Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

We are aware of all internet traditions.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

We will not go back.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / White House Working the Refs

White House Working the Refs

by | 170 Comments

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This was mentioned in passing in an earlier thread but perhaps deserves its own post since we spend so much time here shaking our fists at the Beltway media. The White House Counsel’s Office sent a memo to major media outlets with the following (painfully awkward but righteously angry) subject line:

It’s Time For The Media To Do More To Scrutinize House Republicans’ Demonstrably False Claims That They’re Basing Impeachment Stunt On

Here’s a link to a story on it at The Hill. (I chose that outlet because they embedded a PDF of the memo on the page so you can read the whole thing if you choose.) Every administration I can remember — from Nixon to Biden — has complained about media coverage at some point, some with plenty of justification and some with none. But I can’t ever remember such specific media advice from a White House.

The memo notes that House Repubs, led by the deranged MT Greene of Georgia, have been investigating Biden for nine months and turned up nothing, let alone any evidence of malfeasance that meets the specific requirements for impeachment outlined in the U.S. Constitution.

The memo states that impeachment is supposed to be “grave, rare and historic” and provides a list of GOP congress-critters who have publicly denied that House Repubs possess any evidence that would justify impeachment.

Then the memo outlines how current reporting isn’t meeting the moment and reminds media outlets of their responsibility to the public:

(R)eporting that solely focuses on process rather than substance is woefully inadequate when it comes to something as historically grave as impeachment.

It’s time for the media to ramp up its scrutiny of House Republicans for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies. When even House Republican members are admitting that there is simply no evidence that Joe Biden did anything wrong, much less impeachable, that should set off alarm bells for news organizations.

For years, Republicans in Congress have tried to muddy the waters by attracting media coverage of their allegations, and as they choose to move forward with impeachment, it is the responsibility of the independent press to treat their claims with the appropriate scrutiny. Covering impeachment as a process story – Republicans say X, but the White House says Y – is a disservice to the American public who relies on the independent press to hold those in power accountable.

And in the modern media environment, where every day liars and hucksters peddle disinformation and lies everywhere from Facebook to Fox, process stories that fail to unpack the illegitimacy of the claims on which House Republicans are basing all their actions only serve to generate confusion, put false premises in people’s feeds, and obscure the truth.

House Republican leaders should be held accountable for the fact that they are lurching toward impeachment over allegations that are not only unfounded but, in virtually all cases, have been actively disproven – including by witnesses and documents in their own investigations, as well as years-old congressional probes and even the former President’s first impeachment inquiry.

Wowzers! Every word is true. The House hearings have been a clown show from day one, and McCarthy flip-flopped on holding a vote before opening an inquiry (also mentioned in the memo) only because nutcases like Greene have his wizened little grapes in their fist.

I’m especially pleased to see Fox mentioned in the context of “liars and hucksters peddl(ing) disinformation and lies.” (I’d love to see the White House follow up by yanking the Doocy nepo-baby’s credentials.) Will it have any effect? I don’t know, but sometimes working the refs works.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

170Comments

  1. 1.

    Old School

    There will probably still be too many articles using phrasing like “that Republicans claim” and “Republicans believe”, but if more are willing to point out that no evidence exists, that would be a good thing.

  3. 3.

    Baud

    I can’t imagine they expect the media to change their ways.  I wonder if this is really for the voters, to remind them that the media is not on their side.

  4. 4.

    waspuppet

    It’ll probably have the opposite effect. Our courageous, crusading media stars don’t think they’ve made a single mistake since at least 2015 and more like 1995, and they’ll go full Mean Girl on anyone (other than Republicans of course) who says they did. Look for “Biden rattled” headlines for weeks.

    Still glad this happened though.

  7. 7.

    skerry

    I saw that Kristen Welker, the new host of Meet The Press, has Trump as her first interview. Taping is tomorrow at Bedminster.

    Trying to make us miss Chuckie

  8. 8.

    Old School

    Some guy in Mexico talked about extraterrestrials and the Associated Press can’t find it within itself to treat him like a nutcase.

    I’m not holding my breath for them to not report impeachment claims seriously.

  9. 9.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud:

    this is really for the voters, to remind them that the media is not on their side.

    That is a bingo.

    I do love seeing President Biden snarking at the MSM, particularly the FTF NY Times.  (I wonder what he calls that paper in private?)

  10. 10.

    MattF

    The White House has to keep this up, keep doing it until the relevant reporters/editors get pissed off and beyond. Also, it keeps reminding the good guys that the media are not our pals— and will never be. It’s the only way.

  12. 12.

    JPL

    CNN shows including Jake’s pointed out that there is no evidence implicating the President.   Would have been nice if they did that a year ago.

  14. 14.

    CaseyL

    My respect for the MSM plummeted watching their bloodthirsty joy at W’s drive to war with Iraq.

    But that’s nothing compared to the contempt I have had for them ever since they whored themselves out completed for the Trump Spectacle.

    Their shift to totally monetized, infotainment-ized, ratings-uber-alles stenographic blather renders them useless as a news source, because every story they cover I now have to wonder how they’re slanting it to appease their owners and sponsors.

  15. 15.

    Betty Cracker

    @skerry: Christ on a crumpet, for real? I don’t have an impression one way or another about Welker. Maybe she’ll surprise us all and bring the heat.

  17. 17.

    Dan B

    @Old School: The pictures look very fake and the claims that 2/3 of DNA matched “terrestrial DNA” and 1/3 did not, plus one had eggs.  It’s truly nutty that an extraterrestrial would have some human DNA.  And eggs?

  18. 18.

    Urza

    @Old School: We just did this in America with absolutely no credible evidence but every news site had to report on it as though it could be true.  And so much of the public is now talking like aliens are real and it was proven because no one bothers to both sides the thing that absolutely should have had another side presented.  That side being how to tell when someones lying to you and why you should never trust them again without extraordinary evidence up front.

  20. 20.

    trollhattan

    @Old School: Alien abduction in Mexico? See that and raise Norwegian princess to marry her shaman.

    Norway’s Princess Martha Louise will marry her American partner, self-styled shaman Durek Verrett, next summer, the couple has announced.

    King Harald V congratulated the pair, saying he was happy to welcome Mr Verrett to his family.

    The princess relinquished her royal duties last year to run the alternative medicine business she shares with her fiancé. Mr Verrett is known for promoting unfounded medical practices.

    He has suggested cancer is a choice and sold medallions online said to ward off Covid-19, while Princess Martha Louise has claimed she is able to communicate with angels.

    They announced their engagement in June 2022 and received the king’s blessing. “We are excited to have Durek Verrett join the family and we look forward to celebrating the big day with them,” Norway’s king and queen said in a statement released on Wednesday. [Scandinavian terseness reported in area.]

    “We wish Martha and Durek all the best.”

    Mr Verrett will move to Norway and join the royal family without holding a title, Norway’s state broadcaster NRK reported.

    The Hollywood guru, who describes himself as a “6th Generation Shaman” – has claimed to have risen from the dead and to have predicted the 9/11 attacks in the United States two years before they took place. [It’s well known the first five shaman generations aren’t worth a damn.]

    Mr Verrett, who is African-American, has acknowledged that his beliefs can be uncomfortable for some, and has argued the criticism he faces is due to racism.

    Meanwhile Princess Martha Louise has attracted controversy in Norway for decades for her involvement in alternative treatments, including starting a school that aimed to help people “get in touch with their angels”.

    She has said that she was “aware of the importance of research-based knowledge”, but that she believed alternative medicine can be “an important supplement to help from the conventional medical establishment”.

  22. 22.

    Jeffro

    Kayleigh McEananey (sp?) was front and center on Fox News earlier today, calling the administration’s memo all kinds of bad things.

    The GOP has to be worried that this Administration is playing offense.  Good!

  26. 26.

    cain

    @Dan B: I thought people were saying that she is a solid journalist?

    Also, honestly I think a number of us are probably still facebook pals with some asshole who is anti-abortion.

  29. 29.

    Baud

    Via Reddit, this will turn some heads.

     

    John Fetterman says he’ll ‘never understand’ progressives who refuse to support Joe Biden

    Sen. John Fetterman has a message for progressives: support Joe Biden.

    The Pennsylvania Democrat says that supporting anyone besides Biden is the same as supporting Trump.

    He recalled his time serving as a Clinton surrogate in 2016, even after he supported Sanders.

  31. 31.

    Jeffro

    Omfg Ari Melber is interviewing Matt Gaetz on MSNBC right now, and MG almost comes across as not insane.

    evil, because he is a Republican, but not insane

    wild!

  33. 33.

    RaflW

    Reporting that solely focuses on process rather than substance is woefully inadequate when it comes to something as historically grave as pretty much every major policy choice or election.

    We’ve ended up with a media that is incredibly easily bored by the actually crucial things like wether we are going to burn up the planet to inhabitability, while obsessing over who is going to get the edge on what.

    FYFNYT today of course had a front page story about how a possible electric car autoworker strike will be be (you got it!) Bad News for Biden.

    I applaud the WH for trying. Really!! But if anything, this will make the cadre of brittle dweebs in D.C. all the more resistant to reporting substance. That said, the WH gotta try. I don’t mean that the effort is wrong to attempt.

  34. 34.

    JaneE

    While you are at it, try throwing in a few lines about SCOTUS rulings that state as fact again demonstrably false (video, no less) “facts” to justify a ruling that is based on lies from start to finish.  Or that “harm” exists when the plaintiff lied to start the whole proceeding.

  35. 35.

    gene108

    The House hearings have been a clown show from day one, and McCarthy flip-flopped on holding a vote before opening an inquiry (also mentioned in the memo) only because nutcases like Greene have his wizened little grapes in their fist.

    Nancy Mace explains the nature of Congressional fishing expeditions and how just opening an impeachment inquiry will hopefully catch the elusive Joe Biden fish.

    From the 9/12/23 episode of CNN’s morning program.

    MATTINGLY: Joining us now is Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina. She’s a member of the House Oversight Committee, and it’s that committee that I want to start with. There have been — there’s been reporting this morning, both from Punchbowl News and our colleagues here at CNN, Speaker McCarthy is planning to tell the conference later this week that he wants to move forward with an impeachment inquiry or plans to. Do you believe that there are the votes to move forward on impeachment inquiry if he decides to go that route?

    REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): More than likely, the inquiry, my understanding, gets us or help — will assist us in getting Joe Biden’s bank records. And there’s no doubt, based on the evidence that I’ve seen, whether it’s the SARS reports or evidence from the FBI, whistleblowers, et cetera, there is no way that any of this happens without Joe Biden.

    And so, if that is a tool in the toolbox that we can use to get more evidence for the American people, then I’m going to support it. The problem is, if you do the inquiry, how do you avoid doing an actual impeachment? And, you know, that puts a lot of seats up at risk, particularly for Republicans who won Biden districts. And, you know, that is the web that we will weave if we move forward on it.

    On the last line, Mace is probably rational enough to know they won’t find anything, so they can avoid an actual impeachment that requires Republican Congress critters to actually go on record with a vote.

    They’ll just dig out more crap to flood the zone with shit. Might not affect most people, but MAGA’s will have more talking points about Biden’s “corruption”.

    https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/ctmo/date/2023-09-12/segment/04

  36. 36.

    Geminid

    @Baud: I think some people on the Left overestimated how “left” Fetterman would be. He’s more like Sherrod Brown than Bernies Sanders.

    Some people on the moderate side worried he was too “left,” and that made the Lamb/Fetterman rivalry a heated one among their respective fans. But I didn’t see much grumbling among my fellow Lamb supporters when Fetterman won handily, and the ones in Pennsylvania I followed got right behind Fetterman once the primary was over.

  37. 37.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    OT: What it’s like growing up in America.

    Today, at age 40, I learned beets change the color of your shit.

    I learned the same about blue food dye at 16.

  39. 39.

    Baud

    @Geminid:

    Yeah, but it’s one thing to be left, but it’s another to stand up to those lefties that push anti-solidarity.  Too often the pro-unity left has been silent in the debate.

  40. 40.

    WaterGirl

    @Betty Cracker: I’d be willing to bet my house that she won’t bring any heat at all.

    Apparently she wants to choose her audience for her entire term on MTP – which is what she is doing by opening with Trump.

    I would be happy to be wrong.

  41. 41.

    bbleh

    Can we haz a new acronym?  Like EAIAC or IOKIYAR?  I propose AFT, as in about fking time.

    Play hardball with the courtiers, and if they don’t toe the line, exile them to covering the South Dakota primary.

  42. 42.

    Mousebumples

    scot ross (@rossacrosswi) posted at 1:18 PM on Wed, Sep 13, 2023:

    NEW: @ABetterWis releases comprehensive poll showing Wisconsin voters oppose @repvos & GOP scheme to impeach @janetforjustice by a 24-point margin. That’s twice as many points as her 11-point victory in April that Vos and Republicans are trying to undo.

    (https://x.com/rossacrosswi/status/1702023878661321010?t=2EF63CXXVBieq8efCXjrsg&s=03)

    Link to the poll

    Justice Protasiewicz has positive job ratings. In April, Protasiewicz was elected by 11-points (56% – 45%) in a spring election with record-breaking turnout. Months later and just weeks after being sworn in, voters approve of the job she’s doing by a similar 11–point margin (51% approve – 29% disapprove).

     

    Republican motivation to impeach is seen as political. Only a third of voters (33%) believe Republicans want to impeach Protasiewicz because they “believe she did something wrong and should be removed” while nearly half (46%) think it is because Republicans “are upset their candidate who could have helped them hold on to political power didn’t win.” Even 14% of Republicans believe it is because their party’s chosen candidate didn’t win.

    I’m not sure it’s not something of a push poll, but I don’t care. Even 14% of Republicans admit this is politically motivated!

    Wisconsin has a history of not supporting recalls/etc., that overturn the will of the voters (see the failed impeachment of Gov. Walker).

    I’m glad to see WisDems is keeping the pressure on…

  43. 43.

    RaflW

    @Jeffro: There was a huge amount of bellyaching around the Beltway over how well Obama used social media, youtube and other direct-to-audience methods to reach both his base, and people he felt weren’t getting useful news about the O white house productivity.

    The response was, of course, to double down on process/horserace/bullshit, not to improve the content of the impact of policy debates. (I remember endless, endless fucking stories about how ACA was being cobbled and impreiled and saved and blah blah, but damn little about what it was).

  44. 44.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @bbleh: We should spend every waking moment bitching about our unaccountable, uninformative press.

    If we need a reference for methodology, see the Republicans. Just complain, apparently it doesn’t even matter if it’s true.

  46. 46.

    Geminid

    @gene108: I think Rep. Mace has her eye on Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat. He’ll probably retire in 2026 and she wants to keep her conservative credentials in order.

  47. 47.

    Mike in NC

    McCarthy is as dumb as a box of rocks. He’s going to pull a Gingrich and it’ll blow up in his face.

  49. 49.

    Baud

    Basically, the Republicans’ religious faith that Biden engaged in wrongdoing is all the evidence that they need.

  51. 51.

    Ocotillo

    Regarding the Ignatius (sp?) Post column saying Biden shouldn’t run for re-election because he’s old, Iggy is 75 himself.

    Maybe we should all start calling on MSM to force some of these old crows out since they are past their sell by dates.  How the heck old is Andrea Mitchell anyway?  Who else?

  54. 54.

    artem1s

    it really is sad. this should be a golden age for investigative journalism. they have almost unlimited access to information and can publish thousands of words everyday without having to worry about how many column inches their story will take up. they have the opportunity to educate millions – if they wanted. and reap the benefits of ad buys on internet pages that will never ever disappear – if they wanted.
    instead of taking advantage of all these opportunities they do everything they can to attract viewers (not readers) and clickers who have the least ability to focus on complex stories and are least likely to stick around and check out the rest of the site or return to the story to find out more. so instead they whinge when they have to be more than stenographers or have to type out more than 120 characters. it’s pretty pathetic when you think about it.

  55. 55.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Ocotillo: For all this hand ringing over whether Biden is too old to be President; has anyone produced a single example, valid or otherwise, to show that Biden’s age has hindered him in his.job performance?

  57. 57.

    Salty Sam .

    The White House should just shut down the White House Press Corp.  Stop giving briefings, take no questions… just shut ‘em out.

    And when they bitch about it, say “oh fuck right off.  You’re just gonna make up some bullshit anyway…”

    Eh, a guy can dream…

    ETA:  I heartily applaud the memo today, telling the media, in effect, “NO MORE MALARKEY!”

  58. 58.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @RaflW: I thought I was bleeding. No recent trauma, so I found it really concerning. I considered a medical evaluation before I recognized the distinctive color.

  60. 60.

    Geminid

    @Baud: Oh man! If you followed people like Michael Paulauski or Ragnarok Lobster you’d find a whole twitter ecosystem devoted to fighting anti-Democrat Lefties. Some of the hardest hitters are women like Candidly Tiff and Melissa Hancock-Li. Those folks stay on the warpath.

    But it’s true that not that many progressive “stars” in Congress aggressively push back against anti-Party Lefties like Fetterman did. That may change over the next year though.

  62. 62.

    Scout211

    The CNN website has some good news articles and many of the reporters do point out the fallacies of the GOP noise machine.  I refuse to watch any cable or network news because that just doesn’t happen very often.

    Like this one: CNN

    Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday he wants to close the Department of Education and have state governments “run the education of our children,” pushing for a long-held Republican goal that has been endorsed by several other 2024 GOP candidates.

    “We’re going to end education coming out of Washington, DC. We’re going to close it up – all those buildings all over the place and people that in many cases hate our children. We’re going to send it all back to the states,” Trump said in a new campaign video.

    But eliminating the US Department of Education would not necessarily give any more power to states over K-12 schools. While the federal agency helps the president execute education policies, the power to set curriculum, establish schools and determine enrollment eligibility already lies with the states and local school boards.

    The article goes on to explain how the Federal Education Department works and how the State Departments of Education work.

    The only thing that they didn’t say is, “Donald Trump is a big fat liar and is telling you that he’s going bat for all you stupid MAGAs to fight a problem that doesn’t exist.”

    That would be cool.

  63. 63.

    Jeffro

    @Baud: Basically, the Republicans’ religious faith that Biden engaged in wrongdoing overriding imperative to absolve their tribal chieftain of his crimes by blurring the obvious differences is all the evidence that they need.

    Fixed and all that.  ;)

  68. 68.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Jeffro: LIke the Republicans wouldn’t be falsely accusing Biden of crimes regardless of the criminal status of their last elected President.

  70. 70.

    Alison Rose

    @Jeffro: Yeah, except that Gaetz lied and babbled BS most of the interview and Melber didn’t push back on it hardly at all. I don’t know what the point of that interview was. Gaetz can take the clips and show it to his people like “Look, even MSNBC liberals think I’m right”.

  71. 71.

    Roger Moore

    @gene108:

    The point of the impeachment inquiry isn’t to remove Biden from office.  It’s really threefold:

    1. To create the perception of wrongdoing.
    2. To give Republicans the opportunity to dig through Biden’s records in the hope they can find something.
    3. To keep Biden’s people occupied with a load of crap so they can’t get any real work done.

    There may also be some further bullshit about using the inquiry as an excuse for why the Republicans in the Senate can refuse to cooperate with any nominations Biden tries to make.

  72. 72.

    mrmoshpotato

    It’s Time For The Media To Do More To Scrutinize House Republicans’ Demonstrably False Claims That They’re Basing Impeachment Stunt On Stop Sucking Republicans’ Assholes And Call Out This Impeachment Inquiry Bullshit For The Tax-Money-Wasting Bullshit That It Is.  Also, It’s Bullshit.

