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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

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Optimism opens the door to great things.

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You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / President Biden: On Security Assistance Provided to Ukraine at 3pm (LIVE)

President Biden: On Security Assistance Provided to Ukraine at 3pm (LIVE)

by WaterGirl|  May 3, 20222:45 pm| 120 Comments

This post is in: Biden Administration in Action, War in Ukraine

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President Biden delivers remains remarks on the security assistance we are providing to Ukraine.

While we wait…

President Biden releases a statement, saying, “If the Court does overturn Roe, it will fall on our nation’s elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman’s right to choose.”

My statement on the reported Supreme Court decision draft. pic.twitter.com/Kt3bP0kzqU

— President Biden (@POTUS) May 3, 2022

President Biden responded to today’s news about Roe, calling the decision “radical” if it holds, and adding, “The codification of Roe makes a lot of sense.”

First, my administration argued strongly before the Court in defense of Roe v. Wade,” Biden said, referencing oral arguments in December before the justices. “We said that Roe is based on “a long line of precedent recognizing ‘the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty’… against government interference with intensely personal decisions.

I believe that a woman’s right to choose is fundamental, Roe has been the law of the land for almost fifty years, and basic fairness and the stability of our law demand that it not be overturned,” Biden said.

Second, shortly after the enactment of Texas law SB 8 and other laws restricting women’s reproductive rights, I directed my Gender Policy Council and White House Counsel’s Office to prepare options for an Administration response to the continued attack on abortion and reproductive rights, under a variety of possible outcomes in the cases pending before the Supreme Court. We will be ready when any ruling is issued.

Third, if the Court does overturn Roe, it will fall on our nation’s elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman’s right to choose. And it will fall on voters to elect pro-choice officials this November. At the federal level, we will need more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies Roe, which I will work to pass and sign into law.

It concerns me a great deal that, after 50 years, we’re going to decide that a woman doesn’t have the right to choose,” Biden told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, en route to Alabama to visit a facility that manufactures Javelin anti-tank missiles. “But even more equally profound is the rationale used — and it would mean that every other decision relating to the notion of privacy is thrown into question.

I am angry beyond belief.  The part that shocks me is that they admitted out loud that they are also going after Casey.

Open thread.

Final note: In case anyone cares, the most accurate measure of my anger is how often I use “fuck” or “fucking”.  I nearly typed Open Fucking Thread, which is accurately measuring my level of anger as pretty fucking high.

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Reader Interactions

120Comments

  1. 1.

    Alison Rose ???

    May 3, 2022 at 2:49 pm

    I say fuck all the time no matter what my emotional state is at the moment. At times like this, I tend to just growl incoherently.

  2. 2.

    cain

    May 3, 2022 at 2:50 pm

    Everything is projection – remember them all clamouring about activist judges. In this hold my beer moment, these judges are reversing decades worth of jurisprudence and settled law.

    We couldn’t hold on to these laws for two generations. So angry.

  3. 3.

    Searcher

    May 3, 2022 at 2:52 pm

    We said that Roe is based on “a long line of precedent recognizing ‘the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty’… against government interference with intensely personal decisions.

    You know, it’s interesting to me that the Fourteenth Amendment begins “all persons born“; the people who have been born have their life and liberty protected by that amendment.  Not the people who… haven’t.

  4. 4.

    debbie

    May 3, 2022 at 2:52 pm

    @Alison Rose ???:

    Me too, especially after working from home for two years with no one around to hear me. Frightening children may be in my near future!

  5. 5.

    WaterGirl

    May 3, 2022 at 2:53 pm

    It may not be bloody, unless the date is Jan 6 or there are black males involved, but we are most definitely fighting  a war here at home.

  6. 6.

    JPL

    May 3, 2022 at 2:53 pm

    @Alison Rose ???: Luckovich nails it again

    mike luckovich on Twitter: “https://t.co/92wVzKgDL5” / Twitter

  7. 7.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 3, 2022 at 3:00 pm

    @JPL:

    We are incredibly fortunate in metro Atlanta to have Luckovich as our very own political cartoonist. The rest of the world is incredibly fortunate that we can share him at the click of a “copy-send.”

  8. 8.

    Old School

    May 3, 2022 at 3:04 pm

    Unless I’m mistaken, codification of Roe can (and likely would) be subject to filibuster in the Senate.

    Even if it can’t be done, I believe the entire Senate should be put their vote on record.

  9. 9.

    SpaceUnit

    May 3, 2022 at 3:07 pm

    Any wagers on which of our MSM talking heads frames this as ‘Democrats failure to protect Roe v Wade’?

  10. 10.

    UncleEbeneezer

    May 3, 2022 at 3:10 pm

    Maybe it’s just me, but I’m also really irritated by all the normies of a Liberal/Progressive bent in my world, who are now outraged, but haven’t lifted a damn finger to join these fights over the past 6 years. Despite my numerous, constant efforts to get them engaged.

