Screengrab of WIS feed of McMaster’s swearing-in.
Sorry I hadn’t had time to post today before now, but here you go:
- McMaster becomes governor of SC — After Nikki Haley is confirmed for U.N. post. You knew both of those were going to happen. After this, it gets interesting.
- Israel approves huge expansion of settlements in response to Trump presidency — Yeah… that doesn’t sound great, even though I opposed the Obama administration’s abstention. Still… not stabbing Israel in the back is one thing — but more settlements? Don’t worry, though — Nikki’s on the case…
- Trump signs executive orders seeking to revive controversial oil pipelines — If you’ll recall, the Energy Party (known to the White House as the Enery Party) is on record as favoring the Keystone Pipeline. Or at least, we did in 2012. I don’t know what I think about the Dakota one….
- Leatherman resigns to avoid becoming lieutenant governor — Which is what I’d do in his place — if I had the votes to come back. Meanwhile, Kevin Bryant steps up to accept the booby prize, which he seems to actually want. Folks who don’t want a NC-style bathroom bill in SC should hope Henry stays healthy.
- Corley resigns after being indicted for CDV — Unlike Leatherman, though, I don’t think this one is coming back.
- Donald Trump still holds baseless belief that millions voted illegally — Yeah, he’s like that. The White House says this is based on “evidence”… that the White House is not sharing. So, ya know — Situation Normal, All Trumped Up.
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Instead of “Open Thread,” maybe I should have headlined this, “musical chairs…”
Dakota pipeline, now that the protestors will be forced out, I wonder who will clean up the mess they leave behind on this “sacred land” that is privately owned. f
As much as I hate Harvey Peeler, I hope he beats Leatherman because I hate Leatherman more. If successful I predict Leatherman will either drop dead or resign immediately.
2. Wow Brad, we agree on something. I was also opposed to the abstention. We should have voted with the other nations in the security council. Israel is really disgusting on this issue. They are not the 51st state and we should stop treating them as if they were.
“we agree on something”
Yeah… so close, and yet so very far…
1. I’m glad for him. He’s wanted it for a long time, and he seems an amiable, let’s get something done type. Don’t like the way he got there, though. It certainly looks like payback for supporting Trump.
3. Our time and energy should be invested in developing alternative energy sources. Fossil fuels are the energy of the 20th century, and the sooner we wean ourselves off them, the better. We are leaving China to be the innovator and developer in this field, and it will haunt us. History is littered with companies that failed to adopt disruptive technologies, and we are in danger of becoming a country that failed in the same manner.
6. [smh] How long does Sean Spicer stick with this gig? At some point, the revulsion of having to defend this drivel has got to overwhelm him.
How exactly is Nikki going to be “on the case” re added Israeli settlements in disputed territory? She did say in her hearings that the settlements could “hinder” the cause of peace, and seemed to express support for a two-state solution, but she also said the UN “is an inappropriate forum to address settlements and Palestinian statehood.”
In any case, I don’t see Nikki playing any useful role in any Mideast peace process, because I don’t think her boss really supports a two-state solution or any resolution except via force and making permanent certain “facts on the ground.” If resistance to settlements happens, it will have to be because of a change in Israeli domestic politics, and who knows what will happen if/when Netanyahu is indicted.
I was being gently ironic…
Too “gently”—went over my head 🙂
Trump also froze all EPA grants and contracts and forbade government scientists to talk to media about their research.
This is not good.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/01/23/trump-administration-tells-epa-to-freeze-all-grants-contracts/?utm_term=.f25a041c1ff2
Department of Agriculture as well.
Apparently, science facts don’t sit well with this administration.
Actually, I see the Ag email has been “disavowed” this morning.
Or maybe it’s because they see issues that concern them and they don’t want the $4 billion dollars spent on wasteful research. Are bullfrog farts the cause of the polar icecaps melting??? I don’t know, here’s $40 million to fund your research? Are cigarette butts killing our rivers? I don’t know, here’s $26 million to fund your research? Can I run my car off of raw sewage? I don’t know, here’s $12 million to fund your research.
