Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We have all the best words.

This is how realignments happen…

I personally stopped the public option…

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Lighten up, Francis.

Mission Accomplished!

The revolution will be supervised.

Naturally gregarious and alpha

Consistently wrong since 2002

‘Forty-two’ said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

I thought we were promised Infrastructure Week

Hot Air and Ill Informed Banter

What fresh hell is this?

This blog will pay for itself.

This is a big f—–g deal.

A snarling mass of vitriolic vicious jackals

I showered with Rahm and all I got was this shitty blog.

Good luck with your asparagus.

We Survived Breitbartpocalypse!

Reality always wins in the end.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

The Math Demands It!

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

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Women's Rights

Democratic Primary Debate Open Thread Part II: VP Biden Breaks Some News

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VP Biden has now committed that if he is the nominee, his vice presidential running mate will be a woman. And that he is committed to putting the first African American woman on the Supreme Court. Senator Sanders has committed to most likely choose a woman as his running mate were he to get the nomination, but he needs to ensure that it is a progressive woman.

Open thread!

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Election Year Regrets Open Thread: What Might’ve Been

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(Here’s hoping President Biden enters office with her already ramping up a full task force… )

This was only a week ago!

Of all sad words of tongue or pen…

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Chris Matthews Taps Out

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About 45 minutes or so ago, depending on when I hit post, Chris Matthews has retired from MSNBC.

It was so abrupt and sudden and, apparently, unexpected that when they came back from commercial, Chris Kornacki was sitting in front of the camera, looking like he was going to cry, and clearly at a loss for words. He took the show immediately back to another commercial so they could figure out what to do for the rest of the hour.

A lot of people are going to start to opine that Matthews was forced out because of his confusing Jamie Harrison who is running to unseat Senator Graham in South Carolina for Senator Scott, who is the junior senator from South Carolina. Or that his comparing Senator Sanders’ victory in the Nevada caucus to Hitler’s invasion and subsequent occupation of France by going around the gap in the Maginot Line. But the reality is that Laura Bassett’s courage was the coup de grâce.

At the end of last week, Bassett wrote an article and got it published that specifically recounted how Matthews had sexually harassed her on multiple occasions when she was booked on Hardball as a commenter. The safe play for Bassett was to continue to not publicly discuss it, even as many people knew that something had happened according to her recounting events in her article based on an earlier article about a not named cable news host who had harassed her.

Here is Bassett’s response to his resignation:

And here response to his on air apology that was not specifically addressed to her:

Open thread.

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Election Year Open Thread: The Vast Mystery of Elizabeth Warren

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I clicked the link, so you don’t have to. She’s picking on Mike Bloomberg! Doesn’t she know how much money he has?!?

… Beginning five days ago at the ninth presidential debate — this one in Las Vegas ahead of the state’s caucuses last Saturday — Warren has made it her mission to savage the billionaire businessman (and former mayor of New York City) at every turn.

“I’d like to talk about who we’re running against,” she said in that debate. “A billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians, and no I’m not talking about Donald Trump, I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg.”

Which is a sick burn! And made some sense for Warren to do, because Bloomberg was surging in national polling and there was a concerted effort at that debate to slow him down! Except that Warren has kept it up, even in the wake of Sanders’ crushing victory in Nevada, a win that has made plain that he is now the favorite be the Democratic standard-bearer against President Donald Trump this fall.

Asked directly by reporters Sunday night whether Sanders is a risky nominee for the Democratic Party, Warren said this: “I think Michael Bloomberg is the riskiest candidate.” Interrupted by another reporter to note that the question was about Sanders, not Bloomberg, Warren replied “I heard you,” before continuing on in her attack against the former New York City mayor…

Why ignore a chance to attack the front-runner in favor of hitting someone who won’t even appear on the ballot until March 3? Especially what that front-runner is harvesting the very voting bloc — liberals — that Warren needs to start reclaiming if she wants to have a chance at relevance after finishing third, fourth and fourth in the first three votes of 2020?…

Because Cillizza is a sexist as well as a professional moron, he has two possible answers: Either Warren’s just out to destroy Bloomberg personally, because she hates rich people, like the nutty elitist Harvard professor lady-person she is; or else she’s “angling” to be Bernie Sanders’ vice president, because it’s her only chance of getting on the ballot. Hey, it’s not like she’s running a real campaign, is it?

Watching Chris ‘Mad Bitcher’ Cillizza swallow his own tongue, live & on camera, would absolutely make the celebration of Warren’s nomination even more joyful.

Another heartwarmer (from a virology-related twitter feed, in case you’re wondering who science people stan):

Extremely entertaining, but NSFW:

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The Disappearing Of Elizabeth Warren

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New NBC poll shows Sanders in the lead, with a four-way tie for second place.

But let’s see how they tweet it.

Someone missing, no? And do they shorten the men’s names to Bloo or Butt? I think not.

Jeez, NBC. Do better.

