Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

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

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

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

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

You are here: Home / 2025 Activism / Names for the Primary List

Names for the Primary List

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Stepped away from events to watch the latest episode of Severance. I see that Schumer got eight Nevilles Chamberlain to vote for cloture along with him. I could make the obvious Severance-related joke about wanting to have a chip in my brain so I can skip to 2028, but this meme that references a different hit TV show is more fitting:

Nine Nevilles Chamberlain Open Thread

A bit dark, maybe, but what isn’t these days?

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

211Comments

  1. 1.

    VFX Lurker

    Names for the Primary List

    Senators Gary Peters and Jeanne Shaheen are retiring. Dana Houle had thoughts on this. An excerpt:

    My guess is a bunch of Senate Dems think it would be best if this CR passes, but they don’t want to be attacked for enabling Musk & Trump, so they’re happy to let retiring Dems like Gary & Jeanne Shaheen to do the dirty work for them.

  3. 3.

    Steve LaBonne

    Mostly the dregs of the caucus, the one I really don’t understand is Schatz. Hey Hawaiians, it’s primary time!

  4. 4.

    jackmac

    I’ve always liked Dick Durbin, but after this vote he’s moved into worse-than-useless territory and either needs to end his (still unannounced) 2026 reelection bid or pick up a significant primary challenger.

  5. 5.

    cain

    Brave, Brave, Sir Robins…

    in any case, it’s done. Let’s hope it’s the right move. I don’t think it is and if it goes belly up then these folks will have to take it on the chin. I hope none of them have presidential aspirations (Gillibrand) because it ain’t happening.

  8. 8.

    geg6

    I have no idea of what tv show you are referencing, but I’d be happy to take that sword and have a bit of a rampage in the Capitol.

  9. 9.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    OT, because the CR vote is too depressing, except for planning to donate to whoever primaries Schumer. As someone posted in an earlier thread, Schumer is not a wartime consigliare.

    So, Rose, my husband and I have been planning a 10 day visit to London in May since last October. Obviously things have changed since then. Besides getting our visas, is there anything we should be worried about? My husband is afraid we will get beaten up for being Americans. And after your last post, who knows how Brits and Europe will feel about visiting Americans.

  11. 11.

    MattF

    Watched Severance this morning— they are really setting the stage for a huge season finale. Next Friday!

  13. 13.

    Archon

    “Okay Republicans we will give you everything you want but please don’t take hostages again”, doesn’t seem like a great political strategy.

  15. 15.

    Rose Judson

    @A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan): Please come and enjoy London. I think the worst you can expect from locals is pointed questions.

    Most people are very sympathetic once they realize you don’t approve of him – it’s not as if Brits don’t have a lot to be embarrassed about, too. Brexit did a number on their international standing as well.

  16. 16.

    cain

    @Azhrie139: lol – Schumer is the poster child of Trump enablement right now. Trump knows what he is doing when he posted that. He’s twisting the knife. He’ll be bringing up Schumer by name a few more times.

  18. 18.

    John S.

    Here are the 8 Chamberlains:

    Fetterman
    Cortez Masto
    Durbin
    Schatz
    Hassan
    Peters
    Gillibrand
    Shaheen

    The only real surprise for me is Schatz. Fetterman is ridiculous, Durbin is just as out of touch as Schumer, Peters has been reliably crappy and Gillibrand was the one pushing Schumer’s position  hard.

    Any jackals from NH? I would love to know why their Senators are so broken. It’s not just this vote, but they also have been voting for Trump nominees like Republicans.

  19. 19.

    geg6

    @Rose Judson:

    Ah, so she’s a woman after my own heart.  I, too, soothe myself with my kill list late at night to try to sleep.

    (Couldn’t get through even the first episode of Game of Thrones I hated it so much.  But I approve of this character.)

  20. 20.

    JiveTurkin

    The only thing I could imagine is that Wall Street went to Schumer and said the spigot turns off you if don’t deliver for us.  A shutdown hurts the financial community a lot.  Going to surrender immediately is unpardonable given what Trump is doing to our country.  As far as I’m concerned Schumer has blood on his hands for not trying to get something.

  24. 24.

    Archon

    @geg6:

    Get through the end of season 1, it’s a really good twist. Seasons 2-6 are great but treat the end of season 6 as the series finale.

  25. 25.

    Old Man Shadow

    Well, that’s pretty much it then for Congress.

    It’s mostly a ceremonial club now.

    Oh, I’m sure they’ll hold conferences and hearings and make noise, but they won’t ever claw back that power.

  28. 28.

    Miki

    Minnesota’s senators did the right thing (I was doubting Klobuchar would stand up but she did).

    A Hobson’s choice is still a choice, muthafuckers.

  29. 29.

    cain

    @Old Man Shadow:

    We can all be amused as congressional Dems protest really hard but hopefully they don’t keep talking about how they have no power.  Thoughts and prayers for all of us.

  40. 40.

    Suzanne

    @cain: When I was in Egypt last October, a few Egyptians asked me (delicately) about Trump. Trump had called al-Sisi “my favorite dictator”, so Trump is….. not popular! Anyway, I told them that I loath the guy and everyone was thrilled to hear it and instantly became friendlier. LOL.

  41. 41.

    geg6

    @Archon:

    Glad you liked it but no thanks.  I knew within a few minutes it’s not my thing at all.  And everything I’ve heard about it since just confirms my first impression.

  42. 42.

