Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

“More of this”, i said to the dog.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

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

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

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Republicans in disarray!

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Late Night Open Thread: The Coveted Taliban Endorsement

Late Night Open Thread: The Coveted Taliban Endorsement

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Given Trump’s… unusual… political instincts, can you blame them?

Reader Interactions

93Comments

  2. 2.

    cain

    Hey the Taliban is now our friends. :eyeroll: With this administration everything is possible – he’s a uniter!

  3. 3.

    cain

    @Pharniel: For some reason I thought that was Rambo?

    ETA: Yep, that was the plot to Rambo III. Apparently the original ending was that John Rambo was going to continue fighting with the Mujaheddin against the Soviets. THAT would not have aged well :D

  4. 4.

    Kent

    They are not stupid.  They saw all the different governors sucking up to Trump and praising him before they got their ventilators and PPE.  So heck, endorse Trump and you might get a better and quicker withdrawal.  It’s no risk because they know Biden has too much integrity to derail any peace process out of spite

    Everything with Trump is transactional, including foreign policy.

  5. 5.

    Yutsano

    The “spin” here is that the ones who endorsed aren’t the “real” Taliban. Instead they’re the exiles in Dubai* who escaped after the initial American invasion. Therefore it’s not the true Taliban endorsement. Checkmate libtardz!

    *uncertain as to their current location and too lazy to look it up.

  9. 9.

    MobiusKlein

    Why is talking about your family part of the interview process for a nominee to the Supreme Court?

    I don’t dive into family history looking for a Node.js programmer, or project manager.

  10. 10.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Yutsano:

    Sounds like a distinction without a difference to me and not quite the sick burn reactionaries think they’re making

  11. 11.

    Mike in NC

    I remember when he invited them to Camp David for BBQ and football. Such a stable genius.

    BTW: My brother in the Boston suburbs says all of his neighbors have “Republicans for Biden” yard signs.

  12. 12.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    So, does that whole “pretend he’s frail” thing point to Trump never being very sick in the first place? I honestly don’t know what to believe anymore with Trump’s health

  14. 14.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): As someone put it: if your theory of Shitler’s behaviour involves a triple-bank-shot with the cue behind the back, rethink your theory: they just ain’t that schmaaaaht.  No, I think he was actually infected, and actually sick.  And maybe his aides convinced him not to do the stunt, b/c he might not be able to rip the buttons loose.  Or, y’know, his big-ass gut would hang out.  And without a suit jacket, he couldn’t wear his girdle, so yeah, that gut would be big-ass.

  15. 15.

    Martin

    Beware CA voters.

    The GOP has set up fake ballot drop boxes across the state – Fresno, LA, OC.

    If you have someone else drop off your ballot for you, they are required to identify themselves on the ballot with their signature. This is to prevent this kind of fraud – if the GOP collected the ballot this way, they couldn’t have you identify the person delivering the ballot and have them sign it. This is a felony.

    Here in OC, the sample ballot has a list of all drop box locations – the OC Vote ones are pretty hard to miss – they’re large and well branded.

  16. 16.

    Benw

    Sorry to bomb another Trump thread but congrats to the NBA’s bubble, the players that played their asses off, the staff and support workers that made it possible, it’s been it’s been a much needed respite to watch the playoffs this year

  17. 17.

    Amir Khalid

    I am disappointed that Trump didn’t go through with the Superman T-shirt idea. I am sure it would have cheered Joe Biden up bigly.

  18. 18.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Benw: Congratulations are indeed in order: I was sure they’d “pop” that bubble by now.  Surprised that it held, and that’s down to the discipline of the players, family, staff, support workers, everybody inside and outside, who made it happen.

  19. 19.

    Kay

    @MobiusKlein:

    Well, in this case it’s part of a planned political campaign:

    “I never imagined that I would find myself in this position,” she said in the Rose Garden—a lie as brazen, in context, as Kavanaugh’s claim to have been the product of unprecedentedly rigorous presidential vetting. In fact, Trump had long ago hailed her as a Supreme Court justice in waiting, because she’s a dedicated right-wing judicial politician who’s been angling for the job for years.

    There have been a lot of frauds perpetrated on the public the last 4 years, but this is one of the slickest.

  20. 20.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Martin:

    Speaking of OC, I loved this bit:

    The California Republican Party did not respond to requests for comment about the boxes by deadline. But they’ve been defending the practice in replies on Twitter, alleging the process was made legal under a 2016 law that allows California voters to designate a person to return their ballot for them. The GOP calls the practice “ballot harvesting” and blames it for losses to the Democrats in OC and other places in 2018.

    In other words, conspiracy theories about why they lost OC and other areas in the 2018 midterms. I don’t think they’re going to control the California state government for the foreseeable future and it’s not because the Dems are “ballot harvesting”, it’s because the CA GOP are nutjobs who refuse to do any self-introspection as a party whatsoever

  22. 22.

    david

    Tonight, America got to witness two of its greatest athletes in two different sports proving their greatness.  Between LeBron James and Russell Wilson, it was a totally enjoyable 4+ hours.

  23. 23.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Bernie Bro Walter Bregman is saying the foiled plot to kidnap and kill Governor Whitmer was due to ……  wait for it….  economic anxiety.

    Jebus!

  24. 24.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Chetan Murthy:

    Oh I believe he was infected and was sick. He just may not have been very sick and wanted to prove how “strong” he was by using these idiotic theatrics

  26. 26.

    Yutsano

    @Chetan Murthy:  Technically they’re the ones who fled, so they really are his kind of “leaders”. The ones who were smart enough to get out of town when things got too hot.

    @NotMax:  Heck might as well see if Dolt45 paid for the endorsement. They denounced it through a spokesman later but it’s LBJ and the pig fucking.

  27. 27.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Early Voting Continues at Record Pace with 9.3 million voted. Four years ago at this same time before the November election, I was tracking 1.4 million people voted.

    The voting pace is truly remarkable, with five states already reaching 20% or greater than their 2016 total vote:

    • Minnesota
    • South Dakota
    • Vermont
    • Virginia
    • Wisconsin

    The shelling is getting closer and closer to The Bunker

  29. 29.

    Ivan X

    Just gave to (nearly) all the BJ thermometers in one go. Feels good! Plus I talked my dad into it too, and he never gives anything.

  30. 30.

    cain

    @Martin:
    Can’t we send the sheriff there and charge them with a felony? Better yet, just start sending republican voters over there. Find em on facebook and helpfully point them out.

  32. 32.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Amir Khalid: Bigly strongly. Gotta wonder what the Hindu nationalists purportedly* supporting Donny think of getting the Taliban’s endorsement

    * I think a lot of hindu nationalist Donny support on Twitter is bots.

  33. 33.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    * I think a lot of hindu nationalist Donny support on Twitter is bots.

    Speaking of, I think Trump lost of a lot of followers on Twitter because so many of them were actually just bots

  35. 35.

    Kattails

    @Mike in NC: Was looking at the RVAT youtube earlier; all those Republican voters (now) against Trump.  It’s interesting, sometimes you can see real anger breaking through, sometimes you just want to crash your head into the wall.  Like, we told you told you told you and you blew us all off.

    What’s kind of scary is that so much will be riding on our team, and these people–how much of a chance are they going to give Biden and Harris? Are we going to have to pull off miracles in 6 months, when the whole system needs to be scoured and rebuilt?

  38. 38.

    Yutsano

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):  I still don’t think he’s totally in the clear. He hasn’t left the White House since he got released from the hospital. That’s a tell. He had fresh bandages at the weird Blexit rally thing. He’s still getting treatments. Something is rotten in the people’s house, and it’s time for the place to get aired out.

  40. 40.

    Kay

    Topher Spiro
    @TopherSpiro
    ·Oct 10
    After failing to disclose she signed onto an anti-Roe ad, Amy Coney Barrett tells Judiciary “my name appeared.” Her name just appeared out of nowhere!

    A cherished tenet of Trumpism is never, ever take responsibility for your own actions. Even when shown your own name endorsing a position, insist it “appeared”. Barrett’s co-partisans and colleagues have worked very hard to deny the public any information on her work or her views, but we’re finding a lot out about her anyway just based on her actions we’ve seen. Speaks volumes.

  41. 41.

    sdhays

    @Yutsano: The stupid Blexit rally was only 17-18 minutes as I recall. Hardly a rally by Dump standards, and that was basically right off his bedroom. He couldn’t keep going for even 20 minutes.

    He’s a lot better than he would be if was anyone other the POTUS, though. It irritates me how many breaks this piece of garbage continually gets.

  42. 42.

    PigDog

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: he also adds his prediction: I predict in the coming weeks the Democratic narrative will change from euphoria over the apparent large leads in early voting to concern that a disproportionately large number of younger voters have yet to return their mail ballots.

    Of course he’s right, and I should invest in worry bead futures.

  43. 43.

    Patricia Kayden

    I just voted my AZ ballot and was reminded that Gov. @DougDucey expanded the AZ state Supreme Court via from 5 to 7 justices in 2016. Which he then packed with his dependable right wing cronies. Republicans, YOU ARE HYPOCRITES.— Dee *I am a Judges 4:21 woman* Holmes (@mmmirele) October 12, 2020

  44. 44.

    West of the Rockies

    @cain:

    I’ve heard that line my whole life (58 years) and had no idea what it was about.  Just now looked it up.  Ah, The Three Stooges (et al).  Still funny stuff.

