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Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

The willow is too close to the house.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

You are here: Home / Politics / Empty Cabinet

Empty Cabinet

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From WaPo:

Democratic senators plan to aggressively target eight of Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees in the coming weeks and are pushing to stretch their confirmation votes into March — an unprecedented break with Senate tradition.

Huh. I thought it was an “unprecedented break with Senate tradition” for Mitch McConnell and the Republicans to declare war on the Obama presidency on Inauguration Day in 2009, sabotage the economy to near-treasonous levels and pervert the “advice and consent” clause to brazenly steal a SCOTUS appointment. But no matter: If the Democrats are going scorched earth, I’m 100% behind them.

I’ve never been a fan of Chuck Schumer — too chummy with Wall Street and too reflexively “how high?” on Israel in my book. But he’s our incoming Senate minority leader, and if he’s ready to take the fight to the Republicans, I’m 100% behind him:

“President-elect Trump is attempting to fill his rigged cabinet with nominees that would break key campaign promises and have made billions off the industries they’d be tasked with regulating,” Schumer said in a statement Sunday confirming his caucus’s plans. “Any attempt by Republicans to have a series of rushed, truncated hearings before Inauguration Day and before the Congress and public have adequate information on all of them is something Democrats will vehemently resist. If Republicans think they can quickly jam through a whole slate of nominees without a fair hearing process, they’re sorely mistaken.”

The article says the Dems are targeting Tillerson (State), Sessions (Justice), Mulvaney (OMB), DeVos (Ed), Price (HHS), Puzder (Labor), Mnuchin (Treasury) and Pruitt (EPA). Citing senior aides, the article says the Democrats will slow-walk these nominations until springtime unless the nominees start coughing up personal financial data they’ve thus far failed to disclose.

That sounds like a good plan to me — Trump’s cabinet of billionaires, Rand cranks and Putin pals is a target-rich environment. But a spokeswoman for Senatortoise McConnell sounds sad about it:

“It’s curious that they’d [Democrats] object to treating the incoming president’s nominees with the same courtesy and seriousness with which the Senate acted on President Obama’s nominees,” Antonia Ferrier, a McConnell spokeswoman, said in an email. “Our committees and chairmen are fully capable of reviewing the incoming Cabinet nominations with the same rules and procedures as the same committees did with President Obama’s nominations.”

Un-fucking-real yet unsurprising that someone on McConnell’s staff would have the balls to bleat about comity and precedent. IMO, there are very few useful lessons we Democrats can learn from the Trump campaign, which was the very definition of a black swan event. But we should definitely steal a page from Congressional Republicans’ all-obstruction all-the-time playbook.

Resist, resist, resist. Unlike in the Republicans vs. Obama scenario, in the present case, it’s not only politically expedient, it’s the right thing to do.

Reader Interactions

90Comments

  1. 1.

    Xenos

    Pbama’s picks did not refuse to release tax returns or otherwise disclose potential conflicts of 8nterest, so there is no precedent here to follow.

  2. 2.

    trnc

    I thought it was an “unprecedented break with Senate tradition” for Mitch McConnell and the Republicans to … pervert the “advice and consent” clause to brazenly steal a SCOTUS appointment.

    Exactly. McConnell set the precedent for the nomination delays.

  4. 4.

    Another Scott

    More than a few of his Cabinet Secretaries will require security clearances (Defense, State, Homeland Security, etc.). To get a clearance, there will have to be fairly through financial checks (since one can lose it over things like bankruptcy). Whether that information will be made public, I can’t say, but they will have to disclose stuff to the investigators (and presumably that could show up in briefings to Congress if they ask).

    Mitch only has so much power to rush this stuff if the nominees don’t follow the norms.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  6. 6.

    Manyakitty

    McConnell’s spokesperson made be laugh/cry with deep bitterness. I suspect that will be the tone for the next several years.

  7. 7.

    donnah

    Unpresidented, anyway. Yeah, Mitch McConnell has some nerve when talking about obstruction.

    It really ticks me off when these republican hyenas start howling about how disrespectful the Democrats are. I don’t know how they sleep at night, unless it’s hanging upside down in a dark cave.

  9. 9.

    Jeffro

    @donnah:

    Yeah, Mitch McConnell has some nerve when talking about obstruction.

    That ought to be the first line out of every elected Dem’s (and/or Dem spokesperson’s) mouths from now until the sun explodes.

  11. 11.

    satby

    Republicans only got away with the obstruction thanks to an obfuscating and enabling press helping them. The Dems won’t have that help and they know it, so it will be a fine line they have to walk between obstructing the worst of Drumpf’s efforts and not appearing to block things that might help. The proposed infrastructure bill is an example, it’s slanted toward tax credits and breaks, not actual spending on infrastructure, but the press will present Democratic obstruction of that as “standing in the way of jobs”.

  12. 12.

    Corner Stone

    I will believe the whole spiel when I see it actually happening. But they are going to go after Sessions? Really?

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @donnah: Hey! I know bats, bats are good and kind to humans eating mosquitoes and other flying vermin. Republicans are more akin to the bugs bats eat.

  15. 15.

    geg6

    @satby:

    I really can’t be arsed to give a damn how Dem obstruction looks or how it is framed by the whores in the press. We need to shore up some morale on our own side and this sure seems a winner from every angle of that perspective.

    ETA: Our enemies didn’t give a damn about such things when they began their own obstructionist revolt. And see how that worked for them? At least we are doing for non-nefarious purposes.

  16. 16.

    germy

    http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/african-american-lawmakers-trump-resistance-233040

    Black lawmakers are preparing for the worst as President Barack Obama leaves office, and they’re ready to resist Donald Trump after his inauguration.

    “The stakes are incredibly high, and our community is counting on us as the last line of defense between Donald Trump and the worst of what America could offer,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told Politico.

    Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are worried the Trump administration poses a historically ominous threat to black Americans.

    “This is not the normal incoming president,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO). “We had no plan for George Bush. I think Charlie Rangel and John Conyers would tell you they didn’t even have a plan for Richard Nixon. But this is not the norm.”

    The legislative group welcomes a new chairman, Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA), this year, and he’ll outline his priorities on Tuesday, when he officially takes over leadership duties.

    The lawmakers are considering everything from nonviolent protests, reminiscent of the civil rights movement, to challenging Trump on his preferred battleground, Twitter.

    “We’ve dealt with loud, bombastic people our entire life — ask our seniors and elders who went through the segregation in the civil rights movement,” Richmond said. “We’ll just go back to that fight and remember tactics from those days. But the one thing that will be clear is we’re going to have to be unified and we’re going to have to be focused and very strategic.”

  17. 17.

    Corner Stone

    I say elected Democrats get out of the way and let Trump have everything he wants, down a pure party line vote each time. Then the country can watch it as the R’s own every single thing as it all burns down! Trump’s helicopter will crash while trying to take off from the flame lit embassy rooftop because it was overloaded with all the loot he and his family stole during their time in office. The starving, bedraggled mob can rip at his flesh and impale him upside down on a yoog golden spike on the South Lawn, right under the gilt edged Trump logo that will be installed on the WH.

  19. 19.

    Hill Dweller

    The Senate Republicans were literally doing audits of Obama’s nominees’ tax returns. They decided on and pursued a scorched earth policy before Obama was sworn in. It’s only fair the Dems return the favor.

  20. 20.

    schrodingers_cat

    @satby: Fuck that shit. Democrats don’t have to play ball. No need to make nice with the press, they are going to present news from the Republican POV no matter what. I am tired of this shitty preemptive surrender attitude. If you think you have lost, you have already lost.

  21. 21.

    debit

    “Our committees and chairmen are fully capable of reviewing the incoming Cabinet nominations with the same rules and procedures as the same committees did with President Obama’s nominations.”

    Oh, well, if the GOP is okay with the Democrats treating Trump’s nominations the same way they did Obama’s, cool. No one gets an appointment.

  23. 23.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    I, for one, look forward to the stories of Rick Perry wandering the streets of Washington DC, trying to remember which Department he is supposed to lead.

  24. 24.

    Elmo

    I admire you guys for your continuing capacity for appalled outrage. Mine is spent. I have been in “Forget it, Jake; it’s Chinatown,” mode since the North Carolina power grab.

    This is who they are. This is what our country voted for. They will pay absolutely no consequences at the ballot box for obstruction, flagrant dishonesty, and corruption.

    Sorry folks. I know, STFU with that defeatist cynical bullshit while people are trying to work. I’ll let myself out.

  25. 25.

    Jeffro

    @Corner Stone:

    I say elected Democrats get out of the way and let Trump have everything he wants, down a pure party line vote each time.

    It’s probably going to be party-line votes all the way down anyway…but let’s be sure to have these hearings first. It’s important to air out Tillerson’s Putin connections, Sessions’ racist leanings, DeVos’ long history of trying to destroy public schools, and so on. This is who they are as a party, so let’s be sure everyone sees/hears it, for the record and for 2018.

  26. 26.

    greennotGreen

    @donnah:

    I don’t know how they sleep at night, unless it’s hanging upside down in a dark cave.

    …unless it’s in a coffin filled with Transylvanian soil. FTFY

    Please don’t dis bats; they are part of nature, and most of them do good work eating mosquitoes or pollinating plants. OTOH, there’s nothing natural about the current version of Republicans.

  27. 27.

    Juice Box

    Normally the incoming president’s choices are approved by voice vote after his (sob) inauguration, but in 2008, one senator held up and demanded a confirmation hearing for Pres. Obama’s Secretary of State, whose name I forget….

  30. 30.

    debit

    @Corner Stone:

    I say elected Democrats get out of the way and let Trump have everything he wants, down a pure party line vote each time. Then the country can watch it as the R’s own every single thing as it all burns down! Trump’s helicopter will crash while trying to take off from the flame lit embassy rooftop because it was overloaded with all the loot he and his family stole during their time in office. The starving, bedraggled mob can rip at his flesh and impale him upside down on a yoog golden spike on the South Lawn, right under the gilt edged Trump logo that will be installed on the WH.

    If I were not happiest when single, I would fly to your current location with roses, wads of cash and infant samples of your pet of choice and beg you to marry me.

  31. 31.

    Corner Stone

    @germy:

    The legislative group welcomes a new chairman, Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA), this year, and he’ll outline his priorities on Tuesday, when he officially takes over leadership duties.

    Does that mean G.K. Butterfield will no longer be the CBC Chair? Dang it, that guy gave good presser.

  32. 32.

    geg6

    @Corner Stone:

    That’s going to happen anyway. So let’s have those hearings and investigations anyway. That way, no one can say our side didn’t attempt to warn them.

  33. 33.

    Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)

    “It’s curious that they’d [Democrats] object to treating the incoming president’s nominees with the same courtesy and seriousness with which the Senate acted on President Obama’s nominees,”

    Does she have any idea how many of PBO’S nominees never got a hearing, including a SCOTUS nominee?

  34. 34.

    Kay

    This is true:

    Many of President-elect Donald Trump’s cultural touchstones, which he’d frequently name-drop at campaign rallies and on Twitter, were at their peak in the 1980s — the decade Trump’s celebrity status rose in New York, Trump Tower was built, “The Art of the Deal” was published and he first flirted with running for public office.
    The “Go Go 1980s” of New York were spurred by Wall Street’s rise. It was a brash decade in which excess was the norm and ostentatious displays of wealth and power were celebrated in pop culture and among Manhattan’s elite. And while much of what defined the 1980s has since gone out of style, Trump has seemingly internalized its ethos, which is reflected in the decor of the Trump Tower lobby and the celebrities he stood alongside during the campaign.

    The whole Trump Family are weirdly old-fashioned. I was reading the promotional stuff Ivanka wrote for her book and it’s like traveling back in time- it’s such an old variety of womens’ “empowerment”- very corporate friendly- designed not to ruffle any feathers. “You can run a business AND run marathons AND be a SUPER mom!” I’m looking around for shoulder pads and those horrible “big” hair styles.

    Maybe younger people don’t recognize it because they didn’t see this show the first time around? They know this approach ended up as the “me decade”, right? It’s infamously shallow and greedy?

    I wonder if Democrats could do something with how this is just a retread of the 1980’s. They’ll need someone younger than Chuck Schumer to make that argument, that’s for sure :)

  35. 35.

    Jerzy Russian

    @debit:

    I would fly to your current location with roses, wads of cash and infant samples of your pet of choice and beg you to marry me.

    I would do the same thing, but I know I am not worthy of him, so why bother?

  36. 36.

    Corner Stone

    @debit: You can keep the cash, but I like flowers. I eagerly await your courier to deliver them along with an original sonnet dedicated to pet rescue. Or me. Either one’s fine.

  38. 38.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    “It’s curious that they’d [Democrats] object to treating the incoming president’s nominees with the same courtesy and seriousness with which the Senate acted on President Obama’s nominees,” Antonia Ferrier, a McConnell spokeswoman, said in an email. “Our committees and chairmen are fully capable of reviewing the incoming Cabinet nominations with the same rules and procedures as the same committees did with President Obama’s nominations.”

    This seems a like a rather tepid objection, doesn’t it?

  39. 39.

    Butch

    “Unprecedented break.” It’s only January 2 and we’ve already locked in the “Irony is Dead” award for the year.

  40. 40.

    tpherald

    How much pressure did WaPo put on McConnell when he took the “unprecedented” action of not even scheduling hearings for a president’s SCOTUS pick?

    I suppose it’s time once again to accept the fact that there are different sets of rules that Dems have to live by.

  41. 41.

    LAC

    @Baud: now that is worthy of a marriage proposal. And I share your view of WAPO. My lovely hubby wants to throw some coin its way and I am just “wait for it” . The way it frames things is still so off putting.

  42. 42.

    Yarrow

    @Kay:

    I wonder if Democrats could do something with how this is just a retread of the 1980’s.

    Except for this time we’re going to be best friends with Russia.

  43. 43.

    satby

    @geg6: @schrodingers_cat: I simply pointed out the playing field isn’t level and refusing to recognize that can lead to more trouble. I agree that Democratic members of Congress should obstruct everything they can, and in parallel make clear what they’re obstructing and how the policies affect people. Because that’s how we will win, when the dots are connected between the abysmal Republicans and their policies that hurt all people, not just minority groups.

  45. 45.

    randy khan

    Nice to see that Schumer is setting the right tone from the start.

    You never know, there may be a chance to kill some of the worst nominations, and the eight they’ve targeted all sound like possibilities to me. If nothing else, make them own their agendas.

  47. 47.

    Ruckus

    @greennotGreen:

    there’s nothing natural about the current version of Republicans.

    Beg to differ. Shit is natural. Yes it stinks, yes it is not something you want your pets to eat, but every living organism creates it. It’s just that republicans have embraced actually being shit as a life style.

  48. 48.

    nominus

    I hope part of the scorched earth policy is calling people like Ferrier on their incredible bullshit and inviting them to eat a dick sandwich.

  49. 49.

    Starfish

    @Jeffro: Speak for yourself. I live in a state that went for Clinton but has a Republican Senator. He needs to hear from all of his constituents. I already called and thanked him for opposing Tillerson even though he did not, but he seemed pro-Ukraine and supported other causes that would make him a natural fit for the people who oppose Tillerson. Here is the local paper. Here is some more.

  51. 51.

    Corner Stone

    Can no one on Trump’s entire team pick an appropriate necktie? Jesus!
    I don’t know why this drives me so insane but for the love of Christ, people! They can’t hire one freakin PR intern to put a tie on them before they go on camera or in public?

  53. 53.

    Corner Stone

    I wonder if any of the MSNBC coverage today will even mention JoeMSNBC being at Mar a Lago the other night with Mika? Hmmmmmm…let me wonder….

  54. 54.

    Yarrow

    @Corner Stone: Were there pictures? I saw some horror show photo from the event of Uday and Qusay with a blonde woman, perhaps one of their wives. If I didn’t know who they were and someone said it was a photo from the annual serial killers ball I would have believed it. I’d be surprised if they don’t keep human livers in their freezer.

  55. 55.

    Kelly

    Always an optimist I’m hoping since Trump and Schumer are both New Yorkers Schumer may know how to deal with Trump.

  56. 56.

    chopper

    @Jeffro:

    right. by the time trump takes the oath of office he’ll be mostly damaged goods, assuming the CIA report on hacking comes out. not to his hardcore fans, mind you, and the media will do much to ignore it, but still. his approval will start out in the basement. we can’t necessarily stop him filling up his cabinet but we can make sure every single one of those fuckers’ dirty laundry is hanging out in public so his whole cabinet is damaged goods as well.

    if we can’t keep him from taking office at least we can do everything to make him unpopular as fuck. which, given his craving for popularity and approval, will drive him up the fuckin wall.

  57. 57.

    O. Felix Culpa

    treating the incoming president’s nominees with the same courtesy and seriousness

    Oh yes, I absolutely agree that the incoming nominees should be treated with exactly the same courtesy and seriousness as Merrick Garland’s nomination was. Please proceed, GOP.

