Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

You cannot shame the shameless.

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

No one could have predicted…

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

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

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

The way to stop violence is to stop manufacturing the hatred that fuels it.

Republicans in disarray!

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

You are here: Home / War in Ukraine / Meanwhile, in the Senate… They Are Getting it Done!

Meanwhile, in the Senate… They Are Getting it Done!

by | 192 Comments

This post is in: ,

The Senate is voting right now to limit debate.  It needs 60 votes to pass, and we are way past that, but apparently everyone has the opportunity to vote even if the threshold has been reached.

McConnell had a press conference scheduled for 2:30, which was moved back to 2:45.

Link to McConnell.  (spit)

McConnell leads off his press conference by saying there were no DEMOCRATIC “no” votes on aid to Ukraine, and he expects that to be true in the Senate as well.

But of course, from there, McConnell leads off with what a terrible mistake it was for Biden to leave Afghanistan!  WTF?

McConnell seems to be blaming the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Biden because we left Afghanistan.

On the plus side, McConnell is blaming Tucker Carlson for supporting Putin, so there’s that!

On The Road - patrick II - 4th of July, Small Indiana Lake 2

Update: Leader Schumer speaking right now.  If you choose “start at the beginning’ go to 4 hrs : 49 minutes to see Schumer’s announcement that this has essentially passed!  But waiting for the final vote either tonight or tomorrow.  But the outcome is clear.

Link to the Senate sesion and Chuck Schumer  (Schumer starts around 4;49)

Article from the Hill indicates there could be up to a 30-hour delay for the final vote, but it could come as soon as Tuesday night.

The Senate on Tuesday advanced the House-passed supplemental funding package to provide long-awaited aid to Ukraine, Israel and other allies, teeing up the legislation for final passage.

Senators voted 80-19 to limit debate on the $95 billion foreign aid package, which includes $61 billion for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid, $8 billion for Taiwan, and a smorgasbord of national security items that includes a possible ban on TikTok.

“The time has come to finish the job to help our friends abroad once and for all,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday morning on the floor. “I ask my colleagues to join together to pass the supplemental today as expeditiously as possible, send our friends abroad the aid they have long been waiting for. Let us not delay this. Let us not prolong this.”

“Let us not keep our friends around the world waiting for a moment longer,” he added.

A final vote could take place as early as Tuesday night if both parties yield back enough of the 30 hours required between cloture and final passage. If no time is yielded back, a final passage vote would be set for Wednesday night.
Senators are continuing to work toward a possible amendment agreement to speed up a final vote on the four-bill package, but those talks hit a snag over the weekend.

Reader Interactions

192Comments

  1. 1.

    Manyakitty

    Moscow Mitch is true only unto himself. He just can’t let President Biden get a win without trying to shiv him somewhere.

  3. 3.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    I’ve said it before, stolen from somewhere else I can’t recall, but with regards to McConnell:

    May that man find himself unable to recognize the moment his earthly suffering ends and his eternal torment begins.

  4. 4.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    Catnip for the media, who are still mad about Biden following through on Trump ending the war in Afghanistan by surrendering to the Taliban.

  6. 6.

    sstarr

    If only we had stayed in Afghanistan Russia wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine, Inflation would be at 2%, crime would be gone and nobody would be trans ever again.  Afghanistan was the key to utopia, and we just threw it away!

  8. 8.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @sstarr:

    If only we had stayed in Afghanistan Russia wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine, Inflation would be at 2%, crime would be gone and nobody would be trans ever again.  Afghanistan was the key to utopia, and we just threw it away!

    Trump surrendering to the Taliban obviously also caused COVID. If only we’d stayed there forever! None of this would have happened!!

  9. 9.

    WaterGirl

    Leader Schumer speaking right now.  If you choose “start at the beginning’ go to 4:49 to see Schumer’s announcement that this has passed

    “We are showing Putin that betting against America is always, always, a great mistake.”

    “BIPARTISANSHIP and PERSISTENCE saved the day.

    Now he’s calling out the traitors in the House.  (not the word he used)

    Western Democracy faced it’s greatest test since the end of the World War…

    Now talking about democracy and autocrracy:

    Russian
    China
    Iran

    America would face the consequences if they are allowed to prevail.

  10. 10.

