#ProudBlue #ResistanceUnited đ
House Republicans walked impeachment papers to the senate today for Secretary Mayorkas. It wonât pass the Senate.We need adults in the House instead of a bunch of Magats who are just dicking around. #PutinsPuppets https://t.co/62reFxAES4— Sheryl with an S đŠđ§đșđžđ (@beachblond52) April 16, 2024
Per the “Senior Congressional Correspondent for Fox News”, as of this morning:
The Washington Post, yesterday — “Mayorkas impeachment moves to Senate, where trial could end fast”:
… Led by 11 impeachment managers appointed by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Republicans have demanded a full trial, while Senate Democrats, who hold a 51-49 majority, are planning to band together to dismiss or table the trial. Most Senate Republicans, despite previously voicing concerns about the substance of the two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas, have echoed the lower chamberâs calls for the Senate to adhere to precedent and hold a trial.
At least one Republican â Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah) â said last week that he planned to vote against a full trial. On Tuesday, Romney softened his position, telling reporters that he at least wanted debate on the articles before moving to dismiss them and therefore did not support tabling the charges. Several others who have been critical of the impeachment have yet to stake out their position, including GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska). Collins, citing her role as a juror in the trial, declined to weigh in on how she will vote, and Murkowski vaguely said she wanted âprocess.â…
After House Republicans made the ceremonial walk across the Capitol to present the articles charging Mayorkas with âwillful and systemic refusal to comply with the lawâ and âbreach of public trust,â Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, read them aloud on the Senate floor. Senators will be sworn in as jurors Wednesday, and then it will be incumbent on Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) to decide how to proceed.
Schumer decried the proceedings Monday, saying impeachment âshould never be used to settle a policy disagreementâ and vowing to âaddress the issue as expeditiously as possible.â Itâs unclear whether Schumer will move to table or dismiss the case, a maneuver that requires 51 votes to pass…
Senate Republicans have been divided on how to best influence the process from their relatively powerless position in the minority; some have agitated for an opportunity to hold Democrats accountable for the record-breaking levels of migration at the southern U.S. border. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said the Senate GOP conference had yet to come to an agreement on an approach to process the articles, but one of the options under discussion is extracting an agreement from Democrats to ensure Republicans time to debate.
âI think right now thereâs still a question about how itâll get handled, and thatâs something that our members are going to have to have a conversation about today, and then hopefully weâll have a better insight into what that process might look like,â Thune said…
Mayorkas, meanwhile, has been making the rounds on Capitol Hill over the past week, advocating for a DHS budget with higher funding than in the deal agreed to last month by the White House and Congress.
This is Mayorkasâs 30th time testifying before Congress in his capacity as DHS secretary, although he did not testify in his defense before the House Committee on Homeland Security after it revoked an invitation for him to appear, instead requesting written testimony.
âSecretary Mayorkas spent months helping a bipartisan group of Senators craft a tough but fair bill that would give DHS the tools necessary to meet todayâs border security challenges, but the same House Republicans playing political games with this impeachment chose to block that bipartisan compromise,â a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. âCongressional Republicans should stop wasting time with unfounded attacks, and instead do their job by passing bipartisan legislation to properly fund the Departmentâs vital national security missions and finally fix our broken immigration system.â
Former Republican Congressman David Jolly on the Mayorkas impeachment:
âThis is really a violation of the sanctity of the House. Theyâre now using their powers for this very political, unwarranted move and tool. It is sad to see how unserious it is under the Republican majorityâ pic.twitter.com/H7WU2OJknO
— Ian Sams (@IanSams46) April 16, 2024
Correct. The Speaker of the House next Congress will be Hakeem Jeffries https://t.co/I99i2tDZU8
— Aaron Fritschner (@Fritschner) April 15, 2024
Baud
Interesting for her to suggest that Johnson will remain speaker for the rest of this Congress
OzarkHillbilly
I’ve seen this movie before. Let me see…. Much Ado About Nothing, that’s it.
zhena gogolia
So I throw out my NYT (except for arts and food) the minute it comes into the house. All my news comes from BJ. I thought that Ukraine aid was dead, based on what I hear around here. Yesterday I saw in person a colleague who is very plugged into Ukraine stuff, and she was shocked when I expressed despair. She was under the impression that it was coming up for a vote. Does anybody know?
Leto
Invoke the Mitch McConnell rule, say we can do wtf we want, immediately dismiss.
bbleh
Meanwhile we are told tsk tsk and tut tut it’s downright uncivil to accuse MAGAts of being reflexively and mindlessly aggrieved and addicted to performative outrage rather than something something wholesome heartland pride something shouldn’t stereotype because it’ll just make them mad.
Want to help Trump? Keep up the âWhite rural rageâ stereotyping. (Sorry not gonna waste a gift link).
The sooner the entire party collapses on itself in a fit of furious, bigoted cannibalism, the better.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
Supposedly, Johnson is working on something, but it’s anyone’s guess if it’ll be acceptable.
OzarkHillbilly
@zhena gogolia:
lowtechcyclist
What “Sheryl with an S” said up top.
And just because I want to see it again:
topclimber
Does VP get to break tie if dismissal vote is tied?
lowtechcyclist
@bbleh:
I think the appropriate response is that it’s perfectly fair to judge them by the people they pick to represent them in Congress.
bbleh
@topclimber: I believe not. Â That’s why the President Pro Tem presides. Â The Senators comprise a jury, and the VP is not a Senator. Â And I would assume that a motion to whatever would not pass in the event of a tie. Â But others may know better.
Baud
@bbleh:
Not clicking, but who’s the author? If it’s some right winger, the point is really to work their base into a frenzy so they come out, and not to engage in serious debate.
bbleh
@Baud: Nicholas F. Jacobs is an assistant professor of government at Colby College, where Daniel M. Shea is a professor of government. They are the authors of âThe Rural Voter.â This op-ed was adapted from an article in UnHerd.
“In a pathbreaking work, Professors Jacobs and Shea present a comprehensive list of grievances about stereotypes of white rural voters as obsessed with grievances.”
lowtechcyclist
@OzarkHillbilly:
From the quote box:
Which war – the culture war??
ETA:
Suuuure, Mr. Dick-Around-For-Months-On-Pretty-Much-Everything.
topclimber
@bbleh: I am talking about dismissing the charges before any trial begins, at which point at least in Presidential Impeachments Chief Justice presides
Baud
@bbleh:
Thanks. Don’t know the name. But I don’t take kindly to people chastising us.
OzarkHillbilly
@lowtechcyclist: AFAIK, that’s the only war they care about, so yes I guess.
