Daily Kos

Daily Kos http://www.dailykos.com/user/main/rss/index.xml The main page. Copyright 2005 - Steal what you want Fri, 23 Dec 2016 11:28:37 +0000 Fri, 23 Dec 2016 11:28:37 +0000 Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) Open thread for night owls: Canada declares internet access a basic right for all http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/23/1613786/-Open-thread-for-night-owls-Canada-declares-internet-access-a-basic-right-for-all Lauren McCauley at Common Dreams writes—<a href="http://commondreams.org/news/2016/12/22/historic-decision-canada-declares-internet-access-fundamental-right-all" target="_blank">In Historic Decision, Canada Declares Internet Access a Fundamental Right for All</a>. The subhead reads: National telecom agency promises to connect all Canadians, from Quebec to Yukon, to high-speed broadband. That would be 100% of Canadians. 100% of them getting twice the download speed and three times the upload speed of their neighbors to the south. Neighbors whose tax money covered the cost of our government’s inventing of the internet but now mostly have to put up with a substandard private connection (if they can get one at all). Here’s McCauley: <blockquote> In what is being described as a "historic" decision that will have a significant impact, particularly on the lives of those living in rural and First Nations communities, Canada's telecom agency on Wednesday issued a <a href="http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1172599">new rule</a> declaring high-speed internet a basic service "necessary to the quality of life" of all Canadians. <figure class="image-captioned width-md align-right"><img alt="YellowBackgroundOwlBadge_TEXT_%281%29.jpg" src="http://images.dailykos.com/images/124236/large/YellowBackgroundOwlBadge_TEXT_%281%29.jpg?1453431581" title="YellowBackgroundOwlBadge_TEXT_%281%29.jpg"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> "The future of our economy, our prosperity, and our society—indeed, the future of every citizen—requires us to set ambitious goals, and to get on with connecting all Canadians for the 21st century," <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/22/14052368/canada-broadband-internet-essential-service">said </a>Jean-Pierre Blais, chair of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), at a news conference. "These goals are ambitious. They will not be easy to achieve and they will cost money. But we have no choice." Under the new broadband strategy, the CRTC aims to provide 100 percent of Canadians access to reliable, world-class mobile and fixed Internet services, which will be available with an unlimited data option. The agency has set the network speed target at 50 Mbps download speed and 10 Mbps upload speed. As of 2015, 82 percent of Canadians had access to that caliber of broadband. In comparison, the United States' Federal Communications Commission (FCC) defines "broadband" as 25 Mbps download and just 3 Mbps upload. Further, the CRTC has set up a fund to support projects in areas that do not meet those targets, which will provide an additional $750 million above current government spending over five years. [...] Geoff White, an attorney with the public interest group Affordable Access Coalition, explained that the ruling "stopped short of adopting proposals the coalition put forth to address affordability issues, such as setting a low price for a basic broadband plan or establishing monthly affordability subsidies for low-income households," the Globe and Mail <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/crtc-rules-high-speed-internet-a-basic-telecom-service/article33405960/">reported</a>. Nonetheless, he called the decision "important and transformational." Indeed, Derek Wentzell, a community economic development consultant, <a href="https://twitter.com/DerekWentzell/status/811699740945616896">declared</a> the new program a "game changer" for remote First Nations. </blockquote> <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1609796/-High-Impact-Posts-December-21-2016" target="_blank">HIGH IMPACT STORIES</a> • <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/23/1609379/-Top-Comments-Amaterasu-a-Solstice-Tale" target="_blank">TOP COMMENTS</a> In case you have shopping obligations between now and Sunday, you might find tonight’s edition of “Tweet of the Day” of practical use against that 1% of parkers who can make motoring such a pain. These responses are far better than a pissy note on the windshield. The first is protest performance art and the second is pure vengeance. TWEET(s) OF THE DAY <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content='&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Not all heros wear capes &lt;a href="https://t.co/Vx3CWnp80C"&gt;pic.twitter.com/Vx3CWnp80C&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Emily Thomas (@emitoms) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/emitoms/status/811722979130228736"&gt;December 22, 2016&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;'><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Not all heros wear capes <a href="https://t.co/Vx3CWnp80C">pic.twitter.com/Vx3CWnp80C</a>Ã¢Â€Â” Emily Thomas (@emitoms) <a href="https://twitter.com/emitoms/status/811722979130228736">December 22, 2016</a></blockquote></div> <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content='&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/emitoms"&gt;@emitoms&lt;/a&gt; also a fan of this move. &lt;a href="https://t.co/xgRbHeIkzf"&gt;pic.twitter.com/xgRbHeIkzf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— U.S. Male (@PostmanPat04) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/PostmanPat04/status/811777906775126016"&gt;December 22, 2016&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;'><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/emitoms">@emitoms</a> also a fan of this move. <a href="https://t.co/xgRbHeIkzf">pic.twitter.com/xgRbHeIkzf</a>Ã¢Â€Â” U.S. Male (@PostmanPat04) <a href="https://twitter.com/PostmanPat04/status/811777906775126016">December 22, 2016</a></blockquote></div> BLAST FROM THE PAST At Daily Kos on this date in 2004—<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/12/22/81458/-GOP-hill-staffer-a-thief" target="_blank">GOP hill staffer a thief</a>: <blockquote> Poor Republican staffer. He didn't realize that GOP theft of public assets (our lands, our health, our jobs, our freedoms, our lives) wasn't meant to be taken <a href="http://www.rollcall.com/issues/1_1/breakingnews/7659-1.html">this literally</a>: The House Small Business Committee's chief economist was charged by Capitol Police with the attempted theft of a plasma television Thursday night. According to a Capitol Police memorandum, officers apprehended the suspect, Thomas Loo, in the Rayburn House Office Building at approximately 10 p.m. Thursday after a Financial Services Committee staff member discovered Loo removing a plasma television from a room on the building's second floor. </blockquote> On <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/22/1613695/-Daily-Kos-Radio-s-KITM-podcast-AUDIO-Kagro-in-the-Morning-Thursday-December-22-2016" target="_blank">today’s Kagro in the Morning show</a>, we’re still dissecting the election, of course. Greg Dworkin remind us to learn all we can about Trump voters, but nobody gets a pass. To no one’s surprise, Trump is “casting” his cabinet like a “reality TV” show. But The Apprentice was never about reality. <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder dk-x-embed" href="#" data-height="100" data-src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4935472/height/100/width/500/theme/custom/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/backward/no-cache/true/render-playlist/no/custom-color/e87822/" data-width="500">Embedded Content</a></div> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknlsM6zUMIdxtz1qEAbhuA" target="_blank">YouTube</a> | <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-kos-radio-kagro-in-morning/id581551976" target="_blank">iTunes</a> | <a href="http://kagrox.libsyn.com/" target="_blank">LibSyn</a> | Support the show via <a href="https://www.patreon.com/kagrox?ty=h" target="_blank">Patreon</a> rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) OpenThreadforNightOwls _1613786 Fri, 23 Dec 2016 04:00:18 +0000 CBO says crappy insurance won't count, complicating Republicans' Obamacare 'replacement' idea http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/23/1613130/-CBO-says-crappy-insurance-won-t-count-complicating-Republicans-Obamacare-replacement-idea Republicans insist that they'll cover all the people that Obamacare now covers and it will be with the sparkly unicorn of affordable private insurance. (Which Obamacare largely is anyway, so why are they repealing it again? Oh, right. It's the <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/17/1611506/-Obamacare-repeal-isn-t-about-campaign-promises-it-s-about-tax-cuts-for-the-1-percent">tax cuts for the rich</a>.) Anyhow, the Congressional Budget Office has a thing or two to say about the proposals Republicans have been talking about so far, and what they're not going to let those Republicans get away with. The CBO <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/52351">assumes</a> that the eventual Republican proposal "replaces" the subsidies current Obamacare enrollees are receiving with tax credits and would also "eliminate or reduce the extent of current federal laws regulating the nongroup market, particularly the rules governing health insurance benefits." They are telling Republicans that if they want to call it coverage and give tax credits for it, it has to be real. <blockquote>CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) anticipate that insurers would respond to such legislation by offering new types of insurance products in the nongroup market, which are likely to differ from existing products in their depth and extent of health insurance benefits. If there were no clear definition of what type of insurance product people could use their tax credit to purchase, some of those insurance products would probably not provide enough financial protection against high medical costs to meet the broad definition of coverage that CBO and JCT have typically used in the past—that is, a comprehensive major medical policy that, at a minimum, covers high-cost medical events and various services, including those provided by physicians and hospitals. […] If there were no clear definition of what type of insurance product people could use their tax credit to purchase, everyone who received the tax credit would have access to some limited set of health care services, at a minimum, but not everyone would have insurance coverage that offered financial protection against a high-cost or catastrophic medical event; CBO and JCT would not count those people with limited health benefits as having coverage. </blockquote> So the CBO is saying—here’s the deal, Republicans: rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) AffordableCareAct DonaldTrump Obamacare repeal Republicans _1613130 Fri, 23 Dec 2016 03:30:19 +0000 Michigan prosecutors are still defying the Supreme Court http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/23/1613346/-Michigan-prosecutors-are-still-defying-the-Supreme-Court We've written plenty about Montgomery v. Louisiana, the January Supreme Court decision that found all juveniles mandatorily convicted and sentenced to life without parole had to be resentenced. From our <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/07/29/1554091/-Why-doesn-t-Detroit-s-head-prosecutor-believe-these-kids-can-change" target="_blank">previous article</a> on the case: <blockquote> Montgomery made retroactive Miller v. Alabama, which ruled in 2012 that mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. Neither ruling was all-encompassing—Montgomery only addressed statutorily mandated sentences, as did its predecessor. But Montgomery not only gave hope to thousands of people serving juvenile LWOP, it also underscored just how rare such sentences should be in the future. "[A] lifetime in prison is a disproportionate sentence for all but the rarest of children, those whose crimes reflect ‘irreparable corruption,'" <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/14-280_diff_ifkn.pdf" target="_blank">said</a> the court. </blockquote> That is a very technical way of stating the broader point: basically, that the Supreme Court said that juvenile LWOP cases should be very, very rare. That not only goes for cases going forward, it goes for those people serving time already that get to be resentenced. One of the states where the Montgomery ruling would have the most impact is Michigan. In July we wrote about Detroit Prosecutor Kym Worthy, who explicitly failed to follow the Supreme Court's guidelines. <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/07/29/1554091/-Why-doesn-t-Detroit-s-head-prosecutor-believe-these-kids-can-change" target="_blank">From that story</a>: <blockquote> Criminal justice reform advocates had hoped that Worthy would agree to re-sentence all the defendants to terms of years. Depending on the case, such a sentence could mean immediate release for some inmates, or the possibility of parole now or in the future for others. Ultimately, people just wanted Worthy to give each defendant the chance to eventually see a parole board. They wanted her to give every defendant hope. Instead, Worthy has decided to once again seek life without parole sentences for many of those inmates. </blockquote> rss@dailykos.com (Josie Duffy Rice) Detroit JLWOP Justice KymWorthy Michigan ProsecutorialMisconduct _1613346 Fri, 23 Dec 2016 02:45:20 +0000 Yup, it really was a do-nothing Congress http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/20/1613057/-Yup-it-really-was-a-do-nothing-Congress Remember when Mitch McConnell took over the Senate majority in January 2015, claiming that under his leadership he'd prove that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/05/25/so-hows-that-showing-the-gop-can-govern-thing-going/?utm_term=.253fb803ee42">Republicans can govern</a>? Well, as it turns out, not so much—and historically, <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/311126-gop-congress-ranks-low-in-productivity-analysis" title="">not so much at all</a>. <blockquote>Congressional productivity during the GOP’s first two years controlling both the House and Senate falls behind historical averages, according to a new analysis. […] […] Quorum found that the Senate passed the lowest percentage of House bills in the past quarter-century despite unified party control of Congress. Across the Capitol, the House’s record of passing legislation this session—773 total bills—was above the historical average of 626 measures. But that’s still less than the all-time record of 943 bills passed by the House during the first two years of Obama’s presidency, when Democrats controlled Congress. </blockquote> If you're like many progressives and are searching for glimmers of silver in that massive black cloud looming over us, here's another tiny bit. They're really, really not good at working together to do things. That's demonstrated clearly in the fact that they hate being in their jobs, and leave as frequently as possible. <blockquote>Capitol Hill particularly resembled a ghost town during the last quarter of 2016. Both chambers were out session for seven weeks in July and August to accommodate the party nominating conventions and then left town again for the entire month of October for the final weeks of the campaign.</blockquote> They <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/house-gop-work-schedule-2017-231992">are planning a tougher work schedule</a> in the new year, but don't hold your breath on that. These are not people who are first and foremost committed to doing the people's business. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Congress MitchMcConnell PaulRyan Republicans _1613057 Tue, 20 Dec 2016 18:52:30 +0000 Rep. Tom Cole: Trump doesn't need to follow ethics rules because George Washington kept Mount Vernon http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613699/-Rep-Tom-Cole-Trump-doesn-t-need-to-follow-ethics-rules-because-George-Washington-kept-Mount-Vernon Republican efforts to normalize Trump's plans to not divest himself from his myriad businesses (and, thus, myriad opportunities for self-enrichment off his presidency) continue to get stupider. And apologies for not using a properly pundity word instead of "stupider." Maybe something like intriguing or controversial or unusual, but when you have to go back to the time of slaveholding and a barely-functional national government in order to justify why Donald Trump can profit off White House visitors staying at his own personal Washington hotel two centuries later, then calling such an argument unusual or controversial or anything other than the semi-coherent dribblings of a professional moron would <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/tom-cole-trump-not-blind-trust-okay-55dc206821d4#.z7513iten">fail to get the point across</a>. <blockquote>Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) said on Wednesday that he does not think Trump needs to disentangle himself. “To be fair to him, he’s not a guy who made his money out of doing business with the government, particularly,” he observed. Cole added that he thinks Trump’s team is “trying to be careful,” because “opponents will try to put the worst aspersions” on anything he does. “I don’t expect the family to get out of a family business, for goodness sake. I mean, you read much history, George Washington was still pretty active in managing Mount Vernon when he was president of the United States.” </blockquote> By this time next year, Tom Cole will be explaining that it's all right for Donald Trump to keep three dozen child slaves chained up the the White House basement because by God, it's what George Washington would have done. If we travel forward in history to, oh, say any reasonably recent time, the more modern rules have changed considerably since the time of Mount Freaking Vernon. (President Jimmy Carter was famously required to sell his Georgia peanut farm, lest the presidency be held in the pocket of Big Peanut.) It has been a well-established requirement of the modern presidency, at least until a month ago, because until a month ago it was taken largely for granted that our sitting president was at the very least not allowed to be crooked. Rep. Tom Cole, for example, is part of a Republican House that melted themselves into bubbling puddles over even the perception of "pay to play" concerns in the Clinton Foundation—but now are pooh-poohing concerns over foreign dignitaries currently funneling cash into Trump's own businesses. Cole was personally quite chagrined over the "<a href="https://cole.