    Mart

    Pretty much is Biden’s fault Putin invaded Ukraine. I mean he was Vice President when Putin invaded in 2014.

  11. 11.

    Uncle Cosmo

    On the plus side, McConnell is blaming Tucker Carlson for supporting Putin, so there’s that!

    Let’s you & him fight! And pass the popcorn!

  12. 12.

    Old School

    So cloture has passed and now debate is underway.  Is there a timeline as to when the bill should be voted on?

  16. 16.

    rikyrah

    ElectionsAddict (@ElectionsAddict) posted at 11:04 PM on Mon, Apr 22, 2024:
    Republicans spent millions of dollars, hundreds of hours on conservative tv/radio promoting RFK Jr to their audience, convincing themselves the anti-vax, conspiratorial candidate would be spoiler that would sink Biden to help elect Trump. Too late they’ve realized their mistake. t.co/ajk4xwg4TU
    (https://x.com/ElectionsAddict/status/1782621660899897449?t=4JV7IwSGw_AtlN2tYj38Pg&s=03)

  17. 17.

    lowtechcyclist

    @WaterGirl:

    Leader Schumer speaking right now.  If you choose “start at the beginning’ go to 4:49 to see Schumer’s announcement that this has passed

    When I do that, I get 23 minutes of Moscow Mitch.

  21. 21.

    WaterGirl

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Check up top near the fireworks image.

    Or you can click here for the senate link I am referring to!  Sorry it was confusing.

    Link

    please confirm when you have found the right thing, or let me know if not.  thanks.

  22. 22.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: The Iranian people will also face bad consequences if the miserable men who run the Islamic Republic are allowed to prevail.

  27. 27.

    lowtechcyclist

    In the latest link, Schumer starts speaking at the 6:10 mark.  That’s better.

    ETA: But this is just legislative business.  A vote is being called for.

    ETA2: Nearly 3 minutes later, it’s still just legislative housekeeping.

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    I know the final T hasn’t been crossed, but I am thrilled to see this at the finish line.  Not quite over it, but clearly there.

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    @lowtechcyclist: Then they are just fucking with me because it was 4:49 earlier.

    edit: It’s still 4:49 for me!

    Either way, move the slider to the right until you see voting and slide right past that until you get to Schumer.

  33. 33.

    Tony Jay

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Heard that. You know what? Is be fine with it. I’m comfortable with the idea that the people behind the curtain at LFC are good enough at their jobs to pick someone they think has the personality, drive and ideas to take the Klopp Machine and do great things. If that’s Slot, awesome. Bring on next season.

    Plus, The Slot Machine. It’s perfect.

  34. 34.

    Leto

    @rikyrah: tell me you’re too stupid to operate Velcro, without saying you’re too stupid to operate Velcro. I think we were initially worried about Legacy Fail, but then he really opened his mouth and let forth his brain rot. And we were like, ok, all clear. Doesn’t mean we don’t continually punch him in the mouth, but still don’t need to keep that close of an eye on him.

  40. 40.

    David 🏀Caitlin Clark🏀 Koch

    the vote was 80 to 19.

    Bernie joined Ted Cruz, Hawley, JD Vance and Tuberville in voting no.

  43. 43.

    Miss Bianca

    @WaterGirl: pretty much all the commentary I’ve seen comes to the consensus that a bitter old anti-vax crank whose principal mode of communication seems to consist of snarling, guttural bellows of “Don’t you know who my old man is?!”…tends to appeal to Republicans more than Democrats

    ETA: Trump-lite, as it were. For those who used to like the real thing, but now find it a bit too spicy for their palates.

  44. 44.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: I just try to keep the Iranian people seperate from the men- and they’re all men- who have run the Islamic Republic for these last 45 years. Those people deserve better.

  46. 46.

    smith

    @WaterGirl: For one thing, he wanted to condition aid to Israel on their cutting out the genocide. A worthy cause, but one that if it delayed Ukraine funding would just trade one genocide for another.

  47. 47.

    lowtechcyclist

    @WaterGirl:

    What was Bernie’s problem?  Not enough dead Ukranians yet?

    Maybe too many dead Gazans already.

    I will note that this passed with 20 votes to spare.

  49. 49.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: Sanders said he wanted to attach two amendments to the Israel aid bill that would condition aid on meeting human rights criteria. It would mean having to have the House pass the bill again and Sanders knows that won’t fly, so I’d say he’s just showing off.

