These mofo's just want to protect their own, and most likely, themselves. Franken gets kicked out because of an ill-advised photo. Menendez will get his "day in court". Well, let's get that day going ASAP. Innocent until proven guilty. Hope there are no more gold bars, very expensive cars, and stacks of cash to be found.
Typical spineless douche nugget Dem 'leadership'. As far as the GQP types Maria, garbage Barge-Aroma had on.....Ho Hum.....BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH........I make it a point to ignore attention whores.....
Durbin is an old time pol. He's not interested in right or wrong, only in who controls the Senate. Sadly, considering who the opposition party has, Durbin is right on this.
What's your point? Al Franken was too big of a baby to go through an ethics investigation? That is not the selling point you seem to think it is. I'll put Gillibrand's actual actions to protect/promote women WAY above yours, unless you are Harriet Tubman. Vote against Gillibrand if you think she's too white. I'd happily trade you for both of my senators, Fled Ted and Cornyn. And if you don't like me speaking against misogyny, your flavor of feminism does not benefit women.
i'm starting to wonder if the R's are pushing the 'we;ll work thru the shutdown' nonsense so they can then performatively not work through the shutdown and blame the Dems for it
Thanks, Daniel. Sometimes my brain gets in a snarl when these clowns try to use big words, and then I can't find my way back out. It is likely just as you say.
Thanks, Daniel. Sometimes my brain gets in a snarl when these clowns try to use big words, and then I can't find my way back out. It is likely just as you say.
he was reaching for "assent" but stumbled over the "ass" part. And combined, in his confusion, this with the fact that he knows damn well that he and the rest of the Congressional butt-munches are pissing a lot of people off with this gross dereliction of duty, and he hopes to "assuage" the ire that he's raised by joining with the rest of the asshats.
I would like to write off Senator Dick Durbin as dumb or demented. But I fear that the truth is worse. He is an experienced US Senator who is very well adapted to the perverse incentives created by our very elitist, not very democratic republic. He is a smart man who has learned how to prosper under a very stupid system.
Why does Senator Durbin believe he has to save the honor of Senator Bob Menendez, who is now very well known to be a shameless self-dealer? Well, these two men are both US Senators who need to serve, to varying degrees, both the rich people who give them most of their campaign funding and the not-so-rich people who give them most of their votes. And they need to deal both with US Senators who have stronger principles, such as Senator Warren and Senator Sanders, and with US Senators who are less principled, such as Senator Sinema and Senator Manchin.
Senator Al Franken was kicked out of the US Senate not long ago. Why? Because US Senate Democrats, bless them, decided that they could not afford to allow the Democratic Party's reputation to be tarnished by any lack of respect for women - or even the appearance thereof. This is a GOOD thing. Principle is GOOD. Giving Franken the heave-ho (and replacing him with Senator Tina Smith, who is doing just fine in Franken's place) is not only the right thing to do but also makes it easier to do the right thing again LATER.
Quite a lot of US Senate Democrats are willing to give Senator Bob "bullion" Menendez the heave-ho. And good for them! But why do a few US Senate Democrats still hesitate? I can only speculate that some of them are unwilling to shed their reputation of being cheerfully willing to accept money from wealthy donors in exchange for favors. These Democrats are not ready to be the party that too strictly opposes pandering to the rich. After all, they have re-election campaigns to fund, and if they fail to be re-elected, they surely want to be hired as highly paid lobbyists in the employ of their former donors. So they don't want to alienate their donors today.
Most US Senate Democrats are not this corrupt. Indeed, almost to a person, US Senate Republicans are a lot worse. Sadly, the US Senate is designed to make its own rules very hard to change. In 2021, the US House of Representatives passed a law, HR 1, also called the FOR THE PEOPLE ACT, which would have curbed campaign finance corruption in various helpful ways. It failed to pass the US Senate. It failed for two reasons: because US Senate Republicans filibustered against it and because two US Senate Democrats (guess who? SINEMA AND MANCHIN!) refused to reform the filibuster.
So ... here we are.
And what can we do about it? The same as always: Give free advertising to the truth and hope that we may one day make it matter as much as money.
"less principled" is the very rock-bottom mildest assessment of spotted hyaenas Sinema and Manchin possible. It is like calling the Pacific Ocean "damp" or TFG "somewhat casual with the facts".
Wait. I thought that since Mendez is running for office, it was illegal to bring an indictment against him for the next 50 years for anything illegal he has done for the last 50 years. I believe it is known as the "Trump always running for office so you can't arrest me" rule.
Yes, he and Michael Rosenbaum are the best Luthors so far...
These mofo's just want to protect their own, and most likely, themselves. Franken gets kicked out because of an ill-advised photo. Menendez will get his "day in court". Well, let's get that day going ASAP. Innocent until proven guilty. Hope there are no more gold bars, very expensive cars, and stacks of cash to be found.
Opening Arguments—featuring law goddess Liz Dye—did a great breakdown of this (it's not legally defined bribery y'all).
https://openargs.com/oa811-bob-menendez-is-not-being-indicted-for-bribery/
Typical spineless douche nugget Dem 'leadership'. As far as the GQP types Maria, garbage Barge-Aroma had on.....Ho Hum.....BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH........I make it a point to ignore attention whores.....
Durbin is such a weenie. But I’m glad Politico has live updates about Durbin’s dress code concerns.
Ta, MM. Great summary of all the stuff I didn't watch. I count on you for that.
Durbin is an old time pol. He's not interested in right or wrong, only in who controls the Senate. Sadly, considering who the opposition party has, Durbin is right on this.
