The GOP dodges a bullet

Its political convention time again.  The GOP dodged an obvious bullet as Hurricane Issac sailed past the Tampa area which the convention will be held.

The news stations are asking Americans if political conventions are becoming a thing of the past.  The networks no longer televise the conventions like in the good old days.  Is the political convention just a see and be seen venture nowadays?  Lots of money is spent.  Will political animals be content to compress their conventions to a day or two?

 

My guess is that compression of any convention would get in the way of some serious partying and elbow rubbing and that nothing will change.

Meanwhile, how about those hurricanes.  Has we dodged the hurricane bullet or is there more to come this September and October?

128 Thoughts to “Open Thread…………………………………………………Monday, August 27”

  1. Pat.Herve

    does anyone know of a resource that can distinguish Democrat sponsored debt vs Republican sponsored debt? I like the idea of the Debt Clock, but the Clock does not reflect the source of the debt. Congressional Debt vs Presidential debt?

  2. There’s no such thing as only Presidential debt. There is debt that he signed off on.

    I’m trying to find out where the current spending is being authorized since the Democratic Senate has not passed a budget in 3 years. Who’s writing the spending bills?

  3. marinm

    I would argue that its all Congressional debt. Congress holds the purse strings. So, they run up the credit card that you and I are obligated to pay.

  4. Cato the Elder

    There are a lot of stupid people in Congress. I’d rather pick 535 names out of the phonebook at random and term limit them to one term.

  5. marinm

    Woah. I found the future Mrs. Marinm..

    http://youtu.be/RVc250TSWbE

    I think MH is a math geek so she can find some humor in this.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-pyuaThp-c

    I think she’s also on the list too but I think she’d probably be what we call in the business, “datacenter hot”. 😉

  6. @marinm
    Isn’t the CURRENT Mrs. Marin going to object?

  7. blue

    @Cargosquid

    Who cares. That’ hot.

  8. @marinm

    I didnt think it was humorous but I thought it was facinating and wish I could do dots that fast.

    Thanks!!! Yes, a little of a math geek.

  9. Black Velvet Reporter

    It looks like the Dark Master is going all Dumbledore. He has met all sorts of people saved from abortion.

    I wonder if this new-found kindness would be extended to illegal alien children or if he wants to send them back to a country where they very well could be killed?

    1. Cognitive dissonance.

      @ BVR

  10. Steve Randolph

    “A Republican convention, if history is a guide, will give stocks
    a small uptick, but stocks and the economy tend to perform better
    when a Democratic president is in office. Since 1900, the S&P
    gained an average of 8.4% annually with Democratic presidents
    compared to 5.3% with Republicans.”

    Smart Money (8-26-2012)

    1. Ihope we can count on that 5.3% and a Dem win.

    2. Where is that bump from the convention?

  11. Steve Randolph

    http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/313287

    There are many stories of moonshine in PWC’s past.

    Another way to help build today’s tourism?

  12. Black Velvet Reporter

    A blast from the past

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SkP_FQIADI

    Thunder Road.

    I always heard it was the road between Nashville and Knoxvville in Tenn.

    1. BV it has been a long time since I have heard that song. I remember it from childhood.

      We used to think Robert Mitchum was a hottie. Not sure when we started thinking he was a bag eye.

  13. @Cargo

    Do you have peeps down in New Orleans now? Have they evacuated?

    What happened to them during Katrina?

    You know a lot of people wouldn’t leave because the shelters wouldn’t take their pets. I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t have left my pets either.

    I understand that shelters are making accommodations for people’s pets nowadays. It saves lives. Can you shed any llight on this?

  14. Steve Randolph

    “Mitt said the Tea Party people are like ferrets stuck in a dishwasher …
    frightened and angry”

    Bob Bennett – former Republican Senator (Utah)

    Time Magazine (9-3-2012 edition)

    Don’t agree with this and will be interested to learn if Romney denys saying it.

    1. I think it is funny, whether he said it or not. bwaaa haahahaahaha. Ferrets in a dishwasher? what imagry.

  15. My brother’s family lives there and north of the city. My brother’s house, since sold, was damaged by wind and rain. And a tree fell on his barn at the current house. If they feel the need, they’ll leave.

    Its been so long since I live there…..We used to go visit my brother in Florida if we thought it was going to be bad, but usually we just stayed home and made preparations. Katrina was a outlier. The disaster was caused by the failure of the city, state, and feds to properly take care of the levees, Nagin’s incompetence, and Blanco’s refusal to release the Nat’l Guard to the Feds OR take action. It was the perfect storm of idiocy.
    But the worst offenders? The people of the city that refuse to take care of themselves by stocking up with food and water during hurricane season. Or leaving when they had the chance. Katrine was a huge storm. It wiped out an area larger than England.

    1. I hope your family will be alright. I am more concerned with YOUR family than the politics.

      It never occurred to me until Katrina that some people have no way to leave. Hard to imagine here. Everyone has a car.

      I do agree about people heeding warnings. However, not everyone has the means…like those poor people trapped in nursing homes and the very poor. No where to go and no way to get there.

      The entire subject makes me sick. It ends up being living proof that Mother Nature will always win out over man.

  16. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Black Velvet Reporter :
    It looks like the Dark Master is going all Dumbledore. He has met all sorts of people saved from abortion.
    I wonder if this new-found kindness would be extended to illegal alien children or if he wants to send them back to a country where they very well could be killed?

    Typical liberal tactic. Mix as many completely unrelated issues together until nothing makes any sense. You should have tried to work in the global warming angle, here!

    1. Illegal immigrants have abortions too.

  17. $14.5 Billion spend on Levee upgrades. Surely I didn’t misread that figure. Good grief.

    Who forked over that money? Had to be the feds.

    Cargo, who paid for all that?

  18. @Moon-howler
    You’re absolutely right. Those people can’t make it out. My point was that after the waters receded, it was revealed that most of those “stranded” actually had cars. Drive 200 miles outside the zone. Sleep at a rest stop. I did.

    1. It would never occur to me unless someone slapped me up side the head (@poke-figure of speech here_) that people had no way to escape the city. I dont think in terms on no car.

      On the other hand, I didnt think about the pet thing until I saw them stranded on the roofs.

      I wouldnt leave my pets and that is something to think of. That’s one reason I won’t get rid of my old suv. Its big enough for all three dogs.

  19. @Moon-howler
    Don’t know. Probably the feds. When Blanco went begging for funds, she demanded 500 billion and no oversight. I think she got it, too. New Orleans is the money source for La. Without NOLA, La is completely broke. And so, she asked for replacement income.

  20. Pat.Herve

    Jindal should be told to call Eric Cantor for the funds – Cantor will let him know that there are no FEMA funds available. Especially for an event that has not happened yet. He is trying to make political hay, which is what he does best.

  21. @Pat.Herve

    Well, that AND running La. Much better than any recent governors of the past.

    @Moon-howler
    Another thing to realize is that Katrina was a Cat 3 while Issac is a Cat 1. A big rainstorm with some wind. (Can you tell that I’m not impressed with Cat 1’s….I’m soooooo much a New Orleans native.) One good thing….if the storm follows the Mississippi valley, the midwest will get some rain.

  22. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Moon-howler :
    Illegal immigrants have abortions too.

    But those abortions should be happening in another country.

  23. @Cargosquid

    Funny how much is about location location location. I have a friend who lives out in Ocean Park, Washington. (southwest tip of Washington State). They get these storms out there that have 70-80 mph winds. She doesn’t understand that if we got those very often we would not have any trees left. I suppose over the eons, their trees have simply evolved into different root systems that will sustain those kinds of storms.

    Those kinds of winds here would tear down most of the trees.

  24. Starryflights

    How many constitutional amendments does the republican platform call for now? We up to 10 or more yet?

    1. They really like change to that sacred Constitution. I have never understood that.

  25. Funny…I didn’t see a single amendment offered in the platform. Which ones are you talking about?

    Of course, if we must change the Constitution, amendments are the proper way to do it, instead of fiat by courts.

  26. MSNBC actively refuses to show minority speeches at the convention.

    Wouldn’t fit the narrative.

    This is my shocked face. They are a racist organization.

    1. They aren’t showing a lot of the white speeches either. I guess that makes them double racist?

  27. middleman

    A very curious paragraph from the Republican Platform introduced this week:

    The Republican Party includes Americans from every faith and tradition, and our policies and positions respect the right of every American to follow his or her beliefs and underscore our reverence for the religious freedom envisioned by the Founding Fathers of our nation and of our party. As a matter of principle, we oppose the creation of any new race-based governments within the United States.

    That last sentence is the interesting part. Have any race-based governments been proposed? Is it a dog-whistle? What are they opposing?

    1. @middleman

      What on earth does that mean? I have never heard of a race-based govt. Must be a dog whistle of some sort…unknown to the rank and file voter.

  28. @Cargosquid
    Funny how ALL of the minority speeches are panned. You’d think that a network so concerned about minorities would want to show at least one……

    1. Which network are you speaking of? Is this still the msnbc discussion? They didn’t show most of the speeches. I went to cspan 3. I soon grew bored.

      Was there someone speaking you particularly wanted to see? Was that dude on who left the democrats?

  29. @Moon-howler

    Oops, replied to the wrong one…

    Need coffee….

  30. @middleman
    Where’d you find that? I’d like to see it.

    From your post, it looks like a very poorly worded statement against affirmative action, but really, its just so badly written…..who knows. It could be a statement against racist/separatist organizations. Remember, the KKK would like to have a race based gov’t too.

  31. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Cargosquid :
    @Cargosquid
    Funny how ALL of the minority speeches are panned. You’d think that a network so concerned about minorities would want to show at least one……

    They wouldn’t dare admit that, say, a conservative black woman exists, and if she does, they’ll label her the most hateful things they can think of. The left believes that minorities are THEIR pawns, not to be trifled with by conservatives.

