Firecracked.

We had an impromptu dinner party on Independence Day. That’s the best kind, especially if it includes sailing and ribs and potato salad. Also, beer and prosecco and a bloody mary and wine. And a puppy. Because nothing makes a holiday gathering like a puppy playing around with the bigger dogs while we all look on and say oh god, he just walked right through the fence! Which he did, a couple of times, although he then walked right back in. In a few more weeks he’ll be safe in the yard, but not until he puts on a little size.

Sailing and ribs and a puppy. Beer and vodka and wine. And then the people’s fireworks, the Fallujah-under-siege soundtrack that, on July 4, goes on and on and on. It was a good holiday, if a little noisy. (And not nearly as drunk as it sounds.)

So that’s why no blog yesterday. Also, I tried very hard to avoid the news all weekend, and I was enjoying the sense of waiting for the news alert about Trump’s veep choice. Maybe we should have a pool, or a countdown clock. I’m setting odds on… Chris Christie, 5:2; Mike Pence 3:1; Joni Ernst 15:1. Oh, and Gary Busey at 50:1. Anyone else want to weigh in?

A few items of interest for you all to chew over. Gene Weingarten is breaking up with CNN. Over Corey Lewandowski, of course. Well, he lasted longer than I did. I gave up CNN about 19 shootings ago, when I finally found Wolf Blitzer simply too distracting, his strange anti-charisma finally doing what it was apparently meant to do. But he (Weingarten) is right: The hiring of Trump’s campaign manager, complete with non-disparagement agreement, is a deeply cynical bridge too far:

CNN apparently didn’t worry much about the guy being a fawning Trump suckup lickspittle who was likely sent away from the campaign with a wonderful golden parachute and a non-disclosure agreement that doesn’t allow him to be critical of Trump. How could CNN even consider such a grotesque arrangement? Well, because they’ve been doing it for years! This seemed like business as usual. They simply have never been doing it with a preposterous thug toady before. (They have, however, gone way over the line before. Ana Navarro embarrassed herself, and CNN, for years, over her fawning defense of Jeb Bush, particularly after he said that he still would have invaded Iraq after knowing what we know now. Ana was the first on the air with the revelation that, to her exclusive knowledge, he “misunderstood” the question.)

So now CNN is giving lots of air time to someone with no apparent sense of shame who is also in Trump’s back pocket, and the results have been more than predictable. It turns out Corey Lewandowski, who clearly isn’t allowed to say anything bad about Trump, also hasn’t anything to say that is not worshipful of Trump. Whom he calls “Mr. Trump.” You know, the way journalists do, out of respect.

I know we have some heavy people in the readership here. How do we feel about the paternalistic attitude people who run the contemporary workplace too often take toward fat people?

Those who do manage to land a job are less likely to be offered a salary bump or promotion compared to their slimmer peers. Obesity was found to lower a woman’s annual earnings an average of 4.5% and men’s earnings as much as 2.3%, according to a 2004 study by Charles L. Baum of Middle Tennessee State University. Some pundits have argued that this may be the last accepted form of prejudice in the U.S.

Progress to end this form of discrimination has been slow, with only a handful of states passing laws to curtail it. Meanwhile, researchers found in 2008 that weight-based discrimination is “increasing at disturbing rates.”

Doesn’t surprise me.

Finally, a WashPost column about anti-Muslim discrimination in Frederick, Md. Someone posted it in comments yesterday. I’m not sure how much to make of it, and I sincerely hope the writer got all the verification she could get, because it’s hard for me to believe there are that many awful bigots in Frederick, but what do I know?

So with that, I’m off to bed and hoping tomorrow will be a little cooler. (It won’t.) I’ll just think of that puppy.

Posted at 12:01 am in Current events, Same ol' same ol' |
 

115 responses to “Firecracked.”

  1. Sherri said on July 6, 2016 at 12:59 am

    Don’t watch cable news, watch Samantha Bee!

    http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/features/how-samantha-bee-crashed-the-late-night-boys-club-20160630

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  2. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 6, 2016 at 7:12 am

    Jay Rosen has been complaining for over a decade about the lazy cable news (and more and more, everybody news) habit of putting up both extremes and saying “okay, we’re showing that we’re unbiased, give us a cookie.” Jay says there are no more cookies.

    http://archive.pressthink.org/2004/06/04/ruten_milbank.html

    http://archive.pressthink.org/2008/08/13/national_explain.html

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  3. David C. said on July 6, 2016 at 7:25 am

    I think Gingrich is still in the VP mix along with Jefferson Beauregard Secessionist. Does Trump have a horse? If so, I’ll throw the horse in too. Odds: Sessions 5:1, Newt 3:1, horse 5:2.

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  4. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 6, 2016 at 7:39 am

    David C. had the Hispanic realtors in Frederick MD story about reactions to Muslim buyers; I’ve spent more time in Hagerstown than Frederick, but it’s a pretty Midwestern place for an East Coast city. The wearing of distinctive ethnic clothing seems to give xenophobes an extra boost in their angst. I’d love to think the anecdotes are overstated, but I doubt it.

    Sherri, even though I start to think you’re an algorthim from the DNC sometimes in your speed and absoluteness on behalf of the Clintons, I entirely agree with you about the cultural programming that automatically churns out reactions to Hillary did this and Hillary did that (don’t make me include Bill in this, who really deserves worse treatment for that tarmac misstep than he’s gotten). Trump’s violations of propriety, moral order, and common decency, are getting an ongoing general pass from a solid 30% of the population, and a clenched shrug more often than not from a media fearful of looking like they’re piling on, even though he’s piling up uncritiqued assaults on truth and rationality.

    The general commentary on politics, from those who will never vote Trump as well as from his discontented base, about how “they’re all crooked, the whole system is broken” is what worries me . . . to the degree that I think it’s as true as it is exaggerated. A number of members of our congregation were in the production of “1776” here last weekend, and the whole second act exchange between Edward Rutledge of South Carolina and Thomas Jefferson over slavery (understanding that each is being overdrawn as an exemplar to make a historic point) carried over into post-worship conversation Sunday . . . something like half the church went either Thursday or Friday already, and a big chunk were going Sunday afternoon.

    What was discussed was the idea and necessity of log-rolling and compromise. It’s even more true today than forty years ago that the retreat on slavery was being shown as a necessary error, when it’s even more tragic a flaw in our history than the production makes it. Yet if it really was the price of unity enough to approve the document and keep up a united front vs. Great Britain (which did make some hay out of the well-known intentional removal of an anti-slavery clause, in global opinion and among U.S. slaves and freedmen, but not as much as they could have), was it something you could still defend?

    And I watched the somewhat childishly over-drawn “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” on Monday afternoon, between the morning parade led by a few dozen politicians, most of whom I know fairly well, and going back to tear down the Boy Scout fry booth. Jim Taylor’s maneuverings are movie villain extravagance, right? Yet I was watching the story unfold in a familiar way, and thinking about one pol whose car I walked up to as he had to pause passing my staging zone back at the parade’s start, and I asked him about the mysterious halt of a bill he had been pushing last May, and what the plans were for September’s resumption in this session — when I said “just tell me who to call, which door I should knock on for you, and let’s get this moving,” I could see a something in his eyes, I am nauseously sure of it. He’s been told it’s dead, but he can’t tell me who, or why, or even that it’s so . . . and I think I know just the cluster of Jim Taylors who are killing it in a Senate committee and telling him as he leaves the House at the end of this term “just let it go.”

