Happy HUMP day! More Grover…
Philadelphia, Grover Washington mural
Let It Flow (for ”Dr. J.”)
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Black Girls Rock!
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Potus Takes Oath of Office
Flotus & Daughters at Great Wall of China
My Brothers Keeper
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AFRO PUFFS
Most Adorable Shoe Stealer
Six Little Babies
Fatherhood
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Even though 3Chics Politico is written and curated by three women: Ametia, Rikyrah, and SouthernGirl2, I must nominate this as one of the most engaging blogs I've found. Devoted to politics and culture, these three shine a light on contemporary life with humor and spirit.
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Michael Hargrove
@MichaelHargrov1
Why are AA’s so mad that an AA man want to teach AA boys to be better men, brothers and husbands. What are you afraid of? #WhyWeCantWait
Retweeted by PragmaticObotsUnite
Houston family demands answers after bulldozers raze historic black cemetery
By Travis Gettys
Wednesday, June 18, 2014 11:52 EDT
A Houston-area family is trying to determine who sent bulldozers to raze a historic black cemetery where slaves and war veterans are buried.
The Bradshaw Cemetery is clearly marked on Rand McNally and Key maps, reported KROI-FM, but heavy equipment began clearing a large swath through the burial ground Monday morning without giving notice to the property owners.
“I don’t want to see my grandmother dug up out of the ground, there’s no way,” said Jeremy Nelloms. “I’d die before I’d let that happen.”
The heavy equipment operators left after family members confronted them, the station reported, but they left behind a mess and a mystery over who ordered the work.
Developers are not legally permitted to excavate cemeteries, said a member of the Harris County Historical Commission.
“He had better stop and do some investigation because he could be in some bad trouble if he keeps on,” said commission member Trevia Wooster Beverly.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/18/houston-family-demands-answers-after-bulldozers-raze-historic-black-cemetery/
I had a horrible night last night.
I didn’t go to sleep until 6:30am. I was up all night long so worried about my little grandbaby, Jay. Yesterday I had to call 911 b/c he stuck Haley’s tooth with a silver crown up his nose. EMS took him to the hospital but the ER doctor couldn’t get it out. The doctor made an appointment with an ENT specialist in College Station at 1:00pm today. My daughter called and said the ENT doctor had it out in a matter of seconds. Jay cried & cried b/c he was scared but they were so professional and knew how to hold him to keep him still. They were expensive but so professional. I can breathe easy now. Thank you, God
Thank God Jay is ok. Poor baby. But you know he’ll never, ever do that again. Get some rest, Grandma.
So sorry about Jay, but Grandma’s prayers kept him safe.
Sometimes the little ones just have to learn the hard way
Rikyrah, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I cried, I prayed, I cried. Doctors assured us Jay was not in any danger but I didn’t feel comfortable until I knew it was out.
I know what you went through. When my daughter was five, she had a friend come over to stay for the weekend. The next week, my daughter complained about an earache, something that she had never done. I took her to the pediatrician who referred us to an ENT. He fished the back of a pierced earring (the post) out of her ear canal. I was so glad it wasn’t something more serious. She was just as terrified as Jay. I’m glad that Jay is OK. Bless his heart.
Majiir
Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m going to do something with both of them this weekend b/c I’m so happy Jay is alright. I don’t know we will do but we’ll do something together.
My oldest son got to the hospital and made Jay smile a little bit. He told Jay whatever you do, don’t tell the doctor that you have super hero powers b/c that’s a secret. :)
Majiir, an earring post? Well isn’t that something? I’ll bet she was scared. I’m an adult but I can’t stand anyone poking around in my ears.
What a scare! I feel for all that you went through, SG2!
And, Jay must have been so frightened.
I am glad they got it out and all is well now.
Majirr…How fortunate that your daughter did not have permanent ear damage. Whew!
I’ve always worried about Jay putting things in his mouth that’s not suppose to be there but I never imagined he’d stick something up his nose. But never underestimate a little kid.
Thank goodness that Jay survived that bit of childhood curiousity without any damage. Now he knows that sticking things in his nose might stay there and hopefully applies this knowledge to other openings like his ears. Thank God for ENT specialists. Poor baby.
