Lobenthal.com

Timothy Hutton as F. Scott in Pat O’Connor’s “Zelda”:

“You’ve got to give the public what it wants, Zelda.”

Natasha Richardson as Zelda:

“You mean, it has to take what it can get.”

Biden and the Democratic Establishment have got to stop their quixotic pursuit of Manchin’s vote. He is being paid by big Republican donors to kybash Build Back Better, and so he will demand more and more concessions until BBB is even more gutted than it is now.

As the CPC is suggesting, Biden needs to pivot to Executive Orders, and as Sen. Sanders is saying, the Democrats need to tell America why they need more seats and what they will do when they achieve them.

I mean, if you need to live on the 109th floor looking down on the Empire State building, what does that say about your deep feelings of insecurity?

And how about how unintegrated you are with society-at-large, aloof in your hermetically sealed sky dome aerie?

and the surrounding blocks that make up Billionaires’ Row. The enfilade of behemoth tombstone condos, fraudulently under-appraised for tax-avoidance purposes, (as reported by the New York Times), are ghost ships.

Watch B1M’s “Why New York’s Billionaires’ Row is Half Empty.”

Sen. Manchin uses the Welfare Queen defense to excuse his adamant opposition to lifting American children out of poverty.

Biden, Schumer, and Pelosi deluded themselves and deceived their caucus about Joe Manchin.

After the New York City Council’s betrayal of NYC last Wednesday, we now have turncoat Joe Manchin’s betrayal of the American people, enabled by Bider, Schumer, and Pelosi.

How is the Democratic Establishment going to pin this one on progressives, I wonder?

When the Senate gets back from its current endless recess, Jayapal should march into Pelosi’s office and say “No more.” No more taking one for the team, no more progressives being played.

Republican pawn Sen. Biden commits a cataclysmic double cross–and announces it, naturally, on Fox “News.”

Again, when will progressives learn never to trust the word of an Establishment Democrat–even the president? Decoupling Build Back Better from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework doomed the more important BBB.

“Nice guy” Biden, of course, won’t make Manchin feel any pain for it.

This all could have been predicted that moment that Pramilla Jayapal caved. Jayapal is great, but she deserves to lose her chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus over falling for Biden’s line. You cannot turn your back on an Establishment Corporatist Democrat–Jayapal has learned that the hard way.

The tremendous losses the Democrats may suffer in 2022 are entirely the fault of Establishment Democrats, no matter how much they will inevitably blame progressives.

The only thing the Democrats can do to save their majorities is to tell the electorate what they want to do and what they cannot do because those majorities are so slim and they are therefore dependent on the likes of Joe Manchin.

I’m terrible about sending out greeting cards, but nevertheless a number of forgiving types have sent me beautiful holiday cards with beautiful hand-written messages.

I love ’em and I love you for sending ’em!

According to Village Preservation’s account of the City Council meeting last Wednesday councilmembers Chin and Rivera were fulsome in their praise and thanks to Speaker Johnson for his cooperation in advancing the Soho/Noho/Chinatown upzoning.

Of course what they were really doing is fingering him–when it all goes south, and no even “affordable” housing is built, and they watch as their rent-regulated constituents are driven out of their homes, they have made it clear that they will not take the blame. It’s a hold-hands-and-jump moment.

Remember, Chin, Johnson, and Rivera know exactly what the outcome of their betrayal is going to be — all they can do is try to escape a reckoning.