I had to stop drinking coffee, so my go-to for caffeine in the morning is one of those mini cans of diet Dr. Pepper. It's enough to wake me up but not enough to make me wish I had stayed in bed. It helps to have a morning dose of laughter to go with the bitter pills I must now swallow. This one is mahvelous, as they say in some circles. Your delicious barbs are such a welcome relief, it almost makes the day's news less painful. Someone posted Tom Hartmann's substack article from a couple of days ago; he recounts the myriad of connections that the convicted felon has had and continues to have with the Kremlin. Unfortunately for my digestive system, I read that before I read your daily "poke." But thank you anyway!
I am hanging in still chuckling about Tom’s “Do you fuc…ng morons have your shoes tied for you in the mornings?” about voting for The Green party candidate in PA. Hooray Tom. Language appropriate for the toilet mob about to try to make Amurika Putin’s cesspool.
TC, I needed this today. I speak profanity and sarcasm with supervisor rated 100% fluency and have been sputtering incoherently for a week. My wife is a freaking basket case so I limit my expressions of disgust.
Where the fuck is the party that has less than two months with the executive branch and Senate? Do the things, people, do the goddamn things that need to be done before everything goes in the shitter.
The current administration is doing what they've done for 4 years, behaving as though this is "business as usual" and the only things left for them are to straighten out the files, pardon the turkeys, and get ready for the movers to come. That they are passing up a huge opportunity to set at least a speed bump in the way of the Trumpista Express leads me to use a lot of language that I discourage my adult daughter from using. Biden has a very real chance to destroy a legacy that would otherwise have been pretty positive.
My opinion (which is still developing) is that this particular administration is less the problem than the %@$# Democratic Party. I've been voting Democratic for decades because the GOP was unspeakably awful. It took them more time to become awful in my state (MA) -- Charlie Baker, our two-term governor (for whom I never voted) who didn't run for re-election in 2022, was better than most -- but now we've got a Democratic governor who looks like Charlie Baker light blue. My take (at the moment) is that it's hard to talk sense about economics because the right wing immediately launches into a choral screech of "Socialist! Communist!" and we the people get suckered every time. So the Democrats get blamed for problems that Republicans created.
I don't disagree Susanna. The current administration is more like the culmination of Party shortcomings and right now the question is how we will manage to resurrect the Democratic Party and preserve the democratic system.
Preserving the democratic system is my higher priority at the moment -- although I don't think we've ever had a democratic system to *preserve*. More like we have a democratic potential to *realize*. And doing that involves getting the unelected fourth branch of government (wealthy individuals and corporations) under control of the elected branches. What to do about the Supreme Court? Beats me!
I think we're in agreement on the priority and the solution might be the end of both parties. As far as the Court is concerned, term limits, expanding the Court, and maybe a couple of impeachments to may clear that there is accountability would help but, in the end, respect for the Court and its decisions depends on the respectability of the Justices and that's something that can't be legislated.
Trouble is, economic power undergirds and drives both parties, and their transformations over the many decades. Not to mention the composition of the Supreme Court, and not just its current makeup. Until we start to deal with what I like to call the "unelected fourth branch of government" -- big wealth, corporate and otherwise -- I'm not holding my breath. (Currently reading Heather Cox Richardson's HOW THE SOUTH WON THE CIVIL WAR, which discusses economic alliances across regions, I'm even less optimistic than usual.)
Ally - look for Jon Stewart's weekly show - just saw it today (utube)
The language is not quite so (cant find the word) much as Tom's but he sure does tell it like its and had an Atlantic reporter and someone else on - believe it was memorable - but then its my memory! Good show.
And boy do it get it - my language started deteriorating after 2016 - not that I was unaware of the words - but just didnt have the need for them - as now again!
Jon Stewart doesn't always require profane words, when he can use facial expressions, hand gestures, paper props, pen sqiggles and his exquisite timing oh so perfectly. But his sweary bits are damn good too.
That should be 100% fluency. I’ll correct it when I can get to my laptop; my wife is doing a sewing project (hemming a pair of pants) that she’s needed to do for 6 months. The seeing table and my laptop work area are both on the dining room table. Sigh. At least she’s doing something. Not without “colorful metaphors”, however.
Anybody remember Nixon in 1968? Reagan in 1980? Bush in 2000? Adolf Combover in 2016? The left never learns. I consider myself a by god liberal who would prefer the kind of socialism that is too much for Bernie Sanders, but these idiots ....
He’s coming to Nantucket for Thanksgiving and suddenly our local paper puts it on the front page after 4 years of ignoring him. IMHO, Kamala had extra trouble because msm ignored her also.
It is heart breaking that you very sarcastic, almost in-the-gutter type sniping and sarcasm is, nevertheless, under-statement relative to the damage done. What is the problem? No coherent narrative, voice? Lack of clarity? FWIW, though, Casey did take Trumpian views -- apparently (like Joe Scarborough and Jeff Bezos, et all), expecting a pro-Trump win. Is it, perhaps, mass psychosis? My view: it's utter failure of D's (Biden, Harris, etc., etc.) to explain what the Ds did, why it was working, and why the R's were wrong. I really think Biden, Harris & Co shouldn't even be paid for the past 3 mos because they simply didn't show up in any meaningful way. "If we fight we win" is utterly inane if people are worried about the price of eggs, and fear a mystical invasion, and don't think about why migrants are necessary for American industry or +++. Instead of talking 'joy,' for no reason, Kamala should have just said, "I ain't got nothing," or "Not prepared. I pass." Or "What I was in the White House for four years? And nobody told me?" etc., etc., etc.
The only person I know more heartbroken than you that sarcasm and gutter sniping is the only response and still inadequate to our situation, is me. It does beat banging my head against the wall. And in retrospect, your critique of the campaign has a lot of clarity.
Not almost in the gutter but maybe straight off a ship's deck language or, as my old mom used to say (when she could still hear well enough to object) "that sailor language". I have these spells of hair tearing fury too, but I did swing in the course of one POKING AROUND reading between laughing and thinking "his local head shop could recommend a strain that's calming without being befuddling". It's not the time for being befuddled... but you gotta last this one out - at this rate you'll burst something.
I agree the Dems did a terrible job of messaging, but honestly it was like being surrounded on the playground by hate filled bullies and their parroting sycophants and spineless fearfuls and trying to get facts and common sense repeated past the first circle. It was like trying to get a full SD card to take a few more photos. The media was full of their own bull and not receiving - send what you wanted as hard as you wanted, it wasn't going to go past the reach of her local bullhorn. We saw that when Harris would do a policy focused interview and The NYT, WaPo and Fox immediately criticised her for not talking policy while giving Trump a pass. They and Tik Tok brought us this catastrophe and they continue to make it sound as normal and reasonable as they can - not just to cater to Trump but to keep the people from realizing they were and are being lied to. It doesn't sound like the television news will get any better either so we need a much stronger and more engaging presence on Tik Tok and to keep trying out other media options that might reach across and help adjust the knob on the fantasy reality so many live in.
Some information is too painful to know. I had always subscribed to the Schweitzer comment that we should “think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight.” Such as you have posted is an indication that the suffering in our future is likely to be more than we can process and keep an iota of sanity. Just knowing how stupidly brutal and deliberately ignorant some are is a brain warp that will make the sane among us either lose hope, or have to deal with red-hot rage. I am one of the latter…
And getting rid of the Department of Education will give the GOP or whatever surviving dictator we get the legions of serfs and peons that he--definitely a he--can control because they won't know how to subvert, a totally necessary skill one doesn't develop by always "going high."
Ruthless it will take, none of that kumbaya that we saw with Ted Kennedy and W, or the “normal transition of power” as they steal election after election.
