Friday, April 30, 2021
Afteroon Thread
Of Course
On Wednesday, former New York City mayor and Donald Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s apartment and office were raided by the feds. On Thursday, he picked up the phone and called Alan Dershowitz.
The Tyranny Of Bill Barr
The DOJ in late 2019 covertly obtained access to my iCloud and never notified me.
— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) April 30, 2021
They invaded the attorney client relationship as we were defending against the phony impeachment.
These prosecutors violated the laws, not me.
If again, nothing is done, you could be next.
Here Is A List Of All My Crimes
A confession letter written by Joel Greenberg in the final months of the Trump presidency claims that he and close associate Rep. Matt Gaetz paid for sex with multiple women—as well as a girl who was 17 at the time.Read the whole thing, as the kids say.“On more than one occasion, this individual was involved in sexual activities with several of the other girls, the congressman from Florida’s 1st Congressional District and myself,” Greenberg wrote in reference to the 17-year-old.
Thursday, April 29, 2021
Vaccine Machine Slowing Down
7 day average peaked at 3,243,252 and is now down to 2,501,972. Data isn't necessarily complete for the dark blue bars at the end.
The Gig Is Up
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, a son of Irish immigrants and a former union member, has been expected to boost President Biden’s efforts to expand workers’ protections and deliver a win for the country’s organized labor movement.
How About A Maximum Voting Age?
Again, I'm not serious about the voting age, just maybe it's time to promote the 50-year-olds out of the mail room.
Rudes Just Wanted MORE MONEY
Bernie Kerik didn't even dent his reputation. If you see how reporters treat Kerik, Bernie Kerik didn't even dent Bernie Kerik's reputation.
Kevin McCarthy, Welcome To Meet The Press
(this was on Hannity)"He's going to control how much meat you can eat," Kevin McCarthy tells Hannity, days after that whole narrative had been debunked.
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) April 29, 2021
I don't think journalists should shun someone in his position, but when someone has a track record of being a constant, persistent liar, you can't treat them in the Beltway chummy "we're all just pals here" way that Chuck Todd and many others do.
It isn't the lies, it's that they're liars.
I endured endless hours of media figures screeching, 'HE LIIIIIIEEEEEED TO THE AMERIIIICAAAAN PEOPLE,' during Clinton impeachment.
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
Still really high!
I point out that it's really high because it is! And because the powers that be tend to just decide bad job numbers are just The Way Things Are Now and start blaming the victims.
It's still a shitty jobs market, no matter how many tipped-wage restaurant owners run to the press complaining that no one will work for 2 bucks an hour in hospitality during a pandemic.
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
The Kids Don't Remember Vicky and Joe
And that was... a long time ago!
Oh, Rudy, Where Did You Go Wrong
#Breaking - Seven FBI agents came to @RudyGiuliani 's UES apartment w/ search warrant- woke him up and seized electronics. Attorney Robert Costello says he offered to bring Giuliani in to speak w/ US Attorney @SDNYnews if subjet matter defined. Offer was declined. @1010WINS
— Juliet Papa (@winsjuliet) April 28, 2021
Afternoon Thread
F.B.I. agents on Wednesday morning also executed a search warrant at the Washington-area home of Victoria Toensing, a lawyer close to Mr. Giuliani who had dealings with several Ukrainians involved in the effort to find damaging information about the Bidens, according to people with knowledge of that search. Ms. Toensing has represented Dmitry Firtash, a Ukrainian oligarch under indictment in the United States whose help Mr. Giuliani sought.
America's Felon (Possibly)
Federal investigators in Manhattan executed a search warrant on Wednesday at the Upper East Side apartment of Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who became President Donald J. Trump’s personal lawyer, stepping up a criminal investigation into Mr. Giuliani’s dealings in Ukraine, three people with knowledge of the matter said.
But They Have A Point
The friend I was with explained that, no, actually PETA is very effective. Even if "everybody" hates PETA, many people think, "I hate PETA, but they have a point...".
They draw attention to practices many people do find abhorrent, even if the way they do it often makes people mad. You can hate PETA AND factory farms! Very wise middle of the road position.
Not interested in debating the effectiveness of PETA's tactics specifically. Just a general point about "radical" activism.
8 Can't Wait
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (AP) — The FBI launched a civil rights probe Tuesday into the death of Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man killed by deputies in North Carolina, as his family released an independent autopsy showing he was shot five times, including in the back of the head.
The Bullshit Factory
They aren't too dumb to know the "real journalism" is just there to launder the bullshit, but they don't care.
Tuesday, April 27, 2021
Smog
No real point, except The Kids Today don't remember the smog!!!
Your Moment of Zen
Welcome to NYC!
— Detectives' Endowment Association (@NYCPDDEA) April 26, 2021
Even as our Detectives investigate crimes they’re attacked by emboldened criminals, who have quickly realized there are no consequences for law breakers in our city.
The DEA is calling for this violence to be fully prosecuted as we look to file civil charges. pic.twitter.com/3FuiBEEcE1
Excellent Ideas, Mr. President!!!
We have to do more to ease the economic burden on working people. So today, I'm adopting two new policies to help deliver relief. As president, I will:
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 9, 2020
- Lower Medicare eligibility to age 60
- Forgive student debt for low-income and middle class families https://t.co/wtMnhJdCaR
Rich White Asshole Unleashed
That's Just How Things Are Done
Trump innovated in the "just put the bags of cash on the Oval Office desk" brand of corruption, but we still have a problem with DC being filled with practices that people don't even feel the need to defend, and consider it to be bizarre to even question.
This isn't about anything specific at the moment, just a general dispiritedness at the level of obvious corrupt practices that people seem to be unable to conceive of as flawed because, well, everybody does it.
Some of the scandals that derailed presidential appointees in the not so distant past, for example, seem hilariously quaint. And probably some of them were even a bit silly! But swinging too far the other way...
Census
Monday, April 26, 2021
The Tech Promises Of The Teens
And self-driving cars! Any day now.
Investigate The Police
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Monday that the Justice Department will open a civil investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department, 13 months after the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman whose killing was among the flash points that sparked mass social justice protests across the nation last summer.
Vaccinate The World
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will begin sharing its entire pipeline of vaccines from AstraZeneca once the vaccine clear federal safety reviews, the White House said, with as many as 60 million doses expected to be available for export in the coming months.Faster, Mr. Biden, sir.
Wonking Ourselves To Death
Public debates about proposed policy are good if they are informative, but in truth, even our respectable news outlets aren't very good at discussing policy, and everything becomes a debate between paid liars and people forced to treat paid liars as good faith actors (back when I went to DC a bit more, I participated in a few public panels on various things, and "must have a paid liar on the panel because this is how things are done" is a bizarre part of the culture).
Most people won't ever really know what's in a big bill, they'll know if the Biden Bucks show up in their bank accounts, or if their kids get health insurance, or if the potholes are still there. Policy debates, as they happen in The Discourse, do not actually educate voters, and throwing it out there for a discussion for a year is just going to end up misleading and confusing them.
I'm not making the case against transparency, for writing secret bills, just making the case that given the way people are "informed," the longer things take the more likely they are to be misinformed.
Pass it, let people see the consequences, see the voters at the next election.
Who's "We"
You know other people can read your publication, and maybe some even subscribe to it, right?
Sunday, April 25, 2021
Oscar Thread
Roy gives his predictions.
Bad Tweets
Interesting. Computer, show me the article.BREAKING: 52% of Americans in the latest @ABC News/Washington Post poll approve of Pres. Biden's work in office, lower than any president at 100 days in office since 1945. https://t.co/lOi6IErG22
— ABC News (@ABC) April 25, 2021
...the bad tweet was deleted after I first scheduled this post, but it was up a long time!
Elite Impunity
Saturday, April 24, 2021
Humanitarian Interventions
Hunt them down in their spider holes!
Vaccinate The World
But it will be defended.
Eye-Popping
https://t.co/iZ9ZSxDOn4 pic.twitter.com/06WfB22Wll
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) April 23, 2021
Friday, April 23, 2021
Sounds Like A Bad Idea
The members expected directives to ready ground troops to help state and local authorities respond to disturbances triggered by resistance to stay-at-home rules or panic over empty store shelves.But then came an unusual order: The air branch of the Guard was told to place an F-15C fighter jet on an alert status for a possible domestic mission, according to four Guard sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
Those sources said the order didn’t spell out the mission but, given the aircraft’s limitations, they understood it to mean the plane could be deployed to terrify and disperse protesters by flying low over them at window-rattling speeds, with its afterburners streaming columns of flames. Fighter jets have been used occasionally in that manner in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, they said.
My Guiding Philosophy
The first rule of punditry is you gotta keep the cash flowing. Doesn’t really matter what your opinions are or how wildly they change over time, all that matters is that the Audience loves that shit
— as a member of the dumbass community, (@InternetHippo) April 23, 2021
Out
(CNN)The US military withdrawal from Afghanistan is now underway with equipment being packed and shipped out, three defense officials tell CNN.Off on a tangent, but when Blackwater first started sucking up absurd amounts of government money to run the world for us with iron fists, in 2003, Erik Prince was... 34 years old.The Pentagon has also approved the deployment of hundreds of maritime, air and land forces to the region to ensure security for American and NATO forces as well as contractors as they withdraw, the officials said.
The Real King Under The Mountain
Only one thing to be done. If this fundraiser nets me ONE BILLION DOLLARS then I will consider this question anew and report back.
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Happy Bleach Day
Vaccine Machine Slows Down
I do think that in The Discourse there has been much more concern with the problem of vaccine hesitation rather than the easier problem of people who are Not Very Online With Flexible Schedules.
Send them around in ice cream trucks. Whatever. Focus on getting them to everyone who wants them more than trying to convince MAGA chuds.
Thursday, April 22, 2021
Yang
To some Stonewall attendees, Mr. Yang’s appearance only fueled concerns about whether he can discuss the problems at hand with sufficient depth and seriousness. More broadly, the reaction speaks to how polarizing Mr. Yang’s personality can be — eliciting sincere enthusiasm and disdain in seemingly equal measure.“When I see a candidate come in just with Michael Scott levels of cringe and insensitivity, it either tells me Andrew Yang is in over his head or is not listening to his staff,” said Alejandra Caraballo, a member of the organization, referring to the character played by Steve Carell on “The Office.” “Those are both radioactive flashing signs that say he is not prepared to be mayor of New York.”
Ms. Christ said members were offended that Mr. Yang chose to focus on bars, parades and his gay staff members.
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
Moving in the right direction, of course, but still really really high!
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Sounds Bad
A Capitol Police officer radioed units outside of the building on the morning of Jan. 6 and told them only to scout for anti-Trump troublemakers — not pro-Trump protesters, according to the findings of an internal investigation revealed at a public hearing by Rep. Zoe Lofgren.
All In
Some couldn't even do that.
The Mall Is Flat
Lenders are seizing minority stakes in Minnesota’s Mall of America and another massive shopping center that were used as collateral for debt on the long-troubled American Dream project in New Jersey.(thanks to reader f)Developer Triple Five Worldwide had pledged 49% of its equity stakes in Mall of America and the West Edmonton Mall in Canada as collateral for the $5 billion shopping and entertainment center located west of Manhattan in East Rutherford.
Spring Fundraiser Day 5!
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go ahead. keep screaming "Shut The Fuck Up " at me. it only makes my opinions Worse
— wint (@dril) March 10, 2018
Occupy America
Heavy Handed Federal Intervention
WASHINGTON (AP) — AP source: Justice Department to announce probe into policing practices in Minneapolis after George Floyd's death.
— Mike Balsamo (@MikeBalsamo1) April 21, 2021
The American Way Of Policing
"Defund" activists are milder in their critiques.Police across U.S. respond to Derek Chauvin trial: “Our American way of policing is on trial.” https://t.co/tGBCPxnP9n
— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 18, 2021
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Chauvin Verdict
...guilty on Murder 3
...guilty on manslaughter
all 3
Cat Scratch Fever
Musician Ted Nugent has tested positive for coronavirus months after he said that the virus was “not a real pandemic”.
Greatest American Hero
Contrarianism
The entire punditocracy were convinced that they were extremely courageous rebels for supporting the plan of the government of the United States of America to go kill hundreds of thousands of innocent brown people. They stood up to the Quakers!
It's so damn boring. This blog is boring, sometimes, but I hope it usually isn't that.
Spring Fundraiser Day 4!
There's always some tension between "I gotta have a take on something" and "but I really don't have any expertise in this area." One doesn't have to be an expert to have educated opinions, but I do try to refrain from coming across as some sort of authority when I'm just spouting off.
Extra white guy confidence makes it easier to be a blogger - instant "expert" takes on any subject - but it doesn't make it easier to be a good person.
Which is why, in a way, being a dumbass with a blog is better than being a dumbass with a New York Times column. The implied authority of that fucking newspaper suggests their columnists have some idea what they're talking about. Quite often they don't!
Thanks to all!!! 19 more years of bad takes!!!
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Whose First Amendment
Not going to go deep into The Constitution, but it doesn't say "freedom of assembly for people who work for the Sulzbergers."
I'm really not sure what the point of this was or who it was addressed to, but I think if there is a point to be made here, it's the other way around. The cops have been beating and gassing protesters for months. What makes you think they'd be thwarted by your press cards?Authorities willing to intimidate and abuse the press will treat the public at large the same way. https://t.co/Z1HlBkNRhO
— Mara Gay (@MaraGay) April 18, 2021
Neutrality
Tuesday Morning
How do I know this?
— Jose Antonio Vargas (@joseiswriting) April 19, 2021
I worked with and for many of them.
Monday, April 19, 2021
Monday Evening
Happy Hour Thread
Bipartisanship
Still that was dumb and wrong because, as as have seen, in our system it's as hard to undo big legislation as it is to do it. Hard doesn't mean impossible, but nor should it. Republicans never managed to undo ACA. The couple of whacks they took at it were probably good, actually, and the rest was on John Roberts.
