Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

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

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Not all heroes wear capes.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

I really should read my own blog.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

The willow is too close to the house.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

You cannot shame the shameless.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

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

Eh, that’s media spin. biden’s health is fine and he’s doing a good job.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Repub Stupidity Open Thread: Putting the ‘Ass’ in TexASS

Repub Stupidity Open Thread: Putting the ‘Ass’ in TexASS

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Because The ‘Rona Is Not The Boss of Us, they just doubled down, per the local ABC affiliate:

The Texas GOP’s executive committee voted Thursday night to proceed with plans to hold the party’s in-person convention in Houston later this month.

The convention, scheduled for July 16-18, will be held at the George R. Brown Convention Center, where roughly 6,000 people are expected to attend…

Thursday’s vote came hours after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered most counties in Texas to require masks in public – a notable turnaround for a governor who spent months resisting calls for such a requirement. Under Abbott’s latest action, Dickey said during Thursday’s meeting, convention attendees would now be required to wear masks for most of an in-person event.

Over the past week, demands have mounted for the party to cancel plans for an in-person convention, with some Republicans stating they would not attend such an event due to safety concerns. Others have also cited concerns about the optics of attending a large gathering while small businesses in their districts remain shuttered under the governor’s orders.

Meanwhile, a faction of activists has argued that canceling an event focused on selecting delegates for the national convention and voting on the party’s platform, among other things, would not reflect well on a party that dubs itself the party of personal responsibility. Some have also suggested that a virtual convention could disenfranchise certain delegates…

Legal liability notice, tucked into the middle of the story…

The SREC is scheduled to meet again Sunday to consider changing the party’s rules. Those rules will include a tweak that allows the party to act on an “emergency fallback contingency plan,” if necessary, to hold a virtual convention, party Chair James Dickey told members as he kicked off Thursday’s virtual meeting…

Earlier note, from the Texas Tribune:

… On Tuesday, Abbott granted local officials the power to restrict outdoor gatherings of more than 100 people, but made no mention of indoor gatherings. The Texas GOP convention is expected to draw about 6,000 attendees, roughly half of what it would expect for such a convention in normal times, according to Whatley. The party’s website brands its biannual convention as the “largest political gathering in the free world.”

Whatley said registrations are “increasing exponentially” as the convention nears.

David Lakey, the former commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, said he believes large indoor gatherings of more than 100 people are not advisable at this time.

“I think, right now, I wouldn’t hold a group larger than 100 individuals,” he said. “I think people need to be very cautious about making — especially in the month of July — any plans for a big conference.”

The party does not plan to require masks at the convention, though chairman James Dickey acknowledged Tuesday that Harris County is currently under an order mandating that businesses require customers to wear masks.

“The Republican Party isn’t considered a commercial entity so they themselves are not required to comply with the mask order,” said Melissa Arredondo, a spokesperson for the office of Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who issued the mask order….

I’m beginning to think we need a new category tag for the next few months: GOP Death Cult.

Reader Interactions

128Comments

  2. 2.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    Speaking of Texas and stupidity:

    In the days after George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis last month, as massive protests against police brutality spread across Texas and other states, conservative power broker Steve Hotze of Houston called Gov. Greg Abbott’s chief of staff to pass along a message.

    “I want you to give a message to the governor,” Hotze told Abbott’s chief of staff, Luis Saenz, in a voicemail. “I want to make sure that he has National Guard down here and they have the order to shoot to kill if any of these son-of-a-bitch people start rioting like they have in Dallas, start tearing down businesses — shoot to kill the son of a bitches. That’s the only way you restore order. Kill ‘em. Thank you.”

    h/t https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/03/steve-hotze-texas-greg-abbott-rioters/

  4. 4.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    The party’s website brands its biannual convention as the “largest political gathering in the free world.”

    My, don’t we have an overinflated opinion of ourselves? I guess everything is bigger in Texas.

    Whatley said registrations are “increasing exponentially” as the convention nears.

    Phrasing!

  6. 6.

    Yutsano

    Well I WAS thinking about going to Texas in February…

    I’m not sure what’s up in Washington. Our case loads are going up probably because of loosening restrictions. It’s getting pretty bad on the east side. I might have to push moving back over there.

