Just a few house keeping notes on retirements and people who will change the amount of time that they spend with their lawyers.
First Trey Gowdy (R-SC-04) is retiring.
First Chaffetz quits, now Gowdy announces he's not running again.
It's almost like being the chairman of the House Oversight Committee means nothing in a GOP Congress that's devoted to providing absolutely no oversight of this particular administration.
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) January 31, 2018
There is a freshly opened judgeship on the 4th Circuit. Given how he phrased his retirement letter, I would not be surprised if he is nominated to the bench.
Secondly, Bob Brady (D-Philly/PA-01) is retiring as well.
Democrat Rep. Bob Brady will not seek re-electionhttps://t.co/DhNL1k3Wcu
— Axios (@axios) January 31, 2018
He has been under investigation by the FBI for allegedly paying off a 2012 primary competitor.
From a Fall 2018 perspective, PA-01 is a D+31 district. Any map that the GOP state legislature and the Dem governor (Wolf) could agree upon would probably protect incumbents. Removing an incumbent from a Democratic vote sink seat allows for some more precincts to shift to other seats so that a D+31 seat could still be safely Democratic at D+20 instead of an incumbent protected seat at D+25.
Finally, in some surprising news:
BIG NEWS: Justice Department drops all charges against Sen. Bob Menendez following hung jury last year and judge's ruling last week acquitting him on 4 of 13 remaining counts https://t.co/kV3f7bVAEo
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) January 31, 2018
Removes the prime opportunity for Democrats to shoot themselves in the foot this year.
p.a.
Dems to D.A.: hold my beer.
Raoul
Gowdy is a complete moron. So he’s a perfect Trump appointee for the bench. Not perfect for people who care about the law. But perfectly awful, which is Donnie Dumfuk’s m.o.
debbie
I believe I heard that 9 chairmen intend to lean. That’s a lot.
And good for Menendez.
Bobby Thomson
Why on earth would Rosenstein think Trump would cooperate Inc getting Nunes to back off with subpoenas unless he was in fact on Trump’s team? Trump is the poster child for dirty. He doesn’t even try to hide it. In that context Trump’s question not only isn’t surprising, but expected. It makes me wonder if Rosenstein was wearing a wire.
trollhattan
@Raoul:
Jeez yeah, Gowdy bespoiling a federal bench the next two or three decades is a judicial monstrosity in the making.
The National Academies Press has annotated the SOTU with publications related to various talking points. Surprisingly devastating in places, such as after Trump creams over our “brave veterans” where they link studies about agent orange, Gulf War blast exposure and PTSD.
debbie
Err, leave. Editing refuses to open.
JPL
@debbie: I’m pleased about the Menendez case but sad that the Supreme Court basically said bribing is okay in reference to for VA Governor McDonnell.
TenguPhule
I see no way this ends well. At all.
Yutsano
@debbie: I still would like to see Menendez replaced if for no other reason than he’s crooked as all get out. Then again how clean we’ll get out of Joisey is part of the issue as well.
@TenguPhule: Since Yertle has already all but admitted he has zero interest in actually doing any budgeting before midterms this is DOA.
debbie
@JPL:
:(
ruemara
I just won’t be satisfied until they’re under arrest.
dmsilev
@TenguPhule: In just a few short years, DOE went from being run by a Nobel Prize winner to a guy who famously failed at counting to three.
rikyrah
@Bobby Thomson: hmmmm
A wire…
dr. bloor
Hah. When it comes to shooting feet, the Democrats are truly the party of opportunity.
trollhattan
@dmsilev:
These four sentences may the most chilling passage of the entire speech.
Raoul
@TenguPhule:
Well, it will end well for others. Oil prices will be rising. Already are somewhat. As the global economy finally reaches a reasonable output level after the ’08 collapse, oil prices will be forced up, fracking or no.
