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There are a couple of recent and current news stories that I'm surprised haven't generated threads yet, and there are a couple of stories that I think are interesting but probably don't deserve a thread of their own.

So here's a thread containing all four. Offer answers to questions I've posed or comments on whatever topic or topics interest you.

Child immigrants creating US border crisis
Whose fault is this? Is this an unintended or intended consequence of President Obama’s using executive power to implement the Dream Act, a bill that did not receive enough votes to pass congress? What can be done? What should be done?
Can our Southern border ever be made secure? What is the responsibility of countries like Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala

Judge Rejects Teacher Tenure for California
Ca judge ruled that teacher tenure law deprives students of their right to an education under the State Constitution and violated their civil rights.
What do you think about this decision? What are the chances that it will spread throughout the country? What do you think about teacher tenure? I believe I read elsewhere that California teachers can receive tenure after only 18 months. Assuming you buy into tenure, is this to short a period of time, and if so, what is the appropriate time period?

Thad Cochran Wins Primary
Putting aside any extreme hatred you may have for the Tea Party or glee that McDaniel appears to have lost (He’s vowed to challenge the result), what do you think about the way Cochran turned things around? It appears that he courted Democrats to vote in the primary race and to vote for him. This has a lot of Republicans angry. If you’re a Republican or lean that way, what do you think? Did Cochran and the GOP Establishment cross the line or is all fair in politics? If you’re a Democrat or lean that was, what would you think if it was Democrat encouraging Republicans to vote in a primary? And what about the Establishments in both parties. Cochran and the DC GOP Elders who stood by him on his victory stage looked like they all may have eloped from an Assisted Living Facility. Cochran is 76 years old and has been in the Senate since 1978 and has served 6 terms already: 36 years. He was a congressman for the 4 prior years so he been in DC for almost 40 years. Charlie Rangel won his primary race too. He’s 84 and has been in congress since 1971, 43 years! Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Proud to be an American? You’re probably not a true liberal
Washington Post reports on Pew Research Center conducts a poll asking those surveyed how well the follow describes them:
Honor and duty are my core values
Often feel proud to be an American
Think of myself as a typical American
Care to share your thoughts on the specific questions or the poll results? What should the definitions of “Steadfast Conservatives” and “Solid Liberals” be?

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@Finn dAbuzz,

I think the ebola virus outbreak in western Africa is more important, and could use a thread of its own. Six-hundred infected; hundreds dead. What makes it scary is that ebola would previously burn itself out, due to the quick death of the host; the virus could not find a new host in time to survive. Something else is going on now; supposedly people travel more in these western African countries and spread the virus very quickly?

Regardless, there was some short story about people partying in a castle during the plagues of the middle ages, thinking the plague couldn't then reach them. I don't remember the ending; however, I am not so sure ebola understands international borders.

1 Reply

@Foofie,

Since this is intended to be a Grab Bag thread, I won't complain about the addition of another topic.

I would argue though that at least a couple of the original topics are, currently more germane to American's interest.

Ebola is a hideous disease and very frightening but right now it's contained in a region of Africa. What if anything is the US and the rest of the world doing to help local health officials control it? Can they do more?

I don't know if there's anything else that can be done. I suppose we could prohibit any traffic between this part of Africa and the US, but that seems draconian, and wouldn't address Africans who stop elsewhere on their route to the US.

If an outbreak of ebola occurs in the US, rest assured that it will get it's own thread.

1 Reply

@Finn dAbuzz,

Quote:

If an outbreak of ebola occurs in the US, rest assured that it will get it's own thread.

You're not suggesting that USians are self absorbed, are you, Finn?

1 Reply

An excerpt from a relevant online article:

Quote:

They were driven in part by Mr. Cochran’s organization and outreach, but also by a sense, they said, that Mr. McDaniel had been overly vicious in his attacks on President Obama and incendiary in the racial undertones of his pitch to white voters that “it’s time to defend our way of life again.” [my italics]

Black voters said that with the long odds for any Democrat in a statewide election here, both Mr. Cochran and Mr. McDaniel would most likely beat the Democratic candidate, former Representative Travis Childers, in November. Given that choice, they said they preferred Mr. Cochran.

“People saw the Tea Party as the bigger threat,” said Carl Brown, a black 44-year-old pastor, who was sitting in Scott’s Style Shop, a barbershop in Yazoo City. “They’re on the news saying, ‘We want to go back to the good old days.’ Good old days for who?” [my italics]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/26/us/politics/blacks-regain-sway-at-polls-in-mississippi.html?_r=0

1 Reply

Very sad. . . .

Quote:

Update: Tea party leader Mayfield dead of apparent suicide

Jimmie E. Gates, The Clarion-Ledger 1:13 p.m. CDT June 27, 2014

Attorney Mark Mayfield was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Friday at his Ridgeland home.

