Ride or Deride the Wild Unicorn

 

Bloomberg:

Parliament has taken control of the Brexit process, and that probably means the U.K. isn’t leaving the European Union anytime soon.

Prime Minister Theresa May admitted on Monday that her deal didn’t have enough support to put it to another vote, and U.K. lawmakers swiftly moved to take the matter out of her hands. Three government ministers resigned to vote against her and put rank-and-file members in charge of the agenda. On Wednesday lawmakers will vote on alternatives to her unpopular deal, which will probably include a second referendum, staying in the customs union and single market, or even canceling Brexit altogether.

“It’s essential we should be able to look at all the serious options, not wild unicorns, but things we could actually do to carry this process forward,” former loyalist Tory minister Oliver Letwin, who proposed the plan, told Parliament.
[continues]

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Author: patd

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad." "How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

25 thoughts on “Ride or Deride the Wild Unicorn”

  1. so is indictment (and or impeachment) the u.s. wild unicorn? 

    or is our wild unicorn democracy and the will of the people now seemingly an  impossible dream?

  3. Thinking of The Referendum, I thought most of the impetus for Brexit was from outside of England where the Scots, especially, saw it as the first step of regaining their standalone sovereignty.

    And for Sturg, happy birthday! Ponder this: You’re closer to 50 than 100. In other words, youse still a kid.

  4. Already have my favorite quote of the day:


    More

    2020 is coming. How about we focus on the fact that our president is a greedy, lying, misogynist, adulterous, homophobic, racist, Islamophobic, small-minded coward who grabs pussy, cages children, denies climate change, cuts his own taxes and wants to take away your healthcare?

  5. Jamie… just throw in dictator lover to that quote…  and that about nails it!

    patd…  it’s interesting to think about how the Brits will solve this conundrum.  If I were a Brit… now knowing that the Russians influenced the original vote, I’d want a do-over vote.

    Sturg… hope you had whatever libation your island favors last night…  birthdays should not be squandered, IMO.

  6. Something we need to consider doing is to call what Barr created the “Barr Letter to Trump” as it probably has little to do with the Mueller investigation and “Muller report”.

  7. flatus & renee,  will the brits still be able to call themselves Great Britain when Scotland and No Ireland pull out? and whither Wales? 

  8. wapo story on the anti-Obamacare stance by doj:

    In a significant shift, the Justice Department now says that it backs a full invalidation of the Affordable Care Act, the signature Obama-era health law.

     

    It presented its position in a legal filing Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans, where an appeal is pending in a case challenging the measure’s constitutionality. A federal judge in Texas ruled in December that the law’s individual mandate “can no longer be sustained as an exercise of Congress’s tax power” and further found that the remaining portions of the law are void. He based his judgment on changes to the nation’s tax laws made by congressional Republicans in 2017.

    [continues]

  9. wapo:

    […]

    During his CBS show, Colbert appeared to bend to the pressure. Earlier in the day, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders and Rudolph W. Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, became the latest to join the chorus of GOP voices calling for amends to be made. Sanders also tweeted a “Mueller Madness” bracket Monday night, that included Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel, writing “Which of the angry and hysterical @realDonaldTrump haters got it most embarrassingly wrong?”

     

    “I have said one or two things about Donald Trump, like how he’s a terrible president, so I’m just going to bite the bullet and say it,” Colbert told his audience. A camera zoomed in dramatically on the host’s face, ready to capture the monumental moment.

     

    “Mr. President, if you’re watching, and I know you are,” he said, pausing to take a deep breath, “I’m sorry that you’re a terrible president.”

    Over on Comedy Central, Noah begrudgingly admitted that “The Daily Show” also needed to apologize to Trump.

     

    “Mr. President, we’re sorry we called you a Russian-pee-loving-pumpkin-headed-colludasaurus,” Noah said. “Portions of that name were not accurate.”

    […]

    Later in the show, Colbert took on a more serious tone as he informed his viewers that “even if Trump was falsely accused, he only has himself to blame,” citing the president’s tendency to lie.

     

    “The rest of Trump’s presidency is going to be like a big bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough,” Colbert said. “He’s going to promise you that it’s the finest chocolate chips in the world, but I promise you, if you swallow that, you’re going to be eating some rat poop, which technically may not be a crime. But it’s going to leave a bad taste in your mouth.”

  10. Icky Ted The Beard Cruz is proposing legislation to condemn anti-semitism   does that include remarks by SFB?

  11. Barr has arrived – he’s taken a step beyond what I imagine Mueller envisioned, and Rosenstein showed that he’s not an angry Democrat.  The Barr letter to Trump does only two things that I think are of significance –

    1. it telegraphs that as far as DOJ is concerned, its policy against indicting a sitting president remains its policy and

    2. it has no intention of poking a stick at the orange clown bear by indicting his cubs.  

    Now  – as far as the ACA is concerned and the constitutional challenge, left open under prior cases is whether the government can exercise its control over commerce to compel compliance with the Act.  Since SCOTUS found that the power to tax was a legitimate basis to hold the act constitutional in 2012, it did not reach the alternative basis for an exercise of power under its commerce powers. What little I’ve read about the case pending in the 5th Circuit has been silent on the commerce power issue and instead has focused only on the taxing power issue, which by virtue of removing the penalty for failure to comply with the individual mandate – the tax SCOTUS based its earlier ruling on – is now moot.

    And yes, generally speaking if you end up in court only the lawyers win.  While that sounds good, lawyers work pretty hard to stay out of court.  With that in mind, I will be following the Avenatti saga.  I want to see whether the NY State Bar files ethics charges against him for violation of his duty as an advocate There are a few potential bases for such charges, but they will rise and fall on the contract between him and the client and what the client authorized him to do.  I can see both sides to the charges that have been brought, but if I was a betting man, I’d be leaning slightly toward Avenatti prevailing. Let’s just say I’m skeptical of the motivation behind this prosecution – at least from the feds.

