Darryl

It’s another stunningly beautiful summer day in Seattle. So join us this evening for some celebration and politics at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

We meet tonight and every Tuesday evening at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00pm, although some people show up earlier than that for Dinner.

Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out one of the other DL meetings this week. Tonight the Tri-Cities and Shelton chapters also meet. The Enumclaw and South Seattle chapters meet this Wednesday. And the Woodinville chapter meets on Thursday.

With 208 chapters of Living Liberally, including eighteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and three more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting near you.

Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza!

by Darryl — Friday, 8/16/13, 11:54 pm

John Oliver: Rand Paul defends his objections to Obamacare.

Thom: The Good, The Bad, and The Very, Very Ugly.

Patrick Keane: Violent history.

Sam Seder: Conservatives fear Megyn Kelly will turn FAUX News gay.

New Fronts in the G.O.P. War on Voters™:

Ann Telnaes: N.C. Gov. signs voter ID bill.
Sharpton: Republicans spin big-lies to defend their vote-rigging fraud
Chris Hayes: N.C. GOP’s racist & restrictive voting bill betrays their fear of Blacks.
Maddow: The G.O.P. war on voting, past and present, Part I
Maddow: The G.O.P. war on voting, past and present, Part II
Young Turks: Strick voter ID bill signed into law.
The political and practical effects of the N.C. voter ID law.
Sharpton: Voter suppression and racism and Rand Paul.
Lawrence O’Donnell: Rand Paul versus Hillary Clinton on voting rights.

Young Turks: God fails to help a Christian right-winger family fleeing the US by boat.

Congress is as unproductive as it is unpopular.

Meet the Republican candidate for N.J. Senate, Steve Lonegan.

Sam Seder: ‘Hillary can’t be President until al Qaeda has a woman leader,’ says nutjobber Donny Deutsch.

Pap: Ignorance is bliss for conservatives.

Army Corps and coal terminal:

White House: West Wing Week.

At Least Someone Listens!

Stephen on Obama’s denial of NSA spying
Young Turks: NSA breaks rules thousands of times a year.

John Fugelsang chats with Lewis Black about politicians.

Katrina vanden Heuvel: GOP War On Women™ rages on.

Obama: About Egypt.

Young Turks: How Congressmen are bought.

Sam Seder: Movie executive Rick Santorum thinks “Middle class” is “Marxism talk!”

Clowns:

SlateTV: Rodeo clown mocks Obama.
Martin Bashir: Republican’s Obama derangement syndrome.
Sharpton: ‘Klans-man’ Steve Stockman(R-TX) invites ‘Obama Rodeo Clown’ to Texas
Lawrence O’Donnell: White racist Teabaggers enjoy ‘Obama clown show’

Chris Hayes: The Republican allure of climate change denialism.

Tom: Even more Good, Bad, and Very, Very Ugly.

Pap: Right wing media’s downward spiral.

Kimmel: This Week in Unnecessary Censorship.

Sharpton: Post Romney, the Republican “re-branding” has failed…miserably.

Mental Floss: 37 odd college mascots.

Thanks, John:

John Oliver thanks Anthony
Daily Show: John Oliver gets a Correspondents’ send-off.

Mike Huckabee asks Ted Nuget to turn his hunting dogs lose on Dems (via Crooks and Liars).

Matt Lieb: Detained by Israeli security.

John Fugelsang: If you’re a Christian American who discriminates, you suck at both:

Republicans Self-deport for the Debates:

Maddow: Republicans won’t hold primary debates on CNN and NBC, and other news of the day.
Lawrence O’Donnell: The GOP’s dream debate moderators are Limbaugh, Hannity & Mark Levin.

Sam Seder: Missouri Republican Rep. Paul Wieland believes Obamacare will cause his kids to HAVE SEX!.

Maddow: Gov. Bob McDonnell’s (R-VA) Rolex stinks of corruption.

Thom with some Good, some Bad, and some Very, Very Ugly.

Snowden holds a presser.

Pap: Progressives taking action against G.O.P. obstruction.

Stop and Frisk is Stopped and Frisked:

Stephen takes on Stop and Frisk ruling.
Young Turks: FAUX News suggests Black people need Stop and Frisk.
John Oliver explains Stop and Frisk to White people.
Sharpton: Republican clowns defend racist Stop and Frisk.
Thom: Stop and Frisk Wall Street or Main Street?
Young Turks: Bill-O-the-Clown claims stop and frisk claims are clueless and wrong.

Sam Seder: White House brings back solar panels.

Global warming: Republican global warming denialists’ outrageous reasoning.

