"What else could I do?"

New Jersey Congressman Andy Kim Helps Clean Up Capitol. Literally.
Late at night, after a pro-Trump mob stormed and ransacked the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim was photographed in the rotunda, crouching on his hands and knees over the debris the crowd had left behind. He was picking up the trash. "When you see something you love that's broken you want to fix it," Kim told the Associated Press. "I love the Capitol. I'm honored to be there. This building is extraordinary and the rotunda in particular is just awe-inspiring. How many countless generations have been inspired in that room? It really broke my heart and I just felt compelled to do something. What else could I do?"

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Elaine Chao Announces Resignation Over Trump's Response to Riot
File under: too little too late. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has announced her resignation over the riot Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol. Time to jump ship, apparently. In a statement addressed to the Department of Transportation, Chao wrote that she will resign effective Monday and was "deeply troubled" by the "entirely avoidable" events at the Capitol building. What a crock of cowardly shit. The time to jump ship was to never get on board. But Chao and her ilk have propped up Trump and this garbage fire of an administration for four years. You don't get to walk away with clean hands after being complicit in ugly shit that absolutely everybody saw coming. Get the fuck out of here yesterday.

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Rep. Michelle Steel, who questioned mask mandate, tests positive for coronavirus
Rep. Michelle Steel, who previously expressed skepticism about the need for a mask mandate in Orange County, tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday. Steel learned that morning that she had been in contact with someone who tested positive. She sought a test in the afternoon "out of an abundance of caution," and it came back positive, according to a statement released by her office. In the spring, Steel repeatedly questioned the Orange County health office's decision to mandate face coverings countywide, but later called on residents and visitors to wear face coverings in public, when COVID cases surged. And now ya got the COVID.

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Jeremy Lin signs to play with Warriors G-League team
Before the season started, Jeremy Lin reached a deal with the Golden State Warriors that would have had him playing for its G-League team, a first step in working his way back to an NBA roster. But that fell apart because paperwork from his former Chinese team the Beijing Ducks (where he played last season) through FIBA (basketball's international governing body) did not get to the NBA in time. Lin has now signed outright to play for the Warriors' G-League team -- the Santa Cruz Warriors -- in that league's restart bubble starting next month. The dream is still alive and kicking!

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Raya and the Last Dragon Raya Pop! Vinyl Figure
In case you're a collector like me: Funko Pop! figures based on the upcoming Disney animated feature Raya and the Last Dragon are now available for pre-order. The Southeast Asian-inspired fantasy adventure, starring the voice of Kelly Marie Tran, will premiere in theaters and on Disney Plus on March 5.

Elaine Chao Joins Trump's Cabinet as Secretary of Transportation

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.


Former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao.

Former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, who is the only member of President George W. Bush's Cabinet to serve the full eight years of his two terms in office, has been selected by President-Elect Donald Trump to head the Department of Transportation in his upcoming administration.

Chao, who was the first Asian American woman to sit on a presidential Cabinet, previously served as Deputy Secretary of Transportation and Director of the Peace Corps under President George H.W. Bush.

Chao's tenure as Labor Secretary was marked by her decidedly pro-business stance, leaving her frequently at odds with labour unions and workers' rights groups. The Government Accountability Office reported in 2008 that the Labor Department inadequately investigated tens of thousands of complaints filed by workers alleging labour violations. In addition, the Department of Labor under Chao was repeatedly criticized for failing to conduct proper safety inspections to protect worker health, while redirecting resources towards stricter scrutiny of labour unions' financial records. Nonetheless, Chao has remained a powerful player within the national Republican party even after leaving the position of Secretary of Labor, particularly as a close strategist and advisor to her husband of over twenty years, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Elaine Chao apparently can't be from Kentucky -- "She is Asian."

Kentucky political operative under fire for racist tweets targeting Mitch McConnell's wife



A prominent Democratic operative is under fire for a series of tweets targeting the ethnicity of former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, the wife of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

After 'she is Asian' tweets about McConnell's wife, Dems rebuke operative

Over the weekend, Senator McConnell spoke to supporters at the annual Fancy Farm event in Kentucky, praising his wife's accomplishments and noting, "the biggest asset I have by far is the only Kentucky woman who served in a president's cabinet, my wife, Elaine Chao."

Say what you will about Chao's actual accomplishments. But Kathy Groob, founder of the PAC Elect Women, took McConnell's remarks as an opportunity to mock her Chinese heritage. She kicked things off by questioning Chao's Kentucky-ness, because, you know, "She is Asian."

Kentucky super PAC attacks Elaine Chao with racist tweets

I've got little love for Elaine Chao, but this racist bullshit. In Kentucky, a liberal super PAC is under fire for tweets attacking Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's wife, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao: Liberal Super PAC Sends Racist Tweet About Mitch McConnell’s Chinese Wife.

McConnell (R-KY) is running for re-election in 2013. Progress Kentucky, a super PAC focused on defeating McConnell, posted multiple tweets highlighting Elaine Chao's Chinese heritage, going as far as blaming her cultural ties for the outsourcing of Kentucky jobs and the growth of industrial China: