Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

He really is that stupid.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

White supremacy is terrorism.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Fight them, without becoming them!

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

The willow is too close to the house.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / And watch this loving feeling disappear like it was common sense

And watch this loving feeling disappear like it was common sense

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This post is in: 

Maybe I’m misremembering, but I don’t recall there being so much grumbling from Republicans about the “wisdom” of the shutdowns in the mid 90s. I’ll be very impressed if Peter King and his northeastern Republican buddies can pull this off:

For almost three years, the story in the House has been about Speaker John Boehner’s restive right flank causing him problems. But Republican moderates have apparently had enough.

In what is by far their boldest stand since the GOP took control of the House in 2010, a group of them are threatening to bring down a vote on the rule for the government-funding bill scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

New York representative Peter King is leading the charge, and his fellow New Yorker Michael Grimm is close behind him. The group told leadership on Saturday they have 25 members who are willing to bring down the rule.

They’d probably be burning their party to save it, and, more than that, Michael Grimm and Peter King may be assholes, but they’re not Tea Partiers. They’re probably closer to Obama than to Ted Cruz on most domestic issues. There comes a point where Republicans’ willingness to stick together on everything is both a moral and political failing.

Reader Interactions

204Comments

  1. 1.

    Comrade Jake

    Peter King has become a moderate Republican. Now, that’s sort of like the tallest midget in the circus award, but still…

  5. 5.

    Trollhattan

    @AdamK:

    Folks of a certain age who want to Catholic school will flinch upon reading “bring down the rule.”

    Beyond that I have no idea.

  7. 7.

    ? Martin

    They’d probably be burning their party to save it, and, more than that, Michael Grimm and Peter King may be assholes, but they’re not Tea Partiers.

    What they are is representatives from bright blue states, along with Nunes from CA who is opposing this as well. They don’t have the benefit of gerrymandered districts and voter suppression to keep them in the House – they actually have to explain this shit back home.

  12. 12.

    David in NY

    I was about to chew out Chris Gibson (NY-19), one of my two congresspeople (cripes I’ve moved, who’s the other?), but I see he’s against shutting down the gov’t. Anyway, good for some reasonableness.

  13. 13.

    srv

    Wall Street crowd is tired and they’re not going to take it anymore.

    You people should be nicer to Jamie and all that, w/o them you’d be in real trouble.

    And if that toenail ad doesn’t get banned quick, I’m going AdBlock and John’s animals will go hungry w/o Adsense revenues!

  14. 14.

    AdamK

    @MikeJ: What is a closed rule vote? Who closed the rule? Is bringing down the rule the same as opening the rule or is it the same as closing the rule? What if you bring the rule up or over instead?

  20. 20.

    Bob

    “Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) had choice words for fellow House Republicans who are willing to see the government shut down over their opposition to Obamacare: ‘Lemmings with suicide vests,’ he called them.”

    via Huff Post

  22. 22.

    lamh36

    ‏@kurteichenwald 10m
    Something amazing has happened! GOP moderates saying there should be a vote in the House on the Senate bill! Just like in a real democracy!

  23. 23.

    mericafukyea

    Ball Juice Doug continues his short term memory “omgzzz…they are going to shut it down” because….bloggers gotta blog, history be damned.

    And inevitably when they don’t at the last minute JUST LIKE THE LAST time you will not see any posts from the Mr. memory loss. Or he will be like…hey look over there at that new shiny object.

  25. 25.

    jl

    The fact that the feckless, cowardly, unimaginative, hapless, GOP party hack Boehner has lost control of his caucus may be breaking though in a way that even our failed corporate media will have to notice.

    Johnny Bones, cheap two-bit hood, he coulda bin a contenda, but he he was a weak lily livered no-account dimwit punk.

    If I were Boehner, I would be thinking ‘What would Willie Brown do?”

    Boehner needs to develop some tactical and strategic political genius to avoid a mess. Can he, and if he could, would he want to, would he even understand what that is. (Edit: mess for Boehner’s place US history as well as his political future, not just the country)

    Besides “What would Willie do?”, the Democrats let the Dixiecrats walk. It was a good decision. Did not destroy the party, but saved it.

    On other hand, what major party would take in the teabagger loons?

  27. 27.

    Felonius Monk

    I have always regarded Peter “I Luv the IRA” King and Michael Grimm as total assholes. But if they pull this off then I will offer them some love and henceforth consider them just Major Assholes. A nuanced distinction I agree, but still a distinction. They are certainly not shit-for-brains tea partiers.

  28. 28.

    MikeJ

    @AdamK:

    What is a closed rule vote? Who closed the rule? Is bringing down the rule the same as opening the rule or is it the same as closing the rule? What if you bring the rule up or over instead?

    The Rules Committee decides if a vote will be closed rule or not. Sometimes it is a modified closed rule, where members of the committee that introduced a bill can still offer amendments, but nobody else. “Bringing down the rule” in this case case means reintroducing the bill under closed rule.

    If you ever run out of whatever gets you to sleep at night, try reading the rulebook for the House. Deadly dull, but required knowledge for getting anything done.

  31. 31.

    Chris

    @Comrade Jake:

    “Tallest midget” indeed.

    All of these guys still want Obamacare defunded, Social Security privatized, Medicare abolished, food stamps and Medicaid burned to the ground, and all that money either sent back to the 1% or funneled to military contractors. They just think a government shutdown isn’t the best way to do it.

  34. 34.

    The Sheriff's A Ni-

    @mericafukyea: He’s got a point on this one. There’ll be lots of GOP and Villagers and bloggers absolutely shocked, shocked at the aversion of the shutdown, all the while collecting their winnings.

    More kabuki from the grift party. Same as it ever was.

  37. 37.

    Felonius Monk

    @AdamK:

    Perhaps you should bring down the rule on the toenail ad.

    I have heard rumors that our beloved bloghost, John Cole, was the foot model for this revolting ad that just will not go away — I’ve stopped eating lunch at my computer because I gag every time I see it. Get a fucking pedicure already.

  38. 38.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @jl:

    Boehner needs to develop some tactical and strategic political genius

    This will happen right after I’m crowned Tsar of all the Russias.

  39. 39.

    dmsilev

    Mwah. Erick, son of Erick, has a sad:

    House GOP: Stand Your Ground

    This is just embarrassing. The House GOP has refused to fight on Obamacare. Right now they are going through an elaborate dance routine, complete with leotards and streamers, to show everyone they are really fighting for something.

  43. 43.

    ? Martin

    @dmsilev: Reid tabled the last proposal, so the only thing the House has from the Senate is a clean CR. He can vote on that, or he can send another offer over. But if he can’t get 217 on anything other than a clean CR, then he’s done – and time won’t change that. He can refuse to do anything, but since budgets must start in the House, then he’s going to take 100% of the blame here. He’s got to keep sending offers to the Senate – the information above suggests that the only thing he can get 217 on is a clean bill.

  44. 44.

    JPL

    A few months ago the Republicans were hollering about killing small business with the mandate and now they are saying they are big business. They grew in size quickly. Must be that booming economy.

  46. 46.

    srv

    @Felonius Monk: The most ironic thing is I bet all the FP’ers run adblock so they don’t have to look at this stuff.

    They live in their ivory towers and pad their beds with all that google dough.

  47. 47.

    JoyfulA

    @? Martin: My newspaper says Rep. Charlie Dent, whose district is so gerrymandered there’s a long, skinny footpath through other districts to include his house in it, is also saying what King’s saying. He doesn’t have a lot of margin to keep the seat GOP, so I figure he’s following public opinion and worrying less about the teabaggers and more about the Democrats.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the PA congressmen are on this particular bandwagon by tomorrow.

  49. 49.

    MikeJ

    @dmsilev:

    So, is this a discharge petition, or the threat of same, or something else?

    A discharge petition gets a bill out of committee without a vote. A way for committee leadership to get around a vote where one or two majority members are going to peel off and vote with the minority.

  50. 50.

    OGLiberal

    OT, but both CNN and NBC surrendered to Republican demands on the Hillary documentary, as expected.

  51. 51.

    Ash Can

    Actually, this is probably Boehner’s one and only way to save face (or what’s left of it). It allows him to throw his hands in the air and say “It’s not my fault! These guys shivved me!” And the moderates (in this respect, at least) nod and chuckle to themselves as the Teahadis run around screaming and flailing and knocking each other down.

  53. 53.

    Seanly

    Given his recent remarks and the breaking news out of DC, I have this wonderful feeling that President Obama just broke the back of the Republicans in Congress. Non-Tea Party conservatives breaking ranks with their scared leadership shows they’ve not only lost, but are in disarray.

    I like that Obama threw down a gauntlet over the debt limit, but we’ll see how that goes in a couple of weeks.

  54. 54.

    Felonius Monk

    @srv:

    They live in their ivory towers and pad their beds with all that google dough.

    Yep, that’s it. Champagne, caviar, and tons of google dough leaking out of their mattresses.

  57. 57.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    In case anyone’s interested, the Rays-Rangers “play-in” game is on TBS at 8:17 EDT. I had the devil of a time finding that earlier.

  61. 61.

    David Koch

    ♫♫♫

    Do not forsake me O my darlin’
    You made that promise when we wed.
    Do not forsake me O my darlin’
    Although you’re grievin’, I can’t be leavin’
    Until I shoot Ted Cruz dead.

    Black Gary Cooper

  64. 64.

    Calliope Jane

    @Bob: Heh. When TPM reached his office for confirmation of the quote, his spokesperson said something about extending his remarks because it wouldn’t be fair to lemmings. When a CA republican says you’ve gone too far…

    Found the quote: When TPM reached out to his office, his spokesman requested to add to Nunes’ quote: “But I’d be hesitant to refer to them as lemmings because that’d be an insult to lemmings.”

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/house-gop-signals-shutdown-with-yet-another-anti-obamacare-vote

  65. 65.

    Anoniminous

    @Ash Can:

    Teahadis run around screaming and flailing and knocking each other down.

    I’d pay decent coin to see that live and on a big screen TV.

  66. 66.

    Churchlady

    @Felonius Monk: Felonius – you take what you can get in this day and age. I think it is kindhearted of you to elevate them to mere Major Assholes. Speaks well of you.

  67. 67.

    Hungry Joe

    @AdamK: No! Don’t believe it! The chalice from the palace has the pellet with the poison — the flagon with the dragon has the brew that is true!

    Boehner’s gonna have to drink from one of them. And it’s looking like, for him, they BOTH have a poison pellet.

  68. 68.

    Ash Can

    @Seanly:

    I like that Obama threw down a gauntlet over the debt limit, but we’ll see how that goes in a couple of weeks.

    I’m entirely confident that Obama understands that the debt ceiling issue is even more serious than a government shutdown — by far — and will act accordingly. Assuming the House GOP is even able to rally from this mess and get its clown car all packed back up for A Principled Stand Against Raising The Debt Limit (TM) — and doesn’t get pulled over on its way to the Capitol by the Wall Street cops, who are through issuing warnings and, goddammit, this time there are going to be consequences — I’m sure he has a plan for end-running their debt-ceiling games.

  69. 69.

    The Dangerman

    @? Martin:

    …Nunes from CA who is opposing this as well.

    Nunes district is the brightest of Reds in a Blue State; only explanation is there are some Ag subsidies that would get held up. His district has far more cows than people.

  70. 70.

    Churchlady

    @David Koch: Now that’s over the top. Run him through the streets on a rail, sure. But it’s those folks who will shoot us all. Leave them to their evil and step away from embracing it on our side. Even Cruz does not deserve to die over his craven, narcissistic, cowardly betrayal of reality. He deserves to be humiliated by it though. That I can get behind.

  72. 72.

    AdamK

    @Hungry Joe: The pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pestle — the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!

    Whichever Boehner gets it’ll be the wrong one.

  73. 73.

    Anya

    @Seanly:

    I like that Obama threw down a gauntlet over the debt limit, but we’ll see how that goes in a couple of weeks.

    I will not negotiate on anything when it comes to the full faith and credit of the United States of America.

    PBO – Sept 26, 2013

  76. 76.

    Suffern ACE

    @? Martin: and they are 25 in total. About 15% of their party. 1/3 the size of Michelle Bachmans group.

    They are impotent within the party.

  78. 78.

    beltane

    @max: Erickson must not be familiar with oversized paper mache puppets, the true symbol of political impotence. I suggest he and his fellow teabaggers learn this art of puppet making-it will serve them well.

  82. 82.

    Hungry Joe

    @AdamK: No! The flagon with the pestle has the palace with the pellet … I mean, vessel with the poison has the dragon with …

    Anyway, word is that Danny Kaye was a real jerk.

  83. 83.

    OGLiberal

    @Keith G: I agree. In addition, the threat to not let CNN and NBC air the GOP debates was actually a negative for the Dems – need to have that shit show seen by as many people as possible…need everybody to see Chris Christie try to outcrazy Rand Paul and Ted Cruz. But I don’t think any of these benefits to the Dems/Hillary was involved in the decisions made by CNN and NBC…they wet their pants in the face of Republican threats and angry words.

  84. 84.

    ExurbanMom

    If you need the reference to the title of this post, here ya go…one of my all all ALL time favorites by Elvis:

    http://youtu.be/CIAB-D6EQLs

    She said that she was working for the ABC news
    It was as much of the alphabet as she knew how to use

  85. 85.

    burnspbesq

    @Trollhattan:

    Folks of a certain age who want to Catholic school will flinch upon reading “bring down the rule.”

    I had some nuns for teachers in elementary school who looked a lot like Peter King.

  86. 86.

    Jennifer

    What toenail ad? I’m still seeing the crazy eyed chick with her tits popping out of her dress who’s almost showing her cooch as well. I’d rather be seeing a toenail ad, since the one I’m seeing has been there for the better part of a week and it’s no less annoying now than it was when it first appeared.

  87. 87.

    Botsplainer

    @beltane:

    I suggest he and his fellow teabaggers learn this art of puppet making-it will serve them well.

    And drums. Don’t forget the drums.

  88. 88.

    sharl

    DougJ, just in case you’re collecting this sort of thing:

    daveweigel @daveweigel
    If only the Morning Joe team could come down here and talk some sense to Congress
    ~~~
    Jesse Berney ‏@jesseberney
    @daveweigel And then @ron_fournier can explain leadership to President Obama.
    ~~~
    Ron Fournier ‏@ron_fournier
    .@jesseberney @daveweigel Leadership? Y’all decided that wasn’t a domain of US President or House Speaker. #InStructuralForcesWeTrust
    ~~~
    Jesse Berney ‏@jesseberney
    @ron_fournier @daveweigel LOL ok Ron

  91. 91.

    Spaghetti Lee

    @dmsilev:

    Leotards and streamers! (Does flouncy hand gesture). Nice to see ol’ Erick is still practicing his dog whistling skills.

  93. 93.

    dmsilev

    @sharl: I’d say that Fournier is a tool, except that that would be an insult to the vast array of hammers, screwdrivers, etc. which have a useful function.

  96. 96.

    Spaghetti Lee

    If there are enough last-minute GOP defections to join with the Dems and avoid a shutdown, I’ll be stunned. Happily stunned, but still stunned. Can anyone remember the last time the ‘moderates’ told the teabaggers to fuck off? I can’t, especially on an issue this big.

  98. 98.

    Marc

    They’re probably closer to Obama than to Ted Cruz on most domestic issues.

    I don’t know about most. They sure as hell are on disaster relief and other essential functions of government.

  99. 99.

    dmsilev

    @Spaghetti Lee: If that happens, the next couple of weeks as we (a) near the debt ceiling and (b) the GOP goes into full-blown “purge the unpure” mode will be …interesting.

  102. 102.

    Mandalay

    @OGLiberal:

    OT, but both CNN and NBC surrendered to Republican demands on the Hillary documentary, as expected.

    The director of the canceled documentary is not saying that. He is alleging something much more sinister….

    it was the virtual omerta around the Clinton family rather than threats of an RNC boycott that ultimately led to the film’s cancellation

  105. 105.

    fuckwit

    Who has done the math? Are there enough votes to pass a clean CR, between Dems voting as a bloc and a few blue-state R’s? What are the numbers? Where’s Nate Silver when you need him?

  107. 107.

