“I can hear those champagne bottle corks popping in Moscow — like it’s Christmas every fucking day": US Politics, February 2024

Good afternoon!

I don't want this AMAZING AWESOME news to get buried at the end of the other thread

"ha

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Supreme Court said Thursday that 10 Republican state senators who staged a record-long walkout last year to stall bills on abortion, transgender health care and gun rights cannot run for reelection.

The decision upholds the secretary of state’s decision to disqualify the senators from the ballot under a voter-approved measure aimed at stopping such boycotts. Measure 113, passed by voters in 2022, amended the state constitution to bar lawmakers from reelection if they have more than 10 unexcused absences.

Last year’s boycott lasted six weeks — the longest in state history — and paralyzed the legislative session, stalling hundreds of bills.

Five lawmakers sued over the secretary of state’s decision — Sens. Tim Knopp, Daniel Bonham, Suzanne Weber, Dennis Linthicum and Lynn Findley. They were among the 10 GOP senators who racked up more than 10 absences.

Just goes to show, from the top down, if you really don't want people doing their job governing, then maybe you shouldn't be in government.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, February 1, 2024 9:12 AM (fifty-four minutes ago)"

Some real troglodytes in that crew of 10.

yep fuck 'em all

Where’s the settlement payouts?

Not going well:

Former President Donald Trump said the Southern border needs to be closed because it is an existential crisis for unions, at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters headquarters on Wednesday.

Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said he disagrees.

“Most people need it closed down,” Trump said of the border. “People feel differently about different things, but the unions and the Teamsters, if they don’t have it closed down, they’re not going to exist. They’re not going to be able to exist.”

O’Brien, who met with Trump twice this month to discuss organized labor, disagreed. He said he doesn’t support a shutdown of the border, adding “we are all products of immigration.”

“The Teamsters union supports immigrant workers because we all come from people that came from different countries,” O’Brien said when he addressed reporters after Trump, flanked by a UPS worker, American Red Cross phlebotomist and Teamsters Local member.

I can't imagine being Trump and thinking Teamsters, of all, would be gung-ho pro endorsing him

I've heard Trump say that the union leaders don't like him but the members do.

That might well be

Hi, Teamster member here. *I* sure don't.

Well, there's something like a million Teamsters all over the country, I'm sure there's some Trumpers here and there

Rather. (Via the public service wing, thus my membership, that includes some police unions, which, well.)

My dad works in IATSE in the south and it's depressing how many anti-labor rednecks there are in his union.

Yeah, cop(and prison) unions quite suppprt Trump, don’t they

I have a buddy that works at a union sheet metal shop here in the Bay Area, and he says that MOST of his coworkers are Trumpers

That doesn't surprise me a bit. It's the same type of ignorance that gives rise to statements like "Keep your government hands off my Medicare!"

Unions used to generate a strong tribal identity, based on powerful anti-management sentiment. Nowadays, anti-government sentiment generates a stronger and more binding tribal identity than union membership. It's yet another case of the ruling class studying, applying and co-opting progressive methods.

Not putting this in any of the Israel threads, but Biden levied heavy sanctions on settlers. Yair Rosenberg says "If you read it closely, this executive order from Biden is by far the most expansive anti-settler extremism act taken by an American president, and I don't think it's close."

Wasn’t the implementation of this such that it only affected about four people?

I mean, the White House did something but this is nothing compared to the tasks they have to do

Meanwhile, over at No Labels

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/23/no-labels-durst-family-lawsuit-00137213

I hadn’t realized that Joe Lieberman was part of NL until now, but of course he is

Nowadays, anti-government sentiment generates a stronger and more binding tribal identity than union membership.

Speak for yourself!

https://abcnews.go.com/US/special-counsel-questioned-witnesses-2-rooms-fbi-search/story?id=106826552

Oy.

Of course he had a hidden room

Happy Groundhog Day

is this at the same time as 2% inflation good?

.@LaurenKGurley provides a glimpse at the human consequences of the massive job boom https://t.co/qkFziRavAh pic.twitter.com/A5fnJmVqOE

— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) February 2, 2024

Informative piece: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/02/02/grocery-price-inflation-biden/

I'd love to hear from ilxors in other countries about this, because the news here (in America) is that the US post-pandemic/near recession/whatever you want to call it recovery has been better than any comparable economy's, but even assuming that's true I'm curious to know what that looks like on the ground. Grocery prices, gas, restaurants, general cost of living, whatever.

I'm in the UK and inflation of grocery prices has been brutal, see also restaurants, etc. It's also compounded by Brexit, so...

