Paul Krugman has a particularly blunt column up this morning: No, Vaccine Mandates Aren’t an Attack on Freedom But the U.S. right is, in effect, trying to keep the pandemic going. We talk a lot about misinformation on social media, some of which — surprise! — appears to be the...
Rolling Stone has a major new story out: EXCLUSIVE: Jan. 6 Protest Organizers Say They Participated in ‘Dozens’ of Planning Meetings With Members of Congress and White House Staff Some of the people involved in the January 6th coup attempt on the United States government are starting to talk to...
Rolling Stone has a major new story out: EXCLUSIVE: Jan. 6 Protest Organizers Say They Participated in ‘Dozens’ of Planning Meetings With Members of Congress and White House Staff Some of the people involved in the January 6th coup attempt on the United States government are starting to talk to...
Just broke by the New York Times and picked up by Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow: Hunting Leaks, Trump Officials Focused on Democrats in Congress As the Justice Department investigated who was behind leaks of classified information early in the Trump administration, it took a highly unusual step: Prosecutors subpoenaed...
Let’s face it, nothing gets through the Senate if Moscow Mitch McConnell doesn’t want it to pass. (Almost nothing: we did get the Covid-19 relief package through, and a few other things, using reconciliation.) And it’s been clear to everyone (even Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema!) that there aren’t 10...
Not that I give a bloated goat fart in hell what the Republicans think, but does the Washington Post have to help them pass gas? Top left front page: Biden’s America: Democrats see competence, Republicans see chaos President Biden’s administration by the middle of last week was confronted with images...
Politico reports that David Cicilline (D-R.I.) has found a new way to put pressure on Republicans who are pushing the lie that what happened on Jan. 6 was no insurrection: Cicilline seeks to censure Republicans who dismiss Jan. 6 insurrection Progressive Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) is asking his colleagues to...
No voter fraud! Tomorrow (Wednesday), while the Cult of the Former Guy (a/k/a the Republican party) House members meet to excommunicate Liz Cheney from the leadership for the sin of heresy — as in, telling the truth that Former Guy lost fair and square, the Former Guy’s acting Attorney General,...
Hearts are not had as a gift, but hearts are earned By those that are not entirely beautiful. These are some lines from one my favorite poems, “A Prayer for My Daughter,” by one of my all-time favorite poets, William Butler Yeats. They came to mind this morning as we...
Taegan Goddard of Political Wire has an article up on his blog (subscription required): Trump’s Strength Is His Lack of Loyalty, which analyzes the Former Guy’s continuing hold on the GOP. Trump’s leverage over Republicans right now isn’t that he can grow the party. It’s that he could destroy it...
We’re seeing more and more stories that Liz Cheney is about to be tossed under the bus, that the Republican “leadership” is so in thrall to Trump and his base, so dedicated to the service of Trump’s ego and his lies, that they are preparing to cast Cheney into the...
It’s a sign of the times that Liz Cheney had to explain herself: I disagree strongly w/@JoeBiden policies, but when the President reaches out to greet me in the chamber of the US House of Representatives, I will always respond in a civil, respectful & dignified way. We’re different political...
The Arizona (excuse me, Maricopa county only) vote recount was always suspicious. The State Senate (GOP-controlled) insisted on a recount even though county election (4-1 Republican) certified the vote unanimously. And the Republican governor said the vote was fair. And they only wanted the Senate and Presidential votes recounted. AND ...
We’re hearing lots of reports about just how many cops and military types were part of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. There was also some indication that some of the Capitol Police management was in on it. Now there’s more disturbing news from the House Administration Committee: Lofgren:...
Derek Chauvin has been found guilty on all three counts of murdering George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds, knowing that people were filming him doing so, looking at those cameras with his hands in his pockets and no expression on his face. “Depraved...
[Edit: Response to some comments below] Some of the comments have pointed out that the gun pictured is only an AK-47 knockoff, or some other kind of gun that doesn’t shoot as many bullets or as fast as the real thing. That misses the point: This person was carrying a...
It looks like New York City just had a narrow escape: 18-year-old from Ohio arrested with AK-47 in Times Square subway station, police say (CNN)An 18-year-old from Ohio is facing weapons charges after officers patrolling a Times Square subway station on Friday found him with an AK-47 and a loaded...
