Monday, November 10, 2025
WE WILL NEVER STOP FIGHTING FOR YOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUU
Democrats have been fighting for months to address America's healthcare crisis
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) November 10, 2025
For the millions who will lose coverage
For people with cancer who won't get the care they need
For working families who can't afford to pay $25K more a year for healthcare
We will keep fighting
Democratic Whip Dick Durbin
I know it's much less of a real role than it can be in parliamentary systems, but the Whip is supposed to round up votes in support of the Leader's agenda.
My point is not that he is bad at his job. My point is that he is very good at it!
My point is not that he is bad at his job. My point is that he is very good at it!
Yell Before It Is Too Late
I do wish people would understand more that members of congress and their staffs leak "things which might happen" to the press for two reasons: as trial balloon (by the people pro the thing happening) and as warning (by the people against).
You have to yell at them before they do the thing. It is too late after.
I don't imagine that me yelling at them on this blog matters much, but behind the scenes, powerful interests are yelling at them constantly, generally pushing them in the wrong direction.
Or you can just trust that Chuck Schumer is doing the right thing, updated hourly, because he has such a consistently good record recently.
Just ask the Baileys.
Sure Why Not
I'm sure this will get as much attention when it doesn't happen, like the "DOGE Dividend."
President Trump said Sunday that most Americans would receive a $2,000 dividend payment as a result of his administration’s tariffs levied against foreign countries.Though I guess this is a setup to yell at the Supreme Court when they take your $2,000 checks away.
What's It All About Then
And not because of the fears of what an unrestrained Republican Senate would do, but because of fears that their own excuses for inaction and their favorite tool of responsibility avoidance would evaporate.This was all about the filibuster.
— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) November 10, 2025
I have watched the Senate for years, and you really can't be too cynical about their reasons for doing what they do. It isn't that every senator starts out like that, but the institutional culture is extremely strong and deviators are punished. They haze uppity freshmen - including regularly leaking bullshit to journalists who take the word of senior senators over those freshmen - until they get in line.
It's basically a cult. Playing along is the easy way and it's definitely the only way to get a committee chair by the time you are 74.
I Don't Like Being Lied To
I originally wrote this post as if caving was inevitable, and included a lot of very mean things that would make senators cry, but then thought "better" of it and deleted most of the mean things. Silly me!
Many of you seemed to be commenting on the original, deleted bits! Maybe they were posted somehow.
Anyway, whatever their reasons, this was not 8 "rogue" senators or even 10. It was a lot of them with grinning Chuck Schumer's blessing. They took the weekend to orchestrate the whole thing and make sure everyone played their hero/villain roles appropriately.
No senator who isn't calling for Schumer to be replaced should be listened to, because they are all being dishonest. That is, I believe, all of them, as of this moment.
Many of you seemed to be commenting on the original, deleted bits! Maybe they were posted somehow.
Anyway, whatever their reasons, this was not 8 "rogue" senators or even 10. It was a lot of them with grinning Chuck Schumer's blessing. They took the weekend to orchestrate the whole thing and make sure everyone played their hero/villain roles appropriately.
No senator who isn't calling for Schumer to be replaced should be listened to, because they are all being dishonest. That is, I believe, all of them, as of this moment.
Sunday, November 09, 2025
Gotta Admit, He's Not Wrong
Though of course he has no idea why and they have no interest in improving it.
Sure Why Not
We'll see if Axios is correct!
Senate Democrats on Sunday indicated they are ready to advance a package of bills that could end the government shutdown, multiple sources told Axios.Please clap.
Why it matters: It is the most significant movement toward a bipartisan breakthrough in the talks to re-open the government in over a month.
At least 10 Senate Democrats are expected to support a procedural motion to advance a package of spending bills and a short term funding measure, multiple sources from both parties told Axios.
The deal would include a promised vote [in the Senate only] on extending Obamacare tax credits in December, the sources said.
Certainly Not The Best, Probably Not The Brightest
Welp:
“Reporting this up the chain was a hot potato: No one wanted to touch it,” the senior official said. They believed fear of being perceived as overly critical of Israel — whose supporters wield significant political power — drove that thinking. Biden officials worried that attaching their names to a recommendation to limit American support for Tel Aviv would hinder their future career prospects, the former senior official said, “which is in itself appalling.”
