Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Everybody saw this coming.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

Come on, man.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

People are complicated. Love is not.

No one could have predicted…

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Democrats in Array! Open Thread: Take the Bonus & Run

Democrats in Array! Open Thread: Take the Bonus & Run

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The Beltway Press Corpse is beginning to suspect that — despite the clear instructions for failure they’ve laid out for him! — that this President Biden fella might just be Good at Politics!?!!!…

(Credit where due, at least *some* reporters seem to be in favor of this development.)

Reader Interactions

185Comments

  1. 1.

    BruceFromOhio

    Republicans been hiding land mines and hand grenades in spending bills for decades. Payback time, brothers and sisters.​
     

    And the big ‘fuck you’ to the fascist enablers is gonna hurt if the earmarks return. This begins to shape what the political landscape can look like going into 2022, and Dems are bringing the guns to the knife fight.

  2. 2.

    M31

    Official definition of ‘bipartisan’ — “popular with a broad swath of voters, including plenty of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents”

    Not popular with GOP elected official shitweasel fucknut cockwombles? I don’t care, do you?

  4. 4.

    debbie

    Just head McCarthy’s remarks at the border today. I couldn’t help but think of Aunt Pittypat and her fainting couch.

  5. 5.

    Comrade Colette

    @debbie:

    Just head McCarthy’s remarks at the border today.

    If the vaccine included a microchip, but it blocked the sound of that jackass’s voice, I’d be first in line.

  7. 7.

    piratedan

    fuck them and their blatant hypocrisy.  You want to pose for the MAGA crowd and establish those fucking bonafides.  If you really believe that the election was “stolen”, the votes tabulated are not representative of the election.  Then resign and man the barricades brothers and sisters, you don’t get to sit there and spoon feed your propaganda to your constituents in this MAGA cosplay and decry the legitimacy of what took place and in the very same manner work on legislation for the people from whom the election was stolen!

    Where are your principles?

    Or do you think that YOUR election was fine and legitimate and that OTHER office that was on the ballot was the only one effected?

    GTFO and get a REAL job.

  9. 9.

    sab

    @Gin & Tonic: I don’t mind the place counting. I was frist once myself. With a slightly under 10,000 blog it is going to take a while for everyone to get their chance. So how far down will we count?

    //

  10. 10.

    lowtechcyclist

    “Even if Joe Biden funded the Trump border wall, Republicans would be complaining about the color of the wall, the material used.” Democrats — convinced Republicans will attack them no matter what — are doubling down on a progressive agenda.

    They’ve finally figured it out.  GOOD.

    House Democrats draw the line: No bipartisan cooperation with Republicans who questioned the election.

    Fuckin’ awesome.

  11. 11.

    debbie

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Heh. I couldn’t find the clip I really wanted, where she’s boarding a coach, turns, and cries, “Yankees in Georgia!” and comes close to fainting again.

  13. 13.

    Gin & Tonic

    @sab: I’m just trying to get third to have more cachet than the honored second. I’ll keep working at it.

  16. 16.

    sab

    Peter Baker NYT is unhappy about Biden’s press conference situation. I thought Peter Baker was their Russia expert. Why does he even care? I think they worry that Psaki doesn’t do enough gaffes. They invented most of Biden’s alleged gaffes, but she leaves them no room at all to manipulate. Is Major Biden off the hook yet? Okay to bash Capitol Police with cudgels and poles, but not okay to gently nip a new Secret Service guy?

  17. 17.

    Cheryl Rofer

  18. 18.

    Jeffro

    that Cecil guy (he of the ‘color of the wall, material used’ quote) is spot-on.  There is no reasoning with these trumpublican clowns, they lie about everything, they stand for absolutely nothing but furthering their own grip on power, and there is ZERO percentage in dealing with them or trying to negotiate.

    President Biden: “Here’s what the American people want, so that’s what I’m proposing (and prepared to ram through Congress if necessary”.

    GQP: “BUT DR SEUSS!  YOU KILLED DR SEUSS!!  ALSO PRESS CONFERENCES…WHY WON’T YOU GIVE US PRESS CONFERENCES SO WE CAN TURN EVERY PREGNANT PAUSE OF YOURS INTO A WEEK-LONG ‘SENILITY FEST’??? WAAAAAAAHHHH!”

    President Biden: “Oopsie I just made most of the ARP’s provisions permanent, and also admitted DC as the 51st state”.

    GQP: “DON’T TELL US WHO TO CELEBRATE THE FOURTH OF JULY WITH, YOU DEMENTIA-RIDDEN SOSHULIST MASTERMIND!”

    President Biden: “Hey, look at that…I just doubled the size of the IRS and tripled the number of audits on high-earners, plus expanded the federal courts and talked Justice Breyer into resigning so I can nominate a 25-year-old”.

    GQP: <<explodes>>

  19. 19.

    debbie

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    FYI, from CNBC:

    The four Republicans to vote in favor of Haaland’s confirmation on Monday were Murkowski, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

    Surprising to see Graham included in that list.

  20. 20.

    Tony Jay

    This is all so confusing, because the distinct impression I’ve been given by the Shitty Fucking Guardian over the last week or so is that, while the Democrats might have got their way in Congress, they’re now faced with the difficult job of selling it to the American public.

    Because apparently no one in America knows what the Democrats passed, and giving money, jobs and hope to people who desperately need all three is going to be a real heavy lift.

    Methinks the boys and girls at the Hedge-Fund periodical have another one of those long term narratives they’re determined to stick to until the natural (Republican) order asserts itself.

  21. 21.

    James E Powell

    @Mary G:

    That’s the kind of history-making that puts a little tear in this old man’s eye.

    Joe Manchin said it was “long past time to give a Native American woman a seat on the Cabinet table.” No disagreement there, Joe.

  22. 22.

    RSA

    Tucker Carlson:

    So we’ve got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits. Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It’s a mockery of the U.S. Military.

    Next up, Ted Cruz:

    A prominent Republican senator this weekend demanded a personal meeting with Marine Corps leadership to explain why officials in charge of some service social media accounts insulted and “intimidated” conservative pundit Tucker Carlson for his comments about women in the military.

    “These actions run the risk of creating a culture of contempt for our country’s civilian leadership within the enlisted ranks and among junior officers which will be corrosive to the good order and discipline of the military,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin requesting the meeting

    Ted, it’s not civilian leadership in general. It’s specific people who are contemptible.

  27. 27.

    germy

    A review of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Covid-19 guidance has found that some of the agency’s guidance during the Trump administration was not grounded in science or free from undue influence, according to a statement from a CDC spokesperson.

    The review found that some guidance “used less direct language than available evidence supported,” “needed to be updated to reflect the latest scientific evidence” and “presented the underlying science base for guidance inconsistently,” according to the spokesperson.

    Additionally, the review identified three documents that were not primarily authored by the CDC and yet were presented as CDC documents, according to the spokesperson. The agency has removed two of the documents from its website, and updated and replaced the third.

    https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/15/politics/cdc-guidance-trump-administration-review/index.html

  29. 29.

    debbie

    @RSA:

    I’m looking forward to Austin’s response. Once he’s managed to stop laughing over Tucker Carlson being labeled part of this country’s civilian leadership.

  33. 33.

    sab

    @piratedan:

     

    @Gin & Tonic:

     

    You go guys. Be wary of them becoming participation trophies. But what is wrong with participation?

    Balloon Juice at night used to bite the heads off newbies/lurkers. I did it once myself, in a matter of literary criticism, and it turns out the newbie/lurker was right. Hasn’t been heard from since and I still feel bad about it

    ETA they can’t even check in with a number because we will stomp them.

  41. 41.

    piratedan

    @sab: for me its not a biggie if people want to make their entire post about pole position (sic), I tend to tote my soapbox a bit much and go off to be the the Mayor of Rantsville, so I do welcome an opportunity to to snark lightly (such as in response to your post) knowing that BJ open threads are kind of like watching a political MST3K, you’re never sure what reference will be making a visit from your childhood or favorite guilty-pleasure SF extravaganza) :-)

  42. 42.

    jl

    Now that it looks like things will soon get back to at least semi normal and we can go out and do interesting things again, I have decided to glue myself to the computer and try to understand the suspicious  Biden admin trick of underpromising but overperforming. The issue is ‘out there’ now and I hope journalists keep asking Biden how he can ever put it to rest, especially since his admin is asked about it every damn day by the press.

    The more I see through Biden’s political tricks, the more cynical I become.

    /s, if not obvious already.

  43. 43.

    sab

    @zhena gogolia: Thank God. I think I have him confused with someone else ( now I am wondering who?) and I was wondering what happened. Now I need to figure who I had conflated him with.

  44. 44.

