US Politics, December 2022: "They're now the working class party, man."

Have at it.

An interesting article:

Trump’s delusion about white supremacists like Nick Fuentes

In the run-up to the 2022 midterms, a dominant narrative in mainstream media spaces was that Americans were on the cusp of throwing away democracy in order to save a few dollars on gas. Should Republicans lose, they would refuse to concede defeat. The legitimacy of the electoral results would be undermined by widespread conspiracy theories. The elections and their aftermath could be marred by violence, intimidation and other forms of voter suppression.

None of these dystopian predictions panned out. Instead, as NPR noted, the elections were “largely uneventful.” Rather than widespread voter suppression, turnout was exceptionally high. Instead of the expected “red wave,” Republicans did worse than the opposition party usually does when a new party comes to power. The GOP only narrowly won the House (an outcome that was likely unavoidable). It failed to capture the Senate. Election deniers overwhelmingly went down in flames.

...

Contrary to popular rhetoric depicting the contemporary Republican Party as a cult that blindly accepts whatever the orange man says or does, Donald Trump and Trumpian extremism have never been super popular among right-aligned voters. Trump actually secured the 2016 Republican nomination with the smallest share of the primary vote of any winning GOP candidate since 1968. He went on to decisively lose the popular vote as huge numbers of right-sympathetic voters decided to stay home rather than cast ballots for either major party candidate.

In the 2018 midterms, the Republicans that Trump endorsed tended to underperform compared to other GOP candidates. It was similar in 2022: Trump-endorsed GOP candidates did worse than those without his endorsement. And those who embraced Trump’s election-denying nonsense did worse still. Many people who would otherwise happily vote Republican were unwilling to vote for Trump or those he endorsed.

Another narrative that refuses to die is that Trump owes his electoral success to his racialized rhetoric. However, as I illustrated previously in THINK, Trump failed to energize a greater number of whites to cast ballots in 2016 and secured a smaller share of the white vote than Mitt Romney did in 2012. Moreover, the GOP has seen continuing losses among white voters in the years since Trump took office, even as the party has enjoyed consistent gains among voters of color over the same period. There is no good way to explain these realities within the standard narrative.

Popular talking points around gender fare no better. Contrary to narratives attributing Trump’s victory to his gendered language and policies, the GOP did not enjoy extraordinary support from men in 2016. And Trump’s sexist and misogynistic rhetoric alienated Republican voters, men and women alike.

In reality, the reason Trump won in 2016 was because women did not like Hillary Clinton, voting for her in lower numbers than several Democratic predecessors. In 2020, Joe Biden won largely due to shifts among men toward the Democratic Party. Women, for their part, moved toward the GOP, with women of color shifting more than white women.

In 2022, a similar pattern emerged. Although all racial and ethnic groups shifted toward the GOP, whites — and white men in particular — shifted less than any group other than Black women (whose movement was roughly identical to that of white men).

Perhaps the biggest irony of all is that Trump himself seems to have bought into ill-substantiated caricatures of his own voters and what motivates them. Despite repeatedly branding the media and academia as biased and unreliable, Trump seems to have accepted our narratives that people support him because he’s an election denier, a racist and a misogynist.

Trump keeps giving “the people” more of what he thinks they want. Reflected, for instance, in the dinner he hosted last week with white supremacist Nick Fuentes and the rapper Ye, who has come under fire for antisemitic remarks. But rather than enhancing Trump’s appeal, these behaviors consistently lead more people to recoil in horror and vote Democrat instead, particularly among his so-called base of whites and men.

Trump’s 2024 campaign announcement was a perfect encapsulation of these dynamics. Over the course of a bleak, lethargic and rambling speech, he hit all the usual notes — to the apparent effect of boring and alienating the GOP faithful while enhancing his political rivals. Presumably recognizing how badly the speech was being received — how poorly calibrated the remarks were to the audience and the moment — even Fox News cut away from the announcement midstream. They probably did Trump a favor.

you missed the "Here's why that's devastating news for Joe Biden" bit

Good article, I learned a couple things. However, this:

Democrats even spent tens of millions of dollars helping election deniers win Republican primary contests, something that would obviously be unconscionable if they literally believed that American democracy was on the cusp of being dismantled. The cynical bid paid off: Literally all the extreme GOP candidates that Democrats boosted failed in the general election. Again, this should not have been a shock.

is, shall we say, bullshit. All the Dems did was say, "Look at how horrible these people are" and GOP voters said "gimme!"

Yeah, I pointed that out on Twitter and just said people should ignore that bit — inserting it is the price of admission to Sunday talk show green rooms.

I mean, those ads were pretty transparently designed to boost those candidates among extreme right voters, no?

The tone was like "Oh man, definitely don't vote for this guy who is a true conservative and a staunch defender of the border" etc.

it was a dumb gamble that did appear to mostly pay off, i thought

my god these people still consent to Chotiner interviewing them.

"Do you think that there could be people who, for whatever reason, have sympathies with Israel but don’t like Jews much?

I think it’s highly unlikely. If you like Israel, which is the Jewish state filled with Jews, how can you hate Jews? Can you like Italy and hate Italians? Can you like Spain and hate Spanish people? It’s beyond my comprehension that that’s a possibility."

jesus fucking christ people are dense

All-time:

Honestly, I mean, you really don’t have to do this. You’re just going to cause trouble and embarrassment for yourself.

Chotiner's like Cary Grant at his understated best: he sets'em up courteously, lets his co-stars fall over themselves.

Was this Vanity Fair article already shared? I didn't see it in the November thread...

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/11/america-new-civil-war

A typically terrifying paragraph:

When Rob thought about abortion, he started with guns. The question for him was not whether abortion is right or wrong. The question was: When will China invade? The question was: Can we afford to spare potential infantry? “If you make the top 10 of things that keep your country running, abortion is not in the top 500. But 10 years down the road, if I have a war and I’m a leader, and you and the Black population have aborted 40% of their babies for the past 30 years, I’m running out of foot soldiers. Abortions are bodies that never make it to my front line.” (It’s true that a higher percentage of Black pregnancies end in abortion than white ones. Rob’s even right about the number 40. But not the percent: It’s 40 out of 1,000, according to the American Journal of Public Health. That is 4%.)

These lunatics have seen "Red Dawn" so many times they have internalized its manic what-if insanity.

The question for him was not whether abortion is right or wrong. The question was: When will China invade? The question was: Can we afford to spare potential infantry?

otm

https://media.vanityfair.com/photos/63852db5ed2be6c0ac98ceb9/master/w_1600,c_limit/Wisconsin-Death-Trip-20.jpg

Pretty much my understanding of Wisconsin in a single image...

(Out of context, I mean ... in context, she's protesting in support of abortion rights.)

“You start prepping several generations ahead to have bodies when you lose so many bodies that you need a level of fresh bodies you never dreamed you’d have to dig into.”

Why does he make it sound like planning for a party?

Well, guys like that are probably tumescent daily at the thought of any excuse to shoot "them", so it very likely feels like party planning.

it's great in the badger state

I have a long-running unprovable theory that people in rural Red State areas get so worked up about imagined impending threats and invasions (the "caravan," Sharia law, Antifa, China) because they are so fucking bored because there is nothing to do. You can only pretend to get excited about shooting deer for so long. (I grew up in rural areas, I'm allowed to say this. I moved to cities for a reason.)

So Jan. 6th was actually just a vacation package?

"It didn't happen! I was there, but it was a hoax! This is the gun I carried when I was in D.C.! But it was a false flag!"

Jan. 6 was 100 percent the most exciting thing that had ever happened to those people, right up until it turned out they might go to jail.

Can we please revisit Andy the Grasshopper’s comment about a Honduran “invasion” from the last thread? If it was meant sarcastically, then okay, but if not… uh, that’s some pretty fucked up rhetoric

Sometimes there's good news:

Chris Cillizza is one of the CNN staffers who have been let go in the latest round of layoffs by Chris Licht, according to @bristei:https://t.co/ZWDKSjkEYs pic.twitter.com/c4KhRYsi3O

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) December 1, 2022

As progressives push for paid sick leave as part of rail deal, Joe Manchin signals he opposes going that route. Says he doesn't like having Congress intervening in this way.

"I'm very, I'm really reluctant ... for us to jump in and set a precedent," he told me

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 1, 2022

Jump in and fall on the tracks, ya turd.

Yeah, that was sarcasm, sorry about that

If you recall, that was Kamala Harris' first assignment upon taking office - to stem the flow of migration from Central America; a herculean, if not impossible ask of a VP
I don't know if she's involved in that effort

I think it’s highly unlikely. If you like Israel, which is the Jewish state filled with Jews, how can you hate Jews? Can you like Italy and hate Italians? Can you like Spain and hate Spanish people? It’s beyond my comprehension that that’s a possibility."

I find it interesting that three seemingly random ethnicities wind up involving both how more non-Anglos were made “white” in the 20th Century and also the population used to create the concept of “white” in the first place back in the 16th-17th Centuries with the Reconquista

they finally deleted the tweet

RIP to nearly two months of transparency from the GOP pic.twitter.com/a4tggUOLUL

— Eli Valley (@elivalley) December 1, 2022

Statement from the Republican Jewish Coalition:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fi6hrWMXEAE3k8j.jpg

2) Biden: It doesn't mean because we are going to pass this, God willing, on by Friday, by the time I read by the weekend that we're going to back off of paid leave, I made it really clear I'm going to continue to fight paid leave for not only rail workers, but for all workers,

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) December 1, 2022

Sorry Andy, didn't mean to get punchy, just couldn't read the tone.

no worries, sorry if that wasn't clear

Good

News: It's Michigan.

