Not tired of winning and doing what’s best for the American people.
“Biden has gotten pretty much everything he’s asked for from this Congress without having to concede much in return.” via @PunchbowlNews https://t.co/1dGalPKy88 pic.twitter.com/QyDHJHFUJB
— James Singer (@Jemsinger) April 22, 2024
They want you to believe this man is senile https://t.co/8kcqpcgTjp
— Swann Marcus (@SwannMarcus89) April 22, 2024
Breaking: President Joe Biden to speak at Morehouse College commencement #gapol https://t.co/6Vo67PuOQP
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) April 22, 2024
trying to imagine an image better calibrated to cause brain damage among Twitter power users and really the only thing to add would be incorporating anime somehow https://t.co/TYMlhcX4S1
— The Mall Krampus (@cakotz) April 22, 2024
Readership capture:
Today, I announced new federal actions to address staffing shortages in nursing homes and help raise pay for home health care workers.
Care workers provide our loved ones safety, dignity, and self-determination. They do God’s work caring for us – and we must care for them. pic.twitter.com/563LVjPNOR
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) April 22, 2024
Historic move by the Biden administration! New rules will ensure Medicaid dollars support home care worker wages, not just agency profits. It's about fairness and quality care. @VP #CareIsEssential pic.twitter.com/IoHv2AKZR3
— SEIU (@SEIU) April 22, 2024
I extend Passover prayers for peace and safety to Jewish people in San Francisco and around the world. On this holiday, we fight the scourge of antisemitism and pray for the liberation of 133 hostages still being held by Hamas. None of us are truly free until all of us are. -NP pic.twitter.com/kA2UteBcBH
— Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) April 22, 2024
He's underestimated and underrated at every turn. From securing bipartisan bills in Congress (even with a House GOP) to avoiding the spread of not one but two regional wars into global conflicts, he's crushing it. https://t.co/aG04xcfSVg
— scary lawyerguy (@scarylawyerguy) April 19, 2024
More good news!
Dozens of migrants that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis tricked into flying from Texas to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts for a $615,000 taxpayer-funded political stunt have now been granted visas as human trafficking victims of Ron DeSantis's actions.https://t.co/luEXZlDYak
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) April 23, 2024
zhena gogolia
Who’s the guy next to AOC? Or is that AOC?
comrade scotts agenda of rage
“What will be your legacy as a newsperson?”
The stenographer who was asked that question has no idea what the Best President of My Lifetime means by that b/c our Beltway Media Corpse has no idea what introspection means in the context of their person.
That comeback by Biden reminds me of Barney Frank’s classic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYlZiWK2Iy8&t=34s
MagdaInBlack
From the Swann Marcus tweet : Biden” What will your legacy be as a news person?”
Ouch. Ouch Ouch
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: 🤗
TBone
I love this post very much! What a great way to start this day, I have a feeling it’s gonna be even better 😎
I missed this yesterday in the announcement of the new solar initiative. My grandfather worked in the CCC, building roads in Yellowstone:
Betty Cracker
Haven’t heard any news at all lately on the investigation of DeSantis’s deeply cynical and corrupt (cronies benefited as always) human trafficking stunt. Glad to hear it improved the victims’ circumstances.
I saw an interview clip with AOC recently that addressed the Biden admin’s I/P policy and what she would say to Palestinian Americans and others who are deeply troubled by it. Her remarks were so practical and big-picture focused that they could have been copied from the comments frequently posted here, minus the condescension that often mars those efforts.
Rusty
Biden offered the Republicans what they wanted on the border in order to get aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. They turned it down, and eventually just gave Joe the aid without the border part. What brilliant Republican strategists!! It helps to have an incompetent opposition.
TBone
@Betty Cracker: I saw that recently and was gonna post here, but I try to stay away from commenting on that subject. Israel/Palestine is not something I’m comfortable talking about but I’m glad AOC is.
Geminid
@zhena gogolia: I think that’s Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey with President Biden and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez.
zhena gogolia
@Geminid: thanks
OzarkHillbilly
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
Figures you would be against condescension.
TBone
Dropping off our mail ballots for PA Primary today! I’m gonna wear my Joe Cool T-shirt. We have to go inside the little govt. center building to drop off envelopes in person, correctly signed and dated. Last time I wore my “I VOTE IN THIS HOODIE” and all the young girls at the desk smiled broadly.
Kay
I wondered whether anyone would track what was happening to women after Dobbs because there are thousands of miscarriages every day and women die or have serious health issues a lot when having children. I wondered if it was possible to even track it. Wouldn’t these Dobbs cases just get melded into the whole universe of pregnancy complications?
The AP came up with a clever way. They compiled complaints about emergency room treatment (or, refusal to treat, in this case). Good work!
dr. bloor
Biden’s been roasting the press longer than Yoda’s been levitating star fighters out of swamps. They never fucking learn.
Baud
@Rusty:
If Biden is willing to agree to it, it’s not what they wanted.
Geminid
@zhena gogolia: Well, I’m not totally sure. He looks like Markey, and the Senator was co-sponsor of the “Green New Deal” bill along with Rep. Ocasio-Cortez back in early 2019. And I read that Biden, Ocasio-Cortez, Markey and an Oregon Senator conferred yesterday on the Gaza war. Maybe they met at the park, in one of the picnic shelters.
OzarkHillbilly
@Rusty: @Baud:
Yep, no laser armed gators were in the bill.
Baud
@Geminid:
Now that’s fascinating.
What time is the Senate vote today? Kind of interested is seeing what happens after the bills get signed into law.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: I like to reserve it for my exclusive use. ;-)
@Kay: Gotta point out you called this before any media outlets I saw: lawmakers can’t simply separate abortion from reproductive healthcare as if it were a distinct category. I hope that truth sinks in for lots of voters.
Kay
There’s an older lady in our local Dem group who calls Melania Trump “Melanie” and I just love that.
“That Melanie Trump…” – I refuse to correct her.
SFAW
@Geminid:
No, I think you’re correct, i.e., that it’s Markey.
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
Thanks- I think they’re finally getting it. Not Republicans, who are in some kind of obtuse stubborn denial fantasyland about how this works, but media. It was never siloed.
15 weeks bans won’t fix it. Every single complaint in that article is a woman past 15 weeks, because arbitrary legal categories do not actually transfer to medical care. The anti abortion lawyers are not going to be able to insist women’s bodies follow their laws.
SFAW
@Baud:
Or, as Marx* would say: “Whatever it is, I’m against it.” Predating Cleek by several decades.
* Groucho, you buncha commies, not that other guy.
eclare
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
The “dining room table” clip, I knew it was that one. So good, like tire rims and anthrax.
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
They may as well pass a law banning complications in pregnancy, or banning miscarriages.
At the end of the day they cannot actually control womens bodies. I realize this makes them insane with anger but this is not an area judges and lawyers can reach.
Roe looks smarter and smarter the longer we live under these dopes. NOT ONE of them thought about miscarriages. Just mindblowing.
SFAW
@Betty Cracker:
You seem not to like DeSantis. Interesting.
eclare
@Betty Cracker:
AOC was on Colbert a few weeks ago where he grilled her on I/P, and I was very impressed by her answers and poise.
Spanky
@Geminid: The men are wearing lavalier mics, and I assume AOC is doing same. So I think it’s from some planned media event within the last couple of days.
Anne Laurie
@zhena gogolia: That *is* AOC, and the third guy is Ed Markey, my junior senator & an Earth Day supporter since the 1970s.
(Sometimes I sneak in a link just for my own satisfaction… )
SFAW
@Kay:
They can’t control a woman’s biology. But they can (currently, in some states) control what women do with their own bodies, which is what matters to them.
TBone
Dank Brandon is my spirit animal.
🎶
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wwhexWkVGdA
Spanky
@TBone:
I never thought of him as moist.
Geminid
@Baud: The Senate is supposed to start voting on the foreign aid bills at 1pm. They have some FAA business to get out of the way first.
The Financial Times reported this weekend that the US has pre-positioned munitions nearby in Poland so they can be delivered quickly. Maybe when a whistle will blow in southern Poland when Biden signs the bill, as the first freight train moves out.
Another Scott
@Baud:
First vote around 1 pm EDT (scroll down a little).
HTH!
Cheers,
Scott.
Betty Cracker
You guys, hard-right gadfly Laura Loomer would have a life if she were less devoted to Trump’s reelection (NYT gift link):
Hilarious! Loomer is the idiot who runs around Florida districts targeting “RINOs” who aren’t sufficiently devoted to Trump. I was briefly worried she’d knock off the corrupt GOP jackass who repped our district, but the state redrew the lines to dilute minority voting power, so we shuffled between MAGA dopes, and Loomer lost. Again.
Loomer also got into a vicious online slapfight with DeSantis’s paid internet troll. I posted about it last fall. She’s the worst. Well, one of the worst.
SFAW
@TBone:
I’ve hated that descriptor ever since Comrade Doktor Jill Stein, in an attempt to appear hep, tweeted about some “dank meme” — and showing herself doing some “tee-hee” giggly something-or-other — during the 2016 campaign.
Kay
@SFAW:
He called 911 for medical help while the woman was in the emergency room lobby.
It’s a violation of federal law to refuse to treat an emergency – a condition of receiving Medicare. So this hospital refused to care for pregnant people and in a sweaty, desperate attempt to dodge the law announced they no longer take Medicare.
I’m ok with that. Cut off Medicare to any hospital who let women bleed out in the restroom because they are “pro life”. They’ll all be out of business in a year.
SFAW
@Kay:
I saw something that the ISCOTUS is going to decide whether EMTALA supersedes state law(s). If they overturned EMTALA’s supremacy, would that allow these places to do that? [Not a lawyer, have no idea if it would.]
Betty Cracker
@Kay: It does boggle the mind, that oversight. I know for a fact Florida lawmakers put more thought into agricultural policy that affects farm animal reproductive cycles, calling in experts and publicly weighing options. But when it comes to laws that affect half the human population…
lowtechcyclist
Jeez, if even Punchbowl – the outlet dedicated to making Politico and even Axios (spit!) look good by comparison – is talking about what a win this is for Biden, maybe the media is finally giving up on trying to paint Biden as old, ineffective, etc.
Would be a pleasant change – here’s hoping!
