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September 15, 2014 06:28 AM UTC

Monday Open Thread

  • 65 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

Suckers, liars get me a shovel
Some writers I know are damn devils
For them I say don't believe the hype
Yo Chuck, they must be on a pipe, right?

–Public Enemy

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65 thoughts on “Monday Open Thread”

  1. Rep. Gardenr and Both Ways BFF, Batshit Colorado GOP 'troofer' wants world to know HE is the victim.

    "There was a picture of a man walking in whose daughter had died. He was smiling and joking," Ready said. "When he walked into the room, he turned and all of a sudden, had tears in his eyes. Why?"

    Ready, a 70-year-old dentist who is making his first run for political office, told Reuters on Friday he received a death threat on Facebook from a man he didn't know.

    Paging Ryan R Call…  Bueler? 

     

  2. If Ready did receive a death threat, it was a private message, or he deleted it. I notice that he has also scrubbed most of the American Christian Patriot Association hate group stuff. Glad I got screen shots first.

    At least, he's learned one lesson from running for office in Pueblo – clean up your social media page if you want to be seen as a reasonable "moderate" choice. We have yet to teach him that  the general voting population does not march in lockstep with the Tea Party faction of the GOP.

    1. If one never steps out of a right wing news bubble, it's possible to believe anything. The phrase "willfully ignorant" comes to mind.

      I think I saw an article that traced actual physical brain changes in people who watched Fox news all day. And these right wing websites just toss around the same talking points all day long. If enough people you trust say something, then it has to be true, right?

      As I was remarking on another thread, I think that's part of the deep distrust of the "Common Core" curriculum – it's very sciency and evidence based, very much fostering critical thinking and questioning. That can't be good for willful ignorance.

      1. I saw that study, too, Mama. Watching Fixed News actually makes people less intelligent and less well-informed. Then again, I think a lot of the people why choose that outlet don't start out with an I.Q. that breaks the bank.                                           And as for the objections to Common Core?  It teaches critical thinking. Critical thinking does not mesh well with Right-wing ideology or religion. 

    2. You don't remember the thriving democratic state of Iraq, paying for its reconstruction with copious oil cash and spreading democracy across a formerly troubled region?  

  4. The amazing thing to me, Michael, is that some billionaire hasn't had Roves' knees broken for wasting millions of dollars of his money. It just proves that, if you have enough cash, you don't have to be right.

    1. But Democratic strategy is failing over and over

      You might recall that Democrats controlled the House of Representatives from the early 1930s until 1994 with only two brief Republican interludes. What ended all that was not an ill-advised swerve to the left, but the opposite: A long succession of moves toward what is called the “center,” culminating in the administration of New Democrat Bill Clinton, who (among other things) signed the Republicans’ NAFTA treaty into law. Taking economic matters off the table was thought to be the path of wisdom among expert-worshipping Washingtonians, but it had the unforeseen consequence of making culture that much more important for a large part of the population. Democrats were eventually swamped by all the crazy grievance campaigns of the right, which has splashed back and forth in the mud of the culture wars ever since.

      In 2010, the two parties repeated the act, with D’s embracing the extremely unpopular Republican bailout strategy (and a more modestly unpopular Republican healthcare program) and R’s pretending to be some kind of ’30s-style protest movement waving signs in the street.

      Not getting this is standard in the comfortable and well-educated precincts of Washington, D.C. All political contests are battles over the center, everyone here knows that, and so Democrats who wish to win must always move to the center, meaning to the right. That the noble pursuit of the median voter might somehow bring defeat is beyond comprehension.

      So a data-minded commentator like Nate Cohn is able to look out over the blasted moonscape of Appalachia and conclude that a party of the left has nothing it might conceivably offer the people there. If Democrats wish to win back the seats that Republicans have taken away from them in such stricken areas, the Dems must either become more conservative themselves or sit audaciously on their butts for a couple of decades while some new generation is born and grows up to populate the boarded-up towns and collapsing houses of the deindustrialized hinterland. Those are the only choices.

      The fatalism here may be science-driven, but still it boggles the mind. Today, the right is out there organizing and proselytizing and signing people up for yet another grievance-hyping mass movement. Over the last 40 years they have completely remade the world, and at no point did they play by the centrist rules.

      But the Democrats chase nobly on after grand Washington bargains and sign more free-trade deals and make endless compromises with Wall Street—and then can’t figure out why such achievements don’t win them the adoration of the people in the hard-bitten countryside. 

  6. Obama’s War on ISIS

    Last week the President channeled a leader and announced his war on ISIS.  A few more drones, a few more airstrikes but no “boots” on the ground.  That plan will not bring success so now the President has come up with another.  He has announced he will act as advisor to ISIS on how they should handle beheadings.  Instead of cutting off the infidels heads he suggests that they pin a post-it note on their shirts and return them.  It really worked wonders with Boko Hararm and the “Return our Girls” hash tag.

    The NY times notes the President stated:

    “(i)f he had been “an adviser to ISIS” Mr. Obama added, he would not have killed the hostages but released them and pinned notes on their chests saying, “Stay out of here; this is none of your business.” Such a move, he speculated, might have undercut support for military intervention.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/world/middleeast/paths-to-war-then-and-now-haunt-obama.html?_r=0

    Behind the scenes Obama has yet another plan, if ISIS does not take his PR advice.  He will make a scary face.  That ought to work about as well as his other war plans.  He has been practicing. It ought to work as well as his other plans.

    President Barack Obama makes a face as he reads 'Where the Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak.

     

  7. Obama’s War on ISIS

    Last week the President channeled a leader and announced his war on ISIS.  A few more drones, a few more airstrikes but no “boots” on the ground.  That plan will not bring success so now the President has come up with another.  He has announced he will act as advisor to ISIS on how they should handle beheadings.  Instead of cutting off the infidels heads he suggests that they pin a post-it note on their shirts and return them.  It really worked wonders with Boko Hararm and the “Return our Girls” hash tag.

    The NY times notes the President stated:

    “(i)f he had been “an adviser to ISIS” Mr. Obama added, he would not have killed the hostages but released them and pinned notes on their chests saying, “Stay out of here; this is none of your business.” Such a move, he speculated, might have undercut support for military intervention.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/world/middleeast/paths-to-war-then-and-now-haunt-obama.html?_r=0

    Behind the scenes Obama has yet another plan, if ISIS does not take his PR advice.  He will make a scary face.  That ought to work about as well as his other war plans.

    President Barack Obama makes a face as he reads 'Where the Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak.

      1. First thing the above stupid post made me think of.  You wouldn't think any rightie would want to post something just guaranteed to make everyone think of that one immediately.

        2. Just proves posting stupid shit every day like AC does causes permanent brain damage.

          It's been obvious for some time that he's not getting any brighter — just the opposite.

    3. No one cares what you think troll.  You are as insignificant as a small piece of dung.  Well, actually dung has some heating and fertilizing utility, so I take that back.

      ESAD

  8. In keeping with the whole must be on a pipe theme:

    Lindsey Graham Worries Islamic State Will Destroy Americans, Wipe Out Mankind

    Then, in a stunning pot calling the kettle black moment, he calls the Obama administration delusional. I'd say there are things the Obama administation has been getting wrong about the whole ISIS thing but not getting hysterical about them kiling everyone of us and wiping out mankind is propably not one of them. And this guy and McCain, who has been wrong about pretty much everything this century so far and keeps getting photograghed with the "friendlies" he wants us to support shortly before they start doing thing like lopping off heads and marching people to mass graves, are the go to experts on all the cable news channels. Go figure.  

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/14/lindsey-graham-isil_n_5818376.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

    1. The largest estimate of ISILs' strength I have seen so far, is about 35,000 fighters. They have no cruise missles, they have no airplanes or helicopters, no armed drones, and even if they did, no command and control capability. They are raking in about 3 million dollars a day to build their army…

      Lindsey Graham has proven himself to be a completely over-the-top "Chicken Little" whose fondness for predicting Americas' doom because of Obamas' leadership has worn very, very thin.

      I will ask again, how long did Saddams' "million man army" last against the onslaught of the U.S.military?

