Vee

I will add that the visceral disdain the Capitol Hill reporter crowd (virtually all of them reared by GOP-worshipping Politico, Jake Sherman in particular) has for this approach makes my heart sing. They always get pissy when Democrats push on something.

Thread and other stuff: So long as this is true (for once) I am not super pressed about the latest developments in Infrastructure Year on the bipartisan bill which is sure to disappoint everyone but CNN talking heads. Manchin will squawk about changing the package just like he tried to do but ultimately didn't do much on the Rescue bill, but he can't outfight Pelosi.

That's because he was one of the worst HWs in the show's history.

She sounds as done as I am.

Mick Hazen was a talented kid; back in the days before Eddie Alderson learned to act seemingly overnight, I was desperate for him to replace him as Matthew Buchanan on OLTL. I always forget Natalie and Sage existed. I'm still not sure exactly who Sage is.

Stitch looks like a giant hairy infant and has the personality of drywall. They're a perfect match.

Another reminder of Abby's years of riveting frontburner status.

A bill that has Manchin's own 'deal' he's been talking up in recent days emblazoned across it is what I've always suspected he will agree to pass.

Biden's poll numbers are going to have to decline a lot more than where they're at right now for me to be nervous about him. I do think the WH needs to make voting rights more of a priority, but I also think going out there and burning the barns is only going to make Manchin more recalcitrant when they're going to need his vote on some sort of voting rights package for expanding the Lewis bill, which is what I assume will come next. And that will be good and important. I don't like the situation, but I understand some of it. Sinema I'm not scared of. She's an idiot and will follow the wind if she sees it go against her. Pressure works from the grassroots - that's why these two have both penned fatuous op-eds in the last month defending themselves. It doesn't work from Biden going out and calling them traitors, in this case. As for today:

I thought Romano had some nuance and layers in Season 6, around when Lucy died. I think they often lazily reverted to type with many characters later, him included. The helicopter shenanigans and other stunts before and after always smacked of them constantly trying to top the big Lucy scenes - shock and more shock for sweeps. I was long gone by then. This and the unrelenting misery of certain storylines for certain folks (like Mark) is a big part of what drove me away; that and the blatant attempts to just clone Carol and Doug repeatedly with Abby, Luka, Sam, etc.

I'm not judging Flannery; I understand the mindset. I just think it's important this keep happening in this particular subset of the industry, before the actors retire.

Oh, has Ian Buchanan finally come out publicly? Good for him. I'm sure they're all quietly out in private life, that's no secret. What makes me take notice at this point is when they make a point to let the world know despite the cloistered daytime transparent shield.

Def keep the beard. It's about time the soap industry's longstanding glass closet began to break - first Rikaart and guys like Tuc Watkins, Lachlan Buchanan or Nic Robuck (after they left their respective soaps, although Tuc was on OLTL 2013 following publicly coming out), now this. Not sure I can remember who else; Beth Ann Bonner was after she left OLTL, though Clementine Ford was on Y&R at the same time. I'm not sure Susan Flannery ever publicly came out. I still feel Y&R should weave both Fisher brothers' bisexuality into the story, a la Todd Haynes' Far from Heaven.

I have no idea who Ben Tribbett is.

Chuck Todd has fled Twitter, tired of regular roasting:

I honestly don't remember. I just remember an endless Mobius loop of impossibly huge gaffes upon taking office, like sleeping in for events.

Champ had a long life and was clearly feeling his age - I've seen that kind of slow walk and hip issues before in dogs I've had or lived with, and I knew he'd pass 'in office'. I'm glad he got to spend some of his last months in a lovely new home. The NYC race seems to absolutely fascinate (in either a passionate or morbid way, or both) some friends and acquaintances (and NY journalists like Haberman who consider city politics the center of the universe, to be covered with far more fury than Trump's Washington) but as a once and perhaps future New Yorker I just can't be bothered. I hope Wiley can take it, but at least I doubt it will ever be Yang. And after BDB, oof.

Sad news: