Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Dead end MAGA boomers crying about Talyor Swift being a Dem is my kind of music. Turn it up.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

This blog will pay for itself.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

I am pretty sure Katy Tur wasn’t always such a bootlicking sycophant.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

T R E 4 5 O N

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

President Biden is doing good where he can, and getting it done.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Republicans would impeach Biden if he bit into a whole Kit Kat rather than breaking the sections apart.

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

Republicans don’t trust women.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Big News (If We Can Keep It)

Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Big News (If We Can Keep It)

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  3. 3.

    Kent

    Weird how Trump coming out against it seems to have been the catalyst that got them finished.

  5. 5.

    zhena gogolia

    So all the Sinema panicking earlier today had no basis? I need you guys to explain stuff to me.

  7. 7.

    Baud

    I’m pretty sure I read how Biden’s worried because his legislative agenda was stalled.

  12. 12.

    Betty

    @zhena gogolia: What I saw is that she is objecting to the size of the reconciliation bill which Manchin has agreed to ( apparently with special projects for West Virginia).

  13. 13.

    Immanentize

    We are eating a grilled, local raised, London broil steak with twice cooked duck fat fries and garden green beans.

    Fight me.

  14. 14.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @zhena gogolia:

    So all the Sinema panicking earlier today had no basis? I need you guys to explain stuff to me.

    Two separate bills. This is the smaller, narrower bipartisan deal. Sinema is pre-objecting, hopefully just posturing, against the larger, I believe as-yet-unwritten, reconciliation bill that includes broader, human infrastructure. Pelosi says she won’t bring the former, the one we’re talking about here, to a final vote until the latter passes the Senate.

  15. 15.

    zhena gogolia

    I have decided to give up TCM in order to get basic cable with no Fox News. I cannot give another penny, even indirectly, to that fascist organization, with Carlson and Ingraham ridiculing the officers who testified yesterday.

  16. 16.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    Yeaaaah…..  I’ll believe it when the bill actually passes the senate.   How many times have the Republicans in the senate blown up a “Bi-partisan” deal at the last second?

  19. 19.

    dr. bloor

    @zhena gogolia: She’s stonewalling the follow-up $3.5T package, not the one they passed today.
    Comparatively speaking, today was the easy part of the two-step.​
     

    Edit: Or, what everyone else already said.

  21. 21.

    zhena gogolia

    @Betty:

    SO GIVE SOME SPECIAL PROJECTS TO FUCKING ARIZONA, DUH

    Maybe they need an arts center in the desert or something.

  23. 23.

    Betsy

    @Immanentize: Well, *I* just made a shepherd’s pie with grassfed ground beef, sweet corn, local onions and tomato broth, and local golden mashed potatoes, so, it’s on.

  25. 25.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: has anyone raised the possibility that Sinema is a deep fake? created in a lab in a subbasement of Politico, or more likely Axios, out of old shredded David Broder columns? or maybe Richard Cohen? They finally quietly fired that asshole, right?

  27. 27.

    zhena gogolia

    @Baud:

    Somebody has to explain to me how to get TCM on streaming without having it on cable. Everything I’ve seen has it tied to your cable package. But I’m not exactly tech-savvy, in case you hadn’t noticed.

  28. 28.

    Edmund Dantes

    And it’s also unless they changed a lot robbing Peter to pay Paul. Big chunks of that spending is coming from currently unspent Covid money.

  29. 29.

    zhena gogolia

    Wow, I waited all day for a politics thread, and now it comes at dinner time. See you later.

    Act 4 of Uncle Vanya tonight. Act 3 was pretty bad. They only really got Act 2 right so far. We’ll see.

  30. 30.

    dr. bloor

    @zhena gogolia: ​
    The money might be better thrown towards a senator who is actually interested in leveraging power for cash and their constituents–and who has far less to worry about with Minority Leader McConnell than Majority Leader McConnell. Murkowski? Collins looking to refurbish her “centrist” credentials? Romney after reading Moody’s analysis of the impact of the bill?

