Friday Open Thread [6.7.13]
Did you know it is OK to shoot escorts who won’t have sex with you in Texas? A Texas jury acquitted a man who shot an escort he contacted via Craig’s List. She’s dead, but:
During closing arguments Tuesday, Gilbert’s defense team conceded the shooting did occur but said the intent wasn’t to kill. Gilbert’s actions were justified, they argued, because he was trying to retrieve stolen property: the $150 he paid Frago. It became theft when she refused to have sex with him or give the money back, they said.
Time to give Texas back to Mexico, I’m thinking.
Yesterday, the Senate defeated BOTH the Dem and the GOP bills to fix the student loan interest rate problem. The first thing I want to know is what happened to Elizabeth Warren’s proposal to tie student loan interest rates to the rates paid by banks to borrow from the Treasury? I guess that Democrats think that this gives them a card in the campaign against the Republicans, but seriously people — these kids are facing REAL bills here.
Why Young People Don’t Vote Republican
In January, the CNRC asked identified “winnable” young people who had voted for Obama, the words that came to mind when hearing the words “Republican Party.” Four of the most common responses: “closed-minded, racist, rigid, old-fashioned.” Democrats, by contrast, were “tolerant,” “diverse,” and “open-minded.”
Young voters don’t consider elected officials to be the Republican Party’s leaders. A focus group in Ohio selected Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Bill O’Reilly as the most iconic figures they identify with the GOP. By contrast, they identified Barack Obama, the Clintons, and Nancy Pelosi, along with other prominent current and former elected officials.
The report accused Republicans of not having any “substance behind” a vague message of economic growth. “Economic growth and opportunity policies cannot just be about tax cuts and spending cuts,” the report says. It needs to be backed up with specific policy prescriptions on health care, immigration, and education.
This was a brutal report — largely pointing out how incredibly narrow the GOP appeal is. And if they continue on, the appeal will be smaller — the CW of voting is that you tend to vote over your lifetime the way you voted when you started out. It seems pretty clear — especially as Marco Rubio now seems intent on killing the immigration bill he once championed — that they aren’t going to learn a thing from this.
What interests you this rainy Friday?
“What interests you this rainy Friday?”
Oh, not much. Just chiming in to tell everyone how much I agree with the current regime, I mean administration. Nothing to see here.
…..I almost forgot. Remember when I said that I took down my picture of our glorious leader, I mean President? Well, I seemed to have misspoke on that. It’s actually been up the whole time. Fancy that.
Unless you complained about the Patriot Act, it’s too late to start now. This is the same program that was run under Bush, and most likely dates back to GHW Bush. The only thing that has changed is the scale, which has grown along with computer capacity to process the data.
Seriously, FBH, neither party is going to stand for the public on this one. Most Republicans complained about none of this until the guy with his hand on the rudder changed.
If the seizure of the AP records was bigger than Watergate, what does that make this?
@puck: Same as it ever was.
“This is the same program that was run under Bush, and most likely dates back to GHW Bush.”
So, you are saying that Obama has no choice in the matter? Hmmm.
Well, whatever he does, I agree with it…….. Did I mention that I pay my taxes?
Unless you complained about the Patriot Act, it’s too late to start now.
I did. Loudly. So I guess I get to keep complaining. But, wait, I don’t have to, because they’ve already probably got all my complaining on record somewhere.
My all-time favorite quote:
”Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”
Ben Franklin
Times do change, but where do you draw the line? I knew Chaney/Rumsfeld/Ashcroft would all cross it in a second, but I’m disappointed that Obama didn’t step back further than he apparently has.
If Obama has to go down to break the chain of Repub and Dem presidents alike expanding the surveillance society, so be it. Not that I seriously think this will bring Obama down, but I won’t be sad if it does. As long as both sides admit blame. I’d love to see rolling back mass surveillance be a campaign issue in 2016.
Here’s one I just found for FBH:
”A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one.”
Ben Franklin
Is it Friday night yet?
( Sorry, hopefully you can find the humor. )
A terrified and rather cowardly American people let the Patriot Act go unchallenged, perhaps we were too busy slathering our mini vans with flag magnets and calling people who were against the wars traitors. Ever expanding surveillance has been going on for a long time now, as for hurting Obama get real, polls will probably find most people don’t care or actually like it. As for Texas don’t go there, ask a Texan, they’ll tell you straight up “Texas ain’t right”.
‘member when liberals were complaining about the patriot act and the surveillance state and big gov’t was infiltrating anti-war groups? Yeah, those anti American peace loving appeaser hippies should have just shut the hell up if they don’t love America.
If you question gov’t you are unpatriotic.
At least that’s what we were told when the idiot in the White House was Republican. Where is the Libertarian Party when you need ’em?
Unless you read and research the program which I have you are stuck with the misinformation put out by fox noise and other media outlets which parroted their hype. There is no wire tapping involved in this program just a logging of phone numbers. If this program helps to catch and prevent terrorist attacks on this country I am all for it. President Obama has done more to disrupt terrorist organizations than any of the presidents before him so it really upsets me to see so called liberals abandon him in his hour of need. If you really want to get your shorts in a bunch get upset about how the private companies track you on the net.
“President Obama has done more to disrupt terrorist organizations than any of the presidents before him so it really upsets me to see so called liberals abandon him in his hour of need”
“AFP – A new documentary released Friday portrays US secret raids against terror suspects as a misguided assassination campaign that generates new enemies and tarnishes America’s image.”