The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    MrSmith1's picture

    Thirty Woodstocks ...

    I just don't think people can get their heads around how ridiculous it is that Donald Trump is saying he is going to deport 12 million people.   So ... let's put things in perspective, shall we?  I mean, the logistics of this 'grand event' should make everyone laugh this moron back to his gold lame penthouse in Trump Tower.

    Deporting 12 million people is the equivalent of deporting every person at 30 Woodstocks.  That's right, THIRTY times the number of people that attended fucking WOODSTOCK! There were only 400,000 people at Woodstock.  This is 30 times that number!! 

    As I was saying

    And saying , and saying.

    Brain Lehrer casually connected the dots the other day. The topic was the desperately sad increase in suicide rates among  non rich white americans  and Brian said, "of course ,caused by Nafta".

    Which was exactly right. In his wise middle age Keynes abandoned his brilliant earlier defense of free trade and reached a position which can be pretty much summarized by two of his remarks: " The thing about tariffs is-they do the trick". And "Let all goods be homespun".

    Debating Abortion

    In 538's summary of the GOP debate, I was struck by this item:

    In his closing statement, Ben Carson said that since the debate had started, 200 abortions had been performed. That stat caught our ear. Turns out, he’s right. In 2011, according to the Guttmacher Institute, the abortion rate in the U.S. was 121 per hour, or 242 over the course of the debate.

    According to the CDC, there were 730,322 legal abortions in the U.S in 2011. That breaks down to about 83 per hour, or close to 170 for the two-hour debate.

    barefooted's picture

    "Operation Wetback"?

    During the Republican debate last night, Donald Trump brought up President Dwight Eisenhower's "Operation Wetback" in the mid 1950's as a successful example of mass deportation of illegal Mexican immigrants. For obvious reasons, he didn't name the operation or mention the horrific ways it played out for, arguably, a million people.

    Marco Rubio flashes the full welder.

     

    In last night's attempt by Murdoch and Ailes to clear the brush around Marco Rubio, the boy candidate who doesn't know which end of a screw driver is the handle flashed hard working Americans with the Full Welder, and believe me it wasn't pretty. I have spent the last week with a friend and neighbor putting up fence and welding farm gates, and I can tell you that Rubio's glib, uninformed, contrived comments about welders, philosophers and wages are worth about the price of two cow pies. The canned junk speech which Rubio has been spouting all week---comparing welders to college philosophy majors---is an insult to workers as well as to those who have worked hard to earn a college degree and are spending a big chunk of their income paying down student loans.

    It's all good... for Bernie!!!

    Curious if I remembered how the elections went in 2008, but after reviewing polls at RealClearPolitics, I decidedly didn't - Hillary had maintained a commanding 20 point lead up to Jan 5 - and then it collapsed in days as Obama surged.

    That of course means nothing in particular this time, but we still have 2 months to go. It ain't over till it's over, redux. Good luck & good fighting.

    And While I'm Here..On Home Schooling!

     

    I do not think I like this trend

    I do not like this trend at all

    I do not like it big or tall

    I do not like it down a fall

    I do not like it with my eggs

    I do not like it t'ween my legs

    I do not like this trend at all

    Contextually Speaking...Just Sayin'

    A lot of sound bites have been thrown around, so far, in the run for the Presidency in 2016.

    So many things have been said, by some candidates, that said candidates are now wishing they had never opened their mouths to speak...

    ...or even have run at all.

    (Jeb!)

    I would like to just concentrate on one sound bite that stands out to me, so far, the most, in the race.

    "Enough about the emails!  We don't care about the damn emails!!"

    A Tale of Two Campuses

    The media just doesn't get it.

    It's not that black people are whiny.  The comments at the post I link to here upset me even more than the article itself does.

    And people want to use the incident at Yale as a counterpoint, as if.

    Danny Cardwell's picture

    Hate Radio As A Second Language: University Of Missouri

    Growing up in a small southern town has blessed me with the gift of translating Conservative hate radio. I live in a town where a lot of people never learned that it's not acceptable to call a black man boy, and the Confederate flag is not a racist relic. For decades people of color comprised less than 10% of the total population in my town; very few of them, no matter how educated or qualified, worked (or work) in any field other than hospitality or service. When combined, these factors create the perfect atmosphere for people to talk unfiltered.

    Richard Day's picture

    FOX NEWS ANALYST INDICTED!

    There was this Fox News 'Analyst' indicted

    http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/45160_Fox_News_Analyst_and_Benghazi_Expert_Indicted_for_Lying_About_CIA_Past

    Believe me, this news hit every major site in this wondrous ethereal atmosphere.

    White working class entrapment, American Style

     

    The recent statistics revealing increases in the mortality rates of middle aged white Americans during the period 1999 to 2013 seem to defy easy narratives as to why it's happening now here while the reverse--lower mortality rates--is true in other countries. It also appears to be more of a white problem than a minority problem. The factors of personal responsibility, equality, freedom, declining wages and morality are all included in various diagnoses of this peculiar white illness. There are criticisms of the statistical methodology employed but all agree that the rate is going up, disturbingly so. Less education, lower wages and general hopelessness are common descriptors of this endangered group.

    barefooted's picture

    'First In The South' Democratic Forum

    The 'First In The South' Democratic Forum took place tonight in Rock Hill, SC at Winthrop University. Hosted by Rachel Maddow and broadcast on MSNBC, it was a well designed and visually effective chance to get a personal, less "stumped" look at the Democratic candidates. In order of appearance: Martin O'Malley, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. How did it go?