  32. 32.

    Betsy

    I’m thrilled that there’s no mention of highway expansions— instead, focusing on transit, rail, fixing what we’ve got (bridges, especially), and clean energy.

    * * Climate leaders don’t widen freeways * *

  35. 35.

    Elizabelle

    @zhena gogolia:   I want to hear if we can get TCM purely streaming, too.  I’d be up for that.

    Maybe that’s a way to get to Fox.  Write to the cable providers and tell them, I am cancelling your whole service because I do not want to pay for Fox News in the basic package.

    Money is the only thing that talks to some jerks.

  37. 37.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Kristin Wilson @kristin__wilson 2h
    McCarthy on the floor: “The vaccination rate for the members of Congress is over 85%.”
    Which means roughly 15% of the House isn’t vaccinated, and we know all the Democrats are.
    That’s 65 Republicans, give or take.

    that math is a hippo violation

    also, too, this.

  39. 39.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud:   Thank you.

    Does anyone have Sling?  Looks like one could get a basic package with TCM add-on for $41/month.

    Anybody?  How was the service?

  41. 41.

    dr. bloor

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Except she’s not really a fake.  My memory is vague, but my introduction to her was being against Net Neutrality.  She’s loopier than I imagined she would be, but this isn’t terribly surprising.

  42. 42.

    Wvng

    No one has yet mentioned that Pelosi has said the House won’t take up the Senate’s bill (should it pass) until the Senate passes the $3.7T reconciliation bill that Sinema has said she won’t support. If that is true then at the moment we are nowhere.

  43. 43.

    Immanentize

    @Geminid: I cannot tell you how great tasting twice-cooked duck fat fries are. First at 320. Then 350. It is a plus to be a horder in the kitchen

  44. 44.

    L85NJGT

    the odd political fight over medicaid expansion:

    “The governor remains opposed to the expansion of Medicaid in Florida,” a DeSantis spokesman said in March.

    Since then, Florida has, in fact, asked for more money for Medicaid. But DeSantis seems more interested in hiding the source of the money than obtaining it: Last week, Florida asked the feds for $1.1 billion for Medicaid to be taken from the American Rescue Plan funds.

    ….and another one:

    But he avoided using the words Medicaid expansion, saying, “I certainly don’t want to get bogged down by a moniker — saying I’m against this without looking at something when, if you really look at it, you may not be against that,” Hosemann said. “You may just be against some moniker.”

    So how many degrees of separation do we need here?

  45. 45.

    Mary G

    @Elizabelle: I have Sling. I watch it as much as I do Prime or Netflix, which isn’t much, but it has some regular channels for emergencies (local NBC, MSNBC). I watched Jan 6 on it.

  48. 48.

    Patricia Kayden

    Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) issues statement asking US House Select Committee on Jan 6 to call Mark Meadows and GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy as future witnesses— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) July 28, 2021

  53. 53.

    Immanentize

    @Betsy: Sorry but Shepard’s pie never has beef in it. Or else it would be Cowherd’s pie.

    But I still want some!

  54. 54.

    dmsilev

    @Kent:

    Weird how Trump coming out against it seems to have been the catalyst that got them finished.

    I read somewhere that he is all pissy because (a) that’s his natural state of being but also (b) because he somehow knows that Infrastructure Week became a running joke at his expense and Biden is getting done what he could not.

  55. 55.

    Cacti

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Sinema won her House seat as a liberal in a left-leaning district that includes Arizona State University.

    As soon as she won statewide office, she became a Republican-friendly centrist.

    I don’t think her principles run any deeper that getting herself into higher office.  And the Dem voters back home that she flipped the bird to are feeling none too friendly towards her these days.

  56. 56.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @zhena gogolia:

    Yikes! That’s pretty stern stuff for an old-movie hound (as opposed to an old movie hound). I wonder if you can get a subscription to TCM just by itself—that is, without Fox News.

