Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

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

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

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

The world has changed, and neither one recognizes it.

People are weird.

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

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

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

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

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

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

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

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

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

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38 Years Old, Never Kissed a Girl

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38 Years Old, Never Kissed a Girl
From Reader D

Here’s some King Musk news.  First, you love to see Republicans lying and running away from this fucker at town halls, while at the same time sucking up on X:

At an open house in Fairbanks on Monday, Alaskan Congressman Nick Begich (R) told constituents that there was nothing he could do to stop agency budget cuts being implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Elon Musk.

During the meeting, Begich was confronted by constituents laid off from federal jobs, a major source of employment for the state. “I was fired,” one said. “Now I have no choice but to leave that community and probably leave Alaska, and so I just don’t understand how these budget cuts are helpful to any Alaskans or their communities. And I’m just wondering what you plan to do about this.”

Begich said he was “not in a position to approve or deny the cuts.”

The piece, which is posted on Judd Leglum’s new project, MuskWatch, includes screenshots from X showing Begich re-tweeting Musk’s lies about Social Security and generally licking Elon’s taint.  Begich, of course, beat Mary Peltola by a couple of points in the last election, so he’s definitely vulnerable, especially in a state which is one of the biggest recipients of federal funds.

ProPublica has a database of DOGE employees – some of them are not twenty-something (or even teenage) boys.  But the DOGErs who are wreaking havoc are all young.  Josh Marshall has a theory, [gift link] and I think he’s right:

As I was sitting here yesterday evening it came to me. Musk keeps using these guys because they’re willing to do things these other more experienced people are not. I want to be crystal clear: This isn’t something I’m reporting. I believe it’s just the most logical reading of the available evidence.

As this writer for Lawfare points out, the latest court filings ask for a list of DOGE employees, because we don’t really know who they are (it’s all piecemeal stuff from different journalists).

Wired, which has been doing great work, is out with a piece pointing out that DOGE’s incompetence is a feature, not a bug — all Silicon Valley startups move fast and break things.  But they don’t take the next step in that piece and point out that a lot of successful startups also incorporate lawbreaking into their business model.  Uber broke laws about ridesharing in many cities and got away with it.  AirBnB turned your house into a hotel no matter what the zoning regulations were in your town.  And, of course, Elon’s startups are always in trouble with the law. DOGE is breaking the law because that’s how Silicon Valley works.

Vandalism and protests aimed at Tesla owners and Tesla continue. This Tesla dealership in Salem, OR had windows shot out recently. And there’s this, via Comrade Scott:
38 Years Old, Never Kissed a Girl 1
I don’t condone violence or vandalism, but driving down the value of Tesla stock is one way to really harm Elon Musk’s net worth.  Peaceful protest, boycotting Tesla, and selling your Tesla if you can are ways to send a message.   (Obviously, selling is a huge financial hit since their resale value is dropping like a rock, so I don’t expect people to do that.)

Edit: Forgot this piece by Marisa Kabas on Musk and DOGErs nazi ties.

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New York Update

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Yesterday was an interesting day in New York politics.  My updated post from yesterday included the YouTube video of Hochul’s off-the-hook press conference, but here’s a writeup:

After decreeing the death of congestion pricing, President Donald Trump declared “long live the king” on social media. Speaking later the same day, Gov. Kathy Hochul alluded to the Revolutionary War, pointedly reminding reporters that New York has taken on a king before – and won.

Within hours of receiving a letter from U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stating that the Federal Highway Administration was rescinding its approval for congestion pricing, Hochul offered her strongest rhetorical rebuke of Trump since he returned to the White House. “I don’t care if you love congestion pricing or hate it,” Hochul said. “This is an attack on our sovereign identity, our independence from Washington.” She attacked Trump’s evocation of kingship, noting that New York hasn’t been under royal rule for 250 years. “This is what we fought for – people like Alexander Hamilton and others fought for – to set up a system (where) we are not subservient to a king or anyone else out of Washington,” Hochul said.

[…]

On Wednesday, Hochul used more colorful language to describe her conversation with Trump after the lawsuit was made public. “I called up the president and said, ‘I’m not coming down tomorrow,’” she said. “‘I don’t know what your plan is. Are you going to slap handcuffs on my goddamn hands?’” Hochul next plans to meet with Trump when she is in Washington later this week for the National Governors Association winter meeting.

Hochul even made use of a prop during the Wednesday press conference, holding up a mock cover of Time magazine featuring Trump in a crown and the word “TRUMP” at the top. “Next time you’re stuck in traffic, the next time your train is delayed, the next time you’re in a flooded station because infrastructure carries are not made – I want you to think of this,” she said, pointing to the fake magazine cover. And Hochul offered a final message of defiance against the Trump administration’s order to shut down congestion pricing program’s license plate readers: “The cameras stay on.”

