१३ जानेवारी, २०२२

"You could not invent a better advertisement for the legislative filibuster than what we’re just seeing, a president abandoning rational persuasion for pure, pure demagoguery."

"A president shouting that 52 senators and millions of Americans are racist unless he gets whatever he wants is proving exactly why the framers built the Senate to check his power." 


I didn't watch Biden's speech — I can read the transcript — but I did overhear it, and I said out loud, What is he yelling about? Why is he scolding us? He's using a ridiculous "tough guy" voice. 

You can criticize me for not attending to the substance, but he wasn't trying to use substance. He was using emotive sound effects. It was like a Trump rally — but no. A Trump rally would have humor and fun. 

And I don't think Trump ever relied on the argument that you're a racist if you don't agree with him. The anti-Trump rejoinder: Trump never called his opponents racists, because his between-the-lines message was always come all you racists and follow me. 

९२ टिप्पण्या:

BUMBLE BEE म्हणाले...

ALL IN ALL It's Just A...
https://generaldispatch.whatfinger.com/biden-getting-scared-deep-state-scared-america-is-watching-and-fed-up-new-white-house-construction-concrete-wall-underway-as-diggers-arrive-and-marine-one-takes-biden-out-of-town/
Cue the Barry McGuire Tune.

gilbar म्हणाले...

Why is he scolding us? He's using a ridiculous "tough guy" voice.

serious question: did Trump, Ever, yell at us?
I think Trump Loved us

exhelodrvr1 म्हणाले...

Yes, because it is impossible for Democrats to be racist/anti-Semitic/etc.

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"What is he yelling about?

Raaaacism.

"Why is he scolding us?"

We're not getting with the prog program fast enough.

"his between-the-lines message was always come all you racists and follow me."

Which was very "divisive."

hawkeyedjb म्हणाले...

"Racist" is the word a politician uses when he has no argument, and little intellect. It signals that the speaker should simply be tuned out, disregarded. Turn your back and pay no further attention.

John henry म्हणाले...

President Joe Biden: (35:37)
Do you want to be on then the side of Dr. King(Republican, reportedly) or George Wallace(Democrat)? Do you want to be on the side of John Lewis or Bull Connor(Democrats)? Do you want to be the side of Abraham Lincoln(Republican) or Jefferson Davis?(Democrat)

Affiliations added.

I can understand why someone who is willing to speak at a segregated school (separate and unequal) would seemingly be on the side of Wallace, Connor and Davis.

I don't think it is right for the President of the United States, though.

I don't think he should be celebrating segregated schools. He should be working to integrate or abolish them.

I wonder if Spelman has a diversity outreach program, recruiting white and other non-black students?

John Henry

mezzrow म्हणाले...

The pressure of the job seems to be having an effect on our President.

To be sure, he's just reading the script he was handed but I detect the hint of flop sweat creeping into the effort. We're seeing massaged poll numbers on his approval. Imagine what he's seeing if he's getting the truth.

It's a lot to ask from a man of his age. Still, it's hard to accept being called a racist by my own President. Let's see if we just get used to it and go on with our business.

Temujin म्हणाले...

Biden is a disgrace. To the Presidency. To the Senate. And those surrounding him, propping him up, deciding national domestic and foreign policy under the guise that they serve the President, are all a disgraceful, corrupt bunch.

Trump has an abnormal personality. But his accomplishments- every one of them- were toward the betterment of the entire US, with a goal toward strengthening the country and making all of our lives better.

This administration and before them, the Obama administration looks at the US citizenry as the enemy, and acts accordingly.

The gap between them and Trump could not be more pronounced.

Kai Akker म्हणाले...

Grandpa Simpson

Kevin म्हणाले...

Old President Yells at Clouds

David Begley म्हणाले...

I heard Marco Rubio’s floor speech on this issue. Remarkable.

I met Marco twice on the campaign trail in Iowa. Super smart, articulate and charismatic.

gilbar म्हणाले...

