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Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman

@kdbyproxy.bsky.social

6K followers 150 following 3.9K posts

I used to write laws… then I invented Knee Defender. ex-HPSCI, ex-Senate tech, taxes, trade/FP, ethics, antitrust… crime & even reputed parliamentarian

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Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · Apr 28

Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks as The 2000 Year Old Man

#fornoreason

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Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 1m

And now here's the Alec Baldwin headline template with today's Daily Beast Alec Baldwin news:
"Alec Baldwin Gives Wild Explanation After
Crashing Range Rover Into Tree"

bsky.app/profile/kdby...

Now the blank lines in the template have been filled in:
"Alec Baldwin Gives Wild Explanation After" was the template text, and now the line after it is filled in with "Crashing Range Rover Into Tree"

The rest of the template is also completed:
"Head On Collision"
Cameron Adams - Reporter
Updated: Oct. 14 2025 2:58AM EDT
Published: Oct. 14 2025 12:36AM EDT

Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 8m

It's the Alec Baldwin headline template –

Screenshot of top of Daily Beast website article, but as a template, with a bunch of lines to be filled in: The only text is "DAILY BEAST" at the top, a line to be filled in followed by "Reporter" at the bottom, and below that "Published" followed by a line.

And in the middle, what might be called the "punchline" to this graphic: A headline that reads, "Alec Baldwin Gives Wild Explanation After", but then followed (below it) by just a blank line.

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Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 1h

I don't know.
Third base!

Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 9h

I blame Danny Kaye for Americans using the German pronunciation of Copenhagen because in the Hans Christian Andersen movie he convinced them it was the Danish pronunciation.

Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 9h

I don't know about that one way or the other, but their surrender on calling out Project 2025 when the press bought Trump's lies about not being connected to it would have helped.

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Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 9h

Or as Reagan said, wardrobe.

Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 10h

Who's signed?
Just One America News.
But who?

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Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 11h

Always a safe bet.

Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 12h

I'm Henry the eighth, I am
Henry the eighth, I am, I am
I got married to the widow next door
She's been married seven times before

And every one was AN Henry (Henry)
She wouldn't have a Willy or a Sam (no Sam)
I'm her eighth old man, I'm Henry
Henry the eighth, I am

youtu.be/FFNoDsOmluA?...

Herman's Hermits "Henry The VIII, I Am" on The Ed Sullivan Show

YouTube video by The Ed Sullivan Show

youtu.be

Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 12h

Anyone who says "when I was 14 I wrote something just off Wikipedia" can get off my ******* lawn.

Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 12h

But to channel my inner WC Fields, would those whose mental health would most be helped achieve that help in more time or less time?

Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 12h

Ftr, that ⬆️ is not a real quote of his... as far as I know.

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Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 12h

"No one on his deathbed ever said, 'I wish I had spent more time at work not firing people.'" – Russ Vought

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Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 12h

In presidential elections, Republicans win states that have split themselves into waaay more counties.

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Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 12h

OLD: Loving v Virginia
NEW: Paxton v Loving
__________

When Republicans brag, "Look at all the counties Trump won," they never mention that among those counties is one in Texas with only 70 people, and 7 others in TX with < 1,000 people.

1/

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Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 16h

... people thinking the politics of the nominating president tells us the politics of the (now) judge, vs the politics of the home-state senator(s) often being a better indicator.

Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 16h

I drop this over your transom (if you don't already have this): Fields for whether a senator introduced or submitted a statement to Senate Judiciary for a judicial nominee's confirmation hearing, and/or spoke on the floor (or submitted a statement) re the nominee. Among other things, this is about…

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Reposted by Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman

Steven S Smith @profstevensmith.bsky.social · 18h

Nicely done!

Ben Yoel @benyoel.bsky.social · 20h

@liampert.bsky.social, @mattgrossmann.bsky.social, and I are thrilled to launch SenateData, a new repository pertaining to the US Senate. We have variables on facets like bills, and members, including original data on senator characteristics and an associated R package. github.com/IPPSR/Senate...

GitHub - IPPSR/SenateData: SenateData: A Functional Tool for the SenateData Dataset

SenateData: A Functional Tool for the SenateData Dataset - IPPSR/SenateData

github.com

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Reposted by Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman

emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 18h

I know I tell this story all the time, BUT

Pete Hoekstra, Trump's current ambassador to Canada (& to Netherlands in Trump 1) told me when he was first being considered that he had no proof of naturalization. (He came to US when he was 12.)

He had been HPSCI chair for years before that. [corrected]

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 20h

Wow, wow, wow. This has always been legally possible but the law has virtually never been enforced — and now this is the SECOND case I've heard of in the last month (first involving a person with a green card) of a noncitizen being charged for failure to carry their papers.

Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 21h

NEWS: ICE gave a Rogers Park man a $130 ticket for not having his papers on him. They rounded him up last week and eventually let him go, but not without a fine that some critics say is un-American. Trump admin enforcing little-used law
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/13/i...

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Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 19h

Nobel: Man invents dynamite, funds Peace Prize

Reposted by Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman

Jonathan M. Katz @katz.theracket.news · 22h

“Yeah but there was no final status negotiated under those”

There’s no final status agreement now either

“Yeah but those were temporary”

This one hasn’t even been in force for a week

“But this time Bibi promises it’s for real!”

[stares]

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Reposted by Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 22h

The psychology that twists coverage in Trump’s favor is transparent, once you accept that psychology plays a role. They want to be perceived as neutral by their peers, and they know their peers suspect them of anti-Trump bias. So they demonstrate independence by scrutinizing Dems and praising Trump.

Jonathan M. Katz @katz.theracket.news · 22h

There were at least two ceasefires under Biden! In which more than five times as many living Israeli hostages were released in exchange for 240 Palestinians! Has everyone forgotten this?

Coffee Indiana @coffeeindiana.bsky.social · 22h

Also, ceasefires have happened under prior Presidents! The day he gets Palestine their own country he can be told he's the most special boy deserving of a shiny prize.

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Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 19h

And he gets "begs the question" wrong, too.

Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 22h

The House and Senate each has an Office of Legislative Counsel that drafts/help draft bills for members and committees. This is from House LC's guide to legislative drafting re the difference btwn:
> "[phrase] means A, B & C."
vs
> "[phrase] includes A, B, & C."

legcounsel.house.gov/holc-guide-l...

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Ira 'Bluebeard Homer' Goldman @kdbyproxy.bsky.social · 22h

... afaict might be a contractor facing (or experiencing) a late contract payment because of that xfer. IOW, even if it would violate Art I, Sec 8, there's no practical remedy.