[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Beer In Belly

Shit the bed. What has this place turned into? the financial times?!

good newspaper, im a subscriber

but that was the us bureau of labor statistics. their data moves markets everywhere

Originally Posted by Beer In Belly

Won't be an issue considering these posts put me to sleep

 

now sleep already. why just announce it? all talk and no show...

[!@#$%!]

frozen fertilized embryos are people in alabammy

you heard it first elsehwere!

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

frozen fertilized embryos are people in alabammy

Which begs the question: Can you freeze children now? I mean, you want a vacation (read: sexcapade) just with your wife, no having to take care of brats and stand their moronic chants in the car, you should now be able to freeze the little fuckers. People are people!

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

Which begs the question: Can you freeze children now? I mean, you want a vacation (read: sexcapade) just with your wife, no having to take care of brats and stand their moronic chants in the car, you should now be able to freeze the little fuckers. People are people!

totally. with the price of child care these days nothing beats the efficiency of a chest freezer

 

[The Soup Nazi]

This fuckin' guy.

[The Soup Nazi]

From Wonkette:

Mitch McConnell Peacing Out, Has One More (UKRAINE) Thing (UKRAINE) On To-Do List (UKRAINE)

House Speaker what's his name is 'isolated' on 'an island.'

The late-breaking news is that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell be dead will be stepping down as the Republican leader in November. He has served longer than any other party leader in the entire US American history of the universe.

“One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter,” said Mitchums. “So I stand before you today ... to say that this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate.” Well all right. If he thinks he’s grown up enough to move on to “life’s next chapter.”

He says he’s sticking around as a senator until his term is over, in January of 2027. We assume the new leader will be chosen in the traditional Republican way, which involves the current leader handing out big pieces of cake to all the members. Inside each one is a live baby, a kitten or a puppy. (It’s like Mardi Gras, except everybody wins!) Whoever eats theirs fastest is crowned the new leader, so all hail JD Vance!

(In all seriously you guys, Politico reports it’s likely to be a fight between John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas, and John Barrasso of Wyoming. Who will win? John will win.)

The original purpose of this post wasn’t to write Mitch McConnell’s political obituary, but rather to talk about the meeting all the congressional leadership — McConnell, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, and extremist freakshow insurrectionist pubestain Speaker Mike Johnson — had yesterday in the White House.

It was partially about averting a government shutdown ahead of this Friday’s deadline. Johnson swears he does not want a shutdown, as long as the entire world is willing to give him whatever he wants in return. (Wonkette is examining that in a different post de blog.)

But much of the meeting was spent reportedly teaching Speaker Johnson how to be a real American, as opposed to a Putin rentboy. You see, the big update on that direly needed Ukraine funding the Senate passed is that Johnson still hasn’t done fuckdick with it. How many innocent people have died because weak and ineffective leader Mike Johnson was too busy sitting on his thumbs? You’ll have to ask the Ukrainian government that.

Politico reporter Burgess Everett relayed Chuck Schumer’s words afterward: “The meeting on Ukraine was intense. It was intense because everyone in that room is telling Speaker Johnson how vital it is. I’ve rarely seen a meeting with the passion, the importance of getting something done.”

McConnell has long believed getting this Ukraine funding through — and seeing Ukraine through, in general, in its unchosen war against the genocidal dictator next door — to be key to his legacy.

Politico reports that McConnell spent his time in the meeting telling Johnson please pass the fucking Ukraine aid bill. They report that McConnell is “sensitive to Johnson’s tough position” — i.e. how weak of a leader Johnson is, we think they are saying? — but he’s not showing “deference” the way he did with Kevin McCarthy.

More words from the reporting about where Johnson finds himself are “on an island” and “isolation.” Politico says it was a “near pile-on” from the Democrats — which of course included President Joe Biden — but notes that Schumer said afterward, “McConnell was the lead speaker in saying we needed to do Ukraine” and that “It was the consensus in that room Zelenskyy and Ukraine will lose the war” if America doesn’t get its shit together with this aid. (God has chosen you for this one job, Mike Johnson! Don’t disappoint God more than you already have.)

Yesterday afternoon, McConnell told reporters:

“What I hope is that the House will take up the Senate bill and let the House work its way. If they change it and send it back here, we have further delays,” McConnell said on Tuesday afternoon. “We don’t want the Russians to win in Ukraine.”

(NOTE: A lot of MAGA Republicans are traitors who do want the Russians to win in Ukraine.)

