Octopus Overlords

If he could undo that stupid ban on diversity and inclusion training in the government, I’d certainly appreciate it.

And reverse all the terrible Trump EOs loosening environmental pollution standards and opening up federal land for commercial exploitation.

i.e. destroying jobs in America!

Ralph-Wiggum wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 1:05 pm And reverse all the terrible Trump EOs loosening environmental pollution standards and opening up federal land for commercial exploitation.

The second is going to be very tough - IIRC Interior signed long-term agreements with some ranching, foresting, and mining interests as soon as they could pry them open for exploitation.

The Meal wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 3:16 am (Also, abolish "Random" threads of all kinds!)

malchior wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 1:29 pm

Ralph-Wiggum wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 1:05 pm And reverse all the terrible Trump EOs loosening environmental pollution standards and opening up federal land for commercial exploitation.

The second is going to be very tough - IIRC Interior signed long-term agreements with some ranching, foresting, and mining interests as soon as they could pry them open for exploitation.

i definitely want to be kept up to date on this.

With the Republicans being the way they are it looks like Biden is also going to have to rely on executive actions just like his predecessor.
Tell me gain why we have a legislative branch?

dbt1949 wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 5:39 pm With the Republicans being the way they are it looks like Biden is also going to have to rely on executive actions just like his predecessor.
Tell me gain why we have a legislative branch?

When we have a GOP President they seat judges. They also pass continuing resolutions to keep the government funded. Oh and naming post offices.

For those of you who lived through it (especially if you're from his home town), how did Ford lower the temperature of the country after the Nixon shenanigans. I've heard that this is his greatest accomplishment, but haven't heard a lot about the nuts and bolts of how he went about doing so.

Ford gave Nixon a blanket pardon when he had not yet been charged with anything. It was roundly criticized at the time, and I hope Biden was paying attention. His best bet is to just allow nature to take its course.

The Meal wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 11:14 pm For those of you who lived through it (especially if you're from his home town), how did Ford lower the temperature of the country after the Nixon shenanigans.

I am summoned.

I was only in my early teens and newly political when this all went down, but I was a native Grand Reptilian, and my dad was Gerald Ford's insurance agent. I had coffee with them once when I was 11 or 12, feeling oh-so grown up.

By the time Ford took office America was sick of Watergate and just wanted Nixon to go away, which he obligingly did. Some felt that the shame of resigning was punishment enough. Many did not -- many thought the pardon was a quid pro quo -- and so Ford lost his election. Even my parents thought that Jerry made a big mistake there. I don't think they wanted Nixon behind bars so much as they wanted Ford to succeed.

trump, of course, would not go away quietly, and has no shame, and his assault on the Constitution was way worse than Nixon's. Apart from his election shenanigans, Nixon had tried to be a good president, which trump has never done. Pardoning trump would not be a healing gesture.

Fun trivia fact: Ford was the first candidate I ever voted for, because how often do you get to vote for someone you've had coffee with? He was also the last Republican I ever voted for.

Kraken wrote: Mon Nov 09, 2020 2:23 am my dad was Gerald Ford's insurance agent. I had coffee with them once when I was 11 or 12, feeling oh-so grown up.

That's great! I never got to meet them but my dad was an O.S.I. agent and for a brief period was on loan to the secret service and acted as Betty Ford's detail, so he had a few meals with her and got a ride on Air Force One. He received a gold-plated ball point pen with Ford's signature engraved on it as thanks. Or maybe he pocketed it while he was on the plane.

I was very young when Watergate happened and we weren't living in GR at the time.

When Ford pardoned Nixon it was the first time I remember my Dad getting so angry it scared me. Like everybody else from GR in those days he had met Ford a few times and liked him as a man and was VERY disappointed in the pardon. I think his feelings were pretty much the same as Kraken's parents.

I remember my Dad pounding the table and yelling. He'd always been pretty even-tempered. I knew it was a big deal...

So as not to derail the COVID thread...

LawBeefaroni wrote: Tue Nov 10, 2020 3:59 pm

Skinypupy wrote: Tue Nov 10, 2020 3:51 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote: Tue Nov 10, 2020 3:41 pm

Skinypupy wrote: Tue Nov 10, 2020 3:25 pm Saw lots of right wing outrage today about one of the doctors who was put on Biden's COVID-19 task force, Ezikiel Emanuel. Looked him up myself, and came across the Atlantic article he wrote (back in 2014) about why living over 75 is a burden on individuals, families, and society in general.

While I think it's being blown way out of proportion with the Fox News crowd (isn't everything?), I do have to admit that someone who publicly expresses this point of view is not exactly who I would have preferred to be one of the most visible doctors in America, trying to save the lives of primarily elderly citizens.

We'll see how he feels about it in 12 years.


I'm not a fan of Zeke (or Rahm) by any stretch. As an oncologist, how big a role will he play on the task force? Seems like it's just a political/payback appointment.

