“I can hear those champagne bottle corks popping in Moscow — like it’s Christmas every fucking day": US Politics, February 2024

lol pol santos's next job stop. or maybe his next claimed job spot.

Noted elsewhere, there is a more intriguing bellwether today:

🚨 With 100% of precincts reporting, the (tentative) final results for PA HD-140 are as follows:

🔵 Jim Prokopiak: 67.3% (6,462)
🔴 Candace Cabanas: 32.1% (3,079)

D+35.2 in the end. An absolutely astonishing overperformance in this Biden+10 seat by roughly ~25 points.

— Joshua Smithley (@blockedfreq) February 14, 2024

Re: Santos' (and my) district - since 2016 I've realized even Dem and Dem-leaning areas still have sometimes silent 40+% Rep (and plenty of psuedo-Dems) who crawl out from under the rocks like grubs when their taxes get threatened by 1-3%.

According to a December 2023 Politico article, solidarity with Israel in response to the October Hamas-led terrorist attack is a top priority for the district, and both Suozzi and Pilip are "staunch supporters of Israel".[52] Suozzi and Pilip primarily campaigned on the issue of an influx of migrants into the United States.[7]

I'm glad he won and I'm glad he's not my representative.

Let's just say you aren't going to win in Nassau County without supporting Israel 100%.

‘I hereby appoint the honorable Marjorie Taylor Greene to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. Signed, Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives’ pic.twitter.com/w09J00NCIK

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 14, 2024

Ugh

Um, Speaker pro tempura...I mean, speaker pro tempore, that is (I suppose) a thing, but not really an interesting thing.

President pro tempore definitely IS a thing (senior Senator, and therefore in line for presidential succession). Pretty sure it is currently Patty Muuray.

Bloomberg article about Trump's money troubles (pasted rather than linked because of their paywall):

Trump On Pace to Drain Legal Funds by July, With Only $27 Million Left

Donald Trump will likely drain his war chest for legal fees this summer, leaving the GOP frontrunner crunched for cash just as his presidential campaign ramps up spending for an expected rematch with President Joe Biden.

Trump spent $51.2 million in 2023 on legal expenses, and can tap another $26.6 million stashed in an allied super political action committee that he can use to pay his lawyers. But as his four criminal cases ramp up, those funds are expected to run out at a critical time — around July, when the Republican National Convention triggers the official start to the general election campaign.

That leaves Trump with only a few — unappealing — options to keep paying for his defense.

He could compel the Republican National Committee, which faces its own cash woes, to pay his bills, leaving the group with less money to support his campaign. He could siphon off more money from his army of small-dollar donors to his leadership PAC, Save America, which is financing his defense in multiple criminal and civil proceedings. Trump already diverts 10% of online contributions made to his reelection toward Save America for legal bills — a move which accounted for $9.9 million in 2023.

To pay his legal fees, Trump is relying on federal laws governing leadership PACs, which allow politicians to raise money that can support travel, fundraising and other political expenses.

Trump’s legal bills have been a drag on what has otherwise been a strong fundraising operation. His campaign and allied groups last year collectively spent $13.6 million more than they raised, thanks to a large nest egg of donations to Save America from 2021 and 2022, before he was actively campaigning. That fundraising buffer has nearly been depleted.

Save America has largely been able to pay for tens of millions of dollars in legal fees because of refunds of money it had previously transferred to Make America Great Again Inc., the super PAC supporting Trump’s bid.

MAGA Inc., which has the ability to raise unlimited sums, used 71 cents of every dollar it raised in 2023 to help Trump pay his lawyers. That money came from deep-pocketed donors, including investor Timothy Mellon, Crownquest Operating LLC’s Timothy Dunn and Home Depot Inc. co-founder Bernie Marcus. MAGA Inc. is permitted to refund $26.6 million more to Save America, but can’t transfer any more after that.

“Our mission is straightforward – maximize the Republican Party’s resources to get President Trump elected,” Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said in a statement.

MAGA Inc. and the RNC did not respond to requests to comment.

The RNC, which previously covered some of Trump’s legal bills during and after his first term, could also fund his trial costs, though it would drain cash that otherwise would be used to win elections.

The RNC is better-equipped to bring in large amounts of money, compared to Save America, which can only accept donations as big as $5,000. Donors can give the RNC $123,900 for an account that can only be spent for legal expenses, plus another $41,300 that can be used for any purpose, including influencing elections.

A mid-summer cash crunch for Trump, who is on the cusp of the nomination, would hit the RNC just as it is spending millions to boost Republicans nationwide. The RNC already behind on raising money, starting the year with just $8 million, compared to the Democratic National Committee which had $21 million in the bank.

Money problems at the RNC have been sore point for Trump, who has recommended ousting chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, partly because of dissatisfaction over fundraising. Trump has endorsed North Carolina Republican Party Chair Michael Whatley and daughter-in-law Lara Trump to lead the national party, a move that would his grip on the RNC.

i'd like see him wriggle his way out of that jam

I'm even happier if he doesn't.

yep

MAGA Inc. is permitted to refund $26.6 million more to Save America, but can’t transfer any more after that.

