Pelosi announces vote to override Trump’s veto https://t.co/sjE4eNOKfi
— Raw Story (@RawStory) March 15, 2019
Veto override in House is unlikely — but Pelosi wants to put Republicans on record a 2nd time with the vote: “House Republicans will have to choose between their partisan hypocrisy and their sacred oath to support and defend the Constitution.” https://t.co/ZHB5UN2T1c
— Billy House (@HouseInSession) March 15, 2019
During a normal presidency — remember those? — this kind of legislative breakdown would be front-page news for at least a week. Per the Washington Post:
President Trump issued the first veto of his presidency Friday to secure federal money for a border wall that he promised as a candidate and considers a crucial priority for his reelection, capping a week of confrontation with both political parties…
Rebuffed by Congress in his demands for billions for the wall, Trump had declared a national emergency at the Mexican border last month, a move that would allow the president to circumvent the will of lawmakers and spend billions on border barriers.
Congress backed a resolution of disapproval, with the Senate voting 59-to-41 on Thursday for the measure. Twelve Republicans defied Trump and joined Democrats on the legislation.
The rare rebuke from members of his own party was symbolically important, but Congress does not have the votes to overturn Trump’s veto. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) immediately announced a March 26 vote to try, saying that “House Republicans will have to choose between their partisan hypocrisy and their sacred oath to support and defend the Constitution.”…
[Trump’s] reelection campaign also sought to raise money on the issue, sending a message to supporters in Trump’s name that read: “I look forward to VETOING the Dem inspired OPEN BORDERS & Pro-Crime resolution! Donate NOW for the WALL & we’ll TRIPLE MATCH your gift.”…
He doesn’t expect to be in the Oval Office until September, is my bet. So it’s straight to the smash’n’grab portion of this Russian-enabled heist…
Striking details here: some GOP Senators asked White House for legal memo backing emergency, list of projects to lose funding for wall. White House refused. They voted for it anyway. https://t.co/FD39lvccj4
— Susan Glasser (@sbg1) March 15, 2019
The emergency declaration vote was an excellent test of the sincerity of conservatives in the chamber and most of those self-styled champions of small government and individual freedom voted to give the executive branch the power to do pretty much anything
— Adam Serwer?? (@AdamSerwer) March 14, 2019
4 states have joined our lawsuit against the President's declaration of a national emergency.
We now have 20 states standing up & fighting back against this declaration that would divert funds for critical programs & harm people across our entire country.
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) March 13, 2019
Two things:
1) Nancy Pelosi forced McConnell to walk the plank
2) Pelosi never lost the caucus like this https://t.co/iyS0JhsgXe
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) March 14, 2019
Lapassionara
Rare rebuke, indeed.
Good St. Patrick’s Day morning, everyone
Baud
Keep pressing.
HinTN
@Lapassionara: I will hold that thought for this full axial spin.
Also, this is delicious:
OzarkHillbilly
Nancy SMASHED ’em.
bjacques
Will the Senate have to respond with another vote?
OzarkHillbilly
@Lapassionara: St Patrick’s Day is tomorrow ;-)
Dorothy A. Winsor
Do you see signs of this? Because to me, he looks like he plans to go on and on in the same vein forever.
Raven Onthill
The number of Republicans voting for the resolution in the Senate was one short of the number needed to override a presidential veto.
That was not a split – that was a choreographed vote.
Baud
@Raven Onthill:
I think your math is wrong.
Major Major Major Major
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I was also confused by that.
Another Scott
‘morning everyone.
I’m drinking my morning tea, flipping channels.
I came across a 1966 Batman episode on IFC – Dizzoner the Penguin.
Paul Revere and the Raiders playing at a Penguin political rally, also too.
It’s scary how applicable it is to today’s politics!
Cheers,
Scott.
OzarkHillbilly
@Raven Onthill: 7 votes short. It takes 66 to override a veto. (or is it 67?)
eta!!!!!!
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
67. ⅔ of the Senate.
SiubhanDuinne
Morning, jackals.
C-SPAN turns 40 next week. WaPo (Karen Tumulty) has a nice tribute with a video of some interesting archival clips.
Lapassionara
@OzarkHillbilly: What? Well, at least I haven’t missed it, as happens sometimes.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: That was my math, but I have read 66 on a number of occasions and just never looked it up to make sure I wasn’t wrong.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: Good morning.
OzarkHillbilly
@Lapassionara: Are you gonna go to the REAL St Patrick’s day parade in Dogtown tomorrow? It’s a hoot.
NotMax
Originally put this downstairs because thought that would be the morning thread. Regardless, never too early to grace the ears with potato salad, is it?
debbie
These assholes are already doubling down. We need to quadruple down.
Raven Onthill
@Baud: I thought it was down to 60 these days but, no, you’re right, I was confusing that with the number needed for cloture.
I stand corrected.
Chief Oshkosh
I know Pelosi has a plan, but since it’s a foregone conclusion that even the House can’t muster an override vote among its members, this just seems like handing Trump a win right before the case is heard by the courts. In other words, we go from both the House and Senate votes, more-or-less monolithic “NO” votes, to a situation where individual Republican votes in the House are brought out again for exhibit. This removes cover for judges or justices who could most easily kill the emergency order by simply saying that it’s clear that both houses of Congress voting down the president’s improper order.
waspuppet
The thing is, Trump doesn’t care about symbolic rebukes or embarrassing defeats. He doesn’t care enough about other human beings to be embarrassed. He thinks as long as he has 34 senators who won’t vote for impeachment he can do literally anything he wants. Other presidents were subject to informal norms and principles because they cared about public service. This country isn’t in Trump’s top five.
OzarkHillbilly
From The Two Elizabeth Warrens: Bankruptcy Law Liz and Michelob Ultra Betsy
debbie
I like that there are 10 days until the vote. Gives Trump plenty of time to stew and freak out on Twitter.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Brian Lamb is a national treasure as well as one of the most astute interviewers ever to regularly appear on any channel.
debbie
@Lapassionara:
Today is St. Patrick’s Day in NYC (gotta be in church tomorrow). Huge parade, everyone puking green beer.
