.
Trump gets primetime airtime from all the major networks for his 8-minute "Address the Nation on the Humanitarian and National Security crisis on our Southern Border" https://t.co/QudfRdyyx2
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) January 7, 2019
Has anyone explained to Trump (or those encouraging him) that it’s not like you say “state of emergency” and billions of $ start falling from the sky? You have to actually unlock specific funding sources? And you can’t declare one until you spell out how you’re using it?
— Dara Lind (@DLind) January 8, 2019
Pelosi and Schumer in statement: “Now that the television networks have decided to air the president’s address, which if his past statements are any indication will be full of malice and misinformation, Democrats must immediately be given equal airtime.”
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 8, 2019
Here is the brutal reality: because Barack Obama did not disparage, degrade or threaten TV networks, or call them the enemy of the people, they were perfectly content to deny him airtime for his immigration address. Because Trump did all of those things, they were intimidated. Oy
— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) January 8, 2019
Just so we're clear: we've reached a point in America where there's a debate whether to put a camera in front of the President & broadcast his words to the American people because genuine concerns on both sides exist about whether those words will be truthful. During a shutdown.
— Laura Coates (@thelauracoates) January 7, 2019
I will watch the Oval Office speech with one stipulation. pic.twitter.com/lve8a5gWqE
— Schooley (@Rschooley) January 8, 2019
On the Road and In Your Backyard
Aleta
From Mary G and PaulWartenberg last night:
WereBear
It is time for everyone else to realize just how deep the shit is getting, and how dangerous.
We’ve been shouting about the dangers since the W administration.
OzarkHillbilly
Blech.
Viva BrisVegas
Happy Elvis Day everybody!
Baud
@WereBear: I don’t know. Do you think we’ve finally gotten over our obsession with imperfect Democrats?
OzarkHillbilly
@Aleta: The link to Melissa del Bosque’s tweet thread is busted.
Here’s a fixed one.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: No.
John S.
@Baud:
I suppose that depends on whether the next imperfect Democrat is of the mold “let’s play nice with Republicans and look forward not backwards” or not.
Baud
@John S.: Then we’re screwed, because that will almost certainly be the case to some extent.
Aleta
A good thread, incl comments to it:
https://twitter.com/costareports/status/1082455031964676098
* Robert Costa. @costareports
4. My top Trump admin sources say they see little downside to going “all out” now on the wall. Rallies their voters, tests Dems’ mettle, and gives POTUS a chance to be seen as fighting on his signature issue ahead of a likely rough year of probes and battles w/ House Dems
* 5. The only caveat to all of this is that WH knows GOP holding together is critical. That’s why POTUS and VP are phoning mbrs. That’s in part why there is a speech to nation and trip to border. Direct msg to skittish Rs that this is the line, this is a crisis, so hold on tight.
* 6. While VP Pence’s pitch today signaled the admin’s possible action, so did voices on right who have POTUS’s ear. Trump confidant Sean Hannity said, “I’m guessing he’s going to declare a national emergency.”
@OzarkHillbilly: gracias
Lapassionara
@Baud: Yes. Yes we are.
Good morning, everyone. I have to board an airplane tomorrow. Not looking forward to putting my life in the hands of disgruntled federal employees.
rikyrah
Good Morning,Everyone ???
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
trnc
If the dems get some airtime to respond, I hope they’ll produce photos and show that the pres wants to put a 30 foot wall in front of 1000 foot mountains.
https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/celebrating-us-waters
ETA: And I hope they ask why it only became an emergency after 2 years with a rubber stamp congress.
Baud
@Aleta: Good comment about why shut down the government if he believes he can declare a national emergency.
Betty Cracker
@trnc: I hope they work in Nancy Pelosi’s “beaded curtain” line again. It was delightfully contemptuous.
Cermet
So if this orange fart cloud does declare a “State of Emergency” and the reptilian party accepts this, then by this action any and all future presidents can declare any such thing just to fund any/all pet projects at will? Really? These ass wipes reptilian party members and that low life piece of orange shit want to go there?
Aleta
@rikyrah: ⭐️ Good morning. ?
satby
@Cermet: they continue to think that they’re going to be able to stay in power.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Viva BrisVegas: Did you get a present for Kim Jong Un?
John S.