When has legality ever stopped him.

“MAGA Inc.”

Money won't be a problem for Trump's campaign, but if the RNC is pumped dry for Donald it will affect their ability to pour millions into critical Congressional races and support downballot candidates. ofc, PACs will step in wherever they feel inclined, but this will at least put a crimp in the money hose.

yeah, this matters not so much for Trump but for control of Congress.

Yeah the best thing for us now is Trump using the Republican Party as his personal piggy bank.

Time for another round of NFT's: Astronaut, soccer star, rodeo cowboy etc.

pumped dry for Donald

Well, there is my least favorite phrase of the day, thxbye

construction worker, policeman

It's fun to stay at the...

Everybody do the arm motions now

C C C P? U S S R? that's so very passe and 70s.

Putin Steps Into US Race to Back ‘Old-Style’ Biden Over Trump

Vladimir Putin praised Joe Biden as a more reliable alternative for Russia than Donald Trump, making his first public comments on the American presidential election.

“He’s a more experienced person, he’s predictable, he’s an old-style politician,” the Russian president said of Biden in a state television interview when asked which of the two leading candidates would be better for Russia, according to a video released by the Kremlin.

daaaaaamn Donald must be pissed

Nah, he'll be all "If Russia doesn't like me, they must be SCARED of me"...

The Swifties got to him.

This is meant to help Trump

^so obvious it should have gone without saying but

Speaking of psy-ops

Trump is such an idiot he may misinterpret Putin's intentions.

Alfred OTM tho - as if Trump can't take that kind of rejection at face value.

I'm not convinced this is necessarily meant to help Trump per se (though it might be)

Trump is high reward but also high risk, and much of what Putin wants can be still be achieved with Biden at a lower risk. Also while the Kremlin is highly effective at exploiting fissures in the west, I'm not convinced Putin himself is, especially after missing the open goal presented by Tucker Carlson

Putin is perceived as a gambler, but I think this is only partially true. He's also extremely cautious and a procrastinator, interspersed with periods of rolling the dice (often to compensate for previous procrastination)

it could be a comment in competent good faith, it could be just shaking cages everywhere as much as one can. doubt it matters.

not everything can 'help Trump', like i doubt any voters give a shit about this. Trump will be mad and that's all I care about, because he's dumb when he's mad. well, dumber.

I think heightening division is a more important aim than either of the two candidates winning, but if Putin was personally adept at facilitating this, he failed to show it in his interview with Tucker, registering no shots on target even as Tucker lay down in the goal

people like him more when he's incensed about something and is railing against enemies, real or imaginary! this is what they go to see him talk about!

Putin's also basically calling Tucker a terrible interviewer, which is both true and an attempt to play the stateside audience like a piano

Putin's used to tough interviews

Wary about playing armchair psych here but I don't think his stated dissatisfaction with Tucker was an attempt to play the US audience either. The digs at Tucker attempting but failing to join the CIA felt real, a show of dominance, and this feels coming from the same place. Tucker genuflecting and simping was a show of weakness I think Putin couldn't respect, In a weird way Tucker sort of ended up in the same spot as Macron, a toady

Yeah well, with both Putin and Trump journalists just can't win

daaaaaamn Donald must be pissed

― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, February 15, 2024 8:24 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Oh, snap

loooooooool

https://bsky.app/profile/hudsonrivercroc.bsky.social/post/3klhwnkiglc2y

Biden apparently suffers from the rare form of dementia that makes him more focused and disciplined as president than he ever was as vice president. This is the story the media should pursue, if they followed facts and ignored “vibes.

https://www.publicnotice.co/p/biden-hur-media-coverage

The article also recounts the terrible things he has said since, well, the beginning.

I feel like those kind of arguments kind of miss the point. Definitely we know voters weigh all the facts carefully and fairly and are not at all influenced by vibes.

But I get it, it’s the best answer. I just don’t know what voter needle it’s supposed to move.

I just don’t know what voter needle it’s supposed to move.

The nervous Democrats in my life.

People forget that Biden was making the same verbal gaffes when he first ran in 1980

Dalia has a pretty good piece restating the obvious: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/02/biden-age-controversy-vs-trump.html

exactly - Biden has always been a bad public speaker, to the point where it's really impressive he's been able to have the sort of career he has. he definitely sounds older and more tired but he talks the way he always has.

this, from the Slate piece, is very important:

Despite our fascination with the Great Man theory of American lawmaking, the presidency is an office that largely turns on superb staffing, visionary planning, deft political negotiation, and artful execution. Joe Biden doesn’t actually have to remember every single detail himself—he has to use his judgment to employ and empower a large contingent of skilled experts to execute upon their agreed-upon vision.

like, this is what we're actually voting for isn't it? I don't like Joe Biden and I *do* think he's too old but like...he's one part of a huge administration. companies can have the biggest morons on the planet as CEO and still succeed. Donald Trump insisted that all his intel briefings got significantly dumbed down because he has the attention span of a fish and at the end of the day it didn't really matter.

Electing masters of detail and public speaking like Clinton and Obama spoiled Democrats good; many people seem to believe those dudes did everything themselves.