      They can see us from two miles away…we can see them from twelve miles away…who wins?

      1. Duke, not so sure about the no airplanes or helicopters bit.  They did over run at least one Syrian airbase which had planes and/or helicpoters.  Additionally, with their access to real money who knows what they may buy on the open market.

            1. It is unclear whether the militants are capable of piloting, re-fuelling, repairing and re-arming the jets, which could be used against Government and rebel forces in Syria, as well as Iraqi and Kurdish fighters and US air strikes in Iraq.

              2. Troll didn't have that part read to it apparently.  But how about that Headline!  derp derp derp

                The footage, obtained by CNN,shows Isis fighters posing with stationary jets and waving the black flag but they were not seen in the air.

                OMFG!  Ms. Smith's First Graders are ABOUT TO BOMB LaFayette!!!

              4. Tiny...errr, I mean, "Duke".  I'm jealous.  In our WIF's upside down world where "up is down", "black is white" and "losing" means you're actually "winning", 'tiny' can only mean one thing:

                                  "HUGE"

    1. McCain's a bitter old man still fighting his war and nursing his wounds from getting his ass kicked in 2008. He's irrelevant, To me, Graham's a bit of a cypher. Every once in a while he says or does something reasonable and sensible. Then, it's as if he wakes up and realizes that was a goof and he needs to shore up his Rightie credentials. So he turn up on one or more of the Sunday shows and spouts a string of GOP talking points. "There, all fixed. The far Right loves me again."

       

      2. Bitter old man still nursing his wounds from '08?  I guess that's better than what his '08 running mate has been up to.  Apparently she and the rest of the Wasilla Hillbillies (Todd, Track, Willow and Bristol) went to a birthday party a few days back which turned into a drunken brawl.

    2. Pretty sure wiping us out , each and every one, is a pretty over the top hysterical assesment. But this is Lindsey Graham, after all. A man in need of smelling salts more often than Miss Scarlett ever was.

      1. I have a friend here in DC that is close to Lindsay.  The friend quips that he and McCranky take turns going off their meds – that way it's assured that both of them won't be krazie-talkin' on the same day.  Isn't it time to gin up #Benghzi again?  I mean, it was the worst disaster of Darth Cheney's lifetime…

  10. Grant Morrison quote from 2011 book Supergods:

    We’ve come to expect that most of our politicians will be exposed, in the end, as sex-mad liars or imbeciles,  just as we've come to expect gorgeous supermodels to be bulimic, neurotic wretches. We've seen through the illusions that once sustained our fantasies and know from bitter experience that beloved comedians will stand unmasked, sooner or later, as alcoholic perverts or suicidal depressives. We tell our children they’re trapped like rats on a doomed, bankrupt, gangster-haunted planet with dwindling resources, with nothing to look forward to but rising sea levels and imminent mass extinctions, then raise a disapproving eyebrow when, in response, they dress in black, cut themselves with razors, starve themselves, gorge themselves, or kill one another.

    1. As an alternative to the above dark scenario, one could:

      • Compulsively watch kitten videos or dogs warbling woofing protestations of love. ("Ruh RUV roo. Ruh RUV roo. ")
      • Try to stay active in political change at the grassroots level, doing what you can.

      Hey, whatever gets you through. Me, I try to do what I can.

    1. Yup. LOTS of bad news for Skippy (and Zippy) this morning! Remeber how Skippy asured us all that Sam Wang was wrong, and all the other pollsters were right — that the GOTP was the dead-on favorite to retake the Senate? Guess what? Those pollsters who Skippy loved SO MUCH are now all starting to trend in SAM WANG'S DIRECTION!

      The increasing bad news this morning for Skippy, Zippy, Karl Rove, Frank Luntz, the Koch Bros and the GOTP from WaPo's Greg Sargent:

      MODELS SHOW CONTROL OF SENATE IS TOSS-UP: The Washington Post and New York Times forecasts have tightened considerably, with the WaPo Election Lab showing the GOP with a 50 percent chance of taking the Senate and the NYT Upshot putting it at 52 percent. FiveThirtyEight gives the GOP a 58 percent chance, but the poll-focused models run by Sam Wang and HuffPollster give Dems roughly the same-sized edge.