@Baud:
We’re screwed either way. Unless someone has an idea for how a Democrat can beat Trump at Calvinball. Because not playing the game doesn’t seem to work, and walking away from the game only results in getting beaned in the head from behind.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Did Drumpf get “emergency” idea from the Яussians? (video)
?BillinGlendaleCA
@John S.: Have you heard about Baud!2020!?
MagdaInBlack
@Cermet:
You’re assuming future Presidents.
That assumes elections
Just sayin’ ?
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Don’t look forward or back, but sideways.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Exactly. Finally got my watch.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Samsung? I keep looking at them, but I feel like I won’t find it useful enough for the price.
OzarkHillbilly
@Cermet: Hence my doubt that it will ever happen. Every single Republican in Congress can see the danger and Mitch’s ego is especially averse to irrelevancy.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Clever.
WereBear
@Baud: Well, there’s a chronic illness.
I’m saying we aren’t under any illusions about this being a normal situation, but now we have lots of other people finally gping WTF!
Chetan Murthy
@John S.: During the AOC dance kerfuffle, somebody posted what they thought was the GrOPers’ inspiration: this Michelle Malkin “LOSER” cheer video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mPkOberRCo
Y’know, these GrOPers are pretty pathetic. The only things that keep ’em going are hate, and plutocrats’ money. They don’t actually have much talent, most of ’em. I think we can win b/c we have talented folks, and we’re the majority. C’mon: yes Shitler knows how to manipulate a lotta shit. But we have an army of folks who aren’t all marching in lockstep, and we’re legion. Have heart! AOC and Rashida Tlaib are both on our side! All they got is Pigmuck King!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Yup the big Galaxy Watch. I like it but I’ve got to find a watch face I like. I may have to build my own.
Baud
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: He’s going to stream it on Instagram, isn’t he?
Kay
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
Would he really need to get it from the Russians? They sent soldiers to the border for the midterms to protect Republican incumbents from voters – they’ve already done a fake national emergency. This is the second, and it won’t be the last.
House Democrats plan hearings on the fake midterm caravan crisis and troop deployment, so that may slow them down a little on this particular propaganda tactic – I’m a little concerned that Kelly and Mattis ran away before they could be questioned on it- they both had to be in on it.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Sounds like he’s trying to invade the patron saint of Burlington’s territory.
?BillinGlendaleCA
I’ll be 59 in two weeks from yesterday, which was Jerry Brown’s last day as Governor. I did a little calculation: a man named Edmond G. Brown* has been Governor of my state for 38% of my life.
*Pat Brown for my first 7 years and Jerry for 16 years.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: We should have a party thread to celebrate.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: They can still be subpoenaed and questioned about it.
ETA i wouldn’t be the least surprised if Mattis was eager to testify. he really does not like trump.
Baud
@Kay: It’s just an escalation from the old color coded terror alert.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Baud: I read he would stream seemly mundane tasks like doing his laundry and how it attracted large audiences and I thought, “this can’t be true,” so I looked up the video and not only was it true, but I found it surprisingly watchable.
SFAW
@John S.:
Shitgibbon screeches about something, in his usual fashion
“Reporter” asks a random Dem for a response
Dem response: “The last time I believed anything Donald Trump said was when he said he was a liar. The last truthful thing I heard him say was “I, Donald J. Trump.’ Everything else has been a lie, or demonstrably false.”
Baud
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
For my campaign, I plan to attach a GoPro to my body and live stream 24/7. No one will be more transparent than Baud! 2020!
Patricia Kayden
Norm Ornstein:
This pretty much sums up how the mainstream media has treated Trump with kid gloves despite the fact that he has openly heckled them and even placed journalists in fear of their lives from his deplorable supporters. Now they are fine with rewarding him with eight minutes to spew lies without contradiction. Keep in mind that if Trump gets away with declaring an emergency to build his phantom wall, he will feel empowered to declare emergencies in other situations to get what he wants. What’s next?
MattF
Is anyone looking into exactly how Vlad Putin will profit from a wall on the southern border? That would, after all, explain a lot.
Baud
@Patricia Kayden: I’m still angry that we Dems didn’t have Hillary’s back when the media went after her for not holding enough press conferences.
Kay
@Baud:
Except the low quality hires wouldn’t use Pelosi, because they’re intimidated by her.
Kay
frosty
@?BillinGlendaleCA: That’s a funny statistic. My only other comment is “Lucky you!”. I lived in SoCal in the 70s so an Edmund G. Brown was my Governor for 6% of my life (I left in the middle of his term, when Prop 13 passed).
