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Friday, October 4, 2024

CNBC: “The U.S. economy added far more jobs than expected in September, pointing to a vital employment picture as the unemployment rate edged lower, the Labor Department reported Friday. Nonfarm payrolls surged by 254,000 for the month, up from a revised 159,000 in August and better than the 150,000 Dow Jones consensus forecast. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, down 0.1 percentage point.”

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Public Service Announcement

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

Washington Post: “Comedy news outlet the Onion — reinvigorated by new ownership over this year — is bringing back its once-popular video parodies of cable news. But this time, there’s someone with real news anchor experience in the chair. When the first episodes appear online Monday, former WAMU and MSNBC host Joshua Johnson will be the face of the resurrected 'Onion News Network.' Playing an ONN anchor character named Dwight Richmond, Johnson says he’s bringing a real anchor’s sense of clarity — and self-importance — to the job. 'If ONN is anything, it’s a news organization that is so unaware of its own ridiculousness that it has the confidence of a serial killer,' says Johnson, 44.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'll be darned if I can figured out how to watch ONN. If anybody knows, do tell. Thanks.

Washington Post: “First came the surprising discovery that Earth’s atmosphere is leaking. But for roughly 60 years, the reason remained a mystery. Since the late 1960s, satellites over the poles detected an extremely fast flow of particles escaping into space — at speeds of 20 kilometers per second. Scientists suspected that gravity and the magnetic field alone could not fully explain the stream. There had to be another source creating this leaky faucet. It turns out the mysterious force is a previously undiscovered global electric field, a recent study found. The field is only about the strength of a watch battery — but it’s enough to thrust lighter ions from our atmosphere into space. It’s also generated unlike other electric fields on Earth. This newly discovered aspect of our planet provides clues about the evolution of our atmosphere, perhaps explaining why Earth is habitable. The electric field is 'an agent of chaos,' said Glyn Collinson, a NASA rocket scientist and lead author of the study. 'It undoes gravity.... Without it, Earth would be very different.'”

The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

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The Commentariat -- Jan, 13, 2014

Internal links removed.

Rubio & Ryan Are No Robin Hoods. Paul Krugman: "It's not much of an exaggeration to say that right now Republicans are doing all they can to hurt the poor, and they would have inflicted vast additional harm if they had won the 2012 election. Moreover, G.O.P. harshness toward the less fortunate isn't just a matter of spite (although that's part of it); it's deeply rooted in the party's ideology, which is why recent speeches by leading Republicans declaring that they do too care about the poor have been almost completely devoid of policy specifics."

** Profs. Jason Stanley & Vesla Weaver in a New York Times op-ed: "... the practical reality of the criminal justice system in the United States is far from colorblind. The evidence suggests that the criminal justice system applies in a radically unbalanced way, placing disproportionate attention on our fellow black citizens. The United States has a legacy of enslavement followed by forced servitude of its black population. The threat that the political ideals of our country veil an underlying reality of racial democracy is therefore particularly disturbing. Starting in the 1970s, the United States has witnessed a drastic increase in the rate of black imprisonment, both absolutely and relative to whites."

Mark Sherman of the AP: The Supreme Court "is hearing arguments Monday in a politically charged dispute that also is the first in the nation's history to explore the meaning of a provision of the Constitution known as the recess appointments clause. Under the provision, the president may make temporary appointments to positions that otherwise require confirmation by the Senate, but only when the Senate is in recess. The court battle is an outgrowth of the increasing partisanship and political stalemate that have been hallmarks of Washington over the past 20 years, and especially since Obama took office in 2009." For context, see also the piece by Peter Shane linked in yesterday's Commentariat. ...

... David Hockings of Roll Call: "The stakes for Senate Republicans are so high that the court gave them 15 minutes of argument time. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will be on hand as their case is presented by Miguel Estrada. (His nomination by President George W. Bush to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals failed to advance during seven cloture votes in 2003...) ... Legal scholars are salivating over the outcome of what they say is the most important separation of powers case in at least two decades. That's because it not only reflects the most basic argument about constitutional law (whether strict constructionist originalism is most important, or applying precedent and common sense to real world situations) but also could have the effect of theoretically invalidating thousands of decisions by dozens of recess appointees dating back more than 200 years. But for senators expecting to be around next year, it's a clear-cut case of power politics."

Greg Miller & Adam Goldman of the Washington Post: "As general counsel to the director of national intelligence, [Robert] Litt has assumed an unusually high-profile role in the aftermath of the Snowden leaks, serving as the point person in defending the massive surveillance programs to Congress and the public. He has defended spy agencies aggressively in dozens of congressional hearings and other settings. He has battled news organizations to keep some Snowden material out of news reports and fired off a steady stream of ­e-mails accusing reporters of sloppy or sensationalized work. He has also alienated some key lawmakers, including Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who for the past six months has effectively banned Litt from appearing before the panel, even behind closed doors." ...

... Margaret Talbot of the New Yorker compares the break-in of & theft of documents from the Media, Pennsylvania, FBI field office in 1971 & Edward Snowden's theft of NSA documents.

Michael Gordon & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "Iran and a group of six world powers completed a deal on Sunday that will temporarily freeze much of Tehran's nuclear program starting next Monday in exchange for limited relief from Western economic sanctions. The main elements of the deal, which is to last for six months, were announced in November. But its implementation was delayed as negotiators worked out technical details. The agreement faced opposition from Iranian hard-liners and Israeli leaders, as well as heavy criticism from some American lawmakers, who have threatened to approve further sanctions despite President Obama's promise of a veto."

Andrew Bacevich in the Los Angeles Times: "The truth is something few people in the national security establishment are willing to confront: Confusing capability with utility, the United States knows how to start wars but has seemingly forgotten how to conclude them.... As a consequence, instead of promoting stability -- perhaps the paramount U.S. interest not only in the Islamic world but also globally -- Washington's penchant for armed intervention since the end of the Cold War, and especially since 9/11, has tended to encourage just the opposite.... Fundamentally, a pronounced infatuation with armed might has led senior civilian officials, regardless of party, and senior military leaders, regardless of service, to misunderstand and misapply the military instrument." ...

... Robert Gates talks to CBS "News"'s Rita Braver about his new memoir:

... Gates tells NBC's Matt Lauer that he's disappointed reporters & pundits are accurately quoting the digs he made about top government officials. CW: Really, people, limit your reviews to citing the parts of the book where I depict myself, Bob Gates, as a genuine hero, especially as compared to the lowlifes & know-nothings I had to work with. ...

... Steve Inskeep of NPR interviewed Gates at some length. The transcript is here. The audio is here.

Presidential Election 2008

Politico Magazine publishes an excerpt of Johnathan Allen & Amie Parnes' forthcoming book on Hillary Clinton. Here they dish on Bill & Hillary Clinton's "hit list" of those who didn't but should have helped Hillary in 2008. Aides assigned each lawmaker on the list a number, based on the perceived notion of how much they helped or didn't help the Clintons.

Local News

Steven Yaccino of the New York Times: "While Republican-majority legislatures across the country are easing restrictions on gun owners, few states are putting more pressure on municipalities right now than Kansas. The new law has forced some local leaders to weigh policy conviction against fiscal pragmatism in a choice that critics say was flawed from the start: Open vulnerable locations to concealed side arms or stretch meager budgets to cover the extra security measures." Thanks to contributor Whyte O. for the link.

Coral Davenport & Ashley Southall of the New York Times: "Last week's major chemical spill into West Virginia's Elk River, which cut off water to more than 300,000 people, came in a state with a long and troubled history of regulating the coal and chemical companies that form the heart of its economy.... Critics say the problems are widespread in a state where the coal and chemical industries, which drive much of West Virginia's economy and are powerful forces in the state's politics, have long pushed back against tight federal health, safety and environmental controls."

Chris Frates of CNN: "CNN has learned that federal officials are investigating whether Christie improperly used [Hurricane Sandy] relief funds to produce tourism ads that starred him and his family. The news couldn't come at a worse time for the scandal-plagued Republican.... As bad as the bridge scandal is for Christie, if investigators find he improperly spent Sandy funds, it could get far worse, tarnishing the signature achievement that has made him a serious contender for the White House." ...

... N. R. Kleinfield of the New York Times writes a useful overview narrative of the George Washington Bridge lane closings scandalette. ...

