Mar 9, 2026

Today's TweeXt


A Cover

One of the great tunes written by Joni Mitchell, performed here - and better IMO - by The Tone Factory in Las Vegas.


Today's Erika

Voting YES would refer the matter to committee, which effectively kills it.

It's dead now - by a vote of 357 - 65




House kills effort to release all congressional sexual misconduct and harassment reports

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., had forced the vote in light of allegations that her Republican colleague Tony Gonzales of Texas sent sexual text messages to a subordinate.

WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday voted to scuttle an effort by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace to shed more light on sexual misconduct allegations against members of Congress.

Mace, a conservative Republican who is running to be governor of South Carolina, forced a floor vote on her resolution directing the House Ethics Committee to make public all reports on allegations of congressional lawmakers and aides engaging in sexual misconduct or harassment.

But in a 357-65 vote, the House voted to refer the Mace resolution to committee — a move that effectively killed it.

The Ethics Committee had encouraged members to vote to refer the resolution. In a joint statement, the Republican and Democratic leaders of the committee argued it "could chill victim cooperation and witness participation in ongoing and future investigations" and would make it harder for the committee "to investigate and eliminate sexual misconduct in the House."

“Here and elsewhere, perpetrators of sexual misconduct should never be shielded from responsibility for their misdeeds,” Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., and ranking member Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., said.

But, they added, “victims may be retraumatized by public disclosures of interim work product, excerpts of interview transcripts, and certain exhibits. And witnesses, who often only speak to the Committee confidentially or on condition of future anonymity, could fear retaliation if their cooperation is made public.”

Mace has spoken openly about her own experiences as a sexual assault survivor, and she’s been at the center of the fight over releasing the government’s Jeffrey Epstein files. She was one of just four House Republicans who teamed with Democrats on a discharge petition last fall that circumvented her own GOP leadership and eventually led to the Justice Department’s release of the Epstein files.

She said her resolution came after NBC News and other outlets reported that a GOP colleague, Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, had sent sexual text messages to a female aide, Regina Santos-Aviles, with whom he allegedly had an affair before she died by suicide last year. Gonzales previously denied having an affair but has not addressed the substance of the allegations since the text messages came to light.

Mace is among several Republicans who have called on Gonzales to resign.

“I would like members of Congress to tell their female colleagues where they stand on sexual harassment within the U.S. House of Representatives,” Mace told reporters. “Do you support women up here, that work up here, and who are your colleagues, or do you not?”

Earlier Wednesday, the House Ethics panel said it will open an investigation into the allegations against Gonzales. House rules explicitly prohibit lawmakers from engaging in relationships with their own staff members.

In a brief statement, Gonzales said of the Ethics probe: “I welcome the opportunity to present all the facts to the committee.”

In Tuesday night's primary in Texas, Gonzales was forced into a May runoff election against GOP challenger Brandon Herrera.

Sen Kaine


Tim Kaine has been largely stuck in my craw for a long time. He's the kind of Democrat that has never really delivered for me. I truly appreciate that he's a genuinely decent man, but he's taking forever to show me that he realizes the severity of the threat posed by Republicans and MAGA and Trump.

Under "normal" circumstances, I'm OK with him being Mr Congeniality, but these current circumstances are anything but normal.

It's a brick fight, Democrats
Throw some fuckin' bricks

He finally gets to it with this Colby guy - and I'm glad for that. I just wish now that he'd learn to stop smiling when does get to it.


A Death-Of-Stalin Moment



Three main components:
  1. Tactical: I have a tank. This is what makes it run, this is what it can kill, and this is what can kill it
  2. Operational: I have a battalion of tanks, and a supply train, and air support, and infantry, and field intelligence and and and - this is the hill we want our guys to take, and this is how the other guys could stop us 
  3. Strategic - what's the fuckin' point of all that? What have we accomplished in service to our long term interests?
We have the muscle to fuck up the whole day for anybody anywhere in the world.

But what's next? What comes after all that fuck-up-ery? How does all this shit Trump is doing manifest a coherent strategy?


Mar 8, 2026

Maggie


Today's Rich


On The Theory Of Crowd Stupidity



Never underestimate the potential for fuckery
in large groups of people who are
motivated by their emotions

Competitive Authoritarianism


The Women



Feminism has fought no wars. It has killed no opponents. It has set up no concentration camps, starved no enemies, practiced no cruelties. Its battles have been for education, for the vote, for better working conditions, for safety in the streets, for child care, for social welfare, for rape crisis centres, women's refuges, reforms in the law. If someone says, "Oh, I'm not a feminist", I ask, "Why? What's your problem?"