Politics Plus joins our LGBT friends, as they celebrate
their PRIDE in who they are!
Jun 192016
Jun 192016
Almost every week, Republicans join a competition to see who can say the most outlandish things, and in the process, they push the envelope on just how despicable InsaniTEA can become. I trust that you will believe it, when I tell you that last week was no exception.
Sterling public servant in Florida’s “inspirational message.”
Hours after the Orlando shooting, Florida Assistant State Attorney Kenneth Lewis found it appropriate to post this on Facebook:
“The entire city should be leveled. It is void of a single redeeming quality. It is a melting pot of 3rd world miscreants and ghetto thugs. It is void of culture. If you live down there you do it at your own risk and at your own peril. If you go down there after dark there is seriously something wrong with you.”
He was promptly suspended, apparently for violating the esteemed office’s social media policy, not for being an incredibly insensitive, dumb a**hole.
Notably, Lewis went to “sensitivity training” after a deeply offensive post two years ago on Mother’s Day, in which he suggested “crack hoes” should get their “tubes tied” and other warm and fuzzy thoughts he termed “inspirational.”
Might want to hire new sensitivity trainers.
From <Alternet>
How typically Republican!! This is just the fifth of five listed despicable Republican moments from last week alone! Click through for the other five.
Jun 192016
Tomorrow I undergo my first of two outpatient surgeries for ocular cancer. The second will be on Friday. Lynn, our beloved Sasquatch, will be doing the Open Threads until I can return, and she and Nameless will be managing the site. I do hope to make a brief appearance at least once a day.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:51 (average 4:45). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From NY Times: President Obama, Hillary Clinton and other Democrats are rallying around proposals to expand Social Security and increase benefits, a sea change after three decades dominated by concern over the program’s rising costs.
The Democrats’ new consensus was driven by the populist election-year politics of Senator Bernie Sanders and by a realization that many workers have neither traditional pensions nor any significant retirement savings.
Thank you Bernie! At the outset we didn’t dream you could go so far.
From Alternet: With Donald Trump’s poll numbers sinking into a death spiral, dozens of Republican delegates are now openly plotting a coup to overthrow him at this year’s Republican National Convention.
The Washington Post has scored an interview with GOP delegates who are leading the effort to allow delegates to vote their consciences at this year’s RNC so they can choose someone other than Trump. The rule change would allow delegates to unbind themselves based on “personal or religious conscience.”
That’s transparent election theft. I think the response of the Trump Humpers would be armed mayhem. Rump Dump has won the Republican nomination fair and square. He has a right to represent the Party that chose him at the ballot box, however abhorrent I consider him.
From TPM: During her speech at the New Hampshire Democratic party’s convention on Saturday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) continued her attacks on Donald Trump, calling him a "thin-skinned, racist bully."
"Donald Trump says he likes to see women on their knees," she told the crowd, according to NBC News. "Well, Donald, that’s not happening. Can you believe this guy? Democrats believe in equal pay for equal work and a woman’s right to decisions over her own body. And we’re ready to fight for it."
The Democratic senator also brought up the lawsuit over Trump University.
"Now Trump University failed, and that’s no surprise," Warren said, according to NBC News. "Think about all the other Trump failures. Trump casinos. Trump Airlines. Trump steaks. Trump magazines. Trump vodka. Trump Mortgage. Trump Games. Trump Travel. Trump Ice. Trump Network. Donald Trump is a proven businessman — a proven failure."
Warren said that Trump should be shaking "in his high-priced Italian loafers, begging the court to protect him, terrified about what happens if those videos go public and he is held accountable."
Keep it up, Lizzie!! You are still a national treasure.
Cartoon:
Jun 182016
One of the few things about which most Democrats have agreed is is that Debbie Wasserman Schultz has done a horrid job as the DNC Chair. Of course, a few think she is a Hillary Clinton ally, acting in her behalf, but many of those folks think Donald Trump, Beelzebub, and the ghosts of Adolf Hitler and Ronnie Ray Gun are also Hillary Clinton allies. One person who does not think so is Hillary Clinton.
In 2008, when then-Sen. Barack Obama sewed up the nomination, his team rushed to fill the ranks of the Democratic National Committee. That is normal, as the committee’s No. 1 task is to support the presidential campaign (the Senate and House Democrats have their own committees).
If you remember, Howard Dean was the head of the DNC at the time, and he remained nominally in charge, but Obama’s team was in full control. Dean had been moved to the sidelines. It wasn’t an antagonistic move. It simply meant that the presidential campaign and the DNC had to be in sync, and the best way to manage that is to have people from the same team in charge. So with that bit of background, say goodbye to Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Hillary Clinton's campaign is taking the reins of the Democratic National Committee, installing a new top official on Thursday to oversee the party's day-to-day operations through the general election.
