February 1, 2017

Tillerson confirmed by the Senate, 56 to 43

The Democrats who voted yes were Mark Warner, Heidi Heitkamp, and Joe Manchin.

The NYT writes:
The many votes against Mr. Tillerson’s confirmation made his selection among the most contentious for a secretary of state in recent history, and he takes his post just as many traditional American allies are questioning the policies of President Trump. In the past 50 years, the most contentious confirmations for secretary of state were those of Condoleezza Rice in 2005, who passed by a vote of 85 to 13, and Henry Kissinger in 1973, who was confirmed 78 to 7.
I wonder how many people take this "contentiousness" seriously as anything about Tillerson as opposed to Democratic Senators dedicated to obstructing Trump.

There's also the news that Jeff Sessions has been approved by the Judiciary Committee:
The action came on a straight party-line vote, with 11 Republicans supporting their former colleague from Alabama and nine Democrats opposing him.
There was some byplay in the committee as Senator Franken attacked fellow committee member Ted Cruz when Cruz was out of the room. Cruz's co-Texan John Cornyn objected Franken's "disparaging a fellow member of the committee here in his absence," and Franken said, "Well, he should be here — first of all — and, secondly, he disparaged me." Cornyn said if Franken wanted to disparage Cruz he ought to "do it to his face," and though Senator Grassley tried to break up the fight, Franken, as the NYT put it "went right on talking — with Mr. Cruz at the center of his attacks."

I'd like to see the video. I really doubt if Democrats are winning any new fans here. If the idea is to make us feel that Trump is the lout, they've got to refrain from looking loutish.

AND: Hey, remember "Lout Rampage"?



ADDED: Ah, here's the video of Franken:



Cornyn succeeded in breaking up Franken's written presentation and drawing out Franken's irascibility. Franken had elaborate prepared remarks that included talking about Cruz and didn't want to vary from them. I don't think he knew Cruz wouldn't be there.

165 comments:

Achilles said...

After 2018 there will be many fewer democrat senators. They will be just as toothless and because there are 30 red states it will be a mostly permanent situation.

If we get a sensible voter ID bill passed we may be down to 38 of these worthless curs by 2018.

n.n said...

A moment of truth, Democrats. You're on the other side.

A moment of truth, Republicans. Good luck!

rehajm said...

Mnuchin and Price advanced to the floor.

Trump on his way to an undisclosed location on Marine One. Hope its for more winning!

bleh said...

I can sort of understand the contentiousness of judicial confirmations since they concern a separate branch of government (and lifetime appointments). But shouldn't the president generally be given deference when it comes to staffing the executive branch? Are Democrats saying they will only support Democratic appointees in the Trump administration? What is it about Sessions and Tillerson that they find disqualifying?

Nonapod said...

Franken's always seemed like a relatively insecure person to me. I seem to recall Al Franken left SNL (after being there for almost 2 decades) because Lorne gave the Weekend Update spot to Norm MacDonald instead of him.

Basil Duke said...

Franken demonstrates that he's a coward as well as a fraud. The left is collectively losing what's left of its brain, and the spectacle is delicious.

Gk1 said...

All the democrats in my life think this is all perfectably acceptable as they remember "the republicans had obstructed every single thing Obama tried to do". *Sigh* This is the new normal.

bleh said...

Maybe this is payback for the contentiousness of Loretta Lynch's nomination. I don't really understand why the Republicans, almost all of whom rubber-stamped Obama's other appointments (Clinton, Kerry, etc.), decided to put up a fight against Lynch.

Bob Loblaw said...

I wonder how many people take this "contentiousness" seriously as anything about Tillerson as opposed to Democratic Senators dedicated to obstructing Trump.

I'll bet I can count them on one hand.

rehajm said...

Update: Trump to Dover for the return of Ryan Owens.

Wilbur said...

That guy pictured on the comic book cover looks like Don Mossi. It helps to know who Don Mossi is.

Bob Loblaw said...

Republicans, almost all of whom rubber-stamped Obama's other appointments (Clinton, Kerry, etc.), decided to put up a fight against Lynch.

They were doing their jobs. Lynch was uniquely horrible as AG. Well, she would have been, anyway, if not for Holder.

Basil Duke said...

GK 1, ask them to name three things that Obama wanted but didn't get because of the Republicans' mythical resistance.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

There's never a tomorrow for the Left, is there? Incredible that they don't see how this will come back on them in the future.

Balfegor said...

I think I've mentioned this before, but one of the ironies here is that if you step back a moment, ignore the media's characterisation of the facts, and look at what has actually happened here, Trump's process so far has actually been a lot smoother than Obama's. Remember, Obama had three cabinet nominations that he had to withdraw:

Judd Gregg (Commerce)
Bill Richardson (Commerce)
Tom Daschle (HHS)

And then there were a bunch of lower level appointments that ran into trouble, even though the Senate was controlled by his own party, but those are comparatively minor. Of course, the game isn't over yet -- Trump may yet have to withdraw a nominee. But he's also been helped considerably by the Democrats' (in retrospect) gobsmackingly idiotic decision in 2013 to abolish the filibuster for most nominations.

Thanks Obama!
(haha)

Tommy Duncan said...

Senator Franken attacked fellow committee member Ted Cruz when Cruz was out of the room.

Al Franken is my Senator by virtue of a car trunk full of ballots. Voter fraud thy name is "Franken".

Wince said...

Not that I'm surprised, but when did Velma from Scooby Doo have the sex change operation?

She... I mean, he's aged horribly.

khematite said...

There are 52 Republicans, so three Democratic senators (Warner, Heitcamp, Manchin) only got Tillerson to 55. It needs to be noted that Angus King of Maine, nominally an independent, but caucusing with the Democrats, also voted to confirm Tillerson. In effect, four Democratic senators voted for Tillerson.

Todd said...

Basil Duke said... [hush]​[hide comment]
GK 1, ask them to name three things that Obama wanted but didn't get because of the Republicans' mythical resistance.

2/1/17, 2:39 PM


Easy!

1) Free wind power from unicorn farts.

2) More profit from underwear gnomes.

3) World peace ("I always like to say a prayer and drink to world peace.").

Todd said...

Balfegor said...

I think I've mentioned this before, but one of the ironies here is that if you step back a moment, ignore the media's characterization of the facts, and look at what has actually happened here, Trump's process so far has actually been a lot smoother than Obama's.

2/1/17, 2:40 PM


Correct me (please) if I am wrong on this but I also don't think any of Trump's selections have failed to pay their taxes (unlike some of Obama's picks).

The Bergall said...

Politics is giving money a bad name..............

Larry J said...

Basil Duke said...
Franken demonstrates that he's a coward as well as a fraud.


Senator Al Franken (D-Vote Fraud) makes me long for the days when these sorts of disputes were handled by dueling pistols at sunrise.

Anonymous said...

"Correct me (please) if I am wrong on this but I also don't think any of Trump's selections have failed to pay their taxes (unlike some of Obama's picks)."

Just like Trump paid his taxes.

Christy said...

DeVos has lost Collins and Murkowski. One more and she fails. Were they released to vote against her because leadership knew they had 51 with Pence? Cutting it close if so. Scary how powerful the teacher's unions are.

Michael K said...

But shouldn't the president generally be given deference when it comes to staffing the executive branch?

Bush, because of the animosity from the 2000 recount, had his appointments held up almost until 9/11. Rumsfeld had very few appointees in place before summer. It contributed to the intelligence failure of 9/11.

By the way, the SEALs raid in Yemen may have been betrayed. The al Qeada compound was ready for them. A bunch of shooting stations were taken by women.

I wonder who would betray Trump's first attack on radical Islam ?

I'm Full of Soup said...

Democrats are born louts so kinda hard for them to appear or act non-loutish. And don't get me wrong, Congressional Repubs are not much better.

Earnest Prole said...

When Senate Republicans turned their backs on Obama's Supreme Court nominee, it was understood to be nothing personal, just business. Why would it be any different for Democrats? They're all just doing their jobs.

Alex said...

Schumer can cry his phony tears, but all of Trump's cabinet will be confirmed. He'll get his SCOTUS pick confirmed. He'll get his agenda passed and GOP will increase their Senate majority in 2018.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Obama actually had to withdraw his very first hire. That was Jim Johnson who Obama chose to oversee Obama's VP search. He lasted maybe a day or two before he resigned.

Thuglawlibrarian said...

It is similar in the Baseball Hall of Fame. A lot of people make a big deal of first time ballot Hall of Famer. It isn't like the plaque says "first ballot." Bottom line, if you are in then you are in.

Thuglawlibrarian said...

After this week, almost every Trump nominee will be opposed for the next four or eight years. For the "resistance", it is total war. Those D senators in red states that are up for reelection will be sitting out these acts of resistance and kind of given a pass.

Sebastian said...

"The left is collectively losing what's left of its brain" Franken didn't have much to lose.

Clark said...

Usually the inanity of senators' speeches in committee hearings makes sense when you realize that it is theatre playing directly to constituents. This Franken speech seems to me to be a failure viewed from any standpoint whatsoever. I didn't realize that he was this much of a moron.

Gusty Winds said...

The Senate is a cluster fuck. I understand it is set up so the the wheels of gov't turn slowly.

But the shit they spew just seems so petty when there are so many issues to deal with and solve. I don't see how Schumer and Franken gain ground in the next two years.

The more you put the US Senate on TV the worse they look. The upcoming Gorsuch hearings with these types of performances are going to look terrible.

I'll also say, maybe Franken is right. Maybe Cruz did disparage him. But Franken looks so pissed off and angry. When Cruz does the same he looks like he's having fun.

GRW3 said...

Well, at least the pre-printed signs at tonight's spontaneous protest in Foggy Bottom won't be so obviously preplanned. I'm hoping Project Veritas is scoping out the sign business and can find a way to substitute something more creative for the rent-a-mob.

Basil Duke said...

Franken's testicle wrap is as barren as Harry Reid's. It'll be to the latter grifter's eternal shame that he bravely stood in the well of the senate (thereby providing himself immunity from having his ass sued) and lied like the lying liar that he is about Mitten Romney's taxes. It was said that Andrew Jackson had absorbed so much dueling lead that he rattled when he walked. The modern Democrat just squishes when he oozes from his lair - a pile of boil-stippled organs slopping about in a gunny sack with no back bone. A pox on them all!

Freder Frederson said...

Democratic Senators dedicated to obstructing Trump.

I don't recall that you ever showed much concern about Republican Senators dedicated to obstructing Obama.

Bob Ellison said...

I side with Franken on this one. Cornyn said Franken's remarks ("Senator Cruz...misrepresented what happened") were "untoward".

Good God, man, did you ever have a real fight, anywhere? Are you Senators really the namby-pambies that you pretend to be? Let the man speak. Let him call Cruz a needle-nosed prick if he wants. I think Cruz can take it. The Senate apparently cannot.

Rusty said...

Terri said...
"Correct me (please) if I am wrong on this but I also don't think any of Trump's selections have failed to pay their taxes (unlike some of Obama's picks)."

Just like Trump paid his taxes.


He did. There is no question he paid his taxes.

Gabriel said...

@Freder:I don't recall that you ever showed much concern about Republican Senators dedicated to obstructing Obama

That's why Sotomayor and Kagan aren't on the Supreme Court, is it? Republican obstruction?

wendybar said...

