AOC has a good response to that useless fuck Rubio. Also, note that she called Republicans “motherfuckers”, yet no fainting couches were crushed under the weight of distraught Republicans after her Vanity Fair interview. If it had come at a more convenient time for a bad faith and stupid argument, of course they’d all be making a big deal of it. Unfortunately for the Biden aide who called Republicans “fuckers”, her remarks came right when the Republicans needed to show that it was Democrats who don’t want to get along, even though they’ve been acting like seditious bastards for over a month.
Tired of these people encouraging, ignoring, and excusing their own abusive behavior for years to then turn around and act like the biggest coddled babies in the world.
People are hungry and this is what you’re mad about. Take that energy to supporting retroactive UI & checks
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 17, 2020
jl
At least Chris Matthews was honest about his problem with assertive women.
But Rubio has none to lose, so not sure what his beef is.
Mary G
I love AOC’s mad Twitter skillz, especially when her ire is aimed in the right direction.
natem
Still waiting for the Pay Per View Event of the New Decade: A Pietistic Smack-Off Between Little Marco and his bible and James Comey and his Select Quotes of Reinhold Neibuhr
Matt McIrvin
Nobody who claims our voters are not real citizens, and repeatedly calls for a procedural or military coup to throw our votes in the garbage, gets to call us uncivil for using a cuss word.
MisterForkbeard
The enfuckening is ongoing and just extremely tiring.
I used to have a relative that would do this – act like an extreme asshole for a long time, and then when you finally snapped and treated them as they deserved ONCE they would become a sudden and huge victim. Then they’d try to rally people against you.
We don’t talk to that person anymore. Can’t do it. Same thing with Republicans, who’ve literally been calling Democrats “Traitors” for YEARS. But “fucker” is too much?
In the words of a wise man: “Fuck ’em.”
greenergood
Could someone please explain why this is happening? https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/12/17/2002645/-CDC-Slashes-next-week-s-Vaccine-Allocations-to-the-States-by-40-in-typically-Trumpian-Chaos
germy
@greenergood: Because Trump is still in charge?
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Jay
jl
@greenergood: After some confused reports I heard on the radio this morning, Pfizer appears to have strongly asserted that they have not manufacturing or logistics problems and that the full allotment can be delivered on time.
If anyone heard something different, please let me know.
So, right now, evidence is that this is typical complete and bottomless Trumpster incompetence. Or maybe Trump just messing stuff up because he’s having a tantrum about his loss.
raven
@greenergood: Uh, they don’t have enough.
Amir Khalid
I agree completely with Alexandria
Oxlade-ChamberlainOcasio-Cortez. There are still plenty of Republican politicians who need to be likened to Oedipus.greenergood
Sorry, not to trying to take away from the original post – but I’m not intertube skilled to figure out how to ask this, so I’m taking advantage that I was early in the list of posts – I just don’t get how it’s a good thing that the number of vacinnations has dropped by 40% in the past few days – and why did that happen??
Jay
@greenergood:
my understanding is the vaccines are backing up In the supply chain because of a lack of direction as to where they are to be shipped to.
Doc Sardonic
@natem: Don’t really want to see lil’ Marco smacking off with anything ….now where’s that fucking tank truck of brain bleach
mrmoshpotato
@natem:
If I understand correctly, you want them smacking each other with pies.
Go on. ?
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Wow. I’m surprise the usual suspects aren’t taking the bait.
jl
@greenergood: If the promised supplies continued to be delayed there should be a huge fuss and Congressional investigation.
Long term institutionalized elderly (nursing homes, etc.) are supposed to be all immunized by end of January according to the current schedule. That would be a huge help in handling the epidemic. Kaiser Family Foundation has estimated that 40 percent of hospitalizations are in this group. Getting them protected would take a huge burden off the health care system in the very near term.
Taking a huge burden off the health care system would allow states to stop the extreme shutdowns they are in now. That is not really good news on the epidemic front, just that it would allow the economy to open up again without threatening health system collapse, which despite GOP lies, is the reason public health officials go to such extreme measures (they have repeatedly explained this in CA, in order to try to educate the Trumpsters that they are not mean people who hate freedom).
Van Buren
Speaking for myself, the left needs more AOC style righteous anger. It’s certainly warranted.
jl
@greenergood: It is an extremely important issue.
Occurred to me that I should call some CA reps. One will be a VP soon, and she’ll have an interest in the new administration’s plans to solve the top emergency not being sabotaged even before it starts.
trollhattan
@Jay:
[waves arms] OVER HERE, OVER HERE.
Direction enough, I should think.