Thank you, Liza. I think Jay has learned a lesson here.
White House Dares GOP to Shut Down Government
by BooMan
Wed Jun 18th, 2014 at 01:21:11 PM EST
There is probably no greater gift the Republicans could hand to the Democrats than another government shutdown on the eve of the midterm elections, but that’s is precisely what the GOP has in mind.
The White House fired a warning shot to Republican senators on Wednesday after several of them expressed interest in using a must-pass government funding bill to block the Obama administration’s environmental regulations.
“If Republicans want to repeat their government shutdown play to protect the profits of big polluters, they’re placing a pretty risky bet,” a White House official, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter on the record, told TPM.
The White House is basically saying, “Please, proceed, dumbasses.”
Of course, this could get complicated with fossil fuel promoting candidates on the Democratic side feeling the need to oppose the EPA regulations.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2014/6/18/132111/359
PoliticsNation 06/17/14
From homeless to valedictorian
Rev. Sharpton interviews Rashema Melson, who has been named valedictorian of her D.C. graduating high school class after overcoming all sorts of adversity, including homelessness and losing her father when she was just a baby.
http://on.msnbc.com/1ihWkpt
Kevin McCarthy: Say what?
Dana MilbankOpinion writer
June 17 at 8:22 PM
It happens once a week, almost like clockwork.
Kevin McCarthy, the man House Republicans are on course to tap this week as their next majority leader, steps to the microphones with other GOP leaders, opens his eyes wide and says something baffling.
On justice being blind: “One of the most important I think that can happen today, Lynn Jenkins’s bill, an idea of fairness, the idea that when you look across the street from the Capitol, you see the Supreme Court, you see the statue sitting there, blinded in the process with the weights in- between.”
On HealthCare.gov: “He only totes the 8 million. But the insurers are saying many of that is duplicate, that people inside the Web site that we all know did not — wasn’t successful. . . . How many have paid the premiums? How many will continue? How many are duplicates? How can we fall as we go forward?”
On his home state of California: “We are suffering through one of the worst droughts in a century. It’s even worse based upon the regulations that we have. . . . Unfortunately, like many of our bills, we sent it to the Senate, the Senate refused to act on it, let no one act on what is their policy for a drought in California? This has gone beyond the point.”
On a charter-school bill: “This is a great strength of a change making an equalizer inside for economy throughout.”
Watching McCarthy at these weekly stakeouts (he has been majority whip the past three years) can be a nail-biting event. It’s surprising, because he is a native English speaker and he speaks fluently in private or in small groups. But put him in front of a crowd and his words come out as if they have been translated by Google from a foreign language.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-house-gop-leader-kevin-mccarthy-has-an-odd-way-with-words/2014/06/17/2009ac42-f65c-11e3-a606-946fd632f9f1_story.html?tid=pm_opinions_pop
When will Dick Cheney be investigated for war crimes? Who will stand & lead the charge to do what is right?
________ Dick Cheney and the horse he rode in on. The same goes for Liz.
https://twitter.com/zaibatsu/status/411945066165305344/photo/1
Amazing…..beautiful!
The Media Embarrasses Itself by Treating the Lying Bush Bumblers Like Iraq War Experts
By: Rmusemore
Wednesday, June, 18th, 2014, 9:58 am
Human beings’ progress and development throughout history owes a great deal to the intrinsic ability of pattern recognition. One of the benefits of pattern recognition is either recognizing one’s own disastrous actions, or seeing behaviors in other beings that produce catastrophic results to avoid repeating those behaviors as a means of self-preservation and likely success at surviving. The idea of human beings making choices they know are guaranteed to end in catastrophic failure is not only risking extermination, it is the mark of stupidity. The infamous Einstein quote, “Insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results” has never been more prescient than in describing the state of the conservative movement and American mainstream media.
There is no accounting for the insanity of the conservative movement in deliberately repeating past mistakes, except, possibly, the conservative lunacy of never wavering no matter how often the position ends in failure. However, mainstream media has no excuse for repeating gross errors if for no other reason than the historical record they had a hand in documenting in great detail. Still, America’s mainstream media is as apt to repeat failures as conservatives likely due to the symbiotic relationship between corporate media and the conservative movement.
