Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

Giving up is unforgivable.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

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

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

I really should read my own blog.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / Open Thread: South Carolina GOP Debate

Open Thread: South Carolina GOP Debate

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As of 8:45pm EST, President Obama gave a televised public statement to recognize Scalia’s death — and to affirm that he will ‘promptly, as the Constitution mandates’ nominate his replacement.

CBS livestream here.

Guardian liveblog here.

Time, “The South Carolina GOP Primary Just Became All About Judges”:

… Hours before the Republican White House hopefuls were set to take the stage, a shout rose up through the conference room where reporters were sitting at rows of tables.

“Scalia is dead,” a correspondent shouted to no one in particular—and to American politics at large…

Immediately, the campaigns had to reshuffle their strategy. Plans to connect with South Carolina’s voters suddenly were rendered out of date, and Saturday night’s debate had one focus for last-minute preparation…

Let the wild rumpus begin!

Reader Interactions

333Comments

  3. 3.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    I’ll bet he’s had a plan for this kind of contingency gamed out months ago. Thank you FSM for giving us this man with his steady hand and stable mind at the helm of this crazy ship of state.

    ETA: Trump’s going all in on Canadian Anchor Baby Ted Cruz not appointing a Justice. Shine on Trump, you crazy GOP disrupting diamond.

  4. 4.

    dr. bloor

    as the Constitution mandates

    Heh. He probably won’t get his justice, although he’s going to troll the living fuck out those shitstains every last second until he leaves in January.

  6. 6.

    gf120581

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: I imagine Obama has contingency plans gamed out for everything, including his morning routine. (“No toothpaste? I got this.”)

    I hope he’s got the right nominee in mind, because if he wants to destroy McConnell and his fragile Senate majority in one fell swoop, this could well do it.

  7. 7.

    smintheus

    Given that Obama can make a recess appointment, and that Republicans would need a majority on SCOTUS, which they no longer have, to declare Obama’s recess appointment invalid, I don’t think their leadership has given any thought before shooting off their mouths. Again.

  12. 12.

    Nate Dawg

    OKAY FOLKS. HERE’S OUR CHANCE….

    They are going to be airing goole searches ALL NIGHT.

    Let’s pick ONE SEARCH AGAINST TED CRUZ

    and then flood it.

    Something short and punchy.

    Let’s fuck some rats!

  14. 14.

    Trentrunner

    Over/under on whether Trump will be asked about torture?

    Measure of whether media is totally broken.

  17. 17.

    EJ

    As a bleeding heart liberal who nonetheless likes guns, I can’t wait to watch my guys on the gun forums lose their damn minds. I don’t participate in the political discussions on there; I just pop popcorn and watch.

  20. 20.

    Corner Stone

    “Retired neurosurgeon… … …”
    Methinks the Ben Carson struggle isn’t going too well.

  21. 21.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    I saw that he said something like Ted Cruz would be the first Canadian to appoint a Supreme Court Justice – could have been a tweet. I LOL’ed.

  24. 24.

    Nate Dawg

    I think the best bet is to just stick with “Is Ted Cruz Mexican”. It’s already quite popular.

  26. 26.

    Mnemosyne

    I wasn’t around media today and only just heard about Scalia. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Also, to paraphrase Anne Lamott, if Scalia had wanted people to be sorry he died, he should have behaved better.

  28. 28.

    dr. bloor

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    Trump’s going all in on Canadian Anchor Baby Ted Cruz not appointing a Justice. Shine on Trump, you crazy GOP disrupting diamond.

    I’ll actually predict that The Donald pledges to appoint Cruz to the SCOTUS. It will be great fun watching the smoke come out of Rafael’s ears as he tries to do the calculus on that on live teevee.

  30. 30.

    Germy

    Possible replacements:

    Sri Srinivasan, age forty-seven, D.C. Circuit. As I’ve noted before, Srinivasan is the front-runner. Like Sotomayor, Srinivasan has a great (and marketable) American story. The child of immigrants from India, Srinivasan grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, earned a J.D./M.B.A. from Stanford, and clerked for a pair of Republican judges, J. Harvie Wilkinson III and Sandra Day O’Connor. As Obama’s deputy solicitor general, he argued twenty-five cases before the high court and then won confirmation to the D.C. Circuit last year by a vote of 97–0. Even in the malignant political atmosphere of the contemporary Senate, that margin might make him a safe pick for the Supreme Court. Would Obama nominate a man to replace Ginsburg, and reduce the number of women on the Court to two? Making history with the first Indian-American Justice might tempt him.

