Daily Kos

The Democratic Party leadership is taking some heat over its set schedule of fielding just six debates. The troops aren't happy about it and that became painfully obvious at Saturday's annual Democratic Party convention in New Hampshire, reports Tamara Keith.

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz came to New Hampshire to rally the party faithful and to bash the other guys. But a whole lot of people in the audience had something else they wanted her to address: the presidential debate schedule set out by the DNC, which comprised a total of six debates, and just one of them is the first in the nation primary state of New Hampshire.

Twice, Schultz had to give up on her prepared remarks and address the hecklers, who shouted, "We want debates, we want debates."

"Come on folks, we are all on the same side," Schultz told the crowd. "So let's make sure we focus on the Republicans. We should not be arguing amongst ourselves. We have a job to do. We have a president to elect."

Never a good sign when you have to plead with the crowd.

The first Democratic debate takes place October 13, and some worry that the Republicans are getting a free and unfettered round of exposure to voters. Neither the Clinton nor the Sanders camps are actively pushing to change the schedule, but both have said they are open to it. Martin O'Malley voiced his discontent at the meeting.

"We have witnessed not one but two unanswered rounds of nationally televised Republican presidential debates led by that racist, anti-immigrant, carnival barker Donald Trump," O'Malley said.

Vice President Joe Biden did not attend the meeting.

Congressional "investigators" are finally going to allow Planned Parenthood to testify at a hearing about those bogus videos and whether or not the organization sells baby parts. That hearing of the House Oversight Committee—led by and featuring several members of the bunch trying to defund Planned Parenthood—is scheduled for the day before government funding runs out and the government might shut down.

Democratic members are demanding that David Daleiden, the man behind the video operation, is also called to testify at the Sept. 29 hearing. If he isn't, they say in a letter to Chairman Jason Chaffetz today that they will call him to their own minority hearing.

They say the hearing in the Oversight Committee, which includes several members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, is part of the "broader power struggle to unseat House Speaker John Boehner, led by an extreme wing of the Republican Party that is using this issue to force a government shutdown unless the Speaker bows to their demands." […]

"We strongly oppose this biased, one-sided attack against Planned Parenthood that disregards the questionable activities of Mr. Daleiden merely to help the House Freedom Caucus shut down the government and potentially oust Speaker Boehner—all while jeopardizing healthcare services for millions of women across the country," they wrote.

The timing of the hearing is pretty suspect, another indication that this band of Republicans is dead-set on forcing this confrontation with Boehner and on having a shutdown. As to whether they'll also invite Daleiden to testify, well, that doesn't seem likely. Given that the videos have proven to be bullpucky by various outside experts, Daleiden's best bet is to just clam up about the whole thing. In fact, that exactly has been his strategy. House Republicans might indulge him in that, but a federal judge is having none of it.

Judge William Orrick said in a hearing that the Center for Medical Progress must comply with the court’s requests for documents, escalating the weeks-long legal battle over the secret videos. The organization's founder, David Daleiden, had previously told the court that the group planned to invoke the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

The National Abortion Federation is suing over what it says is CMP's illegal secret recording of various providers. They are asking the judge to block the release of any more videos, citing the increasing threats of violence to providers and to officials of biomedical research companies using fetal tissue.

Sign if you agree: Democrats must stand strong. No cuts to Planned Parenthood. No government shutdowns

Jeb! Bush has a sad over a television ad that dares question his assertion that his brother George W. "kept us safe." But he can't just be sad—he also has to be dishonest about the ad's source, tweeting at Hillary Clinton that "Your political machine’s 9/11 ad is disgraceful. As a New Yorker you know the leadership my brother provided after 9/11."

The "after" in that sentence is funny, since Jeb's whole "he kept us safe" schtick is based on the idea that 9/11 shouldn't in any way count against his brother's record of actually keeping us safe. But the ad also points out little things like economic devastation, the botched response to Hurricane Katrina, and, of course, the human cost of a war of choice. (Video below the fold.)

Here's another funny thing: Americans United for Change, the group that put out the ad, dates to 2005, well before Hillary Clinton was running for president, and was formed to push back on George W. Bush's attempts to privatize Social Security. During W's presidency, Americans United also pushed for an end to the Iraq war, and has been chugging along steadily promoting progressive positions on a range of issues—from taxing the rich to renewable fuel standards—and criticizing a lot of Republicans, not just ones hoping to get to run against Hillary Clinton. Highlighting the last disastrous Bush presidency is right in the group's wheelhouse for reasons that have nothing to do with Clinton.

In fact, the ad isn't even really an attack on Jeb. It's a reminder of what the last Bush presidency brought us, for sure, but it's as much a reminder of what the last Republican presidency meant for the country. And it's still a valid reminder if the Republican nominee in 2016 is Donald Trump or Ben Carson or Carly Fiorina.

The lede in this CNN story says it all: "Congressional Republicans hope Pope Francis leaves his liberal-leaning views at the Vatican." It goes on to describe how Republicans in Congress don't want to hear any of that "do something about global warming" or "take care of the poor" talk this commie Pope has become famous for. One "proud Catholic" member intends to boycott and others are saying stuff like:

"I think it's totally inappropriate that the Pope is weighing in on all the real sensitive, far-left issues," said Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe, one of the most conservative senators. "I'm not a Catholic, but my Catholic friends in Oklahoma are not real pleased with it."

However, Republicans think it's going to be totally appropriate to use the Pope's visit to further their "real sensitive" far-right issue—defunding Planned Parenthood.

GOP lawmakers are urging Pope Francis to use his unprecedented platform before Congress to spread a message that calls for restricting abortion.

"The message to the Pope is … there are only seven countries in the world that allow abortion this late, at five months," said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), a former Christian camp director who has become one of the Senate’s most prominent voices against abortion. "And I'd like us to not be one of them."

Meanwhile, "Republican leaders have not put up a way out of the funding conundrum that has flummoxed the GOP-run Capitol." Maybe they ought to be pinning their hopes for a miracle from the Pope on stopping a government shutdown.

Sign if you agree: Democrats must stand strong. No cuts to Planned Parenthood. No government shutdowns.

Ben Carson has managed to go too far for Ted Cruz's comfort. Carson said Sunday that he wouldn't support a Muslim for president because he didn't believe that Islam is consistent with the Constitution, and while criticism from people like Bernie Sanders and Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, could be expected, it also came from some unexpected sources:

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said that Carson should apologize to American Muslims. Ted Cruz reminded Carson that “the Constitution specifies there shall be no religious test for public office.” John Kasich said the most important qualifications to be president were unrelated to religion.

Carson is mostly sticking with the tradition of religious intolerance that in past generations led to vicious attacks on Catholic candidates for president:

A campaign spokesman told NBC  Sunday that Carson will be reaching out to the Muslim community but maintained that there’s a “huge gulf between the faith and practice of the Muslim faith, and our Constitution and American values.”

I'm sure that's going to be some very popular outreach. And isn't it rich that the candidate applying an unconstitutional test to who should be president is claiming to do so in the name of the Constitution? I guess Ben Carson citing the Constitution is like the devil citing scripture.

Reposted from Comics by Barbara Morrill

Click to embiggen!

Hey! If you missed the Kickstarter for my hardcover, two-volume compilation, 25 Years of Tomorrow, good news—you can still pre-order a set!

Reposted from Daily Kos Elections by Daily Kos Elections Leading Off:

• VA State Senate: This fall, Democrats are hoping to net the one seat in the Virginia state Senate that they'll need to retake control of the chamber. Campaign finance reports are in for the period covering July 1 to Aug. 31, giving us a good look at both sides' strengths in the critical races as we enter the homestretch. Below is a look at the six main seats to watch: Three are held by Democrats, and three by the GOP.

Team Blue's best pickup opportunity is SD-10, an open Richmond-area seat that Obama won 50-48. Via the Virginia Public Access Project, Chesterfield County Supervisor Dan Gecker, the Democratic nominee, currently holds a wide $152,000 to $40,000 cash-on-hand edge against Richmond School Board member Glen Sturtevant, a big turnaround from the GOP's $96,000 to $72,000 advantage two months ago. However, Sturtevant outspent Gecker $174,000 to $99,000 during this timeframe. Both parties will fight bitterly for this seat.

Head below the fold to learn about the rest of the Virginia Senate battleground.

Well, I was out doing fun things for most of the weekend, which means I didn't even check Twitter all that often. And then when I did, it was too late and I didn't understand anything. So I'm not sure if I can cover the weekend's events thoroughly.

It started off OK. I understood that the heat got turned up on the Trumpster fire, and that Ben Carson threw himself into the flames. But by the end of the day on Sunday, I could swear that people were saying something about David Cameron and a pig, but I think I was just overtired. So I'm just going to say I missed the boat on that one, I think.

Man, I hope someone famous does something funky this morning, preferably between 8 and 9 AM Eastern!

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This Episode is about money, where it goes, and why people make the decisions they do about whom they share it with. A couple good places to share:  Netrootsradio.com, Daily Kos Radio, and David Waldman - the team that brings you discussion of topics that you do not hear anywhere else. Like these: John Dean, who used to work on one side, but now doesn't, asks: Will the second debate confirm that “Mad as Hell” Republicans don’t want a competent presidential candidate? The elite are different from you and me. David looks into a study that concludes that Rich elites—even rich liberal elites—don’t believe in redistributing wealth. Unsurprisingly, many Wall Street executives say wrongdoing is necessary for success. And, the dealers who control the U.S. Treasury market rigged bond auctions for years. Which leads David back to the the LIBOR bid rigging cartel, and history’s largest financial crime that the WSJ and NYT would like you to forget. Does this talk of rampant greed on a monstrous scale and its financial machinations make you hopping mad? Then you should tune in to "Hopping Mad with Arliss Bunny & Will McLeod", debuting next Monday, September 21 at 8AM on netrootsradio.com! Maybe if you share these hashtags: #gunfail, and #lockdownnation, more people will understand the scope of these problems and work to address them.

Thanks again to Scott Anderson for the show summary!

Need more info on how to listen? Find it below the fold.

From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…

Margaret and Helen Monday Blogging

Bloggerdom's sharpest octogenarian knives in the drawer watched the second idiots' debate and have concluded:

Margaret, all I can say is a clown car pulled up to the Reagan Library and a whole lot of stupid came tumbling out.  And the one female representative on stage spent the evening lying while calling the front runner a liar.  There were just too many asshats to talk about each of them, but here is my best attempt to talk about some of them…

The candidates had a plane.
These two have a battleship.

If Donald Trump really thinks Carly Fiorina has a pretty face, then my late husband really thought I had a skinny ass.  Both are bad at lying.  My point really being, who gives a crap? This isn’t one of Trump’s beauty pageants.  These are the people who want to become the next President of the United States.  Never in my life would I have believed that things could be worse than Sarah Palin. […]

Love him or hate him, Donald is the front-runner because he embodies the beliefs of the current Republican Party.  He’s quick to fight.  He hates people who are not like him. He judges women by the way they look. He thinks a big wallet excuses all faults.  Sound familiar?  If the Republicans don’t want him as a front-runner, then maybe they should take another look at their party’s platform. …

Marco Rubio.  Chris Christie.  Rand Paul.  The professor and Mary Ann… On this Trump and I agree.  Why were any of them  even up there?

I could go on, but then this story would be as long as that debate.  And that would not be a good thing.

Read the rest here. I'd suggest that Margaret and Helen should moderate a GOP debate, but I hate seeing grown men cry.

Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]

E.J. Dionne Jr. at The Washington Post writes—Pope Francis’s actions speak louder than his words:

A danger for all of us in the column business is that we’ll look for political meaning in Pope Francis’s big speeches and ignore what he does while he’s here. [...]

Progressives will highlight everything the pope says about climate change, immigration, social justice and capitalism. Conservatives will grab on to every statement he makes against abortion. Both sides will look for how he describes “religious liberty.” Will he talk about the fight over contraception coverage in the Affordable Care Act (as conservatives hope), or will he concentrate on the persecution of religious minorities, including Christians, around the globe?

It’s hard to see how progressives don’t come out ahead, simply because the pope has radically reordered the priorities of the church.