The insanity of mainstream media outlets was on grand display and obvious to any human being with a pulse on Sunday when “Meet the Press” host David Gregory asked one of the architects of the Iraq War what America should do “as a policy matter” to deal with the deteriorating situation in Iraq. Gregory’s question informs the brilliance of America’s mainstream media; ask Wolfowitz, one of the chief visionaries and supporters of the 2003 invasion of Iraq what action America should take to ameliorate the current civil war in Iraq that Wolfowitz and company had a major hand in creating.
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/06/18/media-embarrasses-by-treating-lying-bush-bumblers-iraq-war-experts.html
Dick Cheney Rewrites History And Blames Iraq Violence On Obama In Disgusting Op-Ed
By: Justin Baragona
Wednesday, June, 18th, 2014, 11:00 am
I think we all knew this was coming. Since the flare up of sectarian violence in Iraq, the cheerleaders and architects of the War in Iraq have taken to the airwaves and opinion pages to criticize President Obama over his decision to withdraw all troops from Iraq in 2011. (Never mind that the withdrawal agreement was signed by President Bush before Obama ever took office.) Over the past few days, we’ve seen neocon hawks such as Bill Kristol, Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, Paul Wolfowitz and John Bolton step to the podium to attack the current administration for its handling of Iraq. Needless to say, they’ve all blithely dismissed their own roles in selling a disastrous war whose only outcome appeared to be chaos and disorder of the kind we are seeing.
However, the one person we hadn’t heard from yet was former Vice President Dick Cheney, the chief architect and liar when it came to the Iraq War. The wait is now over, as Cheney, along with his daughter Liz, penned an unbelievable piece of retcon tripe for the Wall Street Journal where they claimed that Obama lost the war that was already won, while at the same time positioning Dick Cheney as a hero. It is hard to imagine that one would have the audacity to write something like this, considering his own role in selling a lie and reassuring the American people that the war would only last a few weeks, yet here we are.
Right away, the Cheneys set the tone, claiming that President Obama is never right and that he is completely ineffective as a leader:
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/06/18/dick-cheney-rewrites-history-blames-iraq-violence-obama-disgusting-op-ed.html
these Kneegrows need an intervention
………………………..
Democrat says he’s leading black GOTV effort for Cochran
Daily Ledes
Sam R. Hall, The Clarion-Ledger
A Democratic political operative says he is working with Mississippi Conservatives PAC to drum up votes for U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran.
James “Scooby Doo” Warren said he has put together a get-out-the-vote (GOTV) plan and is “putting it in place across the whole state.” Warren said he is not working with the Cochran campaign itself but for the PAC and Bishop Ronnie Crudup Sr.
Crudup is the pastor at New Horizon Church, which shares an address and chief financial officer with a newly formed super PAC that ran print advertising in the primary supporting Cochran.
When asked if he was getting any blow back for working in a Republican primary, Warren said he “got all that taken care of on the front end.”
“I called D.C. and told them what was going on with the tea party,” Warren said. “But I can’t do anything after the 24th because I’m a Democrat … Whoever wins will have to deal with me in November.”
He would not say who he called in D.C.
But Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Rickey Cole said he doesn’t like the idea of Democrats “crossing over to vote for the weaker candidate” in a Republican primary.
“I think Democrats ought to vote for a Democratic nominee, Republicans ought to vote for a Republican nominee, and independents ought to wait until November,” Cole said Tuesday.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/dailyledes/2014/06/17/democrat-black-gotv-cochran/10675595/
Do
Other Countries Really ‘Hate’ Obama as the Right Claims?
By: Dennis S
Tuesday, June, 17th, 2014, 10:42 pm
Oh, how they hate Obama. I mean ‘hate’ with a capital “H.” We’re talking about most of the world’s population. I know this animus to be true because the right wing echo chamber led by wildly overpaid, radical talk show hosts, Fox News, and pollsters tell me so, relentlessly.
