Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Fuck that bum, let’s go Joe!

Can we lighten up on the doomsday scenarios?

Not all heroes wear capes.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself. We’re allowed to grow past that.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

It’s easier to kill a dangerous animal than a man who just happens to have different thoughts/values than one’s own.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Democrats are back in array!

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

You are here: Home / Politics / Ukraine Aid – Discharge Petition Appears To Be in the Works

Ukraine Aid – Discharge Petition Appears To Be in the Works

by | 163 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Hopefully, by hook or by crook, we will be able to get back to providing more tangible support for Ukraine.

h/t Jackie

Discharge Petitions (Political Dictionary)

A “discharge petition” is a strategic, often controversial, legislative tool that serves to circumvent traditional committee review and bring a bill directly to the floor for a vote.

Rooted in the rules of the House of Representatives, the discharge petition operates as a type of procedural maneuver to break a legislative impasse, often employed when a bill is “stuck” in committee and not scheduled for any further action.

This device empowers a majority of House members (usually 218 out of 435) to force a bill out of a committee for a floor vote, effectively usurping the power traditionally held by committee chairs and party leadership to set legislative agendas.

In the Senate, the process is far more seldom used and complicated, involving a discharge motion that can be debated and is subject to filibuster.

Executing a “Discharge Petition”

While the concept of a discharge petition is straightforward, the process of successfully executing one is quite intricate.

The first step involves filing the petition, which is typically done publicly, but the list of signatories is kept confidential unless the petition gains enough support to be successful.

The secrecy serves to minimize political repercussions for those who sign, as the act is often seen as a defection against party or committee leadership. Members of Congress may add or remove their names to the list until the requisite number is reached.

If the petition garners sufficient support, a floor vote is scheduled, and the bill is debated and voted upon, often without the possibility of amendment—a key difference from regular order.

Notably, the discharge petition is most effective in the House, as the Senate’s rules make it much more difficult to enforce.

Moreover, the petition does not guarantee a bill’s passage; it merely assures that the bill will receive a vote on the floor.

In other good news:  nice try, orange guy.

I so hope that no one will put up the bond for the $500+ million and that he runs into real trouble.  On the other hand, if Musk or Putin or the murder & dismember guy from Saudi Arabia bail him out, will Republicans have a problem with that?

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

163Comments

  1. 1.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    If wikipedia is accurate, there have only been 4 successful ones since 1985.

    Quite frankly, the world needs this one to be the 5th.

  3. 3.

    trollhattan

    So, Roto-Rooter for a House committee?

    Am leaving the medical meaning of discharge well alone. Now as to excretion, relatable to the Republicans.

  5. 5.

    Leto

    I hope this trillion dollar coin trick works, because as Scotts said (and we all know) the world needs this.

  7. 7.

    jimmiraybob

    A followup to an earlier thread.

    One of many leaders in sounding the alarm within Evangelical world about the dangers of right-wing Christian Nationalism is Tim Alberta.  All should check out his book, “The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory:  American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism.”  Or check out his reporting at the Atlantic.

    There are those within the ranks that are currently, and have been for some time, calling out the dangers of right-wing Christian Nationalist extremism.  It’s a destructive force to both the Church as well as secular government.  They need a bigger audience.  Please help.

    For the record I get no commission.

  9. 9.

    WaterGirl

    @Gin & Tonic: I’m happy to see elected officials who support Ukraine be willing to try every possible thing they can, even without a guarantee of success.

    I am hopeful, but I am not holding my breath.

  10. 10.

    Ken

    I don’t know why this would be a surprise. As was noted when the continuing resolutions passed, all the major legislative accomplishments of this Congress have passed with most of the votes coming from Democrats.

    The only things the Republicans have passed on their own are performative stunts that have been DOA in the Senate.

  11. 11.

    trollhattan

    FedEx same-day envelope arrives at every House Republican office between 3:00-4:00 this afternoon. Inside each: deed to a lovely dacha.

