home

Thursday Night Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 07:03:23 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)
Share This: Digg! StumbleUpon del.icio.us reddit reddit

No rest for the weary.

Here's another open thread, all topics welcome.

< Thursday Election Ads and Open Thread | Zimmerman Gag Order: The Defense Is Not the Problem >

  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


    • Display: Sort:
    Thursday Night Open Thread | 46 comments (46 topical)

    Readers Must Login or Create an Account to Comment

    Madison Bumgarner has a 123 first inning... (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by Dadler on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 07:23:43 PM EST
    ...for the Gigantes against a very able Detroit Tiger offense.  Very encouraging.  Interesting stat. Giants post-season Hercules, Marco Scutaro, led the majors in making contact this year.  How much contact does he make? Well, Scutaro took 1063 swings this season. And his bat made contact with the ball on 1003 of those swings. 60 friggin' whiffs all season! And his percentage has been even better in the playoffs. Amazing. Reminds me of what Tony Gwynn used to do when we lived in SD all those years. Put it in play, see what happens. Scoot's got it going.

    I love me some October baseball, the best kind.  

    ... if getting rather late in October baseball. (none / 0) (#5)
    by brodie on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 08:15:59 PM EST
    Honest to Immanuel, pretty soon they're going to have to start calling it The November Classic.

    Parent
    Game 7 is scheduled for November 1st (none / 0) (#9)
    by Dadler on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 08:30:57 PM EST
    If necessary, of course.  But a November Classic waiting to happen.

    Parent
    Amen (5.00 / 2) (#6)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 08:16:53 PM EST
    to no rest for the weary. I think I've just about had it with this election season. I'm just ready for it to be all over with.
    Sununu leaves you shaking your head (5.00 / 2) (#16)
    by CoralGables on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 10:07:15 PM EST
    In an interview with CNN's Piers Morgan this evening, Romney Campaign Co-Chair and former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu (R-NH) offered a surprising theory on why General Colin Powell endorsed President Obama for reelection today -- because both men are black:

        SUNUNU: You have to wonder whether that's an endorsement based on issues or that he's got a slightly different reason for President Obama.

        MORGAN: What reason would that be?

        SUNUNU: Well, I think that when you have somebody of your own race that you're proud of being President of the United States -- I applaud Colin for standing with him.

    So...does Sununu stand by Romney because Romney is white?

    Sununu is one of the more... (5.00 / 3) (#17)
    by desertswine on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 10:26:46 PM EST
    despicable gremlins running around from talk show to talk show, among a whole tribe of repugnant surrogates. Personally I find him particularly repulsive.

    Parent
    It's sad that whatever sells (none / 0) (#35)
    by Militarytracy on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 10:10:25 AM EST
    gets time in the covered discourse.  Watching the covered news cycle political discourse is like watching back to back Maury episodes.

    Parent
    Sununu leaves me nauseated (5.00 / 3) (#18)
    by shoephone on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 10:34:37 PM EST
    He doesn't seem to be doing Romney much good either. The more airtime the cable networks give him, the more he makes a raving idiot of himself.

    Parent
    Yup, I wonder (none / 0) (#23)
    by NYShooter on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 02:51:26 AM EST
    if candidates understand how much damage an "advisor" can do to their campaign, just by showing their face in public?

    I remember constantly yelling at the tv screen whenever some of Hillary Clinton's election honchos appeared. I'm sorry, you can be brilliant back stage, and yet appear like a 1'st class dufus on tv. Not everyone is photogenic, I'm sorry to say. You remember when that idiot, Mark Penn made appearances on the tube? He not only looked like a jerk, but when he stumbled around trying to justify not putting much effort into the early caucuses, he simply reinforced what your eyes saw.

    When you're trying to influence the electorate, "little things mean a lot."

    Parent

    Penn wasn't (none / 0) (#40)
    by Socraticsilence on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 11:17:22 AM EST
    brilliant backstage either, while ultimately responsibility falls on the canidates themselves, he as much as anyone besides Hillary and the Obama team, cost Clinton the 2008 nod by not understanding the nomination process and literally ignoring every state with less than 5 million people.

    Parent
    He (5.00 / 1) (#24)
    by lentinel on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 04:12:46 AM EST
    does seem to be saying that Powell is choosing a candidate based on race, and then applauds him for doing so.

    The answer to your rhetorical question would therefore be a "yes".
    He's white and proud.

    Yee Hah!

    Sununu is one of those people who belongs under a rock somewhere.

    Why do these people continue to get the attention of the media?

    It is baffling to me.
    The people these shows continue to feature are mostly discredited has-been conservatives. The media can't get enough of them.

    Parent

    Presidential <em>race</em> (none / 0) (#20)
    by observed on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 10:53:06 PM EST
    has a different meaning for Sununu, apparently.