Oh, the horror! A Black woman put a White man in his place! Jim Jordan Told to ‘Shut Your Mouth’ After Ranting Endlessly at Fauci Rep. Maxine Waters, chair of the House Coronavirus Crisis Subcommittee, had to intervene when Jim “Gym” Jordan wouldn’t stop ranting at Dr. Fauci after his...
Two stories posted on Political Wire near each other (probably deliberately) caught my attention. First: Republicans pray for truce after Trump attacks on McConnell (Politico) Though the Senate GOP is tantalizingly close to retaking the majority next year and largely united in opposition to President Joe Biden’s agenda, the ongoing...
Politico just put this story up: Gaetz to be featured speaker at pro-Trump women’s group event Rep. Matt Gaetz, mired in an ongoing federal sex trafficking investigation, is headed to former President Donald Trump’s resort in Doral this Friday where he will be a featured speaker at a summit hosted...
I tossed this thought out at the end of my previous diary, New Reports on How Trump Fleeced – and is Still Fleecing – His Base, but the more I think about it, the more I think this is something the DNC or some similar group should look into, so I’m...
Sometimes the New York Times gets it right: How Trump Steered Supporters Into Unwitting Donations During the 2020 campaign, Trump kept running short of cash. (Anything less than “all of it” is short of cash in his eyes.) So he died what unscrupulous advertisers often do: He rigged his donation...
Tennessee is at it again. State Rep. Jerry Sexton is trying for the third time to get the legislature to say that: BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING, that we hereby designate the...
The once and current Malignant Mangoturd fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper right after the election so he could a more toadying toady, Chris Miller, who wasn’t qualified but who be counted on to do what Trump told him to do without bothering him with silly objections like, “Are you sure...
Marjorie Taylor Greene (I refuse to dignify her with an affectionate abbreviation) has not exactly followed Speaker Sam Rayburn’s classic advice: “to get along, go along.” (To be fair, that maxim died quite a while ago.) But she has been truly and uniquely obnoxious in her insistence on being as...
In the 2020 election, we witnessed Yuge ™ Republican angst over mail-in ballots. They were an invitation to fraud, they said. There’s no way to know if the votes were legal, they said. It gave an unfair advantage to minorities and poor people, they said (as though that were a...
Elaine Chao holds the (dubious) distinction of being one of the few Trump cabinet picks to hang onto office for his entire term. (OK, she resigned two weeks before the term ended, but still.) One reason for her longevity was undoubtedly her husband, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (a/k/a Moscow...
Little Marco Rubio thinks the Covid-19 relief bill is all about helping Pelosi and Schumer: This isn’t a #Covid relief bill pic.twitter.com/YrptBJQssD — Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 3, 2021 At 1:49, he says this: “I’m not going to get punked into voting for a bill that helps Pelosi bail out...
After the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s latest attempt to bar the Manhattan DA from getting his tax returns and other financial records, the disgraced, twice-impeached, and — most important — former president issued a statement which, even by his standards, is a doozy: Trump responds to SCOTUS decision on his...
Disgraced former president Trump is well-known for his intense dislike — and fear — of powerful women, from Speaker Pelosi to the Squad to any woman journalist who questions him. So it comes as no surprise to see this story in today’s New York Times: Promotions for Female Generals Were...
Rep. Debbie Lesko of Arizona — a state which is over 30% Latino — wanted to amend the Biden administration’s plan for Covid-19 vaccinations so that US citizens get priority. In doing so, she argued that her constituents weren’t keen on the idea of Hispanics getting the vaccine before they...
For much of the world’s history, we have been ruled by violence and its descendants. Kings won their thrones by having better fighters than their opponents. Transfers of power meant inheriting that throne or by violently seizing it. On those rare occasions where power changed hands non-violently from one living...
Remember this bit from the trial? The House managers said that a march was specifically forbidden in the rally permit: PERMIT #21-0278 (AMENDED) PERMITTEE: WOMEN FOR AMERICA FIRST LOCATION: ELLIPSE, SOUTHWEST QUADRANT, AND SOUTHEAST QUADRANT; SOUTH OF TREE LIGHTING SITE DATE: JANUARY 2-8, 2021 (06:30 AM – 7:30 PM) Additional...
