A couple of weeks ago I put up this post.
@watergirl
Excellent post. Agree the Republicans are spitting mad and en masse acting irrationally and anti-democratically. Seditious disregard for fundamental laws has been normalized. Collective insanity about guns. Denial of biological facts. Violent fantasies and incitement of stochastic terrorism. Disregard for expert knowledge. Corruption. Elevation of money above people. Encouraged by demagogues, foreign and domestic, the Republican base is lied to and only listening to the liars. They are a cult moving towards greater evils.
I especially appreciated the final sentences for their truth as well as their optimism.
Each new outrage fuels their pawns but also inspires good people to stand up and be counted. They will not take us down.
It can be easy to feel down as a result of the puke funnel of horrible news, but look what’s happening in TN and Montana and with multiple exposes highlighting the corruption in the Supreme Court and elsewhere. All the horribleness s a catalyst for good people to stand up and be counted.
Our President is definitely taking the fight to them.
The Marjorie zinger was one of the best of the night.
Humor is often the best way to present the truth.
— Jack E. Smith ⚖️ (@7Veritas4) April 30, 2023
How can each of us can stand up and help turn the tide? How do we support people like Sen. Whitehouse and others, who are fighting the good fight?
BeautifulPlumage
Has Empty Grin said anything about the joke yet? She does not like to be mocked.
trollhattan
@BeautifulPlumage: It’s hard to imagine how she could ramp up her act any further. Guess I shouldn’t say that with my outside voice, since she’d take up the challenge, but her snotty kindergartner act at SOTU is the most disrespectful thing I’ve ever witnessed, because she’s directing it at the nation.
rikyrah
Let her ramp it up. She’s a screeching banshee as it is.
Betty Cracker
Josh Marshall has some interesting thoughts about the coming debt ceiling showdown that won’t assuage anyone’s anxiety but could lead to a longer term fix if we keep our nerve. He thinks the media conventional wisdom about the issue is all wrong because Biden and his team are serious about not negotiating, whereas the Beltway press assumes it’s all posturing.
The theory is Democrats (rightly!) felt burned by the outcome of the last debt ceiling showdown, maybe even Biden especially since he was involved in it, and that almost all of the party is ready to play chicken with the psycho Repubs for keeps this time.
Marshall believes either the Repubs will blink or Biden will rely on an unconventional solution, such as declaring the debt ceiling unconstitutional, to resolve it. I have no idea what will happen, but the current situation, in which one party only agrees to pay debt when one of their own is president, really is intolerable and has to be addressed.
bbleh
MTG — along with Gaetz, and Boebert, and Gym Jordan, and others — is being an obnoxious brat, which a large segment of the Republican Party finds amusing because they have the emotional maturity of dim 11-year-olds. It’s pure performance; it’s WWE, and that’s what they want. They have no concept of proper governance, so that’s the sort of person they elect, and if it weren’t she it would be someone like her.
IOW, she’s a symptom.
As to “turning the tide,” I’d say (1) judging from most election results since 2018, it seems already to have turned, so the task is to keep it rolling and spread it to other places, and (2) the ways to do this aren’t mysterious: voting, donating (strategically), volunteering, organizing, and if you’re so inclined, running for office yourself. I think it’s turned because the substantial segment of the population that usually is entirely checked out of politics, and either doesn’t vote or votes sporadically and often on a whim, has begun to pay attention, and they mostly don’t like the obnoxious brats. Keeping them engaged is a principal goal (though not the only one), and the means to do so are well known per above. (And ironically, MTG et al. are helping: the louder they are, the more people don’t like them.)
We won’t win everywhere, but we can win a lot of places, especially at the state and local levels. And as to that, it’s a good sign that state-level races and politics are getting a lot more attention than they used to. One of the reasons so many state legislatures are so radical is that for a long time only the RWNJs were really paying attention. That is changing, and it can’t help but be for the better.
JoyceH
@Betty Cracker:
If they do breach the debt limit, don’t let anyone claim it was a handful of hardliners who did it, it will be pretty much ALL the House GOP. Because the quickest and easiest way out of this mess is for five Republican reps to cross the aisle – Speaker Jeffries would have that clean debt limit increase passed before close of business that day.
bbleh
@Betty Cracker: Concur entirely — with you and JM — but the situation still makes me nervous as hell. I have every intention of getting almost entirely out of the market soon, cuz I don’t expect the resolution to be smooth.
@JoyceH: Indeed. The radicals would get nowhere if the “moderates” weren’t enabling them every step of the way. The whole party is rotten.
Geminid
@bbleh: I think another reason these state legislatures are so radical is that gerrymandering has spurred a race to the bottom among Republicans.
I have not noticed any similar problems on the Democratic side.
WaterGirl
@trollhattan: You must not have seen her in the House hearings last week, then.
bbleh
@Geminid: indeed, and one of the reasons they’ve been able to gerrymander (ok, Gerrymander) is that they’ve amassed supermajorities. It’s going to be a hard road back.
Betty
@Betty Cracker: I would like to see the same Office of Legal Counsel that declared a President cannot be indicted while in office declare that the debt ceiling is in violation of the Constitution. Let the Supreme Court find otherwise after.
JPL
Kevin is owned by trump and Greene so I expect him to tank the economy
Geminid
@JoyceH: I think a petition to discharge would take a few days to get the measure to a floor vote. But you are basically correct here.
Now, a motion to vacate the Speaker’s Chair might be a quicker solution. I think this is a much less likely option, but it sure would be fun to watch!
Bill Arnold
Did a due-diligence check to confirm that the Biden NYT Pitchbot comment wasn’t a deep fake. Here it is in the official whitehouse.gov transcript:
Remarks by President Biden at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, April 30, 2023
JPL
BTW CHris Coons has done an excellent job on tv explaining why Biden feels that it’s necessary not to negotiate
Benw
@trollhattan:
Have you no memory of tan suit or coffee mug salute? Tan Suit and the Coffee Mug Salutes is a pretty good band name, come to think of it!
oatler
puke funnel of horrible news
I prefer ‘chundering cataract of bullshit’ myself.
bbleh
@Geminid: a discharge petition may indeed be the way out, because it would allow Squeaker McQarthy to save face with the crazies. And the necessary handful of Republicans could get away with it, because (1) they’d likely come from districts where voters would approve of them avoiding a catastrophe and (2) McQarthy doesn’t have enough margin to alienate even a single one of them.
Czar Chasm
One of the best ways: Start working on local politics! This is where a lot of our folks on the federal level start: Board of Supervisors, mayor, etc. These elections also are great practice runs for working on larger campaigns, be it state or federal level, since most local elections occur during cycles outside of the typical federal ones.
Of course, I’m a little biased, as…I’m running locally for my county’s Treasurer office.
UncleEbeneezer
Sunday’s Jack podcast episode was really great. They noted that getting Pence to testify is HUGE with regards to any potential 1/6 culpability for Trump. Allison Gill also pointed out that this is something that MERRICK GARLAND laid the ground-work for, long before Jack Smith was appointed as SC. This is one of the reasons that the “OMG, Garland won’t go after anyone important” nonsense was always so irritating. One of the first things Garland did was set things in motion to make it so that Trump’s closest advisors wouldn’t be able to hide behind privilege concerns and would eventually be forced to testify. It’s a really good listen.
Anyway
@Czar Chasm:
Break a leg!
And my favorite – Ds should run hard for SoS in every state.
Sean
@Geminid: Any bill intended to move via a discharge petition has to sit for a 30 day minimum before the petition can be signed. At which point discharge business can only be brought:
It will take a lot more than a few days to get this done, not to mention, who are our 5 republicans signing on with the democrats? Because they all just voted for the awful bill they supposedly want to circumvent. Sure, a deadline might bring them around, but at that point, a discharge petition will take too long, outside of intervention by the GOP controlled rules committee.
I think we’re headed to a 14th amendment question that ends in SCOTUS showdown, because cooler heads are not going to prevail amongst these hostage takers.
Roger Moore
I think the point about the Republican Party being a cult is spot on. The way Republicans react to everything related to Trump looks much more like cultists responding to their leader than to any other major political party in American history. That cult-like behavior is really what makes the difference between an ordinary far-right party and outright fascism.
IMO, the Republican party has been an incipient cult at least since Reagan. It managed to avoid turning into an outright cult because the successful party leaders refused to become cult leaders, and the would-be cult leaders failed electorally. Trump broke the string of electoral failures by would-be cult leaders, so he now owns the party, heart and soul.
BlueGuitarist
@Czar Chasm:
are you up for saying more about your campaign?
Have you gotten support from Run for Something?
Joe B’s first election: county council.
Debbie Stabenow’s career: county commissioner, state rep, state senator, US Rep, US senator. (Retiring, not running for re-election at 74)
Jackie
@Betty Cracker: Because I was late to the prior thread; that tomato looks like a delicious eat-over-the-sink sandwich-maker!😋
Kay
Matt Barnum is an education writer and researcher who spends all his time on Twitter putting the work of innumerate reporters and pundits into context.
2018 is pre pandemic satisfaction with “public schools” (generally) and 2022 is post pandemic satisfaction (generally- people rate their own school higher) , a stunning 1 point drop!!!!
This is the NYTimes- the “20 year low” nonsense. This is the crap they churn out. This is what happens when you have an entire cohort of people in media who didn’t attend public schools, don’t send their kids to them, and don’t value them. You have people who will blindly repeat any Right wing nonsense they encounter.
WaterGirl
@Betty: We might just see that. The current situation cannot stand.
And it damn well not be that only that the Office of Legal Counsel opinions only stand when there is a fucking Republican president.
The Moar You Know
@Sean: somebody explain to me how that could possibly end up working in this administration’s favor.
Sean
@The Moar You Know: I’m not sure anyone could say it will work in their favor, more that if we do breach the debt ceiling they will argue it is the least unconstitutional option they have. If you have the GOP suing (assuming they have standing) they would be publicly trying to force a debt default. So that isn’t a good look. Possibly works for Biden, et al. Or, perhaps the SCOTUS monied interests lead them to not blowing up the global economy. Ultimately, no one really knows, certainly not me. We’d be along for the difficult ride
Also, I can’t say this is their strategy, because I don’t think anyone knows that either. Just my best guess.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
It will be in the nation’s favor if we can stop the economic hostage taking once and for all.
Roger Moore
@bbleh:
This is always true. There aren’t enough fanatics to control anything without the acquiescence of a lot of moderates. The thing that has really changed is that we’ve normalized an unhealthy degree of party unity. Crossing the aisle to vote for something like a clean debt ceiling increase used to be normal. Because it was normal, the hostage takers never seriously tried this stuff because they knew it wouldn’t work. Now, though, the crazies can expect everyone in the party to go along with their plans, which encourages them to go to ever greater levels of insanity.
Jackie
@JPL: Wait until MTG and TFG hear about this!:
“Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) shot down a Russian reporter’s suggestion that he does not support aid to Ukraine, pledging continued U.S. support for the country and calling on Russia to pull its troops from Ukraine.
“No, I vote for aid for Ukraine. I support aid for Ukraine. I do not support what your country has done to Ukraine. I do not support your killing of the children either,” McCarthy said at a news conference in Israel on Monday.”
https://thehill.com/policy/international/3981595-mccarthy-to-russian-reporter-i-do-not-support-what-your-country-has-done-to-ukraine/
Omnes Omnibus
@The Moar You Know: It won’t. The United States is going to become even more of a dystopian hellhole than it already is. You should have moved to France/Canada/Costa Rica/Etc. when you had the chance. Happy now?
BlueGuitarist
@Anyway:
Last year Juicers raised some money for awesome, successful D secretaries of state candidates in swing states: Adrian Fontes (AZ) and Cisco Aguilar (NV).
Indiana elected as Secretary of State a vote fraudster and harasser, iow a Republican
https://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/columnists/james-briggs/2022/11/03/diego-morales-indiana-secretary-of-state-candidate-may-have-voted-illegally/69612691007/
WaterGirl
@Czar Chasm: Good for you!
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
@Jackie: Funny that “not being financially or ideologically linked to Russia” is both a high mark for Republican politicians, and still doesn’t clear the bar for proof they’re working in the best interest of Americans.
Wasn’t McQarthy the one who called out Trump and Rohrbacher as Russian pawns?
Matt McIrvin
@Sean: What they’re trying to do is to, one way or another, force the White House to do a bad thing that they can then blame the Democrats for–either to force a debt default, or to force the administration to enact policies that are Republican-supported but not popular.
