President Trump is suffering from mental illness

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I guess the upside of keeping the heat off McConnell is that it allows everyone to focus on the deteriorating mental health of the President.
"They're driving in and they're not coming through checkpoints, because you can't have three or four people in the back with tape over your mouths and your hands tied and drive past someone who is checking out your van...The fact is if we don't have barriers, walls, call them what you will, very strong barriers where people can not any longer drive right across. They have unbelievable vehicles. They make a lot of money. They have the best vehicles you can buy. They have stronger, bigger and faster vehicles than our police have and that ICE have and that Border Patrol have." 

AT LAST…Coons Mentions Mitch McConnell’s name on Morning Joe

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As James Fallows has noted, the one legislator with the greatest control over ending the #Trumpshutdown is Mitch McConnell. Chris Coons just appeared on Morning Joe and tiptoed up to that reality mentioning Mitch McConnell (in part to exculpate the majority leader for not negotiating). Coons initially attempted to leave McConnell out of the conversation highlighting the fact that Trump is unwilling to compromise and can't come up with a "face-saving" exit. Coons stated that the Democrats are trying to give Trump $1.3 billion for border security, but said that President would not take it. To his credit, Coons called the wall a "vanity project" a couple of times. Under repeated questioning, Coons empathized with his GOP counterparts in the Senate and mentioned that Trump is a bad actor which makes it difficult to negotiate on his behalf. "You can craft a comprise with Republicans only to have to have it blown up by the President. It is difficult for senators to negotiate on his behalf...That's why Mitch McConnell is nowhere to be found in these negotiations." It wasn't much, but it was a start. At least Chris Coons now recognizes that McConnell is not taking part in the process. But I still don't understand the strategy of leaving McConnell off the hook.

America’s Experiment in Radical Libertarianism Enters Day 20

Food Inspections are nanny-state nonsense. Companies can regulate themselves, am I right?
The ongoing federal government shutdown has stopped most food safety inspections, but the Food and Drug Administration is planning to resume at least some of them. To do it, the agency will have to force furloughed workers to come back without pay. FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said he is trying to pinpoint the most essential inspections while making sure that employees do not suffer too much.
FWIW - FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb is a rare bird. A qualified Trump appointee. Must have been some clerical screw-up during the transition. FWIW2 - Tom Carper and Chris Coons know full well, that Mitch McConnell is in charge of keeping this shutdown going, and yet they have done fuck all to draw any attention to that fact.

Open Thread – Trump’s TV Show Ratings Sucked

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To be honest, I don't know how Trump's address did in terms of TV ratings. I suspect he bombed. I didn't watch. Did any of you? Apparently, it was terrible. His eyes were squinty and his expression flat.
The words, which often sounded more like a speechwriter’s than Trump’s own, were delivered with such slow and deliberate articulation that comic Seth MacFarlane tweeted that the 9-something-minute address “had the cadence of a Wheel of Fortune contestant solving the puzzle.”

Coons Sides with Trump on “See Through” Border Wall During Fox & Friends Segment

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Coons gotta Coons.
Coons (D-Del.), in an interview with Fox News's "Fox & Friends," urged the president to stick with his proposal, made to Democrats over the weekend alongside additional funding for other needs at the southern border. The lawmaker called the idea “a minor but important difference in technology,” with the caveat that Trump has at times been inconsistent in his demands and rhetoric on the issue.

Someone is writing tweets for a comatose Tom Carper

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How do I know it isn't Carper? Well, for starters, it isn't 30,000 words. It makes sense and hangs together. It supports Sen. Chris Van Hollen's call to stymie other Senate business until Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reopens the government. It treats Trump and McConnell as adversaries, not mildly confused friends. In short, this tweet has no Tom Carper DNA on it.
.@ChrisVanHollen is right. It can't be business as usual in Congress until @realDonaldTrump does his job and our government is reopened. Ending the #TrumpShutdown -- which is hurting American families and putting our national security at risk -- must be our priority.

Doddering Tom Carper on why Doddering Joe Biden Should Be Prez

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Carper thinks Biden would be a good President because he gets along with Mitch McConnell. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?! Carper thinks that is what America is clamoring for? Carper thinks THAT is what will make the next President effective? You mean like the time Biden got McConnell to vote on the Merrick Garland nomination? Or maybe Carper is remembering the time Biden got McConnell to vote on reopening the government. I mean JESUS! Can Carper really be this stupid? Except.. yes. Carper could be that stupid.