Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

So many bastards, so little time.

This really is a full service blog.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

White supremacy is terrorism.

You cannot shame the shameless.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

The willow is too close to the house.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

No one could have predicted…

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

He really is that stupid.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Double Standard in Full Operation

Double Standard in Full Operation

by | 144 Comments

This post is in: 

If you can stand the pre-roll ad, you can watch the exchange Nuzzi is talking about here. Basically, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked a question that began by misquoting Biden as saying that he was confident that Putin will change his behavior. Biden fires back by saying, in part, “what the hell do you do all the time.” (Answer: ask stupid gotcha questions.) He then goes on to correct the record and does a bit of lecturing. Apparently, he even apologized to her later for getting a little snippy.

It. was. nothing. This is the fucking big leagues, and sometimes asking a dumb question gets you roasted.

This is completely different from how Trump treated the press, and I don’t think I need to explain that to anyone here, yet Olivia Nuzzi apparently needs it explained to her carefully, since her tweet would apply to Trump on pretty much any day that he talked to the press. I’ll put her on the long, long list of DC correspondents whose stuff isn’t worth reading, and note that she and everyone else on that list just doesn’t get that Trump and the Republicans are at all-out war with them, while Biden and the Democrats just want to be treated fairly.

Reader Interactions

144Comments

  1. 1.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    the press is so quick to circle the wagons, somebody needs to explain to them that this compulsion to frame the “gotcha” question, along the with often related question about process, is the reason they don’t get more support when they complain, as they were doing again a few days ago, that Biden hasn’t had a press conference in X days

  2. 2.

    SiubhanDuinne

    There’s going to be a lot of this kind of shit, I fear. The Beltway Villagers are just panting for a huge Biden or Biden-adjacent scandal so the can both-sides us all to extinction.

  3. 3.

    Hunter Gathers

    Imagine what Collins could achieve if she didn’t practice that sneering smirk in the mirror for 8 hours a day.

  6. 6.

    Major Major Major Major

    This is completely different from how Trump treated the press

    It does resemble a few snippy incidents, but iirc Trump wasn’t really wrong to insult some of them either. No, I don’t have examples off the top of my head, but a blind pig and all that.

    And of course this is wildly different from like, encouraging your supporters to assault members of the press.

  8. 8.

    Tractarian

    Getting snippy and personal with journalists is bad, mmkay? It was bad when Trump did it and it is bad when Biden does it.

    That said, Biden did it once, after a tense summit meeting, while jet lagged, and after a reporter belched out a false premise seemingly torn from GOP talking points. Trump did it every time a mic was in front of him.

    Anyway, it is about 1/1000000 as important as the substance of the summit itself. Unfortunately, “Biden competently and professionally represents the nation’s interests and does not prostrate himself” isn’t going to get the clicks.

  9. 9.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    I can’t think of any president in my life time Right or Left who had anything but open contempt for the White House press poll.

  10. 10.

    hitless

    @NotMax: 
    He said the Biden’s remarks were nothing…but that Nuzzi’s response is noteworthy for it’s thirsty bothsiderism.

  17. 17.

    debbie

    Interesting take. The reporter twisted his words…you twist the account of him responding to his words being twisted by further twisting what happened.— Joanne (@chirpchirp212) June 16, 2021

  18. 18.

    Baud

    She lied about what he said. By getting snippy, the media is on notice that they can’t get away with it.

  19. 19.

    TKH

    There you can see how lucky Tapper et tutti quanti (“No president has dared to not stroke our egos for 141 days, evah!”) are that Biden does not give press conferences! He would not be putting up with their bullshit. Good!

  20. 20.

    jonas

    Like a spoiled six-year-old, WH reporters don’t seem to have internalized the difference between “good attention” and “bad attention”. Getting a rise out of the president is seen as having pierced some layer of political obfuscation and gotten to the truth. Huzzah! Whereas very often, it’s because the question was so stupid and clearly asked, pace Nuzzi, in *bad faith* that you get clapped back at. But they don’t seem to care.

