Friday Open Thread [10.30.15]

Friday Open Thread [10.30.15]

5 Comments
Paul Krugman's take on the debate:
At one point during Wednesday’s Republican debate, Ben Carson was asked about his involvement with Mannatech, a nutritional supplements company that makes outlandish claims about its products and has been forced to pay $7 million to settle a deceptive-practices lawsuit. The audience booed, and Mr. Carson denied being involved with the company. Both reactions tell you a lot about the driving forces behind modern American politics. As it happens, Mr. Carson lied. He has indeed been deeply involved with Mannatech, and has done a lot to help promote its merchandise. PolitiFact quickly rated his claim false, without qualification. But the Republican base doesn’t want to hear about it, and the candidate apparently believes, probably correctly, that he can simply brazen it out. These days, in his party, being an obvious grifter isn’t a liability, and may even be an asset.
Carson, Trump, Fiorina, Rubio and Christie were each caught in easily disprovable bold faced lies. Perhaps it's because Republican just lie with more frequency and daring. And that is because Republican voters want to be lied to. They do not want to live in a world where a black man with a funny name is not only President, but a rather successful one who has turned the country around from the disaster left from the previous Republican President. They do not want to live in a world where "coloreds" and women don't know their place. A world that has more orientation than straight, more religion than Christian.
“Fuck You, David. You’re Fired.” [Updated]

“Fuck You, David. You’re Fired.” [Updated]

18 Comments
Yeah, that sounds like our esteemed New Castle County Executive and former felon Thomas P. Gordon. And those were the words he allegedly said to former Chief Administrative Officer David Grimaldi yesterday afternoon after Grimaldi allegeldy questioned his choice of a risk manager, because the risk manager was actually Gordon's girlfriend. Yeah, this is going to get real ugly, really fast.
If You Are Okay With Officer Field’s Behavior Then You Are Part Of The Problem

If You Are Okay With Officer Field’s Behavior Then You Are Part Of The Problem

103 Comments
There is no excuse. Not one. And if you think there is an excuse for Officer Field's behavior then you really are part of the problem. Know who else is part of the problem? The teacher and the administrator. Not one of the adults involved demonstrated skill in deescalation. All of them demonstrated the art of escalation. Talk about an adult pissing contest. And I'm fine with all of them being fired. No loss there. Not kidding. If you think kids don't pull out their phones during class then you don't know kids. (My daughter was so guilty of this in high school and yet no one laid a hand on her. They. Wouldn't. Dare. And that is what privilege looks like.) Hell, this isn't even a kid problem. Mostly everyone is guilty of this behavior. If you're okay with Officer Field's behavior, hope you're okay if you're flipped out of your chair and thrown across the room at a restaurant that doesn't allow cell phone use. That's okay, right? The truth is this would never have happened to a white, middle class girl. Not. Ever. It's why white boys accused of crimes are shown in their yearbook pictures while Tamir Rice (a 12 year old) is portrayed, not only as a potential criminal threat, but far older than his years. And this incident is a flippin' pattern that those parsing this horrendous video ignore.
Wednesday Open Thread [10.28.15]

Wednesday Open Thread [10.28.15]

4 Comments
Sen. Bernie Sanders says he will not attack Hillary Clinton “in harshly negative ways. But pollsters for his campaign are quietly testing pointed critiques of Mrs. Clinton as too close to Wall Street or as unreliably liberal for initially supporting trade deals and the Iraq war,” the New York Times reports.
“After weeks of inching toward a more aggressive posture against Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Sanders is now walking a fine line: He is trying to draw sharp contrasts between their records, yet not attack her on a personal level. He questions her political shifts on the Keystone XL oil pipeline, the Pacific Rim free trade deal and same-sex marriage rights, for instance, while trying to avoid impugning her honesty and judgment, a favorite Republican tactic.”
Bernie Sanders knows that if he goes too far, it will backfire. Hillary Clinton is beloved by Democrats. Her favorable ratings are at Barack Obama levels of popularity (which means extremely popular). So it is a very fine needle to thread. But it seems to me that his campaign is proceeding from a false mindset. They are trying to win. They shouldn't be. They should know that winning the nomination is extremely unlikely, and if it happens, it will be because of events far beyond their control (i.e. Hillary dying, being indicted, etc). The campaign should be focused on getting out the pure Progressive message so as to keep his numbers up and to keep Hillary moving left. That is the ultimate goal of the Bernie Sanders campaign: a more progressive Hillary.
Tuesday Open Thread [10.27.15]

Tuesday Open Thread [10.27.15]

25 Comments
First Read on the impending budget deal: “The budget deal that Republican and Democratic leaders reached late last night — to boost military and domestic spending, to keep the government open, and to raise the debt limit — appears to be a potential win for both parties. Especially when it comes to the 2016 presidential election. Think about it: Republicans get to avoid the possibility of a government shutdown and debt default, either of which would have further damaged the party’s brand heading into next year’s general election. Democrats, meanwhile, get to lock in economic certainty and avoid a drop in consumer confidence like what happened after July 2011 (the debt-ceiling debacle) and Oct. 2013 (the two-week government shutdown).” “The devil is still in the details, of course, but the deal seems to help BOTH parties as it relates to 2016. And guess what: The budget deal and debt-limit hike last until 2017, which means that the party that wins next year will have the upper hand in the next round of budget fights.”