I have some grudging respect for the last act of drama queen John McCain. He could have just stayed in Arizona and killed the decaf skinny latte version of death to thousands, but instead he left everyone in suspense until the last possible minute. His performance was a solid 100% on the tomatometer – thumbs up, four stars, etc. I can’t wait for Cillizza’s spicy hot take. Extra bonus points to McCain for making sure idiots like Heller will be eating their repeal vote shit sandwich from now until election day.
In other news, those fucking idiots at Interior who thought they would scare Lisa Murkowski just realized that she is the chair of an important committee that can block appointments. Whoops!
Meanwhile, Dan Savage is trying to get some traction for “Bannoning” as the act of trying to suck one’s own cock. I prefer “The Bannon Maneuver” because it sounds more classy. I would also propose that the act of calling up a reporter to talk on the record while coked out of one’s mind be called “The Scaramooch Fandango”.
FlipYrWhig
Bannonism, on the model of onanism?
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
What are the odds that Capito & Heller’s yes on BCRA/no on ORRA play out like “The Birds, The Beast and the Bat” as opposed to inoculation?
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Yeah, Moochie’s sunglasses, demeanor and ragecall were cries for help in the form of coke rehab.
Classic signs. If he was in the middle of a proceeding regarding child custody, I’d move for (and get) a suspension of unsupervised parenting time, and everything would occur at a visitation center pending anger management – all based on that call to someone completely unrelated to the proceeding.
Manyakitty
And now “Skinny Love” is my earworm for the day. Thanks!
SRW1
Scaramouch, is a stock character of the Italian commedia dell’arte. Usually attired in black Spanish dress and burlesquing a don, he was often beaten by Harlequin for his boasting and cowardice.
Who’s gonna be Harlequin?
nonynony
“The Bannon Maneuver” sounds like a Bourne franchise rip-off movie produced by The Asylum.
McCain’s penchant for drama really made last night something to behold. I do wonder when he decided to stick the shiv into McConnell and a chunk of his fellow moderates though. Was it a last-minute thing or was it something he planned to do when it voted on the motion to proceed? (I suspect it was last minute. I think he might have caught himself on the teevee up on that podium grovelling to Paul Ryan to not just pass whatever shit sandwich the Senate handed to him and thought “fuck this – I’m John F’ing McCain” and in that moment decided to screw them all.)
SFAW
Wasn’t Savage the one who got “Santorum” into the modern lexicon? If so, I like his chances.
Interesting song choice, by the way. Of course, the song’s name/title is exactly not what we have, but maybe you’re being ironic.
Ian G.
I’m going to be a contrarian here (or, pardon the expression, a “maverick”) and suggest that McCain staying home wouldn’t have been as good as what he did, since it wouldn’t have humiliated McConnell and Trump as much.
nonynony
@SRW1:
I’d say Trump, but Trump can’t even man up enough to fire Jeff Sessions. He didn’t even fire Sean Spicer – he just kept piling on the degradations until Spicer quit.
It’s really strange. He’s a man known for firing people on national television, and yet it seems he can’t bring himself to actually fire anyone and instead plays the passive-agressive manager who keeps making your life miserable until you quit. I wonder about that.
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
@nonynony: My impression is that the pushback for his BCRA vote function much like the premature obituary did for Alfred Nobel.
Frankensteinbeck
@nonynony:
He’s a coward, the avatar of the chickenshit blowhard.
SFAW
@SRW1:
They’re lining up down the block. Reminds me of Airplane!, when the wife starts freaking out.
Amir Khalid
Scaramouche is going to fandango his way out of a White House job toute de suite. His colleagues will fight to be the first to shiv him before he shivs them. I predict he’ll be out before Merdeka Day*.
*Malaysia’s Independence Day is August 31.
Mary
@nonynony: He did fire Comey, but the again he also tried to make it seem like it was Sessions/Rosenstein’s idea.
ruemara
@SRW1: American voters, I hope.
Wjs
Cindy McCain might have had something to do with putting the shiv in John’s pants for him to use on McConnell. I like her politics a bit better than his even though today, of course, they all remain horrible on too many other issues.
In the old days, McConnell would resign at noon.
Barbara
@Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): For Heller, the odds are high, for Capito, they are exceedingly low. I can already tell you what their defense will be: they voted no for any bill that made deep cuts to Medicaid.
swiftfox
Probably the most cogent politics poster on this blog. Too bad he doesn’t post often.
SFAW
@Wjs:
In the really old days, McConnell would beg for the opportunity to resign, because of what the alternative was.
Frankensteinbeck
@Mary:
He did it in the most cowardly way imaginable, though. Couldn’t even tell Comey face to face.
Paul W.
I’m much more happy with the asshole/dumbass senators like Heller and Flake going on the record for this, then getting burned by McCain.
Drama and recognition that are well earned for McCain today.
Ohio Mom
@SRW1: Eons ago, there was a small commedia dell’arte troupe in town that did updated parodies. I haven’t thought of them in years but you nailed it, the scripts about this administration would write themselves.
Yarrow
@nonynony:
On the Twitters last night reporters said McCain had decided yesterday afternoon that he wasn’t voting for the bill.
This morning Chuck Todd said there were a dozen Senators who were glad McCain “took one for their team” by voting No because they didn’t want the bill to pass. Of course they could have voted no themselves, but…
rikyrah
Oh, look. It’s the headline and front page photo from McConnell’s hometown newspaper.
Sweet. pic.twitter.com/HF5PzDFUOz
— emigre80 (@emigre80) July 28, 2017
MJS
@nonynony: You wonder? There’s not much to wonder about. Whether it’s his Viet Nam deferments, or his exhortations for others to beat up protestors (and he’ll foot the legal bills), he’s a coward, through and through. That’s why he doesn’t fire anyone, at least not personally to their face.
LurkerNoLonger
@nonynony: I think, correctly, McCain didn’t believe Ryan and McConnell that the bill would go to conference. If he had voted for it at 1AM it would have been passed unchanged by the house and signed by Trump by 2AM.
Citizen_X
Whatever his original motivations when he returned to Washington, in the end McCain literally rose from his death bed to fuck McConnell. And Trump. You gotta love that.