Remember one speech Jo Biden gave? The about about how...
Now where were we, oh ya. The important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn’t have white onions because if the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones.”

Tom T. म्हणाले...

McConnell should know by now not to speak in public. He's terrible at it, and his skills lie elsewhere. Designate someone with more natural camera appeal and articulation to take point on this issue.

Jersey Fled म्हणाले...

Biden is and always was a truly vile person. If you disagree, go back and look at his performance during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings. I recommend the documentary "Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words" for insight into who Biden is, and even more importantly, who Clarence Thomas is.

Temujin म्हणाले...

Two very good responses were from Sens. Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio.

Tom Cotton
Marco Rubio

Jeff Weimer म्हणाले...

@Tom T - Sometimes you need the caucus leader to state the party's position instead of using surrogates, no matter how relatively poorly he preforms. It removes any doubt about the official position.

What's emanating from your penumbra म्हणाले...

Fine. We're all racists. Yawn. They got literally nuthin.

It's kinda funny. They aren't talking to me. They know that guilt ship has sailed. They're calling Democrats and left-leaning independents racists. For who else do you think they think that argument has any chance of success? And not the Ds who already support their policy -- they don't need convincing -- only the Ds who aren't already on board. You hesitant Ds are racists!!!11!

There are two possible outcomes of such ugly demagoguery. Either people will be cowed into doing what you ask even though they had already determined that it was bad policy (or were waiting to be convinced on the merits), or they'll get offended and move away from you. Bring on more of that circular firing squad rhetoric.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

Well, Althouse, you once accused me of being a racist because I’m a Republican, and it is (or was then) part of your belief system that all Republicans are racists. Now it’s you who is being accused of racism, for no better reason than the color of your skin. Shoe’s on your foot now. Ha! Remember those times you gave black law students the grade they earned instead of an ‘A’ because they were black? You stinkin’ white racist!

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"What is he yelling about? Why is he scolding us?"

33% approval rating.

zipity म्हणाले...


"because his between-the-lines message was always come all you racists and follow me."

Boy Ann, you must have better hearing than I do. I never got the impression that Trump was appealing to "racists" at any time.

Jaq म्हणाले...

33% approval, and waiting in the wings to take is job is Ms 28%.

exhelodrvr1 म्हणाले...

zipity,
SHe was saying that that would be the response from the other side.

Jaq म्हणाले...

He could easily raise his approval by dropping BBB and the Elect Democrats Forever act and firing Fauci.

Jaq म्हणाले...

I think that their plan of ramrodding their agenda through, with Biden as a sacrificial wadding, wasn't really thought through all of the way. Like my fracking third guess on wordle today.

Mike (MJB Wolf) म्हणाले...

Biden appears to be uniting the country against his crappy vote-stealing “John Lewis Act” minstrel show. Why take the show to GA when Delaware has more “suppressive” voting laws? The only reason his Klain-brain chose GA was to co-opt Abrams issue and use her to amplify his message. Ha!

Howard म्हणाले...

With lopsided approval numbers like that, no one can deny Joebiden is uniting the nation.

iowan2 म्हणाले...

You can criticize me for not attending to the substance, but he wasn't trying to use substance.

This is the chorus for all the Democrat messaging.
Democrats loose every single debate of substance.
Lets talk about elections. But we can't. Confining the debate to facts is not emotive. I have asked repeatedly for examples of the specific voting laws restricting voting. No debate. Only the same talking points. That somehow POC are incapable of figuring out how to acquire a govt issued photo ID. I'm not saying POC are stupid...Democrats are. Some how, 24 hour voting is the only way to serve POC. Three weeks of early voting is racist, but 4 weeks is not.
Yes emotional appeals (based on lies) is all the Democrats have.

Caroline म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Caroline म्हणाले...

Thanks, @Temujin, I needed that.

Mike of Snoqualmie म्हणाले...

