Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Infrastructure week. at last.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Optimism opens the door to great things.

After roe, women are no longer free.

The willow is too close to the house.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

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

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

In my day, never was longer.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

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

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Friday Afternoon Odds & Ends

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The most important news of the day: Pete is okay! (He had minor surgery this morning, and I was an absolute wreck!)

Friday Afternoon Odds & Ends

In other news, Ron DeSantis is still a scumbag: (Tampa Bay Times)

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration last week paid an aviation company $615,000 as part of a new Florida program to relocate immigrants lacking permanent legal status out of the state, according to state records.

Records show the company, Vertol Systems Company Inc., was paid on Sept. 8. A week later, DeSantis took credit for sending a group of 48 migrants — most, if not all, from Venezuela — to Martha’s Vineyard, a summer island destination for the rich and powerful in Massachusetts.

DeSantis is facing lots of questions about why Florida taxpayer dollars were used to transport people from Texas to Massachusetts. We all know it was a $615,000 dick-swing for his perennial presidential campaign, but maybe even Floridians who don’t object to the stunt on humanitarian grounds will see it as misuse of public funds earmarked specifically to relocate immigrants from Florida to other states.

Lots of people have called for an investigation into the incident, including Gavin Newsom, Charlie Crist and Nikki Fried. I have no idea if this will blow up in DeSantis’s ugly face or not, but Joe Biden said the right things: (CNN)

President Joe Biden criticized state Republican officials who have been sending migrants north this year to protest his administration’s immigration policies, accusing them of “playing politics with human beings.”

“Instead of working with us on solutions, Republicans are playing politics with human beings, using them as props. What they’re doing is simply wrong. It’s un-American, it’s reckless and we have a process in place to manage migrants at the border. We’re working to make sure it’s safe and orderly and humane. Republican officials should not interfere with that process by waging these political stunts,” Biden told attendees at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Gala on Thursday evening.

He added: “It’s long overdue for Senate Republicans to come to the table and provide a pathway for citizenship for Dreamers, those in temporary status, farmworkers and essential workers. We need to modernize our laws so businesses get workers they need, and families don’t have to wait decades to be brought back together. It’s time to get it done.”

It’s impossible to shame the shameless, but good for him. And open thread.

PS: That photo reminds me that I really need to repaint the floor of my porch!

Reader Interactions

171Comments

  2. 2.

    WereBear

    I came late to the announcement, but glad everyone came through okay. I wanted to tell you that Pete can’t drive so soon after his operation.

  9. 9.

    zhena gogolia

    I’m so glad Pete is okay. My husband looked over my shoulder and said, “He looks so smart!”

  10. 10.

    CaseyL

    Pete’s new nose is awesome 😀

    DeSantis is scum – so he fits right in with the rest of the GOP.  God, what a bunch of worthless wankers they all are.

  12. 12.

    Citizen Alan

    Since this is an odds and ends post, I would be grateful if people would send me home positive thoughts or whatever. For. I have a zoom interview in 90 minutes.

  14. 14.

    Jeffro

    I know we can’t shame the shameless…but we can at least make their shamelessness the topic of the day (and perhaps beyond?), and make them and their party toxic to decent society.  Anything that pushes their support down towards the fabled 27% mark!

  15. 15.

    C Stars

    Aw, good work Pete! He’s such a charmer.

    We have to paint our porch too. But first we have to replace the rotten bits. Mr. Stars thinks he’s going to get this done tomorrow before the atmospheric river hits CA. Hrmmm.

    Has anyone else seen this incredible piece of interactive journalism in the WaPo? There’s probably a paywall but it’s so worth watching–about the return of California Condors to Yurok country (i.e. the northern coastal counties)

     

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/interactive/2022/california-condors-yurok-program-extinction/?itid=hp-more-top-stories

  22. 22.

    Betty Cracker

    @CaseyL: He’s still at the vet’s, so the photo above is his old nose! We can’t pick him up for another hour, damnit! Will post a new nose photo eventually…

  23. 23.

    JoyceH

    @Jeffro:

    I think that’s happening. It certainly led on CNN last night, despite the breaking news that The Queen Is Still Dead.

