Going to be interesting if Biden makes these kinds of statements in the debates. https://t.co/t2kQ4EwRsj
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) September 21, 2020
Mitch McConnell makes pronouncements like this when he is still trying to line up his caucus.
He doesn’t talk about what he’s going to do unless he isn’t sure he has the votes to do it. https://t.co/x175RcW7TB
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) September 21, 2020
It wasn’t “Republicans” who didn’t want Garland. It was McConnell, who was afraid the public would like Obama’s judge if they got to know him in hearings, and wasn’t sure he had enough votes to reject him to start out. https://t.co/1SM180ClkE
— Jonathan Myerson Katz (@KatzOnEarth) September 20, 2020
Manchin not dismissing court expansion is a good indication of how, after decades of the Repubs breaking laws, violating norms, & thwarting majorities, that Senate Dems increasingly don’t GAF what the Republicans say about them. https://t.co/5nuN2WHpyz
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) September 21, 2020
Political tweet of the day:
I wasn't afraid of complacency before, but now it's a fear that ranks somewhere around dying of a heart attack during the next Star Wars because it's so good that my heart gives out.
— Tentin Quarantino (@agraybee) September 21, 2020
Baud
Episode X: The Rise of Jar Jar.
featheredsprite
OMG! #1
eta: #2
craigie
I’ve gotten to the point where I want them to push some nutcase onto the court, so that we have the clear moral authority to add 4 new judges. And if we end up with 999 Supremes in a few decades, so much the better. Then no individual judge will be this important.
gene108
@Baud:
Can’t be worse than the “Rise of Skywalker”.
I just hope our voters can remain this angry and fired up for the rest of the 2020’s.
Without Trump to focus our rage on, I fear we may see a serious drop in public engagement.
Baud
@gene108: That’s the risk. It’s happened before.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Angus King opposes eliminating the filibuster, I haven’t seen him comment on court reform
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
We’ll see. She says she doesn’t believe in it. I guess that’s a hedge. Will she really stop the momentum if the GOP puts Trump’s pick on?
MisterForkbeard
@Baud: Episode XI: The Last Jar-Jar
?BillinGlendaleCA
@gene108: Wait for Episode XII – The Rise of Baud!
Damien
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Feinstein must be losing a step, because of course it’s used less than when she first came in, BECAUSE REPUBLICAN PIGS MADE IT THE LEGISLATIVE DEFAULT.
I look forward to voting for a younger, sharper replacement in the next primary.
Roger Moore
@craigie:
I have an alternative proposal. Instead of expanding the Supreme Court, we should shrink it down to 7 members by eliminating the member who has served the longest and the one who has served the shortest time.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
actually, what differentiates the Senate is that WY gets the same representation as CA.
prostratedragon
@Baud: Maybe proper rounds of truth commissions, investigations, and trials could help forestall that.They could easily last through much of the decade and make it harder for people to forget or ignore.
MisterForkbeard
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Ugh. I’ve defended Feinstein a lot in the past but this is just execrable.
Biden can probably get her to change her mind, and she has a golden opportunity to change her mind if McConnell does force a justice through. “I thought Republicans believed in a functioning government and following rules. They don’t. At this point, there is no option left but to change how the Supreme Court works, as the Republicans have now succeeded in sabotaging it for a generation.” Etc.
Baud
@prostratedragon:
I’m skeptical that the public will remain interested in that. I’m even skeptical that progressives will remain interested in that.
MisterForkbeard
@Damien: Well, no. The filibuster is never used now because McConnell only schedules votes he wants to pass, and Democrats can’t filibuster judges. That’s it.
Oh, I suppose technically we didn’t have that many filibusters in late-Obama presidency either, because Republicans just wouldn’t schedule votes at all. The filibuster has been nearly dead for the last 6 years for a reason, you know?
It didn’t even block ACA removal, as that was done on a 50-vote threshold. So what has it done recently?
Another Scott
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/517391-house-democrats-unveil-bill-to-avert-shutdown
As usual, the GOP side can’t get its act together, and Donnie wants free billions to throw at areas that he thinks supports his voters.
Cheers,
Scott.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@MisterForkbeard: Basically all the filibuster does is make Congress look ineffectual. People look at Congress(I’ve heard this from both Republicans and Democrats) and say all they do is argue and they never get anything done.
Roger Moore
@MisterForkbeard:
Filibusters still happen when McConnell wants to force the Democrats to put their names on blocking his proposals. The most recent example I can think of was the Republican COVID relief bill. It wasn’t a serious attempt at legislation- it was obvious DOA in the House- but McConnell wanted to force the Democrats to vote against it in the hopes it could be used against them.
Dorothy A. Winsor
An alternative would be to actually make them filibuster–stand on the floor and talk for hours.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I blogged about some issues in writing “strong” female characters. In fantasy, that tends to mean women becoming fighters. IMHO, strong women don’t have to be manly men. Strong MEN don’t have to be manly men.
mdblanche
@gene108: Serious questions: Is anybody expecting Trump to act like a normal ex-president? What evidence is there that he’d ever become a reserved elder statesman? Why wouldn’t he run again in 2024 and why would he lose the nomination? And how could we all miss him if he won’t go away?
scott (the other one)
@gene108: The chances of Trump NOT continuing to get even worse over the next 43 days are, as the bard once said, somewhere between Slim and None…and Slim just walked out the door.
oatler.
@MisterForkbeard:
Enough of your Jar-Jar bashing, young man!
