Today's edition of quick hits:
* The AP reports on a thwarted terror plot: "The CIA thwarted an ambitious plot by al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a sophisticated new design around the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden."
* The French weren't the only ones who rebelled against austerity over the weekend; voters in Greece took steps in the same direction. The result is a confusing landscape.
* And given the failures of austerity, and the discredited philosophy behind it, blaming European voters for rejecting the misguided experiment is a mistake.
* The White House was asked again today to explain President Obama's position on marriage equality. A clear answer remains elusive.
* Afghanistan: "NATO airstrikes killed Afghan civilians in two provinces, local officials reported Monday, and the U.S.-led coalition said it plans an apology in one of the incidents."
* Understanding what happened to Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark: "A soldier who died in Afghanistan while Skype chatting with his wife in America did not have a bullet wound, military officials said today, despite the wife's claim that he had been shot."
* After some back and forth judicial moves, Texas' anti-Planned Parenthood law has been suspended by a three-judge panel on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
* An Export-Import deal: "With an agreement reached late Friday, House leaders will move quickly to the floor this week on legislation to extend the Export Import Bank's charter through September 2014 and raise its loan exposure cap 40 percent to $140 billion."
* And if Justice Kennedy is looking for a lifeline to do the right thing on the health care law, Jack Balkin and Jonathan Cohn know of an easy one: the "mandate" is pretty clearly a tax, not an instruction from the government.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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You guys realize that 6 European nations voted on Sunday, right? Is the press really allergic to world news? Sad.
Thus AlJazeera English.. "News" from outside our ridiculous plutocracy.
Please, somehow, let folks know if your links go to the NY Times or LA Times. They both have a limit (10) on the number of stories that can be viewed per month.
I like to save my viewings for Krugman columns and the occasional special story.
Thanks
If you put the title of the article on to Google Reader (or some other RSS feed) or even its search engine, it tends not to count toward the limit.
Good tip! Thanks
i ditto that from favedave - and sometimes from the tiny url on tweeter you don't know your designation until you are already there and of course, the NYT provides no word until you reach that limit - btw, i save my 10 for Maureen Dowd and Paul Krugman :) There should be a limited income discount for that sprt of thing - just because my ira tanked doesn't mean my need for news when south!
Sorry for the Times rant - i fell like at least here some one else is listening.
I am sick and tired of the Republicans and specifically Romney, when they say that understand the American economy better than Obama...if they were so smart - Romney specifically - why didn't romney have the brains to buy GM when it was near bankrupt and he could have Leveraged-Buy-out with others' money (which is what he did at Bain Capital/he never used his own money to buy any of those companies) and he would have made BILLIONs...the price of GM was so small that the loans to GM from the government was more than the value of the stock! So don't think of Romney as a person that understand the American Economy ---- tell your friends and pass this truth along.
Therefore, we should assume that Romney, Bain Capital and the rest of the Republicans are actually Stupid Losers! that have no more an idea fo where the economy is going then anyone else - which makes it a betting game and Romney can bet all the $10k he wants, but Obama bet right! Romney is a Loser!
And, he is also a Traitor for attacking the President for reminding all enemies of America that BimboBinLadenTheClown is a dead as julius Ceasar..here is a quick recap of what happened last year ----
But first a question...Name the President of the US that gave the order to invade a foreign power, so as to kill the most wanted man on the Planet and have not one American die in that operation...answer is Obama!.
Reagan killed a couple of Janitors when he attacked Libya in the 80s..the Iraqis killed saddam..kaddafi was killed by his own people//Hitler, stalin, both never died at the hands of an American...Obama is the most successful President in Execution!...Nixon's illegal bombing raids killed thousands of innocent Cambodians and other SEAsians without any victory..George the first didn't finish the job against saddam and saddam tried to kill him afterward...Clinton - was a peace guy who used strategic bombing to take out the middleclass lifestyle fo Serbia/but his track record beyond that is mixed - blood & tears
No other US President has ever invaded a foreign country and killed the leader of another force without losing one American..The victory after the Alamo doesn't count, as everyone died at the Alamo..so whenever you hear another American talk shxt about Obama - you call them what they truly are ---Traitors...
This is also the same tactic that the newt used in 94 to take House of Reps...that is why I tweet everyday on FoxPolitics and push my truthful, but negative attacks at the heart...I ask you to do the same...blog, tweet and fill the ranks of fox so that their subconscious learns to accept the truth...repeat, repeat, repeat...people are suckers for the truth but without someone saying the truth they will listen to anyone (American President/Michael J Fox's character)...
