Open Thread
Aug. 11 Open Thread: DNC Caves to Fossil Fuel Industry
Two months ago, the Democratic National Committee announced it would reject donations from the fossil-fuel industry. This uncharacteristically populist move lasted all of two months before the mainstream organization reversed itself, declaring the party wants to show support for fossil fuel workers. And some people still don’t understand why “centrists” lose election after election. Speaking […]
Aug. 10 Open Thread: It’s Racists All the Way Down
When Jason330 wrote the other day that Ken Simpler must be a racist simply because he’s a Republican, I probably wasn’t the only reader who winced. But Jason isn’t the only one who has put two and two together. Laura Ingraham brought it out into plain view earlier this week when she went on a […]
Aug. 8 Open Thread: Crony Government
Kudos to Pro Publica, where investigative journalists used FOIA laws to find emails showing that the Veterans Administration is in effect being run by three rich guys who belong to Mar-a-Lago. They have no qualifications for this role, but then, neither does Trump. This is the sort of thing political satirists used to make up […]
Aug. 7 Open Thread: For Midterm Voters, Any Democrat Will Do
Many liberals are too accustomed to the malfeasance of the Democratic Party to appreciate that midterm voters don’t care whether Democrats are neo-liberals or progressives. Viewed in horse-race terms, all signs point to a wave that will swamp Republicans in the House. Remember the lesson of the current Congress: A party’s internal conflicts are easy […]
Aug. 5 Open Thread: A Wave That Could Reach Russia
Maybe “blue wave” is the wrong way to think about the midterms because, as the Cook Political Report reminds us, the momentum builds every day Trump remains unpopular. Races are being moved toward Democrats not because of what Democrats are doing, but because of what Republicans are failing to do. Did left-wing Hillary haters put […]
Aug. 3 Open Thread: Just Ignore Trump’s Tweets. That’s What His Wranglers Do
Remember when Donald Trump said he was pulling out of the G7 meeting agreement? Apparently neither does he, which is just how his wranglers want it. The have a long-standing habit of failing to follow through on nonsense Trump says, and unless someone reminds him later, there’s rarely any follow-through on Trump’s part. That’s probably […]
Aug. 2 Open Thread: Liberals Are Not Popular, But Liberal Ideas Are
When people say, “I worry that voters will be scared of a leftist agenda,” they’re really saying, “I’m scared of a leftist agenda.” Polling demonstrates this over and over again — people label themselves conservative but approve of all sorts of programs that are unabashedly liberal. Here’s another one that shows surprising strength even for […]
July 30 Open Thread: Even the NRA Says Florida Sheriff Botched ‘Stand Your Ground’ Case
The Florida sheriff who refused to arrest Delaware native Michael Drejka for shooting an unarmed black man in a convenience store parking lot misapplied the law in the case, according to both the NRA and the Florida lawmaker who authored the state law. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan is toast, but he still thinks he can […]
July 28 Open Thread: Facebook Nosedives, and There Is Much Rejoicing
Nothing typifies modern “journalism” better than this attempt to answer the rhetorical question, “Why are people glad that Facebook stock belly-flopped?” If we’re going to answer that, how about, “Because it turns out a guy who can write computer code might not have any other useful skills for running a gigantic corporation in an ethical […]
July 27 Open Thread: Cleanup in Aisle Trump
Trumpworld’s seams haven’t come apart, but they’re getting looser now that Trump Co.’s CFO has been subpoenaed. Mike Pompeo and John Bolton apparently see their job the same way their predecessors did: Damage control and toxic cleanup. How did the Europeans talk Trump off the trade-war ledge? Apparently by using colorful cue cards to walk […]
July 26 Open Thread: Media Falls for Yet Another GOP Stunt
Media fecklessness has been on full display since yesterday as outlets fell over each other to breathlessly report that the Freedom Caucus moved to impeach Rod Rosenstein. Very few of them bothered to point out that it’s a mostly symbolic effort with no chance of succeeding, or that it was done mostly to get Jim […]
July 25 Open Thread: The Same Letters That Spell ‘Coward’ Also Spell ‘A Crowd.’
Do Republican senators like tariffs? No! What will they do about them? Nothing! A number of Republicans who support America’s idea of “free trade” have questioned Trump’s call for $12 billion in relief for farmers who are going to be hurt by retaliatory tariffs. Will they act? Please. Remember, until more than 30 members agreed […]
July 23 Open Thread: Who’s Going to Clean Up This Mess?
At this point, Trump is like a drunken frat boy lying on the floor in a puddle of his own piss loudly declaring, “I’m all right!” A lot of Republicans are going to believe him for the simple reason that the first one who acknowledges the obvious truth will have to mop the floor. It’s […]
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