Mich is poised to replace Iowa as an early nominating state for Democrats in 2024, per senior officials.

Will be formally taken up by DNC this weekend, but the White House has decided.

I first reported Mich was being eyed here:https://t.co/fDPVbwoixc

— Jonathan Martin (@jmart) December 1, 2022

The Republican Jewish Coalition seems to think they have some standing within the Republican party and that their concerns will be heard and honored through actions. Some people are awfully late in getting the news from Charlottesville.

democracy is when a bill that 80% of the country would want fails because only 52% of our representatives vote for it https://t.co/7M2WrlRDW3

— Communist Dog Tail (@pointblaek) December 1, 2022

I can't believe Lucy picked up the football AGAIN

The Squad and @justicedems-backed members stood with rail workers, flexed their bloc, and began turning Biden and Democratic Party leadership around on this one. pic.twitter.com/LArXaIkhTO

— Waleed Shahid (@_waleedshahid) November 30, 2022

If michigan gets the first primary I'm just going to hang out in diners for a month beforehand so I can say crazy nonsensical shit to reporters

lol

you could be the new Ken Bone

“What I really want is a Biden-DeSantis unity ticket. I want to defund the police but I’m also skittish about classroom litter boxes.”

“We need high gas prices AND fascism.”

If this happens it will radically reshape American presidential politics.

Biden pushes South Carolina as first primary state, elevates Georgia and Michigan

Imagine having to win over black voters first before a bunch of one-foot-in-the-grave farmers in one of the country's reddest and whitest states.

Feels like a “no more Bernies” move

Feels like a “no more Bernies” move

Don't threaten me with a good time.

Or at least making sure the next Bernie can win in larger, more diverse states. Bernie might have been force into a different (better!) campaign if he'd had to run in South Carolina first.

"How firing Christopher Cillizza may actually help Chris Cillizza," muttered a stunned Chris Cillizza to himself over and over again as he approached his parking space one last time.

— Danny Zuker (@DannyZuker) December 1, 2022

A 15-year-old canvassing for Raphael Warnock was shot

Savannah Police detectives have arrested a 42-year-old Savannah man who shot a teen outside his home on Hartridge Street on Dec. 1.

Around 5:35 p.m. officers responded to the 500 block of Hartridge Street in reference to a shooting and discovered a 15-year-old male victim suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg. He was transported to Memorial Medical Center for treatment of non-life threating injuries.

According to the preliminary investigation, the teen was campaigning for Raphael Warnock for the upcoming run-off election when the incident occurred. While at the front door of one of the residences on Hartridge Street, the suspect fired a shot through the closed door, striking the teen.

Officers quickly identified and located the suspect, Jimmy Paiz, at the residence. Paiz was booked into the Chatham County jail on charges of aggravated assault and aggravated battery.

The case remains under investigation. At this point, there is no indication the shooting was politically motivated.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=961009514418625

Same dude.

fuuuuck

where do they find these people

Herschel Walker voter to MSNBC: "I'm a Republican ... [Walker's] he's gonna lose, in all probability. Mr. Warnock is a wonderful individual, and I fully expect that he will win." pic.twitter.com/SyPGlhMFoK

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 1, 2022

I dunno, but I wish the Dems could find more people like Obama:

Obama on Herschel Walker: "Since the last time I was here, Mr Walker has been talking about issues that are of great importance to the people Georgia, like whether it's better to be a vampire or a werewolf ... this would be funny if he weren't running for Senate." pic.twitter.com/Wm2KNRvfgt

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 2, 2022

I think a werewolf can take a vampire, but it probably needs the advantage of surprise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn27aTInqBM

They should just put Obama on a two year National speaking tour to clown the GOP

xpost I have that album on vinyl, and the inside of the jacket matches that umbrella pattern

I have a CD of it and the packaging does the same.

Jimmy Paiz does not appear to be recovered from his PTSD

Arizona certified the results of its gubernatorial election after a judge threw out the Kari Lake suit (and sanctioned the lawyers who brought it)>

Excuse me, that was just Maricopa County. The state should certify on Monday.

That’s a bit reassuring—but I’m still thinking that the Arizona GOP has some shenanigans planned. There have been some low key indications buried in the inside sections of the Washington Posy that the Lake people are still going to try to take this.

—Post

I would totally read the Washington Posy.

Ridiculous

Man voting in Georgia is so different than in Illinois. When I lived in chicago, during early voting, I went to the local elementary school, waited in line about ten minutes, and they gave me a sheet of paper. I checked people off then I put it in the machine and left.

— Jason Coupet (@ProfessaJay) December 2, 2022

You have to read down and through to get the full sense of the nightmare

election processes in Georgia are overseen by the Secretary of State's office (currently led by Brad Raffensperger) but operated and almost wholly funded by county Boards of Elections

like most municipal governments, all the counties are strapped for funds and the current state administration shows little interest in providing significant financial help for staffing more poll locations

there are 159 counties in Georgia, ranging from low-population rural areas to the ultra-dense metro ATL counties, so voting runs more or less smoothly depending on where you live

it's no accident that the counties with the highest concentrations of black voters are the ones where limited funding creates scenarios like that Twitter thread

https://64.media.tumblr.com/0281504b9b44eafed292ed2ce0908176/26ef0e24ea28cbb9-12/s2048x3072/8fda586c86267a22f839d1a44561169a60c86819.jpg

uh excuse me?

i think i’m most offended by the screenshot of the crop tool. sic can’t you think of others and edit out the unnecessary information??

I saw this on twitter the other day and still don't get it - they sent an email out saying 88 words? What can this be beyond a heinous dogwhistle? This is some Balenciaga shit.

And not just writing out 88 words, but the lead in of the email was the words "88 words"? Do I have this right?

i think i’m most offended by the screenshot of the crop tool. sic can’t you think of others and edit out the unnecessary information??

I tried to make a more pertinent crop of my own but kept getting cloudflare timeouts on politicalemails.org

The official stories so far are not connecting these two things, but attacks on electrical substations in a North Carolina county that knocked out power to half the county seem most likely related to a drag show held last night that had attracted death threats and protests. Assuming that’s the case, it’s straight-up anti-LGBTQ terrorism,

https://www.thepilot.com/news/substations-vandalized-more-than-half-of-county-without-power/article_b3b19780-7370-11ed-865d-c78d0de5d921.html

https://www.thepilot.com/news/drag-show-goes-on-amid-peaceful-but-persistent-protests/article_576fbe72-7355-11ed-9e6c-bf04b3a3e425.html

More here: https://www.facebook.com/52201543/posts/pfbid02HWHXr3HBSKmiVBgomqC7U26x4dzpk7TCe5KakqY2ekj5Q4rKAQY97BN3ubbzepvbl/?d=n

They continued the drag show lit by cell phone flashlights.

as long as it’s not schiff

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/04/california-democrats-succeed-feinstein-00071996

Just hilarious that Padilla is the one guy out here who can be all "Welp, nothing to do with me!" (Not directly, at least; by default he'd become the senior senator and doubtless more than one of the candidates wouldn't mind his blessing/help.)

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/30/house-senate-negotiators-45b-biden-defense-budget-00071367

in case you were wondering wtf is it with runoffs in Georgia:

https://www.gpb.org/news/2022/12/03/the-racist-history-behind-georgias-runoff-elections

Georgia Dems are ahead in early ballots cast, putting pressure on Republicans to show on Election Day —when it’s supposed to rain in cities like Atlanta, Augusta and Columbus

How badly do Republicans want to turn out for Walker? https://t.co/mqYS84GxDM

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) December 5, 2022

Shannon Epstein, the 25-year-old niece of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), was arrested in an extremely dramatic, combative event at Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans on November 24 after being kicked off her plane. The Times-Picayune reports that Epstein had asked a family she perceived to be Latino on her flight if they were “smuggling cocaine.” (The family has not been identified.) When airline workers decided to remove her from the flight and the plane returned to the gate, she became “increasingly irate,” and the incident escalated at the airport.

When deputies tried to arrest Epstein at the airport, she fought back. Per the Times-Picayune:

In the scuffle, she injured six deputies, biting one of the arm and breaking the skin, and kicking another in the groin, Rivarde said. They were treated there by paramedics.

All the while, Epstein shouted that the deputies were going to lose their jobs or end up in jail, boasting that she was related to powerful people and that her uncle is a friend of former President Donald Trump, Rivarde said.

Chris Christie did not return messages left Friday at two telephone numbers associated with him.

what's in her laptop

Trump/Drunk racist niece '24

Another Madlibs article:

Epstein
Chris Christie
Louis Armstrong
Cociane
biting
groin
Donald Trump

DON’T YOU KNOW MY UNCLE IS THE DISGRACED FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY

who is famously Trump's best friend.

https://dehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2016/03/02112400/abc_christie_trump_mt_160301_31x13_1600.jpeg

One of the most satisfying videos you’ll see this week. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/06/mcconnell-mccarthy-police-gold-medal-ceremony-00072546

do you think Chris Christie regrets not being a democrat

What a day!

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna60326

Holy shit

Trump's political career has not been good for any of his longtime henchmen.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EZMFX7aXYAElc7i.jpg

Nice pull sleeve

Christ! A highly complex tax fraud case with 17 counts to be proved and the jury deliberated "just over a day" before returning guilty verdicts on all 17!! That's amazing.

