What we’ve got here is failure to legislate “Morning Joe” Scarborough today gave Donald “91 Counts” Trump exactly what he asked for: blame for chaos at the southern border. Trump demanded Republicans in Congress kill the bipartisan border bill. He owns this morning’s New York Post headline. Remember (Washington Post, January 28): Republican front-runner Donald Trump said he wants to be held responsible for blocking a bipartisan border security billin the works in the Senateas President Biden seeks emergency authority to rein in a record surge of unauthorized border crossings. Trump told a Las Vegas rally, “I’ll fight it all the way. A lot of the senators are trying to say, respectfully, they’re blaming it on me. I say, that’s okay. Please blame it on me. Please.” American Bridge issued this video and statement on February 5: As president, Trump publicly urged Congress to send him a comprehensive, bipartisan bill to address immigration reform and border security.
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He’s following the Goebbels playbook to the T You get the feeling that among the jaded beltway establishment there is a belief that the horrified reaction against Trump’s Hitler analogies is just a bit overwrought. Sure it’s discussed and analysed but there’s a perfunctory vibe about it that makes it seem as if it’s just another of those “Trump says the darnedest stuff” things. And sure, the idea that he’s been studying Hitler’s speeches because he once had a book of them is a stretch (and even though he has said that Hitler “did some good things”) because Trump doesn’t study anything. But he is an instinctive autocrat and he’s got a few people around him who do understand the power of fascist imagery. Contrary to popular belief, much of the most outrageous rhetoric he spews at his rallies isn’t off the cuff. It’s scripted.
I would not characterize Brian Beutler as a super optimistic fellow and certainly not one to blow smoke about the Democrats. But in today’s newsletter he shares a little bit of good news which, coming from him, is reassuring. The short version is that over the past couple weeks President Biden has caught up with Donald Trump, as depicted in the Economist’s polling average above. Now that’s not the whole story, or even an entirely good story, as I’ll detail momentarily. But deeper in the tea leaves, most recent developments are also pretty favorable to Biden and (thus) bad for Trump. Consistent with the head-to-head polls, Biden’s approval ratings have ticked up (or, for copium abstainers, his disapproval rating has ticked down) while Trump, who has been more popular of late than in many years, has seen his numbers fall. But to me, the best case for optimism lies outside the realm of survey data. It’s better for Biden to be slightly ahead than slightly behind, but what he needs more than anything is upside potential to open a large lead.
I’m already seeing commentary that says this wasn’t good enough. They demand to know ALL the details and what exactly they are doing for her and what the kids said when they told them and how William feels and blah, blah, blah. Leave them the fuck alone.
The beltway press is very excited about the possibility that Marco Rubio might be tapped for VP (which he has said he’d be honored to accept.) Obviously Trump thinks this is going to boost his standing with Latinos and maybe he’s right. Blue collar Americans, including blue collar Latinos, do seem to like him more than they used to even though all he really did during his first term was give vast sums to rich people like himself. Anyway, maybe it will happen. Rubio is showing real talent for energetic boot licking so he may be the perfect choice. But I think this guy, who is on the short list for Attorney General could be a bit of a problem. To say the least: If the Republicans take the Senate this nut could be confirmed. Sound good?
Let’s just make her the Queen Of All Maga and get it over with Of course she finally did it: On Friday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed a motion to formally boot Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) from the office. Greene’s move, which came amid conservative outrage over Johnson’s deal on a spending package to avert a government shutdown that passed Friday, threatens to throw the chamber into chaos just months after a hard-right faction ousted Kevin McCarthy from the top job. Due to the procedural details of the so-called motion to vacate the chair, it was unclear when exactly the vote on Johnson’s fate would be held—or if it would be held at all. Greene did not notice the resolution as privileged, a special designation that forces a vote. If and when she does, it would give House leadership two legislative days to hold a vote on the measure. However, the chamber was scheduled to leave for a two-week recess on Friday, so any vote on a motion to vacate would happen at the earliest on April 9. Speaking to reporters after filing the resolution, Greene said it was time to find a new Speaker of the House.
It was a crime syndicate This has been making the rounds all week and for good reason: If you strip away Bill Barr’s corrupt interference* and Trump’s corrupt pardons, what you see is a crime syndicate masquerading as a government. Here are just some of the highlights, courtesy of Rachel Maddow. *Barr quashed referrals, nerfed sentences…pic.twitter.com/g20bVQOwW6 — Monty Boa (@MontyBoa99) March 20, 2024 Trump is a criminal. His associates are criminals. It’s obvious and yet his followers are convinced that every last one of these people is an innocent man being railroaded by “the deep state.” No wonder they are happy to send a professed billionaire their social security checks. They are the most gullible people on the planet.
Opossum’s are not pests, they are our friends. Support them! Mama possum with her babies 🥺 pic.twitter.com/D3ZOAEJy8n — Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) March 22, 2024 They are North America’s only marsupials: It’s true that wombats, wallabies, kangaroos and koalas are regular sights in national parks — if you happen to be in Australia. Australia boasts the most diverse population of marsupials in the world, with more than 200 different species roaming, climbing and hopping about the continent, out of about 334 such species worldwide. In the United States, it’s a different story. The only marsupial anywhere in the country is the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana). These two- to three-foot-long mammals are the only animals north of Mexico that carry their young in pouches, a characteristic of marsupials that allows their babies to more fully grow and develop before living independently from their mothers. All other mammals have placentas, which nourish the young while still in the womb.
Trump is in a hole and won’t stop digging Republicans operatives from out of state were bankrolling ads promoting Durham D.A. Satana Deberry ahead of North Carolina’s March 5 Democratic attorney general primary. Supporters of Rep. Jeff Jackson, her main opponent, warned that a vote for Deberry could aid the GOP-funded effort to upset TikTok maven Jackson. Let them waste their money, I replied. If donations are a measure of support, it was no contest. Jackson had raised around $1.7 million to Deberry’s not-quite $45,000. Jackson bested Deberry by 22 points. So for those fretting about every presidential poll this far out from November, consider the fundraising status of the two majors (CNN): Donald Trump’s campaign saw an uptick in donations in February but failed to match the accelerating fundraising pace set by Joe Biden, whose political operation widened its already substantial financial advantage over his Republican rival as it entered March and the general election showdown, new filings show.
NC Republicans run another conpiracy theorist Esquire‘s Charlie Pierce began describing this place as “the newly insane state of North Carolina” in early 2015 (as far as I can tell) in honor of state voters selecting “Tea Party boy-toy Thom Tillis” for Senate over Democratic incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan. This was before Trump and before Madison Cawthorn replaced Rep. Mark Meadows in NC-11 in the same election in which Mark Robinson brought Christian nationalism to the office of lieutenant governor. Joining Robinson on the ballot this fall is Michele Morrow, who you’ve already met. Morrow expects Tar Heels to put her in charge of the state’s public school system she doesn’t believe in. A CNN reporter caught up with the elusive Morrow in a parking lot to ask for comment on her postings recommending execution for President Barack Obama and others. Via WGHP: “I prefer a Pay Per View of him in front of the firing squad,” Morrow said of Obama in a May 13, 2020, post on X, formerly Twitter. “I do not want to waste another dime on supporting his life.