    Paul Watford, age forty-six, Ninth Circuit. Watford, a former law clerk to Alex Kozinski (the well-regarded Republican chief judge of the Ninth Circuit) and to Ginsburg herself, served as a federal prosecutor and corporate lawyer in Los Angeles before his appointment to the Ninth Circuit, in 2012. Again, there is the potential problem of naming a man to replace Ginsburg (if she leaves), but choosing Watford, who is African-American and a Ginsburg clerk, might make the decision easier.

    David Barron, age forty-six, nominated to the First Circuit. Barron served as acting assistant attorney general during the first two years of the Obama Administration and is now a professor at Harvard Law School. His clerkships were with Stephen Reinhardt (a liberal favorite on the Ninth Circuit) and Justice John Paul Stevens; he has many fans in the White House, though the appointment of a white male would offer few political benefits. Barron’s nomination to the First Circuit has been approved by the Judiciary Committee on a party-line vote, and he has apparently been promised a vote in the full Senate before the mid-term elections. The invocation of the nuclear option—confirmation via a simple majority rather than the three-fifths vote formerly required to overcome a filibuster—should guarantee his appointment, which is obligatory if he is to be a Supreme Court nominee down the line.

    http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-supreme-court-farm-team

  32. 32.

    Gimlet

    At times during Obama’s term in office the name of Cass Sunstein has come up as a friend of Obama and possible SC nominee.

  33. 33.

    Corner Stone

    This already sounds awful. Not sure I can make it more than a few…oh God. Went to Trump first on Scalia.

  36. 36.

    gf120581

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: Me too. I especially liked it because it mocked the fact that some Democrats go into panic mode all too quickly over things. After the IA caucus results and Rubio’s strong shower, some folks were doomcrying about how he was going to be the nominee and win and we’re doomed and all that. Less than two weeks later, those people look like fools now.

  43. 43.

    catclub

    @Mnemosyne:

    if Scalia had wanted people to be sorry he died, he should have behaved better.

    What you want people to say at your funeral: “Look, he’s moving!”

  49. 49.

    Disgruntled former Baud supporter

    @Germy: I like the optics of nominating someone who was recently confirmed to a similar position 97-0…

  52. 52.

    gf120581

    \.@Germy: My guess is Srinivasan gets the nod. He’s be the perfect choice to make the GOP suffer if they try to obstruct (that 97-0 confirmation vote in particular sticks out). Not to mention he’s young and can be there for a long time.

  58. 58.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    “Let the people decide” re Scotus.

    They did, you hucksters, they elected Obama and he’s got nearly a year in office still.

    Republican rules: A Democratic President should let the next President nominate a Supreme Court Justice.

  60. 60.

    A Ghost To Most

    @EJ:
    As another gun-owning liberal who stays away from ammosexual forums,why not gather up some choice quotes for our perusal? Been a tough week for the crazies; the true’patriots’ will likely be wailing.

  62. 62.

    rikyrah

    now, these are untold stories that I want to see:

    Taraji P. Henson Will Topline Film Based on Story of Black Women Mathematicians Who Worked for NASA During the Space Race

    By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act

    February 10, 2016 at 9:37PM

    This is the kind of wonderfully atypical Civil Rights-era story that gets me excited!

    Last fall, it was announced that author Margot Lee Shetterly’s book, “Hidden Figures,” which hasn’t actually been published yet (but will be this year via HarperCollins), was been optioned for Ted Melfi to direct (he’s the director of 2014’s acclaimed dramedy “St. Vincent,” which starred Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, and Naomi Watts. Terrence Howard played a supporting role in the film, which was Melfi’s feature directorial debut).

    Shetterly’s “Hidden Figures” tells the untold true story of the African American women mathematicians – Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, Dorothy Vaughan, Kathryn Peddrew, Sue Wilder, Eunice Smith and Barbara Holley – who worked at NASA during the Civil Rights era. The book tells their story through the personal accounts of 4 specific women that then-NASA staffers referred to as “the colored computers.” Shetterly, whose father was one of the first African American engineers employed by NASA, is a journalist.

  64. 64.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    Ever since I watched this, I can’t watch these now without imagining them saying even sillier things than what they are saying. I can’t wait for the closing argument songs.

  67. 67.

