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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

We will not go back.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

In after Baud. Damn.

Their shamelessness is their super power.

This fight is for everything.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

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

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

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Open Thread:  Hey Lurkers!  (Holiday Post)

Open Threads

You are here: Home / Archives for Open Threads

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Laugh to Keep From Crying

by Anne Laurie|  July 12, 20239:21 am| 139 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, How about that weather?, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, All we want is life beyond the thunderdome

the broccoli goblin pic.twitter.com/zv2rjQt3mw

— Tweets of Cats (@TweetsOfCats) July 3, 2023

OK https://t.co/Yg4oG07Y6p

— Michael Hiltzik (@hiltzikm) July 7, 2023

For old time's sake.

— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) July 10, 2023

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Today I was asked why I don't join in blocking traffic to demand more climate action, knowing what I know.

I just don't feel like I could compete with this:pic.twitter.com/0yDMUp4fGD

— Leon Simons (@LeonSimons8) July 11, 2023

It’s gonna be really funny when these guys make it to 65 with zero retirement saving because they though the world would have ended by then https://t.co/6sLEz36Z3o

— Gas Stove Prayer Warrior (@canderaid) July 11, 2023

The context takes too long to explain, but lately I often think of the moment where my father, dealing with some fuckery in the midst of a large social event, sighed with a perfect mix of frustration and exhaustion and said: "this is *not* … how grown … men … talk." pic.twitter.com/dOGIx0UWSx

— John Rogers (@jonrog1) July 10, 2023

I think I speak for everyone here when I say its way past time for Ego to get started building his own submersible.

— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha) July 6, 2023

I tried to make an entire conservative comedy special in 30 minutes and honestly it was even easier than I thought: pic.twitter.com/fFPdwzTh61

— Kat Abu (@abughazalehkat) July 6, 2023

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Laugh to Keep From CryingPost + Comments (139)

Repub Primaries Open Thread: Money, Money, Money, Money

by Anne Laurie|  July 11, 202310:04 pm| 44 Comments

This post is in: 2024 Primaries, C.R.E.A.M., Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Republican Venality

Doug Burgum is going all in on the gift-card giveaway idea that @kylewilsontharp first spotted.

Promising $20 gift cards for everyone who gives $1.

Says something about the cost-per-acquisition for GOP donors online these days. https://t.co/rsuTp6jpEC

— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) July 10, 2023

If he puts in $10,000,000 & he gets 50,000 to put in $1 each his average donation will be only $200.

Man of the people with a campaign powered by small donors! https://t.co/Q9BQYiDShd

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) July 10, 2023

Do Visa and Mastercard then get users’ financial info?

These financial institution “gift cards” often have sneaky fees and other strings attached.

Did the campaign already deposit $ with the cc companies?

I have questions. @CFPB @SenWarren @SenSherrodBrown pic.twitter.com/pADjc8OfOi

— scotch scoville (@scovilleunits) July 10, 2023

Prediction: unless the GOP lowers the number of donors needed to qualify for the debates, only Trump, Burgum, & maybe DeSantis will be on the stage.

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) July 10, 2023


 
Or then again…

show full post on front page

Republican MLM presidential campaign, it’s beautiful https://t.co/V0MBMjaZ7A

— knife-wielding hemophiliac (@NickTagliaferro) July 10, 2023


 
But wait! Governor DeSaster has a bold new strategy!!!…

NEW: DeSantis’s Striking, Risky Strategy: Not Trying to Trick Small Donors https://t.co/4U0F07bsov w/ @rebeccadobrien + @ShaneGoldmacher

— Nicholas Nehamas (@NickNehamas) July 11, 2023

Count on the FTFNYTimes to frantically fluff the establishment ‘contender’ — “DeSantis’s Striking, Risky Strategy: Not Trying to Trick Small Donors”:

… No phony deadlines, Mr. DeSantis has promised donors. No wildly implausible pledges that sizable contributions will be matched by committees affiliated with the campaign. And no tricking donors into recurring donations.

