Since Rep. Jeffries is considered Not A Fan of Performative Outrage, I checked his twitter feed. He’s also too busy doing his job to waste time on time-wasters, I guess…
Senate Republicans stole two Supreme Court seats from Democratic Presidents.
Then express fake outrage when the legitimacy of the Court’s extreme majority is questioned.
Get lost.
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) July 25, 2022
I’ve got my hopes for the future, though! (I am as big a Pelosi fangrrl as any, but when she’s ready to go, the lady deserves a long and happy retirement)
After Pelosi retires she’s going to be replaced with Hakeem Jeffries, and once you’re introduced to him you’re really going to miss Pelosi’s diplomacy and gentle touch when dealing with internal party divisions.
— Beast Physics Knower (@agraybee) July 2, 2022
I truly believe that many don’t understand just how often Speaker Pelosi has willingly, and even cheerfully, taken the hits from both the left *and* the right to protect her caucus. Not to mention that she fundraises for the DCCC at something like twice the level of any Dem.??
— Alexandra?? (@nycbubbles) July 2, 2022
‘Brooklyn voter / podcaster’ stereotype:
(Konami code: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. It’s called the Konami Code, and it often meant the difference between life and death in a video game back in the 1980s. Perform those button presses in the right sequence, and you’ll unlock cheats that help you win…. )
Sensible, upbeat closer:
Opinion by Paul Waldman: Don’t get mad at ‘weak’ Democrats. Instead, get organized.https://t.co/FIBk1zy4j6
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 28, 2022
… But now liberals and progressives have to ask themselves: What are we going to do with our anger?
There’s a lot they can do. But the worst response — one that is common in some quarters of the left — is to say that because congressional Democrats are feckless and weak, there’s no point in voting for them.
This is a moment when the left has to look at the success the right just achieved, and learn some lessons from it.
Here’s the first lesson: You know who never stopped voting? Those antiabortion activists who are now celebrating, and planning new legislation to make abortion illegal nationally, to ruthlessly punish any woman (or girl) who tries to get one, and anyone who helps her.
That’s not because they had faith in Republican officeholders. They didn’t. They knew they had to push them and prod them and threaten them. And a lot of the time, those politicians held their movement at arm’s length. Until Donald Trump, a succession of Republican presidents refused to appear in person at the annual March for Life in Washington, because they worried about the optics of seeming too close to the antiabortion cause…
Yet the antiabortion base never stopped voting. These activists and voters knew it was the minimum they had to do — absolutely necessary, but not nearly sufficient…
It’s because of all this that Republicans achieved this extraordinary victory even though they never succeeded in persuading the public to agree with them. While they would certainly like to have most Americans on their side, their strategy was constructed such that it isn’t actually necessary.
Liberals have to learn from this history. When you lose, you have to ask why and how it happened. And if you’re angry at weak Democrats, figure out how to make them stronger. If a Democrat says, “Give us two more Senate seats and we can pass a bill codifying abortion rights nationally,” they’re not wrong — so make them do it.
To repeat, voting is the absolute minimum liberals have to do, and they absolutely must. Not only that, a huge number of races up and down the ballot bear directly on abortion rights: governors, attorneys general, state representatives, prosecutors, judges, county councils, referendums — almost too many to mention.
So yes, you have to keep voting if you want to restore abortion rights. And if you don’t think Democratic leaders are getting the job done? Just remember, it’s not up to them alone. It’s up to you, too.
War For Ukraine Day 152: A Bit of This a Bit of That
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Anne Laurie– I get the sense you are out of fucks to give today, and I want you to know: I am here for it.
Grumpy Old Railroader
I’m mad as hell and won’t take it anymore! I need someone to tell me who to yell at.
Yes I am an old Berkeley Barb radical and even though I am a crusty old white dude, I still view the world through my anti-war, peace loving Hippie eyes (although I have cataracts now so everything is a tiny bit fuzzy and washed out)
Ajabu
I love me some Hakeem Jeffries. Not only is he a no bullshit representative and will make a great speaker of the house but in 2018 when my mentor and musical hero, Randy Weston, died, Hakeem was directly responsible for naming the Brooklyn Street where Randy was born Randy Weston Way in tribute to his genius. You go representative Jeffries!
Mike in NC
Works for me.
Ruckus
I believe Hakeem Jeffries would make a great speaker of the house to follow Nancy. She is damn good at her job, Hakeem strikes me as being of the same level as she is. And that is high praise because she is excellent.
Redshift
The Paul Waldman piece pretty much exactly mirrors a Twitter thread I posted in response to a tweet from the Women’s March that kind of echoed the inane “you’re telling us to vote, but we already did that and it didn’t fix things.”