Mayfield, vice chairman of the Mississippi Tea Party, and is one of the three men charged with conspiring with Clayton Kelly to photograph U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran's bedridden wife in her nursing home and create a political video against Cochran.

Ridgeland Police Department responded to Mayfield's home to investigate the shooting.

Ridgeland Police said the department received a call at about 9:03 a.m. from Mayfield's wife saying her husband has shot himself.

Mayfield's attorney, Merrida "Buddy" Coxwell, said he has known Mayfield for much of his legal career.

"I'm totally shocked," Coxwell said. "You couldn't find a nicer man."

Coxwell said he and Mayfield were both mountain bike enthusiasts.

When asked if the charges against Mayfield may have been the catalyst for his apparent suicide, Coxwell would only say that anything he says wouldn't come out right.

Mayfield of Ridgeland, an attorney and state and local tea party leader, was arrested last month along with Richard Sager, a Laurel elementary school P.E. teacher and high school soccer coach. Police said they also charged John Beachman Mary of Hattiesburg, but he was not taken into custody because of "extensive medical conditions." All face felony conspiracy charges. Sager also was charged with felony tampering with evidence, and Mary faces two conspiracy counts.

The arrest of Mayfield, well-known in political, business and legal circles, caused shock in Mississippi, in a criminal case and election that already had Mississippi in the national spotlight.

Gov. Phil Bryant said in statement of Mayfield's death: "Deborah and are saddened to hear of the loss of Mark Mayfield. He was a long-time friend, and he will be missed. Our prayers go out to his family in this tragic moment."

U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper also expressed his saddened on Mayfield's death. "He was a dear friend to many people, and such an incredible father and husband," Harper said.

Secretary Hosemann said in a statement, "Mark Mayfield was a friend, an effective attorney, a devoted family man, and was deeply committed to the State of Mississippi and to our Country. He will be missed. Lynn and I pray for his family during this difficult time.

Madison Assistant Police Chief Robert Sanders on Mayfield's death and the charges he faced in Madison: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family. We're still continuing our investigation, and this is a totally separate matter that's being investigated by the Ridgeland Police Department."

"That's not true," Sanders said when asked if SWAT team members were sent to arrest Mayfield last month when he was charged with conspiracy in the Cochran photo case. "We did not send members of the SWAT team to arrest Mr. Mayfield. Investigators went to his business."

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2014/06/27/mark-mayfield-dead/11456769/

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@Finn dAbuzz,

Finn dAbuzz wrote:

Proud to be an American?

More like, 'Don't feel like answering 'yes' to "Often feel proud to be an American" to a Pew poll?"[/quote]

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@contrex,

I am long interested in my country and and consider a lot about it well. I also consider a lot about it a mess or worse.

Proud - I am proud of many things. I am also not proud of many things.

So, to me, the people who toot toot toot proud are just cheerleaders and ought to read up.

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@ossobuco,

"You took the words right out of my mouth." Smile

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@JTT,

Just as self-absorbed as any other people.

What's with USians JTT? Is this supposed to be some sort of slur or have you added the appropriation of "Americans" to your list of our heinous crimes?

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@wmwcjr,

I don't take issue with any Democrat (black or white) taking part in the Republican primary as long as it is legal. It certainly makes sense that they would consider their vote for a preferred Republican in the GOP primary to be of more potency than a vote for the Democrat in the general election.

I have an issue, however, with Cochran and the GOP Establishment who actively worked to reinforce in black voters' minds the impression that McDaniel was somehow a threat to them.

I believe it's an erroneous impression. As a matter of fact, neither McDaniel nor anyone representing the Tea Party in Mississippi were ever on the news saying "We want to go back to the good old days."

This message was circulated in a campaign flyer and radio ads on behalf of Cochran.

To paraphrase a tweet in the following, this tactic would be despicable for a Democrat opponent of McDaniel, but it was used by Cochran and supported by the GOP Establishment.

Twitchy

Republicans in general, and not just Tea Party candidates, have to constantly counter the fatuous charge that they belong to a party of racists, and here is Cochran and his Establishment backers using the same low blow to get him elected. I don't care how important they supposedly consider Cochran's experience to be, this is bullshit.

It's a case of a bunch of self-important old farts who have been in DC since the Ice Age, amassing fortunes far beyond what their salaries can support, and growing way too fond of their privileges and status, protecting one of their own.

They view people like McDaniel, Brat, Cruz and others as smart-ass punks who have a colossal nerve to try and knock them off the top of the hill upon which they have been so comfortable for so long. Cochran has been in DC for almost 40 years. He thinks he owns his seat in the Senate.

The old fool couldn't defeat McDaniel with ideas so he resorted to smears.

And if Democrats think this is somehow uniquely a Republican situation, they're kidding themselves. Right now there isn't a real youth movement in the Democrat Party, but it has more than its share of dinosaurs who will join ranks to smack down any upstarts should they try to upset the apple-cart.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a more left leaning group of new Democrat candidates arriving on the scene because they are impatient with the progress of American progressivism. Whether or not Elizabeth Warren actually represents this building wave, the interest in her as a presidential candidate is a sign of it.

These people (Republican and Democrat) think they are America's nobility class and they are, obviously, willing to go to any length to preserve their privilege.

John McCain was a very visible participant in the Cochran campaign, and my regard for him as dropped about 20 points as a result.

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@contrex,

You do realize, don't you that "Proud to be an American?" was part of the title of the linked article, and not something I asked?

That anyone (let alone "Solid Liberals") simply didn't feel like answering "yes" to the Pew question concerning feeling proud to be an American is hardly a convincing explanation of the poll results.

Without questioning the reasons for someone answering "no" to this question, do you really find it difficult to believe that a percentage of the American population doesn't often feel proud to be an American?

Almost 30% of the "Steadfast Conservatives" polled answered "no."

If only "Solid Liberals" answered "no" we would be talking about less that 7% of the US population (given Pew's assertion that 15% of the populations can be described as "Solid Liberals")

American liberals tend to be a bit touchy about having their patriotism challenged, but you're a Brit. Of course neither the poll nor the article (nor for that matter, me) have challenged the patriotism of American liberals, but coming up with a weak explanation for the results suggests you think someone has thrown that gauntlet.

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@Finn dAbuzz,

Others are not even close to your level of conceit.

Quote:

. What's with USians JTT? Is this supposed to be some sort of slur or have you added the appropriation of "Americans" to your list of our heinous crimes?

Don't be so paranoid. It's easier, it fits the pattern of English , you understand. Bingo.

2 Replies

@ossobuco,

You sound defensive too. Who is making a value judgment about the result...other than you and contrex?

It's interesting too that your reaction to the results is to belittle the people who answered "yes."

I'm not sure whether or not you would answer that you don't often feel proud to be an American, your comment was (deliberately I think) a bit vague on this, but I don't know why you would feel the need to respond defensively.

I probably qualify as a Steadfast Conservative or at least a Business Conservative and I don't often feel proud to be an American.

I suppose how you respond to or feel about this question has to do with how much you read into it. I take it strictly as it reads. I 'm pretty sure I would answer "yes" if the questions was "Are you proud to be an American?", but I don't have frequent occasion to think of myself as an American and so I don't often feel proud to be an American. I certainly don't go to bed each night and wake up each morning thinking "Damn I'm proud to be an American!"

I'm also not sure what it means to be proud to be an American. That I'm an American isn't the result of any choice I've made. I was born here. I never thought about renouncing my citizenship and moving elsewhere, so I can't say I've chosen to be an American in that sense.

If the question was do you often feel proud of America, again I would have to answer "no." The dysfunctional VA, the abusive utilization of the IRS, the mess on the border, our response to the current conflicts in Syria and Iraq, the perfidy of the GOP establishment in the Mississippi primary, and the overreaching of the president, among other topic, have been on my mind of late and while they don't make me ashamed of being an American or of America itself, neither do they engender pride.

The Supreme Court clipping back Obama's executive overreach as respects recess appointments makes me proud of America (and I guess by extension of being an American) and not because Obama suffered a defeat, but because the brilliance and effectiveness of our tri-partite system of government was displayed.

I don't feel the need to defend my answer to the question and neither should you. I also don't feel the need to belittle people who might have answered differently, and neither should you.

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@JTT,

One more post and Zinn gets it!

http://www.acidpulse.net/images/smilies/clubinhand.gif

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@Finn dAbuzz,

Huh?

You are out in left field.

1 Reply

@JTT,

JTT wrote:

Others are not even close to your level of conceit.

Quote:
. What's with USians JTT? Is this supposed to be some sort of slur or have you added the appropriation of "Americans" to your list of our heinous crimes?

Don't be so paranoid. It's easier, it fits the pattern of English , you understand. Bingo.

Me paranoid about anything you have to say?

Nah.

If you don't wish to explain why you use the term, just say so.

If you are going to consider levels of conceit, you might think about the level required to consider very close to everyone in this forum a lying dolt not up to your moral standards.

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@Finn dAbuzz,

Quote:

but because the brilliance and effectiveness of our tri-partite system of government was displayed.

Yeah right. Watergate was supposed to illustrate how the us system worked. It sure did. After Nixon got off scot free every prez thereafter committed felonies with impunity.

The USA is as much rule of law as nazi germany.

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