Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Somebody needs to explain to DeSantis that nobody needs to do anything to make him look bad.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

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

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

Joe Biden can go out like FDR, not by dying in office, but by crushing the fascists.

It’s a doggy dog world.

We’re not going back!

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

T R E 4 5 O N

Shut up, hissy kitty!

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

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

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Russia bombs Ukraine’s maternity hospitals; Republicans in the House can’t sort out supporting Ukraine.

“Cheese and Kraken paired together for the appetizer trial.”

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / Saturday Morning Open Thread: Stay Hopeful!

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Stay Hopeful!

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This is Dave Anderson’s bailiwick, but he’s got a lot on his plate, so I hope he won’t mind my posting it:

Reader Interactions

101Comments

  4. 4.

    OzarkHillbilly

    This was an almost unimaginable result a year ago in CA – and because of these auto-renewals we will prevent almost a million Californians from losing their coverage for stupid paperwork reasons

    In the South that would be considered a failure.

  6. 6.

    Geminid

    Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen will be a guest tomorrow on ABC’s This Week. I expect he will talk about the humanitarian aid situation in Gaza.

  10. 10.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Boise State University (BSU) professor and Claremont Institute scholar Scott Yenor was the hidden hand behind Action Idaho, a far-right online media platform that featured inflammatory rightwing commentary on politics in that state, documents obtained by the Guardian reveal.

    The documents, obtained through public records requests, also show that Yenor sought and received funding for the initiative from wealthy and influential donors like Claremont Institute board chair, Thomas D Klingenstein.
    ……………..
    The Guardian contacted Scott Yenor with a detailed request for comment on this story. He only responded directly to one question, writing that “Pedro Gonzalez did not accept the offer” of employment. The remainder of the reply was personal abuse.

    Just a peach of a guy.

  12. 12.

    Mousebumples

    On the insurance side of things, while I’m excited at the plan to cut red tape, there are lots of people (nationwide) who will be cut from Medicaid rolls this year. I’m forgetting the details, but the COVID public health emergency kept people from being dropped.

    Good morning, all.

  14. 14.

    MagdaInBlack

    Last evening, on Hal Sparks youtube, I watched him interview Lev Parnas and I have a question. After Lev spilled so much truth tea the “Biden corruption” hearing, I dont recall much ( any) media followup…did I miss this?

    It was pretty interesting, he got a wee bit deeper into the stuff he talked about in the hearing, esp Bill Barrs role. If any one is interested I can try to find the clip.

    ( Lev Parnas, the guy who helped rudy et all with their Biden/Ukraine propaganda)

  18. 18.

    Ken

    Good morning all.

    Does anyone know the source of the image in the James Medlock tweet? I’m curious when it was made. It looks like it was an “enjoy the freedoms our troops died for” message, possibly even a recruiting poster.

  19. 19.

    Geminid

    @Baud: Khanna has been on Fox a lot. He’s not my favorite Democratic politician, but 17th CD voters seem to like him fine. He’s a hard worker and is serving as a surrogate for the Biden campaign.

  21. 21.

    Ken

    @Geminid: Rep. Ro Khanna

    You can’t fool me, that’s a Star Wars character name.

    Senator Rick Scott.

    And that’s from Men In Black, a creepy alien in a human suit.

  25. 25.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    In memory of Louis Gossett Jr, I recommended in a thread yesterday the sci-fi movie “Enemy Mine” that a lot of people may not know. We decided to start re-watching it last night for the first time since seeing it in the theaters many years ago, and it’s still a great movie.

    Gossett is an alien (a “Drac”) shipwrecked on an uninhabited planet with a human (Dennis Quaid). Humans and Dracs are at war. Eventually they’re forced to cooperate and that’s when the best part of the movie begins. Really excellent sci-fi, a cut above most of the sci-fi drek.

  27. 27.

    Ken

    For anyone who wants to laugh out loud while feeling utter horror, I offer this Bluesky thread started by Kathryn Tewson. The city of New York has created an AI chatbot that’s ready to answer all your legal questions!

  28. 28.

    Kay

    @Geminid:

    And despite the policy disagreements, Khanna has nevertheless been recruited by Biden’s reelection campaign to appear at events in key primary states such as New Hampshire and South Carolina.

    “[It’s] a testament to the administration’s embracing diverse perspectives and wanting people who may disagree with them,” Khanna said. “And that to me, I think, is one of President Biden’s strongest qualities: that he isn’t just surrounding himself with people who are going to agree with him. And he has the wisdom and the confidence to have people representing him who have had disagreements with them.”

    “I think the fact that I am so vocal still for the president gives people permission to say that they may disagree with the president and we can support him to make sure he wins in 2024,” he said.

  30. 30.

    Betty

    ”

    @Kay: You mean rather than paying to keep libraries open on the weekend? I hope by now New Yorkers realize their enormous mistake in electing Adams.

  31. 31.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Betty:

    My DIL–a librarian in NYC–and her colleagues certainly do. Not that she voted for him in the first place.

  33. 33.

    Kay

    @Betty:

    The immigrant-blaming really turned me off. Yuck. What a chicken shit. His poll numbers are down so he blames immigrants? Grow up. Do a better job and maybe you’ll be more popular.

  34. 34.

    RevRick

    @Mousebumples: The contrast between the efforts of the USDS and what the GOP House Study Group is proposing couldn’t be more stark. The USDS aims to keep people insured, because that leads to better health outcomes.

    The GOP House Study Group’s proposal will gut government support of health care wholesale. They want to turn Medicare into a voucher program, turn Medicaid and Child Health Care into a block grant to states, kill the ACA, and remove all the protections that the ACA provides for. Their goal is to slash federal spending on health care by over $4 trillion dollars, shifting all the responsibilities to states, employers, and individuals. They believe that this would cut healthcare costs and improve healthcare services, magic thinking if ever there was. The inevitable outcome would be the loss of healthcare services in rural areas and those with the greatest needs being squeezed out of the system.
    Oh, and this would be coupled with huge tax cuts for the wealthy. Because we all know how much they’re struggling.

  36. 36.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @RevRick:

    The march of neoliberal Reaganomics never ends.  Or with vouchers, the usual messaging to cover the fact it’s all about giving federal monies to the private sector.

  43. 43.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Honus:

    @Nukular Biskits: Mississippi has thirteen counties that total less than 100,000 population combined?  And Reeves is complaining about subsidies for health care?

    Yup.  Reeves has fought Medicaid expansion tooth ‘n’ nail.

    And it’s not just a matter of “conservative principle” either.  Notice he calls it “Obamacare Medicaid“.  It appears obvious Reeves’ opposition is driven by an absolute hatred of former president Obama as well as contempt for THOSE people.

  45. 45.

    Tony Jay

    @Kay:

    I know. it’s shocking that someone of Biden’s much touted experience could be getting it so very wrong. Doesn’t he know that the only proven road to party unity in a polarised age is ostracism, grudge-holding and petty name calling?

    I’ll give my local newnewlabourinc Gauleiter a call. She can send him over one of Starmer’s eyes-only briefing papers on how to do sneery backstabbing factionalism right, and then hopefully the Democrats can move on from this sad spectacle of Big Tent Buddies marching shoulder to shoulder towards nationwide victory.

  46. 46.

    TBone

    @Nukular Biskits: yes, that policy is better late than never but in the meantime I wonder what other seriously important legislation is teed up on his docket of death.  And I wonder if the Judicial Conference policy has enforcement teeth.

  50. 50.

    Nukular Biskits

    @TBone:

    I’ll have to see if I can find that article again. IIRC, something was proposed but it had to be pulled back due to howls of “persecuted” outrage from “conservatives”.

    It may take congressional action but that’ll mean we have to wait until Democrats control both house of Congress.

  55. 55.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Nukular Biskits: By the way, been meaning to ask: Is there a plumber shortage in MS? On my recent NOLA trip, both going down and coming back I was unable to find a fully functioning bathroom there. That was true of all the rest areas we stopped at, gas stations we visited, and the one McDs we got breakfast at.

  56. 56.

    TBone

    @Nukular Biskits: I am confident that the traitors will find ways around it until we bring the hammer down for real.  Real enforcement is necessary. Like with the Supremacist Court new ethics “policy.”

  57. 57.

    TBone

    @Nukular Biskits:  exactly.  We need laws against the corruption WITH the power to enforce those laws.  And people ready, willing, and more than able to do so.

    Fair Lending is a no-brainer but JFC the racism still squashes attempts to level playing field.

  58. 58.