  13. 13.

    glc

    @Gin & Tonic: I recommend breathing normally and waiting.  And not just in this instance.

    In principle Johnson could now plead that his hand is being forced.

    In principle.

  14. 14.

    Leto

    @Ken: Idk, we have some new names on Post Offices. I mean, that’s… impressive! Generational transformative change and all…

  17. 17.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @glc:

    In principle Johnson could now plead that his hand is being forced.

    Moscow Mike’s handlers and campaign contributors (also his handlers) will have none of that.

  18. 18.

    RandomMonster

    How does that work — could some Russian oligarch just write a check to Donald Trump for $500 million? I can’t see any Republican having a problem with that or saying that would disqualify him from being president.

  19. 19.

    Trivia Man

    I read elsewhere two key points to the AG response.

    One date was indeed incorrect. Had to do with start date for some interest calculations. She apologized and corrected that.

    Many entities have NYC addresses, orange face is claiming they Actually have Florida addresses. But Florida records don’t show them and NY records do. Nice try, loser..

  21. 21.

    Dangerman

    @Omnes Omnibus: Dear god.

    Blame it on shitty sleep. 5 heart procedures (not major; 3 ablations, 2 cardioversions) but my arrythmia returned yesterday (30 day follow-up). I think I’m done with procedures; it’s massive medicine for the duration would be my early guess. I don’t see specialist for a while.

  24. 24.

    Anoniminous

    Considering what those Evangelical fucks are doing in Alabama, Idaho, & etc. the faster they die off the better.

  30. 30.

    Geminid

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Success is a relative term when it comes to discharge petitions. Last Spring, Democrats gathered ~210 signatures on a petition to discharge a Debt Ceiling bill. They never “succeeded” in getting the requisite signatures because Squeaker McCarthy caved first and let an acceptable compromise get a floor vote.

    This time might be different. If Johnson knows the discharge petition will get the signatures needed, he might just watch it happen because it gets him off the hook. Republicans picked Johnson to be their Quarterback, but he’s really more like a Punter.

  36. 36.

    glc

    Another broad discussion of Long Covid, from Eric Topol et al. (et Al-Aly in fact).

    Evidence from multiple studies with 2 to 3 years of follow-up indicates prolonged risk for many sequelae (9) and that spontaneous recovery or return to baseline status is uncommon. Extended follow-up of the 1918 influenza pandemic, poliomyelitis outbreaks, and Epstein-Barr virus infections has demonstrated that new, disabling sequelae of these infections can occur multiple decades later; it is uncertain whether this will also occur with COVID-19 (10). This highlights the need for studies to characterize the health trajectories of Long Covid over a longer timeline and allow the identification of latent effects that may not have materialized.

    Four years in now. We’ll see how it goes. At least our current approach gives us an extended trial of non-intervention strategies, with a lot of relevant data out there to be collected.

  38. 38.

    glc

    @Dangerman: No. That is all.

    Lately I’ve seen someone respond to “I want to be more than friends” with “You want to go more than ten seasons?”

    And a conversation about ghee (the”butter emails”) that was ultimately clarifying.

    But even so.

  40. 40.

    Trivia Man

    @Trivia Man: Engoron already replied. The date was changed. We have proof all those entities are registered in NY and you offer no support  they are in Fl. You give no legal reason for delay so i signed the paper she submitted .

     

    Not written : tick tock, motherfucker. Clock starts now.

  41. 41.

    scav

    @glc: Ah yes, and the guinea pigs not even volunteered for the trial, but are insisting they self-pay for all future treatments.

  42. 42.

    SomeRandomGuy

    Re: TFG’s appeal, I learned some interesting legal stuff.

    In The Devil and Daniel Webster, Daniel sometimes asks for an “exception” after objecting. I couldn’t find any reference for that in the law. Recently, I learned that Habba threw away any hope of appeal.