Baud
@Kay: Welcome back, Wisconsin.
satby
Today would be a great day for Bobby Three Sticks to unseal an indictment.
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
He liked Trump enough to keep his mouth shut on sending soldiers to the border for the GOP midterm campaign. I’d like to know how exactly that transpired, so hopefully he’ll be truthful when he’s called to testify. He may be busy this year. He’s also a witness in the Theranos fraud, where he was on the board.
Baud
@Kay:
Not implausible. Remember the Obamas and the terrorist fist bump.
Amir Khalid
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
Good. The more credible Democratic prospects there are, the harder it will be for Wilmer to get attention.
low-tech cyclist
The ideal Dem response to Trump’s speech: see the pic in Schooley’s tweet.
OzarkHillbilly
Suck on it, ya bunch of losers: “I believe Missouri is the promised land,”
I am beginning to think God really isn’t very fond of Mormons. He doesn’t think much of Miserians either.
Where religious fervor isn’t just tolerated, it’s required.
At last, a voice of reason.
Good advice.
DOH!
plato
Because totus thug, the group of parasites and the fourth estate fifth columnists are all corrupt complicit motherfuckers and they tend to have each others’ back.
Dorothy A. Winsor
In the old Babylon 5 TV series, Delenn says this thing about the Minbari/Earth war. She says, “We all went insane together.”
That’s how I feel today. I am being encouraged to go insane in order to keep company with the president, his party, and his voters company, or at least to avoid being attacked by them.
A couple of days ago, Kos had a piece on why anti-Trump people can’t forgive Trump supporters, and a big chunk of it was this. It feels like the people supporting Trump operate from the same half-baked world he does, so we feel like they must be lying about what they say they believe. It give us no place to stand. We are being invited to go insane.
Kay
@Baud:
It really was a big win. That’s Sherrod Brown’s role in Ohio now- he’s the only statewide Dem. I’m kind of dreading the start of the county Party central committee year, which is next Tuesday. Ohio Democrats are really depressed and they’re expressing that here by attacking their own board of elections members for bullshit things like “disrespecting” older members.
The Democratic Party’s biggest problem is everyone thinks they are or should be a leader. No one wants to be rank and file. We’re a group composed exclusively of people who think they should be running things. All of them. They’re either actual leaders or people who have been unfairly denied their natural leadership position.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@frosty: The Prop 13 election was my first, I voted against it. It is an interest stat, I used to say: “When I was born the Governor was Edmund G. Brown, when I graduated from high school the Governor was Edmund G. Brown, when I graduated from college the Governor was Edmund G. Brown and the current Governor is Edmund G. Brown”. I sad to see Chairman Jerry ride off into the sunset, and hope that Gavin can do half as good a job.
rikyrah
@Kay:
?????
?BillinGlendaleCA
I’ve been going back to some of my old IR pics and reprocessing them, here’s one of Mission San Juan Capistrano. I like the way this one turned out, I added some color from a visual shot(basilica domes, tile roofs, paths…
Baud
@Kay:
QFT.
rikyrah
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I have been telling you from the get go that those responsible for Dolt45 will NEVER BE FORGIVEN ??
Operate from that, and the consequences of that belief, and all is fine.
Honus
@MattF: forget vlad. Eric Prince was on CNN last night sowing fear about fentanyl coming over the border and was never asked if he would profit from the wall as a government contractor.
rikyrah
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I love your pics like this ?
Chetan Murthy
@Honus:
What an imbecile. The shit’s so potent, for some variants (carfentanil) you can make a solution, wet a piece of paper, and mail that in an envelope as a *letter*. You don’t need to carry that shit over the border. Just mail it from Prince’s paymasters’ country (China).
?BillinGlendaleCA
@rikyrah: Thanks, I’ve been redoing them to make the sky darker and add in some reds and yellows that get lost in processing.
Baud
@Chetan Murthy: I’ll assume you read that somewhere.
Another Scott
@Baud: Dunno. My J was ranting to her sister over the phone last night that the Democrats are still doing it wrong. They have very, very strong opinions – and aren’t afraid to express them – but don’t actually do much of anything themselves except gripe about the only people who are actually opposing Donnie’s policies.
The St. Bernard disease is still virulent in too many people who aren’t and don’t want to be leaders themselves….
:-(
Cheers,
Scott.