Whenever a republican says Obama is taking too much credit for the death of bimbobinladenTheClown..you call them a Traitor..cause every time a republican disses Obama, the Taliban and Al qaeda laugh at us and get stronger...stop the stupid from spreading///get all your friends registered to vote and keep calling the republicans every tiem they say something stupid! like there are commies in congress...don't you people know that Allen West is a convicted war criminal? use this!..Tim Scott SouthCarolinaD1..using taxpayer money to party with the hot college girls Myrtle Beach (in his district&he is single)...
Now on to the voting rolls...1776...no taxation without representation..what happen to that idea/plan? Call your congressmen/women and demand that they pass a law that states that if a State Government removes a taxpayer from the voting rolls, that taxpayer should no longer have to pay tax....if we can't use our guns to protect our vote then we should not have to pay tax (state and federal)..in the case of Michigan, those poor souls that have lost their city vote should no longer have to pay city taxes...no taxation without representation...call your lawyers and ask them to take this fight to court...you will win, as the basis of the Constutition is clear...no vote, no tax!
Now on to the end of the occupation of Afghanistan...you want to know the truth? Can you handle the truth? BUSH Blundered by not leaving earlier - why? not for the reasons you think...you see after 2014, the Taliban will have 10 years to learn to be friends with Karazi...if they rise up, Karazi will have the option of using American NUkes on his own territory...You read that right!
Once all American and NATO forces are removed from Afghanistan, the most expensive-unused-weapons-of-mass-destruction (Taliban and al qaeda love weapons of mass destruction) on the greatest enemy of Freedom on the planet...why not? Putin won't do anything, the Chinese don't care and if Karazi says yes, blow up the mountain ranges that we can not survey/control, blow up my enemies' drug crop fields, blow the entire Taliban region once and for all!
This may seem morally questionable, but considering that America dropped fire bombs on Wooden Japanese cities - destroying some completely in one night (women, children, seniros, men, animals, everything that lived/no survivors)..was that moral? of course it was, they attacked us!
God allows us to survive the attacks so as to take that EVIL away from the world...As a Christian I would call and inform all peoples (by flyers from plans/loud speakers/direct calling/send a rep) in the areas that I would be planning to Nuke..I am not an asshxxe, but they (taliban) either learn to play nice (live in their area and stay there) or we just Kill all of them...men, children, women(Death would be welcomed by some of the Taliban women)..leaving no one that could ever carry a sword...
So when someone says we should stay in Afghanistan, you remind them that No US President will ever drop a nuke in a country that Americans are in -- that is why we have to get out...BUSH should have gotten out, but he lacked MOral Courage to do the obvious and right thing for the world...
Think about this text, if agree send the word and battle the rightwingers on their own websites/turn the tide of the conversation...Traitors is what they are..to win the big fights we have to act like fighters in their last battle and not hodl anything back - i am not suggesting you use stand your ground laws (let Al qaeda do that this summer in Tampa when they kill one republican (which will cause the end of Jebby BUSHs political Career))..Americans should not kill other Americans..but words are fair game..Newt used the same words to take the House in 94...Let us take back the whole congress and use the truth..
Allen West is a war criminal that has caused Americans to die overseas, as revenge for what he did (shooting a bullet a foot away from a man's skull)...Attack, attack, attack...I will be tweeting local newspapers to remind them of the Republicans that were voted in but betrayed that trust...Like Michael GrimmNYD13 (unluckyToo) forced Jews to pay him above the legal limit for contributions and this guy wants to force whistleblowers to inform their bosses before calling the government/is CEO of AustinRefuelTransport who had 11 safety violations within their first year of operations -- Grimm is a traitor and should be removed from Congress 1776 style (tarred and feathered).
.it is time to get serious and declare war on the Imperial Republican Forces that have taken over the democracy of Michigan -- And the rest of the Republicans throughout this nation..no guns//just words and votes...and standyour ground!
A shout out to MMOORE...use the new jobs act bill that allows more shareholders for private company status to buy ALL the Michigan cities that are underwater...use Leverage-Buy-Out structures to take back the cities from the Imperial Republican Forces...Save Democracy before we have to use our 2nd Amendment Remedies!
God Bless, and God Bless the United States of America
I like Obama, but he is the absolute worst on the gay marriage issue. Just give us a yes or a no. I'll accept a permanent no, before I'll accept that he is opposed but his views are evolving as long, coincidentally, as he has another election to face.
Hillary gave her vote for the Iraq war, not born of conviction, but to try and deflect any "weak democrat" accusations. It may have cost her the nomination.
ok vote for Romney and watch your children die of health problems and you gop broke cause your job is in a foreign country...Get serious and call a spade and spade (Bulworth)..want are you going to do vote republican? of course you are not going to vote republican..they will ban gay marriage and then allow your friends to be hazed and killed because they are gay/// Obama cant come out completely because you haven't convinced 100% of the Gays to support HIM (the only pro gay candidate in the election)....so stop playing games and go to war!