    And Fuck You, Chuck Todd.

    Fixed.

  75. 75.

    hueyplong

    @Alison Rose: If I’m Melber I let him talk, encourage even more talk, and then bring receipts to tomorrow’s show and rip him apart (or bring on McCarthy for some “let them fight” action).

  76. 76.

    lamh36

    Good evening BJ.

    I’m back home in NOLA from my weekend trip to LA.   Aside from some glitches, LA was a good trip.  I’ll def have to make another more solo trip than this one since my sister traveled with me.

    I came back a bit under the weather though, so haven’t been feeling great.

    WaterGirl if you read this, I submitted an OTR post from my birthday trip to Italy last year.  My goal is to send you one more from my trip to Japan this past May!  I’ll work on that one tomorrow or later this week as I get to feeling better!

  77. 77.

    Alison Rose

    @hueyplong: Well he had Josh Marshall on afterward, and I had turned it off because I was annoyed, but apparently Marshall called out the lies. But that’s useless. The host’s job is not to just sit there and let someone tell lies and not counter them at all. Countering them later in the show with someone else, or tomorrow, or whatever, doesn’t do anything. Like I said, Gaetz could absolutely take the clip and post it as proof that “even the liberal Ari Melber” agrees with him. Hell, at one point he referred to Biden “running the DOJ” or something and Ari didn’t say shit. It was a total softball interview the whole time and it was pathetic.

  79. 79.

    wjca

    @hueyplong: bring on McCarthy for some “let them fight” action

    If you love “horserace” journalism, seems like a golden opportunity here.  Why not grab it?  Think of the headlines!  Think of the clicks!

  80. 80.

    Kathleen

    @Betty Cracker: Naw. The cogs in the machine are just “doing their jobs”, which is whatever management tells them to do. These are all hit pieces coordinated between the networks anyway. No one will ever convince me otherwise.

  83. 83.

    hueyplong

    @Alison Rose: Maybe I’m wrong. My background isn’t in any way related to the media. From my pov, getting a deponent to lie a bunch of times about things easily disproved when it matters is considered a job well done.

  84. 84.

    Kathleen

    @Villago Delenda Est: Bingo. WaPoop just reprints stories from GOP that are based on lies or blown out of proportion. Biden admin provides hard facts to refute Republicans’ claims for impeachment. Shall we start betting pool on how Mainslime Media will respond? I’ll start. Avalanche of stories about what Republicans are claiming about information in WH’s memo to press. You heard it here first.

  85. 85.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Alison Rose: The problem is that Melber has already spent two years committed to bashing the DOJ wrt Garland.  DOJ = Bad, is part of his branding at this point.

  86. 86.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Geminid: ​
      I had a vague preference for Lamb because I figured he would be more electable. Since I am not from PA, I generally stayed out of the discussions. I think that Pennsylvanians chose well, and that Fetterman is really good addition to the caucus. This is a good object lessonwhy we should defer to local people on their elections. I don’t think there was a Pennsylvanian commenting on the blog who had an objection to him while a lot of out-of-staters had reservations.

  89. 89.

    Alison Rose

    @hueyplong: But not if you don’t point out that they are lies and do the disproving. If you just let them say things and go “yeah, uh-huh, right, okay thanks for coming on”, that’s a massive disservice.

  91. 91.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @hueyplong: From my pov, getting a deponent to lie a bunch of times about things easily disproved when it matters is considered a job well done.

    Appears to be a difference in philosophy. If I understand correctly, Alison believes “when it matters” is during the interview.

    I’m honestly inclined to agree with her. At least some of that needs to be debunked contemporaneously. We can’t rely on enough people to follow up on facts on their own.

  93. 93.

    BellaPea

    @Ocotillo: I was watching that on Andrea Mitchell today and blew my stack. She never misses a chance to diss Biden. I try not to watch her, especially her interviews, as she has to search for words and flubs names and places. I used to have respect for her, but no more–it’s past time for her to retire.

  94. 94.

    Geminid

    @Omnes Omnibus: I hope I respect the views of locals on this blog, and I often ask locals about their districts because of that. But when a Pennsylvania jackal bashed Lamb, I did not defer to them; I pushed back.

  96. 96.

    Roger Moore

    @hueyplong:

    So tomorrow is too late?

    For a news show, yes it is.  You need to combat lies when they’re spoken, not a few days later.  Plenty of people who hear the lie today won’t be listening when it’s debunked tomorrow, so they’ll continue to believe it.

  97. 97.

    lamh36

    Any every had to do an associate professor’s interview before?

    I’ve been trying to get out of the lab and into non-clinical lab world.  So I applied for a job as an Associate Professor in Microbiology at my alma mater.  TBH, other than having my Masters, I honestly didn’t expect any actual response, but the head of the department actually reached out today via email to set up an interview next week!!

    They asked that I put together a 10 minute, presentation on a MLS topic of your choice to present to the faculty.  Ummm wow.  I have never done that for an interview before.  I mean I’m not worried about it, but still wow.

