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You are here: Home / Open Threads / A lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls men

A lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls men

by DougJ|  March 23, 201710:02 pm| 199 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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I don’t like to defend Trump, but it seems to me that the ACHA AHCA debacle is almost entirely Paul Ryan’s fault. Yes, the bill is such a shit sandwich that Trump never should have tried to serve it to the country, but Ryan’s the one that made the sandwich.

I realize this is probably some kind of agism or lookism or something like that, but Ryan has always seemed like a punk to me. I’d be willing to part with that decision if he wasn’t such a fraud policy-wise.

If Trump was smart, he’d try to get rid of Ryan as speaker. I hope he doesn’t though.

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199Comments

  1. 1.

    JPL

    March 23, 2017 at 10:04 pm

    Bannon told Trump it was universal health care and everyone would be happy. In fact Trump was so happy that he got to sit in big rigs and toot horns.

    we are so fked.

  2. 2.

    MobiusKlein

    March 23, 2017 at 10:04 pm

    Trumpet made Ryan’s job much harder with the outlandish campaign promises.

  3. 3.

    NobodySpecial

    March 23, 2017 at 10:06 pm

    In a logical world, Ryan would be dead man walking and out the door right after ACHA got voted down.

    The current GOP, however, reminds me of nothing so much as that video of the praying mantis with the worm in it, still moving around until the parasite hatches. It would not surprise me if he just does work as a placeholder and the House comes to a complete standstill until 2018, with the two main warring camps unable to marshal enough support to move one direction or the other.

  4. 4.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 23, 2017 at 10:07 pm

    Ageism? Ryan’s like 45. He’s just a twerp, always will be.

  5. 5.

    dmsilev

    March 23, 2017 at 10:08 pm

    Sorry, don’t buy it. If Trump gave a scintilla of a rat’s ass about actual policy, he’d have realized what a shit sandwich RepubliCare was, but, well, he chose to be belligerently ignorant about everything, and he gets to reap the benefits thereof.

  6. 6.

    The Gray Adder

    March 23, 2017 at 10:08 pm

    @JPL: That’s it. Hamilton Nolan at Deadspin/Concourse says treat Trump like a baby. Because he is one. The sort who wouldn’t shock you if he wet himself.

  7. 7.

    JPL

    March 23, 2017 at 10:08 pm

    This is OT.. I just saw online that WV is a basket from tying Gonzaga. Is John okay?

  8. 8.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 23, 2017 at 10:09 pm

    but Ryan has always seemed like a punk to me

    Hey! Now I get to link to this again, and it’s on topic!

  9. 9.

    Buskertype

    March 23, 2017 at 10:09 pm

    They have painted themselves into a corner, and then continued to paint any parts of the wall or ceiling they can reach from the corner. They will keep slathering fresh paint on until they collapse in exhaustion and just roll around in the paint. Many of them will get reelected anyway.

  10. 10.

    zhena gogolia

    March 23, 2017 at 10:10 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I hate his widow’s peak.

  11. 11.

    raven

    March 23, 2017 at 10:10 pm

    @JPL: check his tweets

    that was fucking awful but I hate huggins so fuck it

  12. 12.

    Elizabelle

    March 23, 2017 at 10:11 pm

    Changing channels, hit Fox News Channel, with Lou Dobbs dolorously telling that nice Sean Hannity that “this has been a travesty” [ed: obviously, not for the reasons we think] and laying all the blame at Speaker Ryan’s [cloven] feet. They both clucked clucked over how badly he had handled it.

    Sped on to through the next channels, smiling. Go for him, with knives in both hands.

  13. 13.

    efgoldman

    March 23, 2017 at 10:11 pm

    If Trump was smart, he’d try to get rid of Ryan as speaker.

    The kkkrazy kkkaukus will take care of that for him.

    the ACHA debacle is almost entirely Paul Ryan’s fault. Yes, the bill is such a shit sandwich that Trump never should have tried to serve it to the country, but Ryan’s the one that made the sandwich.

    As I said in the last thread, the RWNJ Republiklowns have been the lockstep party of NO for so long, and Granny Starver such a sad, feckless, incompetent excuse for a “speaker”, that they don’t know how to legislate any more.
    As Nancy SMASH! could have told him, ideology is no substitute for politics and legislating.

  14. 14.

    Ric Drywall

    March 23, 2017 at 10:11 pm

    Trump has already made his excuses for losing the midterms: they didn’t vote for the Ryan plan.

  15. 15.

    Roger Moore

    March 23, 2017 at 10:11 pm

    I don’t think trump should try to get rid of Ryan until he has a plausible replacement. Just which ringmaster do you see as capable of running that circus?

  16. 16.

    Doug decker

    March 23, 2017 at 10:12 pm

    I think it is AHCA, American Healthcare Act.

    You aren’t th e first to use ACHA here though.

  17. 17.

    mdblanche

    March 23, 2017 at 10:12 pm

    Ryan has certainly not covered himself in glory, but who could do his job better? Look at what he has to work with. One important advantage Pelosi has had over Ryan and Boehner as a leader is a better class of follower. You know, one that can be led.

  18. 18.

    JPL

    March 23, 2017 at 10:13 pm

    @raven: Sad. CBS has on Kansas/Purdue.

  19. 19.

    dmsilev

    March 23, 2017 at 10:13 pm

    @Roger Moore: Newt Gingrich is rested, ready, and available.

  20. 20.

    amk

    March 23, 2017 at 10:13 pm

    The ratfucking shit weasel of a welsher has never owned up to any responsibility in his entire life. You don’t have to invent a new reason for him now, doug.

  21. 21.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 23, 2017 at 10:14 pm

    Paul! Look out! Here comes a bu…

    Brian Fallon‏Verified account
    @ brianefallon
    Just now, @DanaBashCNN reports WH senior official says Trump has “increasing concerns about how House speaker has handled this process”

    oh well

  22. 22.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    March 23, 2017 at 10:14 pm

    @raven: Doesn’t everybody hate Huggins? And the Eagles?

  23. 23.

    Trentrunner

    March 23, 2017 at 10:14 pm

    Isn’t the lyric “friends,” not “men”?

  24. 24.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    March 23, 2017 at 10:14 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Permasmirk.

  25. 25.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 23, 2017 at 10:15 pm

    but Ryan has always seemed like a punk to me.

    There are people who are/were in a fraternity and there are frat boys.

  26. 26.

    Buskertype

    March 23, 2017 at 10:15 pm

    @Roger Moore: the mind boggles!

  27. 27.

    Jeffro

    March 23, 2017 at 10:15 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: classic gen Xer dickhead

  28. 28.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 23, 2017 at 10:16 pm

    I knew there was another Young Guns (they were all north of 40) gif out there.

  29. 29.

    JMG

    March 23, 2017 at 10:16 pm

    Maggie Haberman of the Times (yeah, I know, but she’s really wired into the Trump inner circle) tweets Trump has “begun to lose confidence how the Speaker has handled this.” If it wasn’t for that whole nuclear holocaust thing, I’d rather be rid of Ryan than Trump.

  30. 30.

    opiejeanne

    March 23, 2017 at 10:16 pm

    @JPL: What was the truck thing about? I was busy planting potatoes and pruning fruit trees, and threatening the rudbeckia with sending them to another home.