If he loses in November and later comes out in favor of gay marriage, or worse still, if he wins in November and STILL waits until after 2016 to come out in favor, someone should toss one of those shaving cream pies at him.
How about if he ends DADT, supports the end of DOMA, supports heightened scrutiny in the courts for gays/lesbians, opposes state measures to set anti-equality platforms into state constitutions etc.?
If the Republicans win in November you can kiss your gay lover goodbye, cause the republicans will ban gay marriage, encourage the raping of gay women by men (to encourage them to be un gay and accept the cxxk!) and will send gay soldiers to the front lines of battle in hopes that they die faster (this was actually done during WW2)...Get serious, you ain't going to vote for the republicans.. if you do.. then you deserve to be treated like the animal that they will treat you like!
Fight the enemy and register all your friends, before they get deported or killed because they are gay!
The same sex marriage thing is stupid. NC already doesn't have same sex marriage. Obama opposes a sort of "fu" (just like Kerry said on DOMA) that amends the state constitution to set it in stone AND oppose civil unions etc. in the process.
This is an easy call for the President. He doesn't, largely for political reasons and because the best path nationally is to be careful, want to say that same sex marriage is necessary on a national level, especially when a lot of other stuff isn't in place yet. It would be like being for interracial marriage when you still had to send the troops to ensure interracial education.
The media is pretending like this is so very confusing. How could you not publicly as official policy support marriage equality for the nation and oppose the NC measure which one question wrongly implied was just about not allowing same sex marriage? He isn't pure, so all the other stuff he does for gays and lesbians is supposed to be mediocre. That isn't how things work.
I’ve lost all patience with the president’s public posturing on gay marriage. As a Black man, how can he remain silent while most gay people are denied rights that the rest of us have?!? He cannot deny the parallels between America’s Black and Gay civil rights movements. I watched my parents and grandparents march alongside Blacks and Whites in the fight for our rights. Come on Mr. President, we’re talking about civil rights for ALL PEOPLE. Show some courage. LEAD US!
How "silent" is being opposed to the NC Amendment and fighting in court against DOMA, ending DADT etc.? Is that "leadership" not worth mentioning?
You are a Coward!!! Obama travels to Afghanistan where death await him every turn//where are you? In your living room!
You think that your one vote will turn the tide ? There are really stupid people in South Carolina and the rest of the south and they don't agree with gayism..they are so insecure that when you look at them they think you want to rape their white daughters...(TRUE) and zimmerman would be following you...(TRUE) so stop being a coward and do the right thing and attack the enemy! the republicans will ban gay marriage and are so stupid that in banning gay marriage (in north carolina) they are banning common law relationships!....that is why Obama can;t completely come out fo the closet because there are so many stupid people that vote for anti-gay polticiaans...be serious and know better...or go to Stanford and walk around at night in a neighborhood///
The fight is against the republicans not amongst us...
Well now if Obama was a typical republican he would ignore his personal feelings and come out against gays -period.
I can accept the fact that he feels conflicted over the marriage issue and respect the fact that he still sees that homosexuals should still have rights. Remember though that even though we have made marriage a legal determiner of spousal rights, marriage itself is a religious rite and what we need is to separate the religious mumbo jumbo from the legislated rule.
I don't know if anyone on the TRMS reads these messages, but I would like to see you cover a story I read about today on Facebook, It says there was a leak of a story about a law passed in 2010 that gives the government permission to set up "re-education" prisons for political prisoners IN THE UNITED STATES. Is this story true?
It should be for all the Stupid people like Michelle bachmann...taking all that taxpayer money for prayerservices that are supposed to turn gay in ungay...what a two faced traitor!..send the republicans to those reeducation camps -- Romney's vacation Home..
torontojudy
You know better than to believe everything you read on the web. Speaking of Bachmann she is one of the people who was spreading that lie about re-education camps. It's a Tea Party lie.
Let's stop playing patty-cake here. Obama is an intelligent and reasonable human being, who leans heavily towards fairness and understanding. Of course he thinks gays should be allowed to marry. He just won't say it. In fact, to this point he says he is opposed. It's a load of manure. And it's tough to swallow.
All the vote against austerity proves is Europeans understand entitlements but not math or the economics of the Euro. The Euro countries cannot implement monetary policy, unlike the US and England, thus removing one weapon in their arsenel to combat recession or deficits. The only weapon they have is fiscal. They must control budgets, just like our states, or borrow. Sooner or later, the market will either stop lending or lend at prohibitively high rates. The countries that voted are just digging a deeper hole.
"Who do you love?" Bo Diddley, 1956 (also Joe Biden, 2012)