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November 24, 2015 07:16 AM UTC

Tuesday Open Thread

  • 34 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.”

–Benjamin Franklin

Comments

34 thoughts on “Tuesday Open Thread

    1. Good for them – and all Coloradans:

      On Thursday, Silverton officials admitted the EPA’s hazardous cleanup Superfund program has many drawbacks – with uncertainty over funding, the potential for mistakes and inevitable clashing of opinions – but ultimately, they said, it’s the only viable option to improve water quality in the Upper Animas River Basin.

      After the Superfund tour two weeks ago, San Juan County commissioners and Silverton Town Board trustees expressed a tangible shift of opinion toward Superfund. The listing has been largely supported by downstream communities.

      “Over the last 25 years, (the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment) and EPA have learned a lot about how to conduct these cleanups,” Tookey said. “After talking with people in other communities, we feel it is appropriate to engage in conversations with the two agencies about listing.”

      The funding issue is just another example of how Republicans defund something, usually something important that citizens support, then complain that it's "not working". Or vice versa. Democrats at all levels need to highlight this issue and call B.S.

      The problem has been made much worse by the multi-year foot-dragging of our Republican friends with regard to anything the EPA does. While Cynthia Coffman and Jeff Crank and the like do the Koch Brothers' bidding for regulation free exploitation of our environment, those that work and olive in these areas continue to be subjected to these dangerous conditions. 

      Maybe this will shut them up for a minute and we can clean up Colorado's mining legacy for everyone's benefit. 

  1. WASHINGTON — Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) signed an executive order on Tuesday that would automatically restore voting rights to a large number of former felons who have served their sentences. The executive order would not apply to individuals who were convicted of violent crimes, sex crimes, bribery or treason.

    Beshear, who has served as governor for eight years, said at a press conference that more than 100,000 people would be affected. The Brennan Center for Justice says about 140,000 individuals are immediately eligible, and another 30,000 will be eligible over time.

    Very slow this morning!

  2. More of that good, ol' fashioned bipartisanship that Michael Bennet calls for all the time:

    House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) sounded the alarm late last week over the very real likelihood that Republican zeal to confront President Obama with a government shutdown threat will lead to very ugly stuff.

    Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has not been specific but said he expects the funding bill to include some changes to existing policy.

    That’s led Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to sound the alarm.

    She also declined to offer specifics, but she said Thursday that there were potentially "several hundred poison pill riders" that could sink a funding package if Republicans pushed them—and cause a government shutdown.

    And this also shows how R's can "win*" even while losing the presidency twice in a row. 

    * – A shutdown isn't a win. We can thank Thomas Jefferson that these idiots don't have any filters on their brains, but there are many other times when R's can push their issue with ruthless political thuggery while Dems twiddle their thumbs.

  3. Republican base vs. Democrat base (and Reality):

    According to the latest Pew poll, Republicans are mad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore. They are, as usual, deeply confused about what government does and what they want it to do, but whatever it is, they’re very angry about it. Thirty-two percent of GOP voters say they are mad at the government, while only 12 percent of Democrats say the same. According to Pew, among the truly engaged (like those, say, who go to a political rally a year before an election), 42 percent of Republicans are angry compared to 11 percent of Democrats.

    Both sides say you cannot trust the government, but Democrats’ views don’t change depending on who is in the White House while Republicans are far more trusting of government when one of their own is president.

    It doesn’t appear, then, that despite their constant bleating about the predations of big government, this mistrust is truly a matter of principle with Republicans. Republican voters simply believe that government is the enemy unless Republicans are in charge of every bit of it….

    And while one might think that having majorities of governors and state legislatures, running both houses of Congress and a majority on the Supreme Court would make them hate the government less, without having control of every branch, they are convinced that they are an aggrieved minority who are losing at every turn: “large majorities of both conservative Republicans (81 percent) and moderate and liberal Republicans (75 percent) say their political side loses more often than it wins.” And heaven forbid they might compromise to get some of what they want. If they can’t have it all, it’s not worth anything.

    Won't someone think about the Bipartisanship?!?

    Digby then explains the power of Right Wing Hate Radio to fuel the daily fix of hatred and outrage that is then channeled to electoral and legislative momentum by Cons at every level of government:

    But what really makes [Republican voters] see red, and what Trump (and to some extent Carson) articulates the best, is the visceral loathing for what they call “political correctness.” (That’s what what people used to call “good manners” or “basic human decency.”) The social disapprobation against being rude and demeaning completely enrages them.

    Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham (and Richard Randall and Mike Rosen-ed.) come to mind as similarly infantile and crude. But mostly they are screaming mad. They are the leaders of the angry right who have been stoking the discontent of their audiences for many years, creating the subculture of right wing rage that is finding its political expression in the candidacy of Donald Trump.

    No less than the Wall Street Journal made note of their influence and how they’ve managed to turn it against the very establishment that helped create them:

    Consider the folks who regularly tune in to conservative talk radio. These listeners expect a steady diet of Obama-bashing, so it’s hardly surprising that not one surveyed for a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll in late October approved of the job Barack Obama is doing as president.

    That anger translates to how these Americans view the country as a whole. Some 98% think the country is headed in the wrong direction, a view regularly reinforced on the airwaves by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin and other talk-radio hosts who don’t have much nice to say about GOP leaders in Washington, either.

    Republicans have played "anything Obama is for, I'm agin'" for 7 years. Don't expect it to stop with the next president, Clinton or Sanders. And don't expect R's to start playing nice or being all bipartisanshippy for the sake of the country. 

    It's not their country…….yet.

  4. Will Rafael Cruz be the next target of Donald Trump's rage?

    NY Times asks and answers that question today since Rafael has pulled into statistical tie with the Donald in Iowa. Amongst the weapons in the Donald's arsenal is the prospect of going "full birther" on Cruz given that his country of birth is not exactly the U.S. of A.

    Maybe Moddy had it right. With the ghastly choices which the GOP primary voter faces, perhaps Rubio is the pick of the litter.

      1. Are you sure that wasn't on Canadian Independence Day?

        And speaking of Canada, Rafael may want to slow down his renunciation of his dual citizenship until after the early primaries. If he doesn't get off the ground in Iowa and South Carolina, the Canadian Conservative Party is looking for a new leader since Stephen Harper lost the general election and stepped down. Maybe he could return to his homeland and run for party leader.

        1. "Conservative" doesn't have the same meaning in Canada. Cruz would have to learn to love all kinds of commie stuff like universal healthcare to make the transition.

        2. Not sure about anything from that source obviously, maybe?  

          … but, is the Macarena a traditional Canadian Independence Day dance?  And, why would Cruz wear a keffiyeh?

    1. Rubio's heading Right as well. He's saying that neither abortion rights nor gay rights are "settled", and that God's law supercedes civil law. I expect that soon he'll be calling for a force dome to protect the country from immigrants.

      1. I can see why Moddy is so enchanted with him and has jumped onto Rubio's band wagon. Now if only they could teach him how to balance his checkbook and where it's ok to use the Capital One card and where it's ok to use the AmEx card.

  5. Good luck with a functioning coalition. Nobody likes ISIS much but Europe and US want to destroy ISIS and get rid of Assad. Turkey wants to crush the Kurds who are our most reliable competent regional fighting allies and Russia supports Assad and is more interested in taking out the regime's enemies, mainly our allies, than in fighting ISIS. Supposedly the real story behind the Turks shooting down the Russian plane was less tiny incursions into their air space and more in defense of a group on Turkey's allies list and Russia's enemies list.

    Same thing could happen between numerous combinations of supposed allies in the war against ISIS. You can't keep track of the players without a very complex scorecard.

    Wake up, world powers! Time for everyone to put these squabbles aside for 15 minutes and go after the one mutual enemy we can all agree on. Plenty of time for everyone to get get back to the fun and games of being at each other's throats immediately afterwards

    1. I think the only viable end game that leads to the ground defeat of ISIS in the area includes an independent Kurdistan.  They're the only ones willing to fight for their "country."  Maybe Iranians might.  Problem is every other country in the area would lose territory to the Kurds.  Crazy old uncle Joe had it right.  Amazing what a Senator can do in re: military strategy, as opposed to our junior pipsqueak who offers only criticism.

      1. I totally support independence for the Kurds, our only fighting allies in the region worth damn. I remember how a young friend of ours in fighting in Iraq back when the war was raging at its hottest used to ook forward to R&R in the Kurdish region where he could relax, have fun, and see women on the street in western dress. In Iraq they have long been defacto autonomous for the most part. Time to make it official. But the Turks are vehmently opposed and they're an a very important ally. So it goes…..

