Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

A tremendous foreign policy asset… to all of our adversaries.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Also, are you sure you want people to rate your comments?

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

This blog will pay for itself.

We still have time to mess this up!

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Repubs in Disarray! Open Thread: Not HEROES Supporters, *But*…

Repubs in Disarray! Open Thread: Not HEROES Supporters, *But*…

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To paraphrase an old quote, the prospect of being voted out in November concentrates a legistlator’s mind wonderfully… but not to much purpose:

… Confronted with a poisonous political environment, vulnerable Senate Republicans are rushing to endorse generous jobless benefits, child care grants, and more than $100 billion to help schools reopen. Several of them are refusing to allow the Senate to adjourn until Washington delivers a deal to their desperate constituents.

Sen. Martha McSally, who has fallen behind in polls in Arizona, is breaking with conservatives to endorse a temporary extension of a $600 per week supplemental benefits. Republicans up for reelection such as John Cornyn of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina are demanding results before returning home to campaign. And Sen. Susan Collins is in overdrive, backing help for cash-starved states and local governments — and Maine’s shipbuilding industry.

The opinions of senators up for reelection are of more consequence to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell than those held by conservatives like Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who are broadcasting their opposition to the emerging legislation as costly and ineffective. As other Republicans gripe that they’re going to have to swallow a deal brokered by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the vulnerable Republicans are craving just such a bipartisan result…


#MoscowMitch is lying, of course — it’s what comes easiest — but the fact he feels the need to lie is IMO significant:

… At his weekly Senate Republican leadership press conference, McConnell was asked about Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s appearing to draw a red line on the weekly federal supplement and whether he could support a negotiated spending package containing it.

“Wherever this thing settles between the president of the United States and his team, who has to sign it into law, and the Democrat, not insignificant minority in the Senate and majority in the House, is something I’m prepared to support,” McConnell told reporters. “Even if I have some problems with certain parts of it.”…

Reader Interactions

131Comments

  3. 3.

    dmsilev

    As other Republicans gripe that they’re going to have to swallow a deal brokered by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the vulnerable Republicans are craving just such a bipartisan result…

    Not to give tactical advice to the GOP (and not that they’d listen to the likes of me anyway), but they might have had a somewhat better bargaining position if they had made some effort to come to some sort of consensus during the two and a half months that they instead let slip by while hoping that Donald Trump would bring the virus under control. Of course, that would have required work and some desire to actually govern rather than just whistle while the country burns, so never mind.
    Now they’ve got the worst of both worlds. Whatever passes will be the result of Mnuchin negotiating with Pelosi and Schumer, and the Democratic challengers in Maine and Arizona and so forth have had two months of beating on the incumbents like they were piñatas.

  4. 4.

    Ken

    When it comes to a vote, part of me wants Senate Democrats to wait and make the Republicans cast their votes first. That way you get them all on the record, and you make sure there’s enough “yes” votes to pass.

  5. 5.

    different-church-lady

    Open Thread question: I refuse to click on any of the bait, be it those damn ads nor WaPo headlines, so I gotta ask here — in 10 words or less, just what did Ellen DeG do?

  8. 8.

    cintibud

    Here in Cincinnati we see traitor tortoise’s commercials. His latest has “ordinary” Kentuckians complaining how Pelosi held the last stimulus “hostage” and how Mitch forged a “bi-partisan” coalition to get it passed.

    Puke

  9. 9.

    Mary G

    @Ken: I’m sure it’s already all gamed out that all the Democrats and independents vote yes, which is 47, then the four most endangered Republicans – McSally, Collins, Gardener and Joni Ernst also vote yes reluctantly while the other 49 Rs bleat about the deficit.

    ETA: to me the biggest question is how you keep someone – looking at you, Rand Paul – from filibustering the deal.  Then even more Rs have to vote to at least bring it up to the floor.

  10. 10.

    ChrisS

    @dmsilev: indeed. It’s not like voting for a Pelosi/Schumer Bill is going to save the asses of McSally & Collins or Gardner at this point. It really only gives them a small chance.

    another example of why a party of no can’t lead.

  12. 12.

    dmsilev

    @different-church-lady: It was pretty bad.