    How I’m feeling currently…

  11. 11.

    Old School

    May 3, 2022 at 3:11 pm

    @SpaceUnit: You don’t think there’s enough people doing that here?

  12. 12.

    Dangerman

    May 3, 2022 at 3:11 pm

    Righteous usage of all F bombs; heartily approved. My Mother didn’t say much about politics, but she was clearly and unabashedly pro-choice…

    …and, under normal circumstances, I would never tell a woman to sit down and shut up, but Susan Collins needs to sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up. Mom would have been ok with that sentiment (maybe not the F bombs). Anyone admitting to that level of ignorance shouldn’t be saying anything other than “I resign in shame”.

  13. 13.

    SpaceUnit

    May 3, 2022 at 3:14 pm

    @Old School:

    Guess I didn’t notice.  This is my first dip in the comment pool today.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    May 3, 2022 at 3:14 pm

    Biden started on time!

  15. 15.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    May 3, 2022 at 3:17 pm

    TFG got me swearing a lot more than I did in the Before Times – back in the 20th century, I was the guy who let out a single curse when dealing with something incredibly annoying at work and caused heads to swivel and one person to exclaim “holy shit, Bruce never curses!” But the past decade? My language has gotten coarser, especially when dealing with the neo-fascists trying to take over my homeland.

    Or as Charlie Stross put it in The Jennifer Morgue:

    “I start swearing. Not my usual ‘shit-fuck-piss-c***-bugger’ litany, but really rude words.

    (ETA: would it be rude to ask what punted me into moderation? I kind of assume it was the quoted cluster-F-bomb, but did I break some other rule as well?)

  16. 16.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 3, 2022 at 3:17 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    We do indeed live in strange times!

  17. 17.

    trollhattan

    May 3, 2022 at 3:20 pm

    @cain:

    “We’re not activist judges, we’re de-legislating from the bench.”

  18. 18.

    WaterGirl

    May 3, 2022 at 3:21 pm

    Biden:  “There is an on-going battle in the world right now between democracy and autocracy.”

  19. 19.

    debbie

    May 3, 2022 at 3:23 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Both outside and inside America, no?

  20. 20.

    different-church-lady

    May 3, 2022 at 3:23 pm

    As I hinted on an earlier thread: the opportunity here, if there is one, is on very thin margins. Every single fucker who voted for Trump in 2020 is going to find Biden’s statement as *more* reason to hate him. There is no hope of peeling any of them away. Eliminating Roe will not change any of their minds. The only opportunity is to convert outraged non-voters into voters.

    Even if it helps, it will lead to thin victories. Don’t be deluded with the idea of a wave.

  21. 21.

    WaterGirl

    May 3, 2022 at 3:23 pm

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: There is one word in the BJ-specific spam filter, and it’s the c-word you used above.  I substituted *** and freed you.

  22. 22.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    May 3, 2022 at 3:26 pm

    @WaterGirl: Whoops! Sorry about that. I don’t actually use that word even to describe people I want to see dropped from the gallows and then roasting in hell, but given it was a quote … I shall consider myself chastised and not do it again.

  23. 23.

    WaterGirl

    May 3, 2022 at 3:27 pm

    @debbie: Absolutely.  Enemies foreign and domestic.

    If biden actually said “outside and inside” I must have missed it as I was trying to remember exactly what he said so i could type it in.

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    May 3, 2022 at 3:28 pm

    Biden is more of a “made in america” president than any Republican in my lifetime.

    We used to invest in our nation, years ago – 35 years ago – 2% of our entire GFP went for research and development.

    We have gone from #1 to #13.  In my administration, we are changing that. Mentioned the chips act.

    Since I took office, 465,000 permanent manufacturing jobs were created in America.

    How can Biden be so unpopular.  The mind boggles.

  25. 25.

    NotMax

    May 3, 2022 at 3:30 pm

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR

    As someone steeped in wisdom once said, “You don’t learn how the curse until you learn how to drive.”

    ;)

  26. 26.

    RaflW

    May 3, 2022 at 3:31 pm

    @WG says “Open Fucking Thread, which is accurately measuring my level of anger as pretty fucking high”

    Let’s bottle that anger and use it to perfume every fundraising and organizing thread from now to November! Which is my way of saying Thank You, WaterGirl, for all that you do to keep us focused on the goal and the tools.

  27. 27.

    NotMax

    May 3, 2022 at 3:32 pm

    @NotMax

    In dire need of additional coffee.

    how the = how to

  28. 28.

    debbie

    May 3, 2022 at 3:33 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I wasn’t listening, so I don’t know. But it occurred to me that these RWNJs are American Russians.

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    May 3, 2022 at 3:33 pm

    Biden didn’t take any questions.  I guess he wants this to be about what was intended – as a thank you for manufacturing javelins, etc.

    Fair enough.

