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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: State of the Union Prep

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: State of the Union Prep

by Anne Laurie|  February 7, 20239:25 am| 245 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Our Failed Media Experiment, President Biden, Proud To Be A Democrat!

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread: State of the Union Prep

(Jack Ohman via GoComics.com)

I’m delivering my second State of the Union address on Tuesday, February 7 at 9 PM ET.

I’ll report on the progress we’ve made together over the last two years and on the state of our nation. Tune in at https://t.co/GPBtrLBCvT. pic.twitter.com/Aq7tcOSc60

— President Biden (@POTUS) February 6, 2023



They report — we deride!

The political stakes are higher for President Joe Biden's second State of the Union address, which he will deliver to a divided Congress after Republicans took control of the House. @AP_Politics explains: https://t.co/lcopAXCP7Q pic.twitter.com/bUHAA93auv

— The Associated Press (@AP) February 7, 2023


Aides say President Biden spends weeks reading State of the Union drafts aloud, rejecting acronyms and marking up his speech to help conquer a stutter. https://t.co/R3YGX1RJWH

— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 7, 2023

Be honest, BBC: Nowhere near as ‘gripping’ as Liz Truss versus a head of lettuce:

Chinese balloon looms large over Biden's State of the Union speech https://t.co/KuyHF0Ci5R

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 7, 2023

Well, Kevin, congratulations – this will now be the “Slam your beer” entry on every SOTU drinking game across the country tomorrow https://t.co/NArn6DH3Ym

— chuckwestover (@chuckwestover) February 7, 2023

Also, ‘Dr.’ Sebastian Gorka has a typically GEENIUS idea, which I insincerely hope Squeaker McCarthy is dumb enough to implement. (Gorka wants Kevin to bring along a red balloon, because that would be payback for Pelosi tearing up TFG’s speech that time. I suspect McCarthy’s staffers would tackle & strip-search him, if he showed any sign of attempting prop comedy.)

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Reader Interactions

245Comments

  1. 1.

    dmsilev

    February 7, 2023 at 9:27 am

    How about “Extreme Republican MAGAs”? That’d be fine, right? Or just “MAGA Republicans”; everyone will hear the implicit “extreme”.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 9:31 am

    Biden didn’t use “extreme” or “MAGA” in his 2022 SOTU. Kevin just wants to pretend he forced Biden not to use those words.

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 7, 2023 at 9:32 am

    @dmsilev: “Extreme Republican MAGAs”

    That is doubly redundant.

  4. 4.

    FelonyGovt

    February 7, 2023 at 9:33 am

    Did Qevin ever caution TFG not to make inappropriate comments? Thought not.

  5. 5.

    citizen dave

    February 7, 2023 at 9:34 am

    Jeebus AP, the stakes are high.   Has anyone remembered any SOTU address a week after?  The stakes are that a small minority of americans will watch it, and an even smaller number will watch the rebuttal, and by next week it will be down the memory hole.

  6. 6.

    NotMax

    February 7, 2023 at 9:35 am

    Stuff with which to gingerly ease into a new day.

    Top 10 Most Expensive Hair Cuts In The World 2023.

    Top 10 Most Expensive Universities In The World 2023.

    ;)

  7. 7.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 9:36 am

    BTW, that NYT article says nothing specific about Biden’s stutter in relation to this speech.  It simply points out that Biden has a stutter and often marks up important speeches to help him navigate that.

  8. 8.

    Another Scott

    February 7, 2023 at 9:36 am

    I was flipping radio stations yesterday evening and Mara was giving her preview on NPR ATC.  She wanted to make sure that everyone knew that Biden was still UNPOPULAR even with the “good” news about job growth and low inflation over the last few months and all the rest.

    News you can use, if you’re a GQPer.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 9:37 am

    @citizen dave: That’s pre-balloon thinking.

    Relatedly, while I didn’t click, that BBC tweet is dumb.

  10. 10.

    NotMax

    February 7, 2023 at 9:38 am

    @citizen dave

    Readily remember Bush’s “16 words” being subsequently rescinded.

  11. 11.

    Anyway

    February 7, 2023 at 9:39 am

    POTUS will stop using extreme MAGA Republicans when Rethugs stop saying Demoncrat party…

  12. 12.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 9:39 am

    Gorka wants Kevin to bring along a red balloon

    Green would be more appropriate.

  13. 13.

    Anyway

    February 7, 2023 at 9:40 am

    Never listened to a SOTU speech and don’t plan to start now …

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 7, 2023 at 9:42 am

    @NotMax: The Harvey Mudd College??? I wonder what kind of football team they have.

  15. 15.

    Ken

    February 7, 2023 at 9:42 am

    “Squeaker, excuse me, Speaker McCarthy has told the press he asked me not to use the phrase ‘extreme MAGA Republicans’ in tonight’s speech. I emphasize ‘told the press’ because he didn’t actually ask me, but setting that aside, I am more than happy to not use that phrase.

    “I will instead say ‘Republicans who are still trying to overturn the 2020 election’, or ‘Republicans who want to add a 30% sales tax to your grocery bill’, or ‘Republicans who want to defund the FBI,’ or ‘Republicans who side with those who beat police officers on January 6,’ or any of dozens of completely accurate descriptions which do not use the words ‘extreme’ or ‘MAGA’. Though it’s interesting how you hear them anyway, isn’t it?”

  16. 16.

    Amir Khalid

    February 7, 2023 at 9:42 am

    The people who tried to make a scandal out of Nancy Pelosi’s taste in ice cream will do their darndest to make a scandal out of the Biden administration’s calm and rational handling of the Chinese balloon affair.

  17. 17.

    Elizabelle

    February 7, 2023 at 9:42 am

    I look forward to watching the SOTU with my fellow jackals.  Even planning a good adult beverage or two, to celebrate.  And keep out of the keyboard.

  18. 18.

    Immanentize

    February 7, 2023 at 9:43 am

    @NotMax: The Immp considered Harvey Mudd, it’s a good engineering school, but the facilities were trash. It cracks me up that H.M. and Claremont-McKenna are both on the list — they are “sister colleges” on essentially the same campus.

  19. 19.

    Ken

    February 7, 2023 at 9:43 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: The Harvey Mudd College???

    80% of their enrollment is people who thought they were applying to a college named after a Star Trek character.

  20. 20.

    Immanentize

    February 7, 2023 at 9:44 am

    Duplicate, but while I’m here — Doesn’t “no acronyms” mean not saying “MAGA?”

    Which came first?
    The chicken or the egg?
    I egged the chicken,
    then I ate it’s leg.
    — Beastie Boys.

  21. 21.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 9:45 am

    @Baud: The NYT’s “liberal” columnist today has the headline, “Biden Is a Great President Who Shouldn’t Run Again.”

  22. 22.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 9:46 am

    @zhena gogolia: Who is that? Not surprised that the NYT is still flogging that horse.

  23. 23.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 9:47 am

    @Baud: Michelle Goldberg.

  24. 24.

    Tony Jay

    February 7, 2023 at 9:47 am

    “Before we start, I’d like to clarify a small matter that’s come up in my frequent meetings with my good friend Kev.. there he is, let’s give him a hand. Speaker Kev, thought we’d never see it, did we? Sweet. Yeah, so, as Kev and I discussed while we were working on scrapping the debt ceiling, I won’t refer in this State of the Union to The Extreme MAGA Republicans who have taken over his Party, because The Extreme MAGA Republicans have threatened to destabilise his term as Speaker if he doesn’t let The Extreme MAGA Republicans dictate the terms they’d like to be referred to by. I’m cool with that. If it helps out my pal Kev, I’ll refer to The Extreme MAGA Republicans by whatever name they prefer over The Extreme MAGA Republicans. I’m thinking MAGA Republicans Xtreme. Good with you, Kev? He’s nodding, yeah? Sweet. So with that out of the way, let’s rock this one out of the park...”

  25. 25.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 9:47 am

    @zhena gogolia: Oh, that’s disappointing.

  26. 26.

