Sunday, February 28, 2021
Blue Rudy
Libs, that's how we got Rudy.
Great Moments In Cold War History
During the Cold War, all kinds of autocrats -- Mobutu, Pinochet, apartheid South Africa, generals, monarchies in the Middle East, Suharto etc -- convinced us that we NEEDED them to contain the USSR. We did not. In trying to containing China, let's not repeat this mistake again.
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) February 27, 2021
Vote By Mail
I don't think it should be ended, but it was very popular with Republicans before the peculiar circumstances of the 2020 election, and the subsequent need to latch onto any "fraud" lie, and I think it's fairly clear that ending it would not actually favor Republicans."Voting by mail should, generally, be ended," says Tom Fitton at #CPAC2021. Without an "emergency reason, the law should require you to vote in person.
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) February 28, 2021
We're in Florida, where more than 4.5 million mail votes were cast in 2020.
The Governor of New York Is Totally Not A Sex Pest So Stop Saying That
Notable: The @timesunion began reaching out to female former @NYGovCuomo aides in December. His staff quickly became aware of that effort, and women who had never been contacted by the paper began calling up unbidden to offer favorable impressions of his workplace culture.
— Casey Seiler (@CaseySeiler) February 28, 2021
Blue Trump
ALBANY, N.Y. — A second former aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is accusing him of sexual harassment, saying that he asked her questions about her sex life, whether she was monogamous in her relationships and if she had ever had sex with older men.The aide, Charlotte Bennett, who was an executive assistant and health policy adviser in the Cuomo administration until she left in November, told The New York Times that the governor had harassed her late last spring, during the height of the state’s fight against the coronavirus.
Saturday, February 27, 2021
It Is Quite Likely That Some Of Our Faves Will Be Inconvenienced
Put On The Ring, Joe
It has been argued that even if Joe Biden were to adopt the alternative position that the Democratic Party should be able to pass a policy agenda—and even if he argued the same to voters—he might nevertheless fail in getting Manchin and Sinema to agree with him. This is correct. It is, though, incumbent upon Biden to try to persuade members of Congress. This opinion has evidently been the subject of some controversy on social media in recent days. “The Green Lantern Theory of domestic politics—if Dems just had the will they could make it happen—is such incredible nonsense,” the author James Surowiecki tweeted on Tuesday. “What ‘pressure’ can Biden apply from the bully pulpit to change Joe Manchin’s mind?”A good question! And the answer may well be “none.” But the primary advocate of the Green Lantern theory of domestic politics over the past two years has been Joe Biden. The central policy argument of his campaign, repeated throughout the primaries and general election, was that he, alone among all other Democratic contenders, would be able to win Republican support for his agenda on the basis of his character and his skill at leveraging personal relationships built over nearly half a century in Washington. By implication, conservative members of his own party weren’t to be worried about. But by now, just over a month into his term, it should be clear even to those who bought into this extraordinary lie that conservative Democrats are the ones running the show.
A Lot Of Guns In This Country
Don't Be Stupid, Be A Smarty
Hopefully he gets booked on Meet the Press to discuss his interesting views!Fuentes just announced that Rep. Paul Gosar is AFPAC’s “secret” speaker. Meaning: a current congressman is addressing a group of white nationalists tonight.
— hannah gais (@hannahgais) February 27, 2021
Friday, February 26, 2021
The Important NORMS
The GOP fired the Senate parliamentarian over reconciliation in a 50-50 Senate in 2001.
— Nico Pitney (@nicopitney) February 26, 2021
It was such a non-scandal that NYT's reporting on the GOP replacement was a 57-word stub on the bottom of A22. pic.twitter.com/ireOOeWKK8
Poor Mitt
No respect.Rep. Jason Chaffetz gets big applause for this line: "I'm from Utah, and I'm not Mitt Romney." (Romney once won four CPAC presidential straw polls, but has been disinvited after voting for Trump's conviction in 2020.) #CPAC2021
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) February 26, 2021
The Case For Super Reparations
Ta-Nehisi Coates will write a new Superman film for DC Films and Warner Bros. The project is in very early development, but the new film is being produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot. Hannah Minghella will also produce.
Caucus Discipline
The Rules
In any elaborate rules-based system, people pick and choose the ones they focus on, and exploit them to achieve their goals.(the vice president is the president of the Senate according to the Constitution and the parliamentarian is a job they invented in 1935)
— 'Weird Alex' Pareene (@pareene) February 26, 2021
The rule isn't "this random guy gets to boss the majority around," so people shouldn't pretend it is.
Savvy
Normal brain: something that polls very favorably everywhere, wins overwhelmingly on ballot measures in red states. Republicans would be crazy to vote against it!A 15 dollar min wage won 60% of vote in Florida in 2020. A political reporter thinking this some kind of risky vote is equivalent of doctor recommending you balance your humors. https://t.co/eqtuFPX6ib
— Alex Hazanov. (@alexhazanov) February 26, 2021
DC brain: wow, swing district democrats are so fucked if they vote for this, the GOP is loving this.
There is a way to potentially resolve this, but it's something that DC reporters never explain. Voters love minimum wage hikes, but people in swing districts worry about voting for things that piss off organized money and the local media influencers. Vote for the minimum wage, and they'll come after you on other issues.
Morning Thread
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Eyes Emoji
Just in: Source confirms the US Attorney’s office is in possession of security camera footage of possible rioters being given tours before the Capitol attack — but nothing else. No visitor logs or entry records.
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) February 25, 2021
There Is Time To Kill Today
I'm sure Barack Obama woke up in the middle of the night a few times in 2016 and thought, "oh, wow, running out of time here, what'd I miss...."
You move into the White House and suddenly it's a couple of years later.
Thought I'd something more to say.
Only One Spin Around The Racetrack
Just give me lots of money and I'll promise to shut the fuck up and go away!
Popcorn Emoji
Vance has to get in line behind Mueller and Fitzgerald.NBC News: Trump’s taxes and underlying tax documents are in the hands of the Manhattan District Attorney
— Jesse Rodriguez (@JesseRodriguez) February 25, 2021
The Worst People
Morning Thread
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Lock Him Up
New York (CNN)The Manhattan district attorney's office has subpoenaed financial records related to Steve Bannon's crowd-funding border-wall effort, signaling that its criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump's chief strategist is advancing, according to people familiar with the matter.Prosecutors sent the subpoenas after Trump pardoned Bannon in late January for federal conspiracy crimes tied to the southern border-wall project, making Bannon among the Trump world figures -- including the former president -- subjects of criminal investigations by Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance.
Woke Fed Chair
"Our peers, our competitors, advanced economy democracies have a more built up function for childcare" - Fed Chair Powell
— Jeanna Smialek (@jeannasmialek) February 24, 2021
"We used to lead the world in female labor force participation... and we no longer do. It may just be that those policies have put us behind."
No Coup You Coup Who Coup
Grand Old Police Blotter
Days after South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg fatally struck a man while driving in September, detectives told the Republican official they had found a pair of broken reading glasses inside his Ford Taurus. They belonged to the man he killed.That was a problem, detectives said, because Ravnsborg, 44, said he didn’t know he had hit a man until the following day, when he returned to the scene and found the body of Joseph Boever, 55, in a ditch.
“They’re Joe’s glasses, so that means his face came through your windshield,” one of the detectives said in an interview released by the South Dakota Department of Public Safety on Tuesday.
Regeneration
You see it with journalists, some of whom are old enough to remember a time before and some who really got on the White House ride for the first time with Trump. They haven't yet adjusted, and they're professionals. Tons of people probably didn't even pay much attention to politics before Trump, and then did, so the basic format of the 21st century presidency, followed by Bush and Obama and presumably broadly imitated by Biden, will be new.
Owning It
Again, I don't want to debate the merits of Obamacare, but if you're passing something based on the idea that it is broadly "good," something's going wrong - substance, messaging, timing - if you're nonetheless scared it will be very unpopular.
Nobody Who Went To Penn Could Be bad
For months, some of Donald Trump’s top advisers have assured him that he has virtually nothing to fear from the Manhattan district attorney’s tax investigation, which they view as merely “fishing” for information. But investigators with the D.A.'s office have been expanding their criminal probe into Trump’s business empire, asking questions and grilling witnesses—as recently as in the past few days—not only about Trump but particularly about his eldest son, Don Jr., and Allen Weisselberg, one of the former president’s most trusted officers, The Daily Beast has learned.Not optimistic about any of this, but I guess we can enjoy the show while it lasts.
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
The Thin Blue Line
TA retired NYPD officer who had been assigned for a time to work perimeter security at City Hall and at Gracie Mansion, the mayor's official residence, has been accused of using a pipe to attack a U.S. Capitol officer during the Jan. 6 siege, law enforcement officials with knowledge of the case told News 4 Tuesday.The alleged "eye gouger."Thomas Webster surrendered to the FBI's Hudson Valley office Monday to face charges in the ongoing investigation. A day later in White Plains federal court, prosecutors said the former U.S. Marine attacked a Capitol police officer with an aluminum pole while holding a Marine Corps flag. Webster then allegedly ripped off a mask and caused the officer to choke, proseuctors said.
Who Cares If It Gets Zero Republican Votes
Much of the time our dumb system does require people of both parties not behaving like complete assholes, because different parties control different bits of our government.
When one party has the trifecta, that's an opportunity! Let the Dems ram stuff through, let Republicans say it's bad, and then they can argue about it for election 2022.
Hot as Hell
I am just a dumb guy with a very fine blog, but I suspect this is not true.
More than that, I don't think this often expressed idea actually helps things much. It's condescending as hell. "You guys are fucking nuts but you'll come around soon!"
Not that I mind being condescending. It just isn't a way to win people over, and it comes from the people who imagine that somehow the nutters can be won over.
