The Ledes

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Washington Post: “ John Amos, a running back turned actor who appeared in scores of TV shows — including groundbreaking 1970s programs such as the sitcom 'Good Times' and the epic miniseries 'Roots' — and risked his career to protest demeaning portrayals of Black characters, died Aug. 21 in Los Angeles. He was 84.” Amos's New York Times obituary is here.

New York Times: “Pete Rose, one of baseball’s greatest players and most confounding characters, who earned glory as the game’s hit king and shame as a gambler and dissembler, died on Monday. He was 83.”

The Ledes

Monday, September 30, 2024

New York Times: “Kris Kristofferson, the singer and songwriter whose literary yet plain-spoken compositions infused country music with rarely heard candor and depth, and who later had a successful second career in movies, died at his home on Maui, Hawaii, on Saturday. He was 88.”

~~~ The New York Times highlights “twelve essential Kristofferson songs.”

The Wires
powered by Surfing Waves
Help!

To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

Link Code:   <a href="URL">text</a>

OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, then Akhilleus found one, but it too bit the dust. He found yet another, which I've linked here, and as of September 23, 2024, it's working.

OR you can always just block, copy and paste to your comment the URL (Web address) of the page you want to link.

Note for Readers. It is not possible for commenters to "throw" their highlighted links to another window. But you can do that yourself. Right-click on the link and a drop-down box will give you choices as to where you want to open the link: in a new tab, new window or new private window.

Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

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.”

Contact Marie

Click on this link to e-mail Marie.

Page Links
Saturday
Jun302012

The Commentariat -- July 1, 2012

Bill Scher argues in a New York Times op-ed that Presidents Franklin Roosevelt & Lyndon Johnson also made deals with corporations as part of efforts to get corporate backing for liberal bills. Because President Obama "heeded this lesson of liberal history," he was able to get the ACA passed.

Prof. Pamela Kaplan, in a New York Times op-ed: "... the conservative majority ... laid down a cache of weapons that future courts can use to attack many of the legislative achievements of the New Deal and the Great Society -- including labor, environmental, civil rights and consumer protection laws -- and to prevent new progressive legislation. Far from being a source of jubilation, the term may come back to haunt liberals.... A Congress that can advance national priorities only through its taxing power is a Congress with little power at all." ...

... ** Anthony Kennedy Is No Moderate. Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "Four justices, including so-called moderate conservative Anthony Kennedy, joined a dissent that did not simply toss out two-hundred years of established law, it also called for the entire [Affordable Care] law to be repealed.... A court may not invalidate any constitutional part of a law unless it is 'evident' that Congress would have preferred that part to fall along with the parts the court just invalidated, yet Kennedy and his three co-ideologues would simply cast that rule aside...."

Patricia Zengerle of Reuters: "Voter support for >President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul rose after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld it but most people still oppose the law, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll on Sunday. The online survey showed increased backing from Republicans and, crucially, the political independents whose support will be essential to winning the November 6 presidential election."

CW: this AP story by David Gram answers some questions Reality Chex contributors have raised about Vermont's single-payer health insurance project, which has been enacted but will not be fully implemented -- or funded -- till 2017.

Maureen O'Dowd applauds Queen Elizabeth II's conciliatory efforts toward the Irish. CW: wonder if, in one of her secret meetings with Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), Queen Liz advised him to placate the Irish -- a very good idea for any Massachusetts political candidate. (See yesterday's Commentariat, plus Kings & Queens & Prime Ministers.)

Kate Wiltrout of the Virginian-Pilot: "The Navy will not use a target depicting a Muslim woman holding a gun at a new training range for SEALs in Virginia Beach. The announcement came hours after the Council on American-Islamic Relations asked the Pentagon to remove the target. A picture of the cardboard target, which shows a woman in a headscarf holding a pistol, was published in The Virginian-Pilot on Tuesday. The image shows verses of the Quran hanging on the wall behind the woman, which also generated criticism from the group."

