President Biden makes a new friend during a visit to Children’s National Hospital. pic.twitter.com/37gC6Qpmbg
— The Recount (@therecount) December 20, 2024
December 21, 2024
A right jolly old elf.
"[Quathisha] Epps recently made headlines as the NYPD’s top earner, pulling in a whopping $400,000 — including roughly $204,000 in overtime alone last year for her administrative job...."
"In September 1970, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, in a speech in Las Vegas, warned that drug use was threatening 'to sap our national strength'..."
December 20, 2024
Afternoon in the lakeshore forest.
"When the going got rough, I tried to imagine that I was one of those big inflatable toys of the cartoon figures Baby Huey or Casper the Friendly Ghost."
Wrote Bill Clinton, quoted in "In ‘Citizen,’ Bill Clinton gives his side of the story/The former president’s memoir aims to set the record straight, with varying results" (WaPo).
"Mr. Romney didn’t accomplish everything he had hoped. He says his biggest regret is failing to stabilize the national debt..."
From "'What would Mitt Romney do?' His fight is still worth waging. Mitt Romney took courageous stands on principle, but he also passed a lot into law" by The Editorial Board of The Washington Post.
"What was the Lie of the Year?"
Meade asked me just now, referring to the annual designation that appears in PolitiFact.
I thought for a moment, then said: "Joe Biden is sharp as a tack."
Meade said he thought PolitiFact would pick "They're eating the pets."
Hearing that, I agreed. Because PolitiFact would want to go against Trump, not Biden. And because "They're eating the pets" was such an extravagant and wild statement. It was interesting to talk about the instant Trump said it. But "Joe Biden is sharp as a tack" was much more of a lie. Because it was believed. For a long time. And it was completely momentous. It prevented a normal primary process for the Democrats and left them, in the end, with a candidate who couldn't win.
I looked it up. PolitiFact made its Lie of the Year announcement 3 days ago. We hadn't noticed. Here: "'They’re eating the pets'/Trump, Vance earn PolitiFact’s Lie of the Year for claims about Haitians."
PolitiFact, which for 16 years has issued a year-end lie of the year report, keenly understands that when emotions collide with facts, emotions often prevail. To wit: Trump increased his voter support in Clark County, Ohio, which includes Springfield, this year above what he garnered in his 2016 and 2020 campaigns....
Speaking of garnering... the brilliant song made from Trump's "pet" bit has garnered over 14 million views:
"A decade ago, cultural norms in elite American institutions took a sharply illiberal turn."
Writes Jonathan Chait, in "How Liberal America Came to Its Senses/The period of left-wing illiberalism that began about a decade ago seems to have drawn to a close. The final cause of death was the reelection of Donald Trump" (The Alantic).
"Quick story about govt. shutdowns and the theatrics behind them. One year when I was reporting at CBS News during a govt. shutdown..."
December 19, 2024
Sunrise — 7:29, 7:48.
"Presidential staff formed a tight shell around Biden, 82, right after he took office amid the COVID-19 pandemic...."
From "White House aides hid Biden’s apparent mental decline from Day 1 of his presidency, explosive report reveals" (NY Post).
"You’re not actually finished until you do read poetry on the weekends for fun."
All of that was in an r/bobdylan discussion of this new clip of Timothée Chalamet, getting (too far?) into his impersonation of Bob Dylan:
Welcome to the Church of Bob, Timmy. 🙏🏻🎶❤️
— Melanie Young 🔧 (@FreewheelinMY) December 18, 2024
pic.twitter.com/g7N7S9DfBk
Perhaps they are lying in wait.
"The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress... Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk... think about it ..."
Tweets Rand Paul.
It's probably a terrible idea but it's funny to think about it.