  12. Patd…  I really don’t care what the Brits call themselves.  Watching what is happening with Brexit is interesting to me from a political standpoint…  however…   I am not an anglophile.  I feel the same way about watching what is happening in Israel, Venezuela, or any other country in the world.  

    IMO, the press needs to keep on focusing on the truth and doing it’s job of journalism.  Trumpty dumpty is a liar, self-absorbed, and his policies are bad for this country.  I expect the press to keep on pointing that out.

  13. i’m neither an anglophile nor phobe, but the Brexit brouhaha is upsetting the global economy which in turn affects the u.s. economy.    same thing can be said as to the twit’s antics dissing our allies, his tariffs sh*t and turning back on norms that keep the world stable.    Russia must be deliriously happy at their success on dividing the brits as well as they have divided u.s.

  15. wonder if our congress critters could find a way out of their messes by “indicative votes.”

    here is what those feisty  folk across the pond will attempt tomorrow:

    LONDON (Reuters) – British lawmakers will wrest control of the Brexit process from the government on Wednesday in order to try to find a majority for an alternative way forward that could break the parliamentary deadlock.

    They will hold so-called indicative votes on a variety of possible Brexit outcomes.

    Below is how the process will work:

    WHAT OPTIONS MIGHT BE INCLUDED IN ANY VOTE?

    Lawmakers have until the end of parliamentary business on Tuesday to put forward alternative Brexit options, but at least seven proposals have been floated:

    1) A no deal exit

    2) Revoking Article 50 and staying in the EU

    3) Holding a second referendum on Brexit

    4) Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal

     

    6) A customs union with the EU, something the opposition Labour Party has proposed in their alternative plan

    7) An enhanced Norway-style deal dubbed Common Market 2.0, which would include membership of the EU’s single market, as well as a customs arrangement with the EU.

    HOW WILL THE OPTIONS BE CHOSEN?

    The debate is due to start by 1500 GMT. Commons Speaker John Bercow will select which of the proposals put forward by lawmakers will be put to a vote.

    HOW WILL LAWMAKERS VOTE?

    The options selected by the Speaker will be included on a ballot paper and lawmakers will be asked to vote “aye” or “noe” to each of them. They will be able to vote for as many of the proposals as they wish.

    Conservative lawmaker Oliver Letwin, who led the process to seize control from the government, told parliament on Monday that lawmakers would have to be willing to support more than one option in order to find a majority.

    “We will all have to seek compromise. We almost know that if we all vote for our first preference, we will never get to a majority solution,” he said. “I do not believe there is a majority in favour of the first preferences of any person in this House.”

    WHAT TIME WILL THE RESULT BE ANNOUNCED?

    Lawmakers are due to take control of parliamentary business at 1400 GMT. The debate is due to end at 1900 GMT and lawmakers will then be given 30 minutes to record their votes.

    The Speaker can then announce the results at any time before the close of parliamentary business. It is expected after 2100 GMT.

    The result could show no majority for any option, a majority for several options or even a majority for all options.

    WILL THIS BE THE END OF IT?

    Lawmakers have set out that they plan to take control of parliamentary business again on Monday, April 1 for another debate on Britain’s exit from the European Union.

    Earlier, opposition Labour lawmaker Hilary Benn, chair of parliament’s Brexit committee, told BBC Radio this could be used to carry out a similar process again in

    order to further narrow down the options.

    DOES THE GOVERNMENT HAVE TO ACCEPT THE RESULT?

    The votes would not be binding on the government.

    May said on Monday she could not commit the government to delivering the outcome of any votes held as parliament might vote for something which was unnegotiable with the EU, or which contradicted her party’s 2017 election promises.

    Conservative lawmaker Nick Boles told BBC TV on Monday night that if the government refused to reflect the wishes of parliament, lawmakers would bring forward legislation seeking to force it to do so.

    HAVE INDICATIVE VOTES HAPPENED BEFORE?

    Yes. In 2003, lawmakers were given seven different options for proposed reform of parliament’s unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords, but no options garnered a majority.

     

     

  17. Scotland voted overwhelmingly for “Remain (in the EU)”, Flatus, something like %70+, if i remember correctly.  They want the same economic opportunity an independent Ireland enjoys as a EU member-nation, with or without the UK.
     
    ”Leave” won the same way Our Criminal President did- by exploiting  nationalistic and xenophobic sentiments among self-perceived disenfranchised sub-urban middle-class (in this case, English) whites, whipped into frenzy by myopic and opportunistic conservative media-influencers, with some help from shady Slavs and IT-tech companies.

  19. Happy Birthday, Ms Pelosi !
    May you enjoy health, vigor, and as much happiness as you can stand.
    Hugs, Kisses, and Love,
    X

  20. Regarding our emotions on reading the unsubstantiated claims in barr’s letter to trumpco, cc-ed to Congress : Ms SJNY posted the following gift on August 1, 2018.
    A Poem from Robert Burns
     
    To A Mouse
     

    But little mouse, you are not alone,
    In proving foresight may be vain;
    The best laid schemes of mice and men
    Go often askew,
    And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
    For promised joy!

     

  22. Thank you gentle soul who kicked our recalcitrant pastime in the shins; sign-in worked just fine.Flatus

  23. Gawd dayum. Watching TDS. Truck Fump. Luck Faura. Suck Fean (good one), Tuck Fucker ( I really like that one).

    Looking forward to the weekend. Graham Nash Friday. La Boheme Saturday. Yowzah.

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