Wednesday Open Thread [9.5.12]
Tonight is the Big Dog’s night. But there are other speakers, and as we saw last night, they rock too.
Today the main events will kick off at 5pm ET. After the call to order, invocation, pledge and national anthem, we will hear from Reps. Luis Gutierrez, Diana DeGette, Judy Chu and John Larson, among others.
At or around 6pm ET, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka will give remarks, followed by Reps. Steve Israel and Patty Murray. Sen. Charles Schumer and Reps. Karen Bass, Al Green and Emanuel Cleaver will also speak.
The 7pm hour will bring House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Tom Vilsack, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and former NC Gov. Jim Hunt
8pm: Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards will speak on, yes, women’s health. Apparently Democrats are under the impression that women are perfectly damn able to decide their own health issues. Will this crazy twentieth century notion take hold even here, in the twenty_first_ century? Only time will tell. Also this hour-ish: Rep. Steny Hoyer and Rep. Barney Frank.
9pm: Small Business Administration administrator Karen Mills will, hopefully, attempt to enlighten us all as to who built what. California Attorney General Kamala Harris will, hopefully, explain to us why a whole hell of a lot of crooked bankers are not in jail. Unlikely conservative nemesis Sandra Fluke will, hopefully, attempt to explain to us for once and for all what the hell Rush Limbaugh’s problem is. (Just kidding. Nobody can explain that last one.)
Oh, and then we get to hear from some people who used to work for some of the companies Bain Capital took over, back when Mitt Romney was running it, not running it, retroactively not running it, or proactively running from it—I get confused on that stuff. But that should be a hoot.
10pm: The main event. Scourge of Wall Street and all Republicans everywhere, inventor of the notion that perhaps banks ought not screw their customers at every possible opportunity, and U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren will speak. Apparently Republicans are convinced that this will not go well because the public feels very strongly that banks really ought to be able to screw them—that was, I believe, one of the defining Republican convention themes. Elizabeth Warren is running for Senate against a Massachusetts pickup truck driven by some guy. I don’t remember the guy’s name—Scott somebody. The pickup truck has fairly strong opinions about local sports teams, however.
Tonight’s keynote speaker: President Bill Clinton. You may remember him from that time we balanced the budget, which got Republicans so up in arms that their guy, “successful businessman” George W. Bush, dedicated every bit of his presidency towards disemboweling all traces of federal fiscal competence. Then some bad stuff happened to the economy, and he victoriously retired to clear brush, and the Republicans found their old “national debt” counter for the first time in for-freaking-ever here in 2012, under the supposition that everyone who was around those years was probably too drunk by the end to remember any of it. In any case, I hear Clinton is no slouch at public speaking, so that ought to be worth watching.
There you go. At the least, highlights should be Pelosi, Barney Frank, Sandra Fluke, the people Mitt fired so he could make another few dump trucks of money, Elizabeth Warren and Pres. Bill Clinton.
I notice over at Delaware Politics the “center right” blog, they’re scared about Obama making us Marxist. They say movie 2016 warns about Obama’s mommy being Marxist, and Obama and his family actually knew real card carrying communists back in the last century.
So the dominos are set to fall again – North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba . . . next domino . . . the USA. I thought we won the Cold War years ago. Put Marxism on the ash heap. The whole world including China is looking at the world through modern eyes, free markets.
But inTea Party Land they’re scared to death. About the Red Menace. From what I read, Tea Party types think Obama believes the USA should be a one Party dictatorship where nobody is allowed to own property and all our free speech bill of rights will be trashed. President Obama likes communism and wants to make the USA communist. What is that about?
Does anybody know a cure for that madness? How do you convince the Tea Party that Khrushchev the Berlin Wall and communism are no longer out to get us? That nobody believes in communism anymore. It would by nice to see these folks come back to the mainstream. Be patriots instead of paranoids. I wish I could help. But when you read the rants, it’s just kind of crazy. And crazy is hard to help. I voted D for the first time in my life in 2008. Will proudly do so again.
I feel exiled from the GOP I was loyal to for so many years. Now I wince in embarrassment as my “fiscal conservative’ GOP promises to lower taxes, increase military spending – and cut the deficit. A blatant con job aimed at low information voters. All the while whipping up fear of poor people on welfare, communists, and outsiders plotting to take what is ours. My hope is this too will pass.
But in Tea Party Land they’re scared to death. About the Red Menace.
No they’re not. They’re just waving it around because they think it scares us.
Big earthquake in Costa Rica! Lot of DE ex pats there check on your friends!
I feel your pain.
Does anybody know a cure for that madness? How do you convince the Tea Party that Khrushchev the Berlin Wall and communism are no longer out to get us?
Why bother? They’ll stop with this the minute Fox News and their leadership tell them to. This is also a group of people gobbling up a movie that claims that the President is an anti-colonialist. So the trendy new charge is that you are an anti-colonialist. Think about that for a minute — the official birth of this country was one of the great acts of anti-colonialism, so you’d think that anti-colonialism would be a *good* part of American DNA.
One more thing about bringing the DEGOP back to reality. It will take old time establishment leaders like duPonts, Copeland,Rollins – they are the ones who enabled the Tea Party in Delaware to further their political agenda. They are the one who need to repudiate the extremism, fight for traditional GOP values. The big mistake traditional Republicans made in Delaware was not taking a strong stance right away. When “Crazy Eileen” confronted Mike Castle with the crazy birth certificate issue at that town hall meeting Castle should have put her down in no uncertain terms. Told her what she was suggesting was nuts. Instead he only nodded, like she might be rational, that maybe she deserved respect. That was the beginning of the end. Delaware GOP needs a new base. They need to stop pandering to irrational minds. Leadership please. Mr. duPont? Mr. Copeland? Ms. Rollins? Mr. Stabler? Care to take a stand? Or do you all prefer leading from behind?
And of course here in Sussex County the boogeyman is UN Agenda 21 and One World Government which the whack jobs connect to the UD Sustainable Coastal Community Initiative. There is no real thought processes going on with them. If they see something that looks like red meat, they snap at it. It’s pack behavior.
The DEGOP can become a responsible party again if and when they have become so marginalized that no one exept the crazies will admit to being a Republican. Perhaps then the responsible folks in the GOP will separate themselves and form an off shoot party that can replace the GOP.
I’m fairly conservative (or at least center right) and probably could be a Republican, but I would be embarassed to call myself such with the current state of affairs. I’ll stick to being an “O” (which I just found out is how they designate unaffliateds on the voter registration lists – I guess “O” means “Other”)
I’m pretty much where you are . . . but tell ya’ what. I’m kinda having fun watching the DNC. I think I might change registration some year if things keep up. It feels good to be with the Democrats at the moment. Makes me feel connected to a bigger slice of the real good side of America. If I was younger I’d jump back into GOP politics. They need leadership.
If I was younger I’d jump back into GOP politics. They need leadership.
Ah think123, they’d run you out of town on a rail. These conservative crazies will never give up the power that moderate Republicans gave them! Ah yes, those “moderates” (I’m looking at you Mike Castle!) adored the Tea Party when they were attacking Democrats. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… How do you like your monster (TP) now, Dr. Frankenstein (Moderate Rs)?
The only chance you have is to wait until they self-destruct – which they will, but not for several elections. My bet is that they haven’t hit bottom on the crazy.
At 9pm. Watch Benny Veliz a DREAMer now eligible for DCDA
It ought to be good!
Is Monica going to be there to watch Bill rant?
That’s the best you can come up with Rockland?
Thanks, Rockland, for giving me the opportunity to repost my comment on this subject from an earlier thread:
So in case you were wondering, Clinton’s ability to balance the budget has no Republican response other than “Blowjobs!”.
Rockland–
Clinton was a good President. He’s not a good man. And every man I’ve ever met, gay, straight, whatever, loves a good hummer.
Bery interesting twist-
Seems SOMEONE has sent out fliers/mailers in the 19th urging voters tO vote for Joe Booth
On the 21st of September which is a Friday one and half weeks AFTER the primary’s?
A dirty trick out of some politicians play book or a simple over- sight ???
Hmmmmmmm
President Clinton gave an awesome speech. I learned things about the ACA (Obamacare) that I have never heard before, Glad to here the word “Medicaid” uttered by a Democrat.
I flipped over to Fox to get their first reactions to the Clinton speech and they didn’t disappoint. The very creepy Charles Krauthammer was saying that the speech was much too long and the length of the speech was a direct dig at Obama (?) and that tonight’s speech was moved because they couldn’t sell out the stadium (?)
I’m not kidding. Talk about alternate universe. The GOP has become the Branch Davidians with a TV network.
If I twittered I’d twitter this: The GOP has become the Branch Davidians with a TV network.
(Yes. I probably spend too much time re-reading and giggling over my own comments.)
I’m wondering if Marvel is going to start a comic book series called: “Republicans!! The Alternative Universe!!”
Got to have lots of explanation points. BTW, why is it called a point when it’s more of a line than a point?