Jay
Jay
@trollhattan:
unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that.
even the old buy/ship system isn’t how the vaccine is to be shipped.
It’s a complex system with many different actors that has either stalled, broken down, or been sabotaged.
laura
@Jay: BOOM! That’s the real freedom of the marketplace right there – but still requires the freedom to kill you on the job without consequence to maximize shareholder value. And with Justice Gorsuch we know that he and others believe that worker safety is a bridge too far when it may interfere with what a corporation wants.
Still holding out hope for a Richard Griffen appointment as Secretary of Labor.
schrodingers_cat
@Mary G: She shares that distinction with the Orange Clown. She is a social media influencer who moonlights as a Congress woman. She did not vote for the first CARES act and IIRC has not written any piece of legislation.
Women like Lauren Underwood and Sharice Davids (first term Congress women) don’t get much recognition because they are not constantly preening for attention in front of the cameras or on social media by attacking other Ds.
JPL
@raven: Pfizer released a statement disputing that… They just aren’t distributing it..
JPL
@greenergood: Maybe it was a mistake to put Jared in charge of everything.
Jay
Aleta
@greenergood: “explain why this is happening?”
B/c Tr didn’t win? States’ noncompliance (with his need to control them) requires their pain, so he can feel in control again. Or Kushner has a solution for some “tasked with” problem that requires rerouting and deals. You know, “getting the country back from the doctors.” (He said.)
Best guess: It’s like their idea when Kushner said Trump had to “own” the reopening of states (which they did by fighting with governors), because the opening would be popular.
The vaccines are popular, so Trump and cohort want political credit (while others can be held responsible for any failures). Perhaps Ivanka will announce on twitter the great success of the admin’s vaccine distribution program. Then more vaccines will roll.
Jay
@schrodingers_cat:
funny that:
https://projects.propublica.org/represent/members/O000172-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/bills-sponsored/116
schrodingers_cat
@Jay: Any thing that has actually passed
Congressional report card for AOC
Congressional report card Lauren Underwood
Jay
@Aleta:
best guess, between county, state, CDC and the Military, the “Warp Speed Slap a Bandage On It Allocation and Distribution System” has broken down.
Jay
@schrodingers_cat:
Yurtle the Turtle has ‘t allowed anything to pass,
or havn’t you noticed.
randy khan
@schrodingers_cat:
She’s introduced 23 bills and 6 amendments. She’s in her first term, so she’s not going to be the person who gets a lot of legislation passed (even in a more normal period when regular order is followed).
She’s also spent a lot of time working to support other Democratic candidates.
Aleta
@Jay: Or it’s a stall while they get out in front of taking credit. Too many pictures yesterday of loaded trucks and Drs /nurses in hospitals. Need more front page Trump telling us he’s saving lives.
schrodingers_cat
@randy khan: Who did she support besides the other DSA roses?
She campaigned against Sharice Davids in the 2018 primaries. She was out of the gate after the November elections criticizing Ds in NYT for not using Facebook ads for their campaigns.
randy khan
@schrodingers_cat:
Looking at that report, it seems that Underwood had exactly as many bills passed as Ocasio-Cortez. As I said in another post, that’s not strange for first-term Representatives.
Aleta
@Jay: Although my partner has been predicting that their managerial incompetence will result in stupid snafus– like not enough glass vials produced or delivered on time, or running out of required labels, or something like that.
schrodingers_cat
@randy khan: From Underwood’s website
https://underwood.house.gov/media/press-releases/two-pieces-underwood-s-bipartisan-legislation-signed-law-president-trump
randy khan
@schrodingers_cat:
Well, among others, she provided financial support to Katie Porter and Jahana Hayes, and she’s fundraising for the Georgia runoffs.
randy khan
@schrodingers_cat:
I’m just citing the source you provided.
There also are lots of examples of her doing the boring work necessary to be an effective member of Congress. For instance, she’s really great in hearings, with obvious attention to detail and strong preparation.
AOC is not always my cup of tea, but the criticisms of her tend to be way over the top, and not reflective of the reality.
Citizen Alan
@Van Buren: I have no objection to “AOC style righteous anger” so long as it’s directed to the right targets. It’s when she aims her vitriol at fellow Dems for the awful crime of not being a socialist while representing a predominantly red state in the South or the Midwest.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Mary G:
mostly agree, as far as it goes
unfortunately, her aim is often confused
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Abigail Spanberger was on MSBC today, and the interviewer asked about Herself’s declaration that Pelosi’s gotta go, and you could just see Spanberger resisting the temptation to unload
Jay
https://www.sciencealert.com/climate-change-might-be-causing-brain-eating-amoebas-to-move-north-in-the-us
Geminid
@schrodingers_cat: I sure am glad Lauren Underwood (D-IL) pulled out a narrow win. Her seat was considered so vulnerable that the Republican Congressional Campaign Commitee enrolled her 70 year opponent in its “Young Guns” program.
