Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Giving up is unforgivable.

Republicans in disarray!

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Fear and negativity are contagious, but so is courage!

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

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

This chaos was totally avoidable.

No one could have predicted…

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

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

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / A Raucous Caucus! Republican National Committee Live Feed

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77Comments

  2. 2.

    randy khan

    It appears that the Never-Trumpers had a moment – they tried to force a roll call vote on the rules and were rebuffed, with a lot of them walking out. What’s particularly strange is that apparently they did the voice vote twice.

    I’m not optimistic about a real rift emerging from this sort of thing, but wouldn’t it be nice?

  3. 3.

    Groucho48

    So, the RNC Convention starts with some procedural issues. They have to vote on a petition to allow delegates pledged to Trump to not vote for Trump. Nine state delegations called for a vote. The Chair disappeared for 10 minutes and came back and said three of the states had rescinded their request and six states are needed for the measure to succeed, so, the motion fails. As these are right wingers, there was a pause while the delegates took time to realize that 9-3=6. Motions were attempted to be made. The Chair disappears again. Comes back to announce that it is really seven states are needed. The delegates are not pleased. Motions are made to poll the states. Ignored. Motions are made to have a roll call vote on the motion. Ignored. By voice vote, the Chair declares the motion to allow voting your conscience fails. The Colorado and Iowa delegations walk out of the Convention.

    And, that’s just the first couple of hours.

  6. 6.

    Amir Khalid

    When some of you guys said there was a Senator whose name is pronounced “Ben’s ass”, I thought you were kidding. It seems you were not.

  8. 8.

    Aleta

    So the vote was just measured according to the yelling sound as measured by the chair?

  14. 14.

    aimai

    This is actually the high water mark for the Republicans. They have everyone (nearly) in one room and no one has been shot yet. But after this is over all these goobers have to go home and GOTV for Trump, and I don’t think that the Trump supporters are expecting to do any more work, and I doubt if the anti Trump regulars are, either. The crowd looks to me like a herd of penguins, or seals, who are doing what their biological imperative and their instincts make them do–migrate yearly to one spot of an inhospitable coast–and they are going to lay their eggs or bear their young. But they simply don’t have the brain power to deal with the fact that their habitat has changed and they won’t be able to rear their young in the old location, with the old feeding and nesting capabilities.

  18. 18.

    Ruckus

    No good can come from humans watching that feed. You will either splode from the BP rise or die laughing at the stupidity. It is possible to have both happen in the same minute.

  19. 19.

    seaboogie

    @Amir Khalid: Consider it a belated birthday gift to you? It was that or name a star in your honor, but nobody volunteered to pass the envelope to raise funds for the latter.

  23. 23.

    ? Martin

    Ironic that they allow this voice floor vote to stand against their own regular calls for 2nd amendment solutions. I mean, geez guys, it’s an enclosed space with limited egress points and you still can’t get this shit done?

  30. 30.

    Ruckus

    @schrodinger’s cat:
    It takes an animal that big to create that much shit. It is also appropriate from the standpoint of an animal that uses part of the face to spray mud and whatever is in the mud, usually shit, all over the place.
    And I believe that the democratic animal is a jackass rather than a donkey. Just a thought from one democrat to another.
    ETA Damn you Mike J

  31. 31.

    Tripod

    The Donald is introducing his wife tonight. I wonder if he will introduce his self.

  34. 34.

    dr. bloor

    @aimai:

    The crowd looks to me like a herd of penguins, or seals, who are doing what their biological imperative and their instincts make them do–migrate yearly to one spot of an inhospitable coast–and they are going to lay their eggs or bear their young.

    You should be expecting a stern response forthwith from the Marine Animal Antidefamation League.

  39. 39.

    Calming Influence

    @Aleta: The ability to be temporarily deaf in either or both ears is a strong qualification for a chairperson when taking a voice vote.