And while we in the US may be led by tailpipe huffing shitgibbons (lookin’ at you, Rex + Donald), the rest of the world will look at the growing supply of cheap solar and other renewable energies and kick our asses making electric cars and other battery and or fuel-sipping products.
Sucks to be us.
MikeifromArlington
HERE Is a good article on the elections for the next couple cycles. If we don’t get Senate next year, 2020 and 2022 are great opportunities.
Most important is we regain as many state legislators as possible. Redistrictng is killing us and 2020 is our chance to get even
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@dmsilev: Perry (and probably Trump) thought the DOE would deal with oil, which of course belongs to Interior. These people are fools.
japa21
@trollhattan: Basically asking for the power to conduct purges and install only properly loyal drones in the hive.
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@japa21: It’s a direct attack on civil service.
gbbalto
I see that Fema reversed their PR cutoff. The blind pig rooted up something good for a change (apologies to real pigs)
gene108
@TenguPhule:
It is good news for China and European manufacturers. One less competitor in the market.
Not only will we import everything, we will rely on the rest of the world to do R&D for us.
Republicans must be on Putin’s payroll, because they are actively trying to destroy this country.
randy khan
I didn’t realize it until I saw the story today, but the handwriting was on the wall in the Menendez case. A week ago, the judge acquitted Menendez on 7 of the 18 counts, based on a conclusion that it was impossible to prove he’d committed a crime in each of those instances. The DoJ concluded that it didn’t have any chance with the other counts, either, in light of the ruling.
When DoJ announced it was going to re-try him, I thought it was a dumb move, since Menendez would have been able to portray it as a witch hunt. Now he actually may get the benefit of the witch hunt argument without the potential jeopardy of a trial. The current DoJ is not very clever. Of course, he almost certainly was going to win either way.
gene108
@gene108:
Even George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, who were happily in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry, sunk resources into biofuels and gave some lip service to fuel cell vehicles.
Trump & Co. are part of a death cult, which 62 million Americans are cheering on.
danielx
And congressional oversight was SO effective during that prehistoric period known as the Cheney Regency.
chris
@TenguPhule: Piling on. Dear dog, this has to end soon.
Schlemazel
Tres Gauche’ is out? Who will carry on the search for truth on Benghazi with him gone?
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@TenguPhule: Don’t despair. Jill Stein will turn this around when she wins in 2020.
Ohio Mom
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): There is a post at Lawyers Guns and Money discussing in depth this attack on the civil service.
It was the most depressing thing I read all week — I usually succeed in keeping myself on an even keel by repeating to myself, “this can and will be reversed,” but everything has a tipping point.
How would we get back from dismantling the civil service?
Baud
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: You’re saying there’s an even worse timeline?
mai naem mobile
Dolt45 and the whole fucking Republicon machine are like an entitled little fuck who’s inherited some class A well maintained money making apartment complexes and lets them all turn to shit from lack of maintenance, gross negligence and poor management. Ofcourse people like these are shocked when they have no income coming inn because nobody wants to rent a shithole.
Thoughtful David
@TenguPhule: The way it ends is that the Chinese end up owning all clean energy patents, and charging us for them.
ETA: Charging us to drive a car, to keep our houses warm, to keep our hospitals open, etc.
Josie
@JPL: Look at it this way. Isn’t it nice that a supreme court ruling that was reached to help a Republican has actually helped a Democrat? Just imagine them grinding their teeth over that one. I know, I know – it’s petty, but we have to take our pleasure where we find it.
Villago Delenda Est
@mai naem mobile: They are killing golden geese with glee. Clean energy, for example, is a chance for the US to dominate the energy sector of the future…and these fuckheads are throwing it away for short term gain.
JPL
@Josie: I’d like to think he would win anyway, but I understand your point.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Baud: It’ll make a great alternative reality comic book (link)
Kayla Rudbek
@TenguPhule: yes, it’s not as though one can search Google Patents to see how much of the R&D is already coming from overseas, let alone the French initiative to do more research on climate change that’s in C&EN, and the German reaction to the French initiative. If I was 20 years younger I would emigrate. As it is, I am relieved to be childless and I will tell my nieces and nephews to study German and French
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Villago Delenda Est: Muh Coal
TenguPhule
@Ohio Mom:
Short answer, we don’t.