Chetan Murthy
@Baud: Indeed. I forget where, but it was a long article about fentanyl and its variants. It’s all coming from China, and the Chinese government turns a blind eye as long as the stuff is only for export. Turnabout is fair play after what the West did during the Opium wars, I guess. In any case, fentanyl is incredibly potent. There was this instance where a small package contained enough to KILL the entire populations of NY & NJ states. I mean, the idea that you gotta carry that shit across any border is just ridiculous. Just mail it. Even if only 1% of the packages get thru, you’re still rich/rich/rich.
plato
@Kay:
That’s a pretty broad stroke, Kay. Didn’t the rank and file dems vote in a historical dem majority just a few weeks back? OH may be the stupid exception.
Chetan Murthy
@Baud: Not the article I read, but this has some details.
https://www.npr.org/2017/03/11/519649096/can-china-ban-on-deadly-opioid-save-lives-in-the-u-s
Baud
@plato:
Trump has focused our attention for the moment. The big question is what happens after he’s finally gone.
Baud
@Chetan Murthy: Thanks.
Kay
@plato:
Maybe, but I’m talking about the Dem base. The 20 to 25% of Democrats who are locally active and engaged. It is constant and it’s been true as long as I have been involved. There are many, many more “you should” people than “we will” people.
Jeffro
From this guy I know’s FB page:
Baud
@Jeffro: Your dad finally see the light?
A Ghost To Most
CNN reporting major networks will broadcast Democratic response to Lyin’ Donald.
Kay
@Jeffro:
IRS employees could open the government. If they refuse to work for a month with no pay and process tax refunds the Trump Administration will have to fold.
There’s risk for them, so I’m not lecturing them, but if they stick together (key!) they won’t get fired.
They get away with this because there’s no organized pushback from employees. A stop work action from wage workers would act as a needed check on feckless, self-serving elites who are bad managers. Poor quality executives. Doing a bad job. They need to be checked by the rank and file.
Cheryl Rofer
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I agree, but I’ve been looking at it differently in the past week. It’s a struggle between reality and whatever it is that Trump’s snorting. (Which may be his own dopamine.) A certain part of the population is susceptible to his unreality. But there’s been a lot of pushback, and the pushback has sometimes prevailed, as in the court decisions against his policies. Now our side has gained control of the House of Representatives. Trump is getting more desperate and more unreal.
I don’t know what will happen next, but from what I see on my Twitter feed, our side is working up to a major resistance of whatever Trump does tonight. The struggle is getting more intense, and more open about Trump’s incapacity for the presidency.
It’s not near over, barring a variety of surprises. We have to slog on.
OzarkHillbilly
@plato:
For a second there, I thought you were referring to me. The sad part is, I wasn’t sure you were wrong. ;-)
Kay
@A Ghost To Most:
Maybe they could send a suggestion out to newspapers that they could try something else other than putting Trump’s lie in the headlines, and adding quotation marks. Maybe they could add some value- come up with an actual idea on how to write up the lying President in a way that doesn’t serve his ends. Anyone can pull out the quote and make it a headline. They need to add value.
Three years out and they’re still pulling out the biggest lie of the day and making it the headline. Fix it. Write your own fucking headline. Don’t use Trump’s.
rikyrah
Uh huh ?
(((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) Tweeted:
This is what the wall fight is about as Graham admits-Trump wants to “BREAK” the Democrats to prove to his base his tough: Lindsey Graham on Shutdown: If Trump Doesn’t ‘Break’ Democrats Now, ‘It’s Going to Be a Terrible 2019’
https://t.co/pX1asqy4SV via @mediaite https://twitter.com/DeanObeidallah/status/1082617922739228672?s=17
JMG
Trump’s actions and words are not those of a man holding pocket aces. More like a three-nine unsuited. What are his options. Declare the emergency and have a court fight he’ll likely lose? (right wing they may be, but the Supremes’ life tenure means they hold a long view and can see a future where a Democratic President uses emergencies to cripple THIER power). Or just hold out until the Republicans behind him crack? Maybe in early 2017 Trump could’ve appealed to the nation and changed some minds on the wall. Too late now.
Baud
@rikyrah: If that’s the goal, then declaring a national emergency doesn’t really break Dems. In fact, it eliminates any need to keep the government shut down and allows Dems to continue to refuse to fund the Wall.
Jeffro
@Baud: His flashes of insight about Trumpov only happen to coincide with severe dips in the stock market, so nope on that.
Baud
@Jeffro: I’ll be praying for a depression for your sake.
