January 18, 2020

Quiz: which candidate agrees with you on the issues?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/policy-2020/quiz-which-candidate-agrees-with-me/?fbclid=IwAR18t58-cXYWnvrLgIF9ImjMl9nISTZ2_jqdbYew7c_0HNWzGlFLLxXPvO4

I got Elizabeth Warren, with 15, then about three candidates with 12. Quizzes like these are obviously flawed, but I find them interesting.

January 16, 2020

Messages to Parnas suggest Yovanovitch surveillance happened same week as Giuliani-Pompeo calls

https://www.americanoversight.org/messages-to-parnas-suggest-yovanovitch-surveillance-happened-same-week-as-giuliani-pompeo-calls

Is there anyone in Trump’s cabinet who isn’t somehow culpable in this? The more people pull threads on this, the more unravels. It’s frightening.

January 6, 2020

Lincoln Chafee, who can't choose just one political party, is running for president as a Libertarian

He was a Republican Senator who ran for governor of Rhode Island as an Independent, then switched to being a Democrat while in office, then joined the Libertarian Party after that. What party will he join next?

https://www.snopes.com/ap/2020/01/06/lincoln-chafee-files-to-run-for-president-as-libertarian/

December 17, 2019

Interesting suggestion from John Dean

Sorry if it’s already posted. Essentially, he thinks the House should impeach and not send it to the Senate, just add articles as information comes out. Please read this, it’s interesting, I think.

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/trump-senate-impeachment-trial-rigged-mitch-mcconnell-lindsey-graham-20191215.html

December 4, 2019

Can we talk about that Peleton ad?

It just strikes me as creepy. The woman is super-thin to start with, but her husband (I presume he’s her husband) gives her a surprise gift that sends the message “you need to lose weight.” Then she looks horrified at having to use the bike, but at the end, she comes across as a Stepford wife, so happy that her life was changed because she dropped from 120 pounds to 110 pounds.

Maybe I’m overreacting? If so, I’m far from alone. Their stock has dropped as a result of the ad.

https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/12/3/20993432/peloton-new-commercial-horror-movie

December 3, 2019

Here's a reason to push for impeachment, regardless of what the Senate does

Posting this, in part, because I didn’t know it until now, so it may be newsworthy to others as well.

Regardless of whether a sitting president can be indicted and convicted on such criminal charges, Trump will become liable to them at some point. But could he be pardoned, as Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon 45 years ago?

Article II, section 2 of the constitution gives a president the power to pardon anyone who has been convicted of offenses against the United States, with one exception: “in Cases of Impeachment.”

If Trump is impeached by the House, he can never be pardoned for these crimes. He cannot pardon himself (it’s dubious that a president has this self-pardoning power in any event), and he cannot be pardoned by a future president.

Even if a subsequent president wanted to pardon Trump in the interest of, say, domestic tranquility, she could not.

Gerald Ford wrote in his pardon of Nixon that if Nixon were indicted and subject to a criminal trial, “the tranquility to which this nation has been restored by the events of recent weeks could be irreparably lost”.

Had the House impeached Nixon, Ford’s hands would have been tied.

Trump is not going to be so lucky. The House will probably impeach him before Christmas and then his chance of getting a pardon for his many crimes will be gone.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/30/trump-impeachment-inquiry-removal

November 23, 2019

Has anyone traveled on I-80 through Pennsylvania and Ohio?

So, we’re considering driving from New Jersey to Chicago. No problem, I-80 goes all the way there, but I’m unfamiliar with the stretch through Pennsylvania and Ohio, which is the longest part of the drive. Just wondering if any of you have traveled that route. Any likely problems? Is it mountainous, is there a section that often shuts down due to bad weather, etc.? I’d appreciate your help, thanks.

November 9, 2019

The Senseless Death of Deadspin

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/11/deadspins-senseless-death.html

Such a stupid decision. They had a cash cow that would have turned a profit for years, but they seem to be destroying it.

October 24, 2019

Astros Fire Assistant GM Brandon Taubman After Roberto Osuna Comments

They initially thought the comments weren’t directed at the reporter, until they interviewed more people who said were there. Which put them in the unusual position of firing a coach in the middle of the World Series.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2859682-astros-fire-assistant-gm-brandon-taubman-after-roberto-osuna-comments

October 12, 2019

Watching Ken Burns' great Civil War documentary again, I heard this Lincoln quote

“As a nation, we began by declaring that 'all men are created equal.' We now practically read it 'all men are created equal, except negroes.' When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.' When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”

And a few minutes later, this quote, also from Lincoln...

"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and, under a just God, cannot long retain it."

How sad that some Americans today still need to learn the lessons that Lincoln was trying to teach.