Tracking this hate back to just after the G.W. Bush departure, a compilation of a wigged-out right-wing sites and others of a similar mien continuously examine the premise, why the world “Hates” Obama or euphemistically, U.S. “leadership.” One of the president’s shortcomings is apparently his refusal to fight every Muslim nation on the planet. Whenever he doesn’t send your son or daughter to a far-off land to get butchered for essentially local civil-religious wars and multi-national oil interests, he’s accused of being an appeaser. His Nobel Peace Prize is held in total contempt by the warmongers. Trying to prevent needless deaths is perceived as “hostility to American power.”
Many of these statements are by some guy named Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow and a professional hater with the so-called “Freedom Center.” Greenfield is always promoted as being on the cusp of writing a book about the most recent alleged administration snafu consuming his small band of paranoids. I haven’t seen any best seller titles as yet, but I do spot a few largely ignored hate-pieces aimed at anything or anybody to do with the Obama administration. The Center was founded by former commie, David Horowitz, who has prospered nicely by pocketing a large percentage of his supporter and underwriter’s money (the Olin and Scaife Foundations among them). His salaries have approached a half-million annually for which he appears to do very little. Hate PAYS!!!
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/06/17/countries-hate-obama-claims.html
U.S. patent office cancels Redskins trademark registration
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has canceled the Washington Redskins trademark registration, calling the football team’s name “disparaging to Native Americans.” The landmark case, which appeared before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, was filed on behalf of five Native Americans.
Federal trademark law does not permit registration of trademarks that “may disparage” individuals or groups or “bring them into contempt or disrepute.” The ruling pertains to six different trademarks associated with the team, each containing the word “Redskin.”
Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/us-patent-office-cancels-redskins-trademark-registration-says-name-is-disparaging/2014/06/18/e7737bb8-f6ee-11e3-8aa9-dad2ec039789_story.html
https://twitter.com/rolandsmartin/status/479262994501603330
HARRY REID: ‘Being On The Wrong Side Of Dick Cheney Is Being On The Right Side Of History’
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took to the Senate floor Wednesday to blast former Vice President Dick Cheney, after he and his daughter, Liz, published an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday criticizing President Barack Obama’s handling of the Iraq crisis.[….] “Being on the wrong side of Dick Cheney is being on the right side of history,” Reid said in response Wednesday.[….]
Reid argued the U.S. has “had enough” of conflict, and he came out in vehement opposition to sending ground troops to the country. “I do not support in any way putting our men and women in the midst of this civil war in Iraq,” he said. “This is an Iraqi civil war, and it is time for the Iraqis to resolve it themselves.”[….]
http://www.businessinsider.com/harry-reid-dick-cheney-iraq-op-ed-2014-6
Chuck Todd is a deranged GOP hack.
Chuck Todd: Polling Shows Obama’s ‘Presidency Is Over’
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/chuck-todd-nbc-wsj-poll-obama-presidency-is-over?utm_content=bufferdf55f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
With fresh poll numbers at his disposal, Chuck Todd was ready Wednesday to perform the last rites of Barack Obama’s presidency.
“I mean, essentially the public is saying your presidency is over,” Todd said on “Morning Joe,” referring to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
The survey, which Todd characterized as “a disaster for the President,” certainly has some lousy top lines for Obama — a possible indication that the recent string of foreign policy challenges has taken a political toll.
At 37 percent, his job approval on foreign policy — long a source of political strength — has cratered to the lowest of his presidency. Fifty-three percent disapprove of his job performance overall.
The poll also found a majority, 54 percent, no longer believes that Obama “is able to lead the country and get the job done.”
Hey, Choking Toad:
amk4obama @amk4obama
Follow
@FoxNews – We make up shit about Obama 24×7 to keep the entitled whites ignorant about how .@gop is slowly ripping away those entitlements.
9:42 PM – 17 Jun 2014
https://twitter.com/DaRiverZkind/status/479030930930024448/photo/1
It’s education, stupid.
June 17, 2014 | by Thomas Mills
National pundits are increasingly predicting that Kay Hagan is facing long odds in North Carolina. The most recent prediction comes from Nate Cohn, who apparently has taken over Nate Silver’s prediction business at the New York Times. Cohn believes that Hagan has a 57% chance of losing. He should spend some time in North Carolina.
