“It’s not ancient history — 2009 is the analogue,” Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) tells me. “We then waited for Senate bipartisanship to break out. It never happened. And I don’t think it will happen this time.” https://t.co/NKIKuKPGTW
— Matt Viser (@mviser) January 30, 2021
Almost certainly, without them — but it’s good policy to let the voters know you tried!
would be nice if Politico mentioned GOP had **ten months** to negotiate a big Covid bill and for ten months the GOP told Dems to f**k off https://t.co/sDy5PNSAbG
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) January 29, 2021
the funny part is DC press actually thinks the second one is real option
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) January 29, 2021
“The hostage takers have warned authorities that if police reject cooperation and instead adopt the extreme policy of not given ten million dollars by noon, they will be left with no choice but to start shooting the hostages.” https://t.co/i2oHvqG7Ja
— Zoomcock Archivist ?? (@canderaid) January 29, 2021
If Ds pass a reconciliation relief bill, they stand a good chance of reaping political benefit. (Whatever the particulars, the pandemic will end & the economy will likely rebound.)
Rs can either get in on the action & share the credit, or whine about partisanship & get no credit https://t.co/smfpms2fIu
— Bill Scher (@billscher) January 30, 2021
the real issue for Republicans is that they *don't want a vote on this bill* because they are stuck between rabid MAGA asshats who will go after them if they vote for any D bill, and the broader public, who would like to not die or lose their homes in a pandemic.
— Noah Berlatsky (@nberlat) January 29, 2021
Pretty much:
Republicans counter Biden’s COVID with one that, at a generous estimate, is one-tenth its size.
Here’s how conservative media is reporting it. pic.twitter.com/4XkePRd0CS
— Roy Edroso (@edroso) January 31, 2021
Mike R
Is there anyway republicans can be more hypocritical?
Mike in NC
Trump still believes the pandemic was a Chinese/DemocRat hoax designed to make the fat bastard look bad.
Kent
The GOP didn’t do a single damn bipartisan thing in the past four years. Not one. The closest they ever got was on that DACA/Dreamers bill a couple years ago that Trump finally pulled the plug on. The didn’t do bipartisan on tax cuts, on ACA repeal, or any SCOTUS nominees. So fuck them. That is they path they chose.
Why any Dem senators would decide that the Best option here is to give RAND PAUL the deciding vote on the economic future of the country is beyond me. Because once you count past the first 5 or so GOP Senators, he is who you land on when you get to 60.
And there isn’t a single swing voter in this country who is going to give a shit how many GOP Senate votes there were for the Covid relief package in 2022 or 2024. It will be old history by then.
Kent
@Mike R: Where there is a will there’s a way. Always.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
I frequently hear a phrase in family court that sends my irritation level into overdrive.
Most often you will hear it from the folks at CPS/DCBS, sometimes from counsel for the other parent. It is vague, completely meaningless and wholly unverifiable in any way.
The phrase?
Now, it is supposed to be a red flag, but it is my opening for destructive cross-examination. You want to express concerns? Don’t give me vague bullshit, give me concrete statements of likely harm.
Conservative whining about deficits, motivation for the labor force and the need for “tough choices” strikes me much the same.
coin operated
@Mike in NC: Trump? Hell…the whole Qsphere is still in on the steal.
@Mike R: “Challenge accepted” in 3…2…1…
HinTN
@Mike R: No, SATASQ. But the Dems need to jam them on every bit of obstruction, obfuscation, and objective sedition.
Jeffro
@Mike R: this
@Kent: and also this
Just pass it already, tell the GOP to shut the fuck up and get its own house in order, and move on to the next thing that needs fixing due to their malice/incompetence/both
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Mike in NC:
Every government in the world colluded to shut their borders and broad sectors of their own economies just to make Trump look bad.
He’s just like Jesus that way, and when He comes back, he’ll be the Kweisatz Haderach.
West of the Rockies
@Mike R:
Is that a trick question?
Ruckus
@Mike R:
I’m sure they are looking…..
Mary G
The Russians and Dog knows how many other countries are flooding Twitter with “Biden promised checks out to us on Day 1 and didn’t deliver. His presidency is a failure.” They need to pass whatever Manchin and Sinema will go for, and do it now.
Kent
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: He’s just like Jesus that way, and when He comes back, he’ll be the Kweisatz
Haderach.MAGAratFixed that for you.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
He should invite the cameras in. An hour before the meeting starts.
If they object, say, “Senator Collins and her team weren’t ready to make their case to the American people, so in the interest of helping them work through their ideas…”
Kent
I honestly don’t think Manchin and Sinema are even quibbling about the details of the bill. They are quibbling about the process and precious filibuster. Once they get past objecting to doing this via reconciliation I don’t see either of them doing a Susan Collins and picking away at the amounts out of some furrowed brow concern for the deficit or some shit.
It is all so stupid beyond belief. When Manchin and Sinema insist on 60 votes all they are doing is empowering Rand Paul or John Cornyn or whoever is the 60th vote and making themselves irrelevant. In a filibuster-less Senate they are both Gods who can make nearly any damn demands that they want for their own states and re-elections. Seriously.
Ruckus
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Yes, I can see the connection. And for the same reasons. They have nothing.
Ruckus
@Kent:
Good to see you.
dmsilev
Meanwhile, via the Post, He Who Shall Not Be Named has a new set of attorneys:
Two apparent experts in helping assist sex criminals. Is there something about the impeachment that we’re not yet aware of?
SFAW
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Reverend Helen will get an extreme workout with her gom jabbar when she tests him.
SFAW
@dmsilev:
Maybe they heard he was the world’s biggest jerk-off, and got confused?
dmsilev
@Mike R:
Like the breeding velociraptors in Jurassic Park, the Republicans will find a way.
Benw
Seems to me a whomping COVID relief bill passed without a single R vote is both the right thing to do and politically advantageous
Alison Rose
Fuck these people. Republicans and their media handmaidens can all fuck off into the sun.
In far better news, though totally unrelated except in the “relief” sense maybe, I got a new kitty :) My baby Zoe crossed the rainbow bridge nearly four months ago, and I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to feel ready for a new one. But our lovely jackal WayofCats’ blog really helped, and a few days ago I saw this beauty on Petfinder who was everything I was looking for……and now she’s here with me! Just got her yesterday so she’s still settling in and figuring me out, but she’s slowly warming up. I did the ultimate cat lady move and made an Instagram account for her, if you wanna see her cute face.
The story behind the name, Briery: My first real paying job was at the Renaissance Fair when I was 16, in 1996 (yikes…I mean, I know I’m younger than most of my fellow BJers but still), and on my break one day I was watching a play put on by one of the guilds, and there was this cute young woman playing a mischievous sprite named Briery, and I adored the name (especially after I got to chat with the actress later and she was hella cute and my baby gay self was smitten, I tell you). I filed the name away as one I’d use for a cat in the future, but the next one I had was a stray boy cat who adopted us, and then with my last kitty, Zoe was her name at the shelter and it just fit her so well. But now I finally have my own Briery. Well, my own real one…I have named a few video game characters such :)
Anyway. Yay, new kitty. Boo, same old GOP bullshit.
Ken
@dmsilev: Trump will be paying them with pardons. You’ll notice the Constitution doesn’t say the pardon power ends with the President’s term.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@SFAW:
He’s such a physical coward. He’d probably prefer getting jabbed.
SFAW
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Huh. I actually agree with him.
Argiope
@dmsilev: E Jean Carroll’s case may be moving forward—maybe they came to Mango Mussolini’s attention through that route and he thought they’d meet the central casting standard for impeachment? It would be wrong not to speculate.
Punchy
Im so glad at least some people are noting that the Rs wrote the entire tax bill w/o a single Dem involved. Now suddenly they feel entitled to craft the COVID relief?
How congressional Dems go thru their day without 50+ “Oh go fuck OFF”s to their GOP counterparts is a testament to their professionalism.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@SFAW:
But really, I tend to see Trump as Harkonnen, a bloated, conniving, perverse fool.
dmsilev
@Ken: That’d be a novel argument, no question. Of course, it’d torpedo the whole ‘can’t impeach an ex-President Because Reasons’ thing, so by all means let’s hope they go that route.
I’m just disappointed that he didn’t decide to represent himself.
Kristine
@Alison Rose: Congrats on the sweet new kitty!
sab
@Mike R: They are very sincere about keeping post-Congress think tank and gravy train options open.
Major Major Major Major
Open thread? I watched the first two-thirds or so of the NYC mayoral debate and came away surprisingly impressed by Yang, believe it or not. On the other hand, maybe liking his answers just means that I don’t actually know very much about the subject matter.
Scott Stringer, I think it was, had a good showing too, and I don’t really know anything about Loree Sutton but I liked the cut of her jib.
So, that happened.
Chetan Murthy
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Baron Harkonnen libel! The Baron was patient, intelligent, planned for the long game, etc. This fucker, he’s at best Beast Rabban, and really not even that. That’s the problem with the Orange Pus Blister: even the villiains of pulp fiction are majestic heroes in comparison. Truly, if a writer were to invent him, he’d be rejected by his editor.
MisterForkbeard
On a side note, apparently Trump has gotten two lawyers to agree to be on his Impeachment defense team: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-announces-legal-team-senate-impeachment-trial-n1256307
I know nothing about either of these guys (David Schoen and Bruce Castor), but I’m assuming they are awful in all senses of the word.
Wait: Yeah, Castor is the DA who refused to prosecute Bill Cosby over sexual assault. Schoen is a just a defense lawyer.
sab
@Alison Rose: Your kitty is beautiful.
You were born the year I pased the bar exam. I am glad you have lasted longer than my legal career.
Redshift
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Yeah, and it annoys me that there are people who get paid to write about politics who can’t see that “that’s too much, why don’t we pass a smaller ‘targeted’ bill” is no different than “we should only do what I want,” not a compromise.
StringOnAStick
@Alison Rose: Briery is a nice looking kitty; I’m a Gray tabby/tortie fan as well. Of the kitties I’ve been lucky to have, 3/4 have been this color.
Redshift
@MisterForkbeard:
Schoen is a just a defense lawyer who was Roger Stone’s lawyer, and was a friend of Jeffrey Epstein and was going to be his lawyer if he’d gone to trial. Everyone deserves competent representation, but that seems to warrant a little more than “just a defense lawyer.”
MisterForkbeard
@Redshift: Yeah, I hadn’t seen that yet when I wrote my comment. Both of these guys are really reprehensible.
It’s easy work, though. Go in there, just tell everyone that this is plainly an unconstitutional partisan attack on Trump and refuse to let him speak as a witness, then just respond to everything with “This is a face we refuse to answer”.
They’ll get 45+ R senators to acquit just by being assholes and yelling at Democrats, no matter the legal question. So if they get paid at all it’s a win, and they get a big name for themselves. The only way to lose this is if they start trying to prove Election Fraud and say the whole insurrection was necessary. And even THEN they’ll probably still get 40 Republican votes.
catclub
@Ken:
I figured the first set quit because they discussed being paid in advance.
SFAW
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
At least the Baron had some intelligence. Maybe Jared will be a Trumpian Feyd-Rautha?
NotMax
@SFAW
Also, the Baron didn’t go bankrupt running spice. Say again that (setting aside the sterility thing) analogue to Dolt 45 is The Mule in Asimov’s Foundation trilogy.
;)
LurkerNoLonger
Republicans, get on the COVID Relief bill train or stand on the tracks and get run over by it.
Jean
So 10 Republicans want to meet with Biden to share their little stingy plan. “How about you agree to this, instead of what you in the MAJORITY of both houses want for the MAJORITY of Americans (like 70% of them who like the bill)?” I hope hilarity ensues, and they are ushered out the door. Give Manchin and Sinema something really nice for their constituents and pass the bill without the Republican hypocrites. They had no trouble ramming through the tax bill which was about the same amount and had no Democrats involved in discussing or crafting or passing.
sdhays
@Chetan Murthy: This is because Dump isn’t actually the main villain or primary character in our story. He’s a two bit character chewing up scenery in the latest chapter of America’s original sin.
Alison Rose
@sab: LOL, me too!
Alison Rose
@StringOnAStick: I’ve never had one just like this. Did have two torties growing up, one the regular black and brown variety, and one called “dilute” that had gray instead of black. I love all the different types there are :)
Amir Khalid
@Alison Rose:
Congratulations to you and Briery. May your time together be full of love and happiness.
Uncle Cosmo
One of my consistent (if rather grim) satisfactions in reading down these blog threads is noting how many posts it takes before some Jackal makes the very comment that has so cleverly occurred to me.
(Narrator: It rarely took more than a few.)
(O/t: Visual tab functional [Farfawks v. 85]. For how long, doG only nose…)
Uncle Cosmo
Is there any truth behind the rumor that when Twitler was nosing about Moskva in the 80s the Bratva had him thrown down a couple of flights of stairs in order to, mmm, produce the proper attitude? (And if there isn’t, can we spread it anyway?? :^D)
(O/t: Visual text once again kaput. Intermittents!?!)
Uncle Cosmo
IIRC the (not-Sasha) Baron (not-Cohen) Vlad “The Bad” Harkonnen was nobody’s fool, and came by his morbid obesity late in life courtesy of Bene Gesserit witchery. I’ll grant you “conniving” and “perverse” though.
(ETA: Chetan at #34 supra FTW.)
(ETA 2: Visual still borked.)