Going forward, I will be calling Kevin either “Squeaker McCarthy” or “The Squeaker”, or just plain “Squeaker”.
*Kudos to Geminid for either coming up with that, or for sharing that with us, whatever the case may be.
Has everyone watched the Hakeem Jeffries speech from last night? I am about to watch it now.
For the record, even if the Rules package passes without incident, my money is on Squeaker fucking up the Rules somehow, in some way that we can exploit.
So for myself, I am swearing off pre-worrying about the Rules. I’m going to focus on the fact that these past few days have allowed us to see just what Hakeem Jeffries is made of, just what the new Democratic leadership is made of, and what the Democrats in the House are made of.
I came away impressed on all three counts.
In terms of leadership, we have the best of both worlds: outstanding new leadership and the presence of Nancy Pelosi still in the House, with all the wisdom and experience she brings with her.
So fuck the Squeaker, and fuck the party he rode in on, which hopefully he will drive further into the ground.
Open thread.
Update: link shared by JeffreyW
Kristine
Jeffries’ speech rocked. He’s good at hitting All The Points.
Omnes Omnibus
As I have been saying, there are always ways to work the rules, whatever they may be. Also, let’s see if these incompetent fucks can even pass any rules.
RaflW
I saw some edgelord fluffing last night about how very, very much the Freedumb Caucus has been studying the rules the last week. As if Jeffries, Pelosi, Hoyer, etc aren’t already fully steeped and versed.
The bar, it is so damn low for Republicans!
different-church-lady
jackmac
Yes, make “Squeaker” as synonymous (and dismissive) with McCarthy as “TFG” is to Trump.
JPL
@Omnes Omnibus: Monday will be a wakeup call for all of us who believe in moderate republicans.
RobertDSC-iPhone 8
Squeaker gives new meaning to the “Fight For 15”.
WaterGirl
I looked for a photo of Hakeem with his hand on his heart, which we saw many times this week in response to theiir reception of him and the applause. I didn’t find a photo of that, so if anyone spots a good photo of Hakeem with his hand on his heart, let me know.
For now, I will use this one.
Also, we have a new tag: Squeaker McCarthy
WaterGirl
@JPL: Surely you are not including yourself in that?
Baud
@JPL:
All of who now?
Scout211
I am loving Hakeem Jeffries’ public persona. He is charismatic and eloquent. And clearly, great behind the scenes.
Nancy Smash was brilliant behind the scenes and I have absolutely zero complaints about her. But Jeffries is ready for today’s social media sound bites and hot takes. He will have an impact on the media and on social media. And hopefully, on young voters.
I don’t see that potential in MyKevin. At. All.
ETA: edited for clarity.
Omnes Omnibus
@JPL: You don’t have to believe in moderate Republicans to think there may be problems passing the rules.
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: I need to learn the *name of the awesome woman who is part of our new leadership team. I love the way she looks at Hakeem, and judging by what I have seen this week, there is great warmth between them.
*I could definitely choose the right name on a multiple choice test.
BenCisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️
I’m quite proud of my brother, great speech. Ready for the world to see just who Hakeem Jeffries is.
CAN’T WAIT
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: Katherine Clark.
WaterGirl
@Scout211:
I think you are so right about that!
Michael Bersin
In Missouri it appears the constituents of the republicans who voted (15 times!) for Kevin McCarthy (r) are not happy:
About your fifteen votes for Kevin McCarthy (r)…
One response:
“We thought you were different, you proved us all wrong. You don’t work for the people that voted for you, you will do whatever McCarthy tells you to do. Pretty damn sad.”
It’s not like there weren’t plenty of signs, you know, like the PAC expenditures.
danielx
@JPL:
Say what?
Cheryl from Maryland
I found Hakeem Jeffries’s combination of preacher, rapper, and Brooklyn accent to be inspiring.
Another Scott
Excellent speech. Thanks for the link.
The A-Z thing was great! Maybe that will be used to teach kids the alphabet in the years ahead.
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: I wanted to say Kathleen or Katherine, but I wasn’t sure. At some point in 2018 or 2019 I decided I need to know how to spell Pete Buttigieg’s name and to learn how to pronounce it.
I think Katherine Clark is someone we will be paying attention to, so today is that day for me with Katherine Clark.
While we’re at it, I was also super impressed this week by Pete Aguilar. Is it crazy to think this that this week of trial by fire helped our entire new leadership team
grow into the jobsget really comfortable in their new roles?Because I really believe that.
NorthLeft
Looking forward to seeing Speaker Hakeem Jeffries in two years. I have a good feeling that the Republicans will continue to embarrass themselves many, many times, and some of it will actually stick to them.
People, and the media, may finally realize that you should elect people to government who are actually competent and interested in providing good government for all the people of the US, not just their owners or base.
MazeDancer
@JPL:
Andrew Garabino, the GOP who represents the South shore of Nasauu County on Long Island, told Ali Velshi this AM that no one wants to see the US default.
Welcome to hell, Andrew.
Hoping all the NY GOP reps who would not have won if Maloney and Hochul had done their jobs recognize they cannot support Trump, Greene, and Gaetz.
On the good news from NY front, all I can say to Mr. Jeffries is Snap, Hakeem! Snap, snap, and double snap. What a speech!
Think all 15 ballots helped Dems work through some of the grief of losing Nancy Pelosi and uplifted unity and morale.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: I don’t know about growing into their jobs. I think they were ready. Rather, it was a chance to showcase their abilities.
Other MJS
Squeaker McCowardly.
WaterGirl
@Michael Bersin: Michael, this week has been a blur. Are you the person who runs the site you linked to?
I hope it has a lot of influence.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: You’re right, that was sloppy writing on my part. I think they got really comfortable in their new roles.
H.E.Wolf
I’d like to get a head start on name recognition for Jennifer McClellan, the Democrat currently in the VA State Senate who is running to fill the empty VA-04 House seat on Feb. 21st.
She’s got a good c.v. : https://jennifermcclellan.com/about/
JPL
@MazeDancer: Is he still a republican?
Layer8Problem
@RaflW: Maybe I’ve missed it but I’m not seeing expressions of worry from Jeffries, Pelosi, or Biden for that matter. They know what they have to work with and have since the election. They’re not idiots and they’ve certainly examined what might happen, as they’ve shown over and over again. They aren’t sitting around with their arms folded saying “Gee, they pulled the pin on that grenade. I wonder what will happen next?” We have enough people right here ready to panic and spread the doom. Like Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance in Bridge of Spies: “You don’t seem alarmed.” “Would it help?”
jeffreyw
A to Z
rikyrah
Squeaker?😂😂😂😂😂
Renie
@MazeDancer: In the past the Long Island GOP was somewhat reasonable (I have lived on Long Island my whole live) but now with this new breed lately they aren’t. Disgusted by the picture of George Santos giving the white supremacist sign while voting this week.
