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

DOJ really only has less than a year until it's "too close to the election." There will probably be GOP debates in August.

Fox News asked the White House for comment on a trollish story about Biden appointing queer activists to an HIV advisory council.

The White House’s official comment: A shirt that says “Uncle Sam doesn’t care, snowflakes.” https://t.co/NpdGW3ayuh pic.twitter.com/jc1xDkfHsj

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) December 19, 2022

The best thing for all concerned would be for Trump to have a massive coronary (or stroke, or whatever) and die.

If that story's true, my respect for the Biden White House increased fivefold.

A very interesting Politico story about just how fucked the Republicans are with Roe v Wade overturned.

Herein lies part of my skepticism though, it's really not hard to imagine the DOJ coming back months from now saying they don't consider it "airtight".

Worth keeping in mind that it's not the DOJ per se, it's special counsel Jack Smith, who both gives the DOJ/Garland at large a degree of cover and also looks like this:

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/11/18/multimedia/18trump-special-counsel-jack-smith-1-489e/18trump-special-counsel-jack-smith-1-489e-jumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp

Credit where credit's due, Smith has gotten to work immediately, and he's not playing.

good to see that the doj has the knights templar on the case

He looks like he can definitely go undercover as a right wing douche

Jordan Peterson look alike, hope he has the voice.

if that photo were a NES boss you would have to attack the eyes in order to do damage

Garland also pulled this guy in from prosecuting war crimes in Kosovo

xp In the final form. First you have to blow his beard off.

check out the foxnews.com homepage; apparently there's nothing newsworthy about Donald Trump today....

that story about George Santos is wild, how fucking useless is the NY democratic party that they didn't dig this shit up on him during the campaign? it's not one white lie, or fudging a detail here or two; this is like full blown fabrication of backstory, no corroboration of his employment or schooling or how he gets his money.

the state democratic parties are insanely fucked in most of the country and I can’t be sure but I think a little bit goes back to Obama not engaging with the DNC at all when he was the de facto head democrat

no one’s got time to do any real research or support campaigns, they’re all just chasing their own tails and trying to figure out whether there’s a stable political hierarchy to move within

I’m surmising this based on a connection to a state Democratic Party executive director

democrats are huge losers (its their job) news at 11 haha

Biden's comms team strikes again:

This is amazing: President Biden invited the gay nephew of the Republican Congresswoman who cried over marriage equality to the White House to watch him sign marriage equality into law. pic.twitter.com/6laCklg5K7

— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) December 20, 2022

Where’s the tax returns?

Good evening!

Here come those tax returns!

I’d like to etc

If/when they really get released there's going to be a whole cottage industry of people scouring them.

we know that Republicans would never make hush payments to porn stars or even fave porn tweets on this app https://t.co/WWMS18Mviq

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 21, 2022

"Rebel against liberal culture: Quit porn." for January Thread Title.

...or "GET OFF YOUR COMPUTER & MEET A GIRL"

My b how am i supposed to meet girls w/o computer

has he even met a girl, do we know

Incels rise up!

has he even met a girl, do we know

― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, December 21, 2022 1:16 AM bookmarkflaglink

is this the new Geldof/Bono charity collaboration

Never forget

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

The tax returns are out:

Nice for some https://t.co/shQiIh2wT2 pic.twitter.com/c7Pkpp65vO

— Cory Doctorow (see pluralistic.net) (@doctorow) December 21, 2022

The couple paid $650 in taxes

The tax paid by the Trumps was $0 and they claimed a refund of $5.47 million.

What a tax genius.

That's precisely how his most fervent nutbags will greet this news ("He cheated the IRS? What a hero!").

I can’t get a girl because of microplastics

"We underperformed in 2024 midterms because men are becoming sissies thanks to plastics" is going to rock as an argument. https://t.co/7GACc6OcOK

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) December 21, 2022

T’s a wish fulfillment fantasy for all those who want to “beat the system”.

"But if you talk about it--wow, that's weird. Right?" for Jan. thread title

Yeah, I have no idea what the top-level takeaway is supposed to be for the tax returns. I assume that most wealthy people with access to savvy financial advisors use various strategies to minimize their tax obligations, simply as a matter of course. I have no idea what's above board based only on the summary in that tweet.

No way to know without seeing the returns, but those look like massive losses. Which may or may not be legitimate.

It just comes down to whether the deductions that led to such a low tax bill year after year were legit or not. For example, were they based on accurate valuations of his properties?

if ppl don't have time to digest and must choose their hero vs a bunch of nerds with fake news, it's not hard. you need his "allies" to break pretty hard. majority never never will as i see it, they roll the same grift.

Pay very close attention as you read the final report, to where the bipartisanship around the Jan. 6 Committee recommendation begins and ends. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger have done yeoman’s work to shore up the rule of law and accountability for Donald Trump and the worst of his confederates. But the work will also provide a pretty flawless map to which legal and ethical lapses are disqualifying and which are tacitly encouraged. One branch of government is checked and the other is given a pass. It’s clear that whatever part law enforcement, House Republicans, MAGA election deniers still in office, and particularly any Supreme Court justice or their spouse may have played in an attack on the republic in 2021 will be forgiven and forgotten. They’re still all on one team, and—law and ethics notwithstanding—that team is all in on winning the fights that really matter

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/12/january-6-report-summary-clarence-thomas-ginni-ethics.html?via=rss

I got my hands on a 37-page guide for Kyrsten Sinema’s staff

Aides weren’t only expected to get her groceries and fix her internet but follow a… very detailed set of instructions about where to seat her on an airplane.

Lots more here:https://t.co/UDXv8j9ma2

— Sam Brodey (@sambrodey) December 22, 2022

B-b-but what about the M&Ms?

What about the salad served with a comb?

did she make them shave her legs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhH8CUG9lfg

The document outlines that Sinema should keep all meetings with constituents in her D.C. office limited to a block on Wednesdays. Her former aide told The Daily Beast that Sinema would stack as many constituent meetings as possible, usually no longer than three minutes, into a half-hour period on Wednesdays.

That meant that Sinema likely spent more time during the work week in physical therapy appointments and massages than with constituents. The document also outlines that scheduling “coffee meetings with lobbyists and donors are fine” and to allot those 15 to 20 minutes—a comparatively lengthy stretch of time for a senator routinely scheduled down to the second.

3 minutes!

she doesn't represent democrats, or republicans. she represents hardworking arizonans, and she knows they're angry. she has heard constituents angrily saying stuff at her, or at least near her, as she checks her phone during the entire duration of their elevator pitches that are delivered on real life elevator rides to the fitness center. she knows that they are angry and they demand results

for example, "why are you staring at your phone and why is the next constituent walking in the room when there are 25 seconds remaining on my 180 second meeting?" is one thing that real americans are asking more and more