Iraq had a fairly stable civil service. One De-baathification later…..
Government by bribes, only bribes and fuck everything else.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Kayla Rudbek: if you want your nieces and nephews to study french, I’d buy them a box set of Pepé Le Pew dissertations.
WaterGirl
@gbbalto: Oh, good! I hadn’t seen that.
TenguPhule
@Villago Delenda Est:
Worse. Oil and gas are still near their lows, so essentially they’re selling for minimum profits in the market too.
TenguPhule
@chris:
Fuck me. They brought back the CO2 is life slogan from early 2000s?
TenguPhule
@Baud:
It can always get worse.
JPL
@TenguPhule: I want Obama.
Davebo
@Raoul: He’s awful but he’s no moron.
Baud
Women were always treated with respect before the 1960s.
Baud
This just showed up on my feed. I did not click. As much as I call the NYT garbage, I am disappointed that WaPo seems to be trying to emulate the NYT’s oeuvre.
The Thin Black Duke
@Baud: Hillary Clinton’s “fatal flaw” was not being born with a penis.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I clicked for you. Her fatal flaw was her “tepid” response to the guy in her campaign that wasn’t fired after the woman’s claim of harassment.
edit: You’re right, the Washington Post is playing down to the level of the NYT.
From the promotional blurb I clicked on: Opinion writers Christine Emba, Ruth Marcus, and Alyssa Rosenberg discuss. Ugh.
Corner Stone
@Baud: As I said in a previous thread today: God damn but I hate Ruth Fucking Marcus. Shut the fuck up.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Oh my god, it reads like a bunch of snotty mean girls gossiping in high school. I have pasted the whole thing (sue me!) because I don’t want to give them anymore clicks in case someone wants to read this crap.
edit: These 3 give women a bad name.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl:
WaPo seems to have turned some very bad kind of corner in the last few days. They also have Dana Milbank whining about how embarrassing it was that Democrats wore black and didn’t jump up and cheer for Drumpf.
MisterForkbeard
@Baud: I don’t want to read the article, but I suppose it’s okay if her fatal flaw is “She’s treated horribly by the media, republicans, and far-leftists, and the also unfortunately ran against a man and a party with no morals that was backed by illicit Russian interference. It was also her fault that Republicans were so morally and ethically spineless that they went along with all of it.”
But then, that’s also blaming Hillary for her enemies’ weaknesses, which is par for the course.
zhena gogolia
@Corner Stone:
Hey, you thought Ivanka was wearing a tablecloth, but it turns out geg6 recognized her brother’s bedspread from back in the day.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Holy crap, that’s amazeballs.
Steeplejack
@Baud:
Link or at least a mention of a source for that story?
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: I just signed up for the FREE 6 months for Amazon Prime users last week. And now they do this.
MisterForkbeard
@WaterGirl: Jesus H Christ, those women are fucking terrible. “Why can’t Hillary ever get it right the first time? Why is this letter so self-indulgent? Why is it always about Hillary? We’re going to pretend that some people in Hillary’s campaign didn’t recommend she fire the guy, too. And ignore literally everything she wrote in the letter explaining what happened, how the woman in question was protected and the man punished but given a chance to redeem himself, and how the woman in question thinks it all turned out okay.”
Nope, it’s just all Hillary’s fault and waaaah.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Just shoot me if I ever sound like that. Seriously. It reads like a parody, doesn’t it?
The Thin Black Duke
@zhena gogolia: Jeff Bezos got a big tax cut, that’s what happened.
Baud
@Steeplejack: WaPo
Baud
@WaterGirl: The only thing missing is Maureen Dowd.