    Kay

    @Tony Jay:

    I think they’ll need someone who has been critical of the policy to make the (true) case that Biden will be better for Gazans than Trump. That’s a better argument for them than “Biden can’t do anything” because normies will think “Biden can’t do anything” is too weak for a US President, or you know, school board member. Anyone you’re asking people to put in power. I just think you don’t ever want to be arguing your candidate can’t do anything. That’s a loser.

  59. 59.

    Nukular Biskits

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Can’t speak for the business restrooms but I wouldn’t be surprised at the state-run rest stops not having fully functional restrooms.  We’re running a surplus but we don’t have the money to fund critical infrastructure like that ’cause we need to give it away to privately-owned for-profit corporations so the invisible hand of the free market will trickle down magic economic fairy dust on us.

  60. 60.

    TBone

    @ARoomWithAMoose: so fucking frustrating it’s like they’re being paid in rubles or something.

    On March 14, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and a couple other GOP senators sent a letter to every district court urging judges to ignore the policy, which, they wrote, “is not legislation.” McConnell also accused the Conference of providing “half-baked ‘guidance’ that just does Washington Democrats’ bidding.” This ignores the fact that the Judicial Conference is composed not of some shadowy collection of “Washington Democrats.” but of sitting federal judges from courts across the country, more than half of whom are Republican appointees. The Conference is presided over by none other than Chief Justice John Roberts.

  63. 63.

    Kay

    NBC is just so bad. So the head of political coverage at NBC sought to shore up public support for McDaniel by hiring McDaniel at NBC. WTF? What is going on in media? That is insane.

    The more that comes out about this the worse it looks. They seem to think they are the PR arm of the GOP. They’re hard at work actually promoting this political party?

  64. 64.

    TBone

    @Nukular Biskits: roomwithamoose found it and I no longer need more coffee, am fully awake 😆 with my fighting Irish neck scruff standing straight up. I was too pissed off to look at it or for it again.

    It’s like a bad lip reading from Voice of Europe.

  67. 67.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Nukular Biskits: I was really surprised by the rest stops, as MS has some of the nicest rest areas I have had the pleasure of stopping at. While I have had issues with one or 2 in the past this is the first time where every single one had problems. Everything from toilets not flushing (not just the magic eye, pushing the button didn’t work either), seats falling off, to sinks not working (one where none of the sinks worked in either bathroom)(which of course one did not discover until one needed a working sink), to broken soap dispensers and stall doors.

    I kept telling my wife, “The I-55 plumber must still be on vacation.”

  69. 69.

    Captain C

    @Betty: There was a skeet regarding the story of Adams’ ‘baptism’ at Rikers by Al Sharpton which said, “This is actually one of the more normal things he’s done.  The true Eric Adams move would be to announce that as a result of this, he can fly, and libraries will only be open three days a week.”  (I think it came from Mark Harris.)

    I do think many of my fellow New Yorkers are more than sick of him, the incompetence, the corruption, and the weird nonsense.  I didn’t put him in any of my five primary slots, and (partly because he was way ahead of the even worse Curtis Sliwa) broke my usual rule about always voting for the Democrat and picked whichever (left-of-center) third party had the most amusing name.  Why couldn’t just a few more people have put Kathy Garcia on their ballots?!?  I think he’s the worst since Giuliani.

  73. 73.

    Baud

    @TBone:

    Under the abortion restrictions in Texas and other states, women who seek abortions are exempt from criminal charges.

     

    I don’t want more draconian abortion laws, but there’s no coherent theory that women shouldn’t be arrested for abortions.

  74. 74.

    Citizen Alan

    @Nukular Biskits: And Democrats everywhere.got really excited when the most popular democratic politician mississippi has produced in the last thirty years only lost to tate reeves by 9 points. So happy to be away from that place.

    BTW, it has begun. My sister has started the process of trying to guilt trip me into selling out my half of the Property that our mother left us for less than the appraised value (i paid for the appraisal done by the appraiser she picked) because her lazy slacker of a son wants to buy it, but he can’t afford it at fair market value. After changing his major five times before finally cobbling together a marketing degree, he only makes $1400 a month working part-time doing copy work for the local weekly newspaper in their podunk town of 9000 people. And even though he only worked three days a week, getting a second job is beneath him because it would take away from this time playing video games and watching alex jones videos on youtube.

  75. 75.

    Geminid

    @Kay: See my comment at #19.

    My main gripe with Khanna was his role on the letter on Ukraine policy released mid-October, 2022 and then quickly retracted. It was a bone-headed move by Khanna amd Jayapal  who seemed to be the only “signers” who knew it was coming out.

  78. 78.

    Suzanne

    @Baud:

    but there’s no coherent theory that women shouldn’t be arrested for abortions 

    You’re right. It’s illogical. They’re being politically expedient. Jailing pregnant women is unpopular and they know that.

    But, their behavior makes sense if you remember the real end goal. It helps to remember that they really want to force women to have children and leave the public sphere. The right-wing internet is full of whining about “career women” who won’t submit to a man’s headship of the home. They’re trying to convince women that they are old and low-status by the time they’re 30, so they better lock in a man (preferably an older one) in their early 20s and start popping his kids out.

  79. 79.

    Another Scott

    @Kay: NBC News died when John Chancellor was forced to apologize on-air for a commentary he gave.

    I’m pretty sure this is the incident in question:

    FTFNYT (from June 1982):

    The same evening a story for the ”NBC Nightly News” about refugees by Jack Reynolds was blocked by Israeli censors, and two sequences showing wounded children were dropped from a story by Steve Mallory, according to Paul Greenberg, executive producer of the program.

    NBC plans no protest, said Mr. Frank, because ”we can do a lot more good by mentioning it on the air.” Indeed, Tom Brokaw, the anchor, not only described the censorship on the air, but John Chancellor also chided Israel the following night for using censorship increasingly ”to protect Israel’s image and to serve its political goals.”

    Israeli officials deny any political motivations. ”We don’t ask to censor material gathered in Beirut provided it is sent from Beirut,” said Mr. Chafets. ”If they want to send through us they have to abide by our ground rules. We are in a state of war with the P.L.O.”

    The big US news outfits are just stickers on a corporate hegemon. The people in charge have no knowledge or care about the institutional history; they want to support their friends in the Village and goose the bottom line. That’s it.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  80. 80.

    Citizen Alan

    @Baud: Sure there is. Women are not fully functional human beings and are not capable of making rational decisions on their own without a man to direct them. Therefore they don’t have agency and can’t be prosecuted.

    Well unless they’re black and/or poor enough.

  82. 82.

    Kay

    @Geminid:

    They need college students in Michigan and Wisconsin or they will lose. I think as we get closer to election day you’ll see less and less focus on 2022 infractions or whatever.

    The bigger threat is people like Manchin. He’s now a (presumptive) loser in his own state so has no career incentive at all to play team politics. I love how he lectures other Democrats on how to get elected. His own state rejected him. Please. No one needs his loser lectures.

  83. 83.

    Captain C

    @TBone: Whatever he eventually gets busted for, it’ll be extremely weird and probably involve at least one of rubles and crypto.  Or possibly a sleazy nightclub on a weeknight.

  84. 84.

    Kay

    @Another Scott:

    I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the current leadership at NBC came from the NYTimes and Politico.

    It’s just SO out of line. Why in God’s name do they think it’s the job of “news” to rehabiliate this woman? It’s so far out of what they supposedly do for work. They need to completely clean house. They no longer know what they do or why they are there. It’s more common in business than one would think, IMO. You really do have to remind yourself 1. what your job is, and 2. who you work for. Every big error I have made both as a lawyer and as a manager at the postal service was because I was doing something that was not my job.

  88. 88.

    Captain C

    @Kay:

    Why in God’s name do they think it’s the job of “news” to rehabiliate this woman?

    Perhaps they think of Soviet-era Pravda as something to emulate, not an example to be avoided?  That’s all I’ve got.

  89. 89.

    TBone

    @Captain C: he’s former law enforcement so I’m not holding my breath.  Although I have high hopes to live to see his downfall in complete and utter shame and disgrace. With incarceration as his bonus.

  90. 90.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Ken:

    Was wondering the same. I’m certain I’ve seen it before, and not all that recently.

    I guess, like the clichéd images of the food pyramid or the 90%-submerged iceberg, it can be used to illustrate all kinds of messages.

  91. 91.

    Geminid

    @Kay: I’m not telling anyone to focus on 2022 infractions, but I have my likes and dislikes and so do you. For instance, I like and respect Reps. Omar and Tlaib. I have more mixed feelings about Khanna, and not just over the Ukraine letter.