The whole strategy relies on the public not understanding cause and effect. But I think the White House is 100% wise to that and, whatever happens, will be emphasizing cause and effect.
This is something I think wasn’t happening during, say, Obama’s first debt-ceiling showdown in 2011. Obama tried to meet them halfway and just got blamed for onerous compromise policies and their consequences. Of course Obama learned from this and so did Joe Biden.
Sean
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation: I agree, if that was the outcome, it would ultimately be the best possible one. But yikes. No guarantees.
...now I try to be amused
@Betty Cracker:
This sounds uncomfortably like the mid-1914 crisis that started with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and ended with World War I. It was 20 years in the making, with multiple acts of brinkmanship — many involving the same people — that ended with one side backing down. Until mid-1914, when the Russian government decided it would accept war with Germany and Austria-Hungary before another humiliation.
WaterGirl
@Jackie: Second the wow! on the tomato.
But I beg to differ. That is a cut it into really thick slices and eat it on a sandwich with melted cheese or a BLT tomato.
@Betty Cracker – how did you guys / will you guys eat that first gorgeous tomato?
edit: on second read, I see that you weren’t just eating the tomato over the sink, it was a sandwich with that tomato.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
@Sean: No guarantees, sure, but at some point it becomes worth trying. Only thing I can guarantee is if the hostage-takers get what they’re after, there will be more hostage taking.
WaterGirl
@The Moar You Know: Well, since 6/9 of the Supreme Court is a wholly owned subsidiary of the rich and powerful, I would say there would be pressure not to tank the fucking economy of the United States and the whole fucking world.
Sean
@Matt McIrvin:
Sure, I understand that. But the thing is, Biden and Democrats at large will do/are doing all they can to inform the public of what is really happening and cause and effect, but that doesn’t in and of itself stop a default or the ultimate question of what is next. The democrats aren’t going to give in and the GOP caucus isn’t going to magically relent. McCarthy is owned by the far right now, I don’t believe he’ll ever bring a clean bill to the floor. (Goes without saying, I could be totally wrong, but this is the dynamic I see playing out)
Geminid
@bbleh: I’m thinking more of Republicans who intend to retire anyway. And there are Valadeo (CA) and Newhouse (WA) who are the two of ten Republican Impeachers to hold on to their seats. That can be laid to them serving in jungle primary states. The only other Republican I can think of who is not retiring that still might survive for the reasons you suggest is Fitzpatrick (PA).
@Sean: I do not assume that everyone who voted for McCarthy’s bill will not cave when the pressure is on.
It was good of you to give the rules for discharge petitions. Can members sign on at any time during the 30 period? If they can, this seems like a possible solution.
Sean
@Geminid: Depends on WHEN they cave and if enough time is left to discharge before default. That is why I’m skeptical.
This is a very dry and detailed rundown about the discharge rule. I wish it wasn’t this onerous.
The Discharge Rule in the House: Principal Features and Uses (congress.gov)
dirge
@Jackie: “I do not support your killing of the children either,” McCarthy said
On account of them bein’ dirty furriners takin the jerbs from the red blooded ‘Merrikins what’s supposed to be doin the killin of the children?
Czar Chasm
@BlueGuitarist: Sure!
I’m running because our County’s Treasurer Office needs a change: The incumbent has been there for 38 years, & has caused that department to be behind the curve, technologically speaking. One example: We still can’t make any payments with credit/debit cards!
I’m running because I cannot stand seeing a poorly run organization, or one that has a toxic culture. The only way to fix it is to get someone else in there.
I have been part of our county’s administration for almost 6 years now, running a quasi-human services program that is required by the Commonwealth to be present & actively helping citizens in our locality. The job requires good financial management & accounting skills, an ability to take initiative, good people skills, strong running of committees, & some political know-how; all things also needed to be an effective Constitutional Officer. Since taking this position in 2017, I have:
All this was done while reducing our expenditures by $2.5 million over five years.
I’m qualified for the Treasurer position.
I’m running to effect change locally.
(But I’m too old for Run For Something)
rikyrah
@Anyway:
absolutely
JPL
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation: That was before he kissed the ring. Good for Kevin to go against the wishes of his boss
cmorenc
Let’s hope the “crackling in the air” isn’t the sound of the sky cracking as it’s imminently about to fall in on us.
:=)
WaterGirl
So I guess Joe Tapioca filed for mistrial this morning, because the judge is mean and won’t let him properly badger E. Jean Carroll. 18 pages!
Not surprisingly, it did not fly. I also imagine that even Joe Tapioca knew it wouldn’t fly, but he’s trying to lay the groundwork for an appeal. Just go judge shopping after this trial is over. (Is that even possible for a case that is in New York state?)
Betty Cracker
@Jackie: & @WaterGirl: It was delish on white bread with mayo, salt and pepper. The first spring tomato has to be the star of the show, so I eschew additional sandwich toppings and fancy bread. ;-)
...now I try to be amused
@Sean:
The latter point is a good one. I’ve seen some folks say declaring the debt limit void under the Fourteenth Amendment is risky because it would likely go the the SCOTUS. But do Six of Nine really want to sign their names to forcing a default, further discrediting themselves, and harming the monied interests they represent?
If Biden is feeling good about his chances, refusing to bargain over the debt limit and then invoking the Fourteenth Amendment would be a twofer: it would put both McCarthy’s caucus and the SCOTUS on the spot.
BlueGuitarist
@Czar Chasm:
awesome
Compelling!
An excellent, but unsuccessful downballot candidate for PA Senate in 2022 in a gerrymandered district, Mark Pinsley, is an elected county controller who has done some excellent work in that position
https://www.votemarkpinsley.com/meet-mark-pinsley
CaseyL
Welp. Just saw on the news that Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) is not running for re-election. I think Maryland is pretty reliably Democratic, so maybe not something to be worried about.
trollhattan
@WaterGirl: I didn’t. Like mosquitos, I find it best to avoid her entirely. IOW what new is there to learn?
RedDirtGirl
@Czar Chasm: Good for you!
Jeffro
Truth!
Take every opportunity that you can to point it out to them, folks. Push on that cognitive dissonance until it HURTS. It won’t work with most RWNJs, but we’ll get some folks back to reality with the rest of us.
Omnes Omnibus
It doesn’t work that way. An appeal automatically goes to the appellate court above the trial court that heard the case. Panels of judge at appellate courts are chosen on a rotational basis.
Ruckus
@Roger Moore:
Trump broke the string of electoral failures by would-be cult leaders, so he now owns the party, heart and soul.
So that’s why it’s so broken, he’s managed to purchase one more thing at far over it’s actual value…
Geminid
@Sean: Well, it’s not like a default would happen all at once at say, 2:30pm June 17. Treasury Secretary Yellen has some discretion in this area. So a half dozen defectors may have time to sign on to a petition. It might even have some token cuts and notional future budget cuts, a fig leaf so to speak, that Democratic leadership finds acceptable.
Of course some people would accuse Democratic leaders of caving. Then the leaders could interrupt their high fiving to point at Kevin McCarthy standing on the House floor with his pants around his knees, and what’s left of his lunch money rolling around.
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: Excellent!
BlueGuitarist
@CaseyL:
Cardin is 79 years old. Good that he’s retiring, seat is pretty safe.
WaterGirl
@trollhattan: Had you seen her in the hearing, you would not have been able to say the part in bold.
That was the meeting where she screamed at the person who was being interviewed and our side moved to have that stricken from the record and she lost her ability to speak for the rest of that session.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
@BlueGuitarist: Ted Kennedy’s seat was “safe” until it wasn’t. I doubt I have to tell anyone here we should take every seat seriously.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Ruckus: As Biden said, that purchase is what you call an NFT
WaterGirl
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation: I am pretty sure Blue knows that, and that his point was that replacing a senator in Maryland is not something to keep us up at night.
He will surely correct me if I’m wrong about that.
Roger Moore
@WaterGirl:
I am less convinced. My worry is they might think a catastrophe will work in their favor. I think that’s the basic reasoning here. Yeah, the ultra-rich will see their stock tank, but it will rebound eventually, and they’ll be able to take advantage of the catastrophe to seize more of the pie for themselves.
BlueGuitarist
@Geminid:
Would Biden declaring reaching the debt limit a national emergency give him enough additional authority to reallocate funds authorized for other purposes to matter?
JoyceH
@…now I try to be amused:
If they don’t care, I assure you that the billionaires who’ve bought them do!
WaterGirl
It seems like last week there were several people live tweeting the trial with E. Jean Carroll. Today I’m not seeing that anywhere. Do we not care anymore as a country because this is day 3?
Kay
@WaterGirl:
I’m a little worried about the trial. I believe her but I think they did a little damage with the accusation that she came forward for political reasons. George Fucking Conway. The Conways are a menace.
There are still (I think) 4 witnesses – 2 to say she reported to them at the time and 2 to say Trump physically attacked women regularly – so maybe it will sound stronger to me after they go.
Omnes Omnibus
@BlueGuitarist: We can’t panic every time any Dem decides to retire. It’s no way to live.
JWR
@UncleEbeneezer:
Thank you for that! Listening now. And yes, it’s really, really good!
Eunicecycle
@WaterGirl: and Dan Goldman was the one to remind the chair of this rule. Shockingly the chair went along with it.
Roger Moore
@BlueGuitarist:
There are no rules, or at least no rules anyone can count on. No matter what Biden does, it’s going to wind up in front of the Supreme Court, and the radical Republicans on the SC have clearly demonstrated they have no regard for rules and precedent. What they decide would be a complete wild card. Whether Biden decided to go along or chose the Andrew Jackson play is another wild card.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: That was one of the funniest things I’ve seen. After the Chairman agreed with Rep. Dan Goldman that Greene was in fact barred from further participation…
Greene: “Point of personal priviledge!”
Goldman: “There’s no such thing.”
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
@Omnes Omnibus: I didn’t mean to suggest to panic, just the word safe in politics reads to me a little like unsinkable in ship building.
JWR
Speaking of our media crime interpreters, here in SoCal, the local CBS affiliate, (KCAL), did several iterations of a story out of West Hollywood where one of the perps used an AR-type weapon in a strong-arm robbery. (Imagine that. Battle ready street criminals!) But through every one of those iterations they pointed out that WeHo had recently hired dozens of unarmed peace patrols, at the cost of four Sheriff’s deputies. (OMGDEFUNDED!1!!) Thing is, crime in upscale West Hollywood is actually trending down! So yeah, our media hasn’t learned sh*t.
Omnes Omnibus
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation:
Of things on the list to worry about, I would put this one on the second or third page.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Roger Moore:
So in your opinion, would you say that this view I saw on Bogleheads…
…is being politically naive?
Roger Moore
@Kay:
The big thing to me is that this is a civil trial, so the rule is preponderance of evidence. You have pretty compelling evidence from Carroll herself, and people who will testify she told them at the time. That wouldn’t be enough for beyond a reasonable doubt, but I don’t see anything Trump has done to reduce that to below preponderance of evidence.
The Thin Black Duke
It’s a Sophie’s Choice scenario for the Democrats right now, and unfortunately there really isn’t an rational incentive to bend the knee to the GOP. If Biden concedes, the Republicans will continue to continue to be suicide bombers and blow up everything positive his administration has done, guaranteeing the loss of the White House in 2024 because voters are idiots.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
If the 14th amendment plan were used and it went to the SCOTUS, what exactly would that look like with respect to a deadline? Would the US Treasury continue to issue bonds and pay debts like usual?
And if the SCOTUS did rule against the administration hypothetically, could the administration simply ignore the Court’s ruling? What would the fallout from that be?
rikyrah
@WaterGirl:
Yum…one of my favorite sandwiches :)
Geminid
@BlueGuitarist: I do not know much about the mechanics of default. I’m guessing that there are a number of tricks Biden and Yellen can pull to avert a default for a few days or weeks. Yellen’s already doing this, but I expect she’ll still have an extra rabbit or to to pull out of her hat.
I think they will pass on longer term unilateral solution, in order to break down Republican resistance and force a legislative outcome. But I don’t think we’ll know until it happens, and I’m not going to get strung out over this fight in the meantime.
Biden and Democratic Congressional leaders held a strategy session at the White House a week before Biden and McCarthy met Feb. 1. I’m curious to see what the strategy is, but I’ll have to find out by watching.
cain
Is the Democratic party only interested in “battleground” states? Because we should be interested in every state – every state. States like Oregon, still need attention because there are still ways to split votes and what not.
Luckily are voters are smarter than that.
But MAGA has control everywhere and they are taking a 50 state approach – and are there attacking everything from city to county to state across all 50 states.
MAGA is a 50 state phenomena. We need to break them in every state – including Mississippi and Alabama.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I am very much not a lawyer, but I have observed a process over the years where as judges’ decisions will either allow or disallow whatever behavior is in question to continue while the issue resolves thought the full court.
So which court does a question like the Constitutionality of the debt limit get put in front of?
Almost Retired
I’m more optimistic than ever that the abortion over-reach will continue to harm the Republican party.
Look at the intra-party backlash from women in the South Carolina Legislature and Nebraska Unicorn Legislature or whatever it’s called.
Not to mention Kansas – where my mother now lives, and where the little old ladies in her Sunday school class when ballistic on any old men who expressed support for the anti-abortion constitutional amendment. I think these women would have gone full Lysistrata on these guys if they’d voted the wrong way (although I doubt the men would notice).
And then there’s Wisconsin. The Supreme Court vote seems to have awakened the giant – the thin but significant majority of Cheese Badgers – who are not down with Republican mis-rule. The next Michigan?
Kay
@Roger Moore:
I think there’s a lot of (mostly unacknowleged) pushback and resentment of “me too” ( Carroll said “me too” was partly why she came forward). IMO it’s part of why we’ve seen so many middle aged male comics pissed off- they’re mad that they’re not free to sexually harrass women anymore. t’s behind a lot of the screeching about “cancel culture”. IMO that sentiment is fairly widespread but as I said almost never discussed – I think it’s not discussed because so many men in media are also pissed off about it.
I think she has an uphill climb coming forward in a really sexist country where a good part of the population believe all women are liars. I am absolutely pulling for her though.
cain
@Almost Retired: I think the abortion overreach is really driving women’s health to the forefront. For a long time the anti-abortion people have been getting away with everything citing bullshit factoids.
Once they actually put this stuff into law – now they are on defense. Of course, the men have no consequences when it comes to these laws. But it’s going to be pretty much everyone against white old conservative men at this point.
BlueGuitarist
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation:
As Omnes says “We can’t panic every time any Dem decides to retire.”
We lost Kennedy’s seat in a special election in January 2010, the worst year for Democrats.
The Maryland US Senate seat is “pretty safe” – I expect the D nominee to be well-funded and successful, but it shouldn’t draw resources away from more competitive seats.
In 2020 Biden did better in Maryland (67%) than California (65%) or Obama in Mass. in 2008 (63%) (D/(D+R))
@WaterGirl:
@Omnes Omnibus:
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
@Omnes Omnibus: The truth is I have really high hopes for 2024. Republicans are a mess, but this time in public for everyone to see. And Democrats seem to be doing better than usual at setting aside differences.
I just don’t want to think about safe. Just fucking vote.
cain
It’s just appalling how much women are not listened to especially about their health. Completely supported by other women. I’m just flabbergasted.
If anything these past 10 years have really revealed a lot of things about this country that has made me actively feel angry. We need and should change these systems of oppression.
Omnes Omnibus
QFT
Roger Moore
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
That was specifically considering the case of what happens if the debt ceiling is reached, Biden does something to keep spending, and the Republicans sue to bring it in front of the Supreme Court. I don’t think we can count on the Supreme Court saving us in that case for two reasons:
Kay
@Roger Moore:
You saw this, I’m sure
These meetings with all these powerful famous people were after Epstein was convicted in Florida. They simply didn’t care that he was abusing low income, vulnerable teenage girls. The girls were throwaways- no one cared about them, including the DOJ.
Jackie
@WaterGirl: She screamed at Swalwell and the Secretary of Homeland that they were liars and that’s a no-no so she was silenced. Then, of course ran straight to McCarthy to tattle.
I’d love to know what Kevin said to her…
rikyrah
@cain:
ICAM
The Lodger
@BlueGuitarist: Depending on Jamie Raskin’s health, I can predict the next U.S. Senator from Maryland right now.
...now I try to be amused
@Roger Moore:
If things get really bad before the 2024 election, Biden still controls the executive branch. He could emulate Lincoln and act outside the letter of the law for the greater good. And I will be behind him every step of the way. Make the assholes fight for their fascist state and see how much support they get then.
Kay
@cain:
All of the middle aged male comics started whining about “cancel culture” after a couple of them got caught either sexually harrassing women or raping them.
They all became super angry about “wokeness” at exactly the same time, immediately after some of them were held accountable. It’s true for Matt Taibii too. He wasn’t angry about “wokeness” or “cancel culture” until people revisited his horrible history exploiting women in Russia. No one is the boss of them! They will do anything to women they please!
So, yeah. She’s got her work cut out for her.
rikyrah
@Kay:
The nerve…how dare they not be able to harrass women anymore.
I completely agree with you, Kay.
It was the Me Too Movement when it hit the News Media that made me realize just what Hillary was up against in 2016.
WaterGirl
@Kay: In a normal world, I wouldn’t be worried, but who knows these days.
The second set of 2 witnesses aren’t just to say that Trump physically attacked women regularly. It’s actually two different women who were attacked by Trump under similar circumstances – circumstances for all 3 rapes match what he described in the Hollywood tape.
One of the distressing things in E. Jean Carroll’s testimony was when she said that he put his fingers insider her and cupped them, and it hurt. I think that’s what Trump meant when he said he “grabs ’em by the pussy”.
I would like to break every finger on his tiny little hands. That probably sounds harsh. If Trump knew – or cared – the slightest bit about women and anatomy and pleasure, he would know not to do what he described, in the way he described it. But what he does is a very intimate, abusive power move, and rape is all about power.
God I hate that man. I want him to do down in the history books as the rapist he is. (Among other things.)
Citizen Alan
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation: To be fair, Martha Coakley worked really hard to lose that election. That I still remember that woman’s name over ten years later is a testament to how badly she ran her campaign. She literally took a week long vacation right after winning the primary!
rikyrah
@The Thin Black Duke:
There is no middle ground to be found with these clowns.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
They’re going to leave the Rs in Massachusetts a shambles. Question is do we pick up the pieces in 24.or wait for 26?
Citizen Alan
@Omnes Omnibus: More importantly, we cannot object to an older Dem retiring while simultaneously objecting to older Dems staying in office to the point that their health declines and it interferes with their work.
WaterGirl
@Eunicecycle: The chair was embarrassed into doing that – because Dan Goldman backed him into a corner by clearly stating the rules.
Loving Dan Goldman in his new role.
Jackie
@cain: Great news for hospitals/physicians afraid of being sued or arrested for providing emergency abortions:
“Two hospitals that refused to provide an emergency abortion to a pregnant woman who was experiencing premature labor put her life in jeopardy and violated federal law, a first-of-its-kind investigation by the federal government has found,” the AP reports.
“The findings are a warning to hospitals around the country as they struggle to reconcile dozens of new state laws that ban or severely restrict abortion with a federal mandate for doctors to provide abortions when a woman’s health is at risk.”
rikyrah
@cain:
Dare I say…this is what our Kay has been saying from the beginning with these laws. She was sounding the alarm all along.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Citizen Alan: Lots of twitter speculation about Raskin throwing his hat in the Senate ring, and Larry Hogan on the other side. Raskin seems like a strong candidate to me, but I don’t know how much of that is my one bubble. I believe we have a few Marylanders here
rikyrah
@CaseyL:
I feel good about it, especially with last year’s election results.
Wonder who will run?
Jackie
@cain: Great news for hospitals/physicians afraid of being sued or arrested for providing emergency abortions:
“Two hospitals that refused to provide an emergency abortion to a pregnant woman who was experiencing premature labor put her life in jeopardy and violated federal law, a first-of-its-kind investigation by the federal government has found,” the AP reports.
“The findings are a warning to hospitals around the country as they struggle to reconcile dozens of new state laws that ban or severely restrict abortion with a federal mandate for doctors to provide abortions when a woman’s health is at risk.”
WaterGirl
@Geminid: Yes, that was quite satisfying! Second only to when Goldman reminded the chair about the other part, where if someone’s words were “taken down”, then they lose the rest of their time to speak.
And because he’s a lawyer, he first asked a clarifying question: “were the words “taken down” or were they “sticken”? Only then did he announce that if they were taken down, the person loses their remaining time to speak.
WaterGirl
@Roger Moore:
That damn well should be enough for beyond a reasonable doubt.
BlueGuitarist
@rikyrah:
@cain:
Democrat Brandon Presley, cousin of Elvis, is challenging corrupt R Tate Reeves for MS Gov. and has a good chance.
lowtechcyclist
Here’s a question for the legal eagles:
Suppose Biden has a few trillion-dollar platinum coins minted. Treasury takes them to the Federal Reserve to deposit them (that’s the way it works, right?), and the Fed accepts them at face value, thereby pushing the debt limit a few trillion dollars away.
The question: who would have standing to challenge that? It’s hard for me to see who would, even the House GOPers.
WaterGirl
@The Thin Black Duke: They want him to fucking repeal what is arguably his greatest achievement as president.
Do they think he’s STUPID?
Matt McIrvin
@Sean: I’ll be honest, there’s a little part of me that just wants the catastrophe to happen now. Rip the Band-Aid off. Blow this fucking society up, if that’s what they want. I’m tired of dreading what Republicans might or might not do.
Geminid
@Geminid: Darn! It was:
Greene: “Point of personal inquiry!
Goldman: “There’s no such thing.”
Geminid
@lowtechcyclist: What if the Fed did not accept the platinum coins? They are an independent body.
lowtechcyclist
@BlueGuitarist:
I would be concerned that former Gov. Larry Hogan would make a run for the seat. He ended his tenure as governor with 77% approval rating, so he’s quite popular across the board.
More so with Dems, actually – his approval among Republicans was ‘only’ 68%, and I suspect it was because enough of them found Hogan too moderate for their tastes. Which is why he’d be a strong candidate.
Tom Q
Seems to me the Biden folk are approaching this debt limit fight in a manner akin to how Newsom fought the CA recall effort (does anyone even remember that?). There were local Dems frantically suggesting putting some blue candidate on the ballot, in the emergency case that the recall secured 50%+1. Newsom argued, No, that gave legitimacy to the recall push, and they were better off declaring the entire effort an abuse of the process. This argument ultimately prevailed by a wide margin.
Not suggesting the US electorate is the same as CA’s, but I think the Biden people are convinced they can similarly marshall a majority for their position. Likely they also believe GOP donors/poobahs will be, behind the scenes, screaming at McCarthy not to jeopardize their portfolios with this insane scheme. Enough to secure the few GOP votes needed for a clean bill.
Matt McIrvin
@lowtechcyclist: Same with Charlie Baker–he had much higher approval among Democrats than Republicans.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Roger Moore:
So, what do you think can/should be done?
And what do you think is the likely outcome of this?
Kay
@WaterGirl:
I am grateful to her for pursuing it, in the same way I was grateful to the woman who came forward with Kavanaugh. It is brutal. I don’t think women do it unless they are solid though- in good mental shape. I think more fragile people don’t take the risk, and I don’t blame them. There’s no obligation for women to essentially abuse themselves all over again by bringing a case. But she’ll be fine whichever way it goes- she’s in good shape.
gvg
The thing that worries me about the debt ceiling fight is that it has become evident that many millionaires and billionaires don’t actually understand the financial system and “money”. They don’t know why they should not be allowing this to even almost happen. That just stuns me. I had the illusion that most really rich people knew better than to try to blow up the system that makes them wealthy. We’d be much safer it that was true. I wish we taught basic economics better in this country, earlier than college. Macro not micro. People tend to get micro, it’s macro they fail at. thats why they say stupid things like balance the budget, kitchen table economics and “common sense”.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Geminid:
Then they would be responsible for blowing up the world economy and the catastrophes that would follow. I’d like to think that if it came actually came down to this, the Fed would do the right thing
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid:
Nothing, that’s what. It’s a free play. Either it works and life is good, or it doesn’t and you’re no worse off than if you hadn’t tried it at all.
That’s why I can’t see why the platinum coin shouldn’t be tried first. Even if there’s only a 1% chance that it works (IOW, the Fed accepts the coins, and there are no successful court challenges), that’s a free one percent chance.
trollhattan
@WaterGirl: The current Supreme Court will rule that Trump can only henceforth be referred to as “Former super-successful president and acknowledged business genius.” States are free to punish anybody not solely using this description.
Sean
@Matt McIrvin: I definitely understand that and sympathize. It’s exhausting worrying about the whims of completely insane fanatics on daily basis.
Jackie
Ted’s getting a challenger – and it’s NOT Beto:
“Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) is planning to announce a run against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) as soon as this week, Politicoreports.
“A former NFL player-turned-civil rights attorney, Allred has been quietly prepping for a run against Cruz for months. During his two successful reelection bids since ousting an entrenched incumbent in 2018, Allred has proven a prolific fundraiser. He’s well-liked within the Democratic Caucus and has also picked up positions in leadership, now serving as a member of House Minority Whip Katherine Clark’s (D-MA) team and as previously part of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) expansive leadership team.””
He’s been fun to follow! I’ve been a fan of him since his TN Titans career, and as a TX Rep, he’s had lots of exposure on CNN and MSNBC re guns and immigrants.
Steeplejack
@WaterGirl:
We just know where to look. Adam Klasfeld is live-tweeting today.
trollhattan
That would be seven kinds of fecking awesome. Tate Reeves BTW is who you get from the agency when casting the corrupt governor of Mississippi. He really does look like a tater.
Anyway
@BlueGuitarist:
Go Brandon!!
OT – on a road trip some years back stopped in Tupelo, MS and visited the birth home of Elvis… drove the Natchez trail – that was pretty cool.
lowtechcyclist
@Matt McIrvin:
True, but since he didn’t run for Senate, that’s where the comparison ends.
Tom Q
@lowtechcyclist:
I think Hogan is smart enough to realize that US voters are fine with electing governors of the state’s non-dominant party (Baker in MA, Beshear in KY, Kelly in KS), but, when it comes to determining control of the Senate, they are far more careful to keep their preferred party in control. That is to say, Dems who like Hogan as governor will give him about the consideration for Senate that Dems in MT gave Bullock in 2020.
MD is likely a safe seat barring electoral cataclysm…but, in a year where Dems are largely defensive, any money diverted from the close races is a distraction the party doesn’t need.
BlueGuitarist
@lowtechcyclist:
Popular governors don’t necessarily do well running for Senate.
Hogan recently said, again, he wasn’t interested, but I said “pretty safe” because of the possibility he’d change his mind.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/24/larry-hogan-republican-campaigns-00088760
Kay
@Jackie:
Oh, I’m glad. I know everyone on Balloon Juice will get mad at me and accuse me of wanting people frogmarched without trials, but the DOJ is the biggest law firm in the world (if it were a firm) and I want them to be proactive. Not just responses. Bring something. Not even on Trump! On voting rights. On abortion. On white collar crime. I don’t think powerful people are afraid of them anymore and being afraid of prosecutors is essential to powerful people complying with laws. They will try WHATEVER they think they can get away with, and right now they seem to think they can get away with a lot. They need a real threat of prison time or they will just get more and more lawless.
lowtechcyclist
@Kay:
You mean something like this?
DOJ challenges Tennessee transgender youth care ban – ABC News (go.com)
Rusty
@The Thin Black Duke: I think less that the voters are idiots, and more that it’s very hard to motivate voters for you if you have nothing to show for it. If Biden rolls everything back he has accomplished to get the debt limit raised (and let’s be realistic, it will only be raised enough to get to the next crisis before the election), then why go vote for him again? I voted and got nothing for it, so why be motivated to vote? The Republicans and the majority of SCOTUS are saying that Democrats can never be allowed to govern, even when we pass legislation it will get overturned in the courts or traded away to the Republicans in an endless series of manufactured crises. At this point it’s better to fight and at least show we have principles we care about and will stand for even when it’s hard.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@BlueGuitarist: I believe people around, of the sources-close-to variety, Baker have said he doesn’t want to be part of a trumpified Republican Party in DC. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hogan felt the same way, but I get more presidential ambition vibes from Hogan than I do from Baker, one of those who thinks he can restore the national party from trumpism, after somebody else takes out trump, of course.
EriktheRed
I deleted my Twitter account, but still go on there at least once a day, usually after reading a tweet on here. I have no intention of reactivating my account despite this. I know I’d spend A LOT more time on there if I did. I just figure there’s nothing I have to say that plenty of others on there aren’t already saying and saying it better.
...now I try to be amused
@Tom Q:
For all I know, maybe McCarthy would be OK with that outcome as long as it is over his performative opposition. So much of GOP politics is performative.
For a long time there have been effectively three GOP caucuses in the House: (1) The “Freedom Caucus” terrorists who oppose even routine and necessary bills like raising the debt limit and funding the government (when a Dem is President). (2) Those who know the FC is wrong but vote “no” hoping others will vote “yes”. I suppose you could call them the Cowardly Caucus. (3) Those who are willing to risk a primary challenge to vote with Democrats to pass the routine and necessary bills.
John Boehner openly sided with group 3, and he resigned over it. Paul Ryan was at least sympathetic to group 3. We’re in uncharted territory now that the Freedom Caucus has the Speaker’s balls in a vise. (I so wanted to spell it “vice”.)
Kay
@lowtechcyclist:
Yes, I do. Be like Biden’s NLRB lawyer. She’s terrifying to employers. That’s good! They’ll behave better! If we get three like her in a row there wil be fewer employers breaking laws.
lowtechcyclist
@BlueGuitarist:
Yeah, I know that popularity as a governor usually doesn’t carry over to a Senate race if the state in general is solid for the opposing party. But if any GOPer could win a Senate seat in MD, it would be Hogan.
His chances might be slim, but everyone else’s would be zero. So I’m glad to hear he’s not interested.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s thinking that he’s a 67 year old (as of later this month, anyway) cancer survivor, he may have but so many good years ahead, and does he really want to spend a year and a half of those good years on a probably unsuccessful run for Senate?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Roger Moore:
Also, couldn’t the administration simply ignore this Supreme Court’s ruling if it meant default? Who would enforce it?
WaterGirl
@Geminid: I knew what you meant!
Jackie
MTG better hopes her national donations don’t dry up!
MTG’s quarterly filing shows only 6 donors from her district.
