This is insane:
Senate Republicans are working to finish their draft health care bill, but have no plans to publicly release it, according to two senior Senate GOP aides.
“We aren’t stupid,” said one of the aides. One issue is that Senate Republicans plan to keep talking about it after the draft is done: “We are still in discussions about what will be in the final product so it is premature to release any draft absent further member conversations and consensus.”
Why it matters: Democratic senators are already slamming Republicans for the secrecy of their bill writing process, and this isn’t going to help. Republicans are sure to release the bill at some point, but it’s unclear when — and they want to vote on it in the next three weeks, before the July 4 recess.
What to watchWhat to watch: When the bill is finished, it’ll be sent to the Congressional Budget Office. It’ll take CBO about two weeks to evaluate and score a draft bill. Senate Republicans then want to vote on the bill before the July 4th recess. The draft bill had been expected to be finished tonight, but aides say the timing has slipped.
This is just not how this is supposed to work, and there are so many things about this that it just leaves you wondering how fucking evil these people are. Obviously, there is the hypocrisy. We’re all old enough to remember all the way back to 2008-2011 with every Republican and all their tea party brownshits in tricorne hats screaming about Obama care being rammed down their throats, when it took several years, went through multiple committess, was scored incessantly, etc., ad nauseum, all right there out in the open. It was bullshit then, but it is the reality now.
Second, this is not how the legislative process is supposed to work. It would be arrogant and wrong to do something like that if you had a super majority of 66 Senators, but it would be nowhere near as breathtaking as what they are trying to do now. Not to mention, this will fundamentally break the Senate for years to come- this is the poison pill. There’s no coming back from this- centrism is dead, and we are working from different realities now. This is not only a declaration of war on the American people, but on the entire legislative process. If you think things are bad now, this is going to make things much worse.
Third, and probably most important, if you are working on a health care bill, it should not be controversial to note that your bill’s primary focus should focused on improving health care. I’ve seen no evidence to date that improving health care is even a quinary or senary concern. There’s repealing Obamacare. There’s getting a good CBO score. There’s freeing up money to hand it out to the rich. There’s appeasing your buddies in the insurance and pharmaceutical sectors. And there’s giving Trump a win.
But nothing about how this is going to make the country more healthy and productive, or help hold down our astronomical health care costs, (as we pay more in the world than ANYONE else and don’t even get results as good), or help stop medical bankruptcies, or help small businesses grow, or just give the fucking citizenry the peace of mind in knowing that if something goes wrong with their health they aren’t just fucking abandoned to die.
Make no mistake, it is NOT hyperbole to state that the Republican bill is going to kill people. People will die because their coverage will be yanked and they will not get the treatment they need. People will die because they are not able to get coverage. People will die because their coverage will stop because they hit a life time limit. People will die because doctors will no longer provide services in areas with poor populations without the guarantee of federal (in one form or another) reimbursement.
But another way this is going to kill people is through the impact this is going to have on mental health. Much was said about the Princeton study several months ago noting the large spike in the mortality rate for the white working class (and it goes without saying that any negative trend for white people is indubitably already in existence for minorities- whites are just “catching up,” if you will), and it appears the Republican response is “Hold my beer.”
This bill is going to devastate communities already saddled with an opiod epidemic, chronic joblessness and underemployment, a diabetes epidemic, food deserts, and more guns and mental health issues than you can even imagine. This will be like throwing TNT into a five alarm fire. It’s horrifying to think about.
All of these things are related. None of this shit happens in a vacuum. It’s like the old Chris Rock routine about “selling drugs.” You don’t have to sell drugs. Drugs sell themselves. The drug warriors have never ever figured out that drug addiction isn’t solely a product of a flawed character- people do drugs because they make them feel good. When your life is utter shit and you are living in a 30 year old doublewide that leaks, has torn plastic for windows, you haven’t had a job since the mine closed down and even then you couldn’t work because you have chronic back pain, a 12 pack of Milwaukee’s Best and a couple oxys if you can get ’em but you probably can ‘t afford ’em so why not shoot a little heroin. It can’t all be laced with fentanyl. And if it is, well, could death be worse than this?
Again, it’s just horrifying to think about. The mental stress from the financial aspects of this is going to feed into the pre-existing mess of mental health issues, drug addiction, alcoholism. It’s going to wreck families and marriages. It’s going to leave several generations of kids who grow up in this shit scarred for life and probably doomed to repeat it.
And all for a few more bucks for people who have so much money they don’t know what to do with it anyway. It makes me fucking sick, and it makes me livid. I’m punching the goddamned keyboard as I write this. Fucking evil motherfuckers.
kindness
These are our real enemies. Curiously I’ve seen much in the last week where BernieBros renewed claims to how the Democratic party is broken/the same as the Republican party/Bernie woulda won! All those things don’t rise to the level of pond scum when we look at our real adversaries.
Irony Abounds
Meanwhile all the cable networks saw fit to televise the cabinet meeting and show the various cabinet members give Trump a handjob live. I’m reading Chernow’s biography of Hamilton, and it is so depressing to think of all of the incredible sacrifice, courage and dedication our founding fathers put into creating this country while at the same time contemplating that we have such an utter and complete asshole like Donald Trump as President, and such psychopaths like the Republicans in Congress. I understand you can’t have giants leading the country all the time, but to descend to the level we have is so maddening. I can’t go a day without screaming at the tv or the car radio.
schrodingers_cat
I have a feeling that sending faxes and calling is not going to be enough.
BTW like most physics concepts Political Punditubbies use, the entire schrodinger’s cat thought experiment is lost on them.
Mike in DC
I turn 50 later this year. My pre-existing conditions include depression, anxiety, ADD, mild obesity, gall stones and acid reflux. I have a platinum plan with no deductibles and I pay through the nose for it, around 600. Under the House version of the AHCA, my premium would skyrocket to over a grand per month. Needless to say, I couldn’t afford that, and the best I could do would be some kind of high deductible plan, which would put me in a ditch financially as soon as I needed any kind of major procedure. Even then the premium will be ridiculous(probably 700, if I adjust the current price quotes accordingly). Unless and until I work for an employer, instead of being in the gig economy, I am pretty well fucked.
Earl
1 – this is a roadmap for dem senators when (if?) we’re ever back in power;
2 – we broke our congressional majority to give people health care and the people voted against us for it. They had a choice and they made it. We gave 20m people health insurance and got how many fucking votes for it?
schrodingers_cat
@kindness: He is a Russian stooge unless proven otherwise, his stated aim of the destruction of one source of opposition to T is highly suspect.
Cermet
Killing more of “those people” is a feature, not a bug for thugs …
Corner Stone
@schrodingers_cat:
Hey now. What do you mean?
ruemara
This is pure, unfettered Republicanism. I fear without serious wins this year, we’ll be at outright violence by next March. They’re too unmoored from reality, very much violent and sociopathic. Our side is largely playing incredulous catchup, like the dumbasses in zombie movies looking at their drooling snarling friends and trying to “save” them by allowing them into the safe zone. And talking about how worn out they are. Never been more convinced that we clasped a krait to our bosom.
Cermet
@Irony Abounds: Sorry but most of the founding fathers were far worse assholes – slave owners and supporters of the vested elite that also made money off slaves. We are taught otherwise but on the whole, most were vile people – remember how they treated (the non-slave owning ones) Native Amerikans?
Manyakitty
Seriously, the only good thing about this monstrosity is that it might kill off enough of their supporters that we can vote the bastids out.
schrodingers_cat
@Corner Stone: More innovative means of non- violent protest need to be thought of. Mr Turtle and Blue eyed boy should not be able to go around in polite company without embarrassment.
ElegantFowl
Medicare for All has majority support from the American people, and when they elect a majority of Dems in congress we’ll pass it in 2021, with a majority vote of >50. No more 60-vote double-standard.
And if you say that loud and clear right now, you might actually scare the private insurance industry off the fence, because they’re not going to exist 10 years from now without the ACA.
schrodingers_cat
@ruemara: Cobra, hissing back at you.
Major Major Major Major
Why do you read Axios?
SatanicPanic
@schrodingers_cat: Probably won’t be in this situation. But it’s good to let these clowns know that we’re watching them.
Ryan
We’re not fucking stupid either, and people who would pass legislation without any public buyin deserve to be relived of their burdens.
Citizen Alan
@Cermet:
Every single f****** Republican wishes that they had slaves. Every goddamned one of them. Even the black Republicans.
Trentrunner
Twitter is aflame that someone close to Trump has said he wants to fire Mueller.
Which would be an effective misdirection away from AHCA for the next few weeks, wouldn’t it?
Corner Stone
@schrodingers_cat: I have come more and more to believe we are beyond that.
Thoroughly Pizzled
For all the talk about how the Democratic Party has changed, the descent of the Party of Lincoln into treason, evil and spite is a far bigger shift.
Corner Stone
@Trentrunner: I hope he does. At this point I want him to.
Arclite
It’s enough to drive a man to drink. Then throw down a couple of oxys.
Quinerly
@Trentrunner:
Chris Matthews reporting on possible Mueller firing coming.
Annie
“it appears the Republican response is “Hold my beer.” ”
The Republican response is “break out the champagne, let’s celebrate, we killed more people.”
Fixed that for you.
Corner Stone
@Arclite: Where is HumboldtBlue when he is so desperately needed?
SatanicPanic
@Trentrunner: That works out nicely for Paul Ryan, but for Trump’s purposes though what does Trump win? I’m sure he’d rather have the Russia probe off his back than get any particular bill passed since he already thinks he’s passed tons of bills. Firing Mueller isn’t going to make the Russia probe go away.
Judge Crater
Mario Gabelli, the shit-head billionaire money-changer, said in Barrons of the rise of Trump, “Capitalism is back.” Yes indeed. This is the false god the Republicans and Trump worship and care about. It is a sickness, as Trump amply demonstrates, that has consumed our country. Our “compassion” is for the rich and self-satisfied. The poor and afflicted will have “access” to bridges to sleep under and emergency rooms as the destination for their final suffering.
Jesus wept.
waspuppet
Yes you are. Objectively, empirically, yes you are.
MomSense
@Quinerly:
Yeah it’s all over the twitters, too. I hope the IC start leaking whatever they have on cabinet memebers and congress critters.
RinaX
By pushing it through now, they ensure that some other nonsense will dominate by the elections next year. Their voters don’t actually care about issues, they only care if their “team ” wins and if it pisses off liberals. Period.
aimai
@ruemara: Upvoting for krait.
Mnemosyne
@Cermet:
Interestingly, Hamilton helped found a school designed to educate white and Native American students side-by-side.
On the other hand, non-Founding Father and slaveholder Andrew Jackson stole land from the Native Americans on the East Coast and sneered when the Supreme Court told him it was illegal.
Aleta
definitely not ft @ft_variations
Remember that keeping pressure on reps is as much about demonstrating active engagement as it is about achieving specific results.
definitely not ft @ft_variations 2h2 hours ago
It needs to be clear *in general* that you won’t sit idly by while your representatives do whatever the hell they want with no oversight.
definitely not ft @ft_variations 2h2 hours ago
Remember the pushback on the first Muslim Ban and how quickly it got results. Remember #DeleteUber and how quickly it got results.
definitely not ft @ft_variations 2h2 hours ago
If you’re too busy you’re too busy. But if you have 5 spare minutes, please don’t let yourself rule out any form of engagement as useless.
Quinerly
@MomSense:
Apparently the head guy at Newsmax was seen leaving the WH. He and Gingrich pushing for the firing. Won’t give Newsmax clicks so don’t know if something is up there on that site.
Shalimar
Normally I think political assassinations are a horrible idea because they give authoritarians an excuse to be ruthless, but in this case, if someone were to shove a printed copy of the bill down Mitch McConnell’s throat and asphyxiate him, I think it would be just reward.
Mnemosyne
@kindness:
The Broflakes have also been running around whining that Hillary is History’s Greatest Monster because of some out-of-context passages from her 20-year-old book It Takes A Village about prison labor in the Arkansas governor’s mansion while Bill was governor.
Funny how the Sanders Broflakes just happen to dredge this stuff up every time Trump beclowns himself, innit?
Gvg
Trump is stupid enough to think firing Mueller will solve his problems. I think he doesn’t actually have the direct authority to fire Mueller but he doesn’t know that and will be surprised and then he will find out about out of the frying pan into the fire.
I do think we need to investigate a lot more than Trump. Congress and the Mercers. Certain special interests. State legislators. So many now look suspicious now.
MomSense
@Quinerly:
Ruddy. He’s the asshole who pushed the Vince Foster murdered conspiracy.
Another one of the best people he promised.
WTF would our congress do if he fired the special prosecutor?
Baud
@Aleta: Thanks.
Kathleen
@schrodingers_cat: He is every bit as much an enemy as Trump and the Rethuglicans. And I’m not re litigating the primary. I’m talking about what he is doing right now. Cole nailed it. We are in deep, deep shit. We can be successful in fighting back. But we have to be honest about who all of the true enemies are. Denial, cynicism and despair are not luxuries we can afford.
I just wrote an email to Rob Portman after reading his newsletter, in which he blamed Anthem’s pulling out of Ohio on high cost of Obamacare blah blah blah. I have tried to be “professional” and somewhat corporate in my communications with him and Chabot. But this time I let my Fury Flag fly. I pointed out how on Day 1 McConnell declared Republicans would obstruct everything Obama and Democrats would propose and they put not effort into trying to close loopholes or make ACA a better program, unlike their predecessors who worked with Democrats to improve Social Security and Medicare. I provided link to WaPo opinion piece about Republican sabotage of Obamacare. I said Rethuglicans (and I used that term) hated Americans and I asked him how he slept at night. I was (and still am) so damned angry I kept eating the potato salad I just bought at Clifton Market and didn’t stop until I ate the entire effing pound.
For that I will blame Obama. Just because.
Steve in the ATL
@Judge Crater: thankfully, I canceled my subscription to Barron’s when Murdock bought it. Not that it was better before, but at least I felt like I was getting somewhat objective investment advice.
Yutsano
@Gvg:
He doesn’t. He can only pressure the AAG to do so (I forgot his name) and the AAG can either comply or refuse. Oh and it has to be for cause. Mueller set it up well for himself.
Quinerly
@MomSense:
As for your question, I think we are about to find out
MisterForkbeard
@Gvg: I cannot believe they seriously think this is a good idea. First, fire the FBI Director who was investigating your campaign. Then, after it’s revealed that you fired him to stop the Russian investigation (along with other obstructive details) you fire the NEXT guy who was specifically brought in to be a neutral investigator.
That might even get some Republicans on the impeachment wagon. It’d sure as shit get the Democrats on board.
Baud
@MisterForkbeard:
Fixed.
debbie
@Quinerly:
Gee, that won’t look suspicious.
Morzer
No doubt the Democrats will be completely ineffective in response, before they return to throwing insults at each other and then wondering why people don’t find them very convincing as a party. They’ve certainly picked an interesting time to break their own coalition to pieces.
Quinerly
@MisterForkbeard:
I’m convinced that Trump is insane. He thinks he can do anything he wants. Plus, people like Gingrich are encouraging him.
dogwood
I expect the final bill that Trump signs will essentially be the Freedom Caucus bill with delays on many horrible parts until after the midterms and further delays on the really destructive shit until after 2020.
Baud
@Morzer: No doubt.
Aleta
SatanicPanic
@Morzer: Who are you talking about? Some nerds on Twitter aren’t representative of the party.
Baud
@dogwood: Delay would be a good thing.
Kathleen
@ruemara: They’re disconnected from whatever humanity they possess, and they’re disconnected from themselves. They’re soulless fragments. All of which make them dangerous. However, I was perusing Shakespearean quotations on The Googlz and saw this from Elaine Pilkington in a piece she wrote about Macbeth:
The seed of its own destruction is inherent in evil. That’s what Macbeth taught me.
ETA I am convinced now that there has been a coup that has been building for years.
Trentrunner
Adam Schiff just tweeted that if Trump fires Mueller as special prosecutor, Congress will re-appoint Mueller as independent counsel, so “don’t waste our time.”
Curious as to how/why GOP congress would do that, but Schiff knows his Schitt.
Cheryl Rofer
If Trump fires Mueller, we are in new territory. It looks a lot like Nixon’s Saturday Night Massacre, but this time around we have no Republicans who care about the Republic.
As we’ve thought about such possibilities, we’ve hoped that it would go as the SNM did, ultimately with Republican lawmakers who actually thought they served the citizens of the Republic going to the President to say, okay, this is the end for you. And our long national nightmare would be over.
But what if they don’t? So far, the Republicans have ignored every tripwire, every norm, every shred of decency. Even as I write, they are preparing a bill to strip people of their healthcare so that billionaires can have yet more money. That bill will never see the light of day until it is passed by the venal group of Senators who don’t even want to see it.
So we need to think about other options. So far, the press (yes, even the FYNYT) has been pretty good about exposing the Russian connections, but the story is enormous and complex. We will not see the pee tape any time soon. More demonstrations will be needed. Decent congressional representatives must be supported.
eclare
@Kathleen: 1000%, this. Never knew I could be so furious, I laugh at my rage under W at this point. And now I want potato salad.
Roger Moore
@MomSense:
The Democrats would be apoplectic. The Republicans would tut tut about how inappropriate it was and then sit on their thumbs. Same old, same old.
Baud
@Cheryl Rofer:
To be fair, they campaigned on that.
efgoldman
@kindness:
Pond scum, at least, floats to the top
Cheryl Rofer
Here’s an article on the special prosecutor statute by Neil Katyal, who has been Solicitor General of the United States, and who wrote that statute.
Steve in the ATL
Driving home tonight I passed a car with a bumpersticker that said “Hillary lied and xxx died and xxx”
I couldn’t read it all as the type was smallish and changed color.
But other than the wrongness of its allegations, why the fuck are these morons still carrying on about that? They already stole the election from her, so why keep trying to discredit her? What is gained?
You sure don’t see liberals driving around with “Dukakis!” stickers on their cars.
Kathleen
@MomSense: I pray for that each morning.
Baud
@Steve in the ATL: How do you know it’s not an old bumper sticker?
Emma
@Cermet: You know they could be both, right?
Steve in the ATL
@Kathleen: I generally agree with you but need clarification on one key point: was the potato salad mustard based or mayo based?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@ElegantFowl: Guess you’ve never heard of Medicaid Advantage.
ruemara
@schrodingers_cat: but kraits are so much more cuddly.
@Kathleen: There is definitely enough proof that something has been happening for around a decade or more that republican leadership and many key support groups and media outlets have been influenced if not outright bough by Russian funding. Looking at you, Nation. And the NRA.
Kathleen
@eclare: Ha!
MisterForkbeard
@Steve in the ATL: Asking the important questions.
Alternately, there’s german potato salad, which is vinegar based. :)
Steve in the ATL
@Baud: it may not be new, but it was the only one in the car, so it’s clearly important to him. But why not remove the sticker eight months after the election to reduce the odds of your car gettibg keyed?
Cheryl Rofer
The Ninth Circuit Court upheld the stay on Trump’s Muslim ban today, so the idea of firing Mueller may be Trump’s punchback.
Just a wild thought. Doesn’t mean he won’t do it.
