US Politics, February 2023: No classified documents found in Justice Department search of ILX

12 1/2 days until pitchers and catchers report.

Great title, A+

irl lol, well done.

Bringing this over here from the January thread

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) just formally testified to the Republican-led House Rules Committee that the real threat to democracy is House Republicans.

😂

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) February 1, 2023

an inconvenient truth

oh man she's on fire

Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.) tries to defend the GOP's resolution warning of the ills of socialism.

Reschenthaler: You can't condemn socialism? You know what Putin, Kim Jong Un and Xi have in common, right?

Waters: "Donald Trump."

😂😂

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) February 1, 2023

Reschenthaler: "Why don't you explain your support of Stalin."

Waters: "No why don't you explain it."

IT HAS BEGUN:

Former President Trump accused Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) of being a “RINO GLOBALIST” on Wednesday, continuing his attacks on the potential 2024 contender widely viewed as his biggest competition for the Republican nomination.

“The real Ron is a RINO GLOBALIST, who closed quickly down Florida and even its beaches,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Loved the Vaccines and wasted big money on ‘Testing.’ How quickly people forget!”

who closed quickly down Florida and even its beaches

Someone tried to teach him about split infinitives and it didn't end well.

It just blows my mind the extent to which he now slates the vaccine that he was trying to take credit for only a couple of years ago. What an utter piece of shit. I hope his dies soon, but painfully.

does Reschenthaler think Putin is a socialist?

Ron-o the Rino

I'm anticipating "Nikki FAILy" any day now

It's unlikely that DeSantis will take the bait, which will infuriate Trump and he'll resort to more & more petty schoolyard insults

could the NYT come up with a more DeSantis-friendly headline and framing? pic.twitter.com/6xdlL7TJX2

— Aaron Bady (@zunguzungu) February 1, 2023

could have referred to him as 'overall good guy desantis', for one

or 'firebrand juggernaut'

"Remember the Superman we were waiting for? Well, he's here..."

Journalism rule five: The Story Needs to Change.

Trump a laughingstock with no chance. Trump commands the party. Trump Fading. Surprising surge of DeSantis.

To be replaced by:

DeSantis a laughingstock with no chance. DeSantis commands the party. DeSantis Fading. Santos Rising*.

To be replaced by:

Santos a laughingstock with no chance. Santos commands the party. Santos Fading. Surprising rise of, hell, I dunno, Kanye.

* = Santos Rising, the worst James Clavell novel

Yeah, we've never had courses in Western civilization before, that'll be novel. eyeroll.gif

I've been infuriated with the NYT framing of many stories in the last week. I lost my shit over this paragraph:

“The programs emphasize the study of Western civilization and economics, as well as the thinking of Western philosophers, frequently focusing on the Greeks and Romans.”

And no riposte! DeSantis as savior of Greco-Roman civilization.

the Times is a center-right rag

I only subscribe because it’s the one I’ve been reading the longest and I know its biased and shortcomings pretty well

*biases

Same, and it's worsened since the 2016 elections.

True or false: best case scenario for the Dems in the lead-up to 2024 elxn is Desantis and Trump slugging the shit out of each other and pushing each other further and further to the right in the primaries, even better if Trump ends up losing the GOP nomination and going third party spoiler...

but even with that level of self-immolation, the Dems may find a way to fuck it up...

Well, our president's older than Yoda.

Yo yo yo ya yoda

Joeda

Marjorie Taylor Greene commemorates Black History Month https://t.co/RoYSoKojFm

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 1, 2023

An elementary school received 5.1 BILLION for equity & diversity training??

Where does she get this shit?

Those kids are gonna be soooo woke

the saddest part is that they took that funding away from the billionaire christian orphan club. now what are they going to do

Good read: https://popula.com/2023/01/29/the-worst-thing-we-read-this-week-why-is-the-new-york-times-so-obsessed-with-trans-kids/

frequently focusing on the Greeks and Romans.

Guarantee there is some pandering to the Greek community in Florida going on here

I just read that Scocca piece on the NYT's transphobia crusade too (Alfred's link). Having somewhat followed the UK media's earlier turn, I'd call it crucial and alarming

I know exactly what she’s talking about and, according to her stupid definition of CRT, she’s kinda right.

A thread. https://t.co/nFXXdZU7ZC

— Michael Harriot (@michaelharriot) February 2, 2023

I wrote a blistering and revealing screed against that most recent Times article. The hatred for the intelligence and autonomy of young people in this country continues to astound me.

https://mailchi.mp/974f06672a59/sorianos-comment-no-181

Awesome to see that MTG clip the same day Omar is ousted from her committee role

what is wrong with these people man https://t.co/gtvzFs8MXr

— 💭 (@samthielman) February 2, 2023

fucking assholes

virtue vice signalling

Yeah, countersignalling is a thing that these assholes either don’t know or don’t care about

ghouls gonna ghoul

GOP just voted Omar off the Foreign Affairs Committee, going to be a lot of this I assume. Fucking depressing.

On the plus side, now all of America's problems have been solved and Congress can get to *work.*

Omarrividerci

JEFFRIES on GOP effort to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from Foreign Affairs:

"Rep. Omar certainly has made mistakes. She has used anti-Semitic tropes that were clearly and unequivocally condemned by House Democrats when it took place four years ago...

— Heather Caygle (@heatherscope) February 2, 2023

Goddamn, this guy sucks so hard

I thought Jeffries was a Biggie fan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHok7RqmDvI

a bounty on the head of the person who taught all the assholes of the world the word "tropes"

Congress is just political theater. Republicans themselves approved Ilhan Omar’s election to the Foreign Affairs Committee just yesterday in a unanimous consent on the House floor. In other words, they put her on the committee only so they could pass a resolution to vote her off. pic.twitter.com/7w3FYW19qu

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) February 2, 2023

"it's all about the Benjamins" was not anti-Semitic you fucking idiot

Schmucks

New Dems reject socialism — period.

It’s time for House Republicans to stop playing political games and join our Members as we work to grow an economy that works for all Americans. pic.twitter.com/F6pweoffXf

— New Democrat Coalition (NDC) (@NewDemCoalition) February 1, 2023

New Dem Leadership supports the resolution denouncing socialism.

We believe that capitalism is the best vehicle to unleash innovation & foster social mobility.

It’s time for Republicans to stop playing political games & focus on addressing the issues Americans care about most. https://t.co/iir5ntfEMN

— New Democrat Coalition (NDC) (@NewDemCoalition) February 2, 2023

xp All About the Binyamins?

schmuckalism

Be awful if someone were to gun down a politician wearing a machine gun pendant.

Actual WaPo header: "Montana Sen. Jon Tester says defense subcommittee will hold hearing on balloon."

There is no context through which the bipartisan hunger to ratchet up tensions with China makes any sense. Even in terms of defensive pork... we do that anyway, you don't need saber rattling with China to pad Lockheed's bottom line.

close-up shows the balloon is actually piloted by David Niven:

https://fabtimeshare.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/691401827806balloon-Fogg-510x320.jpg

ratcheting up tensions with China is one way that congressional reps and senators can sound like they are alertly looking out for our well-being at a time when they aren't likely to have any real accomplishments they can point to.

this will be probably be the most unaccomplished Congress in history

i'm just glad the US isn't spying on china. boy would that be embarrassing!

Altho this seems to say the exact opposite

Recently, an HPAI H5N1 infection was detected at a mink farm in Spain, where there was possible spread of the virus between the animals. The mutations found on the farm were not detected in the wild mammals in WBVR's studies. "Genetic analysis of the wild mammalian viruses showed that they are not closely related. There is no evidence of spread of the virus between these mammals. The mammals have become infected independently of each other by eating infected wild birds," says virologist Nancy Beerens.

My only comfort: this admin will respond better than the last one given (I hope).

"Balloon balloon balloon balloon ... "

"it's all about the Benjamins" was not anti-Semitic you fucking idiot

― frogbs, Thursday, 2 February 2023 21:27 (two days ago) link

It was and she apologized for it.

it wasn't, and she graciously apologized anyway

it was an off the cuff joke about the many, many Israeli political lobbyist dollars that flow through the US system and the backlash was that support isn't based on monetary donations, but on principle (what principle?)

it's also funny because Netanyahu's name is Benjamin and it coincides with the title of a popular song that Ilhan and I probably both jammed in our teens

it doesn't even make sense as anti-semitism because it's about spreading your money around and uh let me look up my book of stereotypes

_"it's all about the Benjamins" was not anti-Semitic you fucking idiot

― frogbs, Thursday, 2 February 2023 21:27 (two days ago) link_


It was and she apologized for it.

"I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.”

Another one of the greatest hits in the anti-semitism record.

(what principle?)

Ah if it wasn’t for the influential jewish money, the brave USA would obviously come to the rescue of the poor Palestine, as they have shown many times over how caring and gracious they are in their foreign policy. But alas the banks! The dual loyalty!

Except that the people who are demanding fealty to Israel are fundamentalist Christians…

I thought her big crime was comparing the US & Israel to the Taliban & Hamas

ratcheting up tensions with China is one way that congressional reps and senators can sound like they are alertly looking out for our well-being at a time when they aren't likely to have any real accomplishments they can point to

Given the only actual issues this congress can agree on are that socialism is bad and military spending is good but it’s not like China is blameless. Do y’all think Taiwan should just be written off?

Omar's big crime is being a Black Muslim woman and since she's an unapologetic left-wing voice that means dipshits like VHS and Jeffries feel free to take shots at her too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hywcq4KTJAQ

Taiwan should be written off btw

I personally wouldn't refer to such a very pretty balloon as an intentional incursion, balloons are fab!

Funnily enough I was just watching an episode of The Prisoner so I would have to caution against the notion that balloons are harmless.

https://www.wired.com/images_blogs/underwire/images/2008/12/16/prisoner_2.jpg

i'm with Sammy Davis Jr on this one

https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/sndns214

The baloon ooks like a gigantic dumpling tbh

"I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.”

Another one of the greatest hits in the anti-semitism record.

_(what principle?)_


Ah if it wasn’t for the influential jewish money, the brave USA would obviously come to the rescue of the poor Palestine, as they have shown many times over how caring and gracious they are in their foreign policy. But alas the banks! The dual loyalty!

doesn't Betamax agree with Amnesty International's definition of apartheid? I don't bother reading his fucking worthless posts anymore and won't bother checking.

I should know better, but I just read an absolutely shocking account of a Muslim woman psychologist being doxed and threatened for literally hosting an optional lunch lecture.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/02/03/on-targeting-an-arab-woman/

I should know better than to engage with said poster, I mean…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RMByc1bv5E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWphqA1Slrw

shooting down a balloon is just the ultimate tough prez posturing!

not yet, he might crush a grape

no joking here - he might just end up dying if he tries to jump over a doll's house!