  31. 31.

    Aleta

    March 23, 2017 at 10:16 pm

    Paul Ryan, the good christian soul who forced soup kitchen volunteers to let him pretend to wash dishes in a kitchen they had just finished cleaning, so his staff could take a photo of him in his apron humbly serving the poor, who had all left because the meal was over by the time he arrived.

  32. 32.

    oldster

    March 23, 2017 at 10:16 pm

    @Trentrunner:

    My thought exactly.

    Also, I hate the Eagles.

  33. 33.

    Peter

    March 23, 2017 at 10:16 pm

    @mdblanche: Honestly, if you gave Pelosi the speakership right now without changing the House’s composition at all, you could govern the house with a minority of dems and probably peel off enough Republicans to get basic non-crazy legislation through.

    That’s a pipe dream and would never actually happen, of course, but if it somehow did it would actually be much more functional than the current congressional majority. That’s how bad they are.

  34. 34.

    mdblanche

    March 23, 2017 at 10:16 pm

    @dmsilev: If you check the Constitution, nowhere does it specify that the Speaker of the House actually has to be a member of the House. Just sayin’.

  35. 35.

    Baud

    March 23, 2017 at 10:17 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    @JMG:

    Kind of suggests it won’t pass.

    I guess there is no point in speculating.

  36. 36.

    Buskertype

    March 23, 2017 at 10:18 pm

    @Roger Moore: on second thought, the answer is obviously whoever kisses trumps ass the most and the best.

  37. 37.

    Doug!

    March 23, 2017 at 10:19 pm

    @Doug decker:

    I have trouble with that.

  38. 38.

    Jeffro

    March 23, 2017 at 10:20 pm

    @Roger Moore: probably won’t happen but one exciting thought is if Ryan is neutralized or forced out, and Trump tries to install one of the freedom caucus morons as speaker, The last few remaining republican moderates might defect and vote for a Dem as speaker

    … oh never mind who am I kidding? Nev-er happen.

    In other news I see the Democrats are asking that fucking moron Devin Nunes for evidence of his claims by tomorrow. PUSH HARD DEMS!!

  39. 39.

    Mnemosyne

    March 23, 2017 at 10:20 pm

    Sitting at an Embassy Suites in Orange County drinking free wine, eating soup, and chillaxin’ before my writer’s conference tomorrow.

  40. 40.

    JPL

    March 23, 2017 at 10:20 pm

    @opiejeanne: lol I have no idea, I just assumed that it was a way to keep Trump busy so Bannon could run things..
    I’m not sure anyone knows.. https://twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/845093684962119680
    My kids used to love the truck horns, so I can only imagine how much fun Trump had.

  41. 41.

    amk

    March 23, 2017 at 10:20 pm

    @Buskertype: Nunes!!! Impeachment is off the table.

  42. 42.

    dmsilev

    March 23, 2017 at 10:21 pm

    @mdblanche: I know. That’s why I floated the suggestion.

    I suppose Dennis Hastert would be another possibility. Can you run the House from a prison cell?

  43. 43.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    March 23, 2017 at 10:21 pm

    @Jeffro: OT: drop me a line when you have time.

  44. 44.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    March 23, 2017 at 10:22 pm

    @opiejeanne:

    Trump met with a group of trucking industry weasels today, and they brought a life-size Tonka cab for him to play with.

  45. 45.

    Bess

    March 23, 2017 at 10:22 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Brian Fallon‏Verified account
    @ brianefallon
    Just now, @DanaBashCNN reports WH senior official says Trump has “increasing concerns about how House speaker has handled this process”

    Bannon pulls the strings. Getting rid of Ryan is pretty high on his bucket list.

    I hope he succeeds. Most likely we’d see a Speaker from the rabid right who would never be able to put together the votes to pass anything more than naming a Post Office.

  46. 46.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 23, 2017 at 10:22 pm

    @dmsilev: can’t Pence just be speaker?

    @Bess: no way he’d be able to cobble together a post office coalition.

  47. 47.

    GregB

    March 23, 2017 at 10:23 pm

    All hail Speaker Nunes!

  48. 48.

    efgoldman

    March 23, 2017 at 10:23 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    I don’t think trump should try to get rid of Ryan until he has a plausible replacement.

    @JMG:

    Trump has “begun to lose confidence how the Speaker has handled this.”

    He has no say in the matter. None. In fact after his routine yesterday threatening the kkkrazy kkkaukus, less than none. Not that he understands that, or how congress works, or how anything else other than how his Big Mac works. Just like any undisciplined, tantrumy four year old.

  49. 49.

    randy khan

    March 23, 2017 at 10:23 pm

    @dmsilev:

    This. I’m not a Green Lantern type, but if the Administration had a scintilla of sense, it would have told Ryan & Co. to slow down and build consensus. Instead, they just left it in the House’s hands, endorsed the original, unpassable bill, and did nothing else until the last couple of days.

  50. 50.

    amk

    March 23, 2017 at 10:24 pm

    By now, the dem cong critters must have learnt the valuable lesson of staying put together?

  51. 51.

    Jeffro

    March 23, 2017 at 10:24 pm

    @oldster: I don’t hate the Eagles so much as I don’t need them because if necessary I could play any one of their billion slow California rock songs in my head at this point…

    (Thanks, 80’s/90’s radio!)

    … but why would I do that to myself?

  52. 52.

    JMG

    March 23, 2017 at 10:24 pm

    It is beyond useless for us to try and speculate how the bill shakes out in the House. Very good reporters on twitter are succumbing to their innate biases, either the savvy (oh, it’s going down) or liberal gloom fret (oh, it’s gonna pass). They’re worn to a frazzle. If it does pass (6-5 bet for, maybe), next week in the Senate will be beyond insane. But at least maybe we’d all see what’s in it.

  53. 53.

    randy khan

    March 23, 2017 at 10:25 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    So the WH doesn’t think they have the votes.

  54. 54.

    Mnemosyne

    March 23, 2017 at 10:25 pm

    @Steeplejack (tablet):

    Context is everything. If it had been Obama, I would have thought it was hilarious and adorable.

    Of course, Obama actually managed to get legislation passed in his first 100 days. And not insult every ally we ever had. And not install his family members as official advisers. Need I go on?

  55. 55.

    lamh36

    March 23, 2017 at 10:25 pm

    Maggie Haberman‏Verified @maggieNYT 3m3 minutes ago BANNON delivered ultimatum at pre-conference meeting in the speaker’s conference room that the president wanted a vote tomorrow.

  56. 56.

    mai naem mobile

    March 23, 2017 at 10:25 pm

    Am I the only who’s noticed that Paul Ryans nose has become longer/bigger. I am serious,not joking. He looks like he might have cancer on his nose or something. Or he hurt his nose but u didn’t see any bruising and I can’t believe he could use make up regularly as speaker to cover it. It’s bigger than just irritation from a bad cold.

  57. 57.

    Aleta

    March 23, 2017 at 10:26 pm

    @Doug!: It’s easily confused with the American Crooks’ Hypocrisy Act.

  58. 58.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 23, 2017 at 10:26 pm

    @efgoldman: trump can just not sign something. He absolutely has say.

  59. 59.