WaterGirl
@The Thin Black Duke: Oh, I surely hope that’s not it. I was hoping some editor with sense was away on vacation or something.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Baud: I didn’t click it on either, but I’m guessing their derangement syndrome was triggered by her great Grammys joke.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I laughed out loud! You almost have that right… the way it is now, it’s like 3 Maureen Dowd’s talking among themselves. I can only imagine if you added the real Maureen Dowd.
Maybe we should make it a BJ contest to see who can do the best/worst job of splicing MD comments into the conversation.
edit: bonus points form Maureen Dowd comments added while MD is in a hotel room with edibles in CO.
TenguPhule
And Ben Carson is grifting for his son at his Department in Housing and Development.
Color me surprised.
The Thin Black Duke
@WaterGirl: Trouble is, the timing of this bullshit is interesting. It’s right after Hillary’s appearance at the Grammys. And what makes it worse is that night was about women stepping forward and raising their voices (Thank you Ke$ha). We can’t have that, now can we? Not with elections just around the corner…
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
One of the greatest Afros in history passed away today – Oscar Gamble (photo)
TenguPhule
@JPL:
There is a timeline where President Obama kicked off his third term in office by having Donald Trump and his entire family killed on Jan 20, 2016 at the swearing in ceremony, disbanded the House and Senate for incompetence and corruption and kicked off the Second American Civil War which ended with him ruling over the 37 remaining States as a benevolent dictator.
I wish I was living in that timeline right now.
WaterGirl
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: I didn’t get it. Did a person actually die, or did someone get a haircut? Seriously.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@WaterGirl: sadly he passed away too young at age 68. He was a good baseball player, but he got great and enduring coverage of his fabulous style. Even today, when there is a retrospective of style or baseball of the 70s, Gamble will be mentioned, if not interviewed.
Meg
@The Thin Black Duke: WaPo always allows some crazy people to write opinion pieces. Like many, I usually just click on them to read the comments to watch them being shredded by the readers. But it is still better than NYT on the hard news apartment.
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@Baud: Hey, that stuff about Hillary Clinton is breaking news!
chris
@WaterGirl: That’s just fucking awful in so many ways.
Hillary’s facebook post for those who wish:
https://www.facebook.com/hillaryclinton/posts/1811310308925490
zhena gogolia
@TenguPhule:
Oh, man, you are breaking my heart.
JPL
@TenguPhule: Months ago my son told me he couldn’t have a third term and I cried. So that is where we are at.
WaterGirl
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: I don’t follow baseball, but I’m still sorry to hear that. We need more people like that.
Jager
Cutting research for fuel efficient vehicles by 82 percent makes zero sense. The auto industry is totally invested in fuel efficiency, gas and electric so I’m sure they weren’t begging for “relief” One of my friends has a Challenger Hellcat, 707 god damn hp. His Hellcat under full throttle can burn a gallon and half of gas in 60 seconds, the top speed is close to 200 mph. Now get this, on the highway at 70 he gets 24-25 mpg. The V6 version of his car gets close to the mid 30’s on the highway. That kind of mileage was impossible in anything except an econo-box not that long ago. Every car today, whether it’s an economy car or high performance car is all about fuel efficiency. The fossil fuel folks would love to see us driving the 9-12 mpg shit boxes from the 70’s again. Too bad for them the car companies won’t build them anymore and never will again.
Corner Stone
@Jager: Go Demon or go home.
WaterGirl
@chris: Just read the Facebook post. Wow. Hillary cannot win for losing. Whatever she does, it’s wrong.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
Hilariously, I got an offer in the mail from FTFNYT for Sunday delivery for only 2 bucks a week. No thanks. My first thought was wow, they must be getting desperate. I’ve never subscribed to the NYT and I live in Northeast Ohio. Not exactly a place where people read the Grey Lady.
WaterGirl
@The Thin Black Duke: The timing of the Facebook post (linked by chris below) would support your Grammy’s theory.
