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Sunday Morning Open Thread

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Blog Related
Posted on Sun May 10, 2009 at 09:55:56 AM EST
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Happy Mothers Day.

After calling my mother, I turned on the TV and remembered why I do not watch Sunday Talk anymore. ABC had their roundtable of Stephanopolos, Will, Donaldson, Cokie Roberts with Robert Reich. Apart from Reich, the ignorance was stunning.

One particular passage -- Will said that "the bankruptcy law was altered" in the Chrysler matter to "save the union." Of course, in Will's mind, the bankruptcy law was designed to destroy unions and save the Masters of the Universe.

This is an Open Thread.

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    That's funny (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by andgarden on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:08:19 AM EST
    I turned on ABC only to hear Cokie Roberts lambast the Edwardses for being arrogant. Then I remembered why I don't watch sunday talk, and turned it off.

    I don't mind a little (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by brodie on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:27:52 AM EST
    Edwards bashing at this point.  She's clearly on a rehab tour, and judging from her questionable Oprah appearance, she still seems lacking in credibility on these personal matters.  Some might say she's in denial, but I suspect she's being dodgy, wanting to confess to as little as possible, hoping to re-emerge in the near future as at least some sort of plausible and sympathetic blog-land commentator.  

    I'm sure we can expect Johnny's semi-mea culpa/modified limited hangout book sometime next year (pending court-ordered DNA tests, for sure) with the obligatory media book tour for him.

    Wish they would both go away.  I don't believe a word from either of them.  

    Parent

    Elizabeth Edwards is trying to (5.00 / 0) (#54)
    by Anne on Sun May 10, 2009 at 01:48:38 PM EST
    go out with some dignity; the treatment she was getting that was keeping her one step ahead of the cancer has stopped working, so I imagine it won't be too long before she appears in a coffin, as opposed to a blog.

    Is she in denial about her marriage and her husband?  Probably.  But since neither Edwards is involved in politics or government, I can be charitable enough to understand that she needs to paint a picture for herself and her family before she leaves them forever.

    Whether I believe that she believes what she's saying is irrelevant - she's not saying it for me, she's saying it to keep her family intact.  In the event the father of Rielle Hunter's baby turns out to be John Edwards - a fact I do not believe will be made public while Elizabeth is still alive - she's making it impossible for Rielle to take her place, even if the child ends up having some relationship with the Edwards kids.

    I think the piling-on is unnecessary; John Edwards is going to carry this shame with him for the rest of his life - no one will forget that he cheated on a sick wife and then lied about it - especially if that is his child.

    Parent

    If that was her goal I'm afraid she (5.00 / 1) (#60)
    by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 02:04:51 PM EST
    miscalculated.  Since she put her family back in the public eye herself this week, I think it is fair to say that I think her dignity and her family would have been better served by her staying off Oprah.

    I can certainly understand her being privately bitter about Rielle Hunter and her baby, but i think trying to pre-poison an innocent child's future life with its possible family is unbecoming of the Elizabeth Edwards I had grown to respect.    

    Parent

    I think it just goes to show (none / 0) (#65)
    by Anne on Sun May 10, 2009 at 02:20:12 PM EST
    how desperate people can get - and how badly Elizabeth Edwards needed someone to be honest enough with her to tell her that there is little dignity in going on Oprah.

    I'm sorry she is dying, and I'm sorry for all the tragedy in her life, but I don't need her death to play out as publicly as her life did.

    Parent

    Me too (5.00 / 0) (#70)
    by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 02:29:56 PM EST
    I hope she has some true private friends to turn to in the coming months. I can't imagine how I would react in her situation so I should not be so quick to judge her.

    Parent
    Agreed! (none / 0) (#72)
    by ChiTownDenny on Sun May 10, 2009 at 02:34:38 PM EST
    Perhaps when one is in the public eye, one feels an obligation.  Perhaps when one is in the public eye, one doesn't know how/wnen to leave it.  
    With all due respect, Elizabeth, and John, time to go.  With PEACE.

    Parent
    Here, for your reading pleasure, (5.00 / 2) (#15)
    by Anne on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:41:03 AM EST
    is just the opening of James Wolcott's searing take-down of the Sunday talk shows (the rest of it is just as good):

    If it were possible to reach into the television screen and throttle the scrawny neck of the Washington establishment, shake it until the dice rattled and the stem came loose, would that be wrong? Would that be considered unsporting? It pains me, as a bringer of dharma and light, to feel driven to imaginary acts of symbolic violence, but even a man of peace can take only so much until frustration blazes to the upper floor. Watching ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, for instance, is like receiving an engraved invitation to apoplexy. When the panel that Stephanopoulos conducts after his "Newsmakers" interviews includes Sam Donaldson, George Will, and Cokie Roberts, longtime observers of Roman folly, it is like being swallowed by an hourglass; they saw away at the same old creaky strophes of received wisdom as if nothing short of divine revelation could awaken a new thought, eject the dust bunnies from their brains. (Will, who might have filled the throne of conservatism's beloved elder statesman vacated by William F. Buckley Jr., seems to have resigned and consigned himself to tedium.) To delve into the editorial pages of The Washington Post is to crack open an even creakier sarcophagus, where the dead paw of consensus maintains a semblance of order, continuity, prudence. Screams of boredom echo through the vault, but the sneer etched on columnist Charles Krauthammer's face remains unmerciful. Every time political analysts Dick Morris, Bob Beckel, and Karl Rove surface on Fox News like plump juicy roasters, I think, Shouldn't they be floating on a barge somewhere, bound for obscurity? Why's Pat Buchanan still hanging around? On CNN's political panels Jeffrey Toobin appears to be the only intellectually adept non-android. With Barack Obama as president and the super-happening Michelle Obama as First Lady, you would think a new tone, a new tune, a kicky new jazzitude, would have entered Washington discourse, but it remains a landlocked island unto itself, held captive by its tribal fevers.

    I read it yesterday while I was at the salon getting my hair highlighted and cut, and it was all I could do not to shout "YES!" about every other sentence...on the other hand, how sad is it that these Sunday shows are what pass for informed opinion?

    Parent

    The only time I want to throttle Pat Buchanan (none / 0) (#16)
    by andgarden on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:43:54 AM EST
    is when he says something explicitly racist (which happens).

    Most of the rest just bore me.

    Oh, and my favorite of all the Sunday yappers is the McLaughlin Group.

    Parent

    Personally, I still miss... (none / 0) (#39)
    by EL seattle on Sun May 10, 2009 at 12:36:10 PM EST
    ...Agronsky & Company.  It sure was a different universe back then.

    Parent
    Many, many thanks (none / 0) (#76)
    by cal1942 on Sun May 10, 2009 at 05:17:59 PM EST
    for the Wolcott link.

    Parent
    Better than what I heard (none / 0) (#3)
    by nycstray on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:11:01 AM EST
    Matthews saying Rudy would beat Paterson in the Gov race. {runs screaming from the state}

    Parent
    It's true, he probably would (none / 0) (#4)
    by andgarden on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:12:24 AM EST
    But I think that Paterson is going to be defeated (by someone; anyone) in the primary.

    Parent
    Who do you think will challenge him? (none / 0) (#5)
    by nycstray on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:14:50 AM EST
    And why can't Rudy just crawl under a log and STAY there?

    Parent
    I think it's got to be Cuomo (none / 0) (#6)
    by andgarden on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:16:51 AM EST
    The polling says he would win the primary with no sweat. He's just waiting to see if Paterson will step aside on his own.

    It's all too bad, because I don't think Paterson is as terrible as most of the rest of the people who live in New York. I just think he got a really bad hand, and then handled it only middlingly well.

    Anyway, I vote in Pennsylvania, so this isn't so much my fight.

    Parent

    I don't think Paterson is that bad either (none / 0) (#11)
    by nycstray on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:28:55 AM EST
    I'd kind of like Cuomo to keep doing what he's doing for awhile longer.

    I should be happily living in the CA mountains by then if all goes as planned. Just the thought of Rudy running is enough to notch up my motivation to get there, lol!~

    Parent

    Well, one thing I can say for sure (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by andgarden on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:30:02 AM EST
    is that California politics are even more dysfunctional! The 2/3 budget requirement is borderline insane.

    Parent
    Oh, I know!! (none / 0) (#13)
    by nycstray on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:35:01 AM EST
    But at least I won't get any Rudy for Gov commercials there {grin}

    Parent
    Well if it's any consolation, I don't think (none / 0) (#14)
    by andgarden on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:38:28 AM EST
    Rudy is going to run. He couldn't handle the chance that he might face (and lose to) Cuomo.

    Parent
    Works for me! (none / 0) (#17)
    by nycstray on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:45:18 AM EST


    Parent
    I picture him (none / 0) (#77)
    by cal1942 on Sun May 10, 2009 at 05:19:52 PM EST
    slithering under a rock.

    Parent
    More New Yorkers prefered (none / 0) (#24)
    by oculus on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:54:40 AM EST
    Spitzer as Governor than prefer Paterson. Where did I read that?  Probably Huff Post.

    Parent
    Weekend Update.... (none / 0) (#40)
    by EL seattle on Sun May 10, 2009 at 12:39:50 PM EST
    ...used that poll for a sketch element on SNL last night.  (And it wasn't entirely bad.)

    Parent
    Striking observation on that show. (none / 0) (#19)
    by ChiTownDenny on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:17:25 AM EST
    An observation that was little addressed after the truth about Edwards' affair was made public.  Had he dropped out before Iowa, Hillary would have more than likely won that state.  Hstory would have more than likely been re-written.  His advisors were prepared to sabotage his electoral chances should he appear to be the front-runner in Dec/Jan by leaking the affair.  
    I couldn't be happier with Obama as POTUS thus far.  Hillary seems likewise.  Nevertheless....
    The arrogance of Edwards indeed; and of his advisors!

    Parent
    Not to mention (5.00 / 1) (#30)
    by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 12:03:02 PM EST
    the campaign contributions that paid their salaries...under false pretenses.

    Really, this should be investigated. And Stephanopolous just kind of threw it out there, almost as an aside.  Amazing.

    Parent

    Yes, that was interesting (none / 0) (#26)
    by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:57:12 AM EST
    But it was pretty clear during the fall debates that Obama and Edwards were unofficially teamed up against Clinton. Does not surprise me that Edwards' staff was not going to do anything that would help her.  

    So the staff was essentially running a fake campaign, with no intention of letting their guy win? I don't have the time or the inclination to go back and replay everything Mudcat Saunders said during that period in that light, but is does seem like a huge con job to me.

    Parent

    What will Joe Trippi have to say? (none / 0) (#27)
    by oculus on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:58:52 AM EST


    Parent
    thanks - I could not remember his name! (none / 0) (#29)
    by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 12:00:53 PM EST


    Parent
    You're right. (none / 0) (#34)
    by ChiTownDenny on Sun May 10, 2009 at 12:22:03 PM EST
    But they all ganged-up on the front-runner.  Edwards was not unique.

    Parent
    Yes, I guess it is easier to see in retrospect (none / 0) (#38)
    by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 12:35:42 PM EST
    that Obama was Edwards' real rival, not Hillary. Guess they bought the 'inevitable' theme.

    Parent
    I was quite disturbed by Edwards' speech (5.00 / 1) (#42)
    by ChiTownDenny on Sun May 10, 2009 at 12:52:29 PM EST
    at that Obama rally where he stated his support for Obama.  Edwards previously stated he would be neutral.  Now, I just want to hear: "Bye, Bye, Bye."  Good luck, but stfu, both of you!  Save the poor; wasn't that your agenda?

    Parent
    Completely agree (none / 0) (#44)
    by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 12:55:24 PM EST
    I'm done with both the Edwards'. Surely they can do enough in private life to help their own family and any cause they choose. I think they are both a touch deranged.

    Parent
    Well, in fairness, I would also (5.00 / 1) (#49)
    by Anne on Sun May 10, 2009 at 01:33:56 PM EST
    probably be a touch deranged after losing my 16 yr old son to a freak car accident, slogging through a tough campaign in 2004, being diagnosed with breast cancer that ended up being terminal.

    I imagine the combination of those events deranged the entire family to some degree.

    Not that that is an excuse for John Edwards to cheat on his sick wife; it isn't.  

    I suppose what I take from the Edwards' experience is that sometimes ego alone is not enough to conquer every challenge and every setback and every defeat.  Sometimes those things reduce us to what we really are: flawed human beings who do dumb things.

    What upsets me the most, in a bigger sense - because I have no investment in the Edwards' marriage/health - is that it seems that when Edwards killed his political chances, others decided that his anti-poverty message could die along with it.  And in these times, with so many having taken up the cause of the billionaire banksters, the needs of the poor, the working poor and the dwindling middle class really have no champion.

