The Post says President Biden just handed Vice President Harris an extremely hot potato:
President Biden announced Wednesday that Vice President Harris will become the point person for the administration in seeking to stem the flow of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. As part of that role, she will work with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras as the administration grapples with an influx of asylum seekers.
I have mixed feelings about that. As a human being, I want someone high profile and competent to manage the situation, so yay, Harris! The fact that Biden made her point person tells me the issue is a huge priority for the administration.
But from a purely political perspective, Biden just handed his VP a thorny, difficult issue that was decades in the making and is complicated by a ton of factors outside immediate U.S. control, including climate change. Lots of decent and intelligent people, including President Obama, have tried to solve the border issue with decidedly mixed results.
What do y’all think?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
I think it’s a mistake. Harris, as VP, is likely going to be at the top of list to be the next presidential nominee. As a POC woman, she already has enough of an uphill battle. This doesn’t help at all imo
VeniceRiley
I suppose it’s good to have Harris on this due to her vast CA experience as AG and IDK Tony Blinken got a lot on his plate right now. Harris will know all the players from business to advocacy groups to senators to …..
Served
She’s been so highly visible on all channels, it seems clear they are actively preparing and positioning her to run as an “incumbent” in 2024. She’s going to be saddled with any baggage from the administration anyway, so they might as well have her lead the charge on some of these high profile issues.
guachi
Border crossings will inevitably decrease by summer/fall regardless of what the government actually does so Harris can claim success no matter what.
trollhattan
Am inclined to believe this was a mutual decision given the admittedly limited details of their working relationship. High risk-high reward sort of thing.
sab
She is a child of immigrants. She will be atuned to the issues, and less likely to stumble over an issue she should have seen. ( E.g. Vilsack with Sherrod.) I think it is a great choice. Also too, why protect her. She’s a big girl and competent.
Betty Cracker
@trollhattan: & @sab: Good points.
Matt Smith
I can’t imagine this would happen if she didn’t want it. So I’m okay with it, unsure how this positions her or what will come of it, but she’d know better than I.
Blue Galangal
Do you think he “handed” it to her or do you think they agreed mutually for her to take this potato? I feel like it’s the latter.
UncleEbeneezer
@guachi: Agreed. Nobody will be able to fix this huge, complex issue. But she will be well positioned to take a bunch of credit for the inevitable improvement (from the mess TFG created), reuniting families etc. It will also give her some additional Foreign Policy chops for her record.
Betty
I trust her to rely on the experts and put together a strong team. It is complicated but so important to get right. Wishing her success!
trollhattan
Milling the rumor grist, neither Schiff nor our Mayor Steinberg will become CA’s next AG. Leaves a rather large list of possibilities.
PJ
Biden didn’t pick Harris just to boost electoral turnout. He sees her as his successor, and one of his goals over the next four-eight years is to get the American electorate to see that too. The immigration problem is not intractable (though Republican intransigence makes it seem that way), and Biden is giving her this job so that she can succeed at it.
BTW, Immigration is not a problem to be “solved”, it is a social condition that needs to be properly managed, and which is only going to increase with global warming. If the media think this is a crisis now, just wait til they see what it’s like when the world is 5 degrees hotter.
RAM
Joe presumably picked her for his VP because he was impressed with her competence and ability to work on tough issues. Given her experience, knowledge, and ability, I doubt there’s another person in Biden’s administration who’s more qualified to handle the job. Yes, there may be some danger to her future political prospects, but I doubt polishing her resume was the main reason she agreed to take the job in the first place. And if she succeeds–which I think is likely–that resume’s going to be so bright we’ll all have to wear shades.
Amir Khalid
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Kamala Harris has barely begun this assignment; and here you are, already fretting that she’s bound to fail and it will look bad for her when she runs for President in ’24 or ’28. Chill out.
Scout211
@sab:
Seconded.
I also think that international experience is something that she currently lacks and the administration has already leaked out to several journalists that adding to her international experience would be a big part of her role as VP. She needs that to beef up her future prospects in a possible presidential run.
If she doesn’t make much progress, it’s still a win-win. It’s no worse that right now or for the past many years and she will have had experience communicating with leaders of other countries.
randy khan
I think competent administrations put competent people in charge of tricky issues. Incompetent administrations hand the tricky issues over to Jared Kushner.
SiubhanDuinne
Yeah, VP Harris wasn’t caught by surprise here. This has to have been a mutual decision. And if she’s fine with it, I’m fine with it.
Victor Matheson
@randy khan: Wins the comment section for the day!
SiubhanDuinne
Perhaps you don’t mean it this way, but it sounds to me as though you expect VP Harris to fail in this assignment. Am I wrong?
sab
@RAM: Obama put Biden in charge of the 2009 stimulus package because we needed someone to keep it well run and honest. Biden did that. This seems similar.
Martin
Everyone chill the fuck out, she’s got this.
This is not an intractable problem. It’s a basic logistics issue with some legal complexities.
jl
@Amir Khalid: I agree. Like some others, I worry about future political implications for Harris.
But Biden and Harris know more about the situation than we do. Is Biden dropping this on her, or did Harris really want the job, and say ‘Look Joe, don’t worry, I got this’.
If anyone knows some inside dope on that angle, please dish.
scav
She’s a grown-up.
MomSense
As AG of California, she is well versed in these issues. I also think her law enforcement background will be a huge asset as she is dealing with a possibly rogue ICE situation.
piratedan
extra juice, you gotta have the popcorn handy when she starts reforming ICE and the BP and Immigration Service, because you know and I know that this is where we’re gonna go. I’m guessing with her street cred in one of her former gig as State AG is going to fun to see as she spars with the likes of Texas and Florida over what needs to be done.
Cheryl Rofer
She needs a big assignment to build her cred. And, to be honest, to build her experience base. She can’t stand off to the side of Biden’s appearances and expect to be elected in 2024 on that base. As I watch the administration, I’ve been thinking it’s time for her to take on something she can call her own.
We’ve got plenty of problems to solve, and immigration is one of them. She’s acquainted with it from being California’s AG. And, as others are saying, she must have agreed to take it.
Clearing up even part of it can be presented as a success in 2024. And she is likely likely to have other assignments before then.
UncleEbeneezer
@RAM: Not even “presumably.” I think he specifically said as much when he announced her as his VP pick.
Falling Diphthong
@Served: And we have no idea if this is something where she volunteered–but I’d guess it is. Deliberately taking on the thorny mess that’s been a long time in the making.
Rather than say voting rights, which is very important, but there are only two sides and one is patently insincere. She might feel that a victory there would land as “well anyone could do that” and a mess as “she couldn’t even manage a gimme like voting rights.”