Not even ruthless, just skilled, like a good boxer who knows when it's time to finish off an opponent after getting him on the ropes after answering every landed blow. Well refereed and tidy.
The bottom line is almost eight million registered voters who voted for Biden in 2020, giving him a total of 81 million votes, sat home. If they had showed up for Kamala, she would have won. According to Molly Jong Fast, who I respect, the "base was mad at her". Then the base is as stupid as Maga fucks who think they're getting a stimulus check. This election was a simple choice - democracy or fascism. And I have no sympathy for people who voted third party or Trump because of Gaza or any other stupid reason. They voted for fascism, and they're going to get it along with the rest of us. The true revelation has been congressional Democrats who have shown themselves to be weak, ineffective and stupid. They don't care about democracy or fighting against Trump for us. They just wanted to stay in office and grift like the rest of them. I would take a hundred AOC's over Schumer and Pelosi and their ilk. They all need to go.
We disagree. Instead of rallying around Kamala, Pelosi threw her under the bus with her "we should have had an open primary". I despise Trump/Maga but they don't give an inch and rally around their people regardless. Younger blood is needed.
Perhaps. But if anyone you know is benefiting from the ACA, thank Nancy. And that photo of her - the only woman in the room - shaking her finger in Trump's face says it all about who led the Resistance.
People who are too good to vote for the lesser of two evils because less evil is still evil, are clearly incapable of thinking things through. Less evil is always good, and, in the case of Israel, nothing could be worse than turning it over to an Armageddonist crank like Huckabee.
Did you see the latest from Israel? "Israel’s new defense minister has said security forces would no longer apply administrative detention orders to Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, and thus only Palestinian suspects can be held indefinitely without trial." That's the US, all right, making the world safe for democracy.
I have to disagree with your about Schumer's deal. As I said in my own Substack:
Don't diss on this as cowardly until you've thought about the implications.
Schumer's explanation is "the four circuit nominees lacked the support to be confirmed, and Democrats received more than triple the amount of other judges moving forward as part of the agreement." Remember that District judges deal with a LOT more than political cases, things that don't necessarily get appealed, and more Biden appointed judges may give more people a chance at a fair shake.
So IF there really was little hope of getting the appellate nominations approved , this could be a good deal. (One of the nominees for appellate is Muslim and has some outside activities that could bollix the nomination, and two others are women, not a good thing to be with this GOP or, sadly, some Dems.) At this point, practical perhaps has to reign over ideal.
This isn't to say I'm happy. But it is always possible that some trump appellate nominations will be incompetent at the Judge K level, such that even the Extremes have to hold their nose at their decisions. They haven't been ALL pro GOP in their decisions, though they've done some really damaging decisions. This incompetence is less likely with judicial appointments than cabinet, given the Federalist Society vetting. But remember that there still are some skeptical GOP senators, who may become more so if trump tanks the economy. There ARE 20 GOP senators up for reelection in 2026.
First, appellate court justices are far more important than district court justices. Their jurisdictions are geographically wider, they affect far more people with their decisions, and they refine the record that is going to go in front of a Supreme Court appeal.
Second, if they did not have enough Democratic votes to get the four nominees confirmed, then Biden should withdrawn the nominations, pick four decent young white male Democrat lawyers he could find (face facts, Congress critters are less suspicious of white men), it doesn’t matter who, the more anonymous the better, and have Schumer run them through. There is time. The Dems need to get focused. Why let the brown shirts fill four circuit court vacancies with Matt Gaetz clones? Really people, play the fucking game.
Oh, I agree with the increased power of the appellate courts. But one thing I don’t know is what circuits the 4 are up for. Adding a Biden appointment to, say, the 5th Circuit isn’t going to change much.
And the problem with withdrawing and adding new at this point is time. It decreases rapidly. As I said, this has stopped being a question of ideals and comes down to pure practicality in deciding what will overall work best.
It isn't like they didn't know these seats were there to be filled. Even if Harris had won they would be there to be filled, and should have had candidates lined up.
