I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

IllinoisLady

Hmmm, I don't think I care that he is illegal.  He can speak a language very few are able to.  Good point Blue.  Also good to remember that in many cases, jobs that no one else would do, the illegals would.   

Kay, your article was great and yay for Canada.  In your country Faux North is going to be -- most likely no ones' comedy channel as it is here for me.  I seldom bother watching unless I wish to have a few guffaws as that is all it is worth to me.  I have no wish to drown myself in ignorance and lies. 

Jackie

Anonymous

RL - I read that in this am WashPost, really a good piece.  Thinking of you & all my friends in VA, the State Legislature needs to have a Big Cleanout - on the D side!  Yikes, how blatant, wonder if his daughter WILL be given a judgeship.  Didn't bribery used t be a crime?

Bren - keep fertilizing those tomato pots, they'll be good to you.  My Big Yellow Iris ( which a friend gave me from her spreading garden a few years ago) are in full bloom, such intricate flowers.

Kay - yuck, nausea.  If it's treatment related, the doc is best with advice, if it's the Garden Variety Stuff -the only thing which still helps me  is a few saltines, or bland dry stuff, warm, flat, room temperature ginger ale, little sips.  I still keep fresh ginger in the FREEZER, it gets too moldy too fast in the fridge, and use it make fresh ginger tea...hope the feeling ebbs soon for you.

IllinoisLady

Interesting....Eric Cantor lost his primary.  Adios.

Jackie

to a Teabag....

Enjoyful

Oh wow.  Trot away, little Cantor.  Good riddance!

QuinnCat

My guess, Cantor got replaced by an even crazier Republican.  As far as I'm concerned, that's good.  They'll soon ruin our country even more and people will be done with them.  Or else, they'll lose in the general.  They don't like those darker skinned people getting citizenship.

Too many posts to catch up with.  Bon Voyage Yorkie - you're probably well on your way by now.  Sciatic stays here and like Sunny says, gone by the time you get back.  Maybe a Turkish bath or two?

Bren - beautiful yard.

RetiredLibby

Yes.  Karma hunted down that greasy little rat b*$tard and beat him to death with his own teabag.  HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!  I'm not in his district (thankfully, I am in the most liberal district in the United States, with the safest Democratic House seat in the U.S. - really, it is known as the safest!), but I am rejoicing.  This is the hysterical part - the bagger raised $207,000 in campaign funds.  The weasel raised $5.4 million.  Guess those votes against unemployment came back to haunt him.  

QuinnCat

RL - was it the Unemployment Insurance or was it Enhanced Medicaid....though those Obummerf***ks probably don't understand what that is.  Wait, is this Virginia or Maryland?  They keep saying Dream Act.

RetiredLibby

Virginia.  Weasel-face represents largely the Richmond area, although his district was gerrymandered all over hell and back to give him a solid red district.  It was unemployment insurance.  He was also the ass who voted AGAINST disaster aid to SW Virginia after a spate of tornados there a few years ago.  But mostly it was UI.  Expanded Medicaid is a state thing and a traitor Dem resigned from the Virginia State Senate to give the thugs the majority and block the governor from expanding Medicaid - because nothing shows your true character more than blocking people from having access to health care they cannot otherwise afford. 

Like many states in transition, Virginia is blue in the big cities and crimson in the country ... which, of course, is a conundrum because the countryfolk are REALLY poor in Virginia.  Tens of thousands of them show up for the Remote Area Medical (RAM) clinics in Wise County in far SW Virginia.  But they'll continue to vote for the ratbastards who block healthcare. 

Fortunately, Virginia's blue cities contain large population blocks that vote deep cobalt blue.  This state is still teeter-tottering, but it is getting bluer by the day.

 ETA:  Virginia is also an open primary state - you may vote in any primary you choose, but only one.  You don't have to vote in the primary of the party in which you are registered.  I don't remember anymore if Virginia asks party affiliation at registration.  I have been registered here so long that everyone knows I'm a Dem.  I'm pretty sure I'm a registered Dem, but they might have done away with party affiliation. 