    Seth Owen

    March 23, 2017 at 10:27 pm

    @Bess: I understand the sentiment but there’s a debt ceiling vote due and it would be nice to pass a budget someday, so some kind of functionality really is needed. It may come down to Pelosi in the end.

  60. 60.

    Mnemosyne

    March 23, 2017 at 10:28 pm

    @randy khan:

    You don’t have the votes
    You don’t have the votes!
    (Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!)
    You’re gonna need Congressional approval
    And you don’t have the votes!
    Such a blunder,
    Makes me wonder why I even bring the thunder
    (Why he even brings the thunder)

  61. 61.

    Roger Moore

    March 23, 2017 at 10:28 pm

    @mdblanche:
    The Republicans can’t escape that easily. If they gave a damn about legislating, they could have been developing better followers. They could have been writing legislation that would actually do something and didn’t rely on magic asterisks because they can’t make the numbers work. They could have started writing and building support for the AHCA back in November. They’re dealing with the spoiled brat caucus because they’ve never tried to demand any discipline.

  62. 62.

    cmorenc

    March 23, 2017 at 10:28 pm

    @DougJ:

    I don’t like to defend Trump, but it seems to me that the ACHA debacle is almost entirely Paul Ryan’s fault.

    I see what you’re trying to get at here – Ryan’s ACHA is mostly his own Randian creation assembled with ideological rather than practical pieces pasted together with under-gauged baling wire and thin glue too weak to bind the pieces together. But the debacle belongs as well to Trump for prominently campaigning on giving people (most particularly many of his core supporters) the promise of better health care coverage than Obamacare but much cheaper for them, without any plan beyond glib puffery of promises or understanding of any details of how health care and insurance work. Ryan lacked any real plan for health care insurance besides notions of using the tax system (credits or HSA tax-exemptions) to subsidize health insurance purchase, and transferring everything else to the state level – because Ryan ideologically detests the fact that politically there is any need for any federal plan at all wrt health insurance. And so the AHCA is what you get when Trump punts putting together any plan to fulfill his health insurance promises (beyond repeal of O-Care) to Ryan, who doesn’t believe in any federal government role in providing health care to individual citizens in the first place (beyond military personnel) and only grudgingly creates the appearance of any federal plan at all.

  63. 63.

    AdamK

    March 23, 2017 at 10:29 pm

    Ryan is a dead-eyed sociopath who should be under community supervision.

  64. 64.

    amk

    March 23, 2017 at 10:29 pm

    @JMG:

    It is beyond useless for us to try and speculate how the bill shakes out in the House.

    But it’s ok for you to keep speculating in every thread that this will somehow pass the house?

  65. 65.

    Buskertype

    March 23, 2017 at 10:29 pm

    What is the procedure for removing a speaker? Can a majority of members call s vote somehow?

  66. 66.

    Aleta

    March 23, 2017 at 10:29 pm

    @opiejeanne: It was a moving van, pulled right up to the white house, which coincidentally is a trick thieves use to empty a house of valuables.

  67. 67.

    mdblanche

    March 23, 2017 at 10:29 pm

    @dmsilev: If you check the Constitution, nowhere does it specify that the Speaker of the House actually has to be able to leave his cell and show up in person. Just sayin’.

  68. 68.

    catclub

    March 23, 2017 at 10:30 pm

    @NobodySpecial:

    It would not surprise me if he just does work as a placeholder and the House comes to a complete standstill until 2018, with the two main warring camps unable to marshal enough support to move one direction or the other.

    That would be too easy. The AHCA debacle goes down the memory hole and they start rolling back taxes for fatcats.

  69. 69.

    pseudonymous in nc

    March 23, 2017 at 10:30 pm

    Turns out the ACA was built in a way that made it hard to unravel without causing grave political damage.

    And Nancy SMASH! has given Ryan all the rope he needs to hang himself, regardless of whether this shitshow of a bill passes through the House. If it hurts Agent Orange, then good.

    (Btw, can the White House occupier drive? I bet he can’t. He just has to cosplay in a big boy truck.)

  70. 70.

    Jinchi

    March 23, 2017 at 10:32 pm

    if AHCA fails on Friday in House, Trump is moving on.

    I love that all we have to do to defeat Trump is wait for him to get bored.

  71. 71.

    Another Scott

    March 23, 2017 at 10:33 pm

    @Seth Owen: They won’t do anything about the debt ceiling until they know how much their changes to Obamacare will cost, and until they figure out what they’re doing about the budget for next year. The Treasury is already juggling the books like they always do in these situations, and the drop-dead date isn’t until August-September. Other things will happen before then.

    The ending of the Continuing Resolution at midnight ET April 28 is the next big one to watch.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  72. 72.

    lamh36

    March 23, 2017 at 10:34 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    @yashar
    Lou Dobbs to Hannity re Paul Ryan: “He is a failure. He has done nothing as Speaker. He is emblematic of many of the failures of Congress”

  73. 73.

    oldster

    March 23, 2017 at 10:34 pm

    So who lives in Stefanik’s district? NY-21.

    She’s on the fence, won’t talk to reporters.

    Please, please phone her tomorrow morning. Pressure matters.

    They’re going to spend tonight twisting arms, cutting checks, and telling lies.
    Then they’re going to try to rush it through tomorrow before anyone knows what’s in it.

    Stefanik is a gettable “no”. We need more of those.

    I’m going to be calling Reed here in NY-23, mostly for the pleasure of making his life miserable.

    He is so deep into Trump that he’ll be in the final bunker scene. He’s a lock on “Yes.”

    But I can still taunt him about how he’s going to get hammered for his “yes,” and how he’s going to get betrayed by Trump anyhow.

    We gotta keep the pressure up, people. I remember a bunch of Democrats, once, who got complacent and thought they had victory in the bag. It didn’t end well.

  74. 74.

    catclub

    March 23, 2017 at 10:35 pm

    @Peter:

    That’s how bad they are.

    That is how bad we are. Al of us. Plenty of us know this and we cannot make anything like it happen.

  75. 75.

    lamh36

    March 23, 2017 at 10:35 pm

    @sarahcpr
    Breaking: Ivanka Trump releases statement demanding #FreedomCaucus cover maternity care

    (just kidding she’s skiing)

    @maggieNYT 9m9 minutes ago
    More
    A number of raised eyebrows that Kushner and Ivanka Trump are not here as this is all taking place, but instead are on vacation.

  76. 76.

    Patricia Kayden

    March 23, 2017 at 10:35 pm

    @Elizabelle: I don’t understand how Ryan can be blamed for this healthcare fiasco. Does anyone actually believe that Trump had a healthcare law which met his election campaign promises? He has nothing to offer.

  77. 77.

    Baud

    March 23, 2017 at 10:37 pm

    @lamh36:

    (just kidding she’s skiing)

    lol

  78. 78.

    efgoldman

    March 23, 2017 at 10:38 pm

    @randy khan:

    if the Administration had a scintilla of sense

    Asserts facts not in evidence, yeronner.

    it would have told Ryan & Co. to slow down and build consensus

    That suggests that someone in the maladministration has the first fucking idea how politics, legislation, and government work. They don’t, but worse, they KNOW they do. And Granny Starver isn’t any good at it either.

  79. 79.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 23, 2017 at 10:38 pm

    When will people learn that everything Trump touches turns to shit, including you?

