THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (TYMHM)
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YEAR FIVE INDEX
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TYMHM
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Jan.
07, 2015
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TYMHM Vol 15 - No 1
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Jan.
19, 2015
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TYMHM Vol 15 - No 2
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Feb. 03, 2015
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TYMHM Vol 15 - No 3
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Feb. 23, 2015
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TYMHM Vol 15 - No 4
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Mar. 02, 2015
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TYMHM Vol 15 - No 5
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Mar. 06, 2015
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TYMHM Vol 15 - No 6
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Mar. 13, 2015
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TYMHM Vol 15 - No 7
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Mar. 23, 2015
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TYMHM Vol 15 - No 8
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Mar. 28,
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Apr. 13,
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May 02,
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TYMHM Vol 15 - No 11
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May 09,
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TYMHM Vol 15 - No 12
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May 19, 2015
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TYMHM Vol 15 - No 13
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May 26, 2015
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May 29, 2015
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TYMHM Vol 15 - No 15
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July 28, 2015
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TYMHM Vol 15 - No 16
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Sept. 15, 2015
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Sept. 20, 2015
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TYMHM Vol 15 - No 18
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Sept. 27, 2015
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Agenda
1. FROM FLOYD
2. Boehner says: will avoid US
3. Popcorn time: Boehner calls GOP hard-liners 'false prophets'.
4. The Dark Truth of John Boehner's Resignation
An in depth analysis of the present
day GOP.
A real eye opener.
5. BERNIE for PRESIDENT.
6. An Evangelical responds to Sanders' speech at Liberty U
FROM
FLOYD
Hello Folks:
I'm a little late this week, but I want to tell you, this posting is
filled with some real, what I think, is important and interesting
information.
I told you last week that this week I would give
you something more that just Bernie Sanders for President. I have kept my word. The last two articles is all that is about
Bernie. Even so, I think you will find
them really interesting.
However, I want to say just a few words here about
him. As of last Thursday, a CNN poll
showed ratings in Iowa and New Hampshire Iowa New Hampshire
With regard to a question about
"Trustworthiness and Honesty, Bernie 86%, Hillary 64%. Iowa and New Hampshire
Bernie certainly does not have it sewed
up by a long shot, BUT he is certainly going in the right direction. Lets all keep pushing for him and support him
with donations whenever you can. That's
all, I won't say anymore about Bernie at this time.
You no doubt know that Speaker Bohner has resigned
as Speaker of the House of Representative after holding that post for almost 5
years. Since I am sure you know about
this latest development in Washington
I am going to follow this close this week and month
as what happens, particularly after October 30, could actually have us jumping
out of the frying pan into the fire.
Since I am a little late this week and there is so
much here that is important, I will not post the next one until Sunday. That way if some you only get to it on a week-end
you will be able to see this one and have the next one, still on part of the
week-end.
~~~
Boehner says: will avoid US
DAVID LAWDER Sep 27th
Speaking on CBS' Face the Nation two days after his
surprise resignation, he said the House this week would pass a government
funding bill now moving through the Senate, which does not meet conservatives'
demands to cut off money for Planned Parenthood.
Asked if passage would require Democratic votes, he responded: "I'm
sure it will, but I suspect my Democratic colleagues want to keep the
government open as much as I do."
The Ohio Republican also announced that he
would convene a special committee to investigate Planned Parenthood's abortion
practices, similar to the one probing deadly attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi , Libya
Boehner resigned amid deep divisions among House Republicans over a range
of issues including a Sept. 30 deadline to approve new funding for federal
agencies.
Conservative Republicans, some of whom have called for his ouster, have
insisted on punishing Planned Parenthood by denying funds over allegations that
the non-profit group improperly sold tissue harvested from aborted fetuses.
Planned Parenthood denies any wrongdoing.
Boehner lashed out at the conservative groups and lawmakers who made his
position untenable, including Senator Ted Cruz, the Republican presidential
candidate. He said they "whip people into a frenzy" to make
"unrealistic" demands.
"I mean, this whole idea that we were going to shut down the
government to get rid of Obamacare in 2013, this plan never had a chance,"
he said.
Boehner said he would try to clear as much of Congress' to-do-list as he
could but did not name specific bills.
Congress faces several important fiscal deadlines, including a
transportation spending bill needed in October and a larger budget deal that
would go beyond the 10-week extension to be passed next week.
An increase in the federal debt ceiling also will be needed by December and
lawmakers from both parties want to revive the idled U.S. Export-Import Bank,
which Boehner has long supported.
The speaker's resignation frees him to put legislation to House votes
without fear of a move to oust him.
"I expect that I might have a little more cooperation from some around
town to get as much finished as possible," Boehner said. "I don't
want to leave my successor a dirty barn."