    Go over to NPR (h/t lambert @ Corrente), and listen to the exchange between Elizabeth Warren and Adam Davidson of NPR: that will tell you all you need to know about the chances of the poor having any voice or any seat at the table.

    Parent

    No doubt (5.00 / 1) (#53)
    by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 01:45:50 PM EST
    I watched my own mother go through it twice. Probably a good idea she was never in the public eye, playing with other people's lives.

    I did read the transcript of that interview. Yes, when the establishment media thinks the the financial well being of American families has nothing to do with the health of banks or the economy in general, it means they do not care about those families at all. I also heard Sam Donaldson doing some muttering about BofA stock being up this week, and it was clear to me that the only economy that round table cared about was the one that directly affects them.

    It has been said 100 times and I'll keep saying it, we cannot get a better country without a better media.  As well meaning has the Edwards' may have been, their help for the poor needs a media that cares about the poor, and it is just not there.

    Parent

    Each was playing "Survivor" (none / 0) (#47)
    by Politalkix on Sun May 10, 2009 at 01:22:32 PM EST
    Many people also thought at the beginning that the "experienced" candidates, HRC, Richardson, Biden and Dodd were ganging up to cut off the oxygen for the "change" candidates, Edwards and Obama.
    What would have happened if Gephardt pulled out of Iowa in 2004?

     

    Parent

    HUH? (5.00 / 1) (#51)
    by ChiTownDenny on Sun May 10, 2009 at 01:40:21 PM EST
    The election is decided.  Hopefully, all of us have accepted the outcome.  But keep in mind that 2/3 of Iowa white voters DIDN'T vote for Obama.  With Hillary and Edwards splitting that vote, the outcome in Iowa would have been dramatically different if Edwards had dropped out.  This is significant because the Edwards team, family and advisors, were aware of the affair prior to Iowa.

    Parent
    Exactly. This is not just about the pols (none / 0) (#57)
    by Cream City on Sun May 10, 2009 at 01:54:32 PM EST
    and poor Elizabeth Edwards and their children, etc.

    He chose to run, and take millions of voters for their money and for a ride, while he knew that this could emerge.  So did she.

    And as a result, they played a role in the election that helped in its eventual perversion by the party.

    We may have ended up with the best candidate for president, after all.  But it is not the president but the process that matters in the long term in a democracy, if the democracy is to maintain the respect of the people.

    For the Edwardses, I have no respect for him and little left for her, sadly, as they made it about themselves instead of the people, especially the poor whom they claimed to be all about.  Pffft.  

    Parent

    We got a Clintonite. (none / 0) (#63)
    by ChiTownDenny on Sun May 10, 2009 at 02:17:48 PM EST
    Perhaps not the "Clinton"ite we originally wanted.  The Clintons seem fine with this.  So am I.

    Parent
    Not a Clintonite on the economy (5.00 / 0) (#81)
    by Cream City on Sun May 10, 2009 at 08:18:46 PM EST
    or there would have been help for folks, not just banks and businesses, by now.  And not a Clintonite on health care.  And certainly not a Clintonite on women's and girls' issues (note, ugh, the joke about Summers, ugh, last night).

    A Clintonite on the war, yeh, for which Hillary Clinton was pilloried. . . .

    Parent

    Arguments cut many ways (none / 0) (#62)
    by Politalkix on Sun May 10, 2009 at 02:14:30 PM EST
    99% of voters who voted for Obama in Iowa were also white. It is wrong, IMO, to imagine that all white voters who voted for Edwards would have voted for HRC if Edwards dropped out early. Many of Edwards's supporters also believed in the "change" theme. They could have voted for Obama and not HRC. Many of them could have even possibly stayed home and not voted for either one of them.
    Bill Clinton's political life did not end because of an affair. Why would people who believed in Edward's "anti-poverty" campaign imagine that Edwards political life had to end if the affair came to light when Pres. Clinton's did not?
     

    Parent
    Do -over? n/t (none / 0) (#67)
    by ChiTownDenny on Sun May 10, 2009 at 02:25:16 PM EST


    Parent
    Oh yeah! (5.00 / 1) (#69)
    by nycstray on Sun May 10, 2009 at 02:28:09 PM EST
    lol!~ like we really want to go through the primaries again . . .

