I’m not trolling, nor am I shitposting here. But I had an interesting conversation about a 1/2 hour ago that turned to me stating:
If Senator Sanders is elected, his administration is going to look a lot like every other Democratic administration. There isn’t an alternative universe of Democratic appointed Federal district and appellate justices or experienced attorneys that have worked for past Democratic administrations, Democratic members of Congress, law firms that tend to represent Democrats or center left to left of center interests, or law school faculty that are Democratic socialists. I mean you’re basically looking at a continuum from someone like Merrick Garland on the center left to Godwin Liu and Caitlin Hannigan. Same thing with cabinet appointments, their deputies, and the 4,000 plus senior, mid level, and junior political appointees that will be necessary to staff the Federal government. There aren’t 4,000 qualified appointees within Sanders’s movement, so these positions will have to be filled with the same people/type of people that a President Warren or Biden or Harris or Booker or Klobuchar or Buttigieg or insert one of 17 other names here would be drawing from. I’d certainly expect the White House/Executive Office of the President appointments to be from the inner circle, but they don’t need senatorial approval.
This isn’t an anti-Sanders’s argument, but personnel is policy. And there just aren’t enough qualified personnel within Senator Sander’s movement to fill out the Federal government. Just within my own professional areas and areas of interest in regard to Defense and Intelligence, who exactly would be chosen that wouldn’t otherwise? Which means a Sanders’ administration would look a lot like that of any of the other Democratic candidates who might reasonably be expected to win in 2020 because they’re all going to draw from the same pool of potential appointees.
Edited to Add at 6:25 PM EDT
And this is without even considering what happens if the Republicans maintain their majority in the Senate. Senator McConnell has already announced that if that is the case, and there is a Democratic president come January 2021, he will shut everything down.
Discuss among yourselves.
Open thread.
rikyrah
Matt Haig (@matthaig1) Tweeted:
Never dismiss someone for being quiet. Not everyone can put themselves out on the surface. A person can sit and be still and awkward and be burning with life and love. Sometimes they are quiet BECAUSE of that intensity. Because there is a world inside them they must attend to. https://twitter.com/matthaig1/status/1072429479438548992?s=17
rikyrah
Sam Levin (@SamTLevin) Tweeted:
Ten years later, we finally see the report on the officers who detained + killed Oscar Grant. BART’s investigators concluded that one officer called him slurs, punched him and kneed him in the face unprovoked + then repeatedly lied to the authorities: https://t.co/VD6MEyMJjn https://twitter.com/SamTLevin/status/1124349653883822080?s=17
J R in WV
A great point, and one more reason NOT to support Senator Sanders in the Democratic Presidential primaries. Also, too, because he isn’t a member of the Democratic Party. His CCTV programs will be a real hit for his opponents, esp. the one about his wedding and honeymoon in Soviet Russia.
Anonymous At Work
Previous material on Sanders indicates that he might decide to pick less-qualified persons from within his movement out of personal loyalty or purity or whatever. Which is probably why this is a question he’ll need to address during the campaign.
SiubhanDuinne
It’s an Open Thread, so….
I called Marilyn Ross — aka Mrs EFGoldman — this afternoon. We hadn’t talked since March 25, the day Peter died, and I just wanted to let her know I’d been thinking of her and wondering how she’s been doing. She said, in surprise, “I was just going to call you!”
The reason is that she wanted to ask me to tell the Jackaltariat that in his final several days, Peter received close to 50 cards from Balloon Juicers, and they cheered him up no end. Most of them worked some variation on the “FUCKEM” theme :-)
Then, after he died, Marilyn was overwhelmed with the number of condolence cards and notes she received from BJ-ers. She wanted me to let everyone know how happy the get-well messages made Peter, and how grateful she is for all the kindness shown to her and her family.
As to Marilyn’s own future, she’s going forward with the plan EFG had shared with us a while ago: to move to Virginia so she can be closer to Kate and the grandchildren. She figures it’ll take a year at least.
Wanted to let y’all know. Amazing to realize it’s been only 5-1/2 weeks.
Another Scott
Normally, I would agree with you. But… Bernie isn’t a Democrat. :-/ And that’s kind of a problem.
How has he voted on federal judge nominations?
I haven’t found much, but did find this:
So, dunno?
Interesting question though!
Cheers,
Scott.
trollhattan
@SiubhanDuinne:
That’s lovely, from start to finish. Thanks so much for the report!
ETA Being closer to the grandkids and away from the old house sounds exactly like the best plan, as does taking time to do it right.
rikyrah
Jeff Hauser (@jeffhauser) Tweeted:
The lawlessness in America is an escalating constitutional crisis, and @ThePlumLineGS is right to highlight how Flood’s letter is unambiguous cause to panic. https://t.co/Inx8U4YpHA
Will @SpeakerPelosi actions ever be proportionate to the depth of this crisis? https://twitter.com/jeffhauser/status/1124348825685168129?s=17
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
Never thought I’d read the word “shitposting” on BJ.
I do worry about a potential Sanders admin. Sure, he’d be marginally better than Trump (immigration is what drags him down the most), but the same dysfunction of Trump could also be in a hypothetical Sanders admin. He doesn’t have a good history of working well with others and his actual policy achievements are quite thin. BS had better hope he wins control of the Senate too, or else his agenda will grind to a complete halt. I’m reminded of him saying that if millions of young people marched outside McConnell’s window, he’d immediately fold. That’s laughable. McConnell would ignore them like he has everyone else.
Adam L Silverman
Just added the following update up top:
Enhanced Voting Techniques
As Trump shown this is a mere triviality if the candidate isn’t there to govern. Sanders is a socialist, possibly even a Marxist. Likely he will view his election as some mandate to impose his version of socialism on America for which he has people in mind and ignore the rest as much as possible.
Adam L Silverman
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: As we’ve seen it is hard to impose one’s will without, at least, some appointees at the top level.
Martin
Under a more normal circumstance, I might agree, but what we need in the next 6 years is something very different from a normal administration.