Popcorn time: Boehner calls GOP hard-liners 'false prophets'
by Laurence
Sun Sep 27, 2015
Outgoing House Speaker
John A. Boehner, in his first one-on-one interview since announcing his
resignation last week, compared conservative hard-liners in his party to
biblical "false prophets" who promise more than they can deliver.
Boehner announced
Friday that he would step down Oct. 30 after nearly five years as speaker amid
constant pressure from his party's right flank. Asked Sunday by host John
Dickerson on a live broadcast of CBS's "Face the Nation" whether
those hard-liners are "unrealistic about what can be done in
government," Boehner exploded.
"Absolutely,
they're unrealistic!" he said. "But, you know, the Bible says beware of
false prophets, and there are people out there spreading noise about how much
can get done."
Boehner may have been
the most ineffectual Speaker of the House, ever. It wasn't just the dysfunction within his
caucus, it was also his complete lack of vision. But things can actually get worse for the GOP.
Some are predicting that GOP Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy will be chosen to
replace Boehner, but that wouldn't sit well with the hard-line teabag types who
drove Boehner from office. The hardline
teabag types won't be satisfied until one of their own is in charge, which
would be great fun, given the tea party's overwhelming unpopularity around the country.
The reactions of Republican presidential
candidates have varied from gloating, to veiled gloating, to caution
and concern—because many of them are at a loss as to what to do. The GOP establishment created and fed off this
extremist monster, and now it is devouring them.
~~~
The Dark Truth of John Boehner's Resignation
An in depth analysis of
the present day GOP.
A real eye opener.
This is something
that should not slip by lightly. The
video above is of a roomful of Republican voters interrupting the speech of a
Republican Senator and presidential candidate with a standing ovation at the
news that the Republican House Speaker has been forced to resign. It is
hard to watch this outburst of joyful anger (or angry joy?) without wondering: what in the world is
going on with the Republican party? Why would news of the
humiliating resignation of John Boehner spark an immediate Republican
celebration?
Mr. Boehner
certainly was unpopular with his own Republican voters. The day of his resignation a WSJ/NBC poll found
that "some 72% of Republican primary voters said they were dissatisfied
with the ability of Mr. Boehner and GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell to achieve Republican goals."
But that phrase - failure "to achieve Republican goals" - is
remarkable. As a very good "Abbreviated Pundit Round-up"
details today, John Boehner and the
Republicans overall never had the votes to impose Republican
policies. As Phillip Bump notes,
the only "compromises" Boehner made "have been between reality
and fantasy."
Indeed, it is
notable that when conservative writer Erick Erickson writes a column titled "Why John Boehner Had To
Go," he can't actually name or describe anything Boehner did
wrong - only arguing vaguely and nonsensically that Boehner (somehow) held his
own Republican party "in contempt."
When forced to
explain this supposed "contempt," numerous Republicans (even
presidential candidates) list not only Boehner's (non-existent) failure to stop
Obamacare, but also his supposed enabling
of Obamacare. As Mike Huckabee explained,
"When people sent [Republicans] here, they didn't send them to give the
president more power on Obamacare[.]" Think about that: after total
legislative obstruction, a government shut-down, more than 50 votes to repeal
Obamacare, an ensuing presidential election, two Supreme Court lawsuits, and
other pending litigation - - Republicans are livid with the belief that John
Boehner has worked with the President to
strengthen Obamacare.
No sane political
observer could think that. So, what gives? As Jonathan Chait explains,
we are witnessing a sort of collective Republican denial where they cannot
accept that they are not the ruling party, not the "deciders" (to use
a former president's phrase):
To understand the
pressures that brought about Boehner’s demise as an ideological split badly misconstrues the situation. The small band of right-wing noisemakers in
the House who made Boehner’s existence a living hell could not identify any
important substantive disagreements with the object of their wrath. . . . The
source of the disagreement was tactical, not philosophical. Boehner’s tormentors refused to accept the
limits of his political power. . . .
This discontent runs
much deeper and wider than Boehner. . . . Boehner had the misfortune of
leading, or attempting to lead, his party in an era when it had run up to the
limits of crazy, where the only unexplored frontiers of extremism lay beyond
the reach of its Constitutional powers.
What is important here
is not that Republicans object to the limits of their power, but that Republicans apparently cannot accept that
such limits even exist. Greg Sargent recently caught this in a very revealing FOX News
poll:
[Republicans] failed to
block Obama’s transformation of the country; that must be because they didn’t
even try, so they must be complicit. But
this failure, too, is structural. Republicans don’t have the votes to surmount
Dem filibusters or Obama vetoes. The
idea that this can be overcome through sheer force of will (the argument
conservatives are making in favor of another shutdown fight) is just another
version of [the "Big Lie"].