    Betty Cracker

    Jesus. Tweety is teasing his “lemme finish” segment with a photo of Tip ‘n Gip. I don’t know why I’m torturing myself with “Hardball.” Time to find the T o e n a i l F u n g u s Channel…

  109. 109.

    Anoniminous

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    This thing and the debt ceiling have to pass. Otherwise we’re looking at a global depression that will make the 1930s look like a Teddy Bear’s picnic. Any GOP House member having two spare neurons to rub together knows that. Thus, both will pass eventually. The non-TeaBagger House members know this so they might as well avoid a shutdown, if they can, and collect the cachet of being “The Responsible Center.”

  113. 113.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    Maybe I’m misremembering

    I’m pretty sure dismembering is the opposite of remembering, DougJ.

  119. 119.

    MikeJ

    @becca: If you know it’s going to fail, you can vote for it so you can go back to the district and say you voted against the government shutdown.

  125. 125.

    Mandalay

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    Can anyone remember the last time the ‘moderates’ told the teabaggers to fuck off?

    An aide to Republican nutcase Mike Lee was openly scornful of Boehner….

    “The minority of the minority is going to run things until our leadership gets some backbone.”

    It’s a pretty good one liner, but it looks like the empire is going to strike back against the assholes causing all the trouble.

  126. 126.

    lamh36

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    @BenjySarlin 3m
    Promising tons of votes on a procedural motion than not having them reminds me of a certain Senator Peter King hates….

    ‏@jbplainblog 13m
    OK, *now* I can snark on King as a blowhard who didn’t have the votes he claimed…

    @jbouie 8m
    Turns out, moderate House Republicans are a bunch of cowards.

  127. 127.

    Hungry Joe

    @Anoniminous: Re “Any GOP House member having two spare neurons to rub together knows that.”

    Who here can spot the problem in that sentence? No shouting out, now – raise your hands … Yes, you in the back?

  128. 128.

    Chris

    @lamh36:

    And…. Revolt fails!

    The GOP has been purging, purging, purging and purging anyone and everyone who wasn’t 110% on board with the most extreme right wing faction of the party at any given time for fifty years – and by and large King and others have been happy to go along with it. They’re not the dominant faction now, they’re literally all that’s left. No surprise that there wouldn’t be enough votes to overrule them even on this.

  129. 129.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    This thing and the debt ceiling have to pass. Otherwise we’re looking at a global depression that will make the 1930s look like a Teddy Bear’s picnic.

    I’m sorry but that kind of doom and gloom is just the sort of thing that makes the Confidence Fairy haz a sad.

  130. 130.

    lamh36

    This is not the comment of a serious person. Boehner was probably already 3 sheets to the wind at this point.

    @DavidNakamura 20m
    . @Brendan_Buck says Obama call with Boehner lasted 10 min. Boehner “told the president that Obamacare is costing jobs.”

  133. 133.

    Spaghetti Lee

    I assume that people who just voted to start debate on the bill (which is what just happened) aren’t going to vote against the bill itself when time comes? Oh well.

  134. 134.

    JPL

    Well fuck, fuck, fuck… Since I don’t have magical powers to mind control the House, I’m going to watch NCIS. Ziva is leaving. It’s not quite like Breaking Bad, but oh well.

  136. 136.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @lamh36: Turns out, moderate House Republicans are a bunch of cowards.
    Also, not so moderate

    @Betty Cracker: Think any of his staff pointed out that the gov’t shut down seven times while “Tip and the Gipper” were chuckling over their bourbons?

  137. 137.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Tweety: Wyoming is a great state except for the Cheneys. THat’s why I still watch. And he said “Chain- ee”

  138. 138.

    lamh36

    ‏@mikememoli 2m
    Rep. King credits @SpeakerBoehner for locking in the votes with a personal appeal before vote. The message: “Trust me.”

  140. 140.

    PsiFighter37

    I can’t believe an asshole like Peter King is called a ‘moderate’ nowadays. He’s basically throw any person from the Indian subcontinent into Guantanamo if he could. As for his little revolt failing – brings to mind that clip where he says ‘we’ll take care of the votes’ in Fahrenheit 9/11, or whatever movie/documentary that was from. Hope he enjoys counting his ‘votes’ now…big man with a big mouth being humiliated because his other ‘moderates’ have even smaller gonads than he does.

  141. 141.

    Spaghetti Lee

    So six Republicans went against Boehner, and four of them were Bachmann, Broun, Gohmert, and Steve King-in other words, the four horsemen of the apocalypse, holding out for an amendment that would allow them to cut out Obama’s heart and eat it raw.

    Oh, well. Credit where it’s due to Peter King and Charlie Dent for sticking their necks out.

  142. 142.

    Suffern ACE

    Hmmm. I thought pretty much all of those moderate names I heard drop voted to voucherize Medicare in the Ryan budget the last time we went through this. These aren’t really moderates. Seem too spineless to lead a revolt this time.

  143. 143.

    NotMax

    OT:

    The best name MSNBC could come up with for Alec Baldwin’s show is “Up Late?”

    That brainstorming meeting must have lasted maybe four minutes.

  144. 144.

    Ash Can

    @lamh36: Wait, what? Does that mean that Boehner assured King he had enough moderate votes lined up, then failed? Or is this some new machination?

  145. 145.

    Cacti

    This just in, there are no moderate Republicans in the House of Representatives.

    But, everyone who votes D already knew that.

  147. 147.

    PsiFighter37

    @Cacti: No real ‘moderates’. A ‘moderate’ Republican nowadays is someone who can string together a few sentences intelligibly and not drool.

  149. 149.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Cacti: This just in, there are no moderate Republicans in the House of Representatives.

    Or in the Senate. Susan Collins got all flustered about the House tactics, then voted for their bill.

  150. 150.

    dmsilev

    So, let me see if I understand this correctly. The House is about to vote on (and presumably pass) an anti-Obamacare motion that would effectively cut off healthcare for all Congressional staff members. If I were a GOP Rep, I’d be real cautious drinking my coffee in the office tomorrow morning.

  151. 151.

    Felonius Monk

    @Cacti:

    This just in, there are no moderate Republicans in the House of Representatives.

    Correct-a-mundo. Perhaps we should segregate them by Crazy and Less-Crazy.

  153. 153.

    dmsilev

    Also, too, Josh Marshall: “Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), who just hours ago was castigating his colleagues as “lemmings” for shutting down the government over Obamacare, has now decided he’s going to go lemming and vote with Boehner after all.”

    Has the bucket of Flavor-Ade made its appearance yet?

  155. 155.

    Patrick

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Or in the Senate. Susan Collins got all flustered about the House tactics, then voted for their bill

    It drives me nuts when the media describes her as a moderate. Look at her fricking voting record and she is not a moderate, she is an extremist.

  158. 158.

    piratedan

    @raven: I just love that “but I’m so principled, and it is with utter distaste that I place a vote to essentially fuck over millions of Americans, but it had to be done!”, she’s such a waste….

  162. 162.

    PsiFighter37

    Given that Peter King’s useless little rebellion failed…perhaps the right question to ask is are there actually enough sane Republicans to vote on a clean CR?

    There may very well not be.

  164. 164.

    Suffern ACE

    Hmm. From an objective view, it’s a very shrewd move by Boehner to send out Bachman, two kings, Braun and gohmert. I mean if the Dems were looking for reps who they could start negotiating with, there are your four. Do you really see steny and nancy feeling the waters with Bachman?

  165. 165.

    mclaren

    Counting on the common sense of moderate Republicans to save us is like counting on the restraint of a rabid weasel not to rip your flesh.

    Forget it.

  166. 166.

    dmsilev

    @PsiFighter37: There might be, if a bunch move at once. In other words, there may not be 20 votes for a clean CR but there might be 40 or 60. Too big of a target for the primary-purity brigade, that is.

    Or, there simply might not be. In which case, we’re screwed. Mildly screwed now with the shutdown, royally screwed a couple of weeks from now when the debt ceiling approaches.

  168. 168.

    piratedan

    @Suffern ACE: It’s the Trojan Derp manuever…. get the four least likely R’s out front to be the face of Republican Outreach…. I’d more likely suspect Nancy Smash getting shivved by those whackjobs than any kind of conversation that wasn’t mostly comprised by “fucks” and Yous”.