Brandon Davis, national political director for the Service Employees International Union, will become the general election chief of staff for the Democratic Party. His selection formalizes the coordination of the Clinton campaign and the committee, a stark contrast to Donald Trump who is currently at odds with his party…
From <Daily Kos>
Schultz will be relegated to fundraising and cheerleading, while Davis actually runs the Democratic Party. Davis appears to be the opposite of Schultz. He's competent, charismatic, energized, and progressive.
I have to admit that, assuming Hillary actually gets the nomination, my support for her will include a held nose, but I give her just credit for doing this right!!
Jun 182016
I’m waiting for Julie to arrive, so I’m sure I’ll finish this after she is gone. This weekend I want to do two things: rest and hydrate.
Julie has come and gone. She made me a primped Puddy Tat, and I fed her baby back ribs.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:31 (average 5:53). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Killer Dawg Update (taken Wednesday):
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: Consider this: John McCain has just said something just as, if not even more insane and offensive than Donald Trump:
John McCain: Obama is ‘directly responsible’ for Orlando attack
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the elder Republican statesman, said President Obama was “directly responsible” for the terror attack in Orlando due to his failure to combat the rise of the Islamic State terror group.
McConJob has now whored himself so far that he’s aping Rump Dump Trump.
From NY Times: Senator Marco Rubio of Florida is leaning heavily toward running for re-election to the seat he swore he was giving up after six often frustrating years and a failed presidential run, associates said on Friday, a reversal that would upend one of the most competitive races in the country.
Mr. Rubio could make his decision public early next week after he spends the weekend with his family in Florida weighing the personal, political and financial considerations of another campaign. One adviser who described the senator as “all in” said Mr. Rubio’s staff members had already begun scouting a site for a possible announcement.
The last thing we need in the Senate is a Border Booter Bot, a Republican racist Latino, bigoted against his own people.
From Washington Post: Bernie Sanders could offer an endorsement of presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton before the party’s convention next month, depending on the outcome of ongoing policy talks between the two campaigns, Sanders’s campaign manager said Friday.
Jeff Weaver, a longtime Sanders confidant, said that he has been encouraged by discussions over several policy issues important to Sanders — including a plan for tuition-free college — that Sanders would like to see as part of the Democratic legislative agenda going forward. Clinton and Sanders began talks in earnest over such issues during a meeting Tuesday in Washington.
“The resolution of those issues are important to determining any timetable” for a potential endorsement, Weaver said, adding that the outcome could also determine “how closely the campaigns work together” heading into the fall to defeat Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.
During an address live-streamed across the country Thursday night, the senator from Vermont did not concede the Democratic nomination to Clinton but told supporters that he plans “in a short period of time” to start working to see that “Donald Trump is defeated and defeated badly.”
Thank you, Bernie!
Cartoon:
Republicans want to repeal US support for it.
Jun 182016
From the New York Times I learned this week that Garrison Keillor hosted his last “A Prairie Home Companion” on May 21 and retired from the homespun Americana musical variety program he created in 1975; this time for real. If you’re not from the US, like me, you may well ask: “Garrison who?”, unless you’re familiar with his book “Lake Wobegon Days” he published in 1985. The book, and the ones that followed, is a collection of stories about the everyday life in a fictitious little town somewhere in Minnesota, resembling many small farm towns in the upper Midwest, and loosely based on his relatives, friends and neighbors of Scandinavian and German descent in the area he grew up in. To this foreigner these endearing and often humorous stories were a diorama of American country life.
