I was minding my own business, perusing twitter, when someone retweeted Elon Musk’s scribe:
This piqued my curiosity, and I learned that Taibbi had foolishly begged to be on Hasan’s show, where he promptly shot himself in the foot while it was in his mouth.
He then went on to claim he had been ambushed, when it was him who begged to be on the show.
Good times.
Baud
I’m not a huge Hasan fan but he’s better than Taibbi any day for the week.
Doc H
Punchline: Taibbi is leaving Twitter over the Substack mess and Leon Skum has unfollowed him.
JML
I really thought Taibbi was an interesting writer when he was at Rolling Stone, and he’s turned out to be a shoddy grifter who thinks he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. He basically hasn’t done any quality work since the W administration. Him getting pantsed on cable news is delightful.
planetjanet
I just finished watching the segment that someone had kindly posted in an earlier thread. One of the “minor” errors that Taibi made was claiming the government identified and reported 22 million tweets that had disinformation in them. The actual number was 3000. Just a little math error.
Mehdi had him at the very beginning with the harshest cut. The sin of omission. Taibbi never mentioned that the URL link that the Biden campaign asked to have deleted was to pictures of Hunter Biden’s anatomy. Further, that the content was clearly in violation of Twitter’s own guideline, unambigously. Taibbi just jumped to “the government is telling Twitter what to do”. It is pathetic.
Dangerman
Trump gave Republicans permission to be mean assholes and damn if they aren’t going from mean to full mental pricks.
Anyone recall Compassionate Conservatism? Dsmn, that didn’t age well.
NotMax
Alternate clickbait Variety style headline:
Twitter Quitter Bitter
:)
Frankensteinbeck
@Dangerman:
Vaguely, but then a black guy got elected president.
Geminid
@Baud:I’m not a Mehdi Hasan fan either, but Hasan did a really good job pinning down the slippery Taibbi in that interview.. Taibbi knew it, too
I was like, “smirk harder, asshole.”
Argiope
Mifepristone ruling in. 7 day hold before it takes effect to allow for appeal? Or something? IANAL but ALL of this seems weird. For a drug safer than penicillin.
ETA and it’s def fucked up. To be clear.
Quinerly
Just dropped
https://thehill.com/newsletters/health-care/3940035-judge-blocks-approval-of-decades-old-abortion-pill
And
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/07/health/abortion-pills-ruling-texas.html
delphinium
@Argiope: Yeah, it will be interesting to see what the convoluted reasoning is on this one since “I don’t like it” is not a legal justification.
realbtl
Even back in the RS days I thought Taibbi was a (poor) HST imitator. Good riddance to bad writing.
schrodingers_cat
I have been a BJ commenter for so long that I remember when bald Matt T was a hero in these parts.
Gin & Tonic
I’d love to see someone leak the KGB file on Taibbi.
sab
@schrodingers_cat: Me too. Vampire squid guy.
Frankensteinbeck
@delphinium:
My prediction: It’s not convoluted, it’s just counterfactual.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Argiope:
I fear there is only one solution to this, but doubt that Kasczmarik (or whatever the fuck that boob’s name is) would like it.
In a perfect world, he’d never feel comfortable starting his own car ever again.
Argiope
Oh dayum!!! WA federal judge says nope to pulling mife. This is getting very interesting very fast.
delphinium
Blockage of abortion pill: So the claim is the drug is unsafe and alleges that the FDA failed to study it carefully enough. The drug has been on the market 23 years and took 4 years to get approved. Obviously this judge is not well versed in the drug approval process nor how dangerous actual pregnancy is compared to taking a pill. Hope this ignorant asshole gets slapped back hard.
West of the Rockies
@Dangerman:
Compassionate Conservativism, I believe, was a GHWB thing uttered because even 30+ years ago it was obvious Conservatives knew their policies were regarded as cruel, stingy, and unfair. They’ve only gotten worse.
scav
As boundaries of jurisdiction are being blurred, I wonder if the APA or FDA could unilaterally rule certain judges mentally unfit to serve and haul them off for secure in-house care. Or, maybe the EPA could shut them down as a toxic hazard to human health. Bring in the buldozers.
Argiope
@delphinium: So far his reasoning sounds like utter bullshit that is easily dispelled by evidence, but conservative judges seem unconstrained by that.
Jay
https://www.techdirt.com/2023/04/07/mehdi-hasan-dismantles-the-entire-foundation-of-the-twitter-files-as-matt-taibbi-stumbles-to-defend-it/
for those who would rather read than watch,……..
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@delphinium:
Twenty years of solid stats and approvals verify its safety – and this incompetent fascist prick does this without a full-borne trial.
sab
@Frankensteinbeck: Als too he took us to war against a country that didn’t have anything much to do with or against us,
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
Next up, Levonorgestrel (Plan B).
