Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

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

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

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

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Human rights are not a matter of opinion!

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

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

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

“In this country American means white. everybody else has to hyphenate.”

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

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

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

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Tuesday Night Open Thread

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Not much to report here- starting to understand island time because every day the weather is the same. Because it was so nice and I wanted something somewhat light and easy to cook, I was feeling fajitas. So I whipped up some of those and made a fruit salad with a pineapple base, and that was dinner.

***

So help me allah, should anyone ever mention replacing Biden in front of me I might make the nightly news. It’s so fucking insane and what is nauseating is I have lived through this type of media driven nonsense so many fucking times. Remember the Hillaryis44 and PUMA (Party Unity My Ass) crowd going into fucking June thinking they still had a path to victory? Or the Bernie folks convinced the maths would work out for them? Or the unskew the polls idiots? Every single one of them was denying what was clearly right in front of their fucking faces. And over and over and over again. And the media was right there with them, in many cases enabling their nonsense.

This is worse than even any of those previous cases. This is a sitting fucking President. Do these imbeciles not understand the fucking power of incumbency? And not only that, how would they fucking do it? Just invalidate the will of the Democratic voters, who, by the way, are still fucking going out every primary and saying “Yeah I like Biden.” It’s insanity, it’s anti-democratic, and it is basically impossible. Only two things are going to keep Biden off the ballot at this point- him saying “Fuck all of you I’m off to drive a corvette and eat ice cream,” or his death. And you can make all the fucking old jokes you want, it will have to be a sudden and unexpected passing like a heart attack or embolism, because he may be old, but he’s healthy as fuck and under constant surveillance by THE BEST FUCKING DOCTORS IN THE WORLD. If money and the best modern medicine can keep that meth addled big mac chomping diet coke swilling Trump alive, Biden ain’t going anywhere.

Speaking of, Biden won Michigan. Again.

And because of this stupidity being mainstreamed, we’re subjected to nonsense like this:

That’s Bill Ackman, an asshole of nearly unparalleled achievement in the field of being an insufferable thin skinned prick, whom I am sure you have all heard of because of his recent DEI bullshit. It goes without saying that as an asshole of that magnitude, he is, of course, a billionaire. It’s really a chicken or the egg argument- do only assholes become billionaires, or do billionaires become assholes? Another fucking imbecile with all the money in the world and all they want to do is either make people adore them or burn it all down. All I want is to be able to afford a new roof and a pool. Fucker.

At any rate, seeing that reminded me of something I know I have said or written at least a dozen times, but one of the most depressing realities about becoming an adult is the repeated, multiple times daily, near constant re-realization that almost everyone in real positions of power is an absolute fucking moron outside their narrow niche area of expertise, and often times, in that, too. And the corollary, of course, is that everyone actually qualified to do the job and smart enough to be in a position of power either has imposter syndrome like seemingly half the women I know or they are too smart and realize they don’t want nothing to do with real power and the moral dilemmas and the consequences. So we’re left with fucking half-witted sociopaths.

***

Speaking of assholes, this made me smile because I am a garbage human being:

Tuesday Night Open Thread 2

That is all.

***

It’s still early, so I think I am going to go clean up after dinner and try to steal the remote from Bunny. Wish me luck.

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War for Ukraine Day 734: Ukraine Splashes Another Pair of SU-34s

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Two quick related notes. First, today was a very long day – not bad, just long – and I’ve got another one tomorrow. So tonight’s update will be on the briefer side. Second, this is why I’m unlikely to get to the NY Times HUR-CIA reporting until Thursday. The same with the Meduza reporting regarding Navalny being extra-judicially executed to derail a prisoner exchange negotiation.

Have I mentioned that Speaker Johnson sent the House of Representatives home on vacation through tomorrow and the government will begin to shutdown on Friday?

Ukraine downed two more SU-34s today:

The Kyiv Post has details:

Ukraine’s Armed Forces (AFU) have brought down another Russian Su-34 fighter bomber, the eighth Russian frontline aircraft recently shot down.

The two-man crew managed to eject, according to the Air Force’s Commander.

“Minus another Su-34 in the eastern direction! Yesterday, Russian pilots managed to dodge our missiles, but this will not always be the case!” Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk reported in a Telegram post.