We need a president who can look at the current state of things and say, we need more than norms to protect the integrity of this office, we need laws. I don’t think Sanders can do that. I think he is uniquely motivated among the Dems to not do that because he is a comparable norm violator himself – not nearly to the degree that Trump is, and not nearly in the same sort of venial way, but he fundamentally a rule breaker. And I don’t think the staff of a rule breaker can convey a rule based message. There aren’t enough adults you could put in the WH right now that would balance out what that one person at the top can do.
We need someone who can look at their stewardship of the office, identify all of the ways that the office could be abused, and tell Congress to start passing laws to fix them. Sanders will never do that.
Brachiator
But, but the Young Turks assure me that Wilmer will nominate 9 progressive unicorns to fill every seat on the Supreme Court.
More seriously, a co-worker watches the Young Turks YouTube channel religiously. Taking a peek at some of their stuff, they and a few others have set themselves up to be a “defend Wilmer” all day/every day channel. I know they are marginal compared to other media, but it is still interesting to see that Sanders has a very loyal bunch of followers eager to defend him and attack all other Democrats. And sadly, this is what they spend more time on. Tearing down other Democrats rather than simply selling Sanders or attacking Trump.
West of the Rockies
@rikyrah:
Is this related to what Adam wrote?
StringOnAStick
Without a D Senate and House, all BS will be able to do is finger wag in an increasingly ineffective manner. I’m not saying it’s effective now, but once he doesn’t create social-ist paradise by day 30 of his administration, his rabid followers will go (more) insane.
Martin
@Adam L Silverman: Then we better have a President ready to go to the mat. I don’t think thats Sanders.
randy khan
Although I’m not 100% convinced that Sanders would be willing to draw as much from the existing Dem ranks as I’d like, I do think that, despite my reservations about him, that he would have a much stronger interest in filling jobs with competent people than pretty much any Republican (as they do seem to like to reward grifters) and obviously an almost incalculably stronger interest in that than Trump.
This does bring to mind the question about how he’d fill the jobs that usually go to fat cat contributors or people who are just plain connected – fun ambassador jobs and Secretary of Commerce, for instance, since he wouldn’t really have a lot of people who’d meet the usual standards for them. Maybe, for once, career State Department employees could get cushy ambassador jobs, which would be only fair after what they’ve gone through the last couple of years.
trollhattan
@Adam L Silverman:
Is there even a legit path to taking the Senate? Am not seeing one without quite a few yuge upsets.
Betty Cracker
@rikyrah: Maybe the strategy is to wait until they all die of old age. I mean, Pelosi has earned my trust, blah blah blah. But goddamn! I hope there’s a plan because TrumpCo is using the levers of power to ratfuck 2020 in plain sight — right now.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Adam L Silverman: Turtle turn Congress into a triviality when he allowed Trump’s executive order to stand.
Also, that’s quite a statement coming from a Republican, like that they don’t expect Trump to make a second term.
Martin
@randy khan: I think we’re past the point that competency in appointments will be sufficient to repair the damage.
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne:
Thank you for that. It’s very good to know the cards and notes were appreciated. We miss him sorely.
West of the Rockies
@trollhattan:
I’m not hearing that the Senate is likely to flip. So much work ahead that will require fortitude and perseverance.
kindness
Which post would Bernie give to Jill Stein?
Adam L Silverman
@West of the Rockies: rikyrah and I have an understanding: she gets to microblog all my front page posts.
NotMax
You used the words “serious” and “Sanders” in the same sentence.
No gold star for you, young man.
Adam L Silverman
@trollhattan: There is. The Republicans are defending 22 seats this time. The Democrats only need to flip four.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Martin:
Agreed. Congress needs to reassert itself and rein in the executive. It’s gotten too powerful and has only not gone completely off the rails because relatively responsible adults occupied the office until Trump. Yes, even Reagan and GWB. They were awful crooks and GWB may have had a larger body count than Trump (so far), they didn’t try to wreck democratic institutions to the degree Trump and co have.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Adam L Silverman:
On top of that, the Turtle is at 18% approval in Ky in recent polling. His seat is up. Would help a lot to be rid of him
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Martin:
Yes, Sanders is the left side of the same Let It Burn mentality. The guy was praising the Soviet Union, he’s not here to be a good steward.
Villago Delenda Est
Wilmer hasn’t thought any of this through.
Adam L Silverman
@Martin: I’m planning a post on this. While we would all like a return to normalcy, the simple fact is that the Republic has been broken. While it can be repaired, it cannot be reset to what it was before election day 2016. So a new normal may be eventually achieved, but it won’t be the old normal. And someone among the 24 Democratic primary candidates had better start leveling with the American people about this.
Ohio Mom
@SiubhanDuinne: Mental note: sometime in 2020, DC area Juicers will need to hold a meet-up to welcome Mrs. EFG to the neighborhood.
On the topic of this post: one of the big tasks facing the next president is repairing relations with our allies and redefining our relationships with those nations that fall under different categories than Friend.
Frankly, I can’t see Bernie finessing this task. Really, in my mind’s eye, he is shaking his finger in the face of prime ministers, presidents, kings and queens. It is not a pretty image.
japa21
@Adam L Silverman: There is a reason Pelosi’s new nickname for him is the Grim Reaper.
Adam L Silverman
@Villago Delenda Est: Visionaries/prophets/peakers rarely do.
Adam L Silverman
@japa21: If you go to the link, he says that that’s exactly who he’ll be.
Raoul
Nothing good can come of Mitch McConnell’s evil bullsh*t. But the tactical fact that he’s let Trump run about 40% of government with acting appointees (and that is likely to stretch to the end of Trump’s term), the precedent will be there for the Dem to just say “Fuck off, Mitch, I moved appointees, you stonewalled, and by your actions 2016-2020, we’re moving ahead on the basis that advise and consent is waived after xxx days of stalling.”
Now, will that get past Trumpian courts? I don’t know. But even if Trump is successfully evicted from the WH in November 2020, our season of constitutional crises is not gonna be over just yet.
TenguPhule
At some point, the terrorists simply have to be taken out.
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne:
Thanks so much for sharing! I’ve been thinking of efg’s family a lot lately.
debbie
@Anonymous At Work:
In other words, he would do what Trump has done.
TenguPhule
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Forget it Jake, its Kentucky.
Sab
He doesn’t like women. He doesn’t like POC. He is a Russian asset. I am thinking my dog could do much better.
Cheryl Rofer
This is pretty much true of all of them. I’d like to see some new faces, and there will be some, but most of the next Democratic administration is in think tanks and financial institutions.
That’s not all bad. You need people with experience, as we are seeing. But it’s a really good point that Adam brings up.
debbie
@Adam L Silverman:
If Trump doesn’t end the Republican Party, McConnell’s doing this certainly will.
Sab
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: That is now. He’ll be at 80 % next election. He is from Ky.
debbie
@Martin:
I agree, and I think nasty Kamala is the one to do that. None of this working across the aisle tripe.
rikyrah
@SiubhanDuinne:
Thank you for letting us know??
Kathleen
@randy khan: When I look at his campaign staff I see nothing but bullies and grifters. These are the types he attracts. I can only imagine what his administration would look like. Blech
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Adam L Silverman:
I sometimes worry about this myself. I’m not sure any of the candidates (Dem congress as well) are going to be willing to do what it will take to repair the country, such as packing the Supreme Court and ramming judges and other important appointments through. Too many, like Biden, Sen Amy K, and Mayor Pete want to pretend they have what it takes to convince the GOP to vote with them and that’s never going to be the case.
ETA: I think Harris and Warren are less likely to fall for the bipartisan bullshit though.
Raoul
@Adam L Silverman: “a new normal may be eventually achieved, but it won’t be the old normal. And someone among the 24 Democratic primary candidates had better start leveling with the American people about this.”
Yes, absolutely. And, not to bash on Biden, Bernie, Klobuchar or several of the others (Buttigieg included, I suspect), but any talk of reaching across the aisle, Cheney was a friend, bipartisan infrastructure bill votes, etc will change the objectively observable fact that Mitch is intent on continuing to break the republic.
Things will, probably tragically, have to get worse before they might get better. And I am not trying to do some disaster fapping here. Adam is correct that Dems have to level with voters.
It is also why I am furious that we keep getting more Dem potus candidates. Fight to retake the g-ddammed Senate, you freaking narcissists!
VeniceRiley
In a Sanders administration I would expect a male heavy version of AOC types. Smart and inexperienced. Plus drawing heavily from activist organizations rather than academia or such. Then a few Warren types to do the hard work.
Cenk for Press Sec! *shudder*
Raoul
@debbie: My sense right now is that Kamala among the major contenders is the most likely to a) not take any bipartisan malarky b) know exactly how corrupt McConnell is and c) find ways to connect the dots for voters.
rikyrah
@West of the Rockies:
Nope, but it said open thread.
It is related to a recently passed law in California, opening up police files. This was what was found in Oscar Grant’s file.
rikyrah
@Adam L Silverman:
So true.
So true.
Which is why I am not interested in any candidate wanting to reach across the aisle.
Martin
@Adam L Silverman: I agree with that. But if we’re describing a state of being that is in many ways undefined, and in needing of direction, that’s a very statesman-like job. We think of people like Jefferson and Lincoln doing that sort of thing – and nobody gives any thought to who they appointed. That is, the job that needs to be done is a presidential job, not a machinery of the executive branch job. We’re not talking about immigration reform here, we’re talking about Reconstruction.
Eric U.
I just hope President Harris doesn’t put another Republican in charge of DoD. There are Democrats that will do a fine job.
debbie
JFC, Trump talks to Putin for more than an hour and comes away saying Putin wants only good things for Venezuela. What a blooming idiot.
SiubhanDuinne
@Martin:
Yup, we do.
Nope, he won’t.
Martin
@VeniceRiley: To me, there’s a big problem of whistling past the graveyard. Sanders has his signature issues, and that’s it. Presidents don’t usually get much chance to implement their agenda – they need to adapt to the situation, and I don’t see that as one of Sanders’ strong suits.
rikyrah
@Adam L Silverman:
Are you going to Front Page the new Poll Tax on former felons trying to get their voting rights restored in Florida?
lamh36
Alright open thread…cool
So I’ve got my take home final from my Health Law class…woo chile.
This one gonna take a bit out of me…but I’ve got 10 days.
Gonna get ‘er done w/my first draft this weekend…then work…then on my day off Thursday, I’ll do a final draft and turn it in.
All the while doing final planning for UK
Woo…I’ve got to work upto my first travel day for the family trip!!
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@debbie:
So much for the Monroe doctrine (it was used to justify a ton of bad shit, but Russia messing around in South America is bad news)
mrmoshpotato
His cabinet would be full of old Soviets he met on his honeymoon to bring about his glorious revolution!
Only a tenth kidding.
HeleninEire
I just got my voter info in the mail. NY is now allowing early voting on the Saturday and Sunday before the general. That’s new. And great.
mrmoshpotato
@debbie: Good things like an oil pipeline straight to a Moscow refinery?
lamh36
I am really so proud of my paper and presentation on the elderly…
I’m actually thinking about posting the presentation onto my blog…
but I’m not sure bout copyright stufff…hmmm
Kay
@Martin:
That never occurred to me but I think it’s true.
VeniceRiley
@Martin: I wouldn’t piss on Sanders if he were on fire, Martin. I find him revolting. I’m just spitballing on Adam’s thought experiment.
HeleninEire
@SiubhanDuinne: Thank you for the update.
Sab
@lamh36: @lamh36: Go girl. You know you can do it with stars.
My Dad was a pathologist. He was okay on the anatomical. He was good on the surgical. He could never get the clinical to work. He thought the world of his lab techs who could actually get the cultures to grow.
Feathers
@rikyrah: Thanks for posting this. They are who we thought they were.
Kathleen
@Sab: I call it Kenfuckty.
