In Europe, pictures like this are very fashionable and common,

On the other we have Donald.  One of the defining characteristics of a psychopath is the inability to feel empathy.  If comparing losing a child in war to building buildings doesn't put that issue away permanently it's really hard to imagine what would.

As MKS keeps saying, it's mostly about "culture", and the Republicans have been skillful and ruthless in the last fifty years in deeply inculcating the belief in some people that conservatives are the guardians, the last bastions of Judeo-Christian culture.

Redbrow: "Last I heard Crimea democratically voted overwhelmingly to reject Ukraine in favor of Russia."

... Austria and the Sudetenland back in 1938 also "voted overwhelmingly" to unite with Nazi-led Germany. And the colons of the French Algerian territories of Oran, Algiers and Constantine "voted overwhelmingly" as well on several occasions to remain an integral part of France.

But here's a uniquely American example of how plebiscite results can be manipulated and distorted for political effect and public relations purposes.

On July 27, 1959, 132,733 residents of the then-Territory of Hawaii "voted overwhelmingly" to ratify via plebiscite the congressional resolution approving U.S. statehood for the islands. "Overwhelmingly," because only 7,971 of those who participated that day voted "no."

Not surprisingly, U.S. history books duly note that 94% of Hawaii voters approved that statehood resolution in 1959. However, a much closer examination of data from that particular period in fact reveals a far more complicated result.

Per the State of Hawaii Data Book, voter turnout for the July 1959 general election was actually 171,383. Further, 30,639 (or 18%) of those who voted that day abstained from voting either "yes" nor "no" on the plebiscite itself, and simply voted for their legislative representatives in the general election, to which the plebiscite question had been attached.

So, only 77% of those who voted that day actually approved statehood, per a territory-wide  plebiscite that was nominally conducted to satisfy the requirements of U.N. Resolution 742, which addressed the political disposition of colonial holdings and other non-governing territories around the world.

I say "nominally," because the option of Hawaii's independence was never put to island voters on that July 1959 ballot, only the question of statehood. So, the plebiscite was never really a plebiscite at all, but a ballot question that was expressly designed to lead voters toward a desired outcome. And in that regard, the United State actually violated the provisions of U.N. Resolution 742.

Now, here's where it gets somewhat more messy. Per that same State Data Book, Hawaii's population in the 1960 U.S. census was 632,772, and the number of eligible voters in Hawaii in 1959 was actually 381,859.

And one thing that's never discussed in American history books is the fact that most non-white Hawaii residents in 1959 were at best ambivalent toward the concept of statehood, and an overwhelming majority of Native Hawaiians were abjectly hostile to the plebiscite, considering it an illegal vote.

Thus, most non-white residents pointedly declined to participate at all in the statehood plebiscite. So, that means only 35.7% of Hawaii's eligible electorate at the time of the July 1959 plebiscite actually voted in favor of statehood. And it's been further estimated that about 45% of those who voted "yes" to statehood were Caucasians who had been living in the islands less than 20 years at the time of the plebiscite.

I bring this example up not to relitigate the legitimacy of Hawaii statehood, which by this point is an accomplished fact, but rather to point out that plebiscite votes can be misleading indicators of actual public opinion as it exists at the time they are taken.

With regard to the March 16, 2014 Crimea referendum, the results are even further problematic, given that no outsiders were allowed into that territory to observe that particular plebiscite, and that Russia itself conducted the election under the watchful eyes of some 25,000 occupying Russian troops. It's therefore no small wonder that our U.S. State Dept. openly refers to that vote as a "sham referendum."

See Big Orange Front Page diary for details.

Im a little worried about "The Night Of'...dragging a bit, IMO. I don't really like prison shows.

Same old, same old MO, from these guys.

That said, maybe I'm biased because over the years I've worked with many candidates and public officials who were themselves "down ballot" items, but we all really need to do a much better job at paying closer attention to those persons who are actually running in our local political races.

We need to dedicate ourselves to actively opposing the batsh*t crazy while it's still in its political infancy -- that is, while it's incubating at the local elective levels in nascent candidacies for school boards, water / land commissions and municipal councils -- and not wait until it arrives at the Statehouse or on Capitol Hill before finally seeking to counter it.

Just sayin', right-wing goofballs such as Louis Gohmert, Virginia Foxx, Trey Gowdy and Marsha Blackburn were all certifiable crackpots long before they got to Washington.

available here as a free download

It made me realize that I, as person with pretty much zero interest in sports, could love reading a sports writer.

The recent nude photos of Melania will give most Mormons the vapors.  She will be viewed as a p*rn star.  

So, the issue for Mormons in Utah will be which they view as worse:  legal abortion, or having a p*rn star and gross Trump in the White House.