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You are here: Home / Open Threads / They got nothin’

They got nothin’

by Betty Cracker|  February 25, 20212:32 pm| 121 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Republican Stupidity

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Maybe the GOP’s social media intern is experiencing a temporal anomaly, and that’s why he or she is denigrating Biden, who has been president for about 35 and 1/2 days, for not fulfilling a first 100 days campaign promise:

They got nothin'

Occam’s Razor compels me to go with plain old stupid here.

We (or at least I) tend to perceive Republicans as preternaturally powerful foes, and that’s not entirely unjustified since they so often manage to advance an unpopular and/or reactionary policy agenda despite representing a vastly smaller number of people in a so-called democracy. But we may be underestimating just how on the ropes the fuckers are right now.

Cases in point: the above intern time-traveling to scold Biden. Fox News running a segment that claims Joe and Jill Biden’s 44-year marriage is a PR stunt. Newsmax age-shaming the Bidens’ senior dog as “unpresidential.” It’s almost a cry for help, that level of petty bullshit.

Also, imagine if Democrats did this:

Q: Do you believe former President Trump should speaking at CPAC?

McCarthy: "Yes he should."

Cheney: "That's up to CPAC….I don't believe that he should be playing a role in the future of the party or the country."

McCarthy: "On that high note, thank you very much." pic.twitter.com/U8JS8A8MVk

— Poli Alert (@polialertcom) February 24, 2021

The Beltway press would be ripping into that party’s corpse like a flock of vultures on ripe roadkill. Even now, He Who Shall Not Be Named is “vetting” potential 2022 endorsees by sorting them into piles according to their level of enthusiasm for the stolen election lie. That practically guarantees a crop of nutter GOP candidates who will make it harder for Republicans to claw back Congressional power.

Let me hasten to add that I am not counting chickens here! The past several years demonstrated to me that the country is more stupid and broken than I suspected, and I’ll never trust us again. But I can’t help noticing that Republicans keep doubling down on injecting bleach. Open thread!

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Reader Interactions

121Comments

  1. 1.

    worn

    February 25, 2021 at 2:34 pm

    #1?

  2. 2.

    rikyrah

    February 25, 2021 at 2:36 pm

    They don’t have anything. Period.

  3. 3.

    rikyrah

    February 25, 2021 at 2:37 pm

    When they messed with the dog, you knew for certain that they didn’t have shyt.

     

    and when did 46 promise to open up schools in the first 100 days?

    that’s a damn lie.

  4. 4.

    worn

    February 25, 2021 at 2:37 pm

    Note to Watergirl: after testing Firefox a couple of days ago & finding no issues with the commenting system, I posted the comment above and experienced the some of the same wonky behaviors as other commenters has previously commented upon a few days ago. It’s always something, isn’t it?

  5. 5.

    Cervantes

    February 25, 2021 at 2:40 pm

    Flag lapel pins, fist bumps, dijon mustard, improper saluting, and tan suits have always been their stock in trade. It seems to work well enough.

  6. 6.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    February 25, 2021 at 2:40 pm

    He Who Shall Not Be Named.

    That grants him too much power. I want to make “the Former Guy” a thing.

  7. 7.

    Cheryl Rofer

    February 25, 2021 at 2:43 pm

    @rikyrah: Here’s what he promised:

    Joe Biden pledged Tuesday to bring the coronavirus pandemic under enough control to open most of the nation’s schools during his first 100 days as president — going much further on the issue than he has in the past, even while warning that the U.S. is facing a “dark winter.”

    The president-elect said that promise is dependent on Congress providing sufficient funding to protect returning students, teachers and campus staff.

    As usual, the Republicans leave out the qualifications.

  8. 8.

    debbie

    February 25, 2021 at 2:43 pm

    Math, how does it work?

  9. 9.

    Old School

    February 25, 2021 at 2:43 pm

    @rikyrah:

    and when did 46 promise to open up schools in the first 100 days?

    Here’s what he said:

    Biden, Dec. 29: Another 100-day challenge is opening most of our K-8 schools by the end of the first 100 days in the spring. Look, we can only do that if Congress provides the necessary funding, so we get the schools, districts, communities, and states the resources they need for those so many things that aren’t there already in a tight budget. They need funding for testing to help reopen schools, more funding for transportation so students can maintain social distances on buses, they need it for school building for additional cleaning service, protective equipment, ventilation systems. This is going to require an additional tens of billions of dollars to get this done.

