It never ends!
Here’s all the shit we couldn’t cover today:
- This holiday weekend, Republican members of Congress could return to their districts and chat with their constituents—what an incredibly patriotic way to spend President’s Day weekend—but they won’t actually be doing that. Why? Because they’re terrified that their constituents might say mean things to them. There’s probably a joke about “snowflake” and “safe spaces” here but I hate those kinds of jokes. [Vice]
- Donald Trump signed a bill rolling back the Office of Surface Mining’s Stream Protection Rule which prevented coal mining companies from dumping their waste in waterways. It was second Obama-era regulation Trump has overturned since taking office. More are on the way. [The Hill]
- Speaking of disastrous environmental policy, Scott Pruitt, the likely head of the Environmental Protection Agency, is “environmentalists’ worst nightmare.” That’s actually a kind description! [Grist]
- EPA staffers don’t even want Pruitt. [Huffington Post]
- Pruitt joins an increasingly long list of bad men. This list also includes Bill Maher who, among his many stupid ideas, defended booking Milo Yiannopoulos on his show. Those two will surely have a very interesting and intellectual conversation. Congrats to Jeremy Scahill, best known as the only journalist with a fannish teen Tumblr devoted to him, for refusing to join the spectacle. [The Hill]
- Alex Acosta, Donald Trump’s new nominee for Labor Secretary, is also bad. His record on civil rights seems ripped from the Jeff Sessions playbook. [The Atlantic, Miami New Times]
- Michael Anton, a White House national security staffer, fancies himself a fashion critic but he’s just another racist. [Yahoo]
- One last bad man. [Talking Points Memo]
- If all these bad men weren’t enough to dampen your spirits, then here’s a fun story about six White House aides who failed to pass basic background checks that included questions about “the applicant’s credit score, substance use, and other personal subjects.” [Politico]
Here are some tweets that the president was allowed to publish:
This has been Barf Bag.