Another Scott
@Geminid: Tiny nit – There’s only one bill – HR815. The action in the House was amendments to the Senate bill (which was a House bill that they amended in the Senate). They had to structure it this way to pass it reasonably quickly.
Cheers,
Scott.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊 😊 😊
SFAW
@lowtechcyclist:
Sure. And I have a Bridge I’m willing to sell you at a bargain-basement price. It’s in NYC, runs between Brooklyn and Manhattan, it’s old but sturdy. Let me know if you’re interested.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: Right wingers live in an alternate universe.
Kay
@SFAW:
Yes. The law came about because of “patient dumping”. Hospitals were turning away emergency patients they didn’t want. They can still turn away patients but they have to treat the emergency first.
That’s exactly what they’re doing to pregnant women in Texas. They’re telling them to go to another hospital. This is the situation the law was intended to address.
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid:
What a brilliant Administration this is! Props to Biden not only for what he personally does, but for hiring top people and giving them the authority to get shit done. Ukraine won’t have to wait for Navy freighters to steam out of Hampton Roads with the ammo.
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
All those fancy Right wing lawyers had 50 years where they were paid to think about this and not one of them said “gosh, I wonder what happens with a miscarriage or complication?”
Even if they didn’t hate us and want to control us they might kill us just because they’re fucking morons.
Geminid
@Another Scott: Thanks. I lost track of this a while ago.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
lowtechcyclist
@Betty Cracker:
Isn’t Loomer the one who handcuffed herself to a door once?
Baud
@Kay:
Didn’t Texas’s governor promise to end rape to avoid the need for a rape exception?
Nettoyeur
@Geminid: US military logistics are Fedex on steroids. Unstoppable.
lowtechcyclist
@rikyrah:
Good morning!
It’s a sunny morning here in Calvert County, I’m thinking it’s a good morning to roll the bike out and see how far the legs feel like taking me this morning.
Gotta say, I really love being able to ride on weekdays when there aren’t many cars on the local back roads. Retirement has been worth the wait!
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: They don’t actually know any women. They may live with their wives and daughters, but they don’t know them.
Elizabelle
Good morning jackals.
I’d be interested in links to clips/interviews of AOC discussing the Gaza situation. Thank you.
Kay
@Baud:
Just think about how weird this is in terms of medical care. It’s as if a gunshot vicitm showed up in an emergency room and we needed a team of lawyers to determine if we can treat the victim because there may have been illegality in the circumstances. “I decree no one will get hurt… illegally!” It’s fucking insane.
frosty
@lowtechcyclist: Too cold for me! 39 degrees here on the Mason-Dixon Line.
Trivia Man
The timing of the ACC makes me hopeful. Jobs starting in june is getting close to the election so it will be fresh. And not going long enough for the inevitable snags and missteps of any new program to pop up and get MAGNIFIED TO 11 by the press.
If it starts being a runaway, do they double down looking for new buttery males or finally pivot to getting clicks for the disintegration of a 170 year old political party? Lots if horse races stories about which faction(s) will rise from the ashes.
Betty Cracker
@lowtechcyclist: Yes! She handcuffed herself to HALF of a double door at (pre-Musk) Twitter HQ to protest being banned. People were coming and going through the other door while the cops sawed through her handcuffs. She really is dumb as a bag of hammers.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
I looked at the link to the article on the migrants being trafficked, and I think I suffered a cognitive seizure* before I was halfway through. Jeez, I’m old enough to remember when Newsweek published respectable journalism instead of wingnut stenography.
*Not really. I didn’t realize that “cognitive seizure” was an actual thing until after I’d typed it in
(ETA: is it just me, or would “Wingnut Stenography” be a great name for a rock band?)
Spanky
@frosty: It was 40 an hour ago. It has since shot up to 44. Still got pockets of fog, too. The only riding I have on the agenda is on the lawn mower.
gvg
@Kay: They are OK with killing us.
Different ones for different reasons, but look at what they DO, to quote you.
Bupalos
Man. I haven’t followed down to comments on XTwitter in a while. Almost pure Russian-bot/Tankie/Nazi.
I think people are nuts to keep incorporating and using this platform. I know, it’s easy or whatever. But it’s like Putin gave you a free phone for you to make your confidential phone calls. Better to just not make the calls at all I think. A certain percentage of people engaging with your content are also getting exposed to scientifically targeted messaging to try and fuck up democracy.
bbleh
@Kay: they don’t care about bodies, as long as women’s minds submit and obey. The rest is mostly symbolism for them.
And of course they have no intention of stopping at 15 weeks — that’s just what they think they need to say to appeal to some mushy low-info voters. It’ll be 15 weeks max OR EARLIER if The States want it to be. And then it’ll be fewer weeks. And so on.
Manyakitty
@Anne Laurie: if that’s what passes for satisfaction, keep them coming 😀
Bupalos
@MagdaInBlack: I really don’t get the “I know you are but what am I?” kind of comeback there. The answer is “my legacy will be that I helped beat back the authoritarians that tried to control women’s freedom.” His answer is just a kind of defensive “you are fake news.”
From the first question I’m guessing the reporter was oppositional, but it’s not really effective for our side to meet opposition with that kind of (grade school) attempt at delegitimation.
First answer wasn’t really great either. It should be something more like “I’d like nothing better to put this issue out of politics altogether and back where it belongs, and where it used to be before right wing politicians like Trump got ahold of it- in the hands of women and doctors.
Trivia Man
@Kay: Casting about for a solution – perhaps a test case like the Rosa Parks confrontation would galvanize attention.
Very specific circumstances needed. A woman who has a high risk of complications so it is not an urgent, nasty surprise. Financially stable with an excellent emotional and physical safety network. The steel to withstand withering scrutiny for years.
When the emergency happens, show up to the ER with your lawyer. Make the hospital wake up THEIR lawyers to work for a LEGAL solution. I believe that many hospitals, doctors, and staff WANT to do the right thing and WILL do the right thing if they feel protected. It is a wildly absurd risk:reward balance right now that gives great incentive to let someone else risk jail and the closing of the entire facility.
Manyakitty
@Kay: or, they just don’t care. Occam’s razor and all.
lowtechcyclist
@frosty:
I guess the miles between here and there make a difference, it’s already above 50 here. I’m shooting for being out the door by 9:30, and it should be mid-50s by then.
rikyrah
@Kay:
The effects on women’s healthcare is something that you have brought up from the beginning, Kay. And, you were right
eclare
@Elizabelle:
If you Google “AOC on Colbert” videos of her appearance show up. I’m not sure what order they are in, but they are all there. Worth watching, she was impressive.
Matt McIrvin
@Kay: The upshot is that there are a couple of states now pushing through the courts for the right to kill people who come to the ER for medically necessary abortions.
And I figure they’ll probably get it.
Well, I’m not one for heightening the contradictions but when they get heightened anyway we might as well make hay.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
When life gives you contradictions, make contradictionade.
Barbara
“What will be your legacy as a reporter?” is the quick thinking alternative to “what a stupid question.”
rikyrah
The protests on college campuses are spreading. From the outside looking in, it seems to be a double track of protests.
There is the smaller protests about Palestine.
And, then, there is the larger protest about the first amendment rights of the Palestine protestors. That larger group at Columbia wasn’t there about Palestine. They were outraged at the heavy handed response from the Administration. They felt their fellow students were done wrong.
Along with the faculty actually walking out and joining the students.
This has spun completely out of control for Columbia ‘s President.
Kay
@Manyakitty:
I think it’s ideological/religious blinders. They have two categories of women – bad women and good women. They thought they could draft laws that would harm the bad women but not harm the good women but that’s not how pregnancy or womans bodies work.
Misogyny is IMO really deep seated in the US. I sometimes watch trials on court tv but I made the mistake of reading the comments of some other viewers. They are insanely vicious to women defendants. It’s so personal and it’s always the same criticism – she is somehow not deferential enough, not “nice” enough, she doesn’t SMILE or (better) CRY. A male defendant can sit there twirling his mustache and grinning and these people don’t make a peep. Unless the woman is weeping and begging forgveness they’re ready to execute her. I can no longer watch court tv “with” these people. I don’t want to be around them. They hate women.
Fuck that. If I were on trial I wouldn’t give it to them.
Manyakitty
@rikyrah: they need to get better at this. Protests on college campuses are almost a given. Maybe Martin should set up a consulting presence and share his years of experience.
Matt McIrvin
@rikyrah:
They were done wrong. The whole thing is appalling.
(And, yes, I’m sure there are bad actors horning in on the protests too. But this is a basic rights issue.)
SiubhanDuinne
@Betty Cracker:
She left her dogs uncared-for every day last week? Or she flew FL-NYC-FL every day last week? Either way, Christ, what a monster or Christ, what an idiot with way more money than sense. (And no suggesting that she had a friend take care of the dogs. She has no friends. She basically says as much in the third paragraph.)
Bupalos
@Barbara: I don’t get how Biden should think it’s a stupid question. It’s a fat hanging curveball he decided not to swing at and just started bitching at the umpire
I wouldn’t call it “quick thinking.” I’d call it a kind of defensive reflex, and I don’t think it serves him well here.
Kay
@Matt McIrvin:
During the Ohio amendment process women we spoke to talked about two things – the ten year old girl the ghouls wanted to force to have her rapists baby and medical care for pregnancy.
I hope the shitty, low quality hacks on the SCOTUS try to kill us. Women will hold them accountable.
Baud
@Bupalos:
Legacy questions only make sense of you assume Biden will be out of office on January. I think Biden was right not to take the bait.
Matt McIrvin
@Kay: I see it just on the comments to Facebook ads. If you really want to see a bunch of guys flip out, show a picture of a woman with a motorcycle. Women can’t have motorcycles.
Betty
@MagdaInBlack: Biden being mean to reporters again? Oh dear!
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
Betty C has a bike!
Manyakitty
@Kay: misogyny is everywhere for sure. Hence, they don’t care if we live or die because they fear and hate us.
Tangentially, I watched a documentary about Paul Simon. It was mostly good, but they showed a clip of Carrie Fisher talking about their divorce and she took on all the blame, in effect, she said she’s lots of fun as a girlfriend but way too much to accept as a wife. My heart broke for her AGAIN and now that’s all I remember about the documentary. (Full disclosure, I am still incredibly sad about her death and believe the world is dimmer without her.)
Anyway, yeah. Misogyny is a helluva drug.