"labor shortages tied to the pandemic, ongoing supply chain disruptions, droughts, avian flu and other factors far beyond the administration’s control"

droughts and maybe avian flu (though I think the egg prices dropped already) I get, but how the fuck are these other things still an issue? labor shortages tied the pandemic? how does that cross with extremely low unemployment? I think the answer here is corporate greed or companies trying to make up losses from 3-4 years ago. but wtf do I know.

Seriously. I think a lot of corporations saw the pandemic as a prime opportunity to make whatever bullshit price hikes they felt like and then mumble some bullshit about supply chains and worker shortages that had enough of a grain of truth to not be total bullshit, and now that those stressors have eased up, the bullshit toothpaste ain't goin' back into the bullshit tube.

The article does point out where the labor shortages are.

And, yes, Big Business will big business as much as it pleases.

xp - otm

And then, hey wowee presto, look at that look at that, record profits and bonuses for the C-level.

Even when inflation slows down, it doesn't usually reverse itself. So prices are not going back to where they were before the pandemic; best case scenario is that they stabilize.

C-level deserves to meet Mr. Choppy.

labor shortages tied the pandemic?

Looking at indeed listings, this seems 90% like a product of continuing unrealistic expectations - "entry level" jobs doing the duties of three people with years of experience, multiple certifications, etc. for $15 an hour.

30 Things Joe Biden Did as President You Might Have Missed

A surprisingly positive story from Politico, though using the word "Did" in the headline instead of "Has Done" makes him seem like a one-termer.

jfc with the media shitting themselves all over a couple of cops getting roughed up by teens

clockwork orange time!

the unstated thing is often that agriprocessing, farming, physical labor jobs generally rely on a stream of inexpensive younger laborers that’s been filled by immigrants

the Biden Administration has proposed minimum staffing levels at residential care facilities, and inexpensive younger labor can help with that as well

New border legislation the White House says it "strongly supports" would grant the Homeland Security Secretary the power to summarily deport undocumented immigrants at his "sole and unreviewable discretion" during border emergencies pic.twitter.com/lyLg7KPsyh

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) February 5, 2024

sounds legit

fuck this country

lol.. fuck this asshole

In a contentious interview, the senator also suggested that Trump should ignore “illegitimate” US supreme court rulings.

The interview ended badly, with the network cutting to a commercial break after Stephanopoulos told Vance he had made it “very clear” he believed a president can defy the supreme court.

“No, no, George …” Vance said before the sound was cut.

He went to Yale Law School, he knows better. Fuck him, the freakish little opportunist.

Pfft, just because someone went to an elite law school, you expect them to know about, and adhere to, laws?

Well, tbf, with Yale it is sometimes touch and go.

"Hi Dad, I'm at Yale!"

lol

debate is just going to devolve into "yo mama is so" snaps, and Donald's will probably not make a lot of sense

What would you do if both men threw around-the-world snaps

is it wishful thinking or does DJT seem more damaged than usual lately

this account seems to have the scoop

Sources now believe President Trump was struck by an ultrahigh frequency weapon that caused temporary brainfog, which caused him misprounounce his wife's name--Mercedes instead of Melania...Joe Biden, if it's even him, has true demention, and the Deep State is angry that patriots…

— RealRawNews (@RealRawNews1) February 26, 2024

maybe it's long covid

the longest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3KB2pt7-5c

we love brain fog don't we folks? the confusion, the mystery

"your mama is so...listen...look I mean I don't like to say things like this, but your mama....I mean we all love mamas. but yours, well...you know, I talk to a lot of people. Everyday I talk to people. The best people. and they're saying, lots of people are saying...they're saying your mama, well....these people, they love me by the way. they all talk about how unfairly I was treated - judges, even judges saying they know I won in 2020. they know I won - absolutely certain. and these people, they tell me, that your mama, she's say....they actually said this to me, last weekend, but they said that your mama, she's so u-"

"Your two minutes is up. President Biden, a response?"

"I mean....uhh...maybe we, shouldn't we get off mothers? Because I just g-"

"We'll be back after this commercial break"

Hahahaha

"I am not going to make age an issue in this campaign. I am not going to exploit the fact that my opponent's mama is so old that when they told her to act her age, she died."

that rare thing, an NYT headline that doesn't make a point of being fair to both sides (one of which is an obvious lie)

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/27/us/republicans-spending-shutdown.html

Trump got Havana Syndromed

It goes beyond the headline: the article doesn't strive for false balance at all. The only person quoted is Chuck Schumer, with no Republican bullshit offered as a counter. Gift link, if anyone wants to read it.

Mitch McConnell has announced that he'll be stepping down in November.

Mike Johnson has taken all the joy from Mitch's life of crime.

