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November 27, 2014 06:24 AM UTC

Thanksgiving Weekend Open Thread

  • 105 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

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105 thoughts on “Thanksgiving Weekend Open Thread”

  1. Giving thanks

    Harry Reid is an ass, but he has been a very loyal ass on behalf of President Obama.  

    How does dear leader give thanks for Harry's loyalty?

    By threatening to veto a compromise group of tax credits which extend tax breaks including wind energy production subsidies,subsidies for families with kids in college and subsidies for commuters.  The deal is now off.

    http://thehill.com/policy/finance/225318-congress-closes-in-on-tax-break-agreement

    1. I'm thankful for taters. Question for dingle-berry breath: are you referring to the proposal from petulant tea-addled wingnuts to raise taxes on working Americans in order to fund corporate off-shore accounts because they are sad Mittens 'Amnesty' Romney got is clocked cleaned by the American electorate giving him a second four-year term able to excercised is Constitutional Executive Powers until January 2017?  

  2.  

    You left out this part….

     

     …gave far too much to business interests, and far too little to the middle-class.

     

    “The president would veto the proposed deal because it would provide permanent tax breaks to help well-connected corporations while neglecting working families,” Friedman said,…

     

  3. Happy Thanksgiving, friends.  While we gather today and give thanks for the bounty this nation enjoys, let's not forget those who have been dealt a different hand: half our planet lives in a world of food insecurity at a time when we're producing more calories per person than at any other time in the history of this speck of planetary dust.  While we have amassed more wealth than ever known to mankind, 1.3 billion inhabitants of this planet live on less than $1/day.  While many of us now enjoy access to affordable health care, for far too many that is still out of reach and the chasm between the haves and have-nots grows at an ever-increasing rate.

    We have a lot of work ahead of us and a lot of battles to fight…I consider myself blessed to be amongst some great minds on this site – the battle is much easier with you.

    Have a great day.

    1. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family as well, Michael…and to everyone who reads this…Give yourself a Thanksgiving gift…read the following….

      Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.

      Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

      Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

      Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

      Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

      Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

      Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

      Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

      Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

      Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

      “

      ”

      Max Ehrmann, "Desiderata

    2. Michael, check out the piece in today's Denver Post on Daddy Bruce Randolph.It'll make you happy He died over twenty-five years ago, But his mission to feed the hungry on Thanksgiving goes on. 

      1. Happy Grateful Weekend, Skinny!  What a great article; Daddy Bruce was the epitome of selfless servitude.  It was a great reminder of just how far we have yet to go.  You and Karen have a great weekend – and let's see if we can't get a Pols get-together put in place during the Holidays?

      1. Certainly is. And of course we can't expect the Pope to go in for radical changes on doctrine. Anyone who won't be happy until he comes out for female priests, a non-celibate priesthood or in favor of birth control is never going to be happy but his radical change in priorities from the doctrinal to the humanitarian is completely refreshing and admirable. That's huge. This is a Pope that anyone, people of all faiths or none, can regard with respect and affection.

      1. he is most definitely flawed and yet I know he represents me better than a Senator Buck would. Probably better than whomever the Rs throw against him in 18 months

        1. yes, he is much better than Buck……..but I don't accept his blind allegiance to corporate issues over Middle Class issues. With all his money he should buy a clue…..his next 2 years will fly by and if he does nothing different that he and Udall did last few years he's toast. 

          1. Toast? Not necessarily.

            For all of your disparaging of Udall, some of it admittedly well deserved, in a GOP wave year with less than stellar turnout overall and Dems sitting on their inert asses whining, along with a poorly executed campaign by the incumbent, Udall still managed to get within two points of holding Con Man the Fraud at bay.

            In 2016, a presidential election year, when whiny, pissy, apathetic Dems once more suddenly remember that elections actually matter and turn out in their presidential-year droves, Bennet, who will undoubtedly run a better campaign that did Udall, can probably remain pretty much just as he is, and more or less glide to reelection.

            Not necessarily implying that that's a good or desirable thing, but I believe it to be accurate.

            1. I'm with you, DP.  For all his flaws and one of the worst campaigns in recent memory, Udall ran close in a Republican wave year.  Right now, I don't see a credible foe for Bennet.

              1. You don't think Coffman will take him on?  My personal favorite scenario is a nasty, vicious primary between Lamborn and Buck,after which the "winner" takes on Bennet.

