All right everyone, it’s game day in the House. Most Representatives should know how they plan to vote by now, but enough may be on the edge today that it’s worth calling their offices again. In the end though, whether five GOP Congressmen vote to impeach or fifteen, the House will send a bipartisan referral to the Senate some time late today or tomorrow. What happens then will be “interesting”, as the apocryphal Chinese proverb says.
WATCH: Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) says majority of GOP "paralyzed with fear" @RepJasonCrow: "I had a lot of conversations with my Republican colleagues. … A couple of them broke down in tears … saying that they are afraid for their lives if they vote for this impeachment." pic.twitter.com/ESEu40WW1P
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) January 13, 2021
I called Pat Toomey’s Pittsburgh office this morning and told a pleasant young man that I greatly respect the Senator’s courage in standing up to Trump. While it’s fair to say my opinion of Toomey could hardly have gone down, we should acknowledge that Republicans who stand up to Trump each take on a significant a personal and professional risk.
Actually, correct that. The personal risk and the professional risk are stark opposites of each other right now. Professionally speaking, Republicans who *support* Trump have gotten themselves way, way out on a limb. The nutbag faction is watching donors and job prospects dry up like a rain puddle in the Mojave desert. Republicans who want the Chamber of Commerce to take their phone calls in a year know they need to lose a shoe up Trump’s ass today, or at least keep their head down in the fashion of blog favorite Tom [****] Cotton. On the other hand, *personal* risk is the same story flipped on its head. For Republicans like Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney, Trump’s frothing mob is their neighbors. It’s the people who sit next to them at church, the dude who cuts their grass, and the guy who walks their dog back home. It’s their kids’ best friends and the reliable primary voters who hoard survival rations and keep binders of printed-out instructions for hand-made ghillie suits and home brewed IEDs.
An atheist city dweller like me has the privilege of seeing all those folks from a distance. I don’t have to care (much) whether some part-time machinist in the exurbs gets over his Trump mania or does something self-destructive and regrettable. Any Republican who stands up to Trump doesn’t have that privilege. They’re going to lose lifelong friends and gain a security detail, and it’s worth keeping that in mind when you call their offices today.
FelonyGovt
My Representative is an impeachment manager (Ted Lieu) and one of my Senators is about to become VP. I’ll call Feinstein’s office today.
Punchy
I see Gym Jordan has finally learned from this experience…yes, he wants to toss Liz Cheney from leadership for speaking the truth. That’s showing courage and independence. That’s showing a willingness to have unity….or something.
geg6
You must have talked to same very nice young man I talked to at Toomey’s office. He seemed grateful for the support.
SFAW
If my memory is correct, when he lived in MA, Mitt’s lawn crew were
illegalsundocumented “visitors.” I think the Boston Glob had a story or five about that, in the period before it became Herald-lite.Wag
One quibble. The guy cutting their grass is not their neighbor. He’s probably an immigrant, either from SE Asia or Latin America
Lavocat
Fuck’em. Live by your oath of office or die by it. No quarter.
Gin & Tonic
These morons are scared of taking a vote? As I posted early this morning, Alexei Navalny, whom Putin’s goons poisoned and very nearly killed, who spent nearly 5 months in Germany getting well, is returning to Russia. These R’s are not fit to scrape mud off his shoes.
Anyway, my junior Senator has already proposed expelling Cruz and Hawley from the Senate, so I think he’s good. Both Reed and Whitehouse voted to convict the first time around and will certainly do it again.
Aleta
OT, but about keeping an eye on one’s state officials:
SFAW
@Punchy:
Gym Jordan should be investigated. Nothing in particular, it would just be because he’s a lying, traitorous asshole.
Charluckles
After these same Republicans spent the last year saying “tough sh*t” to the millions of Americans who were afraid of contracting COVID at their work places I am having a tremendous amount of trouble even faking sympathy for them.
CaseyL
Considering how the Dem Reps who were directly targeted and chased during the coup attempt are standing by their determination to impeach, I’m having some difficulty mustering much sympathy for the mob’s enablers now boo-hooing over the threat to their own safety.
Baud
Via Reddit, somewhat relevant.
