Vee

Sad news:

That's wonderful.

I think people trying to take out Murkowski will remain disappointed.

The HK/Taiwan issues are close to my heart bc of some of my personal and work connections over the last decade. I can't countenance another war, but I also can't accept the US doing nothing if China tries to invade Taiwan and the country is poised for a worse fate than Hong Kong. There are no good answers. As for Matt Stoller, he's just another loud white blowhard like Stancil. I think Stoller in particular is insane on a great many topics; I don't take that wing of the dead-end left seriously at all and don't consider it remotely influential outside of that increasingly-waning niche group, which (like the right) is consistently struggling post-Trump to lay a glove on Biden, having failed to get him pulled from the ticket over Tara Reade or his supposed dementia. Meanwhile:

This looks like silly fun, but what a cast. @DRW50

Knowing soap fans as well as the gays, there will be complaints no matter who the moderator is. I do think there are better options than giving Locher literally every spot, particularly with shows he either does not know well at all or is clearly reticent to allow the actors to be open out of his own brand loyalty to P&G beyond all reason.

Didn't Bette love Lisa Brown on GL and want her to play her in a biopic?

Yep, I watched the Karen rescue stuff again not long ago.

Capitol Hill reporters are IMO openly, aggressively scornful of the effort by Schumer to put forth S1 next week regardless of not having 60 votes. I never hear this kind of relentless hectoring about GOP choices, but that's because they love McConnell's 'savvy.'

Nichelle hasn't been well for a long while now; this is lovely to see.

Did Alan fake technical difficulties when the ladies began dishing?

They're never going to strike down the ACA. They've had plenty of chances. Meanwhile:

I called that they were going to pull Ron's same Gigi/Stacey rewrite from the end of OLTL with this the moment they did it with Judi Evans' characters. I'm just surprised it's taking this long.

In which I regretfully post the Intercept (and ugh, Lee Fang):

I think we could have Vanessa back at this point, but Frank is being petty bc of whatever drama went down with him and her in 2013 - realizing she doesn't need this show or him. He hates that, at least from women. They could have her back as a cornerstone of the show and park Maurice with her and fundamentally change the show again, but Frank won't do that for anyone other than his favorite performers. Look how much arm-twisting it took to get him to accept having Genie on contract in her current role - he thought he could play her like a recurring.

Fun fact I'd forgotten: Kaitlan Collins is an alumni of the Daily Caller.

Okay - this is real. The usual drumbeat about 60 is beside the point here - if he can get these changes, and a lot of them seem mostly acceptable, and perhaps get the bill renamed the "Joe Manchin Is Not A Racist You Filthy Libs Bill", I believe he'll pass it with reconciliation or some sort of wedge. This is a big deal. Meanwhile, I've always had issues with Kaitlan Collins and the gotcha Beltway Kids:

Could be Manchin vamping for more attention, but this is still a surprise: As to everything else: I have lots of issues with how the Congress is always insistent on avoiding dealing with real criminality among the GOP they break bread with, and always bangs the drum about 'focusing on kitchen table issues' instead every [!@#$%^&*] session. It's a cliche. I understand the Dems are a big tent and that focusing on those issues is integral for certain seats in certain parts of the country, but that does not mean that it's acceptable to regularly punt any responsibility for investigations on Barr or 1/6 or whatever else to a DOJ that is currently not inclined to go beyond enforcing past norms. I also don't agree the media has shrugged off 1/6 - they haven't, outside of the right wing. They still see it as very serious; it's the Dems in the Congress who are still struggling to create a coherent response to it. That's not acceptable, and I say that as someone who is a big fan of Pelosi generally. On a related note, I'm sure Merrick Garland is a decent man but ensuring continuity of old norms and old governmental process only matters insofar as it can be upheld and protected, not routinely violated by one party without any consequences or retribution. DOJ has to do better and so does the House Judiciary. I don't want to hear about another month of 'collating options' followed by toothless letters and subpoena demands that are ignored by their recipients with zero consequence or enforcement just like when Trump took office. I'm not saying turn the entire congressional session into the French Revolution, but if you have to haul some people in, do it. You can both govern on important local issues and do the necessary on these things. Because after a certain point it's not just about good governing, it's optics. Why? Because one thing the Republicans learned long ago is that their base, and I suspect a large portion of our uncurious segment of the base as well, responds to brute strength. If you're explaining why the Republicans are lying bc of all these GOP logical fallacies, you're losing. Nobody in the squishy middle cares. They care about action. If you can drag those guys in and look tough sometimes, do it. If you can pass a bill, do it. I think Biden had a very strong showing in the first few months, but I do think this infrastructure drag searching for imaginary Republican votes is bogging things down. I don't think that's all his fault; I think it's something foisted on them by Manchin's preening ego until such time as he decides okay, they won't happen and he votes for reconciliation after all (as he usually does) while sighing loudly for the benefit of Beltway reporters. But do I think Biden's administration and agenda has somehow collapsed in record time in a furor of unforced errors or struggling initiatives - no. It's only been a few long weeks of this and that's hyperbole. Again, I don't take the Will Stancils of the world remotely seriously. Loud angry white guys shaking their fists at Nancy Pelosi or Obama who think they know how to run government have been a cottage industry since at least 2009. That doesn't mean there aren't things that can't be done better across the administration, starting now. I hope the push by Schumer for a reconciliation bill period is the beginning of that. And I do think a voting rights bill will also be passed, by hook or by crook. The other Senators who supposedly agree with Manchin will not have the courage to block anything without his vote.

Supposedly, per further up the page, they won't do that. I don't think Schumer would go there unless he knows at this point, bc so many House and Senate Dems have made it clear they will not vote for a bait and switch infrastructure bill without a confirmed reconciliation. I still don't think the first bill will happen.