Kathleen
@Steve in the ATL: It was sour cream. Not my favorite dressing (mustard is) but hey, it’s a locally owned coop market that has a kick cellulot home made hot bar items, deli and potato salad so I went for it. And it was delicious.
BTW, interestingly enough, their biggest selling item is old school boiled potatoes with butter and parsley. As good as what my mother made. Clifton has a large population of UC students so I find it interesting that retro comfort food is a draw..
Baud
@Steve in the ATL: I think most people don’t bother removing their stickers.
SatanicPanic
@Steve in the ATL: I hate bumper stickers. They’re the memes of the pre-internet. I hate memes too.
efgoldman
@Aleta:
Let’s see…
Perjury… check
Doctoring resume… check
Lying to the senate… check (you know he will)
Confirmable… check. Probably without even a hearing.
Quinerly
“Worst first date ever, that Cabinet meeting.” Glenn Thrush
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: I have an Obama-Biden sticker on my old laptop.
schrodingers_cat
@Corner Stone: Reposting from two threads ago:
I am not in the business of predicting what T or his minions in Congress are going to do.
And getting depressed by something that has yet to happen.
Roger Moore
@Steve in the ATL:
Two points:
1) One disadvantage of bumperstickers is that they stay on past their useful date. It’s entirely possible that sticker was put on when it was still relevant but the person either hasn’t gone to the trouble of removing it or has deliberately kept it as a tribal marker.
2) It’s obviously a direct response to the “Bush lied, thousands died” stuff. They’re angry about that, so they want to tar Hillary with the same brush.
Kathleen
@ruemara: I think it’s been going on since at least 1968 and had its roots in the Kennedy assassination (but I think 99% of Juicers would not agree with me that JFK’s murder was a conspiracy). While the Russians are culpable and providing the tools and money, the origin of the coup is the good old USofA. Military officials and industrialists attempted a coup in the 30’s against Roosevelt so it is not without precedent here.
Honestly to me the scariest part is not the Russians per se. It’s the Americans whom we don’t know that scare me more.
Mnemosyne
@Morzer:
I do find it quite interesting that a non-Democrat came out of nowhere with a campaign manager with ties to Putin and made a pretty successful run at the Democratic nomination while being fueled by easily laundered small donations. I especially find it interesting that this same person is continuing to try and splinter the party by calling the Democrats corrupt and in bed with Wall Street. Don’t you?
Baud
@schrodingers_cat: Agree. I don’t know why everyone on our side believes they are Nostradamus.
Shalimar
@Trentrunner: There has been lots of gossip about Republicans preferring Pence to Trump, but not having the guts to be stand up to their would-be dictator. It is theoretically possible that you could get enough votes for an independent counsel since they wouldn’t be directly attacking Trump, just letting the investigation take it’s course.
I don’t have Schiff’s confidence that will happen, but I don’t talk to even 1% of the Republicans he does on a daily basis either.
schrodingers_cat
@Kathleen: I make potato salad with olive oil and lime juice, red onions and garnish it with parsley (or cilantro). Its delicious and not so heavy as the one with mayo.
Quinerly
@schrodingers_cat:
I have a large “NOT A REPUBLICAN” sticker on my Ford Escape. Had one on my Subaru. It survived 4 weeks in AZ and Utah. Continues to survive on my St. Louis to NC trips.
Bill Arnold
From OP,
This (and the similar mental health aspects) are the aspect that I’m pretty sure that the (non-psychopathic, technical sense) Republicans haven’t thought about clearly. Slow death sentences, in the many thousands, that would quite clearly have been unjustly inflicted by Republicans. Second Amendment; guns, lots of guns.
With only a bit of over-the-top thought that is all too easy these days, one can also easily imagine psychopaths looking for such an incident to provide an excuse for martial law/ethnic cleansing/FEMA camps/whatever.
Not happy about this. Republicans really need to open up the process.
eclare
@Steve in the ATL: That person must be very comfortable that everyone he/she encounters approves. I am not that confident, there are no bumper stickers on my car.
Kathleen
@schrodingers_cat: Do you do carry out? I am a potato salad freak.
schrodingers_cat
@Mnemosyne: Being in bed with Wall Street is better than being in bed with the Russian bear. I also find it interesting that many of the doom and gloomers were BS bots during the primaries. Oh we has already lost. Democrats are awful, whine whine.
Quinerly
@Mnemosyne:
You and I agree on so much. Never trusted Tad Devine.
Raven Onthill
(Copied from my blog. Updated from 2009 version)
Washington, DC. Today Republican Senate leader McConnell announced that all Democratic Senators will be arrested and the US Senate will henceforth be known as the House of Lords. “We feel this change reflects the power of the body and the position of its members.” When asked about the Constitution, Senator McConnell replied, “The constitution is subordinate to the needs of the nobility.”
In other news, President Trump announced he is changing his title to King. House Democrats are appealing to their home states for military aid.
(Bah! Can’t include an image. In any event, it’s a photograph of the Memorial to the Murdered Members of the Reichstag. Follow the links if you want to see it. Image source. More about the memorial.)
Shalimar
@Mnemosyne: Especially considering he took all those small donations and flushed them down the same major media black hole all the less pure candidates do. I tend to agree with you about Devine and most of the online Bernie bro trolls being Russian agents. I usually give the benefit of the doubt to Bernie himself, though it wouldn’t shock me to see evidence he knew what was happening.
gene108
Republicans know right-wing media will keep the base in line. The base will be told by Fox and others how great this is and the base will happily repeat those lies, while they are selling everything they own to cover their medical bills.
Also, I am sure Republicans have realized all they need to do to continue getting the majority of the white vote is feed the racist rage in this country.
I think if Republicans make it OK to say nigger in public again, they’d never lose again, because all the assholes who voted for the first time in 2016, will be able to bring along 10 friends.
dogwood
@Steve in the ATL:
I suspect this obsession with hanging on to the Hillary stuff among a percentage of republicans and Sanders supporters is a fierce desire to constantly shift the conversation away from Trump. They don’t want to take any responsibility for the disaster that they either directly or indirectly enabled. Believing that there was something worse than Trump is all they got.
Cheryl Rofer
California state senate passed their single-payer healthcare bill.
Bizarre time: some very good things are happening even as the disaster in the White House builds.
schrodingers_cat
@Kathleen: Anything for you, my dear. This recipe is courtesy, my old housemate who was from Turkey. He was a great cook.
efgoldman
@Kathleen:
Reasons number one through one million not to believe conspiracy theories: Too goddamned many people have to know about it, and SOMEONE is going to talk. That’s what’s gonna’ happen with the election interference, too – in fact it already is to some degree.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Its mostly the Berners, they wants themselves a revolution and for that everything has to fail, first.
efgoldman
@Mnemosyne:
Occam says he’s just a loud. shouty. egotistical asshole who doesn’t know when to shut the fuck up.
Kathleen
@schrodingers_cat: Thank you! I prefer a lighter dressing on potato and other salads. The less dressing on potato salad the better.
Shalimar
@schrodingers_cat: Funny how that is exactly what Putin wants for the U.S. too.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat: I have to disagree there. It’s universal. You see it a lot here too, particularly with the doom and gloomers.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@schrodingers_cat: What! No butter or cheese?
schrodingers_cat
Love Uma Mohan’s version of the Shiva Tandava*
also too, Kailash Kher’s version in Bahubali
Tandav == Shiva’s dance of cosmic destruction.
Smiling Mortician
@ruemara:
I’m late to the party but YES.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@gene108: Any adverse issues with the AHCA will be Obama’s fault. Thanks Obama!
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: I have actually gone and checked some of the older comments of the doom and gloomers, many of them were BS supporters during primaries. The intersection set is large.
Kathleen
@efgoldman: On a side note, I find it interesting that this country doesn’t have a public conversation about the Rethuglicans’ conspiracy to deny African American people the vote through draconian ID requirements, limited polling facilities, and purged voting rolls. Even when Rethuglicans admit it the mainstream media won’t touch it. But it still is a conspiracy.
Damn it, I’m getting pissed again and I’m out of potato salad.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat: Do you have a spreadsheet? ?
schrodingers_cat
@efgoldman: His actions benefit T and the Rs, not the causes he is supposedly fighting for. I judge a person by his karma==actions, not what he says.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: No that’s M4 not me.
lamh36
efgoldman
@schrodingers_cat:
Hard to tell, you look so much alike.
Baud
@lamh36: He had experience. More than I can say for Devos.
schrodingers_cat
@efgoldman: I could be DougJ for all you know.
Kevin Robbins
I was going to take my Clinton/Kaine sticker off after the election. I didn’t want there to be any chance someone might think I voted for Trump.
dogwood
We have to recognize that when it it comes to Trumpcare, the Republicans are the beneficiaries of dumb luck. They are defending 8 Senate seats next year, 7 from deep red states. Only Dean Heller has to really worry. McConnell wouldn’t touch the bill if it were any threat to his job as Majority Leader.
Raven Onthill
Not just that. They want everyone not of their own class broken. This is what it looks like.
Ajabu
@Steve in the ATL:
I’ll be moving back to the ATL next month & have a VERY LARGE supply of Obama t-shirts that I wear regularly – including a bunch from home (we went nuts in the Caribbean when he was first elected) – and I pity the first motherfucker who makes a negative comment about them. I’m done with these people. Of course, it’s likely a moot point because I live in So. DeKalb county…
Mnemosyne
@dogwood:
As I’ve said before, they wanted Anyone But Hillary, and they got exactly what they wanted. They don’t get to whine now that they didn’t realize that they should have been more careful about what they wished for. The monkey’s paw gives you what you asked for, not what you wanted.
SiubhanDuinne
@ElegantFowl:
How charmingly sweet you sing.
