16 thoughts on “Friday Open Thread”

1. Hillary Clinton on Maddow last night:

   "I think this President and some of the people around him, pose a clear and present danger to  our country, domestically to our institutions  of democracy, our self-governance, our rule of law. "

   "Internationally, in so many ways, because of the unpredictability, the fact that there is no strategic plan, there's just a reactive, emotional, visceral kind of behavior. So I can only hope, and I think every American can only hope, that people who know better, who have experience, and who realize that, you know, this country of ours is really worth defending and protecting, will be able to prevent anything really bad from happening."

   I haven't watched the entire interview, yet those words send a chill. HRC stayed away from the sour grapes anti-Bernie stuff for this interview, focusing instead on weightier issues, which makes the contrast to our smelly Pr*sident even more stark.

    

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   1. I'm not a regular viewer of TRMS but happened to have it on over dinner last night.  While my initial reaction was to poo-poo this and move on…I found the entire interview instructive and HRC likable.  She explicitly stated she will not be a political candidate in the future – but that she will remain involved in politics.  While I'm a fan of bringing in some new blood into the party leadership we can learn a thing or two – for the good or the bad – from those that have been through war.  She did, after all, win the popular vote in a bigly way. 

      I wish her nothing but the best.   

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2. WOTD from Ezra Klein at vox.com: Bernie Sanders has smashed a rock through the Overton Window.

   The Democratic Party could’ve oriented itself around a number of health care goals in the coming years. It could’ve simply sought to improve Obamacare. It could’ve focused on cutting costs, or lowering premiums, or getting closer to universal coverage. But Sanders, I think, has preempted all that: He’s made the goal single-payer.

   I highly doubt Democrats will achieve that goal, just as they haven’t achieved universal coverage. But simply agreeing on it changes what counts as progress. Expanding Medicaid is progress toward single-payer. Allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices is progress toward single-payer. Allowing people of all ages to buy into Medicare is progress toward single-payer. Adding a public option to Obamacare is progress toward single-payer. Pete Stark’s AmeriCare plan is progress toward single-payer.

    

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   1. MORE:

      Indeed, the most interesting part of Sanders’s bill, for my money, is its transition plan: Over the first four years, before it cancels anyone’s insurance, the plan expands Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing aids, makes children up to age 18 eligible, and lets adults over 35 buy in. You could pass that part of Berniecare on its own and have made real progress toward single-payer.

      …

      Just as important as what counts as progress is what counts as deterioration. If Sanders is successful in redefining the goal of Democratic health policy, other policies Democrats have considered in recent years would now be dead. Raising the Medicare age, which the Obama administration weighed during budget negotiations, is antithetical to moving toward single-payer. Expanding Obamacare’s exchanges so private insurers cover more people and Medicaid covers fewer people is not progress toward single-payer. Adding private insurers into Medicare, as Sen. Ron Wyden has proposed, is not progress toward single-payer. Allowing private insurers to sell skimpier plans in the Obamacare marketplaces, as some Senate Democrats have proposed, is not progress toward single-payer.

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3. Bernie has the guts to stand up to our Sociopath-In-Chief.

   Our Dear Senator-for-Life Bennet is most likely hiding under his desk. ColoradoPols is just fine with that cuz he has a (D) behind his name.

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   1. Did I mention, Zappy, that there is a growing consensus on this board that you are crazy as a loon?

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   2. In other news of Zappy's BFF, the spacecraft Cassini ended it's 13 year mission orbiting Saturn today . . . 

      Cassini Vanishes Into Saturn, Its Mission Celebrated and Mourned

      http://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/14/science/cassini-grand-finale-saturn.html 

      . . . and our "dear Senator-for-life" couldn't be bothered to visit for even a single day?!?

      Some great images here:

      http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/09/14/science/cassini-saturn-images.html

      . . . of Saturn, not Senator Bennett, that is . . . 

       

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      1. Gorgeous photos, Dio. The universe is rumored to be non-partisan.

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         1. Bullshit.  The sky is blue!

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            1. Among other colors….

               

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4. I'll just leave this right here…

   Floyd Mayweather Says Trump's 'Grab Them by the P—-' Comments Are How a 'Real Man' Talks

   In a new interview with Hollywood Unlocked, Floyd Mayweather opened up about his friendship with President Trump and defended the lewd comments that Trump made on an Access Hollywood tape in a private conversation with host Billy Bush.

   In the interview released this week, Mayweather, who has an extensive history of violence against women, said Trump’s comment are how a "real man" talks.

   "People don’t like the truth," Mayweather said. "He speak like a real man spoke. Real men speak like, 'Man, she had a fat ass. You see her ass? I had to squeeze her ass. I had to grab that fat ass.' Right? So he talking locker room talk. Locker room talk. 'I’m the man, you know what I’m saying? You know who I am. Yeah, I grabbed her by the p—-. And?'"

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   1. How's that #BabyChristian thingy coming along? 

      

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5. Once more unto the breach, dear wing nuts, once more….

   http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/350842-gop-senator-says-he-nearly-has-the-votes-for-obamacare-repeal

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   1. 

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6. John McCain getting big respect for his bill to block Trump's transgender ban. Maybe it takes the threat of death to make someone do the right thing.

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   1. Bless McCain's rusty old brain. I doubt they can get 2/3 to override the Screaming Yam's guaranteed veto, but I'm glad they're trying. If their fellows don't care how a soldier is plumbed, why should he?

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