    @efgoldman: wasn’t knowing all that Pence’s job?

  80. 80.

    mdblanche

    March 23, 2017 at 10:39 pm

    @Roger Moore: True. And Ryan deserves a share of the blame for all that. But so do many others. And at this point replacing Ryan with a mythical Republican speaker who really did want to legislate in good faith and instill discipline in the caucus would fail because the problems have become too big for just one person to solve.

  81. 81.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 23, 2017 at 10:39 pm

    it sounds like the House members are falling in line, still a lot of hard no’s– Mark Sanford (yeah, him), Ileana Ros-Leiten (sp?)– but I’m wondering how waverers feel about shit like this

    The New York Times‏Verified account
    @ nytimes
    Trump has told people close to him that he regrets going along with Paul Ryan’s plan to push health care first

    if you’re afraid of a general election, or a true believer who really wants to gut all health insurance regulation, isn’t that sort of giving you permission to tell Ryan to pound sand? You don’t have to fear the Tweets so much?

    Kelly O’Donnell just said, speaking anecdotally, she hasn’t spoken to any MoCs who have gone from no to yes.

  82. 82.

    jonas

    March 23, 2017 at 10:39 pm

    Trump’s idea of victory is simply “making a deal” to get a bill through. That’s it. Doesn’t matter if the bill ends up being the exact opposite of what he promised his voters (cheaper premiums, better coverage, more benefits, etc.). He’s used to promising the moon, then stiffing the suckers who take him seriously.

  83. 83.

    lollipopguild

    March 23, 2017 at 10:39 pm

    @Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: Not a big Huggy Bear fan but his team went farther than i figured they would and came close to beating Gondor. Eagles???? The band or a team?

  84. 84.

    amk

    March 23, 2017 at 10:39 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: what if you are already a pos? #zegs

  85. 85.

    efgoldman

    March 23, 2017 at 10:41 pm

    @randy khan:

    So the WH doesn’t think…

    Should’ve stopped right there.
    All the brain power in the WH is multiplying a positive times a negative.

  86. 86.

    Chris

    March 23, 2017 at 10:41 pm

    I don’t like to defend Trump, but it seems to me that the ACHA AHCA debacle is almost entirely Paul Ryan’s fault.

    There’s plenty of blame to go around.

    However, let’s say that the presence of a tragicomically unfit and hateable scumbag in the Oval Office makes it easy and tempting to pin any unusually bad developments on him (and God, will our media try), rather than admit what it really is, the entire party continuing to get worse and worse.

  87. 87.

    Another Scott

    March 23, 2017 at 10:43 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: If the Speaker of the House decides to bring an important bill up for consideration, and rush it through before everything else, and trample all the rules in the process, and then it fails, then you bet it’s all on him.

    The bill has his philosophical fingerprints all over it, also too.

    Yeah, it’s his baby. Having it fail so spectacularly (assuming it does) is delicious.

    But I don’t think it will mean that his tenure is necessarily over as Speaker. Who (quarter-way) sensible would replace him? Remember that McCarthy was supposed to take over after Boehner, but he couldn’t get enough support. Ryan had to be begged to take the job. There’s little indication that anyone else would get enough support to take over from him.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  88. 88.

    Chris

    March 23, 2017 at 10:43 pm

    @Aleta:

    Paul Ryan, the good christian soul who forced soup kitchen volunteers to let him pretend to wash dishes in a kitchen they had just finished cleaning, so his staff could take a photo of him in his apron humbly serving the poor, who had all left because the meal was over by the time he arrived.

    Holy Mary, how I wish I could fit that on a bumper sticker.

  89. 89.

    manyakitty

    March 23, 2017 at 10:43 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Thank you! It’s been in my head all day!

  90. 90.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 23, 2017 at 10:43 pm

    @amk: then you turn into shittier shit.

  91. 91.

    debbie

    March 23, 2017 at 10:44 pm

    @efgoldman:

    I loved Nancy’s comment about Trump having made a rookie mistake. That’ll eat at him for quite a while.

  92. 92.

    efgoldman

    March 23, 2017 at 10:45 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    He absolutely has say.

    Who the speaker is? Nope. If he had any allies or any skill at politics he MIGHT. But his act this week threatening members of the kkkrazy kkkaukus with campaigning against them means the house will be even more jealous of their prerogatives than they might already be. A president fucks around with the internal politics of either house at great peril.

    ETA: If Amber Asswipe had any political experience, skill, connections or background he might have some background influence; he has none.

  93. 93.

    randy khan

    March 23, 2017 at 10:46 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Love it!

    Last night I was hashtagging my Facebook posts with theydonthavethevotes.

  94. 94.

    dmsilev

    March 23, 2017 at 10:46 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Kelly O’Donnell just said, speaking anecdotally, she hasn’t spoken to any MoCs who have gone from no to yes.

    At this point, why would they? If you’re one of the Freedum Caucus loons, you’ve gotten indications (excuse me, ‘promises’) that the Senate will pass whatever via reconciliation so why not hold out for your favored Soylent Green Is Poor People Act? And if you’re what laughingly passes for a moderate in the GOP, every change just makes this bill more of a shit sandwich that you’re expected to swallow with a smile.

  95. 95.

    chris

    March 23, 2017 at 10:46 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Wait, you’ve forgotten the first granny. I did too.

    Good night all.

  96. 96.

    catclub

    March 23, 2017 at 10:47 pm

    If Trump was smart, he’d try to get rid of Ryan as speaker. I hope he doesn’t though.

    This sounds like the helpful advice that GOP pundits give to Democrats, and versa visa.

  97. 97.

    danielx

    March 23, 2017 at 10:47 pm

    If Trump was smart, he’d try to get rid of Ryan as speaker. I hope he doesn’t though.

    That would be his natural inclination anyway, since Ryan publicly dissed him for various reprehensible words or acts during the election season. If there’s one thing that lord shortfingers never forgets – and it may the the only thing he never forgets – is a slight of any kind.

  98. 98.

    Elizabelle

    March 23, 2017 at 10:47 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: There you go, being all factsy and all. Logical, even.

    I don’t mind Ryan taking incoming. Trump is on his way to dead man walking, I would think, although he does have a base base of support.

  99. 99.

    randy khan

    March 23, 2017 at 10:48 pm

    @oldster:

    If reports of 8:00 votes are right, also email her.

  100. 100.

    Mnemosyne

    March 23, 2017 at 10:49 pm

    @chris:

    Linky no work. You fix.

  101. 101.

    Comrade Nimrod Humperdink

    March 23, 2017 at 10:49 pm

    Ryan is treated as a policy wonk because he can string together coherent sentences sometimes. There are no domestic policy experts in Republican politics, outside of self-serving ‘economists,’ because Republicans don’t believe in using policy to improve people’s lives anymore. Asking people that don’t believe in government to govern is going to result in, well, this.

  102. 102.

    randy khan

    March 23, 2017 at 10:49 pm

    @efgoldman:

    @randy khan:

    if the Administration had a scintilla of sense

    Asserts facts not in evidence, yeronner.

    Ah, c’mon, I did say “if.” It’s not like I suggested there was any reason to think they did.

