Can We Try De-Exhuming McCarthy, US Politics July 2021

https://i.imgur.com/IFOoydG.jpg
meet me at the book burning

excellent work

In re Jason Miller's would-be Twitter clone, I look forward to the collapse and the "GETTR Done" headlines.

The Supreme Court's FIRST opinion of the day is in Brnovich, the Voting Rights Act case. It's a 6–3 decision with Alito writing the majority. All three liberals dissent. https://t.co/k7cbzSBfly pic.twitter.com/uBxoDjMYq4

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) July 1, 2021

BAD!

In the Supreme Court's second and final opinion of the day, Americans for Prosperity, the majority holds that California's donor disclosure law is FACIALLY INVALID under the First Amendment. 6–3 decision, all three liberals dissent. https://t.co/AacIrDI3Gm pic.twitter.com/x3HuTBJkPm

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) July 1, 2021

ALSO PRETTY BAD!

someone should do something imo

The GOP Supremes have long signaled that they will not invalidate any voting restrictions unless maybe they are literally called the White Voters Only Act, and maybe not even then.

It's hi-larious that there are going to be like 300 right-wing twitter-like social media sites, thus defusing the consequentiality of any of them. The only reason Twitter is as big as it is, is its size and ubiquity.

^^^substitute for the word "big", "looms too large in our consciousness unwelcome and unbidden".

GETTR as a platform name was probably test-marketed in Cincinnati, and people said “Yeah, it sounds great!” because they thought they were talking about goetta.

honestly SC decisions today really bumming me out

yeah but it's Independence Day weekend

pucker up, buttercup

It is pretty fucking depressing that 56 years after Selma the Voting Rights Act — which King rightly thought was at least as important if not more important than the Civil Rights Act — is barely there at all. Just a reminder that none of these fights are ever won for good.

Some lines from a poem I discussed with workshop students this past week:

"The good do not deserve anything more
than their virtue. The evil
inherit the earth"

This building collapse in Florida seems like the US infrastructure issues in a bottle. From what I am reading, there are LOTS of these buildings that have these issues all up and down their coasts. Lots and lots of condos that perhaps were built perhaps not exactly as they should have been in decades past and then the repairs put off by the condo boards for the costs, which the longer they are put off the prices exponentially go up to repair.

Got to wonder how long until these Florida politicians are handing out their hat to the Feds to help repair and bailout their beachfront property?

unfortunately, since the issue has something to do with climate change, republicans will not be able to support any infrastructure spending

It's like anything, it's not an issue until some rich mf'ers decide it is something they want Uncle Sam to buy. I'm sure this is all some Democratic mayors fault. That said, the money would just buy enough of both sides to cover their bottom line just like Exxon.

GOP has been f'ing wrong on about every major policy issue other than making money for the rich forever. That they have been really good at doing, so really nothing else matters.

Have a happy 4th!

already a condo complex near me evacuated its tenants due to safety issues. this is basically where owners finally fess up to the potentially catastrophic damage that's always been present in their buildings.

I was surprised how few IRL examples of this type of building collapse I could find in history, but a friend and I were talking and think this could definitely happen again, given how many rich building owners can seem to bribe their way into good inspections.

There was the Fidenae amphitheater collapse that killed 20000 people

the Roman Senate took swift action

https://i.imgur.com/AmoVetr.png

the peanut farmers celebrate their 75th anniversary this week

seriously thought that was an old timey lesbian couple

NPR's annual reposting of the Declaration of Independence gets predictable replies. -

🧵 245 years ago today, leaders representing 13 British colonies signed a document to declare independence.

It says "that all men are created equal" — but women, enslaved people, Indigenous people and many others were not held as equal at the time. https://t.co/dtE0z2Uabc

— NPR (@NPR) July 4, 2021

I was surprised how few IRL examples of this type of building collapse I could find in history, but a friend and I were talking and think this could definitely happen again, given how many rich building owners can seem to bribe their way into good inspections.

how's the Grenfell inquiry going

it continues

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p09n7tk8

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the leaders

Of the nearly 700 Republicans who have filed initial paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run next year for either the U.S. Senate or the House of Representatives, at least a third have embraced Trump’s false claims about his defeat.

Many of them — 136 — are sitting members of Congress who voted against Joe Biden’s electoral college victory on Jan. 6.

Similarly, of the nearly 600 state lawmakers who publicly embraced Trump’s false claims, about 500 face reelection this year or next. Most of them signed legal briefs or resolutions challenging Biden’s victory. At least 16 of them attended the Jan. 6 protest in Washington.

“What’s really frightening right now is the extent of the effort to steal power over future elections,” said Jena Griswold, the Democratic secretary of state in Colorado. “That’s what we’re seeing across the nation. Literally in almost every swing state, we have someone running for secretary of state who has been fearmongering about the 2020 election or was at the insurrection. Democracy will be on the ballot in 2022.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/republican-trump-2022-midterms-election-falsehoods/2021/07/04/3a43438c-d36f-11eb-ae54-515e2f63d37d_story.html

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the people they lead

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll showed 74 percent of people who haven’t been vaccinated say they probably or definitely won’t get vaccinated — and that the divide fell sharply along party lines. According to the survey, 86 percent of Democrats have received at least one vaccine shot compared with 45 percent of Republicans. Only 6 percent of Democrats said they are not likely to get vaccinated, compared with 47 percent of Republicans, including 38 percent of Republicans overall who said they definitely will not get the vaccine.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/07/04/republicans-vaccines/

------
or maybe it's the other way around. only a total fool can get elected in the GOP now. if you say anything that resembles reality, they primary you with Q and actually win, because they're all so fucking dum-.....foolish

good morning!

XP One of those dopes is a guy I went to high school with who has--afaict--no real political experience outside of working extensively with a 'Back The Blue' organization for the last couple of years, which apparently is enough to take a shot at a US Congressional seat in a hard-R white flight district with an open seat next year.

seems worthy of some american dollars

ppl outside of KY love to be like 'ky what is wrong with yall??' when mcconnell and rand paul do the shitty things they do.

well now yall can help us get rand paul out of here. wld you spend $20 to replace him with a black man who gets it? https://t.co/KPhynJ2J4e https://t.co/cv68r6SINe

— tracy the business goose (@brokeymcpoverty) July 1, 2021

hell yeah

JIM CLYBURN: "We are always for voter ID. We are never for disproportionate voter ID. When you tell me…a photo for a student for an activity card is not good but for a hunting license it is good that's where the rub is. I don't know of a single person…against ID-ing themselves" pic.twitter.com/gd4qVZCYnt

— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) July 4, 2021

Is that bad? It seems he is just attacking the Rs voter ID arguments head on by saying, “if an ID is good enough to get a hunting license, it is good enough to vote”.

hunting licenses don't have photos on them, do they?

