Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

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

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

If marriage is the equivalent of selling yourself into slavery, women with self respect should reject the offer.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

The arc of the moral universe doesn’t bend itself. it’s up to us.

When we show up, we win.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Another Day, Same Ol’ Republicans

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Another Day, Same Ol’ Republicans

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A snarky little treat to start the morning — “Another Committee to Confirm Our Conspiracy Theories comes up short”: [gift link]

… Last fall, Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, made an incendiary public accusation that, “according to information gathered by the select subcommittee,” Anthony Fauci “was escorted into Central Intelligence Agency Headquarters — without a record of entry — and participated in the analysis to ‘influence’ the agency’s review” to say that covid-19 did not originate from a lab leak. “Wenstrup reveals new allegations,” his news release boasted…

Fox News, the New York Post and the rest of the right-wing conspiracy machine ran with it. And then — nothing. The subcommittee came up with no evidence to support the claim, supposedly made by a whistleblower, and nothing to challenge Fauci’s testimony that he hadn’t been to the CIA in 20 years. Appearing before the panel in a public hearing on Monday, Fauci, now retired after decades leading the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, ridiculed the idea that “I was parachuted into the CIA like Jason Bourne and told the CIA that they should really not be talking about a lab leak.”

So what did committee Republicans do after their Fauci-to-CIA conspiracy theory collapsed? They pretended it never happened. The Republican staff director, Mitch Benzine, during his time to question Fauci at the hearing, announced: “That was not an allegation made by the committee.”…

This follows a pattern. The Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, after holding several hearings that failed to produce anything other than warmed-over allegations about the so-called deep state, was panned even by right-wing media. The Oversight Committee investigation of Joe Biden’s “corruption” failed so thoroughly to find even a trace of wrongdoing by the president that Republicans have had to quietly shelve their impeachment ambitions.

On the covid panel, Republican House members had promised many a bombshell over the last year and a half…

Documents and testimony the panel gathered over 18 months, while finding misbehavior by a grant recipient and by an adviser to Fauci, produced nothing to substantiate these wild allegations. The United States did not fund research that created the pathogen. Fauci didn’t lie about the U.S. role in “gain of function” research at the laboratory in Wuhan, China. He didn’t try to suppress the lab leak theory, or bribe people to reject it. He didn’t get rich off the pandemic, either — although he testified that he earned about $120 a year from an antibody he developed years ago…

But the constant repetition of the conspiracy theories is anything but amusing for, as Fauci testified, it has caused endless harassment of him and his family, including the arrests of two people “on their way to kill me.” He said he needs full-time security.

Yet Republicans on the panel, rather than focusing on lessons about masks, vaccines, and school and business closures that could save lives in the future, kept returning to the same conspiracy theories that are endangering Fauci’s life in the present. And Fauci kept batting them down.

He informed Debbie Lesko (Ariz.) that “you said about four or five things … that were just not true.”

He advised Jim Jordan (Ohio) to “look at the facts.”

And to Benzine, the staff director, Fauci offered a chuckle and a simple critique: “I know where you’re going, and you’re not going to get there.”

They never do.

Reader Interactions

345Comments

  4. 4.

    WereBear

    (Channeling “Death of a Salesman” from Die Hard) “Bro, Trumpie bubie… you only get one shot at insurrection. Am I right or am I right?”

  5. 5.

    gene108

    I wish a couple of things could get attention.

    The first is the Republican Party has used their power in the House to further conspiracy theories at the tax payer’s expense. A political party has elected members who seem one-step away from trying to justify flat-earth conspiracy theories.

    The second is the use of violent threats by conservatives against anyone they feel has hurt whatever conspiracy theory they hold to be true, which has been fed to them by Republican politicians and right-wing media. The fact prominent Democrats in Congress have their own private security, people who testified against Republicans have gone into hiding regularly, and someone broke into Nancy Pelosi’s home with the intent to kill her has been rendered as the normal background noise of political discourse in this country.

  9. 9.

    3Sice

    Fauci?

    What’s with the endless relitigation of 2020? They took it on the chin, and lost across then board. Mostly on account of nutball shit like… harassing people for doing their jobs.

    Mam, this is an Arby’s….

  11. 11.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @gene108: Yes it’s stochastic terrorism aimed at anyone they find inconvenient to their made up bullshit conspiracies. People’s lives are being jeopardized over completely made up BS!

    Then anyone on their own side who exhibits the slightest iota of integrity or steps out of line comes in for the same treatment and they just keep doubling down. Like can’t they see where this all ends? Circular firing squad over a bunch of fake news. It would be bad enough if it were some valid principle they were doing all this for but the fact that it’s happening to support misinformation is just infuriating.

  13. 13.

    Lapassionara

    @gene108: Preach it! The bullies have taken over, and our goal should be to make sure those tactics do not succeed in gaining power for the Republican Party.

  14. 14.

    lowtechcyclist

    A Dem needs to read the story of the boy who cried ‘wolf’ into the record in one of these hearings.

  16. 16.

    MomSense

    The clips I’ve seen of Republicans at the hearing are disgraceful. It’s disgusting. I can’t imagine what this is like for Dr. Fauci and his family members who are targeted.

    It isn’t just the GOP assholes.  Let’s not forget that people like Jon Stewart also believe in idiotic conspiracies about COVID. MTG is dumber than a post and she doesnt get a pass.  Stewart is smart enough to know better.  Fuckem

  20. 20.

    TBone

    Noted by Heather Cox Richardson in today’s letter:

    QAnon conspiracy theorist Ivan Raiklin and convicted January 6 rioter Brandon Fellows were seated behind Fauci today; Fellows made pouty faces when Fauci was describing the death threats he, his wife, and his daughters have endured.

    Video creator and political commentator Michael McWhorter noted that Raiklin has made dramatic threats of violence against those he considers members of “the Deep State” and that he should have been nowhere near Fauci. McWhorter also noted that the two men were likely invited to the hearing and that it would be useful to know who invited them.  

  21. 21.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Jon, 66, and Doris, 97. Overland Park, Kansas

    ‘Caring for my mother in the final months of her life was the most fulfilling, satisfying, terrifying and profound thing I have ever had the honour to experience. I sensed the trust she had for me to care for her without judgment or reservation, and the love we shared was deeper than any we had ever expressed before. I wouldn’t have traded those shared moments for anything. It was her final gift to me.’

  22. 22.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    I love getting snacks and goodies from Trade Joe Biden’s

  23. 23.

    TBone

    Also in today’s HCR letter:

    The allegation that The Epoch Times is a [criminal] money-laundering operation comes on top of yesterday’s story by Joseph Menn in the Washington Post, reporting that the editor of another media site that pushes disinformation from both the far right and the far left, The Grayzone, has worked for Russia’s Sputnik as well as taken money from Iranian government-owned media. One of the people who retweets Grayzone stories is Senator Mike Lee (R-UT).

    For some reason, Mike Lee has, since J6 and just prior, set off my Spidey senses alarm.  I ahor him.

  24. 24.

    schrodingers_cat

    Great news coming out of India. BJP is losing across the board in their former strongholds. BJP lost in my former constituency of South Mumbai.

    UP and Maharashtra delivering the decisive blows

    Our media including John Oliver were wrong in giving the election to Modi.

  25. 25.

    WereBear

    Sorry, ya’ll. This is all my fault.

    Growing up in a red state, and all the religious repression of my youth in the 70s, I feel powerful and free.

    But I hoped to be vindicated one day about my “rotten attitudes” and behold!

    I asked for freakin’ obvious, and I get it. I had no idea it would take this form, the mad scientist cried.

  28. 28.

    Ken

    The Trump verdict has been helpful for sorting my Bluesky bookmarks. After it came out, a few accounts were wailing that the Democrats weren’t using the conviction in their political messaging. Now that the Biden campaign, among any others, is using it, some of those accounts were complaining that they didn’t do it faster, or weren’t pushing the message in the right way.  So those accounts moved further down my bookmark list, and a few dropped off entirely.

  29. 29.

    Baud

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I was talking about that in the late night thread.  What’s your prediction on whether they’ll clear a majority?

    Glad to hear they likely won’t be gaining seats at least.

  30. 30.

    trnc

    @TBone: For some reason, Mike Lee has, since J6 and just prior, set off my Spidey senses alarm. I ahor him.

    Agreed, and yes, he is a hor. :-D

  33. 33.

    trnc

    @schrodingers_cat: ​
     

    Great news coming out of India. BJP is losing across the board in their former strongholds. BJP lost in my former constituency of South Mumbai.

    Good!

  34. 34.

    p.a.

    @3Sice:  Fauci? What’s with the endless relitigation of 2020? They took it on the chin, and lost across then board. Mostly on account of nutball shit like… harassing people for doing their jobs.

     

     

    As Marx (?) said about the French aristocracy, “they forget nothing, yet they learn nothing.”