TS (the original)
@Anonymous At Work:
Sanders should be thankful he will have alternatives – the only people who will work for the current administration are those with personal loyalty to the president*
SiubhanDuinne
@Ohio Mom:
Splendid idea! I expect I’ll talk with her every few weeks, so once she selects a place in NoVa, does her downsizing and sells the RI house, and actually makes the move, I should be able to alert the NoVa-DC Juicetariat. Depending on time of year, I might drive up there myself. And maybe Elizabelle will be back by then.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@TenguPhule:
@Sab:
True. A lot can happen between then and now
Amir Khalid
A foreigner’s perspective: I am not inclined to trust President Wilmer’s judgement in picking appointees. I fear he will pick people from somewhere to the left of competence and common sense.
SiubhanDuinne
@Adam L Silverman:
He is a thoroughly vile individual. I’ve racked my brain, and I can’t think of one single nice thing to say about him. In many ways, I loathe McConnell even more than I detest Trump.
ETA: Trump operates on whim and whatever he heard from the last person he saw. Turtle operates wholly from malice aforethought.
Sab
@lamh36: Please post it on your blog if it won’t hurt you professionally.
Lots of us care, some professionally, some personally ( parents and step-parents) and some just out of curiosity.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@kindness: Secretary of Wifi
bmoak
If the actuarial tables catch up with President Sanders and his health falters during his term, I’m sure Vice President Nina Turner or Vice-President Tulsi Gabbard would ably step into his shoes!
rikyrah
Uh huh ?
Adam Serwer? (@AdamSerwer) Tweeted:
People make a lot of assumptions about class and racism but all you need to do is rephrase it in academic language and you can get highly educated people who consider themselves sophisticated to endorse white supremacy in a hot second https://t.co/ufb600ylsd https://twitter.com/AdamSerwer/status/1124298531118907392?s=17
SiubhanDuinne
@Raoul:
? this.
Ohio Mom
@SiubhanDuinne: Because Mrs. EFG will need friends and acquaintances all her own.
I think it’s a tricky thing for anyone, moving close to the kids. You can’t be totally dependent on the young folks for it to work.
On this note, whatever happened to your plan, SiubhanDuinne, to visit Cincinnati?
Sab
@bmoak: Jeez. Nina Turner.
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
You are a glutton for punishment, but in the good way!
SO ENVIOUS of your UK trip. I’ve got to get back one of these times.
debbie
@mrmoshpotato:
Or missile sites aimed at Florida.
MomSense
There are a number of problems with Sanders, foremost being that he’s just not serious when it comes to the issues. His NYDN interview was an insult. He didn’t know the basics about his core issues of financial regulation, campaign finance, health care , etc. Anderson/Mayhew thoroughly dissected Sanders’ Medicare for all funding scheme and it was boooooogus.
I hope we outperform expectations when it comes to the Senate, but the prognosis is that we do not reclaim the majority or we have a non-filibuster majority which means he will either have to massively compromise or he will not get any legislation through. And when it comes to legislation, his MO is to ascribe the worst intentions to any Democrat who tries to compromise in order to achieve incremental progress.
The two areas where he will have some ability to act are in rebuilding the beurocracies and foreign policy. He lacks the discipline and enough suitable, accomplished, ideologically sympathetic candidates for his cabinet. He will have to pick standard issue Democrats. This will not go well. Picture lots of backstabbing, leaking, undercutting, and worse.
And his foreign policy chops are nonexistent. He is embarrassingly ignorant and temperamentally incapable of the kind of personal relationship building and collaboration required to salvage our alliances and repair the trump administration damage.
I also think he will be so ineffectual as to sully whatever reputation progressivism has at this point. He’s a fucking disaster and I’m honestly furious that he is taken seriously by anyone.
I fucking loathe him.
Mary G
Really good people won’t want to give up their current jobs or Senate seats to work for Wilmer. Even Biden would be better.
SiubhanDuinne
@Ohio Mom:
That will happen when I go to Ontario to visit my cousin, and the timing of that depends on the timing of his surgery. Not sure yet whether I would take I-75 up, or save it for the return journey. (I usually take different itineraries heading up to Owen Sound and back, just for scenic variety.)
Jay
“Jane Musgrave
The Palm Beach Post, Fla.
A 32-year-old Chinese woman who was arrested last month at Mar-a-Lago paid $20,000 to a Chinese businessman believing it would allow her to attend an event featuring President Donald Trump’s sister, her attorney told a U.S. magistrate on Monday.
While the receipt Yujing Zhang claims she received for the wire transfer could ultimately help her win her release from the Palm Beach County jail, she now faces additional legal woes. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has revoked her visa.”
“Even if a bond was posted, she would go right into INS custody,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Rolando Garcia told Magistrate Judge William Matthewman.”
https://warisboring.com/chinese-woman-paid-20k-for-mar-a-lago-event-attorney-says/
Mary G
@rikyrah: Cough, cough..Andrew Sullivan.
West of the Rockies
@rikyrah:
Police files pertaining to violent contacts between citizens and the second need to be way more transparent.
rikyrah
Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) Tweeted:
#BREAKING: Per @NBCNews, White House counsel Emmett Flood sent Attorney General Barr a letter blasting the Mueller report and asserting that Trump has the right to direct his advisers not to comply with subpoenas to testify before Congress. https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/1124002414569369600?s=17
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
If you can, I hope you will.
rikyrah
@West of the Rockies:
I am from a city that has paid out over SIX HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS over the last 5 years to settle police misconduct lawsuits . Part of those suits are NDA’s. I am completely against it.
Do you know what a city could do with 600 Million dollars over 5 years?
mrmoshpotato
@debbie: “The only problem we have is income inequality!”
“Ummmm….what about all the racism, sexism, out-of-date infrastructure, global warming, etc? Oh. And those Russki missiles pointed at Florida?”
“INCOME INEQUALITY!”
Chyron HR
Duh, from VP on down the positions will be selected based on who shrieked “FUCK HILLARY!” the loudest at his
revivalsrallies.MomSense
@lamh36:
You are truly inspirational!!! I’m so impressed by how you are living your life.
lamh36
So for my Health Care Management class this semester had to reserach and present on a health care management subject of my choosing, that did not involve the lab. The lab is my thing…so it was kinda hard to decide on a subject I wanted to present. Where I work now, the patient population is an older population. So, I chose to the subject of how the aging population will effect healthcare. I was so proud of this presentation that I had to share it…so for your enjoyment…here is my presntation.
https://twitter.com/psddluva4evah/status/1124460817867472903
West of the Rockies
@rikyrah:
And consider the erosion of ANY public confidence in the police force, DA, etc.
MomSense
@lamh36:
Oooh, I’m going to go check it out.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Exit strategies. Not just for the scrambled egg and brass crowd anymore.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@MomSense: So should I put you down as a vote against Wilmer?
MomSense
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Heh.
Jay
“Marine vet accused of posing as Mexican drug cartel to extort members of his own right-wing militia”
https://taskandpurpose.com/marine-mexican-cartel-right-wing-militia
lamh36
@SiubhanDuinne: I really must be…lol.
This trip is actually a “rehab” trip…since I was supposed to bring my nephew to London for his graduation…but the Australia trip fell into my lap and so I missed his graduation (I watched it on youtube and FB live thx to my sis) and then when I went to Londod in Septemeber, he was in his first semester in college so didn’t want him to miss that.
this new trip fell into my lap and so I said…”alright nephew…let’s do this!”
And here we are…
schrodingers_cat
@rikyrah: The two T voters I know IRL are both wealthier than the median and with college degrees. Also, look at the T enabling national political media. In fact in my direct dealings I have found that wealth or the lack thereof, is not a good indicator of bigotry.
HinTN
Which ought to be reason enough to GOTV to remove that mother fucker and his majority minions.
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
That is so cool! Your are the best Auntie Lamh!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Jay: A real credit to the Corps that one.
tobie
@rikyrah: If this is the case, then the Democrats need to change track fast. Issue subpoenas and cite people for contempt but at the same time orchestrate well publicized hearings to discuss the findings of the report with legal experts. Most people are not news junkies and have no idea what’s in the report. They need to know why we can’t play nice anymore. Democracy itself is on the line.
Jay
“After examining about 2,000 tweets from more than 30 Twitter accounts controlled by major news sources over three weeks earlier this year, Media Matters for America (MMFA) reported Friday that the accounts simply spread Trump’s lies 65 percent of the time, without providing context or disputing his remarks.”
“The group found Trump’s lies about subjects including the Mueller report, North Korea, and his claim that former President Barack Obama was spying on him were amplified by NBC, ABC, and other sources more than 400 times over the course of the study, or an average of 19 times per day.
The findings left MMFA convinced that the news media is failing during Trump’s presidency in many of the same ways it did during his 2016 presidential campaign.”
https://www.alternet.org/2019/05/new-study-exposes-how-the-media-is-complicit-in-trumps-assault-on-reality/
gbbalto
@lamh36: Well done!
Ruckus
@Martin:
You have been on fire lately. And this is another.
Spot on, BS would be bad for all the reasons he’s been bad in congress, he’s not one of us, the unwashed masses that he claims to represent, he’s a burn it down if you don’t do it my way guy. He’s just never had more than the power of one before. If elected he’d have that. And this is not supposed to be a dictatorship, even if it’s trying hard to be one now.
Jay
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
The part I don’t get, is that the guy he threw down the stairs, and tried to suffoacate and strangle with a plastic bag, believed his bs Cartel Kidnapping story and got him his $100k.
These people are not only delusional, they are morons who thing that eastern Washington State is the setting for “The Bridge” with some “Scarface” thrown in.
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
Thank you so much for posting that — you are right to feel proud.
I had intuited, but didn’t know until I saw your statistics, that there’s such a gap in geriatric specialists and all the support that goes with that specialty.
Your Slide 9 (I think it is) mentions that geriatrics is not an “attractive” specialty, and requires around an extra decade of study to get the credentials. What, in your view, would make the field of geriatrics more attractive to med/nursing students? Is it merely the commitment of money + an additional 9-11 years of study, or is there something inherently off-putting about geriatrics/elder care?
Ruckus
@Sab:
I’ve never met your dog but my bet is on him/her to be better than BS.
J R in WV
@lamh36:
I think if everything is footnoted and credited according to your academic standards you’re probably OK — run it past your professor?
plato
Princess
A Sanders administration will look nothing like the administration of a Democratic president. He’ll exclusively pick people personally loyal to him. Tulsi Gabbard for VP or SoS or Defense. Nina Turner. Alan Greyson. RoseAnn DeMoro. James Zogby. Robert Reich. Keith Ellison. Cornel West. Plenty of anti-choice pro-criminalization people like Marci Kaptur and Dan Lipinski and all those losers he endorsed who lost their primaries. Etc.
lamh36
@SiubhanDuinne: Good question.
Speaking financially, a large number of elderly patients are Medicare enrollees, about 1/2, about 15% private insurance, 12+ w/military or disability and 1% no coverage. Medicare reimbursement is generally much lower than private insurance.
Also too, with the increasingly for-profit nature of healthcare…the “reason” for folks going into medicine has changed from the idea that they want to “help” people and has become a focus on the monetary when it comes to new doctors.
And the incentive is to bring in money…and unfortunately eldercare doesn’t do that
Ruckus
@Martin:
Ii’s not even one of his weak suits. Why do you think he’s an independent? There is no one else like him, he doesn’t work well with others because they don’t want the same things as him, he doesn’t have a huge professional political background, because he only wants what he wants. He’s a selfish old fart who thinks the world should be entirely different, in a rainbow gum drop sort of way, than anyone else does.
J R in WV
@Sab:
My dog likes most people, is kind and loving, and will faithfully approve any bill with peanut butter above it with a legally binding paw print. I bet your will too!!!
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Ruckus:
Hilariously enough, in a Hearts of Iron 4 mod, “Red World”, where the the Soviet Union won the Cold War and the US broke up instead, Sanders can become the leader of one of the largest successor American successor states, a revolutionary democratic socialist state, called the American People’s Commonwealth. There’s an option for him to become “Supreme Leader” Sanders and become a dictator. Oh and he’s responsible for that world’s version of 9/11, so he become the leader.
plato
@Princess:
wow, talk about blast from the dkos (nightmarish) past
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
Huh. And yet the cost of elder/end-of-life care for patients is by far the biggest chunk of lifetime health care expenses (can’t remember the stats; Anderson-Mayhew will have them).
I’m not yet 77. I am, of course, asking for a friend.
tybee
@lamh36: excellent. thanks. and i’m right in that demographic.
Adam L Silverman
@rikyrah: Possibly.
Adam L Silverman
@rikyrah: The real way to stop this is to take away the indemnification from liability for law enforcement officers. If they had to actually pay their own fines it would do several things: 1) the shitbirds that sign up just to bully people will self select into another line of work, 2) it would drive needed change in policing techniques and tactics, which would then drive needed change in police training, and that would lead to 3) a significant change in actual policing so that these incidents become much rarer.
lamh36
FYI…Kamala Harris is on Maddow tonight guys.
Gvg
I think BS is almost as indifferent to the actual work of government as Trump, and might leave a lot of positions unfilled.
I also hate to point this out, but so far with Trump, we have been lucky. We haven’t had a really serious foreign crisis yet. I didn’t think we’d avoid it this long. We haven’t had a dire market crash, a terrorist event like 911 (Trump would be the worst possible President for this), Katrina, or a Cuban missle crisis. I still expect bad luck during Trump because that’s usually been the way it goes. I can’t see Sanders as being cool in a crisis.
If I had my way, we’d pass laws changing our Ambassadors to a professional position, and can the rewarding donors. It’s actually scummy and I always prefer professionalism. Repairing our interests could really use the best people.
Adam L Silverman
@Jay: He seems nice.
SiubhanDuinne
@Adam L Silverman:
Tease.
Eric S.
@Ohio Mom: Saying this late on the thread but if this is planned with some advanced notice I’ll do my best to come in from Chiacgo.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Adam L Silverman:
The police unions would scream bloody murder I’m sure. Doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done. Ever considered running for elective office, Adam? ; )
Jay
“Donald Trump himself went on Twitter to rail against Cuban support for Maduro. And the US envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, a veteran of Reagan-era US covert operations in Latin America, appeared on a independent Venezuelan television channel, giving a detailed account of the 15-point document the defectors were supposed to have signed.
So while the official line was that the uprising was the work of the Venezuelan masses, everything the Trump administration did reinforced the message that it had been made in Washington.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/03/venezuela-protests-news-latest-maduro-uprising-that-fizzled-
Adam L Silverman
@SiubhanDuinne: I’ve been trying to get to a post about foreign policy for two weeks now. Something gets blowed up. Something gets shot up. Somebody goes and spends all day lying their tuchas off before the House or the Senate. If you want an orderly posting schedule to resume, you’ll have to do something about the insanity driving the news cycle.
tobie
@Princess: you forgot Susan Sarandon. She’ll be White House spokesperson. Or a senior advisor like Kellyanne Conway.
Adam L Silverman
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: The police unions need to be decertified as well. They’re part of the problem here. Then new ones need to be created and they have to have their political activities strongly curtailed, which is also part of the problem
Bill Arnold
@tobie:
Real.
Flood letter to AG Barr on Mueller report
And rather dishonest too – he’s basically saying (my reading, OK? :) that the POTUS is justified in completely preventing the Justice Department from helping with impeachment investigations. In the Obama era “conservatives” talked about the Rex Lex(The King Is Law) (vs Lex Rex(The Law Is King)) leanings of B. Obama, and Hillary Clinton.
Now their leader is not merely a King, but a God Emperor. (What’s God Emperor in Latin? I hesitate to trust google translate.)
Adam L Silverman
@Jay: Top men!
Adam L Silverman
@Bill Arnold: Deus Imperator.
lamh36
Jay
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
The City could provide funding for individual officers to obtain liability insurance, with an individual cap on funding.
The Insurance Companies would probably do a lot better job of “vetting” than the Police Forces seem to.
The City can shut up the Police “Unions” by pointing out that “if they’ve got nothing to hide, they’ve got nothing to fear”.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Adam L Silverman:
Yeah. I generally support unions being politically active, but law enforcement unions really should be prohibited. It’s a sort of conflict interest given they’re the ones who are meant to enforce the law. Not to mention the ability to use lethal force…
lamh36
Bill Arnold
@debbie:
I read the statements in the linked article as an implied threat to also block all confirmations of any Democratic POTUS’s[1] nominee who isn’t a card-carrying Republican. Does anyone else read it this way?
Need more Kompromat to quietly threaten Republicans with. That’s one way to get Republicans to compromise; by compromising them.
[1] Pedants: where does the apostrophe go here?
Bobby Thomson
I don’t know why anyone would assume Sanders would limit himself to traditionally “qualified” individuals.
beargoggles
I find it worth taking a risk on the possibility that his appointments will be less racist and lethal against brown people than the run of the mill Democrat (more by accident of policy and ideology than by intention), especially when it comes to foreign policy and dropping bombs and drones.
lamh36
Jeezus…it is well past time for Tweety to be let go…smh…
Bobby Thomson
@Princess: this. Sanders = Trump with white hair.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Jay:
I personally have no idea about insurance, but it sounds interesting. You live in Canada, correct? Do Canadian police departments do that? How do they compare to their American counterparts in your opinion?
Mike in NC
Just saw a mention on my iPad that the North Koreans launched another missile today. Must have gotten the OK from Putin in order to further humiliate Fat Bastard. “Little Rocket Man!!!” Is gonna see fire and fury, or maybe not.
schrodingers_cat
@lamh36: I am so old that I remember when he was the noble Marine general who was going to save us, and I was shouted down for calling him a racist bigot based on his actions as the DHS chief.
lamh36
Matt
It must take a truly remarkable sort of brain rot to make somebody think “if you vote for Sanders, you’ll get an administration just like what you’d get from other Democrats” is an argument for voting for the other Democrats…
But keep punching left, kids. I’m sure your resume will land you a coveted kulak gig once we’re all in the reeducation camp.
oldgold
The Russian take on today’s conversation between Trump and Putin. Maddening.