Our electoral system should be a competition. Choosing between basic party platforms is better than asking voters to vote for the person based on personality, or whatever, at least for Congress. Pundits think voters are dumb for expecting politicians to implement those platforms, but those pundits show their contempt for reasonable democracy. In 2016, very savvy pundits loved to show how savvy they were by claiming that Clinton was full of shit about many of her campaign promises, and that her being full of shit was good! Whether she was full of shit or not, it was a pretty weird argument to be making! She's lying, and it's good! They would say this out loud where people could hear them!
No one can explain just what Joe the Biden or Democrats generally would win by getting Republicans on board for an infrastructure bill, or anything else. There's no need to see an unncessary Republican vote (if it's unnecessary) as something to be traded for.
SPRING FUNDRAISING FUN!
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Lunch Thread
ONE MILLION ROBOTAXIS
I did have a rental car for a bit during covid, for various reasons, which reminded me of a theory I had about why I was such a self-driving car skeptic: as an occasional driver, it's more apparent to me just how complex driving is. It was definitely the case that after I had the car for a few weeks, my deeply submerged instincts returned and driving became pretty automatic. Ah, this is what it's like for most of you. Quarter of your brain busy with driving, the rest of it contemplating the deep mysteries of life or remembering the lyrics to Stairway as it plays on the radio. Seems easy after a bit!
But it isn't easy, and while potential safety issues are what people focus on, the basic fantasy of "push a button and let my car take me somewhere" is not going to be reality any time soon even if the technology that exists is neato!
Don't Tell Me What To Do, Mom
The mask wearing and the people who like to get performatively mad about mask wearing are a good example of that. And, look, I think it's the case that outdoor mask wearing is almost entirely pointless (not indoor) as a direct barrier to transmission. I think people who get performatively mad about people not wearing masks outdoors (now, at least, not several months ago) are also a bit annoying. But there are still arguments for rules requiring them and certainly arguments for, at least at the moment, following the cultural norm of wearing a mask in public if that is true in your location.
Even as (soon, hopefully, not quite yet everywhere!) the imperative fades, requiring public mask wearing is a signal that this is serious and it reminds people of the necessity. Following the cultural norm signals that, at this serious moment, you are not a fucking asshole.
Of more concern has been the various panics about "crowded parks" leading to closures in a society that sees "people having fun outside" as a threat, generally.
"Don't be an asshole" applies across the board. Wear a fucking mask if it's what people do, it's a small ask, and also don't freak out if someone isn't, outside at least.
At various times, I've been where public mask wearing is a requirement and/or norm and where it hasn't been and, really, it's fine either way. Of all the Covid indignities, it's just not important. Get mad about something else.
Sunday, April 18, 2021
I Walked For Like An Hour Or Maybe Five
Though when riding transit isn't an appealing option, the possible routes are a bit limited...
No point. Evening thread! Tomorrow is...
Cunning Plan
A bit of a joke, I think, but consider if Democrats were clearly and obviously and explicitly crafting voting laws to prevent exurban white people from voting?Don’t mind me. Just dropping my bill to require proof of vaccination to vote in person. https://t.co/TpibDWeLob
— David Waldman-1, of Yorktown LLC™ (@KagroX) April 18, 2021
Eight Can't Wait
At Least They Only Killed Themselves
HOUSTON – Two men are dead after a Tesla traveling in Spring crashed into a tree and no one was driving the vehicle, officials say.
Spring Fundraiser Day 2!
I don't measure enough skulls to earn that much money - racism's popular it seems! - and fortunately I don't need any medical treatments, but thanks to all!
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It All Adds Up To A Funky Situation
Imagine the coverage of scenes like this coming from a country with a leader we had decided we didn't like that week.There's a church in Brooklyn Center that was harboring people hurt by police violence during the #DaunteWright protests, and this was how the cops responded.
— Mischa Coldwater 🌌🦄 (@RainbowOfRed) April 17, 2021
(Photograph by Scott Streble) pic.twitter.com/CNVVKjBjIZ
We'd be invading by Friday. Not that it would help the situation, of course, for obvious reasons.
Morning Thread
Saturday, April 17, 2021
Who Will Defund The Funders
A great show of the spirit of democracy in other countries. Not so much here
Vaccine Hesitancy
Happy Blogiversary To Me!
Also, day one of SPRING FUNDRAISING FUNSTRAVGANZA. Your voluntary contributions and subscriptions keep this paywall free! Given current trends, in a few short months, this will be the last free site on the internet!
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I will never pivot to email!
Defund The Police
Friday, April 16, 2021
That Was Quick
Yelling at them is good!!!This comes after backlash from refugee resettlement agencies, Democrats on the Hill and immigration advocates. https://t.co/USgWxVFbpz
— Zolan Kanno-Youngs (@KannoYoungs) April 16, 2021
Happy Hour Thread
Unconscionable
. @RepJayapal, chair of Progressive Caucus, calls Biden's refugee decision "unconscionable" pic.twitter.com/J3LQIUKmsf
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) April 16, 2021
Snitches
A founding member of the Oath Keepers arrested in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol has agreed to plead guilty and cooperate against others in the case — the first defendant to potentially flip in the sprawling domestic terrorism investigation that has led to charges against more than 400 people.
