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March 19, 2016 02:55 AM UTC

Weekend Open Thread

  • 96 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”

–Friedrich Nietzsche

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96 thoughts on “Weekend Open Thread”

    1. There are benefits to a caucus format when like minded folks get together and express their differences and similarities.  Biggest thing is to be respectful even when the deniers insist that their guy is going to be the winner.  Best of luck at your mountain assembly and make sure all the sled dogs have their booties on.

  2. Constitutional carry at the RNC.

     

    if they don't do it, isn't just an announcement to bad guys that they are a target?

    seriouslt, what could go wrong? Patriotic Americans acting democratic, pretending to elect a nominee, the beauty of the moment secured by the real patriots keeping and bearing arms.

    1. MADCO, someone is actually pushing for the delegates and alternates to carry firearms at their convention? How does the Secret Service feel about that? Doesn't Das Drumpf and Lying Ted have Secret Service protection?

       

      1. Frank — MADCO is mocking the hypocracy of the standard GOP clarion call of Guns everywhere.

        And yes, Drumpf and Lying Ted have Secret Service details (it was a SS agent that tackled the stage jumper a week or two ago).

        But no, open carry at the RNC, just like at any NRA gathering is strictly prohibited.  As the GOP and NRA always say: Nutcases with guns are for school playgrounds, not serious meetings among passionate Patriots!

        1. I'm going to use this to poke any gun nut on social media I can. Although I can already predict the response, "The RNC doesn't count cuz that's The Establishment. True Conservatives(TM) open carry everywhere."

  3. Another "Both Sides Do It" Moron representing ABC News at the White House:

    Speaking of Donald Trump's threat that there would be riots if his nomination was to be contested, the reporter asked, "We've seen pockets of violence at several of his events. If (Trump) wins the election in November, is the White House at all concerned, is the President concerned, Democrats could possibly resort to violence or pockets of violence break out?"

    It was an absurd question, but Josh Earnest handled it with aplomb, reiterating that President Obama does not believe Trump would be elected.

    Unabashed, the reporter went in for a second try, asking the question again.

    "It seems like it's Democrats, too. Like there's a lot of emotions from protesters at his events. Are you guys also calling on those protesters to refrain from violence?"

    Earnest assured him that of course the White House is asking everyone to refrain from violence, adding, "There's no political justification, no political dispute among citizens that would justify an act of violence."

    What was this reporter attempting to do with that question? Hang the violence Trump encourages and even calls for at his rallies on Democrats?

    Yes, this is how it gets propagated: by morons, by those who want to escape responsibility, for those who just can't quite figure it out.

    "It seems like it's Democrats, too" he said. But only to an idiot who works at the highest levels of journalism at ABC News.

    1. Can't wait to see the questions about whether Democratic governors also block bridges for political retribution or whether Republicans governors drink fracking fluid too.

  4. 8 years of The Road to Trump:

    The GOP is divided between those people — variously called the Tea Party or the base or the insurgents — and the rest of the party, who are terrified of them and feel the need to continually prove their anti-government bona fides and ideological purity.

    So the entire party embraces not just ideological radicalism, but a procedural radicalism as well.

    Then you can combine that with the positively venomous loathing all Republicans seem to share for Barack Obama. It was only a norm that said you don't shout "You lie!" at the president during a speech to Congress, or that you don't demand to see his birth certificate, or that you don't accuse him of hating America just because you have political differences. Put it all together, and of course Republicans would refuse to allow him to name a new Supreme Court justice.

    2. The difference between the Republican and Democratic parties has never been clearer

      In 2012, the congressional scholars Thomas Mann and Norm Ornstein wrote a column for the Washington Post diagnosing what they saw to be the central problem in modern American politics.

      "The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics," they wrote. "It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.

      "When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country’s challenges."

      The op-ed hit like a bomb. Mann and Ornstein were institutionalists with wide respect in both parties — Ornstein, in fact, worked (and still works) for the conservative American Enterprise Institute. For them to call out one party as "the core of the problem" in American governance was to violate all the rules of polite Washington society. Their diagnosis was controversial at the time, to put it lightly.

      It is obviously correct now.

      This week, it became clear that the Democratic Party will nominate Hillary Clinton — a politician about as mainstream in her beliefs and methods as you will find in American politics. It also became clear that the Republican Party is overwhelmingly likely to nominate Donald Trump — a man who is, by any measure, "ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of [his] political opposition."

      1. Rs used to love to carry on about Dems being hostage to their extreme liberals. Not hearing that lately. Now here they are desperately trying to escape from theirs, in a spectacle as strange as any film satire ever made, featuring a previously unimaginable front runner. Nothing they do to try belatedly to regain control over their hostage takers is working and the Republic hasn't been in such grave danger since the Civil War. I mean can you imagine what President and Commander in Chief Trump would really mean in practice on the world stage? What crises it would set up internally and with our allies and opponents? McGovern or Bernie, much less centrist Obama or HRC, extemists compared to Trump? Puh-lease. I wonder what on earth must discussions among the top miltary brass be like contemplating a possible Trump presidency. Let’s hope it really can’t happen as we all so confidently believed mere months ago.

