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August 30, 2012 03:23 PM UTC

Thursday Open Thread

  • 70 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“News represents another form of advertising, not liberal propaganda.”

–Christopher Lasch

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70 thoughts on “Thursday Open Thread”

  1. full of millionaires and billionaires who donated to Romney…flying the great flag of the United States Caymans.

    some_text

    I had to edit and look harder for a photo that doesn’t show the boat’s name .  I was afraid to get banned for showing the name Cracker Bay  

    1. Don’t be surprised if Rmoney revives the old Presidential Yacht concept.  It will fly the Cayman flag, no doubt.  Or Panama, to avoid stricter US regulations. The captain will be American for appearances, the rest of the officers will be Burmese, and the personal staff will be Filipino.

      A lot of jobs created.

          1. so saccharine yes, but sincere.  I’d check their papers to make sure they’re real Republicans though.

            Your Steven Ludwig video is gold.  THAT is absolutely hilarious.

  2. Seriously?

    Republican – Lubbock TX

    Head explodes trying to find a way to support a tax increase that his residents don’t want.

    Paraphrasing – The UN, and the black president are going to send troops into Lubbock- we gotta get ready!

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08…

    Seriously? I’ll mess with Texas.

  4. paraphrasing –

    Hey- in 2008 the economy was falling apart, and the President came to Janeville and said if we believe in you, the American worker (the good people of Janesville)  then we can save this plant and it could be here in 100 years… but that plant closed and is now locked and empty.

    Why would Ryan  be so obviously happy that the local plant failed – when he voted for the stimulus, he sought stimulus money for the good people of Janesville, and then it failed?

    BTW- I’ve been to Janesville.  A lot.

    Ryan and Mrs Ryan must be the thinnest people in Janesville.

    2. Ryan gave us his sincere look and said “The plant closed within a year,” implying that Obama failed to save it.  Once again, a bald-faced lie from Ryan.  It is quite True that Obama didn’t save it, but it’s hard for a candidate to take any action before his inauguration.  

       If he had been honest, Ryan would have said  

      “Unfortunately, the plant closed before Obama took office.  Thankfully, the auto bailout, which so many Republicans opposed, did save thousands of similar GM jobs across the country, for which we can thank Obama.”

  5.  

    First, te mayor of Lubboc needs a big boat, flying a cayman flag – to fight the invasion.and the resulting rape-conceptions, and then, when the militia is successful, they can get jobs in Janesville and get that pant up and running.

  6. From the Denver Business Journal

    Colorado is on track to set a record for oil and gas activity by the end of this year, surpassing the record set way back in 1977.

    Or, as the unintentional parody rag the Colorado Observer puts it:

    the restrictive drilling policies of former Democratic Governor Bill Ritter

    1. Twitty – the BLM’s new leasing rules slow everything down! Obama isn’t a friend to the industry! Government regulations harm business in this state and consequently harm us!

      Or, apparently, they don’t.

  7. Follow me down the rabbit hole on this one, if you would.

    If Republican legislatures and Secretaries of State manage to disenfranchise enough people in swing states like Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and perhaps even Colorado, the election results could be thrown into dispute legally…

    If no Electoral College delegation is designated for a state, or if that delegation is in dispute, what happens?  If the EC can’t reach a 270-vote majority, the election gets thrown to… the Republican-controlled House.

    Are Democrats overlooking a second level of play here?

    1. For one thing, I’m not sure the House is “Republican controlled” for this purpose.  Each state has one vote.  Colorado’s 4-3 delegation would thus cast one vote for Romney.  a delegation like Texas, overwhelmingly Republican, also gets one vote, as does California’s overwhelmingly Democratic.  A state tied, 2-2, would be unable to cast a vote unless one caved.

        Realistically, this won’t happen, I think it last happened with Henry Clay as speaker, when they gave the office to John Quincy Adams who then made Clay Secretary of State, then the stepping stone to the presidency, in the famous corrupt bargain.

       But the Supreme Court now sees itself as the Electoral College and would presumably give the presidency to Romney before the House could act.

        There were no states in dispute when the House had to act, it was merely split between  

      four candidates: Jackson, Adams, a guy I forget who finished third and Clay, fourth.  The House has to choose between the top three so Clay, with his iron rule on the House, had to settle for being kingmaker, not king.

