Nate Silver Swears It's Gonna Be an Upset... Live-Blogging the Midterms

Live-bloggy blog.... La La La...

(We're starting at 7pm)

On Losing

So this one is about why Republicans on the Hill are acting the way they are acting right now.  

I worked on the Hill for years.  Specifically, for years I worked on the Hill as a Democrat in a government ruled entirely by Republicans.  For years.  

Arithmetic: A Memo to CPAC

So we've heard from conservatives now.  And as much fun as that was, I feel like it's important to underline something.

Asking for It: When is Rape Acceptable?

Yes, for those of you who were wondering, it's tape over them.

The proper answer, as everyone knows to reply out loud and in public, is never.  However, there is always a private, whispered, "... but...., if s/he was really drunk, dressed inappropriately, if I could see their ankles, on the wrong side of town, etc. wasn't s/he really asking for it?"

Walking While Black

Even the dog knows the routine...

Imagine going outside your house to take the trash out, and the police stopping you to pat you down.  Imagine going for a stroll around your block, and the cops ask you for your identification.  Imagine going to your significant other's house, and being arrested for trespassing.  For millions of New Yorkers, these scenarios are no figment of their imagination, it is an everyday reality.  And everyone else seem pretty ok with that.

Drug Testing For Welfare

It's an idea that draws wide support from people of all ideological stripes.  The idea that we should have mandatory drug testing for all people applying to welfare, and deny those who fail the drug test any benefits.  Some states, such as Florida, have recently tried to implement testing, to mixed results. Should we drug test welfare recipients?

The Smurfette Principle (End of Year Re-Run)

Since the ratio is getting a bit better next Congress, and since this post deals with core YBGP issues, I wanted to revisit Mandi's exploration of the Smurfette Principle (from June 17th).  Is it getting better?  When will there be even a Smurfette level of women presidents? 

So, apropos of nothing in particular, I was thinking about the three women we have on the Supreme Court now (Kagan, Sotomayor, and Ginsburg), and how we are slowly moving away from the “Smurfette Syndrome” in politics. 

Team USA: It Takes a Village (End of Year Re-Run)

So while we're talking about large government cuts versus raising taxes, I wanted to re-run a piece I did (on July 31st) about why Democrats love the government, and some of the awesome things our government does and has done over the years...

I am sick of Democrats being defensive about our love for American government.  We have the best government ever, and we have used it to do some truly amazing, wonderful things.  And what's more, the people who "hate the government" are usually overlooking the many, many things the government does for them - and does very well.

Take this dude (not the President, the business owner), for example:



He's forgetting that he accepted over a million dollars in aid from both state and federal governments to help his company start and grow.  Money that had nothing to do with his success?  I doubt it.

Every time some self-involved, entitled person...

George HW Bush: Underrated? (End of Year Re-Run)

In the wake of this:

I thought the first post I'd like to re-run in our 2-week break is this one (from May 24th), asking the question...

Suffer The Little Children

Because guns don't kill people.  Lack of access to mental health services don't kill people.  America's fascination and worship of violence doesn't kill people.  No, it is the lack of school-sponsored prayer that kills people.

The response to the Newtown shooting, in which 26 people were killed on school property, 20 of them children, was as predictable as it was infuriating:

You know the question’s gonna come up, where was God?” he said. “I thought God cared about the little children, God protected the little children. Where was God when all this went down? And here’s the bottom line: God is not gonna go where he’s not wanted.

Now we have spent, since 1962, this, we’re 50 years into this now, we have spent 50 years telling God to get lost. Telling God, we do not want you in our schools, we don’t want to pray to you in our schools, we don’t want to pray to you before football games, we don’t want to pray to you at graduation, we don’t want anyone talking about you in a graduation speech.

We’ve kicked God out of our public school system. And I think God would say to us, "Hey I’ll be glad to protect your children, but you’ve gotta invite me back into your world first. I’m not gonna go where I’m not wanted. I am a gentleman."

And then, Mike Huckabee weighs in:

How Do We Stop It From Happening Again?

I'm thankfully at the end of a peaceful, children-filled weekend.  We shielded our young kids (and ourselves, frankly) from the news, and focused on other things.  And that's probably the right parenting move.


But I've been surreptitiously gathering news and trying to sift through the onslaught of information to distill the important things I'd like to talk about today, after Sandy Hook Elementary's tragedy.



Here's what I've got, so far:

Party Foul: Top 5 Ways Rs Cheat When They Don't Win

Foul on the Play.  Take a seat.

So it's possible that I'm really, really angry about the way Michigan's government has been behaving itself.  And by "possible," I mean "a virtual certainty."



But I will try my best to stay rational and not rant.  Here's my take on how Republicans deal with  the situation when they lose in our democracy: "how can we undermine democracy so that we win?"




It's not, as saner members of the party might suggest, about "how do we reach out to voters?  How do we make our policy arguments in a better, more convincing way?"  No, no.  It's "how do we change the rules so that we can win."  And let me be clear: by "change the rules" I mean "subvert democracy."

