Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about it’s history.”

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Books are my comfort food!

Let there be snark.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

When they say they’re pro-life, they don’t mean yours.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: I {Heart} Repubs in Disarray!

Open Thread: I {Heart} Repubs in Disarray!

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The standing “leadership” fustercluck has been a rich gift to snarkists, but seriously: The more energy these mopes expend scheming to destroy each other, the less they have to devote to destroying the American commonwealth for the rest of us.

I’m hoping this show runs longer than The Mousetrap in London. But with a higher body count!

(Complete with surprise twist, at the very end of this thread.)

Elspeth Reeve, “The Republican House Today Was More Melodramatic Than High School“:

… “Be­fore John Boehner stepped down, I said if John Boehner steps down, the same people who were try­ing to take John Boehner down, will try to frag the next guy. … Well, that is just what happened,” Representative Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania told National Journal. Fragging is when soldiers kill one of their own. It is a rather intense metaphor for guys walking around in Brooks Brothers suits. A more apt metaphor might be high school—it’s like prom, except conservative House Republicans dumped pig blood all over the prom queen…

The way the news broke was emblematic of the chaos that took hold today: The press found out about McCarthy’s withdrawal when Representative Ryan Costello bumbled out of this morning’s caucus meeting. “Apparently I broke the news about McCarthy; blame it on being a Freshman and going out the wrong door,” he tweeted…

… Mr. McCarthy’s shocking move echoed the stunning events of December 1998, when another Republican speaker-in-waiting, Representative Robert L. Livingston of Louisiana, was forced to withdraw because of marital infidelities. Republicans scrambled to find an acceptable consensus pick, and J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois was plucked from out of almost nowhere to become speaker of the House.

Blindsided by the McCarthy withdrawal, Republicans were assessing their options Thursday even as Mr. Boehner sought to calm nerves by declaring that he would stay in the job until a replacement was found. But in 1998, House Republicans had a strongman in their majority whip, Tom DeLay of Texas, to rally the rank and file behind his choice. No such figure exists today…

Speaking of high school romance, also in Elspeth Reeve’s TNR piece:

… Rep. Walter Jones had sent a letter warning those running for leadership positions should withdraw if they have any issues of “moral turpitude,” including adultery, that could hurt the party. Reporters asked McCarthy if the letter was a factor in his decision, and he said no.

But conservative pundit Erick Erickson explained that that Jones’s letter followed a mass email alleging an affair between McCarthy and Represenative Renee Ellmers of North Carolina. Erickson does not name the emailer, but says he or she has the email addresses of many Republican members of Congress and top conservatives. “It is again worth noting that both parties deny it,” Erickson wrote. “But the rumor itself may have led to McCarthy’s collapse.” (A good gossip always claims to care first and foremost about the truth.)…

Ref:

“Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren’t they, and a little chance?… “

***********
Drumroll…

Reader Interactions

248Comments

  1. 1.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I’m hoping this show runs longer than The Mousetrap in London.

    My first trip to London was in 1959.

    I saw The Mousetrap during that visit.

    It had already been running seven years.

  4. 4.

    Belafon

    In response to Jonathan Weisman: Republicans were elected to destroy Washington and Obama, and they can’t even get that right.

  6. 6.

    Belafon

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.): It’s surviving because one of the three branches is still committed to governing. The executive is having to do its job with limited powers – which would normally be granted by Congress – but it’s still functioning. The problem is, we’re really close to all of the branches being controlled the party that wants to destroy the country, or close to an electoral dictatorship (which will be especially true if Republicans gain control of all three branches). And what I mean by dictatorship is the executive just making decisions that should be made by Congress, knowing that they’re not going to do anything that would require them to govern.

  7. 7.

    beltane

    Leaving aside the LOLZ, this whole business is kind of disgraceful. The Obamassiah really did cause these people to descend into full-bore insanity.

    I hope they take Newt Gingrich up on his offer, just so we can enjoy the spectacle of the freedom caucus hounding him back into retirement for the crime of being insufficiently conservative.

  9. 9.

    Goblue72

    As much fun as this is, taking a step back – let’s be clear. The most powerful, richest, most heavily armed (with a nuclear arsenal that could incinerate the planet), has a national legislature has just been suicide bombed by nihilists.

  10. 10.

    Right to Rise

    Paul Ryan is young, dynamic, and the right man for the times.

    With Jeb in the White House, he will do great things for the nation.

    #ItsRyanTime

  11. 11.

    MattF

    Fostering chaos was the neocon strategy, right? Iraqis wanted to be free, right? And that worked, right? And Cheney endorsed McCarthy, right? And that worked, right? Like a charm, right? Right?

  12. 12.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Right to Rise: You’re whistling a fuckin’ symphony past the graveyard, RtR.

    Ryan is a buffoon, but even he has the marginal intelligence to run, not walk, away from the Speakership at this point in time.

  13. 13.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    It is fun, but I wonder how much fuckery is gonna go on with the debt ceiling. Are there enough Tom Coles and Peter Kings (I won’t call them smart or moderate, especially not that marble-headed loudmouth King) to get a clean bill through?

    @beltane: I was happy to see Brian Beutler and a couple other people snarking on Ron Fournier and his endless mewling about Obama’s lack of leadery leaderliness. Not that it will sink in.

  17. 17.

    Right to Rise

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Speaker Ryan will do great work with President Bush and Majority Leader McDonnell.

    Tax reform, then entitlement reform. The first two items on the agenda. after that? Education reforms.

  20. 20.

    mellowjohn

    “…J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois was plucked from out of almost nowhere to become speaker of the House.”

    and look where he is today.

  22. 22.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Bill E Pilgrim:

    The speakership of fools.

    The ship of fools is an allegory, originating from Plato, that has long been a fixture in Western literature and art. The allegory depicts a vessel without a pilot, populated by human inhabitants who are deranged, frivolous, or oblivious, and seemingly ignorant of their course.

  23. 23.

    SFAW

    OK, if I recall, Reich to Rise is not really DougJ (or “Doug!” as he currently refers to himself). But I’m wondering if perhaps Reich is maybe TBogg, trying out new stuff before he works it into his routine.

    I guess the alternative is that he’s just fucking loopy.

    “Speaker Ryan, destined to give it to the US as hard as he can”

  24. 24.

    Sibelius

    I know it seems to be kind of a joke right now, but I’m sobered by the fact that the Speaker of the House is third in line for the presidency.

    And the recent history of the secret service doesn’t inspire that much confidence.

  25. 25.

    Yatsuno

    On the one hand, I am enjoying the absolute chaos to no end. On the other hand, I am a federal employee. My job directly hinges upon those in DC actually being able to do their jobs. And there is zero guarantee I will get paid when the government shuts down. It is a when now. So yeah, definitely a double edged sword for me.

  26. 26.

    David Koch

    Last 7 Republican Speakers/Leaders

    McCarthy………….adulterer
    Boehner…………..drunk, lazy, corrupt, adulterer
    Cantor……………..extortion, adulterer
    Delay………………corrupt, hot tub adulterer
    Hastert…………….corrupt, pedophile, adulterer
    Livingston…………corrupt, hookers, S&M masochist, adulterer
    Gingrich…………..corrupt, adulterer

    Party of family values. Defenders of the sanctity of marriage.

  27. 27.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    There are easily enough ‘moderate’ Republicans to get a clean debt ceiling raise and status quo budgets through. Probably even for fixing the sequester cuts. The problem has been Boehner would not let these things come to a vote. He would only let bills be voted on that passed solely through Republican support, and his caucus consists of howler monkeys shivving each other with sharpened feces.

  31. 31.

    SFAW

    @David Koch:

    WTF? Wasn’t Gingrich a serial adulterer? None of that penny-ante, caught-one-time-and-was-humbled bullshit for The Man Who Is A Stupid Person’s Idea Of What A Smart Person Sounds Like.

  35. 35.

    SFAW

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    The problem has been Boehner would not let these things come to a vote. He would only let bills be voted on that passed solely through Republican support, and his caucus consists of howler monkeys shivving each other with sharpened feces.

    Yeah, it’s almost as if The Speaker What Cares So Deeply About The Institution That He Resigned didn’t actually care about anything other than playing games designed to fuck over the Dems. Who’d’a thunk?

  39. 39.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @sukabi: Also the name of a incredible novel by Katherine Anne Porter. The only one she wrote, but worth its weight in anything you can think of.

    The ship in her case was an ocean liner going from Mexico to Germany in the 1930s, or if you will, the world sailing aimlessly and stupidly into WWII.

  41. 41.

    amk

    In the GOP leadership fight, I think Obama should arm the moderate rebels.

    how about gfy michael, who doesn’t know wtf the moderate even means. 60 futile repeal obamacare votes with all the thugs voting for them unanimously and this media bastid wants Obama to save their collective racist asses.

  43. 43.

    Morzer

    http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a38672/kevin-mccarthy-republicans-id-ego/

    There are all kinds of chickens coming home to roost. This development – which, I would point out, leaves Jason Chaffetz (R-Zygote) as the “moderate” choice for Speaker of the House, and third in line to be president of the United States – is the final justification for all of us who have been saying for a while now that there is no “extreme” wing of the Republican party any more. The prion disease has taken full hold of the party’s higher functions. It is already being bruited about the monkeyhouse that Chaffetz may not be pure enough to satisfy the Freedom Caucus, the claque of angry gossoons who sank McCarthy the moment that McCarthy told the truth about what the House is up to with its hearings on Benghazi, Benghazi!, BENGHAZI!

  44. 44.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @SFAW: THere was a story a couple years back that Boehner wanted to be a Speaker of consequence, was the way I think one anonymous colleague put it, like Longworth and O’Neil. There would be some poignancy in the delusions of such a blazing mediocrity if his actual tenure weren’t such disgusting combination of cowardice and cynicism, the only remarkable thing about him. I hope in the future he’s written about by historians of the Obama presidency with the contempt he deserves.

  47. 47.

    max

    @MattF: How about Ahmed Chalabi? I hear he’s available.

    Oooo. Good one. But I’m thinking he’d be too busy stealing and going to dinner parties to show to the House even for votes. (Ergo: None of the Above for Speaker.)

    Aha, but you could make them happy with Vladimir!

    But then I thought, No, what we really need is for someone to nominate A. Hitler. On the other hand, he won’t show up for House votes either.

    So it dawns on me – there’s only one possible outside choice for Speaker. A man who has lead the Republican party for two decades, and yet isn’t quite as uncouth as Rush Limbaugh, nor as old as Rupert Murdoch, who would show up since he’s around anyways, and who is guaranteed to be wrong about everything, thus satisfying the Freedom Caucus.

    That man is BILL KRISTOL! C’mon! It’s the only possible choice! How could they have waited this long to do it!

    And then Bill Kristol, true leader that he is, can lead the House in invading the GWU campus and liberating it while also bombing it to smithereens.

    max
    [‘That should keep them preoccupied with fighting a guerilla war for YEARS!’]

  55. 55.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Bill E Pilgrim: as twitter Nixon might say, Good Christ

    Starship mentions “Don’t tell us you need us, cause we’re the Ship of Fools looking for America, coming through your schools” in its 1985 song We Built This City.

  59. 59.

    Ruckus

    I’m just wondering if Boner announced his retirement to bring the clusterfuck of a legislature out in the open. I mean we know it is a clusterfuck but how many people really did? And his saying he will stay on until a replacement is found is to me a tell in this. He can now bring up for a vote such things as a clean budget, which of course he could always do but if enough repubs are willing to allow this so that actual work can happen and it completely screws the what, 40 nut jobs……
    And yes I know that this is a very long shot here but it is looking to not be impossible. Of course his history doesn’t give any clue to this as a possibility, but what if the President talked to him about how being a lame duck has it’s advantages. Like making fucks to give math look entirely different.

  64. 64.

    David Koch

    Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) raised $12.2 million in the third quarter, Reuters reports.

    In contrast, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) “took in just $6 million for his presidential campaign from July to the end of September, a major drop to his fund-raising pace over a summer in which two Republican rivals dropped out because they lacked enough money to continue,” the New York Times reports.

    See, this is why Rubio won’t win the nomination. He has trouble raising money which means there’s little underlying support. And then he tries to bury the terrible news on a day engulfed by gop chaos.

  66. 66.

    Morzer

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/joe-scarbrough-paul-ryan-adovcate

    Looks like the deputy reserve navigator on the ship of fools has spoken:

    Scarborough called the GOP “chaos.”

    “I never believe anybody is an indispensable leader,” Scarborough said. “But I think for this time and this place, not only for the Republican party but also for the conservative movement, they can’t afford to lose the White House for another eight years. Paul Ryan is gonna have to step up. Because there is nobody else in the caucus or in the party that could bring together the conservatives and also bring together the main street Republicans like Paul.”

    Scarborough went on to add that he thought Ryan can cut deals and “still have respect.”

    “I respect Paul wanting to stay out of this race,” Scarborough added. “At this point, I don’t think it’s up to Paul. He does not have the choice.”

  68. 68.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    And really, “a vessel without a pilot, populated by human inhabitants who are deranged, frivolous, or oblivious, and seemingly ignorant of their course” is a fairly good characterization of the Republican Party before all the recent implosions, i.e. the Speaker chased out, then his seeming successor chased out, and so on. As par for the course in recent years, the GOP is outpacing both satire and allegory’s ability to keep up.

  70. 70.

    SFAW

    @Ruckus:

    Didn’t they just do something along those lines? Except it was a three-month (or so) measure, so Obama will have to go through the same bullshit all over again. If Boehner truly cared about the Government running well, he could have cobbled together something for the resat of the fiscal year.

    Maybe I’m missing something, but I think Beohner’s talk about The Institution was a bunch of bullshit. He’s just a less-crazy-sounding TeaBagger – maybe not in word, but in deed.

  71. 71.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Omnes Omnibus: Hmm, you’ve made Honalee into a person. Very Citizens United of you!

    Edit: Hmm again, seems to actually be quite a selection of ways of spelling that, a punk band and etc. There is this however:

    “The story of the song takes place “by the sea” in the fictional land of Honalee (the spelling used by author Lenny Lipton, though non-authoritative variations abound.)[citation needed]”

    Which is how I always saw it spelled.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puff,_the_Magic_Dragon

  72. 72.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SFAW: He was one of the Contract on America people. He was one of the people who decided to impeach a president for lying about a blowjob. He and his spawned the assholes who are making a mess of things now. Fuck him.

  74. 74.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Bill E Pilgrim: I didn’t make anything into a person; I merely recognized Mr/Ms* Lee’s inherent persnhood.

    *I shan’t speculate as to Honah’s gender identity.

  75. 75.

    David Koch

    PBS reports gop in discussion to make Romney speaker

    Lisa Desjardins @LisaDNews

    SPEAKER ROMNEY?: now have enough sources to report there is real, serious (tho still limited) talk about it. (!) #tcot #p2

    Retweets
    146
    Favorites
    51

    11:19 AM – 8 Oct 2015

  76. 76.

    Mike J

    Wow. A cable favorite that as far as I know has never been on TCM, is coming on tonight. Valley Girl. I won’t say it’s a good movie, but in the early 80s I was the guy who hung out at the local punk rock club and dated the cheerleaders/valedictorians. I connected with this flick.

    Plus, the Plimsouls are the house band in the movie and they do A Million Miles Away, a song which was never appreciated appropriately.

    Now, back to Republicans in disarray.

  78. 78.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @amk: Why don’t you click on the guy’s name and look at his twitter feed? Looks pretty snarky to me.

  79. 79.

    David Koch

    Jon Favreau @jonfavs

    This chaos among House Republicans could’ve been avoided if Obama had simply invited them to more parties, said all of DC for 7 years

    Retweets
    272
    Favorites
    284

    12:39 PM – 8 Oct 2015

  81. 81.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Omnes Omnibus: Despite your obvious attempt to personipulate the language, there does seem to be some mild variation (see my note above) so we’re both right.

  83. 83.

    Ruckus

    @SFAW:
    Oh I’m not disagreeing with you. I think he’s only about a half step from the crazy car himself, but if he’s looking for some sort of legacy, the one he has now isn’t worth a small pile of rotting dog shit. It is possible, however small a possibility it is, that he might be looking to not be thought of as a complete loser of a speaker.

  85. 85.

    David Koch

    Judd Legum @JuddLegum

    Funny no one is mentioning Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the 3rd ranking House Republican behind Boehner, a a potential candidate for Speaker

    Retweets
    25
    Favorites
    18

    5:32 PM – 8 Oct 2015

    I’m Shocked! I’m Shocked. None of goppers or their media courtiers are mentioning a female speaker.

  89. 89.

    Aleta

    Here’s what I don’t understand.
    The Speaker does not have to be a member of Congress. So, it seems, the Speaker is not required to have been elected ?

    (Granted, the House gets to decide how they will choose a Speaker, and there is an unbroken tradition so far.)

    But does this mean that someone who has never won an election could according to the Constitution become President?

  91. 91.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @efgoldman: Or maybe: “Little House is on the hillside, little House is full of tacky, tacky…”

    Er, okay I better excuse myself also and go to bed.

  95. 95.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @David Koch: Marsha Blackburn, who when they passed out brains got back in the chutzpah line for seconds, floated her own name. Somebody like Delay would probably figure out how to use her as a front, like he did with Hastert.

  97. 97.

    rikyrah

    Kay,

    did you see this?

    …………………………….

    Former Chicago Public Schools chief to plead guilty to bribery
    scheme

    Barbara Byrd-Bennett had been the chief executive of Chicago Public Schools less than two months when the man who helped persuade the Emanuel administration to give her the job sent an email allegedly laying out the heart of a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme.

    In the December 2012 email, Gary Solomon, the owner of SUPES Academy and a consultant with long ties to the Emanuel administration, assured Byrd-Bennett that trust accounts had been set up in the names of two of her young relatives, each funded with tens of thousands of dollars, federal prosecutors alleged. The cash would be hers once she stepped down from her public post and rejoined his firm.

    “It is our assumption that the distribution will serve as a signing bonus upon your return to SUPES,” Solomon wrote, according to prosecutors. “If you only join for the day, you will be the highest paid person on the planet for that day.”

    The secret bonus was just one part of a massive scheme outlined in a criminal indictment Thursday charging Byrd-Bennett, 66, with steering no-bid contracts worth more than $23 million to SUPES in return for promises of up to $2.3 million in kickbacks, other perks and a job.

    Solomon, 47, and co-owner Thomas Vranas, 34, also were criminally charged in the 23-count indictment, as was SUPES, their Wilmette-based business, and Synesi Associates, another education consulting company the two ran.

    At a news conference outlining the indictment Thursday afternoon, U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon revealed that Byrd-Bennett is cooperating with investigators and plans to plead guilty to the charges and testify if necessary.

    Fardon referred to the motive in the case as flat-out “greed,” calling Byrd-Bennett “a public official who compromised her integrity … by looking to line her own pockets.

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-barbara-byrd-bennett-chicago-public-schools-charged-met-20151008-story.html

  98. 98.

    Ruckus

    @Mike in NC:
    That’s a pretty wide open statement. Some of us would like a little more specificity here.
    We want to make sure we aren’t included.

  99. 99.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @efgoldman: I believe Puff exists. I walked away from the conversation last night. I probably should have done so sooner. It was a touchy subject, especially for late night conversation.

    @Mike in NC: Fuck you too, you asshole. Oh, you meant the GOPers, never mind.

  101. 101.

    Brother Dingaling

    This is how I feel about Trump. Every time I read a liberal takedown, I think, “wait! Not yet…”

  103. 103.

    Cervantes

    @Aleta:

    But does this mean that someone who has never won an election could according to the Constitution become President?

    Sure — nor is it the only way that could happen.

    If the Vice President dies while in office, the President can nominate/appoint anyone, subject only to a majority vote in the House and a majority vote in the Senate.

  107. 107.

    David Koch

    Ben Carson is in hot water after he blamed the victims of the Oregon mass shooting for not standing up to their attacker.

    But it turns out, as Carson himself tells the story, he came face to face with an armed robber at a fast food joint — and he did even worse than the exact opposite of what he’s telling everyone else to do now.

    He says he was in line at a fast food joint when an armed robber came in and pointed a gun at him. Instead of “rushing” the gun man, he told him to shoot the clerk, saying ‘I believe you want the guy behind the counter.’

  108. 108.

    NonyNony

    @Cervantes:

    If the Vice President dies while in office, the President can nominate/appoint anyone, subject only to a majority vote in the House and a majority vote in the Senate.

    Hell we’ve already had a President who wasn’t elected by anyone – Gerald Ford. Agnew resigned and Ford was appointed to replace him.

  109. 109.

    Cervantes

    @NonyNony:

    But that wasn’t the question. The question was whether “someone who has never won an election could according to the Constitution become President”?

    Ford had won elections before.

  111. 111.

    Bobby Thomson

    I think we all know what the solution is. Your country needs you, man.

    All right, let’s do this. Leeroy Jennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnkinnnnnnnsss!

  112. 112.

    J R in WV

    The Grateful Dead did Ship of Fools, and it’s a great song.

    So there must be a ton of ’em around…

  113. 113.

    NotMax

    The schadenfreude is strong with this one.

    And that one.

    And that one, too.

    And that one…

    /Yoda infinitum

  114. 114.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @J R in WV: Wiki says Seger has a SoFs song on Night Moves, an album I used to have but I don’t remember that song.

    I kinda miss albums– I can’t remember the last time I sat an listened to one all the way through– except for those cases when you bought an album because of that one great song and then… that was it.

  115. 115.

    NotMax

    @Aleta

    Yes.

    Unless does not meet the requirements of being at least 35 and a natural born citizen (neither of which apply to being Speaker). In that unusual case, would automatically be skipped over in the line of succession.

  116. 116.

    maya

    If they do make Romney speaker, Obama & Biden better ask their friend, Pope Frankie, if he can spare a Swiss Guard platoon or two to augment their Secret Service details.

  117. 117.

    rikyrah

    The Life and Times of Doris Payne is now streaming on Netflix!
    Ms. Payne is a con-woman/thief whose ‘career’ has spanned 60 years.

  119. 119.

    David Koch

    John ‏@linnyitssn 7h7 hours ago

    1: Black man walks into the White House
    2: White people decide they won’t talk to him
    3: White people blame black guy for not fixing racism

    130 retweets 124 favorites

  122. 122.

    stinger

    Semi-serious question: Can the Democrats, voting en bloc, get however few sane Repubs are left in the House, and vote Nancy back in? She was aces at getting squeaker laws passed, with that big gavel of hers (not a euphemism).

  127. 127.

    Calouste

    @stinger: The Democrats would still have a minority though, so it would be pretty hard to get anything passed. Although practically it would mean a split in the GunsOverPeople, because whoever votes for, or even with Pelosi, would be primaried hard.

  128. 128.

    Mike J

    @Omnes Omnibus: I like the fact that the kids in this movie are smoking and drinking and driving and smoking pot and fucking. All the things kids do but wouldn’t wind up in a movie unless it was a morality play.

    And here’s the Plimsouls.

  129. 129.

    David Koch

    Jeffrey Goldberg @JeffreyGoldberg

    Only two people who could win the speakership right now are Ryan and Netanyahu.

    Retweets
    78
    Favorites
    78

    12:53 PM – 8 Oct 2015

    ‏@metaquest

    I wouldn’t count Putin out. @GOP loves that genius.

    Retweets
    10
    Favorites
    5

    1:11 PM – 8 Oct 2015

  135. 135.

    amk

    This is what that kenyan usurper of muslin meant when he said, nay, literally pleaded, in 2010, not to give the keys back to the loonies.

  138. 138.

    goblue72

    Yes please – let’s make the Zombie-eyed Grannie Starver the Speaker. His last time in the spotlight as VP nominee was just sooooooooo successful. The more the spotlight is focused on the sociopathic looney-tunes who can’t do math, the better we will do.

  139. 139.

    F

    So I’ve got FS1 muted after the baseball game, and just when I look up, what do I see? ¡Jeb! Now I know why their ratings are so terrible.

  145. 145.

    Morzer

    Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 5h5 hours ago

    I was so happy when I heard that @Politico, one of the most dishonest political outlets, is losing a fortune. Pure scum!

    .@EWErickson ran @RedState into the ground. A change was necessary. Congratulations to @RedState and good luck in the future!

  149. 149.

    Morzer

    Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 13h13 hours ago

    I hear @glennbeck is in big trouble. Unlike me, his viewers & ratings are way down & he has become irrelevant—glad I didn’t do his show.

    I guess The Donald is working on one aspect of his charm offensive at a time.

  153. 153.

    Betty Cracker

    Catching up on some political news, and I’m starting to suspect there is something physically wrong with Carson.

  155. 155.

    Tim C.

    I think Paul Ryan’s great strength is that he’s fully aware of the scam he’s running. He knows it’s hokum and the whole con pretty much depends on the real bomb-throwers never getting what they actually want. VP would have been a fine gig for him under Mitt as Mitt knew the whole thing was a con as well. Hell, half the GOP hates Bush 41 and 43 because they refused to give them the magical conservipony government of their dreams and just made sure the brinks trucks of cash kept rolling in. (see what I did there)

    If Ryan actually had to lead the caucus? No chance in hell he could hold it together for more than about 15 minutes. He won’t go for the job, he doesn’t want the job and he can’t do the job. Nobody can.

  157. 157.

    Peale

    @efgoldman: cole would be really pissed if he were made speaker, but you know he’d eventually man up and do it. But man, would he work hard to make the republicans cry.

  164. 164.

    Radio One

    the only real thought on this I’ve had all day is that if Paul Ryan doesn’t take the Speaker job, that’s quite a power vacuum that the GOP House leadership is unleashing upon its caucus.

  165. 165.

    Morzer

    Of course, if we just want a Speaker to replace a dead Boner, there’s always Freddie deBoer…..

  171. 171.

    Morzer

    http://jezebel.com/peeple-is-defiantly-hiring-despite-everyone-still-hati-1735516729

    Peeple, the app you will someday be able to use to review human beings, is hiring. Co-founder Julia Cordray sent out a help wanted announcement on LinkedIn today that doubled as an acknowledgment that some aspects of Peeple were “ill-conceived.”

    In her post, Cordray said she and co-founder Nicole McCullough are looking for a chief technology officer. They’re also announcing that the app is now “100% opt-in,” like every other social media platform in existence

    I love it when a plan comes together.

  172. 172.

    Mike J

    @Omnes Omnibus: Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl.

    But the people seemed like actual people, and there wasn’t a character in the movie that couldn’t have been somebody I knew when I was 16.

  175. 175.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @efgoldman: It may be a generational thing. I am within the margin of error of the Valley Girl audience. Older than they were portraying at the time, but younger than the actors were.

  185. 185.

    Morzer

    @efgoldman:

    Fine. I blame those fascist swine (except Anne Laurie, her spouse, her dependents, her grape arbour, her gazebo and any and all pets associated with her or her household) from Woburn.

  187. 187.

    NotMax

    @NotMax

    Tried to watch it. Best I can say is it is a cure for insomnia. Was sound asleep about 15 minutes in. Shallow to the max.

  188. 188.

    redshirt

    @efgoldman:

    I think the last time I was in Danvers was sometime in the 70s, except maybe on the way to or from someplace else.

    The 1670’s were a swinging time back in the old Colonies, eh, Governor?

  195. 195.

    mclaren

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    How can a country keep going when one of its two political parties is run by three year olds biting and throwing their own shit at each other in a sandbox?

    When that political party isn’t in power.

    The Republican party was always batshit insane and infantile, right back to Sen. Joe McCarthy 70 years ago. It was only when Republicans took over the House and the Senate that they became a problem.

  197. 197.