Mnemosyne
@Kathleen:
Unfortunately, that’s because a majority of white people in this country — including more than a few self-proclaimed liberals — are on board with voter suppression of minority voters, and think there needs to be more of it. They think that only white people should be allowed to vote.
And I say this as a white person.
WTA: Also, you should look into kickboxing classes. More long-term satisfaction than potato salad, especially if you do your visualizations right. ?
Kelly
Been sifting thru #kinglear on twitter after the cabinet meeting this morning. Old man holding court receiving over the top praise parallels are amazing.
Quinerly
A must if just for the picture: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/this-is-some-real-dear-leader-stuff.html
Mnemosyne
@Kelly:
Who’s going to tell him that they love him more than meat loves salt? I think all of Ivanka’s kids are little Gonerils.
schrodingers_cat
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I have a recipe of potatoes in ghee seasoned with green chiles and cumin and garnished with peanuts, people traditionally eat it when they are breaking a fast.
lamh36
gene108
@Kathleen:
The way to undo those laws is to get Democrats elected at every level.
It is going to be a hard slog, but Republicans are a lost cause.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud:
Is that more than one Devo?
“Are we not men, we are Devo”.
Kelly
@Mnemosyne: I think all of them came pretty close. We know are in the first act. Hope our final act is a bit less bloody.
Aleta
From CNBC (By John Harwood):
“Never has there been a president, with few exceptions … who has passed more legislation, done more things,” Trump declared, even though Congress, which is controlled by his party, hasn’t passed any major legislation.
He hailed his plan for the “single biggest tax cut in American history,” even though he hasn’t proposed a plan and Congress hasn’t acted on one. He said “no one would have believed” his election could have created so many new jobs over the past seven months (1.1 million), even though more jobs (1.3 million) were created in the previous seven months.
…
Mike Pence, whom Trump kept in the dark for two weeks after learning that then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had given the vice president false information earlier this year, responded by saying that serving as Trump’s number two is “the greatest privilege of my life.”
“An honor to be here,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who recently offered his resignation amid strains over the Russia investigation.
“My hat is off to you,” said Energy Secretary Rick Perry, referring to the president’s explanation of his decision to abandon a global climate change agreement.
“We thank you for the opportunity and blessing you’ve given us to serve your agenda and the American people,” said Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, the subject of recent reports that Trump may fire him.
Diana
@Kathleen: best potato salad recipe ever:
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/recipes/salads/smoked-herring-and-potato-salad-recipe
if you don’t have smoked herring, canned sardines will do, or anchovies, used very judiciously.
Kathleen
@Mnemosyne: Well, I run, do the stair master on which I stomp out a lot of frustration and the elliptical. When my job moves downtown from the ‘burbs I hope to squeeze in some strength or kickboxing classes again. Can’t do classes on my current work schedule.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Only a non-recused highest official at DOJ could fire Mueller, which is Rosenstein, and it can only be for “good cause shown”. Mueller could refuse to step down,unleashing a shit storm either way – stay or go.
Lurking Canadian
@Mnemosyne: I’m going to need a citation before I believe there are self-defined liberals in America who think only white people should be able to vote.
Odie Hugh Manatee
Dear John,
You nailed it outta the ballpark.
Aleta
@Diana: perhaps smoked trout too
debbie
Talk about venality, not even Trump’s nominee for the OCC Can tell the truth about his education.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-trump-comptroller-dartmouth-20170612-story.html
Kathleen
@gene108: I agree. I saw Tom Perez last week and he said most important state office is attorney general and told us about his former employee who is running for AG in Ohio and who sounds pretty impressive.
I understand importance of elections, but I’m still so angry about fact this seems to be low priority in the national conversation. It’s not right.
Starfish
@Steve in the ATL: Are you in a place that has car sticker culture? I am, and there are a lot of Jill Stein, Bernie, and Obama/Biden stickers out there.
Kathleen
@Diana: Thank you! I have saved it. We have a couple of French bistros in the area and I will be sure to check the menu.
efgoldman
@schrodingers_cat:
You could be, but he wouldn’t be caught dead living in Massachusetts
schrodingers_cat
@Lurking Canadian: My JS voting friend who was anyone but HRC is now reduced to defending the travel ban. But she is not a racist, no siree bob, because she cooks Indian food and does yoga.
Roger Moore
@Mnemosyne:
I don’t know how many self-proclaimed liberals are really on-board with voter suppression. What I believe is that the Republican marketing campaign has been very successful at presenting their voter suppression techniques as non-problematic attempts to protect voting integrity. Voter ID is especially effective that way. There are plenty of middle class liberals who don’t know anyone likely to have trouble getting an acceptable ID, so they can easily blow it off as at most a minor inconvenience. I think it’s especially pernicious because so many of those liberals live in blue states where the state government isn’t going to turn around and deliberately make it difficult for people to get ID to suppress their vote.
schrodingers_cat
@efgoldman: Why is he too good for us? NY state is not all that.
chris
Krugman made me laugh. A Python reference will do that.
Thoughtful David
@Aleta:
At this point, that’s the best he can get. No one who is actually any good, who actually knows anything, will work fr him.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Lurking Canadian:
The Berners are pushing to change closed primaries to caucuses – effectively suppressing the black vote in the Democratic party. They’re trying to retcon the primary process in a way that would have had Russian agent Sanders win the nomination of a party he won’t join. And if there’s any question about how this is going over on black twitter, let me just assure you that this is understood to be exactly what it appears to be.
Draco7
First, I would like to acknowledge the John Cole Grand Rant, which is (am,are?) the thing that brought me to Balloon Juice in the first place. He (or you, John – if you read this) is so good at this – telling it like it is. I could handle more, but it must be draining.
Secondly, I am deadly PO’d about not just the current set of travesties but the whole narrative of the last few months. It appears that the majority of Americans have substantially lost control of their nation. A number of commenters observe that the Democratic party does not have its act together. Pretty obvious, but there is a lot of energy going into anger that could be put to use. In the absence of significant opposition, all of us are the Democratic party. I am not a partisan by any means, but this is the path to opposition.
I resolved on 11/9/16 to do whatever I could to be the opposition. As some have noted, liberals are just standing there with their mouths agape, overwhelmed by the immensity of the inferno. All credit to those who have called and marched, but there’s lots more that could be done – and must be done in order to drive outcomes. I’ve been to Indivisible, OFA, and Democratic meetings, but almost nobody has shown any urgency re the electoral process of 2018. I didn’t realize it was so hard to shift gears. There are a lot of actions that could be taken, and I’m not inclined to leave it to MoveOn, etc.. Anyway, there are plenty of opportunities for additional action, and if somebody else is already covering them I just don’t know about it. This being politics it could be a long story, but to shorten it up – I live in Michelle Bachmann’s old district – is there anybody in the general area who would care to meet up and maybe channel some of this energy?
Baud
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: We need fewer caucuses, not more.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: And closed primaries, Democrats should select their nominee.
lamh36
Because of course he is…smh…
Mike J
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jp-morgan-chase-pulls-nbc-news-ads-megyn-kellys-interview-alex-jones-report-1012838
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Baud:
and closed primaries. But Berners independence and freedom not to join a party is being oppressed by not being able to vote for the party’s nominee. They’re as racist and idiotic as every Trump voter, but with extra self-righteousness.
efgoldman
@Thoughtful David:
Has he been able to find a criminal defense attorney yet who will take him as a client? A week or so ago, it was pretty clear that no major firm would take the case.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I agree with that too. But in terms of priorities, I prefer getting rid of caucuses.
AnnaN
This baffles and worries me. Why would the repubs do this if the blowback is bad that they will lose massive in the coming two elections? I don’t think they are doing this just for a few big breaks for very few people. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but this smells like McConnell et all KNOW they don’t have to worry about 2018/20 elections. Makes me sick to my stomach.
(Can someone please tell me I’m a fool and back it up with some sound reasoning?)
Diana
@Aleta: absolutely yes!
Baud
@Mike J: Yay bankers?!?!
Baud
@AnnaN: Well, they have a good map.
Diana
@Kathleen: you’re welcome! Because the only cooking involves boiling the potatoes it’s really easy to make in case your local French restaurants don’t have it.
? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?
Exactly. Murder by proxy is still murder. Hope Rob Portman, Mitch the Bitch, and Atlas Failed get shot to death for this
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@AnnaN:
This is my thought too – Obama is the last legitimately elected president, and that fact broke so many white people that they’d rather sell out to the Russians than share the country with minorities and women.
Morzer
@SatanicPanic:
I think it’s perfectly clear that the Democrats are a coalition that is now effectively split between the Clintonian centrists who just want to get back to “normal” and the Sanders leftists who think radical measures are needed. What’s not clear to me is that the Democrats can find a way to hold the party together effectively enough to win power or clean up after the disaster of Trump (assuming that they get the chance).
efgoldman
@Mike J:
Hey look! Stupidity and assholery DO have consequences.
Probably didn’t help that their first two shows got blown out of the water by 60 Minutes.
Aleta
From IB Times
To carry out its raids on undocumented immigrant families, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will soon get a helping hand from one of President Donald Trump’s rare allies in the tech industry, Palantir Technologies Inc. co-founder and chairman Peter Thiel.
Palantir won a $41.6 million contract to provide ICE with a surveillance system that identifies targeted individuals’ schools, family members, friends, employers, documentation history, communications, criminal records and work and home addresses, which ICE was slated to begin using in September, the Intercept reported Thursday. Known as Investigative Case Management, the technology will allow ICE agents to mine a massive pool of data from the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, among others, according to the intelligence news site, which conducted an analysis of the product’s funding documents.
