The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    24 Hours: Seven Deadly Sins of Republicans

    By NCD on Thu, 07/06/2017 - 12:33pm |

    Over just one news cycle, Republicans, Republican supporters and the Republican base displayed at least 7 whatever you want to call them, sins, blunders, vices, character flaws and defects.....

    Robby Lobby, illegal and unethical purchase of thousands of ancient artifacts from the war torn Middle East.

    Hobby Lobby is the corporation that in Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby, won the right to deny birth control coverage to women they employ due to their deep religious principles.

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    NRA Calls Racist Radical Right to Arms

    By librewolf on Thu, 07/06/2017 - 9:44am |

    The National Rifle Association (NRA) has released an "advertisement" that is a clear call to white supremacists and the Radical Right to rise up. It removes the veneer that the NRA is focused on protecting gun rights, instead putting forward a narrative that looks more racist radical right. This video is clearly crafted with the far right as the desired audience. The tone, images, and message are all characteristic of media out of this movement. What is chilling is not so much the video itself, but that it is produced by one of the most influential lobbies in Washington. It is the NRA, and its ability to mobilize a highly reactive membership, that holds the ears (and votes) of legislators. Below is Bill Moyers and Michael Winship's response to the NRA call to arms. My discussion resumes following their's.


    The second worst failure in

    By Flavius on Tue, 07/04/2017 - 8:33am |

    Bret Stephens' Saturday Times Oped was his * falsely reporting the supposed  content of this  reference 

    "Kenneth  Arrow crisply described  the biggest insanity (Stephens ' word, not Arrow's) back in December 1963 "Insurance " he wrote "removes the incentive on the part of individuals, patients, and physicians to shop around for better prices for hospitalization and surgical care."  

    Arrow himself would  not have categorized  this as the" biggest insanity" in health care since he went on to state that 

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    THE REAL AND THE IDEAL

    By Richard Day on Sun, 07/02/2017 - 1:31pm |

    Plato Silanion Musei Capitolini MC1377.jpg

    For the first time in five years, I am streaming The West Wing on Netflix.

    We need some reprieve from reality sometimes.

    Here is one scene from one of my favorite dramas that really caught my eye:

     

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    1776! The First War of Southern Secession (spoiler: The South wins this one...)

    By jollyroger on Sat, 07/01/2017 - 9:38pm |

    In 1772, in one stroke, in Somersett's Case,  Lord Chief Justice The Great Lord Chief Justice Mansfield abolished slavery on any land comprising the United Kingdom.

     

    The clock began to tick for the full abolition of slavery throughout the Empire in 1833, with the odious slave trade to be abolished in 1808.

     

    librewolf's picture

    What Nation Are We? This Way Lies Death and Ruin. Killing Medicaid (Patients)

    By librewolf on Sun, 06/25/2017 - 4:20pm |

    On Friday June 23, 2017, Ari Melber, sitting in for Lawrence O'Donnell on, facilitated the best and most extensive examination of Medicaid and the potential consequences of the Senate (and House) Affordable Care Act replacement - aka "Trumpcare". Medicaid is the single most important component of American healthcare, directly impacting 70 MILLION people, and indirectly impacting virtually ALL of us. From infants being born, to many of the disables, to the elderly fighting to stay in their homes (or in nursing homes) to the poor (rural and urban), it is the bedrock upon which virtually all of us count. This is critical, and what the Republicans are proposing will drop a bomb on the overall healthcare system, and it will result in the deaths of tens of thousands. I cannot urge you strongly enough to take 23 minutes and watch the video clips from the program. Anything this critical deserves you time - and your voice.

    Marathon on the whole Democratic Party doldrum thingie: 3 recommended pieces

    By artappraiser on Sun, 06/25/2017 - 3:16am |

    So I saw Maureen Dowd's piece published Saturday zooming up the "Trending" chart @ NYTimes.com, by evening it was at #1. So I read it, it's good:

    Donald Skunks the Democrats

    Four participation trophies later, the Democrats finally take a look in the mirror. Even they aren’t sure who’s staring back.

    covering the border wall with solar panels

    By ocean-kat on Sat, 06/24/2017 - 6:11pm |

    Trump has been talking up putting solar panels on his border wall. As usual this is a stupid idea used by Trump as propaganda to appeal to democrats. Since democrats accept the science on climate change and support renewable energy Trump supposes they will support his border wall if it's covered in solar panels. This off the cuff bullshit isn't workable due to the science of electric transmission.

    MD has a lot to lose if Obamacare is repealed

    By HSG on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 4:56pm |

    Maryland, particularly Montgomery County, has become a bright spot in the national health-care picture. From 2012 to 2015, subsidies to health insurance purchasers and the expansion of Maryland’s Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act caused the percentage of uninsured Marylanders to fall from 10.1 percent to 6.7 percent. The national average is 9.4 percent. . .

    Read the rest of my Washington Post op-ed here.

    Bernie Savages the AHCA, is Ignored by MS Press

    By NCD on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 12:04pm |

    Bernie yesterday on Senate floor, The Hill:

    Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday slammed the plan put forth by Senate Republicans to repeal and replace ObamaCare, saying the legislation "is even worse" than he imagined.

    “The bill Republicans announced today is even worse than expected and by far the most harmful piece of legislation I have seen in my lifetime,” Sanders said in a statement. 

    “This bill has nothing to do with health care. It has everything to do with an enormous transfer of wealth from working people to the richest Americans.”

    Google search "Bernie senate health bill". Last 7 days.  You get links to Salon, the Week, the Hill, Politics USA, Bernie's twitter feed.......hmmmm...

    .....no links to New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, CBS, ABC...?

    "When I use a word "

    By Flavius on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 9:55am |

     Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less."
    "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
    "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master—that's all."

    Richard Day's picture

    2022 THE END OF AN ERA

    By Richard Day on Thu, 06/22/2017 - 12:47am |

    National Memorial Day Parade, Grand Marshall, Pat Sajak, Mon 30 May 2011 (11).jpg

    Donald Trump is finally released from prison in 2022.

    Responding to Racism

    By HSG on Sat, 06/17/2017 - 3:19pm |

    Two nooses in the District of Columbia and one in suburban Maryland have been found over the past three weeks. Thursday, a noose was found hanging from a tree in an integrated Montgomery Village, MD, neighborhood. On May 31, one was left in the Segregation Gallery at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Less than a week earlier, a noose had been discovered on the grounds of the Hirshhorn Museum.

    For me, a white man living in Kensington, these are deeply disturbing reminders of an angry and divided world. A world in which racism remains a strong presence, even in the cosmopolitan DMV, and overtly hostile acts seem only to have grown in frequency since the beginning of the last year’s election cycle.

    Richard Day's picture

    CAN TRUMP REALLY FIRE MUELLER?

    By Richard Day on Mon, 06/12/2017 - 10:57pm |

    Richard M. Nixon, ca. 1935 - 1982 - NARA - 530679.jpg

    Director Robert S. Mueller- III.jpg

    I have been confronted by this idea that Trump might fire the independent counsel appointed by the DOJ #2; meaning Mueller?

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    Interview With Bay Area Catholic Author Stefan Salinas Part One

    By Orion on Thu, 06/08/2017 - 7:51pm |

    Originally posted at Radical Second Things: 

    I met Stefan unexpectedly last week while I was at the Bay Area Book Festival. I came across his two children's book - Catholic Churches Big and Small and A Muslim Family's Chair for the Pope - and instantly thought that both were a perfect match for Radical Second Things. I got copies of both and Stefan agreed to an interview. Hopefully it leads to more - he is perfect for this project!

    Richard Day's picture

    COMEY LIVE!

    By Richard Day on Thu, 06/08/2017 - 9:46am |

    It is early and Dagbloggers generally have more to do than I on a Thursday Morning.

    But then I thought what the hell; this may be the Congressional Super Bowl as so many pundits have said  the last week or so.

