Tweeting to Carol Shea-Porter (V)

A recent tweet-reply to my Congresscritter/Toothache Carol Shea-Porter:

Background: CSP's recent twit-strategy seems to be mindlessly retweeting any anti-Trump/GOP meme she can find. This one is based on a WaPo article: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spends his first weeks isolated from an anxious bureaucracy. Inauspicious beginning:

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson takes a private elevator to his palatial office on the seventh floor of the State Department building, where sightings of him are rare on the floors below.

Fearless speculation: it's the same "private elevator" and the same "palatial office" used by Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. Somehow, the WaPo didn't manage to notice that until just now.

But what sent the progressive fingers to keyboards was:

Most of his interactions are with an insular circle of political aides who are new to the State Department. Many career diplomats say they still have not met him, and some have been instructed not to speak to him directly — or even make eye contact.

No eye contact? Who does Tillerson think he is, Katy Perry?

Never mind, it's nonsense, as related by NR's Jim I. Geraghty

Matt Lee, the chief diplomatic writer for the Associated Press, calls BS on the implausible “no eye contact” rule: “This is not true and people repeating it are making it more difficult to address very real issues. I was told of this allegation – weeks ago – and checked it out.”

Also see the link in my tweet. CSP is a careless mud-thrower.


Last Modified 2018-12-25 3:18 PM EDT

Tweeting to Maggie Hassan

A recent tweet-reply to my state's junior US Senator, Maggie Hassan:

Background: The cited WaPo article awards three Pinocchios to Bernie Sanders' wriggling attempt to avoid using the word "filibuster" to describe Democratic Party tactics to block Judge Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court. Those are the "rules", he claims. Comments the "fact checker" Glenn Kessler:

Once again: There is no “traditional” 60-vote “standard” or “rule” for Supreme Court nominations, no matter how much or how often Democrats claim otherwise.

I am not sure whether Bernie is calling himself a Democrat this week, but whatever. Senator Maggie's official statement on the nomination copies-n-pastes this unoriginal talking point.

[…] I support maintaining the traditional 60-vote threshold for confirming Supreme Court nominees.

As the WaPo shows, Maggie is using "traditional" in the sense of "conveniently unprincipled and ad hoc".


Last Modified 2018-12-25 3:18 PM EDT