Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Tick tock motherfuckers!

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

When I was faster i was always behind.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

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

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

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Reader Interactions

207Comments

  3. 3.

    David Koch

    clydetheslyde ‏@clydetheslyde 32m32 minutes ago

    Next time Conservatives challenge you to name one Hillary Clinton accomplishment, simply answer: “Kevin McCarthy”. ;)

    25 retweets 41 favorites

  7. 7.

    David Koch

    This American Adam ‏@adamconner 2h2 hours ago Washington, DC

    Well the Benghazi Committee got its first political scalp today.

    25 retweets 14 favorites

  9. 9.

    Germy Shoemangler

    off topic:

    Cancer is much less common in elephants than in humans, even though the big beasts’ bodies have many more cells. Now researchers think they may have an explanation — one they say might someday lead to new ways to protect people from cancer.

    Elephants’ cells contain 40 copies of a major cancer-suppressing gene called p53, two teams of scientists report. Humans have just two – one from each parent. The gene helps damaged cells repair themselves or self-destruct when exposed to cancer-causing substances.

    The findings aren’t proof that those extra p53 genes make elephants cancer-resistant, but if future research confirms it, scientists could try to develop drugs for humans that would mimic the effect.

  11. 11.

    gah

    Wow, that’s some funny shit. I may have a new favorite congressman…..and he’s from the cesspool that’s Riverside….who’d a thunk it?

  15. 15.

    Roger Moore

    @gah:

    and he’s from the cesspool that’s Riverside

    The IE is now bluish purple rather than venomous red. I guess it has something to do with a lot of working-class Latinos moving there for the jobs in logistics.

  17. 17.

    FlyingToaster

    @David Koch: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

    There is nothing that Ryan wants less than the Speakership. Not one single thing.

    I want Charlie Pierce’s Emperor of Crazy, myself. I don’t think the Freedom Caucus will tolerate anything less that Louie Gohmert.

  18. 18.

    FlyingToaster

    @jl:

    Baby sitting? I thought experience controlling juvenile delinquents would be more appropriate.

    No, because you have to give the kids (reps) back to the parents (districts) without any visible bruising.

  21. 21.

    David Koch

    An alleged affair between McCarthy, the House Majority Leader, and Ellmers, became the source of intense speculation on Thursday after McCarthy announced in a closed-door meeting that he was dropping out of the race to replace John Boehner as Speaker of the House.

    Over at Red State, Erickson says the rumor, which House GOP Walter “Freedom Fries” Jones (R-NC) alluded to yesterday, “may have led to McCarthy’s collapse. It has become a louder buzz over the past few days with more and more people on and off the Hill talking about it.”

    These adulterers are the ones spitting on gays, piously saying gays will ruin the “sanctity” of marriage.

    Pigs.

  22. 22.

    Baud

    @Aleta:

    I feel that commenting on Balloon Juice has given me the experience I need to deal with the House Republican caucus.

  23. 23.

    Smiling Mortician

    From RawStory:

    McCarthy, the No. 2 Republican in the House, faced opposition from more conservative lawmakers who now could be emboldened to take a more confrontational approach toward Democratic President Barack Obama on legislation and policy.

    Aside from “emboldened,” which is the ugliest damn word to come out of the Bush era, I really can’t stand the misuse of the word “conservative.” Those to the right of McCarthy aren’t interested in conserving more of anything: not money, not lives, not resources, not rights, not the planet.

    And Orwell’s just nodding from the probably-not-that-great beyond, like “Yup.”

  28. 28.

    Botsplainer

    OT- In response to the Louisville hooker recruiting scandal, super fan My Mom blamed it on the culture of the black players, black coach and madam, and said that’s it’s “trash”.

    I made it a point to mention the pasty white frat boys at IU and forced public cunnilingus as a hazing measure. Also mentioned Jerry Sandusky, Larry Whatsisname at Iowa State and a host of other scandals.

    She’s full of fucking shit.

  30. 30.

    bemused

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Rep Tom Price wants an interim speaker for the next 15 months which would “allow the House to complete the business in a responsible manner”. I can’t stop laughing.

  31. 31.

    David Koch

    @Davis X. Machina: A ‘Cease & Desist’ order !? Wow. This confirms the affair. You don’t go to full battle stations over idle gossip, you do it when you are about to be torpedoed.

