Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Dear legacy media: you are not here to influence outcomes and policies you find desirable.

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

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

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

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

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

Reality always gets a vote in the end.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / Monday Morning Open Thread: President Joe Knows

Monday Morning Open Thread: President Joe Knows

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… the ‘mother’s milk of politics‘, among other things:

Speaking of forgiveness..

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194Comments

  2. 2.

    Baud

    Congressional Democrats have proposed ambitious bills with historic expansions of the social safety net and long-sought new programs. But many politically vulnerable Democrats are selling them at home as a chance to deliver the goods for their districts.

    Does the media ever report on Republicans this way?

  4. 4.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Took my vegetarian neighbor some squash and peppers. Found out she’s an anti vaxxer.
    Sigh…
    Shut that conversation down fast, before any damage could be done to the relationship. Neighbors are neighbors and we can’t pick them. She’s a sweet person but… I expect her to change her mind the first time she tries to travel. (quite the traveler, Australia is the only continent she has yet to visit)

  10. 10.

    debbie

    First, I haven’t heard anything about booing. Was that sarcasm? Second, I love the security guys standing among the children. Who even knew they were there? ?

  11. 11.

    OzarkHillbilly

    I’m gonna take a moment to brag about my eldest granddaughter. She’s the only girl on her junior high school football team. I don’t think the boys know what to make of her, as most keep a bit of distance between her and them. It’s got to feel a little bit lonely out there. I suppose all the popular girls are cheerleaders.

    The coach had her in on all but 2 defensive series (she started out at defensive end and was moved to nose tackle in the 2nd half) and I saw him give her one on one instruction a couple times. So he’s taking her seriously.

    She held her own on the field. On only one play did I see an opponent get the better of her. She never made “the big play” but by the end of the game they were double teaming her. She’s not big, but she is quick and strong and absolutely fearless.

  12. 12.

    Baud

    Apparently, someone thought this headline was supportive.  (About to be featured on MJ)

    It is far too soon for people to write off Joe Biden

  15. 15.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    @beth: ​
      I don’t know if they did or not, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it occurred as Dump’s cult has always been deplorable (to coin a phrase) and NYC boos everyone, included Derek Jeter and he brought them 5 titles.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    Biden tries to build back cooler: President Biden is engaged in discussions with Democratic lawmakers about including a proposed tax on imports from other countries that aren’t pulling their weight in the global battle to reduce carbon emissions.

     

    The potential “carbon border adjustment proposal” could become one of the major programs to combat climate change in the $3.5 trillion budget proposal now being fiercely debated on Capitol Hill. Biden and many progressive lawmakers have insisted the budget bill be used to battle what they describe as an existential threat, while others, like Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), are far more worried about the package’s price tag.

  20. 20.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    @Baud: ​
      better if they stay. Dubya got 61% of the vote 16 years ago, while Dump only received 52% last year.

    Imagine the bonkers media coverage if Dems were on the cusp of losing a deep blue state like New York.

    Let the treckie/techie migration turn TX blue the same way they converted once deep red California.

  23. 23.

    Matt

    The only apology I’ll believe from Joe Walsh is one in his suicide note. No forgiveness without repentance.

  24. 24.

    germy

    HUGE! President Biden tells Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi that he will push moderate Dems to support a carveout to the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation. Biden told Schumer: “Chuck, you tell me when you need me to start making phone calls.”

    — MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) September 12, 2021

    Huge?

  26. 26.

    Baud

    @germy:

    That fact that that leaked suggests a little bit of Kabuki.  There are so many balls I’m the air, I think that it’s beyond even the capacity of the Twitter intelligencia to process.

  27. 27.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    I don’t even understand it. What’s supposed to be “humiliating” about the picture? And was Biden really booed at the WTC memorial? Maybe he was, but I’ve certainly missed any news coverage of it.

  28. 28.

    debbie

    The morning sun here is very red. Not sure what kind of sailors would be in Ohio, but hope they stay safe.

  36. 36.

    Kay

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett expressed concerns Sunday that the public may increasingly see the court as a partisan institution.
    Justices must be “hyper vigilant to make sure they’re not letting personal biases creep into their decisions, since judges are people, too,” Barrett said at a lecture hosted by the University of Louisville’s McConnell Center.
    Introduced by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who founded the center and played a key role in pushing through her confirmation in the last days of the Trump administration, Barrett spoke at length about her desire for others to see the Supreme Court as nonpartisan.