    Let me just start off with a short Seder Video:

    I cite this because it shows the Repub Ad against James Comey?

    As we were coming

    By Flavius on Wed, 06/07/2017 - 8:34am |

    back from the library ,across the icy Ft. Dix parade ground , I asked J why he wasn´t going to officer candidate school. I was.And he seemed to me  far more qualified. I´d had a good enough education at a college no one had ever heard of then or since..He´d been a star at Oberlin.  And by any standards he was a commanding  personality. I mostly sat on the floor by my bunk reading. At that point  ¨The God that failed¨ which J had in fact loaned me.

    He answered. ¨I don´t know whether I can handle combat and if I fail I don´t want to be responsible for anyone other than me.¨

    Winter of Progressive Discontent

    By HSG on Tue, 06/06/2017 - 9:31am |

    Democrats should be disappointed by Republican Greg Gianforte’s win over Rob Quist in the recently-concluded Montana special election. The concept of moral victories in winner-take-all political races is unpersuasive and particularly so in this case. Yes, Quist got a much higher percentage of the vote than Hillary Clinton did in November. But part of that improvement likely came courtesy of Gianforte's assault on a reporter on the eve of the election. Simply put, one cannot discern a Democratic wave on the horizon in the wake of an over 6 point loss to a ruffian in a state with a Democratic governor and senator.

    For progressive activists, Quist's loss is particularly troubling. Quist followed the script that we on the left edge of the Democratic Party have been writing. He held rallies with Bernie Sanders. He supports Medicare-for-all.

    Richard Day's picture

    BULL IN A CHINA SHOP

    By Richard Day on Mon, 06/05/2017 - 8:14pm |

    Charging Bull statue.jpg

    Our great leader just embarrassed the shit out of all of us.

    This embarrassment is all over the web.

    http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-travel-ban-london-attacks-2017-6

    Trump is really a bull in a china shop.

     

    Bill Maher's much worse than Kathy Griffin

    By HSG on Sun, 06/04/2017 - 3:28pm |

    White Bill Maher used the n-word on a live HBO Show Friday night in what smacks of a ugly effort to bond with Republican Senator Ben Sasse  of Nebraska. Because Maher’s proffered apology came after a day of dithering, it reeks of insincerity. At this point, I'm vacillating between calling for his head for expressing an overtly racist sentiment in the worst possible way and thinking a long suspension might be sufficient.

    Last week CNN fired Kathy Griffin for staging a photograph showing her holding Trump’s bloody severed head. Given that Griffin’s primary CNN gig is co-host with Anderson Cooper of the apolitical New Year’s Eve Live, her dismissal for being crude, gruesome, and offensive to much of the nation is understandable. Nevertheless, there’s no doubt that the arty, albeit gory, photograph has real value. Griffin was depicting a fantasy that millions share - a brutal end to America’s destructive bully-in-chief.

    Adrift on a Sea of Blue Light

    By A Guy Called LULU on Sun, 06/04/2017 - 1:05pm |

    Last night I got to thinking about days long past when I had plunged into the “pirate” life and moved aboard a sailboat which was my home in the Caribbean for seven years. My previous sailing had been on a twenty-four foot boat on a lake in Texas and a lot of vicarious trips with the likes of Joshua Slocum and Bernard Moitessier.

    What do the numbers tell us?

    By Flavius on Sat, 06/03/2017 - 10:30am |

    During the period  Orion and artappraiser discuss in their interesting   adjacent blogs something else happened.

    US Unemployment %

    Feb 2008    4.9

    Feb 2009    8.3

    Oct 2009   10.0 

    Feb 2012    8.3

    Feb  2015  5.5

    Some unemployment level is pretty much painless. ¨Frictional¨ . People who´ve just left one job and are quite happy to take a break.

    Statisticians know the number,I don´t.    But let´s say it´s at @3%.  So the swing in ¨involuntary¨ unemployment was from

    1.9% in Feb 08 to

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