I guess FDA could go ahead and decontrol both meds.
gwangung
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Yup. Quack cosplaying as a doctor.
cain
@Jay: I’m sure Elon Musk will have something to say about the whole thing.
scav
O! Where are the fears of activist judges of yester-year!
Matt McIrvin
Heard somewhere that the theory is that it’s unsafe because its intended effect of ending pregnancy is a “harmful side effect”. Pure Catch-22 logic, if so.
Baud
@Jay:
Thanks for that.
Sounds like the horse is dead.
delphinium
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Yes, I wasn’t kidding when I said this judge is a complete ignoramus about the drug approval process and is completely unqualified to make any kind of judgement in this case. Some cancer drugs and orphan drugs (for rare diseases) get approved much quicker with a different set of safety standards for obvious reasons.
Citizen Alan
I am in hell. Dinner at my RWNJ sister’s house (niece’s b’day) and she just stormed out to “take a pill” because I said I will be perfectly happy to vote for Biden next year.
scav
@Matt McIrvin: Wouldn’t similar logic make chemotherapy illegal as well?
I’m also rather enjoying that the aging hard-line anti-vax crowd is about to be confronted with the possible temptation of nearish term cancer and heart-disease vaccines.
Uncle Cosmo
Just out of curiosity, now that Lone Skum has replaced “da boid” with a dog’s head, will Twitter be changing its name to Mutter? Or (I hesitate to post this, but it’s Lone Skum after all) B*tcher?
Baud
@Citizen Alan:
She didn’t know about you.
I hope your niece is ok.
Anonymous At Work
Re: Judge K and mifepristone:
This is where we see some $#!T go down because the FDA is quite capable of telling this one judge to kiss their collective asses and take other measures. This has about 12 avenues of appeal that, under a legit set of judges in the Fifth Circuit, should result in the judge getting bitch-slapped verbally and in writing.
However, this probably will result in a lot of wrangling between Biden and insurance companies since the FDA approval only is for use as an emergency contraceptive. Other uses are “off-label” and insurance companies might not reimburse for them. That’s about it.
Steeplejack
@Citizen Alan:
Hopefully the pill is cyanide.
delphinium
@Argiope:
It is complete BS, but unfortunately our legal system/courts are woefully unprepared for the partisan “I don’t like it” whining made into a legal defense and so these charades continue.
Steeplejack
@Uncle Cosmo:
Twitter is back to the bird logo. Apparently Musk pumped Doge enough and completed the dump.
rikyrah
All the Nopes in Nopeville
Hell muthaphuckin’ NO😠😠
That Mayor of Memphis better ask somebody😠😠
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTRcvwWtd/
Geminid
@Uncle Cosmo: The bird is back!
Matt McIrvin
@scav: Some of those people will take any vaccine in the world except for COVID vaccines, because those were produced by the conspiracy. They’ll probably be fine with these.
Jay
@Uncle Cosmo:
the Bird is Back, I guess they rehired the tech who knew how to fix the code.
Anonymous At Work
@delphinium: MOST drugs get approved more quickly than mifepristone was. It was delayed at multiple times to gather an extra exhaustive body of safety and efficacy data, including post-approval safety data from Europe, where it had been approved 1988 in France. By 1992, the drug was in UK, Sweden and France, performing per safety guidelines. The CEO who owned European distribution rights was a devout Catholic and didn’t seek any other approvals until he spun off the division making it. But the US was relatively late, there’s a stronger body of evidence on its use than any drug except statins, and jesus, the forthcoming opinion will be proof-positive that every Democrat can claim “Republicans are coming for your birth control next!”
realbtl
@Geminid:
Does this mean da boid is da woid?
delphinium
@Steeplejack: Ouch! : )
Sister Golden Bear
@Quinerly:
More coverage from Reuters: U.S. judge hands anti-abortion groups partial win over abortion pill
No changes for seven days, to allow the FDA to appeal.
FYI, before being nominated by Trump, Kacsmaryk worked for the anti-LGBTQ hate group, the First Liberty Institute. In January, he advanced a challenge to the right to access contraception. He’s also the only judge in the federal district in Amarillo — making him the go-to judge for conservatives who are judge-shopping.
@Argiope:
The appeals will need to go through different appeals courts, but given the 5th Circuit will likely rubber-stamp the TX ruling, and the 9th will likely uphold the WA ruling, it’s likely it will end up in the SCOTUS sooner than later (to resolve conflicting Circuit decisions).
C Stars
Ooooh shit, that interview was CRINGE. Taibbi came off as a whiny child.
MazeDancer
Stream VP’s full speech in Nashville
Gin & Tonic
@Sister Golden Bear: I’m assuming the FDA isn’t based in Amarillo, so what gives him jurisdiction?
rikyrah
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) tweeted at 6:27 PM on Fri, Apr 07, 2023:
Breaking News: A Shelby County commissioner says the Republican state government is now threatening to pull funding for Memphis schools and infrastructure projects if they vote to re-appoint Rep. Justin Pearson to his democratically-elected seat. https://t.co/YgH3musZR3
(https://twitter.com/NoLieWithBTC/status/1644482068548575232?s=02)
Geminid
@realbtl: No, the word is Fish. As in, “Fish! Family! Freedom!”
Alaska Representative Mary Peltola is building a HerringVolk movement.
Anonymous At Work
@Gin & Tonic: A front-group with a PO box in Amarillo. Jurisdiction to go somewhere and sue a federal office/agency isn’t hard unless there’s a specific statute requiring the lawsuit happen in DC courts.
Another Scott
Relatedly, …
I have 6 pounds of Yoder popcorn at the ready.
(via RepDonBeyer)
Cheers,
Scott.
Sister Golden Bear
@rikyrah: As you may have seen: GOP Threatens To Defund Memphis If Rep Is Reinstated
Motherfucker Republicans are begging to have the state capital burned to the ground.
delphinium
@Anonymous At Work: Yes, FDA even has a ‘fast-track’ to approve specific drugs even quicker than the typical time for other drugs. This ruling is such a pathetic joke and it is beyond shameful that this case even made it in front of any court.
Sister Golden Bear
@Anonymous At Work: A front organization with a P.O. Box in Amarillo has been used to judge shop a number of right-wing cases there.
E.
@C Stars: I couldn’t finish it. I liked seeing Taibbi challenged but I couldn’t bear to watch him be flayed alive. I used to like Taibbi and I feel like a chump. The guy is clearly not a trustworthy reporter!
Anonymous At Work
@Sister Golden Bear: Tennessee is gerrymandered to a degree that it would take Democrats winning over 65% of statewide vote to have a *chance* of winning a majority in either state chamber. Burning hte statehouse down with every member of state Republican Party inside wouldn’t do much.
C Stars
@Citizen Alan: And so will everyone else after the SC rules with the wingnuts on mifepristone.
Juju
@Argiope: it’s a drug that’s safer than Tylenol, an OTC drug.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Sister Golden Bear:
To me, a non-trial based judicial revocation of a medication which has been approved for 23 years constitutes a “taking” under the 5th and 14th amendments as to:
1. IP rights of the manufacturers;
2. Finished product in manufacturer, wholesale and retail inventory;
3. Precursor chemicals necessary for manufacture;
4. Dedicated equipment; and
5. Accumulated unused packaging materials.
Even the most douchebaggy of douchebag 5th Circuit judges has to be concerned about doing this shit without trial.
Anonymous At Work
@delphinium: HUD on devices, orphan drugs on the drugs. The FDA regulations on biologics give me the heebie-jeebies and I cannot begin to explain the hematopoietic stem cell and modified blood product regulations.
Or, “Welcome to my wheelhouse and day job.”
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Anonymous At Work:
But it WOULD be a good start, and might give future Mayberry Machiavellis some pause before overreaching again.
delphinium
@Anonymous At Work: I can imagine! I review regulatory documents so have some understanding of the different drug/biologic classes and the process for approval but do not have to delve too much further into the weeds, thankfully.
lowtechcyclist
@Jay:
As one of those people, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Steeplejack
@Gin & Tonic:
Chris Hayes and panel are covering this right now on MSNBC. The group that brought suit was incorporated in Amarillo, Texas, after Dobbs and filed specifically in this jurisdiction to get this judge (the only one).
cain
@Sister Golden Bear: Call their bluff. Let them take the blame for cratering the economy in TN with their stupid ass play. The city elected a legislator – if they don’t do it – the state will make them elect GOP or a weak Democratic legislator.
Jackie
@Argiope: YAY for WA!
schrodingers_cat
@sab: He spouted BS then too, its just that it was BS that BJers wanted to hear. He was cavalier about math. His numbers never did add up.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Anonymous At Work:
Wouldn’t it leave a power vacuum, tho?
Sister Golden Bear
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
They’re not douchebaggy, they’re idealogical zealots. Past history shows they don’t give a fuck.
Gin & Tonic
@Steeplejack: Thanks.
C Stars
@E.: Yeah, he really didn’t do his homework this time. I don’t think the guy is ever going to get an honest job in journalism again.
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid:
Well played, sir!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Jackie
@Sister Golden Bear:
And Gov Inslee is proactive:
https://www.npr.org/2023/04/04/1167867948/washington-state-stockpiles-thousands-of-abortion-pills
Hopefully all Blue State governors do the same!