Damn, Bartiromo interviewed both Beavis and Butthead on Sunday?
And for all those women-haters who delight in bitching about Senator K. Gillibrand:
"“Senator Menendez has broken the public trust and should resign from the U.S. Senate,” said a single-sentence statement from
(Sherrod) Brown, who also called for Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken to resign in 2017 when he was accused of sexual harassment."
Gee, look, a MAN also thought Al Franken should step down.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/25/2195409/-OH-amp-NJ-Sen-Sherrod-Brown-D-Becomes-2nd-Dem-Senator-Calling-For-Menendez-s-D-Resignation
What's your point? Al Franken was too big of a baby to go through an ethics investigation? That is not the selling point you seem to think it is. I'll put Gillibrand's actual actions to protect/promote women WAY above yours, unless you are Harriet Tubman. Vote against Gillibrand if you think she's too white. I'd happily trade you for both of my senators, Fled Ted and Cornyn. And if you don't like me speaking against misogyny, your flavor of feminism does not benefit women.
i'm starting to wonder if the R's are pushing the 'we;ll work thru the shutdown' nonsense so they can then performatively not work through the shutdown and blame the Dems for it
Fundraising is too work.
fair point, you have one
"We don’t put our pencils down in the investigation of President Biden during a shutdown. "
Actually, you do. Unless you want to do it on your own dime.
Durbin's only good for his vote, otherwise a waste of space...
Durbin is very useless, I agree.
"amateur Lex Luthor cosplayer, Mike Lee."
Worst Luthor ever....makes Spacey and even Eisenberg look good...
Gene Hackman is a living god. That is all.
Yes, he and Michael Rosenbaum are the best Luthors so far.
Can the grammar police here educate me--is there such a thing as "assuaging to" someone? yoy.
I'm pretty sure he meant agreeing but wanted to sound SMRT.
Thanks, Daniel. Sometimes my brain gets in a snarl when these clowns try to use big words, and then I can't find my way back out. It is likely just as you say.
Thanks, Daniel. Sometimes my brain gets in a snarl when these clowns try to use big words, and then I can't find my way back out. It is likely just as you say.
he was reaching for "assent" but stumbled over the "ass" part. And combined, in his confusion, this with the fact that he knows damn well that he and the rest of the Congressional butt-munches are pissing a lot of people off with this gross dereliction of duty, and he hopes to "assuage" the ire that he's raised by joining with the rest of the asshats.
HA!
I would like to write off Senator Dick Durbin as dumb or demented. But I fear that the truth is worse. He is an experienced US Senator who is very well adapted to the perverse incentives created by our very elitist, not very democratic republic. He is a smart man who has learned how to prosper under a very stupid system.
Why does Senator Durbin believe he has to save the honor of Senator Bob Menendez, who is now very well known to be a shameless self-dealer? Well, these two men are both US Senators who need to serve, to varying degrees, both the rich people who give them most of their campaign funding and the not-so-rich people who give them most of their votes. And they need to deal both with US Senators who have stronger principles, such as Senator Warren and Senator Sanders, and with US Senators who are less principled, such as Senator Sinema and Senator Manchin.
Senator Al Franken was kicked out of the US Senate not long ago. Why? Because US Senate Democrats, bless them, decided that they could not afford to allow the Democratic Party's reputation to be tarnished by any lack of respect for women - or even the appearance thereof. This is a GOOD thing. Principle is GOOD. Giving Franken the heave-ho (and replacing him with Senator Tina Smith, who is doing just fine in Franken's place) is not only the right thing to do but also makes it easier to do the right thing again LATER.
Quite a lot of US Senate Democrats are willing to give Senator Bob "bullion" Menendez the heave-ho. And good for them! But why do a few US Senate Democrats still hesitate? I can only speculate that some of them are unwilling to shed their reputation of being cheerfully willing to accept money from wealthy donors in exchange for favors. These Democrats are not ready to be the party that too strictly opposes pandering to the rich. After all, they have re-election campaigns to fund, and if they fail to be re-elected, they surely want to be hired as highly paid lobbyists in the employ of their former donors. So they don't want to alienate their donors today.
Most US Senate Democrats are not this corrupt. Indeed, almost to a person, US Senate Republicans are a lot worse. Sadly, the US Senate is designed to make its own rules very hard to change. In 2021, the US House of Representatives passed a law, HR 1, also called the FOR THE PEOPLE ACT, which would have curbed campaign finance corruption in various helpful ways. It failed to pass the US Senate. It failed for two reasons: because US Senate Republicans filibustered against it and because two US Senate Democrats (guess who? SINEMA AND MANCHIN!) refused to reform the filibuster.
So ... here we are.
And what can we do about it? The same as always: Give free advertising to the truth and hope that we may one day make it matter as much as money.
"less principled" is the very rock-bottom mildest assessment of spotted hyaenas Sinema and Manchin possible. It is like calling the Pacific Ocean "damp" or TFG "somewhat casual with the facts".
Wait. I thought that since Mendez is running for office, it was illegal to bring an indictment against him for the next 50 years for anything illegal he has done for the last 50 years. I believe it is known as the "Trump always running for office so you can't arrest me" rule.
That doesn't apply to Democrats.
I thought anyone even contemplating or even hinting they were running for office was automatically exempt from all laws forever.
Like all the other exemptions from law and basic morality, this only replies to Ratpublicans.
Since when did a dress code become more important than an ethics code for SCOTUS?
It has ALWAYS been that way.