Mark Fiore: Keystone clones.

Thom: Will D.C. be renamed “Reaganville”?

Changing Drug Policy:

Seattle’s Hempfest.
Sam Seder: DOJ’s new stance on low-level drugs.
WA delays date for legal retailmarijuana stores to open
Young Turks: Harsh US drug laws to change, says Eric Holder.
One Minute News: Operation Orange Fingers.

Rev. Sharpton takes on G.O.P. Pseudoscience:

Ever wonder “What’s wrong with black people?”

Pap: The right wing assault on affordable healthcare.

Ann Telnaes: Coup? What Coup?

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

Snuffing America

by Darryl — Wednesday, 8/14/13, 3:50 pm

Someday, hopefully soon, Republicans will, once again, show a genuine interest in good governance. Until then, we get this shit:

Heritage Action for America – one of the conservative groups leading the charge to pressure Republican lawmakers against voting to continue government spending unless they can defund President Barack Obama’s health care law – said its new poll of likely voters in 10 relatively competitive congressional districts showed that forcing such a shutdown would not be fatal for the GOP in 2014.

The right question isn’t whether shutting down the government will hurt a political party. The right question is whether shutting down the government will hurt the United States of America!

Of course, some old-guard Republicans have come out against a government shutdown. Not because it is terrible for Americans and America, but because they remember the hit they took the last time they tried that little trick.

Instead, some of these asswipes have decided that, if not a shutdown of the Federal government, they will, instead, refuse to raise the debt ceiling—that is, they will refuse to pay for the stuff they’ve already bought. The last time they tried that, the U.S. took a bond rating hit. And notice the “big picture” reason for that downgrade by S&P (emphasis added):

More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned….

Again, these shitheads fail to seriously consider this question: “Is defaulting on our debt good for America, or does it harm America?”

Jonathan Chait enlightens us:

This is actually even more dangerous than shutting down the government. A government shutdown is disruptive, but can be endured. Nobody knows just what would happen if Congress were to default on payments to holders of Treasury bills, but it could be catastrophic, and at the very least would probably spur bondholders to demand a premium from Washington for years or decades to come. Republicans here are talking themselves out of using a conventional bomb and instead using a nuclear bomb.

These douche bags would gladly suffocate America to within inches of death if they could manage to squeeze even a tiny political advantage out of it….

Drinking Liberally — Seattle

by Darryl — Tuesday, 8/13/13, 5:51 pm

Please join us for another splendid summer evening of politics over a pint at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

We meet tonight and every Tuesday evening at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00pm, although some people show up earlier than that for Dinner.

Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out the plethora of other DL meetings over the next week. Tonight there are also meetings of the Tri-Cities and Vancouver, WA chapters. On Wednesday, the Bellingham chapter meets. And for Thursday, the Spokane and Tacoma chapters meet. Finally, next Monday, the Yakima and Olympia chapters meet.

With 208 chapters of Living Liberally, including eighteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and three more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting near you.

Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza!

by Darryl — Saturday, 8/10/13, 12:37 am

Sam Seder: RNC Chair threatens NBC and CNN.

Alex Wagner: Sen. Ted Cruz’s anti-Everything.

Maddow: Cuccinelli’s gift scandal.

The G.O.P. Presidential Field:

Young Turks: Rick Perry doesn’t know what state he is in. (Denial?)
Lawrence O’Donnell: Nutburger Rand Paul versus Chris Christie for 2016 nomination?
Sam Seder: Rick Santorum’s showering “issue”.
Young Turks: Newt Gingrich conveniently changes is position on war.
John Oliver begs Donald Trump to run again (via Crooks and Liars).
Lawrence O’Donnell: Mitt Romney weighs in on the Teabagger government shutdown.
Young Turks: Mike Huckabee’s full-on Islamophobia.

Thom: More Good, Bad, and Very, Very Ugly.

John Oliver: Still no accountability for the Big Banks (via Crooks and Liars).

Pap: The G.O.P. is eating itself alive.

John Oliver grills Sen. Gillibrand about Wall Street donations.

Sharpton: FAUX News and Republican food stamp racism.

Liz Cheney Commits Fraud:

Lawrence O’Donnell: Liz Cheney’s fraudulent Wyoming ‘fishing license’.
Alex Wagner: Senate candidate Liz Cheney obtains Wyoming fishing license illegally.

Bill Maher: N.C. W.T.F.:

Thom: Liberal State Rep. infiltrates ALEC.

Pap: Racism still motivates the Tea Party.

Young Turks: Sanjay Gupta on weed.

