It’s a muggy day, as it was yesterday, so I’m really looking forward to Wendy’s return tomorrow. It did interfere with my sleep last night, so I’ll be brief.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:48 (average 4:26). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From NY Times: President Obama will travel to Dallas on Tuesday to mourn the deaths of five white police officers gunned down by a black Army veteran, his latest effort to help bridge one of the starkest divides in American society.
He huddled with his speechwriters for much of Monday, hoping to find words that would not only console the officers’ grief-stricken families but also reassure a nation fearful that racial divisions are worsening after the Dallas slaughter and the killing days before of black men by the police in Louisiana and Minnesota.
Mr. Obama approached the effort with the frustration of a man who has poured his heart and soul into similar speeches, only to later feel that nothing has changed and no one is listening. This will be the 11th time in his presidency that he has sought to comfort a city after a mass killing, and the second time in a month that such a killing grew out of bias.
“The president recognizes that it’s not just people in Dallas who are grieving, it’s people all across the country who are concerned about the violence that so many Americans have witnessed in the last week or so,” Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said on Monday.
Republicans have criticized Obama for not leaving Europe to go to Dallas sooner. For the record, Obama asked the Speaker of the House to accompany him. Lyin’ Ryan is too busy with bogus investigations and spreading hate to go to Dallas. Hypocrite!!
From Alternet: Election lawyers in academia are wringing their hands over comments Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made to the New York Times about how she doesn’t want to consider what America—and the Court—would be like under a President Trump.
“I can’t imagine what this place would be—I can’t imagine what the country would be—with Donald Trump as our president,” Ginsburg told the Times. “For the country, it could be four years. For the court, it could be—I don’t even want to contemplate that.”
The Washington Post, which is perpetually infected with a self-assigned puritanical streak, was quick to question whether Ginsburg had “crossed a very important line,” because it’s possible the 2016 presidential election could end up before the Court in a vote count dispute.
“Generally, though, you don’t hear a Supreme Court justice talking like this,” wrote WaPo’s Aaron Blake. “In fact, you generally don’t hear a Supreme Court justice talking at all—much less about the big political issues of the day.”
I agree that it is certainly uncommon for a Justice to weigh-in, but for a monster like the presumptive Rectum of the Republican Party to be in such a position is unprecedented. Ginsburg actually went even further, saying that she would consider relocating to New Zealand, if Rump Dump wins the White House.
From Politicus USA: This is that time that Republicans stopped Americans from getting protection from the Zika virus because they feel they must first have the right to fly the Confederate flag over cemeteries.
I wish I were kidding. But behold. Yesterday, Senator Harry Reid excoriated Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for his cowardice after McConnell stabbed the American people in the back by allowing House Republicans to ruin the bipartisan MilCon-VA-Zika conference report.
You see, after Senate Republicans and Democrats hashed out a compromise on Zika funding that was less than what scientists asked for and thus less than what Democrats wanted but more than Republicans wanted, they sent that to the House. What came back?
Oh, sorry an American died from Zika and so sorry to the nearly 3,700 people in the U.S. (and territories) who have it, but Republicans will only fund the Zika emergency if they can fly the Confederate flag, create more abortions by refusing to fund birth control provided by Planned Parenthood, poison more water by exempting pesticides from the Clean Water Act, cut veterans funding and more.
Republicans care nothing for protecting the American People. We need protection from the Republican Party!
Cartoon:
14 Responses to “Open Thread – 7/12/2016”
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NYT: Wow!!! 11 times. So very sad. Ryan is an A- – for not going with our President to Dallas.
Mr. Obama is scheduled to speak at 1:40 CST.
*check it out @ whitehouse.gov.
AN: She should be commended for her comment, and also her comment re: the confirmation of Mr. Merrick as the 9th Justice is important too. I read somewhere, she said that about relocating to NZ.
Politicus: They just don't care. At. All. Anymore for any of us. Freaking sad. Reprehensible behavior by the Repugs.
Cartoon: So true. Depressing and sad to say the least.
Hope you get some much needed rest. How's your AC working for you? I hope good. We need rain. Dry as a picked bone here. Enjoy the rest of your day, and take good care, Thanks, Tom.
A clip of Representative John Lewis Says 'Nation Must Deal with Racism', Speaking at a news conference in the wake of the killing of five police officers in Dallas and two African Americans in separate incidents.
http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4609689/representative-john-lewis-says-nation-must-deal-racism
Here it is!
Around 4:10, I can't find the exact time now. They are cute, even if their life'a a soap.
Muggy is interfering with my sleep too, and with my balance, and with my breathing. You have my condolences.
NY Times – Well, yes. President Obama is real. Republicans are cardboard. At best. This is very well written and gives a good view into the process. WOuld that anyone who needs to would read it.
AlterNet – If Drumpf wins the White House, life on the Court for RBG would NOT be worth living. I could not fault her for desertion. She has suffered enough. Talk about giving your life for your country!
PoliticusUSA – From the PEN – "What is it with you poison pill Republican obstructionists? Can't you deal with an emergency public health crisis without an ax to grind for Planned Parenthood for the umpteenth time? Release the Zika defense funds without such strings attached, or in about 6 months your red state bible thumpers will be hollering for their abortions. This is treason!"
And here's the action page: https://www.utalk.us/?a=stop_zika
And then there's http://org.salsalabs.com/o/125/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=20076
Cartoon – Like I said – not-so-very good God!
Thanks JD, I signed.