  103. 103.

    catclub

    March 23, 2017 at 10:50 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I was amazed when I heard some GOP congressman say that he was taking Trump at his word and the interviewer did not laugh at him.

  104. 104.

    opiejeanne

    March 23, 2017 at 10:51 pm

    @GregB:

    All hail Speaker Nunes!

    He’s already in way over his head, I don’t think he’d survive it, not that I care.

  105. 105.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 23, 2017 at 10:51 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Bill Clinton and the balloons.

  106. 106.

    Redleg

    March 23, 2017 at 10:52 pm

    Ryan’s a punk because he’s a grown man who still thinks Ayn Rand was a brilliant thinker.

  107. 107.

    Mnemosyne

    March 23, 2017 at 10:53 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Prezactly.

  108. 108.

    efgoldman

    March 23, 2017 at 10:53 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    wasn’t knowing all that Pence’s job?

    Pence is the dullest knife in the chandelier. I’m surprised that he knows how to tie his own shoes, or knows how to prepare a microwave TV dinner.

  109. 109.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    March 23, 2017 at 10:54 pm

    FBI + Congress need to investigate the persistent allegations that Paul Ryan murdered 5 Rent Boys in Wisconsin.

    Many, many people are saying this is true but the Ryan murders are being covered up by Trump and the White House.

    Note: Ryan has refused to deny his involvement in the Green Bay murders.

  110. 110.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 23, 2017 at 10:55 pm

    @efgoldman: i thought we were talking about influence over legislation.

  111. 111.

    Elizabelle

    March 23, 2017 at 10:55 pm

    @efgoldman: “Mother” doesn’t do all that for him? Are we sure?

  112. 112.

    Doug decker

    March 23, 2017 at 10:55 pm

    @Doug!: You fixed it. That’s all that matters.

  113. 113.

    chris

    March 23, 2017 at 10:55 pm

    @Mnemosyne: So I see, try this.

    ETA: No idea what happened to the first one. FYWP

  114. 114.

    efgoldman

    March 23, 2017 at 10:57 pm

    @debbie:

    I loved Nancy’s comment about Trump having made a rookie mistake.

    I wish PBO had said it. THAT would have licked the stuffing out of Nectarine Littlescrotum’s Oreos but good!

  115. 115.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 23, 2017 at 10:57 pm

    RealCPcla12‏ @ cpcla12 1h1 hour ago
    Yes! Call the Capitol! They are open 24/7! It’s easy pz! Ask your officials to vote NO! 202-224-3121 #NoAHCA #CallNow

    are the offices open? just leave messages?

  116. 116.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 23, 2017 at 10:59 pm

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: It would play better in WI if you go with Racine rather than Green Bay. Just saying.

  117. 117.

    Mnemosyne

    March 23, 2017 at 11:01 pm

    @chris:

    I love Mrs. Robinson. My maternal grandmother lived with us for a while when my mom was terminally ill and helped keep us all together emotionally.

  118. 118.

    Mnemosyne

    March 23, 2017 at 11:02 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I almost hit a deer driving home from Racine once. Fuckin’ Racine.

  119. 119.

    J R in WV

    March 23, 2017 at 11:02 pm

    @Jeffro:

    I don’t hate the Eagles so much as I don’t need them because if necessary I could play any one of their billion slow California rock songs in my head at this point…

    Wait just a frickin minute!!!! I thought we were talking sports here, and the Philly Iggles!!!! Who brought up a Rock band!?!?!?!???

    Huggins isn’t that bad. We stopped in town for a sandwich not long ago, and he came in, it was a greasy old sports bar. He was friendly enough. And he does a lot with the team he has to coach.

  120. 120.

    dmsilev

    March 23, 2017 at 11:03 pm

    One of the Vox writers brought up an interesting point, which is that after the GOP took control of the House in 2010, they with great fanfare introduced a ‘Read The Bill’ rule specifying that all bills must be posted online for three days before a vote is taken.

    You will no doubt be shocked to learn that the proponents of this bit of theater were unavailable for comment this evening.

  121. 121.

    amk

    March 23, 2017 at 11:03 pm

    And the thugs thought it would be so cute if they repealed the Ocare exactly on the date it was passed. Morons.

  122. 122.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 23, 2017 at 11:04 pm

    @Mnemosyne: It’s Czechoslovakia, we zip in, we zip out, it’ll be like going to Wisconsin

    Yeah, well, I got the shit kicked out of me in Wisconsin

  123. 123.

    Just one more canuck

    March 23, 2017 at 11:04 pm

    @Baud: it would be irresponsible not to speculate

  124. 124.

    amk

    March 23, 2017 at 11:04 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: or a floating turd that won’t be flushed away.

  125. 125.

    efgoldman

    March 23, 2017 at 11:04 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    i thought we were talking about influence over legislation.

    Apparently one of us was.
    Maybe I looked at the wrong antecedent comment.
    Theoretically he does, yes. But he has no political skills, he spends valuable time slagging his own side, he has no actual real or political friends, and no-one to carry water for him. He doesn’t know shit, none of his “advisors” do either, and they’re incapable of learning.

  126. 126.

    Mnemosyne

    March 23, 2017 at 11:05 pm

    @amk:

    To be fair, they’ve never actually managed to pass legislation before, so they didn’t realize it was so hhhaaaaaarrrrddd, Mom!

  127. 127.

    Obdurodon

    March 23, 2017 at 11:05 pm

    The only difference between Trump and Ryan is that Trump wants you eat you well done with ketchup, while Ryan will go with fava beans and a nice chianti. The style’s different, but the intent is the same.

  128. 128.

    J R in WV

    March 23, 2017 at 11:05 pm

    @mai naem mobile:

    So Ryan’s nose is growing. Doesn’t that mean he’s lying? Lyin’ Ryan, right!!

    Like Pinocchio, right? Oops, he messed up his face!!!

  129. 129.

    Mnemosyne

    March 23, 2017 at 11:06 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    If you go to Wisconsin from the North Shore, you end up in Kenosha, which is your first mistake.

  130. 130.

    manyakitty

    March 23, 2017 at 11:10 pm

    @efgoldman: Mother helps him.

  131. 131.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 23, 2017 at 11:10 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I almost hit a raccoon coming back from O’Hare.

    @Mnemosyne: Along the lake, virtually everything between Lake Forest and Milwaukee proper is a mistake.

  132. 132.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    March 23, 2017 at 11:11 pm

    I can’t seem to face up to the facts
    I’m tense and nervous and I can’t relax
    I can’t sleep ’cause my bed’s on fire
    Don’t touch me I’m a real live wire

    Psycho Killer
    Qu’est-ce que c’est
    Fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-far better
    Run run run run run run run away oh oh

  133. 133.

    Anya

    March 23, 2017 at 11:12 pm

    I am praying for a gigantic failure but I am not counting my chickens yet. I seem to recall that everyone said ACA was dead before the Dems managed to pass the bill. Republican tribalism and saving Trump or fear of his crazy base might save this thing after all.

  134. 134.

    dnfree

    March 23, 2017 at 11:12 pm

    I just read that Trump told the house to vote tomorrow and if it doesn’t pass, he’s going to leave Obamacare in place. That actually might be brilliant whichever way it goes. Gives the reluctant representatives the message that if they don’t do it this time, they don’t get another crack at it (so it might pass), and if it doesn’t pass, Trump blames Ryan for not getting it right. Someone might or might not then get around to actually improving the ACA, or they let it “fail”. (I know, it could all go wrong, but this is an interesting approach.)