    Getting a head start campaigning for Republicans in the midterms. They should introduce her with the Trump campaign video she starred in during her confirmation.

  37. 37.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: What’s it like to watch her play

    It’s… Different, I guess. She said the other team never realized she was a girl. They’d come up to the line, point at her and say, “Watch him. Watch him.”

  38. 38.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    What that means is, “we’re going to be hyperpartisan but because I gave this speech, it’s unethical to call us hyperpartisan.”

  39. 39.

    germy

    The Jan. 6 select committee issued a not-so-subtle threat to social media companies, saying the panel needs "much more information" and would use "whatever tools are at our disposal to get the records" they're seeking. t.co/IFeiEeSqkb

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 12, 2021

  42. 42.

    Dan B

    @Kay: Sounds like Ms. Barrett can’t see herself in a mirror.  The SC just handed down some of the most ideological rulings in decades thanks to her.  And she didn’t notice!  Really?

  43. 43.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Those kids will remember that Biden was nice to them. I don’t know if that will have a lasting impact, but Biden is a politician to his core. And I mean politician in a good sense, as in someone who gets serves the public and knows how the sausage is made. But I also suspect that Biden is just nice to kids because that’s the kind of person he is

  44. 44.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    It reminds me of religion people who say they are just doing what god wants, which coincidentally coincides with what they want.

  47. 47.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Don’t underestimate her. It wasn’t directed at conservatives. It’s not defense. It’s offense. I guarantee she’s scolding liberals. We’re unfairly portraying her as a hack.

    What a waste of time for the students. She wouldn’t answer any of the real questions. We’re permitted to ask her about her family, but only in glowing admiring terms where we ask how she manages “work life balance” in her incredibly elite, lifetime appointment job where they dispatch most of the work to one-pagers on the “shadow docket”. It’s a campaign event.

  51. 51.

    sab

    @Geminid: I have found Connie Schultz to be very helpful all through Covid and the Trump years before that. She just seems very good at not letting other bad actors manipulate  her into turning herself into a bad person. I try to follow her example.

  57. 57.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @zhena gogolia:

    My comment on that picture is: Disrespectful little assholes.

    Maybe I’m just slow(er than usual) this morning, but I don’t even get that vibe. I mean, “TRUMP” and “MAGA” branding is always offensive, but most of the kids appear happy enough to be there. There must be some backstory to this photo that I’ve missed.

  58. 58.

    sab

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): She has spent her entire life in a very protected right wing bubble. She doesn’t get it, and her entire upbringing has trained her to block any thought that might enable her to get it. And we have managed to fill the Court with a majority just like her.

  66. 66.

    Kay

    @Dan B:

    It’s this weird illogical thing and it’s not limited to her. They insist “the institution” is somehow superior to the people who make it up and should have an independent and better reputation that the work that comes out of it, forever. They want a good reputation but they, as individuals, don’t want to earn it. Instead they believe they’re entitled to it because of the prestige of the institution. It’s backwards.

    The thing is what it is. They can’t insist it’s something different. It doesn’t retain it’s prestige magically and the prestige and respect isn’t transferred like a deed to the new owner of bench real estate. It has to be earned over and over. There’s two possibilities if they’re losing the respect of the public- it’s the fault of the public or it’s their fault. It’s never, ever their fault.

    She made decisions. One of them was to compliantly go along with that completely ridiculous confirmation that was a 5 day Trump campaign ad. Because it didn’t work doesn’t mean she should have done it.

  69. 69.

    evodevo

    @OzarkHillbilly:  Yeah..I know…we just had a similar encounter with a longtime friend who does our welding jobs yesterday…talking about the “fake pandemic” and masks…KY is full of them, and you can’t do business here without running into this. We just push back gently and then change the subject…

  73. 73.

    Geminid

    Go west, young man! Joe Biden was scheduled to take off from Delaware at 8:10am, headed for Boise, Idaho. He’ll be briefed by state and federal wildfire officials and tour the headquarters of the National Interagency Task Wildfire Task Force. He’ll then fly to Mather, California, take an aerial tour of the Caldor fire, and deliver remarks on wildfires, climate change, and infrastructure.