                1. Neither Coffman or Lamborn will give up relatively safe House seats for a statewide run though Coffman would have a better chance. Buck might be persuaded since he actually did well against Bennet the last time

              2. I think Cynthia Coffman could beat Bennet. And she doesn't risk her present seat to run in 2 years. Amy Stephens would also have a very good chance.

                As to those who say no way, remember when everyone first said Cory Gardner didn't have a chance against Udall?

            2. I want to see a primary against Bennet. He is a Turd Way Democrat, and that is someone we do not need in a Democratic Party. His vote for the Keystone XL has cemented my decision not to support hinm further than just a vote. I am supporting whoever is running against Bennet, and trust me, if he runs from the left, that person will win with the right messaging.

              Interestingly enough, with oil under $70/bbl, the Keystone Pipeline has no chance of being built because shale extraction is very expensive and will profit very little. They need the oil to be up $100/bbl for the profit to go up. Keystone XL is essentially dead. 

               

              1. Well, we third way Democrats are smart enough to know that Keystone XL is not about shale oil but Alberta tar sands, an entirely different deal already in operation.   Most of the oil is now is shipped by railcar, and Keystone would replace that with a more enivormentally friendly and less expensive system.   I know you like to blow your opinions out of your ass, dustbin, but you might do a 30-second research on goggle the next time you feel the urge to show your ignorance.

                1. Yes, yes, i realize it was about tar sands, not shale.

                  Still the key is that Keystone XL is now unaffordable due to the fact the oil prices are dropping.

                  Tar sands are *very* expensive to extract, and it's not worth it unless, again, the oil prices are up to at least 90-95/bbl.

                  Now the government should invest in alternate energy instead of garbage like the XL pipeline that benefits no-one except the Koch brothers.

              2. Senate Dems still clueless about what just got handed to them (ummm, their asses.)

                They smartly gave Elizabeth Warren a seat at the leadership table to help right a faltering ship. Then they get queasy thinking about actually having to stand up to Republicans and add Corporate Shill, Social Security cutter, and Udall clone Mark Warner there to negate Warren's positive influence.

                Mark Warner was named a "fiscal hero" by Fix the Debt because of how obsessed he is with pushing an austerity agenda:

                “We must be willing to put everything on the table, move past partisan gridlock and come together with meaningful solutions that will help put our economy on a more fiscally responsible path,“ Sen. Warner said. “I’m honored to be recognized by the nonpartisan Campaign to Fix the Debt. I remain committed to working to responsibly reduce spending, reform our tax code to generate new revenue and strengthen entitlement programs so they will still exist for the next generation of Virginians and Americans.”

                This is the same bullshit that got Mark Udall fired. And the same group of Republicans-Lite who are driving the economic debate. I smell the fear coming from Michael Bennet's office on the move to add Warner. He's a corporatist coward and could not care less about the citizens of Colorado.

              1. And Andrew will win. He came close, and he'll get in this time. Everyone knows who he is by now.

                Bennet is owned by corporatists, and still unwanted from his appointment by Ritter, and Bennet nearly lost his first primary challenge, and now with the Keystone vote, he's dead meat, with ANY sane D that runs from the left.

                  1. He was elected to the state House, then elected speaker, and then engineered the successful ballot referenda known as C and D in collaboration with the last Republican governor of Colorado, RINO Owens.

                    I think Andrew has won more than he has lost to date.

                    1. Frank, He won a state house seat, nothing more than that.  He lost his house running for statewide office and the senate seat.  In a congressional race he just got smoked.

                      You may like him.  He may be a great guy.  As a candidate for statewide office, he is a loser. He also is great at utilizing resources while losing so please support him.

                2. Yes, IIRC Andrew came within 10 points of beating Bennet in '10.  And he came within 10 points of beating Coffman this year.  (See a pattern developing here?)

                  Don't get me wrong, I like Andrew Romanoff.  I voted for him in the '10 primary.  I don't live in CD 6 but I was rooting for him.  And I'd like to see him in office again.  But he's got to run for the right office and run the right campaign strategy.

                  2. Andrew missed having a cutting edge to keep Coffman isolated to just Republican voters.  Against Bennet he showed up late without any strong reason to take down the higher up's chosen one.  He is a nice guy.  Sometimes nice guy's need to use a hammer, Ed Perlmutter is a good example.

  7. You greedy "takers" should be happy you have whatever job we gave you:

    You will not be surprised to learn that this video was made by a professional PR firm that’s been working on behalf of these corporations to push back the low wage worker’s movement for some time. Lee Fang at the Nation has the scoop:
     

    TheNation.com has discovered that Worker Center Watch was registered by the former head lobbyist for Walmart. Parquet Public Affairs, a Florida-based government relations and crisis management firm for retailers and fast food companies, registered the Worker Center Watch website.

