Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

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

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

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

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

The willow is too close to the house.

A consequence of cucumbers

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

DeSantis transforms Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / Monday Morning Open Thread: Progress, If We Can Keep It

Monday Morning Open Thread: Progress, If We Can Keep It

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TL, DR: Le roi est mort, vive le roi!

Even Fox News is tired of the BUT THA DEFICIT crazy-eyes…

Reader Interactions

180Comments

  1. 1.

    PJ

    It’s as if the experience of more than forty years of working in the Senate and as Vice President can lead to actual change.

  3. 3.

    debbie

    I might have enjoyed reading a TFG Twitter account this morning, if only to savor his defeat that much more.

  4. 4.

    debbie

    @PsiFighter37:

    Amazing how Scott’s smile stayed on his face until he had to answer the question. Guess he can’t smile and dance at the same time. Sad!

  5. 5.

    satby

    Well, not quite a done deal yet, but it looks promising. And better things are happening after four years of hell, so I’m holding on to optimism.

    And the same goes for my on-off-maybe on again vacation in October. I found out this morning my reservation in Paris was prepaid, so that money was applied properly. I only have to determine if the travel insurance will cover the cancelled hotel in London and the additional expense to rebook at the same hotel. Fingers crossed!

  6. 6.

    WereBear

    @PJ: more than forty years of working in the Senate and as Vice President

    As much as LBJ deserves the hate, he might have been the only person in that place and time who got all that commie-soshalist stuff into a place where he could sign it.

    Only thing there was, he thought we’d lose only ONE generation by trying to actually live up to our national ideals…

  11. 11.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @WereBear: he might have been the only person in that place and time who got all that commie-soshalist stuff into a place where he could sign it.

    And he had a martyr’s ghost to help him pass it.

  13. 13.

    Ken

    @debbie: Maybe TFG’ll get angry enough that his threats will cross the line and get him a visit from the FBI or Secret Service.

  19. 19.

    sdhays

    @Ken: I wonder if there’s a way to piss him off so much that he decides he doesn’t trust the Secret Service and tells them their services are no longer required. I sure would love taxpayer money no longer paying for his safety.

    Of course, that’s why he’ll never let it go. All that sweet SS taxpayer money flowing into his shitty resorts as they pay HIM to provide security for him.

  23. 23.

    Kay

    Amanda Carpenter, who worked for the former Republican Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, said the infrastructure bill is a safe space for G.O.P. lawmakers to break with Mr. Trump, because the party base is less focused on federal spending than it is on “culture war stuff,” like race and coronavirus restrictions, on which the former president has stoked outrage.
    “The people who are getting most animated about this are the ones who are most likely to do whatever Trump says, because they depend on his endorsement for their political futures,” said Ms. Carpenter, the director of Republicans for Voting Rights.

    What a sad, fake job she has. She has to show up 40 hours a week and pretend she’s doing something. Send out some emails on “ballot security” or something.

  24. 24.

    germy

    Chuck Todd: "biggest political story of the week: Cuomo" in a week where DT's attempts to intimidate Justice Dept to throw election were laid bare. Same on Stephenopolous.

    — Frances (@Frances80016084) August 8, 2021

  25. 25.

    germy

    NYT: As soon as Trump’s lawyer said he wouldn’t immediately bar testimony from DOJ officials, “Mr. Rosen quickly scheduled interviews with congressional investigators to get as much of his version of events on the record” before anyone changed their mind.

    — Helen Kennedy (@HelenKennedy) August 8, 2021

  26. 26.

    WereBear

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: From reading the Robert Caro biographies, which are incredible for both the history and the psychology, I grasped — for the first time — just how long and rocky that road actually was.

    Reconstruction was rolled back, and there was an entire, real, documented and open, conspiracy to keep it there.

  27. 27.

    Ken

    @germy: As soon as Trump’s lawyer said he wouldn’t immediately bar testimony from DOJ officials, “Mr. Rosen quickly scheduled interviews

    Hmmph.  Rosen didn’t contact me to see if I would immediately bar testimony from DOJ officials.  I feel insulted.

    For that matter, did they even bother contacting Obama, Bush, Clinton, or Carter?

  28. 28.

    lowtechcyclist

    @sdhays:

    All that sweet SS taxpayer money flowing into his shitty resorts as they pay HIM to provide security for him.

    I don’t get why the government doesn’t just say to him, “if you want Secret Service protection while you’re at one of your properties, it’s up to you to provide space for them, gratis.  If you aren’t willing to do that, then you can hire your own security, or do without.”

    Rupar:

    the Trump administration Republicans added $6.7 to the debt.

    I think there’s a ‘trillion’ missing from that tweet.

  29. 29.

    Geminid

    Politico reports that new reporting rules for cryptocurrency transactions remain in the infrastructure bill. They are projected to raise $28 billion in new revenues, not through any new tax, just better reporting. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden tried to substantially cut the scope of the new rules, but with pushback from the White House and Treasury Secretary Yellen, Senators Warner, Portman, and Sinema pushed through an amendment with fewer exclusions.

    This Politico article focused on the lobbying process, and how the young cryptocurrency industry was late to the game:

       “Other industries were probably better prepared to fend off being a pay-for,” said Ed Mills, Washinton policy analyst at Raymond James. “This is the first time they have been on the menu.”

  32. 32.

    Kay

    Clark also told colleagues he was in touch with sources who knew more, including someone Justice officials later determined was Rep. Scott Perry, a Trump ally from Pennsylvania who helped Clark get in touch with the former President. Justice Department rules limit contact between department officials and the White House, and Clark’s contacts with Trump came as a shock to his superiors. Justice Department officials are also prohibited from discussing investigations with people outside of the department.