    President Biden will appear with Gavin Newsome at a campaign rally tonight.                               From Politico Playbook.

  74. 74.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    The public consists of liberals and conservatives, and it’s incumbent on liberals to respect institutions that conservatives respect.

  75. 75.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @evodevo: When she started up I told her what I thought in no uncertain terms. Allowed her to spout the nonsensical bullshit back and then shut it down. No good was going to come of an argument.

  77. 77.

    Other MJS

    @Baud: ​

    That first tweet is 100% about their desperate need to own the libs. It’s their opiod.

    I don’t even understand it. It’s humiliating to hang out with kids?​

  78. 78.

    WereBear

    @Baud: Bwahahahaha!

    I guess our Corporate Overlords did not foresee the economic consequences of letting their designated Base indulge all their childish fantasies.

    Drank their own poisoned soft drink, they did.

  79. 79.

    debbie

    Some clever soul needs to rewrite REM’s What’s the Frequency, Kenneth? for Manchin’s statement yesterday, What’s the urgency? Do his constituents not need jobs, infrastructure, etc.?

  81. 81.

    Kay

    @MomSense:

    I’ve never understood why they insist their workplace relations with the other justices are a defense to the accusation that they’re partisan. “One of the liberal justices gave me Halloween candy for my children”. The defense rests. Am I shocked a group of elite lawyers aren’t screaming campaign slogans at one another in the hallways? No, I am not.

    If they’re not going to discuss laws and legal issues why have them speak at all? The students would learn more about “work life balance” from the women doing the catering after the event.

  82. 82.

    germy

    @Other MJS:

    The kids are wearing MAGA gear while one of their overweight fathers smirks in the background.

    Biden doesn’t care, so they didn’t really “own” him.  He’s happy to be there.

  86. 86.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @debbie:

    I remember people saying that Manchin’s vote was always there when we needed it. Well, we sure could use it now. He’s kneecapping our agenda at the moment

  87. 87.

    hueyplong

    Barrett’s speech is essentially, “For the sake of respect for the Court as an institution, please be polite and permit us to get away clean with what we have done,”

    It is directed at the likes of NPR, and you wouldn’t want to bet your own money against the proposition that it will air on NPR this very day, followed by approving commentary.

  90. 90.

    Procopius

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Shut that conversation down fast, before any damage could be done to the relationship. Neighbors are neighbors and we can’t pick them.

    So good to see you say that. That’s been so missing from our nation since 9/11. “Either you’re with us or you’re with the terrorists.”

  91. 91.

    PST

    But many politically vulnerable Democrats are selling them at home as a chance to deliver the goods for their districts.

    Because that’s how it’s done in the real world. It’s one of the reasons to elect actual politicians with elective experience instead of businessman-dilettantes or other “outsiders.” There are lots of bad things to say about professional politicians, and I often say them, but we need our Democrats who know how to go home and sell our program using whatever words work in their backyards.

  93. 93.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @SiubhanDuinne: They think he is an unpopular president who is desperately pandering by using kids as a prop, only the kids don’t even support him. Its ridiculous, but that is how they think. Keep in mind the right will keep trying to portray him as unpopular to support their voter fraud narrative, for now and the future.

  94. 94.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    to respect institutions that conservatives respect.

    This year they respect that court. For the 20 prior years it was filled with “black robed justices handing down edicts”. It’s respectable now that it’s been returned to the rightful owners.
    They overturned Roe without a hearing. All the legalistic bullshit and ass-covering by the fancy lawyer club doesn’t change that reality. They’ve completely removed the practical effect on the public from the analysis. They embody what people hate about lawyers. They are like a caricature of abstract mumbo jumbo lawyering. It’s a fucking Simpon’s episode with more syllables.
    We have heard more from lawyers defending the Texas decision than we have heard or are ever likely to hear from the women directly affected by it. It disgusts me. They’re not even in this. They were deliberately disappeared.