  135. 135.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 23, 2017 at 11:13 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Hill switchboard is open, offices are not

    I wonder if they listen to the messages in any case, especially with the vote scheduled so early

  136. 136.

    Aleta

    March 23, 2017 at 11:15 pm

    @Mnemosyne: It’s hard being a grownup.

  137. 137.

    Mnemosyne

    March 23, 2017 at 11:17 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    As has been mentioned before, G is from Oak Park, and the other day he mentioned that they used to take his grade school to outdoor education in exotic Zion.

    Could. Not. Stop. Laughing.

    ETA: Our grade school went out to a place in the general direction of Rockford.

  138. 138.

    Smiling Mortician

    March 23, 2017 at 11:20 pm

    @efgoldman: I’m reasonably sure PBO is saving his ammunition for when it’s truly needed.

  139. 139.

    amk

    March 23, 2017 at 11:22 pm

    @dnfree: You really think twitler, zegs or any of the rethugs really thought this through?

  140. 140.

    jonas

    March 23, 2017 at 11:22 pm

    @MobiusKlein: This, in a nutshell, is the whole problem. Republicans essentially spent the last 7 years — and Trump the past two — proposing the following:

    1. Repeal Obamacare
    2. ???
    3. Profit!

    They’re still a bit hung up on point two, but I’m sure in the next 12 hours they’ll find a brilliant solution.

  141. 141.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 23, 2017 at 11:25 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Ever do Graue Mill? That and the river boat tour were the highlights of grade school trips.

  142. 142.

    dnfree

    March 23, 2017 at 11:25 pm

    @amk: No, I don’t. But somehow Trump survived the Republican primary and then got elected president without being able to think any of it through. This may be a demonstration of how his “instincts” work.

  143. 143.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 23, 2017 at 11:28 pm

    @Jeffro: A least he’s not a Boomer.

  144. 144.

    amk

    March 23, 2017 at 11:29 pm

    @dnfree: Campaigning and governance are two entirely different things.

  145. 145.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 23, 2017 at 11:29 pm

    crawl on MSNBC says trump sent PReibus and Bannon to make a list of friends and enemies (my terms), who’s for him and against him, they said.

    I’m not usually much for trump being a mastermind, but I do wonder if he’s not thinking more of his tax returns being subpoenaed or a Russia investigating committee than about TrumpCare

  146. 146.

    Mnemosyne

    March 23, 2017 at 11:29 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I don’t think so. It doesn’t look familiar. Our school district seemed to do a lot of stuff out west near the Iowa border — in high school, we went to an archeological dig in that direction. I’ve seen the burial grounds inside the Cahokia Mounds and I think that was also in high school.

  147. 147.

    Aleta

    March 23, 2017 at 11:32 pm

    As the general election was taking shape last summer, the Republican National Committee initiated a series of payments to a low-profile firm started by retired Central Intelligence Agency officers that worked closely with an ex-Russian spy.

    The payments attracted attention in political and intelligence circles, largely because the Virginia-based firm, Hamilton Trading Group, had particular expertise in Russia, which was emerging as a major campaign issue at the time.

    RNC officials and the president and co-founder of Hamilton Trading Group, an ex-CIA officer named Ben Wickham, insisted the payments, which eventually totaled $41,500, had nothing to do with Russia.

    Instead, they initially claimed the payments were entirely for an assessment by Hamilton Trading Group of building security concerns at the RNC’s Capitol Hill headquarters.

    But RNC officials now acknowledge that most of the cash — $34,100 — went towards intelligence-style reports that sought to prove conflicts of interest between Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State and her family’s foundation.

    -Politico

  148. 148.

    Flanders' Former Neighbor

    March 23, 2017 at 11:32 pm

    Gypsy Kings do a kickin’ Hispanic cover of Hotel California. I kinda hate The Eagles, too.

  149. 149.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    March 23, 2017 at 11:33 pm

    O/T but interesting…

    Michael Morell (ex-CIA) on Charlie Rose talking about what Nunes did yesterday… which means this show is really current…

    From Morell’s explanation of what happened, one could infer the entire incident was a manufactured fraud, top to bottom, a deliberate hit set up to give Trump plausible cover for his frickin’ lies about being wiretapped by Obama…

    I saw Nunes ‘apologizing’ on the ABC evening news and boy, did he NOT seem ashamed or contrite…

    I’m calling foul… this whole thing was planned and staged, IMHO… to accomplish specifically what it did… give Trump a way to look justified in his ridiculous claims…

    And Fox is already pushing the narrative… Mission Accomplished!

  150. 150.

    efgoldman

    March 23, 2017 at 11:33 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    if he’s not thinking…

    Correct.
    In his mind he’s got nothing to worry about; he’s done nothing wrong; it’s someone else’s fault
    Always

  151. 151.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 23, 2017 at 11:35 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Weird. Maybe North and Western suburbs did different things. We went to it in Oak Brook in third grade.

  152. 152.

    efgoldman

    March 23, 2017 at 11:36 pm

    @Thru the Looking Glass…:

    one could infer the entire incident was a manufactured fraud, top to bottom

    Schiff said yesterday that Nunes did it on purpose to screw up the investigation. I’m not sure he’s that clever.

  153. 153.

    amk

    March 23, 2017 at 11:37 pm

    To take a step back: House leaders spent nearly $200 billion on changes to the bill and couldn't get to 216 votes.— Jonathan Allen (@jonallendc) March 24, 2017

    party of fucking fiscal responsibility.

  154. 154.

    rikyrah

    March 23, 2017 at 11:38 pm

    NO sympathy for these vipers

  155. 155.

    Aleta

    March 23, 2017 at 11:39 pm

    In the midafternoon, a beaming Mr. Trump climbed into the rig of a black tractor-trailer, which had been driven to the White House for an event with trucking industry executives, honking the horn and posing for a series of tough-guy photos — one with his fists held aloft, another staring straight ahead, hands gripping the large wheel, his face compressed into an excited scream.

    At a meeting inside shortly after, Mr. Trump announced that he was pressed for time and needed to go make calls for more votes.

    A reporter informed him that the vote had already been called off.

    -NYT

  156. 156.

    Mnemosyne

    March 23, 2017 at 11:40 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    In third grade I was going to a broke Catholic school in Highland Park — I don’t think they had the funding for field trips.

  157. 157.

    amk

    March 23, 2017 at 11:40 pm

    @Thru the Looking Glass…: Nope. Their lies are being unraveled every day. There is no master strategy here.

  158. 158.

    cokane

    March 23, 2017 at 11:41 pm

    It’s not just Ryan. The thing is shit because of the entire party. It’s important to not just lay this blame at the feet of individuals either Trump or Ryan. There’s a profound rot that infects an entire half of our politics.

  159. 159.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    March 23, 2017 at 11:41 pm

    @efgoldman: Perhaps Nunes was just doing what he was told… and perhaps it was also done to give Trump cover, which it did accomplish… with those DUMB ENOUGH TO BE FOOLED BY SOMETHING LIKE THIS.