Any excuse...

Ooh, I could vote in an ILM poll

Fuck being hard, Joe Biden is complicated.

i know no one's around on a saturday night, and that of those that remain, no one on earth wants to talk about a balloon! and the balloon incident is pretty funny.

however...what happened? the most plausible scenario (to me) seemed like accidental failure - that something went wrong and they lost communications or the ability to control it, and off it went, very slowly, in plain sight across the u.s.

but...they also just found another one off of costa rica, also from china. and i read something earlier (i can track down if anyone on earth actually cares, unlikely) about a third that is near a "u.s." interest, which i suppose means an overseas military base. so, unless china lost track of all their balloons at the same time (a balloon catastrophe)...what's going on?

also, lol, rep joe wilson (SC - some fucking horrible district) has called on biden and harris to resign over this

He was the guy who screamed "You like" at Obama

*lie

he's the guy that downvoted obama

he's the guy who screamed "do you like me y/n" at Obama

also, it's too obvious of a thing to happen to mention, but hey i'm bored so -- yes, this did happen while trump was president, multiple times. he didn't do anything about it, and it wasn't publicized (or made public, i guess - i'm assuming occupy democrats would have shit their twitter pants upon learning this info). so yes, all the gop derps (like boebert, who won her district by half of a tenth of a vote and therefore has a mandate to enforce white evangelical law) who have been talking about how their hero trump would have fixed it are, yet again, completely wrong in the most hypocritical way

I think this was all just a viral stunt to protest the lack of Oscar nominations for "Nope."

Too bad the balloon destroyed Billings Montana

the last recorded words in the tri-county area were "what the heck is that"

itt: people gazing haplessly at the arriving balloon.

You’ve got to follow your balloon

I fucking hate this monster.

This is one of my favorite venues. And he's going after it because he hates gay people, trans people, drag performers, minorities, and women.

https://www.wesh.com/article/orlando-the-plaza-live-license/42762281

Why don’t we keep it positive with desantis and remember who he loves

https://i.imgur.com/JSBKbCo.jpg

Lol

What is most chilling there is that these fascist fucks can declare something a “public nuisance” and because of the way the law works, this gives them the right to suspend the 1st Amendment, or so they believe. Just breathtaking hypocrisy and blatant hatred.

the free west is a joke and if your instincts drag you toward defending it then you're a joke and lol you

the free west is a joke and if your instincts drag you toward defending it then you're a joke and lol you

the free west is a joke but the edenic paradise of milk and honey we all yearn for is an ever-receding pipedream

the worst person you know just made etc.

We need to be v measured in any theory we develop that isolating China is going to do damage to its economy. If we can’t succeed in imposing huge pain on Russia w/ allies united & w/ goal of draconian pain, it needs to make us humble @ benefits of any kind of decoupling strategy. https://t.co/LT3zCXH2Ej

— Lawrence H. Summers (@LHSummers) February 7, 2023

decoupling

Conscious decoupling a la Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay guy

The balloon was huge

https://t.co/K20nb5WHlP via @nbcnews / @carman_copy pic.twitter.com/TdnLx1FyXp

— Tom Namako (@TomNamako) February 7, 2023

What's inside it? Did it eat a giant kebab?

https://tellyspotting.kera.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Arrival-16.jpg

https://uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/gettyimages-140625530.jpg

2024 is gonna be wild

Trump just posted Ron Desantis as a pedophile teacher drinking with his students. pic.twitter.com/lD3WfoqmA8

— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) February 7, 2023

By far the best part of the 2016 election cycle was Trump just mocking the shit out of the other Republicans. I'm fine to go through that again if we can have a different ending.

I didn't know that De Santis had been a high school teacher. Now his yelling at those kids with masks on makes more sense.

There was a story a couple months ago about his stint in the early 2000s at some shit private school.

"ephebolophiliaesque" is like five more syllables and twice as many vowels as any word Trump has ever used

also this is the dude who boasted about casually invading teen pageant participants' dressing rooms but hey, who's even keeping track at this point

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to bring a white balloon to tonight’s SOTU pic.twitter.com/yUvYfsLs0Q

— Kadia Goba (@kadiagoba) February 7, 2023

From a once-in-a-century pandemic and inflation not seen in decades to a global energy crisis, it is fair to say the American people are “crisis-ed out.”

op-ed, Joe Manchin
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/02/07/joe-manchin-debt-limit-spending/

i don't know if i can get more than 2 paragraphs into this thing

donald trump was such a hero that the military didn't even detect the several times that a giant balloon* crossed into the united states during his term.

*and the only plausible explanation so far is just that it went off course. this is what happens when republicans control one chamber and are desperate for any sort of scandal because passing or debating legislation that mightt help people is absolutely out of the question

Bill would ban COVID-19 shots in North Dakota; lawmakers weighing more vaccine bills, again https://t.co/ZslGdxCWVN

— WDAZ News (@WDAZTV) February 7, 2023

i....imagine one of the amendments has to like...uh...cover this? please?

Can't wait for them to ban eyeglasses and wheelchairs.

Magrum said he introduced the bill after two aunts died from blood clots "after they received a shot," and after he noticed "a huge uptick in young people dying suddenly" in obituaries

welp can't argue with that airtight evidence

i forgot about the galaxy brain idea that when helping people with legislation is out of the question, the next step is to see how many extra people can die with legislation

There's like millions of people who died after getting tetanus shots; surely there is causality there

Let's ask Grand Forks Herald columnist/reporter Marilyn Hagerty.

With the vaccine shedding it's probably too late to stop it now. The human race is doomed.

Sure, take your immunization advice from this guy:

Mangrum is a native of Hazelton, North Dakota. He attended the North Dakota State College of Science for one year.

Mangrum is the owner of the Magrum Excavating and Plumbing Company. He is a licensed master plumber and water well contractor.

the problem with the movie Don't Look Up is it assumes that in all of these situations, right-wing politicians will just pretend it isn't happening.

when in reality, what would happen is that technology would exist to destroy the asteroid, but it would never get off the ground because one sect would say civilians should have to pay for the service with their Medicare and social security, the other sect would suggest we should allow alternative asteroid-destroy companies to bid for the work (such as faith-based ones), and some would argue God wants it this way and let it go kaboom.

xpost just call him Shit Shoveller

isn't N Dakota already suffering from crazy depopulation? they don't need Boka Haram killing off whoever's left

Yokel Haram

A Whiter Shade of Fail

isn't N Dakota already suffering from crazy depopulation? they don't need Boka Haram killing off whoever's left

The topic where it's the most difficult for me to personally not fall into "what if?" conspiracy theorizing is anything connected to declining population. Maybe not so much in these terms, but rather decidedly in terms of what it means for capitalism

Their declining population just makes it easier for the oil industry to buy up all the public offices for a few cartons of cigs and have in pocket as many senators as California on the cheap.

And here I was wondering how long it would be before Florida makes vaccinations illegal. Surprised we’re not on the front lines here.

idk if North Dakota could really massively depopulate because it was never that populated

I think the largest newcomer demographics are transient fracking workers and non-voting immigrants

lol Biden just sassed Kevin McCarthy

this might be mccarthy's only time to sit up there, very rude

https://i.imgur.com/mTr4MDU.png

nice of Sinema to look like Katherine Hepburn in 1938

And they were all yellow

uh, somehow i just watched every republican in the chamber stand up and applaud the idea that they will not threaten to cut social security or medicare. lol

it happened because biden mentioned (truthfully) that some republicans are threatening to cut social security or medicare as part of this year's debt ceiling hostage situation. that led to lots of booing, li,e from marjorie taylor greene, who yelled "liar!" biden awkwardly stumbled for a minute, saying that "these are the facts" and that he had a copy of a proposal from some republicans ("i'm being polite and not calling them out by name") with cuts, which led to more booing and mccarthy shaking his head "no", alito style, in the background. then biden finally realized the opportunity and said that he was glad that there was unanimity across the aisle to refuse to cut social security and medicare, and asked everyone to stand up and show america that they all agreed not to do it - which they did.

biden is slurring some of his words together and he is old, but at least he still can recognize an opportunity to take advantage of a bunch of deceitful fools

Pretty sure standing and applauding isn't a binding contract

"We're not going to cut them, we're going to REFORM them, heh heh heh"

"My fellow Americans, they said they wouldn't cut Social Security! I have it on video"
Republicans - "lol no we didn't"
40% of Americans - "lol no they didn't"
News media - "interpretations of the video differ"

New York Times - "Will trans kids bankrupt Social Security?"

should he not...have done that?

FUND THE POLICE FUND THE POLICE FUND THE POLICE FUND THE POLICE FUND THE POLICE

“Cops murdered your son. The only way to honour him is with more cops.”

“Parents in Uvalde cried ‘do something, do something.’ Thank god we did.”

should he not...have done that?

― Karl Malone, Tuesday, February 7, 2023

It was fine; he struck the right tone. It demonstrated he was alive and keeps the donor class relieved.

nice of Sinema to look like Katherine Hepburn in 1938

FP'd you for this sacrilege

I’m with sic on this— the only people who think this guy did a good job are chattering class journos and total melts.

I absolutely resent that we’re all going to be held hostage by this center-right octogenarian in the next election simply because his opponent will inevitably be worse. Pathetic country.

otoh whatta country -- even a center-right octogenarian can be president!

These things don't happen to people like him very often.

nice to see all the headlines are about MTG and Bobo again, great job media

they get clicks

I see.

https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-stream

Assuming that's all true — and it's certainly plausible — it seems like an unusually well executed plan. Not endorsing it! I'm just used to the CIA et al fucking things up.

why is that on his substack and not in the new yorker? did he leave?

iirc he stopped publishing there after they passed on his assassination of bin laden piece, hes always effectively been a freelancer doing his work really without the help of the new yorker or whoever, i know hes had things in the london review of book since i guess hes on substack now

in other news

DeSantis giving this statement about grooming and smearing while swaddled by packages of diapers tells me that he’s not ready for this https://t.co/glJTfLoFPR

— Christopher Hooks (@cd_hooks) February 8, 2023

sure would be weird if the gop primary was just the candidates accusing each other of being pedos over and over

Ron DeShort-Eyes

squinty ron

the only people who think this guy did a good job are chattering class journos and total melts.

*shrugs* I thought he did a good job. Not sure what category I am in.

Ron DeShort-Eyes

DeSantis is toast.

He needed to do a press conference in front a billboard sized collage of Trump hanging with Epstein photos.

I’ve always held that DeSantis didn’t have what it takes.*


* a pact with Satan.

cue DeSantis training montage

he's a maniac, maaaniac on the Flor

Cheesy '80s Songs About Heart and Soul and Overcoming and Winning and Givin' it All That You Got (RIYL Action Movies and Training Montages and Cocaine)

He can't drink an egg yoke because that's an abortion

lol

people always try to take the high road with trump its such a mistake didnt desantis see what happened to all the other primary candidates last time

Maybe he should insult the size of Trump's hands. That seemed to touch a nerve last time, and it led to the halcyon days of the Rubio Administration.

Grabbing that third rail by the horns!

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) on Wednesday defended his proposal to sunset all federal legislation after five years and slammed President Biden as “confused” in response to Biden’s claim at the State of the Union address that some Republicans want to sunset Social Security and Medicare.

“In my plan, I suggested the following: All federal legislation sunsets in five years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again,” Scott said in a statement following Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress.

lol I hope he gets gangrene on top of his head

*shrugs* I thought he did a good job. Not sure what category I am in.

― jaymc, Wednesday, February 8, 2023

I watched most of the SOTU out of curiosity as background, and I thought he sounded querulous and mistimed the GOOD COPS ARE GOOD line, but this position was popular with the POC FLorida Dems I spoke today (who also understood it was a political position). It also reminded me that the data about who wants more cop funding is complicated, reminding me of the Black support for some parts of the 1994 crime bill.

I agree with table about being fucked, especially as a Floridian, but not every group agrees about how we're fucked.

The Republican-dominated Mississippi house of representatives has passed a bill to create a separate, unelected court system in the city of Jackson that would fall outside the purview of the city’s voters, the majority of whom are Black.

The bill, which local leaders have likened to apartheid-era laws and described as unconstitutional, would also expand a separate capitol police force, overseen by state authorities. The force would expand into all of the city’s white majority neighborhoods, according to Mississippi Today. Jackson’s population is over 80% Black.

ah that seems extremely bad

Yeah that is straight Jim Crow shit, special courts for white people run by white people. It's all part of the attack on cities in general, but it's especially egregious. Not that Nina Simone would be surprised.

fuck those assholes

not even if you paid me

When I said that I thought Biden did a good job in the SOTU speech, I don't mean that I agree with all of the political positions he put forward. I mean, I thought it was rhetorically effective.

James Fallows:

Writers sweat and argue over the right lines and themes for the speech. It’s wasted effort. Almost no one in the viewership will notice or care.

The lines people remember from SOTUs are mainly the bad ones. For instance, George W. Bush’s infamous denunciation of the “axis of evil,” in his speech that was part of the buildup for the Iraq war.

What matters in these speeches is like what finally matters in presidential “debates.” It’s the feel people get for the president or the candidates. Do they come across as “authentic”? Does their message match their demeanor? In the case of sitting presidents, do they seem on top of the job—or at its mercy? Are they buoyant—or beaten-down?

By all these measures, I think Biden was on the plus side. He seemed to be having fun and eager for more.

What matters in these speeches is like what finally matters in presidential “debates.” It’s the feel people get for the president or the candidates. Do they come across as “authentic”?

The infamous "would you have a beer with" metric has an odd ring at present - Biden and Trump are nondrinkers, right? Ditto G W Bush.

The way the last few decades have gone make me yearn a bit for leaders who pursue Churchillian levels of drunkitude - couldn't be much worse, right?

uh, Rudy?

hey, Obama's White House brewed beer, and he drank martinis.

Reagan and Clinton drank sparingly. The only regular drinkers in the last 40 years have been Poppy Bush and Obama.

I, for one, would welcome a Sotos Administration if just for the mandatory nightly Negroni

I would clock out of the Oval Office no later than 5:30 p.m. for an evening of Buñuel and Negronis.

Clinton drank sparingly

Ehh, not sure this was always true

The Republican-led Missouri state house on Wednesday voted against banning minors from openly carrying firearms on public land without adult supervision.

The proposal to ban children from carrying guns without adult supervision in public failed by a 104-39 vote. Only one Republican voted in support...

A Democrat, Donna Baringer, said police in her district asked for the change to stop “14-year-olds walking down the middle of the street in the city of St Louis carrying AR-15s”.

watch out, Karl!

what we need is more good kids with guns.

Missouri is the state featured in Metzl’s ‘Dying of Whiteness’ where gun deaths among white people far outnumber many other forms of mortality. Pretty fucked.

That came out poorly— what I mean is that the state has fetishized gun rights and the legitimacy of a violent death culture of whiteness so much that it can’t see that it’s killing its very supporters. Typical conservative shit, in other words

I have probably said this before but I live in Missouri 1971-1976 and 1981-1984. My parents and much of my family still live in St. Louis. They have a long history of Democratic activism, including a judge, an alderman, and senior government officials.

In recent memory, Missouri was a reasonably balanced state with a pretty standard urban/rural divide. It was, until recently, the exact center of the U.S. population. It was a reliable predictor of presidential elections, indeed it was sometimes seen as the nation in microcosm: St. Louis is the westernmost Eastern city and Kansas City is the easternmost Western one. "Coastal" cities with rural space in between.

For most of my life there was a decent backing-and-forthing in Missourian politics - the Carnahans, Jay Nixon, Claire McCaskill. Then came the rapid (and apparently irreversible) Foxification. Then there was Greitens, Hawley, the McCloskeys.

I am not reconciled to what has happened to my native state. It went from comprehensible to insane SO FAST. It makes me sad, and no one has a solution.

Hell, it was a swing state not so long ago.

So was Florida!

These almost-overnight transformations are alarming, and one rarely sees it going the opposite direction.

Foxification = new chili peppers album

Does MO have an aging population? I think that's key to the changes in FL - seniors have more time to watch Sean Hannity all day long

Colorado, New Mexico, and Virginia are examples of states that were swing states on the presidential level not too long ago (they were all red in 2004) and are now more or less firmly in the Democratic camp. Although Virginia obviously isn't so blue that Glenn Youngkin can't get elected there.

elections in year 1 mod 4 are bad

also who was he running against, was it Terry McFuckingAuliffe again?

and a boost form the beltway press who helped Youngkin position himself as a Hogan-like "moderate"

(Two-term governor Larry Hogan of Maryland, who a priori sucks just by being republican, but was bascially indistunguishavble from a conservative corporate democrat)

It also seems like the crazies are pushing AZ closer to the blue

xp My sense is that Virginia is a state where Dems have benefited from the national trend of college-educated suburban voters leaving the Republican Party because they feel like it's no longer a sane, responsible party. But those voters might still occasionally be attracted to Republican candidates who don't seem too crazy -- and especially when the Democratic opponent is weak.

I guess that's also true of solid-blue states like Maryland, Massachusetts, and Illinois, all of which have also elected Republican governors in the past decade.

yea one thing I've learned about politics is that there really aren't many nationwide trends anymore, each state is different, each election cycle is different, and sometimes it's really hard to predict. Youngkin's election seemed like a good indication that Trumpism was coming back, but then the midterms happened and it turns out it's definitely not, but who knows what 2024 will bring

California used to routinely elect Republican governors, but I don't think the GOP has won any statewide race here since 2006 or something like that

Youngkin seemed in line with those repubs who tend to win in blue states-- Scott Brown, Chris Christie

Does MO have an aging population? I think that's key to the changes in FL - seniors have more time to watch Sean Hannity all day long

Well, yeah, but Missouri and Florida are separate cases. Florida is importing conservative Republicans. Oldsters from Maryland to Canada are retiring and moving to The Villages. Where they are still sentient enough to register and vote Republican.

Missouri is not seeing an influx of new voters. Nobody (except our beloved Karl Malone) moves TO Missouri. Its existing voters are aligning themselves with batshit MAGA conservatude. Florida is a net importer of Republicans. Missouri is creating them from scratch.

Plus liberal / progressive / Dem voters get frustrated and move elsewhere (myself included). That just gives rural white conservative Republicans proportionately more power.

I hate this but I don't hate it enough to move back to Missouri just to vote for Cori Bush locally but see the statewide ticket get ever more MAGAriffic.

Florida has exploded since the late 2010s; it precedes even DeSantis. It's seniors who don't like winter and taxes.

Nobody moves TO Missouri.

Well, my sister did and it hasn't gone well.. but that's probably a story for one of the alcohol threads

I was kinda hoping the post-hurricane migration from Puerto Rico might balance things out in FL, but that hasn't proven to be the case

xxp Once elected, Youngkin dropped the "reasonable Republican" mask and has revealed himself to be a full-throated LGBT+-phobe culture warrior and spent all last fall campaigning for the worst Republicans like Kari Lake and Tudor Dixon. Hogan, to his (little) credit, stayed far away from those types of people and hasn't really been an overt cultire warior.

missouri is honestly a horrible place to live. i have no idea why i came back here, and when i finally get to go to my psychiatry appointment a million years from now and get some meds, i will consider it a mark of progress when i wake up and find that i have moved as far away as possible

xp re MO—Yeah my leftish niece just moved from STL to Bellingham WA. Some escape.

I’m not that familiar w MO but had to visit STL 4x in past 3 mos for non whiteness-caused deaths (tho man, were they white). The negativity and absence of community spirit was notable to me in conversations there. I mentioned a huge need for infrastructure maintenance and was laughed at because, as i was told, every dime spent is a RIP OFF and anyone filling any office is A WOKE CROOK or general CROOK.

Hogan seems like bog standard non-Gingrich Republican from, say, 1996.

About Virginia: the blue-ification of Virginia is real.

Statewide, urban and suburban Democrats in dense areas are completely swamping the dying rural red portions of the state.

There are precisely three reasons why Youngkin won the governorship*, and both were unforced errors.

1. First, McAuliffe flubbed his messaging on education. As it happens, I think he was right! He just worded it in a way that handed ammunition to the enemy.

The truth is that public education IS and SHOULD BE a public good. That is, the purpose of public education is to produce an educated public. The job of public schools is (and ought to be) to work on behalf of the public. Parents are part of the public, sure. But they do not (and should not) rule.

Imagine you are a teacher. Imagine further that your students' parents want you to teach that the earth is flat, biblical creationism is true, homosexuality is wrong, the sun goes around the earth, and pandas are actually secretly lizard aliens.

You can only embrace "parents' rights" if "parents" are not a rando assortment of often horribly misguided people.

But the messaging is tricky. Terry was right but said it wrong.

2. Trump Fatigue was a factor, but not as much of a factor as it might have been. Unfortunately Terry's timing was off.

McAuliffe based his campaign on "don't vote for the Turmpy guy; Trump is scary and wrong and orange." Those things are true but in that specific moment (2021ish) Trump was out of power and at least some voters didn't think of him as a threat amy more.

3. McAuliffe did not make a positive case for himself, just a negative case about the other dude. Mcauliffes's main campaign message was something like "C'mon, Man! are you seriously going to vote for this wack-ass clown?"

SPOILER ALERT

Reader, my fellow Virginians voted for the wack-ass clown.

* = meant "all three," not "both," but the rest stands

On the bright side re: Youngkin, Virginia's governor's power is notoriously weak and very term-limited.

Most Virginia governors do something very close to nothing while in office. And they cannot be reelected. So mostly they move the football a few feet in their preferred direction, then leave for the U.S. Senate or whatever.

Being elected Governor of Virginia is less about power and more about what it means for your electability as regards other offices.

I volunteered for the Douglas Wilder campaign in 1989. We were pretty happy when he was eleted. And yet, strangely, racism is still a thing in Virginia! Who'd have thunk it.

A black man being elected Governor of Virginia seeemed like such a moment, it was big news even in Connecticut (where I lived at that time).

If we keep trying, maybe there will be a woman, or even - GASP - a Black woman.

In the meantime it is mostly virtue signaling / vice signaling. To be quite honest, no Governor of Virginia in my lifetime has done much good for anyone.

As a result, the Virginia gubernatorial election is mostly an elaborate piece of theater that foretells that person's viability for other offices.

Nobody moves TO Missouri.

people from Kansas do!

throwing my brain in the trash

2024 presidential debate pic.twitter.com/jk1ZaTIIIF

— Public Universal Friend 🌹 (@RedRobin_MUFC) February 9, 2023

Larry the Cable Guy having to defend his joke about Marge Greene. What a world.

just making sure everyone's seen the sy hersh piece about how the US blew up Nord Stream 1 & 2

https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-stream

interesting looking back at stories from the time it happened, like this one

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/iea-birol-very-obvious-who-was-behind-nord-stream-sabotage-2022-09-29/

Has Hersh been back on InfoWars lately?

The amount of detail Hersh's account and his lack of reaching for sensationalism makes it a very believable story, especially since his usual informants come from within the US government, not sources hostile to the USA, and this is hardly a story the CIA would deliberately plant with him as disinformation.

We’re talking about the same guy right.

https://www.salon.com/2017/06/30/seymour-hersh-casts-doubt-on-reported-syrian-gas-attack_partner/

people who know one thing about sy hersh love to talk about it

different events. different story. different details. different nations. different interests. different explanation. different motives. but the same guy.

I don't know how much to trust Hersh's reporting, but ... somebody blew up that pipeline, and the U.S. has always seemed like the most logical actor. It was presumably beyond Ukraine's capabilities, the idea that Russia would do it never made much sense, European countries had reasons NOT to do it, so who else would it be? There are a finite number of possibilities.

It seems just as likely that Russia did it as America to me. That’s entirely speculative. Which is imperialist power is less trustworthy? Seems like that’s just a matter of opinion at this point.

why would russia blow up their own pipeline??

Put pressure on Germany, cause division among allies.

How does it put pressure on Germany to… not be able to sell them the gas they could hold hostage?

you people are up early

Old man laments that he can't say racist shit without consequence any more

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Actor and Trump Supporter Ben Stein Claims America’s Becoming ‘Racial Dictatorship’

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ferris-bueller-s-day-off-actor-and-trump-supporter-ben-stein-claims-america-s-becoming-racial-dictatorship/ar-AA17ndfe?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=W069&cvid=62d5a4100d9c4e239ef620d46e8cefb2

lmao at “Ferris Bueller actor and Trump supporter”

Would have added "Nixon's lover"

nepo baby and mildly amusing actor

america's least favorite fake smart guy

haven't thought about that asshole in years

I have to admit that his political stances being exactly what would benefit him in the moment is pretty funny

he's the step just above so bad he's good, where's he's just so bad

”That’s a racial dictatorship. We’ve never had that here before,” Stein said before getting back to his salmon.

Yes, America has certainly never experienced dictatorial rule by a single race. What a smart man.

How does it put pressure on Germany to… not be able to sell them the gas they could hold hostage?

― papal hotwife (milo z), Saturday, February 11, 2023 5:01 AM (sixteen hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah, honestly the idea that russia blew up the pipeline never made sense to me either.

i agree that it is not a convincing story, and it is certainly geopolitically advantageous to ukraine for the nord pipelines to not be active. i think a key part of the "russia did it" argument was that by cutting off supply they could drive a wedge between nato and countries that were dependent on russian natural gas.

i think a problem with that is that the nord 2 wasn't yet in operation (and in fact, 2 days before the bombings, germany formally halted the project (https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/germanys-scholz-halts-nord-stream-2-certification-2022-02-22/)). also, as i understand, europe was already moving away from russian gas supplies so nord 1 wasn't supplying germany at anything at full capacity (i read one article on that is now outdated, and honestly i don't follow european geopolitics very closely as i'm sure everyone else here does, miraculously, so i may be wrong on that).

2 days before the bombings

sorry, 2 days before the invasion, i mean

you just can't say ocid=entnewsntp&pc=W069&cvid=62d5a4100d9c4e239ef620d46e8cefb2 anymore >:(

“Hello friends. It occurs to me and it’s kind of a scary thought, we’re getting into a racial dictatorship here where you simply cannot speak your mind,” Stein said as his fish sizzled.

i believe this prophet charlie shamp

This sounds right to me. I’m on board. pic.twitter.com/UGWumqiUkL

— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) February 12, 2023

that guys look is tremendous

in the year 2023, prophecy is delivered next to a survival bucket

is that Paula Dean up there on the dais? What's she got to say about Ron Desantis?

Ron Desantis. Ron Dasantis. Ron Da Santis. Ron Da Saint, Us? Ron Da Saint, U.S.. 2024. I heard it from a tree.

Are duels still a thing

i like how the camera has framed the shot in the beginning so a lone guy with a hat is poking his head up in the bottom-center of the screen.

someone get that over to #oneperfectshot

I can’t wrap my head around how he wrapped that beard around his face.

https://i.imgur.com/kcCvUCy.png

Destiny Encounters International: Where hundreds of international ladies are waiting to meet YOU!

Evangelicals are completely baffling.

i think part of the explanation is that, if you're a part of the group, you are allowed to say whatever you want and cite conversations you had with god within a dream as a vision. the only rule is that you have to allow other people to do that too. a lot of people are really into that scene

The brazenness of these goofs always reminds of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGJvfBSxsvw

Ron DuelSantis

Rhonda Santos

Ronald Sanities

Wheels within wheels, maaan

anagram thread

prophet charlie shamp shirtless
About 82,800 results (0.51 seconds)

I can’t wrap my head around how he wrapped that beard around his face.

― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Sunday, February 12, 2023 2:23 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

As a bearded man I am also confused.

They definitely have some sort of beard merkin

I eat so many Shamp

Beard Merkin is totally a Star Wars character.

that beard looks like it was drawn on his face with magic marker, very bizarre

He Just For Menned the hell out of it because God has cursed him with some gray

barber culture core to the max

the hair is honestly impressive. good for him. (bitch that'll be gone in 10 years.) i hope he's making the most of his mid 30s. too bad about the cult leader thing though.

I eat so many Shamp

― INDEPENDENTS DAY BY STEVEN SPILBERG (President Keyes), Sunday, February 12, 2023 9:26 PM (twenty-two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

also, this is perfect

prophet charlie shamp had a dream vision. in the vision, he saw a sunset dipping toward the horizon over a beautiful ocean, clear skies for miles and miles. charlie shamp said "lord, tell me what this means". and god said "well charlie, the "sunset" is your "hair". you need to create a really prominent fade that never ends, like the sunset rays reaching so far across the ocean. you'll need to go to the barber every single day to pull this off." and that's why we need to donate to prophet charlie shamp's ministry, to help pay for the product and expertise that goes into a fade of that nature.

yeah the amazing hair lifestyle needs support

I guess that would be a ‘Shamp Stamp’.

It's objectively hilarious how many ways he's going to use "woke" as a ridiculous pejorative. "We're saying to the Wrigley Company no, we will not allow you to produce woke Juicy Fruit in the state of Florida!" and crap like that. https://t.co/obHiyh9WNJ

— Gary Legum (@GaryLegum) February 13, 2023

If it ain't woke, don't fix it.

Without 'Woke' he's nothing...

That beard will haunt our dreams

He's a joker, he's a smoker, he's a midnight woker

This whole war on ESG is fairly hilarious, like people should be forced to invest in nothing but guns and petroleum.

And like 80 percent of things DeSantis proposes, it seems destined to land in First Amendment litigation. If money is speech, then you can't compel people to invest their money in things they don't want to. I mean, at least theoretically. Who knows what the courts think about anything anymore.

a lot of DeSantis's laws have been blocked in federal courts, like the social media bill.

he doesn't care. he knows the headline that he signed a law is the one everyone remembers, few notice six months later when it doesn't actually go into effect

he's just doing the fascist version of 'virtue-signalling'

us Italians usually have high blood pressure, maybe he'll go in his sleep.

or even better, on TV, with no medics onstage to help him because he banned 'woke' doctors from his pressers

one woke over the line, sweet jesus

phrase "woke" banned in English class, instead of saying "Esther awoke" you must change it to "Esther agotup"

building an entire political career over an ambiguous adjective is a pretty baller move, imho

He's going to ban Woke, then introduce New Woke, and then there will be such a backlash they will have to bring back Woke Classic.

I would've chosen 'skank' as my linguistic enemy, but to each his own

(briefly considers display name "Wokefeller Skank")

pushing draconian anti-skank legislation is 100% acceptable in my book

"Check It Out Now, The Woke Soul Brother..."

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1007/8070/files/fishbone_blog_image_1.jpg?3987

"We solemnly swear to cease and desist any and all skanking."

(briefly considers display name "Wokefeller Skank")

i really like the idea of digital ska, off to ilm to ask imago if such an abomination exists

Up for the Down Woke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dcxsjr5P1e4

what the hell is wrong with y'all

This is the face of someone that will ban woke but never, ever ban stank:

https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2021/08/NINTCHDBPICT000670679977.jpg?w=1240

looks like he's smelling his own fart, intensely

If it ain't woke, don't fix it

when the nasty riff comes back but slower (Christian doom metal edition)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8Db6qxWyo0

NEW: Biden escalates fight over Social Security and Medicare, frustrating Republicans

GOP leaders want Biden to stop saying they’re trying to cut benefits

But Biden is persisting; White House says he won’t stop calling out plans from Scott, Johnson, RSC https://t.co/7TjDRADzcO

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) February 13, 2023

Republicans are annoyed.

Scalise, day after SOTU: “I just hope he stops going around the country telling that falsehood because there’s no truth to it.”

The next day, Biden went to Florida and trashed Republicans over Social Security and Medicare.https://t.co/7TjDRADzcO

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) February 13, 2023

"Listen, you going around talking about our real actual plans to destroy what's left of the safety net is distracting us all from important and definitely true things like the Biden Crime Family and how all Democrats are child molesters."

what the hell is wrong with y'all

― Andy the Grasshopper, Monday, February 13, 2023 10:22 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

[golf clap from us Fishbone faithful]

If it ain't woke, don't fix it

― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, February 13, 2023 4:26 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

😂

My next rap name will be Tone-Wōc.

As Gov. Ron DeSantis prepared for an election night party in downtown Tampa last year, city officials received a surprising — and politically sensitive — request.

The Republican governor’s campaign wanted weapons banned from his victory celebration at the city-run Tampa Convention Center, a city official said in emails obtained by The Washington Post. And the campaign suggested that the city take responsibility for the firearms ban, the official said — not the governor, who has been a vocal supporter of gun rights.

“DeSantis/his campaign will not tell their attendees they are not permitted to carry because of the political optics,” Chase Finch, the convention center’s safety and security manager, said in an Oct. 28 email to other city officials about the request, which was conveyed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), a state police agency led by a DeSantis appointee.

Finch further explained that because of “Republicans largely being in support of 2A,” referring to the Second Amendment, “Basically it sounds like they want us to say it’s our policy to disallow firearms within the event space if anyone asks.”

In a statement sent after this story published, FDLE said the agency determines on its own whether to prohibit weapons at events. “FDLE did not request the venue restrict weapons at the direction of the Governor or campaign. Security decisions are made by FDLE,” agency spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said.

Tampa Convention Center officials ultimately rejected the request to ban weapons. State law allows concealed firearms to be brought inside the public facility unless the renter insists on a gun-free event. On election night, the campaign did require guests to pass through metal detectors, Finch said.

The 1994 movie "Dave" got so many things right.

I could veto this Simpson-Gardner thing if I wanted to, but I don't. Do you know why? It's got homeless shelters and Head Start centers. And hot lunches for little kiddies.

If I kill it, I'm going to look like a prick.

And I don't want to look like a prick. I want _you guys_ to look like pricks.

Okay now that Nikki Haley has announced: if I were a consultant to the campaign, I would devote serious thought to whether her entry music should be Aretha Franklin's very groovy version of "Niki Hoeky"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgHWKXbE2FE

Or the endearingly goofy Bobbie Gentry version of "Niki Hoeky."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dyo_xZnvsA

Personally, I think that what American politics needs right now is someone who is gonna dig you on a scoobydoo. And, further, I believe that our leaders should get hip to the consultation on the boolawoo.

Your thoughts are welcome.

Holy cow, that made me check and PJ Proby is still alive!

This syllabic pattern cannot be a coincidence:

PJ Proby
Bobbie Gentry
Niki Hoeky
Nikki Haley
Mary Cheney
Margot Robbie
Bonny Billy
Danny Carey
Jenny McCarthy
Walker Percy

what else do i have to say

Ren and Stimpy
Ken and Barbie
PJ Harvey
Roberts, Cokie
Okey Dokey
Artichokey
Okefenokee
Thor and Loki

lol @ forks!

Compare "Fashion shoots with Beck and Hanson / Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson / We didn't start the fire."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcRe6DO-sE8

I can't take it any more

It's objectively hilarious how many ways he's going to use "woke" as a ridiculous pejorative. "We're saying to the Wrigley Company no, we will not allow you to produce woke Juicy Fruit in the state of Florida!" and crap like that.

yeah, i think meatball ron is misjudging how much even republican voters care about this. he comes off as a morbid obsessive with none of the joyful transgressive energy of trump in 2016. i do not believe he will win the nomination.

Please speak to my Florida Dems. I've had to talk several off ledges.

Hey, it'd get him out of their hair

I'm not so sure. I think "woke" for a fair number of conservatives is shorthand for "anything I don't like or don't understand or makes me uncomfortable," from critical race theory (as they perceive it) to changing pronouns. xp

Now he's threatening to get rid of all AP classes — which I can't imagine plays well to the white suburbs? What is even the constituency for this shit beyond the NewsMax crowd?

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/02/13/gov-desantis-ratchets-up-fight-with-college-board-hints-at-getting-rid-of-ap-courses-in-florida/

xp to education in any form

kill people, burn shit, fuck school '24

From that article linked above: “Black queer studies” and the “reparations movement.” There's your woke right there.

there is no ap black queer studies or ap reparations

he is just targeting an established discipline in the humanities and social sciences, african american studies, because he is a racist.

and i just don't think it will work to continue framing everything as a source of lurking "wokeness." it seems too paranoid. and in its scolding sort of tone reproduces the very thing a lot of people don't like about "wokeness" in the first place.

our lieutenant-governor, wildly popular because she's a Cuban Miami native, will be just as execrable

i don't know. i think a looooot of people really love the whole "woke" thing, even before they used that word. they didn't call it "woke" until conservatives co-opted it from people of color a few years ago, but the concept permeates conservative living. many millions of white evangelicals grew up in churches that taught (and teach, in some places) that gay people are going to hell. a key part of that sermon would always be the pastor warning everyone in the building (including small children, like me) that "the world" isn't going to accept the church's teachings - they would warn you in advance that the non-believers wouldn't accept that gay people were going to hell, to prime you for that inevitable conflict. to me, that's very similar to the conservative obsession with "woke" today; they just used different words. it's a way to flip the script on their awful views, to make themselves feel persecuted (and think of themselves as martyrs) rather than confront their own views and behavior

they might change the word "woke" to something else in a few years, or a few months, whatever, but it's a central part of their worldview so i don't think they're going to suddenly jettison the idea that their horrible ideas are under assault, rather than accepting that their horrible ideas assault other people

Getting rid of all AP classes is actually a pretty "woke" thing itself.

in its scolding sort of tone reproduces the very thing a lot of people don't like about "wokeness" in the first place

it's not just the tone. he's taking a sledgehammer approach that uses the full weight and power of The State to crush the things he calls "woke". And true to the American way of doing things, because he got some boosts in approval from his first few forays against "woke Disney", he's decided that if a little oppression is good for his approval, then way too much is even better. he's got no feel for this.

BREAKING: California U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein announces she will not seek reelection in 2024 but will finish out her term.

Her statement: pic.twitter.com/mpNywul05a

— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) February 14, 2023

whew

Two more years! Two more years!? Eh, it'll have to do for now.

Could have retired and passed it onto Barbara Lee, alas

That would have been decided by whatever process CA law requires, probably ratifying Gov. Newsom's choice. So, a mixed result.

iNewsom had publicly pledged to choose a black woman if Feinstein stepped down

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-15/newsom-dianne-feinstein-recall-appoint-black-woman

iNewsom! Strange typo

Adam Schiff Seeks Diane Feinstein’s Endorsement By Playing Into Delusion He’s High School Sweetheart Who Died In WWII https://t.co/kPvaoMPbD4 pic.twitter.com/2tsXggRi1T

— The Onion (@TheOnion) February 14, 2023

Personally, I guess I agree with treeship... but I remember thinking and saying the same thing about GWB and about Trump 2016. And look how that turned out.

I very badly want to feel like I understand the nation, the world, and the universe. Recent history has shown me that people who think they understand things (e.g., me) are frequently and disastrously mistaken.

So I am torn between team "blue no matter who" and team "can a humungous meteor please destroy this failed experiment in having sentient beings inhabit a moist and verdant planet? Thanxbye."

There is a line each of us must cross between the pedantry of fatalism based on the 2016 presidential election results and coming to conclusions as reasonably as one can based on available data that isn't proffered by a Beltway hack on Twitter.

The mistake, especially at the national level, is thinking "The country is really like this" or "The country is really like that." Even in the broad channel of the "mainstream," the constraints on the politically possible at any given point are not really fixed. When I say "Most people don't care that much about wokeness," that's based on survey data about people's actual priorities when they are given the chance to articulate them for themselves. But it doesn't follow that people can't be induced to care about wokeness, or about anything else — people are influenceable, particularly on issues they haven't thought much about. That's why here in my state we're getting ready to criminalize drag shows and gender-affirming care for minors — not because most people have suddenly decided these are important issues, but because the actually tiny percentage of people who do think they're important issues (Matt Walsh, Libs of Tik Tok) have figured out how to work the levers of influence within one political party and are filling a culture-war space that that party is set up to exploit.

Which is to say, I think that not much about American politics or Americans' political worldview is really set in concrete, it's always ebbing and flowing and shifting and can be molded and shaped with sufficient effort, strategy and resources. The wishful-thinking fallacy that people especially on the left sometimes fall into is the idea that "most people" are "really on our side," we just have to give them a chance to express themselves. My frustration with what I could see of the Bernie campaigns from the outside, e.g., was that they didn't really seem to have that influence/persuasion/framing strategy in place — their formula was basically "Bernie!"

I don't know whether or not someone like Matt Walsh operates under the assumption that "most people" agree with him, but I do know that Matt Walsh has been very smart about going out there and finding ways to make people notice the things he's obsessed with and create a political pathway to act on them.

Which is also why I'm so far dubious of DeSantis' approach, which seems to be a lot of press conferences and posturing — playing to the choir, but not necessarily making it bigger. But I suppose we'll see.

It's not posturing in Florida, let me assure you, but I'm also dubious about the zealotry of low expectations. Georgia ain't Florida. Pennsylvania ain't Florida.

Yeah, I'm thinking of building a national base — Florida he clearly understands.

I drove by a truck with big Biden Sucks flags and lord do I wanna key that fucker

not cos he doesn't suck but cos u know what those flags are actually saying

DeSantis on a FL district removing a Roberto Clemente children's book because it talks about racism: "That's politics, though. To be honest with you. C'mon. I mean, we know. Roberto Clemente? I mean, seriously. That's politics. I think the school unions are involved with this." pic.twitter.com/s3zu8DGa8X

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 14, 2023

uh, makes sense, uh *looks around to see if other people are nodding yes or no*

Wait so he's saying teachers' unions are deliberately removing books about racism and Roberto Clemente so he'll get blamed for it? Just straight-up refusing to take any responsibility for his own actions. Head-spinning. (I realize this is probably just another Tuesday to anyone in Florida.)

i mean it makes total and complete sense to me once you apply the "words have no meaning, actions have no consequences" reality filter that seems to have come down in the last seven+ years

his natural, at-rest facial expression is somewhere between a scowl and a sneer

ok wow very good post by tipsy there. Mothrock ON.

this shit is way too strange. its making me feel the way I imagine Joe Rogan feels all the time

https://www.wjcl.com/article/ohio-train-derailment-white-noise-movie-plot-real-life/42859167#

How bad is this? It’s getting relatively little news coverage.

Seems too soon to tell, but it's probably not good.

I didn’t hear about it until this week but apparently the crash was on the 3rd?

Even before this that was a pretty rough part of the country that has had little but bad news for decades.

weird how Biden didn’t celebrate this great and direct result of his unionbusting at the SOTU

it depends on who you trust. EPA is monitoring it and is not finding hazardous levels. however, you can still smell chemicals even when they're not at a hazardous level, and people who live there are reporting headaches and nausea, and some have had to leave the area.

EPA, the federal EPA, delegates many duties and responsibilities to state environmental authorities (which often use the same acronym, EPA, as well as others like DNR (Dept of Natural Resources), which is very confusing. so when you read about "Ohio EPA", that is the state regulatory agency, and while they coordinate with the federal EPA and are delegated to administer many national environmental laws, each state nonetheless is their own beast.

with what happened and is still happening at Flint, i can understand why so many don't trust regulatory agencies at all when they say that things are safe.

I don’t know if this is politics or racism or end times but this is quite a thread

you probably remember this photograph. it's one of the more iconic of the awful images of the nazi torch march at UVA on august 11, 2017.
on august 12, the man in the center was elated to see himself on the cover of papers across the county.
today, i can tell you he is dead. pic.twitter.com/ti5c1c0LT0

— molly conger (@socialistdogmom) February 14, 2023

Here lies Teddy Von Nukem. He was an asshole.

When people tell you who they are and who they are is Teddy Von Nukem, believe them.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) needed to be corrected by a staffer on Tuesday that her office had put out a statement announcing her decision to retire from her Senate seat.

A reporter asked Feinstein, 89, if she had any message for her Senate colleagues after her retirement statement was issued by her office.

Feinstein asked the reporter what he was referring to, and he responded that he meant about her decision to not run for reelection.

“Well, I haven’t made that decision. I haven’t released anything,” she said.

“Senator, we put out your statement,” a staff member for Feinstein quickly cut in.

“You put out the statement?” Feinstein responded. “I should have known they put it out.”

In her statement, Feinstein said that she would finish out her term, which is set to end in January 2025, but not run for reelection next year.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3858125-feinstein-corrected-by-staffer-about-retirement-announcement/

may the lord bless her and keep her

Senator Ididwhatnow? (D-Calif.)

a chaotic evil staffer could get her to announce a run for president tomorrow

TS: who would you rather have in charge of life or death emergency: Feinstein or John Kennedy?

“This is why God made pipelines. They're much safer than trucks or trains. Now, I understand this particular chemical could not have been transported by a pipeline.”

— Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), when asked about the train derailment disaster in East Palestine, Ohio pic.twitter.com/r9Tcs1qJXC

— The Recount (@therecount) February 15, 2023

is that Dianne Feinstein

and one more "well, shit" for the day: you won't believe it, but once again matt gaetz has failed upward and has avoided serious trouble

Federal prosecutors have closed a long-running sex-trafficking investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and have decided not to press charges against him, attorneys for the congressman said.

"We have just spoken with the DOJ and have been informed that they have concluded their investigation into Congressman Gaetz and allegations related to sex trafficking and obstruction of justice and they have determined not to bring any charges against him,” Marc Mukasey and Isabelle Kirshner said in a statement.

In September, The Washington Post reported that career prosecutors had recommended against charging Gaetz, telling Justice Department superiors that a conviction was unlikely in part because of credibility questions with the two central witnesses, according to people familiar with the matter. CNN first reported Wednesday that the Justice Department decided to close the investigation.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/02/15/gaetz-not-charged-sex-trafficking/

Narrator: Gaetz celebrated by indulging in some Sex Trafficking.

Six weeks in and 2023 has UFOs, a truck-sized asteroid, an airborne toxic event, rampant shootings, a devastating earthquake, the Colorado River is disappearing and an enormous chunk of Antarctica is about to fall into the sea

Good luck, humanity

Oh and one of the most popular TV shows is about fungal zombies

Things are going great

Gee, there was that one time when Jefferey Epstein made a plea bargain agreement. It was in Florida, iirc.

Is Sarah Palin ok pic.twitter.com/fQzGHvXFYG

— Current Revolt (@CurrentRevolt) February 14, 2023

Was she ok before

Good morning!

she is just dressed like she is going to a music festival what's wrong with that

coachella vibes / spiritual millennial

Forget her, what's wrong with those dudes' faces!?

that's a good point. so blurry, very disrespectful

Izzat Sarah Palin or Amy Sedaris?

I think that's Izzy Stradlin.

Tina Fey is just fucking with us at this point

Seems Sinemaesque to me

Hey now, Ms. Palin, that's no way for an ex-veep nominee to comport themselves in public.

https://pyxis.nymag.com/v1/imgs/1e2/658/97214dcde5465d5180e2ff718c8b30060e-1----.w710.jpg

can't wait for the Paul Ryan biopic starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

I think Paul should play himself.

I think he already did

News from Fetterman’s office: “Last night, Senator John Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed … to receive treatment for clinical depression. While John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks” pic.twitter.com/Yp6yGhpX7L

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 16, 2023

aw man, unless he can bounce back quickly, that is kinda the worst possible outcome

that last quote seemed odd to me - "the doctors at walter reed told us that john is getting the care he needs, and will soon be back to himself"

that seems like a wildly optimistic and not at all easily obtained outcome for severe depression, but ok

at least Pennsylvania has a Democratic governor should the need arise

john, have you tried smiling more? have you tried exercising? you should go outside! john, just treat that negative voice in your head like a friend that you care about that's going through a hard time! john have have you tried going outside?!

preparing for a fuck ton of "we told you so" bullshit from the soulless GOP

Best wishes to Fetterman and his family. It doesn’t feel like it when you’re in the thick of it, but depression is very treatable. He can still become a great senator.

And honestly, his unpolished humanity is what people liked about him to begin with. I can see him bouncing back, even politically.

KM otm.

He should resign and let the governor appoint his successor; depression's an awful thing without worrying about another stroke too. This won't hurt him politically at all: if anything the announcement further humanizes him and validate the voters' choice.

I don’t think he should resign. He isn’t just a generic democrat — his passion for workers’ issues and the plight of small towns makes him a true representative for pennsylvania. I wish more democrats were like him.

Populist but not reactionary.

at least one Rust Belt resident has access to decent mental health care

^^honestly, my very first reaction. amazement that he could immediately seek help and find it

yep

treeship, I don't disagree about his talents.

i would like to see him get better, stay in the senate, and become the leading advocate for improving mental health care services by at least five hundred fucking trillion percent in this country

I think Paul should play himself.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, February 16, 2023 10:00 AM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I think he already did

― عباس کیارستمی (Eric H.), Thursday, February 16, 2023 10:05 AM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Heeeeyoooo

https://www.thecut.com/2018/04/5-of-paul-ryans-greatest-fitness-moments-for-his-retirement.html

More seriously (and I hadn’t seen those posts before I posted): good that Fetterman realized he needed help, and sought it.

re: the recent news about the mental health crisis with teenage girls - I've heard SO many anecdotal accounts of kids literally trying to check themselves into a facility, and being told there was no room but maybe try back in six weeks... wayyyy too common

worth reading if you're keeping tabs on who christian nationalists are willing to endorse. desantis seems to be saying and doing all the right things in order to get their leaders to say that god has chosen him. it's batshit and they are horrible people, but getting god's endorsement is essential to winning the GOP primary.

https://newrepublic.com/article/170438/ron-desantis-path-victory-2024-right-wing-churches

This filing in the Dominion lawsuit against Fox News is one of the most remarkable documents I've ever seen. Filled with private texts between Fox stars like Hannity and Carlson, plus Murdoch, all admitting they knew Fox's stolen election claims were lies. https://t.co/F5VTxc3w3C

— Will Sommer (@willsommer) February 17, 2023

More and better pull-quotes here:

As Angelo notes, we've obtained a lightly redacted copy of Dominion's motion for summary judgment in the case against Fox News/ I'll be noting some excerpts here https://t.co/mjh5KpUgOX

— John Whitehouse+ (@existentialfish) February 16, 2023

from pg 149:

https://i.imgur.com/v8DeETt.png

https://i.imgur.com/lcgDUYS.png
https://i.imgur.com/YwNfVRZ.png

a couple pages later. and so on.

i don't want to say the obvious cynical thing, so i'll leave it unsaid and instead point to another freshmen GOP representative who appears to have been making everything about their background:

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/businessman-economist-cop-international-sex-crimes-expert-the-stories-of-congressman-andy-ogles

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — If you believe Middle Tennessee's newest congressman, he's not only a businessman, he's also an economist, a nationally recognized expert in tax policy and health care, a trained police officer, even an expert in international sex crimes.

But an exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation discovered that Andy Ogles' personal life story is filled with exaggerations, a story that's often too good to be true.

wait, someone named Ogle could very well be an expert in sex crimes

According to the Dominion lawsuit against Fox News, one of the sources for the network's "election fraud" information said she got her information from "experiencing something like time-travel in a semi-conscious state" that allows her to "see what others don't see." pic.twitter.com/oFexxz01L9

— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) February 17, 2023

defamation is hard to prove but I really hope Dominion prevails in all these suits

MTG & Santos co-sponsor bill to ban LGBTQ+ books from classrooms, don't know which coverage to link.

Ken Tucker on Fragments, with good excerpts, esp. live at end:
https://www.npr.org/2023/02/16/1157481772/bob-dylans-time-out-of-mind-remains-eerie-and-vital-in-a-newly-released-version

Wrong thread, sorry!

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/16/1157481772/mtg-and-santos-lgbtq-book-ban-remains-eerie-and-vital-in-a-newly-released-version

xp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlKrH07au6E

Lol

" . . . the wind does not hear."

