the idea that a republican should govern like a democrat is something that i don't think the NYT has literally ever published, but it's a regular favorite every time a democrat wins the white house. https://t.co/MKbOTlFymU
— unstoppable lizard eating machine (@golikehellmachi) December 8, 2020
The expensively tailored empty suits on the NYTimes editorial board are not gonna come out against Xavier Beccera, because that way lies angry glares and snipes about fearing diversity at all the best elite cocktail parties. (You don’t think there are cocktail parties, in this pandemic winter? Ha, foolish little prole — restrictions mean nothing to People Like Us!)
That’s why they pay inflated salaries to a pampered veal-pen of Very Serious columnists, who live for opportunities to show their whole… prejudices:
… In the best-case scenario for Biden, the Trumpian voter-fraud narrative could set in motion a Tea Party redux on the right, with fringe characters and Trump loyalists successfully primarying established G.O.P. figures — but without the high-unemployment economy and the Obamacare fight that enabled the Tea Party Republicans to take the House in 2010. Instead, a radicalized Republican Party campaigning on a supposedly stolen election while the Democrats campaign on prosperity and normalcy could set up the rare midterm scenario in which an incumbent president’s party actually picks up seats.
If you want to know how the Biden administration could blow this opportunity, though, look no further than his just-announced choice to run the Department of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra.
No cabinet agency is likely to be as prominent as H.H.S. during the first year of the Biden presidency, given the upcoming vaccine rollout and the slow unwinding of public-health restrictions. And for a campaign that placed so much emphasis on the idea that disinterested expertise and capital-S Science should guide the coronavirus response, Becerra is a peculiar choice: a partisan politician from a deep-blue state whose health care experience is mostly in legal battles with the Trump White House over Obamacare, rather than in health policy or medicine itself…
Or then again — hear me out — maybe that’s why Biden chose Becerra: Because he’s got the experience to fight the battles the GOP Death Cult is already starting against any mitigation of pandemic-era misery!
It’s less odd, though, if you anticipate using your cabinet agencies the way the Obama White House did in its otherwise-gridlocked second term — as aggressive instruments of partisan policymaking, especially on culture-war issues where Congress is particularly loath to act…
Now most Americans aren’t social conservatives, and Becerra will have media and Democratic establishment support in many of the fights he might pick. But Biden won the presidency in part because he was more popular than his party (to say nothing of the press), and deploying his bureaucracy aggressively for liberal ends would be the easiest way for him to squander some of that advantage.
Especially since America doesn’t have a conservative coalition these days so much as it has an anti-liberal one, with different groups united by their anxieties about different aspects of a consolidated progressive agenda. That means that liberals can be deceived by polls even when they’re accurate, because they seem to show that on issue X or Y or Z, the liberal position is popular — while eliding the fact that the full spectrum of liberal policies activates intense anxiety and opposition in multiple different highly motivated groups.
A Democratic presidency that genuinely tried to address some of those fears, at a time when the economy is recovering and the G.O.P. could be going Trumpishly insane, might consolidate and expand the victory that Biden just won. But a Becerra-fied Democratic presidency, in which the bureaucracy is using “public health” as an excuse to battle gun owners one week and Catholic hospitals the next, will be successful only in keeping the conservative coalition united, loyal and activated…
If nothing else, this should calm the fears of some among us who wondered: Why not a doctor for HHS head, given the present circumstances? Because if Ross DoubtThat claims Becerra is the wrong pick, well…
this isn't a symmetrical problem; you rarely ever see a liberal pundit argue that, regardless of what texas says and regardless who wins elections or popular vote counts, america is a liberal country who should be ruled by democratic legislators.
— unstoppable lizard eating machine (@golikehellmachi) December 8, 2020
FelonyGovt
So being from a “deep blue” state is somehow disqualifying? What an ass.
Jerzy Russian
Simply being wrong would be an improvement for Mr. Douhat.
MobiusKlein
@FelonyGovt: You know who else is from a deep blue state?
The VP
Omnes Omnibus
Jesus Fucking Christ, he didn’t win promising conciliation, you stupid fuck! He promised to try to fix the shit that the fucking GOP broke and be the president for all Americans. Those are different things, you cretinous shitbag.
BCHS Class of 1980
Thanks for letting me know that it was Ross so I didn’t actually click the bilge bucket. Also some WV news: a chemical plant exploded along the Kanawha River near Charleston. Not The Blogfather’s neck of the woods, but still…
Mary G
Conservative tears are delicious.
BCHS Class of 1980
@MobiusKlein: Oh you know Ross just loves her! Also we all know that a “Biden isn’t a real Catholic!” column is coming from him in a few weeks.
Jay
60 million American’s are facing eviction/foreclosure in the coming weeks,
So much for that “recovery”,
The 2008 Collapse saw the largest wealth transfer upwards in history. Covid/Brexit is going to make 2008 look like an under achiever.
FTFNYT Pitchbot, “We have always been at war with Oceanasia, Up is down and Down is up”.
mrmoshpotato
Donnie Dipshit got punched in his fat, orange, fascist face by the ENTIRE Supreme Court – here’s Lawrence O’Donnell’s take.
Amir Khalid
@Omnes Omnibus:
You may be forgetting that, in the eyes of commentators like Ross Douthat, the Democratic party’s first duty when in power is not to govern as it sees fit, but to appease the Republican party and its base. Whereas the Republican party has no such corresponding duty to the Democratic party or its base.
craigie
This is true. So let’s start saying this now.
Brachiator
I would like to see an op ed piece from a conservative about how Trump should have governed like a human being.
Otherwise I have no use for these idiots.
mrmoshpotato
I don’t need to read any more. Go. Blow Some. Goats. Ross.
Omnes Omnibus
@Amir Khalid: I am not forgetting it at all. Rather, I am politely suggesting that he cram that concept up his ass sideways.
NotMax
Shorter version:
Stupid liberals, wasting time and expending political capital attempting in some way to bring about improvement in people’s lives.
Keith P.
Sometimes I wish Biden would go on TV and the first time one of these jokers posits some crap like this, Uncle Joe just says, “OK, fuckit, I’ll have a bunch of *acting* Cabinet secretaries then. How you like *that*?”
Amir Khalid
@Omnes Omnibus:
Noted.
Omnes Omnibus
@Amir Khalid: Okay then. Fine.
mrmoshpotato
@Mary G:
Cry harder, Trump trash.
mrmoshpotato
That upcoming column strikes me more as Brooksian trash. :)
Dan B
I believe there is a kernel of truth to what Douthat states. Conservatives (reactionaries) will be triggered by progressive policy. Too bad he follows his prejudices and fails to discuss whether Beckerman should act in the “best interests of the public” not in ” their prejudices”. Doubthat seems to have lost the understanding of leadership.
Oh, nevermind, leadership is only for the well bred, superior classes.
Should someone let Ross know his dogma is showing
And by the way I think it could be valuable to let these frightened conservatives know that this will help them too, whatever this is. Wasting more than messaging is not recommended.
mrmoshpotato
@Omnes Omnibus:
@Amir Khalid: Yes, Amir. We know, and they can shove it.
Amir Khalid
@Omnes Omnibus:
I wasn’t disagreeing with or disparaging you at all. I hope I didn’t give you that impression.
bjacques
Even with a four-year streak of Democrats winning elections and making serious inroads in deep red states and districts where they didn’t could not induce the media to say Trump needs to reach out and govern like the semi-Democrat he claimed to be on the 2016 campaign trail.
Now I’m waiting for the usual suspects to tell me that, however Georgia goes, it’s a good idea for the branches of federal government to be held by different parties, a sentiment they never expressed when a Republican sat in the White House.
frosty
LOL, you’re giving Betty Cracker a competition. Gauntlet thrown!
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus:
If necessary getting it in there sideways, he could always use a Kenworth with a 605 HP Cummings X15 engine to apply enough pressure. Enough torque to push all of that all the way.
Lacuna Synechdoche
unstoppable lizard eating machine via Anne Laurie @ Top:
True, but … you know we really should.
Martin
@FelonyGovt: Liberals are either not capable or not deserving of governing. That’s always been their argument. They think California is some kind of unlivable hellscape, which is fine – they can naff off to NH and be bear food.
Dan B
@Martin: Isn’t that a Bear on your flag? Just sayin…
Although being bear food might ameliorate Doubthat’s life story.
Ilefttxwhenannlost
O T but I would like to hear the analogous on incitement of violence by trump…you know. who went to prison for the same…Manson
M. Bouffant
Christopher Bedford / The Federalist:
Biden’s Latest Nominee Proves He Comes Not To Bring Peace, But A Sword To The Culture War — What sort of culture war calming is this? Well, it isn’t any at all, and none should ever been expected by serious people. So why did anyone?
Micaiah Bilger / LifeNews.com: Joe Biden HHS Pick Xavier Becerra Would Force Catholic Nuns to Fund Abortions
MisterForkbeard
@M. Bouffant: Well, you can see they’re certainly not dialling the crazy down at all.
Martin
@Dan B: Yeah, but we’re not dumb enough to wipe out our animal control (because freedom) and then feed the bears in our front yards (because freedom).
opiejeanne
@Dan B: Yes, there’s a bear on the California flag, but it’s a variety that they made sure was extinct within the state, a grizzly bear.
opiejeanne
@Martin: I found that article about the little town in NH and the libertarians, and the bears. I wanted to laugh at first but you could really see what would happen before it did.
sab
NE Ohio has been getting random young bears wandering in from Pennsylvania. Sad for the bears. Not much future for them. No girl bears, and dangerous traffic.
Darkrose
@opiejeanne: I highly recommend the book. The author jumps around a lot, but he’s an engaging writer. It’s interesting to see the through line of “We don’t want to pay taxes for anything” in the town going back to pre-colonial days.
Twelve Gods, the current crop of people manage to combine ignorance, arrogance, and selfishness in one very ugly package.
Dan B
@opiejeanne: So who gets to wear the Bear suit and wield the carving knives?
I suppose “Hannibal, I love human sushi with a fine Sake.”
Fortunately I’m not the least bit interested in some very dubious Doubthat sushi.
TS (the original)
They ALWAYS expect democrats to compromise (look at the full tweet) yet always expect Mitch McConnell to obstruct. The pundits just adore their privileged conservative position
Jay
@sab:
worse than that, Ohioans,
Sm*t Cl*de
@M. Bouffant:
How about if Becerra makes a desert and calls it peace? That would work for me.
JoyceH
Okay, I’ve been watching the news and they’re covering the British rollout of vaccinations – and at first it sounded funny to me that the Brits call injections “jabs”. But then it occurred to me, why do WE call them “shots”?! Jab is actually a more accurate description of what’s going on than a SHOT!
We should start using jabs. Maybe kids will be less terrified of injections if they aren’t called shots. Hey, they watch television, when people get shot it often kills them!
Jay
One of the reasons, I follow American Politics so closely, is because, 6 to 12 months later, American Rethugs “ideas” , infect Canada.
Covid is a “perfect case.
Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta.
Quebec is it’s own complex crazy.
Jay
@Sm*t Cl*de:
???????
Dan B
@Jay: You nuts?!
Buckeyes!!!
You larned sumpin’ today.
Jay
Jay
@Dan B:
always knew, bears have some standards.
Jay
Jay
oclib
@sab:
Just start up your hot tub and put out a margarita, they’ll be fine….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJGZi4aj6NM
lowtechcyclist
@Jay: there are some things even they can’t bear.
Frankensteinbeck
Douthat’s description of how the conservative coalition works is pretty good. Everything else is trash.
p.a.
I don’t understand these comments; you mean conservatives don’t have the best interests of the Democratic Party at heart?
They’ve already de-Catholic’ed the Pope: “well what do you expect from a Jesuit?”* so of course Joe is in line.
Basilisc
“Public health” in scare quotes. Look at those SJWs and how they use bogus concepts like “keeping people healthy” and “controlling a runaway pandemic” as cover for what we all know is their real agenda: spreading communism and persecuting Catholics.
Booger
Could we just dispense with the very concept of ‘moral hazard’ (not Brook’s dog…) and deprive the right of that particular cudgel? How about facts and science and results and that kind of stuff driving policy instead of tingles-up-yer-leg-from-yer-sky-daddy?
evodevo
@craigie: Oldie, from the Guardian )blind pig and all that)
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/18/trump-biden-political-civility-republicans-democrats?fbclid=IwAR2PR4UMavMToxH5wiIHog89MfFxMFDzKAVlXGKIKkX56IEmJN66zcwQgs8
marklar
@Jay:
Le Québec est fou par lui-même, c’est vrai! In many ways, the distance between Ottawa (Ontario) and Gatineau (Quebec) is greater than the distance between the Gaspé Peninsula and Portugal.
RAM
Okay, assuming Biden could cause “a Tea Party redux on the right, with fringe characters and Trump loyalists successfully primarying established G.O.P. figures,” how would anyone tell? That’s been pretty much the new normal for the last 12 years.
burnspbesq
Ancillary benefit of the Becerra appointment: GuvGav has a second statewide position to fill. Now he can pander to everyone. Watch for Padilla to get the Senate and Los Angeles County DA Jackie Lacey (a USC Law classmate for whom I have oodles of respect—it surely wasn’t easy being the only African-American woman in the building in the early 1980s) as AG.
burnspbesq
A bill will be introduced in the Assembly when the Texas Legislature reconvenes next month calling for a referendum on secession.
Don’t bet against it.
laura
@burnspbesq: John Chaing for Senate or GTFO! Alex P. can wait on Diane’s vacancy. *Actually, the CA deep bench of well qualified’s is a nice thing and there’s so much excellence in diversity.
grumbles
Well, this is one case where little people can make a difference. Republicans are not going to stop, so let’s make this a Both Sides Do it – this is more a recognition that the rules of decorum are evolving, it isn’t something gross they do. But if the media is going to treat this as valid in one direction, that’s got to flow in the other, too.
If you have relevant opportunities, make a point of poo-pooing the ugly people (say) your Republican governor is empowering, pointing out much better (D) options for the role. If they look at you funny, make them explain why.
Same, but more and harder for any media people.
I’m pretty sure the rabble-rousers on the right that drum this shit up are a relatively small group of people. Why let them have all the fun?