Hearing 2 things re healthcare bill: bad (McConnell-run) process — too closed; and POTUS, w biggest megaphone in country, didn't use it.
— Eliana Johnson (@elianayjohnson) July 18, 2017
Ha! He did use the megaphone. He said “Mitch has to pull it off.” https://t.co/8M8RHlzUgw
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) July 18, 2017
Wow.
"Well we have a new Supreme Court justice" McConnell says when asked how he'll justify failure on health care to voters— Erica Werner (@ericawerner) July 18, 2017
Impeach Earl Warren! always did fire up the base — back in the 1960s. Those voters can’t all have died of old age yet, right?
And not to protect his caucus- cause they will be split. This is a complete and total abdication of leadership folks
— jim manley (@jamespmanley) July 18, 2017
Wondering if repeal vote was demanded by Koch brothers to know who’s with them & who needs to be opposed (or to at least left on their own)
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) July 18, 2017
(Ah, yes, the John Birch Society, of which the Kochs’ father was a founding member.)
Harry Reid passed the ACA through the Senate with no cushion in his caucus. McConnell's woes are a good reminder of Reid's skill as leader.
— Geoff Garin (@geoffgarin) July 18, 2017
REPEAT AFTER ME: Paul Ryan is a "policy whiz" and Mitch McConnell is a "brilliant legislative tactician." #BCRA #AHCA #ACA
— Chris Regan (@ReganWV) July 18, 2017
IN THE ROOM: @SpeakerRyan tells conference not to trash the Senate on health care but stay positive.
— Rachael Bade (@rachaelmbade) July 18, 2017
Reid's status as leader was based on a mixture of love & respect from the caucus.
McConnell's, only on respect – very little love. 4/
— Adam Jentleson (@AJentleson) July 18, 2017
His fellow Rs did not like losing their individual power, but they were willing to abide it as long as McConnell delivered victories. 6/
— Adam Jentleson (@AJentleson) July 18, 2017
Their problem now is that the tactics McConnell employed to accrue power undercut their ability to get things done.
Earth, scorched. 11/
— Adam Jentleson (@AJentleson) July 18, 2017
But make no mistake – this is a MASSIVE humiliation for McConnell. And he'll spend every waking moment plotting his redemption. 16/
— Adam Jentleson (@AJentleson) July 18, 2017
CORNYN on Lee/Moran defection: Had "no idea" it was coming.
— Sean Sullivan (@WaPoSean) July 18, 2017
Cornyn is the whip, but he frequently has no idea what's going on because McConnell doesn't trust him or tell him anything. https://t.co/H3bl80PUBE
— Adam Jentleson (@AJentleson) July 18, 2017
Frankensteinbeck
That same set of tweets suggested that pushing ‘repeal’ was a punitive measure to punish his caucus for disobeying him. It’s a bill no one wants to be on record supporting or opposing. So if he forces a vote, he’s slapping his senators in the face. Senators are proud. Pissing them off will not help McConnell accomplish anything. They already don’t like Trump, and I’m pretty sure they’re mad at Ryan for dropping this flaming bag of dog shit on their porch. Remember Ryan sold his undecideds with ‘We’ll make it the Senate’s problem.’
WaterGirl
@Frankensteinbeck: Yeah, it’s a real shame to watch them turn on each other. Okay, not really, it’s actually quite satisfying.
dr. bloor
@Frankensteinbeck: Yep. I’ll bet against straight repeal getting to a vote once the puppet masters’ rage subsides. The Kochs already know who’s fer and who’s agin, and there is zero value for McConnell in exposing his incumbents’ asses.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
Everything Trump touches turns to shit. But it wasn’t just him. McConnell fucked himself with scorched earth tactics. The battle’s not over yet, let alone the war, but I can’t believe I was afraid of this guy
NotMax
McConnell has been successful at mutating the Senate from a saucer into a bedpan.
geg6
@Frankensteinbeck:
This. Neither of them are the legislative geniuses the Village likes to paint them as. Total posers, both of them.
FlyingToaster
I find it funny that the R senators who’ve come out “No” are not up for re-election in 2018. So threats from conservative groups, or from the Turtle, or from Dolt45, or from the Kochs are utterly fucking useless.
