Monday Open Thread [5.20.13]

This has all happened before and it will happen again. The president "has just weathered one of the worst weeks of his time in office," according to Chris Cillizza. I don't know Chris, I think death, destruction and obstruction (Boston Marathon Terror Attack, West,TX Explosion, Senate Background Check failure) trump three non-scandals that have been blown up by the media and the GOP as being worst than Watergate. The network news ratings were down, so they gladly accepted the lies of the GOP (see Jon Karl) as news and proceeded to hyperventilate. But once again, as in the 1990's, the American public are not fooled. The President's approval ratings have actually improved over the last month, according to the latest CNN poll and Gallup polls.
I’m Calling It For Santorum

I’m Calling It For Santorum

Know why?  Because we've seen this scene before.  My guess is that Santorum will be the 2016 Republican nominee.  He was first runner-up in 2012, so... it's his turn.  Rand Paul will take over his father's role and act as spoiler.  His Libertarian supporters will be rabid, as usual, and the Evangelical community won't trust him.  Meanwhile, the "business and money" side of the GOP will once again run a Jon Huntsman and lose quickly. Which means... the nomination is Santorum's.  And I think it will be an easy win, mainly due to the make-up of the Republican primary voter.  These voters are incapable of seeing past a primary to the general, and when you consider how many moderate Republicans have left the party then you understand who will pick the nominee. The Republican's base motto of "He's not Conservative Enough" will finally be tested. 
Weakening Dodd-Frank — John Carney Edition

Weakening Dodd-Frank — John Carney Edition

According to this Saturday's NJ, John Carney is lending some bi-partisan credibility to one of (there's a package of bills out there trying to weaken an already weak legislation) the bills meant to loosen restrictions on banks who are trading in derivatives from their foreign operations:
Heritage Foundation helps GOP hone “not governing” as political strategy

Heritage Foundation helps GOP hone “not governing” as political strategy

In a letter to members of Congress, which was obtained by NBC News, Heritage Action for America, the lobbying arm of the Heritage Foundation, urged Republicans on Capitol Hill not to govern, and instead, to focus on the would-be “scandals” plaguing the Obama administration.
Why does this un-American, unpatriotic course of action make sense to the Heritage Foundation? They note in the letter that even the most sensible legislation is liable to "fracture" the tenuous relationship that the extreme right-wing of the GOP has with the even more extreme right-wing of the GOP. I know. This is a yawn. Everyone knows that this was, is and will be the Republican "strategy" for the foreseeable future. The Heritage Foundation is adding its two cents to the echo chamber in an effort to appear relevant to GOP messaging. There is no real news here, but there is a silver lining. Today it is hard to find anyone claiming that the cure for all of this is more accommodation of the GOP. The argument that "both sides do it" has become laughable. I don't even hear laziest of lazy Democratic chickenshits extolling the benefits of bipartisanship anymore. Hell. The last time the word "bipartisanship" appeared in a John Carney press release was February 22nd. Progress!
Welcome to Delaware Liberal 5.0

Welcome to Delaware Liberal 5.0

Come inside for a trip down memory lane to Delaware Liberal 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 as we welcome Delaware Liberal 5.0. We were long past due for an upgrade to site. And so we have redesigned the site, reaching back into our past a little bit to add back in some black and white flavor to our logo and appearance, while embrace a new theme. Now, not much is different. Come inside to see what is new and improved...
Sunday Open Thread [5.19.13]

Sunday Open Thread [5.19.13]

BREAKING: I didn't win the Powerball yesterday! In the evolving story of the "doctored" emails that ABC's Jon Karl breathlessly injected into the Benghazi stupidity, it looks as though Karl has some right-wing bias issues. He's not as bad as James O'Keefe, but one wonders where this man's editors were. In the same vein, Jay Rosen has written in some detail on how Jon Karl got played by his confidential source, and now he's made ABC a problem too.....

Delaware Liberal Upgrade and Redesign

This afternoon LiberalGeek and I are playing around with the plumbing of Delaware Liberal, giving the site a much need WordPress upgrade and uploading a new design for Delaware Liberal 4.0 (I think we are at 4.0 now). So if there are any downtimes or other malfunctions with the site, that is why.
What The… I Love Game Of Thrones

What The… I Love Game Of Thrones

This is nonsense:
Game of Thrones ranks somewhere on the Girl Dislike scale between NASCAR and that National Geographic show where the guy sticks his hand in a catfish’s mouth. But why does she throw so much shade? If you just can’t understand why we’re intent on harshing your medieval buzz, here are some telltale clues.
  • We hate gross things. Know what’s gross? Screwing your sibling.
  • It’s hard to follow. Brilliantly developed storylines are great, but whipping out a dry erase board and Venn diagrams to figure it all out isn’t our idea of a good time. Unless we’re talking about soap operas. Those are perfectly fine.
  • It reminds us of the kids that used to play magic cards in the cafeteria. And people who go to Renaissance festivals. Eating a giant drumstick and drinking out of a goblet is cool, just not every Sunday night for three months straight.
  • It’s all naked chicks. In addition to the actual ladies of the night on the show, there seem to be a lot of...unofficial ladies of the night on the show. This is why guys love it, we get it, but we can do without seeing topless wenches in loin cloths.
  • Dudes get their hands chopped off. And their nipples. And their balls. Really? How is it that you guys like this again?
Okay, confession time... I was the one who wanted to watch GoT.  Mr. Pandora was kinda meh.  Know how I got him to watch it?  I told him people were complaining about the gratuitous sex.  My bad, but it worked!  I do love that man!  He's so easy! One of my initial complaints of GoT was that the first few episodes introduced so many characters that it became confusing.  My advice is to watch the first three episodes before throwing up your hands and walking away.  It's so worth it.

Saturday Open Thread [5.18.13]

Usually, you can tell when the GOP has reached its overreach point on the scandal machine when they start screaming about something dumber than dirt. In this instance, they are apparently unhappy that a U.S. Marine held an umbrella over President Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan as it began to rain over the press conference they had earlier this week. Something about violating the U.S Marine protocol about not carrying umbrellas. Which I'm sure has nothing to do with doing what your Commander-In-Chief asks you to do. And, there's this.....