Jeffro
@rikyrah:
Graham is telling it almost completely true: the only reason for the shutdown is because Democrats won the majority in Congress, and accountability is coming. If Trumpov doesn’t slap them around/keep them distracted, he’s a goner. Unfortunately for him, he’s playing a losing hand and we Dems can ride this all the way to 2020 if need be.
I’m more convinced than ever Trumpov won’t even be in office by then one way or another. The question is (and by ‘question’, I mean the question that all Americans should be pounding on Republican members of Congress is), what price will America pay before this is ended?
Jeffro
@Baud: Let’s not have the whole country take a hit in order to get RWNJD to fully understand the depths of what he’s been tacitly endorsing, please. (Plus, I’ll eventually need those investments to do well so that when I inherit them, I can donate them to progressive causes ;)
rikyrah
ronald alexander (@djchefron) Tweeted:
The defection of former Bernie Sanders staffers to Beto O’Rourke worries some people in Bernie World, but not for the reason you might expect.
https://t.co/dg1LBe75i2 via @HuffPostPol https://twitter.com/djchefron/status/1082605248651427840?s=17
oldgold
The Democrats need to be careful in making their demand for equal time; particularly, if it is for an immediate response.
First, Making an effective immediate response to a prepared remarks is damn difficult. (Exhibit A -every response to the State of the Union deforestation the last 50 years.)
Second, who makes the response? For all her political gifts, Pelosi is not a particularly compelling television performer. Schumer is worse.
Baud
@Jeffro: You’re a good man, Jeffro.
A Ghost To Most
@Kay:
I see things differently. I see a bunch of young journalists acting like real journalists, and the villagers either relearning how to be journalists, or being pushed aside (e.g. Chinchilla, Dancing Dave, Tweety, et al.). Obviously, Chuck Toad alone shows there’s more work to do.
Networks are like big ships, and take time to turn.
A Ghost To Most
@oldgold: Tag team of Ted Lieu and Rashida Tlaib.
Chetan Murthy
@rikyrah: berniebros, never heard of VORP. Idiots. Of course O’Rourke’s gonna vote somewhat conservative — he’s from Texas, goddammit. I mean, Wilmer fucking votes for the NRA, gosh I wonder why. Idiots.
OzarkHillbilly
@oldgold:
Trust me, trump is not giving prepared remarks. He will have some that stephen miller will have spent hours preparing while channeling his inner Hitler, but trump will veer off into uncharted territory about 30 seconds in.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: We had similar problems in my old county-level party. It has been run by about a dozen middle-aged women forever, and every new person who came in had scads of criticism about how it was run and lots of ideas about how to change it. The incumbents had a canny way of addressing this: after making sure the critic was at least minimally competent and committed, they’d hand the function (outreach, registration, etc.) off to the critic and let them discover how hard it was. That usually didn’t last long.
It wasn’t that the incumbents were running things perfectly. There was lots of room for improvement! But, like you noted, everyone wanted to run things. I was one of the exceptions to this as I genuinely prefer the grunt work, but that seemed to be a rare quality. I think this dynamic has been worse since 2016 — largely because of an influx of new people.
Anyhoo, I haven’t joined the county-level party for my new location. TBH, I’m enjoying the break from it. I hate meetings, and I despise the petty jockeying and nit-picking that comes with membership in that sort of organization. But when I eventually do, I won’t try to tell folks how to run things, and I’ll volunteer to be a PFC, not a general.
plato
@OzarkHillbilly: Blech. :)
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@rikyrah: It’s hard to belive one can break a party less than a month after a major victory. These clowns really don’t get politics.
Chris
@Aleta:
I’ve heard of police departments wanting similar rules, once again prompting me to ask: what the fuck do we pay these people for? They can’t shut up about how they Stand Ready To Do Violence On My Behalf, and how deep down in places I don’t talk about at dinner parties, I Need Them On That Wall. Fine. Earn your fucking paycheck, then.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
@Baud:
Like this?
Chetan Murthy
@Chris: I think these sorts of things could be aptly classed as “Law and Order Porn”.
lamh36
good morning
looks like big 3 are gonna broadcast Dem response.
folks should #BoycottTrumpPrimeTime and tune in JUST for the Dem response! Don’t give the nets the ratings for the Chump propaganda
Also too, Much as I like Nancy P…I want the BEST of the Dem speakers to do the response! Can we get Kamala or Schiff, or Hakeem Jefferies! Someone from the CBC!
https://twitter.com/psddluva4evah/status/1082634550348529664?s=21
Dr. Ronnie James, D.O.