    MomSense

    So the constitution isn’t a living document. Should we drive cars, fly airplanes, take antibiotics, have hospitals, etc? Nine of these things existed when they wrote the constitution.

  70. 70.

    Anne Laurie

    @Chip Daniels:

    So what sort of “ranch” was this?

    Canned ‘hunts’.

    “Luxury resort ranch” where rich fvcks could blast at tame quail between banquets & massages. He died in his sleep, replete & well satisfied.

  80. 80.

    Misterpuff

    Elected President “shoving down our thoughts A LIBERAL” says Marco

    So people voted for a Democrat even though they wanted a Republican. They got one too but the 1950s version vs 2016 version.

  84. 84.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Whoo. Tailgunner Ted isn’t wasting a minute before breaking out the smarmy, patronizing, smartest-kid-in-the-class tone. I hate him so much.

  96. 96.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    HOLY FUCKING SHIT!

    I BEEN LISTENING TO MUSIC ALL DAY I JUST FOUND OUT THE GOOD NEWS

    DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD!

    THE SUPREME COURT HAS BEEN FLIPPED!

    IT’S BEEN FLIPPED! — FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE JAN 7 1972!

    ALLAH OBAMA!

    ALLAH OBAMA!

    G.O.A.T!!

    FUCK – OFF ROBERTS – IT’S NOW — THE OBAMA COURT!

  97. 97.

    Mnemosyne

    @Germy:

    Republicans blocked Goodwin Liu from the federal bench because they feared that Obama wanted to position Liu for a Supreme Court appointment. Jerry Brown put Liu on the CA Supreme Court instead. I would love to see Obama put his name forward as a fuck you.

  100. 100.

    Cacti

    So, what’s the over/under on Clarence Thomas trying to climb in the casket with Tony at the funeral?

  101. 101.

    Corner Stone

    I have to mute Carson when he answers because my brain only hears bad lip reading voice when he speaks. I can only assume he pandered there due to the applause pause.

  102. 102.

    Steeplejack

    Jeez, I’m tapping out of the debate after not even 10 minutes. Trump’s answer about Obama nominating a Supreme Court justice was awful—“Delay! Delay! Delay!”—but then Kasich:

    The country is so divided right now, and now we’re going to see another partisan fight taking place. I really wish the president would think about not nominating somebody. If he were to nominate somebody, let’s have him pick somebody that is going to have unanimous approval and such widespread approval across the country that this could happen without a lot of recrimination. I don’t think that’s going to happen. And I would like the president to just, for once, here, put the country first. We’re going to have an election for president very soon, and the people will understand what is at stake in that election. And so I believe the president should not move forward, and I think that we ought to let the next president of the United States decide who is going to run that Supreme Court with the vote by the people of the United States of America.

    That’s verbatim, and that’s pure horseshit.

    I can’t take two hours of this. I’ll just read here for the highlights.

  104. 104.

    Nate Dawg

    It is my sincere wish that Roberts spend the rest of his days writing useless dissents and concurrences and retires at 68, bored of his role as a lame duck Chief Justice.

  110. 110.

    Mnemosyne

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Totally OT, but since you’ve been reading up on Indian history, there are two connections to the American Revolution I had never made before: the Seven Years War (known in the US as the French and Indian War) gave the British their first foothold in India, and the same General Lord Cornwallis who was defeated at the Battle of Yorktown had a long career occupying India afterwards.

  111. 111.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @Anne Laurie:

    He died in his sleep, replete & well satisfied.

    At least he had the good taste to die. It was the least he could do for his country.

  114. 114.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    Ben Carson: Let me start by being defensive about two separate points…

    Ladies and gentlemen, the petulant, defensive, put-upon, terminally whiny, victimhood-embracing Party of Personal ResponsibilityTM.

  117. 117.

    Mary G

    People in the back of the room are cheering, but the guys right behind the moderator look like they’re about to fall asleep and the one lady keep s looking at her phone.

  119. 119.

    Feathers

    I made it halfway through Trump’s first response. Decided I need to straighten up the living room, so I would leave the debate on to force myself. The plan was to watch until I was done, but I quit on Rubio saying a lame duck president hadn’t nominated a Supreme Court justice in eighty years. ARGH!!!

  122. 122.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    THE MUTHER FUCKER PUT A HALT ON THE CO2 REDUCTION PLAN JUST THIS WEEK — HA!

