Last night was a victory for women.
86% of all calls into Congress on healthcare were from women.
Nancy Pelosi was the Speaker of the House that could herd enough cats to get a fractious House caucus to vote for the bill that they were not thrilled about in 2010.
And the two Senators that held the line and who had formed the minimum necessary coalition to block the bill were women.
Senator McCain if he had not flown in at the start of the week would have been superflous as long as Senators Murkowski and Collins were going to vote not. A 99 vote Senate would have needed 50 Aye votes and no more than 49 Nay votes. The two women were Nay votes 49 and 50. They were enough to hold the line. Senator McCain may have been sufficient to drive at least a few garlic bulbs through reconciliation based repeal instead of repair bills.
And now the appropriate music…
Yarrow
Wow. I didn’t know that. Awesome. Way to go, American women!
I read somewhere that kids are growing up thinking that Republicans are the people who make their moms cry. I’m sad for the kids having to see their moms cry, but if that attitude takes hold with the next generation, I won’t be sorry about that.
JCJ
I think the Women’s March back in January was invigorating. When I saw the sea of people in Madison and then later the pictures from DC, NYC, Chicago, etc I know I felt so much better.
smintheus
It’s a Good Day for losing the blues
smintheus
@Yarrow: David, where did you see the 86% number? It’s pretty phenomenal.
Matt McIrvin
Poster at Dangerous Minds thinks we’re doomed because the transgender-soldier mishegoss is guaranteed to work:
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/how_trump_is_using_lgbtq_people_as_pawns
germy
Okay, so it’s Friday. Time for a late news dump.
What fresh hell is next with this administration?
SiubhanDuinne
Tried several times this morning to call the D.C. Offices of the three GOP no votes, but couldn’t get through to any of them. Finally talked to staffers in small state offices for McCain and Collins. The young man in Collins’ Bangor (I think it was) office was nearly in tears of gratitude. He was so happy to get a heartfelt thank you, didn’t care at all that I didn’t live in Maine — I was transparent about that from the start, said I was calling as an American, not as a constituent — and promised to pass my thanks along to Sen. Collins. Would love to do that in one of Murkowski’s state offices, but I’ve tried them all and every single damn voicemailbox is full and no humans pick up the phone.
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne:
Good for you. I only have the energy to call my own Senators.
SiubhanDuinne
By the way, David, I saw what you did there in your post title!
bemused senior
I’m tentatively happy and exhausted. My personal medical nightmare is ongoing, but keeps me thinking about these issues constantly. A very close family friend who I call my pseudo-daughter has CF. She had a double lung transplant in 2003, and is now in the hospital having her second. This one has been much more difficult, and she is still under sedation with her chest open in the ICU as her doctors wait for the swelling to go down and blood clotting, blood pressure and fluid retention to resolve themselves. Oh and her kidneys stopped functioning after the operation, though they have hopes this will also recover. So she has insurance through her job (UC) but I can’t stop thinking of others with equally life threatening conditions who were teetering on the edge of losing theirs. And the leopards are still trying to think how they can eat our faces. Just feeling the need to share this. BTW she is a lesbian and her wife had some issues (due to her insane parents) with getting registered as her next-of-kin at the hospital. So yeah, all the reasons why living through Trumpmania is itself a preexisting condition.
maurinsky
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/344348-graham-trump-discuss-alternate-obamacare-repeal-bill
We are not done fighting yet, folks.
ruemara
I have to remember to drop them a note of thanks and an exhortation to impeach the Tangelo of Doom.
Barbara
@maurinsky: Block grants. Ugh.
A Ghost to Most
Just sent a message to Cory Gardener, calling him a bought and paid for stooge, asking how deep he was complicit in the Russian coup conspiracy, and if he looked good in orange. Asshole.
rikyrah
Watch Trump’s treasury secretary learn the hard way not to f*ck with Maxine Waters pic.twitter.com/9ndMFdHRoP
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) July 28, 2017
amygdala
This is also an argument for a more diverse House and Senate. A dozen rich old white guys come up with a health care “plan.” Of course their work product, such as it was, sucks for women, minorities, children, the non-wealthy, LGBTQ folks, the disabled, and anyone else who’s not mega-privileged.
swbarnes2
But there are apparently 5 female Republican Senators, which means half of them voted yes. Two of them voted yes on all three versions, Capito voted no on the second version only.
Mike J
You mean Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell? Tammy Baldwin and Elizabeth Warren? Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris?
They were all unwavering and didn’t need to be cajoled into not harming the country or its citizens.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Matt McIrvin:
He’s also a condescending prick
Omnes Omnibus
@swbarnes2: So?
Gin & Tonic
@rikyrah: That was a thing of absolute beauty.
SiubhanDuinne
@rikyrah:
That was amazing. This staunch non-smoker of nearly a quarter-century is panting for a cigarette now after watching the gentlelady from California in action.
David Anderson
@smintheus: cite https://www.axios.com/trumps-biggest-opposition-middle-aged-women-2341155564.html
Mnemosyne
I have five thank-you faxes to write today: Murkowski, Collins, McCain, Harris, and Feinstein.
I can’t help but note that one person on that list is in a distinct minority, and it ain’t Harris.
schrodingers_cat
@Matt McIrvin: Who is this person and why should we care.
Yarrow
@rikyrah: OMG, that is awesome. Reclaiming my time!
Laura
@Yarrow:
I read somewhere that kids are growing up thinking that Republicans are the people who make their moms cry.
I believe that was the awesome Bluegal who blogs at crooks & liars and shares the Professional Left podcast with her equally awesome husband Driftglass.
If you haven’t checked them out, you should!
Bluegal’s three kids are covered by medicaid in Illinois, and she cried over the actually loss of coverage a few months back and shared this in a PL podcast a while back. Long/short, she believes her experience was one shared by families and especially mothers all accross the US. Powerful stuff. When my mom cried, we ALL KNEW something was seriously wrong.
Mnemosyne
@Matt McIrvin:
Let me guess — he’s a white dude. Did I nail it?
InternetDragons
@germy: Well. Trump is now calling for police brutality, and saying that only he has saved the 2nd Amendment.
https://twitter.com/colinjones/status/891005786394177536
That work for ya? =P
trollhattan
@Matt McIrvin:
Not buying it; despite what the VP may think this isn’t the nation’s most-compelling issue and once again, Trump shows himself to be nothing more than a bored bully. I’ll also direct anybody supporting Trump’s nonsense to this.
MaryL
Sisters are doing it for themselves and everyone else in the country.
germy
@rikyrah:
He tried the Jefferson Sessions “Run Out The Clock” trick. Take up time mouthing platitudes while ignoring the question.
schrodingers_cat
@Mnemosyne: Is he also a BSB? (BS bro?)
LurkerNoLonger
I want to point out that this reputation that McConnell had as some master strategist, like so much else in Washington, was inside-the-beltway bullshit. In this incarnation of The Tortoise and the Hare, the tortoise lost.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@schrodingers_cat:
Don’t really know. The dude is an asshole shitting all over the people, mostly women according to our David, making phone calls to Congress members. Oh and also drones on about DNC centrists and how we’re all doomed because the GOP are going to try to make the midterms a referendum on equality rather than Trump. He cites the gay marriage bans in 2004 against Kerry as precedent.
Yarrow
@InternetDragons: Holy shit. Who are those police he’s speaking to/in front of? Some graduation ceremony? I sure hope they get complaints and have to respond to questions about why they’re cheering calls for them to abuse suspects.
germy
“When we wake up from the Trump presidency, our justice system may be broken beyond recognition.”
– Sally Yates
schrodingers_cat
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: Purity left bro can go fly a kite.
tobie
Another person to thank is Senator Hirono from Hawaii. She flew back from Hawaii for this vote in spite of undergoing treatment for Stage IV kidney cancer. I called her DC this morning and her staff was so nice and clearly so fond of the Senator they work for.
bemused
Only 14% of calls to Congress were men? Pathetic.