  32. 32.

    gf120581

    @Davis X. Machina: I’m a little bit suspicious about that story, not the least of which it seems all too convenient that Renee Ellmers, who one of the top so-called RINOs on the Freedom Caucus’s hit list, is the one McCarthy is supposedly screwing. It seems like an attempt to kill two birds with one stone.

  34. 34.

    gf120581

    @bemused: Laughter is the wisest approach to this whole clusterfuck.

    Oddly, I’d say that strengthens Daniel Webster’s case, since thanks to redistricting he’s probably going to lose his seat next fall, so hey, it work’s perfectly!

  35. 35.

    SFAW

    @Davis X. Machina:

    I know your intentions were good, but please don’t have a live link to that motherfucker Johnson’s website, without posting a warning. Although I usually check to see where it’s going to direct me, I don’t think I remembered that GotNews was his.

  38. 38.

    bemused

    @David Koch:

    Might be true but the timing is interesting. I wouldn’t put it past some anti-McCarthy Republicans to have planted the story. They eat their own just as easily as Dems.

  42. 42.

    Thoughtful Today

    [Republican] SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE [Craigslist ad]

    “Proven ability to work with irrational people who pursue narrow priorities at the expense of millions of others”

    …

    Inability to work with irrational people isn’t a bug for the next generation of Republican Speaker, it’s a feature!

  44. 44.

    frosty

    @Baud:

    I feel that commenting on Balloon Juice has given me the experience I need to deal with the House Republican caucus.

    I’m afraid you’re overqualified.

  45. 45.

    Elizabelle

    Love it! Takano’s is one of the 2-3 best Tweets I have ever seen.

    Ad does not appear to be on Craigslist at the moment. They shoulda left it up.

  47. 47.

    SFAW

    @Davis X. Machina:
    I don’t disagree re: primary sources. Just include a trigger warning or whatever they’re called.

    It’s not quite like being Rick-rolled, but not everyone recognizes that motherfucker Johnson’s URL.

  48. 48.

    Elizabelle

    @frosty: Don’t you and Baud think PBO and Michelle might be knocking back a second martini and laughing themselves sick?

    Maybe even a secret call to Speaker Boehner, who is feeling really zippity doo dah over retiring from this clusterf*ck? Although he might be in the job until January 2017?

  49. 49.

    Mandalay

    @David Koch:

    An alleged affair between McCarthy, the House Majority Leader, and Ellmers and Ellmers

    From Jan 24, 2015:

    House leadership also knows about the affair. Speaker John Boehner reportedly told McCarthy to stop the affair once McCarthy was elected Majority Leader says a well placed congressional staffer. At least one leadership staffer doesn’t think the affair ended. “They are unusually close,” says the staffer who insists that the affair is going on. “It’s weird if he’s not f*cking her.”

    It would be irresponsible not to speculate that shit will be meeting fan in near future.

  54. 54.

    ThresherK

    @SFAW: Well, you’re steps ahead of me in the “if you smell something, say something” alert squad. I never knew it was ol’ Chuck Johnson.

    On that page they promote their article, “Here is Ahmed’s phone number so you can ask him questions the media won’t.”

    Eww.

  63. 63.

    redshirt

    @Elizabelle:

    It is a school night for PBO. Tipping a cocktail to him now.

    Every night is a school night for the President of the United States of America.

    FSM Bless BHO, best President I’ll ever know.

  70. 70.

    Gimlet

    http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/10/08/3710494/jeb-bush-says-his-own-brother-did-too-much-to-protect-voting-rights/

    President George W. Bush is not a hero to voting rights advocates. His Justice Department gave the greenlight to voter ID laws, a common tactic by conservative lawmakers which prevents many younger, low-income and minority voters from casting a ballot. And Bush appointed two justices that joined the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision striking down much of the Voting Rights Act. Nevertheless, at an event in Iowa on Thursday, Bush’s own brother claimed that the former president did far too much to protect voting rights — and that he should have placed more emphasis on states rights instead.

    Legislation President Bush signed reauthorizing much of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, according to Jeb, imposed too many “regulations on top of states.”

    One of the most effective provisions of the Voting Rights Act, a provision that requires states with a history of racial voter suppression to “preclear” their new voting practices with officials in Washington before those practices can go into effect, was scheduled to sunset in 2007. Despite some of his other actions that were less supportive of voting rights, President Bush signed legislation extending these provisions for another 25 years.

