Binary options trading system upto 90 accuracy.
[guest post by Dana]
First news item.
We all have a duty to ensure that the former President cannot subvert a U.S. election or subvert our democracy. We have a responsibility to uphold the Constitution and defend the rule of law. pic.twitter.com/3lo2uoTPaA — Rep. Liz Cheney (@RepLizCheney) January 6, 2022.
Second news item.
Ted Cruz on Thursday walked back his use of the word "terrorist" when describing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol during an intense back and forth with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who repeatedly questioned the validity of the Republican senator’s explanation. Cruz was lambasted during Carlson’s Wednesday night show for describing Jan. 6 as "a violent terrorist attack on the Capitol." During his Thursday night appearance, when Carlson asked him why he used the word “terrorist,” Cruz brushed off his previous phrasing as "sloppy" and "frankly dumb."
"You told that lie on purpose, and I’m wondering why you did," Carlson said.
"What I was referring to are the limited number of people who engaged in violent attacks against police officers. I think you and I both agree that if you assault a police officer, you should go to jail,” Cruz said. “I wasn’t saying the thousands of peaceful protesters supporting Donald Trump are somehow terrorists. I wasn’t saying the millions of patriots across the country supporting Trump are terrorists."
Cruz’s use of “terrorist attack” was not some sort of one-time accident. In fact, he had described the Capitol riot as a terrorist attack or broadly described rioters as terrorists over and over for months — at least 17 previous times in official written statements, in tweets, in remarks at Senate hearings and in interviews.
Third news item.
It would increase the top marginal income-tax rate to 18.05 percent. That’s 7.05 percentage points higher than Hawaii, the next highest state, and 12.75 percentage points higher than the national median. It would increase taxes by an average of $12,250 per household. "All told, the new tax package is intended to raise an additional $163 billion per year, which is more than California raised in total tax revenue any year prior to the pandemic," he writes. It’s not just income taxes, though. The state wants to implement a payroll tax as well, with the top rate applying to taxpayers making only $49,990 in annual income.
…high above a quiet Bel Air cul-de-sac known as Airole Way, and surrounded on three sides by a water-filled moat, the main residence features 21 bedrooms and an unfathomable total of 49 bathrooms (42 of them full baths, the remainder powder rooms) sprawled across a whopping 105,000 square feet of Kathryn Rotondi-designed living space. Walls of glass throughout offer panoramic views of the ocean, city skyline and San Gabriel Mountains; there’s also a three-bedroom guesthouse and seven-bedroom staff quarters.
Fourth news item.
VP Kamala Harris on why ECA reform isn't an "acceptable compromise": "It's not a solution to the problem at hand, which is that right now in the USA, we need federal laws that guarantee the freedom and right of every American to have access to the ballot to be able to vote." pic.twitter.com/xHypC8rjlx — Eugene Daniels (@EugeneDaniels2) January 6, 2022.
Fifth news item.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and Kevin Guthrie, director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, acknowledged Thursday that 800,000 to a million COVID tests had expired in a state stockpile, with the omicron variant spreading and residents facing long lines for testing. … The expired testing kits had become an issue earlier, when Florida Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Nikki Fried said in a Dec. 30 statement: "It’s come to my attention that Governor DeSantis’ Department of Health has a significant number of COVID-19 tests stockpiled that are set to expire imminently. "Given the Governor’s lack of transparency throughout this pandemic, there’s no known public information about these tests or how soon they expire. With omicron infections exploding throughout Florida, I beg of him to release these tests immediately to local counties and cities, and to stand up state-sponsored testing sites. To let these tests expire while Floridians anxiously wait for hours in testing lines is negligent at best, and heartless at worst." …Guthrie said demand for the tests was low in the fall, prior to the emergency of the omicron variant. "We tried to give them out prior to that but there wasn’t a demand for it," Guthrie said.
Sixth news item.
The most surprising thing to us was their shaky faith in the Democratic Party itself — and its ability to do anything either to stop Republicans from doing more violence or change the root problems with "the system." Listening to both focus groups, you really understand that we live in a country that is at once so radical and so conservative, and that what unites the left and the right is a mistrust in people at the top. There was little enthusiasm among the Democrats for President Biden to run again in 2024 — and ditto for the Republicans and Mr. Trump.
Seventh news item.
Mayor Eric Adams has tapped his younger brother to serve as a deputy NYPD commissioner, The Post has learned. Bernard Adams, a 56-year-old retired NYPD sergeant, will oversee governmental affairs, he confirmed Friday. But the full scope of his responsibilities was not immediately clear. Internal documents obtained by The Post show Bernard Adams listed as a deputy commissioner on the official NYPD roster.
Eighth news item.
The latest messaging setback happened last month when the CDC cut its recommended isolation period for those with Covid-19 to five days, and recommended people who tested positive should continue to wear a mask in public for five additional days. Confusion ensued, with some outside experts urging the CDC to add a recommendation for a rapid antigen test at the end of the first five days. Behind the scenes, other federal public health officials also questioned the decision not to include testing. Both Dr. Anthony Fauci, the President’s top medical adviser on Covid-19, and US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy publicly made clear clarifications were coming. Amid the public backlash, Walensky sought to reassure fellow senior federal health officials, telling Fauci and Murthy that the lack of a testing requirement in the isolation guidance was not motivated by the nationwide testing shortage, one person familiar with the discussions said. Instead, she insisted that rapid antigen tests were simply not a sufficiently reliable indicator of contagiousness and noted to her colleagues that the US Food and Drug Administration had not approved the tests for that purpose. She told CNN, “We actually don’t know how our rapid tests perform and how well they predict whether you’re transmissible during the end of disease.”
Ninth news item.
The sentences for Travis McMichael, who shot [Ahmaud] Arbery; and his father, Gregory McMichael, do not carry the possibility of parole. Their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan will be eligible, however, Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley said. All three men were convicted of murder and other charges by a Glynn County jury in November in the pursuit and fatal shooting of Arbery on Feb. 23, 2020.
Tenth news item.