The Palo Alto, California-based data analytics company has (also) aided the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance programs, was funded early on by the Central Intelligence Agency and won a suit against the Pentagon for blocking it from bidding for a $206 billion Army contract.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Morzer:
Sanders leftists aren’t leftists – they’re low info idiots who don’t know anything about history, left history, how government works, or anything else really. I miss arguing with Trotskyites. The low info left and low info right is the Horseshoe theory in action right now. They’re both about perpetuating white male supremacy.
Mnemosyne
@AnnaN:
I suspect that they’ve been promised that they don’t have to worry about 2018.
It’s up to us to make whoever promised them that into a liar.
eclare
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Hahaha…
Repatriated
@AnnaN:
Alternately, they may have come to believe that they will lose massively and they only have this one chance to grab everything they can for their patrons.
Mike J
@efgoldman: Looks like MK could cost NBC a lot more than just her $15M salary.
eclare
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Abso-fucking-lutely.
Morzer
@Mnemosyne:
I find it interesting that you won’t face the facts: the Clintonites need the Sanders people (and vice versa) to have any chance of beating the GOP. The more the Clintonites succeed in pushing Bernie and his comrades out of the Democratic party, the less chance there is of beating the GOP (and,of course, vice versa).
? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?
@Aleta: Today, undocumented immigrants. Tomorrow, anyone the GOP (or alt-right successors) don’t like. This scary.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Morzer:
This is just fucking bullshit. The Clintonites will make room, not step aside. The Sanders brats want to take over, not ally.
Morzer
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Sure, sure, sure. And the Sanders people will say that your side of the equation are just Republican-lite friends of Wall St. Neither of you will achieve anything that way.
Baud
@Morzer: No one is pushing anyone out. People leave be they want to, often because other people won’t bend to their will. They have agency. It’s their choice.
Roger Moore
@AnnaN:
It makes me sick to my stomach, but mostly about the damage they’re trying to do. I don’t think their actions are those of people who think subsequent elections are in the bag. If they really believed that, they wouldn’t be hiding. They’re still very afraid of what their constituents think and are worried that angry voters are going to make enough of them lose their nerve that they won’t be able to get anything passed. This is about getting their big tax cut and to hell with the consequences.
? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?
@Morzer: BOTH SIDES!!!
raven
The hamilton cast is rockin the anthem!
Shana
@Kathleen: America’s Test Kitchen says to put the vinegar on the potatoes when they’re still hot. It soaks in as they cool and you can use less mayo when you mix it all together. I’ve tried it and it works well, more flavorful IMO.
Morzer
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
If you say so. It doesn’t match what I am seeing here or hearing from friends in various states, but it’s your reality and you’ll keep living in it.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Morzer:
Where in the country has the far left of the Dem party been successful? Even Vermont has a Republican governor now,
Morzer
@? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?:
Sadly, this is one of the cases where both sides (as represented by their extremists) really are doing it. It’s no wonder the Dems don’t seem to know what they stand for, other than NOT TRUMP! (Which is fine and good in itself, but not enough to take you very far.)
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Morzer:
There is a concerted effort to turn primaries into caucuses – the least Democratic way to choose a nominee.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@eclare: At least someone got it.
schrodingers_cat
@Shana: What is that pretentious twit with the bow tie up to now?
Baud
@Morzer: Are both sides currently suing the Democratic Party for millions of dollars in an effort to relitigate the primary?
Jeffro
@lamh36: Is this what Adam means by “penetration at all levels”?
All the way down to Oliver Stone’s level(!) Dayummmmmm…
sukabi
@Quinerly: if he does fire Mueller it pretty much seals his fate…he’s blatantly obstructing justice and daring the Republicans to do something about it… I’d give it a week, if the repubs fail to act I’d expect Ryan and McConnell’s dirty laundry will hit the front pages of every major newspaper and media outlet.
schrodingers_cat
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Forget it, Conster. St Sanders can do no wrong and his minions are always right, by definition.
SS (Sanders Supporters) are never wrong, they can only be wronged.
Shana
@Aleta: Or smoked whitefish.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Morzer: It’s hard to bury the hatchet when you insist upon swinging it.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Oh, that’s nice.
eclare
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Crack that whip!
schrodingers_cat
@?BillinGlendaleCA: *claps* For you I will put both butter and cheese in the potato salad.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Baud:
How many Berniecrats have won? How many single payer initiatives have they gotten passed when it’s up for a vote? It lost by 80% in Colorado. Where is all this pent up demand for socialism on the scale that these idiots think there is? He wants to raise everyone’s taxes, where are his fucking tax returns?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@sukabi:
I hear McConnell likes chicken.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Really? Did Hillary Clinton host a big conference organized around whiny histrionics and the idea that Wilmer and the Wilmerites are the real enemy? I missed it. Who was the Clintonite who turned a unity tour into a bitch-fest about the 2016 primary? I missed that one, too. Which Clintonites are whining about corruption and talking about lawsuits because they lost a state party election?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
IC leaks, you mean? even the legendary McConnell discharge papers which may or may not contain the phrase “soap party”?
schrodingers_cat
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: He wants to do nothing of the kind, he wants to enrich himself on Putin’s tab by destroying one of the last remaining hurdles in the Russian’s way, the Democratic party.
dmsilev
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Nah, his big secret is that he’s into cannibalism: he likes turtle soup.
Baud
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: I expect in time they will have some victories. But it is disingenuous for them to criticize the Dems for failure when they have achieved so little to date.
Omnes Omnibus
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Her potato salad sounds great.
Uncle Cosmo
@Morzer: Stick to your side of the Pond & worry about your own dumpster fire of an island & a quarter & leave us the fuck alone, arsehole.
Baud
@Uncle Cosmo: He or she is British? I didn’t know that.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@schrodingers_cat:
I wish they’d just go and start their Independent Party, but Wilmer doesn’t do work, so they’re going to have to figure it out from scratch.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: That’s what Kay has been saying. If folk think that the “establishment Democrats” are taking the wrong approach, run someone for Governor of Ohio, or Michigan, or Wisconsin and WIN. If they do that, they’ll make believers of the “establishment Democrats”. So far the results have not been promising.
goblue72
First comment on this post is a pointless insult to Sanders supporters. Typical.
John – your blog has officially jumped the shark. Have fun with that.
Brachiator
@Kelly:
Yes, the comments here are just wonderful, especially in light not only of the cabinet meeting, but also the silliness over the production of Julius Caesar.
In any event, I can just imagine Trump looking around the table at the Cabinet meeting and asking,
raven
@goblue72: Hey, maybe the last one will be a pointed insult of your obnoxious ass.
dogwood
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
All the bitching and moaning about closed primaries is crap. Registering as a Republican or a Democrat is pretty meaningless in this country. You aren’t really joining anything. There are no requirements or party dues. I’ve been registered to vote in my state for 45 years. I’m assuming I registered as a Dem, but who knows, maybe I registered as an Independent, though it’s doubtful. In my state Republicans have closed primaries. If I ever thought my vote in a Republican primary could actually make a difference in this red, red state, I might be willing to change my registration. Bernie got in and out of the Party pretty easily; why won’t his minions do the same?
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Tom Periello has a chance if he wins the primary. Although he’s mixed because he’s an Obama guy too.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@goblue72: Hiya Dwight! Advocate for any domestic terrorism today? You sure class up the blog with that stuff
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@schrodingers_cat:
Yup. Wilmer and Crooked Jane the Purity Couple – bank fraud, golden parachutes, steal kids college degrees by tanking a college, evade financial disclosure, start a dark money PAC to grift the idiot left.
raven
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Well, I tried.
efgoldman
@Morzer:
How is taking him on a tour, during which the asshole has spent his time and energy SLAGGING THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND ITS CORE CONSTITUENCY pushing him out?
I wouldn’t have given him a seat in the back of the airplane. Fuck him and his ignorant bots.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@dogwood:
Because his minions are a bunch of entitled children.
schrodingers_cat
Onward brave soldiers, reinforcements have arrived. NeoRussian and soft cheese will be here soon.
MomSense
@raven:
?
? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?
@goblue72: Nobody cares what some 40 year old virgin loser thinks
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@efgoldman:
Seriously. They gave him the platform, they appointed him outreach director, and he does nothing but shit talk his hosts. He’s such a fucking ungracious asshole, just like Trump. He’s Trump Lite. There’s nothing “progressive” about him.
Actually, Joy Reid had the perfect analogy in this tweet thread. He wants to choose your apartment but doesn’t want to pay the rent.
Barbara
@Morzer: I have no idea what your priorities are, you don’t seem willing to tip your hand, just kick up dust, but right now the most important, the most urgent focus is indeed Not Trump. That wasn’t the focus last year and with luck it won’t be the focus next year, but this year it is essential.
schrodingers_cat
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Wasn’t he thrown out of a commune because he talked too much and did not do his share of the work. I remember reading that somewhere. Truth or exaggeration?
dmsilev
@Kelly:
I think we should start calling him King Leer.
schrodingers_cat
@Barbara: Follower of the one true saint of progressives since the start of time. IIRC.
Ohio Mom
@Kathleen: Geez, it was in the Cincinnati Enquirer that Anthem pulled out because they weren’t confident that the subsidies they needed would be there.
The Enquirer, a paper not known for liberal leanings or for catching anything subtle. If they grokked that Anthem was reacting to the chaos being sown by the Republicans and nothing else…
On another note, please no more quarts of potato salad in one sitting!
schrodingers_cat
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: He also wants to come and go as he pleases without doing any chores, like taking out the garbage.
efgoldman
@Baud:
Yup. They’ve had multiple opportunities to join the party and work toward a common end. I don’t see it from fearless leader and I don’t see it from the bros. They were assholes at the convention, and they’ve been assholes since.