  72. 72.

    sharl

    @Davis X. Machina: I ain’t clicking on that link to the Rage Furby’s site… although the creep’s lame attempts to drag former Gawker writer Adam Weinstein into Mr. Furby’s “legal actions” against Gawker were kinda entertaining, as related by Weinstein in a series of tweets yesterday.

    Mr. Furby must have come across Weinstein’s tell-all tumblr piece about the inside process of how Gawker fires people (Weinstein was one such person), and figured he might find an ally in Weinstein. If in fact that’s how RF thought, he didn’t read AW’s post closely enough.

  76. 76.

    David Koch

    Robert Costa @costareports

    Rep. Peter King tells me that members are crying in cloakroom, unable to handle the unrest and confusion. “A banana republic,” he says.

    Retweets
    1,750
    Favorites
    972

    10:58 AM – 8 Oct 2015

    Richard Yeselson ‏@yeselson 6h6 hours ago

    Lots of stressful stuff happens in kindergarten — kids **will** cry sometimes!

  78. 78.

    FlyingToaster

    @Botsplainer: Alas, not in any way surprising.

    I was on campus (in the dorms, Willkie North) for the first “Sigma Nudes” suspension. And for a girl falling out of a 3rd story window of a frat on North Jordan.

    And I’ve always assumed connections in Indianapolis kept Fijis on campus.

  80. 80.

    David Koch

    Judd Legum Verified account
    ‏@JuddLegum

    Media/Republicans criticized Obama for not being able to “work” with House Republicans.

    Even House Republicans can’t work with House Republicans

    Retweets
    541
    Favorites
    444

    1:55 PM – 8 Oct 2015

    Michael Grunwald @MikeGrunwald

    Boehner & Cantor fought everything Obama did, got ousted for not fighting hard enough. McCarthy pledged to fight harder, ousted too.

    Retweets
    98
    Favorites
    78

    11:44 AM – 8 Oct 2015

  82. 82.

    Pogonip

    Also in employment news, a friend forwarded me a resignation letter (don’t know if it’s real or not) that says the person is sorry to leave but needs to “prioritize self-care.”. Isn’t that a nifty subtle way of saying “Take this job and shove it”? I’m going to use that. ” Sorry, I can’t shovel the driveway, I feel the need to prioritize self-care.”. “Sorry, I can’t come to your Mary Kay/scented wax/expensive purse sales pitch–oops, party–I feel the need to prioritize self-care.”. I really like that.

  85. 85.

    David Koch

    David Waldman ‏@KagroX 5h5 hours ago

    Republican drones take out al-Qongress No. 2

    11 retweets 19 favorites

    JohnAmato ‏@JohnAmato 7h7 hours ago

    I’m waiting for #FoxNews to label Rep. Kevin McCarthy as a Democrat.

    7 retweets 7 favorites

    This American Adam ‏@adamconner 7h7 hours ago

    Well the Benghazi Committee got its first political scalp today.

    25 retweets 15 favorites

    Dana Houle ‏@DanaHoule 8h8 hours ago

    McCarthy never could count votes

    9 retweets 5 favorites

    Eric Boehlert @EricBoehlert

    McCarthy and Newt should have drinks and compare notes abt how obsessively chasing Clinton’s cost them their Speakership

    9:35 AM – 8 Oct 2015

    115 Retweets

    111 Favorites

  86. 86.

    Tommy

    @rikyrah: Ouch. My great state of Illinois has many issues, given. But reading all these comments I will say this, we can vote. It is easy to vote. Mom runs elections in her district and it is so easy to vote. Same where I live. I often note I can vote faster then order a Big Mac.

  90. 90.

    Mandalay

    So it looks like a letter sent yesterday is what made Mr. Dumbass withdraw:

    Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) wants to avoid the possibility of a member of the new House GOP leadership resigning from office because of a scandal.

    In a letter to House GOP Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Jones asked that Republicans discuss urging candidates for leadership to drop out if they might one day embarrass the party because of past indiscretions.

    I think everyone in Washington knows what McCarthy did, and why he withdrew, but nobody is coming out and saying it.

    Yet.

  95. 95.

    Baud

    @Aleta:

    There’s a Pussy Galore joke in there somewhere, but I need to be more tactful now that I’m a public figure.

  96. 96.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mandalay: Alan Grayson just took credit for McCarthy’s scalp, he says “we’ve taught them a lesson”. Chris Hayes, basically: “Dood, come the fuck on!”