Melancholy Jaques
@bbleh:
Racists and religious bigots get special treatment in the political media. They can be hypocrites and thieves, they can be openly racist, but no one in the media will ever say so.
bbleh
@topclimber: right, I think CJ presides only if it’s an impeachment of a Prez or VP. Â But I also think swearing-in occurs in any case. Â It’s not a trial like judicial trials, cuz they make their own rules, but I think anything that’s done is done under impeachment rules not normal order.
OzarkHillbilly
@bbleh: @Baud:
It’s the old, “Don’t make me hit you again.” defense of their actions.
Jinchi
This is Romney writ large. He really wants to be seen as a serious statesman, but he can’t just shut down the BS.
Which makes him a perfect tool and whipping boy.
RaflW
Milquetoast Romney is such a piece of soggy crap. For g-d’s sake, you’re retiring from office (because you’re too chicken to fight off a MAGAt to try to retain your spot). You’re free to take the wild and unprecedented step of voting against an idiotic impeachment.
But yet you waffled. And Jolly points out how sadly cowed you are by the right flank of the party you barely cling to.
Pathetic.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
I love how that sounds, never gets old.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
I’d rather be defeated than surrender voluntarily.
topclimber
@RaflW: Maybe being Mormon he has a few more young family members besides Rhoda Rooter who want a future in Utah politics?
Jinchi
The implication being that it’s okay as long as you “sincerely believe” that you are a member of the master race.
Omnes Omnibus
@zhena gogolia: Adam is convinced that it will never happen and rather disparaging to those who argue otherwise. As he is knowledgeable about national security matters, his voice is influential here. IMO on machination within Congress, his views deserve no more weight than those of any other reasonably well-informed observer. Other’s mileage may vary.
RaflW
Also, this: “This is Mayorkasâs 30th time testifying before Congress in his capacity as DHS secretary, although he did not testify in his defense before the House Committee on Homeland Security after it revoked an invitation for him to appear”
The House ‘managers’ of this revenge-circus figured out that Mayorkas testifying would have let even more air out of the bald, wobbling tire. I know 70-80% of voters don’t pay attention to this sort of thing, but it should piss more people off. It’s the worst form of performative non-governing.
Baud
@bbleh:
I hope you made that up, because that’s hilarious.
Jinchi
Johnson sees himself as Moses and TFG as Jesus, so I assume he’s referring to the start of the final battle before the end times.
RaflW
@Baud: There’s another freaking House vacation coming right up. From Heather Cox Richardson:
The House is due to recess from Thursday, April 18, until Monday, April 29. [Tuesday] afternoon, House Intelligence Committee chair Mike Turner (R-OK) and the top Democrat on the committee, Jim Himes (D-CT), released a statement: âWe must pass Ukraine aid now,â they wrote. âToday, in a classified briefing, our Committee was informed of the critical need to provide Ukraine military aid this week. The United States must stand against Putinâs war of aggression now as Ukraineâs situation on the ground is critical.â
—
These fuckers (GOP House members) barely work when they’re in town. And they take two long-ass vacations barely days apart.
Infuriating.
FastEdD
@Leto: Yep. Mitch would exert raw power and tell the other side to pound sand. It grinds my gears that the House idiots not only donât do their jobs and waste everybodyâs time, but now they get to waste the time of the Senate, which they donât control.
Kay
@bbleh:
A woman in my office has a son going to law school. I sort of followed his whole process (applying, being admitted) because she would ask me questions/update me. I like him! Nice kid. His LSAT was very high and his undergrad grades were good so I told her he was probably in the running for a full ride. She told me matter of factly that he wouldn’t get one because he’s a white male. I told her “no, plenty of white males get them – the money is given out based on LSAT and undergrad grades”. He got the full ride.
She still says white men are at a disadvantage. Tell me what Democrats are supposed to do about that. She wants to be resentful. This is a choice she’s making – has nothing to do with her lived experience. Rather than being grateful that her son got a full ride to law school she is choosing to resent some amorphous group of “others” who “don’t deserve”…things. This is a character problem. She needs to be a better person. I can’t fix it.
Dorothy A. Winsor
When I walked past the cafe in my building yesterday, Fox was on and running the Mayorkas hearings. Two people were there watching intently. Nobody else paid attention.
UncleEbeneezer
@bbleh: I’m not about to waste my time reading that nonsense. Â I had to visit two extremely rural parts of the US in recent years (Sanger, TX several times and Grantsville, WV a couple times) and every time I mentioned that we live in Los Angeles there was a
50/50Â 80/20 chance that the rural white person would go into some kind of FoxNews-adjacent or full-on OAN rant about crime and undocumented people, Critical Race Theory, Wokeness and pronouns. Â The resentment was so common that it was palpable. Â When these fuckers stop believing and screeching this shit at every opportunity, I’ll stop pointing it out. Â But until then, in my experience, the label is very well deserved and backed up not only by studies and polling but by who they collectively vote for. Â The whole “hur-hur” mockery of cities is so widespread in those areas that I just expect it. Â So much so that when I don’t get some kind of bitter wise-crack about cities, I’m pleasantly surprised. Â And that’s with me mostly not even bringing up politics!OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: Never forget, they are the real victims here.
John S.
@Baud: This dovetails neatly with the piece John Oliver did on Medicaid.
Turns out, white rural politicians spent an awful lot of time legislating their grievances to keep âthose peopleâ off Medicaid â even when staffing an office to root out âfraudâ costs over $6m per year and the estimated amount of recoverable fraud is less than $1m.
ETA: Fraud in this context is perpetrated by the Medicaid recipient. Naturally, the billions of dollars in fraud committed by companies who blatantly steal from Medicaid goes unpunished (and as Oliver showed, is actually cheered on by idiots like Jim Cramer).
The Thin Black Duke
@Kay: Some white people like White Supremacy, and they’re glad they don’t have to pretend otherwise anymore.
lowtechcyclist
@Jinchi:
Only if he believes in a post-Trib or mid-Trib Rapture. If he’s a believer in a pre-Trib Rapture (which has become the norm, due in large part to the Left Behind series), then he believes he’s outa here before the battle gets underway.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
They think digging their own graves owns the libs.
The only thing I can do is stay un-owned, no matter what happens.
Baud
@lowtechcyclist:
Heretic! Mid-trib all the way!
Baud
@UncleEbeneezer:
Just respond how happy you are in LA. That’ll eat them alive.
japa21
@Kay:Â â
Actually, I think it is more like she needs to be resentful. Somewhere in her past, something didn’t go the way she wanted and she has carried a grudge ever since.
Jinchi
@zhena gogolia: “Something” is coming up for a vote. Johnson calls it “Ukraine aid”, but who knows what will actually be in it. Every move he’s made has been to delay and preferably stop US assistance, so I wouldn’t expect a bill to get to the president’s desk soon.
But still, the real question is how many Republicans are left in the House who actually want to support a democratic ally against Russia. They have just as much ability to make life miserable for Johnson as the Chaos Caucus, but so far they haven’t been willing to use it.
Personally I’m not as pessimistic as Adam, but I’m not sure he’s “wrong”, either.
topclimber
@The Thin Black Duke: Re: one of yesterday’s posts, it’s all about our Confederate Heritage.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
What can we do to encourage them to dig faster? ;-)
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Same here.
Look at this prof from IIT performing tricks for Modi’s BJP.
Baud
@lowtechcyclist:
Two words: Trump ShovelsÂź
Omnes Omnibus
@lowtechcyclist:Â â
Telling them that digging upsets us would probably help.
WaterGirl
@RaflW: I hope Biden calla the Hour back into session on day 1 of their vacation.
Jinchi
I think most apocalyptic rightwingers are Quantum Christians: they believe they’ll be among the chosen, but they also can’t imagine they’d miss out on of all the fun.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
LOL! There was a time, more than 50 years ago, when I was very much a participant in those debates. Thank goodness it’s been nearly that long since I stopped believing in any of that End Times bullshit.
So now I’m not a heretic, I’m an apostate! :-D
schrodingers_cat
@bbleh: That’s the topic of the nth think piece by prestige media outlets, where n is very large number. This is hardly path breaking.
RaflW
@topclimber: Taggart (eghad, how Randian) is a VC fund vulture and ‘political consultant’ (on his dad’s campaigns). He’s also 54 years old. I think he can stand on his own two feet if he wants to run for anything.
Matt (age 53) seems to keep a low profile.
Josh (age 49), via SLT: “Josh Romney won’t run to replace his father in the Senate” I suppose this might be the scion Mitt is attempting to protect with his genuflecting to the MAGAts?
Ben (age 46) also seems to keep a low profile.
Craig (age 43) is busy surfing, beekeeping, running a real estate investment firm and serving a BYU-Marriott Biz School advisory board (the Romney Institute, what a coinkidink)
—
Sorry for the slightly obsessive review of his brood. Doesn’t seem like they’re itching to step into elected office during this MAGA fever. Later, if the party doesn’t atomize, maybe one or two will want a shot at (cough) public service?
Baud
@lowtechcyclist:
Nominated.
lowtechcyclist
@japa21:
Yeah, but almost all of us had big stuff in our lives that didn’t go the way we wanted.
We all have the choice of whether to hold onto our resentments or let go of them.
The Thin Black Duke
@topclimber: But not the real Confederacy, mind you. They want the “Gone With The Wind” Hollywood construct, where slavery is reimagined as a kinder gentler version of summer camp. Butterfly McQueens, but no Harriet Tubmans.
Soprano2
@zhena gogolia: You’ve been reading Adam’s posts; he’s absolutely convinced nothing will happen with Ukraine aid. The truth is more complicated than that. It might come up for a vote in the House this week as a separate bill.
Brachiator
The Republicans have to do this, as a distraction from the Trump trial. The GOP is no longer a legitimate political party. They are just an extension of the Trump clown show.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
Brilliant!!!!
ETA:
@Omnes Omnibus:
Yeah, that would also work pretty well.
UncleEbeneezer
@Kay: She wants Dems to be openly and virulently anti-Black, like the GOP. Â That’s what people like her want.
Almost Retired
@Kay:Â â
Ugh, I try so hard to counter that attitude when it comes up. My best example is my white son and my Black daughter in law. Both had similar grades and LSAT scores and went to the same law school. They both got the same scholarship. VICTIMS!!
Soprano2
@bbleh: The thing is it’s not a stereotype, it’s how way too many of them actually are. There is usually a grain of truth in any stereotype, they don’t want to admit that.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
:bows:
Soprano2
@Omnes Omnibus: Your characterization of his attitude is rather kind. It’s one reason I mostly quit reading the Ukraine threads. I have enough despair in my life already, I don’t need to contribute even more to it.
japa21
@lowtechcyclist:Â â
Agreed, but there are those who see themselves as so special that when something doesn’t go right it must be the fault of someone else. To conceive of the problem being themselves would be a form of emotional suicide.
bbleh
@Kay: I don’t know that it CAN be fixed, and it’s certainly not on you to do it. Â It’s all wrapped up with their identity and self-image — this is one reason Trump is merely an accelerant rather than a principal cause — and those sorts of things change only slowly if at all. Â They think it, they say it, they hear their friends and preferred media say it — it’s an echo chamber — and to give it up requires giving up an important part of belief about themselves (victim, righteous, deserving but mistreated, denied their due by evil conspiracies and shadowy organizations allied with Others, blah blah blah).
I don’t bother trying any more. Â They’re write-offs as far as I’m concerned (although they still deserve clean air and water and safe food and drugs and affordable healthcare and decent schools and and and, like any other human).
@UncleEbeneezer: yeah I don’t even discuss it any more. Â there’s no point — they don’t deal in facts, and they can’t budge on their beliefs, so why waste my breath? Â I just kinda roll my eyes and “uh-huh” if they bring it up (and half the time even that elicits annoyance, because they think they’re due agreement).
Marcopolo
@zhena gogolia: Well, under Johnson Ukraine funding has been dead.  Hell, the Senate bill (with the border funding to boot) passed a couple months ago thenâŠcrickets.  But itâs the US House so whatâs dead can be brought back to life. Iâll add the caveat that until it is brought to the floor, voted on, and passed, donât hold your breath.
WaterGirl
The LA Times is one of the only good newspapers still standing. Â Their workers are fighting for a fair contract. Â I don’t know if petitions help, but it can’t hurt for the owners / management to know they have the support of a lot of people around the country.
Link to the petition for the LA Times employee petition
UncleEbeneezer
@Baud: Oh believe me, I do! Â If I feel like laying it on thick I’ll rave about the diversity of my neighborhood and all the Black, Women and LGBTQ-owned businesses and the joy of working with mostly Latinx and Asian-American kids.
John S.
@bbleh: Try talking about Israel/Palestine with Orthodox Jews in your immediate family. Thatâs really fun, especially now!
Brachiator
@Jinchi:
This is a bit of a mashup of biblical metaphors.
How about Johnson as John the Baptist and TFG as Jesus.
This could make MTG a Salome out for Johnson’s head.
They are all a bunch of dopes.
Marcopolo
@Dorothy A. Winsor: It was a little on the absurdist side that Mayorkis was back in Congress giving testimony on funding needs for Homeland Security in front of a committee that voted to impeach him only a few weeks ago. Â My hatâs off to him, I couldnât do it.
