Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

White supremacy is terrorism.

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

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

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

“woke” is the new caravan.

This fight is for everything.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Republicans in disarray!

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

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

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

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

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

I really should read my own blog.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Come on, man.

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

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Open Thread: Election Year Pop Culture

Open Thread: Election Year Pop Culture

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Not a fundraiser per se, but…

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100Comments

  7. 7.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @germy:

    Trump and his entire staff are the absolute worst that humanity has to offer.  They have to be swept into the trash bin of history  on Election Day.

  10. 10.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    Too bad Scott Bakula isn’t going to be in that TrektheVote fundraiser thing. I know Enterprise wasn’t everybody’s favorite Trek series, but Bakula seems like a pretty cool guy

  11. 11.

    Bruuuuce

    I’m often reminded that DJT was the specific model for Biff Tannen from Back to the Future. Never more so than recently, when the White House and all of its enablers are pleading to the people whom they mocked, harmed, and told to get their feelings fscked that now we need to be gentle and empathetic to the sickie.

  12. 12.

    SFBayAreaGal

    I love, love, love what the Star Trek actors and actresses are going to do.

    Also if you haven’t, follow Wil Wheaton on Instagram.

  13. 13.

    itf

    The Trek The Vote announcement reminds me that when I was volunteering with the College Democrats back in 1992, Brent Spiner (and a few other minor TV stars whom I can’t recall now) came down to the beach early on a Sunday morning to lure a few more of us lazy college students out to walk precincts for Jane Harman and Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and Bill Clinton. I don’t know how much the other Trek folks have been involved, but Spiner at least has been volunteering (even when it wasn’t exciting or glamorous) for Democrats since at least ’92.

  14. 14.

    Poe Larity

    Future generations will look at the Rose Garden as Jamestown, Drinking the Bleach will replace  Drinking the KoolAide, and a Darwin Award renamed the Trump Award.

  16. 16.

    different-church-lady

    Not even the illness of the cult leader can wake them up to the fact that they’re literally in a death cult:

    Large, tightly-packed crowd of Trump supporters gather to wish the president well at Staten Island campaign event for Congressional candidate Nicole Malliotakis

  17. 17.

    Wapiti

    I’m getting a little dizzy from the twitters. Some saying “the President is doing great, joking with the staff, working hard.” and others saying “Pray for this man like you never prayed for anything before.” Mixed signals. Who’s in charge over there?

  19. 19.

    different-church-lady

    @Wapiti: Remember the lesson of 1984 (the book): the point is not to lie, and the point is not to get people to believe the lies: the point is to annihilate the very idea that there’s such a thing as truth.

  22. 22.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    My sympathies to all Wisconsin jackals who have to endure the stone cold stupidity of Ron  Johnson:

    After testing positive for COVID-19, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said his view on mask mandates hasn’t changed, as Wisconsin Republican leaders have voiced their support for striking down the state’s order requiring face coverings be worn.

     

    The Oshkosh Republican, who announced Saturday morning he had tested positive for the virus the previous day, instead touted “individual responsibility,” saying while he believes masks can help mitigate the risk, they’re “certainly not a cure-all.”

     

    Johnson, who is at least the third Republican U.S. senator to have contracted the coronavirus recently, said he was tested on his way to the Ozaukee County Republican Party Oktoberfest Dinner in Mequon on Friday night.

     

    Wisconsin officials warn of dire COVID-19 scenario as cases spike, flu season nears

    But he still attended the event, saying he wore his mask until he spoke and stayed “at least 12 feet from anybody as [he was] speaking.” He said he quickly left the dinner after his remarks.

     

    Asked whether he was told to self-quarantine after getting tested, Johnson said there was “no reason to do so.”

     

    “I’m not sick,” he said. “I have no symptoms. I certainly didn’t anticipate testing positive, so there was no reason to quarantine.”

     

    Despite the cases, Johnson said he believed Republican senators are “doing a pretty good job” of taking the pandemic seriously, noting that people are wearing masks inside and “definitely doing the social distancing.”

     

    “I’ll let other people convey their judgments in terms of ‘Have we done a good enough job?’ but I think we’re being responsible. I believe I certainly have been,” he said.

     

    h/t https://madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/after-testing-positive-for-covid-19-ron-johnson-says-hes-still-against-mask-mandates/article_779c1b9f-e725-55cf-944c-03122be174e7.html

  24. 24.

    Ken

    @Lapassionara: I assume the Herman Cain grift is running on auto-pay donations, and will shut down as soon as enough people notice it on their bank statements and cancel.

  27. 27.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Wapiti: I love the “working hard”. What’s on the Fox weekend schedule anyway? I guess The Beast does like sports, so I’m sure he’s watching football and baseball

  30. 30.

    Lapassionara

    @Ken: Do you think the contents of the tweets have been pre-written? Otherwise, there is no explanation for that assessment of our current situation.

  31. 31.

    different-church-lady

    @Wyatt Salamanca: This afternoon I had the radio on the local sports-yack station, which was covering Cam Newton’s positive. They threw a caller off the air for saying “masks don’t make much difference” and then ranted about how stupid it is to not mask up.

    Yes, it’s reached the point where even sport-yack types have had enough of boneheads like Johnson.

  34. 34.

    Ken

    @Lapassionara: No, I’m thinking there’s a couple of staffers and/or relatives who are keeping the twitter account alive as long as they can make a profit.

  37. 37.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Ryan Lizza @RyanLizza · 1h
    Meadows has now changed his tone, tells Reuters: “The president is doing very well. He is up and about and asking for documents to review. The doctors are very pleased with his vital signs. I have met with him on multiple occasions today on a variety of issues.”

    Rosie Gray @RosieGray ·1h
    Mark Meadows told Reuters he met with Trump “on multiple occasions” today? Can’t they do it over the phone? I’m no expert but it seems like a bad idea to repeatedly enter a Covid patient’s room unless you’re medical staff

    any doctors in the house? What are the odds they’re letting Meadows trot in and out with “documents”?

  39. 39.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    That too! As much as I loved QL it was pretty sappy at times, relied on the White Savior narrative, and I didn’t always care for the overt religious overtones (why does an omnipotent god need a guy bouncing around in time to “put right what once went wrong”?).

    The show really ran out of steam by the 5th season too and used gimmicks like Sam meeting historical people, “evil leapers” (over the top, literally working for the devil), and breaking the show’s own rules (Sam traveling to times before he was born e.g. the Civil War).

    Speaking of that Civil War episode, it also went with the whole “North and South” conciliatory route. I get it was the early 90s, but come on! I think Voyager did the same thing with the Q civil war using American Civil War imagery/costumes

  40. 40.

    Benw

    I’m almost done watching the Marvel movies all the way through, in release order. I’m on Captain Marvel, which I really liked in the theater and it holds up on rewatch

  42. 42.

    Yutsano

    Well well well…looks like Dan Sullivan got caught talking out of both sides of his mouth. This is the controversial mine that could have destroyed a big chunk of the Alaskan North Shore. Dr. Gross is all over this tape. We might not want to sleep om Alaska here.

  48. 48.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Yutsano: Rick Wilson– who has some mysterious role in the race that he can’t talk about (dramatic squirrel here)–  says that Alaska is the race where money has the most impact, because of the concentration of the population in a relatively cheap media market, and he got more than a $1M from the O’Bros fund-raiser after RBG’s death

  51. 51.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    @Yutsano:

    That story’s not very complimentary of Murkowski or the rest of the Alaska GOP either. I hope this helps damages them all

  56. 56.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I’ll take your word for it. A lot of people evidently didn’t know who he really was in 2016 who thought it was just a fine idea to elect a “businessman”. I blame the Apprentice. Mark Burnett and NBC have a lot to answer for

  58. 58.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Wyatt Salamanca: What always gets me about the “personal responsibility” dodge is that you’d think people who seriously meant this would be telling people to voluntarily wear masks and follow rules so that it wouldn’t be necessary to legally force them to. But, no, they’re arguing that it’s OK to just not wear masks. I guess what they mean is “every man for himself”; I can spew virus all I want and it’s your responsibility to protect yourself with a MOPP suit or something if you don’t like it.

  61. 61.

    randy khan

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    they should have hauled his ass off the plane

    They should have.  Delta and American both have banned people for life for refusing to wear masks, and this is the kind of rule where it shouldn’t matter who you are.  (Delta actually sent out an email saying that not only were they banning people, but they were refusing any requests for reinstatement, basically on the theory that if you did something that endangered the lives of everyone on the plane, against the orders of the flight crew, they couldn’t trust you on a plane in the future.)

  62. 62.

    p.a.

    Anyone else think the face eating leopard party congresscritters might try to purposefully infect dems?  Thinking Gym Jordan top o’ the list.

  64. 64.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Goku (Amerikan Baka): I lived in California in 1985, so I’d know.  Then, there was Trump wanting to build the world’s tallest building on the Ambassador Hotel site and got outmaneuvered by the LAUSD.  It’s now the site of the RFK Educational Center(RFK was killed at the Ambassador).

  67. 67.

    randy khan

    As always, I find it fascinating that so many of the people involved in touchstones of contemporary culture are on our side of the fence.  (And I find it amusing when people on the other side of the fence say things like “when so-and-so spoke out against [pick a right-wing issue], it ruined [favorite movie] for me forever.”)

  68. 68.

    mad citizen

    Thought hit me today: The R’s are fervent about stopping abortion (murder they call it), yet seem to have no problem behaving recklessly in the face of a deadly virus, and willingly accept the risk of illness and dying that comes from spreading it around.  You’d think they would try to behave and encourage others to do the same, to practice simple techniques to preserve life, as Matt was just posting about at #58.

  69. 69.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Oh I believe you. I wasn’t questioning you. Just commenting that some voters in other parts of the country didn’t apparently know him that well, just his (fake) reputation from the Apprentice

  70. 70.

    piratedan

    @LuciaMia: how nice that he can just drive up and get himself admitted isn’t it?

    five months back he might have been shit outta luck and told to go home and stay there…

  72. 72.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    @randy khan:

    A lot of those people came from more modest backgrounds. They also have to work for a living like us and rely on their talents/skills. 14 hr days on set for several months can be rough. Also having a good work ethic helps

  73. 73.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Wyatt Salamanca: What an utter dumbfuck:

    “I’m not sick,” he said. “I have no symptoms. I certainly didn’t anticipate testing positive, so there was no reason to quarantine.”

