BC BIDEN
Saved by @SteveeRogerr

Biden clearly should not do #1. The problem with #2 is that reconciliation delays the inevitable and creates a tiered system where issues that happen to be ineligible - like civil rights and democracy reform - are relegated to second-class status and left to die by filibuster.

 This👇is the danger. By using reconciliation you’re conceding the point that major legislation deserves to pass by majority vote, but only certain kinds for arbitrary reasons. Plus the process itself is opaque and ugly. You risk laying a logistical & political trap for yourself. https://t.co/lnctyXUGgX
All the “here’s what you can do through reconciliation” takes are correct but also look through the wrong end of the telescope. Any of the items mentioned, or a small number of them, would be relatively easy. But putting them all together in one leadership-driven mega package...
... with no committee involvement and no real oversight, enduring tough press for jamming a massive package through a close process and stories about lobbyist giveaways while dodging the adverse parliamentary rulings that are virtually inevitable and still maintaining 50 votes...
It’s possible! Maybe the mega-ness of the package ends up helping hold 50 votes. But the ugliness of the process is being underpriced. And to what end? You’re just delaying the inevitable since you can’t use it for civil rights nor can you allow civil rights to die by filibuster.
Also if you run afoul of reconciliation rules which you almost certainly will with a package this big, you have to nuke the Byrd rule, which is tantamount to going nuclear anyway. That’s fine, but will leave many wondering why they didn’t just go nuclear in the first place.
I’m not saying draw a hard line, per se . But I think some of the “it’s cool we’ll just use reconciliation” sanguinity dramatically underestimates the unwieldiness of the process itself as well as the possibility that it leads to a costly spring or summer quagmire.
The worst case is that the process is such a mess that you lose the votes for the big package and can only pass something skinny while also giving Republicans time to find their footing (a la Republicans and ACA repeal). You lose a lot of the early momentum behind Biden’s agenda.
You can only expand it by nuking the Byrd rule, which is what makes reconciliation so restrictive. To broaden it enough to include issues like civil rights, you're effectively going full nuke. Except you're doing it against the Parls instead of Rs. And... https://t.co/ZIUM18MMci
... while this is not a terrible endgame, you might have created an ungodly path for legislation where basically everything gets re-routed through the Budget Committee. This is part of why I find it ironic that folks think reconciliation protects the Senate- it's hella messy. AND
Repeating myself, but that vote to nuke the Byrd rule probably only comes after weeks of a messy, insular process that maybe sapped much political capital. It may be an easier vote because it's more obscure, but it may actually be harder because of the messiness. I can't decide.
In a vacuum, yes, which is why I'm torn. But this will not be some quiet vote to change budget rules, it'll be the center of massive attention and come at the end of a long messy process. And it won't be a clean vote against Republican obstruction. https://t.co/F16ogQgZQp
Depends on what you consider essential to pass in the next four years. If the answer includes major democracy reforms, then no. https://t.co/uSoToiiZvj
Tl;dr: you can't do democracy reform via reconciliation. If we don't do democracy reform we're screwed. Maybe reconciliation is a way to do some stuff fast, and nuke the filibuster later. But maybe reconciliation is a quagmire and come summer we'll wish we'd gone nuke and rolled.

More from Biden

ACLU
ACLU
@ACLU
BREAKING: We’re calling on President Biden to pause all federal government use of face recognition technology.

This tech is flawed, biased against people of color, women, trans people, and more.

Even if it worked exactly as advertised, it would be a nightmare. Let’s explain.

Study after study has confirmed this bias.

One study showed that face recognition tech failed in identifying Black women nearly 1/3 of the time, but was more accurate on white men.

Subsequent studies, including by @ACLU_NorCal and the government, have confirmed these findings.

These biases have real consequences that disproportionately harm Black people.

Robert Williams, Michael Oliver, and Nijeer Parks are all Black men who were wrongly arrested and detained because of this technology.

Even if face recognition tech worked perfectly, it would be a civil liberties nightmare — giving the government the ability to track us to houses of worship, protests, healthcare appointments, intimate partners’ homes — harming our rights to privacy, speech, and association.

And face recognition technology would surely be used to exacerbate over-policing of communities of color, immigrant communities, poor communities, and others already bearing the brunt of the criminal enforcement system.
BIDEN
Xiyue Wang
Xiyue Wang
@XiyueWang9
1. Ben Rhodes’s comment dismissing the concerns of former political prisoners and US hostages in Iran regarding Rob Malley’s potential appointment as Iran envoy is deeply unprofessional and offensive. As my own story illustrates, not everything is about partisan DC politics.