If the Turtle had something to offer, he’d have already done so.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
Ugly Mitch is 75 and a multimillionaire. Rather than retire in comfort and enjoy a few more years in relative good health (he’s not a young 75), he stumbles ahead, mumbling his rage and retribution…
Man, notoriety and power must be powerful drugs.
Adam L Silverman
@Frankensteinbeck: @WaterGirl: @dr. bloor: @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: @NotMax: @geg6:
As to McConnell – this is something you often see in studies of leaders/leadership. Leaders who are good at one level and/or in one type of position and/or for one type of campaign, but are bad to horrifically terrible in other, higher ranking positions. If you spend any time reading about generalship or admiralship you’ll see this pattern right away.
I suspect McConnell is going to be one of these types of cautionary tales. If you need an insurgent commander to fight a scorched earth campaign resisting the majority in the Senate and the President, then his strategy and tactics are effective. If you need someone to actually govern, then he’s the wrong person in the wrong position at the wrong time. Unfortunately I’m not sure there are any other Republican senators that actually have the ability to effectively lead when in the majority. Between McConnell’s insurgency and the changes in the party reflected in who it sends to Congress, these men and women don’t really exist right now.
And none of this is helped by the fact that 3/4 of the House GOP caucus has been elected since 2010. And all of the real junior members of the GOP Senate caucus as well. So none of these people have any experience with regular order. None of them have any experience in doing anything that isn’t crisis budgeting or crisis legislating. Largely through crises of their own making. This is going to have an even more damaging effect on Congress as a whole and each chamber going forward.
Yoda Dog
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
He still terrifies me. His buddy Jim or Ted or whoever is still holding onto the nuclear football, right? Great guy, that Ted, but still… I won’t feel confident about anything until the toddler gets the hook.
Frankensteinbeck
@West of the Rockies (been a while):
Hate is a powerful drug. He’s a mean, mean man. That mild face and voice were the first to announce that in reaction to a black man becoming president, the GOP would burn the fucking country down.
Major Major Major Major
I don’t have a polite way to point it out (esp. with McCain laid up!), but I wish somebody would find one–Harry Reid passed the ACA with one of his votes LITERALLY ACTUALLY DEAD, and Mitch can’t even pull this off after running on it for like eight years.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
The Peter Principle is not a myth.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@West of the Rockies (been a while):
I’ve read anecdotes of people who have met him describe him as a deeply partisan right-wing asshole who only cares about “winning” against the Demoguerats even in private
Raoul
I would hope that several GOP senators are spending the next few days reflecting on the absolute shit bill of goods McConnell sold them for years.
Eight years, he said ‘oppose Obama and I’ll deliver when we’re in the majority.’ Now he can’t do shit. Watch, they’ll f*k up the debt ceiling and struggle to get Dems to bail them on CRs when they can’t budget.
McConnell is rolling towards infamy.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: In OCS…. No.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Yoda Dog:
Are you thinking of Jim, Trump’s imaginary friend?
WaterGirl
@Adam L Silverman: That makes total sense. Your last paragraph is really sobering. They have never seen a single day of comity in the senate, or in the house for that matter. Never seen legislating modeled. Yikes. That’s a sobering thought, even without the cretin as president.
dmsilev
@Adam L Silverman:
aka The Peter Principle.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
As in a total asshole dick can succeed in rising to a position that he is totally unsuitable for, especially if he was unsuitable for the ones below that. I call it the Turtle Principle.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: As in you didn’t study this in OCS or they deny that this happens in OCS?
Cheryl Rofer
I’ll agree with Adam and add a couple of things.
The Freedom Caucus is made up of those newer members, the Tea Party by another name. They are committed to destruction of the government. So they are actually a faction with different goals from the McConnell wing of the party, who merely want to make immense amounts of money and amass power. In fact, the two are opposed. Using the existing government is the easiest way to make money, and the Freedom Caucus wants to destroy that. Hence the coming fight about the debt ceiling.