Daily Show tries to have a “frank and open” discussion on race (via Crooks and Liars).

Sam Seder: Moral Mondays keep growing.

Maddow: Shrinking U.S. budget is spoiling G.O.P. talking points.

Sheriff Hairspray (R-WA-08) thinks about higher office.

Bashir: Reince, blather, repeat.

NSA ~~Spying~~ Intelligence Gathering:

Obama’s presser.
Mark Fiore: Fear Fresh.
Ann Telnaes: Obama’s Leno whopper?
Maddow: Obama proposes changes to surveillance program.

Young Turks: Sean Hannity’s propaganda machine is demoted.

Thom: The Good, The Bad, and The Very, Very Ugly.

Maddow: Florida G.O.P. makes another attempt at voter purge .

Sharpton: Obama debunks G.O.P. healthcare lies.

Some Ag-related communications company interviews Rep. Susan DelBene (D-WA-01)

White House: West Wing Week.

Young Turks: GOP continues to try and defund Obamacare.

Maddow: Ohio’s G.O.P. TRAPs Toledo’s last Abortion clinic.

John Fugelsang: Keep it up Tea Party:

Nutjob Rep. Gohmert: ‘Radical Islamists’ taking Spanish lessons ‘because we don’t fear Hispanics’ (via Crooks and Liars).

Red State Update: News of the Week Podcast episode 38.

Sharpton: Racist G.O.P. birfers call for ‘Muslim’ Obama’s impeachment.

Living Wage:

Thom: If a business doesn’t pay a living wage, it shouldn’t exist.
Ed: What is a minimum living wage?
Pap and David Sirota: The conservative media’s minimum wage lie.
Ann Telnaes: Walmart–Always Low Wages.
Young Turks: Fast food restaurant proves a living wage is possible.

White House: Highlights from Obama’s Zillow interview.

Sharpton: Dead Voters? How about dead donors?

Alex Wagner: The Tea-bagger town hall “mating season” has began.

Maddow: Obamacare supporters trip up GOP’s town hall hate-meeting agendas.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

Un-Corked!

by Darryl — Thursday, 8/8/13, 6:03 pm

I was laughing out loud listening to this NPR interview with Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN).

Sen. Corker is oh so concerned about the fact that the Obama Administration is undertaking covert actions in “foreign policy” and, specifically, Syria, Pakistan, and Yemen. Sen. Corker whines that the Senate has been marginalized in foreign policy (really, security) issues.

The Obama Administration is, of course, using the exact same powers granted to the Bush Administration by the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force.

Shorter Sen. Corker (in Southern drawl): “When we eagerly granted the President unprecedented powers to undertake covert foreign actions without oversight, we didn’t realize the scary Black guy with a Muslim-ey sounding name would get to use it, too!”

Dumb and Dumber Oversight

by Darryl — Thursday, 8/8/13, 10:56 am

Politico speculates about possible replacements for Darrell Issa, whose “adventure” as Chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is term limited:

Issa’s term as the Obama administration’s chief inquisitor expires at the end of 2014, and unless leaders waive party rules, he won’t be eligible to keep running the committee.

Awww…it’s a sad.

No…really! Issa has been a real gift to the Democrats in his role as Chair of the Oversight Committee. It begins with the irony that a man who was charged twice with auto theft, and charged twice and convicted once of weapons charges is at the helm of the Oversight Committee. It sort of fits in with the Republican Projection Phenomenon of “we think you are doing something bad, because we know what we would do in your shoes.” In other words, pick the most corrupt, shadiest, morally bankrupt member to hunt for corruption, shadiness, and moral bankruptcy.

The fact is, Issa has been a disaster as Oversight Chair. He is undisciplined, politically unsavvy and, frankly, ineffective. He doesn’t seem to have a nose for investigations.

This is no more evident than in the “IRS Scandal”, where Issa made a fatal investigatory blunder. As a Partisan Issa would certainly want people to believe that Teabagger groups were being targeted. But, the Investigator Issa should have initially focused on reality first and used what he could later for the spin cycles.

Instead, Issa directed IRS Inspector General J. Russell George to investigate IRS targeting of only conservative and tea party groups. The results made for some weeks of good sound bites, but proved embarrassing and amateurish when the truth came out that the IRS was targeting all political-oriented groups. More importantly, it undermined Issa’s credibility to effectively conduct investigations.

So, this is one reason way we should hope that Issa gets a term limit waiver and remains Chair of the Oversight committee! But that probably won’t happen.