Just Chuck
I have so little faith in this country’s ability to make real structural changes. I lay odds at 10% that the court actually gets expanded or the filibuster is ended. PR or DC statehood at 1% because blahblahblah tradition and “50 is a nice round number”. Count on that very argument actually being made. Maybe double those odds if there were 100 Democrats in the Senate.
Kent
It’s just tanned and rested and ready to jump up and bite the head of every single damn thing that Biden and the Democratic Party will want to do from 2021-onwards.
The notion that it isn’t used much because the GOP majority hasn’t had to use it recently is nonsensical.
Just Chuck
@mdblanche: He would lose the nomination because by 2024, Fox News will put a (D) after his name.
Jharp
Trump choked is far better.
scott (the other one)
@mdblanche: The physical and mental deterioration he’s undergone in the past four years is pretty amazing. Once out of office, and he no longer has passionate defenders to cover up his obvious slippage, it will only become more undeniable, especially since he’ll actually be under even more pressure post-Presidency, from civilian lawsuits, without the protection of his consigliere William Barr.
Kent
The other thing it does is shift the critical swing vote from the 50th most conservative/liberal Senator to the 60th most conservative/liberal Senator.
In a future 51/49 Dem Senate that means Manchin becomes the key deciding swing vote not say….Rand Paul.
lamh36
Garnder has nothing to lose, especially since he’ll likely lose his Senate seat. So this is NOT surprising.
Even tho she says otherwise, I expect the same of Susan Collins
https://twitter.com/jameshohmann/status/1308180491066134530
James E Powell
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
What I’ve always hated about Feinstein is that she can’t just say nothing, she has to preempt any Democratic position. She did it on impeachment then tried to walk it back. I do not understand why California Ds vote for her. I don’t understand why she can’t be a team player.
We are a dark blue state. At least one of our senators should be an envelope pushing left-winger who makes a lot of noise.
dmsilev
@mdblanche: He’ll be Tweeting incessantly and calling into any TV show that will have him (Fox and OANN mainly). No Bush “go away and take up painting as a hobby” for him. How much people outside the Trump cult will care about the blathering is another question.
Oh, and I give it about a week before no-longer-President Trump forgets that he no longer has “I can declassify things on my say-so” authority and blabs out something that should be secret. That’ll be …interesting.
Omnes Omnibus
The only way this makes any sense is as a euphemism.
JPL
@Roger Moore: can you do that? Does that help?
gene108
@Roger Moore:
Right now there are 8 members. Following your formula, we’d be at a 3-3 tie.
It’d only work, if Biden gets to pick and confirm RBG’s replacement.
ellie
@mdblanche: My fear is that he is going to go on a world tour, exposing all of America’s state secrets/plans/weapons, etc. He is a dangerously loose cannon.
Damien
@MisterForkbeard: Wow, that’s actually a really good point. So basically it exists as a shade only, a shadow of its former potency. Can’t really think of a better metaphor for the Senate itself…
L85NJGT
“I don’t get it, why are they confessing?”
“They aren’t confessing. They’re bragging.”
Another Scott
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Yup. But it’s complicated, as always.
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL30360 (25 page .pdf)
The biggest problem isn’t filibusters and cloture, it is instead that a monster like Moscow Mitch can sit on good bills, and good court nominees if he feels like it and never let those actions take place to consider the bills or the nominees if he wants to. And it’s only rarely that Senators do things like file a Discharge Petition to make him act. The presence of cloture and filibusters (or their absence) won’t affect that.
All that said, getting rid of the need for supermajorities to get things done is a good thing. The majority must be able to pass its agenda (and face the consequences if the public doesn’t like it).
tl;dr – Vote Blue!
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
lamh36
@lamh36: Lincoln Project is on it
https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1308182361587113984?s=20
Just Chuck
@ellie: Yeah but he lies about everything anyway, so who’s going to believe him if he actually tells a truthful secret?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@James E Powell:
She’s gotten lucky with timing and opponents.
Just Chuck
@Another Scott:
There’s such a thing? Why aren’t they filing one on every. single. god. damned. bill?
gene108
@prostratedragon:
@Baud:
There’s no way the public would be interested in a truth commission long enough for anyone to actual have any interest to lose.
I think most people just want back to some sense of normal, where the USA is not careening from one self-induced crisis to another, as well as a President, who is not a Russian stooge, has a normal range of human emotions, and is not cashing in on the Presidency.
Joe Falco
I received my absentee ballot in the mailbox today. I filled it out and plan to turn it in to the local office this week when I have time off. My vote ? will not be held up by Trump antics!
Martin
@James E Powell: We vote for her because she has seniority on Judiciary. If we can’t have more senators, we can at least have powerful ones.
Mike in NC
As the number of dead American’s crosses 200,000 due to Fat Bastard’s stupidity, laziness, and criminal negligence, I hope to see Lincoln Project or Biden/Harris ads pointing out that he gave himself the usual preposterous “A+” for handling the pandemic. Or maybe he said “A++” like the grades he’d claim he got in college and business school even though he paid other people to take exams.
Annie
I don’t agree that Tr*** panicked. You have to care about something to panic about it, and he didn’t care two pins about the virus.
gene108
@ellie:
Eh…I think Jared’s already sold all the good bits from the PDB’s to the highest bidders already…
Tony Jay
@craigie:
Look at it this way. For too long the Republicans have felt comfortable pushing the American system into crisis for partisan gain, confident that the Democrats would shy away from a no holds barred confrontation that would risk breaking too much important stuff, choosing instead to move on and clean up as much of the mess as they could while concentrating most of their capital on doing some actual good while they could.
This is different. Trump’s unpopularity and the outrageous radicalism of Mitch McConnell has given the Democrats a clear and eminently defensible response to Republican fuckery.
“You want to pack the Court with unhinged fuckoids to placate Trump, excite your Base and please your corporate donors? Fine. Go ahead. Knock yourselves out. Have a great big sloppy old time of it. Just so you know, though. When we have the White House and all Houses of Congress we’ll clean up your mess good and proper. You get your ‘win’ and in response we make the Supreme Court liberal for a generation.
How do you like them apples, Mitch? They crunchy enough for ya?”
Or words to that effect.
Roger Moore
@mdblanche:
I am not. I am expecting him to be stuck in the kind of legal trouble that would make Andrew Jackson blush. I would not be surprised if he went into exile to avoid prison.
Baud
@ellie:
Once he’s out of office, he can be prosecuted for that. So I hope he does it.
Another Scott
@Just Chuck: It looks like it’s much more common in the House, but there does exist such a thing in the Senate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discharge_petition
So, eh, kinda-sorta, but not really. There’s no reason why the Senate couldn’t create a real one, though, since it makes its own rules.
Cheers,
Scott.
mdblanche
@scott (the other one): A normal ex-president doesn’t spend all his time in court…
@Roger Moore: ETA or exile…
Immanentize
@gene108: unconstitutional. Ok?
lamh36
My gut tells me the only reason Collins made her statement was because Mitch already had the votes. Collins is vulnerable, but less so than Gardner.
prostratedragon
@Baud: Well, I hope we get a chance to see. What else ya got?
sdhays
@James E Powell: I also find Feinstein irritating, and her position on the filibuster is just a lazy analysis. I just don’t understand how someone can have been in the Senate so long and not be able to apply any critical analysis to the way things have been done.
But as I recall, she was misquoted regarding impeachment by people who were looking for a way to cause trouble.
MisterForkbeard
@lamh36:
There’s still a little wiggle room here, technically: These senators have said they’re allow a vote, not that they’ll vote for Trump’s nominee no matter what. So they have an opportunity later to change their minds, though they probably won’t take it.
EDIT: Also, I am completely unsurprised that Republicans are this amoral, hypocritical, and evil. Hopefully Biden makes this a campaign theme: You can’t trust Republicans to do anything, because all they do is lie. It’s the only constant they have, besides helping rich people. They lie, because they think you’re stupid. And they lie because they know their base won’t care that they’re being lied to.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@MisterForkbeard: I think the only one likely to change is Collins, in trump’s direction
lamh36
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think Collins will be a NO as long as Chump doesn’t need her to be a YES. Gardner as a YES give her cover. Unless ome GOPer gets an attack of conscience (which I don’t expect) they don’t need her
I just hope that Maine voters don’t fall for the okey doke
Kent
Am I correct in understanding that the biggest reason why they are pushing forward with a pre-election vote is because the AZ Senate seat would exchange hands immediately if Kelly wins the election since McSally is only an interim appointee?
Post-election the GOP is likely to have one less Senator
We just need about 3 more to get Covid and be on respirators unable to vote. Why can’t this damn disease do something useful.
Wyatt Salamanca
This is un-fucking-believable:
h/t https://www.thedailybeast.com/redstate-covid-troll-streiff-is-actually-bill-crews-and-he-actually-works-for-dr-anthony-fauci?ref=scroll
prostratedragon
@gene108: Really, all that’s needed is something to remind people that there’s something they don’t want to go back to –something to damp the oscillation of that pendulum.
Baud
@prostratedragon:
“Don’t blackmail me with the
Supreme Courtfascism!”Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Kent: I’ve seen the date of Nov 30 thrown around, but nothing definitive, and it’s not clear to me who makes that decision. Ducey? the AZ SoS?
Wyatt Salamanca
@mdblanche:
For starters, Trump has no record of ever acting like a normal human being.
Sloane Ranger
With Gardner and Grassley both saying they’ll go along with Turtle’s court packing, it looks like the hope of stopping the nomination going forward has disappeared, unless Romney says he will oppose and the guy from Arizona replaces McSally before the vote.
I suppose there’s no chance of 4 Republican Senators coming down with COVID-19 at an inconvenient moment is there? Or are they smart enough to stay away from Trump’s super spreader events
NB – see Kent had the same idea.
Mai Naem mobile
@mdblanche: I think Trumpov’s situation changes drastically once he loses the power of the presidency. He has little leverage, even with the people around him. Lindsay and Cruz will tell him to DIAF. Also, from the clips I see his Trumper rallies are full of people who are there for entertainment and excitement. I think a lot of these ‘supporters’ fall off once he loses the election. Nobody wants to be attached to a loser. Even Vlad.
Hoodie
@Tony Jay: The response is to finally fix an antiquated institution that has long-unsolved problems your fuckery has finally motivated us to fix. The irony is that I can remember a time when conservatives wanted the courts to quit usurping political power, and now they are desperately hanging on to judicial power as they see themselves becoming a political minority.
prostratedragon
@Baud: Ah, the good old days, when a person could say that to me without risking an immediate hard slap upside the jaw.
opiejeanne
@Just Chuck: Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I thought that Puerto Rico wasn’t interested in statehood.
Geminid
I believe Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) is on the record as opposing elimination of the filibuster also. Sinema often votes similarly to Joe Manchin, but doesn’t get as much attention (at least not for her politics). I suspect my Virginia senators Warner and Kaine are as reluctant as Feinstein to end the filibuster. But when he spoke at John Lewis’s funeral, Barack Obama did lay down a marker when he said that if the filibuster stopped meaningful voting rights reform it should be abolished, and I think he spoke advisedly. So, while I don’t expect a Democratic Senate majority to end the filibuster right out of the box next January, it could be gone by March 1. So much will depend on the outcome of this election. Will Biden win, and by how much? Will there be 50 Democratic Senators, or 57? Five Democratic Congressional seats lost, or 20 gained? I don’t know, but I’m staying tuned.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: What bothers me is her saying “It is not often used“. Yes, Dems don’t use it much, but repubs use it for everything. They won’t Democratic Senators cross the street without invoking a filibuster.
Another Scott
@opiejeanne: It looks like we’ll know much more after November 3.
Ballotpedia:
The governor’s party (New Progressive) advocates for statehood, according to Wikipedia.
Cheers,
Scott.
ThresherK
Hey, if anyone has the football game on: Did they just light a virtual eternal flame for Al Davis at the new Las Vegas stadium?
If so, we may have a new leader for Most Vegas Thing Ever.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
looks like Feinstein will be Judiciary chair if we take the Senate. I wonder if she wants to investigate Barr
Captain C
@Baud: I would watch that with a live Rifftracks and suitable mood enhancement.
Another Scott
@Kent:
[eta:] via nycsouthpaw
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@Annie: He cared about what it would do to the stock market. He was panicked that he might not win in November.
Roger Moore
@opiejeanne:
Puerto Rico has always been offered a complicated choice, usually between statehood, independence, and continued commonwealth status. Recent votes have leaned more toward statehood, but they haven’t managed to get a clear majority in favor, largely because that hasn’t been the available choice. They’re supposed to have a vote this year that’s cleanly between statehood and independence, which should be interesting.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
have we already done George Packer’s article about Weissman? I’m too lazy to look up the article itself today, but this is something I’ve been wondering about. Do our lawyers, or others, agree that Weissman is dropping a hint here that Junior took the fifth?
Sally
@gene108: Seriously, I agree.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Did Chris Hayes just say Act Blue processed $160 million since Friday!?!?
indycat32
@ThresherK: Yes they did.
frosty
@mdblanche: Trump won’t run in 2024 because he’ll be dead.
Baud
Holy cow. That player is OUT COLD.
ETA: He’s ok. Damn.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I didn’t hear him. But based on my calculations of their on line ticker that would be a correct number.
leeleeFL
@Roger Moore: Honestly, I think the American People should get to vote to confirm the Supreme Court nominees. While there would still be politics involved, it would likely be more grassroots driven, and I think the Founders might approve of that! We should probably nominate as well.
Goddammit! I am getting too fucking old for this shit.
opiejeanne
@ThresherK: For Al Fucking Davis??
Don’t get me started. The man was a vile, like a bit of excrement you find on your shoe after you’ve walked into your house and into the kitchen.
Another Scott
This is my shocked, shocked face.
Grr…
Cheers,
Scott.
Matt McIrvin
@James E Powell: We get it out of our system in MA by electing Republican governors. Unfortunately that means our COVID-19 infection rates are a little too high, but you can’t have everything.
PsiFighter37
@gene108: Well, what would happen is that RBG’s seat would not be filled, and Uncle Clarence would get the boot.
Nonetheless, I think there needs to be a serious discussion about SCOTUS reform, and honestly, the best way (IMO) is to make it completely apolitical, akin to the independent redistricting commisions. I have read something getting kicked around where you make it 15 people, split 5/5/5 GOP/Dem/indies, and then you have judges forcibly retired after a certain number of years. That makes much more sense than having lifetime appointments where it is now another political football, thanks to Moscow Mitch. Take it completely out of the hands of the criminally negligent Senate GOP and just make SCOTUS much more apolitical, while simultaneously recognizing that it will inherently be a political football if this continues.
lamh36
Someone said Rosa Parks was a “person of honor” so that means RBG will be the First Female “Government Official” to lie in state
Matt McIrvin
@Another Scott: It’s not clear we will, is it? The last time they had a statehood referendum, the anti-statehood parties boycotted it because of objections to the wording.
The basic problem is that there are at least three options–status quo, statehood and independence–none of which has been able to win a clear majority, and any vote to try to force some kind of win is going to upset somebody. For a long time it seemed like support for independence was dwindling and statehood was strengthening, but, man, these days I sure wouldn’t blame them for just wanting out.
Also, US liberals seem to just assume that PR can be turned into a reliably Democratic state, but it’s not at all clear that it even would be. The pro-statehood party is a more or less conservative party, if I recall correctly. Puerto Rican politics doesn’t map simply onto the mainland.
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
Evidently the difference is that one has to have been a holder of public office to qualify* for “Lying in State.” Rosa Parks was never elected or appointed to any kind of office, hence the different — but no less honourable — designation of “Lying in Honour.”
*ETA: Obviously not the only qualification, by a long shot
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I don’t mean to be so crabby, but why didn’t Weissmann present the findings? He knows it cold, he has some energy and passion – it would have been better. Why can’t these people work as a team? You parcel things out according to what people are best at. He’s obviously one of the better presenters.
DesertFriar
The one thing I thought of would be assuming a Dem President, Senate & Congress, pass a law stating that all Supreme Court Justices must retire once they turn 70. That would mean Breyer, Thomas and Alito would have to retire. Giving Biden 3 Justices to bring on. The 2nd term of Biden/Harris would bring Roberts & Sotomayor to step down. That would be 6 Justices for our side.