Jay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Pelosi has to go, eventually. She’s 80 years old and has no known protege.
she also called out Schumer, who has been no Nancy Smash, ever.
the average age of the US Worker is 30.
the average age of the US Government Employee, is 42.
the average age of the House, 58.
the average age of the Senate, 62.
chopper
@mrmoshpotato:
put a “p” in the middle of that word and i’m sold.
OzarkHillbilly
@schrodingers_cat: Ya know, some people are sure to piss off those who are willing to settle for “better than nothing” because they will push for “what is really needed”. Funny how there is not just room for both in our political system but how we need both.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Jay: that’s nice
and has fuck-all to do with the actual job of Speaker of the House, or leader of a caucus the US Senate
Martin
@Jay: People really don’t understand how mind-boggling mundane and critical most government work is. It took an army of people to ensure that every senior got their SS check on time, for the right amount.
It is incredibly unsexy work, but it would take us months of prep for a critical event window. Checklists, validation processes, run-throughs, reverse documentation (I write a doc on how the process is designed to go, you write a document back to me on how you interpreted that and will execute your part of it to ensure we agree). Fallback plans, and all that. We’re shipping 40,000 doses to Idaho and the truck crashes, how do we replace those? We’re shipping 40,000 doses to Idaho and they get stolen, how does that response differ from the previous response (because it better differ). How do we get feedback that the doses are going where they should, and so on.
And the amount of planning needed increases non-linearly with the size of the effort. I have see no evidence from a single person in the Trump admin that they understand this.
For events like this we would role play through them. For example, I’d ask someone unfamiliar with my team to play the role of a governor calling asking why the vaccine didn’t show up and have they respond. Do they know where to find the contingency plans, do they know who to notify, How are they prioritizing this against other actions. Do they consider this might not be an outlier and proactively check on the status of other shipments, and so on. You find tons of problems when doing this. You can’t anticipate everything, but you might as well spend every waking minute before it starts to plan, prep, and drill.
These are the laziest motherfucker, and it pisses me off. This isn’t a hard problem in the sense that we don’t know how to do it. It’s a hard problem in that it’s a lot of work to do it right, and they just don’t want to do the work.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Pelosi has already said she’s stepping down after 2022, no? This whole kerfuffle seems to be about some people wanting to say they “made” her step down.
Geminid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Rachel Bitecofer had some good advice for feuding progressive and moderate lawmakers: do your pushback in person, not through the media. Bitecofer points out that one strategic goal of republicans is to stir up trouble between the progressive and moderate wings of the Democratic Congressional Caucus. That may be the reason why Fox News is so quick to amplify Ocasio-Cortez’ criticism of Democratic leadership. This story, in which Ocasio-Cortez is ripping republicans, will get relatively little attention at Fox. But if congressional factions lay off each other in public, we can make up for it here, and that’s not neccesarily a bad thing.
Baud
@Geminid:
Politico has been doing the same thing for a couple of months now. They’re trying to pick fights.
Martin
This is why I like AOC so much. Her policy suggestions are a bit naive and wide-eyed in my opinion, but she’s starting from a really good place and she’s extraordinarily effective at getting heard. Dems really need to promote her even if they disagree with her, because she’s gifted enough at this to fucking steamroll them in public perception.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Geminid:
Or at the Intercept, which is where Herself went to be interviewed by their chief Ice Cream Correspondent
Geminid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: but I repeat myself.
@Jay: Actually, there is a known protege: 50 year old Hakeem Jeffries (NY-Brooklyn) is widely believed to be Speaker Pelosi’s successor. He is currently Caucus Chairman. From what I have seen, Jeffries is one of the very most capable politicians in Congress.
Martin
@Geminid: I would be really happy with that choice. He’s great.
Geminid
Another Scott
@Jay: GovExec has different numbers (from August 2019):
Yes, there needs to be a pipeline for new leadership. I myself am actually quite sure that there is one.
A bigger problem than having people in their 8th and 9th decades in positions of power is finding a way for people besides the independently wealthy to run for office. And encouraging people (with pay and benefits, and respect, and power and freedom to good work) to enter and stay in the federal civil service. IMHO.