Eventually, high-level concerns about the information spurred discussions that included Biden. McGurk led the pushback to reducing support, two officials said; the controversial Biden adviser often behaved as “Israel’s lawyer” when U.S. officials questioned the country, another senior Biden-era colleague told HuffPost.
Upheld 6-3
There have been some completely insane "religious freedom rulings" but one suspects "banning prayer at a protest" will somehow be fine.
The Surrender Caucus
Polls show people don't blame the Dems, but if I were a not-getting-paid federal worker, I would certainly blame them for doing this to me and *then* caving for absolutely nothing.
At Thursday’s meeting, they told their caucus colleagues that they now had ten votes to re-open the government in exchange for no real Republican concessions. At that, much of the rest of the caucus went ballistic, and some of the supposed ten said that, in fact, they were not willing to vote for any such deal.
The leaders of the proposed Democratic cave-in, Sens. Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, both of New Hampshire, and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, then backed down. Only after that did Schumer go public with his proposal to reopen the government in exchange for a one-year extension of the ACA subsidies, along with a bipartisan commission to figure out a long-term solution.
Republican Senate Leader John Thune (R-SD), who had been led to expect a Democratic capitulation, first accused Schumer of “browbeating” his colleagues but then said later Saturday that talks were continuing.
What was the point of all of this, then? Nothing. Absolutely fucking nothing (if they went through with this).
I am sure they are telling themselves stories about how they have "raised healthcare as an issue" or whatever, but that's bullshit of course.
Saturday, November 08, 2025
Saturday Long Read
enjoy
A taste:
Every bit of this is disheartening on its face. But it’s actually worse than any first-blush irritation, that familiar annoyance that comes from encountering still another textbook exercise in witless triangulation. Because what this sort of reporting ultimately means is that if you have enough money to get somebody, anybody, to produce a white paper for you, which you can then put on some think-tank stationery? Then, my friend, you are ready to enter into the rushing current of elite reportage. For no matter how unhinged the position you’ve taken, or paid someone marginally credentialed to sketch out on your behalf—“Can Woman Think?: We Investigate,” “Is the Negro a Man: A Reconsideration”—that opinion will, by virtue of such provenance, possess all needed evidentiary gravity for the Times. And then some. (Only yesterday the Times ran this actual story, which is not parody.)
That's Your Audience
Fine, liberals are horribly intolerant. You still have to sell to them, the people who might buy your product.
Like other conservatives interviewed for this article, Ms. Bowers contended that left-wing politics had crept into the Kennedy Center, warping it so that it became a place that was not welcoming for all. And yet, she would not accept that Mr. Trump had injected his own politics into the place, which has driven away audiences.Obviously businesses (and nonprofit arts orgs) don't always get it right, but generally conervatives don't understand that they didn't do all the 'woke shit' to please Joe Biden, they did it to sell widgets and tickets.
“That characterization is a little unfair,” she said. “In the past, I don’t think that everyone felt welcome, to be frank with you. I know that lots of conservatives did not.”
Asked why people were not coming to the Kennedy Center as much anymore, Ms. Daravi, the head of communications, replied with two words.
“Liberal intolerance.”
The Law Is Ass
I refuse to waste any of my beautiful mind following the various court cases as they head towards Sam Alito's desk.
Once upon a time you could at least follow the arguments and, for sport if nothing else, see how the conservatives were doing "heads republicans win, tails republicans win" this time. But increasingly there isn't any argument all, just "because we say so," so there isn't any point in indulging that particular kink.
Nothing against the Law People who do that stuff. It has value. I'm just not going to follow it!
Nothing against the Law People who do that stuff. It has value. I'm just not going to follow it!
Friday, November 07, 2025
Was This ChatGPT's Idea
Just a Treasury bust out.
Faced with this dilemma—where do you get a trillion dollars quick?—OpenAI is getting ready to run hat in hand to the taxpayer for subsidies, like every great Ayn
Randian self-created entrepreneur, pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. At a recent Wall Street Journal tech conference, OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar suggested that a government loan guarantee might be necessary to fund the enormous investments needed to keep the company at the cutting edge.