Democrat politicians are barbarians. They push policies that undermine civil society, that weaken our mutual bonds. The arc of civil rights laws have been to increase the definition of what "us" means to be all Americans. In the 60s "us" were separate camps of whites vs. blacks. Now "us" means a union of whites, blacks, asains, hispanics, etc. Now, Democrats push Critical Race Theory that splits us back into separate camps. Hence, weakening the bonds of civility.

The other thing Democrats have done to weaken our mutual bonds is the unfettered surge of illegal immigrants and their push to ramp up election fraud via their so-called voting rights legislation.

Barbarians.

Andrew म्हणाले...

Tulsi Gabbard had this to say:
"Hillary’s calling tens of millions of Americans deplorables was divisive & disgusting. But Biden has gone further, calling those who disagree with his actions & policies domestic enemies, traitors, and racists. Biden promised to unite us, but he is doing all he can do divide us."

https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1481467050027466752?s=20

Andrew म्हणाले...

Tulsi Gabbard had this to say:
"Hillary’s calling tens of millions of Americans deplorables was divisive & disgusting. But Biden has gone further, calling those who disagree with his actions & policies domestic enemies, traitors, and racists. Biden promised to unite us, but he is doing all he can do divide us."

https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1481467050027466752?s=20

Maynard म्हणाले...

"Racist" is the word a politician uses when he has no argument, and little intellect. It signals that the speaker should simply be tuned out, disregarded. Turn your back and pay no further attention.

Excellent advice. I learned that about 30 years ago when working with White liberals who assumed that those who did not share their views were racist. The use of the "R" term has only become less meaningful over the past decades.

Actually its true meaning is "I don't have an argument, so I am going to shut you up by calling you a racist".

TJ म्हणाले...

The anti-Trump rejoinder statement seems incomplete without using "dog whistle" anywhere.

Achilles म्हणाले...

David Begley said...

I heard Marco Rubio’s floor speech on this issue. Remarkable.

I met Marco twice on the campaign trail in Iowa. Super smart, articulate and charismatic.


And completely on the other side.

If you fall for Rubio's garbage now after how many years of his lies there is no hope for you.

The Stupid Party is so named for a reason. They never DO anything. The Republicans in DC want HR1 too, they just know that will trigger a real insurrection.

If they don't get their HR1 this time they will get it in 4 or 8 years on the next try.

And they will probably have Rubio join a "Group of 10" this time. If they use another "gang of 8" it might wake a few of you up.

Achilles म्हणाले...

Temujin said...

Two very good responses were from Sens. Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio.

Tom Cotton
Marco Rubio



They are so articulate and well spoken!

What did those 2 do when it counted?

Tom Cotton:

“Last summer, as insurrection gripped the streets, I called to send in the troops if necessary to restore order. Today, insurrectionists occupied our Capitol. Fortunately, the Capitol Police and other law-enforcement agencies restored order without the need for federal troops. But the principle remains the same: no quarter for insurrectionists. Those who attacked the Capitol today should face the full extent of federal law.


It’s past time for the president to accept the results of the election, quit misleading the American people, and repudiate mob violence. And the senators and representatives who fanned the flames by encouraging the president and leading their supporters to believe that their objections could reverse the election results should withdraw those objections. In any event, the Congress will complete its constitutional responsibilities tonight.”

Achilles म्हणाले...

Lets look at what Marco Rubio had to say:

Just minutes after the attack of January 6th began I said it was not only unpatriotic, it was un-American.

I do not need to be convinced that what happened on that day was the disgraceful work of a treasonous criminal mob.

But seeing images of that attack stirred up anger in me.

Anger that our nation was embarrassed in the eyes of the world by our own citizens.

Anger that Capitol Police officers that my family and I know personally had to deal with these low-lives.



Keep felating these douche bags.

The Republicans in DC are worse than the democrats.

They might hate you. But they are well spoken when it doesn't count!

Browndog म्हणाले...

I had thought after 2009 most people came to the realization there was no way to not be racist, became desensitized and apathetic, and moved on-

Guess not.

Pro tip: If you have white skin you are racist, will always be racist, no matter how tenacious you are defending your honor.