    Any advice from anyone who has ever been interviewed for this type of position?

    Oh also, at least 5 of the current faculty members were my actual teachers 20+yrs ago!

  100. 100.

    Scout211

    @Omnes Omnibus: This is a good object lessonwhy we should defer to local people on their elections.

    Good point.

    In the many discussions here in the comments on DiFI’s replacement for next year, my unofficial tally is that the out-of-staters seem to prefer Katie Porter but the Californians seem to prefer Schiff for our next Senator.

    National prominence doesn’t always equal local loyalty in a candidate.  We would do well to listen to what local jackals think.

    Oh, who am I kidding? This is balloon-juice, where everyone has an opinion.  Listen? Pffft! 🤣

  101. 101.

    Alison Rose

    @hueyplong: So you think it’s okay to have someone on your show, let them tell blatant lies, and not say a word in response, but then the next day be like “here’s why what he said was wrong”? But the people who Gaetz will show the clip to, and the normies out there, are never going to see the later fact-checking. It’s like when the newspaper runs a story on A1 that has a big falsehood or error in it, and the correction gets printed days later on page D10 or something. No one sees it, and all they remember is the wrong stuff.

    News anchors like those on MSNBC are not supposed to just let people spread lies and then say thank you. If someone comes on a show and says “Biden wants to legalize infanticide in case a woman couldn’t get an abortion” and the host doesn’t say anything, that would be journalistic malpractice. Letting someone tell lies and not countering them is akin to agreeing with them.

  102. 102.

    mrmoshpotato

    @trollhattan:

    Alien abduction in Mexico? See that and raise Norwegian princess to marry her shaman.

    A cruise ship is marrying that insurrectionist, Trump-trash goatboy?

  103. 103.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Baud: MSNBC is as close as we can get at this point.  The three incumbent broadcast networks are as craven as CNN in seeking some of that sweet sweet reactionary ratingspalooza.

  104. 104.

    hueyplong

     

    @Roger Moore: So they dip in today, miss tomorrow, and are spoiled for life no matter what comes out on that or any other show between now and Nov 2024?

    Melber bears a heavy responsibility.

  105. 105.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Scout211: If I were a Californicator, I’d want Schiff for Senate, and let Katie continue to make life miserable for asshole CEOs in the House.  But I don’t get to decide, I just get to blather.

  106. 106.

    lamh36

    @Baud: yes…I am usually okay after a trip, but TBH I did start the trip with a little tickle in my throat and an occasional cough that I thought was just due to acid reflux maybe, but when I started to kind a lose my voice I knew it might be a bit more so I decided to stay home an extra day from work and I’m glad I did.

    Good thing about working in Micro lab is I can always test myself to see what’s going on.  Which I will do once I return to work.

  107. 107.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @mrmoshpotato: Oh so close, but no.  Actual member of the Norwegian royal house marrying some quack asshole who self-styles himself a “shaman”.  He couldn’t pull off that trick in World of Warcraft.

  108. 108.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Scout211: I still have agita from when a commenter who had read a book on Wisconsin but never been there explained the state’s politics to me.

  112. 112.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @schrodingers_cat: Please, your insights on the subcontinent are always informative and entertaining.  I’ve taken to calling Ramasmarmy “Avivek” instead of “Vivek” because I’ve read it’s the opposite of the meaning of vivek.

  117. 117.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Villago Delenda Est: Vivek is a synonym for sense and reason.  Indian Damian is quite the opposite of that, hence Avivek.

    BTW I know his type. Bloviating and lying through their teeth, he resembles many many BJP-Sangh apparatchiks

    I am wondering whether either of his parents have Sangh ties. It is not uncommon for some of their demographic to have Sangh ties.

  124. 124.

    Mousebumples

    @Omnes Omnibus: I still have agita from when a commenter who had read a book on Wisconsin but never been there explained the state’s politics to me.

    I don’t know if I saw that thread. If I’m in the right mood, that can be highly entertaining. Though in peak election season… Likely less so.

  126. 126.

    Jay

    @Alison Rose:

    There used to be a gameshow, where the premise of the game, was a paid actor would tell a lie, and the contestant that caught it would hit a buzzer and win points.

    Red Robinson, passed away sadly, had an on air interview with Gordon Campbell, going into the election, years ago. Two minutes in, (Red was a DJ) Red hit a buzzer, and said, “A new record, we have our first lie!” Gordon then tried to dissemble, and Red nailed him hard.

    That went on for an hour with Red hitting the buzzer 22 times.

    Red actually said to him, “I know you arn’t stupid, so why are you lying? Is it because you think your voters are stupid?”.

  129. 129.

    WaterGirl

    @lamh36:

    Oh also, at least 5 of the current faculty members were my actual teachers 20+yrs ago!

    That may be part of why you got the interview?

    I wonder if reaching out to Tom Levenson might be a good idea?

  130. 130.

