Item One, ya’ll folks in Florida, stay safe.
Item Two, there is more speculation about why Nikki Haley announced she is leaving the UN:
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley reportedly announced her departure on Tuesday — even though she’s leaving at the end of the year — because she wanted to avoid appearing as though she were leaving the Trump administration in response to potential negative outcomes of the midterm elections or any other negative news, Politico reported.
According to two people familiar with the matter, Haley also was trying to avoid the appearance that the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe had anything to do with her departure.
While Haley’s official story is that her exit is fueled by her passion for term limits, her allies say Haley felt she couldn’t move up any further in the Trump administration and she decided to “bow out,†in Politico’s words.
There are hopes among the remaining Never-Trump Republicans that she’ll challenge Trump in 2020. Trump, for his part, is said to have been “annoyed” by her popularity and political ambitions, which means that if he weren’t such a sodden mass of Stupid he’d have offered her bigger jobs.
Item Three, There are new indicators that the post-Kavanaugh backlash is helping Demicrats and hurting Republicans, which is not what Mitch McConnell expected. See Philip Bump, “This Is Not What a Pro-Kavanaugh Electoral Backlash Looks Like.” See also “Dems Gain On Generic Ballot In Post-Kavanaugh CNN Poll, Contradicting Other Surveys” and “Poll: Kavanaugh confirmation energizes Democrats more than GOP.”
Item Four, My dad was born 100 years ago today. This photo was taken about 1944, when he was about 25.
My dad was born 1920 and I often think : this is not what my dad fought for.
Is that your dad's basic training graduation pic? If so he must of either been a super-troop or had some college, to have E-2 stripes out of basic! That jacket looks like it would be hot and uncomfortable!
Uncledad, Dad started out in the horse cavalry, believe it or not, but then the Army figured they didn’t really need a horse cavalry. They retired the horses and sent Dad to electrician school. That photo might have been after he got certified as an electrician.
The Democrat party should have two goals: an equal rights amendment and right to vote legislation. All else would follow the basics.
So, sure fire vote-getters:
1) try to eradicate healthcare; just end up making it pricier.
2) raise taxes on the poor and middle class.
3) raise cost of living for no rational purpose (tariffs).
4) kidnap children and then misplace them.
5) insult our friends; play man-crush with Putin and Un.
6) allow Iran to restart its nuclear program.
7) jam through a sex offender, alcoholic judge with an attitude problem to the SCOTUS so he can share furry coke cans with Clarence Thomas.
Sounds like a plan. Scary thing is, the scary Pumpkin Head in Chief is still polling 30-35%. I guess he hasn’t shot someone on 5th Avenue yet. No wait — the deplorables would probably like that.
Maha,
Your father is a veritable vision in khaki!
No, this is definitely NOT what Americans suffered for in previous wars.
It-s what we battled against in most of them, as a matter of fact.
Outside of that, "aj" said what I would have. 🖒
I agree that voting protection has to be a first priority. We need national standards, with teeth, to put an end to voter suppression by the states. I also want laws to end gerrymandering. The Republican Party would be toast.
Interesting tidbit from yesterday's Trump rally. He led a "lock her up'" chant for Dianne Feinstein. Previously, Republican voters may have believed that HRC broke the law by deleting emails. There might have been grounds but what did Feinstein do? She opposed Kavanaugh.
It will certainly be a moot point with the faithful but there is no question they want to lock up political opponents for resisting Trump. That's not what veterans serve and risk life and limb for. I'm a vet.
Yer Dad was way better looking than I was at 25, or any other age for that matter.
Trump is about to make a huge political and moral error. Given the fact that a hurricane 2mph short of a CAT-5 just hit the florida pan-handle and NOAA was late and under predicted the storm, surely there will be multiple deaths, billions of dollars of damage, people without power, stuck in their homes overnight awaiting rescue. Still Trump is holding one of his hate rallies in PA with the quote: " People have been in lines for hours to get in the rally, I wouldn't want to let the people down". Good luck with that asshole!
Doug: Hillary didn't break any laws, at the time she violated State department policy, it's a law now it wasn't then. Feinstein, Trump claims leaked her confidential letter, still not illegal. Only Republican sexual assaulters are provided the assumption of innocence, everyone else, Lock Em UP!
Dow took an 800 point dive, over 3%. It may be a one-day correction. This week the cost of TBills is up from 3.05 to 3.25. In other words, we're paying more to attract investors who will part with cash in exchange for an IOU to cover the deficit. One day doesn't make a trend but if the stock market is going to tank, this is a good month for it. (If the cost of Treasuries goes up a lot and stays up, we are seriously screwed.)
If the stock market is manipulated by huge forces, they aren't pleased by the trade war with China, or so I read. Costs go up, profits go down and the international racket of exploiting cheap labor and polluting third-world countries gets upset. Nobody's whispering in my ear any secrets but I'm watching the tea leaves.
The Dow took another 500 point dive today – loss for two days is way over 1300 points and 5% of where the market was. Trump has based his legitimacy on a great economy – that could be shredded in a few weeks and IF the Democrats will pivot to the point, they could say that Congress needs to take back the power to impose tariffs, which is what the Constitution mandates. This blames Trump and a global trade war for the market woes and attacks the main pillar of Trump's policies. It also puts candidates for the Senate on the hot seat – either they line up behind a disastrous trade policy the donor class does not like or break with Trump. This is the fight we want, but are Dems too stupid and too slow to go there?
Stephen Miller became a white supremacist by eating white Elmer's glue when he was a kid – link
The voting hijinks have begun. Texas Georgian Kansas.
But sadist is custody form signed by 5yr old to give up Flores rights. Funny federal government thinks 2 and 5yr Olds can go to court and understand, but Kavanaugh dissented against a 17yr old rape victim having agency to decide she wanted an abortion. Children are adults when right wing wants them to be and not when they don't.
It also needs to be noted, in following stories of detained children funneled into foster care where evangelical familes resist giving them back and state outright it has to do with saving them. Evangelicals have been trying to convert everyone south of the border away from Catholicism for a long time. This is another of their tactics.