Among the prospective Chairs in Politico’s list is Washington state’s Doc Hasting (R-WA-4):

Call this Boehner ally and personal friend the wild card.

As current Natural Resources Committee Chairman, Hastings, like Issa, is term-limited [as Natural Resources Committee Chairman] at the close of this Congress.

He raised GOP eyebrows when he joined Oversight earlier this year — a rare move for someone who’s been in Congress for nearly two decades.

Republican rank and file call that “committee hopping,” and many on the panel wonder if he joined with an eye on the gavel.

Hastings’s office wouldn’t confirm or deny rumors that he‘ll throw his name in the pot. If he chooses to, he has more than Boehner’s friendship at his back: He has money.

I’ll just say this: if there is anyone in Congress that I perceive as more incompetent and ineffective in the role of Chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, it’s “Doc” Hastings. A dumber Congressman you will not find.

Please…let it be so!

Open thread 8/6

by Darryl — Wednesday, 8/7/13, 11:31 am

— King County Election Results, and links for all state counties.

— The King County parks levy passed with 69%!

— A new concept in the periodic table.

— Breaking: Transcript of al Qaeda’s worldwide conference call.

— MLA produces an official format for citing intellectual property contained in tweets.

— Fantasy Politics—2016: Weiner–Gore versus Boehner–Trump.

— The G.O.P.’s Insane “Leninist strategy”.

Election Thread

by Darryl — Tuesday, 8/6/13, 5:28 pm

Here is a thread where you can talk about this evening’s election. If the spirit moves me, I may do some updates from the Montlake Ale House.

Oh…and if you need to find a ballot drop-box or want to view the King County results, check out this page. For state stuff, go here.

(If you are looking for an open thread try the Drinking Liberally thread just below this one).

Drinking Liberally — Seattle

by Darryl — Tuesday, 8/6/13, 5:02 pm

It’s Election night in Washington state. So, if you haven’t voted…VOTE. And then join us for an evening of electoral politics over a pint at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

We meet tonight and every Tuesday evening at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00pm, although some people show up earlier than that for Dinner.

Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out another DL meeting over the next week. Tonight the Tri-Cities chapter also meets. On Wednesday, the Lakewood chapter meets. On Thursday Drinking Liberally Bremerton meets. And on Friday, the Centralia chapter meets.

With 208 chapters of Living Liberally, including eighteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and three more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting near you.

Happy “Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US” day

by Darryl — Tuesday, 8/6/13, 1:31 pm

That’s right. It was August 6, 2001 when a vacationing President George W. Bush was given a presidential daily briefing that was titled, Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US.

So you are unhappy that the U.S. assassinates people with drones? Or are you outraged about the NSA archiving phone company billing records for potential social network analysis? Maybe the whole secret FISA court things gets under your skin? Are you unhappy that over 4,500 U.S. soldiers and contractors died because the U.S. invaded Iraq on false pretenses? Or unhappy about the 100,000++ U.S. soldiers who suffered health consequences as a result of the invasion? How about the many hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians who died as a result of the invasion? Or maybe the trillion plus dollars pissed away? Or that the U.S. is STILL fighting its longest ever war in Afghanistan after more than a decade? Maybe you hate the TSA, or the fact that you cannot meet your party at their arrival gate, or that your pock knife was confiscated and they took your diet Pepsi away from you the last time you flew?

Maybe you are apprehensive about the “security” state the U.S. has become domestically, and the bully state the U.S. has become internationally?

All of this arose because George W. Bush and his security team ignored a briefing memo titled, Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US:

Nevertheless, FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.

In a week that is filled with Republican assholes criticizing Obama for shutting down embassies based on intelligence reports of potential attacks, it is good to consider the alternative—ignoring the intelligence.

On August 6, 2001, George W. Bush’s indifference to and incuriousness about a memo titled Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US snowballed into our Great American Tragedy.

WaPo goes Seattle

by Darryl — Monday, 8/5/13, 2:24 pm

I doubt the paper’s emphasis will switch to covering Washington state, but the Washington Post is about to have a new Seattle-based owner. That would be Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.

Considering the alternatives (like, you know, Rupert Murdoch buying the paper), this can only be a good thing. Besides, if anyone is going to figure out how to turn a dying 19th century-technology industry into a thriving 21st century-technology industry, I’m pretty sure it is Bezos.

The Washington Post has been owned by the Graham family for the past 80 years. And that got me to thinking…after 113 years, isn’t it time for the Blethen family to sell off the Seattle Times and get it into the hands of someone with actual competence in internet commerce?

Bezos’ letter to the WaPo staff can be found here.

(Photo by Steve Jurvetson)