      1. What happens if no presidential candidate gets 270 Electoral votes?

        If no candidate receives a majority of Electoral votes, the House of Representatives elects the President from the 3 Presidential candidates who received the most Electoral votes. Each state delegation has one vote. The Senate would elect the Vice President from the 2 Vice Presidential candidates with the most Electoral votes. Each Senator would cast one vote for Vice President. If the House of Representatives fails to elect a President by Inauguration Day, the Vice-President Elect serves as acting President until the deadlock is resolved in the House.  

        1. Wikipedia says 33 states have Republican majorities in the House vs. 16 Democrat.  Thus, it would be an easy Republican victory if it did go to the existing House.  A long deadlock might put it into the House elected this November, but even if Ds regained control, they would be unlikely to have a majority of the states, as opposed to a majority of the whole body.  

          1. Are Obamas numbers so in the toilet that PR above actually offered this vast conspiracy notion that he dreamt up?

            Dude, stay away from the bong or at least dont blog and smoke within an hour of taking up your medicine.

            1. I was thinking of what happened when some significant fraction of the million PA voters without ID that meets the new hastily-passed Republican standards file a joint lawsuit and block the PA delegation from being appointed.

              Get rid of the delegates from enough swing states that Obama is winning according to the polls right now, and it becomes a contested electoral college.  IIRC, the EC doesn’t elect a President on a simple majority – it has to be 270+, even if 50 delegates are missing.

              Republicans win, even if the courts rule against them after the election. Remember, in 2000, the Florida legislature was willing to appoint a Republican EC slate in the event that the recount was upheld; that would have put the delegation in contention, and the dispute would have been resolved as Voyageur notes above – in favor of George Bush, and to hell with the recount results.  So this isn’t an idle conspiracy theory – we almost went there 12 years ago.

              Hell, worst case scenario, Romney still loses these states and Republicans file suit saying that the voting process was flawed because of the new law.  Could at least tie up the EC delegation for a while and send it to the Republican controlled legislatures of those states.

              1. I don’t think the Florida legislature’s award of the electoral votes to Bush would have caused the election to go to the House.  The legislature pretty clearly has that power under the constitution and the Supreme Court would probably have simply upheld their right to do so.

                 That, to me, was why the court’s 5-4 majority was so stupid, to take the heat for this case.  Let the legislture do what it was clearly poised to do and the blame would have fallen on them, not the court.  Alas, Judicial Restraint is a lost concept with that Court’s majority.  

                1. Had the court not ruled that the secretaries count and recounts were in fact valid as called for under FL law then Dems would have screamed and hollered that the court forewent action to let the GOP steal the election.

                  The court provided what the Dems asked for, a ruling on the merits of Fl law and the legal processes that FL performed in coming to the decision that Bush in fact won FL.

                  Dems will wrongly claim that Bush stole the election, when in fact the rule of law was followed and upheld by the government workers.

                  Gores screw up was not engaging Clinton and failing to budget another $1-3million for the FL battle.

                  At the end of the day Team Gore didn’t win becuase they had a failed message.

                    1. To be count. You can suppose or dream up any facts you’d dare dream create in your little mind. The fact is the count and recounts showed that Bush won FL.

                      You blame Gore for his own loss andw that may very well be true …. taking responsibility and accountability for outcomes is unique for Democrats who usually operate in the collective.

                      If we are to concur with you we must know that Gore didn’t want everyone’s ballot to count, he was only trying to achieve selective changes that he hoped would swing the state. The problem was he failed at achieving his section strategy too.

                    3. Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U…

                      Scroll down to: Post election studies

                      Depending on standards chosen by the groups studying the count, the results are all over the place.  Some for Gore, some for Bush, some by a tiny margin, some by a significant margin.  

                      Totally subjective, found under the same heading, is a poll of voters done in December felt that Gore won 49% to 40%.

                      The best brains in America have tried to find the correct answer.  They couldn’t.  You can believe what you want, but it isn’t factual.  

                    5. while parsing is cq that studies still differ, I believe post election studies showed that the statewide recount, which Gore wrongly thought would hurt him, was actually the one that put him over the top.  Be ccareful what you wish for.  

