Today's edition of quick hits:
* Isaac is now a Category 1 hurricane, and it appears to be headed in New Orleans' direction. The storm is expected to make landfall overnight.
* Some RNC drama: "Mitt Romney's supporters passed new rules governing future primaries over the loud boos of Ron Paul supporters and other conservative activists who had objected to what they said was a power grab by the party's establishment leaders."
* Good call: "A panel of federal judges threw out Texas redistricting plans Tuesday saying the state failed to show the new political lines would not discriminate against minorities under the Voting Rights Act."
* As if it weren't bad enough that Romney used Ohio coalminers as a prop, those same workers were required to attend the campaign event and forced to give up a day's pay.
* Akin won't shut up: "Rep. Todd Akin's campaign says Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus is putting a petty personal grudge ahead of the party's interest in winning the Missouri Senate seat."
* Senior Romney adviser Ron Kaufman said this morning that, as far as he's concerned, the Republican presidential nominee "is the Tea Party movement." I suspect Tea Partiers might disagree.
* My friends at the Washington Monthly have released their 2012 College Rankings. I may be biased -- I worked at the Monthly for four years, but I consider these rankings the only ones that matter.
* The new photos from the Mars Curiosity Rover are truly extraordinary.
* And for reasons I don't understand, Bill O'Reilly has decided it's his turn to take cheap shots at Sandra Fluke.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
Leave a Comment:
Your link to the Mars Curiosity Rover photos is broken.
Well, this is probably silly, but I'm really tired of seeing everybody interviewing Republicans at the convention. I hate seeing them in general and it seems they're everywhere this week! :)
Yes it is silly. It's the Republican convention. It doesn't make sense to ONLY hear democrats talking all the time about the RNC does it?
I have very little affection for nearly all positions of Ron Paul, but this is a raw deal.
What was that saying- "taxation without representation?" What representation do voters of minority viewpoints have? We need a more equitable system for heterodox activists to have the fair and proportional representation corresponding to their national strength of followers. If 15% of the nation describes themselves as libertarian, shouldn't 15% of congressional representatives be assigned to libertarians?
If we have moved to strict parlimentary voting, then one avenue to breaking the logjam is to appeal to such blocks to move legislation. While libertarians might often caucus with the GOP, they could move to the Dems to support lower defense spending, or decriminalization of drugs.
No, we do not have a parliamentary system, we have a winner-take-all system with two major parties that trade off being in charge. If we DID have a parliamentary system then both parties would have to court the minor parties to form coalition governments.
there are pros and cons to both. it is my opinion that the current practice is not working and a new model should be investigated.
I don't think you entirely get how parliamentary systems work. For one thing, it is not always necessary to form coalitions. Sometimes it is. That's often the case in Italy. It rarely happens in other countries, such as the UK or Germany. Currently the UK has a coalition government, but there are only two partners, and both of them are major parties (Conservatives and Lib Dems).
You are also confused about our own system. It is hardly 'winner takes all'. If that were the case, it would never be possible to have a divided government, which is what we have currently. And even if the same party controls both Congress and the White House, Congress doesn't really have to follow the President's lead on anything (and frequently doesn't).
The major real difference between a parliamentary government and our own is that in a parliamentary system the head of government is always the leader of the party which has the most seats in parliament (or at least the lower house, when there is one). In cases where the biggest party does not have a clear majority, that party forms a coalition with one or more other parties (but more frequently just one) and the premier is still the leader of the party with the most seats.
In other words, in a parliamentary system divided government is technically never possible since executive and legislative powers can only ever be wielded by one party (sometimes in coalition) at a time. This comes somewhat closer in practical terms to your 'winner takes all' idea than our system does.
Another real-world difference between parliamentary systems and our own is the viability of minor parties. The benefit to that is that those with extreme views get filtered out of the major parties into minor parties where they usually do no harm (Weimar Germany notwithstanding). In our two-party system, it is possible for extremists to gain control of a party (the GOP as it happens) and magnify their influence beyond all proportion to their numbers.
Ronald-
By "Parliamentary" I was referring to the post Grover Norquist world where legislators do not have much if any latitude to cross the aisle.