Gerrit De Vynck of The Washington Post explained further that she also discussed “financial innovation,” like making sweetheart deals with chipmakers like AMD that get a stock boost from having any relationship with OpenAI, or trying to get a cut of the revenue that other companies generate through ChatGPT. But the loan guarantee suggestion stuck out; it felt like a pre-bailout, leaping past the crash and going right to the socialization of risk.
Though Friar later walked back her suggestion, saying that she was advocating for structural support for AI in general, not just her company, it is likely true that some kind of huge subsidy or another is probably the only way that OpenAI’s preposterous business model—it is “worth” a supposed $500 billion—can be sustained.
Odd Play
In normal times, most blue states are actually capabale of electing a Republican governor for various reasons, but this timing doesn't seem great for Stefanik!
Trump ally Elise Stefanik announces run for New York governor
Seems Bad
Every tech innovation since smartphones have just been excuses to get away with various crimes/civil harms that old boring companies couldn't.
A CNN review of nearly 70 pages of chats between Shamblin and the AI tool in the hours before his July 25 suicide, as well as excerpts from thousands more pages in the months leading up to that night, found that the chatbot repeatedly encouraged the young man as he discussed ending his life – right up to his last moments.
Also, Too
The Republican plan for the shutdown was "the Democrats will cave." The Democrats, so far, have not caved!
Things changed, I think, but the early press push was to put all the blame on the Democrats. Then polls showed people mostly blame the Republicans. Then an election happened in which, while it was not a pure referendum on the National Democrats, the Democrats did well!
Can we learn from this???
Things changed, I think, but the early press push was to put all the blame on the Democrats. Then polls showed people mostly blame the Republicans. Then an election happened in which, while it was not a pure referendum on the National Democrats, the Democrats did well!
Can we learn from this???
Disqus Problems
People are complaining they can't login. I don't have a solution, but some are saying you can get in to the comments (and login?) through here. I can't replicate the problem for myself.
...seems to be a general disqus problem. Hopefully they fix it.
...seems to be a general disqus problem. Hopefully they fix it.
Remember When
For no particular reason (okay there was a reason), I was remembering that when Pelosi ascended to Speaker, Republicans and conservatives were excited that they would be able to portray all Democrats as under the thumb of a "San Francisco liberal."
One reason these types of attacks can work (they did not, in her case, obviously), is that Republicans correctly think they can usually get some number of journalist-friendly Democrats and centrist dipshit pundits to echo their attacks.
You know, some "moderate" member of Congress in Ohio, or wherever, will go on TV and say that while he supports the Speaker, he hopes she leaves her gay-loving, tree-hugging, tax-raising impulses back in San Francisco with the rest of those weirdos. Political reporters will write 27 articles wondering if America is ready for San Francisco values. The (old) New Republic runs a cover story (written and edited by Harvard grads) about the ongoing coastal elitist problem of the Democrats.
One reason these types of attacks can work (they did not, in her case, obviously), is that Republicans correctly think they can usually get some number of journalist-friendly Democrats and centrist dipshit pundits to echo their attacks.
You know, some "moderate" member of Congress in Ohio, or wherever, will go on TV and say that while he supports the Speaker, he hopes she leaves her gay-loving, tree-hugging, tax-raising impulses back in San Francisco with the rest of those weirdos. Political reporters will write 27 articles wondering if America is ready for San Francisco values. The (old) New Republic runs a cover story (written and edited by Harvard grads) about the ongoing coastal elitist problem of the Democrats.
As I said, that didn't play out that way with Pelosi, much, even though they tried. But my point is that Republicans can only dangle the bait and the various fishies have to bite.
Thursday, November 06, 2025
Is That Good
Because of The Great Recession, I think "we" have forgotten that even modest recessions really suck for people.
Layoff announcements soared in October as companies recalibrated staffing levels during the artificial intelligence boom, a sign of potential trouble ahead for the labor market, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.Predictions are hard, especially about the future, but with all the various self-inflicted wounds, it's hard not to see a recession arriving...
Job cuts for the month totaled 153,074, a 183% surge from September and 175% higher than the same month a year ago. It was the highest level for any October since 2003. This has been the worst year for announced layoffs since 2009.
Speaking Of The New York Times
Why are all these chunky butches mouthing off to me?
Fortunately, in the post-woke era, no one can file an HR complaint against Ross.
Nice try, guys.
Change in Headline
— Editing the Blue-Gray Lady (@nytdiff.bsky.social) November 6, 2025 at 1:40 PM
[image or embed]
The Two Wings Of The Republican Party
The "Hitler sucks" one and the other one.
“I’m in the ‘Hitler sucks’ wing of the Republican Party,” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said over the weekend at the R.J.C. event. “Here’s what I do know: You can sit in a basement with weird people and say weird things. It’s a free country.”
Who Runs The World
This bit from Yes, Prime Minister always makes me laugh:
I was reminded of this because the tone of the New York Times editorial board and a chunk of the politics news side increasingly is, basically, "written by the people who think they ought to run the country." Maybe that isn't new and I am just noticing it more, but it does seem to be the new perspective of the Dash Sulzberger era.
Sir Humphrey: The only way to understand the Press is to remember that they pander to their readers' prejudices.The specifics are a bit dated (no more Page 3 girls, for one), but it's still surprisingly close. However, I think putting it on *the readers* misses the point. The idea that if news outlets are shit, it's because they are just giving the readers what they want, erases the agency and intentions of the people who make the newspaper. Change it to:
Jim Hacker: Don't tell me about the Press. I know *exactly* who reads the papers. The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country; The Guardian is read by people who think they *ought* to run the country; The Times is read by the people who actually *do* run the country; The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country; The Financial Times is read by people who *own* the country; The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by *another* country; and The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it *is*.
Sir Humphrey: Oh, and Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun?
Bernard Woolley: Sun readers don't care who runs the country as long as she's got big tits.
The Daily Mirror is written by people who think they run the country; The Guardian is written by people who think they *ought* to run the country; The Times is written by the people who actually *do* run the country...
I was reminded of this because the tone of the New York Times editorial board and a chunk of the politics news side increasingly is, basically, "written by the people who think they ought to run the country." Maybe that isn't new and I am just noticing it more, but it does seem to be the new perspective of the Dash Sulzberger era.
Obviously anyone putting their opinions out there thinks they should be listened to (including me!), but that's a bit different than the entitled 'respect my authoritah' tone, combined with the implicit threat that the news side is going to go after you if you don't please the publisher.
Confidence Building
Good luck flying.
WASHINGTON/CHICAGO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Wednesday that he would order a 10% cut in flights at 40 major U.S. airports, citing air traffic control safety concerns as a government shutdown hit a record 36th day.Maybe I just don't watch much (hardly any) cable news anymore, but am I wrong that the shutdown generally doesn't seem to be getting the same kind of coverage previous ones did? I'm exaggerating a bit here, but my memory is that it was scary graphic SHUTDOWN DAY 3 [ominous music] in the past, and now it's just... eh, this is normal now.
Sure Why Not
A pre-bailout is easier to sell than a bailout.
OpenAI Wants Federal Backstop for New InvestmentsGotta, um, beat China. Send it over to our favorite bribed senators and see what they can do. This looks like a job for Gillibrand!
Sarah Friar, the CFO of OpenAI, says the company wants a federal guarantee to make it easier to finance massive investments in AI chips for data centers. Friar spoke at WSJ’s Tech Live event in California. Photo: Nikki Ritcher for WSJ
Coordinated messaging push. "Give us all the money or the Chicoms win."A statement from NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. pic.twitter.com/Exwx54OYJV
— NVIDIA Newsroom (@nvidianewsroom) November 5, 2025
Wednesday, November 05, 2025
Source: I Made It Up
Dems listened to Shor after the election, and he had no data to back up assertions like this.
This kind of thing had Chris Murphy saying things like, "We must gift some of our women to the incels." (exaggeration).@NBCNews exit polling on young men (18-29) in VA, NJ and NYC
— Allan Smith (@akarl_smith) November 5, 2025
VA: Spanberger +14
NJ: Sherrill: +10
NYC: Mamdani +40
The Dem "data gurus" have just been lying to them for years, either making things up wholesale, like this, or doing bullshit interpretations of issue polls. It's a combination of getting paid to tell leadership what they want to hear, and getting paid to tell them what donors want them to hear.