SFAW
@Gin & Tonic:
Yeah, I saw that Navalny news. I am amazed at his courage. And, of course, with the Partei of Traitorous Whiners, I am continually amazed at their cowardice, cravenness, and evil.
patrick II
Rep Alexandria Rep Ocasio-Cortez, Rep Ilhan Omar, Rep Rashida Tlaib, and Rep Ayanna Pressle face those fears with courage daily. Republicans are not allies with them on most issues, but they should be on matters of sedition. Have some fucking courage.
guachi
My wife and I are military so she still votes in her hometown in MI. Her rep is Fred Upton and he’s one of the few Republicans who is voting for impeachment. The Republicans in that district don’t seem any less nutty than elsewhere so I don’t know why he’s voting yes.
Tim F
@guachi:
He wants to stay out of jail and in the good graces of the Chamber of Commerce. The difference between him and the majority voting no is he’s willing to take on the inevitable personal losses and danger to his family in exchange for more professional credibility down the line.
Whereaway
So, Republicans are caving in to terrorists? Time to hold them accountable
Edit: This is somewhat harsh – I understand they’re afraid. But, this is still allowing terrorists to drive government, and I have a major problem with that.
ant
I called my congressman Mike Gallagher and asked him to vote for impeachment just now.
First time calling any rep for me.
If not now, when?
KnittyGal
And I would argue that the risk is exactly why they need to vote yes. The personal risk aspect is not normal, should not be a part of their jobs and they need to make a stand against the guy endangering them for it to stop.
hells littlest angel
Sounds like some Republicans need a career change. It would be as good for them as for us.
Sasha
If these cowards are afraid for the lives because the leopard might eat their face if they vote for impeachment, they can always resign en masse. “Need to spend more time with their family.”
Ken
Oh, there’s several things that need investigation, as I figure you know since you said “Gym” Jordan.
The Moar You Know
It’s easy to dismiss someone as a craven coward for having a target painted on their back by the frothing nutters, but having just been through such an experience myself (local lawsuits on school reopening in which I was a plaintiff) well, frankly, these people should be scared to death.
That being said, I knew it was a risk going in and will take the consequences. I would, at a minimum, expect a member of Congress who is making over $200k a year and getting a lifelong pension for taking on said risk, none of which I got for standing up to the “reopen at all costs” psychos, to display at least as much “bravery” as I did.
(FWIW, I don’t consider it bravery, as standing up for the right thing is just…doing the right thing. That’s just the cost of living)
trollhattan
After departing the ship, rats chat amongst themselves.
Ken
For those who missed it last night (I think?), the stars mean “insert expletive of choice here”. Tim is not giving Cotton a four-star rating.
Does Balloon Juice have a “jargon” page? It seems like something a full-service blog should provide.
jl
Theodore Roosevelt survived an assassination attempt and gave a speech a few minutes later.
“Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible. I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot.”
https://www.history.com/news/shot-in-the-chest-100-years-ago-teddy-roosevelt-kept-on-talking
I have some basic human empathy for their fear. I can’t say I have any pity, since they are in a situation of their own making. They have reason to fear some of their own GOP colleagues too. All of us have reason to fear.
They chose to stay in the GOP room.
Another dimension is that mere failure to preserve their pagan idol Trump in office may bring the same rage. For a substantial fraction of the craziest Trump base, mere failure is grounds for vengeance. They may be in worse trouble than they think if the threats are credible
Edit: TR was saved because he was conscientious and prepared, and wrote out his speech in his own hand, and the bullet was stopped by fifty layers of paper folded up in a pocket. Maybe a lesson there that if you are conscientious and principled in your duties, you have a better chance.
Ken
He should read Mary Trump’s book.
Gin & Tonic
@Ken: There used to be a link to the B-J lexicon, not sure where it went.
RepubAnon
@Whereaway: Robespierre started the French Revolution’s Terror – and was its last victim. If the Republicans had not spent so many years encouraging these folks, and putting a guns for all (white) people agenda on the front burner, they wouldn’t be so frightened.
I expect they’re more worried about their political lives than their actual lives – but they did ignore all their followers death threats against Democrats. Now, they’re facing the consequences.
patrick II
They say that familiarity brings contempt. Congress works with law every day; discussing them, passing them, reading staff reports about them, so perhaps that is why many republicans show contempt for the law, or what the law would be, outside of their chambers.
When I saw a Republican congresswomen warn democrats that they should let this seditious episode pass or there will be more violence, I thought of what it would be if spoken outside the privileged halls of congress. If someone was on trial for a serious crime and one of his allies told the prosecuting attorney or members of the jury to let it go or there would be more violence. That person too would be arrested an face serious time for intimidation. But for Republicans, speaking inside of congress, those rules don’t apply. But perhaps someone should remind them how the world of law outside of their chamber works and how serious veiled threats would be taken.
geg6
@Ken:
It’s so rarely used. Most of us are less squeamish about calling a mother fucker a mother fucker. Tim is a nicer person than most of us jackals.
Roger Moore
@Lavocat:
I agree. It’s also the whole question of the danger of capitulating to terrorists. If senators and representatives let threats change the way they vote today, they’re letting the world know they can be intimidated, and the threats will keep coming. The tougher and smarter thing to do is to publicly resist the threats now, accept the small risk, and let the world know threatening you won’t work. If you’re not prepared to do that, you don’t belong in Congress.
Bobby Thomson
An important perspective. I’m going to call Toomey to make sure he doesn’t go wobbly.
jl
For some Trumpster nutcases, they are not just not doing their job well enough, they will be held personally liable for failing a prophecy, which will be deemed apostacy and sheer evil.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@trollhattan: almost two years after departing the fucking ship
Wapiti
@trollhattan: Maybe he should talk to Comey <spit> to get more data about people who won’t admit mistakes.
Barbara
@Roger Moore: And really, it’s just a dodge. Elected officials receive death threats on a semi-routine basis. They turn the threats over to the Secret Service, who assess the threat level and make arrests. The missing subtext here is that they are receiving death threats from the kind of people they identify with, as people who vote for them and who share a lot of their same beliefs politically, and they don’t want to unleash law enforcement on them. In more than a few cases they themselves fomented the craziness. They just never expected to have it turned around and aimed at them. And really, they are trying to get credit for being in favor of impeachment without actually voting for it. Fuck them. They deserve zero sympathy. Journalists should stop this phrasing immediately.
Citizen Alan
@Aleta: Putting state supreme court seats to a vote is stupid. Putting the position of chief justice up to a vote is super-ultra-mega stupid. Fun fact: At the time Mississippi became a state, it had an appointed judiciary, and the Miss Supreme Ct was respected for the quality of its opinions. But alas, it kept issuing opinions that gave protections to slaves and flat-out said that if the question was whether a black person was a slave or was free, they would err on the side of freedom. So the MS Leg pushed through the Constitution of 1840 which made all judicial positions elected, and it’s pretty much sucked ever since.
Cacti
I have exactly zero sympathy for elected officials who are “torn” between their duty to the Constitution they swore to uphold, and their personal cowardice.
They spent decades creating the monster that turned on them. Reap what you sow.
Vhh
Fuck the fears of GOP snowflakes. They signed up with the Party of Trump and a large majority were happy to ride the Führer coup train to long lasting power. If thry can’t stand the hest, they should get out of the kitchen by resigning.
frosty
I’ve gotten to know my Senator’s voicemail. I don’t think I’ve ever talked to a staffer for either of them.
Roger Moore
I think this from AOC gets to the point pretty well:
My only quibble is that I think AOC is overstating the “attempts on our lives”; “threats to our lives” would be closer.
Almost Retired
@FelonyGovt: Good idea. I’m in Lieu’s district as well, but it wouldn’t hurt to prod Feinstein. “Go ahead and hug Lindsey Graham if you must, Dianne, but ultimately please do the right thing.”
Mike in NC
Just checked out the Washington Post online. They’re saying 20,000 National Guard troops will be deployed on the streets of DC for the inauguration.
Hell, I would deploy the entire 1st Armored Division as well. Give them generous Rules of Engagement: don’t fire until you see the red of their MAGA hats.
