Friday Open Thread

9 thoughts on “Friday Open Thread”

1. We Are In the Dumbest Timeline. David Kurtz at TPM.

   The GOP chaos on the Hill isn’t about policy disputes or even strictly ideological differences. That makes covering which version of which bill contains which provisions a bit of a fool’s errand. This isn’t about spending or budget priorities or the debt limit or any of the other ostensible negotiating points that Republicans themselves can’t agree on or resolve amongst themselves in any meaningful way.

   This week’s debacle is not your grandpappy’s horse-trading in a smoke-filled room or LBJ dishing out the Johnson Treatment. The only arm-twisting going on is the kind you see in pro wrestling, which is probably the best parallel for what the GOP’s performative politics amounts to. Spending bills, speakership elections, and other real and pressing matters of government put the GOP’s kayfabe under extreme duress. When that happens, we get eruptions like this one that periodically pull the curtain back on what is really up.

   We’re are more than a decade now into the GOP’s performative politics of destruction. It gains power by touting its aim to break stuff and then runs into a brick wall when it’s forced to make the hard choices that come with holding power. Any GOP effort to govern at least temporarily is susceptible to being undermined by its many bombthrowers, who can exert leverage by striking a purer “blow it all” posture.

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   1. Seems like Hulk Hogan is the best choice for the next Speaker of the House!

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      1. Vince McMahon might be a better choice ….

         • closer and longer friendship with the soon-to-be-*resident,
         • in the midst of a marital separation
         • stepped down as chairman and CEO of WWE on June 17, 2022, pending an internal investigation. 2023, came back as chairman
         • "January 26, 2024, one day after a report about alleged sexual assaults committed by McMahon was published by The Wall Street Journal, Deadline confirmed that McMahon had resigned from TKO."
         • March 2024 [more] "allegations of sexual assault, "

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         1. You're right, of course, but I'm only thinking about visuals right now!

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2. Musk is a problem. He just tweeted that "Only the AfD can save Germany." The AfD, Alternative for Deutschland, is a far-right extremist party polling at around 19%. Sing it with me: "What the world, needs now, is a far-right takeover in Germany." According to this interesting short story from DW News, Musk is also supporting the far right in Britain.

   https://www.dw.com/en/german-politicians-criticize-musk-backing-for-far-right-afd/a-71117414

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3. Hold your horses. It's all Biden's fault.

   Politico Headline: "Biden is AWOL as Washington spirals into shutdown chaos".

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   1. Biden is scheduled to get his daily briefing, then go to a Children’s Hospital.

      i didn’t go read the article … but I do wonder why Biden is expected to play a role in influencing members of the Republican House majority to come up with a workable strategy? Apparently, other people were curious about Biden’s engagement:

      White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pushed back after getting numerous questions at her daily briefing Friday about why President Biden hasn’t spoken publicly about the possibility of a government shutdown.

      “This is not for the president to fix,” she said. “Republicans need to fix the mess that they caused.”

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4. Looks like Cheeto Mussolini is not gonna get his Inauguration Day Parade…

   Shutdown threatens ‘chaos’ for Trump’s transition and inauguration

   The collapse of Congress’ spending negotiations is throwing the presidential transition and preparations for President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration into chaos as Washington stares down the prospect of a government shutdown just after midnight Friday.

   Federal agencies only this week began briefing the Trump transition’s “landing teams,” which began their work more than a month later than their predecessors. Now, if Congress can’t cut a deal in the next couple days, those agencies could be forced to furlough much of the staff doing that work and shut down the government offices where it’s taking place — impeding the incoming officials’ access to documents and further slowing down already-delayed preparations to take over the federal government next month.

   Trump and his team are already in the “danger zone” on transition and inauguration planning because they opted to use private emails and devices, rejected federal cybersecurity support, and are working out of Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida club, said Ann O’Leary, who led Hillary Clinton’s 2016 transition preparations.

   “At a minimum, a shutdown of the government is going to certainly add to the chaos and the vulnerability to the U.S. government,” she added.

   https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/19/shutdown-trump-transition-chaos-00195393

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   1. No doubt, Trump's second Inaugural celebration will be the biggest & best all-private inauguration ever.  At least, that is what Karoline Leavitt, transition spokesperson for the Trump-Vance team, will no doubt need to say. 

      I wonder if the Secret Service and other federal law enforcement staff will have their December pay-checks before the Unauguration.

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