Mnemosyne
@Mike J:
I actually have a pretty good feeling about Murkowski. She’s gotten dissed by the Republican boys’ club more than once and won her seat in a write-in campaign that united Native Americans, disgruntled Republicans, and Democrats who were scared of the Tea Partier who’d won the primary.
I think she’s a good bet to go independent.
Yarrow
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: @schrodingers_cat: From just the short description at the top of the thread, this guy sounds stupid. I say ignore him.
schrodingers_cat
@Yarrow: Agreed, now I regret giving his stupid post a click.
TenguPhule
@germy:
What do you mean may?
rikyrah
Funniest thing you will read today.
I disagree with the teacher:
This kid deserved an “A”
https://mobile.twitter.com/DemWrite/status/890638813105594368
hueyplong
While we watched the drama on healthcare this week, Mueller & Co quietly continued their work. The absence of leaks from them probably unnerves Trump.
Yarrow
@Mnemosyne: I don’t see why she’d go Independent. Here’s a comment from Kend in an earlier thread that thinks the same way:
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@schrodingers_cat: @Yarrow:
Agreed. Except for the top comment, it’s pretty much a circlejerk there
Yarrow
@hueyplong: I saw some rumor last night or this morning that a couple of big stories might drop this weekend. Hoping for a Friday night news dump to pile on to the Scaramucci shit show and the healthcare vote failure. That would give us a trifecta!
rikyrah
Trump says that he’s okay with police being rougher on arrested suspects, such as hitting their head on police car. Crowd of police cheers.
— David Nakamura (@DavidNakamura) July 28, 2017
Ian G.
Yes, it’s nice to think the orange Shitgibbon had his microscopic dick cut off by women here.
I really, really fucking hope we get a female president in January 2021. Her simple existence would be a rebuke of everything Shitgibbon stands for in his “mind”.
Mnemosyne
@schrodingers_cat:
No idea, but I wouldn’t be surprised. I’m making my guess based solely on what’s posted here.
TenguPhule
@rikyrah:
Names & badges of everyone who attended. Gonna need them for the trials before all of this is over.
NoraLenderbee
We had a plumbing event (not quite an emergency) this AM and so I’ve just heard the news. I’m astounded that Grandpa Walnuts voted no. After the way he’s caved over and over lately. I’m pleased, but I can’t imagine why he didn’t cave again.
I want to send Murkowski a bouquet. (But I’ll refrain until the urge passes.)
HeleninEire
My 83 year old father texted me at 3:55 NY time. Said he woke up to pee but was stressed about what was going on. He turned on the TV to find out that Skinny Minny failed. He is ecstatic.
My Dad has had a really tough life. He’s one of the people who has followed all the rules and is confused and pissed that the rules no longer apply. He actually has said to me “I’m glad I won’t be here to see how America ends.”
He was thrilled at 3:55 this morning. And I was thrilled for him.
germy
@Ian G.:
Be careful what you wish for. Lots of RW republican women would love to be president.
Mnemosyne
@rikyrah:
That teacher who gave an “F” is the kind who gives teaching a bad name. ?
rikyrah
Trump Has Not Yet Begun to Lose
by Martin Longman
July 28, 2017
People close to Secretary of Defense James Mattis say he is “appalled” by the president’s decision to make a shift on transgender policy via Twitter. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is on the verge of resigning, mainly out of frustration with the president and his staff. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry is in charge of our nuclear weapons and was duped into spending a half hour with a Russian phone prankster who he thought was Ukraine’s prime minister, Volodymyr Groysman. Trump wants to fire his beleaguered attorney general who is pissed at him. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke just alienated the senator with the most influence over his department by threatening her state with petty retribution for her vote against Trumpcare. Trump’s first press secretary quit in disgust, which came shortly after his second communications director quit in disgust. Trump’s new communications director just said that his chief of staff is a “paranoid schizophrenic,” that his top advisor “sucks his own cock,” and that he wants “to kill” the rest of Trump’s staff for leaking. Trump’s “paranoiac” chief of staff is preparing to exit.