  169. 169.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    @TheMightyTrowel:

    Those GOP staffers were perfectly happy to aid and abet their GOP bosses in fucking over millions of Americans – as long as those Americans weren’t them. Yeah, I’m going to have real bad two seconds over their fate.

  170. 170.

    ? Martin

    @PsiFighter37:

    There may very well not be.

    There are. The problem is that if the clean CR only passes by one R vote, which R gets to be singled out and become the scapegoat? Nobody wants to be that guy. Once you cross that line, though, everyone will sign on. Witness even Cruz signing on for the bill he supposedly was ‘filibustering’. It passed 100-0. It was far enough over the line that nobody wanted to have to explain why they didn’t vote for it.

  171. 171.

    Spaghetti Lee

    @Suffern ACE:

    Those four, I don’t think Boehner cut them loose so much as they flipped Boehner off and ran away hooting with glee. Bachmann’s biggest constituency is the voices in her head, Gohmert and Broun put together are dumber than a bag of oatmeal, and Steve King knows how to make totally assholish empty gestures like Bobby Fischer knew how to play chess. They got exactly what they were promised in terms of both language in the bill and the bill itself triggering a shutdown. Doesn’t matter. They’ll just scream that it’s compromising with the dumbocrats and their stupid fuckass Tea Party groupies will believe every word.

  172. 172.

    NotMax

    Would that some entity could do a credible poll of the “boots on the ground” in the still a war zone in Afghanistan about the shutdown shenanigans.

  173. 173.

    Suffern ACE

    “Wait. For five years I go on TV every time there’s a terror attack anywhere in the world and piss myself in public while yelling that its a worse terror attack than 9-11 and this is the thanks I get?”

    -Peter “irrelevant” king.

  174. 174.

    Cacti

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate:

    Those GOP staffers were perfectly happy to aid and abet their GOP bosses in fucking over millions of Americans – as long as those Americans weren’t them. Yeah, I’m going to have real bad two seconds over their fate.

    My first thought on hearing about the “unfortunate” GOP staffers was, twist in the wind you fuckers.

  175. 175.

    sharl

    @dmsilev: It would be interesting to know if those staffers come from the same place as so many unpaid interns in places like NYC and DC? If their health care can be covered by family – and odds are the younger among them will likely not even need to use such services (or at least conclude that they don’t) – then they may just consider it a cost of doing business, i.e., making connections that will allow upward mobility in the gov/lobbyist/think-tank/academic/political world.

    Would suck if true, but I could totally believe that such a calculation is going on, especially with a lot of the younger among those folks.

  176. 176.

    Spaghetti Lee

    @? Martin:

    It’s pretty much a prisoners’ dilemma. It’s in every GOPer’s interest to keep their head down and their mouth shut. And I think if there were, say, 50 or 60 anti-Teabagger Republicans in the house who stuck together, that would be too big a group for the Club For Koch to target, or at least to do so efficiently. But that’s all moot at this point.

  178. 178.

    lamh36

    Wow. John Boehner really is a fucking joke.

    @RyanLizza 5m
    Wow, Boehner on House floor references Obama phone call earlier tonight and essentially mocks POTUS: “I’m not gonna negotiate.”

    @samsteinhp 4m
    i think Boehner trotted out a semi-mocking Obama impression during his floor speech just then

    ‏@samsteinhp 3m
    i’m sure historians will know better. but i’m assuming it’s fairly rare to have the speaker do an impression of the president on the floor

  179. 179.

    PsiFighter37

    @? Martin: I would rather not wait for a long time for the GOP to grow a pair. That said, this is what we get what people get convinced that the party telling you government sucks is in charge of the joint. They’re just trying to fulfill their campaign rhetoric.

    Larry Kudlow was on CNBC earlier today and going ballistic that McConnell floated the idea of a one-week extension, saying he was undercutting the House GOP. Seriously?! Who the fuck is going to take a one-week resolution seriously? You may as well just hold a daily vote on whether to let the government to keep the lights on, and if you had a really bad night drinking and are dropping beer shits everywhere, you might just say no.

    So fucking stupid. Even the most diehard Republican I know at work pretty much admitted they were being obstructionist, and that’s a major concession (she absolutely hates Obama).

  182. 182.

    TheMightyTrowel

    @Cacti: I don’t know guys, I’m of the belief that we can both (a) be justifiably angry that these staffers only step up to the plate when their own benefits are on the line because IGMFY and (b) be upset that anyone’s right to health care is being used as a bargaining chip by our political ‘betters’. It maintains an ugly precedent and I hope that the deep self-interest that pervades the right bites these fucking immoral shitstains in the ass.

  184. 184.

    Cacti

    @lamh36:

    Wow. John Boehner really is a fucking joke.

    At the end of the day, it’s all about how much they hate the negro in the White House.

    The Tea Party has no other political purpose than showing its ass.

  185. 185.

    Chris

    @PsiFighter37:

    Yep.

    There are no “moderates” in the GOP. Peter King supported the IRA while claiming that “80-85%” of American mosques were controlled by our enemies. Chris Christie vetoed a gay marriage bill and said that black people’s right to have rights should’ve been put to a referendum in the states that didn’t allow them to vote. Political realities (e.g. hitting the wall enough times to draw blood) may occasionally bring them to their senses, but the fact that they’re being called “moderate” renders the world meaningless.

  186. 186.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    @Cacti:

    My first thought on hearing about the “unfortunate” GOP staffers was, twist in the wind you fuckers.

    They’re remarkably like the dumbasses who vote for the GOP. Even though that party has shown a disturbing enthusiasm for fucking over everyone except the 1% they continue to believe that they won’t get fucked over.

  187. 187.

    Sly

    It was bound to fail; there are only 24 northeastern Republicans left in the House, and half of them represent the Alabama region of Pennsylvania. The other half are split between New York and New Jersey.

    @becca:

    Bachman and Gohmert voted with King, according to cspan.

    Does not compute.

    The CR only delays ACA implementation, and that isn’t pure enough for the Moron Caucus.

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    Oh, well. Credit where it’s due to Peter King and Charlie Dent for sticking their necks out.

    If they’re sticking their necks out, its only to cover their asses. King got his safe district scrambled during the last round of redistricting (and his new district went to Obama), and Dent represents the suburbs of Harrisburg. Cook PVI gives the NY 2nd District a rating of R+1 and the PA 15th a rating of R+2. No one is going to primary them and win.

  191. 191.

    raven

    Chris Matthews is a pretentious blowfish who parlayed a little bit of political insiderhood into a lucrative career as a talking — or, in his case, squawking — head. His main claim to fame is that he is the only talk show host to pronounce Dick Cheney’s name correctly (“Chee-knee”), or so he tells us every fucking time he says the name Cheney. “You know, it’s really pronounced Chee-knee, not Chay-knee. I’m the only one who pronounces it correctly.” He actually says that, as though anyone gives a sweet shit.

  194. 194.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @mclaren: Counting on the common sense of moderate Republicans to save us is like counting on the restraint of a rabid weasel not to rip your flesh.

    More like counting on flying speed of a winged horse

  195. 195.

    Cacti

    @dmsilev:

    Voting is underway. So far, 2 GOP nays, everything else is party-line.

    Senate is in session this evening. How long for this latest CR to get tabled after the House walks it across the building?

  197. 197.

    NotMax

    @raven

    It is passingly pleasant to witness the fading of his always inexplicably bright star, what with the cancellation of his weekend program and the weeknight show being trimmed to a single daily iteration.

  199. 199.

    Spaghetti Lee

    @Cacti:

    If I was Reid, I’d drag out the big ‘FUCK YOU’ stamp* and the red ink.

    (*-dates back to when LBJ was Senate majority leader.)

  202. 202.

    Felonius Monk

    @Jennifer: Well, seeing the chickie in the revealing dress is great until the disgusting Toe Nail Fungus channel pops up and causes a certain limpness, so to speak.

  204. 204.

    The Lodger

    @NotMax: Yeah, I heard Madame Lynne say that six or seven years ago. Of course, people had been pronouncing the name on TV for, oh, about 15 years by then. She could have stepped in at any time and corrected them, but she never deigned to do that, So fk her for pointing it out late.
    I personally believe Ol’ Dick enjoyed people pronouncing his name the same as Lon Chaney, He had so much in common with Lon’s characters.

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