    . . . Hmm, did a quick search, results unpromising.

  58. 58.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Cacti: I donated the federal maximum to her campaign back in 2018.  If she has a primary opponent, I’ll be donating to [hopefully] her.  Sinema can get fucked.

  62. 62.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Kent: ​

    Weird how Trump coming out against it

    Like I’ve said, very few elected Republicans are loyal to Trump personally, and not all that much of the base. What they are loyal to is Cleek’s Law, white supremacy, and the long, long-standing Republican belief that Democrats winning an election is inherently cheating. This often looks like loyalty to Trump, but it’s not. A few are. McCarthy seems to sincerely lick Trump’s shoes, and he’s House Minority Leader, which exaggerates things.

  64. 64.

    MomSense

    @Immanentize:

    So envious.  My mom decided to cook dinner tonight and as she has gotten older her palate has gotten sweeter.  Pretty sure she dumped a bunch of sugar in this casserole.
    This probably means she has been hating the food I’ve been fixing for her.

    UGH The guilt is constant with family.

  65. 65.

    dmsilev

    I very much enjoyed reading this article, and now I’m hungry for pasta:

    What is cacio e pepe and how did it take over the world?

    In 2010, chef Evan Funke spent 23 days in Rome eating cacio e pepe.

    “I saturated myself in order to understand this dish because I was so intrigued by it and flabbergasted by its simplicity,” he said.

    Cacio e pepe is traditionally made with just four ingredients: Pecorino Romano cheese, black pepper, pasta and pasta water. It’s named for two of them. Translated from Italian, cacio e pepe means cheese and black pepper.

    The allure of a dish made with so few ingredients is indeed rooted in its simplicity, in its intensity of flavors and textures. When made just right, the cheese melts into the reserved pasta water and clings to the pasta, creating a creamy sauce. The black pepper is abundant and sharp, with an unforgettable, addictive bite that hits like a shot of pure dopamine.

    In Rome, Funke ate everything from the worst iteration to the most “life-changing dogmatic versions,” made with tonnarelli, spaghetti, spaghettini, rigatoni and every pasta in between. He encountered creamy cacio e pepe and dry cacio e pepe. At times, an abundance of pepper made him want to choke. Some restaurants ground their own pepper; others used dust so fine it looked like it came out of the red McCormick box in your mom’s pantry.

  67. 67.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Baud:

    The problem is finding a package that includes TCM but not Fox News. Hulu + Live TV and AT&T TV both include Fox News. I don’t think you can “divest” it from their packages. Might be able to, but it would take some figurin’.

  70. 70.

    Mike in NC

    I don’t trust Moscow Mitch, that son of a bitch, to negotiate in good faith.

  74. 74.

    Geminid

    @Cacti: Kysten Sinema did win a newly created Arizona district in 2012 as a Democrat, but I am not sure she ran as a liberal. Sinema joined the Blue Dog Caucus her first session in Congress. So she had identified as a “centrist” for some years before her Senate run.

    Also, I think the District was not left leaning. At least, Sinema’s win in 2012 was very narrow. I think the district is now represented by former Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton, a possible challenger to Sinema in 2024.

  76. 76.

    Baud

    Re: Sinema. Is she prepared to blow up the economy? Because didn’t McConnell say the GOP won’t vote for the debt ceiling increase?

  78. 78.

    Betsy

    @Immanentize:  I think you’ll find that that American versions are usually made with beef, probably because lamb is so expensive here and much less eaten than in the Original Isles. But I have to agree the name refers to the real thing.

    (was delighted when in the UK to find that the fish and the lamb were always the cheapest entrees on the menu)

  80. 80.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Shit’s gettin’ real

    Deadline Hollywood @DEADLINE 3h

    EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has become the first major Hollywood studio to implement a blanket policy mandating vaccinations for the casts of all of their U.S. productions, as well as those who come into contact with them on set

  82. 82.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Betsy: When made with beef, it’s cottage pie.

    but I suspect it’s a bit like arguing that there’s no such thing as a vodka martini, or California champagne

  83. 83.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Immanentize:

    We are eating a grilled, local raised, London broil steak with twice cooked duck fat fries and garden green beans.