    CHOKE ON THAT YOU FUCK!

    FORWARD!

  124. 124.

    schrodinger's cat

    @Mnemosyne: I knew about Cornwallis, he was one of the Governor Generals of India. The tea that was dumped in the Boston Harbor was from India. The British focused on India much more after their North American colonies declared independence.

  125. 125.

    Steeplejack

    @Germy:

    I’m about to switch over to Brit-crime on one of the lesser PBS stations: Vera, Prime Suspect, Dalziel and Pascoe.

  130. 130.

    JPL

    This was on twitter and needs to be shared

    Antonin #Scalia requested cremation in his will, but millions of women will meet tomorrow to discuss if that’s really best for his bod

    y.

  135. 135.

    Ruckus

    @MomSense:
    How much did senators and reps get paid in the first congress? Did they have a pension, healthcare? Guns were muzzle loading single shot………
    Like so many of their arguments about the constitution they are full of shit.

  136. 136.

    Brachiator

    @MomSense:

    So the constitution isn’t a living document.

    The Constitution is dead. Corporations are people. Up is down. Donald Trump is a political leader.

    The world has gone crazy.

  137. 137.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Corner Stone:

    my brain only hears bad lip reading voice

    I know me too. I just decided to tune out when I realized that there won’t actually be closing statement songs.

  139. 139.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Daily Show Jon ‏@DailyShowJon

    Justice #Scalia is dead. Totally unrelated but I’m having a party later. You’re all invited.

    275 retweets 771 likes

  140. 140.

    Betty Cracker

    Good for Trump for saying the Iraq War was a big fat mistake. He’s a schmuck, but good for him for getting that truth out.

  141. 141.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Political Nerd ‏@Sttbs73

    I feel as bad for #Scalia as he did for blacks, gays and people without healthcare.

    392 retweets 590 likes

  148. 148.

    Corner Stone

    Jeb has absolutely salted this live audience with paid plants. There can be no doubt about that. He is getting applause lines from everywhere and Trump getting booed.

  153. 153.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump

    The totally unexpected loss of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is a massive setback for the Conservative movement and our COUNTRY!

    5,004 retweets 10,991 likes

    THAT’S A FACT – JACK!

  154. 154.

    Helen

    OK Trump just made me LOL

    Bush: “My mom is the strongest woman alive”

    Trump: “She should be running”

  155. 155.

    Misterpuff

    Jeb Bush giving Animal House speech, Donald has insulted the American Flag and Apple Pie, and I won’t stand for it.

  156. 156.

    Steeplejack

    Okay, I can’t look away. I’m back hate-watching. Am I wrong or is CBS giving Kasich a lot of air time?

  157. 157.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Bill Harnsberger ‏@BillinPortland 4h4 hours ago

    I’m not giddy about the death of #Scalia. But I do feel like a large boot has been removed from off our country’s neck.

    175 retweets 447 likes

  159. 159.

    Adam L Silverman

    While I’d donate to Governor Bush if he’d just walk over and punch Donald Trump in the gob; I will say having someone, in this case Trump, call out the fiction of the Great Mulligan (TM: Charles P. Pierce) regarding the Bush 43 Administration and the strategic malfeasance and malpractice in lying about CBRN weapons in Iraq, at a GOP debate is excellent.

  160. 160.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    The “Greatest Man Alive” called Reagan’s trickle-down economics “Voodoo economics” and then embraced them because he got tapped for the ticket.

  161. 161.

    Nate Dawg

    This is a huge gamble for Trump. He’s well loved in SC, but the Iraq War / Bush are very sensitive issues.

    We shall see how this plays out!

  162. 162.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @Mnemosyne:

    there are two connections to the American Revolution I had never made before

    There are even more direct connections from the American Rebellion to the creation of Australia, and by extension New Zealand.

    In it’s earliest form, the plan was to settle Australia with American Loyalists. Of course, they were less than keen on the idea.

  174. 174.

    Corner Stone

    Good Christ I think the BCF has completely bought this live audience and Trump is falling for it.

  176. 176.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    God’s only friend ‏@antonwheel 5h5 hours ago

    #scalia found dead, nude, wearing a bra

    5 retweets 23 likes

    Damn. It’s always the self haters who are the worst.

  177. 177.

    Kay

    @Steeplejack:

    but then Kasich

    Kasich is as bad as the rest of them. His brand new “reputation” as a compassionate conservative is a bunch of bullshit persona he cooked up because he needed an “establishment” lane and Jeb left him an opening.