Knowing nothing about him, I was hoping that perhaps he was so brilliant in his field that he would be a no-brainer for the role.

If it's simply political payback, the public perception of his "die at 75" attitude isn't nearly worth the ROI.

He's fairly well known for his work in medical and bio ethics, so there's that. I'm sure he has a lot of connections and contacts that could be useful too. But it's not like there aren't dozens of other doctors out there with similar assets and less baggage. Of course that's not how there positions are filled.

Maybe it was pennance to Rahm?


Let the infighting commence! Not like there are wolves waiting to year you apart. Nope.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said she expected a long-term fight, particularly given the setbacks for Democrats in the congressional contests. She also cited cabinet appointments as a way to measure Mr. Biden’s ideological core.

She said some people, including Mr. Emanuel, should not play a role in the party’s future. The former mayor has been floated by some in Mr. Biden’s inner circle to lead a department like housing or transportation.

“Someone like Rahm Emanuel would be a pretty divisive pick,” she said, citing his record as mayor on racial justice and his opposition to teachers’ unions. “And it would signal, I think, a hostile approach to the grass-roots and the progressive wing of the party.”

On Nixon:

It's worth remembering that Ford's pardoning wasn't a complete erasure of Watergate. Didn't more than a dozen Nixon aides do prison time for it?

Yeah, like letting Joker go free while his henchmen rot in jail.

I'm guessing we might eventually need a new thread, but for now - Biden wants to lower medicare eligibility to 60:

Republicans, who fought the creation of Medicare in the 1960s and typically oppose expanding government entitlement programs, are not the biggest obstacle. Instead, the nation's hospitals — a powerful political force — are poised to derail any effort. Hospitals fear adding millions of people to Medicare will cost them billions of dollars in revenue.

"Hospitals certainly are not going to be happy with it," said Jonathan Oberlander, professor of health policy and management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Medicare reimbursement rates for patients admitted to hospitals are on average half what commercial or employer-sponsored insurance plans pay.

"It will be a huge lift [in Congress] as the realities of lower Medicare reimbursement rates will activate some powerful interests against this," said Josh Archambault, a senior fellow with the conservative Foundation for Government Accountability.

There's a Biden-Harris transition account on twitter:

https://twitter.com/Transition46/status ... 6827034625

Anyone know anything about this Ronald Klain dude? Trump hates him so he's got to be good.

Jaymann wrote: Thu Nov 12, 2020 11:43 am Anyone know anything about this Ronald Klain dude? Trump hates him so he's got to be good.

He was Biden's chief of staff as VP and served as coordinator of the Ebola response team

Defiant wrote: Thu Nov 12, 2020 11:45 am

Jaymann wrote: Thu Nov 12, 2020 11:43 am Anyone know anything about this Ronald Klain dude? Trump hates him so he's got to be good.

He was Biden's chief of staff as VP and served as coordinator of the Ebola response team

Yeah, as far as I can tell he's very well respected. I know that there was some infighting among progressives and centrists about the chief of staff role - not sure where Klain fits in with that infighting.

For whatever it means, AOC tweeted out praise for the Klain pick.

El Guapo wrote: Thu Nov 12, 2020 12:22 pm

Defiant wrote: Thu Nov 12, 2020 11:45 am

Jaymann wrote: Thu Nov 12, 2020 11:43 am Anyone know anything about this Ronald Klain dude? Trump hates him so he's got to be good.

He was Biden's chief of staff as VP and served as coordinator of the Ebola response team

Yeah, as far as I can tell he's very well respected. I know that there was some infighting among progressives and centrists about the chief of staff role - not sure where Klain fits in with that infighting.

There already was a bit of infighting already about this. Kind of a preview of the difficulty keeping this coalition together will prove out. AOC praised the choice in a tweet and some progressives actually went after *her* for failing their purity test. It'll be exhausting to watch these idiots fight it out when the GOP threat to Democracy is evergreen.

Random sample of the dumb:

https://twitter.com/Nudiustertian_1/sta ... 3955389440

I like the comment that said: She's playing the long political game.

USA Today

Several Senate Republicans have broken with the Trump administration to argue that President-elect Joe Biden should get access to classified intelligence briefings, even though the president continues to contest the election results.

Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, said he will intervene if the Trump administration doesn’t start allowing Biden to receive the daily intelligence briefings by Friday.
...
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, also said Biden should get the briefings when asked about the matter by a CNN reporter on Thursday.
...
And Sen. Ron Johnson, chairman of the homeland security committee, told reporters he would have "no problem" with Biden receiving the briefings.

It is a real threat to national security. They clearly understand this and breaking GOP ranks is an indicator of the severity of the threat.