    Ken

    @MisterForkbeard: Not just Republicans, if the vote was 50-38 (or 51-40, I also see above), with four Republicans in favor.  Sounds like a few people went home early once the vote passed 50.

  45. 45.

    VeniceRiley

    @RSA: “Dear Senator Cruz. I had no idea that Tucker Carlson, Fox News channel’s officially designated ENTERTAINER, was in our civilian leadership.  I have checked around the Pentagon and no one else knew that either. We are under the impression that that leadership consists of our three federal branches of government.  Is that no longer true?  Please elaborate.” <— my fantasy statement.

  51. 51.

    Miss Bianca

    @debbie:

    Surprising to see Graham included in that list.

    Maybe Lindsey’s developing a crush on Biden as his next authority-figure Jesus Daddy.

    Ooh, I think I just threw up in my brain a little, typing that.

  52. 52.

    karen marie

    @Mary G:  CNN is reporting the vote as 51-40.  Who are the nine non-voting senators and why didn’t they vote?  I’m not seeing any reporting on that point.

  53. 53.

    Matt McIrvin

    @sab: I think the press-conference thing is one of those “motte-and-bailey” arguments, where there’s a completely crazy argument you’re trying to imply without saying it in polite company, and a sane version that you pull out in said polite company, but the purpose of repeating the sane one is to remind your fans of the crazy one to keep them riled up.

    In this case, the sane version is “Biden’s unwillingness to appear at press conferences violates traditional norms of blah blah”.

    The crazy one is “Biden has dementia, cannot form complete sentences in conversation and is being secretly run by a cabal of shadowy handlers, WHO ARE THEY and WHAT DO THEY HAVE TO HIDE??” I suspect some may be trying to imply that the demon Kamala Harris is running him behind the scenes.

  54. 54.

    Mike in NC

    Composing a letter to my worthless redneck representative in which I demand he do his frickin’ job and honor his pledge to the Constitution like millions of us have.

  55. 55.

    Roger Moore

    Democrats — convinced Republicans will attack them no matter what — are doubling down on a progressive agenda.

    This is the drawback of constantly acting in bad faith.  It’s really effective when people don’t know that’s what’s going on and engage you as if you were acting in good faith.  But when they finally get the idea that you’re acting in bad faith, they’ll give up dealing with you completely and you lose whatever leverage you might have had to negotiate.

  57. 57.

    Miss Bianca

    @RSA:

    ‘our country’s civilian leadership’?

    Since when is Fucker Carlson part of ‘our civilian leadership’?

    ETA: fifty-FRIST in grasping the essential point, here, I see! As usual!

  58. 58.

    Ken

    @jl: “Ms. Psaki, the Biden administration is showing a high level of competency. Doesn’t this abrupt change from the practices of the last four years risk alienating voters?”

  60. 60.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Every legislative victory should be celebrated but it’s gonna take a whole lot more attrition before we change the overarching narrative. America’s owners are by and large white and conservative and until they are no more, they will control the narrative. The times, they are a-changing, but it’s slow change.

  62. 62.

    jl

    @Baud: ” Shorter media: When he underpromises, it’s harder to ding him for failing. ”

    I just don’t see how the public will forgive the Democrats for underpromising and overperforming, after corporate media tells them that the actual great result was just a cynical trick all along.

    The Baud 23rd and a half century administration policy of dramatically underpromising and even more dramatically underperforming will be the fresh air that brings back national greatness and popular good will.

  63. 63.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Matt McIrvin: I can’t remember which winger, one of Federalist writers I think, posted the other day Harris and Obama are pulling the strings.

  64. 64.

    germy

    Once again reminding you all that the Ides of March is a scam holiday invented by Big Dagger to sell more daggers

    — SparkNotes (@SparkNotes) March 15, 2021

  65. 65.

    Ghost of Joe Liebling*s Dog

    @zhena gogolia: I think that was a typo for “asset.”

     

    Could reasonably also have been “asshat,” but then “Russia” wouldn’t have made as much sense.

    Can someone clarify?

  68. 68.

    MisterForkbeard

    @RSA: I think Cruz identified the core problem. He thinks Tucker Carlson is the “civilian leadership” of the country.

  69. 69.

    zhena gogolia

    @sab:

    At this point in time (terrible expression), there is no one employed by the New York Times who could plausibly be called a “Russia expert.”

  70. 70.

    Arclite

    It’s nice to see The Shock Doctrine used for good once in a while. Good on Biden and the Dems for actually trying to improve things for the populace, even though half of them will think that normal governance is “socialism” or whatever.

  72. 72.

    germy

    One of the funny things about Hillary Clinton’s podcast, which I love, is that guests are always talking about how depressed they were when she lost. And she always responds with an enthusiastic, “I know, right?”

    — Max Weiss (@maxthegirl) March 9, 2021

    I really do challenge anyone who has demonized Hillary over the years—you know who you are—to listen to three episodes of her podcast. You’ll find her to be an uncommonly wise, kind, curious, erudite, and witty person. The opposite of who you think she is.

    — Max Weiss (@maxthegirl) March 9, 2021

  73. 73.

    jl

    @Baud:  And free stale beer for all will make a clever policy package to really seal the deal. Drunk on failure is an ancient recipe for success whose time has come again, as we just saw over the last four years.

  74. 74.

    sab

    @Matt McIrvin: I see your point, but is violating norms even a thing any more? Trump ate all the norms. And having a competent  articulate  honest press secretary do the daily stuff used to be the norm.

  76. 76.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

     Biden may have had the most impressive first 50 days of any president since Franklin D. Roosevelt — despite the rockiest transition since 2000 (thanks to the Republican insurrectionists). He refused to be distracted by his disgraced predecessor, by inane media questions or by right-wing memes.

    Jen Rubin

    Happy days are here again,
    The skies above are clear again
    Let us sing a song of cheer again
    Happy days are here again,

    Altogether shout it now
    There’s no one who can doubt it now
    So let’s tell the world about it now
    Happy days are here again,

  77. 77.

    debbie

    @karen marie:

    CNBC reported that four GQPers crossed the aisle:

    The four Republicans to vote in favor of Haaland’s confirmation on Monday were Murkowski, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

     
    Guess a few others were playing hookey.

  79. 79.

    cain

    @Jeffro: 
    It’s about time we use the Karl Rove playbook, keep doing shit, and while they are busy trying to react to that, do even more new shit – till their head explodes.

  82. 82.

    Bluegirlfromwyo

    @Matt McIrvin: Don’t suspect. I’ve had many a GQPer tell me than I really voted for Kamala to shove her down their throats, not Joe Biden. We’re hoping he kicks off or antifa assassinates him or something.

  84. 84.

    Ken

    @Baud: May I suggest “Baud! 20XX! Expect nothing and get twice that!”  As a more positive message, it will poll better with the voters.

    I’ll send the bill for my consulting fee.

  86. 86.

    Zelma

    @Baud:

    Mostly, if not entirely, female women of color.  Did you hear any complaints about Austin or the new EPA head?  I wonder why this could be?

  87. 87.

    debbie

    @germy:

    You could have said the same thing about Hilary after listening to Howard Stern’s marathon interview with her.

  89. 89.

    Baud

    @Ken: Like.

    Not paying you though. I’m follow the Trump model of campaign finance.

     

    @Zelma: I believe Beccera will be a 51-50 vote.  Male.

  90. 90.

    RSA

    @Miss Bianca:

    ETA: fifty-FRIST in grasping the essential point, here, I see! As usual!

    Hey, I neglected to mention the essential point in the first place. :-)

  91. 91.

    Fair Economist

    @Mary G:

    Deb Haaland approved for Interior 50-38. Loving the array.

    12 Republicans running away from a tough vote? Love it!

  92. 92.

    jl

    I saw a twitter tweet with a link to before and after CNN clips. Pundits  and a news actor shaking their heads that Biden’s goals were too ambitious and Democrats would be in disarray, then pundits and a news actor talking how country will lose faith when Biden administration actually gets something done.

    Corporate media narratives are a weird kind of space filling curve of learned national haplessness.

  93. 93.

    Ken

    @Baud: Oh, I didn’t expect payment. I just said I’d send the bill. That lets me write off the amount as an in-kind contribution to your campaign.

  94. 94.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @debbie:

    You could have said the same thing about Hilary after listening to Howard Stern’s marathon interview with her.

    I completely missed that. I believe Stern has change a lot in the last few years (?) but that surprises me

  95. 95.

    Ken

    So, given that so many people picked here picked up on Cruz calling Carlson “civilian leadership”, do you think there’s any chance he’s realized it was politically inept?  Or that the press will point out this gaffe?