Baud
@Chief Oshkosh: There’s no way this is a win for Trump. If the courts uphold the order, then they would have done so even if there was no vote.
NotMax
@Baud
Plus if there is no vote to override, the courts can construe that silence as consent.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Chief Oshkosh: Where Nancy Smash is concerned, I think the default position when you don’t understand what she’s doing or why should be “watch and learn, Grasshopper”.
The time is coming when she breaks the McConnell roadblock (and as collateral damage, McConnell himself). That probably isn’t this vote, but it’s coming. It’s only March, the new Congress has only been in session two months.
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: St Patrick’s day is the same the world over: March 17. Most everyone has their parades on the Saturday before because…. reasons. In STL there are 2 parades, the official one in downtown (“family friendly”!) on the Saturday before St Patty’s day, and the real parade in Dogtown on 3/17 (where drunken debauchery is at least celebrated if not encouraged).
SFAW
Although this has probably been noted in another thread, I’d like to see more coverage (here or the MSM? Not picky) about Senator Lindsey Craven (RWMF-SC) blocking a Senate vote on the House resolution to (I think) release the Mueller report. I think the House voted 420-0 in favor.
Am I remembering correctly that Traitor Turtle ignored Dems when they tried anything similar?
By the way: “like to see more coverage” is shorthand for “I’m too lazy and been too busy to look into this more.”
Lapassionara
@OzarkHillbilly: I might, depending on the weather. I am fond of public displays of debauchery.
Baud
@Lapassionara: Then you’ll absolutely love the Baud! administration.
germy
Fraser Anning is a far-right Australian politician in the news for saying that Muslims were themselves responsible for the mass-murder of 49 people in two New Zealand mosques by a white nationalist. At a press event today, he said that such events eventually be “accepted” and was egged by a teenager, who he then punched in the face. The teen was then held in a chokehold by his supporters, arrested, and ultimately released without charge.
Lapassionara
@Baud: Can’t wait to see who Baud selects to be Secretary of Debauchery!
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
All I know is that when my job was on the parade route (Fifth Avenue), we had to pick up our lunches before 10 am and then hope the crowds had thinned by the time we went home.
OzarkHillbilly
@Lapassionara:
So am I as long as it’s someone else displaying it.
Some years back I was at a Fat Tuesday parade where things were getting a little out of hand. OK, a lot out of hand, to the point where I was getting uncomfortable and knew that if I did not leave I might find myself trying to stop the metaphorical “rape” of some laughing drunken damsel in distress. The cops weren’t doing a damn thing, just standing around watching while these young girls were being subjected to gang groping by dozens of drunken frat boy types. So I left.
As I walked away from the crowd the cops finally moved in, in a very cop way, kettling thousands of people in various states of inebriation, 98% of whom were behaving properly and just having a good time. A lot of heads got banged that night. I’ll always wonder why the cops let me go.
jonas
@waspuppet: That’s correct. He cares about what Fox News and his base of deplorables think — that’s it. The rest of the country can go to hell as far as he’s concerned.
MattF
If the House fails to override, then it’s over.
Bret Stephens (!), RW NYT columnist, notes that of the twelve R Senators that voted to end the emergency, only one (Collins) is up for reelection in 2020.
OzarkHillbilly
@Lapassionara: I was once President of Vice!
MattF
@debbie: Back in my drinking days, the regulars at the bar stayed away on St. Pat’s day. For obvious reasons.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ? ??
rikyrah
On Maddow last night ???
Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) Tweeted:
This 28-page document is full of teenagers and not-yet-teenagers, who report being raped, and pregnant as a result, and here’s Trump appointee Scott Lloyd, tracking information about these girls and using it to block them from being able to get the abortion they have asked for. https://t.co/AbNRcpbhXo https://twitter.com/MaddowBlog/status/1106736111941009408?s=17
debbie
@MattF:
After the first couple of years, we did too. We’d cross over to the West Side on 96th Street (the parade ended at 86th) and see a movie or have dinner somewhere. There’s something disconcerting about seeing drunken cops and firemen puking in the gutters.
rikyrah
@SiubhanDuinne:
C-SPAN was a great creation
plato
Any reason why the effing bbc is still blurring the face of the mass murderer aussie nazi in its FP?
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: Oh dawg, I had a good friend who was on the Soulard Mardi Gras Parade committee. Every year she would beg me to help as a parade marshal and every year I would stupidly say yes. Trying to enforce behavioral limits on thousands of drunks is not for the weak. (and turned me into “Instant Asshole” as one buddy said) One year a float caught fire right in front of me and instead of backing away from the soon to possibly explode gas tank, the crowd surged toward it to get a better view.
Thankfully, she reached burn out stage after the 3rd year.
Lapassionara
@OzarkHillbilly: And your accomplishments, I’m sure, were appreciated by many.
OzarkHillbilly
@MattF: Amatuer’s Day.
MattF
@plato: I can see why. Unfortunately, there’s no choice that works here.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
LOL, people can be such idiots. I would rather ride the 6 train alone at night than get caught in the drunken crowd at the parade.
OzarkHillbilly
@Lapassionara: It was in a Grotto (caving club). Cavers know Vice and who best to lead them in it.
rikyrah
Olga Lautman (@olgaNYC1211) Tweeted:
Why in the hell is this Trump appointee tracking girls menstrual cycles, their pregnancy, whether they requested an abortion, & blocked them from getting an abortion. This is so horrifyingly sick and someone needs to see if they are preventing these abortions to sell these babies https://t.co/tRmLXpVhDQ https://twitter.com/olgaNYC1211/status/1106773496158474240?s=17
OzarkHillbilly
@plato: I think in Britain it is against the law to show an accused’s face. Maybe even to name one. I have noticed a similar reluctance on the part of NZ authorities (regarding naming him, not sure how his name got out).
OzarkHillbilly
limbaugh offers thoughts and prayers for the victims of Christchurch.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA….. gasp…… wheeze…. Sometimes I just crack me up.