  95. 95.

    lollipopguild

    @Kay: “yes I voted to end women’s right to vote and to bring back legal slavery, but you cannot call me a partisan hack”

  97. 97.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Kay: Re the Court being the people who make it up: I think that when I hear someone say that a MAGA isn’t really a Republican or some action isn’t really American. Things are what they are, not what they used to be or what they ideally could be. They don’t have their “true” existence in the form of a Platonic ideal

  98. 98.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Kay:

    I did see an article recently, presumably interviewing lawyers, (only saw the headline) that called the Texas decision “lawless” if that means anything. I’ve been seeing more of these takes lately

  99. 99.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Betty: It’s not very glamorous (which GD is shy of) and a successful play is anytime they occupy the center of the line and keep 2 or more opponents occupied. Basically, muck everything up so others can make the play. Every now and again make the play themselves. Which she almost did once but the running back was just out of reach.

  100. 100.

    WereBear

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:

    Let the treckie/techie migration turn TX blue the same way they converted once deep red California.

     
    Actually, WaPo had an article on how the new abortion law is making all the tech workers, who trend pretty blue, rethinking their Texas habitation decisions.

    As someone who spent some developmental years in the South, you couldn’t get me to live in a Red State if you dragged me there with a giant pickup, but a lot of people believe the shiny PR…

    Now, they are being seriously dis-abused.

  101. 101.

    Kay

    @hueyplong:

    Under this theory of “institutions” it matters not at all who makes up the institution or what the institution does. It’s a ridiculous theory. It completely absolves the institution of any responsibility or accountability. They can ride on reputation forever.

    Protecting a reputation means doing the work that will preserve it. It’s not seperate from that.

    People at elite institutions have a HIGHER burden, not a lesser one, since they were handed a reputation they, personally, didn’t earn. They each have to earn it. It’s not a perpetual gift. It’s OUR belief. We own it. We can take it back. We can decide tommorrow that they no longer have a good reputation but instead have a bad one. It’s not up to them to grade their own work.

  102. 102.

    Baud

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I can see an argument that so-and so-claims to be X but isn’t behaving the way an X should behave.

    But usually when people make these arguments, what they really mean is “I want to preserve the X brand without taking on the people who are sullying it.”

  104. 104.

    Soprano2

    @germy: I read quite a few of the comments, and they’re making a big deal out of the “Q” on the Quaker oil box that’s in the background. It’s how these people think, everything is about them. My first thought was how rude it was for those parents to bring their kids to an event with the president on 9-11 wearing that clothing. Society used to think rudeness like that was beyond the pale; now, 30% of adults apparently think it’s hilarious to do things like that.

  105. 105.

    MomSense

    @Kay:

    It’s the same thing Republicans have been doing forever.  Sure they may pollute the water and air, keep producing cars with exploding gas tanks, cut food stamps and free lunches to kids but they are happily married family members who go to church every Sunday.

  106. 106.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Soprano2:

    It’s of a piece with Erika Casher who smirked during a school board meeting while a teenager spoke about the death of his grandmother from COVID-19. They’re awful people who have lost their empathy

  110. 110.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Baud:

    It’s even worse in Rudy’s case. The dude was mayor of NYC during 9/11 for god’s sake and this is how he acted on the 20th anniversary?!

    “America’s Mayor” my ass. I’d like to slap whoever came up with that idiotic moniker

  112. 112.

    Betty

    @Kay: I wonder if they are getting worried that the idea of court reform is gaining traction. After that move on the Texas abortion case, she may be right to be concerned.

  115. 115.

    PST

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    What’s supposed to be “humiliating” about the picture?

    I could be completely wrong about this. But my hot read of the situation was that the comment meant that it should be an even greater humiliation to Trump that his people are thrilled to be in the presence of the real President than it was to have a few supporters boo him.

  120. 120.

    Baud

    @Ken:

    Each state determines who their residents are for income tax purposes.  If someone is living in California most of the year, California tax authorities don’t care what Texas thinks.

  122. 122.

    Subsole

    @OzarkHillbilly: Just due to my upbringing, it is absolutely wild to  contemplate a girl playing football. I cannot imagine the schools I went to even allowing it. And yet, there she is.

    Things get better. Slowly. But they do get better.

     

    @Baud: What it also means is that the Staff are trying to tell Monsignor Richelieu Leo to include some subtlety in the next batch of clone-justices Opus Dei decants.

  123. 123.

    Immanentize

    @Kay: This has been my position for decades. Doing work before the Court, and having met a bunch of the Justices, they are more lucky than brilliant. RBH was brilliant and perhaps Scalia too. The others are just either lucky folks or political water carriers.

    It always amazed me the reverence some of my colleagues had for the Justices. It made them poor advocates before them because they ended up way too deferential. Their submissivenedd made them not question any question, so they were not lightt on their feet in argument at all. The great advocates I’ve seen before the Court treat them like equals (at best) regardless of their attitude about their own superiority. Rhenquist was very smart and careful, but he wasn’t creative. But he thought he was the shit.

  125. 125.

    Starfish

    @Dan B:

    Sounds like Ms. Barrett can’t see herself in a mirror.

    They really should ask more questions to make sure they are not putting vampires on the Supreme Court.

  127. 127.

    Immanentize

    @rikyrah: Worse, Boney Carrot* is like the boss’s mean ass son brought in to learn the business.

    * I really don’t like cutesy nicknames for our opponents and I try never to use them — but this one is so right on it makes me laugh.

    Adding — considering her birth/adoption record, I do wonder how many miscarriages she has had. Someone should ask her….

  130. 130.

    Geminid

    @Immanentize: I always thought Justice Sotomayor stood out from the others for her years of trial experience as a federal prosecutor and then U.S. District Court judge. A different, and I think better, resume than typical Supreme Court justices.

  132. 132.

    WaterGirl

    @germy:

    The poor and middle-class are paying taxes, the rich are paying accountants, and the wealthy are paying politicians.  ~mohamad safa

    That shouldn’t just be the quote of the day.  That should be the quote of the year, possibly of the decade.

  133. 133.

    Subsole

     

     

    @OzarkHillbilly: Don’t know how it is up in the hollers, but down here what makes it extra-frustrating is that sometimes you can actually break through. You can see them turn it over. Start following the logic to its conclusion.

    But then they go turn on Rush or some other AM a-hole, or watch fox, and you’re back to zero. Because their emotions are all riled up and they aren’t thinking anymore.

    If they weren’t absolutely drowning in propaganda, some of them might have a chance to get out.

  136. 136.

    Barbara

    @germy: ​McGowan seems to have thrived on controversy for a long time. Which does not mean she is always wrong, but prior abuse also doesn’t make her automatically right.

  138. 138.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize: She’s also black, with all that history. She said her ex is a doctor and he told her “all the people dying are vaccinated”. I don’t know how one pushes back against that. I just said it was bullshit and changed the subject.

  139. 139.

    Suzanne

    @Baud: One thing that the Trumpy right wing just cannot grasp is that the kind of white-collar employees (relatively young, with degrees, liberal, who tend to buy cool clothes and shoes and cars, and have “high social capital”) are highly desired by firms and are in relatively short supply. So they make corporate statements that are considered “woke” and maintain offices in places that are considered attractive to this cohort, even if they are expensive.

    It’s a fundamental misunderstanding of an economic constraint.

  143. 143.

    Barbara

    @Kay: This is a habit of thinking that is very Catholic — the idea of Church as somehow transcending through Platonic magic the grubby and malevolent deeds of its earthly representatives. It’s delusional even in that context, and it’s downright idiotic when it comes to American political institutions.  SCOTUS is political in that it is a creation of our founding political document. It absolutely requires the consent of the polity to retain influence.

  145. 145.

    Starfish

    @Subsole: When I was in junior high about 30 years ago, there was a girl on the middle school football team. I don’t think she continued in high school.

  146. 146.

    Kay

    @Betty:

    IMO, court reform is a pipe dream. I’m glad some people are saying it but it isn’t going to happen. It wouldn’t happen with 60 Ds in the senate. The supreme court fights were for all the marbles. We blew it. Letting them block Garland was a mistake and Ginsburg (and now Breyer) refusing to retire were mistakes. We’re not getting a do-over. Some errors can be fixed and others can’t.

    I’d rather any time, energy and money devoted to court reform be reassigned to state races. We need genuinely creative people doing planning and substituting 11 for 9 isn’t good enough. We’re stuck with that court. Figure out how to deal with it or live under far Right, minority rule.

  147. 147.

    Starfish

    @Immanentize: Before the current batch of folks decided that they would be anti-vax to be proper Trumpers, there was an anti-vax ideology on the left. It had a lot of nature is our friend would do us no harm feelings. You know, the kind of stuff that people who have lived through floods, hurricanes, or fires should understand is very stupid.

  149. 149.

    Kay

    @Barbara:

    Comey “the FBI is..”

    YOU, dumbass. The FBI is you. If you’re bad the FBI is bad. If there’s 3 Comeys in a row the thing is ruined.

    The institution isn’t floating above the people who make it up. They should maybe stop “protecting” it and instead improve its reputation with their work?

  151. 151.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Starfish: Why is he an ex?

    None of my business, so I didn’t ask.

    It sounds like she doesn’t know any people who have gotten serious COVID which is odd.

    Not really all that odd. I know a number of people who got covid and only one who’s case was severe. He died in less than 6 days.

  152. 152.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    Right.  If all the commenters here started posting racist, fascist crap, it wouldn’t do Cole any good to put up a post about how this isn’t really Balloon Juice without doing anything to fix the problem.

  153. 153.

    Immanentize

    @Starfish: In Boston, we call those people Christian Scientists. But even they are pro-vax. It’s the woo woo, Enya, crystals for deodorant crew that are anti-vax.  They smell bad too.

  154. 154.

    Kay

    @Barbara:

    She needs to defend her work. She refused to do it in her confirmation hearing and not TURNING IN any work with this shadow docket bullshit isn’t acceptable.

    I’m not interested in heartwarming anecdotes about the other justices. She’s a fucking judge. The thing is designed so her work speaks for itself. She had her turn to speak. She issued an order. If she wants to speak again she can hold a hearing and sign an opinion.

    They refuse to accept accountability for their work.

  155. 155.

    Starfish

    @OzarkHillbilly: The people that I know of who died are all relations of people that I know rather than people that I know directly. A coworker caught it and was struggling with mental acuity for months.

    I imagined that you live in a place that is more rural, so everyone is up in everyone else’s business and more likely to know people who died.

  156. 156.

    Immanentize

    @Kay: why accept accountability when you really don’t even have to do the work the job is defined by? For the rest of your life.

  157. 157.

    Raoul Paste

    @Subsole: “… but then they watch Fox,…and you’re back to zero…:.

    I was making this point with my wife last night, who is the better person than I am, and wants to persuade with some gently placed facts.

    Fox owns them

  158. 158.

    Starfish

    @Immanentize: On the east coast, the anti-vaxxers would get shouted down more quickly than where I live. The mixture of the hippies and libertarians made for some very toxic “It is bad vibes to call someone out for their magical nonsense.”

  159. 159.

    Kay

    @Barbara:

    I’m giving her a more of a hearing than she’s given me. I’m reading her words in the orders and opinions. I’m not called to add any “background” to the orders and opinions she issues. I’m not giving her that.

    They’re demanding that we not use their work to judge them, and instead rely on what they tell us about themselves. That isn’t how this works. She taught law students? Good God. Did she teach them the part where the court speaks thru its rulings? That’s pretty important for them to know! For 60k a year they should at least be getting that.

  161. 161.

    jonas

    @debbie: ​
      I’m always wondering this about Manchin as well — he represents one of the poorest, most underresourced states in the country and here he is going “sure, half my constituents don’t have jobs that can support their families, adequate health care, or good schools, but what about inflation?” I mean, I would get Manchin’s hesitancy if this were some huge bill on gun control or abortion or something, but this is about shoveling massive amounts of money at the people who need it most. I simply don’t get it.

  162. 162.

    different-church-lady

    Ten years ago who had “Joe Walsh: the last principled conservative” on their Bingo card?

  163. 163.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Starfish: I imagined that you live in a place that is more rural, so everyone is up in everyone else’s business and more likely to know people who died.

    I do, with 12.5 acres deep in the boonie woods that is more holler than hill, and they probably are all up in everyone’s business, but I’m an atheist which makes me an untouchable. I am friendly with the 3 folks within a half mile of our place and keep half an eye on their places and hope they are doing the same for me but we really don’t interact.