Citizen Alan
@Whereaway:
Is that really a surprise? 9/11 was perpetrated by people with close connections with the Saudi Royal Family. And our response was to invade Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11 but which was perhaps the strongest regional geopolitical rival to SA. Republicans are fine with terrorism so long as the people perpetrating it are ideological allies.
laura
Just spoke with a staffer in the Sacramento office of Congresswoman Doris Matsui to thank her for her strong support of impeachment and gratitude that she and her staff in DC and at home are safe. Now on to Feinstein….
Kattails
IF these people are afraid of the monster they created & nurtured, then perhaps they need to get together as a body and state out loud for the cameras that the idea of election fraud is bullshit.
the pollyanna from hell
If I weren’t so lazy I would flood the lines with sympathy for terror, anxious inquiries for family safety, etc. If I were a reporter I would do it in public. Make it part of the narrative for every republican or libertarian.
Frank Wilhoit
@trollhattan: Dear Gen. Kelly,
Why wasn’t one day enough?
Kattails
Bill Kristol again: headline clips from various newspapers about the 10 Republicans who voted in judiciary against impeachment of Nixon–as those member died. Guess what the legacy of each was?
Another Scott
Leopards, faces, etc.
But it’s much more than that.
For decades, the GOP has been dehumanizing and demonizing Democrats and spewing little more (and mostly less) than bad-faith “arguments”. Even supposedly “reasonable” Republicans were more than happy. Witness Boehner:
What did they expect would happen with the perpetual, ever more extreme, bad faith arguments and demonization. Q? Lizard People?? Both Sides???!!
Words have meaning. The Truth matters. Until these nutters crawl back from the edge, the Democratic Congress is going to have to work around them.
Cheers,
Scott.
trollhattan
@jl:
Just found this published account of the TR shooting in the Project Guttenberg collection, which contains copious details, photos, even an xray of the bulled lodged in his chest. What I recall from the Morris bio is that same day, he telegraphed his buddy Seth Bullock (of “Deadwood” fame) and quipped about how the shooter had used the wrong caliber to kill a Roosevelt.
trollhattan
@Roger Moore:
Hate to say it but there might be incidents they’re aware of that we are not.
Melusine
If they hadn’t made the conscious, calculated choice to court and play into the delusions of nazis and crazies, they wouldn’t be in this position. They certainly had no problem putting the lives of election staff, fellow members, and anyone else involved in the “steal” at risk – not to mention the existence of the country itself. They warrant NO sympathy.
Given the severity of the delusions held by the Q-Anon cult, they risk death any time they do anything that may cause disappointment or distrust in the ranks of the faithful. Look how fast the mob turned on pence.
They refused to do anything to check the wanna-dictator’s power. Had they done their goddamn jobs and voted to convict during the last impeachment, we never would have been in this crisis. They each have the blood of hundreds of thousands of trump’s victims on their hands.
Convicting him now is literally the LEAST they can do. They must be held accountable, expelled from Congress, and tried and convicted. Every single enabler who helped spread his lies.
They are cowards, traitors, and murderers.
FUCK. THEM. ALL.
laura
@Frank Wilhoit: frank, we both know that Kelly was willing to put up with trump so that he could separate children from their parents and chuck them into cages and dehumanize them at any/every opportunity because the cruelty is the point – and because he’s qualified to be the face of ” the law that binds but does not protect,” as a valued commenter so eloquently stated in group out group. ?
Left a message at Feinstein’s SF office but do not anticipate a call back.
MattF
So, ‘terrorism’ has something to do with terror. Learn something every day.
Uncle Cosmo
@Ken: Tom Cottonmouth (Snake – AR)
jonas
@Wag: In a lot of the country, particularly the rural rust belt, the landscapers are still all white guys. And mostly hard core Trumpers.