I have always loved that particular strip and it is oh so a propos today.

xp Probably because like most things Trump-related there was nothing very subtle or clever about the fraud.

And now the Trump org pays up to ... $1.6 million in fines?

Ah! Well,

yup - probably an overall savings

That civil suit will be loads of fun now.

Oh yeah, forgot about that one. It's hard to keep all these lawsuits straight!

Harris has gotta fire her comms team

NEW -- Doug Emhoff embraces the burden of being the most prominent Jew in American politics.

from me and @EugeneDaniels2 https://t.co/x5JewLXb6I

— Sam Stein (@samstein) December 6, 2022

Tulsi will probably take a shot on live TV tonight

holy shit, Warnock up 57-43

https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/GA/116564/web.307039/#/summary

Don’t post shit like that with 8% of precincts reporting, ffs

This is going to be a close runoff result, perhaps closer than the Warnock +3 rough polling consensus. But you'd still much rather be Warnock (D) than Walker (R) right now. #GASEN

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) December 7, 2022

Early vote reporting was always going to swing hard to Warnock.

sadly the betting markets already know where the bread is buttered and are already 90/10 Warnock. nary a dollar for me to make now (I forgot to do it earlier)

NATHANIEL RAKICH
DEC. 6, 7:58 PM
Let’s take a step back and look at the big picture. With 40 percent of the expected vote reporting, Warnock leads Walker 55 percent to 45 percent statewide. According to The New York Times, the missing votes are mostly in north Georgia (Republican) and metro Atlanta (Democratic).

GEOFFREY SKELLEY
DEC. 6, 8:04 PM
To echo what Nathaniel just said, we’ve got 22 counties now with 95 percent reporting — mostly solidly red rural counties — and Walker is doing 0.1 percentage points better in margin across all those places than in November. The thing is, he trailed Warnock by about 1 point in the initial vote overall, so he needs that to improve more as we get fuller results.

sorry silby! you are correct

lol the NYT Is doing the stupid needle for this one race

Gonna need a needle in my arm tbh

I've seen enough.

Pat Buchanan wins the Senatorial race

Oconee and Glynn counties, where all the vote has come in and where he's won, Walker has run below his November numbers.

lol The Needle has been "paused" while they "investigate" a "data issue"

I’ve seen enough

*puts out eyes with NYT needle, exeunt led by servanta*

I've seen enough: Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) defeats Herschel Walker (R) in the #GASEN runoff, giving Democrats a 51-49 majority in the Senate.

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) December 7, 2022

!

did not think it was gonna be called this early

Was about to post that.

As Wasserman cautions in the tweets after that, he doesn't make official "calls" on behalf of any news orgs, it's just the conclusion that he's drawn from looking at the data. But he's pretty good at it.

decision desk also projected warnock

(does wasserman work for decision desk?)

No, Cook.

To my eye, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) is on track to prevail by 2-4 pts. By the standard of the 2021 runoffs, that's a Democratic blowout. #GASEN

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) December 7, 2022

Warnock’s only 53, the timing will be good for him to make a presidential run or be a running mate in 2028 when his term expires

Warnock/Fetterman ‘28

Would pay, I dunno, 35 cents to see a primary debate between Warnock, Fetterman, Buttigieg, Sinema, Crist, and Sanders

(and Harris; sorry, thought I'd included her in the list)

Whitmernock

Finally can stop posting this for two years

No one has “taken the lead” or “fallen behind.” The votes were all cast; now we’re just counting in no particular order.

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) December 7, 2022

BREAKING: Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock wins the Georgia Senate runoff, defeating Republican challenger Herschel Walker, CBS News projects. Democrats now hold a Senate majority of 51 seats. https://t.co/MpvceWK91y pic.twitter.com/RvrBw5QW1c

— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 7, 2022

Kinda feel bad for Tommy Tuberville, who is now officially the dumbest motherfucker in the Senate with little chance of relinquishing that title anytime soon.

if Herschel knew how to count he'd be very upset right now!!

Aw, poor Joe

Permitting reform left OUT of NDAA, as expected. Manchin/Schumer/Pelosi/Biden effort to pass energy permitting reform crashes for the second time in three months thanks to opposition from Republicans and progressives

— Joshua Siegel (@SiegelScribe) December 7, 2022

Too bad the House went Republican just as the Democrats picked up the 51st Senate seat. Congressional dysfunction is still assured for two more years. But maybe we'll all finally get to see Hunter's dick pics, so there is that.

Herschel was traded to another state for draft picks

Aimless it's really about the judiciary at this point afaict, which is no small beer

Do we have a Germany thread?

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/07/world/europe/germany-coup-arrests.html

I'm no political expert, but it remains perplexing how much support Trump and his menagerie of weirdoes still get from purportedly mainstream GOP figures, when it's pretty clear that running more "normal" Republicans would likely win more elections. I'm fine with them fucking it up, I just can't figure it out. Maybe they are literally afraid for their lives?

Oh, not totally unrelated: I was reading about the Great 2022 GOP Cat Litter Scare, and how (I think) Joe Rogan walked back his own support for the stupid rumor. This particular article, though, mentioned that they had followed up with every single school associated with a stupid cat litter rumor, and of course they all denied it and said it was totally stupid and made up ... except one: Columbine. “The district — where Columbine High School is located — has been stocking classrooms with small amounts of cat litter since 2017, but as part of ‘go buckets’ that contain emergency supplies in case students are locked in a classroom during a shooting.” That's just the kind of dark twist this (non) story deserved.

o_0

I'm no political expert, but it remains perplexing how much support Trump and his menagerie of weirdoes still get from purportedly mainstream GOP figures, when it's pretty clear that running more "normal" Republicans would likely win more elections. I'm fine with them fucking it up, I just can't figure it out. Maybe they are literally afraid for their lives?

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, December 7, 2022 7:51 AM (thirty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

obviously they've tried to paper over this but a lot of them really were spooked after 1/6. that said I think the big thing is that Trump is still, for some stupid reason, the most popular figure within the GOP, and he's also petty and vengeful enough to try to ruin the careers of anyone who goes after him. I mean look at what happened to Liz Cheney, or any GOP Senator who had "real concerns" abut the blatantly racist & corrupt stuff Trump was going in the White House.

Kinda feel bad for Tommy Tuberville, who is now officially the dumbest motherfucker in the Senate with little chance of relinquishing that title anytime soon.

I mean, this may just be home-state bias, but here in Tennessee we like to think Marsha Blackburn is a strong contender.

Cindy Hyde-Smith would win if she ever opened her mouth to speak, but....she's too smart for that.

this is Ron Johnson erasure

xp - Good god, the only political adjacent argument I ended up getting in over Thanksgiving was with my mom about that stupid fucking litter thing. She should know better, she's a Trump hater, doesn't watch FOX or CNN or really much cable news, votes blue consistently (at least since 2006ish), but good god. I immediately said, "come on, that's right wing bullshit so they can bitch and moan about trans kids" and she was all, "no, I know someone who knows someone with a kid at that district, it's true!". I kept pushing back and she eventually stormed off pouting, but I couldn't let that one alone.

There was just a long piece on the BBC by way of NPR about the coup attempt in Germany, and as soon as it was over the segue music they picked was Wilco's "Impossible Germany."

https://i.imgur.com/PxxnXoq.jpg

I got into the same argument with a cousin's wife, idk where she's at politically but again it was "no my neighbor's kid says it's true!"

John Oliver had a good point about this, if there really were kids shitting in litter boxes, the whole town would know about it the same day. do these people not know how high schools work?

The only thing I can think is that my mom spends an inordinate amount of time on FB and I'm guessing someone she "trusts" posted it so "it must be true!".

xpost haha, my dad related that one of my cousins said the catgirl/kitty litter in the bathroom thing was happening in the school she teaches in and I asked him for her phone number so I could call her and ask for details, and also get the name of the school so I could call them and ask if it was true. best possible way to get them to stop talking about it... ask for proof.

I know folks like to claim it's a race to the bottom of the IQ barrel between Ron Johnson and Tommy Tuberville, but Johnson was a corporate CEO and Tuberville was a college football coach, so in my mind it's no contest. Johnson might actually be smart-playing-dumb, like John Kennedy (the one from Louisiana). Tuberville, as his name suggests, is an ambulatory tuber.

Was annoying hearing people complaining about how the margin of victory over Herschel Walker "wasn't enough" when the race was called, since Warnock was only up 1% at the time. Like it was bad that Warnock didn't improve his vote share.

His margin is now almost a full 3%, maybe wait til they finish counting the votes, doofuses

It's time to stop talking about Herschel Walker and talk more about Raphael Warnock. Politico gets it right this morning:

“I am Georgia. I am an example and an iteration of its history. Of its pain and its promise, of the brutality and the possibility.”

And just like that, a Democratic political star was born.

Over the past 30 months, RAPHAEL WARNOCK has won a Senate primary, got the most votes in two general elections and won two runoffs. On Tuesday night, he finally won a full six-year term in the United States Senate.

A lot has been said about how flawed a candidate that Warnock’s opponent, HERSCHEL WALKER, was. (A lot.) And so much of the conversation and coverage of Georgia’s election centered on what it would mean for the power of a current and a former president.

But Warnock’s three-point win Tuesday underscored his own talents and cemented the 53-year-old pastor as one of the nation’s most compelling and effective Democratic politicians.