  9. 9.

    Mary G

    Bummer:

    NEW – Kim Guilfoyle, girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr. and a top campaign official, tested positive for coronavirus in SD ahead of attending Mt Rushmore event, according to a person familiar w what happened. She was never was with POTUS, and neither was Don Jr., who tested negative.
    — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) July 4, 2020

    @mrmoshpotato: Brill!

  11. 11.

    counterfactual

    @Mary G: So Don Jr., who’s trying to cast himself as heir apparent to the presidency and Dad’s favorite, hasn’t actually been in Dear Leader’s presence in two weeks.

    My schaden is freuded.

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    Caught a shot of the backdrop of the stage platform for Dolt 45’s Rushmore Drekfest.

    With the holiday, it would be naturally symbolic to display 13 flags on poles in a line. There are 14.

  13. 13.

    ThresherK

    The party that dubs itself the party of personal responsibility…

    Yeah, we’ve seen it with your gun owners just this week.

  14. 14.

    danielx

    Texas Republicans gonna be thin on the ground by September at this rate.

    Neighborhood is getting noisy. There’s a raccoon hiding under the back porch and boy is he pissed.

  15. 15.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Given the flood of stupid comments coming from Texas politicians, I’m thinking maybe someone should create an NCCA style bracket to identify the dumbest politician in the state.

  16. 16.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @NotMax:

    Are you serious?

    *Looks it up*

    Oh my god you’re right. The media better not fucking ignore that little detail

  17. 17.

    NotMax

    As pointed out in a snippet downstairs,

    The vote to hold the convention in-person, the Houston Chronicle noted, took place during a virtual meeting of the committee.

  22. 22.

    zhena gogolia

    We celebrated July 3 by watching Act 1 of Hamilton. The filming is beautiful, the whole thing is so engrossing and exciting. Looking forward to Act 2 tomorrow. It’s too rich and dense for us to watch the whole thing at once.
    Wesleyan University can truly be proud of its graduates Miranda and Kail.

  23. 23.

    Mai naem mobile

    @NotMax: he’s such a fucking Nazi.
    I hope these GOPrs are signing a waiver. Also a waiver not to be treated at a Houston hospital although maybe it would be a good idea for them to be treated at a Houston hospital so they can experience the real thing in all its glory.

  25. 25.

    Gravenstone

    @mad citizen: Donnie needs one to hump

    eta: apparently I’m not wired into enough conspiracy theories. The “14 words” allusion never crossed my mind.

  27. 27.

    Ruckus

    GOP Death Cult.

    I believe that’s already taken as the internal name the gop have given themselves. What else can they call themselves, given all they’ve done over at least the last 4 yrs?

  29. 29.

    trollhattan

    Here’s hoping Texas Republicans get Herman Caine as keynote. Winning!

    It should be illegal for a state to be this big and this dumb. Can we break it into tiny bits?

  30. 30.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @NotMax:

    With the holiday, it would be naturally symbolic to display 13 flags on poles in a line. There are 14.

    Trump is surrounded by a rogue’s gallery of incompetence and ineptitude

     

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I agree that Gohmert will be tough to dethrone, but Texas appears to have a very deep roster of brain dead politicians.

  31. 31.

    The Moar You Know

    I counted them as well but just wondered why 14?

    @mad citizen: The 14 words.  He’s going full Hitler.

    If you were wondering:

    “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”

    Been a white power slogan for decades.

  33. 33.

    Martin

    @Mary G: Oh.

    A Hamptons insider was stunned to arrive at a house in Bridgehampton on Saturday night to find a packed party that looked “as if COVID had never happened” — with Donald Trump Jr. and girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle among the revelers. Our spy estimated there were about 100 partiers, who our source says were maskless, at the bash at the 51 Sandpiper Lane mansion, hosted by famed Hamptons builder Joe Farrell, who owns the pricey pile and is selling one down the road for $15 million.

    6 days ago. So, maybe it just needs another few days of marinading for Don Jr.

  34. 34.

    jimmiraybob

    I think we need to consider the possibility that the Texas GOP is populated by morons.

    No shit?  Fortunately, I’m not caught flat footed since I used to follow Molly Ivins.

