Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

So many bastards, so little time.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Giving up is unforgivable.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

No Kings: Americans standing in the way of bad history saying “Oh, Fuck No!”

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Late Night Open Thread: The GOP Hates Women & Families

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Greg Sargent, at the New Republic — “Trump’s Panicky Eruption Over Embryo Ruling Won’t Fix GOP’s IVF Mess”:

When Donald Trump attacked the recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos should be considered children, it was widely seen as a glaring indicator of a new political reality. Trump and Republicans, analysts noted, recognize the dangers of appearing aligned against in vitro fertilization and are bolting from the decision as fast as possible.

But for a largely overlooked reason, this political morass will be harder for Republicans to extricate themselves from than they might think. This issue will continue playing out not just on the federal level but also at the level of the states, where the true implications of GOP positions on reproductive rights will be harder to evade.

Democrats are planning to make a big issue out of IVF in this year’s battle for control of state legislatures, strategists tell me. This will entail highlighting state-level bills and laws that define fetuses as people and could impact access to IVF, especially now that anti-choice activists are emboldened by the Alabama ruling…

This week, Democrats are announcing a new round of spending by the DLCC on 2024 state legislative contests, bringing the total spent to $750,000 this cycle. The group will channel resources into the battle to flip control of the legislatures in Arizona and Wisconsin (where the party just secured fair district maps) and the state House in New Hampshire, suggesting Democrats see opportunities to gain ground in those states. In a surprise, the DLCC also expects to announce investments soon in breaking the GOP supermajority in Kansas, where the governor is a Democrat.

Meanwhile, Democrats plan to highlight the GOP push for so-called “fetal personhood bills,” which seek to enshrine full rights for fetuses on the grounds that life begins at fertilization. According to the Guttmacher Institute, proposals have been introduced in at least a dozen states, reflecting the rush of anti-abortion legislation unleashed by the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2022 striking down abortion rights…

More generally, the ruling is a vivid reminder that the future of reproductive rights will likely live or die in the states—and that this could intrude to an untold degree on intensely personal decisions about whether to have children despite infertility. As Williams of the DLCC points out, the Alabama outcome again demonstrates that the “Republican crusade against women” isn’t “just about abortion.”

“It is about control and power,” Williams said.

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Wednesday Night Open Thread

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Bizarre day today- it hit high 70’s for a while and I could feel how intense the sun was on our walks, but it was so breezy that it felt cool. A front is blasting through the south of us, and no accumulation here, but it is overcast and the sky is angry down Tuscon way. Leftovers from last night’s burritos are on the menu.

***

I weighed myself today and I am down about 13 lbs from when I arrived here, and I haven’t been starving myself. I have been more conscious of what I eat, and eat only within a 6-8 hour window every day for the most part, but I think the bulk of it is all the walking. That’s good because that’s something I intended to start biking while out here but the bike that was right for me was too spendy. Maybe I’ll give it 6-7 months of walking and revisit the bike when I am back here and might actually need a different one.

The other thing is I am drinking a ton of water. Just a shitload. Not because I am thirsty but because I think I am still scarred from my time in the Army and my headspace is still “You’re in a desert you should be drinking even when not thirsty.” For the first couple weeks we were in the sand we had to watch each other urinate to see if they were pissing yellow and if you were you had to make them sit down in the shade and not move until they had drank a canteen full of water.

I don’t know if it is the same way, but the day I got into basic training until the day I got out they were super fucking serious about being hydrated and avoiding heat stroke. It was very serious trouble if one of the guys you were in charge of became what was then called a “heat casualty.” Like serious fucking trouble to the point I think I would rather accidentally discharge a firearm into the floor of the Colonel’s office than have one of my fucking privates have a heat stroke.

I mean it makes total sense so it would not surprise me if they are still that way, because it’s such an easy fix in a training environment or non-combat situation. And it’s been the case for a while that the most expensive thing in the United States military is always the soldier. The cost of training and logistics to create just one soldier is so astronomical many of you would be shocked. I mean, this is the US Military. If the soldiers, sailors, and flyboys were not the most expensive thing, none of us would be issued helmets and the sure as fuck wouldn’t have spent billions over the years worrying about ejection seats in planes.

All Hail the Wet Bulb, our benevolent ruler, who cares for us in the heat.

***

Another day, another billionaire makes a whole ass out of himself:

I had room service once (I think it was in Boston), but it had to be around 2002-2003, so twenty years ago. I got in super late that night form my flight, pissed off (this was in the years right after 9/11), went to bed immediately, and woke up starving. Ordered a basic breakfast- eggs, a meat, potatoes, coffee. It was like 35 bucks. This was NOT the fucking five star Carlyle Hotel in NY where I ordered this, and it was 20 plus years earlier.

Jesus christ tax every billionaire into the fucking ground.

***

Mistermix already mentioned it earlier, but the news that Mitch McConnell is retiring is not surprising, not given how bad his decline has been. I hope his retirement is short and miserable. I keep repeating myself these past few weeks, but that is not surprising since this has been around for 20+ years, but the list of people who have done more damage to the United States than Mitch McConnell is a short one. The person who came up with MBA programs is up there, and Leonard Leo is really working over time. Rush Limbaugh and Grover Norquist are up there. Art fucking Laffer. Maybe Gingrich. But it is not a long list of people in the modern era who have done more damage than McConnell. Fuck him. I hope he gets a cyst on his ass so he is in pain every time he sits for the rest of his life.

As I said before, I am a garbage person.

***

That’s it for me, I ‘spose. I saw a couple half-hearted attempts to make uncommitted narratives some new life, but even those were phoned in.

I should probably note- I understand why people are pissed and they should be marching and doing everything they can to end this disaster, but the simple cold logic is that Trump would be worse for the people they care about. It’s not even debatable.

Save your protest votes for when there isn’t a good chance you will make things worse. Because Dean Phillips and that aura lady are not going to beat Trump no how many times you click your heels together and say “Hillary is 44.”

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War for Ukraine Day 735: Kupiansk in the Crosshairs!

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Screen shot of new artwork by NEIVANMADE. The background is black. In the bottom foreground are grey Ukrainian homes and apartment buildings being bombarded by red Russian missiles with the Special Military Operation "Z" symbol on them. Above the missiles, written in red is the word "Ruzzians". Below the buildings being attacked is the statement "Turns Homes Into Graves".

(Images by NEIVANMADE)

As I mentioned it would be last night, today was a very, very long day. So this will be brief.

Only one more shopping day until the GOP majority House starts to shut the federal government down.

Before we start though I want to briefly touch on the news of the day. I know that the last nine years or so have been very, very, very rough on everyone politically in the US, as well as those in other states and society. And I get that everyone wants things to somehow not just get better, but stay better. Or at least show solid improvement. And it is that hope that is being preyed upon by the heads in a box on the cable news shows or the people tweeting from parody and pseudonymous accounts or doing these YouTube analysis vids that tell you what you want to hear. I am sorry that today’s news shocked so many, but what happened today was inevitable. It was always going to happen as it was the only thing that could happen. I am not suggesting you give up hope, but I am suggesting that in the very real desire to grasp at anything that seems to be a positive sign you do not abandon your critical thinking skills. Better to be pleasantly surprised than unpleasantly disappointed. The only way out is through.

The Russian unloaded on Kupiansk today:

President Zelenskyy was in Tirana today. He made an address and did a joint presser. Unfortunately, his remarks are not in English and the close captioning is not enabled for the YouTube videos.

There is some good news: Belgium has announced that they are going to help fund Czech Presiden Pavel’s 155mm ammunition purchase for Ukraine initiative.

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Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Joe Biden’s Just Like Us!

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… I do believe there’s more than a few of us — voters as well as jackals — who’ll look at this list and say ‘Looks pretty good, considering what’s in my medicine cabinet.’

The ‘sensory neuropathy in his feet’ would explain why Biden looks great on a bike, but a bit hesitant/shuffling when he walks. His balance is fine, but he doesn’t have full feeling in his feet (especially when he’s wearing stiff shoes, I suspect). This is actually reassuring, because ‘poor feeling in feet’ is hella less threatening than ‘possible brain issues’!

And I’ll use this report as an excuse to share a thread from Jaime Harrison…
Wednesday Evening Open Thread: <em> Joe Biden's Just Like Us!</em>

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Supreme Court Grants Cert On Immunity Case

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DC Indictment News

Yikes. This was not what I expected would happen!

I am not a lawyer, but it seems guaranteed that this will delay the D.C. case until end of summer, unless they did not grant a stay at the same time.

More details to come.

Update:

.

Here’s the order.

Supreme Court Grants Cert On Immunity Case

They seem to not call it a stay, but it sure sounds like the equivalent of a stay, since the D.C. trial cannot resume until SCOTUS rules on this.

Update 2: there will definitely be cake, but of the drown your sorrows variety.

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Medicaid Expansion in Mississippi???

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The Mississippi bill text requested that the state file a Section 1115 waiver to expand Medicaid with work requirements but if that waiver is not approved (and it won’t be), the bill had a fall back option of a pretty bog standard Medicaid Expansion.

Will Mississippi beat Alabama?

(Sorry for falling off the face of the Earth, the combination of dissertating and job hunting has been exhausting)

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And the Women Shall Lead Them: Janet Yellen Edition

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(AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday offered her strongest public support yet for the idea of liquidating roughly $300 billion in frozen Russian Central Bank assets and using them for Ukraine’s long-term reconstruction.

“It is necessary and urgent for our coalition to find a way to unlock the value of these immobilized assets to support Ukraine’s continued resistance and long-term reconstruction,” Yellen said in remarks in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors are meeting this week.

“I believe there is a strong international law, economic, and moral case for moving forward. This would be a decisive response to Russia’s unprecedented threat to global stability,” she said.

The United States and its allies froze hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian foreign holdings in retaliation for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Those billions have been sitting untapped as the war grinds on, now in its third year, while officials from multiple countries have debated the legality of sending the money to Ukraine. More than two-thirds of Russia’s immobilized central bank funds are located in the EU.

I hope this can happen.  And I love that it’s being discussed and suggested as an actual option.

It’s not nothing when the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury is saying it.

“There’s more than one way to skin a cat” was repeated quite often at our house when I was growing up.  Right along with “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”. Clearly Biden and folks in his administration were taught the same thing.

Is there some other phrase that conveys something similar, but doesn’t involve something so horrendous as skinning a cat?  That phrase was the first thing that came to mind when I saw this article, and I would like to be able to replace it with something that is not disgusting.

Open thread.

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