    JiveTurkin

    I wonder if Schumer will take questions when they decide to completely destroy Medicaid and start in on Medicare.  I’m sure he can find some way to explain to people why they should be happy he voted the way he did, and encouraged others to do the same.  This was obviously done in advance, so a deal was made, but usually in a deal you actually GET SOMETHING.

  46. 46.

    Miki

    @cain: Not getting your point here, sorry.

    Tina Smith has been great. Klobuchar? Nope. She’s far too often Norm Coleman in DFL clothing.

    But she did the right thing here.

    I was going to post a link to crow recipes but nope, that’s too far for more than just me.

  47. 47.

    WTFGhost

    Cortez, Masto ,Durbin, Fetterman, Gillibrand, Hasan, King, Peters, Schatz, Schumer, Shaheen, hallo.

    My name is WTFGhost.

    You kill my father.

    Prepare to die.

    (Politically speaking, we can hope.)

  49. 49.

    cain

    @JiveTurkin:

    It would be an unfair question – they were going to do it anyways. This vote today is not going to change anything. We did give up power though on how money is going to get appropriated. He’ll do whatever the fuck he wants. I think he can defend himself that way.

  50. 50.

    Alce _e_ardillo

    @John S.: Gillibrand isn’t up til 2030, but if we can squash any presidential ambition that’s fine with me. Durbin will be 82, and he hasn’t said if he’s running or no. The big disappointment is Schatz; what is he thinking. Cortez-Masto is in Nevada.   The others (shrugs)

  54. 54.

    cain

    @Miki:

    You posted:

    Minnesota’s senators did the right thing (I was doubting Klobuchar would stand up but she did).

    Which I assume you were supporting the cloture vote of yes. So I was just saying in 6 months we’ll know how this will turn out and if it turns out better than I expected I will eat crow.

  55. 55.

    Steve LaBonne

    @Jay: We don’t have Federal elections. All elections, including those for Congress and for presidential electors, are run by the states. What is true is that Republican-controlled states will be able to run wild with voter suppression. If they screw over white voters sufficiently, that might not save them.

  57. 57.

    Archon

    The ONLY pro-Schumer argument that would make any kind of sense is the idea that Americas political and economic house of cards is on the verge of a major downtown at best, collapse at worse so why cloud things but letting Republicans try to blame the shutdown for it.

    It’s not a great argument but anything besides that would make zero sense.

  59. 59.

    Rose Judson

    @MattF: I’m excited and dreading it because I have been using the show as my coping mechanism. Hopefully it’s only a year and a bit between seasons this time.

    (Also, the next time someone asks me how I’m doing, I will absolutely use Mark’s delivery of, “Oh my God, so good.”)

  61. 61.

    WTFGhost

    @Jay: It’s so cute, you came in here to show off your naked butthole! Now, are your parents, guardians, or any adults available for us to talk to?

    @Miki: Wow, how nice! You also are showing us how cute you look waving your nether parts at us! So sweet. Where *are* your parents? They *must* be worried.

  62. 62.

    Jay

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Might want to check out the Leopards eating faces reddit.

    So many faces this close to almost having a concept of a clue.

    So many Trumpists blaming Biden for DJTdiot and the DOGshitters eating their faces.

    It was clear to anybody with an IQ over 97 that American Democracy had a gun to it’s head, sadly half of all American’s don’t have an IQ over 97, and a bunch that do, went “Meh, what’s the worst that could happen?”

    The 2024 FAFO Election.

  64. 64.

    Eunicecycle

    @cain: and Trump’s embrace of Schumer makes sure it’s portrayed as “bi-partisan!” No matter how they vote on the CR, that vote will not be remembered.

  65. 65.

    Miki

    Jeebus. They voted NO on cloture.

    These senators voted YES on cloture:

    Cortez Masto (NV)

    Durbin (IL)

    Fetterman (PA)

    Gillibrand (NY)

    Hassan (NH)

    Peters (MI)

    Schatz (HI)

    Schumer (NY)

    Shaheen (NH)

    Klobuchar and Smith aren’t on that list.

    Sigh ….

  67. 67.

    Another Scott

    I posted this in the “morning” thread downstairs. For anyone who missed it:

    https://bsky.app/profile/fritschner.bsky.social/post/3lkegxzriv22h

    Aaron Fritschner
    ‪@fritschner.bsky.social‬

    On the Senate floor, Schumer says a fix for DC’s budget funding, stripped out by the Republican CR, will get a vote in the upcoming vote series. He says it will pass and go to the House, sounds like some kind of agreement

    March 14, 2025 at 4:25 PM

    ‪Aaron Fritschner‬ ‪@fritschner.bsky.social‬
    1h

    This sounds like it will be a stand-alone bill separate from the CR which he has negotiated with Republicans. Not sure how House Republican leaders will take to that but we will be working on it

    (This is about the “CR” (WARNING – TheHill -) stripping $1B in local money from DC’s budget. If it is restored/fixed, that would be a very good thing for the District.)

    We’ll see what happens.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  68. 68.

    tam1MI

    @schrodingers_cat:Wondering if we would be in the current situation, if the energy spent on dissing imperfect elected Ds had gone in persuading more people to vote D.

    Ain’t that the truth!

  70. 70.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Suzanne: and what did they think of al-Sisi?  When we’ve been there, the locals loved him—much better than the “squish” who preceded him.  So maybe they are no smarter than we are?

  72. 72.

    hrprogressive

    Out of this list, et tu, Brian Schatz?