It would also preserve the standing count of the court. So the Republicans arguing tradition would be moot.
Also this wouldn’t be a law against the jurisdiction of the SC, but rather a check on the age of a Justice.
Baud
@DesertFriar:
It’s unconstitutional. You can’t force a federal judge to retire.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Kay: Present it to the House instead of Mueller, you mean? interesting idea
PJ
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: Where is this ActBlue ticker that people have been referencing? I don’t see it when I go to the website, and hunting around on their site and doing searches only brings up totals from previous months?
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
He could do the older statesman intro and then hand it off. They seem to have trouble with “hand it off”.
PJ
@leeleeFL: Uh, that sounds exactly like voting for judges, which happens in many states, and which does not lead to the best outcomes (it’s one reason why criminal punishments are so harsh in the US).
Elizabelle
@PsiFighter37: I don’t go with the 5/5/5 scheme (Dems, GOP, indies). Especially since “indies” are embarrassed GOP and glibertarians.
Rolling appointments; the president gets to make them. If the Electoral College does not screw us over too badly (get rid of it!), I like Democrats’ chances there.
PJ
@PsiFighter37: You assume that the same political parties will be around forever (I think if the GOP loses big this time, and becomes all Q-Anon in 2024, the party will split). Also, who wants an equal number of Greens and Libertarians on the Supreme Court? The whole point of appointing judges is to get away from strictly political considerations. If you’re just going to appoint people based on their politics, might as well vote for them (and we can see how well that works at the state level, which, in my opinion, is not very.)
Another Scott
@Matt McIrvin: There doesn’t seem to be any recent polling of people on the island that I can find, though there have been polls of Puerto Ricans in FL.
We’ll have to see.
Cheers,
Scott.
Kay
I was at an “educated Republicans” social event tonight- the better off ones around here- and they’re not excited about Trump. I’ve been around them when they were excited about one of their candidates. They loved GWB and they also loved Kasich. They never mention Trump and everyone carefully avoids talking about the election completely. Educated Democrats, OTOH, are freaking RABID :)
So you’ll get ALL of them. I just hope there are enough.
Gvg
@Matt McIrvin: my understanding is one of the issues is they don’t currently pay income tax, and if they are a state, they would. As poor as they are, I think that is not going to mean higher taxes to all but a few, but it didn’t sound like they thought so.
what they may be overlooking is all the hidden costs of not having a say in their important issues, like being rebuilt after a hurricane, high tariffs on shipping, other American’s not realizing they are American and a bunch of other stuff. I don’t think they can afford independence and would just be another poor Island.
on the other hand culture and language are going to cause issues both among them and among our worst.
they don’t even have a Democratic Party nor Republican. I think they would be safer if they caucused with Democrats, but I’m not them.
ThresherKk
@opiejeanne: Okay, per the wiki, it says there’s an actual eternal flame for Al Davis.
While looking that up, I found that there’s one for Jerry Fucking Falwell, an objectively bigger asshole than Davis.
Another Scott
@PJ: On the main page at ActBlue.com there’s a blue box with a $6+B number in the upper right. Sometimes it doesn’t move for a few minutes, sometimes it spins continuously. It’s not clear if one has to do anything to make it move – it seems to have a mind of its own.
HTH!
Cheers,
Scott.
Jinchi
You think a panel of Heritage approved/Trump nominated judges will have better outcomes?
PJ
@Another Scott: Thanks. I see a number in the upper right of the page which currently says “$6,599,872,765 raised since 2004″ (the number changes pretty quickly) but with no indication of how much has been raised today, or over the last three days, or anything other than the last 16 years. (It’s almost 6,600,000,000 now!)
LongHairedWeirdo
@mdblanche: Honestly, if you think about it, Trump continuing to be Trump might be the salvation of this nation.
Bush realized that he could best serve his party by staying out of the way. If there’s any sanity or justice left in this nation, Trump will continue to be Trump while he’s being indicted, on trial, and in jail. But even if sanity and justice have left the nation, he will continue to be Trump. Only now, he’ll have people asking “why is that fat, ugly guy aping Sarah Cooper’s lip syncs?”
PJ
@Jinchi: That’s my point. If elections result in a Senate and President who nominate and approve reactionary dinosaurs, having elections for Justices will not alleviate the problem. The problem is with our elections.
Baud
Trump ad on MNF.
Patricia Kayden
Kay
It’s too upsetting! Obviously. My God, what if they found out something…bad. Best not to look.
That right there- that’s when he knew he could get away with anything.
PJ
@LongHairedWeirdo: If the Republicans had nominated a very smart, very smooth, very charismatic con man who had self-control, we would be completely screwed right now, because that person would keep the base placated and make the rich richer, while doing just enough to allow non-politically aware Americans to believe he cared about public safety, public health, the economy, and national security, so that his crimes would be overlooked (and certainly the media would aid in him retaining power every step of the way.)
But while Trump is shrewd, certainly in seeing his own short term advantage and in picking out the weaknesses in vanity in his opponents, he has such little impulse control, has no loyalty or sense of honor, is so vain and egotistical, is so ignorant, is so mean, is so craven, and is so callous that the media cannot cover it up completely, and he cannot stop himself from making the problems he caused even worse, so that even completely politically disconnected people cannot help but look at the country and see what a shithole he’s made it.
PJ
@PJ: So right now, it’s added more than $500,000 in the time between when I first started typing post #113 and this one (about 15 minutes).
hueyplong
@Kay: So it was ok to investigate so long as they didn’t find anything really bad. So it was all essentially a sham designed to mask the fact that our government had failed. OK to find something the two parties could disagree about. Not ok to find out something that called for immediate ouster.
Ella in New Mexico
I totally empathize.
Sometimes I wonder if we need a new “Constitutional Convention” because we have so many things we need to fix-
But then I look at the 2020 Republican Party and I really think they need a major drubbing at the polls and the pain of being out of power for like 4-8 years and then, MAYBE we allow them to come to the table to participate in our Nationals Reconstruction.
Another Scott
@PJ: Yup. From the reporting, one would think that there was an hourly or daily tally, but it seems that reporters are just noting the number at a particular time and checking back exactly an hour or a day later.
(It’s astounding how big the number is, and how quickly it changes, isn’t it?)
Cheers,
Scott.
Baud
@PJ:
The most liberal president since Nixon.
DesertFriar
@Baud:
How is it unconstitutional? Not doubting you but there is no mandatory age to retire now. Certainly State Justices have retirement ages in; I think, 33 states. I just don’t know of any amendment of the Constitution which would say “you absolutely cannot make a federal justice retire.
Marcopolo
@PJ: If you read the ActBlue blog they referenced hitting $4B at the end of May. Then IIR they hit $5B sometime around Aug 26-27. So, yeah, donations are pouring in like the water over Niagara Falls right now. It is astonishing.
For more context, I started casually following the totals at the start of 2018 which is when I created a bookmark for the ActBlue page that shows the total raised then ~$2B.
PJ
@Ella in New Mexico: Oh gods, a Constitutional Convention – can you imagine the nitwits whom Very Important People would demand be involved in it? I’m not just talking about politicians who are bad or mediocre people (basically every Republican Senator and Representative), but all the favorites of the Twitterati – Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, the Bruenigs, all the DSA and Jacobin people. It would be a fucking nightmare.
Baud
@DesertFriar:
The Constitution guarantees a lifetime appointment.
PJ
@Baud: Ha!
Kay
@hueyplong:
I love these people with this “not…my FINANCIALS!”
WTF else would you look at? Why wouldn’t they start there? They start there with every other conspiracy. This is the one conspiracy that doesn’t involve money? Not clear on how we plan to bust white collar criminals without their financial records. Their sacred, secret record of transactions which for some reason are off limits. Trump doesn’t give a shit about Russia. There was money involved.
rikyrah
Don’t sleep on the White Whale.
Every once in awhile, the stars align and you hit the bankshot
PJ
@Another Scott:
@Marcopolo: It’s crazy, in the very best way.
It also shows you just how much Trump and the GOP have forced people to be politically aware and active.
rikyrah
@Marcopolo:
B as in BILLION???
hueyplong
@rikyrah: Texas, whenever it happened, would solve a whole lot of problems.
Now would be a great time, though, of course, as non-GOPers, we aren’t permitted to speculate about happy outcomes.
Kay
@hueyplong:
I read the excerpt and it seems like a common conundrum these days. They had to not do their job in order to keep their job. If they got too “incendiary” they would get fired. Why anyone wants them to keep the job if they’re forbidden to do it is never explained. Keeping the job by agreeing not to do it doesn’t seem like a solution to this problem. I can’t think of a single time this approach has ended satisfactorily for anyone. Because it makes absolutely no sense? Perhaps.
PJ
@PJ:
@Another Scott:
@Marcopolo: In half an hour, it’s gone up $1 million. This is a big fucking deal.
Alison Rose
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the first woman who will lie in state at the Capitol
~sniffle~
Kay
@rikyrah:
Wouldn’t that be the best thing? The Shy Biden Voters. They’re out there.
mali muso
@PJ: Just watching it now, it looks like at least a thousand bucks every second. It’s rather soothing to look at.
PJ
@rikyrah:
@Kay:
This election, Biden is fond of quoting these lines from Seamus Heaney’s The Cure at Troy:
History says don’t hope
On this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up
And hope and history rhyme.
Baud
People could save a lot of money if they’d just vote for Dems by rote.
mali muso
@Baud: Save even more money and vote for BAUD!
Kay
I love Olivia. She gives me hope that everyone isn’t horrible. I wish she had a security detail though.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Kay: somebody said the shy Biden voters are the wives and kids of the loud trump voters
Baud
@mali muso:
I’d put every American on the court as part of my universal basic income program.
Mousebumples
My ballot has arrived and is completed (including witness signature)!
Too many Republicans running unopposed for stuff like DA, etc., but I’m not a lawyer, so i can’t really fix that. But I voted for the 3 Dems on my ballot that I could vote for.
Will drop off at the drop box later this week. ?
Miss Bianca
@Kay: just out of (morbid) curiosity: were they excited about Trump in 2016, these “educated Republicans” you speak of?
mali muso
@Baud: Now THAT would be making America great.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Kay
@Miss Bianca:
No! They were sure he wouldn’t win the primary and then they were moping around making excuses. I was making the other Democrat there laugh. One of the R ladies told me “I don’t know if I can vote for him”
I said “don’t! Just stay home. It’ll be fine.”
I can only urge one person at a time not to vote. Outreach, I call it. I no longer do persuasion. “Don’t vote. You’re bad at it”.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@Kay: Two issues
1 how did the WH find out about a secret subpoena
2 they thought all the other indictments and eventual convictions would be blocked (as the entire investigation would be closed down) if they went after Dump. So they let him go to get all the capos. Can’t say they were wrong.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Couldn’t you send them to a lower federal court?
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: I liked Pete Buttigieg’s idea.
5 Rs
5 Ds
5 more chosen together by the 5 + 5 above. So (possibly) 5 partisans and 5 who would be less partisan since agreed upon by both R and D.
Baud
@WaterGirl: No.
WaterGirl
@Baud: What the heck is MNF?
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
The people who say there are no shy Biden voters live in liberal places. Trump people here are loud and proud. I’m familiar with the Ohio town he was in tonight. It’s kind of a mean place.
Baud
@WaterGirl: Monday night football.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@WaterGirl: Morning Nuts and Fruit
Miss Bianca
@PJ: Ooh, I like that!
I’ve not read much of Heaney’s own poetry, loved his translation of Beowulf.
leeleeFL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: That would make my smile permanent!
PPCLI
@Baud: But, but, but… I thought all good Trumpers were going to boycott professional football!
WaterGirl
@Baud: You could have broken it to me a little more gently. :-)
WaterGirl
@Baud: I would have never gotten that one.
edit: those ad slots must be pricey.
Also, the explains why Trump wanted professional football to play. He must think those are his peeps. Emphasis on the first 3 letters.
J R in WV
@PJ:
Here’s the link to the Actblue page with the rolling count of funds raised. The naked link is this: [ https://secure.actblue.com/ ] so you can see why it’s called the front page. Rolling totals are fascinating, I watch it to relax!
Miss Bianca
@Kay: LOL! I have definitely thought about telling some people I know that they’re too stupid to vote!
satby
@Elizabelle: not all independents are “embarassed Republicans and glibitarians”.
I’m one, though I’ve voted D for about 25 years straight. But I registered I in 1980 and never changed it.
Kay
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:
I never thought it would save us anyway. I know Russia is interfering. No one seems to know what to do about it.
I was thinking tonight we could start an online rumor about Trump like they do with Biden but what could we possibly say? He’s a murderer? Well, yeah, but that’s the daily news.
PJ
@Baud: That’s all I ever did until the W years cranked up my anxiety levels.
Baud
@satby: Do you live in an open primary state?
Redshift
@Ella in New Mexico:
No. Unless I’m misreading the Constitution, a constitutional convention is like the Senate – states call it, states vote on amendments, not by population. And they still need to be ratified by three quarters of the states afterward. Whatever needs fixing, a constitutional convention won’t do it.
PJ
@WaterGirl: No. What is the point of putting Republicans on the Court? So we can screw the American people over and over?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
does anyone know about a controversy around RBG’s funeral arrangements? All I know she’ll lie in state, then be buried next to her husband at Arlington
PJ
@Miss Bianca: The Cure at Troy is his version of Sophocles’ Philoctetes, I highly recommend it.
James E Powell
@Martin:
When was the last time she used that seniority or power for the good of the Democratic cause?
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Timing? Isn’t the burial supposed to be done super quick?
Kay
@Miss Bianca:
I didn’t really tell her she’s bad at it. I did tell her not to vote. She laughed. I have a Republican client who I really like and he didn’t vote for Trump last time. He votes the rest of the ticket. It’s not that hard to solve this problem. No anguished soul searching needed. -1.
J R in WV
@PJ:
If you visit the page a 3 am or so, it does move slowly. it’s a live total from their system. If you want sub-totals you could note a current amount and then wait a while, unless you keep track, like a news org might.
I imagine there are a large number of reports you can access IF you sign up as a user. I know as a contributor I can see reports about my own contributions in detail.
Sally
@Kay: If these mostly Repubs had refused to hold back, and a golf caddy had fired them, more hell would have broken loose, and trump would not have been able to assert that he was exonerated. It would have been a better outcome than we had.
In the meantime, I read that Barr’s daughter Mary is moving to FinCEN, at the heart of this latest financial leak/scandal. I’ll look up the reverence. Being who they are it sounds bad, or am I reading too much into this?
satby
@Baud: Both IL and IN are partially open.
Kay
@Sally:
I’m going to try that if I’m ever investigated. “Gentleman, as you know, my financials are a RED LINE”.
You can come visit me in prison.
Baud
@Kay:
Al Capone should have had a better lawyer.
neldob
Is there any group organizing protests in kentucky and/or dc? M
Sally
@Kay: Gladly! we will find a way to spring you!
You can bet trumps financials were and are lots of red lines. All red. Pun intended.
JaySinWA
Other than hellfire?
Peale
@Kay: “You may search for child pornography on my computer. But my smart phone is private.” “You may search for drugs, but you may not open any crates or boxes on this ship.” “You may try to check to see if I’m bringing in any fresh fruit into the country, but since I’ve admitted that I’ve been to a farm, you may not x-ray my luggage. Only my carry on.”
2liberal
attn: baud
re: your comment in the morning thread about losing weight. This may be relevant, fat cells never die.
https://tinyurl.com/y4sfy7hw
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@2liberal: fuckin 2020, man, I don’t know
Kropacetic
I feel somewhat guilty that my first thoughts were with the political repercussions and not sorrow for her loss. I tried to justify it to myself as sorrow for my country, but…
Goku (Amerikan Baka)
God, I wish McConnell would “fall out a window”, Russia-style
WaterGirl
@PJ: I don’t know, I was thinking that maybe we could the SC back to a place where decisions are based on, you know, the law! And precedent. Not about party and politics.
