First up, the President at 10:00 AM:
Don’t forget to come back for the VP at 2:25 PM:
Open thread.
Reader Interactions
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.
Usually wrong but never in doubt
Infrastructure week. at last.
Bark louder, little dog.
Good lord, these people are nuts.
T R E 4 5 O N
A Senator Walker would also be an insult to reason, rationality, and decency.
Their freedom requires your slavery.
The words do not have to be perfect.
Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity
So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.
When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?
Black Jesus loves a paper trail.
Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.
You can’t love your country only when you win.
The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.
Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.
Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.
Peak wingnut was a lie.
Let there be snark.
I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.
Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?
I really should read my own blog.
An almost top 10,000 blog!
You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / The President and the VP LIVE (PACT Act and Unions, Respectively)
Baud
I wonder if Stewart is invted to the signing.
JPL
@Baud: I wonder how long until Jon receives a Medal of Honor. His work for funding for 9/11 survivors and veterans has been outstanding.
Gin & Tonic
@JPL: Medal of Freedom, perhaps? Medal of Honor is a military award, and he has not served in the military.
Omnes Omnibus
@JPL:
This is your periodic reminder that the Medal of Honor is only given to military personnel and is the highest award for heroism that can be given. You may be think of the Medal of Freedom or the Congressional Gold Medal which are the highest civilian awards the US can bestow.
JPL
@Gin & Tonic: Whoops
anon
pretty good!
JPL
@anon: It is. I can’t imagine being a veteran for trump, since he dissed their service so many times.
Baud
Just clicked and Biden was thanking Stewert.
Biden sounds good. He must be completely over his Covid.
Omnes Omnibus
@JPL: Their resentments and/or white supremacy must overwhelm their feelings as veterans.
MisterForkbeard
@Omnes Omnibus: The Medal of Freedom is our nation’s highest honor, given to such luminaries as…. Rush Limbaugh, Jim Jordan, and Devin Nunes.
We need a new medal.
Roger Moore
@Omnes Omnibus:
+1. I think this is the main thing to understand about American politics today: for a large fraction of Americans, bigotry and resentment are more important than any other factor in determining their politics.
WaterGirl
That was a really nice speech, I thought. I teared up several times during the speech. It’s so wrong that it took so long – how many years have veterans and their families been left out in the cold? Answer: way too long. Thanks, Joe.
JPL
@WaterGirl: I had to wipe away a tear. He hit just the right notes and the moment he gave the little girl the pen, was sweet.
JPL
@MisterForkbeard: yup
Baud
@Roger Moore:
Seconded. It’s why all those “Why can’t Democrats win them over?” questions are so frustrating, because Dems can’t give an honest answer. (Hillary tried once and got hammered for it.)
JPL
NYTimes sent me an alert and apparently trump likes the 5th now. Trump refused to answer a single question.
Mike E
@MisterForkbeard: naw, don’t let the orange stain destroy it…they’re the exceptions to the vast number of worthy recipients and a reminder that vigilance is required to keep our institutions and symbols intact from these fascists’ grubby fingers
Immanentize
@Baud: is it Biden speaking today?
Or Dark Brandon?
Baud
@JPL:
Release the video!
Coward.
Frankensteinbeck
@Roger Moore:
Proven true by studies. It doesn’t matter that they don’t agree with the Republican Party’s stance on lots of issues. The Republican Party hates who they hate. It’s worth adding that this isn’t monolithic, and if you pile up the disagreements on other issues high enough, for many that priority can be overwhelmed. You usually have to pile up the disagreements pretty damned high, and for a number I’d guess at 40% of whites literally nothing is more important in their political beliefs than their hate for the Other. It’s not a rare thing to see public figures who, when they get pushback on their bigotry, go from merely questionable to bugfuck insane.
@JPL:
WOW. Given Trump’s history in law suits, there must be something he is absolutely desperate about, here. Caveat that the desperation might be about whatever the FBI took, and his feelings of paranoia have merely spilled over to this deposition. He is certainly an emotion-run man.
Elizabelle
@JPL: Ha ha. Yes indeed.
BREAKING NEWS
Donald Trump declined to answer the New York attorney general’s questions, invoking his Fifth Amendment rights, he said in a statement.
Wednesday, August 10, 2022 10:30 AM ET
The former president invoked his right against self-incrimination during a deposition that the New York attorney general’s office had hoped would be a turning point in a civil investigation into his business practices.
Baud
@Immanentize:
No red laser eyes so I think it was Biden.
Elizabelle
Re the FTF NY Times: note their earlier breaking news today. They pretty much insinuate Biden’s admin is cooking the numbers.
BREAKING NEWS
U.S. inflation slowed to 8.5 percent in the year through July, a reprieve but not a conclusive sign that price increases have turned a corner.
Wednesday, August 10, 2022 8:42 AM ET
After stripping out food and fuel costs to get a sense of underlying price pressures, prices climbed by 5.9 percent through July, matching the previous reading.
Elizabelle
Here is the LA Times’ alert about today’s inflation figures. Contrast with the FTF FNYT:
Inflation slowed notably in July to 8.5%
The pace of inflation slowed notably in July after having steadily climbed to a 40-year high, as gas prices tumbled and Americans got some relief on the cost of clothing, cars and other necessities.
The annual rate of inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, edged down to 8.5% in July from 9.1% in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The June figure, the highest since November 1981, is now looking like it may have been the peak of the price surge that began in spring 2021.
Frankensteinbeck
@Elizabelle:
And after you’ve been relying on those costs for your focus on how high inflation is for the last few months. The hypocrisy is stunning. Also, after stripping out the costs that get voters’ attention, which is why Biden’s popularity was taking a beating.
Steeplejack
@Elizabelle:
Cue the (well deserved) torrent of tweets quoting Trump’s “this aged well” statement that “nobody takes the Fifth if they’re innocent” (or something like that).
. . . Okay, I looked it up: “You see the mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?”
Jeffro
@JPL: I just saw that!
(hey snooze media: there are many, many trumpov quotes about how ‘only the Mob takes the 5th’…be sure to ask him about that!)
(no worries, Hillz will point them out for you ;)
*Steeplejack beat me to it!
Elizabelle
@Steeplejack:
I wonder when Ivanka’s depo is scheduled? Will she be relying on the Fifth, also?
That family needs to go down, down, down. Hard.
Ohio Mom
@Elizabelle: Let’s remember that Trump had been involved in a LOT of lawsuits and court proceedings. According to Wikipedia:
”Of the 3,500 suits, Trump or one of his companies were plaintiffs in 1,900; defendants in 1,450; and bankruptcy, third party, or other in 150. Trump was named in at least 169 suits in federal court.”
He may be quite practiced in invoking the Fifth. It may be a reflex at this point.
Elizabelle
@Frankensteinbeck: Their new editor, Joe Kahn, is hot garbage.
As is Sally Buzbee, Bezos’ choice for WaPost exec editor to replace the marvelous Martin Baron, who retired.
Will have to email Margaret Sullivan and ask what she thinks of Joe Kahn now.
Did notice that the FTF NY Times seemed to want to talk more about the political implications of the Trump MAL raid. Horse race, horse race.
Elizabelle
@Ohio Mom: Yes, although he seems to enjoy sparring in some other depos, which has not turned out that well.
I think he is deadly serious about this one.
The FTF NY Times story earlier this month suggested that stringing out the Letitia James depo for so long may have just given her side a lot more time to collect documents and prepare. I hope so.
Mike E
@Frankensteinbeck: this Fascism curiosity is a business model…our political environment has been rigged this way for generations, making the whole “why can’t Dems just message better??” narrative so frustrating to us media watchers. Today’s events, especially not occuring on a Friday, are a good indication of a strategy shift that could start to combat the toxic anti-Dem messaging, but a good start, anyway.
MisterForkbeard
@Elizabelle: So Trump was so broken up by Ivana’s death that he was unable to show up and say “I’m not answering questions”? I mean, not surprising at all but what a maroon.
Brachiator
@JPL:
So, he actually did something smart. He must be scared shitless. He might end up spilling the beans later on during some rally with his idiot supporters.
NotMax
@Elizabelle
Doubtful those sitting on the grand jury will be impressed by a witness essentially telling them to go f*ck themselves.
Another Scott
@Ohio Mom: IIRC, the deposition he sat for while he was in the White House showed him saying “I have no specific recollection” a lot of times. He knows how to do these deposition things – as you say, he’s had a lot of practice at it. If he’s refusing to answer it’s because “I have no specific recollection” isn’t good enough.
Perhaps he’s learning – too late – that the worm turns.
We’ll see!
Cheers,
Scott.
JPL
@Brachiator: He released a lengthy statement that said it’s okay if people are mean to you.
Another Scott
This (found on an obscure corner of the intertubes) made me smile:
The folks at the Archives must be fans of The Librarians.
Hehe.
Cheers,
Scott.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Morning Joe says current special elections suggest Rs are in trouble for November because of the diminishing margin of R victories.
Leto
(WaPo) Iranian charged in alleged plot to kill ex-Trump adviser John Bolton
Steeplejack
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Well, that’s good. I didn’t watch much other than Steve Kornicki’s primary update.
Geminid
@Brachiator: trump set up his excuse in advance by complaining that the proceedings were “racist”, as in, he’s white and Leticia James is Black. He uses the same slur to describe Fulton County DA Fani Willis’s probe into his attempted election subversion.
Geminid
@Leto: Qasem Solemeini was an especially revered figure in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and it’s not surprising that they’d seek revenge for his killing. I expect they would like to go after trump also, although the propect of retaliation might put them off.
Danielx
@Geminid:
Setting up excuses in advance is standard TFG tactic in any situation from what I’ve been able to discern. Legal proceedings, elections- everything is a plot against him personally.
Leto
@Geminid: Yeah, didn’t expect them to just forget that and move along. I think the Iranians would probably go after the adult children rather than Trumpov himself. Ofc they might change those plans after realizing that he’ll just bury them on X property for a tax write off, instead of mourning them like a human.
Leto
@Danielx: He tries to utilize the same excuse Homer Simpson did when he joined the Navy and then caused an international incident: It’s my first day on the job?
lowtechcyclist
From the tweet machine:
Ohio Mom
@Another Scott: There is a librarian in my extended family. She is very picayune, inflexible and rule-bound (and a little humorless too). Difficult to deal with on many occasions but I can see the positives of this constellation of personality characteristics in cases like this one.
Trump is being confronted from many different angles, I’m crossing my fingers that something sticks.
Geminid
@Leto: The IRGC has elements of fanaticism for sure, but they are hardheaded and have some ethics (I think). So I don’t think they would target trump’s kids even though they’d be softer targets, but rather they’d hit those actually responsible for Solemeini’s death.
Given the probable retaliation by the U.S. for a successful attack on trump, such a strike would have to aporoved at the highest level. But Iranian leadership took Solemeini’s killing very seriously and an attempt on trump’s miserable life cannot be ruled out.
And I wonder what might happen if the regime in Iran falls in a popular uprising. I think there is a real possibility of this happening in the next five years. Then, the regime leadership would have to flee to Russia, but the IRGC’s covert overseas operatives could still function. Then I’d say all bets are off when it comes to them hitting trump.
Layer8Problem
@MisterForkbeard: Or at least an asterisk next to those names on the list.
lowtechcyclist
@lowtechcyclist:
The NE-01 special was on June 29th, just five days after Dobbs was decided. MN-01 was yesterday.
Midterms are largely decided by who shows up. Special elections even more so. Special elections in the middle of summer, way more so.
Our people are showing up. We can do this.
Mimi
Does she catalogue? That’s where we tend to keep the librarians who we cannot near let library users.
StringOnAStick
It makes sense to me that inflation will continue to decline simply because gas prices have been dropping, and for a lot of goods (food and “stuff”, plus stuff made with oil) inflation had to do with the fuel needed to truck them for delivery. As the decline in gas continues, so will that trend hopefully but only to some point though.
As noted by another commentor, we had barely any inflation for 12 after the Great Recession, so what would have been normal inflation over that period has been hitting lately. Add in that the Covid shutdown constrained production and demand and those constraints are fading fast, it’s amazing to me there isn’t more inflation. Happy to see today’s number
different-church-lady
@Immanentize: They are one in the same.
J R in WV
@Frankensteinbeck:
Actually, it’s called the Core Inflation Rate, and is more important to the whole economy than the Consumer Price Index, which includes the things omitted from the Core Inflation, which tracks things more important to factories in production.
No hypocrisy at all, just technical economic stuff.
schrodingers_cat
Sanders Institute fellow, Tulsi Gabbard is going to host Tucker’s show as a guest host. How long before she gets her own show?