And no, this isn’t about being a Hillarybot. There are all kinds of Dems I can and will support. HRC isn’t running for anything ever again. I truly hope Bernie isn’t, either. i will not support people who think we need to cater to mouth breathing, drooling, knuckle dragging WWC flying monkeys… OR to a bunch of lefty naifs who don’t know the first fucking thing about how politics and government work. [/rant]
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@schrodingers_cat:
Yes, his entire history is of being a scoldy PITA sideline sniping fraud who doesn’t do work. In 30 years in Congress did not make one ally.
Barbara
@schrodingers_cat: A thriving party always has more than one true saint. :)
eclare
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Wow, that was awesome!
ArchTeryx
It comes down to this: Totalitarian movements almost always start with purges, and always of the “unworthy” or “other”. This is no less a purge then happened in the Great Leap Forward, Pol Pot’s Cambodia, or in Stalinist Russia. “We’ll have fewer but better Russians at the end of it,” was the rallying cry.
The Republicans may not make it explicit with death camps, but the end results are the same – death in agony, out of sight of the public.
This is an absolutely starkers power play by an undemocratically elected minority to purge majority supporters.
rikyrah
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Here’s the link to the twitter thread discussing this:
https://twitter.com/armandodkos/status/874258152446939136
Corner Stone
@? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?:
Well now.
efgoldman
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Oh hell, run someone for the fucking state senate or legislature, or county commissioner somewhere, and win.
eclare
@schrodingers_cat: Excellent analogy!
JMG
Death works both ways. I am not endorsing this, in fact I dread it, but repealing ACA will dramatically increase the number of desperate people in this country. Many of them may have firearms. It’s just the law of averages one such poor soul will show up at a Republican Congressman or Senator’s town meeting or fundraiser and blow him to kingdom come.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@eclare:
He’s the coworker who steals your ideas to present to the boss at the meeting, gets in the way of doing your job, complains loudly to your coworkers that you’re doing your job wrong, then eats your yogurt out of the kitchen fridge.
? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?
@Corner Stone: If it passes. And it results in chaos and preventable deaths. I don’t want violence. But they sure are asking for some with this bullshit
trnc
Putin gets to say whether or not other candidates are allowed to be on election ballots. DT lusts for this authority, and I see no reason to think republicans wouldn’t give it to him after a few “very concerned” head fakes.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: This. Making sure that we emphasize how our policies will benefit the working class is important – to the extent that people see the need to add white to that, well, to that extent we can discount their willingness to ever come to our side. Let’s get the out the people who sympathize with our views but don’t bother to vote. Let’s make sure the people who want to vote but are prevented from doing so by shitty laws get to vote in the next election. Chasing people who will never vote for our candidates is pointless. They’re just not that into us.
efgoldman
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
And because HRC knew she was going to win the primaries going away, she never had to mention a word of it. Sanctus Bernietas might not get it so easy next time around.
Omnes Omnibus
@Barbara: I don’t believe in saints.
eclare
@JMG: I predict riots, have no idea how violent they will be, but yeah, violence is inevitable. I know others who have the same prediction.
Starfish
I read a tweet that said “Even Bullshit Barbie can’t help him now.”
Is “Bullshirt Barbie” Ivanka or Kellyanne?
Procopius
@ElegantFowl: I don’t see any reason to think the Democrats would pass Medicare for All if they got back into power. Too many of them depend on “campaign contributions” from the Medical-Insurance complex. Some of them are even doctors (who say the theory of evolution is a lie from the devil). As long as the neoliberals continue to have control of the party, no program which helps lower income people will be accepted. “Single payer never!!!”
Baud
@Procopius: Plus it would not be popular.
But her emails!!!
@AnnaN:
Win or lose, Republicans don’t really have to worry about the outcome of the 2018 and 2020 elections. I’m sure they’ve all been implicitly assured of nice cushy gigs with substantially more pay should they fail to win reelection, unless they fail to vote as directed. In that case, well, I hope they like cleaning grease out of the deep fat fryer.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@efgoldman:
Yup. All of his past comments/associations with left wing dictatorships and his admiration for them. He’s Trump.
? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?
@Procopius: Neoliberals! Drink!
I’m going to be utterly smashed by the end of tonight
efgoldman
@dmsilev:
Nope. If he hears about it, he’ll only hear the “King” part.
He doesn’t get it. He really doesn’t. Sarcasm is lost on him. But it’s fun for us.
Omnes Omnibus
@Procopius:
Name the Democrats who fit this description.
eclare
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Yes, have worked with plenty of people only too happy to tell me how I’m/the company is doing something wrong, but when asked what to do about it, nothing. We used to call them Eeyores, although that doesn’t fully encompass the attitude. Some people just like to complain, unfortunately he has a following willing to believe.
ETA> I’m not minimizing it, he is doing real damage that worries me.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Procopius:
Single payer is not typical. Universal health care is the goal, and most countries have a mix of public and private to get there – rather like the ACA approach which had Medicaid provisions SCOTUS let the red state governors opt out of to deny to their citizens, because it would hurt “those people” the most.
Fair Economist
@Mike J:
JPM is pretty evil (they are the centerpiece of the derivatives tangle) but that’s pretty good – do I approve or not? This is kind of like dropping a cat with buttered toast strapped to its back.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus: Hillary Clinton.
But her emails!!!
@Procopius:
You wouldn’t know a neoliberal if it bit you on the ass.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Omnes Omnibus: @Baud: maybe the whole “Dr Biden” thing confused someone. I don’t know where the the evolution fantasy came from.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@rikyrah:
I read this earlier today, and it’s truly gobsmacking. Caucuses are a ridiculous way to go about choosing a nominee.
efgoldman
@Omnes Omnibus:
By typing “n-e-o-l-i-b-e-r-a-l” he has disqualified himself from being taken seriously as a commenter.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Same place as Comet Pizza, I assume.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I do understand that the commenter is a fool or a troll.
But her emails!!!
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Unless what you’re trying to do is give disproportionate power to a highly energized minority with lots of free time on its hands.
dogwood
@the Conster, la Citoyenne
Don’t fall for that “Clintonite” stuff. My problems with Sanders have nothing to do with Clinton. Trying to connect frustration with Bernie to some deep devotion to the Clintons is what they do.
ThresherK
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: I can’t find the source, but someone described that in decades on the Hill they had “never had a policy conversation with Wilmer, but had been lectured by Wilmer countless times”.
Jeffro
Perhaps this was posted earlier, but the UN-official, repeat UN-official WH portrait of PBO was unveiled over the weekend…
…he’s in a tan suit(!)
Who cares, I’ve already bought a dozen prints of it. I might just wallpaper my family room with it.
hovercraft
Because I need to rant.
I caught Naomi Klein on Morning Ho this morning, and I wanted to climb through the screen and smack her. First when asked about new leaders or voices in the democratic party who could lead us out of the wilderness, she mentioned the BS event in Chicago this weekend, and said that a wonderful candidate would be Nina Turner. So right away I she’d lost me, then when asked about what was going on in France with Macron’s party poised to take over, inhabiting the center and diluting the power of the far left and right. Her response was that she fears that in a few years when centrism has failed, Le Pen will become more powerful and win. The solution is not to nominate a more charismatic version of Hillary Clinton, because we’ve had that already, that was Obama, we need real solutions not centrism. So for all the people telling me to get over the primary and to stop dissing the so called Bernie wing of the party, fuck you. These people are as delusional as ever, Corbyn LOST, he did not come close to winning, just like Bernie, it’s not the party holding them back, it’s that they’re not convincing enough people to support them. Macron had the balls to go out and form his own party, he proved that with the right message and opponent, you can go out and form your own party and win, BS needs to go out and do the same. The democratic party is just that, democratic, and we get a say in who we want to nominate, and here’s a newsflash foe Naomi and Susan and Nina and the rest of the fucking purity ponies out there, we don’t want what you’re selling, we had a choice, and we rejected your candidate. So now feel free to form your own party where you can make your own rules and anoint your savior, just go, stop threatening to leave, just go. Caucuses are the least democratic way to pick a nominee, period.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@goblue72: Is this your GBCW?
(Puts on my sackcloth and dumps my ashtray on my head.)
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@But her emails!!!:
Young single whites/males. Nothing says “revolution” quite like a bunch of angry dudebros.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Omnes Omnibus: or maybe you just can’t handle the Realness He Keeps
(I always assume “he”s with that kind of troll)
eclare
@ThresherK: I’ve read that too…some rep, I think?
Omnes Omnibus
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: No, this one has been around before with this name.
Jeffro
@hovercraft:
(nodding furiously here)
eclare
@hovercraft: Righteous rant.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@dogwood:
Exactly. I’ve been voting for Dems since 1972. I’m no more a Clintonite than a Kerryite or Dukakisite. I vote straight Dem, and these know it all know nothings can bite me.
Baud
@hovercraft:
Baud!/hovercraft! 2020!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@hovercraft: apparently Nina Turner as the future of Wilmerism was a major theme at the hootenanny. It’s almost endearing.
Did anyone point out that the quirky guy Bernie went all in for (10,000 people at a rally!) lost to a guy who lost to Democrat with the same voters about a year ago? And the guy Bernie trolled is holding his own against a candidate who (AFAIK) seems almost tailor-made for the district?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: There ya go, talking about politics is like a popularity contest.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@hovercraft:
Corbyn’s loss meaning Wilmer would have won is my favorite cult pretzel logic ever, followed by his cult screeching that Hillary was the worst candidate ever of all time, that beat his old ass by 4 million votes. The Wilmer and Trump cults are identical in every way that matters, because the leaders are identical in every way that matters. They’re all delusional.