    Parent
    Jesus Christ (none / 0) (#26)
    by Militarytracy on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 07:47:15 AM EST
    Raving douche

    Parent
    PPP polled the MJ legalization amendment (5.00 / 3) (#21)
    by magster on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 11:47:40 PM EST
    in CO when they polled Obama/Romney.

    Obama up 4 and MJ legalization polling 53/43 for passage.

    Makes me think about one of the (none / 0) (#36)
    by Militarytracy on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 10:25:29 AM EST
    last things Ben Masel wrote about, about having to find a place to demonstrate with his legalize marijuana sign where President Obama might see it.  And he got lucky, and Obama even waved to him.  Now I just gave myself teary eyes.

    I hope CO legalizes it and begins to make it politically a plus to entertain legalization publicly.  And I hope Ben knows how this looks like it might go down.

    Parent

    or the wicked! (none / 0) (#1)
    by cpinva on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 07:22:38 PM EST
    No rest for the weary.

    just kidding, low hanging fruit. lol

    On the upside, Jeralyn (none / 0) (#4)
    by Towanda on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 08:09:52 PM EST
    as you're also in a swing state, is your workload keeping you away from home and the *&^@#!!! phone calls?

    Still getting more GOP calls than Dem calls here, about a dozen a day, but Dem calls occasionally, actually have a human at the other end . . . to hear an earful.

    Counting down the days to the end of this insanity.

    Parent

    During the day, they don't get through (none / 0) (#19)
    by Jeralyn on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 10:42:03 PM EST
    to me, the receptionist at the office hangs up on recorded calls. At night, the office calls go to voicemail, and the voicemails go to my email as well as the phone. So as soon as I start playing the voicemail, I know it's a recording and delete.

    They don't have my home or cell number so I don't get bothered at night.

    The most calls have come from Gloria Steinem and the educational initiative people. None from Obama or Romney or even Amendment 64!

    Parent

    Darn, a call from Steinem, I would take (5.00 / 1) (#38)
    by Towanda on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 10:48:35 AM EST
    but she is too busy calling you Coloradoans.

    I am so weary of the calls, but I work at home a lot -- and we have family in so many states, and so many family members are suffering from stage-four cancer, that I take the calls.

    Last night, at least, one of those mystery calls from out of state turned out to be not a pollster but word that Mr. Towanda is a great-grandpa again!

    However, allow me to make clear that does not, not, not make me a great-grandma.  I'm not even a grandma.  Well, except of our grandpuppy.

    Parent

    It won't change the election but... (none / 0) (#3)
    by shoephone on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 07:54:46 PM EST
    The disclosure of Romney's role in his friend's divorce proceedings is still an interesting, if not totally predictable, tidbit.

    I'm not a market maven, but I did invest over a period of years and this I know: it's not unheard of for a stock to tumble more than ten times its value in one year. Any number of bad earnings reports, or scandal within the company could have that effect. (I once lost a bundle on a stock I should have sold a year before the company went totally bust.) But it is pretty unusual for a stock to be valued at ten times greater than the price from just a year ago. I mean, we're not talking about Apple or Google here. We're talking about Staples for Pete's sake.

    There won't be any impact in this race. (none / 0) (#12)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 09:11:03 PM EST
    But were Romney to somehow be elected, this is the sort of stuff that would undoubtedly haunt him after he took office. If he did indeed testify in that case with the intent to mislead the court, that would be a big phuquing deal with some potentially serious consequences.

    Parent
    I keep getting phone calls from (none / 0) (#7)
    by magster on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 08:20:16 PM EST
    out of state area codes on my cell this last week that I don't pick up and they don't leave messages. I wonder if they are pollsters and CO's Obama support is unrepresented because of me.

    If you saw an 818 area code (none / 0) (#10)
    by brodie on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 08:53:56 PM EST
    it coulda been a certain Obama GOTV phone bank operation I'm familiar with ...

    Parent
    Or, it could be part of GOTV. (none / 0) (#11)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 09:04:21 PM EST
    I know that Hawaii Democrats (Area Code 808) have been really working the GOTV effort over in Nevada, because I'm part of that effort. (In fact, I'm at party HQ right now to make calls to Las Vegas Democratic households.)

    We're not involved in the Colorado race, but that's not to say that Democrats in other Blue states in the west -- such as California -- aren't beating the bushes there on behalf of the DNC's GOTV campaign.

    Parent

    Yes, calls from 7 states today (none / 0) (#14)
    by Towanda on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 09:32:52 PM EST
    to my swing-state home.  Interrupting my calls, long-awaited, with my children.

    When I get a human, I now am reporting my ongoing tally to them -- how many Dem, how many GOP -- and telling them that I am going to vote for the candidates from the party that calls the least.

    It hasn't helped a bit.  I hate this.