  30. 30.

    eachother

    May 3, 2022 at 3:34 pm

    I appreciate it being said here to take a couple of days to sort out the high speed ball, that we knew was coming and has hit our head. Concussions are dangerous. They need a little reorientation time.
    Then it’s empty the bench, repercussion time.

  31. 31.

    WaterGirl

    May 3, 2022 at 3:34 pm

    @debbie: The Rs are definitely not rooting for anything that America has always stood for.

  32. 32.

    prostratedragon

    May 3, 2022 at 3:34 pm

    @NotMax:  I worked in a lab for years before I got my driver’s license.

    Just sayn.

  33. 33.

    WaterGirl

    May 3, 2022 at 3:35 pm

    @RaflW:  Thank you.  I hope we can manage to do that, because the fight is for everything that matters.

    This war is going to be won by the people who are paying attention, with boots on the ground, getting people into the voting booths.  That needs to be our side, not theirs.

  34. 34.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    May 3, 2022 at 3:36 pm

    @WaterGirl: It’s easy to understand why Biden is unpopular: a good chunk of the media are mashing a thumb on the scales and pretending they aren’t. Admitting that one of the two major political parties has gone full-on fascist will fundamentally change the way they do business (not to mention open them up to retaliation when said fascists regain power, up to and including lynch mobs, as we’ve seen).

  35. 35.

    trollhattan

    May 3, 2022 at 3:43 pm

    Digby has a nice roundup of public opinion on Roe, which shows support has not declined versus thirty years ago. And yet, here we are.

  36. 36.

    WaterGirl

    May 3, 2022 at 3:43 pm

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: These aren’t your father’s Republicans.

  37. 37.

    eachother

    May 3, 2022 at 3:45 pm

    @WaterGirl: Well said in # 33 WaterGirl. And f*ucking right on!

  38. 38.

    Kathleen

    May 3, 2022 at 3:49 pm

    @debbie: I had to chuckles over WG’s restraint. I go from 0 to auto spew in .6 nanoseconds. My mother was like WG. She would remain calm and measured all the time. When she summoned a “Crap” I knew I was in deep shit.

  39. 39.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    May 3, 2022 at 3:50 pm

    Just in case anyone needs a primer:

    1) abortion rights are predicated upon the woman’s burden, and risk, arising from pregnancy. Therefore, questions about paternal rights are not relevant, even indirectly – being a sperm donor (even if you intend to be the world’s best dad) doesn’t cause you to share that risk, or that burden.

    2) abortion rights are also predicated upon a complicated question: when is a fertilized egg “a person”? Some profess to believe that it happens at fertilization, immediately; this can’t be supported, other than by using a circular argument. At viability, we have a clear presence of a person – if Star Trek transporter technology could transport the baby from the womb, there’d be two obvious patients. Prior to viability, such a use of the transporter wouldn’t matter – the fetus isn’t developed enough to survive.

    (Granted, you need to have more reasoning power than a Supreme Court (in-)Justice to be able to figure out why viability is a bright-line concept.)

    3) Given that no non-circular reasoning can show a single celled organism is a person, and given that viability is a bright line, where a second person has obviously entered the picture, people should have the right to make their own moral decisions in between those times. That’s what being in a “free” country means – the freedom to make choices for one’s self, even if those choices make some people feel all up-chucky.

    4) Given the burden of carrying a pregnancy to term, and given the non-zero risk of death from delivery, it’s not merely “a good thing” to ensure these rights are available to all women. Given the burden, and risk of dying, is real, it’s *imperative* to giver women these rights – far more important than giving women the right to risk infecting others during a global pandemic, by foregoing a mask. The former actually protects something of value; the latter is a middle finger to common decency.

  40. 40.

    Kathleen

    May 3, 2022 at 3:52 pm

    @SpaceUnit: All of them

  41. 41.

    Bupalos

    May 3, 2022 at 3:53 pm

    Final note: In case anyone cares, the most accurate measure of my anger is how often I use “fuck” or “fucking”.

    I think the spluttering headline “security assistance provide to ukraine” and following typos clued me in.

    She mad!

  42. 42.

    The Oracle of Solace

    May 3, 2022 at 3:55 pm

    Swearing is appropriate, I think. There really is quite an emotional difference between knowing the hammer is coming down on Roe, and then suddenly getting to see the hammer.

  43. 43.

    opiejeanne

    May 3, 2022 at 3:55 pm

    @NotMax: With me it was hanging wallpaper. Takes some strong language to get it straight and lined up, and make it stick.

  44. 44.

    Kathleen

    May 3, 2022 at 3:55 pm

    @WaterGirl: He will be in Cincy on Friday!

  45. 45.

    trollhattan

    May 3, 2022 at 3:56 pm

    @Bupalos: My spouse is out jousting in traffic ATM and I pity any driver within a quarter mile of her.

  46. 46.

    SpaceUnit

    May 3, 2022 at 3:57 pm

    @Kathleen:

    Probably.