  58. 58.

    Yarrow

    @chopper:

    if we can’t keep him from taking office at least we can do everything to make him unpopular as fuck. which, given his craving for popularity and approval, will drive him up the fuckin wall.

    I think it’s his biggest weakness. He wants to be loved and respected. Deny him that and he’ll do anything to get it. And lash out when he thinks he isn’t getting it. I’m sure China and Russia, along with all sorts of other countries, have figured this out already and are ready to exploit it.

  59. 59.

    Corner Stone

    @Yarrow: Here is one, if you can get to it.
    That’s obviously the back of Trump’s head (can be no doubt) and on the left is Joe, to the right Mika. Joe’s excuse was he was there setting up a future interview and that is the time he was asked to visit to discuss. He has conflicting claims about his interactions at the party, but he was clearly in the attendee mix and not just to the interior offices as he has claimed.

  60. 60.

    bystander

    I look forward to President Pu$$ygra&&er’s first SOTU. I’m hoping that every Dem in the place feels entitled to shriek “you lie” every time he lies.

  61. 61.

    bystander

    @Corner Stone: Joe claims he paused to speak with well wishers. Wonder if they were all wishing him well for his next marriage.

    Remember how Huntley would never interview anyone without Brinkley? Me neither.

  65. 65.

    Ksmiami

    @Yarrow: @Yarrow: See that’s my argument. Don’t go after Trump directly. Our goal should first and foremost be dislodging ryan and mcconnell and the GOP majorities.

  66. 66.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Yarrow:

    New York Post says Trump told Schumer he likes him more than Ryan and McConnell

    I’m not sure that means anything with respect to Schumer’s future actions. Trump is a small, narrow man with a small, narrow worldview. As a fellow New Yorker, Schumer is familiar to him and that gives him comfort. Besides, who a narcissist “likes” or “dislikes” is infinitely changeable, depending on whether the person (object, really) is pleasing or displeasing to the narcissist at any given moment.

  67. 67.

    amk

    murkan 4th estate is their own worst enemy. 8 years of burn-it-to-the-ground repugnant ‘tactics’ by the rethugs and not zip a from these ass-kissing mofo assholes.

  68. 68.

    Corner Stone

    @Yarrow: There is nothing about Schumer that gives me any hope for an actual resistance. He is already very compromised by his dependency on keeping his constituency at the forefront. And all his history indicates he is transactional, with basically no core D principles (either little d or Big D).
    That’s why I am waiting to see the actual plan for resistance before I start throwing my panties at him.

    edited a little

  69. 69.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Corner Stone: FWIW, I just sent Schumer an email thanking him for the opposition plan outlined in the WaPo article and asking him and the party to hold firm. I also suggested that he and his colleagues repeatedly reference the GOP’s unprecedented refusal to hold hearings on Garland’s SCOTUS nomination – even though he was an eminently qualified candidate, unlike the vile and unqualified nominees Trump has coughed up.

    Who knows, maybe a little positive reinforcement from the ranks can help stiffen Dem spines.

  70. 70.

    mai naem mobile

    @Ksmiami: You hang Lumpy on Ryan and McConnell because they’ll blame their problems on Obama,first, then Lumpy. I am guessing that Lumpy will be very unpopular before a multitude of reasons by 2018 and you want Ryan and McConnell to go down with him

  71. 71.

    Corner Stone

    @bystander:

    Joe claims he paused to speak with well wishers. Wonder if they were all wishing him well for his next marriage.

    He’s from FL so I guess it makes sense he could be at MaL and still be with the kids by NYE. But, ummm…what was Mika doing there, anyway? Does Papa Zbig retire to FL or something?

  76. 76.

    Kay

    @Yarrow:

    You can see why Trump supporters are so gung-ho on Russia:

    Average monthly salary in Russia fell to $500, now below China and only slightly above India, according to Sberbank.

    Things are going so well for the working class over there. Putin’s really delivering as a populist, I must say! You wonder how they pay their heating costs, let alone luxuries like food and clothing and medicine.

  77. 77.

    Kay

    @Corner Stone:

    The saddest part is that Morning Joe is influential in DC. “Influencers” watch that horrible drivel morning after morning.

    This is not just a white working class problem. Our “elites” are fucking morons. The problem begins at the top. It finally trickled down to voters, is what happened.

  78. 78.