Rebecca Leber at The New Republic hits a bullseye with her commentary Choosing Your Mother or Daughter for the $10 Bill Isn't Endearing. It Shows You Can't Name a Historic Woman:

No doubt the candidates love these women very much, but with all due respect to Janet Huckabee, Sonya Carson, and Ivanka Trump, they are not women of great historic import. Indeed, by describing them by their familial relationship—"my wife," "my mother," "my daughter"—the candidates implied that these women are important only because of their association with powerful men.

This is all too familiar terrain for politicians. They fill their stump speeches with stories about the women in their lives, to add a personal touch to their canned talking points, but overlook women's achievements outside of the home. The heroism of women—their importance to these men—is that they are faithful wives, productive mothers, and grateful daughters.

Republicans aren't the only ones guilty of this.

Additional excerpts and links can be found below the fold.

Gabrielle Canon writes at Mother Jones writes this scary, scary piece about how Antibiotics Are Spreading Like Crazy—and a Lot of Them Are About to Stop Working:

In 1945, Sir Alexander Fleming won a Nobel Prize for his discovery of penicillin, which transformed modern medicine. Later that year, the bacteriologist issued a prescient warning: The miracle medicine could one day come with dangerous side effects. If antibiotics were overused, he told the New York Times, bacteria would develop resistance and spur a new generation of bugs impervious to the drugs' power.

In the last 60 years, Fleming's advice has gone largely unheeded. Antibiotic consumption continues to grow even as health officials around the world sound the alarm over rising numbers of resistant bacteria. Now, a new report from the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP), a multidisciplinary research organization, paints a harrowing picture of where we stand in the arms race against antibiotic resistance. The main finding is grim: Antibiotic consumption rose by 30 percent between 2000 and 2010 and is expected to swell further as demand for drugs and mass-produced meat products grow around the world. [...]

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, of the roughly 2 million people in the United States afflicted every year with illnesses caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, 23,000 of them will die. These illnesses cost around $20 billion each year, and lead to an additional $35 billion in productivity losses.

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Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2014—Georgia legislator who wants to stop black people from voting is a StudentsFirst favorite:

Critics of Michelle Rhee and Campbell Brown, her successor as the face of corporate education policy, are meeeaan, a very serious analyst argued Tuesday at TPM Cafe. Never mind that Rhee gleefully invited reporters to film her firing people and Brown is refusing to disclose exactly whose big money she's fronting for, and that both push disastrous policies, their critics are just so mean, it's terrible. Of course the education debate has many voices and some of those may occasionally be legit unpleasant, but in real life, there's no comparison between some person being mean on the internet and the kind of damage that people like Rhee and Brown support are doing every day. Let's take one recent case. Remember the Georgia state senator who's trying to close down an early voting site because too many black people might vote there? Yeah. That guy. Let's talk about his ties to StudentsFirst, the organization Rhee founded.

State Sen. Fran Millar not only thinks that having an early voting location in an area "dominated by African American shoppers and ... near several large African American mega churches" would be a big problem—he'd prefer "more educated voters"—he's also been the state Senate Education Committee chair. In that role, he lavishly praised the StudentsFirst state education report card. That report card doesn't focus on results. It focuses only on whether state education laws conform to StudentsFirst-preferred policies—basically states are graded on whether they attack teachers and privatize education sufficiently.

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The Week's High Impact Posts • High Impact Posts • Top Comments

I have bad news for everyone: We won't last forever! With fall and Halloween just around the corner, maybe it's appropriate to mention that The End^tm could happen as soon as tomorrow. Or, if you are young enough or if technology moves fast enough, during your natural life. It could be the next century or the next millennium. But it's coming, as certain as a dino-killing asteroid on a collision course with planet Earth.

Odds are nearly astronomical that your personal End won't come from terrorism, or combat, or at the hands of an illegal immigrant rapist/drug dealer. That's just about all we hear about from politicians these days, but rarely do they address the real threats that affect the vast majority of each and every one of us. Those threats are well known and followed. Based on present stats, your odds of dying from cardiopulmonary disease, cancer or its complications, or complications from diabetes are way better than 50/50. Let's examine this a little bit more below, and end on a note of hope—or wishful thinking. You be the judge.