    And there isn’t always a clever parliamentary maneuver, or a Jean Arthur up in the gallery, to untie the knot. So is the system rigged? Is the fix always in? And if so, how do you decide which side you’re most unhappy with, even angry at? I don’t know. My own goal is to just do what I can to stay on Tom Joad’s side whenever I can.

    FYI, our conservative Midwestern town passed a non-discrimination ordinance last night, with a few dozen of us from the community in the audience, including lots of church folk. Trump is not going to win here, and if he’s not winning in Newark, Ohio, he’s not winning the presidency. Be of good cheer!

    http://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/news/local/2016/07/05/newark-bans-discrimination-against-lgbt-people/86716986/

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  5. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 6, 2016 at 7:41 am

    Oh, and I’ll put $5 on Gary Busey. It’s like buying a Mega Millions ticket tomorrow, which I never do, but at a certain number, you can’t help it. But I’m guessing Ernst if it isn’t Christie. If Trump picks Newt, you know this was always a kamikaze mission after all.

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  6. Suzanne said on July 6, 2016 at 8:01 am

    I love that every story I’ve seen about Pence as VP material has been followed by comments that mostly run along the lines of “Please! Pick him and get him the heck out of Indiana!!” I concur. Take him!

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  7. alex said on July 6, 2016 at 8:07 am

    Whomever Trump chooses (or is fool enough to give up a safe seat in a gerrymandered red state) isn’t going to sweeten the deal a whole lot for voters. And it won’t be someone who brings any sanity to the ticket. It’ll be someone looking for a sweet deal for herself, and I’d put my money on Ernst. She’s telegenic. She’s foul-mouthed. She’s every angry old white man’s wet dream, minus long hair perhaps. She’ll get offers from CNN and Fox that will make Corey Lewandowski’s six figures look like chump change.

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  8. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 6, 2016 at 8:13 am

    And in today’s Kim Davis news: http://www.newsnet5.com/news/national/kim-davis-sued-after-she-denies-marriage-license-to-man-and-his-laptop

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  9. David C. said on July 6, 2016 at 8:18 am

    Lil’ Scotty Walker is going to speak at the RNC. I guess his approval/disapproval isn’t upside-down enough for him. People are going to mistake him for a chair and wonder where the hell Clint Eastwood is.

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  10. Dorothy said on July 6, 2016 at 8:28 am

    If there was any possible way to do it legally and/or Constitutionally, I have no doubt Dumbp would pick himself as a running mate.

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  11. beb said on July 6, 2016 at 8:30 am

    I’ve developed a sound sensitivity in my old age so half way through the 3 hours of non-stop fireworks being set off in our neighborhood, mostly by my neighbor had me wishing to murder some people just to make it quit. I’d have gotten in my car and driven somewhere, but where would there be a place not crackling with sustained rocket launches? It’s just a good thing I do not own a gun…

    Speaker Ryan is already calling for investigation of the FBI director decision to clear Hillary. The GOP had become an abscess that needs to be cauterized.

    Considering that Corey Lewendowski would undoubtedly talk whether he was paid to or not I don’t understand why CNN hired him. Why buy the cow when the milk is free? But then CNN, MSNBC (but not Fox news) isn’t in the business of presenting news but in selling ads. Anything to spike the viewership/ad revenues.

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  12. brian stouder said on July 6, 2016 at 8:38 am

    David C for thread win!

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  13. Julie Robinson said on July 6, 2016 at 8:55 am

    beb, I am so with you. Five sleep deprived nights in a row makes me very cranky.

    Between that and a busy weekend that included company, a trip to the IKEA up Nancy’s way, Patriotic Pops Concert and fireworks at the baseball stadium, the zoo, and a lengthy work session at Mom’s place, last night I laid on the sofa whining until going to bed at 9. Which is to say I wouldn’t have turned out a blog post either.

    And then there was the lesson in compassion from my SIL. She stopped at a nursing home to visit her mom’s cousin, last left of that generation.At noon, she hadn’t been out of bed and was sobbing, so Patty scooped her up and brought her over. It wasn’t exactly what we had planned, but if I’m ever in that situation I hope someone will show me such kindness.

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  14. adrianne said on July 6, 2016 at 9:00 am

    The Donald can’t help himself. On the day of Clinton’s clearance on email, a ridiculously trumped-up nothingburger, he praises SADDAM F-ING HUSSEIN for really sticking it to suspected terrorists by, you know, torturing them during interrogations. He’s surrounding himself with admiring despots (see: Vladimir Putin). People, the man isn’t even trying to hide his true colors. I ask you.

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  15. Randy said on July 6, 2016 at 9:30 am

    Hi everyone, I’m a longtime reader, and pretty much a bi-annual commenter. My wife and I are going on a road trip starting this weekend, crossing the Canada-US border to see Peter Gabriel and Sting playing in Milwaukee on Sunday. Then we are spending a few days in Peoria visiting friends, then heading through Mpls-St. Paul on our way back home. Does anyone have recommendations for any of those cities – places to see, good places to eat? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

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  16. Suzanne said on July 6, 2016 at 9:31 am

    Adrianne, I don’t doubt many of Trump’s supporters will find his admiration of Hussein admirable. He stuck it to the terrorists, after all, and since we all know there is a terrorist on every corner, this will be seen as a good thing. The average Trump supporter is like the kid that gets accosted everyday by the class bully. At some point, he doesn’t care who beats up the bully, as long as he gets beat up, even it’s by an even more hated bully. And Americans have woefully short memories.

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  17. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 6, 2016 at 9:38 am

    Hey Randy — you should have breakfast at Al’s in Minneapolis, just so you can say you did. It’s on 14th Ave in Dinkytown, and is only open 6 am to Noon (don’t trust me, but I think that’s about right). It’s a novelty location, barely wide enough for a counter, but the food’s actually really good. It gets on TV about once a year when someone’s looking for a feature story, but it’s worth the stop. Because, breakfast.

    For Peoria, I got nuttin’.

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  18. Deborah said on July 6, 2016 at 9:50 am

    Randy,

    Judy Busy lives in Mpls, she has mentioned some great places to eat and things to do there. I hope she chimes in today.

    And if you read the Blog Gin and Tacos, you’d skip Peoria completely and go to Chicago instead.

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  19. David C. said on July 6, 2016 at 10:45 am

    All the goings-on around Summerfest in Milwaukee should keep you plenty busy there. Parking is murder though, so find an out-lot and take a shuttle bus.

    http://www.wisn.com/entertainment/summerfest-extended-coverage/Take-the-bus-to-Summerfest/8052450

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  20. ROGirl said on July 6, 2016 at 11:09 am

    I hope some puppy pictures are forthcoming.

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  21. Judybusy said on July 6, 2016 at 11:35 am

    Randy, me and mine will be at that concert, too! I will get back to you on stuff to do in the area. I know Milwaukee has a good museum right by the water front. Lots of great Mexican food, too. Can’t look up a lot right now, will later.

