US Politics, May 2024: They Shoot Puppies, Don't They?

where's the dog tags?

https://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2012/08/dont-roof-rack-me-bro.jpeg

It's starting...

Arizona lawmakers on Wednesday voted to repeal a Civil War-era law that banned nearly all abortions, after a pair of Republican senators joined with all Democrats.

The Republican-controlled Senate had enough votes to pass legislation repealing the 1864 law by a razor-thin margin, 16-14. All 14 Democrats were joined by two Republicans: state Sens. Shawnna Bolick and T.J. Shope.

All 14 Democrats were joined by two Republicans: state Sens. Shawnna Bolick and T.J. Shope.

Who will immediately receive primary challenges for their trouble.

well, anyone who's too lilly-livered to uphold 1864 statutes probably deserves to be primaried

An interesting list of things maybe possibly of importance to Americans, if only they knew about them:

Nearly every day for the past month, the Biden administration has made an announcement about a finalized regulation. They have completed a minimum staffing ratio for nursing homes, conserved 13 million acres in the Alaskan Arctic, designated “forever chemicals” as hazardous substances, invested in rooftop solar panels in low-income communities, banned most noncompete agreements at U.S. businesses, directed federal agencies to purchase sustainable products, and closed the “gun show loophole,” to name just a few.

Why has April been a month of regulatory action? The administration surely wants to show key constituencies that they have made progress. But policymakers are also racing to get regulations done to protect them from being overturned in the next Congress.

The threat depends on the outcome of the 2024 election. If Donald Trump and the Republicans sweep back into power, they would have the ability to use the Congressional Review Act (CRA), a 1996 law that allows Congress to overturn federal agency rules through a streamlined process. Unlike most legislation, CRA resolutions can pass with a simple majority in the Senate, giving a future Republican majority a path to quickly show progress early in 2025.

But because of the timeline outlined in the CRA, any rule finalized before late May (roughly speaking; this is a moving target) is safe from being reversed by Congress. So agencies have clearly been told to get their most important rules out the door now.

In other words, the CRA is so powerful that it virtually shuts down executive branch rulemaking authority, months before the end of a presidential term.

But, you know, the most important issue in America — the most important thing in the entire world — is what's going on in Gaza, so never mind.

Voters are voters and we don't get to decide who or why they vote or don't vote. Votes are earned whether we like it or not. I've seen quite a bit of voter shaming for people saying they will vote for Biden, and now I'm starting to see it creep in for people who say they won't vote for Biden too. I don't think either are persuasive approaches

But, you know, the most important issue in America — the most important thing in the entire world — is what's going on in Gaza on American college campuses, so never mind.

But, you know, the most important issue in America — the most important thing in the entire world — is what's going on in Gaza, so never mind.

what's going on in Gaza?

KAITLAN COLLINS: So you agree that people who break in and vandalize a building should be prosecuted?

JD VANCE: Yes

COLLINS: Ok, I'm just checking, because you helped raise money for people who did so on January 6 pic.twitter.com/nEztSPrQlC

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 2, 2024

ZING

Unperson, can you provide the link for that story? I’d like to share it around

i'm pro-JD Vance only because that movie about him was one of the funniest fucking things i have ever seen in my life. kudos to him and his life.

https://www.awardsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Glenn-Close-Hillbilly-Elegy.jpg

Raymond:

https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2024/05/the-regulatory-push

the most important thing in the entire world — is what's going on in Gaza

... yes.

Thanks, Alfred!

I remember when JDV was always on NPR, Fresh Air, etc., the liberal media nearly swooned over him and his sad, soulful coal miner neighbors... he really fleeced everybody

Always Be Grifting.

the most important thing in the entire world — is what's going on in Gaza

... yes.

― papal hotwife (milo z)

otm

x3

I posted my JDV story a while back, perhaps it's time to rescreen...?

In local (to me) news, Biden has nominated an attorney for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to replace Judge Dana Christensen in the U.S. District Court of Montana.

Danna Jackson, a former U.S. attorney who served as chief legal counsel to the Montana Department of Natural Resources from 2016 to 2021, would be the first Native American federal judge in Montana if her nomination is confirmed. She worked as an attorney within the U.S. Department of the Interior from 2021 to 2023.

...

Jackson, who grew up on the Flathead Indian Reservation, has spent the bulk of her career focused on tribal law and natural resource issues.

Fun Fact: JD Vance (then known as "James") lived* across the street from my buddy in Bernal Heights, SF about 8-10 years ago, back when he was just a garden variety techbro.

*501 Franconia St for those Zillow curious.

Kinda crazy what a decade can do (though he was working for Thiel at the time so he probably drank the koolaid and some).

― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, June 13, 2023 12:21 PM (ten months ago)

Yeah that's what was surprising to my (longtime neighborhood resident) friend who said JD and his POC wife (note: they both used different names back then, is that a MAGA thing?) were active in their neighborhood projects (cleanups of neighborhood open space/public stairwells, garden) and seemed pretty non-sociopathic. Then they moved away and JD grew a beard and adopted this whole hillbilly rustbelt salt-of-the-earth persona.

― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, June 13, 2023 12:34 PM (ten months ago)

what were the names they used?

Lee Oswald.

Two months away from posting about how commies want to make you live on crickets and cockroaches

Pains me deeply to agree with Crash-and-Burn Ron, but I co-sign this.

As a member of @SenateAgDems and as some dude who would never serve that slop to my kids, I stand with our American ranchers and farmers. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/zZLYf8t5lI

— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) May 2, 2024

Lab-grown meat hasn't suffered the pain and fear that makes a steak so juicy

Let's make some things up for DeSantis to ban... uh, 'Co-Ed Checkout Lines' , 'All Ages Parks', 'Transparent Window Panes'

some "lab grown" meat Donnie and Johnnie can feel free to snack on:

Hungry? Perhaps you'd like a POOP BURGER

what were the names they used?

― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Thursday, May 2, 2024 12:47 PM (nine minutes ago)

JD went by James and his wife (Usha) went by Dawn.

PLEASE JUST BUY MY FUCKING BOOK

“You know how the fake news works,” Noem told Fox News. “They leave out some or most of the facts of a story, they put the worst spin on it. And that’s what’s happened in this case.

“I hope people really do buy this book and they find out the truth of the story because the truth of the story is that this was a working dog and it was not a puppy. It was a dog that was extremely dangerous.”

How is it 'fake news' if it's your own book? She admit it!

Noem's going to have to look to any distraction she can gin up given this:

https://apnews.com/article/south-dakota-abortion-rights-ballot-initiative-1add60de74f1985a19d01084d796297d

“You know how the fake news works,” Noem told the Fake News Network.

I heard the Biden statement on the radio, it was extremely short and said about what I'd expect it to say. Some definite needle threading there. someone asked him at the end if he thought the nation guard should be called in and he said "NO". It was like he wanted to get the fuck out of the room.

(biden statement on the protests, sorry, I can't keep track of threads anymore)

Andy's thread title is gr8 but here comes a late entry fromm WaPo:

Trump frequently meandered and interrupted his text with playful asides — when reciting grocery prices, he added, “I love chicken.”

Thanks for ruining chicken for me

KFC isn't chicken.

I actually agree w unperson in that, as horrible as the situation in Gaza is, there are other things of equal importance.

He does love chicken, though (in the paedo sense).

lol

I thought that only applies to boys? Damn what’d I miss??

from CNN; is this a typo i can laugh at or a real legal term:

"Judge Juan Merchan is going back through exhibits the defense is objecting to.

Attorney Todd Blanche says assuming the judge rejects his heresy objection they have agreed to a stipulation involving the Washington Post article. Prosecutors said with the stipulation, they will not seek to offer the Washington Post article."

I actually agree w unperson in that, as horrible as the situation in Gaza is, there are other things of equal importance.

― sarahell, Friday, May 3, 2024 11:13 AM (nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Can I ask what the point of making this point is?

If it's aimed at ILX, I don't see Gaza dominating the conversation at all. Trump, Musk, and ffs Jerry Seinfeld all seem more or at least equally popular topics this week. This thread rarely brings up Israel/Palestine (rightfully imo, we have other threads for that), whereas the "other countries" thread recently had a bunch of posts about US and UK electoral politics. From my view, "who will table vote for in Nov?!?" is the issue I would like to see far fewer posts about.

It it's a commentary on the media, yes obvs their obsession with college campuses is pathetic and annoying, but Gaza itself is hardly dominating the headlines.