His five-election streak in a changing but still conservative state should be recognized as an amazing political feat. Warnock has managed to combine a compelling biography, going from Savannah’s housing projects to MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.’s pulpit, with disciplined messaging, relentless organizing and a stunning capacity for small-dollar fundraising.

He has cobbled together a Biden-esque coalition ranging from hyped-up Democrats to moderate Republicans and independents. “I want all of Georgia to know, whether you voted for me or not, that every single day I am going to keep working for you,” he said late Tuesday. “I’m proud of the bipartisan work I’ve done and I’m going to do more.”

Warnock heads back to Capitol Hill with his political stock at a new high. While Georgia’s runoff system is uniquely exhausting and historically suspect, it has redounded to Warnock’s benefit: Saturation coverage of two consecutive runoffs has made him one of the most recognizable United States senators in the country.

He had the political world’s undivided attention last night as he delivered lines like this: “[My mother] grew up in the 1950s in Waycross, Ga., picking somebody else’s cotton and somebody else’s tobacco. But tonight, she helped pick her youngest son to be a United States senator."

Maybe they are literally afraid for their lives?

I've seen this argued a few times. Possibly in some shadowier corners but I've also heard the argument that a lot of GOP elected types in DC don't actually want to go back to their home states and live among their fellow dullards, and I'm more sympathetic to that. Ergo, go with the flow to stay in office.

the whole talk about his margin of victory is stupid, they should focus on the fact that Democrats appear to be making real gains in Georgia, which is a big deal!

yeah I mean that was a solid red state my whole life, when people say "it shouldn't have been close" I'm thinking the other way!

compare to Florida, for example

the whole talk about his margin of victory is stupid, they should focus on the fact that Democrats appear to be making real gains in Georgia, which is a big deal!

― Muad'Doob (Moodles),

Listen, Warnock got more than 50% of the vote. In the South! In Georgia!

Georgia as a "solid red state" is not really accurate though

I saw someone observe a few weeks ago that Florida and Georgia have essentially swapped places.

Alllllmost got it:

In the aftermath of Republican Herschel Walker’s loss in the Georgia Senate runoff, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) offered a blunt message to GOP Senate leaders on Wednesday: “You don’t belong in our state running races anymore.”

Greene, an ally of former president Donald Trump who has generated many controversies, offered her autopsy on the race during an appearance on the podcast of former Trump White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon. Besides pointing the finger at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), she also blamed Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R) of neighboring South Carolina for Walker’s loss.

“This is especially for the campaign consultants with a 30,000-feet view, where they look down on Georgia and arrogantly think they know how to win races in our state,” Greene said. “This is for Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham and the rest of the Republican senators. You guys are the reasons why we are losing Republican races all over the country.”

“This is your third loss in my home state,” Greene said, apparently referring to the pair of Senate losses in the state two years ago that made Democrats the majority in the Senate.

Greene continued: “So let me inform you on behalf of Georgia: This is your third strike, and you’re out. You don’t belong in our state running key races anymore. No thank you. We don’t want your help.”

Greene also took aim at the Walker campaign for not using her more frequently as a surrogate. She said the campaign had only asked her two or three times to campaign with Walker when he was appearing in her district.

“They only asked me a couple of time in my own district, which I find extremely insulting,” she said. “You guys are the reason we are losing.”

"They only asked me a couple of times! It's almost as if people hated me almost as much!"

I wonder how much is sorting: bright, ambitious young people go to Atlanta for work, and elderly bigots retire to Florida.

thanks MTG, maybe you should show us how to win a Georgia senate race next

if she'd run against Warnock she probably would have won so

I’m not so sure. A statewide race would be very different for her. Her district is gerrymandered to be so die hard Republican they’d vote for anyone with an “R” after their name.

Yeah, no, she'd be an even worse candidate than Walker.

yeah, I don't think she'd do that great, I'm highly skeptical that her appeal really could extend much further than her little district

She would have lost.

We're again underestimating how seriously powerful a candidate Warnock is.

He's the pastor of the Mothership!

Wonder what happened to him pic.twitter.com/RGdYYehCPY

— Jessy Han (@hjessy_) December 7, 2022

Sen. Warnock didn’t win the runoff last night simply because of Herschel Walker’s flaws. He set out to energize liberal Georgians and swing voters with a far different approach than he used in the 2020 campaign. #gapol #gasen https://t.co/jfVwEHvn9w

— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) December 7, 2022

Johnson was a corporate CEO and Tuberville was a college football coach

Being a Power 5 footbaw coach is a far more intellectually demanding job than ‘CEO of your brother in law’s company.’

at the same time, there's a good chance that that is literally all he knows how to do, because every indication is that man is otherwise a moron.

Being a Power 5 footbaw coach is about as intellectually narrowing a job as you could ever find. Those guys can talk all day about the minutiae of whether to insert your nickel package on second down, but couldn't tell you that yogurt is made out of milk.

Play calling is like 5% of a coach’s job at that level - that’s why he has 74 assistant coaches and grad students. It’s a CEO-esque job, but with greater pressure and higher stakes than 99% of CEOs.

Tuberville is a moron but the idea that ‘CEO’/nepotism baby is indicative of any kind of higher functioning… not so much

she'd be an even worse candidate than Walker.

she is a moron through and through but she isn't schizophrenic AND brain damaged so I have a hard time believing she'd actually be a worse candidate.

less brain damage does not equal more votes

Particularly if you are off-putting to swing voters and Dems would crawl across broken glass to vote against you

She's actively repellent, which would hurt her with some voters.

xxxp She would get fewer votes than did Walker, who for all of his horrendous flaws is still a football hero in Georgia.

yup - despite his obvious flaws, he was once really good at something people care deeply about, while MTG is just a shrill troll with no redeeming qualities

I love that she's now directing her shrill trolling at McConnell and Graham. I guess that's a redeeming quality of sorts.

hmm why are we using the word "shrill"? 🤔

A 14 year old female child that lives in Texas came out last year as bisexual. Tonight she attempted suicide. This is what the hateful laws against the LGBTQ+ do to children. This child is Ted Cruz’s daughter.

— Thee Rosetta (@rosiegirl1957) December 7, 2022

https://www.advocate.com/news/2022/12/07/ted-cruzs-bi-daughter-ok-after-rushed-hospital-rep-says

i can't imagine what that child has gone through

ty caek, yeah plz don't do that (use "shrill" as a female pejorative)

No story I've read this week has made me more nauseated.

I fucking hate Ted Cruz, but we have no idea what happened or why. Having Ted Cruz as your father alone is a pretty shitty burden to bear.

you love to see it
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/07/kushner-democrats-congressional-probe-bailout/

Glad they're on that now with just a few weeks to go before congress changes leadership. We should see results ... never.

Duly noted re: "shrill," and it's not really the word I want anyway. Whatever the adjective is for blathering with no intelligence to back it up, and wanting to be seen as a tough person or bully. Like Jim Jordan.

Maybe not but annoying Jared will be good fun and that’s enough for me.

Glad they're on that now with just a few weeks to go before congress changes leadership. We should see results ... never.

I've got to assume even your average very rich person has a whole staff just to deal with legal bullshit, though I hope he is indeed annoyed beyond just having to pay more lawyers.

At the very least I want these people irritable and exasperated 24/7

I want them to feel like we all feel, plus the potential for jail time, no matter how remote.

xp Would "jabbering" work?

Or hectoring?

I suggest a neologism.

marjoring

lol

chefskiss.jpg

Biden swaps Viktor Bout (Russian arms dealer; I believe there's a Nicolas Cage movie about him) for Brittney Griner.

About time

Finally

Good news, although the endless house investigation into this will be excruciating

the endless house investigation into this

Already on Twitter there's a bunch of "I can't believe Senile Joe Biden gave away this guy I just heard of today for some pot-smoking black lesbian!"

re: cruz' daughter, what evidence was there to backup the claim that she is bisexual? this is a minor and it seems a bit weird to be digging into reasons for this episode if they aren't very public already.

Didn't she say she was on Twitter?

It's in the story.

Cruz’s eldest daughter shared on TikTok early this year that she was bisexual.

https://media.giphy.com/media/SEHij8ehkGYQE/giphy.gif

In the video, Caroline Cruz said she disagrees with most of her father's far right views, and even went so far as to accuse her parents of digitally altering a photo from the family's Christmas card to make her clothing look more conservative, LGBTQNation.com reported.

then there's this:

There’s a special hell being a teenage girl when your Dad is a famous (Republican) politician and you’re in middle/high school -and I did it before social media and before journalists would target minors and report on them.

Leave the entire Cruz family alone & just send prayers.

— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) December 7, 2022

Politicians going after the teenage daughters of their rivals?

]John McCain at a fundraising dinner in Arizona 1998. “Do you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly?” he told a handful of big Republican funders. “Because Janet Reno is her father.”

That maverick, John McCain.

the endless house investigation into this

Already on Twitter there's a bunch of "I can't believe Senile Joe Biden gave away this guy I just heard of today for some pot-smoking black lesbian!"

― but also fuck you (unperson), Thursday, December 8, 2022 9:22 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

lotta people attacking him for not also getting Paul Whelan out, though its not really clear if that was ever on the table

says something about Putin that they one they’d want back for a harmless pot-possessing us citizen is the international arms dealer known as the merchant of death.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/respect-for-marriage-act-house-vote-marriage-equality/

The House on Thursday approved legislation that provides federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages, sending the landmark bill to President Biden's desk for his signature and capping a decades-long shift in Americans' attitudes toward gay marriage.