    That’s one. There will be more.
    Also can the “superiors” please stop being “shocked”? It’s the least shocking thing in the world. They were announcing they were trying to overturn the election for 3 months prior to these contacts.

  34. 34.

    Ken

    @Geminid: Woodathunk that being a distributed system that prides itself on having no one in charge would make it harder to effectively lobby governments?

    You also need money to lobby, and I suspect very few of bitcoin’s participants would make contributions.  Especially since US law doesn’t affect most of them.

  35. 35.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    From electoral-vote re the infrastructure bill

    A number of moderate Democrats in the House are pressuring Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to bring it up for a vote immediately. What they are not saying, but clearly mean, is that they will vote for the bill, hope it passes, and call it a day. Then they can safely vote no on the much bigger reconciliation bill that will come later. Since no Republican in the House (or the Senate) will vote for the reconciliation bill, that would kill it. Pelosi understands their game quite well and wants to take the vote on the two bills on the same day, with the reconciliation bill going first. If the moderates kill it, she won’t bring the bipartisan bill up for a vote. So effectively, she is going to force the moderates to make a choice: both bills or no bill. It is doubtful that the moderates can trick her, although they will try. She wasn’t born yesterday. She was born 81 years ago.

  37. 37.

    Kay

    @Ken:

    The NYT Justice department reporter said the Biden DOJ didn’t sign off on revealing it until it came out, so Rosen wasn’t blocking it- the DOJ was. Not the testimony before the Congress- the information coming out.

    It was actually revealed at the end of January- it was reported in the NYT at that time – less detail and no one on the record so I’m assuming they hadn’t yet received instructions NOT to reveal it due to the transition and change in leadership.

  39. 39.

    Kathleen

    @WereBear: So in reality we have always been where we are today – staring back at fascism and campaign of terrorism against Black people, a fact I think Black people have never forgotten. Thank you for sharing that. Caro’s books are on my never ending list of must reads.

  40. 40.

    Kay

    @Ken:

    “Katie Benner
    @ktbenner

    ·Aug 7

    Probably worth pointing out that Rosen didn’t wait 7 months to testify. The Biden DOJ didn’t permit him to do so until about 10 days ago, at which point Rosen began preparing to testify before Senate Judiciary and reached out to the DOJ IG to pledge total cooperation.”

    But Benner wrote an article about the events at the end of January 2021, so either Rosen or one of the others revealed it publilcy at that time, if “unoffocially”.

  42. 42.

    Starfish

    @Geminid: I am seeing the crypto folks cry and cry on Twitter. They are concerned with the amount of money expected to fall under the reporting rules. They are worried that everyone who mines bitcoin will have to follow complex financial reporting rules.

    They are consuming a ton of electricity, not doing anything productive in a true sense, and making money.

    I enjoy their delicious tears.

  43. 43.

    Kathleen

    OT but this article about Richard Trumka and how he used his Catholic faith to work with allies in the Church to champion workers’ rights is fascinating. It also outlines how progressive forces in the Church are combatting the Christo Fascist faction which champions full blown fascism.  As a fallen away Catholic I found this piece from the National Catholic Reporter which has always been a progressive voice in the Church to be uplifting.

    https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/tribute-trumka-catholic-whose-work-we-must-carry

  46. 46.

    hueyplong

    OT, but it’s an open thread, so

    Last week I drove my daughter’s car from NC to Seattle where she now lives.  Picked a route that would avoid COVID hells Ark and Mo and chose I-90 (SD) over I-94 (ND) due to an 8-10 degree cooler prediction for the SD route.  (Her car is a 2012 model and doesn’t need to be tested too stringently.)  Killed it the first day so no real impressions of the states east of the Mississippi, but from Iowa through Idaho, it was as though masks had been banned everywhere.  I was the only one wearing one pretty much everywhere, with the exception of restaurants/gas station convenience stores/motels in which the employees were sometimes wearing them (likely due to employer mandate).

    Once I hit Washington masks were everywhere, especially in Seattle.

    Passed by Sturgis on Tuesday AM, a little ahead of COVID Woodstock.  Chuckled at the giant Koch Trucking billboard welcoming the multitudes to the superspreader event.  The bikers I spoke to in Rapid City (where I stayed on Mon night) were friendly and non-judgmental about my mask wearing, but the looks from other people in SD and Montana were pretty disapproving.

    The most surprising thing for someone who lives in NC was the absence of Trump bumper stickers, pretty much the whole way from the Ohio River to the Puget Sound.

  49. 49.

    Kay

    The FBI has arrested multiple Toledo city council members accused of taking cash in exchange for votes during what is described in court records as a years-long, sweeping bribery scandal involving some of the city’s highest elected officials.
    City council members Tyrone Riley, Yvonne Harper, Larry Sykes, and Gary Johnson are all charged in federal court with accepting bribe payments for official acts and extortion, according to criminal complaints filed Tuesday. Keith Mitchell, an attorney who is accused of funneling bribes to Ms. Harper, also faces bribery and extortion charges. Ms. Harper is charged as well with interstate communications with intent to extort.

    Dramatic arrests, perp walks, the whole deal, and for about 45,000 in bribes, and they charged their lawyer.

    Meanwhile, down in Columbus:

    Under the three-year deferred prosecution agreement, FirstEnergy has agreed to pay a penalty of $230 million, and has agreed to the government’s filing of a single charge of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud

    A billion dollar bribery scandal that involves the governor and half the GOP legislature.