To what the Meddler stated, I would add that there are significant obstacles to a national leader rapidly rising from obscurity to take the helm of government. Instead of McGovern, Carter, Reagan, Clinton or Obama, we would have had (respectively) Humphrey, "Scoop" Jackson, Howard Baker, Sam Nunn, Chris Dodd.
I know. Who?
The leaders would be forced to emerge from the compromise seeking legislative process- not a process that encourages bold new breaks with the past. These are not household names anymore, but they wielded significant power in congress due to their ability to command significant respect within their congressional caucuses.
Perhaps Obama could have risen in the ranks and become PM, but he would be an old man before he achieved it.
So I do not advocate the parliamentary system at all. All I was pointing out is that it should not be a ridiculously idealistic proposition that 3.5 million Democrats in Texas should not feel that their vote for President does not matter. Similarly, anyone with even minorly heterodox views are marginalized, because though their numbers are significant, they are diffuse in the population so that they gain no national representation.
Ever.
That lack of agency leads to cynicism about and dysfunction in government.
FairVote (the outfit associated with the Nirvana bassist Rachel had on) has some good proposals.
I don't know about the rest of you, but those Mars Rover photos look way too much like Planet Earth. Have we been there before? This is the most startling feeling I've experienced since I first saw the photos of Earth from space and of the Earth from the Moon. We are not alone. There has got to be something else out there which has spouted life. I feel so humbled. The Lord did not stop rest after the sixth day. He just didn't. You can feel it.
At some point, there may be a planet whose inhabitants becomes sufficiently scientifically aware to understand that their appearance unlike ours was sudden, and appears underived from any of the local life forms.
We are discovering several exoplanets per day in other solar systems. While most of these have hellishly cold, hot, high gravity or noxious environments, a handful are in the sweet spot where liquid water and other conditions for life could exist. In the forseeable future, we will have technology to send machines that have a measurable chance of enduring the 20,000+ year voyages to such systems, and survey and navigate a soft landing on such bodies. One mission for such expeditions might simply be an insurance policy for humanity's survival- to release organisms necessary to support life, then centuries later after an exploitable ecosystem is established, to incubate human zygotes, care and nurture for a small colony of humans for 18 years.
Loved Chris Matthews comment a few minutes ago after his trying to get a Republican woman to explain why the GOP platform extends rights to the Unborn that they say do not apply to women.
One plank actually goes way beyond the Personhood Bills and says the 14th amendment gives the Unborn property rights. Property rights? What in the heck is that all about? The fetus owns the womb it's living in?
It's actually a nine month lease.
I would think that requiring workers to attend a political event, without pay, would be against all sorts of labor laws.
Yes, but when you're not in a union, you can get fired for complaining about that sort of thing.
MindBend, that's why the GOP wants to get rid of unions.
If the Democratic Party is smart (and I know that's always an open question), they'll make at least one TV advertisement out of this. Exploiting workers in this way may be barely legal, especially when workers don't have representation. It's not morally OK. The Dems should make this story known. It illustrates what happens to workers when Republicans have all the power.
At the time this happened, I commented that the workers didn't seem to be especially happy or enthusiastic. I speculated that they had been ordered to appear as part of their work assignment. However, I never considered that their company's management would be so brazen as to force them to be there WITHOUT paying them.
Check out the gobbledy-gook from Murray Energy's CFO re: the coal mine workers --
"Our managers communicated to our workforce that the attendance at the Romney event was mandatory, but no one was forced to attend," he told local news radio WWVA, which has received several emails from workers claiming that the company records names of workers that don't attend those types of events."
Does the CFO not understand the difference between the words "mandatory" and "optional"? Not only were workers compelled to attend, they were ordered to do so on their own dime, all in the name of providing a backdrop for the rich guy. Unbelievable.
If you parse those words, I guess he's saying that they had the choice of attending or being fired. In his view, they still had a choice. Even if it was a bad one.
All well and good, but: what's our drinking game for tonight? Every time someone says... Ron Paul? Delegates? Reagan?
I'm not sure I can listen to Ann's speech, she's such a freakin' Boufant Hairdo, and Who Care What She Says.
