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Discussion: Reforming the Supreme Court

No one should be appointed to a position of power for life.

Absolutely no one.

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Discussion: Weekend Weather Update

Wed July 24th

Wednesday Weekend Weather

Today and tomorrow, warm humid weather continues with chance of showers

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday should be warm, much less humid, and dry. Mostly sunny skies and a gentle breeze completes a very promising weekend picture

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Discussion: Favorite Children's Books

I volunteered for a number of months with an organization called Reading Buddies. It was mostly retired folks who would read to 1st and 2nd graders at inner-city schools. This gave teachers an hour or so break to do admin and other stuff. I enjoyed it very much as I thought I was able to connect with the kids. 

The book I most enjoyed reading was The Giving Tree by my hero, Shel Silverstein. (He was truly a renaissance man. Film, books, poetry, music, wit - he wrote A Boy Named Sue). 

I could always initiate a good convo with the kids on that book. It focused on LOVE as the reason why we humans do so much of what we do. 

That's me, below, reading. 

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Discussion: Trump shot at rally?

terp said:

The president drops out of the race and we don't see him for 5 days.  Thats totally normal.

in the age of COVID it's entirely normal. 

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Discussion: The Rose Garden and White House happenings: Listening to voters’ concerns

mtierney said:

PVW said:

Trump wants to end this. In Trump's America, presidents stay in office for life and voters have no voice. Someone can write an article like Epstein's and, if it’s too critical of the president, find they suddenly have tax issues or problems securing permits, or maybe even find themselves jailed or worse.

Have been meaning to  ask you, for sometime now,  why have you begun posting in declarative sentences? You used to speak in paragraphs all the time about just about everything. What has changed?

Trying to make it easier for you. 

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Discussion: Harris 2024!!! The Only Sane Candidate for POTUS

tjohn said:

mrincredible said:

Another side note (I’m sorry if this was already covered) but this also takes all of Hunter Biden’s travails out of the picture. Trump has been selling the idea of the “Biden Crime Family” to his cult for years. I’m sure he’ll come up with something equally false and vile for the eventual Democratic nominee, but he won’t have the benefit of years to make the lies start to stick. 

Hoping Joe pardons his son who was caught up in a political process with the effect of making the punishment for his crimes much more severe that would otherwise be the case.

agreed, but do it after the election.

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Discussion: Reforming the Supreme Court

It would be hard to change the appointed for life as it's in Article III of the Constitution. But an interesting suggestion I've heard is that the Supreme Court appointment per se doesn't have to be for life. In other words, Madame Judge is from a District Court or an Appellate Court and gets the nod to be on the Supremes. That term could be for just 10 years or so and then it's back to a lower federal court. I almost like that better than adding more justices (i.e., packing the court).

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Discussion: Harris 2024!!! The Only Sane Candidate for POTUS

Ok so I’m taking this as a good sign: Inauguration Day coincides with MLK Jr Day. 

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Discussion: Weekend Weather Update

Uploading an image for the front page to get rid of that radar image from June

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Discussion: The Rose Garden and White House happenings: Listening to voters’ concerns

mtierney said:

PVW said:

I was, of course, joking. Republicans showed who they were when they refused to impeach and convict after Jan. 6th. But this does really highlight the contrast between the parties -- Joe Biden put the country first and stepped aside to give America a fighting chance to beat Trump. The Republican Party, in contrast, is a personality cult devoted to a cruel liar and narcissist who insists that "I alone" can fix it.

you call what Joe did as “stepped aside”? After multiple Democrats in government, donors wanting their $$$$ back, power forces, past and present. — even George Clooney!! — begging, advising, pleading for him to step down ever since that calamitous debate — a “bad night”?! Denial was more than a river in Egypt — it was an ocean!

It is true that Biden faced a lot of pressure to withdraw, and that he resisted it for a long time. But the decision, ultimately, was his and his alone.

Do you think Trump would ever step down if faced with similar pressure? Do you think the Republican Party could even find the beginning of backbone to attempt such a thing? Age lost Biden the ability to campaign; Trump has never had the character to serve.

I like how Zack Beauchamp put this in Vox:

Biden was not just heading for defeat. He and his party were confirming nearly every negative stereotype the voters had about the political system: Politicians were selfish, aged fools unable to act in the public interest; political parties were creatures of a corrupt elite entirely out of touch with the public.

In stepping aside, Biden flips the script. He showed that, when push really came to shove, there was something more important to the president than power: the fortunes of the party and the fate of his country. Even if the actual sequence of events followed the apocryphal quip that “Americans will always do the right thing, only after they have tried everything else,” he did, ultimately, come to the right conclusion.

It’s enough to make even the most jaded observer a little more optimistic about American democracy

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