    Dan B

    @mrmoshpotato:  Annnndd, Bobert was kicked out of Beetlejuice the Musical with her new boyfriend who owns an Aspen bar that’s had drag shows and LGBT nights.  Annnndd, he’s a Democrat!

  131. 131.

    WaterGirl

    @lamh36: oops.  My neighbor got the new strain of Covid a few weeks ago, and her only symptom was losing her voice.

    Hope that’s not your problem, but I feel I should mention it.

  132. 132.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, … GovExec.com:

    […]

    Robert M. Stein, a political scientist at Rice University, is one of those pessimistic observers. He thinks that, on balance, a shutdown is likely — whether now or in a month or so, if a temporary CR is passed first. And that if a shutdown does happen, it is likely to be lengthy.

    “This year’s possible shutdown scenario is a lot more complicated than that one back in 2018 and 2019,” Stein told Government Executive. “What we have here is a majority that is itself divided. On the one side, you have the Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who is struggling to keep his party together. On the other, you have the Freedom Caucus — including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and others — who actually have totally disparate agendas, but who agree on one thing: contrary to Speaker McCarthy, they think it would just be great to shut the government down.

    “In the past, and specifically in the crisis that led to the last shutdown, it was simple. It was one team versus the other team, one party against the other,” he continued. “Not so now. The GOP is split. Complicating things even more, each week McCarthy’s speakership is in greater jeopardy—and he can’t satisfy all sides of his own party on a shutdown option or the issues driving it, making an actual shutdown even more likely.”

    Just what are those “issues” that are pushing Republican lawmakers toward a worsening split and a likelier shutdown? Stein’s list of leading GOP dilemmas includes the entrees on the Freedom Caucus’s menu: whether to press for federal abortion ban legislation, tightened border and immigration controls, pushing against the federal part of a “whole woke attitude,” particularly in the military, among others.

    Most prominently right now, there is a roiling internal GOP debate on whether to press for impeachment of President Biden across several fronts, including his son’s murky business dealings — with even the more moderate House R’s saying evidence connecting the president to any of it is lacking. Disagreement on each of these fronts is driving a wedge between House Republicans, hampering any consensus needed to pass spending legislation and stop a shutdown.

    Bottom line: With this much internal division in the House — and the divided GOP itself hanging by a mere four-vote majority — it’s very hard to function.

    “What if just one of your members gets sick — or tries to avoid this vote? You’re down to just three,” Stein adds. “McCarthy can’t manage this.”

    So, what does Stein predict on the shutdown threat in the immediate future, and on into the coming months? “All I can imagine right now, soon, is McCarthy goes for a CR, which the Freedom Caucus won’t vote for, and so then the House Speaker crosses the aisle and tries to put together votes to avoid shutting down government. Here, I think he fails on this, with government shutting down.

    “Then he’s going to lose his speakership,” he added. “And maybe we even see a prolonged shutdown in government while there is no leadership in the House. It’s a pretty dire possibility, but I wouldn’t rule it out.

    “And by the way, shutting down government now could also send the economy into a tailspin,” Stein noted, in case we lost sight of the wider damage to our economic well-being that an interruption in government operations might represent.”

    […]

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  135. 135.

    jackmac

    I’ve always believed that Fox “News” is propaganda first, news way down the priority list. Yanking Doocy’s White House credentials would be a good first step and other federal departments and agencies should also treat Fox as a pariah.

  141. 141.

    lamh36

    @WaterGirl: Yes. When I say losing my voice, what I mean is you can def hear some strain on my vocal cords from the coughing, but I finally got the coughing under control for the most part so at the most I sound like I have a pack of cigarettes a day type habit, but not complete loss.

    As I said though, the great thing about working in an active clinical Micro lab is being able to test my samples easily.  I’m back to work tomorrow so I’ll def be testing myself…pronto.

    Having said that though, I DID test myself for a complete viral panel including COVID, so if it comes back as pos for COVID I’d be a bit surprised.

  142. 142.

    frosty

    @lamh36: ​Very cool! I have no advice on interviewing for an academic job but I’ve done a lot of presentations. If you’re using PowerPoint, go light on the text and try to find illustrations, pictures, and graphs that cover your topic instead. And one slide per minute, so don’t make it longer than 10 or 12 slides.
    People (including me) diss PowerPoint but it can be useful. I set it up so it was my outline and I wouldn’t forget anything. People read faster than you can talk, so if you want to add some detail to the text, go ahead, but for Heaven’s sake don’t read it all!​

  143. 143.

    Mousebumples

    @Omnes Omnibus: It was a few years ago. I don’t know if you were around then.

    I’ve been around for ages (pre John getting Lilly), and I think I first unlurked when she first head health issues many years ago. But if it was a few years ago, I don’t think I’d remember, lol.

  146. 146.

    CaseyL

    @lamh36: ​

    Omigosh! That is amazing news!

    I wish I had any useful advice, but I’ve never interviewed for a faculty position, nor been in on an interview for one. I have sat in on interviews for clinical orthopedic Fellows, and there was discussion about what procedures they had done, how they approached their cases, stuff like that.