Yarrow
@Ian G.:
Agreed. McCain got to humiliate McConnell and Trump AND he got his speech about returning the Senate to regular order and bipartisanship. He showed he (or anyone) can shut it down to get the Senate functioning that way if they want to. Highest of high drama, messing with people’s lives. He made us all watch and then made it all count.
Ian G.
@SFAW:
I assume you mean the really old days of feudal Japan or the Roman Empire.
bystander
@SFAW: And yet none of this week’s fails will ever lead anyone in the MSM to say McConnell is anything but a master tactician in full control of his caucus.
I’m wondering if the guy with the reaper is the one who convinced McCain to do the right thing, or maybe a visit at the hospital by Teddy K?
Bannon would probably find bannoning easier if he just did some deep stretches first and used more santorum.
ETA Scaramucci doesn’t give Bannon the slightest bit of credit for having to stretch at least four inches further than the average guy.
The Dangerman
How could Mooch be coked out of his mind? He was having dinner with Trump.
Ohhhhhhhh.
rikyrah
Russia cuts U.S. diplomats in retaliation to new sanctions https://t.co/LcmJvGF9Py pic.twitter.com/8PoUGrDCu2
— The Hill (@thehill) July 28, 2017
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Wjs:
In a parliamentary system he’d have the institutional imperative to resign.
He won’t.
rikyrah
Love this Turtle tweet
https://mobile.twitter.com/BR_DougFarrar/status/890809258563915776
Wapiti
@nonynony: Bone spurs didn’t keep Trump out of Viet Nam. It was the yellow streak down his back. In fact, I suspect Trump might be entirely yellow, and uses that god-awful orange spray-on tan to hide his condition.
Gin & Tonic
@bystander:
Somewhere Lyndon Baines Johnson is laughing uproariously.
SFAW
@Ian G.:
Of course.
clay
@Mary:
Of course, he then undercut himslf by going on national TV and declared that he was going to fire Comey “no matter what” Rosenstein had said.
The Dangerman
Can I nominate to “bend it like Bannon”? With the soccer allusion, wouldn’t this be the ultimate, um, own goal?
SFAW
@bystander:
Not sure I want to know how you know this.
tokyo expat
@Yarrow: In today’s WaPo, Jennifer Rubin calls the Republicans who voted for the bill out as cowards, b/c that’s what they are. I hope more of the media pushes that view. They all deserve to lose their seats.
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 7/27/17
GOP deploys counter narrative amid continued Trump disgrace
Rachel Maddow reports on the latest embarrassing spectacle from the Donald Trump administration and points out the facets of a solidifying Republican counter narrative that aims to discredit the FBI and the Trump Russia investigation.
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 7/27/17
Expert: ‘Nothing can stop Bobby Mueller’ despite Trump’s efforts
Tim Weiner, historian of the FBI and CIA, talks with Rachel Maddow about the Republican effort to discredit the FBI and the Trump Russia investigation, and what Donald Trump doesn’t understand about the FBI.
bystander
@The Dangerman: Hey, maybe that’s the attraction. Trump is the coke dealer’s best friend. Scaramucci can keep better tabs on his best customer if he’s right there in the WH. Who needs buzzkills like Priebus or hoovervaccuums like Bannon around?
Jeffro
I LOVE how some of the reporting on “Mooch’s Tirade” is openly speculating about his coke habit…it would, after all, be irresponsible not to speculate…
In other news (OT): I cannot relate to this shit at all: Grocery Stores Are Adapting to More Male Shoppers, who They Treat Like Neanderthals
SIGNAGE directing him to “tonight’s dinner”?
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 7/27/17
Trump employs Christie-style bully politics in health bill push
Rachel Maddow points out the parallels between the bully tactics at the root of the Bridgegate scandal and the pressure Donald Trump is trying to put on Senator Lisa Murkowski by threatening Alaska, noting also that Chris Christie’s former campaign manager now works as Trump’s political director.
bystander
@SFAW: Nothing firsthand, thanks. But talk about stubby fingers.
rikyrah
Strike Three: Republicans’ health care crusade collapses in Senate
07/28/17 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen
Health care advocates have reason to be relieved this morning.
What now?
Well, Senate Republicans have now run out of bills. “Repeal and replace” was voted down on Tuesday; “repeal and delay” was voted down on Wednesday; and then “skinny repeal” came up one vote short last night. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declared last night, “It’s time to move on.”
Right, but what does that mean in practical terms?
No one, including Senate Republicans, can answer that with any confidence. At least in theory, senators can now begin work on some bipartisan measures intended to strengthen the current system and shore up areas in which the Affordable Care Act is struggling.
grandpa john
@nonynony: I had the same thought, Was the yes on motion to proceed part of the buildup to increase the drama of the grand finale that allowed McCain the chance to once again exit in a cloud of glory as a hero ?
rikyrah
In the wake of failure, McConnell looks for someone to blame
07/28/17 08:46 AM—UPDATED 07/28/17 10:06 AM
By Steve Benen
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) saw an opportunity to take health care benefits from millions of American families, and it’s hardly surprising that he’d feel bitter disappointment now that his efforts have failed. But this Politico piece suggests McConnell’s not playing the blame game especially well.
There are a few ways to look at whining like this. The first is to just see it was pathetic: as became obvious last night, McConnell couldn’t convince his own members to follow his lead. For him to blame the minority party for refusing to help him undermine Americans’ interests is impossible to take seriously.
The second is that McConnell is plainly wrong about what Democrats were willing to do. As we discussed weeks ago, Democrats practically begged to work with Republicans on health care. They put their appeals in writing for months. GOP leaders ignored every appeal.
McConnell considered a bipartisanship approach, in a rather literal sense, the worst-case scenario. In March, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) characterized bipartisanship as the one course of action he simply did not want to even consider.
But even putting these details aside, let’s not overlook the fact that McConnell is perhaps the last person in the country who should be talking about engaging in health care policymaking “in a serious way.”
rikyrah
Some rarely-seen photographs from this day in 2004, when then-state sen. @BarackObama gave the keynote address at the Democratic convention: pic.twitter.com/adIVBDtLeX
— The Obama Foundation (@ObamaFoundation) July 27, 2017
JGabriel
FlipYrWhig:
Bannonism:
1. Political philosophy characterized by nationalism, fascism, sexism, anti-semitism, racism, cronyism, and the need for constant affirmation of one’s businesses and political views via internet clicks and television ratings
2. Self-administered oral masturbation
MattF
@Jeffro: I’m so naive. It simply hadn’t occurred to me that Scaramucci was coked to the gills. D’oh.
rikyrah
BREAKING: After 7 years, 81 anti-ACA votes, thousands of wasted hours, Republicans fail again. #SkinnyRepeal is dead and #ObamacareLIVES! pic.twitter.com/a2zmRUc6yD
— The Baxter Bean (@TheBaxterBean) July 28, 2017
nightranger
Probably the only reason McCain voted against it is because cheeto benito mocked him for being a PoW.
tobie
@Paul W.: yes, McCain did good in standing up to his caucus, and I am very grateful to him. I just put in a call to Senator Hirono’s DC office to thank her for bravery in fighting for healthcare in spite of her own healthcare woes and the staff couldn’t have been nicer. They said they were happy and so proud of their senator who is a fighter. Today’s a good day to call the good ones. It’s a boost for their staff.
Vhh
@SFAW: In the distant future of Star Wars, his apology would be accepted by Darth Vader after his stangled corpse hit the floor.
Gin & Tonic
@nightranger: Do you have a Google alert set up that tells you every time mm posts, so you can come here and drop your, um, pearls?
JGabriel
@Ian G.:
Staying home would have been the expected, and smart, move if McCain had wanted to sink the healthcare repeal vote without exposing himself to criticism, threats, and lambasting from the right.
So, like mistermix, I feel compelled to give McCain credit for showing up to take a vote against ACA repeal in person when he already had an easy out.
rikyrah
@nonynony:
He doesn’t even get theKKKeebler Elf.
1. He doesn’t have self-respect.
2. He’s been dreaming his entire life to be in the position to live out his KKKlan Fantasies using the law.
and, Dolt45 thinks that a little bullying is gonna run him out?
Nope.
MattF
@nonynony: It’s also a dominance display. The emphasis here is on display.
Ken
@nonynony:
National reality television, which is anything but. He and the person “fired” knew their lines, and knew who would be fired a couple of weeks in advance (if not at the start of the season) when the writers settled on the story line.
rikyrah
Soon Paul Ryan Will Boehner Himself
by Martin Longman
July 27, 2017
Rachael Bade of Politico has an excellent article on a topic I’ve been writing about now for more than half a decade, which is the true governing majority in the House of Representatives. Back before John Boehner lost his job as speaker, I could see that he had no future as the speaker if he insisted on simultaneously being the leader of the House Republican caucus. I encouraged him repeatedly to face reality and strike a deal with the Democrats to create a functional majority that reflected the actual group that was willing to pay our debts on time and keep the government operating by passing appropriations bills.
I, of course, knew that Boehner lacked the foresight, creativity, cunning, or independence of mind to follow my advice, but I also knew he was doomed if he did not. He tried to govern with the majority he had, and it wasn’t a Republican majority so the hardliners orchestrated his defenestration.
Paul Ryan finds himself in the same situation, although his first true tests haven’t occurred yet. The difference is that his centrists, who are his most crucial members for actually governing, are more organized and rebellious than they were under Boehner. They have already sunk a number of bills, blown up more than a couple of legislative plans, and they’re sick and tired of being forced to imperil their reelection by taking unnecessary votes that divide their constituents. They’re telling Ryan to quit holding votes as negotiating and messaging tools and start negotiating the budget deal and debt ceiling with the Democrats.
The centrists have always had more clout than they’ve been willing to use, but their influence is at a high point at the moment because they’re not just the folks who can give Ryan the votes he needs to avoid a government shutdown and a credit default, they’re also the folks most likely to lose in the midterms. In other words, their political interests have to be considered more now than ever, because Ryan can’t remain Speaker if they get wiped out.
grandpa john
@Ian G.: If he stayed home he wouldn”t get the chance to play here. His vote was one of three. Wasn’t the votes of the two women equally important? Why are they not getting part of the glory also, without either of those votes, McCain’s vote would have been meaningless.
Yarrow
@tokyo expat: Jennifer Rubin has been a revelation during the Trump presidency. I never thought I’d agree with her so much.
Iowa Old Lady
I heard an excerpt from some speech McCain gave saying the Senate had been split since they passed the ACA and it was time to work together. Let’s recall that on the night after the 2008 election, McConnell called his members together and laid out their strategy: they would oppose everything Obama proposed. That was over a year before the ACA passed.
catclub
@Ian G.:
also, If McCain does not show up they delay the vote until his replacement shows up – and then it might pass. Unless the Gov who appoints whoever tells whoever not to vote against medicaid expansion.
debit
@nightranger: That was my thought too. An icy cold “oh, you thought I’d forgotten about that?” knife stab of revenge, straight into Trump’s KFC clogged heart.
MattF
@Yarrow: I’ve noticed that she’s been consistently quoting Democrats attacking Republicans. That’s… pretty much the worst thing you can do if you’re a conservative political columnist.
debit
@Gin & Tonic: I’m not here a lot these days and apparently missed something.
Yarrow
@grandpa john:
Yes, of course it was. But it also allowed McCain to give his speech about returning to “regular order” and talk about working in a bipartisan fashion. He got all the TV cameras for that. And then he got to show the rest of the Senators that they have power–they don’t have follow McConnell blindly off a cliff. They can stand for “regular order” they can work with their colleagues in the other party. They have the power to stop bills from passing if they don’t like them. And he did it in the highest of high drama fashion, with all the attention on him, and he gets to go out a hero. It was political theater of the highest order, but it also had a purpose.
catclub
@grandpa john:
Also the votes of the solid 48 Democrats/Independents are just as important, and the I wonder which GOP senators are now wishing they had been on the winning side – like Heller and Capito.
But this is like the election – I can understand maybe 15% voting for Trump, but the other 32% to get to 47% makes zero sense.
Likewise, I can understand 15 GOP votes on this bill, but 49 is pure tribal crazy.
catclub
@Yarrow:
They could have told McConnell on May 1 that they would never vote for a bill without those things, and if they meant it, we never would have gotten here.
But they did not actually do that. None of them who have complained about regular order actually did that. Neither did McCain.
MattF
@catclub: And the Republicans who had the brilliant thought, “I know what we should do–let’s give McCain a chance at a huge spotlight” ought to be indicted for political malpractice.
Jeffro
@Yarrow:
Seconded. Our politics clearly differ, but at least she is an American first and conservative second. And even at that (being a conservative) she has actual principles. It’s one of the things I continue to knock my RWNJ friends/family for: when’s the last time they stood for anything but spite?
Yarrow
@MattF: Scaramucci sure looks and acts like someone who’s coked up. I also wonder if he’s Trump’s supplier since they’re “good friends” and Trump has that sniffing problem.
bemused
I think I read here that a dem senator tweeted that he will be able to tell his grandchildren some day what McCain said to him before vote last evening but I can’t remember who the senator is.
I love a New Yorker cartoon in latest issue. Dog talking to cat on sofa. “Who are you kidding? You’re all about small government until you get stuck in a tree.”
Gretchen
So now we have all Republicans on tape saying this was a terrible bill, and then voting for it anyway. Jerry Moran of Kansas has both sides mad at him now, and he’s up in 2018. His Facebook page has lots of comments, all negative.
catclub
@tokyo expat:
Rubin says a lot of things I wanted to say. Better.
Yarrow
@debit: How are you doing? I’ve missed seeing you around.
debit
I just love this so much.
Come on, Lisa. Switch parties.
Taiko
This post is why God invented blogs.
TS
@Ian G.: It would also have left the 2 women standing alone to be attacked by the yellow fury.
nonynony
@MattF:
Rubin has been shifting so much that I’m wondering if she might not be on the edge of a John Cole or David Brock level conversion event. Not just a mealy-mouthed “Republicans aren’t really conservatives” but a true eye-opening realization that Republicans and conservatism have never been what she thought they were at all.
Those events are seismic shifts in a person and a lot of her writing has had that feel. I can tell you from experience that once the blindfold is ripped off any you see the monster for what it truly is you don’t go back to it if you have any kind of compassion in your heart for your fellow man. I hope for her sake that’s what’s going on – life is so much better when you get away from the horribleness that is modern Republicanism and how it expects you to treat your fellow human beings.
(It probably is also the case that Rubin’s big tie to Republicanism is the image of Republicans as the only “true” supporters of Israel in the US. That’s blatantly false, but if you’re in the bubble you believe it. Trump’s ties to white supremacists makes that harder – though not impossible – to believe. She was an early nevertrumper for I suspect that reason and maybe the obvious support of Trump by most of the GOP has shaken her into understanding that for all of their professed support of Israel and Jewish people, they’re happy to embrace white supremacy when it is offered up.)
schrodingers_cat
You guys know what this mean, right? T is going to crackdown on immigrants even more. He has asked for 10000 more ICE agents. DACA is living on borrowed time now.
debit
@Yarrow: I’m okay. Things have been crazy busy at work and I haven’t had a whole lot of time or energy for internet or politics. But today’s a slow day and I am still basking in the afterglow. :) Thanks for asking and I have missed you too!
nonynony
@debit: She can’t switch parties. She needs to hold onto that Chair position – now more than ever since Trump has threatened her and her state by proxy.
The only way she could switch is if her seat were enough to give the Dems the majority so she could keep her chair. And even there it would be iffy – voters don’t tend to reward party hoppers. (Switching to an Independent could work for her though – if any state’s voters would be happy with an independent who caucuses with whoever happens to be in the majority this year, it’s probably Alaska).
mai naem mobile
I think it might be a good time for Barack Obama to.invite Mitch McConnell over for a drink. Hell,multiple drinks. Kentucky Whisky? Bourbon? John Boehner could even join in.
O. Felix Culpa
@rikyrah: Great pix. Love that man!
JKFJS
@nonynony: It wasn’t at the very last minute, because apparently he had told Schumer at 10pm (three and a half hours before the vote) that he was going to be a “no”.
Yarrow
@catclub: Agreed. Republicans are horrible. They could have stopped all this long ago. For me, though, I’m glad to see three of them standing up to their caucus and shutting down this bill. McCain’s speech followed by his action, which I did not expect to see, was good thing. I’m going to go with that. Just because people could have done something a long time ago doesn’t mean we have to beat up on them if and when they finally do it. I’m not saying trust any Republicans, but I’m glad to see the cracks and see McCain, Collins, and Murkowski step up.
rikyrah
Acting ICE Director: Deportation Of Non-Criminals Has Gone From ‘Zero To 100’
by MATT SHUHAM
Published JULY 27, 2017 3:58 PM
The acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Thursday that the agency’s deportations of non-criminal undocumented immigrants has gone from “zero to 100” in the first six months of the Trump administration.
Thomas Homan made the comment during a White House briefing when asked if the administration was highlighting the activity of violent transnational gangs like MS13 to characterize a much larger deportation effort that includes largely law-abiding undocumented people. A reporter referenced reports that the largest spike in deportations under the Trump administration has come from undocumented immigrants without any criminal record.
Remaining in the country without authorization, while still punishable with deportation, is a civil offense — as opposed to criminal offenses like jumping a border fence or forging an identification document.
“Under the prior administration, noncriminals were not a priority,” Homan said. “So when you go from zero to 100, of course you’re going to see the biggest rise in that.”
“The executive orders are clear,” he said. “Anybody who reads the executive orders — no population is off the table. So noncriminals, yeah, those that have got a court order from a judge who refuse to leave, we’re looking for them. Those who enter the country illegally, I’ve said it a hundred times, that is a crime, to enter this country illegally.”
Kraux Pas
@nonynony:
Didn’t she win reelection as an independent write-in candidate? Another thing that can probably only happen in Alaska?
rikyrah
Conservative Pundits Melt Down After Senate Repeal Effort Dramatically Fails
By CAITLIN MACNEAL
Published JULY 28, 2017 9:58 AM
After the Senate’s bare-bones bill to repeal Obamacare suddenly crashed and burned in the wee hours of Friday morning, conservative pundits went into full freak-out mode, blasting the Senate for its failure.
Some specifically aimed their ire at Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). McCain cast the final, decisive vote on Friday morning against the bill, bringing the Senate’s third stab at repealing Obamacare to a grinding halt. His vote against the measure shocked Republican senators standing in the chamber, especially since he returned to the Capitol earlier this week to cast a vote that allowed the Senate to proceed to debate on the legislation in the first place.
This last twist left conservative pundits reeling. Former Republican presidential candidate and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was so angry with the three senators who voted down the bill that he suggested changing the way senators are elected.
rikyrah
McConnell: O’Care Repeal Failure Is A ‘Clearly Disappointing Moment’ For GOP
by NICOLE LAFOND
Published JULY 28, 2017 8:12 AM
A seemingly stunned Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wasn’t shy about the “clearly disappointing moment” his party had just endured and openly blamed Democrats for not engaging “in a serious way” to help the American people, after Republicans failed to pass a skinny Obamacare repeal bill early Friday morning.
“I imagine many of our colleagues on the other side are celebrating, probably pretty happy about this,” McConnell said from the Senate floor after the plan was blocked by three Republicans. He said he felt “regret” and “disappointment” that his party couldn’t drum up a simple majority to pass the minimalistic repeal bill.
“This is a disappointment, a disappointment indeed,” he said. “Our constituents have suffered through an awful lot under Obamacare, we thought they deserved better, which is why I, and many of my colleagues, did as we promised, voted to repeal this failed law.”
Juju
In regards to Heller and Gardner I keep hearing the Bluto rally speech from “Animal House” in my head. “Heller!! He’s a dead man! Gardner! Dead!! Marmalard?! Dead!”
rikyrah
Trump Says GOP Should Just Let O’Care ‘Implode’ After Repeal Effort Withers
By CAITLIN MACNEAL
Published JULY 28, 2017 6:41 AM
After the Senate’s latest effort to repeal Obamacare failed early Friday morning, President Donald Trump proposed simply letting the Affordable Care Act “implode” before working up replacement legislation.
……………….
Trump’s proposal to let Obamacare “implode” is not a new one. He has offered several different strategies for replacing the health care law as Congress has struggled to come up with a bill that enough lawmakers can agree on. He’s now circled back to letting Obamacare fail.
O. Felix Culpa
@bemused:
I think it was Chris Murphy of CT, but I am still groggy from little sleep to be sure. Like others, I was up until the wee hours watching and then celebrating the victory.
Ken
@rikyrah:
In this case, that would mean 60+ senators being told “Do nothing to reduce the Medicaid expansion. We need that money.”
Enhanced Voting Techniques
“The Bannon Maneuver” should be a tag
My take on The Mooch isn’t he’s on coke, it’s he’s a reality tv star trying to play with the adults in politics. The Mooch has been conditioned to just say what ever he thinks and that’s very bad in politics.
So we taking bets on how long The Mooch will be in the Don’s favor? .I am giving him two news cycles.
Yarrow
@debit: Glad you’re doing okay. How is Ellie? I still think of dear, sweet Walter and go watch his 5 Guys fries video whenever I need a laugh. I love that video. You were so good to him.
gene108
I think a thanks needs to go out to Collins and Murkowski because they did not waiver, though McCain is getting all the attention for doing the right thing.
@rikyrah:
I used to think, when I heard right-wingers talk about repealing the 17th Amendment, it was little more than internet babble. But given the lunatics in charge of things right now, I don’t think it’d be wise to underestimate that this could happen. Also, I hope Mike Huckabee realizes that if people are pissed off at their Senators and the only way to make that change is to vote out the state legislature, than that is what they will do. Right now many state legislatures fly under the radar of most people’s attention, which seems to be for the benefit of those state legislatures.
rikyrah
The Darkness and the Rot
By JOSH MARSHALL
Published JULY 26, 2017 10:44 PM
excerpt:
rikyrah
Contact Numbers for Senators Murkowski and Collins. Call them and thank them:)
Sen. Murkowski: 202-224-6665
Sen. Collins: 202-224-2523
Ella in New Mexico
This has been the best TV drama series I’ve ever watched. Especially since they went to daily episodes.
JGabriel
@nonynony: I was about to post something very similar. Thanks for saving me the trouble of writing it.
lgerard
This Michael Lewis article on the Department of Energy is really, really, really disturbing.
At one point in passing it mentions that Eric Trump’s BIL. Kyle Yunaska, was appointed to run the energy policy analysis unit
His qualifications ( as noted by The Hill)
He graduated from East Carolina University in 2009, and participated in 2013 in an Inside Edition competition to find the “hottest bachelors” in Washington, D.C.
Help us jeebus
Hal
Question; if the MTP failed would McConnell have been able to restart the process whenever he wanted? If so, I’m wondering if it wasn’t the best for this repeal effort to end liken it did, since now it seems completely dead. Plus the added bonus of having all those repubs on record with their votes. That has to be worth something in 2018. I’m still bothered by how close a call this was, and that there are 49 assholes in the Senate that clearly could not care less about their constituents.
MattF
Worth noting, for the record, that the ‘skinny repeal’ option was 100% doomed before McCain decided to return to the Senate. He was ‘invited’ back by the Senate Republican leadership because it was the only way they could, theoretically, prevail.
rikyrah
The choice cannot be more clear.
They are on the record for plans that were horrific and would inflict harm upon MILLIONS.
NOW, they need to be nailed to the votes. Make them stick like superglue. It should be in every ad against them for 2018.
The GOP tried to harm you and your family.
The Democrats didn’t.
It really IS that simple. Period.
gene108
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
The Mooch will hang around. He’s what The Donald thinks he sees, when he looks in the mirror: a relatively fit looking, middle aged man, with few to no gray hairs, a full head of hair, and a nice tan.
As long as he keeps praising The Donald in public, he’s good to go.
rikyrah
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
who will they get to play The Mooch on SNL?
