The Commentariat -- September 29, 2021
Late Morning Update:
Alex Horton & Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "The senior military leaders who oversaw last month's withdrawal from Afghanistan returned to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, a day after all three acknowledged the war's chaotic and deadly conclusion was a 'strategic failure' that came after President Biden rejected their recommendations to retain troops there." A New York Times story is here.
Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Business groups and some Senate Republicans — working at cross-purposes with Republican leaders in the House -- have mounted an all-out drive to secure G.O.P. votes for a bipartisan infrastructure bill ahead of a final vote on Thursday. Although the measure is the product of a compromise among moderates in both parties, House Republican leaders are leaning on their members to reject the $1 trillion infrastructure bill by disparaging its contents and arguing that it will only pave the way for Democrats to push through their far larger climate change and social policy bill.... How the conflicting pressure campaigns play out could determine the fate of the infrastructure bill. On Tuesday, liberal Democrats accused Ms. Pelosi of a betrayal for abandoning her promise that the House would not take up the infrastructure bill until after the Senate secured passage of the larger measure. While Democratic leaders are working hard to secure as many of those liberal votes as possible, they know defections will have to be made up by House Republicans."
~~~~~~~~~~
Infrastructure Week Never Goes Well. Tony Romm, et al., of the Washington Post: "Negotiations between the White House and top Democratic lawmakers intensified Tuesday as President Biden scrambled to save roughly $4 trillion in economic initiatives from an embarrassing setback at the hands of his own party. For Biden, the day of diplomacy sought to blunt a fast-worsening congressional stalemate: An upcoming House vote on a $1 trillion plan to improve the nation's infrastructure remains imperiled as Democrats clash over the size and scope of a second spending package.... To try to break the logjam, Biden huddled with ... [Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.)] in a series of meetings at the White House on Tuesday. But their negotiations did not immediately appear to produce an agreement over the final size of the spending package, frustrating liberals who have pledged in the absence of a deal to scuttle a vote on the infrastructure package expected in the House later on Thursday." ~~~
~~~ So Not Business as Usual. Fadel Allassan of Axios: "President Biden has canceled a trip to Chicago on Wednesday and will stay in Washington to continue negotiations on key pieces of his legislative agenda, a White House official confirmed Tuesday.... It's a sign of how crucial the coming days of talks will be if Biden is to advance his $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package and his flagship infrastructure bill...." ~~~
~~~ We're Against It & We Won't Say What We're For. Marianne Levine & Burgess Everett of Politico: “Democrats wanted clarity Tuesday from Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema after back-to-back meetings with President Joe Biden. They didn't get it. During a private meeting with the president, Sinema made clear she's still not on board with the party's $3.5 trillion social spending plan and is hesitant to engage on some specifics until the bipartisan infrastructure package passes the House, according to a person who spoke with her.... After returning from his White House meeting, Manchin said that he did not give Biden a top-line number and made 'no commitments from my standpoint.'" ~~~
~~~ Sahil Kapur, et al., of NBC News: "House progressives are digging in on their resistance to passing the infrastructure bill this week, repeating their threat to block the measure despite Speaker Nancy Pelosi's call to pass it quickly and tackle the social safety net package later. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the chair of the progressive caucus, whic boasts 95 House members, told NBC News that 'nothing has changed' and more than half her caucus is prepared to vote down the infrastructure bill if it comes up before the larger tax-and-spending bill has passed the Senate.... 'We have to understand we're in the situation of mutually assured destruction here...,' [Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., told NBC News.]... But among Democrats in both chambers, there is growing frustration with centrist Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., for rejecting the $3.5 trillion level without specifying what they would support. Some on the left blame them for holding up both bills."
