2024, our “October surprise” may come from Jerome Powell’s strategic screw loosening on rates in prior 3 - 4 meetings. He amps up market. Joe’s economy super hotter than ever.
This shallow, strategic move and fascist Trumpler-GOP reality combine becoming enough to flip the “me-me-now-now,” wealthy suburban haters into making the right choice. After all, they care only about more money for themselves -- and now. Don’t give a lick about the greater good, future of democracy, best collective vision for humanity, their daughters’ healthcare, burning planet, their children’s right to go to school without being murdered, reducing national debt, national healthcare, a safe society, humane treatment of immigrants, etc. etc.
They are completely stupid, selfish, lacking in vision and care for no one, but themselves. We need every single effin vote. Jerome Powell - secret weapon - summer ‘24.”
What I would have liked to hear: "Do you wear glasses, Mr. Trump? Do you need glasses? To whom were you referring? Oh, you meant Mr. Cohen? How do you define 'beside?' My clerk is next to me up here at the bench. Mr. Cohen is down there in the courtroom, same general area as you. This court finds you not a credible witness, as in, your use of the language appears disordered. Or, in the alternative, you knew perfectly well that you deliberately defied my previous order."
| and that’s why so many, so many 71, 73 million Americans around the country feel like the
| election was stolen from them
So naturally the resolution embraced by MAGA would be to ignore the will of over 81 million.
Would it be charitable to wonder whether MAGA is simply incapable of conceiving of anyone voting in good faith for Democrats?
Apparently MAGA like Johnson are unwilling to accept the results of recounts against paper ballots. Maybe all the fraud happened in precincts which only used electronic machines with no paper ballot backups. Has any reporter asked him whether he accepts the legitimate audits in Arizona and Georgia which confirmed Biden won those states? That is, stipulate that his concerns may have been legit, but Biden really did win.
So the normies caved again, after their show of spine in stopping Jim Jordan. It is long past time to quit pretending there is a such a thing as a normie Republican. There are two wings in the Republican party. There are those who openly proclaim their support for authoritarianism, and there are those who will talk about wishing for something else, and then support the authoritarians.
There is no way to vote for any Republican without supporting authoritarians. You can't pretend your representative or senator is "one of the good guys". They're not. Every one of them will support any authoritarian measure as long as they keep their seat. You can't pretend you're trying to stop an ill-defined "slide into socialism". You're not. Joe Biden and the overwhelming majority of the Democratic caucus are not anything close to socialists.
It is this simple: you are supporting authoritarianism if you support Republican candidates. If you want to save the Republican party, then vote for Democrats. A series of large losses will force the Republican party to change direction, and reduce the influence of the MAGAts.
I realize the idea of voting for Democrats is difficult for many of the readers on this site. Look at it this way. A series of Democratic victories may result in the implementation of policies you don't like. Those can be undone in the future. A series of victories by Republicans may result in our loss of free and fair elections. That is much more difficult to undo.
"But enshrining qualified immunity does not, so to speak, place Americans first. Instead, it places all government officials—prosecutors, agency bureaucrats, and yes, police officers—first, and the American people last."
This, of course, is the MAGA plan when Trump is elected and puts in place his prosecutors, agency bureaucrats and police officers so, when they break the law, they will have immunity. It goes down hill from there.
"Exit take: Even with the election of a new speaker, the dysfunction continues. Because that was the plan."
Exactly. Trump and his M"A"GA movement are transparently chaos agents, aided and directed by the Kremlin. Can't predict exactly what they do next, except it will be opposed to America and American ideals - that is the one given.
Admittedly this is a naive and perhaps senseless wish; however, whenever there are mass shootings in 'ordinary places' that are not schools, I hope that the staunch defenders of the 2nd amendment will put protecting life ahead of allowing life to be mowed down. Full disclosure, I am a teacher who has not been involved in a mass school shooting (yet).
