Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

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

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

“woke” is the new caravan.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Let’s finish the job.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

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

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

We’re not going back!

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / TGIFriday Morning Open Thread: Nancy Knows Politics

TGIFriday Morning Open Thread: Nancy Knows Politics

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… House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has remained unflappably upbeat about the midterms, now has good reason to tout Democrats’ prospects. Even when other issues have popped up (e.g., impeachment of Trump for inciting an attack on the U.S. Capitol), Pelosi has consistently been an advocate for running on “kitchen table” issues, as she regularly put its, such as lowering the cost of health insurance premiums and prescription drugs.

She did this well during an interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday. She spoke about multiple legislative wins that fall into this category, such as the CHIPS and Science Act that President Biden signed into law on Tuesday, and the PACT Act, which will expand health care for sick veterans. The speaker also glowed about the pending Inflation Reduction Act, the reconciliation package that the Senate recently passed. “It’s pretty exciting,” she said, adding, “It has an integrity to it. And yes, it is about meeting the needs of America’s working families for the people, not politics.”

Later, at a White House signing ceremony, she was once again on message: “The CHIPS and Science Act is a historic achievement — lowering kitchen table costs and creating good-paying jobs for America’s families,” she declared. “That is our first responsibility, domestically. Returning American semiconductor production to world leadership status. And unleashing America’s science and technology to maintain our leadership for the future.”

Above all else, she tells her members, Democrats should run on what they’ve done. Naturally, that will mean highlighting all the measures Republicans opposed (the $35 price cap on insulin being among the juiciest targets).

But she also says Democrats must focus on their future agenda. If Democrats can hold the House and add two more Senate seats, she said at the signing ceremony, “we can get much more done in the United States Senate for the Voting Rights Act and voting protections, and the list goes on — a woman’s right to choose and the rest.”…

Ironically, Democratic candidates need not to do much on their third issue: Republicans’ lawlessness, penchant for violence and hostility toward law enforcement. When asked on NBC News’s “Today Show” about House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s hysterical reaction to the news that the FBI searched Trump’s residence, Pelosi dismissed the Republican leader’s statement and said, “We believe in the rule of law. And that’s what our country is about. And no person is above the law. Not even the president of the United States. Not even a former president of the United States.”…

Reader Interactions

99Comments

  1. 1.

    NotMax

    Wondering if in private McConnell having second thoughts about quashing Garland’s court nomination.

  5. 5.

    Geminid

    Politico put up an article this morning titled “Democrats in array at last, with domestic agenda in bloom.” The article has a good quote from House Whip James Clyburn:

     “I’ve been saying for a long time now that Joe Biden is to this country what Harry Truman was back in the 1940s.”

    Politico Playbook gave today’s Congressional schedule:

        The House will meet at 9 a.m. to take up the Inflation Reduction Act, with votes predicted between 2:30-3:30 p.m.

  10. 10.

    Baud

    @Geminid:

    Thanks.  I think they almost always go later than what they planned.  3 pm is also when Trump has to decide whether to challenge the unsealing of the warrant.

  11. 11.

    Soprano2

    I think how much R’s rally around TFG depends on what we find out when the warrant and the list of stuff that was taken are revealed. As someone else said, I think here somewhere, with each revelation a few more people peel away from TFG, saying “this newest revelation (that liberals already knew or figured)” is finally a bridge too far. If it is true that he had documents about our nuclear program, I have a feeling a lot of R’s, especially the elected ones, will be reluctant to defend him. I wouldn’t put it past some of TFG’s people to leak the story about it being nuclear-related documents just so, when the list is revealed, they can say “see it wasn’t about the nuclear program, it’s not that bad”. I suppose we’ll see later today if it really is true that TFG won’t oppose the release.

  13. 13.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @NotMax:

    No.  He dedicated himself since 2009 to taking the Supreme Court so he could fuck over those uppity minorities who dared make a black man his boss.  That Garland is the DoJ chief investigating Trump’s crimes is a detail.  McConnell would be happy to see Trump behind bars anyway.

  14. 14.

    kalakal

    @schrodingers_cat: I certainly would be but I don’t do Twitter. I’d appreciate if you could put links to it on here. I’d love to hear your impressions. I hope you’re enjoying yourself over there

  15. 15.

    Baud

    @Soprano2: Let’s just not fall into the trap of being disappointed if the warrant shows that it’s something less than the entire plans to our nuclear weapons systems.

  20. 20.

    David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    Tim Alberta, who gets cited from time to time by the front pagers, was on CNN this morning saying DOJ and Dems shouldn’t do anything to Dump because it can ignite violence and he’s concerned that the search warrant may have already triggered another civil war.

