Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

That meeting sounds like a shotgun wedding between a shitshow and a clusterfuck.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Come on, man.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

Keep the Immigrants and deport the fascists!

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Archives for 2020

Guest Post: Adam Schiff, Profile in Courage

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I didn’t have the strength, so commentor Zhena Gogolia generously bricolaged this tribute:

As recounted by Maxwell King in his biography of Mister Rogers (The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers, Abrams, 2018), when Rogers was young and saw upsetting things happening in the world, his mother would tell him, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

We are all too prone to easy cynicism: “The Republican majority in the Senate will never convict and remove Trump, so why should I pay any attention to the impeachment hearings or trial?” Well, I did pay attention, and what I saw was deeply inspiring and hopeful. Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, and their Democratic colleagues, as well as the counsel for the Democrats on the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees, Daniel Goldman and Barry Berke, did not get cynical, they did not give up or phone it in. They went to BATTLE for this country, day after day, and used everything in their arsenal: intelligence, hard work, and most of all, that unfashionable thing, patriotism. Despite the obstruction of the president and his allies, the Democrats proved Trump’s guilt so decisively that even the Republicans had to admit it. They were left with no fig leaf other than, “Yeah, he did it, but he’s giving us tax cuts so it’s okay.” They were left with no defense.

But although it was a team effort, it was Adam Schiff who carried the biggest burden, especially during the trial. He spoke for hours on end, often without looking at notes. (Compare Pam Bondi.)

Every time I tuned in, I expected to see him tired, or hoarse, or fuzzy. It never happened. Here are some highlights:

‘Give America a fair trial. She’s worth it,’ Schiff urges senators

 

 

Jennifer Rubin has summarized:

…Along the way, House managers stripped the bark off phony Republican hawks who could find nothing wrong with extorting an ally in a hot war with Russia; decapitated “constitutional conservatives” who have become defenders of autocracy; and showed off some of their brightest stars, including Democratic Reps. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), Jason Crow (Colo.), Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) and Val Demings (Fla.).

History will treat them all well and take note that when truth and constitutional government were on the line they did their jobs in exemplary fashion. That is “winning” by any legitimate measure. And for that we can say, well done.

And I’ll let Jon Zal have the last word:

Rep. Adam Schiff’s Closing Argument

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Hanging Separately, Again

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On Monday, Boris Johnson’s communications people tried to exclude a few reporters from an official briefing. The rest of the reporters boycotted it.

Yesterday, Trump had an “off the record” pre-SOTU lunch reporters and anchors from the major news networks. CNN was excluded, though they’re normally invited. Of course, everyone else showed up.

Add yesterday’s lunch to reporters still traveling with Pompeo after he kicked an NPR reporter off his plane last week, and you’ll see that our press is even worse than Sky News, the Telegraph and the Sun, all of whom boycotted that London briefing. That’s a pretty damn low bar, but they’ve managed to crawl right under it.

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Uncovering 1 in 6

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Health Affairs has a new article by Griffith et al that looks at health insurance coverage changes from 2015-2017.  It is what many expected:

Nationally, we estimated that uninsurance rates fell by 7.1 percentage points from 2013 to 2016 but rose by 1.2 points during 2017. Thus, roughly 17 percent of the adjusted change in coverage from the ACA’s early years had been reversed by the end of 2017.

Paul Shafer and I had estimated that the actions of the first ten days of the Trump Administration led to a loss of 24% to 30% of the expected last week enrollments on Healthcare.gov.  Other research has shown a continual drop in the coverage rates since 2017.  There is a large and growing literature on administrative burdens and frictions in both the Exchange space and the Medicaid space where people have to jump through more hoops to remain covered.  The Exchanges have stabilized for subsidized enrollment but the non-subsidized enrollment has fallen off the cliff.

 

** https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00904

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Just Stuck

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I wish I could find something else to write about, but I’m stuck on the Iowa fiasco. Even my usually even-tempered brother texted me last night, angry about how terrible Democrats look. So just look the other way if you are sick of it, because here goes.

Why the FUCK are we at 71% on a Wednesday morning? You realize that we’re counting fewer than 1,700 ballots in the end – the precincts do the tally there, certify it, and send it to the state party. The only artifact caucuses produce is this one piece of paper. Is somebody riding a greased pig to the party HQ carrying the last 30 precincts in a saddlebag?

Why the FUCK did they choose to release partial tallies? This will just encourage shit stirring between the pissed off campaign people. If you’re screwing the pooch, pulling out half way doesn’t make it less of a mistake.

When all this settles down, I think that the natural tendency is going to be something like “OK, Iowa, you shit the bed, but we’ll let you keep first in the nation if you do a primary.” I know some of you think that’s the wrong take, and I hope to hell you’re right, but there are a lot of very influential insiders who sell their “how to win in Iowa” knowledge, and they have a huge stake in the process. We can’t let a lot of hangers on defending their cushy Iowa sinecures run our nominating process.

There’s always going to be a horserace, but the Democrats need to be riding the ponies, not getting trampled by a stampede. Smart media would love a change up in the Presidential race, say, a half dozen “first in the nation” spots that rotate every four years. What an opportunity to have a fresh alternative for new eyeballs who are turned off by the the stale, repetitive insiders-only coverage that Iowa tends to generate. Unfortunately, smart media is not running political coverage at the big networks and papers. The political beat at those places is dominated by Cillizza-level intellects who, like a lot of stupid people, venerate dumb customs like fried Snickers bars and bacon-wrapped corn dogs at the Polk County pig judging contest.

In conclusion, fuck Trump and his pro wrestling SOTU, fuck the gutless Republicans in the Senate, and let’s go knock on doors and give til it hurts for our candidates. Open thread.

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Onward in New Hampshire

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(Jeff Danziger via GoComics.com)

 
Note from a partisan: I’m gonna treat any votes Elizabeth Warren gets in New Hampshire like I would finding a forgotten twenty in a coat pocket — nice, but not something to base my budget on. There are pundits who should now better talking about a ‘favorite neighbor’ vote, but New Hampshire’s neighborly intentions towards Massachusetts resemble those of Rand Paul’s neighbor towards the Senator’s yardwork habits. The smart money in the Granite State primary has always been on Bernie Sanders, because he appeals to the Free State Project anarcholibertarians and the resentful MA expats who commute to their jobs in the ‘Peoples’ Republic’ (and complain about the sky-high NH property taxes that replace the state income tax). My real curiosity regarding the primary is whether Deval Patrick — who only got lured into the national race to kneecap any tiny chance Warren might have in NH — drops out after the votes are counted Wednesday, or if his pride will keep him limping along until Super Tuesday, where he can be embarrassed on his old stomping grounds.

But still!

About last night…

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Return of the Coronavirus Update – Tuesday/Wednesday

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Notes from a couple of commentors in Asia:

Ninedragonspot – February 4, 2020 at 2:47 am
Coronavirus Update from the past couple of hours:

2800 medical workers in Hong Kong go on strike, demanding the government close the border with Mainland China.

Taizhou and parts of Hangzhou (c 9 million people) join Wenzhou and Ningbo on lockdown. Each family can send one member out every two days to collect supplies, everyone else has to stay home. These four cities have about 20 million people and are located in Zhejiang province, not Hubei. Will this happen to Shanghai?

Macau is closing its casinos for half a month.

Taiwan is refusing entry to all foreigners who have been in China for the past 14 days, except under special circumstances.

Raralex — February 4, 2020 at 4:34

@Ninedragonspot: Singapore-based commenter and long-time lurker here. Singapore was probably ahead of Taiwan, but yes, similar. They barred entry to mainland travelers last week with a 14-day quarantine. 18 cases here so far, all people who had been in Wuhan or Hubei province. All quarantined and recovering.

As you might expect, in a place where memories of SARS are very fresh and with a fully competent, well resourced, and empowered government, the response has been aggressive and efficient. At the same time, clear and frequent communication and thoughtful messaging from the PM down on treating people with decency and kindness, and avoiding misinformation. Other than proximity, which probably means less and less, I’d rather be here than almost anywhere (including the US, where Trump can be guaranteed to screw it up).

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Cold Grey Iowa Caucus Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Proof of Concept

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We are not a joke, people! (Well, not a *deliberate* joke… )

We devout Cynics were told not to badmouth the Bernistas’ proclivity to attack Democrats instead of the greater enemy, Trump. When the voting finally started, we were told, Senator Sanders and his closest aides would quickly pull his supporters into line, for the greater good. Because they were mature adults, not hobbyists nursing their adolescent fantasies of exclusion and revenge.

Yeah, well, Iowa — and the Iowa caucus structure the Sanders campaign fought so hard to preserve — certainly provided some valuable lessons, yes it did!

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