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.

Trump’s Lies Bury Oddsmaker

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The online oddsmakers at Bookmaker.eu demonstrated they're not well versed in American, or at least Trumpian, political rhetoric. They set their over-under on how many lies Trump would tell in…

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.”