![image of a pub Photoshopped to be named 'The Beloved Community Pub'](http://web.archive.org./web/20170326004105im_/http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/shakespeares_sister/shakes6/bcpub.jpg)
[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]
Belly up to the bar,
and be in this space together.
This blogaround brought to you by steam engines.
Recommended Reading:
Monica: [Content Note: Trans violence; death] Rest in Power and Peace, Alphonza
Andy: Rep. Mark Pocan: I've Seen 'Damning Evidence' on Trump-Russia Coordination in Classified Reports
Charles: [CN: Disablism] Neil Gorsuch Is an Incredibly Callous Human Being
Amie: [CN: Addiction] The Opioid Epidemic: Why Are Women at Risk?
Rob: The BBC Is Using This Excellent Photo of Trump for Everything
Vivian: Brett Ratner Thinks It's Rotten Tomatoes, Not His Movies, That's Destroying the Film Industry
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
Well, this is it. They're starting the vote, with the outcome not at all certain. As they take the vote, the latest Quinnipiac poll stands at 56 percent of respondents disapproving of the GOP plan, 26 percent unsure, and only 17 percent approving of the plan.
There is no question that the Republican House majority is not acting according to the will or the best interests of We the People.
Here is a thread for discussion, as it unfolds.
UPDATE: They pulled the bill. No vote.
UPDATE 2: Speaker Paul Ryan is now making a statement. "Moving from an opposition party to a governing party comes with growing pains. And we're feeling those growing pains today." Good grief.
If you're wondering if he's still trashing the Affordable Care Act, even after this shitshow, the answer is obviously yes.
UPDATE 3: Trump blames Democrats (sure), but he's relieved it's over.
TRUMP told me he is happy having this in the rearview mirror. "It's enough already," he said of the negotiations.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 24, 2017
"We're gonna win with health care...We're gonna win so much you may even get tired of winning." - Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/IYPk0SD6tE
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) March 24, 2017
We're gonna win with healthcare, and for our veterans! We're gonna win with every single facet! We're gonna win so much, you may even get tired of winning! And you'll say: "Please, please, it's too much winning! We can't take it anymore! Mr. President, it's too much!" And I'll say: "No it isn't! We have to keep winning! We have to win MORE! We're gonna win more!"Asshole.
Below, a Reuters video headlined: "Dozens of Russian tanks deployed close to Ukrainian border."
Some 20,000 people are being evacuated after a series of explosions at a massive arms depot in eastern Ukraine described by officials as sabotage.Although there is no explicit blame directed at the Russians here, note that Ukrainian officials describing it as an act of "sabotage" makes very clear who they believe is responsible.
The base in Balakliya, near Kharkiv, is around 100km (60 miles) from fighting against Russian-backed separatists.
The dump is used to store thousands of tonnes of ammunition including missiles and artillery weapons.
Rescue teams are overseeing a huge evacuation effort for people living in the city and nearby villages. ...Everyone within a 10km (6 miles) radius of the dump is being evacuated, the Interfax news agency quoted an aide to President Petro Poroshenko as saying.
Munitions from the depot are used to supply military units in the conflict zone in nearby Luhansk and Donetsk, reports say.
The authorities are investigating various ways the explosions may have been caused, Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak said, including the possibility of an explosive device being dropped from a drone.
A drone was reported to have been used an earlier attempt to set the facility on fire in December 2015.
The final floor vote on the healthcare [sic] legislation is currently scheduled for 4pm ET. (KEEP CALLING!)
Speaker Paul Ryan met with Donald Trump earlier, purportedly to tell him that they don't have the votes. But I am not taking anything for granted unless and until this thing fails.
Meanwhile, Rep. John Lewis BROUGHT THE FIRE to the House floor in opposition to this bill, and it was fucking amazing.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose this bill. As elected representatives, we have a mission, an obligation, and a mandate to fight for each and every American.
I ask you, Mr. Speaker, who will stand for the American people? Who will speak for those who have been left out and left behind? Mr. Speaker, I've said it time and time again: Healthcare is a right. It is not a privilege reserved for a wealthy few. For what does it profit this body to pass this bill and lose our soul?
This bill is a shame. It is a disgrace. Mr. Speaker, today my heart breaks for the disabled, for women, for seniors, and working families. My heart aches for those who are living paycheck to paycheck. My heart mourns for innocent little children whose very lives depend on if their family can pay the bills.
This is the heart and soul of the matter. We cannot abandon our principles. Mr. Speaker, we cannot forget our values. I've fought too hard and too long to back down now. I will fight any bill that turns the clock back to a darker time. I will fight every single attempt to turn a deaf ear, a blind eye, and a cold shoulder to the sick! To our seniors! And to working families!
