A Republican lawmaker abruptly adjourned a congressional hearing on Tuesday after being challenged for referring to Representative Sarah McBride, Democrat of Delaware and the first openly transgender lawmaker in Congress, as a man.
The Europe Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs panel was in the middle of a hearing on arms control and U.S. assistance to Europe when its chairman, Representative Keith Self of Texas, introduced his colleague by calling her âMr. McBride.â
Ms. McBride, who entered Congress knowing she would present a unique target for Republicans who have politicized and attacked transgender people, has generally chosen to let such moments slide. On Tuesday, she briefly registered her displeasure by returning Mr. Selfâs slight, responding, âThank you, Madam Chair,â before proceeding with her remarks.
But Representative William Keating of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, was not willing to move on. He interrupted to request that Mr. Self repeat his introduction, which he did, again referring to the Delaware Democrat as âMr. McBride.â
âMr. Chairman, you are out of order,â Mr. Keating fired back. âMr. Chairman, have you no decency? I mean, Iâve come to know you a little bit. But this is not decent.â (...)
Mexico has a suit against gun manufacturers going to SCOTUS...manufacturers who make gun versions that are easier to scratch off serial numbers...take into the black market.
The mfg's defense is, would you blame budweiser for every teenage drunk driving case? Their reply, well yes if they advertised next to high schools, "enjoy your best prom ever with bud light." they'll still probably lose the case due to a law that protects mfgs from any liability for gun deaths.
I used to have to present to a group of gun manufacturers...cringe.
No, if you donât follow the party line, your family is threatened.
Mike Gallagher specifically quit when the hard right threatened him for not kowtowing. Republican colleagues were âterrifiedâ of crossing Trump not only because of the negative impact on their political careers, but also from anxiety that it might provoke physical threats that could cause personal upheaval and require them to hire round-the-clock security as protection.
So they got even better at closing the ranks.
âThe Republican Party today has a catechism. If you want to be a candidate, with very rare exceptions, you have to repeat the catechism in lockstep uniformity: global warming isn't happening, no taxes on the rich. There are about ten things that you have to repeat, whether you believe them or not. Anybody who departs from them is in trouble.â
â Noam Chomsky, Power Systems: Conversations on Global Democratic Uprisings and the New Challenges to U.S. Empire (2013)
The GOP Machine that is notoriously good at closing ranks.
Fail to follow the Party line and you will lose committees/support for legislation and now risk being primaried by Musk money in 2026. The only ones that speak out are a few with principles or the ones that will leave at the end of their term (though it's still a bit early now to get uppity).
Inverted totalitarianism doesn't need gulags.
No, if you donât follow the party line, your family is threatened.
Mike Gallagher specifically quit when the hard right threatened him for not kowtowing. Republican colleagues were âterrifiedâ of crossing Trump not only because of the negative impact on their political careers, but also from anxiety that it might provoke physical threats that could cause personal upheaval and require them to hire round-the-clock security as protection.
4) stopping those fucking prescription adverts for niche medicines for incredibly niche maladies from clogging up the media. Not that I have an opinion, of course. Just ignore me and go about your day.
Hey, did you see the Disney Snow White ad hustling some antihistamine thingy of some sort ?
We have gone too far. This clearly crosses a line, imho. This cries out for RFK Jr to do something. .
The GOP Machine that is notoriously good at closing ranks.
Fail to follow the Party line and you will lose committees/support for legislation and now risk being primaried by Musk money in 2026. The only ones that speak out are a few with principles or the ones that will leave at the end of their term (though it's still a bit early now to get uppity).
Reminder from NYT: (Little Marco) expressed strong support for Ukraine when the Russian invasion started in 2022. A few days after the Russian attack, he said on MSNBC that he could not understand why the United States âcanât begin to openly sayâ to Ukrainians that âwe will support them as long as they are willing to fight.â
The GOP Machine that is notoriously good at closing ranks.
Fail to follow the Party line and you will lose committees/support for legislation and now risk being primaried by Musk money in 2026. The only ones that speak out are a few with principles or the ones that will leave at the end of their term (though it's still a bit early now to get uppity).
There will likely be a consonant argument that pharmacists and others, in other countries, are absolutely allowed to prescribe and that a well-trained AI has as much ability to "diagnose" as those professions.
Of course, opposition will rise up from the AMA who has been so effective
thus far in
1) maintaining medical care quality at an enviable level and
2) organizing our nation's ability to have Centers of Excellence at rational distances from where the populace lives and
3) providing coverage or at least controlling costs so that all Americans may be insured - especially in the arena of preventative care, and
4) stopping those fucking prescription adverts for niche medicines for incredibly niche maladies from clogging up the media.
Not that I have an opinion, of course. Just ignore me and go about your day.