This strategy is one of the subtle ways Mr. DeSantis’s team is trying to contrast him with Mr. Trump, who has often cajoled, guilt-tripped and occasionally misled small donors. Although his campaign has not directly called out Mr. Trump’s methods, on the day Mr. DeSantis declared he would run for president, his website prominently vowed to eschew “smoke and mirrors,” “fake matches” and “lies” in its fund-raising…

So far, it’s difficult to tell if Mr. DeSantis’s approach is working. His fund-raising slowed after his campaign began in late May, and campaign officials did not provide figures that would have shed light on its success with small donors.

The battle to raise money from average Americans may seem quaint in the era of billionaires and super PACs, which have taken on outsize roles in U.S. elections. But straight campaign cash is still, in many ways, the lifeblood of a campaign, and a powerful measure of the strength of a candidate. For example, G.O.P. presidential contenders must reach a threshold of individual donors set by the Republican National Committee to qualify for the debate stage, a bar that is already causing some candidates to engage in gimmicky contortions…

Mr. DeSantis’s advisers argue that being more transparent with donors could be a long-term way for Republicans to counter the clear advantage Democrats have built up in internet fund-raising, largely thanks to their online platform ActBlue, founded in 2004. A Republican alternative, WinRed, didn’t get off the ground until 15 years later. A greater share of Democrats than Republicans said they had donated to a political campaign in the last two years, according to a recent NBC News poll, meaning the G.O.P. has a less robust pool of donors to draw from…

(Took the RNC 15 years to grok the concepts of ‘ethical’ and ‘cooperative’, and their potential donors are still having some problems doing so.)

… The campaign did not respond to a question about how many small donors had contributed so far. It had set a goal of recruiting 100,000 donors by July 1, but as of late June, the wall had only about 50,000 names, according to a fund-raising email.

And although Mr. DeSantis’s team has pledged to act transparently when it comes to small donors, senior aides in the governor’s office have faced accusations that they inappropriately pressured lobbyists into donating to his campaign…

Baby steps, people!

Repub Primaries Open Thread: <em>Money, Money, Money, Money </em>Post + Comments (44)

War for Ukraine Day 503: NATO

by Adam L Silverman|  July 11, 20239:17 pm| 99 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Military, Open Threads, Russia, Silverman on Security, War, War in Ukraine

(Current mood!)

It’s been another long day, so we’re going to try to keep this short.

President Zelenskyy is in Vilnius for the NATO summit. Here are his remarks from the Ukrainian flags on Lithuanian streets event. His remarks start at the 10:08 mark.

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.@ZelenskyyUa
Today, a Ukrainian battle flag from Bakhmut is flying over Vilnius. The Battle for Bakhmut is one of the most defining battles for freedom in Europe, and will be remembered as such by our children and grandchildren. This battle flag from Bakhmut reassures… pic.twitter.com/Wqxa9wYMRa

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) July 11, 2023

@ZelenskyyUa

Today, a Ukrainian battle flag from Bakhmut is flying over Vilnius. The Battle for Bakhmut is one of the most defining battles for freedom in Europe, and will be remembered as such by our children and grandchildren. This battle flag from Bakhmut reassures Lithuanians that you will never again have to fight against russian soldiers, either under the Vilnius TV tower or anywhere else in the capital of your country.

"NATO will give Ukraine security; Ukraine will make the alliance stronger," Zelensky tells a rally in Vilnius. He brought with him a Ukrainian flag flown by the Edelweiss 10th Mountain Assault Brigade during the battle of Bakhmut that was raised over Vilnius. https://t.co/4e2DeGqQWM

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) July 11, 2023

NATO did exactly what we expected they were going to do. They punted. The Financial Times has details:

Nato leaders have declared they are prepared for Ukraine to ultimately join the military alliance, in a carefully hedged statement that drew immediate condemnation from Kyiv for its lack of a firm timeframe.

A summit communiqué agreed on Tuesday pledges to “extend an invitation” to Ukraine to join the alliance when “allies agree and conditions are met”.

Jens Stoltenberg, secretary-general, said the commitment would streamline the accession process and make Ukraine’s membership dependent simply on a political decision. “This will change Ukraine’s membership path from a two-step process to a one-step process,” he said.

But Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy immediately hit out at the 31-member alliance for negotiating the text without Kyiv at the table.