Another Scott
@jeffreyw: 👍
Cheers,
Scott.
Michael Bersin
@WaterGirl:
Yep.
We’re read by dozens…
WaterGirl
@jeffreyw: Thanks for that! So good I added it up top!
Geminid
@H.E.Wolf: Senator McClellan has served Virginians well as part of Senator L. Louise Lucas’s Brick Wall. Ms. McClellan has helped stop noxious Republican bills in their tracks so far in this General Assembly.
Soon Senator Lucas will be down a brick, but with a 20-19 majority she should still be able to stymie Republican efforts while she’s pantsing Glenn Youngkin on Twitter.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
The Squeaker probably the most pathetic example of leadership as it gets. Like Squeaker’s moving into the Speakers Office before he had the job, just arrogant and sloppy.
I am going to also predict that the rules The Squeaker are going to dump on congress next Monday will so half arsed they set off a shit storm in his own caucus, and it will be another dozen plus votes to settle it..
Raoul Paste
“and the party he rode in on…”
Ha! Good one
WaterGirl
@jeffreyw: And I learned a new word!
xenial = Hospitable, especially to visiting strangers or foreigners
Mike in Pasadena
It sounds like it will only take one member to call for a vote on the squeaker’s removal. Hmm, I wonder how long it will be before that rule is abused. I hope Democrats use it strategically.
MazeDancer
@JPL: Garbarino is all GOP, all the time.
Except when he knows tanking the full faith and credit of the US will destroy his entire commuting to NYC district.
WaterGirl
@Mike in Pasadena: I think it’s unclear at this point whether the IX document it refers to already stipulates that everything only applies to the party that is in power.
Dems in there House may be considered 0/5 of a person.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Democrats: Champions of Scrabble!
Geminid
@MazeDancer: Sounds like Representative Malliatokis will also be under a lot of pressure if a default is imminent. She already is a 2024 target for Democrats, I expect.
jeffreyw
@WaterGirl:
Same here, I had never seen that word before.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: Yeah!
I’ve had my eye on him since Impeachment I.
Frankensteinbeck
@Layer8Problem:
Ditto. I guarantee Jeffries and Pelosi gamed all this out before a single vote was cast, and the Democrats voted and will vote in our best interests. I guarantee that right now they are not sitting on their hands saying “Oh, well, nothing to be done!” And they are damned better negotiators and vote counters than Kevin.
Geminid
@zhena gogolia: Those impeachment trials gave some talented Democrats good national exposure. There are plenty more as talented that most of us don’t know about. Yet.
PsiFighter37
@Geminid: Unless NY Democrats can pull off a mid-cycle redistricting, unfortunately I do not think she is going anywhere. She absolutely destroyed Max Rose in a rematch this year, and I’m not convinced NY Dems will have upped their game to claw back all of the ground they lost this year, especially since Hochul doesn’t seem to have learned the right lesson from the 2022 elections and is moving to the right (if her Court of Appeals nomination is any indication).
RepubAnon
@Baud: It’s like the definition of a “compassionate” conservative: “someone who steps over the homeless, and not on them.
PsiFighter37
@H.E.Wolf: IIRC, she was one of Terry MacAuliffe’s primary challengers in 2021. She should have no problem winning as VA-04 is a Safe Dem seat, and I have to think after being caught asleep at the wheel in 2021, VA Dems are back on the organizing bandwagon.
Frankensteinbeck
@RepubAnon:
That’s about right. There are Republican representatives who are mean, cowardly, stupid assholes who want to take us back to 1850 and think hurting the vulnerable is morality, and there are Republican representatives who are all of that but also so high on their own rhetoric that they would set themselves on fire to spite the RINOs, much less the libs.
EDIT – I think MTG made the difference pretty plain when she went “Woah, I didn’t sign up for the suicide part of murder-suicide.”
MazeDancer
@Geminid: No Wall Street, no Staten Island.
Racist they may be, but no Rep within 125 miles of NYC wants to see the collapse of the US economy. Especially Wall Street.
Futher Upstate, racism really takes over and mixes with hatred of the city. Even though NYC tax dollars pay for everything in the state.
“It only takes 5” is the full time mantra of Hakeem and Co.
There are 18 or so – can’t get an exact count on TV – GOP reps from Biden districts. They sabotage the country, they will not get reelected.
tobie
Wonderful speech.
Hakeem Jeffries is a great speaker and one day will be a great Speaker of the House. May this happen before too long!
MomSense
@RobertDSC-iPhone 8:
HA!!
H.E.Wolf
@WaterGirl: The transcriber mis-heard the D line. It was
“Democracy over Demagogues”
No doubt there’s a corrected version out there someplace!
MomSense
@MazeDancer:
I’m not sure that’s true anymore. For one thing I do worry that some of these R Reps are compromised.
Geminid
@PsiFighter37: From what I read, New York Republicans were hungry this year, while Democratic turnout was anemic. I suspect Independents swung hard into the Republican column as well.
The Presidential year electorate and dynamics will be different. And Ms. Malliotaki’s association with the radical Republican House Caucus could really hurt her.
Redistricting or no, I expect New York Democrats will get their mess together. Although I gotta say, I will be astounded if they ever stop feuding with each other..
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Frankensteinbeck: Speaking off that, I follow Eric Stalwell on Twitter had Stalwell spent the last two weeks trolling Gaetz that McCarthy is just going to blow off any promises he made to Gaetz once McCarthy is voted in. And, behold, one of the new rules is any Republican can call for a no confidence vote on the Speaker, which basically screws McCarthy.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the Dem House strategy will be pointing out the obvious downsides to these GOP fools.
H.E.Wolf
@Geminid:
@PsiFighter37:
Three cheers for McClellan, who will be a worthy member of Congress, and for the VA Dems’ brick wall!
We’re in good company, folks. I’d so much rather be part of the Democrats’ coalition than the Republicans’ execrable Ship of Fools.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Fools_(painting)#/media/File:Jheronimus_Bosch_011.jpg
WaterGirl
@H.E.Wolf: If anyone finds the corrected image with Demagogues not Demigods, let me know so I can replace the image.
JeffreyW, paging JeffreyW….
WaterGirl
@Frankensteinbeck:
This week made it perfectly clear that Kevin only knows his numbers up to 5.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@MazeDancer: There is also all those rich GOP donors that considering how upset they are that the Fed rose the interest rates are going to be happy about what a default does to their portfolios.
PaulB
One thing that makes this whole fight a bit more interesting is that McCarthy isn’t particularly popular among Republicans, and he’s even less popular with the hardcore MAGA idiots. The latter regard McCarthy as a sellout, as part of the swamp, as part of “failed leadership,” right up there with McConnell.
Two of the holdouts were openly worried about primary challenges from the right if they supported McCarthy.
So, they went through all of this public humiliation, all of this drama, to get an emasculated Speaker that many in his party don’t even like or want
Case in point: Laura Loomer, on Twitter:
CaseyL
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
I bet the GOPers who wanted that thought it would enable them to harass a future Democratic Speaker. The nimrods thought their rules would last across Congresses; didn’t know each Congress sets its own rules.
West of the Rockies
@Baud:
Moderate Republicans: someone who believes slaves should not be lynched. Only whipped.
Baud
I wanted to be a demigod.
Frankensteinbeck
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
My guess would be that Jeffries’ and Pelosi’s strategy is to make sure there are enough Republican objectors to sink any version of the rules that makes a vote on a reasonable budget and raising the debt ceiling impossible (twisty methods to get those votes is fine) and anything else they are flexible about because they don’t care.
zhena gogolia
@Geminid: Mahoney also impressed me!
WaterGirl
@PaulB: On the Pod Save America podcast – it must have been from Thursday because I think they had just taken vote #7 – they said it’s well known that McCarthy is the stupidest person in Congress, that he’s known for being “an affable doofus” and not anyone you would trust with anything that matters.
They went on to say that you would never ask McCarthy for advice about a problem, would never let him babysit your kid, etc.
This is who the Rs just elected Squeaker of the House.
Frankensteinbeck
@WaterGirl:
And it takes him 14 tries to count that high.
zhena gogolia
@H.E.Wolf: Haha, “demigods” is also good, though, you have to admit.
Burnspbesq
Let the shitshow begin. It will be intermittently entertaining, and endlessly infuriating, but we will survive and come out stronger on the other end.
And fuck John Carter, my spineless, invisible Congressroach. We’ll get you next time. You only get to refresh the gerrymandered district every ten years, but the demographic change moves on in real time.
Mai Naem mobile
I have to be honest. I didn’t really pay that much attention to Hakeem Jeffries till they started talking about him taking over from Nancy Pelosi. I knew he was good because I used to occasionally listen to a FOX guy who has a financial show on local radio here and he was always super critical and contemptuous of Hakeem Jeffries but I didn’t know much about him. Anyhow, watching him this week – yeah, he’s charismatic but he also comes across as a person you don’t want to screw around with. I don’t see any Dem pulling a McCarthy on Jeffries.
WaterGirl
@West of the Rockies: @RepubAnon:
I think this has potential as a future post.
A moderate Republican is someone who….
Geminid
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Those Reps’ Chamber of Commerce buddies won’t like the idea of a default one bit, either. Representatives will get an earful about it from their more pragmatic constituents when they go home.
tobie
@Geminid: Cuomo’s lasting legacy seems to have been to poison the well, though I have to say that the WFP needs to do a reality check. They don’t seem to be in line with the Dem electorate in the state.
MazeDancer
@PsiFighter37: Totally agree Staten Island racism – how quickly they forget their grand parents were considered “colored” – is entrenched.
But that does not mean all of the borough wants to destroy how they earn a living.
Voting not to raise the debt ceiling and, thus, sinking the global economy, is not going to appeal to all the GOP. Especially those that ride the ferry to and from Wall Street every weekday.
Just like voting to destroy Social Security and Medicare unlikely to get you re-elected if you’re a GOP repping a Biden district.
It only takes 5 semi-sane for the moment GOP to stop anything crazy.
WaterGirl
@Mai Naem mobile: I’m not sure what pulling a McCarthy on someone entails, but Hakeem Jeffries would be in the top percentile of people you don’t want to fuck with.
Mai Naem mobile
Who’s the young clean cut dark haired guy who’s seen next to McCarthy a lot? He looks like an enforcer kind of goon. Too skinny and short to fit into TFG’s mafia kind of enforcer types. Also who was the bowtie McCarthy ally guy talking to Gaetz last night? There’s too damn many newer RW congress critters I don’t recognize.
PsiFighter37
@Geminid: As a New York City resident who has a front seat to the intraparty dysfunction, I doubt it. I have no doubt that Biden – or whomever the nominee is in 2024 – will win the state by double digits in 2024. That said, Andrew Cuomo (love him or hate him) creamed his opposition in 2014 – a much worse year for Democrats nationally – by 14%. He deserves his fair share of blame for the institutional inertia, but Hochul frankly should have been far better prepared. She barely campaigned in a meaningful fashion and basically expected to coast to victory without having to do any meaningful work to introduce herself. Pretty tone-deaf for the first governor hailing from outside the NYC metro area in a century, IMO. Nominating LaSalle was also a stupid move on her part. If she were a team player, she would have put forth a nominee that could be counted on to uphold a mid-cycle redistricting that would ensure a 22-4 or 23-3 map.
PaulB
Select tidbits from the swamp:
Nothing short of a Convention of States will bring about any meaningful reforms. That will take another generation or two. Embrace the Suck.
So, are we all supposed to be jumping up and down for joy now? If they only knew how ugly this govt has become for ‘we the people’.
Meet the new bosses. Same as the old bosses.
The guy who was captured on tape talking to Liz Cheney, telling her that he would urge Trump to resign after January 6th, is now the best hope of the slim majority in the Republican Congress? My ass.
We all knew McCarthy would be the inevitable winner, but it still amazes me how far down our govt has sunk, even just in my lifetime.
We can’t continue to settle for this … I hope most republican supporting fools here finally understand what we are up against
Annndddd. . . the Swamp wins again!
America, and the people who love her, lost.
Well, the next time Kevin sides with the democrats and votes Yea on another $trillion spend, we can say, “Look! We told you so! He’s a RINO!” (Not that will help any).
And the stupid party continues to be stupid while America burns.
So much for draining the swamp, we got a water moccasin now in charge.
MazeDancer
@PsiFighter37: Hochul feels, to me, like Andrew Cuomo re-do.
Despite her being a woman, have to hold your nose and vote for them, even though you really don’t like them, because they own the Dem spot on the ballot.
There was no reason any of the Upstate GOP should have won.
If Pat Ryan could defeat Marc Molinaro in purple Northern Dutchess County, no reason that couldn’t happen a couple months later in a district a couple miles away.
Living in Mr. Ryan’s district, can tell you the local Dems are organized. Alas, not true every where else.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@PaulB:
I think this take is ignoring how well Dems did in the midterms when we weren’t expected to. People came out in most places where we needed them to; unforunately NY wasn’t one of them. All is not lost
Geminid
@PsiFighter37: Sounds to me like there is plenty of blame to go around. And it sure has been flying around up there!
Besides picking on leaders like Hochul and Jacobs, I would assign rank and file Democrats some of the blame also. No one made them stay home November 8th.
Betsy
@JPL: Who’s this “us”?
Cameron
@JPL: I haven’t actually seen one of these creatures, but I’m told there are a couple preserved in museums around the country.
PaulB
Those were comments from MAGA fanatics on the FreeRepublic website. Definitely not my own views.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@PaulB:
Oh, I missed this bit:
My bad 🤦
Those are hilarious. At least the crazies are miserable about this
cain
I think though the plan is to go all the way – eg not raise the debt limit – and then when everything crashes and burns – yell at Biden to do something. Certainly the press will be putting articles over articles clamoring for bipartisanship and meet GOP half way by cutting everything Democrats believe in.
We’re going to be going through grim times. Because I think those 20 assholes are going to control the entire country and we have a weak ass speaker who isn’t going to be strong enough to push back on anything.
Perhaps this will finally lead to the ultimate destruction of the party. But hopefully not the nation.
Baud
@cain:
Nah, the liberal internet will be yelling at Biden to mint the coin, and the GOP and the media will go along with that as the way out.
steve g
Everyone sees him as being Speaker one day, but I also think President Jeffries has a nice ring to it. He is lively and smart and a natural leader.
Scout211
I could be wrong, but I still read the motion to vacate as one member of congress, not one member of the majority party.
It doesn’t make sense that the US House rules would give only one party this privilege. Am I wrong?
ETA: Maybe I am wrong but even with the rules of the 117th, this article states “a majority of either party”
CBS news
Major Major Major Major
I can’t believe he did the whole alphabet. What a ham!
Mike E
@Baud: Careful, don’t threaten us with a good time!
Kelly
In Oregon CD5 we were 7299 short of 350327 votes cast or 2.1%. The country folk will likely get crazier but the state and district are trending more urban. It’s within reach.
jeffreyw
@WaterGirl:
I stole the image fair and square from Post.News. Lacking the chops to fix it I will go back and see if I can steal a corrected version.
Alison Rose
Finally got around to watching this, and it was brilliant. I especially love that Kevvy had to stand there listening to it, and the whole GQP caucus too. Whenever they started getting whiny, I wanted him to stop and say “Hey, y’all made us sit here for four days through 15 damn votes, you can give me a few minutes to speak.”
Cameron
@H.E.Wolf: What, the transcriber works for Marvel?
Geminid
@Kelly: And come 2024, the new Republican Representative will have some bad votes Democrats can hang around her neck. Last time, she got to present a blank canvas to voters. Now, Gaetz and Rosendale will help color it in.
Alison Rose
@jeffreyw: Also…hopefulness is a word, not sure why they wrote it the way they did.
Kelly
I am not a lawyer but it seems to me the 14th amendment section 4 overrides the debt ceiling. Seems like pointing to it and keep writing checks is the simplest solution to the debt ceiling mess.
Major Major Major Major
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Also: In aggregate, looking at the whole country, this election wasn’t gerrymandered up the wazoo like they have been for the last ten years.
The average district is R +1.7; Republicans hold a narrow majority; they won the popular vote by 4, so things shook out largely in our favor in this regard, this time.
Could Democrats have gerrymandered even harder, sure, but I really don’t know how I feel about retaliatory disenfranchisement.
jeffreyw
@WaterGirl:
Link
Major Major Major Major
@Kelly:
The wording is a little clunky, unfortunately, which is where devils dwell.
Treasury very clearly has the statutory power to mint a trillion-dollar platinum coin, however.
ChrisSherbak
@cain: I think the plan is more “nobody wants us to default so we’ll just hold out a couple times so they just give us everything we want cuz they’re adults and we’re petulant children…” I.e. The Dems (and whatever passes for a reasonable Repub) will blink before the Petulants do. I’m not entirely sure they’re wrong, esp. with the Squeaker giving away so much to get elected.
Kelly
@Major Major Major Major: Worth noting that Oregon’s 4D/2R Congressional split still advantages Democrats over the 60/40ish split of most statewide votes.
ETA: Well not advantages but is fair. Not that being fair to Oregon Republicans helps our upcoming crises.
mrmoshpotato
@JPL:
Who around here believes in moderate Rethuglicans? 😁
Monday – Let The Shitshow Continue
JMG
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: It screws McCarthy both ways. Any five less nuts GOP members can tell him, “don’t do X or we’ll bring a motion and vote against you with the Democrats. You won’t be Speaker any more.” Things would have to be very desperate for them to try such a move, but a pretty safe bet for this Congress is that things will be very desperate well before Labor Day, if not before Easter.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.
PsiFighter37
@Major Major Major Major: I think this is a broad oversimplification of a diversity of factors across specific states. Just as an example:
NY – redistricting shot down meant that conventional wisdom played out – Democrats lost a lot of seats that are probably in their column in a typical presidential year.
IL – Democrats largely underperformed at the top of the ballot, but because of effective gerrymandering, they won all 14 of the seats they were expected to.
NV – throw in mix of electoral denialism from Jim Marchant, and you had very close / split results statewide, but Democratic gerrymander held – won 3 of 4 seats.
AZ – basically the opposite of NV, where we won the top-ticket seats due to election deniers, but lost all the close races at the House level.
CA – very similar story to NY, although perhaps due to less state party incompetence (I couldn’t tell you as I am not a Left Coaster)
OH – arguably might have lost 2 more House seats had Tim Ryan not put up as strong a performance as he did.
FL – screwed because FL state courts did not overrule DeSantis’ blatantly illegal gerrymander. Probably also served to depress statewide Democratic turnout because of a lack of competitive congressional races
mrmoshpotato
@RepubAnon:
Oh George War Criminal Bush. He can still go fuck himself.
Captain C
@MazeDancer:
I suspect that the latter here is at least part of the reason for the former (along with a healthy dollop of just hating on “those people”).
WaterGirl
@PaulB: That came across as your own views, so I was surprised to read that! Glad to have the clarification.
Kelly
For Oregon substitute Portland for NYC.
prostratedragon
Jeffries’s speech represents the only kind of “entertainment” I need from a public official — inspiring, thought-provoking and just plain terrific. Having scanned down to his alphabet while listening, I was delighted when he began to say it. Someone should set that to music.
ETA and I learned a new word: xenial.
WaterGirl
@jeffreyw: Yeah, I figured starting with wherever you found it in the first place would be the best starting point for a corrected version.
JPL
@Cameron: ha I actually tell my son that it the olden days, there were a few republicans you could vote for.
They laugh because they think I’m teasing.
Another Scott
@Major Major Major Major: “Clearly” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. As we know.
VOX.com (from October 2021):
It takes big balls to say that Yellen is wrong.