  178. 178.

    Nate Dawg

    If Trump has so much money, surely he could pack the audience with his own lackeys.

    Major fail.

  182. 182.

    Mnemosyne

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    We saw a lecture by a guy who wrote a book called “The Men Who Lost America.” One of his main points was that the British sent a conquering army to the American colonies, not an occupying one, so they were able to hold large cities but not control the population. Ireland had an occupying army of Brits, but I think that in India they used the locals to create one.

  183. 183.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Steeplejack: That’s going to be the conventional wisdom on all the Sunday morning shows tomorrow. For the sake of nonpartisanship, no new liberals on the Supreme Court.

  186. 186.

    Adam L Silverman

    Anyone else noticing that Dr. Carson has a left facial droop and is slurring his speech?

  187. 187.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Hail Chip Gardner ‏@haylesatan

    Scalia is dead, but very fortunate President Obama is still in office #scalia

    8 retweets 28 likes

  188. 188.

    Nate Dawg

    Donald Trump walking into the SC Republican debate and saying George Bush didn’t keep us safe because the towers came down is like walking into a church on Christmas and declaring that Santa Claus is more real than God, and it’s not Jesus’ birthday anyway.

  190. 190.

    Davebo

    @Corner Stone: I think you may be seriously misunderstanding the GOP electorate here.

    A significant percentage of them are convinced it was Dubya’s Iraq fiasco that got the nigclang elected.

    And there’s a significant military presence in South Carolina and an even larger group of retirees.

  192. 192.

    Mandalay

    @opiejeanne:

    Trump and Bush going at each other.

    After Bush blathered on about how great his mom was Trump said “She should be running”. A great one liner that unfortunately fell through the cracks.

  195. 195.

    Old Dan and Little Anne

    My wife and I have been talking for 4 hours straight about Scalia. And now this debate. Comedy gold. It’s zero degrees and looks like The Shining outside. Best Saturday night in awhile. The Donald’s comment when Bush mentioned his mother, “she should be running.”

  202. 202.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Bill E Pilgrim: I’m tracking. Its one of those “it sounds strange, but its not necessarily wrong” type of things. I always learned that it was used at the National Labs a lot in the 50s and 60s when President Bush 41 was working his way up the government ladder into positions as Director of Central Intelligence and US Ambassador to the UN. So its not surprising that he’d pick it up. From there I’d wager his kids picked it up because dad used it and dad’s president.

  206. 206.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne:

    We saw a lecture by a guy who wrote a book called “The Men Who Lost America.” One of his main points was that the British sent a conquering army to the American colonies, not an occupying one, so they were able to hold large cities but not control the population. Ireland had an occupying army of Brits, but I think that in India they used the locals to create one.

    This is an interesting question, and I can only say that I wish I knew more about history here. When you read books by British historians, you almost get a sense that the Brits were dithering and didn’t see that holding America was a big deal.

    But the comparison to Ireland is interesting. The British were not able to command or import sufficient numbers of loyalists to act as their deputies in ruling America. They did not appear to let this happen again to the same degree in other areas they controlled.

  207. 207.

    Ella in New Mexico

    Why is Jeb Bush screaming, yelling and tearing up about how great his Mommy and Daddy are? What does that have to do with anyfuckingthing in the world?

  209. 209.

    Mandalay

    Trump will save us by eliminating “waste, fraud and abuse”. Easy peasy! Why has nobody ever thought of that before?

  215. 215.

    Corner Stone

    Would it be embarrassing to address someone as “Major” who actually isn’t in the military?
    I say yes.

  218. 218.

    Anne Laurie

    @Nate Dawg:

    If Trump has so much money, surely he could pack the audience with his own lackeys.

    Nope, RNC controls the tickets. South Carolina RNC was where the *last* candidate Bush shivved John McCain with ‘rumors’ about his n****r b*****d… er, black love-child.

  220. 220.

    Corner Stone

    Who is going through the Kroger grocery line and keeps dinging the bell when they receive excellent customer service?

  221. 221.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Mnemosyne: It is very hard for an outside power and force to fight an asymmetric enemy on its own terrain. In the annals of what we think of as modern counterinsurgency, there is only one clear victory: Malaya. Every other one is, at best, either a wash or a defeat for the outside counterinsurgents. Even in Nepal which was Nepalese insurgents versus Nepalese counterinsurgents, the fight ended as the result of a negotiated settlement.