    The firm is led by Joseph Kefauver, formerly the president of public affairs for Walmart and government relations director for Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse). Throughout the year, Parquet executives have toured the country, giving lectures to business groups on how to combat the rise of what has been called “alt-labor.” At a presentation in October for the National Retail Federation, a trade group for companies like Nordstrom and Nike, Kefauver’s presentation listed protections against wage theft, a good minimum wage and mandated paid time off as the type of legislative demands influenced by the worker center protesters.

    The presentation offered questions for the group, including: “How Aggressive Can We Be?” and “How do We Challenge the Social Justice Narrative?”

    They could be honest and just announce they are a bunch of greedheads doing everything in their power to keep wages as low as possible so that they can keep more of the money for themselves. 

    As Ted Kennedy asked, "when does the greed stop?". I've come to the conclusion that one of these people wants to be the world's first "Trillionaire"….but even then they won't be happy.

    1. The question is that by moving to the left to motivate our base, do we turn out two more Republican votes for every one more Democratic votes we get, or vice versa?  Anyone got the answer.  I don't but if history is any indication, we know how this will turn out.  Think 1972.  Think 1984.  Maybe if we run hard left, this time it will be different.  Or not.

       

      2. Although I would prefer left, and then left again, head down 1/2 a mile, then left, running hard would have been sufficient.  Udall could have put forward a strong center left campaign, strong on environment, with ideas for improving the economy of lower and middle class folks and maybe gotten a few more Dems excited enough to vote.  In some of the races, a few hundred or thousand would have flipped the result.

      3. Frank,  The Obama economy has killed the middle class.  That is your problem.

        Obama has a 27% approval rating by white non-college educated voters.  Until that is turned around it will be ugly for Dems.

        A7178F7FA1514F51ACAD1ABA8D656895

          1. The "Obama" economy started under Ronald Reagan. Unfortunately, Democrats like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and Mark Udall and Michael Bennet don't have the guts or motivation to challenge things.

      4. Don't buy that moving left stuff. it would only be moving to the true center as demonstrated by polls. Their present moderate right position doesn't appeal to the so called Republican moderates because there aren't any to speak of and doesn't energize the majority of Dems.  They need to stop letting the rightie spin machine define what left, right and center mean and just go with all those Dem positions that poll so well with the majority, the real definition of true center, without defining them by any left/right scale but simply as what the American public keeps saying they want. 

    1. Another desperate attempt to hang on to his diminishing D list rightie wacko celebrity. If he can't land his own show soon, a la the Palin, he's going to have to find something else to do for a living.

  10. Gathering hints at showdown awaiting GOP in 2016

     

     

    BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — A half-dozen potential Republican presidential contenders spent last week peacocking across the sprawling grounds of a pink-hued luxury resort, schmoozing with donors and sizing up the competition in the party's most fractured field in decades.

    They rarely criticized each other in public, but there were subtle jabs.

     

    Within hours of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie gracing the cover of a magazine in an illustration of him kissing a baby's head, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal suggested the party needs bold leaders, not showmen.

    "We have enough politicians who try to be celebrities and kiss babies and cut ribbons," Jindal said.

    Whether it was an intentional shot at Christie or not, the looming 2016 contest changed the context of every speech, interview and panel discussion at the Republican Governors Association's annual conference. The summit at the oceanside Boca Raton Resort & Club felt like a test run for what is increasingly shaping up to be a brutal showdown for the GOP presidential nomination among more than a dozen potential contenders, including a cluster of governors.

    Let the Circus begin…

      1. Neither a dark skinned ethnic east Indian nor a wannabe tough wise guy from NJ (real wise guys would probably make him pee his pants) is going to be the grumpy vanilla GOTP top of the ticket candidate in 2016. They both may as well save themselves the trouble. But, as you say, the show will be enjoyable. For Dems.

    1. Dio, it is important to remember the Sand Creek Massacre. Governor Evans, is remembered in the names of the town of Evans, Mount Evans, Evans Avenue, and various Colorado schools. John Evans had negotiated peace with the tribes just weeks earlier, but he said and did nothing to stop the massacre, while Colonel Chivington brutally murdered 200 Native men, women, and children.

      This is just one of the many shameful parts of our history that would be buried if the Jefferson County School Board and their cohorts get their way.

