Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

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

The Supreme Court is corrupt. Democrats must win in November and force court reform.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

I’m just a talker, trying to find a channel!

“Loving your country does not mean lying about it’s history.”

Another missed opportunity for Jamie Dimon to just shut the fuck up.

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

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

“Cheese and Kraken paired together for the appetizer trial.”

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

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

Fuck that bum, let’s go Joe!

‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’

Usually wrong but never in doubt

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

You are here: Home / Politics / GOP Death Cult / Late Night Open Thread: Our Two-Party System — One Party, One Failing / Flailing Cult

Late Night Open Thread: Our Two-Party System — One Party, One Failing / Flailing Cult

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Idpol – ‘identity politics’, i.e., racism in a clean shirt…

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85Comments

  1. 1.

    dmsilev

    The GOP is stuck with Trump now. One thing that his extended temper tantrum has done is force nearly all of the current set of Republican office-holders to publicly declare their support for said temper tantrum. Call it an oath of fealty if you will. Now, consider the hypothetical challenger-to-Trump for 2024. Where do they even start?

  2. 2.

    smike

    @dmsilev:

    And they are stuck with a base that will eat their face. Right/wrong does not matter, they just need to eat. And eat they will.

    I pity them not.

  3. 3.

    mrmoshpotato

    I think a lot about those White House aides, campaign staffers, and GOP office-holders who spent the first 10 days after the election anonymously saying “what’s the harm in letting him vent while he comes to terms with his loss?” to reporters.

    Yeah!  No harm in letting a Soviet shitpile mobster manbaby scream his fat, orange, fascist head off when he still has the power of the land’s highest office.

    Has Dump learned his lesson yet, Suzie?

    Idiots.

  4. 4.

    mrmoshpotato

    I suspect that there are plenty of Republicans who neither intended nor wanted for things to get as out of hand as they have, and who, despite all evidence from the last four years, thought this would all just blow over instead of escalating.— Jacob T. Levy (@jtlevy) December 13, 2020

    Forget it, Jake. It’s been a pile of shit party for at least 40 years.

  6. 6.

    mrmoshpotato

    @dmsilev:

    The GOP is stuck with Trump now. One thing that his extended temper tantrum has done is force nearly all of the current set of Republican office-holders to publicly declare their support for said temper tantrum. 

    If only it had been completely fucking obvious that Dump was a pile of shit racist manbaby back in 2015…

    Too bad.  So sad.  Fuck ’em.

  8. 8.

    West of the Rockies

    I dont think this gets enough play:  35 years of right wing rage media, starting with Limbaugh, contributed mightily to this GOP decay.

    Well, soon enough Rush will “assume room temperature” (as he has crudely been saying for years about Democrats who have passed).  But the damage is done.  Cape GirLardo must be proud.

  9. 9.

    jonas

    @dmsilev: Now, consider the hypothetical challenger-to-Trump for 2024. Where do they even start?

    Shit. I don’t even want to know. Trump supporters aren’t even pretending not to be full-blown fascists at this point.

  10. 10.

    different-church-lady

    I’m just gonna re-up this piece I wrote for ⁦@nytopinion⁩ about how Trumpism is the GOP’s natural state. It’s not going to change, it will probably only get worse.

    Again: Trump is the symptom, not the disease.

  11. 11.

    jonas

    @West of the Rockies: As we know Rush, like Fox News, spawned a thousand imitators across the am spectrum. He may pass — hopefully into eternal perdition — but his influence will live on, unfortunately.

  12. 12.

    The Moar You Know

    Trump’s hands are really incredibly small.  I wouldn’t be showing my hands off in public like that if I were him.

  14. 14.

    mrmoshpotato

    “What you want is for us to overturn this election so that your king can stay in power,” said liberal Justice Jill Karofsky. “That is so un-American.” https://t.co/rcDB0yutiW— Randy Bryce (@IronStache) December 13, 2020

    Justice Karofsky added, “Too bad. So sad. Suck an ass’s ass, and get the fuck out of our courtroom, you traitorous Trump trash!”

  16. 16.

    NotMax

    With all due apology to Betty, when it comes to Dolt 45 –

    “What cracker is this same that deafs our ears
    With this abundance of superfluous breath?”
      – Wm. Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King John
    .

  18. 18.

    prostratedragon

    @mrmoshpotato:  Didn’t listen, just watched for a moment, and the man do not look good at all. If anyone cared about him they’d try to get him to seek help, like now.

  21. 21.

    Yutsano

    @prostratedragon:

    If anyone cared about him

    I already see the problem…

    There is no such thing as love or care in that family. There is only who can do what for whom at any given time. No one from his supposed family will do anything. The ex Mrs Newsom will not do anything for him. He’ll have to keep decaying until either he can no longer function or some outside force kills him.

  24. 24.

    jonas

    The GOP is now composed of two key constituencies: rich, entitled mofos who would as soon see America and all it stands for burn to the ground than pay one more cent in taxes; and redneck fascists who long to see an authoritarian jackboot pressed across the throat of all those they perceive as “elitists” who look down on them, but are willing to let the rich bastards run roughshod over them, if it means that they can swing their penis extenders guns around in public without people thinking they’re losers. The problem is, that’s not really a governing coalition. It’s not really anything except a mob of entitled, spoiled bastards who don’t give a shit about the country and think it’s all about them. Funny that they’ve found their idol in Trump.

  26. 26.

    Another Scott

    @dmsilev:

    Call it an oath of fealty if you will. Now, consider the hypothetical challenger-to-Trump for 2024. Where do they even start?

    Someone will find a way.

    Watch people like Kasich. They may not win in 2024, but they’ll change the conversation from Donnie to something else.

    Political parties forget about losers and change their message when a new standard bearer comes along. The GOP will change, too, because they want to win more than anything else.  Parties forget about losers, or at least don’t mention them any more even when their ideas survive.

    We can’t be complacent and think that Donnie will be an anchor around all the GOP candidates in the next cycles.  Too many people are too ambitious to be in his shadow for long.  They’re going to fight it out for the nominations, and not let Javanka or Junior or Eric or that screaming crazy lady just take over.

    Yeah, they’re scared of his RWNJ supporters.  But those people have always been out there.  When the government actually pushes back, they go back under their rocks…

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  27. 27.

    Danielx

     

    I think a lot about those White House aides, campaign staffers, and GOP office-holders who spent the first 10 days after the election anonymously saying “what’s the harm in letting him vent while he comes to terms with his loss?” to reporters.

    Honestly? Fuck those guys.

  29. 29.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Another Scott:

    Political parties forget about losers and change their message when a new standard bearer comes along. The GOP will change, too, because they want to win more than anything else.  Parties forget about losers, or at least don’t mention them any more even when their ideas survive.

    Most losers tend to go away quietly, assuming the role of elder statesman.  Trump won’t do that, he’ll be more like a stalker if they try to spurn him.

  30. 30.

    Redshift

    @mrmoshpotato: I realized after watching the government set up by the GOP in Iraq that the conservative definition of democracy is “elections are held and the right people win.” Will of the people has no part in it.

  31. 31.

    Redshift

    @mrmoshpotato:

    I suspect that there are plenty of Republicans who neither intended nor wanted for things to get as out of hand as they have 

    Deep Throat said it best: “they’re not very bright, and things got out of hand.”

  33. 33.

    mrmoshpotato

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Most losers tend to go away quietly, assuming the role of elder statesman.  Trump won’t do that, he’ll be more like a stalker if they try to spurn him. 

    Spurn away, assclowns!  Let the monster you created destroy your party.

  37. 37.

    matt the somewhat reasonable

    Well, Trump might have lost but his supporters are going to go down gloating about how they’re still going to steal the election from the voters.

    That’ll show em.

  39. 39.

    Brachiator

    @mrmoshpotato:

    I suspect that there are plenty of Republicans who neither intended nor wanted for things to get as out of hand as they have, and who, despite all evidence from the last four years, thought this would all just blow over instead of escalating.— Jacob T. Levy

    I had a copy of The New Yorker from November, 2015, with a long article about how wary the GOP was of Trump. Even some disparaging remarks from the GOP leadership.

    It’s funny how quickly and completely they fell in line behind him. And continue to do so. The GOP abandoned any principles they had a long time ago. They want to win at any cost. A few of them may talk about Trump privately, but who has gone on record publicly about him?

    They will fall in line again if he comes back in 2024. And the right wing propaganda machine will be ready to roll. The crazy thing is that the right wing propaganda machine will deny that Trump ever existed if it serves their purposes. That’s how craven these fools are. Plus they know that the GOP base are suckers who will fall for anything. You just have to spoonfeed them lies coated with patriotism and “economic anxiety” and give them a few scapegoats to hate and they will be happy.