When the Taliban seized power in August, the militant group vowed it would not resurrect the violent religious policing it enforced during its first stint in power. The hard-liners claimed they would limit themselves to preaching Islamic values of modesty and dignity. But nearly five months after regaining power, the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has reclaimed its role as the enforcer of the group’s radical interpretation of Islamic law. In a spate of decrees issued in recent weeks, the ministry has imposed restrictions on the behavior, movement, and appearances of residents, particularly those of women and girls. During the Taliban’s first reign from 1996 to 2001, the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice established one of the most brutal reputations of any organization in world history. Its enforcers are the ones who carried out the horrific human-rights abuses that characterized the Taliban regime before the U.S. invasion… Squads of the ministry’s morality police punished those who disobeyed modesty codes, with beards too thin or ankles that showed. They banished girls from school and women from the workplace and the public eye. A woman could not venture outside without a male guardian. Radio Azadi reports that this time around, the ministry has ordered shopkeepers to behead mannequins in stores because they consider them idols, and Islam strictly forbids idolatry. (The report also quotes a more mainstream Muslim scholar who says this interpretation is incorrect because mannequins are not idols at all.) The ministry in December said women who want to travel more than 72 kilometers should not be allowed to do so unaccompanied. It "also directed all vehicle drivers to refrain from playing music in their cars and not to pick up female passengers who did not wear an Islamic hijab covering their hair," the report says. This order is being enforced by checkpoints all around Kabul.
Evil is as evil does. Always.
MISCELLANEOUS :
Have a great weekend.
442 Responses to “Weekend Open Thread”
Posted this on an earlier thread before the open weekend thread was up- sorry:
NASA to Host Coverage, Briefing for Webb Telescope’s Final Unfolding.
You know, this $10 billion telescope is among the most significant advances in human history, yet our so-called ‘news channels’ barely mention it at all. The astonishing web of intricate complexities necessary to successfully deploy Webb- overcoming the hundreds of possible single-point failures- is a triumph of organization, planning, splendid engineering, competent testing as well as the mind and hand of Man.
It’s non-political and positive news, too. Something we sorely need in these times. Back in the day, through the turbulent and wretchedly miserable 1960s, human efforts in space were the only truly positive news conveyed– it was a good, positive story; a golden thread woven through a dark decade-long tapestry. Our media at the time latched on to that. But not today. I’m tired of bad news; of poor reporting by drunken news readers, blowhard opinionators and dumb-assed politicians trying to score points. Turning to the mind candy of the Kardashians or a plethora of games shows won’t cut it, either. It’s time we started looking up again and celebrating our accomplishments. Once upon a time, that’s the way it was– and the way it should be again.
Senator Cruz actually had a decent answer for his misstep and that was he was trying to be consistent. He called BLMers terrorists when they attack cops so he’s calling the thugs who last Jan attacked cops terrorists.
I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and accept that answer. Sorry to those who are offended.
@3 biden and harris never have to explain calling blm and antifa domestic terrorists cuz they never do.
they’re very masculine about it.
The sad thing about Senator Cruz’s groveling to Carlson is that it will please no one. MAGA will still be mad at him for calling the Trump supporters that assaulted the police to stop the certification of the election ‘terrorists’. Non-MAGA will be mad at him for walking it back.
Kevin M, is Ted Cruz getting a invite for the 3CRP?
the lack of a testing requirement in the isolation guidance was not motivated by the nationwide testing shortage.
What they don’t tell you in the story is whether this claim was made with a straight face. Since we’re working at the federal level I’m guessing yes.
She told CNN, "We actually don’t know how our rapid tests perform and how well they predict whether you’re transmissible during the end of disease."
But hey, all our data is good and all of those other things we keep telling you are on the up and up. And this is our best excuse for the other thing.
Cruz did a good job working for Booosh at the Federal Trade Commission. He was always attempting to roll back regulations on various issues. Too bad he didn’t make that this career.
I thought this news item would make the open thread:
Brett Kimberlin (Speedway Bomber) Loses Attempt to Vacate Long-Past Convictions, Including First Amendment Challenge to Impersonating-Federal-Official Conviction.
Stolen from Twitter.
Q: Where does Ted Cruz keep his balls? A: In abasement.
President Bill Clinton tapped Lani Guinier to serve as assistant attorney general for civil rights but withdrew her nomination after her writings on voting rights drew criticism. Lani Guinier, a voting rights scholar and the first woman of color to be a tenured professor at Harvard Law School, has died. She was 71. Ms. Guinier died Friday morning surrounded by family and friends, Harvard Law School Dean John Manning said in a letter to colleagues. Her son, Nikolas Bowie, attributed her death in Cambridge, Mass., to complications related to Alzheimer’s disease. Ms. Guinier’s writings and studies focused on voting rights, race and gender. Before her appointment at Harvard Law School in 1998, she was a tenured professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School; worked in the civil rights division at the Justice Department under President Jimmy Carter ; and headed the voting rights project at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the 1980s. She received her law degree from Yale Law School in 1974.
It would be terrible if Trump’s minions all get it in the neck, but Trump walks away. Trump and his lieutenants need to be charged with the maximum that can be charged.
I think you could fund the government for a day off the proceeds from a tape showing Trump’s first day in the “yard.”
If Trump goes to prison, do his Secret Service guards have to go too?
Oh Come On Florida Reporters!
DOH Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern, who had previously tweeted that Fried should “get back in her lane,” offered more clarification Thursday evening. “To suggest that the Florida Department of Health waited around for these test kits to expire is simply false,” Redfern explained. “The FDA granted the test manufacturer a 3-month extension in May of 2021. The original expiration of the test kits in question was September 2021. The manufacturer has also informed us that they have submitted another extension request.” According to Redfern, the pre-packaged COVID tests that Fried was referring to “require trained individuals for administration, with one testing solution for every 40 tests.” He says they were not designed for individual use. DeSantis, too, referenced this as a reason for why demand was lower for these particular tests – suggesting facilities wanted rapid testing options that were easier to use. Still, Redfern explained, these tests were always available. “Since obtaining a supply of COVID-19 test kits, the Department has supported mission requests from various partners, including, but not limited to, county emergency management agencies, county health departments, public safety agencies, hospitals, and long-term care facilities,” Redfern wrote in an email. “Our staff continuously notified our partners of the availability of these tests.” Since July 1, 2021, Redfern says the health department has distributed 3.4 million tests statewide. https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/politics/nikki-fried-ron-desantis-covid19-test-stockpile/67-c829d682-fb0b-48e2-8175-9e2fdb81ba7e.
Leftist agent provocateurs BuDuh. They have an agenda first and foremost. I’m shocked they even mentioned there was no demand for the tests.
KAL is not my favorite cartoonist, not even in my top ten — but this brutal cartoon makes a needed point.
(I suspect that Trump would like it.)
We have changed the rules subject. Pray we do not change them further.
yet again, how many people have been tried with insurrection?
Tell us again how reasonable and moderate you are.
@14. ‘If Trump goes to prison, do his Secret Service guards have to go too?’
“The White House is the finest prison in the world.” – President Harry S. Truman.
@19 Jim is the guy who calls into radio talk shows claiming to be a longtime republican who then goes off on republicans.
Oh Come On Bidenistas!