      1. Why John Kerry and the French president are calling ISIS "Daesh …
        http://www.vox.com › 2015/11/14 › daesh-isis…

        it unlinks the terrorists from any association with Islam or as a legitimate state.  Both of which counter their desired image projected out to potential recruits.  Thus making speaking the term both an insult against them and a crime punishable by maiming.

        http://www.vox.com/2015/11/14/9734894/daesh-isis-isil

        An excellent reason to always use their true name, and not the one of their choosing.

        1. Obama's insistence on ISIL rather than ISIS while everyone else seems to use the latter has aways seemed pretty lame. Why Obama thinks ISIL somehow makes a statement that the terrorists version of Islam is perverted escapes me. Daesh solves that problem. 

          1. Obama has started using Daesh (but not exclusively, unfortunately).  It is actually the media that is most insistent on using "Islamic State".  I saw one quote recently from Obama where he used the term Daesh but the editors substituted Islamic State in brackets instead.

            Not sure where they are coming from, but just more indications to me regarding the decline of journalistic standards in the last 30 years.

  6. Mike Coffman gets his Guest Column back today in the Gazette. Did you know our Brave Secretary of State volunteered to go back to Iraq?

    Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of these victims as well as the people of France. President Francois Hollande has called the massacre an act of war, marking the city's deadliest day since World War II.

    Sadly, we understand what the people of France are feeling. On Sept. 11, 2001, I remember very clearly watching with astonishment as the attacks on our country unfolded. It also would ultimately lead to my resignation from the office of Colorado state treasurer to volunteer to return to the Marines for a full tour of duty in Iraq.

    During my time in Iraq, it became apparent to me that radical jihadist like ISIS or al-Qaida must always demonstrate to their followers and potential recruits that they are an ascendant power. So long as they appear to have momentum they will attract both recruits and financial support from radical Islamists throughout the world. When their momentum appears to be blunted, they will begin to lose both recruits and financing. 

    And his expertise in Democracy Spreadin', counter-terrorism, and Middle East/Arab/Muslim politics and society is ascendant. 

  7. Reduce the rate, broaden the base, improve outcomes.

    It's not a fantasy Republican tax plan sure to bust the deficit, it's cervical cancer screening.

    More Cervical Cancers Caught Early Among Young Women Since Obamacare

     More cervical cancers have been caught early among young U.S. women since a key provision of the Affordable Care Act went into effect, a new study finds.

    The rule, which took hold in September 2010, ensures that adults aged 19 to 25 have the option of remaining on their parents' health insurance.

    No similar shift in cervical cancer diagnosis was seen among 26- to 34-year-olds, whose insurance coverage was unaffected by the rule.

    This is the broaden the base part.  Patients recently become sexually active and exposed to cancer-causing HPV are most likely to benefit from expanded access to health care.

    Then there's the recent faux-outrage in Washington over Planned Parenthood which found nothing; bupkus, nada, zip, zilch.  "Abortion's up, cancer screening's down!"

    Only because screening guidelines for cervical cancer have changed, highlighting the difference between expanding access while decreasing screening frequency.

    As you can see from the chart, the number of abortions provided by Planned Parenthood has essentially held steady, with marginal increases and a modest peak in 2009. It is true, however, that the organization now provides fewer cancer screenings and preventive services, though medical experts said that’s more likely due to changing health guidelines than the organization prioritizing abortions.

    Spokespersons for Planned Parenthood and for the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists both pointed to changing guidelines for Pap smears, the screening test for cervical cancer. Medical groups used to recommend an annual Pap, but now suggests the test every three or five years for most women.

    Planned Parenthood also provides an array of other services such as STI/STD testing and treatment — services that have gone up by 50 percent since 2006 — as well as pregnancy tests.

     

     

    1. Have heard that ISIS supports defunding of Planned Parenthood. Strange bedfellows indeed. Reminds me of Senator Cruz and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei both opposing the Iran nuclear deal. 

  8. Tonight is my HOA's annual meeting. Since several of my neighbors are tea partiers, I wouldn't be surprised to see a resolution from the floor demanding that no Syrian refugees move.

        1. Not quite. But ours is gated community. However for the past few months, the gates have been left open because of maintenance issues. Two board members were elected on a platform of repairing and closing the gates.

          Make of that what you will………

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