I say YES. YOU say NO....Numero Tre! Enjoy!
Comments
-
Love the memes and Crow and Vindman are the greatest. I admired Vindman from the first. It is almost a sure thing -- if the Loon is out after you, you are a very decent person who will not back down.
The joyless, somewhat defeated look of McCarthy and McConnell in the picture with the Democrats is one of the best 'karma' is a bitch pictures I've ever seen. It is my fervent hope that the Reps. keep receiving all the karma they have been asking for over and over.
0 -
0 -
0 -
0 -
0 -
0 -
0 -
It is not only him, but God help us from the type of people who will read this and still vote for this guy. He obviously played football too long or is it just that being willing to get smashed to smithereens he kept getting free grade passes. He is very damaged -- from something.
0 -
Here’s a great article from the Washington Post. It was twice as long so I edited it down. Still long but I thought it was interesting.
How a bipartisan group of senators got same-sex marriage protections passed
A group of Democrats and Republicans, led by Sen. Tammy Baldwin, spent months working to get 12 Republicans onboard with the legislation
Liz Goodwin/November 30, 2022
In July, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) spotted some of her Republican colleagues on the Senate floor and rushed over to tell them the good news. Forty-seven House Republicans had just voted in favor of protecting same-sex marriage rights for gay couples, following the Supreme Court's decision reversing Roe v. Wade that raised fears the court could overturn same-sex marriage next.
"We could do this," she recalled saying excitedly to Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (Ohio) and Thom Tillis (N.C.), whom Baldwin, the first openly gay U.S. senator, had worked with before in other discussions on protecting LGBTQ rights.
Portman, who was the first in his caucus to endorse same-sex marriage back in 2013 and whose son is gay, said he initially felt less optimistic, aware of just how many of his colleagues had "strongly held views" on the issue.
The discussion set off months of negotiations by a bipartisan group of five senators with their Republican colleagues, LGBTQ rights groups and religious organizations, which resulted in Tuesday's historic Senate vote to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and guarantee protections for same-sex married couples as well as interracial couples if the Supreme Court were to ever reverse its decisions protecting them.
That every present Senate Democrat and 12 Republicans would vote to protect gay unions, after years in which opposing same-sex marriage was the consensus position in Washington, and later, a rallying cry for the GOP base, shows how quickly public opinion has changed on the issue, prompting many lawmakers to follow suit. The bill now heads to the House, where it's expected to pass and land on President Biden's desk.
By a 61-36 vote, the Senate passed a bill on Nov. 29 with bipartisan support that protects marriage equality for same-sex and interracial couples.
The surprising show of Republican support for the same-sex marriage bill in the House over thesummer showed that what was initially seen as a way for Democrats to force Republicans to take a vote that could alienate some of their constituents during an election year could actually lead to real legislation.
But to convince at least 10 Republicans to back the measure, Baldwin knew she had to overcome skepticism from many Republicans that Democrats just wanted to put them on the spot on an issue that public opinion had recently deserted them on, as well as fierce opposition from social conservative groups and some religious institutions.
This account of the months-long effort to pass the legislation is the result of interviews with more than a dozen lawmakers, staffers and advocates involved in the bill.
The senators, including Baldwin, Tillis, Portman and Collins, along with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), divided up their Republican colleagues and began to contact them and gather their concerns. Tillis, the former speaker of the North Carolina House, is an experienced vote-counter, while Collins brought a tireless energy to the job, Portman said.
Baldwin was immediately struck by how many more senators appeared open to the legislation after the Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell decision, given how many more of them had openly gay people in their lives.
But Republicans had many concerns, and each one seemed different. The first wave of worry surrounded whether the legislation might be interpreted to mean the federal government recognizes polygamy, so the group quickly agreed to clarify that it didn't. Others wanted to know whether the bill would affect adoption agencies, or religiously affiliated colleges and universities. And many wanted the legislation to be crystal clear that religious institutions that did not perform or support same-sex marriages would not be punished under the law.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) called the bill a "stupid waste of time" to a reporter in July before walking into an elevator and finding himself squished next to Baldwin. She began making her case for why the bill was necessary in the elevator and continued trying to whip his vote for months. Rubio voted no on the measure on Tuesday.
By the end of the summer, the group had five Republicans who publicly said they'd support the legislation, and about five more who privately said they would support it. They wanted a couple of others to come along so that no one had to be the "deciding vote" to reach the 60 total votes necessary to move the bill forward, and so that there was wiggle room if anyone got cold feet.
Baldwin ran point on the LGBTQ advocacy groups, and Collins dealt with the coalition of religious groups while the senators worked to amend the bill to explicitly state that the legislation did not infringe on religious liberty. Sinema, who grew up Mormon and is close with key swing vote and Mormon Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), was the chief negotiator with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to Collins, and stressed the importance of bringing the "elders" onboard.
But with the midterm elections fast approaching, many Republicans who wanted to back the bill feared taking a potentially controversial vote at a tricky time.
A key turning point for the effort came in mid-September, when the group asked Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) in a meeting in his office to delay the vote until after the elections, when they believed they'd have enough Republican votes to pass it. Collins said she was "surprised" and pleased when Schumer, who's known as a ferocious campaigner and could have been tempted to use the issue politically, agreed. But Baldwin wasn't.
"It's personal for Chuck Schumer, too," Baldwin said, referring to Schumer's daughter, who is in a same-sex marriage. "It's a family member, and he would not play politics with this."
"Many questioned if it was the right thing to do," Schumer said in an emotional floor speech on Tuesday, in which he noted his first call after the bill passed would be to his daughter. "Many on my side of the aisle felt, 'Put everyone on record right now.' "
The group still needed to secure the support of at least 10 — and ideally more — senators before the first procedural vote to move forward on the legislation in November. In a Senate split 50-50 between both parties, 60 votes would mean Democrats could overcome any threat of a filibuster to kill the bill.
"We've been over our list over and over again and had Zoom meetings and in-person meetings, but as I kept saying to everybody, 'You never know till the roll is called,' " Collins said. "I've learned the hard way you never just get 10 because inevitably it seems somebody you thought you had will end up voting the other way."
A key moment came when the Mormon Church released a statement praising the Respect for Marriage Act's approach on religious protections. Romney quickly announced his support.
Retiring Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who've signed on frequently to past bipartisan compromises, backed the bill. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), also bipartisan-minded senators, threw their support behind it as well. Sens. Todd C. Young (R-Ind.), fresh off his reelection, and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who are both young for the Senate at 50 and 52 years old, also decided to vote for it. Along with Romney, Portman, Tillis and Collins, they would have had their 10.
But the group also gained support from two more Republicans who were more surprising allies to the effort. Sen. Dan Sullivan (Alaska), who supported altering the Alaska constitution to ban same-sex marriage less than a decade ago, voted to advance the bill. And Sen. Cynthia M. Lummis (Wyo.), who opposed same-sex marriage and was given a zero percent rating by the Human Rights Campaign gay rights group during her time in the House, joined the group of Republicans after she asked for an 11th-hour wording change to the bill's religious liberty section that nearly delayed the vote as senators frantically cleared the new language with the coalition of groups supporting the bill.
On Tuesday evening, the members of the group of five were in a celebratory mood. Sinema shook Young's hand while Tillis slapped his shoulders, and Sinema later gave Lummis a hug.
Baldwin, who said earlier on Tuesday that she would be "nervous" until the vote closed, fielded a hug from Schumer, a fist bump from Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and a high-five from Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.). When the 12 Republicans again all voted yes, a look of relief passed over her face.
Portman, who is retiring and said it was "impossible" for him to imagine such a bill passing the Senate just 10 years ago, called his son, who is in a same-sex marriage, to tell him the news. Portman said his son, who never "pressures" him to vote on anything, appreciated "the significance of it not just for him but for the country and other couples."
"It was an important moment for our family as well," he added.
0 -
Personally I think Mitch and Kevin look like they are constipated in that photo and sitting to them is excruciating. Recommend some prunes and a high colonic for both since they also have shit for brains.
Speaking of brainless, the 3 stooges: Cruz, Graham and Walker could be poster children for exhibiting idiotic behaviors. Are Cruz and Graham going to prop up Herschel and steer him towards making complete sentences that actually make sense (not that either one of them have sense but they do speak English better). Hoping Warnock can hold on to the seat and that all the early ballots cast in GA are for him.
Glad the same sex marriage bill passed the Senate. Finally Sinema did something that can be applauded as a positive.
0 -
0 -
Divinemrsm - thanks for sharing the article about how the same-sex marriage bill got passed, fascinating and heartening.
0 -
I happened across an article on Dakota Rhodes, age 25, eldest son of Stewart Rhodes, the head of Oath Keepers just found guilty of sedition.
I was surprised to learn Stewart Rhodes was a Yale graduate. But he always exhibited manic paranoia behavior and evolved into the raging conspiratory theorist over time. His son Dakota, four younger children and wife were indoctrinated into his beliefs (think home schooling, isolation, all the things). But son Dakota started to see the light when he became a volunteer fire fighter, being sent to different places in the U.S. There he saw people being led by life principles different than his father's, and they were helping people. This led to Dakota and his siblings to leaving their father; their mother left with them, filing for divorce in 2018 tho it's still not finalized.
Dakota volunteers for the Democratic party these days and has joined protests in support of Black Lives Matter.
It was an interesting read, here is link to full article https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63709446Here's a related thing I read on HSR's newsletter that I totally loved:
While the jury was handing down its verdict in the case of Stewart Rhodes, who said on tape that he would "hang f*ckin' Pelosi from the lamppost," Speaker Pelosi was lighting the Capitol Christmas tree with fourth-grader Catcuce Micco Tiger, who is a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) and has ancestry from the Seminole Tribe of Florida and Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
Tiger won the role of youth tree lighter with an essay sharing the Cherokee origin story for evergreen trees. "After creating all plants and animals," Pelosi explained, "our Creator asked them to fast, pray, and stay awake for seven nights. But at the end, only a few were awake. The trees that stayed awake were rewarded with the ability to keep their leaves yearlong and with special healing powers. It is a story of faith and gratitude—of hope enduring through the dark night."
"And," Pelosi added, "it is hope that we celebrate each holiday season—that through the cold and dark winter, spring will someday come."
Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, who defended the Capitol against the Oath Keepers on January 6, heard the jury's verdict, then watched the tree lighting.
🎄 ⭐️ 🎄⭐️🎄 ⭐️ 🎄 ⭐️ 🎄 ⭐️
0 -
Our culture teaches us how to numb and distract ourselves but not how to listen to our pain and learn from our difficulties. Think what we learn about pain from television. We learn that pain is to be avoided at all costs and that there are a variety of pain relievers for every conceivable pain. I would like to see a commercial that says, "Your pain is a great teacher. Learn from it and be healed."
0 -
Divine - I'm taken with the piece about the Rhodes people. I find it so interesting and very rewarding that people CAN change. Even those who have been indoctrinated for most of their lives. It gives me hope for others that they too will find something that will help them turn away from living so negative and dark and wake up to the kindness and comfort of people who work together in love and comraderies for the good of all.
0 -
divine - interesting article. Glad his family got away from his madness.Thank you for sharing.
0 -
0 -
Appeals court says FBI can use all documents seized in Mar-a-Lago search and ends special master review
A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has reversed a Florida federal judge's ruling that has prohibited the FBI from using nearly all documents seized during the 8 August search of former president Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club to further the criminal probe into the ex-president.
In an unsigned opinion, Chief Judge William Pryor and Circuit Judges Andrew Brasher and Britt Grant wrote that Judge Cannon never had the authority to hear a civil case Mr Trump filed with the aim of stopping the use of the documents as the FBI and Justice Department investigated whether he'd violated criminal laws against unlawful retention of national defence information and obstructing justice.
"The law is clear. We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant. Nor can we write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so," they wrote. "Either approach would be a radical reordering of our caselaw limiting the federal courts' involvement in criminal investigations. And both would violate bedrock separation-of-powers limitations".
0 -
As to the above, it's about time. The Reps. are finally allowing themselves to "notice" that they are tethered to a 'supreme' loser. They won't be smart enough to quit Trumpism, but truth telling, they don't want the guy who has been representing it. He personally is no longer of much use to them. The above is just another instance of his losing which if taken from the top has been the case all along. The candidates he puts forward have mostly lost and before GA run-off Walker can't be let out for fear of what the vampire will talk about. Just to spice it all up the Loon has Thanksgiving with not one, but two complete misfits The Reps. don't mind the message, and they still love it but the guy behind the wheel never knew how to drive, can't learn and has become totallly toxic. He is as expendable to them now as all the people there were in the way of the Loon -- even those he used for yrs. He has no issue with finding the nearest bus where he could ditch them. Ah Karma. No one hides from you.
0 -
How did this man become a viable candidate? Was he chosen because he could be manipulated? Or is the conspiracy theory correct that he was picked to win the election, then be found incapable of serving, allowing the GA Governor to appoint a "less electable" conservative to his seat?
Herschel Walker's ex-girlfriend makes serious mental health claims
0 -
Jackie, your above post with your thoughts on the loser Trump and Trumpism is beautifully worded.
Miriandra, omg, that's one conspiracy I could actually believe. The Republicans keep pulling out more and more despicable strategies from their playbook to gain power. That's the thing about Trump. He may possibly be fading, but he opened the hellgates for Republicans to use almost any measures necessary, no matter the outrageousness, the underhandedness, the illegal-ness, the down right dirty scumbag-ness, to gain control.
0 -
Miriandra, I thought the Loon put him up for it. Who found him for the Loon I don't know. Why the Reps. were willing to handicap themselves with something in the condition Walker is in who can say. So many of them are so far gone they no longer have any ability to SEE what they look and act like, but many are just a few cuts above Walker in my opinion.
0 -
On a happier note:
0 -
0 -
0 -
Seems that the protection offered by a football helmet was of little benefit to Walker. The jarring injuries he may have suffered during football games scattered what brain cells he had rather than causing them to congeal. Sad for him since his future brain health outlook is far from good. Hopefully, he will be so far gone he won't miss his mind. He's a grifter like Oz and we are still awaiting the announcement that Oz will move back to his mansion in NJ. The home he supposedly bought that required extensive renovations has yet to be touched and meanwhile as the supreme grifter, he took a $50,000.00 tax credit on it for not removing any trees on the property. What chutzpah. Become a Republican so you too can be a grifter.
0 -
The shepherd knows what pastures are best for his sheep, and they must not question nor doubt, but trustingly follow him. Perhaps he sees that the best pastures for some of us are to be found in the midst of opposition or of earthly trials. If he leads you there, you may be sure they are green for you, and you will grow and be made strong by feeding there. -Hannah Whitall Smith
0 -
Love the Obama meme!
0 -
0 -
Nice to have White House Holiday Decorations that don't look like a they are from a Texas Chainsaw Massacre set!
0