    @Elizabelle: That’s why I’ll miss McCarthy a little bit, at IIRC 51 (me in three years), he got people to call him a “young gun”. But if Ryan breaks down and grasps the steaming wet bag of lizard turds, bloggers will get to use those douche-bro work out pictures again.

  98. 98.

    Corner Stone

    There is zero, and I mean zero, reason for the zombie eyed granny starver to take the chance at Speaker.
    I would be asking Johnny Bones what I ever did to him that he’s putting my name out there so hard.

  101. 101.

    Mandalay

    @raven:

    Grayson is taking credit.

    Well that is hardly out of character for him, but I think McCarthy’s (ETA “alleged”) extra curricular activities with Congresswoman Ellmers is a far more plausible cause.

  105. 105.

    eric

    @Mandalay: why would you make this a story that a dem took a republican down, when the far better story for the dems is that reactionary republicans took down the conservative republicans? self important blow hard.

  106. 106.

    Tommy

    @Baud: LOL he could. When I cut the cable his show was one I didn’t like losing. Always felt he was smarter than the people he covered. Not sure that is good for your future.

  114. 114.

    Corner Stone

    @eric: It’s completely hilarious because the clown accepted the VP spot with Romney a couple years ago. That’s not Establishment?! And then he made a budget deal with D Senator Patty Murray (fuck her that fucking sucked for real people). And now both Boehner and McCarthy are on record saying he’s the only guy who could do it.
    And *this* is the guy the RWNJs are going to vote for?!!
    HAHAHAHAHAHA

  117. 117.

    eric

    @Corner Stone: Exactly….if there ever was a RINO (to those loons), he is the ring leader. Boehner wants to be gone and there is no one else. I can only imagine what Obama says to Boehner next time they talk…..ha.

  119. 119.

    Renie

    @David Koch: If they’re crying over this b.s. how do they expect to handle Putin or ISIS?

    When my rep (yuck) Peter King starts to sound reasonable, then you know the GOP is a complete disaster.

  121. 121.

    bemused

    @Elizabelle:

    That didn’t even enter my mind but I was giggling at the big red X’s and missed the target thing. Drum probably should have left that out and instead photoshopped goofy photo of Ryan in backward baseball cap.

  122. 122.

    Schlemazel

    @lamh36:
    Boner must really HATE Ryan to do that. It would certainly kill the dipshits career. I think he is smart enough to know that it would end his reputation as a genius wonk but who knows?

  124. 124.

    rikyrah

    @Tommy:

    @rikyrah: Ouch. My great state of Illinois has many issues, given. But reading all these comments I will say this, we can vote. It is easy to vote

    And Illinois has just made it easier to vote. There will be same day registration and voting beginning with the March 2016 primary. What I mean is that there is now ELECTION DAY same day registration and voting.

  127. 127.

    Mandalay

    @JPL:

    Shep Smith had Jones on and challenged him to tell all. Jones didn’t..

    He didn’t need to. He stuck his stiletto in deep yesterday, and his work was done.

    Smith is a pompous ass for acting like he is entitled to have people spill every last detail of the dirt on his show.

  129. 129.

    Jeffro

    @lamh36: Maybe Speaker-In-Waiting Ryan has some skeletons in his own closet…dude spends a lot of time at the gym, who knows who has been ‘spotting’ him lately? it would be irresponsible not to speculate.

  130. 130.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Tommy:

    My great state of Illinois has many issues, given. But reading all these comments I will say this, we can vote.

    Well up in the northern part of the state, they vote early and often.

  131. 131.

    pseudonymous in nc

    @Mandalay:

    I think everyone in Washington knows what McCarthy did, and why he withdrew, but nobody is coming out and saying it.

    DC is a company town, but it’s also a town where who you keep company with during the week — as opposed to when you’re back in your district — is something everybody keeps quiet about.

    If Orange Julius is actually asking Ryan to step up — and Costa is usually pretty solid with his sourcing — then he’s really enjoying being the man with the poison chalice.

  133. 133.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Elizabelle:

    LOL. I had completely forgotten about the Young Guns, and certainly hadn’t been consciously aware that two of them were Cantor and McCarthy.

    Ryan must be feeling a bit spooked.

    Good.

  138. 138.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: Rachel had a segment on Walter’s letter last night.

    ETA: She pointed out that Rep. Jones always just signs his letters with “Walter”.

  140. 140.

    Mandalay

    @Elizabelle:

    Murder videotaped, so the late Mr. Scott’s family got justice.

    I’m suspending judgement on that until we see his killer go down for a very long sentence.

    Nothing can bring back the dead, but apart from the financial settlement the cops on that police force are also now carrying body cameras, so some good has come out of a horrific incident.

  143. 143.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Elizabelle: Let’s see if the cop is found guilty. That will be justice. Shame that tax payers have to fund this settlement instead of the cop’s union.

  144. 144.

    Roger Moore

    @Schlemazel:

    Boner must really HATE Ryan to do that.

    Or maybe he actually thinks Ryan is the best available choice for Speaker and cares more about having a good Speaker than he does about Ryan’s career. Basically, every establishment Republican who’s a plausible candidate and runs away rather than stepping up to the challenge is outing himself as a selfish careerist who doesn’t give a damn about the party.

  146. 146.

    Morzer

    http://deadspin.com/police-video-shows-teen-girl-graphically-accusing-kevin-1735279363

    Today, Kevin Johnson is mayor of Sacramento, Calif., and Mandi Koba is a mother of three and an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse. Only they know what happened between them in the summer of 1995, when she was 16 and he was a star guard for the Phoenix Suns, and each has a different version of events.

    Koba’s recollections of what happened with Johnson, whom she met when she was 15, have been circulating for years in the form of a police report that includes a transcript of the questioning she was given by Detective Art Smith of the Phoenix Police Department in 1996. You can read that report in full here. In it, she describes Johnson lying naked with her, fondling her breasts and vagina, lathering soap on her in the shower, brushing his penis against her, and asking her to pray to God for forgiveness with him and promise not to tell anyone about what they’d done.
    ….
    As it turns out, the rumors weren’t just rumors. Video was taken. Earlier this week, Deadspin obtained a rare copy of Koba’s interview with Phoenix police from 1996. The lengthy video can be watched in full here; a brief clip from it is at the top of this post, and excerpts can be found below.

  147. 147.

    catclub

    @Renie:

    When my rep (yuck) Peter King starts to sound reasonable, then you know the GOP is a complete disaster.

    I heard Charlie Dent of OHIO on the radio. He talked about a bipartisan Speaker election. I could not believe my ears.
    NPR claims they got him on as a moderate Republican.

  148. 148.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Roger Moore:

    …every establishment Republican who’s a plausible candidate and runs away rather than stepping up to the challenge is outing himself as a selfish careerist who doesn’t give a damn about the party.

    All of them Katie.

  149. 149.

    Morzer

    http://deadspin.com/police-video-shows-teen-girl-graphically-accusing-kevin-1735279363

    Today, Kevin Johnson is mayor of Sacramento, Calif., and Mandi Koba is a mother of three and an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse. Only they know what happened between them in the summer of 1995, when she was 16 and he was a star guard for the Phoenix Suns, and each has a different version of events.

    Koba’s recollections of what happened with Johnson, whom she met when she was 15, have been circulating for years in the form of a police report that includes a transcript of the questioning she was given by Detective Art Smith of the Phoenix Police Department in 1996. You can read that report in full here. In it, she describes Johnson lying naked with her, fondling her breasts and vag.ina, lathering soap on her in the shower, brushing his pe.nis against her, and asking her to pray to God for forgiveness with him and promise not to tell anyone about what they’d done.
    ….
    As it turns out, the rumors weren’t just rumors. Video was taken. Earlier this week, Deadspin obtained a rare copy of Koba’s interview with Phoenix police from 1996. The lengthy video can be watched in full here; a brief clip from it is at the top of this post, and excerpts can be found below.

  150. 150.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Or better yet Cheney. His The heart he’s using this time is still going strong.

    Edited for technical accuracy.

  151. 151.

    Baud

    @Felonius Monk:

    Swimmingly.

    I don’t know if you saw my question the other day. I was curious if you were actually a Thelonius Monk fan. If so, maybe can be my Secretary of Jazz. If not, you can be the head of DOJ’s criminal division in charge of wayward abbots.

  152. 152.

    Morzer

    http://www.alternet.org/investigations/are-sex-abuse-and-charter-school-scandals-catching-sacramento-mayor-kevin-johnson

    The Kevin Johnson story has two threads—one personal, one political—with a common feature of breaking personal boundaries and blurring professional lines. He is now in his second term as mayor of Sacramento and sees a bright political future for himself. The charter schools he founded are still running, through he and Rhee are not directly involved in running it or on its board.