Baud
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: The problem with this fight is that it’s between the wrong people. We are mostly yellow dogs. The Dems who would leave the party if we moved to Wilmerism are mostly suburbanites who don’t pay close attention to politics, care about tax rates and support the police. They are not engaging on political infighting on blogs.
schrodingers_cat
@hovercraft: Naomi Disaster Capitalism Klein is a gibberish spouting crackpot embraced by leftier than thou types. Yves Smith is another one. Stupid is not a right wing monopoly.
efgoldman
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Last time I voted for a Republican, I think. Either Frank Sargent or Ed Brooke or both. Sargent was very early to environmentalism, and by today’s standards would be a VERY liberal Democrat.
ETA: I never voted GOP for a national ticket. Never would.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Doesn’t this assume not just two majority votes, but a signature from the Rough Beast?
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I’m starting to warm to caucuses, since I have the fewest and yet most zealous supporters.
Mike J
@Omnes Omnibus: I know evolution denying Dems, but not doctors. Of course I’ve hung out in a lot more black churches than a lot of white liberals.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Baud:
I’m as left as they come intellectually, but pragmatic as hell, and these know nothings with their buzz words aren’t left, or progressives, or they’d be all about forming coalitions to enact progressive policies wherever they can. These low info idiots are cultists.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Mike J: Mark Pryor refused to answer a question about evolution and the age of the earth in Maher’s religious movie, IIRC
Iowa Old Lady
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Schiff apparently has more confidence in Congress than I do.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mike J: The dude is talking about Congress. The dude should be able to come up with a name or two. Or else it was a drive-by.
rikyrah
Sarah Lerner
✔
@SarahLerner
My friend whose husband has cancer called @RoyBlunt’s office crying & they hung up on her amidst telling her story. Unacceptable. #AHCA
lollipopguild
@Baud: We all get our own personal hovercraft in a BAUD administration?
Corner Stone
@Omnes Omnibus: Not even Boondock Saints ?
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@efgoldman:
I don’t think I’ve ever voted for a Republican.
Corner Stone
Please fire Mueller. Please fire Mueller. Please fire Mueller.
rikyrah
Matt FordVerified account @fordm
Growing theme amomg pro-Trump allies and media figures in recent days: laying the groundwork for ousting Mueller.
Omnes Omnibus
@Corner Stone: I am going to call fiction on that.
Omnes Omnibus
@Corner Stone: Why?
Corner Stone
@Procopius:
Mmmmm, soft spreadable cheese. I just can not get enough of it.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Iowa Old Lady: He’s there, so he may know something we don’t.
(He damn well better be there, we sent him there.)
rikyrah
Kyle GriffinVerified account @kylegriffin1
New AJC poll finds the House GOP health care bill is deeply unpopular among GA-06 special election voters.
efgoldman
@rikyrah:
Isn’t Blunt the same asshole that shot a watermelon in his back yard to prove the Clintons assassinated Vince Foster?
He was in the house then.
Corner Stone
@Omnes Omnibus: Let’s do this.
eclare
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: And I would still take him over a Republican any day.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@efgoldman: I think that was Dan Burton.
Omnes Omnibus
@Corner Stone: Do what?
Bill Arnold
@Aleta:
Are there any new details on that contract? (FWIW 2017/03/02, Palantir Provides the Engine for Donald Trump’s Deportation Machine. Figure 4 is nasty looking. (e.g. “Federated searches”). Also:
It’s very not good for freedom lovers of any political persuasion other than “ruler”. Other law enforcement agencies of the Federal Government will be dangled deals if they haven’t been already, probably, and the tech-driven-Panopticon may arrive a few years sooner. At that point true dissent becomes much harder to organize. (Faux dissent will be permitted.) (Yeah, I know these things already exist in cruder form (if Palantir delivers) for police, and etc.)
hovercraft
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Well the only person more zealous in their Bernie love was Mr Comic Book Store so that’s not surprising, plus as a black woman she’s sure to get all the sisters on board, right? Hell NO!
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
As you say, logic apparently has never been their strong suit. I guess that’s why unless people are willing to mill around for a couple of hours to prove their love for their candidate, then their votes carry less votes?
@schrodingers_cat:
Ain’t that the truth!
rikyrah
Jay Bookman AJC
✔
@jaybookmanajc
Ivanka complaining about viciousness is like a mob daughter complaining about criminality. https://twitter.com/davidmackau/status/874222670027653121 …
7:47 AM – 12 Jun 2017
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@efgoldman: Dan Burton. Roy Blunt came within three points of losing to Jason Kander, who I hope raises a big bloody damn stink out of this. McCaskill, too.
Corner Stone
@Omnes Omnibus: This.
Omnes Omnibus
@Corner Stone: I prefer not to.
amk
hmmm
Corner Stone
@Omnes Omnibus: If he fires Mueller there won’t be a choice.
efgoldman
@?BillinGlendaleCA: @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Sorry. All the assholes look alike, sound alike. “think” alike. Easy to get confused when you live in very blue America.
Steve in the ATL
@Ajabu:
Yeah, it’s a little different up here in north Fulton! I’ve mentioned here before that the Ossoff signs this campaign are the first D signs I’ve seen in 17 years living in Johns Creek.
Omnes Omnibus
@Corner Stone: If you are trying to say something, say it. If not, fine.
Larry Dickman
@efgoldman: No no, that was Dan Burton, my longtime Congressman, one of the worst ever: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/election2012/great-moments-in-dan-burton-history
hovercraft
@lollipopguild: @Baud:
For our coastal elitist base, hovercrafts could be much more practical campaign swag that stupid red maga hats!
Omnes Omnibus
@amk: Don’t assume that foreign elections are harbingers of what will happen here. Also, don’t assume that they aren’t.
Matt McIrvin
@Steve in the ATL:
I just saw a car with a “McGovern/Eagleton” bumper sticker. Looked new.
Fair Economist
@schrodingers_cat:
Pace Oliver Smith, I no longer assume they’re stupid. I assume they’re bought. I don’t read DC, but Naked Capitalism has gone totally around the bend about Russian intervention. They defend the Russians about EVERYTHING, and defend Trump (!) if necessary to do that.
Steve in the ATL
@Starfish:
Political stickers are rare except for R ones. School/kids soccer team/lax/Duke TIP program magnets are de rigeur.
Omnes Omnibus
@hovercraft: I tend to assume that they are full of eels.
Matt McIrvin
(And “Kennedy/Johnson” ones are actually pretty common, especially among the people who also have Bernie stickers, but this seemed more like they were going to the deep cuts.)
hovercraft
@efgoldman:
No that was some asshole from Indiana I think.
efgoldman
@Matt McIrvin:
But it was stuck on with ironic glue.
debbie
@rikyrah:
Throwback to Victoria Gotti!
??? Martin
GSW just went hulk mode.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: My area is Bernie, Coexist, Air Force Bake Sale country. I don’t do bumper stickers.
Bill Arnold
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
I once voted for a Republican in a local race because the Democrat had the Right To Life endorsement and the Republican did not.
Steve in the ATL
@Draco7:
Where were you in February when I was sitting in a bar in a downtown Minneapolis hotel listening to a dude chat up two women, with a shocking degree of success, with tales of the choir directors convention he was attending?
Corner Stone
@Omnes Omnibus: It’s not difficult to piece together. If he fires Mueller, and the R’s all take it sitting down, then there won’t be a choice about what happens next. They have shown themselves to be craven and compromised. The investigation was to play out, even if slowly and with no theatrics. Everyone was going to get tired of it all and we would get a 9/11 Commission bullshit report.
If he fires Mueller we’ll have a pretty clear delineation.
hovercraft
@Omnes Omnibus:
Just for that you get all the eels you want, and one clown ; )
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: Probably doing something better than that.
Lavocat
You woke up this morning, got yourself a gun.
Just a matter of time until we move on to The Purge for real.
The future is coming. And it ain’t pretty.
Corner Stone
@Steve in the ATL: How much did they charge?
trollhattan
@??? Martin:
Durant is unconscious.
Omnes Omnibus
@Corner Stone: Thank you. Sometimes I miss the point of expressionism.
Corner Stone
@hovercraft: Make it two clowns and he’s yours.
efgoldman
@Omnes Omnibus:
I don’t either, and i drive a leased car. If I put one on, I’d have to get it off.
Steve in the ATL
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Damn, girl–that is some powerful truth right there
Jeffro
@Matt McIrvin:
False flag! False flag!
I would sport a Nixon one if I had to go retro, myself…
chris
Are there any creationist dems? Just curious because I’ve never run across any. I think the confused commenter was referring to Paul Broun, MD, Republican of Georgia.
“…lies from the pit of hell.”
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Bill Arnold:
That would be my play too. Living in either MA or CT my whole life, the Republicans who run have not been the kind of Republican that we’ve come to know and loathe.
efgoldman
@Steve in the ATL:
Choir directors? Mrs efg is a choir director, although she doesn’t go to conventions.
Corner Stone
@Omnes Omnibus: If you can make a more sane argument I am willing to hear it before I throw feces at you.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@chris:
Of course he wasn’t able to provide a name, and “neoliberal” was the dead giveaway that he was just another low info idiot Wilmerite cultist.
Omnes Omnibus
@Corner Stone: I was just asking for you to explain what you were saying. I wasn’t trying to start a fight.
sukabi
@?BillinGlendaleCA: well he keeps f’ning the same two, so you’re probably right.
debbie
@Steve in the ATL:
Glenn Beck actually stated that tolerance and diversity are destroying the Constitution. This is what we’re up against.
schrodingers_cat
@Fair Economist: I don’t think Klein and Smith are stupid, I was referring to their true believer followers.
Chet Murthy
Here’s the interesting thing about Putinfluffer possibly firing Mueller. It will clarify in a viciously immediate way, a number of things:
(1) whether we live in a democracy at all
(2) whether the IC actually has the goods on Smallgloves and his co-conspirators
(3) and whether the IC is willing to “do what it takes” to defend our democracy
–> b/c if the elected tribunes refuse to do their job, then the IC will be forced to leak not merely the *existence* of damning evidence, but the evidence itself.