    (Full Disclosure: I have had the honor, privilege, and pleasure to serve as the front line supervisor, faculty advisor, research advisor, and sponsor of three Nepalese general officers. All of whom were involved in the counterinsurgency)

  227. 227.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Adam L Silverman: Yeah the whole “it’s from nucleus so of course it’s pronounced…” argument reminds me a little of the arguments about language that Steven Pinker demolishes on a regular basis. Language doesn’t work the way a lot of people think it does.

  232. 232.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Brachiator:

    Ireland had an occupying army of Brits, but I think that in India they used the locals to create one.

    Also, the latter approach was recommended by Machiavelli

  235. 235.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Baud:

    Oh God. Waste, fraud, and abuse.

    A very real problem, but the perps aren’t black people; they are defense contractors

  237. 237.

    Betty Cracker

    Fuckface Jeb is bragging about keeping millions of poor Floridians from getting healthcare.

  238. 238.

    Steeplejack

    God, I have the debate on mute in the background, and every time I turn on the sound I hear a flaming whopper. Jeb just said that Obamacare is creating more and more debt on the backs of our children. I don’t have enough liquor in the house.

    In other news, the housecat wanted to taste my felafel. WTF.

  239. 239.

    beltane

    I couldn’t watch anymore but Trump’s exchange with Bush was emotionally satisfying, even better than that guy who threw a shoe a W in 2008.

  242. 242.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Adam L Silverman: In any event, Jimmy Carter said “nucular” and he was a Navy nuclear engineer who had been on the emergency team after the Chalk River meltdown. So there’s some precedent for highly knowledgeable people saying that.

  244. 244.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Mnemosyne:

    Georgia was the original penal colony

    So we are just following historical tradition when we elect these crooks governor. Seriously, with a couple of exceptions, Georgia picks effing horrible governors.

  245. 245.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Davebo: The worst one I ever saw was someone at the Continental Redeployment Center at the same time I was there. His rank was major (O4) and his last name was Areola. I really hoped he did not have a female commanding officer.

  247. 247.

    Poopyman

    @Cheryl Rofer: Dunno about in the labs, but Rickover pronounced it that way, and I’ll bet the little motherfucker made everyone around him say it like him. If not overtly, certainly with the knowledge that the best way for a junior officer to get ahead in his command was to emulate him. Jimmy Carter was a Rickover subordinate, and he could never say it right.

  248. 248.

    Aleta

    our country moving closer to its own truth and dread,
    its own ways of making people disappear.

    -A. Rich, What Kind of Times Are These

  249. 249.

    Nate Dawg

    Rank Duntz is calling Rubio “The Comeback Kid” because he said something or other about “families”.

    Watch the media rehab after tonight hoping for a reversal of narrative.

  253. 253.

    Corner Stone

    God. I so want to go get fish & chips but this debate…it’s more than I could have hoped for. What to F’ng do? Poison my arteries or poison my soul?

  257. 257.

    Feathers

    @Bill E Pilgrim: I took a class on the history of the English language, and the prof talked about how language shifts naturally over time. He used “nuclear” to “nucular” as an expected vowel shift that we happened to be the middle of.

  260. 260.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Cheryl Rofer: You’re the expert, I will defer to you over explanations I heard in grade school and high school when VP and then President Bush 41 was using the term.

  261. 261.

    redshirt

    @Baud: Wow. And he was challenging Trump at one time.

    Speaking of which, is Trump not getting the same speaking time? I’ve yet to hear him say a word, but I’ve been away.

  268. 268.

    beltane

    @redshirt: I saw the poster for that when I went to see Hail, Caesar today. Never realized the gods of Egypt were so Northern European looking.

  269. 269.

    Mandalay

    Kasich carefully bragged that Ohio has a “solid credit rating”. That’s because he has got skewered for repeatedly lying about Ohio having “the highest possible credit rating”.

  270. 270.

    Nate Dawg

    I think the lamestream media underestimates how much appeal Trump has in the South as the only candidate not a) married to a mexicorn or b) one himself.**

    (**Kasich and Carson irrelevant of course.)

  275. 275.

    benw

    I’m watching the NBA slam dunk contest. I’d like to have surprise dunks posterize the Republicans during the debate.

  279. 279.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Matt McIrvin: Didn’t Carter say it more like “noook-i-er”?