     

    The Republican Party needs to die, “root, stock, and branch.”  But Watergate didn’t do it.  W’s reign (and rain) of errors didn’t do it. So… 😱

  35. 35.

    Baud

    Between India and UK likely moving in the right direction, hopefully the US doesn’t go backwards in November but continues to lead.

    I’m a little worried about Western Europe where anti-immigrant sentiment is giving the right an opening.  We need to hold the fort here.

  36. 36.

    trnc

    @catclub: ​

    Digby’s website is impossible to scroll.

    What do you mean? It’s pretty much behaving like most web sites on Firefox for me?

    If it’s an ad thing, try an ad blocker.

    ETA: Digby only gives the main ProPublica link. Here’s the story.

  37. 37.

    schrodingers_cat

    Some highlights from the election

    BJP is losing in Ayodhya.

    Many hatemongers (BJP’s versions of Boebert and EmptyG) are losing.

    Congress has won a seat in Gujarat (Modi’s home state) That’s like Ds winning in Mississsippi.

  39. 39.

    NotMax

    Waiting on the Select Subcommittee to Exonerate Richard Nixon.

    “Bombshell revelation forthcoming that the tapes were created by AI.”
    //

  41. 41.

    Baud

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Not clicking, but who are the copycats?

    I think the “don’t blame the voters” message is inconsistent with the “Israelis are terrible because they voted for right wing governments” message, but I always blame voters and that’s a minority position.

  42. 42.

    TBone

    @catclub: I have never had a problem with it.  I am mystified.  I use the Duck Duck Go browser and never see a pop-up ad or have any other trouble on any websites.

  43. 43.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: I didn’t read it either, but I assume the copycats are everyone on the far right. One person, not always the same person, says something stupid and all the others repeat it. Just like the GOP does, repeating whatever inanity that comes out of trump’s mouth.

  44. 44.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    He informed Debbie Lesko (Ariz.) that “you said about four or five things … that were just not true.”

    If she only said 4 or 5 things that weren’t true, that meant she was running out of time.
    ‘Live Lying’ is part and parcel of the modern communication/propaganda techniques primarily used by crackers in the GOP but not exclusively.

  45. 45.

    trnc

    @TBone: I get why benefits in exchange for friendly testimony would be difficult to prove in most cases, but Weisselberg’s severance explicitly requiring that he not give any evidence or testify seems like a pretty big exception to that.

  46. 46.

    NotMax

    “When one has power, they don’t have a need for intelligence.”
    – Russian proverb

  48. 48.

    Ohio Mom

    Ugh. Wenstrup was my Rep, he replaced Mean Jean Schmidt. That happened when the county that Cincinnati is in was torn in two by gerrymandering. The east side of the metropolitan area was glomped onto the Red rural counties that follow the Ohio River east.

    Wenstrup is a podiatrist who served in the military. He considers himself a medical doctor. Which of course he isn’t. Another Republican, another delusion.

  50. 50.

    TBone

    @trnc: I have been stirring my cauldron, wish-casting that the Propublica story leads to additional charges.  The timing of the extra $$$ and benefits as well as your astute observation seems like it should!

    MORE:

    Did Trump Pay Off His Witnesses? Magic 8-Ball Says Yes | Crooks and Liars

    These pay increases and other benefits often came at delicate moments in the legal proceedings against Trump. One aide who was given a plum position on the board of Trump’s social media company, for example, got the seat after he was subpoenaed but before he testified.

  51. 51.

    Betty

    Rachel’s review of the Trump threats made me think of him as a blowfish. He keeps puffing himself up to ward off predators. It’s not working.

  52. 52.

    RL

    @MomSense: I’ll never forgive Jon Stewart for his warm embrace of Dave Chappelle. Out there making “jokes” that directly endanger my kid. Also, too (sadly) Patton Oswald.

  53. 53.

    Baud

    @MomSense:

    Is Stewart doing the lab leak thing or something else?

    In fairness, some of our federal agencies have treated lab leak as a serious possibility. But no one should be asserting it as established fact.

  54. 54.

    hueyplong

    @Ken: The kindest spin you could put on them is that they’re stupid.  And the kindest spin probably isn’t accurate.

  55. 55.

    schrodingers_cat

    More updates:
    Smriti Irani has lost in Amethi. (She defeated Rahul Gandhi in 2019 from Amethi). She is a Union Minister and like the MTG of BJP.

    Rahul Gandhi is winning in Raebareli UP and Wayanad in Kerala.

    Only 1 BJP candidate is winning in Mumbai.

  58. 58.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @RL: Comedians have a tendency to circle the wagons whenever a member of the tribe is called out for an offensive “joke” they made, unfortunately.

  59. 59.

    hueyplong

    @Betty: I hope you find your way to the inner councils of Biden’s campaign strategy team.  The time to run blowfish ads would be the day after the Supreme Court rejects Trump’s immunity claim (by a terrifyingly close margin).

  61. 61.

    MattF

    My next-door neighbor is a retired biologist who worked with Fauci at NIH for many years. Haven’t bothered to talk with her about all this.

  62. 62.

    trnc

    @TBone: ​
    Yeah, it’s a little weird. I get that Weisselberg’s testimony wasn’t necessary for the fraud prosecution, but in my own wishcasting universe, I’d love to have seen them put him on the stand anyway and ask him about that agreement. He could plead the 5th for some questions, but there’s no crime against NDAs so I feel like he would have had to confirm that to get something more direct on the record about the witness tampering.

    ETA: I have been stirring my cauldron

    Ha! That’s great.

  63. 63.

    RedDirtGirl

    @trnc: when I scroll down a tiny bit the content disappears. It’s like it’s always moving out of view!

  67. 67.

    trnc

    @RedDirtGirl: ​
     

    See if it works properly with a different browser. If so, you may need to clear the cache and cookies for the browser that has the problem.

  71. 71.

    smith

    @Baud: I didn’t read it eiher, but it may be like the way in this country “respectable” news outlets like FTFNYT, NPR, and CNN happily pick up and amplify talking points that originate in the fever swamps of RW propaganda outfits.

  72. 72.

    Another Scott

    @catclub: It’s usually like that for me, but it usually starts behaving once one gets a page or so down.  (I use Chrome (for a little while longer) and uBlock Origin.)

    I just checked – it’s acting perfectly for me this am.  Maybe they fixed it.  (No more giant black areas, etc.)

    https://digbysblog.net/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  75. 75.

    TBone

    @Baud: ME TOO.  Especially smart people who have clout.  The fact that he got under Medvedev’s skin is very telling!

  76. 76.

    Geminid

    @Betty: The Orange Churl will try to pump himself up in Las Vegas, Nevada this coming Sunday. He’s got a rally scheduled for noon at Sunset Park, over near Harry Reid Infernational Airport.

  77. 77.

    MomSense

    @Baud:

    Yup he blames the lab.  He was on late night with Colbert.

    @RL:

    I have no tolerance for anyone who bullies transgender people.  They are so vulnerable and are being targeted.  It’s dangerous and immoral to do that.

  83. 83.

    TBone

    After yesterday’s Fauci hearing debacle, the tankies are reading a Telegraph article entitled “Covid Vaccines May Have Helped Fuel Rise in Excess Deaths.”  I will not link to it.  JFC the rabbit hole has to end SOMEWHERE, right?  Right?

  86. 86.

    TBone

    @NotMax: my bullshit detector works pretty good but those pointers are indeed useful, thanks!  DKos has a good rundown as well, but I haven’t had to spread that news to any dumbfucks in a while so don’t have the link at my fingertips any longer.

  88. 88.

    Geminid

    @schrodingers_cat: It’s a very good thing Modi and company lost this election. If they had won, they could have corrupted India’s electoral process so they’d never lose.

  90. 90.

    Suzanne

    @Baud:

    I think the “don’t blame the voters” message is inconsistent with the “Israelis are terrible because they voted for right wing governments” message, but I always blame voters and that’s a minority position. 

    I blame voters as a group if their government and media are pretty transparent. I don’t blame individual citizens for their leaders unless I know they voted for them.

  94. 94.

    Baud

    @Suzanne:

    Same here.  I don’t blame jackals for Trump. But we also talk about groups of people as a collective and, if we are going to do that, the collective bears responsibility IMHO.

  95. 95.

    Geminid

    @TBone: Last year I when I was reading Twitter posts about the war in Ukraine, I would follow the posters back to their home accounts. It turned out that there was a nexus between pro-Russians and anti-vaccers, cryptocurrency enthusiasts and “climate hoax” critics. A lot of the leftier tankies also backed the Iranian regime’s repression of protesters. A toxic brew amplified by bot networks and Russian money.

  99. 99.

    Soprano2

    @gene108: I agree, it’s concerning that all of this stuff has been “normalized” in our political discourse. “Oh, that’s just how TCFG and his MAGA followers are” is used to excuse a lot of behavior that used to be seen as beyond the pale and disqualifying.

  103. 103.

