Monday Open Thread [7.21.14]

Monday Open Thread [7.21.14]

Palin tried to revive her case for impeachment at the Western Conservative Summit, “I’m hearing some argue for ‘cautious inaction.’ They’re terming it. They’re saying ‘Well Obama’s policies expose his failures anyway, so why rock the boat.’ But that argument, it misses the point. Folks he is radically changing the balance of power. It’s setting a wicked dangerous precedent. With his pen and his phone, hes abrogating his presidential authority. Making himself a ruler not a President.”
Uh, you cannot abrogate your presidential authority and then make yourself supreme ruler, exercising all possible authority (including authority that goes beyond your constitutionally proscribed role). They are on opposite ends of the presidential authority use spectrum.
This is why, according to Sarah Palin, God wants Obama impeached, “This president’s forgotten man is we the people, and we the people know that our best days are still ahead because we know that God shed his grace. He’s given us our freedom to do what’s right. God doesn’t drive parked cars. I think he expects us to get up and take action in order to defend these freedoms that are God given. I think it’s an affront to God to let this go on because he gave us these freedoms. We’re not going to let someone, a person, a party take them from us. We’re not going to dethrone God and substitute him with someone who wants to play God.”
There is nothing quite like a Sarah Palin word salad. God doesn't drive parked cars? So what, he takes a car already moving on the road and takes over, freaking everyone out? Mrs. Palin, what freedoms are you talking about in the first place, and which of those freedoms are being taken away? That's first and foremost. Second, this God you are describing. Boy does he sound like a wimp. Remember, Sarah, you have described Barack Obama as a feckless whimp, and yet this person has somehow dethroned they almighty God? And this God ain't going to do shit about it others do it for Him? Talk about a lazy supreme being who does not believe in Republican principles.
It’s Jason Hortiz in the 9th RD

It’s Jason Hortiz in the 9th RD

Apparently the 9th RD Committee voted last night to nominate Jason Hortiz to replace Representative Rebecca Walker on the ballot. It would seem that the race came down to two former Republicans in past lives: the aforementioned Jason Hortiz, and Andye Daley, who once was Tom Kovach's campaign manager. Without knowing how close the vote was, Andye Daley posted on Facebook last night that Jason had won. Everyone I have heard from speak very well of both candidates, how each's conversion from being a Republican was sincere, how each were good people, and how each were genuinely involved and interested in the 9th RD. I hope this is true, and I hope Mr. Hortiz turns out to be a good Democratic legislator should he win the election.
In Which We Find the Christian Right Trolling for an Activist Judge

In Which We Find the Christian Right Trolling for an Activist Judge

Or, as named in this article, the "new frontrunner in the race for dumbest Christian Right lawsuit". In this case, we have a nurse (how she got past the schoolwork, we'll never know) who applied for a job at a Title X clinic in Tampa (Title X meaning that they explicitly in the business of all things family planning). She went into this interview telling her would-be employer that she could not dispense birth control pills, because she "believes" they cause abortions:

Sunday Open Thread [7.20.14]

New York Times:
"Today, as a wave of unaccompanied minors fleeing Central America poses a new crisis for Congress and the White House, Republicans are struggling to calibrate a response that is both tough and humane, mindful of the need to reconcile their freighted history with Hispanic voters and the passions of a conservative base that sees any easing of immigration rules as heresy." "Some senior Republicans are warning that the party cannot rebuild its reputation with Hispanics if it is drawn into another emotional fight over cracking down on migrants -- especially when so many are young children who are escaping extreme poverty and violence. But pleas for compassion and even modest proposals for change are dividing the party, and setting off intense resistance among conservative Republicans who have resisted a broader overhaul of immigration."
Senator Elizabeth Warren at Netroots Nation

Senator Elizabeth Warren at Netroots Nation

The media doesn't typically pay that much attention to Netroots Nation -- unlike CPAC coverage (which is pretty much non-stop on NPR), where I think the media flocks to in order to hear the crazy. Still. NPR covered VP Biden's speech at Netroots Nation in order to cite him as a source for the Malaysian Airlines plane being shot out of the sky and to spin out the Presidential Horserace story for Democrats. I Googled Elizabeth Warren's speech and found not one, but 3 Politico articles on how she is the heart of progressives at this event. Then there are the horserace articles about whether Warren will take on Hillary Clinton in the Presidential primaries. It's just sad that you have to provide some juicy theater for the press to cover you.