Today's edition of quick hits:
* The violence in Syria is also a humanitarian crisis, with thousands of refugees fleeing to neighboring countries, including Turkey.
* Not just Petraeus: "Christopher E. Kubasik, the vice-chairman, president and COO of defense giant Lockheed Martin, who was scheduled to become the company's CEO in January, resigned today after it was confirmed he had a 'close personal relationship with a subordinate employee.'"
* One of those days, I guess: "A former female employee has filed a police complaint alleging the CEO of Waffle House demanded she perform sexual acts on him in exchange for keeping her job."
* It's getting much worse: "Climate scientists agree the Earth will be hotter by the end of the century, but their simulations don't agree on how much. Now a study suggests the gloomier predictions may be closer to the mark. 'Warming is likely to be on the high side of the projections,' said John Fasullo of the National Center for Atmospheric Research."
* Ari Berman makes the case that the Republican "war on voting" not only fell short, it actually ended up backfiring.
* I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time: "Two Republicans in separate states were taken into police custody during the past week for allegedly attempting to test how easy it would be to commit voter fraud."
* There's apparently a chain email making the rounds, insisting that uncounted military absentee ballots, delivered after the voting deadline, would have elected Mitt Romney. This is deeply ridiculous.
* And in Georgia, where anti-science Rep. Paul Broun (R) was easily re-elected without a Democratic opponent, there were several thousand write-in votes against the incumbent. There's a long list of "candidates" who received votes, but the big winner was legendary British scientist Charles Darwin.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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Friday seems a bit incomplete without a rundown of Mitt's mendacity.
They way things are going after the election he could have the teapubs mendacity and it would be just as long and amusing.
All Republican leaders think either, like Mitt, or campaign on the propaganda of Mitt. In Michigan, the Mitt didn’t fit.
Yep, nothing to report upon but Obama begging for GOP support. He even expects them to help him pass new laws that make Obamacare workable.
Yep, he sure is! He tried working with the GOP, extending that olive branch, didn't he?
And what did the GOP do? Act like absolute asses.
So Obama winded up beating them with that olive branch.
The GOP handed Obama a second term.
So keep putting your sour grapes out there.
You lost.
Obama won.
Obama/Biden 2012
Well, I guess it was too much to expect that if they passed Obamacare, then felt proud enough to run for reelection on it, that it wouldn't need fixed before it even goes into effect. That's some plan you are supporting, Donna.
@Rusty -- can you repeat that in English. Doesn't make much sense as is.
Well, the expectation is that the GOP get on board with the democrats and pass the changes required to make Obamacare viable.
One would have thought that changes wouldn't be required before it even gets implemented, but, alas, when the bill must be voted on before the members can see it, it is what you get.
My recommendation: it's a democrat bill, let the democrats fix it.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is already viable - as it's already saved lives and given the parents of 3M young people peace of mind. Dems always said that the version of the bill that was passed was a beginning, and was not perfect. Quite frankly, I'd love for the GOP to get out of the way with their predictable time-wasting nonsense -- of which Paul Ryan is usually the ringleader -- but we are still a democracy. So, I look forward to finding out whether or not the GOP is finally ready -- after all these year -- to bring something useful to the table.
Yep, hopefully they won't play in the game of fixing the mess that is to come. The part thats been implemented has had no cost, etc, to the government. Only to corporations, etc.
why wouldn't the dems run someone against the anti-science rep??
No dems available? Maybe the democrats are too busy working for a living to drop everything just to run for office? The south does not tolerate democrats very well. Sure they will allow them to live and work but run for office?
Most democrats in the south know that if they want to try and run for office they must first register as an independent.
We have laws against mufflers polluting the streets, and we do not get the option of telling the police that fixing it would cost us money. You would think Republican constituents would not let their leaders get away with saying that businesses never dangerously pollute the air so businesses should not have to ever spend money on new equipment to fix the problem. (I guess Republican constituents would never dream of asking their leaders for ‘anything’ but a tax break…)
I'm in Athens and Broun's District GA-10 was recently gerrymandered to heavily favor republicans. (In fact not even all of Athens will be in Broun's District GA-10 it will be represented by GA- 9 as well in 2013). It includes a lot of surrounding rural areas that dilutes the Dem vote by design.
Many of us here even voted republican (shudder) in the primaries for his opponent, which failed to work, so Broun ran unopposed.
We do hope with this write-in protest vote, to at the least to shame the House of Representatives into to removing this yahoo from the House Committee on Science and Technology.
Hopefully we can find a viable candidate in 2014, as district wide 27.17% of the ballots in the GA 10th with votes cast for president did not include a vote for Paul Broun. Hopefully we can give him the boot to curb in 2 yrs.
Athens? Aren't they getting some great new businesses coming to town with lots of jobs? You folks are doing something right. Congrats, and keep up the good work. You should feel proud of your community.
"chair email"?
We need to stop telling Republicans where they went wrong in the election. If they are not smart enough to figure it out, then the probabilities that they will lose more elections goes up. No more free advice or incisive analysis that helps the Republicans figure out how they screwed up. Just tell them God wanted them to lose.
I think it's actually safe to give them advice. Whenever 'conservatives' are told that one option is better than another, they'll stubbornly choose the worse option. Always. The phenomenon is the most obvious in their absurd preference for incandescent light bulbs, but it goes for political strategies as well. So probably the best course of action is to keep on telling them how they're screwing up and what they need to do to get their act together. That should almost guarantee they'll do the opposite.
The republicans are still shocked we have minorities in the Country allowed to vote. It’s been a few hundred years but they may get over it.
Yeah, I agree with you Mike. For instance, were the new voting rules and restrictions in Republican States a dismissal of the Republican Party votes the GOP would also lose, because they viewed losing those few Republican votes as worth ‘less’ than the many more Democratic votes for President Obama, or were they just too ignorant to figure out they would lose their own votes? (In the words of the old band, Three Dog Night, “…in Oklahoma, down Arizona, what does it matter…”)
Darwin, FTW!
Right…. they were "testing" for voter fraud, not committing it.
Eastwood should give that chair email a good talking to . . .
Hey, has anyone mentioned the game President Obama should pull on the recalcitrant Republicans? If they are holding things up, messing around, as the cliff gets closer -- remind them that all military reductions will take place in their back yard, in their districts. Ohio. Kentucky. Etc.
Do you think that might give them some impetus to behave like adults? Or not?
Assured by Obama's win the right wingers have taken to a knee in prayer asking god to spare them from the impending end of the world. Some of them have taken Mayan names and started studying Mayan rituals in hopes of salvation.(even those whose Spanish ancestors killed off the Mayan civilization).
This is truly the end time! Repent or be damned! Or at least try to refrain from laughing at these right winged loons.
Steve,
I don't have a comment on this post, I just wanted to thank you for all your hard work in keeping us informed on all the important issues of of the day. This is just about my favorite place for news updates. Thanks again for a job well done for you and all your contributors. TRMS must be very proud & grateful for all the good work you do on her blog.
John
"A former female employee..."? I'm guessing she's a "female former employee."
This day and age, either is entirely possible...
Have a great weekend everyone, even you shooter. I need a short break from politics. The dedication and educational material at this site is inspirational.
Voter suppression definitely equaled increased voter participation, but even more increased voter participation would definitely equal increased votes for Democrats. The vast majority of eligible voters that don't vote are far more progressive than conservative. Forget 2016, we need to expand our voting process before 2014. Most people don't participate because they don't have the time or they don't believe it matters. With this new world of accessible information there is no reason we can't figure out a significantly effective way to better network information to people, so they know exactly why your vote matters. As painful as it was, fortunately this election has clearly demonstrated we need to make significant changes to our voting process so it is far more accessible to everyone. It's up to us to use this election's example to actually produce action that changes the system.
Voter suppression definitely equaled increased voter participation
Actually over 129 million people voted in 2008 and 115 million voted in 2012. That includes over 10 million less for Obama than he got in 08 and the Republican candidate getting about 4 million less.
As painful as it may be, actually read Ari’s article. Something else to consider, 2012 was a swing state election so a lot of people who aren't in the swing states didn't vote or voted for third parties. President Obama made 2008 a special election that inspired many more people who aren't in swing states to vote for him. Suppress a way, because pointing out numbers without the total perspective won't dampen enthusiasm anymore. I get it. Your fear of the reality that there are so many other voters out there for us to grab leaves you with no other option but suppression. See you in 2014.
1st I also get it and for the record I am not Republican - for the last few election cycles I have voted third party so I do not believe in supression as you think I do. And as for perspective, the point still remains tha 14 million folks that voted in 2008 did not this year. Swing state or no, that is a pretty big number and that is a reality that both parties must look at. And I will bet that the 2014 numbers will be even lower overall.
The military has a very strict code regarding personal
integrity and are held to a high standard.
I can understand why and they do voluntarily swear an oath to abide by
the rules. What I want to know, why is
it that our government officials swear oaths and make promises yet they are
held to the lowest standard in the Country.
In fact, they seem to demand it.
Branching out a little bit here, but obviously relevant to today. We understand Republicans are upset about the absolute beating they took from this election, but we cannot embrace them in compromise if they haven't learned the lesson of this election and reach out themselves. You don't embrace the bully until the bully embraces he is a bully. The first step in stopping a bully, is pointing out you're being a bully. A big part of this election was doing exactly that, and guess what Republicans, the American people clearly pointed out, you’re the bully. If the bully acknowledges he has to make some changes, and he does, then everyone embraces him and peace is reached. If the public points out you're a bully and the bully says, it's his victim who has to reach out to him, then the public has to continue to make it clear who the bully is and what changes he has to make. Republicans can't come back from this election blaming the President for not leading in compromise over the last four years, demanding he step up and lead on budget negotiations, while at the same they continue not to compromise and obstruct a balanced plan that includes small tax hikes on top income earners.
Our votes made it clear that Republicans are the ones who need to compromise and specifically, it's time for the 1% to share the burden of this recession for the betterment of our economy as a whole. We are going to continue to get nowhere if the Beltway press and Republicans do not acknowledge in a clear way that it is Republicans who have to compromise more, because Democrats are already holding most of the middle ground of compromise. Since we can't count on either one of these clearly acknowledging this, we have to keep the pressure up until they do. There is one thing all of us learned from the tea party and that's that you can never let up when it comes to public engagement. And we aren't.
The 2005 Republican Majority of Congress, and President Bush, helped Democrats to create the Medicare Part D Prescription plans without wanting to increase Social Security Beneficiaries Premiums to help taxpayers, and the government, pay for the new coverage. (The total amount of Medicare payments out of the fund, doubled, after Congress enacted the added, prescription coverage.)
Certain GOP and Republican Congressional Members, not legislatively seeking payment for Medicare’s new prescription coverage, might have been a possible attempt to financially strain the Medicare Fund, to then, later, call it even ‘closer’ to inferred, bankruptcy. (Republican Congressional leaders, possibly, intended to, financially, mismanage the fund, at the multi-hundred-billion dollar funds expense, in an attempt to push and rush their inferred need to privatize tax money in the fund through private insurance companies.)
Democratic leaders addressed Medicare Part D Prescription costs by requiring drug companies to use their profits to give the Medicare Fund a 50% discount on brand-name drugs saving the fund tens, if not hundreds, of billions. In addition, the Obama Administration reformed Medicare Part D, requiring some beneficiaries, with certain income levels, to, now, pay premiums towards their prescription costs.
Paul Ryan, due to criticism of his Medicare plan, had changed his plan to include an option to keep the current plan; however, some critics charge that there would be less funds from others premiums going towards the new Ryan plan to make the current program financially sustainable with premiums. Again, we have questionable management practices of Medicare from Republican leaders.
Does the public need an Amendment in the Bill of Rights giving the American Public ownership of Social Security Funds to, legally, protect the fund financially? Even if the American Public cannot prove possible attempts by Republican leaders to financially sabotage the Social Security and Medicare funds, why would Republican leaders be against such a legal protection for the fund, otherwise?
Like a lock box? Sounds like a winning idea. Too bad the 2000 election was decided by SCOTUS.