I think I’m following you…
It’s kind of like “No one in the country except the president thinks there was widespread voter fraud, but let’s waste money on a ‘major investigation‘ into the nonexistent problem.”
And why must we do that? Because there’s nothing more important than assuaging Trump’s hurt feelings over losing the popular vote. It’s essential to America to “prove” that he really DID win it, except for all the imaginary fraud.
Wait, there’s another thing that’s ALMOST as important: “Proving” that Trump’s inauguration drew the biggest crowds in history.
It’s just astounding that anyone actually still respects this amazingly petty guy with the pathetically fragile sense of self-esteem…
So no one thinks there is voter fraud in some precincts where there were more votes cast than there were registered voters. Meh, not worth looking into.
Are those real grants? Because if they are, the sewage-to-fuel thing is intriguing. It certainly couldn’t be raw sewage, but let’s face it–it’s a renewable resource, uses current carbon as opposed to sequestered carbon, and recycles something nobody wants. Sounds like a great idea.
On 4) Maybe the Lt. Gov. position is a good dumping ground for an extremist crank like Mr. Bryant (who’s from my district) – just so long as he can be kept in suspended animation there.
We need to do all we can to keep Henry healthy. Which I would want to do anyway, of course.
In Sen. Bryant’s defense, I’ll say this: He was an early adopter of blogging. You know, back in the Age of Blogging, which seems so long ago, although not as long ago as the Space Age.
Ah, those were the days, the mid-’00s, when there was a variety of interesting political blogs across South Carolina representing the whole political spectrum. Remember Tim Kelly’s “Crack the Bell” and Adam Fogle’s “TPS Reports?” Or Laurin Manning’s site, or Sunny Phillips, “The Crunchy Republican?”
Or maybe those days seemed heady because it was when I was first a blogger… almost 12 years ago now…
I just went back and looked to see whether the White House had corrected that headline that said, “President Trump Takes Action to Expedite Priority Enery and Infrastructure Projects.” I expected they would have, upon which I planned to give them a little attaboy in a comment here.
They had not.
I mean, come on, fellas — everybody makes mistakes, but this one is easy to correct.
Oh, well. “‘Enery, ‘Enery — ‘Enery the 8th I am, I am, ‘Enery the 8th I am…”
Yeah… I just wanted to set up Herman’s Hermits there…
Which brings up the crucial question of whether you watched the first of the etv series “The Six Wives of Henry the Eighth”? I did, and found it fascinating.
I did, and thought it was good. That lady who narrates it is REALLY into it, isn’t she?
Here’s where I drive people nuts with my constant genealogical name-dropping, but … I’m particularly interested in the Tudors since finding a bunch of folks in the court on my family tree.
Anne Boleyn was apparently my 2nd cousin 15x removed, and Catherine Howard, who was Anne’s 1st cousin, was my 3rd cousin 15x removed.
Henry himself, through different connections, was also my 3rd cousin 15x removed.
But my most direct ancestor in the court was Richard Pace, a diplomat who (I think) was my 13th-great grandfather. That I’m related to him is more certain than my connection to the royals — my grandmother was a Pace, and the line back to that time is fairly clear. But I say “I think” because for a couple of centuries there, it seems all the Paces were named “Richard” or “John” (for instance, the Richard Pace who saved Jamestown), so the diplomat MAY have been an uncle. It gets confusing that far back, especially since some sources call this guy “John Richard Pace”…
By the way, while I’m sort of pleased with the Pace connection, I was alarmed when I learned of the Boleyn connection, and later the one to Henry. I don’t really have what you’d call a positive impression of those people.
But it would be silly for me personally to feel proud or ashamed of any of them. Neither their accomplishments nor their sins are mine…