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Election Year Open Thread: Klobuchar-mentum!

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She’s not my dream candidate, but it wouldn’t give me pause to vote for her. (I would particularly enjoy a Warren / Klobuchar, Cagney-Lacy ticket, but we all know why that’s not gonna happen.) She’d also be great as a VP candidate — someone on twitter referred to her ‘powerful Vice Principal energy, which I both respect and fear.’

That may actually be her best position, as the race stands right now: VOTE CANDIDATE X — DON’T MAKE AMY COME AFTER YOU. On the other hand, it’s early to suggest that she should settle for second place, correct?

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Election Year Open Thread: Elizabeth Warren in the Arena

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Finish the old proverb for me: For a woman to succeed, she must work twice as hard to do half as well…


(Shout-out to Senator Jeanne Shaheen! Who is another gifted politician who’s shattered glass ceilings in New Hampshire… and also a woman who defeated Scott Brown.)

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Thursday Morning Open Thread

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Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders — excuse me, Sanders *supporters* — attack Joe Biden for using the word ‘adjustments’, which is the same term Sanders used, regarding Social Security funding.

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Election Year Open Thread: What A Coincidence, Guys!

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The media starts talking about Warren’s sterling debate performance, and suddenly it occurs to her competitors that she could very well be a useful second banana…

Still looking for the offer from Buttigieg’s team, but maybe he’s young enough not to automatically assume that any woman would automatically be flattered to be offered a job as his backup. Because Bernie and Biden both have the feeble, misogynistic ‘in my day’ excuse. Unlike, I suspect, the Bernie / Biden staffers who thought it would be smart marketing to put it out there at this point in the race…

Clownshow Mike, demonstrating their ‘rationale’:

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Some Of Our Government Still Works For Us

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The National Archives has an exhibit on suffrage and women’s protests. A big photo of the Women’s March greets visitors. But some things are missing. Criticism of Trump is blurred out. References to women’s anatomy (OMG vagina!) are blurred out.

Let’s hear from the reporter.

Historians and museum curators have been unanimous in saying that the National Archives should not be in the business of altering documents. Most of us can recognize that, just from that sentence.

The National Archives listened!

Kudos to the National Archives!

And open thread!

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Saturday Morning Open Thread: Let This Be A Good Omen

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… Clinton appeared at the press tour in support of the Hulu four-part documentary series “Hillary,” which details the former U.S. Senator and Secretary of State’s time on the 2016 Presidential campaign trail through never-before-seen footage. The series also features interviews with Bill and Chelsea Clinton, as well as friends and journalists.

She fielded a range of questions from the audience, including what she feels the most important message of the series will ultimately be.

“I think the most important message is we are…in a real struggle with a form of politics that is incredibly negative, exclusive, mean-spirited, and its going to be up to every voter, not only people who vote in Democratic primaries to recognize that this is no ordinary time,” she said. “This is an election that will have such profound impact so take your vote seriously. And for the Democratic voters, try to vote for the person you think is most likely to win because at the end of the day that is what will matter. And not just the popular vote, but the electoral college too.”…

“It wasn’t so long ago that we actually had a President that we didn’t have to worry every morning when we woke up about what was going to happen that day, or what crazy tweet would threaten war or some other awful outcome,” she said.

“You can disagree with the facts, but there are facts,” she continued. “You can choose not to vaccinate your children but there are facts. You can choose not to believe in climate change, but there are facts. And somehow we’ve got to shoulder that responsibility not only at a political leadership level but literally at the citizen, activist, concerned human being level.”

 
Elsewhere, the end of the beginning.…

… The deadline for voting is still over a month away. But the chance to participate in the state’s first presidential primary since 1992 — and cast a ballot before first-in-the-nation contests have their say — was enough to motivate some voters to brave frigid temperatures and a looming snowstorm to show support for their candidate of choice.

“We can’t afford to wait,” said Sean Duckworth, a Joe Biden supporter who attended an early vote rally for a range of Democratic candidates in Ramsey County. “We need change now, and he’s the person who is best able to do it, so I’m here to vote for him.”

Votes in Minnesota won’t be counted until after the polls close March 3. And some other states, including New Hampshire, have already started accepting absentee ballots for voters who can’t make it out on Election Day. But Minnesota’s election calendar and early voting laws mean the state can “confidently say we’ll be the first state in the country to open up the presidential contest to all eligible voters,” said Secretary of State Steve Simon…

“There’s some kind of special magic to the idea of getting to be one of the first people to cast your vote,” said Mitchell Walstad, a Warren supporter. “I thought it would be kind of fun, to go make a tweet out of it … and have an opportunity to show my support and do it in a loud fashion.”

In Duluth, City Council Member Arik Forsman joined a handful of Klobuchar supporters who showed up at City Hall right as early primary voting opened Friday morning.

“I think she has a really great track record in Minnesota of bridging that rural/urban divide,” Forsman said.