    Fight me.

    Why?

  88. 88.

    Geminid

    @Baud: Sinema did not say she would vote against any reconcilition infrastructure package, just that $3.5 trillion was too much. So in the end it could be that a package is passed that does not have everything Biden is asking for. But it also will not have a provision prohibiting any further infrastructure spending this decade.

  91. 91.

    satby

    @Immanentize: We are eating a grilled, local raised, London broil steak with twice cooked duck fat fries and garden green beans.

    Fight me.

    I had an Oscar Mayer hot dog cooked in the air fryer. Try to suppress your envy.

  92. 92.

    L85NJGT

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    AT&Ts ownership of Warner has been unfocused, to say the least. Hopefully they can get down to one streaming platform with levels of service once they get spun out to Discovery.

  94. 94.

    dopey-o

    @zhena gogolia:

    I have decided to give up TCM in order to get basic cable with no Fox News. I cannot give another penny, even indirectly, to that fascist organization …..

    I’ll bet that Turner Classic Movies has an app that will stream via Roku / Apple TV / Etc if you pay them a monthly subscription. I can’t wait until Faux is just a bad memory.

  95. 95.

    Betsy

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Well yes, in AU and UK.  Here in US, what’s named shepherd’s pie (at least in popular cookbooks) is usually beef although it’s a formal misnomer.  I always wondered about that when I was a kid or had a beef version at a “pub”.
    ?

  97. 97.

    Scout211

    @zhena gogolia:

    https://my.dish.com/flex-pack

    We are in a rural area with no options for any wired-in services for television or internet so we have Dish for our television.  I wanted to downsize our plan a few years ago and found that they have a “Flex Pack” plan that they never promote and you have to search for it on their website. It is very basic and less expensive that all of their other packages. It starts with 50 channels plus your local channels.  TCM is on that list of 50 and only CNN, not Fox News. You can add other packs like the News Pack (Fox, MSNBC), the Family Pack, the Sports Pack, etc. and the bill goes up but you can add a pack or discontinue a pack at any time.

  98. 98.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @Mary G: I think the “Biden” between big and deal is a euphemism for the F word, so you’re being redundant but I’ll allow it in this case.

  101. 101.

    Baud

    @dopey-o:

    They have an app but you have to have a cable subscription to use it. It does look like every TV package with TCM includes Fox.

  103. 103.

    dr. bloor

    @Baud: That’s a solid two weeks worth of viewing on Congressional Terms of Our Lives.  Or was that As the Congressional Term Turns?

  107. 107.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Geminid:

    It kills me that people like Sinema—usually Republicans—never have to say how much they think is the right amount, or what exactly that includes. It’s always just “less.”

  108. 108.

    WaterGirl

    @MomSense: I don’t know if it’s true, but years ago I learned that older people don’t taste sugar as well as they used to.  I learned that at some seminar, I think, and they served us cookies that hardly had any sugar so we would know what they taste like to old people.  The only other detail I recall is that the cookie did not taste good.

    So if your mom hasn’t liked what you have been making her, it’s not your fault.

  109. 109.

    Baud

    Was the $3.5 trillion figure the amount being tossed about if there were no bipartisan deal?

  115. 115.

    Martin

    @Geminid: Since Manchin is signaling support for the deal, Sinema will cave if Manchin is on board. She’s not going to die on that hill alone.

  120. 120.

    Geminid

    @Steeplejack (phone): I think Sinema sent a letter to Biden and Schumer saying that while she favored many items in the reconciliation package, $3.5 trillion was too much, but that she would “negotiate in good faith” on revisions. I think she’ll end up taking what she can get, but did not want to go out on a limb by giving a number. If the reductions fell short of her number, Republicans would mock her for this in the 2024 election. But if Sinema blows up the package, she may not even be nominated to run again. That could happen anyway if she stops the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

  121. 121.