  96. 96.

    germy

    Earlier today, I was walking through the House tunnel when I saw an officer watching @OANN, a far-right propaganda channel that spread dangerous lies about the 2020 election. Horrifying, to say the least.— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) March 15, 2021

  98. 98.

    germy

    Asked if Trump should encourage vaccinations, Biden says: "I discussed it with my team and they say the thing that has more impact than anything Trump would say to the MAGA folks is what the local doctors, what the local preachers, what the local people in the community say."

    — Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 15, 2021

  100. 100.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    listening to Pod Save America, they played a clip of a White House reporter reading out a proposed statement of praise for trump that Biden should make in praise of “Operation Warp Speed”. I just assumed it was the Doocey boy speaking. It was Peter Alexander of MS/NBC.

  101. 101.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Bluegirlfromwyo: If confronted with that claim I am seriously tempted to shout “YOU FIGURED US OUT!!! BOOGA BOOGA!” I mean, I on my 2020 primary list Kamala Harris was definitely ranked above Joe Biden, and I wouldn’t exactly be sad if she became President someday. Of course there’s no earthly reason beyond racism and sexism combined to be particularly frightened of that possibility.

    But, on the other hand, Biden is doing really well so far and I’m not particularly bothered by him hanging on for a long long time either. And he’s probably a better shot for reelection in 2024 than Harris, so yeah.

  102. 102.

    Ruckus

    @RSA:

    Ted thinks he’s salt of the earth. He doesn’t realize that he’s actually the part of the cowshit that no one likes. The smell.

  103. 103.

    germy

    NEW: In every corner of the globe, taxes on multinational corporations have gone down, down, down

    Janet Yellen’s big objective: Get the world to agree to end the “race to the bottom” w/ a new minimum tax

    Meet Yellen’s “Paris climate accord of taxes” https://t.co/9ShWbYU28b

    — Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) March 15, 2021

    I like her.

  105. 105.

    PJ

    The “Dems in disarray” narrative has been around for probably 30 years now, and probably many reporters grew up hearing it so much that it’s just as ingrained in them as the Pledge of Allegiance (something else that should be discarded), even if they think of themselves as liberals or leftists.  It’s going to be really difficult for them to lose that perspective.  No matter what Biden or the Democrats accomplish over the next four years, it will always be a bad thing for them and for the country in the eyes of most of the press.

  108. 108.

    Butter Emails

    @Bluegirlfromwyo:

    Don’t suspect. I’ve had many a GQPer tell me than I really voted for Kamala to shove her down their throats, not Joe Biden. We’re hoping he kicks off or antifa assassinates him or something.

    Actually, I’m hoping Joe manages 8 years and then Kamala does another 8 years followed by another Democrat to be named later.

  111. 111.

    Mary G

    Here is the list of Deb Haaland votes from senate.gov:

    Alphabetical by Senator Name
    Baldwin (D-WI), Yea
    Barrasso (R-WY), Not Voting
    Bennet (D-CO), Not Voting
    Blackburn (R-TN), Nay
    Blumenthal (D-CT), Yea
    Blunt (R-MO), Nay
    Booker (D-NJ), Yea
    Boozman (R-AR), Nay
    Braun (R-IN), Nay
    Brown (D-OH), Yea
    Burr (R-NC), Nay
    Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
    Capito (R-WV), Nay
    Cardin (D-MD), Yea
    Carper (D-DE), Yea
    Casey (D-PA), Yea
    Cassidy (R-LA), Nay
    Collins (R-ME), Yea
    Coons (D-DE), Yea
    Cornyn (R-TX), Nay
    Cortez Masto (D-NV), Yea
    Cotton (R-AR), Nay
    Cramer (R-ND), Nay
    Crapo (R-ID), Nay
    Cruz (R-TX), Nay
    Daines (R-MT), Nay
    Duckworth (D-IL), Yea
    Durbin (D-IL), Yea
    Ernst (R-IA), Nay
    Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
    Fischer (R-NE), Nay
    Gillibrand (D-NY), Yea
    Graham (R-SC), Yea
    Grassley (R-IA), Nay
    Hagerty (R-TN), Not Voting
    Hassan (D-NH), Yea
    Hawley (R-MO), Nay
    Heinrich (D-NM), Yea
    Hickenlooper (D-CO), Not Voting
    Hirono (D-HI), Not Voting
    Hoeven (R-ND), Nay
    Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Nay
    Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
    Johnson (R-WI), Nay
    Kaine (D-VA), Yea
    Kelly (D-AZ), Yea
    Kennedy (R-LA), Nay
    King (I-ME), Yea
    Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
    Lankford (R-OK), Nay
    Leahy (D-VT), Yea
    Lee (R-UT), Nay
    Lujan (D-NM), Yea
    Lummis (R-WY), Not Voting
    Manchin (D-WV), Yea
    Markey (D-MA), Yea
    Marshall (R-KS), Not Voting
    McConnell (R-KY), Nay
    Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
    Merkley (D-OR), Yea
    Moran (R-KS), Nay
    Murkowski (R-AK), Yea
    Murphy (D-CT), Yea
    Murray (D-WA), Yea
    Ossoff (D-GA), Yea
    Padilla (D-CA), Yea
    Paul (R-KY), Nay
    Peters (D-MI), Yea
    Portman (R-OH), Nay
    Reed (D-RI), Yea
    Risch (R-ID), Nay
    Romney (R-UT), Nay
    Rosen (D-NV), Yea
    Rounds (R-SD), Nay
    Rubio (R-FL), Not Voting
    Sanders (I-VT), Yea
    Sasse (R-NE), Nay
    Schatz (D-HI), Yea
    Schumer (D-NY), Yea
    Scott (R-FL), Nay
    Scott (R-SC), Nay
    Shaheen (D-NH), Yea
    Shelby (R-AL), Nay
    Sinema (D-AZ), Yea
    Smith (D-MN), Yea
    Stabenow (D-MI), Yea
    Sullivan (R-AK), Yea
    Tester (D-MT), Yea
    Thune (R-SD), Nay
    Tillis (R-NC), Nay
    Toomey (R-PA), Not Voting
    Tuberville (R-AL), Nay
    Van Hollen (D-MD), Yea
    Warner (D-VA), Yea
    Warnock (D-GA), Yea
    Warren (D-MA), Yea
    Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea
    Wicker (R-MS), Nay
    Wyden (D-OR), Yea
    Young (R-IN), Nay 

  112. 112.

    Josie

    @germy: ​ Max Weiss may be surprised at the personality he sees in Hillary, but I’m not. Anyone who has paid attention over the years should have known this.​
      ETA: I just realized that he is speaking to those who dislike her, so I guess I should not have criticized him.

  116. 116.

    jl

    @Butter Emails: I voted Dem to stop the madness. I’d have voted for Conan O’brien and Any Richter if I needed to. At least the jokes would have been better.

  118. 118.

    Butter Emails

    @Doc Sardonic:

    mix of Dems and GQP drawing a check while not working, including both Colorado Senators And no surprise Micro Rubio.

    The Colorado Senators are likely absent due to the snow storm. Same for Wyoming.

  119. 119.

    KrackenJack

    @Tony Jay: ​
     

    Yes. The Guardian has lost what little value it had in TFG era. It dropped precipitously during the Dem primaries and never recovered. They occasionally have off beat news of the world pieces that are interesting.

  123. 123.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Josie: I also heard Al Gore is an actual human with wisdom and feelings and stuff and not a caricature who worries about wearing earth tones. :)

  126. 126.

    Procopius

    @MisterForkbeard: Well, let me see. The vote was 51-40. Four Republicans voted for her (Including Lindsey Graham, WTF is that about?). That means that three Democrats did not. I think we should be hearing their names.

  127. 127.

    Sloane Ranger

    @RSA: Since when has Tucker Carson been part of your country’s civilian leadership? I thought he was a Fox TV host and conspiracy theorist.

  128. 128.

    Josie

    @Just Some Fuckhead: ​
     And Uncle Joe is frail and senile. Our top notch media has much to answer for. They may not start these memes, but they sure don’t do anything to knock them down.

  129. 129.

    Starboard Tack

    @sab:

    Balloon Juice at night used to bite the heads off newbies/lurkers.

    I’m kind of a newbie/lurker. I’ve been hanging around here for a few months and the place doesn’t faze me. But, then, I was raised by wolves.

  132. 132.

    sab

    @Mary G: Of course Rob Portman voted nay, because he just can’t help being a low-key partisan dick. Just cannot help himself.

  135. 135.

    Cameron

    I have not been paying attention. Which branch of the military did Tucker Carlson serve in? And, no, I don’t count the Fauntleroy-Wankfellow Fife & Drum Corps. Ted Cruz? Who cares?

