0 times 25 is still 0
Democrats may be running out of spokespersons willing to defend the party. So last week they called on U.S. Rep. Jan. Schakowsky, D-Ill., to take the punishment.
Asked on CNN about winning the 25 seats that will be needed for the Democrats to retake the House in2018, she was all positives.
Schakowsky proudly trotted out the fact the Democrats' hand-picked candidate, Jon Ossoff, barely lost in the traditionally Republican Georgia 6th District. However, he did not better his first-round numbers in doing so, spent $30 million (mostly from out of state) in the most expensive House race in history and lost to a lackluster, perennial candidate. Still, she said Democrats have performed better than expected in four special elections this spring.
"If we do that well around the country," she said, "we will easily win the 25 seats that we need."
Schakowsky seemed to have missed something in translation. Democrats lost all four seats. If they perform that way around the country, there won't be any Democrats left.
Following Hillary, we present
Cosmopolitan is out with a breathless article titled "7 Women Who Could Be Our First Female President." Apparently desirous of being a women's magazine for only certain women, the article names only Democrats.
It doesn't telegraph the fact they're all Democrats, but they are.
Despite the fact the Republican Party has women in much better positions to become president, the article names little known Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, first-year Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, aging Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and television host Oprah Winfrey.
Nowhere in the article by Rebecca Nelson, who is described as the magazine's "senior writer covering politics," are Republican names like, to name just seven, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, former Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the House Republican Conference chairwoman and the highest ranking Republican woman in the House, former Alaska Gov. and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and former Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina.
Obama jeans getting CNN back on track
The month of June won't go down as the best in the annals of CNN.
The news network had to can hosts Kathy Griffin (actually May 31) and Reza Aslan because of their behavior, was called out for staging Muslim-led anti-terror protests, published several incorrect articles about Russia (one of which led to the resignation of three employees) and was exposed by Project Veritas in a series of videos as misleading the public about the Trump-Russia stories that have been so rampant.
Fortunately the network has found something important it can get excited about - former President Barack Obama's jeans.
In an article filed under its "CNN Politics" section, the network begins the exclusive with a 2014 quote from the former president that "the truth is, generally I look very sharp in jeans." It then digs in with searing analysis that his recent jeans-wearing incident in Bali, Indonesia, was "a definite upgrade, but the jury's still out as to whether jeans are, or should be, his thing." It then offers six different snapshots to allow readers to make their own determination.
Then comes the steely conclusion from a recent photograph: "The collared, short-sleeved shirt, tucked neatly into the waistband, the telltale sneakers - it all still says 'Dad,' but in a far more stylish way. He's embraced a dark wash and he's acknowledged that legs have shape."
Knowledge was unevenly distributed
A Stanford professor recently declared that mentioning that your homework was easy could be a microaggression, something that could upset and degrade the homework-challenged lad or lass sitting next to you.
"Even if it's not a lie," said Ruth Starkman, it could be "a form of bragging."
"Not everyone went to your high school, had your fortunate circumstances, or such a dazzling delivery room arrival, and even if they did, they might still be suffering because of the genuine challenges of the assignments," she wrote in an article for the Huffington Post.
Starkman, eschewing the fact students can put in more time, learn to study better or ask for help, said that because students live in "a world of unevenly distributed knowledge," they must be careful not to speak carelessly around other students, especially students who are from minority backgrounds.
"People around you, especially people of color and first-gens, are moving faster and working harder than most students," she wrote. "Don't suck down all the air in the room [by talking about how easy an assignment is]; make space for others."
"People of color" and first-generation college students should be furious at Starkman for such blather, but, sadly, she's just given them a new excuse - of suffering from "unevenly distributed knowledge."