Nelle
He gave his name through his online manifesto.
Plato
germy
@OzarkHillbilly: Didn’t he say he thought the shooter was a liberal in disguise?
germy
@Nelle: And he broadcast his face.
Amir Khalid
@plato:
Ozark has it about right, I think. British media reports of an arrest, for instance, mention only the arrested person’s age and gender, leaving out identifying information until the suspect is formally charged in court. I believe similar rules apply in most Commonwealth nations.
Cliosfanboy
Our dog, Sonia, my sweet pea, is suffering kidney failure, if the numbers on her kidneys t the hospital did not improve overnight, we’ll have to say good by to her, probably today. We lost our fox terrier, Rocco, last August. our little wiener dog Spud is wondering what is happening (photos of all 3 on the BJ calendars. Just to rub it in we are moving into a new home his week. The sewer line gave way the day after we moved in, with sewage backing up into our basement (full of moving boxes). We picked this house in part for our dogs. It has ramps to outside and everything we HAVE to have (bedrooms, kitchen, laundry, etc) is on one floor (the basement is storage and my collection area/library) so we don’t have to carry the pups up and down stairs. The family room has huge windows so Sonia and Spud could lie in the sun and watch nature and even as I type this, workmen are finishing a 6 foot wood privacy fence in the back yard that we had added so Sonia and Spud could run around the backyard and play. I can’t stop crying. My wife is more stoic than I am, but Sonia was her special girl and I know she is holding on very tightly, I have a cousin here helping and the two of them drove to our old house to do laundry and shower.
Sonia just turned 10. She’s a rescue from Puerto Rico and we named her after the SCOTUS justice who was appointed as well were adopting our little girl. She’s shy and loving and enjoyed taking a nap on my lap on the couch or curing up next to my wife to watch TV.
There is good news on Mom Cat and I’ll send Adam pics and a story next week when I have my stuff together.
God, this sucks
Plato
@OzarkHillbilly: @Amir Khalid:
BBC already named him. Did they have any such qualms or ‘policy’ with the terrorists that attacked Paris, Germany etc.?
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: BAM!!! POW!!! Can Batman Beat the Penguin?
There was a “no TV during dinner” rule, even though we had a little portable TV in our dining room. Two exceptions: when Kennedy was shot and we got to watch the Batman episode every week.
germy
I’m having flashbacks to the young lady behind Kavanaugh during his hearings.
Cliosfanboy
someone please get my comment out of moderation
WaterGirl
@Baud: What happens if all 100 are there for the vote, but someone votes Present? Does that make it 2/3 of 99 = 66?
What happens if only 90 senators are there for the vote? Does that make 2/3 of 90 = 60? Or is it still 67?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@plato: His face was also blurred on the local news here, I believe it was due to New Zealand law.
OzarkHillbilly
@Nelle: Thanx. I could have assumed that, but asses, me’s etc.
OzarkHillbilly
@germy: Bingo! We have a winner!!
WaterGirl
@Chief Oshkosh: You make a good point; I hope one of our BJ attorneys can speak to what impact a failed voter override could have in the courts.
My suspicion is that Nancy is fighting for our democracy and perhaps hopes that she can shame House Republicans into doing the right thing, allowing the house to override the veto.
OzarkHillbilly
@WaterGirl: I think Nancy is playing the game for 2020. We aren’t getting rid of trump except via the ballot box.
germy
@OzarkHillbilly:
– Limbaugh
WaterGirl
@OzarkHillbilly: You may be right. It’s about time we started playing the long game.
OzarkHillbilly
@plato: I just read this:
Emma
@rikyrah: I didn’t need to wake up to this crap. We need to break conservatism into a million pieces, burn the pieces to ash, then sow the field with radioactive salt.
Another Scott
In other news, Nurses picket VA headquarters:
The nurses are right.
The die was cast when the overblown ‘VA Scandal’ in 2014 enabled some problematic legislation and fed memes about horrible “government medical care”.
Good for the nurses for standing up and speaking out. More, please.
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@rikyrah: I think I might throw up. Literally.
OzarkHillbilly
@WaterGirl: To put another face on it, she may be also saying, “If we can’t get Republicans in Congress to stand up and defend their own constitutional prerogatives against trump, we sure as hell aren’t going to get them to impeach and remove him.”
WaterGirl
@OzarkHillbilly: Now that’s a smart way to think about it. That makes total sense.
Plato
@OzarkHillbilly: Ok, thanks. That explains it.
germy
Plato
@Another Scott: Isn’t the head of the nurses union a trumpturd or at least ‘trump’ curious?
Dorothy A. Winsor
@OzarkHillbilly: Exactly. And Trump knows it.
My default position is always that Pelosi’s political instincts are about a million times better than mine.
J R in WV
@WaterGirl:
Being in a morning newspaper family, my dad came home for his “lunch” break a dinner time. He always turned on the TV news in the next room to listen to current events on his competition!
Occasionally he would knock me or my brother on the head with his signet ring to make us be quiet, shouting “Quiet, I can’t hear the news!” while the knockee shouted “Ouch!”
WaterGirl
Something positive:
After listening to Pete B’s CNN town hall a day or two ago, last night I listened to another hour long interview related to his book: Shortest Way Home. Another impressive view into Pete B. By the time I was most of the way through it, I noticed that I was relaxed in a way that I haven’t been since Trump was elected, and I was breathing easier. Then I recalled that I had felt the exact same way while listening to his CNN town hall.
I have been thinking about why that might be, and I think it’s because he is so terribly smart, and so thoughtful and so capable that it gives me hope for what I have been seeing as a very grim future. If he can get some attention, I really think Pete might have a shot at winning. Even if he doesn’t win the nomination, I cannot fathom that Pete would not play a very prominent role in the administration of whatever Democrate does win.
The only way I don’t see that happening is if we end up with a Democratic candidate who would see Pete and his talents as a threat, which would mean that we would surely have ended up with a bad candidate.