      2. Both Evans & Chivington were ordained Methodist ministers, saw on TV recent Methodist apology visit to the Sand Creek site, was appreciated by spokesman for a member of Arapahoe tribe(?)

        Yes, important to remember, also when considering exploit of minerals, such as tar sands to the north. Native Americans had their own fish & Game depts for managing the land, which was viewed as a sort of "Commons" without "rob with a pen" caveats of surface vs sub surface rights . Adjudicated water rights, land grants only extend back to recent past of Monroe Doctrine,, manifest destiny of exploit of native people. Which cannot be undone, but should reflect what is good for all the people.

  12. EPA is accepting comments on proposed climate change rule until Monday.

    The EPA is accepting public comments on the carbon rule  (and other rules) until Monday at midnight (EST). To send a letter to EPA Administrator Gina (Badass!) McCarthy:

    Via 360.org:

    The fossil fuel industry has been trying to weaken the carbon rule at every turn, so our public comments need to provide a counterweight to their power.

    If done right, these rules can help protect communities located near coal-fired power plants, slow the accumulation of carbon in the atmosphere, and accelerate a shift from coal and gas to wind and solar. But if the fossil fuel industry has their way, these new rules may just replace coal with fracked natural gas.

    Text of the letter to Administrator McCarthy:

    I support the EPA's efforts to limit carbon pollution, but I believe we must go further.

    The final rule should not encourage the use of natural gas as a substitute for coal. Natural gas production and transport emit dangerous amounts of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, and hinder our ability to invest in a clean energy future.
     
    We must transition away from dirty fossil fuels and move toward clean, renewable energy immediately.

    I signed 350's comment petition, but not sure how to comment on the other EPA rules, or if it's too late to do so.

     

    1. Why Progressives are losing the messaging game in rural Colorado:

      Our "friends" at the Rural Economic Action Alliance (supported financially by Tri-State G&T and the Colorado Rural Electric Association) ran a near-full page ad in last week's Wray Gazette warning their readers that they "can't afford unaffordable electricity".  Anyone who has kept track of Tri-State over the past dozen years would know they've blown tens of millions of dollars trying to build a billion-dollar disaster in Kansas; their member coops have suffered years of back-to-back, double-digit costs in their wholesale rates because of coal prices, not renewable energy.  They fought (and lost) the SB-252 battle, even though they were concurrently negotiating a wind expansion project in Kit Carson County that will make them near compliant with those obligations – and still, they launched a (concocted)  "War of Rural Colorado" media campaign. 

      This past month they have refinanced over a billion dollars in debt with a private placement, trading some near-term lower payments for higher payments in the future – considered a virtual "Hail Mary" by many of its members.  While Lake Powell is facing lake levels so low that Glen Canyon Dam may not be able to generate hydopower in the not-so-distant future, the largest purchaser of power from that facility, Tri-State and its affiliate coops ignore significant federal programs that could build a distributed, renewable energy infrastructure by its members.

      Yet, we remain silent in these regional papers.  Nothing about the success of Amendment 37 (the 2004 campaign that Tri-State opposed) in causing billions of dollars of investments within the member coops communities.  Investments that have created jobs and tax base without Tri-State lifting a finger; investments that mean Colorado is well on its way to meeting the proposed Clean Power rules.  Investments that lured the worlds largest wind turbine company, Vestas, in to our state – creating nearly 100x more jobs today than the permanent jobs promised by KeystoneXL.

      Yet we remain near-silent and allow the bloviating by our rural representatives who have convinced their constituents that this war is real.

      We have a great story to tell – one that's rarely told.

      1. The Pueblo GOP had signs outside their HQ blaming Democrats for the high utility rates of Black Hills Energy. I don't know how much of their messaging sunk in – not enough to make a difference, as Leroy Garcia trounced George Rivera for SD3, and both sponsored community forums on Black Hills Energy. I took hours of video at both forums, could never manage to make them into a coherent diary.

        This falsehood that alternative energy policy is driving utility rates up is promoted from the boardroom to the barroom – and you're right, we have to get better at countering it.

          1. Got his clock cleaned 55% to 45%.  Pueblo County election results.

            I'll take some responsibility for that…..laugh

            In other Pueblo news, you notice that Udall beat Gardner by only 400 some votes, and that Tipton barely squeaked out a 1% win over Tapia.

            The Democratic candidate running against Clarice Navarro in HD47, Lucretia Robinson, obtained 39% of the vote. We (full disclosure, I worked on that campaign), could have done better, but did not, for a variety of reasons.