It wasn’t until I traveled the Blue Ridge Parkway some 15 years ago and heard the radio broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion, in which he rendered another story of “News from Lake Wobegon” with his unique and very recognizable voice, that I first realized Garrison Keillor was not only an author of books, but also a humorist, columnist, musician, satirist, and radio personality. Only much later I learned that the program was very popular, was broadcasted by nearly 600 radio stations across America and that Lake Wobegon had become a concept familiar to many Americans. It had even led “Professor David G Myers to coin ‘the Lake Wobegon effect’, a natural human tendency to overestimate one's capabilities. The characterization of the fictional location, where ‘all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average,’ has been used to describe a real and pervasive human tendency to overestimate one's achievements and capabilities in relation to others. The Lake Wobegon effect, where all or nearly all of a group claim to be above average, has been observed in high school students' appraisal of their leadership, drivers' assessments of their driving skill, and cancer patients' expectations of survival.” (Wikipedia)
From: http://www.garrisonkeillor.com/pressclips/
“But why are you posting an article about Garrison Keillor on Politics Plus?” I hear you ask. Because in his mild satire on anything American he’s also written some columns and items for his program on the current political landscape and the candidates in the primary election. Let’s start with Bernie Sanders. In No fogies in the Oval Office, please (Pittsburg Post-Gazette, April 17, 2016) Keillor notes that all remaining candidates (Sanders, Clinton and Trump) are of his own age: “Young people are flocking to Bernie Sanders who, given two terms in office, would be Leader of the Free World until age 83, setting a new record — Ronald Reagan was just shy of 78. Where is that new generation of leadership we keep hearing about at college commencements?” Keillor is very tongue-in-cheek about the age of the candidates and more so of Sanders who just as old as he is himself. But he does hint at Ronald Reagan’s dementia, which may have set in before he left the Oval Office, and which is worrying to Keillor. Although it’s clear he’s not a Sanders supporter, he builds up to tearing into his true and greatest dislike: Donald Trump and Republicans. In his last line it becomes apparent whom he supports: “Good luck to the candidates and may the best woman win. She’s 68, but women age more gracefully. Just ask your mother.”
Garrison Keillor isn’t one to question the political ideas of the Democratic candidates to be divisive. Instead he satirizes those thing that have little or nothing to do with political content but nevertheless play such a large role in the debates, such as age or gender. In “What will Bill Clinton be wearing?” (Chicago Tribune, May 17, 2016) he gently mocks Hillary Clinton turning the tables on her husband and Bill’s ability to accept his new position as first gentleman: “It's good to hear that Bill Clinton will be put in charge of revitalizing the economy in a Hillary administration and be sent to troubled areas such as Appalachian coal country and inner-city Detroit, and not just promote literacy or physical fitness, the usual first lady things. But I hope that at state dinners and other major White House events, we'll be able to read about what he's wearing.” But he can’t keep himself from pointing out what it would be like if her Republican opponent were to become president: “(If the Big Snapper is elected in November, [getting no credit for how he looks from the press] will change: He’ll be wearing his own labels and product placement will be very important in his administration, even huge.)”
Which brings me to the candidate which brings out real sarcasm in the normally cool and subdued Keillor: Donald Trump. In “Think moving abroad will save you from Trump? Think again.” (The Washington Post, March 16, 2016) all niceties are dropped: “If you want to escape from the Great White Turtle, you could move to New York. New Yorkers saw through this guy 20 years ago, a living, breathing cartoon of a tycoon, vulgarity on wheels, a man who was very lucky that his father was born before he was, and they have closed the book. So he takes his show on the road [ ], and so the intelligentsia is working ever harder, trying to figure him out. It’s like psychoanalyzing a toasted bagel. The guy paid $29 million for a 282-foot yacht, sailed on it once, got seasick, and never sailed again. He likes tall models with foreign accents. He dyes his hair. He likes to read about himself. What else do you want to know?”
But perhaps Keillor says it best when in his role as host of “A Prairie Home Companion” he skewers Trump in Poe’s classic poem “The Raven”:
Garrison Keillor retires from hosting his program, but I think he’s not done commenting on politics yet and will have more to say about the election, and especially about Donald Trump, in the coming months. At least I hope he does.
Jun 182016
I have just one "subject" today which seems to me to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with it. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as "unceasing," "grudging," and "vengeful destruction."
I say it's a "subject" because it isn't a single incident, which is what I usually try to find, nor even a group of incidents tied by a common thread, but all having names attached, as I used last week. It's a systemic issue which affects people in every one of the United States' fifty. It's nothing we haven't seen before in individual cases, but we may not have looksd at how thoroughly our justice system is permeated with it. And just this month a new book has been published about it.
Now, I'm not here to sell books (or anything else), and I haven't bought this one, so I'll be leaning heavily on the interview in Take Part which led me to the subject, and on a white paper the author, Dr. Alexes Harris, a Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington, posted while the book was still in progress.
When we think about a person "paying" for his crimes, we generally think about someone spending time in prison, or occasionally and if the sentence is short enough, in jail. Unless it's, say a speeding ticket, and then one simply pays the fine and it's over. We don't think that "anyone convicted of any type of criminal offense is subject to fiscal penalties or monetary sanctions." Nor that "[T]he base fine of, say, a speeding ticket or even a major criminal conviction is just a small portion of the total cost. There are fines, fees, interest, surcharges, per payment and collection charges, and restitution." Least of all does it occur to us that "Until these debts are paid in full, individuals who have otherwise 'done their time' remain under judicial supervision and are subject to court summons, warrants, and even jail stays."