Most of the national press base their assessments on the national mood. And right now, the national mood is pretty anti-Obama. While North Carolina’s attitude toward the president may be in sync with the rest of the country, its political environment is in a whole different place.
While mid-terms have traditionally been driven by the national narrative, state politics is dominating the Senate race. North Carolina is still undergoing the culture shock of GOP rule in a state that’s been run by Democrats for most of the past hundred years. Bowe Bergdahl and even the collapse of Iraq are background noise compared to the fights going on in the General Assembly, particularly the debate over education.
To fully understand the impact of these battles, you need to understand North Carolina’s relationship to education. It’s a point of state pride that goes back to the beginning of the republic. Every school kid is taught that the University of North Carolina was the first state university and our university system is consistently ranked among the best in the nation. During the Great Depression, the state took over the responsibility for public schools, ensuring even the poorest counties could offer their children an education. And in the midst of the Civil Rights struggle, Gov. Terry Sanford created our community college system, which also ranks among the best in the nation. Education is to North Carolinians what longhorns are to Texans.
It’s that system of education that has made North Carolina a leader in the South and one of the most desirable places to live and work in the nation. And it’s that system of education that Thom Tillis and the GOP decided to attack. They didn’t just cut funding for our public schools, universities, and community colleges. They demonized teachers and threatened to close college campuses. Instead of rising to their defense or trying to temper the most toxic rhetoric, Tillis smugly told us that this is what a conservative revolution looks like.
And it’s with this backdrop that the U.S. Senate race is unfolding. It’s why the EMILY’s List ad and the one by Senate Majority PAC are so effective. They remind us what everybody already knows: Thom Tillis cut public education.
So far, Republicans have failed to come up with a response. Instead, they attack Hagan with tired Obamacare ads and claims that she’s ineffective. So the contrast that the GOP is setting up is the ineffective incumbent who toes the party line verses the Republican leader who did real damage to education in a state where it’s revered and now wants to take his agenda to Washington.
http://www.politicsnc.com/its-education-stupid/
It needs saying again:The beltway media is clueless when it comes to senate and congressional district races. It was the same beltway media that predicted Cantor would have no problem winning his primary, and it was the same individuals who were so shocked when Brat beat the living stew out of him. I saw a poll a few days ago that claimed Sen. Franken’s GOPTp challenger was “tied” with him. It was hard for me to believe, and I was right not to put much trust it in because PPP released a poll showing that Sen. Franken and Gov. Dayton are both leading their likely GOPTP opponents by double digits.
Report Shows Big Gains For Dreamers Under Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals
Posted: 06/17/2014 1:07 pm EDT Updated: 06/17/2014 2:59 pm EDT
Two years after President Barack Obama announced that some undocumented young people could apply to stay and work in the U.S., a new report shows those immigrants have seen big achievements, from obtaining driver’s licenses to getting new jobs.
The National UnDACAmented Research Project survey, published Monday by the American Immigration Council, spoke to more than 2,300 undocumented young people who had received reprieve under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Through the program, announced in June 2012, young undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. as children before June 15, 2007 can apply with the federal government to have removal proceedings against them deferred.
The survey found that after receiving their deferrals, nearly 60 percent of those undocumented immigrants — often referred to as Dreamers — were hired for new jobs, and 45 percent reported increased earnings. About 57 percent of those polled had obtained a driver’s license, something undocumented immigrants are unable to do in many states. The report also found that 49 percent of those polled had opened their first bank account.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/17/deferred-action-for-childhood-arrivals_n_5503496.html
Morning Plum: Americans are ready for action on climate. That’s a big deal.
By Greg Sargent June 18 at 9:18 AM
The usual suspects are very excited by the new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll finding Obama’s numbers in the toilet. Some context is in order here — more on that below — but there’s no sugar-coating it: If Obama’s approval really is this low, and stays there, it will constitute a serious threat to Dem prospects of holding the Senate.
Still, far and away the more important finding in the poll — if the word “important” has any real meaning — is that the public appears ready for action on climate change.
The poll shows, as always, that Americans are conflicted on “government.” It finds 50 percent think government is “doing too many things,” versus 46 percent who say “government should do more.” And yet, it also finds that 50 percent say most government regulations are “necessary,” versus only 42 percent who say they are “unnecessary and harm the economy.”
