Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Wetsuit optional.

Militantly superior in their own minds…

… makes me wish i had hoarded more linguine

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

This is how realignments happen…

We need fewer warriors in public service and more gardeners.

I’m going back to the respite thread.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

The math demands it!

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Deploy the moving finger of emphasisity!

This is a big f—–g deal.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

The house always wins.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Tick tock motherfuckers! Tick fucking tock!

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

It was down to kool-aid drinkers and next of kin at the trump White House

It’s the corruption, stupid.

I did not have this on my fuck 2020 bingo card.

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Credit Where Due

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Quick side note: Senator Leahy is home and doing fine. (My personal guess is that listening to a bunch of Repubs alternately whine & lie for several hours would be enough to make any sane person ‘feel ill’.)

Back to Rep. Omar:

Reader Interactions

195Comments

  4. 4.

    Baud

    My personal guess is that listening to a bunch of Repubs alternately whine & lie for several hours would be enough to make any sane person ‘feel ill’

    Our Congress critters deserve hazard pay.

  7. 7.

    ant

    I will admit that I wasn’t very thrilled when Joe got nominated. He has made a lot of policy mistakes in the past in my view.

     

    But he has been parade of pleasant surprises ever since.

    I’ve been really happy with him.

  8. 8.

    Baud

    @ant:

    He has easily overperformed my early expectations.  More so than anyone else I can remember, although that mostly because my expectations were lower than average.

    It is truly impressive the way he has met the moment.

  9. 9.

    ByRookorbyCrook

    Good morning and a very nice list from Congresswoman Omar! Hopefully, NY-22 will be decided by this Friday with a ruling on Affidavit ballots by Judge DelConte. I doubt it, but it is good to hope.

  10. 10.

    lowtechcyclist

    That’s a damn good list.  And one Rep. Omar overlooked in the Covid category: Biden instituted a mask requirement on public transportation and in airports.

    For once, they’re actually using the power they’ve got.  This keeps up, I’m finally going to be proud to be a Democrat.

  12. 12.

    Joe Falco

    I signed the petition. I’m not holding my breath Biden will sign an executive order cancelling student debt, but maybe enough encouragement (and likely Republican obstruction) will create the political space and will for Biden to be bold enough to do something. At least continuing the pause on student debt payments is a plus.

  15. 15.

    John S.

    There’s really no such thing as a do-over in politics, but so far Biden is getting us as close as he can. Ultimately, congress is going to have to finish the job.

    I have no reservations about the House, but I hope the Senate doesn’t end up screwing us like it usually does, and the Democrats are prepared to fight every chance they get.

  17. 17.

    Joe Falco

    @Baud:

    I agree. Like I said, I’m not holding out for it, but maybe some kind of relief will happen. Even if it ends up cancelling $10,000, that’s better than nothing. And doing nothing is not what Biden is doing.

  18. 18.

    sanjeevs

    Seth Abramson has an interesting story about a Trumpworld meeting the day before the insurrection. Not the greatest source but seems to be backed up by their social media posts.

    https://sethabramson.substack.com/p/january-5-meeting-at-trump-international

    And WSJ has a video showing how the Proud Boys were in the vanguard that day

    https://www.wsj.com/video/video-investigation-proud-boys-were-key-instigators-in-capitol-riot/37B883B6-9B19-400F-8036-15DE4EA8A015.html?page=1

    Not sure if non subs can access but the WSJ video shows
    1. The Proud Boys were the first group to break police lines
    2. PB were amongst the first to break windows and enter the Capitol building
    3. The group chasing Officer Goodman up the stairs were led by Proud Boys

  19. 19.

    Geminid

    @ByRookorbyCrook: Judge DelConte has been very meticulous in his adjudication of the NY 22nd Congressional race. The result will certainly be appealed, but his rulings should be upheld. DelConte may not settle this on Friday, but it will almost certainly be over by this time next week. At last count Republican Claudia Tenney led Anthony Bridisi led by 39 votes, with 2000+ contested and uncounted ballots.                                               Local news coverage of the NY 22nd saga has been extensive, and provides a good look into the mechanics of this contested election. Among other sources, Syracuse.com has good coverage.

  20. 20.

    Immanentize

    I was never really a fan of Mahatma Gandhi, he really wasn’t such a great lawyer in South Africa. But I must admit he seemed to do a few things right later in life.

  23. 23.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Baud:

    It is truly impressive the way he has met the moment.

    Exactly.  I supported him first two times he ran.   This time for whatever reason, I didn’t want him to run.  I’m beyond impressed by his campaign and more importantly, how his team has hit the  ground running.  Not just running, sprinting, hard.

    And anytime I see a comment like “Nice job, Omar”, I always initially think somebody’s talking about Omar from ‘The Wire’.

