US Politics January 2018: "You All Just Got A Lot Richer"

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen is retiring. There's been a Frelinghuysen in NJ politics since before there was a NJ, basically. This is BIG. (Also, he's the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.)

― grawlix (unperson)

hail! hail! the country's risin'

I mean, there'll be some redistricting in 2010, so hopefully they can win enough seats to make a fairer map and mitigate this

i kind of started to get into this above but deleted it because i don't know how to express it more concisely or persuasively. but what the hell, it's the internet! so

that's the problem, though, in terms of creating a real solution to the problem. democrats can take some seats in 2018/20 and then redraw the district maps so they're not getting fucked over across the country. and in some cases, they'll overstep notions of fairness and draw them in a way that favors democrats, and suddenly republicans will take up the torch against gerrymandering. and on and on until we all die. but if there was ever a time to propose real reform and fair elections, it would be now, years ahead of the time when it would actually be implemented. you can't do it after a democrat wave election because republicans will perceive that talk of "fair elections" and "reform" actually means "solidifying the democratic majority". i think you'd have to build popular support and craft the legislation years ahead of time, and schedule it for implementation in the semi-distant future (say, pass the law in 2019 and it would go into effect for the 2024 elections, or whatever) to quell those criticisms. but here we are, at the time when lawmakers should be doing those things, at a PERFECT time when there's already a bunch of talk about the integrity of our elections (russia) and a growing popular understanding (particularly on the left) of all the election mechanisms that are deeply unfair and undemocratic, and it's not happening.

after the mid-term, if there's another high stakes shutdown showdown and the democrats have a majority in the house, i hope they muster some courage and make election reform their key demand (assuming trump doesn't take almost a million kids hostage again by threatening to deport them)

I disagree with Karl. Incumbents are incumbents. And the 2020 census.

i don't understand why we can't all agree that a computer should draw the districts

Same reason we can't all agree that self-driving cars are safer than human drivers.

We should resistrict GOP congressmen where they're easier to bomb imo

Wut

‘The West Wing’ Cast Denounced Donald Trump with an ‘All The President’s Men’ Live Reading

Donations benefited the Society for Professional Journalists, and fellow sponsors included the Los Angeles Press Club and the American Civil Liberties Union. Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell of Los Angeles’ 13th District hosted

Um, that’s all the event did? A donations-accepted thing?

sounds almost like it was perpetrated by self-congratulatory jellyfish

As a Member of the House Judiciary Committee, I read the partisan, classified Nunes House Intel memo. I can't talk about it. However, here's an analogy.

Remember Geraldo Rivera and the infamous Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults? It's like that, but Geraldo Rivera has more integrity.

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) January 29, 2018

later dudes off to google geraldo and al capone's vaults

somebody get the Be-Sharps back together. now, what rhymes with "memo"?

ian, it was a great moiment in TV

Oh shit. I rushed over to my neighbors house after school to watch geraldo enter the vault. That was a cultural event.

god i love a good al capone's vault reference

sad i missed it. :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH46Gc8fiPA

ROAD MAPS!!!

anyway, i came here to post this

On Flight to Davos, Trump Erupted Over DOJ Role in Russia Probe

Trump warned Sessions and others they need to excel at their jobs or go down as the worst in history, the two people said.

Uh... anyone want to break the bad news

release the memo

Per that article, this bit:

Per Bloomberg, John Kelly has been calling DOJ officials to "lecture them on the White House’s expectations...He has taken to ending such conversations with a disclaimer that the White House isn’t expecting officials to do anything illegal or unethical." https://t.co/cj2k0NV7xV pic.twitter.com/RKvacKISYQ

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) January 29, 2018

Fundamental incompetence.

Republicans may have to recall all State of the Union tickets because they say "Uniom" not "Union," per two Dem aides. pic.twitter.com/FosSnznIHp

— Laura Barrón-López (@lbarronlopez) January 29, 2018

State of the Onion

You mean Oniom

I need to get that House of Representatives logo airbrushed onto my rear window

a computer should draw the districts

yes, I agree, let's hire the one that thought up "crockpot cold water" so it can draw each district as a "completely meat circle"

He has taken to ending such conversations with a disclaimer that the White House isn’t expecting officials to do anything illegal or unethical."

looking for a dude to come over and watch porn and maybe jo. straight jocks only. no gay shit.

(shitty uyd reference)

so nice of them to provide the February thread title

yes, I agree, let's hire the one that thought up "crockpot cold water" so it can draw each district as a "completely meat circle"

but even that would arguably be better than what we have now

i don't think it's ridiculous to suggest that a computer program would be able to produce fair district borders. that's not 2030 sci-fi tech, it's something that could have accomplished 20 years ago, if not earlier. in contrast, the current system, which is literally handing all the power to whichever party just won with the full expectation that they'll exploit the system. "okay, election's over, let's go ahead and fill up the back room with smoke so that the winners can get started on re-districting! after all, it's the fairest way to go about this process, and there is no other way to do it"

so nice of them to provide the February thread title

― frogbs, Monday, January 29, 2018 3:07 PM (seven minutes ago)

otm

Who the fuck lays out tickets in Word/Powerpoint that is not my coworkers?

possible alternative title?

