V_Stanhope

V_Stanhope

@vstanhope.bsky.social

🥸 Washington DC survivor 🥸 Blue Dog Veteran Books are my passion Music is my religion Nature is my guide Dogs are some of my favorite people.

236 followers187 following736 posts

V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

www.cnn.com/2025/04/08/c... "A $500M grant fm the Biden admin was slated for steel giant Cleveland-Cliffs...to help...upgrade aging blast furnaces" "[It would've] created >100 permanent jobs & 1,200 construction jobs [and] are slated for termination under the Trump admin..." IN THE VP'S HOMETOWN.

cnn.comMajor steel mill project in JD Vance’s hometown on a list of Trump administration cuts to manufacturing industry | CNNThe centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s America-first economic agenda is reinvigorating the manufacturing industry. But his administration is planning to slash a key program that invests in some o...
V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

Ahh... Comer, for the gazillionth time, exposes the fact that he's a total moron. Then deploys the oft-used "My time has expired" mantra as a cover for making a total fool out of himself. Too late, Jim. We all know you're an fucking idiot.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

oh my god -- Comer thinks "editorial standards" literally refers to standards for editorials and is corrected by the NPR head

V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

"I had very strong doubts that this text group was real, because I could not believe that the national-security leadership of the US would communicate on Signal abt imminent war plans." Hegseth: "And if we do, I will do all we can to enforce 100% OPSEC” So much for 100% operational security! omg.

Shane Harris@shaneharris.bsky.social

In 25 years of covering national security, I’ve never seen a story like this: Senior Trump officials discussed planning for the U.S. attack on Yemen in a Signal group--and inadvertently added the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

theatlantic.comThe Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War PlansU.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.
V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

Rep McCormick, a GOP Rep in Georgia was confronted by voters vocally opposed to "Tyranny in the WH." How did he respond? He said he FELT THE SAME WAY with BIDEN in the WH. He said the passion in the room WAS THE SAME AS THE PEOPLE WHO WERE AT THE CAPITOL ON JANUARY 6th. www.cnn.com/2025/02/21/p...

cnn.comAngry voters confront GOP representative over Trump’s push to expand his power | CNN PoliticsRep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) faced angry voters in Roswell, Georgia, who were upset about President Trump attempting to expand his own power using executive orders.
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V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

"When Musk speaks, he says false and reckless things. And his claim that he can “delete entire agencies” should figure prominently in the litigation over Trump’s authority to restructure federal agencies..." 5/6

V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

"There have also been a series of missteps on the part of the Justice Department lawyers defending Trump’s actions, who have shown up to court proceedings providing inaccurate info to judges that they have had to walk back — and at times without even knowing what they are actually defending." 6/fin

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V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

"Trump & his team have eschewed a traditional, incrementalist approach to litigating...for a quicker & more aggressive effort that moves simultaneously on multiple fronts, [which] makes it harder for the country to detect (and object to)..." 3/6

V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

"Trump’s legal campaign effectively presents the country and the court with the question of whether the president has power akin to a monarch. There is no credible support for this claim in the country’s history or in its law..." 4/6

V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

"But as with all things Trump, he is both his best advocate and worst enemy. The Trump administration may have made a conscious political decision to engage in 'shock and awe', but it has undermined its own legal agenda by proceeding too aggressively, too quickly and too haphazardly." 2/6

V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

"This is precisely how the GOP messaging got so good. By focusing on their enemy relentlessly." As I drank my coffee and read this, I shouted, "THIS!" And the Susan Collins part especially. I mean, she's low-hanging fruit. And SO many others. Bill Cassidy comes to mind, too.

emptywheel@emptywheel.bsky.social

Sure, maybe you won't persuade Susan Collins to step up. But if you focus ON HER relentlessly, then when things start to fall apart, people will blame her. This is precisely how the GOP messaging got so good. By focusing on their enemy, relentlessly.

V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

Yes, some will realize, but only if they are personally affected. Even then, Fox, Newsmax, X, etc will tell them it's somebody else's fault...& they'll believe it. Those not affected are consuming news that tells them Musk/Trump are doing the Lord's work & fixing the country...& they'll believe it.

Julian Sanchez@normative.bsky.social

In the coming weeks, a lot of slow-on-the uptake folks are going to begin belatedly realizing Trump is both an inept moron and a dangerous autocrat. Our great civic challenge in these trying times will be calmly welcoming them aboard instead of primal-screaming in their faces.

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V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

Used-to-be moderate now complete suckup John Thune thinks “people are very supportive, and we are, too,” of what Musk is doing at DOGE. This is a scrub that’s long overdue." Does Thune really think Musk's slash & burn approach is going to actually make govt more efficient? FUCK NO.

V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

"Polls show that Musk is highly unpopular w/independent & moderate voters, who could be key to Republican senators winning reelection in battleground states." Yes, by the time these voters can effect change (calling Congress doesn't work), imagine what Musk will have already done.

V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

“There’s a lot of concern among my constituents. The concern is, ‘Who is this guy?’ He’s a billionaire, which puts him in a certain category. ‘How does he have the authority if he’s not elected by anybody to do what he’s doing?’” Another anonymous GOP Senator.

V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

“He is eager to demonstrate he has an independent streak and some deep convictions that he could not always reveal as a majority leader” Please fuck ALL the way off, Mr Single Point of Failure. www.cnn.com/2025/02/15/p...

cnn.comMcConnell, free from leadership constraints, bucks Trump and the evolving GOP | CNN PoliticsSen. Mitch McConnell was a generational force for the Republican Party — using procedural tactics and political will to stymie much of former President Barack Obama’s agenda, hand President Donald Tru...
V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

"But Hugenberg lived by the golden rule: He who had the gold ruled." This piece lays out some chilling parallels between then and now. And it's not just Hitler's rise to power but the involvement of the Elon Musks of the time. It's an eerie read...in some cases you could simply swap out names. 1/2

The Atlantic@theatlantic.com

“Though both Hitler and Hugenberg were fiercely anti-Communist, anti-democratic, anti-immigrant, and anti-Semitic, their attempts at political partnership failed spectacularly and repeatedly.” Timothy Ryback unpacks Hitler's relationship with his oligarchs:

theatlantic.comHitler’s OligarchsFirst they reviled him. Then they supported and enabled him. Then they regretted it.
V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

Couldn't sleep...woke up at 3:30 a..m. Saw the BREAKING NEWS that USPS had halted acceptance of packages from China. Fell back asleep until now, 7:33, and saw this. Governing by whiplash. Maybe I'll just have to check the news every 24 hours only to see what madness has happened.

V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

"Despite progress on the stated goal of the retreat — coalescing around a fiscal blueprint for their vast party-line agenda — what they saw wasn’t pretty: Key strategic disputes continued to fester inside the GOP ranks..."

V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

A great point by Warnock re: the impact of the "buyout" email. He said the scientists who can freely do much more on the outside are more likely to take the buyout, resulting in a brain drain (my label). I SO wish people would be more strident about the fact that the email ALSO says:

V_Stanhope
@vstanhope.bsky.social

Kennedy tells Cortez-Masto he's going to wave his magic MAHA wand & attack critical diseases & the overall health of Americans at the direction of Trump. So, cutting NIH funding of disease/cure research and repealing access thru the ACA is going to do this? And the lemmings clap in the audience.