  24. 24.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Baud:

    Biden definitely wasn’t my first choice, but I’ve been very happy with what he’s done so far. He’s the leader we needed in this moment. We really lucked out

  26. 26.

    SFAW

    @Immanentize:

    And did Gandhi ever argue a case before SCOTUS? I don’t think so! So I can see why you’re unimpressed with his “Constitutional scholar” cred.

  29. 29.

    Raven

    @Joe Falco: They’ll cancel it as soon as I pay mine off

     

    ”And if California slides into the ocean
    Like the mystics and statistics say it will
    I predict this motel will be standing until I pay my bill”

  31. 31.

    Amir Khalid

    In his first week on the job, Biden hasn’t just cleared the “better than Trump” low bar. It’s safe to say he’s been a high-energy President, decisive, organised, transparent, and a whole bunch of other good things that Trump wasn’t.

  32. 32.

    SFAW

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    And anytime I see a comment like “Nice job, Omar”, I always initially think somebody’s talking about Omar from ‘The Wire’.

    We can only hope. It might put the fear of god into the Partei of Traitors when they hear “Omar comin’ .”

  33. 33.

    schrodingers_cat

    @SFAW: He was not a successful lawyer. Among the freedom fighters, Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Vallabh Patel were barristers and had highly lucrative practices.

  34. 34.

    Immanentize

    @SFAW: Jesus wasn’t my first, or even fifth, choice for messiah, I mean he was absolutely off scene and obviously had a mispent youth.  There was his rage problem too.  But in the end I suppose he did a passable job.

  35. 35.

    Betty Cracker

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Biden definitely wasn’t my first choice…

    Watch it, bub! That kind of talk will have Biden Bros swarming out of the woodwork to pelt you with cotton balls and ragged hunks of polyurethane foam! ;-)

  36. 36.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Given how Trump and the Rs have trashed the government, Biden’s deep knowledge of how the WH and Congress are supposed to work also make him well qualified for the moment.

  37. 37.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Amir Khalid:

    It’s safe to say he’s been a high-energy President, decisive, organised, transparent, and a whole bunch of other good things that Trump wasn’t.

    And yet, I’m waiting for Our Progressive Betters to start in on “How Has Joe Biden Failed Us Today?”  Over at LGM, they snark on this to an extent “When does somebody start calling Joe Biden a Neo-liberal, Corporatist Democratic Stooge?” or something to that effect.

    It’s only a matter of time.

  39. 39.

    briber

    Time to shamelessly brag:

    My US Representative:

    Rep. Ilhan Omar (D)

    My US Senators:

    Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D), Sen. Tina Smith (D)

    My Governor:

    Gov. Tim Waltz (D)

    My Vice President & President: totally obvious

  42. 42.

    JML

    I still can’t stand Ilhan Omar. I can’t think of a politician with less of a sense of the moment than her, or anyone who is less effective in building alliances or support. Her ethics are are crap and she’s surrounded herself with a group of enablers who respond to any criticism by accusing her critics as racists.

    Maybe I just know her too well from MN.

  43. 43.

    Immanentize

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: @Matt McIrvin:
    Yes already happening — Biden’s proposal for 15/hr minimum wage is scheduled to happen in fewer years than Bernie’s previous legislation on the issue. So, how does Joyjoy take it? “It should happen NOW!”. Their business model of endless outrage does not allow them to recognize progress or a win.

  44. 44.

    SFAW

    @Immanentize:

    Jesus wasn’t my first, or even fifth, choice for messiah,

    For some around these parts, Tom Brady is the first choice. Gronk is probably an Apostle.

    Even though they did move from Galilee to Rome.

  45. 45.

    Immanentize

    Further, I do not care much about the biographies of artists but would rather enjoy and/or critique their works.

    PS. As one of my friends put it in college: “Aristotle was a real asshole.”

  47. 47.

    Immanentize

    @SFAW: I went to my local packie Sunday night.  Game was on.  The Black guy who works there (and also works as a grade school special ed. aid) was listening intently.  Rooting for the Buccs?, I asked.  Absolutely, he said.

  48. 48.

    Kathleen

    • @Baud: I subscribe to Cincinnati Business Courier and they had article about how Joe’s announcement about Federal fleet moving6 to electric cars will boost stock of Cincy company which manufactures them.
  57. 57.

    Geminid

    @Kathleen: There will be a big move towards electric school buses in the next few years. They cost more initially than diesel buses, but lifetime costs are less. And  Cummins Engines is promoting an electric drive system that can be retrofitted to school buses. A big benefit of electric school buses is the cleaner air children will breath.