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cole-responds-fbis-second-investigation-secretary-clinton">irresponsible</a>" mixing of private and work emails on Clinton's mail services, but Donald Trump continuing to turn an actual profit on everything from his transition meetings to his own Secret Service protection is, Cole opines, not much to get worked up about. rss@dailykos.com (Hunter) Conservatives Corruption DonaldTrump Republicans TomCole _1613699 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 18:50:41 +0000 Maine Sen. Susan Collins might be fly in the GOP's Obamacare 'repeal and delay' ointment http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613714/-Collins-might-be-fly-in-the-Republicans-Obamacare-repeal-and-delay-ointment Sen. Susan Collins, perennial "moderate" of the Senate Republican caucus who rarely does anything to hamper Mitch McConnell's leadership, is <a href="http://www.pressherald.com/2016/12/19/collins-draws-contrast-with-trump-on-russia-affordable-care-act/" title="">making more noises</a> about Obamacare repeal, saying first there needs to be a replacement ready to go. <blockquote> On the Affordable Care Act, Collins further <a href="http://www.pressherald.com/2016/12/02/collins-has-reservations-about-privatizing-medicare-repealing-affordable-care-act/" title="">detailed her position that the health care law should not be repealed</a> if there's no suitable replacement plan in place. Republicans, including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, are pushing plans that would immediately repeal the ACA and delay a replacement for three years. Media reports suggest the repeal could be on Trump's desk shortly after he takes office Jan. 20. "I'm a little concerned about the speed in which this is occurring," said Collins, who opposed the ACA as it was being debated in 2009. Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, Trump's health and human services nominee, is advocating for repeal of the ACA and for stripping the subsidies that help those earning up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level afford individual insurance. But Collins said removing the subsidies would cause individual insurance markets to collapse, especially if there's no approved plan. </blockquote> It's going to take more than talk this time for Collins. She's going to have to actually resist, and pull any other uncomfortable Republicans—like Sen. Lamar Alexander, who has also said they should have a replacement plan ready—with her. Collins’ talk over the years has been pretty damned cheap, along with so many Republicans like John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Jeff Flake. Here's their chance to finally do something. Holding your breath would be ill-advised. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) AffordableCareAct DonaldTrump Obamacare repeal Republicans _1613714 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:23:57 +0000 Chuck Schumer is talking tough on nominations. Good—keep it up. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613453/-Chuck-Schumer-is-talking-tough-on-nominations-Good-keep-it-up We’re going to hold you to this, Sen. Schumer, when the confirmation votes come around. <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content='&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;It’s not just #8 that’s a deal breaker for me. It’s all of them. &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RiggedCabinet?src=hash"&gt;#RiggedCabinet&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/B8ueaPV0FN"&gt;pic.twitter.com/B8ueaPV0FN&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/SenSchumer/status/811673827822489601"&gt;December 21, 2016&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; '><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">ItÃ¢Â€Â™s not just #8 thatÃ¢Â€Â™s a deal breaker for me. ItÃ¢Â€Â™s all of them. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RiggedCabinet?src=hash">#RiggedCabinet</a> <a href="https://t.co/B8ueaPV0FN">pic.twitter.com/B8ueaPV0FN</a>— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenSchumer/status/811673827822489601">December 21, 2016</a></blockquote> </div> That goes for the whole #RiggedCabinet. This is your first big test. Obstruct them all. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) ChuckSchumer Democrats DonaldTrump MickMulvaney Nominations Senate _1613453 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 23:45:21 +0000 Freedom Caucus decides fiscal austerity isn't holy grail after all, Trump can spend what he wants http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613684/-Freedom-Caucus-decides-fiscal-austerity-isn-t-holy-grail-after-all-Trump-can-spend-what-he-wants Those fine, principled Freedom Caucus stalwarts, keeping a keen eye on the deficit and working to make sure it shrinks no matter how many people starve to death, have apparently decided that <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/freedom-caucus-members-are-ready-to-cave-on-fiscal-austerity" title="">the deficit isn't such a big deal</a>—but they're not backing down on the letting people starve to death part. <blockquote> Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus may be shifting their uncompromising, tough budget stance under President-elect Donald Trump, according to a <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/443236/donald-trump-conservatism-right-wing-future" title="">report in the National Review</a>. According to the piece, there is discussion underway to accept that just 50 percent of Trump's infrastructure bill would have to be offset with spending cuts elsewhere– a precedent that they never would have accepted under President Barack Obama. After Trump was first elected, members of the House Freedom Caucus were vocal about their opposition to some of Trump's costly legislative priorities like a $1 trillion infrastructure bill. "If Trump doesn’t find a way to pay for it, the majority of us, if not all of us, are going to vote against it," Raul Labrador (R-ID) told reporters, according to the National Review piece. </blockquote> But that was then. Now? The National Review says that "there has been informal talk of accepting a bill that’s only 50 percent paid for, with the rest of the borrowing being offset down the road by 'economic growth.'" That's code for "massive tax cuts for the wealthy." That'll be particularly fun when Congress gets the bill for Trump's <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/22/1613663/-Donald-Trump-The-United-States-must-greatly-strengthen-and-expand-its-nuclear-arsenal" title="">expanded nuclear arsenal</a>. Nukes don't come cheap. Clearly, more people are going to have to starve. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) austerity Deficit DonaldTrump FreedomCaucus House Recommended Republicans Senate _1613684 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 17:51:33 +0000 Trump team's State Dept. queries spark fears that women's equality programs will become next target http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613696/-Trump-team-s-query-seems-a-prelude-to-State-Department-s-gender-quality-programs If any other transition team were querying government departments for the kind of information the Trumplodytes have been seeking, few people would be uptight about it. But there are plenty of reasons to shudder when these are the guys doing the asking. Josh Rogin <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2016/12/22/trump-team-asked-state-department-for-info-on-womens-issues-programs-stoking-fears-of-another-witch-hunt/?utm_term=.c1ed2cb525dd" target="_blank">reports</a>: <blockquote> The Trump transition team instructed the State Department to turn over all information Wednesday about “gender-related staffing, programming, and funding,” setting off alarm bells among those who fear that the new administration is going to purge programs that promote women’s equality along with the people who work on them. [...] I obtained a copy of the State Department request, which said each office should include information on all existing programs and activities that “promote gender equality, such as ending gender-based violence, promoting women’s participation in economic and political spheres, entrepreneurship, etc.” </blockquote> Earlier this week, we learned that the team had asked State Department employees to account for how much money the agency has spent on international environmental organizations. Unlike the transitioners’ sortie into the Department of Energy regarding climate change that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/12/13/energy-dept-rejects-trumps-request-to-name-climate-change-workers-who-remain-worried/?utm_term=.83d795f6f22e" target="_blank">stirred fears a week ago</a>, these times they aren’t asking for individual names of the civil servants doing the work. That change might, under normal circumstances, be taken as a sign that they have wised up. But this is the unpresidented-elect’s crew. In a post-Jan. 20 world, they might avoid harassing and otherwise giving a hard time to government employees engaged in those programs and activities. Or they might not. But even if they don’t behave that way, the attitudes expressed by Trump and his chosen few about women, transgender persons, marriage equality, and the like are a good indication that these programs, at State and elsewhere in the federal government, are headed for the shredder. Anybody possessed of happy nostalgia for the America of the 1950s should buckle up—because it appears they’re going to find out what those years were actually like. rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) DonaldTrump Hate misogyny Recommended Sexism Transition _1613696 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 18:51:47 +0000 Swamp fight: Corey, Newt, and Donald argue over whether Washington swamp needs draining after all http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613711/-Swamp-fight-Corey-Newt-and-Donald-argue-over-whether-the-Washington-swamp-needs-draining-after-all Fresh off the heels of Deep Republican Thinker Newt Gingrich noting that Donald Trump "now disclaims" his earlier promise to "drain the swamp" in Washington, former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski reiterated the message: Draining swamps is <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/corey-lewandowski-drain-the-swamp_us_585beba8e4b0eb5864855877?91mx46bndrf869a4i" title="">just not something Donald Trump is that into these days</a>. <blockquote>“If you had to put them in a chronological order, drain the swamp is probably somewhere down at the bottom,” Lewandowski said of the refrain on “Fox & Friends,” adding that “what it’s really about is putting people back to work.” “As opposed to getting tax reform done, making sure middle-class people have more jobs, making sure we’re renegotiating our bad trade deals, ensuring that we’re fixing ObamaCare,” the long-time aide and surrogate continued. </blockquote> Shorter Lewandowski: I mean sure, maybe after all that other stuff gets done we'll get back to campaign-era bullshit promise No. 28, but right now there's a list and it ain't on page one. Or two. Or 10. Mind you, this may have something to do with Lewandowski just yesterday opening his very own lobbying firm right in the middle of the swamp. But whatever Donald Trump's various faults are, Donald Trump is keenly aware of one thing: The only way bullshit continues to work is if you don't openly pipe up declaring it to be bullshit. So Trump furiously took to Twitter to make it known that his various buds and surrogates were speaking out of turn. Disregard the most recent bullshit; the bullshit before that bullshit is still in effect! <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content='&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Someone incorrectly stated that the phrase &amp;quot;DRAIN THE SWAMP&amp;quot; was no longer being used by me. Actually, we will always be trying to DTS.&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/811975049431416832"&gt;December 22, 2016&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; '><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Someone incorrectly stated that the phrase "DRAIN THE SWAMP" was no longer being used by me. Actually, we will always be trying to DTS.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/811975049431416832">December 22, 2016</a></blockquote> </div> Which immediately resulted in Newt Gingrich <a href="https://twitter.com/newtgingrich/status/811980472079237121">skittering directly to Twitter</a> to declare that he now thought whatever bullshit Trump thought and is sorry for ever implying any contrary bullshit. (If you've never seen a man shamelessly try to crawl into a rich man's pocket, you're in for a treat.) rss@dailykos.com (Hunter) Conservatives CoreyLewandowski Corruption DonaldTrump draintheswamp NewtGingrich Republicans _1613711 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:17:12 +0000 Will red-state Democrats heed the lessons of the past or sell their souls when GOP comes knocking? http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613720/-Will-red-state-Democrats-heed-the-lessons-of-the-past-or-sell-their-souls-when-GOP-comes-knocking Senate Republicans and outside groups are making a <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/trump-nominations-red-state-democrats-232890">hard play for red-state Democrats</a> in trying to force through popular vote loser Donald Trump's cabinet picks. <blockquote>It’s an effort at early damage control, with Republicans aiming to protect their own from a Democratic onslaught that could cause lasting damage both to Trump administration officials and to the president-elect’s ability to push his ambitious legislative agenda through Congress. To that end, after Christmas, five red state Democratic senators up for reelection in 2018 will find themselves in the cross hairs of an ad campaign pushing them to support Pruitt, Trump’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Behind the effort is the conservative group America Rising Squared, an arm of the Republican opposition research group America Rising that is also launching a website, ConfirmPruitt.com, on Wednesday. The Democrats—West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, Missouri’s Claire McCaskill, Montana’s Jon Tester, Indiana’s Joe Donnelly, and North Dakota’s Heidi Heitkamp—will face ads casting their votes on Pruitt’s nomination as a choice between farmers and regulators, working families and extremist environmentalists. </blockquote> There are similar efforts in the works for nominees Betsy DeVos at Education and Andy Puzder at Labor. These senators, but particularly Manchin and Heitkamp who have been being courted by the Trump transition team, need to remember these names: Blanche Lincoln, Mary Landrieu, and Mark Pryor. They also need to remember their own elections—particularly McCaskill and Tester. Going Republican-lite isn't going to save you in a mid-term election. Republicans aren't going to vote for you anyway, and you'll turn off would-be supporters in what is already certain to be a low-turnout election. There's too much at stake—and the Republican party has gone so off-the-charts extreme with Trump—that there's no upside for any Democrat tempted to sell their soul to them. Really. Just <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/22/1613663/-Donald-Trump-The-United-States-must-greatly-strengthen-and-expand-its-nuclear-arsenal">look around you</a>. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) appointments Democrats DonaldTrump Republicans Senate _1613720 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:57:11 +0000 Midday open thread: Santa may have to turn in sleigh for Jet Ski; Liberty Bell maker out of business http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613664/-Midday-open-thread-Santa-may-have-to-turn-in-sleigh-for-Jet-Ski-Liberty-Bell-maker-out-of-business Today’s <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/user/Comics/history" target="_blank">comic</a> by Ruben Bolling is <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613127/-Cartoon-It-s-a-Wonderful-Life-in-Trumpville" target="_blank">It's a Wonderful Life in Trumpville</a>: <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Ruben Bolling - It's a Wonderful Life in Trumpville" src="http://images.dailykos.com/images/341890/large/unnamed_%2820%29.png?1482378662" title="Cartoon by Ruben Bolling - It's a Wonderful Life in Trumpville"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> • <a href="http://www.thewrap.com/trump-inauguration-panic-mark-burnett-irving-azoff-garth-brooks-celine-dion/" target="_blank">Mr. Showbiz having trouble putting on his show:</a> <blockquote> Donald Trump is so displeased with his team’s inability to lock in A-list talent for his inauguration events next month that he’s ordered a “Hail Mary” shakeup of his recruiters to try to book performers, a person familiar with the situation told TheWrap. Mark Burnett, who produces “Celebrity Apprentice” with Trump and has been overseeing entertainment for inauguration festivities, has brought in talent recruiter Suzanne Bender, a former “Dancing With the Stars” and “American Idol” booker, to end an effective freeze-out by Hollywood, the insider said. </blockquote> • <a href="http://www.poynter.org/2016/white-house-reporters-begin-to-fret-over-their-big-dinner-with-or-without-president-trump/443546/" target="_blank" title="">Stuff that keeps other people up at night:</a> The White House Correspondents' Association Dinner doesn’t happen until April 29, 2017. The fact that it will be Donald Trump at podium has some association board members a tad worried: <blockquote> "This is unchartered territory," says a former board member who's discussed the matter with board members. "We've never had a businessman-reality TV star as president, somebody who understands the importance of this particular event." We've also never had a president-elect who so openly disdains much of the media — and won in part by ridiculing the "swamp" of politicians, lobbyists and press that largely comprise the 3,000 attendees at Washington's celebrity-filled, self-reverential social event of the year. </blockquote> • <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/after-nearly-500-years-business-company-cast-liberty-bell-ceasing-all-operations-180961473/" target="_blank">Timing is just a coincidence, right? … Right? </a>Operating since at least 1570, the company that cast the Liberty Bell is going out of business. • <a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-marine-world-below-antarctic-sea-ice-looks-like-outer-space-" target="_blank">Marine world of the Antarctic might as well be outer space:</a> <blockquote> Not sure if that's footage of aliens or earthlings? This Youtube video by Storyful News offers a rare peak at the marine world below Antarctic sea level. With all kinds of colors and shapes, starfish, wigglies, and pompom-looking things, it's really a world unto itself. </blockquote> • <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/12/22/weather-buoy-near-north-pole-hits-melting-point/?utm_term=.c009f7cc4651" target="_blank">Meanwhile, a temperature spike of nearly 30 degrees is occurring in the entire Arctic:</a> <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="temp_north_of_80N.png" src="http://images.dailykos.com/images/342032/large/temp_north_of_80N.png?1482428809" title="temp_north_of_80N.png"> <figcaption>Temperature compared to normal in the Arctic north of 80N latitude.</figcaption> </figure> </div> • <a href="https://www.wired.com/2016/12/dangerous-people-internet-2016/" target="_blank">Wired’s most dangerous people on the internet for 2016:</a> <blockquote> NOT SO LONG ago, the internet represented a force for subversion, and WIRED’s list of the most dangerous people on the internet mostly consisted of rebellious individuals using the online world’s disruptive potential to take on the world’s power structures. But as the internet has entered every facet of our lives, and governments and political figures have learned to exploit it, the most dangerous people on the internet today often are the most powerful people. </blockquote> • On <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/22/1613695/-Daily-Kos-Radio-s-KITM-podcast-AUDIO-Kagro-in-the-Morning-Thursday-December-22-2016" target="_blank">today’s Kagro in the Morning show</a>, we’re still dissecting the election, of course. Greg Dworkin remind us to learn all we can about Trump voters, but nobody gets a pass. To no one’s surprise, Trump is “casting” his cabinet like a “reality TV” show. But The Apprentice was never about reality. <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder dk-x-embed" href="#" data-height="100" data-src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4935472/height/100/width/500/theme/custom/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/backward/no-cache/true/render-playlist/no/custom-color/e87822/" data-width="500">Embedded Content</a></div> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknlsM6zUMIdxtz1qEAbhuA" target="_blank">YouTube</a> | <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-kos-radio-kagro-in-morning/id581551976" target="_blank">iTunes</a> | <a href="http://kagrox.libsyn.com/" target="_blank">LibSyn</a> | Support the show via <a href="https://www.patreon.com/kagrox?ty=h" target="_blank">Patreon</a> rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) MiddayOpenThread _1613664 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 20:00:22 +0000 GOP lawmaker: I shouldn't have used son's broken arm as political point, it was just plain neglect http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613688/-GOP-lawmaker-says-he-shouldn-t-use-son-s-broken-arm-as-political-point-but-still-okay-with-neglect Republican Michigan Rep. Bill Huizenga, the guy who <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613144/-The-Republican-approach-to-healthcare-reform-My-kid-has-a-broken-arm-That-can-wait" target="_blank" title="">let his child suffer overnight with a broken arm</a> because he didn’t think it was worth a trip to the emergency room, <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/republican-says-sons-broken-arm-was-poor-political-point-on-health-care/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=32670785" target="_blank" title="">now says he probably shouldn’t have used that incident </a>as an example for how to achieve health care reform. You think? <blockquote> A conservative GOP lawmaker says he “made a poor choice of words” when citing a decision to delay treatment of his son’s broken arm to point out the benefits of a health care system in which consumers bear a greater share of out-of-pocket costs. [...] Huizenga said in an interview with The Associated Press Wednesday that using the experience of his son’s broken arm was a bad example to cite and that the cost of an emergency room visit didn’t play a role in his decision as a parent. Huizenga’s family is covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield, he said. </blockquote> Oh, that makes it so much better—he didn’t really have a good reason at all for not getting his kid’s broken arm treated immediately. Cost had nothing to do with it. That’ll make his kid feel just great. If this asshole was a <a href="http://abc13.com/news/hpd-mom-leaves-kids-at-mall-food-court-to-go-to-job-interview/867598/" target="_blank" title="">black</a>,<a href="http://abc13.com/news/hpd-mom-leaves-kids-at-mall-food-court-to-go-to-job-interview/867598/" target="_blank" title=""> single</a>, and<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/28/shanesha-taylor-homeless-mom-arrested_n_5050356.html" target="_blank" title=""> homeless mom</a> instead of a Republican congressman, he’d be arrested for child neglect. The larger point, he says, still holds. “We as consumers and users of this need to get better acquainted with what are the true costs.” In other words, people are using too damned much health care and shouldn’t get any help from anybody to pay for it. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) BillHuizenga childneglect Healthcarereform Obamacare repeal _1613688 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 18:23:54 +0000 Trump voters will be hurt the most with Obamacare repeal and Democrats have to remind them of that http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613391/-Trump-voters-will-be-hurt-the-most-with-Obamacare-repeal-and-Democrats-have-to-remind-them-of-that Liberal bloggers aren't the only ones sending a <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/06/1608013/-McConnell-wants-Democratic-cooperation-on-repealing-Obamacare-Oh-yeah-Get-f-cked-buddy">strong warning</a> to Democrats about not helping Republicans one iota when it comes to dismantling Obamacare, or their bullshit efforts to "replace" it. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/21/opinion/trump-is-going-after-health-care-will-democrats-push-back.html?_r=1">Here's Theda Skocpol</a>, a professor of government and sociology at Harvard and the director of the Scholars Strategy Network: <blockquote>For the Democratic Party, the coming Republican assault on public health insurance represents a huge political opportunity. But to seize it, the party will have to beef up state committees and place a priority on activating volunteer supporters everywhere—getting people to write messages to local newspapers and social media sites, and reach out to hospitals, health care providers and nonprofits to beat the drums about losses the Republicans are inflicting. Even if Democrats cannot soon win outright majorities beyond their urban base, they must be actively involved in communities damaged by Mr. Trump’s false campaign promises. Democrats cannot just defend Medicare; they must loudly point out that repealing Obamacare means eliminating the taxes that subsidize health care for low- and middle-income people. That huge and immediate tax cut for the rich would lead to the demise of subsidized health insurance for millions of less privileged Americans in rural, suburban and urban communities. Proclaiming this truth could help Democrats gain a new hearing from many Trump voters. But it remains to be seen whether the party can rise to the challenge of showing up everywhere. </blockquote> What she's saying: Fight, Democrats! She's right. Sure, don't lift a finger to help Republicans. That's the easy part. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Democrats DonaldTrump Medicare Obamacare Republicans Senate _1613391 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 18:30:22 +0000 North Carolina legislature's special session ends without repealing discriminatory HB2 law http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613658/-North-Carolina-legislature-s-special-session-ends-without-repealing-discriminatory-HB2-law The North Carolina legislature ended its special session Wednesday, failing to fulfill the <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/19/1612639/-North-Carolina-legislature-said-to-be-poised-to-repeal-HB2-bathroom-law" title="">deal</a> they had made with the city of Charlotte and incoming Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to repeal the controversial and discriminatory HB2. Known as the "bathroom bill," it’s actually an expansive restriction on civil and workers' rights. In a chaotic session, the legislature <a href="http://www.freedomforallamericans.org/north-carolina-general-assembly-fails-to-repeal-anti-lgbt-hb2/">reneged</a>. <blockquote>Efforts to repeal the damaging law came to a halt during a contentious special session in Raleigh on Wednesday, as some lawmakers tried to make repeal contingent upon the inclusion of a measure that banned local municipalities from advancing their own nondiscrimination ordinances. Originally, the moratorium was for six months—in and of itself an unacceptable provision. Later, lawmakers in the Senate tried to extend the moratorium window, which would have done nothing to resolve the ongoing economic strife faced by North Carolina since the passage of HB2. Lawmakers later tried to split the bill into two portions—one repealing HB 2, the other essentially voiding that repeal by requiring the lengthy moratorium on municipal nondiscrimination ordinances. A vote on the repeal portion of the bill failed, dooming the possibility of any other productive movement during this special session. The lack of action during the special session, which was convened explicitly to repeal HB 2, cost North Carolina taxpayers more than $40,000. </blockquote> The city of Charlotte held up its end of the bargain and repealed its ordinance extending protections to the LGBTQ community—and got nothing in return. Charlotte lost. Cooper lost, making the already stunning and unprecedented coup that the Republican legislature pulled on him even worse. The people of North Carolina lost. The state itself lost, as millions and millions in revenue has been written off because of ongoing boycotts. In it is an awfully important lesson for North Carolina Democrats and Democrats nationwide: You can't negotiate with Republicans. <div> <a name="update-1482435630000"></a> </div> <div class="live-update-wrapper" data-epoch-time="1482435630000"> <a class="live-update-link" href="#update-1482435630000"> Thursday, Dec 22, 2016 · 7:40:30 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter </a> <div class="live-update-content">The NAACP <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/naacp-to-call-for-economic-boycott-of-north-carolina-until-hb2-is-fully-repealed-2e23698ff459#.2yrynuq9v" target="_blank" title="">has announced</a> it will “file lawsuits against the state, organize mass protests, and call for an economic boycott to pressure lawmakers to repeal HB2 and other legislation they say infringes on civil rights.” Rev. William Barber says “Enough is enough. [...] We must draw a line in the sand. Other states will know that there will be a price to pay whenever people attempt to use a temporary majority status to run roughshod over the Constitution. We need to send the message that if they try this, the people will resist.” </div> </div> rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Charlotte HB2 LGBTQ NorthCarolina RoyCooper _1613658 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 16:45:59 +0000 Donald Trump: 'The United States must greatly strengthen and expand' its nuclear arsenal http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613663/-Donald-Trump-The-United-States-must-greatly-strengthen-and-expand-its-nuclear-arsenal Well, we're all gonna die. <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content='&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/811977223326625792"&gt;December 22, 2016&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; '><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/811977223326625792">December 22, 2016</a></blockquote> </div> What does this actually mean? We don't know. Which television channel was he watching when he suddenly came up with the idea that he, as president, needs more "nukes"? We're not sure. Who would likely be in charge of implementing such a plan? Rick Perry, the guy from Dancing with the Stars. In one month's time, Donald J. Trump, narcissistic manchild, will indeed be in charge of our nuclear arsenal. And apparently our policy is that until "the world comes to its senses regarding nukes", the United States will be running rapidly in the opposite direction from those senses. rss@dailykos.com (Hunter) DonaldTrump NuclearWeapons Trumpadministration _1613663 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 17:16:23 +0000 Obama administration shuts down visitor registry before Trump gets his racist, stubby fingers on it http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613655/-Obama-administration-shuts-down-visitor-registry-before-Trump-gets-his-racist-stubby-fingers-on-it Back in the bad old days of the Bush-Cheney regime, we had a national registry program for visitors from countries with active terrorist groups. It's been mothballed since 2011, but the Obama administration has decided it needs to be completely dismantled in light of Trump's <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613400/-Trump-Muslim-ban-proposal-proven-to-be-right-100-percent-correct" title="">threats to create a Muslim registry and/or ban</a> on travel. The current administration has decided not to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/22/nyregion/obama-to-dismantle-visitor-registry-before-trump-can-revive-it.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share" title="">make it easy for him</a>. <blockquote>The move by the White House to formally end the registry is among the actions being taken in the final weeks of the administration that could prevent, or at least slow, what Democrats fear may be a swift rollback of President Obama’s efforts on immigration and climate change. […] In recent days, dozens of Democratic officials in Washington, as well as the New York State attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, have called for the regulations to be rescinded. “No known terrorism convictions have resulted from the program,” read a joint letter, dated Dec. 1, from more than 50 Democratic members of the House of Representatives. Mr. Schneiderman, a Democrat and a vocal opponent of Mr. Trump, said the program was “an affront to our core American values of pluralism and equal justice under law.” </blockquote> The program is being dismantled with a simple rule change. On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security submitted the rule change and it will be published in the Federal Register Friday. Neema Hakim, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that "D.H.S. ceased use of Nseers more than five years ago, after it was determined the program was redundant, inefficient and provided no increase in security." She added that the program would divert resources from more effective efforts if it were activated. This will make it that much more difficult for Trump to resurrect it, particularly in light of the <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/16/1611812/-Microsoft-We-wouldn-t-do-any-work-to-build-a-registry-of-Muslim-Americans" title="">tech industry's refusal</a> to participate in building a registry. That includes Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Apple, and others, as well as thousands of tech workers. If Trump tries to reinstate it, he's going to have a fight on a number of levels. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) BarackObama DepartmentofHomelandSecurity DonaldTrump muslimregistry Recommended _1613655 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 16:09:25 +0000 Senate Democrats need to get on the same page in supporting a select committee on Russia http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613642/-Senate-Democrats-need-to-get-on-the-same-page-in-supporting-a-select-committee-on-Russia The Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee are apparently having a hard time giving up the idea that they're getting super-duper special information, and they don't want other Democrats to have it. So they're <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/russia-democrats-select-committee-232900">resisting the calls of their new leader</a>, Sen. Chuck Schumer, for a select committee to investigate Russia's interference in the 2016 election. <blockquote>Several members of the party, particularly those on the Intelligence Committee, are noncommittal about setting up a new select committee specifically devoted to cybersecurity that would also investigate Russian influence on the presidential election. Instead, some Democrats will wait to see whether Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) will follow through on his pledge to “expeditiously” investigate the electronic break-ins and preside over public hearings about the matter. […] Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the new top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, is not currently endorsing a select committee as he looks to forge a partnership with Burr. Still, he's leaving the door open to call for an investigatory shake-up in the future if the current Intel panel investigation stalls. But in the meantime, he's “actively engaged in discussions with Senator Burr” about the course of the current probe rather than calling for a new panel that would step on the Intel Committee's jurisdiction, a spokeswoman said. </blockquote> And of course Sens. Angus King of Maine and Joe Manchin of West Virginia are puffing themselves up and holding out, saying the haven't made up their minds. This is undoubtedly them hoping to have their egos stroked and extract some trade-off from Schumer, who has called for the special select committee along with Democrat Jack Reed and Republicans John McCain and Lindsey Graham. There are two stand-up stalwart Democrats on the intelligence committee, however, who are calling for the special committee. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Democrats DonaldTrump election MarkWarner Recommended RonWyden Russia Senate SSIC _1613642 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 15:27:37 +0000 Kellyanne Conway named as Trump consigliere http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613623/-Kellyanne-Conway-named-as-Trump-consigliere Rudy and Chris must be so <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-kellyanne-conway-counselor-to-the-president" target="_blank" title="">jealous:</a> <blockquote> President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team announced Thursday that his former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway would join his incoming administration as counselor to the president. </blockquote> Conway says she is “humbled and honored.” America, on the other hand, continues to be screwed. <div> <a name="update-1482420843000"></a> </div> <div class="live-update-wrapper" data-epoch-time="1482420843000"> <a class="live-update-link" href="#update-1482420843000"> Thursday, Dec 22, 2016 · 3:34:03 PM +00:00 · Barbara Morrill </a> <div class="live-update-content">Oh, for the love of <s>God</s> Satan, from the Trump <a href="https://greatagain.gov/conway-counselor-45f4de5214c1#.niflsg7al" target="_blank" title="">press release:</a> <blockquote> President-elect Trump’s victory on November 8th also shattered the glass ceiling for women. Conway is the first female campaign manager of either major party to win a presidential general election. </blockquote> </div> </div> rss@dailykos.com (Barbara Morrill) DonaldTrump KellyanneConway _1613623 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 14:03:59 +0000 Cartoon: It's a Wonderful Life in Trumpville http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613127/-Cartoon-It-s-a-Wonderful-Life-in-Trumpville FOLLOW @RubenBolling on the <a href="http://twitter.com/rubenbolling">Twitters</a> and a <a>Face Book</a>. Help in Aleppo: JOIN Tom the Dancing Bug's subscription club, the <a href="http://bit.ly/1EikWTm">INNER HIVE</a> today, and a donation will be made to Doctors Without Borders. Information <a href="http://gocomics.typepad.com/tomthedancingbugblog/2016/12/join-the-inner-hive-help-protect-journalists.html">here</a>. rss@dailykos.com (RubenBolling) Trump _1613127 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 14:50:21 +0000 If you want a job with Team Trump, shave your mustache http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613614/-If-you-want-a-job-with-Team-Trump-shave-your-mustache Need a job? Have a certain look? Then have your agent contact team Trump and you too could <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/donald-trump-is-holding-a-government-casting-call-hes-seeking-the-look/2016/12/21/703ae8a4-c795-11e6-bf4b-2c064d32a4bf_story.html?utm_term=.32ea7aad8498" target="_blank" title="">land a job</a> in the White House! <blockquote> Donald Trump believes that those who aspire to the most visible spots in his administration should not just be able to do the job, but also look the part. Given Trump’s own background as a master brander and showman who ran beauty pageants as a sideline, it was probably inevitable that he would be looking beyond their résumés for a certain aesthetic in his supporting players. </blockquote> Yep. Unpresidented-elect Trump is picking people based on their looks. Meaning we will soon have a “rugged” general running the Pentagon, a “poised and elegant” ambassador to the United Nations, a secretary of state with “silvery hair and boardroom bearing” … because Trump is “a showbiz guy” who is more interested in the “demeanor and the swagger.” Trump is also—according to a source granted anonymity to reveal this breaking news—“very aesthetic.” We also learn that there is good news for ladies: <blockquote> People close to Trump said he has been eager to appoint a telegenic woman as press secretary or in some other public-facing role in his White House — both because he thinks it would attract viewers and would help inoculate him from the charges of sexism that trailed his presidential campaign. </blockquote> Attract viewers? Oy vey. The only good news out of this mind-boggling mess? Madman John Bolton apparently missed his (second) chance to help destroy the world because of his “brush-like mustache.” <blockquote> “Donald was not going to like that mustache,” said one associate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak frankly. </blockquote> So you can take comfort in that. (Or drive an ice pick into your ear as you contemplate the next four years of “showbiz.”) rss@dailykos.com (Barbara Morrill) DonaldTrump _1613614 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 13:34:42 +0000 Daily Kos Radio is LIVE at 9 AM ET! http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613525/-Daily-Kos-Radio-is-LIVE-at-9-AM-ET I keep saying that there’s no way Trump can get any dumber. And I think it’s backfiring on me. So from now on I’ll say I don’t think there’s any way Trump can get any smarter. I mean, that’s also true, so it’s OK for me to say it. And at this point, I’m kind of hoping the “reverse psychology” of it might actually work. We’ll see what the morning’s headlines say. Because last evening’s headlines were just off the charts loony. <a href="http://netroots-main-1.stream.creek.fm:8000/stream" target="_blank">Listen </a>LIVE right here at 9:00 AM ET! Well, we went ahead and did it. We “went commercial.” Sort of. That is, we turned on ads in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknlsM6zUMIdxtz1qEAbhuA" target="_blank" title="">YouTube version of our podcasts</a>. So everyone here should make a point of going there, “watching” the podcasts, and <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/comments/1612515/64862650#comment_64862650" target="_blank" title="">NOT*</a> clicking on all the ads, or whatever it is you have to do to make money magically appear in our account. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknlsM6zUMIdxtz1qEAbhuA" target="_blank" title="">YouTube channel</a> is actually a remarkably easy way of listening to the podcast on your mobile device, too. And we might even make a dollar! Don’t want to play that game? Well, there’s always good, old fashioned donations! Please consider subscribing to provide ongoing, monthly support via <a href="https://www.patreon.com/kagrox?ty=h" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. Not sold yet? Surely the below FREE SAMPLE of our show will convince you! <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=5ixl1N3dXjI" title="" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5ixl1N3dXjI" data-height="360" data-width="640">YouTube Video</a></div> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknlsM6zUMIdxtz1qEAbhuA" target="_blank">YouTube</a> | <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-kos-radio-kagro-in-morning/id581551976" target="_blank">iTunes</a> | <a href="http://kagrox.libsyn.com/" target="_blank">LibSyn</a> | Support the show via <a href="https://www.patreon.com/kagrox?ty=h" target="_blank">Patreon</a> <a href="http://www.xmasclock.com" target="_blank">4 more days</a> until Christmas! Of course, it’s 30 days until <a href="https://twitter.com/KagroX/status/811404648951218176" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a> can <a href="http://heavy.com/news/2016/12/donald-trump-tweet-tweets-tweetstorm-rant-about-losing-popular-vote-electoral-college/" target="_blank" title="">pass out drone strikes</a>. Donald’s to give, the question is not if, or when, <a href="https://twitter.com/thehill/status/811584285027213312">just where</a>. David Waldman recommends against <a href="https://twitter.com/HunterDK/status/811394983798259714" target="_blank" title="">loaded guns</a>, or <a href="https://twitter.com/judymvincent/status/811384153954361344" target="_blank" title="">cases of mumps</a> as last minute gift ideas. Coach Greg Dworkin calls on us to <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613028/-Abbreviated-Pundit-Round-up:-Partisanship-rules,-like-it-or-not,-so-play-to-win" target="_blank" title="">play to win</a>. It’s not the time to <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/12/timid-liberals-flinching-hillary-clintons-email-server" target="_blank">be timid</a>. The Democrats brought <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/20/opinion/democrats-had-a-knife-and-the-gop-had-a-gun.html?_r=0" target="_blank">a knife to a gun fight</a>. But, even Republicans are afraid of <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/donald-trump-congress-republicans-232800" target="_blank" title="">the Trump enforcers</a>. Voters really did switch to Trump <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/voters-really-did-switch-to-trump-at-the-last-minute/" target="_blank" title="">at the last minute</a>, and the<a href="https://twitter.com/thehill/status/811583523857596416" target="_blank" title=""> FBI is under pressure</a> to explain what <a href="http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a51711/fbi-clinton-weiner-laptop-probable-cause/" target="_blank" title="">they call a “warrant”</a>, and what others call <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/lawyer-says-no-probable-cause-clinton-search-warrant-534400" target="_blank" title="">“appalling”</a>. Mitch McConnell wasn’t prepared<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mitch-mcconnell-donald-trump_us_5859456be4b08debb78b086a" target="_blank" title=""> for this kind of success</a>. Those Trump Boys <a href="http://xhttp://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/313141/trumps-sons-disavow-involvement-with-sketchy-fundraiser-theyre-on-the-board-of/" target="_blank" title="">are at it again</a>. Half a million or so buys <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2016/12/16/donald-trump-inauguration-party/" target="_blank" title="">a chance to hunt with a Trump</a>. Alas, the offer <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/offer-of-trump-access-at-fundraiser-is-pulled-back-but-family-ties-remain/2016/12/20/ec185520-c6ea-11e6-bf4b-2c064d32a4bf_story.html?utm_term=.e73726281976" target="_blank">was pulled back</a> before <a href="http://wonkette.com/609580/uday-and-qusay-trump-definitely-not-selling-access-in-big-hunting-themed-fundraiser-nope" target="_blank" title="">Dick Cheney could take them up on it</a>. Joan McCarter tells us more about <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/20/1613032/-Trumps-waste-no-time-going-after-other-people-s-money-with-their-golden-key-access-to-the-PEOTUS" target="_blank" title="">paying to play with the </a><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/20/1613032/-Trumps-waste-no-time-going-after-other-people-s-money-with-their-golden-key-access-to-the-PEOTUS" target="_blank">Trumps</a>. Politico gives Breitbart goons and the fake press <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/21/1613281/-Trumpites-bully-congressional-Republicans-Politico-helps" target="_blank" title="">a forum to make threats against Congress</a>. The Trump team half-asses <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/21/1613290/-Trump-team-kinda-sorta-working-on-that-conflict-of-interest-problem" target="_blank">a half-blind trust</a>.<a href="https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/811377530217361408" target="_blank" title=""> Bill O’Reilly</a> stands up for <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/21/1613226/-Bill-O-Reilly-s-most-misleading-amp-dangerous-white-nationalist-rant-to-date?detail=facebook" target="_blank" title="">White Nationalists</a>.<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613285/-Trump-s-Dr-suggests-Reagan-proved-it-s-OK-to-cover-up-President-s-dementia-if-something-happens?detail=facebook" target="_blank" title=""> Trump’s doctor</a> says<a href="http://www.rawstory.com/2016/12/trumps-doctor-now-says-its-no-big-deal-if-his-health-is-bad-thats-why-we-have-a-vice-president/" target="_blank"> it’s no big deal if Donald’s health is bad</a>, he has other patients. President Obama scrambles <a href="http://President%20Obama%20bans%20oil%20drilling%20in%20large%20areas%20of%20Atlantic%20and%20Arctic%20oceans" target="_blank">to save the world</a> in the days he has left. A police officer<a href="http://www.michigansthumb.com/news/article/Tuscola-prosecutor-handling-case-of-police-10809995.php" target="_blank" title=""> lends his gun to a school robot</a> that might have had a beef with the shop teacher. <center> <center>(Thanks again to <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/user/Scott%20Anderson">Scott Anderson</a> for the show summary!)</center> <center></center> <center></center> <center>Need more info on how to listen? Find it below the fold.</center> </center> rss@dailykos.com (David Waldman) DailyKosRadio _1613525 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 13:30:20 +0000 Cheers and Jeers: Thursday http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613284/-Cheers-and-Jeers-Thursday From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE… Conan Taps the Phones <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=js37iROI7Xw" data-height="281" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/js37iROI7Xw" data-width="500">YouTube Video</a></div> We're not posting tomorrow, so we’ll say our “Happy War on Christmas” to you now. Safe travels. Have fun. And let me know what you think of the Hammacher Schlemmer blimp I got you this year. I bet you'll love the cup holder. Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!] rss@dailykos.com (Bill in Portland Maine) CheersandJeers _1613284 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 13:15:59 +0000 Abbreviated pundit roundup: the lynching memorial; photo surreality in Ankara; declassify hacking http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613571/-Abbreviated-pundit-roundup-the-lynching-memorial-photo-surreality-in-Ankara-declassify-hacking In his column <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/happy-holidays-donald-trump/2016/12/21/74abefa8-c788-11e6-8bee-54e800ef2a63_story.html" target="_blank">Happy holidays, Donald Trump</a>, E.J. Dionne Jr. at The Washington Post says the Unpresidented-Elect is confused about yet another thing—the “war on Christmas.” <blockquote> Some things Donald Trump says enrage me, while others get under my skin. The pronouncement that does both is his regular claim that until he prevailed, Americans were not free to say “merry Christmas” to each other. He was at it again last week in West Allis, Wis., during his Watch-Me-Divide-The-Country-Further Victory Tour. Trump <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/310311-trump-fulfills-merry-christmas-campaign-promise-at-wisconsin">declared</a>: “So when I started 18 months ago, I told my first crowd in Wisconsin that we are going to come back here someday and we are going to say merry Christmas again. Merry Christmas. So, merry Christmas everyone.” Here’s what bothers me: Long before Trump came along we were entirely free to say “merry Christmas” to each other. Our political leaders could say it, too. </blockquote> <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content="&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Immigrants who want to pay taxes would extend Social Security&amp;#39;s life for years. Trump's new budget director wants you to work till you rot.&lt;/p&gt;— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/LOLGOP/status/811752217199988736"&gt;December 22, 2016&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;"><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Immigrants who want to pay taxes would extend Social Security's life for years. Trump's new budget director wants you to work till you rot.Ã¢Â€Â” LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) <a href="https://twitter.com/LOLGOP/status/811752217199988736">December 22, 2016</a></blockquote></div> rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) AbbreviatedPunditRound-up AbbreviatedPunditRoundUp APR _1613571 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 12:30:19 +0000 Open thread for night owls: Dayen—America's biggest crisis has nothing to do with Donald Trump http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613502/-Open-thread-for-night-owls-Dayen-America-s-biggest-crisis-has-nothing-to-do-with-Donald-Trump David Dayen at The Fiscal Times writes—<a href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2016/12/20/Americas-Biggest-Crisis-Has-Nothing-Do-Donald-Trump" target="_blank" title="">America's Biggest Crisis Has Nothing to Do With Donald Trump</a>: <blockquote> Since the 2016 election, my social media feeds have been overtaken by Cassandras, darkly warning of the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/19/opinion/how-republics-end.html?smid=tw-share">death</a> of <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2016/12/08/liberal-democracy-is-still-facing-its-worst-crisis-since-the-1930s/">liberal democracy</a>. But lately I’ve been thinking about a different collapse — not of the political system, but of a large swathe of our society. Over the past few weeks, a stream of data has revealed the desperation of an almost catatonic America, taking place outside of the dominant media corridors and conversations. For example, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), deaths in 2015 from heroin abuse <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/12/08/heroin-deaths-surpass-gun-homicides-for-the-first-time-cdc-data-show/?utm_term=.aaae6241cc00">surpassed</a> deaths from gun homicides, an unprecedented phenomenon for a country seen as more addicted to its firearms. Total opioid deaths, including overdoses of prescription drugs like OxyContin and synthetic opiates like fentanyl, hit 33,092 last year. [...] <figure class="image-captioned width-sm align-right"><img alt="night owls" class="width-sm" src="http://images.dailykos.com/images/113740/large/halloween_owl.jpg?1453352072" title="night owls"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> Though opioid addiction has belatedly <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/opioid-epidemic/" title="">claimed headlines</a>, painkillers aren’t the only medications Americans seek out. CDC numbers indicate that just as many <a href="https://wonder.cdc.gov/mcd-icd10.html">died from alcohol-related causes</a> in 2015 as from opioids; add drunk-driving deaths and the number more than doubles. Annual tobacco deaths still hover <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/tobacco_related_mortality/">around half a million</a>, dwarfing these other vices. Others abuse food. [...] Add this all up and you get the incredible finding that <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db267.htm">life expectancy fell</a> in 2015 for the first time since 1993 (the height of the AIDS crisis). In other words, we’re looking at something akin to a new plague. And it’s a <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-americans-die-may-depend-on-where-they-live/">localized plague</a>, with deep impacts on <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/11/boomers-deaths-pnas/413971/">middle-aged rural whites</a>. Ailments like cardiovascular disease and cancer are increasing significantly in Appalachia and the South, while dropping along the coasts. Suicides and alcohol and drug poisonings, the despair deaths, hit these communities hard. [...] What is the source of this pain that has so many in small towns reaching for a needle or a bottle, dessert or a gun? One hypothesis is that poverty increases the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/12/13/everybody-outside-of-the-top-is-suffering-how-stress-is-harming-americas-health/?utm_term=.c04eb76f940b">stress load</a>, which positively tracks with high blood pressure, obesity and other health problems. But beyond poverty, there’s the depression that accompanies a lower standard of living. If you were born in 1940, you had a 92 percent chance of making more money than your parents at an equivalent age, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/08/opinion/the-american-dream-quantified-at-last.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0">according to research</a> from economist Raj Chetty. For someone born in 1980, that number is down to 50 percent. The economic crisis in small towns, in other words, correlates with the public health crisis. [...] </blockquote> <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/21/1609797/-High-Impact-Posts-December-20-2016" target="_blank">HIGH IMPACT STORIES</a> • <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613419/-Top-Comments-Winter-Solstice-Edition" target="_blank" title="">TOP COMMENTS </a> TWEET OF THE DAY <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content='&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;NC GOP gerrymandered so much they can win veto-proof legislative majorities despite popular vote losses. They feel immune to public opinion &lt;a href="https://t.co/N8Kdbw6NlW"&gt;https://t.co/N8Kdbw6NlW&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Stephen Wolf (@PoliticsWolf) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/PoliticsWolf/status/811746663920504832"&gt;December 22, 2016&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;'><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">NC GOP gerrymandered so much they can win veto-proof legislative majorities despite popular vote losses. They feel immune to public opinion <a href="https://t.co/N8Kdbw6NlW">https://t.co/N8Kdbw6NlW</a>Ã¢Â€Â” Stephen Wolf (@PoliticsWolf) <a href="https://twitter.com/PoliticsWolf/status/811746663920504832">December 22, 2016</a></blockquote></div> BLAST FROM THE PAST At Daily Kos on this date in 2003—<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2003/12/21/6372/-Republicard-spend-like-there-s-no-tomorrow" target="_blank" title="">Republicard: spend like there's no tomorrow</a>: <blockquote> Introducing the Republicard. First practiced under the record deficit-spending of the Reagan-Bush administrations, and now re-issued under the fiscal wreckage of George Bush with a trifecta of Republican-rule to again spend like there’s no tomorrow. <a href="http://www.northbaydean.org/?q=node/view/2322" title="">Miles</a>, the creator of the card: <blockquote>Last week I was hearing about a proposal that had been introduced into Congress to honor Ronald Reagan by putting him on the dime coin. Aside from the fact that FDR, creator of the "March of Dimes," certainly deserves to stay on that coin (and Nancy Reagan agrees) ... it occurred to me that if someone were to honor George W. Bush, given his enormous deficits, the most appropriate place to do so would be ... a credit card. So I imagined what it might look like, and came up with the RepubliCard: (This idea simultaneously occurred to <a href="http://www.ucomics.com/tomtoles/2003/12/09/" title="">political cartoonist Tom Toles</a> who had a cartoon on this theme appear the very next day).</blockquote> Molly, the wife of Miles, had the opportunity to hand one of these cards to Governor Dean last week. And thanks to more production by Miles, you too can hand them out to your friends. </blockquote> <div></div> <div></div> <div></div> <div></div> <div></div> <div> <div> <div>On <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/21/1613292/-Daily-Kos-Radio-s-KITM-podcast-AUDIO-Kagro-in-the-Morning-Wednesday-December-21-2016" target="_blank" title="">today’s Kagro in the Morning show</a>, Greg Dworkin recounts complaints of Dems bringing knives to gunfights, but puts the importance of teamwork above all. Joan McCarter knows Trumps can never stay blind to emoluments. And Trump’s doctor is even more wigged out than we thought. <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder dk-x-embed" href="#" title="" data-height="90" data-src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4932499/height/90/width/500/theme/custom/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/backward/no-cache/true/render-playlist/no/custom-color/e77722/" data-width="500">Embedded Content</a></div> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknlsM6zUMIdxtz1qEAbhuA" target="_blank" title="">YouTube</a> | <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-kos-radio-kagro-in-morning/id581551976" target="_blank">iTunes</a> | <a href="http://kagrox.libsyn.com/" target="_blank">LibSyn</a> | Support the show via <a href="https://www.patreon.com/kagrox?ty=h" target="_blank">Patreon</a> </div> </div> </div> rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) OpenThreadforNightOwls _1613502 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 04:00:17 +0000 Trump team boycotts meeting with Israeli official to stand in solidarity with Swedish neo-Nazi http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613313/-Trump-team-boycotts-meeting-with-Israeli-official-to-stand-in-solidarity-with-Swedish-neo-Nazi Quite the pattern developing here: First it was <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/20/1612991/-Lie-down-with-dogs-wake-up-with-fleas-Guess-who-Trump-s-national-security-advisor-met-up-with" target="_blank">reported </a>that Michael Flynn, Donald Trump’s pick to be national security advisor, had a meeting with the leader of a far-right Austrian political party that was founded by ex-Nazis. And now, a senior member of Trump’s transition team who was in Israel to attend “a gathering of conservative parliamentarians from the US and Europe” joined in a boycott of a high-level briefing with Israel’s deputy foreign minister after Israel refused to allow a Swedish neo-Nazi to attend <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/backing-swedish-far-rightist-trump-proxy-boycotts-top-israeli-official/" target="_blank">the meeting:</a> <blockquote> A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry said the decision to exclude [Kristina] Winberg was made due to her party’s far-right and ultra-nationalist positions. [...] <div> “The Swedish representative is a member of a party with neo-Nazi tendencies and therefore the Foreign Ministry decided not to include her in the meeting with Hotovely,” Emmanuel Nahshon said. </div> </blockquote> So of course a member of Team Trump would stand in solidarity with Winberg, a member of the European Parliament for the Sweden Democrats, who describe themselves as “social conservative with a nationalist foundation” and: <blockquote> … has been criticized in Sweden for its far-right and anti-immigration policies, particularly against what it calls the “Homosex lobby” and the “Islamization of Sweden.” </blockquote> Sounds rather familiar, doesn’t it? (And one can’t help but wonder: is Bibi starting to get <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-feels-very-warmly-about-israel-jews-says-netanyahu-60-minutes/" target="_blank">concerned</a>?) rss@dailykos.com (Barbara Morrill) BeckyNortonDunlop DonaldTrump Israel KristinaWinberg NeoNazi Recommended TzipiHotovely _1613313 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 18:42:00 +0000 Obama administration joins European Union in blacklisting 15 Russian entities http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613375/-Obama-administration-joins-European-Union-in-blacklisting-15-Russian-entities The Obama administration has <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/20/world/europe/us-blacklists-15-russian-entities-linked-to-ukraine-and-crimea.html?src=twr&smid=tw-nytpolitics&smtyp=cur">slapped sanctions</a> on 15 Russian individuals and businesses because of their involvement in projects in Ukraine and Crimea. <blockquote>The Treasury Department designated seven individuals and eight corporate entities involved in a range of projects, including the construction of a bridge connecting Russia to the Crimean peninsula. It also targeted businesspeople who are associates of President Vladimir V. Putin or are involved in activities that aid in Russia’s destabilization of Ukraine. “Today’s action is in response to Russia’s unlawful occupation of Crimea and continued aggression in Ukraine,” John E. Smith, the acting director of the Treasury’s office of foreign assets control, said in a statement. “These targeted sanctions,” he added, “aim to maintain pressure on Russia by sustaining the costs of its occupation of Crimea and disrupting the activities of those who support the violence and instability in Ukraine.” </blockquote> These measures are "part of a regular updating of the sanctions, once every six months" according to administration officials, in conjunction with the extension of sanctions issued by the European Union on Monday. President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel worked closely together to "keep a united front against Russia" on this one, working against a number of countries who wanted the EU sanctions to last. The precise role of Putin-loving Donald Trump's Electoral College victory is unclear—but he is expected to cozy up to Russia in any number of ways, especially since they did him such a solid by helping him secure that electoral vote win. The end of these sanctions in six months’ time is almost assured. We don't know if Trump is personally damaged by any of these sanctions, because we haven't seen his tax returns to know precisely which pies he has fingers in. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) AngelaMerkel BarackObama Crimea DonaldTrump EuropeanUnion foreignpolicy statedepartment Ukraine _1613375 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 18:51:35 +0000 Bill O'Reilly warns Fox News viewers: 'The left' is coming for the 'white establishment' http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613393/-Bill-O-Reilly-warns-Fox-News-viewers-The-left-is-coming-for-the-white-establishment Bill O'Reilly has never been much for dog whistles when discussing American minorities and their irritating insistence on rights. He took to his program last night to explain that any talk of ditching the Electoral College system of picking a president is ... an attack on the “white establishment.” No, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bill-oreilly-the-left-wants-power-taken-away-from-the-white-establishment_us_585a1d05e4b0d9a594567f9d?">we're not kidding</a>. <blockquote>“This is all about race,” the conservative commentator said on his Fox News show. “The left sees white privilege in America as an oppressive force that must be done away with. Therefore white working class voters must be marginalized.” He later added that liberals believe “white men have set up a system of oppression and that system must be destroyed ... The left wants power taken away from the white establishment and they want a profound change in the way America is run.” </blockquote> It's not just the method of picking a president, you see. It's that "liberals," more and more "reliant on the minority vote," are plotting to disadvantage Good White People. We've written about Bill for many years, but it's still impressive how smoothly rhetoric from white nationalist groups makes it to O'Reilly's lips and bullet points. The above could have been taken from a Klan rally, word for word. It's a staple of the ever-paranoid white supremacist groups courted by Trump's top adviser. And Bill O'Reilly is quite comfortable televising the notion. Minorities and liberals are coming for you, white America. Be afraid. They’re going to take the power of your “white establishment.” This isn't a one-off by O'Reilly, by the way. He has a long and uncomplicated history of being <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2016/12/21/bill-oreilly-becomes-spokesman-for-white-america/?tid=sm_tw&tid=sm_tw&utm_term=.2fe72e54183f">racist on television</a>. So talking about the danger faced by The Whites at the hands of The Other is a thing that he can freely opine about on Fox News, complete with pre-prepared graphics and bullet points about the power of the "white establishment"—because Fox News knows their audience. rss@dailykos.com (Hunter) BillOReilly ConservativeMedia Conservatives ElectoralCollege FoxNews Media Racism Republicans _1613393 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 02:10:21 +0000 Newt Gingrich on Trump's election pledge to 'drain the swamp:' He now 'disclaims' it http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/22/1613418/-Newt-Gingrich-on-Trump-s-election-pledge-to-drain-the-swamp-He-now-disclaims-it Here's Republican Deep Thinker Newt Gingrich once again. This time the disgraced former House speaker has been tasked with explaining why Donald Trump's repeated claims he would "drain the swamp" of Washington cronyism and crookedness has turned, immediately after the election, into packing Washington with even bigger swamp monsters. All right, Newt, we'll bite. Why is this particular campaign talking point <a href="http://www.npr.org/2016/12/21/506378085/gingrich-says-trump-must-address-business-conflicts-soon-urges-monitors?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social" target="_blank">no longer operative?</a> <blockquote>I'm told he now just disclaims that. He now says it was cute, but he doesn't want to use it anymore. ... I'd written what I thought was a very cute tweet about "the alligators are complaining," and somebody wrote back and said they were tired of hearing this stuff.</blockquote> Got it. It's inoperative because he says it's inoperative. It's inoperative because it was intended as a "cute" talking point, but never as something he was actually going to follow up on. It's inoperative because now that the election's over some random guy on Twitter says they're tired of hearing about Washington crookedness and so now Donald Trump is going to do the exact damn opposite of what he may or may not have promised, just to make sure that one guy doesn't have to hear about it anymore. rss@dailykos.com (Hunter) Conservatives Corruption NewtGingrich Republicans Trumpadministration _1613418 Thu, 22 Dec 2016 01:30:17 +0000 White House said to be encouraging researchers to copy and protect ACA data that Trump could delete http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613394/-White-House-said-to-be-encouraging-researchers-to-copy-and-protect-ACA-data-that-Trump-could-delete Dan Diamond <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/donald-trump-administration/2016/12/trump-transition-wants-names-of-energy-department-staff-who-worked-on-climate-232424" target="_blank">reports</a> that the White House is prodding researchers to copy data on the Affordable Care Act out of fear that the incoming Trump administration may erase this information: <blockquote> Spooked by Trump's rhetoric and pledge to repeal Obamacare, several dozen independent researchers are racing to download key health care data and documents before Jan. 20. They say they began the effort on their own, and then got a boost from Jeanne Lambrew, the White House's top health reform official, who also sounded alarms the new administration might expunge reams of information from public websites and end access to data, researchers told POLITICO. </blockquote> Researchers don’t want to say anything about the matter on the record because, as one of them said: "Talking about it now sounds pretty paranoid. And talking about it publicly is a pretty good way to end up on the shit list." Paranoid? Given the vows of Republicans in general and the unpresidented-elect in particular to dismantle the ACA, it just makes good sense to put these data in some place safe. Knowing the details of any program provides evidence to tweak it or ultimately replace it with something better. And even though the Trump transition team has backed off from its earlier menacing request for the names of Department of Energy employees who have worked on Obama’s climate initiatives, it’s no stretch to think this witch hunt might merely have been delayed and will come back and spread throughout the government after Trump actually takes office. rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) DataDestruction Obamacare Transparency _1613394 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 20:49:02 +0000 Scott Walker wasting no time in trying to get Trump on board with punishing the poor http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613297/-Scott-Walker-wasting-no-time-in-trying-to-get-Trump-on-board-with-punishing-the-poor Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker spends his days dreaming up ways to make the lives of low-income people even more hellish—and now he believes he has an ally in Donald Trump. He's trying to recruit the popular vote-losing president-elect in his <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/walker-trump-drug-test-food-stamps-53c377019225#.7fofvckhl" title="">scheme to humiliate food stamp recipients</a> with drug testing. So he’s writing letters to the PEOTUS. <blockquote> “We want your help as soon as possible,” Walker wrote, before outlining specific demands, the first of which is the ability to screen and test people who need food stamps for drug use. While states have broad authority to change the requirements for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash welfare program, and thus <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/drug-testing-welfare-recipients-is-a-popular-new-policy-that-cost-states-millions-here-are-the-cf829257ade0" target="_blank">10 states</a> have chosen to drug test applicants and recipients and deny those who refuse the tests or fail them, they currently have no such latitude over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps. But that hasn’t stopped Walker from <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/the-last-minute-change-that-scott-walker-made-to-the-wisconsin-budget-e46dc620840" target="_blank">signing a measure</a> into law that would drug test SNAP applicants and recipients and then <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/scott-walker-tries-to-change-welfare-rules-so-he-can-drug-test-people-who-need-food-stamps-64466f04c214" target="_blank">suing the federal government</a> to allow him to carry it out. He’s also <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/scott-walker-asks-congress-for-permission-to-conduct-common-sense-reform-shown-useless-7-times-5c6cb86df655" target="_blank">asked Congress</a> to pass legislation that would give him the permission he seeks, but <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/congressman-wants-to-allow-states-to-drug-test-food-stamp-recipients-5595a4facd76" target="_blank">a bill</a> put forward to do so failed. </blockquote> Never mind that drug testing is a pretty big expense for the states that are doing it for their TANF programs, with almost no return: “tests are showing up very few positive results — in 2015, two states uncovered exactly zero.” Walker says this is just doing SNAP recipients a favor, getting them ready to get jobs by getting rid of “barriers to employment related to substance abuse.” In truth, about <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/28/food-stamp-demographics_n_6771938.html" target="_blank" title="">one-third of families getting SNAP</a> have at least one person who’s employed, as of a 2013 report. Another 20 percent are disabled individuals. Another 17 percent are elderly, and out of the work force. Oh, and 44 percent of households have children. So that’s nearly 70 percent of the SNAP population—not counting the kids—who don’t need Walker’s “help” in getting employment-ready. But by all means, Scottie, let’s get those grandmas peeing in plastic cups. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) DonaldTrump FoodStamps ScottWalker SNAP WarOnPoor _1613297 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 16:44:41 +0000 Millions more can afford to see a doctor under Obamacare, so that was nice while it lasted http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613326/-Millions-more-can-afford-to-see-a-doctor-under-Obamacare-so-that-was-nice-while-it-lasted Here's what Republicans are <a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-obamacare-affordability-20161220-story.html">threatening to repeal</a> during Congress’ first days back in session in January. <blockquote>The Affordable Care Act’s historic expansion of health insurance coverage has brought medical care within reach of millions of Americans who previously couldn’t afford it, new research shows. The share of adults who skipped medical care because of costs dropped by nearly one-fifth between 2013 and 2015, according to <a href="http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Issue-Briefs/2016/Dec/State-Progress-Coverage-and-Access">a report from the Commonwealth Fund</a>. The gains were even more dramatic in the states that have most expanded coverage through the federal healthcare law, often called Obamacare. “The Affordable Care Act’s health insurance coverage expansions are working to get people covered and help them afford healthcare,” said Sara Collins, vice president of the fund, a New York-based foundation that studies healthcare systems around the world. “We know that health insurance is essential for people to get the care they need,” Collins said. “In this time of uncertainty about the ACA, it’s important to keep in mind the financial and health protection health insurance provides for families.” </blockquote> Even <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-voters-didnt-take-him-literally-on-obamacare-oops/2016/12/20/46ef3cae-c6f3-11e6-bf4b-2c064d32a4bf_story.html?postshare=3571482334168831&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.73922e9cf65c">people who stupidly voted for Trump</a> know that the ACA is essential for their financial and physical health. Too bad they were only hearing the "make America white" again message he was sending, and ignored that "I'm going to repeal Obamacare" part. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) AffordableCareAct DonaldTrump Obamacare repeal Republicans _1613326 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 17:29:17 +0000 Cartoon: Build that wall http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/15/1611463/-Cartoon-Build-that-wall The Pendejo-Elect thinks we are all as gullible as his supporters. Not only will he not build a wall on the southern border, his promise to build a wall between the Presidency and his businesses also won’t be built. Or if it is, it will be as porous as all his other promises. rss@dailykos.com (laloalcaraz) FuckThatPEOTUS FuckThatPOTUS Lies PEOTUS suckit Trump wall _1611463 Thu, 15 Dec 2016 20:19:39 +0000 Ted Cruz to introduce bill allowing discrimination against LGBT Americans nationwide http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613367/-Ted-Cruz-to-introduce-bill-allowing-discrimination-against-LGBT-Americans-nationwide Led by Sen. Ted Cruz, Republicans will be wasting no time in their efforts to <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/first-amendment-defense-act-would-be-devastating-lgbtq-americans-n698416">roll back civil rights for LGBT Americans</a>. <blockquote>[The First Amendment Defense Act] would prohibit the federal government from taking "discriminatory action" against any business or person that discriminates against LGBTQ people. The act distinctly aims to protect the right of all entities to refuse service to LGBTQ people based on two sets of beliefs: "(1) marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or (2) sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage."</blockquote> The intentionally broadly-written law would, in other words, enshrine the "right" of any private business to deny service to gay Americans outright if they are personally opposed to marriage equality. It would not merely allow businesses to deny their services in same-sex marriage ceremonies themselves: it would allow any business to discriminate against any customer, gay or straight, for any service, whether it be selling them gasoline or a hamburger, if a pseudo-religious reason can be attached to it. The customer likely doesn't even have to be gay. The business can simply declare that they believe that customer might be an unmarried fornicator or a single parent, or perhaps declare that serving a particular customer might nebulously benefit some gay American later on. The law makes no mention of religious beliefs that are not hostile to LGBT Americans or equality; the religious belief declaring LGBT equality to be sinful is elevated as the only government-protected religious belief on the subject that will be tolerated. It is an un-American and deeply anti-First-Amendment bill, which is of course why Sen. Ted Cruz and team are quite certain they will be able to gain the support of their Republican colleagues and their new anti-civil rights president. rss@dailykos.com (Hunter) Congress Conservatives LGBT MarriageEquality Republicans Senate TedCruz _1613367 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 22:30:22 +0000 Despite federal law, Texas says Planned Parenthood will get no more Medicaid funding http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613368/-Despite-federal-law-Texas-says-Planned-Parenthood-will-get-no-more-Medicaid-funding After a year of delays, Texas <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2016/12/20/texas-kicks-planned-parenthood-out-medicaid/" target="_blank">says it will officially end</a> Medicaid funding for the state’s 34 Planned Parenthood centers in 30 days, unless litigation prevents the move. The decision conflicts with federal law, as President Obama noted in April, and federal courts in other states have ruled that Medicaid funds cannot be withheld from the organization. A legal challenge to the cut-off that has lain dormant for the past year in a federal court in Austin will come alive now that the state’s final decision in the matter has been made. After a years-long battle, Texas officials first gave a notice of intent in October 2015 that it was going to kick Planned Parenthood out of the Medicaid program in 30 days. But the final notice was not delivered until now. U.S. law has for 40 years barred federal money from being spent on abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the woman’s life. But forced-birthers have argued this prohibition doesn’t go far enough and that no taxpayer money should be given organizations that provide other services if they also provide abortions. In the past year in Texas, Planned Parenthood has provided birth control, cancer screenings, and well woman services to some 11,000 low-income women. In the final notice to Planned Parenthood, Texas Health and Human Services Inspector General Stuart Bowen took note that secret videos purporting to show the organization’s illegal activity related to procurement of fetal tissues were part of the decision: <blockquote> <div style="text-align:center"> <div></div> </div> Bowen claimed in the letter that the videos revealed Planned Parenthood has a history of "deviating from accepted standards" to procure tissue samples for researchers and a "willingness to charge more than the costs incurred for procuring fetal tissue," among other violations. “Your misconduct is directly related to whether you are qualified to provide medical services in a professionally competent, safe, legal and ethical manner,” Bowen wrote in the letter. “Your actions violate generally accepted medical standards, as reflected in state and federal law, and are Medicaid program violations that justify termination.” </blockquote> This is nonsense. Thirteen states have investigated and found no evidence to back up the purported claims of wrongdoing in the videos. In fact, soon after they were revealed to the public, the videos were shown to have been heavily edited to give the appearance that Planned Parenthood profited from the sale of fetal tissue derived from abortions, which is against the law. Christopher Mele <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/20/us/texas-medicaid-cut-planned-parenthood-funding.html?ref=politics" target="_blank">reports</a>: rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) Medicaid PlannedParenthood Recommended Texas _1613368 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 19:28:47 +0000 North Carolina legislature backtracking on bathroom bill repeal http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613414/-North-Carolina-legislature-backtracking-on-bathroom-bill-repeal Gee, who could have foreseen that the Republican legislature of North Carolina might not have been entirely truthful with the Charlotte leaders in <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/19/1612639/-North-Carolina-legislature-said-to-be-poised-to-repeal-HB2-bathroom-law" title="">promising a special session to repeal HB2</a> if the city withdrew its non-discrimination ordinance? The city acted on Monday, in anticipation of the special session by the legislature today. And in return: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/12/21/north-carolina-lawmakers-gather-to-consider-repealing-bathroom-bill/?postshare=2901482350730499&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.008444404576" title="">this bullshit</a>. <blockquote>On Wednesday afternoon, the top Republican in the state Senate introduced a bill that would repeal the bathroom bill. However, the bill introduced by Sen. Phil Berger, the senate president pro tempore, would also impose a “six-month cooling-off period,” during which local governments would not be able to enact ordinances relating to employment or public restrooms. Rights groups that have long criticized the bill had said this week that they were disappointed to see Charlotte have to abandon its ordinance, even as they were pleased that H.B. 2 could face a repeal. These same groups said Wednesday that they would accept only a full and complete repeal rather than one including any caveats. “It is unacceptable. It’s a gimmick. It’s H.B. 2.0,” said Mara Keisling, president of the National Center for Transgender Equality. “It’s not okay and any legislature that would do that wouldn’t really be doing that for only six months.” </blockquote> This is supposedly in retaliation for Charlotte having repealed only a portion of its own ordinance. State Republicans raised hell over the fact that the repeal vote the city council took on Monday only dealt with the public accommodations part of the ordinance, and said that wasn't good enough. So in an emergency session earlier Wednesday, the city fully repealed it, believing they were clearing the way for the legislature to make good on the agreement. And this is what they got. Which is why you never fucking bargain with a Republican when people’s rights are on the line. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Charlotte HB2 LGBTQ NorthCarolina RoyCooper _1613414 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 20:50:20 +0000 Trump: Muslim ban proposal 'proven to be right. 100 percent correct' http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613400/-Trump-Muslim-ban-proposal-proven-to-be-right-100-percent-correct Trump's <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/21/1613380/-Trump-on-fomenting-religious-wars-Who-said-that-Reporter-You-did">memory lapse</a> on Wednesday, in which he appeared unaware of the inflammatory statement he released the day before about the attack in Berlin, was just a start to the crazy. Because Trump isn't going to wait to find out the motive behind the attack. He's jumping right to a new Holy War—and his <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/trump-reaffirms-muslim-ban-berlin-ef54a6ed7b37#.5kpnvs1lv">Muslim ban</a>. <blockquote>A reporter asked Trump about his Muslim ban in the context of the attack on a Christmas market in Berlin that left 12 dead. The suspected perpetrator is Anis Amri, a Tunisian who German authorities say was known to be in touch with radical Islamist groups. “Has [the attack] caused you to rethink or reevaluate your plans to create a Muslim registry or ban Muslim immigration in the United States?” the reporter asked. “Hey, you’ve known my plans all along and it’s, they’ve proven to be right. 100 percent correct. What’s happening is disgraceful,” he replied. Indeed, the December 2015 statement in which Trump called “for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on” is <a href="https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/donald-j.-trump-statement-on-preventing-muslim-immigration" title="">still on Trump’s website</a>. </blockquote> There's Trump again, gloating about "being right" after innocents have been killed. Remember <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/742034549232766976" title="">how he patted himself on the back</a> after 49 people were shot down in Orlando’s Pulse nightclub? The deaths are meaningless to him. Being "right" is what matters, even if he's making his assertions up out of thin air. We don't know yet what prompted the Berlin attack, and it really, really isn't helpful for the president-elect of the United States to speculate on that—at the expense of Muslims. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) DonaldTrump Isis muslimban muslimregistry _1613400 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 20:13:30 +0000 Midday open thread: 3,000 cities have high lead levels; Portland bans fossil fuel infrastructure http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613332/-Midday-open-thread-3-000-cities-have-high-lead-levels-Portland-bans-fossil-fuel-infrastructure Today’s <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/user/Comics/history" target="_blank">comic</a> by Matt Bors is <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613134/-Cartoon-Political-hacks-talk-Russia-hacks" target="_blank">Political hacks talk Russia hacks</a>: <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Cartoon by Matt Bors -- Political hacks talk Russian hacks" src="http://images.dailykos.com/images/341504/large/teaser.png?1482323726" title="Cartoon by Matt Bors -- Political hacks talk Russian hacks"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> • <a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/lead-contaminated-drinking-water-is-much-more-prevalent-than-you-think" target="_blank" title="">3,000 U.S. cities have lead poisoning rates two to four times higher than Flint, Michigan.</a> <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content='&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;60 years ago today Montgomery Bus Boycott ends after 381 days when Supreme Court rules segregation of public buses illegal &lt;a href="https://t.co/ewt0XBIA4D"&gt;pic.twitter.com/ewt0XBIA4D&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/AriBerman/status/811624891388755969"&gt;December 21, 2016&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;'><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">60 years ago today Montgomery Bus Boycott ends after 381 days when Supreme Court rules segregation of public buses illegal <a href="https://t.co/ewt0XBIA4D">pic.twitter.com/ewt0XBIA4D</a>Ã¢Â€Â” Ari Berman (@AriBerman) <a href="https://twitter.com/AriBerman/status/811624891388755969">December 21, 2016</a></blockquote></div> • <a href="https://medium.com/@Ilysehogue/our-dnc-chair-f999d88575d#.e87ofud72" target="_blank">Ilse Hogue bows out of the running for DNC job. </a>Among other things in her lengthy statement she says: <blockquote> I am proud of the work that our NARAL team and members did this election cycle. We fought like our lives depended on it, because for so many it does. Organizations like mine, who have achieved a great affinity with our members, have a vital role to play while the party rebuilds. While I was at MoveOn, for instance, we were able to mobilize opposition to the war in Iraq ahead of the party and sow the seeds of the change election of 2006. We’ve learned time and again that where durable social movements authentically connect with cyclical electoral efforts, we make gains. It happened in Nevada this cycle, where NARAL was part of a successful effort to make a clean sweep of that state ballot, winning back both state legislative chambers in the process. It happened in North Carolina, where social movements threw their weight behind the effort to oust an entrenched governor. </blockquote> •<a href="http://www.torontosun.com/2016/12/20/at-least-10-dead-70-injured-in-massive-explosion-at-fireworks-market-in-mexico" target="_blank"> Mexico City fireworks blast kills 31 and puts 47 in hospital, many with severe burns:</a> <blockquote> The San Pablito fireworks market was especially well stocked for the holidays and bustling with hundreds of shoppers when a powerful chain-reaction explosion ripped through its stalls, killing at least 31 people and leaving dozens more badly burned. The third such blast to ravage the market on the northern outskirts of Mexico’s capital since 2005 sent up a towering plume of smoke that was lit up by a staccato of bangs and flashes of light. </blockquote> • <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/12/physics-tea-cup-inquiring-minds" target="_blank">How your cup of tea explains the universe.</a> • <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/this-city-just-banned-virtually-all-new-dirty-energy-infrastructure/" target="_blank">Portland, OR, just banned virtually all new dirty energy infrastructure:</a> <blockquote> On December 14, the city council in Portland, Oregon, voted unanimously to set “the first stone in a green wall across the West Coast,” in the words of Mayor Charlie Hales. He was referring to a groundbreaking new zoning ordinance that effectively bans all new fossil fuel export infrastructure within the city’s limits—including new port facilities for shipping coal, and holding tanks for oil and natural gas—and prevents existing facilities from expanding. The vote marks a hard-fought victory for local activists and <a href="http://sustainable-economy.org/nonewffipdx/" target="_blank">environmental groups</a>. And, in anticipation of the Trump administration’s pro-fossil fuel agenda, it signals to other cities that innovative action to counter climate change is still possible at a local level. <div></div> </blockquote> • <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161220175552.htm" target="_blank">Genetics study shows Inuits of the circumpolar world likely have Denisovan genes</a>: <blockquote> In the Arctic, the Inuits have adapted to severe cold and a predominantly seafood diet. After the first population genomic analysis of the Greenland Inuits, a region in the genome containing two genes has now been scrutinized by scientists: TBX15 and WARS2. This region is thought to be central to cold adaptation by generating heat from a specific type of body fat, and was earlier found to be a candidate for adaptation in the Inuits. [...] To perform the study, they used the genomic data from nearly 200 Greenlandic Inuits and compared this to the 1000 Genomes Project and ancient hominid DNA from Neanderthals and Denisovans. The results, published in the advanced online edition of Molecular Biology and Evolution, provide convincing evidence that the Inuit variant of the TBX15/WARS2 region first came into modern humans from an archaic hominid population, likely related to the Denisovans. </blockquote> • On <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/21/1613292/-Daily-Kos-Radio-s-KITM-podcast-AUDIO-Kagro-in-the-Morning-Wednesday-December-21-2016" target="_blank">today’s Kagro in the Morning show</a>, Greg Dworkin recounts complaints of Dems bringing knives to gunfights, but puts the importance of teamwork above all. Joan McCarter knows Trumps can never stay blind to emoluments. And Trump’s doctor is even more wigged out than we thought. <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder dk-x-embed" href="#" data-height="90" data-src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4932499/height/90/width/500/theme/custom/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/backward/no-cache/true/render-playlist/no/custom-color/e77722/" data-width="500">Embedded Content</a></div> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknlsM6zUMIdxtz1qEAbhuA" target="_blank">YouTube</a> | <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-kos-radio-kagro-in-morning/id581551976" target="_blank">iTunes</a> | <a href="http://kagrox.libsyn.com/" target="_blank">LibSyn</a> | Support the show via <a href="https://www.patreon.com/kagrox?ty=h" target="_blank">Patreon</a> rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) MiddayOpenThread _1613332 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 20:00:22 +0000 Trump on fomenting religious wars: 'Who said that?' Reporter: 'You did' http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613380/-Trump-on-fomenting-religious-wars-Who-said-that-Reporter-You-did Well, this doesn’t bode well for the nation’s future. Here’s Trump briefly answering press questions on Wednesday. Specifically, where the reporter asks about his statement on the attack in Berlin: <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content='&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;BREAKING: President-elect Trump makes impromptu appearance, speaks briefly about recent attacks. &lt;a href="https://t.co/8EUlhmtlVY"&gt;pic.twitter.com/8EUlhmtlVY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/CNBCnow/status/811644206431105024"&gt;December 21, 2016&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; '><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">BREAKING: President-elect TrumpÃ¢Â€Â‹ makes impromptu appearance, speaks briefly about recent attacks. <a href="https://t.co/8EUlhmtlVY">pic.twitter.com/8EUlhmtlVY</a>— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNBCnow/status/811644206431105024">December 21, 2016</a></blockquote> </div> <blockquote> Reporter: "Your comments about the truck attack in Berlin being against Christians, do think that this might….” Trump: "Say it again? Reporter: "The attack in Berlin being an attack on Christians….” Trump: "Who said that? When was that said?” Reporter: I believe you said it in a press release….” </blockquote> Yep, he did. In a <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-portrays-berlin-attack-as-onslaught-against-christians-204552086.html" target="_blank" title="">statement released just yesterday</a> he said “ISIS and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad.” So there you go. I don’t know what’s worse: the possibility that he truly doesn’t remember day-to-day whether he made an inflammatory and dangerous statement or that he doesn’t know his team is making them for him. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) Berlin DonaldTrump Isis Terrorism _1613380 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 19:13:31 +0000 Rex Tillerson, oil tycoon, is exactly the man you expected him to be http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613351/-Rex-Tillerson-oil-tycoon-is-exactly-the-man-you-expected-him-to-be The New York Times has a good look at Rex Tillerson, Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, and his rather rapid shift of opinion on whether Russia was a place with "no respect for the rule of law" or whether Vladimir Putin was a super-awesome business buddy once you discounted all those murdered journalists and civil rights crackdowns. Hey, it turns out you can make a man believe whatever you want as long as you <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/20/world/europe/russia-rex-tillerson-donald-trump-secretary-of-state.html?ref=politics&_r=0">line his pockets well</a>. <blockquote>[A]s Mr. Putin consolidated his control over Russia’s oligarchs, Mr. Tillerson underwent a profound change of outlook. He came to realize that the key to success in Russia, a country deeply important to Exxon’s future, lay in establishing personal relationships with Mr. Putin and his friend and confidant, Igor Sechin, the powerful head of Rosneft, the state oil company. And as Mr. Tillerson and other oil executives pivoted from the private sector to the state oil company, the criticism that they had directed toward the Kremlin dried up. The payoff for Exxon was immense: a $500 billion joint venture in 2011 to drill for oil on the Arctic shelf and the Black Sea and another huge deal to develop shale oil deposits in Siberia. </blockquote> Perhaps the most depressing part of the story is how banal it all is. Rex Tillerson had human rights concerns about Russia; Rex Tillerson's company began to court deals in Russia and those concerns evaporated. Rex Tillerson was once wary over the Russian government's propensity to change laws out from under companies that have lost Kremlin favor; he therefore now works with the state's own oil firm and curries favor with the Kremlin wherever possible. After the United States sanctioned Russia for seizing Ukrainian territory, Tillerson ignored those sanctions and continued to cultivate his relationship with his Russian hosts, appearing last June at the top Russian business forum despite those sanctions. There is no deeper there there, apparently; Rex Tillerson is exactly the man you would expect a man who rose to the top of the oil industry to be. He has no evident morals or concerns about the world that supersede a paycheck. His respect for his own nation ends when there is a business deal to be made somewhere else. rss@dailykos.com (Hunter) ExxonMobil foreignpolicy RexTillerson Russia statedepartment Trumpadministration _1613351 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 18:30:20 +0000 The Republican approach to healthcare reform: My kid has a broken arm? That can wait. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613144/-The-Republican-approach-to-healthcare-reform-My-kid-has-a-broken-arm-That-can-wait Here's a rather telling—and terrifying—<a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/huizenga-son-broken-arm">glimpse into the mind of a Republican</a> thinking about health insurance and health care reform. <blockquote>The example Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) gave in an interview with MLive.com was from his own experience when he waited until the morning after to take his youngest son to the doctor with an injured arm, because he did not want to waste money on an expensive emergency room visit. The arm, it turned out, was broken. "We weren't sure what was going on. It was in the evening, so I splinted it up and we wrapped it up, and the decision was, okay, do we go to the ER? We thought it was a sprain, but weren't sure," Huizenga said, adding that he and his wife "took every precaution and decided to go in the next morning." </blockquote> Okay, we'll stop there for a second. He made his youngest son suffer overnight with a broken arm—and he must have had a clue that it was broken since he splinted it—rather than go to the ER. His child. With a broken arm. We continue. <blockquote>He offered the example to explain his view that health care consumers should shoulder more of the financial responsibilities, instead of the current health system, which he said "continue[s] to squeeze providers." […] "Way too often, people pull out their insurance card and they say 'I don't know the difference or cost between an X-ray or an MRI or CT Scan.' I might make a little different decision if I did know [what] some of those costs were and those costs came back to me," he said. </blockquote> Yes, he was doing the fiscally prudent—even virtuous—thing by refusing to have his kid's broken limb seen to immediately (leading to who knows how much in future therapist bills for the kid to resolve that trauma.) Set aside the horrifying glimpse this provides into Huizenga's family life—he's falling back on that old "personal responsibility" bullshit Republicans love so much that says the whole reason health care costs so much is because people use it. So who has to be punished in this scenario? The patient. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) AffordableCareAct DonaldTrump Obamacare repeal Republicans _1613144 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 17:37:31 +0000 Trump team kinda sorta working on conflict of interest problem—by proposing a 'half-blind' trust http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613290/-Trump-team-kinda-sorta-working-on-that-conflict-of-interest-problem Is there such a thing as a "half-blind" trust? No. No, there is not. But that's what the Trump team is <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/trump-conflicts-interest-232875">proposing</a> so that the Trump family can milk as much as possible out of the presidenting gig. <blockquote>Aides responsible for setting up ethics firewalls have held discussions with officials at the Office of Government Ethics about establishing what’s known as a “discretionary trust,” according to two sources briefed on the talks. Such an arrangement could allow Trump or his family members to reap some of the legal benefits of a blind trust, but could also give them some insight into how the Trump businesses are faring while also allowing Trump and his family to continue to make money from those investments. […] The discussions with the Office of Government Ethics about discretionary trusts suggest the Trump team is still weighing options that fall short of what ethics watchdogs have demanded, such as selling off assets that could pose a conflict of interest or parking wealth in classic blind trusts. “It’s highly inappropriate,” said Richard Painter, a former ethics lawyer in President George W. Bush’s White House who recently joined watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “To have someone baby-sit your conflict-creating assets while you go around and do whatever you want, in my view that’s a violation of at least the spirit of the rules and that’s an abuse.” […] “You don’t have to disclose it, since you don’t own it, Aunt Millie owns it,” Painter said. “And it cures your financial conflicts of interest under the criminal statute. ... If you really have a discretionary trust, you can participate in government decisions that affect those assets — if they let you get away with it.” </blockquote> According to legal observers (whatever those is) Politico interviewed, they don't think this is going to pass muster with the OGE team. But this is the Trumps. Are they going to give a damn what the government ethics office says? For the Trumps, lawyers aren't for ethics, they're for suing people. They're going to heed what an "ethics" lawyer tells them? And anyway, who's going to do anything about it? Paul Ryan? He's really going to move to impeach Trump over a measly grifting scheme? Not as long as Ryan is getting his Medicare destruction out of the deal. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) ConflictOfInterest DonaldTrump grift OfficeOfGovernmentEthics _1613290 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 16:04:13 +0000 Trumpites bully congressional Republicans, Politico helps http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613281/-Trumpites-bully-congressional-Republicans-Politico-helps Aw, the poor babies! Congressional Republicans have run to Politico to complain about how <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/donald-trump-congress-republicans-232800">mean the Trumpites</a> are to them. The big bullies. <blockquote> It’s little wonder that Capitol Hill Republicans have papered over their not-insignificant policy differences with Trump, shying away from any statement about the president-elect that might possibly be construed as critical. They’re terrified of arousing the ire of their tempestuous new leader — or being labeled a turncoat by his army of followers. […] Since the election, numerous congressional Republicans have refused to publicly weigh in on any Trump proposal at odds with Republican orthodoxy, from his border wall to his massive infrastructure package. The most common reason, stated repeatedly but always privately: They're afraid of being attacked by Breitbart or other big-name Trump supporters. [...] An editor at Breitbart, formerly run by senior Trump adviser Steve Bannon, said that fear is well-founded. “If any politician in either party veers from what the voters clearly voted for in a landslide election … we stand at the ready to call them out on it and hold them accountable,” the person said. </blockquote> Good job there, Politico, giving Breitbart goons anonymity to issue threats against elected officials. That's journalism! rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) DonaldTrump House Politico Republicans Senate TraditionalMedia _1613281 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 16:15:21 +0000 It's a day ending in a 'y,' so of course Trump is obsessing over losing the popular vote http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613264/-It-s-a-day-ending-in-a-y-so-of-course-Trump-is-obsessing-over-losing-the-popular-vote Unpresidented-elect Trump just cannot get over losing the popular vote by millions. Here’s how he spent his Wednesday morning: <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content='&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Campaigning to win the Electoral College is much more difficult &amp;amp; sophisticated than the popular vote. Hillary focused on the wrong states!&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/811560662853939200"&gt;December 21, 2016&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; '><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Campaigning to win the Electoral College is much more difficult & sophisticated than the popular vote. Hillary focused on the wrong states!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/811560662853939200">December 21, 2016</a></blockquote> </div> <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content='&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;I would have done even better in the election, if that is possible, if the winner was based on popular vote - but would campaign differently&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/811562990285848576"&gt;December 21, 2016&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; '><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">I would have done even better in the election, if that is possible, if the winner was based on popular vote - but would campaign differently— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/811562990285848576">December 21, 2016</a></blockquote> </div> On the bright side, the more time he spends tweeting, the less time he has to destroy the country. rss@dailykos.com (Barbara Morrill) DonaldTrump Recommended _1613264 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 13:45:08 +0000 Cartoon: Political hacks talk Russia hacks http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613134/-Cartoon-Political-hacks-talk-Russia-hacks Follow me on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/MattBors" target="_blank" title="">@MattBors</a> and pick up an <a href="https://www.topatoco.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TO&Product_Code=NIB-OBSCURECAL&Category_Code=NIB" target="_blank" title="">Illustrated Calendar of Obscure Holidays</a> for 2017. rss@dailykos.com (Matt Bors) election2016 Russia _1613134 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 14:50:21 +0000 Uday and Qusay backpedal on selling access to big-daddy Trump http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613266/-Uday-and-Qusay-backpedal-on-selling-access-to-big-daddy-Trump These are hard times for the Trump clan. First they had to <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/19/1612686/--70-000-coffee-date-with-Ivanka-is-off-but-how-about-a-500-000-hunting-trip-with-the-Trump-boys" target="_blank">cancel</a> auctioning off a coffee date with Ivanka, and now they’re having to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/20/us/politics/donald-trump-family-charity-opening-day-foundation.html" target="_blank" title="">back off </a>on the plan to sell access to Unpresidented-elect Donald Trump: <blockquote> The invitation made an extraordinary offer: Donors willing to write a check for $500,000 to $1 million would be granted access to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/donald-trump?inline=nyt-per" title="">Donald J. Trump</a> the day after he is sworn in as president, along with the opportunity to participate in a multiday hunting or fishing trip with his oldest sons, Donald Jr. and Eric. But on Tuesday, the Trump Organization put out <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3244495-2016-12-20-Statement-From-the-Transition-Office.html" title="">a statement</a> distancing the family from the fund-raiser, saying the event had “not been approved or pursued by the Trump family,” even though <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3244494-2016-12-20-Opening-Day-BUSINESS-ORGANIZATIONS.html">legal documents show</a> that Eric Trump served on the board of directors of the recently formed charity behind it, the Opening Day Foundation. </blockquote> Legal papers, board of directors, names on published invitations, but nope, they had nothing to do with it. So … fake news. Moving along now. rss@dailykos.com (Barbara Morrill) DonaldTrump DonaldTrumpJr EricTrump _1613266 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 14:01:19 +0000 Daily Kos Radio is LIVE at 9 AM ET! http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613189/-Daily-Kos-Radio-is-LIVE-at-9-AM-ET We’ll cover a wide variety of terrible things today. And then, Joan McCarter will tell us something else that’s awful. But, there will also be jokes, and the usual “interesting” asides that lead us somewhere unexpected. If you’re somehow reading this daily promotional post for the first time, I’m just kidding! We do a fantastic show! And we really will have Joan McCarter on. I wasn’t kidding about that part. We just don’t know what we’re going to talk about, because Donald Trump is insane, and by the time we get on the air, anything could have happened. Maybe even with barnyard animals. Who knows? I’m just saying, there’s hardly any point in planning your life anymore. Stay in school, kids. I mean, like, forever. <a href="http://netroots-main-1.stream.creek.fm:8000/stream" target="_blank">Listen </a>LIVE right here at 9:00 AM ET! Well, we went ahead and did it. We “went commercial.” Sort of. That is, we turned on ads in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknlsM6zUMIdxtz1qEAbhuA" target="_blank">YouTube version of our podcasts</a>. So everyone here should make a point of going there, “watching” the podcasts, and <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/comments/1612515/64862650#comment_64862650" target="_blank">NOT*</a> clicking on all the ads, or whatever it is you have to do to make money magically appear in our account. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknlsM6zUMIdxtz1qEAbhuA" target="_blank" title="">YouTube channel</a> is actually a remarkably easy way of listening to the podcast on your mobile device, too. And we might even make a dollar! Don’t want to play that game? Well, there’s always good, old fashioned donations! Please consider subscribing to provide ongoing, monthly support via <a href="https://www.patreon.com/kagrox?ty=h" target="_blank" title="">Patreon</a>. Not sold yet? Surely the below FREE SAMPLE of our show will convince you! <div class="dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=uuAgMU-KOjE" title="" data-src="//www.youtube.com/embed/uuAgMU-KOjE" data-height="360" data-width="640">YouTube Video</a></div> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCknlsM6zUMIdxtz1qEAbhuA" target="_blank">YouTube</a> | <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-kos-radio-kagro-in-morning/id581551976" target="_blank">iTunes</a> | <a href="http://kagrox.libsyn.com/" target="_blank">LibSyn</a> | Support the show via <a href="https://www.patreon.com/kagrox?ty=h" target="_blank">Patreon</a> David Waldman joins us in <a href="https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/Reykjavik+Iceland+ICXX0002:1:IC" target="_blank">pining for the fjords</a> as we approach<a href="http://www.refinery29.com/2016/12/133497/winter-solstice-rituals-celebrations-spiritual-meaning#slide" target="_blank"> Winter Solstice</a>. Maybe we <a href="https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/Reykjavik+Iceland+ICXX0002:1:IC" target="_blank">are just stunned</a>. No one ever accused Trump followers of <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/single-greatest-force-american-politics-partisanship-n698186" target="_blank">not having the ability to follow</a>. Trumpsters know how to stick <a href="https://morningconsult.com/2016/12/20/almost-half-u-s-voters-arent-sure-russia-engaged-election-related-hacks/" target="_blank">with their comrades</a>. Democrats, meantime model the <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/no-sackcloth-and-ashes" target="_blank">latest in sackcloth</a>, while continuing to <a href="http://www.salon.com/2016/12/20/they-mocked-us-they-made-fun-of-us-bernie-sanders-surrogates-recall-meeting-with-smug-hillary-clinton-staffers/" target="_blank">throw stones</a>. Greg Dworkin coaches us to <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/watch-samantha-bee-glenn-beck-eat-each-others-heads-w456891" target="_blank">play politics as a team sport</a>, that you can’t win if you don’t participate. Colorado is exploring how to <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/12/17/13982016/colorado-obamacare-repeal" target="_blank">keep its Obamacare marketplace</a> after the Obamacare repeal. Maybe <a href="http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/patching-obamacare-at-the-state-level/" target="_blank">the states will figure out</a> how to save Obamacare.<a href="https://twitter.com/KagroX/status/811050745986502656" target="_blank" title=""> Good news everyone</a>—there was<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/north-carolina-voting-rights-law/493649/" target="_blank"> almost</a> NO <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/311002-nyt-searches-for-voter-fraud-in-all-50-states-finds-one" target="_blank">voter fraud</a>! After election day, the<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/under-political-pressure-kuwait-cancels-major-event-at-four-seasons-switches-to-trumps-d-c-1f204315d513#.tw7lr0yxy" target="_blank" title=""> tributes start to amass</a> at Donald’s feet. Ivanka wants <a href="https://twitter.com/funder/status/795891600970883072" target="_blank">some Kuwaiti cash</a> too. How can emoluments be a conflict when the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brianne-j-gorod/on-trump-conflicts-dont-f_b_13721348.html" target="_blank" title="">Trumps like them so much</a>? After all,<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2016/09/23/is-the-emoluments-clause-a-problem-for-hillary-clinton/?utm_term=.a31c7440e718" target="_blank"> there was a time</a> when emoluments <a href="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/is-clinton-eligible-to-join-the-cabinet/" target="_blank" title="">were such a corrupting influence</a> that they would<a href="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/11/congress-cuts-top-diplomats-salary/" target="_blank"> bar a candidate from office</a> rather than<a href="http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2016/12/constitution-check-can-a-violation-of-the-emoluments-clause-be-proven/" target="_blank" title=""> risk damaging the constitution</a>. If anyone cares anymore, Donald Trump is <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/trump-business-empire-constitutional-train-wreck-and-divesting-wont-help" target="_blank">constitutionally tainted from Day One</a>. He might even well be… <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/12/16/trump-raises-specter-treason/zdwgXRuJBMChEXmX5kchhP/story.html" target="_blank">well uhm</a>… Trump zealot over-zealously <a href="http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2016/12/from-cannot-make-this-shit-up-files.html" target="_blank">steals public property</a> to impress Trump for Christmas. <center> <center>(Thanks again to <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/user/Scott%20Anderson">Scott Anderson</a> for the show summary!)</center> <center></center> <center></center> <center>Need more info on how to listen? Find it below the fold.</center> </center> rss@dailykos.com (David Waldman) DailyKosRadio _1613189 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 13:30:18 +0000 Cheers and Jeers: Wednesday http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613003/-Cheers-and-Jeers-Wednesday From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE And now a word from our sponsor… <blockquote> Hello, friends! This holiday season, it's important to remember all the wonderful people in your life who have been good to you in 2016. But it's also important to remember those bastards and jerks who've lied, cheated, swindled, insulted, extorted and otherwise tried to crap all over you in 2016. And Big Coal will be there to help you express your true feelings... <figure class="image-captioned width-sm align-right"><img alt="Lump of coal" src="http://images.dailykos.com/images/62251/large/coal.jpg?1453014151" title="Lump of coal"> <figcaption>One lump for each GOP governor.</figcaption> </figure> …for the CEO who cancels employee bonuses except for the senior executive staff. …for candidates who hitch their wagons to white supremacy and hatred of "the other" while condoning violence, intimidation, and misinformation to win elections. …for the governors and legislatures who accept bribes from billionaires in exchange for dismantling unions and environmental laws, stomping on voters' rights, treating women and minorities like dirt, and setting fire to social safety nets. ...for the neighbor who backed over your posies last summer and then denied it, even though the tire marks in your garden matched his F-150’s. ...for your uncle who still sends you birther emails and sees ISIS infiltrators behind every tree. <figure class="image-captioned align-left"><img alt='Screenshot from the TV ad, which an includes a chyron reading, "The Truth."' src="http://images.dailykos.com/images/296916/large/Screen_Shot_2016-09-07_at_12.34.09_PM.png?1473276912" title='Screenshot from the TV ad, which an includes a chyron reading, "The Truth."'> <figcaption>Two lumps for this departing asshole.</figcaption> </figure> ...for conservative media hacks who spend December responding to their own fake "evidence" of a non-existent "war on Christmas." For everyone on your list who tried to make life miserable this year, there's only one holiday gift you can rely on to adequately say, "Suck on this, ya big jerk." So call now and order a heapin' helpin' of 100 PERCENT PURE COAL. One glance at that lump of bituminous blackness in their stocking and they'll get your message loud and clear. Available in lignite, flame coal, gas coal, anthracite, coke and, for those really nasty peckerheads, coal ash slurry. Order today and get FREE shipping! Coal: when you're pissed-off enough to send the very worst, but you draw the line at flaming dog poop. </blockquote> Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!] rss@dailykos.com (Bill in Portland Maine) CheersandJeers _1613003 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 13:16:16 +0000 Happy Winter Solstice! http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1612952/-Happy-Winter-Solstice Today is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice" target="_blank">shortest day of the year</a> in most parts of the northern hemisphere making it the first day of winter. It took our neolithic ancestors time to work out celestial indicators of the seasons. But work them out they did. Which is an impressive feat given that they had little or no written language to compare records and only their raw, unmagnified senses to observe. It soon became critical to survival during those times. That was how <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic" target="_blank">Neolithic people</a> knew when to plant one crop or another, or move camp to a nearby pass to catch the big, hoofed meat that would soon be migrating down known trails in huge herds. What happened in the sky was clearly correlated with things happening on Earth. If big celestial events controlled or predicted big things like the start of spring or the end of the rainy season, maybe more precise observation of smaller variables could provide info about individual tribes, kings, and even people. Long before the birth of Jesus, astrology was a well developed, intricate practice with real predictive power. It may sound silly now, but astrology made a lot of sense in ancient times. Here’s Earth & Sky <a href="http://earthsky.org/earth/everything-you-need-to-know-december-solstice" target="_blank">with more info</a>: <blockquote> For us in the Northern Hemisphere, the December solstice marks the longest night and shortest day of the year. Meanwhile, on the day of the December solstice, the Southern Hemisphere has its longest day and shortest night. This special day is coming up on Wednesday, December 21 at 10:44 UTC (December 21 at 4:44 a.m. CST). No matter where you live on Earth’s globe, a solstice is your signal to celebrate. </blockquote> Oddly enough, the shortest day of the year doesn’t mean <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/zingularity/2011/12/22/happy-winter-and-pass-the-solar-paint/" target="_blank">it has either the earliest sunset</a> or the latest sunrise. But ancient people knew it meant the sun was heading back, bringing with it warmth and light. It’s no wonder that kicked off rip-roaring parties and it’s no wonder early Christians chose that same day—on the Roman calendar—to <a title="" href="http://www.ancient-origins.net/history/can-astronomy-explain-biblical-star-bethlehem-007213" target="_blank">celebrate Christmas</a>. So there’s a little background for you and yours on this cold Winter Solstice, and we hope it heralds a warm, rich winter holiday and a healthy, prosperous New Year! rss@dailykos.com (DarkSyde) Astronomy _1612952 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 13:00:18 +0000 Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: Partisanship rules, like it or not, so play to win http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/21/1613028/-Abbreviated-Pundit-Round-up-Partisanship-rules-like-it-or-not-so-play-to-win <a href="http://heavy.com/news/2016/12/faithless-electors-list-who-switched-flipped-electoral-college-vote-from-trump-clinton-results-names-states/" target="_blank">Heavy.com</a>: <blockquote> Faithless Electors List: Who Flipped Their Electoral Votes from Trump or Clinton? </blockquote> It was predictable that more electors flipped away from Hillary Clinton (7) than from Donald Trump (2). Republicans are more tribal, fall in line better and respond to threats better. But protest votes amount to nothing except removing the focus on Trump, so congratulations or something. Know what the states that had HRC defectors have in common? They were caucus states. Look for rules to be rewritten to prevent that from happening in future. Was that the intent of the faithless electors? I doubt it. But you’ll have a lot of convincing to do if you think this exercise of not voting for Clinton did more good than harm. As far as I am concerned, getting rid of caucuses is moving higher on my list of reforms. They are non-representative and went overboard in proving it even after the election. Again, congratulations or something. Politics is a team sport, and needs to be played as such. Play as a team and play to win, or you will not. rss@dailykos.com (Greg Dworkin) AbbreviatedPunditRound-up APR _1613028 Wed, 21 Dec 2016 12:30:24 +0000