Category Archives: Uncategorized

(Community Matters) Politico: “. . . his emphasis on policy has the effect — and in large measure the reality — of seeming to treat voters as adults who must be reached by reason, rather than Hallmark-card sentimentality. . . Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said Clinton’s approach is “more impactful for independent voters,” adding that Clinton over time has gained “street cred” with this group. “He’s been through the ringer. He’s vouching for what Obama has done.”

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(Community Matters)  last night. we had fun & enjoyed being there to support our friends

(Community Matters) Steven and I attended the convention in Charlotte as guests of Mayor & State Rep Julian & Joaquin Castro. Mayor Castro was invited to keynote the opening night; Joaquin introduced him. The Mayor hit it out of the park!

Lots of friends in attendance – was able to visit with Lynn Meredith, Kirk Rudy, Adrienne Donato, Jamie Citron, Mayor Tony & Carli Martinez, David Corn, Jane Stetson, Mark Strama and drive-by hugs with tons others including Wally Brewster & Bob Satawake, Zachary Allen, Barry Karas & Dana Pearlman, Andy Tobias and Laura Ricketts.

First Lady Michelle Obama closed the evening – wow. It might have been the best convention speech/performance I’ve ever seen.

We flew back to SAT immediately after the First Lady concluded, in to Austin around 3am.

(Community Matters) profile in Bloomberg/Newsweek

(Community Matters) there’s the self importance we saw

Playbook:  CHRIS CHRISTIE held up nearly 1,000 delegates and guests trying to leave the convention last night for around 20 minutes while either his entourage or security detail shut down a key convention passage for his motorcade’s departure, a reliable tipster says.

(Community Matters) I need to understand why the plants drink so much water for three weeks in May, then again at the end of August

(Community Matters)  The University of Texas’ review of the gay parenting study cleared Assoc Professor Mark Regnerus of falsification of data, plagiarism and other serious ethical breaches which would have constituted scientific misconduct. As UT’s chief research integrity officer, Robert Peterson pointed out, they did not address errors, good faith differences or judgement of data, scholarly or political disagreements, good faith personal or professional opinions, or private moral or ethical behaviors or views. He noted that the soundness of the work was best left to the journal’s peer review. The journal’s preliminary review was scathing and the independent reviewer referred to the report as “bullshit.”

Gay Families Study – Academic Review Conclusion: “It’s Bullshit”

(Community Matters)

Politico’s Playbook: IS THE GOP FUELED BY HATRED? That’s what The New Yorker’s George Packer concludes after attending a Tea Party Patriots rally to honor the military. “When you go to these side events, the tent shows on the margins of the convention hall, you feel the true source of the Party’s energy this year,” he wrote in a blog post published Wednesday afternoon. “It isn’t about Paul Ryan, though he’s a favorite. Sarah Palin doesn’t get a mention. Rick Santorum got a big cheer before giving the most sanctimonious speech in convention history, but he’s already a has-been. Ron Paul has his hard core, and they are here, causing a bit of trouble, but he’s already gone off into the sunset. God knows it isn’t about Mitt Romney-no one’s name elicits a less hearty cheer on the floor of the hall. The energy is hatred-hatred of Barack Obama, and hatred of what the people here believe he’s done to their country, their principles, and their children.” http://goo.gl/4ZMie

(Community Matters) McDaffey on the Daily Kos in response to Ta-Nehisi Coates‘ in The Atlantic

DAILY KOS Sun Aug 26, 2012 at 11:12 AM PDT

Fear Of A Black President: A Reflection On Race And The 2012 Campaign

by MacDaffy

Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American Dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: – ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’. — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The owners of this country know the truth: It’s called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it. — George Carlin

Ta-Nehisi Coates’s trenchant article, Fear Of A Black President, in this month’s Atlantic Magazine, is a pointed critique of President Obama’s leadership on matters of race. It was–by his own admission–written in anger. The inciting incident for Coates’s ire is the president’s remarks on the February shooting death of Miami teenager Trayvon Martin. Mr. Obama set off a firestorm of right-wing criticism by saying that “if I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”

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(Community Matters) Damn it, Stephen – you can’t tell him anything.

Colbert broke the story on LGBT manipulation of the weather, how we sent Hurricane Isaac to interrupt the Republican National Convention in Tampa:

“Hurricanes form from rising moisture created by hot steamy man action aboard a gay Caribbean cruise. When that sin gets high enough it makes the angels cry and those tears fall to earth in the form of massive precipitation because homosexuals are a vital part of the water cycle. That’s why the gay symbol is a rainbow!”

“So clearly the liberal gays out there planned the storm by gaying it up extra hard someplace.”

(Community Matters) I’m reading that Buckingham Palace is saying Prince Harry’s escapades in Las Vegas are his private business and the Prince has nothing to be ashamed about. Good for them! He’s a 20-something army guy for gosh sakes. He was naked playing pool with a bunch of friends. big deal

(Community Matters) The statements about President Obama dismantling the work requirement for Welfare are strong and I fear minutely persuasive – even though they are a complete lie. Two Republican governors were among the five who asked for flexibility – granted only under the condition that moving recipients to jobs remains a hard success metric.

Nearly every GOP convention speaker is further spreading the misinformation. As an earlier post noted, the GOP ticket seems to have topped out at less than 50% in the battle ground states with its economic arguments. The Welfare argument appears to be both code for race and an finger on the scale weighing the President’s commitment to accountability as well as his navigation of the economy. I doubt the former has any more play, but the latter is still a tricky assessment for the very few remaining undecided voters in battle ground states.

for background . . . five governors (including the Republican governors of Utah and Nevada) asked for flexibility w/ their welfare rules on alternative ways to achieve the law’s goal of moving recipients from welfare to work. The Administration offered to grant certain flexibilities but reinforced the requirements for a focus on jobs (not just focus but a performance evaluation metric of jobs).