in my professional political (insufficiently “data-driven”) opinion: more Biden voices please https://t.co/UVDI9w9lau
— Patrick Dillon (@mpdillon) September 9, 2022
President Joe Biden's blistering statements about Donald Trump and adherents of the “Make America Great Again” philosophy have given many Democrats a bolt of fresh energy ahead of the midterms. https://t.co/1AuGXKAUiB
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) September 8, 2022
… Biden’s increasingly stark warnings about Trump-fueled elements of the Republican Party are making up the core part of his midterm message, combined with repeated reminders to voters about recent Democratic accomplishments and a promise that democracy can still produce results for the American people. But it’s the blistering statements from Biden about his predecessor and adherents of the “Make America Great Again” philosophy that have given many Democrats a bolt of fresh energy as they campaign to keep control of Congress.
“It’s a particularly strong issue for our base,” said Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, who leads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the official campaign arm of Senate Democrats. “Folks want us, want people to show that there is a clear contrast in the election between where Democrats are and Republicans have been.”…
Biden’s forceful campaign-year posture comes as Democrats are feeling more optimistic about the midterms, when the party controlling the White House has historically faced losses in Congress. A combination of legislative accomplishments, polarizing Republican candidates and voter fury stoked by the overturning of Roe vs. Wade have Democrats feeling they could see smaller losses in the House than initially anticipated, while retaining their barebones majority in the Senate…
Biden [headlined] another political event Thursday, hosted by the Democratic National Committee in suburban Maryland. There, the president will speak about “the choice before Americans” on issues of abortion, Social Security and Medicare, democracy, school safety and climate, and how “extreme MAGA Republicans are working to take away our rights,” according to a Biden adviser who requested anonymity to preview his remarks. That will be followed by a trip to Ohio on Friday, a state where the Senate contest between Democrat Tim Ryan and Republican J.D. Vance is becoming increasingly competitive.
Those close to Biden say the president has never shied away from a political fight…
“I want to say a few words about Queen Elizabeth…Thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the people in the UK and the Commonwealth in their grief. Now let me talk about why we’re all here. 60 days until the midterm elections. Your right to choose is on the ballot.” pic.twitter.com/haLqNHk83H
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) September 8, 2022
Biden said Trump would pardon all who stormed Capitol Jan. 6. "That's why those who love this country—Ds, independents and mainstream Rs—have to be stronger more determined more committed to saving American democracy than the MAGA Republicans are to literally destroying America."
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) September 9, 2022
More good work:
BREAKING: The Biden admin is taking steps to roll back Trump's "public charge" rule, which penalized legal migrants who used benefits incl. Medicaid. Doctors say it's had a chilling effect, deterring even families with citizen children from using programs they are entitled to.
— Alice Miranda Ollstein (@AliceOllstein) September 8, 2022
The former President made it much more difficult for hard-working immigrants, including those with U.S. citizen children, to enter the country or become lawful permanent residents.
I applaud @SecMayorkas and @POTUS for reversing this discriminatory and deeply harmful rule. https://t.co/dUfszMNuTu
— Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) September 8, 2022
Immigrant families have been deterred out of fear using the programs would compromise their application for a green card https://t.co/iabykjTE6Q
— Alice Miranda Ollstein (@AliceOllstein) September 8, 2022
Tennessee:
U.S. Senate confirms Biden appellate judge pick opposed by home state senators https://t.co/veV7AEoqpv pic.twitter.com/5ZDiRhjTJQ
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 9, 2022
The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed Tennessee lawyer Andre Mathis to a seat on a federal appeals court over the objections of his state’s two Republican senators [Marsha Blackburn & Bill Hagerty], whose support historically would have been needed but no longer is required.
The Senate voted 48-47 to approve the Butler Snow partner to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the second confirmation vote of the week, as Democrats following their August recess ramp up consideration of President Joe Biden’s judicial picks…
Mathis, 41, will be the first Black man, and second Black person, from Tennessee to sit on the Cincinnati, Ohio-based 6th Circuit. The last time a Black man was on that court was a quarter century ago, the White House says.
Mathis is the first of Biden’s appeals court nominees to win confirmation without the support of his home state’s senators, who in the past would have needed to return a “blue slip” for him to even be considered…
Blackburn, a Senate Judiciary Committee member, drew criticism for statements she made during Mathis’ Jan. 12 appearance before the panel, when she pointed to a series of traffic tickets to say Mathis had “a rap sheet with a laundry list of citations.”…
(Gosh, I cannot *imagine* why a Black man driving a nice car in Tennessee would’ve collected so many traffic tickets!)
And finally…
Treasury Secretary Yellen in a speech just now: "I am more optimistic about the course of our economy than I have been in quite a while."
— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) September 8, 2022
Yellen says U.S. economy stronger than before pandemic but inflation a threat https://t.co/h1xpuGcN06 pic.twitter.com/6P6GuFpzx8
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 8, 2022
Baud
Nice of the media to notice!
zhena gogolia
Thanks for the upbeat post to start the day. I love Joe’s impression of the Rethugs.
Baud
@zhena gogolia: Agreed. That was a good clip.
narya
I was vaguely trying to hold on at work until I’m eligible for Medicare (next summer), but that is feeling increasingly impossible. Otherwise, lovely morning for a run, and generally pleasant weather.
germy shoemangler
gene108
@zhena gogolia:
I swear he was drifting into an impression of McConnell, but caught himself and pulled back.
Edit: around the 0:30 second mark is when he really sounds like Moscow Mitch to me.
oatler
@Baud:
I have ABC with the sound down in the morning, and a glance at the bottom crawl convinces me I’m watching Fox. Biden in trouble? How the Queen’s death will impact Dems’ stability in the polls.
New Deal democrat
Today is Judge Cannon’s deadline for the DoJ and Trump to submit a joint filing with a list of proposed candidates to be named special master and a detailed proposal to establish the duties and limits of the special master, as well as a schedule for the review and compensation.
Fearless prediction: there will be no such joint filing. The two parties will not have agreed to anything. At most, there will be a “joint filing” setting forth their two completely incompatible selections for joint master (e.g., Devin Nunes vs. John Kerry), completely incompatible proposals as to that person’s duties, and a completely incompatible schedule for review and compensation. That’s because it’s not in Trump’s interest to agree to anything short of complete capitulation by the DoJ, now that he knows the judge is in his pocket.
Judge Cannon will then either make Trumpy selections, or else schedule a hearing about making selections. Trump will either get full validation by the judge, or at worst lots of delay and further litigation.
Or the 11th Circuit will promptly stay or reverse her order.
Baud
@oatler: Seriously? What’s the connection? They’re both old. By the queen’s measure, Biden has 16 more good years left in him.
Steeplejack
zhena gogolia
@oatler: The Queen’s death affecting Democrats? Why? Did they kill her?
Geminid
@oatler: An example of how horseradish journalism seasons all news now.
germy shoemangler
@New Deal democrat:
thread:
Soprano2
There’s great news out of Michigan, where Republicans’ attempt to keep the abortion rights measure off the ballot failed. I believe there will also be a voting rights issue on their ballot, which Republicans also tried to stop. Josh Marshall makes a good point in a subscriber-only article, which I will excerpt here:
It’s becoming more and more worrisome how Republicans are trying to manipulate the power of government to allow themselves minority rule. Their totally ridiculous “argument” was that the measure on the petition was not understandable because some words were too close together!
Geminid
@Soprano2: At least they didn’t say the words were too big!
Or did they?
Baud
@Soprano2: Also shows that the GOP is scared to death about the abortion issue.
Soprano2
@New Deal democrat: I wish the DOJ would name Obama as one of their choices, just to troll TFG.
germy shoemangler
Betty Cracker
@Geminid: I thought you were an autocorrect victim (horseradish vs horserace) until I read “seasons.” Bravo! I am fond of horseradish, but I know firsthand it can become a riot control tool if you’re not extra careful with it! :)
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
Soprano2
@Baud: Oh yeah, I expect our Republican supermajority to redouble their efforts to make it impossible for citizens to get any constitutional amendments on the ballot, because they know one regarding abortion is coming, and they definitely do not want that to happen if they can prevent it.
Geminid
@Baud: Republicans are also on the wrong side of public opinion when it comes to gun safety and the clean energy transition. They are digging in deeper too.
Baud
@Geminid: Yeah, but their on the right side of bigotry for a lot of people. Here’s hoping 2022 is the year we break their backs on that.
Steeplejack
(See photos.)
lowtechcyclist
In that first clip, Biden said they don’t have any shame.
Well, as our tag line says, if they had any shame, they’d die of it.
Not that that would be a calamity or anything.
Jeffro
It’s a bit of inside baseball, but getting rid of the idiotic ‘blue slips’ = awesome. And I think we have The Turtle to thank for that, am I right? woot!
Baud
@Jeffro: Yes, as I understand it. There are apparently still blue slips for district court nominees. The GOP did not get rid of those, and neither did we.
JAFD
Interesting thread at
https://twitter.com/DavidPepper/status/1567947843410837506
Meself added a subthred of remembered humor somewhere in middle. Hope you’re amused.
Have great weekend, everyone. Hope you and yours stay healthy and happy.
Gin & Tonic
Boy, this is hilarious:
dnfree
@Soprano2: here’s what I would like to see and haven’t found yet: an actual photo of the petition with the words too close together, so we could see for ourselves. Have you seen one?
Dorothy A. Winsor
For the Chicago area jackals: Tomorrow, Saturday, I’ll be selling books at LITfest in Highland Park. It’s on the corner of Central and St. Johns, sponsored by an organization called East on Central. My “shift” is from 2:30-5 or so. If you’re around, please stop by. I need friendly faces!
Soprano2
@dnfree: There is a copy in this article. As you can see, it was a ridiculous complaint, and yet two of the MI Supreme Court judges voted to uphold it!
Danielx
@Soprano2:
God forbid that voters should have a direct say on an issue that affects their lives so greatly. Democracy in action? Can’t have that.
Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)
Does anyone know why the King flew from Aberdeen to London on a private jet belonging to LuxaviationUK?
I would have thought he would have flown on an RAF aircraft.
Baud
@Soprano2:
It strikes me as a silly legal argument, but yeesh, we did serve it up to them on a platter. Not ideal the way it was done.
Gin & Tonic
@Betty Cracker: Here you go.
Cacti
I read that the Dem Majority on the Michigan Supreme Court smacked down the attempt to remove the abortion rights initiative from the November ballot.
Outstanding.
Any time this issue goes to a vote of the people, the Republicans will lose and they know it. They want to use gerrymandered legislatures to force their minority religious views on the rest of us.
ETA: Someone beat me to it.
Kay
Tudor Dixon
@TudorDixon
Governor candidate, MI
· 12h
And just like that you can vote for Gretchen Whitmer’s abortion agenda & still vote against her. Gretchen, time to stop hiding behind your BS ads. I’m here to clean up your mess, turn our schools around, stop your crime wave, fix the roads, & bring back the jobs you cost us.
Really amusing to watch all the “pro life” politicians on the Right run like hell from abortion bans after (belatedly) discovering most Americans oppose their views.
This is such a “principled” position, so deeply meaningful to them, that every single one of them is (now) lying about supporting abortion bans.
Michigan Minnesota Arizona – they all pulled the anti-abortion ads and now insist they won’t change state laws over a period of two weeks. Absolute frauds and liars.
germy shoemangler
Flight risk
Cacti
@Kay: Tudor Dixon described a raped 14 year old, impregnated by her uncle as a “perfect example” of someone who should be forced to carry to term.
Republicans have no idea how insane this sounds to normies.
OzarkHillbilly
You could’ve just said, “Republicans” and we’d have known what you were talking about.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊😊😊
catclub
@Soprano2:
Or Mueller. Is he retired?
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
sab
@Baud: Also by Biden’s own family measure. His mother lived a long healthy life.
Baud
@Kay:
Can you imagine if a Dem said something like that?
Kay
@Cacti:
Oh, she has an idea now. She got an idea. But she’s ten points back from Whitmer so her “principled” belief that 14 years olds should be forced to carry rapists children to term has disappeared and been replaced with insisting people can vote for her and nothing will change on abortion in Michigan.
Wait a minute! I thought these views were informed by deeply help religious views and carefullly considered, so much so that the unwashed mobs were barred from even questioning them! You mean they can be DROPPED over the course of two weeks once the campaigns figure out they’re poison?
The pro-choice side is consistent. The anti-choice side? They’ll say whatever they need to say at any given moment.
sab
@Geminid: “Horseradish journalism” will now be my standard phrase for that. Thank you.
WhatsMyNym
@Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman): Length of runway at Aberdeen? Comfort of planes available?
SFAW
I am kind of appalled at my naivete, or perhaps it’s impending senility: I read the “rap sheet” comment from Traitor Blackburn, and thought about the racist implications of using that phrase (yes, I know it’s also used for non-Blacks, but its use here screamed — to me — of racism). But it took Anne Laurie’s comment re: a Black man driving a nice car to get my brain functioning again. Thanks AL!
sab
@Jeffro: Woot indeed. I live in the Sixth district, and allowing Tennessee and Kentucky Senators veto power over our judges hasn’t been a happy experience.
Kay
@Baud:
Desperate, panicked lying by anti-choice authoritarians is all over the place now- they can’t run away from their deeply help religous views fast enough.
Are Republicans anti-abortion or not? Unfuckingbelievable they now claim they won’t take away rights. The same people who gloated and crowed for months that they had finally succeeded in forcing their religious views on the whole country now DROP THAT?
GOD looked at the polls and changed his mind?
Ocotillo
@OzarkHillbilly:
I thought of you yesterday driving in northern MO when I passed a pickup with 2 bumper stickers. One said resist; the other said “you can’t fix stupid but you can vote it out.”
SFAW
@Steeplejack:
Bless you, child. The two tweets you’ve posted are hilarious.
Kay
@Cacti:
The nice thing about pro-choice people is we never insisted our views came directly from GOD. These people all claimed that. So have they all dropped the religions they claimed too? Wow. I can tell those beliefs were “deeply held” and “sincere” and also subject to panicked, sweaty revision when they’re trying to gain political power.
sab
@SFAW: Every adult black man I know has had a scary traffic incident with police.
The Thin Black Duke
@Kay: When someone shows you who they are, believe them, the first time.
Cameron
@Soprano2: Christ, that sounds like the scene in Amadeus when the Emperor tells Mozart he’s using “too many notes.”
SFAW
@Ocotillo:
That was Ozark, ya know.
No, I’m kidding, I have no idea what he drives, and I (unfortunately) don’t remember where in Misery he lives, other than not in StL, KC, or LA.
Betty Cracker
@Gin & Tonic: Yep, that dude has the right idea. I had to flee my house once (with an infant!) when my husband made homemade horseradish for the first and only time. It was delicious! But we couldn’t breathe.
WaterGirl
@Baud: @Kay:
I don’t even understand what that means!?
Baud
@Kay:
“God wants us to lie to win.”
JML
Fortunately in MN they have Scott “Might be a Doctor Like Dr. Pepper Is a Doctor” Jensen on tape saying he would try to ban abortion, and are running it all over the goddamn state. The same reason why anti-choice democrats couldn’t pull the GOP votes they claimed they would get here is why no one is going to be fooled when GOPer try to go quiet on choice: no one trusts them, no one believes them.
Labor is out working hard to flip our State Senate and right now it looks like it could actually happen. last poll (from Stan Hubbard’s right-wing KSTP) has Walz up 51-33 over Jensen, who has little money and thinks comparing COVID restrictions to Nazi Germany is a winning strategy while trying to hide behind the football pads of his lunatic running mate, who thinks all women should be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen making his dinner.
It’s still going to be a slog, but with a $12B surplus at stake there’s a lot of good that could be done with a win.
SFAW
@sab:
I’m well aware of Driving While Black; I was just embarrassed that I didn’t make the obvious connection vis-a-vis Judge Mathis’s story.
The Thin Black Duke
@sab: Every black man, woman, and child has had a scary incident with the police. There are two Americas in this country.
Baud
@The Thin Black Duke:
The Thin Black Duke
@Baud: That only applies to Republicans and DINOs.
Kay
@WaterGirl:
It means she looked at some polls and determined she can’t win Michigan with her “deeply held and principled views” that dictate that 14 year old rape victims must act as breeders for the rapist- a view she held 2 weeks ago and insisted was not subject to compromise because it’s from God.
This is the anti-abortion Democrat position they are trying to adopt- that they oppose abortion personally but won’t pass laws on it. That’s the position of anti-abortion Democrats.
Boy she traded “God” away fast, don’t you think? Turns out “God” is negotiable after all! They’re now all adopting the anti-abortion Democrat view, where it’s a personal matter.
JWR
“Moderate”, Pro-Life Republican Rep. Michelle Steel (CA-48) has a new, 30 second TV ad. She describes her parents escape from the evils of Socialism, North Korean style!
sab
@The Thin Black Duke: The black kid who used to live next door stopped by to visit us a couple of nights ago. He is now all grown up with a couple of kids. We were talking about back when he lived next door. One time he was out in the neighborhood trying to catch his escaped dog and a bitch in the neighborhood called the police and said he had a gun. He was about thirteen. The “gun” was his cellphone clipped to his belt. We knew about that part of the story. We didn’t know that when the police arrived they both pulled guns on him. A thirteen year old holding the family dog.
ETA The bitch in the neighborhood had known him since he was about six.
Ken
Very effective line, since it hits on both Roe/Dobbs and election interference. And a dozen other things the Republicans have planned, I’m sure.
Betty Cracker
Charlie Crist is wisely using the reproductive rights issue as a club to beat DeSantis, who won’t say what he’ll do to further reduce access if reelected, only that he’s considering “more prolife legislation.”
Crist flatly accuses DeSantis of planning to ban abortion if reelected. DeSantis hasn’t responded to that AFAIK because he’ll get blowback either way. I don’t know if remaining silent is tenable. Polls show DeSantis has a narrow lead within the margin of error. I think he’ll try to coast on that.
matt
In the case of Blackburn, I’d say that her opposition to a nominee should be required for the nomination to go forward.
Soprano2
@Kay: You can tell they weren’t “deeply held” because they all support TFG, who if he were a Democrat they would say didn’t have the right “character” to be in public office. One thing TFG has done has exposed their hypocrisy to everyone for good. I never have to believe one of their lectures is in good faith again! Now I know for sure it’s all bullshit.
zeecube
@Soprano2: The Michigan Supreme Court’s opinion indicates that the rebublicans on the panel refused to put the amendment on the ballot because it failed to state all of the existing Michigan constitutional amendments which would be abrogated if the measure passed into law. The Court’s response was basically, “poppycock”: The panel’s job is ministerial, to determine whether form complies with what is required by statute. That’s it. Questions of constitutional law is the Court’s job, and BTW, the amendment does not abrogate any existing law.
zhena gogolia
The Thin Black Duke
@sab: The “black” people that lives in that bitch’s head must be scary as fuck.
Kay
@Soprano2:
Seems like a hard position to climb down from. They were all out a month ago declaring that it was Gods Will that 10 year olds carry rapists babies to term and now they…changed their minds?
So the rape victims pregnancy ISNT a child at conception now? Or it still is a child and they’re now willing to kill it just to gain political power? Their new position is worse than their old one.
Jeffro
@zhena gogolia: gag
germy shoemangler
@Kay:
It’s “God’s will” they win elections. Everything else is secondary to Him, apparently.
TerryTime
@WaterGirl: One thing she means is you can vote for abortion rights but Democrats will protect sexual orientation and gender identity and fund the public schools.
Amir Khalid
@zhena gogolia:
PM Liz Truss was the last person to see Her Majesty alive, so if there was any foul play my first suspec would be her.
//
Kelly
7:00 am here in the western Oregon Cascade foothills and our power is still on. The forecast east winds which led the power company to plan on a fire safety shutdown did not materialize last night. Hot, dry strong east wind is still the weather forecast for today and Saturday so they may shut down later.
Not too worried about a fire. Precautionary power shutoff is good since power lines played a big role in the 2020 Labor Day fires. Forecast east winds are half that of the 2020 Labor Day fires.
Baud
@Kay:
To be fair, that’s their attitude towards children who are born.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Fox News is still pushing birtherism (Mediate, if you’re unfamiliar, is kind of a right-leaning version of Raw Story)
one thing I’ve noticed lately, a lot of D-list Fox/DC Examiner types have “comedian” in their twitter bios, but I’ve never heard of any of them, and I see a lot of comics in my twitter in-take via Marc Maron and Patton Oswalt.