StoughtonSconnie म्हणाले...

From a political perspective, the tone-deafness is breathtaking. This is on par with "basket of deplorables" and "I won". Didn't surprise me in the slightest, as this language is common parlance in Madison. This is what happens when you live in a bubble. A healthy polity requires that you assume that your opponents approach comes from a place of good faith. Most of the left have lost their ability to do this due to never being challenged in ANY environment.

From a governance perspective, defining your political foes as "domestic enemies", and linking them to traitors (the Confederacy), terrorists (9/11) and hostile foreign military (Pearl Harbor) is an extremely dangerous slope. This line of thinking can lead you to believe that no lever of State power, including military force, is off limits. Granted, Biden and Harris are less competent than your average toddler, but ask yourself whether you believe these two came up with this on their own, or are just reading lines written by the powers-behind-the-throne, who may be tone-deaf but who have the full weight of the State supporting them.

Achilles म्हणाले...

Caroline said...

Thanks, @Temujin, I needed that.


This post perfectly highlights the goals and the net effect of the Republican Party.

Gahrie म्हणाले...

The anti-Trump rejoinder: Trump never called his opponents racists, because his between-the-lines message was always come all you racists and follow me.

Excuse me? Which party takes the position that a person's race is important and should be taken into consideration constantly, and which party takes the position that race doesn't matter and that everyone should be treated equally?

Lem Vibe Bandit म्हणाले...

The filibuster exists because majorities are not always "right", bottom line.

Here is how Peter Thiel put it. Link to video

Leland म्हणाले...

Read through part of the transcript. I couldn't do the whole thing because it is mostly a continuation of the lie that about the changes to election laws that Georgia passed last year. The changes that clarify early voting times and provides for greater opportunity to vote at a person's convenience than Colorado or New York. Oh, Biden added that the legislation gave itself power to remove election officials that violate the law. Um, that's what Biden wants to do at the federal level, so how is that a winning argument for his preferred legislation?

Even on substance, it is a bad speech.

John henry म्हणाले...

The senate has a tradition, and I think a rule, of "unlimited debate". As I understand it, any senator or group of senators can speak on a bill (or other issue) for as long as they want. As long as they are speaking, nothing else can happen.

It didn't used to have to be a single senator. Democrat senators spoke in turns continuously for 63 consecutive days trying to stop the civil rights bill.

It doesn't have to be germane. In the civil rights filibuster (or perhaps another) Senator Robert Byrd (KKK-WV) read recipes.

Initially, there was no cloture or any other way to stop the filibuster. At some point in the 1800s cloture was introduced allowing 75% of senators to stop debate. This was reduced to 66% and later to the current 60%.

I like the idea of a filibuster. I think it is essential to the Senate being "the saucer that cools the coffee" as Madison(?) said in the Federalist papers. I think it should go back to 66 or even 75% to break one.

What I do not understand is how we got to the present state where no actual filibuster is required.

Why is unlimited debate no longer required? Why can simply saying "we are filibustering" without actually doing it permitted?

I remember that Caro in his Master of the Senate had a lengthy and interesting discussion of the filibuster. I do not recall him explaining the current non-filibuster filibuster.

John LGBTQBNY Henry

Danno म्हणाले...

Jersey Fled said..."Biden is and always was a truly vile person. If you disagree, go back and look at his performance during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings. I recommend the documentary "Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words" for insight into who Biden is, and even more importantly, who Clarence Thomas is."

As I remember, Brandon was the chief architect of a high-tech lynching.

Wilbur म्हणाले...

It's the same question I've asked of Leftists for years: Can you identify one, just one, qualified voter who is prevented from voting by a voter ID law, or any other anti-fraud measure?

I'm still waiting.

Because it's obviously not about that. They're het up about this because they know they can't win without massive voter fraud in mail-in voting and general vote harvesting.

And they know we know.

hawkeyedjb म्हणाले...

"...somehow POC are incapable of figuring out how to acquire a govt issued photo ID."

