Open Thread for Tuesday, August 13, 2013

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The Newark Mayor, no not Corey Booker, but Vance Funk, is retiring earlier than originally indicated. He is now leaving office on September 30, rather than December 31.
[Deputy Mayor] Clifton – sitting in the mayor’s chair Funk has occupied since being elected in 2004 – said Funk changed the effective date of his resignation to accommodate the process for a special election in accordance with the city’s charter. Council will hold a special meeting on Sept. 30 to schedule the special election, which is expected to be held Nov. 26, Clifton said. Although Funk was not in attendance at Monday’s meeting, he made a statement in a city news release distributed immediately after Clifton’s announcement. “Considering that it is not in my best interest health wise to attend the many meetings between now and the end of the year and to allow the election process to move forward in a timely fashion, I determined September 30 to be an appropriate date for my term to end,” Funk said in the news release.
Open Thread for Monday, August 12, 2013

Open Thread for Monday, August 12, 2013

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So last week that little worm Reince Priebus, the Chairman of the RNC, told CNN and NBC that unless they stopped production on a Hillary Clinton news documentary and a Hillary Clinton miniseries, respectively, that both news organizations would not host or air any Republican debates in 2016. The truth is Reince doesn't care at all about the documentary or the miniseries, and he just wants to cut the non-Republican-fellating networks out of conducting debates, because, as he said last week, he wants moderators who care about the glorious future of the dear Republican Party, and not some objective neutral journalist who sole interest is the facts and the news. So the Hillary Clinton documentary and miniseries, respectively, were the reasons to cut out CNN and NBC from hosting or airing the 2016 Republican Primary debates. Over the weekend, something totally predictable happened: Fox Television Studies is now seeking to produce the Hillary Clinton miniseries. Fox Television Studios is the sister company of Fox News in the same way as NBC Entertainment is the sister company of NBC News. If Reince Priebus has any honor or integrity, he will now of course issue a press statement where he wholly condemns Fox News and informs them that Fox News will not host or air any 2016 Republican primary debates. Hell, no debates is probably what he wants anyway.
The Open Thread for Wednesday, August 7, 2013

The Open Thread for Wednesday, August 7, 2013

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The National Journal says the GOP is worried the gender gap could grow because of incidents like this:
"When the House Judiciary Committee passed a late-term abortion ban in June, Republican leaders scrambled to find a female, media-savvy legislator to bring the legislation to the floor. Their biggest problem: Not a single Republican woman was represented among the committee's 23 Republican members. They eventually settled on Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn, who isn't on the Judiciary Committee." "The episode underscored a growing problem that is worrying Republicans: Women are badly underrepresented within their party in the Congress. Only eight percent of House Republicans are women, and there are only four female Republican senators. Of the long list of potential 2016 GOP presidential contenders, there's not a single woman."
Well, women tend to get turned off by Republican policies and attitudes towards women, and then there is the picture on the left. Come inside and find out what it is,
QOD — Should the US Boycott the Sochi Olympics?

QOD — Should the US Boycott the Sochi Olympics?

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George Takei has a provocative blog post arguing that It's Time to Move the Olympics:
It’s been bubbling for some time, but the controversy over Russia’s draconian “gay propaganda” law has now boiled over.Last week, Russia’s Sports Minister confirmed that the country intends to enforce its laws against visiting LGBT athletes, trainers and fans, meaning anyone even so much as waving a rainbow flag (and I presume many men enthusiastically watching and dramatically commenting on figure skating) would be arrested, held for weeks and then deported.Given this position, the IOC must do the right thing, protect its athletes and the fans, and move the 2014 Winter Olympics out of Russia.
Hillary Really Does Scare Them

Hillary Really Does Scare Them

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On Monday, RNC Chair roused himself from their Prime Directive of finding more old white people to vote for his candidates to threaten CNN and NBC with "No Debates For You!" if they go forward with projects for a documentary and for a miniseries about Hillary Clinton's life. Both are planned for release around the 2014 timeframe. But the RNC is so scared of Hillary that they will threaten to not participate in 2016 Presidential debates on these networks:
The Open Thread for Monday, August 5, 2013

The Open Thread for Monday, August 5, 2013

7 Comments
A new poll shows that Governor Chris Christie is the only Republican candidate that has any chance against Hillary Clinton. NATIONAL--PRESIDENT--Monmouth University: Fmr. Sec. of State Hillary Clinton (D) 43, Gov. Chris Christie (R) 39; Clinton 47, Fmr. Gov. Jeb Bush (R) 37; Clinton 47, Sen. Marco Rubio (R) 36; Clinton 48, Sen. Ted Cruz 32. Cruz, in my opinion, is the most likely nominee. Cruz is hawkish like Christie, a bully like Christie, but 100% conservative and beloved by the teabaggers, which Christie is not. Electoral statistician Harry J. Enten at The Guardian, however, thinks Jeb Bush would be a strong 2016 presidential contender. He is wrong.