Link Me Up, Scotty - Cruel to be Kind Edition

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Brother Eric on how incredibly difficult it's becoming to remain civil and kind with true-blue-dyed-in-the-wool 45 supporters. People of good conscience can fundamentally disagree about the role of government in our lives - and how government supports the greater good - without resorting to ad hominem attacks. However, I, like Eric, do not know how to address the kind of willful ignorance and denial of demonstrable facts exhibited by this group of people.
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One of this week's missives* to my elected representatives in Congress concerned the plan to defund the National Endowments for Arts and Humanities. This program costs $2.7M a year, and Republicans want to slash its funding because they're all fiscally conservative or some shit. Right. To date, it's cost more for 45 to spend his work hours in the resort he owns ($3M) than to fund this program for a year. Add in the cost of providing security to Trump Tower for the First Lady and 45's minor child (estimated at $300M a year, non-confirmed), and this move is so hypocritical these people should be throwing up in their mouths. They won't, of course. That would require them to be something other than "shameless."
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The Washington Post's "Yell-O-Matic™," which gives users a chance to see politicians get yelled at, gives me schadenfreude and smiles. Hehe.
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Author John Scalzi looks at the case of Milo Yiannopoulos, and why empathy does not excuse the actions that led to his downfall, or mean that he should not face the consequences of his own choices.
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WaPo is doing an ongoing first hundred days fact-check on 45, with utterly predictable results.
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A chart on how many people will lose their health insurance, and how many would lose their jobs, if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. I'm not okay with almost 600,000 of my fellow Coloradons missing out on health insurance, nor is it okay for over 35,000 people in my state to become unemployed. ARE YOU LISTENING SENATOR GARDNER?

H/T Steve
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My invisible Senator, the Coward Cory Gardner, has not been scheduling his own Town Hall meetings because he's afraid of his constituents and doesn't want to lose his "cover" of accusing us of being paid protestors. So constituents invited him to a Town Hall meeting in Fort Collins, and when he declined to attend, held the meeting without him. Invisible Senator, indeed.
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Scientists have discovered a system with a number of Earth-like exoplanets. Science is amazing.
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Congressional Republicans are wary - to say the least - about 45's budget, due out in a month or so. 45 has all kinds of promises he wants to keep, but no way to pay for them. Fiscal conservatives. Whatevs.
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The folks behind the Women's March on Washington are now organizing a "Day Without a Woman" strike on March 8th. I could use a day off in the middle of the week.
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My favorite Christian Pastor on 45's cowardice and bullying, and how the rest of us stand horrified as he tries to make himself look big by making others seem small.
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I like the current Pope.
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A Muslim woman who worked in the Obama White House decided to stay on after 45 was inaugurated. She lasted eight days.
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Today's sources:
  • Standing on the Shoulders of Giant Midgets: The personal blog of Eric VanNewkirk, Esq. 
  • The Independent: Left-center bias with a high degree of factual reporting. 
  • WaPo: Mainstream media with minimal partisan bias and a high degree of factual reporting. 
  • Whatever: The personal blog of author John Scalzi. 
  • Economic Policy Institute: A liberal think-tank seeking to include the needs of low- and middle-income workers in economic policy discussions.
  • The New Yorker: Left bias with a high degree of factual reporting. 
  • Outside the Beltway: An online journal of politics and foreign affairs analysis written by a highly educated and ridiculously qualified staff. 
  • The Denver Post: Left-center bias with a high degree of factual reporting. 
  • Things That Need to be Said: The personal blog of Pastor John Pavlovitz. 
  •  Reuters: Non-biased news source with a high degree of factual reporting. 
  • The Atlantic: Skews left but still a reputable source of in-depth news.
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*Yes, "one of" this week's missives. Senator Bennet, Senator Gardner, and Representative Buck are all my personal pen-pals these days. 

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