    NotMax

    February 7, 2023 at 9:48 am

    @OzarkHillbilly

    For that kind of dough one would expect the brochure to boast of students being treated to golden showers in the locker rooms.

    Wait, let me rephrase that…

    :)

  27. 27.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 9:48 am

    OT Fareed Zakaria summarizes what I was saying about Gandhi and today’s India on his 75th death anniversary .

    My Twitter thread

    that I wrote to mark Gandhi’s 75th death anniversary

  28. 28.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 7, 2023 at 9:48 am

    @Ken: Here I thought it was named after the physician who treated John Wilkes Booth (who was the person behind the phrase, “your name is Mud”)

  29. 29.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 7, 2023 at 9:50 am

    @Immanentize: ​Which came first?
    The chicken or the egg?

    “Da WOOSTER!” answered a childhood friend of mine.

  30. 30.

    Cliosfanboy

    February 7, 2023 at 9:50 am

    @Baud: why green???

  31. 31.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 9:51 am

    @Baud: She’s only a cut above Pamela Paul.

  32. 32.

    Immanentize

    February 7, 2023 at 9:51 am

    @Ken: That University is nearby in Culver City: “The Harcourt Fenton Mudd College of Advanced Cloning.” But that place went to hell once President Norman was replaced by President Stella.

  33. 33.

    JPL

    February 7, 2023 at 9:51 am

    @Baud:  A yellow balloon would be apt, because of the way he kisses trump’s ass every chance he gets.

  34. 34.

    Immanentize

    February 7, 2023 at 9:52 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: here we spell that “Worcester.”

  35. 35.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 9:52 am

    @zhena gogolia: All these so-called “progressives” don’t want Biden to run again because they never liked him in the first place and they also don’t want  Kamala Harris to get a leg up in 2028 elections.

  36. 36.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 9:53 am

    @Baud: Is it? I fully expected it. Mark my words it will become a drumbeat, just like “her emails”.

  37. 37.

    Tony Jay

    February 7, 2023 at 9:54 am

    @Baud:

    Or a deflated ‘Red Wave ’22’ balloon hanging limply from a broken stick.

    For the pathos.

  38. 38.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 7, 2023 at 9:55 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: We only had a Harvey Mudd Library.

  39. 39.

    Immanentize

    February 7, 2023 at 9:56 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: That was “Samuel Mudd” of the east coast Mudds, whose name was, you know, Mudd.

  40. 40.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 9:56 am

    @schrodingers_cat: Maybe I’m confusing her with someone more sensible.

    Does the NYT ever feature the other side of this “debate”? I wonder how many articles they’ll run after Biden announces? And between the DNC convention and the election?

  41. 41.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 7, 2023 at 9:57 am

    @NotMax: Well, it’s one way to keep poor people out of their school.

  42. 42.

    Elizabelle

    February 7, 2023 at 9:58 am

    @zhena gogolia:   Yeah, I saw that.  Michelle Goldberg is so damned wrong on that one.

    The top reader comments disagree with her, and a lot of others as well.

    What puerile thinking.  She is taking on the FTF NY Times stench.  And it stinks.  Of death and lies.

  43. 43.

    RaflW

    February 7, 2023 at 9:58 am

    I watched part of BBC News America last night on PBS. They were definitely flogging the balloon thing.

    Made me feel like punching people in the teeth. I don’t like being this angry so much of the time, but watching the media just guzzle down GOP talking points to regurgitate is sooo gross.

  44. 44.

    Elizabelle

    February 7, 2023 at 9:59 am

    @schrodingers_cat:   So much disparagement of Kamala Harris in the reader comments.  What a simplistic bunch.

    So, maybe we are guaranteed another full term of Biden-Harris, if these are the outstanding thinkers of those who would deny them office.

    Fuckers.  Wanking fuckers.

  45. 45.

    Tony Jay

    February 7, 2023 at 10:00 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    Nice to see they’re gingerly stepping off the derailed “Failed Presidency” train and trying to thumb a ride on the “Leave ‘Em Wanting More, Joe” highway.

    Because they care so, so much? Or because they think he’ll chuckle and wink his way past whatever garbage the MAGOP coughs up in 2024 and that’s just boorrrrrrrriiinnngggg? 

    Mmmmmnnnn. How to decide?

  46. 46.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 10:00 am

    @Elizabelle: They have a regular feature of her schmoozing with Bret Stephens. So I don’t read her any more.

  47. 47.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 10:01 am

    @Tony Jay: Yep.

  48. 48.

    M31

    February 7, 2023 at 10:01 am

    @Ken: and who didn’t watch all the way to the end

  49. 49.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 10:01 am

    @Elizabelle: I have sworn off NYT since they shivved HRC. Nothing they have done since has made me reconsider that decision.

  50. 50.

    Amir Khalid

    February 7, 2023 at 10:01 am

    Why only one red balloon? Gorka should tell Kevin to bring 99.

  51. 51.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 7, 2023 at 10:01 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: This Harvey Mudd guy really got around.

    @Immanentize: Damn, it’s so hard to keep all them Mudds straight.

  52. 52.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 10:02 am

    @Elizabelle: I didn’t read it.  But the usual problem is often not any one individual article that discusses the issue. It’s the cumulative effect of beating the dead horse over an issue that doesn’t deserve it. (Like the balloon, over a longer time span. Or emails, of course)

  53. 53.

    Immanentize

    February 7, 2023 at 10:02 am

    Every time someone tells you Biden is too old, tell them he's not too old to kick the Republican Party's ass. pic.twitter.com/bhmzrf5PIi— Rachel Bitecofer 📈🔭🇺🇲🇺🇦 (@RachelBitecofer) February 6, 2023

  54. 54.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 10:03 am

    @Ken: The Harvey Mudd College has a great student body coordinator named Norman.

  55. 55.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 10:03 am

    @Baud: They will visit every diner and every hipster coffee shop to find people who disparage Biden-Harris team from both the right and the left.

    And then wonder why he is so unpopular and why she isn’t well liked.

  56. 56.

    Joey Maloney

    February 7, 2023 at 10:04 am

    I will not be getting up at 4 AM local to join the Jackaltariat watching the address. But I’ll think of y’all when I’m listening to it at work tomorrow.

  57. 57.

    Burnspbesq

    February 7, 2023 at 10:04 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags (CMS’ women’s teams are the Athenas) play NCAA Division 3 football. It’s a member of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, alongside schools like Chapman, Redlands, and Occidental. Its biggest rival is the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens (the five Claremont colleges are divided into two groups for athletic purposes).

  58. 58.

    Immanentize

    February 7, 2023 at 10:04 am

    @Amir Khalid: then they can luft them. Isn’t 99 the real number of supporters McCarthy has in his causis?

  59. 59.

    NotMax

    February 7, 2023 at 10:04 am

    @RaflW

    Then: Turn on, tune in, drop out.
    Now: Turn off, tune out, drop it.
    ;)

  60. 60.

    Tony Jay

    February 7, 2023 at 10:04 am

    @RaflW:

    The BBC’s news output has been hot garbage ever since the Tories installed their loyal placemen to dumb it down. That said, they already had the example of the BBC’s American coverage as a blueprint for that effort, because it’s always been hot garbage.

    Basically, whatever their correspondent could get a MAGOP staffer to bullet-point for them over cocktails.

  61. 61.

    cain

    February 7, 2023 at 10:05 am

    @schrodingers_cat: Apparently there is supposed to be some new Gandhi movie that shows “both sides” meaning we get to hear from the RSS side of things! Won’t that be lovely? /s

    I mean, sure – we should see  Hitler version that shows the Nazi side too, right?!

  62. 62.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 10:05 am

    @schrodingers_cat: The term for it is “manufactured consent.”

  63. 63.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 10:05 am

    @Immanentize: That’s great.

  64. 64.

    cain

    February 7, 2023 at 10:05 am

    @schrodingers_cat: Bernie is old – who is their next pick?

  65. 65.