            I still see Pueblo as outperforming Colorado for Dems.

              1. Only if you consider receiving death threats and abuse via anonymous social media to be "crap". 

                His stance for marriage equality was also used against him during the election, as in "The Clerk is so high-handed, acting on his own authority", etc.. an echo of the same line used against Obama.

                And the Chieftain, as I wrote, continued its vendetta against Bo. 

                Bo has curtailed his social media use because of the abuse. 

                Incredibly, Victor Head actually received 48% of the vote for Clerk & Recorder. The gunheads are certainly adept at turning out their base. 

                The people of Pueblo dodged a bullet, so to speak, on that one. 

        2. Mama -you and I didn't know each other then, but you may recall there was a group of us trying to convince the City Council at the time to exercise their first right-of-refusal with their Aquila franchise agreement and convert to a city muni.  We even had even gone so far as to engage in early conversations with Federico Pena's capital group and we were having discussions with Aquila.  Without any notice at all, the Black Hills purchase was annouced and the idea was dead.  At that time Aquila was buying the bulk of their power wholesale from Xcel out of Commanche | and || and the contract was nearing its expiration.  It's believed that Xcel thought they had the ultimate trump card with that arrangement and would eventually get to absorb the service terrirory.  After the Black Hills announcement, Xcel then announced they wouldn't extend the contract (even though they had significant excess capacity beyond their mandated spinning reserves requirement) – and Black Hills built the two, very-expensive gas burners at the airport – which have been the root of your rate increases.

          It was a significant, missed opportunity for Pueblo. 

          1. Yes, it was. There are people working on an off- ramp to the Black Hills monopoly, and Senator-elect Leroy Garcia sponsored a bill in the House to limit BHE's rate increases by empowering the Office of Consumer Counsel.  The bill did not advance. Now that Garcia is Senator-elect, he will try again. I wish them all luck. BHE gouges the poor.

            It was comical when SD3 candidate George Rivera, organized his own forum for BHE to tell its side of the story, basically blaming renewable energy for the rate increases. 

            This was in response to the forum organized by Leroy Garcia, the County Commissioners, and REvolt Pueblo. 

            Thanks for the background info on the BHE deal. I may try a redo later, with flow charts. (For me, not for Pols readers. I don't really get the utility biz.) 

  13. What do you get when you pay drug informants in Trinidad thousands of dollars? Scores of dismissed cases, due to a pattern of lying, and ruined careers (including a parole officer's) for many of the accused. An infuriating Westword read–yet one which points towards a solution:

    The ACLU's Silverstein describes Valdez, Vargas and Gonzales as "innocent civilian casualties" in the drug war. "The case law is filled with accounts of informers lying to even a score or, for other personal reasons, falsely implicating people," he says. "Here we have people dragged into court where the key material fact is based entirely on the uncorroborated word of the informant."

    Several years ago, after a series of scandals involving informant misconduct, Texas lawmakers passed legislation requiring tighter restrictions — and independent corroboration — on criminal cases that rely on informant testimony. Silverstein believes a similar law is needed in Colorado, given that many small law enforcement agencies, like Trinidad's police department, have no written policy regarding the handling of informants. "It looks like they operate on blind trust of someone who's provided no evidence of trustworthiness," he says.

     

  14. Did I miss mention of this?

    150 years ago today John Chivington and a Colorado voluntary militia thundered into a sleepy Arapaho and Cheyenne Indian village and commenced a slaughter and butchery of over 150 innocents.   A shameful chapter in our state's history. 

    Unfortunately, we still have too many things named Evans around this state…in honor of one quite responsible for the massacre.   I think the mountain should be renamed Black Kettle, in honor of the chief who flew the American flag and a white flag for peace on his tepee.  The attackers ignored it and continued the slaughter for hours and hours and into the next day.

    2. Yeah, the poor schlub.  I thought Wilson was going to be the face of hate in America.  Instead he's the face of fear–black guys are scary!!!!!! Oh, noessssssssss. . . .

      At least, we still have Tommy Tanc and Guiliani for the face of hate.  Why is it ok for those of Italian descent to be racist?

      1. I think that Ralphie would have said that it is not OK. From being the victims of ethnic hatred,  some people learn compassion for other victims – but many, unfortunately, emulate the haters.

        This applies to everyone who has ever been hated.

        Thinking of Ralphie today….

