Sunday Open Thread [10.26.14]

Pew Research:
"Voter frustration with members of Congress is currently even higher than it was 2010 or 2006. Fully 68% of registered voters say they do not want to see most members of Congress reelected - 14 points higher than in 2010 and 19 points higher than in 2006. And roughly a third (35%) say they do not want their own representative reelected, compared with 32% four years ago and 26% eight years ago." "Yet unlike in those elections, when a single party controlled both the House and Senate, anti-incumbent sentiment now crosses party lines. Republican and Democratic voters are about equally likely to oppose the reelection of most representatives and their own member of Congress."
Saturday Open Thread [10.25.14]

Saturday Open Thread [10.25.14]

Politico reported yesterday evening that the lawsuit -- which was supposed to challenge Obama's executive orders regarding Obamacare (and appease the impeachment caucus in the lead-up to the midterm elections) -- hasn't actually been filed yet. Now isn't that emblematic of everything the Republican Party stands. Lots of sound and fury signifying nothing of substance.
Some Asshole Fascist Bigot of a Republican Congressman…

Some Asshole Fascist Bigot of a Republican Congressman…

...doesn't expect to meet gays in Heaven.
In an interview with the Jefferson Herald, King discussed a preliminary document produced during Catholic bishops' recent synod that stated gays had "gifts" to offer the Christian community. [...] King was asked specifically whether he thought divorce or cohabitation were sins. The synod's preliminary document had called for the church to respect divorced Catholics and stated that in regard to homosexual unions, "it has to be noted that there are cases in which mutual aid to the point of sacrifice constitutes a precious support in the life of the partners." “I think that I’ll not comment on that part,” King told the newspaper. “I’ll just say that what was a sin 2,000 years ago is a sin today, and people that were condemned to hell 2,000 years ago, I don’t expect to meet them should I make it to heaven. So let’s stick with that principle.”
Will Phils Hire Best Manager in Baseball?

Will Phils Hire Best Manager in Baseball?

Well, if not the best, at least 1 or 1A along with the Giants' Bruce Bochy. Joe Maddon  opted out of his contract with Tampa Bay today. He has taken that chronically-underfunded team to great heights, four times in the playoffs and one World Series appearance. This is not a pipe dream. He is from the area. In fact, his mom is still a waitress in his home town of Hazleton, PA. He's a Lafayette grad, and he comes back here often. This is Pat Gillick's call, not Ruben Amaro Jr's. Pat, for the sake of what's left of my sanity, Make That Call!
Friday Open Thread [10.24.14]

Friday Open Thread [10.24.14]

With less than two weeks to go, the polling is coming fast and furious. But some pollsters are jumping ahead to get a preview of the 2016 Presidential. So before we dive into the pile of 2014 polls... from the The Fix:
"[A] new Washington Post-ABC News polling on the 2016 Republican presidential race makes one thing very clear: Every GOPer who has even a hint of ambition for national office is likely to run in two years time. Why? Because the field is remarkably frontrunner-less, meaning that every Ted, John and Rob can make a plausible case to activists and donors that they are going to eventually be the guy."
And for that reason, Mitt Romney, the retread from 2008 and 2012, is the frontrunner. The Devil you know...
Thursday Open Thread [10.23.14]

Thursday Open Thread [10.23.14]

The difference between a responsible and ethical media, interested in journalistic integrity and facts, and a hyperbolic entertainment first enterprise, interesting only in ratings and thus profit, and facts and ethics must never interfere with that pursuit. CNN and Fox do not want to inform you. They want you only as a daily consumer of their content. They don't care to inform you. In fact, they will misinform you if that is what makes you a daily consumer of their content. They will do anything and everything to scare you. It is why there are people in this country, many many many people, that are convinced ISIS is now invading the US. That Ebola is currently killing millions of Americans. Driving home yesterday, I have CNN on my Sirius XM, and heard Wolf Blitzer breathlessly shout that OTTAWA IS ONLY AN HOUR'S DRIVE TO THE AMERICAN BORDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fuck Wolf Blitzer.
KWS Goes to Bat For Mega Insurance Company

KWS Goes to Bat For Mega Insurance Company

Our purported insurance regulator, Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart, is instead trying to run interference for Met Life.  Check out this article from the state government website: fer cryin' out loud:
DOVER, DE  – In a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and other federal regulators, Delaware Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart has urged them to reconsider their vote to propose that MetLife be labeled as a “systemically important financial institution” (SIFI) and therefore subject to tougher federal regulation. “Based on my experience as an insurance regulator (insert joke here), and a regulator of one of MetLife’s larger insurance subsidiaries, I do not believe that MetLife’s businesses and corporate structure create the kind of systemic risk that Dodd-Frank’s SIFI designation process was designed to address,” she said. Stewart argues explicitly against the designation of MetLife and said state regulators are capable and competent to continue the oversight of the company (insert joke here).