The Rhythm of the Blog
I seem to remember back in the dark ages we'd have more posts and discussions about stupid shit. You know, not just "is American civilization about to fall" but "hey, is this teevee show good?" Maybe we can get back to that a bit. Or maybe just keep twirling twirling twirling towards freedom!
Anything is possible. It is a blog.
Lock'em Up
A California program intended to improve COVID-19 vaccine availability to people in hard-hit communities of color is being misused by outsiders who are grabbing appointments reserved for residents of underserved Black and Latino areas.The program to address inequities in vaccine distribution relies on special access codes that enable people to make appointments on the My Turn vaccine scheduling website. The codes are provided to community organizations to distribute to people in largely Black and Latino communities.
Morning Thread
Monday, February 22, 2021
CANCEL CULTURE
[10 minutes later]
We have just learned that someone we invited to CPAC has expressed reprehensible views that have no home with our conference or our organization. The individual will not be participating at our conference.
— CPAC 2021 (@CPAC) February 22, 2021
"Targeting"
Especially given our 50 separate state bureaucracies and the fact that even the IRS doesn't have recent income data for most people.Yellen on stimulus checks: "The truth is, there are pockets of pain that go beyond what can be reached in highly-targeted ways." Points to people who have dropped out of labor force don't qualify for UI https://t.co/gXo5JWxTuf
— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) February 22, 2021
Performing For The Boss
No normal people know what "the Durham investigation" is.
Don't Think Donnie Two Scoops Can Wriggle Out Of This One
BREAKING: Supreme Court denies Trump’s last-ditch attempt to block release of his financial records
— Adam Liptak (@adamliptak) February 22, 2021
Old Economy Joe
I went to grad school, but most of my peers didn't. I don't have full knowledge of the lives of everybody I went to school with (no facebook then!), but a pretty standard path was "graduate, flail a bit before getting a shitty first job, get a somewhat better second job, get married and buy a house by 23-24." Also, tuition, room, and board came in just under 5 grand my first year. We'd gone beyond "pay for it with a summer job" by then, but not by all that much.
Morning
Sunday, February 21, 2021
Please Stop
I'm kidding he won't cut the police budget..@elonmusk you would have a very large customer/partner if you want to get into electric buses, garbage trucks and other vehicles that NYC needs. 👍
— Andrew Yang🧢🗽🇺🇸 (@AndrewYang) February 21, 2021
Cuck
#TexasStrong pic.twitter.com/gK4DHtsvLU
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) February 21, 2021
Pundit Challenge
Saturday, February 20, 2021
Squirrel
Don't do that thing which might actually pass, do this other thing that won't possibly pass and I wouldn't support anyway!
They used to be able to do this simply by saying, "whoa, if you're going to spend that much money, you'd better spend it wisely!" But now that "lol shutup about the deficit" is something even mainstream reporters do, they have to come up with something else. They're running with "your idea helps rich people, Akshually!" or "This plan will OVERHEAT the economy!" *
Larry Summers, really upset at the possibility of helping rich people! This is very convincing to goldfish.“I find it ironic and pathetic that the progressive wing of the Democratic party... are all excited to give $50k or more of debt relief to young people who are working at Wall Street investment banks making six-digit sums of money,” Larry Summers, Wall Street Week #studentloans
— Alex Tanzi (@atanzi) February 20, 2021
It should be an obvious strategy, but people who have a long history of not operating in good faith always manage to maintain their position in good standing, somehow. Total mystery. Larry's friends need to come for him, but they don't, so here we are.
*The "overheat the economy" thing is at least a more honest description of the potential, if not actual, problem of spending a bunch of money, instead of the vague moralizing and "tighten our belts" and "passing the debt to your grandchildren" or even "raise your taxes@!@!!" stuff they used to be able to get away with.
Meritocracy
Friday, February 19, 2021
Conspiracy
All six individuals have been added as co-defendants to a superseding indictment surrounding the group that ascended the Capitol's east steps in “military-style “stack” formation,” seen in this video. https://t.co/oPgSXUC7fW
— Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) February 19, 2021
Go Go Go
Bill Hemmer, CNN 1995-2005
Fox News Anchor Bill Hemmer Warns Cancel Culture Could 'Come After Bible Characters Next' https://t.co/U9haOxZHL9
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) February 19, 2021
Very Fine People On Both Sides
Florida Man
The plan follows similar federal efforts to open sites in California and Texas.
— Jim DeFede (@DeFede) February 19, 2021
Florida was initially reluctant and would only agree to the sites if they came with their own shipment of vaccine. @CBSMiami
When Politics Is Over
In any case, it doesn't end! We have not achieved a perfect framework that only requires occasional mild technocratic tweaks, and the big questions are unlikely to be settled! New politicians will try to obtain power, and won't always defer to the octogenerian Elders who have decided to rule forever. Politics goes on.