The Answer Is in on Those Tests Biden Promised—and It’s Unbelievable Reporter: “What about COVID tests going out to Americans? People are still standing in line.” Joe Biden: *looks confused*. *video at link* Watch this and tell me Biden has EVER used Google before… This is “quote” embarrassing. *video at link* https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2022/01/07/the-answer-is-in-on-those-tests-biden-promised-and-its-unbelievable-n503331.
You will not that I mentioned that on the post:
Guthrie said demand for the tests was low in the fall, prior to the emergency of the omicron variant. "We tried to give them out prior to that but there wasn’t a demand for it," Guthrie said.
So what is the "Oh Come On…" all about?
"The alleged terrorists in Guantanamo had pro bono lawyers from top NY law firms like Cravath or Davis Polk. Ted Bundy, killer of 36 women, had lawyers from DC powerhouse Williams & Connelly to fight death penalty. But the 1/6 guys? No private lawyer will touch them. FUBAR."
“President Bill Clinton tapped Lani Guinier….”
That sentence didn’t go where I thought it would go…
But the 1/6 guys? No private lawyer will touch them. FUBAR."
Mr. Trump likes legal defense funds for people who don’t fail him.
@25, That’s hilarious! Thank you for pointing it out.
Seriously though, US law guarantees them a lawyer if they cannot afford one. So they should be ok.
The proposed income tax increases are worrisome, as California takes a broad view of what is subject to its income tax. I do some consulting work for a Santa Monica company and anything they pay me is considered California income by the CA tax people.
Thankfully, it appears I do not have to pay the NM gross receipts tax on out-of-state receipts. We’ll find out when I file, as I have to report that income to NM, too, with a copy of the CA tax filing. The courts have said I cannot be taxed on the same income by two different states. I’m sure they’ll find a way around that.
BTW, NM’s gross receipts tax doesn’t operate like they say in that article. It is, for all intents and purposes, a sales tax on everything and is assessed on the buyer just like a sales tax is. In CA, i suspect that that 2.3% GRT will just be tacked onto your sales tax.
Shorter: Leaving California doesn’t necessarily escape CA taxes.
There was little enthusiasm among the Democrats for President Biden to run again in 2024 — and ditto for the Republicans and Mr. Trump.
“Is Andropov versus Chernenko again comrade! We must not let the wrong Communist win!”
Senator Cruz actually had a decent answer for his misstep and that was he was trying to be consistent.
It looks like the SS Trump is listing by the forward bow, and the first you-know-whats are heading for the boats.
Let me tell you what kind of a man Ted Cruz is:
Ted Cruz went to a private hunting ranch in Texas where an usher (ok, a “guide”, the person is just earning his daily bread) took him to a shooting stand near a feed hopper where the ranch-raised deer go for their breakfast, and when one showed up to eat he shot it. (I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that he shot it dead, and not merely wounded it and the guide had to finish it.) Then he posed for pictures with it and tweeted “It’s what we do in Texas.”
That’s the kind of man Ted Cruz is. Forget him!
Regarding the sentencing in the Arbery case, here is NPR’s headling:
All 3 white men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery are sentenced to life in prison.
Can you imagine them using a headline with the phrase “ All 3 black men ” if the situation were reversed, and the victim were white? I can’t either.
Hey NPR, your biased underpants are showing.
There was a long article on Nikki Haley recently, and one of the bits was about the day that Rubio and Cruz showed up for her endorsement. Despite the fact that she hated Rubio’s campaign manager (he had run someone’s racist, sexist campaign against her for governor), and despite the fact that Jeb! was her patron, she endorsed Rubio because, unlike Cruz, he was human and unlike Jeb!, he stood a chance.
It really wasn’t very nice to Cruz at all.
Can you imagine them using a headline with the phrase "All 3 black men" if the situation were reversed, and the victim were white? I can’t either.
Historically, it would have read:
“All 3 [black men] accused of murdering _____ are found hanged from tree.” So, you’re right. A double standard.
On a side note, how crazy is California?
Hey frogs Californians, the water is getting warmer. Get out while you can. I did, and am better off for it.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/7/2022 @ 8:39 pm.
Historically, yes. That doesn’t justify NPR’s biased and racist headlines in the here and now.
It really wasn’t very nice to Cruz at all.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/7/2022 @ 8:31 pm.
I have less respect for Cruz than for Trump. Trump has been consistent. Cruz had his principles, but they didn’t work, so he found others.
@37. Historically the Jan/6 reporting would have included more tar, feathers, and rails. Time moves on and we call it progress.
Cruz had his principles norcal (d4ed1d) — 1/7/2022 @ 8:50 pm.
I’m not sure this is true. Cruz fooled some of the people into thinking he had his principles. Just like Liz and some others are still doing.
I think Cruz saw the fervor of that Indiana guy he faced off with, and thought, “Gee, how can I get that kind of support?”
The sad thing about Senator Cruz’s groveling to Carlson is that it will please no one. MAGA will still be mad at him for calling the Trump supporters that assaulted the police to stop the certification of the election ‘terrorists’. Non-MAGA will be mad at him for walking it back.
Time123 (9f42ee) — 1/7/2022 @ 2:21 pm.
I suspect that’s more a function of Cruz being one of the most unlikeable people in the Senate, rather than whatever his interactions with Carlson are. Seriously, even people who agree with him think he’s pretty slimy, although personally I’ll always appreciate that dunk he had on the Deadspin crew a few years ago. There’s a reason the Texas DNC ran Robert Francis O’Rourke against him in 2018, before O’Rourke went full exceptional with his gun-grabbing during the 2020 campaign.
Factory Working Orphan (2775f0) — 1/7/2022 @ 9:50 pm.
He called BLMers terrorists when they attack cops so he’s calling the thugs who last Jan attacked cops terrorists.
And then Cruz groveled in apology, pleading with Tucker that he didn’t really mean it. What a pathetic piece of sh-t.
Ted was a city boy indeed. I wonder what the deer harvest in Texas is vs Kentucky.
Secretly, in the days after the New Hampshire primary, Haley’s team reached out to both the Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio camps. Each candidate was invited to have dinner with the governor and bring their spouse and one staffer. Haley didn’t really know Cruz, but he was everything she had expected—awkward, insincere. Over a painfully long dinner, the Texas senator recited line after line from his stump speech. When she asked Cruz, near the end of the dinner, what he would want his legacy to be as president, he responded, "I want to be remembered as the president who repealed every word of Obamacare." When the senator left, Haley and her staff burst into laughter.
Stolen from Twitter Q: Where does Ted Cruz keep his balls? A: In abasement. Time123 (d499a8) — 1/7/2022 @ 4:38 pm.