  60. 60.

    germy

    Tracking Senator Patrick Leahy’s Batman film cameos

    the Senator from Vermont has had ties to most Batman film projects over the last three decades.  A massive fan of the Dark Knight himself, Leahy has had cameo appearances in multiple films, as well as flexing his talents as a voice actor.  Factor in the fact that he’s now third in line for the Presidency after the Vice-President and Speaker of the House, and he has a pretty cushy resume.

    Maybe the next movie can be “The Caped Crusader and The Blue Slip”

  61. 61.

    SFAW

    @Immanentize:

    PS. As one of my friends put it in college: “Aristotle was a real asshole.”

    Not only that, but Immanuel Kant was a real pissant.

    I went to my local packie

    I was thinking of using that term the other day — I think maybe in a “conversation” with you? — but thought I’d have to explain it to the flatlanders. When I first came to Boston, lo these many years ago, one of my frat brothers (from Newton) used the term, tried to explain to me that it was short for “package store.” I could not understand why people would go to a store for packages. And were they gift-wrapped? etc.

  63. 63.

    RedDirtGirl

    Anne Laurie – How am I just now learning you live in Vermont? I’d have sworn you were in Massachusetts.

  64. 64.

    NotMax

    @Kathleen

    Northrop Grumman not about to lose the contract to produce vehicles for the USPS without a knock down, drag out fight. And will probably gobble up several electric-oriented firms in the process.

  69. 69.

    Immanentize

    • @SFAW: Even in Upstate NY we called them “package stores” because the blue laws back then required that everything sold that was alcoholic HAD TO, BY LAW! be in a paper bag or box.  I guess so the Baptists wouldn’t see what the Catholics did in their spare time?  Anyhoo — hence, ergo, therefore — package store.
  70. 70.

    Baud

    @The Fat White Duchess:

    They are out in full force, far outnumbering supporters as far as I can tell.

    Omar and the rest of the Squad, I think, try to straddle the two worlds.  I don’t think it’ll work long term.

  71. 71.

    Kathleen

    @Baud: I hear you and I agree. Though Hamilton County Dem Party is fantastic. The Chair – a Black woman – received award from state party for most outstanding chair. Dems now occupy most of the key county positions and judgeships. Biden won the county at 57% so we’re in decent shape. In SW Ohio it’s the execrable exurbs that kill us plus gerrymandering, which is being addressed. Dems are also strong in Columbus. New ODP chair sounds like she wants to implement some of the ideas Kay had.

  72. 72.

    Immanentize

    : Truck and bus pollution is the number one point source for the worst type of noxious crap in many areas — city and rural.  Going electric in trucks and busses would take us far.

    Gotta go shovel the three we got last night….

  75. 75.

    JML

    @Salty Sam: took speaking honoraria from state universities as a legislator in violation of ethics rules, used campaign funds for personal travel, directed large campaign consulting fees to someone she was dating are the first things that come to mind.

    And her multiple forays into anti-semitism aren’t an ethical lapse, just gross. when you have to apologize for it for multiple incidents and every time you go back to the well of a) claiming to not fully understand what you said, and b) everyone else misunderstanding you…it falls flat. At some point, people are what they are.

    But her enemies are so vile and throw so many disgusting lies and such virulent bigotry at her that people like me (who know her and don’t respect her) find ourselves defending her. Blech.

  76. 76.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize:But in the end I suppose he did a passable job.

    Looking at where we are and what has become, I must disagree. Not that it’s his fault but he did plant the seed.

  83. 83.

    Geminid

    @Immanentize: A joke heard on the Neil Boortz show:    “Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Muslims do not recognize pictures of Muhammed. And Baptists do not recognize other Baptists in the liquor store.”

  84. 84.

    RedDirtGirl

    @NotMax: That phrase always makes me think of “The Real Housewives of South Boston”, a hilarious (IMHO) series of spoof videos you can find on YouTube.

  85. 85.

    Ken

    @Immanentize: @Geminid: The version I heard was “What’s the difference between [denomination 1] and [denomination 2]?  [Denomination 1] will say ‘hi’ when they see one another in the liquor store.”

  86. 86.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize: everything sold that was alcoholic HAD TO, BY LAW! be in a paper bag or box.

    Used to be that way in Alabama (at least in TAG country) on Sundays. Might still be.

  87. 87.

    Jeffro

    “Democrats Very Much IN Array, Thanks!!!” scream the headlines.

    NOT (but they should!)

    Hey, a guy can dream…

    ETA: ok germy got there first!  =)

  88. 88.

    Ken

    @Geminid: School buses, post office trucks, and similar “fleets” seem a good fit for electric vehicles because they already have lots where they’re parked overnight. Add the chargers and good to go.

  89. 89.