Ruckus
@Baud:
We had a war about that and in over a century and a half since, the opinion of conservatives has seemingly only gotten worse. They want to be able to openly get their hate on, they do not agree with the concept that humans can be born any darker than Casper the ghost. They didn’t learn then how wrong they are, and they don’t want to learn it now. Too fucking bad for them, that they are that dumb and hateful.
Paul in KY
@Amir Khalid: I think the bummer of having to make Liz Freaking Truss Prime Minister!?!?! finally broke her will to live.
zhena gogolia
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’m afraid I actually had heard of him, for my sins.
I’m watching a lot of standup as I do my PT exercises, and the best one so far is Wanda Sykes. I can see that Chris Rock and Richard Pryor are brilliant, but they don’t really make me laugh. Strange, because when Pryor was young he was probably the person who could make me laugh to tears. I guess I’m older.
The Thin Black Duke
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Right-wing “comedians” label their bigotry as “edgy”.
zhena gogolia
@Paul in KY: From Churchill to Truss.
Anticipating s/c: Fuck Churchill.
kalakal
@zhena gogolia: I’m sure she often prayed she’d never see him and his ghastly family again. Some of the comments are hilarious
germy shoemangler
@Amir Khalid:
germy shoemangler
@zhena gogolia:
Maria Bamford makes me laugh the way I used to laugh at Jonathan Winters when I was a kid.
zhena gogolia
Speaking of Chris Rock, I found my favorite SNL sketch of all time, where they did different versions of the Amy Fisher story. It appears here at 12:38, 19:10, and 24:58
https://archive.org/details/saturday-night-live-s-18-e-10-danny-devito-bon-jovi_202007
zhena gogolia
@germy shoemangler: Ooh, Jonathan Winters. I wonder if Netflix has anything of his.
I’ll sample Maria Bamford.
cain
@Kay: Hey the conservative SCOTUS judges during their confirmation hearing under oath said Roe v Wade was settled law – look how that turned out.
Just bring that shit up every time in ads. The governor should definitely be putting ads to counter that messaging with something like above.
UncleEbeneezer
Happy Friday everyone. One more clip from my jazz/funk quartet’s set last weekend. Here we are playing the theme from the Bruce Lee classic, Fists Of Fury. This is a song/arrangement that Kamasi Washington recorded a couple years ago and I absolutely fell in love with it on first listen. So this was a tune I had been waiting about four years to play with a solid band. Enjoy!
cain
@SFAW: Yeah, that “rap sheet” wording was used on purpose. It’s a definitely a dog signal for those who grew up in the 80s. They use those words often in movies.
Cacti
While no fan of the Tory party, I can’t find anything wrong with the above statement.
germy shoemangler
@Cacti:
Nor can I.
It’s just awkward for her that they went to the trouble of digging up that clip. It’s always nice when conservatives squirm.
kalakal
@Cacti: Which is why she now leads the self described ‘natural party of government’
Mike in NC
Hard to believe that the Fat Orange Clown and his zombie Stephen Miller wanted to end all immigration into this country at a time when a pandemic caused a shortage of badly needed doctors and nurses.
Soprano2
@Kay: As we both know, their supporters know they are lying but are fine with it. TFG has shown them that it’s OK to lie as long as it’s in the service of gaining power to impose your will and beliefs on others whether they want that or not. They twist themselves into pretzels trying to explain how their devout evangelical faith aligns with their support of TFG and their previous condemnation of Bill Clinton, who they declared had a character that was too damaged to be president.
Gwangung
@Mike in NC: I’m not. These are not very bright people. They think the law if unintended consequences never applies to them.
dnfree
@Soprano2: wow, thank you for not only the image(s), but also the clear technical explanation of what happened.
Steeplejack
@SFAW: 😺
catclub
@Cacti: yep, me neither.
dnfree
@catclub: Mueller did not look good at the hearing he appeared for. Almost looked like a stroke or dementia to the casual observer. I don’t think he’s up to it.
Cameron
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I see that description of all these wingnut “comedians” whose names I never heard of, and I have to conclude that I don’t know them ’cause they’re not funny.
Steeplejack
@zhena gogolia:
Oh, come on! 😖
zhena gogolia
@Steeplejack: The whole world revolves around his orange ass.
Geminid
@dnfree: Someone suggested that a qualified FISA judge could be a suitable special master. Maybe one has retired recently. I think they are a subset of DC Federal District Judges.
If there is to be a special master the less public celebrity the better I think.
Steeplejack
@zhena gogolia:
Phrasing!
Timill
@Geminid: Justice Breyer, perhaps?
Baud
@Timill:
Oh, I like that.
Llelldorin
I think this reverses cause and effect. Republicans have been fine with lying in the service of gaining power for years. I don’t think they realized how vulnerable that left them to being partyjacked by the first grifter substantially better at it than they were.
SFAW
@The Thin Black Duke:
There have been many more sightings — say, in the last 20 years — of ivory-billed woodpeckers than of RWMF “humor.”
SFAW
@Timill:
Or Elliot Spitzer, maybe? That would be good fun.
cintibud
@Soprano2: When I was in college at basketball crazy Dayton I heard a story that when there was a bad call by the refs the students would chant “Bullshit!”. Back then that was considered very bad form and the University directed the cheerleaders to try to stop it. When the chant started the cheerleaders would hold on hand high in a “Stop” position but their other hand would be close to the chest doing the “louder!” signal. That is the perfect comparison to repubs – outward signaling one thing while quietly signaling they really didn’t mean it.
StringOnAStick
@Kelly: Forecast quality seems to be an issue here. I go to bed last night with an overnight low forecast in the low 50’s, and the low was 37. Same thing yesterday with an actual low of 43. No wonder the official growing season length is so short, not getting a reliable prediction about if I need to cover the veggies or not. Here’s hoping the predicted winds are a lot less in reality.
Geminid
@Llelldorin: Your point about Trump hijacking the Republican party is well taken. A view from a different angle was given by the late M.D. Russ, writing for the Virginia conservative magazine Bearing Drift:
Russ was a self-described “independent conservative,” and his analysis of trump’s position in the modern Republican Party is the best I’ve read. Russ described Trump’s ascent as the culmination of a process begun by Newt Gingrich and his 1992 “Contract for America.”
The article was published in Bearing Drift June 22, 2020 under the title, “Trump is the real Republican President.” M.D. Russ was a retired Army Colonel, and he passed away this spring.
Steve in the ATL
@Dorothy A. Winsor: it’s gonna be LIT!
Scout211
@Kelly: I’ll be thinking of you. Hopefully your power won’t be turned off. But if it is, you have a generator ready for that, right?
Here in NorCal, the Mosquito fire is over 23,000 acres now with zero containment. My granddaughter and her boyfriend are evacuated and the fire is approaching the town where they live with his parents. The entire town is in mandatory evacuation.
And now SoCal is in for a rough ride soon as the remnants of hurricane Kay will hit SoCal and Arizona with possible Santa Ana winds (very dangerous fire conditions) and possible isolated torrential rains with flooding.
Soprano2
@Geminid: I agree with Mr. Russ, TFG just exposed everything Republicans had been running on on the sly. He ripped off all of their cover, the rot was already there. If it hadn’t been, TFG never would have become their nominee, because Republicans could have gotten everything they said they wanted from any other Republican candidate. Would another Republican have vetoed the tax cut bill, or nominated judges who were different than what TFG did? Of course not! What the R base wanted was a candidate who would give voice to their anger and frustration about how the world was changing in ways that made them unhappy and uncomfortable.
Geminid
@Soprano2: Looking back, I thought that Dave Brat’s defeat of Eric Cantor in the 2014 Virginia 7th CD primary was a harbinger of Trump’s nomination. The radicals were fed up with the establishment and wanted to shake up the party. Trump capitalized on this mood. You might say he turbocharged it.
In the 7th District at least, the radicals overreached. Cantor probably could have held on to that seat at least until it was redrawn this year, but Bratt got knocked out by Abigail Spanberger in 2018.
J R in WV
@Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman):
King Charles preferred the leather seats on the Luxaviation jet, soft, buttery, warm hides of young virgins to loll around on. Plus, Luxaviation has far superior cognac than the Royal Air Force. Also much better looking service staff~!!~ That’s important for a new Billionaire King !!!
J R in WV
@dnfree:
I agree — he could barely find a page in his report to read it to the committee. Flat could not actually formulate a complex sentence not already written in his report. Sad but true.
smedley the uncertain
@Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman): Who Cares…
Miss Bianca
@Cacti: Me neither.