Followed by “It’s why he can’t maintain an insurrection” (or similar resource site words to that effect — I’m repeating from memory).
Cancun ted cruz is a sociopath and like most sociopaths an opportunist who believes nothing except what is good for ted cruz ;however he has a problem faking sincerity almost as bad as hillary clinton does.
From time to time I look at those crazy properties in L.A. and very few of them are places that human beings could live in. From time to time one finds a jewel though.
Here’s a 1912 Craftsman in Santa Monica for a mere $12.5M. It’s exquisite, but you have to accept the historic status which limits what you can do with it, but that also keeps the property tax “low” (a mere $100K/year) Most of the price is the land (18,000 sf) and location (north of Montana, West of Lincoln).
Mere blocks from my hovel. I lower the property value every time I walk past their house.
she endorsed Rubio because, unlike Cruz, he was human and unlike Jeb!, he stood a chance. Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/7/2022 @ 8:31 pm.
Kind of ironic, given how pathetic Rubio has made himself in his eagerness to carry Trump’s jockstrap. Almost as pathetic as Cruz, in fact.
Posted in the wrong thread; copying over.
After hearing Sotomayor’s questions during the mandate oral arguments does anyone think she’d stop a federal rule implementing a CCP style one child policy? If so on what grounds?
French historian Fran_oise Thom is sounding the alarm on Putin’s ultimatum.
The Russian threat is explicit and directed at both the Americans and the Europeans. If the West does not accept the ultimatum, they will have to face "a military and technical alternative", according to Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko: "The Europeans must also think about whether they want to avoid making their continent the scene of a military confrontation. They have a choice. Either they take seriously what is put on the table, or they face a military-technical alternative."
She ends with this dramatic sentence:
We are like the Byzantines who were discussing the sex of angels while the Ottoman forces were destroying the city walls.
(Those who read Russian will want to check her sources.)
#34 nk – Interesting story. I assume you know that kind of “hunting” used to be common for European aristocrats (and some wealthy Americans).
Apparently, Cruz’s “sloppy phrasing” that 1/6 was a terrorist attack happened 17 previous times. It makes his prostrating and groveling to Tucker look even more weak and pathetic.
Has anyone been charged ‘with terrorism’ over Jan. 6? No. Mr. Carlson asked Mr. Cruz, "How many people have been charged with terrorism on Jan. 6?" The answer is zero — but that fact is deeply misleading. Congress — despite establishing a legal definition for "domestic terrorism" — has not created any stand-alone federal crime called that. As a result, it is not possible for prosecutors to charge any of the Jan. 6 rioters "with terrorism" regardless of whether they committed terrorist acts. Might some defendants nevertheless face longer sentences for terrorism-related offenses? Yes. Dozens of defendants are facing charges that will give prosecutors the opportunity to ask for longer sentences by invoking the context of domestic terrorism. It is not yet clear how harsh prosecutors and judges will be when it comes time to sentence uncooperative defendants who insist on going to trial and then get convicted, rather than striking plea deals. In one statute, for example, Congress deemed about four dozen offenses as eligible to count as a "federal crime of terrorism" if the acts were "calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against government conduct." Under sentencing guidelines, such a conviction can result in a much longer prison term. The list includes destruction of government property, a charge that 44 defendants are facing so far, according to the Justice Department’s tally of the Jan. 6 cases. The list also includes a "weapon of mass destruction" charge that may be brought if the F.B.I. finds whoever put pipe bombs outside the Capitol Hill headquarters of both major political parties the night before the riot. In addition, two defendants so far have been charged with making false statements. Under a separate law, prosecutors can ask for a sentence of up to eight years, rather than the normal five, if such lies involve domestic terrorism.
Despite my bringing it up more than once, I don’t have a hard opinion about it. Most of the rioters are ordinary citizens got chumped by the Trump’s lies and, in their blind loyalty to that clown, were impassioned about the election. A good chunk of the responsibility (and less so for the gullible) goes to the Big Liar for fooling his followers, playing on their passions and doing his bidding. We know it was his bidding by his hours-long inaction in not stopping it, not even making one call to the National Guard.
Savage also notes Tucker Carlson’s hypocrisy.
Notably, during the nationwide protests after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, Mr. Carlson called on the Justice Department to charge "every single person caught on camera torching a building, destroying a monument, defacing a church" with terrorism. "Call them what they actually are — domestic terrorists," he said, adding: "That would be their new government-approved title. Once they’re charged, it’s official. In fact, they are literally, as a factual matter, accused terrorists. And that would change minds right away."
Terrorism for them but not for thee.
When the Russian speakers step up to verify Jim’s story, I ask that they dig into whether or not Russia had equivalent threats during Trump’s 4 years.
Thanks you, in advance, for doing our homework.
Apparently, Cruz’s "sloppy phrasing" that 1/6 was a terrorist attack happened 17 previous times. It makes his prostrating and groveling to Tucker look even more weak and pathetic. Paul Montagu (5de684) — 1/8/2022 @ 8:02 am.
Seriously, and really think about this —
Assuming the Democrats are able to nominate a moderate, non-ridiculous, non-Beto sort of candidate, what is Cruz’s path to reelection in 2024? If you lean right and like Trump, then you must have nothing but contempt for Cruz. People like me, who lean right and DON’T like Trump, now see Cruz as a pathetic weakling who folds like a cheap three-piece suit under pressure…not just from Trump, but now from TUCKER. And he has zero crossover appeal among Democrats, because he is and has always been self-righteously smarmy. (Which used to be a selling point, when he was using his smarm as a Happy Warrior, but now it makes him look so — to steal a word the alt-right loves — beta .)
I mean, sure, there will be the people who vote straight-party no matter what, and the people who look at the Democratic nominee and say “Even Ted is better than that ,” and his family members, and fellow Cancun snowbirds. And I’m assuming Trump will be at the top of the GOP ticket, because when you’re already rocketing toward unavoidable destruction, why tap the brake? So I’m betting he still gets 46-47% on that basis. But imagine a Joe Manchin-style candidate running against Cruz. I have to believe that guy might win.
Speaking of Tucker, if this takes hold, we’ll be asking “are you taking a Covid treatment or are you just glad to see me”.
“Despite my bringing it up more than once, I don’t have a hard opinion about it. Most of the rioters are ordinary citizens got chumped by the Trump’s lies and, in their blind loyalty to that clown, were impassioned about the election.”
This reiterates my position. I don’t care what language is used to describe the rioters….that debate just distracts from the hard questions about why Trump spun up these supporters….sat and watched the mayhem and chose not to intervene….then provided no televised explanation to the nation afterwards defending or at least rationalizing his action and inaction. And finally, why the GOP abets it all….and continues supporting the Big Lie.