Cheers,
Scott.
planetjanet
@Jay:
This is ageist drivel. While I agree that no one lasts forever, remember that Pelosi was going to retire after 2016, but stayed on after Trump won. She has been developing talent to lead. You may have not been looking. Take a good look at Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.
Geminid
@Martin: Jeffries is a very cogent speaker in an informal setting; one New York City journalist compared interviewing Jeffries to talking to a very handsome robot. And can he ever deliver a speech! Anyone who needs cheering up should you-tube Jeffries’ nomination of Nancy Pelosi as Speaker in January 2019. He had Pelosi grinning by the end.
Danielx
@Martin:
There’s a saying in the military about how amateurs study tactics, professionals study logistics…
topclimber
@schrodingers_cat: I don’t understand why you refuse to give AOC a break. On the one hand, she orchestrated the purity pony wet dream called the Green New Deal. On the other hand, she has not INDIVIDUALLY sponsored any legislation that has passed the gauntlet of a GOP senate and president. Do you understand the concept of building a long-term policy consensus?
I saw you bit hard a few days ago.on the Politico distortion of her Intercept interview (for example, how they buried her criticism of the left when it was in the lede of the interview). Your critique elicited a resounding silence among almost all other commenters.
It saddens me that someone so on point in other ways can’t achieve perspective on someone they have decided must always be on their s-list.
topclimber
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: You missed the point, friend. Pelosi will be going, in two years most likely. What young Dems has she groomed to take over for her and other aging House giants? (Hakeem Jeffries from NY is one; I am happy to learn about others).
Everyone loves how Biden wants to cultivate a new generation of Dems in the executive branch. Why doesn’t the same logic apply to the legislative one?>
PaulB
@greenergood: According to the New York Times:
Geminid
@topclimber: there are a lot of capable Democratic Representatives in their thirties, forties, and fifties. They may not make national news, or what journals you usually read. But when you have time, look up Chrissy Houlihan (PA), Jason Crow (CO), Terry Sewell (AL), or Sean Casten and Lauren Underwood (IL). These are not “stars” like Porter and Ocasio-Cortez, but they bring a lot to the table. Freshman Marie Newman (IL) is another talented person in her forties, and there are many more.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@topclimber: I didn’t miss shit, “friend”. I saw her comments, as I see all her comments, in light of all the attention she’s gotten in the last few years. I give her credit for being smart enough to know what she’s doing and what audience she’s cultivating when she’s speaking to the clowns at the Intercept (those clowns are, after all, her chosen troupe), when she goes to the New York Times to pour gasoline on a fire–so that she can bask in the light of it–, and when she spouts adolescent shit like this about the man who did what her chosen candidate would not have been able to: Beat Donald Trump
She’s divisive, narcissistic and immature. The first two caused by the third, I suspect. Maybe she’ll grow into the role so many people envision for her. I hope so. Like I said, she’s smart and talented. But if she ever wants to be more than a self-indulgent, self-promoting gadfly, she needs to grow the fuck up and grok the fact that neither her district nor her twitter feed is representative of the Democratic Party, much less the broader electorate.
What was this Politico piece where she critiqued the left? I’m very curious.
schrodingers_cat
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Agreed,
Black Twitter has a name for her that is apt. Always On Camera.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Here’s Nancy Pelosi cultivating some more young talent, talented enough to flip Denny Hastert’s old district and beat a rightwing multimillionaire, as opposed to outflanking a lazy and complacent Dem (not nothing, but not a flip) in an indigo-blue district.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a tweet from Rep Underwood, so I don’t know if she’s mastered the all-important jargon of “corporate consensus” and “not socially regressive”, that I’m sure plays big in swing districts.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
More committee news, this time the apparently important (I won’t pretend to have an opinion) energy and commerce committee:
Jinchi
I never understand this complaint. Primaries are when different factions of the same party challenge one another. AOC is hardly the only Democrat to pick favorites.
In the general election, she’s been a solid Democrat.
Edmund Dantes
It’s funny how Pelosi never gets called out for taking shots for no reason against her own party. Interesting it’s only a one way street for criticism is allowed.
Or Steny Hoyer. Who is constantly undermining Dem negotiations by saying “hey that bright line item? We can let that slide” Or a bunch of others.
Or the Dem leadership deciding to blackball primary challengers and groups that work for them. What was accomplished by that?
but yeah, AOC is the problem all by herself
oh that’s right how dare the appointed ones on high be challenged
Edmund Dantes
Oh and it was fine and dandy for Pelosi to send Kennedy after Markey in a primary. Will she blackball the firms that worked with Kennedy?
Jinchi
@Edmund Dantes: I’d forgotten Pelosi endorsed Kennedy against the incumbent Markey.