In case you haven’t had an opportunity to watch these (I listen as podcasts at bedtime):
CNN town hall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRRjQdRUuHs
“Shortest Way Home” book interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nldx3r7h3Cg
Toward the end, at the second link, he talks about his thought process in deciding to come out. It was so beautiful and so simple that I wish you could all hear it. I wish every single living person could hear it.
I have promised myself that I am going to learn how to spell, and say, his name this week. He deserves that as a sign of respect, in the same way that I forced myself to type Christine Blasey Ford every single time I wrote anything about her.
germy
@Plato: Former head.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: This is reminiscent of the nuns who started speaking out several years ago. Priests and doctors have most of the power, but nuns and nurses are the ones who make everything happen on the ground.
OzarkHillbilly
@WaterGirl: @J R in WV: My old man had a “No phone calls from 6-7pm” rule (dinner time). If the phone rang he answered it and if they asked for either of my 2 older teenaged sisters he’d just say, “Call back after 7.” which was always met with a chorus of “Who was it for?s” and “Who was it?s” which he always answered with “I don’t know.” which always resulted in inevitable shrieks of pain and indignation.
WaterGirl
@J R in WV: Sounds like you should have shouted BAM!!! :-)
I always love your stories.
Lapassionara
@WaterGirl: Thank you for the links. I have seen lots of positive comments on Twitter about how well he handles questions, etc. Does anyone know whether he has the 65,000 donors he needs to make it into the debates?
zhena gogolia
@Lapassionara:
He just told me he does.
germy
@Lapassionara:
Frankensteinbeck
@Chief Oshkosh:
If you’re looking for precedent in court about the congressional angle, Nancy just proved that congress would not have given Trump the funds if he asked legally.
Kay
@WaterGirl:
We have a really strong field of candidates. Democrats here are starting to realize that- there’s a lot of chatter and comparisons and discussions. I think both Kamala Harris and Buttigieg are making a specific effort to avoid division and set a unified tone, which IMO Democrats really need. They need candidates who hold them together, because the nature of the coalition is, it fractures. That’s the default. It has to be HELD together. The candidate can play into that tendency to fracture (as Bernie Sanders did and does) or model more unity. We’re better off with candidates who don’t play into existing divisions.
Kay
@germy:
Oh, good. I gave him 5 bucks. The strategic small donations to multiple candidates are kind of fun.
Ohio Mom
@WaterGirl: While I am still not sure whom I would like to see in the Oval Office, in my fantasy administration, I have appointed Buttigieg as HUD Secretary.
debbie
@germy:
I apologize in advance, but chop his damn hands off.
khead
Funny way of saying “What if the POTUS was a Democrat?”, but I get your point.
Also, I hate I missed the 80’s thread last night. That’s right in my wheelhouse.
debbie
@germy:
These are the times when the RWNJs are at their stupidest. I remember after the Charleston shootings, Glenn Beck opined that the reason Dylan Roof sat there for so long before opening fire was because he was having second thoughts. Not because he was a coward, but because he was a Christian.
Another Scott
@Plato: I wouldn’t say so, though Politico tried to make her sound that way.
She retired in March 2018.
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
I especially loved her remark, “He isn’t worth it.”
Tarragon
@MattF:
Amateur night
Betty Cracker
@waspuppet: I don’t think that’s true, at least if the theory that Trump has a severe case of narcissistic personality disorder is accurate, and I believe it is. All the bombast and bluster hide an empty core. He’s most definitely capable of feeling embarrassment and shame and fears that more than anything in the world.
Tarragon
@Tarragon:
@OzarkHillbilly:
And waaaay to slow
Kay
Remember that? How US media went completely insane about the Gates comment? I just wonder if there’s ever any soul searching on their behavior during Obama’s terms.
It is worth remembering. The Gates comment came during a health care act marketing effort by Obama. They deliberately went off of this huge pressing issue facing the country and went on a 2 week bender of insanity. At the time I felt they would literally do anything to avoid covering something substantive. I was naive back then and often didn’t realize that there was this huge market for narratives driven by white supremacy. Of course, NOW I see the subtext behind the fake scandals immediately.
Another Scott
Wondermark: In which a cat burglar is apprehended…
rofl. :-)
Cheers,
Scott.
Immanentize
@Baud:
I agree, if the courts uphold it, it will have almost nothing to do with the veto and it’s processes.
I don’t want to get too far into the weeds on this, because I got in late on a delayed flight last night, plus it’s Saturday morning…. But the fact that both houses of Congress voted against the fauxmergency makes it a stronger case on the courts. The fact that they could not override ought to be irrelevant (because if they could override, then the declaration would be voided).
In the Youngstown Steel seizure case(s), Justice Jackson’s laid out what has become the yardstick by which to judge Presidential acts.
1. President is strongest when acting under clear Article II areas of power (like as Commander in Chief during a war), especially with Congressional approval
2. President is in middle range of power if he is acting in areas of shared responsibility with Congress (usually where Congress has delegated powers to executive agencies) when Congress supports those acts or is silent.
3. Presidential powers are weakest when he is trying to act in an area constitutionally reserved for Congress (here the spending power), against the will of Congress.
The courts ought to find this to be a type 3 situation. At best, because of the emergency declarations act, it is a type 2, but Congress still has indicated, stongly, it’s opposition. It will never be a type 1 use of power.
The best out for the disingenuous among the judiciary would be to say Congress has made this a political question by requiring a veto override.
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
I agree. Trump isn’t confident as an “outsider”. He’s needy. He craves acceptance and love. He’s also really conventional. He 100% buys into conventional measures of “success”- elite schools, the famous or fancy people he knows, how much money he has, an attractive spouse.
Because he doesn’t succeed in winning people over doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to- he’s just bad at it. He’s needy AS HELL. It’s all demands for respect and affection. My God, every foreign leader knows it now, because of course they do. They can roll him in negotiations by complimenting him. It’s a huge weakness.
Mike in NC
That photo of Trump… how many chins does that fat fucker have?
WaterGirl
@Lapassionara: He was at 55k yesterday, I believe. Even if you just give $3, I wish everyone would do that because at a minimum, he is going to elevate the conversation at the debates and for as long as he is in the race.
