Today is a grocery delivery day, so I took my nap in the morning to be up when they arrive. The hot muggy weather continues unabated. I’m running late because of a snafu with my Outlook Calendar. I added Canadian Holidays, and there are so damn many of them that they cause some of my real appointments to be hidden in the month view. There is on obvious way to remove them. ARGH!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:12 (average 4:56). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Snopes.com: …Clinton announced that Wasserman Schultz had subsequently "agreed to serve as honorary chair of [the Clinton] campaign’s 50-state program to gain ground and elect Democrats in every part of the country," adding that the former chair would "continue to serve as a surrogate for my campaign nationally"…
…This announcement was received by many as meaning that Schultz had been "promoted" to a position of "running the Hillary Clinton campaign," but others noted that the gesture was merely a symbolic courtesy:
Republicans and Regressives don’t seem to understand what honorary means, as so many are distorting it wildly. Other that no money, no staff and no power, it’s a great job. It was intended only to give DWS the appearance of a normal exit.
From NY Times: American intelligence agencies have told the White House they now have “high confidence” that the Russian government was behind the theft of emails and documents from the Democratic National Committee, according to federal officials who have been briefed on the evidence…
…The emails were released by WikiLeaks, whose founder, Julian Assange, has made it clear that he hoped to harm Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the presidency. It is unclear how the documents made their way to the group. But a large sampling was published before the WikiLeaks release by several news organizations and someone who called himself “Guccifer 2.0,” who investigators now believe was an agent of the G.R.U., Russia’s military intelligence service.
I’m not sure where, but I commented somewhere (probably here) that I would not take the story of the DNC emails seriously, until I had more confirmation than just the Regressive echo chamber sites. Now the story is confirmed, and as I have said, DWS should be driven from the party. However, it should be noted that Hillary Clinton has been requesting that DWS be removed for over a year, but Obama wanted to avoid the controversy. The second thing is that the purpose of the leak seems to be to discredit Hillary, even though there is no evidence to support any involvement by her in DWS’ unethical practices. Therefore I speculate that Donald Trump (R-Hades) and Vladimir Putin (R-RU) may have cooperated.
From PoliticusUSA: “I want to thank you for standing with us and supporting us, and we’d like to leave with you what God has given us: strength, love and peace,” Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, said in a moment of profound emotion Tuesday night, during the second session of the DNC.
“This isn’t about being politically correct. This is about saving our children,” Fulton said earlier, making it clear that asking for justice and saving lives is not asking people to be “politically correct”.
Fulton was speaking as a member of Mothers of the Movement, a group of women who lost their children due to gun violence or police brutality. They banded together at Hillary Clinton’s suggestion, in order to protect black Americans and reform our criminal justice system.
“You don’t stop being a mom when your child dies,” the mother of Jordan Davis said. Lucy McBath continued, “I lived in fear my son would die like this. I even warned him that because he was a young, black man he would meet people who didn’t value his life.”
“I am still Jordan Davis’s mother. His life ended the day he was shot and killed for playing loud music. But my job as his mother didn’t.”
Saying that Hillary Clinton invited the mothers to become a part of the solution, McBath said, “We’re going to keep building a future where police officers and communities of color work together in mutual respect to keep children like Jordan safe. Because the majority of police officers are good people doing a good job.”
Hear that? There was no demonizing of police.
The way those women told their stories in a loving, non-condemnatory way brought tears to my eyes. They certainly were a contrast to the way in which Republican racists whooped and hollered in bloodthirsty glee to a speakers announcement that the all the cops that killed Freddie Gray had gotten off.
Cartoon:
15 Responses to “Open Thread – 7/27/2016”
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6:06 (4:56) I knew it was going to be harder then it looked.
Sorry I'm no Outlook expert. I use a freeware calendarnthat gives me popups with sounds, and I can add sounds to it unless heck freezes over. Sorry you are having trouble with it.
Snopes – Yes indeed. here's an expanded explanation: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/7/25/1551930/-Debbie-Wasserman-Schultz-did-not-get-promoted-and-she-s-not-running-Hillary-s-campaign
NY Times – Well, the leakers are probably far more despicable than the leakee. But the leak is valid..
We spoke yesterday about a possible petition to Joe Biden. I could not find one, and even Tim Canova's campaign does not know of any open petition to Joe Biden. So it looks like we are on our own. I also gave a web address yesterday to contact him individually, but i'll repeat it: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact and drop down to Biden. Here's my draft:
PoliticusUSA – It's been said so well (or, when ugly, so clearly) that I don't know anything to add except "By their fruits ye shall know them."
Cartoon – Nailed it again!
Politicus: What a great and heartfelt article, passing this on, we do need Love and Hope for our Future!!
Cartoon: Sneaky snake(s). Very scary!
It's pouring rain here, one extreme to the other….
I am not computer saavy at all, so I can't help except to bemoan with you your frustration. Enjoy your evening, take care, and Thanks, Tom.
Clinton also lauded DWS for all she did, that even Obama and Reid didn't agree with as an accurate assessment. DK is more accurate Joanne.
Thus it is may be trying to counter the valid criticism that she always has someone take the fall for her (like the destroyed careers of those who helped her on her SOS email system) or perhaps because she really owes DWS for not revealing any complicity…I'm not sure it could be due to guilt of DWS viewing her as her primary role model and her related mentorship…
You do know that the definition of regressive, in politics, applies to Clinton far more than any who criticize her?
I think you had better find a term that actually means something like how you use it (i.e., those who find good reason not to trust Clinton [majority of Americans] no matter what their politics are and do not choose to support her brand of evil).