    TBone

    @Geminid: I check in on these tankie fucks regularly so I know what Pooty and his gang that can’t shoot straight are currently pushing as his “secret” weapons.  He’s so lame.  So fucking lame.

  104. 104.

    catclub

    @trnc: What do you mean?

    When I try to scroll down, it jumps to the end – blank, or somewhere else that shows no text.

    Same thing happens with chromium.

    Better on Chromium if I scroll very carefully.

  105. 105.

    Soprano2

    @MomSense: Bill Maher goes on and on and on about how the lab leak theory was “suppressed” even though they all talk about it all the time. I guess “suppressed” means “not everyone believes this is where Covid came from and they disagree with me”.

  111. 111.

    TBone

    @Baud: it’s soooo easy, you don’t even need to know which pencil pusher for the Kremlin did the dirty work.  I didn’t even click on the link, so I don’t know who wrote it either.  I just know that they keep licking Pooty’s ass like a lollipop and the tootsie roll center ain’t gonna be pleasant when they get there.

  114. 114.

    Starfish

    @MomSense: People attempted to sell that lab leak theory to many journalists, and every six months a new one would fall to it because of the seduction of contrarianism and vanity. Did any of them bother to look back six months ago when the same garbage was being sold to a different journalist or no?

  116. 116.

    schrodingers_cat

    Do you guys want me to do a Zoom or a Twitter Space sometime later this week on India’s elections I can answer any questions you have. If I don’t have the answers I can ask my Twitter mutuals in India who are reporters, grassroots activists and party members of various opposition parties.

  120. 120.

    billcoop4

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Do you guys want me to do a Zoom or a Twitter Space sometime later this week on India’s elections I can answer any questions you have. If I don’t have the answers ask my Twitter mutuals in India who are reporters, grassroots activists and party members of various opposition parties.

    That would be very interesting.

    I see in the Twitter feed references to “lakh” votes — and my Google-fu isn’t doing well today. What are lakh votes?

     

    BC

  121. 121.

    Soprano2

    @trnc: I like Digby, but I had to quit reading her because she’s too much of a downer for me. She’s one of those “I knew her way back when” people. I “met” Digby when she was a commenter in the Brill’s Content comment section back in 1999. We eventually migrated to EZBoard (anyone else remember that?), which turned into TapaTalk. I thought about trying to meet her in person when I went to Santa Monica in 2009, but I didn’t have time to do it.

  125. 125.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, … TimesofIsrael.com:

    Britain has warned Lebanon that Israel will launch a large-scale offensive in mid-June whose extent and duration are not known, and advised Beirut to “make the necessary provisions for the war,” according to the Lebanese news outlet al-Akhbar.

    Al-Akhbar is affiliated with Hezbollah, the terror group that has launched daily attacks on northern Israel since the start of the war in Gaza in October.

    In recent days, diplomats from various countries have warned Lebanese officials of an imminent escalation by the IDF, and have underscored that the threat is serious, al-Akhbar reports.

    The paper adds that Nabih Berri, the speaker of Lebanon’s parliament and a Hezbollah ally, received a phone call from US special envoy Amos Hochstein last week. Hochstein reportedly told Berri that the US intends to continue negotiations “to achieve a solution” on the Israel-Lebanon border and to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, and after that, talks will begin on the outstanding points between Israel and Lebanon.

    I’m sure Israel making the north a full-fledged war will do a lot for their security.

    Not.

    :-/

    I guess Bibi and the IDF are going to have to learn the hard way that they cannot achieve total victory and unconditional surrender. It’s just not possible any more. They have to find a way to live with people that they do not like (and vice-versa) on their borders. And Israeli voters are going to learn that they need to step up if they want to change the course of their history. More of the same isn’t working.

    :-(

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  129. 129.

    Another Scott

    @Soprano2: It depends on the final result and whether he can cobble a coalition together.  But it appears he will not have a majority on his own.

    We’ll see.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  131. 131.

    NotMax

    @Starffish

    Did any of them bother to look back six months ago when the same garbage was being sold to a different journalist or no?

    You’re kidding, right/? That’s too much like work.

    “Work?!”
    – Maynard G, Krebs
    ;)

  134. 134.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @NetheadJay:

    Same here.  Used the free version as part of my user support toolbox for decades.  Always tried to get the agency to by a site license but they never would.  It was never on the “approved list of software” for use but as admin, I said “fuck you people, I have users who need to get shit done, not listen to you give me excuses as to why I can’t use something that will let them do their jobs.”

  135. 135.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud: Yes with the current coalition. There are some parties that are not a part of either alliance. Its too early to tell.

    Let the counting be over
    Once we know who is getting how many seats, the President will call the group that has the largest number of seats to form the government.
    There will be a vote in the parliament.

    BJP has pissed on its current and former allies time and time again. It is not going to be easy for them to get new allies. The Sangh doesn’t play  well with others. And American media doesn’t understand Indian politics.

  136. 136.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @The Red Pen:

    I’m so sorry.

    As fellow animal nuts, we like to share in the joy as well as the sorrow of having these creatures in our lives for an ever so brief period. Losing them is never easy and it never gets easier.

    I know as humans we’re wired somehow to believe in an afterlife so I always imagine our pets are out there somewhere, either waiting for us or floating along supported by the love we gave them during their lifetime.

    And the loving memories we carry with us until we’re gone.

  140. 140.

    Betty Cracker

    Repeating a previous recommendation of HBO streaming series “Hacks” for a thoughtful take on comedians and so-called cancel culture. Whereas practically every other take I’ve seen on TV is either self-righteous or defensive, “Hacks” manages to capture some nuance.

    I saw an entertainment piece in the NYT (I think) the other day speculating that the show is trolling Jerry Seinfeld! I don’t think they are, but if the shoe fits…

  144. 144.

    SFAW

    Maybe already noted (too lazy to read the previous comments, as usual), but the “Conspiracy Theories” that Millbank refers to are not theories as such, they’re bullshit stories made up by Rethugs, to see which bullshit story the public will buy.

  147. 147.

    CliosFanBoy

    @satby:

    I kept wondering why everyone’s bedroom was so messy. :)

    And I have a good friend in Big Stone Gap. I’ll have to ask him if he knows the elderly couple in the essay.

  153. 153.

    schrodingers_cat

    Prajwal Revanna, serial rapist, lost his seat. He was in the BJP coalition.  He is said to have raped over a 1000 women and videotaped many of his rapes. Modi campaigned for him.

  155. 155.

    Starfish

    @Soprano2: Having failed to get more real journalists to bite, the people pushing the lab leak theory have gone to the older male comedians who have fallen for it.

  157. 157.

    eclare

    @Soprano2:

    You asked in an earlier thread if I had been to Redbirds games here in Memphis.  When I was married we split season tickets with another couple, and we had a great time.  It’s a really nice, fairly new, stadium, easy to get to (I live ten minutes away), plenty of free parking if you can walk a few blocks.  When I lived in ATL I went to a few Braves games, and for fun and convenience (and cost), I’ll take the Redbirds every time.

    Eta>We mainly went to weeknight games, free parking may not be so available on weekends.

  158. 158.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    My youngest son’s roommate told me he thought Seinfeld was about a comic who wasn’t funny – that was the joke – that his friends were funny but he wasn’t. I stared at him for a second “WAS it? Did we all miss the actual premise of the show? Nah”. But it really could be.

  161. 161.

    eclare

    @Kay:

    The actors who played Elaine, George, and George’s parents were the real talents on that show, IMHO.

  163. 163.

    Another Scott

    @SFAW: These days I regard “conspiracy theory” as similar to “neo-liberal” and “fake news” and “free speech”.  It’s a hugely unfortunate choice of terms.  Orwellian, even.

    Not by accident, I’m sure.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  164. 164.

    Ohio Mom

    @Soprano2: Me too. There is a list of places I don’t go to anymore because they are too pessimistic. In addition to Digby, LGM and No More Mr. Nice Guy come to mind. Gotta protect my mood, though I did learn things from each of them — was so underesducated when I started reading blogs.

    One of the reasons I like Josh Marshall is that he manages to be clear-eyed while not panicking or falling into despair. If he ever starts announcing we are doomed, I’ll be petrified.

  165. 165.

    NetheadJay

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Oh boy, do I have some stories like that too. Funnily enough, the biggest trouble I ever had getting software approved was when I worked at a small german corporation called Siemens. Only improved when I made a friend way up in the hierarchy. Turns out they listen more when you’re Head of Security for the entire Energy division (which is a bit more than 1 third of the whole corp) instead of just a sysadmin for a wind turbine producer.

  166. 166.

    satby

    @CliosFanBoy: I’m sure there was staging to include things important to the subjects. At least in the one with the little girls and their chickens. I would hope so, anyway 🫣

  168. 168.

    Starfish

    @Kay: I really did not care for it. And I felt the same way about the Larry David show.

    Here is a man with a lot of privilege who just seems incapable of enjoying life.

    Also, the whole thing about Seinfeld dating a 17 yo when he was 38 is gross too.