  136. 136.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Josie:

    They may not start these memes, but they sure don’t do anything to knock them down.

    Or they may start them. :

    At any rate, there’s probably not a day that goes by where Al Gore doesn’t regret giving us the internet.

  138. 138.

    BruceFromOhio

    @Roger Moore: ​
     

    This is the drawback of constantly acting in bad faith. It’s really effective when people don’t know that’s what’s going on and engage you as if you were acting in good faith. But when they finally get the idea that you’re acting in bad faith, they’ll give up dealing with you completely and you lose whatever leverage you might have had to negotiate.

    Maddow did an entire segment on exactly this recently, and it was blatant and devastating.

  139. 139.

    Ruckus

    @sab:

    I don’t recall anyone as good as Jen Paski every being press secretary.

    I’m sure it’s possible but she is extremely good at listening and having the right answer at her fingertips. She does look down so an assistant may be giving her notes, regardless she is very, very good. Smooth, great diction, spot on answers and comebacks that smack a wiseass right upside the head, without being at all smartass. It’s a gift.

    I had to talk to lots of people and give answers on the fly when I worked in pro sports and it is a tough gig even if you know the answers. Dealing with a bunch of smartasses at the same time is a lot harder.

  146. 146.

    Jeffro

    @Ken: spot on

    this is essentially exactly what they’re saying…”why isn’t President Biden coming down here and subjecting himself to a metric shit ton of Republican-framed questions for our entertainment?  Why does Jen Psaki keep answering all of our questions or directing us to people who can answer them with actual , you know, facts and stuff?”

  147. 147.

    The Pale Scot

    Citizen Leadership? Oh, you mean Commissar Carlson? Good man, he explains party line quite efficiently.

  149. 149.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Ruckus: I’m with sab. None of that stuff matters any more. If not  (also) because Trump blew up all the norms, but because he showed they aren’t necessary.

  150. 150.

    tokyokie

    I’m surprised Fled Cruz didn’t demand that the meeting he requested be held in a Caribbean resort.

  151. 151.

    Jeffro

    @germy: this has always been the elephant hiding in plain sight, as it were: as taxes on the rich and corporations have gone down, the ability of democratic governments to deliver what they used to be able to deliver for people has also gone down, and so discontent has been rising, rising, rising.

  152. 152.

    Jeffro

    @Butter Emails: Jesus, over two straight decades of having democratic administrations in power… it’s like bringing on the rapture, only with taco trucks on every corner also too

  155. 155.

    Brachiator

    @Jeffro:

    this is essentially exactly what they’re saying…”why isn’t President Biden coming down here and subjecting himself to a metric shit ton of Republican-framed questions for our entertainment?

    The press conference is a variety show with reporters as the master of ceremonies.

    This is a waste of time, especially if reporters are asking stupid or “gotcha” questions trying to get a reaction from the president instead of information.

  156. 156.

    Bill Arnold

    @zhena gogolia:

    there is no one employed by the New York Times who could plausibly be called a “Russia expert.”

    For many areas, the NYTimes does not even consult with subject-matter experts, preferring talking with talkative people in positions of power, and advancing narratives being pushed by the journalists or their management. (I’ve been appalled over the years about a lot of technology reporting; recently the NYTimes reporting on computer security (e.g. SolarWinds/++, including attribution) has been cringingly, dangerously bad.)
    (Some of the science reporting isn’t terrible, i.e. basically translates to general-public the underlying research papers. In a few other areas where there are academic papers to verify with, I’ve seen accurate reporting.)

    Gell-Mann Amnesia effect

    Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray’s case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward—reversing cause and effect. I call these the “wet streets cause rain” stories. Paper’s full of them.
    In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know.

  159. 159.

    Patricia Kayden

    There is an effort to recall Gavin Newsome. Calls for Cuomo to resign. Where do I sign up to recall Desantis, the guy who is selling access to covid vaccines?— ??Melissa ? (@MeliMels99) March 15, 2021

  160. 160.

    karen marie

    @germy:

    Fixed it.

    I really do challenge anyone who has demonized Hillary over the years—you know who you are—to listen to three episodes of her podcast. You’ll find her to be an uncommonly wise, kind, curious, erudite, and witty person. The opposite of who you think say she is.

  161. 161.

    AWOL

    @Amir Khalid: Limbaugh was hailed as leader of the fascists in 2000 after Bush’s theft and honored by his thugs holding political office. With Limbaugh now a maggot brain, Chicken Brother is the new Propagandist in Chief for race-based fascism.