                      As for the court ruling, PR, remember that it was 7-2 in overturning the state court action.  It was only the the drastic remedy of saying what the hell, make Bush President, that the court split 5-4 and entered the political thicket.  They should have let it go at the 7-2

                      (all but  Ginsberg and Stevens if memory serves) and let the system run its course — which would, inevitably, resulted in the Fla. Lege awarding the votes to Bush.

  8. Man Who Carried AK-47 Pistol In Park Loses Appeal

    A federal appeals court has ruled a ranger did not violate the rights of a man who wore camouflage and carried an AK-47-style pistol with loaded 30-round clip in a Nashville park.

    Brentwood resident Leonard Embody sued Ranger Steve Ward for detaining him at the Radnor Lake State Natural area in 2009 while Ward determined whether the gun was legal and whether Embody had a permit for it.

    Tennessee law allows guns with barrels of less than 12 inches in state parks. Embody’s gun was a half inch under the limit.

    The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled against Embody on Thursday, concluding that Ward’s actions were reasonable.

    The court writes that, “having worked hard to appear suspicious,” Embody cannot cry foul after park rangers took the bait.

    http://www.newschannel5.com/st…

  9. Per the Arapahoe County clerk’s website.  Registered voter statistics as of 8/30/12:

    Dem     123,227

    Rep     115,384

    “Other” 123,031

    Total   362,157

    That’s a 7,843 voter lead for Dems over the GOP.  WOW!  (You can see these numbers when you click on “my registration”.  The numbers are shown at the top of the screen.)

    But, I’m confused.  Elsewhere on that website under voter statistics they show the following as of July, 2012:

    Dem      78,472

    Rep      88,083

    Unaffil  72,654

    Other     1,633

    Total Active Registered Voters  241,196

    That’s a lead for the GOP of 9,611.  Also, the total increased between July and August by 120,961 voters.

    What is going on??

    1. OFA has always been good with them.

      And there’s a big push this year due to the Republican attempts at “cleansing” the rolls, too.  Democrats have made voter registration and updating registrations a top priority.

        1. You’re really going to get it from dwyer now, Caroman! Don’t you know that OFA and all its works, especially voter registration, are futile?

          I’d thank you for hosting that volunteer but I don’t want to face the Wrath of Dwyer. Was that lightning? Gotta go!    

    2. Gadommit!  The way to win this election is to blog and bitch at the campaign so as to influence the candidate.

      Voter Reg and GOTV are nothing compared to blogging persuasively.

  11. Here’s a 1997 quote from Westword about one of Colorado’s platform committee members”

    “‘Guy Short is a low-life, miserable slimeball,’ says Senator Ken Chlouber, a Republican from Leadville”

    Sounds about right

    It’s too bad our other member, Suzanne Sharkey, happens to be my CU Regent. Glad my family is all CSU and UNC alumni.

  12. I’ll be tuned in for the 3rd installment of the RCN, recording it on TiVo. We figured we’d keep the 3 nights available for replay over the next four and a half years.

    1. If Obama wins we can watch it and dream about what could have been assuming we continue to see failing results.

    2. If Romney wins we’ll have a record of accountability to judge he and Ryan on in 2016.

    1. Oh yeah….

      “I think the country needs a boost,” Eastwood told The Associated Press

      “Now more than ever do we need Gov. Romney. I’m going to be voting for him,”

        1. Wolfe Blitzer is in full freakout mode and some CNN talking head has her nostrils flaring.

          Sure Obamybots are probably inflamed at Clint for taking it directly to the empty chair representing Obama. It was good to see some comedy injected and used to call BS on the failed Obama leadership.

  14. I can either watch the Broncos vs. Arizona in an exhibitian game or the Republican National Conventiopn.   One is an adolescent game played by overpaid egomaniacs with no real meaning for the long-term outcome of events.

      The other is a football game.

      2. ….because the numbers from last night’s bullshit fest shows how much America wants to watch rich white guys lie their asses off…

        Paul Ryan’s RNC speech draws 17 million fewer viewers than previous GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin in 2008

        We don’t know yet how Paul Ryan will compare to Sarah Palin as a vice presidential candidate, but as a TV star, she kicks his butt.

        When Palin spoke on the second night of the 2008 Republican convention, TV viewership in the featured 10-11 p.m. hour totaled roughly 37 million.

        When Ryan spoke this Wednesday, about 20 million viewers tuned in.

        Even Fox News Channel, which again dominated convention ratings, lost 1.3 million viewers, dropping from 9.04 million to 7.7 million.

