Random Thoughts/Observations On Government Shutdown

Partisans are playing the blame game–pointing fingers and accusing the “other guy” of being responsible for the government’s inability to function.

It seems fairly obvious to me that those in charge–those in power– are most culpable; with the GOP dominating all three branches of Government, trying to lay the blame at the doorstep of the emasculated Dems reminds me of the divorce lawyer who told the judge that her client’s wife was so annoying, she caused  him to beat her. (That’s a true story, by the way.)

A few scattered observations–

  • it is absolutely unconscionable to use children as bargaining chips and hostages. Republicans’ willingness to keep the “Dreamers” in limbo and hold out funding for children’s health in order to play political games is simply despicable. (It’s also stupid: 87% of Americans want DACA reinstated.)
  • Republicans (and a few Democrats) who were willing to ignore the ongoing anguish of 800,000 DACA children in order to fund government for another couple of weeks were either naive (GOP promises to “get to” DACA “soon” were transparent bullshit–especially since Trump’s uninformed demands change daily) or more concerned about perceived political optics than justice for children who depend upon them.
  • Indiana Senator Donnelly was one of those Democrats. Donnelly has been a constant disappointment: he was willing to defund Planned Parenthood (he evidently believes his religious beliefs deserve government support but mine don’t), and he was willing to screw over the Dreamers, presumably because he is (theoretically) a Democrat running for re-election in a red state. Perhaps I’m the one being naive, but I think voters–red or blue–are more likely to reward principled behavior than political pandering. That said, I will vote for Donnelly in November because–acute disappointment though he is–he will cast his first vote to eject Mitch McConnell (aka the most evil man in America) from leadership, and because the Republican Trumpers who want to oppose him are even worse–and in Indiana, a vote for a third-party candidate is a vote for the Republican. This will be a “lesser of two evils” choice.
  • If there is a bright spot to the shutdown, it should mean that–at least while government isn’t open for business–the demolition crew that Trump has installed in lieu of competent administrators won’t be able to work on destroying their agencies.

And finally….If we needed any more evidence that the federal government is broken, and that Republicans are disinterested in fixing it, or for that matter, doing anything other than enrich their donors, I think this last year–culminating in this Keystone Kos episode–should provide it.

I know it’s morning, but excuse me while I go pour myself a stiff drink.

50 Comments

  1. I am amazed on a daily basis at the number of idiots that continue to support trump. They will make up ways to defend him. I guess I had better start watching fox and checking breitbart to find out what kind of bs they are being fed.

  2. Dear Ms. Kennedy,
    some of my own observations: 1. if the Republicans (many!) are NOT under the thumb of the Russians as is his ‘golden nibs’.., then they are just miscreants and misanthropes. 2. The program is bent of separating the power of the People from the Government. 3. This separation is meant to cause racial, social, anti- anything tensions – thus destabilizing the WORLD and our own Country – and there is only one reason that could be: So another ‘power’ can step into the world stage – and 4. It seems clear to me that people like the Koch Brothers and others of their ilk are playing a game of “He who dies with the most marbles – WINS!” – look at the NOAA 30 year projections for climate. 5. Do I believe that these people are THAT EVIL – yes.

  3. Sheila: I respectfully disagree with your comment about Sen. Donnelly. He was damned if you do, damned if you don’t. In my view, he chose the vote that would hurt him less in the general election in Indiana, and I cannot blame him. It was a throw away vote.

  4. Once again, the Republicans are getting out the message much better than the Democrats. The Dems should be pounding the table and making sure that the truth is known. The Republicans could have funded CHIP in September, but knew it might come in handy later. Republicans could have passed the Dreamers Act months ago, but Ryan is too afraid of his right wing to ignore them, so 35 members of Congress control 435 votes in the House. Makes me long for the good old days, when pork barrel politics and back room deals were a two way street that inevitably benefited everybody.

  5. In my estimation there is one issue and one issue only that is keeping the government from making any headway on the budget and continuing to make damaging decisions on other issues before them; inside and outside of both houses of Congress. It is that effing WALL; remove it from Trump’s agenda and forward motion can and will begin inside and outside of Congress and the White House. Just as the old saying centuries ago; “All roads lead to Rome.”, all issues and almost every vote leads to that WALL in one form or another. Ending C.H.I.P. will end medical care to immigrant children, ending DACA results are obvious; Trump appears to believe all of our problems stem from only Mexicans coming across our southern border; forgetting there are thousands and thousands and thousands of miles of borders across which immigrants can still enter this country illegally. Per an AOL news item this morning; Trump is now saying that Democrats will be to blame for all murders committed by immigrants during this shutdown of the government and again, his WALL was part of the discussion supposedly resolving at least discussion of the issue begin agreed to between Trump and Schumer.

