;)
Wednesday
Nov162022
November 17, 2022
Afternoon Update:
** Marianna Sotomayor & Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who broke Congress's glass ceiling as the first woman to hold the top position in the House, announced Thursday she will not seek reelection as the House Democratic caucus's top leader, ending one of the most consequential leadership tenures in American political history.... She will continue as a member of the House.... Historians largely agree that Pelosi redefined the speakership, and she made history climbing the ranks of Democratic leadership, becoming the first woman to be second in line to the presidency as speaker of the House -- twice.... Pelosi's ability to keep her caucus in line has led to bipartisan recognition that she alone may be capable of wrangling Democrats' disparate factions. She led the House Democratic caucus through a bitter fight in 2010 to pass the Affordable Care Act, and most recently managed a razor-thin majority in passing several key pieces of President Biden's legislative agenda." ~~~
~~~ Sarah Ferris of Politico: "Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the current caucus chair, will seek the role of minority leader.... Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) ... will seek the elected position of assistant to the minority leader; Hoyer will not seek a leadership position, but will also remain in Congress as a rank-and-file member, according to multiple people familiar with the decision. Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) will seek the No. 2 position below Jeffries, minority whip, while Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), will seek the No. 3 position, which will now be caucus chair, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions. Clyburn's position will fall outside of that seniority structure." ~~~
When I think of Nancy Pelosi, I think of dignity. History will note she is the most consequential Speaker of the House of Representatives in our history. There are countless examples of how she embodies the obligation of elected officials to uphold their oath to God and country to ensure our democracy delivers and remains a beacon to the world. In everything she does, she reflects a dignity in her actions and a dignity she sees in the lives of the people of this nation. (and more) -- President Joe Biden
Few in American history have been as effective, as driven, as successful as Speaker Pelosi. She's transformed practically every corner of American politics, and unquestionably made America a better, stronger nation. -- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), on the Senate floor ~~~
~~~ From the Washington Post liveblog of developments: "... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) announced that they would not seek leadership positions in the new Congress, opening the door for a younger generation of Democrats to guide the caucus.... Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is widely expected to become the next minority leader.... If elected by House Democrats, Jeffries would become the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress." MB: Hoyer told reporters he would support Jeffries as leader.
Arizona. Alexandra Berzon & Jim Rutenberg of the Washington Post: "strong>Kari Lake, the Republican who lost her bid for governor of Arizona after running a campaign heavily focused on election denialism, suggested in a video on Thursday that she planned to contest her defeat, arguing without evidence that voters had been disenfranchised.... She pointed to problems with ballot tabulation machines that led to long lines of voters in Maricopa County.... But there has been no evidence that significant numbers of people were unable to cast their ballots, let alone the 17,200 voters who make up Ms. Lake's losing margin to Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat. Ms. Lake insinuated that Ms. Hobbs, the state's top election official, was responsible for the problems. But Ms. Hobbs did not directly run Maricopa County's election.... On Thursday, Ms. Lake, who was endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump, was visiting Mar-a-Lago...."
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** Hanna Knowles, et al., of the New York Times: "Republicans on Wednesday were projected to win back control of the U.S. House with a narrow majority, dealing a blow to President Biden and his agenda -- even as Democrats defied predictions of a rout to limit the power of the new GOP majority.... Still, a coming shift in power -- which in January will end two years of unified Democratic control in Washington -- is sure to complicate the second half of Biden's term, as Republicans gain the ability to launch investigations and block legislation. The decisive win came in California's 27th Congressional District, where Rep. Mike Garcia (R) fended off Democratic challenger Christy Smith." The AP's story is here.
Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was re-elected overwhelmingly as his party's Senate leader on Wednesday, holding off Senator Rick Scott of Florida in the first challenge Mr. McConnell has faced since assuming the post in 2007.... Meeting behind closed doors for more than three hours, Republican senators sat at desks in the Old Senate Chamber ... to hash out their differences and vote. In a final tally of 37-10, with one person voting present, Mr. McConnell easily defeated Mr. Scott. The rest of the Republican leadership has been set with little fanfare or competition: Senator John Thune of South Dakota will remain as the No. 2 position, the minority whip, and Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming will remain as the conference chair, the No. 3 position." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "The GOP's post-election finger-pointing intensified Tuesday, with two senators calling for an audit of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. During a tense, three-hour-long meeting of the Senate GOP Conference, Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said there should be an independent review of how the party's campaign arm spent its resources before falling short of its goal of winning the majority.... To move forward, Blackburn said, the party needed to determine what mistakes were made.... Over the past week, the political operations aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and NRSC Chair Rick Scott (Fla.) have clashed openly, blaming the other for the disappointing outcome -- even before Scott launched a long-shot leadership challenge to McConnell." (Also linked yesterday.)