I just have to say, as a reluctant President Trump voter...This has been the best couple of weeks!!! It has been so much fun watching the meltdown on the left, because they just KNEW Hillary was going to win, and are despondent that she didn't! I am loving the little temper tantrums, and riots because it is turning middle America, and moderates away from the craziness!! Keep it up lefties!! Watching the news now is so much better than anything Hollywood is spewing out!!

Gabriel said...

@Terri:Just like Trump paid his taxes

He sure did: all he was legally obligated to.

What extra percentage of your income do you donate to the Federal government after you pay your taxes?

Gabriel said...

@Terri: Do you even check off the $3 to the Presidential Election fund?

Bay Area Guy said...

Glad Tillerson got confirmed. Looking forward to Sessions and Pruitt.

I don't think the Dems fully appreciate how powerless they are to prevent the massive steamroller bearing down on them.

Big Mike said...

Manchin's vote is not a surprise -- he's the most moderate Democrat in the Senate by a considerable margin. Heitkamp is no surprise -- a Democrat in a deep red state up for reelection in 2018. Warner and Kaine are surprises. Warner won't be up for reelection until 2020 but Kaine's up to bat in less than two years. I think that Warner has a better instinct for this state than his smarmy colleague.

Rick said...

This is reminiscent of the Wisconsin Fleebagger incident. Apparently that worked so well the nationals adopted the plan.

Dems Boycott Committee Hearing

PB said...

But he's good enough, he's smart enough, and gosh-darned, people like him. Senator Stuart Smalley.

I can't wait for some fellow senator for "accidentally" refer to him as that.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

How about Senator Grassley's sweater? Classy!

buwaya said...

"I don't recall that you ever showed much concern about Republican Senators dedicated to obstructing Obama."

The interesting thing about Obama was that his worst obstruction problems, when he had majorities, came from Democratic Senators, not Republican ones.

Jon said...

Wilbur - are you referring to the Don Mossi that was a relief pitcher for the Cleveland Indians many years ago (50s? 60s?)? Where is Ray Narleski when you meed him...

Big Mike said...

@Terri, if we're going to talk taxes, let's talk Tim Geithner. Nominated for Secretary of the Treasury, got caught cheating on his taxes. Hot confirmed anyway after blaming TurboTax for being too hard to use. Sort of a metaphor for the Obama years; a Secretary of the Treasury too dumb to use TurboTax successfully.

As for Trump, I hope he made gazillions of dollars and paid zero in taxes. The present tax code is riddled with ridiculous loop holes and maybe something like that would motivate an overdue tax simplification effort.

Jon said...

Whoops! "need", not "meed" - with apologies to a fellow poster!

mockturtle said...

I wonder how many people take this "contentiousness" seriously

I wonder how many people take the NYT seriously.

Rick said...

Freder Frederson said...
I don't recall that you ever showed much concern about Republican Senators dedicated to obstructing Obama.


I remember the left calling it un-American.

Michael K said...

I don't recall that you ever showed much concern about Republican Senators dedicated to obstructing Obama.

Maybe because their obstruction was voting against Democrats' bills like Obamacare and passing bills Obama vetoed.

Obama's trouble with nominations came from Democrats.

Field Marshall Freder again.

Drago said...

Rick: "I remember the left calling it un-American."

Dude, George Stephalopofus asserted that failure to vote for Billy Clintons first budget submittal was un-American.

That's how full of bs the left is and always has been.

Bay Area Guy said...

I watched the Franken video. What a loudmouth schmuck. Totally detached from reality and the purpose of the hearing - to vote on Sessions.

clint said...

"Basil Duke said...
GK 1, ask them to name three things that Obama wanted but didn't get because of the Republicans' mythical resistance.

2/1/17, 2:39 PM"

I'm pretty sure I'm not "them" -- but I can think of at least three.

Off the top of my head, two of his cabinet nominations failed in the Senate (Bill Richardson for Secretary of Commerce and Tom Daschle for Secretary of Health and Human Services.) Arguably Judd Gregg might count as a third, but that's a much more complicated case.

For a third, his gun control bill was a non-starter. I mostly remember that because of President Obama's childish public tantrum saying that Republican legislators knew his bill would save lives but they valued their NRA support more than the lives of children.

clint said...

"Bay Area Guy said...
Glad Tillerson got confirmed. Looking forward to Sessions and Pruitt.

I don't think the Dems fully appreciate how powerless they are to prevent the massive steamroller bearing down on them."

They know. They wouldn't be nearly this shrill if they felt like they were in control.

Chuck said...

Ann of course the Democrats are not making any new friends. They are sucking up to all of their old friends. And dependents.

n.n said...

The exquisite optics of Republicans as Daisies rising from the Democratic nuclear option.

mezzrow said...

re: Don Mossi...

You're right, but Mossi had better control.

Michael K said...

two of his cabinet nominations failed in the Senate (Bill Richardson for Secretary of Commerce and Tom Daschle for Secretary of Health and Human Services.)

Can I assume you know that the Democrats, not the Republicans were in the majority then ?

I want to see DeVos nomination come to the Senate floor before Sessions so he can vote for her.

Collins and Murkowsky are off the reservation.

Etienne said...

I think the people in Congress (both houses) have lost a major skill, and don't understand the power of siding with the majority.

As they go out and get the votes, these Senators used to say "I'll vote for you if you vote for me."

Just wait and see what they traded for. You won't be shocked.

Anyway, thank God Kerry is gone. He was basically living in Paris 5-star hotels on the taxpayers dime.

Maybe he can become friends again with his rich wife.

damikesc said...

The Dems desire to upend all political norms is going to be unpleasant. Once you destroy societal norms, they don't get rebuilt easily.