    I think all interviews, for any position, will ask about how you handle difficult situations, “challenging” (i.e., awful) people, heavy workloads, and what working environment you work best in.

    Wishing you the very best of luck!!

  148. 148.

    schrodingers_cat

    @lamh36: It is pretty typical to be asked to give a presentation for a faculty job. Usually your hiring committee will be your faux students. They may also ask you to give a talk about your research if that’s applicable.

    Good luck!

  149. 149.

    NotMax

    Bears mention.

    Vivek Ramaswamy plans to shut down five federal agencies by bypassing Congress and using executive authority should he take office in 2024.

    Ramaswamy, who detailed parts of his proposed agenda during a phone call with Semafor on Tuesday night, said he plans to shutter the FBI, ATF, U.S. Department of Education, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Services.…
    [snip]
    Ramaswamy’s plan to act without Congress would almost certainly face swift legal pushback, but he said he’s confident the decisions would ultimately stand.

    “We’ll take it to the Supreme Court, and I think we’ll win 6-3,” he told Semafor, adding that he’s “taken detailed advice from multiple legal academics who are at the bleeding edge of this.” Source

  151. 151.

    Betty

    @Omnes Omnibus: Good observation. If you hadn’t followed Fetterman for a few years and knew what he was about and how he went about campaigning but instead relied on media reports, you weren’t likely to understand his appeal to a broad electorate.

  153. 153.

    BC in Illinois

    For insight into the Republican thinking on impeachment, i give you . . . Alexandra Petri.

    Yes, you in the front! Ah, why are we impeaching him? Great question! I can’t wait to find out, either! I assume he must have done something pretty bad, if he’s getting impeached! Something dire, I bet! And I will be back to you very soon with what that thing is. He did TBD. And, of course, the terrible crime of TK TK TK! According to this piece of paper that I have here in my hand, he did “Put Something Here Before You Read This To Anyone.”

    Impeachment is something we undertake only for serious crimes and misdemeanors, or because the president is a Democrat and that makes us mad.

    We Guess Joe Biden Did Something Worth Impeaching

    And We Can’t Wait To Learn What It Was.

  157. 157.

    lamh36

    @schrodingers_cat: the most interesting part is that these are all my former teachers.  I doubt they remember me from 20+yrs ago, but maybe.  I’ve interacted with each of them some time over the years.

    And funny enough, the only person who wasn’t a former teach, is the current professor who’s retiring, I actually worked with before Hurricane Katrina in the public health lab.  She had just recently moved to US and had a PhD from a foreign university and couldn’t find work until after.  I interacted with her a couple of times years after Katrina.

    I mean it may be kismet!

  158. 158.

    cain

    @jackmac: they should and invite Fox News to sue so they can push for discovery on Fox News.

    There are plenty of stuff these assholes have said under oath on who they are in other court cases.

  160. 160.

    Weapon X

    @lamh36: keep it simple:

    Part I: this is what I have done (show cool stuff)

    Part II: these are the ways I am a good fit for the advertised position and will complement the existing faculty

    P.S.: I (i.e. you) am a team player who works well with a variety of people

  163. 163.

    Mousebumples

    @Omnes Omnibus: The upshot of Wisplaining was that WI is lost forever because of reasons. As we can see, that turned out to be very true.

    Rep. Vos reads the blog? I feel like he’s still trying that message…

    @Omnes Omnibus: It was never specified as far as I can remember.

    Sounds made up. Maybe something a right wing politico wrote for a senior thesis?

  164. 164.

    RaflW

    @WaterGirl: BTW, someone in the morning Covid thread mentioned CVS now has the new Covid vaxx and is taking appointments as soon as this Saturday.

    Whoever that was: Thank you! BF & I are now scheduled to get our shots 9 days before we board a plane for our trip of a lifetime to N.Z. & Oz. I posted on that social crapsite livres de face and a teacher friend of mine now has an appt for this coming Monday, for which he too is grateful!

  165. 165.

    RaflW

    @Another Scott: I wonder if there are strategic ways that — while painful, of course — the Biden Admin could carefully un-essential some popular government services?

    I feel like while obviously there are non-essential services that people find handy that will shut down, one of the coping mechanisms that Dems have cobbled to blunt GOP malfeasance has been to shrink the discretionary areas that really do shut during a ‘shutdown.’

    Yes, it’s a high risk strategy. And would have to be executed with some care, since the whole friggin point if it comes to it, is to hang the chaos vibes right around those Republican necks. But maybe what McCarthy and his band of 200+ poo flinging monkeys need is for there to be more pain from their utter bullshit.

  168. 168.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Scout211: Their impeachment inquiry is “aspirational.”

    Perspirational, maybe – IMO they’re starting to sweat bucketfuls – but more likely it’s purely desperational.

    Good. Let’s focus on kicking the everloving crap out of them in the next 13 months and 20 days

  169. 169.

    Manyakitty

    @BellaPea: didn’t she have David Ignatius on there today? I shut off whoever it was as soon as I saw him scrambling to defend that ill-considered blather he puked out.

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