No way that guy wants to deal with Trump again

has to be one of the most evil and effective u.s. politicians of all time

has to be one of the most evil and effective u.s. politicians of all time

― z_tbd, Wednesday, February 28, 2024 12:44 PM (four minutes ago

The Senate version of Pelosi.

the Garland holdup was the most egregious bullshit maneuver of all time, may he burn in Lexington forever

Encouraging results in the Michigan primary, shouldn’t be a problem in November.

xp It was a total baller move, and a milestone in Mitch's pet project of destroying the independent federal judiciary.

couldn't write in a protest vote in the Virginia Dem primary, unfortunately.

voted for Marianne

Some quality schadenfreude:

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/national/capitol-riots/its-time-for-you-to-grow-up-judge-sentences-ny-chimney-repairman-to-3-years-in-prison-for-role-in-capitol-riot-brandon-fellows/65-605c9753-4d44-4e7f-93ad-61009e814229

“You have repeatedly made a mockery of these proceedings,” McFadden said, noting Fellows had shown the “height of contempt” for all three branches of government and had “flagrantly lied” on the stand at trial. McFadden also pushed back against Fellows’ belief that he was the victim of a “grand conspiracy” against him.

“It is, rather, your defiance of any and every attempt to try to get your actions to conform to what the law requires that has gotten you to this point,” McFadden said, adding in exasperation a short time later, “It’s time for you to grow up!”

Kind of wish that most of the GOP was forced to walk around with this on a sandwich board.

The end of that news story provides less reason for glee:

Fellows will receive credit for approximately 32 months already spent in detention but will have to serve an additional five months behind bars for criminal contempt after the time from his Jan. 6 sentence is completed. McFadden ordered Fellows to spend three years under supervision following his release.

Any bets he'll flip off "supervision" and skip town as soon as he's released?

I don't think so. These guys are pathetic cowards.

His courtroom conduct argues he's too far up his own ass to realize that cowardice is his best option.

It's too bad because "Mr. Brightside" was a banger.

(joke)

With time served, he'll be out before election day and ready to rumble.

Alabama passed some bullshit CYA thing in response to their own state banning IVF, which resulted in this line in the WaPo story, summing up the state of the GOP:

“Is it not possible to do IVF in a pro-life way that treats embryos as children, which they are?” Republican Rep. Ernie Yarbrough said, quoting both scripture and Vanilla Ice.

quoting both scripture and Vanilla Ice

the GOP today: you either believe Joe Biden is legitimately president, or you took a dump on Pelosi's desk

He went on to say, "If there's a problem, yo, I'll solve it."

I want to know when Alabama will start issuing birth certificates for embryos? Also, how will they know what to put down as the date of birth?

I'm sure they neglected to issue death certificates for each of the embryos that got accidentally dropped and unfrozen thus prompting this court ruling, but now that the county registrar knows it's necessary, surely they'll correct that oversight.

Will the US census begin to count embryos toward Alabama's population, possibly granting the state greater representation in Congress?

This story about Crystal Clanton and the Thomases is just ... so weird.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-scandal-of-clarence-thomass-new-clerk

lol “If the revised story is a lie, then it threatens to implicate not just Justice Thomas, who has endorsed it, but several lower-court federal judges and the leader of a major political group aligned with former President Donald Trump.”

I’m sure they’re all quaking at this possibility!

If those embryos are children, why we keeping them locked up in freezers? 🤨🤔

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-asks-delay-federal-classified-documents-trial-until-after-2024-2024-02-29/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social

His appointed judge Aileen Cannon may give him what he wants on document case; US Supreme Court has delayed J6 trial

Tobo, that's where I usually keep my children. They are pretty cool.

I think the local guy who was in prison for J6 stuff is somehow close to release already. His public statement via his attorney was very much “I’ve seen the error of my ways” but I think there’s a close to zero chance that he doesn’t do something else dumb.

He violated his pre-trial terms once by using his wife’s phone to watch the mypillow guy’s conference

lol, that's probably one of the saddest sentences I've ever read. Imagine risking more jail time to watch the fuckin' mypillow guy rant.

put the mypillow guy in jail and everyone wins

Idiot wind is blowing gale force through many trees these days.

Hey what's the March thread title going to be?
I vote "Uncommitmentum"

What was that thing Trump's on to now, "Languages nobody's ever heard of before"?

"We have languages coming into our country. We have nobody that even speaks those languages. They’re truly foreign languages. Nobody speaks them, and they’re pouring into our country, and they’re bringing with them tremendous problems, including medical problems, as you know.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvOoR8m0oms

The whole Hunter Biden transcript is full of fun stuff:

https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Hunter-Biden-Transcript_Redacted.pdf

US Politics, March 2024: The house of illuminati will NOT be holding any other event in the foreseeable future.