Talk about faux outrage! And as the judge says in trial court, when overruling an objection, the objector "opened the door" to a comment. Specifically, when Rahm described fellow Dems as "fucking retarded", his supporters cannot be heard to object to Dems calling Rahm a bastard.

Hope Obama sits this one out and doesn't make another bogus trip to Chicago for an opportunity to boost Rahm's campaign. Perhaps someone can remind him that Hispanics and teachers and unions are valued members of the Democratic party and deserve a level playing field when running in a primary.

An interesting question to me is what will Rahm do if he loses, i.e,. next career step. Certainly if he is available, Hillary would snap him up for her campaign staff. Hell, he could end up back in the White House as her chief of staff. That could happen even if he wins the run-off - resigning from elected office to get back to DC where all the real action is, baby! Or he could follow the Clintons' example of starting a boutique "charity" to launder corporate "donations" while simultaneously lobbying his political connections AND skimming off a healthy chunk of said "donations" to fund a five star life style.

Manny makes the point it would be best if Rahm were out of politics forever. That is so true. But Rahm is like the legendary rattle-snake, which keeps snapping lethally even after it's head has been cut off. He will always be a source of hubris, arrogance and self-interest wherever he ends up.

Look, I'm a big supporter of the arts (at least to the best my tight budget allows), and I have been very impressed with the productions of the Pittsburgh Irish Classical Theatre - but their latest fund raiser leaves me ready to hurl. Here's the email invite I just received. Basically, Tom Corbett will be performing Shakespeare at Pittsburgh's most elite private club, The Duquesne Club.



I'd never pay $250 for this, but would love to see a tape. Will Corbett speak from behind a podium? Because he moves with all the physical grace of a man with a corncob up his ass (as we used to say in the farmlands of the Midwest.) His public speaking has never been impassioned either.

And for another thing, Dan Onorato was the Democratic candidate defeated by Corbett for the governorship. Hopefully, Dan will be very impassioned and wipe the floor with Wooden Tom!

Oh, the tragedy. The Bard will be spinning in his grave! Or will be angry in the manner Shakespeare thus described:
The cannons have their bowels full of wrath,
And ready mounted are they to spit forth
Their iron indignation 'gainst your walls
King John (2.1.217-9), King John

France, I am burn'd up with inflaming wrath;
A rage whose heat hath this condition,
That nothing can allay, nothing but blood,
The blood, and dearest-valued blood, of France.
King John (3.1.349-52), King John

Thou hadst been better have been born a dog
Than answer my waked wrath!
Othello (3.3.402-3), Othello to Iago

With all the news stories covering Governor Wolf's actions, such as rescinding Corbett's last minute appointments, and introducing an extraction tax on fracking, etc., you'd think Corbett would be interviewed for comments. But nary a quote, as far as I have found. He evidently split Harrisburg with no forwarding address.

Best guess: He's fled to his South Carolina vacation home in Hilton Head - a frack free zone, of course. I hope he keeps his sorry ass there forever. But come the first major fracking disaster/fire/explosion/spill in Pennsylvania, I'd like some photos of him ducking reporters' trying to interview him about same.

I'll occasionally google him to spot the inevitable appointments to corporate boards and "of counsel" to major law firms. One assumes he's kept his Pennsylvania state law license active, and may hit the lobbying scene as well.


Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/harrisburg_politics/Corbetts-nondisclosure-of-vacation-home-purchase-raises-concerns.html#drdqIS32w8jcOdrz.99

They can only handle the rigors of their public and private lives with private jets, 5 star hotels, & entourages of handlers/servants. When the luxury private airline lounges for first and business class travelers, and the on board comforts of those classes of travel are deemed too insufficient, exhausting and/or stressful for travelers, said travelers either have too inflated an opinion of themselves (particularly when a so-called "charity" is footing the travel costs) or they are too physically fragile to hold any elective office, let alone the presidency.

It is undisputed that the presidency is the most exhausting, aging, & stressful of jobs. Bill's on borrowed time with his progressive heart disease; her medical history includes repeated blood clots of the brain and medical reports of heart problems revealed by a stress test.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/121231/hillary-clinton-has-medical-history-blood-clots

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2665825/Are-Hillarys-health-problems-severe-thought-New-book-claims-kept-medical-history-secret-fears-end-presidential-ambitions.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/hillary-clinton-blood-clot-life-threatening-medical-experts/story?id=18101213

As long as she plays this Koch-teasing game of repeated delays as to whether she'll declare, they keep raking in the $$$, i.e., anticipatory quid pro quos, for their personal speaking/consulting fees and their boutique, fully family-owned, "non-profit" corporation. If both their healths hold out until the summer, their joint, limitless and blind ambitions will result in her running. They are addicted to their pursuit of power/wealth - even when a loving couple would take their millions and retire. They are an extreme example of workaholics - I've seen the same attitude in senior partners at some law firms - they've placed their careers above healthy personal relationships w/spouses, and never taken the time to develop a passion for any other activities than accumulating wealth.

The benefits to the people whom she encouraged to join - not only the actual participation in swimming/tennis, but the personal confidence and participation in community that doubtless influenced other aspects of their lives - and then the example this set to their friends and relatives, and to the white members of the club -----the ripples don't stop. A butterfly flaps its wings, etc.

Back in the early 60's, I was a stay-at-home Mom in Brevard County, FL (husband working 60 hours a week on Project Apollo at Cape Kennedy). I volunteered to be a Brownie leader for my 7 year old daughter's troop - actually, I was supposed to be the assistant leader, but ended up as the only volunteer. With no training and no experience other than my own years as a Girl Scout, and with my other two kids (ages 4 yrs. and 3 months) in tow, I was in charge. There were 2 black girls and one Cuban refugee girl in my daughter's 2nd grade class when I distributed an announcement of the troop's first meeting. (Because this was a Catholic school taught by Irish nuns, there was no racial segregation as in Florida's public schools.) We'd had a few meetings, and I guess the little black and Cuban girls heard some enthusiastic feedback from their classmates, so asked their parents if they could join. At the 2nd meeting of my troop of chattering and giggling little girls, one very serious black mother walked in with the 2 black girls. She stayed for the whole meeting and watched me like a hawk the entire time. I evidently passed muster, because those girls joined, and the next week the little Cuban girl came and joined. When I called the Florida Girl Scout administrator who was my phone contact to report 3 new members - she was shocked - told me this was the first integrated Brownie troop she'd heard of.

Keep in mind that Florida fiercely opposed school integration despite Brown vs. Board of Education. It took a decade and a half - Dec. 31, 1969 - for Florida to give up on maintaining segregated public schools. And since Brownie troops were traditionally composed of little girls in the same grade school class, the troops were de facto segregated as well. I don't even know if there were actually black Brownie troops in Florida back in the 60's. And I didn't know I was doing something out of the usual to mix races. I wasn't making a political statement I was just a liberal Northerner transplanted to Florida by my then-husband's job. I had been raised to treat all people with the same degree of courtesy and respect, until and unless they individually showed themselves not to be deserving of courtesy and respect. When I looked at little girls, I saw individual children - not members of a different race.

Once during that part of the meeting when we'd sit in a circle to talk, I introduced the idea of differences- and how boring life would be if everything was the same. Asked the girls what flavor ice cream was their favorite - and then said what if the only flavor we could have was vanilla? Well, no one was in favor of that. Other topics: What if everybody's dad looked exactly alike? What kind of pets did they have? Well, what if only one breed of dog was allowed? What if every family had to drive the exact same car (as in when parents showed up to pick up their kids after the meetings); or everyone had to wear the same color clothes? I urged them not to be frightened by differences, because differences were what made our lives interesting.

But the best thing I did as a Brownie leader was help a little girl whose Mom had taken her and run away to Florida from a physically abusive husband/father in another state. I didn't know anything about the girl's background at first. But I noticed this little girl was very quiet and shy, so made a special effort to put her at ease and bring her out of her shell. One of the games we played involved sitting in a circle. Each girl was assigned a word in a story I would read aloud. Whenever I read their word, they were to jump to their feet, spin around and sit down again. The main character in the story was a fictional girl, whose name I assigned to Kathleen as her word. So she was basically the star of the game. She just opened up and blossomed in that game. First there were a few self-conscious giggles, and then laughs and then she just glowed with excitement. A few weeks later her Mom, whom I had never met, called to fill me in on Kathleen's background and to thank me. She credited the Brownie experience with a major change in her daughter - from a quiet, frightened little girl who never laughed to a child who was now happy again, and chattering in class so much, that her teacher had called her Mom (also a teacher) to talk about it.

Years later, I went back to college and got a psych degree, then a NIMH research fellowship, then a law degree. But back then I was just someone who had never experienced an abusive husband or father or even heard of such things; I was someone raised by loving parents who never uttered a racially derogatory term or statement. I was just a mom who liked kids whether they were white, black or polka dotted.

My long-winded point is that the good or evil we do lives after us, and we'll never know how far those ripples reach, for good or for bad.

Here's a link to an article about school segregation in The Sunshine State:
http://fch.fiu.edu/FCH-2006/Winsboro-An%20Historical%20Perspective%20on%20Public%20School%20Desegregation%20in%20Florida.htm

http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2013/07/clintons-pushed-most-wasteful-of-u-s-funded-haiti-projects/

Clintons Pushed Most Wasteful of U.S.-Funded Haiti Projects

JULY 02, 2013

Roughly half of the $1.14 billion that the U.S. government allocated to help Haiti recover from the 2010 earthquake has gone to wasteful projects with the single largest chunk—$170.3 million—going to a failed port and power plant adventure heavily promoted by Bill Clinton and the State Department under the leadership if his beloved wife.