Jeffro
I don’t think there’s much this team says or does that isn’t well-thought out in advance. If President Biden put Vice President Harris in charge of alleviating this crisis, it’s pretty likely that – as the WaPo reported just yesterday – they’re going to be well on top of this pretty normal, seasonal surge and then get all the credit* when it abates a few months from now.
*from rational, reality-based people…the RWNJs will still lie, lie, and lie some more, of course
RandomMonster
I think the leadership (including Harris herself) think she has the experience to make a difference, or at least manage it well.
jl
If Harris is eager to get on the problem, we need to respect her decision. I think the midterms will depend on the Dems showing that they can get some shit done and solve some problems. We know the GOP will go on a dishonest scare campaign on immigration, and the news media and punditocracy will go with a lot of BS. Most of the media have eagerly gone back to their lazy ass SOP, and swallowed the lie that the situation now is as bad in terms of numbers coming across the border now as during the Trump years, when it was actually far worse.
Someone has to try to get shit done on this. If Harris is the best person to work on it, then best to go with her.
Baud
She will tear a new asshole into anyone who says we need to treat children like animals. I support this move.
RandomMonster
Also, I think she makes the issue higher profile, and clearly signals a much different approach than TFG.
topclimber
Harris strikes me as the type who would expect to succeed at a challenge, rather than shy away for fear she might not. We are going to need a lot such can-do attitude to wade through the morass of issues ahead. Lots more of compassionate competence too.
What I like most about this news is that Harris ain’t going to take no shinola from border agents and their unions. The big threat to an orderly Biden border policy is not so much working through the logistics of allowing asylum again. More worrisome is that a key part of his administrative team is hostile to him, immigrants, and the law.
I would expect Harris to quickly move to restore the immigration courts Miller and Sessions so badly damaged.
jl
@Jeffro: “this pretty normal, seasonal surge”
Very good point.
jonas
I haven’t read all the reporting on this, but maybe she stepped up and asked to take it on. No idea. But it is risky. She’s basically diving right into the one issue that Republicans hope will be able to beat Democrats with in 2022 and 24 — “open borders!! waves of scary brown people!! Aarrrrgh!” Because the pandemic will be mostly over and the economy will probably be doing great so all they’ll have is scary brown people and “they’re comin’ fer yer gunzz!”
Betty Cracker
@Cheryl Rofer: & @sab: To y’all’s points, I too figured she’d get a big, high-profile issue to spearhead, and this one’s a doozy. I don’t doubt for a minute it was a mutual decision, and her AG experience in CA will come in handy for sure.
UncleEbeneezer
@MomSense: Exactly. Despite being labeled a “Kop” by her haters, she actually has significant experience in making some very positive reforms to the CA Justice System, from the inside. She knows she’s going to be bashed for not Abolishing ICE, regardless of what she does/doesn’t do, so hopefully she’s looking to make significant improvements to our broken immigration system that she can run on in 2024.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Amir Khalid:
@SiubhanDuinne:
Oh sorry, I definitely didn’t mean it that way. I respect the hell out of her. I just don’t want to see her get Hillaried, y’know?
James E Powell
@trollhattan:
I think this is the only way that Democrats regain the upper hand on national political dialogue. Pretty much owned it from FDR till Reagan. Since then, we’ve mostly been playing defense, reacting, and cleaning up after Republicans.
Dorothy A. Winsor
This is a real test for Harris. How it shakes out will have a big effect on how voters see her.
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Every Dem woman will be Hillary’d. The only open question is whether it will only be Republicans doing it.
jl
@Baud: “She will tear a new asshole into anyone”
She can do TV procedural show sound and serious no BS AG extremely well, in addition to exceptional competence. When Harris does that, it just burns that image into our limbic system and it is one and done. That part is PR and public image, but that is important too
Edit: on that PR score, Harris is in Bill and Barack territory, IMHO.
sab
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): She is a competent adult, albeit female. If she can’t handle it she shouldn’t be VP.
Jeffro
Meanwhile, the Founders would like y’all to know how they decided you needed a car dealership to be a state.
Yes, that was actually a GQP rep’s reasoning for denying DC statehood AND HE SAID IT OUT LOUD
Yes, of course, with a title like that you know it must be Alexandra Petri! ;)
Paul W.
In my mind Harris is eager to take on this fight. In part because this admin knows it actually isn’t so much an acute crisis as a giant fucking mess at DHS and ICE and getting her (the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigration) in there to re-conceptualize the department and hopefully bust some heads sounds like a great idea to me. I would presume she wants this, because there really are no “simple” problems for her to just check a box and fix and this one is critical and probably one close to her heart.
If I see articles pointing out to the contrary I’ll revise my assumption, but that’s where it stands now and I think it does help to have her focused solely on this to shup up media and allow Biden to twist arms on infrastructure, voting rights and gun control.
ByRookorbyCrook
Nothing major is going to be made in the short term, but long-term gains can make serious strides with Madam Vice President in the fray. As everyone has said, this problem has been a long time in the making and has more moving parts than the Middle East right now. Not for nothing, no one was thinking that the Good Friday Accords were going to happen at the beginning of Clinton’s term. Things can move fast with motivated partners. I am glad we have VP Harris at the helm on this. Biden was at the helm for the bailout oversight during Obama’s first term. High risk/High Reward
Matt McIrvin
Unfortunately every politically possible solution to this is immoral, since we should open all borders completely and give everyone who comes in to stay immediate US citizenship, but that will never happen.
raven
You can’t win if you don’t play.
Frank Wilhoit
I hope to see an explicit, concrete strategy with metrics. Bilateral negotiations {A} will not yield quick results and {B} must be confidential, which two things taken together mean that they will appear to accomplish nothing. There will need to be some unilateral action as well, and it will need to be explained with absolutely brutal forthrightness, concision, clarity, and repetition.
topclimber
@Cheryl Rofer: To echo an earlier post by the perspicacious TopClimber:
The ICE and its ilk need a short leash. The won’t like it. Harris is someone who will find their bureaucratic games amusing after dealing with California cops for 15 years We are talking about a hatchet-ms who can also wield a stiletto.
Amir Khalid
@Cheryl Rofer:
I agree. Biden took on big jobs as VP, and I believe it was always the plan that Harris would do the same. Not just to beef up her resumé for her own presidential run, but first of all because this is the kind of thing she came on board to do.
Drdavechemist
@Matt McIrvin: Check the end of the morning thread for a link to the chart you were looking for about excess mortality by state. It was originally in Anne Laurie’s Friday/Saturday post.
Bill Arnold
Maybe 60-70 percent of the job will be shaping media narratives/PR, and attempting to shred RW propaganda (some poorly disguised as media). She’s good on camera with her serious/dangerous expressive gaze and excellent delivery, and she has experience leading a large law enforcement org; CBP/ICE/DHS Trump loyalists will regret making any bullshit moves.