    Another Scott

    @Edmund Dantes: I haven’t checked today, but that’s my recollection from discussions a few weeks ago. Federal budgeting is weird – there may be “reprogram the money you haven’t spent or lose it” deadlines involved. Dunno.

    Too much of the reporting on anything budget related is just horribly bad.  No context, no time frames, no discussion of what and why.

    “Congress passed an Eleventy Trrrriiiillllloon Dollar spending bill today.  Up Next: Is your toothpaste making your hair fall out??”

    :-/

    We will take bold action on climate in infrastructure legislation.

    We will re-establish America as a global leader in fighting the climate crisis, and put us on the path to meet @POTUS’s bold climate commitments.

    And we will put people and justice front and center. pic.twitter.com/4JW54GPne3

    — Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) July 28, 2021

    Given the Sequester and the Budget Control Act and all of the other cuts the national domestic budget has endured the last couple of decades, just about any domestic spending that can get a majority is good. There’s so much that needs to be done…

    It’ll be good to see what the Senate passes, and what the House Democrats do. Let’s see some sausage-making!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  122. 122.

    zhena gogolia

    What I want is TCM without Fox News. If that’s impossible, I’ll give up TCM. It hasn’t been as good since Osborne died anyway.

  125. 125.

    JPL

    @zhena gogolia:  My antenna picks up lots of stations, but I live outside a major city.   I do have Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney because of the grand imp, and stream CNN online.

  131. 131.

    zhena gogolia

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    I said to my husband, “The Balloon Juice people are trying to help me find TCM without Fox News.” He said, “That sounds like a quintessential Balloon Juice question.”

  132. 132.

    zhena gogolia

    @zhena gogolia:

    He is the greatest husband. He’s heard me watching so many Richard Armitage YouTubes that now he can do a perfect Richard Armitage voice. The phrase “in an Oxfordshire garden” plays a prominent role. Very fun when he throws it into a conversation.

  133. 133.

    Fair Economist

    @Wvng: We are not all the way, but this is a huge step forward since it solves Manchin’s process objections, and creates a big constituency for passing reconciliation, so this will be implemented. Very definitely getting somewhere.

  136. 136.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @Steeplejack (phone): Does Amazon Prime have a TCM add on? They have a bunch of those but not sure TCM is one of them. I’m on YouTube TV and generally like it but would give it up to take money out of Fox News’ pocket except I don’t know any viable alternative for live sports.

  139. 139.

    Geminid

    @Martin: Sinema knew Manchin’s position when she wrote her letter. She may not be able to get any reductions. But there may other moderate Senators on her side willing to see the package cut to, say, $2.9 trillion. There will be countervailing pressure from House Democrats to get the whole $3.5 trillion.

    So there will be a fight. I myself don’t much care how it turns out so long as a robust infrastructure is passed under reconciliation. That may be the last bite at the infrastructure apple in this Congress. If Democrats can pick up seats in 2022 and 2024, there will be more opportunities. And between the bipartisan and reconciliation infrastructure packages, the table will be set for strong, sustained economic growth, and I think that is what wins elections for a party in power

  140. 140.

    Another Scott

    @Frankensteinbeck: +1

    There are all kinds of stories about people attending his MAGAt rallies in person and getting bored with him after a few minutes.  They’re there for the experience and for the hippy punching and all the rest – not because of TFG.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  141. 141.

    Martin

    @zhena gogolia: I’d stop worrying about Fox News and every time you figure you’ve sent them $100, just have M4 walk by their  studio and throw a rock through a window. Should balance out  pretty well.

  142. 142.

    zhena gogolia

    @Baud: It looks as if I already have this TCM classics feature on my HBO Max. I can live without Ben Mankiewicz. He’s okay, but . . .

  144. 144.

    zhena gogolia

    @Martin: After what Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham did on their shows last night, I don’t want to feel that I’m putting even a penny in their pockets.

  145. 145.

    Another Scott

    @Geminid: +1

    But it also will not have a provision prohibiting any further infrastructure spending this decade.

    True, but it wouldn’t anyway. One Congress cannot prevent a future Congress from passing whatever legislation it wants, of course.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  146. 146.

    karen marie

    @Geminid:

     

    “In 2000, Sinema worked on Ralph Nader’s presidential campaign.”

     

    Well, fuck me.  Had I know that about her, I’d have been hard pressed to vote for her.  McSally is a vile excuse for a human being but Sinema’s turning that distinction into little difference.

    In the two years since she got elected, I’ve never gotten a live person on the phone when calling her office.  For the first several months, she didn’t even have an outgoing message and voicemail.

    Just thinking about her makes me want to punch things.

  147. 147.

    karen marie

    @dmsilev: Cacio e pepe is one of the most infuriating things you’ll ever try to make and end up tossing in the trash over and over and over again.

    There is some sweet spot in the size of the grate of your cheese that means the sauce will come together.  Anything on either side of that sweet spot makes a gluey mess.  Buy Trader Joe’s frozen.  Trying to make it yourself is a fool’s errand.  Much easier to make carbonara and call it a night.

  148. 148.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @zhena gogolia:

    I’m still laughing about your comment the other day that your husband likes Sonny Jurgensen. It made me picture him as one of those slightly dotty professors in a screwball comedy who turns out to have a winning system for playing the ponies (or some other plot-advancing attribute).

  150. 150.

    karen marie

    @Geminid: I want to know WHO THE FUCK IS SHE TO THINK SHE CAN DICTATE ANYTHING.  MY FUCKING SENATOR CAN FUCK RIGHT THE FUCK OFF.

    Can you tell she irritates me?

  151. 151.

    Another Scott

    @WaterGirl: We knew that there were cultural differences in foods, but it was really brought home when we went to a “French” bakery in Tokyo.  Beautiful looking desserts, as you’d expect, but hardly any sweetness at all.  (I haven’t been to France, so I don’t know if it was “authentic”, but the “American” food there sure wasn’t!)

    Agreed that people should get to use whatever condiments they want – but only after tasting!  (My father always put salt on watermelon, so I grew up thinking that was the way one was supposed to eat it.  Until I tried it without.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  152. 152.

    Geminid

    @Another Scott: Yes. I was just making the point that there will be other opportunities to get what might be left out of this bill. People disappointed at the final number will just have to work that much harder to elect more Democratic Senators and Representatives in 2022 and 2024.

  157. 157.

    CaseyL

    So the infrastructure bill will now be debated. They haven’t voted on the actual bill yet.  I’ll believe it when I see it.

  158. 158.

    zhena gogolia

    Can I just say I love Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, Tim Ryan, Adam Schiff, really all the people on the 1/6 committee even including the Repugs. Just to see two Republicans behaving like adult elected officials was so refreshing yesterday.

  160. 160.

    Ivan X

    @zhena gogolia: years ago our business (which is really just me and my life partner person) was approached by sales at WABC radio in NYC, which is a RWNJ outlet but we didn’t know that then. They made a cool demo ad for us on spec and we were ready to bite, and then they asked us which hosts we wanted to run on. We saw Hannity, Levin, etc, as well as a couple of more benign options, and looked at each other and said, you know what, might be  good for biz, but we cannot give a dime to these fucking people. So we didn’t.

    They were pretty mad about it, too, and we were like, look, there was no bad faith, we just didn’t realize the extent to which you promote something to which we are fundamentally opposed. I’m pretty good at compartmentalizing but there are bridges too far.

  161. 161.

    Geminid

    @karen marie: Your reticence is duly noted.

    How are Mark Kelly’s reelection prospects looking? I saw a state poll this spring showing him up 6 to 8 points over prospective Republican challengers.