In an otherwise reasonable editorial in today's WSJ, it states: "Democrats are already branding Mr. Johnson a MAGA ideologue, which is unfair." To which I ask: Why? For somebody who essentially has "MAGA" tattooed on his forehead, I can't think of a fairer brand for the new Speaker.
I haven't scanned down the comments, but I note that according to The Volokh Conspiracy the Cal Berkeley extra credit assignment to attend a pro-palestine rally was made by a graduate assistant instructor not by a regular faculty member. As soon as the university administration was made aware of it, the assignment was rescinded. Now students in that course can get extra credit by attending any local event - panel discussion, book talk, etc. - pertaining to the course content. The statement by the university doesn't indicate whether or not that person is still assigned as an instructor. But I note that the Provost's office sent out the following statement to students and faculty:
"I write to remind people of University policy as pertains to academic freedom and political advocacy in the classroom. While instructors enjoy considerable freedom and all individuals, when acting as private citizens, enjoy free speech rights, University policy does impose limits on using the classroom or one's course for purposes of political advocacy."
Nevertheless, if I were a Jewish student, I wouldn't want to be in that instructor's class.
I can understand having an angry reaction to bombing civilian populations. Collective punishment is horrific. But I am angry at outrageous statements that let Hamas off the hook and blame Israel for everything. It lacks historical perspective. If we go back to the 1948 war, it is clear that Arab nations did not want Jews to settle in Palestine after the second World War. It had nothing to do with displacement of Muslim Palestinians. It was anti-Jewish bias. The Arab nations were happy to use Palestinians as proxies. The Arab nations did not want Palestinians in their countries. It is well and good to sympathize with the Gazans. We should also press Israel to moderate their assault. But we should not forget, nor should we ever forget, that anti-Jewish hatred is at the root of the chaos and violence.
Charlie - Keep it coming.
2024, our “October surprise” may come from Jerome Powell’s strategic screw loosening on rates in prior 3 - 4 meetings. He amps up market. Joe’s economy super hotter than ever.
This shallow, strategic move and fascist Trumpler-GOP reality combine becoming enough to flip the “me-me-now-now,” wealthy suburban haters into making the right choice. After all, they care only about more money for themselves -- and now. Don’t give a lick about the greater good, future of democracy, best collective vision for humanity, their daughters’ healthcare, burning planet, their children’s right to go to school without being murdered, reducing national debt, national healthcare, a safe society, humane treatment of immigrants, etc. etc.
They are completely stupid, selfish, lacking in vision and care for no one, but themselves. We need every single effin vote. Jerome Powell - secret weapon - summer ‘24.”
A girl can dream...
What I would have liked to hear: "Do you wear glasses, Mr. Trump? Do you need glasses? To whom were you referring? Oh, you meant Mr. Cohen? How do you define 'beside?' My clerk is next to me up here at the bench. Mr. Cohen is down there in the courtroom, same general area as you. This court finds you not a credible witness, as in, your use of the language appears disordered. Or, in the alternative, you knew perfectly well that you deliberately defied my previous order."
| and that’s why so many, so many 71, 73 million Americans around the country feel like the
| election was stolen from them
So naturally the resolution embraced by MAGA would be to ignore the will of over 81 million.
Would it be charitable to wonder whether MAGA is simply incapable of conceiving of anyone voting in good faith for Democrats?
Apparently MAGA like Johnson are unwilling to accept the results of recounts against paper ballots. Maybe all the fraud happened in precincts which only used electronic machines with no paper ballot backups. Has any reporter asked him whether he accepts the legitimate audits in Arizona and Georgia which confirmed Biden won those states? That is, stipulate that his concerns may have been legit, but Biden really did win.
So every single Republican representative in the House voted for an insurrectionist as speaker.
There are no normies left in that part of the party. Not a single one.
Why did Liz Cheney vote for him?
So the normies caved again, after their show of spine in stopping Jim Jordan. It is long past time to quit pretending there is a such a thing as a normie Republican. There are two wings in the Republican party. There are those who openly proclaim their support for authoritarianism, and there are those who will talk about wishing for something else, and then support the authoritarians.