Indeed, the Fox
News poll unwittingly captures what is particularly problematic about this last
one. It finds that 60 percent of
Republicans feel betrayed by their party, and that 66 percent of Republicans
don’t think their party did all it could to block Obama’s agenda. The poll asks
why respondents think their party leaders failed at this: they didn’t really
want to stop Obama; they weren’t smart enough; they would rather fight each
other. The Fox poll doesn’t even offer respondents the option of choosing the
real reason — that Republicans structurally lack the votes!
You see? Lack of
majority political power is not even a
possibility. When, in the video above, Republican supporters
jumped from their chairs at news of Boehner's resignation, it is because
someone or something defective had to be blocking the Republicans' exercise of
their undisputed authority. With Boehner gone, Republicans have something
legitimate to celebrate in their minds - the restoration of their thwarted
authority.
It sounds crazy,
I know, but this represents the true "dark side" of Boehner's
resignation: it is another
significant step in the Republican party's shocking withdrawal from our system
of democratic governance. Specifically, it presages a
doubling-down of the Republicans' intentions to assert "negative
control," where government shutdowns, hostage-taking, and (the immensely
dangerous) debt-ceiling fights threaten to become more determinative than
electoral outcomes and a functioning government. As one Republican writer put it,
the emerging Republican belief is that threats of government destruction
combined with the inherent rightness of Republican beliefs "could be so
strong (as Ted Cruz was of his proposal to defund Obamacare) that Senate
Democrats, the Obama White House and the mainstream media would, for once,
finally, this time, cave in and let the House Republicans have their way."
(And the use of the words "for once, finally" means
"rightly," "appropriately," consistent with the
"true" distribution of power.)
If anyone doubts
that this is where we are increasingly headed, Steve Benen has a useful summary
of the growing history of Republicans' "hostage governing":
April 2011: House Republicans threaten a government
shutdown unless Democrats accept GOP demands on spending cuts.
July 2011: Republicans
create the first-ever debt-ceiling crisis, threatening to default on the
nation’s debts unless Democrats accept GOP demands on spending cuts.
*September 2011: Republicans
threaten another shutdown.
*April 2012:
Republicans threaten another shutdown.
*December 2012:
Republicans spend months refusing o negotiate in the lead up to the so-called
“fiscal cliff.”
*January 2013:
Republicans raise the specter of another debt-ceiling crisis.
*September 2013:
Republicans threaten another shutdown.
*October 2013:
Republicans actually shut down the government.
*February 2014:
Republicans raise the specter of another debt-ceiling crisis.
*December 2014:
Republicans threaten another shutdown.
*February 2015:
Republicans threaten a Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
*September 2015:
Republicans threaten another shutdown [over Planned Parenthood].
As Jonathan Chait, Greg
Sargent and others note, the forced resignation of John Boehner is another step
in the above line of this undemocratic behavior, and not some gossipy,
intra-mural Republican politics.
What we have here
is one of two major political parties increasingly disengaging from the
democratic process. Did you know that President Obama is an illegitimate
President because he is not a "natural born citizen"? Or that
he won election by promising "free stuff" to minorities? That minorities and illegal aliens are engaged
in massive voter fraud? Or, that popular
elections of U.S. U.S.
Most importantly,
did you realize that all of the above are necessary to enact the majority will
of the people? Because - believe it or not - that is what the Republicans
believe.
The conclusion of
Congressional scholars Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein has been widely quoted, but not sufficiently absorbed:
One of the two major
parties, the Republican Party, has become an insurgent outlier — ideologically
extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime;
scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts,
evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political
opposition.
~~~
BERNIE for PRESIDENT.
by Technowitch
Floyd
As you know, we launched our campaign
almost five months ago and we’re doing very well so far. We’ve seen leads in Iowa
and New Hampshire
And while we will never raise as much
money as our opponents who receive huge donations from wealthy individuals and
super PACs, I have been amazed by the outpouring of grassroots financial
support that we have secured. In just a few months, we have received almost (as of 9-29-15 he has past
1M) 1 million individual contributions online.
Incredibly, these donations average less than $30 per contribution. In other words, while my opponents hold
fundraising events in which a handful of millionaires make huge contributions,
we are gaining extraordinary support with modest contributions coming from the
working families and middle class of our country.
That's what my politics is all about. That's what I want to do throughout this
campaign. And I want to thank all of you
for your support.
Let me be very clear. As I have mentioned before and will mention
again and again, this campaign is not about Bernie Sanders. It's about putting together a grassroots
movement of Americans who stand up and say: "Enough is enough. This country and our government belong to all
of us, not just a handful of billionaires."