  169. 169.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @p.a.:

    The Republican Party needs to die, “root, stock, and branch.”  But Watergate didn’t do it.  W’s reign (and rain) of errors didn’t do it. So…

    Because, like the guys from Camp Mohawk, they have all the money. And money is all they are about. They will use whatever they can to get people to vote for them: racism, misogyny, satanic panics, fear of immigration, war on drugs, war on terror, war on whatever happened recently, and so on.

    And there always seem to be enough stupid, fearful people to go along with whatever they are selling.

  170. 170.

    schrodingers_cat

    If the Indian electorate could see through weapons grade propaganda by the BJP there is no excuse for the American electorate. The Indian MSM is like elebenty channels like Fox News or worse.

  171. 171.

    WaterGirl

    @trnc: When I worked as an advocate for women who raped, as they worked their way through the medical and legal systems, we used to tell any woman who was second guessing herself – i should have done this, I shouldn’t have done that – that if you survived that meant you had done everything right.

    By the same token, the prosecution won a guilty verdict, in the first degree, on all 43 charges.  I wouldn’t have them change a thing about how they handled anything

    Yeah, I know, it would be super interesting to see how things turn out with some alternate decisions by the prosecution.

    But If I were given a choice of a do-over, I would say no thank you.  Vehemently.

  179. 179.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud: 10 years in the case of BJP. Last 5 years of brute majority were the worst in terms of media complicity.

    Tories have been in charge for a lot longer IIRC. Republicans have been in control of the MSM since Reagan haven’t they?

  180. 180.

    Ruckus

    @What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?:

    They seem to need to believe their own bullshit because it’s all they have left.

    shitforbrains has seemingly rendered their minimal ability to actually have any kind of actual thought to absolutely zero. IOW to be exactly like him. They are grievance driven – with completely made up/imagined grievances. They NEED to have something to complain about because they have exactly nothing else, nothing positive to show for their existence, especially their existence in the political/governance world.

  182. 182.

    Scout211

    LOL. Elise Stefanik, foiled again.

    A long-shot MAGA political stunt to personally interfere with the judge who ultimately found Donald Trump liable for bank fraud fizzled out quietly months ago, according to a state document marked “confidential” obtained by The Daily Beast.

    New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur F. Engoron and his law clerk, Allison Greenfield, were cleared by a state commission of allegations of “inappropriate bias and judicial intemperance.”

    The decision appears to have caught by surprise the Republican congresswoman who filed the complaint. Asked on Monday about its dismissal, staff for Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) responded by demanding to know on what basis The Daily Beast could assert the complaint went nowhere. Stefanik’s executive director, Alex DeGrasse, did not say whether the congresswoman had received a copy of the decision.

    The media gets so excited by the Republicans’ filing complaints and making wild accusations of wrong-doing but fail to do any follow-up.  And if Stefanik’s office knew that the judge and clerk were cleared, they certainly were not announcing it.  This game is just rampant in GOP politics and right-leaning media.  And unfortunately, the mainstream media is too busy chasing the new accusations of the moment to do their follow-up.

    /rant

  183. 183.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby: In that pic, they are in a camper (which I assume they live in). I suspect the kids brought the chickens in as their pets for the pic. I can’t imagine they have the chickens roosting in there.

  184. 184.

    Subsole

    @TBone:

    Oh it does, it does.

    The mouth exits directly into the anus. Which is convenient, you see, because the anus serves as the origin point for everything coming out of the mouth.

     

    Yes, I’m told headaches and blurred vision are very common, if you think about it for more than a minute or so.

  186. 186.

    Brachiator

    @Baud:

    Biden thinks long term in a world addicted to short term outlooks.

    Biden thinks. This by itself puts Biden ahead of Trump and most of the GOP leadership.

  187. 187.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Ohio Mom: Marshall has had his moments of Doomer-ism w/r/t Garland and DOJ, which has been frustrating, because it just seemed a bit intellectually lazy.  But yeah, he’s still one of the best voices on the Left.  And I especially appreciate his willingness to push back on the casual Anti-Semitism that has been so pervasive in conversations about Gaza.

  188. 188.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: That theory is hilarious because it could be true! Everyone else on the show was funnier.

  190. 190.

    Kay

    @Starfish:

    Well, they also think he’s a pedophile, so there’s that. Norms have changed since he dated the 17 year old. I think that’s partly what Seinfeld is so upset about. So much of the aging comics anger is about how they want to behave badly (mostly towards women) and that’s not as acceptable as it once was. They shouldn’t worry though – it’s still quite acceptable. I read once that Seinfeld has a NYC garage dedicated to his classic cars – 150 cars, 100 million dollars in value. He’s doing okay.

    The only Seinfeld character I liked was Elaine. I think she’s genuinely funny, but I like self deprecating humor more than what I see as “punching down” humor. I also thought VEEP was very funny so her success with that shows me it wasn’t just Seinfeld.

  191. 191.

    Subsole

    @NotMax:

    “No Chinese, boss. Just lots of wailing and shrieking and what sounds like Latin sung  backwards…

    Also, there’s some jagoff with a puzzle box. Keeps asking us if we want it.”

  193. 193.

    Soprano2

    @Baud: It used to be, pre-TCFG. How many times have we said that “x” thing he did or said used to destroy a politician’s career?

  194. 194.

    Ruckus

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    They are conservatives and they want to conserve whatever they have. And as pretty much all they have is BS, so that’s what they regurgitate.

  195. 195.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    He did that cocked head thing young people do to me that makes me feel like a dope – like I miss all nuance. They look like Golden Retrievers who heard something I can’t hear.

  197. 197.

    Soprano2

    @Baud: It seems to make them really mad if even one person disagrees with their belief that China cooked up Covid in a lab for something, who knows what.  If you don’t agree you’re “supressing the truth”.

  200. 200.

    Brachiator

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Great news coming out of India. BJP is losing across the board in their former strongholds. BJP lost in my former constituency of South Mumbai.

    Very good to hear.

    I hope that this leads to positive change.

  201. 201.

    TBone

    Not much doomerism detected in this article.

    Buck The F#&k Up – Digby’s Hullabaloo (digbysblog.net)

    The new #RickRant is a F-bomb fiesta: @TheRickWilson has some strong words for Democrat operatives who are badmouthing Biden:
    “You better start thinking of Joe Biden as 12 ft. tall, covered in steel, brilliant, with a 12-inch dick. Stop acting like he’s a feeble old man.” pic.twitter.com/HvuPQ2BFjb
    — Resolute Square (@ResoluteSquare) June 3, 2024

    America: Let’s #BucktheEffUp and get back into the fight.

    👩‍👩‍👦 Freedom is lived.

    🗳 Freedom is for us to defend.

    📣 We decide what comes next. Together.

    We’ve made history before. And we’ll do it again. Join the fight for #OurFreedomsOurFutures. pic.twitter.com/Y1PCUpS9yO

    — Gail Waldby 🇺🇦💉🌊🌎📚 (@GailWaldby) May 15, 2024

  203. 203.

    schrodingers_cat

    Delhi voted for hate and so did Bengaluru (Sp?) But Mumbai didn’t

    Jai Jai Maharashtra maaza (Hail my Maharashtra) is an ode to my birth state which taught the 2 Gujaratis a lesson that they won’t forget soon. This is the state song.

    Two lines in the poem..

    We are not afraid of anyone

    Maharashtra decides who will rule Delhi.

    (Aurangzeb, also born in Gujarat, died in Maharashtra trying to win it back for the Mughal Empire)

  204. 204.

    Baud

    @Soprano2:

    The GOP kept pushing and waiting to see if the people who claim to oppose them would actually be willing to do the work. Didn’t happen, and with Trump they finally gained the upper hand against any internal dissension. The only way to discipline them now is through external means.

  205. 205.

    Eyeroller

    @TBone: ​I am so tired of Democratic “operatives” who run to the press to badmouth our candidates. This isn’t new but it’s been bad with Biden. I wonder how many of these “operatives” are named James Carville. He has a lot of press contacts and is on record complaining that Biden needs to move to the right.

  210. 210.

    Ruckus

    @SFAW:

    If bullshit is all one knows, bullshit is all that one will buy.

    If bullshit is sold in bulk, people that buy bullshit will buy more.

  211. 211.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @trnc: They did what they needed to do to get a conviction for crime Trump committed.  They weren’t doing it to satisfy the blood lust of jackals.  We shouldn’t confuse the two things.

  213. 213.

    schrodingers_cat

    The way Indian election has been covered in the American media is pathetic. They are acting like BJP mouthpieces and it looks like they have very few reporters on the ground. And none who speak Hindi or any local languages.

  215. 215.

    smith

    @Eyeroller: Carville always wants to move right. It’s his schtick. It must grill his grits to see Biden moving left on so many issues.

  216. 216.

    TBone

    President Biden just took the opportunity to use his power to close the border.  I wonder why (not really):

    House Concurrent Resolution 2060 will now be sent to the Arizona House for a vote. If passed, it will be added to the November 2024 ballot Arizona voters will be asked to approve the law. If it were to become law, HCR 2060 would:

    Give state law enforcement authority to arrest anyone they suspect has entered the country outside authorized ports of entry.

    Declares crossing the border anywhere outside a port of entry to be a state crime and a felony.

    Creates stricter requirements and penalties for businesses that employ immigrants.

    Grants law enforcement and government bodies blanket immunity from civil lawsuits that might result from enforcement of the law.

    Requires harsher penalties against anyone convicted of knowingly selling fentanyl that causes death.

    Alejandra Gomez, executive director for Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), said the current proposal has the same unconstitutional mandates as the 2010 “show me your papers” law, and will impact Black and Latino communities in the same devastating way.

    “We all remember too well how law enforcement weaponized SB1070 to target Black and Brown Arizonans across the state. If you are black or brown in the state of Arizona under HCR 2060 you are not safe from being persecuted or detained. And that is exactly the message Republicans want to deliver. HCR 2060 is a monstrous reincarnation of SB 1070, poised to destroy Arizona’s communities and drive families across Arizona into hiding out of fear and persecution.”

    AZ Republicans to add ballot measure allowing warrantless arrests over immigration suspicions – Angry Bear (angrybearblog.com)

  219. 219.

    Jeffro

    btw did anyone else read that McRaven op-ed in the WaPo?

    The “both sides” shit was irritating at first, but if you read through it and think about what he’s asking…it’ll surely crack the GOP.

    “Quit gloating, liberals.  Accept that trump both lost and deserves his convictions, conservatives.”  I’ll take it.

  220. 220.

    Kay

    @Eyeroller:

    Carville is an antique and I don’t think Democrats should listen to him BUT he’s right on this – some of Biden’s bad polling is him losing (some) center and center Right Democrats. I think it’s under analyzed. Democrats didn’t lose Ohio because Lefties stayed home- they lost Ohio because they lost 20 points among centrist and Right leaning Democrats. I don’t think one can only look in one direction for the bleeding, so in that sense he’s valuable.

  221. 221.

    catclub

    @Soprano2: It seems to make them really mad if even one person disagrees with their belief that China cooked up Covid in a lab for something

     

    And they never get to the next logical step.

    …So if China did that, why not respond extremely strongly to an act of war by  doing isolation, lockdowns  and masking right? Instead, doing all those things badly will tempt China to do it again.

  223. 223.

    Baud

    @Soprano2:

    @catclub:

    The lab leak theory is conflated with but different from the bioweapon theory. The lab leak theory is simply that a virus escaped from the virology lab in Wuhan. Not implausible.

    I think the engineered bioweapon theory has been debunked by actual scientists, so anyone promoting that theory is spreading disinformation.

  224. 224.

    trnc

    @WaterGirl:

    When I worked as an advocate for women who raped, as they worked their way through the medical and legal systems, we used to tell any woman who was second guessing herself – i should have done this, I shouldn’t have done that – that if you survived that meant you had done everything right.

    By the same token, the prosecution won a guilty verdict, in the first degree, on all 43 charges. I wouldn’t have them change a thing about how they handled anything

    Thanks, WG. I understand, but I think you’ve missed a bit of context. My comment wasn’t so much about the fraud trial – as you say (and so did I), AW’s testimony obviously wasn’t necessary. However, they clearly considered calling him to the stand and decided not to, due to the NDA that Tbone’s Digby link referenced. That sounded like an open and shut case of witness tampering, and I hope to see that pursued.

  226. 226.

    Almost Retired

    @Baud: ​  I was at dinner last night with a group that included two very elderly physicians. They watched (or heard about) the Fauci hearings. They were full of all sort of strange conspiracies about “Red China,” weaponized lab leaks and CIA coverups. But they were also infuriated that the Republican Congressional interrogators treated a physician – a physician!!!!! – so disrespectfully. Outrage.
    I guess multi-tribalism causes problems when the tribes conflict.​
    ​
    ​

  229. 229.

    Kay

    @Eyeroller:

    Every single poll shows young men moving Right since 2020. That’s at least as important in the erosion of young people numbers as angry Lefties. I, personally, do not believe Biden should move Right on “social issues” (always the knee jerk Clintonian reflex – under the bus you go!) but Carville’s analysis is not invented – he’s looking at polling. His diagnosis is not wrong IMO, his remedy is.

  230. 230.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Frank Wilhoit: A lot I am sure. There is a lot of reported violence too that never makes to the MSM here. BJP’s death count numbers in 1000s in the last 10 years.

    Forget MSM even Balloon Juice is  not interested I offered to cover India for Balloon Juice when Modi won in 2019. JGC initially agreed but nothing ever came of it.

  232. 232.

    JWR

    @Eyeroller:

    I wonder how many of these “operatives” are named James Carville.

    Most of ’em, I’d imagine. But what pisses me off is that so many of these “liberal” pundits seem oblivious to the shift in the Overton Window, where one party has gone completely off the rails and still the Dems are supposed to meet them halfway? No, I do not think so.

  233. 233.

    smith

    @Omnes Omnibus: I think that’s now five of the seven swing states in 2020 in which the conspiracy is being prosecuted. We owe a debt to GA for getting ths ball rolling. Even with all the institutional power being brought to bear to obstruct these prosecutions, they can’t put out all the fires that are breaking out all over.

  234. 234.

    Eyeroller

    @Kay: ​Carville wants Biden to move right on economic issues, like Clinton did. I doubt he’s really looking closely at polling. He’s just a Clinton retread. But the erosion seems to be largely due to misogyny / homophobia / transphobia / etc. Maybe nativism too. So moving right would mean throwing a big chunk of our coalition under the bus. Thanks Joe Rogan! Thanks Jordan Peterson!

  236. 236.

    TBone

    @smith: I sorely wish our PA AG would follow suit! PILE ON!

    But my crystal ball on that one is cloudy, our Evangelicuglicans control too much of the state apparatus.

    Plus the PA crooks put some bullshit clause on their documents that they think absolves them of wrongdoing.  WTF

  239. 239.

    trnc

    @Omnes Omnibus: ​
     

    They did what they needed to do to get a conviction for crime Trump committed. They weren’t doing it to satisfy the blood lust of jackals. We shouldn’t confuse the two things.

    How many different ways can I write “Obviously, the prosecution didn’t need his testimony?” Also, did you trace my comment back to @Tbone’s Digby post?

    This gets into a bit of a hobby horse of mine. I love the Jackal community here, but the commenting system makes it very difficult to follow subthreads that 2 or 3 people may engage in. This leads to a lot of what I think I’m getting here – people seem to think I’m second guessing the prosecution based on one comment. If you follow the thread back, you’d see that the topic is diverging a bit into witness tampering.

    I really don’t want to get into a pissing match. The overall point is, don’t assume I’m second guessing the prosecution that got a conviction on every charge they brought.

  240. 240.

    Steeplejack

    @Geminid:

    Hmm, Trump rally at noon on Sunday in Las Vegas? Good luck with that, Donald. The forecast is for 101°.

    Maybe he’ll spontaneously combust. 🤞

  242. 242.

    Kay

    @TBone:

    The insurrectionists in PA inserted a kind of asterick in their fake petition that kept them just to the right side of PA law. So a little smarter than MI and WI and AZ and GA :)

  243. 243.

    jonas

    If the House flips next term, which there’s a good chance it will, MTG should be formally censured for this assclown shit. She is absolutely out of control and unfit for office (though that’s on her batshit constituents, technically). The motion would probably garner a majority of Repubican representatives, too.

  244. 244.

    Eyeroller

    @Eyeroller: ​Lost my edit window so replying to myself–a lot of this seems to be dominated by misogyny among young men and there is really no way we can “move right” on that. It would result in absurdities like supporting a 15-week abortion ban. A ban on no-fault divorce. And we still couldn’t compete with Republicans on hating women. I see this as a major societal problem, not just a problem for Democrats.

  245. 245.

    Weapon X

    @TBone: ​
     

    My recollection is that someone in the PA contingent had a moment of temporary intelligence and put a “pending successful outcome of litigation” clause, so I think that complicates potential prosecution.

  246. 246.

    TBone

    @trnc: I was under the impression we were talking about possible FUTURE prosecution(s) based on deeper investigation into the possibilities brought to light by the ProPublica witness tampering reporting.

  247. 247.

    eclare

    @Steeplejack:

    TCFG must have portable A/C’s on stage, he does so many hour to hour and a half rallies in hot temps in a suit and tie.

    But fingers crossed for spontaneous combustion.

  248. 248.

    TBone

    @Weapon X: I see it as fruit of a poison tree – the documents were forged, so anything that says “but if I get in trouble, this is void” is thusly defeated.  You don’t hand a note to the bank teller that says “Never mind if the cops come.”

  250. 250.

    jonas

    @Kay: ​
     

    The insurrectionists in PA inserted a kind of asterick in their fake petition that kept them just to the right side of PA law.

    Kind of like Trump claims he did on his real estate valuation statements? These people are geenyuses.

  254. 254.

    japa21

    @Kay: My question is “move right” in what sense?  If the losses on the right are due to young men, what is causing them to move right?  How would we try to get them back without jeopardizing other members of the base?  What would Biden have to do on an economic level that would make a difference?  As you have pointed out, the young in your area are probably doing better than they have in decades?  On social issues?

    I/P is an issue, but as you have stated, it won’t move the needle that much.

  256. 256.

    Geminid

    I missed this story Friday, from Military Times:

    Retired Navy four-star admiral arrested in bribery scheme

    Retired Admiral Robert Burke served as vice chief of naval operations and chief of naval personnel. He faces up to 30 years in prison.

    Two executives of “Company A” were also arrested. They and Burke are charged with a scheme to steer multi-million dollar contracts to Company A in return for a post retirement job for Burke.

    In other Navy news, Military Times reports that the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower and ships in its strike group have had their deployments extended a second time. They arrived in the Midfle East in October and have spent much of the last 7 months shooting down Houthi missiles and blowing up Houthi weapons sites.

    The Truman will relieve the Eisenhower, but it’s still carrying out pre-deployment training. It spent most of last year being renovated and upgraded and returned to active service in December. The third Atlantic Fleet carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, returned to Norfolk earlier this year, after an 8 month deployment.

  258. 258.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @schrodingers_cat: Very heartening news out of India, though the BJP is still expected to have the largest share of the vote & the largest number of seats, & thus has the 1st opportunity to form a government, correct?

    I admit to being pleasantly surprised that the (relative?) rebuke toward Modi & the BJP. India has grow pretty quickly over the past decade under Modi (at least according the most macro of economic indicators), there has been significant improvement in infrastructure, making basic utilities & education more widely available, improvements in female participation in the labor force, reducing bureaucratic red tape, & some bright spots in establishing more labor intensive manufacturing (which I think is a necessary stepping stone if India is to industrialize & develop). Geopolitically India has benefited from the Sino-US Great Power Competitive, becoming a designated “friend” for Western “friend shoring” efforts, & has kept Western criticism of BJP illiberalism to a minimum.

    A lot of these advances were built on work done by Singh, whom I am sure Modi is loath to credit. Nevertheless, I would have thought Modi & the BJP would be rewarded for these advances. I guess the hubris, malice, authoritarianism & embrace of oligarchic/kleptocratic economics have worn thin?

  259. 259.

    TBone

    @Geminid: They’re gonna yank any future benefits and Dishonorably Discharge Burke?  I am ever hopeful.  Good riddance to bad rubbish!

  261. 261.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @trnc: ​
      And I was just pointing out that you said that, even though it wasn’t necessary for the conviction, you would have liked them to have put Weisselberg on the stand anyway. IOW you had some desire for the prosecution to do than just seek Trump’s conviction on the particular charges. I didn’t think you were second guessing the prosecutors; I thought you were wishing the trial could have done something that it wasn’t designed to do.

  262. 262.

    smith

    @Eyeroller: But the erosion seems to be largely due to misogyny / homophobia / transphobia / etc. Maybe nativism too. So moving right would mean throwing a big chunk of our coalition under the bus.

    A long history here. I remember Carville-types back in the late nineties/early oughts recommending the Dems compromise just a leetle bit on abortion to meet the anti-woman forces halfway. They are always prepared to throw a part of the coalition under the bus, as long as white men can get the power they deserve, in one party or the other.

  264. 264.

    trnc

    @smith: ​
     

    Carville always wants to move right. It’s his schtick. It must grill his grits to see Biden moving left on so many issues.

    I don’t pay any attention to Carville, but I guess my response would be “You know who moved to the right? Republicans. How’s that working out?”

  268. 268.

    Eyeroller

    @smith: That’s probably true, I was just thinking of economic issues. Clinton moved right (“triangulating”) on those.  And I well remember “safe, legal, and rare” on abortion.  But recent events should make clear that compromise on women’s rights is impossible and we cannot compete with Republicans on hating women even if we tried.

  270. 270.

    schrodingers_cat

     India has grow pretty quickly over the past decade under Modi (at least according the most macro of economic indicators), there has been significant improvement in infrastructure, making basic utilities & education more widely available, improvements in female participation in the labor force, reducing bureaucratic red tape, & some bright spots in establishing more labor intensive manufacturing (which I think is a necessary stepping stone if India is to industrialize & develop). Geopolitically India has benefited from the Sino-US Great Power Competitive, becoming a designated “friend” for Western “friend shoring” efforts, & has kept Western criticism of BJP illiberalism to a minimum.

    @YY_Sima Qian:  A lot of this is BJP propaganda that the western media and governments have swallowed wholescale. The GDP growth has gone to a very thin sliver of Indians. The poor have become poorer, the wealth gap has increased.  Their achievements are a mirage

    The rebuke is solid.

  271. 271.

    Weapon X

    @TBone: ​
     

    I don’t disagree, but I ain’t the judge or the AG. Then again, if the AG’s office switches from D to R in November, I guess we can expect all kinds of prosecutions for things like voting while Democrat, likely due to outside pressure.

  272. 272.

    trnc

    @Omnes Omnibus: ​
     

    IOW you had some desire for the prosecution to do than just seek Trump’s conviction on the particular charges. I didn’t think you were second guessing the prosecutors; I thought you were wishing the trial could have done something that it wasn’t designed to do.

    That’s what “wishcasting” is. There’s no shortage of “Oh, man, if only …” here. I don’t think that should cause much hubbub when I’ve included the clear statement that the prosecution did what they have to do to get the conviction.

  273. 273.

    trnc

    @Weapon X: ​
     

    Then again, if the AG’s office switches from D to R in November, I guess we can expect all kinds of prosecutions for things like voting while Democrat, likely due to outside pressure.

    They’d still have to get past grand juries. That’s not to say it can’t be done in some cases, but they’re going to need a lot more than purely partisan crap. That’s why most of the crap is done in congress, where a majority with bad faith doesn’t have many roadblocks.

  275. 275.

    Cacti

    I must confess that I’m feeling no small amount of schadenfreude seeing Merrick Garland harangued today by the House GOP howler monkey caucus.  After humoring all of their bad faith requests for 4 years in the name of appearing impartial, he still gets pilloried.

    Completely deserved.

  276. 276.

    rikyrah

    The Fearless Fund, a private investment firm, has been barred from investing in businesses owned by Black women. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, supported a challenge to the grant program, citing a violation of Section 1981, a civil rights…

     

     

    Lurie Daniel Favors Esq. (@LurieFavors) posted at 7:35 PM on Mon, Jun 03, 2024:
    When we say they’re coming for the 1964 Civil Rights Act, it’s b/c of cases like this. What does the world look like when white racists can ban you from their stores, schools, banks, hospitals, etc? They’ve been planning this longer than they planned to kill Roe. So get ready.
    (https://x.com/LurieFavors/status/1797789188126802136?t=XWuXaCjV3P_0XI9GUaC0rA&s=03)

  277. 277.

    trnc

    @Omnes Omnibus: ​
     

    I obviously was not clear about the point I was making.

    I think your point was clear. It just didn’t take some of what I said into account.

  278. 278.

    rikyrah

    Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) posted at 4:25 PM on Mon, Jun 03, 2024:
    A private investment firm the Fearless Fund, has been blocked from investing in businesses owned by Black women. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling, sided with a challenge to the grant program, arguing it violated a Reconstruction-era civil-rights law, known…

    Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) posted at 4:27 PM on Mon, Jun 03, 2024:
    The law was put in place to protect former slaves from discrimination. Edward Blum, an opponent of affirmative action, has argued its text means that race can’t be considered at all in contractual relationships. Private funding blocked by the courts. NOT TAX DOLLARS.

    Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) posted at 4:36 PM on Mon, Jun 03, 2024:
    Private investment into Black businesses being blocked with laws in place to prevent discrimination against Black businesses. The racist irony. Racist, bigoted, fascist Americans who burned down Black Wall Street in Tulsa 100 years ago are still alive and well.

    Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) posted at 4:40 PM on Mon, Jun 03, 2024:
    The effort being made to deny Black folks from participating in “ life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” is abhorrent. A private business deal blocked by the courts. What happened to less government intervention in our lives.

    Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) posted at 4:40 PM on Mon, Jun 03, 2024:
    The effort being made to deny Black folks from participating in “ life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” is abhorrent. A private business deal blocked by the courts. What happened to less government intervention in our lives.

    Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) posted at 4:44 PM on Mon, Jun 03, 2024:
    The GOP, Right Wing, MAGA agenda is making it clear that their vision of America does not include Black folks having the same rights guaranteed by the constitution. In their America we are even allowed to exercise our right of self determination and build business with their…

    Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) posted at 4:51 PM on Mon, Jun 03, 2024:
    It makes me sick motherfucker how far you will go to destroy our ability to live our lives in peace and prosperity. Attacked in schools, attacked by police, attacked for expecting to live the stated values of this country, and attacked when successful in business. We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal. For generations we have embraced that lie as the violence against our community proves otherwise. It’s getting harder to stay in denial. America.
    (https://x.com/WendellPierce/status/1797747935821631652?t=I05Y-bjq0mu_PuLdnPF5qQ&s=03)

  279. 279.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @schrodingers_cat: Well, income inequality in India has certainly soared, & w/ that comes the related consolidation of kleptocracy (it seems 6 or so politically favored conglomerates are set to become the dominant forces in the Indian economy under Modi, a la the Korean Chaebols & the Japanese Keiretsu). The thing is, this pattern is not unusual in the early stages of rapid development/industrialization, seen from E/SE Asian perspective, or even the experiences of North America & Western Europe, for that matter. I think the key human development indices have all seen marked improvement under Modi, though the upward trend certainly started under Singh, if not earlier back to Rajiv Gandhi.

    Well, in the E/SE Asian developmental story, the rising water lifted all boats, even if the top of the income/wealth pyramid benefited a lot more than the bottom, so the poor getting poorer would definitely be alarming. I have been puzzled that, beneath the nice headline GDP growth numbers, growth in the farm sector has been lackluster, there are bright spots in manufacturing but not yet a broad based renaissance, trade deficit remains stubbornly high, so where has the growth been coming from? Services, for a developing economy?

    Anyway, found this in my Twitter feed, curious if you agree w/ the analysis:

    Pratap Bhanu Mehta on 2024 Lok Sabha election results: Suffocating shadow has lifted, balance restored

    At the very least, the result pricks the bubble of Prime Minister Modi’s authority. He made this election about himself. But today, he is just another politician, cut to size by the people

    Written by Pratap Bhanu Mehta
    June 4, 2024 16:05 IST

    The general election of 2024 is a wondrous moment. The air of despondency, the suffocating shadow of authoritarianism, and the nauseous winds of communalism have, at least for the moment, lifted. The NDA may form a government for the third time. That is not a milestone to be scoffed at. But this election was not an ordinary election. At stake was the continuing possibility of politics itself. At the very least, the result pricks the bubble of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s authority. He made this election about himself: His performance, his omnipotence and omniscience, and his ideological obsessions. Modi is, for the moment, not the indomitable vehicle for History, or the deified personification of the people. Today, he is just another politician, cut to size by the people.
    …

    Seems reminiscent of the repudiation of the reactionary right wing in Poland in its last election. Do you think the opposition INDIA coalition will hold going forward?

  281. 281.

    Anyway

    @rikyrah:

    The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, supported a challenge to the grant program, citing a violation of Section 1981, a civil rights…

    the challenge was brought by Edward Blum –  the guy that challenged affirmative action at Harvard and NC and led to SCROTUS overturning race-conscious college admissions last summer

    Reactionary ultrawealthy everywhere you look ….

  282. 282.

    rikyrah

    UH HUH

    UH HUH

     

    Marvin Sapp InTheSkreets/Marvin Gaye InTheSheets (@groove_sdc) posted at 4:04 PM on Mon, Jun 03, 2024:
    Again I’ll just point out the reason the left, some leftists and some progressives were so cavalier about not voting in 2016 is because they knew Republicans and the conservative judges they appointed would come after Black folks first and they were good with that.
    (https://x.com/groove_sdc/status/1797736177715601432?t=AU1doP8_SCEIdpZo4G5ORw&s=03)

  284. 284.

    schrodingers_cat

    @YY_Sima Qian: I don’t trust numbers coming out of Modi’s government. They changed the formulas on how GDP was determined and good statistical analysis is not easy to come by.

    I don’t believe their doctored numbers.

  285. 285.

    Ksmiami

    @rikyrah: it’s appalling how deeply the hate runs. I don’t understand how Republicans think keeping people down is the right way to run a country.

  287. 287.

    TBone

    @rikyrah: the dumb son said it outside the felon’s trial:  “We’ll win.  We’re White.”  No other context for his blurt is necessary, that’s indeed what he meant and meant to say.  Another reason why I give MAGA no quarter.

  288. 288.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    Kay,

    I have gotten to the age where I’m not about the coddling. If young men want to cling to the misogyny, rather than step up…so be it. Done with the coddling. Done with the ‘ understanding’. They have to step up and compete. It’s a harsh world. and the time where you were guaranteed a certain life because you were White and male is done.

    and for the non-White males who partake in this foolishness, because they think it’s going to give them access to the patriarchy, and the ability to put their foot on the necks of the women in their group. …

    Phuck them too.

  290. 290.

    Kay

    @japa21:

    I wish I knew! But IMO it is happening. Young liberal men themselves say it – that the Joe Rogan demo pulls Right. Young people weren’t always more Democratic. Maybe they won’t stay that way. The Coalition is always a moving target. Betty C has talked about how Florida is growing and very diverse yet keeps moving Right – she backs this up with info from urban areas. I think we have to keep updating our beliefs about the electorate – 2016 was 8 years ago. The pro Palestinian young people were in middle school. Carville only has one solution – throw some number of Democrats under the bus- but his analysis is not wrong.

  296. 296.

    cain

    @TBone:

    I must admit that the past few days seemed like everyone was depressed after the initial euphoria of Trump being guilty on 34 counts was jarring.

    I will never understand our side. We are an abused child.

  297. 297.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    Agree. I treat it sort of like states. I’m not married to Ohio (or any other state) being part of a winning set of states but if we’re losing one I have to look for a replacement. If you tell me Florida is gone, oh well, bye bye, but you have to give me another big state we can win to replace it. The 35-40% of white men who vote for Democrats are important only because of their numbers to me – they’re a lower percentage of our voters but because the elecorate is 70% white they’re a big number. 40% of half of 70% total is more than 90% of half of 15% total.

  298. 298.

    TBone

    @cain: Although I see what you see, I gotta say I felt no such let down. I was/am energized!  I’m looking forward to punching as many Nazis as possible on all fronts, LET’S GO, BUCK THE EFF UP

  300. 300.

    Soprano2

    @eclare: That’s cool, we’ve probably seen a lot of the same players play. It’s interesting to watch AA ball, because the good players stand out pretty fast. It’s fun and relatively cheap. We parked about 1/4 mile away in the local community college parking lot for free and walked to the game. Hubby can’t do that now, though, so when we go I have to pay for parking.

  301. 301.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    And we sort of HAVE done this, without too much anguish. So Missouri is no longer swing but then VA becomes swing (and then Blue, for Presidential). We start losing Florida always but reliably win Colorado. We lose Ohio but pick up Georgia. Iowa is gone for good but Arizona is coming on. I don’t care how it works but it has to add up. It’s why I don’t think they can walk away from Florida. 22 million, diverse and growing is just too big to stop trying. I don’t have any replacement.

  302. 302.

    Soprano2

    @Ohio Mom: I like him too for the same reason. He seems to have a clear-eyed and constructive way of looking at things. He’s not one of those who finds a cloud in every silver lining.

  303. 303.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    Why is it that men aren’t being asked to step up and become the kind of men that young women want.

     

    When I tell you that I tell every young woman that I know :

    1. get your own money
    2. get your own career
    3. get your own life
    4.  do not, under any circumstances, center your life around a man
    5. do not, under any circumstances, be responsible for the majority of the labor in a house that you share with another adult.

    I mean that.

    We see repeated articles about the ‘ loneliness epidemic’ amongst young men.

    Not once do those articles challenge the young men to do the work and improve themselves so that they become appealing partners for young women.

    No. It’s always put on the young women to lower her standards or chides her for having standards in the first place.

    so done with that nonsense.

  304. 304.

    CaseyL

    @Ksmiami: ​

    I’m a Johnny One-Note on this, but at the risk of being a bore: The GOP is an oligarchic entity. Oligarchs are not interested in “running the country.” They are only interested in accumulating as much wealth as they can, in every and any way they can. Making the country ungovernable is their goal. The Federalist Society is just one of their many tools. Just about every judge/Justice Trump appointed is a Federalist Society acolyte.

    Why are the GOP/RW doing this?

    Because, despite what they tell the morons who vote for them and give them money, they are perfectly well aware that the climate is in crisis and it’s not going to get better enough soon enough (mostly because of them). They want all the wealth, all the resources, so they can ride out the collapse from fortress enclaves./rant​​

  305. 305.

    bluefoot

    @Geminid: ​
      I was reading an article in the journal Science the other night about how 80% of the disinformation on social media comes from a handful of accounts. I will see if I can find the article again and post a link.

  308. 308.

    Soprano2

    @Eyeroller: He still thinks Democrats can get the Reagan Republicans back, but most of them are dead. LOL He’s yet another one who sees white men as the “true” electorate that tells us what’s really important, and it distresses him that they don’t vote for Democrats.