    Parent
    It was the most monumentally (none / 0) (#73)
    by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 02:47:26 PM EST
    important yet ultimately probably inconsequential thing to ever happen! How can it ever get old?

    Parent
    But on Survivor (5.00 / 1) (#74)
    by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 02:48:41 PM EST
    when you get voted off the island you get your one or two interviews and then you are done. You don't get to keep coming back for m re.

    Parent
    Chrysler got $12 billion to go to Mexico (5.00 / 2) (#2)
    by Cream City on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:08:23 AM EST
    and build a plant there with our tax monies, while it closes several plants in this country and kills thousands of jobs here, in the Midwest, where workers will be left clinging only to God, guns, and their places in unemployment lines.

    Obama gets the big, bad headline and blame for it on top of page one in the Sunday paper with half a million circulation statewide today.  He is not being well served by his car czar, caught for lies about this to govs and members of Congress in several Midwestern states (see the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Michigan media, etc.).  That includes states that went for Obama, states with Dem govs and Dems in the Senate, states that he and Dems will need again.

    Maybe the Masters of the Universe want Obama to be only a one-termer in the White House.

    Missing words: (5.00 / 2) (#7)
    by Cream City on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:21:55 AM EST
    Obama gets the big, bad headline and blame for it on top of page one in the Sunday paper with half a million circulation statewide today in Wisconsin.

    And the top story, a searing one, on the editorial page of the Plain Dealer in Ohio.  Still checking the placement of the similar stories in the Michigan media -- and Congressional reactions there.  If anything like the blasts from Feingold about being spun by the lies, the loss of faith and trust in the Obama economic team could bode ill.  

    Parent

    How does one get a work permit (none / 0) (#21)
    by Fabian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:27:19 AM EST
    in Mexico?  Maybe the trained workers should follow the jobs south.

    (Not a joke.  I asked my husband if his employer has asked him to move to France yet.  He gave me the impression that if he asked to do that, they'd want to know how soon.)

    Parent

    A very Happy Mothers Day... (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by kdog on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:24:33 AM EST
    to all the moms...especially mines:)

    The verse of MCA from Sure Shot....

    I wanna say a little something thats long overdue,
    the disrespecting women has got to be through.
    To all the sisters and the mothers and the wives and friends,
    I wanna offer my love and respect till the end.

    Like Ma Bell, we all got the Ill Communication:)

    I DVR but don't watch (5.00 / 2) (#10)
    by Stellaaa on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:28:17 AM EST
    I don't know why I still do that, it's so predictable.  Ignorant pundit, our new affliction.  Drivel.  

    Listen to Vivaldi on Sunday mornings.  

    Happy Mother's day.  

    I have them on, but increasingly (none / 0) (#31)
    by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 12:07:40 PM EST
    get my vacuuming and other housework done during the shows instead of watching them.

    And, whether I am really paying attention or  not,  I run to the TV after MTP to switch the channel to CBS so I don't catch an instant of  'The Chris Matthews Show'.

    Vivaldi, you say? H,mmm....

    Happy Mothers Day to you and all the other Moms and virtual Moms as Anne pointed out

    Parent

    Happy Mother's Day to (5.00 / 2) (#18)
    by Anne on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:45:23 AM EST
    all the moms; even if you don't have kids, I'm pretty sure you're mothering someone - nieces and nephews, beloved pets - it's all good, because everyone needs a mother's love.

    It's a gorgeous day here in Maryland - hope all of you have a similarly beautiful day!

    She's been gone a little over two years (5.00 / 5) (#20)
    by easilydistracted on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:24:08 AM EST
    and what'd I'd give for just one more hug and to say Happy Mothers Day. We can never be good enough sons for our Moms.

    Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms.

    Aw, thank you (5.00 / 2) (#36)
    by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 12:28:10 PM EST
    Since I lost my mom almost 20 years ago,and have no human kids of my own, I always feel kind of sad and left out on Mother's Day.

    After my dog finishes his nap I'll make him take me to brunch! And I'll see one of my nephews next weekend for his HS graduation, so that will be nice.

    Parent

    Oops - meant that as a reply to Anne (5.00 / 2) (#37)
    by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 12:30:44 PM EST
    But I hope you are treating yourself well this Mother's Day. I know it is hard, and I wish I could say it gets easier with time. You get more used to it, but that's about the best you can do.

