Monthly Archive: February 2016
Joel Kotkin: We Now Join the U.S. Class War Already in Progress – The Daily Beast
We are now experiencing a growth in class-based politics not seen since the New Deal. During the long period of generally sustained prosperity from the ’50s to 2007, class issues remained, but were increasingly subsumed...
Thirty-Two Tweets For Thirty-Two Presidents
In honor of #PresidentsDay, here are my one-tweet reviews of every president up to FDR. — Jay Cost (@JayCostTWS) February 15, 2016 From: Thirty-Two Tweets For Thirty-Two Presidents | Hit Coffee
Deadpool 101
As the story goes, Liefeld sent this drawing of a “new character” to writer Fabian Nicieza, who responded that it was nothing but a copy of the DC character Deathstroke. So Nicieza dubbed the character “Deadpool,” because, logically, a deadpool is where you’d be most likely to find people doing the deathstroke.
Much like DC’s character Lobo, Deadpool quickly became a parody of the kind of ultraviolent antiheroes popular at the time, like Wolverine and the Punisher. Also like Lobo, Deadpool became superpopular among irony-blind comics readers, making him (as far as I can tell) the only new non-Turtle superhero to gain mainstream recognition for Stan knows how long. Seriously, if you can think of another superhero that was introduced since Deadpool in 1993 and would be recognizable to your average non-nerd person on the street, I want to hear about them).
From: Deadpool 101 – Who is Deadpool? Why should you see his new movie? Does he even know you’re alive?
{via Zac}
Rubio Clarifies Whether He Thinks Bill Clinton Is Responsible For 9/11 – TPM
“Well, I believe that if Osama bin Laden had been killed, Al Qaeda as an organization would not have grown to the point where it could have conducted 9/11,” Rubio said. “And my argument was, no, the responsibility of 9/11 falls on the fact that Al Qaeda was allowed to grow and prosper and the decision was not made to take out the leader when the chance existed to do so.”
Todd asked him if that meant he was not blaming Clinton for 9/11.
“No, he made a decision not to take out its leader, which I think ended up being there, the situation that happened with 9/11. And as this was a response to an attack, that the reason why 9/11 happened was because of George W. Bush,” Rubio said. “And my argument is, if you’re going to ascribe blame, don’t blame George W. Bush, blame a decision that was made years earlier, not to take out bin Laden when the opportunity presented itself.”
“So I’m actually still not quite clear,” Todd said. “Are you putting 9/11 on Bill Clinton?”
“No, I’m putting it on his decision not to take out bin Laden, absolutely,” Rubio said. “This is what happens when you have a chance to take out the leader of a terrorist organization, and you failed to do so. And the results are something like 9/11.”
Rubio Clarifies Whether He Thinks Bill Clinton Is Responsible For 9/11 from Talking Points Meme
Why was this Officer Held Responsible for his Actions?
A win for Black Lives Matter creates suspicion in China.
Alligator OK to eat on Lenten Fridays, archbishop clarifies – CNA
New Orleans, La., Feb 15, 2013 / 04:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Alligator is permissible to eat on Fridays of Lent, the archbishop of New Orleans assured a conscientious parishioner, and his approval has been backed by the national bishops’ conference.
“Concerning the question if alligator is acceptable to eat during the Lenten season…yes, the alligator is considered in the fish family,” Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond wrote in a 2010 letter provided to CNA by the New Orleans archdiocese Feb. 15.
The archbishop said he agreed with the parishioner that the alligator is a “magnificent creature that is important to the state of Louisiana” and which is also “considered seafood.”
From: Alligator OK to eat on Lenten Fridays, archbishop clarifies :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)
Josh Marshall: Playthings – TPM
But I think I know why McConnell is right out of the gate with a principle he seemingly has no need to explicitly invoke: to normalize the behavior, to stake out the maximalist position early in order to allow it time to become accepted as a given. And more than this, it makes sense for him to do so while the White House is bound by normative rules of propriety and decency to focus on statements and gestures of mourning rather than political brinksmanship.
As I said, there’s no debate here. It’s just a power-play, a refusal to fulfill a straightforward constitutional duty, which no one, not the President or anyone else, has the power to prevent. Let’s not pretend otherwise.
For the Berners
None of the below has anything to do with who I think should win the election, it’s just me looking at the demographics and the polling numbers.
They send a message you may not be interested in hearing, but the message is there.
One Crazy Hour With Buddy Cianci | Rolling Stone
Cianci was a larger-than-life character. This was a man who had been re-elected mayor after pleading no-contest to beating his wife’s lover with a fireplace log. He had his own line of pasta sauce. The judge who sentenced him on federal corruption charges, Ernest Torres, had compared him in court, with equal parts admiration and revulsion, to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
There were two Ciancis, Torres said. One was the most talented politician the state had ever seen, a legendary wit who could enthrall audiences. The other had turned the entire machinery of city government into a criminal enterprise. ‘My job is to sentence the second Buddy Cianci, because the first Buddy Cianci couldn’t be here,’ he said
From: One Crazy Hour With Buddy Cianci | Rolling Stone
{From Zac}
Bernie Sanders Intrigues South Carolina Town That Loves Hillary Clinton – The New York Times
Mrs. Clinton has long looked forward to the Feb. 27 Democratic contest in South Carolina, the first state where blacks will make up a dominant part of the primary vote. African-Americans accounted for more than half the voters in the 2008 Democratic primary, and she has been counting on them as a bulwark, not just in South Carolina but also in the so-called SEC primary in six Southern states March 1.
But a flurry of endorsements and appearances has made it clear that both candidates are avidly courting blacks and neither can assume their support.
From: Bernie Sanders Intrigues South Carolina Town That Loves Hillary Clinton – The New York Times
Justice Scalia, RIP
Justice Scalia, RIP. That he would ditch Stare Decisis would make the American System look more European. Yet, Scalia didn’t think “Americans should be governed the way that Europeans are.” That’s a conundrum.
Zenefits Software Helped Brokers Cheat On Licensing Process – BuzzFeed News
Zenefits, the $4.5 billion startup whose CEO resigned this week, created a secret software tool to let California sales reps fake the completion of an online training course that health insurance brokers must take...
The New Republican Standard Bearer
Some are born unserious; others achieve unseriousness; some have unseriousness thrust upon them.
Senior U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia found dead at West Texas ranch – San Antonio Express-News
Associate Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead of apparent natural causes Saturday on a luxury resort in West Texas, federal officials said.
Scalia, 79, was a guest at the Cibolo Creek Ranch, a resort in the Big Bend region south of Marfa.
According to a report, Scalia arrived at the ranch on Friday and attended a private party with about 40 people. When he did not appear for breakfast, a person associated with the ranch went to his room and found a body.