  32. Steve Randolph

    First, Ann Romney gave a great speech that connected with a wide audience.
    Mitt Romney is a fortunate man to have her by his side.

    He can only hope to do as well as she did.

  33. SlowpokeRodriguez

    That line from the 2008 and later Republican platforms has to do with the Akaka Bill.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akaka_Bill

    1. I got a kick out of protecting free speech and then coming along in nearly every one of those planks and attempting to trample it. for example, they sure want to stamp out any advocates for legal abortion. Too funny. Advocating seems to me to be a free speech issue.

      Another question, is the flag the symbol of the Constitution? I always thought it was the symbol of the country.
      From their Platform:

      ■Respect for Our Flag: Symbol of the Constitution

      They want to compromise free speech there also by forcing kids to say the pledge. Those activist judges again.

      Republican Party….pssst: You OWN the activist judges. Hypocrites!

  34. middleman

    Another Republican plank that mystifies me:

    “A serious threat to our country’s constitutional order, perhaps even more dangerous than presidential malfeasance, is an activist judiciary, in which some judges usurp the powers reserved to other branches of government. A blatant example has been the court-ordered redefinition of marriage in several States. This is more than a matter of warring legal concepts and ideals. It is an assault on the foundations of our society, challenging the institution which, for thousands of years in virtually every civilization, has been entrusted with the rearing of children and the transmission of cultural values.”

    How does allowing gay/lesbian people the right to marry for civil purposes destroy marriage, society and civilization? Nobody’s saying anyone’s church has to accept it, just that gays/lesbians have the same right to the legal benefits of marriage as anyone else. I’m not attacking or accusing, I’d just really like to know the thought process here…

    1. I would say that Citizens United is far more dangerous to the nation than a few gays marrying.

      People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw boulders. I don’t think there is a thought process for that plank. Its just people wanting to codify their own religious beliefs.

  35. middleman

    @SlowpokeRodriguez
    What’s the “Akaka Bill?” Thanks!

  36. Need to Know

    More great news on Prince William County’s economy and job market (not). Brookings Institution has just published a study on educational requirements and job availability. The Washington, DC region as a whole is doing quite well. Of the job openings last January/February, 81% required an associate’s degree, some college or an even higher level of education. Only 19% required a high school diploma or less.

    http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2012/08/29-education-gap-rothwell#M47900

    Prince William County? According to the Virginia Employment Commission 48% of the jobs available required a high school diploma or less, and only 52% percent required an associate’s degree, some college, or a higher level of education.

    Great job, Prince William County Board of Supervisors!!! Keep those residential developments and low-paying jobs coming, and high-wage professional jobs out. You really understand how two-thirds of the people who live here just love commuting on I-66 and I-95 to be able to find employment commensurate with their skills and education.

    1. I think the Brookings institute pretty much confirmed what some of us have been saying for a long time.

      Some of the BOCS is just blowing borrowed air….from other jurisdictions.

      Something to think about….look at how many teaching jobs are needed to educate the kids from the biggest bedroom community of all. How many of those degreed jobs are actually teachers? I expect teaching jobs tip the scales rather than the industrial jobs we keep hearing about but never see.

  37. SlowpokeRodriguez

    middleman :
    @SlowpokeRodriguez
    What’s the “Akaka Bill?” Thanks!

    I’m going to assume the link works. It’s REALLY obscure, but it has to do with Hawaii trying to set up government programs for native Hawaiians only.

    1. How does this differ from Indian programs on Native national soil? Just thinking about the Navajo Nation.

      That is obscure. Seems like a lot of trouble over 1 group of people. More info please.

  38. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Moon-howler :
    How does this differ from Indian programs on Native national soil? Just thinking about the Navajo Nation.
    That is obscure. Seems like a lot of trouble over 1 group of people. More info please.

    That was exactly my question. Like I said, it’s so obscure that I wasn’t terribly interested in it.

    1. I would think too obscure for their platform at least. Go figure. Maybe it is code for something else.

  39. SlowpokeRodriguez

    <

    Moon-howler :
    I would think too obscure for their platform at least. Go figure. Maybe it is code for something else.

    Really? Code again? Let’s turn to that dope Torre to see what he thinks! 🙂

  40. Censored bybvbl

    @Need to Know

    Not only does PWC fall short on high paying jobs but it couldn’t even score a restaurant on Restaurant Week DC.

  41. Where is Cargo? Watching the TV. That is one hell of a hit for a Cat 1 hurricane. What’s going on?

  42. @middleman

    Middleman, I should give you credit for the newsest thread. IN fact, I meant to. I have no idea why same sex marriage threats anyone. I could care less.

    I really don’/t know how it threatens constitutional order since marriage isn’t mentioned in the constitution, that I am aware of. Hell, women weren’t even mentioned.

  43. SlowpokeRodriguez

    @Moon-howler
    He’s an MSNBC “The Cycle” personality. I could have spelled his name wrong, but I doubt anyone would care. Anyway, he thinks “index cards” is code for “Obama is an N-word”.

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