    RaflW

    February 7, 2023 at 10:06 am

    @citizen dave: But every single nerd-prommer (see this helpful 2015 Philip Bump link) will be watching for every stumble, counting the (split) standing ovations, seeing who gets a handshake-snub, etc.

    It’s the Mt Everest of molehills, meant to fuel the Beltway for – gosh! – 5 or six whole news cycles!

  66. 66.

    Joey Maloney

    February 7, 2023 at 10:06 am

    @schrodingers_cat: I’m old enough to have sworn off the FTFNYT after they fell for Whitewater and then spent the next 30 years pretending they didn’t get punked by a bunch of Arkansas hick segregationists.

  67. 67.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 10:06 am

    I think Goldberg is still sour that her hero didn’t  become Biden’s VP.

  68. 68.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 7, 2023 at 10:07 am

    Can he call all of you “Trump trash Rethuglicans?”. Would that be ok, Kevin?  Should we put it to 15 votes?

  69. 69.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 10:07 am

    @cain: It was released along with SRK’s Pathaan and it flopped. Even the bhakts didn’t want to see that garbage.

    Well, Savarkar loved Hitler and thought his strategies were worth emulating.

  70. 70.

    NotMax

    February 7, 2023 at 10:08 am

    @cain

    Bernie is old

    But it’s a dry old.
    //

  71. 71.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 10:08 am

    @cain: Whoever is running for the Republican nomination. Because let’s face it that’s what the MSM wants. Its an open secret.

  72. 72.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 7, 2023 at 10:10 am

    @Burnspbesq: ​Heh, here I thought they wouldn’t have one at all.

  73. 73.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 10:11 am

    @NotMax: Is that why he was fighting with a shower door?//

  74. 74.

    RaflW

    February 7, 2023 at 10:11 am

    @Amir Khalid: “the Biden administration’s calm and rational handling of the Chinese balloon affair”

    I mean, you can see the whole problem for the press right there. What’s the news peg for calm and rational? Where are the daily press conferences full of chaotic ramblings and outbursts of snide, juvenile insults?

  75. 75.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 7, 2023 at 10:11 am

    I think Vanity Fair allows one free click a day, and I’m sure this will be all over the tubes in a few hours

    n a new book set for release this week by former acting defense secretary Christopher Miller, the ex-Trump-administration official writes that Melania was, inexplicably, in the Situation Room during the US’s 2019 ISIS raid that resulted in the death of then ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. According to Miller, Melania was there with the president, Vice President Mike Pence, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, among others. He writes: “Her presence was unexpected, to say the least. I wondered how it would play in the press if word got out that the first lady had popped in to watch a major military operation,” according to a copy of the memoir that was viewed by The Hill.

    this was the attack with the hero dog, Conan, and they talk a bit about how The Beast brought Conan in for a photo op, and the trumps weird relationships with pets in general

  76. 76.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 7, 2023 at 10:12 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    That’s Gail Collins, not Michelle Goldberg.

    I usually like MG, btw, but I didn’t even open this column. Couldn’t get past the headline.

  77. 77.

    Amir Khalid

    February 7, 2023 at 10:12 am

    @Immanentize:

    Fun fact: in the original German version, Nena never mentions the colour of the 99 Luftballons.

  78. 78.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 10:14 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

     I wondered how it would play in the press if word got out that the first lady had popped in to watch a major military operation,”

    The press would be upset because they were saving it for the book.

  79. 79.

    NotMax

    February 7, 2023 at 10:15 am

    @Amir Khalid

    Do Lorna Luft balloons come only in packs of 99?
    //

  80. 80.

    Ken

    February 7, 2023 at 10:16 am

    @Baud: I wonder how many articles they’ll run after Biden announces? And between the DNC convention and the election?

    “As President Biden is sworn in for his second term of office, questions remain about whether he should have run again, and whether the American people should have elected him.”

  81. 81.

    Elizabelle

    February 7, 2023 at 10:16 am

    @zhena gogolia:  Wait, isn’t that Gail Collins who schmoozes with Bedbug Stephens

    And yes, I no longer click on Gail Collins, because she has diminished herself with that.  Bedbug does not argue in good faith, too often.

  82. 82.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 10:16 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Are you sure? I could have sworn I’ve seen it with MG.

    I don’t read it, of course, so maybe it didn’t stick.

  83. 83.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 7, 2023 at 10:16 am

    @citizen dave:

    and an even smaller number will watch the rebuttal 

    The rebuttal is always totally worth your time.  /S

  84. 84.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 10:17 am

    @Elizabelle: I guess I’m wrong. they’re all so boring I get them mixed up.

  85. 85.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 10:17 am

    @Ken:

    “Despite the White House’s best efforts, this issue won’t go away.”

  86. 86.

    rikyrah

    February 7, 2023 at 10:18 am

    Good Morning, Everyone😊😊😊

  87. 87.

    Elizabelle

    February 7, 2023 at 10:19 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:  It’s such a shabby ass thing to do the day of the SOTU.

    I hate the FTF NY Times.  Their arrogance.

    So disappointed with Michelle Goldberg.  She should hear from her usual readers.

    What a twofer.  People are cancelling their subscriptions!  Because of our liberal columnist!  Bingo!!

  88. 88.

    Ken

    February 7, 2023 at 10:19 am

    @Amir Khalid: They must have added “red” for the meter.  Though now that you’ve drawn my attention to it, I’m wondering what other sorts of ballons the Germans have, that the original chose to specify “luftballon” (“air-balloon”).

  89. 89.

    NotMax

    February 7, 2023 at 10:19 am

    @mrmoshpotato

    Can’t spell rebuttal without b-u-t-t.
    //

  90. 90.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 10:19 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    The rebuttal is always totally worth your time.  /S

    Ugh. I decided to look it up and, unfortunately, this “tradition” has not died.

    Rep. Delia Ramirez, a first-term Democrat from Illinois, is set to give a progressive response to the State of the Union address next week.
    Her speech on Tuesday, given on behalf of the liberal Working Families Party, is expected to address President Joe Biden’s speech and rebut the Republican responses given by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Rep. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona.

  91. 91.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 10:19 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning.

  92. 92.

    Elizabelle

    February 7, 2023 at 10:20 am

    @zhena gogolia:   They’ve slid in another “used to be conservative” columnist.  This one a former soldier.

    FTF NY Times.  Their brand is squid ink and stench.

  93. 93.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 7, 2023 at 10:21 am

    @Amir Khalid: Ninety-nine red baboons?

  94. 94.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 10:21 am

    @zhena gogolia: She does schmooze with him, for a feature called America at Crossroads.

    I just did a Google search with their names, and these videos popped up.

  95. 95.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 7, 2023 at 10:23 am

    @Baud:

    the Republican responses given by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Rep. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona.

    Even less reason to watch the Rethuglican rebuttal!

    I’d actually forgotten about her.

  96. 96.

    NotMax

    February 7, 2023 at 10:24 am

    @mrmoshpotato

    So far as the RWNJs, 99 red poltroons would be more like it. (As well as being a severe undercount.)
    :)

  97. 97.

    Geminid

    February 7, 2023 at 10:24 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’ll be interested in seeing what else Miller says in this book. The Melania story is sensational so it’s a good tease sales wise, but Miller also saw a lot regarding the January 6th Insurrection. I expect his account to be self-serving but I think there will be significant information nonetheless.

    The book I really want to see is Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley’s. I don’t think he’ll wait too long after he retires to put his story out there either.

  98. 98.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 10:24 am

    @Elizabelle: I prefer WashPost to Vichy Times for political coverage.

  99. 99.

    gene108

    February 7, 2023 at 10:25 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    The replies to Zakaria’s tweet and commentary are alarming. Gandhi’s push for eliminating caste barriers and whatever taboos existed between Hindus and non-Hindus working and studying together built the foundation for whatever progress India made since independence.

  100. 100.

    The Moar You Know

    February 7, 2023 at 10:25 am

    I don’t think I’ve ever watched a SOTU speech.  Probably not going to start now.