It was kind of weird coming to upstate NY and encountering non-Latino gardeners, roofers, and hotel maids for the first time.
jonas
I wonder if these Republicans ever wonder to themselves how or why their Democratic colleagues aren’t continually in fear of their lives if they say anything critical of antifa or BLM? After all, they *are* the most fearsome terrorist organizations in the world…
VOR
There is a theory promoted by Kos at DailyKos that some of the most rapid Trump voters are not reliable primary voters. Instead, they are people who have not voted in the past or voted infrequently because they are so checked out of the system. These are some of the serious cultists and people who just want to see the world burn. The theory is that Trump has a unique appeal and is able to motivate these people to vote where traditional Republican politicians can’t. And of course these people don’t respond to surveys so they are invisible to polling.
In support of this, CNN posted a video from Trump’s visit to Alamo yesterday. They ask a guy what he would do if he learned Trump had lied to him. Response: I’d never vote again.
http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/01/13/trump-supporters-border-wall-visit-lavandera-ebof-pkg-vpx.cnn
lowtechcyclist
@patrick II:
This. Rep. Omar’s been getting death threats since the first day she walked into the Capitol. If last Wednesday’s insurrectionists had found her, she’d be dead now.
To all the GOP Congresspersons who are afraid of how their constituents might take a vote to impeach, I say: you can resign right now, and not have to vote. But if you choose to be part of Congress, then you need to do your job.
@Charluckles:
This too. 400,000 Americans are dead, and neither they nor their beloved Cheetolini did a damn thing about it. Again, they can do their job today, or if they’re so damn scared, they can resign right now.
As President Truman said, if you can’t take the heat, GTFO of the kitchen.
ETA: Loose paraphrase. ;^)
Melusine
@Roger Moore: If senators and representatives let threats change the way they vote today, they’re letting the world know they can be intimidated, and the threats will keep coming.
Precisely. They are plastering a larger target on their own backs by making it clear that they will submit to threats. If they refuse to take a stand now they are putting out a welcome mat for every future threat or act that comes.
When faced with a rabid dog that you refuse to contain or put down (and they did have that power), you are choosing any bites you receive. And you better not cry for the vaccine because it’s reserved for all the innocent people you chose not to protect.
Lavocat
@Roger Moore: Bingo.
Martin
For those of you not watching, the GOP argument is ‘waah, everyone is mean to us’.
MattF
@Martin: As they should be.
MisterForkbeard
@VOR: Which is particularly amazing, because Trump demonstrably lies to these people about everything all the time and HAS for 6 years now. It’s not like it’s a hard call – it’s what he does and it’s widely acknowledged.
What this really gets to is that it’s whether these people have the self-respect and fortitude to admit they’ve been lied to. And they don’t.
Old School
@Martin: With a side of “Is ‘incitement’ really a thing?”
Desargues
Excuse me, Tim, but I have to disagree with your framing. You did what they call “himpathy” in feminist theory. Reflexively empathizing with the bad guys. You know who’s had to literally fear for their lives from day 1 on their job in Congress? Ilhan Omar, AOC, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, and a few others like them. Constant death threats — out in the open, not from an anonymous payphone — plus daily incitement by the braying beasts like Limpballs and his animal ilk.
These Republicans deserve no sympathy from anyone. They have choices, and they’ve always had a choice. They’ve made their choices, and whatever risk they incur is their problem, not our problem. Please update your understanding.
MisterForkbeard
@Martin: This sounds… completely appropriate.
But it’s not even being MEAN. It’s saying “Here’s the thing you did. Now you’re getting appropriate consequences for it.”
But then, actually suffering consequences has always been out of line for the Party Of Personal Responsibility. If they’re actually dealing with the results of their decisions then it’s because someone is being mean to them, because it normally never happens.
Subsole
I lived among those folks most of my life. So, as someone who lived alone in the belly of the beast they spent decades lovingly hand-crafting?
Nah. Fuck pity, fuck sympathy, and fuck them. You sow fire, you reap ashes.
WaterGirl
@Ken: Yes, we do! Painstakingly written by Anne Laurie years ago.
Click LEXICON in the white menu bar that is at the top of every BJ screen.
There was talk about updating it after the site rebuild, but Anne Laurie seems to have been busy with something else for the last year. It’s spelled C-O-V-I-D. :-)
Peale
@jonas: Come come. Many Democrats court that Antifa vote by pretending to be one of them. I believe Ted Lieu cut an ad this last cycle at the range throwing soup cans at a target with his opponent’s picture on it.