When Rush Was Good
Thursday, February 18, 2021
Your Moment Of Zen
Here’s Ted Cruz deplaning with police escort. Right now they’re waiting at customs. pic.twitter.com/xZUf4SzxBL
— Nora Neus (@noraneus) February 18, 2021
Lock Him Up
As the Manhattan district attorney’s office steps up the criminal investigation of Donald J. Trump, it has reached outside its ranks to enlist a prominent former federal prosecutor to help scrutinize financial dealings at the former president’s company, according to several people with knowledge of the matter.The former prosecutor, Mark F. Pomerantz, has deep experience investigating and defending white-collar and organized crime cases, bolstering the team under District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. that is examining Mr. Trump and his family business, the Trump Organization.
Sounds Bad
Texas’ power grid was “seconds and minutes” away from a catastrophic failure that could have left Texans in the dark for months, officials with the entity that operates the grid said Thursday.
Using The Daughters As Human Shields
“With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends.” pic.twitter.com/uvEVdAlqpR
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) February 18, 2021
Afternoon Thread
only ted cruz could make the excuse “I’m fucking useless anyway” and get total agreement amongst both his detractors and supporters
— kilgore trout, back in some form (@KT_So_It_Goes) February 18, 2021
Best Not Miss, Bill
Mayor Bill de Blasio says Gov. Cuomo doesn't just bully people in government.
— Emma G. Fitzsimmons (@emmagf) February 18, 2021
"A number of your colleagues in the media have been berated and belittled," and we've known about it "for a long time... It's a very unfortunate way to treat people," he says.
Ted Cruz In Cancun
Senators are powerful and have influence. Presumably the Senate is not going vote on emergency legislation to aid Texas, and it wouldn't help in the next few days if they did, but there's potentially more to the job than "shitposting," "pretending you are being useful on Teevee, "encouraging a violent mob to murder your colleagues," and "voting for stuff."The fact that people think Ted Cruz, a United States Senator, can do anything about a state power grid, even his own, is rather demonstrative of the ignorance of so many people who cover politics. They’d rather performative drama than substance.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) February 18, 2021
You can get on the phone and scream at FEMA, "WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE GENERATORS YOU PROMISED???" For example. Stuff like that. Maybe no direct powers, but when the senator or a member of his staff is on the phone, you pick it up and take the call.
I bet even Joe the Biden would take a call from the Zodiac Killer and say, "hey, man, tell us what you need, we'll do what we can." Not because Biden is awesome or all powerful, but because that's part of his job even if after 4 years of Trump nobody remembers that.
But aside from being lazy and indifferent, Ted Cruz has no idea. He woudn't know what to ask for. No clue about what his state needs, what the Feds could provide, or even businesses if he called them up and asked nicely. Get the local generator distributor hooked up with the local trucking company. Whatever, I don't know either, I'm not a US senator.
There are consequences of electing people who don't just have bad ideology and bad policies, but who have no clue and do not give a shit at all.
Owning The Libs By Putting Blue Trump In Jail
GOP senators on Senate Judiciary want Merrick Garland to vow at his hearing that DOJ will probe Gov. Cuomo. They say they “expect” Garland to make that commitment to “fully investigate.” https://t.co/FXiE5M82Y6
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 18, 2021
Morning Thread
And I'm not "picking on" Texas. It isn't the only place (California, for example) that has had related problems. We're at the "inability to even admit anything's wrong" stage of everything falling apart. Governance by shitposting is inadequate.
All these guys do every day is shitpost about california, pass abortion bans and lie
— Adam Serwer 🍝 (@AdamSerwer) February 17, 2021
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
Happy Hour Thread
Cigars. It was a whole aesthetic. A life of being horrible.
Resign, Blue Trump
"Gov. Cuomo called me directly on Thursday to threaten my career if I did not cover up for Melissa [DeRosa] and what she said. He tried to pressure me to issue a statement, and it was a very traumatizing experience," Kim said. Cuomo proceeded to tell the assemblyman that "we're in this business together and we don't cross certain lines and he said I hadn't seen his wrath and that he can destroy me," according to Kim. Cuomo's adviser denied that the governor threatened to destroy Kim.
Redundancy
Sure your cell holds a battery charge, but the towers go out.
Old Economy Joe
I don't have to look it up to know that the University of Delaware was basically free when Joe when there. In-state resident Tuition and fees are now close to $15,000, and that is very much on the cheaper end.
It's complicated, but a lot of the "most elite" schools actually are pretty generous with their financial aid, so it isn't even those students who are the most in debt (also rich kids don't have debt because their parents paid the tab).
25+ years of telling students to take out all the debt they could get, because the better jobs would cover it, and then that didn't happen.
This Is All Ted Cruz's Fault
You don't have to approach this cynically, you can embrace the idea that policy has consequences, that people who supported and made those policies are responsible for them, and that when something goes wrong there is quite often someone (or some political party, or some ideology) that is legitimately to blame.liberals should have been promoting a narrative about this from this morning, talking about how the failure of deregulation and public investment screwed this up. and now theyre responding, which means you've already lost the fight. https://t.co/k63hjHlaPA
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) February 16, 2021
Republicans do this constantly - often not legitimately as they are stupid and lie about everything - and Democrats *never* do it. Republicans have controlled Texas forever, national policy doesn't impact their energy system in any significant way, and, hell, Donald Trump was president for 4 years, and they immediately started doing this anyway.