Hippy Dippy Weatherman. Joe Romm of Think Progress: "How hot is it? It is so hot that NBC Washington’s Chief Meteorologist, Doug Kammerer, explained on air 'If we did not have global warming, we wouldn't see this.'" ...

... R.I.P., Al Sleet:

David Olinger & Eric Gorski of the Denver Post: "Eleven years ago, federal agencies announced a bold strategy to battle the growing threat of catastrophic wildfires.... The government's planned response: a sophisticated new computer system -- called Fire Program Analysis, or FPA -- that would enable firefighting agencies to coordinate their efforts and maximize their resources.... Federal agencies, led by the U.S. Forest Service, are still working on it." ...

... Michael Kodas & Burt Hubbard in the Denver Post: "The number of wildfires in Colorado has exploded during the past decade. So has the number of people living in high-risk fire zones. And public policies for dealing with both risk making the state's fire danger even worse. In the past two decades, a quarter-million people have moved into Colorado's red zones -- the parts of the state at risk for the most dangerous wildfires. Today, one of every four Colorado homes is in a red zone.... It costs millions to protect homes in the red zone from wildfires, but homeowners don't foot that bill exclusively. All taxpayers do. That creates a perverse incentive to build there despite risks."

Presidential Race

Preserving the Aristocracy. Karoli of Crooks & Liars: Mitt Romney said in a campaign speech he wants "citizens" who "work hard" to "get all the education they can afford." Know your place, poor people. With video.

Jim Rutenberg & Jeff Zeleny of the New York Times: "Propelled by a torrent of blistering television advertisements, President Obama is successfully invoking Mitt Romney's career at Bain Capital to raise questions about Mr. Romney's commitment to the middle class, strategists in both parties say...."

Right Wing World

His Meds Made Him Crazy. Forget all that preserving the integrity of the Court stuff. The real reason John Roberts decided to uphold the Affordable Care Act -- epilepsy medication made him do it. CW: I have no doubt we will soon learn that Elena Kagan spiked Roberts' Tea Party tea with a double dose of meds.

David Dayen of Firedoglake: "I keep seeing these confident predictions from health care experts that no state would be so foolish as to reject the Medicaid expansion for their state. I want to set up a poker game with these people, to provide for my family in retirement. How many times can you say 'well that's so radical and extreme, it could never happen!' and be wrong before you review your assumptions?"

News Ledes

New York Times: "The number of votes separating Representative and his top challenger, State Senator Adriano Espaillat, shrank to 802 over the weekend, as the New York City Board of Elections released a new, unofficial vote count that for the first time included numbers from all precincts in the 13th Congressional District. More than 2,000 absentee ballots and affidavit ballots -- those cast by people whose names, for some reason, did not appear on the voter rolls -- remain to be counted, a process that will not begin until Thursday morning."

Doris Sams, sometime between 1946-1950. Photo via Knoxville News Sentinel.New York Times: "Doris Sams, who pitched a perfect game and set a single-season home run record in the women's professional baseball world of the 1940s and 50s that inspired the movie 'A League of Their Own,' died Thursday in Knoxville, Tenn. She was 85."

New York Times: "Marcus Agius, the chairman of Barclays, is expected to resign on Monday, less than a week after the big British bank agreed to pay $450 million to settle accusations that it had tried to manipulate key interest rates to benefit its own bottom line." Guardian story here.

ABC News: "House Speaker John Boehner said today that Republicans are preparing to file a civil suit in an attempt to gain access to more information pertaining to the Justice Department's botched Fast & Furious cartel gun tracking program."

AP: "The much-hyped plan to end Syria's misery and guide its transition to democracy appears to have fallen flat despite the endorsement of Western powers.... The U.S. and its allies insist the plan will force Syrian President Bashar Assad from power. Russia disagrees and Assad is unlikely to acquiesce."

New York Times: Facebook is considering abandoning Nasdaq, the exchange Facebook blames for botching its IPO rollout.

Washington Post: "Daybreak Sunday found 789,358 in the Washington region still without power, facing another sweltering day and the prospect of returning to work Monday before electricity is restored to their homes.Many roads made impassable by fallen trees and the power lines they took down were reopened by Sunday as crews worked through the night to clean up the tangled aftermath of the storm that struck before midnight Friday." ...

... AP: "Millions across the mid-Atlantic region sweltered Saturday in the aftermath of violent storms that pummeled the eastern U.S. with high winds and downed trees, killing at least 13 people and leaving 3 million without power during a heat wave. Power officials said the outages wouldn't be repaired for several days to a week, likening the damage to a serious hurricane. Emergencies were declared in Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, the District of Columbia and Virginia." ...

     ... Washington Post Update: "The Washington region suffered through another day of stifling heat Sunday, and thousands of people went without air conditioning as utilities called in reinforcements and the National Guard pitched in to help with storm cleanup. The heat index topped 100 again, and sultry weather was forecast for the entire Fourth of July week as legions sought refuge from sweltering homes and waited for work crews to make repairs."

The Denver Post has a page of stories on the Colorado fires here.

Houston Chronicle: "Some 50 million Mexicans go to the polls today in an election expected to return the presidency to the political party that undemocratically ruled the country for most of the last century." New York Times story here. ...

     ... New York Times Update: "The party that ruled Mexico for decades with an autocratic grip appears to have vaulted back into power after 12 years in opposition, as voters troubled by a bloody drug war and economic malaise gave its presidential candidate, Enrique Peña Nieto, a comfortable victory on Sunday, according to exit polls and early returns."

AP: "Syrian opposition groups on Sunday rejected a U.N.-brokered peace plan for a political transition in Syria, calling it ambiguous and a waste of time and vowing not to negotiate with President Bashar Assad or members of his 'murderous' regime."

AP: "A Soyuz space capsule carrying a three-man multinational crew touched down safely Sunday on the southern steppes of Kazakhstan, bringing an end to their 193-day mission to the International Space Station."

Guardian: "Former Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, who earned a reputation as an uncompromising opponent of Palestinian statehood, has died aged 96."

Guardian: "WalMart has suspended a seafood supplier following complaints from workers at the plant that they were forced to work 24 hours at a time and had threats of violence directed at their families. In a statement, Walmart said a preliminary investigation uncovered "violations" at CJ's Seafood in Louisiana, where eight Mexican employees had complained of being mistreated by their bosses."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (15)

Yesterday PD compared the citizens gleefully left in the dust with no hope and no chance for medical care (courtesy of Little Johnny's skill with parsimonious parsing of the ACA) with the poor buggers populating the Victorian underclasses in Dickens' novels.

Mitt Romney's boot stomping of similarly challenged American citizens in the new Republican century reminds one of another fictional setting: Bedford Falls, in which the miserable banker Mr. Potter (a sterling example of Republic values at work if there ever was one) explains that "handouts" to working class Americans (such as a loan enabling them to put a roof over their heads and food on their children's plates) have no value and instead create a "...discontented lazy rabble instead of a thrifty working class."

Here's hoping our lazy rabble shows up in November to send would be President Potter off to one of his many vacation homes.

What a prick.

July 1, 2012 | Unregistered Commenterakhilleus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4ne13Zft9Q

If you forgot that scene in It's a Wonderful Life.

July 1, 2012 | Unregistered Commenterakhilleus

Good morning. Two issues. First, now that the ACA is back in play, maybe we will be forced to actually look at the real issue of healthcare. The fact that in America healthcare is called an industry says it all. When will a politician stand up and say that the idea that you can deny care to someone with a preexisting condition redefines the word immoral? Unfortunately my guess is never.
And two, likewise does anyone notice that the major events covered on evening news is the destruction of the U.S.A. by the weather? Does even one politician mention the issue of global warming? Proof that the only thing politicians care about is themselves.
P.S. While I am quite sure I am not clinically depressed in spite of the current state of affairs, I think we need a new definition for the DSM, politically depressed. Unfortunately there will never be a medication to fix that one, although maybe alcohol can help.

