Friday Open Thread

8 thoughts on “Friday Open Thread”

1. Seven O'clock and naught's well.

   Trump stinks!

   Lord God almighty, 

   Trump stinks!

   Stay upwind, America.

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2. Your thoughts and prayers are requested for the victims of the latest shooting in Texas. 

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   1. I'm sure Jon Caldara will have a pithy comeback for you:

      Boulder Rifle Club, Jon Caldara sue city over assault weapon ban

      “The right of self defense is an unalienable, natural and fundamental right,” says the lawsuit filed Wednesday

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      1. Yeah, good luck with that law suit. Supreme Court Declines To Accept Yet Another Second Amendment Case

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3. Paul Krugman's take on Trump's sudden ZTE relief plan and Indonesian Trump Hotel and Golf Resort deal:

   It’s possible that Trump was just trying to offer an olive branch amid what looks like a possible trade war. But why choose such a flagrant example of Chinese misbehavior? Which was why many eyes turned to Indonesia, where a Chinese state-owned company just announced a big investmentin a project in which the Trump Organization has a substantial stake.

   That investment, by the way, is part of the Belt and Road project, a multinational infrastructure initiative China is using to reinforce its economic centrality — and geopolitical influence — across Eurasia. Meanwhile, whatever happened to that Trump infrastructure plan?

   …today’s Republicans have made it clear that they won’t hold Trump accountable for anything, even if it borders on treason.

   All of which is to say that Trump’s corruption is only a symptom of a bigger problem: a G.O.P. that will do anything, even betray the nation, in its pursuit of partisan advantage.

    

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4. Roger Cohen of the New York Times pulls no punches:

   The Moral Rot That Threatens America

   [Trump] traffics in slurs and untruths. The deepest form of rot is the erosion of the distinction between truth and falsehood. Totalitarianism was one big lie perpetrated on human beings reduced to the often hopeless quest for survival in a fog.

   A universe where morality ceases is the one Trump is most comfortable in. “Mr. President, did you know about the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels?” Trump’s answer, on April 5: “No, no.” Except, as the president clarified in a recent financial disclosure, he did know.

   This is Trump’s Ministry of Truth, the new American normal. It’s impossible to overstate the enormity of it. That’s why the Alliance is collapsing and Germany finds no basis for cooperation: Trump’s America stands for nothing. As Rex Tillerson, the former secretary of state, told recent graduates in a speech, going wobbly on the truth means “we go wobbly on America.”

   There is only one core task before everyone in Trump’s America: Keeping the Republic, despite him.

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5. My guess? . . . 

   . . . some craphead Caldara is gonna’ cite this as evidence that teachers are being overpaid.

   94 Percent of U.S. Teachers Spend Their Own Money on School Supplies, Survey Finds

   https://nyti.ms/2Gq5OvU

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   1. About $600 a year on Kleenex, pencils, markers, snacks, bandaids, posters, etc. No, most school districts don't supply these things.  Many send a list home hoping the kiddos will bring in items, but most never do.

      The reverse Robin Hood tax bill originally eliminated the $250 deduction for teacher supplies, but there was so much outcry they put it back in.

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