Archives for 2024

I think we’ve all seen the clips of Jasmine Crockett giving the Republicans “what for”, and talking about classified documents in the shitter at MAL.

The Texas Tribune tells the story of how she distinguished herself from the other 50 or so Democrats.

A few excerpts.

WASHINGTON — In summer 2021, about 50 Democrats from the Texas House arrived at the nation’s capital — absconding from Austin in a plot to block Republicans from passing a bill that would impose tighter restrictions on voting access.

Buzzing with excitement, the lawmakers took their places in front of reporters, with senior members and leadership moving toward the center to field questions. But Jasmine Crockett — a freshman from Dallas — stepped away from the group to take a call. She held up her phone to film her own live interview with a TV station, the dome of the Capitol building peeking out behind her.

That interview would be one of many that Crockett would take while camped out in Washington to discuss the Democrats’ quorum break, in a move that would raise the little-known lawmaker’s profile as she became an unofficial spokesperson for the dramatic political spectacle.

“There were people in leadership from my understanding that were not a fan of a freshman being a bit of a face of some of this,” Crockett said in an interview with The Texas Tribune.

Nonetheless, she accepted as many interviews as she could fit into her schedule, carrying two phones and a laptop to handle the crush of inquiries she received.

“I did not expect the world to pay attention,” Crockett said.

But she wanted them to.

Crockett, 42, didn’t get into politics to wait her turn. While she says she may have ruffled some feathers among her caucus peers at the time, her decision to grab the spotlight catapulted her career and provided the foundation for her to run for Congress the following year.

Crockett got her first taste of going viral during a September hearing of the House Oversight Committee, which garnered media attention because of the Republican impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Crockett took aim at former President Donald Trump’s mishandling of classified documents, holding up printed photos from his indictment showing boxes of classified documents in the Mar-a-Lago bathroom.

“These are our national secrets, looks like, in the shitter to me,” Crockett said in a clip that was shared on Reddit and Tiktok. One fan edit of the moment set to music, created by a 16-year-old fan, raked in over 8 million views on TikTok.

It’s a fun and interesting article, so if you have a few minutes, read the whole thing.  h/t Mousebumples

What else is going on today?   (Besides the Biden-Harris live event on reproductive rights that’s coming up around lunchtime.  Looks like TaMara has a post ready to go for that!)

I keep thinking we’ll hear from the appeals court about immunity and jurisdiction.  I alternate between thinking it’s taking so much longer than the predictions because 1) there is disagreement between the conservative judge and the other two, and 2) they are all in agreement, but they want their ruling to be really tight and not leave any strings for the Supreme Court to tug at.

Can I just say that the world was better when we had a supreme court that we could at least sort of trust?

Open thread.

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