    Parent

    I am too (none / 0) (#27)
    by Militarytracy on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 07:47:37 AM EST


    Parent
    Me Too... (none / 0) (#34)
    by ScottW714 on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 10:08:45 AM EST
    I am in Texas, and a couple of months ago I took two calls from numbers I didn't recognize and were out-of -state, both pollsters.  Well I should say 'pollsters' with questions that are really meant to influence my opinion, not garner information.

    I don't take them anymore.

    The good news about being here is maybe one commercial a week for President.  But we had the republican Senate run-off ads, two idiots who's only message was the other guys a bigger Obama deficit loving socialist.  But that is long done and neither Presidential candidate is spending money here.

    Not sure why anyone is calling a Texas area code for anything regarding the Presidential race.

    Parent

    Here, the political tv and radio ads are nonstop (none / 0) (#39)
    by Towanda on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 10:57:21 AM EST
    in your home state, as I recall?

    Any one commercial break here can have five political ads in a row, usually one for Romney, two for Obama, and one for each candidate for Senate.

    I'm among the millions here now immunized to hearing anything that they say, but that makes possible more impressionistic tests of the overall "mood" of the ads that may have more impact -- and I'm not sure that's a good sign.  I noticed that the Romney ads seem more upbeat and sunshinish, while the Obama ads seem more doom-and-gloom, with ominous music and photos of poor, homeless, etc.  

    That, I think, may be feeding the media spin I also see and hear here, nonstop, that makes little sense to one who watches the polls, but few do.  Instead, the mood of the ads may be feeding the media spin that the Romney campaign is on the upswing, but the Obama campaign is in defensive, even panic mode.

    Obama needs more ads here that are comforting about trends, for example, in the decline in unemployment claims -- although, come to think of it, that wouldn't work well in this swing state, where unemployment and the economy continue to seriously suck, compared to every state in our region and the country.  Hmmmm.  

    Parent

    Yup. (5.00 / 1) (#42)
    by ScottW714 on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 11:32:02 AM EST
    I gotta a good dose when I was up their last year, can't remember the race, but even on a visit I was sick of them.

    Be back this spring, Apostle Islands with the brougham (pronounce bro-ham), please tell me no races.  I have this childhood like memory of WI, that probably has little to do with reality, but it's what I like to remember about my home state.  When I visit and it just like everywhere else, just a little piece of saddens.

    Parent

    Ah, the lovely Apostles and Bayfield (none / 0) (#46)
    by Towanda on Sat Oct 27, 2012 at 03:00:07 PM EST
    are favorites of mine, and it has been too long since my stayed on the sacred island named for Equaysayway (better known to us Later People by her baptismal name, Madeline).  Enjoy! and who knows, maybe we'll unknowingly cross paths, as I ought to put that on my list for a getaway next summer.

    More recently, we have had to wander northeast to the UP and the even more significant, historic (and sacred) ancient gathering place of Sault Ste. Marie.  That has been marvelous to see, too -- although it's sad to see that the split of the community caused by us Americans winning the Revolution has become a real problem only recently.  It used to be a snap to go back and forth from the U.S. side to the Canadian side, as I hoped to do, but Homeland Security now means too many hours on the bridge.  That has had sad impact on the economy on the lesser, U.S. side.

    There still are a few places to find the Wisconsin we knew, at least in the Northwoods.  Sad to say, the farther we get from people and the closer we get to forests, the better it can be.  Except, of course, for the bears.  Beware the Bayfield town dump! unless seeking bear sightings.

    Parent

    Oregon is not a swing state. (5.00 / 1) (#43)
    by caseyOR on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 04:51:52 PM EST
    Still, we are bombarded day and night with political ads and phone calls. Here in Portland, since we are the media center for SWWashington, we also get hit with all the political ads for Washington politicians and ballot measures. Gawd, i hate this.

    And just to add to the insane-making volume of unwanted calls, this is open enrollment time for Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage plans. So, I am also deluged with calls from marketers for these companies.

    A thousand thank yous to the person who invented caller ID.

    Parent

    Drone of silence (none / 0) (#8)
    by Dadler on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 08:28:24 PM EST
    Thoughtful and necessary piece by Walter Shapiro. (link)

    You know, I can remember a time when ... (none / 0) (#13)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 09:21:20 PM EST
    ... China's Communist leaders used to wear green fatigues and Mao caps with a little red star on its front brim, live humble and simple lives, and exalt the virtues of the peasantry and the proletariat.

    Well, that certainly doesn't appear to be the case any more:

    "Many relatives of [Prime Minister] Wen Jiabao, including his son, daughter, younger brother and brother-in-law, have become extraordinarily wealthy during his leadership, an investigation by The New York Times shows. A review of corporate and regulatory records indicates that the prime minister's relatives, some of whom have a knack for aggressive deal-making, including his wife, have controlled assets worth at least $2.7 billion."