And when you get more specific — on climate in particular — public support climbs higher:
– 67 percent strongly or somewhat support Obama’s proposal for the EPA to limit carbon emissions on existing power plants, to reduce emissions significantly by 2030. Only 29 percent oppose it, with a mere 19 percent opposing it strongly (one imagines the partisan breakdown will show most of them are Republicans).
– When competing messages are read to respondents, 53 percent support the idea that these regulations are needed to ensure cleaner air and to address climate change and the natural disasters it causes, and will lead to clean energy and job creation. Only 39 percent say they will hurt jobs and drive up energy prices, and that acting now is futile because China and India won’t. Framing this as a public health and economic issue just might work.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/06/18/morning-plum-americans-are-ready-for-action-on-climate-thats-a-big-deal/
Plum Line
Morning Plum: Can Tea Party worldview be a liability on deep red turf?
By Greg Sargent June 17
For all the talk about how the GOP establishment is vanquishing Tea Party elements within the party — which is undergoing a rapid revision in the wake of Eric Cantor’s defeat — some GOP establishment candidates in top tier Senate races are very much in lockstep with what can loosely be called the Tea Party worldview.
Case in point: GOP Rep. Tom Cotton, who is running for Mark Pryor’s Senate seat in Arkansas. Cotton has been described as a uniter of the establishment and Tea Party. But Politico has a good piece today spelling out Cotton’s views: He is the lone Republican in the state’s Congressional delegation to vote against the Farm Bill, the Violence Against Women Act, and disaster aid. He supported the Republican Study Committee budget, which is to the right of the Paul Ryan blueprint.
And buried in the Politico piece is news that Cotton is also open to privatizing Social Security accounts:
When Cotton was asked whether he believed Social Security should be privatized, he responded, “I wouldn’t say that,” before advocating for gradually raising the retirement age to 70. But in response to a follow-up question about whether taxpayers should be allowed to have personalized — or privatized — Social Security accounts, Cotton said “everything needs to be on the table” to “modernize” the program and ensure it’s “available for the next generation.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/06/17/morning-plum-can-tea-party-worldview-be-a-liability-on-deep-red-turf/
June 17, 2014 11:25 AM
Limits of Partisan Realignment in the South
By Ed Kilgore
A big part of the reason that U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton entered the 2014 cycle as a prohibitive Beltway favorite to knock off Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor was the logic of partisan realignment. Arkansas lagged behind much of the former Confederacy in the abandonment of the Donkey Party by white voters, particularly at the subpresidential level. But it has been catching up rapidly since 2008, and its relatively low percentage of African-American voters (and their very low level of turnout) meant Democrats had no real cushion against what looked to be a freefall. With ticket-splitting declining steadily, and given the national midterm “falloff” problem experienced by Democrats everywhere, aggravated by low approval ratings for the president, Pryor looked toasty very early on.
But the decision of Republicans in Arkansas and in Washington to make Cotton the beneficiary of all these trends is now in danger of backfiring. As I noted (citing Politico’s VandeHei and Allen, no less) early in 2013, this man with the golden resume is a stone ideologue who may be incapable of adjusting himself to political reality even in the relatively benign territory of a midterm election in a southern red state.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2014_06/limits_of_partisan_realignment050814.php
Jeff Gauvin @JeffersonObama
Follow
Obama and his top generals were planning this Benghazi anti-terror operation for months while imbeciles watching Fox News were whining
7:52 PM – 17 Jun 2014
https://twitter.com/BrThWi01/status/478707765352103936/photo/1
TOTAL HOTNESS! LOL
June 16, 2014
My qualms with a Clinton presidency
On Twitter, Dave Weigel points to a Washington Free Beacon “Editor’s Blog” post (“Left-Wing Wonk Bros Exchange High Fives on the Internet”) whose reason for being left him puzzled–mostly because it’s puzzling, except for its self-indulgent pettiness, which is the mark of a really quality right-wing “think piece.” –
OK, ready for this? The Beacon’s editor finds it noteworthy that Matt Yglesias, Paul Krugman and Ezra Klein are, as Klein put it recently, in agreement “that Hillary Clinton’s broad support is the result of an unusually unified Democratic Party, not the cause of it.” Ross Douthat compelled this public agreement, having meditated earlier on Democrats’ fragile coalition in the absence of a Clinton candidacy, which of course is bunk. On issues from climate change to immigration and the minimum wage, Democrats are broadly unified whether Clinton runs or not, although she will.