RaflW
Related to the post title:
Cotton previously Xitted that people should “take matters into their own hands” as US Gaza protesters block access to airports. It’s not even stochastic threats now.
Where the fuck is the civility police now? Oh, right. That’s only a tool to stifle Democrats. But what Tom is doing is fomenting public rioting. And he’s a g.d. US Senator. I’m actually serious: Where is the public condemnation of this outrageousness? He’s all but said “second amendment remedies.”
It’s incumbent on Dems to point a giant flashing sign on his sick threats. Yeah, it’s complicated because it’s Israel-Gaza, but pushing for bloody violence is fucking wrong.
UncleEbeneezer
@topclimber: Did somebody actually write that, about Confederate Heritage?
lowtechcyclist
@japa21:
Even if it really IS the fault of someone else, one still doesn’t need to hold onto that grievance forever and ever. They can still choose to let it go. Or not. But either way, it’s a choice.
Kay
@bbleh:
I’ve said this before but wouldn’t it be smart for these rural safari journalists/pundits to switch it up a little and look at rural voters who are NOT resentful and full of rage? In a given area there are 25 to 40% of rural voters who do not resent all other Americans. What’s their secret? They had the same Democratic messaging as the other group. Somehow it didn’t turn them into bitter, crabbed anger bears.
Baud
@lowtechcyclist:
Turn the other cheek? You sound like one of those damn hippies.
RaflW
@Soprano2: Yeah, me too. I share some of Adam’s bitterness over Johnson’s capitulation to the Putinist wing of his party, but I can’t rehash it regularly.
Baud
@RaflW:
Where’s Kathy Griffen when you need her?
bbleh
@John S.: I’ll do that right after I get back from my elective root canal.
mrmoshpotato
Oh, we know. We know.
TBone
Marge Traitor Trash should just walk across the Bering Strait, she’s showing her whole entire ass and that should keep her afloat long enough to get where she belongs.
lowtechcyclist
@John S.:
Fortunately for me, the Jews in my not-immediate family (stepbrothers and first cousins) are mostly unorthodox Jews. ;-)
Kay
@RaflW:
It’s even funnider because centrist ninnies and media spent two years apologizing to Tom Cotton because his op ed about how he wanted the army to put down BLM protestors was interpreted as…he wanted to use the army to put down BLM protestors. We understood what he said. “Send in the troops” means…send in the troops. The ninnies wrapped themselves around the axle again.
He just made all these defenders of him look as silly as they are, because he has now AGAIN said he wants protestors harmed.
We were right the first time. Tom Cotton thinks any protestor on the Left should be physically harmed simply for protesting.
Steve in the ATL
@WaterGirl: you want me to jump into a labor disputeâon the side of the workers?!?! Â The horror!
Anyway
@Omnes Omnibus:
Adam was right in that none of the “this one thing could happen” hypotheses have come to pass, Ukraine has not received necessary ammo-aid; this has helped Russia regroup and inflict a lot of pain on the country – they are taking great hits to their infrastructure, energy installations and the delays have helped Russia immensely. I think Adam was more right than wrong – the delays have been gutting.
Steve in the ATL
@UncleEbeneezer:
That alone is surely enough to make those heads explode!
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
I’m often tempted to turn both cheeks in their direction, IYKWIM and I’m sure you do.
Betty Cracker
@Brachiator:
Nailed it.
Also, thanks for your kind remarks in my thread from yesterday about Rick Scott. (Didn’t get around to reading all the comments until the thread was long dead.) Also wanted to compliment you in return for “moment of deception” — wish I’d thought of that! ;-)
UncleEbeneezer
@bbleh: Yup. Â If someone seems to be reasonable, has good intentions and is open to being better I may put in the effort to try and dispel them of their ignorance on racial inequality, history, white privilege etc. Â But if they are still at “Black People get all the breaks”, sorry, but that’s a hard No.
bbleh
@Kay: and yeah it would be nice — I occasionally make intemperate remarks in public, and almost always get some flicker of support, usually from women of any age or younger nonwhite men — but that would be a much more difficult story to tell. Â Easier and generates more clicks just to do another Late Morning Resentment Roundup At The Diner In Town.
Omnes Omnibus
@Soprano2: I was trying to leave personalities and my armchair psychological noodlings out of it. I no longer participate in the discussions in those threads. What military insights I could offer in the first days of the war are no longer really germane, and I’ll leave it at that.
TBone
Reposting my opinion piece from earlier. The smoke and mirrors game, flooding the zone with shit, etc. needs to be ended.
Both Rump and Squeaker Johnson are doing smoke and mirrors. Rump with the bond and Johnson with foreign aid. Iâm not falling for any of the stupid excuses.
Weissman and Rubin tell us why:
https://moneyforlunch.com/absurd-experts-say-trump-still-playing-games-with-fraud-bond-and-it-could-blow-up-in-his-face/
The time for enforcement (asset seizure of Rump AND Pooty) is nigh. Take the money and take the win.
lowtechcyclist
@Betty Cracker:
I thought Harrison Wesley won that thread with his comment about how “the Republican Party supports fecal personhood.” Honorable mention to whoever responded with something along the lines of, “Support it? They exemplify it!”
Mike in NC
Adults in the GOP House? Hilarious. Led by the likes of pedophile Matt Gaetz and barfly Empty Greene. No work will be done until they get the boot in November.
Omnes Omnibus
@Anyway: I don’t disagree with much of that. I do disagree with the word “never.” It is a recipe for giving up. Adam has been right that nothing has happened yet. And that the consequences of that have been and continue to be horrific. I don’t advocate pinning our hopes on any one thing that could happen. I suggest that people keep pushing. Many things are impossible until they happen.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone đ đ đ
Betty Cracker
@lowtechcyclist: Yep, more stellar comments. Scott’s an inspiration in that regard! ;-)
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Marcopolo
In some happier news, MI Dâs reassumed full control of the MI state house by winning two special elections last night. Â A few months ago two D house members had won races to become Mayors where they lived leaving the body deadlocked at 54D-54R.
And some elections prognosticators have now moved the AZ Sen race to lean D from tossup. Â Assume this is in reaction to polling & fundraising but maybe also because of the recent AZ Supreme Court 1864 abortion ruling & the fact there will be a ballot amendment to legalize abortion in front of voter in Nov.
Btw, theyâve also move the AZ6 House race to tossup from lean R. Â Would love to flip that seat!
Kay
Another one of Oprah’s crackpots has gone full wingnut – Dr Phil. An anti feminist, anti trans crusader. She’s wildly successful of course but she is a LOUSY judge of character. She promotes horrible people, over and over and over. After, I don’t now, the TENTH mean spirited scammer one would think she would do some self reflection but no – she just finds another one.