  101. 101.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 7, 2023 at 10:27 am

    @Elizabelle:

    Yes, and they keep running stories about MVP Harris with headlines like “Struggling VP Tries Desperately to Carve a Niche for Herself” and “Kamala Harris’s Frustrated and Disappointed Supporters Are Looking Elsewhere.”

    Paraphrasing, but not by much.

  102. 102.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 10:27 am

    @schrodingers_cat: I knew I wasn’t crazy! (at least on this score)

  103. 103.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 7, 2023 at 10:28 am

    @NotMax: True.

  104. 104.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 10:28 am

    @gene108: The BJP IT cell trolls are way worse than most RWNJs in this country. I don’t necessarily think they are representative of public sentiment but I do worry about hate that BJP is injecting in the veins of Indians 24/7.

  105. 105.

    Betty Cracker

    February 7, 2023 at 10:29 am

    @zhena gogolia: I think that’s Gail Collins? Maybe they’ve roped Goldberg into it too, but I know she does standalone columns weekly. I used to enjoy Collins’ columns until it became a duet with Stephens all the fucking time, which I don’t bother reading.

    Fair warning: I’m probably going to do a post on Goldberg’s column. I think she’s dead wrong, but some of the arguments she made aren’t media figments — I know Democrats in real life who say the same. I disagree with them, but it’s real.

  106. 106.

    Immanentize

    February 7, 2023 at 10:29 am

    @Amir Khalid: I have that on vinyl.

  107. 107.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 7, 2023 at 10:30 am

    @NotMax:

    How many people nowadays even know the name Lorna Luft, let alone her claim to fame?

  108. 108.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 10:30 am

    @Betty Cracker: See comment #94.

  109. 109.

    MomSense

    February 7, 2023 at 10:31 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    My cousin went there and he helped to crash the economy in 2008 – his wicked smaht math brain created a program that could sell off massive quantities of stocks in seconds.  Ayup it worked too well.

  110. 110.

    NotMax

    February 7, 2023 at 10:32 am

    @Immanentize

    Almost hesitate to ask. How goes the packing and culling?

  111. 111.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 10:36 am

    @Betty Cracker: It’s as real as Hillary’s e-mails, which lots of Democrats were talking about in 2016.

  112. 112.

    WaterGirl

    February 7, 2023 at 10:36 am

    @Baud: Michelle Goldberg is normally very sensible, but this is not sensible.

  113. 113.

    Immanentize

    February 7, 2023 at 10:36 am

    @Betty Cracker: i know it has a paywall, but for people who want a link,

    Here is Goldberg’s “too old” op Ed from today

  114. 114.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 7, 2023 at 10:37 am

    @The Moar You Know:  It’s like the Grammys. The good (and bad) parts will go viral. but I’ll probably have it on while I multitask with something else. Time to get those “Important tax documents enclosed” into one pile to ignore for another few weeks

  115. 115.

    Immanentize

    February 7, 2023 at 10:38 am

    @NotMax: uggh. Today’s task is to make it so things on one side of the basement can be moved to the other so 1/2 the basement floor can be painted at a time. I am a damn pack rat.

  116. 116.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    February 7, 2023 at 10:39 am

  117. 117.

    NotMax

    February 7, 2023 at 10:40 am

    @SiubhanDuinne

    Still active.

    Here she is along with someone else not unfamiliar to jackals.

  118. 118.

    Elizabelle

    February 7, 2023 at 10:40 am

    @Betty Cracker:  I would read your column.

  119. 119.

    Betty Cracker

    February 7, 2023 at 10:42 am

    Have y’all been following the story about a neo-Nazi couple who plotted to take down the grid in Baltimore? They were arrested before they could do any damage. One of the names rang a bell, and it turns out he was involved in a small Nazi cell in Tampa several years back that came to the cops’ attention because one of the Nazis converted to Islam and took offense at his Nazi roommates’ comments about that, and he murdered two of them.

    The dude involved in the Baltimore plot also lived at that apartment and wasn’t at home at the time of the murders, luckily for him (perhaps bad luck for the rest of us). The cops found a whole bunch of explosives when they searched the apartment, and the surviving Nazi bolted with a friend toward Miami with a shitload of guns and explosives.

    They got caught, and he did five years. Now he’s out and plotting stuff again. Small world!

  120. 120.

    Betty Cracker

    February 7, 2023 at 10:44 am

    @zhena gogolia: I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I personally do not remember many Democrats talking about Hillary’s emails, unless they were bitching about the media’s focus on the emails.

  121. 121.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 7, 2023 at 10:44 am

    @Ken: Wasserballon?

  122. 122.

    catclub

    February 7, 2023 at 10:47 am

    @Ken: ​
     If only Biden would say that.

  123. 123.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 10:49 am

    @Betty Cracker: There were people here complaining about Hillary’s emails, and not just the media coverage of them

    ETA: The fact is a lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about.  Especially the NYT.

  124. 124.

    catclub

    February 7, 2023 at 10:49 am

    @Betty Cracker: ​
     

    small Nazi cell in Tampa several years back that came to the cops’ attention because one of the Nazis converted to Islam and took offense at his Nazi roommates’ comments about that, and he murdered two of them.

    This is starting to sound like the fuzzy story about the older brother of the Boston marathon Bomber. Was he killed by FBI agent? in Florida? or he killed somebody?

  125. 125.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 10:50 am

    @Betty Cracker: I personally remember lots of Democrats talking about her e-mails and regretting her carelessness. When I would ask them what exactly was wrong with her e-mails, they could never answer me.

    Just as I never get an answer to the question, why would we not want our incumbent to run. Other than he’s old, which Trump and Sanders supporters never say.

  126. 126.

    rikyrah

    February 7, 2023 at 10:52 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    Phuck all those trifling tricks😠

  127. 127.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 10:52 am

    Is there anything new in Goldberg’s column that we haven’t already gone over multiple times?

  128. 128.

    Aussie Sheila

    February 7, 2023 at 10:52 am

    @cain: That is like a movie about Lincoln that shows the positive side of John Wilkes Booth. What an outrageous display of boffsidesism.

  129. 129.

    Subsole

    February 7, 2023 at 10:56 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Just wanted to say thanks. I always find these contributions informative regarding a place of which I know very little.

  130. 130.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 10:57 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    It’s like the Grammys. The good (and bad) parts will go viral.

     

    Now I want Biden to enter the chamber with Unholy playing over the speakers.

  131. 131.

    oatler

    February 7, 2023 at 11:00 am

    @Aussie Sheila:

    Every morning the network news chyrons are blazing away with Fallout From Biden’s Balloon Scandal or whatever anti-something he’s been traced to. Do Democrats seem cursed with affection for Chinese balloons?

  132. 132.

    Aussie Sheila

    February 7, 2023 at 11:02 am

    @Betty Cracker: From here it would be madness to replace Biden for the 2024 run. What is incumbency worth to a sitting President? One or two percent? In a close election that is the difference between winning and losing.

    In any case he has been a remarkably good and competent President. It is up to his party to support him and his accomplishments, which are many. Stop wasting time moaning about the NYT and the rest of corporate media. They never give any political party, idea or person left of their corporate bosses the time of day.

    Where I live, Murdoch controls 75% of the print media, and the ABC, the public broadcaster is a cowed, right of centre mouthpiece, whose journalists with one or two exceptions are shills for the conservative parties. The A holes can still be beaten though.
    The point is to not expect the media to ever tell the truth. They are in the business of ‘conflict’ and ‘clicks’ not truth.

    Proceed accordingly.

    Oh, and never, ever take political advice from journalists. They are wicked dumb, when not simply malicious.

  133. 133.

    Ohio Mom

    February 7, 2023 at 11:03 am

    No, Lisa Mascaro, AP Congressional Correspondent, raising the debt limit does not “allow more spending,” it allows us to pay the bills we already racked up.

    If I knew how to respond to that tweet,  would. But I don’t so I will complain here.

  134. 134.

