Sunday Open Thread [7.8.12]

Filed in Open Thread by on July 8, 2012

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  1. cassandra_m says:
    July 8, 2012 at 12:55 pm

    Police sergeant from North Charleston tells the world he was shot by two black men on Wednesday — on Friday we learn that this police sergeant shot himself. This lie led to one community being turned inside out because they were black.

  2. meatball says:
    July 8, 2012 at 2:05 pm

    Not sure I’ve seen it mentioned here, so
    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/arts/television/fox-plans-new-cosmos-with-seth-macfarlane-as-a-producer.html

  3. V says:
    July 8, 2012 at 3:03 pm

    Mazel Tov! Barney Frank is a newlywed!

    http://gawker.com/5924234/barney-frank-becomes-first-member-of-congress-to-marry-same+sex-partner

  4. June says:
    July 8, 2012 at 4:51 pm

    2 of 3 responses to this awesome video had no response that had anything to do with this awesome video. Can’t we break away from the usual junk for one minute?

  5. puck says:
    July 8, 2012 at 5:04 pm

    4 of 5 now.

    It’s an open thread, June. Junk collection is what it’s for.

  6. puck says:
    July 8, 2012 at 5:18 pm

    Here’s a video in a similar vein: Powers of Ten

  7. SussexWatcher says:
    July 8, 2012 at 5:34 pm

    Wilmington has no crime problem. Nuh-uh!

    http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20120708/NEWS01/120708013/Five-people-shot-near-Eden-Park-Wilmington?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CHome&nclick_check=1

  8. MJ says:
    July 8, 2012 at 5:58 pm

    Ernest Borgnine has died – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/08/ernest-borgnine-dead_n_1657683.html

  9. JPconnorjr says:
    July 8, 2012 at 10:54 pm

    Yea SW. There damn sure is however you guys have a dead woman allegedly dumped by a “independent contractor ” custodiion and a motel room full of blood and more southern mayhem!

  10. SussexWatcher says:
    July 9, 2012 at 5:16 am

    Yeah, Joe, I’m not saying southern Delaware doesn’t have any crime. But I would note that the Dewey killing was apparently done by a guy from NCCo. And we haven’t yet had a situation where people pull out guns at a soccer game and start firing, and other people pull out their guns and fire back. There’s one-on-one violence, and then there’s completely random murder and mayhem. That’s the problem you’ve got in your perfect city there.

  11. puck says:
    July 9, 2012 at 7:46 am

    I don’t recall Obama ever saying anything like this in 2010. When he says this today, will he forcefully close the door on tax cuts for the rich? Or will he leave himself wiggle room for another December surprise?

    Washington (CNN) – President Barack Obama is expected to call on Congress to pass a one-year extension on the Bush-era tax cuts for people earning less than $250,000 a year.

    A White House official said Obama will make the announcement Monday at the Rose Garden, surrounded by working people.

    But will he have the spine to issue a veto threat on extending tax cuts for the rich? Because if he doesn’t we will surely get a rerun of December 2010.

    Republicans are planning to pass a one-year full extension of the Bush tax cuts this month. Without a veto threat, the full extension could very well pass the Senate.

  12. Jason330 says:
    July 9, 2012 at 9:00 am

    A clear veto threat would punctuate all of the campaign themes he’d laid out so far, other than being the Compromiser in Chief. I’d put the veto threat probability at 50%.

  13. meatball says:
    July 9, 2012 at 9:22 am

    “motel room full of blood ” Just to nitpick a bit, the perp was living in Wilmington.

  14. socialistic ben says:
    July 9, 2012 at 9:57 am

    Puck, he will pledge to extend the tiny tax cut for “working people” no matter what….. that, to me is code for “i’ll buckle to the GOP when they go “all-or-nothing” on all the tax cuts”
    I saw this game in 2010, i know how it ends.

  15. puck says:
    July 9, 2012 at 10:16 am

    SB, I am trying not to be overly cynical here. There will be time enough for that later. Right now, Obama still has opportunity if he is sincere. His spokesmen have already gotten out in front and committed him to not extending tax cuts for the rich. He’d have to walk that back in order to cave.

    Right now Obama holds all the cards, bestowed by two things: His veto power, and the automatic expiration. Republicans will give up anything if they truly believe Obama won’t cave on expiration. Obama needs to make them believe that, or he’s just blowing smoke.

  16. jason330 says:
    July 9, 2012 at 10:22 am

    Funny. Because Republicans (and a great many chickenhearted Dems) think that the GOP holds all the cards.

    They will simply blame Obama for a big

    “tax increase”

    if the rates expire. That has been the play all along, and that’s why they should have expired a long time ago.

  17. jason330 says:
    July 9, 2012 at 10:25 am

    …and as if on cue…

    Team Romney Calls Obama Tax Cut Extension Plan A Tax Increase

    6 minutes ago – Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign dismissed President Obama’s plan to call for an extension of middle class tax cuts in a statement Monday. Echoing the language…

  18. puck says:
    July 9, 2012 at 10:34 am

    If Obama champions a middle-class-only extension and Republicans vote against it, that gives Obama the high ground on taxes, if he plays it right. The key is to make it clear full extension is off the table, and Plan B is full expiration.

    He didn’t play it right in 2010; maybe he’s learned his lesson.

    Anyway, this is just maneuvering for the election. The end game will be in the lame duck with no voter accountability, so they will be listening more to their donors than to the voters. That’s scary.

  19. socialistic ben says:
    July 9, 2012 at 10:40 am

    I dont think he has all the cards, or even most of them. If the GOP goes for an “all or nothing” approach.. (haha… “if”) he risks getting blamed for NOT extending any of the tax cuts. They wont vote for his plan. They know a modest tac increase wont REALLY hurt their puppetmasters and dont give a crap about raising taxes on “small folk”. If that costs him the election, the R’s know they will just be able to do it with RomneyBot, the GOP house and the chickinshit dems left in the senate. He lost his chance in this in 2010.

  20. jason330 says:
    July 9, 2012 at 10:44 am

    SB is right. Puck still seems to think that the GOP is composed of rational actors. The ONLY goal for the GOP is to announce that Obama is responsible for a big tax hike. They can do that through expriation or forcing a veto.

    It is a win/win for the GOP as usual.

  21. puck says:
    July 9, 2012 at 10:53 am

    I don’t think the GOP is rational; they will play it as Jason predicts, because that’s all they know. This summer the GOP will kill the middle-class-only tax cuts, while Dems will kill the cuts for the rich. It’s just a dance – the expiration deadline isn’t close enough to apply any meaningful pressure.

    Then it becomes a campaign ad war, which I think Democrats can win (if they have the will) by pointing out how Republicans voted against middle-class tax cuts in order to defend tax cuts for the rich.

    Decoupling these tax cuts was never going to be easy or bloodless. It will always be easier to decouple them after they all expire.

  22. socialistic ben says:
    July 9, 2012 at 11:13 am

    puck, your argument assumes that most americans are smart and rational.

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