I would vote for him as the nominee; he’s that good.
Immanentize
@Kay: This is so true. Pointing and laughing is a dagger at his heart. I think the proof is his attention to Saturday Night Live and the insults and threats! He makes at the show and it’s actors. Or how he hates Obama because if that stupid Press Club Dinner.
He really is filled with need and shame. Which makes him dangerous, I think, but easily manipulated.
SFAW
Scumbag Rethug Gov. Phil Bryant (RWMF-Miss) had some interesting comments when Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss) pointed out that the Medgar/Myrlie Evers home National Monument status — for which Bryant gave credit only to the two WHITE RWMF Sens. from MS — was something Thompson had been working on for 16 years.
About Rep. Thompson, Fuckhead Bryant said:
“His anger and hatred are the very characteristics that separated our people in the civil rights era,” Bryant said. “He has become a tragic figure who has squandered this opportunity to help bring our state together.”
Here’s the article at TPM.
All these RWMFs can’t burn in Hell soon enough.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: That’s great!
SFAW
@Mike in NC:
But they’re the BIGGEST multiple chins.
Plus, he brought enough for everyone in class.
WaterGirl
@Immanentize:
I agree, though I don’t think it’s the same shame that you or I might feel if we knew we had done something wrong. It’s more along the lines of abject humiliation, I think, when he doesn’t get the recognition and appreciation he feels he deserves.
Immanentize
@WaterGirl:
The rule is 2/3 of all members voting. Voting “Present” is a vote.
Immanentize
@WaterGirl: yes, humiliation is way more accurate than shame. I hope that on July 4th in DC at his speech, a huge number of people will just point and laugh at him.
Cliosfanboy
I posted a note earlier about my dog Sonia. it disappeared. She is failing we are on way to hospital now to say goodbye.
trollhattan
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
They’re probably still collecting witness statements and not having images in circulation can reduce tainting the process.
trollhattan
@SFAW:
Wilbur Ross still wins the chin count.
trollhattan
@Cliosfanboy:
Nooo. Sorry. :-(
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Cliosfanboy: I’m so sorry.
Amir Khalid
@Cliosfanboy:
I’m so sorry.
WaterGirl
@Cliosfanboy: oh, no. i am so sorry.
Ladyraxterinok
@rikyrah: That was truly creepy–to think he monitors so many girls so closely so that they will not be able to leave the shelter until it’s too late for them to get legal abortions. He gets off on controlling so many girls.
A weird sort of all-powerful Male with large harem over young girls’ fantasy.
Amir Khalid
@Immanentize:
I think the worst thing Obama said about the SNL parodies of his presidency is that the actor playing him wasn’t terribly good at it, which was already the general viewer consensus and thus not controversial.
trollhattan
I continue awaiting a tie-in between Trump and Berlusconi. Now I’m willing to add Russia and form a triangle.
Have a bubga-bunga weekend.
Miss Bianca
@OzarkHillbilly: Ooh, my ex lives in Dogtown…I’ll have to ask him if he’s going to the parade!
Brickley Paiste
Very important to force a vote and get republicans on record about a few billion dollars being misdirected from one department to another.
But forcing a vote to get republicans on the record about whether the president illegally gained the office through coordination with a foreign power? Meh, he’s not worth it.
trollhattan
Sad to report Milo whatsisname still consumes oxygen. Happy to report Australia has had enough of his shit, thank you and good day, sir.
kindness
Something about March. You get a quick succession of pi day, the Ides of March, St. Pattie’s day & then the spring equinox. Silly I know but I pay attention to those days. I think it adds to the nice break of leaving winter entering spring.
Happy St Patties. Stay away from the green beer.
germy
@Amir Khalid: His favorite Obama impersonator was Jordan Peele, and rightly so.
Michelle’s favorite, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDpVg-UEGCI
gwangung
@Brickley Paiste: Naw, son. Try harder.
Searcher
I’m personally excited that the RWNJ are railing against “open borders”, because as one of the weirdos who actually wants essentially unlimited immigration (I’m fine monitoring border crossings, but I don’t think there should be any restrictions on non-citizens working in the US, I think deportation should be a rare thing reserved for exceptional circumstances, and I think it should be easy to become a citizen), I’m happy to have the right wing exhaust everyone emotionally over it now so that in ten or twenty years no one will care about it.
trollhattan
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
As it turns out, the NZ judge ordered the media to pixelate his face. The order of course only binds NZ media but others have followed suit in solidarity, including ABC (Australia). I’m certain BBC felt similarly.
Yutsano
@Cliosfanboy: Oh no! I’m so sorry you have to lose your precious one like that.
Brickley Paiste
@gwangung:
And the defenses of Pelosi’s stance boil down to “But she is a wizard, we must trust her” or some lame ass attempt at being clever, like yours.
Frankensteinbeck
@WaterGirl:
Let me suggest a distinction! I use ‘guilt’ to describe the internal process of feeling bad because you have done wrong. I use ‘shame’ to describe the external process of being socially punished for doing wrong. Trump, like most conservatives, feels no guilt over anything. Trump, like most conservatives, is highly vulnerable to shame. A whole lot of Trumpism is angry backlash among Republicans because they hate how they are shamed for their evil. Listen to them talk about it, they’re quite open. Trump of course is the apotheosis, and the twin pressures of shame and praise rule his world. It’s why I don’t think he could have vetoed the bill if McConnell hadn’t told him ahead of time he had McConnell’s support. That angry turtle scowl would have crushed Trump’s empty shell of an ego.
laura
@WaterGirl: Gilead.
Men who track women’s periods who are not their physicians are not to be trusted about any damn thing.
Peale
@kindness: it’s also the Hilaria. Do we have no pagans left to celebrate the castration and resurrection of Attis?
Brachiator
@Immanentize:
This is the case being made by conservative pundits. If Congress doesn’t override Trump’s veto, then they approve of his actions and the Court should not get involved.
debbie
@Immanentize:
It likely infuriates Trump even more that Colbert (and others) considers his hatred a badge of honor.