Congress with be a chore if there is still a filibuster and as long as she’s needed for tiebreaks, but it will keep her in contact with the Senate.
Looking forward to it.
jl
@Jeffro: IIRC, there was a riot by dissatisfied militia that penned Congress inside the Philadelphia capitol building. I forget why the militiamen were upset. A neutral site where Congress would have more protection from that kind of unpleasantness would solve that problem. Well, that reason for making DC went out the window on Jan 6, 2021.
Then there were some $ issues for the North and the South and a neutral DC could grease the wheels to get a deal.
But… naw, that is just the actual history and facts on the ground. We all know that the Founders only ever acted on high principles that happen to align with the GOP talking points of the week.
Sorry, I was just winging it there. Never mind. Brain fart on my part.
Old School
@Jeffro:
Of course, that also means that Fox will be screaming about it all falling apart when it surges again a year from now.
Ruckus
So we don’t at least try to fix what’s broken?
I committed the other day about gun control, certainly another hot button issue and got raked for being defeatist. I never said that we shouldn’t try, just that I thought it was likely too late. This issue is not nearly as far down the rabbit hole as that but the last 20+ years hasn’t made it much easier. Once again though, just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.
And it needs a strong upper hand, someone with/in a position of power and VP Harris certainly fills that bill.
sab
@Amir Khalid: Goku: You should stop expecting the girls to fail. People do that a lot and mostly we don’t.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@sab:
That’s not what I said or meant. I’m not expecting her to fail. That’s not it at all. All I meant was I didn’t want her to get the same treatment Hillary got. The GOP is already jonesing to use the situation at the border for 2022. Republicans scare the shit out of me and we need to retain control on the federal government as long as possible.
I think she’s definitely capable and talented. Perhaps I’m worrying too much, I don’t know. The GOP reminds me too much of authoritarian parties in control of countries such as Hungary and Poland
Matt McIrvin
@Drdavechemist: Ah, thanks!
Mike in NC
I thought that an excellent assignment for VP Harris would be to conduct a goodwill tour of our NATO allies that the Fat Orange Bastard denigrated for four years, but this works, too. It will be a tough job, no question.
VeniceRiley
Harris is also a keen developer of innovative solutions to intractable problems.
sab
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I know you didn’t mean it. I am just saying you should be wary of even saying it.I have been held back my whole life by men thinking women weren’t up to whatever.Protection can be a constraint
ETA my first job was with my younger brother, who got the paper route I wasn’t eligible for, being a girl. I delivered more than half the papers. Then he paid me.
ETA He is still a Republican asshole who doesn’ realize he was born on second or third base.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
True. I apologize if I came across criticizing Harris. I’m sure she wants this and I bet she’ll do a fine job
Miss Bianca
@Cheryl Rofer: I’m seeing a lot people expecting Harris to be the candidate in 2024. I dunno, I’m not giving up on Joe B being our candidate in 2024, health and general state of mortality allowing.
burnspbesq
I’m down with anything that might give her a chance to rip Paxton’s fucking head off.
PJ
@Jeffro: For what it’s worth, DC had (and probably still has) at least a couple of car dealerships off of New York Avenue.
ETA: Also in Anacostia.
J R in WV
I haven’t read the comments yet, so this is my opinion right out of the gate. President Obama put Biden in charge of immigration policy early on, so this is more of same, isn’t it?
If VP (former San Francisco DA, former California AG, former Senator) Harris isn’t qualified to deal with this (along with her help from State, Justice, DHS, etc) then who is? She won’t be flying solo by instruments, and Biden will guide her into his intended plan as well. Surely they spoke about this task before Biden announced it?
They appear to be a solid team.
Dan B
@Cheryl Rofer: I agree with the “management issue” and several others. It also seems to me there is a public perception and media / mass communication component that may be one of the most important aspects of dealing with BP and ICE resistance. Last Sunday’s talk shows presented these agents as reasonable people. We know they tend towards sadism as a factor in protecting the US. There are plenty of stories about young families wanting to keep their teenage boys from being grabbed by gangs. The other messages that need to be countered are “taking our jobs” and “they’re only coming for the good pay”. Managing the messaging will require persistence.
The Pale Scot
I’d have to assume that Biden asked her if she wanted the job, instead of an early call in to office and handed a manila folder “take care of this, would you?”
jl
So, yes, I do think Manchin is kind of a horse’s ass, why do you ask? I don’t know whether he does this stuff because he’s wants to be a diva, or needs to prepare the way for selling it to his home state. If he can do similar for filibuster reform, maybe it’s just that it takes all kinds to make a world.
Edit: by ‘stuff’ I mean playing coy, talking out of both sides of his mouth, and then making sure he has center stage when he makes the big reveal. I heard several times on the morning news that Manchin loudly announced bigly that he would have a big announcement today, and my eyes almost rolled out of my head.
‘ Manchin calls for ‘enormous’ infrastructure package paid for with new taxes
The Democratic senator said he favors rolling back parts of Donald Trump’s 2017 tax law to fund a bill to “rebuild America.” ‘
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/manchin-calls-enormous-infrastructure-package-paid-new-taxes-n1261949
jeffreyw
Looks like infrastructure week is a go.
Miss Bianca
@sab:
Hear, hear. Or as Lord Peter Wimsey once so memorably put it*,
“A desire to have all the fun is nine-tenths of the law of chivalry.”
*I am sure that our very own Mob Enforcer will be along to correct me if I have misquoted him! : )
Another Scott
I think it shows that he trusts her to find a way for the federal government to do the best job possible given all the constraints. Not that the problem will get solved, but a sensible plan will be put in place and acted on, and the results will show what other actions Congress needs to take and how much it will cost.
I don’t think that she’s being set up to find a solution or else. Her job is to get all the cats pulling in the same direction. Short of Biden doing it himself (and the President clearly cannot be focused on immigration with all of the other huge problems going on now), the VP is the person best able to do so.
My $0.02.
Now to see what the other jackals think. ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
Baud
@jl:
@jeffreyw:
Nice. Again shows that the worst Democrat is better than the best Republican.
Baud
@sab:
Girl paperboys?! I need a fainting couch.
Edmund Dantes
Nothing Obama didn’t do to Biden when he handed him the gun control issue after Sandy Hook.
Happens to VP’s. Kind of goes with the job.
PST
I don’t believe any of the crap I’m about to spew, but if these were different people and a different party, then someone might fantasize that Biden was already working to undermine Harris so she can’t challenge him in 2024. Handing her a thankless, impossible job is just what Trump would do.
raven
@Baud: I once got ripped for having softball scores in the paper listed as men’s and ladies’s. I told the person she was dead wrong, it was women’s and men’s. She was.
raven
@PST: Like Omes would say, “don’t be that guy”.
zhena gogolia
@sab:
Yes, my God.