We haven't seen the Extremes on his wilder moves yet, have we? Note one interesting point: Bondi has said she is considering special counsel to investigate 2020 fraud in the swing states. Special Counsel? Lookee--one trump sycophant saying basically Up Yours, Cannon.
The toughness the Dems need lies in the labor movement. Someone said the Dems should become the Labor Party. I agree because it draws the starkest contrast (obviously needed by the masses) between capital and labor. The Dems have tried to herd the cats for too long. The message is that you are either a worker or a diddler with so much capital that you run around trying to find systems to musk up. Going forward the Dems must yowl about every statement or gesture from the right that stings the working class. There must be strategic walk-outs and strikes. Screw with healthcare and watch nurses and hospital staffs call in sick because they will be. Yes, there will be damage, but guess what, there will be damage anyway. Back to basics.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m not so much in favor of this poking around feature. You give us one shit show after the next, and it’s nearly goddamn overwhelming. When your daughter looks at you funny and asks, “Papa, what are you muttering about?”, you know it’s bad.
And when will people ever learn that there is no such thing as a protest vote? How many years do you have to run a democracy before people catch on? Obviously, 250 years isn’t enough. Unfortunately we have a 50-50 chance that 250 years is about all that we’re gonna get. Because some people can’t get it through their thick heads that there is no such thing as a protest vote.
Oh yeah, and I guess they didn’t get the memo that Jared Kushner sent out to Israel to bulldoze the Palestinians out of Gaza for that very nice beachfront property. A fine opportunity for some oligarch developments and a lovely beachfront home for Ivanka. On another subject, I think. Everyone is blaming the democrats and pointing fingers at who they think is to blame. Here is my opinion for what it’s worth. It’s the fucking right wing propagandist media that has infiltrated everything. Not just national outlets like FOX, But social media, local TV and radio including hundreds of right wing Spanish speaking radio stations. Unfortunately, taking advantage of the Spanish speaking population with some lies and brainwashing. And as for the supposed English speaking it’s really unfortunate that they have no critical thinking skills and believe whatever red meat the right wing media throws at them. It’s so much easier that way apparently
Western PA here, and gob-smacked again re the third party voting. Many of them were college kids who just sent their futures down the drain. I also heard recently that Trump and McCormick apparently go way back. McCormick lived in Pittsburgh before going to Connecticut where he made it big in finance, but he supposedly worked for Trump or did work for him while here. No one seems to know what, however. And lucky us, he has purchased a home in one of the ‘burgh’s fancier nabes to up his local cred. I don’t know if any of this matters at this point, but nebby is a thing around here.
I had to stop drinking coffee, so my go-to for caffeine in the morning is one of those mini cans of diet Dr. Pepper. It's enough to wake me up but not enough to make me wish I had stayed in bed. It helps to have a morning dose of laughter to go with the bitter pills I must now swallow. This one is mahvelous, as they say in some circles. Your delicious barbs are such a welcome relief, it almost makes the day's news less painful. Someone posted Tom Hartmann's substack article from a couple of days ago; he recounts the myriad of connections that the convicted felon has had and continues to have with the Kremlin. Unfortunately for my digestive system, I read that before I read your daily "poke." But thank you anyway!
I am hanging in still chuckling about Tom’s “Do you fuc…ng morons have your shoes tied for you in the mornings?” about voting for The Green party candidate in PA. Hooray Tom. Language appropriate for the toilet mob about to try to make Amurika Putin’s cesspool.
TC, I needed this today. I speak profanity and sarcasm with supervisor rated 100% fluency and have been sputtering incoherently for a week. My wife is a freaking basket case so I limit my expressions of disgust.
Where the fuck is the party that has less than two months with the executive branch and Senate? Do the things, people, do the goddamn things that need to be done before everything goes in the shitter.
The current administration is doing what they've done for 4 years, behaving as though this is "business as usual" and the only things left for them are to straighten out the files, pardon the turkeys, and get ready for the movers to come. That they are passing up a huge opportunity to set at least a speed bump in the way of the Trumpista Express leads me to use a lot of language that I discourage my adult daughter from using. Biden has a very real chance to destroy a legacy that would otherwise have been pretty positive.
My opinion (which is still developing) is that this particular administration is less the problem than the %@$# Democratic Party. I've been voting Democratic for decades because the GOP was unspeakably awful. It took them more time to become awful in my state (MA) -- Charlie Baker, our two-term governor (for whom I never voted) who didn't run for re-election in 2022, was better than most -- but now we've got a Democratic governor who looks like Charlie Baker light blue. My take (at the moment) is that it's hard to talk sense about economics because the right wing immediately launches into a choral screech of "Socialist! Communist!" and we the people get suckered every time. So the Democrats get blamed for problems that Republicans created.
I don't disagree Susanna. The current administration is more like the culmination of Party shortcomings and right now the question is how we will manage to resurrect the Democratic Party and preserve the democratic system.
Preserving the democratic system is my higher priority at the moment -- although I don't think we've ever had a democratic system to *preserve*. More like we have a democratic potential to *realize*. And doing that involves getting the unelected fourth branch of government (wealthy individuals and corporations) under control of the elected branches. What to do about the Supreme Court? Beats me!
I think we're in agreement on the priority and the solution might be the end of both parties. As far as the Court is concerned, term limits, expanding the Court, and maybe a couple of impeachments to may clear that there is accountability would help but, in the end, respect for the Court and its decisions depends on the respectability of the Justices and that's something that can't be legislated.
Trouble is, economic power undergirds and drives both parties, and their transformations over the many decades. Not to mention the composition of the Supreme Court, and not just its current makeup. Until we start to deal with what I like to call the "unelected fourth branch of government" -- big wealth, corporate and otherwise -- I'm not holding my breath. (Currently reading Heather Cox Richardson's HOW THE SOUTH WON THE CIVIL WAR, which discusses economic alliances across regions, I'm even less optimistic than usual.)
Good analysis.
Thanks Ally.
What legacy, as a giant of diplomacy - resulting in America being the arms dealer to a wanted war criminal?
I wouldn't recommend revisiting Joe Biden's inauguration speech either, unless you can handle the sour taste of bitter pills. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55656824
Ally - look for Jon Stewart's weekly show - just saw it today (utube)
The language is not quite so (cant find the word) much as Tom's but he sure does tell it like its and had an Atlantic reporter and someone else on - believe it was memorable - but then its my memory! Good show.
And boy do it get it - my language started deteriorating after 2016 - not that I was unaware of the words - but just didnt have the need for them - as now again!
Jon Stewart doesn't always require profane words, when he can use facial expressions, hand gestures, paper props, pen sqiggles and his exquisite timing oh so perfectly. But his sweary bits are damn good too.
Indeed they are!
“Colorful”, from Star Trek IV
IMHO "The Voyage Home" was the best of the original cast films.
But Trek II, Wrath of Khan. is what saved the series after Star Trek the Movie.
You're correct.
Agreed; that first movie was freaking awful.
Yes - colorful.
That should be 100% fluency. I’ll correct it when I can get to my laptop; my wife is doing a sewing project (hemming a pair of pants) that she’s needed to do for 6 months. The seeing table and my laptop work area are both on the dining room table. Sigh. At least she’s doing something. Not without “colorful metaphors”, however.
Ears in a lot of homes are getting a workout. How I miss George Carlin…nobody could nail it better…
“They call it the American dream, because you gotta be asleep to believe it.” I miss Carlin every day. 😢
Love this.
The picture of the sewing project next to the laptop at this present time - bring back my days of domestic "bliss"???
Tiedrich is a treasure.