Thanks for your post about your interpretation as to how the Court will deal with Trump’s transgression. I feel a lot better.
debbie
@Cliosfanboy:
I’m so sorry.
Brickley Paiste
@Searcher:
I wonder if there is any correlation between difficulty in obtaining citizenship and the benefits offered citizens in other countries around the world. Someone should do a chart about that.
debbie
@kindness:
Plus Purim! And Hamentaschen!
Immanentize
@Cliosfanboy: Ugh. I am so sorry for all the CliosFB family.
tobie
@Another Scott: It’s painful to see two of our best institutions–the VA and the Post Office–being gutted. It looks like the only federal institution that the GOP will fund is the military. Maybe the Ag Dept will continue to exist in skeletal form so rural American can have its welfare. Good for the nurses for standing up.
bemused
@debbie:
I’m never prepared for how evil and vile the neanderthals will go. These subhumans everything that is decent.
bemused
@bemused:
missed the word hate
Miss Bianca
@Cliosfanboy: Peace and love to you and your Sonia. My condolences.
bemused
@rikyrah:
Watching the Maddow segment on this last night, I remembered how the Nazi’s kept very meticulous records of their hideous crimes.
Brachiator
@Frankensteinbeck:
This doesn’t sound right at all.
Trump clearly demands loyalty and obedience. If McConnell didn’t kiss Trump’s ass and do his bidding, Trump would mock him and try to find another stooge.
Unfortunately for the country, McConnell is as vile and craven as is Trump.
Trump doesn’t care about shame. It’s important that he always be vindicated. His naked will must be expressed and acknowledged. He wants his wall, even though it was not even originally his idea. But now it is an obsession, and he detests anything that looks like defiance. He is blind to the wishes or emotions of others. Oddly enough, this makes him vulnerable to any strong, organized opposition.
SFAW
@trollhattan:
With any luck, Shitgibbon will be pissed about that, and fire Ross.
WaterGirl
@Frankensteinbeck: I understand and agree with what I think is your distinction between feeling guilt and being shamed. I see one as internal and the other as external.
When feeling shame, or a having a sense of shame, we are back to internal — I just don’t believe that Trump feels ashamed of anything he does. Instead, I think he feels humiliation when the world laughs at him and doesn’t give him the praise and adoration he thinks he deserves.
Somewhere in Trump’s heart of hearts, I think he must see the gaping hole in his being — he knows he is “less than” he should be, and that makes him very thin skinned when mocked or criticized because that sheds light on the gaping hole in himself that he tries oh so hard to pretend isn’t there.
You said: “A whole lot of Trumpism is angry backlash among Republicans because they hate how they are shamed for their evil.” I’m not quite sure what to think about that because I see the backlash more as “how dare you question your betters! We are deserving and you are not, how impertinent of you to criticize us.” I will ponder what you said.
Brachiator
@bemused:
They thought that they were right and would be proven so by history. Of course they also thought that they would be writing future history. They didn’t think that they were committing crimes.
Right wing nut jobs have fallen into this kind of immorality. For example, they don’t see separating immigrant babies from their parents as a crime or as an evil.
WaterGirl
@debbie: @Immanentize: I must have missed that — if someone could point me toward it, I would greatly appreciate it!
Emma
@Brickley Paiste: So far, she’s not only proven herself a wizard but freaking James Bond. Will she get it 100% right? No, because nobody does. But so far she’s been right on the money. I trust her much more than I trust you,
debbie
@WaterGirl:
For me, it’s post #105 above.
Brachiator
@WaterGirl:
Yes! Trump has spent his entire life building a shell to fend off mockery and criticism. This is why attack mode and counter punching comes so naturally to him. And his wealth, however much it might be, has enabled him to hire people eager to protect him. And he has crippled his children so that they think as he does and protects his interests.
chopper
@Emma:
you’re responding to the ‘blame democrats first’ crowd. meh.
trollhattan
@debbie:
Don’t you mean the “Not Funny, LOW energy BAD ratings* Steven Colbert, who I call Steven” program?
*IIUC Colbert shot to the top of his time slot after he took off those CBS gloves and went after Trump’s throat and shriveled balls.
Lalophobia
Hm, trust Pelosi, or dudes on the internet? Decisions, decisions….
@rikyrah: Folks on twitter were asking A) if a girl has a baby, where does s/he go, and B) are they keeping track of girls’ menstrual cycles so that, once the product runs low, they can make more?
Everything about what these sub-humans are doing to the refugees makes me want to curl up in a hole underground and simultaneously weep and vomit for a thousand years.
WaterGirl
@germy: Thanks for the link! I had forgotten about that one.
Brachiator
@OzarkHillbilly:
I wonder whether any parents have a “no smartphone at the dinner table” rule. Do families even eat together anymore?
Ruckus
@Another Scott:
I still have my card that gives me the info that if I can’t get an appointment within a certain time frame, within a distance from my home, I can apply for payment for a private doc. The time limit is violated all the time, but the distance is 50 miles and within that in LA there are at least 4 clinics and 1 hospital. And you can’t just go to any clinic anytime you want you have to be assigned. Changing that is easy but always involves a wait. I now travel 45 miles to the hospital for all my appointments because that is the most well staffed facility, far better than the clinics. I’ve had 2, 6 month periods where I had no primary assigned to me, because they retired, or got a better position or in 2 cases gave birth. Without an assignment, no primary appointments. And that means no care or going to the clinic and just waiting for another doc to have the time. Which they never do because they are understaffed. And without a primary to refer you to another service, say cardio, you don’t get seen at that service without going to the ER at the closest hospital. And that can be a 4 to 10 hr wait, unless you are bleeding openly or something to that level. The LA hospital ER has 20 beds, for tens of thousands of vets assigned to it’s area. It’s reached such a crisis level over all that a lot of vets who would easily qualify, like my buddy who served in the Marines in Vietnam and therefore qualifies for everything other than prescriptions for no cost care, stays in the insurance game and pays for/uses Medicare Advantage. I get better care than he does but always have to wait for everything. I will add that when I do get taken care of the vast majority of the time, the care is very, very good. I’ve run across a couple of docs that seem to be in it for the easy paycheck and don’t give two shits about their patients.