You have mine as well.
Signed!
Well, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg certainly lived up to her "Notorious RBG" sobriquet, didn't she?
Like Pres. Obama, she appears to be all out of “Fuchs” to give. It was a classic “I’m old – so what are you going to do about it?” that we’ve probably all found so endearing in our grandparents … but maybe not so much in a sitting Justice.
So while I deeply enjoyed it on one level, I also think that it was a bit intemperate. If, heaven forbid, this election were to end up at SCOTUS like Bush-Gore, there’s no doubt she would have to recuse herself. At least we’d be guaranteed of avoiding a 4-4 tie.
It is muggy here, too, and hot. Dog days of summer are here. Yuck.
NY Times: The Republicans will criticize Obama for anything and everything. I got a meme on Facebook last week that said "The Hindenberg crashed and Obama did nothing". That is about the way it is. History will show how wrong they have been. As for Lyin Ryan, nothing surprises me. He really is a hypocrite.
Alternet: I say, good for Ginsberg. She is saying out loud what numerous others in authority should be. The media has much to answer for in this election. They are partially responsible for Trump's success, giving him free media coverage for everything he does. I hope she doesn't have to leave the country, she would be sorely missed.
Politics USA: Of course the Republican House cares nothing about the American public. Their continued obstruction of anything beneficial is to send the entire country back to Jim Crow laws and back room abortions. All the while, claiming they are Christians. Scuse me, but the Jesus I was taught about would not like any of them. McConnell is a huge embarrassment to me. I have never voted for him
Cartoon: Taking a page out of Lyin Ryan's book?
That's obe of Ryan's favorite pages.
Puzzle — 2:59 Cute little guy, but be very wary Puddle Cat. Fortunately for them, they run in gangs and always have a sentry posted, maybe two!
NY Times — Lyin' Ryan likely got a paper cut from pushing papers around on his desk, and then claimed a medical emergency preventing him from going to Dallas. Obama is in Europe on the nation's business and in touch with what's happening at home. He is thinking about the tragedy while Lyin' Ryan is thinking up ways to make Obama look bad. Obama is a concerned and compassionate man, while Lyin' Ryan is an asshole!
Alternet — New Zealand? I thought the preferred destination was Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia!
I agree with Nameless, intemperate. But who could blame her? The Republican Rectum as POTUS is very scary!
Politicususa — "This is your current Republican-led Congress. Mitch McConnell is trying to spin this as Democrats won’t pass a Zika bill, but in reality Republicans are once again holding the nation hostage in order to enact their extremist agenda in the most cowardly way possible, by attaching it to emergency funding." — Says it all! Hypocrites and flim-flam jackasses!
Cartoon — Shouldn't that read "Honour thy father and thy mother BY cutting their benefits."? That sounds much more Republican to me.
Thinking more about RBG, isn't it amusing that the very person (using the term loosely) who specialises in belacosity, lying, deception and "stepping in it", should be the one demanding an apology from RBG and her resignation! Isn't it amusing that the one who rails against political correctness, is the one trying to hide behind it!
Drumpf is a thin skinned, narcissistic meglomaniac who has no acquaintance with truth or decency. Is it any wonder that the Huffington Post prints a disclosure after articles it publishes about him that reads:
. . . and that's just the beginning! There is nothing in him worth salvaging! Throw him on the dung pile of history!
3:20 I guess Kats stick together, be they Toms or meers.
I wouldn't eat a fellow cat, but I had to protect him from getting foot-flattened by a marauding Sasquatch!
I cocer the intemperance today.
It's wet and muggy here too, and the temperatures aren't even at summer temperatures here. I hope you sleep better tonight, TomCat.
NYT: I'm not easily impressed, but I am by Obama's honest and frank speech. He knew he'd be criticized for it, as he's been criticized, default, for everything he does or doesn't do and he's past caring. Here's a speech from the heart by a man who's had to make too many similar speeches and can do nothing but hope that this is the last one before the end of his term. He tries to sound hopeful, but when he says he's "seen how inadequate words can be in bringing about lasting change. [He's] seen how inadequate [his] own words have been.” and then adds "we can watch positions harden and lines drawn, and people retreat to their respective corners, and politicians calculate how to grab attention or avoid the fallout" the realist in him shows that things will not get better under the current Republican regime.
I expected a speech like this from Obama and I also expected him to be criticized for not coming back sooner from his NATO summit meeting, which he did in fact cut short, but your remark on Paul Ryan's decline on joining Obama in Dallas is startling never the less. The double standards these Republicans adhere to never cease to amaze me.
Alternet: It's very understandable Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg let her feelings get the better of her and openly showed her dislike of Drumpf, but it wasn't a wise thing to do. It's difficult to stay away from political comments like that about a person she could have dealings with in the future, if not as a president then in one of the many Drumpf court cases that may end up before her, but it would have been better if she had resisted the temptation. In content she was absolutely right of course, but implying what she did, however gently put, will give Drumpf more ammunition in court cases to come as for example in his current "univerity" case.
PU: What?! Mitch McConnell let his ilk added a whole list of utterly disgusting Republican demands on the sly to the Zika funding, they compromised on earlier, in the knowledge that Reid would surely sink it. Why isn't there an outrage over this? Too busy with presidential elections perhaps?
Cartoon: I think the supply-side pseudo-Christians mean to say: "YOU honour your mother and father, while WE cut their benefits."
Thanks all!! Hugs!!