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

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.

"hillbillies" are not the problem with america. the slaveowners who inaugurated our system of white supremacy weren't "hillbilles." you have to be a complete moral idiot to glance over the landscape of america and decide that the blame, the ultimate blame, lies with those who lack power.

Waldman:

And beyond Biden himself as a personality, something else is different now.

That outrage machine works not only by getting conservatives worked up so that, for instance, they’ll turn out to vote in the midterm elections, but also by creating fear in Democrats, fear that alters those Democrats’ behavior. But I don’t know that I've ever seen a time when Democrats were less afraid of Republicans.

Yes, there are plenty of moderate Democrats who advocate centrist solutions and worry about ticking off their constituents if they go too far to the left. But as a whole, Democrats now have a deeper understanding of the dynamics of Republican opposition than they used to. That includes Biden himself and those around him.

They’ve learned from the mistakes of the Obama years, including the way his administration and congressional Democrats negotiated with themselves and assumed that substantive concessions and good-faith bargaining could get Republicans to support legislation that would be of political benefit to a Democratic president.

The Biden team is not in the grip of that delusion. All indications are that they start from the assumption that Republican opposition will be total; they’re willing to take a shot at getting some Republican support for, say, a covid-19 relief package, but they won’t waste too much time chasing it.

Guess he's talked to unnamed sources.

he's tired of the job already.

I'm tired of your random speculative musings already

i feel good about biden in that office, especially if he's really learned the lessons he needed to from the obama years.

That's called a joke--never mind, carry on doing what you do.

#Biden sad the new US president has removed bust of Winston Churchill from oval Office but to replace him with the hard left failed socialist Cesar Chavez is very worrying

— Andrew Pierce (@toryboypierce) January 21, 2021

biden's goal is to vaccinate 1m/day. someone should tell him we vaccinated 1.5m yesterday and averaged 930k/day in the last seven days and maybe we should aim a little higher than "what the trump administration managed".

Not "concerning." We've moved up to DEFCON 1, i.e. "worrying."

i feel like it's a powerful symbol. immigrants, the working class--i hope biden *really does* see these as his constituencies. i know his record suggests he doesn't but it's a new era now.

(xpost) Same point Gupta made on CNN (and has been making for the past week or two).

100 million a day would be nice

Two of our three local hospital networks have canceled scheduled vaccination appointments in the last two days. Shit's bad.

On #COVID19 @POTUS #Biden just signed ten exec orders aimed at expanding access to care & vaccination, mobilize @FEMA & National Guards, provide clarity about opening schools & businesses, invoke the Defense Production Act for all COVID-related supplies, and
MORE pic.twitter.com/ZG25WkCgd2

— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) January 21, 2021