"I Can't Pay the Rent" -- Yellin. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen on Tuesday warned lawmakers of 'catastrophic' consequences if Congress failed to soon raise or suspend the statutory debt limit, saying inaction could lead to a self-inflicted economic recession and a financial crisis. At a Senate Banking Committee hearing where she testified alongside the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome H. Powell, Ms. Yellen laid out in explicit terms what she expects to happen if Congress does not deal with the debt limit before Oct. 18, which Treasury now believes is when the United States will actually face default." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Helene Cooper & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "Pentagon leaders publicly acknowledged on Tuesday that they advised President Biden not to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan ahead of a chaotic evacuation in which 13 U.S. service members died in a suicide bombing and 10 Afghan civilians were killed in an American drone strike. During an expansive Senate hearing on the war in Afghanistan, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also defended his actions in the tumultuous last months of the Trump administration, insisting that calls to his Chinese counterpart and a meeting in which he told generals to alert him if the president tried to launch a nuclear weapon were part of his duties as the country’s top military officer. Some six hours of public testimony from senior Pentagon leaders were at times acrimonious and at times verging on political theater. Republican senators who had in the past defended President Donald J. Trump's desire to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan demanded resignations from military leaders who carried out a Democratic president’s orders to withdraw." ~~~
~~~ Lara Seligman of Politico: "Top generals told lawmakers under oath on Tuesday that they advised President Joe Biden early this year to keep several thousand troops in Afghanistan -- directly contradicting the president's comments in August that no one warned him not to withdraw troops from the country.... Gen. Kenneth 'Frank' McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services in a hearing Tuesday that he recommended maintaining a small force of 2,500 troops in Afghanistan earlier this year. He also noted that in the fall of 2020, during the Trump administration, he advised that the U.S. maintain a force almost double the size, of 4,500 troops, in Afghanistan.... McKenzie's remarks directly contradict Biden's comments in an Aug. 19 interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, in which he said that 'no one' that he 'can recall' advised him to keep a force of about 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.” Gen. Mark Milley said he agreed with McKenzie's testimony. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: “Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee didn’t just give a dressing down to the nation's top soldier about the Afghanistan pullout; they assassinated his character and impugned his patriotism, accusing him of aiding the enemy and of placing his own vanity before the lives of the men and women serving under him. And this is the man ... Donald Trump nominated to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.... Had the senators listened, they would have learned from the generals that they uniformly opposed staying in Afghanistan beyond Aug. 31 because it would have resulted in 'significant' U.S. casualties, that Trump's withdrawal agreement with the Taliban was violated by the Taliban from the start and left Afghan security forces demoralized, and that [President] Biden faced the very real risk of the situation escalating into another war if he didn’t withdraw. But that was difficult to hear much beyond the Republicans' heckling[.]"
Tim Scott Is a Republican. Of Course He Lied. Felicia Sonmez & Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Two of the country's largest groups representing police officers said Tuesday that 'defunding the police' was not proposed in the policing reform negotiations that fell apart in Congress last week, in an apparent pushback against the lead Republican negotiator's claim. The International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Fraternal Order of Police said in a joint statement Tuesday that ... 'Despite some media reports, at no point did any legislative draft propose "defunding the police."'... After the talks fell apart without a deal, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), the lead Republican negotiator, blamed Democrats, claiming that their push to 'defund' law enforcement made it impossible to agree on legislation. President Biden, Democratic congressional leaders, and [Rep. Karen] Bass [D-Calif.] and [Sen. Cory] Booker [D-N.J.] have rejected the idea of slashing police departments' budgets."
Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "More than four years after leaving office, Barack Obama broke ground on Tuesday on his presidential center on the South Side of Chicago, a legacy project that has been bogged down by a lengthy discord over its use of a public park and its potential impact on a historically neglected part of the city. In an hourlong ceremony that was scaled down because of the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Obama and Michelle Obama ... scooped up dirt with commemorative shovels at the 19-acre site in Jackson Park, near the shores of Lake Michigan. Joining the Obamas for the groundbreaking, which was streamed online, were Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago.... Mr. Obama ... said that the presidential center would become a catalyst for job growth and economic development in the place where he came of age as a politician, husband and father. The project, he said, would also turn Chicago's South Side into a destination.... In a departure from similar projects recognizing former presidents, the center won't actually be a presidential library. It won't house Mr. Obama's presidential papers, which will be digitized -- a decision that has been a sore point for some presidential observers. Mr. Obama envisioned that the center would host concerts, cultural events, lectures, trainings and summits." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Ha! And you thought the first presidential* "library" without books would be Trump's. I can think of a few books that you will find in the Obama center: go to the gift shop & there are sure to be copies of books that President & Mrs. Obama wrote.
Say What? Betsy Swan & Lara Seligman of Politico: "On Jan. 6, more than 30 minutes after the first attackers breached barricades erected to protect the Capitol, the Department of Homeland Security sent an incongruous update to the Pentagon. 'There are no major incidents of illegal activity at this time,' read an internal Army email sent to senior leaders at 1:40 p.m. that day, referring to an update the service had just received from DHS's National Operations Center (NOC).... 'These emails raise serious questions about the response to the threat of January 6th,' said Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a government watchdog group that obtained the email through a public records request and shared it with Politico.... The Pentagon did receive more accurate information about the threat on Jan. 6 via frequent communications throughout the day with other agencies, as well as lawmakers, the White House, the DC mayor and the local law enforcement." ~~~
~~~ Marie: If you consider the claims made by whistleblower Brian Murphy, a former top staffer in the DHS's Office of Intelligence & Analysis, it's not too hard to suspect that DHS purposely chose not to inform the Pentagon about the attack on the Capitol.
Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Federal judges for months have questioned whether no-prison plea deals offered by the government to low-level Jan. 6 defendants are too lenient to deter future attackers from terrorizing members of Congress. Now judges can decide for themselves, after prosecutors for the first time are requesting jail time at a sentencing hearing scheduled Wednesday morning for a nonviolent misdemeanor offender in the U.S. Capitol breach. Derek Jancart, an Air Force veteran from Ohio who pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, is the first of three misdemeanor defendants facing sentencing this week in cases prosecutors hope will yield home confinement or time behind bars.... And Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan warned Dawn Bancroft of suburban Philadelphia to prepare to explain her actions at sentencing after she pleaded guilty to misdemeanor trespassing at the Capitol and sent a video on Facebook of herself saying: 'We broke into the Capitol.... We got inside, we did our part,' and adding, 'We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the friggin' brain, but we didn't find her.'"
Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Stephanie Grisham, the former Trump White House press secretary perhaps best known for >never holding a televised briefing with reporters, plans to release a tell-all book next week that accuses ... Donald J. Trump of abusing his staff, placating dictators like Vladimir Putin of Russia, and making sexual comments about a young White House aide. In her book, titled 'I'll Take Your Questions Now,' Ms. Grisham recalls her time working for a president she said constantly berated her and made outlandish requests, including a demand that she appear before the press corps and re-enact a certain call with the Ukrainian president that led to Mr. Trump's (first) impeachment, an assignment she managed to avoid. 'I knew that sooner or later the president would want me to tell the public something that was not true or that would make me sound like a lunatic,' Ms. Grisham writes, offering a reason for why she never held a briefing." Rogers lists some highlights. The Washington Post's review was linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ digby republishes much of the dish reported by the WashPo's reviewer. It's all funny, in a horrifying sort of way.
Biggest Loser Loses Again. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump has lost an effort to enforce a nondisclosure agreement against Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former White House aide and a star on 'The Apprentice' who wrote a tell-all book about serving in his administration. The decision in the case, which Mr. Trump's campaign filed in August 2018 with the American Arbitration Association in New York, comes as the former president is enmeshed in a number of investigations and legal cases related to his private company.... The decision, dated on Friday and handed down on Monday, calls for her to collect legal fees from the Trump campaign.... The arbitrator, Andrew Brown, said that the definition of the type of comment protected by the nondisclosure agreement was so vague that it had been rendered meaningless. What was more, he wrote, the statements Ms. Manigault Newman had made hardly included privileged information." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Catrin Einhorn of the New York Times: "The ivory-billed woodpecker, which birders have been seeking in the bayous of Arkansas, is gone forever, according to federal officials. So is the Bachman's warbler, a yellow-breasted songbird that once migrated between the Southeastern United States and Cuba. The song of the Kauai O'o, a Hawaiian forest bird, exists only on recordings. And there is no longer any hope for several types of freshwater mussels that once filtered streams and rivers from Georgia to Illinois. In all, 22 animals and one plant should be declared extinct and removed from the endangered species list, federal wildlife officials planned to announce on Wednesday. The announcement ... comes amid a worsening global biodiversity crisis that threatens a million species with extinction, many within decades." ~~~
~~~ Matthew Brown of the AP: "The factors behind the disappearances vary -- too much development, water pollution, logging, competition from invasive species, birds killed for feathers and animals captured by private collectors. In each case, humans were the ultimate cause.... All 23 were thought to have at least a slim chance of survival when added to the endangered species list beginning in the 1960s. Only 11 species previously have been removed due to extinction in the almost half-century since the Endangered Species Act was signed into law."
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Wednesday are here: "The side effects Americans experienced from a third dose of a coronavirus vaccine are similar to those from a second dose, according to a study released Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.... Data from nearly 12,600 people who received a third dose of a coronavirus vaccine by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna showed that side effects -- which were described as mostly mild to moderate, and occurring the day after vaccination -- were prevalent at similar rates to those from a second vaccine dose during the regular course."
Micah Lee of the Intercept: "A network of health care providers pocketed millions of dollars selling hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, and online consultations, according to hacked data provided to The Intercept. The data show that vast sums of money are being extracted from people concerned about or suffering from Covid-19 but resistant to vaccinations or other recommendations of public health authorities. America's Frontline Doctors, a right-wing group founded last year to promote pro-Trump doctors during the coronavirus pandemic, is working in tandem with a small network of health care companies to sow distrust in the Covid-19 vaccine, dupe tens of thousands of people into seeking ineffective treatments for the disease, and then sell consultations and millions of dollars' worth of those medications.... America's Frontline Doctors, which debuted in the summer of 2020, has close ties to a network of right-wing efforts to undermine public health during the pandemic, including the Tea Party Patriots. AFLDS's founder, physician Simone Gold, was arrested and charged after the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6.... The extremely partisan group also misleads people about Covid-19 vaccines, which they refer to as 'experimental biological agents,' and against public health measures like vaccine mandates, masking, social distancing, and restrictions on businesses." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The story helps you see that many Covid-19 vaccine skeptics are not behaving irrationally. If the folks on your favorite TV channel keep telling you not to trust what you read & hear in the MSM, if "your" doctor tells you the vaccine is an "experimental biological agent" & urges you to swallow dewormer pills instead, if she tells you masks & social distancing are unnecessary impositions on your "freedom," if the Internet "news" sites you read and most of your friends agree with this advice, then it makes "sense" for you to reject vaccines and masks. Sure, you're a nincompoop, but you're not a crazy nincompoop.
Lori Aratani of the Washington Post: "Nearly all of United Airlines' U.S.-based employees have been vaccinated, the company said Tuesday, touting the success of its policy after becoming the first U.S. carrier to require the vaccine among its workforce. United's deadline for meeting the requirement was Monday, and the carrier said Tuesday it has begun the process of terminating 593 employees who declined to be vaccinated and did not apply for a health or religious exemption. The company said less than 3 percent of its roughly 67,000 workforce applied for exemptions, while 1 percent didn't comply." MB: Mandates work.
** NEW. Alabama. Kim Chandler of the AP: "Facing a Justice Department lawsuit over Alabama's notoriously violent prisons, state lawmakers on Monday began a special session on a $1.3 billion construction plan that would use federal pandemic relief funds to pay part of the cost of building massive new lockups. Gov. Kay Ivey has touted the plan to build three new prisons and renovate others as a partial solution to the state's longstanding troubles in its prison system.... U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York sent a letter Monday to Treasury Department Secretary Janet Yellen asking Treasury to 'prevent the misuse of (American Rescue Plan) funding by any state, including Alabama' to build prisons. 'Directing funding meant to protect our citizens from a pandemic to fuel mass incarceration is, in direct contravention of the intended purposes of the ARP legislation,' Nadler wrote in the letter." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Why not use it to buy yourself a gubernatorial airplane, Kay? And/or trips to the spa? Because those are just as much representative of Congress's intentions for use of pandemic funds as is your prison scheme.
NEW. Connecticut. Andrea Salcedo of the Washington Post: "Over the summer, an anonymous tipster reached out to the Connecticut Department of Public Health ... [to complain that] Sue McIntosh, a retired physician, was mailing fake coronavirus vaccine and mask exemption forms to those who reached out and followed her instructions, the person reported. All a requester had to do, the tipster wrote, was send McIntosh a stamped and self-addressed manila envelope 'for every person you would like an exemption for.'... The probe revealed that McIntosh sent out fraudulent coronavirus vaccine exemption forms using the same modus operandi the tipster had described. It also found that she would issue fake exemption forms to help people evade coronavirus testing, mask and other vaccine requirements. She did this without ever seeing a patient, the state's health department said.... Last week, the Connecticut Medical Examining Board suspended McIntosh's physician and surgeon license during an emergency meeting following the results of the state health department's investigation."
North Carolina. Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "A North Carolina-based hospital system announced Monday that roughly 175 unvaccinated employees were fired for failing to comply with the organization's mandatory coronavirus vaccination policy, the latest in a series of health-care dismissals over coronavirus immunization.... [A spokesperson] told The Washington Post that more than 99 percent of the system's roughly 35,000 employees have followed the mandatory vaccination program." MB: Mandates work. (Also linked yesterday.)
Beyond the Beltway
Maryland. Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "The man who stormed into the newsroom of a community newspaper chain in Maryland's capital in 2018, killing five staff members, was sentenced on Tuesday to five consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, according to prosecutors. The man, Jarrod W. Ramos, 41, had pleaded guilty in October 2019 to 23 charges, including five counts of first-degree murder, for the shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper offices in Annapolis on June 28, 2018, one of the deadliest attacks on American journalists. The Anne Arundel County State's Attorney's Office announced the sentence after a two-hour hearing.... The state's attorney's office said in a statement that Mr. Ramos also was sentenced to a sixth life term for the attempted first-degree murder of one person who survived the shooting. He was also sentenced to an additional 345 years on other charges, including assault and firearms counts.... In July, a jury deliberated for less than two hours before finding that Mr. Ramos was sane at the time of the attack and criminally responsible for his actions."
Virginia. Sarah Rankin of the AP: "Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin clashed Tuesday evening over vaccinations, tax policy, education and their respective records in the second and final debate in Virginia's closely watched gubernatorial election. The event quickly got off to a combative start and neither candidate let up over the course of the hour, with each accusing the other of lying to voters. Five weeks from Election Day and with early voting already underway, recent polls suggest a tight race between McAuliffe, who is seeking a second term after his first ended in 2018, and Youngkin, a former business executive and political newcomer." The Washington Post's report is here.
Way Beyond
France. Vive la Liberté. Rick Noack of the Washington Post: "French President Emmanuel Macron urged Europeans to 'come out of their naivete' on the world stage and assert their independence from the United States, sending one of the strongest signals to date that the diplomatic crisis prompted by a disrupted submarine deal could have long-lasting repercussions on transatlantic relations."
Japan. Mari Yamaguchi of the AP: "Japan's former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida won the governing party leadership election on Wednesday and is set to become the next prime minister, facing the imminent task of addressing a pandemic-hit economy and ensuring a strong alliance with Washington to counter growing regional security risks. Kishida replaces outgoing party leader Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is stepping down after serving only one year since taking office last September. As new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Kishida is certain to be elected the next prime minister on Monday in parliament, where his party and coalition partner control the house. Kishida beat popular vaccinations minister Taro Kono in a runoff after finishing only one vote ahead of him in the first round where none of the four candidates, including two women, was able to win a majority."
North Korea. Michelle Lee of the Washington Post: "North Korea said Wednesday that it launched a 'hypersonic' missile for the first time, in what marks the latest advance in its expanding weapons program and a milestone in a project officials had identified as a top military priority. Hypersonic missile systems are some of the latest warfare technology being developed by military powers such as China, Russia and the United States. The weapons fly faster and at lower altitudes than traditional ballistic missiles, allowing them to maneuver more flexibly. They are being developed to eventually carry nuclear warheads." An AP story is here.
U.K. Karla Adam & William Booth of the Washington Post: "Prime Minister Boris Johnson put British army troops 'on standby' to work as truck drivers to haul fuel to gas stations where supplies have been emptied by panic buying and labor shortfalls -- not to mention Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic. Supply chain disruptions and attendant shortages of goods are hitting countries around the globe, including the United States. But Britain appears on the forefront of the chaos -- where recovery from the pandemic is colliding with steep labor shortages, driven by the end of free movement of workers from Eastern Europe who were handling the low-wage jobs Britons take a pass on -- in nursing homes, slaughter houses and on the highways." MB: Hey, Queen Elizabeth drives a truck; call her up. (Also linked yesterday.)
News Lede
New York Times: "Ten days into a volcanic eruption on the Spanish island of La Palma, a pyramidlike structure formed on Wednesday just off its coast as lava started pouring into the ocean. The local authorities called on residents on Wednesday morning to keep their windows shut because a mix of toxic gases and small particles may be released when molten lava comes into contact with cold water. Scientists have also been warning that the chemical reactions between lava and water could cause powerful underwater explosions. The lava entering the water should be treated as 'a very dangerous moment,' said Ángel Víctor Torres, the regional leader of the Canary Islands, an island grouping off northwestern Africa that includes La Palma."
Share Article
Reader Comments (9)
If there were any doubt that Manchin and Sinema were DINOS, their failure to replace their carping with clear statements of what they do support puts that doubt to rest.
Saying "No" to everything but tax cuts, abortion and unlimited gun ownership is the Republican way.
I think I hate 'em.
Rachel reads Rudy's testy testimony that reveals the roots of the Election Conspiracy:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/maddow-rudy-giuliani-election-conspiracy_n_6153fc44e4b099230d1c714c
I watched a bit of the Senate hearings with Pentagon leaders. There was an exchange between that prickly prince of the senate, Tom Cotton, who, after listening to Milley telling us he did advise Biden to get out of Afghanistan in a way that would facilitate evacuation of others, asked:
"Why didn't you resign?"
And Milley had to remind this punk that "We advise a president, but the military does not make those decisions–-the final decision is made by the President."
Times up–-a lesson learned? Nah–––our fluffy Cotton ball will try again to show what a great patriot he is while revealing what an arrogant, nasty piece of work he really is.
PD and Ken: so many to hate, I have to stay up late to get it all in...ha!
Seriously, Joe Manchin said in some "folksy" way, "dag nab it, of course it's not like Ah am enjoyin' the limelight, naw...", we have no idea what high-falutin' Sinema thinks, or IF she even has a brain under her dumb bleach-blondeness, and Cotton? Goes without saying, he is a member of the nasty idiot cabal, so he babbles uselessly, endlessly, like Hawley and Cruz... What a bunch of morons.
How'd we get so lucky?
I'm sorry Cotton isn't still in the Reserves. (He was discharged as a captain in 2013.) Then Milley could have him court-martialed for insubordination.
Jeanne,
I'm not a very good hater. My remark was a passing, early morning, pre-coffee fit.
I'm over it now. But I still don't think highly of either of those two DINO boobs, who may along with Moscow Mitch push the country over a cliff.
BTW, my inability to muster prolonged hate is likely what has made me a Democrat.
Jeane: I think we pretty much know what high-falutin' Sen Sinema thinks.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/kyrsten-sinemas-fuck-off-ring-is-the-new-i-really-dont-care-do-u
I don't hate any of those people (every name in today's comment texts), but I sure do find them tiresome and far below the minimal standards we should expect of public servants.
And I don't need to hate them to wish them retired.
Fintan O'Toole says that the great question of America's twenty-year war in Afghanistan was not whether the Afghans were fit for democracy, It was whether democratic values were strong enough in the US to be projected onto a traumatized society seven thousand miles away. He lists them all and we come out looking like a limp twig.
"Critics of the war argued that the US could not create a polity in its own image on the far side of the world. The tragic truth is that in many ways it did exactly that."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/cdc-issues-urgent-warning-pregnant-162959633.html
Conundrum for some Texas anti-vaxxers:
Does it count as an abortion if the mother dies, too?
@P.D. Which raises the old question: "Is the United States ready for self government?"
Watching the one sided freak show unfold in DC makes me doubt it.