  310. 310.

    NutmegAgain

    Somebody with the skills that I totally lack needs to do a paste up of the “Biden is a trader” truck and the “Get a brain Morans” dude. I think they’re related.

  311. 311.

    Dave

    @japa21: This; often I see people discuss this as if you can move to keep Y voters (if it’s even something that can be done reasonably) and they never bother to consider what that would actually entail.  And while they treat those voters as mutable and possible to lose and gain they treat X voters who won’t appreciate the change to reach Y voters as if they are static and so move to the right can only possibly gain votes.  Which is by no means an obvious truth.  There is usually a lot of motivated reasoning going on when people push these positions.

  312. 312.

    japa21

    @Kay: Analysis is probably correct, solution is wrong.  OTOH, it has also been apparent that some Republicans, particularly suburban women, are moving left and quite possibly pulling some men with them.

    I don’t have answers.  All I know is that I am the prototypical GOPer, white, male, 76 (for now) years old.  And a full fledged Dem.

  313. 313.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: That may be true. The way I see it, the problem with getting them back is that we’d have to move so far the other way that we’d lose a lot of our other voters. I’m not sure it would be worth it.

  314. 314.

    Dave

    @cain: The laziest most conventional approach that will lead to the most clicks is generally the best heuristic to apply to understand a lot of media coverage.

  316. 316.

    Soprano2

    @Baud: Covid would be a terrible bioweapon anyway. To me anyone who thinks that’s what it was for isn’t credible. What kind of bioweapon has a 1% fatality rate? Wouldn’t you want it to be a lot higher?

  319. 319.

    Dave

    @Soprano2: To be fair the most benign version of the lab leak hypothesis is that they were studying a naturally occurring virus and then screwed up and it escaped containment.

    It’s not necessarily a crazy thing to think happened but my understanding is that has not been supported by evidence as time as gone on but I haven’t followed it too closely because I don’t really care and if true that sort of screw up isn’t earth shaking.

    I’ve found that people that think this is the case aren’t necessarily banana pants or tied to other conspiracy style thinking.

    Any step beyond that particularly COVID as a bioweapon however is almost always accompanied by an entire suite of ummm questionable beliefs.  And also you are entirely correct it’s would be an incredibly dumb and inefficient bioweapon.

  321. 321.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @rikyrah: Most of the Progressives I know the were cavalier about not voting for Hillary in 2016 didn’t even think of this possibility.  Which is almost worse.  Especially since CJ Roberts signaled that this was likely coming in Shelby and Clarence has been pushing the idea that Affirmative-Action (and anything like it) is the REAL RACISM argument forever, and it has gotten increasingly supported by Republicans and other Right-Wing SC Justices.

  322. 322.

    Ruckus

    @Steeplejack:

    Maybe he’ll spontaneously combust.

    Anything is possible but then think how lucky humanity would have to be to have that happen. I say “Naw, ain’t gunna happen….”

  324. 324.

    Eolirin

    @japa21: The only way we can compensate for losing young men over issues of misogyny is by winning more young women. There’s really no other option there.

    Over the long term, hopefully we can make some cultural moves toward less misogyny period, but that’s going to be a generational effort.

  325. 325.

    Ruckus

    @japa21:

    Is it just possible that there are more humans living in this country/world now so it is possible that there are maybe more conservative people as well, and in a conservative area that may be enough?

  326. 326.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    We have a young soon to be lawyer I’m working with. I like him but I’ve known him his entire life and he’s a littel inappropriate w/me – not in a gross way at all but like I’m his mom. Her asked me the other day “do you think I’m weird?” – I told him to ask someone else somewhere else, that’s not a work question. So that’s a problem, but anyway, he complains to me that he can’t meet a woman to settle down with – he’s very traditional so wants to get married and have children soon. He attributes this to that he’s conservative but we live in a 75% Trump county and I know for a fact there are plenty of young Right wing women here. I told him he has to stop making decisions for women. He can’t decide ahead of time how many children he and she will have. He’s a nice guy but I think they’re picking up that control issue he has and fleeing.

  327. 327.

    artem1s

    @Kay: 

    Democrats didn’t lose Ohio because Lefties stayed home- they lost Ohio because they lost 20 points among centrist and Right leaning Democrats.

    Dems lost Ohio because White Dems who were elected mostly by White union workers decided they didn’t need Black voters in NEOH anymore. They’ve been pissed about having to share power in the state since Carl Stokes was elected mayor in Cleveland. Ryan lost his Senate seat because he refused to acknowledge that aging white retired union members in his house district were going to vote for whomever TCFG endorsed – which is exactly what they did. The Ohio slide into GOP obscurity can be traced directly to the Bush Crime Family suppression of Black voters in key districts in NEOH. Ohio Dems ignored their base and put whinging Occupy and Green Party White boys in charge of GOTV. That’s why there is no bench left in Ohio to run for state wide offices and why Black voters stay home on election day in Cuyahoga and Summit county.

  331. 331.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    He attributes this to that he’s conservative but we live in a 75% Trump county and I know for a fact there are plenty of young Right wing women here

     

    See the argument back and forth on TikTok…

    They don’t want the right-wing women who want a ‘traditional life’

    They want the non-right wing woman to ‘ break’ her and turn her into a right-wing woman.

  335. 335.

    rikyrah

    @TBone:

    For some reason, Mike Lee has, since J6 and just prior, set off my Spidey senses alarm.  I abhor him

     

    Isn’t he part of the July 4th in Moscow group?

  336. 336.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: I found this interesting. It’s a voter focus group Morning Edition did of “double disapprovers”, people who don’t like Biden or TCFG. Only one out of ten of them knew about the accomplishments of the Biden administration!  These people seem crazy to us – one of them says abortion is an important issue to her, but she likes TCFG because “the economy was better under him”. I think people like that truly believe if he gets back in office all the prices will magically drop back to where they were in 2019.

    As for young men, I’m not surprised – people like Joe Rogan appeal to that “masters of the universe” thing a lot of them have going on, the belief that’s still pervasive in some parts of our society that white men should naturally be on top of everything, and that if you aren’t it’s not because you need to work harder, it’s because “those people” unjustly took it away from you. I think that message is pretty appealing to the young men who have been primed to hear it.

  337. 337.

    Soprano2

    @rikyrah: This, 100%. It’s never about what the young men can and should do to be better, it’s always about how picky the young women are and that they should compromise because that’s just the way it is. I saw how devastating it was to my mother when my father left her because she had centered her whole life around him and her children, and I determined I would never do that.

  338. 338.

    Soprano2

    @rikyrah: I can tell you what happened in MO – the cities shrank, especially St. Louis. We used to be able to elect Democrats to statewide offices, but can’t anymore because the rural areas can outvote the cities now. Even though the rural areas are also shrinking in size, it’s offset by the shrinking of urban areas (although my city Springfield is growing). The problem with that is that we’re in the most conservative part of the state, so the growth doesn’t add as many liberal voters as we need to reverse the trend. We’re getting more liberal, but very slowly.

  339. 339.

    Soprano2

    @Dave: This is all true. What I think is nuts is that when you said to someone something like “Sure it could have come from this lab, but geez look at this wet market over here where all these wild animals are crushed together, maybe it’s more likely it came from there” they all start screaming that you’re trying to “suppress the truth” and crap like that. No one wants to wait for scientists to figure it out (if they can – because China is so secretive and lied so much about Covid early on the chances of ever figuring out where Covid came from are exceedingly slim), they want to know NOW.

  340. 340.

    Fair Economist

    @schrodingers_cat: It’s great that the BJP is doing much worse than in the past election, but aren’t they still on course for a coalition majority? It’s very hard to tell from the sites I could find, which dump their numerous allied parties into “other”.

  344. 344.

    Ruckus

    @rikyrah:

    This.

    Absolutely this.

    And yes, I am a male person.

    I took to heart very long ago that this is supposed to be a nation of equality. Any one person may have abilities that others do not but those other people will have abilities that one person does not. Respect the person – which means respect each other. Now some do not respect the other person(s), so of course there are rough spots in the concept but the better we try, most often the better we get. But it is also a multi way street, this world we live in, twists, turns, hills, valleys and holes. But at the very least an honest, continuous attempt must be made. And it makes life better for everyone. You might notice that there is zero mention of gender there. Because we are supposed to be equal. Human. My sister lived along the concept you wrote, she believed in what you wrote and if my parents gave us nothing else they gave us that belief.

    It makes life better, it makes life more fun and works to make the world better. For everyone.

  345. 345.

    henqiguai

    @TBone [#287]: 

    …the dumb son said it outside the felon’s trial: “We’ll win. We’re White.”

    Yeah, I saw that little bit of video; twice. Not defending the orange puddle’s splash, I mean offspring, but I’m still uncertain whether he said “white” or “right”. Don’t really care, but it does sort of bug me…
    ​

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