    Why? Well, when she was asked about evidence, she said “no objections” which is something you can learn by pretending to be smart – watching what other attorneys do.

    See, if you want to appeal, in the past, you’d say “I object!” and the judge would overrule you, and you’d say “I will take exception” and the judge would likely say “noted” once getting the nod from the court reporter. The reporter had made a notation – here is where an objection was made, and the court took notice that the attorney might want to file an appeal of the overruling of the objection.

    Today, a court reporter will get a perfect transcript. There’s no longer a need to ask the reporter to note an exception. So, now, if you want to preserve an objection, you just raise it. No need to ask for an exception.

    If you *were* a smart attorney, rather than playing a smart attorney, you’d object to every bit of evidence where you had a tiny bit of hope of winning on appeal, and where it would legitimately help your client.  But Ms. Habba raised no objections.

    Those of you who watched “My Cousin, Vinny” might remember, they don’t teach esoterica about courtroom procedure in law school, they expect you’ll learn it at the elbow of an attorney who can explain some of the nuance.  She (like Vinny) didn’t get to that part of civil procedure, and, alas, she didn’t have a partner with a smoking hot brain, to do the difficult reading.

    (Who else is disappointed to learn there are at least three cars capable of making the correct tire tracks, even though there were likely only two with the right candy mint green paint… never mind. I mean, she was close enough establishing more-than-reasonable doubt, but she said there were only *2* and deserved to be right.)

    I love that a layperson who read an old play, and wondered what the heck an “exception” was, can figure out how a billionaire’s lawyer is a dull witted fool.

  44. 44.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @glc:

    In principle Johnson could now plead that his hand is being forced.

    Yes.  I think Johnson would love a discharge petition.  He gets to do nothing and take no risks whatsoever, while loudly posturing whatever bullshit he wants.  It’s even better than the usual “Wait until the very last minute to pass something,” game.

  46. 46.

    TBone

    Of note (exactly as expected):  “Instead, unscrupulous right-wing media figures have stuck by their corruption claims against Biden, which permeated the conservative information space to such a degree that they spawned Republican-led investigations on Capitol Hill and fueled an eventual impeachment inquiry against the sitting president.
    In fact, in the wake of Special Counsel David Weiss charging the FBI informant, Alexander Smirnov, with fabricating the bribery allegations against Biden, some prominent right-wing personalities have used the revelation as supposed evidence of an even deeper conspiracy theory, suggesting that the Biden administration weaponized federal law enforcement in retaliation against Smirnov for revealing the supposed scheme.”
    No take-backs 😐
    https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/22/media/fox-news-bogus-fbi-informant-biden/index.html

  47. 47.

    RandomMonster

    @Ken: They’d have to gross it up for income tax.

    Hopefully not using Donald Trump income tax math. “This wasn’t income or capital gains — it was actually me making a charitable contribution!”

  48. 48.

    Shalimar

    @Trivia Man: Subtext of Engoron’s reply is basically “thank God I issued my ruling and am finally done with your tireless bullshit. Take your whinging up with the appeals court from now on.”

  51. 51.

    Suzanne

    Can I note that this fucken AT&T outage this morning cost me four hours of work…. because I was not able through any approved line of communication to receive a two-factor authentication code?!

    I will also note that I hate that I have to receive codes for work access on my personal device, but that is a complaint for another time!

  54. 54.

    Shalimar

    @Jackie: Iirc, they only need 2 Republicans plus a total equal to the number of Democrats who won’t sign for whatever reason.  It seems almost impossible they wouldn’t get that number, but then it seemed impossible they would all agree and vote for Johnson as Speaker so who knows.

  55. 55.

    JWR

    What the Hell?! (From CBS)

    Biden weighs invoking executive authority to stage border crackdown ahead of 2024 election

    Washington — President Biden is debating whether to invoke a sweeping presidential authority that gained infamy during the Trump administration to stage a crackdown on migrants coming to the U.S. southern border, three people familiar with the plans told CBS News.