    This is EXACTLY why you quarantine. numbnuts. Because you might be sick even if you don’t know it. Agh.

     

    Gets even worse when he follows that up with “Republicans are absolutely taking this seriously” even though he just proved they aren’t.

  74. 74.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @LuciaMia:

    Governor Christie @GovChristie ·10m
    In consultation with my doctors, I checked myself into Morristown Medical Center this afternoon. While I am feeling good and only have mild symptoms, due to my history of asthma we decided this is an important precautionary measure.

    Thoughts and prayers.
    What I’m thinking is: asthma, morbid obesity, a angry disposition and who knows what other conditions. What I’m praying for, he wouldn’t appreciate.

  75. 75.

    zhena gogolia

    @different-church-lady:

    We put up our Biden-Harris sign last week. Today when we got back from a walk we saw that our neighbors directly across the street had put up a TRUMP 2020 sign. What happened to Pence?

    And they’re supposed to be some kind of Christians.

  78. 78.

    zhena gogolia

    @Baud:

    I feel like walking over there and saying, “He’s really made America great again, hasn’t he? I can’t leave my house, I can’t go to the store, my salary’s going to be cut, really great!”

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    @Wapiti: Their admitted debate strategy was to try to throw Biden off his game.

    I’m sure there are multiple waring factions in the in the White House, and each group is playing their own game, jockeying for power and influence, no matter which way it goes.

    What we can count on is that they are not strategizing about how to keep the government rolling along, or how to steady the ship while Trump is in the hospital.

    Keeping the opposing side off balance is a classic control move.  That is surely part of their goal.

  80. 80.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @Matt McIrvin:

    @Ken:

    @different-church-lady:

    The degree of idiocy emanating from Republican politicians continues to amaze me.  Listening to Ron Johnson or any  of the other assholes serving in the House or Senate, I feel as if I’m living in the Dark Ages.  I’ve never felt more disgusted in my life.  I wish every goddamn Republican running in the House and Senate in 2020 could be defeated, especially that bastard Mitch McConnell who’s going to ram Barrett’s nomination through no matter how many people get sick with COVID.

    When McConnell departs this mortal coil, I hope he gets a VIP suite in Hell.

  82. 82.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @MisterForkbeard:

    When I read this sort of nonsense from know nothing hack politicians like Ron Johnson, part of me hopes for a killer asteroid to slam into the Earth and simply put an end to this insanity.

  90. 90.

    Heidi Mom

    @itf: When I was volunteering for McGovern in 1972, at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, Leonard Nimoy, Mr. Spock himself, came to town to speak for the campaign.

  91. 91.

    Ken

    @WaterGirl: I’m sure there are multiple warring factions in the in the White House,

    Someone will probably update Junta or Kremlin for this scenario.  Junta would be more appropriate, since the winner was whoever diverted the most money to their Swiss bank account.

  93. 93.

    Another Scott

    @Poe Larity: The thing about Jonestown, well, one of the things anyway, was that they explicitly practiced the Koolade ceremony/event/mass-murder several times.  To figure out who was obedient, and who wasn’t.  They “just” didn’t put the poison in until the last time.

    So, it’s different…

    Well, actually, … no it isn’t.  It’s exactly the same.  “Don’t wear your mask, Daddy Donnie will take care of you if you believe…”  And he did!  Until he decided everyone should die because he is a sociopath even when his number was up.

    It’s exactly the same.

    Donnie’s White House is a cult.**  And will remain one.

    Grr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

    ** – not an original observation, I know.

  94. 94.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @Poe Larity:

    Future generations will look at the Rose Garden as Jamestown, Drinking the Bleach will replace  Drinking the KoolAide, and a Darwin Award renamed the Trump Award.

    I’d like to see the International Bureau of Weights and Measures officially designate the trump as a unit of stupidity in the International System of Units

  95. 95.

    J R in WV

    @Heidi Mom:

    When I was volunteering for McGovern in 1972, at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, Leonard Nimoy, Mr. Spock himself, came to town to speak for the campaign.

    I was at Dickinson College from 1968 to 1970… when I was drafted, and enlisted in the USN to avoid the swamps of Vietnam.

    I worked in the moratorium movement, and worked in DC when some folks attempted to levitate the Pentagon… I wasn’t there for that effort, sadly. Would have been something to see!

    Must have missed you by a few months…

  96. 96.

    Another Scott

    https://www.electoral-vote.com/

    Q: If Donald Trump dies of COVID-19 and Mike Pence is made president, then who breaks ties in the Senate? B.S., Chelsea, MI

    A: Nobody. If a measure does not get a majority, it fails, whether a VP is available to break ties or not. In other words, when the vice presidency is vacant, there is no tiebreaking vote.

    Exactly right.

    Moscow Mitch must be counting the votes, and the days, very carefully…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

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