There is quite a bit of talk that the Dems in weasel-face's district all voted in the Republican primary and voted for the other guy.  Heh heh heh. Had I lived in his district, I would have done the same.

 

 

RetiredLibby

BOOYAH!

QuinnCat

California is very blue, but we still have Red-Rural-syndrome.   I don't see that ever changing because we are truely rural...the largest population center, Sacramento, is 200 miles away.  There is another Congressional District, or two before you ever get there, as the bird flies.

We have one of the most Conservative (and lazy) Congressman in the state, maybe nation.  He's a farmer, newly elected, to take the place of the last (really low IQ) farmer we had (that farmer might be remembered for his rah rah tea party townhall  meeting where someone called Obama a terrorist and he just let it go).  Anyway, our new farmer Rep is the second highest farm subsidy $$$ collector (millions) and just supported the Ag bill which eliminates transparency on which Congressmen and women receive farm aid dollars.  A Congressman on the dole who wants to hide it.

QuinnCat

We are an open primary state too, but the last time I checked, if you were a Democrat voting for a Republican in the primary, the GOP didn't have to count your vote, but this this time I didn't see any Party affiliation on my ballot, so not sure if they changed that one.  Still open.

RetiredLibby

Just looked at Virginia's voter registration application and there is nothing on it about party affiliation.  It is a true open primary now.

gardengumby

we are also open primary. The two top vote getters then vie against each other in the main event.  Seattle always has two Dems in the final.

Enjoyful

Karma hunted him down and beat him with his own teabag??  Oh, Libby, you do know how to turn a phrase.  Thanks for the morning laugh!

alexandria58

So glad to see Cantor out of there.  RL, well said.

RetiredLibby

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/eric-cantor-blew-168k-steak-houses-brat-spent-122k-overall-n128126

NBC News - Eric Cantor Blew $168K at Steak Houses; Brat Spent $122K Overall

Eric Cantor's reelection campaign spent more at steak houses than opponent Dave Brat spent on his entire campaign.        

In a stunning upset, the second-highest ranking Republican in the House lost his primary challenge to tea party-backed economics professor Brat, who became the GOP nominee for Virginia’s 7th congressional district.        

According to FEC campaign finance data, Cantor's campaign spent $168,637 in 17 payments to both Bobby Van's Steak House and BLT Steak up until May 21.        

Brat's campaign had spent a total of $122,793 in that same amount of time.

Bren-2007

Good Morning Gal Pals,

We had a huge lightning/thunderstorm last night.  The lightning hit one of my chestnut trees right out back and burned the limb off.  It was pretty scary. I'll try to take a picture of it.

This is my son and his family.  The boys won an award at school!

Going to be another hot day with more thunderstorms forecast.  Better get moving and walk the dogs before the next round hits.

Hope everyone has a really good day.

hugs,

Bren

Anonymous

Bren - such a wonderful smiling group - bet you're PROUD!  :-)

RL, still chuckling at Cantor being eaten by the monster he created..can't laugh, or I'd choke on my popcorn!  Champagne anyone?  He was THE catalyst for the Just Say No Group meeting at the Caucus restaurant in DC after the 2008 election.

As all have said, oh, KARMA - and more popcorn as his internal polls said he'd win by 30%  must use the same polling group Mittens used. Bet Boehner is celebrating too.

crazy4carrots

Bren -- lovely photo, beautiful family!  Congratulations!

We had a thunderstorm here this morning too -- but no limbs burned off trees as far as I can tell. Wow, that's scary!

Speaking of scary (well, a different type of scary) I saw on The Daily Show last night that an official with the VA said at a hearing that the VA is STILL using the same computer registration program that they first had in 1985!  Can you believe it?  How many different iterations of computer programs have we all experienced in the last 34 years?  Why are countries so very eager to recruit soldiers and send them off to dangerous places to peacekeep, to kill or be killed/wounded, and then when they come home, seem to regard too many of these poor vets as expensive detritus?  I have a great-niece in the U.S. Air Force and her brother is in the Marines.  They're getting a great post-secondary education and seeing the world (great-niece is currently in Japan) but heaven forbid they are ever sent into combat and come back wounded.

IllinoisLady

Ah yes, that wonderful thing called KARMA.  Everyone gets to be on that train.  Good and bad karma....all in how you wish to live your life.  You get to steer the ship ---- and add the fuel.  Put too much steak in the fuel tank and as you SWAGGER away with a self-satisfied look....the brick wall rises up in front of you.  WHAM!!!!

Bren -- what a pretty family. You have good reason to be proud. 

Waving at you Sunny.  With an empty champagne glass.  

Jackie 

ananda8

It may be helpful to remember that not all VA hospitals are messed up.  Some, like the one that my husband goes to in Little Rock, AR, are just wonderful.  He has had 11 stents and just wonderful nursing care.  My brother had an extremely complicated jaw surgery (20 hours and two teams of doctors) and is doing well.  I had my partial mastectomy there so I can speak from personal experience. 

The problem with the VA across the board is in its handling of administrative paper work for new applicants and in some cases for scheduling.  Little Rock has made huge efforts to correct these issues even though it's saddled with an antiquated computer system they still make that system work.  We can get our medical records including doctor's notes on the same day.  We go in for tests and the results of those tests are on our doctors computers by the time my DH goes to his appointment an hour later. My DH can email his PCP and get a reply with in 24 hours. He can also email his pharmacist and cardiologist with questions.

The VA has the experience and knowledge for dealing with the diseases and medical issues that are unique to veterans that private doctors just do not have.  The health issues relating to Agent Orange and Gulf War Syndrome are beyond the experience of the average private doctor.  Just knowing how to properly design and fit prosthetics is a skill that the VA excels because of the shear volume of cases it sees annually.

Overall, the VA system's medical side gets A+ but the administrative side needs a lot of help and in some cases the local hospital administrator needs to be removed.  In all cases, the congress should fully fund the VA.  The worse thing that could happen would be to privatize the VA.

djd

Cantor, whom is totally despised by the left, as well as, apparently, by the fringe right Teahadists, is out of a job. 

The primary winner is a solid, died in the wool, crazy-ass tea-partier and, as happened in 2012, will lose the general election. 

Democratic candidate takes the prize.

Win-win-win all around.

 

djd

Excellent piece from Markos this morning http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/06/10/1305863/-Five-things-I-learned-about-conservatives-these-past-two-weeks

****

Conservatives have kindly given us an illuminating inside look into their world view these past few weeks. Things I've learned:

• Reality is a mere inconvenience. Remember when Obamacare would destroy the world? How many of them are talking about the ACA today? The number is pretty much zero. The law proved its worth, and they moved on. There was Cliven Bundy, but that flamed out, so forget he ever existed. So they moved on to Benghazi select committee, but how much are you hearing about that these days? No, now it's BERGDAHL who will finally prove Obama's undoing. Except he won't.
• "Leave no one behind" is not a conservative value. The Solider's Creed says, "I will never leave a fallen comrade." The Airman's Creed says, "I will never leave an airman behind." It's a foundational military and American value. For conservatives, it's "leave no one behind, unless Sarah Palin has something to say about it, then it depends." That's simply un-American.
• Forget about supporting the troops. It's not just leaving our troops prisoner in the hands of our enemies. Conservatives filibustered increased spending on veterans health care. And let's not forget, they'll boo our troops if they happen to be of the wrong sexual persuasion. In other words, support for the troops is now lip service, and even then, situational. It really depends.
• Beards say "I love America!" except the Taliban ones. Long beards are okay when they're on the face of Duck Dynasty pretend hillbillies, but not okay on the face of Bowe Bergdahl's father. Just because.
• Keeping schoolchildren alive is not a priority. Given the choice between unfettered access to weapons of mass killing or keeping our school children safe, conservatives have made their choice very clear. For them, dead school children are preferable.

Alright, I admit it. I didn't learn most of those things these past two weeks. The "leave no one behind, maybe" was new, as was the crazy beard thing. But the rest? It merely confirmed what we already knew. None of it very pretty.

*****

Anonymous

donna - thought that was one of Kos best posts. Esp. loved the pics of beards...

smiling with your win-win-win

sad truth is only a VERY SMALL percentage of people vote in primaries, and that's usually the MOST extreme on both ends of spectrum.

What I find most interesting is how OFF their internal polls were, seems even those involved are trapped in the Faux nuus cycle

gardengumby

djd - sure hope you're right about the dem winning Cantor's old seat, but that precinct has been gerrymandered pretty heavily, so unless this new guy is horribly unpalatable, I just don't know if he'll go down in ddefeat.

djd

GG - you have a point - just wishful thinking on my part.  It is just too delicious to see that weasel get out-flanked from the right! 

I just think this "Brat" character might implode before election day.  He is, after all, untested, not well-vetted and probably naïve when it comes to playing with the big boys and girls in a real race.

one can dream :-)

RetiredLibby

Donna, that is an exceptionally red district, although there are dots of blue.  They can't actually burn Democrats' houses down, so some stay there.  I know two of the handful of Dems in Louisa County and they said that the Dem party meetings fill up someone's living room ... But they were hopeful.  

Here are some of the possible scenarios:

Trammel (D) wins because Brat (R) is so very extreme that moderate Republicans (really, of which there are about 10 in that district) will vote for Trammell and he will win.  Not likely.  It will be interesting to see if the DNC puts any money into his race.  They have a history of failing to support long-shot candidates (with which I disagree, but I am not in the party or the leadership). Money will tell.

Brat wins in November but he is so low on the totem pole in the incoming House class that he has very little power.  Almost assured.  He is overwhelmed by the complexity of being in Congress (very possible - it is a LOT different than a being a professor in a little jerkwater college in a rural Virginia backwater).  He fails to accomplish much, alienates donors, and flames out, losing to a Dem in '16.

Brat wins in November, and is so extreme that he loses all hope of any reelection.  His rhetoric is over the top for establishment Republicans and they try to "kill" him in '16.  Possible, although nobody has "killed" that fool Louie Goober from TX or Carnival Cruz.  However, they do eat their own.

Or - Brat wins in November, likes the privilege and prostitutes himself to the lobbyists to stay.

However it turns out, remember - he has taken out a very, VERY bad man who had a LOT of power.  He will have NO power as a freshman representatives.

And OMF i was just listening to Weaselface (Cantor) and he said this: "Remember - what divides us as conservatives PALES in comparison to what divides Conservatives from the left and progressives." WHAT a jackass!! It is the J.O.B. of Congress to compromise to get things done!  Baldly out there in his anti-American rhetoric, isn't he?  Good riddance to a skeevy, seditious pile of cowflop.

djd

RL - you make some very good points, and I agree wholeheartedly with your logic.  But I just have this fantasy that Brat will open his mouth in the most offensive way about a topic, such as rape, and that it makes him virtually unelectable!

RetiredLibby

Oh, don't think for a minute that I'm not begging the universe to give him a brain fart so massive that he blurts out that he admires Hitler, takes Pol Pot as his role model, or says any woman who says she was raped is lying.  There is a great deal of stupid in Virginia Republicans to go around (George Allen & "macaca" is a fine example).  It would have to be really, really bad to turn the race, though.

IllinoisLady

Just getting around to some reading ( late here 11:30p.m. ) as I had a lot to do.  I still tend to tee-hee every time I think about the Cantor upset. His other half was standing with him when he gave his omg I lost speech.  Couldn't tell if she was shocked, but she did seem ill-at-ease during most of Cantor's farewell remarks. 

Have to admit I'm not crying tears as big as horse tu**s and there are a fair number of others who would not get that reaction from me either. 

Off to bed.  See you all in the morning and I'm hoping there is no rain then. 

Jackie