    Mr. Biden is weighing citing a law dating back to 1952 to severely restrict access to the U.S. asylum system, which has buckled under the weight of record levels of migrant arrivals along the border with Mexico, the sources said, requesting anonymity to discuss internal government deliberations.

    […]

    Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who successfully convinced federal judges to halt the Trump administration’s asylum ban, indicated the government would likely be sued again if Mr. Biden issues a similar order.

    “An executive order denying asylum based on where one enters the country would just be another attempt at the exact policy Trump unsuccessfully tried and will undoubtedly end up in litigation,” Gelernt told CBS News.

    I realize it’s an election year, and he’s facing a case of “do something right now!”, but this seems a bridge too far.

  56. 56.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Jackie:

    We irresponsibly speculated on this yesterday.  I pulled the number 5 out of my nether regions. Somebody then suggested it might be more because of some Dem defections.

    I don’t know the GQP caucus like some people but I’m pretty sure some folks over at Teh Orange have said there’s probably at least 10 GQP reps who would feel safe on their right flank, to vote for it.

  57. 57.

    Jackie

    Just saw on MSNBC, President Biden is meeting with Navalny’s widow and daughter today while he’s in CA.

    Good for him, and no surprise to any of us.

  58. 58.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Jackie:

    Ukraine aid is popular in the GOP caucus.  A discharge position is sticking their neck out, and Republicans are cowards, but there’s no shortage of Republican House reps who strongly want this aid package.  It should be doable.

  59. 59.

    catclub

    @RandomMonster: “This wasn’t income or capital gains — it was actually me making a charitable contribution!”

     

    It may be  a little late to claim it as a donation to the Trump ‘charitable’ foundation. Which I think has already been legally eviscerated.

  63. 63.

    zhena gogolia

     

    We were thrilled yesterday to announce a new regular columnist to the Guardian US: journalist and broadcaster Mehdi Hasan. I’m sure Mehdi is familiar to many of you from MSNBC, where he hosted The Mehdi Hasan Show until last month.

    As our editor Betsy Reed put it, “When Mehdi left MSNBC, many of us hoped it wouldn’t take long for him to return to the public square. We are so excited to provide a platform for his essential political commentary, fearless accountability journalism and relentless championing of human rights and free speech.”

  67. 67.

    Another Scott

    @JWR: I’ve seen the same rumors.

    We know Biden isn’t stupid.  If he does implement things based on some authority he thinks he has, then he’ll do it in a smart way.  And it will be temporary.

    As he did before. (from January 2022):

    Amid a record number of migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border, Biden reinstated in December 2021 a Trump-era policy that requires those who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border and seek asylum to wait in Mexico while their claims are processed. Biden had earlier ended the Migration Protection Protocols, or “Remain in Mexico” policy, and then restarted it after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lawsuit by Texas and Missouri that challenged the program’s closure. Asylum seekers do not receive a legal status that allows them to live and work in the U.S. until the claim is approved.

    Don’t panic.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  71. 71.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Jackie:

    He just made the briefest of statements, and reiterated that he would announce specific sanctions tomorrow. Took no questions from media.

    I love affable, folksy, wise old Joe — but I respect the hell out of firm, determined, justice-seeking President Biden.

  74. 74.

    Trivia Man

    @SomeRandomGuy: awesome! I like that writer admits he already knew the car facts he put in. No research necessary. Good thing the culprits were caught so that third car didn’t cause an appeal!

  78. 78.

    catclub

    Yahoo news pointed me to this (yes – fell for clickbait). I am not convinced on this article at Bloomberg:

    If you are among the 56% of US workers with a retirement plan, I have some bad news for you: Your 401(k) will be gone in 10 years, tops. Not the money, thank goodness — Americans have trillions of dollars in these accounts, and there is an entire industry built around them — but the plans themselves.

