Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

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

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

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

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

Trump should be leading, not lying.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

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Late Night Open Thread: Random Sparks

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For auld lang syne — #EvenTheLibertarianJaneGalt (note date):



One more reason I’m glad that I’m a rootless (actually,rooted-in-Manhattan) cosmopolitan, thank you…

Reader Interactions

36Comments

  1. 1.

    NorthLeft12

    I believe Mr. Graham let the cat out of the bag with that comment. You would think he could have easily said ALL Republicans oppose white supremacy and let those that don’t state so publicly.

    Is that an example of pandering to your base?

  2. 2.

    NorthLeft12

    If Republicans decide to be against white supremacists, what will they be for?

    I respect Mr. Barro as a journalist, but jumpin’ jehoshaphats! What have they always been for? And what do they always go to when the chips are down? TAX CUTS. They are TAX CUT supremacists for as long as I can remember. There is no problem in the universe that cannot be solved by a solid, across the board tax cut.

  3. 3.

    Villago Delenda Est

    The GOP is the party of white supremacy. Has been for at least 50 years. Party of Jefferson Davis, not Abraham Lincoln.

    The GOP as it currently exists needs to go the way of the NSDAP and the CPSU.

    Oblivion.

  4. 4.

    Barbara

    I don’t know whether I picked the right week or the wrong week to leave the country but I am finding it hard to choose words and phrases to express meaning over these events. Here are some quotes from a short, surely first, stab by a Jewish magazine:

    The Jew is then a symbol of a different America, a tolerant and educated America, an America that still dreams of better lives for all. . . . There has been a backlash against Donald Trump’s support of Nazi groups. But in all the talk I have hardly heard the word Jew. And it is important that we say it aloud. It is African Americans they despise. It is Jews they fear. We all know where this talk can lead. We saw it in Germany 1940-1945. We saw it the lynchings and the grim faces of those who tried to prevent small black children from attending decent schools.

    http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/243457/the-nazis-this-time

    It’s even more horrible than we thought it would be.

  5. 5.

    Joyce Harmon

    Does anyone else think we’re letting ourselves get distracted by all this talk about Confederate monuments? Personally, I think that’s the direction that Trump wants this conversation to go, because it’s better for him than the reality of the situation, which is this was really about NAZIS.

    If you make it about the monuments, there are always the folks in the small Southern towns that always liked that anonymous soldier statue in the town square and never bothered to think about or learn about when the statue was put up and why. And they can start to feel picked on and resentful at all these big poobahs in New York City studios talking about why that statue ought to come down.

    But if it’s about NAZIS, and it is, that makes it a lot harder for that person to say that Trump is on the right side of this. Look at the flyer they put out for this gathering – did it say “Save the Statue”? No, it said “Unite The Right”, with enough Nazi imagery to make it obvious where this was going. Did any of these organizers get up and make a speech about how we have to save the statue of dear old Marsh Robert? Nope. They lit their tikis and went off in their Nazi regalia, chanting Nazi slogans, and reenacting, not Bull Run or Chickamauga, but something straight out of 1930s Nuremberg.

    So yeah, the monuments discussion is a good discussion to have. But right now, I think we really ought to be having a discussion about the fact that it’s 2017, and we have American Nazis running around feeling confident that the American president is on their side.

  6. 6.

    dr. luba

    I give up. What was the “Whoa” about? I’m out of the country and apparently missing out on nuances.

    BTW, for those who are interested, in Ukraine Trump is considered a buffoon at best. They compare him to Yanukovich, and not favorably. He is considered Putin’s useful idiot, with an emphasis on idiot.

  7. 7.

    dr. luba

    Nevermind, that was the “I love Nazis” speech, right?

    Sigh.

    At least Schwarzenegger has it right.

  9. 9.

    Barbara

    @Joyce Harmon: The Nazis chose preservation of Confederate monuments as their symbol. White supremacy is what they have in common. You might say the Neo-Nazis made the discussion easier, the way Dylann Roof made discussing the flag easier.

  10. 10.

    eclare

    @Barbara: Agree. Pisses me off that my state legislature passed a law that removal of the statues here in Memphis (overwhelmingly Democratic) has to be approved by a state agency. Been turned down once, supposedly we’re going to try again in the fall.

  11. 11.

    Kay

    Matthew Dowd‏Verified account
    @matthewjdowd
    Not a single member of Trump’s Evangelical Council has resigned. We have learned corporate America has a greater moral compass. So so sad.

    I don’t know if corporate America has a “greater moral compass” or if corporate America is just making a sensible business decision ( I would say the latter) but white evangelicals- the rank and file- really do have to start answering for why they are consistently on the wrong side of civil rights. It’s bad enough they don’t lead on promoting or protecting civil rights but they’re now going backwards- they’re getting worse. Evangelicals, as a political group, are markedly worse on civil rights than they were even 15 years ago.

  12. 12.

    Sab

    @NorthLeft12: The GOP leadership is for tax cuts, but that is not what motivates their base. White supremacy is what motivates their base. Without the white supremacy they wouldn’t get elected to anything.

  13. 13.

    Kay

    @Joyce Harmon:

    I think the activists have done a good job. Issue aside, I’m impressed with the tactics. This, for example, is brilliant, IMO:

    On Monday, protesters in Durham, North Carolina, pulled down a Confederate statue — without any official permission. In the following days, police arrested several people for the act on riot and property destruction charges.
    But on Thursday, a crowd of residents in Durham showed solidarity with the arrested: Dozens lined up to turn themselves in for the “crime” of tearing down a Confederate statue — in an attempt to get all the charges dropped for those arrested.

    They were barred from entering the building so the supporters who wanted to “turn themselves in” couldn’t do so- but smart! And hard. It’s difficult to get 100 people to do anything as “follow up”, let alone voluntarily show up at a police station and risk some kind of charges, because they can always find something to charge with.

  14. 14.

    Spaniel

    I am so confused on so many levels. 1) What is Megan McArdle talking about? 2) Is Megan being used as the voice of reason? Is this Bizzaro World?

  15. 15.

    Gator90

    @Joyce Harmon: Confederate monuments are loved by Nazis for the same reason swastikas are. They stand for the same thing. Neither should be accepted in society that aspires to decency.

  19. 19.

    Fester Addams

    If the Republicans didn’t have the racists they’d be down to rich people, and fighting over the misogynists with a newly viable American National Front (because the racists had to go somewhere).

  21. 21.

    MJS

    @Joyce Harmon: I thought we were doing both. In fact, I think this is an excellent example of the “Overton Window” not working, i.e., Nazi’s and the KKK marched, and instead of simply saying, “Hey, this is America, we shouldn’t be doing that shit here, but I guess the monuments can stay”, a lot of people, including politicians are saying, “Hey, this is America, we shouldn’t be doing that shit here, and by the way, those monuments those guys worship are racist as fuck, so while we’re on the topic, let’s take them down.” In other words, instead of being a distraction, the Nazis and KKK shined (shone?) a light on the monuments, and not in a good way.

  23. 23.

    sherparick

    @Villago Delenda Est: For the takeover of the Republican Party by the Conservative Movement, the original sin started in 1964 when Goldwater came out against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Nixon implemented his Southern Strategy in 1968. For the next 20 years anti-Communism, anti-taxes, anti-unions, anti-hippies, and anti-Black united Republicans with the South that had once ruled the Democratic party. The fall of Communism created a moment of existential crisis, but Mexican immigrants, abortion and LBGTs, and Islam have been substituted for the universal “Hate” along with “liberals” and “the blahs.”

  24. 24.

    different-church-lady

    @Kay:

    Dozens lined up to turn themselves in for the “crime” of tearing down a Confederate statue — in an attempt to get all the charges dropped for those arrested.

    “I’m Sparticus!”

  25. 25.

    different-church-lady

    @Joyce Harmon: The White Supremicist Cosplay basket contains Nazis, neo-Klansmen, militias, and good ole boys-turned-bad, and this weird new dumpy polo shirt youth . They themselves can’t figure out what its all about — it’s a big casserole of hatred. So really, there’s no one point of focus. Might as well throw statues in the mix.

  26. 26.

    different-church-lady

    @MJS: Municipalities 2016: “We really ought to take down these statues, but who wants to deal with the fallout?”

    Municipalities 2017: “Nazis and Klansmen, huh? OK, it’s time to get off our asses.”

  28. 28.

    Ares Akritas

    What to do with Traitor statues:

    1. Get a white hood (a pillowcase or flour sack will do)
    2. Cut out 2 eye-holes
    3. Go to the statue
    4. Take a rod with you if the head can’t be reached (a fishing rod or anything else so that you can lower the hood on the statue’s head)
    5. Apply strong glue liberally on the inside of the hood
    6. Place on statue head

    The KKK hood will make the proper historical connection that’s now missing from Traitor statues. It won’t be easily removed and may encourage Nazi supporters to remove the whole thing.

  29. 29.

    A Ghost To Most

    The tar and feathering of the Traitor Davis monument is genius. That needs to be done to all the remaining statues.

  33. 33.

    Wapiti

    @Van Buren: In the 1910s, the Daughters of the Confederacy pushed for naming a collections of highways after the traitor. The roads extended from Alexandria, Virginia, thru the southern states, then west to Arizona (and up to Oregon and Washington, for some reason, likely racist). It predates the interstate systems.

  35. 35.

    The Moar You Know

    Why is there a Jefferson Davis memorial in Arizona?

    @Van Buren: They’re everywhere. The DOC managed to get a Jeff Davis plaque installed in a shopping center here in San Diego back in 2006. It was removed yesterday.

    I hope we keep the Pete Wilson statue, though. It’s in an alley somewhere downtown, and he’s staring at the ground, as though full of shame, and contemplating the disaster that he inflicted on his racist party.

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