Santos has an unerring instinct for what will make people with cameras and microphones follow him around shouting questions.

you mean lying?

that's his core competency, but he's learning to diversify

those two.. politics makes for strange bedfellows, but they seem to be hitting it off

Defamation is hard to prove because you usually don't have internal documents from the defendant straight up saying that their sources are lying/deluded.

noted truth teller james o'keefe has been booted from project veritas for being a dick

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/20/us/politics/james-okeefe-project-veritas.html

James O’Keefe, who as the leader of the conservative group Project Veritas used theatrical stunts, undercover stings and other deceptive tactics in efforts to inflict embarrassment and charges of hypocrisy and wrongdoing on perceived liberal enemies in politics and the media, has been removed from his post by the organization’s board, Mr. O’Keefe disclosed on Monday.

The decision to remove Mr. O’Keefe came amid an uproar among the group’s staff about his leadership style, his treatment of subordinates and his use of the group’s funds for high-priced expenses like flights on a private plane.

...The complaints about Mr. O’Keefe from the staff members were voiced by a group of his colleagues in an 11-page memo sent to the board on Feb. 3. The employees who signed the memo said it was based on descriptions of Mr. O’Keefe’s conduct compiled by a third of the group’s staff members from all of its departments.

“James has become a power-drunk tyrant, and he is exactly who he pontificates on who we should be exposing,” the memo said.

In the video on Monday, Mr. O’Keefe disputed the characterizations in the memo of his conduct and management style.

The memo portrayed Mr. O’Keefe, by the accounts of some subordinates, as a frequently bullying boss who had a “constant habit of publicly demeaning people’s role and responsibilities, almost in a way to then step in” to claim that he had fixed the problem.

Thank you for being a dickkkkk

it's always the people you least expect

reports also indicated he was an alcohol-drunk tyrant with weird musical theater trappings

Project Veritas is claiming that James O'Keefe "blew their money on his musical theater dreams"? That can't possibly be true. This was worth every penny they spent. https://t.co/wbBs2Fk2De pic.twitter.com/hyw4SwzPGL

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) February 9, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnE7qrz1nYg

yikes. this is a good reminder for all of us to take a step back and pause whenever we're tempted to blow a bunch of money on our musical theater dreams

oh what a beautiful morning
oh what a beautiful day
I have a tape of dead fetuses
Being sold cheap on e-Bay

I wonder what the musical theater/qanon crossover stats are like. Probably higher than the average

i'm sure they reveal themselves during whatever 16 bars of music they've prepared

Turner Diaries: The Musical

I hope the Prince estate sues him into oblivion

There is no more ironically named group in the U.S. today than "Project Veritas."

It’s kind of funny that these staff members don’t realize that they’re part of a shitty grift operation.

Tucker Carlson and others on the right have launched a vile effort to recast the Ohio train derailment as a story about the systematic victimization of white people.

I dug into some of their race-baiting claims in this piece. It's truly repulsive stuff:https://t.co/rZmFxh3LHj

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) February 21, 2023

Hey they finally discovered environmental racism

Amazing

Very good:

.@chrislhayes on the GOP response to the Ohio train disaster: "Republicans can complain all they want. But what do you want to do? They can't really offer any real solutions. Because, in the end, this is just a classic story about corporate interests and regulation." pic.twitter.com/AQzxGSXFYT

— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) February 15, 2023

Fuck J.D. Vance and his fucking misshapen, smug face.

facist

Why it’s almost as if the Dems are in line with the GOP to advance a heartless and racist nationalist project.

The proposed rule, which has been opened for 30 days of public comment before taking effect, would presume that migrants are ineligible for asylum if they entered the country unlawfully, a significant rollback in the country’s traditional policy toward those fleeing persecution in other countries.

It would allow rapid deportation of anyone who had failed to request protection from another country while en route to the United States or who did not notify border authorities through a mobile app of their plans to seek asylum.

So much cruelty. I'm stuck on "a mobile app" as particularly psychopathic: acquiring the device, the service, and the app is, I'm sure, just super easy for people fleeing persecution in other countries, and I bet the ux is seamless

That it is US imperial policy and meddling in Central and South Anerican countries’ affairs that is causing the latter’s inhabitants to flee is so transparent that there is no way that US policymakers don’t know this as fact; it also shows their actions as based almost purely on racism and paternalism.

otm. this piece was linked from the other one; the cycle never ends: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/06/us/politics/harris-migration-central-america.html

there is no way that US policymakers don’t know this as fact; it also shows their actions as based almost purely on racism and paternalism.

And on the economic benefits of a low-wage workforce with limited legal protections, can never leave that out of the immigration discussions.

That mobile app thing feels like a Black Mirror plot device.

Meanwhile the Michigan GOP is going to declare war on the globalists in Michigan

New Michigan GOP Chair Kristina Karamo repeats the lie that Biden is an "illegitimate president” and says his agenda is to "intentionally implode the United States of America.”

She also says Michigan is "ground zero for the globalist takeover" of the U.S:

"These are facts!" pic.twitter.com/WJaTMdt6BM

— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) February 21, 2023

nbd but i noticed that MTG, in one day, seems to have floated a "national divorce" on sean hannity, then went on hitler youth activist charlie kirk's show and suggested that democrats moving to red states shouldn't be able to vote for the next 5 years

I'm starting to think she might not be good

With Biden the queasy mix of awful and good's getting to be a thing:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy7a7x/companies-cant-ask-you-to-shut-up-to-receive-severance-nlrb-rules

"Every Republican accusation is a confession."

https://www.vice.com/en/article/93ae38/republicans-drag-show-ban-tennessee

even Dame Edna? Sandy Duncan as Peter Pan?

Die Fledermaus is in trouble (apologies to ilx0r deflatormouse)

THIS JUST IN: Tennessee National Guard troops currently deploying to confiscate DVD and VHS copies of Mrs. Doubtfire

At last someone is thinking of the children.

Dolly Parton really needs to speak up and end this nonsense.

She's touring Ukraine and meeting with Zelenskyy.

Putin, Putin, Putin, Putin

I'm beggin' of you please don't take my land

come on. that's inappropriate.

it should be vla-dee, vla-dee, vla-dee, vlaad - eeee

xp lol treesh, fair point, but what about

Here you come again
Invading sovereign territory
As if you have a right to
Here you come again
And here's NATO

or

Fightin' Lviv to Kyiv
What a way to make a livin'

sorry

Lvivin'

it should be vla-dee, vla-dee, vla-dee, vlaad - eeee

Desmond has a barrow in the marketplace

Fighting nine to five
What a way to start invading!

ok I'll stop right there

Tester has announced that he'll seek reelection in MT in 2024.

I am already getting bombarded with texts and emails about this.

He stands a better chance than we might've found possible, no?

hope so. the 2024 senate map, as many have said, is brutal

Nice bit here on “the Devil’s Milkshake”, a very neoliberal/era concoction, when public officials across the globe(including the US President) consume potentially contaminated substances in front of cameras to defuse justified public ire when part of the rotting infrastructure breaks

https://thebaffler.com/latest/the-devils-milkshake-ray

From Tarence of the Trillbillies

xxpost
Stumble out of bed
stage an insurrection
pour myself
a cup of sedition

Please ignore that a) that doesn't rhyme, b) I mixed up the first word, c) I was talking about something entirely different.

The tanks gonna turn
And they're all gonna roll
Your way

pic.twitter.com/fJ5tAJQ6A9

— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) February 23, 2023

The words "Marianne Williamson" and "important announcement" do not belong in the same sentence, and never have.

the announcement will be sent telepathically while Mars is in retrograde

Ah, Marianne Williamson--the quaint kook of yesteryear!

bringing woo-woo to the white house

whatever it is, I support it

her first album is coming out

"It It Ain't Woke, Don't Fix It"

coming out on Telegram Records

if someone's gonna primary the Prez it ain't gonna be u

Use Your Delusion II

i like her now

you're not going to believe it, but the solution to our political problems continues to be love!

the Left and the Right need to put aside their differences and start using the same tarot deck

god is love and god is dead, so I guess our political problems are insoluble

i knew we should have thought it through before killing god

Wait hear me out — Weekend at Bernie's, but with God.

(of course you could argue the Catholic Church has a long headstart on that one)

Crazy Captain Gunboat Teddy

Ted Cruz goes to the border cosplaying as Che and is ferried around with other Republicans in a gunboat. But sure, tell more about costumes. https://t.co/KozRz8NgIg pic.twitter.com/opCybXf9RV

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 23, 2023

he's been swift-boated!

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-to-expand-troop-presence-in-taiwan-for-training-against-china-threat-62198a83

cool cool

at some point one just starts doing the actuarial math on whether one lives to see the next world war or not.

(unless you think it's already started of course: https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/what-if-were-already-fighting-the-third-world-war-with-russia)

Meanwhile, this Florida defamation bill is wild. It doesn't quite make it illegal to call someone a racist or homophobe, but it makes it very actionable. It also assumes for legal purposes that any information attributed to anonymous sources is false. Sounds crazy! But because it's one of these insidious private-action bills, there aren't even easy ways to challenge it. Also, it doesn't matter where you live, you can be sued in Florida if the words you publish are accessible there. You live in Oregon and call someone a racist on Twitter, they can sue you in Tallahassee.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a43031028/florida-defamation-bill/

We’re a year, maybe two from SCOTUS ruling that Christians can sue non-Christians for not being Christian; this moment will seem quaint in retrospect

In a sane world, that bill would be blown to bits in a constitutional challenge. Sadly, we are not living in a sane world.

Apparently, the cretinous legislator who filed the original bill withdrew it. Here's the new one:

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2023/02/23/defamation-andrade-sexuality-race-gender-desantis-libel/

Here he is:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/200/300/AlexAndrade.jpeg

Definitely do NOT suggest in print that he looks like a closet case.

I tend to take claims like these with a grain of salt.

But I just went line-by-line through the DeSantis education bill. And you guys, it’s *bananas*. A road map for wrecking one of our great state systems of higher education. 🧵 1/ https://t.co/P3cPcCOzxV

— Julian Davis Mortenson (@jdmortenson) February 24, 2023

All state colleges and universities must remove Women’s & Gender Studies from the list of available majors and minors. No major or minor can exist if it is deemed to be “derivative” from the “belief system” of “Critical Race Theory”—gee, wonder where that will go. 4/ pic.twitter.com/nKFtEgaEAo

— Julian Davis Mortenson (@jdmortenson) February 24, 2023

jfc

jfc is right, I'm really sorry Alfred. I know this hits you personally in so many ways. Thinking of you during this mess.

And all this as a prelude to running for president. Whee!

