I’m writing for tomorrow, and to tell you the truth, I’m just pooped. Other than today’s Short Takes, when I did my morning research, nothing knocked me out of the fog the way something usually does, so I’m taking a partial day off to rest. I won’t be distributing links. There is nothing wrong. I just need a little extra down time. May the divine light from the holy Ellipsoid Orb bless your team
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:23 (average 5:47). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From TPM: From Mike Kelly's late evening column in the Bergen Record …
The George Washington Bridge lane closures that led to paralyzing gridlock in Fort Lee this past September were ordered by someone outside the Port Authority and possibly for “an improper motive,” said the state lawmaker leading the investigation into whether the closings were politically motivated.
“There are documents that we’ve received that would indicate that there was somebody else who initiated this,” said Assemblyman John Wisniewski. “There are words that are used that would imply an improper motive.”
Wisniewski, who has scheduled more hearings next week in Trenton on the controversy in his role as chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, declined to say who those other officials might be or what their motives were.
Read the rest of Kelly's column at the link above…
A dollar against a donut says it's the same Republican pig, who is using Sandy relief funds only where his campaign will benefit, but is holding out on New Jersey's needy storm victims, and who squandered $millions of New Jersey citizens money to hold a special election for the Senate, so his margin in the general election would appear bigger.
From NY Times: The byline of Dick Metcalf, one of the country’s pre-eminent gun journalists, has gone missing. It has been removed from Guns & Ammo magazine, where his widely-read column once ran on the back page. He no longer stars on a popular television show about firearms. Gun companies have stopped flying him around the world and sending him the latest weapons to review.
In late October, Mr. Metcalf wrote a column that the magazine titled “Let’s Talk Limits,” which debated gun laws. “The fact is,” wrote Mr. Metcalf, who has taught history at Cornell and Yale, “all constitutional rights are regulated, always have been, and need to be.”
The backlash was swift, and fierce. Readers threatened to cancel their subscriptions. Death threats poured in by email. His television program was pulled from the air.
Just days after the column appeared, Mr. Metcalf said, his editor called to tell him that two major gun manufacturers had said “in no uncertain terms” that they could no longer do business with InterMedia Outdoors, the company that publishes Guns & Ammo and co-produces his TV show, if he continued to work there. He was let go immediately…
Kudos to Dick Metcalf, a journalist with the integrity to tell the truth. I would suggest he sue InterMedia Outdoors for wrongful termination.
From Crooks and Liars: As anyone who works in politics knows, it takes very little for your name to appear on email lists and the fundraising asks can be overwhelming. There are supposed to be list managers who help cull out names that don't belong. Still, it's an imperfect process.
So it really shouldn't be a surprise that Ralph Nader's name showed up on the email list for the Bush Presidential Library and the ubiquitous asks for donation to help promote the legacy of the Bush presidency. What I suspect they didn't expect is Nader's open letter in response:…
While Nader's letter was interesting, there is a terrible irony here. Had Nader NOT [correction made] whored himself by taking piles of Republican cash and “volunteer” help from paid Republican operatives for his campaign in Florida, to lure people on the left foolish enough to throw away their votes, there would be no Bush Presidential Library, and America would be far better off.
Cartoon:
20 Responses to “Open Thread–1/6/2014”
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4:24 I still couldn't beat your time even though you didn't play your best game.
4:47 I'm slow and sleepy just like the lab.
Kitty, Kitty Klobbered, as usual! 🙁
Time 3:12
Mr Christie may have dug one hole too deep. "Christiegate" just keeps popping up, the more he acts disinterested or feints outrage, the more reporters will dig. If he really does not know what happened, giving him the benefit of the doubt; it seems a governor should have the means to find out what happened.
Some times, even for a politician the only exit from controversy is transparency.
Great time, misskitty. You go to the head of the class. It looks like the cats have beat this old dog.
Kitty, Kitty Klobbered! 🙁
I fully agree.
One word for Christie WRT his GW Bridge fiasco and how it'll bite him in the butt:
BRIDGGGHHHAAAZZZIII
(Although I'm sure he'll claim it's just a liberal "War on Christie-mas")
LMAO!
AARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!
6:09 Still hurting, though. Are you OK Patty?
TPM – Or if not him personally, one or more of his buddies who owe him.
Metcalf – How can he ever be happy again at Guns & Ammo? I would wish him a much better job with a much bigger bully pulpit.
The only questions for me about the 2000 election are: Did Nader not see what he was doing? Or did he see it and do it anyway (instead of dropping late and throwing support to Gore)? In these days when Democrats are so little better than Republicans, I hope we will not forget this lesson.
Kudos to Nameless for the punniness!
Yes. I hope I am anyway.
Still hope you feel better soon.
No difference.
Good point!
I think he saw, but considered his time in the spotlight more important than the outcome of the elevtion.
TPM ~ "Wisniewski’s statements represent the most serious accusation yet that Fort Lee’s gridlock involved more than a poorly conceived traffic study of access lanes to the bridge tollbooths and may, in fact, be linked to officials beyond the agency. And they come after months of speculation that the traffic jams — ordered by David Wildstein, a longtime Republican operative and ally of Christie — were intended to punish Fort Lee’s Democratic mayor for refusing to endorse the governor’s reelection." I wonder if Democrat Governors or their staff members punish mayors for not supporting them.
NY Times ~ To the line and repeat the meme at all times. You can paraphrase our philosophy but don't stray from it. InterMedia Outdoors must be a rough taskmaster to fire people for disagreeing with them even slightly. Sue them, Mr. Metcalf.
Crooks & Liars ~ I love Ralph Nader's letter. He did cause Bush to be elected though.
Cartoon ~ Take it easy.
I suppose some do, but thst is no excuse.
Amen.
Sadly, true.
I did! 🙂
You left out a "NOT": " Had Nader (NOT?) whored himself by taking piles of Republican cash and “volunteer” help from paid Republican operatives for his campaign in Florida, to lure people on the left foolish enough to throw away their votes, there would be no Bush Presidential Library, and America would be far better off."
Thanks you for correcting me, Yvonne. I fixed it.
TPM – The fact that Christie is a political bully who uses the power of his office to punish anyone who has the temerity to disagree with him is becoming more and more apparent. This is not a person we want anywhere near the Oval Office.
NY Times – You cannot reason – or even suggest reason – with or to fanatics, especially those driven by hatred and paranoia. On a positive note, I have seen an increasing number of gun death incident reports referring to the victim as being "Second Amendmented to death." This is a trend we should encourage. Part of the problem has been that those in favor of reasonable firearms regulation have allowed the fanatics to frame the arguement. I say this, btw, as a long-time gun owner and ex-NRA member.
Crooks and liars – Getting on the wrong mailing list is easy, it's getting off those lists that's difficult. I used to regularly get letters addressed to me as "an influential Republican in your area" (my parents were both Republicans and I have an unusual last name) and it took me years to convince those folks I really didn't care to hear from them. TC has it right. The contradiction between Nader's letter to the Bush foundation – as apt as it was – and the fact that his actions in the 2000 election effectively handed the election to Bush, says more about Nader than perhaps he realizes. The man has always had issues with his overblown sense of his own importance. As far back as the publication of "Unsafe at Any Speed," the book that made him famous and a tremendously important milepost in consumer safety, his public grandstanding did nothing to promote the issue and could well have doomed it to failure had not the issue been so important to so many people.
In the interest of full disclosure, I was attending Michigan State University and owned a Corvair Monza Spyder when that book came out. I hated getting rid of it (when it ran, it was one hot little car) but after reading the book and getting confirmation from the parents of several of my friends who were in the auto industry that Nader was indeed correct, I couldn't do otherwise.
Everybody deserves a holiday now and then, TC, enjoy your downtime.
That is exactly my point, John.
Love it!
Thanks. We agree on his motive too,
I did! 🙂
You deserve and most assuredly need some down time. YOu are probably still recovering from the flu.
TPM: If it is proven that Christie caused this traffic tie up, he should be impeached. I drove through those toll booths onto the GWB about 20 years ago. It was a nightmare without traffic tie ups. Yes, this country hick drove straight into New York City.
NY Times:: Sounds like Mr. Metcalf has grounds for a suit.
Crooks and LIars: I really enjoyed Nader's letter. Yes, it is ironic that he contributed to Bush's victory.
Love the cartoon
Thanks Edie!
Amen!
I agree!
Sad!
Thanks!
6:54 – Republican Pricks…