President Joe Biden congratulated the NASA team responsible for the Mars rover landing, saying the successful mission helped bring back the American spirit after the nation’s reputation as a scientific leader took a hit during the coronavirus pandemic. https://t.co/DYEXG6yZdi
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 4, 2021
Excelsior, Ever upward, is the motto of the state of New York. (Guess where Marvel Comic’s Stan Lee grew up.) The nuns in our Bronx parochial school joked that it meant the packaging material otherwise known as wood wool, ‘because you’re not allowed to put b*** s*** on an official logo.’ The GOP is busy putting the… wood wool… in their opposition to the Pandemic Recovery Act…
Worth noting again that reading the bill – which may take 12+ hours – is just a stalling tactic. After the reading, up to 20 hours of debate and a lengthy vote-a-rama, the bill will likely pass. Congress has until March 14, when unemployment benefits expire, to pass a final bill.
— Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) March 4, 2021
— Baglivo (@Baglivo11) March 5, 2021
Nothing makes Treason Turtle madder than Democrats giving away money he had hoped to steal for the rich. https://t.co/CKqO4CUu7J
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) March 4, 2021
Pretty much at the 27% Crazification Factor…
I’ll tell you what is some real cancel culture is all these biden policies polling in the 70’s, who will speak for the cancelled 29% who don’t want more vaccines https://t.co/o7MJVXn5Sa
— kilgore trout, ted’s travel agent (@KT_So_It_Goes) March 2, 2021
Low Key Swagger
Morning, all. Tired of getting pushback when I tell people here how to get vaccinated. It isn’t angry pushback, just still so much uncertainty. What’s that saying here? Blech? Think I’ve got it.
Immanentize
@Low Key Swagger: you didn’t quite get the intonation —
Blech
See the difference?
OzarkHillbilly
@Low Key Swagger: Blech. It’s not just for breakfast anymore.
Baud
It’s against the law for a Democrat to be successful.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone???
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
Immanentize
@Baud: Particularly a successful Democrat.
debbie
Johnson better be at his desk, listening closely. And the clerks better receive double overtime for this bullshit.
Immanentize
@rikyrah: Good Morning, dammit! ?
debbie
Of course the recovery must be slow, as slow as possible. More time for fleecing the rubes.
JPL
@rikyrah: Good Morning!
Baud
OzarkHillbilly
Twitter isn’t just nonsense, sometimes it’s entertaining nonsense, even educational nonsense. This tweet thread is a good example:
As one who grew up watching Looney Tunes, I knew I was getting an education in classical music, but some of the details have faded. For instance, I have clear memories of my 4 or 5 year old self walking around singing “Fiiiigaro, FigaroFigaroFigaro…”
Now I know why.
Baud
Immanentize
@Baud: Rose Twitter-heads explode.
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: He walked out less than 5 minutes into the reading.
Baud
Baud
@Immanentize:
Literally? Awesome.
Tim Kaine has been working on this issue for a while. Among other Dems whose names I forget.
satby
@Immanentize: And along those lines: yeah, I know he’s an asshole but
NotMax
Don’t know about you, but at over a sawbuck per pound I expect more from an ostensibly edible product than boasting it will “kill you slower.”
Baud
You’ll have to google.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
The US Senate is the world’s worst and most useless deliberative body.
After the Revolution, we burn every book on parliamentary procedure, and have a dance and orgy in celebration.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Heh. Personally, I have learned a lot from those folding fitted sheets tweets. I now know how to roll them up in a ball and toss them in the closet.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Well, there’s a rule that needs amending.
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
Unsure what to make of this rendition.
(Have been holding the link in abeyance until a suitable opportunity to slide it in arose.)
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: I watched all of the cartoons in that thread! Probably why I mostly listen to classical music to this day.
lowtechcyclist
The original (1952) book version of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying uses ‘excelsior’ in this manner.
debbie
@satby:
This sounds like it’s from the school that sees T**** as an unexcelled brilliant genius rather than the brutish incompetent portrayed by the libtard left. If I ever have doubts about how I see him, I remember his thoughts about injecting bleach or swallowing lightbulbs and know we were right all along.
satby
@NotMax: That was weird.
debbie
@Baud:
Adam’s post last night about the numbers of Congresspeople and even Capitol Police sympathetic to the insurrection was very frightening.
satby
@debbie: ?
Not sure how you came up with that interpretation. I took it to mean that it’s the usual Republican assassin maneuver to get rid of a Democrat they see as an obstacle. Which in this case would be an attempt to scuttle the state investigation of their god-king so he’s free to run again in 2024. And I totally buy them trying that.
Edit: and I didn’t infer direct T**** involvement in it.
NotMax
One thing which can be said of Excelsior! — it rolls off the tongue easier than Hawaii’s Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ‘Āina i ka Pono (The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness).
;)
Baud
@debbie:
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: You are one deeply disturbed person. But you already knew that, didn’t you?
Delk
Annual echocardiogram day! Hope they don’t need contrast because I already have Comfortably Numb echoing in my head.
debbie
@satby:
I took it to mean T**** pressuring the GQPer legislators to get Cuomo out of there solely to save him from Leticia James and others.
SFAW
@Baud:
Trump’s statement was obviously written by someone who is semi-fluent in English, and Rove’s “firing back” was about as milquetoast-y as they come.
Unless they’re going to settle their differences with M60s at dawn, who cares? It’s not even popcorn-worthy.
Not your fault, of course.
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
Practice, practice, practice.
;)
debbie
@Baud:
Great that it’s all together in one place now. Based on Hawley’s and Lee’s reactions the other day to privacy (or not) of their phones, I can’t believe it never occurred to any of them that their doings wouldn’t be found out.
SFAW
@NotMax:
Not sure why you threw out that stricture.