Bay Area Guy said...

Warner, Manchin & Heitkamp - Red State Dems - gotta love 'em. They should get used to voting Yes a lot before they are voted out of office.

MayBee said...

clint-
Bill Richardson's name was withdrawn before he went to a vote. He was under investigation for a scandal in New Mexico at the time, although that never came to fruition. Eventually Obama nominated Gary Locke.

For whatever reason, the Podesta emails also made it clear there was some sort of longstanding feud between Richardson and the Clintons.

Etienne said...

Michael K said...By the way, the SEALs raid in Yemen may have been betrayed.

I doubt it. I think they chose the wrong aircraft to conduct their mission.

"If you crash your aircraft on the front lawn, you will have a bad day." - Seal commenting on the Bin Laden raid into Pakistan.

MayBee said...

Judd Gregg also withdrew his own name.

Mark said...

After 2018 there will be many fewer democrat senators. They will be just as toothless

Not only them, but McCain, his little buddy Lindsey, Collins, Murkowski, et al., and their usual "gang of" power grabs will no longer be able to play their extortion game of threatening to derail a majority if everyone doesn't do things their way.

Gk1 said...

Basil Duke, I was not a fan of obama and thought he looked for trouble by baiting the republicans at every opportunity. But I would say the republicans did what any out of power party would do in 2009-2012 and had opposed many of Obama's appointments and proposals just like the democrats are doing now. The only democratic support he can hope to get this term is from people in red states running for their lives.

Steve said...

I really misjudged Al Franken, I assumed that based on his work at SNL he was intelligent and well spoken. Shhesh, that was painful to listen to. He seems semi-literate.

I am looking forward to Cruz'z response.

grackle said...


Just like Trump paid his taxes

I wonder … has the IRS finished their audit yet? And … will they audit Trump’s taxes next year as they have done for the last several years?

But enough comedy …

If there was a legal way to not pay taxes and Trump’s tax people did not take it I would be extremely disappointed in Trump as a business owner. Never pay taxes unnecessarily. There’s an obligation to the business, the employees and to his family to make sound business decisions.

On another subject:

I wonder how many people take the NYT seriously.

Trump is creating a credibility vacuum. With the destruction of the MSM’s credibility during the last election Trump has eliminated from serious consideration within an impressively short time what had been the main source of news and opinion for most politically oriented Americans.

People who follow politics are turning to alternative sources, mainly a variety of internet news, opinion and culture blogs and entities such as Facebook and Twitter.

But that is a very diverse and diffused group. The memes and messages are a pack of sometimes competing narratives.

The one unified messenger: Trump’s Twitter account and the bully pulpit in the Whitehouse. Step right into that vacuum, President Trump, America is all ears and watching intently.

MayBee said...

Steve said...
I really misjudged Al Franken, I assumed that based on his work at SNL he was intelligent and well spoken. Shhesh, that was painful to listen to. He seems semi-literate.


I've said on here a few times that I wonder if there is something wrong with Franken. He gets lost in his own words.

Michael K said...


I think the people in Congress (both houses) have lost a major skill, and don't understand the power of siding with the majority.


I think it is all about fund raising now. The Democrats are responding to the looney tunes billionaires who fund them.

I understand Steyer is going into another area of trollishness.

There is a pretty good argument (I can't recall where I read it) that McCain Finegold wrecked Congressional work ethic. The Congressmen spend all their time "dialing for dollars" and the staff do the work. The results speak for themselves.

Comanche Voter said...

Dang---here Senator Franken is deviating from the party line of the day---Franken says Cruz "should be here". But over at the Committee headed by Orin Hatch, all the Democrats decided to boycott the meeting so--they hoped--two of Trumps nominees couldn't be voted out. It ultimately didn't work.


Bud didn't Franken get the memo? Since when should a Senator actually be at a committee meeting. Some clueless schmuck always fails to get the memo. Franken, I'm looking at you.

Etienne said...

I don't mean to be glib, but isn't Sessions considered a swamp rat?

You can't drain the swamp if he's the drain plug.

MathMom said...

Franken is looking rather sallow. I think he is ill.

David said...

"I really doubt if Democrats are winning any new fans here."

They are very good at playing to their base though.

David53 said...

I misread the tags.

Tags: Al Franken, Daniel Clowes, Democratic Party in Trumpland, Jeff Sessions, John Cornyn, Senate, Tillerson

What I first saw was Tags: Al Franken, Daniel Clowns.......

I think my subconscious associates Al Franken with clowns.

Clyde said...

Franken: He's not good enough, he's not smart enough, and doggone it, people don't like him.

ganderson said...

Wilbur, from The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubblegum Book:

"(Ray) Narleski and (Don) Mossi always reminded me of two small-town undertakers who, having found the world at large a particularly cold and hardhearted place to do business in, have banded together in a desperate and distrustful partnership for the purposes of mutual self-preservation. Narleski with his sly little-boy grin and the darting, fishy eyes of the small-time criminal handles the customer relations, and Mossi with his loving-cup ears and the dark hulking presence of one newly dead or resurrected does all the dirty work."

Seeing Red said...

Collins and Murkowski not voting for the vagina?

Good thing I'm not in their states.

Seeing Red said...

The MN State a House actually went redder in 2016.

The great prog state. Go figure.

Seeing Red said...

I've thought for a long time we needed a woman-only kill squad to take care of the other side.

Clean hands.

Tommy Duncan said...

MayBee said: I've said on here a few times that I wonder if there is something wrong with Franken. He gets lost in his own words.

Franken was a marginal actor pretending to be a SNL comedian. His staff handles the thinking and writes his lines. Al just has to read them out loud. He finds the reading part difficult.

As a Minnesota resident I have found Franken to be the classic Hobbesian man: "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short"

Seeing Red said...

Terri, once again, is no expert.

MA used to have a higher state tax for those who wanted to pay more.

Oddly enuf, IIRC, the Baaaa-ston Brahmin was not a trend-setter.

(Some of) the Kennedys may not have been, either.

Kathryn51 said...

Michael K said...

Can I assume you know that the Democrats, not the Republicans were in the majority then ?

Correct me if I am wrong, but in 2009, didn't the Dem's have a 60 vote majority so they could overcome any filibuster? I know that at some point Ted Kennedy died (bless his sick soul), but that was much later in 2009.

Very interesting that Trump has been hammered because he didn't start vetting a potential cabinet back last summer (like Hillary and Obama before her), and yet when the time came, Obama had to pull THREE of his cabinet nominations because of various "scandals".

clint said...

"Michael K said...
two of his cabinet nominations failed in the Senate (Bill Richardson for Secretary of Commerce and Tom Daschle for Secretary of Health and Human Services.)

Can I assume you know that the Democrats, not the Republicans were in the majority then ?"

Yep. But with 41 Republican Senators and the Reid Rule not yet in effect, the GOP *could* have filibustered any of the nominations.

But fair enough.

Keep the gun control bill and toss in several foreign agreements that President Obama would really have liked the Senate to ratify -- like the Paris Climate Pact and TPP.

There are definitely at least three items where Congressional Republicans blocked President Obama's agenda -- and rightly so. The whole notion that the job of the Congress is to rubber stamp the President's will is nutty from the start.

Amadeus 48 said...

Dead Senators walking: Donnally, IN; McCaskill, MO; Brown, OH; Casey, PA; Tester, MT

AllenS said...

Watch Franken in these hearings. He's reading off of a prepared script written "for" him. The possibility that he researched any of this shit is impossible. It's not what unfunny comedians do.

readering said...

Personally, I want to see all Trump's cabinet nominees confirmed ASAP so the WH is not running everything. But there's no denying that Tillerson was controversial and probably would not have been nominated in the pre-nuclear era.

HT said...

I'd like to see the video. I really doubt if Democrats are winning any new fans here. If the idea is to make us feel that Trump is the lout, they've got to refrain from looking loutish.

These aren't normal times when the strategy is to make the other one look loutish. That's a hope, but that's not what this is about, not that I can say exactly what it's about, except it's way beyond loutishness. Any day now, I expect someone to cane someone else on either the floor of the senate or the house, not sure which. It's coming to that. (You lie! was a definite ingredient.)

Again, all the conflict seems to be bottled up high in the House and Senate, and online. How are flesh and blood humans doing with each other, in person and in real time?

Wilbur said...

Bill James did a small essay in his first Baseball Historical Abstract on how ugly Don Mossi was. It's worth the search.

If you Google Don Mossi, the images are startling.

Bob Loblaw said...

Correct me if I am wrong, but in 2009, didn't the Dem's have a 60 vote majority so they could overcome any filibuster? I know that at some point Ted Kennedy died (bless his sick soul), but that was much later in 2009.

Yes, that was the reason there was so much drama over ACA. After the Senate version passed but before the final bill was voted on Kennedy died and was replaced by Scott Brown. The Democrats had to play procedural games with reconcilliation to get it through.

Big Mike said...

I'm glad Tillerson made it, and Mattis, and Sessions seems a lock. But if we're ever going to give inner city children a decent education so that they can jobs besides selling drugs and prostitution, we have to have De Vos.

wildswan said...

Obama refused to work with the legislature and this changed the political culture. So comparisons with the past don't tell us much except that the system of the past is broken. In the evolving system of the future Trump is the most effective player, not only because he understands Media-Now but also because the critique that he is an autocrat is so misplaced. He is appointing very good people, not a feature of autocracies, and doing traditional things like honoring soldiers. Strong subordinates and tradition limit personal power. And he is jabbing at the media which whines like an old elevator as it rises to every tweet. This is just music to the ears of Trump voters and probably many others as well. Not, of course, to the sort of people who wrap their brains in their pussy hat.

Fabi said...

I never thought I'd get to enjoy Orrin Hatch synchronizing his watch, donning sunglasses and a helmet, and yelling "Ramming speed!"

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Wilbur said...
Bill James did a small essay in his first Baseball Historical Abstract on how ugly Don Mossi was. It's worth the search."

Poor Don Mossi. He's still alive. He had a 3.43 lifetime ERA, which is respectable, although not great. A decent pitcher and what is he remembered for? Being ugly.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Clint,
There is also the issue of all the bills that Reid refused to take to the floor for a vote.

Laslo Spatula said...

Whores Who Have Serviced Al Franken (Excerpts):

Denise, age 24.

I gotta admit, I didn’t know what an Al Franken was. I looked him up on Wiki and saw that he used to be on Saturday Night Live back when it had all those old people on it. I’m so glad I was born in the Nineties and people had to be good-looking to be on TV…

I show up at his hotel room, and he welcomes me in while trying to make a joke. Something about whether it was still a ‘Call Girl” if you only Texted. Ha Ha. Old white people and their jokes, shit…

He tells me that — uh — I don’t really look like Melania. Yeah, that. I tell him that when someone asks for a girl who looks like the First Lady they still send me as Michelle Obama. They gotta update that, though there weren’t really many of those calls, anyway, and the guys that DID want her always wanted to be fucked in the ass by a strap-on-cock. Again: white people…

So I ask him what he wants, and he starts stammering, but he does start to take off his clothes. Fuck, the dude is pasty! Then he says “I am a Celebrity. I normally can get any girl I want, but this is easier.”