This is a short diary written from having watched Moscow Mitch live a few minutes ago. He spoke for perhaps 15 minutes and spent most of it denouncing Trump for what he did, and suggested that, while the House may or may not have met the standard of criminal proof,...
The WaPo is reporting that the Senate will call wtinesses: The Senate voted Saturday to call witnesses in Trump’s Senate impeachment trial, in a surprise move that comes one day after a Republican congresswoman’s account of the former president’s actions on Jan. 6 received national attention. Lead impeachment manager Rep....
Response to all the comments below that the Dems “caved”: The House managers really only wanted one witness: Herrera-Beutler, who could testify what Trump told McCarthy — VERY damaging testimony. Herrera-Beutler’s report on that was entered into the record and Trump’s lawyers stipulated to it. That’s what they wanted and...
Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) was one of only five Republican senators to vote to table Rand Paul’s motion to dismiss the impeachment trial of Trump as unconstitutional. He also insists he is keeping an open mind on whether or not to convict him: Ben Sasse, Nebraska’s outspoken congressional critic of...
Newsmax is a “news” outfit so far right it makes Fox looks reasonable. Or at least scared that they’ll lose audience share. Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO, is so far up the conspiracy theory colon that he is turning into a tapeworm. You’d think they would be perfect for each...
Marjorie Taylor Greene, the one-woman wrecking ball of the GOP (OK, she’s not the only one, but one of her is enough), has managed to wrangle a spot on the Education Committee, even though she has seriously claimed that various school shootings were hoaxes. (Maybe she thinks the students were...
Every time someone objects to the right-wing nonsense, they respond by whining we’re trying to censor them. Marjorie Taylor Greene of QAnon asshole fame even likes to wear a mask that says “CENSORED” on it. (Well, she doesn’t like to wear a mask, so that’s just more of her norrishkeit....
BIG Hat tip to kittylou: This story just got more interesting: First on CNN: Five of Trump's impeachment defense attorneys leave team less than two weeks before trial Five of former President Donald Trump's impeachment defense team attorneys have stepped aside a little more than a week before his Senate...
For a brief moment after Trump sent his myrmidons to storm the Capitol where Mitch McConnell was telling the Senate the Biden election was legal, he was angry at what had just happened that he actually showed emotion. “The mob was fed lies,” the GOP leader said on the Senate...
More evidence is emerging that the Trump administration planned the insurrection. The DC National Guard is unique in that it is directly under the authority of the president, rather than a governor. The Pentagon normally allows the guard commander to take military action on his own in an emergency in...
I was watching Rachel’s taped interview with Chuck Schumer, and she asked him what he would do if McConnell refused to yield on the fillibuster. Schumer just smiled and he said was prepared to deal with that, and that his caucus was united in its anger at McConnell, but he...
Something strange is going on over undocumented immigrants. President Biden’s acting secretary of Homeland Security, David Pekoske, issued a memo on January 20 halting almost all deportation proceedings for 100 days: Review of and Interim Revision to Civil Immigration Enforcement and Removal Policies and Priorities [PDF] I’ve gone over the...
CNN is reporting on behind-the-scenes efforts to line up enough Senators to convict Trump in next week’s impeachment trial: McConnell privately says he wants Trump gone as Republicans quietly lobby him to convict As the House prepares to send articles of impeachment to the Senate on Monday, CNN has learned...
The Malignant Mangoturd is trying to upstage President-elect Joe Biden one last time before he becomes President Biden (yea!) by staging a big farewell at Andrews Air Force base. There were already signs that wasn’t going to go well: While he's eagerly anticipating his military-style send-off from Joint Base Andrews...
During the insurrection, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-QAnon) sent out several tweets, including one saying the the Speaker was no longer in the chamber — a violation of security and a strong piece of evidence that she was in cahoots with the insurrection. But before that, she sent out a tweet...
Regardless of whatever else happens in the next week, Trump’s one and only term ends at noon on January 20th. It’s in the Constitution. After that, he will be an ex-president. Because of that, some lawyers are arguing that the Senate can no longer try him, that impeachment only applies...