  163. 163.

    dmsilev

    @karen marie: I’ve had good luck grating the cheese with a Microplane. Very small pieces, but airy rather than densely packed.

    Also works well for garlic, ginger, etc., and is much easier to clean than a box grater.

  164. 164.

    Another Scott

    @karen marie: She voted for Schumer for leader.

    That’s nothing to sneeze at – in fact, it’s just about the most important thing a senator does.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  165. 165.

    L85NJGT

    ATLANTA – Nearly 70 state lawmakers signed on to a letter drafted by state Rep. Matthew Wilson (D-Brookhaven) urging Gov. Brian Kemp to allow the legislature to take up the issue of Medicaid expansion during a special session this fall.

    Pass it, claim victory and go home. No one will remember by 11/22. Why the GOP keeps stringing this shit along….. when eight of the twelve non-expansion states have U.S. Senate elections next year.

    Anything that moves up healthcare in voter priority, loses the GOP seats, up and down the ballot. That’s why the party apparatchiks went wobbly on vaccination.

  166. 166.

    Another Scott

    @L85NJGT: Excellent point.  Smart Democrats know that.  GQPers that want to win elections know that too.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  167. 167.

    Ivan X

    @Cacti: I have read counterpoints in the comments on this very here blog that her political fortunes rose when she moved rightward from her original lefty positions and she gets a lot of support from Mormon moms, or something. No memory of whether it was a commenter I consider credible, but it stuck with me as a possible explanation for her contrarian idiocy.

  168. 168.

    japa21

    @L85NJGT: ​
      Isn’t it up to the legislature to decide what they will discuss. Does Kemp have the ability to forbid them to take up something?

  172. 172.

    Geminid

    @L85NJGT: Virginia Republicans blocked Medicaid expansion until the 2017 state elections, when they lost the Governor’s race and 14 House of Delegates seats to Democrats running on this issue. In the 2018 General Assembly session, 11 Republican Delegates and three Senators crossed the aisle and helped push expansion through. By the time the pandemic hit, 400,000 more Virginians were covered by Medicaid.

  175. 175.

    L85NJGT

    @japa21:

    Paragraph VII. Special sessions of the General Assembly. (a) The Governor may convene the General Assembly in special session by proclamation which may be amended by the Governor prior to the convening of the special session or amended by the Governor with the approval of three-fifths of the members of each house after the special session has convened; but no laws shall be enacted at any such special session except those which relate to the purposes stated in the proclamation or in any amendment thereto.

  176. 176.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Geminid: Yes, and anyone was paying attention knew that the the first $3.5T was just an opening bid.  There will be cuts, and people will crow about saving money.  Things will be added, and people will brag about bring projects to their states.  Something will be passed, and it will be big.

  177. 177.

    Gin & Tonic

    Bit of a long story here; I think I wrote about part of it before.

    Last year, a Georgian-born Ukrainian historian named Vakhtang Kipiani published a book entitled The Case of Vasyl Stus. Stus was a Ukrainian poet and dissident in the 1970’s, a founding member of the Helsinki Group, who was imprisoned several times. After his last conviction and imprisonment he was sent to a labor camp near Perm, where he went on a hunger strike and died in 1985. The book was based on (and consists mostly of) declassified Soviet-era archives.

    Upon publication, the pro-Russian, anti-EU Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk sued to prevent publication of the book, and to require removal of certain sections. In October, he prevailed in district court, whereupon every copy then available in bookstores was sold out in an hour. Kipiani and his publisher appealed, and in March the order was overturned. The book went to another printing and seemingly every adult in Ukraine bought a copy in a sort of Streisand effect.

    You may ask why Medvedchuk cared about this book? In 1980, when Stus was convicted of anti-Soviet activity, his court-appointed attorney, whom Stus did not want and vigorously opposed, understanding that he was a Soviet puppet, was one Viktor Medvedchuk. The book makes a compelling and well-documented case of his culpability in Stus’ conviction (he also “defended” other dissidents, with similar passivity and similar results.)

