Quote of the Day -- Pre-Trump Edition

 

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#BlueWave2020

Quote of the Day -- Equality Edition

Equality.

Justice.

Equity.

Fairness.

In America.

Whodathunkit?

 

Quote of the Day -- BLACK LIVES MATTER

Quote of the day, quote of the moment

"It's just so sad. You know, what stands out to me is, just watching the Republican (National) Convention, and they're spewing this fear, right. Like, all you hear is Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear. 

We're the ones getting killed. We're the ones getting shot. We're the ones who are denied to live in certain communities. We've been hung. We've been shot, And all you do is keep hearing about fear. It's amazing. Why do we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back."

--Los Angeles Clippers Head Coach Doc Rivers

BLACK LIVES MATTER

Link:

Doc Rivers delivers powerful speech on Jacob Blake shooting, racism in America

Quote of the Day -- Murderous Racist Edition

"When you cross state lines with an AR-15 and end up killing people, you're not defending your home.

It's called hunting."

--Randy Bryce @ironstache

Where We Are Now, America, With Racism, Systemic Racism and Very White Privilege

So get this straight, America.

An innocent Black American was killed.
On the streets.
Unarmed.
By yet another rogue police officer.
Shot 7 times.
In the back.

So naturally, rightly, people were out protesting.

Then a young, very young, 17 year old man, white man, 20 miles away, drove to Kenosha, to the protests.

He crossed a state line to do it, too.
With his assault rifle.

Which is illegal.
And he ended up shooting 3 people.
Killing two.

And he walked away from it.

And now people are defending him, saying he's innocent and should go free.

Right.

Got it.

And some of Americans don't think systemic racism exists.

In fact, Nikki Haley, at the Republican National Convention, says racism doesn't exist in America.

Sure.

If Someone Like Trump Can Do It, This Guy Should, Too

It would be fantastic if Democrats would start running candidates like this guy and end up winning.


Links:

Meet Randy Bryce: The 'Iron Stache' coming for Paul Ryan's

Randy Bryce for Congress 2018

Democratic union ironworker Randy Bryce running 

against Ryan

Randy Bryce for Congress - Home | Facebook

Quote of the Day -- On the President-Elect

From Professor Robert Reich today from his Facebook page.

The 538 members of the Electoral College will meet December 19 to choose the president. Below you will find the list of those presidential electors, by state.

States in which a majority of citizens voted for Trump have electors who will presumably cast their ballots for him. But no federal law requires them to do so.

In fact, the reasons the framers of the Constitution created an Electoral College that could override the will of a majority of voters (who in 2016 chose Hillary Clinton by a majority of over 2.5 million votes) was to avoid

(1) a demagogue, or 

(2) someone controlled by foreign powers, or 

(3) someone incompetent to serve office.

Trump fits all three categories.

Texas elector Christopher Suprun wrote in a New York Times op-ed published Monday that he does not plan to vote for Trump because the president-elect is "someone who shows daily he is not qualified for the office." He urged others to rally behind a Republican alternative.

I ask you to find the addresses of the Trump electors, write to them, and ask them to use their authority under the Constitution to choose someone other than Donald Trump, for all the above-mentioned reasons.

List of United States presidential electors, 

2016

Right Wing, Republican "Trickle Down Economics"

What Right Wing, Republican, Ronald Reagan-esque, "trickle down economics" begets, in 4 quick, true, documentable examples. And one of them, as we know, is our own next door neighbor:

Meanwhile, California did the opposite and is doing much better, thanks very much.

Big taxes + big spending cuts = California budget surplus

The Case for Raising Top Tax Rates

How long until Kansans pay attention, learn and turn that big ship around?

A Senate Republican Speaks Truth to Their Power

At last, long overdue, but we get some truth and honesty from someone inside this political party, calling their "Voter ID laws" what they really are and that is voter suppression.

Most assuredly un-American.  It's shameful. We need to rise up, speak out against this and overturn these efforts and soon as possible.

Hope--and a smile--for 2016

Washington Post columnist and political reporter Chris Cillizza  wrote a terrific summary of the current possible Republican candidates for president in 2016 this week:

No, Mitt Romney isn't running for president

If this list doesn't give one hope for 2016, for that election and even for America, nothing can.

10. Paul Ryan:  The Wisconsin Republican's total lack of interest in making a play for a House leadership post following Eric Cantor's stunning loss earlier this month left me, again, wondering just what the heck he wants out of his political career. The answer is elusive but now seems to be that he wants to bide his time and see where the party -- in Congress and nationally -- goes over the next few cycles. At 44 years old, he can afford to wait. (Previous ranking: 9)

9. Bobby Jindal: The Louisiana governor is running for president. The latest piece of evidence was a two-day swing through Iowa, stopping by the state Republican convention and raising money for the state party. Jindal, in his day job, is building a record that hard-core conservatives will love. He rejected the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act and, more recently, issued an executive order to withdraw the state from the Common Core education standards program. (Previous ranking: 7)

8. Ted Cruz: The last week in politics has to give the Texas Republican Senator some pause. His preferred candidate in Oklahoma's Republican Senate primary got walloped on Tuesday, the same night tea party insurgent Chris McDaniel inexplicably lost to establishment pick Thad Cochran in the Mississippi Senate runoff. Cruz has a loyal base of support. But, it's not big enough to be the nominee. (Previous ranking: 6)

7. Mike Huckabee: The former Arkansas governor is doing the sorts of things one does when he wants to run for president.   He stumped for Mike Campbell, a candidate for North Carolina South Carolina lieutenant governor earlier this month. He's giving the wink and nod statements of interest that are part of the game. And, polling in Iowa at least shows he remains popular; a recent Des Moines Register poll showed Huckabee had the second highest favorable ratings of any potential 2016 GOPer. (Paul Ryan was at the top.) (Previous ranking: 8)

6. John Kasich: The Ohio governor is the "it boy" of the smart-set in DC at the moment. He looks to be on his way to a comfortable re-election victory in the swingiest state in the country at the presidential level. He's run for president before and no one we talk to says he doesn't want to again.  If Kasich wins this fall and shows some interest in the race, he could move up these rankings. (Previous ranking: N/A)

5. Chris Christie: Just when he thought he was out, they pulled him back in. The news, which broke this week, that the feds are investigating the New Jersey governor's use of Port Authority funds to repair the Pulaski Skyway, further complicates Christie's political rehabilitation efforts. Whether or not anything in this latest investigation gets to Christie remains very unclear but it's just another bad storyline that he has to deal with at a time when he wants to pivot to the process of running for president. (Previous ranking: 4)

4. Scott Walker:  Speaking of bad headlines, the Wisconsin governor has had to weather some of his own lately over allegations of illegal coordination between his 2012 recall campaign and outside groups aiding that effort. But, earlier this week, an attorney for the special prosecutor tasked with looking into the allegations made clear that Walker was not a target of the probe. That was a nice piece of news for Walker -- and should help him quiet the storm of coverage that had popped up over the past 10 days or so. (Previous ranking: 5)

3.  Rand Paul: Paul is the most interesting candidate running for the Republican presidential nomination. He's also the one -- with the possible exceptions of Rubio and Jeb Bush -- who can make a credible case that nominating him would expand the GOP into parts of the electorate it hasn't been able to reach in recent years. Paul remains somewhat unpredictable -- that's also part of his appeal -- and it remains to be seen whether he could win a one-on-one fight with a more establishment candidate. (Previous ranking: 2)

2. Marco Rubio: The last time we wrote about the 2016 presidential field in this space, we recommended buying stock in the Florida Senator. That's still our recommendation -- particularly as Walker and Christie have stumbled a bit as of late.  Rubio's record in the Senate -- with the exception of immigration reform -- is solidly conservative and he is probably the most naturally gifted candidate in the field.  We keep hearing whispers that Rubio's record during his time as Speaker of the Florida house is ripe for an opposition researcher but we're not there yet. (Previous ranking: 3)

1. Jeb Bush: Until he says "no" -- and we still think that's more likely than him saying "yes"  -- we are going to keep the former Florida governor at the top of these rankings. That ranking is largely built on his last name and the political and fundraising muscle it represents. As Philip Bump noted in a recent Fix post, however, Jeb's record on core conservative policies is not so good. (Previous ranking: 1)

When you add  in the facts that, first, the Republican Party needs the Hispanic vote in 2016 and beyond, in order to win--or start winning--in elections and that, second, most of the Right Wing but especially the extremists in that wing, like the Tea Party, etc., want nothing whatever to do with that namby-pamby "immigration reform", it seems a sure bet the Republicans are doomed come the big election year.

Leastways, it's what we're hoping, that's for sure.

At this point, however, this is all just enough to brighten a Summer weekend. 

Have a terrific one, y'all.

Kansas City Chiefs History: On this day

On Jan. 15, 1967, the first Super Bowl was played as the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League, 35-10.

Look up "career politician" in the dictionary

Chances are good they should have Paul Ryan's picture there:

"Born and raised in Janesville, Wisconsin, Ryan earned a B.A. degree from Miami University in Ohio. Following his studies, he worked as an aide to United States Senator Bob Kasten of Wisconsin, as legislative director for Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, and as a speechwriter for former U.S. Representative and 1996 Republican vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp of New York. In 1998, Ryan won election to the United States House of Representatives, succeeding Republican Mark Neumann. He is now in his seventh term."

He's only 42 years old and already he's in his 7th term in government.

And he's going to bring us new, good things for and to Congress and the Vice Presidency and America?

I'm not betting on it.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ryan

The shame that is Joplin, Missouri right now

There's Joplin, Missouri, coming together and rebuilding after what was a horrible and very tragic tornado wiped out too much of the town and its hospital, sure. That's the good part--that they came together and people from the region and nation are helping them do just that.

We all get that.

It's covered well and some more today, in our Kansas City Star newspaper:

Joplin family, victim of ‘storm chasers,’ moves into rebuilt home

(Link to story at bottom of this post).

The good news is that this family is in their rebuilt home.

That's the good part, sure. Good for them and good for everyone who has helped.

Unfortunately, here's the flip side of Joplin, Missouri:

The bad news is that there are too many people, groups and companies trying to take advantage of the victims, as the article in The Star points out:

"Dozens of families trying to rebuild their homes have encountered contractors accused of doing shoddy work or worse — skipping town with their money and without doing the work."


Joplin mosque razed in fire; 2nd blaze this summer

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — A mosque in southwest Missouri burned to the ground early Monday in the second fire to hit the Islamic center in little more than a month, officials said.

The fire at the Islamic Society of Joplin was reported about 3:30 a.m. Monday, the Jasper County Sheriff's Office said. The sheriff's department said the building was a total loss.

The article goes on to mention that not only was this the second fire to hit the center in little more than a month but that it was the third fire to hit them, too: "A blaze at the same building July 4 caused minor damage and was determined arson."

You would think everyone in Joplin would understand the need for rebuilding. You would think everyone there would be at least preoccupied with the rebuilding of the town, first, but that they'd also be far more sympathetic and empathetic to anyone and everyone who suffered a loss.

And get that disgusting timing--someone apparently setting fire to someone's place of worship on our own "Independence Day." What should be a holiday turns into a disgusting, sinking feeling for people. They are Americans, after all, like it or not.

Arson would be the last thing that would come to someone's mind there, wouldn't you think, given the loss, losses and damage from their tornado?

If not would be, it at least should be the last thing on anyone's mind, no?

Nationally, with this Joplin loss for these people of the Islam faith on top of the shooting yesterday in Wisconsin of the six people who died and injuring three others in, again, their place of worhsip, it's nothing if not revolting and disgusting.

As people of Joplin and Missouri and Wisconsin and the nation and world, we should be better than this. We should be smarter than this.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like any form of true, diagnosed insanity would explain away the setting of the fires in Joplin. That seems to be our only hope--that is, that both the arsonist in Southern Missouri and the shooter in Wisconsin are truly, certifiably insane.

It seems to be our only collective hope, their insanity.

