Apr 28, 2017
Apr 27, 2017
Today's Tweet
Jason Chaffetz leaves D.C. for 3-4 weeks with a foot problem. Dodgin' the line of fire with foot problems must be a Republican thing.— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) April 27, 2017
Today's Quote
Lots more immediate than my usual quotes and chatterings.
“While the president has denied having invested in Russia, he has said little or nothing about Russian investment in his businesses and properties in the United States or elsewhere. This should concern all Americans and is yet another reason why his refusal to release his tax returns should be met with considerable skepticism and concern.”
“While the president has denied having invested in Russia, he has said little or nothing about Russian investment in his businesses and properties in the United States or elsewhere. This should concern all Americans and is yet another reason why his refusal to release his tax returns should be met with considerable skepticism and concern.”
--Adam Schiff, US Congress (D-CA28)
Sonny Perdue
Sonny Perdue is our new Sec'y of Agriculture (by a vote of 87-11).
Follow the Wikipedia link and read the bio, because I'm not gonna spend much time here bitchin' about his "commitment to the American farmer", which is code for "take good care of ADM and Monsanto, and the little guys will be plenty grateful for the crumbs".
What I dislike most is that a guy born 70 years ago, and named George Ervin Perdue III - a full-sized adult grown-ass man - is still called Sonny.
That's what I really don't love about The South.
Follow the Wikipedia link and read the bio, because I'm not gonna spend much time here bitchin' about his "commitment to the American farmer", which is code for "take good care of ADM and Monsanto, and the little guys will be plenty grateful for the crumbs".
What I dislike most is that a guy born 70 years ago, and named George Ervin Perdue III - a full-sized adult grown-ass man - is still called Sonny.
That's what I really don't love about The South.
Management By Bromide
People in seats of power need to know stuff. And they need to have a much deeper understanding of the problems than most folks. Simplistic bullet-point pronouncements just ain't gonna cut it.
WaPo:
“In over half of American households, the single largest expense is child care, even exceeding the cost of housing.”
— Ivanka Trump, assistant to the president, in Berlin, April 25, 2017
Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter, has said she wants to help craft a solution to a vexing problem for American families: the soaring cost of child care. In a forum in Berlin, speaking without notes, she made an interesting observation — that in “over half” of American households, the cost of child care exceeded the cost of housing.
Is this the case?
And when you look just the tiniest bit past the facade, we're right back to "they don't know what the fuck they're doing".
But that's too simple too.
With 45* trying to bully his way thru everything in sight, Ivanka and Jared traipse about rounding off all the jagged edges and softening every harsh reality.
So there's Ivanka, trying to make it all OK with people - like she's smoothing it over after the drunk-n-abusive step dad goes on his daily rampage (thanks, driftglass).
So there's Ivanka, trying to make it all OK with people - like she's smoothing it over after the drunk-n-abusive step dad goes on his daily rampage (thanks, driftglass).
So we have the standard Trump approach to everything - uncertainty. He wants to keep everybody guessing (he said as much during the campaign). It's his signature move. In confusion there is opportunity. So you make opportunity by creating confusion.
But it's even worse than having an enabling apologist working on you. Keep one of Mike's Own Proverbs in mind:
Never forget that a smiling hyena will still eat your children
Apr 26, 2017
Overheard Today
Ivanka Trump is a feminist in exactly the same way Steve Bannon is a black Dominican rabbi.
hat tip = @rmasher2
hat tip = @rmasher2
Daily Outrage
Because, apparently, they are the assholes we've suspected they are for 35 years.
Vox:
Republican legislators liked this policy well enough to offer it in a new amendment. They do not, however, seem to like it enough to have it apply to themselves and their staff. A spokesperson for Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.) who authored this amendment confirmed this was the case: members of Congress and their staff would get the guarantee of keeping this Obamacare regulations. Health law expert Tim Jost flagged me to this particular issue.
A bit of background is helpful here. Obamacare requires all members of Congress and their staff to purchase coverage on the individual market, just like Obamacare enrollees. The politics of that plank were simple enough, meant to demonstrate that if the coverage in this law were good enough for Americans than it should be good enough for their representations in Washington.
That’s been happening for the past four years now. Fast-forward to this new amendment, which would allow states to waive out of key Obamacare protections like the ban on pre-existing conditions or the requirement to cover things like maternity care and mental health services.
If Congressional aides lived in a state that decided to waive these protections, the aides who were sick could be vulnerable to higher premiums than the aides that are healthy. Their benefits package could get skimpier as Obamacare’s essential health benefits requirement may no longer apply either.
