Yesterday, the House Ways and Means Committee’s ranking member tried to pull off a well-worn Republican tactic to hide malfeasance and misdeeds. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) wrapped himself in the skirts of MAGA America, defending the former President of the United States. Brady asserted that all Americans should be on...
College
It's only Tuesday, and yet this has already been been a terrible week for Donald Trump. It's week that follows several wherein he has been brutally and deservedly chastised for having dined with racists and anti-Semites, and for calling for the “termination” fo the Constitution, and for hawking his ridiculous...
In nineteen seventy-four, I reached three milestones in my life. In March of that year, I turned eighteen; ten days later, I registered with selective service—conscription ended in 1973, and naively I registered as an independent voter. I remember the sense of power I felt. I could join the military...
For Christmas (and Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa), Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders wants to give working-class West Virginians a child tax credit, child care assistance, free preschool, two free years of community college, lower health insurance premiums, expanded Medicare, home health care assistance for the elderly, an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit...
Asking a rhetorical question; Is there an ongoing social experiment in this country that has continually pigeon-holed Black people and left the cage open for white men? If you ask a black man or woman—of mature age, we can point out the historical and verbal gymnastics that subtly brainwash our...
I took a moment, in the interest of “fair and balanced” reporting, to tune into Fox News’ coverage of the opening of the 1/6 Committee hearing, last week. Of course, the scrolling chyron across the bottom of the screen calling it the Pelosi Committee was an obvious attempt to prejudice...
It’s sick. So, so sick. But that’s what Republicans are all about these days: inspecting children’s genitals. It’s pretty much all they talk about—when they’re not talking about Mr. Potato Head. And his starchy, androgynous genitalia. They’re so into it, in fact, they’ve passed bills that would allow them to scrutinize any...
I took my first shot of the Pfizer vaccine two days after my birthday. I had my second shot 21 days later, and I am well past the two-week waiting period to be considered fully vaccinated. Now that I have reached that milestone, I am ready for the next public...
So this happened yesterday: Glenn Youngkin, a wealthy first-time candidate who walked a line between his party’s Trump-centric base and appeals to business interests, won the Republican nomination for governor of Virginia on Monday. He heads into a general election in one of only two states choosing their governors in...
As Liz Cheney faces the near certain guillotine, she gave a defiant speech today (with all the points you would expect). Â What I noticed was this bit of reporting: As Cheney spoke, the Republican lawmakers mostly cleared out of the chamber, with Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado the sole...
Fear of a Red Hat: as much as Liz Cheney is toast, more troubling is Elise Stefanik’s Führereid, because Trump is too stupid to see that he’s blazing an even tighter path to obscurity. As Greg Sargent observes, there is an increased likelihood of another attempt at stealing an election, further...
There is a capitalist propaganda battle at work, with the Wall Street Journal claiming that “ Biden has sent a signal around the world that nobody’s intellectual property is safe in America.”. The National Review now claims that “Profit Margins Save Lives”. “The administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service...
If the Ministerium fĂĽr Staatsicherheit (Ministry for State Security) had had a crystal ball 40 years ago they would have promoted capitalism, the sheer amount of information people are willing to give away for free would have made their job so easy. Now in a functioning democracy that would be...
The New York Police Department’s (NYPD) Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating after two Asian women were attacked in Manhattan on Sunday, with one being hit in the head with a hammer. NYPD Releases Surveillance Footage of Suspect They are Looking For in Hell’s Kitchen Hammer Attack on Asian Woman...
Generally, Martha Raddatz and other hosts allow Republicans to appear on their shows and lie without challenge. Sen. Barrasso failed this time. Raddatz stop the lie-in-progress See full episodes here. Wyoming Republican Senator John Barrasso is one of the GOP’s more competent liars. Recently, a few hosts have been calling him out....
Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) was born in the heart of the old Democratic south. He is a devout southerner, born in Mississippi, and attended college at both the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt in Tennessee. At age sixty-nine, I believe it is safe to say that the one-time southern Democrat,...
The usual Cruz hypocrisy, the pot calling the kettle violent. Because the final term of Ted Cruz will feature more nonsense serving corporate energy interests among other contradictions. He’s flailing about today with the latest nominees for DoJ, among other fake outrage. It’s an old tactic, because Cruz loves stirring...
President Joe Biden announced today that every state has removed age eligibility for Covid-19 vaccinations so anyone 16 or over can received a Pfizer/BioNtech shot and anyone18 or over can receive a dose of Moderna’s vaccine. Biden’s goal of 200 million vaccinations in his first 100 days should be reached this Wednesday, eight days...
Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has learned from the death of Bernie Madoff about Ponzi schemes, because QAnon surely couldn’t be a cult of personality or a grift used by criminals in charge. Because the previous guy still says “the best is yet to come”, having killed hundreds of thousands, we also know...
Anand Giridharadas wrote a piece for The Atlantic asserting that Biden has been moving leftward. This may only be a short term impression only because the GOP is trying to find its way after the previous guy is gone and before he may be indicted. The real problem lies with...
(Apr. 13 ) The “prime suspect” was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of murder in the 25-year-old disappearance of California college student Kristin Smart. Paul Flores, 44, who was the last person seen with Smart on the California Polytechnic State University campus in San Luis Obispo before she vanished in 1996,...
“As in the Times Op-Ed from which the book originated, the title refers to the results of studies conducted in Germany from the mid-nineteen-eighties onward, which reported, among other intriguing findings, that eighty per cent of East German women always experienced orgasm during sex, compared to sixty-three per cent of...
There are a lot of people I’d like to keep home on Election Day—about 74 million, by last count. But they have every right to tick a sad little box for a bloviating mound of venal earwax, no matter what I think about it. I’ve also known my share of ignorant college...
Here’s some big news today out of Pennsylvania: .@JohnFetterman announces he raised $3.9 million in the first quarter for his Pennsylvania U.S. Senate run, through 140,000 contributions. A big haul of đź’° at an early stage. — Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) April 1, 2021 Lt. Gov. John Fetterman said he raised...
So much dodging bullets these past months, but so many tradeoffs. What remains is that we now have a POTUS who can actually talk about “modern Jim Crow” rather than the previous guy making a mockery of the office. “A new study by an UCLA economist estimates that 400,000 people...
Previous Guy spoke of his supporters “hugging and kissing the police” on 1/6, because people died Here's what Trump had to say on Fox tonight about the Capitol riots: "It was zero threat, right from the start… Some of them went in, and they are hugging and kissing the police...
So much thick-headed media activity this past week. OTOH Chuck Todd panders to the center again, or perhaps it's the college drop-out demographic. x A @MeetThePress fail today: talking about anti-Asian violence and racism – without any Asians on the panel. I can’t imagine MTP having a discussion about anti-Black...
Here’s the latest news on the recall effort in California: The effort to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has gathered over 2 million signatures — a number of signatures, if validated, that could force a measure on a ballot. The leaders of RecallGavin2020 announced this week that their effort reached over 2,060,000 signatures...
“The universe has been to them.” (Resident Alien) Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share a virtual kitchen table with other readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by to talk about music, your weather, your garden, or what...
Though my spot on the introversion spectrum lies somewhere between Kleenex box-wearing Howard Hughes and urine-collecting Howard Hughes (and as I continue to age, I’m on a bullet train to raw-fish-eating Gollum), I still usually get sick in the winter, at least once. In the past, while grocery shopping or taking...
Likely there will be Daniel Dale or Aaron Rupar to tweet about the Trump blather. As for the insurrection, it was as if it had never happened. It will shock you how much the it never happened. Tom Cotton inveighed against anti-cop mobs—but only in the context of Portland and without seeming to...
Laurie Garrett makes the case for the greatest crime perpetrated by Trump for which he may never be prosecuted. In March 2020, Trump said he wanted the nation “opened up and just raring to go by Easter”, and his enablers still believe the Big Lie. A vast swath of evidence...
Laurie Garrett makes the case for the greatest crime perpetrated by Trump for which he may never be prosecuted. In March 2020, Trump said he wanted the nation “opened up and just raring to go by Easter”, and his enablers still believe the Big Lie. A vast swath of evidence for...
Democrats look for solutions, and Republicans look for blame. I am not sure where I heard that phrase and I probably rejected it as just political rhetoric. Recent events have given me reasons to examine and not dismiss the statement. Democrats are not perfect as demonstrated by the wavering support...
2022 may appear to recycle the Big Lie because they got nothing. Turn on the Sunday shows and this is what you get— ABC: The election was stolenNBC: The election was stolenCBS: The election was stolenFox: The election was stolen pic.twitter.com/A9cCRHvyz3 — Matt Negrin, HOST OF HARDBALL AT 7PM ON...
Recovering memory and historical revisionism in sex work might be the sad product of many repressive regimes. What becomes worse is the complicity of academic institutions in white-washing crimes against humanity. Harvard is no stranger to items like Alan (buddy of Jeff Epstein) Dershowitz’s attempt to move the statutory rape...
This is just a knee-jerk answer, right? “I know you are but what am I” is what we used to say on the playground when we were called dorkwads or dinguses or what have you. I’ve been rolling it around in my wee, breezy head for a couple of minutes,...
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...
Big news today out of Pennsylvania: x After 10 years in the State House, I’ve taken the lessons that my parents taught me & reinforced them in my work as a legislator: to take responsibility, commit to service, be courageous, & push for fairness. I’m ready to take these values...
I listened to Mitch McConnell’s post impeachment weaselling, he could not refute the impeachment managers accusations or facts, so he then shielded himself behind a very weak and dubious legal argument excuse. HOWEVER. Virtually every single GQP member before January 6th supported the narcissistic sociopath in everything he did. There...
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share a virtual kitchen table with other readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by to talk about music, your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper…. Newcomers may notice that...
Okay, I’ve been sporadically watching the impeachment trial today. Sporadically, because watching the trial isn’t literally my job. I had other pressing matters to attend to as well. But this is Josh Hawley’s job, at least for the moment—and, well, he doesn’t seem too interested in doing it. You remember Josh,...
Trump aide who slipped an abortion pill into a girlfriend’s smoothie claims Trump is happier. The reality is that there may be a Trump sockpuppet account in Parler anyway, but fortunately no one has yet noticed. x https://t.co/tFzNoKODki— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) February 8, 2021 x A Former Aide Would Like...
“Democracy is not self-executing.” Trump manufactured numerous technicalities to make a long-shot work, and failed. He tried to fabricate a state of martial law via an inside job, as the Trump Defense Secretary disarmed DC National Guard prior to the 6 January insurrection. Fortunately the proto-fascists in the mob were far...