    Most of my friends are either in STL or are union carpenters scattered throughout a dozen or more counties.

  165. 165.

    Subsole

    @Starfish: Hell, anyone who works with animals. Or has passing familiarity with botany.

    People used to feed horses clover, then noticed the horses got hemophiliac. Because too much clover thins your blood. It is in fact the active ingredient in some rat poisons, I believe.

    Plants are living creatures. They defend themselves. They don’t care if you’re a cow or a toddler.

    There’s loving nature, and there’s loving the idea of nature.

  166. 166.

    Roger Moore

    @Kay: ​
     

    I’ve never understood why they insist their workplace relations with the other justices are a defense to the accusation that they’re partisan.

    They want people to believe it, and they have to go with the evidence they have, no matter how weak it is.

  171. 171.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @Subsole: AM radio is a huge hate and propaganda source in the mid-west. Bringing back the fairness doctrine would really make a difference here.

  173. 173.

    evodevo

    @Subsole:  That applies to the species known as “sweet clover” (Melilotus)…other clovers are just fine…sweet clover is toxic to most livestock because of the presence of dicumarol in moldy plant matter when hay is spoiled by moisture…

  174. 174.

    frosty

    @germy: ​
      The poor and middle-class are paying taxes, the rich are paying accountants, and the wealthy are paying politicians.

    Nominated for a rotating tag. Hope it’s not too many characters!

  175. 175.

    Josie

    @Baud: ​
     It’s true that state wide elections are not gerrymandered. Gerrymandering, however, affects voting for state legislators which affects voter suppression. This in turn affects state wide elections. Texas has been utilizing this process since the days of Tom Delay. Only massive voter registration and getting people to the polls can overcome it.

  176. 176.

    sdhays

    @Kay: The only conservative “justice” on that court appointed by a President who actually won his election fair and square is Clarence Freaking Thomas. All the others are there because the Republican Party was willing to burn down anything and everything in their path for solid control of the Court.

    I think more and more Democrats are coming to the realization of how much has been stolen by Republicans feeling that they have no need to play by any rules. I also don’t think this Court can help itself – it’s going to keep poking the bear with awful decisions without even trying to finesse. They think they’ve won.

    To me, Court Reform will happen IF, and it’s a big IF, Democrats can continue to maintain control of the Presidency and Congress. If Democrats are able to hold on, eventually the Court will force their hand and make reform unavoidable. I’d argue that we’re already there, but unfortunately there are a number of Democrats who are still squeamish about using their power.

  177. 177.

    Another Scott

    @Baud: Here’s a non-WaPo link that’s probably related.

    If Samsung goes ahead, the $17 billion, 560,000 square-meter plant would be built by January 2026, and create at least 1,800 jobs, according to multiple reports by local media outlets in Texas.

    Williamson County is offering a 90 percent tax rebate worth $114 million for Samsung over 10 years, with a possible extension for another decade at an 85 percent rate, the reports said. Taylor City’s incentives will provide Samsung with a 92.5 percent rebate on its property taxes for the first decade totaling around $240 million, a 90 percent rebate during the second and an 85 percent rebate during the third.

    Taylor is competing with one site in Austin, two sites in Arizona and a site in New York. Travis County of Austin until recent months appeared to be the most likely candidate, given the city is currently home to Samsung’s only U.S. manufacturing site. The Austin plant is its biggest operation outside of Korea, and building a second foundry plant nearby would have multiple benefits for the company. Earlier this year Samsung asked for over $800 million in tax incentives for the new plant over 20 years, and has already taken measures to use land there.

    But Austin has yet to approve any incentives, according to reports. Also uncertainty looms over that location due to possible water supply issues. The Austin plant was shut down in February due to an unseasonal snowstorm and cold snap that hit Texas and resulted in power and water outages. Chip fabrication plants require ample supplies of water, which cools down equipment and cleans silicon wafers. Candidate locations in Arizona are also being seen as problematic as the state has also suffered water shortages due to a drought there.

    “No decision has been made yet and Samsung continues to examine the various sites,” a company official said Sunday.

    Crazy politics, unreliable electric grid, lack of water, hmm, what to do, what to do… :-/

    I assume Gov. Hochul is burning up the phone lines…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  178. 178.

