Seldom Balanced – Usually Fair
From The Onion:
About 68 percent thought it could restore dignity to the office, 42 percent thought it would represent the country well overseas, and 57 percent said they could see themselves getting a beer with it. Admiration for the widespread celebrity it’s attained by appearing on commemorative stamps and monetary notes also played a major role in determining support.
From Batocchio at Vagabond Scholar:
Few injustices can compete with the Holocaust, but it’s always worth remembering that cruelty and dehumanization exist on a spectrum and manifest in different forms, with varying degrees of toxicity. Most fall far short of genocide or even legalized discrimination, but nonetheless should be questioned and challenged.
Sometimes these impulses erupt as angry demonization and obvious bigotry. Other times it’s as casual inhumanity. I’m reminded of the false belief that most poor people live in poverty because of a lack of moral character instead of misfortune. There’s the self-serving notion that I and others of my chosen political tribe deserve government services but those other people not like us that I don’t like are unworthy moochers.
From North Carolina pastor John Pavlovitz:
I don’t know how your children came home this week, but likely they did come home.
If they did, get on your knees and be grateful.
Bailey Holt didn’t come home this week.
She died in her school.
She died trying to call her mother.
She died violently in the glorious, radiant prime of her young life—and what’s worse, is that it was barely news in America.
From Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger:
Trump’s numbers are upside down, and have been since he was sworn in — and they don’t seem to be improving any at all. He currently has a negative approval gap of 22 points. But Trump’s numbers, as bad as they are, actually look good when compared to the job approval of the congressional Republicans. They have a whopping negative approval gap of 46 points!
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Wondering why a few conservative friends fail to be impressed.
From Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson:
It’s against the bylaws of the state’s firefighter union for a member to enrich himself at his union brothers’ expense, but the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Dan Bice uncovered just how running has benefitted Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mahlon Mitchell financially and politically.
Now campaign finance reports reveal more about how much Mitchell’s candidacy is being borne on the backs of his fellow firefighters.
…
These firefighter donations are ironic since Mitchell has made opposition to Act 10 a major focal point of his gubernatorial campaign and his campaign for Lt. Governor during the 2012 recall election. When Act 10 passed in 2011, Republicans exempted police and firefighters from the law that ended collective bargaining for public employees for benefits.
From Julian Sanchez:
Predictably, the police car immediately flipped on its siren and tore after us. The passengers resigned ourselves to missing the start of the show. At the very least we were going to be stuck waiting through a sobriety test. The driver was surprisingly calm. He explained that he had both a card and a silver shield in the rear window identifying him as a family member of a law enforcement officer. To our astonishment, the stop was the shortest I’ve ever sat through before or since. The officer made some small talk with the driver, asked (without checking) whether his record was clean, then apologized for the delay before sending us on our way. As our friend explained on the way to the show, an ordinary paper card—the sort given to friends of police or folks who’ve made a donation to a PBA—would have been torn up after such an encounter, providing immunity for only a single minor infraction, while the family versions were permanent.
From The Moderate Voice:
The reason blacks don’t vote for Republicans in general is because they think they’re racists. Blacks feel that Republicans are the cause of gentrification, mass incarceration of blacks, and the inadequate education of much of the black population. Blacks won’t think Republicans are racist anymore if all of the public schools are renovated and kept up to date.
From Tommy Christopher:
Rap legend and music mogul Jay-Z spoke out this weekend about Trump’s racist “shithole countries” rant, telling CNN’s Van Jones that “Everyone feels anger, but after the anger it’s really hurtful because he’s looking down on a whole population of people and he’s so misinformed because these places have beautiful people.”
Jay-Z also compared racism with toxin-resistant pests, and called Trump “the super-bug.”
On Sunday morning, Trump responded to Jay-Z’s comments by attacking him on Twitter, and taking credit for President Barack Obama’s policy achievements.
“Somebody please inform Jay-Z that because of my policies, Black Unemployment has just been reported to be at the LOWEST RATE EVER RECORDED!” Trump tweeted.
Trump’s statement is, of course, a lie.
Wondering why a few conservative friends fail to be impressed.