    And I honestly think DeSantis went too far. The real kicker to the whole thing was that he sent a videographer along to document the bewilderment and distress of his victims. That’s too much into high school bully territory, selecting out the helpless for acts of public humiliation. And the truth is that most people were not high school bullies, and didn’t like the high school bullies, and also didn’t like the crowd they ran with, the minions who would laugh moronically at the bully’s public humiliation of the helpless. And I can’t help but think that some people are having second thoughts and starting to wonder – holy cow, did we elect the high school bully?

    But I always was a cockeyed optimist…

  24. 24.

    kalakal

    Glad to see Pete’s ok.

    On a different note, to seek relief from the moronic wibbling about pronouns by the likes of Lauren “My pronoun is Patriot ” Boebert and Lavern “You will never catch me using pronouns” Spicer I submit the sublime use of language and acting that was Yes Minister featuring the greatest pronoun joke ever

    https://youtu.be/r-s-Y4xA9pk

  25. 25.

    Miss Bianca

    @Betty Cracker: oh, this reminds me of when my Dr Watson had to go to the vet’s *overnight* because he had ripped his shoulder open and was due for early morning surgery. I could hear him warbling his “I AM DEADED, THIS IS MY DEATHSONG, ALL THOUSAND AND ONE VERSES” all the way back to the kennel area as I was leaving. Made me feel like such a piece of shite. Glad Pete is ok!!

  28. 28.

    Brachiator

    Odds and Ends.

    Some interesting data from a recent BBC News story on the employment gap in the US.

    In the US, for instance, the August 2022 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the labour force participation rate at 1.0 percentage point below its February 2020 level.

    In other words, people have been quitting and, in some sectors and jobs, they haven’t been coming back. Perhaps it’s unsurprising, given the poor conditions in many workplaces throughout the pandemic. The dearth of workers is most evident in hospitality and service-work industries, where positions for dishwashers, truck drivers, retail workers, food servers, airport agents, home health aides and similar roles have been open for literal years. …

    Particularly in the US, data shows it’s been tough to be a service worker for a long time. In 2020, for instance, full-time American food counter workers made, on average, $23,960 (£20,796) a year – failing to clear the poverty line for a four-person household.  Weekly hours have rarely been guaranteed, making it difficult for workers to be sure their income would cover their bills, or arrange things like transport and childcare….

    [During the pandemic] frontline service workers, forced to interact with colleagues and customers while everyone else was sheltering at home, were among the most vulnerable to Covid-19. In the first year of the pandemic, 68% of those who died in the US were labour, retail and service workers. 

    Understandably, throughout the last two years, attrition rates have shot up. In 2021, 64.6% of retail workers, a whopping 86.3% of accommodation and food service workers, and just under 40% of manufacturing workers quit their jobs.

    I have a cousin who is a warehouse manager. He notes that an Amazon facility that opened in the area swooped up people who previously would apply to work for his company, which offers good benefits but can’t compete on wages.

    These issues and other distortions in the economy have to have some impact on demand and consequently inflation.

    Also, even though the small or inconsistent uptick in wages has put a strain on some small businesses, it is good for the economy because it is good for workers. Too many people were not earning a living wage, and increases in housing costs were pushing people into poverty and homelessness.

  33. 33.

    rikyrah

    @JoyceH:

     

    And I honestly think DeSantis went too far

     

    I think that this story has hit a nerve for a lot of reasons…
    the image of this muthaphucka putting migrants on a private plane…
    then, to find out that they weren’t in FLORIDA, but, TEXAS.

    And, the folks on Martha’s Vineyard basically saying…
    We got time today…did you hear the attorney for the migrants?
    Oh, on GP, these folks are not playing with them.

  37. 37.

    Gin & Tonic

    Here’s what you get to do after the russians leave.

    Ексгумація в Ізюмі. Дістали 23 тіла цивільних (попередньо), і 17 військових. У деяких були шеврони 93 бригади «Холодний Яр». Один з цивільних мав мотузку на гиї і зв‘язані руки. У двох військових теж зв‘язані руки. pic.twitter.com/yANEDmHnmm
    — Nastya Stanko (@StankoNastya) September 16, 2022

  40. 40.

    oldgold

    It is a close call as to which Floridian disgraced themselves more this week, DeSantis or Cannon.

    All things considered, I am going with Cannon.

    Even though DeSantis’s despicable stunt involved children,  in my opinion Cannon’s corrupt ruling possibly poses more disastrous long term consequences for the entire nation.