    It’s just inexplicable to me what guides these federal prosecutions. It really shouldn’t be that the more powerful you are the less likely you are to be held accountable. They had a lobbyists wearing A WIRE in the FirstEnergy scandal so it’s not like they can’t take it to trial.

  50. 50.

    Nicole

    @WereBear: Yeah.  She came under a lot of criticism in the report, and while I think she’s every bit as cutthroat as Cuomo, she’s also a lot smarter (the Number 2 often is).  Maybe Cuomo will follow her lead.

  51. 51.

    frosty

    @Spanky: Nice! Good to someone is keeping up the blog standards. Now who’s going to supply the snarky dry humor at the top of the comments? I laugh at Baud’s reactions a couple times a day.

  52. 52.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Kay: Uh, let me guess. The Toledo City Council members in question are Black and the lobbyists in Columbus are White?

    Did I win?

  54. 54.

    frosty

    @germy: That’s brilliant! But look at the date – April 2020 back when the Confederate states weren’t the epicenter of the pandemic.

  57. 57.

    Kay

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Three of the five are black but that’s not the whole explanation.

    If they’re handing out get out of jail cards at least offer everyone the same deal.  230 million pay off / 1 billion scandal, X payoff/ 45,000 scandal. If they can rustle up 10,000 between them they’re home free under the First Energy rules.

  58. 58.

    frosty

    @Kay: Scott fucking Perry, my adjacent Congressman. 2022 will be my third door-knocking attempt to get rid of him. He’s one of the worst.

  59. 59.

    Kay

    @rp:

    Ok. Same deal for Toledo council, but proportioned on the money amount of the scandal.

    Why stop there? No more auto theft prosecutions- blue book the car and charge those who can pay 1/5 the value and they don’t go to jail.

  62. 62.

    Geminid

    @Ken: The cryptocurrency industry is shelling out now. The Politco reported that they have hired Max Baucus, a predecessor of Wyden’s as Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, to represent their interests. That’s good help; I believe former Senators are allowed access to the Senate floor. They probably charge extra for a floor show, though.

  63. 63.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay: But the rich and powerful have the lawyers to drag it out as long as possible, certainly beyond the terms of the Appointed USDA so it is far more difficult to get any political mileage out of such prosecutions. Poor/middle income folk don’t have those resources.

  64. 64.

    Kay

    @rp:

    I mean, I fully admit Democrats in Ohio would use a prosecution of Ohio’s GOP and legislative leaders for a giant bribery scandal that is the largest the state has ever seen, a scandal that followed a huge charter school scandal (60 million dollars) that also wasn’t federally prosecuted, although every school receives federal funding and some portion of the stolen money came from federal funding.

    Keeping their powder dry to go after those city council members, I guess. Tough on (some) crime. The easy cases, the cases that don’t upset anyone who is actually powerful.

  67. 67.

    Kay

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    The First Energy lobbyist turned himself in. He went TO THEM. God was he a sucker, right? He didn’t need to cut a deal at all. It’d still be going on.

  68. 68.

    Soprano2

    Well, I have some news on my mother, none of it good. The speech therapist came yesterday to test her for swallowing, and said she is unable to swallow anything. I talked to the hospice nurse yesterday, which is something you never want to have to do. I had to go to work to do a few things, then I’m going to the hospital to talk to some people and see if my mother can communicate whether she still wants me to follow her health care directive, which would mean no feeding tube. I cannot believe I even typed those words just now, I’m so much in shock about this. I knew it was always a possibility something like this would happen; my sister’s death disabused me of the notion that anything in life is predictable, but my mother was in relatively good health for 87 so I never thought this would happen. I hope I have the strength to do what’s best for her.

  69. 69.

    hueyplong

    @Kay: I worked on a false claims act case once in which the amount paid out by the violators was of such a percentage of their ill-gotten gains that I told DOJ guys that if the scheme had been straight up power pointed as illegal to the top brass, anyone opposing the scheme would (and probably should) have been firred on the spot.

    Gazillions if you get away with it, merely a couple hundred million  or so in profits if you’re caught.

  70. 70.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Kay: because the party base is less focused on federal spending than it is on “culture war stuff,” like race and coronavirus restrictions

    Good Lord, so these idiot really want a civil war to stop Critical Race Theory and their right to die from disease.

  71. 71.

    Nelle

    @Soprano2:  I’m so sorry to hear this. May you and your family be wrapped in kindness, compassion, and grace as you walk through this.

  72. 72.

    Kent

    @Kay: Amanda Carpenter, who worked for the former Republican Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, said the infrastructure bill is a safe space for G.O.P. lawmakers to break with Mr. Trump, because the party base is less focused on federal spending than it is on “culture war stuff,” like race and coronavirus restrictions, on which the former president has stoked outrage.
    “The people who are getting most animated about this are the ones who are most likely to do whatever Trump says, because they depend on his endorsement for their political futures,” said Ms. Carpenter, the director of Republicans for Voting Rights.

    So basically CRT and anti-vax and anti-mask bullshit is running interference for Joe and sucking up all the MAGAts attention while he runs infrastructure through?

    Okay….whatever works I guess.

  73. 73.