At any rate, “Even the liberal thought leaders are unified!” scoffs the Beacon’s editor. I’m with Weigel. I don’t quite grasp the editor’s belittlement.
Why do I bother mentioning the editor’s rather unsophisticated sense of humor? Only to note that though I’m no “liberal thought leader”–hell, I’m not even really a liberal; I’m a bit pinker–I wouldn’t join their Hillary-supporting ranks if I were. Douthat got one thing right in his column: “Clinton has every incentive to bore us, sedate us, lull us to sleep–to hit the snooze button, in effect, for as long as our politics makes possible.” She’s running on bland so as not to offend anyone, which is normal enough for a presidential candidate, but I expect this behavior to overlap with her presidency. Hillary Clinton is a machine candidate in every sense of the word: robotic, calculating, impersonal, and programmed for maximum common-denominator effect–a veritable wheels-spinning monument to safe, coalition politics. In some eras, that does just fine. But this isn’t one of them.
– See more at: http://pmcarpenter.blogs.com/p_m_carpenters_commentary/2014/06/my-qualms-with-a-clinton-presidency.html#sthash.XRiq5ZzT.dpuf
June 17, 2014 4:25 PM
Here Come the Stereotypes in Mississippi
By Ed Kilgore
Connoisseurs of Old South political shenanigans are having a field day with the MS GOP SEN primary. Before primary day, of course, you had the whole bizarre saga of a cabal of wingnuts taking photos of Rose Cochran in her nursing home room to show that Thad Cochran had abandoned his state and its paleolithic conservative values, symbolized by his own wife, for the godless liberal big-spending ways of Washington.
It’s unclear how that whole brouhaha affected the primary, if at all; the best bet is that Chris McDaniel would have probably won without the distractions associated with the hijinks of people who were all big supporters of his.
Now in the runoff there’s a new saga that raises more ghosts of the Old South than you can count. Seems a PAC run by Henry Barbour (Haley’s nephew, and one of the supposed co-authors of the 2013 “autopsy” report of the RNC), which took big contributions from the very godless Mike Bloomberg and Sean Parker, is providing “walking-around money” in Hinds County (Jackson) via a “consultant” named “Scooby Doo” Warren to turn out African-American votes for Thad Cochran on June 24. And it seems the two main complainants about this alleged arrangement are the chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party and the Houston-based lets-get-suburbanites-to-go-harrass-black-people-at-the-polls group, True the Vote.
I won’t even try to unravel this rat’s-nest of craziness until more facts come out, but there’s probably no way this turns out looking good for Thad Cochran. And if, God forbid, I were a supporter of Chris McDaniel, I’d give the whole thing a wide berth. But I’ll doubt they’ll be able to pass up the opportunity to claim that a bicoastal cabal of secular humanist sybarites are buying the Negro Bloc Vote for ol’ Thad.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2014_06/here_come_the_stereotypes_in_m050822.php
From Balloon Juice:
The Supremes celebrate 50th Anniversary”
http://www.euronews.com/2014/06/17/the-supremes-celebrate-50th-anniversary/
Commentary: Janet Napolitano warned us about the rise of right-wing extremism:A report five years ago was sharply criticized, but looks prescient today in light of current events.
http://www.pressherald.com/2014/06/18/commentary-janet-napolitano-warned-us-about-the-rise-of-right-wing-extremism/
Ta-Nehisi Coates Calls Out Reparations Critic For Repeating Decade-Old Argument
Tom Kludt – June 17, 2014, 10:02 AM EDT
Syndicated columnist Walter Williams was accused of self-plagiarism on Monday after he employed nearly identical arguments and language that appeared in his pieces more than a decade ago.