  43. 43.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jeffro: & @JoyceH: Yes! Also, more is coming out from the immigrants being interviewed, such as that they were lied to and lured onto the plane under false pretenses. Sounds like there may have been illegal action taken by government officials — one of the MA lawyers who are assisting said officials falsified the immigrants’ addresses, using shelters from places as far away as WA when the people had only ever been in TX. I hope DeFascist rues the fucking day he sent them to a state with lots of smart and passionate lawyers!

  44. 44.

    FelonyGovt

    Glad Pete is doing well!

    @Citizen Alan: you got this!

    I think this DeSantis thing is a real test of a person’s humanity. Anyone who defends it, or thinks it’s a great idea, is someone best not to associate with.

  45. 45.

    kalakal

    @Betty Cracker: I really, really hope this blows up in his face big time. Crist should be able to hammer him on this $600,000 + of Florida tax payers money for this odious performative buffoonery. And if the documentation is forged…

  48. 48.

    Brachiator

    @JoyceH:

    And I honestly think DeSantis went too far. The real kicker to the whole thing was that he sent a videographer along to document the bewilderment and distress of his victims.

    I think you are right. Although DeSantis and other right wingers believe that the majority of the people will also get a kick out of seeing people mistreated, they make a severe misjudgment here.

    Many people will be disgusted by this behavior. And I hope that this may lead some people to vote against Republicans.

  50. 50.

    Gin & Tonic

    I doubt I will live long enough to understand why somebody would stand on line for 24 hours to look at a box with a flag draped over it.

  52. 52.

    Betty Cracker

    @kalakal: Same! Crist has been pretty on-point about it so far, and the FL dailies are all over it, from what I’ve seen. Venezuelan Americans in South Florida aren’t amused, and lots of them usually vote Republican because they believe the lies about Joe Biden being Chairman Mao. Hopefully this will open some eyes, but who knows.

    @FelonyGovt: Agreed. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that will include some of my relatives. Thanksgiving will be interesting this year…

  53. 53.

    eachother

    Called de Florida devil this morning.
    Over educated. Under experienced. Human trafficker.
    Suggested a leader doesn’t pass a problem to someone else, but figures out a solution per their occupation or in cooperation with others.
    The man is an  assault- water predator.

  56. 56.

    Tony G

    @Alison Rose 💙🌻💛: Yes, fuck the soulless cretins — also known as the majority of white voters in Florida — who support DeSantis.  If the culture of many white people in the United States were not so twisted, people like DeSantis and Trump would be nobodies.

  58. 58.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Baud: We watched Episode 2 of Gutsy Women, and you are right.  Much better than the first.  And Megan Thee Stallion is a damn national treasure.

  60. 60.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Yay Pete! Good boy, goooooood boy.

    Betty C, you can pour yourself that wee dram now. In case you hadn’t already.

  61. 61.

    misterpuff

    @JoyceH: And I honestly think DeSantis went too far. The real kicker to the whole thing was that he sent a videographer along to document the bewilderment and distress of his victims. That’s too much into high school bully territory, selecting out the helpless for acts of public humiliation. And the truth is that most people were not high school bullies, and didn’t like the high school bullies, and also didn’t like the crowd they ran with, the minions who would laugh moronically at the bully’s public humiliation of the helpless. And I can’t help but think that some people are having second thoughts and starting to wonder – holy cow, did we elect the high school bully?

     

    Can we just start call DeathSantis “Biff Tannen”? He even looks like Biff!

  62. 62.

    gratuitous

    I’d like to see Florida and Texas have their federal dollars earmarked for refugees cut substantially, and that money diverted to Massachusetts and New York. It won’t happen, of course, but it would hit DeSantis and Abbott where it hurts.

    There is apparently some do-gooder group filing a petition or something to have DeSantis investigated for kidnapping and human trafficking. I’d be glad for the distraction, and if Ron has to spend the last several weeks of his re-election campaign explaining how he’s not really a heartless criminal, so much the better.

  65. 65.

    germy shoemangler

    “Shipping vulnerable migrants across the country is not a campaign tactic. It is human trafficking,” said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MI). “It is the abuse of dozens of human beings and a celebration of that abuse for political gain.”

    “These are the kinds of tactics we see from smugglers in places like Mexico and Guatemala,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/florida-governor-ron-desantis-migrant-stunt-was-gross-but-was-it-against-the-law?ref=home

  66. 66.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @CaseyL:

    Pete’s new nose is awesome 😀

    Thank Dog! His photo will never end up in one of those “Plastic surgery gone hideously wrong” clickbait pieces.

  67. 67.

    becca

    A writer at Reason condemned DeSadist and the  commentariat was having none of that libtard rubbish. Reason writers must get pretty depressed about how truly pathetic and uncool their audiences are. Libertarians are supposed to be the cool republicans, after all. See: Megan Mc Arglebargle.

  68. 68.

    kalakal

    @Betty Cracker: I work with a Venezuelan, she’s a lovely person but

    and lots of them usually vote Republican because they believe the lies about Joe Biden being Chairman Mao

    basically believes anyone to the left of Genghiz Khan is a commie. She thought this stunt was great, the US is being ruined by illegal immigrants etc, et bloody cetera. Then I told her the people in question were Venezuelans, who just like her a few years ago, wanted out of Venezuela because of Chavez and his successors. She went very quiet

  70. 70.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Well things are finally looking better for us.  Mother In Law’s recovery is moving along and they think she will be able to go into 2-week Skilled Nursing rehab at the end of next week.  But we will need to find them a new place to live that is on a first floor because the hospital can’t send her to rehab if she doesn’t have a long-term living option set up, and they don’t think she can handle walking up a flight of steps repeatedly.  So she may not have to go to a Nursing Home after all.  We also finally got their Medicaid applications in, which they will need for whatever nursing she will require.  Hopefully none of this will mess up our vacation scheduled for the first week of October, but we shall see.  At the very least, these are all great developments for the longer-term.

  71. 71.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JoyceH:

    And I honestly think DeSantis went too far. The real kicker to the whole thing was that he sent a videographer along to document the bewilderment and distress of his victims.

    FUCK HIM SO MUCH

  74. 74.

    Major Major Major Major

    @becca: ​The Reason comments section is such a cesspool. It’s so funny to compare what the Ideas People in the libertarian movement write (sometimes interesting!) versus what the rank-and-file actually believe (fascism). Kind of refreshing that the national party has now been taken over by the actual fascists.

  77. 77.

    Old School

    @Baud:

    What happened to the $12 million number I saw floating around yesterday?

    $12 million is the amount allocated in the Florida budget for the entire immigrant transportation program.

  82. 82.

    Brachiator

    The prospect that Trump and his vile mini-me DeSantis might vie for the GOP presidential nomination brought to mind this recent Guardian story about Hungary.

    Hungary is no longer a fully functioning democracy, members of the European Parliament declared on Thursday in a non-binding but highly symbolic report.

    Instead, the country should be considered a “hybrid regime of electoral autocracy” in which elections are regularly held but without respecting basic democratic norms.

    “There is increasing consensus among experts that Hungary is no longer a democracy,” the lawmakers said, citing a series of international indexes that have in recent years downgraded Hungary’s status.

    In their resolution, MEPs point the finger directly at Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has been in power since 2010, and condemn his government’s “deliberate and systematic efforts” to undermine the EU’s core values.

    Lawmakers raise concerns about a long list of fundamental rights they believe to be under threat, including the electoral system, the independence of judiciary, privacy, freedom of expression, media pluralism, academic freedom, LGBTIQ rights and the protection of minorities and asylum seekers.

    MEPs also criticised the EU institutions for allowing democratic backsliding to go unchecked.

    There is a small, noisy faction of Americans who yearn for a Hungarian style electoral autocracy. I think the more that the nation sees of DeSantis, the less they like him. And I am hoping bigly that Trump implodes or soon ends up in handcuffs for his many misdeeds.

  85. 85.

    different-church-lady

    “Instead of working with us on solutions…”

    They’re not interested in solutions.

  93. 93.

    jimmiraybob

    @oldgold: ​
     

    Even though DeSantis’s despicable stunt involved children,…

    A real Trump/MAGAnista would have sent parents and children to different states and then burned the records of who went where (ala Stephen Miller). He’s got time to iron out his mistakes before the big run.

  95. 95.

    Wapiti

    @C Stars: I saw that article. I sort didn’t like the long scroll, but the information was interesting.

    We were on a tour in Zion NP last year and there were rangers watching a condor nest, waiting for the new fledglings to leave the nest. Until then I didn’t realize they were pushing the condor range out.

    ~15 years ago we were hiking at Pinnacles NM (now NP) south of San Jose and came across an adolescent condor with its human minder. The volunteer was armed with a super-soaker squirt gun, and explained that if the condor approached humans, it got sprayed. We were about 30 feet away on the trail, which was very, very cool for us.

