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Tabs for Thursday

Steven L. Taylor
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Choudhury was confirmed, 50 to 49, to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Every Republican voted no. Every Democrat, including the two independents who caucus with them, voted to confirm her, except for one: Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who is running for president, missed the vote.

Choudhury, 47, is a longtime civil rights attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. She worked for more than 11 years at the ACLU’s national chapter in New York City, and since 2020, has been the legal director for the ACLU of Illinois.

[…]

“Some of Ms. Choudhury’s previous statements call into question her ability to be unbiased towards the work of our brave law enforcement,” Manchin said in a statement. “As a staunch supporter of our men and women in uniform, I opposed Ms. Choudhury’s nomination.”

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18 responses to “Tabs for Thursday”

  1. Sleeping Dog Avatar
    Sleeping Dog

    While it will make keeping the Senate harder, Dems should rejoice when Manchin is bounced by WV voters. His act has passed the sell-by date.

    2
  2. Neil Hudelson Avatar
    Neil Hudelson

    @Sleeping Dog:

    I’d rather have a Senate majority with a headache, then a Senate minority with a relatively small dose of schadenfreude. That stuff is like a vape pen–the high just doesn’t last that long.

    6
  3. Kylopod Avatar
    Kylopod

    @Neil Hudelson:

    I’d rather have a Senate majority with a headache, then a Senate minority with a relatively small dose of schadenfreude.

    I agree in principle. I recognize that if Manchin hadn’t won reelection in 2018, we could say goodbye to Build Back Better, Ketanji Brown Jackson, lower-court appointments, and more.

    At this point, though, while it’s going to be difficult for Dems to retain their Senate majority in 2024, the fact is that there’s a real path to doing so without either Manchin or Sinema–both of whom are virtually dead-in-the-water anyway.

    1
  4. Kurtz Avatar
    Kurtz

    “Some of Ms. Choudhury’s previous statements call into question her ability to be unbiased towards the work of our brave law enforcement,” Manchin said in a statement. “As a staunch supporter of our men and women in uniform, I opposed Ms. Choudhury’s nomination.”

    I understand why politicians say bullshit like this. Have to maintain electoral viability. In Manchin’s case, he has a thin line to toe.

    But these statements bother me more than the most obvious lies Trump tells or Cruz claiming Biden and the Left want to ban gas stoves and take away your Xbox.

    I think because it’s a double lie. It misrepresents both his own position and the position of the nominee he is criticizing. In reality, he favors bias toward police and he would call any position that offers less support biased.

    If the 4th Amendment was sitting on the steps of Capitol Hill, singing a song, Manchin would call it biased.

    OTOH, MTG would accuse it of protecting pedophiles before departing for the bar with Gaetz. And Boebert would probably try to shoot it.

    Hmmm…Nah, fuck Manchin.

    2
  5. Just nutha ignint cracker Avatar
    Just nutha ignint cracker

    @Kurtz: For some situations, rooting for injuries is the only choice.

    1
  6. Mu Yixiao Avatar
    Mu Yixiao

    @Kurtz:

    or Cruz claiming Biden and the Left want to ban gas stoves

    You mean like they did in Berkeley in 2019? San Francisco in 2020? and NYC in 2021? Along with approximately 100 other cities in the US?

    Or like all of Washington State and New York state did in 2023? (sorry. corrected NY State date)

    2
  7. Neil Hudelson Avatar
    Neil Hudelson

    @Mu Yixiao:

    Both can be true–that localities have banned certain types of appliances, and that the statement “Biden and the Left want to ban gas stoves” is patently false. The current brouhaha relies on the willful misinterpretation of a one sentence, off-the-cuff answer by minor admin official, and as someone who regularly breaks bread with ‘the left,’ I can attest that never once has banning gas stoves been a raison d’etre for them.

    Along with approximately 100 other cities in the US?

    That seemed like too high of a number, so I googled the phrase. It seems to have come froma Washington Examiner op-ed (though you certainly may have come across that figure elsewhere). Notably that op-ed purposefully collapses “gas stoves” and “gas heaters.” 100 localities have banned gas stoves and indoor gas heaters. That I believe. Honestly, seems kinda small.

    Reading further into the Washington Examiner oped, they also conflate “banning gas stoves” with “disallowing gas hookups in new builds” (very different than banning gas stoves in the city), and attempts by small cities to Electrify Everything (which I suppose is worse from some people’s viewpoints). It seems only San Francisco has actually banned gas stoves–that is, if you are a restaurant or a home that has one, time to switch it up. The rest of the examples are either stopping new buildings from having gas hookups (a phase out, which is less disruptive and less heavy handed) or are very small-scale attempts to decarbonize within a city’s limits.

    ETA: Washington State’s banning of new gas hookups has been paused.

    4
  8. DK Avatar
    DK

    @Kurtz:

    In reality, he favors bias toward police and he would call any position that offers less support biased.

    Manchin favors getting re-elected so he can continue to steer largesse to his billionaire backers and his family businesses. So expect him to ratchet up the performative anti-Biden stuff over the next year, in close coordination with Schumer and Biden. They knew his vote was not needed to confirm this judge, they can count. It’s kabuki.

    Manchin will tell the fabrications West Virginny voters want to hear so he can stay in office to do what his donors want him to do. As long has a D behind his name, whatever.

    6
  9. MarkedMan Avatar
    MarkedMan

    @Mu Yixiao: I want to ban gas stoves. Gas stoves are an incredibly archaic idea. Run a highly flammable substance into your home and assume that over the course of a century every pipe fitting and valve remains intact and gas proof. If there is a leak, even a slight amount of enclosure results in explosion rather than “merely” a fire. And if you are a sound sleeper or you are a child in a crib, even if there is no fire or explosion it can still kill you in your sleep.

    And this is before we even get to the emissions even brand new and perfectly set up stoves spew into the air, much less dirty and poorly maintained ones do. I thought I hated electric stoves and went to the trouble of getting an LPG one for a house we lived in that didn’t have municipal gas. Now that I have an induction stove top I can’t believe how much better it is in every way. The same burner can be used to keep something warm for hours or to boil a large pot of water at lightning speeds. The top itself is only hot directly under the pot. If you boil away the contents of a pot it turns itself off. And keeping it clean consists of 10 seconds spent wiping it with a damp cloth when you are done.

    5
  10. MarkedMan Avatar
    MarkedMan

    @DK: I hate that you are right about this.

    2
  11. Mu Yixiao Avatar
    Mu Yixiao

    @Neil Hudelson:

    Of course it’s not “everyone must by an electric stove right now”. But it can definitely be seen as “they’re coming for your gas stove”. Start with new construction. Then put it into the building code (Washington’s is on hold, but other places are implementing the same thing) which means buying a new stove–even with an existing hook up–is probably off the table soon.

    “No new hook-ups” is a direct line to “banning natural gas”. There’s no way that there’s an endless grandfather clause. Just like… if I had an electrician come in and add some wiring to my house, I’d have to bring the entire thing up to current code.

    1
  12. Kathy Avatar
    Kathy

    I miss gas lights and lead paint.

    7
  13. MarkedMan Avatar
    MarkedMan

    @Mu Yixiao: There is still a non trivial number of households in Baltimore that burn coal for heat. I’m pretty sure you can’t install a new coal furnace. And I’m equally sure that the coal companies were able to whip up outrage about the change in building codes.

    2
  14. MarkedMan Avatar
    MarkedMan

    @Kathy: Hand circular saws were required to have blade guards starting in the 70’s or 80’s, and this requires a bit of learning in order to use them as quickly as before. I will always remember one of my father’s construction worker buddies railing about the nanny state thinking it knew better than actual craftsmen, as he waved around his cigarette in a hand that was missing half of two fingers and all of the little finger.

    4
  15. gVOR10 Avatar
    gVOR10

    @MarkedMan: Plus or minus half a finger I had exactly the same experience with a guy complaining about safety guards on punch presses.

    3
  16. Kurtz Avatar
    Kurtz

    @DK:

    That’s a good point in terms of his goals and the importance of Manchin’s seat to Ds. But that’s a separate topic from what I raised.

    My observation was about the particular type of statement he made. In my view, it’s a special brand of bullshit that I find particularly disconcerting.

    1
  17. Kurtz Avatar
    Kurtz

    @Mu Yixiao:

    I’m not sure what your point is here. Is there a plan by Biden and the Squad for legislation? No. Is there an EPA rule in the works? From what any of us know, there never was beyond that one guy making a proposal. But that didn’t stop the fear-mongering that there was some giant movement. Oh, nevermind, Kimberly Strassel tells us a ban is coming…on the WSJ op-ed page.

    FYI: it’s convenient and easy to ignore externalities in service to an ideal of individual freedom of choice. I’m not as motivated to get rid of them as others, but there are good reasons to transition away from them. Individual choices have effects outside the little bubble of the person making them.

    1
  18. Just nutha ignint cracker Avatar
    Just nutha ignint cracker

    @Mu Yixiao: Slippery slope much?

    Just like… if I had an electrician come in and add some wiring to my house, I’d have to bring the entire thing up to current code.

    And this would be a bad thing because…?

    3

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