Prompted by Ta-Nehisi Coates’ much-discussed essay, Walter Williams made a case against slavery reparations in a piece published by The Washington Examiner.
“First off, let me say that I agree with reparations advocates that slavery was a horrible, despicable violation of basic human rights,” Williams, a professor of economics at George Mason University, wrote for the Examiner. “The gross discrimination that followed emancipation made a mockery of the guarantees of the U.S. Constitution. I also agree that slave owners and slave traders should make reparations to those whom they enslaved. The problem, of course, is that slaves, slave owners and slave traders are all dead. Thus, punishing perpetrators and compensating victims is out of the hands of the living.”
That sounded familiar to Coates, who called out Williams on Twitter.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/walter-williams-ta-nehisi-coates-reparations
Another gif for 3CHICS
http://s1166.photobucket.com/user/sepiaobot/media/susanrice_crow_zps86a63012.jpg.html
BWA HA HA HA HA
“Dabls walks us through his Detroit outdoor art project”
http://metrotimes.com/arts/arts-features/dabls-walks-us-through-his-detroit-outdoor-art-project-1.1705021
https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/479022106664239105/photo/1
“Man Saves Baby Crawling On Side Of Georgia Highway”
http://cbs12.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_16961.shtml?hot=4
June 17, 2014 5:03 PM
Paul Ryan Gives the Clown Car Controls a Wide Berth
By Ed Kilgore
As Kevin McCarthy cruises towards occupying Eric Cantor’s leadership chair, inquiring minds want to know why the most famous GOP House Member of them all, Paul Ryan, isn’t big-footing his way into the leadership. The WaPo power duo of Robert Costa and Karen Tumulty look into it, and if you put aside as unverifiable the usual pious stuff about his desire to spend time with his family, the real answer is pretty clear:
So why enter the abattoir of the Republican leadership when you can control the most important committee and keep your fences mended for a presidential run? Ways & Means is a guaranteed source of future campaign dollars and favors to distribute to acolytes. If Republicans take the Senate, he can probably churn out a tax plan that will be rubber stamped and then vetoed by the president, making Ryan a rival to Barack Obama rather than Nancy Pelosi. And a bit further down the road, if Boehner retires and Kevin McCarthy (not a favorite of conservatives) crashes and burns, it’s not like Ryan won’t have the option of taking over the Speakership then.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2014_06/paul_ryan_gives_the_clown_car050823.php
A gif for 3CHICS
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0c5cjCqqf1rqmxn7o1_500.gif
https://twitter.com/HumanAfrica/status/464904556216729600/photo/1
Alycee @jazziz2
Follow
Arizona Congressional Candidate Who Changed His Name To ‘Cesar Chavez’ Thrown Off Ballot http://www.businessinsider.com/az-candidate-changed-name-cesar-chavez-ballot-2014-6 … via @bi_contributors
7:48 PM – 17 Jun 2014
“Lovers of fashion, art turn out For The Sake of Art event”
http://blog.chron.com/societydiaries/2014/06/lovers-of-fashion-art-turn-out-for-sake-of-art-event/#24316101=9
https://twitter.com/petesouza/status/479108752889876480/photo/1
Good Morning, Everyone :)
“A Tiny, Secret, Street Art Monument In Boston Remembers Trayvon Martin”
http://artery.wbur.org/2014/06/18/matthew-hincman
Thanks for this, Yahtc. Matthew Hincman is a true artist; he’s very courageous.
“Clifford Brown Jazz Festival and cemetery campaign begin”
http://www.delawareonline.com/story/pulpculture/2014/06/18/clifford-brown-festival/10708577/
“Freedom Summer: 50 years later”
http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=34195
“USM to host Freedom Summer conference”
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/story/news/local/2014/06/17/usm-host-freedom-summer-conference/10711963/
“Program On African-American Genealogy Is June 21”
http://www.times-herald.com/closeup/20140618-SR-LIVINGccgs-african-american
Good Morning, Everyone!
Ametia, I am enjoying the music of Grover Washington that you are bringing us this week!
Fantastic!
Good Morning, Yahtc & Everyone. Glad you’re enjoying Grove this week. :-))))
Good morning, everyone.
I didn’t get much sleep last night.