Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

Fight them, without becoming them!

Oppose, oppose, oppose. Do not congratulate. This is not business as usual.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Giving up is unforgivable. ~Joe Biden

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

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

Republicans in disarray!

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

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

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

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

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

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Tuesday Evening Open Thread: “What Are the Republicans Afraid Of?”

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: “What Are the Republicans Afraid Of?”

by | 128 Comments

This post is in: , , , , ,

Excellent question, Madame Pelosi!

She says the Democrats will be “per our traditional standards, courteous” tonight… but she’s wearing suffragette white and purple, and so will many of the other female Democratic legislators.

Out of curiosity, how many of you are gonna hate-watch the President-Asterisk’s speech this evening?

Reader Interactions

128Comments

  3. 3.

    JMG

    Are you kidding? Life’s too short. I might tune in at the end of the scheduled 70 minutes to see if he made it.

  7. 7.

    Waldo

    I trust the most outrageous sh1t will make the news. No need to subject myself to any more of it than I have to.

  9. 9.

    schrodingers_cat

    Not going to watch, not even if you pay me to. What are the Rs afraid of?

    1. People darker than a bag of flour
    2. Knowledge in any form
    3. Science
    4. People smarter than they are.

    Rs in Congress and Senate are deathly afraid of
    1. Their base
    2. Putin

    ETA: I am sure jackals can add to the list.

  10. 10.

    Baud

    OT. Looks like these guys kissed and made up (Vox)

    Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) faced withering criticism from the left this January after opposing a proposal aimed at lowering prescription drug prices. The backlash was led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who slammed Booker and the 12 other Democrats who joined Republicans to defeat the plan.

    But less than a month after the rift, Booker and Sanders are now on the same page. On Tuesday, the senators joined three other congressional Democrats for a press conference announcing a new bill to legalize drug importation from Canada.

    It’s still a long way from passing. But Booker signed on to the bill after dozens of safety provisions were added to it intended to ensure the drugs were safe. (Booker said he opposed the initial bill out of concern for the safety of Canadian drugs.)

  12. 12.

    debbie

    I know I won’t be watching that abomination tonight, but if Trump does his handshake thing with legislators wanting to shake his hand, he won’t get to the podium until 10:30 at the earliest.

  14. 14.

    Dave

    Can’t stand to watch. Will read about it later.

    BTW, after I shared yesterday’s post about all the threats to Jewish facilities around the country, my wife’s nephew replied that these are all “false flag” operations orchestrated by HRC. I unfriended and blocked the sorry son-of-a-bitch.

    Bunch of dumb, lowlife cocksuckers.

  15. 15.

    dmsilev

    @schrodingers_cat:

    ETA: I am sure jackals can add to the list.

    Are Republicans afraid of jackals? I propose we experimentally find out; I’m sure releasing a pack of the animals at a GOP caucus meeting would prove illuminating, or at least entertaining.

  18. 18.

    Yarrow

    Not watching. Can’t take watching him at all. I literally put my hand up to cover the TV screen if I accidentally see him on the TV. Also hastily reach for the remote to mute.

  22. 22.

    Feebog

    Got a Netflix movie, “Sully” lined up for 6:00 p.m. (PST) tonight. No way I’m going to listen to an orange Shitgibbon spew his bile for an hour or more. I’m sure I’ll get the highlights tomorrow.

  23. 23.

    lamh36

    So just in time for the LAST day of Black History Month AG KKKSessions..Says DOJ to ‘Pull Back’ on Police Department Civil Rights Suits…uh huh

    That’s ok, cause soon it gonna become a problem for some nice white kid in the wrong place at the wrong time and just as with opioid abuse, once it hits home for white folks, it’ll be time for a change?

  24. 24.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Baud: but I was told that Booker was a neoliberal whore who should be considered an enemy of the left. Come to think of it, that was being pushed by Lee Fang at The Intercept right around the time Booker was supposed to be getting lefty cared for his testimony against Sessions. I’m sure that was just a coincidence.