    NotMax

    February 7, 2023 at 11:04 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist

    The term going viral does not bear the cachet it once did.
    ;)

  135. 135.

    Old School

    February 7, 2023 at 11:08 am

    So McCarthy has to has to feel like he has to do something since it will be his first SOTU.  Get your guesses in for what he’ll do.

    Use a sharpie to put a big X on his copy of the speech?

    Crumple it up into a ball?

    Light it on fire?

  136. 136.

    Bupalos

    February 7, 2023 at 11:08 am

    @schrodingers_cat: mmmm….I don’t want Biden to run again* because I’m just really worried in the big picture about a country so completely dominated by the generation gettin’ ready to die. We really are a little like Russia. Similar stratospheric levels of inequality and similar tilt towards geriatrics that seem at best to promise getting back to an unrecoverable past we shouldn’t actually want to get back to. Whether that is 2008 or 1928.

    *presumes difficult to identify alternative candidate that is both young and viable.

  137. 137.

    Soprano2

    February 7, 2023 at 11:09 am

    @zhena gogolia: I just don’t get all this angst about Biden running again. I wonder how much of it is fear of Kamala Harris becoming president if Biden dies while in office?

  138. 138.

    Elizabelle

    February 7, 2023 at 11:09 am

    @catclub:  The older brother was shot, and possibly run over, if memory serves.

    The Tsarnaevs. Tamerlan “Speed Bump”, and Dzjokhar.

    Tamerlan died of gunshot wounds and blunt force trauma.

  139. 139.

    Ken

    February 7, 2023 at 11:09 am

    @NotMax: Can’t spell rebuttal without b-u-t-t.

    The Republican response will begin with with an adumbration of their oxymoronic rebuttal assessment.

  140. 140.

    Old School

    February 7, 2023 at 11:10 am

    Since it will be his first SOTU, McCarthy has to feel like he has to do something to draw attention to himself.

    Draw an X on the speech with a sharpie?

    Crumple it up into a ball?

    Light his copy on fire?

  141. 141.

    Elizabelle

    February 7, 2023 at 11:10 am

    @Soprano2:   We have a bingo.

    And boy, are they throwing derision her way, every opportunity.

  142. 142.

    Elizabelle

    February 7, 2023 at 11:12 am

    @Aussie Sheila:

    never, ever take political advice from journalists. They are wicked dumb, when not simply malicious.

    Yep.

    They don’t realize what a closed circle they operate in.  They are pack animals.   Without the redeeming qualities of wolves.

  143. 143.

    Amir Khalid

    February 7, 2023 at 11:14 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    he was involved in a small Nazi cell in Tampa several years back that came to the cops’ attention because one of the Nazis converted to Islam and took offense at his Nazi roommates’ comments about that, and he murdered two of them.

    As a Muslim, I find that incredibly fucked up.

  144. 144.

    Geminid

    February 7, 2023 at 11:14 am

    @Betty Cracker: The FBI and NC Bureau of Investigation still have not cracked the case of the Moore County attack that left 45,000 residents without power in early December. But the feds are catching other plotters now that this has become a priority.

    Authorities in Oregon did nab a couple guys for knocking out substations, but they apparently were common criminals who over thought the problem of burgling some local businesses.

  145. 145.

    Soprano2

    February 7, 2023 at 11:15 am

    @Betty Cracker: It’s crazy though, because if Biden were the same except 20 years younger they wouldn’t be saying any of that stuff! I really think there’s a low-level, almost unconscious fear among many of these people that Harris will become president if Biden dies in office, and they’re terrified of that for some reason.

  146. 146.

    Old School

    February 7, 2023 at 11:15 am

    Test comment.

  147. 147.

    different-church-lady

    February 7, 2023 at 11:16 am

    @Baud: ETA: The fact is a lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about.  Especially the NYT.

    truth

  148. 148.

    FelonyGovt

    February 7, 2023 at 11:18 am

    I just heard the CBS radio announcer intone, prior to the SOTU, that “Independents, as well as Republicans, are unhappy with Biden’s policies”.  Pissed me right off. They covered Trump’s admin like a funny, somewhat scandalous reality TV show and as far as I remember, never discussed reaction to his “policies”.

  149. 149.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 11:18 am

     

    @Aussie Sheila: Your advice is good, but Dems won’t take it.

  150. 150.

    NotMax

    February 7, 2023 at 11:18 am

    @Ken

    Bravo. :)

  151. 151.

    snoey

    February 7, 2023 at 11:20 am

    @catclub: FBI accompanied by Mass State Police shot a Chechen in Florida while investigating a triple murder tied to the elder Tsarnaev. The whole story reeks of coverups but has nothing to do with the Nazis.

  152. 152.

    Amir Khalid

    February 7, 2023 at 11:20 am

    @Elizabelle:

    The younger brother, whose name is spelled (and pronounced) Johar in my neck of the woods, got his face on the cover of the Rolling Stone, and all the teen girls swooned about how dreamy Johar looked.

  153. 153.

    Geminid

    February 7, 2023 at 11:22 am

    @Soprano2: Some of this may be angst over not having a contested primary to cover. That could be very exciting, especially if it was protracted and divisive.

    Of course, that is one of the best reasons for Democrats to hope Joe Biden runs again.

  154. 154.

    Brachiator

    February 7, 2023 at 11:22 am

    @Soprano2:

     I wonder how much of it is fear of Kamala Harris becoming president if Biden dies while in office?

    Unfortunately, I think there is a lot of this, especially from the pundit class as well as some Democrats.

    And yet, some lefties are still yearning for an ancient Bernie.

  155. 155.

    Jeffro

    February 7, 2023 at 11:24 am

    @schrodingers_cat: as much as I love Warren myself, making her VP would have been an iffy call.  I’m glad we have the ticket we have, and I like our ‘bench’ for 2028!

  156. 156.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 11:25 am

    @Subsole: You are most welcome! I think the world is not paying enough attention what is happening in India. It is where Germany and Italy were about 90 years ago.

    It didn’t start with concentration camps.

  157. 157.

    Matt McIrvin

    February 7, 2023 at 11:25 am

    @Soprano2: Reminds me of that post Paul Campos made on LGM several months ago in which he fretted about Biden being too old and concluded that… maybe… he should dump and replace Kamala Harris. Justified with concern about Harris not polling well, in case something happened to Biden.

  158. 158.

    Geminid

    February 7, 2023 at 11:25 am

    @Aussie Sheila: I think incumbency is worth more than one or two per cent of votes. A big factor is the saving the money, time and emotional capital spent on a contested nomination.

  159. 159.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    February 7, 2023 at 11:26 am

    @Elizabelle: @Soprano2:

    We have a bingo. And boy, are they throwing derision her way, every opportunity.

    Yes. This is it exactly. Fear of a woman president. A woman of color as president is even worse to these clowns.

  160. 160.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 11:29 am

    @Elizabelle: Yep that’s what they are really afraid of.

  161. 161.

    Matt McIrvin

    February 7, 2023 at 11:30 am

    @Betty Cracker: One of the many drops of hacked emails, that happened after the trolls realized any emails with any connection to Hillary Clinton would do, was a collection of DNC emails that the Bernie fans claimed proved the DNC was rigging the primary for Hillary. It did no such thing but I remember the spin.

  162. 162.

    RandomMonster

    February 7, 2023 at 11:31 am

    I can’t recall, did TFG give more than one SOTU speech?

  163. 163.

    Brachiator

    February 7, 2023 at 11:32 am

    @citizen dave:

    The stakes are that a small minority of americans will watch it, and an even smaller number will watch the rebuttal, and by next week it will be down the memory hole.

    In an effort to boost ratings, the Republican rebuttal to the SOTU will be given by George Santos.

  164. 164.

    Aussie Sheila

    February 7, 2023 at 11:34 am

    @Geminid: Exactly. And contrary to the dumb and malicious journos, I think Harris is doing a fine job as VP. That’s because I almost never hear about her ever. Don’t get me wrong. She will be a good President if she gets there. But she’s the VP for fucks sake.

    She. Should. Not. Overshadow. Her. Boss.

    Is that too hard for the Media to process? Or is it being a woman she should be both forward and backward, in high heels. God they are dumb.

  165. 165.

    NotMax

    February 7, 2023 at 11:35 am

    @RandomMonster

    One speech, delivered multiple times.
    //

  166. 166.

    Ken

    February 7, 2023 at 11:36 am

    @Brachiator: So despite the Democrats’ claims of inclusiveness, the Republicans are the first to have a Jew-ish, 9/11-surviving, six-time orphaned, college volleyball-playing, gay-ish Brazilian-Ukrainian-Martian give the SOTU rebuttal.

  167. 167.

    Amir Khalid

    February 7, 2023 at 11:37 am

    @Brachiator:

    I seem to recall that Bernie dropped out of the 2020 primary after he had a heart attack. I suspect Bernie’s running-for-President days are behind him.

  168. 168.

    gvg

    February 7, 2023 at 11:37 am

    @Betty Cracker: Unfortunately I did hear it. The people I heard it from kept saying they would be fired from their jobs if they did that etc. It was sort of like equating the Government spending with a household budget. Once people thought they understood it, you couldn’t budge them. And a lot of their analogies were wrong and kind of random. It wasn’t all liberals thinking this and conservatives thinking that, it was people often relate their own life experiences to what they hear on the news and get it totally wrong. (It seemed to me)

  169. 169.

    NotMax

    February 7, 2023 at 11:38 am

    @Aussie Sheila

    Coming soon to a RWNJ outlet near you:

    “Harris Plays Second Fiddle While America Burns.”
    //

  170. 170.

    Aussie Sheila

    February 7, 2023 at 11:41 am

    @NotMax: Worthy of the Pitchbot! 😎

  171. 171.

    The Moar You Know

    February 7, 2023 at 11:42 am

    From here it would be madness to replace Biden for the 2024 run. What is incumbency worth to a sitting President? One or two percent? 

    @Aussie Sheila: at least that much.  If he’s physically up for it, you run Biden.  That’s not even a question and the people “just asking questions” are showing what they want (Dem loss, GOP presidency) even by mentioning the possibility.

    Incumbents do lose sometimes.  But the history of American presidencies show the overwhelming advantage of incumbency.  VERY few involuntary one-termers, and most of those are recent:  Carter, Bush I, Trump.

  172. 172.

    WaterGirl

    February 7, 2023 at 11:42 am

    @Soprano2:

    I wonder how much of it is fear of Kamala Harris becoming president if Biden dies while in office?

    IF, god forbid, Biden dies in office, Harris becoming president is not a bug, it’s a feature.

  173. 173.

    wenchacha

    February 7, 2023 at 11:42 am

    @Soprano2: I was bug-nuts terrified when tfg was in office. I haven’t heard why VP Harris could be as scary. Aside from being a woman and non-White, I mean.

  174. 174.

    The Moar You Know

    February 7, 2023 at 11:45 am

    As a Muslim, I find that incredibly fucked up.

    @Amir Khalid: has nothing to do with Islam and I think most people understand that.  The dude was a violent murderous shithead before his conversion, and stayed one.  Not remotely surprising.

  175. 175.

    Sure Lurkalot

    February 7, 2023 at 11:46 am

    No reason to give the FTFNYT a penny when you can read articles freely by turning off JavaScript or likely through your library. You can’t read or respond to comments but maybe that feature isn’t worth giving $ to fascists.

  176. 176.

    Chief Oshkosh

    February 7, 2023 at 11:47 am

    @Immanentize: You mean Woostah, right?

     

    ETA: Or Wuhstah…

  177. 177.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 11:48 am

    @Sure Lurkalot: Bingo. That’s what I do, when I have to read an article which is an extremely rare occurrence.

  178. 178.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 11:49 am

    @schrodingers_cat: Same.

  179. 179.

    Ken

    February 7, 2023 at 11:50 am

    @Soprano2: It’s crazy though, because if Biden were the same except 20 years younger they wouldn’t be saying any of that stuff!

    No, but we’d be hearing a hell of a lot more garbage about “questions remain about the Hunter Biden laptop”.

  180. 180.

    Another Scott

    February 7, 2023 at 11:50 am

    @Tony Jay: +1

    Katy Kay was such an over the top St. John McCain fangirl it was embarrassing and infuriating to watch.

    They destroyed a great news organization.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  181. 181.

    Barbara

    February 7, 2023 at 11:53 am

    @Ken: There were people who wanted to primary Obama.  You have to understand that a presidential primary generates a lot of work for professional campaign staffers.  Every eight years instead of every four is a lot of money left on the table.

  182. 182.

    Matt McIrvin

    February 7, 2023 at 11:54 am

    @WaterGirl: I think one of the fears that came from people like Campos is that she might be a fine President but would be un-reelectable as an incumbent, because so many people hate her for incomprehensible reasons.

    But it was all this very abstract reasoning in which they took the poll numbers of that moment as a static given and then swapped in different candidates and Presidents. Reality is always messier than that. “The President dies/is incapacitated and the VP steps in” is an event that shuffles political reality a lot

    For me, one of the things that has always made me worry less about Biden’s age is just that Harris would obviously be fine as President.

  183. 183.

    Chief Oshkosh

    February 7, 2023 at 11:54 am

    @Brachiator:

    In an effort to boost ratings, the Republican rebuttal to the SOTU will be given by George Santos.

    You’re an effin’ genius!!

  184. 184.

    Amir Khalid

    February 7, 2023 at 11:56 am

    @The Moar You Know:

    has nothing to do with Islam and I think most people understand that. The dude was a violent murderous shithead before his conversion, and stayed one.

    Somehow, I did not realise that until you so kindly pointed it out.

  185. 185.

    PJ

    February 7, 2023 at 11:56 am

    @WaterGirl: Goldberg has always disliked Biden.  This is from a piece in April 2020 (https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2020/04/14/michelle-goldberg-what-do/ )where she says, regarding the blatantly false Tara Reade accusation, “it could be true, who knows?”:

    As I’ve written repeatedly, I think Biden is a weak candidate, and I wouldn’t be unhappy if the Democratic Party were forced, by some last-minute emergency, to replace him, maybe with one of the Democratic governors who has shined in response to the coronavirus crisis.

  186. 186.

    cain

    February 7, 2023 at 11:57 am

    @Soprano2:

    I think the problem is that Kamala press coverage has been terrible – they just not interested in covering her. Notice how Pete gets all the accolades even in this fine blog? Kamala isn’t out there – nobody knows her. I wonder why that is? Media bias?

    I think Kamala is perfectly capable – I don’t think Biden would have made a mistake here and truly, she did help him win the presidency.

    She’s clearly been squeaky clean because nobody has written a negative article and try to put a shiv in her.

  187. 187.

    karen marie

    February 7, 2023 at 11:57 am

    @Betty Cracker: It’s not clear the guy did in fact convert to anything.

    The whole thing is depressing.

  188. 188.

    Chief Oshkosh

    February 7, 2023 at 11:58 am

    @Baud:

    The press would be upset because they were saving it for the book.
     

    You’re on fire today! Fast AND true.

  189. 189.

    cain

    February 7, 2023 at 11:59 am

    @NotMax: Harris plays wrong instrument – 3rd clarinet while America burns.

  190. 190.

    RandomMonster

    February 7, 2023 at 12:00 pm

    @NotMax:One speech, delivered multiple times.

    Good point.

  191. 191.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 12:02 pm

    @PJ: Haha, like Cuomo, perchance?

  192. 192.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 12:03 pm

    @cain: I see Kamala featured on this blog. Not in the MSM.

  193. 193.

    karen marie

    February 7, 2023 at 12:07 pm

    @The Moar You Know: Where are you reading that he converted “and stayed one”? What I read gave me a very different impression.

    Arthurs told a shifting series of stories about his motives. He told his father he’d killed them to head off Atomwaffen’s terrorist plans. He said something similar to investigators. But he also offered an even stranger version: that he’d converted to Islam and supported ISIS, and that he’d killed the two men because they mocked his newfound religion.

