I'm with BooMan and Paul Campos in my reaction to "Datagate". Like many, I'm pretty much on the fence as far as primary candidate is concerned. For that reason, I pretty much agree with this comment by Melissa McEwan in reaction to the lawsuit by the Sanders Campaign against the DNC:

Wow. I really don't think that's a good strategy. It will play well with a lot of folks who are already Sanders supporters for sure, but, for people who are still on the fence, and who are looking at the details of this thing and assessing what it says about Sanders campaign and leadership style, I don't think that approach will be well received.

Wonderful. 3 1/2 football fields worth of Chinese imports. Meanwhile in America's former centers of manufacturing: tumbleweed.

(One of three about to be unleashed.)

Krugman:

I would put it a bit differently: financial crises call into question whether respectable people know what they’re doing, in a way that other kinds of economic shocks often don’t.

The point for Europe is that the doctrinaire policies followed since 2010, and the unwillingness to rethink dogma in the light of experience, aren’t just economically destructive. They undermine the legitimacy of the whole European system, and may in the end lead to political catastrophe.

So the results are in and it looks like the Dems have once again done badly in an off-year election. Some go so far as to say that with such results the Dems are "in crisis".

I haven't looked carefully at the results -- has anyone yet? -- but I get the feeling just like last year's lost for Gov. Quinn, that victory wasn't due so much to an increase in number of the other side so much as a decrease in participation by the Dems.

I guess the question regarding Hillary is whether she'll generate the kind of enthusiasm that will get people to the polls to vote for her. "Ready for Hillary" just isn't good enough. "Fired Up for Hillary" is what's needed.

Great time at the Citizen Action Annual Dinner. Probably one of the few events at the Hilton beginning with a brief eulogy for a member of the hotel staff.

WBEZ keeps on talking about Rauner's "Pro business turnaround agenda". Somehow I don't think that quite describes what he's trying to shove down our throats.

For the record, here are the three Illinois State reps who helped tank the override vote of "Right-to-Work" Rauner's veto as listed by the State Journal-Register

"Rep. Scott Drury, D-Highwood, was the only Democrat to vote against the override. Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, voted "present." Rep. Ken Dunkin, D-Chicago, was the only Democrat not to attend Wednesday's session."

Two professors place their bets on the Greek election in today's WaPo:

"Come September, Syriza will perform strongly."

Well, time will tell. In fact, since the election is happening on Sept. 20, time will tell in just a couple of weeks. The professors continue:

"...In fact, Tsipras’s ability to present himself as the defender of Greek dignity and honor and his move toward the center will probably increase Syriza’s share of the vote, even with the new Popular Unity running to its left."

So not only will Syriza maintain its majority but will increase it! That's quite a prediction for a party where "the need to compromise [i.e. signing on to yet more austerity] ultimately trumped the need to remain ideologically pure". All of this, the authors claim, is based on their 'research'.

Of course, there is the example of the embattled democracies of the early 1930s. There the treatment for economic hard times, much like today, was yet more austerity -- a recipe which gradually undermined the legitimacy of democratic regimes, strengthening at the same time extremist groups, particularly on the right.

We know how that ended. Still the professors make their predictions. Again, time will tell if any faces end up with egg.

If you refuse to take water out of Lake Michigan, I guess you could claim we're in a drought. If you refuse to tax the people with money, I guess you could claim we're going broke. Finally if you put a bag over your head, I guess you could claim it is night.