  25. 25.

    Baud

    @lamh36: It’s factually wrong. Clinton got those superdelegates. The “establishment” got none, since superdelegates only vote for candidates.

  27. 27.

    Yarrow

    Are any of the betting houses giving odds on him taking about his landslide victory? How about mentioning Hillary Clinton? Maybe a little Obama bashing?

    I’m expecting the theme to be “The State of the Union is HORRIBLE” and for him to talk about how it’s everyone else’s fault.

  28. 28.

    Mike J

    @lamh36:

    Lisa Tozzi ‏Verified account @lisatozzi
    To sum up, Trump says military to blame for SEAL’s death, Obama is organizing protests, Jews might be behind anti-Semitic threats/attacks.

  31. 31.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud: BS has been in the Congress for elebenty years, how the fuck is he not establishment? You don’t fucking get more establishment than a fucking sitting United States senator. BS can DIAF.

  38. 38.

    debit

    Nope. Attended a funeral today, came home, ate comfort food and now I’m going to curl up in a chair with a cat and comfort book for the evening.

  39. 39.

    debbie

    I’ll be watching the 6th season of Game of Thrones. Even dragons breathing fire will do less damage to the country than Trump.

  40. 40.

    hellslittlestangel

    I’ll watch the lowlights of the speech later, with Colbert, Oliver and Myers providing analysis.

  41. 41.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @lamh36:

    So, you’re telling me that one someone says a bunch of stupid-ass stuff about race, racists take note and act up? I’ll he damned. Surely Trump didn’t anticipate that dynamic, right?

  45. 45.

    Kay

    I;m not watching. I can’t even stand how they’re promoting the speech – Trump will “tie” everything to jobs which is what every politician tries to do since the beginning of time but these people think they invented it. They’re running around like they invented what is the standard “jobs” fulcrum.

    I just can’t bear how impressed they are with themselves. It’s like they had out gold stars to each other for the most ordinary “achievements”.

  48. 48.

    lamh36

    @Yarrow: I literally hate the sound of his voice…I have to put on headphones or raise the volume on my tv or just press mute when my mom watches the nightly news

  49. 49.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    It might be entertaining to watch those old farts jump up and applaud multiple times. Maybe they’ll hurt themselves in the process.

  50. 50.

    mai naem mobile

    Not planning to watch for at least two reasons;
    1/ the guy lives for ratings. Deny him at least that.
    2/ I can’t stand the guy beyond the content of his speecj, his delivery,voice and mannerisms drive me nuts.

  51. 51.

    Miss Bianca

    Nah – I am counting on enterprising FPers and other BJ jackals to keep me info-tained. Sad!

  52. 52.

    debit

    @Yarrow: He’s hanging in there. Starting to wobble when he gets up, but that’s why I still have carpeting. The new pain meds seems to be working for him; he sleeps well and has a great appetite. That’s about all I can ask for.

  56. 56.

    Kay

    NEW: AG Sessions: US Justice Dept. to “pull back” on suing police depts. over violating civil rights of minorities.

    This is all he does all day. He looks for ways to roll back civil rights.

    Literally the only thing this douchebag has done since showing up for his new job is go after one or another minority group. We would be better off if he stopped coming to work completely. Maybe we can pay him to stay home.

  57. 57.

    EBT

    We are rapidly approaching the day where it is once again acceptable to suggest we go door to door pulling Nazis in to the streets to shoot them, before leaving their bodies for the dogs.

  58. 58.

    Chris

    @dmsilev:

    Are Republicans afraid of jackals? I propose we experimentally find out; I’m sure releasing a pack of the animals at a GOP caucus meeting would prove illuminating, or at least entertaining.

    I don’t hate the jackal species nearly enough for that.

  59. 59.

    JMG

    @Kay: He’ll have a lifetime federal gig, because once the Democrats are back in, he’ll become an inmate. The deal here is obvious. Jeff, you can persecute anyone you want as long as nobody in our party gets investigated, especially about Russia. Do they have a John Mitchell memorial cell at Allenwood?