    Ellen: ‘I Never Intended To Make Staff Feel Unsafe By Wearing A Bloodied Ram Skull And Stalking Them With A Hatchet’

    BURBANK, CA—Responding to allegations of mistreating employees on the set of her talk show, television host Ellen DeGeneres issued a public apology Thursday, stating “I never intended to make staff feel unsafe by wearing a bloodied ram skull and stalking them with a hatchet.” “If anyone ever felt hurt when I threw them up against a wall, held the blade to their neck, and screamed, ‘I will fucking kill you,’ I’m sorry,” said DeGeneres, who expressed her heartfelt concern for any role she may have played in creating a workplace environment in which horrified employees cowered on their hands and knees as she randomly bashed in their desks. “The idea that any member of my hardworking team would feel afraid as I drank wine out of a hollow femur and shrieked that I would come for anyone who dared threaten my sole dominance over this studio is deeply disturbing to me. It was clearly never my intention to intimidate anyone by saying, ‘I’m going to chop off your head and piss on your corpse.’ I feel terrible for the way this has been misconstrued.” At press time, DeGeneres had pulled a flail out of her jacket and apologized for what she was about to do to her publicist.

  14. 14.

    Adam L Silverman

    @different-church-lady: Apparently she’s toxic to her staff when the cameras aren’t running. And when the staff approached her about it, she turned it into all about herself and how none of them appreciated her, what she’s done and is doing for them, etc.

  24. 24.

    Mallard FIlmore

    @different-church-lady: I caught only a snippet of reporting on this, and it involves a hostile work environment.  Not by Ellen, but by backstage people or producers of her show.  Or something.

  25. 25.

    Adam L Silverman

    @different-church-lady: There are two things that everyone needs to understand and keep in mind. I fully expect the political journalists to keep purposefully missing it.

    1. McConnell isn’t flailing, McConnell does NOT believe that the Federal government should be doing any of these things. Not unemployment in general, let alone a top up to deal with the current crisis. Not bailing out and backstopping states. Not bailing out and backstopping municipalities. He also doesn’t really believe that states and municipalities should be providing these things. Nor does he believe the Senate should really be legislating at all other than things like cutting taxes no matter what is going on with the economy, passing the Defense budget, and pork and other benefits for his wealthy donors and benefactors. McConnell does not believe in providing for the general welfare because he doesn’t believe in the general welfare. So it isn’t that he’s doing nothing, rather he is doing exactly what he believes he should be doing.  And he’s doing that very effectively.
    2. As is the case with every other pain point since 2009, McConnell is not engaged in a negotiation, good faith or otherwise. Rather, McConnell is holding a hostage and will consider releasing him if everyone else capitulates to his demands. Simply, McConnell doesn’t negotiate, he makes demands and then just sits tight until everyone capitulates to him. It has worked very effectively for him for the past 11 years.
  26. 26.

    Mike in NC

    @Adam L Silverman: Adam, when I was Main Propulsion Assistant I had that same sign posted in the Main Control space on my guided missile destroyer back in the 1980s, as well as another one that read, “Are we having fun yet?”. The guys in the firerooms and engine rooms always got a chuckle from them during a brutal six month deployment to the Persian Gulf.

  27. 27.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Mary G:

    I’m sure it’s already all gamed out that all the Democrats and independents vote yes, which is 47, then the four most endangered Republicans – McSally, Collins, Gardener and Joni Ernst also vote yes reluctantly while the other 49 Rs bleat about the deficit.

    This is not enough votes to clear the 60 vote cloture threshold.

  32. 32.

    debbie

    @different-church-lady:

    More like a few senior staff members engaged in sexual harassment of assistants, complaints were lodged, but Ellen was too involved with herself to help them. Or so I heard it reported on NPR over the weekend.

  33. 33.

    Mike in NC

    @Adam L Silverman: Adam, I had that sign posted in Main Control when I was the Main Propulsion Assistant on a guided missile destroyer in the 1980s, as well as one that read, “Are we having fun yet?” during a brutal six month deployment to the Persian Gulf. The guys in the firerooms and engine rooms always got a chuckle out of that.