  10. 10.

    A Ghost to Most

    February 25, 2021 at 2:44 pm

    They got nuthin’, and they don’t care. Pointing out their hypocrisy doesn’t mean a thing to them, other than taking up space in your head, which is “owning the libs”. You can’t shame fascists.

  11. 11.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 25, 2021 at 2:44 pm

    @rikyrah:

    They don’t have anything. Period. 

    Damnation where damnation is due – they do have “Tax cuts for the rich, and fuck everyone else!” They’ve had that for 40+ years, and it’s something. ?

  12. 12.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    February 25, 2021 at 2:45 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone): I agree, that even after being left noseless from being POWned by a preteen, Voldermort was vastly more competent that Donald Drumf, but what’s wrong with “That Useless Daughter Fucking Son of Douche”?

  13. 13.

    Roger Moore

    February 25, 2021 at 2:45 pm

     

    Occam’s Razor compels me to go with plain old stupid here.

    My copy of Occam’s Razor goes with dishonest rather than stupid. They know damn well it’s been less than 100 days, but they and the people they’re speaking to aren’t interested in the truth. They just want an excuse to criticize, and it doesn’t really matter whether that criticism is in any way connected to reality.

  14. 14.

    dmsilev

    February 25, 2021 at 2:47 pm

    Fox News running a segment that claims Joe and Jill Biden’s 44-year marriage is a PR stunt.

    Now that’s a long con that we can all admire. Not quite at the level of Barack Obama faking the evidence of his own birth, but getting close.

  15. 15.

    Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)

    February 25, 2021 at 2:48 pm

    I have a mild fantasy that at some GQP shitshow, a disgruntled sound man waits until the keynote speaker is whipping the rubes into a lather, and splices in the end of a Hitler speech, complete with the “Sieg, Heil” chants. Part of me wonders if some in the audience would join in. It would be irresponsible not to speculate on this.

  16. 16.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    February 25, 2021 at 2:49 pm

    Joe and Jill Biden’s 44-year marriage is a PR stunt.

    Well if that’s true, you gotta admire their commitment to the long game. What’s the longest amount of time T**** ever committed to a stunt? [*]

    The dog thing was jaw-dropping. I hope that shaved off at least a few MAGAts who said, “make fun of his wife or his marriage, sure, but making fun of the dog’s looks? Man, that’s just too far…”

    [*] T’s game is more like announcing “I’m giving ONE MILLION DOLLARS to…” and the stunt lasts until the sentence is over, never to be mentioned again.

  17. 17.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    February 25, 2021 at 2:49 pm

    @Roger Moore: What he says. These are the same people who are claiming the Texas black out didn’t happen because snowballs burn and Space Jews caused last Fall’s California wildfires with their  Space Lasers*. Fox News views just want wallow in bullshit like a bunch of pigs.

     

    * Which I assume go “Jew-Jew-Jewhh!” when fired.

  18. 18.

    trollhattan

    February 25, 2021 at 2:54 pm

    Republican math: 1 month = 100 days. Bookmark that, hippie!

    ETA When did we adopt the metric calendar?

  19. 19.

    Benw

    February 25, 2021 at 2:55 pm

    Go lick a boot, McCarthy

  20. 20.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 25, 2021 at 2:56 pm

    @dmsilev:

    Now that’s a long con that we can all admire. Not quite at the level of Barack Obama faking the evidence of his own birth, but getting close. 

    LOL!

  21. 21.

    Baud

    February 25, 2021 at 2:56 pm

    We (or at least I) tend to perceive Republicans as preternaturally powerful foes, and that’s not entirely unjustified since they so often manage to advance an unpopular and/or reactionary policy agenda despite representing a vastly smaller number of people in a so-called democracy

     

    Nothing preternatural about the power of hate and fear.

  22. 22.

    Baud

    February 25, 2021 at 2:58 pm

    @dmsilev:

    The Prestige 2.

  23. 23.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 25, 2021 at 3:00 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Republican math: 1 month = 100 days. Bookmark that, hippie! 

    I have never felt so owned.  I’ll be sobbing liberal tears in the corner if anyone needs me.

  24. 24.

    Roger Moore

    February 25, 2021 at 3:00 pm

    @trollhattan:

    I believe the metric calendar was adopted in 22 September 1792.  Excuse me, 01 Vendémiaire I.

  25. 25.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 25, 2021 at 3:00 pm

    @Benw:

    Go lick a boot, McCarthy 

    And then shove it, Kevin.

  26. 26.

    germy

    February 25, 2021 at 3:01 pm

    Jen Psaki was on The View this morning, and she was grilled by Queen McCain.

    Here’s an actual visual (no kidding):

    It’s like a seriousness yin and yang symbol pic.twitter.com/d2fv2bOsLk

    — Tommy X-TrumpIsARacist-opher (@tommyxtopher) February 25, 2021

    Psaki was prepared for the appearance, like she’s always prepared.

    It’s nice seeing a competent administration again.

  27. 27.

    Baud

    February 25, 2021 at 3:03 pm

    @germy:

    I haven’t seen Meghan in a while.  She has a real Tammy Faye Baker vibe going.

  28. 28.

    Benw

    February 25, 2021 at 3:04 pm

    @trollhattan: 1 metric year = 10 months = 1000 days = 1 kiloday

  29. 29.

    jonas

    February 25, 2021 at 3:04 pm

    What Biden *does* seem on track to do in his first 35 days in office is unfuck much of what Trump did over four years to our economy, our international reputation, our immigration system, and the climate. Not bad!

  30. 30.

    West of the Rockies

    February 25, 2021 at 3:05 pm

    I confess that I now regard most Republicans (the Trumpers anyway) as subhuman, as Middle Earth orcs:  dull, brutish, violent, and cannibalistic as necessary.  Can a relative handful be redeemed?  Is it worth the effort?

  31. 31.

    leeleeFL

    February 25, 2021 at 3:05 pm

    If they were reachable by shaming, most would have slunk off to oblivion by now.

    The fact that the preponderance of evidence shows they have no shame is a feature, not a bug.  It never ceases to amaze me that even those elected officials I am in contact with repeat the same Fox, OAN, Alex Jones BS to each other in casual conversations I have been privy to, makes me wonder if any of them are salvageable as honest citizens.  I doubt it.  It makes me kinda nauseous.

    ETA: contact is job related.  Can’t avoid some overhearing.  It’s is not contagious.  I am proof?

  32. 32.

    West of the Rockies

    February 25, 2021 at 3:07 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    How about The Former Fat Ass?

  33. 33.

    Geminid

    February 25, 2021 at 3:09 pm

    The  Virginia state Republican party is flailing. Their Central Commitee is terrified that pistol packin’ state senator Amanda Chase might win the governor’s primary by a plurality. So Republican nominees for Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General will be chosen by a ranked choice, drive-in convention. Delegates will be selected at caucuses, or possibly by county committees. The venue for the convention? Liberty Universty, of course. A small tent, big parking lot strategy.

  34. 34.

    leeleeFL

    February 25, 2021 at 3:10 pm

    @West of the Rockies:  I prefer former Fascist Resident.  True, and doesn’t mention weight or looks.

  35. 35.

    trollhattan

    February 25, 2021 at 3:10 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: @Roger Moore:

    [Checks Republican calendar] Hey folks, it’s February 25, only two shopping months left ’til Christmas.

  36. 36.

    p.a.

    February 25, 2021 at 3:11 pm

    Well of course wouldn’t the anti-science party also be the anti-counting party?

  37. 37.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 25, 2021 at 3:12 pm

    @West of the Rockies:

    How about The Former Fat Ass? 

    Where’s your evidence that he’s lost any weight?

  38. 38.

    Baud

    February 25, 2021 at 3:12 pm

    @p.a.: Math is a liberal plot.

  39. 39.

    trollhattan

    February 25, 2021 at 3:13 pm

    @Baud:

    I could see her in a Vogue makeup ad for Krylon.

  40. 40.

    Redshift

    February 25, 2021 at 3:13 pm

    @A Ghost to Most:

    Pointing out their hypocrisy doesn’t mean a thing to them, other than taking up space in your head, which is “owning the libs”. You can’t shame fascists.