    PST

    Josh Marshall wrote something yesterday about the whole “Democrats suck” bullshit. I apologize if someone has already highlighted this and I missed it, but I think it is terrifically on point and explains better than anything else I have seen why blaming Biden or blaming “the Democrats” is perverse when they have to play the hand they’re dealt. He is specifically responding to a piece by Alex Pareene calling the infrastructure bill “a pyrrhic victory in a broken Senate,” and while no one will disagree about the broken Senate, the victory (fingers crossed) is by no means pyrrhic. The explanation of why is worth reading in full, but I found myself particularly in agreement with the description of blaming the Democrats as a rhetorical sleight of hand. Yes, I wish we had 60 Mazie Hironos in the Senate, to take just one example almost at random of the many, many fine Democrats doing their level best, but we don’t. The idea that Biden or Schumer or Pelosi can stamp their feet and make things happen is pernicious. Those things are counterproductive if they don’t work, and there is a real art to knowing when aggressive arm-twisting is possible, when it isn’t, and when it will have unintended consequences. Anyway, the nut graph, for me, is:

    The second and third arguments are wrong in more significant and complicated ways. But they both come back to a simple point. Democrats managed only a 50 seat quasi-majority, with the Vice President’s tie-breaking vote. (Looking at you Maine and North Carolina Democrats!) So they need literal unanimity on every vote to do anything. And that 50 vote caucus has at least two members firmly wedded not only to the filibuster but to the cult of bipartisanship and in more ambiguous ways more right-leaning policy positions.

    Put sharply, it’s Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema’s fault.

    The argument to the contrary – which is ubiquitous and not unique to Pareene – is based on a rhetorical slight of hand by which the opposition of Manchin and Sinema and the compromises required to work around their opposition is repackaged as what “the Democrats” think or believe in or what they’re choosing to do. For that to be true, it must be the case that the majority of the caucus, if it chose to, could simply force these two to vote with the rest of their colleagues. That premise is clearly false.

  75. 75.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Soprano2: Oh, that is hard news. Wishing you all the strength, comfort, clarity, and support you need to walk through this.

  77. 77.

    Ohio Mom

    Soprano2:
    That’s tough, and sad. You are doing right by your mom, taking this methodically and with great intention.

  78. 78.

    hueyplong

    @Soprano2: So sorry you’re in that spot.  Been there, and you don’t get a good feeling no matter what path you take.  FWIW, our look back at it afterward is that we ended up in the same place regardless, so at least we had the (relative) comfort of knowing we did what he had wanted us to do.

  79. 79.

    Geminid

    @Starfish: Cryptocurrency players are crying with good reason. This reporting provision may be the camel’s nose under the tent. More regulation of cryptocurrency is coming. I suspect that some of Yellen’s people are talking to their EU counterparts about more global regulation of the industry. China is already cracking down.

    I hope that on the state level,  there will be efforts to raise electricity rates for this industry. The miners will cry discrimination, but I think courts will that find well drafted laws and regulations serve a demonstrable public interest.

    Politically, I think this could be a winner. Ratepayers will be happy to see this industry pick up a bigger share of costs. And relatively few people participate in cryptocurrency. The rest are indifferent or hostile to it.

  80. 80.

    Kent

    @Kay: I’m not sure how much agency the Democrats in Ohio actually have since it is a pretty GOP-held state.  But there is no excuse for the DOJ not to go after these criminals, unless all these deals are lingering spillover from the Trump Administration.  But one thinks that the Biden DOJ should certainly be able to prosecute these folks adequately.

  82. 82.

    raven

    @Soprano2: If she had no feeding tube in her directive isn’t that what you should follow? My dad was clear about what he did and did not want and, as much as it hurt, we followed it.

  83. 83.

    rp

    @Kay: As ozarkhillbilly notes above you, it’s really a function of how much you can spend on lawyers. And, yes, it’s depressing.

  84. 84.

    satby

    @Soprano2: Hugs. It’s never easy even, or sometimes especially, when you’re following their direct wishes not to drag out the end. Hospice is great at keeping patients comfortable, and offered my sister a great deal of support during my mother’s final illness. Lean on them as you need to.

  86. 86.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Ken:

    Staffer – “Senator, we got a call from somebody claiming to represent Bitcoin. They want some of your time to object to a reporting and taxation bill.”

    Senator – “How many employees in my state?”

    Staffer – “None. They pay no US taxes, either.”

    Senator – “What do they do, then?”

    Staffer – “As I understand it, they facilitate the movement of money for avoidance of currency controls, tax evasion, money laundering, bribery, narcotics trafficking, gun running, human trafficking and child pornography. The libertarians and goldbugs love them in principle, though.”

    Senator – “Fuck those guys.”

  88. 88.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay: God was he a sucker, right?

    Yep. How often does a person actually go to prison for corporate crimes? I’m remembering Enron and can only think of Skilling, the CFO (who’s name escapes me) and Kenneth Lay*.

    *who iirc never spent a day in prison because he died before his appeals were finished and what is more had his convictions vacated because of his timely death.

  91. 91.

    sab

    @Soprano2: I am so sorry to learn your news. We went through something similar with my mother- not a stroke, but a progressive neurological disorder that her mother had also suffered from. She had a DNR hanging on the refrigerator for ten years. My biggest mistake was postponing hospice. They are so helpful and knowledable about palliative care.

  92. 92.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Soprano2: Sorry to hear about your mom.  And I feel for you, having to decide which choice is the least bad one.  All I can say is, since there is no good choice, don’t be hard on yourself about it afterwards.

  93. 93.

    MomSense

    @Soprano2:

    I’m so sorry.  You can do this and it will hurt like hell.   We will be here to listen no matter how tough.  Sending a big hug.

  94. 94.

    Mary G

    @Soprano2: I hope you and your family can have all the support you need to get through whatever happens. Having my mom home on hospice was so hard, but also a blessing. We got to apologize for old hurts and I was able to return some of the care she always gave me.

  95. 95.

    Kay

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    First Energy promised to stop bribing lawmakers and the lawmakers promised to stop soliciting bribes.

    Pinky swear.

    Part of what First Energy bribed Ohio lawmakers to do was to ruin the companies that compete with First Energy on green energy- starve them on public contracts and therefore allow First Energy to dominate the market-  so as you can see it was all very “market based” and aligned with a developed country. The green energy companies should pay Ohio lawmakers “protection” money so they can operate a business.

  97. 97.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    Good Lord, so these idiot really want a civil war to stop Critical Race Theory and their right to die from disease.

    There are a bunch of them who want a civil war, period.  I guess they see themselves as the ones who will be kings among the ruins.

  99. 99.

    narya

    @sab: I second this. Ex MIL needed a fix to a heart valve, but wasn’t likely to survive surgery w/ faculties intact. She decided against it. Hospice folks came in, discussed it w/ her, confirmed she understood it meant she would die (w/in days). Family was able to gather, be with her, say goodbye peacefully, and the hospice folks were invaluable in making it happen.

  100. 100.

    Kay

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I don’t know anything about Cuomo as a pol but it sure is refeshing to see a real investigation and potential prosecution. From this I now know they actually CAN do this job. Now they just need to apply that approach to everyone, and not just raging, egomaniacal assholes who have burned through all their powerful political contacts so are no longer immune from prosecution.

  101. 101.

    Soprano2

    @raven: Yes, but in this case she is still conscious and able to answer “yes” and “no” questions and also able to write because she is right-side dominant (the stroke paralyzed her left side), so I’m not sure I’m comfortable proceeding without asking her if these are still her wishes. If she were unconscious or unable to communicate at all, then the way forward would be clearer.

  103. 103.

    dnfree

    @Soprano2: I am not your mom’s age yet, but I have told my kids over and over to follow the directive no matter what.  If your mother isn’t able to give new directions, go with that.

    Life looks a lot different when you’re older, but it’s hard to explain.  I’ve told my kids that I could no more explain to them, in their forties, what life is like over seventy, than they would be able to explain to a twenty-year-old what it’s like to be in your forties.

    ETA that I mean your mom was most likely aware this could happen at any time, but because she’s your mom, it was unimaginable to you.

  104. 104.

    lowtechcyclist

    @PST: Exactly.  There are only 50 Dems in the Senate, and Manchin and Sinema are two of them.  Like it or not, to get anything done, the Dems have to bring those two along, however it can be done.

    The situation sucks, but we’ve got to do what we can with the Senate we’ve got, rather than the Senate we’d like to have.

    (And a big thank-you to all the Georgia Dems who got us up to 50, because if they hadn’t, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. We’d be listening to McConnell saying, “My offer is this: nothing” over and over again.)

  106. 106.

    MomSense

    @Soprano2:

    Lean on the hospice team.  They will guide you with love, compassion and experience.  You don’t have to figure this out alone.

  107. 107.

    Betty Cracker

    I went grocery shopping this weekend in an area with a 27% COVID test positivity rate. Tried to go at an off-time so the store wouldn’t be crowded, but it was. The grocery store workers were wearing masks, plus about 5 other customers and me. Got enough groceries to hunker down for a while.

    Next weekend, I’m going to Miami to help an immuno-compromised friend deal with moving. The positivity rate there is only 16%, so woohoo, I guess.

    I’ve got to stop reading all the “don’t be mad at the unvaccinated” hot takes. They just make me even more infuriated.

  110. 110.

    MomSense

    @PST:

    Maine is not a solid Dem state.  Trump motivated the assholes to climb out from under their rocks.  Maine’s CD 2 voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 and gave him 1 EV both times.

  111. 111.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @eclare: That’s him, thanx. It was niggling at the edges of my brain, not enough to google him now, but probably enough to compel me to do so later today.

  113. 113.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Guaranteed to drive the Drehers of the world over the edge:

    1,000-year-old remains in Finland may be non-binary iron age leader

    Modern analysis of a 1,000-year-old grave in Finland challenges long-held beliefs about gender roles in ancient societies, and may suggest non-binary people were not only accepted but respected members of their communities, researchers have said.

    According to a peer-reviewed study in the European Journal of Archaeology, DNA analysis of remains in a late iron age grave at Suontaka Vesitorninmäki in Hattula, southern Finland, may have belonged to a high-status non-binary person.

    First discovered in 1968 during building work, the grave contained jewellery in the form of oval brooches as well as fragments of woollen clothing suggesting the dead person was dressed in “a typical feminine costume of the era”, the researchers said.

    But unusually, the grave also held a hiltless sword placed on the person’s left side, with another sword, probably deposited at a later date, buried above the original grave – accoutrements more often associated with masculinity.

    For decades, the researchers said, archaeologists had assumed either that two bodies, a man and a woman, had been buried in the Suontaka grave, or that it was evidence strong female leaders, even woman warriors, existed in early medieval Finland.

    “The buried individual seems to have been a highly respected member of their community,” said the study’s lead author, Ulla Moilanen, an archaeologist from the University of Turku. “They were laid in the grave on a soft feather blanket with valuable furs and objects.”

    DNA analysis, however, showed the grave held the remains of only one person – and that they had Klinefelter syndrome. Usually, a female has two X chromosomes (XX) and a male has one X and one Y (XY). In Klinefelter syndrome, a male is born with an extra copy of the X chromosome (XXY).

    Males with the syndrome, which affects about one in 660 men, are still genetically male and often do not realise they have the extra chromosome, but the condition can cause enlarged breasts, a small penis and testicles, a low sex drive and infertility.

  117. 117.

    Ken

    @eclare:

    Enron: “We run an electric company, but we can make more money by not delivering electricity.”

    Credit default swaps: “We run a bank, but we can make more money by ignoring lending standards and selling the loan to someone else.”

