Pull Up a Chair: Space!

post from Firedoglake on 12 May 2012 08:00:28 AM. © Firedoglake

I have a need for space.[...]

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Mike's Blog Round Up

post from Crooks and Liars on 12 May 2012 08:00:00 AM. © Crooks and Liars

Saturday morning with my coffee, my laptop and my favorite weekend show, Up With Chris. Great way to start this Mother's Day weekend!

Ramona's Voice: Women, Gays and Barack Obama's Ear

Politicus: Uncomfortably Numb: Mitt Romney Has No Idea How You Feel

A Tiny Revolution: Colin Powell Gets Mad at Me

Death and Taxes: JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon Quite Adept at Polishing Turds. This loss bomb confirms it's time to kill VaR

Round up by Swimgirl.(tweeter @miamiswimmer) Send tips to mbru AT crooksandliars.com;.

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Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: Truth or
consequences

post from Daily Kos on 12 May 2012 07:14:03 AM. © Daily Kos

newspaper headline collage _{Visual source: Newseum}

Eugene Robinson:

It seems clear that his position on gay marriage will cost Obama some support in what promises to be a tough battle for reelection. The crucial impact will be in the swing states. North Carolina, for example, is a former Republican stronghold that Obama won in 2008. Will the people who voted so decisively against same-sex marriage be motivated to vote against him in November?
Some will, undoubtedly. But it was interesting that Obama?s all-but-certain GOP opponent, Mitt Romney, reacted to the president?s shift on gay marriage with a relatively subdued statement, reiterating his opposition but acknowledging that the issue is a ?tender and sensitive topic.? The risk for Romney is that, although his position ? he wants a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage ? is popular among Republican primary voters, it might be seen as mean-spirited and punitive by the independents who will ultimately decide the election.
Politically, Obama may have taken a big step toward reclaiming the future.

Melinda Henneberger:

Meanwhile, in this economy, I doubt the election is going to be over gay marriage, even at the margins. But like every election, it is going to be over trust: Do I believe what just flew out of that guy?s mouth? Do I think he believes what he?s saying?
It?s in that way, more than anything, that coming out with his support for gay marriage is a help to Obama ? and that pretending he doesn?t remember what sounds like one of the worst moments of his life works against Romney.

Richard Cohen :

Critics of The Washington Post?s story detailing Mitt Romney?s bullying of a classmate nearly 50 years ago may be right: It has little bearing on the man he is today or the president he might become. The incident hardly matters. His handling of it is a different story. It matters.

When you've lost Beltway insiders like Cohen, you've lost the argument (hence Romney's quick apology.)

Ruth Marcus:

So how to think about The Post?s story of Romney and the purportedly gay prep school classmate he bullied? Recklessness is a common side-effect of adolescence ? drinking too much, driving too fast. Meannesss is another matter. Yes, teenager are more prone to displaying the primal cruelty of ?Mean Girls? and ?Lord of the Flies? than their grown-up selves. But the Queen Bees of middle school have an unpleasant tendency to grow into the Real Housewives of Wherever.

Bill Galston at Brookings has published a long but readable paper on why the election will be close.

It remains to be seen whether the negative perceptions of Romney that resulted from the nominating contest will endure. For the time being, at least, Obama enjoys a sizeable advantage on a host of personal qualities. He has a narrow edge in most of the key swing states. And his path to 270 electoral votes is easier than Romney?s. In short, he begins the general election contest with a modest advantage, which adverse developments at home or abroad could eliminate or even reverse. The 2012 election will be hotly contested, and the victor?s margin is unlikely to approach Obama?s seven-point edge in 2008.

Must read for those predicting a blow-out.

Charlie Cook:

One way to explain Sen. Richard Lugar?s loss to state Treasurer Richard Mourdock in this week?s Indiana Republican primary is to attribute it to a tea party takeover of the GOP. A second explanation is that a venerable public servant overstayed his welcome and ran for reelection one time too many. A third is that Lugar was too focused on international relations and grew too distant from his state?that he didn?t keep his political fences mended back home.
The fact is, all three factors contributed to Lugar?s defeat.

Dana Milbank:

Mourdock, a geologist by trade, is Indiana?s state treasurer. Perennial candidate Judd, who goes by the nickname ?Dark Priest? and has an extremely long mullet, lists himself as a past member of the Federation of Super Heroes and is doing time for making threats at the University of New Mexico.
Yet the two men are equally irrational in their plans for changing Washington. And the two are equally likely to succeed with these plans, which is to say they have no chance at all.

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T. Rex - Children of the Revolution

post from US Politics | AMERICAblog News on 12 May 2012 07:00:26 AM. © US Politics | AMERICAblog News

"And you won't fool, the children of the revolution." Hmmm, could easily apply to today's world, no? The Occupy movement hasn't been fooled by the fake "reforms" by Washington and now they have an even stronger case for demanding reform now that JP Morgan has released the news of a $2 billion trading loss. Now is the perfect time to win over support for cleaning up the cesspool known as Wall...

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Saturday Open Thread

post from My Left Wing - Front Page on 12 May 2012 07:00:00 AM. © My Left Wing - Front Page

How do you keep war accountable
to the American people when war becomes
invisible and virtual?

