Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

No one could have predicted…

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

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

“They not like us!” (that’s for sure!)

Shut up, hissy kitty!

There’s always a light at the end of the frog.

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

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

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

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / Biden On Protecting Access to Reproductive Health Care (LIVE)

Biden On Protecting Access to Reproductive Health Care (LIVE)

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President Biden is scheduled to speak at 11:30.

Madam Vice President Convenes a roundtable discussion with state legislators who are working to protect women’s rights.

I will re-up this thread later on this afternoon close to 4pm when VP Harris convenes a roundtable group with state legislators on the same subject.

Open thread.

Update to add this gem from Uncle Eb:

Reader Interactions

210Comments

  1. 1.

    debbie

    Turning citizen against citizen is a really sad way to conduct a “democracy.” Especially because so many MAGAts are itching for a fight. I may just stay inside my apartment for the rest of my life.

    A Democratic state rep here is trying to introduce a bill making the male partner financially accountable for getting a woman pregnant. Nothing punitive, just covering the costs. It’s not likely to make any progress here in Ohio. The GQP apparently has a doozy of a bill in the works co cover this.

  2. 2.

    West of the Rockies

    OT but pertaining to President Joe…

    It seems that over the last few weeks the number of “Joe is in rapid decline” stories are increasing (maybe because of the bicycle incident). I’ve not heard him speak in a while. Is this supposed decline pure RW bullshit or is he suddenly showing his age more after an incredibly demanding couple of years?

  3. 3.

    debbie

    @West of the Rockies:

    Of course it’s bullshit. Why even question that? Look at the medal ceremony from yesterday. I saw zero drooling on Simone’s shoulder.

    Stuff like this shouldn’t even be thought out loud. Please don’t contribute to their war machine.

  5. 5.

    FelonyGovt

    Meanwhile, this is what some people are agitating for- full “abolition” of abortion, personhood for a clump of cells, death penalty for women.

  9. 9.

    West of the Rockies

    Thanks for the responses and assurance.  I’ve watched almost no TV news in weeks other than 1/6 stuff.  Mostly stupid internet headlines made me wonder.  I was certainly not trying to contribute to wingnut idiocy.

  10. 10.

    Cacti

    I just read that Boof Kavanaugh had to flee out the back door of a DC area steakhouse due to protesters.

    Good.

    No justice, no peace.

  11. 11.

    FelonyGovt

    @Cacti: The right to finish your dinner is not specifically enumerated by the Constitution, nor mentioned by the Founding Fathers, so too bad.

  12. 12.

    randy khan

    I feel like any question about Biden and cognitive decline can be answered by pointing out just how well he’s handled the Russian war on Ukraine.  That is really tough stuff, and he’s been pitch perfect.

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    @FelonyGovt:

    The right to finish your dinner is not specifically enumerated by the Constitution, nor mentioned by the Founding Fathers, so too bad.

    I just wanted to see that again.

  14. 14.

    trollhattan

    @Cacti: Does some federal law enforcement muckity muck now command steak houses to put in armed security in case a federal judge wishes to grab a ribeye?

  19. 19.

    kindness

    Yup.  Once again, I can’t do anything about the knuckle draggers on the Republican side, but I can sure as hell be pissed at the folks ostensibly on my side who try to undermine President Joe every chance they get.  It’s like a Tulsi/Jill Stein contingent that acts like a cancer and destroys from within.

    I really think they’re getting paid to do it.  Follow the money.

  20. 20.

    mrstealyour

    I’m really unhappy with Elie, Imani (formerly of here) and others attacks on Biden.  It was clear this was where it was going, they mentioned in the day of Dobbs, and there was just unending slander on Biden.

    Joe does stuff in Joe time, not Twitter time.  And even conceding the point with Biden deal in KY being objectively not good, but it wasn’t some fundamental betrayal.  FDR/LBJ/Obama every president had to engage in some ugly horse trading.  But impact was minor.

  21. 21.

    zhena gogolia

    @kindness: I agree totally.

    How much discussion of Trump’s age and obvious infirmity do you think the Repubs indulge in? Zero.

  22. 22.

    trollhattan

    Money does not equal success but in this case, that would be nice.

    July 8, 2022 at 12:02 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

    “Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee for Georgia governor, has raised $22 million during the past two months of her campaign, more than 3x the fundraising by her opponent, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp,” Axios reports.

  25. 25.

    trollhattan

    @zhena gogolia: “That? That’s just part of Trump’s brand, and the Libs believe it so it’s working. But how about that Sleepy Joe, amirite?”

  26. 26.

    Almost Retired

    @FelonyGovt:  I am appalled by the Kavanaugh protests at Morton’s Steakhouse.  They should be applauding his effort to eat more artery-clogging beef.  They should have politely offered him cigarettes and asbestos while they were at it.

  28. 28.

    hueyplong

    Under current GOPer operating procedure, whenever there is an uptick in Dementia Joe noise it probably means Trump is suffering some kind of physical/mental setback.

    They don’t vary from their playbook very often.

  30. 30.

    Argiope

    @debbie: Say more re: the doozy bill?  I have a meeting Tuesday with that rare bird, a pro-choice R state senator in our fair state.  I’d like to know what is up for consideration on that front if you have the skinny.  Thanks in advance.

  31. 31.

    artem1s

    @West of the Rockies: ​
     

    It seems that over the last few weeks the number of “Joe is in rapid decline” stories are increasing (maybe because of the bicycle incident). I’ve not heard him speak in a while. Is this supposed decline pure RW bullshit or is he suddenly showing his age more after an incredibly demanding couple of years?

    You admit you haven’t heard him speak AND cite the stories as evidence that he’s in mental decline. THAT’s the purpose of these STORIES.

  33. 33.

    Matt McIrvin

    @debbie: There’s been a lot of speculation about exactly why Trump went antimasker when COVID hit, but I think one of the major reasons was simply that it was the most divisive possible choice, and Trump always instinctively goes for that to set people against one another.

  35. 35.

    The Truffle

    Just came back from Daily Kos. They are bellyaching about the EO and saying he is not doing enough. One even said the guy is so hated Dems don’t want him to campaign with them. I am not a stan, but it is as if he could do no right to them.

  37. 37.

    Paul in KY

    @Cacti: Justice Kegger is a public figure & should understand that he can get ‘comments’ from citizens when outside his house.

  38. 38.

    stacib

    @The Truffle: I’ve heard some of that this morning – Dems not wanting to be seen with Biden, and they cited how they did the same to Obama in 2010.  Personally, I think that’s part of the asskicking the Democrats suffered in 2010.  They should have attached to Obama and his policies, specifically the ACA, like a leech. Instead they telegraphed how unhappy they were to anybody that would listen, so their constituents, who probably follow very little of the day-to-day stuff then followed suit.

  40. 40.

    Zzyzx

    My leftist friends went immediately from “It’s been TWO WEEKS! Why the delay?” to “It’s completely useless.”

    I don’t get what exactly an EO is supposed to accomplish here.

  41. 41.

    Geminid

    @The Truffle: I spent some time at the Kuss during this site’s hiatus. The people there seem to have a lot in common with the people here. But they just seemed kind of…strange.

    And the format drove me crazy.

  42. 42.

    Tony G

    @Cacti: Kavanaugh did not have to flee, though.  The protestors were not threatening violence against him.  He could have just calmly walked past the protestors, ignoring their insults.  Or, if he really believes in his ideology, he could have talked to the protestors.  He was not physically threatened, so he did not have to flee.

  43. 43.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    I don’t know if this goes over any lines, but I personally believe Mr. Kavanaugh deserves as much peace as Dr. George Tiller was given when he was worshipping in his church on May 31, 2009.

  44. 44.

    Eunicecycle

    @The Truffle: Tim Ryan didn’t go to Cleveland to be with the President on Wednesday. He was supposedly in Cincinnati already for an event and didn’t want to change, but I am a little suspicious of that. And yes of course I will crawl over broken glass to vote for him, but I was a little disappointed.

  46. 46.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Matt McIrvin: ive always assumed it was because TFG thought a mask would affect his regular make up, his fake tan make up and his hair piece. I keep on expecting this to come up in one of the post-tfg books.

  47. 47.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @mrstealyour: Agreed.  Also, I see alot of complaining about Biden’s position of not wanting to expand SCOTUS to which I respond, he was also against SSM, until he wasn’t.  I could very easily see his personal thinking being “I’m not gonna push Supreme Court expansion until we actually have the votes to do so.”  This is the, imo, the smart tactic that we see Republicans use all the time.  “We would NEVER outlaw abortion/same-sex marriage/privatize SS (insert any other very unpopular action) etc.” and then they proceed to do just that when they have the power to do so.  I know it’s dishonest, but it’s also smart politics.  This is another part of “going low” that our side refuses to allow.  Personally, I’d much rather Dems avoid toxic slogans like Defund The Police, win the election and then quietly start doing exactly that once in position to do so.  I’m skeptical of the notion that publicly promising to expand SCOTUS would help, not hurt, our chances in the crucial MidTerms and 2024.  Mainly because the people making that claim have been consistently and repeatedly wrong about what actually gets people to vote Dem (see: M4A, GND, Defund/Abolish etc.)

  48. 48.

    WaterGirl

    @Zzyzx:

    I don’t get what exactly an EO is supposed to accomplish here.

    I am guessing that you didn’t listen to Biden speak, because if you had listened, you would know what the executive order will accomplish.

  50. 50.

    Zzyzx

    @WaterGirl: I get what THIS EO is supposed to accomplish.

    What I don’t get are the people who think that there’s a magic rule that Biden could sign that would fix this Supreme Court ruling.

  52. 52.

    West of the Rockies

    @artem1s:

    I cited no evidence.  I made no argument.   I asked a question.  I dare anyone here to review my comments since I’ve been here (about ’08) and see if I am a Tulsi supporter, a troll, or anything but a genuine liberal Democrat.

    Fuck anyone who says differently.

  54. 54.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Zzyzx: I don’t get what exactly an EO is supposed to accomplish here.

     Today’s morning blog post by Anne Laurie included a link to a detailed news article on the topic, so that might be helpful.

  55. 55.

    jnfr

    @Cacti:

    The restaurant was tsk-tsk-ing and now people are filling Open Table with reservations they don’t intend to use. I approve.

    Also, future protesters, please remember to picket the back door too.

  56. 56.

    Ejoiner

    @West of the Rockies: don’t feel bad…I’ve been around here since 2006-ish, posted a comment a year or two back and was attacked as a Russian “bot” by several commentators. Found it kinda funny to be honest!

  58. 58.

    Betty Cracker

    It looks like the alleged judicial appointment deal between Biden and McConnell is off the table, at least for now, but the way news has trickled out makes me wonder if it was KY Gov. Beshear or someone in his office who leaked it in the first place. Beshear made a comment about it again yesterday.

  59. 59.

    trollhattan

    @jnfr: Men’s room window, also, too (unless it’s one of those squishy places with all-gender bathrooms, but Boof wouldn’t be going to one of those).

  61. 61.

    Geminid

    @Eunicecycle: All the more room on the stage for Sharice Brown and Marcy Kaptur. Brown is in a fairly safe seat, but Kaptur has an uphill fight in her redrawn district.

  62. 62.

    Chris Johnson

    @kindness:  You cited two people who are very obviously in the pay of Russia.

    There are others. Look into Jimmy Dore sometime. Unfortunately there are a lot of naive lefties who got sucked into Russian psy-ops. I figure Putin is a pretty equal opportunity employer: doesn’t matter if you’re a frothing lefty or a would-be Federalist judge, you’re on the menu.

    These days I pretty much just go by ‘are they pushing for civil war and the abandoning of democracy’, while trying to remember the useful idiot factor. On the one side it’s the open fascists and on the other side it’s sheer doomposters.

  65. 65.

    MazeDancer

    Excellent remarks, Mr. Biden.

    There is no pleasing the tweet clout chasing lefties. They are the other side of the MAGA coin. They just want to yell and protest. Work for change? Easier to tweet.

  67. 67.

    The Truffle

    @stacib: These days? Dem candidates aren’t distancing themselves from the president. They are attacking their opponents.

  68. 68.

    Bill Arnold

    @Cacti:
    Antonin Scalia was quite clear about and supportive of the first amendment rights of protesters in 2014:
    MCCULLEN ET AL. v. COAKLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MASSACHUSETTS, ET AL. – SCALIA, J., concurring in judgment

    The obvious purpose of the challenged portion of the Massachusetts Reproductive Health Care Facilities Act is to “protect” prospective clients of abortion clinics from having to hear abortion-opposing speech on public streets and sidewalks. The provision is thus unconstitutional root and branch and cannot be saved, as the majority suggests, by limiting its application to the single facility that has experienced the safety and access problems to which it is quite obviously not addressed. I concur only in the judgment that the statute is unconstitutional under the First Amendment.

  69. 69.

    Alison Rose

    @H.E.Wolf: I think what they meant is they don’t know what the Purist Left thinks an EO to do, that those folks apparently believe an EO is meaningless unless it instantly solves every single problem on a given issue.

  70. 70.

    Bill Arnold

    @FelonyGovt:

    The right to finish your dinner is not specifically enumerated by the Constitution

    A right to dinner is not specifically enumerated in the Constitution. Let alone a right to finish it.

  71. 71.

    West of the Rockies

    @Ejoiner:

    Thanks.  I get that tensions are high.  Four years of Trump and all the idiocy since, the attack on Ukraine, climate change, the on-going assault on voting rights, minority communities, etc., etc., etc…  It’s been brutal.

    A couple weeks someone pied me for saying I’d shed no tears if a metric ton of Trump enablers decided to off themselves.   I did not encourage it, I threatened no violence.  And I was pied by someone here I like very much.  But a bunch of people talk about needing more tumbrils (wagons to take the condemned to the guillotine).  I have no problem with such comments.   They are metaphorical and let off steam.  But my comment was more innocuous in scale.

    It’s frustrating.

  73. 73.

    Eunicecycle

    @Baud: Oh I’m absolutely sure Joe knows the score. And maybe Tim really didn’t want to disappoint his voters in Cincinnati for a photo op with a D president in an R state. He needs R voters.

  77. 77.

    Paul in KY

    OT, but I just saw where Larry Storch died at the ripe old age of 99. His Corporal Agarn was one of the great TV characters. Sure made me laugh way back when.

  79. 79.

    patrick II

    I was struck by a local news show discussing a return to abortion laws in surrounding states that were written in the 1850’s.  It echoed a Youtube video I had seen (maybe linked from here?) with Alyssa Milano giving a short history of abortion in the U.S.. In short, in the early days of our country midwives delivered babies and abortions were not regulated by law until the “quickening”, or when mothers could feel a baby moving or kicking inside of her.  Then the AMA, controlled by men, took over birthing in the 1850’s and abortion laws began being passed, essentially to increase business.

    So, the reason there is no historical legal remedy to having the government force birth in the early days of the country is that before the mid-nineteenth century no one was trying to pass a law to prevent abortion or a prevent a Supreme Court Justice eating at a steakhouse, or a billion other things that people do that are not reasonably matters of law.

  80. 80.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Bill Arnold: I think we can all agree that an elite suffering minor consequences of their own actions is clearly Cruel and Unusual Punishment.

  81. 81.

    Paul in KY

    @West of the Rockies: I have dreams about shooting Trump and all of his minions into the sun as a form of execution.  Otherwise hanging them, which would certainly be cheaper.

  82. 82.

    Mnemosyne

    But I thought that Biden was refusing to do anything and we all had to stay home and refuse to vote for the Democrats in protest?