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: Taking your act to Carnegie Hall?
satby
Wounded feral cat update for those who saw my earlier comments: he’s using the hurt paw fully, as far as I can tell from 20 feet away. He’s been getting amoxicillin mixed with food once a day for four days and I’ll keep him on it for a full 10 day course of treatment. Now that he’s feeling better he’s back to staying well away from me when I bring food, and I don’t try to get closer to avoid him freaking out and jumping off the porch potentially hurting his leg again.
Edit: he looks a lot like TaMara’s kitty Zander
satby
@Delk: Hope you have a celebration planned for after!
NotMax
@SFAW
Felt it a little too far out on the edge to toss into the early morn mix without a hook on which to hang it.
;)
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
Tickets at the Will Call window. Password: Lost Mustard.
SFAW
@NotMax:
Whatever BS excuse you gotta use to make yourself feel better about it.
Here’s something a little less radical (also from Barbiere, of course). [Tibbett was a favorite of my beloved aunt.]
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: And then I gave you one. Bad Hillbilly! BAD!
@NotMax: No wonder I didn’t get any. I thought it was Naked Mopping.
rikyrah
@OzarkHillbilly:
This was such a great thread ?
rikyrah
@Delk:
??????
Soprano2
@Low Key Swagger: I’m ready to sign up as soon as I’m eligible, which might be as soon as March 15th. Yesterday they opened it to 60-64, but you have to have one of the list of health conditions, and I don’t have any of them I guess unless I wanted to push the BMI, and I really don’t.
Baud
OzarkHillbilly
LMFAO:
rikyrah
Another Scott
@debbie: Cuomo apparently brought it on himself. As did his team working on the book…
A follow up says the course was called something like “Ethics in political investigations”…
(via popehat and nycsouthpaw)
Cheers,
Scott.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: From that article:
That’s 100% bullshit. Obama had an entire program called “insourcing” and issued regular reports on the project to bring offshored jobs home. I hope the guy is right when he says there may be a “Biden Republican” trend that helps Democrats and hurts the sedition party, but false premises like that make me question his conclusions.
Ken
@OzarkHillbilly: I can’t hear Wagner without humming “Kill the wabbit”.
SFAW
@Baud: @rikyrah:
If the Demon-rats wanted to sue him, they should have done so while he was in office. The Republican Constitution clearly states (Article XVIII, I believe) that:
A) Any lawsuits must be filed before any Republican president leaves office
B) No suit can be brought against a Republican president until after he leaves office
C) No Demon-rat, nor any country where Demon-rats exist, has any standing.
I think there are other rules, but I can’t recall them.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I seem to have lost the thread of whatever it is we’re arguing about this morning. Yesterday, I got my hair cut. I got a pedicure. And I got my teeth cleaned. It’s good to be vaccinated. :-)
Today I have to call the eye doctor because my vision is getting blurry as all get out
SFAW
@Betty Cracker:
As Cole might say, “the balls on these people.” Obama would be “embarrassed”? Asshole.
OzarkHillbilly
@Ken: Can anyone?
Ken
I suppose there’s nothing in the House rules that would have let Pelosi chain him to his desk, but I do hope if he raises any more objections during the debate that all the Democrats chant “How would you know.”
Eolirin
@Betty Cracker: That’s all code for Obama was black and Biden is white
Cosmopolitan appeal is a massive and obvious dog whistle even.
SFAW
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Thread? We don’t got no stinking thread. We don’t NEED no stinking thread. This is Balloon Juice, after all.
I hope you’re OK, vis-a-vis the blurry vision thing.
OzarkHillbilly
Another one from Rex:
zhena gogolia
@OzarkHillbilly:
That is a fabulous thread. I just don’t understand why he left out the Wagner cartoon “What’s Opera, Doc?” It’s the masterpiece.
SFAW
@Ken:
Especially since he’s a Senator.
scribbler
@satby: Thank you for the update, and for taking such good care of the animals in your neighborhood. You’re a good person!
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
He misspoke. He meant to say Obama would have been black and Biden will be white.
germy
I know Republicans like Ron Johnson, Rudio and Stefanik like to imitate Trump in their speeches and tweets. I didn’t know they were adopting his mental disorders, too.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@SFAW: I assume it’s cataracts. It’s time
SFAW
@germy:
In fairness, Johnson was a moron long before it became fashionable. The paranoia is new, I guess … or it would be, if he were sincere.
debbie
@Another Scott:
That photograph alone should sink him. I’m wondering if the woman’s friend who took the photograph is another Tara Reade type who released it to benefit T*****.
Gah, he’s back in my head again!
SFAW
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Do they come on that suddenly? A co-worker just had eye surgery (for cataracts, I think). Each eye took about 15 minutes, not counting prep time. Had them done about a month apart. She needs reading glasses, but her far vision is just fine.
Betty Cracker
@Eolirin: Maybe Greenberg is squeamish about calling his focus group members out. Since it’s Politico, no reporter or editor thought to say “hey man, that’s bullshit!” (Or at least I assume they didn’t; I quit reading shortly after that whopper…)
Eolirin
@debbie: Cuomo being forced to step down in scandal isn’t going to benefit Trump, so shrug. We’re not going to elect a Republican governor, and our AG is going to keep going after him.
We’ll hopefully just get a less shitty governor. If anything this probably only benefits the state. We got Cuomo to use his skills in a situation that actually called for them that’s close to over for us, hopefully, and then we get to replace him with someone better for the other stuff, while holding legislative majorities.
So if this is a Republican plot it’s a damn stupid one.
Anne Laurie
It’s a very NYC joke. I’ve always suspected Stan Lee originally meant it sarcastically, but once his comic-book-buying audience found it inspirational’n’stuff…
germy
Fair enough.
I grew up in a working class family, and at an early age I internalized the notion that men in suits with briefcases were our “betters” – our bosses, judges, doctors. Educated men with more money and power.
But now I watch clips of Republican lawmakers. So many of them are astonishingly dumb.
OzarkHillbilly
@scribbler: Shhhhh… She’ll get a big head.
Baud
@germy:
While we beat them in 2020, we crushed them in 2018 when Trump wasn’t on the ballot. They are afraid that their voters won’t turn out without Trump.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@SFAW: Mine have grown gradually, which I think is the more common course of events. The surgery is pretty routine these days I think, though in my case it’s made a little more complicated by my having had lasik surgery twenty years ago
JMG
@germy: Smart Republicans go into business to make a bundle, putting themselves in position to dictate to officeholders. The ones who can’t hack it in the private sector run for those offices.
Baud
@Eolirin:
Cosmopolitan: It’s not just for Jews anymore!
Ken
@Anne Laurie: “Excelsior” was also used in a “Bullwinkle’s Corner“. I think they took a few liberties with Longfellow’s poem.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: well, if you’ve seen pictures, it’s not my head that’s big….
Ken
@SFAW: Oops. Well, I still hope for the chant if he opens his mouth again.
Eolirin
@Betty Cracker: Let’s not give him the benefit of the doubt and just assume he’s of the same mentality as the focus group members.
It’s the same coded speech the right used to other Obama his whole administration. It never matched reality.
Baud
@satby:
I wish I didn’t know you were female when I read that comment.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Baud: Trump is sure shaping up to be Republican mirror of Carter. Since 1980 was the first election I can vote, the politics have come full circle in my life.
Eolirin
@Baud: Oh, it’s still all about jews, and how Obama appeals to them more by throwing America under the bus to “globalists”. Black people can’t possibly have America’s best interests at heart. They’re not real Americans after all. //
It’s pretty maddening that shit like that can get printed by a major news organization. Or that someone who writes something like that can stay hired. It’s pretty transparent.
Baud
@Eolirin:
Right. It’s not a word normal people would use in that context.
Baud
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
I hope that’s right. Too early to tell.
FridayNext
@Ken:
There was also an episode of Gomer Pyle where some aged old man gave Gomer a metallic “Excelsior” to give the young private confidence because it was a talisman of some legendary leader (I forget who) then our wacky Marine went from the timid Gomer voice to proud Jim Nabors singing voice for calling cadences.
But it turned out, the “Excelsior” in question was actually the logo from the front of the old man’s refrigerator and Pvt. Pyle had the confidence in him the whole time.
Soprano2
You know as well as I do that the only reason that man believes this is because Obama was black. That’s it, full stop. Biden is a pleasant white man, so of course suddenly to these people he’s an acceptable Democratic president. It really is true that perception is reality.
Burnspbesq
@SFAW:
Don’t know if it was always the case, but nowadays any competent ophthalmologist will consult with you to choose the strength of the lenses he/she puts in during the cataract removal procedure. I had mine optimized for 18-24 inches because at the time I spent most of my workday at a computer. I have OTC readers for in close and a prescription for distance (including prescription Ray-Bans for driving).
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: Yeah, I’m suffering from an acute case of Dunlap disease too.
Steeplejack
Norman Ornstein was great on Lawrence O’Donnell’s show last night about reforming the filibuster. Here’s his piece on it in the Post: “Democrats can’t kill the filibuster. But they can gut it.”
His proposals:
Baud
@Steeplejack:
I like the 3/5 rule just for the historical irony.
Geminid
@SFAW: The Republican intra-party fight interests me, and I try to follow it, rooting for injuries. I don’t think we will know how consequential the fight is until next year’s primaries and general elections. With both Kemp and Raffensperger on trump’s shit-list, Georgia may be ground zero for this civil war.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: I read an article in New York Mag featuring an interview with data analyst David Shor, who’s been sifting through 2020 data. He suggests we are far from entering a period of Dem political dominance and will in fact be screwed for years unless we step on Republicans’ necks now (metaphorically, of course) AND things break our way. Thought about doing a post on it and may still, but it was depressing, and I don’t want to harsh everyone’s mellow.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
I’m not sure how much we can learn from 2020 data. Between Trump and the pandemic, it was a pretty unique election.
I do think 2020 put to death the notion that traditional non-voters are predominantly disaffected socialists.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Well this was predicted
“If you want a vision of the future of the GOP, picture an intoxicated, middle aged, morbidly obese, white man, wagging his dick in a human face while eating a cheese burger, forever.” George Orwell 1984
Jeffro
@Baud: I’m going to have to ruin a few folks’ Friday morning by sharing that one around a bit – thanks!
Omnes Omnibus
@Ken:
I am pretty sure that the House rules do not allow Pelosi to chain Senators to anything.
Edmund Dantes
It’s right there in the first couple of paragraphs. Reagan Democrats were people upset that Democrats seemed to care more about the blacks in Detroit. It’s always been racist bullshit cover. Anyone that talks about Reagan Democrats and saying they were anything than racists is trying to sell you something. It was economic anxiety forerunner.
reagan Democrats were just people that saw blacks finally getting access to government programs and stuff after the civil rights act were starting to really work its way through the system and thought that’s not right. Why do they get the good stuff?
Edmund Dantes
@Steeplejack: I have been arguing this for a long time. A version of the talking filibuster similar to this. Good to seee it getting more traction.
Baud
Omnes Omnibus
@germy:
No, he’s right. There are a lot of us in WI who are out to destroy him. The thing he doesn’t really realize is that he brought it on himself.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Betty Cracker: His analysis was brought up by another commenter a few days ago, he misses the uniqueness of The Former Guy. Other politicians trying to act like him would be like me doing comedy. I could say the lines but wouldn’t get the laughs.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
Is destroying more humane or less than cancelling?
Enhanced Voting Techniques
They are socialist, just they don’t like the other guy getting socialism or being reminded they are benefiting from socialism.
Claiming things are titled towards the Republicans are meaningless because the GOP is now the political version of the Abram’s Mystery Box; since the GOP has no positions the voters imagine what ever the want with the GOP, then the GOP gets in office and mess happens. A few times of that and they stop voting GOP,
Another Scott
@Steeplejack: Norm’s a smart guy, but IIRC, one of the reasons for the cloture rules and the way the things are now was everything on the Senate floor stopped while a filibuster was going on. Under the present system, other bills can be worked on on the floor during the various 3-day-delay steps while waiting on a cloture vote.