    To Trump; that WALL symbolizes protection from all immigrants, legal and illegal and the immigrants to Trump symbolizes all of our problems.

    As for Donnelly; his vote on this shutdown, like his vote to defund all Planned Parenthood Clinics is based on his personal beliefs which goes against the Oath of Office he took when sworn in as a U.S. Senator representing the state of Indiana and the nation. The same is true of almost the entire Congressional body…no need to mention Trump and his administration’s reasoning…or lack of reason.

  6. @Peggy Hannon – You are so right. It’s been going on for years and the Dems still haven’t caught on. The Republicans almost always win the publicity war. They throw grenades and the Dems respond with logic that no one hears. It’s about time they start attacking, instead of always being on the defensive.

  7. Another reason to vote for Donnelly, (weak though he is), is that, if enough (more principled) Democrats win, he would add to the total and a possible majority.

  8. Not to sound greedy, but I need my SS check which is supposed to be deposited next Wednesday. I have about zero margin of error from month to month. This is the same check that comes with a minus 3 dollars from the previous month as my share of the 2% COLA. I am and always will be extremely grateful to have that amount to live on until wingnuts take some to pay for the koch bros taxcuts which btw, Chuck koch bros and his koch bros wife gave Paul Ryan the maximum amount of money for his campaign a couple days after koch bros taxcuts were passed. (nearly a half million bucks in kickb…donations)

  9. Yes, JoAnn. Give him his wall. It will prove to be costly, un-buildable and when the next election rolls around, it still won’t be built and the Democrats can defund it. End of story. Meanwhile, children and the immigrants will stop being used as political pawns.

    When it comes to humanity and actually governing, this Congress is as awful as any in our history. Surviving this Congress will, by itself, be a miracle.

  10. “I think voters–red or blue–are more likely to reward principled behavior than political pandering”.
    I’m sorry to have to disagree with you on this point, but voters have proven pretty conclusively that they won’t do that.
    Now, I’m going to have some wine. And it’s not for communion, either.

  11. OK… keep doing the same thing over gain and expect different results. Vote for Donnelly and think that he will suddenly vote with the Dems. There is only wishful thinking going on with this plan. Here is an idea! Why not have the Democrat Party allow someone to run against him in the primary? Give faithful Democrat voters someone to be proud of for a change. What makes Donnelly supporters think that he is the only one who could get elected? Jeez.

  12. I’m glad I don’t live in Indiana anymore because I sure as hell wouldn’t vote for Donnelly. I don’t give a flying F* what his religious beliefs are (he went to Notre Dame). And I so agree with Ms. Bowers, we have some wonderful feminist Dems in Indiana that can primary that idiot. He’s no liberal and I want him out. I know Dr. Kennedy would be an awesome candidate but she’s unwilling to run.

    Sorry, but this whole shutdown has soured my mood. Gov Ducey (what a name eh?) has announced that the Grand Canyon would be open during the shutdown.

  13. A note to Mike from Iowa about mailing of Social Security checks … I was worried about that too. But according to several websites I checked this morning, including msn.com, vox.com, businessinsider.com: “… the shutdown should have little effect on Social Security checks. According to the Social Security Administration’s shutdown contingency plan, released in December, most core programs and benefits would continue in the event of a shutdown.”

    http://www.businessinsider.com/government-shutdown-2018-social-security-checks-still-paid-2018-1

  14. In the movie Lincoln there’s a scene where Thaddeus Stevens is lecturing Lincoln in the basement of the White House when he says to Lincoln, “It’s called leadership. You ought to try it.” A deft zinger that ought to be echoing all over DC right now. God help us.

  15. Glad to notice I’m not alone in my disappointment with Sen. Joe Donnelly. He certainly hasn’t read the Democrat Party and Republican Party national platform or, if he has, he is a traitor to the Democrat principals enshrined while misrepresenting himself as a Democrat.
    Yes, he probably couldn’t be elected by Hoosiers if he were truly a Democrat. Since he chooses to be a GOP-lite, there is no chance that I will vote for him because my guiding principal is to do absolutely nothing that will help to put GOPs in office. My view is that the GOP does nothing but damage to our beloved country and to our people overtly and by neglect.
    Need any more evidence than the fiascos of I-65 and I-69? Happy with the history of 2017 and the outlook for 2018?