And I have to agree with Frankensteinbeck. McConnell announced that he would make Obama a one-term president. He failed. So the next best thing is to destroy the signature Obamacare. And the reason for that goes beyond party loyalties. Mitch and the white whale.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
Another example: Winston Churchill. Just the right guy for World War II, absolute crap at any other time.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Adam L Silverman:
I hope the GOP and McConnell (not leaving Ryan out) are remembered for their absolute incompetence as well as their evil. People need to remember this shit for generations
dmsilev
@Major Major Major Major: The cloture votes on the ACA as Kennedy was dying is my go-to example for why the “legendary Senate comity” is legendary in the same sense as the Sasquatch or Trump’s honesty. Kennedy’s life work, the labor of decades, was coming to fruition, and not one of his “dear friends” on the Republican side would even vote to let debate begin on the bill. Not vote for it, but simply to cut off the filibuster. Not a single one.
catclub
I would say you bring the bill up and when the Democrats filibuster it -(don’t bring the reconciliation version) all the GOP senators can vote against the filibuster – but sadly do not get to 60 votes. problem solved, nobody voted NOT to kill the ACA.
WaterGirl
@dmsilev: Fuckers! Where’s the JUMP! You Fuckers photo when I want it???
Earl
@Frankensteinbeck: The senators are impotent whinging cowards who will do nothing.
Consider this: John McCain is a 80 year old cancer survivor who was just reelected in 2016. He’s also independently wealthy via the wife he traded up for (Morals (TM), brought to you by Republicans). There’s not a fucking thing in the world anyone can do to him or threaten him with. The sitting president derided him for the one worthwhile thing he’s done in his life, and McCain took it. He’s a punk and a coward.
Ruckus
@Adam L Silverman:
I was in the navy when they would take almost anyone with a pulse (600 ship navy my ass) and I saw it happen a lot in the officer corp. So I may be a bit of a bad example but it certainly happened back then.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Cheryl Rofer: I commented here yesterday that because of the GOP’s clashing internal factions, there are really more than two parties in Congress right now. It resembles a parliamentary body without all of the mechanisms and norms that make parliamentary bodies function
kindness
I have to doubt McConnell will force a vote. The only upside for them is the House will hate Senate Republicans less and that doesn’t really matter so what does that leave? Embarassing and endangering your own with 2018 around the corner? Or is Mitch cramming on his dank skunk before Sessions takes it all away from all of us?
dmsilev
@FlyingToaster: Murkowski for one is in the enviable position of being able to tell the conservative groups to go pound sand if she feels like it; they tried to oust her last time and she won out in the end. Doubt she cares very much about what they think.
Sab
@Raoul: I am thinking more about Republican congress-critters who jumped off the cliff voting for Ryan’s bill assuming that Mitch would fix it in the Senate. Instead he pushed a worse version of the same phucking bill, and they are on the hook for voting forit, and yet there is no new law.
My neighboring Republican Congressman David Joyce who voted against it looks like a genius, or at least a morally responsible congress-critter. Hope his constituents agree.
Mnemosyne
One of our cats went on a vomiting jag tonight.
Somehow, it seemed appropriate to this thread.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
In one day so much winning!
1) The eighth guy at the Donnie Jr meeting is a money launderer;
2) TrumpCare burns on the launchpad;
3) McTortoise declares he will put forth an immediate repeal vote that is squashed within a few hours;
4) It is revealed that Trump had an undisclosed meeting with Putin without benefit of his own interpreter.
That would have been a shit year for Obama.
joel hanes
Impeach Earl Warren
Yah, scoff. But IMHO the stolen SCOTUS seat got the fundagelicals to the polls to vote for repeal of Roe, nothing else being important. Yes, eleventh of ten factors, first of which is misogyny, and the other first of which started with the Arkansas Project.
But still. They’ve still got a good shot at Roe. You and I don’t calculate horseracing on this axis, at least not exclusively, but the true believers live for this stuff.
Adam L Silverman
@Ruckus: It has always happen and it will always happen. Military, non-military. Public or private sector. It does get worse during war time. One of the corrosive effects on a war time force is the need to keep pushing the bodies. As a result the standards are waived or suspended or ignored to feed the force generation beast.
