US Politics, May 2023: May 1 never happened

weird global event yesterday with the day not happening, hope it doesn't happen again

idgi i saw everyone posting May Day memes?

I was tempted to try McCarthy's Ghost, glad you jumped in and blocked me

oh no intended comment on may day, or any actual thing that happened yesterday. i was just joking about there being no thread until the 2nd. somebody's gotta make a thread and give it a title, it may as well question the existence of a 24 hour period

Good morning!☕️

The Senate Judiciary Committee is about to begin its post-Clarence-Thomas-ethics-scandal hearing on Supreme Court ethics reform.

Dick Durbin really wants bipartisan action.

Only one GOP senator has proposed doing anything at all. https://t.co/Ngdu6o3odd

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) May 2, 2023

Good retort to Gov Asshole Abbott after last weekend's shooting:

“Why do they discriminate against immigrants so much? In what way are we affecting him? What harm have we caused him?” Josué Rivera told ABC News. “He’s making his living and we’re here to make our own? We don’t care if he wants to make his money through politics – we’re here to make an honorable living.”

Most elected Dems are not courageous enough to push back against the "illegals" name-calling and to defend the the fact that people are coming here to work and wish the asylum process worked efficiently and allowed them to become US citizens

This is how Fetterman is dressed while on his way to the Senate floor to cast a vote. An absolute disgrace. pic.twitter.com/KvW1n3SgiD

— Alana Mastrangelo (@ARmastrangelo) May 2, 2023

The replies to this tweet from a breitbart journalist are just dozens of blue check breitbart followers saying “this is good, actually”.

Yeah maybe he should be wearing a bunch of Carhartt waving a confederate flag and peeing in the hallways. That might be more their style.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/03/gop-manchin-sinema-debt-crisis-00094998

Manchin has urged Biden to work directly with Speaker Kevin McCarthy and regularly puts out statements pushing for bipartisan talks that show up in GOP press releases. Sinema has quietly dined with McCarthy and signaled her hopes for a negotiated solution to GOP senators.

Sinema has quietly dined with McCarthy

and she knows the perfect chenin blanc that will go with that poached halibut

I am a big Fetterman supporter but I would rather he dressed normally.

Fuck that

I dunno, he always looks pretty awkward wearing a suit

Wasn't he coming back from the gym?

That being said who gives a fuck if he wasn't. This is concern trolling at its finest

I am a big Fetterman supporter but I would rather he dressed normally.

― treeship., Wednesday, May 3, 2023 11:35 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

honest question -- why?

what is "dressed normally"

Fetterman should wear cargo shorts and Timbs to all affairs of state.

he does dress to the senate dress code when he’s in the senate chamber

it plays better to me that he wears what he’s always worn when talking to constituents or campaigning. all kinds of politicians do a little cosplay when campaigning to look like they’re farmers, cowboys, whatever but Fetterman dresses as Fetterman

the brand is strong

Mother said I must dress like Little Lord Fauntleroy or she shall be ever so cross.

CW: that thread contains multiple pictures of a sweaty Ted Cruz

“i simply demand that my politicians look like middle management hacks!” gtfoh with that nonsense

I posted that tweet to point out that even Twitter blue checks who follow breitbart reporters think he dresses ok. Did not expect an actual debate about it.

My senator has one and a half hands.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FprHuKIXsAME7xi.jpg

ok?

I know there’s a NY thread somewhere but I have to say that the both sidesism in the blatant vigilante murder of a homeless individual on the Subway has got me fucking furious. All the news coverage does is confirm that the US hates poor people, disdains those with mental illnesses, and wishes death upon those populations.

ftr in NYC last weekend I rode the subway for 95% of my trips, encountered at least four Jordan Neeles, never once felt threatened, no one paid attention to them. No doubt Times Square NIMBYS would've had them all shot.

Between this and the "stand your ground" shootings, it's like we're having a Purge moment here. I bet the Claremont Institute or Heritage Foundation will publish a paper on the social benefits of vigilante violence.

BREAKING: A jury convicted four Proud Boys leaders, including former chairman Enrique Tarrio, of conspiring against the U.S. government on Jan. 6 — but hasn't decided yet whether the man who caused the first breach was part of it. https://t.co/8XqMaXoBjJ

— Jordan Fischer (@JordanOnRecord) May 4, 2023

He's been convicted of other counts, though, so there's that. Basically that guy, Pezzola, seems like more like a meathead who did other shit but wasn't involved in the direct planning. In any event, pretty sweeping victory for the DOJ and a hell of a lot that can be used further in the record -- plus this point about Tarrio, the guy in charge:

Tarrio was NOT at Capitol on Jan 6

A conviction on charge of seditious conspiracy is a huge win for Justice Dept. And a potential piece of enormous leverage for any future defendant who wasn’t at Capitol on Jan 6 … but is considered part of the conspiracy

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) May 4, 2023

Fetterman looks so weird in a suit, it always looks like those weird plotlines in the WWE where one wrestler dresses up to accept some award and winds up eating a Stone Cold Stunner instead

there are photos of him wearing shorts and a sweatshirt in the snow. if he's doing that to embellish his "Midwestern guy" image then he's a brilliant politician. I think that's just who he is though.

Tarrio is garbage.

Precedent: set.

There have been *14* convictions to seditious conspiracy stemming from Jan. 6

Oath Keepers
1) Stewart Rhodes
2) Kelly Meggs
3) Roberto Minuta
4) Ed Vallejo
5) Joseph Hackett
6) David Moerschel
7) William Todd Wilson (plea)
8) Joshua James (plea)
9) Brian Ulrich (plea)

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 4, 2023

Proud Boys
1) Enrique Tarrio
2) Ethan Nordean
3) Joseph Biggs
4) Zachary Rehl
5) Jeremy Bertino (plea)

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 4, 2023

there's a lot of dusty old laws on the books that aren't used much anymore ("No eating ice cream on within 50 yards of church on Sunday" etc.), but I'm glad we still have 'seditious conspiracy' on the books... it also sounds like a sick Krokus album

^^^ Actually more like a Corrosion of Conformity album

Sidvicious Conspiracy is the name of my Pistols tribute band

I don't think you're ready for this jailing, 'cause my body too sedilicious for ya.

my mind went to Exercise For Credit: Five Names For A Fictional Open Mic

The so called “pro business” and “fiscally responsible” trade and beltway groups are endorsing the McCarthy/MAGA play to drive the economy off a cliff (default) or into a recession (w/ cuts deeper than sequestration & 800k job loss). How are these options pro-biz or responsible? https://t.co/pebUjdpnH9

— Lindsay Owens, PhD (@owenslindsay1) May 4, 2023

The so called “pro business” and “fiscally responsible” trade and beltway groups believe they can make bigger profits under a GOP-dominated government more easily than a Democrat-dominated one. After all, McConnell delivered them a gift of massive tax breaks as recently as 2017. This belief is tenuous at best, but they prefer gambling on keeping in the good graces of a MAGA-dominated Repuublican party to making a few relatively painless compromises with the Democrats. It's probably just that simple.

Wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a sense among some of them that this is a pivotal political moment, getting Trump re-elected is their one big shot at fascism lite, and they’re willing to accept a short-term setback to make that happen.

Cause you know if it goes off the rails there’s gonna be a whole lot of ‘both sides’ BS in the corporate media that will sufficiently befuddle swing voters and leave them with the feeling it’s mainly Biden’s mess cause he’s the Prez.

Plus it’s just common sense that Republicans are better at the economy amirite. (Pretty sure there was a recent poll even suggesting many Democratic voters feel like the GOP is stronger at economics?)

Haven't the Republicans got the short end of every other shutdown?

Have they? Maybe, but for now the public seems mostly split on this one. 36% blame Biden, 39% blame the GOP.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/05/debt-ceiling-poll/

The problem is political media, which thinks the debt ceiling is negotiable, therefore Biden and the GOP have to "compromise."

Biden just needs to hold the line and not negotiate with terrorists and rely on the fact that it will be Republicans who are shutting down the government, which has been the story every other time this has happened.

Yeah, might be tough to explain the debt ceiling to the average non-wonk, but shutting government down usually gets everyone's attention, especially when people stop getting expected pay and benefits in the mail because (checks notes) the GOP wants to cut their benefits by billions.

Yeah, might be tough to explain the debt ceiling to the average non-wonk

with the caveat that i understand the federal budget is very different from household expenses (ie, "tightening the belt" on spending is different for the federal government than it is for mom and pop sitting around the kitchen table),

the line i always used was that the debt ceiling is a credit card bill that has to be paid. it's a bill for things that have already been purchased. you can't suddenly have a realization that you're spending too much and refuse to pay off your credit card. the time for demanding giant cuts to social services is during the passing of the federal budget.

i think the very term "debt ceiling" obscures the fact that it is referring to paying for spending that has already occurred

and alfred otm on political media. what a fucking shitshow, year after year, zero learning, negative learning. cnn working with trump to schedule a "town hall", what a balogna load

Maybe we should close tax loopholes to bring spending more in line with revenue. Just an idea I had while taking peyote in the desert.

Looking at the rationale for 14th Amdmnt makes me go “the debt ceiling vote itself is unconstitutional on its face. Congress undertakes the spending, obligation is inherent, the end.” To make another step is an absurdity within the language of the Amndnt. I’ll pretend not to notice old conservative screeds to this effect.