I don't want to get into the details, but part of Shor's origin story was that he was fired from a Group (CANCELLED INTO MAKING MILLIONS) for not being woke enough. He's also one of those "I'm really left wing deep in my heart, HOWEVER..." guys.
Brad Lander For Whatever Office He Wants
Our message to Andrew Cuomo was loud & clear in June.
— Brad Lander (@bradlander) November 5, 2025
It’s louder & clearer tonight. pic.twitter.com/9BIjlDD6ar
QOTD (Yesterday)
Mamdani: I wish Andrew Cuomo only the best in private life, but let tonight be the last time I utter his name.
Cruelty
On many "culture war" issues (a bad term, those are often the most important issues), there are a set of self-identified moderate voters who yearn for the compromises that those nice people on NPR tell them are desirable and workable. Abortion, immigration, race-related issues, trans rights, ... just go down the list.
Those people aren't cruel, mostly, but they don't understand that the compromises themselves are cruel. They definitely don't understand, because our Advanced Politics Knowers don't either, that "compromises" are just the start of the next phase of "negotiation."
"Abortion shouldn't be legal in all cases" sounds sensible to them. "Your doctor can't treat your ectopic pregnancy" does not. These are, often, the same picture.
"We have legitimate concerns about participation in girl's and women's sports" sounds sensible. "The school board is going to inspect your kid's genitals" does not. These are, often, the same picture.
The Sensible Centrist view is that we should embrace the sensible compromises and put the issue behind us forever, something that never works. The compromises themselves are often cruel and unworkable, no matter how they are sold, and they are, of course, just the first step. Once you've acknowledged your opponents have a point...
It isn't hard to stand on stage and explain why these things are cruel and unworkable instead of conceding the point to your opponents. The totebagger set often doesn't like the cruelty of the policies they support. They just need someone to explain this to them.
I don't think this is a "last war" issue. I think it's that people started to see the cruelty.
"Abortion shouldn't be legal in all cases" sounds sensible to them. "Your doctor can't treat your ectopic pregnancy" does not. These are, often, the same picture.
"We have legitimate concerns about participation in girl's and women's sports" sounds sensible. "The school board is going to inspect your kid's genitals" does not. These are, often, the same picture.
The Sensible Centrist view is that we should embrace the sensible compromises and put the issue behind us forever, something that never works. The compromises themselves are often cruel and unworkable, no matter how they are sold, and they are, of course, just the first step. Once you've acknowledged your opponents have a point...
It isn't hard to stand on stage and explain why these things are cruel and unworkable instead of conceding the point to your opponents. The totebagger set often doesn't like the cruelty of the policies they support. They just need someone to explain this to them.
I don't think this is a "last war" issue. I think it's that people started to see the cruelty.
Republicans re-up trans attacks on Dems that worked for Trump in 2024 But the tactic seems less effective this time around: “They’re falling into the fundamental mistake of trying to refight the last war,” a Democratic strategist asserts.
Also, too, immigration.
Lots of Wins
Mamdani likely to exceed 50%, destroying those talking points from the Center (he didn't even win a majority!) and the Right (Silwa was a spoiler!).
Spanberger wins in VA, as expected, Sherrill wins in NJ, which was also expected but there was some close (wrong) polling.
A lot of Republicans lost in the VA House of delegates.
The Dem won the VA attorney general spot, despite his big "scandal."
The Dems on the PA Supreme Court all keep their jobs.
CA redistricting wins.
Good news across the board, anywhere it would have been possible, really.
Spanberger wins in VA, as expected, Sherrill wins in NJ, which was also expected but there was some close (wrong) polling.
A lot of Republicans lost in the VA House of delegates.
The Dem won the VA attorney general spot, despite his big "scandal."
The Dems on the PA Supreme Court all keep their jobs.
CA redistricting wins.
Good news across the board, anywhere it would have been possible, really.
Tuesday, November 04, 2025
Much Seth Moulton News
A completely untrustworthy guy, but useful in seeing which way the wind is blowing.
National Democrats have been grappling with how to talk about issues facing trans people since, by their own admission, they were caught flat-footed by Republicans’ focus on anti-trans messaging in 2024. Moulton became the poster boy for Democrats who were looking to distance themselves from trans rights when he told The New York Times shortly after the election that he doesn’t want his daughters “getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.”and
...
Markey has positioned himself as a top trans rights ally in the Senate. He has led legislation, such as the LGBTQ+ Panic Defense Prohibition Act and the Gender-Affirming Care Act and has called to increase access to gender-affirming hormone therapy. Last Congress, in response to hundreds of anti-trans state bills introduced across the country, Markey was the Senate lead for the Transgender Bill of Rights, which seeks to “protect and codify the rights of transgender and nonbinary people under the law.”
In response to a list of questions from NOTUS, Moulton committed to “support and lead legislation like the Transgender Bill of Rights” if elected as senator.
“I understand that some people were hurt by how I framed my comments in the past, and I take that seriously and have listened to their feedback,” he said.
Before making public denunciations and rejections of AIPAC an early pillar of his Senate campaign against Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) spent months seeking a promise that the group would endorse him upon the announcement of his Senate campaign, a source familiar with the situation told Jewish Insider.
The source said that Moulton — who has been endorsed by AIPAC in previous races — began courting AIPAC leaders in Massachusetts in the spring this year and then made multiple explicit requests for an endorsement throughout the summer.
AIPAC leaders were ultimately unwilling to provide such a guarantee before the race began, the individual said.
On the second day of his nascent primary campaign, Moulton released an announcement rejecting AIPAC and saying that he would return any donations he had received from its members.
How Did We Get Here
There are many answers to that, but one is that even if Dick Cheney had actually killed Harry Whittington, he would've faced no consequences and few if any of our sainted pundits would've thought this was in any way off.
Mamdaniphobia
Some of it is about Israel, some of it is Islamophobia over and above anything having to do with Israel, some of it is just "this guy is making us look bad."
But a lot of it is that he is not one of "our guys" and a lot of "our guys" are really angry that they won't get invitations to the annual ball.
The ball is where you get to do corruption, too. This is a metaphor.
But a lot of it is that he is not one of "our guys" and a lot of "our guys" are really angry that they won't get invitations to the annual ball.
The ball is where you get to do corruption, too. This is a metaphor.
There's A Bit Of A Problem
I'm not sure if it's good or bad that these things have become so absurd that even right wing outlets are starting to criticize the press, arguably "from the left."
It is bad that things are this absurd, of course, but I suppose there's something positive in the fact that even the worst press outlets are able to notice the stink.
An exchange from President Trump's interview with CBS News' "60 Minutes" about accusations of corruption involving his family's crypto empire was not included in the extended version the network shared online.This isn't even about it not being broadcast - which was of course standard practice until Trump decided it wasn't and a corrupt network bribed him - they excised it from the full online bit.
The big picture: The sit-down came after Trump sued and settled with the network over the program's editing of an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris and as Trump's FCC chair threatened broadcasters with claims of "news distortion."
It is bad that things are this absurd, of course, but I suppose there's something positive in the fact that even the worst press outlets are able to notice the stink.
Put It In The Louvre
I don't think I have to explain to you, dear readers, why this is ridiculous.
I dunno, if you can't get FIVE PILOT COMMUNITY GROCERY STORIES through your state legislature then you should just fucking resign before you get elected.
The Better Things Aren't Possible wing of the Democratic party has come up with this, fed it to one of their press familiars, and they're running with it. "Well the Muslim guy couldn't even break 50% [in a 3-way race], so, unlike Eric Adams, we will NOT be calling him the future of the Democratic party and will instead be giving that title to the ex-CIA lady who said that Mamdani lies when he says anything good can happen.If polls hold, Spanberger is looking more likely to clear 50% in her more swingy state than Mamdani is in a city so Democratic that only 6 of 51 city council members are Republicans.
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) November 3, 2025
Dems nationally say that matters a lot for thinking what comes next.https://t.co/wcsdca4q7P
She argues there’s a level of dishonesty in some of the big promises Mamdani is making that she worries could hurt Democrats with voters long term, saying the reason she doesn’t have a Mamdani-style proposal for government-run grocery stores is “because I couldn’t ever pass it.”“People do want us to be aspirational and dream big. They also don’t want us to lie to them,” she told CNN. “When you have a party that makes promise after promise, and then say, ‘Oh, we passed it in the House, it’s not our fault’ — vulnerable people believed you. Maybe he is going to get Albany on board with totally refinancing public transportation. But there’s a lot of people who believe him.”
