December? December. [DOT 1/12/20]

1/12/20 MegMegMcGee 29

You guys. It’s Tuesday, which is probably the worst day of the week, and it’s f*cking DECEMBER. How is that possible?

Wisconsin and Arizona make it official as Trump fails to stop vote certification in all six states where he contested his defeat
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/arizona-wisconsin-certify-election/2020/11/30/ec161756-3338-11eb-b59c-adb7153d10c2_story.html

I’m seeing a lot about her online and I don’t have the bandwidth to drill down, but apparently no one likes this pick. One of the reasons seems to be that she outed a sexual harassment victim in a meeting.

Biden transition braces for tough Senate confirmation for Neera Tanden
https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/30/politics/neera-tanden-senate-republicans/index.html

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Scott Atlas resigns as Trump’s coronavirus adviser
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/30/scott-atlas-resigns-trump-adviser-441597

I’m going to go ahead and hope that smarter people than Atlas are working on this.

Two promising vaccines head to FDA review, setting scientific speed records
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/11/30/moderna-covid-vaccine-fda-approval/

Sprots!

Mouthbreathers are BIG MAD about this online.

‘This was never an easy path’: Sarah Fuller and the winding road to two-sport immortality
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30416293/sarah-fuller-winding-road-two-sport-immortality

Stonks!

Powell stresses importance of lending programs, calls economic outlook ‘extraordinarily uncertain’
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/30/powell-stresses-importance-of-lending-programs-calls-economic-outlook-extraordinarily-uncertain.html

Enjoy this ratio, along with your day.

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29 Comments

  1. Neera Tanden is a real piece of work and more than a little Trump-ish herself. She will have no false gods before her; the way, the truth, and the life is found through Hillary Clinton. Something called the Center for American Progress sounds like a good thing, but it is in fact mostly a corporatist, centrist, fundraising machine.
     
    There’s speculation that Biden picked her for OMB, or at least floated her name, for two reasons. One was to placate the Hillary Clinton true believers, who as part of their belief system think she is the rightful heir to Obama’s and her husband’s legacy. The other, and this is very clever, is that she will be the sacrificial lamb. She has spent more than a decade ferociously attacking anyone who doesn’t bear the initials HRC, Republicans first and foremost, but also Democrats on the left who think the country might move a smidge away from the center and return us to the days of, I don’t know, the Nixon era, who seriously considered introducing a guaranteed minimum income and was not averse to the idea of expanding Medicare to cover all Americans. This way the Senate Republicans will focus much of their vitriol on her (little recognizing how closely she’s aligned in certain ways) and be distracted enough to say, “Secretary of Defense? Who? Yeah, fine, I vote aye.”
     
    People underestimate Joe Biden, I think. He entered the Senate after winning in 1972. The median age of Americans is about 38, which means that a majority of Americans weren’t even born when he started his trajectory. In a lot of cases the parents weren’t alive then either. You know who else was in the Senate, knew everyone, and pushed through a lot of groundbreaking legislation? Lyndon Baines “Great Society” Johnson.  When it was clear that Biden was going to be the nominee a lot of my friends on the left were disappointed. I used to say to them, “He won’t be the second coming of FDR but he might be our era’s LBJ.” We’ll see how this goes, we’re in very strange times. But I think it’s much more preferable to have allies in the Senate because they’ve been across-the-aisle colleagues, rather than Trump’s way, which is to threaten to bring the wrath of the rabble upon senators who don’t see things his way (which is not actually the “Republican” way, more like the Caligula way) via a tweet storm.

    Gosh, this was a long rant. Sorry.

    • Makes sense. When the chess match starts, you don’t advance your queen. You start with the pawns, because you can afford to lose them. 
       
      That said, while I’m not particularly impressed with this choice, she is experienced and competent, two qualities which are utterly foreign to the Trump Regime. 