That photo in the Oval Office from yesterday could be it’s own SNL skit.
different-church-lady
In that sense, Trump also exposed the rot of nearly half the electorate. And we’re not yet out of bubblegum.
MattF
@gene108: Coke habit is a bother, though.
schrodingers_cat
Not to be shallow or anything but why are so many T appointees ugly as sin? There is Miller, Bannon, HuckSand and now Scarymouse. Their evil shines through their visage. Spicey was somewhat normal looking and he has already left.
Also, the less said about the main man the better.
JGabriel
@Caitlin MacNeal via rikyrah:
I keep reading descriptions like this, crediting McCain for being the ‘final, decisive’ vote against repeal, but if you watch the vote (or look at a chronological roll call), it’s Collins who actually cast the 51st vote against repeal. It’s vaguely annoying.
nightranger
@JGabriel:
Lol, yea Sandernista MarkyMux has his finger on the pulse….NOT.
I am constantly amazed at how easily some of you are willing to give McCain a pass for all his past asshollery just because he did something like this. Probably not for anything other than to shiv cheeto benito for mocking his war record.
McCain is a republican asshole and always will be…remember? Just amazed I have to remind people of that.
Kraux Pas
@rikyrah:
Damned typos
Mnemosyne
@MattF:
Yep. And then McCain turned around and punched the Republicans in the mouth. I’m still so, so, so happy today.
Jeffro
@rikyrah: Truly, there is no norm they won’t violate, no tradition they won’t overturn, nothing that they won’t do to try and preserve their privilege. It’s astounding.
Why not join the 21st century and your fellow citizens, Mr. Huckabee? You can’t stop the tide of history, and if we weren’t always having to keep you from destroying the Republic, we might get some great things accomplished – for everyone.
Frankensteinbeck
@mai naem mobile:
Anthrax and coke, with a dash of salty turtle tears. Drink up, Mitch.
Jeffro
@schrodingers_cat:
In our house we have a saying: “It’s not mean (or in this case, shallow) if it’s true”
A Ghost to Most
@Gretchen:
This. Corey Gardner finally had to pull the fence picket out of his ass and declare his allegiance to the fascists.
Coloradoans won’t forget.
Yarrow
@schrodingers_cat: The ugly on the inside is visible from the outside.
Tom
As several commentators have pointed out, lets not forget the collateral benefit that Trump, Ryan and McConnell have pissed away most of the summer on this, cramming all the other “must do” stuff (like the debt ceiling) into such a short time frame that they’ll be hard pressed to do as much damage as they would like. Any odds on the possibility that they’re so inept and (in Trump’s case) stupid that they let the US go into default? That should end the dollar’s status as the worlds default currency in a big hurry, with consequences that nobody in the United States will enjoy.
Frankensteinbeck
@gene108:
…who sings extravagant praises for Trump on national television, nonstop.
grandpa john
@catclub: Yeah, My own cowardly lying ,all talk no action, senator (graham) is an example of this bullshit
JGabriel
@nightranger:
I’m not willing to give McCain a pass for all his past assholery. I’m just giving credit where credit is due. Past assholery doesn’t wipe out the good one does, any more than the good one does wipes out past assholery.
Frankensteinbeck
@Tom:
McConnell is not that stupid. I don’t think Ryan is, because it’s not lowering taxes on the rich or gutting the safety net. They both know it has to pass, period. Trump is probably that stupid, but if McConnell and Ryan bring a clean increase to the floor, it will easily override Trump’s veto.
EDIT – It is possible, however, that McConnell is that spiteful. His rage towards the whole world right now must be boiling acid in his veins.
JGabriel
@Jeffro:
If Huck’s calling for a return to appointment of Senators by state legistlatures, then he really needs to get through the 20th first, before he can proceed to the 21st.
Frankensteinbeck
@JGabriel:
I was having heart attacks, afraid that Murkowski or Collins would fold at the last minute. The pressure must have been incredible.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Thing is, without earmarks, McConnell has zero that he can punish anybody with. The Zinke call to Murkowski simply pissed everybody off, so punishment from the executive is merely enraging.
McConnell no longer has ammo in his box, and he won’t be able to keep Heller, Capito, Flake, Corker as neatly under thumb.
debit
@Kraux Pas: That’s what I thought. She could still caucus with us.
Miss Bianca
@debit: She likely has more leverage as a Republican, but God…do I hope she’s decided she has no more fucks to give and starts throwing her weight around as one of the newly-woke GOP. You know, the kind who might actually give a shit about governing. And her constituents.
Roger Moore
@Jeffro:
This is a vile calumny against Neanderthals, who were very capable of planning where their next meal was coming from.
Gin & Tonic
@Kraux Pas: Strom Thurmond won as a write-in one time.
Highway Rob
@mai naem mobile:
StrychnineMagnesium Citrate. Neat.Chris
@nightranger:
I give credit where it’s due. Like I said last night, my reaction here isn’t “thank you! You’re my hero!” It’s “Fezzik… You did something right!”
That said, Abigail Nussbaum at LGM has a pretty good summarization of McCain’s behavior:
You know, I keep thinking about this, and about McCain, and I can’t get over how much he’s screwed over the rest of his caucus. Not just by voting against the bill, but in how he did it. He spent the last week making them all think that he would give them cover, and turning the spotlight on himself with his blatherings about bipartisanship. Up until a few hours before the vote he was making himself the story by promising to vote for the bill. And then he just turns around and votes no, once again making himself the story (at the expense of the two GOP senators who were steadfast in their opposition), and making every senator who voted for this bill even though it had no chance of passing look like even more of an asshole.
I mean, it’s not even a dick move, you know? It’s an entire, week-long dick campaign. At every turn he’s made himself the center of attention, first as the poor, cancer-stricken veteran, then as the savior of the right, then as the retiring elder statesman calling for unity, and finally as the savior of the left. And all it cost was the dignity of everyone else in his caucus, not to mention their chances of being reelected.
I just… this man is going to die exactly as he lived, isn’t he? Not giving a shit about anyone or anything other than himself. It’s nice that for once, that played out in favor of the American people, but christ, what an asshole.