    And when the debate here about Arab Americans and their anger at Biden’s support of Israel began here, a few days into the war, I was urging people to respect those Arab Americans’ point of view and not lecture them. MisterDancer said it better, but we were about the only ones and I doubt if you noticed because you had not yet weighed in and decided I’ve got a bad attitude on this question.

  92. 92.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @Baud:

    I know Buttigieg always owns Fox when he’s on. Not as confident about Ro.

    Ro Khanna is one of the last of the congressional Democrats who FOX can count on to say something negative about Biden, Harris, or other Democrats. I take some solace in the fact that we used to have a lot of such people. It also seems that lately Khanna realizes that he needs to be a team player.

  93. 93.

    Tony Jay

    @Kay:

    This is true. Politically it doesn’t matter if Biden’s initial no-questions-asked policy towards Netanyahu’s Israel was correct as far as domestic realpolitik/conventional wisdom was concerned. It was morally wrong and hurt him badly with Democratic electorates in key areas, and though the policy has ever so slowly turned in the right direction, the anger and disappointment that its tone-deafness engendered remains, meaning they can still be exploited by ratfuckers and bad actors if the Administration doesn’t get credible surrogates out there making their case who don’t come at it from the “you people must love Trump and you probably only pretend to care about Palestinians because you’re just stupid attention whores” angle popular with some elements of the Choir of Centrism Xtreme.

    Fortunately Biden seems to know how this stuff works and is genuine about wanting to mend bridges. Yet another difference between the Democratic Party’s leadership and the third-rate mob of careerist chancers and bullies running the newnewlabourinc corporate franchise opportunity over here.

  94. 94.

    Kay

    @Geminid:

    I agree. You’ve been more respectful than most here. I think there is a genuine difference in approach. My sense of political solidarity is aligned with other Democrats and liberals, not the political leaders. The reason I’m still a Democrat is not Democratic pols – it’s other Democrats. They’re right about Gaza and I can’t get past that. It’s going to get worse too- the food aid the US (finally) got going was too little too late. Apparently there’s a kind of tipping point with famine and it tipped. They would need a massive assistance effort now to prevent starvation. They don’t have a massive assistance effort.

    Biden needs a political Plan B. Tellling people they’re working on a ceasfire or (worse) waiting for an Israeli election isn’t going to cut it. The polling on this issue gets worse and worse.

    So get some policy opponents out there to explain what Biden CAN do and IS doing. Biden can no longer make this case. They don’t trust him or his team.

  95. 95.

    Kay

    @Geminid:

    I’m surprised the food assistance hasn’t been that effective. I know Israel is blocking aid but the US military is usually pretty good at getting massive amounts of whatever from point A to point B quickly. A skill I don’t discount! It’s hard to get massive amounts of whatever from point A to point B. I thought they would absolutely flood the zone with food. They can’t seem to get it in. Heartbreaking.

  97. 97.

    VFX Lurker

    @Kay: I saw a video clip months ago where an elderly Palestinian woman denounced Hamas for stealing and hoarding aid for Palestinians. Hamas could still be doing it.

  99. 99.

    VFX Lurker

    @Geminid: MisterDancer said it better

    Thank you for posting this. I searched for some of the MisterDancer posts on this subject, and read them. He wrote with empathy, compassion and clarity.

  100. 100.

    Kay

    @VFX Lurker:

    Welll, there’s two points where one could measure, right? In country and to the people. I think it’s acknowleged that the US is not getting enough food into Gaza – they have more allocated than what they have been able to get it. Anything Hamas steals would be in the country, so on top of the insufficient humanitarian aid coming in. The US can measure how much they have pumped in though- not enough to avert famine.

    RAFAH, Egypt — Hundreds of trucks loaded with food and medical aid sat idle on the roads heading into Gaza recently as a senior humanitarian official accused the Israeli government of blocking lifesaving supplies from reaching the devastated enclave.
    “They limit the number of trucks that can pass,” Mohamed Nossair, head of operations at the Egyptian Red Crescent, said of Israeli officials and soldiers charged with inspecting aid destined for Gaza. “The problem is also they reject these items … that are very essential.”
     

  101. 101.

    Gvg

    @Kay: I had the impression that the people who hired her, were trying to save her in order to save themselves from having to admit to their bosses that they di something bad and stupid. See Her being fired because it was such a bad idea to hire her equals these people who hired her should be fired too….or at least earn less.

    Simple. Also correct, they are bad at their jobs and should be let go.

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