Also, scheduled recess period. https://t.co/xSJgexJFC7
— Schooley (@Rschooley) November 13, 2018
I got my daily aerobics rolling my eyes over Ocasio-Cortez’s Big Sit-In Protest this morning, too. But in her defense, she’s a twenty-something whose last job was bartending, not a sixty-something “billionaire executive” with access to the nuclear football.
And when the Oval Office Occupant is an incurious moron, the worst members of the Greedy Old Perverts party start to get ambitious…
According to Liz Cheney, the new GOP strategy is same as the old GOP strategy: deregulation and tax cuts. https://t.co/Tnv4WBmfkR
— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha) November 13, 2018
… If she succeeds, Cheney will be the only woman in House Republican leadership — and follow in the footsteps of her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, who won the same post more than 30 years ago.
She is seeking the position of GOP conference chair, which would put her at the forefront of the House GOP’s communications strategy when Democrats take over the chamber in January. House Republicans are looking for a more forceful approach to communications…
The Republican leadership elections are set for Wednesday. The conference chair is the third-ranking position and comes with several duties, including organizing regular weekly meetings and developing the GOP’s message to voters.
Cheney is running unopposed after the current chair of the conference, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, declined to continue in the post.
Cheney’s father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, won the conference chair position more than 30 years ago after four terms as Wyoming’s congressman. By landing the position after just one term, Liz Cheney would leave little doubt that she’s a rising political star in her own right…
Since winning office by a wide margin in 2016, Cheney has served on the Armed Services and Natural Resources Committees. More remarkably for a freshman member of Congress, she landed a seat on the Rules Committee, which sets the terms for floor debate on legislation.
“That kind of is an indication that she has a constituency within the Republican conference — that she would be considered knowledgeable on issues, someone who is going to help advance the party’s leadership agenda,” said University of Wyoming political science professor Jim King.
The Republican conference chairmanship will be especially important now that Republicans look to rebrand themselves after losing the House majority, or at least improve their messaging to voters.
Deregulation, such as rolling back parts of the Dodd-Frank banking reform law, and federal income tax cuts are important accomplishments that Republicans can sell to voters, Cheney said…
THE LOOTING WILL CONTINUE UNTIL VOTER MORALE IMPROVES!!!
If there needed to be yet another reason to give Nancy Pelosi back her gavel, then watching Darth Cheney, Mk II circling would be an excellent one.
Mnemosyne
I think the decision was more, Oh, shit, we need to shove a woman to the front so it’s not so obvious that the Republican Party is 90 percent white dudes.
John Revolta
Hell, did YOU ever get shot in the face? It HURTS!!
MisterForkbeard
Republicans: “We need to show that we value women. Therefore, we’re going to take a woman who was elected largely because of who her father is and put her in a token leadership position – the same one we put our last token female senator in.”
Well done, guys. Way to turn that around.
NotMax
Le sigh. Of course they did.
HAL
Somehow I forgot Liz Cheney exists, let alone was in Congress.
Frankensteinbeck
What’s interesting is that they truly believe tax cuts and deregulation are good sells to The People. They are flabbergasted every time they pass one of these things and it isn’t popular.
JMG
Dear Ms. Laurie: Evidence indicates that the AOC sit-in was a WWE affair totally cleared with Pelosi and her office. Pelosi defangs left opposition, AOC gains cred while still dealing with the “establishment.” Their lovey-dovey emails indicate this was, well, not a set-up, but definitely street, or rather, corridor theater.
The Dangerman
Freedom isn’t free, motherfuckers.
Mike in NC
Forgot to add “voter suppression” and “racism” and “Baby Jesus”.
Mnemosyne
@JMG:
Meh. I suspect that AOC did not expect the gracious and welcoming response from Pelosi that backed AOC into a corner as well as it did. AOC basically had no choice but to respond with equal graciousness or make herself look like an obstructionist jerk in front of the entire Democratic caucus.
If AOC is willing to take this as a learning experience and see what else Pelosi can teach her, she’ll go far. If not, she’ll crash and burn, fast, and be a one-termer.
geg6
Oh fer fuck’s sake. Token legacy hire with a completely unlikeable affect is gonna win the wimmenz over with her awesome tax cuts and deregulation. A strategy only a bunch of old white men could cook up. Those suburban women will totally fall for this! Jesus, they never fucking learn, do they?
Burnspbesq
@geg6:
Rhetorical question, I presume.
janesays
Trump is a seventy-something (72, to be precise) alleged billionaire executive with access to the nuclear football.
chopper
@HAL:
she’s the political version of the dumbshit kid of a smart self made rich guy. she has shitty instincts, but she’s gonna be in leadership because she’s the closest thing to “fresh blood” the establishment wing of the GOP can find.
Schlemazel
Hair furor this afternoon on Twitter
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1062450942707228672
Mnemosyne
Okay, I think I see what the ploy is: Steny Hoyer wants to get a “fresh, young” face elected as Speaker so he can be the power behind the throne as Majority Leader. IIRC this is what Tom DeLay did:
https://mobile.twitter.com/thehill/status/1062484271858966533
geg6
@Burnspbesq:
Of course.
TS (the original)
@Mnemosyne: I think the decision was no man wants the job – lets get a woman to suffer for having it. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers did not gain from having the job.
chopper
@Mnemosyne:
it’s like watching some young padawan who just got his lightsaber trying to take on yoda. it is to laugh, ha ha.
ruemara
@JMG: I don’t think so & I’d posit you’d have to put up something closer to evidence. See also, what Mnem said. AOC shall heretofore be known as AOE for the range of destructive flail she’s demonstrating.
Mnemosyne
@chopper:
Not just “fresh blood” — they need to be able to point to a woman to “prove” that the Republican Party is not dominated by white men.
@TS (the original):
Nah. They didn’t want the optics of having an all-male leadership, and Cheney will be going on TV as their figurehead. It’s all about the optics.
Though, given what we know of the Cheney family, they should be wary of turning their backs on her. She’ll knife them in a nanosecond to advance her own career.
chopper
@Schlemazel:
uh…
Schlemazel
@chopper:
I was hoping schrodinger’s cat might stop by & say hi
Jeffro
@Frankensteinbeck: I know, right? That last tax cut/scam worked so well, it had two thirds of the country against it!
What are they aiming for, 73% disapproval? That would leave them with…oh wait…
A Ghost To Most
@chopper: Pro-tip to AOC: learn the ropes before you start cutting them.
Mary G
@Schlemazel: And hundreds of people replied that Diwali is a Hindu holiday and is already over.
chopper
@Schlemazel:
seriously, is there a reason why he deliberately left out hindus? i mean come the fuck on.
Mike J
CMR “declined to run” because she hadn’t shot anybody in the face and didn’t want to to be Cheney’s victim.
DemJayhawks
@Mnemosyne: Ahem, the Cheneys prefer shotguns.
Mnemosyne
@ruemara:
I kinda wonder if the protesters are pouting because they didn’t get arrested like they expected to. It was a very clever way for Pelosi to cut the ground out from under them. What were they going to do, demand to be arrested anyway?
Mnemosyne
@DemJayhawks:
They use a shotgun to your face, a knife to your back. ?
TenguPhule
Is this the Star Wars Version of Aggressive Negotiations?
Dan B
@ruemara: In mass communication the simplest message gets traction and gets remembered. AOC’s cohorts managed to get the message ‘Pelosi bad on climate.’ And a bonus,’ We are unhappy people.’ The only reason it will get any traction is it fits one other mass communication technique, “unexpected”. But not too unexpected if you believe she’s a young firebrand.
The contrast with the March for Our Lives group is striking. They’ve managed to hit all the mass communication checklist and build a coalition at the same time. When they get into elected office the olds will take them under their wing and show them how to fly. They’ll probably get a big push.
TenguPhule
@NotMax:
Next talking head that talks about Republicans being “strong” on national security needs to be hit over the head with a chair.
Repeatedly.
TenguPhule
@geg6:
To be fair, a lot of white women in Republican held states really are that stupid.
Schlemazel
@chopper:
if you google it the first thing that comes up has a sentence with ‘Hindus” in normal text and the others bolded. Like his Baltic/Balkan screw up he has no clue but some moron in his office did a half-assed job
Mnemosyne
@chopper:
I had to go look at Wikipedia just to see if the problem originated there but, nope, Wikipedia correctly identifies it as a Hindu holiday. You have to read pretty far into the article to get to the Jains and Sikhs, and there’s only one group of Buddhists that celebrates it at all.
Jay
@Dan B:
Not what happened at all.
https://ijr.com/ocasio-cortez-climate-change-protest-pelosi-office/
“I have spoken with @NancyPelosi about how our commitments to climate change should take shape in the 116th Congress,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “Her office has responded quickly, and she has recommended the reinstatement of the Select Committee on Climate Change.”
https://www.sunrisemovement.org
If you guys are going to spend the next 2 years drafting false narrative, you should study your Friedman, the FTFNYT or Still Dead Briebart, so at least they will stick.
The Midterm elections arn’t even over and the circular Democrat supporter firing squads have begun.
cain
@Frankensteinbeck:
Jeezus, they just got tax cuts. How much more? Also, how well are they going to sell those tax cuts when the rubes start doing their taxes this coming hear and end up paying more than they did last year? Yeah, that’s going to fly really well. Only the most addled Trumper is going to do it. Meaning, he’ll (and you know it’s a guy) pay more taxes just to own the libs.
cain
@TS (the original):
I’ve never even heard of her. Which means it’s not a very visible leadership position. But hey, Dick Cheney started off from there and she’s going places!
Mnemosyne
@Jay:
Pelosi did that on 11/9, four (4) days BEFORE AOC’s protest theater. So that’s basically AOC’s “sorry, my bad” statement.
Burnspbesq
Semi-OT: Maryland’s brief re the invalidity of Whitaker’s appointment seems to me to be quite convincing.
https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.432688/gov.uscourts.mdd.432688.6.1.pdf
A Ghost To Most
@Jay:
AOC
drew the first weaponshot first.Zinsky
Cheney’s are like a bad virus that you can’t get rid of…
planetjanet
I know that in the swarm of outrageous things, it is hard to get any focus on one particular incident. But can we just stop for one moment and contemplate that the First Lady directed that a National Security advisor be fired. I can’t even imagine the firestorm if Michelle Obama had dared to change the font on the White House stationary, much less fire a senior advisor. Now, in some respects, I am routing for injuries here. But still. What in the world.
Mnemosyne
@planetjanet:
There is quite a bit of confusion about that. Some reports said the woman was marched out by security, but later ones claimed she was still employed and sitting at her desk. Now I’m wondering if a different woman was fired and onlookers got confused about who it was?
Marcopolo
@Mnemosyne: Just remember the context here: the House Republican Caucus is in the process of losing 11 of its 23 female members in this election (MIa Love is still waiting for a final count). So if they want to show diversity they have a pretty shallow pool. In the meantime, the D’s now have over 90 women in their caucus.
Second, I just saw a report that the deficit hit 100 billion for the month of October, a 60% increase from a year ago. So if the message the R’s want to run on is continuing to borrow money for tax cuts for the rich I say hey R’s go fo it.
schrodingers_cat
@Schlemazel: Diwali was over Friday of last week. Too little, too late. Its like wishing peeps for Christmas on Jan 2 or something.
Wapiti
@Marcopolo:
I think that Nancy Smash has already indicated that Congress will return to Pay-go (sp?) rules. So might be difficult to get any budget passed without tweaking taxes.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@schrodingers_cat:
That actually works around here, Armenians celebrate Christmas in early January.
planetjanet
@Mnemosyne: CNN is reporting that she has been given time to clear out her desk. But the crazy thing is the First Lady’s office sent out a tweet saying she no longer deserves to work at the White House. There are so many levels where that is just insane.
Burnspbesq
@Jay:
If the facts were as you allege them to be, you might have a point.
Burnspbesq
Porter is now ahead by 261 votes in CA-45.
Platonailedit
@JMG: It’s all too insidery DC political drama. For ordinary folks, it’s dems in disarray meme.
FelonyGovt
Dems once again have a super majority in the California legislature.
geg6
@Jay:
So she’s implicitly taking credit for something Pelosi already said she was going to do. She’s pitiful. But maybe she’s teachable. Her mentor, however, isn’t a legislative powerhouse though. He’s a gadfly. So far, that seems to be what she’s learning. Color me not impressed.
Jay
@Burnspbesq:
There’s a link right there.
Unlike what some have almost claimed here, AOC did not incite the Sunshine protestors to riot, smear shit on the walls, kick in the doors to offices and set them on fire, trashing the Senate Offices as bad as the Clintons trashed the WhiteHouse before moving out.
Nor did AOC kick in the door to Nancy Smash’s office and gangsta style empty her 9mm Glock into Nancy Smash. Nancy Smash also did not respond by stabbing AOC repeatedly with the 12 inch Bowie that she uses for neutering men.
Instead, AOC, Nancy Smash, the Sunshine protests, the House Commitee, the Green Plan an Climate Change all made the news,
and even knocked The Insane Clown POSus and his Administration’s constantly flowing puke funnel off of the top ten google ranks for a few hours.
Jay
@schrodingers_cat:
Havn’t you, as a kid, ever not gotten what you hoped for Chrismas morning, and started wishing Christmas afternoon for next years gift?
Zinsky
@Jay: Yes, it was Raquel Welch that I wished to wake up and find in my bed from about age 12 on… But it never happened…
James E Powell
Everything Dick Cheney ever did in national policy was either evil, stupid, or both. Yet he continues to be treated as an honored grey eminence. Cf. Kissinger. I guess being a war-monger means never having to say you’re sorry.
Jay
@Zinsky:
That’s because you were wishing,
You should have gone for thots and prayerz.
Dan B
@Jay: As I understand Pelosi stated she wanted to reopen the office several days ago. I’m hoping that AOC is interested in learning about her new position before deciding how to achieve her goals. We all benefit from working towards the same ends when possible. I’ve been an activist and supported ‘Wilmer’ until I noticed his tendency to undermine Democrats. We don’t have the luxury to do so at this time in history.
Jay
@Dan B:
Yup, and there were 5 google search results on Nancy’s commitment to that over the past 4 days.
Today, there’s 111,968 google search results listing Climate Change, the Commitee, AOC, Nancy Smash, the Sunshine protests.
Dan B
@Mnemosyne: Thanks for checking. I thought I remembered that AOC and the group were trying to keep corporate types, especially fossil fuel corps, off the committee. I’m all for the bare minimum of corp but felt it necessary to build a broad coalition to achieve that goal.
If Pelosi objected to the coalition’s demands then is the time to escalate to protest. Seems like there was a hope thst the hard work could be bypassed.
Jay
@Dan B:
Nancy Smash has not objected to anything on this issue.
Woke people including Nancy Smash understand that this is another powerful place where they can burn the ReThug house down, from the White Supremacy House to the EPA.
Dan B
@schrodingers_cat: Christmas on Jan 2? Wahoo! More Xmas on Jan 2!! More presents!!!
Then again….
If only I could grit my teeth through the long drive, the presents I don’t want, and the Koch relatives / Pox News addled family. Christmas on leap years sounds good to me.
Dan B
@Jay: That would be great but is there a way we can burn the GOP without producing m oh re CO2?
Just kidding. I’ve worked for years with a local minority-led environmental group with the goal of including minority leadership in addressing global warming. We (a coalition of groups) didn’t succeed in passing a carbon fee in WA. $30 Million of oil money propaganda is tough to beat. But the working relationships should come in handy soon.
Jay
@Dan B:
“That would be great but is there a way we can burn the GOP without producing m oh re CO2?”
Fire them into the sun.
Render them into biogas and compost and burn with scrubbers.
Dan B
@Jay: It seems like a typical activist action – you never know what will get media, attract the public, or change the discourse. According to your numbers it seemed to work. Although there may be a lot of negative reporting and hardened right wing positions it’s almost always good to have media attention. (The “bads” can be spectacular but… it us called media, not facts or truth.)
What’s a followup? It seems like Pelosi and some others – who?- should seize the moment. So what could surprise the media?
Would California firefighters, or a batch of celebs who’ve lost their homes, or a kid who’s been injured in the fires, be a media magnet? It doesn’t seem like there’s an entity that could flush out a media friendly story.
Mnemosyne
@Dan B:
@Jay:
I’m going to lay down a marker.
If AOC is as smart as her supporters keep saying she is, she will end up voting for Pelosi as Speaker of the House. As soon as she does, rose Twitter will explode in outrage and denounce her as a traitor to the cause of True Progressivism and say she was a secret corporatist all along.
If AOC does not vote for Pelosi and sets herself up as a “Democratic Socialist” gadfly within the Democratic caucus, she’ll be a one-termer, because her constituents will get frustrated at her inability to get anything done for them.
Jay
@Mnemosyne:
So, double reply, not much will happen on the Climate Change politics front, other than Pelosi getting her ducks in a row, until after Jan. 2nd.
On Pelosi as Speaker, if AOC is as savvy as is claimed, she will hold her vote until she knows if Nancy Smash needs it or not, and will let Nancy know in advance.
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
I know the rethugs are desperate but do you really think they’d manage that kind of processing?
Rethug leader “Man are we in trouble”
Underling “A Woman, that’s what we are missing!”
Leader “We don’t care if you are horny.”
Underling “No not that, we can get Liz Cheney, maybe she’s a chip off the old block.”
Leader “Couldn’t fucking hurt…..”
Adria McDowell
@schrodingers_cat: Close enough to Three Kings Day to count! :-)
tam1MI
@Mnemosyne: I’ve been telling everyone I know that rose Twitter will turn on AOC the first time she has to make a tough vote that entails a compromise. You can make bank on it.