Which is pretty much all true. But I still choose to celebrate the fact that, for once, his drama queen act and capacity to hold a grudge worked out for us. (For now, at least).
debit
@Yarrow: Ellie is awesome. She’s still spry and chipper. The only sign that she’s an old lady dog is the ever increasing gray on her face and that she’s slowing down on our walks. She hasn’t warmed up to Kelpie very much; she tolerates her but doesn’t buddy up like she did with Walter.
It hit me the other day that we’re coming up on the one year anniversary when John found Walter. I went back and read the first few threads and cried a little, but also had a few laughs. Walter’s enormous poops, his kissable lips, how he got his name. I miss him every single day.
bemused
@O. Felix Culpa:
Yes, I found the tweet. Boy, I hate teasers like that! He is in his early 40’s with a couple of kids so not likely he’ll have grandchildren any time soon.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
Another big ol’ thank you, David Anderson/Richard Mayhew) for all your work here. Your many posts have been edifying (and sometimes horrifying) and have kept keen focus on this extraordinarily important issue.
Keep up the excellent work.
This post of yours, Mistermix, was a joy to read.
Highway Rob
@rikyrah: Already done. Them first, then McCain, because no matter what I think of his reasoning, the result was good. And then the Dems, who closed ranks like a bunch of bosses.
(Wish I could’ve called my own Senators, but Cruz & Cornyn wouldn’t like what I have to say.)
Miss Bianca
@Chris: I’m with you (and Abigail Nussbaum) on this one. My opinion of the man hasn’t changed – I just think it’s nice that for once his dickishness worked in favor of the American people.
ETA: And yeah – speaking of a “week-long dick campaign” – if anyone, anything, deserves it, it’s the modern-day GOP. So am I glad that McCain stuck it to the bastards in the most public and humiliating way possible? That a dick was a dick to the biggest dicks in the world? Um, yeah…I find that I am. Maybe that makes me small-minded, but there it is.
Chris
@rikyrah:
You know, as much as Republicans hate the EU, it always impresses me how much their vision of America resembles the European Union – a weird, neither-fish-nor-fowl collection of semi-sovereign states instead of an actual united country.
Yarrow
@Chris:
The fact that the vote went ahead isn’t fully McCain’s fault. McConnell opened the vote and got them all on record. McConnell could have pulled the vote and come back another day. McCain told McConnell he was voting no. You could see that discussion on the floor and all the arm-twisting that was happening with McCain, Collins and Murkowski. GOP leadership knew they were No votes. They could have pulled the vote if they didn’t want Senators to go on record.
bemused
@Jeffro:
Condescending much? Sheesh, there are guys like that but there are just as many who are discerning/picky food shoppers. One of our sons does most of the grocery shopping for his family of four. He’s cheap so he pays attention to sales, good deals and likes to buy in bulk.
MaryL
@schrodingers_cat: Please don’t. Insulting people’s appearances insults more than just the targets of your criticism. What if someone here bears a more than passing physical resemblance to any of the people you mentioned? You’ve just insulted them as well. In general, let’s try hard not to measure people’s self worth by their appearance. There are so many valid reasons to criticize them.
Kend
Former Alaskan here.
Murkowski won’t switch parties. She has a Senate seat for life if she stays R because huge numbers of moderate Dems in Alaska will vote for her knowing she is by far their least bad option. Same thing used to be the case for Ted Stevens.
Alaskans also know well the power of seniority in the Senate. For decades “Uncle Ted” would bring home the bacon for the state. Murkowski is now stepping into that role. The party bosses in AK are not stupid. Well, they are stupid but they are also greedy. They won’t let another tea party primary insurgence happen now that they hold the committee chair of the most important committee to Alaska.
All this clumsy attempts at arm twisting by Trump lackies is probably only improving her standing in Alaska.
Yarrow
@debit: Awww….I’m glad you can smile about him. You were so good to Walter. We all enjoyed following along so much. I’m sorry Ellie and Kelpie aren’t the good friends she and Walter were, but glad to hear she’s doing well.
nightranger
@Chris:
Credit were it’s due? You don’t know why he voted against it. Did you see his statement afterwards? Calling Obamacare a failure, it’s failing, blah blah. Claiming he voted against this because this would not prevent Obamacare from failing.
Credit where it’s due….lol You people are hopeless!
Patricia Kayden
@LurkerNoLonger: **shudders**
debit
And now I see what I missed. Time for some pie.
Yarrow
@Highway Rob:
But those are the best calls. “I saw Senator Cruz’s/Cornyn’s vote last night. It was a vote to take away my health insurance. It was a vote to hurt me. I want him to know I will never forget that vote and i am making sure my family and friends know what he did. We will remember when it’s time to vote.”
Also effective, “The Senator voted to kill me.”
Chris
@nightranger:
I don’t give a fuck why politicians do things, or say they do things. I only care what they actually do.
Miss Bianca
@nightranger: and we care about YOUR fucking opinion…why, precisely?
rikyrah
@schrodingers_cat:
Hate makes you unattractive.
rikyrah
@debit:
you are good people, debit :)
Highway Rob
@Yarrow: If that’s the message I want to send – and it’s under due consideration – I’ll go to their actual offices, introduce the staff to my one-year-old daughter, and ask why this beautiful little creature with multiple hospital stays already in her rear view mirror should be subject to a lifetime benefits cap.
schrodingers_cat
@MaryL: Do you need a fainting couch? In normal circumstances I agree with you but what makes these people ugly is their hatred, which shines through, not their physical features. They seem to be devoid of human virtues like kindness and humility.
AntiCliche
@bemused: Chris Murphy.
divF
@Jeffro: The “men are hunters, women are gatherers” trope is from a stand-up comedy routine from 20-30 years ago (“men: kill shirt, bring home shirt”).
Ken
@Highway Rob:
All the more reason to call.
Ken
@Yarrow:
So you think McConnell was playing some two-dimensional chess?
(You don’t need 11-dimensional chess to exceed Trump’s abilities.)
Chris
@divF:
In my home, the shirt’s still alive when the man (or woman) brings it home. It’s the dog that kills it.