  42. 42.

    schrodinger's cat

    @Adam L Silverman: Thanks! I like elephants. I associate them with Ganesha, who is known for his smarts. I mean you may laugh at him because he has a big belly and rides on a mouse, but he can run rings around you with his sheer intellect. GOP seems to be the antithesis of anything to do with knowledge or learning.

  43. 43.

    dr. bloor

    @Aleta: A #NeverTrump-driven convention meltdown leading to the death of the Republican party alone would be delicious. If the whole mess also takes out Kristol due to a fit of apoplexy, that would be like converting a 7-10 split.

  48. 48.

    Quinerly

    MSNBC reporting that Trump motorcade involved in an accident. “Trump unhurt.”

  51. 51.

    sukabi

    @Mike J: well there’s that, but also a looooong memory for perceived slights and score settling, but maybe that only applies to “human” avatars.

  54. 54.

    Miss Bianca

    @Groucho48: Oh, thank you for that – now I don’t have to watch the whole thing!

    @Omnes Omnibus: Saved by kind friends summarizing. Also, the kittens tromping something on the keyboard that made both screens go black.

  59. 59.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Why is such a noble animal like the elephant associated with the foul GOP.

    I passionately love elephants, and I’ve never seen a baby elephant that didn’t warm my heart and make me smile.

    My former job required that I call on legislative district offices in six Southern states to present the Canadian position on various priority bilateral issues (naturally, nothing at all partisan). So, one day many years ago, I found myself in the Raleigh office of Sen Jesse Helms. An older woman met me and walked me back to meet the Senator’s state director. She was a pleasant, chatty woman, and she seemed pleased to point out various historic news clippings and special awards and the like. The office was a big one, and there was a huge collection on display of elephant paintings and photos, ceramic elephants, glass elephants, elephants on needlepoint cushions, etc.

    There was one particularly stunning work, African, very simple wood carving, of a mother elephant and her calf walking straight toward the viewer. It was breathtaking — after 20 or more years I’ve never forgotten it.

    I stopped briefly to admire it, and said to the woman who was escorting me, “Baby elephants are just precious.”

    Gone was the friendly, talkative woman I had met a couple of minutes earlier. She gave me what I can only call a glare and said in tones of pure vitriol, “All babies are precious. That is why we must end abortion.”

    It was a bizarre transformation, and it seemed insane — even for one of Jesse Helms’ staffers — to arbitrarily insert anti-abortion messages into an otherwise bland conversation.

    These people are nuts.

  61. 61.

    Pogonip

    We’re thinking about getting some cute little finches. Could someone please start a finch thread so I can learn from the Balloon Juice animal experts?

  64. 64.

    randy khan

    @Aleta:

    I’ve always remembered one of the classics of the genre:

    In 1980 Tip O’Neill was the chair of the Democratic National Convention, and an issue similar to the Never-Trumpers’ argument about unbinding delegates was on the agenda at the behest of the Kennedy forces. Just before the convention, Kennedy and Carter cut a deal in which Kennedy got to give his “The Dream Will Never Die” speech, followed by the vote, with the understanding that the vote would reaffirm that delegates were bound.

    The speech was spellbinding, and really revved up the Kennedy delegates (not to mention probably a few Carter delegates). Anyone watching could tell that the ayes were much louder than the nays, but O’Neill did his job and ruled that they nays had it, gaveled the evening to a close, and went to his suite to drink some whiskey and tell Irish jokes. (The last part is conjecture, or would be if that wasn’t what he did all the time.)

    By the way, Bill Clinton is the modern master of the political speech, but the Kennedy speech was off the charts. It was easily the best speech he ever gave.

  68. 68.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    As well they should! That sounds cool.

    Although he is (obviously) not part of my tradition, I am also an admirer of Ganesha. I learned about him from a former colleague whose name was Rajalakshmi Ganesh. (Her husband was Ganesh Ganesh!)

  69. 69.

    Jeffro

    The title of this post has me thinking of Bloom County, and therefore the discussion about an elephant being the symbol of the GOP makes me think it’s time for a new symbol : Bill the Cat

    Oop ack!!

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