“In-district donations came from 6 individuals, in Cohutta, $250; Rome, $150; Ellijay, $150; Dalton, $150; Dahlonega, $600; and Shannon, $1,000.”
https://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/rome/news/local/rep-marjorie-taylor-greenes-campaign-account-dips-below-1-million-spending-tops-1-5-million/article_97c2c7c4-e788-11ed-aad9-1b12f5f89c06.html
JML
@Tom Q: as a governor, they have a lot more room to deviate from national party politics as needed. Hogan would still make me nervous as a candidate, but would also have more difficulty getting through a primary in his own party. Every moderate stance would get hung around his neck.
WaterGirl
@Kay: Yes. Christine Blasey Ford pretty much gave up life as she knew it in an attempt to keep the corrupt racist off the court, and the Rs politicized the FBI and the FBI went along with it.
I think Wray needs to go – for a number of reasons – but he seems pretty secure in that spot, and really serious crap does not appear to stick to him.
Ken
@Geminid:
Greene: “Then point of personal iniquity!”
H.E.Wolf
That would be… a little hard on all the people who aren’t in the privileged classes.
One of the many admirable aspects of the Biden Administration is that they don’t play “blow it all up” games, for which I am grateful on a daily basis. Life during the previous administration was not restful.
WaterGirl
@Steeplejack: I could not remember his name, dammit – that’s who I was watching last week, but none of the folks who had retweeted him last week had retweeted today, so I couldn’t find him.
thank you!
WaterGirl
@Steeplejack: What a petty little man Tapioca is. He even looks like the mob hack that he is.
yellowdog
@CaseyL: If Raskin runs, I think he will be a shoe-in.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation:
I could only assume the SCOTUS, right? Or maybe the DC Circuit, House R’s try to being suit? I’m not a lawyer either
WaterGirl
@Kay: Your comment reminded me that the post I had scheduled for this afternoon hadn’t gone up, so I just forced it.
You are getting your wish from the DOJ.
WaterGirl
@lowtechcyclist: I just put up a post with that. :-)
lowtechcyclist
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
The problem is, that goes both ways. The DOJ frequently has to take some corporation or state or locality to court to force them to comply with Federal statutes or regulations. If the Federal government thumbs its nose at Federal court rulings, what’s to keep everyone else from doing the same thing?
The Feds may have the juice to force compliance from private entities. But how about a state? As I noted above, right now the DOJ is taking the state of Tennessee to court over its denial of gender-affirming care to minors. If the DOJ is successful in court, why should Tennessee give a flying fuck about that, once Biden has flouted a Supreme Court ruling?
The possibility reminds me of this:
A Man For All Seasons – Giving the Devil the Benefit of Law – YouTube
We are, so far, a nation of laws. But even with the courts we have now, we would be much less of one once the President disregarded the courts. I’m not sure who could stand in the windstorm that followed.
Steeplejack
@Jackie:
Greene is getting a lot of money from somewhere, and she’s using it to build her power base in the GQP. Business Insider, two weeks ago:
lowtechcyclist
@WaterGirl:
Thanks!
Omnes Omnibus
@lowtechcyclist: Trying to maintain the rule of law when others are flouting it is a thankless task. It, however, is necessary.
Kay
@WaterGirl:
Right. But you see the track record here. The women who come forward often don’t succeed.
I mean, why were the FBI so willing to go along with protecting Kavanaugh? Because they have an institutional bias. It runs through the whole system. It didn’t occur to any of the famous prestigious people that they should cut ties with Epstein although he had been prosecuted for abusing 16 year old girls.
Miss Bianca
@WaterGirl: the guy’s name is really Tapioca?
Old School
@Miss Bianca: Joe Tacopina
UncleEbeneezer
@lowtechcyclist: But why didn’t DOJ stop the law from being passed in the first place? /sarcasm
lowtechcyclist
@Omnes Omnibus: Yeppers to that.
WaterGirl
@lowtechcyclist: I worded that in a confusing way.
I didn’t do it for you. :-) I had it scheduled for earlier today and it hadn’t gone up when it was scheduled.
WaterGirl
@Kay: I know. What happens when they come forward is disgusting. Their bravery in coming forward is notable.
UncleEbeneezer
@Kay: The hilarious, Janelle James on FB just now:
bbleh
Ooookay, and Yellen says X date could be “as soon as” June 1.
Technically true, I’m sure, and also suggests that the WH feels like it can turn up the heat too.
Bloody great…
Captain C
@WaterGirl:
If you’ve ever read any Alastair Reynolds, you’ll know what I mean when I think TFG deserves several years in the Scrimshaw Suit, followed by being sectioned alive*. Compared to that, your fate is gentle enough that if you ever get to carry it out he should thank you for your grandmotherly kindness.
*If not, the Scrimshaw Suit is a sensory-deprivation suit with built-in life support that is attached to the outside of a relativistic interstellar starship (owned by someone who makes our worst billionaires seem sane), and being sectioned alive is exactly what it sounds like, but with technology to keep the victim alive and aware during the entire process.
Miss Bianca
@Captain C: you’ve just convinced me to never read any Alistair Reynolds.
Ksmiami
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Raskin was on Harvard Law Review w my friend . He’d be excellent.
lowtechcyclist
@Ksmiami: I’d crawl over broken glass to vote for Raskin.
Chris T.
@gvg:
We probably should teach both. People do tend to get the micro part because that’s what they themselves deal with, but we should touch on both and show how they interact. In particular we need to show that “the economy” is the result of individual actions, not some sort of god that reaches down from the sky and says “recession – no job for you!”
Betsy
@Roger Moore: Whwreupon he went right back to a string of electoral failures for the party. Nice work, Donald Jessica.
Captain C
@Miss Bianca: He does a lot of hard sci fi space opera (he’s a former astronomer with the ESA so he knows his stuff). One of the ongoing themes in his work is that spending lots of time in relativistic travel between star systems and away from any other authorities tends to bring out the worst or craziest in many people. The owner of the scrimshaw suit made Elon Musk look sane and gentle, and the sectioning was used on someone who had just genocided an entire community by means of relativistic bombardment
ETA: Yeah, there are definitely some grim bits.
The Lodger
@Steeplejack: So the GOP is seeing MTG as an ATM. That’s useful to know.