“I advise the invaders to see their relatives before each flight. Because who knows if he’ll be lucky or not this time,” he added.

The Sukhoi Su-34 (NATO: Fullback) is Russia’s premier frontline fighter bomber, designed primarily for launching laser-guided bombs or long-range guided missiles in precision strikes on ground targets.

The Su-34 is equipped with a radar that also enables it to employ modern Russian air-to-air missiles.

With a price tag of around $36 million each, the Su-34 is one of the Russian military’s most expensive aircraft.

According to Ukraine’s General Staff, from Feb. 24, 2022 to Feb. 21, 2024 Ukrainian forces have destroyed 339 fixed wing aircraft and 325 helicopters belonging to the Russians.

In a significant series of blows against Russian forces’ aircraft, on Wednesday, Feb. 21, the AFU downed another Russian Su-34 fighter bomber.

Prior to that, on Monday, Feb. 19, the UAF shot down two more aircraft, a Su-34 and a Su-35 multi-role fighter.

Today, President Zelenskyy addressed the International Platform for the Release of Civilians Illegally Detained by the Russian Federation. The video is below. There is no posted English transcript, but I do have close captioning in English turned on for the video.

He also had a bilateral meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman:

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Primary Open Thread: Michigan Edition

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Suzy Villarreal, 63, self-employed, voted for Joe at the Maybury Elementary School in Detroit.

“The alternative is a nutcase, who is trying to take our rights away. I don’t like the idea of the government making choices for women.

I have a granddaughter and I’m really worried about her future and her ability to make her own decisions about her body.”

“I get what’s happening in Dearborn and I’d be pissed too but now is not the time for a protest vote.

It’s just going to hurt Biden and get the other guy elected. We can’t let that happen.”

2) Michigan doesn’t have party registration so it’s difficult to tell which party a voter has pulled a ballot for (challenging on trying to get turnout for each party)

3) This is the first time that Michigan has had a presidential primary this early and only the secind time it’s been an actual primary and not a caucus or “firehouse primary”

4) Fifteen percent is the threshhold for delegate allocation statewide and for individual Congressional District national delegate allocation

5) Which means less than 15% does not translate to delegates to the Democratic Convention, which is how nominees for president are chosen

6) And no, I have no idea what’s going to happen, wouldn’t trust “exit polls” (like ever, not just today) and polls are open until 8 pm.

7) Note on when polls close: There are four counties in Michigan that are on Central time (those are on in the Upper Pennisula on the Wisconsin border) and that’s why some new organizations say that polls close at 9 pm. They don’t, it just takes into account those counties.

8) Here’s hoping the headlines haven’t already been written that whatever happens in Michigan today will show Trump’s strength and Biden’s weakness, but I’m not optimistic.

Seriously:Thank you, Captain Obvious…

Reuters found its perfect header photo — a woman in a burqa standing three steps behind a burly, bearded dude. “‘Uncommitted’ voters angry over Gaza test Biden’s support in Michigan”:

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Michigan Primary – Polls Close at 8pm Eastern

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Anyone besides me up for hangng out and waiting for election results?

Detroit Free Press

Politico Election Tracker (Democrats)

CNN

NYT Election Results

Is Dave Weigel still in the game now the he’s not at the Washington Post?

Is there a Michigan election results guru that we should be watching?

 

 

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OMFG (Open Thread)

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From The New Republic:

Donald Trump is arguing that he shouldn’t have to post the massive bond in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case against him … because he’s simply too rich.

Trump owes Carroll $83.3 million for defaming her in 2019 when she first accused him of sexual assault. The former president had 30 days to either pay the damages or post a bond required by New York state law to appeal the decision. But Trump’s legal team filed a motion on Friday to delay payment.

“Having argued to the jury that President Trump has great financial resources, Plaintiff is in no position to contradict herself now and contend that she requires the protection of a bond during the brief period while post-trial motions are pending,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.

They argued that Trump’s extreme wealth was security enough that he would eventually pay.

Jesus, Mary & Joseph. Let the legions of contractors he’s stiffed over his decades-long fraud career testify.

Here’s the real game, of course:

Presiding Judge Lewis Kaplan on Monday declined to grant Trump a stay until Carroll’s lawyers had a chance to reply. Carroll’s legal team has until Thursday to respond, and then Trump’s team has until March 2 to reply to them. Kaplan also noted that Trump’s team had waited almost until the end of his payment window to file the request for a stay.

Well, yeah — he’s trying to control the clock on every case, civil and criminal.  This should be Carroll’s lawyers’ reply: 😂🖕💰

Open thread.

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Sgt. Schultz Testifies Today In the Possible Fani Willis Disqualification Hearing

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Sgt. Schultz – “I know nothing… nothing” – I mean Terrence Bradley, testified before Judge McAfee again today, as the judge considered whether to disqualify Fani Willis.   I think this whole thing is nothing but a Fani Willis witch hunt that should never have gotten this far.  Some of the internet legal eagles are chalking this up to McAfee’s inexperience as a judge.

As you may have guessed from the post title, Terrence Bradley did not recall any details, which I am very happy about, because… well, bullshit witch hunt.  It is no coincidence that the district attorney who is the subject of this witch hunt is black and female.

Anna Bower does a spectacular job of giving us the play-by-play.  Anna’s first tweet, if you want to follow along on twitter.

Talking Points Memo is live blogging also, though more with summaries than a play-by-play.

YouTube link if you have any desire to watch.

I have no idea who this person is, but he speaks for me with this tweet:

*except that I would call this a shit show and not a sideshow.

Open thread.

 

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How can you really love someone who can’t love you?

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Child worker at a slaughterhouse.

The Washington Post finally prints a positive immigration story [gift link]

Immigration has propelled the U.S. job market further than just about anyone expected, helping cement the country’s economic rebound from the pandemic as the most robust in the world.

That momentum picked up aggressively over the past year. About 50 percent of the labor market’s extraordinary recent growth came from foreign-born workers between January 2023 and January 2024, according to an Economic Policy Institute analysis of federal data. And even before that, by the middle of 2022, the foreign-born labor force had grown so fast that it closed the labor force gap created by the pandemic, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

They pair it with a piece about angry Arizona Democrats who don’t like Biden’s immigration message (worth a read, gift link).

“It’s not just Republicans. Democrats, too, like to push the narrative that we’re being invaded — and as a registered Democrat, it’s really hurtful to see because my parents came here wanting to seek a better life,” Villafan, 23, said just a three-hour drive north from Arizona’s shared border with Mexico.

Anyway, AOC was on MSNBC the other night

and here’s her immigration message:

But the idea that Republicans, in order to win an election, say we need to hermetically seal the border when they know it is economic self-sabotage to the U.S. economy, and they are saying, ‘Let’s do it anyway.’  And to compensate for the negative effects, we are going to allow and throw peoples’ kids into factories.  This is what they are doing in rolling back child labor laws while being as xenophobic and anti-immigrant as they are.  […And] by them blocking and preventing any legislation that will provide not just a path to citizenship, but a path to work papers, a path to allowing people who want to work to be paired with American businesses who need people to work.  […] There is no moral calculation.  There is no economic calculation.  There is no logical calculation.  There is only a political calculation, and that political calculation is:  we are going to keep whining about it.  We are going to keep pretending this is a crises while contributing to actual problems. And we are going to block the solution so that we can campaign on it over and over and over.  And we can call it caravans, we can call it migrant crisis, we can call it family separation.  And they will just recycle it over and over and over again in order to gin up so much animosity and destruction in this country.  And racism in this country. Because that’s the only thing that the Republican Party even is standing on at this point.

AOC also says that Democrats need to “grow a little spine” over immigration, so run to your fainting couches and clutch your pearls if that kind of talk offends you.  It doesn’t offend me, because trying to fund border security at the level Republicans want isn’t a position on immigration that does Democrats any good.  Pointing out that immigration helps the economy, that it helps businesses that have jobs non-immigrants don’t want, and that some kind of reasonable work permit program is far more constructive than more walls, barbed wire and border cops, is messaging that is true and doesn’t alienate a good portion of our base.

Final point:  a good part of the white, rural MAGA base knows damn well that immigration is essential for our economy, because they live near slaughterhouses and packing plants that need immigrants to do the dangerous, backbreaking work on offer there.   They’re more than happy to have their town benefit from the presence of a large number of immigrants — they just want them to be non-voters who are scared every time a cop drives by.

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