Trump’s former campaign chairman is quite possibly going to jail and is likely in plea negotiations to avoid that fate. Trump had to fire his first national security advisor who is quite possibly going to jail and is likely in plea negotiations to avoid that fate. Trump’s son was nailed dead to rights for talking to Russian spies about getting dirt on Hillary Clinton, turned in essentially by Trump’s son-in-law who also met with Russian spies. They both have lawyers, as does Trump’s daughter. Trump has a growing army of lawyers, none of whom he listens to at all.
And this (and much more) was happening before Trump’s push to repeal Obamacare died in the Senate last night, and before Special Counsel Robert Mueller announces a single indictment of anyone in Trump’s inner or outer circles. As I’ve been saying, the real problems haven’t hit yet. Wait until the Republicans discover that they can’t raise the debt ceiling and the country is about to default on its debts and cause a global recession. Wait until the Republicans can’t pass a budget or can’t pass a continuing resolution and the government shuts down. Or, more accurately, watch what happens to the party when its leaders need to go to the Democrats for help and get no help or cover from a White House that has no understanding of practical reality. Wait until we’re asked to follow Trump’s leadership during a crisis on the Korean peninsula or he inadvertently starts a crisis there by making careless tweets.
The failures so far have been spectacular, but they’re just the warm up act. The real consequences are just on the horizon, and all queued up to hit us between Labor Day and Halloween.
Trump has not yet begun to lose, and we’re all going to lose with him unless something preemptive is done by people in responsibility who currently show no signs of having any wisdom or any guts.
germy
@TenguPhule:
They’re no boy scouts. Oh, wait…
The boy scouts cheered him, too.
trollhattan
@Yarrow: It took a plane crash to end Ted Stevens’ career–the bridge to nowhere and the series of tubes had no impact.
Major Major Major Major
@Matt McIrvin: Nah. None of the other predictions that the Trump admin. was playing two-dimensional chess with their “divide and conquer” moves panned out, I don’t see why this one would either.
Mnemosyne
@tobie:
I will add her to my thank-you fax list.
@Yarrow:
I don’t share that commenter’s confidence that Republican men won’t continue to try and strong-arm Murkowski. Remember, Trump’s Secretary of the Interior called and threatened her even though she controls the committee that oversees his department. Dumb. Very, very dumb.
And when Democrats woo people to switch parties, they usually promise that they can keep their seniority, so if Murkowski agreed to become either a Democrat or an independent in a Democratic-majority Senate, she keeps her power.
I don’t think it will happen until it looks like a couple more senators are willing to switch, but if the Senate looks like it’s in play, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Murkowski jump.
germy
I wonder what he meant by “thugs”?
Major Major Major Major
By the way, this is my absolute favorite picture of Mitch McConnell from last night.
Kraux Pas
Allegedly
What he wants out of cops.
schrodingers_cat
@germy: The original Indian/Hindi/Marathi meaning of thug is someone who deceives not a violent person. The American meaning comes from Victorian English, when British officers labeled anyone that offered them armed resistance “a thug”, not just that condemned entire communities by labeling them thug caste (totally made up by the way). This percolated into American popular culture, see for example, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Another Scott
@bemused senior: That’s a lot for all of you to be going through! Fingers crossed for the best possible outcome.
Thanks for sharing your story. It’s important.
Hang in there.
Best wishes,
Scott.
germy
That’s how he and his dad got rich.
germy
@schrodingers_cat: It means “Black” now with the Jefferson Sessions crowd.
Laura
@germy: sure you do, he means anyone not white.
InternetDragons
@Yarrow: He’s speaking to officers and relatives of crime victims in New York. Supposedly he’s gone out to Long Island to support intervening with the M13 gang, and this is all part of the hype around that.
However, gang members say that Trump’s rhetoric has made the gang stronger:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/28/us/ms-13-gang-long-island-trump/index.html
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@germy:
Would you like to know why that is, Donnie? Because we’re (supposed to be) a civilized society that treats our citizens with dignity because they have rights. The police have rights too but more importantly have responsibilities, not only to the innocent but the criminal as well. They have restrictions placed on them because they’re public servants who have a lot of authority and can use lethal force. It’s important that they be accountable to the public or else they become just another criminal organization themselves.
The fact that this got cheers from police is disgusting and provides more evidence that the rot is more widespread than just a few bad apples
schrodingers_cat
@germy: I know, but doesn’t it also mean a dangerous and a violent person, which is synonymous with black men for the Confederate sympathizers. By the original definition T is a thug, a man who makes his living by deceiving others.
Brachiator
Damn. That is impressive!
oldgold
Victory has one thousand mothers.
Defeat is born an orphan.
Lots of folks of all sexes and backgrounds deserve credit for this victory. Certainly, the women in the Senate all deserve great credit. In fact, given the totality of the circumstances, Murkowski displayed more courage than McCain or Collins.
I don’t think the special recognition McCain has received had much to do with sexism. Rather, it has to do with the Frank Capraesque nature of his vote. A cancer ridden fallen hero finding his courage and doing the right thing is a hard story not to like.
What I want to knows is: Where is the Democratic kegger being held?
Yarrow
@InternetDragons: Thanks. That’s disgusting that those police officers are cheering him. I can almost excuse the laughing because he’s so weird it’s kind of comical and sometimes laughter is a response to being uncomfortable. But clapping for that statement? No excuse.
ruemara
@rikyrah: Lawd. A steak salesman. I’m crying.
schrodingers_cat
@oldgold: At JGC’s pad in WV, its a BYOMM (Bring Your Own Mop and Mustard)
Mike J
@Mnemosyne:
Which is fine. She did the right thing this one time. Lets not spend so much time sucking her dick that we forget that 48 Democrats did the right thing and not even Joe Manchin was ever in doubt.
It’s nice when Republicans bend over backwards and exert maximum effort to do the absolute barest minimum that we get out of the bluest dog Democrats.
Brachiator
@germy:
Not entirely true. And here, Trump crassly exploited an event where kids understandably would be excited to see the president of the United States.
rikyrah
Mueller Is Under Trump’s Hood, and It’s Making Him Crazy
by Martin Longman
July 28, 2017
Nick Penzenstadler and Steve Reilly of USA Today have a piece that will be seen in nearly every hotel, including Trump’s, in the entire country. It details the eleventy-billion ways that Donald Trump is made vulnerable by Robert Mueller’s investigation into his business practices.
It’s interesting to realize that Mueller could be perusing Trump’s personal and corporate tax returns right now, as well as Trump Corporation’s emails, without the president even being aware of it. I guess I had envisioned that Trump would be tipped off that Mueller was heading in that direction, but it appears that it can all be done through judges’ orders and without the need to go to Trump’s lawyers and accountants.
Knowing how Trump has run his businesses in the past, I know for a fact that he doesn’t dot his i’s or cross his t’s, so he must be losing his mind at the idea that the FBI is under his hood peaking around. He must be thinking “I’m the most powerful man in the world and I can’t even send my pitbull lawyers after my adversary!”
I think he’s basically in panic-mode at this point, and there might even be a small part of him who is worried about others beside himself. Like his children.
His desperation to get Mueller dismissed is obvious, as is his sense of urgency. But, so far, all he’s done is build an obstruction of justice case against himself and tip off Congress so they can block him from making any moves. He can’t do anything but fume as the wheels of justice churn closer and closer.
germy
@Brachiator:
I haven’t seen footage, but several commenters here told me the boy scouts yelled “USA! USA!” when trump promised to kill Obamacare. And they booed when Trump said Obama never attended a boy scouts rally.
I’d go look for footage, but there’s only so much trump I can take.
SiubhanDuinne
Things have been breaking so fast, I forgot this until just now, but the other night (during the Boy Scout speech, I think it was) Trump said that if HHS Secretary Tom Price didn’t get some version of “Repeal and Replace” through the Senate, he was going to fire him. Of course that won’t happen, but man, I sure would love a reporter to press Huckabee Sanders on the question.