Also what treesh wrote

the comments from hochul and adams about the subway killing were some of the most ghoulish political statements from democratic leaders since...idk, the segregation era?

just a severe feeling of hopelessness knowing we're stuck with those assholes for many more years

JUST IN: 8 of the false pro-Trump electors in Georgia accepted immunity deals from the Fulton County DA, new filing indicates. pic.twitter.com/nJSe6iFbnp

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 5, 2023

I admit that this incident and some of what is being said on the Twitter thread really just makes me comfortable in saying fuck the vote blue no matter who types, we need to get these fascist Dems out of government just as fast as the fascist GOP ghouls. I simply won’t hold my nose and vote for people who are so equally (but differently) committed to the complete devaluation of human life, particularly poor and non-white lives.

I don’t know why New York Dems are so right wing. Michigan and Minnesota D’s show how it’s done when you have complete control

Whenever young NY dems try and infiltrate the old NY dems literally change the rules to ice them out. It’s really dispiriting and gross

It’s wild that AOC has been reelected tbh

Reading about Teddy Roosevelt’s time in the NY legislature was enlightening. It’s been rotten forever.

I blame it in Albany. They should’ve made the capital a nicer city. (Apologies to any Albanyans.)

No apologies, Albany is a pit

The Egg, though.

having grown up in the Albany burbs, I can't defend it.

DeSantis shoots his state in its collective dick again...watch the video.

Negative impact on Florida has begun from the recently passed DeSantis’ anti-immigrant bill. Immigrant labor is leaving as construction work sites grapple with new restrictions. All to demonize people who simply want to work and be left alone while providing for their families. pic.twitter.com/JQfqPxKbsC

— Thomas Kennedy (@tomaskenn) May 7, 2023

Circling back on this legitimately alarming bit:

So Florida is simultaneously trying to institute the death penalty for child sexual abuse while insisting that queer and trans people are by definition sexually "grooming" children.

The math is grim.https://t.co/QjG93iZxa6

— Absurdistwords (@absurdistwords) May 5, 2023

Yeah that's the thing I keep shouting about, it's scary, esp since SCOTUS is almost sure to uphold it because "lol precedent who cares"

To link grooming with pedophilia has always been the goal. They can't go after the marriage decisions, so you go with the most despised in society by even libs.

And here he is crowing about it:

DeSantis, having a normal one this morning pic.twitter.com/a1726JuSu5

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 8, 2023

Everything but the bloodhounds yappin' at his rear end!

DeSantis shoots his state in its collective dick again...

Florida's collective dick? I was informed that Florida is itself somewhat dick-shaped.

So a dick within a dick is... dickception? or metadicktion?

Do we have or need or general strike thread?

behold:

Rolling Labor Action Thread

Thank you!!!

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/09/republican-drag-shows-danger-for-kids-resigns-misconduct-intern

A Republican Texas state lawmaker who once proposed banning children from attending drag shows to supposedly shield them from being groomed for abuse has resigned after he was found to have engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with a 19-year-old intern.

Bryan Slaton, 45, resigned on Monday while facing mounting calls from the state’s Republican party and conservative groups to step down. A state house investigation last week determined that he supplied alcohol to the intern and another young staffer, had sex with the intern after she had become intoxicated, and later showed her a threatening email while saying everything would be fine if she kept quiet about the encounter.

gasp!

That bitter cynicism of yours is something you've acquired since you left Radcliffe

It strikes me that Eric's disloyalty and ingratitude must be contagious!

JUST IN: Sen. Dianne Feinstein is returning to the Senate after an absence due to health issues prompted calls to resign. https://t.co/HVCAMDVOFu

— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) May 9, 2023

The good news/bad news joke writes itself.

Stop, guys. She's rested and recharged for another century of service.

does her return in person make it easier for her to step down from her committees and be replaced by a democrat?

She should declare her candidacy for president.

She's back and ready to vote on Scalia's replacement

Is she too late for the 4:30 auto-gyro?

Stop, guys. She's rested and recharged for another century of service.

― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, May 9, 2023 4:11 PM (ten minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

irl lol

George Santos indicted on federal charges. (Indictment is still sealed but he might be in court tomorrow.)

For now Biden demanding that Congress raise the debt ceiling unconditionally to avoid a default and McCarthy still insisting on his ransom price of spending cuts. They will meet again on Friday.

The Santos charges are out: seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. He's in custody. From the Times:

Broadly, George Santos has been charged in three schemes outlined in the indictment:

First, a fraudulent political contribution solicitation scheme, in which prosecutors say Santos and an unnamed Queens-based political consultant induced donors to give money to an LLC he controlled. He then used the money for personal expenses, including to buy designer goods and to pay off personal debts.

Second, an unemployment insurance fraud scheme: Prosecutors say that in June 2020, in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, Santos applied for government assistance in New York, even though he was at the time employed by a Florida-based investment firm and drew an annual salary of $120,000.

And, finally, the indictment says Santos misled the House of Representatives about his financial condition. In May 2020 – during his first, unsuccessful campaign – he is accused of overstating one source of income while failing to disclose his investment firm salary. And in September 2022, when he ran a second time, Santos is accused of including a number of falsehoods in his financial disclosure form.

Perp walked too.

You know he loved it. No such thing as bad publicity etc

Seriously, though, how come these things sometimes go fast from investigation to charges or arrest, and sometimes they drag on for years?

They flipped someone fast.

Santos also doesn't have the wealth, status, and lawyers of certain ex-presidents, all of which helps to grind these things down to an excruciatingly slow pace

It’s a hell of a thing. The organization was independent or it wasn’t. The money was in your personal account or not. You were unemployed or not. You disclosed or you didn’t. It’s not rocket science. They have an accomplice, text messages, bank records … https://t.co/CsQMZKUDPI

— Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) May 10, 2023

always a good idea to run for office on the national level when committing federal crimes

-Donald Trump

I feel like the Santos story I haven't read enough about (but may have missed) is what his whole election says about the weaknesses of the system. Sure looks easy to just buy a congressional seat with a completely made-up candidate.

santos technically had an opponent, too, a DNC stooge who managed to pale in comparison to the charisma of george santos

It seems like yet another one of those honor system norms that always worked, but only when there was at least some sense of an honor system, and norms.

PBKR can correct me here, but I don't think they even bought many ads or did much campaigning.

It's probably easier to sneak one of these dudes in when the number of reps per media market is very high, especially with fewer local publications and limited tv markets. You have to be a real glad-handing grifter who's hitting the road and going to events in a state with four or fewer reps. In a state with twenty-six? Just find the right one and ride it out.

God only knows what would turn up if you did a fact check on 20 years of congress people.

that also reminds me of something i was reading recently about congressional apportionment, arguing that we need way more than 435 house reps. 435 reps was set in 1913, when the US had a much smaller population, so the number of constituents per house representative has gone way up. in 1793, each rep had 34,436 constituents, on average. in 1913, when the overall number of reps was set at 435, it was 210,000. now it's 761,000 constituents per rep.

it seems like a difficult problem to address, because doubling the number of reps means doubling the number of house rep races every 2 years and doubling the number of horrible assholes in congress

oops, xp mh - was typing that at the same time, but also thinking about number of reps

would head a PAC for z-tbc for Congress

as soon as I get his name right

thank u alfred. we should flood the zone with different spellings of candidate names, causing confusion and low voter morale from the very beginning

Didn't someone in one of the Illinois elections a year or two ago change their name to more or less that of their opponent?

You know what kind of feels nice about this Santos thing? Maybe it's just me, but for once it does not feel like a distraction from Trump. It feels like an accumulation, momentum.

actual consequences

^ that, it's refreshing to see tangible consequences, even if it is for the most blatant, obvious, low hanging shit.

Santos will go down for the sin of not being particularly useful to anyone with real power.

But what a walk-on cameo huh? Months of entertainment.

yeah it was fun to have him around. had this real Carter Page-like weirdo energy.

also lets not get ahead of ourselves here this guy may very well be arrested and still get to serve in Congress, obviously Republican leadership ain't gonna do shit about this

George was one of the holdouts in the gang led by Marge Greene who mugged Kevin McCarthy over the speakership. She'll be sorry to see him go.

it's too bad santos was born in the 20th century instead of the 19th. he would've been a legendary flim-flammer going from town to town selling miracle tonics and magic boxes

He still could be but they travel from podcast to podcast now.

Doc Santos’s Intramuscular Elk Semen Injections put the fire back in your loins.

hard to call him a 'disgraced former congressman' when he feels absolutely no shame for his chicanery

He's felt like a disgraced former congressman from the very start.

yikes

“Hi everybody,” Feinstein says as she makes her return to the Senate pic.twitter.com/kH61KlzjVn

— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) May 10, 2023

Just a reminder that Feinstein's ailment that kept her home away from the Capitol for 3 months was shingles.

Hospitalizations and Deaths

Approximately 1 to 4% of people who get shingles are hospitalized for complications. Older adults and people with weakened or suppressed immune system are more likely to be hospitalized. About 30% of people hospitalized for shingles have a weakened or suppressed immune system. Shingles causes fewer than 100 deaths annually. Almost all shingles deaths are in elderly or people with compromised immune system.

https://www.cdc.gov/shingles/surveillance.html

Even better (worse) one that looks like an Onion photo and caption:

Sen Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) returns to the Capitol for the first time since February 16th as she was recovering from a case of shingles —> pic.twitter.com/lDtPiUhDh4

— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) May 10, 2023

Remember when McCain flew back with a brain tumor to save ObamaCare? This is nothing

She looks like the grandpa from "Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

(Is it ageist to make fun of an ancient senator whose physical and mental decline and refusal to step down has hampered the success of her barely majority party?)

Don't worry, his people put out a clarification

Asked if he believed white nationalists should be allowed to serve in the military, US Senator for Alabama Tommy Tuberville said, referring to the Biden administration: “They call them that. I call them Americans.” https://t.co/AkdbonrPyE

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) May 10, 2023

xp I obv don't want to make comments about an older woman's appearance, but those photos make it pretty clear why she was out for so long... in fact, shingles may be been the condition they decided to share, but perhaps not the only cause of her absence

shingles is brutal she's only 38

I hope someone fixes Tuberville, if a fix is possible. What a villain.

I'd shit more on Feinstein but the revelation of shingles is worth sympathy to me. I've had friends and relations totally, utterly immiserated and humbled by it. It is usually incredibly painful and horrible and enduring. One of them was just-- 'get shingrix IMMED NOW."

(i did)

yeah, I'm thinking I should look into a shingles vaccination, I've heard it's pretty awful

it looks like it affected one side of her face. it must have been incredibly painful

I got the 2-shot shingles vax and it was nothing, the needle jab was the only bad part.

my mum's husband is 70. he had shingles about 5 years ago. his eye still looks like that and he's extremely shaky five years later. it's awful stuff. can't imagine what it's like at her age.

CDC recommends vaccination for everyone over 50 and all adults with weakened immune systems (whether or not you know you had chickenpox).

I had shingles a couple of years ago all over my right hand and arm up to the elbow, and another patch on my right side and my back. Based on the descriptions I've read, it was a mild case, and it still fucking sucked.

So DeSantis's latest legislative fuckery is having the expected effect:

Florida fucked up. pic.twitter.com/tnEoAgVBeS

— The Infamous El Guapo (@InfamusElGuapo) May 9, 2023

I have a good friend that got shingles while she was I believe pregnant, she said it was the worst. This past Christmas my brother in law apparently was recovering from it, but we wouldn't have known had someone else not brought it up. There's a really good Conan O'Brien story about him getting shingles in his '20s:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b015KoeUGvc

I remember when David Letterman had shingles and it affected his eye(s). When he came back on the show he said he wouldn't wish that pain on his worst enemy.

Disney's Bob Iger had an earnings call today and had some things to say about DeSantis (not by name, of course):

NEW: Here is the complete transcript of Iger's comments about Florida.

"Does the state (Florida) want us to invest more, employ more people and pay more taxes or not?" pic.twitter.com/3jRw3k8AOz

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) May 10, 2023

my friend's father (somewhere in his mid-80's) has shingles presently and she said he looks like he's about to die and has looked like this for weeks and weeks now. my dad got it when he was in his mid-40's and he was in a huge amount of pain

I got vaxxed for this shit about a month after I turned 50.

okay I'm making an appointment now

The first shingles vax wiped me out for a day, but I doubled it up w/ tetanus, so I think that may have caused it. The second one was comparatively milder, about the same as the vid vax. (You need to space them out by 6 months.)

2-to-6 months is the official recommendation

Ah yeah, that's right. I did space them out by 6 months, because lazy I guess.

While we are sharing shingles stories when I was 30 I threw out my back and couldn’t move for hours and the lingering pain lasted for a week. The first 12 hours were the worst pain I ever had in my life. Then, immediately upon feeling better, I got shingles. That was the second worst pain ever ever got.

Book of Job 2

I have a hazy memory of having chicken pox as a small child, but there's no one left who can confirm it

(or was it measles? I don't know)

Two Job

Everybody I know who's had shingles has been totally miserable, even younger healthy people, so yeah. I really need to do that.

I remember our mother deliberately letting my younger sister and me go out and play with the neighbor kid who had chicken pox so we would get it and then be immune. That was the thinking in the 60s. There was no understanding then that Herpes Varicella-Zoster was a virus that continued to live in the body in the dorsal root ganglia and could be reactivated.

I got shingles around the time I turned 50. I was lucky because it only affected my upper torso on one side and my upper arm. My sister had it in her mouth and was beside herself with pain, and she still has residual side effects, mostly aphthous ulcers when she is stressed or gets sick

There was an inferior vaccine which was the only one you could get for many years before Shingrix was introduced in 2017. Shingrix was then largely unavailable for several years, I'm not sure why, maybe because of a lawsuit. I managed to get it in 2020, after requesting it for several years. It is now widely available.

I read that Feinstein got a vaccine, but wonder if it was the one from before 2017. From the looks of it, her facial nerve was affected

yeah, I listened to that Conan podcast thing above, and it sounds like it fucked up the nerves in his eyes/face for years to come... he would feel weird tingles behind his eye, even years after it cleared up.
Anyway, sent a note to my doctor, begging for the vaxx

okay, my HMO says I should come in and get the shot, also one for pneumonia and maybe tetanus... that should be a fun couple days

But thanks to Sen. Feinstein for getting me off my ass about this!

I had my first Shringrix with those two other shots! They jabbed the Shingrix in one arm and the other two in the other arm. Both my arms hurt for a few days, and since I like to sleep on my side it was a little uncomfortable, but it was fine

Lol jab-braggin: i lived in the hosp for two months and got wee shots in me belly every mornin 6:30a for blood thinning et al. I got A LOT of other shots too, just not as regular. Me and needles, big or small, we good.

Shingrix vax was not notable to me wrt side effects, I do encourage them generally if ur doc sez so.

my punk name is Andy Vaxxer, might need to rethink that

Shingles vaxx fucked me up more than Covid vaxx but still worth it

Wow.

I'm not 50 yet. Guess I should get this eh

I'm 57, I got the shingles vax a couple of years ago. Felt like I got punched in the arm, no other noticeable side effects.

Shingles is the absolute worst. My grandmother had it in her nethers and it basically sapped her will to live and she chose euthanasia. Horrifying. I'd have gotten the vaccine already if it weren't for not being 50

That’s awful.

The fact that it is called “shingles” should be warning enough. Other than “piles” (which I think is more like slang actually) there may not be a less pleasant sounding ailment. (Not that ailments are under any obligation to sound pleasant.)

Piles are just hemorrhoids, easily treated if you are aware of your body

y'all making me want to check w/ mom to see if dad's gotten his shingrix yet

I got chicken pox relatively late when I was 16 and it was easily the sickest I've ever been, feverish, hallucinating, feeling like my skin was burning from head to toe. I'm led to believe that getting it late makes me more susceptible to shingles, and I'm really not into that idea, get me that vax.

I got it at 24 and it started in my esophagus. Almost ended up with pneumonia.

Adding to all this shingles talk — my mom got it in the mid 2000s. Her description of it meant that when I finally turned 50 two years back I got my first Shingrix vaccine shot almost immediately, and I would have gotten it earlier if I could. Get it ASAP if you are eligible and haven’t.

i got the vaxx along with a covid booster and felt more or less like shit for a day or so. second shot was standalone and my arm hurt pretty badly but no other issues so I think maybe doing it with a booster wasn't the best decision, but whatever, I lived.

That's basically what happened to my wife. The two together really kicked her ass.

So, like the COVID vax for many people then

Another winning issue, no notes:

Republicans nationwide are now pushing to repeal No Fault Divorce laws. It’s. All. About. Having. Control. https://t.co/MMvyKKelgw

— Jack Hopkins (@thejackhopkins) May 5, 2023

i haven't read this yet (it's 112 pages)

https://www.thebulwark.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/The-Corruption-of-Lindsey-Graham.pdf

i should provide some context - it uses graham as an example of how the broader gop establishment capitulated to authoritarianism. i read about it on https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2023/05/the-hollow-men-2, which has excerpts. the early pages provide a good reminder of what was shocking to establishment republicans in 2015 and what they've acquiesced to.

Retributive torture.

On November 27, Trump said detainees accused of terrorism should be waterboarded even if their suffering elicited no information. “If it doesn't work, they deserve it anyway,” said Trump. In a debate on February 6, 2017, he repeated’ “I would bring back waterboarding, and I'd bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.”

After the debate, Graham disavowed Trump's remarks. “We don't torture people,” he said. “That makes us better.”

Targeting noncombatants.

In December 2015, Trump said he would “take out” terrorists' family members, threaten the “lives” of those family members, or make them “suffer.” He said he would do this intentionally, not qust as collateral
damage (in a strike aimed at the terrorists themselves) or during interrogations to avert an imminent attack, but as “retribution” and a deterrent.

Later, when Trump was advised that the military might refuse such orders because they were illegal, he shot back’ “They're not going to refuse me. . . . If I say, "Do it", they're going to do it.”

Graham was appalled. He protested that Trump would “kill . . . innocent people” and make the United States “barbaric like our enemies.” In March and April 2016, Graham threatened not to support Trump in a general election, in part because Trump might “order our troops to commit war crimes.”

of course, Trump's views in 2015 turned out to be more representative of what conservative voters actually think - physically punishing non-believers for eternity is a pillar of the white evangelicals who are trump's my loyal supporters - and also more in line with what the US military and CIA have been doing for decades. there was a stark reminder of that published just this morning (cw: torture) https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/may/11/abu-zubaydah-drawings-guantanamo-bay-us-torture-policy

Of course it's about control. Otherwise, they wouldn't care so much about what other people do.

I feel really bad for the future Ofsteven.

Every once in awhile, I'm reminded that as awful as literally everything Trump's done in his life is, he has for a very long time wanted to do far, far, far, far, far, far worse

I know the intent is to evoke PATTON but all I see is the opening of FOLLOW THAT BIRD. pic.twitter.com/lQ4ETtDkPs

— Bill Chambers (@flmfrkcentral) May 1, 2023

my god desantis is such a clown

he really is a caricature of himself, but with Paul Lynne's voice

graphic designers apparently boycotting the desantis campaign (or wait, he's not actually running yet)

Balanced, objective, and fair except when defending their own -- that's the Beltway press for ya.

Props to @kaitlancollins who was in an impossible position but did a heroic job of fact-checking Trump throughout the town hall. No easy task given how many factually untrue things he said in such a short time. Collins was a true pro and showed what a stellar journalist she is.

— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) May 11, 2023

budget cut negotiations ongoing

if the negotiations deliver a very small fig leaf to cover McCarthy's ass, then that could be acceptable compared to the unholy mess that a default would cause.

McCarthy is asking for huge cuts, and in hindsight economists say that Obama having agreed to huge cuts , hurt job growth . Can they come up with a reduced budget that doesn't cause pain and that can get votes in both the House and the Senate?

Causing pain is kind of the point.

.@ddayen delivering stone cold truths: "We’re in a live hostage negotiation over what level of austerity will satisfy the hostage-takers." 😩https://t.co/EUoM1AcsvQ

— Kate Donald (@Mskaydee) May 12, 2023

Sean Patrick Maloney and Tim Ryan, both Democratic losers of very expensive campaigns, named to the Coinbase Global Advisory council. Maloney is also now Biden’s ambassador to OECD. Versatile. pic.twitter.com/8aGwwUpatE

— Alex Sammon (@alex_sammon) May 12, 2023

who the hell cares about the Cornhusker Advisory Board or whatever

Debt ceiling debacle due in large part to Trump tax cuts which, no surprise, did not “pay for themselves.” Fuck McCarthy, the GOP, and anyone who votes for them.

I dunno, man, I think it's pretty shitty for Democratic politicians/Biden appointees to work for environment-destroying pyramid schemes. (also: FTX, Sean McElweenie, etc., lessons could perhaps be learned)

Of course! I get that. But political parties employ talentless hacks to these committees/boards all the time.

Influence peddling is the norm doesn't make it less shitty or noteworthy?

I met Chris Lehane at a conference when he was the lead national lobbyist for Airbnb. The grift goes on.

Cost of doing business

Tuberville further clarifying:

In the Capitol on Thursday, Tuberville held several extended sessions with reporters explaining his position, at times embracing white nationalists but also rejecting racism.

“We can’t start distinguishing different types of people,” he said, in terms of supporting their right to serve.

Then, asked if white nationalists should serve in the military, he said, “Well, you got to define that first, what is a white nationalist?”

Reporters explained that white nationalists are white supremacists who support some Nazi views.

“You think a white nationalist is a Nazi? I don’t look at it like that. I look at a white nationalist as a Trump Republican,” Tuberville said, placing himself within their camp. “That’s what we’re called all the time, a MAGA person.”

Still, with a deadline for a possible default looming as soon as June 1, Mr. Graves said four broad areas of negotiation have emerged for a potential budget deal: capping federal spending, reclaiming unspent funds designated for the Covid emergency, imposing stiffer work requirements for federal benefits and expediting permitting for energy projects.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/12/us/politics/garret-graves-debt-limit.html

Fuck you all

Fuck you all

Yep, it's bad.

A different approach in Minnesota where Dems have control

By the end of next week, the DFL-controlled Minnesota Legislature could spend much of the state's surplus, legalize marijuana, toughen gun control laws and create a state paid family and medical leave program. https://t.co/FVyBGyghiq

— Star Tribune (@StarTribune) May 13, 2023

It really feels like the DFL’s biggest swing in this state in quite a long time

I feel like moving to Minnesota to help the revolution succeed, like idealistic American Communists moved to the Soviet Union.

But you'd have to live in Minnesota, which I should remind you is halfway between Wisconsin and the Dakotas. Draw your own conclusions.

Heading there tomorrow for 10 days!

The Twin Cities are cool. The cold, as Prince was fond of saying, keeps dickheads out (yes, I’m paraphrasing).

Weather is not an issue for me I lived there from birth to age 10 and went to college there!

Interviewed Westerberg years ago, and this is what he said:

How did cold weather affect your development as a songwriter? Do you think you would have written the same songs had you formed the Replacements in Hawaii?

PW: Good question. We'll never know, but I suppose I would have. But I would have written less. The sheer volumes of songs have come from the hours of cold and darkness that one spends inside with the lights on. We make our own fun here, sort of. It's not like a constant summer day, like in L.A. I wouldn't get as much done if I was in a warm climate like that.

I considered moving to Minnesota about 10-12 years ago. Went to Minneapolis in mid-December to check it out. It seemed nice but we ultimately didn't pull the trigger, obviously.

The cold, as Prince was fond of saying, keeps dickheads out

It's just as cold in the Dakotas and Wisconsin, so... draw your own conclusions.

Not really sure what this is supposed to mean, Aimless, but Washington is next to Idaho, and also Oregon, which is an infinitely worse place that either of the Dakotas or Wisconsin afaic— perhaps this explains why most people on the west coast

are such dickheads about it?

Would be nice if the Biden administration got courageous and argued for these ideas to handle immigration issues instead of what they are doing now

https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/beyond-border-solutions

I'm to the point where I'm too old to spend many more winters in Minnesota. But come 50-75 years from now, it may well be the only inhabitable part of what will then be formerly known as the United States

. The cold, as Prince was fond of saying, keeps dickheads out (

The first draft of "Sometimes It Snows in April."

Sometimes it snows on assholes

Hi dere, weird racist nihilistic death cult part 567:

https://wapo.st/42XhQre

Oh and backing up a few posts, the utter ridiculousness of standing in a line to get into a show in Minnesotan conditions has more than once been suggested as reasons for the comparatively vibrant music scene there.

The usual names get mentioned. Dylan, Huskers, Prince, Replacements, but let us observe a moment of silence for what is of course the pinnacle of upper-Midwestern musical achievement - indeed, artistic achievement: Semisonic

Low! A ton of amazing punk, hardcore, and crust bands, too.

I still can't quite believe I moved from MN to WI

If the formula held true (bad weather = good music) then I would expect Fargo/Moorhead to eclipse Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Really Alaska and/or Antarctica ought to be dominating the indie scene hands down, and yet Jewel inexplicably fails to dominate the culture

Bad weather + state support for education, including the arts

A number of Seattle musicians have told me, on separate occasions, that they credit that city's music scene to the bad weather and lots of people having basements where they can jam ad infinitum.

Re DJP’s point, there is a reason why so many literary non-profits are based in Minnesota— the state has a fair amount of resources dedicated to funding such ventures.

Florida, Southern California, and Jamaica have nice weather and therefore have produced exactly zero notable bands

exactly what we’ve been saying

The Florida death metal scene, Paramore and Lynyrd Skynyrd would like a word.

But just one as they have a lunch engagement

Lol I read that backwards.

AS YOU WERE

I don't think Paramore is from Florida.

So now Cornel West's work appears on the WSJ op-ed page.

Take heed

'Cause I'm a lyrical poet

Miami's on the scene just in case you didn't know it

My town

That created all the bass sound

https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.18169-9/13770461_10153986912238138_7270787845348080798_n.jpg

https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.18169-9/13770461_10153986912238138_7270787845348080798_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=9267fe&_nc_ohc=L5Nivi9rQhgAX_MsAA1&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AfBjlxFHQ0mneCVDKq61hgh0apL0EsTLTEwRUxVq9bXSRw&oe=6489897C

Pictured, top to bottom: Fred Durst, Florida

I am pretty sure Neanderthal could, in fact, wax a chump like a candle

a well-timed tornado watch kept Trump away from visiting here this weekend

not that I’d prefer a tornado, but….

Even at the height of 2000s right-wing Islamophobia you could anticipate this turn. pic.twitter.com/ORfU0ORkDY

— Adrian (@blagojevism) May 15, 2023

This is where we remember how much Adolf Hitler admired (and tried to emulate) the way the U.S.A. dealt with its indigenous people: continuous serial relocation, concentration into undesirable areas, occasional spurts of genocide.

Similarly, yeah duh, of COURSE U.S.ian Christian theocrats are going to admire the ability of Islamic theocratic to impose their worldview on entire nation-states. It is exactly what U.S.ian Christian theocrats would love to be able to do in Alabama / Mississippi / South Carolina / Texas etc.

The sense of "they're just jealous" was pretty palpable even then

compare the Handmaid's tale outfits to burqas and, well, you get the idea

many xps, i moved from MPLS to PDX and work in grants, and the funding environment is strikingly different here. it's taken some getting used to. but i'd also echo the sentiment that having 6 months a year inside + basements makes for a good deal of MN's cultural output. i'd also say it explains some of the angst/melancholy in these bands

Florida's lack of basements probably delayed Tom Petty's career trajectory by at least five years.

This is where we remember how much Adolf Hitler admired (and tried to emulate) the way the U.S.A. dealt with its indigenous people: continuous serial relocation, concentration into undesirable areas, occasional spurts of genocide.

Learning about this fascination was the best part about Caste.`

the democrats appear to be getting their asses kicked with the debt ceiling. not only are they giving in (after doing the same in the obama years to calamitous effect, and knowing it), but they gave in before the gop took any political damage from holding the country hostage in exchange for cutting social service spending. they're just going to do the same thing during the next federal budget negotiation (which is the time when it's actually appropriate to negotiate about the federal budget, amazingly)

Where are you reading about the latest movements?

not latest movements, more just that they're openly negotiating now

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/14/politics/debt-limit-talks-biden-republicans-cnntv/index.html

Negotiators have been able to pinpoint some areas on which congressional staff and the White House can find common ground, including revising the permitting process, rescinding unspent Covid-19 relief funds and potentially cutting spending, the sources said.

this Giuliani thing that just dropped into the news, uh...

Ugh

the details are horrifying. what a fucking creep

The allegations of sexual assault and harassment are horrifying enough, but the suit also makes a wide range of other allegations: That Rudy was selling pardons for $2 million a piece (and sharing proceedings with Trump), that he urged her to refuse to cooperate with the FBI, etc

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 15, 2023

Fucking hell.

there's a screenshot from the second Borat movie in the lawsuit pdf

He sat on the bed and pulled down his pants. The following
screenshot from the film Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm depicts Giuliani acting in a similar manner
to how he acted with Ms. Dunphy

read the Daily Beast article, horrifying

we kind of had suspicions that Giuliani was a demented, barely-coherent goblin that was drinking all the time but there it is in legal print

finished skimming the pdf up through the 22nd cause of action bit in the lawsuit and I feel like I need to take a shower now

just the grossest shit

"America's Mayor"

Table, I almost posted that earlier! It was my first reaction after skimming the first few paragraphs of whichever story about this before closing the browser window in disgust

same

Where are you reading about the latest movements

Excuse me but I am not sure how much I wish to speak about the latest movements

The movements are regular, I hope?

They’re a bit nutty

Lose yourself in the movement the moment you own it you better never let it go

You only get one shot do not miss your chance to blow

Cause opportunity comes once in a lifetime

With 62% of precincts reporting (not necessarily 62% of the final vote!), Donna Deegan (D) leads Daniel Davis (R) 54–46% for Jacksonville mayor. Jax is currently the largest US city with a GOP mayor. https://t.co/nShpW303Kh

— Nathaniel Rakich (@baseballot) May 16, 2023

Huge relief. Duval flipped in 2020, one of Florida's only Dem gains.

Great news for Florida; I’ll take whatever good news I can get!

Completely unrelated thought but I’ve been thinking about split ticket voting and how voters tend to try to avoid giving all the power to one party. We usually think of it in terms of the Presidency and Congress. But I wonder if this historically conservative Supreme Court (as execrable and horrifying as it is) might give Democrats a slight but longer term advantage in elections when it comes to this tendency. When there is this ever-present feeling of dread and oppression from having a heavily conservative, reactionary and repressive branch of the government, which seemingly answers to no one and can invalidate any precedent and anything put in place by the other branches, maybe there will be a tendency to lean toward voting Democratic in order to help balance the power. Maybe?

The important thing to remember is that SCOTUS as Liberal Protector of Constitutional Rights didn't begin until the Warren Court and not even until the brief period between 1962-1969. Besides glimmers between 1937-1939, the Court has been a business-friendly racist shit show.

OTM, except that you can probably date that period from 1954, when Brown was decided.

Ouch, this pains me a bit:

Then came the most notable part of the conversation: Newell recounted that when the other reporter asked Feinstein how her return to Washington had been received among her Capitol colleagues, she seemed to deny being gone.

"No, I haven’t been gone," she reportedly said, before adding: "You should follow the — I haven’t been gone, I’ve been working."

Newell said Feinstein "turned feisty" when she was asked to clarify whether she meant that she had been working from home. Her office had maintained that she was receiving updates about Senate business while she was recuperating in San Francisco.

“No, I’ve been here. I’ve been voting,” she reportedly said. “Please, you either know or don’t know.”

Is she lying or actually dementia-affected?

It’s dementia

xxp I'm sorry but I don't think there is much good news about Florida.

DeSantis continues his fascist march, signing a bill allowing doctors to refuse treating LGBT patients on 'ethical grounds'!!, banning mask and vaccine mandates, signing another bill to harass Disney about its monorail system, signing a ban on tracking gun purchases in the state, weaponizing the State Department of Education against a 5th grade teacher for showing a Disney movie during a recess period for her students (her name is Jenna Barbee and you should watch her tiktok video in response to it, it is beautiful and very moving), barring the state’s colleges and universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion programs and limiting how race can be discussed, getting his New College henchmen like Chris Rufo to invite Scott-Fucking-Atlas as the graduation speaker, imposing new penalties and restrictions on undocumented immigrants in Florida, defending the NY vigilante, sending troops to the Texas border, and transferring millions from a state campaign fund to a federal super PAC and masking his travel plans in an effort to hide his upcoming presidential campaign expenditures from Florida taxpayers

Sorry for the rant, but this stuff is astonishingly heinous

here is Jenna Barbee's statement

https://www.tiktok.com/@becomingabetterbarbee/video/7232767113914617131

For folks who don't know Jacksonville, the city and county are the same government. Wrong to think this is another "big" Dem city. It has outlying rural areas and a significant number of military retirees. It's a slightly red-leaning bellweather for the state. Why this is a bfd

— Michael McDonald (@ElectProject) May 17, 2023

Good evening!

Completely agree with you about the cruelty Dan S. Heinous shit indeed, and it is happening in a place where there are loads of good people (including many of my favorite people) trying to intervene on the side of compassion and justice but perniciously getting blocked by bullshit political structures.

There is also a generous dash of absurdity. Monorail? Really? Are we seriously arguing about monorail? Did we learn nothing from the Simpsons?

More bad news for FL dum dum

Stellar night for DeSantis https://t.co/2GR2GD6S4q

— Michael McDonald (@ElectProject) May 17, 2023

Loathe as I am to predict the future, but I said in November that DeSantis' formidable victory looked like an outlier. I'm sure Florida will still go red in '24 but neither is it as deep red as it looked in 2022.

Lord Alfred, I write to you in the spirit of empathy, from an allegedly purple state where our totally horrid governor might actually have shot himself in the taint by continually reminding people that for him, everything has to be a piece of ongoing culture-war bullshit.

My one fervent hope remains as follows: drumming up paranoia in service of an imagined war on "wokeness" will get stale as normal humans realize that maybe it's okay to just be nice to people

So long as my Muriel spark novels, Campari and gin, and ILX exist I'm immune to despair.

(Hoisting an imaginary Negroni in your general direction)

Possible apostle here, fear my family will object xp

For a non-Floridian, it's almost a relief that DeSantis has tacked so hard reactionary... had he stuck to some kind of benevolent/pragmatic populism, he might be actually have risen up a bit nationwide, but now he's almost a crank Lydon LaRouche character; not sure who his advisors are but they have their heads up their asses

That said, reading over that litany that Dan S. just posted, I feel deep sympathy for all the innocent collateral damage in his mindless 'war on monorails woke'

The important thing to remember is that SCOTUS as Liberal Protector of Constitutional Rights didn't begin until the Warren Court and not even until the brief period between 1962-1969.

Very much so! There’s a great book on this called Cold War Civil Rights that goes into how the Warren Court rulings were deliberately part of the propaganda effort to court favor amongst the rapidly de-colonizing Global South nations.

Here it is: Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy by Mary L. Dudziak

https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691152431/cold-war-civil-rights

Progressive angst about the debt talks is growing:

Sen. Warren described herself as “very concerned” about the direction of the talks, including mentions of a long-term cap on spending and additional work requirements.@adamcancryn, @JonLemire and I https://t.co/nRXAw2c0Lv

— Jennifer Haberkorn (@jenhab) May 16, 2023

In 10 years, we'll have welfare recipients forced into the fields as a replacement for migrant workers. I've been expecting that for some time, and I'm sure of that now.

Thanks, kingfish. Looks like the uni library's got it.

More and more it looks like we must thank the Cold War for every intellectual, judicial, and political advancement.

The corrupt former city councilwoman who wants more cops, “constitutional” stop and frisk, and implicitly wants to ruin Philly’s Chinatown by allowing the 76ers to build an enormous stadium in the heart of the city won her primary last night, basically setting the scene for her winning the election because she will be the only Dem running.

Frankly, another disaster for Philadelphia that will be given a soft touch by media here and elsewhere , but I digress.

This is a professional question as much as a personal one: People who live in the Southern US or just read about it, where do you go for progressive perspectives on the South? In terms of news, I mean.

The Chinatown thing is absolutely infuriating tho— the racial politics of it are ugly, with many Black politicians in favor because the stadium will add (low-paying, not full time, seasonal) service jobs, ignoring the fact that they’ll be actively destroying a vibrant neighborhood some suburban motherfuckers can watch a basketball game in a slightly more convenient location. Fuck.

I used to spend so much time in Philly's Chinatown. Many a string of little firecrackers were purchased there, and it was right by the Troc, iirc.

The corrupt former city councilwoman who wants more cops, “constitutional” stop and frisk, and implicitly wants to ruin Philly’s Chinatown by allowing the 76ers to build an enormous stadium in the heart of the city won her primary last night, basically setting the scene for her winning the election because she will be the only Dem running.

She won a huge majority of the black vote.

The racial breakdown in tonight's results is... pretty stark.

Majority-Black (and majority-Latino) precincts pretty united; whiter precincts really splitting their vote. pic.twitter.com/x7IXA0oDdr

— Aseem Shukla (@ashukla89) May 17, 2023

I don’t care whether she won a huge majority of the Black vote, her policies are regressive and won’t keep Black communities safer, and her implicit endorsement of the destruction of another minority community is abhorrent.

Like forgive me for saying that anyone who endorses stop and frisk laws shouldn’t be taken seriously

As with Eric Adams, it's interesting to see how racial politics aren't at all the same as "progressive" politics — something I think people on both the left and right in this country misunderstand a lot.

otm

Strange that you think me pointing that out is an attack on you tabe

But I forgive you

My apologies, Keyes— it’s just the rhetoric around her nomination and presumed mayoral tenure is already really ugly here, with a lot of racialised language being thrown around needlessly.

yeah tipsy otm

yeah, I really didn't know much about her--just that she's not the candidate Bernie and AOC came to Philly to support

That poll of voter breakdown gave me deja vu on how the votes on reforming the Minneapolis Police Dept. went in the aftermath of George Floyd, with much of the anti-"defund the police" energy being laser-focused on majority Black neighborhoods, with Don Samuels serving as the primary messenger of said message

Having worked in a cit govt I can tell you that older (voting) constituencies in majority Black neighborhoods tend to want more cops rather than fewer. You can argue that they shouldn't want that for any number of reasons, but it's still true. Now they are also skeptical of cops in general and will support things like civilian review etc to hold them accountable. But they don't perceive that fewer police will be better for them.

CITY govt that should say.

Oh I know this, it remains disappointing.

Skeptical of cops, but far more fearful of neighbor youths, seems to be the general rule of thumb

As with Eric Adams, it's interesting to see how racial politics aren't at all the same as "progressive" politics — something I think people on both the left and right in this country misunderstand a lot

Likewise, there’s a reason a lot of Dem establishment figures want the first presidential primary to be held in South Carolina, but not, say, Michigan or Illinois.

Yet another 1st Amendment lawsuit in Florida. This is the district where the School Board is basically letting one super right-wing English teacher bombard them with banned book requests and has upheld every one that they have heard so far.

https://pen.org/press-release/pen-america-files-lawsuit-against-florida-school-district-over-unconstitutional-book-bans/

Anyone ever read any books by historian/politics writer Kevin Kruse? any good?

No but I like him on Twitter.

just bought White Flight

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/17/politics/rachael-rollins-doj-report-leak

Rollins, according to the IG report, secretly spoke to reporters about interim Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden – Rollins’ successor from her previous job. At the time, Hayden was campaigning in the Democratic primary to earn the position permanently. Rollins supported Hayden’s opponent in the race, Ricardo Arroyo.

Rollins, during her tenure as the US attorney, “provided information to (The Boston) Globe, before it published three articles … critical of Hayden’s handling of a police misconduct case that began under Rollins’s tenure as DA and the understaffing of a special unit in the Suffolk DA’s office responsible for handling police misconduct cases,” the report says.

In text messages cited in the report, Rollins told a Globe reporter that her office “does not know we have been speaking,” and told the reporter that they could use the information she provided “if you can say sources close to the Rollins Administration.”

The report offers a damning picture of how Rollins handled her appearance at a Democratic fundraiser in July 2022 that featured the first lady. It says Rollins was “driven in a government vehicle by a subordinate employee” of her office to a private home in Andover, Massachusetts, where the event was taking place.

After media reports raised questions about the appearance, Rollins suggested on Twitter that she had “approval” to be there, according to the report, which said she in fact did not receive the necessary approval to attend the event.

“(H)er attendance was contrary to the ethics advice she received before the event that gave permission for Rollins to meet and greet with Dr. Biden separately from the fundraiser but did not include approval from the Office of the Deputy Attorney General (ODAG) to attend the fundraiser itself,” the report says.

This is just artless and dumb

“I got a trailblazing appointment and all eyes are on me, I’m going to respond by absolutely shitting the bed in the dumbest, most public way possible. #yolo”

xp re Kruse: I read Fault Lines, a political history of the U.S. since Watergate, which he wrote with Julian Zelizer. IIRC, they wrote it in part to be read in a class at Princeton that they taught together. It's very readable and useful as a broad overview, but also kind of textbook-y, as you might expect. Would be interested in checking out some of his more focused work.

This is painful... except for:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another New York progressive, told Bowman: “She ain’t worth it, bro.”

If Twitter isn’t real life then explain this pic.twitter.com/9IoEEsTmfc

— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) May 17, 2023

With brilliant leadership like this, Ron's a shoo-in for the Republican nomination!

Disney Pulls Plug on https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/18/business/disney-ron-desantis-florida.html Billion Development in Florida

A new office complex, and relocation of a division from California, would have created more than 2,000 jobs but was scuttled as the company and Gov. Ron DeSantis continue to feud.

In March, Disney called Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida “anti-business” for his scorched-earth attempt to tighten oversight of the company’s theme park resort near Orlando. Last month, when Disney sued the governor and his allies for what it called “a targeted campaign of government retaliation,” the company made clear that $17 billion in planned investment in Walt Disney World was on the line.

“Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people, and pay more taxes, or not?” Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, said on an earnings-related conference call with analysts last week.

On Thursday, Mr. Iger and Josh D’Amaro, Disney’s theme park and consumer products chairman, showed that they were not bluffing, pulling the plug on a nearly $1 billion office complex that was scheduled for construction in Orlando. It would have brought more than 2,000 jobs to the region, with $120,000 as the average salary, according to an estimate from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

The project, known as the Lake Nona Town Center, was supposed to involve the relocation of more than 1,000 employees from Southern California, including most of a department known as Imagineering, which works with Disney’s movie studios to develop theme park attractions. Most of the affected employees complained bitterly about having to move — some quit — but Disney largely held firm, partly because of a Florida tax credit that would have allowed the company to recoup as much as $570 million over 20 years for building and occupying the complex.

When he announced the project in 2021, Mr. D’Amaro cited “Florida’s business-friendly climate” as justification.

Mr. D’Amaro’s tone in an email to employees on Thursday was notably different. He cited “changing business conditions” as a reason for canceling the Lake Nona project. “I remain optimistic about the direction of our Walt Disney World business,” Mr. D’Amaro said in the memo. He noted that $17 billion was still earmarked for construction at Disney World over the next decade — growth that would create an estimated 13,000 jobs. “I hope we’re able to,” he said.

But the company’s battle with Mr. DeSantis and his allies in the Florida Legislature figured prominently into Disney’s decision to cancel the Lake Nona project, according to two people briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. A spokeswoman for Mr. Iger said he was not available for an interview.

politicians come and go.. and Mickey Mouse has outlasted them all

yeah ever since he lead that violent insurrection in 1970 he's been the face of this state

“I got a trailblazing appointment and all eyes are on me, I’m going to respond by absolutely shitting the bed in the dumbest, most public way possible. #yolo”

― Marvel Puzzle Quest is my favorite gasm (DJP), Thursday, May 18, 2023 8:29 AM bookmarkflaglink

This is super disappointing. Gutted.

Despite her comments to CNN earlier in the day that she just had "really bad flu," a Feinstein spokesperson says that she had encephalitis and continues to suffer from Ramsay Hunt syndrome

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 18, 2023

Some syndromes are good, right?

The encephalitis will make her a more razor-sharp senator.

For her own good the Senate needs to gently and kindly vote to remove her from office.

Yes, her own good is clearly paramount in the mind of her colleagues, along with that of the country

I kinda wondered if the admitted shingles diagnosis was perhaps one of many symptoms going on there

so over living in a gerontocracy

Encephalitis can be a complication of shingles. It sounds awful.

I think the dilemma right now is that she is the tipping vote on the judiciary committee, and the democrats really need her to vote to confirm new federal judges. McConnell has vowed to block any new Democratic appointment to the committee if she resigns, which means no more democratic-appointed judges until at least the next election, if not much later (given the 2024 Senate map for Democrats). I'm not sure that he can deliver on that threat, but it seems like the Democrats on the committee are taking it seriously

DeSantis is gonna get JEBbed

Trump is on team Disney. pic.twitter.com/IqOG6A08tq

— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) May 18, 2023

with a complete GOP hegemony in Florida, he can get passed whatever he wants.. that's not politics, that requires no skill

This is the unfortunate reality. At this point, Feinstein resigning would actually make things worse by stalemating the Judiciary Committee. Where the real absolutely indefensible fuck-up occurred was her decision to seek re-election https://t.co/rcxvj0WgZX

— Scott Lemieux (@LemieuxLGM) May 18, 2023

yes that's true but remonstrating about the past will not help us now. we need to get through the next year.

we also have to get beyond the debt ceiling standoff and its apocalyptic repercussions. from the comments I've read above, it seems that some are thinking it is just another government shutdown, but it is not

remonstrating about the future itt helps even less than remonstrating about the past

I missed this one

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/gerry-connolly-staffers-attacked-baseball-bat/

we also have to get beyond the debt ceiling standoff and its apocalyptic repercussions. from the comments I've read above, it seems that some are thinking it is just another government shutdown, but it is not

why not?

It's the difference between not paying your rent and setting your apartment on fire

So we really are rapidly transforming into a country with half the states strictly anti-everything (but guns and religion), aren't we? Nice to see this failed nation settle into a freshly explicit state of cultural segregation.

whoa, you sound 'woke' bro

The self-sorting of the US population into whole towns of like-minded, economically homogenous affinity groups goes back at least as far as the Levittowns and "retirement communities". Probably been happening much longer, if I did some genuine research on it. It's just we're much further along that road now than, let's say, in the year 2000 so that the sorting is being applied a the level of entire states, not just middle-sized towns.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/washington-police-officer-charged-over-allegedly-aiding-proud-boys-leader-2023-05-19/

We're back to antebellum and post-Civil War times! Yay!

The head of an intelligence unit of Washington's police department faces criminal charges after allegedly warning the leader of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group about an arrest warrant and leaking other law enforcement information, an indictment released on Friday showed.

Metropolitan Police Department Lieutenant Shane Lamond gave Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio confidential information about an investigation into the 2020 burning of a "Black Lives Matter" banner stolen from a church in the U.S. capital and later told him that he faced arrest in the matter, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Lamond, who supervised the Intelligence Branch of the police department's Homeland Security Bureau, also made false and misleading statements to federal law enforcement agents about his communications with Tarrio, the Justice Department said.

A federal grand jury indicted Lamond, who was arrested on Friday, on one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements. He faces a maximum of 30 years in prison.

(xp)

Lamond’s life is about to change in some non-insignificant ways.

Maybe the worse retail politician ever. Just brutal to watch pic.twitter.com/uNOMRWkuJh

— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) May 21, 2023

"Okay"

LOL he really said "okay."

people who want to be politicians really are freaks

i wonder if any of them has ever tried the move where you preemptively say "i'm not going to remember all of your names, haha!" and then stare blankly as everyone in a circle introduces themselves, and then one of the people in the circle says "it's easy for us to remember your name, you're the only new one here!" while the new politician meekly jokes that perhaps everyone could wear a name tag

LOOK OUT DONALD TRUMP, THE UNSTOPPABLE MOMENTUM OF TIM SCOTT IS GONNA GET YOU!!

Breaking News: Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina announced a 2024 campaign, adding to a list of Republicans challenging Donald Trump. https://t.co/GJggejaVcI pic.twitter.com/m5yWohL6KA

— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 22, 2023

https://www.messynessychic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/3467215279_94c64f8f32_b-930x761.jpg

i guess scott is campaigning for vp or a cabinet position. iirc he hasn't been able to say anything he dislikes about donald trump or his policies, when asked

also I don't think Trump has dissed him yet

yikes pic.twitter.com/qQI39DBN3t

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 22, 2023

OK Soda was tasty I miss it

That DeSantis video omg. I can finally see it: Ron DeSantis is Kendall Roy.

He does seem like someone who has started medication for social anxiety and walks into room full of people thinking, "I've totally got this" and then he starts to feel gravity pushing him back down

^^^ otm

haha, i am actually kind of astonished that fox and ingraham issued a retraction for their racist story, but also, i figured this tweeters text description was a paraphrasing of ingraham's words, but no, it's verbatim

Ingraham: A little update on a story we brought you this week about homeless vets being displaced from hotels so illegals can move in, turns out the group behind the claim made it up. We have no clue why anyone would do such a thing pic.twitter.com/BEZ4c2buMx

— Acyn (@Acyn) May 20, 2023

Def getting smarmy Jason Bateman vibes from that DeSantis clip. Also stealing the "OK" response to the guy introducing himself.

Reports based on various tweets by left wing activists are wildly inaccurate — Laura Ingraham, the top-rated woman in cable news, is now and will continue to be a prominent host and integral part of the Fox News lineup.

Notice that they don't deny Ingraham is leaving primetime.

tom carper is not running for reelection next year

Delaware will find another credit card-carrying Democrat.

We have no clue why anyone would do such a thing

o rly?

Feel the TimMentum

first reply lmao

Why does he sound like this pic.twitter.com/0xwFT6BSN4

— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) May 21, 2023

that DeSantis clip… whew. If he wasn’t such a fascist I’d feel some sense of pity.

With no votes to spare, Minnesota Democrats have implemented vast new social programs, enacted protections for groups threatened by far-right states and the Supreme Court, strengthened unions, poured money into schools, replaced infrastructure, and fed every Minnesota child.

— Will Stancil (@whstancil) May 23, 2023

meanwhile, here in Texas things seems to be going in the opposite direction

Texas GOP legislature voted last night to give Republican secretary of state power to take over elections in state’s largest blue county, Houston’s Harris County, & abolish election administrator position there. This is incredibly undemocratic power grab https://t.co/dgZAsQeBhx

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) May 23, 2023

^^^Is that a novelty gavel, just a trick of perspective, or is he really tiny?

re: My earlier question of why New York Democrats suck, I read (I think on Twitter) the hypothesis that purple state Democrats, or at least Dems with only a small majority, feel pressure to deliver on their campaign promises while they are in power, while states where Dems seem to have a permanent lock like NY (or, I would argue, my former state of Maryland) the elected Dems only care about jockeying for personal power/seniority within the party apparatus, and actually *doing things* is not a priority since they'll get elected anyway. There's also the fact that if you are in a city or state where only people with a "D" next to their name win, that willattract people to run for office who in any other state/city would run as Republicans (Eric freaking Adams).

^^^Is that a novelty gavel, just a trick of perspective, or is he really tiny?

I mean have you seen the size of american flags flying over car dealerships in texas...?

new york dems with minnesota dems
a supermajority with a 1 vote majority https://t.co/uJ9PTAse5y pic.twitter.com/sm7amwNw6D

— pudding person (@JUNlPER) May 22, 2023

IL has a supermajority and doesn't seem to be spinning its wheels, afaict.

fucking. hell.

Boebert: I actually have a fun little story, my staff is probably going to talk to me about this later. I left a prescription at a pharmacy once… pic.twitter.com/6p1g25cpYk

— Acyn (@Acyn) May 23, 2023

What the fuck hahaha

Well it was a fun story

I'll bet Kaydon feels really special now.

Have none of these people ever heard of condoms

nah, they cover your tattoos

rofl

Actual Ron Desantis merchandise. His campaign is gonna flame out so fucking hard he should be sued for electoral fraud pic.twitter.com/QGb8p3vxgt

— Max Propayne III (@Jags24Asare) May 23, 2023

Has there ever been a time in history when "Make America Florida" would have been an appealing slogan? Does Florida know what most of the country thinks of it?

3 stars

Make America Lorida?

Gunlordia

"We'll drag you down with us!"

https://i.imgur.com/32c4TBG.jpg

That's being generous

arguably 1 1/2 stars

lol xpost

Amazing

I'm pretty sure we do, tipsy.

7lorida

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H29HI-atDj4

this campaign is off to a smashing beginning, now he needs to come up with a cruel nickname for trump and we're off to the races

There is a Lorida, Florida:
https://floridahistoryblog.com/lorida-florida-origins-of-a-cracker-town/

A friend’s effort.

https://i.imgur.com/yB0YyvA.jpg

Remove the right testicle and they’d have a winner

meanwhile in that other great state

BREAKING: Texas AG Ken Paxton calls on the TX Speaker Dade Phelan to resign after he presided over the House while highly intoxicated. pic.twitter.com/1jFoyi0JEx

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 23, 2023

The intoxication in question

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6VuQsKihWk

i thought the F in florida in that was a gun at first, not the state outline

xp looks like he had a texas-sized vodka tonic to go with that texas-sized gavel

not the point, but re: that texas ag, i don't think spies usually try to control land

it’s drummed up cold war racism, obv.

Holy shit the Musk/DeSantis thing is being moderated by David Sacks?

I don't even know what Chinese spies controlling Texas land refers to, that's some conspiracy you don't know about unless you hit the right rallies I guess. Chinese energy firms buying up land in West Texas probably.

xp Yeah Florida just passed laws against Chinese citizens owning property there (ACLU has filed suit)... TX doesn't want to be left behind in the Ugly American competition

right, but spies? if they're spies they're not very good spies. the attorney general knows about them and is mentioning them in press releases.

There has been some reports of Chinese gov't police stations quietly opening around the country (mostly to harass Chinese citizens living in the US), but I don't know if that's what he's referring to

It’s all the kids with TikTok on their phones

right, but spies? if they're spies they're not very good spies. the attorney general knows about them and is mentioning them in press releases.

― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Tuesday, May 23, 2023 4:04 PM

They're buying up land to "build energy making facilities" but really they will have spying stations there. [Eddie Murphy head tap GIF]

Kayode Ewumi head tap GIF

OK, I am shockingly old ...

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/23/florida-school-inaugural-poem-ban-00098492

A more thorough story: https://amp.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article275671496.html

I read (is that still legal?) that something like just 11 individual parents have been responsible for the majority of books being flagged/pulled/banned.

All's it takes in Florida is one complaint; and, yes, it's a First Amendment violation.

I was at a school board meeting last night where a woman read quotes from Frederick Douglas on free speech, and claimed that her free speech was being infringed because the board had not acted on her emails demanding that a book about a trans girl be banned from the schools.

lol

Nikki Haley in New Hampshire this morning:

"Everybody know about Dylan Mulvaney? Bud Light? That is a guy, dressed as a girl, making fun of women."

She's at Politics and Eggs, not a red meat crowd; no applause for a line that gets some elsewhere.

— David Weigel (@daveweigel) May 24, 2023

These dumbasses, the cynicism and stupidity are so intertwined I can't tell if they're honestly stupid, dishonestly playing stupid, stupidly being cynical, just cynical, etc.

“Everybody knows”

More from Gaetz, who rejects any debt limit compromise with the White House: “I think my conservative colleagues for the most part support Limit, Save, Grow, & they don't feel like we should negotiate with our hostage.”

Default would almost certainly throw US into recession

— Joseph Zeballos-Roig (@josephzeballos) May 23, 2023

gaetz forgot you're not supposed to call it a "hostage" out loud

Good morning!

Re: the Gorman complaint, can it be disallowed on the basis of the complainant saying her poem was by Oprah?

Look we all know she meant "Black lady I saw on TV," it's not like there's that many of them.

These GOP clowns, demanding all sorts of cuts yet refusing to get rid of tax loopholes and, predictably, demanding more money for the military and law enforcement. They never operate in good faith, but the current iteration really sets the standard for shamelessness.

not sure where to post this, but some Federalist Society lawyer is trying to move in next door to me. i want to die. he clerked for Scalia

iirc the best strategy is to tackle them at the earliest opportunity.

i wonder if somehow mccarthy will lose his speakership over this. due to the hostage situation internal negotiations with the freedom caucus in january, only one Under the new House rules passed Monday, a single republican can bring a motion to vacate" his office.

perhaps not during the current hostage situation with the debt ceiling, but after the fallout

The house GOP seems happy to own this, and Biden should just let them. I feel like the lesson from doing this idiocy over and over is that it always blows up in the Republicans’ faces, so they should just let that happen. Even if it means going to default.

whoops, weird copy and paste typo in my last post

i have no idea if she knows something, but this gives me some hope

Why would anyone act like Kevin McCarthy has votes right now?

