Thursday Stuff

post from The Liberal Doomsayer on 20 September 2012 11:40:00 PM. © The Liberal Doomsayer

As Willard Mitt Romney continues to desperately search for an Obama ?scandal? (here), I give you this?

?and here is the latest with the groups that Romney has no shot of winning, at least in the numbers he needs (and speaking of babies)?

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

?oh, and speaking also of faux Repug scandals, I give you this (here, something to keep in mind while reading this)?

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

?and after watching this video, why do I have an impulse to watch Frank, Dino, Sammy and Liza at the Sands (or Bobby Darin, better yet)?

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http://liberaldoomsayer.blogspot.com/2012/09/thursday-stuff_20.html

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Open Thread

post from Crooks and Liars on 20 September 2012 11:30:37 PM. © Crooks and Liars

enlarge Credit: Blue Gal

Ah, that's why Romney looked Boehner-orange at the Univision thing. Open thread below...

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http://crooksandliars.com/bluegal-aka-fran/open-thread-404

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Open thread for night owls: Touting the
you're-on-your-own society, YOYOs

post from Daily Kos on 20 September 2012 11:30:03 PM. © Daily Kos

Jared Bernstein has a take on the 47 percent theme:

A few weeks ago, Bill Clinton warned of a ?you?re-on-your-own? approach to government versus a ?we?re-in-this-together? mode. The makers/takers distinction feeds directly in that YOYO mindset, and you can see it embodied in the privatization or voucher schemes for social insurance, the Paul Ryan/House budget which cuts from the poor to give to the rich, the attack on the safety net, the proposed cuts to mobility enhancers like college aid, the repeal of health reform designed to reduce the number of uninsured, all fed by false claims as to the shares of Americans who don?t pay taxes or who needlessly depend on government largesse.
All of us need some help at some point. Sometimes that help comes from family, sometimes from government, typically from some combination of both, but no one goes it alone. If you?re lucky, have people who care for you, or have the wherewithal to seek it out yourself, there will be a ladder in front of you at some point. That doesn?t make you a taker?you?ll have to climb it yourself.
Right now, I?m hearing a lot from people who were born on third yet think they hit a triple. They?re telling me that the role of government is to kick out those ladders. But they are wrong. The role of government is to make sure those ladders are there, along with insurance against ill-health and penury in old age, a safety net when the economic bottom falls out, investments in the public goods the market won?t provide, protections against negative externalities like pollution and market bubbles that private markets fail to price in, and so on.
And the more we think in terms of YOYOs and makers and takers, the less likely we are to recognize how important this role is and how dangerously close we are coming to rejecting it.

Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2005?Say "hi" to Street Prophets:

As some of you may have seen at Pastordan's recommended diary, the first official Daily Kos spinoff site is up and running. Pastordan and I have timed up on Street Prophets, an exploration religion and politics from the perspective of the Left.
Politics can make odd bedfellows. I'm an atheist, and can be fairly militant about it at times (especially when religion encroaches unwanted into my personal space). But, there's no denying the importance of faith to millions of people's personal lives and to the political process itself. [?]
Street Prophets won't be for everyone. No site is. But I have no doubt it'll grow to be a vital little corner of the blogosphere.

Tweet of the Day:

"Will the media jump on this?" asked the media.
? @drgrist via TweetDeck

A giant bonanza of polls for today's Kagro in the Morning polling and punditry roundup with Greg Dworkin. Camp Romney kept the 47% flame alive with its bizarre claims about editing, context, and "debunking," so yeah, we went there again. The UC Davis Pepper Spray cop got a pass from the DA, so we dove in on the militarized police and "non-lethal" weaponry. Oh, and Senate Republicans charge that if it wasn't for the Constitution, they'd totally nail Harry Reid. Stupid Constitution! Repeal Article I!

High Impact Posts. Top Comments.

