* This one earns House Speaker Paul Ryan a lovely serenade on the world’s tiniest violin.
“I’m tired of divided government. It doesn’t work very well,” Ryan said. “We’re just at loggerheads. We’ve gotten some good things done. But the big things — poverty, the debt crisis, the economy, health care — these things are stuck in divided government…”
Here you go Mr. Speaker:
You see…some of us are old enough to remember that it was Speaker Ryan’s party that brought us things like this just a few years ago:
* Because the Trump campaign has been so prodigious in gleaning conspiracy theories from white supremacist and anti-semitic web sites, I guess this shouldn’t surprise us.
“A new post-debate poll that just came out, the Google poll, has us leading Hillary Clinton by 2 points nationwide,” Trump said, apparently referencing a poll conducted for Independent Journal Review by Google Consumer Surveys that shows him ahead of the Democratic nominee, 45.7 percent to 44 percent.
But, he went on, “And that’s despite the fact that Google search engine was suppressing the bad news about Hillary Clinton.”
The report, an “exclusive” published by the Russian propaganda outlet Sputnik News on Sept. 12, claims that “biased search suggestions” by Google could shift up to 3 million votes in the upcoming election. It was cited by Breitbart News on Sept. 13.
* The Obama administration’s Department of Labor released two new rules today.
The Obama administration announced Thursday two new rules it says will boost working families. Starting next year, federal government contractors must provide paid sick leave to workers, and large companies must report to the government how they pay employees by race and gender.
* Charles Pierce highlights a powerful story about a 102 year-old Clinton supporter.
“I went with my mother when she voted for the first time. She told me I would probably live to see a woman elected President of the United States.” Helen continues, “I have been interested in women’s issues all my life. I began to admire Hillary when both she and my youngest daughter, who are contemporaries, became lawyers for children.” … Each day Helen Graves asks her daughter, Cannan Hyde, “How’s Hillary doing?” Cannan replies, “She’s doing just fine, Mother.” Helen went with her mother to vote for the first time 96 years ago, and will go with her daughter to vote for the first time for a woman, Hillary Clinton, for president of the United States.
Pierce provides this important reminder about maintaining our perspective:
I think we occasionally get distracted from what a big honking deal it would be if the country elected Hillary Rodham Clinton to be its president (and not simply because it would eliminate the possibility of government-by-angry-tweet), or what a big honking deal it would be if this country elected its first woman president to succeed its first African-American president. When so much about American politics is cheap and trivial, this would not be. This would echo through the life of someone like Helen Graves, because there’s enough history there to give it resonance.
* Finally, you just KNEW this stuff would end up in a Clinton campaign ad.