  80. 80.

    piratedan

    @Another Scott: seen similar speculation coming from our most trusted sources at the FTFNYT with Ms. Haberman’s name on the cooperative byline.

    I find said timing of said speculation a tad …. too perfect post the implosion of the Biden indictment dumpster fire events to believe that the story wasn’t behind glass to be broken in case of emergency.

  81. 81.

    Kelly

    @Ken: They’d have to gross it up for income tax.

    So 37% federal and 10.9% New York would mean around $750 million from a generous Crown Prince Bonesaw. US citizen Musk would also have to pay gift tax of 40%.  Note: I’m not a tax expert.

  82. 82.

    JWR

    @Another Scott:

    Don’t panic.

    Words to live, or die by. ;) Thanks for that. I just wish there were a way for Biden to declare an emergency providing money to the processing of, as opposed to the punishment of migrants. And yes, I know about the “all monies must be procurred through the House” thing, but there s/b a way to do this short of simply bolting the door.

  83. 83.

    RaflW

    @Another Scott: The asylum system is broken here, and in many places around the world. I was just in Kenya and visited a UN camp where the average migrant granted refugee status (meaning their asylum case has been decided) takes eleven years to be granted settlement status either in Kenya or a 3rd country (more often the latter) from when they arrive as an asylum seeker. And the settlement time is growing.

    The US is struggling to deal with migration, but not alone. And with rising authoritarianism in many global hotspots, and of course Putin’s invasion, plus increases in climate-displaced persons, all this sh*t is gonna get worse, everwhere.

    Doesn’t make me like the Remain in Mexico policy. But I guess I had missed that our RW Scotus had basically said “okay.”

  87. 87.

    RaflW

    @TBone: Wow, I hadn’t seen a clip of Fetterman in a while. Seems he has made good progress on his speech. Not sure how he’s doing on auditory processing, but hopefully that’s come along well also.

  88. 88.

    trollhattan

    Jesus, shut up, stupid woman.

    Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said Wednesday that frozen embryos created through in-vitro fertilization are “babies,” siding with a recent Alabama Supreme Court decision that raised concerns among doctors and patients about the future of the procedure.

    “Embryos, to me, are babies,” Haley told NBC News in an interview, adding that she used artificial insemination to have her son, a different process than IVF that doesn’t present the same complexities around creating embryos in a lab. “When you talk about an embryo, you are talking about, to me, that’s a life. And so I do see where that’s coming from when they talk about that.”

    On second thought keep talking. People need to learn you’re no better than Donny.

  89. 89.

    Anoniminous

    @trollhattan:

    The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities.

  91. 91.

    RaflW

    @Kelly: “Musk would also have to pay gift tax of 40%”

    Better than rank and file MAGAs, who pay a 100% Grift Tax when ‘donating.’

  92. 92.

    hitchhiker

    And the wrenching stories of Alabama families suddenly told that their hopes of having children via IVF are over are starting to pour out. IVF embryos — which consist of 100 identical cells gathered into a blob the size of 1/10th of a grain of sand and frozen in liquid nitrogen tanks — are children, in the eyes of the AL supreme court.

    And the great white hope of “sensible” Republicans everywhere, Nikki Haley, agrees with them. She wants us to have these difficult conversations!

    One in three Americans either has used IVF or knows someone who has. For the record, Nikki, we’ve been having these difficult conversations for a couple of generations now. And we’ve decided it’s none of your damned business.

  97. 97.

    Danielx

    @Baud:

    The mythical bird flying in ever decreasing circles until it disappears up its own ass… or wingnut event horizon.

  98. 98.

    Layer8Problem

    @SomeRandomGuy:  Paul Newman did the exact same thing to Milo O’Shea in The Verdict. And we’ve reached the limits of my familiarity with cinematic legal procedure.

  100. 100.

    glc

    @TBone:

    If you’re critical of Biden you might as well get your MAGA hat.