Those sound like gimmicks to me to, but who knows.
[eta:] My baseline is – if it were easy to bypass the debt ceiling, it would have probably been done already.
I don’t think it will come to that. I think at most there will be a few day delay, but I think even that is a very low probability event.
We’ll see!
Cheers,
Scott.
JPL
In order to get it passed, I assume that Kevin will try to lump all the changes to the rules in one vote.
HumboldtBlue
@Geminid:
All I can say is that combining McClellan and Virginia means a poorly run campaign that eventually leads to McClellan being sacked.
Twice.
Let’s hope this time it’s different.
Major Major Major Major
@Another Scott:
Take it up with the drafters of 31 USC § 5112.
“Yellen doesn’t want to do something” is a little different from “the plain meaning of the law is that she can.”
WaterGirl
@jeffreyw:
Omnes Omnibus
@Another Scott: The debt ceiling itself is a gimmick. We promised to pay when we authorized the expenditure.
Major Major Major Major
@PsiFighter37: It’s definitely a broad oversimplification, but we lost the popular vote and the GOP ended up with fewer seats than they would have if we had a national popularly-elected House, which (as I said, in aggregate, ignoring how the elections actually work, yadda yadda), is perfectly fair, if not biased in our favor.
Could we have biased it further? Yes. Is that ethical? Up for debate. I’ve seen a 52-1 California map, we probably shouldn’t do that.
ETA: Anyway, back to my original point, we did really well! Considering.
WaterGirl
@ChrisSherbak:
Brian Schatz said even before the election that we will give them NOTHING in return for raising the debt ceiling. To do anything other than that is madness, and it opens the door to chaos.
Democrats are not stupid.
*possibly with two exceptions in the senate
Paul Begala's Pink Tie
@WaterGirl: the person who made that meme should also fix “hope-fullness” (“hopefulness”) and “xennial” to “xenia” (the Classical concept of hospitality as a moral obligation — makes more sense than a reference to people between Gen X and milennials).
Kelly
This. It bugs the hell out of me this gimmick survives.
WaterGirl
@Paul Begala’s Pink Tie: Agree, but we don’t know who made the original!
And the second doesn’t even credit Hakeem Jeffries!
But that is what we have. :-)
Omnes Omnibus
@ChrisSherbak: Nope.
Geminid
@Major Major Major Major: Democrats successfully gerrymandered Illinois and that netted them two or more seats.
There was a lost opportunity in Virginia, where a Democratic General Assembly could have made a seventh safe district for Elaine Luria. Instead, enough Dems joined Republicans to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot for a second time that created an Independent Resistricting Commission. The amendment passed 2 to 1 in fall of 2020.
The new Commission deadlocked, so the Supreme Court had two special masters draw a (kind of) neutral map. Luria then lost a fairly close election to Republican Jen Kiggans, another retired Navy officer. Luria has not said if she will seek a rematch in 2024, but I hope she does.
Democrats seemed to make out OK on commission-drawn maps in Colorado and Michigan.
Bill Arnold
@Baud:
I expect to see some flavor of constitutional argument:
Fourteenth Amendment:
e.g. this from 2013 (IANAL):
https://dlj.law.duke.edu/article/the-debt-limit-and-the-constitution-how-the-fourteenth-amendment-forbids-fiscal-obstructionism/
PsiFighter37
@Major Major Major Major: Dems did do well all things considered, but I think it’s a factor of overperforming in swing states. In safely-blue territory, there was definite apathy. The dropoff of low-propensity minority voters was also troubling.
It could have been better, it could have been worse. I hope the strategists looking ahead to 2024 are already figuring out how to fix what went wrong. The loss of support amongst working-class Latino voters is a really big problem in TX and FL, and it is forcing us to start playing in swing states (Arizona and Georgia come first to mind) that to me are really light-red states that would revert to type if there was a non-insane Republican Party.
Mai Naem mobile
@WaterGirl: I’ll have to distill down ‘pulling a McCarthy’ – having to be a sub in a sub-dom relationship when you actually want to be a dom and are willing to be humiliated a million different ways to a pyrrhic victory.
Omnes Omnibus
@PsiFighter37:
If.
Another Scott
@Major Major Major Major: Context matters. I doubt that you can find any support in the congressional record during the drafting and debate on the bill that they meant “any” to include $1T or $50T or $googolplex.
TheVerge.com (from 2013):
There is no One Weird Trick.
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
H.E.Wolf
(Sorry, was out for a bit) Yes! – “demigods” is also good, and Baud can be one if Baud wants. By acclamation. :)
Alison Rose
@Paul Begala’s Pink Tie: He said “xenial” which is defined as hospitality toward strangers and foreigners. So they spelled it wrong but it does have the L at the end.
CaseyL
@PsiFighter37:
Which I don’t see happening anytime soon.
Get people into the habit of voting for Democrats – and make sure they see positive results from that! – and by the time the GOP becomes non-insane (12th of Never), those voters may be Democrats in fact and by choice, not just to avoid Crazytown.
Alison Rose
@WaterGirl: I made a very basic one that folks might like. (Gotta say, that second one up there looks kinda like it’s meant to be on the wall of a kindergarten classroom.) Pretty sure everything is spelled right. (Made the FB post public so you should be able to see it?)
Ruckus
@Baud:
Come on, there has to be at least 4 of them.
In the entire country.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kelly:
@Omnes Omnibus:
Is it a gimmick? I read on Wikipedia that many countries have a debt ceiling mechanism
StringOnAStick
@Kelly: We have 4 friends who are completing their slow motion move to Bend, and all 4 are solid D. The people who continue to leave CA for this area are a liberal lot in general, so I do think the urban areas will continue to grow bluer.
Alison Rose
@Ruckus: They all work at the NYT
Omnes Omnibus
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
It is a gimmick for the reason I stated. Fin.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Another Scott:
Would the Federal Reserve or the Treasury Department prefer a debt default that leads to a global financial system collapse, then? Because that’s the only alternative unless House Dems and some GQPers agree to raise the debt ceiling. Yellen and the Fed chair/governors would be like the proverbial lemmings running off a cliff
Martin
@Major Major Major Major: I don’t think it’s that clunky. “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.”
The main clause says the validity of the public debt authorized by law should not be questioned. The federal budget is the law. Additionally, ‘including…’ clarifies the specific kinds of debt they are clarifying. That clause doesn’t limit the meaning, it addresses a potential challenge to it – clarifying that debts to the US will be paid and debts to the confederacy will not.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Understood
WaterGirl
@H.E.Wolf:
Well done!
Another Scott
@Omnes Omnibus: As I understand it, the debt ceiling was put in place to get around language in the Constitution that says that Congress had to approve every single check the Treasury wrote.
So, in a way, it’s a good thing (absent changes to the Constitution). The Gephardt Rule (automatically raising the limit when the budget is passed) takes care of the mechanism for raising it. The GQP wants to throw out the Gephardt Rule, again, to try to gain leverage.
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@Alison Rose: Thank you! Could you send me the highest resolution version of that file that you have? By email?
Renie
@PsiFighter37: As a Long Island resident, I don’t think Hochul will win re-election. The GOP megaphone in the media that drowned out everything else but crime and inflation forced her to campaign very late in the campaign season. She should have been out and front early on. It was too close with Zeldin than it should have been. I hope CD 3 wakes up and goes back to democratic after the spectacle of Santos. I doubt he will run again cuz I’m sure more will come out about him. I’ve heard whispers that Cuomo wants a comeback. Have you heard that? Wouldn’t be surprised seeing him run for president eventually.
Alison Rose
@WaterGirl: Sure–I just made it in Pages and then took a screenshot, so I’ll send you both.
Kelly
@StringOnAStick: I suppose one upside of Oregon’s high housing prices is only prosperous people can afford to move here. Prosperous people tend to be well educated and well educated people tend to vote for Democrats or maybe just against craziness.
Brachiator
@WaterGirl:
Ambition without wisdom. Always a terrible combination.
Ruckus
@Alison Rose:
It’s FTFNYFT.
They earned it, and we should never forget that.
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I think they’ll go with the debt default. No one is going to relieve the GOP of their responsibility.
Geminid
@Renie: Santos will be very lucky if he serves out his term. I think his connection to Andrew Intrator will result in felony indictments.
Around Labor Day, FBI agents visited Russion oligarch’s Viktor Vekselberg’s Long Island home with a warrant and carried away a number of evidence boxes. Intrater is Vekselberg’s cousin, money manager and reputed “bagman.” He was also Santos’s biggest campaign backer and may have helped Santos gain his unexplained wealth.
It could turn out that this investigation has nothing to do with Santos. On the other hand, prosecutors may already have a thick file on the brazen Brazilian.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
Then they’re no better if they won’t act to save the world if it’s within their power. We’re not talking about saving the GOP from embarrassment re: the Speaker elections, we’re talking about protecting the world from the GOP’s insanity/malice/dysfunction
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Disagree. We don’t negotiate with terrorists. That doesn’t make us responsible for terrorist actions.
ETA: if people are that worried about a default, they should just tell Biden to negotiate Social Security away.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
For the record, I don’t think Biden should do that
Jim, Foolish Literalist
just another Constitutional Conservative (trump endorsed!) making jokes about a politically inspired violent attack that sent an 82 YO man in the ICU
Cory Mills, who deleted his original tweet, is the new MoC for FL-07
ETA: that was Stephanie Murphy’s district. Looks very swingy. I wonder if she regrets not running again.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Ugh, Mills is vile for that tweet
eclare
@JPL: My mom was a Republican til they went all in on the babeez. Then she started voting D and never looked back.
Tom Q.
@Major Major Major Major: I don’t have the numbers on this myself, but I’m told by people I trust that the GOP popular vote performance was exaggerated by 1) low turnout in states like FL, where the gerrymander made races non-competitive and 2) more GOP candidates running unopposed than Dem counterparts, which skews the national totals.
So, it’s not as simple as saying They got more votes and are actually under-represented. The vote margin was itself affected by the way districts were drawn.
Omnes Omnibus
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): He won’t. But Baud is right, Dems should not deal on the debt ceiling. Dems should vote to raise or eliminate it. Semi-sane GOPers should do the same. No deals needed or offered.
eclare
Hakeem is great, as someone noted, part preacher, part rapper. As for the debt ceiling, not gonna worry. I am sure Joe will have a plan vs these morans, and part of that plan will be “My offer is nothing.”
Major Major Major Major
@Martin: I meant the “shall not be questioned” part. What is questioning? Who shall not question it? Etc. If the first part of the 2nd amendment can be mere commentary…
@Another Scott:
Was Biden’s debt forgiveness legal? Because the drafters of the HEROES act definitely didn’t intend it to cover an arbitrary amount of student loan debt held by means-tested civilians during a pandemic. Ot what about the decision in Bostock (Gorsuch joined by the liberals) holding that the civil rights act, in including language about sex, covers anti-trans discrimination? Could not possibly have been intended.
Personally I think erring on the side of textualism introduces the least bias and error in such cases, though Bostock does seem a bit egregious.
And at any rate, who has standing to sue about the platinum coin?
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Love Hakeem’s “do better”.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@WaterGirl:
Hakeem’s response is *chef’s kiss*. Quite a striking difference
cain
@Baud: 100% – we don’t negotiate with domestic terrorists. They literally want to go against every thing that the party stands for. When will it end? Also, if we capitulate – do you think Dems are going to vote for such a weak knee’d party? It would depress turn out something fierce.
What we really need to look out for is the media – who will seize this as a way to try to force Biden to capitulate in the name of bipartisanship and the nation with their endless blather. As a group, we will need to give Dems the cover they need by looking for every poll and making sure that the data shows that Americans do not hold Biden at fault for this mess.
Baud
@Major Major Major Major:
A Texas judge said no. I’d imagine the GOP can easily find a Texas judge to say the same thing about the platinum coin.
cain
@Kelly: Prosperous people will also move to other cheaper places and also make them Democratic. :)
Besides, I believe the new bohemian place is now Lincoln, Nebraska. I miss the days when nobody ever heard of Portland.
cain
@StringOnAStick: I’m seeing a lot of Texans here too but that could be because rental cars are all Texas and Florida.
FelonyGovt
@Alison Rose: That one is excellent. Yeah, the other one was kinda Sesame Street looking.
Sure Lurkalot
@Alison Rose: I wouldn’t change one word in Hakeem Jeffries’ inspiring speech but I will quibble for grins…xenial is an adjective, xenophobia a noun so the comparison is awkward grammatically. So, xenia over xenophobia or xenial over xenophobic.
cain
@Baud:
I reckon that same judge will say that biracial marriage is also illegal.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: you can find one judge to say anything, that’s a bad reason not to do something. There are absolutely not five votes at the Supreme Court to block an emergency stay of such a decision especially after the Fed has already accepted the payment.
All hopefully very theoretical of course!
tobie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Doubt Murphy regrets it. She and Kathleen Rice did an exit interview with Politico and had harsh words for Dems. They praised Sinema as a deal maker. It turns out the 3 are best friends and get jewelery designed to celebrate their role as thorns in the sides of Democrats. Barf.
https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2022/12/23/stephanie-murphy-kathleen-rice-centrists-00075509
Baud
@Major Major Major Major:
You have more faith in the Supreme Court than I do.
Leslie
FTFNYT has a headline that begins “Speaker quest reveals McCarthy’s tenuous grip on …” and no matter how many times it catches my eye, my brain wants to make the ending “reality” (instead of “House majority”).
Lapassionara
@Michael Bersin: I wish that would make some difference the next election. Missouri has gotten even more red since we moved here. Sigh.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
I think M×4 is right though that it’s not a good reason to not do something. If it comes down do it, they should at least try
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
The litigation over it alone would undermine the assurance that the coin is supposed to give the financial markets.
What’s better? A five day default before the GOP caves or several weeks or months of financial uncertainty?
Ksmiami
@cain: Janet yellen and Biden will mint the coin and save social security and medicare and put the hurt on the gop nutsos- they will have no choice
Rose Weiss
@Kelly: I can attest to that – I live in southwestern OR. I don’t hear a lot of hatred for Portland, but the racism, general bigotry, and total lack of compassion are rampant.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: I think “not defaulting” beats “America can default on its debt a little, as a treat”
Baud
@Major Major Major Major:
Your assumption is that the platinum coin will go 100% smoothly from day 1 and everyone will just move on with their financial lives. I am very skeptical of that outcome.
Geminid
@WaterGirl:
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Hakeem Jeffries has got this short form Twitter thing going on. His tweets are like Haiku. Maybe they could be called “Hakeem-ku.”
From last month;
And:
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: no, my assumption is that it will go smoothly enough to be better than defaulting, which would be apocalyptic. We aren’t talking national park closures here. And it’s not like a 14th amendment challenge is subject to different judicial headwinds.
ETA if I were the conservative supremes (unfortunately I am not) I would say “what you did is very bad and this action is unconstitutional under our made-up major questions doctrine, but nobody including us has authority to walk it back. Future treasuries cannot do this”
but now I’m just writing fanfic.
opiejeanne
@Kelly: And for Washington state, substitute both Seattle and Olympia. The red district candidates run on how terrible Olympia is, governance-wise, and then beg their constituents to send them there.
tobie
@Baud: Do you really think a default would last for just 5 days? I don’t. 15-20 Freedom Caucus members won’t budge. They will win the hearts and minds of the base and the rest of the GOP caucus will be afraid to cross them.
Major Major Major Major
@tobie: discharge petition can get a vote on a debt ceiling increase with all Dems and, what, five republicans? Honestly this might be the most likely scenario.
Geminid
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I don’t think the debt issue will come down to that. I think House Republicans will break, even if means that defectors have to break up the majority.
It could be that the new Rules prevent an unwanted Speaker challenge. But what if Don Bacon can do in August what Gaetz wants to do be able to do to McCarthy any time? And Bacon has enough colleagues willing to reorganize the House under new management, with a Speaker acceptable to Democratic leaders?
This is one reason Monday’s Rules vote will be very important.
Baud
@tobie:
I don’t think there will be a default because the GOP will cave. If there is, I think it’ll be short.
Another Scott
@Major Major Major Major:
As was mentioned downstairs, the US defaulted in 1979 and it wasn’t an apocalypse. What happens afterwards, if it happens again in 2023, depends on the circumstances.
We need to keep a clear head about this. Panic – in advance – that the world economy will be destroyed unless we agree to cut Social Security and Medicare and all the rest because they won’t raise the debt ceiling otherwise is counter-productive.
Democrats-Budget.House.gov (from February 2022):
If we were to default, or the markets thought it were a serious possibility, then interest rates would go up – as they did in 1979 (and as they did in October 2013). After that, depending, it could get more serious. But there’s a vast amount more liquidity in the world markets now than there was in 1979, so the effect might even be smaller than it was then – depending on the circumstances…
tl;dr – A short default would set a lot of money on fire for no good reason. It doesn’t mean that we have to gut the social safety net to prevent it. The ball is in the GQPer’s court.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: Given Hakeem’s affinity for repetition, I suspect that we might see the “Do better.” in a lot of his tweets.
Kathleen
@Omnes Omnibus: I seriously wonder if they can even remember their rules and if Squeaker will remember all the commitments he made.
tobie
@Major Major Major Major: i don’t believe they will find 5 Republicans. I don’t see any profiles in courage in the Republican caucus. They’re either out for blood or too afraid of those out for blood in their caucus and in their base to go against them. I’m sorry…if there’s anything I’ve learned in the past few days it’s that the GOP consists of bed wetters or nihilists.
Kathleen
@Frankensteinbeck: I totally agree.
WaterGirl
Alison Rose version:
It’s a little scrunched up so we’ll have to work on the formatting for BJ, but it’s a nice blue and super readable with the white on blue.
David 📢 Speaker 📢 Koch☑️
I believe my party cares more
about the problems of the people
of this country and more concerned
with helping them with their problems
then the Republican Party and
for that reason I’m a Democrat.
~ Lyndon Johnson
Frankensteinbeck
@tobie:
The last two years, and the 12 years previous, say that yes, there are at least 5 Republicans who will cross the lines to vote to stop a default. Probably many more than that. If the rules allow a vote to be taken, we are in no danger of default. Less danger than in earlier confrontations, because McCarthy has zero control over his caucus, and that doesn’t just mean the crazy ones.
Citizen Alan
@Major Major Major Major:
Depending on how SCOTUS rules in 303 Creative, standing will exist any time a racist asshole is pissed off about something.
Geminid
@tobie: Well, there are Representatives David Valadeo (CA) and Dan Newhouse (WA). They survived voting to impeach Trump both physically and politically (they live in jungle primary states). People aren’t going to get all strung out over a Spealer change and/or a debt ceiling raise like they did over Impeachment.
Don Bacon is probably going to retire anyway, and he’s been pushing this “consensus Speaker” idea for weeks. Those three could find a couple allies ready to leave their Caucus this summer to prevent a default.
Maybe others are willing to retire after this term. Fitzpatrick might even win a Republican primary in his suburban eastern Pennsylvania district. He sure as hell won’t win the general election if his caucus makes us default.
I’d bolt the caucus just so I wouldn’t have to hear that motormouth Lauren Boebert babbling away anymore in caucus meetings!
RaflW
@Layer8Problem: My dig on a lazy press was in no way an expression of doubt about Democratic leadership being clear eyed and strategic.
Baud
@Geminid:
According to a headline I just saw, McCarthy wants to focus on immigration, “woke” education, and IRS funding.
WaterGirl
@Geminid: I wil keep an eye out for those!
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major: Only if the new rules allow for discharge petitions, and I don’t think we know at this point if they will.
Layer8Problem
@RaflW:
And not taken that way on this end.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Another Scott:
@Geminid:
@Baud:
Thanks for your reassurances. It is still many months away and a lot can change before then.
