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...

    Comments

    This clip was fascinating.

    Here is an elected official who really knows the subject.

    Thank you for this!

    I do not yet have an opinion;but I do acknowledge this woman's acumen?

    We shall see more of her in the future. That is for sure. 


    Glad you liked it DD. Her Wiki page is worth a look too. She has a very interesting bio. I had never heard of this her. 


    I have posted here in the "in the News" section links to various articles I found at "Consortium News", mostly ones by Robert Parry. He was recently awarded the I.F.Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence. Here is his acceptance speech and then an audio interview by Tom Ashbrook on NPR's "On Point". 

    https://consortiumnews.com/2015/10/26/parrys-speech-at-i-f-stone-award/

    http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/10/26/robert-parry-iran-contra-investigativ...


    Open thread? OK, here's a thought:

    The best chance the "establishment" candidates will have had to date to expose the "outsiders" as (at least) fiscal idiots will be during tomorrow night's debate. Will they take it? CNBC has stated their focus to be on the economy and business - with the timing coinciding with the debt ceiling/budget debates in Congress, the opening is yuoog (sic?). Especially for those who are currently slated to vote, and desperately need to show their chops. I guarantee that Trump and Carson haven't a clue, so rather than try to show each other up they should collectively target the two lost boys.

    Some think the business line of questioning will help The Donald, that it will offer him the opportunity to inflate himself further. Me? If done right, it can be an even better opportunity to pop his inflated, exaggerated and largely hyped record. He really hates it when that happens.

    Frankly, the experienced Republicans are being handed a gift in regard to the moderators and focus - it will be interesting to see what they do with it.


    I wonder what percentage of average Republicans are arguing about who the best candidate to serve their wishes is, some very seriously in favor of one over the others, but also promising each other to vote for whoever the R nominee is, regardless any serious reservations they may have because they feel that the most important thing is to not have a Democrat in the office. I doubt that the Republican debates, even though they demonstrate that for each participant the strategy believed to be best is for the best-bumper-sticker contest to in affect show them to be the most bat-shit crazy in pandering to the swing votes in their primaries, will turn many Republicans into voters for either Hillary or Sanders rather than whoever has an "R" in front of their name.

     All that said, a significant part of the record breaking audience is, I believe, tuning in just to laugh at the clown show.  


    This should be interesting.

          US presidential hopefuls to attend conference in Israel 

    http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-presidential-hopefuls-to-come-to-israel-...


    US Secretary of State John Kerry has managed to get Washington’s Middle East regional allies to attend talks in Paris and Vienna to discuss a political solution to the four-year-old Syrian conflict. Among the attendees will be Britain, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates. At Russia’s insistence over Saudi objections, Iran was invited to the high-level discussions – the first time that Tehran has been admitted to the table. Doesn’t it seem a bit of an astounding demand, since it can't be seen as an ironic joke, by Washington’s allies in Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Arab absolute monarchies for «free elections» to be held in Syria.


    The EU has voted in favor of protecting Edward Snowden from extradition if he were to live or travel in Europe. Marcy Wheeler comments on that situation at "Real News".

    http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&I...


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