  22. 22.

    Tractarian

    @Major Major Major Major: Because it’s unprofessional. It’s counterproductive. And it’s distracting.

    @Baud: Kaitlan Collins is trending on Twitter; journalists and pundits are in a mad rush to defend her.

    I don’t see how this will deter journalists from spouting off GOP talking points in the next presser.

  23. 23.

    sdhays

    And this after yesterday (or was it Monday) blindly reporting that NATO was admitting Ukraine. Can’t major “news” organizations find anyone who can master the subject matter enough to not immediately misquote the President or pronounce dramatic news based on an incorrect parsing of a tweet from someone who’s first language is not English?

    Surely journalists of that caliber exist. Why aren’t they hired to be part of the WH press pool?

  24. 24.

    Mary G

    Olivia Nuzzi has been good friends with Rudy Giuliani for years and made a lot of freelance bank from the last four years of reporting the insane shit he told her while getting hammered at the cigar bar, and from his butt dialing her accidentally.

  25. 25.

    Baud

    @Tractarian:

    Biden was completely professional.

    Nothing will deter the media.  The audience is regular folks.

    Her entire question was premised on the idea that only D’s have agency, even over Putin.

  27. 27.

    Cacti

    Good for Biden.

    No need to be polite when one of the Villagers straight up misstates what he said.

  28. 28.

    Chris Johnson

    @Tractarian: You have to slap back at ’em and THEN politely apologize that they felt chastised when you slapped back. Not impossible.

    Can’t skip the first part, and need to negotiate the second part deftly enough that vacuous centrists think you were very decent about it.

    Anybody not vacuous knows it’s a trap in the first place and agrees with the slap-back. Just because these folks loudly claim to be impartial doesn’t fool anybody.

  29. 29.

    rikyrah

    46 is far better than me.

    One of them lying ass muthaphuckas attempts to lie ON ME, and I’m just supposed to take it?

    Oh hell no.

    Go 46.

    And, they all think that we forgot their song, dance and bullshyt that they did during Dolt45’s Administration, where he routinely literally threatened them, and they said what?

    Nothing.

    Nuzzi can take her trifiing azz and go sit with the rest of those clowns.

  33. 33.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, in the UK…

    On behalf of:
    Fishing
    Northern Ireland
    Services
    Manufacturing
    Musicians
    The Arts
    The City
    Young people
    Exporters
    EU citizens in the UK
    UK citizens in the EU

    We'd like to welcome farming to the list of those totally screwed over by Brexit.https://t.co/qgFRwIQnyl

    — David Schneider (@davidschneider) June 16, 2021

    (Points to an Independent.co.uk story about a trade agreement with Australia to cut tariffs on OZ exports to the UK and struck a provision to protect UK farmers for 15 years. Announced in Canberra and suppressed in the UK.)

    (via HappyToast)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  34. 34.

    matt

    @Tractarian: I guess remembering when people ask you bullshit questions is ‘getting personal’ if you have some really obtuse definition of personal.

  36. 36.

    Steeplejack

    Yes, Putin assassinates journalists, but the woke mob ratios them. You tell me who is the real threat to a free press.

    — New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) June 16, 2021

  37. 37.

    Bloix

    I thought it was a softball question.  Answer:  “There are areas in which Russia and the US share common interests and others where we do not.  This is not about being friends or having trust.  It is about identifying issues that can be resolved by diplomacy. We made progress in identifying some issues today.  Now we need to move forward to determine whether we can resolve them.”

    I think Biden’s irritability did him no favors, and it worries me that he’s so quick to show anger.  Showing anger should be a tactic for a world leader.  It should never be genuine, and it shouldn’t be possible for anyone – certainly not a journalist! – to provoke that response.

  38. 38.

    Steeplejack

    I thought Biden was incoherent and addled with dementia. Now you tell me he’s too quick with the sharp tongue?! C’mon, man, which is it?

  39. 39.