    What’s my point? Yesterday I had lunch with a visitor who brought me an autographed copy of the book. At 650+ pages of court filings and trial transcripts I will be sampling it in small bites – but now this is known as the “Medvedchuk effect” in Ukraine.

  178. 178.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @karen marie: For caci e pepe, I use a microplane to grate the cheese and freshly ground pepper. There have been a couple of occasions when it was a bit too peppery, but the sauce has always come out creamy. I think of it as a lower calorie Alfredo. And I love meals with 5 or so ingredients as much as tackling some 3 day Julia Child recipe.

  179. 179.

    Geminid

    @Ivan X: Sinema’s centrism may be a response to the fact that as of last October, 35% of Arizona voters were registered as Republicans, 32% as Democrats, and 31.7% as non-affiliated. A report noted that Democrats had lagged in third place behind the non-affiliated up until then.

    That November had a record turnout for Democrats. Significantly, that turnout was for the more liberal Biden and Kelly. Arizona Democrats might conclude that they don’t need someone as conservative as Sinema to win in 2024. But first they have to get Mark Kelly reelected next year.

  183. 183.

    James E Powell

    Sinema is determined to be a one-termer. I despise her and her stupid games. I am equally angry at the voters of Iowa, Maine, Montana, and North Carolina for putting us in this situation.

  184. 184.

    WhatsMyNym

    @zhena gogolia:   FOXless –  Sling TV’s “Orange” package does not have Fox channels, but you have to add TMC as an extra to the package.

  186. 186.

    NotMax

    @Elizabelle

    Yes. Dropped all cable in December. added Sling (Blue) + its add-on which include TCM. After price change upwards for Sling about a month ago, still am saving over $50 per month from when had cable. I access Sling via the Roku.

    Nice thing about the TCM stream (and other channels too, to be fair about it) on Sling is it includes a rotating library of titles which can be streamed on demand – no small selection either, maybe 40 or 50 choices at any given time. and as is streaming, whatever is being watched can be paused, rewound, exited altogether and returned to where one left off later on, and so on.

    Sling interface is kind of cluttered and goofy to navigate. However that clunkiness doesn’t even appear on the (personal) deal breaker chart.

    Roku unit not expensive at all, especially if you don’t need bells and whistles such as an earphone jack and voice activation. Only cost is the small outlay to purchase the unit – no additional fees thereafter. One does need to sign up on the Roku site online to register the device – which includes giving credit card info (only charged if/when you choose to access a paid channel/service (for example, Netflix) through the unit). Even though I *think* it is no longer the case, still I always recommend getting a Roku box as opposed to the stick as there were cases of only the stick being incompatible with certain models of certain brands of TVs. There are also some TVs which come with Roku already built in, requiring neither an external box or stick.

    This is not to automatically diss other similar products (Firestick, Chromecast, nVidia Shield, etc.), I simply have no experience with them.

  187. 187.

    Elizabelle

    @NotMax:   Thank you for the report.   And keep the Amazon Prime recommendations coming!

    Yeah, Sling Blue sounds like a very good deal, and the TCM movies on demand.  Might have to drag my big TV screen out of storage.

  189. 189.

    NotMax

    @Elizabelle

    The one season, 13 episode Aussie series Wild Boys is on Prime, BTW. Think Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid set in 1850s Australian outback as a loosely fitting description. Great attention to period detail, fabulous cinematography and strong, well-developed* female characters as part of the ensemble cast. Appears in the first episode some of the secondary characters are two-dimensional standard stock for Westerns but that turns out not to be the case.

    *No, not in that way, necessarily.

  190. 190.

    Keith P.

    @Elizabelle: Are you familiar with PlutoTV?  It’s owned by CBS IIRC and is similar to basic cable.  Movie selection is decent, with no bleeping; only commercials.  Tons of content channels in comedy, reality, classic TV (there’s a Doctor Who Classic channel).

    I run it on my PC and TVs (in addition to Prime)

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