Midday open thread

• Dems are afraid of repeating 1994? Believe it or not, this is progress. When I started this gig in 2002, and leading up to the war in 2003, Democrats were afraid of repeating 1968. So we’re gradually dragging our party, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century. And someday, they might not even jump at the sight of their own shadow!
• Yeay! We have Judd Gregg at commerce! He’s a rabid Right winger who voted to abolish the Commerce Department a few years ago as part of his anti-government agenda, but let’s put the guy in charge so Obama can continue to give Republicans presents for spitting in his face.

  Just as it has been the last 20 years, bipartisanship means giving everything to Republicans and getting nothing back in return. Feel the change!

• I like Denver a lot. But more desirable than San Diego? Pew’s list of most desirable cities, per their polling. The number is the percent of respondents who would like to live in that city or surrounding metro area:

  Denver 43         Dallas 24
  San Diego 40      Philadelphia 24
  Seattle 38        Chicago 24
  Orlando 34        Houston 23
  Tampa 34          Las Vegas 23
  San Francisco 34  Riverside 23
  Phoenix 33        Los Angeles 21
  Portland 31       Baltimore 20
  Sacramento 29     St. Louis 18
  San Antonio 29    Pittsburgh 17
  Boston 28         Minneapolis 16
  Miami 28          Kansas City 15
  Atlanta 26        Cincinnati 13
  DC 25             Cleveland 10
  New York 24       Detroit 8
  

  Boston beat out New York, ha ha. But really, what we get from this is that 1) no one wants to live where it’s cold, and 2) no one wants to live in the Midwest (which might be largely because of #1). And to paraphrase a great, New York is so crowded that no one goes there anymore. Oh, and Sacramento may be the most boring city in the country.

  I’m lived or spent significant time in Chicago (city, suburbs, and cornfields), Boston, Houston, Oklahoma, Bay Area, El Salvador, and Germany. If I had to move from the Bay Area, I’d consider Seattle, Portland, and San Diego. Maybe Whitefish (MT), Salt Lake City and Boise, though those cities are probably too cold for me. The only East Coast locale I’d consider would be Asheville, NC, but I hate Eastern Standard Time. I like my Sunday football at 10 a.m. Notice a common thread among all of these places? Mountains. It’s the reason Chicago is off my list, as much as I may love my hometown (and its sports teams).

• So here’s video of Derek the Abstinence Clown, who works for an organization that got an $800,000 federal grant to put on this crap. Your tax dollars at work.
• California is such a (political) mess.
• SSP has a handy House Retirement Watch.
• Yup, this is why progressive media outlets can’t give conservatives a platform.
• Anyone that has a problem with Michael Phelps is a fucking moron.
• Do you want to see Byron York’s reflections?
• Times are bad, so it’s inevitable that the anti-immigrant bashing will ramp up.

Sphere: Related Content