“It seems there is no readiness neither to invite Ukraine to Nato nor to make it a member of the alliance . . . For Russia, this means motivation to continue its terror,” he said, ahead of arriving at the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Separately, the G7 group of industrialised countries continued negotiations on an overarching package to support Ukraine “as long as it takes”, which they hope to announce as soon as the Nato summit is over.

The summit has been dominated by how to respond to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The communiqué states that Kyiv’s “future is in Nato” but provides no timeline for its accession.

US President Joe Biden signalled Washington’s support for the compromise text, speaking beside Stoltenberg. “We agree on the language that we proposed and you proposed relative to the future of Ukraine being able to join Nato,” Biden said.

But Zelenskyy said it was “unprecedented and absurd when [a] timeframe is not set, neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership”, and also attacked Nato’s “vague conditions” for inviting Kyiv.

The compromise over the text had aimed to show Ukraine’s membership would be a potentially fast-tracked political decision that would bypass Nato’s formal accession process while nodding to US and German concerns about appearing to lower the bar for entry.

The issue of how to acknowledge Ukraine’s membership ambitions as it defends itself against Russian aggression has exposed divisions within Nato in weeks of intense negotiations, with the US and Germany wary of implying that Kyiv’s membership is inevitable without conditions attached.

On the other side, mainly eastern European members, with the backing of France and the UK, had called for the word “invitation” to be included in the statement and for an acknowledgment that it would be a political, not technical decision to invite Ukraine to join.

Dmitry Peskov, Russian president Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, told reporters that any move to speed up Ukraine’s admission into Nato would be “potentially very dangerous for European security”, according to Interfax.

“This carries a lot of risks and the people who will make this decision should admit that,” he said.

The whole point here is TO NOT GIVE MOSCOW A VOTE!!!!!

There is more at the link.

Here’s Gideon Rachman’s take: (emphasis mine)

“Holding Nato together is really critical,” says Joe Biden. But the unity of Nato’s 31 members will be put to its biggest test since the beginning of the Ukraine war, at the organisation’s summit in Lithuania this week.

The issue that threatens to divide the alliance is Ukraine’s ambition to join it. One camp, including Poland, the Baltic states and Ukraine itself, wants to see the country put on a fast track to Nato membership. Another, led by the US and supported by Germany, wants to slow the process down and to promote other forms of security guarantee for Ukraine.

Skilful diplomats will probably find a form of words that will paper over these cracks. The final Nato communiqué is likely to assert that Ukraine will join the alliance in the future but avoid any pledge to fast-track the process.

That, however, will not be the end of the matter. Lying behind this argument are fundamental differences about how to end the Ukraine war and how to guarantee the peace once it does end.

The hardline camp believes that the goal should be complete victory for Ukraine and humiliating defeat for Russia. They think that the only way to secure peace is to break Russian power and then to bring Ukraine into Nato. They believe that Kyiv has already paid a heavy price for excessive US and German caution in the delivery of weapons — and that the Americans are now repeating this mistake by dragging their feet over future Ukrainian membership of the alliance.

The American and German governments are more cautious about both war aims and securing the peace. One senior German diplomat muses that behind Poland’s talk of the need for a total defeat of Vladimir Putin is the hope that Russia might eventually break apart. That, he says, is an idea that Berlin has no interest in.

The Americans are not saying that Ukraine can never join Nato. But they are gently applying the brakes by insisting that every technical requirement must be fulfilled first. When the indignant hardliners cite the recent fast-tracking of Finland into the alliance as a precedent, the US response is that Finland, as an EU member, already fulfilled all the requirements on anti-corruption measures, democratic governance and the like.

Behind the formal American objections lies a concern that any commitment to fast-track Ukraine into Nato could prolong the war, and introduce dangerous complications into a future peace settlement. For example, would Crimea be covered by a Nato security guarantee for Ukraine? Some US officials also worry that some allies would actually like to see Nato drawn directly into the war with Russia. “If they want that, they should say so openly,” says one well-placed Washingtonian, “because that’s not our policy.”

