Open Thread
DL Open Thread Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023
Another day, another failed attempt to elect a Speaker of the House. Contestant No. 3 lasted just four hours, not even long enough to be doxxed by MAGA World, so Republicans are going to try again today with Mike Johnson – if that’s his real name – of Louisiana. Given their proclivities, I expect them […]
DL Open Thread Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023
Handicapping the Speaker Stakes? Now there are only eight entrants as Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania has scratched himself from the race. Meuser, who represents a big slice of the state’s northern hinterlands west of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, begged off due to other commitments, namely leading the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania. Meuser said he spoke […]
DL Open Thread Monday, Oct. 23, 2023
Anyone who’s raised children recognizes Donald Trump as an overgrown toddler. The lies he tells are the sort of incompetent falsehoods even small children outgrow. After his attorney Sidney Powell pleaded guilty to election mopery, Trump claimed – and apparently expects people to believe – “Ms. Powell was not my attorney, and never was.” I […]
DL Open Thread: Sunday, October 22,2023
Pharoah And DeSantis: Separated At Birth? What do they have in common?–plagues. Hurricanes, floods, seaweed encrusted beaches, pythons who like to feast on elderly Palm Beach matrons, collapsing buildings, epidemics. And now, flesh-eating bacteria: A study published this week found that Hurricane Ian led to a spike in cases of vibriosis, a life-threatening illness caused […]
DL Open Thread: Saturday, October 21, 2023
FINALLY, Aid Trucks Make Their Way Into Gaza. Not nearly enough, though…: A convoy of 20 trucks carrying aid moved through the Rafah border crossing into Gaza from Egypt on Saturday, according to the United Nations, after days of diplomatic wrangling to get food, water and medicine into the blockaded enclave where supplies were running […]
DL Open Thread: Friday, October 20, 2023
How Jim Jordan Broke The Mold And Broke The Rethuglican Caucus. Interesting analysis from Josh Marshall: The congressional party is controlled and run by the hard right minority variously called the Tea Party or Freedom Caucus. But they are a bit too hot for national public consumption. They also rely on the idea that their […]
DL Open Thread: Thursday, October 19, 2023
I think that President Biden’s trip to Israel was inspirational and substantive. He has genuine empathy, and he demonstrated it both on a one-to-one basis, and in his attempts to get the parties to cool down. It looks like he’s had some success–securing an agreement to get supplies to Palestinians through Egypt, and getting Israel […]
DL Open Thread Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023
The hospital bombing in Gaza has convinced his handlers that Joe Biden won’t meet with Arab leaders in Jordan on his Middle East trip today. I’m not sure how yet, but the media is sure to conclude this is bad news for Biden. The Previous Guy, meanwhile, is bad news for everyone he comes into […]
DL Open Thread Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023
The media news-scape is cluttered with war porn, but not so much that it pushed the Trump porn out of the picture. Horse-race stories about the House speakership round out the only news that fits. The big Middle East news is that Joe Biden will travel to Israel and Jordan on Wednesday. He’ll probably find […]
DL Open Thread Monday, Oct. 16, 2023
Whatever you think about the latest Israeli-Palestinian conflict, you have to admit that U.S. media picks and chooses its obsessions, and that dwelling on those stories stirs the deranged to action. Which is how you end up with a landlord stabbing a Palestinian woman’s 6-year-old child to death in that hotbed of ethnic strife that […]
DL Open Thread: Sunday, October 15, 2023
Louisiana Goes Full-On Right-Wing Crazy. Guess I won’t be visiting N’Awlins soon: Jeff Landry, the Louisiana attorney general and a hard-line conservative, trounced a crowded field of candidates on Saturday to become the state’s next governor, cementing Republican control of Louisiana after eight years of divided government. Mr. Landry, a brash conservative who repeatedly fought […]
DL Open Thread: Friday, October 13, 2023
Scalise Boomlet Crashes. Looks like Jordan is up next. We can only hope that his candidacy suffers the same fate: The fractious Republican conference has rejected a second speaker hopeful in eight days — this time, Kevin McCarthy’s longtime heir apparent, Steve Scalise. While Republicans appear to be turning next to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), […]
DL Open Thread: Thursday, October 12, 2023
Best Thing Dubya Ever Said: Word. Just remember this before you demand to know ‘Whose side are you on?’ That kind of intimidation says a lot more about the intimidator than about the intimidated. End of lecture. If there is one redeeming feature about the Israel/Hamas War, it’s that Donald Trump has not been on […]
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