There is no way to vote for any Republican without supporting authoritarians. You can't pretend your representative or senator is "one of the good guys". They're not. Every one of them will support any authoritarian measure as long as they keep their seat. You can't pretend you're trying to stop an ill-defined "slide into socialism". You're not. Joe Biden and the overwhelming majority of the Democratic caucus are not anything close to socialists.
It is this simple: you are supporting authoritarianism if you support Republican candidates. If you want to save the Republican party, then vote for Democrats. A series of large losses will force the Republican party to change direction, and reduce the influence of the MAGAts.
I realize the idea of voting for Democrats is difficult for many of the readers on this site. Look at it this way. A series of Democratic victories may result in the implementation of policies you don't like. Those can be undone in the future. A series of victories by Republicans may result in our loss of free and fair elections. That is much more difficult to undo.
"But enshrining qualified immunity does not, so to speak, place Americans first. Instead, it places all government officials—prosecutors, agency bureaucrats, and yes, police officers—first, and the American people last."
This, of course, is the MAGA plan when Trump is elected and puts in place his prosecutors, agency bureaucrats and police officers so, when they break the law, they will have immunity. It goes down hill from there.
"Exit take: Even with the election of a new speaker, the dysfunction continues. Because that was the plan."
Exactly. Trump and his M"A"GA movement are transparently chaos agents, aided and directed by the Kremlin. Can't predict exactly what they do next, except it will be opposed to America and American ideals - that is the one given.
Admittedly this is a naive and perhaps senseless wish; however, whenever there are mass shootings in 'ordinary places' that are not schools, I hope that the staunch defenders of the 2nd amendment will put protecting life ahead of allowing life to be mowed down. Full disclosure, I am a teacher who has not been involved in a mass school shooting (yet).
Mike Johnson Is Nothing Less Than Awwwful
Dominion should sue Mike Johnson for defamation. His policies should be challenged for a failure to separate Church and State.
I see that in Maine there are 16 plus victims that can be described as "collateral damage" in the gun debate
In an otherwise reasonable editorial in today's WSJ, it states: "Democrats are already branding Mr. Johnson a MAGA ideologue, which is unfair." To which I ask: Why? For somebody who essentially has "MAGA" tattooed on his forehead, I can't think of a fairer brand for the new Speaker.
I haven't scanned down the comments, but I note that according to The Volokh Conspiracy the Cal Berkeley extra credit assignment to attend a pro-palestine rally was made by a graduate assistant instructor not by a regular faculty member. As soon as the university administration was made aware of it, the assignment was rescinded. Now students in that course can get extra credit by attending any local event - panel discussion, book talk, etc. - pertaining to the course content. The statement by the university doesn't indicate whether or not that person is still assigned as an instructor. But I note that the Provost's office sent out the following statement to students and faculty:
"I write to remind people of University policy as pertains to academic freedom and political advocacy in the classroom. While instructors enjoy considerable freedom and all individuals, when acting as private citizens, enjoy free speech rights, University policy does impose limits on using the classroom or one's course for purposes of political advocacy."
Nevertheless, if I were a Jewish student, I wouldn't want to be in that instructor's class.
I can understand having an angry reaction to bombing civilian populations. Collective punishment is horrific. But I am angry at outrageous statements that let Hamas off the hook and blame Israel for everything. It lacks historical perspective. If we go back to the 1948 war, it is clear that Arab nations did not want Jews to settle in Palestine after the second World War. It had nothing to do with displacement of Muslim Palestinians. It was anti-Jewish bias. The Arab nations were happy to use Palestinians as proxies. The Arab nations did not want Palestinians in their countries. It is well and good to sympathize with the Gazans. We should also press Israel to moderate their assault. But we should not forget, nor should we ever forget, that anti-Jewish hatred is at the root of the chaos and violence.