Seanly
If crazy, senile, misogynist, racist Trump was the RWNJ response to Obama then our counter in 2020 for #46 should be a young, dynamic, progressive woman!
elledblu
So women once again doing the majority of the grunt work while men sit back on their entitled asses and reap the benefits = “a victory for women”??
I’m not seeing it.
les
@Kraux Pas:
Or, ya know, they had a busted tail light.
ruemara
Really disappointed at that 14% male involvement there. Where did those numbers come from?
Redshift
The disgusting mindset of “tough on crime”: if you assume everyone who is accused is guilty, you can justify almost anything.
Just as their ideology says that it’s worse for one “undeserving” person to get a penny of “their” money in benefits than a million deserving people to suffer, it’s also worse for one guilty (not-rich White) person to go free than for millions of innocents to be brutalized.
jl
I wonder whether Trump ever had the slightest idea what was in the bills.
Did he ever figure out that the huge tax cuts in the health care bill were needed to grease the wheels for the GOP plans for further tax slashes disguised as tax reform.
And that the defeat of the GOP scam health care reform further complicates that effort.
Pointless to try to figure out what is in Trump’s head, I guess. We know he’ll try to sabotage the PPACA. The toxic fool has already bragged to the whole country about what a great wedge issue it will be for upcoming elections.
Would be a good thing if McCain, Collins and Murkowski can get together with other moderate GOPers and work on a decent bill. Maybe a few good ideas will come out of it. But, it will just be a way to occupy their time, since the reactionary GOPers would never let a word of it pass.
I guess Heller is still wandering around trying to find someone to tell him what the safe thing is to do. Someone should explain to him that it is over and he is in deep shit.
Ian G.
@germy:
As Kevin Drum just noted, both Nassau and Suffolk are at half-century lows in crime. I went on vacation for a week in April and accidentally left a first floor front window unlocked and, guess what, nobody burglarized my place.
I seriously think you must be shut up in an assisted living center to think any place in this country is more dangerous than it was 25 years ago. Or just terrified of the browns and think Latinos = crime. Or an asshole cop who doesn’t like that he has to obey laws.
Either way, the above people are not ones we should be paying attention to when it comes to developing law enforcement policy.
Major Major Major Major
@Mike J:
Agreed!
Jeffro
@maurinsky: Total non-starter: Obamacare’s working pretty well as it is, so why cut it up and let some states deprive their citizens of adequate coverage? Fuck THAT.
If Trumpov wants to sign something that badly, why doesn’t he just get a pack of Crayolas out, write “I hate Obama” on a piece of construction paper, and sign that?
Omnes Omnibus
@elledblu: The victory goes to the people who fought the battle. The Battle of the Bulge was a victory for the army, not the navy.
Brachiator
@germy:
Crass exploitation and manipulation. None of this has shit to do with a Boy Scout Jamboree. And many parents were very vocal in their complaints about Trump’s comments.
How old were the kids there? Shit, if Trump turned up at a screening of Despicable Me 3, I’m sure he would get some applause, especially if he pretended to love the crowd.
Trump is all about cheap stunts and exploitation.
rikyrah
I sat down at 2:30am and wrote a behind the scenes account of last night’s health care debate. Here it is. https://t.co/qeyLMNKGrN
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) July 28, 2017
Jeffro
@germy:
I dunno…the opposite of “economically anxious”???
germy
from an Associated Press:
rikyrah
A reminder that Trump’s call today for Police Brutality and more ICE troops will later require mass detention camps pic.twitter.com/kpqsPwzUfN
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) July 28, 2017
Kent
Good profile of Lisa Murkowski from the Alaska Daily News, the main paper in Alaska.
https://www.adn.com/opinions/2017/07/26/the-real-lisa-murkowski-just-stood-up/
She will never switch parties or become an independent. She has DEEP Republican roots from the time before the party went crazy. Plus, Alaska is a deep red state. As long as she keeps striking independent and pro-Alaska poses she will be Senator for life.
jl
@Brachiator: And manipulation. He manipulated kids in front of the whole nation, at what is supposed to be an annual non-partisan civic event. Maybe the BSA will end the tradition, which would be a good thing, IMHO.
Ruckus
@JCJ:
It was so overwhelming that thousands of people in LA couldn’t even get there. The trains were overfilled and didn’t bother to stop and the platforms were packed. I stood around for over an hour and talked to people before I gave up. At best I would have gotten there after everyone had left the route. Disappointed that I didn’t get to the march but amazed the numbers of people that wanted to go. And to their attitudes. It was a good day. Very good.
smintheus
@David Anderson: Thanks for the cite. I don’t know that we can extrapolate however from the 86% women users of that one app to the general population of callers.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne:
I was kind of surprised she didn’t do that after her re-election, al la Joe Lieberman.
Yutsano
@jl:
That’s a vote I don’t understand. Heller had basically a free pass after Grandpa Walnuts was a confirmed no. What possible gain did he have to vote yes? Maybe he knows he’s a dead man walking and it’s his wingnut welfare audition.
dww44
@JCJ: And you weren’t the only one. David McCullough himself made the same remark at a presentation at some book festival a couple of months back. Believe that his Abigail Adams research turned him into a real fan of hers and of women in general. He’s long believed that women have drawn the short end of the stick when receiving their rightful recognition and approbation for their contributions to the country.
germy
@Brachiator: His campaign was a cheap stunt. He was surprised as anyone when he won. And now here we are.
All he wanted was a few more bucks from NBC.
Chris
@InternetDragons:
If I actually believed that he had any interest in eradicating MS-13, I’d say he’s supporting a good thing. But I don’t believe that. Remember, Obama was the one who made his immigration-related agencies focus on violent criminals i.e. the actual “rapists and murderers,” and Trump is the one who told them to stop focusing on them. All this means is “punch hard on anyone who looks Central American.”
(If I were an irredeemable cynic, I might also speculate that focusing on Central American gangs means cleaning out the competition for his buddies in the East European gangs. But that would be a terrible thing to say).
Of course. They get to give more people the Don Corleone speech about how stupid they are for thinking that America would give them justice, instead of coming to them and asking with respect when they want something done. And tragically, they won’t be wrong.
Ken
@germy: I hope whoever arrests and perp-walks Trump remembers his instructions for how arrests should be handled. Just as I hope whoever sentences Sessions and Trump remembers Sessions’ instruction to impose the maximum penalties allowed by law.
O. Felix Culpa
@rikyrah:
Wow. That was awesome. Mnuchin got schooled by the best.
Jeffro
@jl:
I understand the sentiment, but – for all other presidents who’ve been there except for Trumpov – it’s an opportunity for a couple thousand Scouts to (down the road) be able to say, “I saw the President!”, and hear a message about working hard, keeping good company, etc. A pretty easy norm to return to, once Shit Midas exits the scene…
Kent
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Not a chance she switches parties or goes Ind. People go independent or switch parties when the state itself shifts from underneath them. Like all the southern Dems who switched to R. In Murkowski’s case, Alaska has gotten redder and redder over the past couple of decades. It used to actually be a Democratic state, or at least purple.
These days the only political challenge Murkowski will ever get is in the primary. She will get widespread support from all the native populations and a large portion of Dems in every general election because they know she is the least worst possible option. All the other choices are combinations of Ted Cruz and Louis Gomert.
Chris
@ Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) :
FTFY…
dww44
@rikyrah: I get his emails and read that account. Worth the time. We forget the high drama and tension that can often be at play in the legislative process. Tierney Sneed over at TPM also wrote a very good account of it as well.
chris
@Major Major Major Major: For all the turtle fans.
eclare
@Yarrow: Called Corker’s and Alexander’s offices today, saying I wish they had the spines of Lisa Murkowski, although I was very tempted to use another anatomical word.