    Another Scott

    @Josie: Well said.  There’s all kinds of bad going on at the state level that cannot be ignored if we want to move forward.  Gerrymandering is just one tactic.

    If the GQP didn’t think it was important, they wouldn’t be doing it…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  180. 180.

    Soprano2

    @Starfish: The people that I know of who died are all relations of people that I know rather than people that I know directly.

    I’m the same way. The only person I knew who died of Covid was my former choir director who was 89. On Friday I talked to our regular customer whose aunt and uncle died and left a 12-year-old an orphan. It’s a huge mess – they of course had no will or trust, and no instructions on who should care for their daughter, so the family is dealing with the fallout now. They have no idea who is going to care for the child. It’ll probably end up being the parents of my customer, who told me she’s already told her family that she’s not willing to be a single mother again. It’s such a tragedy, and totally preventable.

  182. 182.

    opiejeanne

    @Soprano2: I’m old enough to remember kids sitting on the floor in the front of the audience, holding flip-flops at a Kerry speech because their parents had told them to go sit there for the camera.

  185. 185.

    J R in WV

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Wow! If i knew her, I would be really proud. Watching some NFL yesterday, I see that while there are big (huge!) guys on the pro teams, there are also plenty of guys under 6′ and under 200 pounds, so plenty of room for quick and strong with a dash of fearless. QB, RB, receivers, punters, FG kickers, return specialists.

    Good for her!

  186. 186.

    NorthLeft12

    It is really refreshing to see President Biden give those kids a happy moment they will never forget, and not be overly concerned over being “owned” by their parents. Joe has enough self confidence and empathy to understand that situation far better than any of the right wing assholes who will mock him for it. Says a lot about their motivations and weakness.

  187. 187.

    J R in WV

    @WereBear:

    As someone who spent some developmental years in the South, you couldn’t get me to live in a Red State if you dragged me there with a giant pickup, but a lot of people believe the shiny PR…

    Now, they are being seriously dis-abused.

    The US Navy put me and Wife in Mississippi for a year back in 1972 — it was like being dragged into 1951 as far as race went ~!!~

    Horrible… the local liquor store had a sign “All Proceeds from Sales to N**rs will be donated to the United Klans” which means we drove up to Moss Point where the dark complected folks were allowed to live for those purchases.

    And that was far from the worst. Wife was hired as a reference librarian at the city library. No signs, but also no as in Zero black patrons, they all knew they weren’t welcome.

  189. 189.

    J R in WV

    @Starfish:

    Texas is extremely gerrymandered. Techie friends who were there tried. They could not overcome the gerrymander.

    To fight the gerrymander, liberals have to move into the red districts, and vote there. But it is painful to have right-wing bigots for all your neighbors. I couldn’t do it.

    I would have to live in a multi-cultural neighborhood that always went blue but it didn’t matter because that neighborhood is outnumbered 8-12 by the Republicans.

  190. 190.

    TheTruffle

    @Kay: I don’t buy that anymore. If momentum builds for court reform then it could happen. Biden formed a commission on expanding it. I think it would be a mistake to throw up our hands here

    @sdhays: The key is to keep grabbing as many Senate seats as we can and pressing the issue. Also, Thomas isn’t getting any younger.

  192. 192.

    Elie

    @SiubhanDuinne:

     

    I agree — I don’t see the negativity at all but maybe I’m just nuts.  They look happy and he looks relaxed.  Other folks standing around too…  hmmmm

  193. 193.

    SWMBO

    @TheTruffle: John Roberts b. January 27, 1955

    Clarence Thomas b. June 23, 1948

    Stephen Breyer b. August 15, 1938

    Samuel Alito b. April 1, 1950

    Sonia Sotomayer b.June 25, 1954

    Elena Kagan b.April 28, 1960

    Neil Gorsuch b. August 29, 1967

    Brett Kavanaugh b.February 12, 1965

    Amy Coney Barrett b. January 29, 1972

    Alito, Thomas, and Breyer are all getting up there.

  194. 194.

    TheTruffle

    @SWMBO:

    Ideally, there would be term limits for SCOTUS. At this point, I think that yes, expanding the court is possible if momentum builds for it.

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