Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Nevertheless, she persisted.

Deploy the moving finger of emphasisity!

Shocking, but not surprising

This is a big f—–g deal.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

It’s not even safe to go out and pick up 2 days worth of poop anymore.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

This blog goes to 11…

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Dinky Hocker shoots smack!

Militantly superior in their own minds…

Reality always wins in the end.

Everybody saw this coming.

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

Almost as fun as hiking the Appalachian Trail

I thought we were promised Infrastructure Week.

We survived Breitbartpocalypse!

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

We have all the best words.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

I’m going back to the respite thread.

How has Obama failed you today?

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President Biden

Covid-19 Memorial Live Event

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Covid-19 Memorial Live Event

 

On January 19 at 5:30pm (local time), we invite Americans across the country to come together for a national moment of unity and remembrance to honor the lives lost to COVID-19.

In Washington, D.C., we will host a ceremony with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Harris, featuring the first-ever lighting of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to honor and remember those who have died. You can watch live on Biden Inaugural social media channels.

We encourage Americans to join us in lighting a candle in your window for this nationwide moment of remembrance. Share the word and invite your family, friends, and loved ones to join us for the COVID-19 Memorial.

I am so relieved, as I am sure you all are, to have people in office who understand the gravity of the pandemic. And they have a plan.

May this memorial be the beginning of a path forward for all of us and healing for those who have lost so much.

While we wait, some photos from the mall:

Covid-19 Memorial Live Event 5

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Major Biden’s Indoguration Party – Sunday!

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Major Biden leading his chosen human. Taken at Delaware Humane Association

Major Biden will be the first shelter dog to live in the White House. His shelter, the Delaware Humane Association, is having a Zoom party on Sunday to celebrate. You and your dog are invited, for a contribution of $10.

‘Zoom’ in with your pup to:

Major Biden’s Indoguration Party 

Hosted by the Today Show’s Jill Martin with special guest Sir Darius Brown 

Sunday, January 17 at 3pm EST

A $10 minimum donation is required to attend this event.

100% of donations go to DHA’s relief efforts during this difficult time.

RSVP here and Claim Your Spot Now

That last link should take you to the registration page.

Major’s backstory (adorable picture of puppies at link):

In early 2018, the shelter received a litter of six German shepherd puppies, including the future first dog. The puppies were in a medical crisis.

“They were very sick,” said Patrick Carroll, executive director of the Delaware Humane Association. “They had gotten into a toxic substance. We’re not sure what.

“The dogs were lethargic, vomiting and hospitalized for a few days,” Carroll says.

The pups bounced back. They recovered with fluids and medication. The shelter posted to Facebook in March 2018 in search of foster homes. According to Carroll, Ashley Biden sent the post to her father, knowing he was looking for a companion for the aging Champ.

Joe Biden showed up.

“He just dropped in on Easter Sunday of all days,” Carroll said, “and wanted to meet the puppies.”

Soon, Major was in foster with the Bidens. Within months, the news broke that he had found his forever (fur-ever?) home. Biden returned to the shelter with a grown Major to officially adopt him in November 2018.

Open thread for pleasant stuff.

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Cold, gray, predawn, squishable morning thread

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If you missed Biden’s speech last night, do yourself a favor and watch it when you have a moment:

The mister and I, cynical and jaded as we are, nearly wept with relief at hearing a normal elected official discuss national policy in a sane and coherent manner. It kind of felt like this:

Cold, gray, predawn, squishable morning thread

To continue the Shawshank Redemption theme, enduring the Trump era has been like “crawling through five hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can’t even imagine,” but the end is in sight. This time next week, we might no longer be seized with dread at each news alert on our phones or reflexively cringe when the President of the United States speaks. Hope.

Open thread.

PS: Media folks are speculating about whether or not Trump will leave a letter in the Resolute Desk for Biden. Allegedly there have been discussions in the West Wing about it. I hope not because, even if composed entirely in words with no illustrations, Trump’s note would be the equivalent of a crude crayon drawing of male genitalia.

But the speculation got me thinking about the note President Obama left for Trump, which included this:

[W]e are just temporary occupants of this office. That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions – like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties – that our forebears fought and bled for. Regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, it’s up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them.

Just like the rest of us, Obama saw the train wreck coming.

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Open Thread: LIVE Biden American Rescue Plan

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And boy do we need a  rescue…or at least a plan.

I know you guys could probably use a good respite post, but I’m just not feeling it. I keep trying to do anything but obsess on current events to no avail. But I do hear WereBear has a new housemate and she’s going to share with us soon, that’ll be good for a bit of a break.

Meanwhile, let’s relish in our new and improved President and try and keep this post sedition-free (but I’ll understand if we drift).

Open thread

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William Burns To CIA Director

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President-elect Joe Biden’s nomination of William Burns to be director of the CIA is an inspired choice.

Burns is the most senior and most respected diplomat in the US today. He is currently president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, one of the think tanks to which experts go when they are out of government. It’s also the sponsor of the Carnegie Conference on Nuclear Policy, which I’ve attended for the past decade or so, also known as #nukefest. It’s THE gathering for experts on international nuclear issues. The next one will be virtual, in June.

Burns has been ambassador to Jordan and to Russia and has held a number of high posts in the State Department. He and Jake Sullivan (who is to be Biden’s National Security Advisor) laid the groundwork for the JCPOA agreement with Iran.

Why CIA? Many people expected Biden to name him as Secretary of State, but Antony Blinken will serve there. The head of the CIA is usually chosen from within the organization.

Gina Haspel is currently the director of the CIA. She is one of the few Trump appointees who actually has a background in and commitment to her agency. But she also was chief of a black site in Thailand during the Bush 43 administration. It’s time to repudiate the role of torture in intelligence gathering.

Diplomats are not strangers to the world of intelligence. Every embassy abroad includes CIA employees along with those from the State Department, the Russian embassy more than most. The State Department uses intelligence generated by the CIA, its internal agency, and other government intelligence agencies.

Burns is one of the best analysts of foreign affairs the country has. Here’s what he had to say about Russia in 2017. He’s also written a series of articles for The Atlantic.

We can read a number of messages into Burns’s nomination:

  • Competence is back (This is a general message across Biden’s nominations)
  • No more torture
  • Tilt toward State Department as maker and executor of foreign policy
  • Russia, we’ve got your number
  • Allies, you can begin to trust our intelligence services again.

Photo: The Guardian

Cross-posted to Nuclear Diner

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