“So, we have a time problem here. And I think the best way to move quickly and get the bill to the president would be for the House to take up the Senate bill and pass it.”

McConnell ain’t the only one talkin’ shit either:

“I don’t know how many political lives he has,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said of the speaker. “But I think it’s really important that we get [Ukraine] done.”

LMAO did John Cornyn just call Mike Johnson a pussycat? We think he did.

Cornyn also said Johnson is “trying to figure it out and I wish him well.” So we guess that means Cornyn will send a card whenever Marjorie Taylor Greene or Matt Gaetz decides it’s time to burn Johnson for a witch.

So will Johnson actually do something, or is all that Ukrainian blood going to continue to collect on his hands? Three guesses:

While all four top leaders are now in apparent lockstep about avoiding a government shutdown, Johnson remained noncommittal on an emergency foreign aid bill, simply stating that lawmakers must prioritize the U.S. border before helping an ally overseas. He is pushing Biden to use executive actions to tighten security on the southern border before turning to Ukraine, and he is not alone in that view.

Great. The forked-tongued porn-cop from Louisiana just needs to bitch some more about “border,” even though Johnson has said out loud with his actions that he and his conference do not actually care about “border.”

Politico has more on the back-and-forth as it currently stands — it could still end up being a few centrist Republicans joining with Democrats to go around the limp dick with the gavel to get the funding through the House — as well as the pushback McConnell is currently experiencing from the Putin wing of the Senate.

Speaking of the Putin wing in the Senate, several of them are now saying the only way to end Russia’s war on Ukraine is a “negotiated settlement,” by which they mean Putin would get SOME rewards for invading the country next door and raping and murdering its children to death.

That’s what that means, right, JD Vance? Please clarify if we have that in any way incorrect. (And please translate the clarification out of the original Russian while you’re at it.)

[Politico]

[The Soup Nazi]

SCOTUS' ruling on Orange Putschist's eligibility could be announced THIS MONDAY...

[!@#$%!]

scotus decided unanimously that it's not up to the states to remove candidates from a federal ballot

i think this is correct, and that has nothing to do with the odious orange blob, may he rot

the thing is we can't have texass decide to remove biden from the ballot because texass, etc

[!@#$%!]

ps sinema show won't be running again

[Toilet & Bowels]

She took enough back-handers to retire on, I presume.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Toilet & Bowels

She took enough back-handers to retire on, I presume.

im gonna guess that means kickbacks and so... probably? (from private equity i would assume)

but her retirement makes me fear for arizona. kari fucking lake now has the door open again. and i don't know how lefty is gallego, but arizona is far from a progressive place.

actually i thought sinema was a good fit for that population. yes, she and manchin declawed parts of bidenomics, but without those parts inflation is already causing trouble, and the fiscal prospect looks uncomfortable if the growth does not follow.

with the full 5 trillion the rest of the democratic senate wanted... i don't know where we'd be. awash in devalued money maybe? it was an enormous gamble on growth, and industrial policies are never guaranteed (ask france)

anyway we'll have to see what happens next, for me it's just a guess. if democrats overreach the backlash could spell doom. fascists feed on resistance to leftist excesses.

please note i don't judge these as "excesses" from my point of view, but rather from the point of view of what the average population of a place is accustomed to think and experience (in this case, center-right arizona)

remember how the tea party appeared in reaction to obamacare, meaning federal romneycare, originally actually nixoncare, i.e., the swiss model lite? (no jail here). universal health insurance is far from excessive for me, but for people who are used to winging it on their own, like moe tucker.... it was a big shock that reeked of "socialism"

see: https://web.archive.org/web/20101022...ound_video.php

(some comments are great at explaining the general stupidity of her position btw. but also she scores some good points. i mean jsut because she bangs drums it doesn't mean she has to be non-mainstream in some areas. she's very mainstream here. but anyway... what people are accustomed to do, how they react when things change, etc, still applies. yeah, so, sinema was a good fit for arizona i thought. and how are we going to pay for all things? growth maybe, if it happens, but it's still a big gamble: Warnings from history for a new era of industrial policy
https://www.economist.com/finance-an...ustrial-policy
from The Economist )

[Savage Clone]

She’s a complete and total piece of shit, but I do wish some people from the far left would take a page from her book and just go in with the idea of being one and done and cram as much shit down peoples throat as they can. Stop worrying about getting reelected. Make a significant dent and get the fuck out.