“the president’s address, which if his past statements are any indication will be full of malice and misinformation,”
This clause is an accurate, concise summary of the POUTUS’ record. It’s the kind of thing journalists need to do routinely to convey a minimal amount of pertinent information to the public. Without this type of thing, journalism becomes mere stenography, gossip mongering. And yet the MSM refuses to do even this basic task, insisting that’s its vaunted principles are useless against Trump, a demented, questionably literate TV addict who they pretend is some kind of 11th dimensional media savant. What principle is violated by pointing out the pertinent parts of someone’s track record?
oatler.
Feeling down about the whole situation, but Mueller’s starting to sound like a big McGuffin on this case. Where is he?
Chris
@Baud:
This is part of why I was never crazy about President Elizabeth Warren. The Democratic urge, every time they see a shiny new candidate, to immediately want to put them in the White House, never mind the many other levels of government that are just as crucial and that could also use some love.
(Specifically in Warren’s case, I think we need people in Congress pushing the country towards the left and building legislative support for it. And I think she’s better at that than she ever would be as President. Same would be true of Sanders, if he ever grew up and learned to be a team player).
Elizabelle
I kind of wish Hillary Clinton could give the Democratic response.
Not like she didn’t warn us. About all of this.
plato
Good. Let’s see if the senate rethug cowards grow a pair.
Chris
@Honus:
So he wants to be Viceroy of Afghanistan, Wyoming, and the Rio Grande? That guy’s gonna end up with more titles than a Hapsburg emperor.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@lamh36: I don’t know what the Democratic leadership structure is in the House. I think Pelosi has been putting younger people in as assistant whips and things like that. Someone in that category may work. I think Ted Lieu is included, for instance.
Elizabelle
@Chris: Elizabeth Warren has a genuine message, and has put in work to bring it about. The CFPB.
Please do not dismiss her so quickly. She is not a shiny new object. Maybe to you, but she has been in the public eye, and on record, with accessible well-written books and public speeches, for years upon years upon years.
Immanentize
@Chris: I am kinda getting tired of these types of candidate critiques.
Right now, who is the declared presidential candidate that is better than Warren? Why is she the not-leader who needs to stay behind and save the country from below?
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Here is the real emergency
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/house-republicans-squirm-as-shutdown-loses-support
Grahm says the Trump must break the Democrats,
“Democrat” and “Liberal” in wingnut speak means “the conservative who disagrees with me” So the State of Emergency is to make it so any Republican who doesn’t vote along party lines is a traitor.
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
Ours are a little older than middle aged, and they’re all men. They tried a coup last year, they tried to remove two (slightly) younger central committee members, but they lost the election and the way it played out that left an open seat with no candidate and a chance for the insurgents who had just survived the coup to appoint, and they appointed me. This all happened in one meeting so I was caught off guard and accepted the job :)
I have to run in 2.5 years if I want to keep it but I probably won’t run. I will run as a delegate for Sherrod if he’s in at that point. That was fun in ’08, but you have to like caucuses, which I do. I literally like the smoke-filled room aspect of caucuses – I see that as a plus! I’m not sure I’m 100% a small “d” democrat.
Dave
@plato: Kinda difficult to break the other party, which made significant gains in th last election, when you are worried about members of your own party siding with them.
artem1s
well, we knew it would get worse before it would get better. I’m torn about it, but I can hardly blame the media for giving him the time. If the dolt keels over or completely comes unglued and they are rerunning Gilligan’s Island instead they would never live it down. If the major networks had had access to Nixon coming unglued in the WH in his final days, would we have wanted that to be aired? Aren’t they kind of obligated to provide proof, in real time, that he is unfit?
I do think the criticisms about denying Obama prime time coverage is valid. Pelosi should get equal time. Perhaps reinstating some sort of fairness act is finally in order – hint, hint?
Betty Cracker
@Kay: Congrats, I guess! ;-)
As you know, the blue wave missed FL as well as OH, and I’ve heard there’s been a lot of infighting and bitterness in my old county party on that account. My husband and I voted early in the last election on the day before we moved, and we were already gone by the time the election rolled around. Kind of glad I missed that drama at the DEC, and I’m hoping the dust settles here before I join the party in this vastly more Republican county. My guess is they’re more used to being underdogs around here. I don’t think there’s any elected Democrat in this county at any level.
plato
oookay.