    It’s pretty well proven that hypocrisy doesn’t move votes, but pointing and laughing when their attacks are so ridiculously empty does serve a purpose.

    In Frankfurt’s On Bullshit, he points out that one of the reasons bullshit is more dangerous than lying is that while both take effort to refute, consciously telling a lie requires effort to make it plausible, and BS requires almost none, if one bit is refuted, just spout another.

    But if the BS attack is so stupid that just pointing and laughing knocks it down, then that advantage is gone.

  41. 41.

    HumboldtBlue

    February 25, 2021 at 3:13 pm

    @rikyrah: 

    And yet the media keep treating them as if they are a viable opposition party to the Dems when all they are is white grievance and tax cuts for the rich

  42. 42.

    LuciaMia

    February 25, 2021 at 3:14 pm

    The past several years demonstrated to me that the country is more stupid and broken than I suspected,

    That times two.

  43. 43.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 25, 2021 at 3:14 pm

    @leeleeFL: Fascist former Resident

  44. 44.

    germy

    February 25, 2021 at 3:14 pm

    Maybe the GOP’s social media intern is experiencing a temporal anomaly, and that’s why he or she is denigrating Biden, who has been president for about 35 and 1/2 days, for not fulfilling a first 100 days campaign promise

    It just feels like a hundred days to the social media intern.

    It must be painful to have to justify and spin the modern GOP.

  45. 45.

    Barbara

    February 25, 2021 at 3:15 pm

    @Geminid: Is it final?  The last thing I read they couldn’t get enough support for a convention to prevent motions to reconsider conducting a primary, so they were not able to finalize anything.

  46. 46.

    trollhattan

    February 25, 2021 at 3:15 pm

    @Benw: ​
    Wish I had learned Latin so I could come up with the correct names for the months of Reagvember and Trumptember.

  47. 47.

    Ocotillo

    February 25, 2021 at 3:16 pm

    @leeleeFL:  I get the sentiment but we do need to find a way to offset the non-stop propaganda cesspool they immerse themselves in.  There is success for that side, the 27% dead enders has grown to nearly 40% and doing more of the same is not going to stop it.

    The slavery compromises that were built into the constitution gives them a built in advantage in the electoral process.

  48. 48.

    Baud

    February 25, 2021 at 3:17 pm

    Biden administration expands unemployment insurance rules to allow workers who turned down unsafe job offers

  49. 49.

    MattF

    February 25, 2021 at 3:17 pm

    Also funny (not) how no one mentions that Republican self-identification is in the low 30’s. and Biden approval is around 60. I understand that personalities matter but there are a limited number of persuadable voters, and preaching to the choir isn’t going to change that.

  50. 50.

    Gravenstone

    February 25, 2021 at 3:18 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Less a matter of leaving them out as actively undercutting them. They’re working hard to stack the deck against Biden. Either to ensure he can’t fulfill the “100 days” promise, or to ensure the attempt fails for lack of adequate resources.

  51. 51.

    Redshift

    February 25, 2021 at 3:19 pm

    @Geminid:

    The venue for the convention? Liberty University, of course. 

    And for an extra bit of hilarity, the Virginia GOP didn’t sign a contract with Liberty before announcing the convention there, or figure out how much parking lot space they’ll need. So they’ll have to pay whatever rental fee is asked. Have I mentioned that they have about $1,500 in the bank?

    Oh, also, they don’t know for sure if the multi-parking lot plan is too spread out to fit their own rules for what constitutes an assembled convention, lol.

  52. 52.

    Baud

    February 25, 2021 at 3:19 pm

    Opinion: Alejandro Mayorkas: How my DHS will combat domestic extremism

  53. 53.

    BruceFromOhio

    February 25, 2021 at 3:19 pm

    That practically guarantees a crop of nutter GOP candidates who will make it harder for Republicans to claw back Congressional power.

    This misses the mark, IMO, and Democrats should be watching carefully. The GQP constituency demands nutter GQP candidates, and will turn out in droves for them. Coupled with the state-level GQP fascists burning the OT to restrict voting access, it’s going to be a tooth and nail quest for votes for every seat in districts that aren’t solid red or blue. The ones that are solid red will be vetting the “who’s Trumpier?!?” in every primary – the Ohio fascists running for the retiring Portman’s seat are already playing it.