  96. 96.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Sister Golden Bear: That sounds cool.  We don’t really watch Marvel/comic book stuff.  My wife just can’t get into superhero shows/movies.  And while I could probably get into them, I’m not motivated to take the time to watch them on my own especially since we don’t have Disney+ and most of the ones I’d want to check out are only on there.

    We did really enjoy Megan when she was a judge on Legendary for the first two seasons.  And in interviews I’ve seen with her she seems like a very cool and real person.  I love how fierce and unapologetic she is in her rap.  And her videos are always wonderfully provocative.

  97. 97.

    Edmund Dantes

    @Betty Cracker: Anyone that falsified addresses needs to be out on the path to being fired, and looked at possible prosecution for lying on government forms/deprivation of rights as those addresses are how asylum seekers get assigned the courthouse they have to show up. So you are intentionally making it impossible for them to get proper treatment from the system that is already stacked against them.

  98. 98.

    Spanky

    @jimmiraybob: Right! If he’s got 12 mil to burn and this only cost 600k, that means 19 more flights! That’ll leave a mark on those libtards.

    (Someone might want to look into what other flights have been scheduled.)

  100. 100.

    Edmund Dantes

    @Baud: that is the entire amount Florida has budgeted for doing these types of stunts. They literally put a line item in for how much Governor Florida could spend transporting “illegals” out of Florida to sanctuary cities.

  101. 101.

    Alison Rose 💙🌻💛

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yes, I do know that. I read the same news as you. But it’s possible to know that it’s unlikely to happen and to be frustrated over that reality because of all the human costs it ignores. I also know it’s unlikely that DeSantis will be swallowed by an alligator, but I can still wish it would happen.

  103. 103.

    Martin

    So, folks should keep in mind where their crudite inflation is coming from. Median wage for farm workers in CA is now around $21/hr. Every immigrant you bus here from Texas or whatever, we put to work growing fruits, nuts, and vegetables and send that bill back to your residents in the form of food prices.

    So your states are taxing residents to delete economic activity, and CA is taking that labor, producing needed goods, and having your state transfer additional GDP back to us. Why the fuck does everyone think CA is running a $100B budget surplus? These stunts mean we have free school lunch for every student, regardless of income. We’ve extended Medicaid to nearly all of these workers, even if they are undocumented. For some reason, Fox News thinks this is a burden on the state. Sure doesn’t look like it. Our undocumented residents have better healthcare than most of your citizens and we still have extra money.

  105. 105.

    Martin

    @C Stars: Mr. Stars thinks he’s going to get this done tomorrow before the atmospheric river hits CA. Hrmmm.

    Uhh. That sounds like a terrible risk/reward calculation. What happens when fresh paint meets unexpected rain? Pretty sure that leaves you worse off than you started.

    Caveat: I do a lot of painting.

  107. 107.

    cain

    @Betty Cracker: it’s a lot more personal  – the fact that he took a videographer to document their bewilderment has got to piss people off.

    And for the rest – spending a shit ton of money on that. That’s some fucked up shit – plus giving money to criminals/donors. WTF is that all about – tax dollars completely utterly wasted. He better pray that there wont be a budget gap coming up.

  109. 109.

    Jager

    @JoyceH:

    It cost Florida 12 grand a head to fly those poor folks to MV. A regular airline ticket from San Antonio to Boston is 200 bucks or so, add a bus ride to the cape and ferry tickets, DeSantis could have gotten the job done for under $300 a head.  He is worse with money than trump.

  110. 110.

    cain

    @kalakal: I get why she would be against left govt – whatever the fuck is going on with South America – whatever that is, that’s not communism or anything other than another form of an authoritarian govt. I mean, where is the workers rights there?

  111. 111.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Alison Rose 💙🌻💛: And that is where war crime prosecutions and hopefully reparations come in.  I was trying to point out that their are avenues toward what you want that are possible.  Because it seemed to me that focusing on something that won’t happen only leads to frustration.  Obviously that was an error on my part and one I shall try to avoid repeating in the future.