Sandy, interesting to suggest "like a lock box?" and Frank suggesting "giving the American Public ownership of Social Security Funds." That is basically how Social Security was when originally setup. But it was a Democrat President, I believe, Johnson, that merged Social Security funds with the general fund. I guess that was because he was just looking for more money to spend for the "War on Proverty." Wow, that has worked out really good. Sure glad all those billions and billions and billions of dollars has "fixed" poverty.
Someone suggested that if the Republicans start pulling their old tricks that President Obama just let us go over the fiscal cliff and then set his own tax cuts. If they want to be obstructionist then let them pay the consequences. I guarantee voters don't forget. Like running a banker against a community organizer. Did the Republicans forget that the banks got us in this mess. I sure didn't. If the Republicans didn't learn from this election then let them learn another lesson.
The White House put up military cuts in the fiscal cliff deal for a budget agreement knowing that our military budget would wind down with our two wars anyway, but knowing the Republican leaders would want to keep the ’same’ budget amount for their hawk constituents ‘and’ weapons and military manufacturing contractors. Your White House is smart when it comes to deals and compromise.
Where is the White House going with cuts to State ‘Medicaid’ along with Federal Medicare in the budget compromise, is what I want to know. One has to be pretty darn poor to qualify for State Medicaid. Maybe the White House is going to try to get the Republican House to agree with some provisions in the Affordable Care Act that have to do with Medicaid and Medicare in the budget.
I thought it was deregulation, via repeal of glass-Steagal that caused the meltdown? I'm sure I read that on these same blogs numerous times? Then I heard it was the bush tax cuts? Now alma says it was the banks?
Ah, the dangers of satire. The Duffel Blog site is filled with comments from irate citizens who are beside themselves with rage over the false "fact" that the military lost thousands of pro-Romney votes. A few other kind souls have posted comments pointing out that the story is a joke. (Full disclosure alert: this fake-new story has generated over 400 comments. I just sampled them.)
Ah, the dangers of satire.
Colbert Study: Conservatives Don't Know He's Joking
Not just America:
Iran's news agency portrays satirical Onion story as its own
.
If the right-wingers could spread around a piece of satirical faux-news about lost Romney votes, I think we liberals should spread around this Duffle Blog story:
"Army Spends $100M On Piece of Equipment That Doesn't Do Anything"
Sample quote:
"The commander of 2nd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, was proud that his unit would be the first to acquire the new, high-quality, piece of [expletive].
'It's a great day for us here. The Army has spent over $50 million in R&D on this new thing that doesn't work at all and we're the first to have our soldiers not use it,' said Colonel Charles Winston. 'The new piece of equipment, dubbed the M404, doesn't do anything at all and we couldn't be prouder to have it first to show the rest of the world how incapable this new thing is.'"
(Note: article contains adult language. Oh, and it's not real--although it comes rather painfully close to reality!)
http://www.duffelblog.com/2012/09/army-spends-100m-on-piece-of-equipment-that-doesnt-do-anything/
A lot of my friends have been talking about the uncounted military votes. Try as I might, I can't find a primary source that says it isn't true. The articles linked to here are just as unreliable as the original material (duffelbag) as they don't use any citations that link directly to the DoD. Can you provide your sources? I would love to offer them to my friends and ease their minds (or just stop their arguments that Mitt is really our President).
If you go to the snopes.com link in the item, the Duffleblog clearly identifies itself as a parody site. EVERYTHING on the site is fictional.
Gosh the link leading to Darwin being the big winner won't work. I wonder why?
This is random, but I am so annoyed.
How, pray tell, can Jesse Jackson win by 63%?? He's been "missing" since June. Did not campaign at all AND there are rumors he has been involved in some illegal activity. Nonetheless, wins by 63%. So, no matter what, how unavailable, unrepresentative, or amoral-- people will vote party lines. Blindness and sadness.
That was funny. He is in mental ward, with no comments or updates from his staff whatsoever, and still wins. Another politician in Illinois at the state level took a bribe that even offended Illinois democrats. Now, that is rare in Illinois. Usually, they would be lined up for their cut. The democrats kicked him out of the statehouse, but he ran again and got elected. There are still criminal charges, so he may well serve his term as a paid resident in the pokey- but if democrats really want to see Obama style government, look no further to his home state.