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Borowitz nails it:

McCONNELL RETIRES: “My Work Destroying this Country is Done”

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) — Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky announced his retirement on Thursday, declaring, “My work destroying this country is done.”

Stating, “I want to spend more time rolling back progress for my family,” the senator told reporters, “I retire with my head held high, knowing that I am leaving the country in smoldering ruins.”

“From torpedoing gun laws to boosting sexual assailants onto the Supreme Court, I have been tireless in my effort to make this land unfit for human habitation,” he said.

McConnell marked the solemn occasion with a minute-long moment of silence in the middle of a sentence.

According to experts, McConnell’s retirement means that Rand Paul will become the worst person in Kentucky.

https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/mcconnell-retires-my-work-destroying

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This is all on Mitch!!!

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Michelle Cottle, of the New York Times, has a piece about the Democrat who won a very Trumpy State Senate district in Iowa:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/opinion/democratic-party-iowa-pennsylvania.html

The part I thought was most interesting was the bit that some of their voter mobilization efforts were deliberately under the radar, as not to alert Republicans that there was an election going on. One detail that might be amusing to long time SSPers is that they chose not putting up yard signs in certain neighborhoods, thinking the "oh there's an election" effect of the sign would be a net negative.

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Paywalled. Any chance of a gift link to the article? Sounds fascinating!

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Many thanks!

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Just a tip. All the libraries I use have online access to NYT. Once you've signed up you get 3 days free, then can renew which takes about 30 seconds.

The crossword is a separate free subscription that's only good for one day, as is cooking.

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Yes, it’s time for me to act on your tip. Thanks for the reminder!

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You can play the NY Times crossword online every day at https://www.seattletimes.com/games-nytimes-crossword/. I find a lot of them annoying, though, because freakin Shortz just has to require multiple letters per square, which I consider cheating.

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Thank you for flagging this!

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DCCC raised $9.2 million, NRCC raised $5.9 from Jan 1 to Jan 31

Great news! But dollars are pointless if people aren't excited to be or vote for Democrats when it matters.

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If it was just money, we would have president Harris.

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Unfortunately money wasn’t able to undo the disinformation that spread all over social media. Really hope left leans donors and individuals are investing in a left media ecosystem to combat the right. We have a lot of really good content creators on the left they just need the same level of funding as those ok the right

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Meidastouch

Brian Tyler Cohen

David Packman

Roland Martin

Luke Beasley

Cooked media

Just to make a few

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The Contrarian, started by Jennifer Rubin, now has more than 500,000 subscribers. That’s twice the number of Washington Post readers that cancelled their subscriptions in protest after owner Jeff Bezos blocked the Post from endorsing Kamala Harris for President.

(Jen Rubin quir the Post in January.)

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More of this please:

Democrats used the overnight Senate session that ended early Friday morning as a platform for their outrage over what President Donald Trump has wrought during his first month in office and their warnings of what is still to come.

From Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency slicing through the federal workforce to Trump’s attacks on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the GOP plan to extend tax breaks including for the wealthy and cut safety net programs, far more than the $340 billion budget framework on border security and deportations came under scrutiny.

Out of power in Washington, D.C., the Democrats instead brought to the Senate floor pages of amendments, keeping the chamber long into Thursday night and early Friday morning.

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Now it’s time to throw more sand in the MAGA / Project 2025 machinery. Democrats should place a hold on each and every Trump nominee that requires Senate confirmation!

Likewise, deny unanimous consent and demand a roll call vote on absolutely everything, even the needed switching-back-and-forth between Legislative and Executive sessions.

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And more of this too. Especially more of this:

U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick was peppered with boos and catcalls throughout a town hall meeting in Roswell late Thursday, as hundreds of critics jeered the Republican for backing President Donald Trump’s agenda during his first month in office.

ajc.com/politics/mcc...

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And this is not a swingy district, either!

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Another one bites the dust?