Rather than push for Nato now, the US is emphasising alternative forms of security guarantee. The idea would be to establish a unique military partnership with Ukraine involving the transfer of high-tech weaponry and intense military-to-military co-operation. The plan, says one US official, is to create a “defence-oriented force that would present too hard a target for any future Russian aggression”. Biden and others have likened this to the US relationship with Israel. Like the Israelis, the Ukrainians would be a close American ally, furnished with the most advanced military equipment — including, controversially, cluster munitions. But crucially, like Israel, Ukraine would not, initially, be covered by Nato’s Article V security guarantee.

All this talk of alternative security guarantees worries some of Ukraine’s most ardent supporters in Nato. Last week, Kaja Kallas, the Estonian prime minister, put her frustration on the record when she told the FT: “We need practical, concrete steps on the path to Nato membership. I have the feeling that talking about security guarantees actually blurs the picture . . . the only security guarantee that really works . . . is Nato membership.”

It is easy to sympathise with Kallas’s view that ambiguity is dangerous and that “grey zones are sources of conflict and war”. Ukraine would certainly be safer inside Nato and experience suggests that Russia would be unlikely to attack a country covered by Article V.

The Biden White House is likely to be the most Ukraine- and Nato-friendly administration that the US can currently produce. The Republicans are the party of Donald Trump, not of the late John McCain. Any move to fast-track Ukraine into Nato could easily become an issue in the US presidential election. Senate ratification of Ukrainian membership would not be guaranteed.

The Guardian has this absolutely garbage statement from Colin Kahl, the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy:

Colin Kahl, the US undersecretary for defence, visiting London alongside the president, said there was resistance in the White House to any suggestion “that there’s a degree of automaticity or immediacy” to Nato membership.

Kahl is supposed to be stepping down some time this month. It can’t happen soon enough!

The simple fact of the matter is if the Republicans retake the presidency in 2024 those unilateral security guarantees are not going to be worth the paper they’re written on! The Ukrainians aren’t stupid, they know about Tom Cotton’s letter to the Iranians regarding the JCPOA. They know about the House GOP’s Ukraine skepticism and Putinphilia. They know that a Republican Congressional Delegation made up of all GOP senators and one GOP representative spent the 4th of July in Moscow less than a decade ago. They know that Senator Paul hand delivered something to Putin from Trump. They know if they’re not fast tracked into NATO before the 2024 election’s get underway, they’re not getting into NATO any time soon if at all. You know who else knows? Vladimir Putin! And he got everything he could’ve wanted out of today’s NATO communique.

I can understand it that NATO can't admit Ukraine while there's an ongoing war.

But excuse me, saying that Ukraine's military still needs reforms to join NATO — after it has made Russia lose over 2,100 tanks, over 900 APCs, nearly 2,500 IFVs, almost 700 artillery pieces, over…

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) July 11, 2023

I can understand it that NATO can’t admit Ukraine while there’s an ongoing war. But excuse me, saying that Ukraine’s military still needs reforms to join NATO — after it has made Russia lose over 2,100 tanks, over 900 APCs, nearly 2,500 IFVs, almost 700 artillery pieces, over 230 MRLSs, over 80 airplanes, almost 100 helicopters and a large missile cruiser (all per @oryxspioenkop), after it has generally defeated Russia’s initial all-out blitzkrieg, liberated a large part of its territory, successfully acquired a wide range of Western weaponry and equipment, destroyed the myth of Russia’s historical military invincibility, regained the strategic initiative and launched a full-scale counteroffensive — is a very weak excuse. Let’s at least be honest and admit that it’s NATO being not ready now. Which is still understandable. I think after everything we have seen over the last 16 months, the Ukrainian military would be quite capable of completing reforms to reach full compatibility with NATO regulations if the alliance itself was ready.

So, "not great, not terrible."
A multiyear program to support Ukraine's defense effort under NATO benchmarks, a simplified entry procedure "when the time is right," the NATO-Ukraine council.
Nothing we couldn't realistically expect from the summit.
The struggle goes on.

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) July 11, 2023

Pretty tepid stuff here. “A draft of a summit communique under discussion on Tuesday pledges to “extend an invitation” to Ukraine to join the alliance when “allies agree and conditions are met”, people familiar with the text told the Financial Times.” https://t.co/sqbI1vhGqy

— Shashank Joshi (@shashj) July 11, 2023

Could be argued it's Bucharest 0.9.