    But really, if people didn’t need a big bright neon sign telling them “The Democratic Party Doesn’t Care About You”, it’s hard to see how this isn’t it.

  73. 73.

    Renie

    Schumer is going on tour next week to promote his book, Antisemitism in America: A Warning. Seems a great moment to protest his lack of action. If you live by any of these locations, join the protests.

    Mon 3/17 7pm Central Library, Baltimore

    Tue 3/18 6.30 The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center, NYC

    Wed 3/19 7pm, Politics & Prose (event is taking place at Sixth & I), DC

    Thurs 3/20 1pm, Weizman, Philadelphia

    Sat 3/22 1pm Book Passage, Corte Madeira/San Fran

    Sunday 3/23 3pm Moss Santa Monica, CA

    Mon 4/21 7:30pm MJCCA Atlanta

  74. 74.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Jay: My comment was directed at people who vote D but spend inordinate amounts of their energy dissing imperfect elected Ds.

    I fail to see how your comment is a response what I wrote

    I have also noticed your obvious glee at our misfortune. Many of our RWNJs have come from Canada, coincidence?

  75. 75.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Old Man Shadow:

    Well, that’s pretty much it then for Congress.

    It’s mostly a ceremonial club now.

    They could use a few horses as primary challengers.

  77. 77.

    Mai Naem mobil

    @Baud: i know Hawaii and Alaska are big federal aid recipients, I’m assuming, because they’re not on the mainland. Could also be that Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Zuck the Fuck owns a lot of property in Hawaii??? Ellison owns an island. Schatz isn’t up for reelection till 2028 in a solid solid blue state.

  78. 78.

    Another Scott

    I haven’t looked yet – is anyone on the Yes on Cloture list on our side planning to vote against final passage? Yeah, it brings back to mind John Kerry’s “I voted for it before I voted against it” thing, but forcing them – and them alone – to own the final bill would have a little bit of poetic justice (to my mind, anyway – I’m sure most of the people furious at Democrats would continue to be furious).

    Just curious. We’ll know soon enough I guess.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  79. 79.

    Jay

    @WTFGhost:

    I have read what you, personally are going through, politically and state of mind, and while I sympathize, as a Canadian I can’t do anything about it. All I can do is prepare to defend my country, which is what I am currently doing.

    The Harris/Walz Campaign was the greatest Democratic Party campaign I have seen in my life, and given a choice between Hope and Joy, the American voters went Nope*.

    *that’s a Megamind reference playing off the famous Obama posters.

  82. 82.

    cain

    @WTFGhost:

    Honestly, let’s not attack other people for having a different opinion. Nobody really knows what the right play is. We need to all recognize that regardless of the vote the chaos is going to proceed unabated.

    I do not want to see a circular firing squad here.

    ETA Miki is on the same side as we are.

  83. 83.

    Matt McIrvin

    @JiveTurkin: Trump is killing Wall Street! They’re baffled that it’s not going down like 2017.

    The NSF cuts are going to bone American industry for 20 years even if the tariffs don’t but they don’t understand it yet. They’re going to have to import people with advanced technical degrees except ICE won’t let them.

  84. 84.

    Eunicecycle

    It looks like all but one voted no this time. I’m assuming Fetterman was the yes. 54-46

    Nope it was Shaheen. Then I see Paul also voted against it. Not sure of the numbers now.

  85. 85.

    laura

    My unwanted and unpopular opinion- we were fucked on November 5th full stop. Not my job to be shity to my elected officials trying many ways to deal with what was decided by the slimmest majority of voters. There, I said it.

  86. 86.

    mrmoshpotato

    @jackmac:

    I’ve always liked Dick Durbin, but after this vote he’s moved into worse-than-useless territory and either needs to end his (still unannounced) 2026 reelection bid or pick up a significant primary challenger. 

    Agreed.  Shame on my senior Senator.

  87. 87.

    cain

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Those NSF cuts are going to kill any advancement in science and by extension military or anything. We’re on our way to have a shitty arsenal like Russia. I guess that means the oligarchs will have to move on and find another place to spread their plague while we continue to circle the drain.

  88. 88.

    lowtechcyclist

    Gotta admit this one has hit me hard.  I think I may toss a few shekels in at some of those thermometers, then take a break for a few days.

  90. 90.

    am

    I won’t support a single Democratic primary, I have two Republican senators so I don’t have that luxury. For god’s sake, why are Democrats so awful? The Republicans win, and we blame ourselves.

    Read the links that Josh Marshall posted from Fetterman and Reids’ former COS: https://x.com/AJentleson/status/1900325222252711936, https://x.com/AJentleson/status/1900334314635608459.

    Maybe you can read the post on TPM without a subscription: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/black-thursday-in-the-democratic-senate-an-explainer

    These 10 Senators aren’t turncoats or traitors because you disagree. It’s a nuanced situation, and frankly I am much more motivated to defeat Republicans than waste my time fighting people on my own side.

  91. 91.

    Jay

    @schrodingers_cat:

    First off, it’s not glee, it’s dark, twisted Canadian humour. We laugh in the trenches.

    As for the cycle of RWNJ’s, our RWNJ “Think Tanks” import yours, to teach our RWNJ’s how to be better RWNJ’s, often at a young age. When they go RWNJ enough to impact their market share, (eg. The Rebel News alumni), because Canadian’s ain’t buying it, they head south where there is a much larger, more receptive and more lucrative market.

    I expect that Pierre Poilievre will be running for US office in 2028.