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  22. Sherri said on July 6, 2016 at 11:47 am

    Jeff(tmmo), not an algorithm nor from the DNC, just some who gets annoyed at the way politics and elections are covered. Yes, I am supporting Hillary, though not mindlessly. I do disagree with her on some issues, as I expect to with any politician.

    Like you, I am worried about the constant drumbeat of “it’s rigged” both from the Trump side and from the Bernie side. It adds to the cynicism about government that government is this mysterious other that doesn’t listen to me and is just trying to rip me off. People seem to think of themselves as consumers of government, not participants in self-government. “The government doesn’t listen to me” when you’ve never contacted an elected representative. “When do I get to vote for someone I like?” Like candidates are breakfast cereals and there are a hundred in your grocery aisle. “My vote doesn’t count anyway, because x/y/z” it always counts, and sometimes it unexpectedly counts a great deal, Brexiters found out.

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  23. brian stouder said on July 6, 2016 at 12:07 pm

    What Sherri said!! (especially about government/’other’)

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  24. Sherri said on July 6, 2016 at 12:26 pm

    I’m still betting on Newt for VP, because Trump seems stuck in the 90’s, but let’s add Bob Corker at 7-1, Rudy Guiliani at 15-1, and Miss USA at 50-1.

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  25. Peter said on July 6, 2016 at 12:26 pm

    Randy, the Milwaukee Art Museum is worth the trip. try to park in the garage under the addition – it has to be the most beautiful parking garage in the world. The building shades open with the museum, then close/open again at noon – it’s quite a show. Personally, I thought those things would work once, so I’m impressed they still work.

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  26. Sherri said on July 6, 2016 at 12:28 pm

    And yes, I know that the Pres and VP can’t be from the same state, making Rudy ineligible, but given the indifference of his campaign to rules and reality, that detail shouldn’t stop Trump from naming him!

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  27. adrianne said on July 6, 2016 at 12:39 pm

    My money’s on the hog castrator from Iowa, Joni Ernst (if Trump is at all smart). Of course, he’s not, so Newt is probably the top pick.

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  28. adrianne said on July 6, 2016 at 12:48 pm

    And this just in…

    BREAKING: Fox News CEO Roger Ailes Hit With Harassment Suit By Host Gretchen Carlson
    Share us on: By Vin Gurrieri

    Law360, New York (July 6, 2016, 11:51 AM ET) — Former Fox News personality Gretchen Carlson has sued network chairman Roger Ailes in New Jersey state court for allegedly sabotaging her career after she rebuffed his unwelcomed sexual advances, her attorneys said Wednesday.

    Carlson, the former co-host of “Fox & Friends,” claims in her lawsuit that she was sexually harassed by Ailes and ultimately fired on June 23, the same day her contract expired, in retaliation for rejecting his advances and pushing back against sexism she purportedly had to endure in the newsroom by some of her male colleagues.

    Carlson, who spent more than a decade at Fox News, also claims her termination occurred even though her current program, “The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson,” was the highest rated cable news show in its afternoon time slot.

    Nancy Erika Smith of Smith Mullin PC, counsel for Carlson, said in a statement Wednesday that “we believe that the evidence will confirm that Gretchen was fired from ‘Fox & Friends’ for speaking up about demeaning and discriminatory behavior on and off the set.”

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  29. David C. said on July 6, 2016 at 12:51 pm

    Does this surprise anyone? I don’t know much about Ms. Carlson other than she worked at Fox. Right now though, in my book, she’s pretty damned brave. She’s got a tiger by the tail and that tiger has a jar of honey and millions of ants – old, deranged ants that are going to make her life hell.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/07/business/media/gretchen-carlson-fox-news-roger-ailes-sexual-harassment-lawsuit.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0

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  30. Jakash said on July 6, 2016 at 12:51 pm

    Here’s hoping that our mild-mannered correspondent is right about Rumpelthinskin’s chances in his neck of the Buckeye-filled woods. As Newark goes, so goes Ohio, as Ohio goes, so goes the nation! Or something like that… Somewhat comforting to reflect that no Republican has won the Presidency without carrying Ohio and that it was one state in the primaries where Trump was soundly beaten and where their candidate is not falling in line with Disgusting Donald. (TM: Scout)

    Hard to imagine where he’s going to pick up the extra votes that eluded Romney, who lost there in 2012, especially if he keeps trashing other Republicans. IF the Democrats and lefty independents SHOW UP.

    Seems to me that the way forward in dealing with this charlatan is not necessarily to pound away at his racism, xenophobia and sexism, though folks understandably will. The nature of his character is already baked in, after all these months, and those attributes are more a feature than a bug to many of the folks who’d even consider voting for him. If I were making commercials, they’d focus on how he’s NOT like the people who think “he’s just like me, but a business genius” and how he’s NOT a business genius. How he’s only interested in promoting his “brand” and doesn’t really care about any of the rest of it, or the lives of the voters who support him. I’m sure such efforts will largely go disregarded, anyway, but that seems like the only possibly effective line of attack in attempting to dissuade folks who are tempted by the ridiculous notion that he would actually be a competent leader.

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  31. beb said on July 6, 2016 at 1:41 pm

    Apparently Corker has taken himself out of consideration. Could it be that Hussain was a tyranny too for for the Senator?

    If Trump is left to be Trump I think he’ll go with Gingrich, another full-time grifter like Trump himself. The two understand each other. However if the RNC has any say I would expect the Hog Casterater as a way to neutralize Hillary’s gender advantage

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  32. adrianne said on July 6, 2016 at 1:41 pm

    For my money, the Washington Post has led the way in exposing The Donald as a business fraud. Keep it up!

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  33. David C. said on July 6, 2016 at 1:42 pm

    Ernst is out too.

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  34. alex said on July 6, 2016 at 1:54 pm

    “My vote doesn’t count anyway, because x/y/z” it always counts, and sometimes it unexpectedly counts a great deal, Brexiters found out.

    I’m a Democrat in Indiana. My vote most assuredly does not count.

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  35. brian stouder said on July 6, 2016 at 2:21 pm

    BHO won Indiana in ’08 (although not in ’12)…and remember – Glenda Ritz (our superintendent of public education) out-polled Pence in ’12 – which still impresses me about Hoosier voters, and renews my faith that a large number of people think about things more than they let on…

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  36. Scout said on July 6, 2016 at 2:42 pm

    What? Nobody has Jan (Bonefinger) Brewer or Sheriff Joe (Pink Underpants) Arpaio in the betting pool?

    I’m guessing it will be Newt or Christie. Both have indicated they want to be part of the grift.

    Sherri @ 22 – yes, yes, yes. I was punching the imaginary ‘like’ button as I read that post.

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  37. Sherri said on July 6, 2016 at 3:08 pm

    Alex, your vote still counts in local elections. It can also still matter a great deal in those elections nobody pays attention to, like judicial elections, which have a larger impact than their campaign races usually would indicate. Port commissioner out here is one of those kind of races; people don’t pay much attention to it, but port commissioners have a fair amount of power (they’re in charge of both the airport and a major shipping port, a cruise line port, and issues about coal and oil trains coming across Washington to ship to China.

