US Politics March 2019: “I can’t say I’m happy. I can’t say I’m thrilled”

My senator Tillis actually bothered to write a whole op-Ed criticizing the declaration iirc. I mean I guess he could always still vote no but that would make the op-Ed a pretty weird flex.

Paul has said he will vote no.

wait, what? or do you mean "yes"?

w the Dems

oh ok.

there are butthurt conservatives posting how he "joined the swamp" on twitter now lol

Jane Mayer’s Fox News deep dive is a doozy. Who’s surprised that Trump got debate Qs in advance? Can the guy ever stop projecting???

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/03/11/the-making-of-the-fox-news-white-house

Also enjoyed Remnick’s chat with AOC:

Ocasio-Cortez says that she has tried to keep her focus partly by avoiding watching Trump on television: “He relies and thrives on attention, and so the less attention he’s given, even if it’s just one set of eyeballs, the weaker he is.” She said that watching Trump in the House chamber at the State of the Union address made her feel “sick” and “underwhelmed.”

“He is such a small, mediocre person,” she told me. “I grew up with a real romanticism about America. I grew up in a first-generation household where your parents give up everything, and for me America was the greatest thing ever to exist. To be there on the floor of the House was beyond anything my parents would have ever dreamed of. But the person behind the podium was so unskilled. It was kind of sad.”

sorry, link https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-is-coming-for-your-hamburgers

Trump sez he gave FEMA the order to give Alabama "A plus treatment" after their tornadoes.

He makes disaster relief sound like fucking hotel concierge service ffs

boom...?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/04/us/politics/trump-obstruction.html

misleading URL btw

again, so many impeachable offenses, like several a week.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/report-trump-ordered-officials-to-pressure-doj-to-intervene-against-tiem-warner-att-deal

and it's all out in the fucking open. all this stuff does is confirm what he already said and what we already knew.

Other than a big burst of posting around Cohen's testimony, it feels like the US politics threads have calmed a fair amount since the government shutdown ended. The Dems capturing the House makes Trump less relevant, except as a crash dummy. The new Congressional investigations are only at the starting line. The Green New Deal is still too shapeless and far down the road to get much more from us than general approval of the concept. M4A might have legs, but until 2021 it remains an election issue with a legislative sidebar.

This is a nice chance to take a breather and stretch.

Here, this will help raise blood pressures: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/04/omar-israel-house-democrats-1201881?fbclid=IwAR0BzBylWabRlwhrPGge11rmAV6vHKISKZoVaABeQTPJQuHLNPZuWNdn4mA

So wait, has this not been posted?

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-pol-ny-matthew-whitaker-quits-justice-department-20190304-story.html?fbclid=IwAR2HSuSuVRcHPHIEXUXIjw8TcpTDWhRnr3qRMiMwqpuSt8DAL6owCB0e2tk&fbclid=IwAR3MzZbmDyXx1HqURQ2Ojgm1YitnrIzDcs_Hgne4bETjdiXVyIRYcwQ6ZIQ

this OTT reaction from Dems only seems to prove her point. meanwhile you've got wings of the GOP actively calling her a terrorist. great job, Dems!

like most things nowadays it just feels like bad faith all around. based solely on Omar's comments, does anyone really feel like it's necessary for Democrats to issue a congressional resolution to demonstrate they are against anti-Semitism? i don't think so, which suggests they are signalling something else, like...

questioning support for the U.S.-Israel relationship is unacceptable. (1/2)
— Rep. Juan Vargas (@RepJuanVargas) March 4, 2019

fuck these nerds. guess for the next 2 years the money i usually give to PP & ACLU is going to Omar and primary opponents of every bad faith dickhead trying to run her out of town

Rep. Juan Vargas, "As the duly-elected representative of hundreds of thousands of American citizens, I see it as my duty not to ask questions about America's foreign policy. Really. No questions at all. That's my position."

An excellent Yglesias piece summarizing what we learned from the Mayer reporting: https://www.vox.com/2019/3/4/18249847/fox-news-effect-swing-elections

Robert Mueller's office has notified Judge Amy Berman Jackson about an Instagram post from Roger Stone that could be in violation of Judge Jackson's strict gag order on Stone. https://t.co/UNp0Ux1xi1

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 4, 2019

speaking of predictable events....

Was just watching last nights John Oliver and he was discussing the story about Jared’s security clearance from what, four days ago, that has essentially vanished from the news while everyone gets worked up about Rep. Omar again. Good job media, attaboy Congress.

conrgess is gonna congress, frankly this is a media problem.

After seeing that disgusting wapo op-Ed comparing Omar to Steve King I’m inclined to agree

my own congressman is dining out on supposed anti-semitism among democrats but he has declined nearly all invitations to actually speak with the jewish congregations in his district (there aren't many). he's a perfect example of "anti-semitism" being weaponized in a way that has nothing to do with harms done to (or perceived by) actual jews.

This is crazy, for those fascinated and/or needing a chill way to wind down the evening:

https://www.emptywheel.net/2019/03/04/puzzling-through-the-house-requests/

some GOP rep said on NPR this morning "did Jared compromise security? nothing to see"

he almost certainly did, though

well done Democrats

Representative Ilhan Omar is again under fire for her terrible comments concerning Israel. Jewish groups have just sent a petition to Speaker Pelosi asking her to remove Omar from Foreign Relations Committee. A dark day for Israel!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2019

A dark day for Israel!

I'm pretty sure no one in Israel had a worse day today because of this. It's not exactly like she is committing or even inciting mass murder of Israelis. She didn't even make someone stub their toe or get a paper cut.

theres zero chance he knows A) what she said or B) why people are upset about it

(of course the fact that anyone's upset is idiotic and I suspect none of this is done in good faith and HOLY SHIT DEMS DO NOT DO THE GOP'S JOB FOR THEM)

NYT: “Senate prepares to block wall emergency, setting up rebuke to Trump. The vote would force Mr. Trump to issue the first veto of his presidency, signaling that his grip on Republicans in Congress ma be slipping.”


his grip on Republicans may be slipping, right!

I'm sure some of them like their handies differently

"donald trump has issued an executive order sentencing everyone who voted for hilary clinton to death. the nra is urging its members to form posses and kill everyone who is responsible for their persecution. 12 republican senators are believed to be considering opposing trump's order, dealing a major blow to party unity in a time of great strife and uncertainty for donald trump."

lol

Republicans are like the parent insisting their kid didn't shit on the floor in the dressing room of a JC Penneys

The only "grip" Trump has over Republicans in Congress is their fear of getting primaried out of office by his yahoo supporters. It certainly isn't his inspiring leadership, his shrewd maneuvering for their ultimate advantage, or his prowess at policy.

I'm wondering how this 72 year old man was able to give a vehement, completely insane speech for 2 full hours on Saturday without taking a break or even a sip of water as far as I saw

Insulin Pump full of Stem Cells.

He is high on the one thing that truly stimulates or satisfies him: talking about himself in front of a crowd. Being able to talk on and on, fabulating both nonsense and bullshit while other people listen. If he tells stories about how great he is, and there are people listening, then he can pretend to himself that they are true, and even more, pretend that the other people believe the same thing.

Also, loads of drugs.

And a catheter.

trade wars are good https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/05/trump-ejects-india-from-56bn-tariff-deal-over-negative-trade-barriers

xp I prefer to think of him just freely wetting and soiling himself as he spoke, but nobody mentioning it

good morning!

Trump is def high on more than applause. He does rails of Adderall

The president does rails of Adderall.

whoops: https://www.complex.com/life/2018/12/ex-apprentice-staffer-trump-snorts-adderall-cant-read