How sweet if national security is the crack that wedges out the guy who attempted to strong arm Ukraine into finding dirt on his opponent.

malchior wrote: Thu Nov 12, 2020 1:15 pm Random sample of the dumb:

No kidding. Anti-mortgage bundling? That's like the gold standard crazies.

noxiousdog wrote: Thu Nov 12, 2020 3:04 pm

malchior wrote: Thu Nov 12, 2020 1:15 pm Random sample of the dumb:

No kidding. Anti-mortgage bundling? That's like the gold standard crazies.

Not going to call it a cult just yet but...

I'm starting to become hopeful(?) about a Biden presidency? I don't know why. It could be his cabinet picks?

Drazzil wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 1:25 pm I'm starting to become hopeful(?) about a Biden presidency? I don't know why. It could be his cabinet picks?

Shhh, don't let Holman's son see that.

Drazzil wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 1:25 pm I'm starting to become hopeful(?) about a Biden presidency? I don't know why. It could be his cabinet picks?

Don't get too hopeful.

El Guapo wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 2:32 pm

Drazzil wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 1:25 pm I'm starting to become hopeful(?) about a Biden presidency? I don't know why. It could be his cabinet picks?

Don't get too hopeful.

I know, I know. At least Biden *eants* to appoint good people. It's totally unlike the whipsaw I got in the months after BO was elected and he immediately tacked to the far right when he appointed unapologetic neoliberals to his cabinet.

Hopefulness is totally and *completely* alien to my worldview. It's like expecting a s-it sandwich and getting candy corn instead. It's not *GREAT* but... As President Elect Biden says. "You may not have voted for me but lets give each other a chance" I penned in Bernie, but I'm actually finding that gosh... I *like* Biden's actions so far. Its early I know, but...

The Biden bitchseat is starting to look like not a bad place to be. I mean, he's not really riding to the place I want to go, but he seems to be headed to within a few blocks maybe. I can walk the rest of the way.

Drazzil wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 3:05 pm I penned in Bernie

Seriously

Smoove_B wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 3:09 pm

Drazzil wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 3:05 pm I penned in Bernie

First, I live in Portland. Second, no candidate is entitled to my vote, Third, I voted my conscience. If you guys really wanna go after me, please start a thread to go after me. Lets stay on topic.

Drazzil wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 4:08 pmFirst, I live in Portland. Second, no candidate is entitled to my vote, Third, I voted my conscience. If you guys really wanna go after me, please start a thread to go after me. Lets stay on topic.

Not going after you, just screaming internally.

EDIT: There's likely going to be a time when we can all talk about whom we voted for. While Trump is in the process of attempting a soft coup, I'm not sure I'm ready to talk about voting your conscience for Bernie. But you can do you with or without my approval - it's all good. Mi Scusi!

Smoove_B wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 4:12 pm

Drazzil wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 4:08 pmFirst, I live in Portland. Second, no candidate is entitled to my vote, Third, I voted my conscience. If you guys really wanna go after me, please start a thread to go after me. Lets stay on topic.

Not going after you, just screaming internally.

EDIT: There's likely going to be a time when we can all talk about whom we voted for. While Trump is in the process of attempting a soft coup, I'm not sure I'm ready to talk about voting your conscience for Bernie. But you can do you with or without my approval - it's all good.

The only soft coup I see is a Trump grift to pay his massive debts so he can avoid the polonium in his diet coke. I'm not saying don't worry about it, by all means, be aware. I just don't see him having the backing to pull something like this off, neither do a lot of other people. From now on I'm here to talk about Biden.

On that note the "Biden Harris Transition" team seems to be holding a conference right now via twitter.

Jaymann wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 1:28 pm

Drazzil wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 1:25 pm I'm starting to become hopeful(?) about a Biden presidency? I don't know why. It could be his cabinet picks?

Shhh, don't let Holman's son see that.

[Enormous barf emoji]

Do I have to raise *everyone* not to be idiots??

Holman wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 9:49 pm

Jaymann wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 1:28 pm

Drazzil wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 1:25 pm I'm starting to become hopeful(?) about a Biden presidency? I don't know why. It could be his cabinet picks?

Shhh, don't let Holman's son see that.

[Enormous barf emoji]

Do I have to raise *everyone* not to be idiots??

My nephew in CA voted third party (is that what we were talking about here?). I forgave him because we who live in uncontested states have the luxury of voting our conscience. I used to do it all the time. In fact, Obama was the first major-party candidate I voted for since Gerald Ford...and that's because he was my conscience candidate. I believed he could take America to the next level.

Then I voted for Hillary because trump had to lose by an unmistakable margin -- the popular vote has no official value, but it does lend legitimacy. Then I voted for Biden for the same reason. I wasn't thrilled with either of them, but considered it my patriotic duty to add a +1. Plus, there were no appealing alternative candidates either time. I hope we get to a place where each election isn't an existential crisis that compels me to vote Democratic...but I don't see that happening in my lifetime.

I look forward to seeing if Biden can patch up the hull and I'm going to set aside ideology until the ship stops sinking.