July 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMarvin Schwalb

Yesterday Haley reminded us that Vermont has a single-payer health care system and she wondered how that would square with the Medicaid money for the states. Does anybody know?

Yes, grumpy, greedy, fat Mr. Potter. If we could make a remake who could play our Mr. P.? Gee, let's see. Oh, wait––Chris Christie would be perfect––fits the bill. There he'd sit in front of large table, his chair resembling a throne, eating an oversized salami with cheese while throngs of the poor and disenfranchised wait in line to beg––yes, beg for some kind of relief, for just a little help. Then some wise guy makes a crack about Christie's weight––how come he's so well rounded when the rest of us are withering away––that does it for Christie since confrontation was never his strong point; he lashes out at the wise guy in his usual crass way, closes down shop, tells the poor people to pull themselves up by the boot straps and stop pestering him. End of scene and Jimmy Stewart isn't going to save the day –––Stewart was actually a republican and worked to get Nixon reelected––– so not even the heroes can be heroes anymore. Let's rewrite and bring in Alice Fay to save the day.

July 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

@Haley Simon & @P. D. Pepe: This AP story, which I've also linked above, answers some of your questions about Vermont's single-payer plan.

Marie

July 1, 2012 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Every time I read or hear about the Mittster, an expression we used in the Army comes to mind - a lying sack of shit. From now on, I'll refer to him as LSOS.

July 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterBarbarossa

@ Marie: thanks for the AP story on the Vermont's single-payer business.

The two Denver Post's stories are complicated. Perhaps this sentence spells out some of the difficulties in trying––since 2001––to implement a successful program:

"There are a lot of people in the bureaus who are dedicated to doing the right thing," Botti said. "When you get higher up the food chain, it gets more political and, obviously, some people are interested in protecting turf and organizations."

And all these people building homes in hazardous zones, just like in New Orleans,–––you would think there could be local prohibitions to prevent building of any kind to take place in those areas. So while the congress is fiddling around with stupid stuff like trying to bring down Eric Holder and concentrating on putting women in their place (pills, fetuses, vaginas, abortions, etc.) the West continues to burn. When I think of the devastation of our forests and the loss of all those homes I burn with indignation. The Global warming/Climate change discussions are where? Smoke gets in our eyes, evidently.

July 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

PD,

Any guys wise enough to comment on Christie's conspicuous corpulence when all around who are not connected to the right-wing gravy train barely eke out subsistence livings, may expect, under the conservative interpretation of the First Amendment (say anything you like as long as it doesn't criticize our royal persons), to be tossed into the hoosegow.

The good thing about this outcome is the possibility that one may then be transferred to one of Christie's highly lucrative halfway houses from which career criminals walk freely on a near daily basis. Of course this story has been buried beneath important news like the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes impending divorce (the poor thing finally recovered her mind).

Thus, the accepted storyline in the MSM is still that Gov. Christie is a man's man, a tough talking straight shooter, considered by many to be presidential timber (I'm reminded of Kant's quip about the crooked timber of humanity...but that's for another day), instead of the cheap, blundering, blustering windbag whose bungling cronyism pegs him as just another creep harboring delusions of greatness.

And Marvin, your point about the deafening silence of the MSM concerning even the possibility of global warming makes one wonder when talking about scientific fact became the third rail in America.

When? Why, since the Republican Century began and Dubya and his sniveling poltroons decided that they only had to say something for it to be true.

To be consistent, we must acknowledge that weather is not the same as climate. You recall a few years ago when a number of late winter snow storms opened the door for climate change denier Jim Inhofe (Retard, Okla) to tout a weather anomaly as proof positive of his stupid, stupid, stupid position. Did I say it was stupid?

That being said, as the warming records pile up year after year, there should be someone--anyone--in the media willing to at least broach the subject.

Oops, no time for that shit, there's a new tweet from Tom Cruise....gotta go....