WaterGirl
Finally, something to be happy about!!!
dmsilev
@kindness: His announcement said “At the request of the President and vice president and after consulting with our members, we will have the vote on the motion to proceed to the Obamacare repeal bill early next week”, so maybe he’s trying to shift the blame to Trump, or at least try to prove to Hairforce One that there really aren’t 50 votes to pass TaxcutsforrichfolksCare.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@West of the Rockies (been a while):
Goes without saying, but that would have been Obama’s last year. There would have been articles of impeachment by now
WaterGirl
@dmsilev: I wondered what it is that Trump is holding over the turtle. It would be irresponsible not to speculate!
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@Earl:
Brutal, Earl, and spot on.
cynthia ackerman
@Adam L Silverman</
Adam, is that a bug or a feature?
R's have been the party of "No" for long enough that actually getting anything done is now out of the question.
Frankensteinbeck
@Earl:
If that were true, the bill would have passed already. I don’t want it to get voted on because I don’t want any last chance for something to go wrong, but McConnell has already gotten a giant middle finger from his caucus, humiliating him on a national stage and destroying one of the only two things he has tried to do in the last six months.
Sab
@Mnemosyne: Yes!
Yoda Dog
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
…aka a moderate republican.
Aleta
@NotMax: That Peter knew what he was talking about.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@Mnemosyne:
Hey, I thought of you when I picked up a Jack Finney book called Marion’s Wall. You ever heard of it? A film star ghost story with lots of old film references.
Adam L Silverman
@cynthia ackerman: If I’m understanding the question, then the answer is no. Basically a corollary to the leader/leadership concept. If the formally effective leader is now in a position where they are an ineffective, even if not a toxic, leader, then their strategies will also not be effective. Because they don’t understand their new operating environment/the operating environment at their new level of responsibility/leadership. So ends, ways, and means wind up misaligned. Or the ways and means are just completely inappropriate to achieve the desired ends.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Mnemosyne:
As much of an asshole he was to the Indians during WW2, he had very inspirational speeches. He was also extremely talented as a writer and painter. I nearly got the chance to see his artworks on display at the Queen Mary last year, but the section was closed ?
Chris
@Adam L Silverman:
On the other hand, my understanding is that one of the most common effects of wartime is to expose and remove senior officers who’ve gotten to where they are thanks to politicking rather than actual skill at their job. (Of course, that has to be an “actual” war, i.e. one that the powers-that-be really care about winning enough to notice when people aren’t doing their job…)
WaterGirl
@Frankensteinbeck: I used to work with a fellow who would say: “when they really piss me off, I do exactly what they have told me to do”. Even or especially when what they wanted him to do was stupid and would have negative consequences. I have done this myself upon occasion.
I thought of this as I read your comment about why McConnell would do something as crazy as bringing this to a vote again. Maybe he’s so pissed off at Trump that he plans to do exactly what Trump wants him to do, because Trump clearly hasn’t listened to the Turtle.
Ruckus
@Adam L Silverman:
Understand. We’ve discussed this before.
It’s a shame that in our elected representatives (all of them, not just the members of the house) a great many of them were voted in just because they had no experience and therefore could be molded to do what their paymasters want. And it still isn’t working out like the Koch bros wanted. BTW fuck those rich entitled assholes. With a D9 Cat.
J R in WV
Great thread of commentary, thanks All!
Adam L Silverman
@Chris: That happens less with an all volunteer force. I’m not trying to suggest that general officers/flag officers aren’t political creatures, they are. However, it is not possible to buy rank or to demand it because you raised your own brigade.
efgoldman
@WaterGirl:
The RWNJs did it to themselves (and to the country) years ago, when they did away with earmarks, logrolling, whatever because, of course, as the worst moral scolds since Comstock, they had to be [HA!] moral and upright about it, and because they weren’t going to sully THEIR high and mighty [barf] moral selves by horse trading when they had their [ahem] moral fiber to defend.
No-one, of those supposedly whip-smart young RWNJs, apparently even glanced at legislative histories, before they bought their airplane tickets, for all the fancy graduate and law degrees they have.