— laurence norman (@laurnorman) July 11, 2023

Why? Because it builds into the official explicit position that it needs agreement among the Allies. That was always implicitly clear. Consensus. But it sets this up in black and white as a condition to be met. Which is arguably a small step backwards.

— laurence norman (@laurnorman) July 11, 2023

I mean compare this to…"We agreed today that these countries will become members of NATO. Both nations have made valuable contributions to Alliance operations. MAP is the next step for Ukraine and Georgia on their direct way to membership." Not sure forward movement at all.

— laurence norman (@laurnorman) July 11, 2023

Before I go any further: learn to fucking thread your tweets!

Now back to your regularly scheduled diatribe!

I’m the only one here at Balloon Juice who really knows what the price for this was for the Georgians in 2008, unless we’ve got Georgian readers. I was deployed in Iraq with the 33rd Shavnabanda. They were attached to our brigade combat team as one of our maneuver battalions. They took more KIAs than the BCT or any echelon within the BCT! It was our job to facilitate them getting home. I will never forget standing there, along with the BCT commander, deputy commander, XO, and the rest of the senior staff, all of us trying to keep proper military bearing while the Georgians – from the battalion commander to the youngest junior enlisted – begged us to come help them. “You’re coming, right? We go, we get started, you come! We came to help you, you’re coming?” We weren’t coming. Our national command authority had lied to their leadership. And now, fifteen years later parts of Georgia are still physically occupied and the government is occupied as well because it is controlled by a party that the Kremlin controls.

If anyone wonders why the US hasn’t been able to win a war since WWII this strategic malpractice is an excellent answer!

Overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force shot down 26 out of 28 Shaheds.
Also, during the day on July 10, three "Lancet" attack UAVs, five reconnaissance drones, and one helicopter were downed.
Glory to our air defenders!
🇺🇦✊
📹 @combined2forces pic.twitter.com/OOWIBAzVAg

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) July 11, 2023

Orikihiv:

The rescue operations in Orikhiv have been completed. On July 9, russian aerial bombs destroyed the city's largest civilian shelter and the humanitarian aid center. Unfortunately, the number of dead has increased to seven. While the rescuers were sorting out the rubble, the… pic.twitter.com/qOW3hYNYC3

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) July 11, 2023

The rescue operations in Orikhiv have been completed. On July 9, russian aerial bombs destroyed the city’s largest civilian shelter and the humanitarian aid center. Unfortunately, the number of dead has increased to seven. While the rescuers were sorting out the rubble, the russian terrorists launched another airstrike on them.

Berdyansk:

Strikes/explosions are reported in Berdyansk. Just now. https://t.co/wk8GCRkqVT pic.twitter.com/xKOJBN6y3U

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) July 11, 2023

/1. So far, only rumors, therefore, take it with skepticism:
some sources (like Ukrainian adviser to the mayor of Mariupil) have begun to report that tonight during attacks on Berdyansk, Russian Lieutenant General Oleg Yuriyovich Tsokov was killed.https://t.co/TiEdM72Z0o pic.twitter.com/eQeAN4F2kI

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) July 11, 2023

/3. Some Russian sources have begun to reported about the death of Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov, as noted as a result of the Storm Shadow missile strike.

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) July 11, 2023

I’m stopping here. I’m just disgusted. I’m embarrassed as an American and as an American national security professional.

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Open thread!

War for Ukraine Day 503: NATOPost + Comments (99)

Sweet Dreams (Open Thread)

by Betty Cracker|  July 11, 20234:23 pm| 216 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Republican Stupidity

Trump-humping pillow magnate Mike Lindell is auctioning off industrial equipment and office furniture because MyPillow sales dropped when Lindell redirected his pillow-peddling energies toward spreading egregiously dumb lies and infamous slander about the 2020 election. (Strib)

Major retailers such as Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond and Slumberland Furniture all said they will no longer sell MyPillow products as Lindell continues to falsely claim that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.