    .

  194. 194.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 12:08 pm

    @cain:

    She’s clearly been squeaky clean because nobody has written a negative article and try to put a shiv in her.

     
    Exactly. The lack of coverage tells me she’s doing a great job.

  195. 195.

    Suzanne

    February 7, 2023 at 12:10 pm

    @Brachiator: I think hostility to Kamala is part of it.

    I think there is also a generalized sense of not wanting old people to still be in charge of everything. I mean, I kind of share it. I would like to see more youth and vigor in our political life in general, and more of a mix of ages. But that’s a generalized comment, not any sort of direct comment on Biden’s age or fitness.

    It is hard to see people like Feinstein and to realize that there is nothing to come between her and her stubbornness.

  196. 196.

    different-church-lady

    February 7, 2023 at 12:11 pm

    Trying to figure out why the press hates Harris is like trying to understand the rules of a mean girls clique; there aren’t any.

  197. 197.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 12:13 pm

    @Baud: @cain: BS bros and Warren supporters on Twitter have called Kopmala. Said she is not black enough because her parents were immigrants. I have also seen hate for her from some anti-caste Indian activists because her mother was Brahmin and from Modi Bhakts for being too soft on Muslims.

  198. 198.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 12:15 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: We’re going to hold it against her that her mother was Brahmin?

  199. 199.

    Elizabelle

    February 7, 2023 at 12:16 pm

    @Barbara: thank you for your comments on the Carpaccio exhibit yesterday. Plan to drive up to DC tomorrow to see it. And I’m very sorry that I managed to miss the John Singer Sargent exhibit about Spain. I so wanted to see it. It closed January 2. Lesson to self: write these things down.

  200. 200.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 12:17 pm

    @zhena gogolia: I am not. I was just listing the Kamala haters out there and their reasons for doing so.

    I think they are just jealous for the most part.

  201. 201.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 12:22 pm

    @Suzanne:

    The US hasn’t had a West Coast president since Reagan, and I’m not sure the Dems have ever had one.  But we don’t see 50 gazillion articles saying Biden should not run because of that.

  202. 202.

    leeleeFL

    February 7, 2023 at 12:23 pm

    @Baud: Like the former King of England and millions of other people who stutter!  The fucking HORROR!  May I just say that Ihate these assholes with the heat of a million suns?!

  203. 203.

    M31

    February 7, 2023 at 12:24 pm

    @Betty Cracker: what is up with these Nazis and their complete conviction that once the power goes out there will be chaos and ‘black people out of control’ thereby heightening the contradictions or something so whites rule everything?

    that was Charles Manson’s schtick too, if I’m not mistaken

    lol the power goes out from time to time anyway and people just hunker down and wait it out and also help out their neighbors

  204. 204.

    leeleeFL

    February 7, 2023 at 12:26 pm

    @Ken: Yes, and his very wonderful robots “who are not programmed to respond in that area!”

  205. 205.

    Ken

    February 7, 2023 at 12:27 pm

    @leeleeFL: Now you have me imagining Biden using exercises like in The King’s Speech, and when he gives the SOTU, every pause is because he’s looking at the Republicans and thinking “f*ckers f*ckers f*ckers”.

    Thank you.

  206. 206.

    Matt McIrvin

    February 7, 2023 at 12:29 pm

    @M31: Yep, it was exactly Charles Manson’s plan for world domination.

    But I think the preoccupation with power failures causing social unrest, specifically, comes from the mythology surrounding the 1977 New York City blackout, in which there was a lot of arson and looting. Of course NYC in 1977 was a city on the verge of exploding to begin with. Most urban power failures, even most New York City power failures, have been nothing like that.

  207. 207.

    AnonPhenom

    February 7, 2023 at 12:31 pm

    Speaker McCarthy says he told Biden to not use “extreme MAGA Republicans” in his speech. “I don’t think that’s appropriate comment … (blah, blah, blah)

    Sure thing Kevin, the minute you roll back 30 years of “Language: A Key Mechanism of Control”

  208. 208.

    Mike in NC

    February 7, 2023 at 12:32 pm

    All Republicans will be wearing obligatory AR-15 lapel pins and holding a white balloon.

  209. 209.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 12:33 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I know you aren’t, but I was just surprised. Doesn’t that contradict the idea of being against caste distinctions?

  210. 210.

    Aussie Sheila

    February 7, 2023 at 12:34 pm

    @Suzanne: Feinstein should be put out  to pasture. What is it with US pols. They just won’t step away. The Dem party should adopt an informal practice-no nominations for anything if you are over 60 yo.

    I know that would have effed Biden, but going forward, it’s getting ridiculous. Once he is safely elected next year, make it so that nominations are tighter and younger. In any case she is unfit for office. Why is anyone even thinking of her running again?

  211. 211.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 12:35 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Probably not.  The application to KH is stupid, but as a general matter it’s like the debate over whether or not to be “colorblind” in a world where racism and its effects are still present.

  212. 212.

    Baud

    February 7, 2023 at 12:37 pm

    @Aussie Sheila:

    People don’t expect Feinstein to run again. And as you know, US parties don’t have effective mechanisms for enforcing rules on who can be a candidate for office.

  213. 213.

    Peale

    February 7, 2023 at 12:37 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: Yep. That’s my take, too. I mean, look, the city of Birmingham has poisoned water for months on end and it looked like the government was actually taking steps to make sure that state of affairs lasted as long as possible and there were still no riots and race wars starting.  If it weren’t for the militias looking for Antifa during the forest fires last year, no one during that crisis was interested in looking for a fight, either.  But they are in their lalaland where its always Watts and Detroit and Rodney King in the inner cities and its just going 24 hours without power that’ll rid us of all our cities.

  214. 214.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 12:39 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Many anti-caste activists (I am speaking of fiolks who live in India) based on their lived experience find it difficult to trust anyone who has an upper caste ancestry.

    Their unease is also based on many 2nd gen uppercaste Indians who regurgitate BJP’s incendiary nonsense as wisdom.

    So I have seen these accounts retweet RW nonsense about KH

    Spaces dominated by Indian expats or Indian Americans especially in tech are rife with caste based discrimination. There have been several high profile lawsuits about this against tech giants.

    So it is frustrating but understandable.

    @Baud: You get it. You are wise.

  215. 215.

    OverTwistWillie

    February 7, 2023 at 12:41 pm

    Other strikes against Kamala are dating Willie Brown and having been a D.A.

    Worst of all she doesn’t even TRY to take the politics out of politics.

  216. 216.

    Uncle Cosmo

    February 7, 2023 at 12:46 pm

    @Another Scott: Mar-a-Liarspawn, right on schedule. With a h/t to the ghost of Lenny Bruce: Unfuck her.

  217. 217.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 12:47 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Well, I can see it in the context of India, but she was raised in this country so I don’t understand feeling you can’t trust her, since she didn’t benefit from the system in which it mattered. Maybe I’m being obtuse.

  218. 218.

    WaterGirl

    February 7, 2023 at 12:49 pm

    @PJ:

    Tara Reade

    Ugh.  I confess to having written off anyone who gave the Tara Reade bullshit any purchase.  I must have missed that from Goldberg.

  219. 219.

    Geminid

    February 7, 2023 at 12:54 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:Reports are that there has been an increase in the past year or so of calls in miltia-type circles for disrupting the power grid. This may be because they understand that their side is losing the political war.

    Now that utilities are on the alert, I expect they have toughened up the substations with hidden cameras and silent alarms, obvious and easy things to do. That way they’ll at least catch the dumb ones and that might scare the smart ones.

  220. 220.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 12:55 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Her mother comes from a very privileged background in India. It doesn’t make logical sense but human beings are rarely rational or logical.

  221. 221.

    Geminid

    February 7, 2023 at 1:02 pm

    @Aussie Sheila: Feinstein’s not running. She has less than $10,000 in her campaign fund and that is the most expensive Senate race in the country.