    This is a fascinating and important read. One can only wonder how China's leaders will react to this potential bombshell of a story.

    Bullwinkle attacks! (none / 0) (#15)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Thu Oct 25, 2012 at 09:45:13 PM EST
    A Canadian Mountie in northern British Columbia has a close encounter with an angry bull moose, and lives to tell the tale:

    Vancouver Sun | October 25, 2012
    Moose attack injures Prince George RCMP officer, damages vehicle - "An RCMP officer met face to hoof with the untamed aggression of a bull moose in Prince George early Thursday. And while his cruiser took a beating, the officer escaped with a bruise. The officer was typing up a report in his parked cruiser beside a road just south of downtown around 1 a.m. when he saw two moose crossing at an intersection. He started his car and tried to stop another vehicle he saw travelling toward the animals. As the officer neared the pair, the bull moose - distinguishable by its multi-pronged antlers and huge size - went into defensive mode, cantering toward the cruiser and breaking the front grille and bumper. The animal then jumped on the cruiser, denting the hood and cracking the windshield. Now on the roof, the rampaging moose stomped, eventually kicking through the driver's side window with its rear hoof, striking the officer in the left shoulder. The moose then clambered down the back of the car, aross the trunk and back to solid ground."
    A Møøse once bit my sister ... (none / 0) (#22)
    by EL seattle on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 02:04:36 AM EST
    Mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretty nasti ...

    Parent
    Someone (none / 0) (#25)
    by lentinel on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 06:31:25 AM EST
    I read elsewhere, I can't remember who or where, speculated about what would happen if the electoral college vote came out to a tie.

    The House would elect Romney, and Biden would be Vice.

    Can't you see that?

    What a combination!

    Let's all go to Bermuda.

    Worst News for Obama Today! (none / 0) (#28)
    by Robot Porter on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 07:50:55 AM EST
    Bob Shrum thinks he will win.

    ;)

    The first 2 polls I've seen today are (5.00 / 1) (#29)
    by magster on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 08:41:50 AM EST
    great. O +6 (O + 4 yesterday)in Rand's national tracking poll, and up 3 in a New Hampshire.

    Romney could not have had a worse occurrence in this stretch run than to have the only Senate candidate he cuts a commercial for utters his Gift-from-God rape theory. And then Sununu using the race card with the Romney logo prominently in the background of his interview.

    It sure seems like things are rebounding after the Denver debate scare.

    Parent

    And now even the fraudulent pollsters are on ... (none / 0) (#30)
    by magster on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 08:46:51 AM EST
    ... board with the Obama rebound. Gravis says O + 4 in Iowa.

    Parent
    Guess humor is lost ... (none / 0) (#31)
    by Robot Porter on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 09:00:49 AM EST
    on partisans this late in the game.

    Pity that.

    Parent

    Its harder to laugh about (5.00 / 1) (#41)
    by Socraticsilence on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 11:20:08 AM EST
    when you actually see the stakes.

    Parent
    Just remember ... (none / 0) (#44)
    by Robot Porter on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 05:20:20 PM EST
    pod people can't laugh either.

    Parent
    No. I had a one breath laugh noise ... (none / 0) (#32)
    by magster on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 09:18:52 AM EST
    ...escape my lungs at the Shrum comment. Kind of a silent "heh!" , not an lol and certainly not a roflmao.

    The couple of times I've seen Shrum, he hasn't been the lovable milquetoast Dem patsy of years past. Much angrier and cynical. I thought he was going to throw a punch at Michael Steele the other night.

    Parent

    Shrum has never struck me (5.00 / 1) (#37)
    by brodie on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 10:40:06 AM EST
    as another of those milquetoast Dems afraid to engage the enemy or too concerned about the candidate getting aggressive.  

    He has a background in debating, and went mano a mano, successfully, with Bill Buckley at least once back in the day.  He's also a principled Dem of liberal bent, not just an operative for hire. Usually very effective and forceful in his media appearances, unlike so many soft centrist D analysts we see.

    For sure he gave the occasional bum advice to Gore and Kerry, which they unwisely accepted.  But more often, reading the insider accounts, his advice was sound, and blunders were made on the several occasions it wasn't taken.

    Hard to blame him for getting stuck with The Unnatural -- Al Gore -- or for Kerry ignoring his advice half the time.  The problem was with the candidates he advised, not the adviser.  That and Karl Rove's election theft machinations.

    </annual Shrumster defense>

    Parent

    And some people ... (none / 0) (#45)
    by Robot Porter on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 05:21:49 PM EST
    don't even understand the joke.

    Parent
    Long story short ... (none / 0) (#33)
    by Robot Porter on Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 09:23:35 AM EST
    sense of humor gone.

    Parent
    Thursday Night Open Thread | 46 comments (46 topical)

    Readers Must Login or Create an Account to Comment