The reason Democrats want to get rid of ID for voting but not for riding on airplanes is that they can't abide sitting next to black people. It's been that way since Rosa Parks infuriated Democrats in Montgomery.

Change my mind.

Jake म्हणाले...

Anyone else think the time of day he gave the speech was odd? Like, the morning is when dementia patients are at their best, perhaps?

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

"What I do not understand is how we got to the present state where no actual filibuster is required."

I don't think anything materially changed- the leader of the Senate can still make a senator really filibuster a bill. In the past, the Senate could always withdraw a bill from consideration at any point during a filibuster, thus moving forward with other business. I think the custom has simply changed over time because the quorum rules in the Constitution greatly favor the filibusterers. You can make a filibuster talk all week, for example, but then you have to keep a quorum literally in the Senate for that week, too, else a motion to adjourn for lack of a quorum will be entered.

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

If the filibuster were as sacred as Republicans now say it is, they wouldn’t have dumped it for Supreme Court nominations. I guarantee y’all will be siding with Donald Trump against Mitch McConnell on junking the filibuster when Republicans control the Senate and the White House in 2025.

Notwithstanding all that, I’m astounded by how politically incompetent Joe Biden has proved to be. He was elected President precisely because he was willing and able to ignore the twitter mob during the primaries and the general election, but then he dumped that successful strategy the moment he entered the White House. Now he’s focused solely on appeasing the unappeasable left half of his party, a strategy guaranteed to produce approval ratings in the twenties.

Achilles म्हणाले...


There is a reason we do not have voter ID requirements.

The reason we don't have Voter ID requirements is REPUBLICANS.

This is overwhelmingly desired by the people of the country. The purpose of the Republican Party is to make awesome speeches and pretend like they are trying and then make sure that Voter ID never happens anywhere that it matters.

narciso म्हणाले...

um didn't senator clean face dump the filibuster for nominations, now back on your head

mikee म्हणाले...

"his between-the-lines message was always come all you racists and follow me."

What rot. Utter rot. Trump's explicit message was that every vote for him was, well, a vote for him, and your personal beliefs didn't matter because he, Trump, explicitly proposed a clear program of action for his administration. That program led by TRUMP was what you were voting for, whether you were a wokescold San Francisco techie, a mere prog, an antedeluvian mysoginist racist hick, urban or rural, POC or pale, male, female, androgynous or on the autism spectrum.

Trump's message was NOT about his voters, beyond his love for them all. And it wasn't about his opposition, beyond his disdain for them all. Trump's message was about his proposals for the country, the way to be president, and why the present government was in severe need of an overhaul. Pretty darn explicit, and honi soit qui mal y pense.

Sydney म्हणाले...

I said out loud, What is he yelling about? Why is he scolding us? He's using a ridiculous "tough guy" voice.

Does Joe “shove my rosary beads down his throat” Biden have any other voice? He’s always been an arrogant blowhard. I can’t believe he was elected President. Everything people claimed to fear about Trump is alive and real in Joe Biden. That guy should never be let near any kind of power.

Ice Nine म्हणाले...

Yelling seems to be what emblematizes toughness for the simpleton Biden. The 'tough guy' fantasy has long lived in the Cornpop slayer's empty head. As someone who, over the years, has successfully gone quite a few actual rounds with supposed tough guys, my more primitive impulses have often led me to think of how very pleasurable it would be to test Joe on that. Guess that would get me in trouble these days...

CWJ म्हणाले...

Someday, I'll miss all the "unity" of the Biden administration as much as the "racial healing" of the Obama years.

CWJ म्हणाले...

I agree with Althouse's supposition as to what the opposition's rejoinder would be. However, what a stark contrast that one side's divisiveness is explicit while the other's is implicit if it exists at all.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

The speech was a disgrace...even worse than his usual doggerel...

If I wasn't so jaded I would be shocked at a POTUS calling half the country racists.

Every R politician in every interview should remind the country that every single act of slavery and racism was a core principal of the Democrat Party.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

"If the filibuster were as sacred as Republicans now say it is, they wouldn’t have dumped it for Supreme Court nominations."

Uh, you have the history basically wrong there, Prole. Sure, Republicans extended the exemption for SCOTUS nominees, but it was the Democrats who started exempting court confirmations. What do you expect the Republicans to do- play by unfair rules? Yes, if the Democrats nuke the filibuster here, then, yes, I will support Republicans following the new rule regardless of how I feel about the practice itself (I have written it here before- I don't support the filibuster- I think it should be abolished by the Senate).

Gerda Sprinchorn म्हणाले...

I thought we were going to get beyond all this when I voted for Obama. But no. Its all race all the time now.

Discouraging.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Joe probably didn't really win the primary.
Recall all the canceled primaries? It's laughable to me that people believe the whole concocted "Joe will bring us together" bullcrap.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

'Does Joe “shove my rosary beads down his throat” Biden have any other voice? He’s always been an arrogant blowhard.'

'Yelling seems to be what emblematizes toughness for the simpleton Biden. The 'tough guy' fantasy has long lived in the Cornpop slayer's empty head.'

He's a senile Uncle Rico with a mean streak.

'Why, I bet I could throw this football right over those mountains...'

What's emanating from your penumbra म्हणाले...

Sydney said...

Does Joe “shove my rosary beads down his throat” Biden have any other voice?

Wow there's one I hadn't heard, so I had to look for the origins. Eventually I came across Snopes, and knowing how reliable they are, I clicked through.

According to Snopes, it's "either accurate or inaccurate." Thanks Snopes!

It's perhaps inaccurate, they say, because apparently some people have claimed that he said he would shove his rosary beads up Republicans' asses. Which is not true.

Snopes goes on to tell us that the accurate quote ("down their throat") is no biggie because the phrase "shove down your throat" originated with doctors administering medicine to people who didn't like the taste, because the doctor knew what was good for them.

So Joe was just trying to be helpful. Republicans are incapable of showing gratitude.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

BTW, I cannot be the only person who is fed up with Joe Biden’s gratuitous lies. He says he was once a truck driver. Any proof of that? He claimed to have visited the Tree of Life synagogue after a nut case murdered 11 Jewish worshippers. The rabbi says that it never happened. Now he says he was arrested at a demonstration for Civil Rights. The Washington Post investigated, and concludes that he is embellishing (to put it mildly!) an incident where he was in high school and he and some of his football teammates went to a food counter in the late 1950s. The counter man refused to serve a black teammate, and the white members of the team, including Joe, walked out. Good on them, and good on him, but that incident scarcely amounts to a major Civil Rights demonstration. He was in college in the early 1960s so he could have participated in important demonstrations, but there is no evidence he did so and if he was arrested while participating in a demonstration, where is the arrest record?

Oh! I forgot. That’s just “Joe being Joe” and we’re supposed to overlook the gratuitous lies. Ah, I don’t think so. Because it’s not just that he lies, but that he lies when he doesn’t even have to.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

While Hunter Biden and Drudge live large, Millions of ordinary Americans are suffering.

But I'm glad Hunter is doing OK. *whew*

Hammond X. Gritzkofe म्हणाले...

Bully pulpit

Achilles म्हणाले...

Earnest Prole said...

If the filibuster were as sacred as Republicans now say it is, they wouldn’t have dumped it for Supreme Court nominations. I guarantee y’all will be siding with Donald Trump against Mitch McConnell on junking the filibuster when Republicans control the Senate and the White House in 2025.


Prole is correct.

Republicans in DC are completely spineless and without any constant principles.

They make people who support them look silly time and time again.

And they are constantly betraying you.

And notice the only thing they ever succeed in doing is keeping the filibuster in place.

Except when they need to get a Judge on the court that can't actually read the constitution like Kavanaugh or Barret.

Achilles म्हणाले...

Can Of Cheese for Hunter said...