  44. 44.

    Mary G

    They had to close down the Michigan State Legislature because tomorrow’s electoral votes will be cast in the same building, and they received credible threats of terrorism.

  45. 45.

    Chris T.

    @The Moar You Know: Trump’s hands are really incredibly small.  I wouldn’t be showing my hands off in public like that if I were him.

    I’m not a good judge of these things, but I think part of it is actually how Trump tries to look taller and disguise how fat he is.  With 4 or more inches of lift in his shoes and those oversize suits and coats he wears, it makes him look as if it’s about 6’2″ and has a large body (rather than just a large stomach), and hence his hands ought to be larger too. So viewers expect bigger hands, and then his just look tiny.

  46. 46.

    Brachiator

    @Yutsano:

    Junior looks as if he is seriously toasted. I’m also surprised that he seems to be in such a cheap ass motel room.

    That boy ain’t right.

  47. 47.

    Geoduck

    @Chris T.: No, he’s seriously got A Thing about how small his hands are. It was Spy Magazine who really started that particular ball rolling in public with their “stubby-fingered vulgarian” crack, and twenty years later, the Shiatgibbon is/was still sending picture of his grubby little mitts to at least one of the former editors.

  49. 49.

    Citizen Alan

    @mrmoshpotato:

    I suspect that there are plenty of Republicans who neither intended nor wanted for things to get as out of hand as they have, and who, despite all evidence from the last four years, thought this would all just blow over instead of escalating.

    For some reason, this tweet reminds me of this Onion article.

  50. 50.

    Brachiator

    I suspect that there are plenty of Republicans who neither intended nor wanted for things to get as out of hand as they have, and who, despite all evidence from the last four years, thought this would all just blow over instead of escalating.

    I need to come back to this. Republicans saw what Trump was, but there is something about them that is attracted to feeble minded autocrats.

    The GOP knew what Trump was. They had many opportunities to reject him. They could have kept the nomination from him. They could have voted to remove him from office as part of the impeachment process. They could have clearly and forcefully endorsed the election results.

    But they didn’t. They coddled him and flattered him and protected him. And used him.

    And now he is raising money for 2024 and has a core of supporters who share his sense of grievance.

    And still there are pundits who think that there are Republicans with values and honor instead of this morally bankrupt bunch of fools with their heads up Trump’s ass. They can’t shake him loose and are waiting to see if he cuts a fart.

  51. 51.

    mrmoshpotato

    and just cheesify and bake the hell out of it

    Last night did the chicken-pasta-pesto-Alfredo casserole comfort food everyone in the family likes. You can put almost anything in it and just cheesify and bake the hell out of it. This time caramelized some onions and sautéed mushrooms.— SeverelyPunishableHat (@Popehat) December 13, 2020

  52. 52.

    NotMax

    @Brachiator

    And now he is raising money for 2024

    And now he is raising money advertised as being for 2024. Like all else he spouts, it’s a lie. There will be no stab at running outside of meaningless window dressing.

  54. 54.

    mrmoshpotato

    @NotMax:

    And now he is raising money advertised as being for 2024. 

    Yup.  The grift goes on.  And I’m expecting Dump to be dead or in prison by 2024.

  55. 55.

    gene108

    @Another Scott:

    Republicans have only gotten more radically conservative after an election loss.

    Ford’s loss got Reagan. Bush, Sr.’s loss got Gingrich’s Contract on America, and Bush. Jr., who was considered very conservative in 2000.

    Bush, Jr.’s demise & McCain’s loss got us the Tea Party, and Romney’s loss got us to Trump.

    Trump’s loss is going to lead to openly fascist, and racist Republican politicians by 2022 and definitely by 2024.

  57. 57.

    Brachiator

    @NotMax: 

    And now he is raising money for 2024

    And now he is raising money advertised as being for 2024. Like all else he spouts, it’s a lie. There will be no stab at running outside of meaningless window dressing.

    The fundraising keeps his base tied to him whether he runs or not. Pence is the immediate loser here. And it will be tough for anyone else to break through if Trump runs a crackpot shadow presidency out of Mar a Lago.

    Of course, Trump may decide to do nothing but play golf. But he will keep the cash from the suckers rolling in.