Called the Respect for Marriage Act, the measure won bipartisan support in the Democratic-led House, after the lower chamber passed this summer a version of the bill with backing from 47 Republicans. The House vote to give final approval to the legislation was 258 to 169, with one Republican voting "present." Thirty-nine GOP lawmakers joined all Democrats in supporting the bill.

Mr. Biden pledged to sign the bill "promptly and proudly" once it passed the House.

The measure is likely to be one of the last significant legislative accomplishments from the Democratic House, and one of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's final acts as speaker, before the party turns over control of the lower chamber to Republicans with the start of the new Congress in January.

Trump admin did nothing to get Whelan out either, and, true or not, Russia is holding him because they accuse him of being a spy, which likely makes them more reluctant to let him go (Griener not accused of espionage). that said holding Whelan seems cruel and ridiculous and I doubt he's a spy.

"...and the Golden Globe goes to..."

Holy shit. A Republican just started crying on the floor of Congress begging them to vote against protecting marriage equality. pic.twitter.com/8l2n2epuQP

— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) December 8, 2022

What a hateful little gnome.

Hartzler opposes same-sex marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships.[39] She also opposes banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.[40] In 2019, Hartzler expressed her strong opposition to the Equality Act.[41] She has written an op-ed rejecting it.[42][43] She also opposes allowing transgender individuals to serve in the military.[40][44]

In 2019, Hartzler sponsored an event by proponents of conversion therapy in order to provide congressional office space, for which she was rebuked by Representative Ted Lieu, whose office was next to the event, and who sponsored legislation to ban conversion therapy.[45][46][44]

In March 2022, Hartzler's Twitter account was briefly suspended after tweeting, "Women’s sports are for women, not men pretending to be women", in reference to transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.[47]

Odds on her being closeted?

Have you seen her fabulous red leather jacket?

Odds on her being closeted?

― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Thursday, December 8, 2022 11:39 AM (seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

The only way to avoid getting gay married is to ban gay marriage, afaict.

Something something rammed down our throats

You have to admit, since the Obergefell decision America has become 12.5% more Satanic

California come get yr gal plz

Feinstein says about Democrats having 51 seats “it's terrific. And they can work if it's used, but there's a danger in it as well. And that's being too aggressive.”

— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) December 7, 2022

This is Hartzler's nephew, btw:

Right now: We're talking to Andrew Hartzler, nephew of Missouri congresswoman Vicky Hartzler. Andrew and others are suing over a controversial exemption to federal civil rights law that allows religious colleges to discriminate against gay students. https://t.co/RUfUoL2eSa

— St. Louis on the Air (@STLonAir) June 15, 2022

Yes, there he is.

Because of course

‘Don’t Say Gay’ Florida lawmaker indicted on fraud charges

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida lawmaker who sponsored the controversial law critics call “Don’t Say Gay” has been indicted on charges of defrauding a federal coronavirus loan program for small businesses, officials said Wednesday.

https://apnews.com/article/health-florida-business-tallahassee-government-and-politics-908a66654d725730cd85c80f715b2eba

how many years is he getting for attempting to impersonate Kid with that haircut

To The Extreme

He looks super Nazi too. Like a boyband Proud Boy.

Tearing Up Mein Kampf

this feels like a better strategy than going after brain damaged ken bone types

PA Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro's campaign sent out a memo outlining how it ran up the margins last month.

Key to the strategy? An effort to target Trump voters who believed Biden was legitimately elected pic.twitter.com/9z4kInAj51

— Allan Smith (@akarl_smith) December 8, 2022

Who are these non-ideological Trump voters, like what jobs and lifestyles do they have

genuinely do not know who those 15% are, what their experience of the world is like

I feel like there would be a lot of 50-something corporate accountants in that group.

"Brittney Griner is coming home. Will she stand for the anthem now?"

Fox News gotta Fox News.

Gotta respect those bombs bursting in air.

The extremely-thinly-veiled racism/sexism/homophobia in the right-wing sneering about her is super gross.

The veil is more like a sword.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/09/politics/kyrsten-sinema-leaves-democratic-party/index.html

No surprise, she needed a pirouette. But she wants to keep her committee assignmetns.

In a 45-minute interview, the first-term senator told POLITICO that she will not caucus with Republicans and suggested that she intends to vote the same way she has for four years in the Senate. “Nothing will change about my values or my behavior,” she said.

Also she takes herself out of a nomination fight in 2024 and puts AZ Dems in the position of either supporting her or running a candidate and potentially splitting the vote and electing a Republican

And Dems can continue hating her, so win-win

If I had one wish for this week, it would be for the world to (somehow) not react to Kristen Sinema as she continues to be herself, because - like so many narcissists in positions of power and influence - the attention and talk is what she craves.

Also she takes herself out of a nomination fight in 2024 and puts AZ Dems in the position of either supporting her or running a candidate and potentially splitting the vote and electing a Republican

Seems to me the trick would be for Schumer to find a lobbyist buddy willing to pay her enough to retire, and then run the best possible Democrat (do we have any more astronauts?) for her seat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_McClain#/media/File:Anne_C._McClain_portrait.jpg

Meh, nevermind

Ruben Gallego seems formidable.

She's not going to caucus with Republicans; her abortion and judge/justice votes would make her anathema anyway. This is a 2024 flex.

Some partisans believe they own this Senate seat.  

They don’t.  

This Senate seat doesn’t belong to Democratic or Republican bosses in Washington.  

It doesn’t belong to one party or the other, and it doesn’t belong to me.  

It belongs to Arizona, which is far too special a place to be defined by extreme partisans and ideologues.

fuckin' partisans. they think just because you ran as a Democrat and received all the advantages that the party gave you, that they can expect you to stay in that party for a whole term.

lots of "extreme partisans and ideologues" on both sides amirite

2024 as in re-election or 2024 as in running for president? is she that deluded?

she just trying to avoid the dem primary thinking she can still win the general or at least intimidate dems with the prospect of splitting the vote, the only problem with this strategy is absolutely everyone hates her, shell prob end up not running at all or drop out so early due to lack of support its effectually the same

you cant be like this and expect people to support you

A friend is a big Sinema supporter, someone she knows by name. They ran into each other at an event & after warm greetings this person asked “I wanna be helpful, what can I tell my people when they complain about what’s going on?” Sinema smiled and said “tell them to fuck off.”

— Tony Cani (@tcani) December 9, 2022

But she looked fabulous while she said it!

yeah, it's almost like an experiment to build the most repellent brand possible

based on her extremely alienating behavior i figured she must be planning on retiring to a cushy life of corporate kickbacks but no turns out shes just delusional

It's the tragedy of thinking you're smarter than everyone else

now sinema has free reign to play cards against humanity and do burlesque

— BrooklynGrad_Defiant! (@boomer_humor) December 9, 2022

It's so crazy that Kyrsten Sinema is a senator when she would be soooo much happier running a burlesque-themed knitting store that also sells those retro signs of housewives saying things like "I'm not a bitch, I just play one in your life."

— Gabriella Paiella (@GMPaiella) December 9, 2022

Kyrsten Sinema showing up to abolish food stamps pic.twitter.com/WTA1eQf8LQ

— The Peppermint Dipshit (@HelloCullen) October 2, 2021

Sinema's is going to be a really fascinating and satisfying downward spiral to witness.

She dresses like an 18-year-old gay man's idea of what women dress like based on one viewing of your mom's DVD copy of The Devil Wears Prada.

Sinema's is going to be a really fascinating and satisfying downward spiral to witness.

― Beautiful Bean Footage Fetishist (Old Lunch)

Counterpoint: it won't be.

its pretty funny that you can trace this genius political idea that theres some special huge desire for a brave independent politician in arizona back to the completely made up media idea that john mccain was a brave independent

even Joe L. waited until he lost the Dem nomination to go independent and claim that the party was too extreme for him now. Sinema is just like "not feelin' it."

shes clearly had this plan for a while lol but has confused only wanting to hang out with corporate donors with being the brave free thinker

on the bright side she seems to legitimately hate talking to the press or people in general, so it's likely we won't be seeing her with a tv show or something

also she was obv hoping the georgia runoff would go the other way so she could be the center of attention oh well

the only problem with this strategy is absolutely everyone hates her

Checks out: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/09/kyrsten-sinema-approval-rating-equally-unpopular-everyone.html

Mark Kelly won his re-election relatively easily without doing all that goofy shit Sinema pretends she has to do

— Bayek of Sowa (@SowaTheArrogant) December 9, 2022

“Nothing will change about my values or my behavior,” she said.

― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, December 9, 2022 6:22 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

oh good

If times and circumstances weren’t so dire, I would wish her eventual Republican challenger all the luck.

shes not going to have a republican challenger shes done man

Washed

is independent American sinema dead?

ayy lol

kinda funny how the dems got their two dumbest senators to eat the bullet for their terrible policies

go ahead. keep screaming "Shut The Fuck Up " at me. it only makes my opinions Worse

— wint (@dril) March 10, 2018

Lol

Omar COMIN’

From earlier this year:

Sinema believes she will be running to President in 2024 I am told. This self-styled bipartisanship she believes she speaks for, will be her brand to run as the candidate in the middle. Not far-left of far-right. She has convinced herself this is her calling and she has it.