Standard crimes…including assault, assault with a weapon, resisting, disorderly conduct, civil disorder, and breaking into a secured facility…are sufficient to send a clear message and punish the individuals for their actions. Trump supporters love going down the terrorism rabbit hole precisely because it avoids uncomfortable questions about how they can still support Trump…and why they are unwilling to move on.
Just think about the current GOP agenda. There’s not much there there. The focus has been to displace Republicans who either resisted Trump’s election maneuvers or spoke out harshly against him. Tack on state laws to make it easier to over-turn a disfavored vote total. This is all to smooth the grand return of Trump in 2024. Yes, the GOP opposes everything Biden…..but at some point the GOP needs to govern and say what it wants to do. A House conservative study group recommends massive cuts to Medicare. Is that what the GOP wants to run on nationally? I kind of doubt it, though wish we might see a serious discussion on debt. I guess being against stuff is enough for some people but the lack of a real platform in 2020 was pretty telling. Slogans go only so far….twitter rants are just juvenile….where are the serious people? Where is leadership?
Seriously, and really think about this — Assuming the Democrats are able to nominate a moderate, non-ridiculous … But imagine a Joe Manchin-style candidate running against Cruz. I have to believe that guy might win. Demosthenes (3fd56e) — 1/8/2022 @ 8:51 am.
So glad I wasn’t drinking coffee for this one. Seriously, think about and imagine. Would this be a JM candidate on the D ticket? The same JM that the D’s are currently excoriating for being rational?
Terrorism for them but not for thee.
Conservatives made hypocrisy their cardinal virtue when they began idolizing Trump, saying there was no need for him to demonstrate the social and religious values he was supposedly defending, and that his willingness to smash traditional norms was a great asset — but still a sin when other people did it.
Of course it’s a familiar human failing to be inconsistent and self-interested in applying moral judgment, but the cult of Trump turned moral relativism into a patriotic virtue. Trump is well known for accusing other people of terrible sins, while holding himself to be without fault or blemish, whatever he does. Trumpers took the view that it’s wrong and unpatriotic to hold Trump to the standards they apply to others.
Then they decided that hours of hand-to-hand combat with police officers and threats of violence against legislators cannot really be so bad if it’s done in service to Trump.
Then they decided that hours of hand-to-hand combat with police officers and threats of violence against legislators cannot really be so bad if it’s done in service to Trump. Radegunda (fae2dc) — 1/8/2022 @ 9:25 am.
“The crowd wasn’t violent. There wasn’t really a break-in at the Capitol. They were invited in. Well, okay, one door was smashed. But that was antifa. They were mixing in with the crowd in order to make Trump supporters look bad. Most of the people inside the Capitol were just walking around taking some pictures. There was no threat against the government, or against anyone there. Well, I mean, except for the antifa plants. And now we have all these innocent people being mistreated in jail.”
I have a friend who has said these things to me. Not in this exact order, or all at once. But she has said all of them. And she meant them.
This is what Trump does. He corrupts. He debases.
“…he that sows lies in the end shall not lack of a harvest, and soon he may rest from toil indeed, while others reap and sow in his stead.” –J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion.
#57, #61, and #63 – I don’t have much to add to those comments, except this possibility: During the BLM demonstrations/riots in Seattle, it appeared that only a minority of those involved were violent. But I also began to suspect that some — let me repeat, some — of the non-violent were acting as shields to protect the violent from the police. For example, when bottles were thrown at the officers, they always seemed to come from behind other demonstrators.
It would not surprise me if at least a few in that attack on the Capitol similarly acted as shields.
(Incidentally, the following tactic was sometimes used at anti-Vietnam War protests: “Chicks up front.” Young women were urged to be at the front of the demonstration, partly for the visuals, and partly, I think, to protect any young men who were misbehaving.)
Tucker Carlson is now telling another whopper, saying that boosters don’t work and actually increase your chance of getting Covid:
Especially when the boosters aren’t working. I mean there’s evidence that people who get the boosters are more likely to get the latest variant.
(Incidentally, the following tactic was sometimes used at anti-Vietnam War protests: "Chicks up front." Young women were urged to be at the front of the demonstration, partly for the visuals, and partly, I think, to protect any young men who were misbehaving.)
It was not only to shield what young men were doing but also to soften the response by law enforcement and the media. At that time, cute little hippie chicks were harder to vilify than the actual guys committing violence or rioting. It was a more sympathetic front. And the BLM riots had their own Naked Athena.
Heh! Up here where I am, there was a month-and-a-half backlog when I made my booster appointment (and I hate to think what it is now). When I get my jab, I’ll picture it and the jabs of all the other people in line with me as jabs in Carlson Tucker’s butt.
Here’s the deal. The highest number I’ve seen for binary options the clown’s audience is around 4.5 million, and as a percentage of the population that’s below statistical significance.
"I don’t mean to understate the seriousness of January 6th, even though it’s been absurdly misreported for over a year now. No one from a country where these things actually happen could mistake 1/6 for "a coup ." In the real version, the mob doesn’t take selfies and blaze doobies after seizing the palace, and the would-be dictator doesn’t spend 187 minutes snacking and watching Fox before tweeting "go home." Instead, he works the phones nonstop to rally precinct chiefs, generals, and airport officials to the cause, because a coup is a real attempt to seize power. Britannica says the "chief prerequisite for a coup is control of all or part of the armed forces, the police, and other military elements." We saw none of that on January 6th, but it’s become journalistic requirement to use either "coup" or "insurrection" in describing it:
The endless hyperventilating efforts to describe January 6th as a disaster on the order of Pearl Harbor or even 9/11 has been awesome to behold."
RIP: Marilyn Bergman (93), Oscar-winning lyracist.
"The Way We Were" and "The Windmills of Your Mind"
Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel Like a snowball down a mountain, or a carnival balloon Like a carousel that’s turning running rings around the moon Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind!
(originally posted to wrong thread)
Ted Cruz went to a private hunting ranch in Texas.
Yeah, not great for Ted, but what kind of person runs a place like that? Where is PETA when you need them?
Just like Liz and some others are still doing.
OK, I’ll bite. What is Liz gaining from her stand? Integrity is doing something right, despire known adverse consequences. Maybe she gains down the road when everyone else is saying they “were just following orders.”
Kind of ironic, given how pathetic Rubio has made himself in his eagerness to carry Trump’s jockstrap. Almost as pathetic as Cruz, in fact.
Yeah. Just following orders, indeed. Trump can break any Florida politician in a half-hour, if he wants. He’ll probably destroy Rubio anyway, out of spite.
But imagine a Joe Manchin-style candidate running against Cruz. I have to believe that guy might win.
“I’m like Joe Manchin” is not the best way to win a Democrat primary.
Which would be the worst primary competition for Cruz? A Trumpbot? Or a #neverTrump? He seems like low-hanging fruit for an ambitious Republican.
At least Taibbi is consistent about one thing: His hatred for Dick Cheney.
Just like Liz and some others are still doing OK, I’ll bite. What is Liz gaining from her stand?
It’s bizarre to see people trying to argue that Liz Cheney must be acting from purely cynical self-serving motives — to get attention, to get on CNN — but not those who first said 1/6 was really bad and then pivoted to the position that it was really nothing. Moral courage is supposedly marching in lockstep with the Trump cult so the kind of people who stormed the Capitol might vote for you, or not come after you.
It’s also funny when people who revere Trump pretend to disapprove of people seeking attention.
I have to agree that calling this a “coup” is on a par with calling Nixon’s fall a “coup.”
‘It’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words’
How to tell a politician is running for president: (1) the fat guy loses a ridiculous amount of weight, (2) the ambitious guy proposes a ridiculous sop to his base, having a near certain chance of getting thrown by any competent court. The common word here is ridiculous .
What this was was “acting out” — about what you’d expect from the man-child.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/8/2022 @ 10:53 am.
She’s trying to gain the same thing Ted is. More time in office. More leverage for grift. She picked the John McCain maverick tactic early on and she’s committed to the image.
We got this sort of self promotion from Ted and people believed it for a while. We got it from McCain and he fooled some of the people all of the time. Romney gets this same PR and it works on people that don’t know, or care, about Bain Capital.
I’m not surprised people keep falling for the whole Fortunate Son thing. We’ll see if it pays off in the long run.
She’s trying to gain the same thing Ted is. More time in office.
If she wanted more time in office, all she had to do was keep her mouth shut and not vote for impeachment, like most of the rest of the GOP caucus. Wyoming is one of the safest Republican districts out there, where Trump won by over 43 .
But imagine a Joe Manchin-style candidate running against Cruz. I have to believe that guy might win.
"I’m like Joe Manchin" is not the best way to win a Democrat primary”
Remember, the party in the White House has it’s convention last…Sinemax and Gabbard would blow out Cruz, if the Dems groveled sufficient ly enough for it to happen.
but not those who first said 1/6 was really bad and then pivoted to the position that it was really nothing.
Who are these people?
It’s also funny when people who revere Trump pretend to disapprove of people seeking attention. Radegunda (908c12) — 1/8/2022 @ 11:11 am.
And these people?
This is what Trump does. He corrupts. He debases.
I have seen this happen to people I used to regard as having moral integrity. The rationale is: He has policies I like, so nothing else is relevant, and all the criticism of him is unfair and in bad faith.
Political leaders don’t need to be saints in their personal lives, but they should display some understanding that what is right doesn’t begin and end with their own desires, and that rules apply to them as much as anyone else. Making a moral hero out of someone with an openly self-centered view of good and bad is corrupting.
Even the policy judgments are inconsistent. An original argument of the Trump-boosters was that the “libertarian” economics of the old GOP were bad for average Americans, and only Trump understood that more economic paternalism was needed. But they’re happy to crow about the success of supply-side tax cuts and quasi-libertarian deregulation — and ignore the fact that Trump’s tariffs did not bring the advertised benefits.
When Trump made his deal with the Taliban, undercutting the Afghan government, any Trumpers paying attention insisted that it was the correct America First policy. When Biden completed the withdrawal (which Trump said was his own policy and Biden simply “couldn’t stop the process”), the Trumpers all pivoted to the view that it was a “humiliating surrender” and that only Biden was responsible for empowering the Taliban. They’re not just talking about the problem of getting civilians out (which I very much doubt that Trump would have done better, since it apparently wasn’t on his mind when he was calling for faster troop withdrawal). They’re pretending that Trump would never have done anything so stupid as to let the Taliban come back to power. And it’s a lie.
If she wanted more time in office, all she had to do was keep her mouth shut and not vote for impeachment Paul Montagu (5de684) — 1/8/2022 @ 11:28 am.
I’m not sure either route will get her kicked out of office but she’d have taken a hit for that too. It’s not like that was the start of her feud with Trump. To play the R maverick you’ve got to actually play the maverick. If you go that route and don’t commit it cuts into the grift.
but not those who first said 1/6 was really bad and then pivoted to the position that it was really nothing .
Let’s start with Ted Cruz, and various other Republican officials and pundits. If you really didn’t notice the pattern of expressing horror right after the attack and then switching to the idea that taking it seriously is a far worse sin — and that the people in the Capitol were behaving like normal “tourists” — then you haven’t been paying attention.
It’s also funny when people who revere Trump pretend to disapprove of people seeking attention .
That’s self-evident. “These people” include any and all Trump defenders who have ever huffed that Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger are just seeking attention.
Haley didn’t really know Cruz, but he was everything she had expected—awkward, insincere.
After the 2016 New Hampshire R primary, most of Ted Cruz’s votes were insincere as well.
With apologies to the great Tom Lehrer:
Gather ’round while I sing you of Canadian Cruz A man whose allegiance Is ruled by expedience Call him unprincipled, for changing his views, “Principles, Schminciples” coos Canadian Cruz.
Don’t say that he’s hypocritical Say rather that he’s quite political. “So I said something sloppy, by next week it’s old news! Memories are short,” crows Canadian Cruz.
Some have harsh words for his bait and switch views But some think their attitude Should be one of gratitude Like his wife, kids and father; reputations abused, So easily betrayed by Canadian Cruz.
To become a conservative hero Just show Texans you’ll stand up for zero “In Calgary, ‘oder’ Houston, I know how to survive. Und I’ve warmed to Cancun,” says Canadian Cruz.
“If she wanted more time in office, all she had to do was keep her mouth shut and not vote for impeachment”
This is the truth…saying that Cheney is being critical of Trump to curry favor…IN WYOMING….is pretty ridiculous. It’s clear that Cheney is up against the polling numbers trying to persuade people that the party needs to reject Trump…and she is risked her leadership position and now her seat to do that. Cruz is a ludicrous comparison….what principle has Ted ever risked his career for? Comparing McCain and Romney to Cruz is also thin gruel….except if one draws the most general link of them all being self-interested politicians. But how can somebody say McCain caved to public opinion, ideology, or political expediency. You can say a lot about McCain….but he’s not much like Cruz….