Mr. Speaker, I will fight every day, every hour, every minute, and every second! I oppose this bill with every breath and every bone in my body! We must not give up! We cannot. I will not give in. Not today, not tomorrow, and NEVER! EVER!
On this bill, there's only one option, and that option is to vote NO! We can do better, Mr. Speaker. We must do better! Vote no on this bill!
Thank you, @repjohnlewis, thank you!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 24, 2017
It's not just that @repjohnlewis is right. It's that he brought the APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF EMOTION to a fight that is literally life & death.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 24, 2017
"It's going to be an incredible pipeline," says @POTUS. #KeystoneXL pic.twitter.com/gJxubT8ecN
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) March 24, 2017
"Perfect genes." I don't even know what to tell you if that sort of language doesn't disturb the shit out of you. https://t.co/i4ozhnpw8T
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 24, 2017
During a press conference earlier today, Republican Chair of the House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes announced that former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, whose ties to Russia have raised serious questions about the Trump campaign's possible collusion with Russia during the campaign, would come in for an interview with the committee.
Paul Manafort has volunteered to testify before the House Intelligence Committee, Chairman Nunes says https://t.co/sGG8vmZr3P
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 24, 2017
The counsel for Paul Manafort contacted the committee yesterday to offer the committee the opportunity to interview his client. We thank Mr. Manafort for volunteering and encourage others with knowledge of these issues to voluntarily interview with the committee.Note that Nunes did not specify whether Manafort would testify under oath; he merely said that he would come in for an "interview." He also did not specify whether said interview would be public, or would happen in a closed-door session.
BREAKING: Chairman just cancelled open Intelligence Committee hearing with Clapper, Brennan and Yates in attempt to choke off public info.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 24, 2017
Schiff: "We don't welcome cutting off public access to information when we have witnesses" willing to testify https://t.co/TwUSEZBmfq
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) March 24, 2017
Today the chairman has announced that meeting is canceled. He has also announced that he wants to bring back Directors Comey and Rogers for a closed session. We welcome at any time bringing the former directors back in closed session. We don't welcome cutting off the public access to information when we have witnesses, as these three very important witnesses, who are willing and scheduled to testify in open session.Democrats proposed an accommodation, which is accepted in other hearings, and the Republican majority simply rejected it out of hand. Because their concern isn't protecting sensitive info; it's protecting the president.
We also have made the offer, rejected by the majority, that we could have these three witnesses testify in open session and if there were questions the members wanted to ask in closed session, that we could then go to a closed portion of the hearing. In fact, this is just what we do in the worldwide threats hearings often, where we have open testimony followed by testimony in closed session.
While everyone was (quite understandably) paying attention to the Republican healthcare bill yesterday, the Senate quietly voted to overturn internet privacy rules passed by the FCC during the Obama administration, which prevented internet providers from sharing your browsing history with corporations without your consent.
Jacob Kastrenakes at the Verge reports:
The privacy rules, passed last year by the FCC, required internet providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T; to get each customer's permission before sharing personal information like which websites they visit. But internet providers want to be able to sell that data and use it to target ads, so they've been vocal about opposing the rules since around the time [Donald] Trump took office.Emphasis mine.
This vote uses the Congressional Review Act, which lets Congress strike down recently passed rules by federal agencies, to block the FCC's action. It now heads to the House, where it'll need another vote before the rules are wiped out.
"This resolution is a direct attack on consumer rights, on privacy, on rules that afford basic protection against intrusive and illegal interference with consumers' use of social media sites and websites that often they talk for granted," Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said in the Senate today ahead of the vote.
What makes this reversal particularly damaging is that it won't just undo these privacy rules, but it'll prevent the FCC from passing similar privacy rules in the future. That means that the FCC won't be able to pass strict privacy rules again, even if opinions change in Congress.
After calling off the scheduled vote last night, House Republicans will, at Donald Trump's urging, have the vote today at 10:00am ET.
If your rep is Dem voting against bill, call to thank them. If a GOP voting for, call to make your opposition heard. GOP on the fence? CALL!
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 24, 2017
The president openly using an attack on women's and trans people's healthcare to cajole members of his party to vote for garbage bill. https://t.co/gLdEQrqff2
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 24, 2017
Noted:
— Lisa Mascaro (@LisaMascaro) March 24, 2017
"There were tears," said one R lawmaker about tonight's #Obamacare meet.
"This is our moment. This is what we were elected for."
Imagine being the kind of revolting creep who weeps with joy and pride about legislation that will kill people. What vile wrecks they are.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 24, 2017
I still fully expect the GOP to "find the votes" despite no more changes to the bill, b/c they always abandon "principle" to avoid defeat.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 24, 2017
Suggested by Shaker ivyceltress: "If you could start a charitable foundation what would be its mission?"
In a statement on the Senate floor today, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he will force a cloture vote (triggering a requirement of 60 votes) on Judge Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court.
It is with all this in mind that I have come to a decision about the current nominee: After careful deliberation, I have concluded that I cannot support Judge Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court.Damn straight.
His nomination will have a cloture vote. He will have to earn sixty votes for confirmation. My vote will be no, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.
To my Republican friends who think that, if Judge Gorsuch fails to reach sixty votes, we oughta change the rules, I say: If this nominee cannot earn sixty votes, a bar met by each of President Obama's nominees and George Bush's last two nominees, the answer isn't to change the rules. It's to change the nominee.
Rachael Bade, Kyle Cheney, and John Bresnahan at Politico: Thursday Vote on Health Care Bill Canceled. Bloop!
Donald Trump and conservative House Freedom Caucus members failed to strike a deal on the GOP Obamacare replacement Thursday, endangering the prospects of passage and all but assuring any immediate vote on the measure would fail.This, of course, does not preclude some surprise, middle-of-the-night chicanery. But, at the moment, Republicans' failure to make their replacement plan terrible enough for the hardliners in their caucus have stalled what dubious momentum they had.
Hours later, House leaders canceled a planned Thursday night vote on the legislation. There was no immediate word when a vote might occur.
7 years of the ACA
— Nick Merrill (@NickMerrill) March 23, 2017
Millions Covered
2,557 days of GOP railing against it
Trump, "master negotiator," said he'd get it done
Couldn't do it.
As health care vote gets scrapped for tonight, here's Trump in a big rig on the White House driveway honking the horn & pretending to drive pic.twitter.com/vTkNnJkrrc
— Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) March 23, 2017
.@HillaryClinton backstage in Portsmouth, NH. Photo: @barb_kinney Words: @Shakestweetz pic.twitter.com/g1tXNszBYH
— Hillary In Pictures (@HillaryPix) March 23, 2017
This is not a drill: Flood your lawmakers offices with calls to demand they #ProtectOurCare & #StandWithPP→https://t.co/Y1RTuYVSrc pic.twitter.com/T1cBhuPNju
— Planned Parenthood (@PPact) March 23, 2017
Donald Trump Jr is facing a backlash for criticizing London mayor Sadiq Khan with a scornful tweet sent hours after an attack at the Houses of Parliament left four dead, including a police officer.I don't suppose I need to point out that Trump Jr's target, Mayor Khan, is Muslim.
The US president's eldest son tweeted a link to a September 2016 story in the Independent, which quoted Khan saying terror attacks were "part and parcel of living in a big city," and "I want to be reassured that every single agency and individual involved in protecting our city has the resources and expertise they need to respond in the event that London is attacked."
"You have to be kidding me?!" Trump Jr tweeted, quoting the headline: "Terror attacks are part of living in big city, says London Mayor Sadiq Khan."
It's unclear if the president's son read the article or understood that the quote was from six months ago and not a response to the Wednesday attack, which police are treating as a terrorist incident.
...The tweet earned strong criticisms in the US and the UK, including from Wes Streeting, the MP for Ilford North and former president of the National Union of Students.
"You use a terrorist attack on our city to attack London's Mayor for your own political gain. You're a disgrace," Streeting wrote.
...Others on Twitter pointed Trump Jr to Khan's actual response to the attack on Wednesday, in which he said: "Londoners will never be cowed by terrorism."
"I want to reassure all Londoners and all our visitors not to be alarmed. Our city remains one of the safest in the world. London is the greatest city in the world. And we stand together in the face of those who seek to harm us and destroy our way of life. We always have and we always will," the mayor said.
Another American was murdered in a terror attack in your hometown yesterday. Because he was black. #SpeakUp #NYC #StrongerTogether https://t.co/i3e93Shq10
— Clark Gregg (@clarkgregg) March 23, 2017
Incredible. The United States Secretary of Energy took the time to write an op-ed humiliating a gay student leader. https://t.co/ANqkLih2tF
— Teddy Goff (@teddygoff) March 22, 2017
[Content Note: Description of sexual assault; misogyny.]
Via Graydon Carter at Vanity Fair (emphasis added):
"Trump's one brief moment of acting presidential—when he read off a teleprompter for 60 minutes and 10 seconds during his address to Congress—served only to show just how low the bar for presidential behavior has plummeted since January. Watching TV commentators applaud him for containing himself for a little over an hour was like hearing a parent praise a difficult child for not pooping in his pants during a pre-school interview. Besides, vintage Trump is not going anywhere anytime soon. A couple of weeks earlier, during a visit by the Japanese prime minister, ShinzÅ? Abe, the president told an acquaintance that he was obsessed with the translator's breasts—although he expressed this in his own, fragrant fashion."I know we have a seemingly never-ending cascade of items to resist with respect to Donald Trump and his Republican administration.
[Content Note: Assassination.]
Shaun Walker at the Guardian reports that Denis Voronenkov, a former Russian MP who was critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin and fled to Ukraine, has been fatally shot by an unidentified gunman in Kiev.
My condolences to his family and friends, in particular his wife Maria Maksakova, who is also a former MP.
Voronenkov, 45, who had given "a number of interviews after his defection that were sharply critical of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and Kremlin policy in Ukraine," was on his way to meet another former Russian MP who had also fled, Ilya Ponomarev, when he was killed.
Ukraine's president, Petro Poroshenko, summoned the head of the security services to brief him on the killing. He later released a statement calling the attack an "act of Russian state terrorism."Emphasis mine.
"Voronenkov was one of the main witnesses of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and, in particular, the role of Yanukovich regarding the deployment of Russian troops to Ukraine," he said.
Time magazine's latest cover story is about Donald Trump being a liar. That's not the way they're putting it, but it's the way they should be—and it's definitely the way I'm putting it. They way they put it is "the way he has handled truth and falsehood in his career." Sure.
In conjunction with their cover story, [CN: video may autoplay at link] their Washington Bureau Chief, Michael Scherer, did an interview with Trump. It is...something.
Throughout the entirety of the interview, Trump is exactly who we already know him to be, and yet simultaneously somehow even worse.
He brags relentlessly about being "right," even about things he was not even remotely right about. (Was he getting paid $5 by Nigel Farage every time he said the word Brexit?) And naturally he never admits to being wrong about anything.
Which is why I wonder: What is the point of giving him this platform? You know he's never going to admit to being wrong, so, going in, you know what you're handing him is a visible platform for more lying.
The decision to do and publish this interview strikes me primarily as evidence that the media continues to believe there's something "more" to Trump. No, there isn't. There's even less.
Anyway. Three pieces I want to highlight (the interviewer's words are in bold):
1. Trump is always right, the media is garbage, everything is a competition, and he is going to win.
I tend to be right. I'm an instinctual person, I happen to be a person that knows how life works. I said I was going to win the election, I won the election, in fact I was number one the entire route, in the primaries, from the day I announced, I was number one. And the New York Times and CNN and all of them, they did these polls, which were extremely bad and they turned out to be totally wrong, and my polls showed I was going to win. We thought we were going to win the night of the election.Kudos to Scherer for that dig which Trump didn't even recognize. But here is another reason to ask whyyyyyyy even indulge this guy? Every media outlet, aside from Fox News and Breitbart, has to know by now he'll talk shit about them and they'll be obliged to print it. And that he'll tell enormous lies and they'll be obliged to print them. This isn't actually helpful.
So when you…
And then TIME magazine, which treats me horribly, but obviously I sell, I assume this is going to be a cover too, have I set the record? I guess, right? Covers, nobody's had more covers.
I think Richard Nixon still has you beat. But he was in office for longer, so give yourself time.
Okay good. I'm sure I'll win.
Hey look, in the mean time, I guess, I can't be doing so badly, because I'm president, and you're not. You know. Say hello to everybody okay?That's how the interview ends—with Trump declaring that he's the president and you're not. Fuck off. Which is not the first time he's used "I won" to end a conversation about accountabililty.
Thank you very much, Mr. President.
But isn't there, it strikes me there is still an issue of credibility. If the intelligence community came out and said, we have determined that so and so is the leaker here, but you are saying to me now, that you don't believe the intelligence community when they say your tweet was wrong.This is just the President of the United States saying that he's installing intelligence officials whose primary qualification is loyalty, in order to "straighten out" the problem of being investigated for potentially treasonous activities. Cool.
I'm not saying—no, I'm not blaming. First of all, I put Mike Pompeo in. I put Senator Dan Coats in. These are great people. I think they are great people and they are going to, I have a lot of confidence in them. So hopefully things will straighten out.
Copyright 2009 Shakesville. Powered by Blogger. Blogger Showcase
Blogger Templates created by Deluxe Templates. Wordpress by K2