Barbara
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Try to imagine the volume of calls they are getting. It’s not just employees who are directly affected, it’s the satellite businesses that serve them, along with those that require some sort of federal interaction. For instance, what’s going on with meat inspections?
magurakurin
@oldgold:
Hakeem Jefferies
Procopius
@Chetan Murthy: They got no sense of humor, either. There is no such thing as a “conservative comedian.”
vhh
@Kay: They can be subpoenaed.
schrodingers_cat
@Kay: But, but I heard on this blog and NYT and other media outlets, that they are brave and noble and are going to save us all. They couldn’t even save their own jobs. Sad.
ETA: Also too IRL, FWIW. The generals are going to save us meme was strong in 2017.
Kay
@schrodingers_cat:
I’m sick of these hugely powerful people dodging all accountability because they’re (supposedly) not political – the military takes advantage of this and so does the judiciary. They’re using their (claimed) nonpartisan status to avoid real debate on their actions. Enough. They’re political actors. Let’s just admit that and move on.
schrodingers_cat
@Kay: Same here. Mattis as the moderate mythos is alive and well. It was on FP here yesterday.
Kay
I just did the ting I hate that I have dealt with my whole time in the work world. We have a two person tech assistance co that we use- a man and a woman. The man always comes out here so I’m used to dealing with him. So I called to get a laptop fixed and the woman gave me this complete rundown of what is wrong with it and I dropped it off. To her.
I then called THE MAN today to ask about it. She just emailed me to tell me (politely) to call her because she is doing the work, which I know because I handed the fucking thing to her last night. I’m a douchebag. I cannot believe I did this.
She’s kind of terse and businesslike so maybe I won’t send her a garbled wordy apology referencing the patriarchy but that’s what I would LIKE to do :)
catclub
@Patricia Kayden:
What has already been done. The tariffs he imposed were also via emergency.
Amir Khalid
@oatler.:
Remain calm, and have no fear. Der Müller Gottes mahlt langsam, aber mahlt außerordentlich fein.
Yarrow
@schrodingers_cat: @Kay: As generals, aren’t they always supposed to be living up to their oaths or whatever, even when they retire. Can’t generals always be called back to active duty? If that is correct then they should always be able to be called before Congress to answer for their actions when they were held governmental positions.
zhena gogolia
@magurakurin:
Oh, good. I just read an interview with him and he sounds smart.
Fair Economist
@rikyrah: Just posting the “horrible policy sins” of O’Rourke the BernieBros are so worked up over:
Voted to allow crude oil export.
Voted to allow fast-track voting on trade deals (which is necessary to have trade deals; note he didn’t actually vote for any objectionable deals.)
Supports Medicare-for-All but not immediate single payer.
These are all either fine or at worst very weak tea. What they don’t mention is that O’Rourke has been good on immigration, gun control, and police brutality, where Bernie has been weak or even actively hostile to decent policy.
Amir Khalid
@Chetan Murthy:
I think what’s really bothering them is that there are important Wilmeristas who no longer believe Wilmer is all that, and are gravitating towards the new hotness of Beto.
satby
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I went looking for that on Kos, do you have a link?
StringOnAStick
There’s a part of me that thinks Senator Warren declared early mainly to head Wilmer off at the pass, and in truth plans to stay in the Senate. Before someone jumps on me saying she supported Wilmer’s “I was robbed” stance, let’s consider that she’s somehow become aware of just what a bad thing it is that Shitgibbon is in office and is likely to stay there if we don’t run someone against him who can actually win. Declaring early gets her policy proposals a lot more attention than they’d get just as one of 100 Senators, so there is some significant benefit to running even if the underlying reason is partially to run interference. Politics and political maneuvering isn’t all straight lines.
WaterGirl
@StringOnAStick: Between Elizabeth Warren and Beto O’Rourke, let’s hope that Wilmer decides not to run.
J R in WV
@oatler.:
You always seem to find something, anything, to feel down about the opposition to Trump’s attempted coup…
But FYI, Mueller just got his Grand Jury in DC extended for at least six more months, no doubt after informing the judge in charge of that jury of exactly how many people are still being investigated and are subject to indictment over the next six months.
Doing this huge job correctly is a long term project, not like a civil dispute between a Ford dealership and a shafted purchaser.
StringOnAStick
@WaterGirl: Word.