HumboldtBlue
@Baud:
Wait’ll you meet these girl Eagle Scouts
zhena gogolia
@randy khan:
Yes, my God.
The Pale Scot
The tragedy is that most of this could be solved by hammering the corps and farmers that hire illegal immigrants. Meat packing plants get raided and shut down, 5 days later they are back up and running. Make E-verify mandatory. Immigrant advocates will object but 98% of checks go thru immediately, 95% of the rest are cleared in 48 hours. I’d expect that number to change if all the meatpackers etc were using it. That would make the corp lobbyists to force the states and the Feds to deal with reality, instead of the employment scheme for aspiring facists that exists now.
Miss Bianca
@PST:
If you “don’t believe any of the crap that you’re about to spew” then…why, pray tell, are you spewing it? That seems to veer perilously close to the lee shore of “I’m Just Asking Questions”.
I’m with the contigent that says, “Hell, no, Biden didn’t just “hand” Harris this job like he was telling her to take out the garbage – he consulted with her and others about it and HELL, WHY NOT, maybe she *asked* Coach Biden to put her in, ’cause she’s got this!”
I think she’s a fantastic choice, myself. Tough, competent, and I would not bet on Border Patrol and ICE getting the better of her.
raven
@The Pale Scot: Yes, it’s all so simple.
debbie
@sab:
RWNJs are already mocking her laugh. Kamala should have an opportunity to shut them up.
debbie
@The Pale Scot:
Produce doesn’t pick itself. ?
eddie blake
she’s got this. she’ll do fine.
OTOH, i am having a SHITTY day. my thinkpad just died.
eta-yeah. i’ve always thought they should hammer the OWNERS of the companies who are exploiting the undocumented. i know that’s not how we do things here, but we should.
Dan B
@Frank Wilhoit: Getting the public on board is huge. Harris will be taking on ICE and BP. They seem to have an inside track with MSM honchos. Getting suburban voters to identify with asylum seekers who want to escape violence, but aren’t fluid in English and show that border agents are distrustful will be a slow and heavy lift. They can’t be demonized but Harris has a demeanor that is equal parts person-you’d-enjoy-at-your-BBQ and person with strong morals and spine.
Who would be good allies? I think of Katie Porter and maybe a Mitt Romney or Lisa Murkowski. Then again the Pennsylvania Lt. Governor is a straight talking guy and his wife is a truly wonderful immigrant with her community initiatives a brilliant example of the best of New arrivals.
There are great opportunities to reshape the conversation around immigrants.
The Pale Scot
@UncleEbeneezer:
I’ll settle for lie detector and personality tests. ICE is part of HSA, which is an object in the security/intelligence community. NSA types all get tested and repeatedly vetted, why not the American Brownshirts? They could be bribed to help terrorists, Ya can’t be too careful you know.
“So tell me officer, when did you stop beating your wife.”
Miss Bianca
@Dan B: I like the way you think.
J R in WV
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I’ve decided you are at least 95% trolling. People have been nice to you because you attempt to present as young and naive, which I don’t believe either.
Today it’s VP Harris, but it’s always someone!
Into the pie safe you go, forever more.
HumboldtBlue
Dana Carvey does a helluva Biden impression.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@sab:
Thank you for sharing that. I never really thought of it that way
smith
@PST: ???? When was the last time a sitting VP challenged an incumbent president?
piratedan
@Dan B: I fully believe that there needs to be a certain amount of tone setting that needs to be done, to wit:
prosecution of those who died while in ICE and BP custody.
sanctioning of those who lost documentation of children separated from their families.
set the tone. put those who remain on notice that there’s a new boss in town and these immigrants and asylum seekers will be treated as people.
you know that this is going to be a battle of wills because the people who are in charge at the BP and ICE will NOT go quietly because that is their fiefdom and they will lie, obstruct and distract relentlessly.
Harris will have to change the narrative, both in the eyes of the media and with the boots on the ground.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@J R in WV:
No, I’m fucking not! Look, sometimes people word things the wrong fucking way, alright?
I explained where I was coming from, I wasn’t dissing Harris. And when people explained where I was wrong, guess what? I fucking admitted I was wrong. I don’t “attempt” to present as anything. I am who I am
Jeffro
@PJ: NOBODY
PUTS BABY IN A CORNERFACT-CHECKS PETRI !J R in WV
I like the idea of requiring security clearances for all the LEOs involved with border and immigration issues. And there is now reason why anyone who can pass that bar should resist such an inquiry. And these “cops” should be given a background investigation long before their interview is even scheduled.
Jeffro
@Old School: yes…when the ‘surge’ abates, it’ll be due to trumpov’s or perhaps Reagan’s? why not?) policies having a lingering ‘echo’ effect of some sort; when the ‘surge’ returns, it’s strictly due to President Biden’s weakness, etc etc.
Meanwhile, if you Google “immigration crackdown crops ruined”, you can find stories from any agricultural industry and almost every state in America. Verily, ’tis a mysterious and unfathomable dynamic at work here…NOT
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
She’s highly competent, so I think she’ll do just fine.
Elizabelle
There has been so much dishonest rhetoric on immigration. It is the ebola of the political dialogue.
There also may not be a national consensus on how to handle it yet, so better to have an intelligent person heading an intelligent team, who can address the many sub-issues.
I think it’s an incredible challenge/opportunity disguised as a “problem from hell.” We live in a new world, and we will be dealing with climate-change induced population migration for the rest of our lives.
And some of Central America’s economic and sociopolitical issues were exacerbated by 20th century US interference, particularly from conservatives (who see anything not familiar as “communism!” and “socialism!”). Time for Americans to get educated on those actions, and on how long it takes cause and effect to play out.
I would love to see migrants dispersed to states that are losing population. There is a need for them in states like Maine and rust belt/high plains; not just in the cities that are original destinations.
One of the people killed in the truck-clown car loaded SUV accident in Centro, CA a few weeks back: she was a young woman who had been a law student in her country of origin. A law student. She and her mother (who survived the wreck) wanted to be reunited with the father, who had crossed the border and stayed here years ago.
At a minimum, we should allow those working in agriculture and food processing, etc. the dignity of being able to travel back and forth. Get them visas. We do not provide enough visas for agricultural work. I think we provide too goddamn many H-IBs. It would be great to not use visa quotas as a political football, but determine what we actually do need. Now. In 2021.
UncleEbeneezer
@The Pale Scot: “Officer, have you stopped being a Nazi? Remember, you are under oath.”
Betty Cracker
@Miss Bianca: Biden will be 82 in 2024, so it’s not crazy to think he’d want to hand the baton off to Harris, and he’s said some stuff that could be interpreted as obliquely expressing that intent. But I certainly don’t make that assumption either. We shall see.
@burnspbesq: Oooo, I hadn’t thought of that angle. God knows someone needs to rip that corrupt shit-stain’s head off!
Dan B
@jl: Great news from Manchin! I bet this will sell well in WV if there’s bucks for bridges and mine restoration, plus post fracking remediation. I wonder if it includes ridgetop wind* and High Voltage DC transmission lines to BosWash.
*There is vertical axis wind turbine tech that’s quiet and bird friendly, plus it’s less visible.
Elizabelle
And: we cannot absorb as many migrants from Central America who would like to be here. We cannot. So we should do what we can to help them develop their economies, and combat the gangs and criminals that siphon off much-needed resources.
Restore the visa lottery! Double or triple it!! We pride ourselves on being a melting pot. I would like to see us welcome many more from Africa and the Middle East and all over; not just those so desperate they are willing to die in a desert or a high speed vehicle crash to cross a border.
We should partner with Canada too. They may be willing to help resettle an influx of migrants/refugees.
Some migrants will stay; some may eventually return to their home countries, once stabilized.
Low Key Swagger
The border is only one very small part of this problem. We are seeing climate related refugees now. I can’t remember who said it on one of the Sunday shows, but she was dead right. We need a Marshall Plan for Central America, and we need it right away. China is investing heavily in South America, and has quite a grip on emerging mining industries, but is investing in manufacturing and even the service sector as well. Besides being the right thing to do, it seems to me to be a security issue for us, and, properly framed might play well with across the electorate.
J R in WV
@Low Key Swagger:
I have spoken of a Marshall Plan for the Hispanic nations south of us right here before. Make those nations the paradise they ought to be!
Control the climate as well, to aid all the equatorial peoples!
ETA: If I understand correctly many of the nations we speak of don’t even have property ownership rights, unless your family was granted the land by a Spanish King 500 years ago. That needs fixed also, pronto.
The Pale Scot
@raven:
The current event is about refugees, not immigrants. Different problem, which the GQP equivocates with immigration in general to paint them all as Scary Criminals. Make this about refugees, and the reasons why they are refugees are all about a century + of US interference in Central America. Chesty Puller and Lou Diamond chasing “banditos” AKA farmers kick off the land to sell it to US Fruit. And decades of support for anti communist dictators. Not that I’d expect that to get any traction here like nobody ever heard of Mosaddegh, but it would be nice. Now climate change is dating out the hills where small farmers grow coffee. It’s the white man’s M.O. Fuck things up, throw up their hands and leave.
I was trying to be brief.
Low Key Swagger
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I didn’t agree with your take, but good lord have we checked the bubble for leaks? You had a concern, you expressed it. This is supposed to be a place filled with folks who can respect an opinion not their own.
Maybe stop apologizing. It emboldens the bullies.
Cheryl Rofer
@Miss Bianca: Joe is even older than me, and the presidency is a grueling job. Look how the presidents who don’t dye their hair have grayed.
I think Biden went into this ready to give everything he’s got to get the country back on the right track, even if it kills him.
He’s in good physical and mental condition, but four years will likely be enough. Of course, if he succeeds, the four years after that will be easier.
Elizabelle
FWIW, Balloon Juice is doing that thing again with “Do you want to send a form again?”
Uh, refreshing the page.
MacBook, Safari.
Low Key Swagger
@J R in WV: Yes. We saw a huge surge after NAFTA since we flooded their market with our cheap, subsidized corn. It’s like we can’t see past the next quarterly report.
Elizabelle
Haven’t read this yet, but looks good. WaPost, Greg Sargent:
Opinion: Why Kamala Harris’s new immigration assignment could be a big deal
Another Scott
@eddie blake: Understanding you’ve given little information (certainly not enough to make a diagnosis) and are (rightly) venting, I feel compelled to relate the following:
Years ago I thought I killed a Fujitsu laptop when some static electricity zapped the keyboard. Rebooting didn’t help. It seemed dead.
:-(
What did help was removing the battery and letting it sit a while before putting it back. Good as new afterwards. Might be worth a try.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
Hoodie
Makes sense. Biden can’t afford to get bogged down in immigration because he needs to keep pushing forward with things like infrastructure. My impression is that he’s doing his level best to essentially coopt the middle class from the GOP with things like providing subsidies under the ACA for folks about 400% FPL, enlarging child tax credits, etc. Infrastructure is the next step, e.g., a bunch of government-funded jobs for union workers. Immigration is the kind of culture war shit that the GOP will try to use to divert and distract (it’s already getting traction with the Morning Joe set, for example). Pushing it off to Harris doesn’t make it look like he’s ignoring it, but takes immediate heat for it off of him and puts it on her. From Harris’s point of view, she’s going to be blamed anyway for any immigration issues in ’24 if Biden doesn’t run, so might as well take a shot at fixing the problem.
raven
@The Pale Scot: The Banana Marines.
Cheryl Rofer
@Mike in NC: Antony Blinken was in Asia with our allies, and he’s in Europe this week with our allies there. Secretary of State is the right person to do that, especially after the former guy’s tantrums.
Immigration will involve foreign policy, helping to stabilize the Central American countries that the refugees are coming from. I have no doubt that Harris will work with Blinken and the State Department on that. Again, more creds and more experience.
Bill Arnold
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Don’t worry about it. J R in WV’s troll-detector sometimes misfires. [1] (Pretty sure his pie filter will block this.)
[1] Hard problem to be fair, and snark detection can be even harder. I literally have a mirror of the postings on this site that I sometimes grep to look at a nym’s posting history.
raven
Another Scott
@Elizabelle: +1
We need to recognize reality. Workers are needed to do the backbreaking and injury-inducing jobs – now. We have people doing those jobs, those vitally important jobs. The absolute least we can do is to make their work legal, with all of the legal protections and benefits that they deserve.
We are the party that recognizes reality. We see the reality, we need to protect those people who are living it.
Adjustment to immigration quotas, etc., are overdue as well, but people who are already here need to be treated like humans soon.
Cheers,
Scott.
raven
@Bill Arnold: Hmmm. Pretty sure about that huh?
Miss Bianca
@Cheryl Rofer: I’m just not sure that four years is long enough – that even a four years that brings the US a burgeoning economy, a renewed and vigorous social welfare net, universal healthcare, and free prekindergarten and community college – is going to be enough for America to get used to the idea that SCARY BLACK COP LADY OH NOES is going to be the next Democratic candidate. I get that Joe’s age would be an issue, but I’ll never go broke underestimating America’s willingness to show its misogynist and racist ass to the world and vote for the worst white Xtian male shambling puddle of puke the Republicans can dutifully barf up in 2024. You know, just like in 2016. I’m already having flashbacks to a time we haven’t been to yet!
That’s just me borrowing trouble again, I guess.
VeniceRiley
@Cheryl Rofer: BidenHarris2020 HarrisBiden2024!
Dan B
@Miss Bianca: Thanks! I started envisioning Kamala allies and Katie popped into my mind. That felt exciting. She knows how to make friends plus smile and laugh while partying blows and shivving her opponents. Then Fetterman came to mind. He comes across as the working stiff and tough guy. He is. And he’s genius at riding on his brand. Then I remembered a big part of his success is his gorgeous and equally (more?) brilliant wife. I’d love to have them, and others like them, on a national tour starting and ending in Texas.
Pramila was my Rep until her district left us, sigh. She’s charismatic but I think that white allies might be the most important allies.
This could be fun!
patrick II
Sidney Powell has just stated that no reasonable person should believe her statement that no reasonable person should believe her.
I think she’s right this time.
Elizabelle
@Another Scott: Yes. I agree. Thus, the comment about being able to freely travel in and out. They’re here. Treat them with dignity and respect.
I always hear that the problem is a visa would require the employers to pay the prevailing wage; and working conditions. Too many employers want cheap, disposable labor.
I would be curious how much of an impact that actually would have on food prices. The scare tactic is “we’re all going to be paying X-scary amount for lettuce!” Are we really? I mean, we could expect some increase, but look how the pizza barons and chain restaurant owners got backlash when they were whinging about having to provide health insurance.
It’s actually rather incredible how much produce already arrives from abroad. Look at what’s in your grocery store.
Bill Arnold
@raven:
You’re right, I’ve never actually tried the pie filter to see its behavior. Thanks for the nudge, will try it now.
ETA yep, replies to Pied Ones are also Pied.
Another Scott
… gradually, and then suddenly.
Good, good.
(via TheRealHoarse)
Cheers,
Scott.
eddie blake
@Another Scott:
i’ve used computers for decades and can do some nifty things with them, but don’t really have a clue as to what makes them work.
it’s an old L420, but like the ship of theseus in laptop form. keyboard, fan and hard drive are replacements. i’m loath to dump more money into it.
worked fine last night. put it to sleep after usual malware check, no problem. swung open the monitor this morning and the power and hard drive kights flickered and then went dark. tried to change the plug w/an aux plug but no joy. will try your idea, is that like a static discharge or something?
my guess is either the battery or the power supply port (or both) are fucked.
yah. trying your technique. letting it sit sans plug and battery.
ty.
debbie
@Another Scott:
May this be the first of many such rulings. ?
Another Scott
One for David “Happy Arbor Day” Koch –
Good, good.
(via nycsouthpaw)
Cheers,
Scott.
Elizabelle
@eddie blake: Good luck!
Dan B
@piratedan: Yep. Absolutely. I was very disturbed by the Sunday Show “journalists” and the very media savvy border agency messaging. Seeking justice will need to be explained to low info Americans. Without the pursuit of justice the message would be weak. Low info types are most often moved by good stories and confused by legal processes and outcomes. There will be Willie Horton stories to negate the victories for justice. It would be good to be prepared to tell stories of asylum seekers who were cruelly denied justice, and immigrants who saved the American Dream, like Lt. Gov. Fetterman’s wife.
debbie
@patrick II:
She needs to work on her Lie Like Trump delivery.
SiubhanDuinne
@Miss Bianca:
I think you have it word-for-word, from the punting scene in Gaudy Night. Well-quoted, too.
Another Scott
@eddie blake: Fingers crossed.
I’ve got a couple of very old ThinkPads around here somewhere. They’re good machines. (I’m typing on a 13″ ThinkBook at the moment.)
Sometimes weird things happen when laptop batteries get weak. It should run without the battery installed (using the charger), I think. If it does, then that might tell you that the battery is the problem. There are lots of places that sell aftermarket batteries.
HTH a little. Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
Dan B
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I find your posts can be viewed as anxious. I also believe that it doesn’t hurt to game out all outcomes. I have an easier time imagining effective strategy when I’m considering the possibilities.
eddie blake
@Elizabelle:
thanks! i’m a bit deflated, but i’m pretty sure even if it’s dead i can get all of my files out. just bummed. still waiting on biden bucks and got laid off a lil while ago, so this is not a financial burden i really want.
mrmoshpotato
@raven:
About that whole “getting back to normal” thing…
The Pale Scot
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
And that’s all that I yam, I’m Popeye the sailor man
toot toot :)
Miss Bianca
@patrick II: I can’t believe she’s batshit insane enough to actually SAY, “I’m batshit insane enough that no one ought to take my allegations of election fraud SERIOUSLY!”
ETA: I’m hearing that sentence delivered with the “Well, GOD, you guys!” inflection of the Grosse Pointe Preppy matrons-to-be I went to school with.
eddie blake
@Another Scott:
yeah. i’ve had a bunch of the thinkpads. this might be my fifth? maybe fourth. i just LOVE the orange nubby. really not a fan of the touchpad. if i need to, hopin i can find a replacement at a reasonable price point.
Benw
I was told we have the finest, best WALL ever. If there’s a crisis now, doesn’t that mean the WALL is a failure, built by a loser?
PST
@Miss Bianca: Maybe I should have made my disclaimer even stronger. The idea is absurd. Nevertheless, I expect to hear it somewhere. I didn’t realize I was touching a nerve. I also think Biden gave the job to Harris because she can handle it and probably wants to handle it, and someone has to do something.
SiubhanDuinne
@HumboldtBlue:
I generally turn Colbert off after the monologue and his bit with Jon Batiste, but for some reason I left it on last night and caught Carvey doing this fantastic Biden impression. Loved it then, and am glad to see it all over again, thanks to your link.
mrmoshpotato
@Miss Bianca: I’m waiting for ” And you stupid, stupid, Capitol-storming assholes. How could you be so stupid to act on the bullshit Crazy Rudy and I were screaming? Your Honor, I rest my case.”
JanieM
@eddie blake: I haven’t been following this conversation but I took note of your Thinkpad comment — I’ve used them for years as well, both at work and (because I liked the work ones so well) at home. I bought a refurbished Thinkpad 230 from Newegg a couple of years ago for about $150 — wanted something tiny to carry around back when I actually left the house — and it has worked fine. In fact, Newegg has sold me a number of devices that I’ve kept for a long time.
Newegg may be well known to you…but this is just in case not.
Either way, happy hunting
ETA: Newegg is here.
mrmoshpotato
@Benw: Four years of sucking the Kremlin’s asshole does not a good border wall make.
Hoocouldanoed!
eddie blake
@JanieM:
hmm. newegg. never heard of them. will look into it.
thanks.
patrick II
@Miss Bianca:
She did, but now she’s saying you shouldn’t have taken her seriously about not taking her seriously. Probably on the advice of her lawyer who has pointed out that is not a good argument in court and would make her previous court assertions get her disbarred if she wasn’t making them seriously. What a wreck — #2 lawyer in Donald’s election super star legal team.
karen marie
“Immigration” is a confused term in that it refers both to people relocating from one country to another and to the laws of a country that lay out who, how and when people can legally come into a country for permanent or temporary residency. Is Harris going to attempt to get an immigration reform bill passed?
Miss Bianca
@Benw: “WALL cannot fail, WALL can only *be* failed.” By Orange Loser, yes.
Mart
Expect already discussed but the border crossings were many times worse when Bush the second was in office. It is common to have Spring surges. Trump’s 2019 surge was worse than Biden’s is now. Not that our President’s have much impact on crossings. Main difference recently is much fewer Mexicans, majority now from other nations that we wrecked thirty-forty years back. Reagan signed an act that provided a pathway to citizenship in 1986, estimated 2.7 of 5 million present at the time achieved residency FFS.
Article detailing crossings two years ago:
https://www.npr.org/2018/06/22/622246815/unauthorized-immigration-in-three-graphs
Hey Dems, quit giving the assholes ammunition.
Villago Delenda Est
Well, since she kills servicemembers by not returning salutes, she’s obviously a terrible choice for anything like this.
NotoriousJRT
@Cheryl Rofer:
This is my take (but much better spoken), as well.
MomSense
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I completely understand why you feel this way. We have been through some trauma with years of media enabled Republican bullshit, the 2016 election, TFG disaster years, the pandemic and the ongoing GQP threat. I want you to keep expressing yourself and sharing your feelings and concerns. As you’ve experienced, no one here is shy about pushing back.
C’mon jackals, Goku is one of the few youngs here. Don’t you remember the way emotions hit with urgency when you were young? It takes a while to become vitriolic and jaded and wise. Let’s just roll with it. Goku’ heart is in the right place and he’s probably better connected to the zeitgeist than the rest of us.
We are just talking to each other here. Nothing that happens on balloon-juice is going to end up on the six o’clock news, unless Cole’s sauerkraut jars all spontaneously explode causing him to run from the house naked followed by three barking dogs and a pissed off cat.
Miss Bianca
@patrick II:
LOL! “The persons in charge of sacking the persons who were to have been sacked, have been sacked.”
Villago Delenda Est
@patrick II: I imagine that champagne corks popped at Dominion’s law office when they heard that. Powell has set herself up for $1.2 billion ouchies.
Betty Cracker
@piratedan:
Yes, thank you! I suspect the issue is the Trump assholes didn’t even bother to create a rudimentary system to match kids with separated parents. I know even worse has been done in our name (people have died). But for some reason, that facet of it haunts me — that those evil bastards took less care to track kids and parents than a dry cleaner takes to reunite me with my fucking coat. Whoever was so wantonly cruel and criminally irresponsible needs to be named, shamed and imprisoned if at all possible.
Benw
@mrmoshpotato: not one single shark with a laser on its head :(
Dan B
@mrmoshpotato: The message from Sidney and Rudi seems to be: You rubes and marks! Ha, ha! HA! HA! HA! etc.
Betty Cracker
@MomSense: Thank you for saying that. I agree.
Miss Bianca
@Villago Delenda Est: I know one of the lead lawyers on the Dominion case (for the plaintiffs, I hasten to add, not for Sidney Powell!), and I am going to *have* to ask him about this the next time I see him.
(He’s going to be *my* lawyer if I ever need it. Nicest guy in the world, but man…pro-tip, you do *not* want to be opposing counsel.)
different-church-lady
My, the worry always gets as big as its tank, doesn’t it?
mrmoshpotato
@Miss Bianca:
WALL can also be scaled.
eddie blake
@Another Scott:
yeah, i think it’s more thsn the battery. i let it sit for a while, all plugs out, battery out. plugged it into the wall, tried to start it. the power light and another briefly flickered and then went out and nothing.
poop.
trollhattan
@Jeffro:
I hear she’s a real dish.
Gotta go.
SamR
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I doubt Biden would tell her to do this if she didn’t want to take on the job.
different-church-lady
@Miss Bianca:
People tend to say a lot of things they didn’t say before their ass wound up in a sling.
MomSense
@Betty Cracker:
I’m just glad there was barely an internet when I was young.
Dan B
@MomSense: I await Cole’s spot on the evening news with the greatest anticipation, especially the glowing heat of Steve enraged (and possibly covered in steaming Kraut).
You paint a good picture.
mrmoshpotato
@Benw: Where’s the alligator moat that shoots fire, you orange shitstain?
trollhattan
Opens award envelope, looks, looks again, now this is a surprise.
Sounds like a solid choice.
Mary G
@sab: You saved me from typing that.
debbie
@MomSense:
Harrumph. I always thought my urgencies were spot on at that age. //
Bill Arnold
@eddie blake:
If you have a monitor that can be attached to it (even an old CRT) try it, see if it lights up. (I don’t know that model; assuming it has a VGA connector.)
Amazon also has a lot of Thinkpad refurbs.
If you match the model/submodel you can sometimes swap the hard drives. (Windows will notice and require you to reauth but it lets you do that a few times in my experience. Linux doesn’t care.)
mrmoshpotato
@Dan B: Yup! “Enjoy prison, you dumb bastards!”
Though maybe Powell and Ghouliani will be joining the arrested insurrectionist trash.
Mary G
@MomSense: ?
mrmoshpotato
@eddie blake: Dell’s laptops completely discharge if you remove the battery and hold down the power button for 30 seconds. Give that a try on your Thinkpad.
debbie
@HumboldtBlue:
Thanks. I didn’t get past the monologue. Carvey’s really good at the Calm Joe, but I still prefer Jason Sedakis’s Energetic Nonsensical Joe. “It’s rat-a-tat-tat time!”
HumboldtBlue
@SiubhanDuinne:
He really nails the timbre and cadence.
Baud
@MomSense:
Speak for yourself. I came out the womb that way.
trollhattan
@mrmoshpotato:
Do you have any idea how many screws I’d have to remove to get at my Dell’s battery? :-)
Last laptop with a removable battery was (counts) three laptops ago. I miss that capability. Same with phones.
matt the somewhat reasonable
This is a chance for Harris to shine. Giving her just easy stuff wouldn’t really help her. She’s going to have to do more than just occupy the office of VP to make the jump to president with our racist, sexist voting public.
mrmoshpotato
@trollhattan: I think it’s 6 on the E5250s. :P
Jeffro
@trollhattan: wait…I was just about to try the veal! Will you be here all week?
LOL
Cameron
@raven: That’s a bit extreme if all you’re there for is bread and milk. Seriously, I never carry more than one piece to my neighborhood Publix.
prostratedragon
@Miss Bianca: I agree with not ruling him out in 2024 as of now. We’ll see how it looks 2 or 3 years from now.
Cheryl Rofer
The more I think about it, the more I like the picture of VP Harris laying down the law (words intended) to CBP and ICE.
Alison Rose
@burnspbesq: Oh man, put that on PPV.
M31
“My previous statements regarding the disregarding of my previous statements, should be disregarded.”
Major Major Major Major
It’s no secret that I’m not her biggest fan. Hope she does a good job. Won’t be easy. Probably good to have somebody with a law enforcement background.
prostratedragon
Peter Lorre night on TCM, starting with The Mask of Dimitrios at 8eastern. Can also vouch for Three Strangers later.
patrick II
@Betty Cracker:
I think they took plenty of care — to disunite them permanently as intimidation and lesson learned for others considering immigrating.
VeniceRiley
Offtopic: Where is Sister for the celebrating? Collins and Murkowski vote yes …
https://inews.co.uk/news/world/dr-rachel-levine-joe-biden-health-official-first-transgender-appointee-confirmed-us-senate-928810
Baud
@VeniceRiley:
Did Duckworth and Hirono back down on their threats to block nominees?
ETA: Yes! Good.
Alison Rose
@Baud: Final vote was 52-48, so it would seem so. Good…while I definitely sympathize with their message, the way they wanted to go about it was not okay.
Baud
J R in WV
@Bill Arnold:
You can’t tell, that toggle-switch for the cupcakes is so easy to use.
Plus you never know which pie is behind the icon. I’m not as bad as all that… most regulars come out of the pie safe after just a little while. ;~)
J R in WV
@Bill Arnold:
Yep, but the name of the poster is available, and you never know which pie the poster (Hi, Bill!) is responding to.
Dan B
@VeniceRiley: I’ve got seven or so Trans acquaintances. I’m still not believing that avtrans woman who transitioned late in life was confirmed by the Senate.
When I was a young Gay guy there were zero protections and zero support, plus nearly complete invisibility. To have politicians at the highest levels of government nominate and vote for a Trans woman would have seemed impossible.
Wow! Prost! To her and her supporters.
Steeplejack (phone)
Lawrence O’Donnell did an excellent segment on the current border “crisis” last night. The whole eight-minute clip is good, but the debunking starts at 2:55: it’s seasonal, and it’s not as bad as under the Former Guy (big surprise).
eddie blake
@mrmoshpotato:
tried that. mz blake convinced me to let our IT take a crack at it one last time.
thanks for the suggestions, everyone. will keep you posted.
eddie blake
@patrick II:
gqp projects ALL the time. kinda figure with the way they’re caterwauling about sex trafficked kids, they straight-up sold those children.
Jeffro
@Another Scott: Seriously! A “well-regulated militia” would keep their blessed arms at home, ready to be called up to repel hostile invaders if necessary…not ‘open-carried’ on our streets, ready to wipe out dozens at a moment’s notice.
It’s fucking ridiculous.
Somebody with some skillz please cut a short animated clip of our current understanding of the 2nd Amendment being explained to George Washington, as his eyes bug out and the whole thing wraps up with ol’ George saying, “You have GOT to be fucking kidding me”
zhena gogolia
@VeniceRiley:
Oh, great!
I love this cabinet!
Dan B
@Dan B: avtrans should be “a trans”
BTW speaking of wanting LGBTQ people to be invisible the Catholic church of America lobbied to stop the inclusion of LGBT people in the National Suicide Hotline. They were disturbed at the inclusion.
Cancel culture? Banishment 3.0? And there are many closeted priests. A least good looking guys report so.
Brachiator
@trollhattan:
Coming late to all the threads after a long day.
This is very cool. Also, I had not seen his name before among lists of potential choices for AG.
Dan B
@zhena gogolia: It’s great there are so many in this administration who represent so many communities and groups that it will be impossible for the RWNJ’s to smear them all. They would have to go to war against an army.
Kirk Spencer
@The Pale Scot: I used to think that. I’ve come to think differently, though. I think instead we should look at loosening if not revoking most of the anti-immigrant laws.
On a phone and late to the thread so brief points only.
Undercuts the basis of legitimacy for much of the homeland security/fatherland mentality.
Restores a mentality that we are a nation of immigrants and descendants of immigrants, in turn a basis of our strength.
Removes or reduces an economic burden.
Dan B
@Brachiator: We’re three blocks from the Filipino Community Center for Seattle. A lot of our neighbors will be excited by Newsome’s choice.
sab
@Baud: Nonsense. You came out of the womb hilarious. Then you went to law school and became jaded.
Another Scott
@eddie blake: I know you’re letting your IT gurus handle it now, but it sounds like the power brick (or the power connection to the motherboard or the power cord(s)) to me.
I did have a desktop once that would do things like that – it wouldn’t get through the BIOS screen before it died. Turned out it was the power supply.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
eddie blake
@Another Scott:
i tried it with two separate ac adapters. it’s either the port or something internal. hopefully it’s not too pricey a part.
Omnes Omnibus
Why wouldn’t Harris be able to do it?
gwangung
@Dan B: They have ALWAYS been going to war against an army.
They’re so dim they haven’t realized it, yet.
We’re a little dim, too, for not mustering that army. We’re all in this TOGETHER.
BruceFromOhio
Forging steel requires heat.
Original Lee
@PJ: Ah, but Anacostia doesn’t count. I leave the reasons as an exercise for the astute reader.
Toxic
@Jeffro:
Name one other city in the US that is a state unto itself? Any historical precident where a city gets all the rights and benefits of a state? Would DC statehood mean that there would be a state legislature and governor in addition to the city council and mayor? Why or why not? How would the powers and responsibilities be separated? Have any of you really put any thought into this or are you just parroting the slogan of the day like some catechism?
So why don’t we have D.C. added to Virginia or Maryland and increase that state’s Federal representation by the corresponding amount? Then the people of the city of Washington DC get federal representation without the absurdity of a literal city-state.
Toxic
@J R in WV:
You’re a stupid asshole. It’s patently obvious from her posts in other threads (and here for fuck’s sake) she was expressing genuine concern. But she’s clearly not clapping with sufficient enthusiasm so you’ve decided to make her an unperson. Bravo you coward.