  47. 47.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    May 3, 2022 at 4:00 pm

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: It’s not just the thumb on the scale, in my opinion. They are presuming good faith – that if Republicans say something, it might actually represent facts on the ground, or home-grown sentiment, or even some bit of performance art that actually shows off “conservative values”.

    They know full well that Republicans will say Democrats are wrong about everything, even when doing so will kill their fellow Americans. And yet, reporters still think it’s “all politics”.

    Well, yes, it is. Republicans are killing people, and protecting themselves from facing consequences for doing so, because they have the political power to do so. And yes, they might nevertheless win enough elections to have even more power. That doesn’t mean killing Americans is okay… it means that no one has been speaking up, for those Americans being killed, sufficiently loudly.

  48. 48.

    trollhattan

    May 3, 2022 at 4:01 pm

    @opiejeanne: Car repair. Say, snapping off a bolt you’ve reached by braille.

  49. 49.

    different-church-lady

    May 3, 2022 at 4:04 pm

    @trollhattan: Getting out of bed.

  50. 50.

    Bupalos

    May 3, 2022 at 4:05 pm

    @WaterGirl: We need to work smart too, not just hard. Republicans have a dead easy time at this point motivating folks because they have an overarching narrative banged home for decades now in fight after fight. It’s so simple and broad that it sticks and can encompass every issue confronted. It basically amounts to “wouldn’t you rather go backwards, away from these crazy people that brought you to the this horrible confusing present from the imaginary past we can help you remember? And wouldn’t you like to  punish them? MAGA.”

    We need the messaging that can encompass every issue consistently, that envisions a future that is better than the present which, in reality rather than in fevered right wing fantasies, is better than the past. Except where they’ve kept us stuck. Help us get to the future instead of retreating to their madhouse version of the past.

    I dunno. Something in that vein.

    There’s a big reason they’re passing memory laws and don’t want anyone talking about the realities of the past. They aim to own the past in order to cement their eternal war of a present.

  51. 51.

    The Thin Black Duke

    May 3, 2022 at 4:08 pm

    As Mark Twain said, “Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.”

  52. 52.

    Bupalos

    May 3, 2022 at 4:12 pm

    @debbie: I get the sentiment, but they are as American as apple pie. I think it’s a bad idea to speak in terms that suggest this isn’t an organic thing that we own.

    Might be a bad idea too in terms of polarizing American support for Ukraine.

  53. 53.

    prostratedragon

    May 3, 2022 at 4:13 pm

    @different-church-lady:  That is truly cutting to the chase,  but let us not forget kitchen work.

  54. 54.

    Sister Golden Bear

    May 3, 2022 at 4:14 pm

    I picked a bad fucking day to go in and get my blood pressure checked.

    I’m having a hard time concentrating at work because I’m so livid (and because I barely slept last night).

    Beyond Roe itself, yes I’m in California and relatively safe from the additional repeal of rights to come. But yeah, I am revisiting potential ways to leave the country if my existence is outlawed.

    In the meantime I’ll continue fighting like hell.

  55. 55.

    prostratedragon

    May 3, 2022 at 4:15 pm

    @The Thin Black Duke:  Intersectionality:

    “And may my last words not be  ‘Oh shit!’

    Amen.”

  56. 56.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 3, 2022 at 4:17 pm

    @NotMax: I have been told by my mother and brother that I exactly mirror my dad in language and tone of voice in driving related cursing.  I learned from a master.

  57. 57.

    Cacti

    May 3, 2022 at 4:17 pm

    It’s not just abortion.

    In his draft, Alito declares that it’s open season on everything post-1950.

  58. 58.

    RaflW

    May 3, 2022 at 4:18 pm

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: I mentioned the the earlier thread today that Politico is advising their employees to take heightened personal protection steps.

    That our media hasn’t tumbled to the idea that the holding/scolding/taunting pens of the Trump rallies were just a speedbump on the way to actual deadly purges is one of the things that makes me wonder that they report on. Like, do they see mere inches in front of their faces.

  59. 59.

    West of the Rockies

    May 3, 2022 at 4:18 pm

    @eachother:

    Nice metaphor.

  60. 60.

    Gravenstone

    May 3, 2022 at 4:19 pm

    @opiejeanne: Takes some strong language to get it straight and lined up, and make it stick.

    Somewhat amusing, as an old aphorism of strong language is to “peel the paper from the walls”.

  61. 61.

    Cacti

    May 3, 2022 at 4:20 pm

    Here’s your disturbing fact of the day:

    When the draft decision is released, Wisconsin’s anti-abortion law written in 1849 goes back into effect because it was never formally repealed.

    No exceptions for anything.  Abortion is a crime, period.

  62. 62.

    RaflW

    May 3, 2022 at 4:22 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear: As a midwestern gay couple living in MN (and with the outrageous good fortune to also have a condo in the CO Rockies), we plan to stick around and fight and live in progressive places.

    But with a wary eye for the exits. We’ve read some of the stories of marginalized folks who stayed too long in, say, Germany. Part of what I ruminate on is how we’d use our privilege to take folks with us and/or leave lifelines behind? Moving just isn’t an option for many at risk.

  63. 63.

    Dangerman

    May 3, 2022 at 4:22 pm

    @Cacti: 1850

  64. 64.

    debbie

    May 3, 2022 at 4:23 pm

    @Bupalos:

    Both have the same delusional beliefs about themselves. That was my point; poorly stated, but still my point.

    They always defer to the rights of states to legislate rather than to the federal government. I know why they would lean that way, but is it supported by the Constitution?

  65. 65.

    evap

    May 3, 2022 at 4:24 pm

    Americans with money can fly to Ireland if they need an abortion.  Who’d have thunk it?

  66. 66.

    evap

    May 3, 2022 at 4:26 pm

    A thought I had was is how much Covid deaths will impact the 2022 elections.   I read somewhere that the number of Covid deaths in Florida is greater than the margin of victory in the last governor’s election.  Of course, they aren’t all Republicans, but I suspect a lot more than half are.

  67. 67.

    Ksmiami

    May 3, 2022 at 4:27 pm

    @Cacti: question, if some ahole tries to attack a woman for seeking an abortion, can she just shoot him and say she felt threatened so she stood her ground? Second Amendment and all

  68. 68.

    WaterGirl

    May 3, 2022 at 4:28 pm

    @Bupalos: I am laughing because when I am upset is EXACTLY when I make all sorts of typos, leave out words, etc.

    Funny that you picked up on that.  Now i have to go find the typos and round up the missing words and fix them.

  69. 69.

    Cacti

    May 3, 2022 at 4:29 pm

    Rep. Raskin made a particularly ominous point today.

    If a state can jail you for having an abortion, who’s to say they can’t require you to have one if they deem you unfit?

  70. 70.

    WaterGirl

    May 3, 2022 at 4:29 pm

    @Kathleen: Are you going to go see him?

  71. 71.

    NotMax

    May 3, 2022 at 4:30 pm

    @evap

    Death (in some R eyes) not an impediment to voting.

    //

  72. 72.

    Cacti

    May 3, 2022 at 4:30 pm

    @Ksmiami: Time will tell, I suppose.

    But I’m certain that their next move will be the passage of a Fugitive Slave Act for pregnant women who try to escape to a free state.

  73. 73.

    RaflW

    May 3, 2022 at 4:31 pm

    @Bupalos: I don’t doubt that messaging is a component. But WG and others are right that it is organizing, at the person-to-person level, that matters most.

    The GOP and especially the RW money machine has invested in decades of organizing. Progressives have done some, but face a serious lag. We’ve relied too much on a few key actors: Presidents, swing votes on a 4-5 and 5-4 Court, etc.

    In my pessimistic days, I wonder if we can hang on until younger generations gets enough power. But we have to try. And it has to be broad-based.

  74. 74.

    The Thin Black Duke

    May 3, 2022 at 4:32 pm

    @Ksmiami: If he’s black and she’s white, sure.

  75. 75.

    Cacti

    May 3, 2022 at 4:33 pm

    @RaflW: If you can afford to purchase a home worth 400k Euros, Portugal has a program called the Golden Visa, where you can get lawful permanent residence for your immediate family, with a citizenship track.

  76. 76.

    brendancalling

    May 3, 2022 at 4:36 pm

    I am beyond livid.

  77. 77.

    NotMax

    May 3, 2022 at 4:37 pm

    @Cacti

    If you can afford to purchase a home worth 400k Euros

    Next B-J fund raiser!

    :)

  78. 78.

    mali muso

    May 3, 2022 at 4:40 pm

    @Cacti: Purchase in cash or qualify for a mortgage?  Because I am definitely interested in exploring the option.

  79. 79.

    RaflW

    May 3, 2022 at 4:44 pm

    @Cacti: I do wonder if some of these deals may dry up in response to how Russian oligarchs have used them to offshore and park stolen wealth?

    (I also don’t relish the idea of trying to get my foggy brain to learn even rudimentary Portuguese. Though once one is established, it would open up various EU nations. And I’m sure I’d not starve in Lisbon, Porto or the like – I’ve done reasonably well visiting European countries or regions with low English usage. Being humble, patient, and willing to occasionally end up with a surprise works wonders. Oh, that was squid? Oh, I guess I’ll try it. (ftr, didn’t like, but non-fatal!))

  80. 80.

    bjacques

    May 3, 2022 at 4:45 pm

    Biden’s speech in Troy, AL was a corker. But I’m surprised that a town that makes Javelins would be so far from Huntsville and its Redstone Arsenal that invented Stingers and Redeyes.

  81. 81.

    The Moar You Know

    May 3, 2022 at 4:52 pm

    Purchase in cash or qualify for a mortgage? 

    @mali muso: that would be cash.  I am learning Portugese.  My wife and I, we’re not staying.

  82. 82.

    Edmund Dantes

    May 3, 2022 at 4:55 pm

    @Cacti: the state did. Sterilized a ton of people all legal like thanks to the Supreme Court. eugenics it’s been around for awhile.

  83. 83.

    taumaturgo

    May 3, 2022 at 5:00 pm

    ***Biden’s sympathies are with the filibuster, not ready to change it in order to codified Roe.*** Sorry ladies, arcane senate rules take precedent over your reproductive freedom.
    “I’m not prepared to make those judgments now,” Biden replied to a reporter’s question asking him directly if the senate should do away with the filibuster to codify the Roe v Wade ruling that gives a constitutional right to abortion.
    He did say, however, that such a law “makes a lot of sense”:

  84. 84.

    Ksmiami

    May 3, 2022 at 5:06 pm

    @Cacti: Ireland too… but you have to put 1 million euros into a holding investment fund

  85. 85.

    prostratedragon

    May 3, 2022 at 5:07 pm

    @taumaturgo:  I’d take him literally about not being prepared to take that position, as he does not seem to like shooting from the hip. In any case, there’s a lot to do before worrying about the filibuster or prejudging the quality of his effort.

  86. 86.

    Ksmiami

    May 3, 2022 at 5:08 pm

    Hmm leave or obliterate Republicans- hard choices

  87. 87.

    SpaceUnit

    May 3, 2022 at 5:10 pm

    To be fair, Biden would not have the votes in the Senate to abolish the filibuster.

  88. 88.

    prostratedragon

    May 3, 2022 at 5:12 pm

    (I know there’s a new thread, but it seems very specific and action-oriented.)
    Elsewhere in shit hitting the fan, TFG’s head of Homeland Security has been caught trying to cook a report on Russian election interference:

    “We found that DHS did not adequately follow its internal processes and comply with applicable [intelligence community] policy standards and requirements when editing and disseminating an I&A intelligence product regarding Russian interference with the 2020 U.S. Presidential election,” the DHS OIG report states, in part.

    “The acting secretary participated in the review process multiple times despite lacking any formal role in reviewing the product, resulting in the delay of its dissemination on at least one occasion,” the DHS inspector general report continued. “The delays and deviation from I & A standard process and requirements put [them] at risk of creating a perception of politicization.”

    Analysts in DHS’ Cyber Mission Center (CYMC) began drafting the original intelligence product titled, “Russia Likely to Denigrate Health of US Candidates to Influence 2020 Electoral Dynamics” in April 2020, to warn state and local governments of a noticeable uptick in Russian state media efforts to question then-candidate President Joe Biden’s mental health after Super Tuesday.

    Link to the report pdf

  89. 89.

    Geminid

    May 3, 2022 at 5:14 pm

    @RaflW: Portugal is responding to long term conditions. It has long been the poorest country in western Europe, and it’s population is static. The national bureau of statistics projects that if current trends continue the population will drop from over 10 million to less than 8 million people by 2080. They know they need new people that can bring money even if they may not make Portugal their primary residence.

    West Virginia’s incentive program is analogous. Wikipedia tells me that West Virginia is the only state in the U.S. that has fewer residents now than in 1950. That is reflected in in it’s Congressional representation. Up until the 1960’s West Virginia had six Representatives. Next year there will only two.

    So, the state recently announced a $20,000 cash incentive for “remote workers” moving to the Morgantown area. Only 56 people who applied last year met the requirements, but the state now has made the southern city of Lewisburg a second “magnet” for this program.

  90. 90.

    Ohio Mom

    May 3, 2022 at 5:17 pm

    @SpaceUnit: Welcome to the world of commenting! Stick around!

  91. 91.

    Cacti

    May 3, 2022 at 5:18 pm

    @mali muso: Yes, it can be mortgaged.

  92. 92.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 3, 2022 at 5:22 pm

    @SpaceUnit:

    To be fair, Biden would not have the votes in the Senate to abolish the filibuster.

    Schumer.

  93. 93.

    SpaceUnit

    May 3, 2022 at 5:23 pm

    @Ohio Mom:

    Thanks.  Yeah, I haven’t been around too much recently.

    I get into a funk every year around this time, and I just hate everything for a few weeks.

  94. 94.

    SpaceUnit

    May 3, 2022 at 5:26 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    His Most Royal Highness King Joe Manchin.

    The asshole.

  95. 95.

    Cacti

    May 3, 2022 at 5:26 pm

    Scratch that, you have to meet the minimum investment amount (i.e. cash purchase), which is:

    $500k Euros in a high density area

    $400k Euros in a low density area

    $350k for a residential rehabilitation project

  96. 96.

    trollhattan

    May 3, 2022 at 5:40 pm

    Always a month or so behind the times, America’s stupidest senator™ tells you a thing.

    May 3, 2022 at 5:06 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

    In a video interview, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said it “may be true” that vaccines against COVID-19 cause AIDS, the Wisconsin Examiner reports.

    Said Johnson: “The way to approach this is from a criminal point of view because that’s what has happened. And until we start holding people accountable, Fauci number one, you’re going to see people still falling out, still getting sick.”

    He added: “You’ve got more than a hundred doctors here, all of whom will tell you that these shots caused vaccine-induced AIDS. they purposefully gave people AIDS. They knew this.”

  97. 97.

    eachother

    May 3, 2022 at 5:42 pm

    I picture myself on the porch drinking Portugal port.

  98. 98.

    Geminid

    May 3, 2022 at 5:50 pm

    @eachother: Drinking port and watching your cork trees grow.

  99. 99.

    Sure Lurkalot

    May 3, 2022 at 5:58 pm

    I’d pick Portugal but that language is inscrutable!

    I admire all of you who love this country and will fight for it, whatever that means and entails. I miss the love I had for it as a child, but as the song goes, the feeling’s gone and I just can’t get it back. I have felt this way for decades, in my timeline, beginning with Reagan. I do not want to spend my remaining time in a fascist country with other people’s religious beliefs codified into law. Especially when what I thought were laws all along were really just norms and conventions to be ignored. Definitely giving serious thought to finding another way.

  100. 100.

    RaflW

    May 3, 2022 at 6:03 pm

    @Geminid: I feel like we need to get some of the liberal very-rich to start post haste to sponsor other libs willing to move to lower-population red states. We’ve got to dilute their vote concentrations, and frankly all the cool kid places are packed full and super expensive!

    Tired of the high cost of living and rising congestion and other issues in (Denver/SF/Austin/etc)? Move to Jackson WY, Pocatelo ID, or Morgantown WV. We’ll fund* $50K of down payment on a home and get you the blazing fast internet you need to WFH.

    *Proof of “D” voter registration and having voted in the past two non-residential elections required.

  101. 101.

    SpaceUnit

    May 3, 2022 at 6:13 pm

    Morgantown is lovely if you enjoy drunken redneck college students vomiting on your lawn and burning furniture in the streets.

  102. 102.

    trollhattan

    May 3, 2022 at 6:16 pm

    @RaflW: Heh.

    Wyoming is mathematically the easiest state to flip but nobody is going to afford Jackson; how does Casper sound?

    Stayed in Pocatello a few times–starkly pretty but as Mormon as any place in Utah. Boise is okay, probably where most of the hippies live.

  103. 103.

    ian

    May 3, 2022 at 6:18 pm

    @RaflW: The flaw with this (and other proposals I have seen like it) is we have no way (nor should we) of knowing how they actually voted last 2 elections or in future.  A person could just change their registration to D to qualify for the cash.

    Maybe it will work, but I suspect there exist better uses of the money than the gigantic relocation of voters.  People will also need jobs and infrastructure lined up for where they move to, which increases the expense and difficulty of this scheme.

  104. 104.

    RaflW

    May 3, 2022 at 6:20 pm

    @RaflW: Bah, I didn’t proofread: voting in the past two non-presidential elections! I’m sure some winger will cite my random anonymous comment as evidence that we’re urging voter fraud. Oops, no.

    @ian: To the larger point, yeah it’s impractical. But there really could be some more targeted marketing campaigns that don’t promise specific reimbursement. There really are some great mid-size cities that I think a lot of progressives pass over because it doesn’t occur to them that they’d like it or thrive there. Our family moved to Tulsa in the 70s, and though it didn’t work out for my dad career-wise so we moved again, the city charmed us and really surprised us (we didn’t learn ugly truths about Black Wall Street for decades, but so many places have ugly histories, and that shouldn’t dissuade progs from moving).

    I have a friend now who lives in OKC and while sure, the current political leadership pisses her off mightily, there’s much there that works for her and her family.

  105. 105.

    Bill Arnold

    May 3, 2022 at 6:53 pm

    @WaterGirl:
    It’s worth mentioning that that word is common in Scottish (and generally UK) English and is not the strong vulgarity it is in the US. It can be and is applied to men (and women). (That particular novel quoted has UK characters.)
    One of those extreme English vs Real English differences.

  106. 106.

    Geminid

    May 3, 2022 at 7:11 pm

    I expect that Mr. Silverman will cover this story in a post tonight, but the Times of Israel reports that Russian forces mounted a heavy assault today on the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupal. Tanks and armord personnel carriers were used as well as landing craft for a waterfront attack

  107. 107.

    patrick II

    May 3, 2022 at 7:14 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    How can Biden be so unpopular? They compare what Biden does to what they imagine Trump could do. “There would be no war in Ukraine if Trump was president” — said a MAGA of my acquaintance

  108. 108.

    Gravenstone

    May 3, 2022 at 7:20 pm

    @trollhattan: Trying really hard to overtake Tuberville for dumbest motherfucker in the Senate.