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So, the old guy is retiring? The guy who is THE most singularly responsible person for the state our nation is in currently? The guy who through shenanigan after shenanigan ,packed our Supreme Court with corrupt right-wing MAGA toadies? The guy who REFUSED to impeach Donald Trump TWICE, saying something lame about how Donald was guilty but it was" up to others to hold him accountable" for both his sins of comission and omission? Who those phantom "others" might be, McConnell never said. Well, Good riddance to bad rubbish! I couldn't stomach his "farewell" address yesterday. That guy represents a state that takes 2=3 dollars out of the communal pot, for every tax dollar they put into it. He is bailing before the shit storm hits his state from the guy HE put in power, kept in power and put in power again. McConnel is nothing but a corrupt little weasel.

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The former (and late) Senator Morton's first name is Thruston, not Thurston.

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Fixed, thank you for the catch!

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No account of Mitch McConnell's pernicious legacy is complete without noting that he was the foremost champion of the tobacco industry. An NPR investigation of secret documents concluded: "McConnell repeatedly cast doubt on the health consequences of smoking, repeated industry talking points word-for-word, attacked federal regulators at the industry's request and opposed bipartisan tobacco regulations going back decades.

"The industry, in turn, has provided McConnell with millions of dollars in speaking fees, personal gifts, campaign contributions and charitable donations to the McConnell Center, which is home to his personal and professional archives.

"One lobbyist for R.J. Reynolds called McConnell a 'special friend' to the company."

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Back in the 90's when smoking was being banned at workplaces and public spaces the "smoking truthers" were a group of conspiracy theorists on the right. Rush Limbaugh was one, which is ironic considering what happened to him.

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like a lot of the covid denying preachers who died of covid...Karma's a bitch!

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Moscow Mitch, may the rotten scum burn in Hell for eternity.

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MAINE SPECIAL ELECTION

This Tuesday, 25 February, Maine will hold a special election. This is for the state representative of District 24, which includes part of Bangor, Brewer, Orono, and all of Veazie. Democrats have a majority of just a couple seats in the Maine legislature, so this election matters. The Democratic candidate is Sean Faircloth.

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From the digest:

The Republican, who called for the passage of what he knew was a doomed bill to strengthen collective bargaining, would eventually admit, "It was one of the few things I've done in my political career I'm kind of ashamed of. It was an open pandering for labor support."

First, McConnell has the capacity to feel shame? Second, this is one of the few things he's done that he's "kind of" ashamed of, considering the huge number of much more immoral/amoral things he's done in his career?

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The fucking country is in a Russian oligarch style shambles. His work is done here. Thanks you miserable sack of ugly fish-faced shit!!

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cheer up Melissa...just think how much fun it will be undoing all this shit...that is, if there is anything left!

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Meanwhile, Democrats have been making gains in special elections ever since last November’s presidential election. It’s far from over.

Also, as a 2nd generation Russian-American, knowing what my father’s family has witnessed as far back as before Stalin, the U.S. has a long, LONG way to become Russia. For starters, Russia used to control significantly more of its economy than it does now. There are significantly more legal safeguards in the US than in Russia.

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gas prices continue to climb, stock market gets hammered past 2 sessions! keep up the good work boys

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Ironically, I filled up last night in western Arizona for under $3 which is the lowest I've paid in a long time. It's higher in Phoenix, and $1.50+ higher in SoCal.

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Involving a woman that is not his wife, with whom he has two children. Took place in a DC penthouse at 1pm....

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Sounds like she’s not pressing charges, but this is very unlikely to help him in an uphill primary challenge against Moody if he goes that route

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I know FL-07 is a gerrymandered seat and Florida has a crimson shade but seems like a good place to for the FDP to try and put a fight next year.

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Another link says that the earliest versions of the 3 different police reports says the 27-year-old woman "showed the officer bruises on her arm which appeared fresh" and claimed Mills instructed her to lie about the origin of her bruises. And then she later recanted.

The cops obligingly cleaned up the investigation report to remove all that

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/florida-congressman-investigated-by-dc-police-for-alleged-assault/3850013/

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For some bizarre reason I was thinking of Cory Bush, and this just seemed so out of character. Cory Mills, Republican – now it make much more sense!

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The gestapo is alive and well in Huntinton Beach, CA. "Surf City USA" has degenerated into a nazi stronghold... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvBOOY4BoFo

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