  50. 50.

    Jackie

    OT: A HUGLEY WIN for the DOJ:

    The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that all participants in the January 6, 2021 siege of the U.S. Capitol can be charged with disorderly or disruptive conduct — even if they were personally not destroying property or acting violently.

    According to Politico, the D.C. appellate court’s ruling is a big win for the U.S. Department of Justice, which had assigned that charge to nearly all of the 1,200-plus defendants in its ongoing prosecution of the deadly insurrection.
    The three-judge panel specifically struck down rioters’ arguments that merely being present without causing havoc wasn’t a crime on its own.

    “A lone hiker on a mountaintop can sing at the top of his lungs without disturbing a soul; a patron in a library cannot,” Judge Karen Henderson — a George H.W. Bush appointee — wrote on behalf of a three-judge panel (which also includes Barack Obama appointee Florence Y. Pan and Bill Clinton appointee Judith Rogers) in an 18-page opinion.

    “It is entirely appropriate to clap and cheer when a keynote speaker steps to the podium but to do so once the room has fallen quiet and he has begun to speak would ordinarily be disruptive. Thus, in determining whether an act is disorderly, the act cannot be divorced from the circumstances in which it takes place.”

    rawstory.com/dc-appeals-court-hands-major-victory-to-doj-in-latest-january-6-ruling-report-266786065…

  55. 55.

    prostratedragon

    Oh, yeah!

    Biden in Tampa on Trump: “He said there has to be punishment for women exercising their reproductive freedom … maybe it’s coming from that bible he’s trying to sell. I almost wanted to buy one just to see what the hell is in it.”

  58. 58.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Geminid:

    I have no reason to doubt that Bernie Sanders finds the ongoing massacre of Gaza residents at the hands of the IDF to be as appalling as I do. “Just showing off” seems to be a poor choice of words to describe an attempt to reduce our contribution to this genocide.

  59. 59.

    David 🏀Caitlin Clark🏀 Koch

    @Omnes Omnibus: ​

    it’s more than that, he’s the only senator to ever vote against the Magnitsky Act and against sanctions against russia. He always tries to use some fig leaf to cover his votes, but his vote against the stand alone Magnistky act is as naked as it gets.

  63. 63.

    Another Scott

    @Baud: @WaterGirl: @Baud:

    Sorry for passing on my confusion about that.  Fritschner’s threads indicated that the way the bill was structured meant that it would be easier to pass.  He was replying to some guy who said that if they didn’t make the House stuff as amendments to the Senate bill, then they’d have to fight filibusters.  I took that (and other things) to mean that it wouldn’t be as easy to filibuster.

    I saw something that said some previous big bill years ago had about 7 cloture votes in total – 2 on simply proceeding, ~ 3 on  considering amendments, ~ 2 on getting to final passage.  Clearly that didn’t happen here.

    I’ll plead guilty to be a hopium junky.  It’s fine.  ;-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  66. 66.

    Another Scott

    nitter.poast.org/SenSchumer/status/1782862315160748477

    Chuck Schumer
    @SenSchumer
    36s

    Today the Senate will send a unified message to the entire world:

    America will always defend democracy.

    We tell our allies: We will stand with you!

    Congress will send the supplemental to President Biden’s desk.

    Apr 23, 2024 · 8:01 PM UTC

    So, it is a done deal, but he doesn’t say it will be sent today.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  70. 70.

    Mousebumples

    From bsky/HuffPo – FTC is outlawing non competes!

    bsky.app/profile/phillewis.bsky.social/post/3kqt2pdmals2k

    The FTC has voted in favor of adopting a historic ban on noncompete agreements

    The agency has said that the agreements, in which workers are forbidden from seeking a job with a competing business for a certain period of time, lead to an “unfair method of competition” and violate federal law

    huffpost.com/entry/federal-trade-commission-approves-ban-noncompete-agreements_n_6622b47ee4b0167f7bf…

    U.S. Chamber of Commerce says it will “sue the FTC to block this unnecessary and unlawful rule and put other agencies on notice that such overreach will not go unchecked.

    Biden’s administration has been great for workers!

  78. 78.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud:

    The Chamber’s always on the side of the owners and bosses, and never on the side of the workers.

    Glad to have a President who isn’t even bothering to try to keep them happy.

  83. 83.

    Almost Retired

    @Mousebumples:   that’s wonderful.  Non compete clauses are reprehensible.  They’ve long been illegal here in California which has been cited as one of the reasons Silicon Valley became the premier tech center –  freedom to move around and innovate.

  84. 84.

    lowtechcyclist

    @WaterGirl:

    Last I heard, Kennedy was getting 10% of the vote.

    In which primary?  Or did you mean he was just polling at 10%?

    Lots of minor-party candidates poll way above their Election Day support for much of the year.  For instance, in 1980, John Anderson was at 20% for much of the spring and summer, and he actually got 7%.

  86. 86.

    Almost Retired

    @Baud: Yup, the California Chamber of Commerce slaps the “job killer” label on every wage hike and worker protection measure enacted; starting with the Thirteenth Amendment.

  87. 87.

    Tony Jay

    @Manyakitty:

    Mitch-Man

    You don’t have to turn on the bed light

    Pay folks to touch your junk for money

    But we all know that wattle just ain’t right

  88. 88.

    Trollhattan

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Good! They’re ghoulish. I first learned of fast food workers being forced to sign them when some national sandwich chain made the news for tracking down former workers who went to work at another place.

    I mean, can you imagine? You leave your $7.25/hr jerb at Jimmy John’s, end up a McDonald’s or somesuch, then Jimmy tracks down your ass and sues you, or whatever the non-compete stipulates? The hell?

    Speaking of fabulous and ethical bosses, Elmo wants to double down on the firings.

    “Elon Musk didn’t think Tesla’s recent layoffs were enough. The EV maker’s CEO would have preferred that 20% of staff (not 10%) were eliminated to match Tesla’s sales decline, according to Bloomberg. Meanwhile, investors are highly anticipating Tesla’s earnings today.”

    Meanwhile, he’s trying to claw back the $56 billion that court found a wee excessive.

    Tesla has asked investors to re-approve Musk’s $56 billion pay package that was struck down by a Delaware judge in January. Judge Kathaleen McCormick found that defendants in a shareholder lawsuit, which included Musk and Tesla’s board, failed to meet the burden in proving that “the compensation plan was fair,” writing that the process of deciding his compensation was “deeply flawed.”

    Tesla argues that the plan was valid, saying that 73% of shareholders approved the 2018 pay package, according to a proxy statement filed Wednesday. Shareholders will — again — vote on the package at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting on June 13.

  89. 89.

    Baud

    @Almost Retired:

    They’ve been saying Dems will kill jobs since the New Deal.  Yet it never seems to happen.  Longest con on US history, but people keep falling for it.

  95. 95.

    Tony Jay

    @Manyakitty:

    I think I can work Speaker PornHub, Large Marge and Matt Gaetz poledancing in a Sailor Moon outfit into the lyrics of ‘Fields of Gold’, but I’ll need half an hour and copious amounts of brain bleach.

  102. 102.

    matt

    You have to remember these are people who think it’s logical to say that God caused Covid because he was mad about drag queens.

  104. 104.

    MomSense

    I really hope some of these Republican MoC who are spreading Russian disinformation and propaganda are being investigated.  I would like to know if their campaigns have received funds, if they are in contact with any Russian operatives or cutouts.  That they seem to be so comfortable saying traitorous things publicly is infuriating.

  106. 106.

    topclimber

    @prostratedragon: TBF, they really didn’t want them reading at all.

    Now, being preached at by the finest apologists for slavery that America could produce, that was a different story.

  107. 107.

    JWR

    Shocking, ain’t it? ;) NBC headline just now, (mentioned briefly in the last thread.):

    National Enquirer made up the story about Ted Cruz’s father and Lee Harvey Oswald, former publisher says

    David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, testified at Donald Trump’s trial Tuesday that the tabloid completely manufactured a negative story in 2016 about the father of Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, who was then Trump’s rival for the GOP presidential nomination.

    The paper had published a photo allegedly showing Cruz’s father, Rafael Cruz, with Lee Harvey Oswald handing out pro-Fidel Castro pamphlets in New Orleans in 1963, not long before Oswald assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

    Oh geez. Now you’re gonna tell they make up all that other stuff as well.

  112. 112.

    Old School

    @JWR:

    Oh geez. Now you’re gonna tell they make up all that other stuff as well.

    Is Ted Cruz’ wife still ugly?

  115. 115.

    rikyrah

    Am I wrong, or have all of these states failed to expand Medicaid?

     

    chris evans (@notcapnamerica) posted at 7:01 PM on Mon, Apr 22, 2024:
    According to the Cecil G. Sheps Center, the states with the most rural hospital closures from Jan 2010 to April 2023 were:

    TX: 28  hospital closures
    TN: 16  hospital closures
    OK: 10  hospital closures
    GA: 8  hospital closures
    AL: 7  hospital closures
    MO: 7  hospital closures
    (https://x.com/notcapnamerica/status/1782560327831294064?t=-FUA2HROhxgxZQImotV21w&s=03)

  117. 117.

    Elizabelle

    OT.  Tonight is the full Pink Moon.

    Someone else can cue up Nick Drake.  I am on my phone.

  118. 118.

    Geminid

    @lowtechcyclist: You are correct. Sanders had a good principle to stand on. But I thought that under the circumstances, his proposed amendments were performative.

    And I do not accept your framing that this is a genocide.

  119. 119.

    Redshift

    @Another Scott: Perhaps the argument was (in addition to having fewer stages that could be filibustered) that if it was structured as an amendment to the Senate bill, people who’d voted for that previously would be less likely to sustain a filibuster (which appears to have been correct.) Yes, Republicans have no shame about contradicting themselves with no explanation, but fewer of them seem to slavishly obey TFG’s every demand than in the House.

  120. 120.

    Old School

    @rikyrah:

    Am I wrong, or have all of these states failed to expand Medicaid?

    Oklahoma and Missouri both expanded Medicaid in 2021 (which didn’t help rural hospitals for most of 2010-2023.)

  121. 121.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: His torment has already started, and he knows it. His decades-long pursuit of power for power’s sake has resulted in the current state of his party – a complete and utter shitshow, with no redeeming qualities and a limited future.

    And he knows it.

    Further, his decades-long pursuit of stacking the judiciary has resulted in Dobbs and all the follow-on horrors of GOP state leges attempts to bring the Handmaid’s Tale into reality. It’s accelerated the demise of his party, and rightly so.

    And he knows it.

    So, he will die a bitter failure, unremarked except as the architect of the downfall of all that he held dear.

    And he knows it.

    Fuck ‘im.

  123. 123.

    Redshift

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Lots of minor-party candidates poll way above their Election Day support for much of the year. For instance, in 1980, John Anderson was at 20% for much of the spring and summer, and he actually got 7%.

    And the polling is interesting, too. I was listening to an interview with Nate Cohn, I think, who talked about how if a poll includes a third-party candidate (or more than one), they poll higher than the percentage who say “someone else” in a poll without them. The theory is that psychologically, including their name tends to make people think of them as more important or more likely to succeed.

  127. 127.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @Tony Jay: And after that, you’ll need somebody to defend you at the ICC in The Hague. Men were hanged at Nuremberg for lesser crimes than that Gaetz image. :P

  132. 132.

    Tony Jay

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR:

    To be honest there is no defence. The very concept of Ol’ Ironing Board Forehead squirming his hips while sporting Manga-pink tips is a sin against imagination and is probably why the Greeks invented amnesia.

  133. 133.

    smith

    @rikyrah: Here’s the map. For a lot of these states it will be a double whammy, as most are also uterus slave states, so in addition to losing the rural hospitals, they are likely to lose ob care in the ones that are left.

  135. 135.

    dnfree

    I’m not sure there isn’t a LIMITED justification for noncompete agreements. When I worked for a major tire company at implementing computer systems back in the 1990s, I had access to a lot of confidential information.  I signed an agreement that I wouldn’t work for another tire manufacturer for two years. That seemed fair to me. Fast food workers?  Obviously not.

    We’ve seen cases of people leaving tech companies and taking trade secrets to rivals.

  137. 137.

    Almost Retired

    @dnfree:  Employment lawyer here.  Trade secrets are protected, even in California.  You can go to work for a competitor but you can’t disclose your prior employer’s trade secrets.  The rub is what constitutes a trade secret.

  138. 138.