    Anne Laurie

    You come at the king… Nuzzi, keep in mind, is a journamalistic assassin by trade & inclination. She got her start writing about Anthony Weiner’s wandering eyes, and has done some great work exposing people like Giuliani as well. I wouldn’t trust her judgement, but she’s got a great eye for politicians’ weaknesses, and that can be useful, as long as you don’t mistake her for a friend.

    Kaitlin Collins is not in Cillizza’s class, but her reporting skills hardly match her prominence. I’ve never paid her much attention, because anything important that she reports — or, more likely, that happens while she’s reporting — will be picked up by better sources quickly. As happened here, apparently!

  41. 41.

    Elizabelle

    You guys, why not spend more time talking up the Rachel V. Scotts of the world (the ABC reporter)?

    Who gives a fuck about Nuzzi?  It is good to know that she can be unreliable.  Is that worth a full blogpost?

    So much good today.  Why glom onto the “we are so aggrieved!” shit.  Why be a mirror image of rightwingworld??

  44. 44.

    The Thin Black Duke

    No matter what the Media says, Biden is still popular, and they can’t stand it. That is what’s going on.

  45. 45.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, in Ukraine… KrebsOnSecuirty:

    According to a statement and videos released today, the Ukrainian Cyber Police charged six defendants with various computer crimes linked to the CLOP gang, and conducted 21 searches throughout the Kyiv region.

    First debuting in early 2019, CLOP is one of several ransomware groups that hack into organizations, launch ransomware that encrypts files and servers, and then demand an extortion payment in return for a digital key needed to unlock access.

    /
    CLOP has been especially busy over the past six months exploiting four different zero-day vulnerabilities in File Transfer Appliance (FTA), a file sharing product made by California-based Accellion.

    The CLOP gang seized on those flaws to deploy ransomware to a significant number of Accellion’s FTA customers, including U.S. grocery chain Krogers, the law firm Jones Day, security firm Qualys, and the Singaporean telecom giant Singtel.

    […]

    It’s not clear how much this law enforcement operation by Ukrainian authorities will affect the overall operations of the CLOP group. Cybersecurity intelligence firm Intel 471 says the law enforcement raids in Ukraine were limited to the cash-out and money laundering side of CLOP’s business only.

    “We do not believe that any core actors behind CLOP were apprehended, due to the fact that they are probably living in Russia,” Intel 471 concluded. “The overall impact to CLOP is expected to be minor although this law enforcement attention may result in the CLOP brand getting abandoned as we’ve recently seen with other ransomware groups like DarkSide and Babuk” [links added].

    […]

    Biden’s reminder that Ukraine needs to work harder on corruption, and the reminder to Putin that these IT attacks continuing will have consequence that he won’t like, are appropriate and timely.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  46. 46.

    rikyrah

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    The Beltway Villagers are just panting for a huge Biden or Biden-adjacent scandal so the can both-sides us all to extinction.

     

    They don’t have shyt on 46 or MVP.

    They are desperate for something on them.

  48. 48.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Bloix: welcome, poster I’ve never seen before!  Did you also comment here on the many, many times recent republican presidents did this?  Links will be helpful.

  50. 50.

    japa21

    Just a couple quick notes.

    1. Collins shouted out the question as Biden was leaving, after he had ended the news conference.
    2. She stated the question with an incorrect premise, misquoting Biden.
    3. Biden’s response was a bit short, but it was not hostile. There was some sarcasm involved. He also gave a fairly good overall answer.
    4. He also did apologize for his tone.

    I actually wish a few more politicians called out the media for misrepresenting view points, but I guess only the GQP can insult the members of the press.

  51. 51.

    Elizabelle

    @WaterGirl:   Skimming the blog:  (1)  Biden had a good meeting with Putin; (2) we know a little more how to deal with Manchin; some good discussion on  41 Senators in the chamber for filibuster/cloture; (3) Rosie made an appearance in a blogpost devoted to the mighty Steve.

    Olivia Nuzzi writes some interesting stuff on occasion, but she is slippery, and you have to read her stuff carefully.  We know who she is.  Don’t you guys read everything critically?

  53. 53.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Elizabelle:

    Who gives a fuck about Nuzzi? It is good to know that she can be unreliable. Is that worth a full blogpost?

    Wait, what? Am I not at Balloon Juice? “worth a full blogpost?” Are you kidding me? This Nutzie stuff IS the blog.

    C’mon, man!

  56. 56.

    sab

    On MSNBC Chuck Todd was outraged. Geof Bennett, on the osther hand, said ” In my experience, the only time Biden gets testy is when you misquote him or (perhaps purposely) miscontrue what he said.

    This is a litmus test for reporters’ competence.The more incompetent they are the more outraged they are on her behalf.

    It was a really stupid question she asked. Gotcha combined with a misquote.

  57. 57.

    Ken

    @Another Scott: I’m a little confused by one thing. Did the UK government really think they could hide the removal of these protections?  They haven’t installed the equivalent of the Chinese Great Firewall (yet), so their people can see news from overseas even if the British press patriotically publishes only what the government allows.

  58. 58.

    Martin

    Hearing some rumors that racist ideology might be added as a disqualifier for security clearances. Wondering if anyone else is hearing anything similar.

  60. 60.

    sab

    @Spanky: What is the internet protocol for correcting typos? I edit to correct typos. I do ETA if I add or change content.

  61. 61.

    Spanky

    @Martin: Oh jeez. Anyone white who grew up in the 60s is gonna flame their next polygraph unless the questions are very well worded. And that probably won’t change until after a couple of thousand bad responses.

  62. 62.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Dump once had Kaitlin Collins banned from the WH. Another time he refused to take a question from her during a press conference and ended the presser abruptly rather than speak to her.

    Funny but her colleagues did not leap to defend and support her on those occasions. I wonder what’s the difference.

  63. 63.

    Spanky

    @sab: I don’t need no steenking protocol. I just go back and fix typos, adding “eta” only if I’m in the mood. As a bunch of people here who read the AM comments can probably attest.

  64. 64.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @sab:

    On MSNBC Chuck Todd was outraged. Geof Bennett, on the osther hand, said ” In my experience, the only time Biden gets testy is when you misquote him or (perhaps purposely) miscontrue what he said.

    that’s interesting…

  65. 65.

    dr. bloor

    Late to pile on, but Nuzzi is a self-important trash hauler not worth bothering about.

  66. 66.

    Steve in the ATL

    @sab:

     

    Chuck Todd was outraged.

    That’s a good thing.

    @rikyrah:

     

    One of them lying ass muthaphuckas attempts to lie ON ME, and I’m just supposed to take it?

    Oh hell no.

    I don’t suppose you’ve ever been described as a “sassy black woman”?

  67. 67.

    Elizabelle

    To speak of good journalists:  WaPost ombudsman Margaret Sullivan’s latest column deals with panic hour at Fox News.  They’re back on top of the ratings, because:  culture war!
    Fox News trying to claim that Tom Hanks was ‘canceled’ is proof of its utter desperation
    You may have a hard time understanding how Dr. Seuss, Mr. Potato Head and Tom Hanks are connected, but that probably just means you haven’t been watching nearly enough Fox News recently.

    The top WaPost reader comment:

    Things Tom Hanks, and other well educated Americans never do:

    1.  Watch Fox News

    I scrolled through the reader comments, and one reader put up a comment that is similar to what gets discussed here; I liked it because the commenter was succinct.  It followed a discussion on what Fox sells is outrage.

    Black people see two worlds. The world they live in, and the world white people live in. White people see one world, the world they believe everybody lives in.

    White kids taught a white version of history grow up to become adults who live in a white world that cannot see white privilege. How can we see white privilege if our kids are taught there’s only one world?

    White people line up for the race at what they believe is the starting line and cannot see anyone who may have lined up behind them, or not lined up at all.
     

    Another reader comment:  Critical moron theory.  Heh heh.

    Schools really need to be teaching critical moron theory. Students need to know about the origins behind QAnon (evolving from the know nothings) and how it morphed the Republiscams. All thanks to the foreigner owning a major “entertainment” broadcasting outlet.

  68. 68.

    Another Scott

    Today, the House will take up legislation to make #Juneteenth a federal holiday. I thank @JacksonLeeTX18, @SenMarkey, and @JohnCornyn for their leadership in advancing this important measure.

    I look forward to bringing this bill to the Floor, and urge bipartisan support.

    — Steny Hoyer (@LeaderHoyer) June 16, 2021

    I heard a Senate press conference about it today. Lots of good statements, even from Cornyn who noted that Texas has had it as a holiday for years (decades?). Presumably it will be on Biden’s desk by the weekend.

    A very good thing.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  70. 70.

    zhena gogolia

    I’ve posted this twice today, and it may be up there somewhere, but we’re having guests for dinner for the first time since Christmas 2019 (with the exception of ordering pizza and eating it outside last summer), so I’m a little busy. But this bears posting repeatedly:

    My question to Mr. Putin today: What are you so afraid of? https://t.co/RPge8AonUu— Rachel Scott (@rachelvscott) June 16, 2021

  72. 72.

    Mary G

    @WaterGirl: Here is a cat tweet to cheer you up.

    Bought a triple cat bowl holder so when they’re eating the mogs can line up perfe ,,,Oh never mind. pic.twitter.com/S27b5L83Ut— John O’Connell (@jdpoc) June 15, 2021

    Also, remember getting Democrats to work together is like herding cats, but they will get there eventually

    ETA: Follow up tweet illustrates all you have to do to keep the blog running:

    Adapted to a scenario that only software developers will understand … pic.twitter.com/iiFtVSljbT— John O'Connell (@jdpoc) June 16, 2021

  73. 73.

    Elizabelle

    @Martin:   That would be excellent.

    They/we really need to do something about the racists/extremists in the military and police.  Get them out, and stop training them to surveil and kill the rest of us, for one thing.

    I am sure there is a multi-pronged effort afoot, even if it is still confidential.

  74. 74.

    Geminid

    @Elizabelle: Orwell’s Big Brother had his “Two-minute Hates.” Mr. Mix puts out a lot of good posts, but sometimes they are Two-hour Scorns. There is a willing audience, though.

  75. 75.

    Another Scott

    @Ken: Apparently BoJo’s people did.

    From the Independent.co.uk article:

    Tariffs will be scrapped immediately on imported beef and lamb from Australia, triggering accusations that the trade deal struck by Boris Johnson will send UK farmers “to the wall”.

    The small print of the first major post-Brexit agreement – revealed by Canberra, as the UK government tried to keep it under wraps – revealed a pledge to protect farmers for 15 years has been dropped.

    Instead, Australian farmers will effectively be handed tariff-free access from day one, up to a “cap” on sales that is 60 times the current level of imported beef.

    The detail was revealed as experts warned the overall economic boost from the deal would be “close to zero” – and the government admitted the average household would be just £1.20 a year better off.

    (See the original for embedded links – FYWP would have thrown me in the dungeon unless I stripped them out.)

    Winning!!1

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  77. 77.

    Wapiti

    @Martin: Makes total sense; further questions can determine if they belong to an organized group like the 3-percenters, Proud Boys, or whatever, and if they ever attended demonstrations riots. You need to know if someone has loyalties that might conflict with their duties and oaths to the US.

  80. 80.

    Elizabelle

    I don’t think people who do not understand what the phrase “Black Lives Matter” stands for should be in law enforcement, or in the military.  It would seem that Blue Lives would be safer if Black Lives were safer, too.

    And if you know any of these folks in real life, you see a lot of horrible stuff on their Facebook pages.  I hope that’s being scrutinized carefully, and that they have a way around those who have scrubbed their pages.  (A lot of people did some massive editing in the aftermath of January 6th, albeit not immediately.)

  82. 82.

    trollhattan

    @rikyrah:

    From your lips…

    Trump beat them like stray dogs five years running and they just…took it. His press secs did the same, and they just…took it. Hell, I remember Possum Queen essentially calling Jim Costa “special needs” and nobody defended Jim Costa or called Huck Jr. out on that shit.

    It’s broken. The whole setup is broken and yet we at least have a president who lives in the real world, not an imaginary one, and maybe the best press secretary I’ve seen. Are they not grateful? (Rhetorical question, that.)

  84. 84.

    Another Scott

    @Martin: It may have always been there as a disqualifier, just not looked at as closely as it always should have been.

    ClearanceJobs:

    Identified as the SF-86’s “Association Record” component, the innocuous title gives way in part to a question about whether the applicant has ever been involved in an organization dedicated to violently discouraging others from exercising their civil rights. Specifically, the question asks:

    “Have you EVER been a member of an organization that advocates or practices commission of acts of force or violence to discourage others from exercising their rights under the U.S. Constitution or any state of the United States with the specific intent to further such action?”

    Most people can quickly mark “no” without a second thought. Unfortunately, as we’ve learned from recent news stories, there are still some security clearance holders who spend their free time affiliating with extremist fringe groups and espousing violent, hateful rhetoric.

    One such example was a now-infamous 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, VA. Rally-goers quickly attacked peaceful counter-protestors; news reports identified a 29-year-old white man caught on camera viciously beating a black protestor as a cleared Department of Defense contractor.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  85. 85.

    Ken

    @Another Scott: I will admit a second point of confusion, which was if you protect everything that UK farmers produce for 15 years, that leaves the Australians what?  Kangaroo tail and other specialty meats, and perhaps some tropical fruits?  It makes me question whether the protections were ever actually in the agreement.

  86. 86.

    Steeplejack

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Bloix may be an infrequent poster, but “they” (gender unknown) have comments going back at least to 2010.

    To everybody—here’s a useful query on the Google:

    site:balloon-juice.com “bloix”

    Substitute the nym of any other unknown commenters possibly threatening our purity of essence.

    I wish we would drop this whole “new poster whose nym I haven’t seen before” thing. We benefit from the addition of new voices, even if—horrors!—they disagree even slightly with the Balloon Juice hive mind conventional wisdom. Bloix didn’t come across as a troll (although some new commenters occasionally do). Mere disagreement shouldn’t be the litmus test.

  87. 87.

    trollhattan

    @Another Scott:

    So, all those foreigner-traumatized Midlanders I heard supporting BREXIT on the UK media’s Nigel safaris, will now be put on the dole because of pesky Aussies? I kanna keep up.

  88. 88.

    lowtechcyclist

    Get back to us, Ms. Nuzzi, when President Biden refers to you and your colleagues as “enemy of the people.”

    Until then, kwitcherbitchen.

  89. 89.

    Quiltingfool

    OT, kinda – I hope Kay is reading this.  I just saw a tweet wrt Ohio Leg  kicking their Leader to the curb (no pun, just an abbreviation).  Guess they got tired of putting up with his outlaws ways…

  90. 90.

    Ken

    @Quiltingfool: Confirmed by various news feeds. Except for your speculation about the reason they finally did it; I will stick to my personal theory that he didn’t spread the bribe money around enough.

  92. 92.

    trollhattan

    @Spanky:

    I hate those tiny fucking “keys.”

    Added needed scare quotes. IDK how fucking big a phone I spring for I can’t do anything more than poke two thumbs at the fake keyboard. Watching the kid’s thumbs blur while typing as fast as I can on a real keyboard is a thing of wonder. Still has doll hands at 19, so that has to help.

    Always crack up at women with Really Long Salon Nails doing it, some quite well. Where beauty and efficiency face off in a duel of death.

  93. 93.

    trnc

    @NotMax: ​
     

    Overreaction and making mountains out of molehills is what Twitter is for.

    I’m not on Twitter, so I will happily fulfill the quota on everyone’s favorite top 10,000 blog.