The media are full of stories about how Republican politicians & donors are receiving Trump's bid for re-election with the same lack of enthusiasm his announcement speech conveyed. Here's one of the stories: ~~~
~~~ Reid Epstein, et al., of the New York Times: "Within hours of Donald J. Trump announcing his third presidential bid on Tuesday, some of his former aides, donors and staunchest allies are shunning his attempt to recapture the White House.... While Mr. Trump has long faced opposition from the establishment and elite quarters of his party, this round of criticism was new in its raw bluntness, plainly out in the open by Wednesday and focused on reminding voters that the Trump era in Republican politics has led to the opposite of the endless winning Mr. Trump once promised."
New York Times Editors, in an editorial titled "Enough": "Donald Trump, twice impeached for seeking to undermine the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, says he is running for president again in 2024. His new campaign has begun with the same ugliness, lies and chaos as the last, but it poses even greater dangers to American democracy. Mr. Trump and his supporters can no longer pretend to be good-faith participants in the democratic process. They have enshrined the refusal to accept adverse election results as a defining feature of their political movement, sought to install true believers in local and state election offices and demonstrated a willingness to resort to violence. Mr. Trump is unfit for public office. As president, he showed himself to be incompetent and self-dealing.... Legal proceedings against Mr. Trump and investigations related to his actions around Jan. 6, election interference in Georgia and his mishandling of classified information at his home in Florida also need to continue."
** Mary Jalonick of the AP: "Legislation to protect same-sex and interracial marriages crossed a major Senate hurdle Wednesday, putting Congress on track to take the historic step of ensuring that such unions are enshrined in federal law. Twelve Republicans voted with all Democrats to move forward on the legislation, meaning a final vote could come as soon as this week, or later this month. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the bill ensuring the unions are legally recognized under the law is chance for the Senate to 'live up to its highest ideals' and protect marriage equality for all people. 'It will make our country a better, fairer place to live,' Schumer said, noting that his own daughter and her wife are expecting a baby next year.... Three Republicans said early on that they would support the legislation and have lobbied their GOP colleagues to support it: Maine Sen. Susan Collins, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and Ohio Sen. Rob Portman.... The other Republicans who voted for the legislation were Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Todd Young of Indiana, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Mitt Romney of Utah, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.
Rachel Weiner, et al., of the Washington Post: "As the trial of five Oath Keepers associates accused of conspiring to stop Joe Biden from taking office wound down, retired Navy intelligence officer Thomas Caldwell ... [tried] to explain [his] references to violence related to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack as recorded on video and in text messages. Caldwell, 68, called his past words 'a great exaggeration, just like the charges against me.' He testified that a 'militia' is just 'neighbors helping neighbors.' And he said messages from him about taking out enemies with sniper fire or staging and transporting 'heavy weapons' across the Potomac River by boat were 'creative writing.' Caldwell was one of two defendants to take the stand in the seventh week of the Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy trial in federal court in Washington."
Beyond the Beltway
California. Shawn Hubler of the New York Times: "Karen Bass, a veteran Democratic congresswoman, on Wednesday became the first woman elected as mayor of Los Angeles after pledging to build coalitions in a metropolis torn by racial tensions and fed up with homelessness. The race was called by The Associated Press. Ms. Bass survived a bruising race against Rick Caruso, a billionaire real estate developer, that had remained too close to call for more than a week after the election. Mr. Caruso had pumped roughly $100 million into his campaign as a law-and-order candidate, hoping to appeal to a frustrated electorate."