    Soprano2

    We finally got to watch most of the inauguration concert. It is absolutely true that Biden has a whole bunch of competent people you’ve never heard of working for him. They made a great concert, full of relevant music and highlighting people who need to be highlighted. It felt joyful even in the midst of the pandemic! To me this bodes well for the future. I figure there will be more lawsuits, like the one from Texas trying to stop the deportation halt, but we have much better-qualified people on our side arguing the merits, so I think we have a better than average chance of winning most of them even with unqualified Trump judges on the bench. Listening to Schumer on Maddow the other night made me feel a lot better about the next two years.

  92. 92.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @Raven: Omar was my favorite character. He was smart AND street smart and he took care of his crew. I may be misremembering but he only really went to war when his business rivals went after his crew and his family, trying to find him. I also loved the times he was testifying in court.

  93. 93.

    Geminid

    @Ken: Some delivery routes are too long for electric vehicles. With this in mind, UPS is ordering hybrid powered trucks as well as electric.

  94. 94.

    Joey Maloney

    @Ken: “You should always take two Mormons fishing with you. If you only take one, he’ll drink all your beer.”

  97. 97.

    snoey

    @Ken: Predictable routes are also important.  You can right size the battery pack instead of having to add all the extra capacity that people buy for the one weekend trip in the family car.

  98. 98.

    frosty

    @Raven: That’s the heart of the unfairness about canceling student loan debt. I don’t see how people miss this.
    It also gives colleges a pass to charge even more.

  105. 105.

    Low Key Swagger

    @frosty: Has to be some sort of compromise.  It’s impossible to get rid of student loan debt as it can follow you well into retirement.  It isn’t dischargeable in bankruptcy, and the feds will seize any form of payment from you whether it renders you unable to eat and keep a roof overhead.  Maybe some sort of trade off?  Service in lieu of?  When the govt decided to guarantee student debt, didn’t that touch off a tuition spike that hasn’t subsided yet?  Just seems untenable to me.

  106. 106.

    frosty

    @Geminid: Still on the road, yes. Ocala FL where we won’t be seeing long time friends in person. We have a mobile RV repairman on the way this morning to look at a slideout problem. More Trailer Tales!

  107. 107.

    SFAW

    @Immanentize:

    Oh, I knew what the term meant, after that frat brother explained it to me. I just thought it was funny. I also thought it was confined to this part of the world, didn’t realize the wilds of Uppah NY also used it.

  109. 109.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Oh the Biden failed us videos started before the 20th on You Tube from the hard left. It’s really hilarious watching some guy chide Biden for being a complete corporate sell out and then the next video released less than an hour later declare Biden the country’s only hope against faschim.

  110. 110.

    frosty

    @OzarkHillbilly: Or were bankrupted and lost their houses because of medical bills. Good point. There should be some kind of “looking back” relief but I don’t have any idea how to structure it.

  112. 112.

    SFAW

    @Immanentize:

    Jesus wasn’t my first, or even fifth, choice for messiah, I mean he was absolutely off scene and obviously had a mispent youth.  There was his rage problem too.  But in the end I suppose he did a passable job.

    Have you ever read Lamb, by Christopher Moore? I think you might find it funny.

  114. 114.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Ken: Not to mention these vehicles do constant stop and go which an electric motor is much more suitable.  But, you know, the Rehabilitation scene in Idotocary, apparently in the secret constitution that all vehicles must be a monster truck or something.

  115. 115.

    SFAW

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Looking at where we are and what has become, I must disagree. Not that it’s his fault but he did plant the seed.

    On the other hand, were his nominal “followers” to follow his teachings as closely as the RWMFs follow the teachings of the Nazis et al., the country might be better for it.

    ETA: To be clear, the “his nominal ‘followers’ ” phrase applies to a subset of “Christians,” not to all of them.

  117. 117.

    germy

    A Georgia state lawmaker said his refusal to take a Covid-19 test got him kicked out of the House chambers on Tuesday.

    But Georgia House Speaker David Ralston said the lawmaker, Rep. David Clark, has repeatedly refused to follow House policy which states that all members and staff be tested for the coronavirus twice a week.

    “The member in question had been advised numerous times about the requirements and had refused to be tested at any point during this session,” Ralston’s office said in a statement on Twitter.

    “The member refused to leave of his/her own accord. As such, under the authority granted to the Speaker by House Rules, the member was escorted out of the Chamber by a member of the Georgia Department of Public Safety.”

    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/georgia-state-lawmaker-removed-house-chamber-after-refusing-covid-test-n1255700?cid=sm_npd_ms_tw_ma

  118. 118.

    SFAW

    @germy:

    “The member refused to leave of his/her own accord. As such, under the authority granted to the Speaker by House Rules, the member was escorted out of the Chamber by a member of the Georgia Department of Public Safety.”

