Today's Cartoon - Low Information Nation

Sorry...  we're still in the "anger" stage.

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(Jen Sorensen, www.jensorensen.com)

BONUS:  And then there's Andy Borowitz' "Country On Wrong Track, Say People Who Did Not Vote."

Veterans Day 2014

Let's start the day by saluting our Armed Forces veterans, whose service and sacrifice should be honored every day, but especially today.

On November 11, 1918 at 11 o'clock in the morning, the armistice between the Allies and Germany was signed, ending hostilities on Europe's Western Front in World War I. The time was significant: the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month was meant to signal, after fighting the most horrific war up to that time, that humanity was literally in its 11th hour in confronting the threat of war to its survival. Called Armistice Day at first, in 1954 President Eisenhower proclaimed that the holiday should be a commemoration of all veterans and from then on, we've known it as Veterans Day.

An Instructional Video For Dems

A tip of the hat to Crooks and Liars for uncovering this video of TV's Roseanne letting her representative know that she's not fooled by right-wing, anti-union, trickle down economics malarkey. If Dems would use this as an instructional video of how to talk to Republican politicians, it might work in 2016.  Then again, Dem politicians are generally too polite to point out the obvious, especially when in a crouching position.

Fear, Anger And Conservatives

It's not often that you see a conservative examine what motivated him, and decide it was contemptible. Edwin Lyngar was a conservative who realizes that his fear and anger were cultivated by the movement that he embraced.  He writes in Salon that:

"I’m angry mostly at myself for being manipulated by carnie barkers masquerading as 'the media.'  We are all works in progress, fighting our natural instincts of self-preservation.  That we want to live and thrive is natural, but when we let our instincts damage reason, our nation and indeed our basic humanity suffers.  I regret letting cruelty, fear and tribalism drive my choices.  I should have been better, and my remnant rage is a reminder to always think for myself in the future."

His essay explores the effects of conservative media, leading the way with Fux and its menagerie of cranks stoking fear and loathing by appealing to the "lizard brain" in all of us.  The mid-terms brought that into focus for Lyngar, watching the wingnut Wurlitzer and their partners in the Beltway media hyping Ebola, ISIS and illegal immigration as mortal threats to real 'Muricans.   Science has researched the difference in the working of conservative brains, versus progressives, and has concluded much the same thing.  It's not lost on the wingnut Wurlitzer that feeding that fear and anger are profitable, economically and politically.

Today's Cartoon And Reads

Love "The G.O.P.'s Long-Term Plan" diagram.

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(Brian McFadden, via gocomics.com)

From E.J. Dionne, Jr., on dealing with the Republican Congress:

[Sen. Mitch] McConnell’s main argument with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), and his followers is not about ends but means. McConnell is no less focused than Cruz on bringing down Obama and discrediting Democratic governance, but McConnell needs to be more subtle about it.  [snip]

Solving the country’s economic riddle would be a much better use of their time than investing in the fantasy that McConnell and [Weeper of the House] Boehner will try to make Obama look good. 

Charles Blow looks at the more general mood and methods of the right-wing opposition:

His term must be tarnished; his accomplishments erased. 

Some people blame the president for not cultivating more congressional relationships, across the aisle and even in the Democratic caucus. There may be some truth to that, but not much, I believe. No amount of glad-handing and ego-stroking would compensate for the depths of the opposition. Nor would messaging. 

This is a president who was elected by an increasingly diverse national electorate that some find frightening, a president who is pushing a somewhat liberal agenda that some have found intrinsically objectionable, and a president who is battling some historical personality tropes that many cannot abandon. 

To his opponents, this president’s greatest sins are his success and his self. 

So, if you're listening Democrats, don't repeat the mistakes of the past 6 years by thinking the Republicans are acting in good faith or with good intentions.

Another Win For The Pope

Pope Francis continues to clean house of right-wing Cardinals and Bishops who are seeking to undermine or challenge his direction for the Catholic Church.  The latest to rip his cassock is the infamous Cardinal Raymond Burke, who has been a strident voice against reproductive choice and same-sex marriage, and who campaigned for denying Catholic politicians communion if they voted pro-choice.  He's also questioned Pope Francis' statements denouncing the excesses of capitalism, which as we all know was Jesus' favorite economic system. He's been demoted from his powerful post on the Congregation of Bishops to oversee a charity that supports hospitals.