    Feebog

    Hearings will expose these nominees to some hard questions and may even uncover something disqualifying. I say hold their feet to the fire and make noise about every revelation, no matter how small.

  79. 79.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Kay: Yes. Sigh. And they’ve been gutting public education…and are planning to gut it even more (see: DeVos)…to ensure an entire citizenry of fucking morons.

    America has a long history of anti-intellectualism, but I do recall when a quality public primary and secondary education was considered a good thing.

  80. 80.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Kay:

    Things are going so well for the working class over there. Putin’s really delivering as a populist, I must say!

    Oh pshaw with your tricksy “facts” and things! It’s all about the feelz – being strong and He-Man like: “I HAVE THE POWER!!!” That the little people suffer is of no consequence.

  81. 81.

    Blueskies

    @Corner Stone: Total failure to learn. Shrub was given everything. Guess who not only had to clean up the mess, but got BLAMED for it to begin with? Hint: Begins with a D.

  83. 83.

    mainmata

    Democrats should add former Governor Sonny Perdue of GA whose just been nominated as USDA Secretary. He meets the Dump and Dense qualifications of knowing nothing whatsoever about the job and being a pig-ignorant theocrat to boot. Fun times for that very important and very large agency. And I imagine anyone on SNAP is going to have an even more miserable time.

  84. 84.

    NR

    Tillerson is the one that gets me most. How the fuck does being an oil company CEO qualify someone to be Secretary of State?

  85. 85.

    Spinoza Is My Co-Pilot

    @Corner Stone: Yeah, I don’t have much hope for serious resistance from Schumer, either. Or from our elected Dem leadership in general, for that matter, outside the Black Caucus.

    Dems are simply, “by nature”, far more given to compromise and looking for ways to work together with their opponents for some potentially-achievable “common good” result. Pres Obama is the poster child for that attitude and approach, of course. And he’s solidly within the longstanding mainstream of Dem governing style in being so. It’s actually a good, pragmatic way to go when social democratic norms prevail (which, unfortunately, they haven’t since the start of Pres Obama’s first term).

    I’d love it if Dems in D.C., at all levels from lowliest freshman congresscritter to Schumer, went against their nature and did nothing but oppose and obstruct every jot and tittle of the coming fascist agenda, including each nominee for appointment (every one of whom will be, a priori, a terrible person bent on doing terrible things). It’s what’s needed, but what I expect will happen instead (again, outside the Black Caucus) is congressional Dem opposition that is tepid, erratic, and in the end largely ineffective, starting at the very top.

    Want so much to be proven wrong about that. We’ll see which way they go very soon.

  86. 86.

    Elie

    @amk:
    It wasn’t up to the press to be outraged and act on it. It was up to us and we did not show that outrage at the ballot box. The press follows and our people unfortunately stayed home at the mid terms and also voted in some really horrible state legislatures which despite fucking up stay in power. For whatever reason progressives don’t seem to have much they believe in that would be worth fighting for. The media follows the screamers at Trump rallies but we don’t have rallies or stuff like that. Believe me I am no fan of the MSM but they shouldn’t be expected to replace our lack of activism and ambition.

  88. 88.

    Jeffro

    @chopper:

    if we can’t keep him from taking office at least we can do everything to make him unpopular as fuck. which, given his craving for popularity and approval, will drive him up the fuckin wall.

    Amen!

    Now – have we heard anything more about that alternative inaugural concert??

  89. 89.

    fuckwit

    @Elmo: I agree with you. However, I love this and if ol’ corporate sellout Schumer is going to ‘nads up and fight, I can stand with him.

    More of this.

    Also, white privilege shows a lot sometimes. I love listening to Black people talk about how to win these fights, and learning from them, and getting inspiration from them. They have a proven track record, and they’ve been through a lot worse than we white folk are going to go through.

    I look to the African-American activist community for direction on how to oppose overhelming force and win against unstoppable, brutal authoritarians. If anyone in the USA has any winning strategies for the future, Black folks do.

  90. 90.

    fuckwit

    @zhena gogolia: The choice of words. “Partying” was (maybe still is?) a euphemism for doing speed. Squint would say he and Meatpuppet “attended the event”. The Tweet was that he was “partying”. Perhaps the reporter who tweeted that knows more than he is letting on. Perhaps Squint was incensed at the innuendo… and perhaps it cuts a little too close to home.

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