Idk, but I believe the point stands either way. He is basically reiterating Stacy Abrams position from 1-2 months ago.

Which is a big shift (and cave-in) from Democrats arguments for the last 10+ years and it’s ridiculous to say “no, we were always pro voter ID!!!”

If it somehow gets the voting rights bill passed then that might be a win. I know it won’t but not a big deal.

Some subtle indications here that some members of the minority may not be acting in total good faith. https://t.co/c0h7KZbhRv

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) July 6, 2021

sing along: deeaaaath CULLLLLLT

https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/trump-suing-zuckerberg-dorsey-bias-censorship-1235013445/

must be nice to have all this money to waste.

I'm sure he's already soliciting donations to his legal fund*.

*Donations to "legal fund" may or may not be used for any particular actions, legal or illegal

if 'illegal' is so bad, why does it have the word 'legal' in it.

i mean inflammable and flammable mean the same thing

doesn't cost him anything neanderthal. he has lawyers on retainer who can file paperwork, he's not actually going to go through with it. it's just free press.

And, as we learned from Rudy and others, somehow he keeps finding these lawyers willing to forego payment for... something?

Rudy Can Fail

Haha, yeah and he’s not even talking with Rudy anymore.

Makes me think of Chris Christie, too. Just public humiliation after humiliation, and he got nothing for his loyalty.

Trump must just string everyone along or threaten them, and if you’re gullible or cowardly you end up getting fucked

Roger Stone gets paid in sex.

Actually it’s a Querelle situation:
If T wins the dice throw he gets to fuck Stone’s wife, but if he loses the throw it’s hello Nixon back tattoo.

And there it is: Trump fundraising appeal off his lawsuit already out pic.twitter.com/4KUaokjezH

— Nick Corasaniti (@NYTnickc) July 7, 2021

ah yes, getting your name on the Donor List President Trump sees, the ultimate achievement in American politics. look, i'm a guy who spends most of my free time watering my shitty lawn and now i'm on the same as chris christie!!!

I’m the guy doing the matching funds x5, because I am real and definitely exist

will you please join my donor pyramid scheme mh? we have been openly searching for an x5

will you activate my x5 impact

late nite pillow talk, Washington NW

will you activate my x5 impact

Yes I have pushed the multiply button five times. You are set

I realize this is hardly a new or fresh revelation, but I saw someone sharing noted vocal anti-abortion idiot C@nd@c3 0w3ns' anti-vaccination tirade, in which she is suddenly very vocally and angrily insistent that the government has no right to tell her what to do with her body, I'm again reminded that there is no consistent worldview or logical train of thought with these conservative beyond defining themselves in opposition to whatever "liberals" feel strongly about it.

I think the Democrats should start a new, highly visible public safety campaign about how dangerous and stupid it is to stand in front of speeding trains. I firmly believe that the number of people who stand in front of speeding trains to trigger the libs would be greater than zero.

or maybe pay some actor to portray an alternative medicine-y guy that has a mega-safe vaccine that liberal government is suppressing and it protects against not just COVID but most infectious diseases, and then when they show up to get vaccinated, the syringes are filled with rat poison.

The key is to sell them gold and then hide the vaccine in the gold pile

Biden seeming ornery af in this Afghanistan press conference.

probably listened to Morning Joe this morning

NEW YORK — Michael Avenatti — who made headlines representing an adult-film actress who claimed an affair with Donald Trump before he was president — was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Thursday, after offering a sobbing plea for mercy for trying to extort Nike Inc.

The disgraced celebrity lawyer was convicted in February 2020 of fraud and attempted extortion for his efforts to shake down Nike for as much as $25 million during what he said was a negotiation for his client, a youth basketball coach. A jury found that he threatened to expose alleged wrongdoing within the company if it did not meet his demands to settle.

"Mr. Avenatti had become drunk on the power of his platform, or what he perceived the power of his platform to be. He had become someone who operated as if the laws and rules which apply to everyone else didn't apply to him," said U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe.

https://i.imgur.com/nvkgH5d.jpg

if wu and teachout are on board then sounds good to me

"President Biden is going to sign a sweeping antitrust executive order today spearheaded by Bharat Ramamurti and Tim Wu and cheered by Zephyr Teachout" is an accurate sentence I, uh, certainly would not have expected to write a year ago

— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) July 9, 2021

People liked Avenatti for about a NY minute because he was good at coming back at Trump in the media. The shine wore off fast when he broke out that #Basta shit.

130 countries signed on to an American-led effort to create a 15% minimum corporate tax rate. The plan for a new global tax system would ensure multinational corporations pay a fair share of tax wherever they operate and earn profits. https://t.co/Dbt6pox3LH

— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 4, 2021

seems like good news. the dems are gonna put a provision for this in the reconciliation bill.

i mean 15% is low but it's also significantly higher than the rate in tax havens like the caymans, isle of jersey, etc.

"global tax rate" sounds like the mother of all triggers for right wingers

A month or so ago I caught a couple minutes of a Larry Kudlow radio show where he had some Trump admin tax guy on and they were talking about this like some NWO star chamber.

"global tax rate" sounds like the mother of all triggers for right wingers

More like "globalist theft rate".

This is great news for the countries that didn't sign on to this agreement.

Which I'm guessing are the caymans, isle of jersey, etc.

would additional revenue for the US from, uh, actually making corporations pay taxes, lead to a windfall of new money that doesn't require legislation? or lead to new funding for THE GREEN NEW DEAL (to name one prominent topic that has been completely dropped by Democratic leadership, no surprise) that wouldn't require new taxes on people aren't rich?

Democratic leadership was openly hostile to the Green Nes Deal iirc

whitehouse is still pushing for it hard in the senate, including his grief with how climate magically vanished from the budget/infrastructure/whatever bills. i'm sure manchin had nothing to do with that!

because of that, and i'm just talking out of my ass because wtf do i know, but if there happens to be a new source of revenue for the federal government that would come from a miracle global deal that forces corporations to pay a small portion of their fucking taxes, including the united states, then it's a good position for Whitehouse et al to be loud about climate yet again, because resistance to it never fucking stops whether it's exxon or republicans or the tobacco industry or manchin or pelosi

Draconian IRS enforcement is such an obvious place to begin... even if you only started at households making over a million a year

Nobody likes the IRS anyway so they've got nothing to lose

but those are also the donors they care about

that's what i mean; this is kind of like a golden opportunity in that it's a way to actually finally collect (some of) taxes off of U.S. corporations in a way that minimizes the "damage" (man, fuck that. i hate how that's fucking "damage" fuck that! i'm just ending my post now

anyway, go democrats

MEXICO CITY — The Trump administration began separating migrant families along a remote stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border months earlier than has been previously reported — part of a little known program coming into view only now as the Biden administration examines government data.

In May 2017, Border Patrol agents in Yuma, Ariz., began implementing a program known as the Criminal Consequence Initiative, which allowed for the prosecution of first-time border crossers, including parents who entered the United States with their children and were separated from them.

From July 1 to Dec. 31, 2017, 234 families were separated in Yuma, according to newly released data from the Department of Homeland Security, almost exactly the same number as were separated in a now well known pilot program in El Paso that year. Because the Yuma program began in May, and the existing data on family separations begins only in July, the number of separations there was likely higher than 234, a prospect the Biden administration is now investigating.

Some of the parents separated under the Yuma program still remain apart from their children four years later. Others are missing — lawyers and advocates have been unable to locate them since they were deported alone. The children separated in Yuma in 2017 were as young as 10 months old, according to government data.

this kind of thing will be coming out a lot over the next few years, i expect. especially as the 2024 election nears and somehow it turns out that trump is running again, he's not in jail, he has a donor advantage and republican control of at least the house. i expect it to land with the thud that this news will land. that is the advantage of the right, of fascism, of trump: this will happen repeatedly and we will have to learn how to deal with it just to keep going with our live, and for most of us that means trying not to think about it

#theworldwillend2023

can i make a prediction? no, the world will not end in 2023, and no, that's not the prediction. or i guess it is.

can i make another prediction? you know that SSA Trump-appointee who likes to his freeze his cum and eat it like popsicles before bed all the time and also was just fired by biden but claims he's not going to leave his post?

whenever a republican is president, that callery pear-smelling mouth of his is going to be appointed as SSA head again and it will be the dumbest shit of all time

hi everyone. i have a article and an audio clip that together are chilling. this is the moment when everyone's openly in on the scam

Trump calls insurrection: "a lovefest between the capitol police and the people that walked down to the capitol ... who shot Ashli Babbitt and why are they holding that information back? They have to release to the people that are incarcerated." pic.twitter.com/Xc1RzgeM4g

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) July 11, 2021

Those inside the movement have heard all the criticisms. That their churches are cults that prey on human frailties. That what their churches are preaching about LGTBQ people is a lie that is costing lives in the form of suicides. That the language of spiritual warfare, demonic forces, good and evil is creating exactly the sort of radical worldview that could turn politics into holy war. That the U.S. Constitution does not allow laws privileging a religion. That America does not exist to advance some Christian Kingdom of God or to usher in the second coming of Jesus.

To which Steve Penate, the former mayoral candidate, said, “There’s a big misconception when it comes to separation of church and state. It never meant that Christians shouldn’t be involved in politics. It’s just loving the city. Being engaged. Our children are in public schools. Our cars are on public streets. The reality is that people who don’t align with the church have hijacked everything. If I ever get elected, my only allegiance will be to the Lord.”

Or as a member of Mercy Culture who campaigned for Penate said: “Can you imagine if every church took a more active role in society? If teachers were preachers? If church took a more active role in health? In business? If every church took ownership over their communities? There would be no homeless. No widows. No orphans. It would look like a society that has a value system. A Christian value system.”

That was the American Kingdom they were working to advance, and as another Sunday arrived, thousands of believers streamed past the fluttering white flags and into the sanctuary to bathe in the Holy Spirit for the righteous battles and glories to come.

The drums began pounding. The screen began spinning. The band began blasting, and when it was time, the pastor stood on the stage to introduce a topic he knew was controversial, and to deliver a very specific word. He leaned in.

“Submission,” he said.

“We’ve been taught obedience to man instead of obedience to God,” he continued.

“God makes an army out of people who will learn to submit themselves,” he continued.

“When you submit, God fights for you,” he concluded.

He cued the band. The drums began to pound again, and he told people to “breathe in the presence of God,” and they breathed. He told them to close their eyes, and they closed their eyes. He gave them words to repeat, and the people repeated them.

“I declare beautiful, supernatural submission,” they said.

https://i.imgur.com/4Uu0oJm.png

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/11/mercy-culture-church/

sauron is gathering his orcs

Somewhere else in that Fox interview he claims the Babbitt shooter was connected security to a Democrat, who Bartiromo goes on to imply is Schumer, and 45 doesn't correct her.

yeah, the whole 1/6 event was basically a set-up to kill this one person, because....?

once again, like #benghazi, it just doesn't even fucking matter

the point, now, is that's another test - who says No to that? whoever it is, they're out. do whatever, just don't say no

These are not exactly world-changing exec orders, but there's some good stuff in there, especially the right-to-repair stuff.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/07/09/fact-sheet-executive-order-on-promoting-competition-in-the-american-economy/

The hearing aid one is interesting. It seems like my grandfather had to go to an audiologist regularly to dial in his hearing aids to work correctly but maybe apps can do that these days?

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/562480-trump-i-got-impeached-twice-i-became-worse

“He became a different man when the Democrats viciously stated that they wanted to impeach him. They went wild. We want to impeach him. We're gonna impeach Bill Barr. We're gonna impeach him. He became different. I understand that. I didn't become different. I got impeached twice. I became worse,” Trump said, garnering applause from the crowd.

“I became worse,” he emphasized.

Fucking hell. I hate how predictably the media jumped right back on breathlessly covering every loose turd that falls from his mouth hole. Stop covering this shit, for the love of everything.

xp we got him

yeah, the whole 1/6 event was basically a set-up to kill this one person, because....?

once again, like #benghazi, it just doesn't even fucking matter

fwiw i think cutting child poverty by half is Good.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/12/us/politics/child-tax-credit-payments.html

(payments start this week)

one of my good friends is a single mother of 3 and this is literally saving her ass

But in West Monroe, a 90-minute drive away, Levi Sullivan, another low-income parent, described the program as wasteful and counterproductive. Mr. Sullivan, a pipeline worker, has been jobless for more than a year but argued the payments would increase the national debt and reward indolence.

“I’m a Christian believer — I rely on God more than I rely on the government,” he said.

With four children, Mr. Sullivan, who has gotten by on unemployment insurance, food stamps, and odd jobs, could collect $1,150 a month, but he is so skeptical of the program he went online to defer the payments and collect a lump sum next year. Otherwise, he fears that if he finds work he may have to pay the money back.

“Government assistance is a form of slavery,” he said. “Some people do need it, but then again, there’s some people that all they’re doing is living off the system.”

Mr. Sullivan, who has gotten by on unemployment insurance....“Government assistance is a form of slavery,” he said. Mr. Sullivan, who has gotten by on unemployment insurance....“Government assistance is a form of slavery,” he said. Mr. Sullivan, who has gotten by on unemployment insurance....“Government assistance is a form of slavery,” he said. Mr. Sullivan, who has gotten by on unemployment insurance....“Government assistance is a form of slavery,” he said.Mr. Sullivan, who has gotten by on unemployment insurance....“Government assistance is a form of slavery,” he said. Mr. Sullivan, who has gotten by on unemployment insurance....“Government assistance is a form of slavery,” he said. Mr. Sullivan, who has gotten by on unemployment insurance....“Government assistance is a form of slavery,” he said. Mr. Sullivan, who has gotten by on unemployment insurance....“Government assistance is a form of slavery,” he said. Mr. Sullivan, who has gotten by on unemployment insurance....“Government assistance is a form of slavery,” he said.

how do you live with people like this

i try to avoid people like that at all costs if possible. trouble is, they're everywhere

if you dont' want your government assistance, my mother would love it right now

at my grandpa's funeral my dad said that welfare was worse than slavery, during the eulogy

this is a thing that white supremacists do

At my grandfather’s funeral last year my aunt told a super fun n cute anecdote during his eulogy about a trip to DC with him and asking if wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial to which he replied “why would I? We weren’t on the same side”.

This was weaved in with a bunch of flag waving treacle about his service in WW2. It’s like, do you fuckos even hear yourselves?

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said that the state's House Democrats who fled to DC to block an effort to pass a new voting law will be arrested "as soon as they come back." https://t.co/n2JWS8J8vW

— Axios (@axios) July 13, 2021

good luck with that, I'm sure it won't generate a mountain of bad press. Dude is laser focused on finding as many ways as possible to piss off a major portion of the state's population.

the wind hums: "alright alright alright...."

It will generate a ton of good press on OAN and Fox and owning the libs helps Republican primary voters forget about Abbott’s incompetence and corruption.

there's a significant and growing portion of us who are not Republican primary voters

you know that SSA Trump-appointee who likes to his freeze his cum and eat it like popsicles before bed all the time

But you’ll never vote for him so why does he give a shit if you’re mad? Democrats still aren’t really competitive in statewide races (see: 2020 Presidential and Senate results), Republican primary voters are the only people who can take away his job.

skeptical of the program he went online to defer the payments and collect a lump sum next year. Otherwise, he fears that if he finds work he may have to pay the money back.

he does have a point here, though I doubt if he's been on assistance this long in the year that would happen. But I'd rather this was not an advance payment of a credit and was just handed out gratis.

i was definitely of the thought process that it's a bullshit move to flee to deny a quorum/vote until Republicans did it and then threatened to shoot anybody who came to arrest em. now i say fuck it, give em their own medicine all the time.

I may be wrong, but after freezing out his entire state and then shrugging in response, people may be less receptive to images of tough guy Abbott slapping handcuffs on elected officials all in the name of expanded voter disenfranchisement. There's only so much goodwill left for this asshole to mine.

but after freezing out his entire state and then shrugging in response

That's why he needs to shoot two revolvers in the air like he's Yosemite Sam while arresting every Democrat in the lege.

The only people this hurts him with wouldn't vote for him anyway, the people this helps him with can be taken by Don Huffines because he's a bizness man like Trump.

Everything Abbott's done since the freeze is about making his base forget about the freeze. He was getting called a RINO by the harder core then, and has been overcompensating ever since.

He seems like he's lost antivaxx mom's tho, which is something.

Sicker Moms

Khanna is getting tired of the admin’s bullshit on Yemen.

Meeting with Salman w/out demanding end of blockade is not treating the Saudis as “pariahs” as Biden pledged. Yemen disaster continues. Lenderking is failing. Admin must change course fast or Congress will act. ⁦@BernieSanders⁩ ⁦@jaketapper⁩ https://t.co/QfrNo6FRoE

— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) July 14, 2021

mostly good news about what's making the cut on the reconciliation bill

From the Terminal: SANDERS CONFIRMS PRO ACT INCLUDED IN SENATE BUDGET AGREEMENT

— Ian Kullgren (@IanKullgren) July 14, 2021

*MANCHIN SAYS SUPPORTS IMMIGRATION REFORM IN THE BUDGET DEAL

— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) July 14, 2021

unclear if medicare age eligibility age is going down. that would be a big deal electorally (people like getting healthcare).

manchin grumbling about climate stuff but unclear where that goes.

no one appears to be concerned by the price tag.

did you guys watch the nytimes documentary on jan 6? really well done.

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/state-departments-federal-au-pair-oversight-plan-draws-critics?context=search&index=0

The Biden administration plans to advance its predecessor’s proposal to keep state and local worker protections from applying to foreign au pairs, angering labor advocates who doubt the Department of State—as overseer of the visa program—has the means to shield the young and mostly female workforce from abuse.

“There is a huge problem with the federal State Department’s inability to actually administer and provide oversight of this program,” said Rocio Avila, senior employment law counsel and state policy director at the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

The live-in childcare workers are recruited through sponsor companies and can stay in the U.S. with a J-1 exchange visitor visa. Families pay an agency fee, and those they employ can work a maximum of 45 hours per week and get paid weekly at a rate of $4.35 per hour, as the cost of au pair room and board is deducted from their federal minimum wage. They’re tied to their host families and sponsoring companies. Many have reportedly faced threats of deportation, as well as financial, physical, and sexual abuse.

Federal prosecutors have charged two men for conspiring to attack the Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento, Calif., with authorities saying the men also tried to coordinate with an extremist militia group.

Ian Benjamin Rogers, 45, and Jarrod Copeland, 37, “began planning to attack targets they associated with Democrats after the 2020 presidential election and sought support from an anti-government militia group,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a release Friday.

Copeland is a former member of the military who was discharged in lieu of court martial. He then joined the “Three Percenters,” an anti-government extremist group...

The ex-military thing is what kinda freaks me out. Seems like they're harboring a bunch of kooks, not just in the U.S. but in Europe (Germany) as well.

hell yeah let’s go

SCOOP: The Biden admin. has weakened proposed health & safety rules for public housing.

HUD no longer plans to require fire extinguishers, circuit breakers to prevent electrocution, & other key safety features — contrary to codes adopted in many states.https://t.co/k2tiioP9A4

— Suzy Khimm (@SuzyKhimm) July 14, 2021

jfc

A fine use of horseshoe theory

Pushed him so far left that he popped out on the right side I see

— a tiny manatee (@ateenymanatee) July 16, 2021

crypto + drugs is the mystery zone where the horseshoe connects

The Biden admin stressed the new inspection standards haven't been finalized—HUD is still accepting public feedback on them: https://t.co/qZHFhaAodA
HUD has already promised to make one change—to prohibit fire doors from being propped open—in response to one of my questions.

— Suzy Khimm (@SuzyKhimm) July 14, 2021

they're just making this shit up as they go along I guess

can't they finalize the one that says you have to have circuit breakers and a fire extinguisher? seems uncontroversial. unless you are a section 8 landlord, of course.

Landlords, property managers, and other industry players lobbied against some of the safety standards that HUD initially proposed, arguing they would be too expensive to implement.

They warned strict requirements could drive away Section 8 landlords & reduce the housing supply.

— Suzy Khimm (@SuzyKhimm) July 14, 2021

Literal Grenfell

If we insist that public housing not be constantly on fire, there may not be enough constantly-blazing public housing for people to die in. And then where would we be.

It's still a public comment period, make your feelings known! (see follow up tweet from the reporter that got way less engagement).

why are you assuming i don't already have the relevant hud.gov page open

make sure you impress upon them that you and all your friends are in fact powerful landlords

from a good thread about the au pair legal human trafficking thing

That's exactly what one congressional staffer who wants to reform the program told me pic.twitter.com/ZGVfYrel2j

— Zack Kopplin (@ZackKopplin) July 16, 2021

Like why did they even bother replacing Ben Carson if this is the result. 'Ben Carson' is the situational low bar that anyone can and everyone should clear.

It should not be necessary to tell a Democratic administration that killing poor people so landlords can be richer is a bad thing.

fair

Reporter: "What's your message to platforms like Facebook?"

President Biden: "They're killing people." pic.twitter.com/jrAvQpG7i0

— The Hill (@thehill) July 16, 2021

why are you assuming i don't already have the relevant hud.gov page open

Facebook is killing people? Damn, hardcore. ILXor just gave me a mild rash that one time

xp lol i didn't think you were, i was also joking (i did have the tab open but still did not make a public comment bc i have the attention span of a flea)

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senators-drop-tax-enforcement-bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-portman-2021-07-18/

Infrastructure week!

This painting, “The Spirit of 2024,” is a contemporary interpretation of the classic painting, “The Spirit of 1776.” I’m honored and amused to be featured in it. The artist is Jon McNaughton and you can find his work at https://t.co/VMvjHKZqXh pic.twitter.com/hTiUAlaCmx

— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) July 18, 2021

looooooooool

Man, at least the old school fascists occasionally had good artistic taste

I mean, every time I read one of D'Souza's tweets I assume he's suffered a head injury, so...

McNaughton is such a piece of work

Those wacky right wing twitter feeds are some PK Dick 'Ubik' funhouse inversions of reality.

Merrick Garland really paying off dividends

https://www.govexec.com/management/2021/07/doj-will-not-prosecute-trump-officials-after-ig-referred-findings-false-testimony-census/183843/

Gotta focus all the energy on NBA Youngboy.

good stuff

I mean, I’m just glad I didn’t spend the last 4-5 years fuming and pinning my hopes on some sort of repercussions for all the crimes! Oh wait, I did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjmjqlOPd6A

i miss old school political scandals
he couldn't remember a phrase!! haha!!! what an idiot

meanwhile trump was like "i like white christians, ok. i like when people are white and christian, ok? that's what you like too, right? we like white christians right? you like them when they're straight, especially! my record on that is a little more situational. but if you hate gay people i won't stand against you! we hate anybody that's not like us. covfefe."

headline the next day: COVFEFE?!!?!

lol otm

The Biden administration is poised to send thousands of people who were released during Covid back to prison.https://t.co/rcYmXJtSvV

— Maya Schenwar (@MayaSchenwar) July 20, 2021

so uh that Wilbur Ross story yesterday?

This story has been corrected to reflect that the decision not to prosecute Ross was made by the Department of Justice during the Trump administration, not the Biden administration.

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-census-2020-dfececa4bb96d752594c9d38770752cc

that's a big fucking mistake

national journalism has been a giant fucking turd for a while now

Holy shit yeah, that's terrible.

correction: in fact, a dog bit a man

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/07/three-tropes-white-victimhood/619463/

In the conservative world, the idea that white people in the United States are under siege has become doctrine. In recent weeks, three prominent figures have each offered their own versions of this tenet.

In June, Brian Kilmeade, one of the hosts of Fox & Friends, claimed that activists were “trying to take down white culture.”

Also in June, Tucker Carlson, speaking on his nightly show with an anti-white mania graphic in the background, implied that racial strife was imminent and asked: “How do we save this country before we become Rwanda?”

The same month, Pat Robertson, a former Republican presidential candidate and the host of the Christian Broadcasting Network’s flagship show, The 700 Club, said that militants are telling “people of color … to rise up and overtake their oppressors.” He worried that, “having gotten the whip handle—if I can use the term,” people of color were now in a position “to instruct their white neighbors how to behave.” Robertson warned that if this trend continues, “America is over. It is just that simple.”

Kilmeade, Carlson, and Robertson all blamed critical race theory, a school of legal thought developed in the 1980s that has become the latest fixation of the conservative outrage machine. But the panic they expressed has a much longer history, with roots going back to white-supremacist rhetoric from before the Civil War—and particularly apparent during the attack on Reconstruction, America’s experiment in interracial democracy that lasted from 1865 until 1877.

Indeed, each of the three pundits expressed a key strand of the rhetoric of racial reaction that was pervasive among critics of Reconstruction: Carlson deployed inversion, by which white people declare reverse racism or anti-whiteness to be the crucial problem of prejudice and white people to be uniquely oppressed as a result of excessive power granted to Black Americans; Robertson deployed projection, in which white people assert that they will be treated the way they treated Black people during the Jim Crow era; and Kilmeade deployed victimization, as when a white southerner in 1875 described his region as “stripped of her honors, her glory, her pride … trampled into dust” by recently enacted laws.

and then the end

...One of the most telling moments of Donald Trump’s presidency, and our present political moment, came last December, after he was voted out of office but before the insurrection he fomented. “We’re all victims,” he told a crowd in Georgia. “Everybody here. All these thousands of people here tonight. They’re all victims. Every one of you.” Like the opponents of Reconstruction, Trump milked feelings of humiliation to authorize a politics of what President Johnson called “restoration”—the Reconstruction-era version of “Make America great again.”

The opponents of Reconstruction succeeded in their campaign against racial equality, setting the country on a path to great division and intolerable oppression. Those who traffic in these tropes continue to threaten to defer the promise of justice and democracy—yet again.

If they tried something new, they wouldn't be conservatives.

Again, nothing new, but it's just so deeply pathetic that the Bootstrap Nation actively thinks of themselves as victims.

It's not like this animus was never always there under a veil of yellow cake uranium, compassionate conservationism for that city on the hill. Veil it in the flag or the cross and it works like a charm on the rubes.

“having gotten the whip handle—if I can use the term” -- way to invoke the horror of slavery while you're trying to diminish the historic impact of it, Pat. You deserve so much worse than whipping.

he deserves one of the smallest, least shiny mansions in heaven

it should have a constantly leaking roof, even though it never rains in heaven

Again, nothing new, but it's just so deeply pathetic that the Bootstrap Nation actively thinks of themselves as victims.

So much of this. My Trumper uncle is a great example of this. He retired before he turned 55 with his firefighter and EMT pension to start a consulting "business" that is essentially whenever he feels like taking on a job, but more often spends his time driving his brand new pickup truck (replaced annually) on one of the thirteen road trips he takes a year, riding his expensive ass Harley up to Sturgis twice a year or out on his boat. By choosing to live in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, he has leveraged his solidly middle class wealth into being able to live like a king out there, yet constantly whines and posits himself as this aggrieved victim who is constantly dodging threats to his livelihood and mere existence.

It's not like this animus was never always there under a veil of yellow cake uranium, compassionate conservationism for that city on the hill.

It's never even been veiled. I'm finally getting around to watching "Show Me a Hero" on HBO (about a public-housing fight in Yonkers in the late '80s), and there's a scene where this whole mob of middle-aged white people is angrily demonstrating against the prospect of Black people coming into their neighborhood, waving signs saying "No Rights for Whites," etc. Just as that article postulates, there's just a constant stream of this white panic and victimhood from at least the end of the Civil War forward.

it's amazing how much it permeates white life, particular white christian life. "they" are out there. who is "they"? you know, the people that scare you. from my dad's last paragraph to me, in an email i easily find by searching for "history of nazi":

"I cannot deny how much my faith has grown through my life and it does not wain. I am in the minority and your path is in the majority. I am getting old and you are still strong."

the christian persecution/whininess thing, always there, but rarely stated so plainly

the effect? the more you say that they're wrong, the more it is clear that they are wrong, the more that their martyrdom grows, and the greater their reward will be in the kingdom of heaven. it's kind of like if you get lucky and land a well-paying job when you're younger. you put money into the 401K, foregoing the 4K display of your dreams and instead investing in the future

Pelosi on McCarthy picks for 1/6 Select Committee:
"I must reject the recommendations of Representatives Banks and Jordan to the Select Committee.
“The unprecedented nature of January 6th demands this unprecedented decision.”https://t.co/GUfdvciODZ

— Drew Hammill (@Drew_Hammill) July 21, 2021

Xp to Karl, that's why I'm not a "religion is fine so long as it's kept private" type atheist: it negatively impacts people's entire worldview and seeps into every facet of life by its very nature.

And the inevitable follow-up:

NEWS: @GOPLeader will pull all Republican members from the Jan. 6 committee in response to @SpeakerPelosi vetoing the appointment of @RepJimBanks and @Jim_Jordan

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) July 21, 2021

"If you won't let our shoutiest assholes waste everyone's time, then none of us are coming! Take that!"

I get a little side-eye from other atheists/agnostics when I go off on religion for similar reasons, but it frustrates me because people think it's just me doing an intellectual exercise ("I'm better than you because I believe in science"), when it's actually that I used to be a "live and let live" atheist until I witnessed more up close and personal the destructive nature of right-wing Christianity and how it is used to deny rights to many people I love on a regular basis.

sure, it was "religion" that pushed back against eugenics movement, but as much as people say "it's just the religious right, they're not real Christians", I don't know that this is a real distinction anymore, given how many Evangelicals flocked to Trump, and showed up on January 6th at the insurrection. when I was a Fundamentalist, some of our members had ideas that usually are found in hate groups, even if that wasn't the norm. even Michael W Smith, one of the leading (re: terrible) Christian pop artists of the 90s, turned out to be a crazy Trump-head pushing election fraud myths, and he was about as traditional a Christian as you could imagine in his prime, not a Sean Hannity kook.