    The GOP can’t shake Trump loose without some display of courage. Trump is, for now, still in control of the GOP.

    ETA. I will be curious to see how Trump reacts to the Electoral College meeting later today.

    Hmm. I guess states will be voting throughout the day. California by 5 pm Eastern time. Hawaii by 7 pm Eastern Time.

  67. 67.

    Brachiator

    @burnspbesq:

    This Texas contest is wild. Luther doesn’t appear to have much political experience. And background character Allen West is a grifter.

  69. 69.

    Geminid

    @Brachiator: Shelley Luther of the Texas runoff is comparable to Lauren Boebert, recent winner of the Colorado 3rd Congressional District. Boebert also made her name by keeping her business open in defiance of Covid-19 restrictions. Boebert capitalized on her notoriety by defeating six term republican Congressman Scott Tipton in a primary. She then won the general election and will now represent the 3rd in Congress. Like Luther, Boebert is relatively young, in her 30s I believe.

  70. 70.

    satby

    Nice to see a shout-out to Hoffer’s True Believer, which was one of the first books I read about political thought and mass movements way back in the 60s, and has influenced me my entire life. It inoculated me against much of the simple sound byte political con jobs so many people seem to fall for.

  71. 71.

    p.a.

    Hive mind question: odds on tRump being physically able to campaign by late ’23/’24?  If the private docs he chooses (no more free gvt healthcare) are like his lawyers, he’s doomed.

  73. 73.

    trnc

    The harm in “letting him vent” without contradiction or pushback is that it changed the political world around you and let Trump redefine, again, what it means to be a Republican.

    And, in their eyes, an American.

    As far as the opinion that republicans just thought they would ride this out, are we STILL giving them Chuck Todd levels of tongue bath? Every time the republicans had a choice, they backed up DT. Every single time. I was done giving them passes a long time ago. I’d love to think this will come back and bite them in the ass in Georgia in January, but hate, rage and psychosis seem to be working pretty well for them as far as their base are concerned.

  74. 74.

    Uncle Jeffy

    Allen West ran for office here in Illinois a few years ago and got his ass kicked so thoroughly that he left the state immediately afterward.

  75. 75.

    SFAW

    @Another Scott:

    Watch people like Kasich. They may not win in 2024, but they’ll change the conversation from Donnie to something else.

    You’re assuming a rational Rethug Partei. Were I Kasich, I’d be worried that some MAGAt will try to take out me and my family, for daring to rise up against the god-emperor.

  76. 76.

    Chris Johnson

    @Brachiator: I do have to wonder what it’s gonna take for you to stop putting scare quotes around ‘economic anxiety’. How many people have to starve?

    Just saying. Granted, I’m an Elizabeth Warren Dem. The rest of what you’ve got to say, yep, agreed. It just really bugs me, every time. The only reason I’m not still panicked and scrambling for Bernie Sanders figures as some sort of refuge is, my parents (who owned stuff) DIED.

    That doesn’t scale. Even under COVID. My folks were lucky, plus they hung on to every possible resource they could as long as they did live, making the effect more striking.

    As a result of this, everybody I know lives in economic anxiety, and I never like seeing the scare quotes. It’s like seeing somebody around here spouting Trumpist talking points.

  78. 78.

    boatboy_srq

    it’s also possible that a lot of the most recent GOP radicalisation is down to white idpol reacting to the existence of a Black president.

    Ya think?

  80. 80.

    bluefoot

    @Redshift: The US track record in South America is the same.  It’s just that they’ve come out from behind the curtain here at home.  Plus they’ve realized that they can get away with it here, where before they thought they had to be behind the scenes/subtle about it.  No longer.

  83. 83.

    ballerat

    @Another Scott: It isn’t about what the party wants anymore. It’s what the trumpist base wants.

    As others have pointed out, Trump is a symptom not the disease. As long as Trump is alive they will want Trump. If Trump dies in at least the next four years they will still demand from the next GOP candidates what Trump was pushing.

    I don’t know if Kasich has the sociopathy it takes to deliver that, but I am certain there will be others who can easily manage it.

    One more thing and it’s important: The base doesn’t see Donnie as a loser. He was a winner by every measure that matters for them, and most now believe his second term was stolen from him.

    Donnie isn’t just a winner to them, he’s a hero. And a victim! His successor must and will acknowledge that.

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