Midday open thread

Clarence Clemons (1942-2011)  -  Reuters

• I think I speak for all of us at Daily Kos in saying that Clarence "Big Man" Clemons, legendary sax man for the E Street Band, will be most assuredly missed. Fans around the world lost a part of our youth with the news of his passing. There is an empty space inside our hearts where the sound and smile of the Big Man used to be.
• Of course, CC would want us to lift up our heads and hearts and enjoy some music rather than mope around. Go do that.
• The Republican Leadership Conference in Louisiana attracted the full spectrum of the B-team presidential candidates. Bachmann, Santorum, Cain, etc. But one potential A-lister showed up, Texas Governor Rick Perry, who makes George W. Bush seem like a scholarly intellectual. Barn burner speech rallies crowd.

  If Perry gets in, Palin stays out and its curtains for Mittens. (I miss you Sarah!)

• Accidental civilian killings notwithstanding, NATO and the Libyan Rebels appear to be coordinating well in their efforts to overthrow the Libyan Government. NATO's intervention on behalf of the Rebels in the Libyan Civil War is causing plenty of debate within the alliance and outside of it.

  Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Brussels:

  ?The mightiest military alliance in history is only 11 weeks into an operation against a poorly armed regime in a sparsely populated country -- yet many allies are beginning to run short of munitions, requiring the U.S., once more, to make up the difference.?

  Gates? patience with the Europeans is, understandably, just about exhausted. Two decades after the Soviet Union disintegrated and the Red Army went home, America is still carrying 75 percent of the NATO burden for the defense of Europe.
  

  If intervening in civil wars is the sort of thing NATO is going to do from now own, it is high time the United States Military Forces start being properly compensated for doing the work.
  

• Tim Pawlenty is starting to look like a jerk. Once again he's taking the fight to Romney from behind the ropes, attacking Romney as a "co-conspirator" with Obama, this time another 1000 miles away from Romney's face. Can you believe that someone is actually politically afraid of Mitt Romney??!
• Turkey acts to assist in the political refugee crisis in Syria.
• Happy Juneteenth Day!
• So, yeah...no tie, thank God. My girls, however, did get me the Grill Grand Daddy, and it is awesome! Tried it out yesterday. My grill is sparking!

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/u03HO0KAdzo/-Midday-open-thread

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