I thought the Dems were pretty clear up front of not wanting any firebrands on the commission...

Lol I haven't seen the name Michael W Smith since the 90s
The "real" Christians (or any other religion's members) give cover and validity to the inevitable crazies.

aw @ Michael W. Smith

poor jars of clay, though. as i understand, they now lead the proud boys

Christianity != Evangelicalism, and even there there's a schism between mainstream evangelicals and liberal left evangelicals.

Like, you aren't in any way, shape, or form describing Unitarian congregations, or most of the Episcopal congregations I've associated with. (Presbyterians, OTOH, get the side-eye.)

Funny how any critique of a religion must be true for every single member of that religion for it to be valid, but we can freely throw around critiques of conservatism that don't come close to applying to every conservative

fwiw I like Unitarian doctrine, a lot of friends of mine are Unitarian.

admittedly haven't set foot in Episcopalian church since I was a kid going to Bible school so I haven't had as much experience with them.

xp
probably shouldn't do that either!

sometimes i get lazy and just say "christians", but i try to say "white evangelical" instead these days, because that's really what i'm talking about

it does seem inevitable that, if you grew up with any particular strain of Christianity, that is the default one for you. I grew up Catholic. It's my default, regardless of how little I go to church. Evangelicals are like some weird concept to me.

It seems with a lot of American white evangelicals, the politics/bigotry comes first, and then the cherry-pick arcane parts of the old testament to support those views... rather than focusing on the new testament and the teachings of jesus with all the tolerance, grace, transcendence, etc.

Funny how any critique of a religion must be true for every single member of that religion for it to be valid, but we can freely throw around critiques of conservatism that don't come close to applying to every conservative

It's almost like they're two separate things.

It seems with a lot of American white evangelicals, the politics/bigotry comes first

Yes, well ... see the history of the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention. The bigotry was the founding principle.

cherry-pick arcane parts of the old testament to support those views... rather than focusing on the new testament

OT: stone the gays
NT: but you don't have to keep kosher

"It's almost like they're two separate things."

It's almost like any two things that have ever been compared have been 2 separate things

yet people keep doing it for some reason

fwiw I had no problem with DJP pointing out the broadness of my statement, which did hyper-focus on Evangelicals a bit (mostly because they tend to be the major type I see that yoke-up with right-wing paranoia)

https://media.vanityfair.com/photos/5c4b4108a358ac6e49188fd5/master/w_1920,c_limit/roy-cohn-sundance-film-opener.png
(Roy Cohn and Donald Trump in a still from WHERE’S MY ROY COHN?)

“In private calls with voting rights groups and civil rights leaders, White House officials and close allies of the president have expressed confidence that it is possible to ‘out-organize voter suppression’” https://t.co/EBGD2o9wDR

— Liz Goodwin (@lizcgoodwin) July 23, 2021

thisisfine.jpg

Lol

https://www.newsweek.com/arizona-gop-audit-director-barred-recount-after-sharing-data-supporting-trump-loss-1612791

Minnesota

Woman with Trump flag pulled over by state troopers after driving across the State Capitol lawn, during pro-Thompson press conference. She’s shouting at troopers “I am a white woman! There is only one race!” pic.twitter.com/jY9iOGWGur

— John Croman (@JohnCroman) July 26, 2021

https://cdn02.nintendo-europe.com/media/images/10_share_images/games_15/nintendo_7/SI_N64_WaveRace64_image1600w.jpg

the heart and soul of the GOP

the new Trump diehard theory is that Joe Biden was repelled from entering 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue by "the military" on inauguration day and has been living in an 80% replica scale model of the White House on Tyler Perry's Atlanta estate. pic.twitter.com/uK7QUFRInl

— K. Thor Jensen (@kthorjensen) July 26, 2021

madea's family insurrection

Also average height of a Biden staffer is 3.5 inches shorter than a Trump staffer, so they can fit in the smaller White House.

a K Thor post is probably a joke btw

A joke is just a reality tweak that a Trumper hasn't thought to espouse yet.

It may be a joke, but the White House/Tyler Perry thing has been out there:

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/mar/17/facebook-posts/no-image-white-house-rose-garden-event-wasnt-taken/

I am troubled, because Biden (or someone resembling him) appeared at an event in my neighborhood two days ago. Then the streets were closed off and a presidential motorcade came through. Like, there were real helicopters and police motorcycles and limousines with flags on them.

Just goes to show the lengths the establishment will go to keep THE TRUTH from THE PEOPLE. It's astonishing.

And now the Tweet has been removed, by the lying fake news media, to cover up the real truth. Wake up, sheeple! Do your research!

Oh, it's back. Mysterious!

The cabal needed to delete some parts that were only on a need-to-know basis. Duh.

the p stands for pissboy fetch me a coozie https://t.co/dG9aum6iyq pic.twitter.com/AGMaKEc28M

— kilgore trout, terminal hiccups patient (@KT_So_It_Goes) July 27, 2021

Enjoying the collective lols at George P Bush, truly the Charles II of the Bush clan.

"i like ken paxton because he commits crimes while in office. reminds me of me!"

i like ken because we're going to murder people together! more than i would have with george p!

https://media.vanityfair.com/photos/5c4b4108a358ac6e49188fd5/master/w_1920,c_limit/roy-cohn-sundance-film-opener.png

wait, this is a picture of donald trump? (guy on the right) xps

looks like a fun party!

i believe so xp

i was watching Angels in America (still am, only on episode 3) and googling for Trump + Roy Cohn, and that pic came up in some article or another. must be real!!

yeah i found it on vanity fair. i think it is real. he and cohn were apparently close friends in addition to cohn being his lawyer. according to unnamed sources in numerous trump tell-all books, trump still misses cohn and unfavorably compares his lawyers to him. they are "weak" where he was "strong" and a "fighter."

their relationship is pretty fascinating. trump seems to have had very few actual friendships in his life, but one of them was with one of the worst people in american history.

trump seems to have had very few actual friendships in his life, but one of them was with one of the worst people in american history

same with cohn!

Is, uh, anyone following the testimony?

Mitch McConnell isn't, apparently

The cops were moving.