Georgia Senate Race. Walker Wants to Be a Werewolf. Rich Juzwiak of Jezebel, republished by Yahoo! News: "Herschel Walker, in his campaign for the Georgia Senate runoff, decided at a rally in McDonough, Georgia, on Wednesday to address an age-old question: Can werewolves kill vampires?... Walker described watching a 'stupid movie late at night hoping it's gonna get better, it don't get better, but you keep watching it anyway' called 'Fright Night, Freak Night, or some type-a night.... I don't know if you know, but vampires are some cool people, are they not?' he said. 'But I'm going to tell you something I found out: A werewolf could kill a vampire, did you know that? I didn't know that, so I didn't want to be a vampire anymore, I wanted to be a werewolf.'" If Walker unseats Raphael Warnock, the Senate better not hold any evening sessions. ~~~
Marie: Mitch McConnell complained again Tuesday that Republicans' poor "candidate quality" was the reason for some Senate losses. He might have looked at some down-ballot races, too: ~~~
~~~ South Dakota. Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "A South Dakota House candidate who lost his race appeared in court this Tuesday on a charge of second-degree rape, KOTA reports. A South Dakota House candidate who lost his race appeared in court this Tuesday on a charge of second-degree rape, KOTA reports. Bud Marty May, 37, faces 50 years in prison over the Class 1 felony charge. According to the victim, May forced himself on her in a bathroom stall at a bar, telling her, 'I am 6′8, white, it is all consensual.' May then fled the scene but was later detained by police. The Republican candidate initially denied involvement, but then claimed, 'it was simply a hug.'" One of the two winners in May's district was Elizabeth May, Bud's mother. (Also linked yesterday.)
Wisconsin. Ben Brasch of the Washington Post: "A Wisconsin judge on Wednesday sentenced Darrell E. Brooks Jr. to six consecutive life sentences without chance of parole for his attack on a Christmas parade in November 2021 that killed six people and injured at least 48 others. Brooks slammed an SUV into the crowd attending the annual Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wis., a close-knit community 20 miles west of Milwaukee." The AP's report is here.
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Thursday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Thursday are here: "Explosions were reported across Ukraine on Thursday, including in the capital, Kyiv, Odessa in the south, and the central city of Dnipro.... The Black Sea grain initiative will be extended for 120 days, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations announced. The agreement provides safe passage of cargo ships to and from Ukraine's Black Sea ports amid Russia's invasion.... Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ... stress[ed] he has 'no doubt' that the missile did not come from his country. [President] Biden disagreed, telling reporters on Thursday: 'That's not the evidence.' The explosion in Poland was from at least one or as many as two Ukrainian SA-10 surface-to-air missiles that went off course, according to information the U.S. intelligence community has seen, a person familiar with the intelligence told The Washington Post on Thursday...."
Vasilisa Stepanenko of the AP: "NATO member Poland and the head of the military alliance both said Wednesday a missile strike in Polish farmland that killed two people did not appear to be an intentional attack, and that air defenses in neighboring Ukraine likely launched the Soviet-era projectile against a Russian bombardment that savaged the Ukrainian power grid. 'Ukraine's defense was launching their missiles in various directions and it is highly probable that one of these missiles unfortunately fell on Polish territory,' said Polish President Andrzej Duda. 'There is nothing, absolutely nothing, to suggest that it was an intentional attack on Poland.' NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, at a meeting of the 30-nation military alliance in Brussels, echoed the preliminary Polish findings, saying: 'We have no indication that this was the result of a deliberate attack.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
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Reader Comments (20)
Excitement? Zzzzzzzzzzz…
Did youse guys hear any of Fatty’s bigly announcement? I thought he was running for president of the United States, not CEO of Soporifics, LLP. Christ, it sounded like he was reading the ingredients on the back of a cereal box, one of the really bad ones.
I read somewhere that people tried to walk out but Trump’s security guards wouldn’t let them, I guess they were afraid it might trigger a mass exodus that would get them fired.
Some of those less inspired guests could be forgiven for conjuring up images from Stephen King’s “Carrie” in which high schoolers locked in a gym are all burned to death. At least it would be more exciting than Fatty’s duller than being put on hold with AT&T speech.
Anyone else think it’s funny how the traitors are all in a tizzy about what went wrong in the midterms? Oh, let’s investigate the spending! Candidate selection! Trump! The media!
How about you have nothing to offer anyone who isn’t a billionaire, a white supremacist, or a misogynist?
It ain’t rocket science. It’s like racking your brain to figure out why chocolate cupcakes sell better than shit sandwiches. “Oh no! Maybe we used the wrong kind of shit!”