    After which, they ” terminated him with extreme prejudice  sent him to frolic at a farm upstate.”

  122. 122.

    Geminid

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Now that a Democrat again occupies the White House it’s “deja vu all over again.” Last Sunday I was checking out some Balloon Juice threads from September 2012, around the Democratic Convention. Jackals were barking and snarling at Glenn Greenwalt for his latest attempt to undermine the Democratic President. When I turned to the current Sunday afternoon thread, jackals were barking and snarling at Glenn Greenwald for his latest attempt to undermine the Democratic President.

  125. 125.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Ken: The notion that “making things better for everyone is unfair to the people who suffered more in the past” is literally what Jesus was talking about in the parable of the prodigal son and the parable of the workers in the vineyard. He was trying to get people out of that mindset, at least with regard to early-Christian notions of salvation. Or that’s how I see it.

  126. 126.

    Constance Reader

    “Announced a 100 day deportation moratorium.”

    That a Trump appointed judge in Texas has already thrown out.  Don’t count out legal challenges to executive orders by Republicans counting on Trump judges to side with them.

  127. 127.

    Barbara

    @frosty: My first year tuition at a state university as an out of state student was $1600, with all in costs of $6000.  It was double the in-state charges.  I paid for a substantial part of that with shit summer and school based jobs.  I don’t consider it unfair that I was “forced” to pay off my college and graduate school loans because, basically, taxpayers had already subsidized my education to an incredible degree.  The ongoing problem of schools charging more and more is a problem and it’s worth addressing, but giving some very deserving people a break in the meantime won’t be the end of the world.  Considering, for instance that I (and probably you too)  have been given the benefit of the mortgage interest deduction by renters (why should that be?).  I mean, seriously, why don’t you come up with a list of tax or federal benefits you’d be willing to forego out of “fairness” to others?

  133. 133.

    rp

    Student loan forgiveness doesn’t make much sense without a comprehensive overhaul of the system. What are some of the other reforms proponents are suggesting? (yes, I’m too lazy to google)

  134. 134.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @SFAW: A plant grew from the seed he planted, unfortunately many who “follow” his teachings prune off all the flowers leaving only thorns.

  135. 135.

    JML

    @Kathleen: I think so. I don’t want to get into her personal life; it’s one of the areas that the GOP really crosses the line. but the funneling money to a campaign consultant where you have that romantic relationship is the sort of grifting we hammered on trump and other Republicans for (rightly, IMHO), but when it comes to Ilhan too many liberals pretend it’s perfectly ok and all just spurious accusations by racists. A lot of MN liberals tolerate things from Rep. Ilhan Omar they would never accept from others and I find the hypocrisy sickening.

  136. 136.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Ken: Not really, Biden’s moratorium is well within the executive’s discretion.  No appellate court will affirm that decision.

  138. 138.

    NeenerNeener

    @Chris T.: Hobbes was fond of his dram

    And Rene Descartes was a drunken fart

    I drink, therefore I am

    I love that this blog is full of Python fans

  142. 142.

    Barbara

    @Immanentize:

    Their business model of endless outrage does not allow them to recognize progress or a win.

    There is a play/movie entitled “Plenty” that tracks the post-war life of an English woman who participated in resistance activities in WWII in France.  Basically, she can’t let go of the need to take risks and live on the precipice.  It’s a real problem, this need to stoke feelings of outrage.  I am convinced that it’s one reason why conservatives find it almost impossible to get anything done once they do get power.  I am still agog that the ACA was not repealed.  The signature reason for being of the Tea Party is still here even after they took control of the presidency and both houses of Congress.  Because they had no alternative that could work in any way shape or form.

    On our side, the outrage is aimed at real progress because it isn’t enough.  And truly, it will never be enough the way an alcoholic can never get enough to drink.

    I had a friend who lived without living room furniture for several years because she couldn’t afford to buy the things that appealed to her very elevated aesthetic tastes, until she got married and her husband said, “come on, this is nuts.”

  144. 144.

    Another Scott

    @frosty:

    That’s the heart of the unfairness about canceling student loan debt. I don’t see how people miss this.
    It also gives colleges a pass to charge even more.

    1) My father was able to go to a couple of private universities and pay for it via money he saved from paper routes and working as a pin-setter in a bowling alley and stuff like that. It was hard work, but he didn’t have decades of heavy debt to carry around on top of that. There were millions like him who went to college (and grad school) without crushing debts.

    The generational compact has been broken for a while and needs to be fixed. Canceling/forgiving/in-lieu-of arrangements need to be made to get the mountain of debt off of people. The economy and people’s lives will be much better off for it.