    But still more controversial boundary-breaking still follows Johnson. As DeadSpin’s McKenna reported in September, Mayor Johnson has ordered his city attorney to sue a local alternative newspaper that was looking into his role in 2013 in taking over the National Council of Black Mayors and then abandoning it after it financially collapsed. Apparently, the trail of emails and legal filings in that fight, he writes, “exposes a strange and secretive aspect of Johnson’s administration: Lots of folks who used Sacramento city government titles and worked out of City Hall while doing Johnson’s dirty work in the NCBM fiasco were in fact not employed by the city government. They were instead charter school advocates, funded by charter school ideologues, who kept their true allegiances and mission hidden.”

    Just as Wolpin said that Johnson was misusing AmeriCorps members to build his charter school empire, McKenna said that Johnson was using employees of local charter school non-profits for his political empire. “Since his 2008 election, Johnson has requested and received millions of dollars for Stand Up, the group that employed the fake civil servants, from the Walton Family Foundation, a conservative grant-giver backed by the founders of Wal-Mart and known for beinghell-bent on spreading its pro-charter school gospel. Between 2012 and 2014, while he was planning and executing his NCBM coup, Johnson reported at least six grants from that foundation totaling $1.625 million.”

    Anyone else think that we need to talk about Kevin? Frontpagers? Anyone?

  153. 153.

    trollhattan

    @Morzer:
    He’s a pip. He was later accused of sexual conduct at his charter high school and more recently, at city hall. And is married to Michelle Rhee for the trifecta of icky.

  154. 154.

    Elizabelle

    @catclub: Charlie Dent of PENNSY, but same diff.

    He’s a lot of outlets’ go to. He seems to be an actual moderate Republican and telegenic too. He’s a good guy.

  155. 155.

    Morzer

    @trollhattan:

    That’s detailed in the Alternet piece. He is indeed quite something – and he’s exactly the sort of perverted crook that Democrats should be cleaning out of the party and making publicly accountable for his various crimes and abuses.

  156. 156.

    Elizabelle

    This seems a good thread to throw commenter AnonPhenom’s question in. Hypothetical, but an interesting question:

    Serious question.

    It’s mid-November and the Republicans have settled on, I dunno, Speaker Steve Scalise. The choice prompts several establishment types (Peter King) to head towards the door. Some announce as Independents but some come knocking on the Dem door as Blue Dogs.
    Your reaction is…

    What are the chances Pelosi et al will put the obvious power play aside and tell them “you’ll really be happier starting your own party. Call joe Lieberman? He’ll help you guys out”

  157. 157.

    trollhattan

    @Morzer:
    One thing I know about Kevin Johnson is that he loves him some Kevin Johnson and likely has eyes on higher office. We’ll see how the state party accommodates his dreams, or not. They’ve had more than a few scandals recently, but is our party learning?

  158. 158.

    Felonius Monk

    @Baud: I did miss your question the other day. Sometimes I comment and run, then get busy and forget to check back in.

    Yes, I am a fan of Thelonius Monk. I’d be honored to serve as Secretary of Jazz. That’s just as good as Secretary of Fun. And maybe between sets I could help the DOJ chase down the wayward abbots to help minimize the amount of monkee business we have to contend with.

    /Vote for Baud — Vote Early, Vote Often, Vote Everywhere.

  162. 162.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    the rumors just get louder…

    Sam Stein ‏@ samsteinhp 2h2 hours ago
    McCarthy was threatened by GOP activist/donor over affair allegation hrs before he dropped bid
    In the hours before House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) abruptly withdrew his candidacy to be the next speaker of the House, he was sent an email from a conservative activist threatening to expose an alleged affair with a colleague. The subject line: “Kevin, why not resign like Bob Livingston?”
    The email, sent just after 8 a.m. on Thursday, came from Steve Baer, a Chicago-based GOP donor known for mass-emailing conservative figures and Republican lawmakers. It was addressed to McCarthy and numerous others, including the personal account of Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.), who conservative media sites have suggested is tied romantically to McCarthy.

  165. 165.