Yeah. That must be it.
I recommend that everyone take a few minutes to listen to this NPR report on capital punishment. It’s a harrowing series of interviews with prison officials and personnel directly involved in the execution of other human beings. Of those interviewed, who directly witnessed executions, none expressed support for this form of state sponsored killing.
The psychological and physical toll on those tasked with preparing and carrying out executions sounds excruciating. One prison official puts it this way: “It does no more than increase the number of victims while producing no positive outcomes.”
Capital punishment is much favored by the Party of Traitors. One rationale, that it prevents the commission of future capital crimes is complete bullshit. It’s all about cruelty and revenge.
I recall the jokes made by confederates in the wake of the 1995 film “Dead man walking”, which only confirms the sort of moral turpitude the right exhibits in so many of their supposed “law and order” stances. The fact that 55% of those currently awaiting execution are African-American, a group that comprises only 13.6% of the total population, likely plays a factor in wingers’ support for this form of punishment.
But they don’t have to do the job. Those who do hate it.
https://www.npr.org/2022/11/16/1136796857/death-penalty-executions-prison
Just one more (for now) thought about the Murdoch/Fox dumping of Trump: a violent attempt to overthrow the government and wrest power by force wasn’t enough to sour them on Trump. Losing a few seats in Congress did the trick though.
Stellar moral code there, Rupes.
Today's 'word of the day' is Recrudescence: Meaning the return of
something unpleasant after a period of relief, like shingles, oral
or genital herpes or Donald Trump.
(I improved on the dictionary by adding those last two words).
Perhaps overly optimistic in the election's aftermath, I was thinking this morning about the best path forward for the newly minted Republican House.
Over the next two years, a Dem Senate and an R House will offer the nation a perfect laboratory in effective government. We will have one body that will try to do things to help peoples' lives go more smoothly...Then we will have the other...
With an eye to 2024, one would think that the newly installed House leaders would know how it will look if all they do is screw with budget and appropriations to hamstring governance and mount more empty headline - grabbing "investigations" on Hunter Biden, the FBI and the Justice Dept.
While it is not certain the nation has learned much over the last four years, there are signs that it has. Rupert Murdoch thinks so anyway.
And if one of the things it has learned is that responsible government is necessary, a summary of the actions of the two Houses over the next two years will provide a clear illustration of who takes that responsibility seriously and who does not.
The next two years should make that distinction obvious.
In the midst of optimism, tho', skepticism still lives. I'm guessing that despite my fine advice, the new House will specialize in hindrance, not help. I fear R's just can help but hinder.
That's who they are.
@Ken Winkes: I am holding out hope that a Democrat will be elected the next House Speaker. While I highly doubt that will happen, it's not impossible, given the current situation.
We already know Kevin McCarthy doesn't have the votes to become speaker. So they the Democrats put up a conservative Democrat to be speaker. The speaker doesn't have to be someone who is currently a member of the House, so Ohio's Tim Ryan, for instance, would do. (Ryan was a member of the House but didn't run for re-election because he ran for the Senate -- and lost.) Democrats would need only a half-dozen or so Republican votes to make that person speaker.
Forrest,
You saved the worst for last.
Good word. Funnily enough, I ran across this somewhat uncommon word whilst reading Jack London’s “The Sea Wolf” recently (I was on a Jack jag a few months back). He was a fine one for getting down into the inner lives of his characters, a neat, and not easily achieved trick I was reminded of last night while reading Henry James’ “The Aspern Papers” (and Marie…no dissing my pal Hank!).
Speaking of the inner lives of characters, just imagine the immense darkness and depravity that must monkey with the mental machinery of a despicable churl like Donald Trump. Henry James would have fallen over and been unable to get up had he succeeded in picking the lock on that guy’s sickening sanctum. Hank’s worst villains do things like purposely misspell someone’s name on an invitation to a high society soirée while onlookers “color” and “hang fire”.
And since you bring up recrudescence, a quick check reveals its first usage traces to 1665 (year of the Great London Plague). Other words that took their initial bow that year, words that could also apply to our own plague: amok, blighted, miasma, randy, savagism, and two words that could describe his leaden announcement of another tiresome waddle for the White House, unmelodious, and soporific.