Another Scott
@eclare:
BidenHQ has a short clip of AOC at the Biden/Markey/AOC event recently.
They’re good about getting good news out pretty quickly in a memeable fashion.
Cheers,
Scott.
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
Your neck of the woods:
Look at how close the large, male anti abortion activist gets to the women trying to sign. Women and men have different perceptions of personal space. He’s deliberately crowding them. I can’t bear that – I would have to demand he step back.
It’s so fucking typical of the mindset that he’s RIGHT on their ass, too. He WILL control them.
Another Scott
@Bupalos: @Baud:
I think Baud is exactly right here.
I remember when GHWB was going to be the “education president”.
:-/
Do the job. History will decide one’s legacy, not oneself.
Cheers,
Scott.
Manyakitty
@Kay: my jackass rep was behind that bill. She came knocking on my door before the last election, I recognized her, and answered. She literally ran away from me when I asked her why she wanted rape babies. Also, I pointed out that it wouldn’t take much for Intel to change their minds about that giant fab outside Columbus, and who would possibly want to move to and work in a place so filled with backwards morons, and so on.
Separately, I’m very happy to learn that the amazing Casey Weinstein might be my new state senator.
zhena gogolia
@lowtechcyclist: The NYT has pivoted from “old” (now that their own reporter has described Trump sleeping in court) to “Gaza”
Omnes Omnibus
Is it too Euro?
Bupalos
@Baud: I really don’t think that’s right, but if that’s the implication Biden and people are hearing, you still turn that around. The same answer above, with a tag of “when I’m returned to office and we get a congressional majority, that’s what will happen.”
I’m just genuinely surprised people see this as particularly sharp politics. I see it as Trumpesque, ignore the question and delegitimate the media as partisan.
frosty
@lowtechcyclist: The miles and the elevation. We’re in the Piedmont, where it’s pretty much five degrees colder than the Coastal Plain. You can see the temperature drop on I-83 as you pass into what Baltimore County Schools call “The Hereford Zone”
zhena gogolia
@Bupalos: Your answers are too wordy.
Matt McIrvin
@Trivia Man: I’m afraid that in practice, what happens to galvanize attention here is a case where a woman dies. She doesn’t need to withstand prolonged scrutiny because she’s dead. That’s what happened in Ireland.
Omnes Omnibus
@zhena gogolia:
Ha!
TBone
@SFAW: sorry about your luck, I dig it! I don’t pay even a morsel attention to whatsername. I spent many aggravating law office hours doing expungement work – it’s no picnic.
https://www.justice.gov/pardon/presidential-proclamation-marijuana-possession
DANKe schön President Biden!
🎶
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-0gpr-cdXZE
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: I was thinking Biden could have said, “Ask me again at the end of my 2nd term.” Either way, blow off the question.
Bupalos
@zhena gogolia: I think you either give it the time to do it right or ignore it completely. The first answer is OK I guess, a little awkward. The second one is better left alone than being elevated and then met with that. Both answers are fundamentally defensive, on an issue where we should be pressing our offense every chance we get.
TBone
Not today, Satan, says Becky Brain!
https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/chester-county-gop-lawsuit-judge-ballots-20240422.html
RevRick
@TBone: My wife and I voted two weeks ago. Since I’m Facebook friends with my Rep, Susan Wild, I guess I had to vote for her.
Kay
@Manyakitty:
They didn’t get in our way at all in Ohio. Maybe this is their new strategy – refuse to let women make political decisions without a male supervisor.
Whem my daughter was in high school she sort of became aware that Right wing men were constantly talking about womens bodies and what we have to do with our bodies. She was having trouble describing to me why this bothered her so much – she was just sputtering “why are they aways TALKING ABOUT US?” I completely got it. They are IN her space and she can’t get away. It’s a feeling of intrusion, of being crowded and followed, almost stalked.
TBone
@Omnes Omnibus: I had a baby blue scooter I used to zoom around on these country roads. My BF said I looked just like the girl from Ratatouille (including the attytood) and started calling me Colette.
TBone
@Kay: I fart in their general direction.
TBone
@RevRick: 💙 we’re off to drop off our ballots any minute now 😊 I’m chuffed
Melancholy Jaques
@Bupalos:
It’s a stupid question. And Biden giving a reporter a sharp elbow in the paint is a good thing. This is an election campaign and the press has decided to portray Biden as a doddering old man. Quick comebacks show the opposite.
Another Scott
TheHill.com:
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they wrap up the voting today. Recall that the Senate is supposed to be in recess this week. They’re very protective of their recess time, and they know the final result, so why drag it out?
But we’ll see.
Cheers,
Scott.
scribbler
@Bupalos: I think you’re missing the point. Biden’s not “elevating” the question. He’s fighting fire with fire, which is what it deserves. A quick poke to the reporter’s nose, and the onus is on the reporter at the end of the exchange, not Biden.
Shalimar
@Kay: All those women who die would have voted for Democrats, so Republicans consider that a positive. I wish I were sarcasming, but I suspect it really is how they think.
sab
@Kay: Cut off medicare in a Florida hospital. That should end well for them financially. //
Spanky
Random thought: Is there a metric equivalent to the word “mileage”?
Bupalos
@scribbler: Fighting reporters is absolutely not how you do constructive politics. You gain nothing from pig wrestling here. Guarantee the pig enjoyed it.
However aggressive the question is, “that’s a great question…” followed by coopting the questioner and performing Jiu Jitsu is almost always the way to go. This one was easy and “I know you are but what am I” is a howler.
In a scrum, any question you pick out to address you are elevating.
Omnes Omnibus
@Spanky: They tend to measure fuel consumption in liters/100km. Wait, that wasn’t your question?
PeaceisPossible
Is “righteousness” really on your side? The “victories” we’re talking about are below:
– A FISA extension, allowing the NSA and FBI to spy on you anytime they want without a warrant, and allowing the NSA the right to communication equipment of US businesses. A clear violation of the 4th Amendment. This will give a potential President Trump immense powers – how could that be good?
– Funding Israel’s bombardment of Gaza (including Rafah), Syria, Yemen, Lebanon. Fueling genocide, famine and regional war
– Sending weapons to Taiwan. For those who don’t know, we have a “One China Policy”, under which sending weapons to Taiwan is a contradiction and provocation to China. We also have surrounded China with military bases
I want to understand how these actions, supported by a huge majority of Republicans—-including Trump [!!!! – yes, he is in favor of arming all these countries, including Ukraine]—-are big wins for us?
These are wins for the National Security State, not us.
Another Scott
@Bupalos: It was a shouted question after his remarks. They were looking for a gotcha sound bite, not a thoughtful discussion of abortion politics and his legacy and all that.
The reporter was probably happy that he responded at all.
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
Baud
@PeaceisPossible:
Nice of you to leave out Ukraine.
I also support Taiwan. And the package included humanitarian relief for Palestinians, I believe.
Bupalos
@PeaceisPossible: Tankies are possible.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
Not as such, I don’t think, but it’s one of those things that’s entirely dependent on context, the way some north-of-the-Arctic-Circle communities have a hundred different words for “snow”. You’d use one thing to describe fuel efficiency, another to describe wear and tear, and another to describe raw distance.
sdhays
@Baud: And apparently Trump is a big supporter of Ukraine! Which is why we shouldn’t support them!
I didn’t know that one.
Bupalos
@Baud: This account didn’t leave out Ukraine, it specifically mentioned that Trump wants to arm Ukraine. Which is fundamentally false, since Trump isn’t really capable of having an actual Ukraine policy and anything he says or does WRT Ukraine is simply downstream of his authoritarian project.
Omnes Omnibus
@Bupalos: It depends what your goal is. The question was dumb. What if you are interested in showing that you are sharp elbowed and quick witted in contrast to your napping and farting opponent? Especially if you know that it could go viral while a Jiu Jitsu style response will be buried on page A23 of the NYT?
Baud
@sdhays:
I missed that (or he edited). Yes, we are all MAGA now.
Baud
@Bupalos:
Yes. I missed that. Excellent way to end that comment.
Omnes Omnibus
Do you?
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
Does a sea lion like fish?
Another Scott
@PeaceisPossible:
Haven’t seen you in a while.
Not really.
Our “one China policy” is very carefully constructed to for various political and sensible stability reasons. It’s not “Beijing gets everything it wants.”
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
—
(Who wonders how far the goal posts will be moved by the end of this thread…)
Bupalos
@Another Scott: Of course the reporter was happy with the response.
Take the questions that you can do something with. Defensively delegitimating this particular reporter isn’t doing anything constructive.
PeaceisPossible
@Baud:
If we support Taiwan, does it make sense to encourage this country–a country the size of Maryland–to ask for independence, so it can be utterly destroyed by a great power that currently has no incentive to attack?
If we support humanitarian relief for Palestine, does it make sense to rain food AND bombs on Palestinians?
Baud
@PeaceisPossible:
Everything makes perfect sense. And this will be my final response to you.
Bupalos
@Omnes Omnibus: I can see that angle. I guess it all just feels defensive to me, and this is one to go on offense. Not offense against the press, offense on the politics.
scribbler
@Bupalos: What media world are you operating in? Not the one that’s force feeding me “Biden is too weak, feeble-minded and old for the fight” 24/7 for months. Nuance and careful, thoughtful exchanges have their place, but this ain’t it.
Belafon
@Bupalos: I see it as “Those are stupid questions, ask real ones.” Equivalent to:
Reporter: What are your views on whether its raining or not?
Biden: Maybe you could look outside?
Bupalos
This account really is tankie deluxe. Quick Just-a-question for this account you’re JAQing from: Did Putin have an incentive to attack Ukraine in 2014 or 2022?
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Omnes Omnibus: Yep. I just went searching for a French car ad to try to find an answer to that question, and found “consommation combinée WLTP min/max (l/100km): 4,7-4,8” (combined WLTP consumption)
Also WLTP is a “Worldwide Light Vehicle Test Procedure”.
Incidentally if I did the math right, that works out to 49-50 mpg for the Renault Espace.
PeaceisPossible
All of this money on war & surveillance could’ve been spent on free healthcare and ending homelessness.
But try getting those passed, and see what happens.
The National Security State always gets what it wants.
We will never get what we want if we celebrate when they do!
Ksmiami
@SFAW: but the anti-abortion ninnies can’t control the general horrified response from normal voters responding to their inane, cruel laws. And THAT has been and will continue to influence elections.
Leto
Didn’t realize I was going to have some pie this early in the morning, but here we are.
Trivia Man
@Omnes Omnibus: i would write that as LPK of instead if MPG. Instead of Whats your mileage? You ask Whats you usage?
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Well I guess we’re getting a taste of the tack that Russian intel is going to take for 2024 US election interference psyops. Not sure all the Republicans have gotten the memo yet that we have always loved Ukraine.
Bupalos
@scribbler: I’m arguing for the opposite of nuance or defensiveness. I’m arguing for seizing the question and making it a win. The point of Biden being out there has to be more than “see, I can sling quick peevish defensive zingers.”
Could be true that he thinks he has to do this. It just doesn’t come off as an able politician to me. A better “zing” is “damn, he turned that around on you and got his message out, smiling while he knifed you.”
Thor Heyerdahl
Smells like a certain New York courtroom…
Omnes Omnibus
@PeaceisPossible:
There’s a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you.” Now… I been sayin’ that shit for years. And if you ever heard it, that meant your ass. You’d be dead right now. I never gave much thought to what it meant. I just thought it was a cold-blooded thing to say to a motherfucker before I popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some shit this mornin’ made me think twice. See, now I’m thinking: maybe it means you’re the evil man. And I’m the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here… he’s the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or it could mean you’re the righteous man and I’m the shepherd and it’s the world that’s evil and selfish. And I’d like that. But that shit ain’t the truth. The truth is you’re the weak. And I’m the tyranny of evil men. But I’m tryin’, Ringo. I’m tryin’ real hard to be the shepherd.
Spanky
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: That’s what happens when gas prices run around 2 €/litre.
Omnes Omnibus
@Leto: It is healthy breakfast food. At least my dad argued it was.
MisterForkbeard
@Leto: Breakfast Pie can be a wonderful thing
Bupalos
@PeaceisPossible: Also, when Brexit is complete and the UK is free from the boot of scheming Euro’s in Brussels, it will mean billions of dollars for the NHS!!
I’m not going to encourage you to go away, because frankly a place like this with readers who have zero chance of falling for your bullshit is the best place for you to sling it, AFAIC.
TaMara
@OzarkHillbilly: I had not seen that! Love it!
Leto
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I had to take several trips from my base in Italy up to Ramstein Air Base, and back, for equipment training for my assignment. I rented a turbo diesel Fiat Bravo II for each trip. This trip was mostly up and down through the Alps, and through a lot of the longest Swiss tunnels. I averaged, roughly, 140kph for the duration of the trip, and it took 3/4 of a tank one way. I worked it out and I was getting, again roughly, about 65 mpg for the trip. Each time. It was a really nice car and I wish we had a way to bring more of them here.
Ksmiami
@Kay: I’d arm the women. Self-defense if he gets too close…
PeaceisPossible
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: “People who disagree with me are all Russian agents” – The New McCarthyites
Lapassionara
@Thor Heyerdahl: Speaking of which, when the gag order hearing was scheduled to start, the lawyers and judge went into the judge’s chambers. Not sure what this means.
Ksmiami
@Omnes Omnibus: A Kahuna burger is a tasty burger…
Omnes Omnibus
@PeaceisPossible:
No. No, many of the people who disagree with me are simply wrong or confused.
H.E.Wolf
I’m sure you mean well; and yet….
I suspect that what women do not need is yet another male-presenting ‘nym telling women what to do when they experience a non-viable and/or life-threatening pregnancy. As if women, as a class, are too stupid or ignorant to think of options themselves and need a man to do their thinking for them.
And if any men think withering scrutiny is the worst that would happen if some women did things the “right way” that a man prescribes for them, they are willfully blind to the staggering volume and duration of death threats directed at women who are perceived to step out of line with men’s wishes.
Leto
@Omnes Omnibus: I like the cut of his jib.
@MisterForkbeard: yes, yes it can.
@Ksmiami: what?
Manyakitty
@Kay: it’s really gross.
MisterForkbeard
@Leto: The real question is whether or not you qualify cold pizza as “breakfast pie”.
Bupalos
@PeaceisPossible: Not people who disagree with me, people who sling tankie JAQ trash. I doubt you’re actually a Russian “agent.” Maybe. But odds are better you’re a sanctimonious bullshit artist or useful idiot.
Manyakitty
@Leto: been snacking on that myself. Checked to make sure, and YEP.
MisterForkbeard
@Ksmiami: Mace the assholes if they get too close. Or… I guess that has some blowback if they’re too close. Tasers would work, but they’re potentially lethal.
Maybe something more humiliating would work better.
Ksmiami
@PeaceisPossible: I want Ukrainians saved. I want Hamas smashed and new leaders in Israel/Palestine and I want a Democratic trifecta to move the country forward and restore women’s rights. And if you took off your blinders, you’d see that China and Russia are actually being the Big Bad guys and you don’t defeat bad guys with peace rallies.
MisterForkbeard
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I see they’ve gone back to the basics. Very sad. They’re not even good at consistently sea lioning.
Omnes Omnibus
@MisterForkbeard:
Ah, don’t you mean Italian cheese toast? It’s supposed to be cold. Like gazpacho.
PeaceisPossible
@Omnes Omnibus: Since I’m assuming you favor enormous spending on Israel, Ukraine & Taiwan weaponry, can you explain how destroying the 4th Amendment is good? Am I wrong and confused on this?
Why would a huge majority of Democrats favor extending & expanding Section 702 if it means granting a potential Trump presidency these spying powers?
Ksmiami
@Leto: Omnes was quoting Pulp Fiction… I was responding to the reference… please tell me you’ve seen the movie and if you haven’t, you need to. Like right now.
Viva BrisVegas
@Spanky: It’s usually mileage even though miles have nothing to with it.
Omnes Omnibus
@PeaceisPossible:
Oh dear. You think I am taking you seriously? Golly.
zhena gogolia
@Leto: I’m not supposed to have sugar after dinner, but I guess before lunch is okay!
Leto
@Ksmiami: please tell me you’ve seen the full scene and know why I said… what? :p
Bupalos
@PeaceisPossible: This is awesome. Literally every sentence a question.
TankiesArePossible just wants to understand your position here, so they ask questions that will help them understand. It’s all just so confusing, why if you love peace like TankiesArePossible, you instead choose to give genocide bombs to Ukrainian Jewish Nazis and surround China with bases. Please to help understand! You have to admit it’s confusing how arming Ukrainian Jew-Nazis could possibly help bring a quiet joyous peace.
schrodingers_cat
The number of trolls on Balloon Juice is inversely proportional to the time left for the general elections. As the elections near the number of trolls increases
Tankie trolls are so tedious.
Its always blah blah blah the US sucks and Democrats suck even more.
Cliosfanboy
@PeaceisPossible:
No, you’re just a fool. But pie is yummy.
PeaceisPossible
@Ksmiami:
Then it becomes a question of method, but the methods are most critical (I will not claim that I know the answers; just raising questions):
1) If we want to save Ukraine, how do we do that? By sending weapons or negotiating peace? What has sending weapons gotten us thus far?
2) If we want to destroy Hamas, how do we do that? If we continue what we’re doing (sending weapons to Israel, rejecting three ceasefires, allowing attacks on Yemen, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Iran consulate), will that get us to that goal?
How do we get peace? Through violence or negotiation?
Leto
@MisterForkbeard: good question… though Omnes makes a good point with it being cheese toast… hmmmm, gotta think about that one.
TBone
@Thor Heyerdahl: 😎
CindyH
@Bupalos: I agree – take every opportunity to go on offense in the issue of abortion and use that to pound home the fact that women’s healthcare is at issue.
Old Dan and Little Ann
My wife’s idiot aunt was at our house on Sunday for our daughter’s bday party. Within 5 minutes of arriving she was telling us this “hysterical” book of faces story abour her writing that Biden belonged in a nursing home. She believes this truly. I told her that she belongs in a mental institution far more than Biden belongs in a nursing home. That was the only thing I said to her for 2 1/2 hours. My wife’s family does not like me.
cain
@Kay: Is Texas going to press charges against the woman for losing the baby .. no exceptions right ?
Leto
@zhena gogolia: I have to limit it as much as I can, but there are exceptions… :)
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
There is no way to read that without it meaning “including Wednesday.”
//
schrodingers_cat
@Old Dan and Little Ann: Good for you.
Peke Daddy
@Bupalos: That FISA extension and expansion is at least somewhat problematic, isn’t it? The rest is excellent and way past due. That’s a lot of power to give to ANY administration.
TBone
@H.E.Wolf: thank you for that.
Bupalos
@PeaceisPossible: Ah! Failure. Your first line doesn’t even end in a question mark.
If you’re not JAQing, you’re losing!
HOW CAN WE HAVE PEACE IN OUR TIME IF WE DON’T GIVE OUR THE UKRAINE BACK TO IT’S RIGHTFUL OWNER? Aren’t we as Americans being awfully genocidal to convince the Little Russians that their real heritage is false? Isn’t that what America always does, not respecting the ethnics? Isn’t it time we stopped being such racist Nazis?
Baud
@Peke Daddy:
How was it expanded? I thought it was only extended.
Cliosfanboy
OK, where did they hide the pie filter? :)
TBone
@Old Dan and Little Ann: Rachel Maddow just described Rump today: old, tired, and mad. 😍😆
Kayla Rudbek
@TBone: that’s very good news indeed.
Scout211
Okay, this thread is not like the other threads.
“Just asking questions” is the pie ingredient that I needed.
Ksmiami
@PeaceisPossible: oh fuck off – Putin is not trustworthy period. And smashing the Russian military in Ukraine will prevent them from marching into the rest of Europe.
As for Israel/Palestine, I hope we can pressure Bibi on tactics and Biden winning in November is the best for that end.
have you never read a history book? Preemptive negotiations for peace result in more and larger wars.
Barry
@Kay: “All those fancy Right wing lawyers had 50 years where they were paid to think about this and not one of them said “gosh, I wonder what happens with a miscarriage or complication?””
The answer was “the woman dies”.
That’s why they lied.
Scout211
In case this is not snark and you really are looking for it, it’s right above comment #1 and the comment count.