Most Democrats, anyway.
Shame on the reporters who eat whatever treats they are given, but you go to politics with the shitty journalists you have...The infrastructure failures in Texas are quite literally what happens when you *don’t* pursue a Green New Deal.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 17, 2021
The Job Of The Opposition Is To Oppose
When there is split control of Congress, there are ridiculous things, such as using the debt ceiling as a hostage, which don't fit the model of standard opposition. Taking the country hostage and threatening to shoot it is reasonably thought to be beyond the pale, though if you negotiate in good faith with those who try it... shruggy.
But right now Mitch McConnell can't do anything the Democrats don't let him do, allowing for the fact that in any reasonable political system, the minority has *some* ability to gum things up a bit. This doesn't make Mitch good - Mitch is very bad - but really every time I see someone complaining about Mitch stopping the Senate from doing things, I want to scream.
Chuck Schumer runs the Senate. The rules are what they are because a portion of Democrats want the rules to be that way. That isn't necessarily Chuck's fault or Biden's fault, but it isn't Mitch's fault. When Mitch didn't like what Demcorats in the minority were doing, he changed the rules.
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Chip Off
Leo Brent Bozell IV, the son of conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III, was captured on video inside the Senate chamber during the attack on the U.S. Capitol and has been charged with three federal offenses, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed on Tuesday.....the best family:
The story of American conservatism in L. Brent Bozells
— Aaron (@BobbyBigWheel) February 16, 2021
L. Brent Bozell, Sr - Anti-New Deal advertising exec
L. Brent Bozell, Jr. - Pro-lifer who loved Franco
L. Brent Bozell III - Tracked when TV was mean to conservatives
L. Brent Bozell IV - Q freak who stormed the Capitol
BUT THIS IS NEWS
It's news!!! It's the White House!!! We have to cover it!!!For four years every cable channel took every daily Trump White House press briefing live — giving Sean Spicer, Sarah Sanders and Kayleigh McEnany massive platforms to spread unadulterated lies and rewrite history
— Matt Negrin, HOST OF HARDBALL AT 7PM ON MSNBC (@MattNegrin) February 16, 2021
Not one month in and the only channel airing Psaki is MSNBC pic.twitter.com/MPItMVaVqL
Remember How "We" Spent Years Painting Iraqi Schools
Blue Ribbon
The Schools Discourse
I don't actually have opinions about how to deal with the school situation, I just know that the discussion, repeated weekly for almost a year now, is always incredibly dishonest. You can't expect little kids to use masks properly. Schools are not designed for social distancing (they are overcrowded). They don't have windows that open. The SCIENCE about kids/teens being or not being carriers/vulnerable isn't straightforward. Even if you can have acceptable class sizes, you can't maintain those if teachers get sick.
I get it. It's hard having your kids at home.
Rising Stars
Big Tent
Washington (CNN)The North Carolina Republican Party central committee voted Monday to censure Sen. Richard Burr for his vote to convict former President Donald Trump during his second impeachment trial -- a move that made him the latest GOP senator to be reprimanded by his state party for siding with Democrats in the trial.
That's Just How Things Work, Son
And, well, as a banal observation about human nature, sure, but it was also meant as a criticism of the tactics of the people who were mean to a sitting senator, who had a long history of doing things to inspire that meanness, rather than as a horrible indictment of the absolute pettiness of one of the 200 or so most powerful people in the country (at the time).
Not "Joe Lieberman, Christ what an asshole," but "liberal activists are sure dumb lol."
Monday, February 15, 2021
Cold
Much of the US is truly and deeply blessed by very hot (summer) and very cold (winter) weather! But the places that aren't...
Happy Hour Thread
Fact Chuck
.@VP told @mikeallen that “there was no national strategy or plan for vaccinations” and that Biden admin was “starting from scratch.” That’s wrong. The Trump admin had a plan to distribute to locations chosen by states and let them take it from there. https://t.co/0MoQ8OnpoN pic.twitter.com/nYb8r5gPKz
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) February 15, 2021
PCU
Afternoon Thread
Happy Decimal Day!
Before that, 12 pence to the shilling, 5 shillings to a crown, 4 shillings crowns to the pound, (advanced math) 240 pence in a pound.
Backwards and ridiculous! The NYSE switched from 1/16 to decimal in... 2001!
Every Day A New Normal
No point other than the obvious. There is a moment when something seems like an emergency, and then that feeling fades.
True about the economy, also, especially as long as everything is good with the stocks.
I HAVE DEMONSTRATED YOUR BIG HYPOCRISY SIRRAH
There's some value in yelling at media figures to stop taking their horseshit seriously, and reporting things like "Donald Trump is a law and order president" as straight news without any context. But the bigger problem is the media figures mostly aren't that stupid and they know they're passing on horseshit and THEY DON'T CARE EITHER.
Sunday, February 14, 2021
TipnRonnie
Asymmetry
I'll leave it as an exercise for you, dear readers, to decide what this means, but you never hear the reverse from Republicans. Paul Ryan (now a "Reasonable Republican") never went out and said, "We need to have a strong Democratic party for the good of the nation."During a press conference with House managers after Trump's second impeachment trial, Nancy Pelosi said: "I think our country needs a strong Republican party. It's very important." pic.twitter.com/aPbxgxDlYd
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 13, 2021
Morning Thread
Saturday, February 13, 2021
Talking Points
They stipulated no such thing. They stipulated @HerreraBeutler made the statement, not that the statement is accurate. Dems just walked off the field because they didn’t feel like being on it, and Republicans will spend the next four years disputing the @HerreraBeutler statement. https://t.co/gAm8vJRvtY
— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) February 13, 2021
Technocracy
WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T CALL WITNESSES
LOLSources close to president Trump are floored by what just happened. Stunned/Stupefied/Total panic over who steps up to help the team because the lawyers left were only sticking together because they thought it was over today. Now - complete panic- per @Santucci @KFaulders
— Cecilia Vega (@CeciliaVega) February 13, 2021
NEW: Hill pooler @frankthorp snags this picture of @JasonMillerinDC's list of possible witnesses, including:
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) February 13, 2021
- Impeachment managers Ted Lieu and Joaquin Castro
- Nancy Pelosi and Kamala Harris
- Mazie Hirono
- Elizabeth Warren
- Ayanna Pressley
- Chuck Schumer
- Maxine Waters pic.twitter.com/0PeswMzGNA
The Aughts Were Nuts
Was just reminded of this as I was searching for something else, which was the regular "more in sorrow than anger" expressions of regret that conservatives will one day have to Kill All The Libs because the Libs will give them no choice. Very sad.
Go Go Go
BIG: Lead impeachment manager @RepRaskin asks to subpoena Rep @HerreraBeutler regarding her conversation with @GOPLeader McCarthy about what Trump said to him on Jan 6th
— Alex Moe (@AlexNBCNews) February 13, 2021
Seems Bad
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's top aide told Democratic lawmakers that the administration took months to release data revealing how many people living at nursing homes died of COVID-19 because officials “froze” over worries the information was “going to be used against us."Republicans who term the comment admission of a “cover-up” are now calling for investigations into and the resignations of both Cuomo and the aide, secretary to the governor Melissa DeRosa. And a growing number of Democrats are joining calls to rescind Cuomo's emergency executive powers, blasting the administration's defense of its secrecy.
Morning Thread
Friday, February 12, 2021
Friday Evening
Infinite Redemptions
Wow - @NikkiHaley on Trump in an interview w @TimAlberta -
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) February 12, 2021
“We need to acknowledge he let us down. He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him. And we can’t let that ever happen again.”https://t.co/QPWiu1Sdek
Invitation Only
The Project Of Lincoln
I mean, Steve Schmidt seems like the nicest one and before this he was trying to get the Starbucks guy on the ballot, with obvious consequences, so...1. Lincoln Project tweeted out a thread that appeared to contain screenshots from their former partner @NHJennifer's account
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) February 12, 2021
Unclear how they got access to them
These exchanges were with journalist @AmandaBecker
They have deleted the thread but here are screenshots
(Cont) pic.twitter.com/ddkbtFNlVg
Oh but Atrios I love their ads!
Grrrr...
Call Some Witnesses Then
There is broad agreement among Republicans as well as Trump’s team to end the impeachment trial as early as possible, given the beating they’re taking from the media and the strength of the Democrats’ presentation https://t.co/PIQWMDWaQ7
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) February 11, 2021
The American Experiment
Thursday, February 11, 2021
The Good News
The news from Biden's remarks at NIH just now is that administration is now getting hundreds of millions of Covid vaccines earlier than expected -- enough to vaccinate most Americans by the end of July.
— MJ Lee (@mj_lee) February 11, 2021
The School Opening "Debate"
"By large margins, they think schools can be open, in person with masks and distancing and ventilation. "They do not think vaccinating teachers or students is important. They do not think schools should close based on community spread of the virus.
— Margot Sanger-Katz (@sangerkatz) February 11, 2021
By large margins, they think schools can be open, in person with masks and distancing and ventilation. https://t.co/JNkbZHt4Lk
As long as things that aren't happening, likely won't happen, and in many places can't happen, schools should open. Therefore schools should open. QED. Here's the Philly school ventilation solution.
The Story So Far
Five Men To Overthrow
(CNN)The Justice Department unsealed conspiracy charges against five people associated with the Proud Boys on Thursday in the latest and largest move against the far-right group's coordinated role in the insurrection last month. The five are charged with conspiracy and some are accused of leading crowds as they pushed through multiple police lines to make their way into the Capitol building on January 6. They were arrested early Thursday.