Yarrow
@Highway Rob: No reason you can’t do both! I made a Republican Senator’s staffer cry by asking them if they were okay with their boss voting to take away health coverage from people who need it, like their mom or their friend or their grandpa. How would they feel if that person couldn’t get treatment for their cancer or heart disease or spinal injuries because they couldn’t get insurance. Were they okay with that? I was breaking down and they started crying. That sort of thing may stay with them. Changing hearts and minds one person at a time.
schrodingers_cat
@Ken:Two dimensional chess? Chess is two dimensional.
Fair Economist
@Jeffro:
I was hooked recently by a store display advertising a caprese salad. I even bought some real mozzarella for it. I don’t mind, though, – it was good!
Full Metal Wingnut
@nonynony:
Fellow moderates? Sorry, but if they voted for the bill, they’re no moderates.
Yarrow
@Ken: I don’t know what McConnell was doing, but he sure wanted to make sure the Senators voted and were on record. Maybe to please his Koch or Mercer owners? Maybe they demanded everyone get on record.
WaterGirl
@Jeffro: If I were a man, I am pretty sure I would find the “men are children” meme to be quite tiresome.
Fair Economist
@nightranger:
Because this is really big. McCain’s vote last night saved possibly tens of thousands of lives and prevented millions of bankruptcies. That really *is* enough to excuse a lifetime of bad behavior.
MaryL
@schrodingers_cat: Your comment started thusly:
You may have followed it up by mentioning their inner evil, but by acknowledging your shallowness, you admit that you’re talking about their physical appearance. It’s hardly pearl clutching to point out the shittiness of this mindset.
WaterGirl
@bemused: Chris Murphy. I wonder if he can’t tell the story while McCain is in the land of the living.
WaterGirl
@bemused: That is so awesome. I would love to see that cartoon!
schrodingers_cat
@MaryL: They are pretty scary look at, whatever you might say. Thanks for calling me shitty, that was noble of you.
Sab
@Chris: I have been telling Portman’s interns that I don’t care what he say to the newspapers, I care how he votes. And now I can call his office and tell them I finally know how he votes, and it’s nothing like what he’s been saying.
catclub
@schrodingers_cat: Third dimension is time.
mawado
That would make Trump on a hot mic “The Pussy Promenade” ?
bemused
@WaterGirl:
There’s a New Yorker Cartoon twitter feed. I haven’t seen it there yet but it is in the mag July 31st issue so should show up there soon. I’m clipping this out and putting on the fridge to join my favorite cartoons, Toles, Zombie GOP Health Bill: Their goal is to eat our brains and then explain how it’s good for us and Joel Pett, Climate Summit, guy in audience says, “What if it’s a big hoax and we create a better world for nothing?”
bemused
@WaterGirl:
I had the same thought but didn’t want to speculate….
WaterGirl
@bemused: Didn’t want to speculate?! Where do you think you are? This is Balloon Juice. :-)
bemused
@WaterGirl:
Oh, there’s plenty here to voice dark thoughts and speculations so I don’t have to, lol.
Miss Bianca
@WaterGirl: on the other hand, I am starting to wonder – not for the first time – if I might be a guy trapped in a woman’s body, because the way they describe “men shopping” sounds an awful lot like ME in the grocery store!
Gin & Tonic
@WaterGirl: I am and I do.
schrodingers_cat
@catclub: Actually no, time is the fourth dimension. x,y,z are the three dimensions in the Cartesian co-ordinate system.
Omnes Omnibus
I called my senators this morning. A nice thank you for Baldwin and a less nice “I watched what you were doing as you tried to kill people, you hypocrite. I will remember this,” for Johnson. Johnson’s staffer sounded exhausted and depressed.
manyakitty
@SRW1: The Jester?
manyakitty
@schrodingers_cat: I call them “ugly on the inside,” and that mess oozes out of every pore.
TenguPhule
@SFAW:
When Republicans had honor, the tradition was a locked library, a bottle of scotch and a loaded pistol with one shot.
TenguPhule
@Vhh:
Long time ago, Galaxy Far Far Away.
/Pedant
karensky
@SRW1: Stephen Colbert
TenguPhule
@Tom:
Depressingly high. Deadline is Monday.
After that, Treasury starts pulling out the last ditch options that were considered, but never actually tried the last time Republicans fucked around with the debt ceiling.
quakerinabasement
Here ya go:
“Blah blah blah blah Hillary failed blah blah.”
TenguPhule
@Frankensteinbeck:
Cites facts not in evidence.
Ryan is worse then stupid on this. They haven’t even scheduled the vote for the debt ceiling. Instead, they passed a DOA budget that not even the Senate Republicans will vote for (with the caveat that they might still vote for it if they all go completely batshit insane across the board which can no longer be dismissed as impossible).
McConnell hasn’t even started the ground work for getting to a vote the debt ceiling either.
We are running out of time.
TenguPhule
@WaterGirl:
We do. Men can cook and plan out meals.
Granted, I’m not as good a cook as my mother or grandmother, but they’ve got decades more experience at it then I do.
Citizen Alan
@schrodingers_cat:
Your last sentence answers your earlier question. Shitgibbon does not wish to be surrounded by people more handsome and more virile then himself. It’s probably hard enough to look himself in the mirror as it is.
Mnemosyne
@Miss Bianca:
Yes. Yes I am happy about that. It made it all that much sweeter to see the Republicans get hosed by one of their own elder statesmen.
Mnemosyne
@MaryL:
I mentioned the other day that I have a friend who physically resembles Sarah Huckabee Sanders quite closely: same body type, same hair, similar face.
However, my friend doesn’t actually look like Huckabee Sanders (aka the Possum Queen) because my friend’s soul is not dead. You can see the difference in each of their faces.
So I think it’s fair game to point out that all of Trump’s crew are ugly, but it’s not because of their weight or their hairstyle or their features. They’re ugly because the ugly is seeping out from the inside.
Bill Arnold
@rikyrah:
Trump’s proposal to let Obamacare “implode” is not a new one.
He’s also probably not fully aware of the various meanings of “implode”. e.g.
Of course, this is Donald “Projection” Trump so he could well be (OK is) suggesting that he will surround Obamacare with metaphorical shaped charges and detonate them. (That’s basically what has been proposed.)
Dr. Omed
Can anyone tell me if this is correct?