“It’s a little too quiet” - US Politics February 2021

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west virginia, 2022

I haven’t read “Our Universe” in ages

ha holy shit that's good news and i assume everyone in WV is getting a jetpack
'
lol xpost

I haven’t read “Our Universe” in ages

My friend. (I've seriously considered getting a copy again to replace the one that went away decades ago now...)

My childhood copy is in my son’s hands now. (So I can visit it at least.)

Ned, do it. Buy one. Even though the science has shifted it’s still awe-inspiring.

Reality Winner for reality czar

Those Ted Cruz quotes far upthread just establish what we already knew. His ambition to become president is limitless. He watched Trump in action and he'll move rapidly and forcefully to occupy the now-vacant Trump space in politics before anyone else can fill it. He won't be hindered by any shred of decency or morality. He'll dump any quantity of poison into the well of society if it gets him one inch closer to the pinnacle of power.

His great weakness is his pride at being able to speak and write coherently. This will forever keep him locked out of the hearts of Trump's followers. Shhh. Don't anyone tell him.

Cruz wants less to "be President" then be "Terrible Emperor of Godworld"

he probably just wants his daughter and her friends to stop calling him a 'spineless pussy' and an 'ambulatory blobfish' in their text chains

Cruz has the small problem that everyone hates him.

haha, that axios thing is crazy.

The meeting had come entirely off the rails.

Byrne, backing up Flynn, told Trump the White House lawyers didn't care about him and were being obstructive. "Sir, we're both entrepreneurs, and we both built businesses," the former Overstock CEO told Trump. "We know that there are times you have to be creative and take different steps."

This was a remarkable level of personal familiarity, given it was the first time Byrne had met the president. All the stanchions and buffers between the White House and the outside world had crumbled.

Byrne kept attacking the senior White House staff in front of Trump. "They've already abandoned you," he told the president aggressively. Periodically during the meeting Flynn or Byrne challenged Trump's top staff — portraying them as disloyal: So do you think the president won or not?

At one point, with Flynn shouting, Byrne raised his hand to talk. He stood up and turned around to face Herschmann. "You're a quitter," he said. "You've been interfering with everything. You've been cutting us off."

"Do you even know who the fuck I am, you idiot?" Herschmann snapped back.

"Yeah, you're Patrick Cipollone," Byrne said.

"Wrong! Wrong, you idiot!"

this is really good, though. this is like the coen brothers wrote the meeting

xpost Thankfully, his behavior suggests that he sees this as a quality to perpetually nurture.

seems like a nice guy, I mean, he raised his hand

in the usual Republican fashion, he did so to hit somebody, but

later, in the same meeting, Byrne strikes again:

Byrne, wearing jeans, a hoodie and a neck gaiter, piped up with his own conspiracy: "I know how this works. I bribed Hillary Clinton $18 million on behalf of the FBI for a sting operation."

Herschmann stared at the eccentric millionaire. "What the hell are you talking about? Why would you say something like that?" Byrne brought up the bizarre Clinton bribery claim several more times during the meeting to the astonishment of White House lawyers.

looool

this is like being in the Mirror Match in Mortal Kombat and both fighters kill each other

i'm sorry, just one more:

"How exactly are you going to do this?" an exasperated Herschmann asked again, later in the conversation. Newman again cited the 2018 executive order, which prompted Herschmann to question out loud whether she was even a lawyer.

Then Byrne chimed in: "There are guys with big guns and badges who can get these things." Herschmann couldn't believe it. "What are you, three years old?" he asked.

byrne and herschmann are a legendary comedy team

Byrne asserted that he was six years old, and that his Power Wheels was bigger and faster than Herschmann's

Couldn't help but feel that Herschmann did more than a few dialogue rewrites before anonymously sourcing his story.

I love how nobody in the room including Trump had any idea who Byrne was or why he was there. Also the detail about him scarfing all the appetizers.

lol here's a selfie by Byrne in that exact outfit at the White House

https://www.sltrib.com/resizer/eNJ4V9nJZqJZT23qDb7hAPK463I=/1024x650/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/sltrib/CZE6QRVNEBFGLD5IPCHSAN6TDE.jpeg

this is good

This IS a bipartisan agenda. https://t.co/7yN97X8ii8

— Ronald Klain (@WHCOS) February 2, 2021

I'm trying not to hope.

https://imgur.com/4mJSn9x

NEW: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has removed all members from the Pentagon's advisory boards in a sweeping effort to oust a series of last-minute appointees by former President Donald Trumphttps://t.co/yPCJossWnN@laraseligman @connorobrienNH, first reported by @nancyayoussef

— Dave Brown (@dave_brown24) February 2, 2021

good, now let's deal with those committee chairs

February is going to be a real acid test for Biden, Pelosi, and Schumer. By month's end we'll know in some detail how much of Biden's national crisis agenda will get a sufficient number of votes in Congress. If they can't force through their crisis legislation you can kiss goodbye any thoughts of, say, student debt relief or tax hikes on the wealthy later in the session.

Reality Czar:

WHAT IF I TOLD YOU

https://i.imgflip.com/99y2a.jpg

Ned, do it. Buy one. Even though the science has shifted it’s still awe-inspiring.

which book pls?

uhh the overstock guy is apparently unable to shave himself

Stevie

https://www.abebooks.com/National-Geographic-Picture-Atlas-Universe-Roy/30819736461/bd?cm_mmc=ggl-_-US_Shopp_Textbook-_-naa-_-naa&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoebk4ITM7gIVyJ-zCh2ZoQ4AEAQYBSABEgK14PD_BwE

overstock guy is seriously mentally ill. read up on him.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/12/14/a-tycoons-deep-state-conspiracy-dive

Thanks Raymond!

Our Fifty States, Our World, and Our Continent are also awesome in their way

The one thing I've heard my whole life re the First Amendment--supposedly front and centre for Trump's lawyers--is that you can't yell "fire!" in a crowded theatre. Jan. 6 seems to me a clear case of doing just that.

keep hearing this thread title in Bjork's voice

that is creepy i was literally thinking of that just now :o

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/11/its-time-to-stop-using-the-fire-in-a-crowded-theater-quote/264449/

well tbh i had the song in my head yesterday too but i forgot about it xp

But can you shout "movie!" In a crowded fire?

you can shout "butts" in a crowded "toilet"

50-49, Senate votes to advance budget resolution and kick off reconciliation process on a $1.9T coronavirus aid package. No GOP senators voted to proceed.

What comes next: pain, alcohol, 50 hours of debate and then a vote-a-rama. Bring out the cots etc etc

— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) February 2, 2021

The missing vote is Pat Toomey, who was absent.

I didn't catch the context, but CNN just brought up what they called the George Constanza defense (i.e., Trump's lawyers may actually be using this, too, though not naming it as such): "It's not a lie if you believe it."

What comes next: pain, alcohol, 50 hours of debate and then a vote-a-rama.

for Igor Bobic?

did someone on GOP not vote (i.e. why is it 50-49)?

also does this upcoming vote also only have to be a majority?

It's 50-49 cause Pat Toomey didn't vote. And yeah, the second vote is gonna be majority-only too, no filibuster bullshit.

What comes next: pain, alcohol, 50 hours of debate and then a vote-a-rama.

for Igor Bobic?

Yeah, I don't get that part either. Maybe it's a "joke" for "old" "Washington" "hands".

Neanderthal, the question you asked was answered by the post that prompted the question

That’s actually one of my favorite Bjork songs!