But yeah, I’d like to see no Republicans in any positions of responsibility – they pissed away their turn at that all for greed and power.
Plus, once you’ve made it clear that you like hurting people, I think you should be banished forever.
Omnes Omnibus
@Goku (Amerikan Baka):
A willingness to kill and a willingness to die or spend the rest of one’s life in prison.Glad you rethought your question.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
this is interesting, sounds like Gardner’s allies are counting him as done for this year
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Oh my god, this is like a nightmare. And we thought Mueller would save us.
You can look at anything you want, except do not look in the giant freezer that is in my basement. That is off limits. Oh, and you can’t look in the glass jars where I keep all the souvenirs of my kills. I mean, my private stash.
StringOnAStick
I worked on my sadness over RBG by writing letters to voters tonight with 6 other women, outside, masked and socially distances of course. I took home another 20 to do and bring back completed at our next session. It raised my spirits much more than I expected it to. I’m glad I agreed to do it over a week ago because I might have begged off after her passing.
Watergirl is right, don’t just sit and spiral downward, do something!
rikyrah
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
He loses in 2020, but will be a fresh candidate in 2022??
Goku (Amerikan Baka)
@WaterGirl:
I don’t understand why Mueller backed off. Was he a party hack all along? Or was he scared? Of Donald fucking Trump of all people?
And I guess all the ActBlue fundraising didn’t scare the Republicans like we hoped it would since Cory Gardner has said Trump’s nominee will get a vote
Kelly
Home! We have water and power. No internet. The air is ok. Spent the day visiting the neighbors and hosing ash off. Home a little scorching on the freshly painted front porch. May leave it as a souvenir. Off to sleep in our own bed.
prostratedragon
@Goku (Amerikan Baka): Did he simply hand in the report or was it demanded of him? As I recall, his group’s activities in the few weeks leading up to the submission suggested that he might not be near done.
prostratedragon
@Kelly: A little scorching. Whew, close call. Glad you’re at home and safe.
WaterGirl
@Kelly: I’m so happy for you! Back home and in your own bed. Internet or no internet!
Home! Highly underrated. :-) So sorry for your neighbors and all who lost their homes and property.
Goku (Amerikan Baka)
@Kelly:
Glad to hear you’re back home and your home is fine for the most part
: )
Mike in NC
@Goku (Amerikan Baka): Uh, yes, he was always a Republican party hack.
Goku (Amerikan Baka)
@prostratedragon:
I have no idea, but from reporting it sounds like he choked and Wray deliberately restricted the scope of the investigation from the get go.
Everyone at the DOJ should just refuse to do any further work and demand Barr, Wray et al resign. That no work will continue until they’re gone and a bipartisan replacement is installed as AG. Render Barr powerless and just a jerk in a suit with a fancy title
The only reason people in authority have any power is because the people under them give it to them. Refuse to cooperate en masse and the whole machine grinds to a halt
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Kelly: Great news!
trnc
@gene108: In the last 150 years, we’ve added 192 house members, 26 senators, around 270 million citizens and ZERO supreme court justices. We should definitely expand the court if we get the chance. When the repubs whine that they should get a say, we can explain 2016 and blue slips. Or tell them to fuck off. That works, too.
cain
The fool will still have access to the daily briefs. Too bad he won’t be able to understand it, but you can bet he’ll go on TV and tell everyone what is in it.
topclimber
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I thought that was Rod Rosenstein’s call.
Another Scott
Poor Donnie. Failing again. Reuters:
This is my shocked, shocked face. It’s been getting a workout today!
Cheers,
Scott.
Matt McIrvin
@Gvg: I suspect most people in Puerto Rico would come out ahead if they were subject to federal income tax because of the EITC.
Goku (Amerikan Baka)
@Another Scott:
That just means TikTok will probably be banned in the US, like it was supposed to be this past Sunday. That’s no skin off Trump’s bones; the American TikTok user base embarrassed him in Tulsa
Jeffro
@Kay: LOLOL
“Wait…what did I say? What did I just tell you?? NO looking into my finances, coppers!”
It’s like a B-movie mafioso line or something. Or, exactly that, actually.
Another Scott
@topclimber: That’s my recollection too. The (secret, at the time) Rosenstein scope memo to Muller (4 page .pdf) told him very specifically what he was empowered to investigate.
(I wonder what’s hiding under those redactions though…)
Cheers,
Scott.
Matt McIrvin
@Goku (Amerikan Baka):
I never saw it as scaring them from doing anything, I figure the intent is to whip their asses equally no matter what they do.
Jeffro
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: what exactly do they think will make Gardner more appealing two years from now? Are there NO other Colorado Rs with ambition and perhaps less of a record of licking trumpov’s boots?
I’d have to think that in 2022 that would still matter…
Jeffro
@trnc: I’m good with “fuck off”
Another Scott
@cain: IIRC, there have been stories from before he took office that sensitive information was being withheld from him because he couldn’t be trusted. I imagine that has continued.
Cheers,
Scott.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Scott: Guess Donnie won’t get his $5B slush fund. So Sad.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
he’s back to telling people that only old people get it so it’s all good
Yutsano
@Matt McIrvin:
This always struck me as ironic, considering there’s a big IRS office in a suburb of San Juan.
Jay
Jay
@Jeffro:
not “licking boots”, deep throating the mushroom,.
Jay
Jay
Yutsano
Also: John Hickenlooper is a subtle but beautiful troll.
sdhays
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Because it worked so well with McSally.
Jay
The