And BTW it’s gotten a hell of a lot worse in the last 2 yrs. Can’t figure out why that might be. Hmmmmmm.
debbie
@trollhattan:
Yes, Trump is Colbert’s bottomless gold mine. Though Trump is just as ticked off at Fallon, Kimmel, and Meyers. Trump even misquoted Jay Leno so it looked like Leno supported him in his complaints.
trollhattan
@Brachiator:
Our kid doesn’t bring hers to the table, and she eats with us on no-soccer practice nights.
Flies back to it immediately afterwards, though.
joel hanes
@Brickley Paiste:
One of these forced votes redounds to the advantage of Democrats, because polling shows that the public, even many Republican voters, do not support the President’s position.
The other would not.
And Nancy SMASH chose to pursue one of them.
Uncle Cosmo
@Immanentize: FWIW conventional wisdom holds that opposition to fascists most likely to drive them (even more) bananas & goad them into (even more) stupid reactions takes the form of ridicule.
Brachiator
@Ruckus:
Seems to me that there have been ongoing problems and scandals, but I certainly take you at your word that it has gotten worse. And of course Trump lies that he has made taking care of veterans a priority.
Thanks very much for the vividness and clarity with which you write about this.
ETA. I used to ride Metro Rapid line 720 as part of my commute. There were always a number of veterans going to the VA facility in Westwood.
Kelly
Beto’s handle on the Cult of the Dead Cow was Psychedelic Warlord.
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-politics-beto-orourke/
I suppose this sort of thing is to be expected from now on.
Frankensteinbeck
@joel hanes:
No, see, Brickley knows it’s all about whether or not Democrats TRY hard enough! How much Nancy WANTS something is the only consideration! There can’t be other reasons one might not impeach Trump.
MattF
@Immanentize: I think it’s part of the con. Trump emanates insecurity– ‘I have power, but I can be flattered’. Yeah, he loves and needs flattery, but he understands that the flatterer is also showing weakness and neediness. ‘I’ll be your big friend’ he says. ‘and in this evil world, you need one’.
And then, once he’s got your money and your pride, you find yourself under the wheels of the bus.
brantl
@Brickley Paiste: Grow up, your act is getting stale.
brantl
@Brickley Paiste: I’m not sure that Nancy P is smarter that Nancy is smarter than most anybody, but I’m damn sure she’s way smarter than you.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@Cliosfanboy: My heart goes out to you both. They leave such big paw prints on our hearts.
Ruckus
@Brachiator:
Thanks.
I thought a concise report from the front lines would be useful.
It has gotten noticeably worse. At the hospital in WLA it’s not quite as noticeable but it’s obvious at the outpatient clinics. The hospital has to stay staffed although the non medical folks who staff the phones, make appointments, run the clinic front desks have been under staffed for quite a while. It’s gotten worse since Trump and his totally unqualified appointments. They really do want to destroy the workings of the federal government, drown it in that bathtub. And I think they see this as their last chance. They couldn’t really do it through legislation but they can through malfeasance and gross stupidity. And Trump is malfeasance personified and gross stupidity on steroids.
VividBlueDotty
@debbie: We have a huge parade in Dallas too and an all-day block party with much green-beer-puke. People asking what the parade’s like on Reddit are advised not to wear shoes they are fond of.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@Cliosfanboy: My heart goes out to you and your wife in this time of sorrow. They leave such big paw prints on our hearts. Take care of yourselves, and know Spud will be confused.
It dwarfs all the terrible news about the new house troubles.
Another Scott
@Brachiator: To be clear, my view is that every human system can be improved by people of good will working together.
But you don’t solve a problem of under-funding and lack of staff at the VA by cutting funding further.
Similarly, you don’t improve public schools by siphoning off funding to charter schools.
Republicans don’t want to pay the price necessary to have a well-functioning VA, or public school system, or even national military. They want to play lip service to how great the USA is, but don’t care about actually paying the price because that would mean that their supporters would actually have to pay taxes.
So, as one would expect by answering cui bono?, people in the systems feel pressure to “do more with less” and falsify metrics (wait times, test scores, reports to congress about reforms after the Pacific Fleet collisions) because they know that they have to keep telling happy stories or they won’t keep their jobs.
As Adam has said many times, the US military is over-stretched and has been for decades. Yes, we spend a mountain of money on the military, but it’s not enough for the missions that the President and (by not stepping up and saying “NO”) the Congress have assigned to it over the years.
There’s a big disconnect between our words and the ability to execute deeds. And veterans, and too many others who expect the US Government to keep its word, are paying the price.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
MisterForkbeard
@Kelly: Everyone I know who’s under 40 says this makes them like Beto MORE, which I do kind of agree with. :)
More seriously, this is going to be a thing from now on. Look out, because we’re starting to enter the age where people running for office have been on social media or chatrooms when they were young. So we’ll start seeing leaked nudes of teenage presidential candidates, weird handles, that one time in ’97 a candidate called their friend a ‘fag’, etc. It’s going to be a huge goldmine for opposition research and character assassination, especially in blue states/areas where the internet arrived in force 5-10 years earlier than Red strongholds.
Another Scott
@Cliosfanboy: I’m very sorry. :-(
Remember the good times.
Best wishes,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@Kelly: It’s stupid that they even cover stuff like that, so I am not even going to give them a click. Or any other stupid article about any candidate. We have to be smarter than that.
Ruckus
@Another Scott:
Money can be made on the creation of military goods. Money can only be spent on personnel. And vets are no longer providing any active military progress, we are the after effects of that. And the same goes for once those military goods are produced, they require a lot of effort and money to maintain and operate. That’s money that doesn’t go in rich people’s pockets. Add in the current maladministration’s total inability to actually do anything but grift and you have a massive cock up. Of some things that are, according to the bullshit they fling, important to them. But as we know the only things important to conservatives is to never pay for anything, and steal everything not tied down. Everything else they claim is just pure bullshit to cover up what they really are attempting.