Can you say scandal? The former president, who has been heavily involved in distributing Haiti earthquake reconstruction funds, pushed hard for the power plant and port for an industrial park in northern Haiti billed as the centerpiece of the United States’ effort to help the ravaged island nation rebuild. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined her husband in the effort, making several trips to Haiti to promote the project and encourage foreigners to invest in it.

In fact, Bill and Hillary Clinton led a star-studded delegation last year to inaugurate the industrial park, located about 100 miles from Port-au-Prince, tied to the power plant and port. Hollywood actors, a famous fashion designer and a British business magnate joined the Clintons as did high-ranking Obama administration officials such as then Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

Hillary delivered a heart-felt speech saying “we have been united behind a single goal – making investments in this country’s people and your infrastructure that help put Haiti finally on the path to broad-based economic growth with a more vibrant private sector and less dependence on foreign assistance. And we believe that our work here in Haiti and here in the north is beginning to show results.”

Not really, according to a federal audit of the $1.14 billion that Congress approved to help Haiti recover from the powerful earthquake that killed more than 200,000 and left over 1 million homeless. The probe was requested by a Florida congresswoman who chairs the House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee because hundreds of millions have been spent in Haiti with virtually no accountability.

Here's today's editorial glorifying the fact that a ban on fracking in Allegheny County parkland (Pittsburgh & suburbs) has been defeated. This from the same paper which endorsed pro-fracking Tom Corbett for governor in his first election. Exactly how Republican is the editorial board? Sure like to see which board members voted to approve this editorial.

This is in the same week when Scotland and Wales have completely banned fracking in their entire countries, and a push is underway in England for the same action, and while increasing studies are linking fracking to earthquakes in Texas and Oklahoma, and nearby Ohio has shut down wells because of multiple earthquakes. The proposed ordinance would only have been for two years. Across the U.S., frackers are closing down wells because of lowered prices for oil. My hope is that by fighting for this ordinance, the anti-frackers have delayed proposed projects for public parklands long enough such that the drop in price will prevent Big Fracking from further parkland drilling.

Bagging the ban: County Council wisely pans a drilling prohibition
By the Editorial Board

What began with a bang ended with a whimper Tuesday when Allegheny County Council sensibly rejected a two-year gas drilling ban at county parks.

The final vote, 13-1, said it all. Council member Bill Robinson, D-Hill District, was the only one in favor, and member Barbara Daly Danko, D-Regent Square, who had spearheaded a similar proposal in 2013, was not present.

Council laid the issue to rest after numerous public hearings in recent months allowed county residents to have their say. Credit the grass-roots activism of Protect Our Parks with putting the first citizen-proposed ordinance before council.

But, as we said in a December editorial, a blanket prohibition on drilling makes as much sense as a blanket approval. Each proposal at each site faces different circumstances, and county officials have been careful in scrutinizing the impact of the two revenue-producing deals that have been struck so far with gas drillers — exploration on vacant land near Pittsburgh International Airport and drilling under Deer Lakes Park from a nearby well pad on private property.

There’s no guarantee the county will find favor with future proposals.

State regulators and local citizens must maintain their vigilance on Marcellus Shale drilling, but county council is right to stay open to opportunities that are safe and beneficial.

I suggest that "local citizens" do not have the resources to maintain vigilance on Marcellus Shale drilling. That is the duty & function of state regulators and DEP inspectors, whose numbers and powers were slashed by Corbett. It's not a matter of "maintaining" but of restoring, and I hope Governor Wolf will be doing that. In the meantime, kudos to Protect Our Parks for demanding these hearings, which delayed further fracking in the parks long enough for the world price of oil to drop below the frackers' break-even price, causing frackers to cancel plans for new drilling and close down some existing operations.

Just google Mezvinsky & Ponzi Scheme.

By their friends, relatives, investors & backers shall ye know them.

Chelsea's in-laws were known grifters 10 years before she married their son. She evidently felt right at home.

Curious about tone of voice or facial expressions? Watch the video.

It's not like Bibi will be whispering sweet nothings in any Dems' ears while walking to or from the podium.

The urgency of your message smacks of desperation on the part of Boehner, AIPAC and or Bibi's handlers who are well aware that by boycotting Bibi's speech, the Democrats are sending a powerful message to the Israeli govt. and voters that it's time to vote in new leadership. It is also very threatening to AIPAC's self-promoted image that it orders members of the U.S. Congress on how to behave when it comes to anything to do with Israel.

Boycotting also sends a message to the rest of the world that when it comes to foreign policy, the United States Congress defers to and stands united behind the United States President.
That will definitely do more to "help us to improve our relations with another country . . . .or the people of this land" (to quote your own words) that letting Boehner/Bibi get by with this treacherous stunt.

You say, "Don't be childish. Be adult." What insultingly condescending two-bit, reverse psychology. I note this is your very first post on DU. We are not such political naifs as to find your comment persuasive.