    Jeffro

    Between Johnson defying MTG, that one GOP congressman who said that Kevin McCarthy was deposed “because Matt Gaetz didn’t want to face an investigation into plying underage girls with drugs for sex” (paraphrasing), McConnell taking shots at Tucker Carlson as Putin’s stenographer, and more…

    …well first off, hats off to Balloon Juice: we all saw this coming years ago.

    Second: rooting for injuries!

    Third (and related): per Scaramucci…every day and every hour that trumpov sits in that courtroom, he loses his grip on the GOP.  What’s gonna happen come convention time??? 🤔

  140. 140.

    Trollhattan

    @Elizabelle:

    Sadly true. Similar feelings about the outcomes of the members of Badfinger, beginning with Pete Ham’s suicide,  followed by a second suicide and a brain aneurysm.

    “Don’t join Badfinger” I tell all the kids. Heck, the Beegees lasted longer.

  141. 141.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud:

    Perot actually did pretty well as a third party candidate, but I don’t know how the final vote total compared to his polling.

    It’s hard to really know how to look at Perot’s campaign, given that he dropped out right before the Democratic convention, and then dropped back in later on.  He got about 19%, but for a good deal of the summer it was practically a 3-way tie with all three candidates polling in the 30s.

  142. 142.

    Timill

    @dnfree: Or if I sell my chain of ice-cream shops, the buyer isn’t going to want to find me setting up a new chain round the corner next week. Which, of course, will affect the price I get for the sale, so it’s in my interest too.

  144. 144.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Jeffro:

    Third (and related): per Scaramucci…every day and every hour that trumpov sits in that courtroom, he loses his grip on the GOP. What’s gonna happen come convention time??? 🤔 

    Shit. Show.

    Go Pirates!

  145. 145.

    Soprano2

    @rikyrah: MO expanded Medicaid a few years ago through an amendment to the constitution ok’d by the voters. That’s one reason R’s are trying to make it harder for the voters to amend.

  150. 150.

    Jackie

    Does this mean anything to Bibi?

    “Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, joining multiple Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, demanded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should step down over his handling of the crisis in Gaza,” Politico reports.

  153. 153.

    Almost Retired

    @Timill:   Not really analogous.  That scenario doesn’t involve employees.  It’s legal to have a non compete provision in the sale of a business (with some limitations too boring to reference here).  There’s no legitimate justification for blanket non compete clauses for employees.

  155. 155.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Geminid:

    And I do not accept your framing that this is a genocide.

    Wikipedia:

    In 1948, the United Nations Genocide Convention defined genocide as any of five “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. These five acts were: killing members of the group, causing them serious bodily or mental harm, imposing living conditions intended to destroy the group, preventing births, and forcibly transferring children out of the group.

    Killing members of the group – check.
    Causing them serious bodily or mental harm – check.
    Imposing living conditions intended to destroy the group – check. At least, I’d consider mass starvation and trying to get other countries to take them in en masse to each qualify individually.
    Preventing births – not specifically, but it’s certainly a downstream consequence of the other stuff.
    AFAICT, the Israelis aren’t forcibly transferring children out of the group. But it’s not like you have to go 5-for-5 for it to be genocide.

  156. 156.

    Geminid

    @Jeffro: “Not so fast, Mayor Stoney!”

    I heard state Senator Aaron Rouse (Virginia Beach) will run for Lieutenant Governor.

  157. 157.

    BR

    @prostratedragon:

    As someone who knows very little about the biblical stuff about abortion, I’m wondering something. I’ve read that in Judaism abortion is generally considered acceptable. So that would be, I assume, based upon the Old Testament. And I would guess there’s very little in the New Testament about abortion. So is it the case that the bible says pretty much nothing specific about abortion, or if it does it’s very vague or contradictory?

  159. 159.

    Jeffro

    @Geminid: I wish Senator Rouse well, but I think Stoney has the (slightly) higher profile.  We’ll see!

    Spanberger must be THRILLED…over a year to keep fundraising and building out the campaign & governing agenda!

  160. 160.

    Geminid

    @lowtechcyclist: A lot of people here say this is a genocide, and I don’t contradict them when they do. I do not think it is though, and since you used that framing in a reply to me I did not want to seem like I accepted that conclusion.

  161. 161.

    eclare

    @lowtechcyclist:

    I would include destroying all housing stock in “living conditions intended to destroy the group.”  Looking at photos, even if the war stopped tomorrow, for so many Gazans there is absolutely nothing to return to.

  162. 162.

    Geminid

    @Jackie: It won’t mean a thing to Netanyahu. It will mean something to some Israelis, but most of them already want Netanyahu out.

  163. 163.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @BR:

    So is it the case that the bible says pretty much nothing specific about abortion, or if it does it’s very vague or contradictory?

    The bible says very little about abortion.  The issue is only directly discussed twice.  Once, a woman is told to go to a priest to get a medical abortion.  On the other, in Leviticus if a man causes another man’s wife to miscarry and the child would have been a boy, the perpetrator owes the wronged man a minor amount of money.  In both cases, it’s quite clear that abortion itself is not considered a crime.

    Evangelicals go by references in psalms to God seeing you before you’re born to conclude that a fetus is a human life.

  164. 164.

    BR

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Thanks for that explanation. I ask because I expect that “fact checkers” with nothing better to do are going to “check” Biden’s statements and it’s good to know that the idea that the bible is anti-abortion isn’t some universally accepted thing across denominations. (And I know that they will attack Biden anyway because the Pope says so and he’s Catholic, but whatever.)

  166. 166.

    Geminid

    @Jeffro: Rouse is allowed to run for both his Senate seat and for Lt. Governor, I believe. He may use this race to raise his profile. If Democrats can’t knock out Rep. Kiggans (VA-02) this cycle, Aaron Rouse could be next man up in 2026.

  167. 167.

    Eolirin

    @Geminid: I think, even if it’s not currently, and this is debatable, sure, if the situation with food aid, clean water and access to medical care is not dramatically improved, it will be in short order.

  170. 170.

    Manyakitty

    @BR: I can’t speak to the New Testament, but in the Old Testament, it’s considered a part of the mother until it breathes on its own. Can’t remember where to find it (probably Leviticus), but I highly recommend looking up Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg’s essay about it.

  171. 171.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud:

    I think NDAs are not affected by this decision.

    I think those ought to at least have a pretty decent income threshold, like maybe $100K/year.  If you’re going to give your workers access to important trade secrets, you’d have to pay them as if they were working with important trade secrets.

    The other thing that shouldn’t be allowed is requiring workers (or customers, for that matter) to submit any disputes to binding arbitration.  AIUI, the private arbitration boards rule for the company something like 99.5% of the time, which is not too surprising, given who sets them up and pays them.

  174. 174.

    lowtechcyclist

    @eclare:

    I would include destroying all housing stock in “living conditions intended to destroy the group.”  Looking at photos, even if the war stopped tomorrow, for so many Gazans there is absolutely nothing to return to.

    All too true, unfortunately.

    Genocide or not (can’t see how it’s not, but whatever), it’s a horror show, an abomination.  It’s indefensible.  Why the fuck are we sending them a single dollar, a single bullet, if they’re going to use them this way?

    And people getting on Bernie Sanders’ case – good grief. Whatever they dislike about what he’s done in the past (and I’ve got my own list), this isn’t the thing to get on his case about.  This is an abomination, we’re funding it, and he took the limited stand against it that he could without slowing down the aid to Ukraine.  Pick on him over bad shit he did that mattered.

  175. 175.

    evodevo

    @BR: ​
    Basically there are only two passages in the Old Testament that can be even minimally construed to apply to abortion. One prescribes a penalty for causing a woman to miscarry as the result of a public brawl (Exodus 21:22-25), and the other is a priestly ritual for deciding if a pregnancy is the result of an adulterous act by giving the woman what is thought to be an abortifacient, and if she miscarries it is considered to be a positive test (Numbers 5: 11-31). I don’t recall anything specific in the New Testament.

  176. 176.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)

    @rikyrah: Tennessee has been refusing the Medicaid expansion since it was first on the table. Bill Haslam, the governor prior to our current Goobernator Lee (both are GOP, but Haslam was more of an old-school WASP, who had less invested in the culture wars) begged the Lege to pass it, but they have been carefully trained that Medicaid Expansion is a tool of Satan & the Comintern and refuse steadfastly.

  177. 177.

    lowtechcyclist

    @evodevo:

    One prescribes a monetary penalty for causing a woman to miscarry as the result of a public brawl (Exodus 21:22-25)

    Figured I’d point that out.

  179. 179.

    Geminid

    @a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio): It took Virginia until 2018 to pass Medicaid expansion. It was just in time too, enabling the stste to provide coverage to 400,000 people by the time the pandemic hit. West Virginia beat us by 6 years, but Virginia Republicans were pigheaded about expansion until they lost 14 House of Delegates seats in the 2017 election. Then, 10 Republican Delegates and 3 Senators crossed over to help push expansion through. Ralph Northam and the other Democrats made expansion a central issue in 2017 and it worked for them.

  180. 180.

    Fake Irishman

    @Tony Jay:

    23 minutes of Mitch

    Worst sex tape ever

    Looks like we got a former cabinet secretary commenting on this blog. (Hi Elaine!)

  181. 181.

    cmorenc

    @rikyrah:

    Easier to believe the seeming absurdity that RFK Jr is polling at 10% when you keep in mind that 10% of the electorate believes absurd things.  And 10% is a very lowball estimate.

  182. 182.

    Martin

    @dnfree: So, Baud is correct this doesn’t impact trade secrets and IP. They’re allowing it to apply to corporate officers, which seems unnecessary. CA’s ban on non-completes has no such provision and there’s been no problem in the decades it’s been in place. Tim Cook doesn’t have a non-compete. The only place you can write a non-compete is part of a contract for the sale of a company. You can’t sell your company, then use the proceeds to immediately compete against them. So it’s not actually an employment contract.

    CAs economy is to some degree dependent on the lack of non-competes. It’s why there are so many startups here. Not only because it’s easy to poach talent from existing successful companies, but contracts written in other states are unenforceable here so we’re a sanctuary for employees with non-competes.

  185. 185.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @WaterGirl:

    Bernie’s problem has always been Bernie. He just loves himself so much that he does whatever he wants while the world burns down around him.

    Imagine that as President…lol! Fukdat.

  186. 186.

    RaflW

    Late to this, but I think one unexpected side effect of how shitty yet dramatic the Mike Johnson GOP House is is to make Mitch McConnell even less relevant than he has been for many years.

    His identity has been as the grumpy old asshole who said NO to anything Democratic. But now that the obstruction comes with backbiting and pointless chaos in the House R’s caucus, there’s no genteel way for Mitch to also be a no. Everything would grind to a halt and that would screw their reelection chances.

  187. 187.

    Citizen Alan

    @topclimber: IIRC, There is still a building on the ole miss campus called vardaman hall (unless the administration finally was able to rename it and/or tear it down). JK Vardaman was a governor in the early years of the twentieth century who famously said that it was pointless to teach black people to read because all that did was ruin a field hand. When I was there  the administration had left the building completely vacant for decades despite a housing shortage and an admin space shortage rather than deal with the implications of forcing black students and staff to use a building named after that asshole.

     

  188. 188.

    Geminid

    @Jackie: Santos’s attorneys may have let him know he’ll be going to prison soon. Not sure why he hasn’t already; maybe he can incriminate other New York Republicans.

  189. 189.

    Citizen Alan

    @BR: The Bible is absolutely clear that physically injuring or killing a pregnant woman is subject to the eye for an eye rule. That is, death if you kill her. But if you cause a pregnant woman to miscarry and it doesn’t cause any other lasting physical harm to her,  it’s a property crime for which money damages are the only punishment. Also, there’s a weird passage in Leviticus, which seems to outright command the priests to perform abortions if a married  woman became pregnant through adultery.

  191. 191.

    Quinerly

    @Citizen Alan:

    It was there the last time I was at Ole Miss in 2009. (For a Southern Foods  Alliance thing….great organization). I actually stayed on campus. Google tells me the building still has not been renamed.

    Oxford, MS is a great foodie area. Roadhouses out in the country. A different world.

    MS can be scary. There are pockets. Spent some time in Clarksdale on 3 trips. Ground Zero….Morgan Freeman’s club.

  192. 192.

    RevRick

    @Citizen Alan: The first case you cite is Exodus 21:22-25. The second is Numbers 5:11-31.

    ETA evodeo got there first

    The anti abortion movement assumes that a fetus is a person, and then argues from that assumption.

Comments are closed.