Assholes
Fuckem
Aleta
@WaterGirl: They spent 8 years shrieking about health care stuff with no worries because they could depend on Obama’s veto.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Adam L Silverman: IOW,for his entire career as the Republican leader of the Senate, he’s been in the minority until very recently. He became leader in 2007, after the 2006 sweep by Dems. Now that he’s the Majority leader, he can’t constructively lead by passing good legislation or effectively wrangle his caucus into voting his way.
Ruckus
@Chris:
Saw that as well.
WaterGirl
You are absolutely correct! How can you wheel and deal without earmarks?
edit: Stupid fuckers!
Frankensteinbeck
Oh, I saw the video of Mcconnell announcing he couldn’t pass the repeal. Damn, did he look sour. Normally he just looks blandly unpleasant, but he looked angry but even more so miserable, like he’d been punched in the face.
cynthia ackerman
@Adam L Silverman:
I think you’re spot on with respect to the person (McTurtle) but maybe the context is that only a very special leader could thread the needle given the R’s fundamental weakness politically and demographically.
Adam L Silverman
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: Yep.
WaterGirl
@Aleta: Exactly! There were no natural consequences for their behavior. Now there are, which is why some of these scumbags have been chased around their states by people who don’t want to travesty of a “healthcare” law.
Sab
@Adam L Silverman:
Its late so I am being a jerk.
You are a serious person having a serious discussion with other serious people.
I do read you guys and take you seriously.
On a flippant side, you just broke my heart regarding Outlander and Hal Grey, and whether I should take him seriously.
I am a nitwit on the Internet. You just broke my heart
Yoda Dog
@efgoldman:
efgoldman’s law
I am a devoted acolyte, sir. Carry on.
Aleta
@Ruckus:
Only needed to be willing to introduce bills that had been written for them, w/o studying lawmaking or government. Some have had their campaigns run for them, p.r. done for them, ads done for them, events, speeches. They’ll never vote against the groups that put them there.
Adam L Silverman
@cynthia ackerman: I think you are correct in this estimation. You can have ineffective leadership but you can also have ineffective followers. I’ve seen this up close and personal where it didn’t matter where the leader was leading, there was always a solid minority to plurality of staff (almost all retired colonels and lieutenant colonels with PhDs, EdDs, or masters in a variety of discipline) that refused to be led because they thought they should be leading. So they formed a block to ratfuck anything and everything that they decided wasn’t a good idea. No matter how wrong they were. As you can imagine these guys and gals, though the vast majority were guys, were also toxic. But they’re dug in like ticks and it’s almost impossible to get rid of them. They’re not passively aggressive. They’re aggressively passive!
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Adam L Silverman:
Rightio
Adam L Silverman
@Sab: I don’t know about you being a jerk, but I can say that your comment is confusing. I have absolutely no idea who you are talking about. Outlander? Hal Grey? I am deeply confused.
Aleta
@WaterGirl: They don’t know what to do now that they’re responsible for what happens. So they just follow orders.
Frankensteinbeck
@Ruckus:
I would say experienced pols are more useful as hired labor. The biggest change is part of the Obama election freakout. It also has a great deal to do with why Trump is president now. Traditional politicians who focused on policy did not stop a black man from becoming president. The base felt like they’d tried listening to smart people, and it failed. They wanted idiot, angry ideologues. Unfortunately, the asshole rich – especially the Kochs, who are nutcases – wanted the same thing for the same reason.
efgoldman
@Yoda Dog:
:::blush:::
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Frankensteinbeck:
Which begs the question: Would Trump have wanted to enter politics if a generic white Den had won in ’08. Hillary perhaps?
Balconesfault
Also because he’s not particularly bright.
cynthia ackerman
@Adam L Silverman:
That’s an apt description of our vaunted Republican leaders.
I also think one of their biggest problems is that they have no real legitimate strategic goal, no matter who is at the head.
They literally want to turn the clock back, and it doesn’t matter how that case is made ultimately, or whose turtle-like mug is associated with the effort.
Sab
@Adam L Silverman: Don’t worry. It’s late. Could explain, but would take forever and would still not make sense. You apparently aren’t sucked up into a fictional world I love. Unless you want to jump into a ten thousand page historical fictional drama (very good) that you haven’t heard of, I suggest you move on. Someday you might like it, but since you do actually have a real life substantially more productive life than mine, I suggest move along here.
frosty
@West of the Rockies (been a while): My father and both my grandfathers died at 80 and 81, after debilitating diseases that laid them up for the last 5 years. No fucking way am I working until I’m 75. Whatever thrill (or fear) Mitch is getting for this is something I want no part of.
