If there are epitaphs for the US involvement in Afghanistan, it will resemble the problem of a modern military against a historically unconquerable country built on tribal differences. The winner will be Pakistan and the loser the people of Afghanistan. In a remarkable and previously unreported incident in early December, top...
1996
(Apr. 13 ) The “prime suspect” was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of murder in the 25-year-old disappearance of California college student Kristin Smart. Paul Flores, 44, who was the last person seen with Smart on the California Polytechnic State University campus in San Luis Obispo before she vanished in 1996,...
The Gallup Poll has results that may seriously rattle everyone’s assumptions of American society and politics. From 1937, the first time they started asking about church membership, to 1999, about 70% of Americans told Gallup they belonged to a church, synagogue, or other house of worship. In the last 22 years the number has dropped by...
Still early and a far too familiar pattern has been repeated today in Boulder, Colorado. 10 are dead including one first responding police officer. More information has yet to be revealed much like the shootings in Atlanta. If only Republicans were as concerned about checking the backgrounds of people who...
From the Church of the Perpetual Face Palm (aka the modern-day Republican Party) comes another wee dollop of “what the fuck?” So how do you even begin to respond to this? The Republican-controlled Arizona House voted along party lines last week to allow state businesses to ignore any and all city,...
Received two e-mails from U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D. GA). The first one is support of his colleague, Rev. Raphael Warnock’s (D. GA) re-election campaign: U.S. Senators Raphael Warnock (D. GA) & Jon Ossoff (D. GA) Rev. Warnock and I didn't win just because of the work we did during...
The Independent writes on the intensification of melting on the Antarctic peninsula. Last year's melt season was the highest in forty years of satellite records. Antarctica’s Larsen C Ice Shelf experienced its highest rate of melting since records began 40 years ago from 2019-2020, a new study has found. The unprecedented melt at...
Trump’s doing nothing about the continuing rise in Covid cases, and is spending his time at golf and continuing to sow chaos on the path to the bunker. Meanwhile the derangement spreads to Newt Gingrich. x The more data comes out on vote anomalies that clearly are not legitimate the...
In May of 1996, my middle son graduated high school. I had been hospitalized the Tuesday before his ceremony, because of a hereditary bleeding disorder, I have suffered from since age 34. I was due to be released from the hospital on Thursday the day before his graduation but I...
From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Joe Biden’s campaign is expanding its footprint in Georgia with 10 additional staffers for the final stretch of the presidential race. The 10 operatives will join a small campaign apparatus in Georgia that launched in July with the hire of five well-known strategists. The new additions include data...
Running a live blog for entire convention just in case. I will interject occasional things below as the evening proceeds x YouTube Video x YouTube Video x Using @FiveThirtyEight's terrific estimates of polling averages for historic contests, looked at where Biden stands coming into the convention. Upshot: in better shape...
Political Wire posted this article today (behind a paywall): The Dow Jones Indicator of American Politics. It’s based on a report from Charlie Cook — Right Direction/Wrong Track Numbers Tell the Story of the Election — and it shows Trump in deep trouble. Cook looked at the last 40 years...
“Shpilkes” is a good old Yiddish word meaning “agita” — which is a good old Italian word meaning nerves, anxiety, agitation, butterflies in the stomach. In whatever language, it’s what the GOP (Grumpy Obstreperous Party) leadership is feeling these days. And not just about losing the White House, but about...
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share a virtual kitchen table with other readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by to talk about music, your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper…. Newcomers may notice that...
Trump looks for another distraction using the Twitter fact-check of his misinformation, hunting for some lawfare disruption, even as he withholds economic forecasts. Can’t fact check anything like an economic downturn if you don’t have them. The White House will only release forecast information until it serves the reelection effort,...
From Politico: Senior political advisers to President Donald Trump warned Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Thursday that Republican Sen. Martha McSally is falling dangerously behind in the critical swing state of Arizona. Trump’s campaign team was meeting with the president at the White House to discuss the state of play...
Some very good news today out of Arizona: A new survey finds former Vice President Joe Biden leads President Trump by 7 points in Arizona, which has not gone for the Democratic presidential nominee since former President Clinton carried it in a three-way race in 1996. The latest OH Predictive Insights (OHPI) survey finds...
New York Magazine has a must-read piece out right now: When fourth-term senator Joe Biden built his Wilmington, Delaware, home in 1996, he had no plans to turn it into a backup office, let alone a presidential-campaign isolation bunker from which to plan a crisis presidency an order of magnitude more expansive than anything...
Some big news today out of Maine: x Colby College poll: 2020 Senate race:Sara Gideon (D) 43%Susan Collins (R) 42% Collins' favorability:Favorable 42%Unfavorable 54%https://t.co/VvoeDH7cT7â Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 18, 2020 The polarized political climate is taking a toll on Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine), who is facing a competitive race...
Some big news out of Iowa today courtesy of the Des Moines Register: The Des Moines Register editorial board endorses Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses as the best leader for these times. The senior U.S. senator from Massachusetts is not the radical some perceive her to be....
The firestorms continue unabated in smoldering Australia. If you are a praying person, now would be the time as extreme conditions threaten the lives of thousands of our brothers and sisters down under. From Huffington Post Australia, authorities warn that fire conditions may not be survivable as it is for...
My sympathies are felt for all in his district, a great loss to our country and especially to the families of a great legislator and human full of compassion and fairness. This is a sad day in America. Rep. Cummings was 68 years old. This is a developing story of...
For the past 20 years, Dr. John Lott, Jr. has been the go-to person from the educated elite class who the GOP has used to fight gun legislation. On Sept. 18, Americans were again subjected to this man as he testified at the Joint Economic Committee Hearing on Gun Violence in America. Lott...
I’m sorry if this article comes off as just a wee incoherent, but I can literally feel the IQ points dripping out of my ears and nose as I try to digest what I just saw and heard. In yet another somber, serious, and yes, vaguely ridiculous pronouncement, Secretary of State Mike Pomapdour Pompeo...
So, reports indicate that the two phone calls Made by Don Jr, to blocked numbers the same day Jr. spoke to Emin Agalarov and publicist Rob Goldstone were not to his father (who was in the same building with him) as some have speculated, but to “friends” of “Jr.” Typically, Trump couldn’t wait...
Wow! More of this please! x “This is a transnational crime syndicate masquerading as a government.” My interview today on #AMJoy: pic.twitter.com/NaMwqEJWFD â Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) January 19, 2019 x I just watched this for the first time (I had to wait to see the clip at home) and that...
Update: Her campaign Facebook page has been taken down, along with the videos. Meet GOP candidate Melissa Howard, who is running for Florida House District 73. She campaigns on having strong, conservative values. She’s been endorsed by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Health Care Association, and numerous GOP officials. She is also, as...
Democratic leaders Mark Penn and Andrew Stein today have published the most embarrassing, wrong-headed and ludicrous op-ed in the NYT, called “Back to the Center, Democrats.” If you don’t mind having your jaw drop to the floor, give it a read. The opening paragraphs should give you a taste: The...