Kayla Rudbek
@Jager: hell, the French are trying to eliminate using internal combustion engines by 2050. Not sure that they will succeed but I’m cheering them on every step of the way
Sab
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: Sure we do. My dad and uncle have been subsribers for 50 years. We even get home delivery.
tobie
@WaterGirl: I’m late to seeing this ‘bitch-fest’ but it’s truly odious. I’ll write a letter to the Post tonight and would encourage as many people as possible to do so. It doesn’t have to be pretty. It won’t get in as a Letter to the Editor. But enough complaints about how this truly content-free dialogue between three women of privilege might make the paper take notice.
I really think Ruth Marcus has psychological problems. In 2009 or 2010 she said the Obama administration was pitching a “hissy fit” when they complained about Fox News coverage; a few years later she used her column to name and shame a 16-year-old girl for her incivility to then Gov Brownback. This latest Hillary outrage is just another example of her consistent pattern of kicking people (read: Democrats) when they’re down.
WaterGirl
@tobie: I had to work really hard to not use the words “catty” and “bitch” in my descriptive comments, but they surely both fit as descriptors of their petty mean girl conversation that was printed in the Washington Post.
I hate these people.
Another Scott
@gbbalto: According to ATC on NPR this evening, FEMA will continue to distribute food and water in Puerto Rico, but they’re not shipping any more supplies to the island. Presumably when the remaining stocks are gone, then that’s all FEMA is going to do along those lines.
So, they didn’t really reverse their decision. They apparently just want the bad publicity to end.
Grr…
Cheers,
Scott.
Gelfling 545
@Baud: As we all know, sex was invented in the 60’s, thereby releasing all ills on the world. Before that, all were paragons of virtue and chastity.
Just One More Canuck
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: That’s the picture I was looking for when I heard the news – greatest hair ever
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Sab:
I just don’t see them on store shelves often. It’s either the Cleveland Plain Dealer or our local area newspaper, The Vindicator.
Sab
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: You’re right about that. You pretty much have to subscribe. I don’t.
Jager
@Corner Stone:
I got a ride in one…should come with a Depends dispenser. My pal is thinking of a wide-body Hellcat.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: Bastards.
Jager
@Kayla Rudbek:
I went to a seminar with my Hellcat friend, a Dodge engineer said the future is all about maximization of energy from ANY fuel source, gas. electric, hydrogen, you name it. He said his company isn’t married to any one source of energy, what ever works the best, that’s what they’ll go with in the future. He told us that the most efficient internal combustion engine today is a F1 racing engine, close to 90% efficiency and clean as it can be. He told us Cummins is researching an electronic engine management system for diesels, the engine is maximized for efficient fuel burn every 250 rpm, testing so far has shown it needs no pollution controls. Getting it small enough and reliable for everyday usage will be the trick.
mai naem mobile
RUh Fucking Marcus used to come on some show regularly with Mona Charen and Mona Charen used to run circles around Marcus. Marcus would be nicey nicey and Charen would be slapping her silly. Ugh, I used to think to myself no wonder peopLe don’t want to vote for Dems. Ruth Marcus is an Ivy League law school grad and I’m pretty sure she’s not a legacy or a Jared Kushner. It’s not like she doesn’t know how to argue.
J R in WV
@Ohio Mom:
They need 60 votes in the Senate to destroy Civil Service, no matter how much Trump and McConnell and Ryan drool at the thought. Don’t lose any sleep on this crazed idea, it will never happen.
Tenar Arha
@WaterGirl: I used to read Alyssa Rosenberg’s film commentary. This is very disappointing to find out about her.
One of the worst things in this was
Where they’re both acknowledging their need for “novelty” in news by saying “there’s nothing new there,” while apparently criticizing Hillary for not being new enough? I’m just ?
KS in MA
@J R in WV: First reassuring news of the night. Thank you!
WaterGirl
@Tenar Arha: That one stood out for me, also. The whole thing is just appalling.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@Tenar Arha: This is why we can’t have nice things.