    That’s a losing message, and I don’t think it will be the line taken, in fact. If I were working for the Russians  I’d certainly be working on amplifying that line, in a targeted way, via Facebook and so forth. While it’s not going to move anybody to the Trump column it would certainly depress turnout or maybe give another percentage point to some fringe candidate.

  103. 103.

    rikyrah

    Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) posted at 2:22 PM on Thu, Feb 22, 2024:
    Jack Posobiec at CPAC: “Welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely. We didn’t get all the way there on Jan. 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it.”

    Trump’s Republican Party openly wants to end democracy. We must stop them. https://t.co/UITxEth0im
    (https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1760761957437599856?t=8hVGjukP399QYQ2GB9DDog&s=03)

  104. 104.

    rikyrah

    Tell that truth, Kenny.

     

    2RawTooReal (@2RawTooReal) posted at 0:00 PM on Thu, Feb 22, 2024:
    You wont be punishing Biden by NOT voting for him. You’ll be giving him an early retirement with lifelong Secret Service on taxpayer dollars. The only people youll be punishing is marginalized communities that will have to face Domestic terrorism & fascism from a Trump Presidency https://t.co/Q6R0UvezLX
    (https://x.com/2RawTooReal/status/1760726177017417990?t=G7nI-qOBZN64KxFIxfW9aA&s=03)

  107. 107.

    jimmiraybob

    @brendancalling: “it’s not nice to wish death on anyone. Far better to hope that God calls them home ASAP, preferably yesterday.”

    Imprecatory Prayer.  I learned this from the proto-Trump Evangelicals when Obama was sworn in.

  110. 110.

    jimmiraybob

    @Frankensteinbeck: ““So abortion is murder” but someone is going to follow the legal logic.”

    Merely being pregnant means you are suspect regardless of actively seeking abortion.  I’m not sure if it would be murder or involuntary manslaughter to miscarry – that would be the job of Alabama politicians and judges to decide.

  111. 111.

    Hoodie

    @John S.: I heard Mehdi mouth this horseshit.  The Israeli government that Reagan was dealing with was far different from the current government and the situation was far less inflamed than the one following the October 7 massacre.   Begin was also willing to make peace with the PLO and did not rule out a two state solution.  The fascists in the current Israeli government are a different animal and they feel totally justified in what they’re doing in Gaza.

  112. 112.

    RaflW

    @John S.: Israel – Gaza is an absolute catastrophe. And I’m not at all happy that the US vetoed yet another ceasefire resolution this week.

    But even just that headline is completely disqualifying, even for a ‘columnist.’

  113. 113.

    JWR

    @John S.:

    Forget the world. Joe Biden, like Reagan before him, could end the current carnage with a single phone call to Benjamin Netanyahu. He too has “that kind of power”.

    Well yeah, but Bibi Netanyahu is no Menachem Begin, so who knows where such a call would get him. Also, maybe he’s already made that call, and is working on his next step

    ETA or what others have already said.

  114. 114.

    Jay

    @TBone:

    Smirnov/Smirnoff alledged in one of his later FBI interviews that the FSB had scraped cell phone conversations that were highly compromising in a certain (redacted) hotel, (trumpcough cough coughTower).

    Could be true, lotta ruZZian suites in that building.

    Could be just smoke, I know, you know, everybody but the MAGAt’s know that dirty deeds went down in dark corners there. A shot across the bow to keep the Vatnicks and Traitors in line.

  117. 117.

    jimmiraybob

    @karen marie:
    Tim Alberta is in the house and doing what cleaning he can (born and raised in an Evangelical household with a Pastor father).  He’s not alone but they are currently outnumbered.​
     
    And, if you get a chance, look into Frank Schaeffer’s work (son of a far-right preacher man).

  118. 118.