    Kay

    This should be fun to watch:

    Last week, news leaked that writers at The Huffington Post had formed a committee to unionize. This morning, the campaign began in earnest. Get excited, Arianna!
    Since Gawker Media unionized in June, employees from a half dozen other digital media outlets have unionized as well, including Salon, Vice, and The Guardian US. Just yesterday, Al-Jazeera America announced a successful union vote. Other media outlets are quietly talking to union organizers as well.

    It’s wild how it spread so fast in that one small corner of the workplace.

  166. 166.

    Elizabelle

    @Patricia Kayden: I think so too. Or pay into an insurance policy that the local police pays; not the taxpayers. Would be a brake on bad behavior. Money talks. Paying it out talks loudly.

  167. 167.

    Morzer

    @trollhattan:

    For my money, Kevin Johnson belongs in prison along with his fraudulent wife and anyone who pushes either of them for higher office is going to bring down a disaster on the Democratic party. If you wanted a poster boy for every vicious Republican slander aimed at black people, you couldn’t do much better than Kevin Johnson.

  170. 170.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    …and weirder and weirder and weirder

    “But the rumor itself may have led to McCarthy’s collapse.” (A good gossip always claims to care first and foremost about the truth.) A 2011 New York Times profile of McCarthy noted McCarthy was close with Ellmers:
    Sometimes when Ellmers is talking to the whip and doesn’t think she’s getting through to him, she claps her hands loudly in front of his face. Sometimes McCarthy giggles and claps back.
    Matt Lewis highlighted the fact that Ellmers recently said she was backing Jason Chaffetz for speaker, saying McCarthy hadn’t called her, so “I’m apparently not high on his priority list.”
    Especially on a day like this, the House GOP definitely bears a greater resemblance to a high school than a war zone. “I wouldn’t have enjoyed being Speaker this way,” McCarthy told National Review after his withdrawal. The hunt for a new prom king continues.

  171. 171.

    Frankensteinbeck

    The possibility of Paul Ryan being put forward for Speaker hadn’t occurred to me. He’s a complete plutocrat tool who may have fooled just enough Teabaggers into thinking he’s a True Believer. From Boehner’s perspective, that’s the perfect combination.

  172. 172.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    The Young Guns!

    Young Guns is a recruitment program that identifies candidates across the country who embody the principles of the House Republican Conference and show promise of running a successful campaign.
    Co-founded in the 2007-2008 election cycle by Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Majority Whip Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Budget Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI),

  174. 174.

    Morzer

    @Kay:

    If Ryan is the next sacrificial victim of the Cargo Cultists, it would certainly give Joe Biden a nice boost. He could run on the basis of having kicked Paul Ryan’s skinny ass once already.

  175. 175.

    Elizabelle

    @Frankensteinbeck: Paul Ryan ain’t fooled K-Thug.

    Apparently desperate Republicans are pleading with Paul Ryan to become Speaker of the House, because he’s “super, super smart.” More than anyone else in his caucus, he has the reputation of being a brilliant policy wonk.

    And that tells you even more about the dire state of the GOP. After all, Ryan is to policy wonkery what Carly Fiorina is to corporate management: brilliant at selling himself, hopeless at actually doing the job. … This guy’s delusions of expertise should be considered funny.

    Yet he may indeed be the best they have.

    Dr. Krugman illustrated his blogpost, FlimFlam Fever, with our fave picture of the buff Ryan/Eddie Munster in the back-turned baseball hat, dressed for the gym.

  177. 177.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Elizabelle:
    Paul Ryan has fooled no one who isn’t a complete dumbass who neither knows, nor cares, how government works. That may include enough Teabagger congressmen to get him elected, and certainly includes most media pundits and reporters. The logical next step from that – that Teabaggers are actually smarter than Village Talking Heads – disturbs me.

  178. 178.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Elizabelle: If Ryan agrees to take this job, which he seems to know would probably be his last, the one good thing is maybe, just maybe, the presidential candidate might be forced to talk about his/their budget and “entitlement reform” plans. Please proceed, Congressman.

  179. 179.

    Mike in NC

    @Morzer: Expect Renee to announce retirement to spend more time with her family, thus opening up the seat to theTea Party whackjob.

  180. 180.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I’d guess Dickie Lowry has good sources

    Rich LowryVerified account
    ‏@ RichLowry
    Source: it’s btwn ryan and his wife right now. If that’s a go, next hurdle will be whether he thinks he can get 218 or not

    the comments on Lowry’s tweet are a hoot, Ryan the RINO, this was all an elaborate eleven-dimensional plot by the Establishment!

    Couldn’t happen to a smarmier son-of-a-bitch.

  181. 181.

    Mandalay

    @eric:

    why would you make this a story that a dem took a republican down

    I didn’t. I very explicitly made it about a Republican who took a Republican down.

    self important blow hard.

    Try reading posts before running your mouth fuckwit.

  182. 182.

    Kay

    @Morzer:

    it would certainly give Joe Biden a nice boost.

    I’m pro-primary, generally, but I don’t think Biden is a good candidate for 2016. I think he’s polling even or better than Clinton because he isn’t running. I know a lot of people disagree with me on this but Biden was never considered an economic populist as a Senator so I’m having a bit of trouble with what seems like a created narrative around him since the Vice Presidency. I never really believed he “helped” Obama win with white working class voters- I just don’t think the VP matters that much. I think people vote (or don’t vote) for the President, not the Vice President.

    I just think if it’s Biden or Clinton, Clinton’s better. I wouldn’t support him in a primary, anyway, and I thought he was a fine VP.

  186. 186.

    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.

  189. 189.

    Elizabelle

    @David Koch: Cantor an adulterer? Never heard that one.

    Someone who had to sun himself on a rock, maybe.

    What’s the source for Livingston being into S&M? Was Livingston even Speaker a full week?

  191. 191.

    Mandalay

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    the rumors just get louder…

    If that particular rumor is true then McCarthy was one ice cool customer in front of the cameras a few hours later. He acted like he didn’t have a care in the world.

    OTOH, if he has been having an affair in DC for months with a Congresswoman while publicly making moves to become speaker then he is probably exactly the kind of reckless risk-taking pathological liar who would shine in front of the cameras in that situation.

  194. 194.

    Mandalay

    @NonyNony: @NonyNony:

    Pretty sure he’s talking about Grayson here, not you.

    Then he should refer to him as “Grayson” not “you” when he replies to my post, especially if he chooses to lob bombs.

  195. 195.

    Kay

    @Morzer:

    I don’t know, Morzer. Does Biden really want to talk about this?

    According to the Economist, “Student debt in America now totals $1.2 trillion, up more than threefold” since 2005, when the bankruptcy bill passed. Bankruptcy experts say the legislation — and other Biden-backed bills that also limited the discharge of student debt — have contributed to skyrocketing U.S. student debt.

    Obviously student debt is not solely the fault of Joe Biden, but between some very pro-creditor advocacy he did and the tough on crime stuff- good for this cycle, or maybe a bad idea? Clinton has some of the same problems but that’s almost another argument against Biden, because then they’d both be running away from it. I think the big winner in a Clinton v Biden match could be Bernie Sanders, quite frankly, unless Clinton runs to to the Left of Biden and why would Biden want to run to the Right of Clinton? I don’t know where he fits.

  197. 197.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kay: I think, for a host of reasons, it’s a mistake for Biden to get in, and he’ll regret it. But whatever he decides, I’m with Kilgore, Pierce and Sargent and whoever else wants to join the “shit or get off the pot” caucus.

  198. 198.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Patricia Kayden: The city was settling to avoid a potential lawsuit against it. That settlement should not preclude a suit against the officer. Given that the officer will not have deep pockets, such a suit would not result in much.

  199. 199.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Omnes Omnibus: The city hired and trained the cop. The city was responsible for the supervision of the cop. The city has a great deal of responsibility for what happened.

  200. 200.

    Aleta

    As city taxpayers see millions paid out, or their towns bankrupted, because of illegal police activity, it may actually motivate a majority to care about the integrity of their police force. Would be good if the legal costs and awards bring change faster.

  201. 201.

    Morzer

    @Kay:

    I don’t think Biden should run. I am on record as thinking that the Biden dithering is about getting something from Clinton in return for an endorsement and staying out of the race.

    That said, if Uncle Joe did run, advertising his vast kicking of Paul Ryan’s ass wouldn’t be a bad calling card.

  202. 202.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Aleta: Yes, the cities have to decide that they will not tolerate that kind of behavior from their police forces.

  206. 206.

    Paul in KY

    @Botsplainer: If I had been in college & someone was pushing a free hooker on me, I would have found it very difficult to say no.

    The only caveat is that cool bball players should be getting more female attention than geeky Paul in KY was getting at time.

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