Now,now Faux Pas ,Ann shop's at Cosco for Milt's shirt's.That make's her just like us.She's going to play Gepetto tonight and try to humanize Pinocchio.
Well, I think you'll hear the words Ann Romney enough to get a pretty good buzz.
Bill O'Reilly isn't news he's a text book case that should be ignored at any cost. Who cares what this crazy lying hater has to say? He doesn't have anything worth saying. All the Fox shows are like him and should be banned by the FCC. He twists everything and nothing he says is the actual truth. Truth doesn't exist on Fox News.
I currently live in Texas I first learned about the redistricting plan when I volunteered for the Democrats in the 2007/2008 election of Obama. We have known for a long time what the Republicans are doing in Texas. Anyway you try to re-slice up Texas for Voting Districts (which is as stupid as the Democratic Two-step) your going to violate the Voting Act. That is why they are trying to abolish it. So they can slice up Texas to benefit them to block the vote of the minority. Governor Perry doesn't care. Go to his website and try to send him message. If you do not need something from the Governor, you may not receive a response, and it says that on the site. Governor Perry doesn't care what goes on in the state. He is the worst Governor I have lived under. Good luck trying to talk to him about redistricting because he just simply won't respond. He doesn't believe he is answerable to the people. He thinks he's god and wants to be King. There is no talking to him or reasoning with him about voting districts.
I agree requiring unions to go to the Republican Circus should be a violation of some law. Sorry Rachel until the Circus is over, I am not going to be watching. I can't stomach the deceit and the constant undeserved attacks on the President and the American people. I don't know why MSNBC puts up with it. I am not watching. I've had enough. Nothing a Republican can say at this point will even matter. They are a waste of air and air time.
I love watching the Aleve commercials featuring the 50 year old warehouse worker who pops the pills for his sore back and then think on the plan to modify Medicare to kick in at gradually higher age requirements.
One way to save Medicare/Medicaid is to help people die before they can use it.
That's a terrible thing to say!
Re: #11.1
It does sound like a terrible thing.
But raising the retirement and eligibility age for Social Security and Medicare, while making it harder and more expensive for people of all ages, but particularly older people, to get health care would have exactly that result.
That's the goal of the GOP, that the elderly die before they can use medicare.
Karensc . . . Remember the Alan Grayson speech in the House about the ACA? For those who are interested, you can find it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-usmvYOPfco
All I could think of when Boehner began to talk at the convention was...
"A Conservative, A Liberal and Mitt Romney walk into a bar..."
(then I made a Meme for it! LOL)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3890587057734&set=o.330441173692489&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf
Everyone should check out this advisory from CERT. In short, there's a vulnerability in Java 1.7 serious enough that people should either disable Java in whatever browser they use, or just uninstall Java (if not needed for any other purpose).
Oracle releases Java updates on a quarterly schedule, meaning there probably won't be a fix issued until October (assuming the seriousness of the vulnerability doesn't spur Oracle to move quicker than that).
Also, this from Equality Matters should be checked out. No editorializing from me is needed.
"As if it weren't bad enough that Romney used Ohio coalminers as a prop, those same workers were required to attend the campaign event and forced to give up a day's pay."
Welcome back to the Gilded Age.
Has anyone done a statistical analysis of the RNC delegates in terms of race, sex, religion, age, nationality, etc?
The RNC just announced that directly after her speech tonight, Governor
Nikki Haley will be deported.
So, I've been listening to all the Romney talk about how he and Ryan are going to crunch the numbers, how they know how to work the numbers, how they're going to make the numbers dance the mambo and sing the Hallelujah Chorus, but I have one question...how is this numbers-are-the-answer-to-everything thing going to work with foreign policy? I mean, are we going rate our friends and not so friends on a scale of 1 to 5? Use percentages? You know, you earn points for promising to give more rights to women but you lose points for killing off your own citizens? The country with the highest average gets aid; the country with the lowest gets bombed?
If all Romney and Ryan have going for them is numbers acumen, I just don't see how they're going to make that work beyond budget talk. Budgets are important, but there is so much more to leading a country.
