January 30, 2019

When this is all over and there's some return to normalcy, there are things that need to be done.

1. The Republican Party needs to die. A party that's eagerly embraced racism, sexism, fascism, knownothingism and treason isn't fit to run a 7-11, let a country.

2. The Electoral College has to go. People in small or sparsely populated states may be splendid folks, but not so splendid they deserve more political power than people in big, heavily populated states.

3. It should be made impossible to play games of chicken with government funding or the debt ceiling.

4. The filibuster is nearly dead already. Finish it off.

5. The Supreme Court needs to be turned back into a deliberative body instead of a 9-member legislature like it's becoming. I don't even know how to make that happen.

6. Commercial speech needs to be more regulated. Again, I'm not sure how, but I don't see democracy thriving where deep-pockets companies can turn firehoses of mendacity on any target at will.

January 27, 2019

Top ten signs the superhero in the movie you're watching is really lame.

10. First appeared in the pages of Mad magazine.

9. Became super after an an accident caused by failing to use household cleaning supplies as directed.

8. Mostly goes out in the super disguise just to duck bill collectors.

7. Only has his powers when he chainsmokes and stays drunk.

6. Although he's gained the power to fly, he still gets violently airsick.

5. In the middle of the action, has to call AAA to jump-start the supermobile.

4. His secret lair is in his parents' basement.

3. His flying scenes look suspiciously like a panicked stunt double being chucked off a tall building.

2. Has no elaborate summoning signal; police commissioner just leans out the window and hollers.

1. Invisibility power cuts out at odd moments, leaving him standing buck naked in front of the bad guys.

January 21, 2019

Trump Lashes Out After Democrats Reject Offer To End Shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thirty-one days into the partial government shutdown, Democrats and Republicans appeared no closer to ending the impasse than when it began, with President Donald Trump lashing out at his opponents after they dismissed a plan he’d billed as a compromise.

Trump on Sunday branded House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a “radical” and said she was acting “irrationally.” The president also tried to fend off criticism from the right, as conservatives accused him of embracing “amnesty” for immigrants in the country illegally.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/shutdown-continues-democrats-reject-trump-offer

Funny, isn't it, when you've totally sold your fanatic supporters on your plan to throw your adversaries into a lake of boiling blood, it turns out to be really hard to negotiate an acceptable compromise.

January 20, 2019

About the "San Antonio wall."

I work a blue collar job these days. My coworkers are a pretty good bunch of folks with no pretensions. If I said something so incredibly stupid as talking about a border wall in a town 150 miles from Mexico, they'd ride me for weeks -- and they damn well should.

Amazing isn't it that a guy who shleps boxes gets called on saying stupid bullshit, but the president of the United States doesn't.

January 19, 2019

In an extreme case, could impeachment/conviction happen in one day?

What if Trump decided to do something outrageous even for him, like declare he has no intention of ever ending the shutdown.

January 17, 2019

How the shutdown could end without (much) drama.

Mitch McConnell suddenly has to leave for [cough] medical reasons. His successor "accidentally" puts the CR up for a vote. (It's a complicated job and there was pandemonium in the office.) It then passes by a large enough margin that the same votes would override a Trump veto. Either Trump caves to avoid the humiliation of having his veto overridden, or he vetoes the CR and Republican congressfolk stick to their original "yes" votes and override.

Putin gets a note from Mitch's doctor saying he was really sick and then decides to... Oh, who cares?

January 13, 2019

"Trump Dodges Q's On Whether He's Worked For Russia,..."

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-dodges-qs-on-whether-hes-worked-for-russia-if-hell-suppress-mueller-report

My theory is that Trump is so totally terrified and intimidated by Putin that he won't answer any questions about their relationship because he can't be sure what will make Vlad mad.

January 12, 2019

At what point in a shutdown do people start talking coup?

I want a constitutional resolution of this shutdown in the worst way, but if the shutdown goes on long enough, thousands of government workers will face evictions, foreclosures, repossessions, prosecutions, and yes, hunger. If Trump and McConnell are seen to be agents of a foreign power intentionally damaging America, aren’t people are going to start asking, “why not?”

On edit: Thanks to everybody who responded. Too many to respond to individually. A few people imagined I was rooting for a coup. No way. I'd rather drive my car off a bridge into an ice-covered river. If enough people get scared shitless about the possibility, we might get that constitutional outcome that we (and the whole world) desperately need.

January 11, 2019

So if the Bogus POTUS can declare one National Emergency based on nothing...

...why can’t he declare a National Emergency of the Week based on nothing?

January 10, 2019

You know, bottom line, I don't care that much whether the Wall is buildable or cost-effective.

I don't want my country to turn into fucking Cold War East Germany.