    I seriously wish the manic  “progressives” would learn that POLICY CAN TAKE A WEEK OR TWO TO IMPLEMENT, FFS.

  83. 83.

    Bill Arnold

    @Zzyzx:

    My leftist friends went immediately from “It’s been TWO WEEKS! Why the delay?” to “It’s completely useless.”

    Perhaps your “leftist” friends are actively working to help elect Republicans. For reasons.

  84. 84.

    Ken

    I will probably go to hell for this, or maybe incur a three-day ban, but I would giggle for hours if someone re-enacted the Blues Brothers restaurant scene with Kavanaugh’s family. “How much for the little girl? We need to ensure an adequate domestic supply of babies.”

  86. 86.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Cacti: Actually, the article I read said that he didn’t even know about the protesters, but Morton’s management asked him to leave through the back door because they didn’t want to deal with the potential bad publicity.

  87. 87.

    trollhattan

    Truthiness on display. Evidently this guy feels like he has all the truth America can handle and wants his congressional megaphone. What could possibly go wrong?

    July 8, 2022 at 1:42 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

    Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers, wants to testify publicly at the next January 6 Committee hearing, answering all questions and waiving his 5th Amendment rights, provided his testimony is broadcast live, the New York Times reports.

  88. 88.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Alan Feuer @alanfeuer 2h

    New: Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers, wants to testify at the next Jan. 6 committee, answering all questions and waiving his 5th Amendment rights, provided his testimony is broadcast live, per his lawyer. Rhodes intends to ask the committee about this today.

    /blinks into middle distance/

  91. 91.

    C Stars

    @MazeDancer: I saw a lefty twitter poster incensed about CA governor Newsom’s program to develop/distribute low-cost insulin. They cited the US’s efforts to thwart the development of low-cost drugs in other countries over the last 50 years. Whether or not that is true, is it really a reason to be mad at Newsom or disparage the idea of providing insulin to Californians?

    It makes no sense. Even my 8 year old would be embarrassed.  It’s just whining for whining’s sake at this point.

  94. 94.

    trollhattan

    @Paul in KY: Borrowing from Hogan’s Heros, “Send them to the Russian front” sounds like a perfect fate for Trump and his flock. Whatever town is getting the Antwerp 1914 treatment.

  95. 95.

    NobodySpecial

    @Ejoiner: I can go one better. I got here shortly after the Cole switch and two years later both General Stuck and eemom accused me of being an alt account of Corner Stone. So fracking hilarious.

  98. 98.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: I suspect he thinks he can do that “Never stop talking” thing that wing nuts are (literally ETA: or at least literally were at one time, back in teh Clenis days) trained to do on cable shows.

    I quit watching Ari Melber in part because of how often he would sit there with that knowing smirk while getting verbally steam-rolled by people he thought he was owning. Hayes falls into that trap from time to time as well.

  99. 99.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Mnemosyne: What I’ve heard complaining about is “Why didn’t they have this ready to go on the day Roe was murdered?”

    They can’t be happy. Ugh.

  100. 100.

    James E Powell

    @The Truffle:

    At times of high anxiety, it’s a good idea to avoid the Great Orange Satan. At all times avoid the comments.

    That place has been the home of hysterical overreactions since forever.

  101. 101.

    Baud

    @MisterForkbeard:

    That’s at least a somewhat reality-based criticism. It’s also really minor in the scheme of things. But people will cling to whatever is available to them.

  102. 102.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @MisterForkbeard:

    What I’ve heard complaining about is “Why didn’t they have this ready to go on the day Roe was murdered?”

    I am very interested in that kind of rhetoric from people who can show me receipts from 2020 and (where appropriate) 2016 that show they were using the USSC as a counter-argument to “they need to give me a reason to vote for them” (just for starters)

    ETA: My guess is they were in no small measure the people saying that

  103. 103.

    C Stars

    @trollhattan: New day, new self-righteous expression of grievance. Rinse, repeat. And what exactly were THEY doing about the US international health policy? (Other than tweeting). Geezus.

  104. 104.

    topclimber

    @UncleEbeneezer: I largely agree but must ask: which Dems in particular did not distance themselves from defund the police? Maybe 2-5% of those in the safest and (I suspect) most prone to police abuse urban districts? No matter–ALL dems were stuck with that label. Compare and contrast with how GQP types are NEVER to be tainted with the wacko fundagelicals and neo-Nazis they so happily humor.

  105. 105.

    James E Powell

    @stacib:

    Personally, I think that’s part of the asskicking the Democrats suffered in 2010.  They should have attached to Obama and his policies, specifically the ACA, like a leech.

    I agree with you. They should have loudly & repeatedly defended the benefits of the ACA. They didn’t seem to understand that screaming “We hate Obamacare!” was merely the media approved & promoted way of screaming “We hate that N!”

    Similarly, the screaming hate for Biden is screaming love for Trump & white supremacy.

  107. 107.

    Geminid

    @Mnemosyne: Some of these people argue in good faith. I think they are misguided though. Others are not sincere; they want this administration to fail, and they’re egging the less cynical ones on.

    There may not be that much Russian influence at this point. The Russians found prexisting animosity towards the Democratic party on the left, and cranked it up to a higher level that may be self supporting. It’s a conformist crowd, and people seem like bots because they think like bots..