    Parent
    My mom (5.00 / 1) (#52)
    by Inspector Gadget on Sun May 10, 2009 at 01:45:11 PM EST
    died last night. We loved her well, and she always knew that.

    Parent
    So sorry (5.00 / 1) (#55)
    by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 01:49:58 PM EST
    All my sympathies to you and your family.

    Parent
    Oh, I am so sorry to hear this... (5.00 / 1) (#56)
    by Anne on Sun May 10, 2009 at 01:52:49 PM EST
    Condolences to you and your family.

    There is comfort in knowing that you loved her well, and it is equally a testament to her as a mother, because I imagine it was she who taught you how to do that.

    ((((hugs)))))

    Parent

    Condelences (5.00 / 1) (#58)
    by Cream City on Sun May 10, 2009 at 01:57:32 PM EST
    as there is no day that is good for losing a mom, as well I know, but that it was the eve of this one does make it all the harder.  She is still with you, though, just as mine is still with me many years since her death.  We moms know how to get inside our kids' heads and hearts and stay there.:-)

    Parent
    You sure do (5.00 / 1) (#71)
    by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 02:32:19 PM EST
    How do you do that?

    Guess it is a mystery I will never learn - but I'm glad Mom's do it!!!

    Parent

    Soc sad. (none / 0) (#61)
    by ChiTownDenny on Sun May 10, 2009 at 02:08:37 PM EST
    My condolences to you and you family.

    Parent
    Ugh. should read: "So Sad". (none / 0) (#75)
    by ChiTownDenny on Sun May 10, 2009 at 02:58:09 PM EST
    I started my day at Elmwood Park Cemetary, Chicago.  My mother has been there since I was 5.  My condolences to you.


    Parent
    My thoughts are with you all... (none / 0) (#84)
    by kdog on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:55:04 PM EST
    the real beauty of mothers is they are us and we are them and that sh*t never dies.

    Parent
    NPR's Adam Davidson assaults Elizabeth Warren (5.00 / 3) (#22)
    by lambert on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:39:57 AM EST
    Transcript. She's not a serious person*!

    Happy Mother's Day, Professor Warren!

    * And not the first time that the coverage of the financial crisis has reminded me of Iraq!

    Who the hell is Adam Davidson? (none / 0) (#35)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Sun May 10, 2009 at 12:27:34 PM EST
    Never heard of him.

    Apparently an important thinker in his own mind.

    I never heard of him before.

    Parent

    According to Wiki, Davidson won a (none / 0) (#46)
    by oculus on Sun May 10, 2009 at 01:11:20 PM EST
    Daniel Schorr award for Davidson's coverage of Iraq war.  

    PS I know you don't have any use for Schorr.

    Parent

    Versailles in action (none / 0) (#41)
    by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 12:48:52 PM EST
    That may be one of the scariest transcripts I've ever read. Someone with a publicly funded microphone arguing that the fate of the banks does not depend on the solvency of American families.

    The only thing more astounding is that I can keep being astounded by the stupidity of the media.

    Parent

    Washington (none / 0) (#78)
    by cal1942 on Sun May 10, 2009 at 05:46:07 PM EST
    is this era's Versailles.

    Parent
    Davidson's NPR show, Planet Money... (none / 0) (#80)
    by lambert on Sun May 10, 2009 at 06:27:27 PM EST
    .... is quite popular, apparently.

    Parent
    Happy Mom's Day to me! (5.00 / 1) (#23)
    by Fabian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:43:05 AM EST
    And all the other Moms out there.  If you do the lion's share of the child care, you are teh mom.

    My week included the good/bad news of my youngest son's multi-factored evaluation for kindergarten.  The more bad news you get, the more services your child qualifies for in school.  I sit and ask questions and try not to cringe.  I'm just one lone parent facing five people who are talking about my child's deficits.  It's like taking medicine that tastes bad.  It's all for the best, but it doesn't make the experience feel any better.  Onwards to the IEP!

    Followed that up with him getting sick Thursday evening.  Virus?  A high fever that didn't fade, so Saturday it was off to Urgent Care with a likely bacterial infection.  Happy day - the visit to urgent care was very smooth, prompt service, little waiting and he behaved well for the most part.  (He has the capacity for much mischief.)  Positive for strep, fill prescription and then....take pill.  Still working on the pill taking.  Yet another parental challenge which I view as learning an important life skill.

    Happy Mother's Day!

    Happy Mother's Day! (5.00 / 1) (#48)
    by Steve M on Sun May 10, 2009 at 01:32:50 PM EST
    I've been at the playground with my daughter for a couple hours now, enjoying a nice breezy day.  Kind of funny how a nice Mother's Day present involves relieving my wife of her mom duties!  (Well, that and the dark chocolate truffles.)  Best wishes to all those awesome moms out there!

    You've got the right idea. (none / 0) (#64)
    by oculus on Sun May 10, 2009 at 02:18:18 PM EST


    Parent
    Happy Mother's Day (5.00 / 1) (#50)
    by Militarytracy on Sun May 10, 2009 at 01:34:09 PM EST
    Count me as exhausted.  Baby Zoey went back to her mum's today after spending a month with G-ma.  Baby Zoey and G-ma also worked two dog shows in Perry GA on Thursday and Friday though Zoey had a meltdown on Friday and we had to leave early.  Drove four hours home and we both collapsed.  I think she has recovered but I'm not sure about me yet.

    And to you. I'm already worn out now (none / 0) (#59)
    by Cream City on Sun May 10, 2009 at 02:00:26 PM EST
    by getting both barrels from one of my grown progeny who landed "loaded for bear," as we say.  So we got the usual fight out of the way first.  Is that progress?  But she came to make dinner for me.  Should I feed some first to the cat that I don't like, the one that the same said child promised would leave when the child did? :-)

    Parent
    My mom had one of "those" cats (5.00 / 1) (#68)
    by nycstray on Sun May 10, 2009 at 02:25:17 PM EST
    she went to the bridge last year at around 17. Sibling who left cat with mom now has her daughter's cat, lol!~ Of course, sibling  does not even see the humor in the situation, she's always been a tad slow to "get it", which works for us when we want to have a good chuckle at her expense  ;)

    Parent
    Oh man. Have you read Deborah (none / 0) (#66)
    by oculus on Sun May 10, 2009 at 02:20:25 PM EST
    Tannen's "You're Wearing That"?  It is about conversations between mothers and daughters and the meta backstories.  Kind of depressing, as it is all quite recognizable but maybe not "fixable."  

    Parent
    I have a very similar relationship (none / 0) (#82)
    by Militarytracy on Sun May 10, 2009 at 09:55:24 PM EST
    with my only daughter.  Are we too much alike?  Are too different?  I can have the very best time with her but often we settle for grating on each other.  I have come to say that the reason why Zoey and I have become so instantly close with very little time spent together prior to this month stay is that we share a common enemy........her mother :)

    Parent
    I think the relationship between mother (5.00 / 1) (#83)
    by Anne on Sun May 10, 2009 at 10:31:26 PM EST
    and daughter is so complex, and yet so simple.

    I am the mother to two daughters who could not be more different from each other, and yet I love them both to pieces.  I am challenged to fit the different elements of my own personality to the theirs, such that I find the common bonds and points of agreement that allow us to have a good mother-daughter relationship.

    As a daughter myself, I continue to nurture the things that keep my mother and I close, even as our relationship has sort of flip-flopped, with me doing more mothering than "daughter-ing."

    Which is not to say that we don't all get on each others' nerves, lol - when I am in synch with one daughter, it may put me out of synch with the other - and then I have to switch gears with my mother, to be a daughter and not a mother - which makes those occasions when we are all together much more challenging than when we are relating one-to-one.

    No wonder I am always pooped when they all go home...the things we do for love, huh?

    Parent

    We're too much alike (5.00 / 1) (#85)
    by Cream City on Mon May 11, 2009 at 12:15:43 AM EST
    in some ways.  Other days, I think she was left on the doorstep. :-)

    I finally figured out what was bothering her -- that this is one of her last days with her big brother before he heads overseas to get married to, y'know, another woman.  So I told him to tell his sister that he loves her, and that much may change in their lives, but that he'll always love her.

    Now she's all sweetness and light . . . and I'm exhausted from having to analyze her behaviors for so many years, the sort of behaviors that baffle me and remind me of how much we are not alike.  