         

  16. So much for all that talk we heard from Cory Gardner about making birth control readily available. The Post is reporting that the CDPHE is asking for $5 million from the legislature to supplement $25 million given by a private donor for a birth control program which has significantly reduced teenaged pregnancies and (not so coincidentally) the number of abortions.

    It seems the incoming chair of the Senate Health Committee, Kevin Lundberg, has no problem with condoms and the pill but considers IUDs a form of abortion. This is progress of sorts. I can remember back to the early ’90’s when then state Senator Bob Schaffer had a hissy fit at a safer sex display stand at the state Capitol and removed all the condoms from the display.

    And the incoming JBC chair, Kent Lambert, is saying that if they could get private funding for most of the program, why doesn’ the CDPHE raise the rest by private donations? (That’s a hell of an incentive for private donors to avoid giving to any program with state funding: “we don’t want to contribute because we don’t want to jeopardize ability to get state funding.”)

    Bottom line: condoms good, birth control pill good, IUD bad, private donations good, government spending bad!

    1. I predict Cory will walk back every progressive or conciliatory position he espoused in order to get elected. Far too many people were captivated by his Cheshire Cat smile and his bald-faced lies about his policies and his intentions.

      He will disappoint them all.

      He works for Charles and David…and Sheldon…and Wayne…and Rev. Hagee…and Monsanto…and Northrop/Grumman…and…

      Not you….

  17. Elizabeth Lauten, a senior GOP staffer, has called on Sasha and Malia to "show a little class" since they are part of the First Family.  

    Perhaps they should try to emulate the Bushy daughter who was busted sneaking into a bar in New Haven with a fake ID because she drinking underage.

        1. OK.Just ran into it and apology on Huffpost:

          Elizabeth Lauten, the communications director for Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.), wrote that the two teenagers should "try showing a little class," "dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar," and, most of all, "don't make faces" at Very Serious public events.

          Read the full rant via Gawker:

          Dear Sasha and Malia, I get you’re both in those awful teen years, but you’re a part of the First Family, try showing a little class. At least respect the part you play. Then again your mother and father don’t respect their positions very much, or the nation for that matter, so I’m guessing you’re coming up a little short in the ‘good role model’ department. Nevertheless, stretch yourself. Rise to the occasion. Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar. And certainly don’t make faces during televised public events.

          The First Daughters join President Obama at the ceremony every year, where they can hardly contain their disdain for the lame dad jokes that predictably follow. Before approaching Mac and Cheese, the two turkeys, the president remarked that it was "puzzling that I do this every year." Malia even declined her father's offer to pet one of the pardoned turkeys with a nonchalant, "Nah."

          Lauten later apologized for rushing to judgment on Facebook.

          "I reacted to an article and quickly judged the two young ladies in a way that I would never have wanted to be judged myself as a teenager," she said. "After many hours of prayer, talking to my parents and re-reading my words online, I can see more clearly how hurtful my words were. Please know that these judgmental feelings truly have no place in my heart. Furthermore, I'd like to apologize to all of those who I have hurt and offended with my words, and pledge to learn and grow (and I assure you I have) from this experience."

          I notice it's addressed only to the comments about the girls. No apology for saying that the President and his wife don't respect their position or the nation and are lousy role models. Guess her prayers revealed that God was fine with that part. By the way, the accompanying picture showed the girls dressed in a perfectly acceptable manner. 

              1. This ladies boss is the "Christian" Congressman from Tennessee who, while the recipient of $9 million in federal ag subsidies, attempted to gut (along with our Senator-elect) the food stamp program in the latest farm bill.  He then proclaimed that "Jesus wouldn't support food stamps".

  18. Charlie Cook has by no means always been right during the Obama era but I think he may have something here. In any case i'm apparently not the only one who doesn't  think HRC in 2016 is a done deal:

    Charlie Cook, one of the most respected political experts in the country, believes Hillary Clinton has only a 25-30 percent chance of running for president, and in any case he thinks she is either “rusty” or “she has lost her fastball.” He bases that on her disastrous book tour, in which she said some very inappropriate things and also did not sell many books.

    The author of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report newsletter for almost 30 years also disappointed a local audience when he did not give Jeb Bush much of a chance of gaining the Republican nomination.

    “Bush has two issues working against him to win the Republican primary for the 2016 presidential election,” Cook said. “One is immigration reform, which he favors; and two, is his advocacy of education reform.”

    Neither of those causes would sit well with Republican primary voters, Cook said.

    http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/steve-rose/article4189947.html

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