If Burke seems to be a bit at odds with how most Catholics view Jesus' basic messages, it looks like the Pope has reached that conclusion.  Let's wish the Pope a long and healthy life as he reverses the corrupt, rightward direction the Church took after the papacy of Pope John XXIII decades ago.

BONUS:  Esquire.com's Charles P. Pierce adds his commentary.

Photo Of The Day: "Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red"

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(Photo:  Getty Images)

In commemoration of November 11, 1918 (Armistice Day, now Veterans Day in the United States), 888,246 ceramic poppies were installed in the moat of the Tower of London, signifying the number of British Commonwealth soldiers, sailors and airmen killed in World War I.  A stunning reminder of the enormous waste of human life in that war, and all wars.

Report: Democrats To Look At What Went Wrong

There's plenty to say about what went wrong in the 2014 mid-terms for Democrats, and we've pointed to some of it =cough= Democratic cowardice =cough=.  But before we get too far down the road, let's start with getting a dedicated, full-time, professional progressive operative as Democratic National Committee chair instead of a part-time Representative from Florida.  Just sayin'.

Nominee For Attorney General

President Obama announced New York Federal prosecutor Loretta Lynch as his nominee for Attorney General, to replace Attorney General Eric Holder.   Lynch is a long-time prosecutor, and would be the first African-American woman to hold that important position.

With the Senate due to flip to Republican control in January, Obama said he wants the Senate to act as soon as possible on Lynch's nomination.

Sen. Sanders On The 2014 Midterms

On last night's Real Time program with Bill Maher he succinctly captured the frustration of progressives with the Democratic Party.  After noting that the Rethuglican main message was "screw Obama" and not much more, he gave the Dems a spanking for not standing with the President.  The real star of the evening was Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who nailed the problem as being the Rethugs not being truthful about their agenda (which is opposed by the majority of Americans, from Social Security to gun control) and Dems not willing to stand for something.  It's a rather long video, but very much worth watching.

Today's Cartoon And Letter We Wish We'd Written

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(Mike Smith, Las Vegas Sun)

And from today's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle:

To paraphrase the 18th-century philosopher Edmund Burke, the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing. To all of those who didn’t bother to vote in Tuesday’s elections, thanks for nothing. 

Bob Butler, Adelphi

OK, we're still in the anger stage.

Supreme Court To Rule On Obamacare... Again

The Supreme Court's decision to take up the pernicious King v. Burwell case, following on the heels of the Republican victories in the mid-term elections, is causing many observers to wonder if this is the moment the five Republican justices have been waiting for to sabotage the Obama administration's signature health insurance law.

From TPM:

The Supreme Court announced on Friday it will hear a lawsuit that seeks to cripple Obamacare by invalidating federal subsidies for millions of Americans. 

In a surprising move, the justices agreed to have the final word on a challenge to the legality of federal subsidies in 36 states which declined to build their own state-run exchanges and handed some or all of the task over to the federal government. 

The decision is troubling news for the White House, which wanted to resolve the case in the lower courts so the Supreme Court wouldn't have to weigh in. [snip]

The plaintiffs allege that the plain text of the Affordable Care Act confines the subsidies to "an Exchange established by the State" but not the federal HealthCare.gov exchange which serves residents of states that didn't build one. 

We know four "justices" (Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Kennedy) previously wanted to rule the Affordable Care Act's (Obamacare) individual mandate unconstitutional in 2012;  Chief Justice Roberts unexpectedly sided with the Court's four progressive justices to save the fledgling act.  It's unclear that would be the case this time around, even though the plaintiff's suit is based on the debunked notion that Congress wanted subsidies only to apply to state-run health insurance exchanges.

Steve M. at No More Mister Nice Blog has a pretty ominous take on the law's future.  Worth a read.

Democrats And The "D*ckless Chickensh*t" Strategy

Nailed it!

The Daily Show
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Quote of the Day: Who Has The Power vs. Who Has The Truth

"The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet midterms to men of understanding. Or as I put it on the eve of another Republican Party sweep, politics determines who has the power, not who has the truth. Still, it’s not often that a party that is so wrong about so much does as well as Republicans did on Tuesday."  Paul Krugman, in yesterday's New York Times.  He wraps up the phenomenon of the Republican triumph in the mid-term elections (with a great assist by the media) despite being maliciously wrong about most everything.  Good read and good message to keep in mind.

Weekend Seaworthy Song

We think you'll enjoy this song by multi-talented Lera Lynn, off her album "The Avenues."  It's called "Out to Sea."  Enjoy your weekend.