) |
17 |
21 |
Primary |
Semi-closed |
|
Tennessee |
March 1 |
67 (9) |
42 |
22 |
Primary |
Open |
|
Texas |
March 1 |
222 (30) |
145 |
74 |
Primary |
Open |
|
Vermont |
March 1 |
16 (10) |
0 |
16 |
Primary |
Open |
|
Virginia |
March 1 |
95 (15) |
61 |
33 |
Primary |
Open |
|
Louisiana |
March 5 |
51 (8) |
35 |
12 |
Primary |
Closed |
|
Nebraska |
March 5 |
25 (5) |
10 |
14 |
Caucus |
Closed |
|
Kansas |
March 5 |
33 (4) |
10 |
23 |
Caucus |
Closed |
|
Maine |
March 6 |
25 (5) |
7 |
15 |
Caucus |
Closed |
|
Mississippi |
March 8 |
36 (5) |
29 |
4 |
Primary |
Open |
|
Michigan |
March 8 |
130 (17) |
58 |
65 |
Primary |
Open |
In spite of Bernie’s magnificent victory in Michigan, Hillary came away with an increase in her lead of 18 pledged delegates.
Cartoon:
12 Responses to “Open Thread–3/9/2016”
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5:30 Oooh – high average – a toughie. I wonder who gets to name dahlia varietals. I've contributed to requests for suggested names for iris varietals but never been selected.
NY Times – The impossibillity of success is no reason not to try. I certainly take your point.
DKos – Sadly, there will be some, even some veterans, who will believe this canard. We can only hope there will be enough who are disgusted by it to make a difference. I'm a veteran who thinks Tammy is great.
RCP – It still isn't over till it's over..
Cartoon – Yeah, it works great on blacks, except here you have to hide the effects under smokescreens of "election fraud."
Man! The Repukkklicans have sunk WAY below the belt!! Trying to use Tammy Duckworth as a political joke! How insanely RUDE! Not to mention the fact that she is a VETERAN and lost her legs to the war they fabricated!!! SORRY S.O.B.!!! Unforgivable! They will the the day that they used a VETERAN in one of their attack ads!!!
The cartoon illustrates HumptyTrump's presidential campaign! That's what it will boil down to! His use of vulgarities in a presidential race should disqualify him for EVER holding office, of any kind!!!
NYT: At least he tried, and is planning and hoping for a resolution to whomever steps in next.
DK: What disrespectul ID's! As a veteran, I salute her with the utmost respect. Ms. Duckworth is an Iraq War veteran. She is the first Asian American woman elected to Congress in Illinois, the first disabled woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and the first member of Congress born in Thailand. She also speaks three languages.
RCP: Go, Bernie GO!!!
Cartoon: Jews denied voting rights and forbidden to hold public office. Yes, it works well with minorities too.
Hope your appointment went well. Enjoy the rest of your day, take care, and Thanks, Tom.
I agree he should try something more towards peace and understand how this Congress has made the choice in the US's best interest impossible to choose with their disrespect of international law.
Duckworth deserves far better and is also owed a public apology from whoever used that account and from GOP party leaders.
If superdelegates resembled delegates from votes there would be no problem and all would see the close race the voters intended. I do not ever recall this kind of out of sync in past elections and thus hope Pelosi gets it fixed before the convention.
Voting rights are important–and am watching NC where new lines apparently as bad as what the court threw out are in court now–seeds of chaos for their upcoming primaries.
4:31 Who dun it? It certainly was not me. I'm too slow.
3:10 Pretty in pink!
Looking forward to grinning from ear-to-ear when Senator-Elect Tammy Duckworth "Stands Up Tall" and "Kicks some Rethuglican Asses"!
NY Times: I seriously wonder if anyone can broker a deal with Israel and Palestine.
Daily Kos: The NSRC shows its total lack of class once again. I have heard her speak in tv, she is no pushover, she will call them out on this, and rightly so.
Real Clear Politics: Much as I like Bernie, it is beginning to look like I will be voting for Hillary in November.
Cartoon: We are showing way too much similarity to pre WW2 Germany, makes me very uncomfortable.
Puzzle — 3:10 Pretty in pink!
NY Times — Before there can be a sustainable peace, the parties have to want peace. I am not convinced that Israel wants peace. The rhetoric and actions coming from Netanyahu and the right wing certainly don't support peace. I wonder if its tune would change if Israel did not have the US military aid that it holds now? If Israel did not have US aid, would another nation, say Russia, step in to fill the void? Hard to say, but Russia has never been particularly pro Israel, but Putin is an opportunist. Can't say Syria and Iran would appreciate Russia cosying up to Israel.
Daily Kos — Tasteless and insensitive is an understatement. But then we are talking about Republicans! The NY Times story gives a little more detail about the Republican "thinking", but this sure is a case of the pot calling the kettle black!
Real Clear Politics — I hope Bernie stays in, all the way in through the convention. Even if he doesn't win the nomination, he is forcing Clinton a bit to the left, something that may come back to haunt her if she doesn't keep to her "new" positions.
Cartoon — I have oft wondered how Republicans would deal with being treated like they treat minorities . . . voter suppression etc. They'd squeal like stuck pigs!
Good grief, even I know that Tammy Duckworth is not only a veteran but a double amputee, and supports veterans (unlike the Repugs)! How can I know more than Republican advisors who live there and …. oh. Sorry. Of course….. I wonder if they have done it on purpose? Were they trying to deflect attention from some other even greater faux pas?
Thanks for posting , TomCat. I hope your appointment went well and that you can take it easy for a while.
NYT: I agree with you completely, TomCat. All this is to placate the growing opposition to Israel's policies while nothing really is being done about annexing the West Bank, the Apartheid "for Jews only" state it has grown into and the way the Palestinians and anyone who criticizes the current regime is treated. Saying that "The objective would not be to revive direct negotiations — almost nobody believes that is likely now" is a cop-out if the billions of (military) aid by America are not stopped to force respecting signed treaties and UN resolutions. But that is not going to happen while the Republicans have Congress and also have such close ties with Netanyahu and his government.
DK: The NRSC can't campaign on positive aspects of the GOP for the simple reason that there aren't any, so they've gone on the defensive and have been resorting to mud slinging, character assassination, defamation and a big pack of lies for years now. You'd think they would be a little better at mud slinging than this by now, wouldn't you? I can't wait for Tammy Duckworth's retort.
RCP: I hope Bernie Sanders sticks to it to the very end because there are a lot of issues that Hillary Clinton still has too corporate views on that need to be forced out in the open.
Cartoon: On the poster, the Jew is blamed for the war Hitler was about to start. Before that Hitler and his party had already taken the vote away from them to make sure they couldn't oppose it and the terrible things he had in mind for them. Ah, there's that little bell again, telling me this sounds all very familiar…
Thanks all! Hugs!! In a rush!!