He hasn’t done the work. He doesn’t have the votes for his current proposal in the Senate. He doesn’t have the votes in the House. He doesn’t even have the votes in *his own party.*

& GOP are starting to feel that

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 24, 2023

It's funny, I have heard McCarthy boast of the 15 or whatever votes it took for him to land the speaker gig, like it was a show of tenacity or something. But people like AOC, they see it more like it, probably really is, a guy scrambling for votes without knowing the outcome, which is a pretty undisciplined thing in Washington.

Noticed one repeated line in McCarthy’s press conference pic.twitter.com/lEY2wLst8e

— Acyn (@Acyn) May 24, 2023

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Faz7z4YUsAAPcrJ.jpg

“The off-ramp here is to solve the problem, to spend less than we spent last year," McCarthy told reporters Wednesday. "That’s not that difficult. They still want to spend more. You cannot do that. No household will do that.”

great gop political message - your household is not going to have any money. and we'll make sure the government won't help you either. and also some households are going to go ahead and spend more money, like our own households

if my roof is leaking I will spend the money to fix my roof before my possessions are ruined and I have nothing of value

that's the thing these bozos always miss in a metaphor, they assume the value given by government is neutral and not essential to stabilizing the rest of the system. or they resent that it's the case and would rather things crumble

Also the rather foolish notion that dispensing money is the same thing as setting money on fire. In fact, when you spend money you actually put it into circulation so that other people can use it.

I regularly hand money to people other than myself. Then they do the same thing with it! Magical.

Yes, but if we give it to the gubmint, the gubmint will give it to someone undeserving.

...which is, paradoxically, probably better for the economy!

Poor people spend their money almost immediately. They have to pay rent and buy grocerie. So that money goes right back into the hands of the powerful.

You know who doesn't immediately circulate cash back into the economy? Rich people.

it's almost like that lapsed child tax credit helped get the economy to where it is now

Worth watching.

Wow Democrats just laughed at Marjorie Taylor Greene when she asked them to abide by decorum of the House pic.twitter.com/2jrLFyAEWg

— Acyn (@Acyn) May 24, 2023

lol

This link works: https://t.co/9PzIJkseYI

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 24, 2023

DeSantis' links have crashed all day.

of course announcing your presidential campaign on spaces was a dumb idea, but nothing will ever beat the time in 2015 when Bobby Jindal put a hidden cam in a tree to record himself telling his kids he’s running for president and they were completely underwhelmed pic.twitter.com/e3OdFJMkgB

— keyvan (@still_oppressed) May 25, 2023

really wish people would stop pretending that trump's fake twitter spaces thing was actually funny. every joke is right in the screen shot, no extra jokes added.

From that Jindal stunt to the commercial DeSantis filmed of his reading Trump's books to his kids in 2018, these GOP people are sociopaths.

I'm not sure I've ever seen the occupant of the Chair openly mocked like this before. pic.twitter.com/QJweFzzKLS

— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) May 25, 2023

really wish people would stop pretending that trump's fake twitter spaces thing was actually funny

We also want to lay down a marker once again and tell you that the anger in the House Dem Caucus right now is palpable. Many rank-and-file Democrats feel as if they’re going to be asked to vote for a package that is slanted toward GOP demands with little for them in return

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) May 25, 2023

Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy.

lol the palpable anger of the House Democrats. Oooooooh they’re gonna have steam pouring out their ears when they… line up and vote like Biden needs them to vote.

I mean, what's the alternative? Let their Republican "colleagues" drive the economy off the cliff?

Sure, say that instead of blowing smoke about how mad they are about cutting social spending now and how hard Biden’s going to have to work to get their votes.

I mean, what's the alternative? Let their Republican "colleagues" drive the economy off the cliff?

This is absolutely 100% what the Dems should do.

Biden could just cite the 14th Amendment as requiring debts to be paid and then Republicans would have to challenge that in court.

McCarthy is out talking to press constantly. White House doesn’t have anyone doing that , just answering questions at press briefings . This is not helping to establish a narrative about what is happening nor is it helping the Dem congress members who Biden expects to vote for his secretly created giving in to extortion deal if it happens

Yeah, idgi.

This is absolutely 100% what the Dems should do.

I can't tell whether you're serious.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/24/debt-ceiling-negotiations-house-democrats/

House Democratic lawmakers are voicing frustration over President Biden’s approach to negotiating a debt ceiling deal with Republicans, worrying that their priorities are not being championed aggressively enough and that Biden hasn’t more forcefully pushed back publicly against Republican demands.

This is absolutely 100% what the Dems should do.

If the end result of negotiations is a package of cuts and freezes that are disastrous for households under the median income, then they may as well let the Republicans inflict that disaster unaided. A fig leaf of a few mostly symbolic cuts would be acceptable.

Sure seems like that since Klain left as Chief of Staff, Biden's new chief of staff Zientz has been instead pushing the narrative to be bipartisan and give in to Republican demands and to go right-centrist and not aggressively push for Dem values.

Just got another 'This Link Works' email from Uncle Joe

"Hey, did I tell you the one about..."
"Yes, yes, you did.. that's a good one, haha."

This is absolutely 100% what the Dems should do.
I can't tell whether you're serious.

― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Thursday, May 25, 2023 2:21 PM (forty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I am 100% serious. Why give the Republicans a fig leaf? Let the Republicans take sole responsibility if they want to take people's benefits so bad that they are willing to tank the economy to do it.

Until 2011, the debt ceiling and the budget were completely and totally unrelated issues - the former completely ministerial.

The human toll of a default would likely dwarf that of the Republican cuts, even if they got them in full.

Let the Republicans take sole responsibility if they want to take people's benefits so bad that they are willing to tank the economy to do it.

The problem here is that the president is a Democrat and vast swaths of the voting public blame the president for everything that goes wrong, allowing the House nihilists to avoid most of the fallout.

The problem here is that the president is a Democrat and vast swaths of the voting public blame the president for everything that goes wrong, allowing the House nihilists to avoid most of the fallout.

This has almost always been true in the past, but the midterm election results show that a portion of the public may finally be wising the fuck up.

using this mandatory procedure as a budgeting platform is just fucking wrong

The human toll of a default would likely dwarf that of the Republican cuts, even if they got them in full.

I would maybe not have gone on record saying that no alternatives would even be considered aside from default or striking a bargain with the fascists.

busting in here briefly to let everybody know that i just thought of something

(which 1. has no bearing on current u.s. politix or thread discussion and 2. has doubtless been thought of elsewhere by others many times over, but)

anal sex got much more popular over the past 20 yrs, and i just now made the connection between that timeframe and the 2nd bush administration's promotion of abstinence education, which taught a generation of impressionable teenagers that the vagina is a gateway to death/hell/social ostracism

so, ironically, the anal sex explosion was caused by bush

ok have fun dissecting the american political hellscape byeeeeeee

Wild guess that everyone having access to 4K porn on demand had more to do with that.

how exactly do you know it got more popular

folks are saying, lots of people are saying so

The surge of the popularity of the song "Backdoor Man".

How do you not???

teach horny teens that p-in-v = babies&disease&death and they naturally gravitate toward the butt, it's logic, i have decided i am certain of this

https://bedbible.com/anal-sex-statistics/ - I dunno about those stats, I'm not sure 1 in 6 cis het men have partaken in pegging. I'm not sure 1 in 8 cis het men had heard of pegging in 2001.

In-Depth Research

lol

16- to 24-year-olds engaging in heterosexual anal intercourse has risen from 12.5% to 28.5% over recent decades

Search volume for anal sex videos increased by 120% from 2009 to 2015

here i picked these cherries 4 u 🍒

Analway... not sure if this good or not:

MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Thursday called on Hispanic people in Florida to vote against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who launched his 2024 White House bid the day before, because of his immigration policies.

“Hopefully Hispanics in Florida will wake up and not give him one single vote, to not vote for those who persecute migrants, those who don’t respect migrants,” López Obrador said.

Obama was President from 2009 to 2015. Maybe Yes We Can was actually the call to arms of butt stuff.

"Maybe yes we can" is actually what's being said in So Not Gonna Happen

It's a little like the new red state laws requiring you to use the restroom that matches the sex on your birth certificate. They think that they're scoring moral points by stopping trans folks from grooming or sneaking peaks or whatever evil they imagine is happening, but the reality is that they will freak out even more when people who present as the opposite sex start showing up in their restrooms as a result of those laws. By legislating what they consider morality, they'll just end up normalizing what they consider perversions.

that's a really good point I hadn't considered

those laws seem almost unenforceable as well... you gonna ask for birth certificates?

On an unrelated note, it occurs to me that the upcoming Trump/DeSantis GOP nomination battle will be the campiest in American history

It's a little like the new red state laws requiring you to use the restroom that matches the sex on your birth certificate. They think that they're scoring moral points by stopping trans folks from grooming or sneaking peaks or whatever evil they imagine is happening, but the reality is that they will freak out even more when people who present as the opposite sex start showing up in their restrooms as a result of those laws. By legislating what they consider morality, they'll just end up normalizing what they consider perversions.

This will also produce very predictable, violent results as well, and ones that I'm sure these laws' authors very much wants

all these anti-trans laws seem absolutely braindead, like they'll go apeshit about a trans woman getting 489th place in a marathon and then legislate it so that a trans man with a full beard can only wrestle women, it's almost as if they never actually think about the implications of the laws they're writing because enforcing them isn't really the point. they're just uncomfortable with trans people in general and want to make them think twice before transitioning

BREAKING: A GOP-led Texas House investigative committee that spent months looking into Attorney General Ken Paxton has recommended impeaching the fellow Republican after years of scandal. The state House could remove him soon as Friday. https://t.co/0hLgovIIzu

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 25, 2023

I'll take it, what a piece of shit