Unfortunately, only naked, stupid selfishness and greed can explain the people who have tried or would try to take advantage of the people rebuilding there.

Links: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/08/05/3745161/in-joplin-a-rebuilt-home-and-renewed.html


http://news.yahoo.com/joplin-mosque-razed-fire-2nd-blaze-summer-160342127.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/06/us/shooting-reported-at-temple-in-wisconsin.html?pagewanted=all

Yeehaw, Amerika

You git and keep them-thar guns.

Breaking news today, sadly and yet again:

Wisconsin Shooting: Several People Killed After Shots Fired At Sikh Temple

At least six people have been killed by a gunman who opened fire on worshippers at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.

So much for keeping holy the Sabbath, huh?

And that "day of rest" thing?

Outtahere.

In answer to the question, "When will we ever learn?"

The answer is, apparently, seemingly, never.

Links: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/05/wisconsin-shooting-sikh-temple_n_1744256.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D188460

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/05/wisconsin-sikh-temple-shooting-live?newsfeed=true

America's coup de' tat (guest post)

"I’m not a conspiracy theorist (you can’t have served in Washington and seriously believe more than two people can hold on to a big story without it leaking), but I fear that at least since 2010 we’ve been witnessing a quiet, slow-motion coup d’etat whose purpose is to repeal every bit of progressive legislation since the New Deal and entrench the privileged positions of the wealthy and powerful — who haven’t been as wealthy or as powerful since the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.

Its techique is to inundate America with a few big lies, told over and over (the debt is Obama’s fault and it’s out of control; corporations and the very rich are the “job creators” that need tax cuts; government is the enemy, and its regulations are strangling the private sector; unions are bad; and so on), and tell them so often they’re taken as fact.

Then having convinced enough Americans that these lies are true, take over the White House, Congress, and remaining states that haven’t yet succumbed to the regressive right (witness Tuesday’s recall election in Wisconsin).

I desperately hope I’m wrong, but all there’s growing evidence I may be right."

--Robert Reich, Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, author, commentator, columnist for The New York Times, etc.

Note: You may want to read the article, too, as it is yet another excellent one from Mr. Reich, no surprise.

Link to original post: http://robertreich.org/post/24472398883

Happy May Day! (too)

Or, better known as International Workers Day, "...a celebration of the international labour movement and left-wing movements. It commonly sees organized street demonstrations and marches by working people and their labour unions throughout most of the world. May 1 is a national holiday in more than 80 countries. It is also celebrated unofficially in many other countries."

In recognition of May Day and International Workers Day, the movie, "Koch Brothers Exposed" will be shown tonight at 7 pm at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church at 4501 Walnut Street right here in our very own Kansas City, Missouri. Hope you can attend. (Information at 2nd link, below).

And no, this is not "Commie" or Communist. At all.

Enjoy your day, y'all.

Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day; http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/05/may-day-occupy-labor-immigration-general-strike-breaking-news-reports; http://www.kochbrothersexposed.com/about

Former Senator on the Republican Candidates this year

"To me, the gap between President Obama and these people [the GOP candidates] is so enormous that it's a threat to our country to elect people who take such a silly view of the rest of the world," --Former Senator Russ Feingold, (WI) speaking about his book "While America Sleeps. Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/21/russ-feingold-book-gop-2012_n_1289428.html

On this day, 1967

ON THIS DAY:

On Jan. 15, 1967, the first Super Bowl was played as the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League, 35-10.

One of the best Super Bowls ever?

That would be this one, this year: The New Orleans Saints vs. the Green Bay Packers. Oh, yeah. The North vs. the South. The nation's second "Civil War." You read it here first.

YYYYAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY CHIEFS!!!!!!!!!!

KC Chiefs trivia... Only one other time in Chiefs' history have they changed coaches before the end of the season. In 1977, Tom Bettis took over as interim coach, after Paul Wiggin was fired. His first game as interim was a win. At Arrowhead. Against the Green Bay Packers. Another note: for this 5 minutes, at this moment in time, they achieved what no other team in the NFL did all season. Tonight, they're champions, if but for a day. We can enjoy, for sure.