I’ve seen it as high as 50-45 in favor. That poll is the lowest I’ve seen recently by at least 5 points. More often it’s been around 45 in favor, with variation in the “don’t know” and opposed categories. But as others have pointed out, Nixon’s numbers were better than that before impeachment proceedings began. The…

I think it’s risk-aversion, yes. The Clinton era elite especially, and those who defined their political identities in that milieu, are incredibly risk averse. They’re terrified of being seen as too liberal. It’s a position that made a lot more sense in 1992 than it does now. But they’re mostly older, long in power,…

The Politico/Morning Consult poll seems to have consistently lower numbers than other polls on a number of issues like this. Other polling has had essentially the opposite reading, and the variation is enough that I think there’s a significant soft middle of people who are undecided and react based on recent triggers,…

It’s still a check, because the process is damaging. It hangs an albatross around the necks of Republicans. It activates anti-Trump voters. The spectacle can be the point. Even if it fails, there are political benefits. I see no reason to assume that wasn’t part of the design. I doubt people expected quite the level…

Pelosi is wrong. There is NO EVIDENCE that impeachment would “alienate” any in-play voters. There’s quite a bit of evidence it would motivate the voters Democrats want.

That one is gold too. I really couldn’t pick between the two personally.

The WSJ has one of the stories. Now, there are good hard news reporters at WSJ who shouldn’t be lumped in with the garbage ideological opinion page or editorials. But it’s still a solid-right paper. When they publish things damaging to Trump, it must have passed some internal checks because it’s a paper with an…

The public evidence suggests a type of missile in the Houthi arsenal called a Quds 1, which has clear design elements based in Iranian missile technology but has never actually been documented within Iran. It’s not impossible the Houthi were able to manufacture them with a little technical help from Iran.

This is mostly a symbolic deployment. Patriot missile batteries already failed at this task, especially if you believe the administration’s claim that the attack originated in Iran. I doubt this deployment is enough to significantly change that.

Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans hit the mark really well, IMO. Really underappreciated.

On a more serious note, things are happening in Egypt. Protests against al-Sisi and his regime. Not huge protests, but any protest at all given how abusive and repressive his regime has been is big news. al-Sisi has been worse than Mubarak was for most of his rule. There’s a real chance if the public anger is that…

Why are all the usual racist idiots out of the greys? What did I miss? Is it “let the troll have a moment of attention” day? 

Fear and disgust tend to correlate strongly. The “gross and wrong” part comes from some bit of psychology, I’m just saying my theory is internal insecurity about their identity being more malleable than they think is a plausible root of that reaction. There’s other parts too, you can’t separate out misogyny or…

It’d be attacked as “abandoning centrist policies” by the banks, their lobbyists, and their huge stable of bad faith political allies, including many Democrats. Whether that’s true or not is irrelevant, that sort of quasi-red baiting has a long history in US politics and it’s been effective enough to make it a…

I don’t really see it as leeway. It’s cowardice. It’s just part of trying to understand their bigotry from their own point of view, because obviously it’s useful to have some ideas on that front so you can confront it. It doesn’t absolve them in the least. 

They loathe academia and want to damage it. This, combined with the bullshit from the DoE trying to force college programs to make their curriculum fit the Trump administration’s biases, just shows how gleeful they are to assault the system.

His biggest problem, right now, is that while he’s a charismatic politician with a strong record, he’s also not the best at getting people to believe he can handle the gritty policy side as well as the giving speeches side. That’s where Warren is flanking him. She’s much better at describing policy in terms people can…

The rabidly anti-Iran crowd have every incentive to continue ignoring just how awful the Saudi regime is because the Saudis, by and large, share their ideological fetish for attacking Iran. These people define their ideological positions not with looks at US interests, but with shallow biases and prejudices. Since the…

Brady is a hypocrite, but that reffing was atrocious. It hurt the Titans alot, though as a Titans fan I’m fully aware we were trash and deserved to lose. 

There’s no way you haven’t, it’s been everywhere. The bullshit from Jacobin alone has been widely mocked, and you can see the abuse in responses to anyone to talked about it.