Ksmiami
@Leto: was just making an earlier reference to the film…
TBone
AOC
https://twitter.com/ClimatePower/status/1782484542751637930
Baud
Heh. Way back machine for Marco Rubio, via reddit
Scout211
The Trump gag order hearing is on live updates. This one is NBC.
Baud
@Scout211:
I vote for literal gagging.
sab
@Scout211: What do you have against sea lions?
PeaceisPossible
@Ksmiami:
1. Ukraine has lost 20% of its land and 100s of thousands of its people under our current strategy. The average soldier is aged 43. This is not my definition of “smashing Russia’s military”
2. What has Biden’s pressure on Netanyahu achieved thus far?
3. If your only historical point of reference is WW2, then yes – your comment makes sense. But that is what neoconservatives want us to think about every conflict: it’s the next WW2 and our opponent is Hitler. This ideology has failed in several consecutive US wars and proxy wars
TBone
Letter to the Person Who Carved His Initials into the Oldest Living Longleaf Pine in North America
by Matthew Olzmann
—Southern Pines, NC
Manyakitty
@Baud: have you noticed anything off about Reddit? I don’t use it, but I read an article this morning about how they licensed AIs to train on it and now it’s getting enshittified, just like the rest of the Internet.
Baud
@Manyakitty:
Quality had definitely gone down, and a lot of the posts and comments seem like they’re by bots, more so than usual.
PeaceisPossible
@Scout211: “You never ask questions when God’s [or ‘Righteousness’ is] on your side”
rikyrah
David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) posted at 2:58 PM on Fri, Apr 19, 2024:
An excellent piece from @AlexBWard on how this week “Biden may have deftly navigated one of the most precarious crises of his tenure.”
https://t.co/jsWgp9gKNz via @politico
(https://x.com/djrothkopf/status/1781412132967383442?t=TXdTWlKHEHaLh1hruuTvYg&s=03)
Manyakitty
@Baud: alas. Hoping this AI thing burns itself out soon.
rikyrah
@Old Dan and Little Ann:
Sounds like fun times..LOL
Betty
This is probably pointless to say, but I have to share my continuing shock at how profoundly ignorant some of our fellow citizens are. A cousin who is not too bright and lives in Ohio (if that matters) just reposted on Facebook a meme stating that Trump gave his all for four years and Biden has done nothing for forty-five. There is simply no way to respond to that. I guess she won’t be voting for Sherrod.
Leto
@Ksmiami: and I was making reference to what follows directly after the burger scene:
what?
say what, one more g-d time! I dare you! I double dare you!
:p that entire scene from start to finish is just so good.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Ok then….then no Medicare funds whatsoever for your hospital.
Let’s see how that works out for them.
I totally hope she sues them into oblivion.
TBone
@Betty: I know how to respond.
Simple elegance is always correct 🤣
Frankensteinbeck
@Rusty:
This is a well established pattern by now. Republicans won’t take Yes for an answer, and you can goad them into shooting themselves in the face in negotiations. It takes incredible guts to play chicken with them, but this is exactly the payoff.
@schrodingers_cat:
I know it’s an election year when any thread about how great Democrats are gets someone parachuting in to turn into a conversation about whether or not Democrats suck. Derailing is a very effective strategy, I must admit.
Mr. Bemused Senior
Does the pie filter offer a cheese toast option? Just asking.
Scout211
A quick read of the live updates on the gag hearing: Blanche seems to be using the “he’s the real killer. I was just holding the gun, your honor” defense. 🙄
(IANAL).
Manyakitty
@Frankensteinbeck: hence, pie. They don’t derail anything if we don’t read their garbage.
TBone
🎶 Nobody does it better (feat. The Good Liars)
narcoleptic old dipshit wakes up to stare at pecker
https://www.jefftiedrich.com/p/narcoleptic-old-dipshit-wakes-up
🎶
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SaV-6qerkqI
Harrison Wesley
@Omnes Omnibus: Or like revenge?
Bruce K in ATH-GR
Does the contempt hearing rate its own open thread? Because I checked the DKos live feed, jumped to the Adam Klasfeld Twitter (never X) feed, and god-damn, I almost half feel sorry for Mr. Blanche. Only half because he knew what he was getting into when he signed on to represent that client, but if the defendant isn’t the textbook case of a nightmare client, I don’t know who is.
Bupalos
@PeaceisPossible: Seems like you’re starting to answer some of those questions! I knew you could get there.
The answer is PEACE through PEACEFUL PEACE. The best way to achieve peace is to give reasonable non-invaders what they want. They then become happy and satisfied. I don’t think we’d be too happy if a bunch of Mexican Nazis or Canadian Nazis suddenly claimed that Mexico or Canada wasn’t part of America. It’s all North AMERICA, not North Mexico or South Canada! I think we’d pretty darn well expect them to negotiate and at the least give us Toronto and Montreal and then of course the land bridge across to Saskatewan and down through Mexico City. And Baja California is ridiculous that anyone even pretends it’s Mexico. Everyone knows this is a fraud, and peace must be based on truth, don’t you agree? Or can peace ever be based on these artificial borders around America?
I mean really peaceful peace, the kind where free healthcare instantiates and the homeless grow homes.
TBone
I can hear hubby (I’m outside) doing The Simpsons bully “HA HA!”
Mr. Bemused Senior
.
Harrison Wesley
@TBone: Hey, that sounds a little too much like me!
TBone
@Harrison Wesley: 😆
Anoniminous
@Scout211:
The only trial news I want is that Trump fell head first onto the table with blood and brain tissue pouring out of his nose and mouth.
Omnes Omnibus
@Harrison Wesley:
But you don’t have to dig two graves. Much less work.
hueyplong
Republicans negotiated a border deal. It was Trump who blew it up.
It’s Trump who is effectively stone stupid when it comes to legislative strategy because he doesn’t give a shit about legislation. He just wants everything in the shitter so he can be Preznit again. We lived through and saw his total cluelessness re Congressional things when he was Preznit before.
It is (mostly) Trump driving the anti-Ukraine nonsense, which is so unpopular and so obviously wrong that Johnson felt compelled to flip.
The idiocy of Republicans in this is the fact that they have been doing what Trump says. The current GOP-aligned attacks on MTG are extra awkward because she’s being attacked for being the closest iteration of Trump himself on these issues.
Anyway
Hadn’t seen this before …
Omnes Omnibus
The contempt hearing isn’t going well for Trump. “You’re losing all credibility with the court,” Merchan tells Blanche.
Leto
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: apparently he’s only done 1 trial in the last ten years. Maddow and Co were talking about that last night. And fuck feeling sorry for any of those shitbags. Birds of a feather and all. Trumpov is getting the exact legal representation he’s earned, these past 76 years.
Fuck. Him.
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus: Blanche Dubious is his lawyer?
Matt McIrvin
@Frankensteinbeck: I think they probably preferred the bill without the border deal, because they want things to be worse from their perspective so they can use it as an election issue.
Miss Bianca
@Another Scott: I fail to see the problem with letting Senator Sanders’s amendments go through the process. If they fail, they fail. I’d be chuffed as hell if they *didn’t* fail, mind.
Spanky
@schrodingers_cat:
So as time approaches zero, we get an infinite number of trolls?
Sounds about right.
Harrison Wesley
@Matt McIrvin: IIRC, Trump himself didn’t want a deal because he wanted the election issue.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@Leto: Ouch. I hadn’t realized that part of the equation (and I don’t regularly watch US pundits, especially the evening shift, because they go on the air at stupid o’clock in the morning my time).
But yeah, the best legal counsel money can buy wouldn’t touch this case with a barge pole, given the known and presumed behavior of the client and the questions about his ability to pay, and I have zero sympathy for the defendant.
Leto
@Anyway: remember Google’s original motto, which was basically its main mission statement? Aww, those were the days.
NotMax
@Omnes Omnibus
Spycam footage.
//
hueyplong
@schrodingers_cat: You should be pleased to know that Trump is now relying on the kindness of strangers.
Robin Goodfellow
@PeaceisPossible:
How do we get peace? Through violence or negotiation?
You mean like the way World War II’s end was negotiated?
Right, words speak louder than actions. /s
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Omnes Omnibus:
[h/t TPM]
Good grief.
Mr. Bemused Senior
His problem is, there are no strangers. He makes sure of that himself. Everyone knows him. Bigly.
schrodingers_cat
Both ends of the horseshoe hate Jewish people. Coincidence? I think not.
How is this helping Gaza? IIRC Charlottesville slogan was, Jews will not replace us
rikyrah
@Leto:
Tell me how you really feel.
BWA HA HA AH AHA HA HA
Jackie
Gov Newsom is determined to help Arizona’s women and girls:
Manyakitty
@schrodingers_cat: exactly.
Spanky
@schrodingers_cat: I’m waiting for Blanche to tell the court that he relies on the kindness of strangers
Eta Yeah, yeah. Not the first to the obvious reference.
schrodingers_cat
@hueyplong: He is, isn’t he?. Here’s hoping that they (the jury) will be fair and serve justice.
rikyrah
@Matt McIrvin:
True.
I don’t know about national media,
but, the local media that I watch here always brings up the border bill that they torpedoed because the Orange Menace told them too.
I’m always satisfied when that CONTEXT is brought up.
Miss Bianca
@Bupalos:
Does being a concern troll pay well? Or are you doing it for free? Is it a passion project for you, or is there some actual remuneration involved somewhere?
Leto
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: I forgot, you’re in the future relative to us :p
Yup, his entire history is coming to bear on his legal representation. It has been for a while. Years ago, most pundits/lawyers were arguing that he should have legal/competent representation because he was president at the time. But with each successive trial, each successive scandal, the quality just continued to decline, then Jan 6th happened, the entire shitshow surrounding that with tons of low quality lawyers involved with that (and quite a number of them facing sanctions/disbarment), and now all of the civil and criminal trials…
As the blog has noted, everything Shit Midas touches…
PeaceisPossible
@hueyplong: Trump is the main proponent behind “MAGA” Republican support for arming Ukraine. Without Trump’s recent stated support of Mike Johnson, Mike wouldn’t have had the political capital to follow through on this bill.
MAGA Republicans and Democrats–for different reasons–delude themselves that Trump is against arming Ukraine.
Trump is completely in favor of Biden’s Ukraine policy – except he wants a “loan” requirement (a loan that almost certainly will never be paid back).