    RaflW

    @hitchhiker: MN’s Gov. Walz recognizes this issue can have legs. Via MinnPost newsletter:

    WASHINGTON – Gov. Tim Walz said he and his wife Gwen used in-vitro fertilization to conceive their daughter, Hope, making public what he called a very personal matter in the wake of an Alabama Supreme Court decision that has put that fertility treatment at risk.

    Walz, the head of the Democratic Governors Association, said he would use that platform to broadcast a message during the organization’s meeting in Washington D.C. this week.

    “I want to make sure governors educate people that when you elect a governor, they appoint judges that can rule on reproductive health care,” Walz told MinnPost.

    Walz also said his wife often says their daughter is named Hope because of the way she was conceived. The couple also have a son named Gus.

    The Alabama Supreme Court recently ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law. That has raised concerns about how the court’s decision could affect in-vitro fertilization, commonly referred to as IVF, and prompted the University of Alabama-Birmingham hospital to halt IVF treatments on Wednesday.

    The Alabama Supreme Court’s decision was based on wrongful death cases brought by couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed in an accident.

    Democrats have jumped on the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling to bolster their election-year campaign targeting Republicans for their effort to end or sharply curtail abortion in many states after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

    “One in four kids in Alabama lives in poverty,” Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., posted on X this week. “Maybe Alabama should worry less about controlling women’s health care decisions.”

  120. 120.

    Torrey

    Since this thread begins with a comment on Ukraine, I’m going to remind anyone in the D.C. area that there is a rally for Ukraine this Saturday afternoon at the Lincoln Memorial. Details here.

  123. 123.

    jimmiraybob

    @RevRick: ​
      It’s on my buy list but I’m currently working on the half dozen that have been recently removed from the buy list (including Maddow’s Prequil). I hope to get my copy of Alberta’s book by early summer.

  124. 124.

    rikyrah

    He ruined a cushy Congressional Job.

    Bombed in his run for the Presidency.

    And, thinks, that he will bully Amy K out of her Senate seat?

    GET THE ENTIRE PHUCK OUTTA HERE!!

     

    Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) posted at 2:52 PM on Thu, Feb 22, 2024:
    Dean Phillips now says “it’s absurd” that Amy Klobuchar, who’s 63, is running for another term in the Senate https://t.co/bIrfbZFMwl https://t.co/RSQaFw2ac7
    (https://x.com/atrupar/status/1760769486305538248?t=BxAEGqyExFXhjsFwW1Mi0A&s=03)

  125. 125.

    Trivia Man

    @RaflW: Thete is only one long term, sustainable solution. Make all countries better places to live. It is impossible for 1 or 5 or even 50 countries to accept refugees from every dangerous and terrible country.

  127. 127.

    rikyrah

    Always trying to police Black bodies.

     

    Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) posted at 0:54 PM on Thu, Feb 22, 2024:
    A Texas judge has ruled that a school district can force Darryl George to cut his natural locs, despite the state’s CROWN Act that prohibits hairstyle discrimination. This is anti-Blackness in a country that they keep telling us has never been racist.

    https://t.co/FylBXiNSGh https://t.co/PxFZovKHpe
    (https://x.com/keithboykin/status/1760739826658365850?t=x3CpHck0IDNAjS-4u3H1cg&s=03)

  128. 128.

    John S.

    @zhena gogolia:

    It’s a really delusional piece as others have pointed out.

    I really enjoy The Guardian news, but their editorials leave much to be desired. This is no exception.

  130. 130.

    RevRick

    @H.E.Wolf: Thanks for the translation.

     

    @Dangerman: May I suggest that when you make puns that string together several words you link them with hyphens. I’m a punster and even I was “coming” up empty.

  137. 137.

    TBone

    @RaflW: I had every confidence that he would overcome any hurdles AND make us PA Proud.  I’ve sent thank you letters and he doesn’t have that dumb gate-keeping “enter your name, zip code, address, working telephone # and Rumpelstiltskin” crap on his contact form like “Guy” Reschenthaler and my Rep. Glenn Thompson.  I have an email he sent me on Senator letterhead that I’d like to frame, I love it so much.