  35. 35.

    piratedan

    @Adam L Silverman: which means the bill sits until additional GOP Senators feel threatened enough to revolt… if we count McSally, Gardner, Collins, Ernst in the terrified camp, I assume that we would also need to see the gentleman from Montana, South Carolina, the two folks from Georgia, the gentleman from Alaska also feeling threatened and tbf, as you’ve characterised McConnell, there may be no fucks to give. Even if he’s shown the door, he’s rich, he can sail off into the sunset and likely grab some easy sinecure that involves hating POC and looking disdainful.  Why should McConnell give a fuck?  He’s got his and as they game is played, its highly unlikely that his marker ever gets called in.

  39. 39.

    different-church-lady

    I think we finally have all the proof we need that half of Rose Twitter is actually in the tank for Trump and they don’t even feel like disguising it anymore:

    https://twitter.com/HueofJoe/status/1290401364607148034

    For those who don’t want to get out of the boat: this fellow tweets a screen shot of Bernie’s Ten Reasons to “pull together” (he doesn’t even mention Biden) — you know, the list where all ten things are “Trump is (horrible in ways X, Y, Z, AA, etc.)”. And the responses are things like….

    I feel so betrayed every time I see him tweet this kind of crap

    Wow I avoided even looking at this. This sucks. I’m actually pissed off.

    Sure would be more effective if they were running someone against Trump who wasn’t literally all these things also

    Huge bummer and let down and now we got no hope at all!

    Bernie spends 10 tweets kicking Trump in the teeth and his biggest fans are like, “HOW CAN YOU BETRAY US LIKE THIS??2?

  40. 40.

    Adam L Silverman

    @piratedan: He will not go away. He’s already announced that if the GOP loses the majority that he will remain as minority leader and then bring them back into the majority in 2022.

  43. 43.

    frosty

    OK, back on topic :-)

    those [opinions] held by conservatives like Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who are broadcasting their opposition to the emerging legislation as costly and ineffective.

    Fucking Toomey. A hedge fund millionaire whining about costly legislation that will save his constituents. Time for my weekly call to tell him to get his head out of his ass and vote for HEROES.

    ETA: Enough politics for tonight. Time to get back to The Coming Plague and finish it so I can return it to the library for the next person waiting in line.

  45. 45.

    Alison Rose

    @different-church-lady: In addition to the things others have mentioned, there was also the issue that her staff were left in the dark for weeks about their pay and benefits during shutdown, and that nonunion workers were brought in to replace some people. Folks were getting reduced pay or not even being told what they’d be paid, etc. To me, that’s shitty no matter what, but with someone like Ellen who is massively wealthy and could easily have paid everyone out of her own damn pocket, it’s even worse.

    She also “joked” that being on lockdown was like being in jail…………in her fucking mansion with probably a whole fleet of servants to supply her and shit.

  46. 46.

    Adam L Silverman

    @different-church-lady: Half of Rose Twitter lives in St. Petersberg and Moscow. Another 1/4 lives in Albania, Macedonia, and Kazakhstan. The remaining 1/4 is made up of people who think Jeremy Corbyn is right and any minute now will get the chance to be Prime Minister, that Nina Turner is going to be chosen to be the VP nominee, and that Michael Moore and Susan Sarandon are geniuses and their every utterances should be followed, including voting for some whack job third party rather than Biden because Biden is really worse than the President, and the remainder are, I suppose, good people.

  50. 50.

    mrmoshpotato

    Oh shit!

    Russthuglican Trump Trash in Disarray in italics!

    This should be good! (and depressing because the GOP has been a POS for my entire life.  Oh to have two competent national parties!)

  51. 51.

    Uncle Omar

    To  paraphrase some folks from the Sixties…”Hey, hey, Donnie J, How many folks did you kill today?”  I believe that 150 people chanting this in Black Lives Matter Plaza in DC every morning at 8:00 AM would have a salutary effect.  By, perhaps, driving the Interloper in Chief mad(der.)

  53. 53.

    cintibud

    @Adam L Silverman: “This is not enough votes to clear the 60 vote cloture threshold”

    Please excuse my ignorance – who decides when to filibuster a bill, McConnell? Will he throw the endangered senators under the bus even if that means he loses his majority? Or can anyone say they will filibuster and force a 60 vote supermajority? I know Ron Paul did a talking filibuster some time ago but that was just a show that only lasted 24 hrs and I don’t know if that could morph into a true blockage

  55. 55.

    frosty

    @Adam L Silverman: eBook, so, lemme see… I can shine a flashlight on the screen, there’s some UV in there, right, yeah, that’s the ticket. I’ll disinfect it like some say the experts recommend! Yeah, in two weeks, tops!