  112. 112.

    cain

    @Martin: ​
    So your states are taxing residents to delete economic activity, and CA is taking that labor, producing needed goods, and having your state transfer additional GDP back to us. Why the fuck does everyone think CA is running a $100B budget surplus? These stunts mean we have free school lunch for every student, regardless of income. We’ve extended Medicaid to nearly all of these workers, even if they are undocumented. For some reason, Fox News thinks this is a burden on the state. Sure doesn’t look like it. Our undocumented residents have better healthcare than most of your citizens and we still have extra money.

     

    Which is exactly what we should be telling their voters. Thanks for sending us your immigrants – we’re taking better care of them than they are taking care of you, and your govt is taking money out of your wallets to do it! Sucks to be you.

  113. 113.

    Major Major Major Major

    @cain:

    whatever the fuck is going on with South America – whatever that is, that’s not communism or anything other than another form of an authoritarian govt.

    So, Marxism in practice, then.

    Nobody ever said leftism has to be libertarian.

  114. 114.

    cain

    @Omnes Omnibus: I don’t think that is going to happen unless Russia surrenders and forms a treaty. It seems Ukraine needs to follow through and continue to decimate the Russian army and force Russia to find other ways to fight increasing the political pressure on Putin. I think the dude is dead meat politically – the hardliners in his party are going to eat him alive.

  115. 115.

    cain

    @Major Major Major Major: ​
     
    Turns out no matter what the ideology is – workers are never gonna control the means of anything.
    Only a blend is going to work, no ideology is perfect. Capitalism is also a horrible disease that is going to destroy our species.

  116. 116.

    Lapassionara

    What I don’t understand is why it was ok for Cubans to flee the horrors of the Castro regime and not ok for the Venezuelans to flee their regime.

  117. 117.

    Cacti

    As far as the Martha’s Vineyard human trafficking stunt goes, I’m picking up the vibe from the Repukes that they genuinely expected the residents there to be as awful as GOPers are.

    It’s like they’re having cognitive dissonance that your reaction to something can be other than “act like a hateful asshole”.

  118. 118.

    Brachiator

    @Martin:

    These stunts mean we have free school lunch for every student, regardless of income. We’ve extended Medicaid to nearly all of these workers, even if they are undocumented. For some reason, Fox News thinks this is a burden on the state. Sure doesn’t look like it. Our undocumented residents have better healthcare than most of your citizens and we still have extra money.

    Ha! Good point that progressive policies and treating all workers well, including immigrants, is good for the economy.

    And note that we still need to do better with respect to wages and health care.

  121. 121.

    Martin

    @cain: And this gets supercharged once you have a labor shortage. Your employers need workers? Yeah, go ahead and bus your potential labor pool to us. That’s a great idea. Your business community will love that.

  122. 122.

    Jager

    @Lapassionara:

    The early Venuzuelians to show up had all the money, now that it’s gone…

    The same thing with the first Cubans, the kids came off the plane, handed their suitcase full of money to Papa, went to their new house in Coconut grove, got a snack, and watched Roy Rogers on TV

  125. 125.

    Peale

    @Cacti: They made the mistake of not notifying the local GOP to find wingnuts to meet the immigrants at the airport to protest them like they did with the children in 2014

    I’m actually surprised that they didn’t insert a few Venezuelans into the mix and pay them to shit in public parks and go on camera to talk about how they came to this country to avoid prosecution for exposing themselves to children.

  128. 128.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @cain: I think that the Ukrainians and the international community will want something and a future Putinless Russia will want out of sanctions.  Once Western Europe is off Russian gas, Russia won’t have a lot to hold over people’s heads.

  136. 136.

    Peale

    @Ksmiami: Unfortunately the border patrol is openly pro GOP and will not be reigned in.  This is in part a hissy fit as a result of the border patrol not being able to automatically send Venezuelans to camps in Mexico to await their hearings and the administration telling DHS that their job is to help process legal immigrants and not look for ways to deny them entry and permanent residency.

  138. 138.

    lowtechcyclist

    @patrick II: ​
     

    I was going to link to that video, but you beat me to it.

    What I didn’t understand was that the lawyer seemed to be saying DHS workers had prepared falsified papers for each of them, requiring them to check in with DHS in other cities all over the U.S. on Monday morning.

    Up until then, there’d just been an account of some shadowy “Perla” character paying cash to one undocumented immigrant to round up others for the plane trip.

    This needs an official investigation. I’d say by the DHS IG, except we know from the Secret Service phone-scrubbing that that person isn’t to be trusted.

  139. 139.