It seems to have gotten some traction, which gladdens my heart, because that garbage has been pissing me off for months.
eclare
@Ajabu: He also quoted the Notorious B.I.G. in a speech in Congress.
eclare
I remember Obama delivering a graduation speech around 2015-2016. He addressed not getting more done by asking the crowd: do you see the Congress you gave me?
Democrats have to vote every two years to have a chance. I don’t know how to get that message across when everyone seems to think the presidency is all there is.
Bring Schoolhouse Rock back?
The Oracle of Solace
Waldman’s piece very much dovetails with the point of my next big video—achieving any political goal requires voting, demonstrations, and ongoing activism. Sure, southern conservatives started off with stunts like third-party voting (e.g., Strom Thurmond, George Wallace) or unpledged electors, but they started to experience success once they started moving into the Republican Party and voting GOP no matter how little they got out of it. Activism works; after January 6th we saw some GOP leaders ready to turn on Trump, but within days they had fallen back in line because the Party’s base had spoken.
Electing more Democrats is a good place to start. We can worry about electing better Democrats later.
Major Major Major Major
Hmm, can’t say I have a real sense of his promise as a parliamentary leader, so I will defer.
prostratedragon
@Major Major Major Major: What I’ve seen of Speaker Pelosi’s career has convinced me that much of what a Speaker does is out of the public eye, so there is indeed scant way for us to tell. Over time the reaction of the members is the best guide we have, and whatever it is that she does, she’s clearly great at it.
gene108
I’m not sure what the liberal equivalent of a church is with regards to organizing.
The religious right worked through a network of well funded conservative Protestant churches and wealth conservative Catholics to activate their voters.
Religion can play a central unifying role in a cause, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. It’s a powerful force throughout human history.
I don’t know if there’s something that central to liberals to bring them together for a common cause. I doubt there is.
James E Powell
@eclare:
Give out Starbucks gift cards? Would that be legal?
Major Major Major Major
@gene108: for many liberals, especially black ones, the equivalent is a church. But yeah we don’t have any sort of machine of that scale unfortunately… part of our general failure to build such spaces in this country.
eclare
@James E Powell: No expert, but seems like if Starbucks the corporation offered a free cup of coffee to everyone with an “I voted” sticker, that would be legal. Seems like I’ve seen local offers like that at other businesses.
piratedan
I adore the fact that he is a fighter and is a no-bullshit Dem….. my concern, is how good is he at wrangling cats, because Nonna Pelosi seems to have a gift to knowing her numbers and when to let certain reps get their freak on as they see fit. She doesn’t have an issue letting those that need to make “a stand” on certain issues do their thing and doesn’t give the networks many opportunities to play the Dems in Disarray card.
I hope that Jeffries can bring that same pragmatism if/when he’s speaker.
Anne Laurie
From what I know of history, parliamentary leaders emerge when there is enough need for the right person to step up.
Over the past years, Jeffries has very much been a protege of Leader Pelosi, and I assume if he weren’t an apt student she wouldn’t have wasted her energies.
Rep. Cummings and the other ‘old bulls’ of the Democratic leadership will probably not retire at the same time as Pelosi, and — again — I have faith in their ability to help the Young Kid meet the moment.
Rep. Jeffries will not be the same kind of leader as Nancy Pelosi, but I truly hope he will be the one to meet the new challenges of our modern age!
HumboldtBlue
The first 140 seconds of Roberta Flack singing The First Time Ever I saw Your Face are as close as you can get to chicken-skin tingly perfection.
NotMax
@James E Powell
Violation of the 8th Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.
//
JoyceH
@Redshift:
Someone on Twitter said that complaining, “but – I voted last time!” makes about as much sense as complaining, “but – I fed the baby yesterday!”
Baud
@JoyceH:
The baby needs to earn their food!
David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
What’s the use in voting if my congress critter doesn’t personally rotate my tires?😒
Baud
@Major Major Major Major:
Back when the Internet was young, I thought it could serve that function. Boy was I wrong.
Ramalama
@eclare:
That is one re-make I’d LOVE to see. I say ‘remake’ because Our Media Overlords would probably never allow the children of today to just watch the originals.
Happy to be wrong!
Ramalama
Asha Rangappa retweeted pix of a guy following Steve 4-shirts-to-the-wind Bannon around while carrying signs saying “Coup Plotter” and “Failed Coup” to various courtroom events.
eclare
@Ramalama: Awesome.
