Monday Open Thread

Filed in National by on April 26, 2010

Welcome to dull, dreary Monday after a dull, dreary Sunday. I guess we’re going to be getting rain for the first half of the week. Not the way I want to start my week. It’s time for an open thread, so let the sunshine in!

Republicans don’t care about governing and Americans are starting to notice:

It’s clear that Democrats genuinely believe they are in a strong position in the standoff over financial regulatory reform. To explain why, a Democrat points me to the internals of the new Economist poll, which show that less than a fourth of respondents think Republicans are providing constructive policy alternatives in dealing with Dems:

In your opinion, do the Republicans in Congress…

Mostly provide constructive policy alternatives 24%
Mostly just oppose the other party 52%
Not sure 24%

It also finds that barely more than a fourth think Republicans are providing construtive policy alternatives in dealing with Obama:

In dealing with President Obama, do you think the Republicans in Congress…

Mostly provide constructive policy alternatives 27%
Mostly just oppose the President 50%
Not sure 23%

We will see in November if Democrats have made their case. I think we need to see a bigger economic recovery before Democrats start breathing easier.

This post at Balloon Juice by DougJ is interesting:

But to pretend that this doesn’t happen, in some form, every day on every show on television is absurdly naive, even for an adult Tolkien reader. You’ve heard it before but here’s a partial list of people who lost their jobs for not being sufficiently psyched about Operation Iraqi Freedom: Bill Maher, Ashleigh Banfield, Phil Donahue. NBC wouldn’t rebroadcast the clip of Sinead O’Connor tearing up a picture of the pope. (And her reasons for doing so were so crazy, in retrospect, weren’t they?) I’ll stop now, but I could go on.

When it happens because of right-wing American complaints, it’s called family values or patriotism. When it happens because of Muslim complaints, it’s called censorship.

Censorship is an American tradition. Yes, it’s been a bit strange to see the right wing get up in a froth about Mohammed cartoons when they threw parties to destroy Dixie Chicks CDs.

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Opinionated chemist, troublemaker, blogger on national and Delaware politics.

Comments (23)

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  1. P.Schwartz says:

    LibDems admit they are incapable of governing and call for martial law:

    Chicago Violence: Is the National Guard the Solution?

    cnn ^
    Chicago Violence: Is the National Guard the Solution?
    A violent crime wave in Chicago prompts a call for the National Guard to step in. Two Illinois lawmakers, State Reprepresentatives John Fritchey (D) and LaShawn Ford (D), are urging Governor Pat Quinn to deploy troops following a recent surge in violent crime. “We’re not talking about rolling tanks down the street,” said Fritchey. “If we bring them in to fill sand bags and pick up tornado debris, we can bring them in to save lives.”

  2. Joanne Christian says:

    I received my census form.

  3. P.Schwartz says:

    will the judge allow blagojevich to subpoeana obama as a witness in his corruption trail????

  4. anonone says:

    Gee, and Geezer told me this could never happen:

    “NEW ORLEANS — Coast Guard officials said Monday afternoon that the oil spill near Louisiana was now covering more than 1,800 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico, and they have been unable to engage a mechanism that could shut off the well thousands of feet below the ocean’s surface.”

    But, hey, if Obomba wants to drill off the beaches of Delaware, then let him because he is a Democrat and knows better than all of us.

  5. P.Schwartz says:

    ofcourse it is all crazy rightwing propaganda. His holiness Obama “Communittee Organized” Chicago, so we know there is no crime there.

  6. Joanne Christian says:

    Does anyone know if those “Topsy Turvy Tomatoe” hangers work? Now I see them for blueberries. I really don’t want a whole garden–but I always stop and look at that tomato thing.

  7. Jason330 says:

    Sounds like a qudtion for Dr. Liberal.

  8. Miscreant says:

    “Does anyone know if those “Topsy Turvy Tomatoe” hangers work?”

    They work great. Use moisture absorbing soil. Put the plants in from the bottom up, filling in with soil as you go. Leave the soil loose. It will settle as you add water. You can also add herbs, such as basil and mint (for Mojitos) in the upper holes. They use a little more water than ground plants so if you plan to go away, you might want to consider getting someone to water them. Those plastic watering bottle gadgets that you put in upside down don’t work well at all. All the water drains out all at once. Virtually no insect problems, and no problems with birds, which I had expected. They eliminate all that bending over too.

    If, perchance, you try to grow marijuana in them. Let me know how that works out.

  9. Joanne Christian says:

    Thanks A1 and Miscreant—the reviews you sent me to, look promising also. Maybe I’ll get the blueberry thing too.

    And of course I’ll let you know if I grow marijuana in them. Barter of course:)

  10. Geezer says:

    I never said it couldn’t happen. I said it has happened less often in recent years than in the early years of offshore drilling.

    FWIW, it will do much more damage in the Gulf than it would off the Atlantic coast.

    Your horseshit about nobody wanting to criticize Obama gets really old really fast. Lots of us criticize him frequently. But I guess we all lose to you in the “who’s the purest progressive?” contest.

  11. jason330 says:

    Well it is official. The GOP is on the same side as cancer and corrupt Wall Street banks. They really have their fingers on the pulse of America.

  12. DONALDI says:

    “DRILL BABY DRILL” WASN’T that the cry of the rightwing SLUT from Alaska.I wonder if she will talk any more regarding the need to Drill Baby Drill” Palin and her southern bunch of REDNECK LIEING WINGNUTS ARE GETTING A WAKEUP CALL from tne wrath of the LORD

  13. Geezer says:

    In the interest of fairness, allow me to say that this newbie above is just as big an idiot as any conservative troll this site has ever had.

  14. Yeah, trolls aren’t known for their smarts, whatever flavor they come in.

  15. P.Schwartz says:

    National Review reports there are now 41 Republican candidates for Congress who are black.

  16. P.Schwartz says:

    The Boston Herald has deplored the fact that liberal Democrats in Congress have earmarked over $68 million in taxpayers’ money for a Boston memorial to Sen. Ted Kennedy

    a giant fountain fill with Chivas? (with a car at the bottom)?

  17. anonone says:

    Live NOW! Unbelievable: The Senate vs Goldman Sachs:

    http://www.cspan.org/Watch/C-SPAN3.aspx

    Levins was on fire. I have never heard a Senator repeat the word “Shitty” so many times.

  18. “That’s a shitty deal.” Truth!

  19. From what I’m reading on Twitter, Goldman Sachs is admitting that it doesn’t think it has a fiduciary responsibility towards its clients.

  20. anonone says:

    G S is getting totally nailed. Kaufman is on now.

  21. Geezer says:

    “Goldman Sachs is admitting that it doesn’t think it has a fiduciary responsibility towards its clients.”

    That statement belongs in all its promotional literature. An adviser who won’t take responsibility soon won’t have any clients.

  22. a.price says:

    Not that any of this is going to matter unless the congress can castrate GS before the elections season really starts and they just buy their way out or regulation.
    Yeah, it is nice to see these bastards get yelled at but as of last night there is no bill to actually stop them from doing it again. And it isnt like there is a real free market for us to use against them. They control that too.
    That is the big joke played on all these glibertarians who cry about the government infringing on the free market. WAKE UP! Non elected power giants control the market and prevent competition and real capitalism. Financial reform would level the playing field so we can have a true capitalistic economy and not some joke run by 4 or 5 huge companies that have now been given power over our elections, some of which aren’t even based in this country.
    This is how you know the conservatives aren’t in it for America. If the Tea Party REALLY cared about powerful people infringing on our rights and liberty, they would go after the folks (peacefully and using our constitutionally elected system of governance ) who have gained power over people’s lives without their (our) consent or vote. And yes, i know you didnt vote for Obama, but most of america did. NO ONE voted for Goldman to be as powerful as it is. not even with our money.

    but no. it is more fun to draw hitler mustaches on the black dude they don’t like and point guns in the faces of people who don’t like that their cities have turned into war zones.
    America. F*ck YEAH!