    Morell did say there was a chance that someone w/in the Administration could have requested the unmasking that Nunes was complaining about…

    Again, was this whole episode manufactured from start to finish to accomplish just what it did?

  160. 160.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    March 23, 2017 at 11:41 pm

    Reading through the comment thread here I realize we’re in uncharted waters – the part of the map that says “there be dragons” – on a pirate ship full of dynamite piloted by crazy people and no one knows how to get back and where the rudder is.

  161. 161.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    March 23, 2017 at 11:42 pm

    @amk: You might want to think twice about that…

  162. 162.

    Singing Truth to Power

    March 23, 2017 at 11:42 pm

    And in the past seven years or so, hasn’t the GOP, led by the boy genius Ryan (not), tried to repeal Obamacare 37+ times? Wasn’t that enough time to think about putting together a coherent replacement? How in hell did Ryan ever get a reputation for being the wonky smart one? Seriously, seven years???

  163. 163.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 23, 2017 at 11:43 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Got it. I was in a well off suburban school.

  164. 164.

    Doug R

    March 23, 2017 at 11:44 pm

    @Roger Moore: Steve King has been auditioning

  165. 165.

    jonas

    March 23, 2017 at 11:44 pm

    @Thru the Looking Glass…: Except that even as a setup of some kind, that doesn’t make sense. Everyone knows that the NSA eavesdrops on foreign diplomats and suspected intelligence figures and, indirectly, their American interlocutors. Nunes, dim bulb that he is, seems to have wanted to seize on this as some sort of exculpatory evidence for Trump’s idiotic claims that he was “wiretapped,” but ended up just causing everyone to ask “what were Trump Org people doing talking to individuals the NSA was recording?”

  166. 166.

    amk

    March 23, 2017 at 11:45 pm

    @Thru the Looking Glass…: Think about what? That twitler & co are somehow master strategists? Nope. The evidence to the contrary is being presented everyday.

  167. 167.

    pseudonymous in nc

    March 23, 2017 at 11:45 pm

    Nunes is clearly not a smart person. But the Republican caucus seems to elevate idiots, even to committees where “not an idiot” would seem like a basic threshold.

    I still think this turd of a bill scrapes through the House, though I wish I had Mark Meadows’ personal phone number to give him a bad night’s sleep.

  168. 168.

    patroclus

    March 23, 2017 at 11:46 pm

    I’m still pessimistic, but would be ecstatic if I’m wrong.

  169. 169.

    bupalos

    March 23, 2017 at 11:46 pm

    I really, truly, don’t understand what this post is about. The bill should be less Ryany and more Trumpier? Is there any meaning behind any of this?

    Trump could give a shit what is in the bill, he doesn’t know or care about anything other than he wants redneck dummies to like it and hippies to hate it so he can win win win money money money. Ryan probably has a cadre of idiot 20-somethings with Rand in their eyes and wants them to think he’s John Galt– but one what passes Responsible American Laws-n-stuff, like George Washington, so he can screw the girls and the prettier ones among the boys. So he put together a fake-Randian fake-responsible shit sandwich for everyone to fake-eat. And the “Freedumb Cockus” is pretending it’s not Randian enough for them. Because who knows, maybe if they play super-coy hard ass, some of Paul Ryan’s fuckable Randian 20-somethings, who are either too smart or too stupid not to notice that this is just a half-mean, all-stupid, made-up shit sandwich that only cockroaches could love– maybe some of those fuckables will be deluded into admiring these Freedumb troglodytes. They could get their pasty white shriveled beaks wet by becoming the one true scotsman, without ever having to do the px-96 workout. Except there are like 25 of them, so they’ll probably all cave anyway.

    UNLESS the radioactive turtle is actually somehow directing all this from the senate to keep this off his desk, because he can’t fuck a fuckable Randian 20-something even with a fracking truck full of viagra anywho, and who wants the bother otherwise, since Actual Person Who Works Obama solved all his problems lo these 7 years ago. And since he’s pretty ripe to die any minute anyway.

  170. 170.

    Doug R

    March 23, 2017 at 11:47 pm

    @oldster: Get Over It.

  171. 171.

    jonas

    March 23, 2017 at 11:49 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Schiff said yesterday that Nunes did it on purpose to screw up the investigation. I’m not sure he’s that clever.

    Yeah, if by screw up the investigation you mean “expose yourself to obstruction of justice charges” and “pretty much make an independent counsel necessary,” then yeah. I don’t think that’s what Nunes was up to, though. I think he was just a dimwit who wanted to suck up to Trump and stepped in his own dick in the process.

  172. 172.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    March 23, 2017 at 11:50 pm

    @jonas:

    … that doesn’t make sense.

    true and don’t forget that Trump isn’t playing to you or me… he’s playing to the Fox News demographic…

    Current headlines at Fox News Insider:

    Peter King: Trump Surveillance Report Shows ‘Shameful’ Intel Violations

    TONIGHT on ‘Hannity’: Devin Nunes Discusses Explosive Surveillance Revelations

    Yeah… this incident didn’t help Trump at all…

  173. 173.

    Burnspbesq

    March 23, 2017 at 11:50 pm

    @lollipopguild:

    You may want to re-think your anti-Gonzaga stance. Karnowski is looking at you with an odd grin, and he’s holding a knife, a fork, and a big bottle of Cholula.

  174. 174.

    japa21

    March 23, 2017 at 11:50 pm

    @Thru the Looking Glass…: Listening to Nunes, I was remembering the reports of how the Obama administration was so alarmed by the things being found that they were afraid it would get buried by the Trump folks. To prevent this,they spread info through several different intelligence agencies. That is what Nunes was talking about. I don’t know if he had anything more specific than that. I do agree with you that this was a set up with the WH but it failed massively. Instead of the focus being on Obama malfeasance, the focus is on Nunes.

  175. 175.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    March 23, 2017 at 11:52 pm

    @amk: That’s right… that’s why Trump is in the WH… why the GOP currently controls both houses of Congress and the majority of state legislatures & governorships…

  176. 176.

    Mnemosyne

    March 23, 2017 at 11:54 pm

    Totally OT, but I have to say that Hilton seems to be up-to-the-minute with their apps. For my weekend stay at Embassy Suites, I was able to check in, pick a room, and enable my phone to be used as the room key. That means that I was able to pull in, park my car, go directly to my room, and open the door without ever having to go to the front desk. Magic!

  177. 177.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    March 23, 2017 at 11:55 pm

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:

    City Editor’s face lights up… “Run that baby!”

  178. 178.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    March 23, 2017 at 11:56 pm

    @japa21:

    I do agree with you that this was a set up with the WH but it failed massively.

    Right… massive failure… except over at Fox News…

  179. 179.

    amk

    March 23, 2017 at 11:56 pm

    Electoral victory means jacksquat if it accomplishes jacksquat. You are welcome to believe whatever pox news spews.

  180. 180.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    March 23, 2017 at 11:56 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Well, you shouldn’t have been Racine home in such a hurry!

    (I’ll be here all week….)

  181. 181.

    Kropadope

    March 23, 2017 at 11:57 pm

    @Thru the Looking Glass…: Media complicity in deception, unethical political releases by the FBI, Russian document dumps, and endemic racism do not a grand strategy make. They aren’t players of 11 dimensional chess, they are the beneficiaries of disparate third parties propping them up.

  182. 182.

    bupalos

    March 23, 2017 at 11:58 pm

    I always thought it was pretty pretty boys she calls FRIENDS. It doesn’t make sense to me this way.

  183. 183.

    Jinchi

    March 23, 2017 at 11:59 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I wonder if they listen to the messages in any case, especially with the vote scheduled so early

    I’m going to guess ‘No’.

  184. 184.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    March 23, 2017 at 11:59 pm

    @Kropadope:

    They aren’t players of 11 dimensional chess, they are the beneficiaries of disparate third parties propping them up.

    Yes, and that is why they are in control of the country in the moment…

  185. 185.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    March 24, 2017 at 12:00 am

    @bupalos: That is what the song says… friends… I’ve been listening to it a lot recently… actually watching concert footage from 1977 or 1978… they were a pretty strong live band at that point…

  186. 186.

    Kropadope

    March 24, 2017 at 12:02 am

    @Thru the Looking Glass…: So which is it? You’re letting your sarcasm get in the way of your point. You now seem to be arguing that they both are and aren’t master strategists.

  187. 187.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    March 24, 2017 at 12:07 am

    @Kropadope: ya know… they remind me of what someone once said about the old Mafia guys… not the brightest guys on the block but they had a kind of dog cunning about them… street smarts… the ability to figure out a nasty scam or charade doesn’t necessarily mean someone has the smarts to know how run the country well…

    Richard Nixon was a pretty smart guy and he was also so blinded by his own resentment that he got into the kind of trouble he did…

    So many people here keep saying, they’re dumb! they’re dumb!… including me… and yet… they ARE in control of the govt right now… perhaps we’re not as smart as we like to think either…

  188. 188.

    Kropadope

    March 24, 2017 at 12:12 am

    @Thru the Looking Glass…:

    So many people here keep saying, they’re dumb! they’re dumb!… including me… and yet… they ARE in control of the govt right now… perhaps we’re not as smart as we like to think either…

    That they know how to speak to the lizard brain (all due respect to actual lizards) doesn’t suggest to me any form of intelligence, but rather an innate understanding of how to activate the stupidity in others. They have a whole media industry built around it and it’s still barely enough for them. The mask has slipped not only off their face, but to the ground and down a drain. The “oughta know better” crowd won’t be giving them the benefit of the doubt anymore.

  189. 189.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    March 24, 2017 at 12:19 am

    @Kropadope: I agree completely w/ that analysis… and we had to be pushed to this point to WAKE UP and realize what they’ve been up to… I’d reckon the Russians have been setting up and moving in on us for at least a decade, if not longer… they just did it in tiny little increments, very quietly… this is just their ‘gotcha moment’, when they felt it was time to pounce… and they just got lucky w/ Trump winning… a long, long, long shot that paid off…

    Yes… ‘they’ play to the lizard brain in their followers… they’re not even trying to reach you or me and they probably feel and hope they’ll never have to… and right now, they control the country…

  190. 190.

    NotoriousJRT

    March 24, 2017 at 12:39 am

    Evil Trump punted policy (he did not know that healthcare was complicated!) to Malicious Ryan. Neither of them have any idea what their constuents need & face when it comes to healthcare. For Trump, it was and is a throwaway line to he rubes. For Ryan, it is an ideological wet dream become real. They are bookends of nasty incompetence. They share the blame for this clusterfuck.

  191. 191.

    Yarrow

    March 24, 2017 at 12:43 am

    Just getting caught up. The vote is scheduled for early tomorrow? What time?

  192. 192.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 24, 2017 at 12:49 am

    @Yarrow: 8 am, I believe

    ETA: just saw the first vote is at 10, apparently a lot of procedural votes remain

  193. 193.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 24, 2017 at 12:54 am

    these people are moved to tears, tears of pride and joy, at the thought of taking health care away from poor people

    Lisa Mascaro‏Verified account @ LisaMascaro 4h4 hours ago
    GOP Lawmakers saying tonight was most “emotional” meeting ever seen. This is their moment. This is freedom, said one.
    Lisa MascaroVerified account @ LisaMascaro
    Noted:
    “There were tears,” said one R lawmaker about tonight’s #Obamacare meet.
    “This is our moment. This is what we were elected for.”

    This is freedom

    WWJD, motherfuckers

  194. 194.

    Yarrow

    March 24, 2017 at 12:55 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Thanks! That’ll give me a little time to call in the morning.

  195. 195.

    TS

    March 24, 2017 at 1:12 am

    @randy khan:

    This. I’m not a Green Lantern type, but if the Administration had a scintilla of sense, it would have told Ryan & Co. to slow down and build consensus. Instead, they just left it in the House’s hands, endorsed the original, unpassable bill, and did nothing else until the last couple of days.

    He did the opposite – he told them he wanted the health care law NOW – his supporters don’t like that Obamacare wasn’t repealed in Day 1.

  196. 196.

    jl

    March 24, 2017 at 1:26 am

    I disagree with DougJ on most points. Trump is just as guilty as Ryan, and on multiple perspectives on intersecting levels (as Lil’ Newtie would say). Trump is the leader of the GOP (I couldn’t type that without laughing, but fact remains, he is). it’s his job to help shape legislation that passes and reflects his policy goals (ha ha, I couldn’t type that without laughing either).

    Things are complicated for Trump since he lied so much, and spouted so much fantastical, incoherent and contradictory nonsense, about his policy goals, but that is Trump’s problem.

    I also disagree that Ryan is a punk, Ryan is a crummy snot nosed little punk.

    We agree that Ryan is a fraud, and he made this fecal sammich all by himself and should be proud.

    Edit: and I’ll pray that Ryan and El Trumpo Grande’s streak of luck continues all through tomorrow.

  197. 197.

    TenguPhule

    March 24, 2017 at 4:49 am

    @NobodySpecial:

    In a logical world, Ryan would be dead man walking and out the door right after ACHA got voted down.

    In a just world, I’d be leading half the Balloon-juicers here in a conga-dance line over Ryan and Cheney’s graves while doing french cancan kicks into Bush II’s crotch while he was chained up in the stocks next to them and waving at Trump’s head on a spiked pike.

  198. 198.

    Skippy-san

    March 24, 2017 at 5:01 am

    @NobodySpecial: Ryan dead. That has such a nice sound to it.

  199. 199.

    Applejinx

    March 24, 2017 at 5:15 am

    @Thru the Looking Glass…:

    So many people here keep saying, they’re dumb! they’re dumb!… including me… and yet… they ARE in control of the govt right now… perhaps we’re not as smart as we like to think either…

    Rot doesn’t hit just half of a thing.

    Where are our own radical liberal rethinkings of how government can really work? “They suck” isn’t enough anymore. We get that.
    If my Senator from Vermont (to be tactful, but still not call him a murderous catamite) can’t come up with sensible plans for governing this country, can some of the proudly wonky Dems please get to work doing that, and do their best to communicate and show their work?

    Again, ‘the bad guys suck’ isn’t enough. We know that. Show an alternative and it’ll be a huge hit. That happened in the Presidential primaries even with alternatives that maybe weren’t super practical and were mostly talking points, less implementation. Maybe that only worked because it was in a vacuum, go ahead and co-opt that space. What more is there to lose?

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