SFAW
@Edmund Dantes:
Endorsing Kennedy is not the same as “sending” him after Markey. She supported Kennedy because he’s allegedly a prolific fundraiser for the party. I’m pretty sure Joe decided on his own that he needed (so to speak) to go after Markey.
Edmund Dantes
@SFAW: question still stands. Will she blackball groups that supported Kennedy in his primary challenge of Markey? She could have stayed out of it. Just like she did at other times.
butt she gets a free pass for going after Markey because that is what she did by endorsing Kennedy’s primary.
but shhh… AOC needs to be taken down a peg.
AJ
This one of my favorite posts ever.
Jinchi
@SFAW: AOC was a freshman congresswoman being scolded for backing liberal challengers. Nancy Pelosi was the Democratic leader endorsing a challenger when the Democratic leadership was pushing an incumbent protection policy.
Let’s not pretend Pelosi didn’t back that policy.
They’re both playing the same game, but one has more power than the other.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Edmund Dantes: Your posts are like a parody of how someone like me sees the stupid, bleating, marble-headed children of Bernie/Rose Twitter.
right, Kennedy was sitting at home watching a ball game when Pelosi called him up and told him to run for Senate.
Maybe she decided the party needed new blood? a lower average age?
Pelosi wasn’t “appointed”, or anointed, which I suspect is the word you think you meant to use. She spent twenty to thirty years building a national political network, forming alliances, listening to people from different regions and districts and backgrounds and figuring out what their common goals were, then she was elected to her position by over 200 people representing broad cross-sections of a large and complicated country, millions of actual voters. She didn’t, like, totally own some people on twitter and then get her picture took and then start demanding bent knees.
I’d ass if you understand the difference between the House and the Senate, but I’m not sure you’d understand even the question.
SFAW
@Edmund Dantes:
Who’s “she”? I can’t tell if you mean the Speaker or AOC. As far as “blackballing” companies that supported Kennedy: what are you talking about?
SFAW
@Jinchi:
Excellent point! Or it might be if it bore any relevance to my comment. Or something.
You’re starting to make Dantes look lucid.
Jay
@SFAW:
the DNC or the DNCC, I forget which, “blackballed” consultants and other orgs that worked for Democratic Party challengers in the Primaries.
Nancy Smash gets blamed for that, because,……
of course.
once upon a time one of the rotating tags was “more, and better Democratic Party Members”.
like most things, Trump destroyed that.
SFAW
@Jay:
I remember the blackballing. I lay that more at Tom Perez’s feet than the Speaker’s.
Edmund Dantes
It’s funny that it goes to personal attacks. I have been here a long long time before Rose Twitter or any of those social justice democrats came about.
but let’s get back to Pelosi. Suddenly Nancy Smash doesn’t have any power or arm twisting ability. It’s all Tom Perez fault (though it was a DCCC policy) so the most powerful woman (and one of the most powerful movers in democratic politics for decades) suddenly had no agency or say in Democratic policy matters in the DCCC?
interesting how that works Nancy Smash when it suits the narrative, but when it doesn’t that was someone else’s fault.
it’s funny I like her as speaker. She sucks at certain parts but she’s damn effective at a lot of it. I just wish people could admit she does a lot of the stuff she does ((some of it incredibly tone deaf) and didn’t always try to make excuses for it.
Jado
Meanwhile, the national media is all aflutter at the juicy implications of ongoing word kerfuffle between a gormless whiny manners-scold of a Republican and a strident uppity POC of a Democrat. THE HIGH-SCHOOL-LEVEL GOSSIP POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!!! Uhhhh, oh God, the media needs a moment, cause this is MUCH RATINGS / SO AUDIENCE.
Honestly, the fact that 300,000 Americans have died is SO LAST SUMMER. Give us more about Marco and AOC!!! Oooooo, it’s so racy – Democrats use profanity and the Republicans are all SO SHOCKED.
Delicious…
taumaturgo
Perhaps inadvertently you hit the nail in the head. The current democratic hierarchy in Congress is all about the money and alliance to those who are willing to pretend they care for the wealth being of the working folks while gorging themselves at the trove of corporate and Wall street dought. If you bring the
bribescontributions your in; anything that upsets the status quo is not acceptable; those voices must be silent. Markley was targeted by Pelosi because the targeting was a twofer: Bringing in Kennedy with his fat wallet and contacts of mega-donors and getting rid of Markley who inconveniently endorsed the green new deal and M4A. Once AOC masters Pelosi’s skills in dealing with what she considers internal opposition, watch out.