(Emphasis Supplied)
schrodingers_cat
He will be a nightmare for immigration policy. See his senate record and public statements, especially before 2016, when he ran for President to handicap HRC.
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
Tweety.
Shelf life.
Long expired.
Just go away, Tweety GO A FUCKIN WAY and just get out of our lives and leave us the fuck alone.
He is such a spluttering tool.
debbie
@Bill Arnold:
Your apostrophe is correct, lol.
Adam L Silverman
@Matt: That wasn’t my point. My point, since you seemed to miss it, is that there is a pool of people from whom each administration can be staffed from. While I would fully expect the White House/Executive Office of the President personnel to be staffed from within the Our Revolution movement, there isn’t enough of those people, especially with the necessary education, experience, and expertise to fill the rest of the executive branch As a result, a Sanders’ administration, and the judges he would appoint, are going to look a lot more like most of the other front runners than it would look like something revolutionary and different. I’m not now, nor have I ever, told anyone not to vote for Senator Sanders. He’s not my preference, but if he’s your’s, then great do the work, get him nominated, and get him elected.
Jay
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Policing in Canada is complex. We have the RCMP as a National Police Force, that can be “hired” by Munincipalities as the “City” Police Force. In Quebec, the Surete d’Quebec is the Provincial Police Force, in Ontario, it’s the OPP. The rest of the Provinces employ the RCMP. Some Cities and Munincipalities have their own Police Forces.
And then there are Transit Police, Railway Police and Game Wardens of assorted kinds.
Some have Unions, some Associations.
Generally, the standards are much higher, often requiring a University Degree in Law Enforcement, along with several years of training at an Academy, along with retraining.
Use of Force is much more proscribed, deescalation is manditory. Force is supposed to be porportional.
Records are universal, so a “bad cop” can’t just move to a different jourisdiction.
We also have a lot less Police/Law Enforcement per capita.
Fines, bail and Civil Forfieture don’t fund policing.
Still, we get our share of racism, mysogeny, unjustified shootings and deaths in custody, partially because of the nature of the job, the power inequality and of course, the influence of ‘Merica.
Jay
“
Reddit
Email
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Saudi Arabia offered Palestinian Authority (PA) $10 billion to accept the United States’ so-called “Deal of the Century,” according to Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar news outlet, on Thursday.
Sources said that during a meeting, on Wednesday, between Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Salman briefed Abbas about the details of the peace plan and requested him to accept it.
According to the Lebanese news outlet, Salman offered Abbas $10 billion over a period of ten years if he accepts the “Deal of the Century” and has the Palestinian government’s base in Abu Dis village, in the central occupied West Bank district of Jerusalem, instead of East Jerusalem.
However, Abbas, rejected the offer and said it would “mean the end of my political life,” sources added.”
Palestinian officials have yet to comment.”
https://www.juancole.com/2019/05/palestine-mahmoud-billions.html
NotMax
@Bill Arnold
Correct, technically (as it also would be if you left off the lower case “s” after the apostrophe).
However in this specific case and its wording, from a copy editing POV it is also could be deemed extraneous. Mostly a coin toss on that call.
Doug R
@Brachiator:
Stuff like that makes me wonder if the Young Turks get paid in рублей.
Amir Khalid
@Bill Arnold:
Nowhere. Just leave it out.
seefleur
@SiubhanDuinne: I have to say out loud that you Jackaltariet types are a lovely lot! Everyone should have support like this – I envy y’all!
Another Scott
I know plato was covering this for us last night. The final rundown from the BBC:
Theresa has a certain Black Knight quality, doesn’t she?
Here’s hoping the tide has finally turned against Brexit…
Cheers,
Scott.
Amir Khalid
@Jay:
Muhammad Bin Salman is not “Salman” in subsequent mentions. Salman is not his surname but his patronymic i.e. it’s his father’s name. He is “Muhammad” in subsequent mentions.
Bill Arnold
@oldgold:
If they’re bothered by statements that they interfered in U.S. elections, then they should not have interfered in U.S. elections.
Doug R
Wilmer’s plan isn’t to win, he’s already filed the paperwork to run as an INDEPENDENT for Senate in 2024.
Kathleen
@MomSense: Making a return virtual trip to Maine so please clear space on couch! I agree with you 10000000 percent
Bill Arnold
@Amir Khalid:
LOL (at self). Didn’t think of that approach, thanks.
Amir Khalid
@Another Scott:
I agree. For some reason her preferred course of action is to have yet another go at pushing the already-rejected plan through Parliament.
Doug R
@Adam L Silverman:
To be fair Ferguson and BLM should have taught us that we SHOULDN’T go back to the old normal.
Jay
@Amir Khalid:
He’ll always be BoneSaw to me.
Amir Khalid
@Jay:
If you’re okay with others not understanding whom you’re talking about, I guess that’s fine.
Adam L Silverman
@Jay: It would actually mean the end of his actual life.
Adam L Silverman
@Doug R: I wasn’t arguing we should.
Jay
@Amir Khalid:
Calling Mohammed BoneSaw rather Mohammed Bin Salman is pretty common, so is calling Saudi Arabia, Sawdi Arabia.
Pretty sure that when I type in Dolt 45, Needy Amin, or Insane Clown POSus, you get the reference.
Kathleen
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Make sure you add MomSense in the Bern App!
debbie
@Amir Khalid:
Not so. If you read the sentence out loud, you would say, “po-tus-es”; therefore, you would spell it as “POTUS’s.” Or just rewrite the sentence to avoid the possessive.
ETA: Forgot to say that the rule is to spell it like it sounds.
Jay
@Adam L Silverman:
Yup, we really are living in a Dunning Kreuger timeline dominated by kakistocracies in much of the world.
Amir Khalid
@Jay:
Shrug. Whatever, man. I’m just saying, people have names for a reason.
@debbie:
You are right. I stand corrected.