  56. 56.

    Nicole

    @different-church-lady: It’s not bait; it’s just an article about it.  It’ll take less time to read it than to piece it together from comments here.  Not that the commenters here aren’t excellent, but it’s not just her; it’s the show environment, too.  It’s a lot.

  58. 58.

    different-church-lady

    @Nicole: If it’s Yahoo, it’s bait. I got all I needed from the abstracts here. Do ‘preciate the effort though.

  59. 59.

    Adam L Silverman

    @cintibud: Unless the rules are waived, all actions of the entire Senate move on unanimous consent. If one senator objects, then the rules stipulate that the issue must either be withdrawn or move to a vote on whether to have a vote. This vote on whether to have a vote is cloture and the threshold to proceed is 60 votes. For things like movements to adjourn or recess, the Senate would remove immediately to that vote and if it passes they then move immediately to the simple majority vote. For legislation, the Senate first moves to three days of debate on the floor followed by the vote. If 60 or more senators vote in favor, then after 24 to 48 more hours of debate depending on the issue before the Senate, the Senate then holds a simple majority vote.

    So there may be enough to pass on a simple majority, but I doubt there is enough to clear the cloture “voting on whether to actually vote” vote.

  60. 60.

    piratedan

    its primary day in some places… hearing whispers that Kobach’s bid to be the GOP  Senate nominee are going down and the KS Congressman who engaged in voting fraud got ousted in his primary.

    also Sheriff Joe is neck and neck in the GOP Primary to be the top cop in Maricopa County again….

  64. 64.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    ER doc gets all Sarah Cooper inspired snarky on the Brian Williams program. Holds up a home-made “How to ‘Rona, by Science” manual, in response to trump’s claim that books and manuals argue that you can test too much. I’m sure it will go viral soon.

  66. 66.

    frosty

    @different-church-lady: Good plan. Dunno about COVID but check out this factoid from the book:

    The CDC was forced to conclude that Cryptosporidium oocyts are resistant to disinfection by chlorine. … US EPA laboratory studies later showed that the Milwaukee strain could actually live on Clorox.

  67. 67.

    different-church-lady

    @Nicole:  ALL OF YAHOO IS CLICK BAIT!!1! WHY CAN’T PEOPLE SEE THE INHERENT TRUTH OF THIS CURMUDGEONLY STATEMENT??2?

  73. 73.

    Jinchi

    @piratedan: Happy to see Kris Kobach crash and burn again. I know Democrats were hoping to face him in November, because they figured he’d be easier to beat, but it seems like that was the game they played with Trump in 2016.

  74. 74.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Dave Wasserman @Redistrict 11m
    I’ve seen enough: Missouri voters narrowly pass constitutional Amendment 2 to expand Medicaid.

    also known as, though they probably didn’t know it, ratifying ObamaCar

    ETA: ABVAYOI
    Always Be Voting Against Your Own Interests

    Dave Wasserman@Redistrict 6m
    Rural Missouri voted overwhelmingly against the amendment; “Yes” did slightly better there than McCaskill did in 2018, but not by that much.
    The big story tonight is MO’s middle/upper income suburbs, where there was a huge shift to “Yes” from 2016/2018 margins.

  76. 76.

    mrmoshpotato

    @dmsilev:

    some desire to actually govern rather than just whistle while the country burns so Hahahahahahahaha what crazy fever dream am I have?

    Fixed.  No charge. :)

    ETA

    and the Democratic challengers in Maine and Arizona and so forth have had two months of beating on the incumbents like they were piñatas.

    Where do we send the bats, refreshments and, of course, pizza?

  78. 78.

    Marcopolo

    So according to our local KWMU (public radio) politics reporter here in St. Louis Cori Bush has just upset Lacy Clay in MO-1. This would be a win for the Justice Dems against a 20 year incumbent & senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

    . @CoriBush beating @LacyClayMO1 is one of the most significant moments in the history of St. Louis politics. It is enormous.— Jason Rosenbaum (@jrosenbaum) August 5, 2020

    It also looks like Medicaid expansion will pass in MO but there are still some outstanding votes.

