Baltimore bridge tragedy spurs empathy from Biden, blame from GOP

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday March 26, 2024 · 2:27 PM PDT

2024/03/26 · 14:27

no image description available — Part of the steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of the container ship Dali after the bridge collapsed in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26.

President Joe Biden spoke briefly on Tuesday about the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, referring to it as “a terrible accident” and promising federal support. A container ship rammed into the bridge in the early hours of the morning, collapsing it and sending vehicles and debris into the river below. An ongoing rescue effort continues as of the publishing of this story.

“I told them we’re going to send all the federal resources they need as we respond to this emergency—I mean, all the federal resources,” he said. “And we're going to rebuild that port together.”

“Our prayers are with everyone involved in this terrible accident, all the families, especially those waiting for the news of their loved one right now,” he said. “I know every minute in that circumstance feels like a lifetime.”

The president dismissed any determination of blame at this early stage, and he explained that the bridge and the port it served were too important to delay fixing.

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Walter Einenkel for Daily Kos

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday March 06, 2024 · 7:42 AM PST

2024/03/06 · 07:42

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 07: U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) arrives for President Joe Biden's State of the Union address during a joint meeting of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on February 07, 2023 in Washington, DC. The speech marks Biden's first address to the new Republican-controlled House. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) — Sen. Kyrsten Sinema arrives for President Joe Biden's State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 7, 2023.

On Tuesday, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona announced that she will not be seeking reelection as an independent. The good news is that Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego will now face off against Republican looney toon Kari Lake without former Democrat Sinema as a third-party distraction.

The other good news is that Sinema will be leaving the Senate, along with her cynical sartorial style and her infuriating record of voting against her Democratic colleagues.

Sinema’s decision not to seek another term is not a surprise. Her repeated betrayal of the constituency that voted her into the Senate in 2018, when she was still a Democrat—including her decision after the 2022 midterms to leave the party—greatly diminished her chances of winning reelection as an independent.

Reports that she was ready to make big bucks in the private sector began leaking in 2023. Now she will have all the time in the world to make all the corporate money she wants.

Here are a few memorable moments from Sinema’s appalling tenure in the Senate.

Walter Einenkel for Daily Kos

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday February 27, 2024 · 8:51 AM PST

2024/02/27 · 08:51

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 13: U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) speaks to reporters in the Rayburn House Office Building on December 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden defied a subpoena from Congress to testify behind closed doors ahead of a House vote on an impeachment inquiry against his father. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) — Rep. Jasmine Crockett

Rep. Jasmine Crockett brought her ability to drop mics all over Republicans’ hypocrisies and failures to MSNBC on Sunday. The Democratic congresswoman was asked by host Ali Velshi about fallout from the recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that jeopardized the practice of in vitro fertilization by ruling that frozen embryos are legally equivalent to children.

Asked whether Republicans are “confused by this IVF stuff,” Crockett responded, “They’re not confused. They’re just stupid.” Then she really unleashed on her GOP colleagues.

They just don't know what they're doing. And this is why they need to stay in their lane. Right? Like, we're not doctors, and we should allow doctors to be the one to tell us what we should and should not allow. This is a science thing.
I know that they are trying to rid this country of science and rid this country of history and all the very basic things—you know, they obviously struggle with math as well. Listen, we need to send the Republicans back to elementary school so that they can get the basics and understand what it is that we should be relying upon.

Including our doctors, our doctors that are telling us: Listen, these policies will kill women. Listen, these policies will disallow those that actually want to bring children into this world from being able to do so. And this idea of trying to define personhood before someone has actually entered the world is absolutely insane to me. I mean, I saw on social media just the other day, someone said the reason that we don't call IVF, we don't look at that and say “these are children” is because when is the last time you can put a child in the freezer and they actually live?

Right? Like that's not what you do, but you keep them in the freezer. And so is this idea that we're going to ignore the experts. That's why we're struggling with climate change. That's why we're struggling with repro. That's why we're struggling in general in this country. And it's time to get back on track. It's time to listen to the experts instead of listening to those that I would consider to be ignorant.

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Walter Einenkel

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday February 14, 2024 · 1:40 PM PST

2024/02/14 · 13:40

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - AUGUST 24: EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO BOOK COVERS. Taylor Swift performs onstage during the "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour" at Foro Sol on August 24, 2023 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)

A new poll out of Monmouth University offers a bit of hope for our democracy. Asked a series of questions about Taylor Swift, the majority of people polled (68%) said they approved of Taylor Swift encouraging her fans to vote in the upcoming presidential election. Adding to that good news is the fact that only 39% of the people polled had a “favorable” opinion of Swift, while 43% held no opinion, and 65% said they were “not a fan” of the popstar.

Walter Einenkel

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday February 07, 2024 · 3:44 PM PST

2024/02/07 · 15:44

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 12: Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) speaks at a news conference with members of the House Freedom Caucus outside the U.S. Capitol on September 12, 2023 in Washington, DC. The Freedom Caucus members said they will not support a stopgap spending measure to fund the government unless several conservative policy priorities on immigration and other issues are attached. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) — Rep. Chip Roy of Texas rants a lot.

Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas posted a video on Wednesday that showed him railing against government regulations from the House floor. Roy proclaimed that “[t]he fundamental problem is that we've inserted the government into every aspect of our life.”

The chaos-embracing Freedom Caucus member believes the government “is regulating us to death, choking out every bit of entrepreneurial spirit, every bit of the ability to get through the day without having to figure out what regulation or what law or what rule you've got to go abide by.”

Might you have an example for us, Chip?

I can't even get in my car and figure out how to turn something on without figuring out some safety device. I can't fix the windshield without having to fix some regulatory thing that's allegedly there to make me safer, that makes the car twice as expensive.

Sounds like Roy has a tough time getting through his day.

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Walter Einenkel

Daily Kos Staff

Friday February 02, 2024 · 12:57 PM PST

2024/02/02 · 12:57

Entertainer Ted Nugent spoke at length to the crowd about defying government authority; his hat reads 'I will not comply.' About a thousand people rallied, listened to talks about border security, and campaigned for conservative talking-points at the One Shot Distillery in Dripping Spring, Texas on Feb. 1, 2024. This was the first large gathering of the "Take Our Border Back" convoy which began approximately Jan 29, 2024 and plans to go to the border of Texas and Mexico. (Photo by John Rudoff/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images) — Who needs Taylor Swift when you have Ted Nugent on your side?

Ted Nugent and Sarah Palin showed up Thursday at a rally in Dripping Springs, Texas, for the “Take Our Border Back” trucker convoy that’s en route to the U.S.-Mexico border, whose participants have dubbed themselves “God’s army.” NBC affiliate KXAN reports there were “mixed messages” among the speakers about the convoy’s goal—and Nugent and Palin didn’t help clear anything up in that department.

The former Alaska governor went on a classic Palin run, babbling about “every violation of our charters of liberty that’s going on right now. Article 1, Article 4, different clauses in our charters of liberty.” While there is no way to know exactly what Palin was referring to, it’s important to note that the New York Charter of Liberties, written in 1683, isn’t a part of our Constitution: It’s a predecessor document with some similarities. But wow—does she live in Alaska or 17th-century England?

After describing Nugent as “ridiculously patriotic,” Palin ceded the stage to the racist rocker, who played a loud note on his guitar and then launched into Second Amendment schtick, saying America’s problems can be blamed on “compromise bullshit” and letting “the snakes take over our country.”

He cursed a lot as well, and called President Joe Biden a “devil scum snake.”

#NOW Sarah Palin and Ted Nugent speaking at “Take Our Border Back” convoy rally in Dripping Springs ahead of planned events near Eagle Pass. Group refer to themselves as “We the People” and “God’s Army.” #protest #borderconvoy pic.twitter.com/Bqq8OmV0K9
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) February 2, 2024

As bizarre insurrectionist apologist and children’s book author Jack Posobiec said recently on a stage somewhere, “We don’t have Taylor Swift on our side, but you know who we have? We have Kid Rock. We have Ted Nugent. We have influencers. We have all these people—Jon Voight.”

Walter Einenkel for Daily Kos

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday January 30, 2024 · 9:36 AM PST

2024/01/30 · 09:36

The Kansas City Chiefs won the AFC Championship against the Baltimore Ravens Sunday, meaning they will be facing off against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on Feb. 11. It also means that superstar Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and his megastar girlfriend Taylor Swift will continue to be front and center in the news.

On Monday, Fox News did a segment with former World Wrestling Entertainment and ESPN host Charly Arnolt. Arnolt, who now works for the Fox News-owned OutKick, came on to proclaim that while “[w]e have had enough of Taylor Swift for now,” we should nevertheless get ready to see some more of Swift and her boyfriend “Mr. Pfizer,” aka Kelce. Arnolt explained that what makes this all “so scary” is that Swift’s fans like her so much they are registering to vote, and might even share some of Swift’s opinions on things like climate change!

Walter Einenkel

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday January 16, 2024 · 12:50 PM PST

2024/01/16 · 12:50

(COMBO) This combination of file photos created on July 15, 2020 shows SpaceX founder Elon Musk in Washington, DC, on March 09, 2020; and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos in Washington, DC, on October 22, 2019. A spat erupted on January 26, 2021, between Bezos and Musk, as the tech titans' space firms exchanged barbs over their rival satellite internet projects being evaluated by regulators. Bezos, in a statement, claimed Musk's rival SpaceX project Starlink was seeking design changes that could "create a more dangerous environment for collisions in space" and also increase radio interference. Musk responded by claiming that his plan is moving faster than his rival's. "It does not serve the public to hamstring Starlink today for an Amazon satellite system that is at best several years away from operation," Musk tweeted. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski and MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI,MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) — Elon Musk, right, and Jeff Bezos

While the world’s richest people convene this week in Switzerland for the annual World Economic Forum, Oxfam has released a new report detailing the extraordinary increases in wealth inequality since 2020. Some of the key findings include: The five richest men in the world more than doubled “their fortunes from $405 billion to $869 billion since 2020 —at a rate of $14 million per hour.” At the same time, 5 billion humans on the planet got poorer.

