July, 2015 archive
If One Standard Is Good, Two Must Be Better 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., plays trump on Republicans’ hypocrisy on “war heroes.” A snippet:
But the people who slandered John Kerry deserved it, too. The secretary of state is also a war hero, period, full stop. If that term doesn’t fit a wounded man who braved enemy fire to fish another man out of a river, then it doesn’t fit anyone. Yet in 2004 when then-Sen. Kerry ran for president and a shadowy Republican-allied group mocked that heroism and baselessly called Kerry a liar, the GOP had a different response.
Jeb Bush wrote a letter praising those who questioned Kerry’s heroism. Perry declined to condemn them. “I think that there’s a lot of questions,” he said. Santorum said Kerry “brought this upon himself” by emphasizing his military service. And Republicans went to their convention sporting small purple bandages in mockery of Kerry’s Purple Heart.
Donald Trump is the Republican id unfiltered.
Cooch and the Cuckoos: The Reunion Tour 0
Still speaking in code after all these years.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Our neighbors in the great white north are known for being polite.
The incident happened around 5 p.m. Saturday, during the races that happen most Saturdays at Speedway 660.
RCMP believe the bullet came from the property beside the Speedway’s campground where people were target practicing.
Prowling for Pretexts: Barney Fife with Real Bullets 0
An ex-cop, now a law professor, weighs in at TPM (emphasis in the original):
Read the rest and understand why Sheriff Andy would not have given this Barney Fife the bullet.
Textual Interpretations 0
Camp-fired girl:
If my girls become mothers themselves, I’ll tell them the same thing, with an important addition. “You’re only ever as happy as your unhappiest child,” I will say. “So do not send your unhappiest child to sleep-away camp with an unlimited texting plan.”
Follow the link for the text of the texts.
The Privatization Scam 0
As my local rag points out, it’s still taking a toll. Here’s a bit (emphasis added):
Many of the nation’s biggest public-private projects (supported by immensely complex webs of public and private investment), are foremost financial and investment instruments.
If you can get a government, as (ex-Governor and convicted influence peddler–ed.) McDonnell did on the Elizabeth River tunnels, to commit to outrageous terms like a 13.5 percent average annual profit, or a yearly elevator on tolls of 3.5 percent or more, all protected by a clause that forces the state to pay if it builds anything that diverts traffic, you’ve helped created a remarkably safe and lucrative financial instrument.
That comes, in this instance, at the expense of people who have no choice but to use the Downtown or Midtown tunnels, where tolls are due to rise to $1.87 per car and $7.36 per truck in 2017 and to keep on rising for decades.
“Confederacy of Dunces” 0
The Booman tries to figure out why there are so many clowns in the Republican clown car.
Light Bloggery 0
Break time.
Football uber Alles 0
Sportswriter extraordinaire Bob Molinaro cuts to the quick (emphasis in the original):