"The president was silent for a moment and then turned on McCabe, suggesting he ask his wife how it feels to be a loser ...McCabe replied: 'OK, sir.' Trump then hung up the phone." https://t.co/mZhO0tMejM via @carolelee

— Rebecca Sinderbrand (@sinderbrand) January 29, 2018

something like redistricting is exactly the type of task that computers can currently do much better than humans. creating new recipes (or "creating" anything) is exactly the type of task that computers currently can't do better than humans.

XP Five Minutes Later, McCabe to self: "Maybe I should ask...YOUR WIFE...MISTER TRUMP!"

i'm impressed that he had the poise to just say "ok sir"

kinda surprised trump didn't just try to fire mccabe that day, too

wait what? breaking from NYT:

WASHINGTON — Andrew G. McCabe abruptly stepped down on Monday as the F.B.I.’s deputy director after months of withering criticism from President Trump, telling friends he felt pressure from head of the bureau to leave, according to two people close to Mr. McCabe.

Though Mr. McCabe’s retirement had been widely expected soon, his departure was nevertheless sudden. As recently as last week, Mr. McCabe had told people he hoped to stay until he was eligible to retire in mid-March. Instead, Mr. McCabe made his intentions known to colleagues on Monday, an American official said, and will immediately go on leave.

In a recent conversation, Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, raised concerns about a forthcoming inspector general report examining the actions of Mr. McCabe and other senior F.B.I. officials during the 2016 presidential campaign, when the bureau was investigating both Hillary Clinton’s email use and the Trump campaign’s connections to Russia. In that discussion, according to one former law enforcement official close to Mr. McCabe, Mr. Wray suggested moving Mr. McCabe into another job, which would have been a demotion.

BREAKING NEWS The F.B.I. chief, Christopher Wray, put pressure on his deputy director to step aside after months of criticism from President Trump

I like it:

I turned Piers Morgan’s Trump interview into the “Steamed Hams” scene from The Simpsons. Enjoy! pic.twitter.com/Q2Gh0Zksuy

— Jesse McLaren (@McJesse) January 29, 2018

this year is going to be a complete debacle, isn't it

state of the uniom? at this time of year? at this time of day? in this part of the country? localized entirely within your kitchen?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?

Rick Wilson otm about McCabe’s forthcoming book deal and television road show

Anyway fwiw my point was a computer was used to draw the gerrymandered districts after the 2010 census; having a computer do a thing solves nothing, it just does what people tell it to do, really fast

Smart move, president dummy, upgrading this bs to prime coverage 24 hours before your stupid speech.

Those State of the Uniom tickets will be going for so much cash on eBay. Like the upside down plane stamp, or the mispressing of Duran Duran's "Uniom of the Snake" single.

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/618058703044939776/TJgFq010_400x400.jpg

"Rick Wilson otm"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqvXquqTwoU

oh shit I just watched that w/ daughter this weekend! Sad song.

i only want to say
if there is a way
take this Trump
away from us

The guy who wrote this is a former vice admiral in the Navy, director of the Defense Nuclear Agency and vice president at Bechtel. It's always good to remember that at least 50% of US national security elites are functionally insane. https://t.co/NFiwyg0pHs pic.twitter.com/XcXWX8kWun

— Jon Schwarz (@schwarz) January 29, 2018

First, and most important, bring science back into DOE and DOD. President Trump must immediately terminate the moratorium on underground nuclear testing. It will take decades to recover, and we must start now. It may take five years and cost two billion dollars just to conduct out first nuclear test in Nevada.

DOE’s testing is urgently needed to ensure that the nine types of weapons in our stockpile are still reliable and effective. They must carry us for decades. We must design, test, and produce low-yield weapons. We must conduct advanced research and testing toward pure fusion weapons. We must test better earth-penetrating weapons — our adversaries are going deep underground. We must test and design advanced replacements for our over-age stockpile weapons. Russia’s and China’s hypersonic nuclear missiles require our testing nuclear warheads for missile defense.

DOD must immediately re-establish the Defense Nuclear Agency to rebuild the essential military science of nuclear weapons effects throughout DOD by underground testing for battlefield survivability in Nevada.

Finally, President Trump must terminate the moratorium on nuclear testing as the headline of America's Nuclear Posture Review, a final version of which will be published in the weeks ahead.

http://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/370901-only-trump-can-restore-americas-ability-to-win-a-nuclear-war

BEFORE YOU CAN SAY BLASTOFF!