Anybody remember Nixon in 1968? Reagan in 1980? Bush in 2000? Adolf Combover in 2016? The left never learns. I consider myself a by god liberal who would prefer the kind of socialism that is too much for Bernie Sanders, but these idiots ....
I agree. Some Dems or DINO’s really piss me as much as the chump, himself.
You’d think they had brains. And we’d be wrong.
Smart people can be brain-washed too. Or maybe it’s just greed
Just when you need the
Dems to be hard and fast,
you get vaca, wishy washy,
senate votes MIA and in
Hawaii recovery. Good way to
shore up a democracy. And
pardon me for asking, 'cause
cause I have a lot of respect
for him, but where's President
Biden too?
A very good question.
I think he's checked out and is busy trying to avoid packing any classified documents so Bondi can't send the SS in to toss his garage in Delaware.
He’s coming to Nantucket for Thanksgiving and suddenly our local paper puts it on the front page after 4 years of ignoring him. IMHO, Kamala had extra trouble because msm ignored her also.
It is heart breaking that you very sarcastic, almost in-the-gutter type sniping and sarcasm is, nevertheless, under-statement relative to the damage done. What is the problem? No coherent narrative, voice? Lack of clarity? FWIW, though, Casey did take Trumpian views -- apparently (like Joe Scarborough and Jeff Bezos, et all), expecting a pro-Trump win. Is it, perhaps, mass psychosis? My view: it's utter failure of D's (Biden, Harris, etc., etc.) to explain what the Ds did, why it was working, and why the R's were wrong. I really think Biden, Harris & Co shouldn't even be paid for the past 3 mos because they simply didn't show up in any meaningful way. "If we fight we win" is utterly inane if people are worried about the price of eggs, and fear a mystical invasion, and don't think about why migrants are necessary for American industry or +++. Instead of talking 'joy,' for no reason, Kamala should have just said, "I ain't got nothing," or "Not prepared. I pass." Or "What I was in the White House for four years? And nobody told me?" etc., etc., etc.
The only person I know more heartbroken than you that sarcasm and gutter sniping is the only response and still inadequate to our situation, is me. It does beat banging my head against the wall. And in retrospect, your critique of the campaign has a lot of clarity.
Not almost in the gutter but maybe straight off a ship's deck language or, as my old mom used to say (when she could still hear well enough to object) "that sailor language". I have these spells of hair tearing fury too, but I did swing in the course of one POKING AROUND reading between laughing and thinking "his local head shop could recommend a strain that's calming without being befuddling". It's not the time for being befuddled... but you gotta last this one out - at this rate you'll burst something.
I agree the Dems did a terrible job of messaging, but honestly it was like being surrounded on the playground by hate filled bullies and their parroting sycophants and spineless fearfuls and trying to get facts and common sense repeated past the first circle. It was like trying to get a full SD card to take a few more photos. The media was full of their own bull and not receiving - send what you wanted as hard as you wanted, it wasn't going to go past the reach of her local bullhorn. We saw that when Harris would do a policy focused interview and The NYT, WaPo and Fox immediately criticised her for not talking policy while giving Trump a pass. They and Tik Tok brought us this catastrophe and they continue to make it sound as normal and reasonable as they can - not just to cater to Trump but to keep the people from realizing they were and are being lied to. It doesn't sound like the television news will get any better either so we need a much stronger and more engaging presence on Tik Tok and to keep trying out other media options that might reach across and help adjust the knob on the fantasy reality so many live in.
Still that “we go high” crap. The White Roses” knew better…
Some information is too painful to know. I had always subscribed to the Schweitzer comment that we should “think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight.” Such as you have posted is an indication that the suffering in our future is likely to be more than we can process and keep an iota of sanity. Just knowing how stupidly brutal and deliberately ignorant some are is a brain warp that will make the sane among us either lose hope, or have to deal with red-hot rage. I am one of the latter…
And getting rid of the Department of Education will give the GOP or whatever surviving dictator we get the legions of serfs and peons that he--definitely a he--can control because they won't know how to subvert, a totally necessary skill one doesn't develop by always "going high."