It’s not like that was the start of her feud with Trump.
She voted for Trump in 2020. She voted with Trump on policy 93% of the time. No one saw her as having any “feud with Trump” until he tried to overturn an election he lost, and she took the honorable position that maintaining the integrity of the system overrides policy wishes of the moment and her own political prospects.
An awful lot of people evidently find that thinking difficult to comprehend, so they assume that she must be operating from bad motives.
Cruz and Rubio destroyed each other in 2016. There was Trump going off about pointy-head elitists running the country and Cruz and Rubio hammered each other in the debates about who had supported which arcane amendments to which arcane bill. Both figured that the other was their closest competitor for Trump’s voters after Trump self-destructed.
And Joe Sixpack made up his mind.
She’s trying to gain the same thing Ted is. More time in office.
This is to ignore reality. Cheney has paid a steep political price for her doggedness and integrity:
*She was censured by her state party and was called on to resign *She was removed from her leadership position among House Rs, ousted as conference chair *She is being primaried by a Trumper *Freedom Caucus pushed for her to be kicked out of Republican conference.
Cheney is currently trailing Trumper challenger by 18% to 38% as a result of her determinedness. If her goal was to stay in office for as long as possible, then she’s dumber than a rock if she thinks standing up for the Constitution and demonstrating unyielding integrity is the way to do it with the GOP. Her efforts to hold Trump accountable are not popular with her party, and her involvement with the 1/6 Committee is doing anything but assuring her of more time in office. No, if she really wanted to stay in office, she’d ignore her oath to protect the Constitution and close her mouth and keep her head down like so many others in the Republican Party do now.
saying that Cheney is being critical of Trump to curry favor…IN WYOMING….is pretty ridiculous.
I don’t if it’s the influence of Trump, or a deeper issue that he only accentuated, but a lot of people in today’s GOP seem to have difficulty understanding the concept of doing what you believe is right even if it works to your own disadvantage.
To be fair, Liz will be on a future national ticket when it comes time to move past the Trump era.
@92. Easy pickings; Rubio hardly showed up for work. And Tedtoo had- and still has- the warmth, likeability and universal charm of a case of poison ivy. “Basketball ring”–in Indiana, of all places.
To be fair, Liz will be on a future national ticket when it comes time to move past the Trump era.
To be fair, that is not a certainty, and it’s extremely unlikely that she has taken her principled stance in the expectation that it will come to pass like the sun rising tomorrow.
To be fair, Liz will be on a future national ticket when it comes time to move past the Trump era.
A Neocon who confers with Daddy Darth daily. Not. A. Chance.
The funny thing is that Biden’s people seem terrified by the prospect of running against Trump, now that they cannot play the “centrist” card. They know that if they had shown their real plans in 2020 Biden would have been roundly rejected (and it would not have taken much to re-elect Trump).
So, they plan on tearing him down in the press (easy enough), then bringing criminal charges (deserved), but will do so in a way that will be obviously political.
What they don’t realize is that anyone who is not Trump (but stays more or less on policy) will do even better. A Nikki-Liz ticket, for example. First ever father-daughter VPs!
This small story of heroism — and revenge — reminds us all that some men have good motives:
When I was at uni I came across a kind of diary in one of the second shops near the British museum. It was a book of letters to and from a brother and his sisters. The brother been a teenage midshipman in the RN. The booked ended with a letter from the ships Captain, telling the story of his death at the hands of a slaver crew he was boarding with his boats crew – the boat had been on detached service from the ship itself. There was a further letter, badly spelt and capitalised from a member of the boats crew – about how he’d been a good officer and everyone in the crew had liked him. So when he was killed by a shot from the slaver they’d boarded the slaver and killed the entire crew. Including the ones trying to surrender.
There’s further discussion in the long post (and in the previous post).
(Britain and the United States banned the slave trade in 1807. The Royal Navy began efforts to suppress it in 1808, and was joined by a small American squadron in 1819.
I haven’t seen a good account of the suppression of the east African slave trade.)
Get your facts straight. She’s a neo-neocon.
I’m not sure either route will get her kicked out of office but she’d have taken a hit for that too. It’s not like that was the start of her feud with Trump.
How could she have “taken a hit” by staying silent and falling in line with the impeachment vote? Has any other Republican who went along with Trump’s lies taken a hit? I haven’t seen it. Seems to me that the GOPers who voted for impeachment have taken political hits, lots of ’em. Cheney voted with Trump 93% of the time, and she voted “nay” in the first impeachment. If 1/6 wasn’t “the start of her feud” (and I question who really started this), where and when did it begin? When she advised on 11/21/2020 that Trump be “respecting the sanctity of our electoral process” should the courts continue to reject his legal challenges? If that kind of innocuous statement is enough to get his vengeance juices flowing, then that’s a real problem.
Britain and the United States banned the slave trade in 1807.
I think the US did it in 1808, since the Constitution forbade any such l;aw until that year (Article I, Section 9, Clause 1, and Article V)
How could she have "taken a hit" by staying silent.
There are a few Republicans who somehow failed to vote (kept silent) and have had some pushback for it. Although Liz et al took the heat off of them.
The funny thing is that Biden’s people seem terrified by the prospect of running against Trump.
The funnier thing is that Biden’s people seem terrified by the prospect of Joe opening his gaff-prone mouth.
But how can somebody say McCain caved to public opinion, ideology, or political expediency.
Well, given those three options I suppose the choices are limited. That would probably rule out anything like the Keating Five or his Obamacare flip; from McCain’s office after the Obamacare vote in explaining why he didn’t vote to repeal it:
“From the beginning, I have believed that Obamacare should be repealed and replaced with a solution that increases competition, lowers costs, and improves care for the American people.
I guess the argument is that he was always pro-Obamacare and that didn’t have anything to do with getting back at Trump.
Or his role in Russia-gate which was certainly not about public opinion, ideology, or political expediency.
#104 Kevin – The law was passed in 1807 in both nations, but did not take effect for the United States until January 1st, 1808.
Remarkably, the two laws were passed in the same month and year, without any coordination between Britain and the United States. (Upper Canada’s parliament banned the slave trade even earlier, in 1793.)
Liz will have a contract w/MSNBC as a ‘contributor’… [waking up to putty-faced Liz on ‘Morning Joe’ brings back memories of my late father’s witty observation from the’70s one dark morning, as he sipped coffee, stared at Barbra Walters w/t sound down on ‘Today’– and asked outloud how anybody could wake up in the morning to that face.] Liz could wangle a show once the Reid wreckage is cleared away. Daughter Darth would draw some fresh eyes to the cabler, which is desperate for numbers in the ratings race.