  60. 60.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    Trump is appalling in the Fox News interview. He’s asked about the mission he fucked up and he immediately starts stammering, looking for some way to weasel out of it. He settles on blabbering this incoherent blame-shifting that eventually lands on “the generals”. He looks nervous and shifty thru the whole thing.

    He’s unfit for this job.

  63. 63.

    Baud

    @Kay: I saw a blurb that tonight’s speech will be about jobs and school choice.

    Was that a big issue in the campaign?

  66. 66.

    goblue72

    “What are Republicans afraid of?”

    The answer is “The Blahs”. We would also accept “The Gheys” and “Messicans”.

  67. 67.

    lamh36

    @schrodingers_cat: my mom still watches nightly, but tomorrow I get the keys to the new apartment. I’ll likely start sleeping there too and soon after I’ll finally be getting my cable back

  69. 69.

    Yarrow

    @debit: I’m glad to hear he’s okay. I always love your photos and videos of him. The one with the french fry that magically slides into view from the table cracks me up every time. I also love the one where you’re cooking steak and Walter just can’t handle it that he’s not allowed in the kitchen.

  71. 71.

    goblue72

    @Baud: To the degree that his entire campaign was about bringing back Jim Crow – and that school vouchers are largely being pushed rich and/or Christianist whites who don’t want to send their kids to school with brown kids, then yes.

    I mean, the entire history of the Christian fundamentalist movement getting involved in politics started in the wake of school de-segregation.

  73. 73.

    Kay

    @JMG:

    I’ve really come to loathe him. He’s the worst Trump appointee and they’re not a real high quality bunch. The saddest part is he was elected. You can’t even blame him on Trump- he’s spent a lifetime waiting to exact revenge on minority groups. Just waiting around, hoping for an enormously powerful job with zero accountability or oversight.

    Rolling back the school bathroom guidance was just so petty and nasty. I cannot stand to look at him. He looks tiny, BTW. Is he a little guy? A little tiny bully?

  74. 74.

    Mike J

    Mark Healey‏ @HealeyParera 54 minutes ago
    Gilmore Girls fans: special state senate election today in “Stars Hollow” (Washington CT) district, which GOP has held since 1936 (!)

    Taylor Doose needs to go!

  76. 76.

    lamh36

    I mean who needs clean water…amiritie

    @thehill
    Trump directs EPA to kill Obama’s Clean Water Rule http://hill.cm/KXARVkF

    Not for nothing though…isn’t one of the pillars of the Green Party about the environment? Gotta love it…who knew when you have a chance to vote against an evil fuckwad and instead you protest votes…there are actually consequences…smh

    Any word from Jill Stein bout this?

  80. 80.

    Lapassionara

    @schrodingers_cat: me too. I am curious whether he will stray off script, and how far and how often. But I know others who get paid to watch it will tell me what I am curious about. So no tv for me.

  81. 81.

    jk

    @Mike J:

    Trump has given new meaning to the term bat shit crazy.

    @Kay:

    As arrogant as Trump is, I wonder if it’s possible that in the deepest recesses of his mind he recognizes the fact that he’s completely unqualified to handle this fucking job.

  84. 84.

    mai naem mobile

    @Yarrow: he’ll go into his greatest hit of largest electoral win,biggest crowds,making America great, winning, he’s rich …really rich,draining the swamp… jezus,4 years cannot go fast enough.

  85. 85.

    Mike in DC

    The only consolation I can see is that the more groups that get swept up in the hate spew, the stronger the resistance becomes. I don’t think the haters realize that non-whites, women, LGBT and liberal whites collectively constitute a supermajority of the population. Or maybe they just don’t care?

  86. 86.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    They think school choice is their political buffer from (accurate) characterizations that they’re terrible on civil rights.

    Republicans have been doing it for years. Trump of course wouldn’t know a public school if he fell over one so it’s perfect for him. He has no fucking idea what he’s talking about so he considers it easy and risk-free.

    DeVos is a flop though, Baud. I don’t care what they say. That woman has all the charisma of a wooden chair. She speaks in this weird stilted English that sounds like words are missing- like she’s stringing together memorized slogans. She was hired as a reward for turning Michigan red but she’s no salesperson. Everyone that goes into the US Department of Education comes out insulted and offended. I think she has had to “clarify” every public statement she’s made and these are not off the cuff statements. They’re tortured and crafted to the point that they don’t read right. Next time they should try not to hire the mean, snobby rich lady.

  88. 88.

    VFX Lurker

    I am not watching the State of the Union tonight.

    I plan to watch FLASH instead. Gorilla Grodd invades Central City with an army of armored gorillas. Bring. It. On.

  90. 90.

    Kay

    @jk:

    There’s a point in the FOX interview right after they ask him about that mission where he looks shocked and scared. The mask slips a little. It’s disturbing. For a second he looks like Bush did when they interrupted his book-reading to tell him about the planes. It’s worse of course because Bush didn’t order that mission. Trump did and he’s has days to think about it.

  91. 91.

    Ohio Mom

    Part of me thinks I should watch, I dunno, like we should all eat our vegetables. I should witness for myself what we are up against.

    But the truth is, I find him an extremely boring speaker. It’s the same words and phrases over and over. It’s tiresome.

  93. 93.

    George Spiggott

    I think I’ll watch Roger Ebert’s final work as a screenwriter instead. It’s about real ‘merica.

  94. 94.

    debit

    @Yarrow: Thanks! He’s such a good, polite dog. He really wants to be wherever people are and if I’m cooking in the kitchen he will try to lie down right at my feet.

    @raven: That and Gabapentin. I have some Tramadol too if he has a bad day, but we haven’t needed it yet.

  96. 96.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    No one likes her, Baud. She’s like 0 for 4 on meetings with people. She went to a public school and it was okay until she gave interviews to conservative media and criticized the people who work there. I mean, come on. Who does this? It’s so two-faced. It’s back-stabbing. Don’t go to their school and pretend you’re impressed and then publicly bash them 2 hours later. She did the same thing with the black college leaders. This wasn’t some blunder. This is stuff she crafts and then deliberately releases publicly. She’s bad at “people”. Even if she manages to get thru the meeting without offending and enraging them she does it later.

    She doesn’t know the first thing about what they do for a living. That’s easy. You go there and you shut up and you let them teach you and then you thank them. That’s all. Stop after that. No more talking. She’s not in a position to tell them anything and they know it. She can’t tell black college leaders what black colleges are! No. Not allowed.

  97. 97.

    geg6

    @Ohio Mom:

    You already know what we’re up against. No need to flog yourself to confirm what you already know. Be kind to yourself now while you can. We have a long fight ahead.

  98. 98.

    debit

    @Yarrow: Thanks! He’s such a good and polite dog. He just wants to be where people are, and if I’m cooking in the kitchen he tries to lie at my feet.

    @raven: That and Gabapentin. I have some Tramadol too for when he has a bad day. We haven’t needed it yet.

  99. 99.

    debit

    Okay, I’ve tried to reply twice now, so maybe I can’t do it to two people in one comment?

    @Yarrow: Thanks! He’s such a good and polite dog. He just wants to be where people are, and if I’m cooking in the kitchen he tries to lie at my feet.

  103. 103.

    stinger

    I just printed out a Bingo card from the AltForestService Twitter thread mentioned above, so I’m slightly tempted to watch, but… nah.

  104. 104.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    She said she’s not there to win a “popularity contest” in that way that unpopular people always do but she’s wrong.

    Oh, yes she is. She doesn’t actually have a lot of real power over public schools. She has to persuade them. If she can’t do that then she can’t do the job. She convinces them or the policy doesn’t change. They make the policy. They have actual jurisdictions and they elect their own leaders. Large districts are more like towns than “schools”. They don’t take orders. They take suggestions.

  106. 106.