Nobody Who Went To Yale Could Be Bad
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
Cops
Springsteen’s blood-alcohol content was 0.02 — just a quarter of New Jersey’s legal limit — when he was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, a source familiar with the case told the Asbury Park Press. The legal threshold indicating intoxication for driving purposes in New Jersey is .08, which calls into question why Springsteen was even charged with driving while intoxicated, the source added.
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Almost Didn't Have Mittens To Kick Around Anymore
Almost.Whoa: Eugene Goodman ran into Mitt Romney in the hallway and told him to turn around and get to safety, as the mob entered the building, in new footage.
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) February 10, 2021
Romney was going to run DIRECTLY into the rioters pic.twitter.com/0PX5LlxyXo
Proud Boys
TODAY U.S. prosecutors opposing pretrial release of Proud Boys member Dominic Pezzola in Jan. 6 breach of Capitol make clear Pezzola is charged with a "federal crime of terrorism" -- a crime of violence to influence or intimidate the government. https://t.co/lPArSnx8DJ
— Spencer Hsu (@hsu_spencer) February 10, 2021
But What Does Any Of This Have To Do With Burma
NEW: Biden announces actions to impose consequences on leaders of coup: new EO to sanction leaders of coup, their businesses, and close family member. Also freezing assets helping Burma
— Alana Abramson (@aabramson) February 10, 2021
Earth-151
Come To An Agreement And Put It All Behind Us
Abortion is a big one. You know, The Left agrees to "commonsense restrictions" and The Right agrees to "stop murdering abortion doctors" and then we can all get back to the cocktail party, having left that unpleasantness behind us.
The importance of specific issues can wax and wane for various reasons, but it's rare that any compromise can just solve the problem forever. Nor should we want that, generally?
Lock Him Up
ATLANTA — Prosecutors in Fulton County have initiated a criminal investigation into former President Donald J. Trump’s attempts to overturn Georgia’s election results, including a phone call he made to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Mr. Trump pressured him to “find” enough votes to help him reverse his loss.On Wednesday, Fani Willis, the recently elected Democratic prosecutor in Fulton County, sent a letter to numerous officials in state government, including Mr. Raffensperger, requesting that they preserve documents related to Mr. Trump’s call, according to a state official with knowledge of the letter. The letter explicitly stated that the request was part of a criminal investigation, said the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal matters.
The Public Gets It Right Sometimes
A very large and bipartisan majority of Americans would support congressional passage of a new stimulus bill to help those impacted by the pandemic, and many would prefer that it receive bipartisan support in Congress, too. Meanwhile, a majority give President Joe Biden good marks for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak, and for his job as president overall in the opening weeks of his administration.
Anti-Vax
A bit of inventing people to get mad at, at least at the moment when there are plenty of more pressing concerns. But it *will* become somewhat of an issue...
Morning Thread
Tuesday, February 09, 2021
Lots of Disagreement On That Point
House impeachment manager Raskin at start of Trump Senate trial on Capitol siege: “This cannot be our future. This cannot be the future of America.”
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) February 9, 2021
Mulligans Now, Mulligans Forever
"Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone is entitled to a mulligan." An actual US senator (@SenMikeLee) actually said this while defending an actual incitement of insurrection. Really. For real. In real life. pic.twitter.com/pA2NL52zb5
— shauna (@goldengateblond) February 9, 2021
Senate Trial Thread
The best coverage is in the comments of this very fine blog!
...Here's the opening video.Time Rides All Alone
Give Us The Good Stuff, Keep The Bad People Out Of Power
America's Top Poster
This provokes a complex set of emotions, as Neera very much deserves to be publicly grilled for her bad posts, but instead she's being publicly grilled for her good posts
— David Klion (@DavidKlion) February 9, 2021
Cryptocurrency
Monday, February 08, 2021
Seems Bad
ATLANTA — The office of Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, on Monday started an investigation into former President Donald J. Trump’s attempts to overturn the state’s election results, including a phone call he made to Mr. Raffensperger in which Mr. Trump pressured him to “find” enough votes to reverse his loss.
Precarity
LOL Nothing Matters
That isn't quite true, of course, but mostly because nothing gets the juices flowing like an excuse to bomb some brown foreigners. But if a bunch of MAGA QAnonners flew planes into buildings, it might be.
Final Acts
Rep. Ron Wright, a Texas Republican, died Sunday after receiving a positive test diagnosis for the coronavirus, his campaign announced in a statement on Monday. He is the first sitting member of Congress to die after being diagnosed with the virus. Wright, 67, said last month he began a quarantine on Friday, Jan. 15, after coming into contact with an individual who had the virus a week earlier. He said he tested positive for the illness the following week on Thursday, Jan. 21.
We Need To Handle Our Financial Situation
That they're wavering on the "give people some fucking money" part...