She was fired up and it’s worth watching at least the early part of the video of her press conference. Luckily, Hochul did not follow the terrible advice of Rep Dan Goldman, NY-10:

Dear media:

Please do not waste time hyperventilating about this dumb comment.

It’s intended to be a distraction from all of the damaging actions he’s taking.

Focus on those.

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— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman.dg4ny.co) February 19, 2025 at 2:19 PM

Anyway, back to Eric Adams, whose fate Hochul refused to discuss at the press conference. This happened yesterday:

Eight Black state legislators ask Hochul not to remove Adams – “our communities will never forget it” if she does and she should leave it up to voters.

Led by Brooklyn Dems leader Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, list also includes lawmakers close to Jeffries and Meeks.

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— Jeff Coltin (@jccoltin.bsky.social) February 19, 2025 at 11:30 AM

One big reason for this is this power bloc doesn’t want Jumaane Williams to become mayor, which would happen if Hochul removed Adams.

There’s some incorrect information being repeatedly asserted in the comments about the removal process as stated in the New York City Charter. This is the entirety of Section 9, the removal section:

The mayor may be removed from office by the governor upon charges and after service upon him of a copy of the charges and an opportunity to be heard in his defense. Pending the preparation and disposition of charges, the governor may suspend the mayor for a period not exceeding thirty days.

So the sequence is charges coupled with suspension if the governor chooses, hearing, removal. The charges can stem from the indictment [pdf] which is very detailed, with the addition of Danielle Sassoon’s resignation letter, which details the quid-pro-quo. This is a case of political will, not procedural delay. He could be out today if Hochul wanted to act.

Edit: Fox is up with their reaction: Alina Habba asking why bad Kathy Hochul wants to make people ride the unsafe subways.

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Thursday Morning Open Thread: GOP Discovers Face-Eating Leopards Have Indiscriminate Appetites

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Thursday Morning Open Thread 26

(Jack Ohman via GoComics.com)

Repubs in disarray…

Senate Republicans plan budget vote, despite Trump's endorsement of competing House version
The Senate will proceed with its own plan, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said, continuing to cast doubt on the House's ability to pass Trump's agenda in one big bill.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/con…

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— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur.bsky.social) February 19, 2025 at 3:44 PM

DOGE is focusing on foreign aid (~$70 billion, or 1% of the budget), DOE (3%), federal workforce (6%) and running into serious issues.
Meanwhile, Trump is pushing for tax cuts that would add at least $5 TRILLION to the national debt.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/dog…

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— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur.bsky.social) February 19, 2025 at 8:52 AM

you should actually be much angrier *if you take them at their word and agree with their objectives*, to be honest, because their approach does not and will not achieve their stated objectives.

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— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) February 17, 2025 at 7:17 PM

Only an idiot would think we should eliminate:
– Emergency response in natural disasters
– Education and healthcare for disabled children
– Clean air and water programs
– Gang crime investigations
– Monitoring of nursing home abuse
– Nuclear reactor regulation
– Cancer research

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— JB Pritzker (@jbpritzker.bsky.social) February 19, 2025 at 2:32 PM

Let’s just do it, and be LEGENDS!

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War for Ukraine Day 1,091: Russia Continues To Bombard Ukraine as Trump Pursues His Deal with Putin

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Painting by NEIVANMADE. It has a white background an in the center are Soldiers in green doing air defense by firing at incoming Russian missiles in the upper right. The missiles are red and yellow. In the upper left, written in green, is the text: "SAVE THE BRAVEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD!" Below the Soldiers, also written in green, is "SUPPORT FOR KHARKIV"

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

All of eastern, central, and a good chunk of wester Ukraine are under air raid alert for drone swarms as of 7:10 PM EST/2:10 AM local time in Ukraine. As of 7:33 PM EST/2:33 AM local time in Ukraine, the air raid alert maps show that Russian strategic aviation is up over western Russia, which means missiles are likely inbound towards Ukrainian targets. These attacks follow Russia hammering Ukraine for most of the day and while Trump continues to bizarrely assert that Putin wants to end his genocidal re-invasion and negotiate a peace agreement. Which is, of course, belied by what Trump’s team of negotiators appear to have given away in Riyadh.

Russia is attacking Kyiv right now. Powerful explosions are shaking the capital. Authorities report air defense in action.

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— Kyiv Post (@kyivpost.com) February 19, 2025 at 3:23 PM

Advisor to the Head of the Presidential Office, Podolyak, spoke about what they will insist on during the negotiations with Kellogg.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) February 19, 2025 at 12:52 PM

Well, it looks like Putin immediately and harshly flipped the middle finger at Trump’s attempt to quickly and easily achieve a ceasefire, bring the war to an end, and bask in self-admiration as a peacemaker and savior of nations.