“It was a massive, massive cancellation,” Lindell said in a phone interview Monday. “We lost $100 million from attacks by the box stores, the shopping networks, the shopping channels, all of them did cancel culture on us.”

Doesn’t look like there will be a soft landing. Lindell is also facing a $1.3B defamation suit from Dominion Voting Systems. Calling it now: Lindell will end up flat broke again before this shit-show is over — a rags to riches to rags story of a weak-minded, blithering idiot who kicked a crack addiction only to latch onto the stupidest, most self-destructive cult since Heaven’s Gate.

It’s not just Lindell. Trump has ruined a lot of people’s lives. I have no pity for cultists like Lindell who pour vast sums of money down conspiracy theory rabbit-holes. I don’t feel sorry for opportunistic dickweeds like Rudy Giuliani or Sidney Powell or John Eastman either. But the scale of the reputational and financial wreckage Trump is leaving in his wake — among his own followers — is staggering.

Open thread.

Sweet Dreams (Open Thread)Post + Comments (216)

These Things Are Not Unrelated

by John Cole|  July 11, 20231:32 pm| 141 Comments

This post is in: Climate Change, Open Threads

Oh my:

Not only is Florida sizzling in record-crushing heat, but the ocean waters that surround it are scorching, as well. The unprecedented ocean warmth around the state — connected to historically warm oceans worldwide — is further intensifying its heat wave and stressing coral reefs, with conditions that could end up strengthening hurricanes.

Much of Florida is seeing its warmest year on record, with temperatures running 3 to 5 degrees above normal. While some locations have been setting records since the beginning of the year, the hottest weather has come with an intense heat dome cooking the Sunshine State in recent weeks. That heat dome has made coastal waters extremely warm, including “downright shocking” temperatures of 92 to 96 degrees in the Florida Keys, meteorologist and journalist Bob Henson said Sunday in a tweet.

These are horrifying temperatures- and they are basically boiling coral, all marine life, etc. But there are other things to worry about, including, of course, hurricanes, but also algae blooms, etc. And, no surprise, another insurer has said fuck this place:

Another property insurer is dropping coverage in Florida.

Farmers Insurance will stop writing new business and not renew its existing “Farmers-branded” automobile, home and umbrella policies in the Sunshine State, the company said Tuesday.

Last month, Farmers said it was only pausing new business in Florida. The company is also limiting new home policies in California, where it is based, according to news reports.

“This business decision was necessary to effectively manage risk exposure,” the company said in a statement.

The move will impact 30% of the company’s business in Florida, or roughly 100,000 policies. Policyholders affected by the decision will be given notice that their coverage will not be renewed.

You can fool idiots on Fox News and Town Hall about how climate change is a hoax, but not the accountants.

This is a story of bad governance on the macro and micro level- the entire 30-40 year slow motion climate crisis coupled with the absolute inaction of the Florida state government to do anything to stabilize the insurance market. Literally the only thing they have done in the past five years is to pass a bill holding insurers accountable for paying out claims. That’s it. I’ll cede this topic to Betty who surely knows more than me, but they have done nothing that I can tell to slow down construction in dangerous areas, increase structural regulations, etc.

And not to sound too awful, but we absolutely have to make sure the federal government does not bail all these people who have built mansions in hurricane alley get rebuilt when they are inevitably wiped out this year or next year or whenever. It’s coming.

These Things Are Not UnrelatedPost + Comments (141)

Loose Cannon Chronicles

by Betty Cracker|  July 11, 202311:55 am| 113 Comments

This post is in: Activist Judges!, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Trumpery

Last night, Trump’s lawyers asked Florida-based Trump appointee Judge Aileen Cannon for an indefinite postponement of the documents trial. Their rationale underscores exactly why Trump is running again — to avoid accountability. (NYT gift link here)

“This extraordinary case presents a serious challenge to both the fact and perception of our American democracy,” wrote the lawyers, Chris M. Kise and Todd Blanche for Mr. Trump, and Stanley Woodward Jr. and Sasha Dadan for Mr. Nauta.