    It will not surprise me in the least that we get more Boebert’s and Greene’s and Johnson’s, not fewer. Should Pelosi or Schumer lose majority leader status, everything, and I do mean absolutely everything, will grind to a fucking halt in an endless shower of GQP shit, with flies to boot.

    The trip to 2022 is already started, and 2024 is right behind it. Whether we enjoy a functioning democracy beyond these dates is horrifyingly in the balance, and may once again tip on a few thousand voters in a tiny handful of Districts.

  54. 54.

    pacem appellant

    February 25, 2021 at 3:20 pm

    Also, too, a campaign trial is very different from the campaign trail.

  55. 55.

    Roger Moore

    February 25, 2021 at 3:20 pm

    @West of the Rockies: ​
     

    Can a relative handful be redeemed? Is it worth the effort?

    I think the answers are yes and yes. One of the things the Trump years have taught me is that you can’t predict who will reach their breaking point and reject Trumpism or what that breaking point will be. But it continues to be worth it to try, both out of a moral desire to rescue people from that cult and a practical desire to strengthen our numbers and reduce theirs.

  56. 56.

    pacem appellant

    February 25, 2021 at 3:21 pm

    @Geminid: Except, they forgot to ask Liberty University for the use of their facilities. LU is balking.

  57. 57.

    Baud

    February 25, 2021 at 3:22 pm

    Costco To Raise Minimum Wage To $16 An Hour: ‘This Isn’t Altruism’

  58. 58.

    Punchy

    February 25, 2021 at 3:22 pm

    So what happens to the Qanon hard-asses on the dawn of March 5th, when Biden awakens from the WH and does WH things?  What’ll be the new date for “Trump becomes President NOW!”?

    /checks WiQipedia…..sees nothing….

  59. 59.

    Redshift

    February 25, 2021 at 3:23 pm

    @Barbara:

    Is it final?  The last thing I read they couldn’t get enough support for a convention to prevent motions to reconsider conducting a primary, so they were not able to finalize anything. 

    Yeah, they hit the deadline when they were required by state law to decide, so this seems to be final. There may be more lawsuits draining their coffers, but I don’t know if that can change anything.

  60. 60.

    Geminid

    February 25, 2021 at 3:24 pm

    @Barbara: I heard that the decision was made a couple days ago. I will check Bearing Drift. They cover Republican party matters closely. On Sunday, correspondent Lynn Mitchell covered the Commitee’s announcement of the meeting. She wrote, “And here is the agenda they’ve provided us:”   Followed by a large blank space.

  61. 61.

    Baud

    February 25, 2021 at 3:25 pm

    The Senate on Thursday confirmed President Joe Biden’s nominee for energy secretary, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm. The final vote was 64-35.

  62. 62.

    MattF

    February 25, 2021 at 3:25 pm

    @pacem appellant: Bearing in mind that Falwell Jr. is no longer in charge. The current LU administration might not want to host a Republican political convention. Tax exemption, and all that…

  63. 63.

    CaseyL

    February 25, 2021 at 3:27 pm

    I think we need to open up a few of their skulls and see what their brains look like. I would not be at all surprised if the results looked a lot like long-time football players, or alcoholics: severe and extensive brain damage, retrograde amnesia, and a complete loss of cognitive ability, replaced by simple tropist response to stimuli.

  64. 64.

    Gravenstone

    February 25, 2021 at 3:27 pm

    @West of the Rockies: Nothing “former” about it. His Ass will remain Fat until it has assumed ambient temperature and begun feeding the worms.

  65. 65.

    Brachiator

    February 25, 2021 at 3:28 pm

    Cases in point: the above intern time-traveling to scold Biden. Fox News running a segment that claims Joe and Jill Biden’s 44-year marriage is a PR stunt. Newsmax age-shaming the Bidens’ senior dog as “unpresidential.” It’s almost a cry for help, that level of petty bullshit.

    Goddam, this is some pathetic nonsense!

    They cannot attack Biden on his decency or even effectiveness, so they just try to keep the GOP base angry with irrelevant garbage.  This is necessary since there are a lot of ordinary people happy with Biden’s policies.

  66. 66.