    Peale

    @Jager: Yep. Which is why I don’t exactly expect the Venezuelan community in Florida to react negatively to this stunt. These are the poor people, after all. No Panamanian bank accounts for this new wave of immigrants.

  141. 141.

    Citizen Alan

    Job interview over. I think it went well. It was for an academic post, and I worry my lack of publications (so far) is a deal breaker. We’ll see.

  142. 142.

    JoyceH

    @Cacti: ​
     

    As far as the Martha’s Vineyard human trafficking stunt goes, I’m picking up the vibe from the Repukes that they genuinely expected the residents there to be as awful as GOPers are.

    It’s like they’re having cognitive dissonance that your reaction to something can be other than “act like a hateful asshole”.

    It’s actually sort of disorienting. Over on Twitter, the DeSantis supporters are tweeting as if the folks at Martha’s Vineyard reacted to this stunt the way they expected beforehand that they would react, rather than the way they actually reacted. They’re tweeting as if the Vineyard rejected the migrants with horror. It’s as if they’re checking in from an alternate universe where everyone is as awful as they are.

  144. 144.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Sister Golden Bear: Cool.  I heard great things about the other one, that played with old tv genres, I can’t recall the name.  A friend told me you didn’t even need to be into Marvel/comics/superheroes and still really enjoy it.

  146. 146.

    Peale

    @Lapassionara: There aren’t enough Venezuelan voters yet to make a difference. And the ones we have concentrated in Florida aren’t going to vote for those liberal democrats who they probably think of as Chavez worshippers.

  148. 148.

    Old School

    @UncleEbeneezer: You’re thinking of WandaVision.  I suppose you can pick up the basic story without watching any of the films, but it is certainly easier if you know the preceding story.

  149. 149.

    different-church-lady

    @Cacti: It appears to be worse than that: they didn’t get the reaction they wanted, so they’ve decided to just pretend they did, despite all the evidence. They’re just running with “Now you think immigrants suck haw haw haw.” It’s infuriating in a playground bully way.

  150. 150.

    dm

    @Cacti: I saw a comment along the lines of: “I notice they shipped them off the island to Cape Code right quick.  That’s what you expect from elites”, so, yeah, they’re bending reality to fit their preconceptions.

  151. 151.

    Dan B

    @Betty Cracker: It sounds like there are many people involved in this immigrant abuse scheme.  Some of them may be deceived as well – told they were being sent to places with better services.  If they find out the money they were paid in what is trafficking must be forfeited there will be good stories for sharp reporters.

  152. 152.

    Dan B

    @kalakal: Crist is already on this.  I hope it gives him some leverage with latine voters.  His staff dug up the name of the transport company.

  153. 153.

    Marc

    @Jager: The early Venuzuelians to show up had all the money, now that it’s gone…

    The same thing with the first Cubans, the kids came off the plane, handed their suitcase full of money to Papa, went to their new house in Coconut grove, got a snack, and watched Roy Rogers on TV

    There’s another factor at work here, too.  Cuba pre-Castro and Venezuela pre-Chavez were racial caste systems, the upper and middle class considered themselves to be “white”, the majority of both populations were poor and mostly brown or black.  The early days of Castro and Chavez were actually the first time the brown/black majorities of each country had access to things like health care, education, and decent paying jobs.  For a while they stayed, while the whites fled with whatever they could take/steal.  When the internal economic situations fell apart (Cuba due to USSR collapsing and US sanctions, Venezuela due to Maduro’s kleptocracy and US sanctions), the majority black/brown populations started making their way here by any means they could.

    I could be wrong, but I have my doubts that the upper/middle class Venezuelans already in Florida care all that deeply about the latest refugees.  Just as the white Cubans in Florida were happy to let the US start pulling up the ladder when the black Cubans started arriving.

  154. 154.

    Dan B

    @rikyrah: OMG!  And there still are as many people dying of Covid in the USA every week as died in 9/11.

    Plus there is preliminary evidence that Covid increases your chance of developing Alzheimers.  My mother and her father died of dementia of some sort.  I’d like to avoid that fate.

  155. 155.

    Dan B

    @kalakal: Good job.

    What also chaps my hide is that the $12,000,000 fund to “deal with immigrants” is from interest on federal Covid funds while, at this moment, Florida has surpassed New York state as highest rate of Covid deaths* per capita.  Talk about spending money judiciously!  Let’s take money that could keep people healthy and prevent tragic deaths and spend it on a fake problem.

