Juliajms

Well, I personally trust people who can be a little bit critical of their own party more than I trust true believer zealots. That inability to see anyone else's point of view and try to compromise is exactly how we ended up with government shut downs and threats of default, imo.

Lee Terry paid.

Interesting point Q. More proof that I'm no longer a spring chicken because my main motivation for voting was getting Lee Terry out. I guess I was also for the minimum wage hike and public school bonds, but I would have crawled through broken glass to vote that smug SOB out. No one can believe NE voted out a 16 year Republican incumbent when the rest of them won 2:1, but that man dug his own grave and had it coming.

Good job finding some good news in all of this. I'm actually even happy for Mia Love. Whatever the politics, I do see Utah electing a black woman as a positive thing. In other good news there is a chance that Lee Terry lost here in Nebraska. He's the one who supported the government shutdown and than said he'd continue to take his $175,000 salary because he has a "nice house and a kid in college". I was really hoping he'd go down. They are still counting votes, but it looks like he might be out.

I really do believe that's possible, but it's going to be a tough road. imo. Healthcare is so broken I wouldn't have the first idea how to fix it. I can't certainly say general things like I'd like to see everyone get the treatment they need, but that's a result, not what it takes to make it happen. Even once we get a single payer system, it's going to be a far cry from utopia. I do think the Republicans are right about that. It's just that single payer is probably the best of all the bad ways healthcare can go. When you see the "real" cost of healthcare it's truly frightening. Just the other day, I got a $10.00 bill from my OB, but I saw everything my insurance did pay. Almost $400.00 for an initial OB appointment. I think I spent may 15 mins with the doc. It's completely out of control and I wish good luck to anyone trying to reign it in. Sure, but scaring people works pretty well, especially when there is video of Americans getting beheaded. I'll admit I don't have the stamina to figure out exactly how or why Isis emerged. I'd say it was a combination of getting involved in a region we don't understand very well and then leaving after we destabilized the whole region. Whatever political party is ultimately to blame, I feel our failed polices have gotten a lot of people slaughtered. This is an interesting point to me because it's another case of perception versus reality. Employment is up, but people seem to feel insecure about their economic futures. I certainly don't think most people will be better off after yesterday, but I don't think politicians would have gotten very far trotting out Obama and talking about how much better the economy is.

I can't say for sure, but I have a few ideas from listening to people around me. 1) I think the ACA is complicated and people were told they could keep their policies. Doesn't look like that was true in many cases. It's easy to attack a policy that people don't fully understand. 2) Some people resent that Obama plans to take executive action on immigration. It's easy to demonize millions of poor Mexicans. Personally, I think it's silly to feel more threatened by immigrants than say, the Koch brothers and their ilk, but that's me. 3) Some people blame Obama for Isis. Again it's a pretty complicated situation. Do people really have the time and will to figure out how Isis came to power, after a long day at work and taking care of themselves and their family? Getting to the truth of these matters isn't just a matter of turning on CNN or any other news channel because you still have to trust the analysis of the talking heads. There's always a whole lot more going on than what's on the surface. Plus I think when things are going wrong people get President fatigue for lack of a better word. Even though I lean left, I'm ready for 2016 myself.

I'd like to believe that, but we'll see soon enough. I'd bet anything she wants to run and will, short of some major problem coming up. People don't spend time in Iowa for the hell of it (and I would know, it's about a 20 min car ride from me). Biden won't be the nominee, but if he were, I'd really have to hold my nose to vote for him. He truly rubs me the wrong way.

^ Yep. I thank God that I'm not at a particularly vulnerable (Poor, old, unemployed, disabled) point of my life right now because it seems to be an every person for themselves mentality. I'm optimistic enough to think this won't last, but it really sucks for now.

I think this article makes a lot of good points about why the abortion issue works for Republicans. So sad people fall for this, imo. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-schmookler/why-the-republicans-love-the-abortion-issue_b_6087404.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592

I thought Noah was pretty brave to help Beth as much as he did, considering he didn't really know her at all.

You're preaching to the choir there. I just wish that these very people who don't want to help the poor would also kindly stop trying to stick their noses in other people's family planning decisions. It's so annoying that the very people who want the government to stay out of their lives want to use the government to restrict other people's right to abortion and birth control. The individual is better at running their own lives than government, right? Except when they don't agree with someone else's choices. Of course, if those babies need healthcare, food or housing that's their parent's fault for having kids that can't afford.

I disagree with you there, since we aren't some monolith responsible for other people's votes. Vast portions of the country want the abortion bills to start flying which is the exact reason they are voting for the Republicans in the first place. This is still a deeply religious country (and some of our immigration policies are ironically insuring we stay that way for years to come). The rest of us will be stuck in the dark ages, but I don't see why we deserve it.

Lenny James.

Ya'll are so hard on my Ty.

I certainly see your point, but I think it's realistic. Not everyone has the killer instinct. Haven't there been studies that show in WW2 a significant percent of allied soldiers purposely missed the enemy because they couldn't bring themselves to kill? I'm pretty sure I've read that in more than one place. The Rev is just a coward in my opinion. I don't believe he's a pacifist or someone who thinks god is all he needs.

People will always find a way to bitch, although this one really makes me roll my eyes. If anything Ty plays against common racial and gender stereotypes. He forgave Carol for killing the woman he loved, so he's not an "angry black man". He has a hard time killing people, even when it's the smartest move. He's not a "violent black man". He's a nurturing, sensitive black man and that's not something we see much of on TV. I actually thought having TY take care of Judith while Carol took down Terminus was pretty brilliant. How many times have we seen men do that kind of unrealistic takedown, but no one really bats an eye? I thought it was pretty cool to see a woman get to be that same kind of OTT hero for once. I also liked it that the show gave a tiny nod to the idea that it was hard for Ty to give up caring for Judith. So many shows would have had a woman care for her and then go crazy when it came time to let go and let her family have her back. I do wonder what that preacher is hiding. I bet he found those clothes at the church and was never a preacher at all. . This guy is actually a good contrast to Ty. The preacher is a coward, but Ty has a conscience, but he'll fight when someone else needs help. Oh, I just realized that Bob and the preacher were both on The Wire.

So gross! So I take it Bob was infected earlier in the episode? It wasn't clear, but why else was he outside crying alone.

I just saw a dateline with Laurie Holden on a sting operation trying to rescue young girls from sex traffickers. I couldn't watch more than a few mins, but good for her!

Right. Plus there are a lot of poor women in prison who have children and who aren't violent offenders. TG committed crimes to be rich, not to survive. I was just reading an article about how some (non violent) female prisoners are shackled while giving birth and aren't allowed to have a support person with them. Outrageous, imo.

I agree she deserves the time, but I'm glad it wasn't any worse. It sounds like they didn't try to make too much of an example of TG. As you say, the girls will survive it, but I feel especially bad for the younger ones.

Yes, I remember that.

Well, I guess it's just as well because there will be so many new characters next year anyway.

It looks like this next season is going to be really good. Seems like forever until it starts though. By the looks of Judith, not that much time has past since Laurie died. Feels like years.

I think you're right Q. When it comes to Israel, I find myself forced to agree with the Fox news ilk and that's something I rarely do. Part of the problem is that the typical American has almost no knowledge of the history of the middle east. They seem to think that Israel is just randomly "occupying Palestine" without any knowledge of the Six Day War. It's a very good thing Israel has nukes or they would be screwed.

Any opinions on this situation in Gaza? I feel Hamas is winning the propaganda war for sure, while managing to turn down a cease fire proposal, no less.