Joe probably didn't really win the primary.
Recall all the canceled primaries? It's laughable to me that people believe the whole concocted "Joe will bring us together" bullcrap.


Well, you believe Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio so why wouldn't they expect you to believe Joe Biden?

Mike (MJB Wolf) म्हणाले...

Joe, who won the Iowa primary? When did they figure it out?

Richard Dillman म्हणाले...

Here is a passage from Abraham Lincoln's "Temperance Address" delivered in 1842 that is germane to Biden's alienating rant in
Georgia. Citation to Scott Johnson on "Powerline" yesterday.

"When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, persuasion, kind, unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. It is an old and a true maxim, that a “drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall.” So with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what he will, is the great highroad to his reason, and which, when once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing his judgment of the justice of your cause, if indeed that cause really be a just one. On the contrary, assume to dictate to his judgment, or to command his action, or to mark him as one to be shunned and despised, and he will retreat within himself, close all the avenues to his head and his heart; and though your cause be naked truth itself, transformed to the heaviest lance, harder than steel, and sharper than steel can be made, and though you throw it with more than Herculean force and precision, you shall be no more be able to pierce him, than to penetrate the hard shell of a tortoise with a rye straw."

Mike (MJB Wolf) म्हणाले...

Republicans pounced: "they wouldn’t have dumped it for Supreme Court nominations"

Uh huh. SCOTUS nominations used to enjoy bipartisan support with few exceptions. Democrats changed that: see Joe Biden lie about Justice Thomas! SCOTUS nominations used to be off-limits for filibustering. Democrats changed that and tried to filibuster Trump's nominees in a sharp break with 200+ years of tradition. So I see why a smallbrain like Earnie would devolve to formulating this history as a Republicans Pounce story. It elides the truth and hides the guilt of the very Chuck Schumer is arguing with the old Chuck Schumer, as Tom Cotton hilariously illustrated yesterday.

Peter Spieker म्हणाले...

“I like the idea of a filibuster. I think it is essential to the Senate being "the saucer that cools the coffee" as Madison(?) said in the Federalist papers.”

The cooling saucer figure of speech is from John Adams, not the Federalist Papers. I know, picky, picky, picky.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Achilles -
I'd appreciate it if you would refrain from telling me what I believe.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

In any case, I've come to understand that NOBODY can be trusted in government - except magnificent Trump.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

'He was in college in the early 1960s so he could have participated in important demonstrations, but there is no evidence he did so and if he was arrested while participating in a demonstration, where is the arrest record?'

If Trump had claimed he had been arrested at a civil rights protest in the '60s and it was a lie, it would be worldwide news for a month and there would be a movement to impeach him.

The liberal media are lying, duplicitous fucks.

Ask me what I really think...

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

I see why a smallbrain like Earnie would devolve to formulating this history as a Republicans Pounce story.

If you wander back to my comments here the day Harry Reid died, you’ll note I called out his strategic incompetence junking the judicial filibuster.

What's emanating from your penumbra म्हणाले...

Virtually everyone who is elected to office and gets a taste of that sweet, sweet power succumbs. It's a bit like Nazi Germany. Imagining yourself as a normal German during those times and believing that you would have stood up against evil is nothing if not wishful thinking. And so it is with politicians.

So where does that realization leave us? Maybe favoring a reduction in the power of government. Do we REALLY need to force each other to adopt our own preferred way of living in more ways than we already are? And so if the filibuster throws sand in the gears of all but the most well-supported ideas for new laws, then the case against it has a high bar to clear.

Achilles म्हणाले...

Can Of Cheese for Hunter said...

Achilles -
I'd appreciate it if you would refrain from telling me what I believe.


OK.

Tell me how I am wrong.

Achilles म्हणाले...

Joe Smith said...

The speech was a disgrace...even worse than his usual doggerel...

If I wasn't so jaded I would be shocked at a POTUS calling half the country racists.

Every R politician in every interview should remind the country that every single act of slavery and racism was a core principal of the Democrat Party.


That is not the R politician's job.

Their job is to accept that all the people that voted for them are racists and terrorists on behalf of the Regime.

Their job is to keep people like Trump and MT Green from shaking up the rice bowl.

Make sure those icky people who actually DO what they say are seen as crazy and uncouth.

Not dapper and professional and genteel and polite like the GOPe. Now there is a tribe you want to go on a cruise with!

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Achilles said...

The Republicans in DC are worse than the democrats.

I cannot possibly top that logic.

NYC JournoList म्हणाले...

Biden promised he would unite the country and, god dammit, he is … soon everyone will oppose him!

Static Ping म्हणाले...

It had been evident that Biden was, in his best days, a corrupt lying nincompoop whose only skills involved getting himself elected, graft, and fooling people to think he actually had other skills. Today, he is still all these things but also suffering from dementia. What I had not considered - and why should I since I always considered him a bad faith idiot which was sufficient - is he will say anything. He appears to have literally no principles at all and will hold any position that he thinks will benefit him at that moment, which is made all the worse at the moment since he no longer has the ability to think clearly. The man appears to be immune to cognitive dissonance. I am not sure if this is a new development or simply always the man he was.

It is hard to consider anyone less qualified to be president than Joe Biden, at least not anyone who could potentially get the nomination of a major political party. And yet here we are, the worst of all men still being lauded by his party and the quasi state media.

Jaq म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Big Mike म्हणाले...

Does anyone have a link to Senator Sinema’s speech today in support of retaining the filibuster? Apparently she gave a passionate stemwinder, of the sort not seen for many years.

Jaq म्हणाले...

"t is hard to consider anyone less qualified to be president than Joe Biden"

In the bin Laden papers, it showed there was an order to his men to not kill Biden even if they had a clear shot, because he would do more harm to the US in office than his death would cause. It was kind of a "don't interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake" type of memo.

BUMBLE BEE म्हणाले...

Everything Joe Biden knows about racism, he learned from his self described mentor, Robert Byrd, Exalted Cyclops of the KKK.

Michael K म्हणाले...

Pretty good speech for old Cocaine Mitch. Sinema sounds like she wants to get re-elected.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Strange Fruit you say...
I'm a bit like Gutfeld - a bit of a punk at heart.

Meade -- LOL - geez. "Celebration".. Is your senator a hack or what?
Mask, skipped. Jan 6th is the left's celebration. They did it. They managed to get enough FBI agents to act as provocateurs. Not saying I know the variables and the percentages - but there is no doubt that the FBI were in the crowd wearing maga hats.

Dave64 म्हणाले...

Hawkeye said, "Racist" is the word a politician uses when he has no argument, and little intellect. It signals that the speaker should simply be tuned out, disregarded. Turn your back and pay no further attention.
Substitute People for politician.

Dagwood म्हणाले...

So are all the QAnon websites down today, or is Achilles just trying to turn Althouse's comments section into one?

Bunkypotatohead म्हणाले...

That's the tone he uses just before he threatens to take you out back for a beating. Fortunately his speechwriter didn't include a line to that effect.
He's been a bully his whole career, so don't expect him to start acting presidential at this late date. Calling his opponents racist is only to fire up the dem base to try to get his approval ratings a little higher than "worst ever".

Achilles म्हणाले...

Can Of Cheese for Hunter said...

Achilles said...

The Republicans in DC are worse than the democrats.

I cannot possibly top that logic.

We know you can't.

That is why you don't even try.

You pretend that your stupid little snark is some kind of rebuttal.

Give us one thing the republicans have won on in the last 40 years. One thing that has moved in the right direction.

I can list their failures.

I will start with Kavanaugh and Roberts giving the Regime the ability to force health care workers to get vaccinated or be fired.

I also loved when Republicans torpedoed the repeal of Obamacare.

And when Republicans refused to fund the border wall.

And when Republicans passed Medicare Part B.

And when Republicans exploded the budget deficit every time they had a chance.

Just one thing thy did right.