    2) Why I started at the U of Chicago (late ’70s), they were in a group with the ivies and decided how to set their tuition rates every year. I think they were eventually forced to do away with that (rightfully so), but there remains (some) competition among universities to set costs. More needs to be done, of course. But even with the very high costs that students (and their families) have to bear, many/most universities have been struggling because of cutbacks in state and federal support. Competition for research grants is cut-throat and there’s too little to go around, and too many people spend time that should be dedicated to teaching and research to working on grant proposals and other paperwork. It’s hurting national progress in science and engineering, and lack of secure research jobs means that too many people work as adjuncts or perpetual post-docs.

    Only the federal government has the resources to fix these issues. And we’ll all be better off when we get started on doing so.

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  146. 146.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Immanentize:

    — Biden’s proposal for 15/hr minimum wage is scheduled to happen in fewer years than Bernie’s previous legislation on the issue. So, how does Joyjoy take it? “It should happen NOW!”. Their business model of endless outrage does not allow them to recognize progress or a win.

    Oh, they’re way beyond “it should happen now!”

    Susan Sarandon @SusanSarandon
    $15/hour was barely a living wage back in 2012 when the fight for $15 started. It’s definitely not a living wage today and with inflation will be a poverty wage by 2025. This is a slap in the face to every hourly employee in America. WE MUST FIGHT FOR $25 BY ‘25 NOW! #25by25

    I wonder if anyone’s calculated her hourly take home from the voiceovers she does for Big Pharma propaganda

  147. 147.

    Barbara

    @Ken: I mean, seriously, what if every person necessary to carry out the orders was reassigned to other duties?  So if I were Biden I might revise the order and state that every individual slated for deportation will need to be given an additional hearing.  Given the state of things right now, that would slow it down for a decade.

    A federal judge cannot run a bureaucracy.

  149. 149.

    Barbara

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Susan Sarandon can’t disappear soon enough.  I mean, seriously, she is the worst of the worst in what I described above.  She lives to fling shit at people who mostly agree with her.  Maybe someone should ask her how much she spent on her personal appearance last year (shades of the kind of outrage she directed at Hillary Clinton).

  150. 150.

    frosty

    @Barbara: My college roommate paid for his education at a very expensive school with part time and summer jobs. It couldn’t possibly be done at the same school now. Cost inflation is a big reason, and it’s unsustainable at this rate … of course I thought that 20 years ago, too.

  151. 151.

    JaneE

    I was very pleasantly surprised by Biden’s first actions.  I suspect like many moderate Americans, he has seen that moderation is not adequate to respond to the Republican attempts to create a fascist state, a violent racist state, a thoroughly corrupt state.  Just as George Floyd’s videoed murder made white Americans really aware of just how different policing is for Blacks, the January 6th insurrection and the lack of concern on the part of the GOP for actually holding anyone important accountable has made Democrats aware of just how much damage needs to be undone.

  154. 154.

    PST

    @SFAW:

    Have you ever read Lamb, by Christopher Moore? I think you might find it funny.

    It would be impossible not to find it funny.

  157. 157.

    Another Scott

    @germy: +1

    I know exactly how she felt about him getting in the race, but I was Ridin’ with Biden much sooner.  He knows how to do this Presidentin’ stuff to make things better.  Here’s hoping that his progress snowballs.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  158. 158.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @raven:I was gonna say, I don’t remember it well but I’m sometimes tempted to rewatch it just to see Tracey Ullman and John Gielgud on screen together.

  159. 159.

    Brachiator

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    And yet, I’m waiting for Our Progressive Betters to start in on “How Has Joe Biden Failed Us Today?”  Over at LGM, they snark on this to an extent “When does somebody start calling Joe Biden a Neo-liberal, Corporatist Democratic Stooge?” or something to that effect.

    Oh I’ve already run into this on some YouTube channel extolling a recent Bernie TV appearance.

    These dopes are a mirror image of Trump supporters. They even insist that a massive conspiracy involving the Democratic Party and the mainstream media stole the primaries and the nomination from Bernie. So in political Bizarro land, either Trump or Bernie is the “real president,” and Biden is the neoliberal whatever. Also, Bigfoot and the flat Earth.

  160. 160.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @raven: The Montgomery GI Bill (post-Vietnam) paid out $350 a month.  It didn’t even cover my rent when I was in law school.

  163. 163.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Brachiator:

    They even insist that a massive conspiracy involving the Democratic Party and the mainstream media stole the primaries and the nomination from Bernie.

    Ugh again? I hope their unicorns shit on their heads.

  164. 164.

    germy

    PETER DOOCY: Mr President, what did you talk to Vladimir Putin about?

    PRESIDENT BIDEN: You. He sends his best. pic.twitter.com/Fq0zglc9aK

    — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 26, 2021

    By law, any time Biden zings someone that hard, we should be required to queue up the high voltage guitar riffage of one Mr. George Thorogood, just to drive home that folks like Doocy tried to tangle with the One True Delaware Destroyer.