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  38. Jolene said on July 6, 2016 at 3:20 pm

    Am not surprised that Corker took himself out of contention as Trump’s VP. He introduced Trump at last night’s rally, and it was beyond awkward. Very strained. He had met Ivanka, her husband, and one of the sons, and he praised Trump as a father saying, “It tells you a lot about a person to see what kind of family they have.” He then commented on the size of the rally and the enthusiasm of the people, and that was it. Nothing about Trump as the leader our country needs, nothing about his policies, not even anything about his character or personality.

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  39. basset said on July 6, 2016 at 3:45 pm

    Minneapolis? Ask Lileks.

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  40. Jeff Borden said on July 6, 2016 at 3:45 pm

    I feel badly for CNN, but not that badly. The first time I really paid attention to it was when the Air Florida jet crashed into the Potomac River during rush hour. As the network affiliates moved on to “Wheel of Fortune” or reruns of “All in the Family,” CNN stayed at the crash site and recorded amazing scenes of terror and heroism. The coverage of the first Gulf War also was pretty stellar. For awhile, it was the broadcast network of record.

    But when Fox News began beating CNN in the ratings, the panicky response to move in that direction began and has accelerated over time. The hiring of the Trump mouthpiece isn’t surprising as CNN pathetically continues to believe if it hires enough conservative a-holes, maybe the Fox viewers will give it a try. Of course, they never will.

    Many things worry me about the orange ape’s candidacy including the possibility he might win. But even if he loses–hopefully in a landslide of McGovernesque proportions– he’s already inoculated his followers by complaining about the “rigged” system. His fans will not accept the results and that bodes ill for the future. Just as the Republicans have done everything in their power to undermine the legitimacy of America’s first black president, Trump’s followers will never accept Clinton and will insist their representatives stand up to her. I see another four to eight years of gridlock and wonder if the GOP will her to appoint a Supreme Court justice. If they can deny Obama this right for so many months, what is keep them from holding out for years?

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  41. Jolene said on July 6, 2016 at 3:58 pm

    FBI Director Comey is going to testify before the House Oversight Committee at 10 AM EDT tomorrow. Up to now, Comey has been regarded as a nonpartisan straight-shooter. Will be interesting to see how they treat him as they attempt to further damage Clinton.

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  42. brian stouder said on July 6, 2016 at 3:59 pm

    The president can nominate a well qualified person, and then put the onus on the R’s.

    If the R’s simply reject one qualified nominee after the next, they lose all hope of claiming that they’re “conservative”, while they cripple one of the co-equal branches of the government of the United States.

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  43. Snarkworth said on July 6, 2016 at 4:00 pm

    Alex, I agree that most of those being mentioned for veep don’t bring any particular electoral benefit to the ticket. That’s part of what normal candidates try to do with their selection. Christie is terribly unpopular; he certainly won’t bring New Jersey’s electoral votes. The only advantage Gingrich might bring is D.C. experience, horrible as it was.

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  44. alex said on July 6, 2016 at 4:01 pm

    Sherri, you’re right, my vote does matter in local elections, judges, etc. But I have to register as a Republican to vote in the GOP primary if I’m going to make it matter because that’s where elections are decided in this one-party bailiwick. It’s my sacred civic duty to elect straight-arrow right-wingers in order to protect us all from gyrating/speaking-in-tongues right-wingers and confederate flag-waving right-wingers. I’m not sure it really matters anymore because I don’t like any of them and the fringe freaks are winning.

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  45. Sherri said on July 6, 2016 at 4:15 pm

    My personal trainer this morning was asking some questions about politics today (he asked me what the planning commission was working on, and that led to a broader discussion.) At some point, I asked him if he was registered to vote. He’s 31, and no, he’s never been registered to vote. As I told him, now he’s going to have to, because I’ll keep bugging him.

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  46. Sherri said on July 6, 2016 at 4:19 pm

    Paul Ryan thinks that Clinton shouldn’t be given classified briefings during the campaign. He’s evidently okay with Trump receiving them, though.

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/paul-ryan-wants-to-deny-clinton-classified-breifings

    And never forget: Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans are saving a Supreme Court seat for Donald Trump to appoint.

    Bigots, or willing to tolerate bigots.

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  47. Deborah said on July 6, 2016 at 4:49 pm

    I think it’s gonna be Newt. Christie would love for it to be Christie, but I don’t think Trump would ultimately be comfortable with him. But what do I know. Mainly though this speculation keeps us all talking about Trump, I don’t just mean us here on nn.c, I mean the world.

    86 and 14% humidity in Santa Fe right now.

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  48. susan said on July 6, 2016 at 5:17 pm

    Jolene @41 – Gee, just last month, the GOP was raving about Comey. What could possibly have changed their minds? (Or is it mind?)

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  49. Dave said on July 6, 2016 at 5:23 pm

    Sherri, the Democratic party in Allen County, IN, often has vacant slots instead of candidates, they’re so in the minority in the county, yet they’ve held down the mayor’s spot in Fort Wayne for awhile, I believe Mayor Tom Henry is in his third term, but has a mostly Republican city council to deal with.

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  50. Dave said on July 6, 2016 at 5:24 pm

    I believe I should have edited that into at least two sentences.

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  51. Sherri said on July 6, 2016 at 5:39 pm

    Our local mayor and city council races are non-partisan, so party identifications aren’t on the ballot. I know two of our city council members are Republicans, three are Democrats, one I think is a Democrat, and the other I don’t think identifies one way or the other. The mayor is a Democrat, but the local party is mad at him because he’s been willing to work with our state senator, who is a Republican, in order to accomplish some things.

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  52. Sherri said on July 6, 2016 at 5:58 pm

    Missile Defense continues to be a black hole of money, delivering almost nothing in return: http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-na-missile-defense/#nt=oft12aH-1la1

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  53. alex said on July 6, 2016 at 7:32 pm

    Dave, outside of the city of Fort Wayne the ballot has nothing but vacant spots instead of Democratic candidates, so you disenfranchise yourself if you don’t register as a Republican. I think that’s what Sherri and others not familiar with these parts don’t realize.

    For congressman in this district this cycle, we might be unique in all the nation. We have the one Democratic candidate in the country who can make the Republican look relatively sane:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK0tLbsHA58

    Because anyone can run, and any serious Democrat knows he’s up against a well-funded derp factory that will drag his reputation through the mud while any drunk hobo can get on TV and have the time of his life.

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  54. alex said on July 6, 2016 at 8:14 pm

    This is for a federal congressional seat, mind you. Not state.

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  55. Sherri said on July 6, 2016 at 8:15 pm

    I’ve lived in areas that were single party, too, alex. Washington does make a number of things about living in a single party area better, I’ll admit, particularly with top-two primaries rather than party primaries.