In South St. Paul, two local officials showed up at the polling place early Friday to not only cast ballots for the primary but to symbolically mark the city’s legacy as the first place in the U.S. where women voted after the 19th Amendment went into effect in 1920, officials said…

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Second-Wave Feminism Open Thread: E! R! A! (A Sentimental Cheer)

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Of course, nothing will happen while Trump & McConnell are in charge. That can be changed, too.

(I’m of the conviction that, when it comes to Chief Justice Roberts, one should remember Finley Peter Dunne’s wise words from the last Gilded Age: “The Constitution may or may not follow the flag, but the Supreme Court follows the Election returns.”)

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread: If I Can’t Have My Dream Ticket…

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I didn’t want to promote this before hearing what the KHive (Harris fans) had to say, but there is no more ferocious #KamalaStan than Chris Evans:


Been saying for a while: If I have to ‘settle’ for Liz Warren remaining my senator, a Biden / Harris ticket would be my second choice right now. Each partner lends the other credibility with their respective voter bases, and it gives Harris a running start at the top of the ticket in 2024 / 2028.

But I’ll admit I’d be tickled by a Biden / Klobuchar ticket, too. And after last night, it’s being discussed again:

BIDEN / KLOBUCHAR 2020: DON’T MAKE HER COME DOWN THERE, REPUBS!

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Let’s Add Some Facts

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A new five-year study of women who had abortions has some interesting conclusions:

Starting one week after their abortions and then twice yearly after that, the women were asked about their feelings. The authors said they wondered about stigma and how the women would reflect on their decisions as time passed.

What they found was a surprise: Over time, all emotions, good and bad, faded.

“A really interesting finding is how the intensity of all emotions is so low,” said Corinne Rocca, lead author of the study and a UCSF associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences.

A week after their abortions, about 51 percent of women expressed mostly positive emotions, 17 percent expressed negative emotions and 20 percent said they had none or few. As time went by, the number who felt few or no emotions rose sharply. At the five-year mark, 84 percent reported either primarily positive emotions or none at all, while 6 percent had primarily negative feelings. There was “no evidence” of new negative or positive emotions, the authors said.

Immediately after their abortions, 95 percent of those who agreed to interviews said they had made the right decision. At five years, that percentage increased to 99 percent.

Here are a bunch of other facts from the Guttmacher institute. Two that jump out is that, at the 2014 rate, about 24% of all women will have an abortion by age 45, and in 2017, 39% of all abortions used medication, not surgery.

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Saturday Morning Open Thread: Nevertheless, She Persisted

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… It’s the first time Warren’s orbit has made the electability pitch so overtly. But the campaign has been quietly implementing that strategy since 2018, when Warren raised or donated $11 million to Democratic candidates and began drawing subtle distinctions with Sanders (She described herself as a “capitalist to my bones,” in contrast to Sanders preference for democratic socialism). Warren has also mostly abstained from attacking other Democrats in an attempt not to alienate supporters of other candidates. Her campaign staff reflects the approach, with a mix of officials from Sanders, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s past campaigns.

“She has gone above and beyond to convince establishment types that she is a team player and a Democrat,” said Ian Sams, former national press secretary for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. “I don’t think they see her as a left-wing extremist, and they respect her seriousness and policy chops.”…

Julián Castro sounded like a pundit on Tuesday night when he took the stage in Brooklyn to formally endorse Warren at their first rally together.

“The polling says, well, perhaps that a lot of older voters, go one way, right? And younger voters go another way,” Castro said in implicit references to Biden and Sanders. “You have a preponderance of younger voters that support Elizabeth and older voters that also support Elizabeth. … Elizabeth Warren is the candidate who can unite the entire Democratic Party.” Highlighting that message, the Warren campaign posted that section of Castro’s remarks on social media.

“She’s winning the policy primary, but now she needs to transfer that energy to try to win the electability primary,” said Jared Leopold, a Democratic consultant who worked on Gov. Jay Inslee’s presidential campaign. “Cable news has warped voters’ brains and turned everyone into mini-pundits. That means candidates need to win not just on policy but on process.”…

… [A] poll from The Economist and YouGov this month still showed the potential of Warren’s strategy. Asked whether there are any candidates they would be disappointed to see as the nominee, only 11 percent of voters said they’d be disappointed by Warren, the lowest of any candidate. By contrast, 21 percent said they’d be disappointed by Biden and 16 percent by Sanders. Other polls in recent months have reflected a similar sentiment about Warren.

“When we get into the phase here where it will be about closing the deal with voters and caucusgoers, starting from the largest set of consideration is a good place to be,” said Warren’s chief strategist Joe Rospars in a podcast interview last fall with Democratic strategist David Plouffe. Rospars was referring to the notion of being a candidate whom Democrats were open to voting for, even if they were seriously considering supporting another candidate.

“Elizabeth Warren is at the top of people’s consideration set,” Rospars said, “and the person that the fewest number of people would be disappointed if she’s the nominee.”

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