  108. 108.

    C Stars

    I think it’s fine and healthy for people on the left to criticize the President or ask for more. And I thought that about the Roe v Wade judgment: executive branch SHOULD have come out more forcefully–it sometimes feels like their PR machine is stuck in the 90s.

    It’s the constant disingenuousness of it that enrages me. A few months ago all these lefties were crying tears of yellow and blue for Ukraine, but now, when Biden happened to be brokering a historic deal to expand NATO at the same time the RvW thing came down, it was like it had never happened. No one cared, because they were too busy being self-righteous about the next thing. It’s Twitter, I’m convinced–just a constant harvest of discontent and apathy.

  111. 111.

    Gravenstone

    @Mnemosyne:  Fit him with a shock collar and have a light at his table. He talks only as long as he is responding to a question. Veer off topic or editorialize, light goes on. Keep talking for n seconds beyond that, collar starts firing, increasing intensity setting with each second. He’ll stop the bullshit – eventually.

  113. 113.

    James E Powell

    @Ejoiner:

    During a heated period in the 2020 campaign, I posted a request that we all be nicer to each other. Somebody told me to shove my tone policing up my ass. I laughed because what else can you do?

    If someone is uncivil to you or overreacts or fails to understand what you are saying, none of that is on you.

    Castigarlo con el latigo de la indiferencia.

  114. 114.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: We know what the plan here is, right?

    To claim that: He didn’t have any coordination with Trump, that Biden lost the election, and that the Jan 6th commission is the REAL insurrection. And then to generate rightwing welfare and great headlines from Fox.

    No way they take him up on this. Though they could very well give him non-public and taped testimony, like Cipollone is doing right now.

  116. 116.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Baud: My own response to these people is “Okay, and?”

    Maybe they didn’t have all their support and ducks lined up in a row yet. I’d like them to have done it sooner. It doesn’t make much of a real difference, but okay.

    If that’s all anyone has to complain about, they should honestly just be quiet and at least celebrate the change.

  117. 117.

    Paul in KY

    @C Stars: ‘US’ does not = ‘California’, which I’m sure you know, but these doomers either don’t or pretend not to (IMO).

  121. 121.

    Baud

    @MisterForkbeard:

    A small number of vocal people are Sarandonites.  They think a phoenix will arise from the ashes of the Democratic Party, so they work to burn it up.

    Most of the rest, I think, are people who need to lash out at someone in response to political stressors, and they have the adopted the right-wing practice of lashing out at Dems.  Telling them to stop is like telling a depressed person to cheer up. It won’t work, and more than telling the MAGA to stop will work.  It’s too much a part of their cultural identity.

    The most we can do, IMHO, is send out positive messages to those who will listen, keep the focus on the GOP, and stand up firmly against misinformation and destructive spin.

  123. 123.

    Van Buren

    @James E Powell: I was once on a heated thread at DK and somebody responded to a complaint about the nastiness by saying this place is nothing compared to LGM, and I commented that I had never seen anything like it at LGM, and I got blasted from every direction.

    I felt very validated.

  125. 125.

    Paul in KY

    @Leto: That is a great scene from the film. If I ever in real life have the misfortune of running into one of their protests, I’m doing that. Will take my punishment. Will try not to kill any of the losers, though.

  127. 127.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @MisterForkbeard:  No one knew what the exact language of the decision was going to be until the decision came out.  A Court speaks through its orders and opinions, and, until we had one, there was nothing to which the Administration could respond.  Two weeks is fucking fast.  It means they had a framework worked out and just had to iron out the details.

  128. 128.

    Betty Cracker

    The January 6th committee should let Rhodes testify with this video blaring throughout his remarks:

  129. 129.

    Paul in KY

    @Van Buren: Maybe you were there, but compared to Steve Gilliard’s (RIP, Steve) old blog, this place is quite ‘restrained’, IMO.

  130. 130.

    narya

    I think it’s unlikely they let Rhodes do his thing. I heard an interview with his not-yet-ex-wife, and he’s a controlling, abusive asshole to his family; the kids want nothing to do w/ him either. N-Y-E-W talked about his grandiosity, and it’s sure on full display here. I can see the committee being “LOL nope.” Also, how would waiving his 5th amendment rights for the committee affect DOJ charges against him? Wouldn’t that just be providing DOJ with evidence? IANAL.

  131. 131.

    Zzyzx

    @WaterGirl: Yeah, I could have worded it better.

    But a metarule telling agencies how to behave is just not going to override many state laws. I’m so tired of the one simple trick progressives (like the 25th amendment) who then get mad when it turns out that it doesn’t work that way.

  134. 134.

    Zzyzx

    @Bill Arnold: nah. They’re just trapped in a bubble where they assume everyone agrees with them because all of their online friends do, so why doesn’t Biden just do everything they ask?

  138. 138.

    Zzyzx

    @Baud: And that’s blocked by the Senate. I’m among those who don’t see the Senate getting better anytime soon and the only way to fix is requires the Senate to go along.

  139. 139.

    Suzanne

    @Baud:

    Most of the rest, I think, are people who need to lash out at someone in response to political stressors, and they have the adopted the right-wing practice of lashing out at Dems. 

