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Oceanside Pier, thirty seconds

Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Strange Bedfellows

With all the terrible news about the curtailing of reproductive rights, I would be remiss not to report a small ray of hope in the national tea leaves.

Congress voted recently to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and to block Russian oil imports. But look who joined forces to block the bill:

The U.S. Congress on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and reinforce a ban on Russian oil imports, following weeks of back-and-forth negotiations over the specifics.

Senators, in a pair of rare 100-0 votes, agreed to send both measures to the U.S. House, where lawmakers voted 420-3 to suspend normal trade with Russia, a move that will place the country, which is waging war against Ukraine, in the same ranks as North Korea and Cuba.  Three Republicans voted no: Matt Gaetz of Florida, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

The House then voted 413-9 to enshrine a ban on Russian oil imports into law. The Republicans voting against the ban were Gaetz, Greene and Massie, as well as Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar of Arizona, Dan Bishop of North Carolina and Chip Roy of Texas. They were joined by Democrats Cori Bush of Missouri and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.

Anytime you have wackjobs on the right Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie joining forces with the lunatics on the left Cori Bush and Ilhan Omar I would say you have at least started to define an acceptable center, the place where I like to think I live.

An interesting earlier post on a similar topic at the Bulwark, Who's soft on Russia?

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