Like, don't these people have to campaign and make speeches to get elected?? xp to self
― There's more Italy than necessary. (in orbit), Thursday, 28 February 2019 16:59 (five years ago) link
I think the best thing about AOC - which was probably indicative of the 2018 election as a whole - is no doubt her ability to draw more young people into this maelstrom of bullshit to make it a better place. I caught myself the other day thinking, jeez, this person (at least for now) really seems like a political virtuoso, where has she been?! And then my brain immediately reminded me, duh, she's almost 20 years younger than me, still in her late 20s, this is about as early as she can get in there.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 28 February 2019 16:59 (five years ago) link
^^^ I was shocked by how terrible some of the congresspeople with JDs(actively had practiced) were with their questioning.
― Yerac, Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:00 (five years ago) link
I was shocked at how much better Michael Cohen, graduate of the alleged worst law school in the country, did than several of those chuckleheads.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:03 (five years ago) link
Like, don't these people have to campaign and make speeches to get elected??
a lot of them don't
― we're far from the challops now (voodoo chili), Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:06 (five years ago) link
AOC is on another level than Omar. She's clear, confident, to the point, doesn't grandstand, makes substantive contributions, etc. She's a political wizard. Omar struggles to articulate her thoughts, she mostly produces political outrage soundbites. It's just not apples to apples.
― Larry Elleison (rogermexico.), Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:06 (five years ago) link
XP and in orbit OTM, there doesn’t need to be a winner of a contest here.
― Larry Elleison (rogermexico.), Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:08 (five years ago) link
They’re our main marketable product really
― moose; squirrel (silby), Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:14 (five years ago) link
I think because of what a crazy-huge national profile AOC has garnered in such a short period of time (at least half-driven by thirsty-ass dudes on the right), it's very easy to overlook that each of these people's main job is to represent the interests and needs of their constituencies. and just by the fact of their identities I think AOC, Omar, and Tlaib are innately already doing a better job than probably anyone any of these districts has had in a long time. without looking it up I know MN has large Somali communities and I assume that's true of Omar's district, and the same with Tlaib and Muslim-Americans and AOC and Puerto Ricans.
― Evans on Hammond (evol j), Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:15 (five years ago) link
new poll : Best New Congresswoman poll end 12/31/9999
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:15 (five years ago) link
I was shocked by how terrible some of the congresspeople with JDs (actively had practiced) were with their questioning.
This is mainly a function of lazy preparation and mediocre staff work, not just a tediously unimaginative Republican strategy that was dictated by the leadership. Most reps spend huge amounts of time on the phone schmoozing big donors and leave much of the serious work of research and legislative strategy to their staff, who brief them on what to do 'just-in-time'. That's why AOC praised her "overpaid staff" to them. She and they know where the real work gets done.
― A is for (Aimless), Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:19 (five years ago) link
The republicans’ whole project was to deflect. There wasn’t really a “good” way they could have done it.
― Trϵϵship, Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:21 (five years ago) link
Their whole tactic was to say Cohen was asking for it and he never said 'no'.
― Yerac, Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:24 (five years ago) link
Not a cool guy, obviously, but Cohen crushed it honestly, especially when he told them that he got in trouble because he did the same thing they were doing—defending Trump by any means they could
― Trϵϵship, Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:26 (five years ago) link
Wasn't this thread title going to be changed because it was terrible?
― Yerac, Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:26 (five years ago) link
No. Only pitchfork and stalin try to rewrite history.
― Trϵϵship, Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:31 (five years ago) link
The archives should stay as they are (barring something egregious obviously)
― Trϵϵship, Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:32 (five years ago) link
also this is insane to rank them in terms of jobs well done. All three were noticeable better than most/all. AOC is the winner if we are going there. sheesh.― Yerac, Thursday, February 28, 2019 4:13 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Yerac, Thursday, February 28, 2019 4:13 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
this is true. i was responding to some posts above, but it is a silly game. sorry for contributing to it.
― affects breves telnet (Gummy Gummy), Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:34 (five years ago) link
although i should note that if people compare/contrast it's partly because1) they are all freshman congresspeople w/ high profiles2) they actually make lots of public appearances together, and IIRC aren't omar and tlaib AOC's apartmentmates?
so it's not like the only reason for "grouping" them is b/c they are women of color. they actually kind of run in a pack! in a good way!
― affects breves telnet (Gummy Gummy), Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:36 (five years ago) link
I could tell which party was speaking even when I wasn't watching the video just by listening for subject-verb agreement.
Well, that and having to reach for the volume button on my computer to turn down the blowhard GOP firebreathers.
― pee-tape pay per view special (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:37 (five years ago) link
yeah I'm not sure what a "winning" Republican strategy could've been, given that Cohen was going to prison trying to protect Trump. still, I am pretty sure "yell and shame Cohen until you're red in the face" was probably not the best way to do it
― frogbs, Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:37 (five years ago) link
Let us remember that for at least 20 years the GOP has run people whose purpose is to be as incompetent as possible to show how incompetent the federal govt is
― Let's have sensible centrist armageddon (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:44 (five years ago) link
i'm not sure you can call that "purposeful" -- it's just kind of a dynamic of its own.
― affects breves telnet (Gummy Gummy), Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:44 (five years ago) link
a vicious circle, if you will
― affects breves telnet (Gummy Gummy), Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:45 (five years ago) link
NHS, that's the mission, expressed in a leaked Bush-era memo.
― Let's have sensible centrist armageddon (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:48 (five years ago) link
*nah
― Let's have sensible centrist armageddon (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 28 February 2019 17:49 (five years ago) link
That *would* be your autocorrect
― fuck the NRA (Neanderthal), Thursday, 28 February 2019 18:06 (five years ago) link
You're welcome!
― Let's have sensible centrist armageddon (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 28 February 2019 18:08 (five years ago) link
Michael Cohen, graduate of the alleged worst law school in the country
To be fair, Rashida Tlaib also got her JD from the same place (as did Joseph Overton of "window" fame). It's basically a diploma mill for law degrees and a bunch of MI political types have gone there (it's also right down the road from me).
― joygoat, Thursday, 28 February 2019 18:43 (five years ago) link
xpost
i was wondering what the National Health has to do w/ this!
― affects breves telnet (Gummy Gummy), Thursday, 28 February 2019 19:56 (five years ago) link
WaPo hyping up Dem discord, or moderates stepping on rakes (or both!)?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/house-democrats-explode-in-recriminations-as-liberals-lash-out-at-moderates/2019/02/28/c3d163fe-3b87-11e9-a06c-3ec8ed509d15_story.html?utm_term=.3fe3d46d9867
this seems like the key bit:
Publicly and privately, Pelosi has urged members to treat the Republican motions as procedural feints that should be routinely ignored. “Vote no — just vote no,” she told reporters Thursday, “because the fact is, a vote yes is to give leverage to the other side.” But Hoyer and Clyburn believe that is untenable when Republicans stand ready to use those votes as political cudgels against vulnerable Democrats.
somehow Hoyer and Clyburn still not understanding that the GOP is NEVER going to give you credit for voting with them. they don't need a cudgel; regardless of which way you vote they're going to smear you as a MS-13 coddling Communist baby-killer when campaign season rolls around.
― Evans on Hammond (evol j), Friday, 1 March 2019 15:11 (five years ago) link
Republicans buy cudgels by the freight car load, because you can never have too many cudgels. And besides, the Republicans in the House know they have nothing else to do for two years than polish their cudgel collection.
― A is for (Aimless), Friday, 1 March 2019 17:55 (five years ago) link
something to keep in mind when pondering AOC's smart questioning etc - not to say she's not talented or smart, but keep in mind she actually has time to confer with staff and do research and stuff since she's not bound to the conventional donor relationships and the schedule that entails
Per the @aoc call time conversation, here is how the DCCC suggests to freshmen that they spend their time as members of Congress. (GOP is no different.) https://t.co/gIVPLErblM pic.twitter.com/DTZFp14Wim— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) March 1, 2019
― bhad bundy (Simon H.), Friday, 1 March 2019 18:37 (five years ago) link
one thing missed in the coverage btw is that she DID do a bit of what could be construed as grandstanding by connecting the dots to something local to her district and vividly meaningful to the people who elected her, talking abt the stupid huge trump golf course in the bronx. but she did it smartly and it didn't crowd out her actually questioning the person who had been called in to be questioned, which yeah she did better than anybody. just bam bam bam who else should we be calling in here to question about x, what do we need to subpoena.
― |Restore| |Restart| |Quit| (Doctor Casino), Friday, 1 March 2019 19:32 (five years ago) link
i guess not grandstanding exactly, but, yknow, using a portion of her 5 mins for making a point.