    And, though it hasn’t caused quite the same sort of damage, yet,

    Every auto company: “We sell cars, but we do make more money from the trading activities of the financing division.”

  118. 118.

    Kay

    @billcinsd:

    I felt like the brazen nature of the crime merited a public show of law enforcement, that these people actually DO care if they’re perp walked and publicly humiliated and the show acts as a deterrent.

    Columbus public schools had a scandal a couple of years ago. They were inflating attendance numbers – state funding. It’s a little more complicated than that- they claimed they were using the state formula and the state formula is insanely complex so that could be true. The state auditor sent armed agents into the schools. A raid. The school employees – mostly black people, black people who are kind of pillars of their communities – were splashed all over the news tromping into initial appearances on charges.

    We can’t just be tough on (some) crime. People notice. They see the unfairness.

  119. 119.

    PST

    @Kay: Just to add a little more to the story, there were five individuals indicted in the FirstEnergy scandal. Two have pleaded guilty and await sentencing, one has committed suicide, and two (including the big fish in case, the former speaker of the Ohio house) are pleading not guilty. Presumably those who took the bargain will be sentenced after they testify. The latest news is that new indictments are coming based on the evidence obtained when FirstEnergy rolled over. So the fine was only the start, and involves the institutional defendant. The individuals are still facing prison time. All the indictments in both the Toledo council case and FirstEnergy are from last summer, pre-Biden.

  120. 120.

    Geminid

    @MomSense: It was interesting that Reprentative Jared Golden won his first reelection in the Maine 2nd District, even though trump carried it. That’s a good thing considering how small the democratic House majority is.

    Outside of Maine, there wasn’t much ticket splitting last year. Republican Randy Wittman won the Virginia 2nd district carried by Joe Biden. And I think Biden carried a Nebraska district lost by the Democratic Congressional candidate. But over all, people don’t split their tickets like they used to. Negative partisanship seems to be a conrolling factor, at least in federal elections.

  121. 121.

    Kay

    @PST:

    and involves the institutional defendant

    That sticks in my craw though. The executives don’t even work there anymore. Why let them off? “The institution” didn’t bribe lawmakers- people bribed lawmakers. They’re not even fining the actual bribers- the 230 million doesn’t come from them.

  123. 123.

    PST

    @OzarkHillbilly: It just so happened that I watched Casablanca last night start to finish, something I haven’t done for decades. You can’t help but wait for your favorite lines.

  124. 124.

    Almost Retired

    @hueyplong:   We passed through Sturgis on Thursday night.   My wife suggested that if I were a better orator, I could have induced the crowd to storm a federal building.   Some of the attendees seemed like insurrectionists, but there seemed to be a lot of cosplay going on.  I doubt the accountant from Denver I met wears the sleeveless leather vest with the flaming skull decal to Trader Joe’s.  Lots of pro-Trump/anti-Biden merchandise for sale, but none of it seemed to be selling.

  126. 126.

    Almost Retired

    @Soprano2: So sorry to hear this.  Just visited my 87 year old mother, who lives near you (but in Kansas).  She’s still healthy, but at that age, things can change quickly.  All my best.

  127. 127.

    PST

    @MomSense: I’m looking forward to a trip to Maine in a couple of month, one of the few states I haven’t visited. I don’t suppose I’ll change anyone’s mind since all my friends there are true blue. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a Manchin in Maine instead of a Collins. I would take the Manchiniest Manchin there is over her.

  128. 128.

    MomSense

    @Geminid: 

    I figured we were screwed with the Senate race when about a month before the election her YouTube adds switched to the message that she would work with the White House no matter who won. We may be a little different here because we have such an established Independent party.
    Also Jared is a gun toting, culturally Republican, sometimes Republican voting MoC.

  129. 129.

    Matt McIrvin

    @hueyplong: For perspective: not too many people are wearing masks in Massachusetts either. Hard to say how many of the unmasked are vaccinated, but it’d have to be a substantial number of them just because we have so many vaccinated.

  131. 131.

    MomSense

    @PST:

    Oh man I would take a Manchin or a Blanche Lincoln or any of those other annoying blue dogs.

    Do you know where in Maine you are going?  I’m happy to give you the local’s tips.

  132. 132.

    Geminid

    @MomSense: I’ve noticed that Golden strays from the donkey pack from time to time. Caucus leadership may be tolerant of this so long as he’s there when they need him.

  133. 133.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    @PsiFighter37: i think the implication at foxnews that el jefe maximo de maralago was a typical taxnspend jewyorkcity liberal cat’s paw of bill climpton is the first sign the man of maralago is being politically unpersoned a la post-mortgage crisis george w. bush

  134. 134.

    MomSense

    @Geminid:

    Like I tell all the Dems who don’t want to circle the oval for Jared, vote for Nancy via Golden. I think that message would work in a lot of places.

  136. 136.

    PST

    @Kay: I couldn’t agree more that the executives shouldn’t get a pass, which is why it was good to see that last week the Ohio AG amended the complaint in the state’s case to add the former FirstEnergy president and senior vice president and the former chair of the public utilities committee. Maybe the feds will do the same. I know nothing about criminal law, but I get the sense that it was thought useful to wrap up the company case first, maybe to take advantage of the admissions in the company’s plea bargain. Prosecutions always seem to grind slowly.

  139. 139.

    Kay

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    FirstEnergy’s fine – while far from the $1.1 billion the company earned last year – is still the “largest criminal penalty ever collected, as far as anyone can recall, in the history of this office,” acting U.S. Attorney Vipal Patel said Thursday. The penalty surpassed $200 million imposed on Illinois’ ComEd in 2020.