It was pretty powerful stuff. I mean, I knew a lot of these stories, but as one commentator put it, it's one thing to read the descriptions or read testimony or first hand accounts, it's another to hear and see them. And something I have to constantly remind myself is that the vast majority of people don't follow this stuff at all. They have more important things to do. So I would not be surprised if someone that hasn't been following this stuff, or only knew the most basic beats, heard or saw some of this testimony for the first time and came away shocked.

I sure hope you’re right.

I was very pleased that the witnesses described the 'insurrectionists' as <terrorists>. We need more of that.

xpost I don't know what there is to be right about. Mostly it probably just means a handful of Republicans that will feel that much more guilty the next time they vote for another psycho.

Hmmm.

The DOJ has REJECTED a claim by Mo Brooks needed for his bid for immunity from Swalwell’s lawsuit.

Denying Brooks’ claim his Ellipse speech fell within the scope of his employment, DOJ says it was a “campaign activity” and allegedly inciting a riot.

Doc https://t.co/wmEmmO7iNU pic.twitter.com/TqnI0JIr6G

— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) July 28, 2021

“Instigating an attack on the United States Capitol would not be within the scope of a Member of Congress’s employment.”

—a real subheading in a @TheJusticeDept memo explaining why @RepMoBrooks shouldn’t have Westfall Act immunity from @RepSwalwell’s suit https://t.co/wmEmmO7iNU pic.twitter.com/7CBxWBFwew

— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) July 28, 2021

haha

PELOSI on the backlash to mask mandates: "That's the purview of the Capitol physician...nothing to say except we honor it."

Q: @GOPLeader McCarthy says it's against the science.

PELOSI: "He's such a moron."

— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) July 28, 2021

just... lol

NEW: Democrats are trying out a new midterm strategy — blame the GOP for voting to defund the police. And the message is coming directly from Speaker Pelosi’s office https://t.co/xbrin1KtFl

— Akela Lacy (@akela_lacy) July 28, 2021

I just went from “Pelosi, right on” to “Pelosi, whuh”

new: Pelosi has punched a wall

reports are that pelosi is "just really, REALLY hungry", "just needs to get something in her stomach" and maybe take a walk

sometimes I wonder if party leadership will ever come to terms with the fact that the GOP could very literally defund the cops and massively reduce military (to transfer those funds to the privatization of both, obv) all while the Dems fight to triple both… and Blue Lives and America Fuck Yeah idiots AND 100% of white cops/ 85% white trooops are STILL going to vote for Republicans? Like how do they not know this? Or do they know and it’s like “haha this is how we lose, which is sometimes Actually Good, for America (and our donors lol)”

Incidentally, I heard something that implied the DOJ was specifically *not* offering plea deals with many/most of these Jan. 6 assholes, partly to make a point. It's also why they're still arresting people at a steady clip, just to keep it in the news even more as a disincentive to other assholes. Leads to articles like these:

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/restaurant-owners-capitol-riot-arrest-rattles-hometown/

U.S. politics be like pic.twitter.com/hRGtXNmzLH

— Diana Hussein Big Hat (@heyadiana) July 29, 2021

what fresh hell is this?

Simply can not wait for the reams of takes courtesy of the usuals about how primarying Sinema is lowkey misogyny

$20 BILLION in climate funding was cut from the bipartisan deal, affecting:

-EV chargers
-public transit
-electric busses

White House now mum on Biden’s goal of a half-million chargers https://t.co/sUT3WNQUky

— Adam Aton (@AdamAton) July 29, 2021

But hey all the right people are pleased with Sinema.

In ominous sign for Dems, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he’s pleased that Sinema won’t support $3.5 trillion infrastructure budget resolution: “I was certainly pleased. She is very courageous.”

— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) July 28, 2021

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/dont-sweat-sinemas-antics

don't sweat the small stuff -- and it's ALL small stuff!!

how much of the stuff that was cut from the bipartisan deal is not now in the proposed non-bipartisan (reconciliation?) bill? is that not yet clear?

Why are Sinema and Collins hanging on Bill Hader in that infrastructure pic?

Meantime, this...is a read.

https://thedispatch.com/p/inside-the-mind-of-mike-lindell

i imagine the mind of mike lindell, knowing that his mind was about to be probed, thinking "don't think about fucking my pillow. don't think about fucking my pillow" a few times, imperatively

Should have smoked some crack to prepare IMO.

Crackhead to IMO

Sinema isn’t just a bad Democrat. She’s a bad Senator. https://t.co/xprrLPYZnZ

— Ezra Levin (@ezralevin) July 30, 2021

Hope she gets primaried into oblivion and I never have to think about her again.

Why does Joe love to punt so much?

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/30/us/politics/eviction-moratorium-biden-congress.html

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/07/23/texas-democrats-frustrated-president-joe-biden-has-not-agreed-meeting-voting-rights-bills/8058593002/

lol

Today’s Anniversary of Medicare & Medicaid reminds us to reflect on the critical role these programs have played to protect the healthcare of millions of families. To safeguard our future, we must reject Socialist healthcare schemes. https://t.co/mOdUuX7THT

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) July 30, 2021

Why does Joe love to punt so much?

There's a joke in here about him vying for a Chicago Bears coaching position, but I don't think this is the audience.

puntin' makes him feel good

What was gained: “Bipartisanship”

What was lost: pic.twitter.com/QxjDXiHb1s

— Jamaal Bowman (@JamaalBowmanNY) July 30, 2021

Imaginary outcomes are invariably going to look pretty sweet. Like when you make a comparison between becoming a corpse and going to heaven.

That was super deep, brah.

If my rephrasing of Bowman strikes you as shallow, it's because the same shallowness was in the original you posted.

Apparently on Fox:

Question: Could you ever get behind a vaccine mandate for everybody?
Ron Johnson: No, not unless there’s some incredibly deadly disease.

few things enrage me more than these 50+ (honestly prob more like 80+) unrepentant assholes in the senate having quite literally the best medical care on the face of the earth

good morning, it's infrastructure week!!

Lol

I really miss qualms being able to say “where’s the tax returns” over and over

You know this bill is a big f'n diablo pork sandwich if the GQP is willing to vote for it.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/08/09/the-big-money-behind-the-big-lie

It's August.

*removes bookmark*

lock 'er up, mods!

but first: Lady G Shook the Covid Tree - August 2021 US Politics Thread