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-owls-Touting-the-you-re-on-your-own-society-YOYOs

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Good Signs All Around

post from Talking Points Memo on 20 September 2012 11:00:58 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Campaigns have a way of working like the health or infirmities of a body. Virtuous cycles build on themselves or one bad thing bumps into another and then suddenly the whole thing starts cascading out of control.I along with several others have observed[...]

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Class, and the Lack Thereof

post from Firedoglake on 20 September 2012 11:00:50 PM. © Firedoglake

One of the most pernicious delusions that plagues American political discourse is the association of wealth with what once was called "class." I use the word in the same sense John F. Kennedy did when he commented simply but accurately after hearing a[...]

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WS: Now polls show "Mitt Romney's path to victory
is narrowing"

post from US Politics | AMERICAblog News on 20 September 2012 11:00:41 PM. © US Politics | AMERICAblog News

WSJ:Mitt Romney's path to victory is narrowing, new polling data suggest, presenting challenges for the Republican nominee at a moment when he is trying to rebound from a week of bad headlines by refocusing on federal spending.President Barack Obama has opened an eight percentage-point lead in Iowa and maintains a five-point edge in Colorado and Wisconsin, according to Wall Street Journal/NBC...

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romneys-path-to.html

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C&L's Late Night Music Club With Black Mountain

post from Crooks and Liars on 20 September 2012 11:00:00 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Title: DruganautArtist: Black Mountain

If you haven't heard Vancouver's Black Mountain, I suggest you check them out. Here's one off of their eponymous first album. Got a favorite 'drug' song?

Black Mountain

Artist: Black Mountain Price: $6.50 (As of 09/20/12 05:59 pm details)

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http://crooksandliars.com/jared-shade-reynolds/cls-late-night-music-club-130

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Thirty Koch Brothers-Funded 'Activists' Stand Up
to #OWS

Photo taken Thursday morning of the Americans for Prosperity protesters.

An activist group founded/funded by the Koch brothers is holding a demonstration in Manhattan on Thursday to protest President Barack Obama?s economic policies and to stand up to the ?Occupy Wall Street mob,? says their press release.

The group made up of "activists" from Americans for Prosperity are standing outside near Rockefeller Center as part of group?s "Failing Agenda Bus Tour," (That's one bus, by the way.) which is devoted to urging President Barack Obama to shun policies that increase the nation?s debt. Despite the group?s billionaire backers, the AFP describes itself as a "grass roots" organization. It claims to have more than 2 million supporters nationwide.

Americans for Prosperity is also launching a $25 million ad campaign in support of Mitt Romney?s presidential candidacy next week, according to the Huffington Post. Americans for Prosperity has already spent $15 million on ads attacking President Obama.

A spokesman for the group?s New Jersey chapter said the protest of the thirty protesters in attendance would serve as an opportunity to disavow Occupy Wall Street.

?The Occupy Wall Street crowd is nothing but a fringe element of malcontents bent on mayhem and destruction,?said Steve Lonegan, director of Americans for Prosperity?s New Jersey branch. ?These are people who despise free enterprise. They are not attacking Wall Street. They are attacking the very freedoms that everyday Americans cherish to pursue their own dreams and succeed.?

Thursday morning Lonegan added "We used Occupy Wall Street to get our message out." I'm not certain what Lonegan meant by that, as I don't see any of the livestreamers who normally cover Occupy Wall Street on hand. The group does appear to have a camera with them, however, that should suffice for their stationary "protest."

You would think the Koch brothers at least would've purchased better signs for the group.

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http://crooksandliars.com/diane-sweet/thirty-koch-brothers-funded-activists-

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Too Failed To Bail

Remember when some of the banksters who destroyed the world wide financial system demanded to receive their bonuses or they would show regulators where the bodies were buried?Welcome to failing industry, #Romneyshambles LLC.[...]

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Seems to Be Going Great

Radio Iowa reports on Ann Romney's appearance this afternoon to an audience of some 200 people in Central Iowa ...Ann Romney says fellow Republicans who've criticized her husband need to "stop it" and realize "how lucky" the party is to have Mitt Romney[...]

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ng_great.php

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