2. In 2016 I was a Princeton graduate student who excitedly supported the JCPOA and the new era of Iran-US diplomacy it was meant to usher. Such was my optimism that I actually went to Iran for dissertation research. That’s when my nightmare began.

3. I was arrested by Iranian security forces and held hostage in Evin prison-away from my wife and infant son-for more than 3 years. The regime knew I was innocent and told me so. It took me 40 months in Evin to comprehend what had happened to me.

4. As a political prisoner I’ve likely had more intensive contact with Iranian hardliners than most Iran watchers in the US, especially US govt officials like Mr. Rhodes and Malley. I believe the insights derived from that experience have a unique value.

5. I support strengthening the nuclear deal, but am convinced the JCPOA of 2015 is well-intended yet inadequate. Simply lifting pressure against Iran and allowing it to benefit from economic integration produced NO further incentive for the regime to change its behavior.
BIDEN
Advertisement
Jacob Reynolds
Jacob Reynolds
@jacobreynolds
A tentative thread on the Biden speech

Adam Curtis once leaned heavily on the book 'Everything was forever, until it was no more' by Alexei Yurchak - a slightly odd book about the way that language in the Soviet Union slowly degraded.

Instead of confronting reality, the job of propagandists, indeed of all official discourse, was to stitch together a series of recognisable banalities.

Ideas that once were essential parts of the concrete social project of the Soviet Union - building a worker's state - were now invoked in whatever context needed.

Thus, you could praise the 'trenchant labour of the workers' when discussing the publication of a new edition of technical guidelines for building tractors.

The incredible brittleness of this cut-and-paste discourse meant that no-one in the Soviet Union was able to process, let alone alter, the decay of the Union and its increasingly unstable economic system.
BIDEN
Andrew Watkins
Andrew Watkins
@and_huh_what
THREAD/ Taliban's messaging/ approach to Biden admin's policy review:
-high-level meetings with top US adversaries
-insists foreign troops will be targeted if not gone by 1 May
-repeats accusations of US non-compliance with deal (and insists a delay in withdrawal would be same).

Taliban repeating their view of Doha deal: smoothed the way for US to leave after "unsuccessful" 20-year intervention. A "safe passage" deal.

The more Taliban insist they are meeting deal's conditions, the less need for a "review." Almost as if to pre-argue a US policy shift. /2

But no Western official or international audience is convinced by Taliban claims alone. Even Taliban can't believe that.

Who is Taliban's audience, as they display rigidity on the deal's terms and insist their interpretation is justified? /3

Perhaps Taliban reached a point where offering compromise/ flexibility to US on withdrawal would be perceived as too weak among its own ranks.

Or the interpretation & expectation of a swift return to power was genuine - and everything US did the past year seems like welching. /4

Or, regardless of internal discourse, current Taliban assessment could be that US/NATO will not leave by May deadline.

Since US does not seem to have begun re-negotiating or bargaining on a withdrawal extension, Taliban might feel boxed in by that, obliged to posture. /5
BIDEN
Parker Molloy
Parker Molloy
@ParkerMolloy
When Biden talked about unity, he was very specific about what he meant, and the insistence of right-wing tools like @Kredo0 to try to frame stuff like this as “betraying his own ‘unity agenda’” (what is that even a quote from?) shows how pointless it is to try to work with Rs.


Guys like @Kredo0 want to a.) put the onus of unifying the country entirely on Biden and Dems, b.) pretend that “unity” is the same as capitulation, while c.) not giving an inch on their end.

No. No, no, no. Nice try.

Really, get all the way the fuck out of here with that take. “Biden didn’t keep Trump’s POLITICAL APPOINTEES in their position, therefore Biden isn’t unifying the country.” Fuuuuuuck off with that bullshit.

When Biden said “unity,” he was talking about trying to help ALL Americans, not just the ones who voted for him. This, sadly, needed to be said after the Trump administration repeatedly tried to screw over people who didn’t support him.

Remember when the Trump administration INTENTIONALLY let the virus rage out of control (really should have been a bigger scandal, but 🤷🏻‍♀️) because it was mostly hitting states that voted for Dems?
BIDEN

You May Also Like

Numberonepal
Numberonepal
@numberonepal
1/ Stolen from the greatawakening(DOT)win...

I will only be making one post here. Do not ask who I am. Do with this information as you please.

The Trump Card is being played. It's much simpler than you all realize. Some of you have gotten it right.
TRUMP , THE LAST DAYS IF THE REVOLUTION
Jonathan Ware
Jonathan Ware
@ReassessHistory
So when it first appeared in Normandy, the Sherman Firefly and it's meaty 17 pounder represented an ideal combo of reliable chassis, great gun and devastating firepower right?

Ummm...

Truth is a bit more complex. /1
#WW2 #SWW #History


Deliveries of Firefly to units only commenced in April 1944,
just a few weeks before Overlord & left minimal time for familiarisation.

Armoured Regiments mostly utilised Fireflies on a basis of 1 per troop of 4 tanks. /2


Finally each armoured regiment troop had access to integral, meaty, anti-tank firepower capable of dealing serious damage to any German AFV likely to be encountered. /3


The dual purpose 75mm gun was quite capable of laying down a reasonable HE shell or AP round for dealing with Panzer III or IV.

Firefly's 17 Pounder had.... problems with HE, but excelled at tank killing. So Tigers and Panthers would need to be wary. /4


Firefly's design history dated back to March 1943 when the General Staff published "Policy on Tanks" which effectively stated the majority of tanks should have a good HE weapon and...

[See image below] /5
HISTORY
Advertisement
Jaya_Upadhyaya
Jaya_Upadhyaya
@Jayalko1
SRI LALITHAMBIGAI, THIRUMEYACHUR (TN)
#bharatmandir #navratri2021

Kshetram where Shiva is worshipped as Meghanatha and his consort is Lalithambigai seen in Abhay mudra.
Once, a demon Pandasura was harassing the Devas who went to Devi Parashakti for protection. 
@GunduHuDuGa


Devi rose from a Yaga Gunda, mounted on the Sri Chakra Rath with the name Lalithambika, waged a war against Pandasura and destroyed him.  When her fury did not subside, Shiva asked her to go to Earth, assume the name Manonmani, perform penance and shed her fury.


Shiva blessed Devi to be Shanta nayagi. There is a sculpture here depicting Shiva pacifying Devi. If you observe closely, you can see that from your left hand side there will be a smile on Her face and if you see from your right hand side you can see anger in Her face.


Hayagriva taught the greatness of Lalitha Sahasranama to Rishi Agasthya. Pleased with his devotion, Ma Lalithambikai appeared before Agastya. He is believed to have then sung Lalita Navaratnamala in praise of Devi. He has also composed a hymn named Rahasyanamasahasram.
ALL
Delilah S. Dawson
Delilah S. Dawson
@DelilahSDawson
Hello, writers! How about a thread on LITERARY AGENTS? How to get one, how to talk to one, how to keep one happy. Spoiler alert: I am 100% pro agent and can't imagine not having one on my side. 1/

Why would you want a literary agent?
* you want to be traditionally published
* you want someone experienced to help guide your career
* you want to learn how to edit like a pro
* you want to sell foreign and movie rights
* you want answers to your newbie questions 2/

Why you might *NOT* want a literary agent:
* you want to self publish
* you're not willing to compromise on your edits
* you don't think their expertise is worth 15% of your advance
I... can't think this way. Literary agents have been crucial to my career. 3/

So, how do you get a literary agent?
1. Have a finished, revised, edited, polished manuscript.
2. Write a query letter for your book
3. Send your query to agents who rep your genre and are open to submissions
4. Repeat steps 1-4 until you're offered representation. 4/

So, let's go through those four steps. First of all, you must have a finished, revised, edited, polished book, and it must be sellable. That is, you can't sell a 600k picture book or a 40k adult Fantasy, etc. You must read extensively in the genre you're writing. 5/
WRITING
Jaya_Upadhyaya
Jaya_Upadhyaya
@Jayalko1
SRI VARAHA NARSIMHA, SIMHACHALAM, VIZAG (AP)
#bharatmandir

One of the 32 Narsimha Kshetram of Andhra. It has a unique form of Narsimha, appearing like a shivlingam

It is said that Narsimha’s fierce nature is soothed by worshipping him with Varaha, considered a peaceful deity


The shrine is believed to have been constructed by Prahlada. With time, it crumbled.
In Treta yuga, King Pururava was passing from here in his vimana. The vimana was attracted to this place by a mystic power.
When the place was unearthed, the deity was found.
@GunduHuDuGa


Pururava’s wife, Urvashi, had a dream that the deity should remain covered in sandalwood paste for the whole year except on Akshaya Tritiya.
This practice has continued till date.
The mukhya mandap here, has a pillar kappam stambham believed to possess curative powers.


Chandanotsava/ Chandan Yatra is the most important festival celebrated on Akshaya Tritiya. The sandalwood paste is removed from the moolavar deity and nijarupa darshan (original form of deity) for twelve hours of the day are done by devotees.
ALL