    Morzer

    http://www.motherjones.com/media/2015/10/mother-jones-vandersloot-melaleuca-lawsuit

    Today we are happy to announce a monumental legal victory for Mother Jones: A judge in Idaho has ruled in our favor on all claims in a defamation case filed by a major Republican donor, Frank VanderSloot, and his company, Melaleuca Inc. In a decision issued Tuesday, the court found that Mother Jones did not defame VanderSloot or Melaleuca because “all of the statements at issue are non-actionable truth or substantial truth.” The court also found that the statements were protected as fair comment under the First Amendment.

    The whole story is well worth reading. I hope the frontpagers might pick up on this, because it really does speak to the idea of a free press and a democratic society.

  198. 198.

    joel hanes

    @efgoldman:

    two most liberal Protestant denominations, the Unitarians and the Congregationalists.

    and about half the Presbyterians.

    Prolly not the Texas half.

  199. 199.

    mclaren

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I am not going to do it.

    Omnes Omnibus would be perfect for Speaker of the Republican-controlled House. He has all the socipoathy, all the dishonesty, all the cruelty, and all the callousness required. He has every bit of sanctimonious fake concern-for-the-average-person masking deep hatred for everyone but the super-rich. Omnes Omnibus has even mastered the envenomed Republican invective: anyone who disagrees with him or who cites inconvenient facts is “gibbering,” “ranting,” a “fringe lunatic,” “in need of therapy,” etc.

    Most of all, since Omnes is an obvious paid sock puppet for the interests of the top 1%, he fits right in perfectly with the Republican caucus in the House.

  200. 200.

    Morzer

    @mclaren:

    For the record, I, not Omnes, described you as “gibbering”. I am sure your well-known scrupulous regard for accuracy will require you to correct your misstatement about Omnes.

  201. 201.

    Amir Khalid

    @mclaren:

    anyone who disagrees with him or who cites inconvenient facts is “gibbering,” “ranting,” a “fringe lunatic,” “in need of therapy,” etc.

    I think he says that only to you. Then again, your comment here goes some way towards explaining his reasons.

  205. 205.

    Morzer

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    I had a friend named Babblin’ Mc
    Who used to rage, gibber and quack
    He thought he was the smartest guy in town
    But I found out last Monday
    That Mc got locked up Sunday
    They’ve got him with the ther’pist way down town
    He’s with the ther’pist now
    He’s with the ther’pist now

    I told him once or twice
    Quit trollin’ threads and pickin’ lice

    He’s with the ther’pist now.

  213. 213.

    SectionH

    WTF? 5.5 hours with no new post?

    Ok then. Today was good. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. Watching the R meltdown today via Twitter was a hoot. Yes I can laugh at assholes like that.

    I have a srsly politically oriented Twitter feed, and today was gold. Even Cole’s vagueTweets contributed to the fun. @Rschooley Favorited something I wrote. (You’ll have seen AL post numbers of his tweets.) Woo woo. But he really is pretty good, so that was nice. (Favorite is so much cooler than Like, innit?)

    Mostly I spent the day finishing a shirt design for a small SF convention in Balto-Wash (Capclave: where reading is not extinct). This year’s was Waiting for Dodot.

  217. 217.

    boatboy_srq

    @redshirt: you have to let them let a utility off the hook for poisoning its customers (PG&E); then enact entitlement reform and some nasty anti-undocumented laws (Prop187), and follow that with a farce of a recall of the governor for actually trying to find a way out of an engineered utility crisis (Enron). It works, but it’s far from pain-free.

  218. 218.

    mclaren

    @Amir Khalid:

    I think he says that only to you. Then again, your comment here goes some way towards explaining his reasons.

    The alleged “comment” by me which you cite does not appear to exist. A objective observer might conclude that you are inventing words to attribute to me — otherwise known as “lying.”

    As they say in court, would you now care to amplify or amend your statements?

  219. 219.

    Morzer

    @mclaren:

    Still waiting for you to apologize humbly, on your worthless Republican-sucking knees, to Omnes for the perverted, filthy, reactionary-bigot-slanderous allegation that he, innocent, martyred, virtuous soul, described your flatulent, decrepit, counter-top-counting, closet-Rethuglican-infiltrationist-running-dog excuse for a self as “gibbering”.

  220. 220.

    mclaren

    @Morzer:

    (with apologies to Dylan Thomas)

    Do not go gentle to the far right,
    Astroturfers should burn and rave and not be lax;
    Rage, rage against the stating of the facts.

    Though kooks like Morzer may take fright,
    Because they run from reality, making tracks,
    still they rage, rage against the stating of the facts.

    Good men, the last to leave these kind of forums,
    Turn away in disgust from Morzer’s lying cracks
    as he rages, rages against the stating of the facts.

    Wild men paid to astroturf for the extremist right.
    and learn, too late, it wasn’t worth the bullion stacks,
    still rage, rage against the stating of the facts.

  221. 221.

    mclaren

    @Morzer:

    Still waiting for you to cite exactly what I was supposed to have said about Omnes Omnibus in this thread. Are you just making shit up now? What next, I assassinated JFK?

    Provide hard evidence or stand revealed as a liar.

  222. 222.

    Morzer

    @mclaren:

    You falsely accused the virtuous, honorable, true-born Omnes of describing your semi-literate, pustular, toad-fondling, horseshit-wallowing malodorosity as “gibbering”. If you have one of your goose-stepping, pig-fucking, hamster-molesting Republican cronies read the thread to you, you will learn that I and I alone described your babbling, warthog-faced buffoonish incontinence as “gibbering”. You purulent swamp of iniquities and solecisms, you owe Omnes an apology for your degenerate insults to his brightly burnished name.

  223. 223.

    redshirt

    @mclaren:

    @Morzer:

    (with apologies to Dylan Thomas)

    Do not go gentle to the far right,
    Astroturfers should burn and rave and not be lax;
    Rage, rage against the stating of the facts.

    Though kooks like Morzer may take fright,
    Because they run from reality, making tracks,
    still they rage, rage against the stating of the facts.

    Good men, the last to leave these kind of forums,
    Turn away in disgust from Morzer’s lying cracks
    as he rages, rages against the stating of the facts.

    Wild men paid to astroturf for the extremist right.
    and learn, too late, it wasn’t worth the bullion stacks,
    still rage, rage against the stating of the facts.

    Morzer, you got owned like in an epic fashion, such that
    your name might be passed down into the future as a
    synonym of loser. Example: “Oh Man, You’re Morzered!”

  224. 224.

    Amir Khalid

    @mclaren:
    The comment was deleted by a front-pager, possibly offended by your personal attack on another commenter, possibly at your request. My own comment was a reply to that deleted comment. Proof: if you click on your nym at the top, it doesn’t go back to your original comment anymore.

  227. 227.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Amir Khalid: Sure the comment was deleted by the operatives in the bowels of the Pentagon. You and Morzer probably aren’t really in Asia, probably plotting against mclearen in Ring 1 of the Pentagon. That and the fluoridation of water corrupting our vital bodily fluids.

  229. 229.

    redshirt

    @Morzer:

    @mclaren:

    You falsely accused the virtuous, honorable, true-born Omnes of describing your semi-literate, pustular, toad-fondling, horseshit-wallowing malodorosity as “gibbering”. If you have one of your goose-stepping, pig-fucking, hamster-molesting Republican cronies read the thread to you, you will learn that I and I alone described your babbling, warthog-faced buffoonish incontinence as “gibbering”. You purulent swamp of iniquities and solecisms, you owe Omnes an apology for your degenerate insults to his brightly burnished name.

    Wait, I didn’t see this before I passed my judgement.

    Morzer, you’re on probation.

  233. 233.

    brantl

    The standing “leadership” fustercluck has been a rich gift to snarkists, but seriously: The more energy these mopes expend scheming to destroy each other, the less they have to devote to destroying the American commonwealth for the rest of us.

    Unfortunately, clowns are famous for multi-tasking..,,,

  236. 236.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Cervantes: Gerald Ford won many elections to the House of Representatives, but none of those wins were constitutionally required by the process that made him President (though, obviously, they helped politically).

  237. 237.

    Matt McIrvin

    @efgoldman: The main witch trials were actually in what is now Salem, but most of the incidents leading up to them were in Danvers (some were in other nearby towns, including Andover).

  238. 238.

    eldorado

    pretty much every song in valley girl still holds up. there is no telling how many copies of the soundtrack would have sold if they had been able to put one out the year the movie was released.

  241. 241.

    Rand Careaga

    @redshirt: You’re referring, I believe, to the Golden State’s hugely successful “Republican Eradication Program,” a decades-long initiative to rid California of these noxious pests. Although they still infest several rural counties, their poisons have been largely neutralized in the state’s vital lawmaking region.

  242. 242.

    Omnes Omnibus

    What is funny to me is that my “I’m not going to do it” comment that caused mclaren to go all mclareny was actually a statement that I wasn’t going to say anything about Tommy’s bizarre comment right above mine. Internets are weird.

  243. 243.

    Jado

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Actually, he will probably be regarded as a genius magician, as he was able to maintain the illusion (along with the complicity of the MSM) that the Republican party wasn’t completely off their collective rocker for as long as he did. How long did the MSM put forth the idea that the GOP was a legitimate political party, with Boehner tap dancing as fast as he could to minimize the attention payed to the howler monkey contingent?

  245. 245.

    Jamey

    @F: I was astounded by how awful FS1’s coverage was–and I didn’t even see Yeb! behind the mic.

  247. 247.

    jhentai

    hilarious that the first benghazi committee casualty is a republican! hopefully more to come!

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