Dems deficient in the ability to be ruthless, at least to my knowledge
Hear! Hear!!
Ruthless it will take, none of that kumbaya that we saw with Ted Kennedy and W, or the “normal transition of power” as they steal election after election.
Not even ruthless, just skilled, like a good boxer who knows when it's time to finish off an opponent after getting him on the ropes after answering every landed blow. Well refereed and tidy.
Too late for Dems to be well-rehearsed and tidy. Would have to be able to herd cats..
Nice recap of the week Tom.
The bottom line is almost eight million registered voters who voted for Biden in 2020, giving him a total of 81 million votes, sat home. If they had showed up for Kamala, she would have won. According to Molly Jong Fast, who I respect, the "base was mad at her". Then the base is as stupid as Maga fucks who think they're getting a stimulus check. This election was a simple choice - democracy or fascism. And I have no sympathy for people who voted third party or Trump because of Gaza or any other stupid reason. They voted for fascism, and they're going to get it along with the rest of us. The true revelation has been congressional Democrats who have shown themselves to be weak, ineffective and stupid. They don't care about democracy or fighting against Trump for us. They just wanted to stay in office and grift like the rest of them. I would take a hundred AOC's over Schumer and Pelosi and their ilk. They all need to go.
I'd keep Pelosi, she knew how the game is played and played to win.
We disagree. Instead of rallying around Kamala, Pelosi threw her under the bus with her "we should have had an open primary". I despise Trump/Maga but they don't give an inch and rally around their people regardless. Younger blood is needed.
Perhaps. But if anyone you know is benefiting from the ACA, thank Nancy. And that photo of her - the only woman in the room - shaking her finger in Trump's face says it all about who led the Resistance.
People who are too good to vote for the lesser of two evils because less evil is still evil, are clearly incapable of thinking things through. Less evil is always good, and, in the case of Israel, nothing could be worse than turning it over to an Armageddonist crank like Huckabee.
No noses in that area as idiots have spited their faces,
Did you see the latest from Israel? "Israel’s new defense minister has said security forces would no longer apply administrative detention orders to Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, and thus only Palestinian suspects can be held indefinitely without trial." That's the US, all right, making the world safe for democracy.
I have to disagree with your about Schumer's deal. As I said in my own Substack:
Don't diss on this as cowardly until you've thought about the implications.
Schumer's explanation is "the four circuit nominees lacked the support to be confirmed, and Democrats received more than triple the amount of other judges moving forward as part of the agreement." Remember that District judges deal with a LOT more than political cases, things that don't necessarily get appealed, and more Biden appointed judges may give more people a chance at a fair shake.
So IF there really was little hope of getting the appellate nominations approved , this could be a good deal. (One of the nominees for appellate is Muslim and has some outside activities that could bollix the nomination, and two others are women, not a good thing to be with this GOP or, sadly, some Dems.) At this point, practical perhaps has to reign over ideal.
This isn't to say I'm happy. But it is always possible that some trump appellate nominations will be incompetent at the Judge K level, such that even the Extremes have to hold their nose at their decisions. They haven't been ALL pro GOP in their decisions, though they've done some really damaging decisions. This incompetence is less likely with judicial appointments than cabinet, given the Federalist Society vetting. But remember that there still are some skeptical GOP senators, who may become more so if trump tanks the economy. There ARE 20 GOP senators up for reelection in 2026.
First, appellate court justices are far more important than district court justices. Their jurisdictions are geographically wider, they affect far more people with their decisions, and they refine the record that is going to go in front of a Supreme Court appeal.
Second, if they did not have enough Democratic votes to get the four nominees confirmed, then Biden should withdrawn the nominations, pick four decent young white male Democrat lawyers he could find (face facts, Congress critters are less suspicious of white men), it doesn’t matter who, the more anonymous the better, and have Schumer run them through. There is time. The Dems need to get focused. Why let the brown shirts fill four circuit court vacancies with Matt Gaetz clones? Really people, play the fucking game.
Except it isn’t a game anymore. It’s a rigged exercise…that looks like normal politics.
Oh, I agree with the increased power of the appellate courts. But one thing I don’t know is what circuits the 4 are up for. Adding a Biden appointment to, say, the 5th Circuit isn’t going to change much.
And the problem with withdrawing and adding new at this point is time. It decreases rapidly. As I said, this has stopped being a question of ideals and comes down to pure practicality in deciding what will overall work best.
It isn't like they didn't know these seats were there to be filled. Even if Harris had won they would be there to be filled, and should have had candidates lined up.
Kacsmaryk? He's worked out quite well for them, actually.
We haven't seen the Extremes on his wilder moves yet, have we? Note one interesting point: Bondi has said she is considering special counsel to investigate 2020 fraud in the swing states. Special Counsel? Lookee--one trump sycophant saying basically Up Yours, Cannon.
Well, if they even care about hypocrisy.
oh they care. It's their number one priority.
Taking a response to your Substack because it's so apropos there...
Thanks for a little background Susan.
Damn, I’m going to donate my retirement salary in 2026. Just kidding. No election in 2026 unless reps only. My view of our future
That would be a bridge we have yet to cross. If you accept it as a given, it will come to pass with more likelihood than otherwise.
The toughness the Dems need lies in the labor movement. Someone said the Dems should become the Labor Party. I agree because it draws the starkest contrast (obviously needed by the masses) between capital and labor. The Dems have tried to herd the cats for too long. The message is that you are either a worker or a diddler with so much capital that you run around trying to find systems to musk up. Going forward the Dems must yowl about every statement or gesture from the right that stings the working class. There must be strategic walk-outs and strikes. Screw with healthcare and watch nurses and hospital staffs call in sick because they will be. Yes, there will be damage, but guess what, there will be damage anyway. Back to basics.
Spoken like a true sailor Tom
I don’t know. Maybe I’m not so much in favor of this poking around feature. You give us one shit show after the next, and it’s nearly goddamn overwhelming. When your daughter looks at you funny and asks, “Papa, what are you muttering about?”, you know it’s bad.
And when will people ever learn that there is no such thing as a protest vote? How many years do you have to run a democracy before people catch on? Obviously, 250 years isn’t enough. Unfortunately we have a 50-50 chance that 250 years is about all that we’re gonna get. Because some people can’t get it through their thick heads that there is no such thing as a protest vote.
Oh yeah, and I guess they didn’t get the memo that Jared Kushner sent out to Israel to bulldoze the Palestinians out of Gaza for that very nice beachfront property. A fine opportunity for some oligarch developments and a lovely beachfront home for Ivanka. On another subject, I think. Everyone is blaming the democrats and pointing fingers at who they think is to blame. Here is my opinion for what it’s worth. It’s the fucking right wing propagandist media that has infiltrated everything. Not just national outlets like FOX, But social media, local TV and radio including hundreds of right wing Spanish speaking radio stations. Unfortunately, taking advantage of the Spanish speaking population with some lies and brainwashing. And as for the supposed English speaking it’s really unfortunate that they have no critical thinking skills and believe whatever red meat the right wing media throws at them. It’s so much easier that way apparently
Western PA here, and gob-smacked again re the third party voting. Many of them were college kids who just sent their futures down the drain. I also heard recently that Trump and McCormick apparently go way back. McCormick lived in Pittsburgh before going to Connecticut where he made it big in finance, but he supposedly worked for Trump or did work for him while here. No one seems to know what, however. And lucky us, he has purchased a home in one of the ‘burgh’s fancier nabes to up his local cred. I don’t know if any of this matters at this point, but nebby is a thing around here.
If Chuck is proof that all Jews aren't smart, then his niece is proof that all Jews aren't funny. Of course, there's FOTP.