      All this is consistent with what some of us have been saying for months: Senate control is a toss up with perhaps a slight GOP lean.

      * NO SIGN OF GOP WAVE YET: A new Politico poll of likely voters in competitive House districts and states with contested Senate races shows the generic ballot match-up effectively tied, with Dems at 42 percent and Republicans at 41 percent. The polling average puts Republicans up 1.5.

      At this point in 2010, Republicans were leading by seven points. There’s still no sign of that GOP wave, though there is still time for it to emerge.

      * VOTERS WANT TO KEEP OBAMACARE: One other nugget from the new Politico poll: Even in battleground districts, more want to keep Obamacare (some with modifications) than want to repeal it, by 55-44. A recent WaPo poll found that even in states won by Mitt Romney a shade more want to keep the law.

      * HAGAN LEADS IN NORTH CAROLINA: A new Elon University poll finds Dem Senator Kay Hagan leading GOPer Thom Tillis by 44-40 among likely voters, and the question wording doesn’t even name the libertarian candidate. The polling average puts Hagan up three.

      If Dems hold the purple states (they hold slight leads in Iowa and Colorado), then keeping the majority entails winning one of three contested red states (Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana) or a surprise pickup in Georgia or Kansas.

       

      1. I got an e-mail this morning telling of a presentation made to the Mesa County Commissioners by Kevin McCarney,

        who represents one of our local tea parties. He recited a portion of the pledge my friend and candidate for sheriff, Benita Phillips, challenged all the other sheriffs' candidates with at the August 21st, Freedom!Colorado forum:

        I would like to extract a pledge from all Sheriff candidates, present or absent, that if they become Sheriff that they will openly and publicly pursue an investigation into the following issues:

        1> Review and amend any Mesa County Sheriff Office policy that supports a culture of double dipping. That a full audit of Sheriff timecards under Hilkey be carried out by an uninvolved third party and to initiate all practical recommendations by that third party, to prevent a King situation again.

        2> Call for and follow up on appropriate agencies to review and audit CMU and all personnel involved in the hiring and knowledge and/or tolerance of King’s CMU Salary. This should also include all “direct CMU lobbyist” salaries for the past 12 years.

        3> Request and obtain all information from the FBI, for the Mesa County DA to review, the Grand Junction Airport Authority investigation, including records on business dealings, purchases, budgets, etc, to determine if all dealings and communications were completed, lawfully.

        The investigation information should be as transparent as legally possible.

         

        She added…

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

        Kevin McCarney, was part of the recruitment effort to get Pat Arotin to run, yet Pat Arotin has NOT signed or endorsed the Pledge in ANY manner. Instead we now see Kevin and Freedom!Colorado denigrating their conservative honor by covering Pat's butt, and publicly asking the Commissioners to do that which Pat refuses to do if elected Sheriff.

         

        This race could get really ugly…and soon.

         

          1. yep..it's uphill and the odds are against her, but you never know…if the Tea party turns out for her, it's possible, but I don't think they will give any more than lip service to supporting Benita, even though she is a Republican, and has been for a long time….

    1. Russell Pearce, author of the Arizona "papers please" law, wants to sterilize poor women without their consent. What a surprise…not.

      Forced sterilization of poor and minority women has been going on for decades, and yes, it is usually Republicans proposing it.

      30% of Puerto Rican women were sterilized. In Mississippi, the practice of sterilizing poor black women during a Ceasarian childbirth was called a "Mississippi appendectomy". Forced sterilization of women in prison is still going on. One in four Oklahoma Native women has been sterilized without her consent.

      The specifics of the "Reproductive rights issue" depends on where you stand on the color and class line and whether the ruling class wants you to make babies or not.

      So now we have yet another GOP "go-to" excuse for saying something completely racist, sexist, classist, and unforgiveable: "I was just quoting someone else and didn't attribute it properly." Whaaa–aat? 

      That ranks up there with Ready's "I was just putting it up for discussion. Nothing wrong with discussion."

       

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