Crude and cruel are two other words that grew out of recrudescence’s Latin root. Perfect for a perfect asshole.
A Times article linked above offers a succinct description of what an R controlled House will do for the next two years: launch investigations and block legislation.
They have nothing.
Oh, and I’m already growing tired of reading and listening to pundits describe that body, as of January, as “Republican run”. Run? They can’t even crawl. These incompetent screamers couldn’t successfully run a sand store at the beach.
Last week’s midterm elections showed that the country remains deeply divided along partisan lines, but there was one exception that has been largely overlooked, says Jane Mayer. Voters from both parties in all fifteen counties of the polarized state of Arizona came together and overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure that will require large anonymous “dark money” political donors to reveal their identities.
"Proposition 211, known as the Voters’ Right to Know Act, requires that any donor giving more than five thousand dollars to a nonprofit that uses the money on political advertising and spends more than fifty thousand dollars on a state campaign or ballot proposition must publicly disclose their name. In order to insure transparency, the new rule applies even if the contribution was routed through a front group attempting to screen the identity of the original donor. “Voters have a right to know who is behind ‘Americans for Peanut Butter,’ or whatever else,” Terry Goddard, Arizona’s former attorney general, who spearheaded the ballot measure, told me in a phone interview. “Everyone knows [shell organizations are] just a cover and they resent it. But without this, there’s no way to get the truth.”
And I'm wondering: Is there not a limit in this country where a person like Hershel Walker can become a congressman? The above video shows the guy is completely bonkers. There should be some kind of assessment–––"Sorry, pal, but you are not fit to serve." We pay their salaries, do we not?
I didn't know that interracial marriage was at risk until it was
put into that bill to ensure that same sex and interracial marriage
were enshrined in federal law.
Is it just me, or does that kinda, sorta, look like it was added in case
a certain supreme court justice and his cohorts eventually rule on it?
@Ken Winkes: Okay, I won't diss your old friend Hank, but I'll let his good friend Edith Wharton do it for me. I doubt that she's exaggerating, my good man.
@Forrest Morris: Maybe Clarence is just sick of Ginny. He is a Roman Catholic, so dissolving their long marriage could be problematic if he wants to keep in good graces with his faith. BUT. "Supreme Court rules against interracial marriage" seems like an easy out.
Ken,
Are you a fan of Henry James as well? Good man!
Marie: I don't know if Ken has a thing for Henry but we do know Akhilleus does.
Akhilleus and Marie,
Talk of Henry reminds me of my response to him many years ago when I took a course in the short story from a professor and distinguished writer who turned out to be so important to me that retrospect tells me he affected the course my life took.
He introduced me to the concept of "registers," the points of view through and from which characters apprehended their world. I've alway associated that idea with James, of whose writing I said at the time created such a thicket of words that the misunderstandings and uncertainties at the center of many of his stories would have been eliminated if his characters only said what they meant, straight on.
"In other words," had his characters spoken plainly, the stories would have not only been shorter, but they might have simply disappeared.
I've read James but am too impatient with him to be counted as a fan.
Now, Jack London, that's another story. I think the first half of "The Sea Wolf" brilliant, combining as it does concrete action-adventure with abstract philosophy, before its energy and direction dissipate in a less credible romance of the sea.
But I haven't read that one in a long time...
P.S. I adored Edith: Here she is after her affair with Fullerton; evidently discovering what good sex can be, I surmise.
"I have drunk of the wine of life at last. I have known the thing best worth knowing, I have been warmed through and through. never to grow quite cold again until the end."
How did I know they wouldn't take my advice?
Nuttin' here for the good of the country. For themselves maybe--but only time will tell.
They say they want to draw a sharp contrast with the Dems. In that, if they follow the path they've laid out, they will surely succeed.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/house-republicans-plan-investigations-possible-impeachments-new-majori-rcna55912
For a fun read, check out the CNN article under 'Google Political
News' in the Wires column above.
The 51 most outlandish lines from trump's announcement speech.
Who knew he was a mathematician? He states that we went decades
and decades without a war while he was in office.
Guess he thinks a decade is like, a year, or 6 months.
@PD, if you liked Edith's writings, you'd probably like her home as well. It's a little too large for my tastes and certainly out of my maintenance budget.