Yesterday's QUOTES ...

So while Matthews certainly deserves credit for upending such a duplicitous political narrative, it's not enough for him to bask in this all-too-rare instance and then allow a roster of other guests - most notably, bigger fish in the pond than Kevin James - to reappear on his show and push similar false frames without recourse.

Matthews can't have it both ways: he can't claim to be "tough" while only stomping on the occasional lightweight.

And to see Borger and Brazile—sitting there trying to have a rational discussion after he says the things that he does is just as ludicrous. Borger’s retort is to say that a lot of voters don’t feel that way and Donna mildly says Alex has a problem with her. I mean, really. What does he have to do to offend them?

... Shades of the 1910 Mexican Revolution in which many times the citizens of El Paso Texas had to take cover from the flying bullets while differing Mexican Armies fought it out amongst themselves on “the other side”.

... The United States is home to a mere five percent of the world’s total population, and 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated population: 2.3 million people, most of whom are incarcerated for nonviolent offenses. ...

I could take this to mean that indeed there is no crisis in civil-military relations, that the "professionals" will do whatever it is that a new president will want to do and that ultimately the military will salute and follow orders as the Constitution intends. Instead, though, I get the stinking feeling that the attitude, though it is unspoken and would be denied by these ultimately partisan competitors, is that what the president wants is ultimately secondary to what the national security professionals think is reasonable and doable. There is a crisis: God help the new president

... Do you happen to notice, say, that we never read someone writing that maybe boys just self-select away from education? Maybe they are not just interested in staying at school or in going to college? I don't recall ever reading a single article like that. Nope, all the articles I've read about the topic have as their goal a greater success rate for boys. Boys must be educated! Nobody suggests that they might choose not be educated and that we should honor that free and democratic choice.

But when it comes to girls and science, the story immediately changes. Perhaps it's girls themselves who choose not to become scientists? Perhaps that's Just How Things Are?