Ruckus
@Gin & Tonic:
They aren’t fit to lick the mud off their shoes.
citizen dave (aka mad citizen)
@Martin: Thanks for the update, I turned off Gym Jordan and am now back on a work call. A jackal pointed out their abundance of right wing media–we all know–Fox, now OAN, etc.; a monopoly on right wing talk radio. Certain newspapers. They have plenty of outlets where they treat each other well and practice nonstop hate and intolerance of the rest of us.
MattF
@MisterForkbeard: Part of the Trumpian catechism is that the Great One never lies. Which infuriates us libtards— but also makes it impossible to deal with the lies.
RandomMonster
Is it a certainty that the house is sending the articles to the senate today? Or is there still a chance they are waiting?
Baud
@RandomMonster:
From the prior thread
eclare
@Martin: Also to impeach Trump would be dangerous. Not even a veiled threat.
jonas
I think someone here the other day was musing that foreign governments and intelligence agencies — particularly those of our adversaries — have to be watching these proceedings very closely in order to determine which members of Congress fold most easily when intimidated or threatened. Those kind of people are *very* amenable to blackmail and extortion.
H.E.Wolf
@Mike in NC:
Let’s stay out of Posse Comitatus territory. Like revoking citizenship, it’s a drastic (and therefore, for some, a satisfying) “solution” which contradicts foundational principles of our country.
Ruckus
@KnittyGal:
This!
Trading temporary risk for a deranged idiot over actually understanding their job really does tell us who the republican party is now.
trollhattan
@Martin:
Huh, what a shock. Reminds me of congressional Republicans last summer telling us while black lives may matter, if we want to fix the problem the place to start is to stop calling people racist, because that’s the real problem.
MattF
@RandomMonster: It’s up to Pelosi, I think.
RandomMonster
@Baud: Appreciate that, thank you.
I’ll be happy with an impeachment but I really want a conviction.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
McConnell is the Magneto of politics. He’ll feint joining up with the good guys against the supervillain when he needs to for to save his own ass, but he’s always plotting how he’s gonna screw the X-Men in the next scene.
Baud
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Oh well.
debbie
This is why I wish people would stop bad-mouthing the Republicans who are standing up for impeachment. This is no time for anyone to be on their high horses.
“Biden crime family”???
West of the Rockies
@Desargues:
It seems tone deaf to chastise Tim for sympathetic-if-chauvenistic comments and then refer to “Limp Balls.”
I have no sympathy for Republicans. I despise Limbaugh. But using words that mock a male for maybe having ED (limp) seems unfortunate when you are chastising Tim for his possibly anti feminist phrasing.
Old School
But Nancy Pelosi tore up some paper!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@debbie: I understand Katko was moved to vote for impeachment because one of the CH cops who was beaten by the MAGAts is a former intern in his office. Katko went to visit them in the hospital. They’re probably going to lose an eye.
You should have to be a political/internet junkie to know this detail (Of course, the police unions just see this as proof that the rioters were really AntiFa)
trollhattan
Rooting for injuries.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Smart that Airbnb is compensating the renters for the money they will lose.
Kattails
@jonas: Nice take! I’mma writing it down.
Roger Moore
@jonas:
I agree with whoever it was above who said they’re a lot more susceptible to intimidation by people they generally agree with. If it were Antifa threatening them (or a foreign government), they’d report it to the FBI and demand protective details. They’re only capitulating because it’s someone they’re already inclined to capitulate to.
Skepticat
@jl:
So, you’re saying the Rethuglicans have no chance at all.
Mallard Filmore
@MisterForkbeard:
The Devil make me do it!
Skepticat
@Lavocat:
@Roger Moore:
You both are spot on.
patrick II
@trollhattan:
“We ought to have a second vote” seems a common refrain in seditionland.
evodevo
@Barbara: This is good. Ima gonna steal this…
Hoodie
@Roger Moore: That would make sense, because the fear is more about being ostracized from your group than fear of physical harm. If you’re a “principled” Republican (if there is such a thing), you should give up on thinking you’re going to get your party back. You might even want to think about moving, at least to a bluer city in your red state.