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Sister Golden Bear:
Problem is that decisions like this have severe knock-on effects with regard to valuable property rights – and these moneyed interests have planned their capital and development choices around a predictable legal template.
Unwind it and hell breaks loose.
Another Scott
Speaking of an ego the size of the Sun…
Phys.org:
Be ready!!
Cheers,
Scott.
delphinium
@Another Scott: A friend of mine is already talking about going to TX to view it.
Tony G
Is there a secret laboratory where they manufacture assholes like this guy? I demand an answer!
Another Scott
Cheers,
Scott.
catclub
Contradiction in terms.
Kayla Rudbek
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: I don’t think that any of the 5th Circuit judges has any understanding of IP law or pharmaceutical manufacturing.
gwangung
@Kayla Rudbek: Or science, but that’s never stopped them from ruling the way they want.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kayla Rudbek:
But powerful money people who would be hurt do and would yank these guys’ leashes
delphinium
@Kayla Rudbek: Or how the drug approval process works for that matter. But ignorance is apparently a-ok for making this ruling.
mrmoshpotato
Great post title!
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Kayla Rudbek:
With luck, some terrified FedSoc funders are making calls that Leonard Leo isn’t enjoying right now.
Sister Golden Bear
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: I absolutely agree that that decisions like this have severe knock-on effects, and that it risks hell breaking loose. But it’s the same mindset as the SCOTUS overturning abortion protections — the majority just didn’t care about the potential consequences of tossing aside long-established legal precedents in pursuit of their ideological goals.
Bridges, sparrows, curtain rods…
PaulB
It’s even better than that. It wasn’t “the government” that did that. It was educational institutions (like Stanford and the University of Washington) and various NGOs.
Also, among other things, Taibbi confused the CIS and CISA.
Lumpy
I’ve always thought Taibbi was lousy, besides the Wall Street reporting. In 2004 when Dubya was running for re-election versus John Kerry, Taibbi was doing very superficial analysis and basically said Kerry was boring, and a Blue Blood, and that there was virtually no difference between voting for Bush and Kerry.
First of all, if you want to disqualify Blue Bloods, you have to disqualify FDR.
Second, Bush was arguably our worst modern president (worse than Trump) for lying us into an unnecessary war that killed hundreds of thousands of Iraq civilians, destabilized the region, resulting in a massive refugee crisis impacting millions of Iraqis.
Thirdly, Dubya in his 2nd term appointed two Supreme Court justices in that 2nd term (Alito and Roberts).
But yeah Matt, what a boring election, great analysis!
different-church-lady
@NotMax:
You may choose any prize from the top shelf.
zhena gogolia
@Geminid: He is incapable of any expression other than a smirk. I almost feel as if it’s baked into his face, but maybe his constant smirking made his face just stay that way.
zhena gogolia
@Steeplejack: Uncharacteristically harsh of you, but I have to admit I had the same thought!
different-church-lady
@Anonymous At Work:
Yeah, but now that judge gets to go on fabulous cruises!
different-church-lady
@Steeplejack:
I’m pretty certain that violates community guideli– oh, look, a squirrel!
different-church-lady
@C Stars:
Oh like we still have those.
C Stars
@different-church-lady: I realized the problem when I wrote that. I don’t know what his options might have been prior to becoming a Musk groupie. Atlantic magazine or WaPo opinions page maybe? But yes I think he’s consigned to wearing camo baseball shirts and a podcaster headset in his basement for the rest of his life. Maybe a little jaunt down to Cabo as a special guest of the Cruz family now and then.
different-church-lady
@C Stars: Hey, he could always piss off back to Moscow.
C Stars
@rikyrah: I think we need a front page post about what’s going on in Memphis. Has there been one yet & I missed it? This situation is ludicrous.
C Stars
@different-church-lady: yeah that seems to be about the level of “free press” that he can handle 😂
different-church-lady
@C Stars:
Is this really still the same week Trump turned himself in?
Geminid
@zhena gogolia: I’m not gonna a look at the video again, but my recollection is that when Hasan did not go along with his evasions and pressed harder, Taibbi momentarily lost his smirk a couple times, and his eyes got a little wide too, like he was scared.
This is probably the first time I’ve ever liked Mehdi Hasan.
C Stars
@different-church-lady: Is it? I’ve been on the road for the last week and only really started checking the news again today. The GOP propaganda apparatus does seem to be mid-implosion.
Ruckus
@C Stars:
Taibbi came off as a whiny child.
So he was being himself….
RaflW
@C Stars: Seconded. Hopefully an FPer can do it this weekend?
MomSense
@schrodingers_cat:
There were a few of us who had his number from the get go – but it was pretty lonely.