Open Thread
Open Thread, Nov. 9: Equal Pay, Elections and Halladay’s Plane
Stories searching for lessons in Tuesday’s election litter the ground like autumn leaves, and I’ll be damned if I rake them all up. A couple of them are worth your time, though. Joan Walsh at The Nation does the best job of pinpointing the reason for the surprising down-ballot wins in Virginia: “This year Democrats ran […]
Tea and Clickbait: The NFL, Bannon and Brains
Football took another blow to the head at a University of Maryland symposium, with several sportswriters acknowledging that it’s going to be hard to make a collision sport brain-safe. Bob Costas scored the lead quote with “This game destroys people’s brains.” Speaking of brains, young-fogey conservative Matt Lewis took a swipe at unkempt svengali Steve […]
Open Thread Nov. 8: Red Hats, Day Drinking and Denial
Defeat is an orphan, all right, and Trump left Ed Gillespie’s losing race in the convent doorway with a note saying, “He wouldn’t embrace me.” The Daily Beast has the schadenfreude-tastic details. That anecdote about Trump bodyguard Keith Schiller fetching the Boss’s quarter-pounders opened a sluice gate of partially hydrogenated journalism about the president’s diet. The […]
Open Thread, Nov. 7: Eagles, Fast Cars and Taylor Swift
Alt-right darling Taylor Swift is already widely despised, but for some reason she doesn’t want to be associated with white supremacists — so much so that she has threatened to sue a web site for making note of their love for her. I guess no-talent “artists” have to protect their reputations because that’s all they […]
Open Thread for Nov. 6, 2017
People who want marijuana legalized for recreational use often talk up its tax advantages, but they’re seldom realistic about it. Consider this Los Angeles Times article about the coming tax increases a reality check on what will happen when full legalization arrives in California in January. Not only will the taxes raise the price for […]
Open Thread for Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017
The civil war in the Democratic Party should be slouching toward Appomattox Courthouse, but the belligerents just won’t let it go. Shots are still being fired over Donna Brazile’s book excerpt, despite pleas from all quarters to focus on the Orange Menace. Most voters don’t know what’s in the GOP tax cut plan, but polls […]
Open Thread for Friday, November 3, 2017
The owner of the Glasgow Court trailer park wants to oust residents to make way for a housing development, but the plan might have hit a roadblock. A FOIA request by WDEL’s Amy Cherry unearthed the fact that the park owes over $300,000 in unpaid sewer fees. The manager says that much water leaked from […]
Open Thread for Thursday, November 2, 2017
Oh, that pesky tax reform plan, always getting yelled at. Now some Republicans are upset because — brace yourself — they’re worried it will be portrayed as helping the rich while hurting the poor. Given that the lowest tax rate, applied to the lowest earners, would rise from 10% to 12%, you can see where […]
Open Thread for Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Remember that GOP tax plan that was going to be released today? Whoops. They’re still fighting over the details, so now it will be unveiled tomorrow. Definitely tomorrow. James Fallows at The Atlantic explains what has gone wrong with our political system, and it’s not Trump. It’s the Congressional leaders who have chosen tribal loyalty […]
Open Thread for Sunday, October 29, 2017
Everybody waiting for Mueller’s Monday reveal, but writing about it is difficult because nobody knows anything more than the bare bones. I’m skipping all the prediction stories — Mueller will be fired! — because they were written to fill a void, not because journalists make great predictions. The best thing I found was this clear-eyed […]
Open Thread for Thursday Oct. 26, 2017
You don’t need ESP to sense there’s a much deeper story here. Kathleen Davies, Tom Wagner’s chief administrative auditor, has been on administrative leave for more than a year. Now she has created a campaign finance committee and says she will run against her boss as an unaffiliated candidate. The good news: A majority of […]
Open Thread For June 6, 2017
NSA Director Rogers Might Drop a Bomb During Wednesday Testimony: Might not have to wait for Comey on Thursday. Trump Complains That Dems Refuse To Confirm Nominees He, Uh, Hasn’t Nominated Yet. Part 1: Defense appointees. Trump Complains That Dems Refuse To Confirm Nominees He, Uh, Hasn’t Nominated Yet. Part 2: Diplomacy and everything else. […]
Open Thread For May 30, 2017
White House Cans Communications Director: Hey, I didn’t even know this guy was the Communications Director. Noriega Dies: He was always a brutal despot. He was also George HW Bush’s useful ally–until he wasn’t. Press Literally Under Attack: Bullets fired at the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader’s offices. This is what Trump and his minions seek to […]
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