I saw one hand written sign during roll call at the convention that sums up my thoughts on how little the party and Clinton have promised anything related to criminal justice reform and related institutional racism (why there was a major BLM protest outside the convention that most media, including Clinton's liberal press supporters, ignored along with the environmental protests and so many more): "Actions speak louder than words." Clinton has no history of progressive action and Kaine very little, with lots of neocon/neoliberal action often supported by the GOP.
JL, the definitions you gave for Regressive previously were the Oxford Dictionary's third choice and what a Hillary hater made up and added to Urban Dictionary, where anyone can define any words however they please. You might want to look at regressive left there, which is much more in line with the way I defined it. Also, consider Oxford Dictionary's MAIN definition:
Becoming less advanced; returning to a former or less developed state
The regressive is the one that rejects progress.
Around the time of Oregon's primary, when Bernie still had a good mathematical chance of winning the Democratic nomination, Hillary confidently stated that there was no way she was not going to be the Democratic nominee. That suggests to me that she knew the fix was in, and if she knew the fix was in, she was complicit in everything DWS did in regards to the Clinton campaign. If there's a lack of evidence that Hillary was involved, it's because it's being covered up.
Around the time of Oregon's primary, Clinbton was so far ahead that the only way Bernie could win was to take remaining few states in a landslide. In the absence of any evidence that would happen, her statement was reasonable. That lends no support to conspiracy theories.
I don't see why there is a big deal about the DNC emails at all. After all, the D stands for Democratic and Sanders is an independent. Of course they would be in favor of the democrat. This isn't rocket science.
Excellent point.
However, at that point he had registered as a Democrat and was running in Democratic primary elections. I see the point certainly and it's one way to look at it. Assange did not release the emails to hurt DWS, he did it to hurt Hillary, and it seems to have backfired with all but a few diehards. I have been biting my tongue for a long time but I have NEVER trusted Assange.
3:37 You won't find me on the beach sunning myself. Sasquatches prefer lots of trees to walk amongst and conceal themselves!
Snopes.com: The Thom Hartman show suggested that this was done to keep her from using the gavel on pening night of the convention. Pragmatism?
NY Times: DWS should have been gone a long time ago, and it is deplorable to read the actual proof of what they were doing to Bernie Sanders. Assange will never reveal how he got the information, and I doubt our government will release much either. I am sure Putin would love to influence our election, and he would fare far better with Trump than with Clinton in the White House.
Politics USA: Those ladies showed more class than the entire Republican party has been able to do. I have such respect for all of them. Mothers of the Movement is a group I would never want to belong to, losing a child has to be the hardest one thing to survive.
Cartoon: Stop insulting snakes. LOL.
Puzzle — 3:37 You won't find me on the beach sunning myself. Sasquatches prefer lots of trees to walk amongst and conceal themselves!
Snopes — Makes sense. The publicity about impeding Bernie's campaign and her role therein was enough to taint her. That, a payday loan scandal and a 5 year contentious term of leadership of the DNC really do make her persona non grata. This way she saves a bit of face, but not much. I doubt this will meaning to anyone else except DWS.
NY Times — . . . and of course Drumpf is making, or shall I say trying to "make hay while the sun shines" without regard to the consequences.
PoliticusUSA — I saw a brief excerpt which was excellent! The targeting of African Americans by some police is unacceptable. In a Drumpf Republican Administration, such attacks will only increase.
Cartoon — A striking resemblance to Drumpf!
Sorry about your snafu, TomCat. It's always easier to add something in Microsoft than to remove it. The thought that you're not happy with an addition just doesn't occur to them and there's just no reversal option and you're left to do what you're doing now: taking it out one by one.
Snopes: The list of some of the 24(!) people who have been honorary chair of campaign for Obama's 2012 campaign makes it abundantly clear that DWS has been sent packing, but they gave her a nice suitcase to do so. And from experience I know you don't put a knife in someone's back and turn it around for good measure when they accept the nice suitcase and leave on their own accord. You thank them for the work they've done and give them the opportunity to leave gracefully, showing some grace yourself. Kicking DWS when she's already down would have been the Drumpfian way.
NYT: Drumpf loves Putin, and wants to become BFF as soon as he wins the election. He's been quite clear on that from the start. And Putin probably doesn't like Drumpf very much, but would be a fool not to favor Drumpf over Clinton in the White House, and having no scruples just like Drumpf, Putin is not adverse to meddling in American politics to strengthen his own position in the world. But unless ALL the DNC's e-mails are up for grabs for Russian hackers, or the NSA or whomever is behind it, someone must have known these emails existed and told them what to look for, or have leaked these particular emails to/as Guccifer themselves, don't you think?
Politicususa: The way of the Mothers of the Movement is the way forward, the only way forward. No demonizing of police, but working towards "a future where police officers and communities of color work together in mutual respect." Drumpf does everything in his power to undermine that and to divide people even further, Clinton invites them to speak at the DNC and become part of the solution. What part of "Unite and don't let Drumpf become the next head of state" don't you understand, progressives?
Cartoon: And yet some maintain that it's only a harmless, non-poisonous little snake.
Snopes: DWS getting a figuehead, "nice" way out, ought to not hurt anyone. Should she try to wrangle her way back towards power, she ought to be stopped, asap, by those who do have power.
NYT: If Hillary was not involved in the DNC project to pull the rug out from under Bernie's feet; IF Rumpy was involved in the leaks, perhaps with his possibly good buddy in totalitarianism, Putin, then this might turn out to benefit Hillary in the long run. Assuming Assange turns out to have been, indeed, involved in the leaking, I will have lost any faith I ever had in him!
Politicsusa: Good for them! Good for Hillary!
'Toon: Perhaps this characterization of the GOPigs will be seen, down the road, as a "sign" that the GOPigs have bitten themselves in the ass, as a snake might.
Thanks all! Very tired hugs.