  93. 93.

    zhena gogolia

    @laura: Absolutely correct.

    But we can’t give up anyway. I’m not ready to throw in the towel. I’m just not sure where to put my energies.

    But I’m not expecting the Democrats in Congress to save me.

  94. 94.

    mrmoshpotato

    @cain:

    Those NSF cuts are going to kill any advancement in science and by extension military or anything. We’re on our way to have a shitty arsenal like Russia. I guess that means the oligarchs will have to move on and find another place to spread their plague while we continue to circle the drain. 

    Unsurprising with the Kremlin’s bitch in the White House.

  97. 97.

    TS

    No way would the GOP senators have done this to support a Democratic Party Bill – I will never understand why any democrats are acting as supporters rather than as an opposition. Bipartisanship 100% ended with President Obama & probably well before that for most of it. It is a word republicans use so the media can attack democrats – no other reason to even say it.

  99. 99.

    Jay

    @mrmoshpotato:

    You let him in, just like Musk, and even bent the rules to let him in.

    He’s your problem and Cancun’s. He’s probably there now.

    I see Texass and Oklahoma are burning, too bad about FEMA.

  100. 100.

    WaterGirl

    @Miki:

    Jeebus. They voted NO on cloture.

    I am confused by your comment.  Who voted NO on cloture?  You seem to be unhappy with two people who aren’t on the YES list.

    Can you clarify what  you are saying?

  101. 101.

    cain

    @am:

    These 10 Senators aren’t turncoats or traitors because you disagree. It’s a nuanced situation, and frankly I am much more motivated to defeat Republicans than waste my time fighting people on my own side.

    100% this. When we fight each other the Republicans win, Trump wins.  Fighting over why one deck chair is better placed than the other on the Titanic is not get us to move the damn ship.

  104. 104.

    WTFGhost

    Well, you said:

    @Miki: A Hobson’s choice is still a choice, muthafuckers.

    I responded as I would to someone saying “A Hobson’s choice is still a choice muthafuckers”

    I’m sorry – am I supposed to know that you’re a long, respected, beloved, Jackal who is saying something really childish? I didn’t know. I just responded the way I respond to nasty people making trash statements when people are upset.

    Don’t worry – I’m leaving.

    @cain: Don’t worry – I’ve been told my moral arguments boil down to wanting big swinging dicks. I’m gone.

    @Jay: You’re right, telling someone they live in a crack house isn’t a childish insult – everything you’ve done is so mature, I’m truly shamed, and that’s why I’m gone. “Don’t live above a crack house, live in one.” Tell me that wasn’t the equivalent of a mooning – I’ll laugh to that on my way out!

  107. 107.

    Rusty

    @John S.: About NH, we are a very purple state.  At the Federal level, all blue, at the state level, all red.  All the Dems want to be “bipartisan ” for the small number of swing voters that decide every election.  I can’t tell you how disappointed I am with our senators, but that is who they are.

  110. 110.

    WaterGirl

    @zhena gogolia: If you have any spare change, you can help get us to our goal in supporting the FL special elections.  We are $430 short of our goal.

    Then we can move on to organizing for the NY special election.

    One foot in front of the other.

  111. 111.

    Jeffro

    @cain:Schumer is the poster child of Trump enablement right now. Trump knows what he is doing when he posted that. He’s twisting the knife. He’ll be bringing up Schumer by name a few more times.

    which is funny, b/c just a day or two ago trumpov was calling Schumer a “Palestinian” (as a major insult)

    I’d suggest that someone run that by the MAGAts and see what they think, but they don’t care – the whiplash must be half the fun with that crowd

  113. 113.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Jay: It is malpractice  to assume we won’t.  Just like it is malpractice to think that they will solve everything.

  114. 114.

    Sxjames

    @laura: thank you. I agree – we were boned starting Nov 5th.

    There was no good choice. While I would have personally voted no on cloture, I not going to criticise a fellow Dem who evaluated the horrible options before them and in good faith came to a different conclusion.

  115. 115.

    cain

    @WTFGhost:

    Eh I just said we shoudn’t be a circular firing squad and that regardless of this vote, Trump is going to keep doing this thing the end result is the same. My note was for everyone not specifically for you.

  116. 116.

    Quiltingfool

    OT:  Mr. Quiltingfool works for County Road Dept.  Got called out to remove a tree from one of the gravel roads (he operates a backhoe).  Anyway, he called me a few minutes ago; I guess we have some wildfires, people being evacuated.  The wind has been horrendous, and stupid folks around here were probably burning fields.

    Our place is west of the main fires (and wind is out of the west), so not a problem here.  Good news/bad news though – it just started raining like a bastard (yay) but there may be tornados.

    Welcome to Missouri!  All kinds of shit happening at once!

  117. 117.

    Gloria DryGarden

    OT

    In spite of despair, and stress and exhaustion, I want to wish everyone a happy pi day, concurrent with the full moon.

    celebrating all things that are circular, or spherical, including cylinders and cones, and thus need pi for volume assessment.
    im thinking of sweets, and drinks, cookies and cakes, and ice cream cones, cans of high end soup, your jar of spaghetti sauce or almond butter.

    May the volume on sweetness and nourishment increase, or at least return to the previous levels. May we all have enough.
    Somehow.

  118. 118.

    cain

    @Jeffro: Schumer is the Wall St. vote. I think that’s probably where that’s coming from. I don’t know why the others voted the way they did.

    @Martin – I don’t want to fight with each other here. Telling our representatives what we think is fair game.

  120. 120.

    Jay

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Nope, it is not. In the past. What do you expect from White People?

    South Africa modeled it’s Apartheid Laws on the Canadian Indian Acts.

    On the other hand, while y’all are going backwards, in most of Canada, we are still going forward.

    In BC, we are giving Land Back, acknowledging Self Government, etc. One of my ex’s BFF’s is a Diwalli from Kamloops, (a very long history as RedNeck Central). Her family came here in 1878 from the Punjab to work for the HBC. When the Exclusion Acts were passed, funny thing, Canadian courts said they were Canadian. Ditto for Paul, one of my fishing buddies, who is of Kanak origin.

    The New Brunswick Con’s lost their majority in a landslide election to the Liberals, due to one issue, the Con’s were TERF’s.

    Meanwhile, on the r/Leopards Eating Faces threads, another common thread is “but they are hurting the wrong people”.

    Your adopted nation has all but declared war on mine. So, well, that would be impolite to continue that sentence.

  122. 122.

    cain

    TPM had this great paragraph from yesterdays post:
    “There was a recognition up in the Senate yesterday that letting the bill pass was a bad idea, but that was matched by a pained realization that the caucus wasn’t ready for the fight. They hadn’t laid any of the groundwork. They didn’t have a clear answer of what they’d be fighting for if a shutdown happened. They’d put their bets on Mike Johnson not being able to get a bill through the House without Democratic votes. When he did, they were caught flatfooted. But the “they” here is Chuck Schumer. That’s the leader’s job. He lead them into a corner.”

    Schumer could not control his caucus. He’s politically dead at this point. He didn’t explore all angles, it was just thoughts and prayers according to the analysis. I believe it.

    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/black-thursday-in-the-democratic-senate-an-explainer

  123. 123.

    Darkrose

    @Jay: Oh, we will. Dear Leader will get 98% of the vote after the opposition candidates are jailed, and most voters in urban areas will have their votes thrown out, but the Times and Post will point out the see, we still have elections!

  128. 128.

    Darkrose

    @Another Scott: Seriously, we’re supposed to believe that the House Republicans, the ones who put that poison pill in the CR to begin with, are going to agree not to punish DC for being majority Black and hating Trump? Surely, Lucy won’t pull the football away this time!

  129. 129.

    Jay

    @WTFGhost:

    Given the state of your mental health, etc, it is probably a good idea to take a break. In the US, things are only going to get worse from here on. This vote was as bad for US Democracy as the Supremes Immunity for DJTdiot ruling.

    Vent when you want, skim if you can, watch and listen to some stand up comedy or music. When you want to get involved again, do so.

  130. 130.

    Sxjames

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yes, I think the way Shumer handled the situation *politically* is deserving of lots of criticism.

    (Have to step out for a bit. Sorry I can’t expound on my thoughts)

  132. 132.

    cain

    I think TPM agrees that what just happened was a Chernobyl level event and that the Dem senate leadership and the people who voted for this are about to find out how badly they fucked up in a few days. TPM argues that they all have been living in a bubble.

    “Even if one posits that the fissure may lead to positive change — clearing out some older order in favor of whatever might be new — that fissure is a big, big problem in itself quite apart from that. That’s not saying, “oh, don’t get into it because there’ll be this big fissure.” It’s just recognizing the reality of the situation. It’s a reality regardless of who you think is right on the question driving the fissure.

    I don’t think Chuck Schumer and whichever other senators may join him today grasp the size of the chasm they’re opening up. I get the sense the full level of it will only begin to dawn on them sometime next week. If I’m right that they don’t fully grasp it, why don’t they? Well, you generally don’t see things you’re heavily invested in not seeing. Washington and particularly the Capitol also remain in their own bubble of sorts, despite the fact that in many key ways it is at the very center of the storm.

    I’m sorry for the morbid analogy, but I think of those Chernobyl scenes with people who’ve already been irradiated but didn’t realize it yet. They think they’re fine. But they’re not. They’ll find out in a few days.”

    I bolded the key point here. I can understand that of Schumer and Durbin, I don’t know about the others. Still trying to use the old playbook from the 80s.

  133. 133.

    Darkrose

    If you’re wondering why the CR will be worse than a shutdown, from WaPo:

    But the bill lawmakers passed this week could give Trump authority to move some funding around without fear of judicial intervention. Sen. Patty Murray (Washington), the top Democratic appropriator, published a list of dozens of examples of programs that the measure could allow Trump to change. For instance, Trump would have “near-absolute” authority over specific Army Corps of Engineers projects, more authority to pick which health-care or mental health programs to implement and “broad discretion” over Centers for Disease Control and Prevention programs, according to Murray’s office.

    It basically says Trump can do whatever he wants with the money that Congress has appropriated.

  134. 134.

    Gvg

    @Jay: I think we will. They may be crooked and votes suppressed but we have been voting on a schedule for hundreds of years. I don’t think they can stop the momentum. Everyone will notice, and so many things expect elections. We do need to call them chickens though, at every opportunity.

  135. 135.

    am

    @TS:

    No way would the GOP senators have done this to support a Democratic Party Bill

    I agree that Republicans would have put party over country. While I’m disappointed to not win, it isn’t the same by a long shot. While I’m not thrilled at how Schumer handled this, I am more than okay with Schumer not being McConnell.

  138. 138.

    Stella

    Important context from AOC regarding the vote.

    https://bsky.app/profile/aoc.bsky.social/post/3lkeqn7u7u22c

    Among the material devastation to everyday people, Senate Dems have now blown a hole in their ability to work with the House.

    We had an agreed upon plan, House took immense risk, then Senate turned around midway and destroyed it w/ a fear-based, inexplicable abdication.

    They own what happens next.

  140. 140.

    jowriter

    @cain: Schumer has never really even pretended that he needs the small-dollar money from the Dem base.  He’s all Wall Street and the rest of the big money boyz.  He and Gillibrand never pursue the Act Blue crowd.  Going to be difficult to unseat them here in NY. But I want to be one of the Dems who try. I am a Connecticut native, and dearly wish Murphy was my Senator. It’s tempting to move.

  141. 141.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Jay: it’s odd, that we know Russia had massive influence toward the elections of FFOTUS, -they paid hackers and operatives, it cost $ – and yet people in other countries who care and would like things to improve here, can’t donate towards an election campaign.
    Maybe you can send someone here $ as a gift to help w expenses (remainder of this thought left unstated). A local  friend did that with me once, covered my month’s mortgage, to free up funds, because I had a credit card, and he didn’t. Then I could afford to chip in.

    It’s so utterly appalling that my government is threatening yours, or Greenland, or anyone else. I imagine if soldiers are actually called up for a military engagement, god forbid, there will be an astonishing rate of desertion, or something. I think we’re all raised to think pretty highly of Canada and Canadians.

  143. 143.

    Another Scott

    @Another Scott: To answer my own question:

    WARNING – TheHill.com:

    The final vote was 54-46. Two members of the Democratic caucus voted for the bill, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who is retiring at the end of her current term, and Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with Democrats. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted no.

    So Fetterman was a No on final passage.  Interesting.

    Like many of us, there are many times when I have wanted to burn down the filibuster / cloture system in the Senate. The final vote here may be an indication of how such a counter-factual Senate would work while we’re in the minority – good unity, but not universal, and not enough to affect the outcome.

    FWIW.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  147. 147.

    Miki

    Ugh. KLOBUCHAR AND SMITH VOTED AGAINST CLOTURE.

    I  think that’s a good thing.

    Convince me otherwise.

  149. 149.

    cain

    @Darkrose: I was mentioning that in another thread. The budget is pretty much useless. Whatever congress is funding can be directed wherever Trump wants.

    So what did Schumer and others vote for exactly? They gave up congress’s oversight for nothing other than not to look bad when things go belly up. Yay.

    Political scientists are going to be analyzing this for decades.

  150. 150.

    tam1MI

    @schrodingers_cat: Winnable special elections and midterms next year.

    Under “winnable special elections”, there are some coming up in April.  Chceck out WaterGirl’s threads, she has been going over and above organizing for those.

  152. 152.

    Baud

    Via Reddit

    Gov. Walz, “There’s nothing conservative about an unelected South African nepo baby firing people at the VA.”

  158. 158.

    Noskilz

    None of them should ever hold any office of any kind again.

    Has Schumer cancelled his book tour yet? I mean he clearly has terrible judgement, but the level of oblivious stupidity to pull this and then go ahead with a publicity tour would really be something else.

    According to Eventbrite, they are still selling tickets – there are various times and locations, that is just for  one of them.

  159. 159.

    tam1MI

    @schrodingers_cat:I don’t won’t spend my meager resources (and all our resources are meager compared to the R moneybags) on primarying imperfect Ds.

    I agree with you up to a point.  Where I disagree with you is that I think primaries, or the threat thereof, are a tool in the toolbox we can use to build a strong Democratic Party.  However, it is a tool that must be wielded carefully, because otherwise it could hurt us more than it helps us.  We should use it only against the truly bad Dems (such as Lieberman back in the day), because otherwise we risk losing seats that we can’t afford to lose.

  160. 160.

    chemiclord

    @Archon: While that’s true, it would be nice if we accepted that letting Republicans shoot all the hostages (and they would) isn’t exactly a great resolution either.

    I wanted them to shut it down, but I’m not going to pretend that they squandered some great opportunity here.  DOGE wasn’t getting tossed, Elon wasn’t getting tossed.  Republicans had no reason to ever concede much, and no, they wouldn’t have taken any more “blame” for the current state of things then they already are.

    While the performative politics would have been better, at the end of the day it would have been merely performative.

    I’m done stirring to a frothing rage because Dems didn’t choose my preferred losing scenario.

    Schumer can get primaried though.  Fuck, every Dem politician everywhere should face a primary challenge every single fucking election.  This idea that facing challenges and our voters makes us weaker is bullshit and needs to die.

  161. 161.

    WaterGirl

    @Miki:  I am still confused.

    Ugh. KLOBUCHAR AND SMITH VOTED AGAINST CLOTURE.

    I  think that’s a good thing.

    Ugh indicates bad.  You think voting against cloture is bad?  And then you say you think it’s a good thing.  I was confused by a previous comment from you, also.

  162. 162.

    tam1MI

    @Quiltingfool: I have a friend at AKC Dog Agility Trials in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which wildfires are getting uncomfortably close to.  I texted them and told them to just get the hell out now, no agility championship is worth her life.  Those fires are just too damn close to Tulsa and the wind is horrific.

  163. 163.

    WaterGirl

    @tam1MI: I’m not sure it’s possible to go over and above in these times.  Unless you are suggesting that I’m doing it too much?

  169. 169.

    Another Scott

    @zhena gogolia: If you made a mistake, contact ActBlue – they can fix it.

    (I somehow donated $1000 to some campaign once.  Much, much more than intended.  They fixed it.)

    Good luck!

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  170. 170.

    Miki

    OMFG. Klobuchar and Smith voted against cloture. IT’S A GOOD THING. That’s why I praised them.

    Help me, dog.

  172. 172.

    The Red Pen

    So we’ve all been through these government shutdowns. Government employees are furloughed, and a lot of facilities (like parks) are shut down. Then, after heads are removed from asses, the funding resumes and the furloughed workers come back with back pay. What’s so terrible about that?

    Nothing.

    BUT if the employee is furloughed for more than 30 days then reduction in force provisions under 3 CFR Part 351 are authorized. That allows the government to just lay off the furloughed employees with very few exceptions. An administration that wanted to completely gut large parts of the federal workforce could do so with little that those pesky courts could do about it. Social Security Administration? Gone. Department of Education? Gone. Parks Services? Gone. IRS? Gone. FBI? Toothless. The list goes on.

    All of this would happen exactly 31 days after the shutdown… y’know if you had leadership who were insane enough to do that.

    Just putting that out there.

    Please continue trashing Chuck Schumer. (Seriously, I don’t like him anyway.)

  174. 174.

    tam1MI

    @Archon:You’re joking, right?

    There’s scarcely a nation on Earth that can say with a straight face that it hasn’t or doesn’t persecute their minorities.

  175. 175.

    chemiclord

    @The Red Pen: And that’s a big part of the reason that I’m not frothing with rage; the reality that letting the government shut down wasn’t going to get anything, and arguably let Trump and Musk and DOGE do what they wanted to do quicker.

    Was this a stupid fight to have purely on the merits of policy?  Probably.  But at some point, you have to fight for something, and the masses are getting really sick and tired of watching elected Democrats refuse to.

    The performative politics matters to a lot of people.  Should it?  I don’t think so… but I’ve come to accept that our electorate is run entirely on vibes and nothing else.  We’re fucked because of it, but eh, such is life I guess.​ Might as well go down swinging.

  177. 177.

    frosty

    @Jay: My view from the door-knocking trenches was that the Harris-Walz campaign was good but not the best. That was Obama’s two, with 2012 a little better than 2008. I have never seen the volunteer work organized better, before or after.

    It makes a difference when your candidate started as a community organizer.

  178. 178.

    Quiltingfool

    @WaterGirl: I think the rain helped.  It was a real frog strangler!

    You know the smell when a camp fire is put out by a bunch of water?  That’s what it smells like now, and that’s good.

    The wind has laid down too.

  179. 179.

    tam1MI

    @WaterGirl:I’m not sure it’s possible to go over and above in these times.  Unless you are suggesting that I’m doing it too much?

    Oh, absolutely not!  I just wanted to give you a shout-out for the good work you have been doing.  This has been a pretty lousy day for everyone, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to let you know that your good work has been noticed and appreciated.

  180. 180.

    tam1MI

    @Darkrose: I wonder how much of it had to do with Elon, and how much was South Africa bringing the genocide case against Israel to the ICC.

    My guess:  50/50.

  181. 181.

    Betty

    @JiveTurkin: That was the conclusion I came to once I realized Gillibrand,was pushing it. She is an ex-Wall Streeter. So I see Schumer rushed over to Jake Tapper to brag about his courage in standing to his own party. Republicans are having a good laugh.

  182. 182.

    pajaro

    @VFX Lurker:

    My information is exactly the opposite, that there was an agreement between Jeffries and Schumer that if Dems held the line the House, Schumer and the Dems would step up in the Senate.  Your post, and those of others, that it is the Dems who voted for Closure who needed cover, rather than the one who voted for a shutdown, is the opposite of the reality, particularly in purple states.

    Most people in this country don’t want the government to shut down.  Democrats in purple states won elections by promising they would make the lives of their constituents better, not that they would close government, and that they would work with Republicans to make it happen.  They did so not because of what donors or consultants told them, but because of what the voters they were trying to get to vote for them told them.

    This was a tough vote for people like Ossoff and Warnock, and it sucks that Schumer and others stabbed them in the back.  Democrats may be inept, but they are not clinically insane, and no one anywhere wanted them to come out looking as badly as they do right now.

  183. 183.

    different-church-lady

    I have no legitimate rationale for saying this, but my gut tells me this is the least shitty option. Sometimes we get entrenched with our first approach and then refuse to let go of it.

    DCL, +3 really really hard earned ones this week.

  185. 185.

    cain

    @pajaro: ​Most people in this country don’t want the government to shut down. Democrats in purple states won elections by promising they would make the lives of their constituents better, not that they would close government, and that they would work with Republicans to make it happen. They did so not because of what donors or consultants told them, but because of what the voters they were trying to get to vote for them told them.

    Their voting patterns speaks otherwise on what they wanted even if by a slim margin. “Promising to work with Republicans”? Are you kidding me? The party that’s been doing govt shutdowns since the 90s?
    That’s not a great thing to promise and at this point those purple states are in the FO part of FAFO of what they voted for. Dems are in no position to stop anything.​
    ​
    ​

  187. 187.

    cain

    @The Red Pen:  Please continue trashing Chuck Schumer. (Seriously, I don’t like him anyway.)

    The CR that passed allows Trump move money wherever regardless of what it is earmarked for. Those people are going to get furloughed and gone in 30 days.  Schumer believes that if we just give whatever Trump has that he would own the chaos.

    Historically, giving an authoritarian whatever he wants has never worked out for anybody.

  188. 188.

    Miki

    @WaterGirl: Please stop. My defensiveness (i.e. “ugh”) is in response to ridiculous attacks on my posts supporting Amy Klobuchar’s and Tina Smith’s votes NO against cloture. AFAIK,  plenty of jackals agree with me. You, too, actually.

    I’m not going to waste my time trying to explain why someone misunderstood me when I thanked Klobuchar and Smith for doing the right thing. Trashing that was stupidity.

  189. 189.

    Jackie

    @John S.:

    Patty Murray for minority leader. She had been outstanding these past few months. So proud she’s my senator.

    I love Patty; voted for her when her slogan was “A Mom in Tennis Shoes/Sneakers” in 1992. She’s not going to run after her term’s up and I’m good with that. If Schumer’s to be replaced, it’s time for a younger, and politically smarter minority leader/Majority Leader to replace him. Enough of the 70/80 yr olds.

  190. 190.

    The Red Pen

    @chemiclord: I’m not going to say that the Democrats are putting up the fight they need to do. They need to stop pretending that things are normal.

    But the government shut down was a trap.

  192. 192.

    The Red Pen

    @cain:The CR that passed allows Trump move money wherever regardless of what it is earmarked for. Those people are going to get furloughed and gone in 30 days.

    Oh we are in for more and more suck, no doubt. But it won’t be the because of a decisions the Democrats made.

  195. 195.

    chemiclord

    @different-church-lady: The big fact to remember is that the Democrats do not have any power to stop the evisceration of the federal government.  That power was taken away from them by the voters of this country.  So yes, that voters are getting furious at Democrats is a little fucking rich.

    American voters need to go to their nearest mirror, point at the person looking back at them, and say, “This is all your fault.  You did this to you.  You need to fix it.”

    That said, one way to help people reaching that point as an elected official is not fucking roll over and give up.  No, this isn’t where the fight should have been, but guess what?  This is where the voters decided the line needed to be drawn.  And 10 fucking tone-deaf Democrats decided “Nah.”

  197. 197.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @hrprogressive: What? Really?

    This vote was a hobson’s choice and 10 took the side you picked against.

    perhaps people will finally recognize that elected GOPers and Hair Apprentice actively hate this country and are actively trying to burn it all down.

  198. 198.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Citizen Alan: How many of them centralized the phrase, “…all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain inaliable rights?”

  199. 199.

    prostratedragon

    At once petty and ominous, the scrubbing of bio pages of black and women veterans:

    The pages featured short biographies about the people buried in the cemetery, including Gen. Colin L. Powell, the first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Hector Santa Anna, a B-17 bomber pilot, Berlin Airlift pilot, and members of the Tuskegee Airmen

    https://wapo.st/4isEBv8

  200. 200.

    Jackie

    @prostratedragon:

     Also impacted: Hector Santa Anna, a World War II bomber pilot, members of the Tuskegee Airmen, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first Black American to sit on the high court, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

  201. 201.

    ExPatExDem

    @schrodingers_cat:  Moments like these are why there was so little enthusiasm to vote D in the first place.  Harris ran as a Cheney-hugging Neocon.  Shumer surrendered without a fight.

    Who TF asked for that?

  203. 203.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @ExPatExDem:

    Harris ran as a Cheney-hugging Neocon.

    She absolutely fucking did not. This is a total line of bullshit. The economic message was present in the campaign from beginning to end.

    Oh and by the way, it’s well known that successful resistance movements are composed of lots of different people who make common cause with each other who only agree to oppose the autocrat

  204. 204.

    RaflW

    Probably a dead end, but I went back and looked and I donated $70 to Cortez Masto in Sept of ’22. I just emailed her campaign account this afternoon and asked for my seventy bucks back. I doubt it’ll happen, but I also made it clear she’s never getting another dime from me.

    I did get $20 refunded to me from Jared Golden’s campaign in August when he did some dipshitty thing. That was easier because it was an active campaign. I do not for one second regret getting that money back.

  207. 207.

    John S.

    @Jackie:

    You’re right, and I agree with your take. I just wish that Murray was the leader right now and not Schumer. Not only do I think that she would be doing a better job as an opposition leader, but I think she would have been a terrific bridge to the future generation of leaders.

  208. 208.

    Jay

    Range day, yesterday.

    No biggie, already past, (exceeded) quals,

    Back in the day, (based on a CDN sniper manual from 1920), Canada moved from shooting at circular targets to man shaped targets.

    The theory is that over rides the innate instinct to kill another human.

    When I started, as a Cadet, they were racially insensitive  Jap’ s and Nazi’s. War surplus.

    Then, it was Cold War So-Be-Its and Korean War Chinese.

    Today was a bit of a shock. Target’s aren’t just black and white.

    Full colour, US gear, Flag patches.

  210. 210.

    chemiclord

    @different-church-lady: I think you’ll find a lot of disagreement on that score… but not a lot of acknowledging that the least shitty path and the most shitty path aren’t terribly significant beyond the vibes.

    Unfortunately, vibes matter far far far too much in our society.

  211. 211.

    No One You Know

    @Hildebrand: My hosts in Spain were equally generous and kind in 2005, when I burst out at a dinner, “¡Él no es mi presidente!” and suddenly the bar wouldn’t take my money and people gathered around to meet the American who spoke Spanish like a 3rd-grader but did well at charades.

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