National

Song of the Day 1/2: Green Day, “The American Dream Is Killing Me”

Filed in Arts and Entertainment, National by on January 2, 2024 2 Comments

Punk-pop veterans and Rock Hall of Famers Green Day waded into America’s politico-cultural wars on New Year’s Eve when frontman Billie Joe Armstrong altered a line of the band’s signature song, “American Idiot,” by proclaiming, “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda.” MAGAts reacted predictably, but they shouldn’t have been surprised. The song was written […]

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DL Open Thread Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024

Filed in National, Open Thread by on January 2, 2024 8 Comments

Former labor secretary Robert Reich used his year-end column to make a point I’ve long believed: The perception that America’s quality of life is declining is linked to the fact that wealth is increasingly concentrated in fewer hands. In his words, the American Dream is vanishing. Over the past 40 years, the earnings of the […]

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DL Open Thread Monday, Jan. 1, 2024

Filed in International, National by on January 1, 2024 5 Comments

Benjamin Netanyahu must think the high road has been mined, because he steadfastly refuses to take it. As the slaughter in Gaza continues, he promised to continue what he calls a war for another year. I think history is more likely to call it a massacre. Frustration makes people say things they haven’t thought through. […]

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DL Open Thread Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023

Filed in National, Open Thread by on December 27, 2023 2 Comments

Thom Hartmann warns that Trump is following the fascist playbook by goading his supporters to violence. And it wasn’t just WWII-era fascists – Orban is doing the same thing in Hungary today. Story after story tells us that Trump is winning the 2024 presidential race. What they don’t tell you: Those same polls show that […]

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DL Open Thread Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023

Filed in National, Open Thread by on December 26, 2023 3 Comments

Pope Francis, fresh off his controversial decision to allow the blessing of same-sex relationships, used his Christmas message to take aim at the weapons industry, which means he took aim squarely at the United States, arms merchant to the world, even if he didn’t say so directly. One Democratic congressman from North Jersey illustrates the […]

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DL Open Thread Monday, Dec. 25, 2023

Filed in National by on December 25, 2023 4 Comments

Digby, noting Trump’s claim to have won the war on Christmas, has an interesting story about the Nazis’ attempts to modify Christmas to their particular tastes. Let’s just say peace on Earth was not viewed as a priority. You know who wants a present from taxpayers? The owners of America’s professional sports teams, who are […]

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DL Open Thread Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023

Filed in International, National, Open Thread by on December 19, 2023 3 Comments

Anyone who still thinks Jan. 6 wasn’t planned from the top down should take a look at the report from the Inspector General of the Department of Interior. That agency’s investigation turned up memos showing that his “spontaneous” call for a march to the Capitol was planned all along. This was from Kylie Kremer of […]

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DL Open Thread Monday, Dec. 18, 2023

Filed in International, National, Open Thread by on December 18, 2023 19 Comments

Somebody should explain to Benjamin Netanyahu that when you’ve lost Chris Coons, you’ve lost the Democratic centrists. It seems even Coons has had enough of the senseless slaughter of Palestinians. He told CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday that Netanyahu “has been an exceptionally difficult partner.” This is the closest Coons has ever come to criticizing […]

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A Headline I Couldn’t Resist

Filed in National by on December 14, 2023 0 Comments

I know the print/online media love stories that make you go “Click!” but sometimes you just can’t resist. This one did it for me: GOPer Goes on Bizarre Rant About the Quality of Santa’s Glass of Milk on House Floor It’s what I think of as a mystery headline, as in, “What the fuck is […]

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DL Open Thread Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023

Filed in International, National, Open Thread by on December 13, 2023 2 Comments

Does what’s left of the Republican Party understand it’s a wholly owned subsidiary of Russia? On one hand, they’re stupid, so they might not realize where that dark money comes from now that the NRA’s Russian cover has been blown. On the other, even the stupidest among them, Kevin McCarthy, figured it out years ago, […]

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DL Open Thread Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023

Filed in International, National, Open Thread by on December 12, 2023 21 Comments

Governments around the world like to pretend they’re doing something about global warming, but for all the talk about renewables, 80% of the world’s energy is still derived from fossil fuels. Lots of petroleum-producing countries, and oil industry in this one, want to keep it that way. Their latest victory came at the UN’s COP28 […]

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DL Open Thread Monday, Dec. 11, 2023

Filed in International, National, Open Thread by on December 11, 2023 29 Comments

Cynics might consider a UN climate conference a study in hypocrisy – thousands of people burned fossil fuel flying to a desolate stretch of sand atop a petroleum patch so they can emit a lot of hot air pretending to do something about global warming. Oil-rich nations, though, see it as an existential threat. Reuters […]

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DL Open Thread Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023

Filed in Delaware, International, National, Open Thread by on December 6, 2023 15 Comments

Everyone knows that Donald Trump has never had an original thought and that most of his insults are simply projection. You’d think the mainstream media would have noticed this by now, and investigated him for any of the complaints he has about someone else. For example, his constant drumbeat of “Joe Biden is old and […]

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