Wow... kudos to Bernie (5+ / 0-)
It's easy to give a stump speech in front of your
supporters. Sure, it might be stirring and inspirational, but in the end you're
only trying to persuade those who already like you on some level.
It takes a lot more courage to talk to the other side
and, while still holding to one's own principles, point out all the ways there
are actually broad areas of agreement.
Can any of you imagine any of the other candidates --
especially the GOPers -- EVER doing something like what Bernie did? I can't.
For a few minutes today anyway, I'll set aside my usual
cynicism and indulge in just a little hope things might get better...
~~~
An Evangelical responds to Sanders' speech at Liberty U
by vinkelhake
Follow
forvinkelhake
Wed Sep 16, 2015
An Evangelical pastoral
counselor and Liberty University graduate posted a short sermon about
Bernie Sanders' speech at Liberty
University
Partial transcript below:
He was convicting the
Christian leaders and the religious leaders in that university, and calling us
out for being complicit in the abandonment of those who suffer, the least of
these, and siding with the powerful and rich, the masters of this world.
And he was convicting us and calling us out, and we scorned him, and we
stared him down; and, with sour faces, we thought, "Who is this wacko, and
why do all these people seem to follow him, seem to like him – this wild-haired
Jew, crying out from the wilderness of the political left, in his hoarse
voice?"
When I heard Bernie
speaking in that way, when I saw that guy on stage at Liberty University, I saw
John the Baptist...crying out to the religious leaders, the Pharisees of his
day, calling them corrupt and complicit with those who have all the power and
all the money and all the wealth, and abandoning the people that God loves,
that God cares about...
As I heard Bernie
Sanders crying out to the religious leaders at Liberty University, in his
hoarse voice, with his wild hair – this Jew – and he proclaimed justice over
us, he called us to account, for being complicit with those who are wealthy and
those who are powerful, and for abandoning the poor, the least of these, who
Jesus said he had come to bring good news to. And in that moment something
occurred to me. As I saw Bernie Sanders up there, as I watched him, I realized
Bernie Sanders for president is good news for the poor. Bernie Sanders for president is Good News for
the poor. Bernie Sanders is gospel for
the poor. And Jesus said "I have
come to bring gospel" – good news – "to the poor."
And lightning hit
my heart at that moment. And I realized that we are evangelical Christians. We believe the Bible. We believe in Jesus. We absolutely shun those who would attempt to
find nuance and twisted and tortured interpretations of scripture that they
would use to master all other broader interpretations, to find some kind of big
message that they want to flout. We
absolutely scorn such things, and yet somehow we commit to the mental
gymnastics necessary that allows us to abandon the least of these, to abandon
the poor, to abandon the immigrants, to abandon those who are in prison.
I listened to
Bernie Sanders as he said he wanted to welcome the immigrants and give them
dignity, as he said he wanted to care for the sick children and mothers and
fathers who do not have health care, as he said he wanted to decrease the
amount of human beings who are corralled like cattle in the prisons, as he said
he wanted to do justice for those who have nothing and live homeless. And I remembered the words of Jesus who warned
his disciples that there will be judgement, and on that day he will look to his
friends, and he will say "Blessed are you for you cared for me, for I was
naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you cared for me, I was hungry and you
fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was in prison and
you came to visit me, I was homeless and you gave me shelter." And his disciples said, "When did we do
any of those things for you?" And he said, "If you have done it for
the least of these, you have done it for me."
Those words
echoed in my heart as I listened to that crazy, hoarse-voiced, wild-haired Jew
standing in front of the religous leaders of the Evangelical Movement, calling
us to account, as a Jew once did before, telling us that he intends to care for
the least of these, to clothe the naked, to shelter the homeless, to care for
the sick, to set the prisoners free.
I wouldn't be much of a Christian
if I didn't stand on the side of gospel for the poor, because, the last time I
checked, that's where my master Jesus stood, and I'll stand with Him. And, for
now, that means I stand with Bernie Sanders.
COMMENTS: There
were 623 and many of them very long and thoughtful. A few were almost full sermons.
It's easy to give a stump speech in front of your
supporters. Sure, it might be stirring and inspirational, but in the end you're
only trying to persuade those who already like you on some level.
It takes a lot more courage to talk to the other side
and, while still holding to one's own principles, point out all the ways there
are actually broad areas of agreement.
Can any of you imagine any of the other candidates --
especially the GOPers -- EVER doing something like what Bernie did? I can't.
For a few minutes today anyway, I'll set aside my usual
cynicism and indulge in just a little hope things might get better...
~~~
If the good Lord is willing and the creek don't rise, I'll talk with you
again next week. As I said earlier, I
will be posting next week on Sunday, which would be October 4, 2015.
God Bless You All
&
God Bless the United States of America
Floyd