  138. 138.

    RevRick

    @jimmiraybob: The real implication is that women are not legal persons anymore. They’re second-class citizens at best. For if a fetus is a person, then a woman can’t be. If the state can literally hijack her body and life for any reason, then she’s reduced to the status of cattle.
    In my book that’s tyranny.

    And politicians and judges who support such decisions are tyrants.

  142. 142.

    tECHIDNA

    @John S.: Holy effin’ hell, I’ve haven’t seen distilled Green Lantern Theory like that since the Obama years. Ezra Klein must be jealous.

  143. 143.

    cain

    @JWR:

    I realize it’s an election year, and he’s facing a case of “do something right now!”, but this seems a bridge too far.

    It can be used against Johnson and the GOP congress who insist that the President has all the powers he needs. He can cite that as “no, I can’t use my executive authority”

  146. 146.

    jimmiraybob

    @RevRick: “And politicians and judges who support such decisions are tyrants.”

    When a minority uses the considerable coercive powers of the state to force extremist religious compliance by the majority it is indeed tyranny.  It is not un-Constitutional it is anti-Constitutional.

    And it is not just stripping the women of the inalienable right of autonomy it’s stripping their families.

    Every enumerated right in the Constitution consists of two parts: 1) the right of individual conscience and 2) the right of individual conscientious action as long as action does no harm to the rights, not fee fees, of others.

  147. 147.

    geg6

    @Baud:

    And he used his second show to bash and whine about anybody who criticized him for his bullshit from his first show.  He’s really lost the plot.  Thinks he is above criticism.  Fuck him.

  148. 148.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, …

    Laffy
    @[email protected]
    cc: GOP Fascist Party

    Via Kyle Griffin:

    Breaking: Alexander Smirnov, the ex-FBI informant charged with lying about the Bidens’ dealings in Ukraine, has been re-arrested, according to his attorneys.

    Feb 22, 2024, 17:21

    [ womp, womp ]

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  154. 154.

    MisterForkbeard

    @John S.: I was going to say: Hasan’s big thing before he was let go was criticizing Dems for not unilaterally doing something that wouldn’t work.

    This is the same.

    No wonder the Guardian wants him.

  156. 156.

    Miss Bianca

    @JWR: I don’t know at this point, honestly. For some reason, everyone around me in my ruby-red frontier CO county is so hair-on-fire about “illegal aliens!!11!! OPEN BORDER ZOMG” that I’m starting to wonder if *I’m* the crazy one for saying, “WHUT?! That can’t be right” over and over again.

    Honestly, question for jackal hive mind – what are the best sources out there for straight dope, nonpartisan, no rah-rah, no BS about the actual situation at the border and with regard to immigration both legal and non-?

  157. 157.

    Miss Bianca

    @John S.: Le sigh. I get that Mehdi Hasan is some hot-shit debater and apparently a decent interviewer, but if he thinks that a One Weird Trick phone call from Biden is going to have any effect on Netanhayu, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to offer him.

  160. 160.

    wjca

    I don’t understand all the contortions around TIFG getting the money from someone else.  Why make it a gift, and deal with income taxes?  Why try to be inventive with some (no doubt fake) charitable foundation?  Just make it an unsecured, intrest-free loan.  It’s not like it bothers him to be in debt.

  161. 161.

    Soprano2

    @John S.: He was pushing that on Pod Save America. Tommy Vietor pushed back on him decently, saying this isn’t 1982 and Israel isn’t the same country it was then, it’s a lot more right wing. Hassan seems to think we have a lot of leverage we could use against them but US politics are stopping Biden from doing it. I can’t imagine the firestorm that would occur if Biden cut all aid to Israel.

  162. 162.

    Soprano2

    @rikyrah: I do not get why a school gives two shits about someone’s hairstyle. Who gives a fuck? Don’t they have better things to worry about?

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