  16. Those of us who receive newsletters from Democratic Representative Andre Carson received notification as to what would happen IF there was a shutdown; receipt of our Social Security checks is assured but action on no applications has stopped. Active military member will receive “IOUs” in lieu of paychecks…sure hope their bill collectors accept IOUs in lieu of payments.

  17. OMG and others making similar comments: In Indiana, failure to vote for Donnelly IS a vote for the GOP–just as failure to vote for Hillary ended up putting Trump in office.

    Unless you want one of the dramatically worse Republicans to represent Indiana in the Senate–and keep McConnell at the helm–voting for Donnelly is your only choice. You can be “pure” and refuse to vote for the lesser of two evils, but that is effectively a vote for the worse of the evils.

  18. I will riturate my position from previous posts. We are in crises. The end of the Republic could be in sight. This is the wrong time for nuance. We need to put out the fire not save the cat from it. Focus, act. We can’t triage a dead patient.

    All Ds in 2018 and ’20. We can sort them out later. If we fail to send that message about current politics we’ll suffer from them forever. Symbolism matters. Every elected R detracts from the message.

    One of the messages celebrity Trump relies on is to normalize chaos and extreme positions that force others to take extreme positions in opposition in order to see his own face in lights every morning. The face that he needs to see every morning are the millions in the Women’s Rallies, the dreamers faces, resolute patriot faces, determined faces who disregard his celebrity as trivial compared to their lives. Faces that say for us there is no cake, you ate it all.

    There really is only one ingredient necessary to save the great experiment in democracy and that is unity among those committed to it.

  19. Don’t count on trump and his cronies not doing further departmental damage while the government is shut down. They do their worst damage when no one is looking. The directors won’t care about the shutdown, it just gives them more cover.

  20. I am tired of voting for the “lesser of two evils” choices. We have had the Clintons, Schumer, Pelosi, Harry Reid, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and now the Donnelly types. The Democrats as a party have been on the run since the Neo-Liberal policies of Bill Clinton.

    The Democratic Party has had a year to design a coherent plan for DACA People. Who is eligible? How would it work? Would they automatically become American citizens or would there be a step by step process???

    By the way, the Senate confirmed Neil Gorsuch as the 113th justice of the Supreme Court last year with the support of only three Democrats, including Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly.

    Yesterday there was the Woman’s March, Donnelly pretty much represents the opposite of what people marched for. Lesser evil voting promotes a race to the bottom. The goal posts are moved to the Right and somehow Donnelly becomes a “Moderate” and a “lesser of two evils”.

  21. Sheila – My elder daughter is a federal worker and we have been through this Donnelly thing more than once and she, an Indiana voter and a progressive, tells me she will vote for Joe because, even though his votes on some issues are wrong, he will if reelected caucus with Democrats and will for the most part defend a liberal platform on the issues. I am not sure that his Catholicism is the reason he votes as he does on certain issues; it could be because he is in a red state and is trying to appease independent and Republican voters in order to get elected, or alternatively, some of both.

    I think from the post-Women’s March rally I attended last evening here in Florida that if we can maintain our enthusiasm (resulting in massive turnout) we will retake the House. The Senate is far more doubtful, and it is conceivable that Joe’s election or defeat could tip the scales, so to my good friends who say they will not vote for Joe, consider the Senate’s role in confirming Supreme Court justices, other judges, and administration officials with McConnell at the helm. Ryan will not be around to play his Ayn Rand games, but the House has nothing to do with confirmation of the foregoing and future Trump appointees. Something is better than nothing (which is what Hoosiers will get with the election of some caveman or cavewoman Republican). One can hold to his or her principles and compromise his or her vote for the greater good. Think about it.

  22. Donnelly has two strikes against him and frankly, I think it’s ridiculous that someone like Donnelly can’t be primaried by a woman that can do the job. Seriously! Keeping someone in office that doesn’t have our values is not helping the Ds any where. Elections are so we can get rid of the jerks that don’t have our beliefs. Just because he won 6 yrs ago doesn’t mean he should stay or will win again. Sorry that I disagree with you Professor.

  23. Thanks for reminding me that Donnelly voted for Gorsuch – that’s makes three strikes. Who’s side is he on?

  24. A great piece as usual Sheila, thank you!

    Among all the various aspects of this that annoy the heck out of me is the fact that the Republican Congress let the funding for SCHIP expire so that it could be used as a bargaining chip in the congressional negotiations that ended up creating this ridiculous governmental shutdown. SCHIP, or as we call it here in Indiana, Children’s Special Health Care Services, helps middle income families of children with special health care needs survive financially well they support their children. It helps so many families that there is an office dedicated solely to hook people up with its benefits located within Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health. My job for nearly 14 years was making sure that our families at Riley knew about it and many other programs that are available to the families of children with special health care needs.

    To think that the Republicans would use these children and their welfare as a negotiating chip, along with those native born fellow citizens that fall under DACA, is very likely the most low down dirty disgusting thing I’ve ever heard of. I’m sure there are other things that this Republican Congress has its hands on that are equally malicious but, quite frankly, I’m too busy to track all of them and am glad that other people do. Those people have my condolences.

    This is where we’re at today with a political party that at the national legislative level that has no qualms about throwing the most vulnerable members of American society under the bus to satisfy its own short term political aims. The one thing that really rattles around in my head a lot is trying to fathom how people born and raised in this country, educated in either public or parochial schools, raised by families that have to have some sort of moral handle on life, would end up thinking that doing things like this would just be hunky dory. This is the part of this that just blows my mind, made even worse because I have a political science education which is left me knowing how things are supposed to work and it certainly doesn’t include this sort of political maneuvering.

    We’re dealing with a perfect storm of a political train wreck that is not just something that we watch on cable news since it is something that affects real people that are dealing with enough already. These fiends, that currently populate the leadership of the Republican caucus, want to spread the wealth around as far as they can and throw everyone else under the bus; the poor, minorities, the elderly, veterans like yours truly, college students, and on and on. Those “people” that are bent on doing this to their fellow citizens have to be booted out of where they have infested and discarded as soon as possible. The dustbin of history would be a great place to put them and soon.

  25. A Volcano Scientist Is Running for Congress in California. Can Jess Phoenix help melt the Republican majority? A dozen Democratic candidates with science backgrounds have announced their candidacies for Congress or are expected to in the coming months.

    Jess Phoenix is one of them. A geologist and volcanologist—she studies active volcanoes—Phoenix is competing for the Democratic nomination to take on GOP Rep. Steve Knight in California’s 25th Congressional District. Phoenix is clearly a progressive. She supports a $15-per-hour minimum wage, single-payer healthcare, and a congressional committee to investigate gun violence.
    http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/01/inquiring-minds-jess-phoenix-steve-knight-california/
    ======================================================================
    Phoenix is what a real Democratic Candidate should be. We sure cannot have Progressive Candidates similar to Jess Phoenix running in Indiana, as long as we buy into the “lesser of two evils”.

  26. Dr. Kennedy –
    I hear you and I agree with you; but this year until November I would ask you to push back on some of the Joe Donnelly “advertised” political principles with which you most certainly disagree.
    One thing we might do is publish his political principles on this blog.
    Maybe we could modify some of his philosophy.
    “Push Back” is the watchword. If we don’t push back we are acquiescing and will get more of “GOP-lite”, more Trump trash, and a SCOTUS that will hurt more of us.

  27. What’s the point in supporting a DINO such as Donnelly? I’m always suspicious of someone when they use the word “purity” in describing those willing to cast a principled vote. To disparage anyone for casting a principled vote is authoritarian and arrogant. I’m convinced those asking of us—no scratch that— Those that demand of us to cast our vote for a candidate based solely on party affiliation are those that are dependant of having their rice bowls filled by that same party.

    At some point, enough is enough.Use your influence to acquire better candidates for the party. If the party is unwilling to field better candidates,that party deserves to go the way of the dinosaur. I will not support Joe Donnelly.

  28. If the big orange celebrity has any skill at all other than not losing Daddy’s money it is managing the media. He knows that the only pathway to enhancing his celebrity, his only goal, is by sowing discord then recruiting just enough of the factions if they are Rs but enhancing the discord if they are Ds.

    It’s worked for him and is working and one of the reasons is that his Russian foreign aid is aimed at the same goal – discord.

    Can we resist?

  29. This is the second time in as many days I’ve noticed a commenter here using the name “Democrat Party” instead of “Democratic Party.” The phrase “Democrat Party” was invented as a slur by Rush Limbaugh, because his listeners were too dumb to figure out the difference between “democratic” and “Democratic.” Slowly but surely the whole right wing started copying it. But it is a slur! By using this slur, the writer diminishes the impact of his/her story, at least in my book.

  30. Russian foreign aid? Really? Where is the proof? I hate to be the defender of Trump and or Putin, but there has been absolutely no proof of Russian collusion behind Trump. None. This conspiracy theory is eroding the credibility of the Democrats. This is the blue version of The Birth in Kenya.

    The Democrats have become conspiracy theorists and that is more alienating than any of the crap from the Trumpster. Worse,you and others are alienating your own brethren. Perhaps that is the purpose?

    Pete,your post is straight out of the Committee on Public Information. The use of the OMG! Russia meme smells of desperation,not of a party/organization poised to steer the ship in the correct direction.

  31. William there is absolutely proof that the Russians funded social media posts to sow discord between American “tribes” like racial groups hoping the consequence would be a Trump victory.

    The only question that Mueller must answer is was the Trump campaign complicit in it?

  32. Well Pete,if that is the case,perhaps there is a lesson to be learned? Instead of relying on millions upon millions of dollars in donations to the party for the election (especially from the donor-class), perhaps the Democratic Party should outsource its efforts to the Russians for a few hundred thousand dollars? Seems to have been effective,yes?

    Nevermind the Bernard Sanders campaign’s reliance upon $27.00 donations. I guess the “Bernie Bro’s” and Russians effectively removed the need for big-money from politics. That’s quite a lesson and revelation./s

  33. For those who plan not to vote for Donnelley, I have a simple question for you: just how stupid are you, anyway?

    If you want to change the nature of the Democratic Party, you volunteer and work within the Democratic Party. If you want our republic to survive (maybe, it may be too late), you vote for Democrats, EVERY SINGLE TIME.

    If you question my insulting tone, I ask you this: what happened to all those votes for Stein? What happened to all those Bernie primary votes that weren’t Clinton votes? They elected Donald J. Trump President of the United States, that’s what.

    Let me make this simple: if you refuse to vote for Donnelly, you are morally equivalent to Trump, McConnell, and Ryan.

    And yes, Sheila, you are naive.

  34. Over It: “Let me make this simple: if you refuse to vote for Donnelly, you are morally equivalent to Trump, McConnell, and Ryan.”

    If Donnelly always votes with/supports Trump,McConnell and Ryan…..

    And, if you voted for Nader in 2000,you’re responsible for 911,the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. If you didn’t vote at all in 2008 and 2012, you’re responsible for Libya and Syria. Nevermind me,I’m just stupid y’all. Btw,I didn’t vote for Reagan or the Democratic challenger back in the day,Iran-Contra is my fault. I accept the blame.It’s all my fault. The lives lost in El Salvador are all my fault. I will never understand the brilliance of Over It. I’m such a simpleton.

    Mic Drop…..

  35. I guess according to the logic of Over It,our host is morally equivalent to Goldwater,Nixon,Reagan and Bush I,No?

    I guess that “logic” works until it doesn’t. Vote-shaming is no different really than slut-shaming,no?

  36. Over It:”If you want to change the nature of the Democratic Party, you volunteer and work within the Democratic Party.”

    If folks have been working to change the Democratic Party into an effective party true to its past/history,how in the hell is the party still getting candidates such as Joe Donnelly? Are the volunteers just not effective? Or is the party fielding the candidates it really wants? Party support for Donnelly would seem to belie the historical tenets of the party,no?

  37. I’m a disabled Vet and as such I receive about $1K/ month for my 60% rating. All the Senators and Congressmen & women continue to receive their pay while all active duty military personnel, retirees and disabled vets will be cut off. So much for being patriots Republicans. Instead they are the worst group of hypocrites to ever hold office.

  38. William I will agree with your above comments. Our local PBS Station here in Indianapolis has had the Lawrence Welk Show for as long as can remember on Saturday night, talk about setting the clocks back. The Democratic Party here in Indiana ran the Lawrence Welk candidates Bayh and John Gregg last time.

  39. Monotonous; if we could offer highly qualified Democratic party members to move here for a specified number of years, maybe with tax abatement or outright payoff with our tax dollars (think Carrier), we might stand a chance of a viable candidate. Otherwise we are stuck with Donnelly (Hogsett ain’t all that much to brag about) and leftovers Gregg and Bayh to look to.

    anda one, anda two…but it doesn’t have a beat and we definitely can’t dance to it.

  40. All of the commenters who declare before the primary that they will not vote for Donnelly, have not offered a single viable alternative other than not voting at all. IMO, a vote for a Republican candidate can be passive as well as active. In Indiana, the donor class is already dumping millions. A case in point, the NumbersUSA ads calling chain immigration “amnesty”, a buzz word for the xenophobes in the Republican base. Braun, Rokita and Messer are spending freely with lots of help from the media in all major markets.
    If you can find a candidate who is willing to run, has any chance of opposing Donnelly before April, I would be greatly surprised. 3 months is not anywhere near enough time to organize and mount a viable campaign.

    From IN.gov website
    Tuesday, February 6, 2018
    DEADLINE, by noon, for a major political party candidate for US Senate to file a petition of nomination with a county voter registration office for verification of petition signatures.

  41. JD; have you tried explaining that “passive vote” to those who actually still believe that their vote for Jill Stein or Gary Johnson – or not voting at all – was not a vote for Trump because they didn’t want to for for Hillary? They are as steadfast in their denial of that possibility as Trump supporters are in believing they have actually elected their savior. There is no explanation for their denial any more than there is for Trump supporters denial that he is unfit for the presidency. My vote was against Trump and acceptance of the fact that Hillary was the only alternative. It will be the same this November when I vote against Donnelly’s opposition – unless a miracle occurs – and there is a worthy Democratic candidate to support and vote for. It is the only hope for self-preservation available until and unless sanity returns to our elections.

  42. Now I know that you, Dr. Sheila Kennedy didn’t write this. It had to be by some middle school or home schooled kid on your staff:

    “Sheila
    January 21, 2018 at 11:07 am

    “OMG and others making similar comments: In Indiana, failure to vote for Donnelly IS a vote for the GOP–just as failure to vote for Hillary ended up putting Trump in office.

    “Unless you want one of the dramatically worse Republicans to represent Indiana in the Senate–and keep McConnell at the helm–voting for Donnelly is your only choice. You can be “pure” and refuse to vote for the lesser of two evils, but that is effectively a vote for the worse of the evils.”

    Hillary DID NOT lose the popular vote. She won it by a considerable margin, arguably 65000 votes. She’s not president because a handful of Electors appointed by GOP state governors of red states ignored the preference of the majority and fell victim to a rabid minority.

    So, I think Hillary lost because the Electoral College was RIGGED…that’s politics — or maybe the Russians?

    Now look at the result – a president with no clue except the last words he heard that day, a president who may soon be led off to prison in shackles, a president who had the gall to repeat the mantra “lock her up” when he, himself, is suspected of high crimes and misdemeanors, a president about whom are whirling conspiracy theories, a president who is ridiculed by people around the world.
    Except for the rigging, we could have had Hillary who would have had the administration humming from Day One.
    Help us, Mrs. Kennedy. Suggest something we can support and rally all of us in support of it.

    We have never had such a vulgar bunch of thugs in the White House before.

  43. This is bargaining at its best, but DACA is not a bargain,or a game. the trump mob moves on falsehoods,like the murder,that may exist,, I guess the white house is complacent,when it cut chip, medicare,social sec,welfare,help for the homeless,safety nets, vets needs, and the suicides they all may have prevented.. maybe we do need a wall, to let people coming here, from being harmed.. thanks and,best wishes to all the women who marched,protests,our democracy at work.

  44. Trump suggests ‘nuclear option’ to change Senate voting requirements if shutdown stalemate continues

    The above is a headline from the Washington Post sometime today.

    While I recognize that my own understanding of senate voting rules is shamefully narrow, I do believe that this option is far from a great or even good solution. However, given 45’s proven strongman inclinations, along with his absolute dearth of understanding of any nuance at all, I believe that this option has been his hope and intention all along.

    I dearly hope my own poor grasp of issues means this worry will be of zero import in this case…cheers y’all, and good night!

  45. I can’t believe the Republican Party that I was a very involved 40+ year active member of, It’s become unrecognizable from what it once was and what it believed in. This is a mean, anti American organization that’s betrayed everything it once championed, believed in and worked on to make America the envy of the world.
    Now it’s a fumbling, bungling, ignort of the world, blind to the American condition and Deff to the voices of reason in our nation.
    Truth holds no honor
    Facts bare out no reality
    Reality is what delusional power says it is.

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