Geminid
@piratedan: Jeffries has been an Assistant Cat-wrangler since January, 2019 when he started as Democratic Caucus Chairman. One thing that had stood out to me since then is how little public feuding between Caucus members since then. There was a bitter blowup over emergency border funding in late June/early July, 2019, but I think the Caucus came out of it with more discipline and mutual respect. Leaders including Jeffries deserve credit for this.
Hakeem Jeffries had been in Congress only three terms when his peers elected him Caucus Chairman. Members and leadership must have seen something they liked.
Geminid
@eclare: Jeffries also quoted the Notorious B.I.G. in the aftermath of his election as new Caucus Chairman in November, 2018. Some progressives were angry that Barbara Lee had not won, and Politico ran a story about how some irate “people close to AOC” intended to primary him, and even had a Black woman picked to run against him.
Asked for comment, Jeffries said “Democracy is a beautiful thing.” Then he quoted fellow Brooklynite Biggie Smalls: “Spread Love, it’s the Brooklyn Way.” Some observers thought that was a veiled threat and it probably was.
Liminal Owl
@HumboldtBlue: oh, yes. We used that to lead off our wedding playlist.
oatler
@HumboldtBlue:
I remember when Eastwood tipped it into “Play Misty For Me”.
satby
Well hello internet people! Hot off the Twitter presses a few minutes ago this was just released, by Rep.Luria. Very iteresting. Edit: though it’s quoting Andrew Weisman, who seems to have a bit of a grudge against the DOJ, so salt may be required.
Geminid
@Anne Laurie:
@Anne Laurie: I think that when Soeaker Pelosi steps aside, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Whip Jim Clyburn will step aside also. Caucus elections for new leaders will be contested, but I expect Jeffries, Katherine Clark (MA), and Pete Aguilar (CA) will be elected as the top three. Jeffries is 51 years old, Clark is 59, and Aguilar is 42. They currently hold the leadership spots after the top three.
I have a hunch this transtion will take place after the upcoming midterms. Ms. Pelosi will hold her cards close to the vest until then. The task now is to ensure that whomever leads the Democratic Caucus is the Speaker and not Minority Leader.
eclare
@satby: Hmmmm
satby
@JoyceH: I saw that tweet too. The entire “once and done” mentality of people regarding voting leading to their personal nirvana irks me, so I’m happy to see others equally irked.
@Geminid: isn’t it kind of striking how so many people bemoan the old ages of all the Democratic leaders and how fresh leadership is needed just ignores the need for those potential leaders to learn the job? While continuing to be elected so they can ride in the ranks? And how often that “new leaders required” mentality overlaps with the dumb idea of requiring term limits?
Betty Cracker
@satby: I don’t see a recent tweet from Luria. Are you referencing the MSNBC clip in the Alternet article?
Anne Laurie
There’s a scene in Terry Pratchett’s Lords & Ladies where an idealistic young fella tells Nanny Ogg (Discworld’s most underrated, much-loved yet quite quite dangerous witch) ‘Surely, after the new King’s fantastic speech, every fighter will rush forward to assist him!’
And Nanny Ogg replies ‘Doesn’t matter whether they care to follow him into danger — they know I’ll be coming up behind them.’
Sometimes effective leadership looks like: Who do you fear more — the GOP / complacent media, or what happens if you cross ME?
satby
@Betty, yes, that was the headline they used.
kalakal
@HumboldtBlue: Oh yes
Geminid
@satby: If and when the team of Jeffries, Clark and Aguilar take over the gripers will have to find issues besides age to gripe about, and they will. The days leading up to a set of contested caucus elections will see a furious on-line debate. The term “PINO” will be launched in salvos (Jeffries and Clark are members of the Progressive Caucus but they will be shaded as Progressive in Name Only). Jerkobin Magazine will probably chime in with an unreadable essay about lessons learned from the policies of Liebnicht, the 19th century German Socialist Leader.
It will be quite a circus. That’s one reason Speaker Pelosi will be reticent as to her intentions until after elections. The ten days or so between her announcement and the caucus elections will be “lit,” as the youngs would say.
trnc
If you aren’t voting for democrats, you’re helping elect republicans. It’s as simple as that.
Matt McIrvin
@satby: Term limits seem to be appealing across the political spectrum because they’re a form of “throw the bastards out” that requires no additional effort on the part of voters.
trnc
:
Electing more Democrats is a good place to start. We can worry about electing better Democrats later.
Exactly. If we lose the midterms, we lose any chance of getting voting rights passed. And on that point, while we need to focus heavily on getting our voters to turn out, I think it would be wise to also explicitly state for the independents that democratic voting policies do not make it harder for any eligible voter to vote, including voters of any other party.