    Vheidi

    @Baud: It’s like criticizing Hillary for being close to wall st., NJ has some rather large pharma cos. No, I don’t like it, but it’s not irrational.

  107. 107.

    efgoldman

    Out of curiosity, how many of you are gonna hate-watch the President-Asterisk’s speech this evening?

    Nope
    Nope
    Nope

    Doesn’t matter a damn what he says, he’ll contradict it tomorrow.
    I still think all the Dems should walk out. They won’t. I sure as fuck would.

  108. 108.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jharp:

    Not a chance of Trump being on my TV tonight.

    I’d rather have a sharp stick in the eye.

    And you can tell the difference how?

  109. 109.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @mai naem mobile:

    his delivery,voice and mannerisms drive me nuts.

    There’s a thing he does, not always but a lot, where he makes his voice kind of a high-pitched husky whisper. Don’t really know how to describe it. A bit like second-tier impressionists doing Jimmy Cagney saying “you dirty rat,” if that makes sense. He always sounds like a cheap hood from a B movie of the 1930s.

    I’m sure there’s a proper linguistics description.

  110. 110.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @debit:

    You know, and I expect he also knows at some level of consciousness, that there are hundreds of us sending him light, wishing him well, and hoping he can stay with us comfortably as long as he can.

  111. 111.

    Adria McDowell (formerly Lurker Extraordinaire

    I’d rather go play in interstate traffic than watch anything Dolt 45.

  113. 113.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    I saw a blurb that tonight’s speech will be about jobs and school choice.

    When you’re tired of graves vandalized by the Jews,
    Turn to Betsy DeVos and the HBCUs.

  115. 115.

    Tenar Arha

    I can’t bring myself to watch. And, i’m planning on making sure my father isn’t watching either. The channel will be changed to TCM or any other acceptable movie rather than let my now 91 year old father read the captions as Dolt 45 world salads his way through a speech. (The nightly network news is hard enough for him to tolerate, it really would be cruel for my no longer Republican father to watch the orange dolt speechify).

  116. 116.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Uncle Jeffy:
    Trump has said he’ll back Bibi in destroying any pretense of a Palestinian state and rendering the Palestinians a permanent underclass or even just dead. Trump is also likely to throw the US into more Middle Eastern wars designed to create maximum Muslim death tolls. Bibi doesn’t give a shit about whether Jews in America are being persecuted.

  117. 117.

    zhena gogolia

    @Tenar Arha:

    TCM has Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

    I’m going to watch two mystery shows I’ve already seen (Dr. Blake and Father Brown). It will be far more edifying.

  118. 118.

    Tenar Arha

    @lamh36: He had the same opportunity that Obama had to get superdelegates to switch over to supporting him, but he really couldn’t close that switch with the base of the party. Why should black women have listened to him talk about economic justice when he couldn’t or wouldn’t listen to them about their children consistently getting targeted and killed by police? (FFS you cannot participate in working towards economic justice if you’re dead; even I get that so why couldn’t he?)

  120. 120.

    PaulW

    I CANNOT STAND TRUMP.

    His voice, his body language on screen, his entire existence offends.

    I had to quit a debate watch party about twenty minutes in because his damn lying drove me nuts.

  121. 121.

    Jude

    Not watching will reduce his ratings, something’s he’s dumb enough to care about. I do look forward to seeing the white suffragette outfits in pics tomorrow, though. It was a smart show of solidarity. My biggest concern is the Dems will capitulate at some point and centrist this resist movement to death. Bernie ain’t helping either. Gah, I just want to shake him.

  123. 123.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Dammit, Nancy Pelosi’s face on that video made me click, and what is the first face I see and first voice I hear?

    I love Nancy, but I’m not going to expose myself to more of that guy’s face or voice just to hear her.

  127. 127.

    efgoldman

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Not going to watch, not even if you pay me to. What are the Rs afraid of?

    Everything. Every fucking thing. A bigger bunch of whining cowards never existed in this country, or probably anywhere else.

Comments are closed.