I read that Australia is trying to regulate health and wellness crackpots because they’re rip off scammers who prey on vulnerable people and the sector is EXPLODING. I wish the US could do that.
Harrison Wesley
@Baud: Those are the ones with the tiny handles, right?
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus: I have stayed away from most of those threads from the get go. Mostly because of predictions of doom made with certainty.
Ksmiami
@Kay: you can tell that to her face to start. I know I would. Donât really care to be nice to these hateful, ungrateful idiots.
WaterGirl
@Steve in the ATL: I do! Â :-)
TBone
@TBone: turnabout is fair play, deep state style (gift link)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/17/russia-foreign-policy-us-weaken/
Ksmiami
@Anyway: yep. I still think Biden should just say fuck it and transfer weapons rn. Let the house try to impeach him. They suck and will lose
lowtechcyclist
@Omnes Omnibus:
Since the topic of Adam’s threads has come up here, I’ll toss in another comment that has nothing to do with personalities.
AL’s Covid threads were daily threads for well over a year, but there came a time when the state of our knowledge and the progress/regress of the plague didn’t change much on a daily basis. So she dialed back the frequency to three times a week, then twice, and now it’s been once a week for quite a while now.
Same with Ukraine. It’s been well over a year since the situation has typically changed much from one day to the next. There’s really no need for daily Ukraine threads here. I’d probably read a twice-a-week update, but because it’s daily, I’ve just gotten in the habit of scrolling on by, because it’s hard to hit myself over the head with essentially the same bad news, night after night. So I don’t, and clearly I’m not alone in this.
Baud
@Kay:
Is he setting up a run for office somewhere?
TBone
@Ksmiami: đ
lowtechcyclist
@Ksmiami:
I wish he would too, but we all know that Biden’s not going to step outside the law. He’s just not that sort of person, and on the whole, that’s a good thing.
But in the same position, I’d have to ask myself how many deaths it would take before I would do something illegal to stanch the bleeding.
TBone
The end justifies the means đ¶
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-WCFUGCOLLU
TBone
@lowtechcyclist: I would do it if I had VP Harris next in line âșïž
Kay
@Baud:
I don’t know. I think it’s possible since he’s coming out boldly as a wingnut crackpot.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@Ksmiami: âIf we only had our own dictatorâŠâ
No thanks.
Manyakitty
@Dorothy A. Winsor: any way you can get them to block that toxic swill?
Soprano2
@RaflW: Don’t you know they’ve gotta go back to their districts and raise money for their re-election. I think many of them spend more time on that than they do on their actual job.
Baud
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon:
Baud! 20XX! doesn’t need your support anyway.
Soprano2
@Kay: Here’s the thing – those of us who live in these areas and are liberal know the truth about how much resentment there is among rural white conservatives. It’s a lot! They’re mad that people like them aren’t automatically at the front of the line for everything anymore. They feel that just by being white, rural, churchgoing people they’ve “earned” the right to be the first to get anything, and if anyone else gets in front of them they feel that person has “cut the line” and is undeserving. It also makes them mad that there are more and more people of color on their TV and in the movies. A common complaint I hear is about why are there so many black people in commercials since there aren’t that many of them in the country, and why are there so many interracial relationships on TV. Why do there have to be openly gay people on my TV – don’t they know that’s immoral? I don’t want my children to see immoral things on TV! They think that if something isn’t an experience they’re having personally not many people are having it so it’s not common. This is the truth about how so many of them feel, but the national press is not allowed to say it.
RaflW
@Kay: Here’s a rural person who is not resentful:
Rebecca Cooke doesnât sound like your average congressional candidate â let alone a Democratic candidate. Growing up on her familyâs dairy farm, Rebeccaâs family instilled in her the importance of perseverance and empathy. She later became a small business owner and was one of the millions of Americans whose livelihoods were dramatically impacted by the covid pandemic. Since then, sheâs picked up shifts at a local restaurant and continues to waitress three nights a week â all while running for Congress.
lowtechcyclist
@TBone:
Hell yeah! They’d be thinking, “we could impeach, but then that Black woman would be President!”
TBone
@lowtechcyclist: đ plus, I don’t believe that one action of transferring assets to Ukraine to save democracy worldwide constitutes being a dictator, but that’s just me…
Soprano2
@UncleEbeneezer: Yep, they’re totally allowed to shit all over anyone who lives in a bigger city, but we’re not allowed to say one bad word about them. Country music is full of this resentment. I didn’t know that until I had to listen to a lot of karaoke – several of the popular karaoke songs have that kind of theme. “I ruined your black tie affair” is one of them. There are many others.
TBone
@Soprano2: every time we have anyone visit here (hiring help we need from various locals, contractors, financial advisor, etc.) we have to make sure anything that might give us away as libs is hidden. It’s the only way to not get sabotaged
Baud
@RaflW:
Not sure why she doesn’t sound like a Democratic candidate, but if that’s what she has to say to sell herself, more power to her.
sdhays
I had some hope for these people until the Mayorkas impeachment. I thought they would get tired of being jerked around by the MTG’s of the caucus and fire a shot across their bow with a discharge petition to say, “you folks aren’t the only ones who can tip the boat over, assholes” or force the issue some other way.
But then, all the “moderates” just bellied up to the bar and voted for the appalling Mayorakas impeachment, knowing full well it amounts to “WAAAAAA, we can’t dictate the DHS Secretary’s policies, WAAAAAA”. They should have told MTG to fuck off, and yet almost all of them rolled over instead.
I still hope something happens, but it won’t be because of these assholes.
db11
@schrodingers_cat: And yet Adam’s ‘predictions of doom’ â Â re: risk aversion in the WH / gridlock in Congress / on the ground in Ukraine â have tracked much closer to reality for over 2 years now than other more positive, never- criticize-the-Biden-admin assessments.
Where I agree with Omnes is the importance of making the distinction between the probable, the possible and the seemingly impossible.
In this respect Adam may be too close and too informed to see any path out that comports with what is known about current political and military realities.
But I take his ‘certainty’ more as reality-grounded clarity, and that when facts on the ground change significantly â which they’ve only done in the negative direction to date â so will his forward-looking analysis of what is possible.
ETA: given the herculean nature of his daily efforts â and the toll it must take to process that amount and kind of information â it would be nice if people here weren’t so quick to shit on him for his so-called ‘pessimism’.
Baud
@db11:
Is there a spreadsheet analyzing the outcomes of prediction?
TBone
@sdhays: they are ALL ruled by the iron fist of Rump and, therefore, by the whims and ambitions of Pooty himself.