“The court now presides over a prosecution advanced by the administration of a sitting president against his chief political rival, himself a leading candidate for the presidency of the United States,” they wrote. “Therefore, a measured consideration and timeline that allows for a careful and complete review of the procedures that led to this indictment and the unprecedented legal issues presented herein best serves the interests of the defendants and the public…”

The article says judges’ rulings on trial schedules aren’t usually reviewable. But if Cannon goes rogue to protect Trump as she did in an earlier phase of the investigation, Smith’s prosecutors could conceivably challenge a scheduling decision by appealing to the 11th Circuit.

Also from the filing — Trump and Nauta are too busy to be criminal defendants in a trial!

“President Trump is running for president of the United States and is currently the likely Republican Party nominee,” they wrote. “This undertaking requires a tremendous amount of time and energy, and that effort will continue until the election on Nov. 5, 2024.”

“Mr. Nauta’s job requires him to accompany President Trump during most campaign trips around the country,” they continued. “This schedule makes trial preparation with both of the defendants challenging. Such preparation requires significant planning and time.”

My understanding is the two are being tried together. Would it be possible for Cannon to rule that Trump can have a postponement since he’s currently his party’s leading candidate for the nomination but that Nauta’s trial can proceed since Trump could simply hire another flunky to hold his baggy-ass coat and schlep boxes around? I have no idea how that works.

My guess is Trump would be against separate trials since he’s afraid Nauta might flip. But if that sort of ruling is possible, it might be a way for Cannon to shield Trump from timely accountability while preserving the appearance of evenhandedness by allowing the Nauta trial to move forward. We’ll see.

In other news, Cannon is proceeding as if the trial will be held in Ft. Pierce, where she’s based. That could change due to logistics for such a large scale circus. But if the trial is held in Ft. Pierce, prosecutors will have more MAGA cultists in the jury pool. Ft. Pierce itself is purple-ish, IIRC, but the surrounding counties are about as Trumpy as my part of Florida.

That said, I do thinkTrump voters could be persuaded to convict if the prosecution proves its case. I’ve been a juror and have always been impressed by how seriously random citizens take their civic duty. But MAGA cultists are another story; they don’t give a shit about American democracy.

Feel free to speculate herein or talk about whatever — open thread!

Loose Cannon ChroniclesPost + Comments (113)

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Pestering

by Anne Laurie|  July 11, 20235:50 am| 213 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality

His devotion to bothering me has been very strong today pic.twitter.com/iqBr2iaT67

— James Palmer (@BeijingPalmer) July 10, 2023


 
ICYMI:

So just to summarize today's news:
-Trump appointed US Atty says GOP IRS Hunter Biden "whistleblower's" claims are completely BS
-The other "whistleblower" who claimed that Biden was taken payments from foreign countries was literally a Chinese spy.

Banner day for the GOP! https://t.co/Xh1THyKzqQ

— Centrism Fan Acct ?? (@Wilson__Valdez) July 11, 2023

Counterpoint: this is the perfect scam to run. You can convince the rubes that this spy is actually a brave whistleblower being persecuted and if only you vote R in 2024, Joe and Hunter might go to jail. In the meantime, though, you can do nothing bc of the very mean FBI. https://t.co/RyV9FO6ykf

— River_Tam (@RiverTamYDN) July 10, 2023


 
With no little assistance from Our Failed Major Media…

show full post on front page

There's a unified effort by these gossip journalists for their drivel equating cursing leaders to staff who came up short of their performance as a character flaw. Beyond irresponsible. pic.twitter.com/fX3wp0BjUG

— KAMALA NATION (@KamalaNation) July 10, 2023

this is just slightly goofy but perfectly comprehensible https://t.co/gUqbu0iM7d

— rev. howard arson (@revhowardarson) July 9, 2023

kamala harris is a bad candidate but not due to anything under her control and it's shitty that she's just the whipping boy for every guy in the media who has ever barely escaped getting fired for sexual harassment

— rev. howard arson (@revhowardarson) July 9, 2023

I’m tired of the fantasy presidential tickets people keep posting on here#BidenHarris is the ticket

Why are people wasting ink writing op-eds about POTUS stepping down or taking MVP off the ticket?

Take that same energy and write about all the WORK they are doing

Be useful

— Qondi (@QondiNtini) July 8, 2023

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: PesteringPost + Comments (213)

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