    Nauseating. This kind of appeasement by the media and republicans in the courts, in congress, in executive branch departments didn’t stop him from triggering violence and an attempted coup on 1/6.

    By advocating surrender and knuckling under to avoid violence is itself a form successful violence.

  24. 24.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud: They are pretty cool. I learnt a lot from attending Twitter spaces discussing Indian elections (hosted  in India) and the Ukraine war. It is interesting to get perspectives from the grassroots.

    I think you do need a Twitter account to join a space

    I am observing everything and taking notes.

  26. 26.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Geminid:

    The article has a good quote from House Whip James Clyburn

    Clyburn, of course, deserves a good chunk of credit for Biden’s being the Dem nominee in 2020.  I wasn’t keen about it at the time, but I’m happy to admit that I was wrong.  Biden really is the right man for this moment, and Clyburn deserves major props.

  28. 28.

    Soprano2

    @Baud: Oh, I have no doubt the list will be appalling even if there are no nuclear documents on it. Just saying it would be a way for R’s to defend the indefensible.

  29. 29.

    David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    Republicans aren’t rallying around Dump, they’re rallying around themselves. They’re trying to manufacture an outrage to counter the energy created by overturning Roe, just like how they tried to whip up a crisis about a caravan in the 2018 midterm or manufacture a crisis about graffiti in Portland and confederate statues in 2020.

  30. 30.

    hueyplong

    All Tim Alberta has done is identify himself as untrustworthy when the chips are down.

    How is his position really very different from the notorious quote about how no harm can come from indulging Trump in the post-election period leading up to Biden’s inauguration?  The actual difference is that, unlike that idiot, Tim Alberta has the 1/6-and-forward history to guide him and still can’t stir himself to what is required now.

    So he can go off and perform seemingly impossible acts of self-gratification as far as I’m concerned.

  32. 32.

    Soprano2

    @David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: Funny how they’re never concerned that not doing anything about his constant lawbreaking will have negative consequences!!  Can you imagine the FBI and DOJ ever saying something like “We have to let mobsters keep killing people and committing crimes because too many people actually think they are heroes and will get upset if we arrest them”. ETA – It’s ridiculous, if he broke the law he should be arrested the same way anyone else would. That’s what everyone should want, isn’t it?

  37. 37.

    Mike in NC

    So there is talk about the Fat Orange Clown possibly engaging in nuclear espionage for the benefit of his buddies in Moscow and Pyongyang. The Rosenbergs were executed for that back in the 1950s. What has changed?

  41. 41.

    kalakal

    @schrodingers_cat: Thanks for that, I am now better informed, I’d assumed it was some kind of a closed, invite only, subsection of regular Twitter. Didn’t realize it was audio

  43. 43.

    Gin & Tonic

    House Freedom Caucus was due to have a presser at 0900 today to discuss the FBI search of MaL. It’s been cancelled.

    I wonder why?

  44. 44.

    Steeplejack

    Good thread on an important point:

    If the social media accounts I’ve seen do actually belong to the suspect in the attack on the FBI field office in OH, it’s worth pointing out that there is no evidence of any terribly exotic political allegiances—he appears to have been a straight-up MAGA Republican.

    — jason wilson (@jason_a_w) August 12, 2022

    My entire point is that on the evidence, he may have been radicalized in a movement that tends to be treated completely differently than, say, racist skinheads, militia groups, or neo-Nazi groups, all of which tend to be treated as exotic phenomena by politicians and reporters.

    — jason wilson (@jason_a_w) August 12, 2022

  50. 50.

    Chris Johnson

    The thing about the Dem promises and chances for doing well on kitchen table issues… is that it is NOT HARD to deliver an improvement on absolute, toxic, authoritarian, robber baron SHIT.

    This is an important fact.

    It’s not HARD to do better than some of these fucks on the right. Their whole ideology is kicking down. ‘not being kicked’ is not only an easy sell, but it’s no imposition: it’s not that HARD to be, like, reasonably decent and stuff and just get along okay. It takes a lot of effort to be that shitty!

    Democracy means there’s a chance for most people to come to their senses. Right now Republicans are a very hard sell, what with the authoritarianism and treason and all. It’s not politically hard to squish them like whigs. What is hard and expensive is to keep up the facade that they’re valid and popular… and it’s costing a lot of people in this country and other countries, a lot of money and effort, to maintain that charade.

  51. 51.

    Geminid

    @lowtechcyclist: Clyburn is a smart man and a shrewd practical politician. He was a civil rights organizer in 1960s North Carolina.

    Writing that reminds me how much I miss Elijah Cummings and John Lewis, two other Black Congressmen from Clyburn’s generation.

  53. 53.

    Lapassionara

    I’m still hoping that Rick Scott’s desire to eliminate Social Security and Medicare get highlighted by Dems. Older voters tend to vote, and they are usually reliable R voters. If we could peel some of them away, that would be good.

  54. 54.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Scott Perry is chair of the Freedom Caucus, and the FBI just took his phone a couple of days ago, so it might have something to do with that.

  55. 55.

    SFAW

    It occurred to me that the best (as in “most fun”) revelation re: who the “mole” at Mar-a-Lardo is, would be finding out it was DeathSantis.
    Hey, a kid can dream, can’t he?

  56. 56.

    Betty Cracker

    Fox & Friends’ Brian Kilmeade subbed for Tucker Carlson last night and displayed what looks like a photoshopped image of the Florida magistrate who signed the Disgraceland search warrant guzzling booze and getting a foot massage from Ghislaine Maxwell on a private jet. Fox News is openly trying to set off the Qanon lunatics, who’ve demonstrated they’re ready for violence.

    I know we have strong First Amendment laws in this country, and for good reason. But this sort of thing is intolerable. Florida’s judicial system should sue the fuck out of Murdoch on the magistrate’s behalf, but since the state is run by right-wing loons who are all in on this garbage, that’s not going to happen. Is there any federal recourse here?

  57. 57.

    kalakal

    On a different note nearly time for me to dose up on the anti-histamines and head off for my next set of anti allergy venom shots. The anti-histamines turn me into a zombie so any further posts from me today may be more inane than usual as I’ll be really dozy. Have a nice day everybody

  61. 61.

    hueyplong

    @SiubhanDuinne: Anything the Freedom Caucus does is at the direction or with the permission of Trump.  They’re his creature and that’s that.

    But the direction/permission in this case is probably related to whatever caused the seizure of Perry’s phone (as well as the box Trump is in concerning whether to oppose the release of the search warrant, to the extend they are different things).

    I get the focus on nuclear docs, but J6 has got to be a feature of any Perry-related stuff.

  64. 64.

    SFAW

    @kalakal: ​
     

    The anti-histamines turn me into a zombie so any further posts from me today …

    will be limited to you typing “Brains!” ?

  65. 65.

    Eunicecycle

    @Betty Cracker: since he’s a federal magistrate, shouldn’t it be the feds who do something? But they probably won’t, as all the threats, etc, just seem like the cost of doing business. Unless you are a Supreme Court Justice.

  69. 69.

    Betty Cracker

    @SFAW: I was thinking more along the lines of a law suit, but that could work!

    Seriously, though, I see an echo here of what’s happening in Florida with teachers. The right-wing media/political operation makes their jobs intolerable, so they are quitting and are replaced with unqualified people who will be obedient.

    So far in this state, the hard right has compromised K-12, the public university system, the public health system and the judicial system. They’re co-opting and intimidating businesses. Democracy can’t function under these conditions.

  70. 70.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Betty Cracker: this federal magistrate? (scrolling through the comments, don’t know if this has been mentioned)

    andrew kaczynski @KFILE (thread)

    In one of his many (12) appearances on conservative NewsMax, the magistrate judge Fox portrayed as a resistance liberal said Hillary Clinton would be in big trouble for having classified information on her server.

  72. 72.

    The Moar You Know

    Tim Alberta, who gets cited from time to time by the front pagers, was on CNN this morning saying DOJ and Dems shouldn’t do anything to Dump because it can ignite violence and he’s concerned that the search warrant may have already triggered another civil war.

    @David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:  Fuck these sobbing cowards.  If there’s to be a civil war over this, if the idiot brigade really wants to pry themselves out of their easy chairs and go to war and destroy America over Donald Fucking Trump, well then, I guess we’re just going to have to do it.

  73. 73.

    Steeplejack

    Just because the man who attacked the FBI office in Cincinnati was involved in the January 6 insurrection doesn’t mean he’s a Trump supporter.

    — New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) August 11, 2022

  75. 75.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Fascinating! (And retweeted!) I knew Reinhart’s wife was appointed by Rick Scott, so I figured they were dialed-in Republicans, but damn — Newsmax! Of course, the Trump-a-Non lunatics won’t bother digging up Reinhart’s biography before firing shots at his house. I don’t feel sorry for him personally since he’s been a participant in this lunacy, but it is hard to see how you can have a functioning democracy with this level of crazy shit being amplified on cable news.

  76. 76.

    Citizen Alan

    @NotMax:  I seriously doubt it. If Garland had been on the court in 2017, the partisan gerrymandering case would have gone the other way.. Nothing Garland could do at DOJ could be as bad as losing the power to rig elections in the GOP’s favor.

  77. 77.

    delphinium

    @The Moar You Know: Fuck these sobbing cowards.

    Amen to that! Am guessing Mr. Alberta is a middle-aged, privileged, white guy who is scared of losing his cushy job and access if Trump goes down. So he will continue to push the line that we shouldn’t go after Trump and his enablers, regardless of how that impacts this country.

  78. 78.

    SFAW

    @Steeplejack: ​
     
    One of the replies looked as if DougJ had written it himself:
    [I hope I embedded it OK. If not: sorry, sort of.]

    Joe Unseen @JoeUnseen
    Replying to @DougJBalloon
    In this Ohio Diner we asked 3 Cincinnati electricians if a nail gun and an AR-15 are the best weapon combos for waging war on the FBI. What they said may surprise you.

  81. 81.

    NorthLeft

    I have to laugh whenever I read the snivelling caterwauling from “concerned” pundits that any actions against Deadbeat Donald will fire up his base, and the dire consequences for Democrats and the US that will occur.

    These folks are batshit crazy and they live their life dialled up at eleven. Anything that happens in their life is another grievance to bray about.
    Holding TFG to account will do much more for the majority who have been frustrated by the hands off policy in effect to date.

  84. 84.

    artem1s

    @Baud: ​
     

    Let’s just not fall into the trap of being disappointed if the warrant shows that it’s something less than the entire plans to our nuclear weapons systems.

    I’m wondering how much will have to be redacted given we are talking about NatSec and Top Secret documents? I mean no matter what happens, the media and TFG will twist themselves into knots to claim it’s Garland’s fault that the warrant was released, QED he’s the one who should be tried for treason.
    But if most of it will be redacted, then there really isn’t much risk for TFG not objecting to the release.

  86. 86.

    C Stars

    @rikyrah: Good morning! It’s a lovely day here in Northern CA although predicted to get HOT (which, for our town, is around 79/80F)

  88. 88.

    Edmund Dantes

     

     

    @Steeplejack: yep. Which is why it’s beyond stupid branding to keep calling it the extreme maga agenda or whatever.

    It’s  literally just the gop party at this point. Not some weird offshoot that’s overthrown the party cause of trump. The overthrow goes way back to the 30-60’s as the Birchers and their ilk rose to begin the process of taking over the party that really got going once Nixon needed that little boost to win.

  89. 89.

    Captain C

    @David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:

    I assume this Mr. Alberta would thus not complain or call the cops if a bunch of people raided his place and took his fine china and good electronics,  lest the raiders come back and burn his place down.

    @Baud:

    If there is a civil war, on whose side will he fight?

    Whichever side he perceives to be winning and he can therefore ‘fight’ from well behind the lines.  In other words, the Chickenhawk side.

  91. 91.

    Captain C

    @Soprano2: I think it’s basically the same sort of horrid abuser-enabling behavior, like “If you’d cook his dinner right, your husband wouldn’t beat you,” or “If you hadn’t worn that [short skirt/revealing outfit/burlap sack] you wouldn’t have gotten raped [passive voice not accidental]”.  Too much of the press seems to have this mentality regarding Trump, or Republicans in general.

  93. 93.

    Geminid

    @SFAW: Just because someone’s attacking Democrats from the left doesn’t mean they’re not “real enemies.” Many of the people sliming Clyburn are consciously trying to undermine confidence in the party. A lot of Democrats push back on this, and the commenter is just one of many.

  96. 96.

    KrackenJack

    We are still at war with North Korea. Is it too much to hope that TFG was selling secrets to his buddy Kim Jong-un?

  97. 97.

    J R in WV

    @schrodingers_cat: ​
     

    I won’t do Twitter, but am intensely interested in India. I would expect most of the front pagers would help you publish right here, which is where I would prefer to see your review of your trip.

    Hope you are having a good time in spite of potential religious ceremonies hosted by MIL… that would be V hard for me to endure!

  98. 98.

    VOR

    @Edmund Dantes: …Which is why it’s beyond stupid branding to keep calling it the extreme maga agenda or whatever. It’s literally just the gop party at this point.

    Exactly. There is no daylight between the MAGA agenda and the mainstream Republican agenda. None. MAGA and Donald Trump ARE the 2022 Republican party.

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