    Yeah, pronunciations don’t reflect intelligence, and they do change over time.

    People from the state apparently get quite irate about the way Nevada is pronounced…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  285. 285.

    GregB

    @Nate Dawg: I spoke to Frank Luntz in the bleachers at Bernie’s victory party in Concord. After I bristled at his comment about there being no difference between the motivations of those supporting Bernie and Trump he then became angry with me and said the bottom line of the whole discussion came down to the fact that the Republicans had majorities in Congress, state houses and legislatures.

    Shorter Luntz, fuck you, we’re winning.

  286. 286.

    schrodinger's cat

    @Mnemosyne: That’s true, they did take the help of the locals. What is India now was never one political unit before the British rule. 19th century British had better institutions than 19th century India. Even so it took the British almost 100 years bring all of India under its boot heel (1757-1857) and another 100 (1857 -1947) to plunder its wealth.

  287. 287.

    Elie

    Maybe I am dreaming, but way back a few months wasn’t there a post about Trump being born in Mexico to his Scottish mother? She never became a US citizen if I remember – so Trump is not a natural born citizen from any measure — if this barely remembered post is true. Am I crazy remembering this?

  290. 290.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Adam L Silverman: I remember an NPR bit where they attempted to teach W how to pronounce it correctly.

    What type of fuel sources are you opposed to? New!
    What kind of cutting do you want to do in our national forests? Clear!
    Now put those two together…

  295. 295.

    Anne Laurie

    @Elie:

    Maybe I am dreaming, but way back a few months wasn’t there a post about Trump being born in Mexico to his Scottish mother?

    Nah, Donald was born in New Jersey. His mother was an immigrant, which under the strictest nutball constitutionalist construction means he wasn’t “natural born” to “two citizens”.

    It’s like the weird birtherism offshoot that Obama’s mother didn’t qualify for “full citizenship” because she hadn’t been over 18 long enough when she bore him. Only the craziest crazees could embrace that.

  298. 298.

    Steeplejack

    @redshirt:

    As a Fascist candidate, I thought Trump hit all the right notes.

    You’re a fascist candidate?

    Here’s why commas matter:

    As a Fascist candidate, I thought, Trump hit all the right notes.

  302. 302.

    GregB

    @Nate Dawg: I made it a point to talk to him because in 2008 I just yelled at him on a cold Manchester street corner until he walked away.

    He is a horrible ends justifies means language manipulator.

  306. 306.

    Steeplejack

    @efgoldman:

    My DVR has forced sanity upon me. I was recording something on one “channel” while the debate was live on the other (two tuners in the DVR), then the DVR needed the debate channel to start recording something else simultaneously.

  307. 307.

    Felonius Monk

    @Adam L Silverman: I gave a talk in high school speech class in 1958 and mispronounced it as nukular. My teacher wire brushed my ass in front of the whole class for not pronouncing it correctly.

    Years later when I worked in the Naval Nuclear Program, I don’t recall anyone mispronouncing it.

  318. 318.

    smintheus

    @Adam L Silverman: Republicans would still need a majority on SCOTUS to maintain that interpretation. They just lost that majority. Block the president’s nominee for 11 months just because, and I think you’d have a hard time convincing all 4 Dems on the Court that Congress had never gone into recess during that period.

  319. 319.

    Adam L Silverman

    @smintheus: Until another challenge comes before the court on the issue, that ruling stands. No matter how many justices are or are not on the court.

  323. 323.

    burnspbesq

    @jayboat:

    I think that’s true for everyone on the planet who isn’t Ted Cruz.

    Ironically enough given the current circumstances, I have read somewhere today that Srinivasan and Cruz are friends, dating to their service as clerks at the Fourth Circuit.

  327. 327.

    Amir Khalid

    @Adam L Silverman:
    The Emergency is typically described in the history books as running from 1948 to about 1960. But the Malaysian military was still fighting insurgents until well into the 1970s, as everyone here in my country knows. Why is that?

  331. 331.

    Groucho48

    I don’t think even the Villagers could put a positive spin on Republicans having pro forma Senate sessions for weeks on end in the summer and around the major holidays. Especially if it’s to prevent a vote on a guy who was approved to the Appeals Court by a vote of 97-0.

  333. 333.

    Paul in KY

    @Brachiator: The British were fighting the French on the continent at that time. Lucky for us, they didn’t have the luxury of sending their full military over here.

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