        NBC, the top broadcast network, plunged from 7.7 million viewers to 4.15 million.

        Struggling CNN lost a staggering 75% of its audience, plunging from 6.1 million viewers for Palin in 2008 to 1.34 million for Ryan in 2012.

        http://www.nydailynews.com/ent…

        ‘tad, it seems from these numbers that the average American no longer buys the frogwash the Repubican’t party is spewing on TV.

        Combine the outrageous lies of Ryan with the corrupt and shameful treatment of the Ron Paul Delegates, and it seems this election is already over….

    2. tonight, I’d be more inclined to check out the action in Hooterville . . .

      While 9NEWS coverage of the RNC commands the majority of Denver viewers, an 8 p.m. hour of reruns of the classic sitcom, “Green Acres,” on MeTV, digital channel 9.2 and broadcast by 9NEWS, beat RNC coverage in the time period on the CBS affiliate.

      Green Acres, 8 – 9 p.m., .65 rating/1.75 share*

      CBS RNC, 8 – 9 p.m., .50 rating/1.40 share

      http://www.9news.com/news/side…

  16. But us taxpayers saved his ass….

    The Federal Bailout That Saved Mitt Romney

    Government documents prove the candidate’s mythology is just that

    Mitt Romney likes to say he won’t “apologize” for his success in business. But what he never says is “thank you” – to the American people – for the federal bailout of Bain & Company that made so much of his outsize wealth possible.

    According to the candidate’s mythology, Romney took leave of his duties at the private equity firm Bain Capital in 1990 and rode in on a white horse to lead a swift restructuring of Bain & Company, preventing the collapse of the consulting firm where his career began. When The Boston Globe reported on the rescue at the time of his Senate run against Ted Kennedy, campaign aides spun Romney as the wizard behind a “long-shot miracle,” bragging that he had “saved bank depositors all over the country $30 million when he saved Bain & Company.”

    In fact, government documents on the bailout obtained by Rolling Stone show that the legend crafted by Romney is basically a lie. The federal records, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal that Romney’s initial rescue attempt at Bain & Company was actually a disaster – leaving the firm so financially strapped that it had “no value as a going concern.” Even worse, the federal bailout ultimately engineered by Romney screwed the FDIC – the bank insurance system backed by taxpayers – out of at least $10 million.

    And in an added insult, Romney rewarded top executives at Bain with hefty bonuses at the very moment that he was demanding his handout from the feds.

    http://www.rollingstone.com/po…

    Arapabot, ‘tad, we’re waiting!

  17. Caught a bit of the opening prayer; didn’t say the J word, but talked about salvation through.  Nothing about the Angel Moroni, so maybe not Mormon?  But the clincher is the old closing, “In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

    There was a mention about how blessed we are to be able to worship as our consciences dictate, but I just got the vibes that meant Catholic, Baptist (which one?), Mormon, Episcopal.  

    Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Atheists:  Listen up, we don’t want you!  Nor do we want blacks, women, or too many Hispanics.

    Coming in 2016: A smaller RNC venue.  

  18. (Did somebody already post this today? I couldn’t find any diaries about it.) The story is buried deep on the political page of the local paper.

    Gessler announced today that supporters fell 3,859 signatures short.

    Is it too cynical to think that Gessler, who’s clearly prone to interpreting rules in the GOP’s favor, is playing politics yet again? Republicans will most assuredly fare better in November if independent-minded women stay home.

  19. Watching Willard wax wondrously with wisdom, with wit, Rhetorical renderings remove remaining reservations.  

    Teleprompter tingles transit trousers!  

  23. who knew? The verdict, excruciatingly embarrassing both for the poorly aging star and for the campaign, seems to be near universal.

    Mitt gives the most passable speech of his campaign, fact and detail free as ever but he did present much better, and the only thing anybody is going to be talking about is the strange Eastwood episode. This while the media, for a change, is still giving coverage to fact checking all the lies Ryan crammed into his speech the day before.

    A rambling, crude, unrehearsed stand up routine with an empty chair really, really wasn’t what the Romney camp had in mind. Naturally the crowd loved it but then these are people who cheer things like the Texas death penalty record and of course they’re already voting R.

    Not likely that Clint’s clearly fading star power is going to inflate the bump much after this pathetic performance.

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