    I think the people who talk about Feinstein running are people who don’t like her and like to complain about her. It’s like how some people cherish their grievances.

  222. 222.

    Brachiator

    February 7, 2023 at 1:08 pm

    @gvg:

     It was sort of like equating the Government spending with a household budget. Once people thought they understood it, you couldn’t budge them. And a lot of their analogies were wrong and kind of random.

    I keep hearing various pundits come back to the false notions of running the government like a business and thinking about federal spending like a household budget.

    These are easily understood analogies, so it is easy for some to fall back on them even though they are just plain wrong.

  223. 223.

    catclub

    February 7, 2023 at 1:19 pm

    @snoey: thanks!

  224. 224.

    Eyeroller

    February 7, 2023 at 1:31 pm

    @Brachiator: It’s a myth that will not die, but in any case, hardly any households “balance their budgets.”  The majority of American households carry credit-card debt.  Most don’t pay it off every month.  Most households have loans or other obligations, at least a car loan or lease payment and perhaps a mortgage.  So this image of salt-of-the-earth (white) Americans “balancing their budgets” around their kitchen tables is ridiculous.

  225. 225.

    leeleeFL

    February 7, 2023 at 1:37 pm

    @Ken: You are very welcome!  I shall do the very same!

  226. 226.

    Elizabelle

    February 7, 2023 at 1:43 pm

    @Amir Khalid:  Oh no!

    Although I hope Dzhokhar is never executed.  Don’t believe he deserves the death penalty, mostly due to his age at the time of the murders.

  227. 227.

    Brachiator

    February 7, 2023 at 1:44 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

     I have also seen hate for her from some anti-caste Indian activists because her mother was Brahmin and from Modi Bhakts for being too soft on Muslims.

    This is interesting and very sad. It’s like Harris cannot win.

  228. 228.

    Elizabelle

    February 7, 2023 at 1:47 pm

    @WaterGirl:   Yeah. Same here.

    Guardian columnist Arwha (whatever her name is).  Never read another paragraph after she fell for serial liar Tara Reade.

    Sad to learn Michelle Goldberg is as shabby a thinker, in that respect.

    Glad Betty Cracker will do a blogpost, because I think it will be seen, by Goldberg and possibly a lot of other journalists.  Whether we ever hear about that, or not.

    ETA:  Aha.  Betty’s post is up.  Next one.

  229. 229.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 2:08 pm

    @Brachiator: When she runs for President the disinfo is going to be off the charts.

  230. 230.

    Geminid

    February 7, 2023 at 2:51 pm

    @Elizabelle: I think some of the people who pushed  Tara Reade’s lies had an agenda: they were disappointed in the outcome of the primaries and hoped their candidate would take Biden’s place. It was so very reckless.

    I figure that’s why a popular MSNBC host tried to give Reade’s allegations some air. He gave up after a few days and I’m not sure his fans noticed what he had tried. But I sure did, and that guy remains on my shit list.

  231. 231.

    PJ

    February 7, 2023 at 3:08 pm

    @WaterGirl: To her credit, Goldberg was skeptical of Reade’s claims, but she used them to frame her “this raises questions – should Biden drop out?” bullshit.

  232. 232.

    evodevo

    February 7, 2023 at 3:38 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: ​
      Yes…I still remember Lil Marco and the bottle of water LOLOL

  233. 233.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 3:50 pm

    @Geminid: Melber?

  234. 234.

    Citizen Alan

    February 7, 2023 at 3:55 pm

    @Aussie Sheila: I’m sorry, but this is naive. States which have long serving senators benefit greatly from continuing to keep those senators in office, even after their faculties have declined and their staffs are running the show. It’s probably not what the founders would have wanted, but it’s what we’ve had for the last century if not longer. Mississippi kept voting for Democrat Jamie Whitten long after the rest of the state went Republican and long after Whitten was obviously mentally impaired because of the pork he brought home to the state. And they kept voting for Thad Cochran long after he could barely talk because his somnambulatory body sat in the chair of the appropriations committee.

  235. 235.

    Gravenstone

    February 7, 2023 at 4:00 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Hayes.

  236. 236.

    evodevo

    February 7, 2023 at 4:01 pm

    @Eyeroller: Yep…this..I use that example every time someone brings it up.  Do you have a mortgage? do you make the payment every month? then you are NOT bankrupt lol…if you had to “balance your budget” every month/year…you would not have a house, or a car…on the other hand, if for some crazy reason you decide to tank your revenue sources, you WOULD be in trouble, and that’s just what Trumpy and the GOP did when they gained power and passed the 2017 tax cut.

  237. 237.

    Citizen Alan

    February 7, 2023 at 4:12 pm

    @Brachiator: Even on its own terms, it’s a fucking stupid analogy. These assholes are all rich enough to be in families where they can afford to buy a new car in cash if they want to. The overwhelming majority of American families with cars, however, have a car note, probably several. The majority of Americans who go to college and who are not from wealthy families have to take out student loans. And all but the wealthiest families buy homes through mortgage loans. The real issue is that we cannot afford to pay for what we want without taking on new debt because our tax revenue isn’t high enough WHICH IS  BECAUSE REPUBLICANS KEEP CUTTING TAXES! And in this stupid tortured analogy they insist upon, the equivalent would be parents voluntarily taking pay cuts because they believe their rich bosses should be allowed to keep more of their profits, so to make ends meet they raid the kids college fund and cut off grandma’s insulin supply.

  238. 238.

    Geminid

    February 7, 2023 at 4:39 pm

    @zhena gogolia:No. Melber wouldn’t fall for Reade. I’m talking about Chris Hayes. I think he might have backed off when Reade’s discreditable history was exposed. He never acknowledged his mistake, at least so far as I know.

    Reade managed to parlay her scurrilous allegations into some fame. She’s on the speakers list for the DC “Rage Against the War Machine” rally later this month. So are Medea Benjamin, Jimmy Dore and Scott Ritter. They will be overshadowed by Tulsi Gabbard.

    I found it interesting that the “von Mises Caucus” that took control of the Libertarian Party last year is listed as a principal sponsor for the event. Those people will bear watching next year. Third parties hurt us in 2016 and peeling off Biden votes with a strong 3rd party candidate is an obvious play for 2024. The money will be there.

  239. 239.

    Matt McIrvin

    February 7, 2023 at 5:38 pm

    @Citizen Alan: I think there’s this residual “neither a borrower nor a lender be” moralism even among Americans who have mortgages and car loans and student loans and credit cards like most regular people do.

    They’ve been told that the United States is like someone who’s in over their head on their credit cards and someone is about to repossess the furniture, and I know that back in 2011, there was this vague but false idea that the debt ceiling was like a credit limit. You wouldn’t keep raising the credit limit of such a person, would you? That’s a vivid and familiar image to most people and figuring out that it’s a bad analogy requires more analysis.

  240. 240.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2023 at 5:47 pm

    @Geminid: Yeah, a few minutes after I posted that I remembered it was Hayes.

    I never liked him much, but I do like Melber.

  241. 241.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 7, 2023 at 6:17 pm

    @Geminid: Chris Hayes is a BS bro.

  242. 242.

    J R in WV

    February 7, 2023 at 6:23 pm

    I’ve often wondered to myself if President Biden may intend to resign in his second term, so that there would be a first Democratic female President of Color, also so that Ms Harris might run for President as a successful incumbent.

    I can’t tell if that would be a good thing politically or not.

    I’m not psychic, after all. Sadly…

  243. 243.

    Memory Pallas

    February 7, 2023 at 6:31 pm

    Biden should bring a little dart gun to the SOTU and if ANYONE brings a balloon, he should shoot it down.

  244. 244.

    Elizabelle

    February 7, 2023 at 8:27 pm

    @J R in WV:  I would be good with that plan.  I have wondered about that myself, and it’s a solid idea.

  245. 245.

    Bill

    February 7, 2023 at 11:10 pm

    @Bupalos: agreed,  Dems need to let some folks under 60 drive the bus.

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