July 2014 - Page 2 of 10

Trips to Iowa, New Hampshire, Just So Much Show

July 30, 2014 Buck Banks

It would be one thing if all of this early activity and attention in Iowa resulted in a smarter electorate, better candidates or a more authentic version of democracy. But in general, the quaint ‘retail’ settings of Iowa diners and New Hampshire living rooms are treated mostly as media sound stages, places where reporters report on how many other reporters showed up… As a result, these scenes have become backdrops for set pieces that blur into an anesthetizing noise: So-and-so has been to Iowa five times; some other so-and-so is ‘thinking about’ running for president; and here’s yet another picture of yet another so-and-so looking a voter right in the eyes and telling him the truth about something or other, as the discerning voters here insist.

— Mark Leibovich, writing in the New York Times.

Can The Israelis and Palestinians Fight Forever?

July 30, 2014 Trish

Neither side has a strategy other than terrorizing the civilian population of the other side.

— Uri Avnery, peace activist and Tel Aviv resident, who says that young Israelis are so tired of wars breaking out with no resolution that they are beginning to whisper about emigrating.

Most Voters Wouldn’t Want Obama as a Running Mate This Year

July 29, 2014 Buck Banks

57%

Of American voters would not want President Obama to campaign with them if they were running for office this year, while 41% said they would, according to a new Fox News poll.

Conservative Strikeforce Pocketed 92 Percent of Donations Intended for Candidates

July 29, 2014July 29, 2014 Buck Banks

8%

Amount of the $10 million raised since 2010 by the Conservative Strikeforce that actually went to candidates. More than $9 million of the loot was paid to the fundraisers, Fox Detroit reports.

Pastor Welcomes Endorsement by Strip Club

July 29, 2014 Buck Banks

The Lord works in mysterious ways.

— Rev. Jarrett Maupin, Democratic candidate for Congress from Arizona, accepting the endorsement of a Phoenix strip club called the Great Alaskan Bush Co., the Arizona Republic reports.

McCain Says No to Impeachment

July 29, 2014 Buck Banks

We’re not gonna impeach the president of the United States. There just aren’t the votes there even if we believed that it was warranted.

— Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), in an interview with KFYI.

Clinton Thinks ‘Anybody Can Run’

July 29, 2014 Buck Banks

Well, I think there will probably be many candidates. I mean, I’m somebody who believes anybody can run.

— Hillary Clinton, in an interview with Fusion, on the 2016 presidential field.

N.C. Dem Attorney General Roy Cooper: State Will No Longer Defend Same-Sex Marriage Ban

July 29, 2014July 29, 2014 Jon Ponder

Roy Cooper, the attorney general of North Carolina Attorney — and one of the few Democratic statewide officials to survive the 2010 tea party electoral sweep that put Republicans in control of North Carolina for the first time since the 1870s — announced this week that his department will no longer defend the state’s ban on marriage equality. The decision comes after judges in the federal appeals court whose jurisdiction includes North Carolina struck down a similar ban in Virginia:

[…]

Bachmann’s Back on Her Dopebox

July 28, 2014 Buck Banks

They want to abolish age of consent laws, which means children would, we would do away with statutory rape laws so that adults will be able to freely prey on little children sexually. That’s the deviance that we’re seeing embraced in our culture today.

— Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), quoted by the Huffington Post, on what the gay community really wants.

It’s Unreality TV!

July 28, 2014 Buck Banks

Remember when she was armed, dangerous, in flannel?
Well now she’s assumed the news reporter’s mantel.
So we can be perpetually annoyed
By someone who’s actually unemployed.
Just tune in to the new Sarah Palin Channel.

— Mark Leibovich, writing in the New York Times.

Neither side has a strategy other than terrorizing the civilian population of the other side.

— Uri Avnery, peace activist and Tel Aviv resident, who says that young Israelis are so tired of wars breaking out with no resolution that they are beginning to whisper about emigrating.

57%

Of American voters would not want President Obama to campaign with them if they were running for office this year, while 41% said they would, according to a new Fox News poll.

8%

Amount of the $10 million raised since 2010 by the Conservative Strikeforce that actually went to candidates. More than $9 million of the loot was paid to the fundraisers, Fox Detroit reports.

The Lord works in mysterious ways.

— Rev. Jarrett Maupin, Democratic candidate for Congress from Arizona, accepting the endorsement of a Phoenix strip club called the Great Alaskan Bush Co., the Arizona Republic reports.

We’re not gonna impeach the president of the United States. There just aren’t the votes there even if we believed that it was warranted.

— Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), in an interview with KFYI.

Well, I think there will probably be many candidates. I mean, I’m somebody who believes anybody can run.

— Hillary Clinton, in an interview with Fusion, on the 2016 presidential field.

They want to abolish age of consent laws, which means children would, we would do away with statutory rape laws so that adults will be able to freely prey on little children sexually. That’s the deviance that we’re seeing embraced in our culture today.

— Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), quoted by the Huffington Post, on what the gay community really wants.

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“If you are committing fraud against the American people, all of us in public leadership should be trying to stop it and throw you in prison for enriching yourself off the American taxpayer.”

— Vice President JD Vance, on Fox News.

“Your generation has a great bullshit meter, because you’re fed bullshit online all day. And the Democratic Party brand right now is so bullshit.”

— Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D), quoted by The Atlantic, speaking to college students.

“We are done, Americans are done with endless conflict in the Middle East, spending trillions of dollars, American lives… this is insane and we have to call it for what it is.”

— Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), on CNN.

Numerati

+175,000

“The U.S. State Department announced on Monday that it has revoked more than 175,000 visas during President Donald Trump’s administration so far,” Fox News reports.

$4,600

11

30%

A new American Research Group poll finds just 30% of Americans say they approve of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president and 67% say they disapprove.

61% to 35%