Of Homosexuality and Murder

Is being a homosexual the equivalent of being a murderer? Supreme Court Justice Scalia draws some parallels:

Between The Rock and a Cold, Hard Place: Religious Discussion in America

My grandmother liked to say "my Father's house has many rooms." John 14:2

Yes, I know, some people say "mansions" and argue that John meant different physical churches, not different faiths.  But that's not what my Grandmother meant.

Pretty In Pink-Sex Segregation and Toys

This review is from: BIC Cristal For Her Ball Pen, 1.0mm, Black, 16ct (MSLP16-Blk) (Office Product)

First of all I'm a male. I picked a pink one up by mistake to write a quick note... Next thing I know I'm sitting down to take a pee. Be careful.



You see, when I as a woman hold a 'legitimate' pen (read, one made for him,) my body has a way of shutting that whole thing down. That's what my Congressman told me, anyway. But when I hold the delicate barrel, pleasing colors and small size of the BIC Cristal For Her Ball Pen, 1.0mm, Black, 16ct, everything works as God intended. BIC, you have answered my prayers, as well as all of the men in my life who know me better than I know myself. Thank you!



Someone has answered my gentle prayers and FINALLY designed a pen that I can use all month long! I use it when I'm swimming, riding a horse, walking on the beach and doing yoga. It's comfortable, leak-proof, non-slip and it makes me feel so feminine and pretty! Since I've begun using these pens, men have found me more attractive and approchable. It has given me soft skin and manageable hair and it has really given me the self-esteem I needed to start a book club and flirt with the bag-boy at my local market. My drawings of kittens and ponies have improved, and now that I'm writing my last name hyphenated with the Robert Pattinson's last name, I really believe he may some day marry me! I'm positively giddy. Those smart men in marketing have come up with a pen that my lady parts can really identify with.

Where has this pen been all my life???

Friday Follies: Zombie Apocalypse Edition

Winter is coming...and with it the supposed end of the world, according to the Mayan calendar.  So what if it technically isn't true that the Mayans predicted the end of the world? The zombie apocalypse may well be upon us!  Are you prepared with your zombie survival strategy?   Here are some of my favorite zombie memes, from the political to the genre-bending, below the fold...

Neil deGrasse Tyson, Badass - the Sequel

So we here at YBGP do pay attention to what you guys like.  And Mandi and I are impressed by your devotion to Neil deGrasse Tyson.  Our first NDGT post has recently become our Most Visited Post.  It's also one of the top ways people get here from Google (thanks Google! Welcome NDGT People!).


We are so impressed with how much you like NDGT, that I'm going back to the well to find some more of the reasons Tyson is a Badass.


NDGT is a busy man.  He has his own podcast/radio show, called StarTalk.



He tweets -

26 NovNeil deGrasse Tyson ‏@neiltyson

.@Brandon_Hubbard: I believe in God. No man knows when the world will end. // When asteroids head our way, you'll quickly believe in physics

And here are 7 ways NDGT is busy, bringing the awesome... 7 Days a Week.

Why Won't He Marry Me?-Blame Feminism

Is the modern man pissed off at the modern woman, and reacting by becoming a bunch of slackers?  Author Suzanne Venker thinks so:

True North: Objectivity Is Not a Fad

Alec Baldwin: But in your profession, in the political professional class, the punditocracy, whatever you want to call it, now we have a whole network which is very, very tilted in one direction. Did you see that coming?

George Will: You have two – you have two whole networks. Well, look, 30 years ago – CNN was founded in '81, I think – 30 years ago at the dinner hour in this country, 80 percent of all television sets in use were turned to Cronkite, Chancellor, and Peter Jennings. Today we have this cornucopia of news sources. People define journalism on their own terms, get it on their own time.

I was told by an activist in South Carolina during the primary this year that a survey showed that 72 percent of all Republican primary voters in South Carolina get all, not most, all of their news from Fox News. When a Republican candidate buys an ad on Fox News, he's not broadcasting, he's narrowcasting right into Republican voters. 

Now, in a way, this too is a reversion. When the party system developed in the 1790s and early 1800s, American newspapers were largely factional papers. Some of them were paid by the parties.  So we may look back upon the, some would say the pretense of objective journalism or nonpartisan journalism as an episode, a parenthesis in our national history. [Emphasis Mine.]

- Here's the Thing Podcast, September 24, 2012

There are things I like about George Will.  He's an interesting, smart guy.  He often has a different take on political situations than the Republican party line.  And I like smart people who aren't afraid to show their smarts - so in the same way that I have an appreciation for Justice Scalia, I have an appreciation for George Will.  But this statement he made - in a generally good podcast episode - made me seriously upset.

I'll try to explain why.

Mandi Mansplains It All

Mansplaining:  The tendency of some men to mistakenly believe that they automatically know more about any given topic than does a woman and who, consequently, proceed to explain to her- correctly or not- things that she already knows.

Woman A: When he started mansplaining to me what it really meant to be a woman in the 21st century, I got up and left.

Woman B: Really, what else could you do?

     

                -Urban Dictionary