— Illia Ponomarenko (@ioponomarenko.bsky.social) February 19, 2025 at 8:06 AM

And so, our great dealmaker took the easiest route and is now looking for someone to blame.

Twisting Ukraine’s arm and demanding Zelensky’s removal at Putin’s whim is far easier and safer than actually standing up to the Kremlin as the leader of the global superpower.

— Illia Ponomarenko (@ioponomarenko.bsky.social) February 19, 2025 at 8:06 AM

Five days before the grim anniversary of the invasion, and many once again feel the same tension and uncertainty as they did three years ago. The war is far from over, but Putin is more emboldened than ever.

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— Maria Avdeeva (@mariainkharkiv.bsky.social) February 19, 2025 at 2:01 PM

U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest comments about Ukraine are raising eyebrows — and spreading misinformation. How do actual Ukrainians feel about Trump’s words? The Kyiv Independent’s Masha Lavrova hit the streets of Kyiv to hear their raw, unfiltered reactions.

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— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) February 19, 2025 at 3:54 PM

Here’s the full video:

The cost:

As a humanitarian aid worker, 28-year-old Edward Scott has made multiple trips to the front-line areas to evacuate civilian Ukrainians. But the mission on Jan. 30 to the embattled city of Pokrovsk in southern Donetsk Oblast was different.

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— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) February 19, 2025 at 3:11 PM

From The Kyiv Independent:

It could have been a tragic story costing British volunteer Edward Scott his life.

As a humanitarian aid worker with the Ukrainian NGO “Baza” (the “Base” in Ukrainian), 28-year-old Scott has made multiple trips to the front-line areas to evacuate civilian Ukrainians.

But the mission on Jan. 30 to the embattled city of Pokrovsk in southern Donetsk Oblast was different.

A Russian drone targeted the vehicle of Scott’s crew – though it was marked with a bright sign reading “evacuation.” The car was carrying two civilians and two volunteers. The driver’s seat — where Scott had been sitting – was hit hardest, leaving him severely injured.

As Russian forces continue to rapidly advance in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian government and volunteers have intensified efforts to evacuate civilians from front-line towns in Donetsk Oblast. With Russian forces just mere kilometers away, Pokrovsk remains under constant artillery and drone attacks, making evacuation missions a high-risk endeavor.

“(There was) massive explosion. I see this fireball, and the car is knocked out of gear,” Scott recalls the moment of impact. “I’m trying to force it in gear, but my foot is not working, and at the same time, I’m trying to turn the wheel, and I can feel my shoulder turning, but I can see my arm on the wheel, not turning, so I’m like ‘This is bad.'”

“And then the pain hits me, and I start screaming.”

What happened next was a brilliant coordination of actions that saved Scott’s life. Seconds after the attack, his mission partner, Pylyp Rozhdestvenskyi, was applying tourniquets to his shredded arm and leg to stop the bleeding.

Minutes later, Scott was already in a military car on his way to the neighboring hospital for medical assistance. There, he received a transfusion of about four liters of blood, but severe injuries resulted in amputations of his left arm and leg.

Weeks after the brutal attack, with multiple surgeries behind him and more still ahead, Scott, now undergoing treatment at a Kyiv hospital, thinks about how he can continue helping Ukraine — the country he now calls home.

“I want to primarily help Ukrainians but also show the world that we are fighting people who will happily commit war crimes at the drop of a hat,” he told the Kyiv Independent from his hospital bed.

Much more at the link.

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

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Just Immovably Stubborn and Stupid

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This piece from Wonkette is just stuck in my head:

There are a lot of contradictions involved in the anti-vaccine movement. People who would rather watch their children die from measles than have autism. People who would rather die themselves than get a vaccine, because they think the vaccine will harm their health in some capacity.

That’s the category Ken Long of Eaton, Ohio, falls into, because the 54-year-old veteran is literally choosing to die rather than get a vaccine so he can get a heart transplant … because he thinks the vaccine will give him heart problems. Also because of his “personal religious beliefs.”

“When I decide something, I mean it, and if it takes dying, it’s what it is,” Long told KOMO TV. “They don’t know enough about it, and plus it’s already done a lot of damage. People have said blood clots. There are known cardiac issues.”

“And our personal religious beliefs!” his wife Christina added, without explaining what on earth those religious beliefs are. Given that even Christian Scientists are not opposed to vaccines and the couple doesn’t appear to be either Hasidic or Amish, it’s unclear what those would even be.

Religious beliefs are shorthand for “anything stupid we dream up”. There’s more:

Long is far from the first to pull this. Just last week, 12-year-old Adaline Deal, a distant family member of JD Vance, was denied a heart transplant because her parents claimed it was against their religion as “non-denominational Christians.” There is not, to anyone’s knowledge, a single thing in the Bible about vaccines.

