Enough With The Cutesy Titles, People Are Dead: US Politics January 2021 pt 2

house yes, senate no

actually, do i believe that? maybe i believe that democrats will retain house (due to totally manual, abacus-era district redrawing based on census) while the senate will swing back to good old mcconnell

xp lol, i came to the opposite conclusion, and now i'm lonely

Nonsense, there's two of you now.

one
has produced
two

Hits keep coming:

As one of his first orders of business, President Biden asks for and receives the resignation of Michael Pack as head of the Voice of America. Pack had effectively turned the VoA into a propaganda arm of the Trump administration.

honestly getting the loyalists out of positions they're not qualified for and de-politicizing national security roles is one of the big anxiety relievers for me

yep, plz keep those news bits coming, thanks

McConnell is threatening to filibuster the Organizing Resolution which allows Democrats to assume the committee Chair positions. It’s an absolutely unprecedented, wacky, counterproductive request. We won the Senate. We get the gavels.

— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) January 21, 2021

This is what comes from skipping a step.

Step 1: Win the presidency
Step 2: Keep the House
Step 3: Win the Senate
Step 4: Assassinate Mitch McConnell

Obstruction is a helluva drug

Glad to see that much of our democracy still depends on the whims of one fucking man. Great system America.

he's doing it because he wants guaranteed protections to the filibuster

i think he just called ur bluff. end it

you could also see it as being on another person - joe manchin (and kirsten sinema)

Even my small-town local library, on an avowedly apolitical Facebook group, has a Bernie meme this morning. It's out of control. Carry on.

just to be clear, the negotiation right now is not about getting rid of the filibuster. it's about the meta question of whether schumer will promise never to get rid of the filibuster. it's an absolutely insane demand from mcconnell.

(which of course means schumer will take it because his imaginary friends think it's fair)

ok, i don't think this is likely, but in the spirit of making grandiose predictions based on the gut: if the democrats don't dump the filibuster and get shit done during this window, the democratic party will split before the GOP

(8:1)

No it won't.

yes it will, 1/8th of the time

(anytime anyone frames an argument as "there are only three options:", you know it's going to be fucking dumb)

there are only three options:

1) mcconnell and GOP start to cooperate and behave with the wellbeing of the country in mind - waves of progressive legislation are quickly passed in a tsunami of bipartisan unity
2) schumer and democrats try to go back to the past, and spend their window of opportunity negotiating with the GOP, shockingly ending up with watered-down legislation, too little, too late, with zero GOP votes
3) abolish the filibuster

here's where my incredibly dumb idea comes in: if 1) doesn't happen (and it NEVER FUCKING WILL), and Democrats end up going for 2) rather than 3), than 4) i will shit my pants and it will be a more promising political party than the Democratic one that chooses to negotiate with these fucking assholes

at that point, i think everyone on the left will automatically obtain their Limit Breaks ---> Knights of the Round Table, 9999, we're done here

On the day Donald Trump was sworn in as president, Republicans controlled not only the White House but both houses of Congress. They were in a historically strong position elsewhere as well, controlling both legislative chambers in 32 states. They pissed that away like they were midnight drunks karaoke-warbling that old Chumbawumba song

GOP-controlled Congress, Senate and Executive, what's on your karaoke playlist?

Dutiful Servants And Political Masters
Baby Waved A Flag
Always Tell The Voter What The Voter Wants To Hear
The Triumph Of General Ludd
The Candidates Find Common Ground
Baby Killers
Tiananmen Square
...And In A Nutshell "Food Aid Is Our Most Powerful Weapon"

quick thought, had to put this somewhere

guy fieri should run for president

Not me. Us. pic.twitter.com/ec7XgfEl7b

— Guy Fieri (@GuyFieri) January 21, 2021

he's running

LOLOLOL sic <3

if the democrats don't dump the filibuster and get shit done during this window, the democratic party will split before the GOP

The Democrats won't have to splinter, they'd just be reduced to a rump opposition after the GOP takes power and completely ignores the result of pesky things like "who won the Presidential election."

the federalist cuts bait

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/21/legal-scholars-federalist-society-trump-convict-461089

There is a lot of stuff to do, I don't see what's so wrong with doing a lot of very popular and urgent things in the first 100 days with 50 votes and reconciliation, then returning to immigration and HR1 when they are in a politically stronger position; I guess because I believe the things Dems want to do are Actually Good I believe they're in a stronger political position once they've done them, ymmv

eturning to immigration and HR1 when they are in a politically stronger position

i'm 0 for whatever today, but fwiw i think they're in their strongest position, right now

it's not often that one political party open aides and abets a coup for several months after an election.

but america forgets

BRB, changing political affiliation to the KM Shitpants Party.

I heard the Biden administration is offering a $25,000 reward to whomever manages to photoshop Bernie and his chair into the final extant piece of culture.

fwiw i think they're in their strongest position, right now

tbh I see the argument for that, too.

I heard the Biden administration is offering a 5,000 reward to whomever manages to photoshop Bernie and his chair into the final extant piece of culture.

― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, January 21, 2021

Quick, someone find me copies of the pics of Tuomas in his speedo and I'll split the money with you.

This already old news by Twitter age standards, but Scott Adams:

if Trump is targeted for destruction for reasons that look like revenge rather than justice...

what jumps out there is "looks like". iow, if his emotions get tweaked, it's the equivalent of a crime in his mind.

Fauci just announced the end of Trump's Gag Rule that defunded NGOs who even discussed abortion with women.

This meant closing women's health services, family planning clinics, HIV clinics. Studies found use of birth control DROPPED by 14% & abortion rose by 40% as a result.

— Amy Maxmen, PhD (@amymaxmen) January 21, 2021

thank you based Fauci

One reason I love this place: y'all are the only other group to shit on Williamson's shit take. Three libs I know in the last hour have shared it and said, "You can't believe what NRO published!"

There's no shortage of ways to be wrong, is the jist.

BUTTON NO MORE: A button in the Oval Office that provided instant Diet Coke to former President Trump appears to be no more.

The infamous device installed at the Resolute Desk wasn't visible in photos of President Biden captured Thursday at the White House...

infamous

after I read this thread I warned all of my friends not to share that NRO shit thanks to that 2016 quote from Williamscock

not that I dont' already tell them not to share NRO shit regardless of who wrote it

I think I like this guy... plus you think your country is stupid?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9171789/Joe-Biden-removes-bust-Winston-Churchill-Oval-Office.html

i don't understand why anyone would like that piece. it's just republicans trying to pretend that poor people are the reason their party became -- in addition to ruthless and amoral, which it always was -- lawless over the part four years.

like an unironic version of "Kill the Poor"

i'm interested to know why unperson linked it

A transatlantic row is brewing over 'woke' Joe Biden's removal of a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office...

Ehh, think the 'row' is pretty one-sided.

Indeed:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jan/21/no-10-takes-relaxed-view-as-biden-removes-churchill-bust-from-oval-office

Biden's COVID briefing seemed encouraging as far as immediate action goes, but who knows. He talked about vaccinators, but did not mention vaccinatees. He snapped at a question right near the end (one of those OAN weirdos? not sure); he's tired of the job already.