    NotMax

    February 25, 2021 at 3:29 pm

    @Baud

    Awaiting video of Manchin cutting his membership card in twain.

    //

  67. 67.

    Benw

    February 25, 2021 at 3:29 pm

    @trollhattan: LOLOL

    months of Reagvember and Trumptember.

    Not enough Trump! Trumpuary, Febutrump, Trumpch, Apritrump, Trumpay….

  68. 68.

    Betty Cracker

    February 25, 2021 at 3:30 pm

    In the Before Times, Republicans lost some statewide elections — even in deep red states — when they nominated an embarrassing nutbag and /or pervert, e.g., that dumb goon McCaskill beat, the Alabama mall cruiser, etc. About 75% of Republicans say they want to see Turnip continue to play a major role in the party. I bet it’s upwards of 90% of reliable primary voters, but there are fewer Republicans overall now. Maybe that’s an opportunity.

  69. 69.

    pacem appellant

    February 25, 2021 at 3:30 pm

    @MattF: I think it has less to do with ousting the pervy JF Jr. and more to do with that the VA GOP can’t pay for it. Though I guess Falwell would have let them use the lot for free, the current board is cash up front.

  70. 70.

    BruceFromOhio

    February 25, 2021 at 3:31 pm

    @Punchy: It will just turn the page to some new date and some equally arcane justification. The top Christianista-in-law badgered the family endlessly for years that “the world is ending on mm/dd/yyyy so you BETTER REPENT NOW FILTHY SINNER!!1!1!!” and every time the date came and went, C-i-l just did find-replace with a new date. The Q’pers are following a format that is eerily reminiscent.

  71. 71.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2021 at 3:32 pm

    @Baud: She’s female but she’s white, so she had a better chance of getting through.

  72. 72.

    MattF

    February 25, 2021 at 3:33 pm

    @BruceFromOhio: Well-known cognitive dissonance behavior. It happens a lot.

  73. 73.

    Just One More Canuck

    February 25, 2021 at 3:36 pm

    @trollhattan: Lousy Smarch weather

  74. 74.

    BruceFromOhio

    February 25, 2021 at 3:38 pm

    @leeleeFL: ​
     

    The fact that the preponderance of evidence shows they have no shame is a feature, not a bug. It never ceases to amaze me that even those elected officials I am in contact with repeat the same Fox, OAN, Alex Jones BS to each other in casual conversations I have been privy to, makes me wonder if any of them are salvageable as honest citizens. I doubt it.

    I am very concerned the answer is “beyond salvage.”

  75. 75.

    geg6

    February 25, 2021 at 3:38 pm

    @Baud: ​
     
    I never watch that shit, but I read somewhere that she was wearing rhinestones in the part of her hair and some kind of crazy eye makeup earlier this week. Apparently, she’s been getting dragged all over the internet for her fashion choices and her inching closer to Trumpist stances all week. She just had a baby and I’m seriously a little worried about her mental health. From what I’ve read online and in social media, she’s really been crazy this week, even compared to how loony I think she normally is.

  76. 76.

    NotMax

    February 25, 2021 at 3:45 pm

    @Punchy

    The Great Disappointment 2.0.

    ;)

  77. 77.

    Baud

    February 25, 2021 at 3:46 pm

    GOP-backed Iowa bill aimed at restricting voting access heads to governor’s desk

  78. 78.

    LuciaMia

    February 25, 2021 at 3:46 pm

    The trip to 2022 is already started, and 2024

    I just try to keep saying to myself, “A lot can happen in two years (let alone four.)”

  79. 79.

    Jeffro

    February 25, 2021 at 3:48 pm

    We need a news-ish website called “Same Standards” that runs nothing but the previous day’s or week’s stories with the parties reversed, in order to highlight the double standards that both the GQP and DC snooze media excel in.

    So to use Betty’s examples, SameStandards would currently be running stories on:

    • how ‘unpresidential’ trumpov’s invisible dog is
    • how trumpov & Ms. 10-year-resume’-gap’s marriage is really just a PR sham
    • a House Dem backbiting Nancy Smash at her own press conference

    And so on.  I mean, it’d be the easiest thing in the world, content-generation-wise.  Just grab a story, flip the parties, and off we go.

  80. 80.

    Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)

    February 25, 2021 at 3:49 pm

    @trollhattan: I can’t help with the first one, but you might try out “Trump-over”

  81. 81.

    karensky

    February 25, 2021 at 3:50 pm

    @rikyrah: They haven’t had anything since Eisenhower.

  82. 82.

    Jeffro

    February 25, 2021 at 3:52 pm

    @Geminid:Their Central Commitee is terrified that pistol packin’ state senator Amanda Chase might win the governor’s primary by a plurality. So Republican nominees for Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General will be chosen by a ranked choice, drive-in convention.

    They are beclowning themselves more and more by the day.  Let us savor.

    I’m surprised one or more of their rich donors hasn’t spoken out publicly about the need to get it in gear, but then again, their rich RWNJs are just as NJ as the rest of them.

  83. 83.

    Ruckus

    February 25, 2021 at 3:52 pm

    @Cervantes:

    When the electorate is as dumb as the politicians, stupidity is likely an easier sell.

  84. 84.

    Ken

    February 25, 2021 at 3:55 pm

    @trollhattan: The “-ber” months are the ones that still have the numeric names.  You want July and August, which are named after the deified emperors Julius and Augustus.

  85. 85.

    Ken

    February 25, 2021 at 3:58 pm

    @Punchy:  Last time this came up, I suggested checking the room prices at Trump’s DC hotel.  They’ve been jacked up for March 5th and 6th, so look for a similar spike in a month or two.

  86. 86.

    Jeffro

    February 25, 2021 at 3:58 pm

    @Baud: Silly question but…how did 35 GQP Senators manage to summon the strength to say (essentially): “Jennifer Granholm is unqualified and/or radical/soshulist/Lenin-worshipping that I couldn’t possibly support her nomination”?

    She was an AG.  She was a governor.  She’s been a potential candidate for SCOTUS and even for Dept of Energy previously.

    I can actually see them saying, completely straight-faced, “We’d rather see someone like Steven Chu – thumbs down here.”

    Unreal.  No one is qualified to serve in President Biden’s cabinet, apparently.  And yet, Ben Carson, Betsy DeVos, etc etc etc.

  87. 87.

    WhatsMyNym

    February 25, 2021 at 4:03 pm

    With regards to a national $15 min. wage;

    Costco just announced they are raising their starting wage to $16 starting next week.

  88. 88.

    citizen dave

    February 25, 2021 at 4:06 pm

    I sometimes write here or on my fake name twitter account that the R’s have become the party of Stupid.  I really think for some Dem candidates (depending on their opponent and the situation) and some areas of the nation, that basic intelligence/the dangers of a STUPID nation need to be discussed.  The press may go apeshit at first, but the stupiding of the nation is a huge threat.

    Just the other night after some stupid story I said to my wife, I didn’t think that the world of Idiocracy would happen so fast.  My said “I did–I thought it would when I was watching the movie”.

  89. 89.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 25, 2021 at 4:09 pm

    @Baud: I think I saw Omnes doing a happy dance.

  90. 90.

    Geminid

    February 25, 2021 at 4:10 pm

    @Jeffro: The Chamber of Commerce types who used to call the shots in the Virginia party knew they had a numbers problem after 2008, so they welcomed in the tea party cranks and religious zealots. Now they can’t win a state-wide race with these nuts, but they can’t win one without them either.       I feel their pain.

  91. 91.

    citizen dave

    February 25, 2021 at 4:10 pm

    @Jeffro: She’s a known Canadian…

    Or as Gym Jordan might say, an “admitted Canadian”

    Seriously how does the whole “dual citizenship” thing work.  Have courts weighed in on it?  Can’t think of where it might matter other than maybe holding office, cabinet, etc.  Probably lots of others–I’m just a single citizen ‘merican.

  92. 92.

    Ruckus

    February 25, 2021 at 4:11 pm

    @Gravenstone:

    What is the ambient temperature in hell?

    I’m under the impression that it’s on the high side of warm.

  93. 93.

    Just Chuck

    February 25, 2021 at 4:17 pm

    All @LOLGOP has to do is retweet @GOP now.  Poe’s law writes the comedy itself.