    I think that these people are reacting really emotionally. For some reason, it hurts more when someone who you consider “closer” to you does something that hurts your feelings than if an enemy does the same thing. They get pissed that more moderate Dems/liberals don’t behave the way they want, and that cuts deeper than GOP being terrible, because of course they’re terrible.

    I observe this dynamic here all the time. Like, McConnell and Rubio and Cruz and all those fucks are obviously fifty times worse than Manchin and Sinema…. But Manchin and Sinema are supposed to be on our side, and so their behavior feels more betray-ful.

  140. 140.

    Leto

    @Paul in KY: Recently I’ve started really laughing at the “huthuthuthuthuthut” scene at the end with all the National Guard running around. I don’t know why really, other than the ridiculousness of it all.

  141. 141.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Van Buren: There are different default attitudes that get less friction on different sites. Here, you’ll get blasted for being excessively pessimistic/cynical/doomy; on LGM a hopeless, world-weary cynicism is more the norm, and on DK… well, I haven’t been to DK in quite some time so I don’t know what prevails there these days.

  142. 142.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Suzanne: On Twitter and Facebook, some of them are straight-up right-wing or Russian trolls pretending to be leftier-than-thou progressives. The point is to blow coalitions apart.

  143. 143.

    Geminid

    @Baud: They’re the worst!

    At least their format is. After a few days of stumbling through the threaded comments at the Kos, I wanted to make a flag with a snarling jackal on it, and the words “DON’T THREAD ON ME!”

  144. 144.

    Leto

    @Suzanne: Lot of truth to that. You expect Republicans to be the reason everything is shit, as that’s been their MO since at least the 50s, but when your allies are walking lock step with the shitstains it’s… difficult to accept.

  145. 145.

    Ruckus

    @kindness:

    “I really think they’re getting paid to do it.”

    Some don’t need to be paid to try and stop progress. They’d likely be far less of a pain in the ass if they realized that the only thing they are doing is obstructing life. Because life goes on, and it gets better when someone invents something like the polio vaccine or the covid vaccine or a better plow to allow better and faster planting/growing of food, or the airplane, 40 hr work week, safer cars, not putting people on crosses, attempting to end racism, or what the hell ever people do that has vastly improved life, even over the 43/64 of a century that I’ve been alive. But some seem to think that going back 20 centuries would be a great thing. Hell, going back one century would be insane, 20 centuries breaks the concept of them having any actual cognitive thought whatsoever.

  146. 146.

    Baud

    @Suzanne:

    I observe this dynamic here all the time. Like, McConnell and Rubio and Cruz and all those fucks are obviously fifty times worse than Manchin and Sinema…. But Manchin and Sinema are supposed to be on our side, and so their behavior feels more betray-ful.

    Sure, I get that. Obviously, only allies can betray you. But for the most part, we don’t conflate M&S with the Democratic “Establishment,” and we never get to the point of just letting the GOP win elections or letting harm befall innocent people to get back at unfaithful allies.  Trauma can lead otherwise good people to harm themselves and others, but we still have a responsibility to try to prevent that.

  147. 147.

    ETtheLibrarian

    My best friend texted me yawn when she heard. I am still trying to understand what she expects the president to do.

  148. 148.

    debbie

    @kindness:

    All these fucking demands. How about some support for a change? How about refreshing your memory on the big picture? WINNING!

    There’s too much selfishness afoot.

    (not directed at you, but a very overdue venting)

  150. 150.

    Jeffro

    Twitter is, for some reason, showing me the following tweet/comment from some wingnut commentator named Brigitte Gabriel:

    The January 6th Committee should cancel its upcoming hearings out of respect for President Trump while he is in mourning for the loss of a great friend, Shinzo Abe.

    Words fail me.  So very many angles and possibilities for response here (most of which are being covered ably by other left-leaning Twitter users, but still…)

  151. 151.

    C Stars

    @Matt McIrvin: No doubt this is the case, but I’ve been surprised when I click on people’s profiles and find that they basically care about the same issues that I do and seem like otherwise decent people. And yet Biden simply reminds them to vote if they want a healthy majority to pursue their values, and their response is fuck that! Someone along the way instilled in these poor kids a belief that the president has a magic wand and has the power to overturn laws and political struggles with a single gesture, and Biden isn’t doing it just to spite them.

    Whereas here I am, never gonna get a Biden tattoo but generally happy with his calm approach and just consider myself damned lucky every day that we are all not living under some narcissistic demented kook who thinks nothing about threatening nuclear war.

  154. 154.

    C Stars

    @Leto: Oy. The rage I feel toward Sinema is something else. At the same time she’s also so ridiculous that it’s hard to take her too seriously. I spend some amount of time in AZ and the liberals there (who all voted for her/donated to her) LOATHE the lady.

  156. 156.

    JWR

    @WaterGirl: Frustrating is right! Like you, I’ve not commented in a while, mainly because the news has been so friggin bleak. I mean, the fall of Roe, which I had thought would be the straw that broke the camel’s back as far as expanding the court, loosening any semblance of gun control, mass shootings, etc etc etc. But onward towards a better day, because what else can we do?

  157. 157.

    Leto

    In other news: Sacha Baron Cohen wins defamation appeal brought by Roy Moore

    Actor Sacha Baron Cohen has defeated an appeal brought by former Alabama judge Roy Moore, who claimed the British comedian had defamed him in a program where he falsely accused Moore of being a pedophile.