Steve in the ATL
@Bill Arnold:
Possessive before a gerund, so you nailed it. Unlike the Bernie trolls tonight, who are demonstrating why no one takes him or his movement seriously.
Bill Arnold
Firefox just disabled all my plugins including security plugins. Fix is to open about:config in the address field, and set
xpinstall.signatures.required to false
Really really irritating. I have hundreds of tabs opened; have no clue what scripts if any were suddenly run because unblocked by NoScript and uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger.
(Fortunately browser is also jailed (firejail/debian), but still. Really annoyed.)
Steve in the ATL
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: @Adam L Silverman: police unions and umpire unions freaking such.
Jay
@Steve in the ATL:
Did you mean “suck”?
Steve in the ATL
@Jay: I did. iPhone autocorrect suches and makes unwelcome changes.
Amir Khalid
@Jay:
On second thought, nobody here calls him Bonesaw but you.
debbie
@lamh36:
Nice presentation!
Amir Khalid
@Steve in the ATL:
There’s an easy fix: never use autocorrect.
Suzanne
@lamh36: DOOD we should team up. My big project going into construction is a new ED and patient tower, designed primarily for an elderly population. It is both exciting and frightening what the aging population means for healthcare in the next few years.
Adam L Silverman
@Suzanne:
Soylent Green?
plato
@Amir Khalid:
Don’t you post in German here often?
Jay
@Amir Khalid:
Not what a search says,……
grammypat
@Bill Arnold: Firefox did the same to me. But cannot download any other security add-ons nor change the about:config . This is FUBAR
ETA: Was using NoScript and Ghostery. Now, nada. I feel dirty having to look at ads
UncleEbeneezer
@Adam L Silverman: Do you happen to know of any examples of these reforms being tried in the US?* Just curious since the union is a problem we run into all the time in our city and they consistently stifle just about any attempt for meaningful reform efforts.
*I can Google if your busy, but you always have such great background and sources, that I figure it’s worth asking.
laura
@rikyrah: In addition to not killing its men and women of color?
Qui-Gon Jinn
@Brachiator:
This blog post is one of the least considered ones I have yet to see on BJ. To wit:
See here: What Would A Left Cabinet Look Like?
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/04/what-would-a-left-cabinet-look-like
I think it’s safe to say that a ‘Status Quo Joe’ Cabinet will look very different from a Sanders or Warren one…what’s more, a populist candidate that voters truly believed would pursue a forward-looking agenda would inevitably increase turnout down-ballot…passionate supporters work both sides of the political spectrum….
Democrats, Purity Tests, and a Certain Kind of Rigidity
https://www.mahablog.com/2019/04/14/democrats-purity-tests-and-a-certain-kind-of-rigidity/
Lastly, here are some media (non-mainstream) alternatives to the CNN, MSNBC, and other network corporate news outlets, which can be easily found on Youtube:
Secular Talk
The Rational National
The Humanist Report
Tim Black TV (TBTV)
The Majority Report
The David Pakman Show
The Young Turks (TYT – the largest online news organization in the world)
The Michael Brooks Show
MCSC Network
The Jimmy Dore Show
Kim Iversen
Adam L Silverman
@Qui-Gon Jinn:
The majority of the people on that list are 1) Not outside the Democratic center left to left of center mainstream. Robert Reich, Jeff Merkley, Rho Khanna (D-Silicon Valley/TechBros Favorite Congressman), and Vanita Gupta are all squarely within the broad Democratic coalition. 2) Only an idiot plucks sitting Democratic senators out of the US Senate, Mitch McConnell proprietor, to make them cabinet heads. 3) No one is going to support failed mayoral candidates for cabinet secretary positions. 4) No one is going to support Tulsi Gabbard, who isn’t on the left of anything in US politics, for anything. 5) You’ll need over 4,000 actual nominees and appointments all told for Federal appointments, plus you’ll need dozens and dozens of other nominees for judicial appointments, which that article doesn’t even address.
Again: I’m not arguing against a Sander’s presidency here. All I’m saying is that the vast majority of these positions will be filled with qualified people from within the broad Democratic coalition that runs from center left to left of center.
Also, you were a terrible Jedi, crappy actual fighter, horrible teacher, and perhaps, the most terrible judge of character in the entire Star Wars franchise.
Adam L Silverman
@UncleEbeneezer: No, because I don’t think they are being tried in the US.
Qui-Gon Jinn
@Adam L Silverman:
“There is always hope, my friend, though it often comes in forms not looked for. The key is knowing how to see it and seizing that opportunity.”
―Qui-Gon Jinn, to Yoda[src]
wmd
This is the main reason I support Warren over Sanders in 2020.
Sanders as head of the DNC would have it be a shit show for at least a year.
Warren has the ability to retain DNC staff that has different policy preferences than the DLC folks that haven’t fought for the middle class and are fine with the Overton window turning the Democratic party basically into Eisenhower Republicans. There’s be some holdouts trying to pull the party rightward still, but by and large the DNC would change in a positive manner with much younger and progressive leadership.
I’m not sanguine about these changes happening with the res of the field.
Warren’s policies, and the detail in how she is articulating them of course is another reason I’m supporting her.
Qui-Gon Jinn
@Doug R:
Cenk Uygur (The Young Turks) Predicts Trump Victory (July 2016)
If you’re eager to get to the roundtable predictions, go to 9:00….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOJ3bzbuYMs
Cenk Uygur on Campaign 2020 (C-SPAN, 04/28/2019)
https://www.c-span.org/video/?460140-3/washington-journal-cenk-uygur-discusses-campaign-2020
Noam Chomsky Dissects Trump, Russia & RussiaGate (Secular Talk/Democracy Now!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llzoItQgLOQ
Given the broad mainstream onslaught against Sanders of late – a consequence of his top tier status in the 2020 primary – TYT has indeed defended Sanders from people like David Brock (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8csE-vrGX6A). However, TYT has not officially endorsed any of the Democratic candidates to date – and has invited any and all of them to appear on the 6 – 8 p.m. (EST) flagship program.
Sinclair Lewis