  45. 45.

    gwangung

    @PigDog: Oh, that’s on the mark, but only because Dems are such worrywarts.

    The key voters are older voters and Dems have a great advantage, I think, in the over 65s……

  46. 46.

    Brachiator

    One of the reasons that Trump supporters don’t care about Trump using his presidency to enrich himself is because they gladly participate in the grift. The continuing investigation into Trump’s taxes reveals how various companies spend money at Trump properties and get favorable treatment.

    A New York Times analysis of tax records showed that more than 200 companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments have funneled millions of dollars to President Trump’s properties while reaping benefits from the president and his administration.

    But there is room for the little guys and religious hypocrites.

    More than 70 advocacy groups, businesses and foreign governments held events at Trump Organization properties that previously were at different locations or developed new events to be hosted at the properties. Religious organizations also participated by throwing prayer meetings, banquets and tours on Trump properties.

    I doubt that Trump gave religious groups a discount for using his facilities.

    The Times articles also point out the additional benefits you get from being a member of Trump’s clubs.

    Being a member of his clubs also allowed leaders to get time with the president and sometimes his support, as he offered ambassadorships to five members and chose others for advisory roles in his administration.

  48. 48.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Benw:

    Good call, the NBA stood up responsibly and not only provided the entertainment only it can provide but it reached deep into the local community to help.

    Also.

    Fuck the Lakers.

  49. 49.

    Another Scott

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:  Early voting in Virginia has been constrained by there only being a handful of locations in each county.  The largest, Fairfax, has all of one location.  That changes this Wednesday at 1 pm when close to a dozen other locations open.  Expect the early voting numbers to go up A LOT soon.

     Cheers,

    Scott.

  50. 50.

    Sister Golden Bear

    The latest Republican rodent copulation… putting up fake ballot drop-off boxes.

    The post, from Jordan Tygh, a regional field director for the California Republican Party, encouraged people to message him for “convenient locations” to drop their own ballots.

    The problem is the drop box in the photo is not official – and it could be against the law.

    The California Secretary of State has received reports in recent days about possible unauthorized ballot drop boxes in Fresno, Los Angeles and Orange counties, agency spokesman Sam Mahood said Sunday evening. Reports place such boxes at local political party offices, candidate headquarters and churches….

    The church posted on social media that the box was “approved and brought by the GOP.” The post said church officials don’t have a key to the box and that GOP officials picks up the ballots….

    On its website, the Fresno County Republican Party also shared a list of “secure” ballot collection locations. None are official county drop box sites, with the local GOP instead listing its own headquarters, multiple gun shops and other local businesses.

    I hope our AG prosecutes the fuck out of these assholes.

  53. 53.

    James E Powell

    @Calouste:

    Also the NBA regular season was almost over when they suspended play in March, so they didn’t include the eight teams that weren’t within six games of a playoff spot at the time play was suspended.

  54. 54.

    SectionH

    @Martin: Well most of us in SD go to one of local libraries to drop ballots. Mr S and I were so spoiled that our local polling place was Our Clubhouse – I am not making that up. I won every brag with friends in MA about the closest places they could vote. I did ‘splain that dropping my mail ballot in outgoing mail was even closer.

    We’re both permanent mail voters from the getgo, but it was fun to (take the elevator) and wander over there and get stickers. It’s ok, No polling here this year. We have to go the closest Library dropoff. Gee, I so love living in a sane place like California.

  55. 55.

    Ruckus

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    They are just trying to help…… themselves.

    Also let’s see they are telling people on FB, from a GOP site, where drop boxes are. I wonder how many of their own are going to waste a vote.

    I also hope that they spent their budget on the boxes and don’t have anything left for the legal fees for their vote theft arrests. And convictions. I thought I read the other day that the fine is $1000/ballot. Could be completely mis informed however.

  61. 61.

    cain

    @West of the Rockies:

    I’ve heard that line my whole life (58 years) and had no idea what it was about. Just now looked it up. Ah, The Three Stooges (et al). Still funny stuff.

    Not just 3 stooges, but I think even Lucille Ball has used it. It’s a generic gag I guess. But yeah, totally funny stuff – but it’s used to talk about something that was horrifying. I suppose now we can say “MAGA! Slowly I turn.. step by step, inch by inch – I grab da guy, kicked in the shins, slapped him upside the head, and then delivered a knockout punch!”

    I’d like a new gag same stuff, but with an IT background.

    I ended up watching it on youtube, and then laughed hysterically at the “Whose on first?” one. Classic.

  65. 65.

    West of the Rockies

    @cain:  just watched on YouTube the labyrinth scene from A Chump at Oxford (Stan and Ollie).  It still kills.

  66. 66.

    Steeplejack

    @Another Scott:

    Yeah, I planned to vote in Fairfax County in the first week of early voting, but the one location was packed every day. So I decided to wait until the other locations open this week.