Vox:
Republican legislators liked this policy well enough to offer it in a new amendment. They do not, however, seem to like it enough to have it apply to themselves and their staff. A spokesperson for Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.) who authored this amendment confirmed this was the case: members of Congress and their staff would get the guarantee of keeping this Obamacare regulations. Health law expert Tim Jost flagged me to this particular issue.
A bit of background is helpful here. Obamacare requires all members of Congress and their staff to purchase coverage on the individual market, just like Obamacare enrollees. The politics of that plank were simple enough, meant to demonstrate that if the coverage in this law were good enough for Americans than it should be good enough for their representations in Washington.
That’s been happening for the past four years now. Fast-forward to this new amendment, which would allow states to waive out of key Obamacare protections like the ban on pre-existing conditions or the requirement to cover things like maternity care and mental health services.
If Congressional aides lived in a state that decided to waive these protections, the aides who were sick could be vulnerable to higher premiums than the aides that are healthy. Their benefits package could get skimpier as Obamacare’s essential health benefits requirement may no longer apply either.
Today's Tweet
On the day Obama imposed sanctions for election interference, Flynn spoke to the Russian ambassador 5x. It wasn't to trade borscht recipes.— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) April 26, 2017
Apr 25, 2017
Today's Keith
Posing the question - can we impeach TV POTUS in the same way Bill O'Reilly got whacked?
In a system that makes no delineation between right and wrong; when the only things that matter are winning or losing, and profit or loss - we may need first to use tools other than those in Articles 1 and 2 in order to bring those proper Impeachment tools to bear.
We'll have to play the game as it's been set up.
In a system that makes no delineation between right and wrong; when the only things that matter are winning or losing, and profit or loss - we may need first to use tools other than those in Articles 1 and 2 in order to bring those proper Impeachment tools to bear.
We'll have to play the game as it's been set up.
John Oliver
Quick reminder on where 45* stands on getting the Executive Branch up and running:
They’ve stopped even pretending. The US Embassy in the UK is promoting Mar-a-Lago on its website. https://t.co/C84tkA2Gs0— Josh Schwerin (@JoshSchwerin) April 24, 2017
Today's Tweet
You can't be anti-participation trophies and pro Confederate statues. They are the world's biggest participation trophies.— Larry Beyince (@DragonflyJonez) April 24, 2017
Apr 24, 2017
Redneck Participation Trophies
April is the "unofficial" Confederate History month because there's a Democrat in the Governor's Mansion right now. As soon as that changes, I suspect we'll be right back to the Dixie Rising bullshit that comes back on us like malaria every few-to-several years.
And this junk is everywhere.
There are some pretty solid efforts now to get these things relegated to the museums where (I think) they belong - they are some pretty great pieces of art, after all. And they depict a facet of our history that needs to stay front and center, even if the monuments to the "heroes" who led a bloody traitorous insurrection (in support of White Supremacy and the "right" to own human beings as chattel) should be removed from the public square.
Piling On
And happy to do it. I don't watch this crap anymore, even as an exercise in scouting the other team.
It's way past time for turning O'Reilly out to pasture. Somebody's sure to make a deal, and that's what it looks like has happened, allowing him to stay with his podcast, which I have to assume is approved and/or supported by DumFux News.
WaPo:
A scathing investigation by the New York Times in early April about the allegations surrounding O’Reilly triggered an advertiser exodus from his top-rated program, “The O’Reilly Factor,” and brought out at least three more complaints against the opinionated host. It ultimately led the Murdoch family to invoke the termination clause on Wednesday, ending O’Reilly’s 21-year career at Fox. He has maintained that the complaints against him are unfounded, and plans to return to the air Monday with his “No Spin News” podcast.
It's way past time for turning O'Reilly out to pasture. Somebody's sure to make a deal, and that's what it looks like has happened, allowing him to stay with his podcast, which I have to assume is approved and/or supported by DumFux News.
WaPo:
A scathing investigation by the New York Times in early April about the allegations surrounding O’Reilly triggered an advertiser exodus from his top-rated program, “The O’Reilly Factor,” and brought out at least three more complaints against the opinionated host. It ultimately led the Murdoch family to invoke the termination clause on Wednesday, ending O’Reilly’s 21-year career at Fox. He has maintained that the complaints against him are unfounded, and plans to return to the air Monday with his “No Spin News” podcast.
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