5/

— Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) January 13, 2022

lol lets go

after she finishes 5th in the primaries, she will join Tulsi's show

seems a little high

oh wait, she's going to run independent, what fucking primary lol

would think shell prob still run as a dem if she goes for pres but who knows the idea is so bad already maybe shes convinced she can win as an independent

Sinema would make a lot more sense if it were purely a Tulsi-like grift. The fact that she seems to think she can become President while not making a single voter like her is a sign of something off.

I mean I know Bernie did that, but it's easier to do when you've always been an Independent and need to run as a Democrat out of necessity than when you purposefully took a shit on the party and expect them to carry your water 2 years later.

in any case i can't wait to watch that dumpster fire

xpost

Bye Felicia 👋🏿

This isn’t about the party this is about your pharma donors! Stop lying! pic.twitter.com/cbG6cmiFor

— Congressman Jamaal Bowman (@RepBowman) December 9, 2022

is independent American sinema dead?

so good

she seems to think she can become President

she couldn't be that delusional, could she? seems more likely to me she imagines this is the way to recapture being 'the most important person in the room' and believes that Arizonans appreciate 'mavericks', when in reality almost everyone can see that her maverick pose is just an infantile contrarianism and she can only 'dominate the room' by throwing loud tantrums.

centrist, third way thinking is the religion of op-ed writers and lobbyists. they are always looking for a champion.

I’m let’s be clear, after Trump’s presidency we should all feel emboldened to throw our hats in the ring because there seem to be absolutely no qualifications for the job beyond “be born here” and “be at least 35”

forgetting "be best"

centrist, third way thinking is the religion of op-ed writers and lobbyists. they are always looking for a champion.

― The Beatles were the first to popularize wokeism (President Keyes)

even with the Morning Joe crowd she's become the butt of jokes, so I wonder who'd be her constituency besides Big Pharm.

DJP/Lord Sotosyn ‘28

ha

hmmmmmmmm pic.twitter.com/dgip47KLqA

— Bad Electoral Takes (@BitecoferStan) December 9, 2022

owned

Kyrsten Sinema has an 18% favorable rating in Arizona right now.

Democrats: 5% fav, 82% unfav
Independents: 25% fav, 56% unfav
Republicans: 25% fav, 45% unfav

(Normally this is paywalled here so just screenshots) pic.twitter.com/kC54Iy6hwL

— Drew Linzer (@DrewLinzer) December 9, 2022

she's toast

centrist, third way thinking is the religion of op-ed writers and lobbyists. they are always looking for a champion

She could be a guest on every Sunday show every week if she wanted to be, but she flips off the press just as disdainfully as her constituents, and that's what is really going to be her (political) doom.

What did she do in late July that made everybody dislike her more?

That was when Manchin agreed to vote for the IRA and she held out to keep the carried interest loophole--which pissed off Democrats. Then she voted for the bill, which pissed off Republicans.

thought you meant Irish Republican Army at first

If only the Loyalists and the Republicans had someone like Sinema to bridge their differences

(Perhaps not the right thread, but I wonder if both Putin and Biden recognized and capitalized upon the significance of the prisoner exchange for their own and the other's constituencies and about the strategic and quotidian consequences, i.e., it was a fair exchange based on values and their consequences.)

@mtsw (now private) otm in hit quote tweet of this "Impossible for me to understand the people who thought this guy was gonna lose his election."

It me + G + Christian Bale circa 1830 pic.twitter.com/4NXMuUQ5j5

— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) December 9, 2022

dfag about sinema

and re this:

this feels like a better strategy than going after brain damaged ken bone types

PA Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro's campaign sent out a memo outlining how it ran up the margins last month.

Key to the strategy? An effort to target Trump voters who believed Biden was legitimately elected pic.twitter.com/9z4kInAj51
— Allan Smith (@akarl_smith) December 8, 2022

― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Thursday, December 8, 2022 5:32 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Republicans enjoyed a superior turnout this fall, based on authoritative data on turnout by party from NC, AZ, GA, NV, NY and FL, but lost high-profile races because of defections from Republican-leaning voters https://t.co/fFYmIuzOOg

— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) December 9, 2022

given the current GOP, it's easier to win republican voters than true swing voters, and there are more of them.

Wasn't that Shapiro's strategy?

yes.

None of us would gaf about sinema, if she weren't a us senator and perpetually capable of shitting on the floor in a closely divided senate

now THAT i'd love to see, literal shitting on the senate floor

https://processedmedia.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/mr-show-s1-ep4-3.png

didn't she dress like that once

ChatGPC helping me write alternate future history:

Hello, and thank you for coming to hear my concession speech.

I am truly bewildered at the results of this election. I am shocked and disappointed that I did not receive a single vote.

I want to congratulate Tony Hawk on his historic victory and his impressive performance in the electoral college. I also want to thank all of the voters who participated in this election.

I am grateful for the support and encouragement I received during my campaign, and I am humbled by the opportunity to have run for President.

While this is not the outcome I had hoped for, I accept the will of the people and I will continue to work to make our country a better place.

Thank you again for your support.

[Kyrsten Sinema is hit in the face with a pie thrown by Tom Higgins. She looks surprised and confused, but quickly recovers and walks offstage]

Re: Griner's release

Bout’s conviction in 2011 came after years of painstaking effort by US intelligence, diplomatic and law-enforcement agencies; exchanging such a dangerous criminal for an athlete with no discernible intelligence value to Russia is, unavoidably, an affront to the US justice system.

By one estimate, 60 US citizens are currently held as hostages or otherwise wrongfully detained overseas. Given the administration’s self-congratulatory social-media barrage following the release, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that Griner’s celebrity was a major reason her cause was treated with outsized urgency. Whelan’s family gave a very generous statement celebrating Griner’s release — while also noting that it was “a catastrophe for Paul.” Other families may feel the same way.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-12-09/biden-cut-a-costly-deal-for-brittney-griner?srnd=premium-asia

exchanging such a dangerous criminal

o no he might go back to competing with OUR arms dealers

it’s hard to escape the conclusion that Griner’s celebrity was a major reason her cause was treated with outsized urgency

I can't muster any outrage at this conclusion. hundreds of thousands of people exert much greater political influence than just a few hundreds of people can hope to generate.

an athlete with no discernible intelligence value to Russia

get fucked

re: the Bloomberg opinion and the trade

http://twitter.com/Sharon_Kuruvila/status/1601224322051624960

Sorry, not sure why that didn't work. Quote from that tweet re: Bloomberg and other such reactions:

fundamentally the vast majority of people whining about this have not cared about the Merchant of Death right up to the point he could be used as a card against the government

the real reason people are bitching is because they somehow think the Black lesbian should have been left to rot in a gulag

interesting that paul whelan is being used as the foil here cause it seems like he might actually have been up to some shit, also the government has said that russia wants more for him so its not like it was a choice between him and griner

I think there's some ex-KGB hitman in a German prison, and Russia wants the U.S. to exert heavy pressure

Also the people running around calling Whelan "a Marine" tend to leave out this bit:

Whelan served with the Marine Corps Reserve from 2003-2008, much of the time as an administrative clerk in Iraq. At the end of that period, he was dishonourably discharged for larceny and other lesser offences, after being found to have tried to steal $10,000.

lol

also has a history of lying about law enforcement experience and at the time of his arrest was "director of global security and investigations for BorgWarner, an international automotive parts manufacturer based in Michigan" ie he exactly fits the profile of someone who might try to do some amateur spying

Also his family's statement was gracious and made super clear that the two cases are completely different and it was never an either or. That Bloomberg writer is a piece of shit.

read that as BongWater xpost

Majority Leader Sinema?

There’s no better way for Democrats to show their commitment to bipartisanship than by making the quirky triathlete the Senate boss.

— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) December 9, 2022

triathlete huh bike accident just an idea

read that as BongWater xpost

Who else will join her Chenin Blanc Caucus?

A caucus of one is no caucus at all

I saw someone tweet that Sinema either needed more attention or less attention at some earlier stages of her life, but either way it's too late now.

*chef's kiss* pic.twitter.com/Va74BB6EG9

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 9, 2022

Famous people you thought were dead...

Probably mixed him up w/the Dad from ALF.

That’s Mr Willie Tanner to you!

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/12/09/politics/kari-lake-election-lawsuit-arizona/index.html

"Defeated Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has filed suit in Arizona Superior Court challenging the certification of the state’s election."

Seeing that photo of Lieberman takes me back to Days of Hangdog Sanctimony Past.

Xpost so it's basically just "It's fraud because who wouldn't want to vote for me?"

Like Trump, she cannot imagine anyone not voting for her.

Benjy Sarlin tweets: Yesterday’s dumb “they won’t arrest him because of his donations” conspiracy becomes tomorrow’s “they arrested him to stop his testimony” conspiracy, just putting down a marker

Yesterday’s dumb “they won’t arrest him because of his donations” conspiracy becomes tomorrow’s “they arrested him to stop his testimony” conspiracy, just putting down a marker

— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) December 13, 2022

And then the comments go on to prove him exactly immediately right.

I just realized I never eulogized the Iowa caucuses

rip, you probably made my state worse

At one Des Moines precinct tonight, an attendee brought in a concealed bottle of wine, dropped it, and it shattered everywhere pic.twitter.com/qHNMP6NLOH

— Iowa Starting Line (@IAStartingLine) February 4, 2020

(I’m pretty sure that was at my precinct lol)

(I’m pretty sure that was at my precinct lol)

double posting? sounds like someone's been drinking coat wine

So the FTX guy can commit fraud, be charged and arrested and extradited in seemingly less than a month, while Trump can literally have stolen classified docs scattered around his house and the case will take years?