  96. 96.

    WaterGirl

    @sab: in my book, correcting typos or changing to make yourself more clear, correcting poor grammar or whatever, does not require an “edit” or “ETA”.

    When adding something entirely new or changing your opinion, that’s when i make sure to add “edit”.

    For what it’s worth.

  100. 100.

    WaterGirl

    @Another Scott: It is a good thing, even if they are just voting for it so maybe some of “the blacks” will vote for them in the next election.

    Is it the new “I have a black friend”, so I can’t be racist?

  101. 101.

    sab

    @Quiltingfool: They are all crooks. His actual indictment made them look bad, and his constituents reelecting him made them look worse. In Ohio the G in GOP stands for grift these days.

  103. 103.

    Kay

    @Quiltingfool:

    Lawmakers in the GOP-controlled Ohio House removed Rep. Larry Householder from the chamber, ousting the former leader in a 75-21 vote Wednesday.

    It’s good for governance but it would be better for Democrats if they had kept him. The D campaigns were going to focus on how corrupt they are, with his scandal as the lead because it was so outrageous .

    The 2006 “wave” year in Ohio was because of GOP corruption. It was a good national environment too, but the state races were all about corruption, all the time.

    Householder collected money from every person in the state to bail out a campaign donor:

    Householder and the rest of the racketeering operation returned FirstEnergy’s largesse by ramming through HB 6, the law that bailed out FirstEnergy’s nuclear and coal plants that were economically struggling, as well as other coal plants in which FirstEnergy held partial ownership.
    The bill – which cost electric customers in Ohio billions of dollars – also undid Ohio’s standards requiring utilities to use renewable energy for a modest portion of their generation, and to help customers save electricity via energy efficiency measures.

    The only reason they got caught is one of the co-conspirators went to the FBI.

  104. 104.

    WaterGirl

    @zhena gogolia:

    we’re having guests for dinner for the first time since Christmas 2019 (with the exception of ordering pizza and eating it outside last summer), so I’m a little busy.

    I totally get that.  I had company for my birthday earlier in the week, and it felt strange but nice to be getting ready for company! I am not used to thinking about presentation or what pretty plates or glasses to use.  When it’s just me, I drink wine out of a juice glass!

    I hope you have as nice a time with your company as I did!

  107. 107.

    NotMax

    @sab

    As I don’t have access to the edit function (by personal choice of system configuration), my errors are immortal.

    :)

  108. 108.

    laura

    @Bloix: It should never be genuine, and it shouldn’t be possible for anyone – certainly not a journalist! – to provoke that response.

    OFFS- behold! A Man has arrived to ‘splain politics! Please, dear sir, elucidate on this important topic, for I am but a foolish virgin.

  111. 111.

    Ruckus

    @Tractarian:

    The press shouldn’t/doesn’t get a free ride. Bullshit is bullshit, no matter who says it or when they say it and It should be called out. And that’s what The President did.

    This concept that the president owes the press something, that’s bullshit. Now sure they might/will write about it when he gives them what they deserve and yes bad press is bad press, but if they want to play gotcha, it is a two way street. No one should have to put up with being treated like that.

  112. 112.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    Color me surprised. Last I heard, they were objecting to removal because he hadn’t been found guilty yet.

  114. 114.

    piratedan

    @Elizabelle: totally agree, I would rather see pointed questions like this (even of our own politicos if accurate) promoted for nothing else other than setting the marker of what we believe a free press should be.

     

    I don’t mind hard questions, not every question has a sound byte answer.  I would rather see a politico take a hard question and state that he will follow up with an answer and actually do it and devote time and attention to making a full answer and then actually having that explored.

    The cool kids club that the beltway and major media live in, full of their own self-importance, when there’s institutions allowing them this largesse is annoying as hell, especially so considering a re-election of 45 would have likely resulted in some of them being quietly killed slipping in bathtubs and falling from high elevations.  Their ability to ignore that and understand that makes me wonder just how up one’s own arse you can be.