And personally, I see plenty of connections between what's happening in Gaza, the campus protests & the fascist response to them (meaning the police, the pro-Israel counter-protesters, and the racists at Ole Miss etc.), and a bunch of other issues of "equal importance." The whack-a-mole view of public attention to issues of concern is weird to me. A lot of this shit comes down to overlapping vectors of domination and control

Can be any gender (see Malcolm McLaren’s project Chicken 🤮).

Xp rob … a handful of other ilxors said it was? I don’t know why you are singling me out ?

Obviously discussing gaza and US responses and protests is going to be part of this thread because a lot of energy is focused on it.

personally, I see plenty of connections between what's happening in Gaza, the campus protests & the fascist response to them (meaning the police, the pro-Israel counter-protesters, and the racists at Ole Miss etc.), and a bunch of other issues of "equal importance."

If you want to go ahead and break those connections down, I'd be interested in reading them.

I definitely see connections between the repression and the protests to BLM and activism against racist cops… the movement is definitely trying to contextualize it that way…

I would also not be surprised if cops feel more empowered attacking students, most of whom are not black, because… “Hey at least we aren’t brutalizing black people”

Texas is the reason

Texas doctor who said nine-year-olds can safely give birth appointed to maternal mortality committee

Dr. Ingrid Skop called the supreme court’s overturning of Roe v Wade ‘a victory’ and has argued in favor of abortion bans

Skop – who has called the supreme court’s overturning of Roe v Wade “a victory in the battle but not the end of the war” – has argued in favor of forcing rape and incest victims as young as nine or 10 to carry pregnancies to term. “If she is developed enough to be menstruating and become pregnant and reach sexual maturity, she can safely give birth to a baby,” Skop told the House oversight committee in 2021. Pregnancy at such a young age is shown to carry significant health risks, including pre-eclampsia and infections.

State committee or National?

"... Texas health committee tasked with reviewing maternal deaths...."

It doesn't sounds like she'll have any power, but still

In Texas we have to accept that anyone appointed to a state committee under this regime will be straight garbage.

I wonder how many people think stocks are down because they got into crypto at the wrong time and fucked up

Tragically, I think the crypto dweebs are doing pretty well if they rode it out. FTX is going to be able to make a lot of people whole because so many of their bullshit coin holdings have skyrocketed.

Ponzi: The Sequel

It appears that I sold my leftover darknet bitcoinage (0.002) for $60 when it was at $29k, I could have had $135!!!

DeNiro doing the voice over, pretty good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiwJ3kTMX60

Just a gentle reminder for those whose minds have drifted away.

Gimme the fake news and free my soul

oh no

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/25/trump-loudly-heckled-libertarian-national-convention

Former president Donald Trump encountered an unusually tough crowd at the Libertarian National Convention on Saturday night as the audience loudly booed him and used noisemakers to drown out his speech.

The first current or former president to speak at the third-party’s convention, Trump made several major promises to libertarians in the crowded, rowdy room, including assuring the audience that he would appoint a libertarian to his Cabinet if elected in November. But the presumptive Republican nominee also taunted the third party that has typically garnered around 1 to 3 percent of the vote in presidential races, saying they should nominate him if they want to win.

“Maybe you don’t want to win,” Trump said to a loud chorus of boos from the crowd. “Keep getting your 3 percent every four years.”

...Nonetheless, Trump lobbied for an invitation to speak to the libertarians, aiming to appeal to their voters amid concerns from the two major parties that third-party candidates could attract voters who could swing a close presidential contest with President Biden.

Despite the hostile crowd, Trump received his warmest response when he said if reelected, he would pardon Ross Ulbricht, the mastermind behind the online drug market Silk Road, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2015. A Trump adviser was paid to seek clemency for Ulbricht in the final days of Trump’s administration, but no pardon was forthcoming.

Libertarians, who believe that drugs should not be criminalized, have vocally criticized Trump for not pardoning Ulbricht. Many attending Trump’s speech carried “FREE ROSS” signs.

https://crooked.com/podcast/the-trump-voters-who-are-sick-of-trump-ep-2/

Here's an excerpt from a horror novel:

The story of how an elite strike force of Christian lawyers, activists and politicians methodically and secretly led the country down a path that defied the will of a majority of Americans, who wanted abortion to remain legal, has been hidden until now. The ultimate aim of this behind-the-scenes conservative coalition, which powered one of the most significant political resurgences the United States has ever seen, went far beyond questions of when — and if — a pregnancy can be legally ended. For them, the fall of Roe was not an end but a beginning in their effort to make all abortion illegal and, in effect, roll back the sexual revolution. It was not only a political battle but a spiritual mission, rooted in their Christian faith and their belief that they were fighting for the highest moral stakes of the modern age. Their opponents didn’t see what was coming until it was far too late. After so many decades of taking Roe for granted, supporters of abortion rights had grown dangerously complacent and disorganized in ways that made them slow to appreciate the severity of the threat.

This investigation is built on more than 350 interviews with people who had knowledge of these events, including elected officials, lawyers, activists, doctors and ordinary people whose lives were changed by the fall of Roe. The reporting spanned 16 states and Washington, from statehouses to the White House, and a review of previously unreported documents.

generous of nyt to give christianity to christofascists

Didn’t propublica just do this?

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/05/supreme-court-going-off-the-rails-amicus-end-of-term-june.html

(apologies if that was posted in the SC thread, which I do not follow for mental health reasons)

As Cam’ron once opined, “It’s gonna be a hot summer.”

As Cam’ron once opined, “it’s gonna be a hot summer” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/28/us/politics/robert-de-niro-trump-biden-campaign.html

my bet is that few will remember flags-gate by the time the roberts scrotus is over— and it sure looks like a lonnng time.

_I also think it’s not the Roberts Court anymore, and it hasn’t been since the day Justice Ginsburg died. And the reality is that, probably by this time in July, you’re going to see lots of pieces about how this is Amy Coney Barrett’s court—how Barrett’s going to be the real decisive vote in the cases that matter, because she picks up either Roberts or Kavanaugh.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: If Roberts really believed that the institution were on the brink and that some grand gesture was needed, there’s exactly one thing he can do that none of the other justices can stop him from doing, and that’s resign. Resign in a Democratic presidency with a Democratic-controlled Senate and give the seat to a Democrat. And he’s never going to do that._

oh snap. fuck, you're right, it's RBG all over again.

this is why I unbookmarked the SC thread lol

then again, there is no way Biden would get to nom a justice in June 24

Roberts specialized in denying voting rights denial in the Reagan White House. He ain't going nowhere.

Whereas I don't specialize in double negatives

https://prospect.org/politics/2024-05-29-three-barriers-biden-reelection/

DURING THE 2020 ELECTION, CANDIDATE BIDEN made a promise to not be a totalizing force in people’s lives as president. He would not generate drama or instigate day-to-day hysteria; he would end rage-tweeting and fight-picking and endless boasting. He would be a different kind of president, concerned with quiet progress over self-aggrandizement. He would bring things back to normal.

There was a comfort in this, and because we’re dealing with Democrats, anxiety about that comfort, fueling worries that a mass of resistance leaders “going back to brunch” would dissipate the energy around changes that needed to be made. By and large, the administration has gotten done what it wanted to do anyway, without a rank-and-file army pushing from below. But this determination to disconnect the presidency from Americans, after four years of a presidency delivered directly to the national bloodstream, has not worked out well in building a record.

meanwhile

My commitment to do everything I can to bring our country together has led me to register as an independent with no party affiliation. pic.twitter.com/tvMB2N87AW

— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) May 31, 2024

barf

beautiful photo composition

me laughing with all my friends

“Get fucked” doesn’t seem a strong enough response to that tweet

his face is like a crater from Moon Patrol

isn't he retiring?

retired guys love to tell you about the paperwork they did today

— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) May 31, 2024

This is probably about running for governor

govern my balls

no thanks!

This week in the NBERs: People hate inflation, obviously, but they also think interest rate increases are partly to blame, and prefer measures like price controls, taxing rich people/companies, and antitrust enforcement to deal with it. 🤷‍♀️https://t.co/LQu8YhNovl pic.twitter.com/nkEOq3ByCP

— Lydia DePillis (@lydiadepillis) May 29, 2024

they think interest rate increases are partly to blame

also chemtrails

Just under the wire to get washed away by a new month’s thread:

Donald Trump is a serial liar, cheater, and philanderer, a six-time declarer of corporate bankruptcy, an instigator of insurrection, and a convicted felon who thrives on portraying himself as a victim.@GovKathyHochul should pardon him for the good of the country.

— Dean Phillips (@deanbphillips) June 1, 2024

New Thread:

US Politics, June 2024: "Have there ever been this many cowards in power?"