We have explicit, documented evidence of it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/17/russia-foreign-policy-us-weaken/
I can’t wait for one of our rock stars to enter THAT into the Congressional Record!
Also, I wish people would take a few moments to READ this article of gravitas.
Baud
@Soprano2:
Beyonce will change that!
Soprano2
@lowtechcyclist: I would almost bet that somewhere along the way one of “those people” got something she thought her son should have gotten. They see equality as oppression, because they aren’t used to having to compete with “those people” for the things they want, like spots in college or jobs.
db11
@Baud: Not sure what point you’re trying to make.
Geminid
@Jinchi: Those House Republicans don’t have to make anybody miserable, they just have to sign Rep. McGovern’s discharge petition and then vote for the Ukraine aid package. Most of their caucus will be relieved.
Marjorie Greene will raise a fuss, but she’ll be off after a new squirrel in no time. And Mike Johnson will get over it, bcause he has his faith to sustain him.
Jackie
@Mike in NC:
Sadly, Gaetz and MTGâs seats are probably safe in their respective MAGA red districts, BUTÂ we CANÂ take back the House with a large majority ANDÂ make them as irrelevant as two fruit flies flitting around – annoying, but otherwise swat-able.
Baud
@db11:
You made an assertion about the relative accuracy of different people’s predictions. I was asking if that was based on data.
sdhays
@schrodingers_cat: It’s the certainty that gets me. He’s not wrong about the Republican House caucus, but he predicted the same thing when the Republicans took over the House last year and we got another year of support out of them that he completely didn’t expect. So there’s at least some other things going on in Washington that he doesn’t account for.
Soprano2
They’re somewhere over there doing something important, and haven’t seen any of this stuff Cotton is doing so they aren’t able to comment on it. /s/s/s/s/s/s
sdhays
@Geminid: I remain perplexed as to why they didn’t just go ahead and do that months ago. Maybe waiting to get past primary season? Or they’re just weak, shitty people.
(Well, we know they’re weak, shitty people, but is that overriding reason or is there something else preventing them from just signing the damn petition?)
Soprano2
@RaflW: I also don’t like the way he discounts some of the other front pagers. We can’t have everyone be constant prophets of doom and gloom or pretty soon there won’t be anyone left here to read any of it. I understand the bitterness, I do, but sometimes politicians do what’s possible even if it’s not the best outcome.
db11
@Baud: Obviously I haven’t made a spreadsheet, so if you think that completely invalidates the point I was making, well have at it.
I have read every one of Adam’s posts since the start of the war and, best I can see, he has been more consistently right on the big things and the political dynamics at play â in Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. â than those who will broke no criticism of the Biden team’s approach
ETA: And I will say that i find his apparent emotional weariness and lack of trust in the admin to back up their rhetoric wrt Ukraine support (especially when contrasted to their actions vis-a-vis Israel) to be well-earned.
TBone
Coming soon courtesy of the Supremacist Court:
Ginni Thomas Day! đ
https://susiemadrak.com/2024/04/17/looking-to-overturn-jan-6th-convictions/
verb (used with object), re·cused, re·cus·ing.
to reject or challenge (a judge, juror, or attorney) as disqualified to act in a particular case, especially because of potential conflict of interest or bias.
schrodingers_cat
@sdhays: His fan club disagrees. They are here defending him.
satby
@Baud: A lot of the country music channels won’t play her country stuff. I’m forced to listen to one at the market (only 5 more days!!) and all the most obnoxious country artists are played but not any newer ones that don’t stick to the guns, flag, jeezus construct.
Baud
@db11:
Ok. Thanks for clarifying.
Baud
I don’t know what the House will do, but I can be certain their delay has done untold harm to Ukraine, and we shouldn’t applaud them even if they manage to pass something soon.
John S.
@db11: You think thatâs bad, try criticizing anything that Merrick Garland does. He has a regular fan club around here.
topclimber
It was a comment on the governor’ s reinstatement of Confederate Heritage Month in Mississippi. Not done by an advocate I am sure.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
Her ‘Priorities‘ page sounds more than Democratic enough to satisfy me.
Wapiti
@lowtechcyclist: Even if it really IS the fault of someone else, one still doesnât need to hold onto that grievance forever and ever. They can still choose to let it go. Or not. But either way, itâs a choice.
I think that’s the reasoning behind forgiveness. As in, by forgiving (sometimes, oneself) one can move on.
Geminid
@sdhays: I would point out that we got that year of support for Ukraine in the previous Congress, when Congress included $60 billion for Ukraine in the Omnibus bill passed in the Lame Duck session. That money ran out last Fall. I think Silverman’s criticism is that this year’s funding should and could have been provided by the previous Congress.
Jackie
CNN is reporting Johnson will hold foreign aid votes THIS SATURDAY!
Details on the packets will be released later today.
Baud
@Jackie:
The plot thickens. Thanks.
Soprano2
@lowtechcyclist: I’m kind of the same. I think Adam has a lot of valuable insight to share, but as I said above I have enough despair in my life as it is (ask me about the full-on anxiety attack I had Monday night as I was trying to go to sleep) so I don’t need to add to it any. Plus, he has taken to taking swipes at other front pagers, and I don’t like that. Each person has their area they post about, and to me all are equally valid and needed here. It’s not necessary to denigrate someone about being the “hopium” poster IMHO. What is life without hope but something filled only with despair? Who wants that?
Soprano2
@db11: They’re his threads, and he can do whatever he wants with them, but I can’t read them anymore. Plus, I think I’m fully within my rights to say I don’t like how he posts about some of the other front pagers, as if what they post is less important than what he posts. It’s like the “math is needed, arts are optional” type of attitude too many people have toward schooling.
TBone
@Soprano2: đ
JML
@Kay: having watched “Bull” which is loosely based on Dr. Phil’s early career, I would bet money that he ran a game on Oprah from the jump, read her like a book and told her exactly what she wanted to hear. because that’s exactly what jury consultant’s do: figure out what someone wants to hear to make them agree with you.
lowtechcyclist
@db11:
Why? I’m not asking him to engage in this herculean labor. That’s his choice. I’d rather he did less.
Baud
If we couldn’t criticize valuable people, I’d be the only person subject to criticism.
Old School
@Geminid:
Yes, he thinks that when Biden got the funding for all of 2023 passed at the end of 2022, he should have had Congress also pass funding for 2024 (and perhaps beyond).
Ruckus
@OzarkHillbilly:
Much
AdoBullshit About Nothing, thatâs it.FIXITFY
They’ve got nothing, they are useless human beings, who deserve less respect than a drunk sleeping it off in a back alley. They are bad at spelling, they seem to think that the saying is “Morons of the Universe.” At least they act like it.