Sure, dude. Fuck, in his best Hollywood days he probably could only fuck chicks that played the Fat Girl in Eighties movies. And then only if he had cocaine to share…

I ask what he wants, but he starts to act even more nervous: I don’t know if his cock is smaller than it is soft, or softer than it is small…

“I…uh…never fucked an African-American before,” he says, staring down at the carpet.

“There’s a first time for everything, honey,” I say.

“Uh…being black: does your pussy, like, smell funny?”

“What the fuck do you mean by that?” I say.

“It’s just something I heard around, like, Minnesota, I think.”

“Well, you in D.C. now,” I say: “It’s about time you stuck your taffy in some chocolate.”

He stammers some more, and I realize he ain’t ever gonna get it up tonight: some white people are so afraid of blacks they can’t even do the simple shit like fucking…

“Maybe we could watch some TV, instead. I brought a DVD of my old clips from SNL…”

“How ‘bout I just call and get you a white girl,” I say.

“Uh…yeah. That would be nice,” he says, sitting on the edge of the bed, cleaning his glasses.

“Sure,” I say, packing my shit back in my bag and pulling out my iPhone.

“And could it be a white girl who looks really, really young?” He says. “It’s easier for me when they’re really young.”

Fucking old white people. I put in a call for Tabitha, the little blonde chick who looks like she’s twelve, when he asks:

“Can she bring, like, lollipops…?”

Oh yeah: I’m outta there…

I am Laslo.

Laslo Spatula said...

Whores Who Have Serviced Al Franken (Excerpts):

Rachel, age 31.

I go up to the hotel room my Service sent me to and fucking Al Franken opens the door!

Fuck!

I LOVED “It’s Pat!” back in the day…

He welcomes me with some joke about Call Girls and texting, I really wasn’t listening because it really wasn’t funny. But — shit — I remember seeing reruns of “It’s Pat!” on old SNL shows on Comedy Central. Fuck, it was funny: you could never tell if Al Franken was a boy or a girl…

“You’re Pat!” I say, setting my purse on the hotel chair.

“Uh… I’m Al,” he says, smiling sheepishly.

“Oh, I know: AL,” I say, nodding. “But you were REALLY funny as Pat!”

“Pat? He says, pushing his glasses up his nose.

“Yeah, Pat! No one could tell if you were male or female. You rocked!”

“Uh… That wasn’t me,” he says, shaking his head.

“Yeah, yeah: I know it wasn’t you-you, it was just a character you played — but it was the Bomb!”

“Uh… I didn’t play Pat. That was another actor.”

“Really?”

“Uh… Yeah.”

“Because Pat looked a LOT like you.”

“No, no… I’m not Pat. I’m just Al. I’m a Senator.”

“Sorry,” I said, but I think he could tell my disappointment: I tried to suck his shrivelled cock but he couldn’t get it up…

“Uh, no offense, but I asked for a ‘young girl’…

“I get it,” I say. Fucking old white guy: he wants Tabitha, the little blonde bitch who looks like she’s twelve.

“I’ll call the Service,” I say.

“And can she wear, like, pigtails?” He asks.

“It’s your money,” I say, leaving. What an asshole, but Damn I thought he was ‘Pat’…

I am Laslo.

Comanche Voter said...

Laslo you magnificent bastard! Nailed Franken to a T---or is that a wee wee?

walter said...

"I'm good enough. I'm smart enough. And hookers blow me."

richard mcenroe said...

If Franken is carrying your water... you ain't got no water.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

No hooker would touch that thang. Not enough money.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

It's typical Republican stuff. The commenters here do it all the time. One of them attacks someone, and then the rest of them pile on the person defending himself and call him out of line/out of order. If Republicans were in charge of America during 1941 they'd talk about how wrong it was for America to attack Japan. They have no patience for looking at cause-and-effect and just prefer to go after whomever it's most convenient for them to go after.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I think my subconscious associates Al Franken with clowns.

Well, he does know how to get laughs. His antagonists and opponents however only get groans.

Even Ted Cruz's daughter thinks he's a creep. She instinctively recoils from him.

Republicans tend to have more reptilian qualities. Maybe that's why Alex Jones types go on about "lizard people."

walter said...

Depends on what the meaning of "It's" is..

walter said...

Ted Cruz's daughter thinks Franken's a creep?
Slow down, CC. Yer spinning into a jumble..

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

You know what I mean. Come on, we don't have to play grammarian games here.

Laslo Spatula said...

Whores Who Have Serviced Al Franken (Excerpts):

Bissy, age 22.

I go up to the hotel room my Service sent me to and a curly-haired guy with glasses opens the door.

“Hi, I’m Al,” he says. Then he makes some stupid joke about texting Call Girls: I get it — you are so old you didn’t even have a Cell Phone when you were young…

“I’m Bissy,” I say, taking off my red plastic coat. “Are you Jewish?”

“Uh… what?” He says, wrinkling his nose.

“Because you look Jewish,” I say.

“Is my being Jewish a problem?” he says, sucking in his gut.

“Of course not,” I say. “ I LIKE Jewish guys. Everytime I fuck a Jewish Guy I feel like I made the Holocaust a little less bad.”

“That’s… nice of you,” he says.

“Yeah. I don’t get why people hate the Jews. I mean, they haggle over my price and don’t leave a tip, but other than that they’re pretty okay in my book.”

“You know,” he says, “that’s a stereotype.”

“That’s a stereotype?” I ask. “How much does my service charge for anal?”

“Uh… four hundred dollars.”

“And what did you say you’d pay?”

“Three-thirty-five.”

“And are you going to leave me a tip?”

“Uh…”

“Look,” I said: “don’t be one of those Jews that gives the Holocaust a bad name, alright?”

“Ummm… Maybe we could just watch some TV, instead. I brought a DVD of my old clips from SNL…”

“SNL? Do you know Adam Sandler? He ALWAYS pays Full Price for anal. AND he leaves a tip.”

“Maybe we should just call this a night…”

“Uh… maybe you can have your Service send, like, a young girl?”

“Young girl? You mean Tabitha, right? Skinny little bitch who looks like she’s twelve?”

Uh… That sounds good, thank you.”

“Fine,” I say as I leave. I mean, the Holocaust sucks and everything, but I sure get tired of old Jewish men…

I am Laslo.

walter said...

Yes, CC.
I know what you mean in the grammarian sense.
But it's still a jumble..non-sequitirs.

Francisco D said...

Laslo,

You are one crazy, funny SOB. I have to remind myself not to read your posts when I am drinking coffee in the morning or bourbon in the evening.

Laslo Spatula said...

"Come on, we don't have to play grammarian games here."

No Grammarian, just Gramscianism.

Grammar is so Pre-Post-Modern.

I am Laslo.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Sorry.

Michael K said...

If Republicans were in charge of America during 1941 they'd talk about how wrong it was for America to attack Japan. <

So, I see we have another Field Marshall.

walter said...

Laslo, I know it's hooker speak..butt..wouldn't Al be "giving the holocaust a GOOD name"?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I see we have a Dr. Mengele.

Big Mike said...

@Commander, you are a crank trying to give Republicans the shaft. Won't work.

JML said...

He seemed a bit inebriated to me. And the "Shame, Shame, Shame" reminded me of the Game of Thorns. That did not end well for the people shouting "shame...shame...shame..."

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

@Commander, you are a crank trying to give Republicans the shaft. Won't work.

Big Mike is an antisocial misanthrope trying to defend the Republican program of giving the public the shaft. Won't work.

No matter how tightly they glom onto the loudmouth egomaniac that gave them a Hail Mary pass into office one last time.

There is no needed agenda here. Just Trump's favors and loyalty and hatred and sloppy EOs that he has to backtrack on before he abandons more allies.

Birkel said...

Laslo:
Why no mention of the male hookers who serviced Franken?

Birkel said...

"Rhythm and Balls" has been drinking again. Heavily. Prepare for poorly constructed insults.

Jupiter said...

Michael K said...

"So, I see we have another Field Marshall."

Yeah, it's like Napoleon's Grand Armee. Every corporal has a baton in his backpack. And a pussy hat he puts on sideways.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

And a pussy hat he puts on sideways.

It's better than your high and tight haircut. I like to watch the way it gets knocked around, though. Nice for laughs.

jeff said...

"If Republicans were in charge of America during 1941 they'd talk about how wrong it was for America to attack Japan. They have no patience for looking at cause-and-effect and just prefer to go after whomever it's most convenient for them to go after." Recent events seem to indicate that the Republicans would be loading up to attack Japan while the Democrats would be massing in the shipyards, protesting America's arming to attack a country in which many citizens never even flew over Hawaii and frankly the ones that did attack only did so because of America's reckless foreign policy and "we're all Japanese now", and policies that restrict Japan's military from landing on American soil are totally Un-American and NOT WHO WE ARE!

walter said...

Pearl Harbor attack would be a karmic retribution.."Well..ya know..we___"

Known Unknown said...

"Franken was a marginal actor pretending to be a SNL comedian. "

To be fair to Franken, he was a lead writer on SNL for quite some time.

cold pizza said...

So, after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the US retaliated by invading..... North Africa? WTH? -CP

steve uhr said...

Franken is a funny guy and a hardworking senator respected by most of his colleagues. Cruz is the opposite of funny ( ignoring his looks) and hated by many in his own party.

walter said...

Respect of colleagues is important..

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Spencer is scum, but speaking of vids taken at protests, I do believe we have located Ritmo's dream woman:

https://twitter.com/Fasdrak/status/824567464998699008/video/1

Ladies and gentlemen, that's the modern American Left.

Quaestor said...

From the pages of EIGHTBALL — America's favorite comic magazine

Daniel Clowes would have to be an exceptionally inept cartoonist to waste his best joke on the cover.

Quaestor said...

To be fair to Franken, he was a lead writer on SNL for quite some time.

He did the proofreading.

Achilles said...

Commander Crankshaft said...

It's better than your high and tight haircut. I like to watch the way it gets knocked around, though. Nice for laughs.

I love watching lefties get into mobs and cowardly attacking people. I get this tingly sense of anticipation. That guy threw a pathetic sucker punch. The guy that got hit might have a swollen ear at most. The sucker puncher is probably one of the bravest and most capable among you too.

Oh I look forward to the day you people come out from your little urban bubbles.

Earnest Prole said...

There is also the issue of all the bills that Reid refused to take to the floor for a vote.

Regardless of party, if the Senate president isn’t refusing to take bills to the floor for a vote, he isn’t doing his job.

Jon Ericson said...

Earnest Prole:

Could you please elaborate a bit on your comment?
Sounds odd.
I need education on this point.

TIA.

SweatBee said...

I only ever hear that as "Angus, King of Maine"

Jon Ericson said...

CC: You were a barrel of laffs last night, so it's all good.

BJM said...

I wonder how many people take the NYT seriously.

The left takes the NYT as seriously as a heart attack. The Times is a mirror of the NYC culture, which has, and will continue to change. Pre-Internet news media bias was subtler, now openingly declaring bias is de rigueur for media outlets on both sides of the political divide. It's not a new phenomenon. Newspapers in the 19th and early 20th century were viciously partisan.

Jon Ericson said...

cold pizza said...
So, after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the US retaliated by invading..... North Africa? WTH? -CP


Idiot, the Nazis bombed pearl harbor.

BJM said...

to be fair to Franken, he was a lead writer on SNL for quite some time.

Yeah, he wasn't all that funny in performance then either. I think he was much better writer than performer...which may explain his ream of paper and painful delivery today.

SukieTawdry said...

Al Franken has one of those faces you just wanna punch. And then he opens his mouth. It's a kick, though, hearing him talk about voter fraud.

I'm real interested to see how Tillerson works out. Perhaps he'll start a whole new trend in secretaries of state. We could use a new trend.

SukieTawdry said...

The left takes the NYT as seriously as a heart attack.

Reading the comments there is an education in itself.

SukieTawdry said...

I don't mean to be glib, but isn't Sessions considered a swamp rat?

He's never been a "normal" Senator. There are some career politicians that are worth a bucket of piss. Sessions may be one of them.

Jon Ericson said...

It's Groundhog Day!

I got you babe!

Gahrie said...

Idiot, the Nazis bombed pearl harbor.

Much of my philosophy of life comes from that movie......one of my favorite brags is that i have actually attended a toga party that had Otis Day as a live performer.....

Jon Ericson said...

I gave my love a cherry...

Bob Loblaw said...

Oh I look forward to the day you people come out from your little urban bubbles.

The reason the leftists are freaking out is they realize people on the right are starting to play by their rules. Punching back twice as hard, you could say.

Jon Ericson said...

What state does cranklube call home?

Anonymous said...

Democrats seem to have put themselves in a no-win position for the time being. If they don't make a show of opposing Trump on everything, including the routine, their base is going to jump all over them. But when they do, they make fools of themselves to most of the rest of the country.

This was was the danger in going so over the top on the Trump bashing. The Democrats convinced so many people that Trump is a pre-Hitler clear and present danger even before he ever took office, it closes off the possibility of compromising or working with him. But as long as Trump governs in a populist manner that the majority of the public supports, the Democrats are in the position of having to oppose popular positions, which doesn't help their electoral prospects.

I know Bush got tons of hatred tossed his way, but the Trump stuff makes Bush hatred look like pre-school. Already have 3 co-workers variously complaining he's a disaster, a monster, and needs to drop dead, and politics was usually not a big topic around the office during the Obama years.

Earnest Prole said...

Jon Ericson:

On the one hand, you know American movies well enough to link to a great one. On the other hand, you find American Politics 101 “odd.” Are you sure you’re not a Swedish exchange student?

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"I love watching lefties get into mobs and cowardly attacking people"

The rioters were out in force shitting their own nest in Berkeley last night because gay libertarian Milo was going to give a speech on how stupid the whole notion of cultural appropriation is. We can't have that! The leftist brownshirts prevented people from hearing heretical thoughts by smashing up shit (including, ironically, Starbucks) and dragging people out of cars to beat them. This, in the home of the Free Speech Movement.

Leftists are very brave when it comes to gathering in mobs and attacking people and breaking stuff in blue cities. As I've said before though, they never seem to go out and attack the deplorables where they actually live. Why break the windows of a Berkeley Starbucks and loot it when everyone who works there probably voted for Hill or Bernie? Why don't they head out to Plano Texas and try dragging MAGA hat wearers out of their pickups? C'mon, tough guys. Step up your game.

ceowens said...

Where the hell is Tabitha?

Drago said...

CC: "It's better than your high and tight haircut."

The high and tight is the standard haircut for US Marines and many others in other branches.

HJA said...

Yeah, I remember Lout Rampage! And Lloyd Llewhatever, and a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, and even "OK Cola." You have a Daniel Clowes tag? Glorioski!

Rance Fasoldt said...

Berkeley was never about Free Speech. It was the "Free Swear Words" movement. They always behaved like Brownshirts, even then.

Jon Ericson said...

Sorry, I get confused with all those negatives negating other negatives.

if the Senate president isn’t refusing to take bills to the floor for a vote, he isn’t doing his job.

if the Senate president does take bills to the floor for a vote, he isn’t doing his job.

Why is taking bills to the floor considered slacking off?

Ja, my english is bad.

3john2 said...

"Then he should be here."

Like all the Democrats that boycotted the hearings.

Earnest Prole said...

Fair enough -- I was responding to a commenter using the grammar of his comment. The principle is that the Senate majority leader exercises the greatest power not by marshaling votes for or against bills, but by preventing bills from being considered in the first place -- murdering them before they even make it to the crib, to use a Republican metaphor. The Democratic Party relearned this lesson with the Merrick Garland nomination.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Oh I look forward to the day you people come out from your little urban bubbles.

Sorry. The economy, respect for culture and goodwill is much richer here.

But it's nice of you to defend the Nazi. Punching people is bad. Being a Nazi is horrible. America lost about a half million lives having to fight to defend against a Nazi takeover of the world. Horrible. It sucked. So punching them became an American tradition, apparently.

There are norms in every country. In America, being anti-Nazi is kind of one of them. An important part. This guy agitates against that. I find it laughably unlikely that he didn't see what was coming to him. He says laws are insufficient at meeting the appeal of our deepest, ethno-nationalistic needs. I say laws are insufficient at keeping a decent society from desperately wanting to punch a loudmouth Nazi in the face when he last saw it coming. Some things just can't be contained, apparently. Richard Spencer should know that better than anybody. They're the ones that want to eliminate others. We're the ones that will fight to the death against implementing such an atrocious regime. Some things can't be contained, apparently.

And how ironic, given your Russian puppet's campaigning on his urge to punch people in the face. We all know how indifferent your side is to violence.

I'd say don't make me laugh. But this is even funnier: http://gothamist.com/2017/02/01/nazi_punching_film_fest.php

Enjoy

Jon Ericson said...

Earnest Prole:
Got it,
Thanks.

Jon Ericson said...

School House Rock for a refresher.

Lost My Cookies said...

So that's "Minnesota Nice". Noted