        1. Rs used to love to carry on about Dems being hostage to their extreme liberals. Not hearing that lately.

          So true. These days their center of gravity has shifted so far that John Kasich is considered extremely liberal by many of them.

          “Center of gravity” may have been an inappropriate term to use in describing them since many of them question the concept because it’s too close to evolution.

            1. Now Rick Perry – tanned, rested, ready and no longer under indictment – is supposed to save the country by running as an independent? This just getting silly now.

              I wouldn't be surprised to see Trump himself behind this – just to make them look like such fools.

              1. It probably would have to be someone with zero intelligence to accept the GOP candidacy, when Trump runs his third party bid Extravaganza!…

                … Congratulations!  You go down in history as the footnote to the last Presidential candidate ever to again  run as, Republican!(tm)

                2. It's actually the other way around. They're starting to accept that Trump will have the GOP ballot line and they want to run a real conservative Republican as a third party choice. So it's more like Tommy Tancredo coming to the rescue of the CO GOP by hijacking the Constitutional Party line and offering an alternative to Dan Maes.

                  There may be a ballot access problem. The deadline for getting on the ballot in all 50 states by petitioning on is, or was, sometime in March.

                  So Plan "B" is to use an existing third party as a vehicle. (Much like Tank did in 2010.) Problem is that the Libertarians seem to be enamored with Gary Johnson who has announced he'll run again.

  5. Is anybody else getting weird stuff? I'm getting a pop up that says that this thread has become unresponsive but at the same time I was able to navigate it and leave a reply, though the process seems a little herky jerky with fits and starts.

    1. The box has two options to check… "kill" or "wait".  Another thread is mentioned too. Also for the first time when I hit "reply" to a Michael Bowman comment the reply box didn't just say leave a reply. It actually specified "to Michael Bowman". Didn't happen again next time I posted a reply. Everything seems a little odd and in flux.

      ColPols, are you making changes again?

        1. If you install the free ghostery plugin on your browser, you get fewer weird ads and wait times, in general. No more ads asking me if I want to cover Obama with peaches. Never quite understood the point of that one. Must be quite an honor, some Georgia ritual.

      1. I saw this on a feed from the Washington Blade last night. Let's see how fast the governor vetos that ugly thing when that much money's on the line. Indiana's fight over just such a bill last year is providing an excellent object lesson in priorities. And it's not just the NFL.

        From the Blade piece:

        A coalition of nearly 500 businesses has already spoken out against it, including Arby’s, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, Delta, Dow Chemical, Google, Home Depot, Honeywell, Marriott, UPS and Wells Fargo. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Metro Atlanta Chamber have also come out against the legislation.

          1. The LGBT lobby has been very smart to involve the business community.   Politicians may ignore human rights but they snap to attention when profits are on the line.

  7. My daughter is at the Boulder Democrats assembly this morning and it is an absolute disaster according to her.  They have been there since 7:30 and haven't got through the first agenda item yet.  Every time a speakers take the podium they are shouted down.  Looks like there is a whole lot of frustration among the diehards.

        1. Unable to fit another reply in the thread above re Gary Johnson. You are, of course correct ansd that would limit R voting for him. But, it wouldn't eliminate it. Maybe, he makes some promises about SCOTUS… I have to say though that over several elections he has remained above the slime

      2. Tough shit. I'm pretty sure our HD Chair who ran our caucuses is a Bernie supporter. and there was no problem. At caucus, everybody including the officers is also a participant as a supporter of one candidate or the other as a precinct member and we always manage to to have fair caucuses. Do they think it would be less unfair to have a Bernie supporter? Does the Chair try to use that office to put a thumb on the scale? Do they think officers should decline to support their choice at caucus to preserve official neutrality going into County assembly? If so, they should know that's not how it works. From precinct level through state this is a process that includes public support of candidates by everyone involved.

        Sounds like the caucus process in Boulder has been in the hands of lousy leadership from day one, either unable to organize a well run event, create an atmosphere of trust or who appear to be actively trying to use their positions to affect outcome in ways that inspire no confidence in a fair process. Also sounds like many participants are out of control brats who don't understand the process or haven't been sufficiently prepared to understand it by communication from leadership.

        I know that we started receiving numerous e-mails from our Chair well in advance of caucus with all the info anyone would need to know how the caucus process works and that training sessions were made available prior to caucus for those who were interested in a kind of dry run experience so they'd know what to expect. Delegates continuing the process recieve all the info they need to prepare them for the next step. The Boulder Dem party organization must be an incompetent mess.

    2. Boulder's caucuses were particularly inept as well. Must have lousy leadership. I didn't volunteer to go on to Assembly this year as I usually do through state but our HD38 (in Arapahoe County) caucuses went smoothly, uncontentiously, and with plenty of good will on both sides. I chalk it up to our demos and to long time experienced leadership and organization. Not that some of us don't find our Chair a little aggravating or it's all peace and love and holding hands between factions but when it comes to knowing exactly WTF she's doing organizing these caucuses our Chair is just what the doctor ordered. I'm guessing Arapahoe County ain't no Boulder fiasco either. 

      1. This is self-serving, since I was a super-site chair, but that was a completely different problem.  We were just overwhelmed by the number of attendees.  No one was obstructionist or shouting people down.  We just couldn't register people fast enough and the rooms weren't big enough when we did.

        1. I don't mean to rub it in but we had pretty huge attendance at caucus and apparently our leadership anticipated it.  Also did away with the whole check in table thing. The appropriate check in sheets were divided up and placed at each precinct's tables. Those who knew their precinct number just had to find their table and check in there, a one step process.No big lines. Those who didn't got guidance.

          You'd be surprised how fast people can find their own name in a single precinct worth of sheets. The sheets just got passed around until everybody was signed in or discovered they were in the wrong place and found direction to the right one. Most of us knew where to go because we had been getting e-mail reminders for ages to check it out on line before the event. We had only one person out of 63 who couldn't find her name because she was in the wrong precinct. Same with sheets for requesting to be considered as a delegate, preference, etc.

          We were all signed in and ready to go before 7:30PM and I got home around 8:30 PM. We picked a captain to be in charge (as usual the first person to volunteer) We split into two groups, got counted, agreed on delegates, no hard feelings, it was all very neighborly.  I was for HRC. My round the corner neighbors were for Bernie.  We enjoyed the chance to catch up. No brain damage. Mine's a City of Littleton precinct. We're generally pretty nice, sensible people.

          1. We definitely could have handled registration better, but it still isn't safe – or legal – to have 90 people in a classroom.  Boulder is really not set up for contested presidential caucuses – too many Democrats.

    4. My daughter is a first time attendee, 34 and a Clinton supporter and this is probably going to be her last time as a delegate.  So much for Sanders bringing the Millennials into the political process.

      1. If a job or some other life change takes her out of Boulder County and into a county like Arapahoe, I hope she'll try it again. She'll be amazed at the difference.

    5. I am really embarrassed for my county's Democratic party.  There is no reason it would matter who the chair is supporting.  She has no effect on the vote. I feel like Trump is spilling over onto our side.  🙁

      1. I am very proud to tell you all of a (we think) pretty rare occurrence today at the Mesa County assembly. Our county platform was passed unanimously by almost 200 Democrats. I spoke to a lot of folks and no one could remember having seen that before.

        I will try to get a link to it so I can post it here.

        I was one of 11 people who met 7 times for about 3 hrs at each meeting to create a platform that focuses on our local community and its issues, understanding and accepting that larger issues are almost invariably addressed in the state and local platforms. It was one of the most productive and focused committees upon which I have had the pleasure to serve. To have the unequivocal support of our entire county assembly was very gratifying, to say the least. 

         

            1. My father, at 86, is a loyal Chuck Norris fan, but almost exclusively as the character "Cordell Walker" in the TV drama, "Walker,Texas Ranger". I am immensely charmed by my dads' fond recollections of one or another of Cordells' exploits. It amuses and entertains him, which pleases me.

              Not sure how many Emmys our friend Chuck has at home on his mantle, though…but I'm guessing, not many.smiley

              1. Oh my……now they're going back to 1966 and Saul Alinsky? Isn’t that getting perilously close to her days as a Goldwater Girl?

                What happened? They realized they were running out of steam with Benghazi and Server-gate? At least those two provided contemporary stuff to throw at her.

  10. Happy vernal equinox, everyone! From here on out, the days get longer. I just stood a raw egg on its end and it balanced. Very cool. Saturday night living it up, yeah buddy!.

      1. MM, I know that basic geology. It's just fun to do the egg trick on spring equinox, along with sharing bunnies and eggs that are the sacred symbols of Ostara, who later was appropriated to name the Christian Easter holiday.

          2. Pretty much. In America, German settlers in Pennsylvania came in with their pagan traditions of Ostara . The hare was a sacred animal associated with fertility (you know, breeding like rabbits), and the moon. Eggs were also about fertility, life coming back in spring after winter, and neo-pagans managed to incorporate eastern yin-and-yang symbolism in, as well. Because of the white and the yolk, as well as the goddess Ostara and the green man.

            So the people who make chocolate saw an opportunity, and the Easter bunny was born, thus forever associating the return from death of the Christian Jesus with this strange amalgam of blatant horny paganism, and insane consumption of candy.

             

             

  12. OK. We heard nothing about any of this in the 2014 elecitions when Rs were claiming they'd be so much better than those tax and spend Dems for the economy and Dems were promising to keep abortion legal and be responsible too.

    Wouldn't it be nice if Dems finally got over their aversion to pointing out the utter failure of conservative economic policy in time for the elections of 2016? 

    No, conservative economic policy is neither sensible nor reponsible. Here's what happens when you listen to all those great soundbite ideas about balancing the family budget and personal responsibility and elect Rs to put their policies into action with no Dem interference. Please see Kansas and Louisiana.

    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/03/gop-must-answer-for-what-it-did-to-kansas.html#

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