Late Night Video — The IRS Snipe Hunt of Darrell Issa

This is from the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, who have helpfully condensed the snipe hunt masquerading as a Congressional Hearing to it's salient points (approx 1.5 minutes). As in there *is* no scandal at the White House for this. The scandal is that Issa wasted alot of Government time and money in order to get this bit of arson done in full view of a TV audience:
GOP Bamboozlement on SNAP Benefits

GOP Bamboozlement on SNAP Benefits

SNAP benefits have been in the news over the past few weeks as Congress tries to pass a Farm Bill. The Senate passed a bill that made some cuts to the SNAP program, while the House separated SNAP from the Farm Bill and proceeded to cut SNAP so that 5 million people would no longer be eligible for food support. The GOP ( including the locals who don't have much to say other than to repeat the talking points sent to them each day, and the media, unfortunately) are pushing messaging that tries to link the SNAP program with economic recovery. This messaging ignores some key points....
The Open Thread for Thursday, August 1, 2013

The Open Thread for Thursday, August 1, 2013

You don't realize how dependent, and how addicted, you are to the internet and email and just computer databases in general until the servers crash and you have no access to anything. That was me yesterday at work. No email. No internet. No computers. Well, we could turn on our computer and type something, but our network is set up in such a way that we could not print what we typed. So yesterday, my office was literally back in the 60's and 70's. We used an old typewriter for letters that had to go out. Seriously, how was business conducted back then? Anyway, thanks for Cass for picking up the ball I dropped. Here is some polling goodness....

When Will the White Community Take Responsibility for Its Culture of Violence?

This is the question central to Chris Hayes' news (satire) piece yesterday:

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It was inspired by this post in Gawker, called Video of Violent, Rioting Surfers Shows White Culture of Lawlessness:
A frightening and violent mob swept through the normally quiet seaside community of Huntington Beach last night following a surfing competition in the area. Businesses were vandalized and looted, portable toilets overturned, and brutal fistfights waged right out in the open. It was an ugly display and a sad day for California. But more than that, it was a reminder that we must begin to seriously consider the values of our thuggish white youth.
It is worth reading ALL of the comments here, because, seriously, what America needs is to raise the level of outrage over the persistently thuggish behavior of white youth.

Wednesday Open Thread [7.31.13]

The folks over at Wired Magazine took a look at who in Congress voted for and against clipping the wings of the NSA and found that those who voted NO to uphold, received double the amount of campaign money from the defense and aerospace industry than those who voted YES. To remind you, John Carney voted NO to keep the spying operation in your business -- and received $9000. Not alot (Buck McKeon holds the record with $526K and he also voted NO), but it is a good reminder of where the interests lie.
Sam Wilson and the Lesbian Bible Killers

Sam Wilson and the Lesbian Bible Killers

Sam Wilson is the Vice President of the Sussex County Council and is pretty het up over the defeat of the Bible Study course at Cape Henlopen School District. Het up enough to have taken to the airwaves (not sure what program this is) to tell the radio host that he was plenty disturned over the 3-3 vote. According to him, at least one of the Cape Henlopen Board members is a *gasp* -- lesbian! And (according to Wilson) lesbians are "not strong on the bible". He seems to think that said lesbian(s) had too much influence over the vote. But thank goodness there is western Sussex to hold strong on the bible and morals, because I think that eastern Sussex doesn't have time to demand that their neighbors "Show Us Your Bibles!" -- since they are too busy tending to their own lives (and getting reservations to all of the good restaurants). Take a listen (approx 4 minutes):

The Open Thread for Tuesday July 30, 2013

If immigration reform is going to get done, this is why:
"More than 100 Republican donors -- many of them prominent names in their party's establishment -- sent a letter to Republican members of Congress on Tuesday urging them to support an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws," the New York Times reports.
But it will only get done if these donors not only threaten the withholding of their big money donations, but also start doing it. Defunding the RNC and other various Republican Party organizations and candidates is the only message Republican congressman will understand. Condemnations about their bigotry and racism doesn't work because, in their circles and in their districts, their racism and bigotry are commonplace and not a source of shame. And they no longer care about losing all of the Latino vote since they have convinced themselves that they can somehow win all of the white vote.

44 and 45

Word is that Hillary is having lunch with Joe Biden today, after having lunch with the President yesterday. The combination of lunches tells me that she is informing them that…