So Kasich says we are 4th in job creation..Was that this month? I know in February we were number 1 then in march we were number 50 and its pretty much been like that since he took office. Also those 120,000 jobs created what he forgot to say was TEMPORARY jobs created. At 8-10 dollars an hour with NO benefits, and wondering when it will end and if you can get another one.. So is he counting when you get a temp job, then that ends and you get another temp job, and so on as each time a job creation...Three of my family members have been working temp jobs for three years. He is so full of it..OHIO is in horrible shape. Columbus is probably fairing the best right now, but that's it.
Have the Corrie parents on. You will not be sorry. Be really brave Rachel not Comcast permission brave.
Even Huffington Post (USAToday/People magazine type site) covered this story
Rachel Corrie Verdict: Court Rules Israel Not At Fault In U.S. Activist's Death
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/28/rachel-corrie-verdict_n_1835303.html?show_comment_id=181536449#comment_181536449
Mondoweiss has the most up about this. Come on Chris have the Corrie parents on.
Cindy Corrie following the verdict: ‘I don’t think that Rachel should have moved. I think we should all have been standing there with her.’
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/08/cindy-corrie-following-the-verdict-i-dont-think-that-rachel-should-have-moved-i-think-we-should-all-have-been-standing-there-with-her.html
Kathleen:: Good luck getting anybody at MSNBC to notice. I've been trying to get someone to cover several issues for a week or more.
Doctors withhold treatment from Dominican teen because of personhood clause in constitution and
Having rapist's baby is like military service, yep, "taking one for the team".
You just can't make this s##t up!!!
Google 'dominican teen pregnant' finds AOL, CBS, ABC, CNN, NY Daily News, NASDAQ - even Fox, catholic.com and topconservativeblogs.com, but not a peep from MSNBC, CurrentTV or huffington. WTF??
Pages about the Dominican teen have been disappearing over the last week, as have posts about the pregnant Iowa woman jailed for falling down, and the pregnant Florida woman who was confined to the hospital by court order, not allowed to seek a second opinion.
I just discovered the "having rapist's baby" link above does not work.
Having rapist's baby is like military service (hope this one works)
This has to be the most explosive thing I have seen recently.
His post is very long and meandering and boring - well, he IS Alan Keyes.
But the real red meat is in the last two paragraphs
(Wish this blog had better editing capabilities, or I had better organization abilities)
Ezra Klein was excellent at the Wonk Desk tonight at the convention! Chris Hayes always good. poor Steve Schmidt..
Yes, loved Ezra's piece. Staggering how much debt the Republicans have given us! Because of that, just that graphic, the GOP is such a joke. So is Norquist and his little pieces of paper.
I really like Steve Schmidt, I love his style, and - the Star Wars bar scene?! I think he's pretty brave to come on these shows given what happened.
Chris Hayes is really on tonight! He and Rachel are really good together. And how 'bout Rachel, pretty darn brilliant. Good show all around.
The biggest laugh in our house was Al: Bush can come on and say We broke it!
Ann Romney seems to have little respect for in all the women in this country who don't have children. Based on her speech, we must be a "Mom" to have any value.
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Boo
Boo Who?
Jeez Boehner get a grip.
Chris Christie needs a history lesson. The USA is in the it's 3rd century of existence not second century. Explains why New Jersey is 48th in education!
Voter Intimidation, Corporate Style (Our workers are smart and make all their decisions thoughtfully and of couse chose to become Coal Miners?)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/28/century-mine-romney-ohio-mandatory_n_1836674.html
Paul Harvey used to have a segment called: And Now - The Rest of the Story
Corporations can compel employees to campaign for political candidates
But it also probably means that Murray Energy will have to pay those workers!
I just emailed my Mormon friend (don't ask) that, because of Citizens United, he can be forced to carry an Obama sign!! You gotta love the Law of Unintended Consequences!!
If the bulk of the ridicules entries here were based on facts rather than hatred,
there may be some hope for change, but I for one, have no interest with further alignment with self-centered folks who think that the world is centered on them and that the community owes them something.
Yeah, DC. I've checked your post history - really some insightful stuff - NOT!
Nice one:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/29/opinion/how-the-republicans-built-it.html/?_r=1&hp