    The three judge panel in the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan unanimously ruled Thursday to throw out the $95 million lawsuit from Moore and his wife against Cohen, Showtime and its corporate owner, CBS, over a segment of the “Who Is America?” program, which aired on Showtime in 2018.

    …..

    In its decision, the Second Circuit said Judge Moore signed a release waiver ahead of the interview, the plain text of which barred Moore from future claims for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and fraud. The court also agreed with a lower court, “that the segment at issue was clearly comedy and that no reasonable viewer would conclude otherwise.”

    “Humor is an important medium of legitimate expression and central to the well-being of individuals, society, and their government,” the ruling stated.

  159. 159.

    Jeffro

    Also, I see that Mortons is trending and supposedly they are being bombarded with a) thousands of fake reservations and b) thousands of 1-star reviews.  Too bad, so sad.

    Just remember, Mortons: it wasn’t because you served Kavanaugh…it’s because you felt the need to defend him instead of the right of Americans to protest his decisions.

  160. 160.

    Ruckus

    To those questioning the “lefties” that question President Biden, just think about what the far lefties want. They really aren’t different than righties, they want what they want, when they want it, and they want it exactly how they see the “answer.” IOW they are as selfish and lack the same amount of understanding of politics as their political opposites. They want what they want, the second they want it and in the exact form they want it in. They have the same zero understanding of politics and humanity as their far right opposites. They don’t understand that the squishy middle can accept less that absolutes. They don’t understand why everyone doesn’t agree with them. They don’t understand shit, and it shows. This is a democracy, sort of. Some days you get what you want, some days what you deserve and some days you get fucked. And some days you actually get what you need. (I think some made a song like that a while back) We are in the getting fucked stage. Some have to actually live the life they think they want to see that it’s shit. Or they actually want the shit and deserve it. The rest of us don’t. But humanity is fickle, can be rather stupid, often is crappy for many, and on the odd day is very good. It is better because of humans, it is worse for the same reason. It is what it is.

    Figure out how to make it better and you will be a hero.

  167. 167.

    different-church-lady

    LEFTIST RATFUCKERS: “Biden won’t even issue an executive order.”

    BIDEN: [Issues executive order]

    LEFTIST RATFUCKERS: “NOT LIKE THAT!”

  169. 169.

    WaterGirl

    @Zzyzx: Yeah, Biden isn’t presenting it as the solution.  He comes right out and says the best and quickest way to put this to a stop is to fucking VOTE and get enough Dems in that they can right this wrong.

    AND he’s doing everything within his power to make this as least bad as possible, which I applaud.

    Fuck the clueless people who want a benevolent dictator as president, because that never goes well.

  171. 171.

    different-church-lady

    SANE DEMOCRATS, 2016: “If you kneecap Hillary, Roe is gone.”
    LEFTIST RATFUCKERS 2016: [Kneecap Hillary]
    SCOTUS 2022: “Roe RIP”
    LEFTIST RATFUCKERS 2022: “BIDEN IS USELESS! VOTING IS USELESS! HOW DARE YOU BLAME US!!!”​

  172. 172.

    JWR

    @James E Powell:

    At times of high anxiety, it’s a good idea to avoid the Great Orange Satan.

    Heh! At first, I thought you meant it was best to avoid TFG. But yeah, the GOS! Been a while since I used or saw that one.

  175. 175.

    Anyway

    Question – what will it take to undo or loosen the Hyde amendment that prevents federal funding for abortion? Does it require 60 senators? Would be nice to target that when Dems have control of Congress and presidency.

  178. 178.

    different-church-lady

    @Leto: ​
    It’s always that joke where the punchline is the bear saying, “Say, you’re not really here for the hunting, are you?”

  182. 182.

    Bill Arnold

    @topclimber:
    It’s right there in The Constitution:
    Article IV, Section 4: The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,
    (Naming their party the Republican Party was a very-long-game stroke of genius!)

  183. 183.

    Gravenstone

    @Jeffro:  Doubt Trump even remembers who Abe was, outside of maybe remembering that they played golf together a few times? Trump’s reputed comments on Abe’s assassination are so far out of his available vocabulary as to be laughable. They really need to tell his current crop of ass-kissing coms interns to dial it back a notch.

  184. 184.

    Ruckus

    @C Stars:

    “It’s just whining for whining’s sake at this point.”

    Seemingly over my lifetime, about 40% of politics seems to be about whining about bullshit. People expect the world to be the picture in their heads. But that picture is often no where near any reality.

  185. 185.

    narya

    @Ruckus: And in the meantime, do what you can, today. Yes, it’s a trash fire, and some days are just HARD. I pair “do the next right thing” with the Dalai Lama’s instruction to “Be kind whenever possible; it’s always possible.” Not sufficient, for sure, but it’s what I can do, today. Oh, wait, there’s a third one, the No Magic Wand Rule: “It’s a process, not an event.”

    ETA, in case it’s not clear, I’m agreeing w/ you. :-)

  186. 186.

    NotMax

    OT. Now that’s just silly.

    Dialogue overheard just now from an early 1950s TV drama series.

    “Last week I smug— er, transported an entire family across the border.”

    “That’s been done before.”

    “Hmph. Including the house?”

    :)

  187. 187.

    Leto

    @different-church-lady: I also think about that line from the Cohen Baron ruling:

    “Humor is an important medium of legitimate expression and central to the well-being of individuals, society, and their government,” the ruling stated.

    and how conservatives simply don’t grok that. Again it comes back to what they think of as funny… just isn’t. As we’ve discussed here, they always punch down. Their jokes are old (I think about how they still laugh at, “hey, hey, take my wife… please” from the 1950s), or they just rely on stereotypical images of marriage/society (ringing Tim Allen). How people like Mel Brooks were ahead of their time, and appreciated at the time and now, for just skewering these dipshits. How a lot of that comedy is just as funny now as then. Very hard thing to pull off.

  189. 189.

    lowtechcyclist

    Our two failing parties need to be shaken up by independents

    Don’t worry, it isn’t just far-left types who attack the Democratic Party. Here’s Dan Lipinski:

    For 16 years, I had the privilege of representing the people of Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District until I was narrowly defeated in the 2020 Democratic primary. I lost that race because I dared to not always follow in lockstep with my party in an era in which extreme partisanship and polarization rule.

    He’s seriously considering running in his old district as an independent, which would in all likelihood guarantee a GOP win.

    This is a guy who benefited from the party taking his side against primary challengers, year after year after motherfucking year. And as soon as a primary challenger beat him on that tilted playing field and went on to win the general election, he’s talking about pulling this shit.

  191. 191.

    Scout211

    Off topic, but I got got a very strange text message from “Deb from the Democrats” telling me that they are looking for people in the [extremely small, rural town where I live] area to run for office and asking me to respond if I am interested in running for office.

    Is this legitimate? It sounded like a scam to me so I blocked the number and deleted. Has anyone else gotten something like that? Why would the legitimate DNC recruit prospective candidates via text message?  Seemed very fishy phishy.

  192. 192.

    Josie

    I’m wondering if Alexandra Petri reads BJ.  I won’t link to it, since it’s behind a WaPo paywall, but she just posted a column entitled Sorry, But the Constitution Contains No Right to Eat Dinner. If you can find a way to read it, I think you will enjoy it. I’ve missed her lately and am glad to see her back.

  193. 193.

    Citizen Alan

    @West of the Rockies:

    I take genuine satisfaction from reading the Herman Cain award subreddit every single day because the people who are mocked there are all demonstrably evil and absolutely deserve what happens to them.  If people feel the need to pie me for that admission, go ahead.

  194. 194.

    Baud

    @Scout211: It wouldn’t surprise me if it’s legitimate because the Dems do seem to be using text a lot (unfortunately; I hope it at least works to raise money).  But I wouldn’t trust it.

    If you are interested in running, find someone local to reach to.

  195. 195.

    Ken

    @Jeffro: I imagine some of the responses will be pictures of Trump deeply mourning Abe with a round of golf. For that matter, didn’t he react to the news of his brother’s death by returning to his golf game?

  197. 197.

    C Stars

    @Ruckus: Also over your lifetime (and mine) we’ve made tremendous strides toward minorities having more rights/freedoms, people in general having more access to information and opportunities. I mean, yeah, this week has been a flaming wreck, but the trush is progress HAS happened, even under systems and social mores that many of us would consider awful and antiquated today.

  198. 198.

    Citizen Alan

    @C Stars:

    The far left and the far right are identical in that they both desire to live under a dictatorship. They simply disagree on what they want the dictator to do once he takes over.

  199. 199.

    WaterGirl

    This thread is getting kind of long in the tooth, so I put up a new one that also has the link to Madam VP and has part of the Alexandra Petri opinion piece.

  200. 200.

    Geminid

    @lowtechcyclist: I think Mr. Lipinski’s old district was broken up. At least, Marie Newman, the lady who beat him, jumped to the 6th CD when the district she lived in was redrawn as majority Latino.

    I doubt if much will come of Lipinski’s whining. If he runs in the 6th against primary winner Sean Casten, Lipinski will take more votes from the Republican than he will from Casten. Most his core  of conservative Catholic supporters vote Republican anyway. He’s a dinosaur.

  201. 201.

    Bill Arnold

    @Josie:

    Sorry, But the Constitution Contains No Right to Eat Dinner.

    Pretty sure I saw that somewhere on twitter this AM, and copied it here later. She may have seen it on twitter, or reinvented it, because she is very very clever.
    I would not be surprised if A. Petri occasionally dips into this site’s comments, though.

  203. 203.

    The Lodger

    @Scout211: Check in with your local Democratic committee. They should have a web presence. (It’s a bad sign if they don’t.)

  204. 204.

    taumaturgo

    @Baud: ​
     

    Did Biden declare Martial Law? If no, then it’s WORTHLESS!!!

    Hum, martial law? If it was the correct action, Biden may or may not be for it, but for sure the do nothing centrist would come out against it.

  205. 205.

    sab

    @Jeffro: I bet they’ll be fifne. The majority of their customer base are GOPers. This is free publicity for them. But I hope people keep making public life awkward for Kavanagh. DC is the only pkace he has. It’s not like he has another home town.

    Break norms and others will do the same.

  207. 207.

    Geminid

    @taumaturgo: “Centrist” is a very elastic word. I’ve noticed how some people stretch it to stigmatize anyone they disagree with.

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