One would have to consider whether other changes were needed, I think. Making it easier to pass important legislation is vital; throwing a monkey wrench in the rest of the Senate’s operations might be bad (and Moscow Mitch would try to make it bad for Democrats).
Cheers,
Scott.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: Given my opinion of Johnson, I hope less.
Baud
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
That’s like saying someone is a humanitarian with respect to all the people he hasn’t tried to kill.
frosty
@Betty Cracker: I read the article and it seems reasonable. However, the words cosmopolitan and globalist jumped out at me. They’re usually a tell for where the author is coming from.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
That’s a real important point about Donald Dumbass; he is above a media celebrity with a large fan base. His in office approval ratings tracked like a TV series ratings and faded as people got bored with his Stupid-Agressive New York rich guy act. That’s why I don’t see Trump 2024, people are bored with the endless remakes.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Scott: Well, stopping all business of the Senate is pretty much what happens now if 40 Senators want to do it.
lurker dean
nice.
@jimsciutto
Dems seem to have outplayed GOP on the Covid delay. After the all-night reading,
@ChrisVanHollen
simply got up, proposed shortening the debate from 20 hours to 3 and no Republican including
@RonJohnsonWI
was around to contest. In the end, the dramatic Bill reading delayed nothing
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Or tried to eat.
But look at it historically; the general population just loved it when the government sent the military in to murder the Indians and steal whole swaths of Mexico and then gave the land to them for free, so they can go pretend they built that by themselves. It’s all cosplay Libertarism.
Geminid
@Omnes Omnibus: It looks like Rep. Mike Gallagher (WI-8) wants to retire Johnson in a primary even if Johnson decides to go for another term. Gallagher would likely be tougher to beat. I hope Wisconsin Democrats can get the job done.
Steeplejack
Nelson Muntz “Ha-ha!”
Uncle Cosmo
@lowtechcyclist: “Excelsior” is also the name of a theme for a particular type of solution to chess problems. It’s a clue in The Emperor of Ocean Park, where the deceased was a dedicated problemist. Much circumlocution and circumnavigation ensues.
Omnes Omnibus
@Geminid: Why do you think that Gallagher would be tougher?
Uncle Cosmo
@Steeplejack: Gotta call my junior Senator & deliver a Well played!
Baud
@lurker dean:
Hahaha.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: To extend you analogy, replacing The Former Guy with say a Cruz or a Hawley would be like replacing a popular star in a TV series with somebody else. As I’ve said before, you can’t look at The Former Guy(TFG) as just a politician, that’s what much of the analysis of polling from 2016 or 2020 does. He had a number of things outside of politics(celebrity, successful businessman and not being a politician) that probably netted him at least 5% of the vote.
Another Scott
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Yes and no.
S.178 of 116th Congress – UIGHUR Act of 2019:
Several cloture motions and votes on the bill and amendments to it over nearly 3 months. Senate business didn’t stop while that was going on.
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
piratedan
@Omnes Omnibus: prior to Trump, I would have referred to the litany of idiocy that Johnson has as his legacy, but since Trump, I think that its perfectly acceptable to the majority of GOP voters who no longer have to be ashamed of treason and stupidity, as they’ve apparently embraced those qualities in their preferred candidate.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Speaking of comics, Glenn Greenwald says that Tucker Carlson is the real socialist.
Edmund Dantes
@lurker dean: this is the way you play the game. Now can they stick the landing and stick to it?
germy
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I bring you Coy and Vance Duke.
Geminid
@Omnes Omnibus: He does not have Johnson’s baggage. Gallagher is in his thirties, holds advanced degrees from Georgetown, served under Petraus in Iraq as a Marine Corp intelligence officer. A fresh face, who at least does not look as corrupt as Johnson.
Omnes Omnibus
@germy: It’s not quite “Don’t mourn, organize,” but I like it.
germy
The best people. Be best.
Edmund Dantes
@Another Scott: they will never keep up the filibuster if they have to keep all 40+ senators there. All it would take is one move by Chris Van Hollen like last night to end it.
”I’d like to call a quorum on the filibuster to make sure there are at least 40 senators present.” At 3 am and they aren’t all there? Filibuster is over. Next!
Baud
@Steeplejack:
Excelsior!
Betty Cracker
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Agree that the Repubs can’t just slot in another clown and expect the same results. But IIRC, Shor doesn’t dismiss that — he acknowledges that The Former Guy as a unique turnout machine for Dems and Repubs.
The thing I found alarming was the forces in our own big tent that are putting us further at odds, which might be magnified absent TFG. Anyhoo, I’ve got no time at the present, and I may never get around to it, but I do think it merits consideration.
Omnes Omnibus
@Geminid:
He is the dumbfuck who advocated buying Greenland. And his fancy education will play against him with a certain set of GOP voters.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Scott: Maybe if Senate business did stop, it would highlight the disfunction of the body and provide greater motivation for reform.
Steeplejack
@Another Scott:
Maybe it would be good to make the filibuster a major, crisis-inducing event, rather than just a low-effort maneuver the GQP can whip out at the drop of a hat.
Geminid
@Geminid: Yesterday, a Wisconsin commenter remarked that Gallagher may be a stronger candidate because, unlike Johnson, he “presents as human.”
germy
Trump’s tribute to Karl Rove: “He’s a pompous fool with bad advice and always has an agenda.”
I love when they fight.
germy
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Betty Cracker: TFG was/is much more of a turnout machine for Republicans, but we’ll see in 2022 when he’s neither on the ballot nor in office.
Ixnay
One of my favorite quips is “Everything I know about opera I learned from a cross dressing rabbit.”
WereBear
@satby: All the yays!
Another Scott
@Edmund Dantes: Changing systems are rarely bumper-sticker simple and consequence-free. Yes, the filibuster/cloture system needs to be changed. We need to consider all the ramifications while doing so.
This article from the Congressional Institute (from 2017) seems pretty good (and seems to cover many of the things that Norm apparently talked about.
I like this:
I like it because ultimately the majority must be able to rule even if they want to pass bad legislation. If one “maverick” on the majority side decides to throw a monkey wrench at a bad bill, they can still do so.
But note other issues:
Yeah, finding Teabaggers willing to make sensible reforms is a pipe-dream at the moment.
But we need to have reasonable expectations about what can be done (and not done) by changing the filibuster/cloture system alone. Telling people that it’s just the filibuster that’s preventing the Senate from working when a minority throws rocks in the gears invites crushing disappointment when things still don’t work right…
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Brachiator
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Some people like the familiarity of remakes and reboots.
Also, looking at Gallup and some other polls, Trump’s highest approval rating was 49 percent and stayed pretty steady until his last months in office.
He works hard (well, hard for him) to maintain his hold and influence over the GOP, and the GOP reciprocates the affection. He is still in play to get that party’s nomination.
And his vile influence continues to infect GOP policy.
Edmund Dantes
@Another Scott: they already object to unanimous consent. The worries are stupid as they already happen.
and somebody that thinks the goal is bipartisanship and civility is whistling past the graveyard.
Another Scott
@Edmund Dantes: Those are just excerpts. Read the whole thing.
They’re not stupid.
Cheers,
Scott.
Brachiator
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Republicans would be happy to see Senate business stop. The GOP does not believe that Democrats should govern. They will never be interested in reasonable reform.
germy
@Ixnay:
I first read that as “rabbi” and got confused.
germy
I’m a day late, but here’s a great photo:
March 4, 1933. “Inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President and John Nance Garner as Vice President. Podium at U.S. Capitol East Portico, Washington, D.C.”
rp
@Brachiator: Well, steady at ~40-42% for most of his term.
WereBear
@Soprano2: I hear ya. Partner and I both have conditions, but we’d need to get a doctor’s note and our particular things are not literally on the list…
We don’t go out anyway except once a week for essential errands, anyway, always masked at a safe place. The Jab would better serve in a front line worker, teacher, or other person more in need.
taumaturgo
@Baud: A semi nostalgic view of a sanitized past in which the author appears to glorify white privilege and white supremacy. Today the winning political play – the GQP knows this well – resides with half of the self-disenfranchised eligible voters that don’t care to vote because they feel that neither party cares, that one party talks a good game but the end results are half measures and the other party is openly hostile to any fundamental change that will begin to address the crushing inequalities build into the rules of the game. (Albeit in different jurisdictions, It took 30 years after the Rodney King filmed beating by the police to enact policy behavior reforms and it took the GPQ several months after losing in the general elections to enact laws that will make it more difficult for communities of color to register and vote.) These communities that are living the shit live are the key to electoral success for both parties moving forward, and the Democrats should have the advantage. But the stale centrist, don’t rock the boat timid policies won’t do, nor will the broken promises and water down compromised deliverables. Nor will the long-winded processes explanations of the rules and procedures. In the months leading to the 2022 midterms, the Democrats have an exciting opportunity to demonstrate that their actions will match their rhetoric, that today they are different because their voter’s wishes and aspirations are listened to and acted on and that they are willing to fight for not only what is the right political thing to do, but because is morally responsible too. Will they fold or do away with the filibuster? Will they fight for the $15 MW and deliver it, or will precedent and rules prevail over the dire needs of millions? Will the student debt be eliminated, or practicality and powerful lobbies will carry the day? Baud, I don’t know if you have noticed the GQP is already making claims that they are the true populist party, and the voters are listening to their bullshit. The antidote is for the Democrats to deliver – not merely talk – big for the voters left behind.
Baud
@taumaturgo:
Meh. There’s always something we can’t achieve right away. I think we need to focus on people who are willing to fight for things rather than those who simply damand things. YMMV.
WereBear
@Ken: Me either. Which is not a bad thing.
UncleEbeneezer
@Betty Cracker: They talked about that interview and the issue (voting rights) on yesterday’s PSAmerica. TLDL- we are colossally fucked if we don’t pass some major form of VRA like HR1. But despite the signaling of Manchin/Sinema there’s still good reason to believe it can get done. As they said, Manchin/Sinema is Act III, we are in Act I. With organizing, pressure and the right issue(s) being blocked (infrastructure maybe) there’s no reason to believe that Manchin/Sinema can’t be moved at least to some reform of the filibuster that would allow HR1 to become law. There’s a reason that the expression is “Never say ‘never.'” Politicians go back, evolve, skirt around previous stances all the time. But first things first, WE have to make this the big issue of the next several weeks/months by pushing it.
The good news is that I’m already seeing a LOT of talk about Voting Rights by Biden and numerous Dem Congresspeople. Clearly this is a big priority.
WereBear
@Eolirin:
While I agree, that is one of the ways we can tell it’s a Republican plot.
WereBear
@Anne Laurie: I seem to remember at least one Bugs Bunny cartoon which also used “Excelsior!”
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Brachiator: Sure, but the point is to highlight where the disfunction is rather than just Congress.
Sasha
I half suspect that part of the intentional delays is the faint hope in the GOP that a Democratic Senator will suddenly die, throwing everything out the window.
Heck, if I were a Dem Senator in a red state, I’d be half worried about an assassination attempt in today’s political climate.
Soprano2
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I think a significant number of people in 2016 thought they were voting for the star of “The Apprentice”. They wanted that guy to be president, not realizing that he doesn’t actually exist. Too many people don’t understand that there is no reality to reality TV shows. I don’t think that about voters in 2020, though.
satby
@Baud: You have such a dirty mind! One of the things I most love about you ?
Leto
Things I learned: NASA has a twitch stream and is currently streaming (live video) a space walk at the International Space Station. It’s really cool!
Bruce K in ATH-GR
Regarding the Trump-Rove argument, can I suggest an old-fashioned solution? A traditional duel. Have Hawley and McConnell as the seconds, and Kavanaugh as the referee.