    Ah well, as my son said on this Mother's Day, it shows that I'm still needed.  To do therapy!


    Parent

    My daughter is this complex (none / 0) (#87)
    by Militarytracy on Mon May 11, 2009 at 07:58:34 AM EST
    as well about her relationships with all of us.  She can become very upset when her brother is heading to a surgery and be almost impossible to be around.......and then at other times the cup of her faith that the universe has good intentions for her brother is full and if I treat her tenderly thinking otherwise........we're all in trouble again :)

    Parent
    Two dogs shows with baby? (none / 0) (#86)
    by Fabian on Mon May 11, 2009 at 05:44:50 AM EST
    G-ma is one gutsy lady!

    Hope the shows went well.

    Parent

    I'm so proud of her too (5.00 / 1) (#88)
    by Militarytracy on Mon May 11, 2009 at 08:11:47 AM EST
    She did wonderfully, and of course dog people love babies though it is hard to squeeze a baby in between a jillion dogs if you're a handler.  One of the judges though pronounced that this would be a great show because it had a baby.  I worked mostly in the kitchen as each club does its very best to set up a really tasty beautiful lunch for the judges who often travel across country to judge the show and sometimes even around the world (my club is employing two judges from South America next year).  I can't cook much but I can do everything else and I have an eye for presentation. So I worked in the kitchen for my club and a fellow club who was in danger of not having enough kitchen help for things to go smoothly.  I took a Kelty baby backpack, a Pack and Play, and stroller.........and I kept mixing it up where she was and what she was doing.  We would go watch the groups and best in show as the kitchen work is usually all finished by then and she would clap for all the dogs up in the baby backpack along with everyone else.  I only had my own mom for my first seven years but I will always remember that she thought it was very important to take your kids everywhere.  How else will they learn how to properly conduct themselves she would ask when people noticed all of us went everywhere with her?  She frowned on people who thought too often that sitters were needed to attend to their lives.  That part of my mom stuck to me firmly.

    Parent
    New subject: (none / 0) (#25)
    by oculus on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:57:08 AM EST
    Petraeus: Al-Qaida No Longer Has Bases in Afghanistan

    Huh? (none / 0) (#28)
    by ruffian on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:59:46 AM EST
    Well, Dick Cheney informed me on 'Face the Nation' that if David Petraeus says it, it must be true. So that's all I need to know.

    Parent
    Which means that hunting them (none / 0) (#89)
    by Militarytracy on Mon May 11, 2009 at 08:18:59 AM EST
    means trying to flush them out of the civilian population.  I'm not impressed at all with the Obama administrations under reaction to civilian casualties either.  That was one of the most horrible things that the Bush administration did as well and we.......everyone......paid dearly for it in Iraq.

    Parent
    A winner (none / 0) (#32)
    by lentinel on Sun May 10, 2009 at 12:17:21 PM EST
    I remember when Bush 2 was running against Gore in 2000. There was that roundtable of idiots on ABC.
    The comment I will never forget was made by Cokie Roberts. She said, with some over-the-top emotion, that Bush's mother was "beloved". It was said in three syllables: be -lov - ed.

    It left me gasping for air.

    Pundit Rule (5.00 / 1) (#43)
    by samtaylor2 on Sun May 10, 2009 at 12:53:15 PM EST
    One should only be allowed to be a pundit for 2-3 years before you are forced to go back to work- or do anything that doesn't involve me seeing you on TV.  In my mind if you do something impressive you should be able to milk it for a couple of years, but like my checking account it should go down with use.   Examples of Pundits that are violating this rule are Buchanan or Donna Brazille (I am sure the list goes on).

    Parent
    And on and on and on n/t (none / 0) (#79)
    by cal1942 on Sun May 10, 2009 at 05:48:55 PM EST


    Parent
    She shoujld have watched the (none / 0) (#33)
    by oculus on Sun May 10, 2009 at 12:20:44 PM EST
    Padres/Astros game last night.  The senior Bush couple was sitting behind home plate so every time a batter was in the box their faces were also on the screen.

    Parent
    I still think the way to find out (none / 0) (#45)
    by oculus on Sun May 10, 2009 at 01:06:39 PM EST
    what happened on the Sunday am talk shows is to read Jason Linkins.  

    Sunday Morning Open Thread | 89 comments (89 topical)

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