Shitty Year For Jerry Jr
Liberty University has filed a lawsuit against its former president, Jerry Falwell Jr., previously one of the most influential figures in the U.S. evangelical Christian community, alleging that he misused university resources and tried to conceal a relationship involving a former pool boy.
What Could Go Wrong
NEW: FedEx says it will re-evaluate its policy of having employees give up and lock their phones inside warehouses and sorting facilities following tonight's mass shooting at a facility in Indianapolis.
— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) April 16, 2021
Shit It Is Fucked Up And Bullshit
Take away the money of the executioners. How's that for a snappy slogan?
Are They Learning
Talking policy with Benjy: Why a bipartisan deal on infrastructure looks unlikely A moderate group of Republicans is set to potentially offer an infrastructure plan of their own this week — with the hopes of enticing Democrats to the table. But if you want to see why the White House is so lukewarm on bipartisanship right now, take a look at how they want to pay for it.The pod people would've high fived the Bartlet moment at Le Diplomate though.Republicans oppose raising corporate taxes, Biden’s preferred pay-for. So Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., appearing on CNBC, suggested they might offer a smaller $600 to $800 billion plan funded by other means. One possibility Sen. Mitt Romney floated to reporters: user fees like a gas tax, which has traditionally paid for highway maintenance, but not been raised in decades to keep up with inflation. Another idea with some GOP interest in the House and Senate is supplementing or replacing that tax with a “vehicle miles traveled” charge that accounts for the ongoing transition toward electric vehicles.
Thursday, April 15, 2021
Afternoon Thread
Broken
A critical $16.25 billion grant program to sustain thousands of small creative venues that haven’t been able to open since the pandemic began has yet to deliver a cent of relief four months after passage, due to delays and faulty technology at the Small Business Administration (SBA). A website constructed to take grant applications closed last week after only four hours online, because of constant crashes and an inability to intake documents. It has not been restored and there’s no timetable for its return.Congress did its job, a rare achievement, get on it executive branch...
Information Wants To Be Free
In addition to targeting its current global readership, the newly revamped Reuters.com www.reuters.com is hoping to attract professional audiences prepared to pay $34.99 per month for a deeper level of coverage and data on industry verticals that include legal, sustainable business, healthcare and autos.The ad supported internet was/is not without its problems, but the "everything behind the paywall" internet is not so good either!Reuters.com will remain free for a preview period, but will require users to register after five stories. It is not immediately clear when it will begin charging.
Bad Biden
(CNN)President Joe Biden has resisted signing off on raising the Trump-era refugee cap because of political optics, sources have told CNN.Just do everything you want to do as fast as possible and then move on.The President's hesitation comes as the administration faces heat from Republicans and Democrats for its handling of an influx of migrants at the US-Mexico border. But the situation at the US southern border is separate from the refugee program, which dates back decades and has a thorough vetting process in place for refugees overseas to resettle in the US.
What Can We Do
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
THE STREAK IS OVER!!!
55 straight weeks in a row of above the Great Recession peak! No more!!!
Thank you Most Patriotic President Biden!!! [flag emoji][flag emoji][bicep emoji][rocket emoji] [rocket emoji] You saved the economy!!! You rule that other guy drooled!!!
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Sure Why Not
I doubt the curfew has much of an impact, once the bars and restaurants are open, but this shows the impulse is to just say "fuck it" and keep opening up.#BREAKING: Effective Monday, April 19, the curfew currently in place for bars & restaurants will be moving from 11pm to midnight.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 14, 2021
The curfew for catered events will move from midnight to 1am.
New York City's cases/100,000 people over the last 7 days is 265. That's basically the current level of The Netherlands, which has a pretty extreme level of lockdown at the moment.
The UK just got out of extreme lockdown, though there's still no indoor dining. Both the US and the UK are doing pretty well with vaccines (the UK went the "give a first shot to everyone!" route, so is ahead in that sense). The US new case rate is about 9 times higher than the UK.
The daily death rate is about 9 times higher, too. Vaccine machine is probably working its magic, but it hasn't yet been enough without lockdown.
A Shortage of Preening Democrats
Something progressives admire about Biden is that he is a talented “reasonablizer” of their ideas. As Reich told me, “Biden is almost magical in his ability to make progressivism boring. He can say the same thing that Bernie Sanders has or AOC has and say it in a way that causes your eyes to glaze over.” From progressives who are used to even their more modest proposals being tarred as communism, this is a genuine compliment.I don't think this is about how normal people perceive Biden, or even The Council of David Brookses, though somewhat the latter. What's supposed to happen is that when Biden does something even Bernie Sanders could love, "Max Baucus" and "Bob Kerrey" and "Evan Bayh" and, god help us, "Joe Lieberman" are supposed to run to the cameras and op-ed pages and preen. Sure there's Manchin, but even he isn't really doing that.
That's what reporters want, and if more Dems were giving it to them, it would be all the Council Of David Brookses would talk about, and eventually normal people might hear about it on NPR and be very upset.
Every Time We Try To Get Out
Fish
It isn't alwasy the case that the person with the fancier job title is the "bigger fish." Bob from accounting might be doing more serious crimes than the Senior VP of Marketing, even if the VP got a cut.I am no fan of Gaetz, but looking at the crimes each is alleged to have committed, i don’t know how any prosecutor could with a straight face claim that Gaetz is the big fish here https://t.co/Mp7m64JKQk
— R.J. Lehmann (@raylehmann) April 13, 2021
But a member of Congress, an elected official tasked with making laws and oversight and otherwise having tremendous power, is the bigger fish.
Pizzagaetz
A former local official in Florida indicted in the Justice Department investigation that is also focused on Representative Matt Gaetz has been providing investigators with information since last year about an array of topics, including Mr. Gaetz’s activities, according to two people briefed on the matter.Uh-oh.Joel Greenberg, a onetime county tax collector, disclosed to investigators that he and Mr. Gaetz had encounters with women who were given cash or gifts in exchange for sex, the people said. The Justice Department is investigating the involvement of the men with multiple women who were recruited online for sex and received cash payments and whether the men had sex with a 17-year-old in violation of sex trafficking statutes, people familiar with the inquiry have said.
Gaetz’s cellphone was seized when federal agents executed a search warrant, Politico reported Tuesday, citing interviews with three people who were told of the matter by the congressman, who changed his phone number late last year. His former girlfriend’s phone was also reportedly seized.Really needed that pardon!
Morning Thread
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Your Moment Of Zen
holy shit I've rarely seen a footnote used to such devastating effect. https://t.co/FjHRNcZYzE pic.twitter.com/sk597elmBR
— Jathan Sadowski (@jathansadowski) April 13, 2021
Florida Men
Before he resigned in disgrace last year, Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg doled out dubious contracts to a number of Republican politicians, political strategists and other allies, many with links to the scandals that have rocked Florida politics this month, according to audit documents, emails and other records reviewed by the Orlando Sentinel.The records also provide further details of Greenberg’s friendships with two of the powerful figures buffeted by the controversies: U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz and lobbyist Chris Dorworth. Greenberg, the records show, took a taxpayer-funded trip to Miami to meet with Gaetz and received an invitation from Dorworth to a VIP experience at an event with former President Donald Trump in which Dorworth promised, “They will feed us all booze and give us a ride as well as an escort to our luxury boxes.”
Even Better
BREAKING: Senior administration official says the withdrawal from Afghanistan by Sept. 11 is NOT conditions based. Biden has judged that "a conditions based approach, which has been the approach of the past two decades, is a recipe for staying in Afghanistan forever."
— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) April 13, 2021
Period
President Biden will withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan over the coming months, people familiar with the plans said, completing the military exit by the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that first drew the United States into its longest war.
Blocking The Johnson
The US seems to generally (if not evenly in every location) have plenty of supply. Hopefully not a problem!
As for other places...
Criminal Enterprise
Similarly, it isn't this corrupt act or that one, whether it's technically illegal or whether the Marshal of the Supreme Court is finally going to step in. It's the complete disregard for a framework in which there are corrupt acts and noncorrupt ones.
And literally everyone gets tainted by it, including the journalists who have no qualms about betting their careers on juicy scoops from criminal liars.
The libs used to point out just how many people in the Reagan administration got into legal trouble. That said something about the Reagan administration, but it also says something about how much elite impunity as a doctrine has been enshrined since.
Monday, April 12, 2021
Well Not Everybody
Brooklyn Center chief Tim Gannon comes back to the news conference and says, "the officer is afforded due process just like anybody else." pic.twitter.com/UcMJbrRili
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 12, 2021
The Boehner World Tour
Given his treatment by journalists for his book tour, along with some other comments I've seen over the years, the way for a politician to get good media coverage is to get plastered and shit-talk your colleagues "off the record" to journalists so you all have a good laugh.This is a triumphant effort at political revisionism. I was there. Boehner midwifed the Tea Party (the predecessor to the Trump cult) into existence. He nurtured the movement’s break from truth and tolerance for falsehoods. Maybe he didn’t intend it to spin out of control, but... https://t.co/bTKfrllw4s
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) April 12, 2021
Choices
The White House is facing diverging pressure from two powerful allies — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — over whether to use an upcoming spending package to strengthen the Affordable Care Act or expand Medicare eligibility.Pelosi’s office is pushing the White House to make permanent a temporary expansion of Affordable Care Act subsidies that were included in the $1.9 trillion stimulus legislation last month, according to a senior Democratic aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations.