  165. 165.

    StringOnAStick

    @Jeffro: Yellen has a great idea with this universal tax level on multinational companies.  I sincerely hope she can sell this idea throughout the world because you are exactly right that rising discontent has a whole lot to do with what governments can no longer supply to their citizens thanks to tax shirking by these entities.  It’s taking SP Warren’s tweet about the 0.1% free riding on the US middle class and applying it on a larger scale.  Both are essential to saving democracy throughout the world

  167. 167.

    Bill Arnold

    @Sloane Ranger:

    Since when has Tucker Carson been part of your country’s civilian leadership?

    He was a key policy advisor[1] during TFG’s period of control of the reigns of US power. (Some of the rest of the Fox lineup also had important positions feeding TFG’s mind.)
    [1] /snark

  168. 168.

    Ruckus

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    I don’t disagree with you, was just saying that being as competent as she is actually takes skill, which she shows every minute she is there.

    IOW it’s nice that if you do listen to what she says it’s not like you are going to have bullshit filled ears, which was every moron that had anything to do with shitforbrains, that’s all you ever got, pure bullshit, and lots of it.

  169. 169.

    Ken

    @Bill Arnold: The Gell-Mann amnesia sounds like a story, might have been from Asimov.  The setting was at some multi-disciplinary conference, and somehow the conversation turned to Velikovsky’s then-recent Worlds in Collision.

    The physicist says, “Of course his physics is utterly implausible, but I thought his archaeological analysis was fascinating.”

    “No,” says the archaeologist, “his archaeology was utter crap, though I was intrigued by his interpretation of mythology.”

    At which the classicist says, “No, he was quite wrong in every one of his readings. But I was impressed by his physics.”

  170. 170.

    stinger

    Yeah, no, Tucker Carlson isn’t part of “our country’s civilian leadership”. But what got me even more is this part of the Cruz quote:

    risk of creating a culture of contempt for our country’s civilian leadership within the enlisted ranks and among junior officers

    What he means is within the MALE enlisted ranks and MALE junior officers. Senior military leadership standing up for women in the military runs zero risk of generating contempt among female enlisted and female junior officers. Cruz can’t even acknowledge their existence when discussing them!

  171. 171.

    Ken

    @StringOnAStick: I like Yellin’s idea too, but I suspect that if there’s even the slightest loophole, we’ll end up with all international corporations headquartered in someplace like Upper Volta, because they aren’t part of the international tax deal.  It’s happened before, with ship registry.

  173. 173.

    Bill Arnold

    @Ken:

    if there’s even the slightest loophole, we’ll end up with all international corporations headquartered in someplace like Upper Volta, because they aren’t part of the international tax deal.
    Makes it easier to take them all out in one shot nationalization event. :-)
    I am surprised (a bit) and pleased that J. Yellen is talking about it.

  175. 175.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    @germy: ​

    I was walking through the House tunnel when I saw an officer watching @OANN, a far-right propaganda channel

    This is unbelievable. Every cop I’ve seen watches ESPN or Pornhub.

  179. 179.

    NotMax

    @Ken

    Pedantry noodges to note it hasn’t been Upper Volta since 1984, when the name became Burkina Faso.

    ;)

  180. 180.

    Matt McIrvin

    @PJ: “Dems in disarray” and also the Maureen Dowd-type “Democrats always overreach and it is their downfall”, which coexists weirdly with the left wing’s “Democrats always underreach and it is their downfall”.

  181. 181.

    Matt McIrvin

    @germy: The lunchroom at my previous job had a couple of TVs in it, and every single morning, somebody tuned them to Fox News or OANN or both. I never figured out whether that was a corporate directive from on high, or if it was the kitchen staff, or if it was somebody from the security station across the hall. I kind of suspect it might have been that last.

    Fortunately there were remotes lying around so you could change the channel or just turn them off.

  182. 182.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @The Pale Scot: To make things even easier so that you don’t have to turn javascript on and off in your browser all the time, install another browser like Opera with javascript disabled permanently. Then just copy and paste links into it.

    I’ve noticed that you can’t see the comments without javascript.

  185. 185.

    Mary Ellen Sandahl

    @Jeffro: ​Jeffro, I don’t really, truly LOL that often over what I read in any comments anywhere, but that dialog…! Read it to my sister, also not a prolific lol-er, and she did too.

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