RandomMonster
WSJ now reporting that McConnell’s office informed Schumer that they would not convene the senate before 1/19.
Martin
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I wouldn’t be so sure here. He’s leaked that he’s in favor of removal. He knows how to count. If he can’t get to 66, he’s not going to reconvene only to fail and further embolden Trump.
More than anything McConnell is more interested in the remedy that the Senate can use after Trump is gone – which is to ban him from ever holding office again. That keeps Trump from burning down all of the 2024 GOP candidates. It gives him at least the possibility of a GOP win in 2024.
Ken
@jonas: Yes, the next time the Russians send someone to influence a Representative’s vote, it won’t be a hot redhead with an unbelievable story about promoting gun ownership in Russia. It’ll be two large guys who will break the Representative’s finger as a way of saying “hello, we’ll be working together extensively”.
MisterForkbeard
@patrick II: “We didn’t get our way the first time, so we need to change the rules and do it again” is pretty normal for authoritarian jackasses, I think.
Desargues
@West of the Rockies:
I disagree. Mocking men in the abstract about ED is surely wrong, and I’d never do it. But Limbaugh deserves it. He’s made millions selling a hyper-toxic image of masculinity. Alpha-male bullshit where you bully other men for ED — but then he goes around and flies back from the Caribbean with a bag full of Viagra, all on the downlow. To deserve our empathy for his impotence, he should have acknowledged it, and apologized for his major role in victimizing men with ED. But, he didn’t, even though he has agency. I choose to treat him as an agent. Hit’him where it hurts.
More generally, when they go low, I go much lower. I look to hit them with a 2×4, not to go high.
West of the Rockies
@Desargues:
I see your point. And if anyone deserves a figurative kick in the junk…
Another Scott
@Gin & Tonic: https://balloon-juice.com/balloon-juice-lexicon-a-z/
It’s next to the About Us link in the header bar (the bar with the navigation arrow buttons) on the desktop. It’s probably in the “hamburger” (3 bar) menu on mobile.
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
@Martin: … while simultaneously screaming that they’re the HeMan SuperPatriots Pie-Percenters who Cannot Be Told What To Do because only they Love The Law and the Consitution…
Grrr…
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: It’s the second-to-last item from the bottom on the mobile hamburger menu. :-)
Gravenstone
Trump did want a parade with all the big toys…
J R in WV
@jl:
ETA:
….
The bullet also went through a steel lined glasses case, and a heavy overcoat in winter. Plus, Colt revolvers 100 years ago were considerably less powerful than most sidearms today.
But still, Teddy was a strong and brave man, especially when compared to modern Congressional Republican men, who appear to mostly be sniveling, traitorous worms, who have never actually understood the oath they take every time they are sworn into office. An oath similar to the oath many B-J jackals have taken and manage to live up to yet today.
J R in WV
@Desargues:
He was also returning from a Caribbean isle well known for prostitution of very young women. Very young women as in girls. Screw this bastard. I hope his end-stage cancer hurts such that opiates don’t help him one tiny bit.
Stone Evil in every sense of that concept. Maybe that makes me a bad person, I dunno. I still haven’t fomented violence against others, nor insurrection against our Constitution.
And speaking of death threats. Wife was a correspondent for an international news organization for some 30 years. Once she was working a story about a dirty cop, and someone was dumb enough to leave a long and specific death threat on her answering machine in the long ago.
Her first move was to take the machine and tape to the courthouse, and play the message for a Circuit Judge — this was when Judges issued carry permits. He issued her permit right then. Then she went home and got the pistol. Then she filed a new story, about a dirty cop so stupid death threats were put on a recording device!
Just Chuck
@Roger Moore: Tell that to Gabby Giffords.
BruceFromOhio
For my Senator Portman, I decline your invitation. May he wake every night at every noise, blessed to be alive where so many have died because of a dumpster fire con man the senator chose to support.
For my Representative Gonzalez, I’ll shelter his family and defend him myself, if he needs it.