She's right in that second paragraph about the House, but that isn't about Mamdani, that's about the cynical actions of congressional Dems.
This was a big hit in the Dem leadership group chat - the Baileys were quite taken with the argument.
This was a big hit in the Dem leadership group chat - the Baileys were quite taken with the argument.
Spanberger could've just said, "good luck to him!" and moved on.
We Will, In Fact, Be Greeted As Liberators
Dick Cheney, liberated from life, like countless Iraqis.
In hell, being shot in the face by his friends FOREVER.
In hell, being shot in the face by his friends FOREVER.
Monday, November 03, 2025
No Not Like That
Back in the era of blog, an amusing thing was that the political/media class truly thought that because it was on the computer, that it was a youth thing. Sure bloggers themselves tended to be on the somewhat younger side, but we all knew our readers were mostly not very young.Final update of NYC EV Turnout chart from @rudnicknoah. 18-29 year olds have already blown by their 2021 turnout rate. pic.twitter.com/ilvQpBohvg
— Zachary Donnini (@ZacharyDonnini) November 3, 2025
Also it was a weird way to be dismissive. One would've thought that if bloggers had cracked code of reaching "the kids" (people under 35), that the Professional Democrats would be lining up to discover our secrets instead of using it to infantilize us.
But then, as now, the worry was that we were reaching The Kids the wrong way, with the wrong uncontrollable message. We had crazy ideas like "war is bad."
Send Up The Tapper Signal
O'DONNELL: Why did you pardon Changpeng Zhao?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 3, 2025
TRUMP: Are you ready? I don't know who he is
O'DONNELL: His crypto exchange Binance helped facilitate a $2b purchase of World Liberty Financial's stablecoin. And they you pardoned him.
TRUMP: Here's the thing -- I know nothing… pic.twitter.com/rJFXsJ2VvF
Sure Why Not
Future New York Times editorial: "We also have concerns about the legitimacy of Mamdani's election, HOWEVER...".
House Republicans are exploring ways to prevent Zohran Mamdani from ever being sworn in as mayor even if he prevails in Tuesday’s election by using the Constitution’s “insurrection clause,” The Post has learned.6-3 in favor, opinion by Alito.
The New York Young Republican Club is pushing to prevent the NYC mayoral frontrunner from taking the oath of office Jan. 1 under an idea floated this summer.
It cites language in the post-Civil War 14th Amendment to the Constitution barring from office anyone who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or who has “given aid or comfort to the enemies.” The group argues that Mamdani’s own statements calling to resist ICE could violate the prohibition.
And Which Of Those Small Towns Have You Visited
One of my pet peeves is rich people who obviously don't travel beyond going from resort to resort.
Complete nonsense, of course, but an interesting thing about "rural Britain" is that unlike rural America, where you can genuinely be far from everything, is that few people are far from a decent-sized town. Most (not all) of those small villages are pretty close to "civilization." They even have broadband and cellphone towers.Elon Musk, "These lovely small towns in England, Scotland and Ireland, they've been living their lives quietly. They're like hobbits" "And so one day, 1,000 people show up in your village of 500 and start raping the kids" "This has now happened, God knows how many times in Britain"
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog.bsky.social) November 2, 2025 at 8:09 PM
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The Evolution Of Political Journalism/Punditry
Just thought of this for no particular reason.
Back in the mid-1990s, the fact that some big-name Washington reporters were receiving huge speaking fees created a scandal within the journalism world. No one was tougher in criticizing the practice than David Broder of the Washington Post, a Pulitzer Prize winner and a professor at the University of Maryland who is commonly referred to as the “dean” of the national press corps...
...
So it’s surprising to see that Broder, who recently took a buyout but will continue to write his Post column, appears to be a regular presence these days on the business-lecture circuit and has even spoken to major health-care groups. Do a Google search and you’ll see that Broder is represented by a number of speaker’s bureaus, including Grabow, which says it is “your David Broder booking agent for private corporate events.”