I guaran-fucking-tee you that JD’s kids are vaxxed.

These are the people that will never be reached by any kind of message from Democrats because we’re demonized to a degree that they’d literally rather die than do something that an educated person tells them to do.

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The King!

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Trump calls himself “THE KING”

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) February 19, 2025 at 11:59 AM

Here’s what late-stage Elvis is talking about:

The Trump administration is pulling the plug on New York City’s controversial congestion pricing plan, just weeks after it got started.

In a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Transportation said it was terminating its Nov. ’24 agreement with the state.

The program was a success, but government interference is bad until it isn’t, just ask the guy who appointed the anti-vaxx nutcase who’s going to outlaw vaccines. Also, nice of vassal Trump to shout out Elon, who we all know is the King.

Anyway, speaking of Hochul, Lt Gov Antonio Delgado has broken with Hochul to call for Adams to step down. Hochul’s inaction, or dumb actions, keep getting her in trouble. She stuck by her appointment of Hector LaSalle as chief appellate judge despite party resistance and LaSalle was the first judge to be denied an appointment by the legislature since the 70s. She was weak on congestion pricing (holding it up because the $15 toll was too high), but it’s pretty damn popular. Events in the City are passing her by, with four deputy mayors quitting and the Comptroller threatening to do what he can to get rid of Adams.

Firing Adams would be a big boost to her popularity, but she missed her play on LaSalle, was late to the party on congestion pricing, and now she’s missing her play on firing Adams. Clearly, Delgado is one of many New York politicians who think they can beat her in a primary, and they’re not wrong. If she continues on the current path, she will lose to him, Tish James or some other downstate politician.

If Delgado is a new name for you, it’s because Hochul’s first Lt. Governor, Brian Benjamin, who she appointed (another bad decision), quit after being indicted for sending a grant to a real-estate developer in return for campaign contributions. Benjamin’s charges were dropped after that developer died.

(Also, prediction: Tish James will sue to stop the Transportation Department, get a TRO, and congestion pricing will continue.)

Edit: Judge Ho just finished the hearing on the DoJ’s request to drop Adam’s charges without ruling.

Edit: Hochul is pissed and showing it. Good. This was a great press conference on her part.

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How Many Votes Does Johnson Really Have?

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Jonathan Cohen posted a link to his Google sheet where he’s looked at every roll call vote since the House has been in session, and put percentages on voting with Trump as well as voting absent. To show my love to all who read my posts, I downloaded it and did some analysis.

Here are a couple of take-aways:

  • Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and his wife are under indictment for allegedly taking $600K worth of bribes from Azerbaijan.  He’s the only Democrat who’s voted 100% with Trump’s agenda.  He’s a risk to cross over to the Republican Party in an Eric Adams-style deal.  Here’s my post with more details on the role of the DCCC in enabling this piece of shit.
  • The only absentee issue that Johnson seems to have is Roger Williams from Texas.  He missed 27% of the votes.
  • Jeffries has a number of members missing a lot of votes:  Raul Grijalva has lung cancer and he’s missed every vote this year.  I just became a Colorado resident — my Rep, Brittany Petterson, is #2 in the absentee list with 82% absent votes because she’s almost ready to deliver a baby and the shitty animals who run the House are cracking down on proxy voting. Fredrica Wilson of Florida has a 64% absentee rating, don’t know what’s up with her.  Nancy Pelosi broke her hip and used a walker to get to the floor pretty often — she has a 55% absentee rating.   Another half dozen or have missed 27% or more of the votes this session.
  • Johnson’s caucus votes 100% with Trump unless they’re absent.

Roll Call has an analysis of votes 2024 Congress.  Grijalva made 12% of the votes last year.  He’s from the D+24 AZ-3 district, so there’s no reason that he couldn’t have quit last year.  Another Democrat who could vote would almost certainly have been elected from that district.  I hate to say that because I like the guy and he represents the place my mother, who also had lung cancer, grew up.  But the issue of reps hanging around when they can’t vote is a bipartisan one.  Roll Call identifies a couple of Republicans and some other Democrats who were unable to vote for most of the session yet hung on.

Part of the reason these members stick around is because Congress has gold-plated medical care that costs a whopping $54/month for each member.

So, while I was hoping to see that Johnson had some members who weren’t reliable votes, the sad fact is that this session the issue is with our team.  If we do have a really close vote in the House — such as one where Jeffries peels off a couple of Republican defectors from Biden/Harris districts — it’s going to be a sad day in Mudville if Cuellar’s defection or the incapacity of a couple of members who should have retired cause us to lose that vote.  There’s also the possibility that the special elections to replace some Trump appointees could go our way, if there’s a massive uproar over King Elon’s diktats.  We need every vote in those scenarios, too.

How Many Votes Does Johnson Really Have?Post + Comments (45)