Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Republicans do not trust women.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

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

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

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

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

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

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

Republicans in disarray!

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

The words do not have to be perfect.

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

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

To the privileged, equality seems like oppression.

The willow is too close to the house.

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‘Cause the Wankers gonna Wank, Wank, Wank, Wank, Wank

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As soon as I saw it on my podcast player, I knew Ezra Klein’s “Democrats have a better option than Biden” podcast was going to be incredibly annoying and very skippable.  I have too many naps to take, and too much scotch to drink. to listen to yet another take on how some imaginary candidate X would wipe the floor with Trump, and yet the Democrats won’t pick X.

But I was wrong – it’s worse.  Young Ezra has grown from a young participant in the bong parties following a freshman PoliSci seminar into a full-fledged wanktastic pundit, because he’s trotted out the oldest pundit masturbatory topic in the book:  the brokered convention.  Apparently — and here I have to admit I’ve only read about his podcast and not listened to it — he thinks that Obama, Anita Dunn, and the rest of Biden’s inner circle need to stage an intervention.  They (merely) need to say, Joe, you’ve gotta go, we had it once, we ain’t got it anymore.  Then, Joe, who as we all know likes trains, will buy a ticket on the central line and leave DC.  His rapid and drama-free departure will leave the convention wide open for candidate Captain Marvel/Superspiderman (or woman), who will swoop in to the accolades of the smoky backroom fixers and we’ll all live happily ever after.  Be sure to check for belongings under your seat before exiting the theater.

There are so many reasons that this is stupid that I don’t think I need to go into them with this audience, though I will mention that nothing gets a wanker pundit to wank harder than imagining the democratic will of the people being thwarted by a few backroom fixers. Still, Ezra’s got people talking about this moronic idea instead of whatever screw up the Republicans are perpetrating today, so at least it’s a win for his Republican employer, the NYT.

Anyway, here’s where I can mention that I get a chuckle out of people in the comments here and elsewhere re-litigating the primaries, saying that some candidate ruined another’s chances in the general by making some criticism of that candidate in the primary.  That’s a real misreading of the role of primaries.  Primaries are, in theory at least, where our side dukes it out to find out if Candidate X is the real thing or just plays a superhero on TV.  History books are full of candidates that looked good for a bit, then shit the bed when it was time to run a campaign.  Only someone whose contact with politics is quasi-academic, and who’s spent too much time reading fantasy novels, would want to substitute a brokered convention for primaries.

Joe Biden is going to be the Democratic nominee because nobody serious stepped up to challenge him.   There will probably be zero delegates voting against him because the non-serious challengers won no delegates.  That’s how Democratic nomination conventions work in the current century, no matter how many fantasies people like Ezra crank out.

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U.S. backed ceasefire proposal at the U.N.

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If Netanyahu wasn’t more worried about his own future than his country’s, he’d find this alarming:

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 19 (Reuters) – The United States has proposed a rival draft United Nations Security Council resolution that would underscore the body’s “support for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza as soon as practicable,” according to the text seen by Reuters on Monday.

Washington has been averse to the word ceasefire in any U.N. action on the Israel-Hamas war, but the U.S. draft text echoes language that President Joe Biden said he used last week in conversations with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The U.S. draft text also “determines that under current circumstances a major ground offensive into Rafah would result in further harm to civilians and their further displacement including potentially into neighboring countries.”

Israel plans to storm Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than 1 millions Palestinians have sought shelter, prompting international concern that such a move would sharply worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The draft U.S. resolution says such a move “would have serious implications for regional peace and security, and therefore underscores that such a major ground offensive should not proceed under current circumstances.”

I think this represents a pretty significant break with the Netanyahu government since the U.S. usually shields Israel from U.N. resolutions aimed at restraining it, including a couple of times recently.

I have no idea what Israeli citizens’ perspective is on storming Rafah. Does anyone know? My guess is that matters to Biden more than what Netanyahu thinks.

Open thread.

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Monday Morning Open Thread: Presidents Day

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On The Road – Albatrossity – Westward 2019, installment 2

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It’s Albatrossity Monday!  We have two bonus OTR posts from the Sinai Trail, and finish up the week with two gorgeous parks.

(click to see the larger, non-blurry version)

On The Road - Albatrossity - Westward 2019, installment 2 10

Albatrossity

After leaving the San Luis Valley of Colorado and heading west, I basically drove two days across a lot of gorgeous country, without stopping to look at birds, and ended up in Monterey CA the day before a planned pelagic birding trip with Debi Shearwater and company. A bunch of birders, dosed with Dramamine, piled onto a dock in the Monterey Harbor a bit before dawn on Sunday 9/8/2019, where we were told that the trip had been cancelled due to weather (25 ft. waves and such). There were no opportunities for rebooking; there was only one more planned trip that fall, and it was already full, and none were scheduled for the next year because Debi was retiring. We got our money back, but the disappointment was profound.

Another Kansas birder, a friend of mine from Wichita, was also there, also disappointed, and wondering what to do for the day. He is a dedicated lister, and was hoping to see some species that he had not seen before, as he closed in on the magic number of 700 species seen in North America. The only other non-oceanic lifer possibility for him in the area was Mountain Quail, and that would require a trip up into the higher elevations of the coastal mountains above Carmel. It was also another potential wild goose (or quail) chase, since that is a secretive bird and never abundant, even in places where it is known to hang out. But I had a car, we had the day, and we headed up. I took the camera, but really didn’t use it for much, since my bird photography technique is to find a place, sit still for a while, and see what shows up. That’s tough to do while driving on windy dusty mountain roads, with another person around, especially one who was focused on finding a single species!

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On The Road - Albatrossity - Westward 2019, installment 2 9
Yosemite National Park

But we had a great day, saw lots of birds, and yes, we did see Mountain Quail. It was a situation that birders describe as BVD (Better View Desired), but we found some scuttling down a dusty road at an elevation of about 5000 feet in the Los Padres National Forest. No pics, but if you want to see this fabulous bird from the comfort of your chair, here is a shot taken by my long-time birding buddy, photography mentor,  and bird photographer extraordinaire Mark Chappell. Thanks for giving me permission to share this shot here, Mark!  It’s hard to appreciate this image unless you understand that this bird is very hard to see and even harder to photograph! Click here for larger image.

*Very* Chill Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: John Oliver Makes ‘Justice’ Thomas An Offer

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Per Deadline, “John Oliver Returns To HBO & Offers To Pay Clarence Thomas $1M A Year To “Get The F*** Off The Supreme Court””:

… On the Season 11 premiere of the late-night talk show, Oliver discussed the U.S. Supreme Court, saying that it’s reached “a breaking point,” citing several ways it could be fixed like “enforceable ethics codes, to term limits, to potentially expanding the court.”

Oliver had previously noted that Thomas had not recused himself from taking on cases where there was a conflict of interest or where he may have received gifts from special interest groups.

“If we’re going to keep the bar of accountability this low, perhaps it’s time to exploit that low bar the same way billionaires have successfully done for decades,” Oliver said.

He continued, “Clarance Thomas is arguably the most consequential Justice on the court right now and he’s never really seemed to like the job. He said, ‘It’s not worth doing for the grief.’ So what if he can keep the luxury perks he clearly enjoys without having to endure all of that grief.”

Oliver proceeded to make Thomas “a special offer,” which included “one million dollars a year for the rest of your life if you simply agree to leave the Supreme Court immediately and never come back.”…

Oliver noted that he has talked to legal experts who assured him that he wasn’t breaking any laws and said “HBO is not putting up the money for this. I am personally on the hook. You can make me really regret this. I could be doing standup tours to pay for your retirement for years.”

“This offer is not forever,” Oliver continued. “You have exactly 30 days from midnight tonight to make your resignation effective.”

To sway Thomas to sign the contract, Oliver also offered him a brand new top-of-the-line motorcoach worth $2.4 million, which includes a full bedroom with a king-size bed, one and a half baths, a fireplace, four TVs, a washer/dryer, and a residential-size fridge…

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Sunday Night Open Thread

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Not much to report today- just work and house stuff. Changing sheets and getting laundry done and the living areas squared away for another work week.

Joelle is watching the People’s Choice Awards and I am answering the emails I ignored over the weekend.

Y’all take care.

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War for Ukraine Day 725: The Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Has Said Something Important

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Before we start, I just want to clarify something. If I make a pointed reply to a commenter, that’s not an invitation to pile on. Same goes for if someone makes a pointed reply to me or to anyone else. Unless the reply is way, way over the line. Another Scott and I do disagree on a number of things. That does not make them a bad person. Nor does it make them unwelcome in the comments to my posts or anyone else’s. I appreciate folks having my back, but I made the point I wanted to make, that was enough. I am glad Another Scott kept commenting last night/this morning and I look forward to him continuing to do so tonight and for as many nights to come as they like.

The Lithuanian Foreign Minister tweeted out a very long and thought provoking thread earlier today. Because it is long, it will be after the jump.

https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1759133110975762690

This morning, Ukrainian warriors shot down another russian Su-34 fighter-bomber in the eastern direction.

Also overnight, 12 Shahed UAVs and 1 Kh-59 guided air missile were shot down.

There is no place for russian occupiers and their weapons in the Ukrainian sky. Together, to Victory.

https://twitter.com/BAFTA/status/1759314679086629050

https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1759289091881881840

Here is President Zelesnkyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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