UncleEbeneezer
@Baud: One of the best things about Cowboy Carter (putting all of Beyonce’s musical excellence aside for a moment) is just how nice it is to listen to Country and not have to be constantly preparing for some sort of racist dogwhistle masquerading as rural/Real American pride. Â In fact, much of the album, especially the opening track, takes aim at the bullshit of that typical, C/W stance.
Ruckus
@Baud:
The main issue is that they wouldn’t know a serious debate if it ran over them with all 18 wheels.
TBone
@TBone: Tom Sullivan on that WaPo article:
https://digbysblog.net/2024/04/17/its-not-paranoia-if-2/
Soprano2
@Old School: That might have been possible at that time, but I think it would have been a heavy lift to get that much aid approved at that time. He seems to believe it would have been easy peasy for it to happen.
UncleEbeneezer
@John S.: Every bad Garland-bashing hot take has been aired here, constantly, by multiple commenters for three years. Â The only difference between BJ and other spaces is that there are people here who actually take the time to painstakingly explain all the reasons why those takes are bullshit, including some practicing attorneys with real familiarity with how our justice system operates. Â Sounds like what you really want is a Garland-bashing safe space where nobody ever pushes back. Â Good news!: Â Those spaces are literally everywhere, all over social media. Â You shouldn’t have any trouble finding one.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: You are valuable.
Anyway
@schrodingers_cat:
And so are his detractors ! they don’t even need to read the threads…
Geminid
@sdhays: I’ve noticed that Republican Ukraine hawks have been very reticent about the Petition to Discharge route. Maybe they’ll talk about it after Ukraine aid passes. My speculation is that they are waiting to see if Johnson comes through on promises made to them, that he will actually allow a vote on a viable Ukraine aid package.
Crunch time comes when Johnson can’t or won’t pull it off. Then the Ukraine hawks could sign the petition as a last resort.
TBone
@TBone: oops, should have said “Classified Russian document provided to us by European Intelligence Service.”  For clarity that we have, for the first time in writing, hard evidence of Pooty’s crackpipe dreams and plans.
sdhays
@Geminid: And I don’t disagree! The previous Congress left weapons lying on the table for Republicans to use, including the debt limit, and I wish they hadn’t.
But I also don’t understand how he thinks a 2 or 3 year funding for Ukraine would have passed Congress without a Republican filibuster. Senate Republicans wouldn’t have just gone along with the idea of sidelining the incoming House Republican majority. They still thought they’d be able to get their ponies through a Republican House.
sdhays
@Geminid: I hope you’re right about that. After the Mayorkas impeachment vote, I’m a lot more pessimistic than I was. I really want to be wrong, though.
schrodingers_cat
@Anyway: Well I can read the posts I want. I don’t really need a day by description of the Ukraine-Russia war. When I feel like I want some info about it, I do read them.
Geminid
@sdhays: Well, I didn’t say they would sign the petition, just that they could.
I think they will though, but we’ll find out for sure…eventually.
frosty
@Jackie: Thanks for this. I just called Smucker and told him I understood a bill was coming Saturday and to vote for everything Ukraine needs. Heâs been solid for them so far.
Anyway
@Baud:
yes, Better late than never and all that – but Ukraine has suffered so much loss of life and infrastructure in the last year – that could have been mitigated had they got enough ammo and aid in time.
topclimber
@Old School: Adam has a valid point, but Biden has to think about more than one year. He wants support to be bipartisan, even if that means that less than half of GQPers actually get on board. Sadly, unless and until the Russians get rid of their KGB czar, more funding is quite likely to be needed for years to come. A bipartisan approach probably makes that more likely.
As for him lambasting other front pagers, I suspect they can take it. (Also I don’t recall such incidents, though he has dismissed many a commenter. And he has also called out folks who trash in ways outside the BJ rules of engagement).
Omnes Omnibus
@db11: Who is shitting on him?
Manyakitty
@schrodingers_cat: the option to keep scrolling is a beautiful thing. đ Big fan of it.
PS, glad to hear about your non-amazon book purchase. I’m always looking for ways to cut them out of my personal supply chain.
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus: By not reading his posts and joining the amen chorus about his greatness is blasphemous according to db11.
schrodingers_cat
@Manyakitty: I get a lot of my art supplies from eBay and Blick Studios.
Manyakitty
@schrodingers_cat: I keep forgetting about eBay.
schrodingers_cat
@Manyakitty: I have had only one bad experience on eBay. But thankfully it was covered by their money back guarantee.
UncleEbeneezer
@topclimber: I trust that Biden considered the possibility of pushing for 2024 funding, but that he found good reasons (like not enough Dem votes) to pursue it at the time.  Biden has proven to be much better at figuring out what can/can’t get through any given Congress than any political pundit, commenter or front-page poster here.  I can easily imagine several Dems being all-in on 2023 funding but “it’s way too son to consider 2024”, at that time.
Misterpuff
@OzarkHillbilly:
Of course, that refers to the civil war between the MAGAt looneys and the rest of the House.
Brachiator
@UncleEbeneezer:
It amazes me that these people can even spell “Critical Race Theory.” I know that they don’t understand it.
I don’t watch Fox News. But I notice that clips from PragerU and a few other right wing nutballs show up as Recommended among my YouTube channels. And from the thumbnails I can see that they often are making inane commentary about race or trans issues.
John S.
@UncleEbeneezer: Go be a hall monitor someplace else. Your âLEAVE MERRICK ALONEâ fan club is safe here.
schrodingers_cat
@Brachiator: I tell YT not to show me those channels.
db11
@lowtechcyclist: So don’t read his threads.
There are many who appreciate the constancy and rigour of his efforts, and the experience and expertise he applies to his analysis.
As a larger point, I try not to react to the tone of posts / comments, but rather the content contained therein.
I understand why people are put off by Adam’s tone or don’t have the available emotional bandwidth to absorb said content on a regular basis. I’m not criticizing people for not wanting to ingest a constant flow of upsetting coverage and grim analysis.
What I don’t get is the impetus of a small number of people to shit on him for his valuable contributions.
In my case I want to remain both informed of the current state and reminded of what’s at stake. I don’t get triggered by Adam’s ‘certainty’ â I just process it as contemporary clarity.
(i.e. I try not to let the tone overwhelm the message, so I take apparent assertions as his evaluation of ‘what is most likely to flow forward from what we know and observe to date’. Maybe it would go down easier for some with more provisos, but those also subtract from the clarity of the overarching message.)
Plus as they say: “Prediction is hard, especially about the future”.
db11
@schrodingers_cat: Pretty sure I never said that, or even implied it.
My comment at 189 better explains my position.
Omnes Omnibus
@db11: A commenter asked why this blog tends very negative on the prospects of aid to Ukraine. People replied to her. No one has said he isn’t providing valuable information.
Brachiator
@WaterGirl:
People might also consider subscribing to the LA Times. Their national and regional news coverage is still very good.
The petition is a good thing, can’t hurt, but readers keep newspapers alive.
ETA. I’m not sure how Google’s recent threats to stop linking California news sources may impact the LA Times and other publications. But this is another reason to subscribe.
Manyakitty
@schrodingers_cat: good! Enshittification is everywhere, glad eBay stood up for you.
rikyrah
@Kay:
They long for the delusional world of Mad Men. When they pretended that they were big fish in a big pond.
In fact, they were the only fish around, because everyone else was stuffed in a sardine can.
Now, the can is open, and they have to compete with everyone else.
Oh well.
Cause nobody’s going back into the sardine can to make them feel good.
Manyakitty
@rikyrah: mixing my metaphors, a fish rots from the head đđ
Ruckus
@Kay:
Some humans inhabit a world that they have made for themselves. They may know someone who didn’t get everything handed to them for one reason or another and that pisses them off. And likely this is a world that was described to them over and over when younger. Or complaints someone made while listening to the nightly news commentary. If those views were instilled and distilled long enough, they stick and stick hard, often without realization. (In an earlier part of my life I was a mental health counselor at a city mental health clinic. Often kids form ideals at a young age and often they don’t realize that they are, it was part of their growing up. For many clients this was a rude awakening – finding out what they learned as kids and that they didn’t actually like it – it was just ingrained over time as normal. And accepted.)
Brachiator
@schrodingers_cat:
I thought I tried that. I must have been doing something wrong. Currently I don’t get a lot of right wing nonsense, so the occasional PragerU spot doesn’t bother me. I might even leave a comment, although I imagine that my remarks get deleted.
UncleEbeneezer
@John S.: People who know better are going to push back on overly simplistic and factually incorrect Garland-bashing when we see it. Â That’s not a fan club, that’s debate. Â Sorry for your loss. Â If you want nothing but high-fives for bad DOJ takes, try LG&M.
RaflW
@Baud: Yeah, some of that is performed for ‘blue dog’ type big donors. But if one is going to contest an R+4 seat with an incumbent MAGA, centrism is the path.
lowtechcyclist
@db11:
And feel free to scroll past my comments.
And for the most part, I don’t read his threads. But I was reading his posts regularly for at least a year and a half, so I’ve got some grounds for commenting on them. And occasionally even now I catch some words as I scroll by, and have to read enough to find out that Adam is still telling us it’s impossible that Ukraine will get any aid from us this year, and maybe ever.
I don’t read often or deeply enough to know if he still goes on like he used to about how much work it was, doing these posts every evening, on top of everything else he has to do. But if he still does, I say, YOU DON’T HAVE TO. Just like I don’t have to read them, he doesn’t have to write them. So if it’s a burden for him to write them, he should just do less of it.
Omnes Omnibus
@RaflW: “Just win, baby.” If we can get a majority, we can worry about Speaker Jeffries and company keeping everyone onside. First, we need to get to Speaker Jeffries.
jimmiraybob
@lowtechcyclist: ” Iâm not a heretic, Iâm an apostate!”
They both burn the same though don’t they?
… what, too soon?
Kathleen
@UncleEbeneezer: So do our media betters. Subtext of their “Dems have messaging problem” complaint is “What about White People”?
WaterGirl
@Misterpuff: Well, in all fairness, Mike Johnson is at war with democracy. Â Not to mention at war with the concept of governing; he is on the side of obstruct and delay.
Gravenstone
@Baud: Short of Democrats taking the majority through retirements and such, it makes no sense for Jeffries to get the seat. The howler monkeys would be dropping motions to vacate daily if that happened.
Melancholy Jaques
@The Thin Black Duke:
And definitely no Sethe
Melancholy Jaques
@Old School:
The clarity of the rearview mirror?
Quadrillipede
People can write what they like, I can read what I like. But I do think pessism sometimes bleeds over into cynicism and learned helplessness, which is exactly what you don’t want if you’re trying to motivate people to improve anything (and there’s certainly no shortage of things needing improvement in the short to medium term…)
Citizen Alan
@Soprano2:
I hate that song so much. It’s about a drunk asshole who crashes a formal occasion (possibly a wedding!) to insult his ex and her new boyfriend/husband (and take pleasure in “the fear in his eyes” as the asshole grabs a glass of champagne out of the other man’s hand) before leaving in a snot to go get drunk and high. So much of Southern Culture is about just being an asshole and getting cheered for it.
Citizen Alan
@sdhays: There are no moderate Republicans. Moderate Republicans do not exist. You might as well have expected a unicorn to show up with funds for Ukraine.
The GOP House has 3 factions. (1) The Freedom Caucus, which is a fascist, racist, nihilistic death cult that wants to utterly destroy America. They are about 20% of the party. (2) The majority of the GOP, which does not wish to be associated with the Freedom Caucus, but they’re all gutless cowards who will go along with whatever the Freedom Caucus wants for fear of MAGAts primarying them if not becoming violent to them. They’re about 60% of the party. (3) And finally, the last 20% is the so-called “moderates” who are publicly opposed to the Freedom Caucus and Trump and are always on tv to attack them. And then, they STILL go along with everything the Freedom Caucus wants because in addition to being gutless cowards like the majority, they’re also raging, preening hypocrites.
Citizen Alan
@Soprano2: I will never forget the moment I realized what “white privilege” was. It was 1992. I was taking a semester off grad school for personal reasons but had applied for several campus jobs just to stay in Oxford until I could go back to school instead of moving back home to my parents. One job was actually a secretarial position because I was good with words and was an excellent typist for a non-professional. But I didn’t get it.
And apparently, my mother told all her friends at church, because I went with my parents to church the following Sunday, and no less than 5 people (including the preacher!) came up to me to reassure me that “they probably had to give it to a black.” Those exact words, all five of them! This was a job for which i had no particular training or anything, but I as a white male should have gotten it. And if I didn’t, it couldn’t be I lost out to a better candidate. No, it had to be a set-aside for an obviously less-qualified black person.
I was always subliminally aware of the racism all around me from people who would never admit to actual racist beliefs, but having it thrown in my face like that–the reflexive belief that I didn’t get what I wanted because an undeserving black person was privileged over me–was just breath-taking.
Soprano2
@Citizen Alan: They love that song. They believe women are happier with an unsophisticated he-man than with a career guy who wears a suit because they assume they’re more of a “real man” than any guy who wears a suit for work.
cain
@Geminid:
Fixed