Spending Was The Problem
But families across the country are tightening their belts and making tough decisions. The federal government should do the same. (Applause.) So tonight, I'm proposing specific steps to pay for the trillion dollars that it took to rescue the economy last year.If the economy is bad going into the 2022 election season, the message will be "Joe Biden's big government spending destroyed the economy," and all the people who are screaming "THIS WILL OVERSTIMULATE THE ECONOMY" will be screaming a different tune but lol nothing matters.Starting in 2011, we are prepared to freeze government spending for three years. (Applause.) Spending related to our national security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will not be affected. But all other discretionary government programs will. Like any cash-strapped family, we will work within a budget to invest in what we need and sacrifice what we don't. And if I have to enforce this discipline by veto, I will. (Applause.)
We will continue to go through the budget, line by line, page by page, to eliminate programs that we can't afford and don't work. We've already identified $20 billion in savings for next year. To help working families, we'll extend our middle-class tax cuts. But at a time of record deficits, we will not continue tax cuts for oil companies, for investment fund managers, and for those making over $250,000 a year. We just can't afford it. (Applause.)
Now, even after paying for what we spent on my watch, we'll still face the massive deficit we had when I took office. More importantly, the cost of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will continue to skyrocket. That's why I've called for a bipartisan fiscal commission, modeled on a proposal by Republican Judd Gregg and Democrat Kent Conrad. (Applause.) This can't be one of those Washington gimmicks that lets us pretend we solved a problem. The commission will have to provide a specific set of solutions by a certain deadline.
Morning Thread
Sunday, February 07, 2021
Street Meat
Max Headroom
"Narrow Majority"
BREAKING: A narrow majority of Americans (56%) say former President Donald Trump should be convicted and barred from holding office again, according to a new @ABC News/Ipsos poll. https://t.co/xH8STGrjTh
— ABC News (@ABC) February 7, 2021
Saturday, February 06, 2021
Communist News Network
Your liberal media.
Cancel Culture
For better or for worse there are various hurdles to making a case in this area, and certainly to making a case that will get you a big payout. Being able to show quantifiable economic damages, not just asserting "someone said a mean untrue thing about me," makes that easier!
Destroying up until that point lucrative voting machine businesses by making their reputations toxic to the governments that hand out those contracts... about as clear and quantifiable as you can get!
Suck it, Loud Obbs.
Dobbs retweeting people lashing out at Fox for canceling his show, good times. pic.twitter.com/wseTKkEPaK
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) February 6, 2021
Everybody's Working For The Weekend
Shitposting on a very fine blog is not the hardest job in the world, but doing it 7 days a week can be a bit draining!
Morning Thread
Friday, February 05, 2021
Tortured Lou Dobbs
Fox News has canceled “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” the program hosted by television’s staunchest supporter of Donald Trump and of his assertions of voter fraud in the 2020 election, the Times has learned.
Zing
Summers also took jabs from Senate Democrats, even the most moderate of whom have largely backed the size of the White House’s proposal. During a meeting of Senate chiefs of staff on Friday morning, an aide to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) thanked everyone for maintaining the party line, acknowledging that some of their bosses believed the package was either too much or not enough, according to a source familiar with the meeting. “And then there’s Larry Summers,” the aide said, “who can’t decide if we’re doing too much or not enough—but knows that, whatever we’re doing, is wrong.”
Progress
Reuters: VIRGINIA LAWMAKERS VOTE TO REPEAL DEATH PENALTY, SENDING BILL TO GOVERNOR NORTHAM WHO IS EXPECTED TO SIGN IT
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 5, 2021
He Who Must Not Be Named
Hope And Change
I'm not saying I was important or was leading anything, just that I actually put effort in, my own dime and time, for no personal gain, to make something happen, and to run into the same immovable human walls over and over, and to have bullshit printed in the press constantly about what was going on (knowing because occasionally I was a little bit 'in the room') was... frustrating! Welcome to activism, I know.
It was no secret who the villains were, who the immovable human walls were. It was like living through the Iraq war era again, in a way, knowing you actually aren't the crazy person, but everyone with a microphone is talking as if you were. Not me specifically. Again I'm no one. But anybody with my basic, correct, perspective. You know, things like "this is no time to cut spending" and "the Obama administration programs are designed to encourage foreclosures, not stop them," and "actually, they have a slush fund to help people and they didn't even use it."
Anyway, shut the fuck up Larry. By the logic you appy to the unemployed, you should be comfortable enough to never want to work again.
The Coin Has The Power
All the very serious people at the time got mad at The Crazy Left putting forth this perfectly legal, perfectly sensible idea to combat an even more bonkers idea that was itself arguably a violation of the 14th amendment ("The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, ... shall not be questioned."). So "we" let the Republicans put the gun to the hostage (country) repeatedly.
Lee spells it out. The Treasury can do this!
“The Cancel the Coin Act removes a legal loophole that allows the Treasury Secretary to bypass the statutory borrowing limit by minting platinum coins of any denomination. In doing so, this legislation ensures the powers to coin money and regulate the value thereof remain firmly
— Rohan Grey (@rohangrey) February 5, 2021