Raoul
@Sab: I think we have two very vulnerable Repubs in MN for that little ass-hang that McConnell (and Ryan!) forced on their caucus.
Frankensteinbeck
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
‘What if’s can be hard, but I think it’s widely recognized that one of Trump’s biggest motivations was to get back at Obama for humiliating him at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. However, Trump has always flirted with running for president, so it’s hard to say anything for sure. A woman president might also have prompted a similar right wing freakout.
Adam L Silverman
@Sab: Is this about the Outlander novels/tv show? I know what they are, haven’t read them. Haven’t watch the show. How it relates to my point I have no idea.
No worries.
frosty
@Mnemosyne: And might I add, channeling raven, for Schroedingers Cat: Fuck Winston Churchill.
(Hope I got that right)
Villago Delenda Est
@WaterGirl: The problem is when the leader INSISTS that you do it precisely as the leader outlines, and you know it’s fail, but the leader will not listen to you, so you do it as the leader demands, and you still get blamed for fail.
frosty
@Cheryl Rofer: And my congressman, Scott Perry, is one of these FNGs. My district isn’t even one of the badly gerrymandered ones in PA, so he’s representing his constituents. It is to weep.
Mike J
@Adam L Silverman:
They’ve spent decades telling their cultists that compromise is evil and yes they rally can get everything they want and fuck over the rest of the world if the just believe.
There’s nobody in the Republican party who can lead because nobody in the republican party, elected or unelected, even knows what it means any more.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Frankensteinbeck:
That was basically my reasoning for him potentially not running. This isn’t taking into account the whole Trump-Russia angle like if he were approached to run for office because he owed money to sources connected to Putin
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@frosty:
Cronkite worked until his death at 93, but he slowed down, doing what interested him. I can see that. But McCain is 80, in dubious health, and like Mitchy, can’t let go even though it’s difficult to see what pleasure they derive from their work.
Being a scold and a prick must be a rush, I guess.
Adam L Silverman
@cynthia ackerman: I walked away from a very lucrative (and honestly fairly easy -as in I could do it in my sleep as could almost anyone else despite the requirements for the actual job) position partially because the section head I worked for was aggressively passive. Personally a very nice guy. Completely indecisive as a leader, which led him to be toxic. So when I tumbled to something we weren’t doing, but were supposed to be (not doing it was a violation of Federal law, Federal regulation, and DOD policy), his response was whacked. I made it about two weeks after I explained the problem and developed a way ahead to fix things going forward and course of action for trying to retroactively get us in line. His response to all this was horrid and I decided I didn’t want to be involved with this as a professional. Six months later the deputy director emailed me to tell me that after six months of meetings and working groups and consolidations it was determined that everything I indicated was going on was in fact going on, that what I’d recommended for going forward was adopted, and what I recommended for trying to fix as much as possible for what had already been done had also been implemented.
Petorado
I think in simplest terms Republicans take the perspective that power is a weapon to be used to wage war against things and people, rather than a tool to be be used to accomplish things and benefit people.
NotMax
@Sab
Rogues with brogues.
Adam L Silverman
@Mike J: Maybe. Turning politics into tribalism is not a good thing.
NotMax
@Villago Delenda Est
See: Custer, George A.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Adam L Silverman:
You were vindicated in the end, so your story has a happy ending.
@West of the Rockies (been a while):
Cronkite, I could definitely see him enjoying his work. He was the most respected news anchor in the country at the time. He, I presume, didn’t lie his was off every chance he got and did a public service
frosty
@Aleta:
Why are they wasting their lives? Seriously, what’s in it for them? It’s not like being a backbencher in Congress will go down in the history books.
frosty
@Adam L Silverman:
I haven’t heard that phrase before but I’ve seen it. Bookmarked!!!
efgoldman
@Adam L Silverman:
Both the old farts and the young guns have somehow convinced themselves that they were elected to impose their ideology on their district, state or the country, not to represent their voters or do good on the voters’ behalf. Somehow (hello, Murdochs!) enough voters go along with that to keep the assholes barely, marginally in power. Add that to race, class, and yes, economic dislocation, and here we are.
Villago Delenda Est
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: There is no one in the MSM right now fit to shine his shoes.
Adam L Silverman
@frosty: I use it when appropriate. And I’ve used it here a few times.
efgoldman
@Villago Delenda Est:
The break came in the late 80s/early 90s when the suits decided it would be a great idea to move the news out of its own department and slot it under entertainment. Then Turner sold CNN….Those were the glory days of [some] local newscasts, too, especially in Boston.
danielx
@Adam L Silverman:
Truth. But they don’t have anyone else who actually does know how to govern, or is interested enough and/or senior enough to do so. The bomb throwers have been in charge for the last eight years, and now they have to actually enact legislation? That has some relation to coherent policies and reality? You know, get shit done?
They can’t do it. Not without a major push from like – oh, let’s say a semi competent president of the same party. I mean, they (they being Republican senators) usually can be swayed by a phone call or face to face meeting with the president, but senators have egos almost as big as Trump’s and they don’t have much, if any, respect for him as an individual. They are well aware that Trump is basically an untrustworthy shitweasel whose word is worthless and who will leave them hanging in the breeze, politically speaking, if 1) he feels like it or 2) if he is so disengaged he doesn’t realize what he’s doing, or 3) ….to paraphrase that great philosopher Bart Simpson, I can’t think of any way to finish that. Although it’s damn difficult to unseat an incumbent senator, most of them can do basic math. It calls for some very delicate maneuvers and when they have a very narrow majority and are trying to do something opposed by two thirds of the populace, they need leadership from people they can trust. McConnell can’t be trusted, Ryan can’t be trusted, Trump is exponentially less trustworthy than McConnell or Ryan….well, what’s a poor senator to do?
The Democrats are learning (finally!) that yes, complete opposition does work. Dem senators have nothing to lose and everything to gain by not giving an inch.
frosty
@efgoldman:
And Paddy Chayevesky’s Network became a prophecy, not a movie! “And it came to pass…”
Mary G
@West of the Rockies (been a while): Obama didn’t fuck up that much in two terms.
Adam L Silverman
@danielx: You legislate with the caucus you have not the caucus you want.
jl
I’m going to be optimistic this evening and celebrate the fact that the PPACA, one of the Obama presidency’s historic accomplishments, withstood the first serious assault. So, our great previous president, er.. sorry, I mean genius Dr. Evil/inadequate black man in over his head, Barack Obama looking pretty good. As is first rate Congressional leadership, or, sorry, crooked machine politicians and mediocrities, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, looking pretty good.
As, their crum bum goofy partner in political crimes, Handsome Ol’ Joe Biden, said, this is a big fucking deal!
But they won’t stop, so celebration has to be short. I read in TPM blog, and then heard on evening news that Ryan wants to use the budget to start attacking Medicare. They never ever stop, so neither can we.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@Mary G:
You got that right. Trump is a travesty, a disgrace, a surreal disaster.
reality-based (the original, not the troll)
@Mnemosyne: cf: Gallipoli
jl
The phrase from one of the tweets at the top of the post caught my eye:
” nobody can escape blame, either for supporting it or opposing it ”
Good description of the entire Senate GOP caucus. At this point, no matter what any of them does, none can escape blame. Quite an accomplishment for these distinguished members of The Greatest Deliberative Body in The World (Ha ha ha!)
(((CassandraLeo)))
@Villago Delenda Est: WaPo’s David Fahrenthold? There aren’t many, though; I’ll grant you that.
I’m currently breathing a sigh of relief that ACA repeal looks dead, since the ACA is literally the difference between my having health insurance and not. If “pre-existing conditions” ever become a thing again, I’ll be dropped instantly.
burnspbesq
Merrick Garland would like a word with those of you who are talking up the notion that McConnell is ineffective.
jl
@(((CassandraLeo))): The Trumpsters and GOP leadership were so inept and transparently dishonest and cynical, they left a treasure trove for effective political ads and motivational material to recruit soldier in the resistance, if this crew of toxic clowns ever tries to wreck it again.