July 1, 2012 | Unregistered Commenterakhilleus

Re: Yesterdays paragraph about the failure to sell the health plan by Obama's team. Marie says hit'em hard, often and simple. I tried to say the same thing last week when commenting on the article about the people waiting in line for medical attention in Tenn. Down here on the lower rungs of economic ladder many of the people I work with simply don't get it. We're not dumb; we're ignorant. The message has got to be; This is good for you, your family and your neighbor's family. Over and over and over again. Your kid who's living at home without a job has got insurance; your wife with history of cancer has got insurance; these are good things in bad times. On the other hand there's the Mitt, offering nothing, taking more. The choice seem pretty simple.
Marvin; totally with you on the health industry and your guess. I've always liked; "Chances are never and his little brother, no way".

July 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterJJG

Chris Christie (or as the Andrews Sisters call him, 'Mister five by five') will have his day coming soon. He has made just a few too many promises that involve the one thing that in the end you can't lie about, money. It comes in that annoying form called numbers.
He promised enough growth to pay for a tax cut. No chance. He promised enough money for this restructuring of higher education. I am pretty sure that the extra billion or so is not available. Then he plans to cover his ass by borrowing a huge amount that he swore he would never do. That requires a vote either from the Dem. controlled legislature or the voters. No, governor bullshit will come to an end. Oh and by the way there is no chance that he will be the VP nominee. Even Mitt is not that stupid. I would love to see the reaction of the whole world when the jerk calls the Prime Minister of some country a jerk or idiot.

July 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMarvin Schwalb

Last night I watched Michael Moore's "Sicko" again, http://www.documentarywire.com/sicko
Very moving. Might be a good thing to be required watching for all...

July 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterBonnie

Sorry to post again, but I just got through reading Douthat, that persistent thorn in our progressive flesh; my teeth are clenched, my eyes smart, and I'm fantasying about taking a pound of HIS flesh. I'm hoping Marie will take him on tomorrow and spare any of you from spoiling your Sunday. I should have skipped his column, but curiosity done me in.

July 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

@Marvin Schwalb-

I agree with you that we very much need a new DSM diagnosis: POLITICAL DEPRESSION. First, of course, one must determine the severity of the condition: Mild, Moderate or Severe

ACCOMPANYING CATEGORIES:
1) with anxiety
2) with suicidal ideation
3) with homicidal ideation
4) with nightmares about traveling to Texas to gun show
5) traveling to Arizona in fugue state and buying gun from cartel

Note: All 5 symptoms can occur simultaneously--with #2 and 3 alternating

PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS:
1) Unremitting inflammatory colitis
2) Bitter, nasty taste in mouth (bile)
3) Inability to swallow
4) Persistent nightmares of corpulent, psychopathic N.J. governor
sitting on crapper
5) Concerns that face will turn orange if one sees just one more
picture of House Speaker

Note: All 5 symptoms can occur simultaneously.

There is no known treatment for this depression other than surgery: pre-frontal lobotomy--which leaves one quite unconcerned, but unable to function (see Marco Rubio bio). Or geographical escape--which means relocating to Costa Rica or New Zealand. The final treatment choice is "anarchy," and would require cooperation by large amounts of fellow suffers. This may offer a cure, but could come at some cost to patients. However, quite probably preferable to existing situation.

July 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterKate Madison

@Kate Madison
Excellent diagnostic criteria. Let me add one symptom because it applies to me. Totally unable to see or hear Republican politicians on television (with the exception of the Daily Show) in order to maintain anger management. I forgot that there is in fact one treatment that does help. It's called Reality Chex. Thanks Marie.

P.S. Yesterday we got a little note from the local tax office. Our wonderful governor's fiscal management had our real estate tax go up about $1000. in one year.

July 1, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMarvin Schwalb

@Marvin Schwalb: You should call Grover Norquist ASAP
even though it's not a "new tax", it's a new tax increase. His
number is 1-800-asshole. Looks like we are all facing this as
states refuse federal funds for whatever reason. What to do.

July 1, 2012 | Unregistered Commenterforrest morris
Comments for this entry have been disabled. Additional comments may not be added to this entry at this time.