Michael Ignatieff

Born May 12, 1947

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What Happens When You Elect Blue Dogs

post from They gave us a republic... - Front Page on 12 May 2012 06:00:00 AM. © They gave us a republic... - Front Page

By @KYYellowDog

First, they feel free and safe to pull inexcusable shit like this:

Down with Tyranny:

While Obama's support for LGBT equality was being widely hailed as a courageous act setting an important international precedent, the Republican House took another tact-- a typical display of vicious homophobia. The House passed a gratuitously anti-gay amendment by Kansas' fanatic hate-monger Tim Huelskamp, who is so hung up on gay issues that psychologists just assume he's either gay himself or spending a great deal of time repressing his homosexual desires. His amendment would prohibit the Justice Department from actively opposing DOMA in the courts. Nancy Pelosi led almost all Democrats in opposition to the GOP ploy. "On an historic day and in the dark of night, House Republicans have voted to tie the hands of the Obama administration with respect to their efforts to end discrimination against America's families. House Republicans continue to plant their feet firmly on the wrong side of history." But, depending on how you define "Democrat," not every "Democrat" agreed with her. The viciously homophobic Blue Dog caucus-- and a few of their fellow travelers-- hid behind Cantor's skirts and voted with the Republicans. The amendment passed 245-171, all but 7 Republicans vote with the hatemongers. Sixteen anti-LGBT "Democrats" voted with the Republicans:
John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA)
Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA)
Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK)
Ben Chandler (Blue Dog-KY)
Jerry Costello (IL)
Mark Critz (PA)
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA)
Larry Kissell (Blue Dog-NC)
Dan Lipinski (IL)
Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)
Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC)
Colin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
Nick Rahall (WV)
Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR)
Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC)

But that's just the beginning. Eventually, you get this:

Throckmorton County is a tiny rural affair in north central Texas. There's no city and the population was 1,641 as of the 2010 census. There are two African-Americans, 152 Latinos, 7 Asians and a Native American living among all the white folks there. Throckmorton, with a long history of lynchings, was considered a "no-go zone" for black Americans. Doesn't look like that's changed much. The population has been steadily dropping. Yesterday the county switched from faux Democrat-- it was a Blue Doggie haven-- to Republican.
In 2008, the state of Texas voted 55% for McCain and 44% for Obama. Throckmorton County only gave Obama 20% of its vote, the identical percentage that voted against the deranged far right incumbent Republican congressman, Mac Thornberry. (Thornberry was reelected with 77% of the vote district-wide, so Throckmorton was even 3 points crazier than the rest of the 13th congressional district. Two years ago the Democrats didn't even manage to nominate an opponent for Thornberry-- and when Rick Perry was beating conservative Democrat Bill White 55-42% statewide in the governor's race, Throckmorton gave Perry a far more generous 74%.
Yesterday evening, at a staged event at the county courthouse-- not as exciting as a lynching, no doubt but people in Throckmorton are grateful for whatever entertainment they get these days-- all the county officials officially switched to the Republican Party. County Judge Trey Carrington, Sheriff John Riley, Treasurer Brenda Rankin, County Clerk Susie Walraven, Justice of the Peace Billy Ray Fowler, County commissioners Casey Wells, Wilton Cantrell and Johnny Jones all drank the koolaid. The featured speakers were Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples and Texas Republican Party Chairman Steve Munisteri. The event was spoiled when God showed his disapproval with sudden thunderstorms.
Commissioner Cantrell said there isn't a Democratic Party in the county anymore. Munisteri said it was the first time in Texas history that a county has gone from having only a Democratic primary to having only a Republican primary. Brad Bellah, the Republican Party county chairman, said that "the significance is that Throckmorton County is still a one-party county, but now it's a Republican county. With the current administration (in Washington), the county didn't want to be identified as a Democratic county." He noted that none of the county officials had to switch their political philosophy when they jumped the fence. That pretty much holds true for almost every Blue Dog, especially the southern ones.
The end of the Democratic Party in Throckmorton County is exactly where Steve Israel, Steny Hoyer, Joe Crowley and the rest of the corrupt DC Dems are taking the national Democratic Party. Blue Dogs are Republicans in all but name. That's the significance of what happened in Throckmorton County last night. And that's why Blue America works so hard to defeat Blue Dogs and their fellow travelers, the way we did in PA-17 (Tim Holden) last month and the way we are now in Albuquerque and Grand Rapids, where we are trying to help Eric Griego and Trevor Thomas win the Democratic nomination against right-wing faux Dems who will one day stand in front of a county courthouse and take off their blue tee-shirts and put on red ones.

Voting in Blue Dogs is political suicide. Period.

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Propeller Club Position Paper - Midstream
Anchorage Transfer

post from The Politics of Jamie Sanderson on 12 May 2012 04:01:27 AM. © The Politics of Jamie Sanderson

Propeller Club Position Paper - Midstream Anchorage Transfer

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Late Night Karaoke

[...]

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Truman Days in Kansas City - 2012 - photos

sTruman Days, sponsored by the Jackson County Democratic Committee, is taking place in Kansas City, Missouri this weekend. The hospitality suites, hosted by various candidates, activist groups, and organized labor, opened on Friday evening. This annual event is an opportunity for Democrats, party activists, and Democratic Party candidates to gather and meet and greet. On Saturday evening Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia, current U.S. Senate candidate in Virginia, will be the keynote speaker at the dinner.

A bit of blog meta. Courtney Cole (center) and Kevin Morgan (right), the Democratic Party candidate in the 38th Legislative District.

Judy Baker (center), a Democratic Party candidate for Lieutenant Governor and
our good friend Eli Yokley (right), another blogger desperately waiting to feed the content beast.