In a rational and sane world, the PPACA would have been vastly improved by now with needed fixes and upgrades. I think the GOP is scared to wreck it before 2018 or 2020 (that was the the reason for the very elaborate dance of seven veils style staggered delays in the proposed dismantling).. But Trump is so stupid and spiteful, he will try. So, will be an odd situation, with Trump trying to wreck it completely and avoid blame (Nixon or Bush I could pull it off, but I don’t Trump can), and GOP trying to find an optimal level of low grade disruption so they don’t get blamed too much for anything and can dupe their base into blaming the DemocRATS.
So, it will be a dispiriting frustrating slog for next 2 to 4 years. But looks like the framework will survive, at this point.
Ruckus
@frosty:
You may be confusing actual working with what the turtle does and has been doing for a long time. They don’t have to be at work but what 3 days a week? They don’t have to do much more than sit at a desk. And judging by the output, he doesn’t do that very well either.
GregB
@efgoldman:
Tony Pepper & Jack Williams.
Chet, Dick & Natalie.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@Mnemosyne: Churchill wasn’t even that great for most of WWII. A part of Field Marshall Alan Brooke’s job as Chief of the Imperial General Staff was making sure that Churchill’s harebrained schemes never made it out of 10 Downing Street to be implemented. As a military strategist, Churchill never evolved beyond the guy who championed the Gallipoli campaign.
However, for the first ten months he was Prime Minister, Churchill was absolutely necessary. Rallying Britain to keep it in the war and get back on its feet was a towering performance. A world in which Lord Halifax became PM when Chamberlain stepped down would have been a tragedy.
Ruckus
@frosty:
You are looking at it wrong. They do not want that much limelight. They want a job that pays better than anything else they would ever be hired for, for which the requirements are simple, the work is as simple as you want it to be, and as long as enough people back home think you are doing well, you are golden.
Msb
@ Goku
Churchill also opposed woman suffrage.
SgrAstar
@Cheryl Rofer: @Cheryl Rofer:
Cheryl, I love this analogy- you’re completely right. Mitch has lost whatever soul he might once have had in his obsession to obliterate Obama. And just like Ahab, he’s discovering that he’s not up to the task. Hopefully, his ship will go down with all hands.
Mnemosyne
@burnspbesq:
I think you missed the point of the entire thread: McConnell is very effective at blocking action in the Senate. He is very ineffective at getting legislation passed in the Senate.
Turns out those are two different skill sets, and McConnell only has one of them.
Chris
@SgrAstar:
“Khan. I’m laughing at the ‘superior intellect.'”
sunny raines
1) no matter what the current optics, not repealing ACA is the only outcome in which GOP survives
2) mcconnell literally stole a Supreme Court seat and no repercussions. Generations will suffer for it to the abject glee of the right.
so how unsuccessful is mcconnell?
TenguPhule
@sunny raines:
Yet.
No repercussions yet.
NorthLeft12
@WaterGirl: That is my all time favourite protest photo. It is just perfect on so many levels.
Applejinx
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
More like “You should totally be President. We’ll help! Like we’ve showed you before, when we helped before! We help you, not like those other assholes…”
Trump is a baby. He cannot be blackmailed because he doesn’t have self-control enough to be blackmailed, or even to act in self-preservation or pursue his own interests coherently. I don’t believe a blackmail strategy works on him (his FAMILY on the other hand, at least some of them… and our jolly old Republicans, much worn in the ways of treachery… they’re totally blackmailable and time will show that’s what’s happened)
However, you can give Trump candy… or promise future candy. And that’s what Putin’s up to. Donald Trump hasn’t got the self-control to be blackmailed or threatened, but he’s the most bribeable fucker on the planet. I bet in all that private time with Putin, he was asking for more stuff, bullying Putin from a position of ultimate weakness without the slightest clue how weak his position really was.
Such a person is really easy to manipulate, and here we are.
No One You Know
@WaterGirl: Malicious obedience is how the very bright and aware subordinate punishes the politically smart but incompetent boss.
Uncle Cosmo
@cynthia ackerman:
FTFY.