  79. 79.

    piratedan

    early returns show that it looks like its going to be Hiral Tipirneni getting the Dem nod to go against Schweikert in AZ CD6.  Schweikert just got tapped by the FEC for campaign violations and Tipirneni has already got the Emily’s List endorsement and a few other notable Dems… she ran a good race in 2018 and is back again post the AZ congressional redistricting, and if this is another wave election, she could have a shot.

    some of the other races are really unlikely to offer much hope because so much of the areas represent not just deep red areas, they trend to crimson and burgundy.  The other GOP congressional seats are held by the triumvirate of crazy Biggs, Gosar and Lesko and short of film with them fornicating with a barnyard animal I find their ouster unlikely, as most of their voters would insist that the goat/sheep/swine had it coming.

  82. 82.

    Raoul

    Trump really is this corrosive, strange force. He is finally stripping away the illusion that McConnell is a powerful, leaderly man. Yes he very effectively used and abused the rules and norms of the Senate to obstruct Obama. And to hold the line on some sub-set of reactionary right-wing goals.

    But when push comes to shove (like when people are dying, and a lot of other people are jobless and about to be homeless) he absolutely sucks shit. Just a cesspool of nothingness. The moral vacuum where a typical human would feel an urge to act, to ameliorate, to propel some positive change is completely damning.

    And that he cannot wrangle his caucus one bit? Hilarious. Tragicomic, but deeply, wryly funny.

  87. 87.

    Soprano2

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: The Medicaid expansion will help a lot of those people in rural areas, but they voted against it because it’ll help the “those people” in the cities too. They’re the prototype of the guy who doesn’t care that he’s roasting a sparrow under the overpass as long as “those people” don’t have a sparrow.

  89. 89.

    piratedan

    @AJ: Adam has doubts, and I do believe that he would be ecstatic to be wrong.  Even though all the polls indicate a tsunami, until ballots are cast and counted, there’s doubt and as he has noted, there’s plenty of people who are very much invested in the current status quo, both inside and outside the country.  It’s the job of the citizens to offer up a result that cannot be fucked with.

    Considering that were working against not just the media, inertia, and money; we also face a set of opponents that have no regard for the rules other than in how they can be turned against us, I can understand his reservations.

    Still, you have choices, work for a peaceful outcome… wallow in despair, snipe from the sidelines, write letters to the editor or reach a level of personal rage that you become one of the very types of people that we fight against, eschewing the bonds of law and civilization that we supposedly hold true in letting our hatred rule our supposedly better selves.

    doesn’t mean I haven’t fantasized about the visceral pleasure that I might get from venting any “righteous” anger, just a realization that there are other methods that still exist and we should pursue them.

  92. 92.

    Jean

    @AJ: Maybe we will, and maybe we won’t, but at least fight as if we can win it.  I don’t see the point of predicting a loss at this stage of the game.

  93. 93.

    Ruckus

    This time period is crapping on everyone and has not left me out. I’ve been trying to lessen the level of stress just existing in this time of life brings. I’m probably doing about as well as anyone is without the help of alcohol or drugs which in my opinion don’t really help, other than a little temporary amnesia. Anyway….. I tried to watch a little of the West Wing, hadn’t seen it in a long time and all it did was make it worse. Seeing people who actually give a good god damn about having a working government, even if they are acting, just brings into sharper focus the absolute fucking disaster of the current maladministration and the republican party. I would take anyone of the people in that make believe administration to actually try to run the country over any republican. At least they can act human.

  94. 94.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    every congressional democrat: here, we’ve done all the homework, we’ve done all the math, all we need to do is pass this bill that will help tens of millions of americans.

    mcconnell: lol, democrats are bad

    every major newspaper: congress fails again

    Has anybody ever asked a journalist or editor why they do this?

  97. 97.

    Brachiator

    Republicans up for reelection such as John Cornyn of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina are demanding results before returning home to campaign.

    This gets to the heart of it. During recess, these politicians are supposed to meet with constituents. Nobody wants to have to explain why they failed.

    ETA. I wonder if the Republican politicians will meet with voters via Zoom, or if any of them will play risky “no mask” games.

  98. 98.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Ruckus:

    Anyway….. I tried to watch a little of the West Wing, hadn’t seen it in a long time and all it did was make it worse. Seeing people who actually give a good god damn about having a working government, even if they are acting, just brings into sharper focus the absolute fucking disaster of the current maladministration and the republican party. I would take anyone of the people in that make believe administration to actually try to run the country over any republican. At least they can act human.

    I was like this when I saw any show from like 2015-2016 that had a female POTUS. Given the 2016 election result and the ongoing shitshow at the WH, I couldn’t take it seriously anymore sadly. It rang false.

    The West Wing was an overly-idealized view of politics, even when it aired. It was like looking at an alternate reality and I really do wonder if Sorkin was that naive

  99. 99.

    piratedan

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): the journos state, we just write the stories, we don’t write the headlines… so that goes unchallenged because its the editors and managers presenting the framing.  Supposedly….

    and no one, apparently, has the authority to call those folks out because they decide who will write for the publication and who gets assigned what…

  101. 101.

    Kent

    @Jinchi:@piratedan: Happy to see Kris Kobach crash and burn again. I know Democrats were hoping to face him in November, because they figured he’d be easier to beat, but it seems like that was the game they played with Trump in 2016.

    It’s a dangerous game.  When we lived in Texas I crossed over to the GOP primary in 2012 to vote for Ted Cruz, because he was going to be a lot easier to beat than mainstream GOP Lt. Governor Dewhurst.  And who the hell is going to vote for that mess of flop sweat in the general?   And look where we are.  Dewhurst would have probably been a younger version of John Cornyn.

  103. 103.

    Kent

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):The West Wing was an overly-idealized view of politics, even when it aired. It was like looking at an alternate reality and I really do wonder if Sorkin was that naive.

    Of course it was.  It was a TV show for entertainment.  Just like LA Law and Boston Legal weren’t realistic portrayals of the legal business.  Chicago Fire isn’t a realistic portrayal of the lives of firefighters.   And CSI wasn’t an accurate portrayal of criminal investigation units in Vegas.

    Sorkin was creating entertainment not a documentary of life in the West Wing.  I’m sure he was well aware of that.

  104. 104.

    cain

    @Adam L Silverman:

    By the Gods, can we put in someone other than Schumer then? Someone who will bitchslap that son of a bitch every time he opens his mouth? Maybe Schumer is a brilliant political nerd and all that good stuff – but we need to do a little theater as well.

    Which means some public ass kicking at times. Let’s get Kobluchar (horses neighing in terror)!

  107. 107.

    Kent

    @cain:

    @Adam L Silverman:

    By the Gods, can we put in someone other than Schumer then? Someone who will bitchslap that son of a bitch every time he opens his mouth? Maybe Schumer is a brilliant political nerd and all that good stuff – but we need to do a little theater as well.

    Which means some public ass kicking at times. Let’s get Kobluchar (horses neighing in terror)!

    Elizabeth Warren is tanned and rested.  And has no shits left to give.

  108. 108.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Kent:

    I mean fair enough. But it could get pretty damn corny. Honestly, would’ve been interesting to see the show actually portray politics as they were (the GOP were proto-fascists even then), but then I don’t think WW could’ve gotten away with that portrayal because it would’ve been seen as “picking a side” and maligning an entire real life political party (and its voters). Hence why the folksy Democratic president’s fiery inspirational speeches often carried the day

  110. 110.

    Mary G

    A massive landslide win for Karen McDonald in the Democratic primary over Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper.— Zach Gorchow (@ZachGorchow) August 5, 2020

    Cooper is the POS who supported jailing the 14-year-old girl for not doing her homework. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

  111. 111.

    Punchy

    Very curious to see if MO-led GOP will actually implement Medicare Expanse or ignore the vote.   To all those who think the latter is illegal….welcome to the MO-led GOP.  I suspect theyll bin these election results, go full cartoon “empty-pockets”, and pretend the mandate never happ’d.

  113. 113.

    janesays

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: He did. That seat has been held by someone with the last name of “Clay” for the last 52 years – Bill, Sr. held it for 32 years, and Bill, Jr. will finish having held it for 20 years.

  115. 115.

    Marcopolo

    @Punchy: The ballot initiative that passed in MO tonight was a constitutional amendment–i.e. Medicaid expansion is now a part of the MO state constitution. Gov. Parsons can try to not implement it but there will be a lawsuit or three when that happens, and he’ll be at a severe disadvantage.

  116. 116.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @AJ:

    I’ve heard of Rosen, I think. Nothing comes to mind though

     

    @piratedan:

    Yeah, but it happens even in the bodies of the stories themselves. I honestly like to ask an editor or a journalism professor why media outlets do this shit. It masks the truth and isn’t actually objective

  117. 117.

    Yutsano

    @Kent: Dude. You’re from Washington. No female is getting Speaker before Patty. And if you don’t think she will cut someone who gets in front of her…

  119. 119.

    cain

    @Kent: Elizabeth Warren is tanned and rested. And has no shits left to give.

    I’m down for any woman, especially a woman of color to take the reins. They are clearly more effective than old white men – they have no fucks to give and will give the whole ‘comity of the Senate’ a swift kick in the ass.

  120. 120.

    rikyrah

    Will say it again…

    Moscow Mitch isn’t smart enough to just bring Nancy Smash ‘s bill to the floor, get the vulnerable GOP Senators to vote for it, claim BI-PARTISANSHIP and go home?

  121. 121.

    cain

    @Yutsano:

    But this is for Majority Leader – Patty can take over for Pelosi – no worries on my end. :-)

    But it’s time to get some new leadership in and not Dick Durbin and Schumer.. they need to stand aside.

  122. 122.

    Chetan Murthy

    @cain:

    Patty can take over for Pelosi

    Murray?  She’s a Senator.  Doubt she’d want to move to the House.

  123. 123.

    Sally

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I know I’m too late. Try Borgen for an interesting evolution and portrayal in (Danish) politics. Still TV, but you see the change in the naive new PM and the way pols have to negotiate and compromise. And realise that their preconceived notions are not necessarily accurate. And see some of the different pressures on them.

  124. 124.

    JustRuss

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Take your pick:

    1. If they call out Republicans, they piss off half their readership, and they’re terrified of losing subscribers.
    2. Blaiming “Congress” lets them maintain their veneer of objectivity.
    3. Media’s owned by corporations and rich folks, who lean Republican.  Heavily.  You don’t piss off the people who sign your paycheck.

    Good luck getting anyone in the industry to admit any of that, they’ll take number 2 and dress it up a bit to paint themselves as impartial truth tellers.

  127. 127.

    Geminid

    The new Democratic Senate Caucus will vote on all leadership positions after the November election. I think it is a secret ballot. They will decide if Schumer has been ineffective or not, regardless of what the public thinks. But a lot of people thought Nancy Pelosi was ineffective- when the House Democrats were in a minority.                            I can only judge Schumer on the public communications side of the job. I happen to catch hourly radio news often. There, when the Senate is in the news, McConnell and Schumer each gets a 10-15 second sound bite. I think Schumer makes the most of his. I happened to catch a few minutes of NPR yesterday, and Schumer did well with the 40 seconds they gave him. I expect he does similarly on network evening news. So I give Schumer credit on this aspect of the job. Scores of millions get their news from these sources, not because they are dumb but because they have lives.                                As for the legislative parts of Schumer’s job, his Democratic colleagues will be the judges, and they all have skin in the game.

  128. 128.

    Geminid

    @Geminid: By skin in the game I meant that they have seen Schumers work first hand, and will be working with him, or whoever else they they choose as majority leader. It’s rare for a minority caucus leader to be demoted after the caucus wins a majority in an election. But this is an unusual year, and anything could happen.

  129. 129.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @AJ: It’s just Silverman’s opinion. And when he’s opining on anything but national security, he doesn’t know any more than any of the rest of us reasonably intelligent amateur observers.

    And that is true for all the BJ Experts – even as we presume they speak with authority in their areas of acknowledged expertise. (Even when we have trouble figuring out what the hell they’re talking about – looking at you, Anderson/Mayhew.)

  130. 130.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Yutsano: You do realize there is no “Speaker” in the Senate & that the post held by Schumer is that of Senate Minority Leader…? (hopefully to become that of Senate Majority Leader come 3 Jan…)

  131. 131.

    Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)

    @Kent:  It was said that the only realistic cop show was “Barney Miller” Police academies told the new guys to ignore every cop show except that. Every cop I know loves “Barney Miller”, as it’s the real thing.

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