    First, let's completely disregard Chris Matthews and his cohorts both before and briefly afterwards. Moving on ...

    Danny Cardwell's picture

    Officer Gliniewicz and The Conservative Media's Omission

    Omission is one of the most powerful tools the media has at its disposal. The media can't control what we think, but they can control what some of us think about. The deafening silence in light of the facts about corrupt Officer Gliniewicz on conservative talk radio and Fox news is telling. I've spent more hours than I care to admit watching Fox, and listening to talk radio. I forced myself to watch The Five, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity. Sheppard Smith was the only person who addressed the way the networks on air personalities tacitly linked the "murder" of Officer Gliniewicz to the Black Lives Matter Movement. It doesn't make me want to nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, but after watching several hours of their programing over a two day period: I felt somewhat vindicated that a day after the story broke someone made my time worthwhile.

    synchronicity's picture

    PART 2: POLITICAL CONVENIENCE & THE DARK SIDE OF HILLARY CLINTON

    Part 2:  Political Convenience.

    In the first democratic debate of 2015 Hillary Clinton Claimed ‘I have been very consistent over the course of my entire life ’ and that she has ‘always fought for the same values and principles’.  This is simply not true.  Hillary has a history of taking positions of political convenience.

    Checks & no Balances

    If you recall the times during the 2000 campaign when Bush claimed to responsibly hand back tax cut savings, with moderators never noting the discrepancies, these modern times should give you pause. What you might not have realized is that Bush's $1.9 trillion spend-fest is dwarfed by the current candidates' $6 to $11 trillion cost. [If only a Socialist wanted to break the budget by that amount, they'd be howling.] You'd be excused for not realizing this, how wacky their plans are, as this basic detail isn't much revealed by either the press or the media brainiacs moderating the "debates". You would think that part of a debate, as you learned somewhere around 8th grade debate class, was a "rebuttal", a point drilled home by references we'd crammed on, pre-internet, to fill 3x5" index cards in cardboard files to prepare for the fierce drilling of our opponents.

    Post-trauma Disorder: none dare call it conspiracy?

    If you want to start a fight, ask a bunch of Americans whether 9/11 was a conspiracy. Most will say no. If you then note that 19-20 people working together is by definition a conspiracy, they'll get pissed and say they thought you meant "government conspiracy". Which is not what they thought, since we don't know what individual gov workers from the FAA or INS or FBI might have helped the hijackers, eg who let them through the airport with boxcutters or who helped them scope out security. What they really mean is "not a HIGH government conspiracy" or some coordinated renegade group of spooks, no Ollie North and gang.

    Richard Day's picture

    LET US PRAY

    I am having trouble getting my head around all of this.

    The repubs just continue to piss me off.

    Except Kasich of course.

    Let us pray that we shall find and subsequently exile or incarcerate all 'illegals'.

    Let us pray that we might put stars upon those illegals; on their chests and with gps monitors within their skins so that we might more easily hunt them down.

    Let us pray that we might abolish the FDR/commie idea of Social Security and do the same for Medicare

    barefooted's picture

    Bernie Sanders - Off The Bench

    It is fairly easy to understand Bernie Sanders. After all, he's barely changed his positions for decades, he still personally prefers to avoid getting personal (especially about himself), and he's proudly a self-proclaimed Independent Democratic Socialist. Since there isn't a Democratic Socialist Party, technically he's a registered Independent running for president on the Democratic ticket with a Democratic Socialist agenda. But he's Bernie, and it's the Democratic party, so one plus one equals two and a half when it comes to a Revolution.

    Question

    I have a question, and I'm hoping you will all provide your answers. 

    OK, here it goes.

    If Hillary is elected President, what will she change, and how will she change it?

    OK, let me clarify that question, first.

    If Hillary is elected President, and we still have a majority of Republicans in the House and can barely hold the Senate, what will she change, and how will she change it?

     

    synchronicity's picture

    The Dark Side Of Hillary Clinton Section 1 - Lies & Political Convenience

    Part 1: HILLARY LIES

    I have not identified every lie significant to the public, but cover some that are recent or others that have been more public avoiding meaningless republican attacks because it's just not necessary to make the point. 

    1. Sniper Fire – She didn’t have to tell this lie.  Supposedly it was to try to give her some ‘battle’ experience in her run for president in 2007.  It made her look foolish.  Her daughter was there with her!  

    Richard Day's picture

    THERE IS A NEW DEBATE; LIVE BLOG

    OKAY we shall try again?

    I am afraid, but why not?

    Trump has been trrumped as Ramona said recently.

    This should be fun.

    Marco is thinking he is the one even though he hates the Senate.

    Carson is the real passive/ aggressive even though he seems to actually hates all minorities

    Kasich blasts his own party.

     

    If you put a ripe banana to my head and threatened to smash it unless I picked one Republican candidate to vote for, I'd pick Kasich, governor of Ohio. Maybe it's  because I grew up in Ohio before it was populated with Palin fanatics and I still have memories of how life was when folks were reticent to demean others for their behavior, there were high paying jobs in the mills, the speed limit was 55 and the homecoming girls wore Saddle Oxfords. I don't like Kasich's religious bigotry nor the Republican agenda. But Kasich wouldn't allow Texas to secede nor invade Egypt. He is a sane hard nose conservative who wouldn't destroy the economy. As far as politics and policies go, he is the least unsavory Republican candidate, in my opinion.

    Open Thread

    Open thread. Any subject, any length, any point of view. My first tidbit offering is a short interview that impressed me with the subjects sensible position on a very important topic but also her ability to present that view so well.  

    http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/congresswoman-tells-truth-about-sy...

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