And at that point, either the criminals&traitors all get turned out, or we *know* we don’t live in a democracy.
In its own way, it’ll be kind of refreshing. Yeah yeah, harrowing too. But it’ll be like flipping to the back of the murder mystery to see who dun it.
Corner Stone
@Omnes Omnibus: Hmmmm….[sideye to the extreme]
efgoldman
@debbie:
Does anybody listen to him at all any more? The old farts who watched him on teevee and bought “gold” don’t do streaming, for the most part.
chris
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Figured
Corner Stone
@hovercraft:
Nina Turner really went sideways. She’s fucking nuts. Anyone who promotes her as a feasible candidate needs to be looked at very sceptically.
Sab
@Morzer:Just curious: where is “here”?
efgoldman
Shooting for 400 before a new thread?
schrodingers_cat
And all this speculation about the worst outcome possible, achieves exactly what?
Timurid
@Corner Stone:
That’s what happened to bin Laden, for much less than what these guys are doing…
marv
@Gvg: Damn fine post, Gvg
Gin & Tonic
@Chet Murthy: I’m too old for that kind of excitement.
Corner Stone
@schrodingers_cat: The alternative viewpoint? Preparing for the best?
schrodingers_cat
@Corner Stone: Let’s wallow in despair, yes that’s the ticket.
ETA: About things that haven’t even happened.
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodingers_cat: Actually, CS’s comment was quite realistic. If Mueller gets canned and no one in the GOP does anything. It tells us things are going appallingly.
jl
Was downtown in a store with CNN on, listening to the talking heads babble about Trumspters testing waters on trying to fire Mueller.
Heard some one say there is a poll out with percentage of population favoring impeachment slightly higher than Trump’s approval rating.
Anyone hear about that?
Anyway, if Trump does try to get Mueller fired, CNN analyst said it would be like Nixon Saturday night massacre except probably worse, would probably have to go through several resignations or firings before someone gave in a did it, probably more than Nixon did. Like most everything Trumpsters do, the trial runs are clumsy. Throw everything they can think of against the wall and guess what will stick the best. And my guess is that Trump would blurt out the truth a day or so after they settled on a cover story for the attempt.
Corner Stone
@schrodingers_cat: There may be some wallowing. But I have spent a lifetime in a professional capacity looking for the worst possible outcome(s) and planning how to never get there.
I think it is childish to say people who are worried have no reason to be. People who are scared, frightened, borderline violent – they all have their reasons for getting there.
Personally I get tired of people suggesting we have reasonable means available to us at this point.
Chet Murthy
@Gin & Tonic: *cough* I’m 53, you young pup! *grin* Ha! But seriously, all I was getting at was, the worst-case scenario if he fires Mueller *does* seem pretty “out there”, doesn’t it? I don’t expect it to transpire. Adam’s (or was it OO’s) metaphor of “first time for range, second time for effect” is what I’m keeping mind. Can’t believe any of these traitors want to risk their necks, and if they actually tried a coup, that’s what they’d be doing.
ETA: Just joking about the “young pup”. No idea how old you are, but at this point, I can longer claim to be amonst the youngs, so I’m milkin’ the “old codger” for all it’s worth!
Aleta
Simply talking about firing Mueller may be enough, getting the idea covered everywhere. A Dershowitz-style way of sowing doubt about the investigation. And of course it confuses things to do it right before Sessions tomorrow.
KS in MA
@hovercraft: Co-sign.
DissidentFish
@schrodingers_cat: Well, Namaste to her. (Being both Indian and southern, my family has realized that Namaste can equal Bless Your Heart which equals Go F*ck Yourself)
amk
@Aleta: Yup, twitler & his minions are good at throwing chaff at the worthless media.
Gin & Tonic
@Chet Murthy: 53 is so far in the rear-view mirror I have to squint to see it.
randy khan
@Gvg:
I wonder if Rosenstein would see being directed to fire Mueller as a perfect opportunity to resign and get out of the mess with some of his reputation intact.
magurakurin
@Procopius:
California Democrats just passed a single payer bill in the California Senate. California DEMOCRATS. Democrats. Every single fucking social program that exists in the United States was passed by Democrats. There is no Independent Party. Everyone needs to pick a fucking side.
And to the closed primary bullshit. Fill out the damn post card and vote in the primary you want to in a closed primary. If it is a huge issue to do this you aren’t a serious person. Oh, and caucus suck. suck hard. they should all die.
jl
@amk: But not sure it will work. On CNN Toobin said the conflict of interest angle that Trumpsters are floating will be hard sell, unless somethings been missed during the vetting. Unless Mueller was personally involved in a case, just somebody somewhere in a large firm working a case wasn’t conflict of interest. I don’t remember if it is Toobin or Turley who is the goofball, I can’t keep all the talking heads straight.
But the only person on the panel who was talking the BS seriouisly was the Trump spokesperson, a little crud named Miller, I think.
Corner Stone
We have broken through so many norms and established etiquette. Obama should have blasted the fucking foghorn in 2015 about Russia. He should have punched McConnell in his fucking turtle neck, said FUCK YOU, THIS IS AMERICA! and then dealt with it. Turtle told us what was coming. He sold us out to Russia for the sake of a SCOTUS seat. We know that now without a doubt. It was sketchy bullshit before but now we know. McConnell fucked the USA for a SCOTUS seat and he revels in that. Why would you defer to him? Take any threat he said at any value but deadly as fuck?
If they fire Mueller out of hand that is the same as stealing another SCOTUS seat. And then what do we do?
ruemara
@Lurking Canadian: “WE WANT OPEN CAUCUSES FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY BECAUSE WE LOVE BERNIE AND ARE SO PROGRESSIVE.” Open caucuses trend whiter due to length of time and schedule. They didn’t want the southern black vote to count because southern and so we didn’t really count. So an utter fuck them to the clueless morass of Bernie Cultists. They’re horrible people at their core because they can say this and seriously not see the problem.
@Morzer: No. We don’t. You’re unreliable allies at best. At worst, you’re asps.
Vheidi
@Mnemosyne: so freaking annoyed. Just sent a respectful note on his website asking him to join the party before critiquing it. Much better than STFU, which was my real feeling.
magurakurin
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
I know for a fact I never have. And never will. Not even for dog-catcher
schrodingers_cat
@Corner Stone:
You are putting words in my mouth and calling me childish. I circle almost every box that T and his supporters hate. I have also seen in person where this language of violence can lead. I am well aware of what is at stake here.
Mnemosyne
@Morzer:
Here in California, we have a Sandernista screeching and vowing to sue because she lost the election to become the CA Democratic Party chair by about 60 votes.
What are the “Clintonites” supposed to do, let the crybaby have her bottle because otherwise she’s going to take her toys and go home?
Fuck that.
SFAW
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Joy was excellent there, but some of the BernOrBust morons (“Hillary didn’t campaign in X! Bernie polled better against Rs! The Dems are shutting off/out the liberals!”) make me want to register (or whatever it is you do to get on Twitter) and tell them they’re fucking morons, and purity trolls to boot, and if they removed their collective heads from their own/Bernie’s/Shitgibbon’s ass(es), they might have something worth engaging with.
As that efgoldman guy says:
Fuckem
magurakurin
@Fair Economist: I know I’m slowly slipping into CT with age, but my estimation is that Putin gave Stein some hints that he wanted to bring back the Soviet Union is some form when she was there. I think some of these people still see Russia as communist and an ally to the far left. Their main objective is destroying the capitalist system and they think Putin’s Russia can be an ally in this. But Putin is a fascist, not a communist. And Stein, Klein and probably Sanders, too are just dupes. They are stuck in the mindset of 20th Century Marxism.
Corner Stone
@schrodingers_cat: Sure. Ok.
SFAW
@Gin & Tonic:
Shit, you have to squint to SEE the fucking mirror itself, never mind what’s reflected in it.
Are going to have to do dozens later? (“You’re so old that …”) I’m pretty sure I’d be lousy at it, unfortunately.
Corner Stone
@Timurid:
Newsletter open to subscriptions?
Draco7
@Steve in the ATL: I was down in MN 3rd asking to do candidate / campaign mgr. training, but they thought it was too early. That was February – I am reduced to begging now.
Lyrebird
@hovercraft: *thanks* for your review, and also for your thoughtful reply to my comment earlier too!
Sab
@jl: Turley is the goofball.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Sab: Turley is a preening, precious, self-regarding, contrarian poseur.
Corner Stone
@Sab: Turley should be shot for treason.
seaboogie
John – this is the most temperately eloquent post of yours I’ve ever read. Not too shabby, Herr Perfessor o’ Communcations!
TenguPhule
I’ll take “Completely” for $500, Alex!
TriassicSands
@ElegantFowl:
That
I dislike this slogan. Medicare alone is not adequate and it has some very real problems — no, I’m not talking about funding. Most people have to have supplemental policies and the Part D prescrption plan is a mess.
Instead, I’d call it Medicare Plus for All.
TenguPhule
@Cheryl Rofer:
I recommend a large selection of assorted liquors.
TenguPhule
@schrodingers_cat:
Increases liquor sales.
And serves as the benchmark for Trump to exceed. Which he does with depressing frequency.
Duane
I’m way to this, but that is the greatest rant.Eveyone in the United States should be required to read it.
No One You Know
@Mike in DC: And you have it good…I have some of the same conditions, a diabetic family member as well, and we’re paying more than twice your total on COBRA. And there are a lot of people worse off than either of us.
We’re inside a game. I’ll be lucky to be promoted to pawn. Meanwhile, he who had the most baubles when he does, wins.
Bonnie
It is proof that the Republicans ARE NOT working for the people of the United States. They should be fired.