Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL

Somebody needs to explain to DeSantis that nobody needs to do anything to make him look bad.

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

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

A consequence of cucumbers

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Let’s finish the job.

Fight them, without becoming them!

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

He really is that stupid.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Go Senator Whitehouse!

You are here: Home / Open Threads / They Suck At Law, Chess, Math, Elections…But Are Masters Of Voter Suppression

They Suck At Law, Chess, Math, Elections…But Are Masters Of Voter Suppression

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As expected. But they are going to weaponize all of this “election fraud” to work harder to suppress even more Democratic votes.

 

Reader Interactions

344Comments

  4. 4.

    lamh36

    not even his newly appointed Handmaiden SCOTUS justice sided with his azz.

     

    hell, even Thomas and Alito in their dissent was just allowing the case to be filed, but no one wanted to hear the actualy arguments…dumb azzes

  5. 5.

    JMG

    Very happy to have been wrong earlier today. I should’ve learned from my track experience. Never play hunches.

  6. 6.

    dfh

    Right, the demolition of democracy will continue, and it’s all due to fear. Fear is the only thing they’re good at and whadda ya know, it’s the glue holding them together as blobs of snail meat. I fucking hate Republicans.

  7. 7.

    mad citizen

    We can never let these people (each office holder when they come up for elections) forget their support of this bullshit and this con artist.

  14. 14.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    is anyone more relieved than Ted Cruz, who would have had to bring his “first-tier Ivy” degrees to defend this mess in Court?

  16. 16.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Mary G:

    All of CNN has actually sounded like Balloon Juice commenters. I’ve been great impressed with Don Lemon. Not something I ever thought I’d say but here we are

  21. 21.

    dmsilev

    @Mary G: I think it was worth it. For the rest of their careers in public life, those on that list need to get it shoved in their faces every time they try something. “You’re such a worthless person that you signed on to Trump’s attempt to steal the election”. That needs to be brought up, to their faces, over and over and over again. They’re on the list.

  22. 22.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Friday night. He’ll be alone in the residence with Fred’s ghost calling him a loser from every shadow and in every gust of wind on the windows.

    What’s he gonna tweet at Amy Coney Barrett?

  23. 23.

    Jeffro

    @TaMara (HFG): LOLOLOL

    I’m dying!  What, even Bretty K wouldn’t side with you, trumpov?  Covid Barrett?  Not-Merrick-Garland??

    Time for the Dems to open fire, rhetorically: “you’re doing all of these things for HIM?”

  29. 29.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Have confidence in Justices Thomas / Alito / Gorsuch / Kavanaugh and Barrett.
    — Lord Darlington Remained. (@big_ross55) December 11, 2020

    The Dumptards really thought this was going to work.

  30. 30.

    Jeffro

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:He’ll be alone in the residence with Fred’s ghost calling him a loser from every shadow and in every gust of wind on the windows  What’s he gonna tweet at Amy Coney Barrett?

    I’m glad for his torment and unfortunately very afraid that now is when he tells his very worst followers to take matters into their own hands.

  31. 31.

    Mike in NC

    My fat asshole of a GOP congressman is getting a Christmas card telling him to go fuck himself.

  33. 33.

    MattF

    Important to see the racism underlying all the ‘legal’ argument. It was all ‘Black votes don’t matter’.

  34. 34.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Some nice vituperation out there –

  37. 37.

    Mary G

    If I believed in heaven, I would like to think of RBG looking down and laughing, saying “YOU ARE THE BIGGEST LOSER, DONNIE!”

  42. 42.

    zhena gogolia

    I know, I know, George Conway, but the mofo is witty.

    I would say the proverbial fat lady has sung, but she has already performed so many times over the past few weeks that her voice is hoarse and she's on a well-deserved holiday. https://t.co/SHk7Cy6qcW— George Conway (@gtconway3d) December 11, 2020

  45. 45.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I’m confused (not an unusual condition, I grant you).

    Please, someone explain to me like I’m stupid how it can be a 9-0 decision and still have two dissents? Why is it not a 7-2 decision? I don’t get it.

  46. 46.

    Brachiator

    Hope it was worth it for all those elected officials to fasten their reputations to that immoral clown car of a lawsuit as it Thelma-and-Louise’d into the abyss

    Alright. The Supreme Court did the right thing, clearing the way for the Electoral College to wrap this thing up.

    Next up: We will see if Boris Johnson will be stubborn enough and stupid enough to fling the UK into that abyss.

  50. 50.

    lamh36

    I mean…I never expect much from Thomas anyway but man they BARELY dissented…LOL. All they said was that sure TX “had a right” to file, but even if they had, they weren’t even willing to hear argument and would reject it anyway… Chump co should be tired of losing by now

    https://pic.twitter.com/fpU9DZMwKa

  51. 51.

    raven

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    The court did not provide a vote count, but there were no dissents to the order made public.

    Separately, justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas said they would have allowed the case to be filed, but would grant no other relief.

  54. 54.

    Chetan Murthy

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    how it can be a 9-0 decision and still have two dissents? Why is it not a 7-2 decision? I don’t get it.

    There’s something called a “concurring opinion” which is “I agree with you, but have differeng reasoning”.

  58. 58.

    Jeffro

    @raven: truth.

    And Dems get banged on for “performative” liberalism, etc(!)

    I hope someone in the media asks Ted, “so what exactly were you going to argue to SCOTUS, you fucking genius, and what do you think of how they didn’t even want to hear the fucking case?  ALL 9 OF THEM, Ted?”

  59. 59.

    Ksmiami

    @mad citizen: Pelosi should not seat the GOP Congressmen that signed on. Lock them out. The GOP needs to be ground into powder, then buried and covered in lye

  62. 62.

    debbie

    Signing onto this Amicus brief is not a legal act. It is a political act. Think about it as essentially repudiating and unsigning the Declaration of Independence. They want a ruler not a President. It is a declaration of repudiation and hostility towards the— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) December 11, 2020

    American Republic. They want their leader Trump, who lost the election to remain in power. They are lying about an election @JoeBiden won. They are poisoning faith and belief in democracy by explicitly repudiating it. The actions of the 17 GOP State AG’s and 126 GOP House— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) December 11, 2020

    Members is an almost inconceivable act of betrayal. They have broken faith with America and desecrated the blood sacrifices of Patriots from Lexington to Gettysburg from Normandy to the Edmund Pettus bridge. Trump has birthed an Autocratic movement. It has made its first move.— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) December 11, 2020

    If we lose this this country there is no place else for us to go. We are free because we are sovereign. We are a government of the people, for the people by the people. Politicians work for us and we can fire them. We choose. We are in a dangerous hour. It will be a long fight— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) December 11, 2020

  68. 68.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Very much looking forward to Lou Dobbs and the rest of the MAGA coalition to call for the impeachment of Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett.

    — Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) December 12, 2020

  72. 72.

    debbie

    And the chutzpah award goes to:

    Someone set up a website this morning referring to Georgia’s Republican leaders as enemies of the people and showed their pictures through rifle scopes. Thankfully, the website has been taken down. But this is where we are. Someone is going to get hurt.
    — Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) December 10, 2020

  73. 73.

    Mary G

    @SiubhanDuinne: IANAL, but from people I respect, Alito and Thomas have long believed that the USSC has jurisdiction and must hear every dispute between states, no matter how stupid. Their wording shows they’d still rule against the case on its merits. I think they were just throwing the dog a bone to keep him from tweeting about them.

  77. 77.

    Rob

    @SiubhanDuinne:  I think that those two wanted to take the case on “original jurisdiction” grounds but would have rejected it anyway. Or so a tweet by a legal scholar said iirc

    aka what Mary G said in comment #73

  78. 78.

    lamh36

    @themaxburns

    ·
    27m

    Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett regret they can’t take President Trump’s urgent phone call but they again thank the president for their lifetime SCOTUS appointment.

  79. 79.

    Frank Wilhoit

    @Brachiator: “…Next up: We will see if Boris Johnson will be stubborn enough and stupid enough to fling the UK into that abyss.”

    Stupid enough, yes; but “stubborn” is not the right frame, it implies that Johnson has some degree of control, which he doesn’t.  Brexit has never been about anything other than Russian money laundering and placing the UK outside the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.  Everything else flows from that and specifically from the effort to conceal it until too late.

  80. 80.

    PsiFighter37

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Oh, it’s definitely going to happen. The far right has been running the Tory show for a while, and Boris is just like Donald – incredibly fucking lazy, yet someone who thinks he is the smartest person in the room. He isn’t a complete moron like Trump is, so I do think he likely has some regret for jumping on the Brexit clown car in 2016. But he gets to own the shithole he’s about to turn the UK into, and thanks to the law David Cameron passed back in 2011, the Brits have to endure at least another ~4 years of his clown show – possibly even longer, since Labour is even more dysfunctional than we Democrats are.

  85. 85.

    Cermet

    Well, all further court actions have been stopped; the inferior court ruled all further (legal) actions through the courts are moot. Victory. The ass wipes in congress can bitch but without the house, have no power to stop Biden.

  89. 89.

    Fraud Guy

    ” Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections. All other pending motions are dismissed as moot.”

    Does “not…judicially cognizable” mean “why is this even in court”?

  92. 92.

    lamh36

    @neal_katyal

    ·
    29m

    Folks are asking what Justice Alito was saying. He is saying he thinks Texas has the right to file papers but that it wouldn’t matter because if they did he wouldn’t rule for them anyway. It is a strong 9-0 loss for Trump. It’s impossible to lose more.

  93. 93.

    Kent

    Thinking this through on a practical level.

    If you are a conservative on the Supreme Court.  Would you rather spend the next 4 years with your position elevated to the highest authority and importance as you get to casually pick and choose which of Biden’s initiatives you want to gut and quarter?  Or would you rather spend the next 4 years destroying your legacy by being Trump’s abused bitch, covering for his increasingly unhinged lawbreaking and increasingly incoherent actions?

    EVERYONE who enters the Trump orbit is reduced.  EVERYONE.  They are smart as hell to be done with him.

    And don’t tell me they weren’t thinking some version of that exact thing.

  94. 94.

    TS (the original)

    @Mary G:

    And the media will still be saying Biden must reach out to both sides of the political divide. How on earth will this ever happen without the destruction of the current GOP?

  95. 95.

    Mary G

    New! Ca Rep @devinnunes tells @KMJNOW he tested positive for COVID-19
    — Carla Marinucci (@cmarinucci) December 11, 2020

    HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA oh my god that’s terrible
    (cc @DevinCow)
    — Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) December 11, 2020

  97. 97.

    Gravenstone

    @debbie: Gee Ewick, I  wonder how ever we might have found ourselves at this moment in history? Couldn’t possibly have had anything to do with you and your cretinous cohorts flinging shit against every available vertical surface for the last three decades or anything?

  103. 103.

    Jeffro

    @debbie: oh, NOW it’s an issue (!)

    Hey Erick…about these leopards y’all are so fond of, the ones that like to eat peoples’ faces?  Umm…

  105. 105.

    different-church-lady

    Sooooo… basically there’s 126 GOP House-critters who think they can still control this monster now that it’s gotten out of the laboratory.

  110. 110.

    Jeffro

    @Kent: [the conservatives on SCOTUS] are smart as hell to be done with him.  And don’t tell me they weren’t thinking some version of that exact thing.

    I agree – not every wingnut is a dumb wingnut.  Some even understand that at this point, there is no possible way to turn this country over to trumpov & Co for another four years.  uh-uh.

  111. 111.

    different-church-lady

    Soooo… wonder what kind of view the FBI takes about death threats leveled at US Supreme Court Justices. Because you know they’ll be coming…

  113. 113.

    lamh36

    @johnvmoore

    Folks trying to use Shirley Sherrod against Tom Vilasck might want to note that just now Ms. Sherrod told
    @JoyAnnReid
    she supports the appointment. NEXT!

  115. 115.

    Anya

    The most satisfying part about all of this is no the a single one of the three justices the mafia don was relying on voted for him. Even the wishy washy dissent came from two cranks he didn’t nominate. The only thing that will make it even better is when Trump lashes out at Covid Amy and “I want beer” boy.

  118. 118.

    different-church-lady

    @Baud: Hang on, I’m going to search for that YouTube of Sidshow Bob stepping on rakes in a 10 hour loop…

  120. 120.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Baud:

    For the lulz, of course. Just a funny way of saying, “Somebody go to Parler [so I don’t need a memory wipe] and report back the insanity”. Sort of like what Drezner does with Trump rallies

  122. 122.

    PsiFighter37

    @lamh36: Pretty surprising, but some people live and let live. Sherrod got a raw deal…I haven’t gotten that far in Obama’s book, but I wonder if he addresses that stupid brouhaha at all.

  129. 129.

    Cermet

    @Baud: No, it certainly cannot. The inferior court ruled that all further motions are rendered moot – end of the line, do not pass go.

  133. 133.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Kent:

    Parler is the roach motel of the internet.  It serves a useful function.

    You’re probably right. Parler is buggy as hell or so I’ve heard and has privacy problems, doesn’t it?

  134. 134.

    Amir Khalid

    @lamh36:

    So Katyal is saying that Alito and Thomas were quibbling about process, but were with the rest of the Court that Texas had no standing.

  139. 139.

    lamh36

    @PsiFighter37: Not so surprising.  Ms Shirley is an OG like many of the CBC members (folks like John Lewis, Clyburn, etc)…they keep their eyes on the prize and not let BS stuff get in the way of getting there.   Joy and some of the other folks trying to use Sherrod to tank Vilsack are too used to dealing with the Nina Turners and Jason Johnsons of the world or the Bri Bris who are all to happy to burn the entire place down at the tiniest slight

  140. 140.

    NotMax

    All that was missing to fully decorate the cake was inclusion of amicus briefs from Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy and David Souter.

    ;)

  142. 142.

    PsiFighter37

    @Amir Khalid:  Basically…figures that the most partisan judges on the court would find some stupid point to nitpick on.

    Sometimes I wonder if Dems should have just given Harriet Miers a pass. She was wholly unqualified, but I think she was mainly loyal to Dubya and not necessarily to the GOP or its extreme conservative elements.

  143. 143.

    MoCA Ace

    @Ken:

    Why?

    Besides, they may need a suicide watch.

    I’ll watch.

    Yeah I said it.  You know you were all thinking it.

  144. 144.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    You know Trump is kicking himself right now for not putting on the high court Rudy Guiliani, Sidney Powell and that guy holding the “Get a Brain! Morans” sign.

  145. 145.

    lamh36

    @Amir Khalid: yup.  Others lawyers and SCOTUS law specialist folks said the same.  They dissented based on process, not so much merit.  Saying basically even if it was allowed to be filed, they would have still had no merit…and would have rejected it anyway

  147. 147.

    Chetan Murthy

    @MoCA Ace:

    I’ll watch.

    Lemme know Parler’s mailing address, I have some ratty old shoelaces, belts, some rusty steak knives.  Or, y’know, maybe I could mail ’em to Ewick son of Ewick, he could use ’em.

  153. 153.

    Amir Khalid

    My rec page on YouTube has had videos by OfficialACLJ proclaiming the Texas lawsuit “The Big One” for the Trump campaign, the for-sure, guaranteed-to-win move that every loyal Republican must support. What will they say now, I wonder.

  154. 154.

    TS (the original)

    @Cermet:  I  obviously don’t understand  all the US rules as I thought that just related to what was filed at the SCOTUS. Thanks

  155. 155.

    Cermet

    @Baud: The one that just ruled on the tex-ass case. The inferior court (as created by moscow-mitch with illegal court packing.)

  158. 158.

    Cermet

    @TS (the original): No problem. Glad they added that so except for congress, the election is over as well as cert. issues. The college will make Biden’s win offical. Congress just then (by law) has to certify it (thank goodness dems hold the House.)

  160. 160.

    Bill Arnold

    @dmsilev:

    That needs to be brought up, to their faces, over and over and over again. They’re on the list.

    Has anyone assembled and made available a complete list of names as a text document? Scraping that PDF of house members (and the other pdfs) is tedious and a few claim that they wanted to be on the House list but weren’t on the PDF, and that they want sedition to be on their … permanent record.

  163. 163.

    NotMax

    Sides of barns across the heartland will be spruced up with new paint overwriting “Earl Warren” in 3…2…1….

    //

  164. 164.

    Kent

    @Amir Khalid:So Katyal is saying that Alito and Thomas were quibbling about process, but were with the rest of the Court that Texas had no standing.

    Katyal is saying that Alito and Thomas were still going to rule against Texas on the merits, but they were willing to allow them to make fools of themselves in court first.

  165. 165.

    Cermet

    @ChuckInAustin: You are correct. The dems actually thought she was acceptable and were going to take her nomination seriously. That’s when the thugs realized she woundn’t answer to them and forced bushie to withdraw her nomination.

  167. 167.

    p.a.

    No tweetstorm from the Oval Office squatter yet?  I have no access to Fux ‘News’ since covid>no gym, Varney on suicide watch?  How ’bout the new shills on the block, OANN-ism and Newschmucks?

  171. 171.

    Kent

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):You’re probably right. Parler is buggy as hell or so I’ve heard and has privacy problems, doesn’t it?

    I expect it will be a target for malware and hacking into the accounts and identities of the suckers who frequent it.   Wouldn’t go near it if you paid me.

  173. 173.

    PsiFighter37

    @ChuckInAustin: They did in the end (they were concerned she wasn’t anti-choice enough), but I distinctly remember that it was Democrats who raised the first concerns about her lack of experience and qualifications.

  175. 175.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @p.a.: he’s locked himself in the White House walk-in freezer, where until tonight 12 Fudgie The Whale ice cream cakes were left over from Sasha’s cancelled 12th birthday party.
    “They took it from me, Daddy! They stole it! Make them give it back! Call Uncle Roy!”

  179. 179.

    different-church-lady

    Cute:

    Jonathan Cohn

    @CitizenCohn

    Number of House Republicans who signed onto Trump lawsuit: 126

    Words it took Supreme Court to reject the case: 126

  182. 182.

    Mary G

    something that does give me a tiny little burst of evil glee is that Amy Coney Barrett sold every last shred of even the pretense of integrity she ever had when she took this gig in the first place, and now the people she was sucking up to think she’s a traitor to Trump
    — Claire Willett (@clairewillett) December 12, 2020

    It’s almost like when you take a job with this corrupt administration where no one has any loyalty or integrity, every single one of y’all will eventually get screwed by each other
    — Claire Willett (@clairewillett) December 12, 2020

    Everyone thinks they’re The Chosen One who can debase themselves for Trump and actually be rewarded for it and be the one lackey he will never eventually turn on and every single one of them is wrong! He will never go to bat for you! You made your bed, ma’am!!
    — Claire Willett (@clairewillett) December 12, 2020

  187. 187.

    different-church-lady

    @germy:

    Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the constitution.

    We already got one of those. This guy want Texas to leave it.

    All this over Donald Trump?

    Cult of Personality is a hell of a drug.

  188. 188.

    germy

    At the Hanukkah party at the White House this week, POTUS mentioned the Texas suit as his hope for staying in office. Tonight, a White House Christmas party where POTUS is expected to appear is taking place as SCOTUS majority ruled against him.

    — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) December 11, 2020

    Should be a fun party.

    Seriously, his remarks will be… interesting.

  190. 190.

    jeffreyw

    @Cheryl Rofer: I browsed my local newspaper site and the top news story was that my local congressman had signed on to the Texas lawsuit.  Just above the headline was the breaking news banner with the news from the Supreme court denying it.  Well played, representative! Mike Bost (R-Dumbass)  He got in just under the wire.

  191. 191.

    CaseyL

    I have no idea whether this is just an exercise in venting, but I have contacted my Congressperson and asked her to support Rep. Pascrell’s call to unseat the GOP House members who joined in the Texas case, on the grounds of sedition and seditious conspiracy.

    Maybe if enough people ask their Democratic Representatives to do the same thing, the idea might get some traction.

  193. 193.

    Barbara

    @germy:

    All this over Donald Trump?

    I have been mystified over this for more than four years now.  The only thing that makes sense to me is that they don’t think they can win the presidency with anyone else.

  197. 197.

    MoCA Ace

    Texas GOP chair says in light of Supreme Court tossing out Texas case, “Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the constitution ruled by Mango Mussolini until his death and thereafter by a succession of his spawn ”

    Fixed.

  198. 198.

    Bluegirlfromwyo

    @debbie: Funny how that didn’t concern Eric Son of Eric when Sarah Palin did that to democrats, and Gabby Giffords did get hurt. Enjoy your tiger ride, Eric.

  200. 200.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Barbara: as close as I get to optimistic is I don’t think trumpism can win at a national level without trump himself

    I still don’t think Ted Cruz or Tom Cotton can win nationally, I go back and forth on Hawley, Haley and Christie, for different reasons. Creepy Dan Crenshaw is in that mix, too. John James I put in there with Christie, he’d try to ride authoritarianism to the White House, thinking he could restore… something, later. None of them have trump’s crude appeal to the dark id of (mostly) white men, but they all bring something else– religiosity, a veneer of competence and normality– that could make them viable in the Electoral College.

  201. 201.

    Anya

    @Kent: I think Thomas and Alito was just thinking Trump and MAGA are too dumb to realize how the decision works so they’ll just think they were on their side. This is the reason MAGA world is directing all their anger towards the other three justices specially COVID Amy.

  204. 204.

    Bluegirlfromwyo

    @Mary G: Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out, guys. Lucky for your Dems, the remaining states are mostly in favor of asylum.

  207. 207.

    Kent

    @Anya:@Kent: I think Thomas and Alito was just thinking Trump and MAGA are too dumb to realize how the decision works so they’ll just think they were on their side. This is the reason MAGA world is directing all their anger towards the other three justices specially COVID Amy.

    It’s a performative response to a performative lawsuit.  So I guess it all fits together!

  210. 210.

    CaseyL

    @Barbara: But they did more than simply express an opinion.  They acted on their wish by co-signing a lawsuit seeking to nullify the election.

    That’s a deed, not a wish.

  211. 211.

    lgerard

    It is too early to celebrate as this trump tantrum is only a warmup to what will happen when Ossoff and Warnock win the runoff.  There will be a zillion extraneous lawsuits, endless whinning and the Senate will refuse to seat them ala Franken.  The Supremes won’t touch that one either.

  213. 213.

    Jay

    @Barbara:

    Gen 1 of the ReThugs dished out the Koolaide to anyone willing to drink it, but didn’t drink it, and hid the fact it was Koolaide, with dogwhistles.

    by Gen 2, to get elected, the ReThugs had to occasionally drink a small sippy cup of the Koolaide in front of The Base, then to the Public, deny it with dogwhistles.

    by Gen 3, to get elected, the Koolaide had to be drunk at every meal, by ReThug Candidates, and only use dogwhistles at times,

    now, it’s Gen 4, who have been swimming in the Koolaide all their lives,…..

  214. 214.

    zhena gogolia

    I just had to repost stinger’s comment from the thread down below where we’re saying what we want to go away forever. JoyceH said she didn’t want to see any more ads with disgusting bodily secretions embodied in little cartoon characters:

    @JoyceH: little creatures that are supposed to be dry eyes, urinary incontinence, and (worse of all) mucus

    And stinger replied:

    Ugh, yes. Even worse because one of my dogs barks at anything on TV with four legs, which causes the others to bark as well (at they know not what). So now they’re all barking at kidneys and snot globs and what have you.

  219. 219.

    sixthdoctor

    @germy: No such luck, the loser crybaby bagged it so he could go babycry more about what a loser crybaby he is.

    At the White House Christmas Party, guests were informed about 10 minutes ago that the president won't be joining them to make remarks.— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) December 12, 2020

  221. 221.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @sixthdoctor: I went to the White House Xmas party to hand the president my pardon request in a plain brown envelope with ten grand in unmarked bills and all I got was this lousy t-shirt COVID

  222. 222.

    PPCLI

    @Kent: Though the Alito/Thomas semi-dissent is much more damaging. The majority denied Texas cert on the grounds of standing. Presumably they also thought the case as a whole was worthless and risible, but they didn’t explicitly say that.

    Alito [+Thomas] basically said: “As I have said many times, it is mandatory for the court to hear cases like this. So I would have heard the case, because I don’t think the Constitution gives us a choice. But of course when the case was heard I wouldn’t have given them what they were asking for.”

  223. 223.

    Ruckus

    @germy:

    I don’t get it either. The only TV show he’d ever be the star of would be First Loser. The story of one man’s entire life of being a fuck up, right up to his last day.

  225. 225.

    cain

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    The attack ads will be a thing of beauty. Worth talking about it over the two year period till they have to get re-elected. Keep pressing them about that vote – sedititionous assholes. They’re patriotism should be questioned. Repeatedly while bringing this vote up as proof.

  228. 228.

    Ruckus

    @Barbara:

    I don’t think it’s that they can’t win with anyone else, it’s that he’s really their racist ass that they like because he’s an openly racist ass.

  230. 230.

    danielx

    Texas GOP chair says in light of Supreme Court tossing out Texas case, “Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the constitution.”

    It was tried before, you traitorous shitbag. It was called the Constitution of the Confederate States, and didn’t work out.

  231. 231.

    Amir Khalid

    @sixthdoctor:

    I just checked Trump’s Twitter feed. He hasn’t tweeted anything in two hours. He must be feeling crushed. His Schade brings me Freude.

  234. 234.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Baud: Ted can argue at Trump’s criminal trial.

    Cruz will be playing one of the German defense lawyers in the movie version.

  237. 237.

    cain

    @Mary G:

    Are they for real? Yeah, let em try  – I think they will find that there are a lot more liberals there than they think and will vote hard against secession. But hey, if they want to be traitors then it’s on.

    It looks like we really are going to watch these assholes “go for it”.

  238. 238.

    scav

    Who’re the Traitors in the House
    That’s made for you and me

    R e p
    Pees on the constitution!
    u b l
    Why the L? Why the L not?!
    i c a n s

  242. 242.

    cain

    @Mary G:

    My awesome awesome senator Jeff Merkley is putting this change to the constitution:

    “WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative William Lacy Clay (D-MO-1) today introduced the Abolition Amendment, which would strike the ‘Punishment Clause’ of the 13th Amendment in order to finally abolish slavery in the United States.”

  246. 246.

    Sure Lurkalot

    I don’t get Junior’s China China China ranting.  All dear old dad’s schlock is made there, and sissy’s too, and the patents, etc.

    As for nutso Allen West and secession, isn’t Texas the only one of the bunch that pays out more in Federal tax than they get? Two thumbs up from me, let Texas support the underwater states. I’m fucking tired of doing it my whole life.

  247. 247.

    dmsilev

    OK, so what does Trump do now? Besides send out so many whiny Tweets that it leads to an Internet snark shortage trying to mock them all, of course. He can either accept the loss (hah!) or what? The Electoral College votes on Monday, so maybe a weekend spent in a fruitless struggle to induce Biden electors to be faithless? (Protip to Donald: i’m sure New York Elector Hillary Clinton will be very receptive to your appeal). Lean on the GOP in Congress some more to try to reject the EC Vote?

  249. 249.

    cain

    @germy:

    Looks like this Duran Duran song comes to mind

    ? The union of the snake is on the climb
    Moving up it’s gonna race it’s gonna break
    Through the borderline ?

  250. 250.

    sab

    @lamh36: I don’t understand why Vilsack got all of the blame and Ben Jealous at NAACP got none. He is the one who first condemned her without hearing the unaltered tape.

  254. 254.

    Dan B

    @debbie: Thanks for posting Steve Schmidt’s rant against the traitorous GOP.  I don’t want his fiscal, economic, or welfare policies  – most likely – but he does know how to wake the center right from their addiction to delusions.

    He does support diversity so he may be able to persuade the white folks there is no reason to fear the blacks, browns, LGBTQ, or immigrants.  The GOP embrace of us vs. them was what drove him away

    And Woo Hoo for a good legal outcome!

  256. 256.

    Amir Khalid

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    Allan West was cashiered from the US Army for torturing an Iraqi police officer. I am astounded that he has a political career, let alone that he is a Republican state party chairman.

  259. 259.

    Amir Khalid

    @cain:

    It’ll need to be a yooge binge forTrump, given how down he’s feeling. I picture him doing the Mr Creosote order at McDonald’s: “I’ll have the lot.”

  260. 260.

    Citizen Alan

    @PsiFighter37: IIRC, the Dems /would/ have given Harriet Miers a pass. They were ecstatic at the thought of a 60 year old woman who’d been a Dem prior to 1988 and who wasn’t terribly smart taking one of the conservative seats.

  262. 262.

    J R in WV

    @debbie:

    Erick son of Erick said:

    …showed their pictures through rifle scopes. Thankfully, the website has been taken down. But this is where we are. Someone is going to get hurt.

    He appears to have completely forgotten Gabby Giffords’ shooting, after rifle scopes over her picture were published.

    What a fuqing dick!!! …going to get hurt?!?!?!? Already shot her, you despicable motherfuker..

  264. 264.

    burnspbesq

    @Amir Khalid:

    Correct. Alito and Thomas think the Court has no discretion to decline to hear cases filed as part of its original jurisdiction. But they made it clear that they agreed that Texas didn’t have standing.

  265. 265.

    Ken

    @Kent: I expect [Parler] will be a target for malware and hacking into the accounts and identities of the suckers who frequent it.

    I expect the founders built the malware into their servers, and are harvesting passwords. Then again, they’re probably not bright enough to think of that.

  266. 266.

    Dan B

    @lamh36: I remember the story of some American pastors who were at a church service i led by Desmond Tutu in South Africa.  Some were white which meant they were illegally mixing.  The military surrounded the church and came into the entry.  Tutu said, “Please join us.  Join us.  We are winning.  Join the winning sude.”*  The military did not arrest them.

    It would be great for Ebenezer and Warnock to issue a similar statement.  There are many who would be glad to stand with them.  And it throws the bigots to distraction.  It requires them to say they don’t want winning, at least not “that kind” of winning.

    *Not an accurate quote – close but no.

  267. 267.

    Dmbeaster

    @lamh36: Actually, Alito’s comment in which Thomas joined is a procedural point that they have advanced in prior cases.  Its a pedantic point, and they are just repeating it to be consistent, but Alito made it a point to say that he would not grant any other relief.  The procedural point is that the Constitution requires that they accept these suits for filing, and then dismiss based on standing, rather than treating a motion to file as discretionary.  In this case, its trivial and Alito seems to be saying he is not dissenting from a dismissal based on standing – just that denying the motion is bad procedure.

  268. 268.

    Jay C

    BTW, I read somewhere that King Orangeanus did NOT, after all, deign to (dis)grace tonight’s White House Christmas party with his presence. Maybe his staffers hid his cellphones, and he’s been spending hours overturning cushions and emptying drawers looking for them….

  269. 269.

    Ken

    @sixthdoctor: At the White House Christmas Party, guests were informed about 10 minutes ago that the president won’t be joining them to make remarks.

    Classically – by which I mean Caligula, Nero, that lot – this would be followed by the slaughter of the guests by the Praetorian Guard.

  270. 270.

    Dmbeaster

    @Amir Khalid: The process argument that they made is one that they have been advancing for some time, so they were just repeating the same point.  It was not a new point for this case.  They were just noting the continuing objection to the procedure, but also adding that they would not grant any other relief other than allowing the filing.

  271. 271.

    Anya

    @Amir Khalid:  The Galactic Federation has already rejected Earth’s membership based on many reasons but I think the number reason is we didn’t trap the malevolent creature known as Jared Kushner in a jar.

    We also turned a wolf into a pug.

  272. 272.

    Mary G

    The Trump campaign announced two new national cable TV "Stop the Steal" ads to air tomorrow morning, urging people to "call their legislators to demand a free and fair election."The ads have already been taken down on YouTube for violating community guidelines. pic.twitter.com/Ep8a5xMrfO— Amanda Golden (@amandawgolden) December 12, 2020

  273. 273.

    Kropacetic

    @dmsilev:

    maybe a weekend spent in a fruitless struggle to induce Biden electors to be faithless? (Protip to Donald: i’m sure New York Elector Hillary Clinton will be very receptive to your appeal).

    If there’s one thing Donald Trump “knows,” it’s that everyone has a price.

  279. 279.

    Suzanne

    Ahhhh. Just heard from a friend in Denver that her dad died on Sunday. Her mom, overcome with grief, fell and broke her shoulder on Monday, and got surgery on Tuesday. Just in time for her husband to land in the hospital with COVID. And he’s a dude in his late 30s who climbs mountains for fun.

    And two of my colleagues got laid off today.

    I’m tired.

  280. 280.

    Dan B

    @p.a.: Word is the guests at the White House Christmas Party have bern informed that Tang will not be making an appearance / ‘gracing their presence’.

  282. 282.

    Citizen Alan

    @catclub: 2, I think. I know scumbag Trent Kelly was on there, and I’m pretty sure I saw DERANGED scumbag Steve Pallazo on there too.

  285. 285.

    Bill Arnold

    @burnspbesq:

    Alito and Thomas think the Court has no discretion to decline to hear cases filed as part of its original jurisdiction.

    The computer security person part of me instantly reacted with Woot! A way to DDoS the Supreme Court!

  287. 287.

    Dan B

    @Mary G: The Parler posts are nuts but there is a worry about the calls for civil disobedience and violence.  Do we have enough FBI agents, uncorrupted of course.

  291. 291.

    Aleta

    Soon there’ll  be ads selling the fake new flag of the fake new confederacy.  Anyone can do it !   “Some assembly required.  Exact pattern not yet  confirmed.  Image and materials are subject to change.”   Mail out a paper cupcake flag or a toothpick and little pieces of construction paper.

  292. 292.

    Suzanne

    @Ruckus: There’s nothing to say. I feel terrible for my friend. It’s just so much, all at once.

    This pandemic can’t end fast enough. Fuck 2020. Just a terrible year.

  293. 293.

    Ruckus

    @germy:

    Also.

    Well if you are going to be this stupid and racist, really could you pick a better subject to be stupid and racist about than the supreme loser?

  295. 295.

    Martin

    We’re gonna need some more pardons.

    BREAKING: 68-page report from the VA Office Inspector General says three witnesses confirm Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) was the one who planted information in a smear campaign against a female veteran, who was sexually assaulted, to disparage her credibility.

  298. 298.

    Ruckus

    I think on January 20 at noon we should all Zoom gather and say “shitforbrains, YOU ARE FUCKING FIRED!”

  299. 299.

    Martin

    @Kent: Yeah, the interpretation I heard is that if a group of states want to bring a case before USSC, that should be entertained.

    And in a sense I agree with that. If you think you were wronged, and you very clearly were not, sometimes its good to hear the argument out and then put a unanimous decision out to explain why you are wrong.

    I mean, that’s just good parenting right there.

  302. 302.

    Aleta

    Now Allen West is saying (paraphr),  On second thought, I think you other states should be the ones to leave and we’ll stop supporting you.   

  304. 304.

    Martin

    I would be delighted if the House refused to seat the 126 members of congress who signed the suit to overturn a US election, on the grounds that, well, we don’t let insurrectionists serve as members of Congress, but Dems aren’t nearly that cutthroat.

    They really should be, though. It wouldn’t be the end of the world. 126 special elections isn’t that big of a deal.

  310. 310.

    Martin

    Man, bad day for Ted Cruz. First he loses his big chance to argue a case before USSC, and then this.

    After 51 years, the Zodiac Killer’s cipher has been solved by amateur codebreakers

  311. 311.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    At the White House Christmas Party, guests were informed about 10 minutes ago that the president won’t be joining them to make remarks.

    War on Christmas

  316. 316.

    Dan B

    @Dan B: Autocorrect , stores = smores

    I’m going to have homemade tapioca pudding, Marionberry pie, also homemade and looks like it will be piecrust and marionberry sauce.

    We don’t usually eat dessert, but tough week = go nuts!

  317. 317.

    Dan B

    @NotMax: I should see that movie some day because the bits are intriguing.

    Melania is schmart to have loaded the moving vans already…or I think she has……

  318. 318.

    stinger

    @zhena gogolia:

    @Dan B: Picture to yourself, mon ami, a nicely dressed woman going through her day — yoga class, boardroom meeting, lunch date — accompanied everywhere by, setting a place for, walking holding hands with… HER OWN KIDNEY. Meanwhile the dogs are setting up a racket that hurts my ears but nevertheless can’t drown out the commercial’s voiceover. At such moments I can never seem to find the remote.

    The most recent, and perhaps most loathsome, of this type of ad depicts a woman talking in a come-hither voice about taking care of her skin… DOWN THERE. I fully anticipate that the next iteration of this commercial will include a walking, talking cartoon asshole.

  321. 321.

    Dan B

    @NotMax:  I wonder how well the floors are soundproofed. Could be entertaining sound effects at the party.*

    *Perhaps an encore performance by Toot-liani.

  325. 325.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Since Dump didn’t attend the holy Christmas Party, then obviously the Third Lady made sure to host.

    Can you image the scandal if a Dem First Lady and President didn’t attend a bleeping Christmas party.   It would be months on how much they hate “Heartland” values and are Godless coastal elites.

  329. 329.

    Yarrow

    @Martin:  This guy is so awful. I hold particular disdain for him. I wish it was a surprise that he did something like that but it’s not.

  330. 330.

    patroclus

    I like George Takei’s take – he wondered just exactly how Hugo Chavez and the Chinese Communist Party got to Alito.

  331. 331.

    Barbara

    @CaseyL: Are you seriously suggesting that petitioning a court for relief should be an actionable deed?  This is the kind of politics as performance and gesture that ends up wasting a lot of energy for nothing gained in return.

  332. 332.

    Ruff the Dog

    The urge to return to the before-times normal is so strong; you see it in the media coverage of the Biden administration and the palpable relief at the daily Trump losses. But we cannot rest. We have to be ruthless in protecting democracy. On public policy we can do what we Democrats always do and check our knives at the door to the gunfight. But for protecting democracy we have to go for the throat, the short hairs, the balls, the achilles, and the soft white underbelly, and then their mothers and children.

  333. 333.

    patroclus

    @Barbara: Indeed.  The suggestion that the 126 Congress members not be seated is absurd.  Signing on to an amicus brief is not sedition or insurrection.  We’re on the side of the rule of law – we should act like it.

    On the other hand, they should instead be mocked and held up to ridicule for decades.

  334. 334.

    Barbara

    @patroclus: I don’t mind someone in Congress standing up and giving a speech and making a motion to disrupt the ceremony for them taking office, but trying to get people to sign petitions as if it were a serious project is a waste of time.

  335. 335.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Martin:

     we don’t let insurrectionists serve as members of Congress, but Dems aren’t nearly that cutthroat.

    Actually, they can’t refuse to seat them if their elections have been certified by their states.  They would have to be expelled, 2/3’s required for that.  Ain’t gonna happen.

  336. 336.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Thanks for the link. It could be a secondary link.  I have a life to live, and just can’t comb through the primary sources of the crazy.  Plus It’s just too horrible to look at the mass psychotic outbreak that is the conservative republican party.

  343. 343.

    Bill Arnold

    @patroclus:

    Signing on to an amicus brief is not sedition or insurrection.

    The election fraud lies deliberately implanted in the Republican base will fester for decades, will result in domestic terrorism acts (at least), and will be impossible to fully undo. So yeah, it is absolutely seditious. Maybe it would be laughed out of court. (Is it stupider than the Texas stunt?) I don’t much care; these fuckers need to pay. Perpetual mockery is a start but is not sufficient. We are still living with the botched aftermath of the 19th century US civil war, where healing was also a misguided focus.

  344. 344.

    J R in WV

    @patroclus:

    The suggestion that the 126 Congress members not be seated is absurd. Signing on to an amicus brief is not sedition or insurrection. We’re on the side of the rule of law – we should act like it.

    On the other hand, they should instead be mocked and held up to ridicule for decades.

    Let’s look at the plain text of Amendment 14, section 3:

    No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

    “Giving aid or comfort to the the enemies thereof…” supporting the lawsuit seeking to overturn a legal and fair election comes pretty close in my IANAL book. Attempting to overthrow the legitimate President for a murderous incompetent racist tool of foreign enemies… sounds like a dead hit on what the 14th amendment prohibits. Also sounds like a 2/3rds vote is required to become seated, not to be thrown out.

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