    — Michael Ross (@campfirewood) January 26, 2021

  166. 166.

    raven

    @Omnes Omnibus: Shit, when I got out I got the same dollar amount my old man got post-WW2, $125 a month. By 71 they had raised it quite a bit but it still didn’t cut it. I went back after I broke my back in 74 and the division of vocational rehab money plus the bill got me through. My old man told me about the bill right after WW2. They would sing up for golf and get a new set of sticks every semester. There was tremendous abuse, especially by the proprietary schools. I ad fun studying the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act while looking at the GED.

  167. 167.

    raven

    @frosty: I couldn’t live off campus because you had to be 21 and I was only 19 (forget 13 months in Korea and a year in Vietnam) so I chose a private dorm that had unlimited chow and a pool! I ended up being a nighttime janitor and then worked in the kitchen to make ends meet (all the while dropping that purple mesc I bought in SF on my way home)!

  168. 168.

    Brachiator

    @Barbara:

    giving some very deserving people a break in the meantime won’t be the end of the world.  Considering, for instance that I (and probably you too)  have been given the benefit of the mortgage interest deduction by renters

    There is a student loan interest deduction, and the person taking the deduction does not have to itemize.

  169. 169.

    Ken

    @raven: when I got out I got the same dollar amount my old man got post-WW2, $125 a month.

    I hope you didn’t have to endure “I went through college on the GI Bill, why can’t you?”  It’s practically a trope, like “By the time I was your age, I’d bought my first house and was supporting a family, and that on just my income.”

  170. 170.

    Chyron HR

    @Brachiator: 

    They even insist that a massive conspiracy involving the Democratic Party and the mainstream media stole the primaries

    Well, it’s just a fact that a huge cabal of Democratic voters conspired to give Biden more delegates than Sanders.

  172. 172.

    raven

    @Ken: Ha! He came home from the Pacific and went to Illinois with his seabag over his shoulder. I had 10 days between and was in NO way interested or qualified to be in a Big-10 University. He was the first college grad in the family and I was the first with a doctorate so, yea, I got all the pushing and shoving but, fuck it, I did it! (even if it took 9 years to get my undergrad)

  173. 173.

    StringOnAStick

    @Another Scott: So true.  State financial support of higher education is directly traceable to the death by a thousand cuts in budgets created thanks to the anti-tax mania that Reagan pushed onto the stage.  Without well educated young people, the economy will stagnate.  The loan debt that often goes along with getting that degree is also a source of economic stagnation. Forgive some student loan debt and there will be direct economic benefits and growth from funds being directed to household establishment instead of debt service.

  174. 174.

    Kelly

    @frosty: I don’t recall my exact budget but I graduated debt free from the University of Oregon in 1980. Mostly minimum wage summer jobs plus around 10 hours a week minimum wage work during the school year. My senior year was luxurious after I landed a summer job logging for about 3x minimum wage.

  176. 176.

    Kelly

    @StringOnAStick: The snow is back! Mrs. Kelly and I had a perfect day out at Santiam Pass on the Ray Benson trails Monday. 4 to 8 inches of new snow that fell at 20 degrees Sunday night on a 2 to 4 foot total frozen hard pack base. Monday temps around 25, no wind, occasional small flurries with sun slanting thru the snowflakes.

  178. 178.

    WaterGirl

    @Another Scott:  A month or two ago, Rep. James Clyburn was on the David Plouffe/ Steve Schmidt podcast.  (Nov. 23)

    I decided to listen to it again this week, now that Biden is in office.

    REALLY interesting.  Among other things, Clyburn talked about his advice to Biden regarding executive orders.  The show is really worth a listen.  On Day 7 of the new administration, it’s really obvious that Joe took that advice to heart.

    Though in all fairness, that may have already been his plan after watching Barack Obama’s first 2 years.

  179. 179.

    Gravenstone

    @Ksmiami: impeach unqualified Trump judges

    Pipe dreams are three doors down, to the left.

    Have you met our current Senate? No chance in hell even if the House were to undertake impeachment (and winged monkeys may fly out of my ass) for the worst offenders that any of them would be convicted and removed from the bench.

  180. 180.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): He’s the leader we needed in this moment. We really lucked out.

    At the Inauguration, in an unusually perceptive moment, Dubya allegedly said that Uncle Joe was the only candidate who could’ve beaten Trumplthinskin.

    Policywise he has come a long way from the Anita Hill hearings and “the Senator from MBNA.” I might even go so far as to repurpose Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.’s appraisal of FDR: A second-class intellect. But a first-class temperament. Which, according to this site,

    summarize[d] precisely why President Roosevelt was the best hope America had to survive the trials facing the country in 1932.

