Vaccines, Infrastructure, and Kids In Cages: US Politics April 2021

IMO it's better to have Dan Crenshaw as chum for sharks.

GOP Sen. Ron Johnson said in a radio interview he is "getting highly suspicious" of the "big push to make sure everyone is vaccinated," arguing for "limited" distribution. https://t.co/7Ni6XruDvi

— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) April 22, 2021

Can’t believe Tommy Tuberville isn’t the stupidest Senator.

tight race

somehow on this issue Ronnie wins:

I got my second dose of the vaccine yesterday. I encourage every Alabamian to get vaccinated as soon as you are eligible.

Together, we can bring an end to this pandemic, but we must all do our part. Remember to wash your hands & stay home if you are feeling sick!

— Senator Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) January 29, 2021

Is it overly optimistic for me to think Johnson's a goner next time around? (Elections, I mean. Not COVID.)

I see from this that it's unclear if he's going to run: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/04/will-ron-johnson-run-again-2022/618642/

lmao johnson. even trump is (discreetly) going on the record

“I’m all in favor of the vaccine,” Trump said Thursday. “It’s one of the great achievements, a true miracle, and not only for the United States. We’re saving tens of millions of lives throughout the world. We’re saving entire countries.” https://t.co/IOSQrSbQvF

— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) April 23, 2021

Is it overly optimistic for me to think Johnson's a goner next time around?

Very much not a goner but also not as comfy in his seat as an incumbent senator usually would be. Promised last time not to run for a third term, now is noncommittal. There's not really an obviously great Dem candidate (but that's how it seemed before the 2018 gov election and Tony Evers, who was largely unknown, turned out to be pretty good!)

Is Christian Yelich a Democrat?

Damn. pic.twitter.com/KYyYRQkkzt

— Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) April 23, 2021

So one of my best students asked me to write her a recommendation letter....for the sake of a FOX News internship

"Dear ghoul or madam,

I hereby assert that my student should not set foot in your offices because she has her whole life ahead of her to sell out and become terrible.

Love,

The Soto"

"Can you write a letter for me, Professor Soto? Hitler Youth needs one."

A student asked me to write him a recommendation for a masters program in law and criminal justice because he wants to become a prosecutor. He's young, Black, and gay. I agreed to do so, but it was a very, very difficult letter to write.

I'm torn. She's smart and has promise.

She will make her own choices in life. Your only decision is whether you may in good conscience honor this choice. Since she is already aimed at it, it's predictable she'll try for that internship regardless of your assistance or lack of it.

maybe tell her you'd rather not because you think it's an amoral career choice but you're willing to write a general recommendation letter for her to repurpose as she likes?

maybe she's plotting a takedown from the inside

I did what I never do: asked for her to explain why FOX, what future in journalism she envisages for herself, and so on. She expressed interest in a master's in journalism, a fate I recommend to no one unless they want to do research, but, on the other hand, if it keeps her away from Rupert Murdoch, well.

just rip out a page of Ecclesiastes and send that in

prefer Lamentations

that's right

I solved the pandemic https://t.co/uYubqoZYyj

— Ben Mathis-Lilley (@BenMathisLilley) April 23, 2021

kinda astounded to see Trump giving vaccines full endorsement. Because he wants to take credit I guess?

of course!

He's so goddamn stupid that if he'd embraced his monstrous vanity last March about masking he'd be able to crow about Saving More Lives as his second term began.

You shd tell ur student that unpaid internships are for suckers and she shd just go wait tables instead. Win win.

xpost - iirc he already made some noises about how the vaccines were created on his watch and wouldn't have been possible to have been developed under Biden, or some such similar nonsense.

Without me you’d never have your big beautiful antibodies.

Alfred, force your student to watch Gutfeld! and problem solved

#Google

kinda astounded to see Trump giving vaccines full endorsement. Because he wants to take credit I guess?

worth mentioning that Trumpism is not just following everything Trump says (which is impossible given how often he contradicts himself) but rather just being a contrarian asshole on every single topic

https://i.imgur.com/4bBWzBw.jpeg

just being a contrarian asshole on every single topic

this is a good point, but I have to imagine at least some Trump supporters prefer to be relieved of the burden of forming opinions.

the problem with Trump saying he wants his supporters to take the vaccine is that Sleepy Joe and Crooked Hillary and Crazy Bernie and AOC plus 3 ALSO want them to take it and they cannot possibly imagine a world where their political opposites actually have their best interests in mind

I'd argue that the bigger problem is that anyone is still listening to and reporting on anything he says instead of telling him to shut his goddamn foodhole.

that's not where he eats

I'd argue that the bigger problem is that anyone is still listening to and reporting on anything he says instead of telling him to shut his goddamn foodhole.

I was watching a clip from Seth Meyers' show earlier today and he mentioned that the former president gave an interview to Sean Hannity this week, and until he brought it up I had no idea. Nobody else talked about it at all that I saw.

But I bet the people that saw it, that's all they talked about. After they formed bands.

its surreal seeing the various interviews and press releases he's done lately, my first instinct is always "this parody is way too over the top to be believable"

The writers got lazy in the last season

Finally:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/24/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-armenian-remembrance-day/

Proof that Erdogan has finally estranged Turkey from the USA sufficiently far that nobody cares anymore about their hurt feelings when we call their genocide a genocide.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/25/democrat-manchin-praises-gop-infrastructure-proposal.html

President Manchin really enjoying himself these days.

this is a bit niche for Is the West Experiencing a Left-Wing Drift? (the international left politics activism, news, and strategy thread), and it's an editorial, not policy, but still!

The New York Times editorial board has reconsidered its position on the state and local tax deduction, and it now supports eliminating the deduction entirely (!) pic.twitter.com/5t53pLhpC8

— Scott Greenberg (@ScottElliotG) April 25, 2021

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EzXC5OCVUAUM7Kg?format=png&name=900x900

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EzXC5OCVUAUM7Kg?format=png&name=900x900

the horizontal spacing is uneven on that graph, especially the last column

right. it's insane how few people benefit from the SALT deduction, and yet https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/salt-cap-revolt-led-by-n-y-democrats-snarls-biden-spending-plan/ar-BB1fQ957

it's the cause that won't die for the worst House Democrats
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/business/economy/coronavirus-economic-stimulus-taxes.html

can't make this shit up

Cyber Ninjas, hired by Arizona Senate to recount Maricopa County's ballots, asks court to keep its procedures secret https://t.co/PItCscndCT

— Sam Levine (@srl) April 26, 2021

Yeah
This has good text, if you don't want to stream, as I didn't (would rather read news):
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/why-arizona-s-election-audit-matters-even-outside-arizona-n1265343