[_slavo_]

My home country is quietly becoming a dictatorship again. I was born in a dictatorship and might die in one too.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Savage Clone

She’s a complete and total piece of shit,.

compared to an ideal politician, in an ideal country, maybe she is

but compared to kari lake, one of her actual alternatives, she's fucking amazing

kari lake is the complete and total piece of shit in this scenario. look her up. that one has no redeeming qualities or sane political positions whatsoever

and arizonans could elect her... shudder

Originally Posted by Savage Clone

but I do wish some people from the far left would take a page from her book and just go in with the idea of being one and done and cram as much shit down peoples throat as they can. Stop worrying about getting reelected. Make a significant dent and get the fuck out.

but after they get the fuck out, their works gets undone.

americans are very right wing compared to other peoples. if there is no political culture to support these things they just don't survive

take the fate of the cfpb for example. even with elizabeth warren still in congress it's always on the verge of getting dismantled. and it will continue to be a target of republican administrations until they are done strangling it

obamacare also continues to be a target. instead of improving it, republicans are trying to kill it altogether

or take roe v wade. killed after 50 years of rabid resistance. it never took hold in some sectors and it was a rallying point of the religious right

...

perhaps the country is too big to agree on much

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by _slavo_

My home country is quietly becoming a dictatorship again. I was born in a dictatorship and might die in one too.

i'm so sorry man

[choc e-Claire]

Originally Posted by choc e-Claire

Kyrsten Sinema is a perfect example of why bisexuals cannot be trusted. Too addled to decide on their preferred sexual partners, too addled to decide on anything politically.

I've already spoken on Sinema, hopefully a good successor comes along.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by choc e-Claire

hopefully

https://azsos.gov/elections/results-...ion-statistics

https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/r...amiliar-divide

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=kari+lake&...r=news&ia=news there you can track the real fucking loon (or you can check out her twatter)

[_tunic_]

Originally Posted by _slavo_

My home country is quietly becoming a dictatorship again. I was born in a dictatorship and might die in one too.

we are heading the right-wing way as well
four parties are trying to work together in forming a coalition who don't want to work together.

I wonder how long it will take before they realize it will never work

 

I wanna live with a Sinema girl
I could be happy the rest of my life with a Sinema girl

[_slavo_]

Originally Posted by _tunic_

we are heading the right-wing way as well
four parties are trying to work together in forming a coalition who don't want to work together.

I wonder how long it will take before they realize it will never work

 

I wanna live with a Sinema girl
I could be happy the rest of my life with a Sinema girl

the world is turning to fucking shit lately.

I have built up quite a thick skin over the years, but this is just making me depressed

[!@#$%!]

uncle joe did good yesterday! i didnt watch the whole speech but yeah. very lucid, and way saner than covfefe. i feel encouraged by this and do not fear the polls.

also i don't care for purity tests. we face a simple binary choice in this federal election. this isn't a school board or city council where you can vote for a fringe candidate and see what happens. but i am glad that michigan voters spoke clearly in the primary, and i think they've been heard. regardless of who started what and when, and who is who's ally, religions, and political alignments, etc etc... mass starvation of civilians cannot be allowed. there have to be limits to any war. let the humanitarian aid flow. so what if it required voter pressure--that's how democracy works. thanks, michigan

...


re: pain in our times: epicureanism and stoicism (with 21st century updates) continue to be the available individual responses to unpleasant times that i can see honestly working. and even though the epicurean garden can be destroyed, it can also be relocated nowadays, to escape destruction. for collective response (which epicureanism avoids), stoicism can blend well with politics. i like to combine them pragmatically. there is no need to be monotheistic and faithful, so to speak. it's a bad mental habit. well, two habits: monotheism, and faith. like the proverbial person with just a hammer, but with added stubbborness

we live in dangerous times, no question. it's not that we're in a bad situation in itself, overall. all times are dangerous. and in some sense, we are close to the peak of civilization. but the risk looks enormous (it's a very hard fall when you're riding high). there are plenty of doom prophets out there, but i'm not one of them. i think disaster can be prevented, or mitigated, or weathered, if we do the right thing (these are degrees of handling). it's just never over. reality is an infinite game.

---

eta nonfarm payrolls released this morning looked better than expected but last month's figures were revised downward so the us economy keeps doing well, basically, but not explosively well, so the soft landing (?) is in sight consistent with powell's testimony yesterday. rate cuts might be possible in june. here's hoping, because a no-landing would create problems. inflation must be tamed, or everyone loses