At some point I have to imagine this stuff would force the de-accreditation of Florida universities, right? I can only imagine we're headed for some alternate right-wing accreditation body that will be recognized only by red state legislatures.

i fear that florida is turning into ALEC for other rightwing legislatures, especially if codifying hatred is a prerequisite for running for national office

Yeah, that's kind of what I imagine lies ahead whenever it comes to talk of "splitting up the country" or whatever nonsense is new. The more likely path forward is two competing sets of damn near everything, one to coddle the Christian nationalists and prop up their hate, the other for everyone else. Of course the problem, and the danger, is that these assholes would never be happy with just their own game to play, they want to insist that everyone else must as well.

Right, there's already no Women's Studies courses at Liberty University. They just want to ensure there's none anywhere.

And they're passing these "private cause of action" laws to let people in one state sue people in another state — even for things that are legal in that other state. Plus also using friendly federal judge to essentially enact nationwide policy through blocking or issuing injunctions against federal laws. There is no stasis or equilibrium here where one set of states does one thing and another set does another, the goal is total national control. As always and ever, "states' rights" is a pure smokescreen.

A lot of this stuff won't survive judicial review, but some of it will and already has.

on an extremely related note

1. So, I recently took a trip out to North Idaho.

I was tracking down rumors about Christian nationalism(s) rising in the region.

But I wasn't prepared for just how *big* it'd become, how powerful it is in the state, and how it may impact the future GOP. https://t.co/3z6J4ZKvOY

— Jack Jenkins (@jackmjenkins) February 23, 2023

I'm not surprised by anything I hear out of Northern Idaho

Is this ... new? It's Idaho, birthplace of the Aryan Nation, location of Ruby Ridge, Ammon Bundy ...

Also this hotel shaped like a potato:

https://cdn.idahopotato.com/cache/fa5ae4ceffd2b15376571c00488fa9de_w570.jpg

I mean, the article is pretty specifically about new developments, so...

Well, it seems like part of a continuum that stretches back decades, but this time with some Trump worship up in the mix

he really is the worst thing to ever happen to this country

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/02/22/university-texas-system-dei-pause/

University of Texas has paused their DEI initiatives in sympathy with Florida. Just to be clear, the Board of Regents met today and this was not on the agenda at all, so they really did see Florida do it and were immediately like "us too! us too!"

some of the text of this, in addition to being bigoted and hateful, is also just plain stupid in the big, practical sense. like this part:

All faculty hiring will be done by the university board or president—who *may not delegate* any aspect of any hiring decision or any hiring authority to any group of faculty however constituted. They are “not required to consider recommendations or opinions of faculty.” 5/ pic.twitter.com/z4D6ZYJQZi

— Julian Davis Mortenson (@jdmortenson) February 24, 2023

so, the board and the president are going to be extremely busy making hiring decisions this year, i guess, if they actually followed this. (in reality, i expect that they'll just get handed a list of fascist accommodators and make hiring decisions from there, giving favor to whoever they personally know)

I can't wait for a university president to sit down with biochem professor's CV.

I remember when Republicans used to call themselves the party of liberty.

FIU is the largest majority-minority public university in the country. Already our BOT chair made mealy-mouthed statements recognizing that reality. Because we house the heinous Adam Smith Center, a conservative thinktank that aims to turn our university itself into a thinktank, I expect "carve-outs" made to preserve enrollment figures. Which is just as bad.

xp - I'm sure they'd still be happy to call themselves that, or the party of freedom, or of justice for all, with support for our troops, mom and apple pie thrown in for good measure

Can DeSantis’s recent actions be struck down by the courts on first amendment grounds?

Sure.

The most idiotic part of this is that conservatives have been decrying universities for *decades* on the grounds that they are censorious, illiberal spaces that don’t allow conservative ideas to be debated. This goes all the way back to allan bloom, the “closing of the american mind,” for him, was the fault of leftist ideologues. But it seems the right wing solution to this issue — which maybe is an issue, I can give the devil his due and say that some liberal professors are more committed to promoting their ideology tha. the open ended exploration of ideas — but their solution is literal censorship of the left. They do not care *at all* about ideas. They are the enemies of the “western tradition” they always crow about, which is, post-enlightenment, fundamentally a tradition of skepticism and the (necessarily messy) pursuit of freedom, equality, and justice.

I am not in florida, and i teach high school not higher ed, but this makes me furious. We need the humanities. A culture that isn’t being vigorously debated and hence renewed is a culture that is dead. Banning women’s studies is so atrocious, like taliban-esque.

the bill will almost certainly see court challenge, but how well that will go for opponents remains to be seen. everybody seems hyperfocused on Florida's state Supreme Court, but I feel like this one would get to the Federal court level (perhaps not to SCOTUS, but idk, I could see Clarence and Alito jumping all over hearing this one). even there though - who knows if the bill gets gutted, barely touched, or not touched at all.

it doesn't matter. damage is already done even by proposing it.

it doesn't feel great. it doesn't feel good. this state fucking sucks. i had to stop reading the twitter thread so I could even sleep last night

also being that you're IN this education system, Alfred, my sympathies to you as well :(

The trick is, if it gets challenged it will certainly go to SCOTUS where, as Neanderthal said, DeSantis knows he has Thomas and Gorsuch's votes at least.

DeSantis, like Trump, often doesn't care what sticks, because he knows he's still damaged the institution.

his social media bill basically got obliterated by the court and never got to become law. he's still seen as the guy who stood up to Big Tech by his fellators supporters

oops meant strikethru

it still works fine that way

Hard to fight against DeSantis when he's equally happy with either outcome: control the public universities or destroy them. Abbott's gonna do the same thing here in Texas.

this whole 'I broke the woke!' thing is not gonna fly in a general election, though maybe it will in a GOP primary

^^^nationwide general

yeah but I don't even care about national at this point, I have to live in this state.

Yeah at the national level I guess I’m still naive enough to think that being painted as Book-Burner General is not an appealing thing. I just kind of fundamentally think that Americans don’t like that shit. But maybe I’ve just seen too many self-righteous Hollywood dramas about it.

as far as reaction, it doesn't feel like the general populace has the stomach for widespread demonstration anymore. they're worn out. recent events that would have normally generated such response has been rather muted. it was easier in 2020 when nobody was going anywhere anyway due to the pandemic than when people returned to work and public life.

but really...it has to happen

wait, I thought there was a big Florida universities protest/walkout yesterday?

Wouldn't the "derivative of Critical Race Theory" thing also affect Black Studies type curricula? How will that play down there?

wait, I thought there was a big Florida universities protest/walkout yesterday?

― Andy the Grasshopper,

There was, I was there, and it was wonderful.

As I'm tangentially involved in the excruciating, months-long deliberation that informs the hiring of new faculty in our department (at a private university, FWIW), I can confirm that the hiring requirements in that bill are legitimately insane and have no connection to reality whatsoever.

So sorry you have to deal with this bullshit, Alfred. Such pointless spite and evil.

Wouldn't the "derivative of Critical Race Theory" thing also affect Black Studies type curricula?

Clearly and obviously, yes. Which besides 1st Amendment violations also seems like an obvious violation of the Civil Rights Act. But … tell it to the judge I guess.

I'm really ready for Trump to up the attacks against DeSantis

I think I prefer trump to desantis at this point

Hate to say it out loud, but me too. Trump was at least easily distracted and would only push through about half the shit DeSantis is pulling.

Trump wanted to be widely liked, DeSantis has no such aspirations

He'll have to be to win swing voters. The difference is that DeSantis isn't attracting the swing voters whom Trump lost in 2018, 2020, and 2022 by being worse than Trump.

I'll start with sympathy for Alfred and Neanderthal and the poster formerly known as Karl and my friends in Florida and Texas for having to live with this shit. We have plenty of bullshit here in Virginia (do NOT get me started) and my native Missouri.

That said,

that's kind of what I imagine lies ahead whenever it comes to talk of "splitting up the country" or whatever nonsense is new. The more likely path forward is two competing sets of damn near everything, one to coddle the Christian nationalists and prop up their hate, the other for everyone else.

There is a bitter taste of hypocrisy in folks who decry CRT / 1619 Project / basically any reckoning with the past as "divisive." And yet it is the same folks who whirl round to call for national divorce and Texit etc.

I am sure there is some weirdly compelling circular logic out there about how "we needed to divide the nation to protect it from divisive liberal politics" a la Vietnam-era "we needed to destroy the village to save it from communism."

Personally I no longer have the stomach to hate-read stuff about good divisiveness vs. bad divisiveness. I type on land bloodied by numerous actual civil wars.

Even if it were safe to discount DeSantis as a national figure — which it's not, clearly, although I have doubts about how well he travels — Florida and Texas are absolutely leading the way in the establishment of a solid Red State-ocracy, which is going to be extremely aggressive about targeting women, racial and sexual minorities, religious minorities, immigrants and just plain ol' liberals, pushing every year at whatever constitutional protections they still enjoy.

Nothing is forever and it's hard for me to see this current culture war intensity sustaining itself, but it's also hard to see anything getting better in the near term.

I get a literal sinking sick-to-my-stomach feeling every time the Tennessee Legislature comes back into session. It's always just, how bad will it be this year, and what will be the lasting damage when the storm subsides?

Obviously today and the next years will be dangerous and fucked, but I do think it can be worthwhile stepping back and seeing that this is part of a resurgence of these culture war issues that comes every decade or two. For me, there’s at least some comfort in knowing that while I fight this fascist bullshit any chance I get.

you're right about that for sure

it's all so fucking performative as well.. they vote no on the infrastructure bill, but happily claim credit when some federal money flows their way... and then waste their time on shit like Drag Story Hour or whatever

I do think it can be worthwhile stepping back and seeing that this is part of a resurgence of these culture war issues that comes every decade or two. For me, there’s at least some comfort in knowing that while I fight this fascist bullshit any chance I get.

Agreed. I keep saying to myself, Well, it's just our turn to fight this stuff again. As people before us did and people after us probably will as well.

Yes indeed.

jeb! has directed all 15 of his political supporters to vote for desantis

Jeb Bush endorses Ron Desantis for president. pic.twitter.com/qBF0YGHcG4

— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) February 26, 2023

please clap die

All five of them?

Jeb is also donating his exclamation point. (Like new, barely used.)

They took our jebbb!!!s

He just needs an endorsement from Colon Powell and he'll be on track to dominating the keyboard

D!Santis

Entertaining, this.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/27/business/media/fox-news-dominion-rupert-murdoch.html

Other details here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/02/27/rupert-murdoch-testimony-fox-dominion/

Some serious guy in hot dog costume just asking questions vibes to Rupe.

Surprised it took this long

A Republican in Florida just introduced a bill that would ban the Democratic Party from existing in the state. Registered Democrats in Florida would be notified that their party has been “canceled” and they’re now no-party voters. https://t.co/N3hvUEjaRr

— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) February 28, 2023