Davy Crocketts at twenty paces.
germy
‘Impeachment: American Crime Story’ Casts Edie Falco as Hillary Clinton
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Soprano2: I agree a bit with you on 2016, but I think it carried over to 2020 as well. To some extent, there’s still a large group of people that think a “businessman” is the perfect person to run government, even with two Presidents with that qualification that were failures(W and TFG).
taumaturgo
The party is doing the opposite.
germy
Mitch McConnell wants to change the law in Kentucky so the Democratic governor can’t name his replacement.
Baud
@taumaturgo:
No it’s not.
Edmund Dantes
@Another Scott: It’s a Republican outfit. I have read enough to see pining for bipartisanship and civility. People that talk about that as an end goal are playing a a game.
why you are playing it too is beyond me? Find better sources. The objections are about what’ll happen if we do this. And many of things they worry about already happen.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Tamatar is a troll.
Another Scott
@?BillinGlendaleCA: We should keep in mind the history and one of the reasons we have the filibuster/cloture system in the first place.
Brookings:
There are many ways to skin the filibuster/cloture cat. Maybe simply bringing back the “previous question” will cut the knot and let everyone declare victory while ending the abuses. Maybe not. But the people thinking about changing the rules need to be aware of the history and why it was created and how it came to be abused. I’m sure folks are doing that, but it’s not coming out in the reporting about it. Turning it into yet another a stupid “public option/kill the bill/do exactly what the bumper-sticker says or you’re worse than Bush” thing (not saying that anyone here is doing that, but one can see the trends if we’re not careful) is not good for us.
We’ll see soon enough, I guess. ;-)
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
schrodingers_cat
Feline Americans object to this characterization.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat: I know. Hence my short rebuttal.
Gin & Tonic
Kolomoisky sanctioned.
taumaturgo
Let’s see. The people on one side are fighting like hell for a $15 MW, the party is demanding a meaningless increase or complete removal by prioritizing procedure over voters’ pressing needs.
germy
@taumaturgo:
The administration has not abandoned the minimum wage, though. From what I understand, it’s their next priority. At least that’s what Nancy Pelosi has said.
Every last thing doesn’t have to be in this one bill, does it?
Baud
@taumaturgo:
The vast majority of us are fighting for the minimum wage. The people we need to watch out for are those trying to divide us by putting themselves on a pedestal because they consider themselves purer fighters.
And that’s my last word on this topic.
Doc Sardonic
@SFAW: They can. My eye doctor discovered a small one a few years ago when I was in my 50’s, said we will watch this but should be a few years before you have to get something done. Went back the next year for my annual exam, doc asks what line can you read on the eye chart, my response….. E
Brachiator
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I still don’t understand why you would want to stop or delay Democratic governance to try to make a point about dysfunction.
And for the past few years the media and the public always blame both parties when it is clearly the Republicans at fault.
Even when directly asked about the issue, members of the public always say, “I don’t care who is to blame, I just want them to figure it out and get things done.”
Hell, I don’t think the general public care about the filibuster, even though political junkies go to rhetorical war over the issue.
And even more drastic actions, such as complete government shutdowns, do not call attention to dysfunction or possible reforms.
James E Powell
@Baud:
Why do it quietly?
taumaturgo
None other than Obama called the filibuster a “Jim Crow relic.” Ouch
Brachiator
@taumaturgo:
Simply not true.
Edmund Dantes
@Another Scott: this is obnoxious. Lots of people know the history of the filibuster. It doesn’t change why it needs to go away.
Gin & Tonic
@James E Powell: It’s so quiet that it’s at the top of the landing page for CNN Politics.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: one of the many horseshoe connections between the trump right and the Bernie left is that the perception of “fighting” is far more important than results.
Betty Cracker
@germy: I like it! Falco is awesome.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Scott: Agreed, there are many means to reform the filibuster, but reform is needed since the inaction on the part of the Senate leads to the public blaming “Congress” for not taking action when it is in fact Senate procedure that kills bills that have public support. This can lead to a desire among the public for more power in the executive(we see that from the right but also the progressives as well). Continuation of lazy ways of blocking important legislation by a minority of a legislative body, or even in some cases, one member will erode public confidence in the whole legislative institution.
taumaturgo
I see. No fighting no results. but to be fair in fighting for results, both are extremely important.
dww44
@debbie: A slow recovery benefits the GOP and their return to controlling the levers of government to destroy that self same government, which must be perceived as being the enemy of the common good. That’s all they got. No constructive or positive plans to benefit ordinary Americans. Only endless culture wars and endless smearing of Democrats. They are, without a doubt, the true enemy of small d democracy.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Betty Cracker: I’m a little leery of the content– I don’t know those producers, who’s writing it… — but it’s an interesting casting choice. I’ll watch the first episode, at least.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Brachiator: As I noted in my reply to Another Scott, if you continue with this disfunction in the Senate, you will end up with a stronger Executive, since as you point out, folk will still want stuff done. I was just pointing to highlight the disfunction as one way of voters being able to rectify it. Meaningful filibuster reform would do that as well.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@taumaturgo: you just said that an increase in the minimum wage to $12/hr is “nothing”. I’m guessing you don’t know what the current minimum wage is, cause it’s unrelated to your allowance.
Another Scott
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I agree, and I’ve tried to say as much (with far too many words I guess).
My bottom line is:
I don’t care if something called a “filibuster” or a “cloture system” still exists when they’re done (because Joey M and Krysten insist that it remains). What matters is if the Senate can get important legislation supported by the 50+1 majority enacted into law. How they tweak the Senate rules and traditions doesn’t matter to me. I hope it doesn’t matter to Democrats, either, and turning it into a Filibuster Yes or No battle doesn’t help us get things done.
EOT.
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
germy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
gwangung
@taumaturgo: Bullshit. Stop projecting.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
now that’s interesting.
I believe this is the team that did the miniseries on the OJ trial from a couple years back that got good word-of-mouth, but that I never got around to watching.
SFAW
@Omnes Omnibus:
Bleedin’ lawyers, always being killjoys.
Steeplejack
@Gin & Tonic:
No link to the actual report, though, or at least I didn’t see one there (CNN) earlier.
James E Powell
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
While he got the most from his white supremacist appeal, this was essential to his success. The “businessman” bullshit means he can say he’s an outsider, he’s not like those others, he will shake things up, he says what he means, etc.
The press/media granted him wide latitude and ignored things that they would never ignore with any Democrat or probably even most Republicans. But more important, voters gave him the same. Many of them continue to do so.
MisterForkbeard
@gwangung: I see this from a lot of progressives. They don’t want to focus on the enormous amount of goof that the covid bill provides. They want to ignore everything positive and call it a bad bill because…
* The lack of a minimum wage that was included but literally could not be passed under reconciliation right now. This is a “Biden lie” because he could have just fixed it somehow.
* Lying about going from $2000 -> $1400, and then limiting eligibility.
The thing is, the eligibility thing IS dumb. But it’s not Biden’s fault. It’s Manchin/Shaheen. Their argument is that McConnell wouldn’t have stood for this or that Biden could have done something (but they don’t know what) to make Manchin change his mind.
But they’re determined to yell at Democrats, so they’re yelling at Democrats.
James E Powell
@MisterForkbeard:
This definitely overlooks the fact that Trump wanted the $2000 and McConnell ignored him
The anti-Democrats will always be with us. Happily, they are a much larger presence on the internet than in the electorate.
gwangung
@MisterForkbeard: Yup.
A) It’s counter-productive to yell at Democrats now. You need to destroy the Republicans FIRST. Politics will become more progressive immediately. And then you have a better chance at winning more Democrats for your position and move politics even further left.
B) Way too many progressives have no idea of what fighting actually is. What fights are actually taking place, what’s an un-winnable tactic, which tactic has the best basis for winning now, which tactic has the best basis under other situations, etc.
Their idea of winning is to take a tactic and stick with it, think or thin, even if there’s no potential to win, or if other tactics have better chances. Changing tactics is not giving up; going to plans B, C, D or E is not surrounding….it’s FIGHTING.
Brachiator
@MisterForkbeard:
Yep. The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Senate moderates want to trim the unemployment extension from $400 to $300, but extend it to September.
The problem is that this is old thinking, and centered in political ideology, not economics. Fed Reserve chair Powell has called for more stimulus and said that the US economy can handle it. But some Democrats seem to be afraid to go big. The tinkering with the relief bill is unnecessary.
Fortunately, it still has a lot of good stuff in it. I wish it had more for small business. Maybe look for something extra you could give to farmers.
Dopey-o
I forgot whether “Cosmopolitan” was code for Jew or N****r.
Gravenstone
So they’re basically saying they want a stronger executive office. Bet they don’t understand that’s the resolution to their “argument”.
Brachiator
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I totally agree with you about the need to deal with the dysfunction.
But you keep insisting that some magical effort will highlight the issue, when past examples clearly indicate that nobody ever pays attention.
James E Powell
@Brachiator:
I go back & forth in my rants as to who is the bigger pain in the ass, lefty purists or Democratic moderates. I’m leaning toward the moderates because lefties are all talk, while the moderates are actually making things worse.
catclub
@SFAW:
and the Roberts court will stall any procedure to delay until the case is moot.
Also A’) The DOJ becomes the GOP presidents personal law firm.
WaterGirl
@Steeplejack:
Zoe Logren Social Media Review
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Brachiator: You seem to fixated on that one thing, I’m not; I’m just offering up as one way that might bring the public’s attention to the underlying problem. I’m fine with other ways of making the problem go away.
dnfree
@Dorothy A. Winsor: do you see starbursts when you look at a street light at night? That was my clue. My other eye was covering so well that I could read the eye chart with both eyes open, whereas when restricted to the eye with the cataract, I couldn’t tell if the big letter at the top was B or E.
trollhattan
Texas being Texas, y’all. You see, “it’s just too darn complicated and seems like hard work.”
Nobody is surprised at this; after all, we know the entire Texas government and judiciary are bought and paid for by the highest bidders, and so long as these pigfuckers* are in charge they’ll make damn sure the vote is contorted sufficiently to keep their negligent kleptocracy in charge.
As to you poor bastards with your surprise four-figure electricity bills, enjoy your enhanced Texan Freedoms as your savings migrate into speculators’ pockets. You sure can’t hold your utilities responsible, now can you?
*LBJ wasn’t wrong.
Brachiator
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
To the contrary. You keep insisting that something might bring the public’s attention to the problem, when the public has consistently indicated that they simply do not care.
I just find that odd. But since we agree on the nature of the problem itself, we can just move on.
Geminid
@James E Powell: There are lot of moderates in the Democratic Congressional Caucuses and the Democratic electorate. Half or more. Are you saying that Jeane Shaheen, Chuck Robb, John Tester and Angus King are causing problems? Manchin and Sinema are just two people out of 50.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Brachiator: The horse is dead, but the beatings will continue…
Brachiator
@James E Powell:
I hear you. I have noted before that I heartily approve of most of Biden’s economic team. Many appear to be flexible thinkers. I think it great, for example, that Yellen and Fed chair Powell are on the same page on many issues. And Yellen obviously understands the tools that the Fed has at its disposal.
But I did not foresee the degree to which some moderates seem intent on getting in their own way in their dumb opposition to Biden’s proposals
Brachiator
@Geminid:
I noted a Chicago Tribune story noting that Senate Democrats are starting to nibble at the unemployment compensation bonus. The paper credits anonymous sources so we don’t know where this is coming from.
planetjanet
@taumaturgo:
Malarkey!
Brachiator
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Since you are a photographer, here is something you might enjoy.
Bill Arnold
@taumaturgo:
Arrange for a solid Democratic Party Senate majority then, and soon, not 2023. There are … ways.
Not willing to go there? Then work with the political landscape as it is, and don’t work to get Republicans elected.
Geminid
@Brachiator: I heard that in today’s “voterama,” an amendment passed to reduce the supplemental unemployment to $300, but extend it to September. Of course a House/Senate conference gets another bite at the apple. But as long as Congress serves up a $1.9 trillion dollar sausage, I’m not going to get strung out over the exact ingredients. I am more concerned about legislation to come, like clean power initiatives, voting rights, and comprehensive immigration reform. But that’s just me.
Steeplejack (phone)
@WaterGirl:
Thanks.
Bill Arnold
@MisterForkbeard:
It’s best to think of them as Republicans, and perhaps fascism-curious.
I have a rule; if invective is mostly directed against one party in a two party system, then the people spewing the invective are members of the opposing party.
planetjanet
@gwangung: Fighting may mean gains in inches, not miles.
Brachiator
@Geminid:
I hear you. But I hate seeing the Senate wasting time on shit that does not improve anything just to prove that they have power.
And sometimes, changes result in money being thrown down a rat hole instead of accomplishing anything meaningful.
I have seen some local shit where the rubes actually say, “well, they are spending a lot of money on it, so it must be a worthwhile project.”
So far, the relief bill is still good, but I hope that the dopes in the Senate don’t screw with anything that is a really big deal.
Bill Arnold
@trollhattan:
Anyone with 4 figure electric bills signed up for the risk, and it was probably front paged in the contract (probably downplayed but that doesn’t matter, much, unless the courts decide otherwise.).
This should stay in Texas. No way should the rest of the members of the United States be paying gambling wins to speculators gambling entirely within a Texas grid separated from the rest of the US. Texas itself can decide who the gambling winners and losers are.
smedley the uncertain
@satby: Yeah, and my do nothing back-bencher rep is making noises about running. Local rag giving lots of column inches to Tom Reed’s speculations on Cuomo’s veracity. He’s been a quiet Trumper all a long.
Old School
@Geminid:
I don’t think it has passed yet, but it might. (Manchin seems interested in the idea.)
Nicole
@Old School: Slate has a good piece up about it. Included in the proposal also is exempting the first $10,200 of unemployment benefits from federal income tax (about equivalent to the pandemic assistance given by the feds in addition to whatever the states paid out).
https://slate.com/business/2021/03/democrats-covid-relief-taxes-unemployment.html
The $400 dropping to $300 but extending until October isn’t a bad trade-off. As the article points, out, it means the benefits won’t end while Congress is in recess, so if people are still struggling, their Reps will be in the office to, one hopes, do something about it.
Geminid
@Brachiator: These aren’t dopes. At least, they are smart enough to win statewide office at least once. Some, like Kaine, Robb, King, Shaheen and the other NH Senator, were successful governors. They probably know more about practical politics than Balloon Juice commenters, if that is possible.
And its been almost a decade since these Senators have been in the majority, and they are interested in staying a majority. They think as much about the Democratic party’s prospects in 2022 and 2024 as you or I do.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Brachiator: I can do that in Photoshop…interesting photo.
Ruckus
@debbie:
Also more time for the rubes to get used to being fleeced so they won’t notice next time, or the time after that or the time after that or the time after THAT……
J R in WV
@Brachiator:
And this is why I pied Traumaturgid months ago. I only see his stuff when someone else quotes him, like this. Troll city, if you ask me.
Old School
@Nicole: The Slate article says that Manchin is wavering, so I guess I misunderstood whether he would help it pass or help it fail.
J R in WV
@Brachiator:
WOW, that’s pretty cool. Imagine seeing that firsthand!!!
Another Scott
@Brachiator: Neat.
The story mentions it happening in the Arctic. There was story/TV show about the Titanic speculating that something similar (but different) happened with the iceberg – that’s why they didn’t see it in time.
Stratified optical media do interesting things!
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
@Geminid: “Robb”?? (Robb’s term in the Senate ended in 2001.)
I think you mean Mark Warner? ;-)
Mark tried to be in every single bipartisan “Gang of N” in his first term, and just barely won re-election. It’s good to see he’s toned that down a lot.
Cheers,
Scott.
Geminid
@Another Scott: Thanks. My proofreader evidently has taken the day off.
Warner definitely is at risk for gang membership. But gangs are not necessarily bad. If the Gang of Eight’s comprehensive immigration reform package had been allowed a vote in the House, a lot of people would be better off today. As would be the Social Security program.
Brachiator
@J R in WV:
I don’t often reply. But every now and again, an issue might be raised that might benefit from a brief reply.
James E Powell
@Geminid:
Yes. They should be marching lockstep to give Biden whatever he wants. If they have some objection, collect an IOU from President Joe. I’m sure he’d be generous.
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus:
Most people like him never realize that they brought it upon themselves. Or at the very least refuse to admit it.
Ruckus
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
And we are how far away from a few times?
Miss Bianca
@Betty Cracker: Yep. I got that far in the article and thought, “do I want to go farther? It *is* Politico, after all.” Have it bookmarked for later digestion.
Geminid
@Another Scott: On the other hand, Warner might have looked at the other Democrats who lost that year and told himself, good thing I was that moderate. That was just a bad year for Democrats. Although it’s possible that a lot of liberals would not vote for him because of his bipartisanship.
Ruckus
@SFAW:
@Doc Sardonic:
As Dorthy stated the common growth rate is slow, years from when first seen to when it’s time to fix. But it’s not the same growth rate for everyone. Mine have been tracked for several years now and they are nowhere near ready to be anything other than followed. One doc did tell me that as they progress they normally go from you don’t know, to a slight bother to fix this now at a more rapid rate.
Ruckus
@Old School:
One thing I like to remember is that JM is focusing on $300 to $400 unemployment, all the while earning $174,000/yr, which is far higher than the median income in his state. He does this every time money is discussed that doesn’t come from labor, no matter the reason or amount. He is not working for the majority of people of his state, he is working for those paying the most taxes, which in his state is not a very large number of voters.