#91 Radegunda – I think those who always assume their political opponents have bad motives are telling us something about themselves.
If her goal was to stay in office for as long as possible, then she’s dumber than a rock if she thinks standing up for the Constitution and demonstrating unyielding integrity is the way to do it with the GOP. Dana (5395f9) — 1/8/2022 @ 12:04 pm.
How does this work when we swap the names with Trump; no one ever said she wasn’t dumber than a rock?
There’s a faction of the GOP that wants exactly that (the wrapping in the Constitution thing) and that is her target audience. Only time will tell if that’s a good choice.
Feel free to lionize her. But this blows up every time. If she gets close to the Nikki-Liz ticket Kevin is talking about all of the media who love her now for Speaking Truth To Power(tm)(c) will flip the script. And we’ll get a repeat of the heartbreak everyone who really wanted Cruz in 2016 but won’t admit it now had.
How much of the initial NeverTrump base was crushed Cruz fans? Oh, wait, let’s pretend they were crushed Jeb fans.
I guess the argument is that he was always pro-Obamacare and that didn’t have anything to do with getting back at Trump.
The key verbiage in McCain’s statement was “and replaced”. Neither Trump nor the GOP majority had a credible, coherent replacement for Obamacare. Trump kept promising “two weeks”, which became nearly as big a joke as “this is Infrastructure Week!”
Jim Miller (edcec1) — 1/8/2022 @ 12:35 pm.
I’ve been saying this about both NeverTrump and the D’s for years.
More like crushed Walker fans and crushed Kasich fans, Binary Options frosty.
@112. Yes. The "and replaced" is the grift I was talking about. Tossing Obamacare would have been the right thing to do but it came with to many downsides for him.
Democrats will lose house and probably senate in 2022. Biden pelosi schumer and democrat corporate establishment sad. AOC and progressives especially lefties to busy taking over the democrat party to be sad.
I think those who always assume their political opponents have bad motives are telling us something about themselves.
I think that’s often true. But it might sometimes just be that saying “those guys are bad people” is easier than saying “this is why my policy is indisputably right.”
I’ve dealt with people who disagree politically on a day-to-day basis for many years, which discourages imputing bad motives as a default.
I’ve also seen people claim that because their guy had “America First” in bold letters, therefore his every action must have been in America’s best interest — and therefore any political authority who chooses differently is ipso facto not even trying to act in America’s best interest. It’s nutty, and lazy.
They know that if they had shown their real plans in 2020 Biden would have been roundly rejected… Kevin M (ab1c11) — 1/8/2022 @ 12:14 pm.
I can’t remember where I heard the theory that Biden was happy to promise the moon during the campaign because he expected the Republicans to keep the Senate…in which case, he could just shrug, point at them, say “Well, I can’t give you what I promised, I have to work with them to get anything at all that we want,” and then pursue the more moderate policies he really wanted. But then Trump blew both seats, and Biden found himself trapped.
I tend to doubt this narrative, if only because I don’t think Biden has any ideology. He’s definitely not a moderate. But he’s not a progressive either. I think he may be a pragmatist, shifting with the wind — like on abortion. He’ll be for or against anything, so long as he thinks the votes and/or dollars are there. That would make him reliable, in a certain distasteful way. President Weathervane.
I think those who always assume their political opponents have bad motives are telling us something about themselves. Jim Miller (edcec1) — 1/8/2022 @ 12:35 pm.
It’s not a hard-and-fast rule…but there does seem to be a lot of truth to the whole Jungian projection thing.
The "and replaced" is the grift I was talking about.
Was it “grift” to insist that Trump come up with a better replacement to Obamacare, as he promised?
Brain-damaged Biden speaks wandering words at Reid memorial– politicized remarks; talks about himself. A sick, sad old man.
Memo to Vladimir: Ukraine ain’t Euchre; your perpetual pair of deuces beats the ol’joker every time; roll those tanks, kid; send in those ‘peacekeepers.’
@98 don’t get liz cultists angry.
last time she took a principled stance a war broke out eventually won by the taliban.
“I guess the argument is that he was always pro-Obamacare…”
Of course McCain voted against repeal AFTER his terminal cancer diagnosis….so it’s hard to square it as political expediency…and the vote appears to be more about disappointment with the alternative. Why would a dying man give a rat’s bottom about how his vote would impact Trump’s short-term legacy. You seem to be projecting.
“What bothered McCain more, though, was his party’s strategy to pass their so-called skinny repeal measure, skipping committee consideration and delivering it straight to the floor. They also rejected any input from the opposing party, a tactic for which he had slammed Democrats when the ACA passed in 2010 without a single GOP vote. He lamented that Republican leaders had cast aside compromise-nurturing Senate procedures in pursuit of political victory.”
"From the beginning, I have believed that Obamacare should be repealed and replaced with a solution that increases competition, lowers costs, and improves care for the American people.
The vote that was finally offered him was one that would have taken ALL health insurance away from the self-employed and other previously insured, who had already been forced out of their chosen coverage by Obamacare. There was no “replace” involved.
The bill that would have done what McCain said he wanted (Speaker Ryan’s) was trashed by the uberTrump House Freedom Cockups caucus.
Of course McCain voted against repeal AFTER his terminal cancer diagnosis….so it’s hard to square it as political expediency…
There’s more to it than just that; McCain had been enduring costly medical issues on the luxury of the government dime– even w/his wealth- since surviving his POW days. He understood the burden.
"Kagan: "the government is paying for the medical services so they have the right to dictate details of those services"
Best argument ever against Single-Payer.
If 1/6 wasn’t "the start of her feud" (and I question who really started this), where and when did it begin?
The cooked-up intel report about Russian bounties. Trump was trying to get the troop drawdown in Afghanistan done much quicker than the deadline, and Liz was pushing back on that. When the report came out, she worked with Jason Crow, primarily, to institute legislative hurdles in the NDAA that made the drawdowns much more difficult to execute, if not impossible.
Support AND opposition to the amendment, interestingly enough, was actually bipartisan on both sides when the committee ultimately passed it. Her specific role in that is what started the rift between her and Trump, and it also led the GOP base to sour on her as just another neocon/Bush-era Republican stuck in the mid-2000s that was content to keep pouring money down the hole in Afghanistan.
Factory Working Orphan (2775f0) — 1/8/2022 @ 1:35 pm.
It always comes back to the same thing; unlike other nations, primary objective of the U.S. healthcare system is to turn a profit, not deliver healthcare. Guns, butter or band-aids. Socialized h/c is inevitable. And it works.
I had thought that the GOP would try to impeach Biden when they take back the House, an the basis of “The Steal.” And they still might. A bet