How rich are they? “If each of the five wealthiest men were to spend a million US dollars daily, they would take 476 years to exhaust their combined wealth,” the authors of the report wrote. Did you know that 70% of the world’s top 10 publicly listed corporations are either run by or predominantly owned by a single billionaire? In fact, the report shows that while billionaires are $3.3 trillion richer than they were in 2020, world poverty remains “at pre-pandemic levels.” Good news for people who like seeing world records broken, though: According to Oxfam, the Earth could see its first “trillionaire” in the next 10 years if things don’t change.

Walter Einenkel

Daily Kos Staff

Friday November 17, 2023 · 10:06 AM PST

2023/11/17 · 10:06

It’s that time of year: Fox News has begun its “War on Christmas” dispatches! Riley Gaines was on bigot host Jesse Watters’ show to do culture-warrior bullshit. If you don’t know who Gaines is—well, look at you, you lucky duck! She is a former swimmer for the University of Kentucky who tied for fifth place with trans athlete Lia Thomas at a NCAA swimming event. She’s since used this mediocre showing to become a hate-spewing ambassador on the anti-trans bigotry scene, appearing alongside Republicans like Sen. Rand Paul in their losing efforts to punish Americans for not being exactly how Gaines and Paul want them to be.

In a clip posted by Acyn on X (formerly Twitter), Gaines is having a hard time making sense of how our consumer-based free marketplace works.

It doesn't make sense. You have to ask yourself, you know, why do they keep pushing this? Who are they trying to appeal to? Because despite what the media portrays or how politicians are voting, this doesn't represent the overwhelming majority of how this country—really, how the world—feels on this issue. I think [the] majority of people—parents, especially—they can acknowledge that gay Nutcracker and Black disabled Santa has gone way too far.

“I think the majority of people… they can acknowledge that Gay Nutcracker and Black Disabled Santa has gone way too far” pic.twitter.com/XmUMuZ8Toe
— Acyn (@Acyn) November 17, 2023

Walter Einenkel for Daily Kos

Daily Kos Staff

Saturday November 04, 2023 · 11:07 PM PDT

2023/11/04 · 23:07

World's richest man Elon Musk went on libertarian entertainer Joe Rogan’s podcast on Tuesday. In the clip below, Rogan tries to get Musk to open up on how he feels after one year of ownership of X (formerly Twitter). Musk spent a reported $44 billion for the company, which one year later is worth $19 billion.

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Walter Einenkel for Daily Kos

Daily Kos Staff

Friday November 03, 2023 · 10:23 AM PDT

2023/11/03 · 10:23

Thursday night on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg addressed newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson’s vitriolic homophobia.

It kicked off when Colbert quoted an article in which Johnson wrote, “Experts project that homosexual marriage is the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the strongest republic.” Colbert then asked Buttigieg how he could work with a person who thinks something like this.

Walter Einenkel for Daily Kos

Daily Kos Staff

Friday October 27, 2023 · 8:57 AM PDT

2023/10/27 · 08:57

Alex Lawson is the executive director of Social Security Works, a nonprofit with a mission including protecting and expanding Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, as well as advocating for lower drug prices and other policies that might ensure economic justice for everyday Americans. Lawson caught up with Republican House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington in Washington a few days ago after he announced his plans to form a “debt commission,” which seems to be code for making budget cuts to Social Security and other social safety net programs. This idea was parroted by newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson during his acceptance speech on Wednesday.

A video posted by Lawson on X (formerly Twitter) shows an agitated Arrington talking over Lawson as he tries to get the chair of the House Budget Committee to answer a simple question: Social Security is set to run out of cash in 2033, so would the Republican Party be willing to protect Social Security benefits by taxing the ultra wealthy? Arrington spends most of the video attacking Lawson’s “tactics.” Since Arrington is unwilling to engage with a concerned citizen, Lawson offers up the “solution” that Congress should “raise taxes on the ultra wealthy and prevent a benefit cut.” He then asks, “Would you agree that that's a solution?”

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Baltimore bridge tragedy spurs empathy from Biden, blame from GOP

8 reasons to celebrate Kyrsten Sinema curtsying out of the Senate for good

Rep. Jasmine Crockett on GOP confusion about IVF: 'They’re just stupid'

Sorry, conservatives, most people like Taylor Swift telling people to vote

GOP congressman rants about car windshields being too safe

How's that 'God's army' caravan of truckers thing going?

Fox News loses it over Taylor Swift

The 5 richest men doubled their wealth—and that's how the GOP wants it

The War on Christmas is back! ‘Gay Nutcracker and Black disabled Santa’ bemoaned on Fox News

Elon Musk and Joe Rogan have one of the dumbest conversations in the history of conversations

Pete Buttigieg responds to Speaker Mike Johnson's concept of same-sex marriage as 'chaos'

Republican embarrasses himself, refuses to say he will tax the rich to protect Social Security