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  56. alex said on July 6, 2016 at 8:35 pm

    For the very same seat just a few years ago, we had a very well-respected, intelligent cardiopulmonary physician, Dr. Thomas Hayhurst, run for the seat as a progressive citizen legislator. He got his ass kicked by that teabagger obstructionist too stupid to know he’d lose in a landslide in the recent primary for the senate, Marlin Stutzman. At least Stutzman’s out of politics for now, thank God, but he’s about to be replaced by someone who’s his equal or possibly worse: http://jimbanks.us/calledtoserve/

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  57. Sherri said on July 6, 2016 at 9:16 pm

    Here is the sanest explanation of the Espionage Act and the problems with it that I’ve seen. It clearly explains the difference between what Clinton did and what Petraeus, Chelsea Manning, and Thomas Drake did. I agree that the Espionage Act is horribly dated, and I disagree with the heavy-handed way the Obama administration has wielded it against whistle-blowers, but there is a material difference in the Clinton case and the other cases. The Espionage Act was part of a whole set of problematic laws passed at the outset of WWI; think of them all as the Patriot Act of their day.

    http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2016/07/the_hillary_clinton_email_scandal_shows_the_espionage_act_is_outdated.html

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  58. susan said on July 6, 2016 at 9:29 pm

    Sherri @55. I really despise the “top-two” or “Louisiana” Primary, and think it is grossly unfair. I live in a very Republican part of the state, and the top two candidates are always Republican. Often, or most often even, there is no Democrat even willing to run for the various local and state offices. So, come time for the general election, there is no one for people like me to vote for. That is like being disenfranchised. If there is a two-party system, there should be two parties represented on the ballot. Of course, we don’t have party registration, so I guess there are no parties anyway. When that top-two crap passed in 2004, I knew this was going to be even more hopeless where I vote. I would think Republicans in King County would feel the same way. (Besides, why would Washington do something with Louisiana in its name?? Gah.)

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  59. Diane said on July 6, 2016 at 9:51 pm

    Because I wholeheartedly agree with Dorothy @10, I’m wondering what the odds are on Ivanka?

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  60. alex said on July 6, 2016 at 10:08 pm

    Even my partner just confided to me that he voted for Tommy Schrader because he didn’t know any better and there were no other Dems to vote for. He just wasn’t going to vote for Republicans and after Hillary there were no other Dems on the ballot.

    Aside from the indignity of living in perhaps the only district where the Dem candidate for the House makes his Republican rival look good, I am enjoying the schadenfreude that comes with the Republican meltdown. For years I have been forced to listen to people dissing Democrats flippantly and gratuitously while I held my tongue. I’m still holding it while I’m laughing just as much as I ever did when I was scowling. But it’s so nice to see them getting their faces smeared with their own shit for a change.

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  61. brian stouder said on July 6, 2016 at 11:43 pm

    By God – if this comes to pass, I’ll be as genuinely happy as a pig in mud!!!

    http://wane.com/2016/07/06/ind-gop-sources-pence-likely-vp-pick-search-for-ballot-replacement-heating-up/

    the lead:

    FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Several members of the Indiana GOP have told NewsChannel 15 there are active discussions within the party about who would potentially replace Gov. Mike Pence if he is selected to be Donald Trump’s running mate in November. Several high-ranking state GOP members said they believe Pence is likely to be the VP choice. The Trump Campaign and a spokesperson for Gov. Mike Pence have not made an official announcement.

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  62. Sherri said on July 7, 2016 at 12:16 am

    Usually, even in King County, the Republicans can get a candidate through to the general. They won’t in this year’s race for the open seat in WA-7, which is a tightly race between 3 Democrats and is mostly in Seattle. And Dems couldn’t get a candidate through to the general in an open race for WA-4 a few years ago, in eastern Washington.

    There is no solution that will solve the problem for people who are a minority in an area. Even with partisan primaries, a Republican is going nowhere in Seattle, and a Democrat can’t win in eastern Washington. Republicans can’t win statewide offices in Washington; the rule of thumb used to be that a Republican has to win 40% of the vote in King County, and it’s probably worse now. There was just a graphic in the Seattle Times that showed that the bluest counties in the state were growing the fastest.

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  63. Jakash said on July 7, 2016 at 12:39 am

    Wow, alex, that video (53) was freaking unbelievable. Then I watched the news report based on it. “This time his $8 campaign clinched him a spot on the November ballot.” No wonder he’s a Bernie fan — he’s as thrifty a campaigner as you’ll find!

    Beyond that, I’m just surprised that you have Old Style in the Fort… ; )

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  64. Jolene said on July 7, 2016 at 12:45 am

    What is the logic of too-two primaries? Is the idea simply to guarantee some competition in areas where one party is dominant?

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  65. LAMary said on July 7, 2016 at 12:46 am

    Dorothy, Trump will pick himself because he has a really good brain.

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  66. Jolene said on July 7, 2016 at 1:02 am

    That’s supposed to be top two primaries.

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  67. Sherri said on July 7, 2016 at 2:33 am

    Top 2 primaries get sold to voters as encouraging more moderate candidates, but that doesn’t seem to happen. What top 2 primaries do accomplish, for good or for ill, is to eliminate third party spoiler candidates. No equivalent of Nader could happen in a race in a top 2 state.

    Election nerds (and yes, they do exist!) prefer IRV, or instant runoff voting, where you rank the candidates and then if no candidate receives a majority, the candidate with the fewest first place choices is eliminated and the votes redistributed. That also eliminates the spoiler candidate.

    The most interesting part of our top two primary is that the candidate declares what their party preference is on the ballot, and while Democratic candidates usually state “prefers the Democratic Party”, the Republicans are all over the map in how they describe their preference, one suspects to not associate too heavily with the national party.

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  68. Laurie said on July 7, 2016 at 8:21 am

    I live in MD about 45 minutes from Frederick, or, as some call it, “Fredneck.” The WP column does not surprise me. The Klan has a long history in MD and I believe has an active chapter—e.g., members showed up to disrupt Frederick Pride Day in 2014. The Frederick area has been growing a lot as people working in DC have moved in (there’s a commuter train to DC, and more affordable housing)–and I do have a very nice, normal coworker who lives there–it is a world away from the cosmopolitan suburbs of DC. If I go up there to shop, since it does have excellent shopping that is well laid out, I feel a menacing vibe quite often, and I’m white.
    Another coworker of mine was murdered there some years ago by her BF.

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  69. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 7, 2016 at 8:54 am

    From Monday night here in Newark, Ohio, as written by a friend who is also a professor at Denison:

    “Everyone listened. Everyone was respectful. That’s because, I guess, in small places you end up seeing people again. So this is what you do. This is how you live in a community.”

    https://jackshulerauthor.com/2016/07/05/the-work-that-has-to-be-done/

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  70. alex said on July 7, 2016 at 9:06 am

    Thank you, Jeff.

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  71. Deborah said on July 7, 2016 at 9:09 am

    Great link Jeff tmmo.

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  72. Jerri said on July 7, 2016 at 9:44 am

    I’m in Florida with my mother right now, but my husband and I have lived in Frederick for the last 14 years. As Laurie said, the area is growing a lot and changing rapidly, more rapidly than the infrastructure and many local residents can handle. I’m from central NJ, have lived in north Jersey, Cleveland, Atlanta, and Rockville, MD, and Frederick has more of an Appalachian mountain “redneck” feel and openly religious vibe than anywhere else I’ve been. It’s a very conservative county in a blue state but as more of us move in from the closer DC suburbs, that is shifting. The city of Frederick itself, where we live, is more liberal than the rest of the county.

    The politics are changing for the better as even the county Republicans tired of the corruption and privatization moves of the incumbents and voted overwhelmingly in 2014 for a Democratic county executive to reverse matters.

    My menacing moment came in a parking lot when I saw a car with a black bumper sticker that said “sic semper tyrannus.” That sentiment is often expressed on the local radio station.

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  73. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 7, 2016 at 10:09 am

    I am getting tired of having to explain “Molon Labe” bumper stickers to people, and find the right tone to take. People see ’em, and I come to mind as “the guy who’d know what the heck that is,” which I do, Greek phrase, Spartan backstory, and everything (web-search Leonidas, Thermopylae, and Texas), but there’s always some confusion as to the reaction. Some are delighted, most are made queasy by it, but I don’t usually know in advance how they’ll take it.

    *Short version: it means, in Greek, “come and take them.” It was about spears & shields in the original context, said to the Persians.

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  74. Dorothy said on July 7, 2016 at 10:38 am

    Jeff that link got me all misty-eyed! I miss getting the chance to go to Newark. I’ll wave in your direction in a few hours when I hit the road and drive by on I-70. I’m going to see my mom who turns 94 today. Tomorrow I’m taking her for a haircut and to lunch – things I wish I could do on a semi-regular basis, but which are difficult to pull off from Dayton.

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  75. Jolene said on July 7, 2016 at 11:24 am

    This is a good profile of Tim Kaine, who is said to be Hillary’s most likely choice for veep.

    I hope she picks him. I think he’d be an asset to her in both campaigning and, more important, governing. And I think he’d help her relax and stop getting in her own way.

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  76. basset said on July 7, 2016 at 11:26 am

    Mrs. B and I were in Dayton recently on the way up to northern Michigan, and of course we stopped at the Air Force Museum, which just added a fourth exhibition hall. I think we were in the second one when I had to ask…

    “You bored yet?”
    “Yes, I am.”

    She stuck it out to the end, though.

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  77. Julie Robinson said on July 7, 2016 at 12:08 pm

    The things we do for those we love! I’m attending a James Taylor concert later this month. Yaaaawn.

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  78. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 7, 2016 at 12:39 pm

    Waving back, Dorothy!

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  79. Sherri said on July 7, 2016 at 12:46 pm

    A man with a concealed carry permit announces to the cop he has one and has a gun and gets shot. Where is Wayne LaPierre and the 2nd amendment absolutists?

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  80. Deborah said on July 7, 2016 at 12:50 pm

    I’m finally making that cherry pie that I was going to make over the weekend. I pitted the cherries this morning, made a new crust recipe, new for me anyway, that calls for 1/3 cup of lard and 1/3 cup of butter. It’s cooling off in the fridge for at least an hour before I roll it out. I’m the world’s worst when it comes to this next part. My pies always come out looking bad but tasting good. If anyone has any advice about how to roll the dough out successfully and get it looking pretty, I’d sure appreciate it.

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  81. beb said on July 7, 2016 at 12:58 pm

    The second amendment is all about suppressing slave revolts, so it doesn’t apply to blacks.

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  82. Jakash said on July 7, 2016 at 1:26 pm

    “Where is Wayne LaPierre and the 2nd amendment absolutists?”

    Printing up “Molon Labe” bumper stickers. Because boldly refuting the preposterous straw-man of “Obama’s gonna come and get your guns” is such a helpful contribution with regard to the issue of gun violence in this country.

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  83. Mark P said on July 7, 2016 at 1:54 pm

    Sherri — The US has been doing research into missile defense ever since the Germans launched their V-2 missiles towards Britain. I always say there has never been a weapons program that has cost so much money and yielded so little in return, and I worked in missile defense for 28 years.

    And about the Clinton email “scandal”, if the government prosecuted everyone who mishandled classified information, the prisons wouldn’t hold them all. It happens all the time. As the FBI said, these types of violations are handled with administrative procedures. You mislay a classified document or email something you shouldn’t have, you get a “violation.” If you get enough violations, you might lose your security clearance, but unless you dump huge amounts or sell it to Russians, you don’t go to jail. I have seen a general officer who makes some kind of public statement that contains classified material, and nothing happens to them.

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  84. Sherri said on July 7, 2016 at 2:39 pm

    MarkP, I thought I remembered that someone around here was more familiar than I was about missile defense. I know enough about the physics to understand that it’s a hard problem, and enough about the history to see that it’s been spectacularly unsuccessful, and that many of the successes that have been claimed have been overblown. With just a fraction of the money spent on this, we really could have free college and healthcare for all.

    Common sense tells you that classified information gets mishandled all the time. First off, way too much information is classified, and according to this WaPo article, 4 million people hold top secret clearances. Add to that the fact that any process for handling classified material is going to be cumbersome if it’s secure, and I’d bet that if you did an email audit of everybody with top secret clearance, >75% would have some kind of violation.

    The main people I’ve seen who are upset about Clinton not being indicted are Republicans, because Clinton! Scandal! Benghazi!!11!!, a few Bernie dead-enders who bought into the right wing noise machine, and people who feel that Snowden, Manning, Drake, et al have been treated unfairly.

    Now Paul Ryan has sent a letter to DNI Clapper requesting that Clinton not receive intelligence briefings. This is the same Paul Ryan who called John Lewis’ sit-in a political stunt. This is the same Paul Ryan who has endorsed Donald Trump. Maybe the Beltway pundits will finally figure out that Paul Ryan isn’t the deep thinker and wonk they tried to pretend he was.

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  85. Sherri said on July 7, 2016 at 2:49 pm

    Another bullshit broken tail-light stop. If police officers can’t do tail-light stops without murdering people, maybe they ought to stop doing them.

    There’s something deeply wrong with the police in this country, and while race is a huge component of it, it’s not the only component that’s broken.

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  86. Diane said on July 7, 2016 at 3:21 pm

    Deborah@80 – For me, chilling the dough for just an hour isn’t nearly long enough to get it to the point where I can work well with it. I have much better luck when the dough has chilled for 4-6 hours.

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  87. Joe K said on July 7, 2016 at 3:31 pm

    The problem with the E-mail was she lied about them, again and again,and again.
    I agree with the fbi, I don’t think she had intent to harm the country, I think her intent was to hide the back room deals to funnel millions into the Clinton foundation. Bill and Loretta meeting on the Tarmac, 1rst year law student know that’s a no, but it’s the same old Clinton, were better than you little people, these things don’t apply to us, It’s been there play for the last 20 years, you do realize that if Hillary tried to get even a low level government job she couldn’t get a security clearance?
    It’s just a sad day in a America when the two people running for the top office are so horribly unqualified to hold the office.
    Flame away? I really don’t give a shit, go ahead, I figure I’m just going to try and control what I can in my life,
    I have come to realize neither Clinton or Trump really care about me, so screw em both.
    Pilot Joe

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  88. Sherri said on July 7, 2016 at 3:36 pm

    Pilot Joe, lying to the FBI is a felony. Comey specifically said that there was no evidence Clinton lied to federal investigators about the emails.

    But hey, keep watching Fox, maybe they’ll convince you that Hillary should have personally flown bombers over to Benghazi to stop the attack.

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  89. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 7, 2016 at 3:45 pm

    [grits teeth] Um, she said there was no classified information in the e-mails. Then she said there was no information marked classified in the e-mails. And there was information, marked as such, not classified later as she tried to claim, but classified before the email was received or sent. I can’t just say that someone who says she lied about the e-mails is simply soaking in a warm FoxNews bath. I think she was being willful about wanting to have her own channel of communication with senior staff that couldn’t be subpoenaed by a Congressional committee or requested by a FOIA call, and I have no trouble believing that she didn’t intentionally pass around classified information — but I think looking into a camera and saying flatly “there was no classified information in those e-mails” dug her a hole she’s justly going to have to work her way back out of.

    Having said that, I could learn more about this great country of ours in watching a two-day Paula Deen marathon than I get out of listening on Sirius to a congressional subcommittee’s Kabuki theatre of the absurd. Whatever this is, it ain’t helping. Not either party, and not the country. But somehow this has to be resolved in public view — the denials were public, after all — because in a few more months, Pres.-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton is going to start getting briefings. An apology on the merits, now that prosecution is off the table, would really help her administration, and it would probably help Huma Abedin sleep better, too.

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  90. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 7, 2016 at 4:02 pm

    I drove back from doing an evening of storytelling and song-leading at a UCC church camp about an hour NE of me. Went thru a town in the middle of nowhere that’s got a population of [pops open a new tab, types] a thousand. 1,000 and change.

    Made the left where US 62 bends through Danville. Not even close to the speed limit, but it was 10 pm. A sport utility something pops out of a parking lot on my right, follows me out of town. I’m white, male, well-spoken (occasionally mild-mannered) and had nothing to fear, no outstanding warrants, license and registration where I’ve taught my son to keep them, and hands kept at 11 and 1 for good measure. But I’m nervous-ish as he not-quite rides my tail out of town, then swoops left to U-turn and head back in under the street lights.

    The vehicle, a high-profile something (I’m not a car guy) is painted up with red and blue stripes, an eagle’s screaming head, a large gold shield, and the copperplate “DANVILLE” across the side. Low-profile light bar overhead, crash cage over the front (hey, the deer around here ARE dangerous), spotlights attached on both sides. Bright, shiny, equipped. Fully.

    I’ve commented here and elsewhere before that I’m just not feeling right about police chiefs in little burgs, my own included, with four stars on their shoulders. Seriously? Our sheriff in this county, whom I consider a friend, wears birds: colonel-type insignia. He feels the same way about the Bolivian vibe of a guy driving a patrol car getting out with the same officer markings Patton and Bradley wore in Europe fighting the Nazis. But that war-wagon: how is it paid for? What justifies it? Who thinks the DPD needs such a thing? I’m saying put ’em all in Ford Galaxies like Andy Taylor, but suddenly every LEO has to have a vehicle of mass intimidation.

    And before you follow me all the way down a path of assumptions, I was thinking at the same time that it was in this small town, just a few months ago, that an officer of this department was shot in the head from behind in his cruiser by a guy on probation who arguably shouldn’t have been, whose GF had called his PO and said “he’s gonna hurt someone.” The concern was working through channels over the weekend, the cop killed Saturday night.

    Something’s askew with law enforcement. I think an overly aggressive force can elicit as much as it prevents, I do; I also don’t know that the War on Drugs has created it all, but it’s playing a role. 15 died over last long weekend in Akron from heroin. The cops are already through their stock of subox that was supposed to last thru 2016. They say “we’re not paramedics,” and they aren’t, but like fire fighters were asking a couple of decades back, as fire runs dwindled with improved building codes, and their role was changing: what do you want us to do?

    In one village, they think what the citizens want is a rolling display of patriotism, heavily armed, stiffly armored, and awkwardly interacting with citizens they know they have to pull over at least 50 of this month or get a write-up from their supervisor. I’d suggest a Congressional hearing, but I’ve already said what I think those compare to. But something about policing in general has to change; the two shootings in the last few days of black men on the ground makes it all the more urgent.

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  91. Sherri said on July 7, 2016 at 4:12 pm

    If she wanted to avoid FOIA and subpoena, all of those emails would have disappeared completely, just like Colin Powell’s (not suggesting nefarious purpose) and Karl Rove’s (different story there.) She kept them. The State Department is evidently bad enough at responding to FOIA requests on their own; she didn’t need help to avoid them.

    As for lying about classified information in the mails, that’s a matter of perspective and intent. If you assume bad intent from the beginning, then it’s easy to believe she lied, because Clinton. If you assume that she wasn’t doing this all for some nefarious purpose, then it doesn’t look so much like lying as misspeaking. She didn’t go over those emails before handing them over, she didn’t know they’d been changed to classified after the fact. She didn’t remember that some email threads had been marked classified, because they contained information that everybody in the world knew anyway. (The CIA drone attacks are classified; the DoD attacks aren’t. Everybody knows that the CIA are running drone attacks in countries we aren’t formally at war with, including some allies.) And when it mattered, unlike Petraeus, she didn’t lie.

    The warm Fox News bath is the water that assumes that everything Hillary says is intentionally designed to mislead, distract, coverup, obscure, more so than any other politician in the known universe. Which is how, unbelievably, Trump can have higher ratings for trustworthiness than Hillary.

    You can ungrit your teeth. Or not. You could accuse me of watching too much MSNBC, I guess, but I don’t watch TV news. I read a variety of online sources, and I never rely on a left-wing source without mainstream sources to back it up.

    If you want the perspective of a GRITS (girl raised in the South), why, honey-chile, you just got it! You don’t need no Paula Deen!

    Y’all come back now, y’hear?

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  92. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 7, 2016 at 4:20 pm

    So, what do you do with cooking oil? This always slows me up on deciding to make fried chicken. Can’t pour it down the sink; hat straining it and finding a jar big enough to use to put it in the fridge. What am I missing?

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  93. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 7, 2016 at 4:20 pm

    hat = hate.

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  94. susan said on July 7, 2016 at 4:24 pm

    You forgot “Bless your heart.”

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  95. Sherri said on July 7, 2016 at 4:32 pm

    Oh, Jeff(tmmo), I’d only say “Bless your heart” if I were mad at you!

    There was always a can of bacon grease around when I was growing up, sometimes but not always in the freezer. A more modern approach, if you’re not going to reuse the oil, is to use kitty litter to absorb the oil, double-bag it, then throw it away in the garbage.

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  96. Dexter said on July 7, 2016 at 4:48 pm

    How in hell can any police union, any mayor, anybody…say the killing of a Black man in Baton Rouge was good police work? That was first degree murder execution style…gangland stuff. How do these cops ever get certified to ever even be near a handgun? Well, there it is…go on ahead and get yourself an open carry permit, just beware: you are now fair game for any cop to just execute you on the spot. I have never seen such blatant an execution since this: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Bv11KilBpHQ/hqdefault.jpg

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  97. Jakash said on July 7, 2016 at 4:52 pm

    “hat straining it” sounds like a logical option to me, depending on the nature of the hat!

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  98. Jakash said on July 7, 2016 at 4:58 pm

    Deborah,

    I’ve never made a pie crust in my life, so I was hoping somebody else would mention this, but I’ve read that substituting vodka for some of the water makes the crust easier to roll out. Not that that would’ve helped with the crust you already made…

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  99. Deborah said on July 7, 2016 at 5:09 pm

    Pie is finally in the oven. I left to do errands while the dough was in the fridge so it was more like 3 hrs in there not 1 he. Anyway it turned into a cherry, raspberry and strawberry pie because when I looked at the amount of filling the cherries made it wasn’t enough. I happened to have some raspberries and strawberries in the fridge so I added those to fluff it up a bit. I just looked at the pie in the oven and it’s not half bad looking. I took a lot of time putting the top crust on, so it isn’t as torn and scraggly as usual. It smells fantastic.

    Nancy, how did your pie turn out?

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  100. Deborah said on July 7, 2016 at 5:13 pm

    Jakash, I would probably drink that vodka out of frustration. We don’t have a pastry cutter in Santa Fe so I had to cut the flour into the lard and butter with a knife.

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  101. Sherri said on July 7, 2016 at 5:29 pm

    My last statement on whether Hillary lied, the Politifact ruling: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jul/06/hillary-clinton/fbi-findings-tear-holes-hillary-clintons-email-def/

    You can read this and conclude that Hillary is a lying liar. You can read this and conclude that she’s not, and anything in between, depending the lens you already view her through.

    Speaking of lenses, I’ve been actively trying to expand my lens during this campaign season. One of the ways I’ve been doing that is by following some black activists and writers on Twitter, since it’s hard to find the views of POC out there. It’s been interesting and revealing.

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  102. beb said on July 7, 2016 at 5:30 pm

    Mitt Romney bought up the hardrives from the computers he and his aides used while he was governor to smash, those leaving Massachusetts without any official records of his term. If Hillary wanted to hide something that at-home server would have met the briny deep. There was a snippet of the inquisition of Comey in which he was asked if Hillary had lied to the FBI. Comey says no, that they had checked into that possibility and ruled it out. Then he was asked if she had lied to Congress or to the public, arenas outside the FBI’s jurisdiction. It’s such a witch hunt.

    Jeff @90 is a troubling posting. Getting followed by the police for no apparent reason is paranoia-inducing. And the frequency with which cops will shot people first before trying to reason with them is alarming. Is there a way to deal with this? Well, obviously training not to shoot first seems like the answer but the older cops are always going to tell the rookies that no one ever went to prison for shooting first. So that approach isn’t going to help. Police defenders says that prosecuting cops for any shooting will discourage them from doing their duty. I find myself wondering… what’s wrong with that.

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  103. Judybusy said on July 7, 2016 at 5:36 pm

    Hey everybody. I’ve been super busy with work and extra-curricular activities. I have been near tears all day due to the shooting of Phil Castile. The video his gf took just after the shooting is horrifying. She has since spoken out about what happened to her after the scene. Just bloody awful. There is a gathering today at the school where he worked. I can’t go–volunteer cooking for my Clare Housing people. Made Nancy’s potato salad, baked beans and bbq wings. Peacebuilding and community through food and friendship.

    Randy, 3rd ward in Milwaukee is a fun area. And oh, Minneapolis! Restaurants: Sea Salt, and be sure to check out the Minnehaha Falls right there. Long line to order, but you can get beers/wine/soda and enjoy yourself people watching in the park. We usually go around 5:00. For a fancier dinner: Corner Table, Spoon and Stable, Heyday, St. Genevieve or Tilia, reserve via FB or by calling. For a more casual bite with cool cocktails: Hola Arepa. Lots of theater; check out the Guthrie or the Jungle. The Dakota Jazz Club is amazing, and their sister place,Vieux Carre in St. Paul has a speakeasy vibe with local jazz. The Cedar Cultural Center has international acts, and of course First Avenue for rock-n-roll. The Cabooze is also good for that. The Weisman museum and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts are great. I’d send you to the Walker for modern stuff, but the construction around there is just nuts. We are also having movies in the park, check out Minneapolis Parks for more info. Sorry I don’t have time to build links to all this. Let us know what you end up doing. Now I gotta get back to work!

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  104. Deborah said on July 7, 2016 at 7:14 pm

    The pie isn’t pretty but it isn’t hideous either. Haven’t eaten any yet so I hope it’s at least tasty. Baking in altitude is always a mystery to me, maybe Charlotte or the Mark (H?) who lives in Wyoming can advise. I never know if the temp should be higher or lower and whether it should bake longer or less time.

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  105. Jolene said on July 7, 2016 at 7:47 pm

    You should post your pie on Facebook, Deborah.

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  106. nancy said on July 7, 2016 at 9:11 pm

    My pie — cherry — turned out great, after a solid hour of pitting. I used a Pillsbury crust, and I have #noshame about it. In summer, it’s all about the filling, and fresh pie cherries are a great filling.

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  107. Sherri said on July 7, 2016 at 9:29 pm

    Good news in Washington: the backers of a “bathroom privacy” initiative have failed to get enough signatures to get on the ballot for fall.

    http://www.thestranger.com/slog/2016/07/07/24318533/trans-rights-won-just-want-privacy-didnt-get-enough-signatures-for-november-ballot

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  108. Sherri said on July 7, 2016 at 9:42 pm

    Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper has written a book about what he thinks needs to change in the policing model. Stamper was Chief during the infamous Battle in Seattle: the WTO protests in 1999, and his experiences and the mistakes he feels he made help inform his book. I haven’t read the book yet, but here’s a review of it: http://crosscut.com/2016/07/time-for-a-tectonic-shift-in-policing-says-former-seattle-chief/

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  109. Suzanne said on July 7, 2016 at 10:15 pm

    I make all butter crust. Yum! I tried the vodka crust a couple of times, but had trouble getting it to roll out.

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  110. alex said on July 7, 2016 at 10:30 pm

    Feel it. Feel it.

    I am so Trumped out I could fucking hit the next person who asks me how I’m voting. Are all of these people around here really that stupid?

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  111. beb said on July 7, 2016 at 10:45 pm

    Active shooter in Dallas at Blacklivesmatter protest. Seemed to be aiming at cops. Oy!

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  112. basset said on July 7, 2016 at 11:24 pm

    Tell ’em the same thing you told me awhile back, Beb – that’ll straighten everyone out.

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  113. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 7, 2016 at 11:30 pm

    Sherri’s article about the Seattle police chief includes this passage, which is part of why we all are starting to feel stalked when pricey high profile war wagons in small impoverished villages jump into traffic behind us:

    “Though he recognizes that some officers are corrupt, racist or temperamentally unfit, Stamper sees cops in general as victims of a broken system. One of his most chilling observations is that officers are typically pressured to produce dollars in traffic violation fines, and that this pressure transforms a cop into a “hunter” and the people on his or her beat into “prey.””

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  114. Sherri said on July 8, 2016 at 2:06 am

    Indeed, Jeff(tmmo). In too many places, the criminal justice system is being funded by fines, thanks to the War on Taxes. If an officer is pressured to produce fines, they’re going to target the most vulnerable, too.

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  115. Dexter said on July 8, 2016 at 3:04 am

    After watching the new Jim Jefferies Netflix special I came to the Dell to see four cops are dead, more in danger of dying, in Dallas. Payback for the murderous cops in St. Paul and Baton Rouge, probably. Four cops, who had nothing to do with the murders, shot dead because they wore the symbol, a cop uniform.

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