... Shawn Boburg of the Bergen Record: New Jersey "Assemblyman John Wisniewski said he plans to issue subpoenas demanding documents from the governor's former deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly and spokesman Michael Drewniak, along with other aides whose names surfaced last week in documents related to the lane closures...." ...

... Margaret Hartmann of New York: More New Jersey Democratic mayors suspect that Christie's endorsement "requests" came with strings & threats. ...

... Dylan Stableford of Yahoo! News: "Prominent Republicans hit the Sunday morning talk show circuit to defend New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, comparing the possible 2016 presidential hopeful's handling of the burgeoning bridge scandal to President Barack Obama's response to the Benghazi terror attack and the IRS' targeting of conservative groups. 'Chris Christie has been totally open here,' Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus said on NBC's 'Meet The Press' Sunday." CW: Sorry, Reince, we ain't buying that bridge. ...

... David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Republican strategist Karl Rove asserted on Sunday that New Jersey's Gov. Chris Christie's (R) handling of the George Washington Bridge Scandal showed he had the right qualities to be president of the United States." ...

... How did President Obama not know about the IRS targeting right wing groups? ... This is what happens in political operations. I mean, people get wrong messages. It happens all the time. It happened, again, I go back to the IRS scandal. The people in the IRS though President Obama wanted them to do this. President Obama didn't want them to do this. But they got the sense because of that culture that they were supposed to target right wing groups. It was totally wrong. -- Rudy 9/11 Giuliani on ABC News's "This Week"

Of course, crack host Martha Raddatz let Giuliani get away with mischaracterizing the IRS probes, which were directed at both left- and right-leaning fake "social welfare" groups, not to mention that President Obama doesn't work out of the Cincinnati IRS office. -- Constant Weader

As you can see, the word has gone forth that the best way to deal with the Christie scandal is to whine and blubber about the bogus IRS scandal and Benghazi! -- digby

... Charles Pierce has a rundown of Sunday morning shows, where the deal is that congenial hosts welcome lying politicians & pundits with the apparent understanding that prevarication & inapt analogies will ever go unchallenged. ...

... AND David Brooks defended Christie on Friday: "If they're going to vote for Christie, they don't want a charmer. They want a big bully. And this will not hurt him, I think.... people get -- pick the rough guy when they're really fed up":

... Driftglass: "Should Christie somehow survive thanks to extraordinary political life-support measures taken by Mr. Brooks, Mark Halperin, David Gregory, Joe Scarborough and the rest of the Beltway Both Sider monkey-house, Mr. Brooks will no doubt very modestly and humbly call back to this moment as evidence of his boldly contrarian political sagacity." ...

... E. J. Dionne: "Even assuming that Christie's disavowal of complicity holds up, he faces a long-term challenge in laying this story to rest. History suggests that beating back a scandal requires one or more of these assets: (1) a strong partisan or ideological base; (2) overreach by your adversaries; or (3) a charge that doesn't fit people’s perceptions of you. Christie has trouble on all three fronts."

Lawless Lawmakers. Jordan Shapiro of the AP: "Having failed in an earlier effort to bar federal agents from enforcing gun regulations in Missouri, conservative lawmakers are trying a new tack this year: banding together with other like-minded states to defy certain federal laws at the same time. Supporters believe it will be more difficult for the federal government to shrug off such statutes if more states act together. Missouri's latest proposal, introduced this past week, would attempt to nullify certain federal gun control regulations from being enforced in the state and subject law enforcement officers to criminal and civil penalties for carrying out such policies. The state's Republican-led Legislature came one vote shy of overriding Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of such a measure last year. This year's bill adds a new twist, delaying the effective date for several years to allow time for other states to join the cause."

Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "A state assemblyman from western New York, Dennis H. Gabryszak, said on Sunday that he would step down amid mounting accusations that he sexually harassed women who worked in his office." The Buffalo News story is here. ...

... Margaret Hartmann: "Gabryszak didn't apologize in his statement.... Previous ethics investigations were dropped after the Assembly member stepped down, and the Daily News notes that after 32 years of government service, Gabryszak can collect a pension estimated to be worth $53,000 a year or more."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "On Monday, a court-martial is scheduled to begin for a Navy supervisor in connection with the deaths of [two Navy scuba divers] ... on Feb. 26 in the man-made pond at the Army's test center, in Aberdeen, Md."

New York Times: "Ariel Sharon, Israel's 11th prime minister, was eulogized on Monday as a fighter and pragmatic politician whose life was intertwined with the land of Israel whose security he defended relentlessly."

Washington Post: "After years of failing to heed U.S. advice to broaden his outreach to Iraq’s Sunni minority and to accept more U.S. counterterrorism assistance, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki now appears ready to listen, according to senior Obama administration officials."

Reuters: "Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Moscow on Tuesday, the Kremlin said on Monday, and a diplomatic source said they were likely to sign a nuclear cooperation deal."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (10)

As more states pass laws restricting abortion, nullifying sensible federal gun control regulations, torpedoing Obamacare, requiring drug tests for welfare and food stamp recipients, funneling more tax money to religious institutions, adopting right to work statues that make it harder for workers to organize, subsidizing corporations while floating ever more regressive taxes for the common citizen, and... (feel free to add to the list), I'm beginning to understand what all those people in our history books who escaped repressive governments were fleeing from.

Never thought I'd start to think like a Pilgrim.

January 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

@Ken Winkes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/12/us/for-some-kansas-towns-decision-to-allow-guns-in-public-buildings-comes-down-to-money.html?ref=todayspaper

January 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterWhyte Owen

I make it a point never to go grocery shopping on weekends––the crowds, the long waits in checkout counters, etc. But last Saturday, due to hazardous weather during the week, I ventured forth. As expected the store was packed, so much so that some of the aisles were so congested that no one could move. Suddenly a man called out, "Jeez, I feel like I'm on the Washington Bridge!" Everyone in the aisle nodded in agreement when someone said, "We need to call in Governor Christi," and then an elderly gentleman wearing a Red Socks cap, moaned, "God help us!" Everyone laughed.

This got me thinking and hoping that this story has reached even those that don't follow political news. And I do hope with every fiber in my being that Christi will be found liable and be forced to resign, not only because politicians like him need to be hung out to dry, but because people like David Brooks who come out with dumb remarks (see video above) and all the right wing naysayers who cling to spurious nonsense about Obama while making excuses for the bull from the bully in N.J. will get their just desserts.

January 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

Re: a really bad nightmare; I dreamed I was enjoying a "No pants subway ride" day when my track was blocked by Gov.Christie wearing nothing but a rust-colored thong. This huge tub of lard was accompanied by David Brooks who's own tiny package encased in "tighty-whitey briefs". They were singing, "We are the greedy bunch guild, the greedy bunch guild!" As the subway car inched passed the two I swear I heard David shout, "We're a couple of tough and ruff guys who don't take any shit from women or children!" Waking in a cold sweat, I swore to myself, "No more late night cookies and milk."

January 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterJJG

PD,

You make a good case for why BridgeGate, LaneGate, BullyGate or whatever the hell it's called is not going away anytime soon. It may drop out of the news cycle but it will be one of those things that everyone will be able to instantly recall.

First, like Bush in the flight suit and Mike Dukakis in the tank with the giant GI Joe helmet, it's a memorable visual. Unlike Dubya and the Duke, there are no specific iconic images of the traffic on the bridge but everyone knows what a traffic jam looks and feels like and how much it sucks to sit in one, especially if it comes out later that it was not only unnecessary, created as political payback by the governor and/or his staff, but that at least one person died because of it and the search for a missing four year old was hampered all to give a douchebag a little chuckle.

Second, it's easy to understand. Many scandals, potential scandals or invented scandals disappear pretty quickly (the GOP has had to create its own traveling circus, driving in a clown car from state to state, driven by Head Clown Darrell Issa, in order to keep various "scandals" on life support) because no one gives a shit. They're often too obscure or too complicated for most voters to parse, or there's just not that much there to get worked up over.

But not this one.

This baby has legs. And no traveling medicine show peddling GOP snake oil will be needed to keep it alive.

On a secondary note, anyone who needs Miss Brooks, Fluffy (rented balls) Gregory, and two world class hacks like Mark (I Get Everything Wrong and I'm Proud of It!) Halperin and Joe Scarborough to stick up for him, is already in a bad way. And trying to make some painful, screwball connection between Christie and Obama triggers so many logical fallacies it's hard to list them."My mother went to Vassar." "Oh, that's because my mother bought me a bicycle when I was nine."
Say what?

That's the tenor of these arguments.

This guy is toast.

January 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

JJG,

Oh man, I soooo wish I hadn't read that comment. Now, like an annoying piece of music, I'll have that image in my head until I can flush it out with something even worse.

And don't bother. I can come up with one on my own, thank you.

January 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Most of today's news is just depressing or "so what else is new, but this note from Digby enraged me:

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-elite-way-to-die.html

Who in hell gave the Kellers the right to tell someone else how to die?

As someone fighting my own battle, I'll do it my way, thank you. I have no intention of "going gently into that good night." I intend to fight every step of the way, and I don't need any unwanted advice from the Kellers, and if I choose to share my experiences: As Al Roker said to Rush: STUFF IT!

January 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterBarbarossa

Barbarossa,

I have to admit I tend to avoid the trivial and largely puerile mewlings of Bill Keller but the articles to which you allude in which the Kellers, vir et uxor, exhibit their disdain and exasperation with a woman who, they suggest, should just shut up and die already, are beyond ignorance. For Keller to describe this woman's battle to stay alive as "defiance" which, in the context of his piece comes across as much more insolent and tedious than heroic or gutsy, removes future opinions of his from any possible consideration as coming from a thoughtful, decent, and well rounded human being.

Fuck you, Bill. This for you and this for your wife. This type of behavior makes the imperious Romneys look like Albert Schweitzer and Mother Theresa. We had a lot of fun at their expense during the campaign (and rightfully so) but I can't recall at any time one of them coming right out and complaining that another person's expressions of pain and suffering were tiresome and rude and that that person should just go off and die and stop bothering them.

Fuckers.

Bill's next job should be writing speeches and copy for Paul Ryan. It's a perfect fit. "Shut up, old lady, and eat your cat food. We're trying to enjoy the good life here and help out our wealthy friends and you're making too much noise about being cold and hungry so STFU!"

Asshole.

January 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

@Akhilleus: I seem to recall a picture of the GWB gridlock with a guy standing outside his car, apparently attempting to find out WTH is going on. I believe MSNBC has aired it on at least a couple programs: Rachel, Chris, perhaps Steve. I've tried to locate it and failed. {Sorry -- but I'm sure it's out there.} Still, it would be my choice for "iconic picture of BridgeGate."

@Barbarossa @Akhilleus: But that's nothing compared to "Kellergate." I followed the links from Barbarossa's post (for which thanks), and I am breathless with outrage. It's particularly personal for me, because I have a friend and former colleague who is in a similar position: she's in her early 30s, married with 3 young children and fighting lung cancer. She's brilliant, artistically gifted, and potentially has a wonderful future ahead of her --IF she can beat the disease. She also has a blog:
http://lil-lytnin.blogspot.com/
(If you go there, scroll down to the December 31 post -- it's poignant and beautiful.)

This is where we're headed: people like this monumental asshole Keller (et ux) telling the rest of us when we should fight and when we should just give up and die already. Alan Grayson said it almost perfectly a few years ago (missing the mark only in attributing it solely to Republicans, when it's actually the plutocracy, both Republican AND Democrat): "Don't get sick, but if you do, die quickly." Why is this "man" still allowed to spew his excremental verbiage all over the New York Times -- or any national news outlet, for that matter?

I'm looking forward to Charlie Pierce's take on this.

January 13, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterRose in Michigan

Just have to make another comment on the horrendous, elitist and completely unempathetic Kellers, Bill and Emma! When you have been given a death sentence after a cancer diagnosis, will you please write another column? I am sure it will be quite different, and perhaps more humane and caring.

I am a former Hospice supervisor, and I have nothing but praise and pride in the patients and hospice workers I had the privilege to know. The patients personified "death with dignity." The Kellers most probably will not be so lucky. Hubris does have its day.

@Barbarossa - YOU GO GUY! I appreciate and admire your spirit! And I am grateful to be a fellow commenter on Reality Chex.

January 14, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterKate Madison
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