    *may be cases per capita but I believe it is deaths.

  156. 156.

    Dan B

    @Major Major Major Major: I have yet to find something solid in Libertarian ideology that would actually work and be beneficial in modern democratic society.  The ideas seem to get tripped up in strategy for implementation and are weak on the behavior of groups beyond small tribal units.  Not that the US democracy is on a healthy track at the moment.

  157. 157.

    Jinchi

    $615,000 to send 48 people from (Texas?) to Martha’s Vinyard?

    That’s almost $13,000 per person!

    Are we sure that DeSantis wasn’t just looking for a means to line a friend’s pockets?

  159. 159.

    karen marie

    @Ksmiami:  Agreed.

    Government officials deliberately setting people up with incorrect information that will result in the same government (albeit a different branch) declaring those people in violation of the law is hair-on-fire territory.

  160. 160.

    karen marie

    @dm:  Ted Cruz apparently deleted a tweet saying (and I paraphrase) “leftists called in the National Guard to remove the dirty immigrants from Martha’s Vineyard” after it was pointed out to him that the governor of Massachusetts (the person who deployed the National Guard) is a Republican.

  161. 161.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Dan B:

    I have yet to find something solid in Libertarian ideology that would actually work and be beneficial in modern democratic society

    Many such things! Mostly in the civil liberties or regulatory spaces. Eliminating exclusionary zoning, for example, or repealing the patriot act.

  162. 162.

    Dan B

    @cain: Perfectly put, thanks!  Citizens United removed one of the buffers on vulture capitalism as did several other right wing policies.  It’s an ideological battle between rugged individualism and pure unsullied collectivism with punishments for veering from whatever ideology gains total or near-total power.  Marx was a good academic economist but a poor political scientist or student of social behavior.  At least he had one set of valuable ideas unlike Ayn Rand or Roy Cohn.

  163. 163.

    Dan B

    @Brachiator: And access to housing and shelter, and equitable justice.  Developers utilize nimbyism to keep dense and walkable development out of low density neighborhoods and keep people from experiencing high quality and affordable development.  The irony is people love to vacation in Europe and Disney properties that are extremely high density, walkable, and exciting (maybe only the former for me).  Their minds can’t make the connection that they could have the same at home if they could persuade developers that it’s profitable.

  165. 165.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Dan B:

    Developers utilize nimbyism to keep dense and walkable development out of low density neighborhoods and keep people from experiencing high quality and affordable development.

    Developers are not keeping dense affordable housing from being built in places like Berkeley—but people like Robert Reich are.

  166. 166.

    Brachiator

    @Dan B:

    Developers utilize nimbyism to keep dense and walkable development out of low density neighborhoods and keep people from experiencing high quality and affordable development.

    It’s not just developers. I have attended meetings where it is clear that residents don’t want poorer people in their neighborhoods, nor are they interested in living on top of other rich people.

    And what might be best with respect to housing varies. Dense, walkable is not a universal solution.

    The irony is people love to vacation in Europe and Disney properties that are extremely high density, walkable, and exciting (maybe only the former for me).

    What people are willing to put up with for a few weeks is not the same as how they permanently want to live.

  168. 168.

    WaterGirl

    @JoyceH: @Peale:

    I think it’s worse than both of your takes.

    They are not one whit about the truth, and their lies about it fits their narrative – to them it doesn’t matter how people reacted, they just tell their lies and their supporters believe that it happened that way.

    Truly insidious.

  170. 170.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    @Brachiator: Offer them  possibility of living in a rent-stabilized apartment in NYC and watch the reaction.  I’ve had more than one client who, upon discovering that grandkids can inherit grandparents’ rent-controlled or rent-stabilized status, promptly moved in from the suburbs and made sure that everyone in their new building knew that this apartment building on the upper west side was the family compound and their permanent home.

  171. 171.

    Chris T.

    Dead thread, I know, but I want to say:

    Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration last week paid an aviation company $615,000 as part of a new Florida program to relocate immigrants lacking permanent legal status out of the state, according to state records.

    What would be really great now would be to have someone from Massachusetts (Elizabeth Warren?) say: “I’d like to thank Ron DeSantis for paying $615,000 of Florida state taxpayer’s money to get these asylum-seeking workers here from Texas to a blue state where they’ll be treated fairly and help contribute to our growing economy!”

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