Sanders said in an interview that he is arguing for lowering the age of Medicare eligibility to 55 or 60 and expanding the program for seniors so it covers dental, vision and hearing care.
Blue Trump
Staffers told the Times Union that book-related assignments were given during the normal workday, and that staffers did not question that they were required to complete these assignments.They say that was the culture that existed in the Governor’s office.
One former staffer says there was a “clear expectation that we would do political work to help with his campaign and run the governor’s personal errands.”
"Jews Will Not Replace Us"
Plenty of people in The Discourse do treat all of this stuff as a game, and are transparently just political hacks trying to score points for Their Side. But others hold themselves out as either OBJECTIVE and NONPARTISAN or at least Council of David Brookses style CONSCIENCE OF THE NATION type commentators.
"One random unaffiliated dude on the internet" made MoveOn toxic. All of Fox News should be much moreso, and yet...
...oops, correction, it was something else that got the Cogressional condemnation, the nazi ad was just a media shitshow (thanks to mike stark for the reminder).Morning Thread
Sunday, April 11, 2021
And On And On
(CNN)Concerns are mounting from bipartisan US lawmakers and Afghan women's rights activists that the hard-won gains for women and civil society in Afghanistan could be lost if the United States makes a precipitous withdrawal from the country..President Joe Biden has suggested it will be difficult to meet the May 1 deadline for US troops to leave the country as dictated in the deal the Trump administration signed with the Taliban. However, there are fears that if the US withdraws troops before the conditions on the ground are right -- regardless of the date on the calendar -- there will be a sharp and possibly catastrophic backslide
VP Biden on Afghanistan: "We are leaving in 2014. Period."
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 12, 2012
Small Tunnels And Fixed Guideways
Those cars are going to be bashing up against the walls regularly.
But, Atrios, these are self-driving Teslas! Surely they can self-drive their way through a .8 mile tunnel.
Surely. Wonder why that isn't happening.
Morning Thread
Saturday, April 10, 2021
Gonna Have To Shut Down Yale Law School
I was asked to share this message by one of the students who came forward to Yale Law School about Prof. Amy Chua's recent interactions with students.
— Leah Litman (@LeahLitman) April 10, 2021
I encourage everyone to read this message, and encourage the legal profession/legal academia to get their shit together. pic.twitter.com/lfTAb8XdWv
ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND CASES PER DAY
Covid-19 Live Updates: India Tops 100,000 Cases a Day as Virus Races Out of ControlIt's always bad when the curve shoots up, national numbers don't always convey the magnitude of more local outbreaks, and hospital capacities can differ greatly. But adjusted for population, 145K new cases per day is equivalent to 36K in the US. The US hasn't had a 7-day average figure that low since... September....
Though damaging and ultimately flawed, the lockdown and other efforts appeared to work. Infections dropped and deaths remained low. Officials and the public dropped their guard. Experts warned fruitlessly that the government’s haphazard approach would bring a crisis when a new wave appeared.
Now the crisis is here.
India on Saturday reported a daily record of 145,384 new infections as Covid-19 raced out of control. Deaths, while still relatively low, are rising. Vaccinations, a mammoth task in such a large nation, are dangerously behind schedule. Hospital beds are running short.
Sure it's worrying, as it is everywhere when the case number shoots up, but...
Saturday, Saturday
Morning Thread
Friday, April 09, 2021
Your Moment Of Zen
Lawyer for Tommy Webster, retired NYPD cop accused of beating an MPD officer with flagpole on #J6, says his client is in a "dormitory setting" with people serving time for "inner-city crimes" - "for a middle aged guy whose never been arrested before this has been a shock for him"
— Rachel Weiner (@rachelweinerwp) April 9, 2021
I Did Not See That Coming
The Future
A parade of @Tesla cars underneath the @LVCVA convention center. We get a first look at the underground transportation system. We’ll go for a ride at 11 @News3LV pic.twitter.com/toqpWvRbiD
— Jeff Gillan (@jgillanNews3LV) April 9, 2021
How long before everyone involved with this just pretends it never happened?Footage of what it looks like when a @Tesla is traveling through the @boringcompany’s Convention Center Loop. #vegas #boringcompany pic.twitter.com/ph1DJoTYBi
— Mick Akers (@mickakers) April 9, 2021
Prince Philip Died
Never Clearly Label Your Sex Crimes
In two late-night Venmo transactions in May 2018, Rep. Matt Gaetz sent his friend, the accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg, $900. The next morning, over the course of eight minutes, Greenberg used the same app to send three young women varying sums of money. In total, the transactions amounted to $900.The memo field for the first of Gaetz’s transactions to Greenberg was titled “Test.” In the second, the Florida GOP congressman wrote “hit up ___.” But instead of a blank, Gaetz wrote a nickname for one of the recipients. (The Daily Beast is not sharing that nickname because the teenager had only turned 18 less than six months before.) When Greenberg then made his Venmo payments to these three young women, he described the money as being for “Tuition,” “School,” and “School.”