  71. 71.

    HumboldtBlue

    @cain:

    Yeah.

    Fuck the Lakers.

    Otherwise, the strident reaction to LeBron being named in the greatest of all time conversation has reached silly proportions.

    That man is an all-time top athlete of the modern era.

    Put him in a sport, any sport, and watch what happens.

  81. 81.

    lgerard

    Biden should simply state that his position on the Supreme Court is being audited and he well release it when the audit is complete

  82. 82.

    Chris T.

    @Yutsano: As I understand it, the dexamethasone is IV and given for 10 days. If his first day was that Friday, ten days later is Sunday, so that could be the dex-IV.

    Of course, if that’s the case, he’ll be coming off the steroid highs…

  84. 84.

    Geminid

    @Steeplejack (phone): Expansion of the Supreme Court is a hot topic on this forum. And journalists and republicans like Sasse want to make it a major issue in this election. But do most voters care a lot about court expansion? Maybe they should, but I don’t think they do.

  85. 85.

    JoyceH

    Hey, can I just mention how much I’m loving this Fauci story with the campaign ad? In normal circumstances, a campaign can just put out a misleading ad and trust that it will blast all over the country while only a fraction of the audience will hear the debunking. But the Trump campaign is so broke it’s cancelling ad buys in swing states, going dark in a lot of states.

    So most people won’t even have SEEN the ad! But if they watch the news, the top story today is Fauci complaining about being used misleadingly in a Trump ad, and explicitly stating that he has NOT made an endorsement of anyone!

    When you’re an incumbent, in addition to running ads, you can do things that make news, getting yourself free publicity. And THIS is what the Trump campaign has done for free publicity.

    I’m just gobsmacked by the beauty of it all. Did the Trump campaign think they would get away with it? That Fauci would stay quiet when they put him in an ad, sounding like he was praising Trump when he wasn’t? Are they all THAT out to lunch?

  86. 86.

    TS (the original)

    @JoyceH:

    Trump got hours of free media with his rallies in 2016. His campaign has never worked out how to do anything different, despite covid.

    I am so impressed with how the democrats ran with virtual campaigning because of covid, trump has been left behind in the dust &  the reality is most of his current media coverage is negative, despite the best efforts of the media minions who don’t want him to disappear.

  87. 87.

    Tony Jay

    I’ve just watched a rather surprising BBC report on the push to get Covid Amy rammed onto the SC.

    Given BBC America’s typical M.O.of regurgitating whatever its U.S. correspondents overhear at the bars frequented by low-level GOP staffers crossed with a quick scan of the CNN homepage, it was shocking to hear them – eventually – lay out the real story, namely that the “Ideological Right and Evangelicals” (their framing) were the big fans of her candidacy, it put abortion, gay-rights and the ACA on the chopping block, the superspreader event at the White House could deny the Republicans a majority come the vote, and they were hypocrites anyway for pushing this nomination through after stealing a seat from Obama.

    And not a single solitary mention of ‘court packing’.

    As a finger in the wind of how DC conventional wisdom is pre-judging the coming nomination fight, it’s not what I expected to be hearing. Maybe John Sobel was sleeping off a hangover and missed the editorial meeting.

  88. 88.

    Sloane Ranger

    @Ruckus: I think you may be on to something. Perhaps they’ve actually bought in to Trump’s, Democrats will destroy absentee ballots coming from Republican districts and this is their answer. Get their voters to drop off their ballots in a safe place and then trot them round to the election office in person.

    If that’s the case, it sounds from what other posters are saying they may have scored 2 own goals. Not only will none of the votes be counted, they could be facing prosecution.

  89. 89.

    Viva BrisVegas

    1869: US population around 40 million, number of Supreme Court Justices = 9.

    2020: US Population around 320 million, number of Supreme Court Justices = 9.

    Therefore Supreme Court Normalization requires the appointment of 63 new Justices.

    I am amazed at the restraint of Democrats who are only calling for 4 more.

    Only joking, sorta.

  90. 90.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Biden should say he’ll expand the court and make Mexico pay for it.

  93. 93.

    Ruckus

    @Sloane Ranger:

    First, what are the chances that republicans, ever thought to do anything that might in any way help anyone but themselves? It’s been a very, very long time, decades. Second it’s still illegal to unofficially collect ballots as the control of a ballot is the voter and the state’s, to collect, control and count the ballots and in my state, it’s the Secretary of State’s office, no one else.

    IOW it’s a scam, put out in areas where republicans have had success but are very vulnerable, a crappy last grasp effort to have some chance at stealing some level of support. I’m not sure what the penalty should be, but severity should be taken into consideration and it should be a lot of severity. Flogging, or more in line with their tactics, sent to bed with no supper and their allowance withheld. For what 10 yrs……

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