US Politics, December 2019: Profound procedural deficiencies

Xpost sounds like a Stevie Ray Vaughn song

President Trump will sign an executive order defining Judaism as a nationality, not just a religion, thus bolstering the Education Department's efforts to stamp out "Boycott Israel" movements on college campuses https://t.co/0avw7eseMc

— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) December 10, 2019

OK, now explain how THAT will look bad for Democrats...they take the one thing King Asshole really, really wants and turn it into a poison pill he rejects, in an election year.

If you're not speaking rhetorically, Asshole has done this more than once, iirc: cheerlead certain developments, but by the time it gets to his desk changes his mind (or has his mind changed), campaigns against it, and rejects it, usually while crossing his arms like an angry toddler. He doesn't give a shit.

I know...but it's hard to see how that's bad for Democrats, unless you're Chris Cilizza.

This whole Judaism as a nationality thing is really disturbing. What if I don't want to be considered a different nationality other than American? Do I have a choice? I don't personally want to be associated with Israel at all.

Can he just declare anything a nationality at will?

xpost Everything is bad for the Democrats, always.

it's very odd. israeli and jewish are not the same thing.

if students were saying they wanted to boycott jewish businesses i would have an enormous problem with that. but boycotting israel, while still in my view not so great, is really different.

There are other places to debate this, and other people better at debating it, but while I agree with you, the BDS movement specifically is as I understand it tied to certain more extreme anti-Israel ideas than divestment, not to mention the conspicuousness of Israel getting more or less uniquely singled out for boycott, as opposed to any of the many human rights violating, international law flouting countries.

The bullshit of course is not in that debate, but in Asshole changing the terms of the debate exclusively so that he and his fellow assholes can push their wrongheaded, vindictive policies.

I don't think it's just about that debate though. Feels like a step towards revoking American citizenship.

luv2live in this glorious gilded age

eema Verma who, as a senior figure in the Trump administration, has made it more difficult for poor Americans to access health coverage, has filed a claim of $47,000 for the loss of her luggage while on a three-day work trip.

According to Politico, Verma filed the claim on 28 August 2018 after having her luggage stolen while giving a speech in San Francisco. Her expenses included 20 pieces of jewellery, which sounds reasonable for a three day-work trip – if you are Snoop Dogg.

She had originally estimated the cost of those pieces at $20,000, but came back with the higher $43,065 price tag after visiting a jeweler three weeks after the theft. Because sometimes you’re just that rich that you forget about that extra 20 grand you dropped at the jewelers.

Verma is the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which is responsible for Medicare, the US health insurance program for seniors and Medicaid, the program for low-income Americans.

The jewellery claim included 11 pairs of earrings, five necklaces and three pendants. In evidence that shows money does not equal class, one of those pendants was this Ivanka Trump gold, prasiolite and diamond pendant, which looks like it was picked by the claw machine in an arcade.

The government spends approximately $5,700 per Medicaid patient. That means that the bill she tried to get the taxpayer to foot (the CMS only granted a $2,852.40 reimbursement) is roughly equivalent to what the government spends on eight Medicaid patients yearly.

You may be wondering what she was doing with all that jewellery. Swapping out weights in the gym for travel-friendly lifting? Not quite – according to a CMS spokesperson, Verma takes a large collection of jewelry when she travels, because she “travels to Washington DC from Indiana each week to work at CMS.”

It really feels like we're finally encroaching on that moment when we collectively realize that there's a whole lot more of us than there are of them.

let's fucking hope so

Does it? I'd say there are way more apathetic people than those who give a shit.

xp

Yeah, I fantasize about that happening all the time, but probably nothing more than a fantasy given all the technology that enables the police state.

Would certainly welcome a Get Out/The Purge style film except about class where lower classes leading The Purge are the heroes. NB: I have never seen The Purge.

They could all wear Bernie masks. Chilling.

not to mention the conspicuousness of Israel getting more or less uniquely singled out for boycott, as opposed to any of the many human rights violating, international law flouting countries.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, December 11, 2019 9:12 AM (thirty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

c'mon, you know this kind of whatabout-ism is extremely dumb. the logical endpoint here is that you either have to protest every single terrible human rights-violating country simultaneously or somehow we all have to collectively decide which one is the absolute worst and focus on that one exclusively.

It really feels like we're finally encroaching on that moment when we collectively realize that there's a whole lot more of us than there are of them.

― Welcome to the Sandwich Trough (Old Lunch), Wednesday, December 11, 2019 9:36 AM (twenty-seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Dunno I think coprophilia is still pretty niche

collectively lol

the 1% with their wagon-circling 40%

Shhh, shhhhhh, a dream is a wish your heart makes

What most people don’t understand is the Evangelical extremist right wing as well as white supremecists and other nationalists have always been simultaneously non-critically pro-Israel and virulently anti-semetic. It remains hidden because no one can get their head around that. https://t.co/0eVrh54kHs

— Stevie Van Zandt (@StevieVanZandt) December 11, 2019

Little Stevie otm

xpost Given I know of no other prominent divestment drive, people *have* decided which is the worst and to focus on that one exclusively. I am no fan of Israel, but they are nowhere near the top of the list for horrible countries. Imo. Anyway, I am not terribly invested in the debate so I'll just say too much focus is placed on Israel and that entire region of bad actors and stop there.