    Let them whut’s got ears t’ hear, hear – y’heah?

    (When you have legions of first-rate intellects straining at the bit to intellect for you, temperament at the top may be the more important.)

  181. 181.

    J R in WV

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

     

    And anytime I see a comment like “Nice job, Omar”, I always initially think somebody’s talking about Omar from ‘The Wire’.

    I’m old enough to leap to the assumption they’re talking about Omar Bradley, head of II Corps in North Africa, and then commander of the 12th Army Group, comprised of the First, Third, Ninth, and Fifteenth armies, the largest force ever placed under an American group commander, successfully carried on operations in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Czechoslovakia until the end of European hostilities.

    So pretty much a fearsome commander at war. In the long ago.

  182. 182.

    J R in WV

    @Immanentize:

    …the blue laws back then required that everything sold that was alcoholic HAD TO, BY LAW! be in a paper bag or box…

    Here in WV too. I think in PA and OH, but not sure. Wasn’t really aware it was from Blue Laws, but as soon as you mentioned it, it made total sense.

  183. 183.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @zhena gogolia: You shouldn’t have to give that up for an obnoxious twat. Its like dealing with Trump supporters. At some point, you just have to stop taking it and give back what they are giving out until THEY decide to quit.

  185. 185.

    Ruckus

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I believe it was that way in most states. Some have joined the 19th century and allow that some people do enjoy an alcoholic drink now and again, and that unless they are laying on the sidewalk throwing up, or driving way, way far under the influence that alcohol is here to stay and that our time of wholesale destruction of alcoholic beverage containers actually worked against reasonable consumption, so maybe it’s time to understand that people will drink alcoholic beverages if it’s the last thing they are capable of.

  186. 186.

    cain

    @Another Scott:

    100% I grew up amongst academics. It’s important if we want to continue to lead the world technologically. We were the bright star that other countries wanted to go to. Now we just want to pay less taxes and have absolutely zero aspirational goals – if we want them again we need to give money generously to universities.

  187. 187.

    cain

    @germy:

    I feel like it’s now the daughters and sons of journalists. I mean look at that spawn of Steve Doocy asking questions for Fox News. Annoying.

  189. 189.

    J R in WV

    @raven:

    @frosty: I paid for my undergrad with the fucking GI Bill!

    Me too. Covered my gas for driving back and forth, books, lunches, etc.

    Plus I made great friends who let me sleep over when I had evening classes followed by 8 am classes the next day, which with a 90 minute drive one way was a huge increase in study time every night I spent with B or J or M.

    A couple of hours of reading, plus some visiting with those friends. Also a great wife who didn’t mind feeding the livestock when I spent the night at school.

  191. 191.

    J R in WV

    @raven:

    …fuck it, I did it! (even if it took 9 years to get my undergrad)

    I started college out of HS in 1968, got my BSCS in 1984. So it took me longer then it took you. There was my hitch in the Navy in there too, tho. Plus some fascinating jobs. Learned to plow with a horse, too!

  192. 192.

    J R in WV

    @Gravenstone:

    @Ksmiami: impeach unqualified Trump judges

    Pipe dreams are three doors down, to the left.

    Have you met our current Senate? No chance in hell even if the House were to undertake impeachment (and winged monkeys may fly out of my ass) for the worst offenders that any of them would be convicted and removed from the bench.

    I’ll see that, and raise that many of those judges should be indicted for perjury during their confirmation hearings. Interview them several times, I mean FBI agents!

    And then give them a choice, either resign and go away forever, or face a trial for lying to the FBI/Congress.

    ETA: Old country saying, more ways to kill a cat than choking it on butter!

  193. 193.

    Geminid

     

     

    @J R in WV: Ralph Ingersoll’s book Top Secret (1946) has good material on General Bradley’s command of the 12th Army Group. Ingersoll served in various staff roles before crossing Utah Beach on D-Day with an armored  task force that brought ammo and medical supplies to Ridgeway’s airborne command.  Not long after, Ingersoll was assigned to Bradley’s staff where he served until the German surrender. An unabashed Bradley partisan, Ingersoll has some very interesting observations.

  195. 195.

    dnfree

    @Another Scott: my husband got his master’s in social work in 1970 from the university of Chicago. We could never have afforded the cost (especially given the field of study), and both being working-class, we would never have gone into debt to pay for it. But at that time the state of Illinois helped pay the tuition in return for working for the state for two years, which he did. He had a long and productive career helping the mentally ill, which would never have happened in the past couple of decades or more. It’s astonishing to think of the state investing tax dollars in educating young social workers or anyone else these days. It all goes for pensions.

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