  2. Speaking of FDR, and to kind of move away from politics, when Obama was first inaugurated in January, 2009, some friends and I took the day off and convened here for a celebratory early dinner. I feel like I’ve already mentioned this, but maybe over on one of the G/O sites or GroupThink (RIP). I made chicken divan. Why? I did a little research and found that when FDR was inaugurated for the second time, in 1937, there was a very subdued, small dinner served back at the White House and people ate that. It was at the height of the Depression so public balls would have been unseemly. It’s not difficult to make and it’s usually very cold on January 20th, at least here in the northern US, so it’s a nice hearty meal. Plus at the time we were going through the Great Financial Crisis so it seemed fitting. Maybe I’ll do a FYCE post about chicken divan. January 20th will be a Wednesday next January, and we’re probably still going to be locked down, but chicken divan is simple and even if it’s only two humans and a ravenous hound it makes for a plausible midweek dinner.

      • Bodegas often have a “bodega cat.” They keep the mice and rats away. Plus they have way less pre-packaged corporate foods shipped in from God knows where, like sandwiches and salads. As a special bonus, the longer you patronize them the prices will go down. They famously never have prices on anything, so if you are a “friend” you’ll be greeted with, “For you, $2.” They often sell bootleg, untaxed cigarettes, and will sell “loosies,” if they trust you. This is all strictly forbidden in New York. If there is credible video evidence of someone shooting someone they’re treated more leniently than someone doling out Marlboros. They’re also family-owned and run, not franchised, and reliably stay open around the clock. Cops and other night shift workers love them because there could be a raging blizzard or a snow-related aftermath that has shut an entire city down but the bodegas will be open. I’m speaking from New York experience. I don’t know what it’s like in the rest of the country.

    • The videos of Fuller kicking soccer balls 80+ yards makes it clear she is qualified to be a kicker for Vanderbilt. The mouthbreathers really are in a place where they have to argue against the evidence before their own eyes in the name of weirdo principles.

  5. Is Trump a security risk? Uh … yeah. 
    One good line: “He’s shown as president that he doesn’t take secret-keeping terribly seriously,” Goldsmith said.
    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/11/30/1999097/-Another-Day-1-job-for-Biden-Cut-off-Trump-s-intelligence-briefings
     
    I’ve had this reoccurring image of all the ex-presidents hanging out with Biden and Trump doesn’t get to attend. He will lose his mind. Make it so, Uncle Joe!

    • The only thing that might mitigate this is who would trust Trump’s word on anything? “Are you sure this really happened. Who told you this?” “It’s known, many people are talking about it.” “I see. General Kushtovenko, could you see Mr. Trump out?”

    • Trump is at serious risk for prosecution after January. He is going to be incredibly tempted to reveal classified information to brag or defend himself politically. He is going to want to spill about people the US has secretly placed in Iran or China, and he will put their lives at risk and potentially shut down the information flow. He will brag about weapons systems that are under development so he can take credit for them.
       But as an ex president, he won’t have that authority, and there will be enormous pressure to prosecute — and it won’t be a hard case to make against him. If he has any decent legal advice — a big if — he will cut himself out of the loop.

      • Trump should cut himself out. He won’t, though. He’s going to try to maintain some sort of bizarre shadow government to convince his worshippers that he’s still in charge and all good things are his doing. 
         
        Problem is, he’s stupid and incredibly lazy. He’s going to lose interest in “briefings” the first time they conflict with his tee time. I feel certain that Biden and company can adapt until then. Hell, I’d just send him bogus appointment times and let him show up or dial in and have no one else there.
         
        Plus, he literally doesn’t have to do anything. None of his worshippers will demand proof, so he can make any claim he likes. He’s been doing it for four years.

    • …I mean…the answer sure seems like it’d be a yes…after all, you don’t get told you can’t be in charge of things with charitable status because everything was above board

      …a lot of people are saying it?

      • If it goes far enough, this suit may turn into one of those landmark cases for all of the shady charities out there.  Rich people love to run their own charities because there are a slew of different ways they can skim off the top.  If this suit actually brings the hammer down on Trump (not terribly likely, but one can hope), then it would be a roadmap to nailing all those other tax dodging motherfuckers.

  7. OhOh – HeyHey – MegMegMcGee
    What of a soon(ee) hot chocolate postee
    Why not query the entire peanut galleryee
    And attempt to define their chocolate choicee
    Will it be homemade, k-cups, or out-of-the-boxee
    And of marshmallows – miniatures or standard sizee

  8. welp…work randomly gave me a goodie bag which included a cheesebaker

    i guess that means i have to fondue now
    (i wonder if i can make fondue asplode?)
    (really….cant call it a foodsperiment if you dont need to clean ceiling after)

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