Given I know of no other prominent divestment drive

I hear 10x more about attempts to get universities to divest from fossil fuel investments than I do about BDS. And i guess you can say "yeah but I meant COUNTRIES" but the point is that the movement to push colleges to steer their investments away from politically disapproved sectors is not predominantly about Israel. For what it's worth, and as you might know from my other posts, i am Jewish and a big old Zionist, go to Israel and spend money in Israell plenty, think BDS is bad and wrong, BUT I also think 1. it's pretty small and marginal 2. Republicans have a strong incentive to make it seem bigger and less marginal, and to some extent even to make it BE bigger and less marginal, as a cynical ploy to get American Jews on their side.

perhaps activists think they have more leverage to *change* Israel than they do Saudi Arabia?

I only skimmed the two Articles in the NYT today but only saw Biden mentioned as a "political opponent," not by name, just like NPR frequently does it. Is his name in there?

Funny how Biden is named in the articles of impeachment. Makes the Dems’ priorities clear.

— Doug Henwood (@DougHenwood) December 11, 2019

So the EO doesn't say anything about establishing Judaism as a nationality? An I missing something or was this heinously misreported?

"(A) a political opponent, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden,;"

Doesn't it kind of have to name Biden? It was all about digging up dirt on him.

makes the dems' priorities clear

I'm not following Henwood's logic.

yeah it'd be one thing if the articles said something like "digging up dirt on our next presidential nominee, the Wise and Exalted Joseph R. Biden"

(I haven't read the articles but I'm assuming they don't say that).

the naming of the FBI investigation Crossfire Hurricane seems really corny

The protocol for naming sensitive military operations has long been to assign randomly chosen names from a list prepared in advance, so that any intercepted communications about it would not reveal its nature or its target. The FBI probably has a similar protocol. I don't know if it applied here or not, because the protocol has been obviously ignored by the military whenever they think an operation needs a PR boost, e.g. Operation Desert Storm. However, this name was internal, so the chances are higher that the name was coincidental and the corniness was baked in when the name was put on the list.

Olivia Wilde interviewed Nancy Pelosi for The Hollywood Reporter.

What of Hollywood's role in making Donald Trump a reality TV star? Do you blame the industry for the current state of U.S. politics as it relates to Trump?

Well, let me say I've never seen his reality show, so I don't know if it was any good or what. I do think that he was assisted by the communications industry, not just Hollywood, but the press as well, because all they do is enable him, and that is really a sad thing.

I've said to many of my friends in the press, "You're accomplices, whether you want to be or not," [and they say,] "If he's saying it, then it's news." I don't think it's news, but it monopolizes the airwaves. So there is a lot of responsibility to go around in terms of the creation of whatever that is in the White House.

But he has a tactic, one that is used by autocrats, which is, "Just as long as they're talking about me, no matter if it's bad, then you're not talking about my opponent." When [the press was] talking about him, they weren't saying what Hillary was going to do about health care, to make our economy fair.

Nancy otm

'whatever that is in the White House' indeed

Next thread title?

Incredible pic.twitter.com/n8Wh2Cbrqe

— Andrew Perez (@andrewperezdc) December 11, 2019

ah olivia wilde, who gives what appears to be an actually libelous portrayal of the news media in the new eastwood film, exactly who i would like to see asking the tough questions about the media.

it's almost as if GOP voters' opinions have no basis in fact

xps

I don't really blame Wilde for that but yeah, I did a bit of an eyebrow raise myself

as a guy who has been on calls all day trying to figure out how his insurance has just increased by $130 a month in 2020 and how he can get financial assistance to help with his physical therapy post surgery, I'd like to say that 43% of republicans can use my toilet bowl as a water cooler

I dunno, I can totally see why GOP voters would be satisfied with the cost of health care, now that Obamacare has been repealed and Trump fixed all the problems, lowered costs of medicine, deported all the immigrants and cut everyone off from welfare, and so on. Like, what else is there to complain about? Problem solved. Asshole Again in 2020, etc.

the naming of the FBI investigation Crossfire Hurricane seems really corny

Calling it Locomotive Breath would have been pretty bitchin, tho

Trump: Pardons Multiple War Criminals

Bevin: Hold My Beer.

https://www.kentuckynewera.com/news/article_c1a31eec-1c5f-11ea-b560-f7ed0ba79bdf.html

As one of his final acts in office, former Gov. Matt Bevin commuted the sentence of Dayton Jones to time served by executive order. The executive order gives no reason for the commutation.

...

According to New Era archives, Jones pleaded guilty Aug. 22, 2016, to first-degree sodomy, first-degree wanton endangerment and first-degree distribution of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor. In November 2016, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison with no possibility of probation and a lifetime requirement to register as a sex offender upon release.

chill greta, chill

i hope his mouth caves in on itself

At least he didn’t make a pun equating her name to a place in nobility. That would have been horrific!