    It’s always “the largest” – which should tell the prosecutors something, right? Handing out get out of jail deals isn’t working.
    “It’s the largest since our last deal and the deal we make next week will be larger still!”
    Unless they’re in the “collecting fines’ business this is not a good benchmark. The measure here is “crime fighting” not how big the get out of jail fee is.

  140. 140.

    Ruckus

    @Soprano2: 
    I was the one that had to make decisions about both dad and mom.
    The biggest thing for me was that they gave no directives like your mom has so I had to do what I thought was best for both of them. As dad was well over a decade into Alzheimers and mom was within days of 95 and both of them were obviously at the end it was less of a struggle. But for me I always, every day had to ask, what is best for them, where are they in life and will it make a positive difference. It’s one of the hardest things you will ever have to do, but if it falls to you, as it did to me, my guide was – what was best for them.
    Best to you and mom.

  141. 141.

    Geminid

    @Geminid: Jared Golden (ME) was one of the 40 Democrats who flipped Republican seats in 2018. A half dozen or so lost last year, including Joe Cunningham (SC), Xochitl Torres-Small, (NM), and Kendra Horn (OK). Others like Lauren Underwood (IL) and Abigail Spanberger (VA) barely squeaked by. Some others who won, like Lucy McBath (GA) and Sharice Davids (KS), will be targeted by Republican gerrymandering this coming year.

  144. 144.

    PST

    @MomSense:

    Do you know where in Maine you are going? I’m happy to give you the local’s tips.

    Thanks, I just saw this so I hope you’re still following the thread. I am staying for almost a week in early October with old friends who live near Acadia National Park and should be able to show us the ropes around there. Then we are all driving across the state to Brownfield for a wedding. It was very difficult finding a place to stay, so we are going to be in North Conway, NH. I have been told that the White Mountains are beautiful to drive though and hike in that time of year. I’m very interested in local’s tips for either area, especially Brownfield. It’s one of those “destination” weddings, so no one will be local and we will have time on our hands.

  145. 145.

    PST

    @OzarkHillbilly: Jeff Skilling’s brother, Tom, is the dean of weathermen here in Chicago. At least five times over the last 15 years I have been stopped by strangers and asked whether I’m Tom Skilling. I’m never asked whether I’m George Clooney.

  146. 146.

    laura

    @Soprano2: I am so sorry for you in this time of decisions with no good options. You have a very loving relationship and her choices as set forth in her care directive to guide you.

  149. 149.

    Another Scott

    @Soprano2: I’m sorry.

    She’s had a good life and you’re a good daughter.  Don’t beat yourself up.  Strength to you, and know that you have done your best – that’s all anyone can do.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  150. 150.

    MomSense

    @PST:

    Oxford County is the toughest for me.  Downtown Norway is super cute. Lots of beautiful lakes to visit, but I would actually recommend spending time in North Conway and hiking in the White Mountains.  Arethusa Falls in the Crawford Notch State Park is a must.  It’s not a difficult hike and the falls are beautiful.
    Also you have to go to Flatbread Company for pizza and amazing salads in North Conway.  It’s at the Eastern Slope Inn in the center of North Conway. Beautiful round room with a huge wood fired pizza oven in the center.  Farm to table and worth every penny.

  152. 152.

    smith

    @Soprano2: We had a similar situation last year with my sister. She had had a stroke, was on a ventilator, and couldn’t speak. She could still sign, however, and the hospital brought in an ASL interpreter so my niece, who had health care power of attorney, could discuss her options with her. In my sister’s case, it was clear after a time that she was too confused to make an informed decision, so my niece moved ahead with following my sister’s advance directives. Making the attempt to discuss it with my sister made it somewhat easier to deal with.

    I hope you will also find clarity from your discussion with your mother, and will in time be comforted by the knowledge that her wishes were respected.

  154. 154.

    Betty Cracker

    @zhena gogolia: That’s unfair sniping, IMO. MM lives in NY, and the Cuomo thing is undeniably an important story. Also, MM is an unpaid volunteer and is not driving national coverage like highly paid infotainment personality Chuck Todd.

  155. 155.

    Elizabelle

    @Soprano2:   Perhaps a hospice representative can be with you as you have the discussion with your mother, to answer any questions and let your mom know the scope of hospice’s services.  Hospice has chaplains available, too.

    You and your mother are in my thoughts.  It’s incredible that your mom is lucid and able to communicate

    Wishing you strength, although it’s clear you already possess plenty of it.

  156. 156.

    DB11

    @Betty Cracker:  Respokare makes an 5-layer, antiviral N95 mask (using copper and zinc in the middle layer to inactivate viral particles) that could provide some additional protection — a good option for when you have to be out-and-about amongst the great unwashed.

    I’m considering a cross-country flight next month for a family memorial, and if I decide to go I’m planning on getting some of these to use on the plane.

    Might be worth looking into before your visit next week:

    https://n95maskco.com/collections/n95-masks/products/respokare-n95-face-mask-5-pack

  157. 157.

    PST

    @MomSense:

    Also you have to go to Flatbread Company for pizza and amazing salads in North Conway.

    Thanks, I’ll remember that. It is quite close to the B&B we found as the crow flies, but they could use a few more bridges over the mighty Sacco River.

  158. 158.

    sheila in nc

    @PST: These folks are having a destination wedding in a place where there is no place to stay? Why didn’t they just elope?

  160. 160.

    Kay

    Late last month, 27 Republican members of the Georgia state Senate sent an ominous letter to the state elections board, touting a misleading claim about the 2020 election popularized by Fox News host Tucker Carlson. A few days later, several Republican members of the state House sent a similar letter seeking a “performance review” of election officials in the Democratic stronghold of Atlanta.