    “Next time I tell you someone from Texas should not be president of the United States, please pay attention.“

  36. 36.

    Martin

    @Martin: Wonder if there will be any subpoenas for contact tracing from the good state of NY. I would not be able to resist issuing them, personally.

  37. 37.

    mrmoshpotato

    @NotMax: 

    With the holiday, it would be naturally symbolic to display 13 flags on poles in a line. There are 14.

    Fitting for these idiots.

  38. 38.

    Catherine D.

    @zhena gogolia: Wonderful cinematography! I think it helped that the set was essentially a cube so moving between the closeups and the whole choreography wasn’t jarring.

  39. 39.

    Jinchi

    @Martin: 6 days ago. So, maybe it just needs another few days of marinading for Don Jr.

    Easy fodder for the rumor mill if Don Jr. doesn’t catch coronavirus in the next week. Just how close is he with his girlfriend?

    … Now that I mention it, I don’t remember hearing news that Steve Miller ever tested positive. Short honeymoon, I guess.

  46. 46.

    Jinchi

    If the Trump presidency were written as a literary tragedy it would end with him succumbing to coronavirus after getting a peck on the cheek from his one true love (Ivanka), just after receiving word that he’d lost his re-election in a massive landslide.

  48. 48.

    Mike in NC

    Several years ago I met a fellow naval officer who went through flight school at NAS Corpus Christi, TX. He said one time in the head (toilet) somebody wrote on the bulkhead, “Here I sit with my bowels flexin’, giving birth to another Texan.”

  58. 58.

    Suzanne

    So since Kimberly Guilfoyle has the Trump Plague, what are the odds that Uday has it?

  59. 59.

    BruceFromOhio

    I think we need to consider the possibility that the Texas GOP is populated by morons.

    Fixt. Personal accountability means I get to do what I want and you can fuck right off.

  60. 60.

    Suzanne

    @Jinchi:

    If the Trump presidency were written as a literary tragedy it would end with him succumbing to coronavirus after getting a peck on the cheek from his one true love (Ivanka), just after receiving word that he’d lost his re-election in a massive landslide. 

    And he would be dying in prison, or immediately out of prison, and Tiffany would be his attorney.

  61. 61.

    Mary G

    Dusty in here…

    … I will say one last thing for him. I know he would be disappointed not to have lived to see Trump's eviction from the White House, to make America safe again for honor and truth. Please VOTE! Annie Reiner— carl reiner (@carlreiner) July 3, 2020

  62. 62.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @NotMax: With the holiday, it would be naturally symbolic to display 13 flags on poles in a line. There are 14.

    Trump still pinning for Quebec, the one that got away?

  63. 63.

    Kineslaw

    I can only hope the video of thousands of GOP Death Cult members gathering maskless in Houston accelerates the trend of suburban women voting for Democrats.

    Texas is an urban, diverse, state with lots of college graduates.  We’re working on turning it blue.  If the GOP loses some voters via self-inflicted wounds, it can only help.

    Also, Lina Hidalgo (Harris County Commissioner) is only 29 and becoming a presence on newscasts everywhere.  The future is bright for her.

  64. 64.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Jinchi: If the Trump presidency were written as a literary tragedy it would end with him succumbing to coronavirus after getting a peck on the cheek from his one true love (Ivanka), just after receiving word that he’d lost his re-election in a massive landslide.

    And then Ivanka looks up after Trump tweets his last tweet and says “With this, the world loses a great artist”

  65. 65.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @Jinchi:

    If the Trump presidency were written as a literary tragedy

    I always imagined Trump dying of a heart attack while rage tweeting on the toilet.

  67. 67.

    Jinchi

    A little off topic, but this question has been brought up several times at this blog and I figure most of us still online are Californians or other West coasters.

    How California Went From Success Story To Virus Hot Spot

    Health experts say no single thing went wrong, but contributing factors included a populace made complacent by a long stretch of positive trends, the rapid reopening of businesses, a confusing patchwork of local rules and enforcement, and Newsom’s late adoption of a mandatory mask rule, on June 18.

  68. 68.

    cain

    @danielx:

    I’ve been seeing more skunks of late. No raccoons though and I used to see a lot of squirrels but not so much now.

  69. 69.

    oatler.