  109. 109.

    Kathleen

    May 3, 2022 at 7:20 pm

    @WaterGirl: They don’t release his itinerary until 24 hours before his trip so I don’t know where he will be. Last time  he was on my side of town. He visited an IBEW training center about 4 miles from my house then held a town hall at a small Catholic university in my neck of the woods.

    From what I’ve heard he wants to learn about manufacturing. Cincy has a lot of incubators some of which have funded alternative energy options for auto, etc. I’m sure he’ll get to meet  our adorable new mayor for the first time!

    Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval Named One of 2022’s 100 Most Impactful Asian and Pacific Islanders by National Group
    Pureval joins the likes of The Rock, Mindy Kaling and Simu Liu on the annual A100 List

    By Maija Zummo on Tue, May 3, 2022 at 11:14 am

    SEND A NEWS TIP

    Photo: Screengrab from video posted to facebook.com/aftabforohio
    Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval is named one of Gold House’s “100 Asians and Pacific Islanders (APIs) who had the most impact on culture and society over the past year.”

    Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval is ringing in Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with some new accolades (and a new goatee).

    Gold House — a self-described national “Asian and Pacific Islander changemaker community, fighting together for socioeconomic equity” — has released its 2022 A100 List. The annual collection, unveiled each May, “honors the 100 Asians and Pacific Islanders (APIs) who had the most impact on culture and society over the past year.”
    Here’s the link to the full article:
    citybeat.com/news/cincinnati-mayor-aftab-pureval-named-one-of-2022s-100-most-impactful-asian-and-pacific-islanders-by-national-group-13089710

  110. 110.

    Kathleen

    May 3, 2022 at 7:24 pm

    @SpaceUnit: I can relate. January is usually my Month of Funk and not the fun James Brown/Bootsy Collins kind.

  111. 111.

    SpaceUnit

    May 3, 2022 at 7:25 pm

    @patrick II:

    I’ve been taking the polls with a grain of salt.

  112. 112.

    persistentillusion

    May 3, 2022 at 7:27 pm

    @RaflW: Come to Colorado Springs, represented by the only man nearly dumber than RonJohn, Doug Lamborn. When I moved here nearly 30 years ago, you whispered “i’m a democrat”. Over the yearss, although we’re still vastly outnumbered, our voices have gotten a great deal louder “I’M A DEMOCRAT, WANT TO MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF IT?”.

  113. 113.

    SpaceUnit

    May 3, 2022 at 7:29 pm

    @Kathleen:

    Ha.  That would be a month of funk I could deal with.

    Yeah most people get the winter blues.  I’m just an oddball I guess.

  114. 114.

    Sister Golden Bear

    May 3, 2022 at 8:12 pm

    Dead thread, but there’s other ways to move to Portugal that don’t involve a Golden Visa, and a far more affordable.

    Basically if you can show you’ve got outside income, they’re happy to take your money and let you live there. Albeit you do have to go through a different program for long-term residency.

    If I remember correctly,  after five years, you can qualify for a green card — but not actual citizenship. Citizenship being the big selling point of the Golden Visa, since you also automatically get EU citizenship. However, I believe a green card gets you most of the practical benefits.

  115. 115.

    Ksmiami

    May 3, 2022 at 8:34 pm

    @trollhattan: drove thru Laramie- we could just buy up land and build new cool towns that look like Boulder and get a couple blocks of Angelenos to migrate

  116. 116.

    EarthWind&Fire (formerly bluegirlfromwyo)

    May 3, 2022 at 8:59 pm

    @UncleEbeneezer: My feels with my Liberal normie friends who are world weary sighing about how democracy was good while it lasted. There’s some privilege showing.

  117. 117.

    EarthWind&Fire (formerly bluegirlfromwyo)

    May 3, 2022 at 9:05 pm

    @trollhattan: Second on Jackson but Casper sucks. Laramie’s a nice town but has most of the limited liberals since it’s home to the sole 4-year university. Maybe Sheridan or Cody.

  118. 118.

    HeartlandLiberal

    May 4, 2022 at 7:02 am

    Watergirl, Te Absolvo for the fucking high comments. I concur entirely. This is a watershed moment in history of this here Republic, when one of three branches, the one that is supposed to uphold the rule of law, has gone totally rogue, and is in fact legislating from the bench. Kavanaugh and Gorsuch should be impeached for their lies at their confirmation hearings. The only way this gets better if is if ALL of us, w/o exception, votes Democratic, crawls over glass and nails to vote this November.

  119. 119.

    WaterGirl

    May 4, 2022 at 8:20 am

    @Bill Arnold: That may be true, but that doesn’t make the word not offensive to many of the women on this blog.  Possibly similar to explanations of why the n-word wasn’t meant in an offensive way?

  120. 120.

    WaterGirl

    May 4, 2022 at 8:21 am

    @Kathleen: Belated thanks for the reply that i am just seeing this morning.

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