Geminid
@trnc: I’ve been wondering how Independents will react to Republican attempts to restrict voting. Independents are a disparate lot, but one grievance that unites many of them is that the two major parties throw their partisan weight around too much. Independents hold the balance of power in many purple states and districts; Republican overreach in this area may come back to bite them.
Antid Oto
As one of the progressives you live to poop on, I’m here to say I’d be thrilled with Jeffries.
RAM
Angry at weak sister Dem legislators? Me too. So here’s what to do: Vote for them until Dems have an overwhelming majority and then primary the bad apples. Never EVER sit out an election at any level–local, state, national–and never EVER vote for any Republican for any office ever again.
Geminid
@Antid Oto: Who lives to poop on progressives? I am critical of some of them, but I hold Veronica Escobar, Joe Neguse, Jaime Raskin and almost all the rest of the Progressive Caucus members in very high regard. Most people here shade only a relative few “progressives” when they intentionally undermine the Democratic party.
Starfish
@Redshift: That Women’s March tweet was ridiculous.
The Women’s March
That last bullet point led to splintering. A lot of local marches are no longer affiliated with the national organization. When they did bother to support some issues, the issues they chose to center did not resonate in local communities. However, in our community, some of the people who did get involved did go on to the state house.
Anonymous At Work
Please tell me you included the Konami Code in here for the old people, not the youngest readers. I don’t think I could take that blow.
Starfish
@David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: Remember that time when Obama said to check your tire pressure if you want good gas mileage, and everyone lost their minds?
Starfish
@Geminid: There are a number of people here who delight in pooping on the progressive caucus, trying to create their own primary bugbear like this blog has done for the last couple of presidential elections. It has been super nasty, and we can’t afford that nonsense.
Everyone who is not feeling the Joe-mentum is immediately a Sanders supporter to certain people here.
President Biden is unpopular at the moment. However, it may not matter according to 538.
Instead of spending time attacking people not feeling the Joe-mentum, how about some time on representatives and Senators who are up for election this year?
Enhanced Voting Techniques
So, he will basically break the Dems by pissing them off? I am sure this Jeffries snark is all entertaining and feeds people who are sitting on their fat assses at homes revenge fantasies, but, that’s not what needed as a majority leader.
Geminid
@Starfish: I think the “moderate” and “progressive” wings of Democratic Congressional members are in harmony for the most part. As a practical matter, their policy differences are not very great. It’s some of their proponents who try to whip up controversy between them.
If someone on “the left” attacks the party (and some do regularly) there is nothing wrong with punching back, even if it means “punching left.” There is a concerted effort to undermine support for the candidates we want to elect and it needs to be combated.
Geminid
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I would not accept that tweet as defining Jeffries’ potential leadership practice. It seems to express some wishful thinking.
UncleEbeneezer
“Grand jury subpoenas issued last month to two Arizona state lawmakers show the breadth of the criminal investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington into efforts by supporters of Donald Trump to use “false electors” to try to undo Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
Copies of two subpoenas issued to Republican state senators from Arizona were released Monday via a public-records request, confirming what has been previously reported about the June demands for records related “to the signing or mailing of any document purporting to be a Certificate certifying Elector votes in favor of Donald J. Trump and/or Michael R. Pence.”
The subpoenas issued to Karen Fann, president of the Arizona Senate, and Sen. Kelly Townsend also seek communications “relating to any effort, plan, or attempt to serve as an Elector” in favor of the then-president and then-vice president.
A subpoena is not an accusation but rather a demand for information that investigators believe may help them solve a crime. The documents released Monday cast a wide net for any communications that Fann and Townsend may have had with any member of the executive or legislative branch of the federal government; any representative or agent of Trump or his campaign; or Trump boosters Jenna Ellis, Bernard Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, Boris Epshteyn, James Troupis, Joe DiGenova, John Eastman, Joshua Findlay, Justin Clark, Kenneth Chesebro, Mike Roman or Victoria Toensing.”
UncleEbeneezer
@Geminid: And we have every right to point out that constantly bashing the presumptive Dem candidate and incumbent for 2 years is precisely the same anti-Dem bullshit that got us into this mess (see: 2015-16, HRC, Emailz, GoldmanSachs etc.) and that the people doing such are actively hurting our chances in 2024.
Burnspbesq
Speaker Jeffries will cause grand mal seizures for McCarthy, Scalise, Stefanik, and the Washington press corpse. That alone is enough to garner my full support.
Geminid
@Burnspbesq: Jeffries really is a good communicator, in short and long forms. His speech nominating Nancy Pelosi for Speaker in January, 2019 is a thing of beauty. Worth checking out on YouTube if you ever want cheering up. Jeffries has “the Once and Future Speaker” grinning by the end..