Naturally, no one wants debt haning over their heads. So those who can manage to do so, pay the fines up front. For those who cannot, all the additional charges, particularlt those which accrue over time, combine to make legal debt a life sentence. One which disproportionately affects the poor, the unemployed, the homeless, and those suffering mental or physical illness.
Every state has provision in law for fines to be imposed upon conviction in addition to incarceration. Also, individual counties, judicial district, parishes, whatever, can impose their own fines and fees, by county code, or informally, at the discretion of local clerks' offices. Some of these appear to me to be in violation of the Constitution. For example, in Louisiana, indigent defendants are assessed an up front fee for their public defender. In North Carolina, every felony defendant, regardless of whether or not convicted, is assessed a "cost of justice" fee. Wasn't there something in the Fourth Amendment about unreasonable search and seizure?
Legally speaking, monetary sanctions like fines and fees are part of a court sentence. Until these are paid in full, the individual's life belings to the court. Even if all else is completed, imagine trying to get a job, rent a place to live, or, God forbid, get a loan with legal debt hanging over your credit record. Legal debt effectively derails prospects for success after conviction.
So why do states (and counties) keep piling these on? Are they actually getting any money from those who are desperately poor? Well, if they can get enough very small payments, they can at least believe they are. In 2012, for insance, Washington State generated $29 million from half a million people. Dr. Harris added, "The court clerks I talked to all said they needed this source of income but couldn’t tell me where it was going. I have a new project where I’m trying to figure out where all of this money goes—how much is generated and recovered and what percentage goes where."
And the debt keeps increasing: (emphasis mine)
Ironically, as a result of mass conviction and incarceration, jurisdictions cannot afford criminal justice costs. 
They are attempting to literally transfer these expenses to defendants. Since the vast majority of people who receive felony convictions in the U.S. have minimal employment and income prospects post-conviction, monetary sanctions deepen existing inequalities. Poor people carry the onerous weight of a criminal record in very different ways and for longer periods of time than those with financial resources and good connections (that is, people from whom they can borrow money). In effect, because they can’t pay their debts, the poor become perpetual subjects of the criminal justice system.
I think perhaps we will need a multi-pronged strategy to deal with this situation. Tisiphone, because it's difficult for mortals to find out the facts – court systems are not autmated, and, in the rare cases in which they are, they are not consistent – "[W]e cannot know how many are jailed or how much is spent on monitoring, arresting, and incarcerating people for non-payment. Researchers truly cannot calculate the total criminal justice resources consumed in managing legal debtors, collecting outstanding debt, and sanctioning those who have not made payments." I am asking you to find out how much of this mess, if any, is productive – and how much is just vengeful destruction. Megaera, you need to attack the grudging attitudes of those who would make all criminal justice into "pay to play," further disadvantaging the poor. And, Alecto, you need to pester legislators, bureaucrats, and activists without ceasing, because this travesty will never end until we end it, and we apparently need our feet held to the fire and our noses to the grindstone (now, there's an image).
Not that there aren't plenty of other things wrong with criminal justice in the United States. But this would be a start.
The Furies and I will be back.
Cross posted to Care2 at http://www.care2.com/news/member/101612212/3993483
Jun 172016
(Due to a major PC glitch resulting from the automatic downloaded “Windows Update” I’m going to do a simple brief tribute recognizing some of the vigils and remembrances from around the world for the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando.)
American flags and a rainbow banners hang at the Paris City Hall Monday, June 13, 2016 in Paris. The Eiffel Tower will shine in the colors of a rainbow on Monday night to honor victims of the mass shooting at an Orlando gay club. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Paris City Hall
Berlin Memorial in Front of US Embassy
People attend a candlelight vigil for the victims of the Orlando attack against a gay night club, held in San Francisco, California, U.S. June 12, 2016. REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach – RTX2FVPG
San Francisco City Hall
Zurich Church
Brussels City Hall
Sydney City Hall
Lapel Pin from Mayor of Paris
People hold a gathering to mourn victims of the shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, in Hong Kong, China June 13, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip – RTX2FY0D
People hold up signs in solidarity at a candlelight vigil in remembrance for mass shooting victims in Orlando, from San Diego, California, U.S. June 12, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake – RTX2FVAY
Love Is Greater than Hate
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 26: Rainbow colored lights shine on the White House to celebrate todays US Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage June 26, 2015 in Washington, DC. Today the high court ruled 5-4 that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage in all 50 states. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Obama Biden Pat Back