Gin & Tonic
@jl: They always invite the President. It’s a civic-minded thing to do. Three of the last four have attended in person. Two of those three understood the occasion and kept their remarks appropriate.
Chris
@Ian G.:
If you’re hooked on Fox News 24/7, of course you think crime is out of control.
schrodingers_cat
@Jeffro: The next R nominee, if the party still exists in its current reincarnation is going to be a poo flinging chimp, if past precedent is anything to go by. Each successive iteration has been worse than the former one.
germy
@schrodingers_cat:
Kid Rock
Scott Baio
Martin Shkreli
Who knows who’ll they’ll cough up next.
Chris
@Brachiator:
I am so happy that I didn’t stay in that fucking cult.
It helps that at this point, I pretty much reflexively distrust anything in a uniform. If you’re a soldier, then no – but if you’re a civilian who’s intentionally aping military attire, whether you’re a private individual wearing camos and driving a Humvee, or an organization like the Boy Scouts that does it institutionally? That creeps me the fuck out.
schrodingers_cat
@germy: My money is on Shkreli.
rikyrah
The Nevada Senate race is going to be lit. Check out what @SenDeanHeller’s opponent, @RepJackyRosen, sent out at 5 AM NV time. pic.twitter.com/JXoc16eYnJ
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) July 28, 2017
SiubhanDuinne
@rikyrah:
That was a lovely read.
(I sure would like to know, though, what McCain said to him that he’s saving to tell his grandchildren.)
rikyrah
follow the thread:
1/ They said Obamacare wouldn’t do anything to reduce the number of uninsured pic.twitter.com/nkHhwVYZHc
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) July 28, 2017
Mnemosyne
@Mike J:
Let me put it one other way for you:
“Come over to the Democratic side, Lisa! We have cookies!”
different-church-lady
Not at all to counter anything you’ve said here, but McCain’s theater wound up cutting unexpectedly to our advantage. Yes, he’s getting credit he doesn’t deserve as “the deciding vote”, but his very public spectacle as he went over the wall greatly amplified the psychological blow to McConnell and the GOP.
StringOnAStick
@A Ghost to Most: Hey, that sounds a lot like the email I sent to Gardner this am, though I was sure to add in some stuff about claiming to be such a patriot while working for the goals of a guy who is only in office thanks to Russian election attacks, plus that he’s no Christian no matter what he says.
different-church-lady
@Mnemosyne:
That’s how it works. But not unless three go at once, so very little chance.
Kent
Another good article on Murkowski
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/7/27/16030520/murkowski-republican-health-bill
Jeffro
@schrodingers_cat: The next R nominee has about as much chance of being president as I do (possibly less), chimp or no chimp.
TenguPhule
@Mnemosyne:
But not enough votes in Alaska.
Which is all she really cares about.
Brachiator
@Chris:
I was a boy scout. I learned a lot from the experience, especially about public service and kindness towards others. And just plain had a lot of fun. Scouting helped me recognize and resist phony displays of faith and patriotism. My scoutmaster was one of my eighth grade teachers, and a personal hero of mine. I also think it was a good experience for the other kids in the troop.
As always, your mileage may vary.
Elizabelle
So Preibus is out. Do you think he was informed prior to tweet?
Mnemosyne
@Ian G.:
Apparently, crime is WAY up in the cities of the red states thanks to the opiate crisis. St. Louis, MO, has the highest violent crime rate in the country. Despite what Republicans keep claiming, Chicago’s crime rate is half of what St. Louis’s is.
We do have a violent crime problem in this country … in states that vote for Republicans. I’m looking at the list on WorldAtlas.com and it’s St. Louis, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland; Detroit, Michigan; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Newark, New Jersey. All of those places have Republican governors, and 4 out of 5 voted for Trump.
The highest homicide rate in a blue state is poor, beleaguered Oakland, CA, which is 11th on the list. Supposedly worst of the worst Chicago? 15th, below Milwaukee, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Memphis, and more.
Red state voters are right — they live in dangerous places. But the Republicans they keep voting for are only making things worse.
New York and Los Angeles aren’t even in the top 30!