    First step in the legal process to remove the board. I’m convinced the play is going to be in Georgia in 2022, not 2024.
    They wil not lose Georgia like they lost Virginia. They can’t allow that to happen.

  161. 161.

    James E Powell

    @Kay:

    The worst part is if the public never gets to hear the whole case, with the evidence, what’s on the wire. The Republicans are all given break.

    And when a corporation pleads guilty, nobody pleads guilty. It’s “mistakes were made” and the money for the fines is paid by the customers.

  162. 162.

    Kay

    Trump’s loss was really huge for the GOP. His big benefit was Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania – that’s what he had to offer- had he held them in a replicable way Democrats would be devastated, they don’t have states to replace them- and not only did he not hold those he lost Georgia.

    It’s a net loss for them unless they get Georgia back. Their presidential map is worse than 2016.

  163. 163.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Is someone still looking for Scott’s horcruxes?  The search should not end before the evil is destroyed.

  165. 165.

    Geminid

     

    @Kay: Republicans are also having a tougher time holding onto North Carolina. One of the only bright spots in 2016 was Roy Cooper’s victory. His winning margin in last year’s Governor’s race was substantially larger than in 2016. Next year’s race for the open Senate seat will be a good indicator of where North Carolina is headed. Mark Kelly’s reelection race will similarly provide a snapshot of the trend in Arizona.

  166. 166.

    PST

    @sheila in nc: There are many places to stay, but the area is such a fall getaway draw for people taking a long weekend or short vacation that it fills up quickly. Darn those pretty leaves. I thought I was moving quickly to be looking for a place now, but others are quicker. It doesn’t help that it’s a three-day weekend. There were many places that would not rent for less than three days. Someone should have thought it through better.

  167. 167.

    Kay

    @Geminid:

    I think North Carolina is actually a great example of the ferocious lengths they’ll go to hold onto the south. It’s a good -bad example for the Democrats of us not being prepared for the counter attack.

    Noth Carolina went full bore anti-democratic when it leaned D for a couple cycles. If it were me that’s where I’d look to see what they’ll do in Georgia, because they were successful in North Carolina- they rolled it back. It could be really good information but they have to see it.

  168. 168.

    Geminid

    @Kay: I think the influx of politicized evangelicals into the Republican party the last thirty years shifted the balance in southern states. But Republicans seem to have maxed out among this group and are now just treading water. Other demographic groups like first and second generation immigrants and the college educated are increasing in the south, though, and these people seem increasingly Democratic.

    I’d like to think Karl Rove stays up at night drinking expensive scotch, brooding about where his permanent Republican majority went and why. I think Rove knows why: first the Iraq war, then donald trump.

  169. 169.

    Betty Cracker

    @zhena gogolia: Nope, provide all the feedback you want! But know that your comment, like every other comment, might be commented upon by another commenter. My critique was offered as a fellow commenter, not as someone who has anything to do with making the rules on this blog.

  170. 170.

    cain

    @hueyplong:

    I was in Indiana (my home town) and in the entire city I never saw  a single MAGA related anything there. Not even a blue line flag or bumper sticker – nothing. It was quite interesting.

    I’m always running into demonstrative assholes here in PNW.

  171. 171.

    Another Scott

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Exactly. There are only 50 Dems in the Senate, and Manchin and Sinema are two of them. Like it or not, to get anything done, the Dems have to bring those two along, however it can be done.

    Not only that, but politics always works that way in the real world. Do none of these political reporters remember proposed budgets being “dead on arrival”?? Getting stuff passed is always a compromise in quasi-normal times. Especially with Democrats in charge. The GQP pretends to work in lock-step, but they have their fights too (witness TFG wanting a big Infrastructure bill and Moscow Mitch saying No before he even took office).

    Relatedly:

    If Democrats are able to accomplish all these goals in the budget resolution released today, it would be the biggest reform of the health care system since the Affordable Care Act passed more than a decade ago.https://t.co/AJMF6Staf0 pic.twitter.com/bB8d3gV6Pc

    — Larry Levitt (@larry_levitt) August 9, 2021

    Progress is always incremental. Take the win and build on it.

    (via LOLGOP)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  175. 175.

    Kay

     

    @caphilltrish
    ·2h
    @SenatorDurbin
    tells
    @nicholaswu12
    the next person to be interviewed by Senate Judiciary staff is Byung J. Pak, the US attorney based in Atlanta. He resigned in January in the wake of revelations that Trump was pressuring Sec of State Raffensperger to change elex outcom

    Grassley getting nervous as we find more about the extent of the treasonous insurrection planning:

    Nicholas Wu
    @nicholaswu12
    ·16m
    Sen. Grassley is criticizing Democrats’ DoJ investigation on the Senate floor – says he “hasn’t seen anything backing up their misleading conclusions” and that Dems are violating committee rules and protocols with leaks about testimony

  176. 176.

    Kay

    pressuring Sec of State Raffensperger to change elex outcom

    Just wild. We now just ordinarily discuss how Donald Trump and the Republicans who worked for Donald Trump attempted to overthrow an election.

    The United States would be very concerned if this was happening in another democracy.

  177. 177.

    J R in WV

    @Soprano2: ​
     

    That’s hard. Hospice did right by my parents, one in WV and one in Houston TX. I think with a little luck they will do right by your mom. Best of luck! We’re pulling for you and your mom!

  179. 179.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    @geg6: the man kowtowed to el jefe, no different than zuckerberg or the ex-ceo of uber

    dude was all too happy to do the bernie & center labor in whiteness

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