Another Scott
@Ruckus: +1
Grrr…
“Don’t get mad, vote!!1”
Cheers,
Scott.
Citizen_X
@Kelly: Good for him. Great Hawkwind song.
NotMax
@WaterGirl
Just for the record, it aired twice per week during the first two seasons..
cain
@SiubhanDuinne:
Fun fact, CSPAN founder is from my home town – Lafayette, IN. In fact, that town has produced some seriously hi powered people. I was regaling people at a local bar there about the famous people that come from this town.
StringOnAStick
@Cliosfanboy: I’m so sorry.
hedgehog mobile
@Cliosfanboy: I am so sorry. No words.
J R in WV
@Cliosfanboy:
So sad to hear — sorry for your loss. Thanks for letting us know.
I was there in January with Happy, our older current rescue. It’s that last hard gift we can give them. Take care!
Dog Mom
@Cliosfanboy: So sorry that your sweet Sonia is suffering and hope the vet can perform a miracle for her. If that can’t happen, and you have made the kindest and harshest decision – I hope you can in time, find good memories bring a smile quicker than the tears are brought to your eyes. Peace to you and your family.
Ella in New Mexico
@rikyrah: OMG that story is enraging. You know he’s a Pence pick, too–Donald doesn’t give one fuck about teenagers periods or getting abortions.
THIS is the reason so many Republicans, in and out of office, are all too willing to let Trump sit at the top of the dung heap and behave abysmally–all the quietly appointed evil doers getting to do dark and dirty things that the extremists have wanted to do all along. A competent President would be outraged he is being made to look like the clown he is by these outliers in any other admiistration. Instead he’s so busy Tweeting that they’re free to go about their business completely unchecked, completely in violation of the law or court orders or the Constitution. Just allowed to run amok and sow chaos and cruelty and cash in on it before being run out of office.
The demented corrupt turd at the top has neither any idea what’s being done in his administration nor gives one shit about most of it he is aware of, as long as he can still be President. And he’s just the shiny distracting object letting the real powers that be get away with murder.
WaterGirl
@NotMax: We were not aware of that. I think we watched it on Wednesday nights around 6:30 or so, but that’s just from memory and it was a long time ago.
sm*t cl*de
@germy:
Not an entirely accurate account. The teen was held securely in a chokehold by Anning’s neo-Nazi friends. Then Anning punched him in the face.
sm*t cl*de
@trollhattan:
Note that the Australian immigration department had already decided that No, Milo could not enter Australia (having failed the “No Vile Gobshites” clause in the regulations), whereupon the Aussie minister overruled that decision, because the current Aussie gubblement really is that disgusting.
It’s only because Milo could not keep his mouth shut that David Coleman now has to rescind his earlier invitation.
satby
@Cliosfanboy: so much awful packed into a paragraph. Deepest condolences on the loss of Sonia. You spared her more suffering, so try to take some consolation that you could give her that last gift. It’s so hard when they age, it can seem like you don’t get a chance to recover from one loss before you have to cope with another.
The house stuff just twists the knife, but I hope it will get better.
Villago Delenda Est
Nothing but power and money is sacred to Rethuglicans. An abstract concept like duty to the Constitution evades them.
Ruckus
@Villago Delenda Est:
I believe that evades is far too kind of a word for the vile scum that is the republican party.
They seem to make a point of trying to destroy not only the written words but even the concepts behind them. I think they like the power so that they can destroy the constitution.
Ruckus
@Cliosfanboy:
So sorry for your troubles. Many of us have been in similar situations and really there are no words that will help but knowing that you have given good homes and lives to wonderful pets hopefully will help both of you through.
Torrey
@Cliosfanboy: I’m so very sorry. The toughest part of being the human in the human-dog relationship is having to make that decision. It’s clear from what you’ve said that she had a wonderful life with you.
JPL
@Cliosfanboy: That is so heartbreaking and I’m so sorry. Furry creatures exist to give us love, and in return they get our love back.
Bill Arnold
@Brickley Paiste:
Please, witch. :-) (google search is fun, too.)
Pelosi is a pretty good tactician, especially relative to her opponents. I’m willing to defer to her political judgment on matters of timing, which is what her statements are about if read carefully, that and trolling DJ Trump and getting Democratic activists more agitated about calling for impeachment. (and perhaps a few more things but those are obvious.) She’s old-guard (literally, but she has several years more of working brain it appears), a defender of capitalism, and etc, agreed. And she is nurturing younger, more progressive proteges. (And these things have all have been said elsewhere, FWIW.)
Aleta
@Cliosfanboy: I sympathize. Grief and worry over a sweetheartp pup is nearly impossible to bear. I hope the overnight fluids helped her feel better.
Matt McIrvin
@MisterForkbeard: I’ve always figured my 1990s history on Usenet made me unsuitable for public office forever. My sekrit cyberpunk handle was “Matt McIrvin.”
(I had this vanity about using my real name all the time that I now realize was misplaced–being able to not be pseudonymous basically means you’re privileged enough to be speaking from a position of relative safety. But the bell can’t be un-rung.)
Raoul
The rare rebuke from members of his own party was symbolically important to journalists only. The GOP just laughed and laughed.
Fixed that for the punters.
TomatoQueen
@Cliosfanboy: I am so sorry all this overwhelming stuff is happening to you. You’ve done a lot and your four-legs have a good life with you. Thinking of you.
maeve
@debbie:
Tomorrow is also St, Gertudes’ Day – the saint of cats’ I learned it from BCC – breaking cat news
https://www.gocomics.com/breaking-cat-news/2019/03/17
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Plato: I’d say this is all Nixons fault but not quite that way. Watergate culled a lot of the senior Republicans and what was left was useless twat waddles like Stone and Cheny.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Brickley Paiste: Seriously dude, Congress not doing it’s job is just as important an issue as Trump’s conspiracies. It was very clear during the Obama administration that the Republicans in Congress would have been fine with Obama declaring himself president for life as long as they could keep on collecting campaign donations.