Leto
@rikyrah: I need to check the alignment of my subtlety filter… one sec…
NotMax
@Spanky (et al.)
A Streetcar named Deliar.
schrodingers_cat
PiP must have slept through the first Trump impeachment.
db11
@Baud:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/04/biden-signs-bill-criticized-as-major-expansion-of-warrantless-surveillance/
rikyrah
referring to President Biden:
scary lawyerguy (@scarylawyerguy) posted at 5:13 PM on Fri, Apr 19, 2024:
He’s underestimated and underrated at every turn. From securing bipartisan bills in Congress (even with a House GOP) to avoiding the spread of not one but two regional wars into global conflicts, he’s crushing it.
(https://x.com/scarylawyerguy/status/1781446019609153664?t=R9Z5z2u6absF_1ANiTzu5w&s=03)
rikyrah
@NotMax:
BWA HA HA AHA HA HA HA HA HA HA
schrodingers_cat
@Spanky: You got that right. We are nearing that event horizon. Whee…
rikyrah
@PeaceisPossible:
SURE JAN
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Omnes Omnibus: One time on a work trip to El Paso, after I discovered a REAL Mexican restaurant, I resolved I was going to have breakfast there every day and try at least once, every item I’d never heard of.
One of those was “chilaquiles”. It involves frying last night’s leftover tortillas in a skillet with salsa. I’ve heard from Mexicans that’s an important comfort breakfast food.
MinuteMan
If Biden is cognitively impaired, what does this say about most of the presidents I’ve experienced in my lifetime who have at best only accomplished a fraction of what Biden has done?
Manyakitty
@schrodingers_cat: hahahaha then what happens? Can reality please just collapse in on itself already? 😄😂
PeaceisPossible
@schrodingers_cat: Trump was also the first president to arm Ukraine. Did you sleep through that?
Obama refused, because he felt it would provoke Russia into a proxy war that we could not successfully support.
VFX Lurker
It should, with time. If you browse “AI winter” on Wikipedia, you can see all the other times frustrated investors took their money ball and went home.
Baud
@db11:
Thank you.
schrodingers_cat
PiP is now mouthing Trump’s lie about Obama admin’s aid to Ukraine.
Jeffro
Good news for Virginia Dems: Levar Stoney is dropping out of the race for Gov and will run instead for Lt. Gov.
This leaves Abigail Spanberger as the almost-certain D nominee for Gov next year. Who knows who the VA GOP will barf up, but Spanberger has some serious crossover appeal.
What a great ticket! Spanberger/Stoney ’25!
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Leto: Except Alina Habba. She’s always there on every legal team. She must already be the bottom of the barrel, so every barrel-bottom legal team must by definition include her.
Of course the real reason there is that she’s “pretty” (meaning designs her look to be TFG’s central-casting idea of “pretty”), and she knows how to “fake smart” (because there’s only one person in the world she has to convince).
Baud
@Jeffro:
👍
ETA: First woman governor, no?
schrodingers_cat
@Manyakitty: Looks like it. The horseshoe is now a circle!
TBone
@NotMax: 😆
Barbara
@zhena gogolia: Well, sure, he could have said, “my legacy will be as a man who trusted women,” or something like that. But a question about one’s “legacy” on any issue is a stupid question, because, among other reasons, it assumes you will be gone. Not playing their stupid games is better.
Omnes Omnibus
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Speaking of Ms Habba.
cain
@schrodingers_cat: The crazy leftists have joined the movement and now getting in and causing violence like they’ve done with anything left oriented like Black Lives Matter.
The right wingers will use that to disparage the whole thing. The whole thing is just the same 3 acts of a political tragedy being repeated over and over again.
Baud
@Barbara:
I initially read that’s as “my legacy will be as a man who was a women” and thought you were suggesting he say something about trans rights.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@schrodingers_cat: an entire archaeological layer composed of trolls? Do they turn to stone?
Manyakitty
@schrodingers_cat: hahahaha ouroboros.
PeaceisPossible
@schrodingers_cat:
Here are Obama’s direct words on why he would not send arms to Ukraine – his words make sense to me:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-obama-doctrine/471525/
hueyplong
@PeaceisPossible: Bullshit. The next time Trump directly contradicts a Putin policy will be the first.
Jeffro
@rikyrah: that is a good piece! credit where Biden credit is due!!
If the snooze media started actually reporting on his successes, the entire GOP is done, kaput, over. Put a fork in ’em.
Quinerly
@Mr. Bemused Senior:
I am sure it has been mentioned before. Blanche had impeccable credentials before leaving one of the top (and oldest) firms in NYC. He was a partner there. He formed his own firm basically for the representation of Trump after leaving that firm a year ago. His new firm’s website is interesting.
I won’t post all the links but there is a lot of info out there on him. I find it incredibly intriguing….why would he do it? Surely by now most all attys have figured out what a nightmare of a client Trump is. I was never in the league of these attys when I practiced but if I were, there is no amt of money in the world that I would take on a client like Trump….even if I agreed with his politics.
Blanche gets what he deserves.
I’m on tiny keyboard and typing with dirty hands. I would add more if at my laptop. The thought process of these very good attys who keep taking on Trump really baffles me.
Bupalos
@PeaceisPossible: Trump did Be President while lethal aid was approved by the senate, but that wasn’t really his fault, Trump also wisely withheld that aid that he gave them in order to force the Jew Nazi Zelensky to help expose Sleepy Joe Biden’s crimes. And for the whole time when they didn’t get the weapons and even after that, there was peace. So even though we all hate Trump, we have to admit he is the real president of Peace here.
Jeffro
@Baud: She will indeed be our first female Gov! Bright future ahead for A.S.!
Barbara
@Baud: Okay, he could have said “That I trusted women.” I think that when Obama was asked about abortion at one of his debates with McCain, he said something like, “The difference between him and me is that I trust women.” I wasn’t just impressed, I felt a huge sense of relief. Most men really don’t seem to get how existential this feels for women. The Clintonian safe, legal and rare formulation always sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. How about, “safe, legal, and none of your GD business!”
Manyakitty
@Quinerly: I’m mystified by a few of those attorneys in GA, too. Like, WHY?????
PeaceisPossible
@hueyplong: Trump pulled us out of the INF Treaty, further expanded NATO and was the first president to arm Ukraine (Obama refused to do so). All antagonistic to Russia
gvg
@Bupalos: No.
Biden has limited time. A real answer to that can only come in a sit-down interview with one reporter. Yelling it out while the President is on the move is at best poor judgement and at worse bad faith gotcha questions. I am afraid he had no choice but to blow it off as funny. That reporter probably has a reputation too. Reporters like that are too numerous. Reward one with a serious long answer and 500 more will repeat the same question soon after.
I don’t think I have ever heard anything worth hearing come out of those mobs of reporters shouting questions at anybody. That is not a real reporting opportunity.
Bupalos
@PeaceisPossible: Obama knew that history was over and that the world should be divided among the Great Powers Influence Spheres, like Russia, which is big.
He clearly helped make peace possible, unlike the dastardly deep state that cooperates with Ukronazis to suppress Russian language.
Highway Rob
@schrodingers_cat: And in a wonderful coincidence, pies are also circles.
Jeffro
Btw LOVE THIS: even trumpov is starting to realize RFK Jr doesn’t help him and probably hurts him at least as much as he hurts Biden
Exactly. RFK Jr: stooge for Putin, anti-vax, and apologist for J6 rioters.
hueyplong
@PeaceisPossible: Yeah, troll, that’s why those NATO countries are so anxious to see Trump be president again.
This is the best you’ve got?
cain
@Quinerly: Trump leaves a trail of broken dreams and jail time behind him.
TBone
@Quinerly: 🎶
The Sirens’ call
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_Up1s8z7jH8
Bupalos
@gvg: He used to do it all the time. If you take the question and want to take the camera and deliver your message take it. He’s in total control of that situation and what he wants to do with it.
MisterForkbeard
The troll is really going through greatest hits, isn’t he? And now insisting that Trump is actually the defender of Ukraine. Wow.
I really should have enabled the pie filter, but this is kind of amazing in a truly stupid way. Is DougJ back to trolling again?
Baud
@Barbara:
Harrison Wesley
@Jeffro: My God – he’s got the whole package! Can’t wait to vote for him! Not.
Baud
@MisterForkbeard:
I hope not. He has a higher calling.
TBone
@Baud: 🔥
lowtechcyclist
@frosty:
Yeah, the elevation makes a difference. I lived in Bristol, VA for five years, down on the TN line. It was way south of the DC area, but it was also at 1700 feet above sea level. It was a good deal cooler there.
Had a good ride this morning, did a ~15 mile loop. The part along the Chesapeake was kinda chilly, since the water always lags the land in warming up, and there was a pretty good breeze. But it was worth it for the view.
Barbara
@Baud: Yep. We should get to live our own lives, including doing things that might cause us regret. Justice Kennedy — he who wrung his hands about abortion causing women “regrets” — can kiss my ass. Lots of women regret having children, not having children, getting married, not getting married, getting divorced, not getting divorced. That’s what they call life’s rich pageant.
An individual is in a better position to judge their own best interests than a judge or legislator, no matter how well-meaning, who doesn’t have to live with the consequences. And most are not well-meaning; they are punitive assholes.
PeaceisPossible
@hueyplong: I mean, these are all examples of Trump doing the opposite of what Putin wanted, in very serious ways. So yeah, that’s what I’ve got.
To be clear, I agree with Obama’s previously stated views on this matter, not Trump’s:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-obama-doctrine/471525/
Baud
@Barbara:
Which is why Dems support post birth abortions.
Geminid
@Baud: Virginia has never had a woman serve as Governor or Senator. I was gaming out Mark Warner’s retirement the other day (his seat comes up in 2026), and it seemed like a Rep. Jennifer McClellan would be a likely successor.
Tim Kaine’s seat will come up in 2030, when Abigail Spanberger will be ready to follow the Governor-to-Senator pipeline Kaine and Warner did. So after 230 years without one female Senator, Virginia could begin 2031 with two.
Baud
@Geminid:
♀️👍
matt
@Bupalos: Your comments suck.
Harrison Wesley
@Baud: Also abortions prior to pregnancy – they call them “preconceptions.”
Barbara
@Baud: Ha ha. I know, but my sense of humor on this one is pretty thin. There are likely people who actually believe that.
Matt McIrvin
@Spanky: At least the UNLIMITED CORPORATE CASH guy lost his talking point, since clearly Biden is the one with the campaign money in this round–Trump is trying to cover his legal bills (when he can’t just stiff the lawyers).
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@MisterForkbeard: It’s mildly interesting that Trump himself has decided to pivot that direction. He’s nothing if not a windsock for public opinion, so it’s an indicator that the country is shifting in a good way toward unified Ukraine support. So he has to pretend he feels that way too.
Of course, it could always be the “all they have to do is surrender and agree not to be a country anymore” version of Ukraine support.
Still, it’s good news that the Putin delegation in Congress appears to be weakening.
NotMax
@Geminid
Is a VA governor eligible to run again for a non-consecutive term?
Bupalos
@MisterForkbeard: It is kind of a thing of beauty.
He’s even marshalling Obama (nevermind Obama has vociferously said the admin is doing the right thing, and obviously pretty open to the idea that maybe he fucked up in 2014, without coming out and just saying “oops”).
Baud
@Barbara:
They deserve ultimate mockery. It is flat earth level stupid.
TBone
@Baud: 😆
Matt McIrvin
@NotMax: Yes.
MisterForkbeard
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Basically since the invasion started, Trump has been doing the “they should just surrender half the country and I’ll take credit for my peace plan” thing.
Trump did want to push arms earlier than a lot of people thought was wise. He might have been right there – but it looks like he did it at his advisor’s behest and didn’t actually care. He also tried to make Ukraine invent false accusations against his election opponent in return for that congressionally mandated aid, which is pretty indicative.
In this case, I think it’s just Trump trying to get ahead of opinion. The country wants to do it. Zelensky was getting very close to just outright stating that Republicans were dooming his country because they like Putin. And Johnson realized he wasn’t getting anything significant out of his legislative blackmail. Trump is very good at taking credit for everything, and that’s pretty clearly what’s happening here.
PeaceisPossible
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Or there is no Putin delegation, and there is only (with very few exceptions in either party) a National Security State delegation that does whatever the CIA, NSA, FBI and Pentagon want.
mrmoshpotato
From Meatball Ron to Migrant-trafficking Ron!
Well done, you pudding-fingered, human trafficking POS!
Bupalos
Yes, Obama’s view in 2016, mind you. That was the clearly correct view for the situation in 2024, not his view of 2024 from 2022 or 2023 or 2024. Like Neville Chamberlain before him, he has somehow let insignificant little events and special operations cloud his previous sound judgement!
scribbler
@Bupalos: Hard no. Biden has limited control over what the reporters in that situation will report. I can’t tell you how many great Biden answers to press questions I’ve seen relayed on Balloon Juice, but then they disappear from media view, never to be reported on CNN, MSNBC, etc. As someone earlier said, this was a good sharp elbow applied. A “gotcha” question that Biden “gotcha”ed back.
UncleEbeneezer
@Manyakitty: The Asshole Singularity
Soprano2
@Kay: Oh yeah, look at who’s in hospitals – people who are on Medicare. Plus, who wants to go to the hospital where they ‘d let you bleed out in the bathroom rather than help you? I’m sure not going there!
Geminid
@NotMax: Yes. Mills Godwin served as Governor from 1966 to 1960 as a Democrat, then won again in 1973 as a Republican. The Southern political realignment went quickly in Virginia.
Quinerly
@cain:
Yep. Back to “everything he touches, dies.”
It just baffles me why these attys who are set for life….some having clawed their way to the top (Blanche is not a legacy guy. He worked his way thru night law school in Brooklyn) are willing to trash their reputations and credibility. I guess I don’t understand egos that big.
lowtechcyclist
@PeaceisPossible:
We may officially have a ‘One China’ policy, but unofficially that’s bullshit, and everybody knows it. We want to help Taiwan preserve its independence. Like most of Israel’s Arab neighbors coming to accept Israel’s existence, China needs to get over itself and accept Taiwan’s independence. We should not let China conquer Taiwan any more than we should let Russia conquer Ukraine.
Just looking at a map of China is all you need to do to see how ludicrous a claim that is. The vast majority of China’s perimeter is on land, and we have no bases in any adjacent nation.
sdhays
@Jeffro: Virginia Governor is such a weird position with the ban on consecutive terms. It makes sense to have a partnership of strong Governor + Lt. Governor candidates so that you can attempt to gain some of the advantage of incumbency. McAuliffe/Northam managed to pull that off, but this sounds like a great new attempt.
Leto
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I started to write something about the parking lot attendant but then stopped, erased it, and went with that. She totally fucked up the EJ Carroll case (check box? No thank you…), she’s as dumb as a post, but is still around because of the eternal fuck-ability factor.
As Quinerly said above, many of these lawyers had the chance to just keep on with their practices. I’m sure they were earning good money, but the siren song of the Dumpster Fire pulled them all in. And for what? That potential chance at some type of power, but eternal damnation in terms of history and character.
Bupalos
@PeaceisPossible: We all salute your brave truth-telling. How do you manage to have such courage? Isn’t it dangerous in this surveillance state to bite the hand of the Ukro-nazi masters?
lowtechcyclist
@Spanky:
“It isn’t the years, it’s the kilometrage?” Nah, doesn’t quite sound right.
Bupalos
@lowtechcyclist: This just shows that you don’t understand the what the real national borders of China are supposed to be!!
Quinerly
@Manyakitty:
And we could talk about Sidney Powell.
Everything I have read about her leads me to believe she was a sane, smart, well respected atty for years.
I hope psychologists and mental healthl professionals continue to study this phenomena.
PeaceisPossible
@lowtechcyclist: I suggest anyone do a simple Google search of “US military bases surrounding China” to prove the absurdity of this statement. We added a couple more last year, as well.
Then, think about how many worldwide military bases China has!
Jeffro
I’d like to make a joke about one of the two being Lt Gov Winsome Earle-Sears, but I can’t stop laughing enough to type it out. =)
The VA GOP better see if it can find another ‘stealth moderate’ candidate or two like Smilin’ Glenn Youngkin, ’cause between Earle-Sears, AG Miyares, and the other RWNJs that constitute their very short, thinly-populated bench, there’s not much chance of them winning statewide for quite some time.
Bupalos
@PeaceisPossible: Well not your brave fellow truth teller Marjorie Taylor Green. She’s not in the Jewish Space Laser CIA NSA MIC coalition!
Manyakitty
@Quinerly: I read that a case she had vs. Andrew Weissmann sent her over the edge. As I recall, LAO didn’t find much good to say about her interactions with him, but he didn’t drive her to incompetence. 😬
Bupalos
@PeaceisPossible: You’re so right! China is hemmed in on all sides! They’d be perfectly justified in liberating Taiwan, when they’re so penned up there to a mere 1/8th of the earth’s dry surface. Really it only makes sense to us true peace lovers of peace.
Geminid
@Jeffro: Last August when Spanberger let Democrats know she would run for Governor, former Republican Lt. Governor Bill Bolling commented:
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Jeffro: Honestly if RFK were actually a Democratic ratfucking operation they could hardly hope to do better. JFK/RFK are somehow central to Q conspiracy theories. So take a Kennedy and have him sign on to all the antivax and election denial stuff and he’s bound to attract some interest from those circles, which pulls support from Trump if anyone.
Bupalos
Let me stop you right there. I mean you say it later, but let me emphasize: Trump absolutely did not know what that conflict even was and absolutely did not want any particular action or outcome there. He became president, and randomly chose advisors basically by mugshot from a list given to him. Some of the campaign people had Russian connections and removed ukraine aid from the platform but there was no coordination with selection of advisors, and no follow through. Reporting is that advisors got his sign-off by letting him know Obama had not favored lethal aid.
His first action on personal initiative WRT Ukraine was to try and hold up the aid to extort Ukraine into manufacturing dirt on Biden.
tam1MI
@PeaceisPossible:
Por qué no los dos?
Bupalos
@tam1MI: Jewish Space Lasers. That’s why. The CIA in its Russophobia would have fried any Russian speakers with the Jewish Space Laser.
gwangung
@PeaceisPossible: Don’t insult our intelligence.
Subsole
@lowtechcyclist:
A sliding one, probably…
Baud
@gwangung:
I’d settle for him not insulting our stupidity.
tam1MI
@Bupalos: Jewish Space Lasers. That’s why. The CIA in its Russophobia would have fried any Russian speakers with the Jewish Space Laser.
Oh yeah, I forgot about those… 😉
Quinerly
@Manyakitty: I think I recall she had a boyfriend who died around that time. Maybe I will Google later.
It has been in the news that Texas has refused to discipline her re her license. I should pull that link. I just glanced at the headline a few days ago.
japa21
@gwangung:
I just consider everything he/she says as meant as a joke, it is so outside the realm of reality, which is why I haven’t engaged.
Manyakitty
@Quinerly: sounds like a perfect storm. That’s unfortunate 😕.
Kind of surprising about Texas, but look at their AG.
Another Scott
@Omnes Omnibus: [ golf clap ]
Well played, sir.
Cheers,
Scott.
PeaceisPossible
@japa21: The reality is Obama didn’t arm Ukraine. Trump did!
Trump also removed us from the INF Treaty and expanded NATO.
Trump scams his followers, many of whom are genuinely against spending on foreign wars (of course there is always an unfortunate Israel exception to everyone’s “principles”), into believing that other “RINOs” are responsible for the bipartisan pro-war coalition.
But he’s a total hawk. Just like modern Democrats are total hawks.
That’s why he stands behind his man, “MAGA Mike Johnson”, as Mike pushes through a FISA expansion and proxy war funding.
Which, amazingly, is also a win for Biden and the “opposition party”.
Wins all around! But especially for the National Security State. And especially not for ordinary citizens anywhere in the world.
Scuffletuffle
@Omnes Omnibus: Bravo!!
Quinerly
@Manyakitty: https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/22/politics/sidney-powell-trump-election-lawsuits/index.html
Manyakitty
@Quinerly: IANAL, but did all that legalese effectively say nothing?
Ksmiami
@Leto: gotcha. Sorry about the confusion. Don’t forget to bring Marvin…
Another Scott
@MisterForkbeard: “Billy, look, you just tell them and they believe it. That’s it: you just tell them and they believe. They just do.”
Sad.
Cheers,
Scott.
Uncle Cosmo
@Spanky: Forget it, Spank, it’s ass-symptomatic…
Another Scott
@Bupalos: My take is a little different.
TIFG knew that VVP wanted Ukraine. Manafort had his tendrils in Ukraine. TIFG wanted to be in VVP’s favor, to keep getting that sweet, sweet russian money for his condos and hotels and golf courses, and he also wanted a piece of the action.
What’s better for TIFG than to string Ukraine along:
Sure, we’ll help you out, but you know you’ve got to do a little something for me too, amirite?
If TIFG refused to play interested, then he couldn’t expect to be in the middle and get anything in return.
It’s NY Mob stuff that he learned from Roy Cohn.
Grr…,
Scott.
Uncle Cosmo
@PissIsPotable: To post that you are a fucking cretin is to needlessly demean both copulation and untreated congenital hypothyroidism.
Let us merely note that you are in dire need of a street to lie down in for a truck to run you over. And then back over. And run over. And back over. A tak dale…
Subsole
@rikyrah: Honestly, they probably should have stepped in when a bunch of greasy, trenchcoated weirdos (who may not have even been students) spent 8 months hurling abuse (verbal and physical) at their Jewish students and faculty.
Maybe they were waiting on all the decent protesters to step up and put a stop to it. I dunno. But they didn’t, and they didn’t, and here we are.
I don’t know how we have an effective protest in this country if these sleazy, violent, screwballs keep showing up and hijacking things.
Subsole
@Matt McIrvin:
Yeeesh. Why do these assholes hate fun?
Soprano2
@Kay: I was tempted to ask my boss and her boss who did my review how many times they’ve asked men to be nicer to people. My guess would be never.
My husband likes to watch Judge Judy. Boy howdy, some of those cases…I think half the time she rules for who she likes or who she thinks is the better person rather than who’s right under the law.
Subsole
@Kay: It’s being quite literally micromanaged.
Subsole
@PeaceisPossible:
But…but I am the national security state…!
Subsole
@Another Scott: They don’t even bother bringing ’em onto the field anymore. They’re just going to get motored back to the factory anyway.
topclimber
@PeaceisPossible: I don’t recall Trump expanding NATO. He did suggest that Bolsonaro’s Brazil should join NATO. Please enlighten.
The flip side of Trump’s disdain for service members is that he is not a fan of war. His lizard brain seems to understand war is bad for us (like in U.S.,has anybody ever though of that?) and real bad for Presidential brands.
Of course, he has no real policy of engagement with global adversaries except “do you want to be on top or bottom?” when it comes to Putin.
Subsole
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
Eh. Not everyone who disagrees with us works for Moscow.
Tehran and Beijing are also real possibilities.
...now I try to be amused
@Quinerly: I’ve concluded that Trump has a charisma that works powerfully on some people (to their ruin) even as it repels the rest of us. Trump seeks out the corruptible and then corrupts the hell out of them. I’m reminded of Sauron and his Ringwraiths. I’m guessing Josh Marshall thought of Sauron when he called people like Sidney Powell “dignity wraiths”.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Kay:
I mean, that’s just God’s punishment for sin. /s
Subsole
@Omnes Omnibus:
I always wondered:
What would have happened if Vincent just started blasting in the middle of that? Like,
“AYooo Vincent!!!! What the fuck?!”
“What?! It’s what we always do! That’s the routine, man!”
“Routine?! Motherfucker you hear Mr. Vaudeville playing the piano?? You just shot two people in the face! Again! Got-damn I cannot believe this shit!!”
Citizen Alan
@Bupalos: The media is partisan and illegitimate. And the correctness of Biden’s response is reflected in the fact that people are talking about it and debating whether it was good that he’s throwing elbows at vapid journalists or bad that he’s “sinking to Trump’s level” (an absurd suggestion, IMO). Whereas, if he’d given the sort of milquetoast, Dukakis-like response you seem to want, we wouldn’t be discussing it at all because no one would have cared enough to tweet about it.
Citizen Alan
@Bupalos: I find your views on and interpretation of this exchange to be either painfully naive about the state of US politics or else willfully obtuse about the relationship between the media and both Biden and the Democratic Party. It looks to me like you want Biden’s press interactions to go something like this.
Reporter: Mr. President, isn’t it true that you’re old and you suck?
Biden: That’s a great question! Now let me give a long, detailed explanation about why that’s not true that no one will ever hear because it won’t fit in a tweet.
prostratedragon
@rikyrah:
Statement from the Knight Institute for the 1st Amendment at Columbia Law
PeaceisPossible
@topclimber: He expanded NATO to Montenegro and North Macedonia.
Trump’s only stated objection to NATO is that he wants other countries to contribute more.
Trump is for a more militarized NATO, just like Biden.
Citizen Alan
@MisterForkbeard:
You say that like it’s a bad thing when we’re talking about misogynistic, forced birth creeps. Given the victim-blaming whenever a woman is raped (whether it leads to pregnancy or not) and the prevalence of SYG laws in anti-abortion red states, perhaps the solution is to arm all women and advise them to shoot to kill whenever they encounter a man who makes them fear for their safety. If nothing else, I bet it would cut down on wolf whistles.
Citizen Alan
@PeaceisPossible:
To the extent you’re suggesting that reauthorizing FISA “destroys” the 4th Amendment, I would say yes, you are wrong and confused.
PeaceisPossible
@Citizen Alan: According to the 4th Amendment, you need a warrant to seize American communications (note: this was done without a warrant 200,000+ times in a single year under the now extended and expanded 702 law).
So color me confused, since FISA Section 702 directly violates the 4th Amendment.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
Biden positive posts really bring out the tankies, who just seem to twist themselves in knots trying to both pretend like they are the only ones who care about peace and offering justifications for the brutal invasion of a peaceful sovereign country by a murderous dictator. Its like they really think just letting that dictator subjugate one set of people, he’ll be satisfied and not want to put even more people under his yoke. Its nuts.
columbusqueen
@PeaceisPossible: Go home. Give it up.
Citizen Alan
@PeaceisPossible:
I was awake for the part where he attempted to make delivery of any arms conditional on Zelenskyy starting a completely bogus investigation into Hunter Biden and then he got busted for it.
Citizen Alan
@TankieisProbable: I now have a headache from how hard you just made me roll my eyes.
topclimber
@PeaceisPossible: Well, you got me on North Macedonia. The work on getting Montenegro into NATO happened well before its formal membership, which took place six months after TIFG took office. It was a few more months before he showed his respect for this new ally by elbowing its president out of the way when it was time for a photo shoot at a European summit.
Trump is an isolationist. He did nothing to improve NATO. He pulled the plug on kurds in Syria and left Biden with a shit sandwich of an exit agreement from Afghanistan. He is certainly onboard with screwing Iran, but not if it risks major casualties. Witness his biggest effort there: killing a top Iranian General who helped kick ISIS to the curb.
gwangung
@topclimber: Dude is a troll and a liar. Not worth anybody’s time.
PeaceisPossible
@gwangung:
1. Did Trump arm Ukraine (whereas Obama refused, because he understood that the result would be the travesty we see today)? Yes.
2. Did Trump remove us from the INF Treaty with Russia? Yes.
3. Did Trump expand NATO, and ask that NATO countries spend more on militarization? Yes.
Sorry to contradict your collusion conspiracy theory but all three of these are well documented.
pluky
@PeaceisPossible: Okay, troll feeding time.
1) Your naivete is touching, but tedious. Negotiated peace presumes both sides wish such. What Putin wants is a restored Russian Empire with him as Tsar. The only option for Ukraine is to resist, and it is our interest to support that resistance.
2) The current conflict in Gaza is only the current act in a drama that has been playing out since the founding of Israel out of Palestine. As I’ve read elsewhere, the tragedy of Israel is that it has real enemies, and that of the remnants of Palestine is that it has no real friends. As the drama continues, only two sequential outcomes are likely:
— Israel completes the ethnic cleansing of the territory it claims, at the cost of becoming an international pariah, except perhaps for continued patronage by the USA.
— At some point, as has always been the case with the Levant, a regional hegemon will swoop down like Sennacherib, either for a third time eliminating a Jewish state from the region, or reducing it to a minor province.
PeaceisPossible
@pluky:
1. Not once have we even tried to negotiate peace with Russia, so we have no clue if it wants peace.
Twice we have rejected negotiations: once before the invasion and again in April of 2022.
Your favored strategy has resulted in Ukraine losing 20% if its land and 100s of thousands dead on both sides.
Last year’s counteroffensive was a complete failure; this year, Ukraine will only lose more land and more people will die needlessly.
How many more have to die and how much land must Ukraine lose before we engage in the “naive” practice of ceasefire and negotiations?
2. Biden has enormous leverage to influence Israel. The least he could do is stop sending 2000 lb bombs to be dropped on helpless human beings.
But he places no conditions on support of Israel, and Democrats celebrate this victory–this genocide, this famine–with “righteousness” on our side!
Geminid
@pluky: Possibility number 3: the creation of a Palestinian state, alongside and not instead of Israel.
dnfree
@PeaceisPossible: RUSSIA has rejected “negotiations”. Their intent is to take over the entire country, and if that means destroying it, oh well.
CliosFanboy
@Scout211:
thank you!!!!
wjca
I’m having a total flashback. There were just so many of these self-righteous idiots around when I was in college. Everybody would be reasonable and peaceful, and the world would be wonderful, if only everyone would follow their brilliant plan. Unfortunately, in the real world, there are bad actors (e.g. Putin) who will never follow their brilliant plan. Oh yes, and it’s all are fault that everyone in the rest of the world won’t.
So yeah, PeaceIsPossible doing things their way: the peace of the grave.
Yutsano
@PeaceisPossible: Cross to get off now. Need wood we do.
PaulB
Dear heart, has it really escaped your notice that “we” cannot negotiate shit with Russia, because it’s not our lives and country that are at stake? Contrary to your gibberish, Ukraine has indeed tried to negotiate peace with Russia, only to find that Russia wasn’t even remotely interested, as they have made repeatedly and abundantly clear.
This war will only end with the defeat of one side or the other. Personally, I know which side I want to lose. Do you?
(And that doesn’t even take into account the fact that Russia has broken more than one peace treaty in the past, including the peace treaty with Ukraine, and that they have made no secret of the fact that this war is just one more step toward the restoration of the USSR and a broader Russian empire.)