    Dude actually brought up “manifest destiny”. Waiting for Lebensraum to pop up.

  71. 71.

    Mary G

    Answer: This speech

    Question: What is the kind of speech most likely to convince suburban voters, women and college educated voters he’s bonkers?

    — Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) July 4, 2020

  72. 72.

    Mary G

    Oh my god this is the worst speech it is somehow boring, fascist, stupid, pandering, pedantic and BONKERS ALL AT ONCE. HE JUST LAUDED “THE TOUGHNESS OF THE FORD F150.”— dismantle the mpd (@anamariecox) July 4, 2020

  77. 77.

    cain

    This music is kinda meh. I think we’re gonna here a lot of country music – only that genre seems to like to do a shit ton of patriotic songs.

    ETA and you know this is not Der Trumper Von Asshole’s favorite type of music.

    ETA – umm.. wasn’t there a fire issue here? I hope we don’t see a wave of fire.

  78. 78.

    Sm*t Cl*de

    @trollhattan:

    Here’s hoping Texas Republicans get Herman Caine as keynote. Winning!

    Cain’s supposedly not on a respirator, but I doubt he’ll be speaking publicly for a while.

  80. 80.

    Kent

    @counterfactual:

    @Mary G: So Don Jr., who’s trying to cast himself as heir apparent to the presidency and Dad’s favorite, hasn’t actually been in Dear Leader’s presence in two weeks.

    My schaden is freuded.

    They are lying.

  81. 81.

    Kent

    @Mary G: Is it on TV?   I deleted Fox from my cable favorite channels so I can’t easily find it and it’s not on MSNBC or CNN.

    So I can’t quickly train-wreck gawk.

  82. 82.

    Bodacious

    And its a WIN!!

    Jr’s gal pal’s got the virus. Yep – masks don’t work……. when you don’t wear them.

    Per CNN -Kimberly Guilfoyle tests positive for Covid

  84. 84.

    Amir Khalid

    It’s the Fourth of July already on this side of the International Date Line. For me, this Bruce Springsteen song has never felt more appropriate needed than this year: Tomorrow there’ll be sunshine, and all this darkness past …

  85. 85.

    Ken

    So now that he knows Kimberly Guilfoyle doesn’t have a top-notch immune system like his own, will Trump forbid Don Jr. from seeing her?

  91. 91.

    Ken

    Have they set off the fireworks yet?  Also, does anyone know the print schedule for morning papers? I’m wondering how many front pages tomorrow might feature a huge picture of Mount Rushmore in flames.

  96. 96.

    Jay

    since alan dershowitz is trending, here's a thread of him getting absolutely demolished by norman finkelstein. he was humiliated so badly that afterwards he went out of his way to get finkelstein denied tenure and fired pic.twitter.com/La24HadKJc— ☀️? (@zei_squirrel) July 3, 2020

  99. 99.

    jl

    I’ve read history books about failing empires with ruling oligarchies that have become so corrupt, decayed and depraved, so hollowed out of any knowledge of the world other than how to grab more power and money using their increasingly rickety and disintegrating machinery of domination, that in retrospect it is clear that they went insane. Apart from the evil and maliciousness, there is the independent factor of rulers corrupted and depraved into sheer insanity.

    Never thought I would see it right here in my lifetime in this country. But, here we are.

    It isn’t just Trump, it’s the entire GOP and their fraudulent media and think tank propaganda wings.

  105. 105.

    jl

    Josh Marshall at TPM is saying that the new Trump/GOP motto is ‘Accept it, buck up and deal with it.’

    Nah, I don’t think so, That gives the Trump/GOP complex far too much credit. I think all of it follows from Trump’s chaotic fugue states and magical thinking. It will disappear soon, sometime in October the perfect vaccine will appear, and instantaneously administer itself to half the population of 340 million people. Other countries suck more than the US, and we are actually doing better if you look at it right. Just the young get it and they don’t get really sick and die from it (both false…).

    I think it will be a chaotic senseless, unexplained and unexplainable push forward, with self-contradictory lies and BS issued seemingly at random.

    Now they prepare the way for prominently displaying sickness and death among their own leadership, their celebrity boosters, their most fervent base of support. Timed perfectly for the height of the election campaign.

