Monday Open Thread

34
  by: Colorado Pols May 7, 2018 at 6:13 AM MDT

It’s almost over.

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34 Community Comments, Facebook Comments

  1. Voyageur says:
    May 7, 2018 at 6:19 AM MDT

    Trump stinks.

    Stay upwind, America.

  2. Duke Cox says:
    May 7, 2018 at 7:00 AM MDT

    Ummm…what is IT?

  3. Diogenesdemar says:
    May 7, 2018 at 9:33 AM MDT

    Lessons we (shoulda’) already learned — Episode 1

    On monopolies . . . 

    . . . and the benevolence of overlords . . .

    In the 1970s, however, a new idea took hold: Size was not a problem so long as prices remained low. Bigness could even be good, because it promoted efficiency and thus lower prices. The legal scholar Robert Bork was the most influential advocate for this view, and it soon guided the Supreme Court, the Reagan administration and pretty much every administration since.

    But the theory has two huge flaws, as a new generation of scholars, like Lina Khan, is emphasizing. One, prices are not a broad enough measure of well-being. Wages, innovation and political power matter as well. If prices stay low but wages don’t grow — which is, roughly, what’s happened in recent decades — consumers aren’t better off. Two, regulators have focused on short-term prices, sometimes ignoring what can happen after a company drives out its rivals.

    Save Barnes & Noble!

    https://nyti.ms/2KF2396

     

    Next up:  Episode 2 — Climate  change is real . . . 

    • JohnInDenver says:
      May 7, 2018 at 10:45 AM MDT

      Of all the organizations to use as an example of things we once saw as evil and now need to save (to save us from even bigger evil), Barnes & Noble???

      Examining trends based on a short period is a dangerous game. The number of book titles shows a huge growth after WWII. Number of books read per person is small — disturbingly small, by many accounts:

      The average number of books each person read over the course of a year was 12…but that number is inflated by the most avid readers. The most frequently reported number was 4 books per year.  [Iris Reading, based on Pew survey]

      About a quarter of American adults (24%) say they haven’t read a book in whole or in part in the past year, whether in print, electronic or audio form.  [Pew]

       

  4. Davie says:
    May 7, 2018 at 12:05 PM MDT

    Maybe it's just me, but when I got an email from Donna Lynne's campaign, the first thought that came to mind wasn't what I suspect they intended:

    Donna on CPR

    Although I think this could be foreshadowing of the primary.

    • JohnInDenver says:
      May 7, 2018 at 2:35 PM MDT

      Ah, the wonders of unintentional abbreviation overlap.

      There are a number of articles pointing out some of the challenges of abbreviation —

      A political story I appreciated was the effort of Chris Christie:

      NJ Governor, and former presidential hopeful, Chris Christie formed a Political Action Committee (PAC) called leadershipmattersforamerica.org. The associated acronym LMFAO caused many to laugh heartily from the bottom, and not just at the prospect of Christie’s presidential aspirations.

  5. Voyageur says:
    May 7, 2018 at 2:32 PM MDT

    Davie, give me a call and I'll buy you a beer at the Belgian brewery on Colfax.

    I don't have your number but Mine is still in the phone book.

    Regards

     

  6. Diogenesdemar says:
    May 7, 2018 at 3:52 PM MDT

    Perfect.

    . . .

    Oliver North Is Named N.R.A. President  

    https://nyti.ms/2FTQnf9

    . . . fuxsakes.  

  7. Diogenesdemar says:
    May 7, 2018 at 4:02 PM MDT

    Fuxsakes . . . 

    He Paid for His Mentos. Then an Officer Pulled a Gun on Him.  

    https://nyti.ms/2KKBCiy

     

    • MADCO says:
      May 7, 2018 at 6:28 PM MDT

      Oh Cmonnn.
      He looked kinda shady. If I had a gun and an idea I might have drawn down implying death penalty for stolen mints.  It's like going all in playing hold 'em – you gotta back the play.

    • mamajama55 says:
      May 7, 2018 at 8:14 PM MDT

      I knew that the would-be Mentos buyer was brown-skinned before I clicked on the link. It's one of the many arguments against concealed carry – people should not be walking around with the power of life and death tucked into their waistbands.

  8. Pseudonymous says:
    May 7, 2018 at 7:16 PM MDT

    At least he's not your Attorney General.  "In the privacy of intimate relationships, I have engaged in role-playing and other consensual sexual activity. I have not assaulted anyone. I have never engaged in nonconsensual sex, which is a line I would not cross."  Eric Schneiderman, YKINOK.

    Four Women Accuse New York’s Attorney General of Physical Abuse

      • RepealAndReplace says:
        May 7, 2018 at 8:04 PM MDT

        Good Riddance…….

        Maybe it has something to do with the first name? Eric Geitens and Eric Schneiderman. Despite their ideological differences, they seem to have a couple of things in common.

        Perhaps Moderatus will return to remind us of the importance of due process, or how an apology should suffice rather than ruin the career of a good (?) man.

         

      • mamajama55 says:
        May 7, 2018 at 8:08 PM MDT

        Gross. And we were hoping he'd be an ally against Trump. So much for that.

        • Voyageur says:
          May 7, 2018 at 8:17 PM MDT

          Actually, his public record was excellent.  Appoint a replacement and carry on!  It wouldn' hurt to name a woman because while they ain't perfect, they are much less likely to get caught up in sex scandals.

          • Phoenix Rising says:
            May 7, 2018 at 9:29 PM MDT

            We'll see who the legislature appoints. Dems and WFP will have to find a new nominee for the election; there will likely be a contested primary, which could get interesting if it widens the split already caused by the governor's race…

            • mamajama55 says:
              May 7, 2018 at 9:48 PM MDT

              Is WFP (Working Families Party) a significant player in New York politics?

              • Voyageur says:
                May 7, 2018 at 10:03 PM MDT

                It works like the Conservative Party in attempting to pull dems to the left so the same candidate runs on both lines.  If WPF runs its own candidate it is a sure loser but in a tight race may drain off enough votes from the D to elect the Republican.

                • mamajama55 says:
                  May 7, 2018 at 10:10 PM MDT

                  Thanks for the info.

                • RepealAndReplace says:
                  May 8, 2018 at 7:14 AM MDT

                  It usually works that, V,.  Its predecessor, the Liberal Party, has on one occasion actually elected some:  John Lindsey as mayor of NYC in 1969. It was a fluke election, much like James Buckley's election to the Senate in 1970.

                  The Liberal Party actually folded after it abandoned what principles it had and turned into a patronage machine under Ray Harding whose family was very close to Rudy Giuliani. So the Working Families Party was born.

                  • Voyageur says:
                    May 8, 2018 at 8:57 AM MDT

                    The Liberal Party under Alex Rose had very few principles to abandon.  But I remember the 

                    Lindsey race well, because I was stationed at West Point at the time.  The Republicans dumped Lindsay but he won on the liberal line.

                    • RepealAndReplace says:
                      May 8, 2018 at 10:45 AM MDT

                      Was Ray Harding the next generation to Alex Rose?

                      Yikes, Lindsey was too liberal even in the age of Nelson Rockefeller and Jacob Javits Republicans. Imagine what the Tea Party would do to him today….

              • Phoenix Rising says:
                May 7, 2018 at 10:34 PM MDT

                WFP has been a player in some races, but usually they act as a third party line for the Democratic candidate under New York's fusion voting system.

                This year could be interesting, though; WFP is backing Cynthia Nixon for governor over Andrew Cuomo, accusing him (rightly) of backing the Independent Democratic Caucus in the Senate, which has caucused with Republicans to keep the Senate out of Democratic control and the state away from actual progressive issues. Many of the unions forming the core of WFP have split from the party, supposedly fearing Cuomo's retribution.

                Against that background, if WFP were to split with the Democrats on an AG candidate and endorsed an optically stronger candidate…

                Fusion voting has allowed WFP to gain actual strength as a party. This year may either wreck it or propel it to real power.

                • RepealAndReplace says:
                  May 8, 2018 at 7:17 AM MDT

                  Nixon isn't a threat at the moment but I can imagine a scenario where she can become Cynthia Stein.

                  Perhaps to counter the threat, Cuomo should select Kim Cattrell as his running mate.

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