Texas Paul

• Republicans are good at phony theatrics and bad at governing
• Republicans are good at culture war bullshit and bad at policy
• Republicans are good at sliming everybody to make a point and bad at talking reality
• Republicans are good at pushing panic and bad at fixing problems
• Republicans are good at sitting on their asses in recess and bad at doing the work
• Republicans are good at making promises and bad at delivering on them
• Republicans are good at looking stupid and bad at being smart

COVID-19 Update (Kinda)

Today's Keith

Pretty much every day is the anniversary of a day that some asshole shot several people here in USAmerica Inc.

Today's Beau

It's such a terribly serious, potentially world-ending threat, MAGA Mike called recess and sent everybody home.

Reminder:

Mike Johnson is not "Speaker Of The House". He's a clerk. He might not even be in charge of his own bathroom schedule. He's just another one of Trump's butt boys.

More:

House Intel Chair Warns Biden of Mysterious ‘Serious National Security Threat’

Rep. Mike Turner has cited unspecified “information” about a threat and called on the president to declassify it so that “our allies” can help.

The chair of the House Intelligence Committee issued on Wednesday a cryptic warning of a “serious national security threat” that might require help from “our allies” to deal with it.

Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) cited unspecified “information” about the mysterious threat that he said “all members of Congress” had already been briefed on. He called on President Biden to declassify the information.

“I am requesting that President Biden declassify all information relating to this threat so that Congress, the Administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat,” he told House members Wednesday.

Capitol Hill sources told ABC News the threat was regarding Russia wanting to put nuclear weapons in space to use against satellites.

An unnamed Democratic source was quoted telling NBC News: “This is a serious issue that could lead to a destabilizing situation and a national security threat.” Apart from describing it as a “potential foreign threat,” however, the source provided no further details. CNN, meanwhile, cited unnamed sources who said the threat is related to Russia and is “highly concerning and destabilizing.”

In a statement, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said there is “no need for public alarm,” adding that he will press Biden’s administration to take “appropriate action.”

“Steady hands are at the wheel, we’re working on it, there’s no need for alarm,” he cautioned.

In a White House press briefing, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan acknowledged the threat, but said he can’t reveal anything about it. He said he was surprised Turner went public with the information just a day before he was slated to meet with the congressman in a classified briefing, which is still scheduled.

“That’s his choice to do that,” Sullivan said of Turner. “All I can tell you is that I’m focused on going to see him sit with him as well as the other House members of the Gang of Eight tomorrow. And I’m not in a position to say anything further from this podium at this time.”

Sullivan was later asked if he could tell Americans there’s nothing they have to worry about regarding the threat. He responded, “That question is impossible to answer with a straight yes.”

Democratic Rep. Jim Himes (CT) was quoted telling reporters “people should not panic” about the threat, suggesting it might not be as urgent as it was made out to be. He said, “It’s something that the Congress and the administration does need to address in the medium to long run,” The Hill’s Mychael Schnell reported on X.

Today's Reddit

He did say that didn’t he
byu/BlkMntn inPoliticalHumor

Imaging A Poem

Worth repeating.

Making Peace

Denise Levertov

A voice from the dark called out,

‘The poets must give us

imagination of peace, to oust the intense, familiar

imagination of disaster. 

Peace, not only

the absence of war.’

But peace, like a poem,

is not there ahead of itself,

can’t be imagined before it is made,

can’t be known except

in the words of its making,

grammar of justice,

syntax of mutual aid.

A feeling towards it,

dimly sensing a rhythm, is all we have

until we begin to utter its metaphors,

learning them as we speak.

A line of peace might appear

if we restructured the sentence our lives are making,

revoked its reaffirmation of profit and power,

questioned our needs, 

allowed long pauses . . .

A cadence of peace might balance its weight

on that different fulcrum; peace, a presence,

an energy field more intense than war,

might pulse then,

stanza by stanza into the world,

each act of living

one of its words, each word

a vibration of light - facets

of the forming crystal.

The Great Divide

She gets pretty close to it, but pulls up short.

It's a good look at how fucked up American politics is, and how we may be able to get thru some of by applying a few techniques that sound like they came straight out of Family Counseling For Dummies. (I'm not mocking that btw - some things just kinda land funny for me sometimes)

Anyway, what's missing here is attention to an effort at finding the source of the problem. Like I said, she mentions politicians and wealthy benefactors, but she doesn't address the bad actors coming at us thru social media - and cable TV, and traditional media - that (IMO) are being sponsored &/or supported by the Russians or the Chinese or or or.

Manage the symptoms as best you can, and the patient either gets better or croaks pretty much on his own. But ya gotta nail the fuckin' diagnosis, y'know?

Leeja Miller has found some good guidance on how to de-escalate and maybe get ourselves a chance to avoid killing each other.

Today's Keith

"The Biden Age Plot" - Republicans are so intent on pushing the age issue because (IMO) they're terrified that Trump will go full-on Donny Dementia any minute now.

Today's Tweext

This is Scott Baio and Kevin Sorbo in drag. Prove me wrong. pic.twitter.com/f75HphQsVg

— cjmmn (@ChuckCjmmn) February 14, 2024

Today's Today

click to embiggen