― |Restore| |Restart| |Quit| (Doctor Casino), Friday, 1 March 2019 19:34 (five years ago) link
Trump’s tax returns have long been a white whale for Democrats eager to determine if they can prove that the President committed tax fraud or engaged in untoward foreign dealings.
But Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony this week strengthened Democrats’ motivation for requesting them from the IRS, Democratic aides told NBC.
Cohen testified that Congress could find in Trump’s tax returns proof that the President alternately deflated the value of his assets to lower his taxes and inflated their value to insurance companies as it suited his business interests.
“Would it help for the committee to obtain federal and state tax returns from the president and his company to address that discrepancy?” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) asked Cohen at one point during his testimony before the House Oversight Committee.
“I believe so,” Cohen replied.
thanking you, aoc
― Karl Malone, Saturday, 2 March 2019 02:05 (five years ago) link
God I hope she shames a few of these fools into stepping their game up. Lady shouldn’t have to be doing everything around here.
― Evans on Hammond (evol j), Saturday, 2 March 2019 02:27 (five years ago) link
Omar is doing great: https://www.mediaite.com/online/rep-ilhan-omar-defies-democratic-leaders-by-refusing-to-recognize-venezuelas-guaido-absolutely-not/
“Well the constitution of Venezuela says that there needs to be an election called within 30 days and we’re waiting for that to happen. What we should be involved in is having diplomatic conversations and bringing people to the table and being a partner in facilitating that,” Omar said, adding “we are threatening, we are threatening intervention” and “sending humanitarian aid that is in the guise of, you know, eventually invading this country and the people of the country don’t want us there.”When asked if she recognizes the opposition as the leader, Omar, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said, “Absolutely not.”
When asked if she recognizes the opposition as the leader, Omar, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said, “Absolutely not.”
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 2 March 2019 19:53 (five years ago) link
Apparently Bezos is trying to cancel her or something. Sounds very tedious. Hope she can handle the establishment's first concerted effort to derail her
― imago, Wednesday, 6 March 2019 10:59 (five years ago) link
idk if this is a flaw but i do want to know why she put out this broad vague set of aspirational guidelines for the green bill and didn't partner up with a leftist climate group to propose and promote an actual bill. why just throw out these goals and hope for someone else to figure out the legislation?
― Mordy, Thursday, 7 March 2019 16:07 (five years ago) link
it seems really half-assed
think the goal was to move the Overton window as quickly as possible rather than come out with a detailed, concrete plan, which could take months to put together
she's only been on the job for like 2 months
― frogbs, Thursday, 7 March 2019 16:10 (five years ago) link
there are so many NGOs out there not one of them has legislation prepared that she could back? maybe this is the secret to why the left is so ineffective bc i'm sure Cato or whoever have a stack of legislation for every topic you might want to pursue just waiting for a congressperson to champion
― Mordy, Thursday, 7 March 2019 16:12 (five years ago) link
I do not care what the “green new deal” actually is or might be but it sure as heck is a punchy phrase and so I’m in favor of rallying people behind it. The Medicare for all bill is real but who knows what’s actually in it? Not me. Who cares
― moose; squirrel (silby), Thursday, 7 March 2019 16:14 (five years ago) link
― Mordy, Thursday, March 7, 2019
Ya think this version of the GOP cares about policy positions?
― Let's have sensible centrist armageddon (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 7 March 2019 16:18 (five years ago) link
I'm perfectly happy with talking points for now.
why? how could it be anything other than a good thing to have actual legislation to propose + promote?
― Mordy, Thursday, 7 March 2019 16:22 (five years ago) link
You can do both. Who knows what goes on in the bowels of congressional staff offices?
― Let's have sensible centrist armageddon (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 7 March 2019 16:27 (five years ago) link
It wouldn’t not be good but it’s also not bad to not have it.
― moose; squirrel (silby), Thursday, 7 March 2019 16:27 (five years ago) link
Tbh if she tied it to a specific bill, she would be expected to have all the answers about the particulars, and her or her partner would have to be "expert" all the time and opponents would be trying to trip her up with statistics & details that they would twist and fake.
Leaving it un-specific allows all kinds of different thoughts and approaches to be proposed and for input from more parties over time--anyone can get in the ring. People who are willing to do the work can make it be what they want = they will be more committed to goals that they took part in shaping. This is basic good organizing.
― There's more Italy than necessary. (in orbit), Thursday, 7 March 2019 16:59 (five years ago) link