I don't remember FTX attempting to overthrow the govt.

it seems like years, but the FBI raid was 4 months ago and things went on hold for a good chunk of that time due to midterm elections and the special master stuff that just got thrown out

so

BREAKING: 2,319 texts from Mark Meadows now public, showing 34 Republican members of Congress texting with him about January 6, the fake electors, and declaring martial law (or "Marshall Law," sic), per Talking Points Memo.

the coup cucks clan

(sorry I hate the word cucks I just couldn't resist.)

Lots of people talk about martial law while in office. Lots of people. I'm hearing - Marshall Law, it's a thing that a lot of cabinet members discuss. Obama talked about Marsha law all the time. All the time. Many times. There is nothing unusual about that. Nothing. Maxwell Law gets talked about in elections frequently. this was not a coup. not a coup.

We were just talking about legal decisions written by Thurgood Marshall

Pretty sure they are referencing Marcia Law, which gives the US Military carte blanche to throw footballs at the noses of civilians that break curfew.

I know TPM is making a big deal about these texts, and there's probably more to come, but does any of it amount to proof of chargeable crimes or is it just general assholery?

Dying at “Maxwell Law”

enforced with silver hammers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk71h2CQ_xM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUnNDEygBjA

Moodles I don't know if asking a President to declare martial law is in itself a crime, as they could just say "well he could say no!".

but it's part of a broader conspiracy I would guess. I'm no lawyer though.

i tried calling marshall law once but he wasn’t home

i called marshall law once in his vegetable garden but he said, my name’s not law, and i said, you can say that again

so he said my name’s not law

and then he arrested me for disturbing the peas

https://i.imgflip.com/746qta.jpg

lol and now the Jan. 6 committee is just withdrawing subpoenas left and right. I mean, the targets were never going to comply, but still, they basically ran out their own shot clock.

to me, the kind of thing I would look for in texts that would constitute a more straightforward crime would be a politician discussing how they were helping to arm and provide logistics to Proud Boys in order to take over the Capitol and kidnap key members of Congress. Most of what I've seen so far looks far more vague.

RIP Kevin O'Neill
http://www.bedetheque.com/media/Planches/PlancheS_34233.jpg

remember 1987, when superheroes were so culturally dominant and being taken seriously by adults that we needed satire that vicious, black and obvious

like i keep saying, DeSantis is a sincere crank and I think it will be off-putting on a national stage. https://t.co/C0HvOSb8Xi

— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) December 13, 2022

is he sitting in front of a wall of karens?

National Front Wall of Karens

Whoever "they" is are about to learn how petulant and frog-faced DeSantis is.

DeSantis is also "creating a grand jury to investigate mRNA shots & Big Pharma" — yeah this kind of stuff makes me think he's just not very smart. Either he believes this anti-vax bullshit, which means he's intellectually dumb, or he is so far ensconced in the right-wing bubble that he thinks things that are very important there are very important to the broader population, which means he's politically dumb. (I suspect the answer is both — he's dumb and he's dumb.)

his eyes always seem a little bloodshot, maybe from the relentless scowl

It's both, and he thinks he'll win lol

About 20-25% of the population is convinced that great crimes were committed by Fauci/pharma/etc during the Great Lockdown era and is out for revenge. But I just don't see that playing all that well on the road.

his eyes always seem a little bloodshot, maybe from the relentless scowl hooch.

What the pundit class hasn't figured out is how Trumpism without Trump isn't popular either.

Someone on that Rupar thread points out that Florida had more than double the Covid deaths of Canada

i think it has more than twice the population of canada tho

nope, 20 million vs. 37 million for Canada, about half

so 4x Covid deaths, roughly

per capita

The real revelation people should have had from COVID was that a lot of people will be perfectly happy for you to die rather than inconvenience themselves. The naked selfishness of pandemic politics.

100%

Yea the death stat is one Ronnie's stans blame on the elderly population, which ignored other populations that skew that way that didn't have our death.

We had large pockets of low vaxxed areas thanks to his politicized DOH, and these often tended to be elder areas

The exceptions: Cuban seniors, who believe their doctors as much as God and, as I've heard many times, were willing to say "Trump was wrong" about masks.

Cocoa Beach area REALLY bad. During the first wave, I would drive down there because I missed my visits there, but I wasn't willing to go to the beach/bars/etc. I'd just make the drive and jam tunes to recreate something fun while waiting for shit to get better.

But I went into a corner store to get a soda and had a mask on and some fossil snickered behind his back.

Nobody out there has masked since like...one month in April 2020

yeah, to my relief, I'm seeing slightly more masking in Publix (where employees have somewhat masked since spring '22).

DeSantis is awful, but I don't see too many impediments to him eventually taking over the republican party. I'm not sure I believe people who are saying he could never be elected because he is too short/too uncharismatic/too unappealing or too unlikable. He is likable enough to a lot of people who are of a similar mindset.

His eagerness to inflame culture wars though, in the most crass possible ways - that is really creepy and maybe it will be his undoing

Believe the Floridians. Can he win the nomination? Sure. But ask Scott Walker.

He is likable enough to a lot of people who are of a similar mindset.

The problem is getting the other 10% of the population. If everything has gone to shit by Nov. 2024 he could win, sure - but it's an uphill battle because most people find this form of culture war off-putting.

Trump 2016 was nowhere near as revolting for normies - xenophobia and racism are as American as apple pie and you get to hide behind cover like "illegal" immigration. Psychotic denunciations of doctors and classroom litter box and Satanic Panic 2.0 shit seems insane to people who just want to get by in life with a little less stress.

I understand the tendency not to understate any GOP candidate's chances after 2016 (I did too)...but that was a one-off year. Six years later and the midterms have if anything proved that the swing voters who really care about this shit are fucking bored of Trumpism no matter who embodies it.

I wore a Fuck DeSantis shirt for five minutes and got a compliment

Yeah, friend’s partner wrote this, the weirdness is probably unpalatable https://newrepublic.com/article/169050/masters-vance-weird-right-republicans

I regularly get compliments on my Obama t-shirt. No one has ever said anything negative about it.

re: milo's and alfred's posts - I guess, I hope so

Trump 2016 was nowhere near as revolting for normies

Because Trump was a TV star. He was pre-existing IP. Once he was in office and had to actually, you know, be President, people who had previously been neutral-to-"how bad could he be?" fucking hated him. DeSantis doesn't have that built-in cushion. He's not a celebrity, just a politician.

Basically everyone who read The Invisible Bridge in 2014 and noted Reagan's deep talent on radio and TV forgot how Trump had been following a similar path for nearly a decade before 2015, not to mention another decade of headlines.

I still remember one of my partners in 2016 saying that Trump wouldn't be so bad because he would be surrounded by good, competent people.

I think that DeSantis's cushion might be that culture war shit, which he is really playing up

A lot of people in 2016 were also saying that Trump would be a lot more moderate than he was, and it wasn't totally unreasonable at that point, but DeSantis has an actual record that he can't hide from, he isn't fooling anyone.

Not many feathers left in that cushion, Dan, as the midterms proved.

Look, I'm just trying to keep ILE from scareporning over this guy.

:)

;)

A ridiculous amount of OTM in the last 10-15 posts

Honestly, on the most superficial grounds there's no way DeSantis will ever be president.

1) His speaking voice
2) His inability to stand or walk like a normal human
3) His inability to feign happiness or pleasure in front of cameras
4) He looks like Michael Dukakis after one semi-successful eyebrow-threading appointment

lol I sincerely hope that's how people see him

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FeV7CkCXkAMEgzB?format=jpg&name=medium

and it wasn't totally unreasonable at that point, but DeSantis has an actual record that he can't hide from

2016 newcomer to public life, Donald J. Trump

He certainly presented himself as being more moderate on some issues than he turned out to be and there wasn't really a political record to contradict that. Doesn't make supporting him any more justifiable as he was clearly terrible, but this was definitely something a lot of people used to rationalize it. A
I don't think DeSantis can expect to get that benefit of a doubt.

Running against the GOP establishment/calling Bush a war criminal/etc. helped him with a crucial bloc of dumbasses.

credit where its due the running against the gop part was honestly pretty good

_and it wasn't totally unreasonable at that point, but DeSantis has an actual record that he can't hide from_

2016 newcomer to public life, Donald J. Trump

since he never held any political office they could project their hopes and fantasies onto him.

He encouraged this by making crazy promises, such as a replacement for the ACA that would be much better and much cheaper for everyone. And fabulous trade deals that would revitalize US manufacturing and bring back all the jobs that have been off-shored in the past three decades.

Yeah, friend’s partner wrote this, the weirdness is probably unpalatable https://newrepublic.com/article/169050/masters-vance-weird-right-republicans

― G. D’Arcy Cheesewright (silby), Tuesday, December 13, 2022 7:49 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah I think this hits the nail on the head I think. Trump could get away with this because he was just an odd and unserious person. He got away with "I could shoot someone". He got away with mocking a handicapped person. He got away with "grab 'em by the pussy". This was because he was not a politician, he was Donald Trump. The dude from Celebrity Apprentice and three decades of tabloids. He was a pure reactionary: he never seemed like he had any real political beliefs at all. you could imagine him being talked into anything.

like I don't think political gravity just disappeared after 2016. I think it just never existed for a guy like *him*. pretty much all these weirdos lost in spite of generally favorable conditions. Roy Moore lost them a Senate seat in Alabama. Kari Lake lost the governorship that Ducey won by 15. I do think they'll find a way to rebound as they just have so much fucking money to burn but it's not immediately clear how

it's not immediately clear how

there's a section of the GOP, typified by Mitch McConnell (R-Ky), that desperately wants Trump to die asap, but who will never repudiate him publicly for as long as he lives.

I think he's still their most electable candidate right now! he's the only guy they got who can motivate the crazies while not turning off a ton of independents who still like him because he's entertaining and "sticks it to the media" or whatever. CNN used to air hours of footage of empty podiums that Trump was supposed to speak at "any minute now". can you imagine them doing anything like that for a guy like RON DESANTIS??

Trump didn’t have a political record!

he had a record of statements and actions tho

I'm not saying people weren't bamboozled in their own good faith, it's "not totally unreasonable" that I'm poking

massive xp
5) Unlike GWB, he's the last person on earth you'd want to have a beer with.

Probably a Mike's Hard Lemonade drinker

republicans in general are having the not guys youd want to have a beer with problem, not guys youd want to be in the same room as, not guys youd want to turn your back to

https://i.imgur.com/JSBKbCo.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/4WV1d3d/675d5a84998196ea91fffc1aabc7080c.jpg

xpost ^ A man who has studied many pictures of smiles and spent many hours practicing in the mirror. He's getting there. Baby steps.

And finally, Trump was, you gotta hand it to him, funny. DeSantis is a humorless fanatic.

The best line Trump ever came up with: during the primary, after Jeb! babbles about how Barbara is the kindest, sweetest mother he could've had, Trump hurls back, "Well, she should've run for president then."

A man who has studied many pictures of smiles and spent many hours practicing in the mirror. He's getting there. Baby steps.

In other words, what they call "Ted Cruz Energy".

you have to salute the effort. not easy for a man whose face is a grafted-on 1950s catcher's mitt

badly CGI de-aged Ewan McGregor, based on that last photo

um that's ET

lmao

And finally, Trump was, you gotta hand it to him, funny. DeSantis is a humorless fanatic.

― Lord Pickles (Boring, Maryland), Wednesday, December 14, 2022 7:43 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

ya I think this is kind of a big deal too, the entire GOP is full of dumb assholes which is a broadly unappealing shtick unless you're at least kinda funny. that said man if you watch those 2015 GOP debates and compare them to Trump NOW holy hell has he fallen off

having lived through it I don't think Jesse Ventura's campaign for Minnesota governor is studied enough, there was just a certain weird energy about it (not that is was like Trump politically) but a certain "fuck it i hate all these stuffed shirts" energy that I felt during the first Trump campaign. Jesse wore out his welcome pretty quick as well.

he's not a fascist like Trump but I think his campaign in important in what became the Trump phenomenon. In fact, there's a clip of MN Attorney General Keith Ellison on a Sunday political chat show where he says "I don't know, there's something to this, I lived through Jesse and I think Trump is real" (I'm paraphrasing from memory)...then all the smug talking heads laugh out loud at him.

yeah classic tv moment

theres def something to being an iconoclastic non politician who is good at tv, not too many of those guys out there tho, like dr oz famous tv guy ended up just being a very bad at politics oblivious rich guy

imagine if the pittsburg big boy were good at tv they would elect him president right now

lol I read that too fast as pillsbury dough boy

like dr oz famous tv guy ended up just being a very bad at politics oblivious rich guy

'oblivious rich guy' was also Trump's shtick but he pulled it off because he was so aloof and irreverent in ways you can't be when you call yourself a doctor on TV. Oz mocking Fetterman's health landed with such a thud because he presented himself as a guy who was better than that. as a lot of people have noted the key to understanding all this lies in the world of professional wrestling. hence ums's post. I guess I could see Vince McMahon pulling it off.

Desantis/Sta-Puf Marshmallow Man 2024 xp

'oblivious rich guy' was also Trump's shtick

― frogbs, Wednesday, December 14, 2022 12:19 PM (twenty-three seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

gotta disagree trump is very tuned into the psychotic loser unconscious of the nation and studiously crafted his messaging to appeal to it, its been often observed that he used his rallies as focus groups

another way of reading Trump's media appeal is that he had the brash, punchy, obnoxious loudmouth style of an old-school New York City public figure, without really reading as a "New Yorker" to most Americans. plus he said "you're fired" on TV a lot. so he was well prepared to read as the KIND of "political outsider" people think they want --- someone who cuts through the bullshit, tells it like it is, etc. --- while delivering the ideology of white America's dumbass racist uncle from Florida.

he was famous and good at tv and he roasted the other gop candidates to their faces, then the dems ran a candidate who sucked and everyone hated

after that some other stuff happened lol

it was her turn

that time trump hooped up his throws of paper towels to hurricane victims is how i perceive all of his humor to like, every extent. xp

She didn't suck, she didn't stand a chance for what Trump pulled off thst night, which may not have even happened a day earlier or later and if Comey hadn't helped Trump.

Under those circumstances I don't think FDR would've beaten Trump.

it was her turn

more than that, HRC cannily used every angle to build a facade of inevitability and scare off prospective candidates very early in the race when her competitors should have been laying the groundwork for a national campaign. by the time Bernie exposed her weakness it was too late for a less-hated establishment candidate to get in.

Here we go again

Woo!

2016 was as much of a watershed election as 1980, which was picked over endlessly, too

Also similarly shitty outcome.

HRC could have won with a better campaign that understood Trump's appeal. Whether it's her fault or her peoples' fault — almost certainly both — it's not true that she couldn't have won, she obviously could have. They underestimated and misunderstood Trump. But to be fair so did lots of people, including people who get paid a lot of money to understand politics.

Anyway. Trump in 2015-16 was pretty entertaining, and definitely his experience as a loudmouth TV celebrity was a big part of it. He's not nearly as entertaining any more in all sorts of ways, and neither are any of the other likely GOP contenders. Lightning in a bottle is a hard to come by.

I sometimes daydream about going back in time and assassinating Reagan

hillary sucked in the way only a legacy hire can, she never wouldve made it to the primary if she wasnt a clinton, truly one of the absolute worst at politics people weve ever seen, if you need proof she did lose an election to donald trump

xp - Squeaky Fromme chose the wrong target.

that time trump hooped up his throws of paper towels to hurricane victims is how i perceive all of his humor to like, every extent. xp

― normal AI yankovic (Hunt3r), Wednesday, December 14, 2022 11:51 AM (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

imo the funniest moment was when he had to do that trick or treating White House event and there was some kid in a Minion costume who had his basket tucked out of view or something. Trump just doesn't know what to do so he just puts the candy on his head. IMO that's kind of what made Trump's whole shtick work - the entire GOP platform is based around this idea that everything is simple and easily solved and you can only pull that off with a candidate who never makes an effort to do anything and instead just constantly falls upward

democrats just accepting the clinton dynasty as cool and normal is yet another data point in a vast constellation of terrible worthlessness

the fever is breaking we all love Fetterman now

btw as long as we're relitigating 2016 I still wanna point out that Hillary "won" by 3,000,000 votes and almost certainly would have won the election if not for Comey putting his thumb on the scale. I agree she was a garbage candidate but it's not like Trump was some unstoppable force. I mean at one point he was down so far in the polls that his own party was urging him to pull out.

Remember when the takeaway for five minutes post-2016 election was "Dems need to start to listen to these very real concerns voters in the Rust Belt have before everyone conceded that many of these voters were also very racist

Trump was never President we all died the night before the election

imo the funniest moment was when he had to do that trick or treating White House event and there was some kid in a Minion costume who had his basket tucked out of view or something. Trump just doesn't know what to do so he just puts the candy on his head.

If it had been a Big Mac, the kid and his head wouldn't have stood a chance

btw as long as we're relitigating 2016 I still wanna point out that Hillary "won" by 3,000,000 votes and almost certainly would have won the election if not for Comey putting his thumb on the scale. I agree she was a garbage candidate but it's not like Trump was some unstoppable force. I mean at one point he was down so far in the polls that his own party was urging him to pull out.

― frogbs, Wednesday, December 14, 2022 1:04 PM (three seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

trump was a historically unpopular candidate, and just a gross dude, and hillary still found a way to lose to him

Trump was a historically unpopular candidate, and just a gross dude, and Comey still found a way to stan for him.

Remember when the takeaway for five minutes post-2016 election was "Dems need to start to listen to these very real concerns voters in the Rust Belt have before everyone conceded that many of these voters were also very racist

comey was very bad for her for sure but shit happens you know

Alfred, do you want to do a coup in Honduras or something?

Like I think you’re great but the Hillary stanning is just NOT it.

Now? I have a Zoom in 30 mins. Ask me later.

coup brainstorming sesh no doubt

I'm not stanning, I'm repeating what tips and frobgs said.

Plus, it's Wednesday, and I'm passing the time till my critics group settles on Brendan Fraser playing a fat gay man in The Whale.

ask not for what the comey stans. it's not you.

*back in the brainstorming sesh*

what about a triple coup on new years day

we need to get an aristocrat failson in the mix here

With a Negroni.

I mean I do think the entire party coalescing around someone the Republican party has spent 20 years attacking and devising bizarre conspiracy theories about was probably not a great idea. like they straight up admitted the whole point of the Benghazi hearings was to damage her reputation. that stuff really does have an effect on people who don't really follow politics closely.