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July 29, 2019 07:01 AM UTC

Monday Open Thread

  • 30 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“What a dull and pointless life it would be if everyone was the same.”

–Angelina Jolie

Comments

30 thoughts on “Monday Open Thread

  1. Colorado confirms suspected Russian hacker “jiggled the lock” on state voter database — but couldn’t get in

    Colorado officials reported the behavior to homeland security officials at the time, but assured federal authorities that no breach was detected. The state’s election system is considered one of the most secure in the nation.

    “It was basically, they scanned our front door to see, ‘Are there any vulnerabilities?’” said Colorado election director Judd Choate in an interview with The Colorado Sun. He said the would-be hacker “jiggled the lock and made sure the door was solid and said, ‘OK, I can’t get into this one, so I’m going to move on to another one.’”

    Colorado was identified in September 2017 as one of 21 states potentially targeted by hackers linked to Russia in the fall of 2016, but many of the details about the interaction remained classified until now. “It was certain at the time, but we couldn’t tell you that,” Choate said.

  2. This is rich….

    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/29/us/politics/trump-al-sharpton.html

    If ever two people deserved one another, these guys be they.

    In fairness to Reverend Al, he has toned it down somewhat and made amends for some of his prior antics. (In the run up to his 2004 presidential campaign, some of Sharpton's rich supporters paid off the civil judgment Steve Pagones recovered against the reverend out of the Tawana Brawley hoax.)

    Trump, on the other hand, has gone in the opposite direction and doubled down on his crap.

      1. Nor will he ever. With the exception of Mayor Pete during the last presidential primary debate, when was the last time a politician apologized for anything? (And Mayor Pete was apologizing for failure in a public policy matter, not an act of defamation.)

         

  3. The Extraordinary Humbling of John Hickenlooper

    Asked by a voter how he might overcome the intractability of Mitch McConnell as president, Mr. Hickenlooper appeared to liken the Senate majority leader to a moody patron. “One of the basic rules in restaurants is when someone’s really angry, you repeat back to them what they said,” he said. “And in hearing their own words, they feel validated.”

    “I’m not saying this will work with Mitch McConnell,” Mr. Hickenlooper added. Then again, he did not propose an alternative tack.

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    1. OMG. Just what we need – a Dem repeating McConnell's words back to him. I'm sure that will "fix it."

      It's hard to believe – but apparently true – that a Dem candidate for President has not yet thought of an answer to this question about McConnell. The fact that Hick would suggest handling McConnell as if he's an unruly restaurant customer – is just stunning.

      1. Mitch McConnell: the man who complained his french fries were limp the man who broke America

        By rights, McConnell’s tombstone should say that he presided over the end of the Senate. And I’d add a second line: “He broke America.” No man has done more in recent years to undermine the functioning of U.S. government. His has been the epitome of unprincipled leadership, the triumph of tactics in service of short-term power.

        After McConnell justified his filibuster-ending “nuclear option” by saying it would be beneficial for the Senate, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said this: “Whoever says that is a stupid idiot.” 

        McConnell is no idiot. He is a clever man who does what works for him in the moment, consequences be damned.

        1. One could think the Dems could make some inroads in the coal mining counties in KY. Trump has done little or nothing to fulfill his campaign promise to bring back all the lost coal mining jobs. 

            1. Thanks for trying, Michael. Seems like everybody and her brother hides behind a pay wall these days and one can't afford to pay for them all (or have the time to read them all). I did subscribe to the Financial Times at one time, but too much to keep up.

              1. Well damn.  It was a great article and I read it in its entirety but probably clicked through via FB (I'm not an FT subscriber).  In effect it's saying the very-right spectrum of West Virginia is getting fed up with the corporatists that run the state and are starting to look at progressive policies.  The best part was the story of a gentleman who finally gave the middle finger to his chicken contract and converted his barns to grow hemp! 

          1. It doesn't matter, CHB. They don't remember what he actually promised them,

            Fox News will keep telling the coal miners that he has done wonderful things for the economy, he is the only thing between the Muslims and the Mexicans taking away their jobs, and Obama will take their guns away if Trump is not re-elected.

             

        2. In the transcript of the Washington Post editorial board's conversation with Sen. Michael F. Bennet, our Senator expressed his attitude towards McConnell:

          I'm so angry at the way that the Freedom Caucus and Mitch McConnell have immobilized our exercise in self-government. They have made it impossible for us to govern. They have acted as tyrants, as if they have a monopoly on wisdom. And their view of the world, no matter how it is idiosyncratic it is, no matter how much their version of American history owes its origins to Sarah Palin’s cartoon version of what the Founding Fathers were engaged in, they have not compromised. And they’re hypocrites on top of it, and they need to be beaten. They cannot be negotiated with. They cannot be compromised with, because they’re immune from that. They will not negotiate. They will not compromise. So then the question is, what do you do about that?

          He knows some of his understandings and some of his efforts have been unsuccessful — and he thinks intransigence isn't inevitable and unchangeable over time.  But he doesn't have a good answer.

          1. Once the Dems take the majority whether it be in 2021, 2023 or whenever, the filibuster for anything becomes history. The only super-majorities are those required by the constitution: veto overrides, treaty ratification, and impeachment convictions.  (This is easier said than done because many Dem senators want to keep the damn thing.)

            Beyond winning 51 seats and abolishing the filibuster, as president I would build a wall – metaphorically, or course – around the state of Kentucky. (I probably wouldn't announce publicly though.)

            Any discretionary spending that I could get away with stopping in that state would be cut off. (Think how Trump has dealt with Puerto Rico. In fact, I might re-route some of that Kentucky money to Puerto Rico.)

            I would also use Kentucky as a potential solution to our nuclear waste problem – assuming geologists and nuclear physicists endorsed storing that crap in that state. In fact, perhaps many of problems could be sent there.

            As Senator McConnell once famously said, "Obviously you mistake me for some who gives a shit."

            1. Well,R&R, they will have plenty of room in those abandoned coal mines as renewables take over. Fill the mines with that toxic crap then seal them off for good. That would also make anyone who wanted to start digging up dinasaur poop to burn again think twice about it.

    2. This just underscores the charmed political life Hick has enjoyed.

      He had the good fortune to be unopposed in his primary campaigns for governor, he got to run as Both Ways, Tank and Dan Maes – the Moe, Larry and Curly of the CO GOP – and when he had Republicans in control in the legislature, he was able to chat with Frank McNulty and Kevin Grantham who acted a buffer between the RWNJs and Hick. Even Bill Cadman, who was probably the more ideologically strident GOP leader, was able to talk with Hick and cut a deal.

      Washington is a different world. And Hick ain't ready for it.

  4. WOTD from Matthew Iglesias at Vox: "Economic Patriotism":

    To Trump, in a practical sense, that amounts to a focus on reducing bilateral trade deficits. His standard approach is to take a country that runs a trade surplus with the United States, and then threaten to raise taxes on that country’s exports. This risks retaliation against American exporters, but Trump’s logic is that since a trade deficit is bad, at the limit, a cycle of retaliation that leads to no trade whatsoever is good for the United States. This gives him leverage, he thinks, to extract concessions that will boost American exports.

    Warren’s plan is fundamentally different. 

    At a systemic level, she says she wants to “ensure that there are more representatives from labor, environmental, and consumer groups than from corporations and trade groups on every existing advisory committee” and to “expand the current list of advisory committees to create one for consumers, one for rural areas, and one for each region of the country, so that critical voices are at the table during negotiations.” 

    The point is to try to make trade policy responsive to a different set of interests, while also requiring public disclosure of negotiating drafts so Congress doesn’t end up faced with a binary choice between not doing deals and only doing deals that were hashed out by business interests behind closed doors.

    1. Elizabeth Warren rocks again.

      Her trade plan is very interesting, and the article provides good context.

      I know the big coal companies and Koch suckers are going to hate Warren, but her "binders full of plans" are the best thing since FDR, in the sense of "Capitalism better compromise for it's own good." 

      Honest business ownsers should be on board; it is the corrupt ones and the plutocrats that are in the way.

    1. It's another "Creeping Socialism" plan. 

      Since I believe that private insurance collapse is inevitable, I don't see any reason to mention it. Give people the option, give COMPANY HR departments the option, and watch how fast private insurance collapses.

      Really, your insurance should belong to YOU, not be bestowed upon you by your boss. 

      Health Care is a right; Health Insurance is how we pay for it.

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