21 thoughts on “Friday Open Thread”

1. Hi all;

   When Gay Marriage was first legalized in Colorado they had a story in the news showing the first marriage licenses. It turns out the software used to generate the licenses is the software my company sells.

   I think it's cool we were part of that. (Granted, a tiny part.)

   Details here (first post).

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   1. it is cool. you can be proud

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   2.  Very cool.

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2. Do you remember where you were when tragedy struck at Bowling Green? I do.

   Santa and I had just finished our trip through the bubblegum forest and had arrived at the Tooth Fairy's house.  She was throwing a big party for the Easter Bunny's birthday.  Anyway, no sooner had we left our trusty steeds with the house leprechaun and walked through the door than we heard the news come over the television– Bowling Green had been attacked.  We wept for hours.  Then Domino's arrived, and we all felt a bit better.

   Remember the Bowling Green Massacre!  Also remember that it's next to impossible to get gum out of unicorn mane.

   Trump adviser cites non-existent 'massacre' defending ban

   Senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway made a statement during a TV interview Thursday that pricked the ears of fact-checkers everywhere.

   She told MSNBC's Chris Matthews:

   "I bet it's brand new information to people that President Obama had a six-month ban on the Iraqi refugee program after two Iraqis came here to this country, were radicalized and they were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre. It didn't get covered."

   […]

   So to recap: There was no massacre in Bowling Green, and Obama didn't ban Iraqi refugees from the country for six months. Major outlets, including CNN, did cover Alwan and Hammadi's case. We did not, however, cover the Bowling Green massacre because it never happened.

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   1. unfortunately, "Bowling Green" will now be enough to set off the unrefined radar of any rabid righty and/or consumer of real "fake news". 

      Just as we can say "monica", "benghazi", "email", "you can keep your insurance" —- the words become ingrained and the truth shall never penetrate.

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   2. As a bona fide Hilltopper with a piece of paper from WKU that includes the ever-valuable bigly commodifiable English BA, I have to admit I don't recall the Bowling Green Massacre too clearly. But that describes my time there pretty well. 

      Which I believe this picture explains somewhat…

      

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   3. 

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      1. 

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   4. Well gee, Zap. Don't you know alternative facts when you hear them?

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      1. Bowling Green………   great 1967 song by the Everly Brothers. Look for it on You Tube.

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         1. There's also Long Gone John (from Bowling Green)

            Long gone – ain't he lucky?

            Long gone – from Kentucky…

            Long gone – that's what I mean

            He's Long Gone John from Bowling Green.

            https://youtu.be/muo2ouXP464

             

             

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            1. 

               

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               1. The Ballad of Bowling Green

                   

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3. I'd like to give a shout out to David's mom, who once again proves to be a voice of reason among some unreasonable people.

   Hawaii State Rep. Beth Fukumoto has held the position of minority leader since 2012, but no more. Fukumoto was ousted this term.

   "They told me they would keep me in this position if I would commit to not disagreeing with our president for the remainder of his term. Mr. Speaker, I'm being removed because I refused to make that commitment, because I believe it's our job as Americans and as leaders in this body to criticize power when power is wrong."

   So where does Rep. Thielen fit in?

   The only Republican to vote for keeping Fukumoto in her leadership role was Rep. Cynthia Thielen, who said on the House floor, "God I am sorry to lose our minority leader, someone I so deeply, deeply respect — the face of Republicanism as it should be, but it won't be any more."

   Congratulations to two brave women who know what's right and what's not.

   Source: NPR

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4. DeVos gave Cory Gardner $50,000

   Do you think that she has his vote?

   Wasn't pay-to-play a campaign issue for Trump?

   Didn't he promise to put an end to it?

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   1. So if Planned Parenthood donated to Polis, would it be out of order if Polis votes to fund Planned Parenthood?  That would be pay to play

      What exactly is DeVos paying Gardner to play?

      Do you really think Gardner was not going to vote for her unless she gave him $50K?

      Every Republican not bought off by a teacher's union would vote for DeVos.

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      1. "What exactly is DeVos paying Gardner to play?"

          

         Secretary of Education

         You couldn't figure that out yourself?

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5. The Boundless Hypocrisy of our Republican Friends (snark added by me):

   The Completely Dead Justice Antonin Scalia passed on to Heaven nearly a year ago. Senate Republicans held the seat open for nearly all of 2016 in the hopes that Donald Trump, or some other Republican Clown Car Un-Flunky would get to fill it. Now that Trump has named federal appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch as his nominee for that seat, however, Senate Republicans view confirming him as a matter of great urgency.

   Hyprocrisy, thy name is Fill-in-the-Blank (R-Liar).

   According to Roll Call’s Niels Lesniewski, Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) anticipates “a roughly six week timeline” for confirming Gorsuch, with only 3 days of confirmation hearings — only one of which will be used to ask questions of the nominee.

   This departs sharply from past practice. Justice Elena Kagan had 4 days of hearings. Justice Sonia Sotomayor had 4 days of hearings. Justice Samuel Alito had 5 days of hearings. Chief Justice John Roberts had 4 days of hearings. Justice Stephen Breyer had 4 days of hearings. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had 4 days of hearings. Justice Clarence Thomas had 11 days of hearings.

   Senate Dems seem to be finally aware that, no matter the rule Republicans insist is in place, they will drop that rule faster than you translate "coup d'etat" from French to Russian once they are in power.

   (OT: Where's AC? He having trouble getting those 10 Ruble notes from Pooty-Pute honored by Conniver-in-Chief Trumpf?

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   1. Hypocrisy is certainly boundless:

      The Democratic leadership, fearful that momentum for Obamacare was fading as it continued to poll poorly, decided to rush a bill through the Senate before Christmas 2009. On November 18, Majority Leader Harry Reid merged two separate pending bills into a bill to be voted on by the Senate….  To meet the self-imposed Christmas deadline, Reid provided only six days for debate [on the final version of the bill]. The Senate bill passed on a strict party line vote, 60-39.

      But wait, a similar "completely dead" twist:

      But a major impediment arose soon after the Senate bill passed. Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy had died that past summer, and the January special election to replace him was won by Republican Scott Brown, who ran as a strong opponent of Obamacare. This deprived the Democrats of their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, and meant that the Senate would not be able to pass a revised bill. The only way to pass Obamacare at this point was to have the House vote on identical legislation to the Senate bill, while engaging in legally dubious procedural maneuvering. And that’s what the Democrats did.

       

      Senate Dems seem to dispute what is good for the goose is good for the gander. 

       

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      1. Legislation is the same as an appointment, like a .22 is the same as a Colt .45.

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         1. Clearly not a gun person there, Dpunk, but thank you for attempting to use an analogy in terms I may understand. Unless you were trying to illustrate that there are more similarities than differences, you may want to stick with personal attacks, alt right bias, or Russia. 

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