  115. 115.

    James E Powell

    “OMG! Biden is doing it wrong!” Guys in the bleachers are yelling at the shortstop.

    Biden is fine. Voters, especially our voters, do not give a shit what Chuck Todd thinks about anything.

  118. 118.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Another Scott:

    “Have you EVER been a member of an organization that advocates or practices commission of acts of force or violence to discourage others from exercising their rights under the U.S. Constitution or any state of the United States with the specific intent to further such action?”

    “Well, I used to be a Republican.”

  119. 119.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Matt McIrvin:

     ” more active on LGM than here” is not a ringing endorsement. I don’t care to vet irregular posters through other blogs when they show up here every few years to insult democrats with no context.

  122. 122.

    brantl

    @Bloix: Oh, for god’s sake , grow up. This is the big leagues, there is no reason for him to tiptoe around a pinhead with no reading comprehension.

  123. 123.

    tinare

    @sdhays: Folks who are smart enough to be better journalists are also smart enough to have better jobs making more money than the mediocre members of the press we are left with, that’s why.

  124. 124.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    Maybe something more is coming out.

    David DeVillers, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, called it “likely the largest bribery, money laundering scheme ever perpetrated against the people in the state of Ohio.”

    The prior record was just 5 years ago- that was 60 million. This is 1.2 billion.

  127. 127.

    Cameron

    Well, looks like peace and harmony are restored.  I just saw (on Yahoo?) that “Collins during her live CNN report said she appreciated the apology, although she insisted it wasn’t necessary.”  So she, at least, does not appear to be OUTRAGED!

  128. 128.

    JaneE

    The media has been getting the GOP get by with redefining words at will for so long they have forgotten that those words do in fact have a particular meaning, and the English language is (in)famous for having a multitude of words that almost mean the same thing (and did at one time) which allows for a wide range of nuance or extremely discreet differences.  They really need a good dictionary and thesaurus.

    Confidence/confident is a word I interpret as at least more likely than not, and often means a belief in a very high probability but not quite a certainty.

    If the actual quote was as I saw it, I would say “quite possible” or “highly conditional based on the actions of actors I cannot control” would be closer to what he meant.

    If I had been Biden, I would have asked her if she speaks English and then told her to not put her words in his mouth.  I don’t blame him a bit for being testy about someone setting up a strawman argument and expecting him to treat it as an actual question.

  129. 129.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    Kaitlan Collins has shit for brains and got what she deserved.  Disappointed that Biden apologized because he did nothing wrong.  Olivia Nuzzi is an insufferable horse’s ass. The White House Press Corps is a confederacy of dunces and I can’t recall the last time when any member of this group asked an intelligent question.

  132. 132.

    dnfree

    @Bloix: Joe Biden had aneurysms back in the 1980s. One of the possible results of brain damage is impairment of the gatekeeper part of the brain that allows people to catch themselves before a strong reaction like anger.  I have suspected for years that Biden suffers from damage to this mental function.  But that’s just my theory based on observations.

  138. 138.

    MCA1

    @Cheryl Rofer: Right?  I mean, it was neither of those things!  Kaitlyn Collins worked for F’er Carlson, for crying out loud.  It was ridiculous gotcha framing, and based on a false characterization.

  140. 140.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @debbie: ​Nuzzi retweets Haberman to support her bullshit tweet? She’s dead to me.

    Olivia Nutso can get in line right behind MAGAt Horriblewoman as a “urinalist” who deserves a three-group in her forehead.

    Just so no one will whine about what a “ghoul” I am, let me state for the record that I am not suggesting, let alone encouraging, anyone to actually plant a three-group in her forehead. Only noting that both of them richly deserve one, as “urinalists” (busily pissing against a wall hoping to stain it while blaming the foul smell on Democrats) who get paid waaaaay too fucking much to distort the news and mislead their audience while sucking the arses of their bosses and bosses’ bosses and the democracy-destroying Global Oligarchs they all in the end work for.

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