    Wonder how soon the whole WH executive staff is down sick and so understaffed that it can’t function any more. (edit: would be a blessing in disguise? I don’t know)

  106. 106.

    Mary G

    @Kent: I don’t watch except through the eyes of the people on Twitter, but I seem to remember they stream everything on the WH YouTube channel.

  107. 107.

    jl

    I have progressive friends in Texas, so I can’t join in with any schadenfreude over the disaster. Reality will make Texas miserable enough without my help. I’m trying to keep my friends’ spirits up.

  108. 108.

    Another Scott

    Happy 4th everyone.

    A depressing, but I fear accurate, thread:

    The trillion dollar question. Why are COVID cases increasing while deaths are decreasing? The answer is simple. It's called Simpson's paradox and it's the result of incorrectly pooling data and arriving at a false conclusion. A thread 1/9 #COVID19 #ThursdayThoughts

    — Miles Beckett (@mbeckett) July 2, 2020

    […]

    8/9 The truth is simple, and horrifying. We are about to have dozens of NYCs around the country. The next 8 weeks are going to brutal, no matter what we do. ICUs overflowing, ventilators rationed, hundreds of thousands of deaths. pic.twitter.com/ir2Oe8cKiW

    — Miles Beckett (@mbeckett) July 2, 2020

    […]

    Be safe, everyone.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  111. 111.

    NotMax

    @Mary G

    Probably on one of the C-SPANs as well.

    Although why anyone would voluntarily subject him or herself to it is quite beyond me.

  116. 116.

    Mary G

    Trump obviously has no idea what words like facism and totalitarianism mean. To those who wrote that speech, shame on you. To those that cleared on this speech, shame on you. Perhaps the most un- American speech ever delivered by an American president, on the eve of July 4th.— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) July 4, 2020

  117. 117.

    Martin

    @Another Scott: Uh, that’s not simpsons paradox.

    But the answer is ultimately correct – deaths trail infections by at least 11 days, up to many weeks. Shits going to get real at the end of the month.

  119. 119.

    jl

    @Mary G: Air horns, bull horns, out of tune calliopes, train whistles and concussion grenades. Might still be a dog whistle in there, but I can’t hear it for the rest of the deafening noise.

  120. 120.

    NotMax

    @TS (the original)

    Courteous time saver. Airport in Rapid City is much closer to Rushmore than is Ellsworth AFB, where Air Force One touched down.

    Ever the thoughtful dad.

    :)

  121. 121.

    jl

    @Martin: The term is kind of generic. Seems to have become a catch all phrase for several different paradoxes of aggregation.

    Way I learned it, it strictly speaking refers to paradoxes from aggregation over nonlinear functional relationships. The truly ‘paradoxy’ thing about that version is that with any aggregation, paradoxes are generic and inescapable. The linear examples, you stratify correctly, the paradox is gone. Man, that’s no fun. The real test is to say, gimme some data and ratios of your choice and I’ll give you back a paradox.

    Simpson’s paradox

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simpson%27s_paradox

  122. 122.

    Royston Vasey

    Funny enough, here in New Zealand my computer says 5:24pm 4/07/2020

    RV in nZ

  123. 123.

    Martin

    @jl: Yeah, that’s correct, but there’s a structural and unambiguous variable between infections and deaths. So there’s no anomaly  here to reconcile, nor an aggregation problem. It just takes time for people to die. That’s it.

    Simpsons paradox would describe a situation where national infection rates appeared to be climbing while the state level rates appeared to be falling. That can happen due to the size differential of the states and how the data aggregates. Unusual, but it happens.

  124. 124.

    NotMax

    @Royston Vasey

    Testing (as this may or may not show as intended in FYWP; fingers crossed). Looking at your computer from here it reads:

    0ᘔ0ᘔ/ㄥ0/߈ ɯd߈ᘔ:5

    :)

  125. 125.

    prostratedragon

    @jl: Is it Simpson’s if current observations on one variable are related to lags of the other? I guess one could conceive it that way, but seems unnecessarily roundabout to me.

     

    Edit: Or what Martin said at 123.

  127. 127.

    WestTexan70

    @trollhattan: Don’t do that — I’ve lived here for almost 60 years. You don’t want more than two senators out of this place for another decade.

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