Broder is identified (in various promotional and other online materials) as a featured speaker at such events as these:
Last October’s Western Conference of Prepaid Medical Service Plans, “an organization comprised of 31 member companies, primarily Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans, principally located throughout the Western United States and Canada.” The event was held at the La Quinta Resort & Spa, “a legendary hideaway and meeting destination, renowned since 1926 for its charm and serenity. La Quinta Resort & Club features 90 holes of some of the country’s best golf . . . [and] a variety of unique indoor and outdoor treatments including PGA WEST Golf Massage, open-air Celestial Showers Sacred Stone Massage and more.”
According to a draft agenda, Broder was set to speak on October 16. Two days earlier, he wrote a column for the Post called “A Market Makeover For Health Insurance,” which hailed the release of a new report by the Committee for Economic Development (CED), “a high-powered business group,” which called on “government to restructure the private insurance market in less rigid form than Hillary Clinton proposed 14 years ago—and then step back and let competitive market forces do their invaluable work of forcing recalcitrant insurers, doctors and hospitals to bid against each other on the basis of price and quality.”
For inexplicable reasons "no one" even brings up the issue anymore.
Sunday, November 02, 2025
Cuomo
It is one thing to have an old guard desperate to engage in elite reproduction until long after their own deaths, it's quite another to have them do it incompetently.
There are precisely zero reasons Andrew Cuomo should be the mayor of New York City, or even the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City. I could go down a long list - a very long list - of his sins, but one simple reason is that the guy isn't really a New York(city)er, and he actually hates the city.
He might or not might not move to Florida when he loses, as he promised, but he certainly won't remain a New York resident.
If they wanted to get behind an "Andrew Cuomo" - someone in their particular club, of a certain time, with a certain kind of politics, but a least a little bit less shit - they could have found that person a year ago. The mayoral primary is on the calendar, and that Adams would have some troubles winning it wasn't a sudden surprise.
At least put in the minimum bit of effort.
There are precisely zero reasons Andrew Cuomo should be the mayor of New York City, or even the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City. I could go down a long list - a very long list - of his sins, but one simple reason is that the guy isn't really a New York(city)er, and he actually hates the city.
He might or not might not move to Florida when he loses, as he promised, but he certainly won't remain a New York resident.
If they wanted to get behind an "Andrew Cuomo" - someone in their particular club, of a certain time, with a certain kind of politics, but a least a little bit less shit - they could have found that person a year ago. The mayoral primary is on the calendar, and that Adams would have some troubles winning it wasn't a sudden surprise.
At least put in the minimum bit of effort.
What's Happening Here
Odd.
BOSTON -- There was an explosion early Saturday at Harvard Medical School that appears to have been intentional, but no one was injured, authorities said.A university police officer who responded to a fire alarm tried to stop two unidentified people who ran from the Goldenson Building before going to where the alert was triggered, university police said in a statement.
Saturday, November 01, 2025
Welp
If only there had been some signs.
Not sure how he came to that conclusion.
People who know Obama say he has been surprised and appalled in how many of the rich people who now form his social circle have made concessions to Trump. He’s reaching out to business and other institutional leaders, urging them not to bend to the current administration even if it helps their bottom lines.One of Obama's flaws is that he is an elitest. He does believe the rich guys in nice suits should run the world, and that they will do it competently and benevolently.
Not sure how he came to that conclusion.
Dear JD Vance,
In recent years, many young people have approached the faith through social media, successful programs and popular online Christian witnesses. The danger is that a faith discovered online is limited to individual experiences, which may be intellectually and emotionally…
— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) October 31, 2025
Mayor Mamdani
The likely result on Tuesday. Many of our "vote blue no matter who" favorites have behaved very badly in all of this, and that should not be forgotten. Islamophobia never stopped being "respectable," and that goes beyond any issues related to Israel or American Jews.
Though there are many who think "the more Muslim you are, the more antisemitic you are" by definition.
The "Islamophobic" label is for them .
Unreality
One of the unrealities that our media embraces - and it is mostly pretending not to understand things, not actually failing to understand them - is that a conservative movement and administration filled with actual Nazis can genuinely be interested in things like "fighting antisemitism on college campuses."
Every time the New York Times, for example, puts a phrase like that in the newspaper, are they informing readers? If not, what are they doing? What do they think they are doing?
Every time the New York Times, for example, puts a phrase like that in the newspaper, are they informing readers? If not, what are they doing? What do they think they are doing?
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