07/26/2015 archive

Sen. Huckleberry Butchmeup has not read the deal but thinks it’s terrible because ___ . You fill in the blank. And he wants to be president?

Sen. Human Hybrid Turtle has no “better deal” than what was negotiated.  

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

Find the past “On This Day in History” here.

July 26 is the 207th day of the year (208th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 158 days remaining until the end of the year.

On this day in 1775, the U.S. postal system is established by the Second Continental Congress, with Benjamin Franklin as its first postmaster general. Franklin (1706-1790) put in place the foundation for many aspects of today’s mail system. During early colonial times in the 1600s, few American colonists needed to send mail to each other; it was more likely that their correspondence was with letter writers in Britain. Mail deliveries from across the Atlantic were sporadic and could take many months to arrive. There were no post offices in the colonies, so mail was typically left at inns and taverns. In 1753, Benjamin Franklin, who had been postmaster of Philadelphia, became one of two joint postmasters general for the colonies. He made numerous improvements to the mail system, including setting up new, more efficient colonial routes and cutting delivery time in half between Philadelphia and New York by having the weekly mail wagon travel both day and night via relay teams. Franklin also debuted the first rate chart, which standardized delivery costs based on distance and weight. In 1774, the British fired Franklin from his postmaster job because of his revolutionary activities. However, the following year, he was appointed postmaster general of the United Colonies by the Continental Congress. Franklin held the job until late in 1776, when he was sent to France as a diplomat. He left a vastly improved mail system, with routes from Florida to Maine and regular service between the colonies and Britain. President George Washington appointed Samuel Osgood, a former Massachusetts congressman, as the first postmaster general of the American nation under the new U.S. constitution in 1789. At the time, there were approximately 75 post offices in the country

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“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”.

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The Sunday Talking Heads:

This Week with George Stephanopolis: The guests on Sunday’s “This Week” are: Attorney General Loretta Lynch; GOP presidential contender Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); and Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood.

The roundtable guests are: ABC News analyst Matthew Dowd; Republican strategist Ana Navarro; Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MI); and Maggie Haberman, The New York Times.

Face the Nation: Mr. Dickerson’s guests are: former Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX); Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY); Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV); former Obama National Security Adviser Tom Donilon; and former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI).

his panel guests are: CBS News Congressional Correspondent Nancy Cordes; John Heilemann, Bloomberg Politics; Wall Street Journal‘s Gerald Seib; and Jamelle Bouie, Slate.

Meet the Press with Chuck Todd: The guests on Sunday’s “MTP” are: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT); former adviser to Presdents Nixon for and Reagan, Patrick J. Buchanan; Jon Nichols, The Nation; and GOP presidential contender Gov. John Kasich (R-OH).

The roundtable guests are: Jose Diaz-Balart, Telemundo and MSNBC host; Sara Fagen, former White House Political Director for President George W. Bush; Ron Fournier, The National Journal; and Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report.

State of the Union with Jake Tapper: Mr. Tapper’s guests are: GOP presidential contender former Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX); and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R).

 Obama speech on shared values to conclude Kenya visit

 

BBC

US President Barack Obama is to conclude his visit to Kenya with a televised address at a sports stadium in the capital, Nairobi.

The BBC’s Karen Allen in Nairobi says he is expected to underscore the shared values of the two countries but also touch on human rights.

On Saturday, President Obama discussed security issues with his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta.

Later on Sunday, President Obama will fly on to Ethiopia.

The Kasarani stadium, where the US leader will make his speech, was last year used as a controversial detention camp for hundreds of Somalis during an operation against the Islamist group al-Shabab.

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover  we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:30am (ET) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

Breakfast Tune: o Bardo e o Banjo – Honky Tonk Women (The Rolling Stones cover bluegrass)

Today in History

President Harry Truman orders desegregation of U.S. Military; Cuba’s Fidel Castro attacks Moncada barracks; Argentina’s Eva Peron dies; Playwright George Bernard Shaw and rock star Mick Jagger born.

Breakfast News & Blogs Below