Open Threads

I listened to a couple of (new to me) podcasts in the gym today and thought they were both good:

Boom! Lawyered is from the Rewire News Group, and hosted by Imani Gandy (Angry Black Lady) and Jessica Mason Pieklo.  This week’s episode was on the possible PornHub ban.  What I’ve always liked about ABL is that she’s a lawyer who understands power politics, lawfare or whatever other term you want to use for the intersection of law and politics.  So, she and her co-host examined the vagueness of the Texas law at issue here, and the possibility that it will be used to shield “the children” from things like sex education, as well as from porn.

Greg Sargent’s new-ish podcast is called “The Daily Blast” and his episode interviewing Paul Krugman was good.  Since there was some discussion of the Laken Riley bill in the comments, here’s his take on that horrible piece of legislation.

Of course, the Josh Marshall podcast is another must-listen in my book, and the Progress Pondcast with Martin Longman and Brendan Skwire is also a good listen.  (That’s a Spotify link for the Pondcast, but it’s available on all the platforms.)

If you have recommendations, please put them in the comments.  Also, Kay mentioned that she’s enjoying the content aimed at normie Dems at TikTok and mentioned Hope Walz and Michelle Obama.  If you have recommendations for that platform, let’s hear them.  I think TikTok is going to be around for at least the weekend, but probably much longer.

(Thanks for Betty for reminding me to post about Rose’s Books of All Time podcast.  My wife and I recently listened to the Aesop’s Fables episode which was quite good.)

Podcasts and SuchPost + Comments (39)

Got to the gym later than usual this morning, and who did I see but South Dakota ex-Governor Kristi Noem, Trump’s nominee for Homeland Security, testifying at her confirmation hearing.

I don’t think many tears were shed over the loss of Kristi by (certainly) South Dakota Democrats and even a fair number of Republicans.  She was a always angling for attention on right wing media, building a TV studio at taxpayer expense so she could do more TV hits, trying to get her faildaughter a real-estate appraisers license even though daughter Kassidy couldn’t pass certification, and insisting on having fireworks shows at Mount Rushmore despite fire danger, so she could bring Trump into the state for a big show.

Kristi is a show horse not a work horse, so my question, as with the other shitty Trump nominees, is who the other political appointees are going to be at Homeland Security, since they’ll be the ones in charge of pushing that gigantic bureaucracy to do what Daddy wants.  In the case of ICE, however, she’s going to find some very willing allies for the supposed mass deportation that’s coming.

Anyway, Kristi is pretty lucky that Trump’s other nominees are a crazy anti-vaxxer, and an (alleged) rapist, in addition to being incompetent.  She’s just incompetent, so she’ll get through without any major issues.

Show PonyPost + Comments (102)

Trump is going into office instead of prison because of one bad hire, and he’ll have two popular things to brag about because of another bad hire and a bad decision.

Let’s start with Normy McNormerson and his slavish devotion to the norms surrounding the rule of law.  This is from Garland’s farewell address:

We must understand that there is a difference between what we can do — and what we should do.

That is where our norms come in.

[…]

Our norms are a promise to treat like cases alike — that we will not have one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless, one rule for friends and another for foes.  [ed: LMFAO with tears in my eyes.] […]

Those norms include our commitment to guaranteeing the independence of the Justice Department from both the White House and the Congress concerning law enforcement investigations and prosecutions.

“Norms” occurs ten times in that speech.  This is like the Captain of the Titanic giving a farewell address on the bridge after the collision, explaining that the White Star line must always be on time, he was right to go as fast as possible through a sea full of icebergs, and that the ocean isn’t as cold as it looks.

Second, Trump is going to take credit for the ceasefire in Gaza and he’s going to spin it as Bibi being scared that Trump will actually do something, unlike Biden.  I’m sorry to report that that explanation will be well-received, because Bibi sure showed that he wasn’t scared of Biden, as this ProPublica piece shows:

• Empty Threats: Since Oct. 7, 2023, Biden has repeatedly issued threats that Israel ignored. U.S. officials tried to enforce consequences — but they couldn’t.
• Internal Dissent: The State Department disregarded its own experts and cracked down on leaks. Some human rights officials said they were prevented from pursuing evidence of Israeli abuses.
• Costs of Inaction: Experts say Biden’s failure to follow through led to impunity for widespread human rights abuses, including blocking aid deliveries, even after explicit U.S. warnings.

Blinken was another bad hire, though this one might be more on Biden, and he’s certainly getting the blame.

Finally, here’s the thing that’s really going to get Trump some good press:  he’s going to stop the TikTok ban and work out some deal to “sell” TikTok’s owner to a US company.  Let’s remember who wanted that ban:  174 Democrats and 186 Republicans in the House, including Pelosi, Jeffries and some other local heroes.  Of course the Progressive caucus and a few other House members with brains (e.g., Andy Kim) got it right, as usual, and opposed it.  Then, in the Senate, only Voldemort, Merkley and Welch opposed it from the Democratic side.  Yesterday, Schumer went to the floor to beg for an extension of the ban he voted for.  (That link goes to a press release from Senate Democrats, insert mordant chuckle here)  And even though the ban should happen on Sunday, Biden says he won’t enforce the ban he signed.  As he shouldn’t, because if you’re going to ban foreign influence from social media companies, you need to look at US companies, too, but we won’t, because money.  (John Oliver has a good, evenhanded overview of the TikTok stuff that ends up with that conclusion.)

My view of losing is that you need to figure out what went wrong and not do it again.  Hiring a DC insider for AG who didn’t get the job done, looking like Bibi Netanyahu led you around on a leash, and supporting a dumb ban of a service that is very popular with younger voters (who should be our voters) are three big mistakes.  The first led to Trump even being eligible to run.  The second gives Trump a “win” that he’ll be happy to claim as he and Bibi hold each other in multiple warm, loving embraces.  And, yeah, Trump supported the third (TikTok ban), but just like Chuck Schumer, he sees that it’s unpopular now, so he’ll be more than happy to do exactly what Schumer is doing, which is to reverse his bad decision, and do something that will be very popular.

These are three things we need to sear into our minds and demand better from the next set of Dems who ask for our vote, if elections still exist in 2026 and beyond.

Three Things to Remember for Next Time (If There is One)Post + Comments (213)