Morning Thread
Thursday, April 08, 2021
Grand Old Police Blotter
TOPEKA — Senate Majority Leader Gene Suellentrop reeked of alcohol, struggled to speak or walk, and threatened the Kansas Highway Patrol officer who stopped him in the early hours of March 16 for driving the wrong way on Interstate 70 in Topeka.The details of the arrest were made available Thursday following the release of his charging affidavit in Shawnee County District Court. Kansas Reflector and other news media filed motions with the court seeking the document’s release.
Rough Year For Jerry Jr
for comparison...Jerry Falwell Jr. posts a vaccination selfie. "Please get vaccinated so our nutcase of a Governor will have less reasons for mindless restrictions!" pic.twitter.com/YoxrzUT0Ej
— Ruth Graham (@publicroad) April 8, 2021
Pizzagaetz
....ouchA deal would put pressure Gaetz as Greenberg would have to share what he knows about his friend and associate. @PaulaReidCNN
— David Shortell (@davidgshortell) April 8, 2021
“I am sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today,” - attorney for Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg on whether Congressman has anything to worry about now that his friend & associate is likely to plea. pic.twitter.com/YiAe7f4SA9
— Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCNN) April 8, 2021
Slow Mo
Only way to get anything done in Congress is with a sense of urgency. Take away the need to save the world, and they're back on their usual bullshit, which is doing nothing.
They Can Hear You
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
And still above the one week peak of the Great Recession.
The reason I point this out, harboring some illusions that my blog has magic powers of influence, is that rich people are good, stonks are good, elites are vaccinated, life is almost back to "normal," for them, and they quickly decide things are okay when they are not.
The Deep State Is Trying to Cancel This Man
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) took a trip to the Bahamas in late 2018 or early 2019 that federal investigators are now scrutinizing in their probe of Gaetz’s potential violations of federal sex-trafficking statutes. Investigators are attempting to determine whether the escorts were illegally trafficked and whether Gaetz accepted escorts’ services as a quid pro quo for political favors. Gaetz is under investigation for an alleged relationship with a 17-year-old and for potentially paying women for sex. He has denied the allegations and has not been charged with a crime. On the island trip, Gaetz was accompanied on the trip by Jason Pirozzolo, a hand surgeon and cannabis entrepreneur, who allegedly footed the bill for travel, hotels, and escorts. Pirozzolo declined to comment to CBS News.
Wednesday, April 07, 2021
Your Moment of Zen
less than 24 hours apart pic.twitter.com/R4qq54bX94
— Michael (@_FleerUltra) April 7, 2021
Is It Love?
Evidence is mounting that a tiny subatomic particle called a muon is disobeying the laws of physics as we thought we knew them, scientists announced on Wednesday.The best explanation, physicists say, is that the muon is being influenced by forms of matter and energy that are not yet known to science, but which may nevertheless affect the nature and evolution of the universe. The new work, they said, could eventually lead to a breakthrough in our understanding of the universe more dramatic than the heralded discovery in 2012 of the Higgs boson, a particle that imbues other particles with mass.
Aren't You At Least A Little Embarrassed
Yes your job was easy and fun when Javanka and Stephen and Kellyanne and Sarah would just text you the latest gossip.
How'd it all work out, guys, while you were busy promoting that shit? Democracy dies in bullshit, as do people.
No Hurry
Care To Specify?
.@VP Kamala Harris: "For years and generations, wars have been fought over oil. In a short matter of time, they will be fought over water." pic.twitter.com/88pWzvbmeA
— The Hill (@thehill) April 7, 2021
Crime Spree
The entire Trump era was a nonstop crime spree, by Trump, his inner circle, and all the various people in the outer orbit. This isn't a secret, even if two sources close to Jared and Ivanka deny it.
Tuesday, April 06, 2021
Your Moment of Zen
[McCONNELL:]
— Greg Greene (@ggreeneva) April 6, 2021
“Corporate America, stay out of politi—”
[high-rolling corporate CFO:]
(*slides checkbook back into suit jacket*)
[McCONNELL:]
“… wait—no, not like that.” https://t.co/hqRRX0MCSZ
They're Bad People, Brent
Bad people all across the political spectrum, but I think we're long past the era when "we" pretended that well-meaning people on Both Sides want basically the same things, they just disagree about how to get there. It isn't an argument about the glorious impact on the economy of low tax rates, or how Social Security Privatization will be BETTER for your retirement. It's about stealing all the money from poor people and giving it to rich people, or maybe not doing that.
And that's before we get to the explicit bigotry.