Chief Oshkosh
@Baud: demitasse or quartergod – can’t be both. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.
Mike in NC
If I were a gambler I’d predict that McCarthy will resign as Speaker before the next two years are up, following in the noble footsteps of Paul Ryan and John Boehner. Matt Gaetz has made it clear he plans to dog him every day.
Tim in SF
When he started the “Democrats will always put” list, I was already bored by the letter E. He’s no Nancy.
WereBear
Hakeem Jeffries gave spirited speech which I cheered as he powered through the interruptions.
Democrats Deliver.
Geminid
@Mike in NC:
Republican Congressman: “You know Matt, I see Mike Rogers down at the House Gym every day now.”
Matt Gaetz: “Oh yeah? What’s Mike doing?”
Congressman: “Working out on the heavy bag. Hard. So’s Marjorie.”
zhena gogolia
@Tim in SF: You have a very short attention span.
WaterGirl
@Mike in NC: It will be interesting to see. Now that he’s officially speaker and that fact will be in the history books, who knows if it will be important to him to stay speaker?
I would put my money on “getting to be speaker” being 1000x more important to him than actually doing the job.
The absolutely worst job I ever had was when I had responsibility for something but no authority. And I’ve watched those two things go bad at the University for others any number of times.
Squeaker is going to LOOK like he has power and authority and he will have none. He would have been better off to tell them to fuck off and shove their demands up their behinds.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, I saw our first dandelion bloom the neighborhood park here in NoVA this afternoon. Spring is coming!!!1
:-/
Cheers,
Scott.
Mike in Pasadena
@WaterGirl: How soon before we see a “rule” that only Republicans can vote on bills?
WaterGirl
@Tim in SF: Everyone has their own style. I liked Nancy’s style. I like Hakeem’s style. I will miss Nancy Pelosi as leader, but welcome Hakeem at the same time.
I feel like the new team, and all the Dems, were tested by fire this week and passed with flying colors.
James E Powell
I liked Jeffries’s speech & think making it a meme, a poster, a party fixture, is a great idea. Make it into a little booklet with a photo & a short expansion of the point on each page. Print a children’s version & hand it out free.
I also like the way Jeffries is usually smiling. He does stern & angry as well as anyone, but he’s mostly a happy warrior.
Geminid
@zhena gogolia: Probably joking.
James E Powell
@WaterGirl:
Hakeem Jeffries style & manner of speech is going to be more effective at communicating with the public than Speaker Pelosi. Not a complaint about her; he is 30 years younger and talks more like people do now.
WaterGirl
@James E Powell: Yeah, I liked Nancy’s style with the press more these past couple of years, but if I were Nancy writing a resume, that’s not what I would stress as one of the things I was awesome at. :-
Jeffries already excels at sound bites.
JPL
McCarthy wanted the “office” and he’ll appease the crazies in order to keep it.
Biden is a master at this, and I trust his judgment, but I hope he defines the issues before the republicans do. Everyday mention that they were not concerned about the debt when they passed the tax cuts.
zhena gogolia
Here’s TFG’s alphabet courtesy of Cauvin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q9jLdlQkUM
Another Scott
@JPL: Biden’s already on the job.
WH.gov:
“Jill and I”?? That seems unusually personal for these kinds of statements. (But I haven’t checked.) Maybe it’s some 11-dimension chess to counter the RWNJ attacks on him (’cause who in their right mind would have a problem with Jill??)??
Cheers,
Scott.
JPL
@Another Scott: It’s a good statement and I think Jill’s name is appropriate because she congratulates Kevin also.
zhena gogolia
@JPL: I read it as a friendly gesture.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: It seems to me that congratulations and condolences from the president usually include the name of the spouse.
True when someone dies, true when someone important gets married or has a good thing happen, true when there’s a mass shooting or a hurricane or tornadoes. This from Biden seems pretty in line with that.
One the other hand, he may also be doing it to personalize his comments or inoculate against the “your’e not the boss of me, don’t tell me what to do” that will surely be Squeaker’s instant response.
El Muneco
@steve g: Fun trivia – the last elected President who had been neither a Senator or Governor was Herbert Hoover. Garfield was the last sitting Representative elected President.
Jeffries looks good to me, too, but has a lot of career ahead of him.
cain
@ChrisSherbak: Yes, but Dems are not going to capitulate – because that means that every debt ceiling these assholes will ask for more and more. Everyone can see that.
No, let them play chicken. Most of their electorate won’t give a shit or pay attention. So if the Republicans capitulate, nobody is going to care.
I am worried that those 20 assholes will do something that will put this country into a headwind. They’ll probably won’t even take responsibility instead demand that the speaker get kicked out because it’s his fault.
StringOnAStick
@Kelly: That definitely seems to be the case. In addition to our 4 friends, we’ve had a raft of new people buy homes in our neighbourhood, all from the Bay Area and fairly obviously liberal. We have the smallest house in this neighbourhood and could not afford any of the larger ones now, so these couples just moving in (4 new couples/families) must be pretty highly paid to have bought homes after the run up from the last few years. Usually when I see highly paid conservatives they have a driveway full of gas powered toys and don’t drive Prius’s; none of these new folks display any signs of the former.
Anyway
@WaterGirl:
I find the qualifiers on Republicans unnecessary – lose the Extreme. Even moderate Rs joke about political violence
cain
@WaterGirl: will democrats put Cats over Dogs?
J R in WV
@Another Scott:
Yesterday I noticed that our daffodils (and probably a few hyacinths) are all pushing up sprouts beside the front steps. In the first week of January ~!!~ I’m afraid they will all get a hard freeze before actual spring hits.
Also interestingly I was reading in bed when a dear friend called to chat about my health issues. I had bladder surgery last month for a cancerous tumor, and my friend had similar issues years ago, which makes it easy to talk about it.
While chatting on the phone and looking out the east window from the bedroom, I watched a red fox travel from west to east across boulders and up onto the ridge heading purposefully across the landscape. Pretty unusual, they’re pretty wild and skittish to walk right past a house like that, with dog sign all around.
Beautiful critter !! So sprightly and healthy looking…
WaterGirl
@Anyway: Just like when Biden says Ultra-MAGA… it’s a way of saying “not all Republicans”. I think a lot of so-called Independents are actually uncomfortable Republicans. IF using qualifiers is a way of reaching those people with the message “we’re not talking about YOU” then it hurts nothing and maybe gets us votes on the margins.
Geminid
@Anyway: You may be overthinking this, and you are not the target audience anyway, Anyway.
“Extreme” has bad connotations and that makes it a good modifier. I’d use it, not lose it. And keep repeating it whenever possible.
@WaterGirl: