Weekend Open Thread

13 thoughts on “Weekend Open Thread”

1. Would like some opinions on a couple of interesting turnarounds:

   Last year, the Democrats made some attempts to go after a normally strong Republican base: military members and retirees.  They worked hard to reject increases in TRICARE (military healthcare sytem) and got additional funding for body armor and other improvements for active duty members.

   This year, it seems that Republicans are trying to go after a traditionally strong Democratic base: lower wage earners.  They are arguing that Cap and Trade will significantly raise Utility rates and will mostly impact those least able to afford it.

   Will theses attempts by either party have any effect or will traditionally strong bases stay that way?

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   1. Dems tried to attract a new constituency by doing something for them.

      ‘Pubs tried to attract a new constituency by scaring them.

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      1. Vote for us because they are scary;  immoral, weak, hate the troops, want us all to have two mommies, will always side with blacks and browns against good ol’ real Americans, will take away your guns, love the terrorists, will get us all killed, hate God, are socialists, fascists, communists, are mean to puppies, don’t floss, take your pick.  

         I think last election showed this particular approach is running out of gas in the face of GOP dominance having totally trashed the country and large swaths of the rest of the world.  

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   2. I’m not sure lower-wage earners haven’t been part of a traditionally Republican base for decades.

      In addition to northern urban Catholics, lower-wage earners shaken by economic change have been a core of the GOP base since the Reagan years — the two key components of the Roosevelt coalition that split off and gave Republicans control of government for much of the last 40 years.

      Who do you think listens to Rush Limbaugh? Faux-Populist Republicans have successfully fomented class resentment at Democratic elites since the Nixon era.

      There’s nothing new about Republicans fighting a Democratic proposal by complaining it’s a big government program that will crush the little guy — quite the opposite.

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      1. “The Southern Strategy”
         

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         1. as I mention above, lower-wage earners were targeted by Nixon (though mostly the appeal was over cultural, law-and-order, racist and resentment against “elitist” Democrats rather than pocketbook issues — Nixon’s economic appeal was more toward middle-class voters), but it wasn’t until the Reagan years you could call lower-wage earners a part of a traditionally Republican base. There’s a reason we single out Reagan Democrats but don’t have a category for Nixon Democrats. Abortion and anti-communism, achieved by portraying Democrats as weak, were also part of the draw.

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2. Have to be Michael Jackson. YouTube doesn’t allow embedding for these so it’s links.

   Thriller (movie version)

   Smooth Criminal (radio edit)

   He definitely was one of the most talented artists we have ever seen. His work and the breadth of his skill is simply amazing.

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   1. .
      
      Well, he’s got a unique memento.
      
      .

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4. from UPI

   MALMO, Sweden, June 25 (UPI) — The sports and recreation committee in Malmo, Sweden, has voted to allow women to go topless in the city’s swimming pools.

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5. from Roll Call

   Democrats have called up their reserves as they try to eke out a victory on their massive climate change bill, including bringing a Member out of rehab and another back from rehabilitation.

   Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) returned to the chamber Friday night, his first appearance there since undergoing heart surgery early last week. Likewise, Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) also made a surprise appearance on the House floor on Friday. The Rhode Island lawmaker, who has had a long-running struggle with substance abuse, checked himself into rehab earlier this month.

   And while some were coming back, others were declining to leave. Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), confirmed by the Senate on Thursday night for a top State Department post, delayed resigning her seat, hanging back to preside over debate on the bill and cast a vote for it.

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6. Defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi on Saturday rejected authorities’ proposals for a partial recount of votes from this month’s election and repeated his demand the entire ballot be annulled.

   Iran’s top legislative body, the Guardian Council, had offered to recount 10 percent of ballot boxes from the June 12 vote in the presence of senior officials representing the government and opposition.

   “This kind of recount will not remove ambiguities…There is no other way but annulment of the vote…Some members of this committee are not impartial,” Mousavi said in a statement posted on his website.

   This as usual courtesy of Pitney at Huffpost:
   
   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…

   That was posted aroun 5PM ET.  This around 10:30 ET:

   The power struggle inside Iran appears to be moving from the streets into the heart of the regime itself this weekend amid reports that Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani is plotting to undermine the power of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Rafsanjani’s manoeuvres against Khamenei come as tensions between the speaker of the parliament, Ali Larijani, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also appeared to be coming to a head.

   Mass demonstrations on the streets against the election results have been effectively crushed by a massive police and basiij militia presence that has seen several dozen deaths and the arrests of hundreds of supporters of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. But the splits within Iran’s political elite are deepening.

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