U.S. Electile Dysfunction 2016

[ewmayer]

This is especially apt in the current climate of yet another DINO (Democrat in name only) president counting on and currying Republican support to pass his deeply regressive (in the sense of being welfare for big business and/or flagrantly unconstitutional) "legacy" pieces of legislation:

15 Ways Bill Clinton’s White House Failed America and the World | naked capitalism

Contrast the facts laid out there with the rosy picture Hillary is painting of her hubby's tenure in office.

[ewmayer]

o Jeb Bush trashes Obamacare in public, but privately made a cool half million off it | Daily Kos

I think DK means "Romneycare, federal edition".

o Sorry, Donald Trump: Average Texans are 3 times more likely to have committed sex crimes than undocumented immigrants | Pando

Yeah, but the Texans are here committing their sex crimes *legally*, or something.

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EDIT: Of course this other contemporaneous Daily Kos piece trying to fob off some of Bernie Sanders' recent campaigning success onto the thoroughly Neocon, looter-elite-beholden "progressive" Hillary gets a thoroughly deserved reaming by the NC commentariat, especially from former/longtime DK readers.

[only_human]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

o Sorry, Donald Trump: Average Texans are 3 times more likely to have committed sex crimes than undocumented immigrants | Pando

Well the the troll doll thought he had weighed the reaction with reality show judgement but southern stalwarts like Nascar stunned him by evolving.

Donald Trump: I didn't expect business backlash to be "quite this severe"

These political reprimands might seem par for the course to Trump, but criticism from his business partners seems more unexpected. On Fox News, Trump also said that he was "very surprised" at NASCAR, which recently said it would move a series of banquets and conferences -- previously scheduled to be held at the Trump National Doral Miami resort -- to a different location.

"Because I have so many fans at NASCAR. I love the NASCAR people. I'm really surprised with NASCAR to be honest with you," Trump said. "You know, I have properties in the best locations. The property you are talking about in the case of NASCAR is Trump National Doral, which is probably one of the top resorts in the world. If they don't go, somebody else does, so, you know, it's not a big deal."

All in all, Trump said, his presidential run so far has been "bad for my brand."

"For the people who say I'm doing it for my brand - this isn't good for my brand. I think it's bad for my brand," he said. "You know, maybe I'm leading in polls, but this is certainly not good. I lose customers, I lose people.

Bear in mind this is the south:
TIL Hosts of British show Top Gear once tried to drive through Alabama with slogans like 'Nascar Sucks' and 'Man-Love rules' painted to their cars. This offended the locals and they were chased out of town... (Reddit)

Patches67 94 points 1 year ago
This was one of my favourite episodes of Top Gear. I also love how James May couldn't give his car away at the end of the show and how a lawyer attempted to sue them for their act of charity.

Extra: "Top Gear" in Alabama

[only_human]

Today's snake inspired post shamelessly uses the snake rule to be considered on-topic. It does not offer suggested title entries because the deck is overstacked by this contributor.

Court orders Florida’s congressional districts redrawn

In a precedent-setting ruling Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court overturned the state’s congressional districts drawn by the GOP-led Legislature and ordered a new map with eight districts redrawn in time for the 2016 election.

In the 5-2 ruling, with Justices Charles Canady and Ricky Polston dissenting, the court provided unprecedented and specific direction to the Legislature, such as redrawing the snake-shaped district of Congressional District 5, now held by Congresswoman Corrine Brown, in an east-west direction.

The ruling is likely to shake up Florida’s political landscape as incumbents face the prospect of a new set of boundary lines close to the 2016 election.

GOP political consultant Frank Terraferma and other political operatives testified how proposed maps with shadowy names such as “Sputnik,” “Schmedloff” and “"Frankenstein” were created and then secretly shared during the months legislative staff were also drawing maps.

For the first time in state history, sitting legislators were called to testify and they admitted to routinely deleting redistricting records. A legislative staffer admitted to giving a flash drive of maps to a GOP political operative two weeks before they became public.

Testimony showed that the Legislature’s professional staff drew the maps and, their lawyers argued, “were not part of the conspiracy.” They noted that plaintiffs could not point to anyone who admitted using the fraudulent map to create the final congressional plan.

The plaintiffs, however, urged the court to conclude that the process constituted an “intentional violation by the Legislature” because GOP leaders “disproportionately relied on maps secretly drawn by the same operatives to whom it provided special access, and destroyed any evidence revealing what it had done.”

In other news a water snake receives, ahem, honorable mention:

Tom Selleck stealing water for Calif. avocado ranch?
Fox News‎ - 9 hours ago
A water district has sued Tom Selleck, claiming the star of the crime shows "Magnum, P.I." and "Blue Bloods" stole truckloads of water from a ...

Tom Selleck Investigated for Stealing Water for His Estate Amid ... Gizmodo

Tom Selleck's sex appeal isn't having a drought - New York Post

Actor Tom Selleck Accused of Taking Water From Thousand Oaks ... - KTLA

[kladner]

I will review the parameters and try to come up with something. However, this caught my eye-

GOP political consultant Frank Terraferma .....

I guess he has his feet firmly on the earth. What a name for a political consultant!

It reminds me of something tangentially related. A friend of ours once had a "personal banker" named Dick Stickrod.

A brother in law of my partner, whose last name is a common British slang word for masturbation, at least goes by Rick.

[xilman]

Originally Posted by kladner

I will review the parameters and try to come up with something. However, this caught my eye-


I guess he has his feet firmly on the earth. What a name for a political consultant!

It reminds me of something tangentially related. A friend of ours once had a "personal banker" named Dick Stickrod.

A brother in law of my partner, whose last name is a common British slang word for masturbation, at least goes by Rick.

Ah, yes, time to remind (or educate) the readership of a collective noun in finance: a wunch of bankers.

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by kladner

A brother in law of my partner, whose last name is a common British slang word for masturbation, at least goes by Rick.

"Wank" in all its various-suffixed forms is a common German surname. As is "Kuntz"...

Thus, "I was thinking of Kuntz and Wanking" is a perfectly innocuous reference to a pair of German-named friends.

[only_human]

The world as seen by an anatomically correct troll doll.

[xilman]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

"Wank" in all its various-suffixed forms is a common German surname. As is "Kuntz"...

Thus, "I was thinking of Kuntz and Wanking" is a perfectly innocuous reference to a pair of German-named friends.

But only if you pronounce the latter as "Vankink"

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by xilman

But only if you pronounce the latter as "Vankink"

Will it suffice if I say that I was thinking of pronouncing his name that way while thinking of him and 'Koontz'?

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The [NY]Times' Condescending Attitude Toward Bernie Sanders | naked capitalism

Why would one expect different from a leading organ of the state media apparatus?

[Xyzzy]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...d-trump-is-su/

Donald Trump doesn't need the presidency. With a multibillion-dollar empire, he'll be just fine without it. That has liberated him to say and do things that may be unconventional and not particularly graceful, but which resonate strongly with an electorate parched for truth — and for the battle for the future.