  94. 94.

    cain

    February 25, 2021 at 4:20 pm

    @Baud:

    I haven’t seen Meghan in a while. She has a real Tammy Faye Baker vibe going.

    Having seen her in surreal life tv show – I have a lot of sympathy for her. She’s had to put up with some amount of shit in her life. Fuck her husband with poison oak.

    ETA – but yeah – that’s some makeup going on – perhaps she wants a chance at America’s Top Model (or Top something else)

  95. 95.

    trollhattan

    February 25, 2021 at 4:20 pm

    @Ken:

    See, I just knew there would be rules! :-)

    Guessing Rumptober is right out.

  96. 96.

    leeleeFL

    February 25, 2021 at 4:25 pm

    @BruceFromOhio: Me too

  97. 97.

    There are those who call me...tim... (Still posh)

    February 25, 2021 at 4:27 pm

    I’d like a moment to say more nice things about Al Franken, please. Thank you.

  98. 98.

    Just Chuck

    February 25, 2021 at 4:27 pm

    @citizen dave: The US doesn’t recognize dual citizenship.  However, you’re not obliged to give up any other citizenships when becoming a naturalized citizen, and there’s no obstacles to other countries recognizing dual-citizenship.

  99. 99.

    ...now I try to be amused

    February 25, 2021 at 4:29 pm

    @germy:

    It’s like a seriousness yin and yang symbol

    Megan McCain’s hair looks like a Rorschach test.

  100. 100.

    Alison Rose

    February 25, 2021 at 4:47 pm

    LOL they tried to fix it:

    Last year, Biden promised to reopen most of our schools within his first 100 days as President.

    But all he has done so far is put special interests ahead of our students.
    — GOP (@GOP) February 25, 2021

  101. 101.

    Ksmiami

    February 25, 2021 at 4:48 pm

    @Jeffro: we are going to have to allow Republicans to feel the consequences for their own stupidity and let them die off from it. Seriously it’s us or them.

  102. 102.

    Jeffro

    February 25, 2021 at 4:51 pm

    @citizen dave: I think the only office she’s prohibited from holding – and that’s a ‘maybe’ at that* – is President

    *GQP SCOTUS would say that sure, a GQP dual-citizen can hold the office, a Dem cannot.  Nickel bet  ;)

  103. 103.

    Jeffro

    February 25, 2021 at 4:52 pm

    @Geminid: Verily, I feel their pain as well.

    LOL

    Maybe they could come up with conservative solutions to the issues of the day?  I dunno, call me crazy…

  104. 104.

    NotMax

    February 25, 2021 at 4:54 pm

    @Ruckus

    It’s measured in degrees Satangrade.

    :)

  105. 105.

    Jeffro

    February 25, 2021 at 4:54 pm

    @Ksmiami:we are going to have to allow Republicans to feel the consequences for their own stupidity and let them die off from it. Seriously it’s us or them.

    I am 110% on board with this in the abstract; I just don’t know how to put them on their own rapidly warming, Russia-controlled, comically hyper-religious planet.

  106. 106.

    NotMax

    February 25, 2021 at 4:58 pm

    @Ken

    And, as holdovers, incorrect when it comes to placement.

    Sept = 7
    Oct = 8
    Nov = 9
    Dec = 10
    :)

  107. 107.

    WhatsMyNym

    February 25, 2021 at 5:01 pm

    @Just Chuck:

    The US doesn’t recognize dual citizenship.

    Does any country “recognize” dual citizenship? Most seem to just to tolerate it while it’s convenient for the state.​​

  108. 108.

    James E Powell

    February 25, 2021 at 5:12 pm

    We (or at least I) tend to perceive Republicans as preternaturally powerful foes

    Maybe not preternaturally (I always have to look up what that means) but certainly very powerful. Their base is insanely loyal and, apparently, so is their donor class. We’ve seen some large corporations saying, for now, no contributions, but no signs of any mass exodus of their billionaires. I think keeping Cheney at #3 might have been the price of their loyalty.

    The key to their power is their hold over the press/media. Not just FOX, but the rest of them who continue to provide platforms for those who want to destroy our democracy.

    There appears to be no solution to this.

  109. 109.

    Martin

    February 25, 2021 at 5:16 pm

    @West of the Rockies: Oh, certainly.

    Look, fascism (of various stripes) operates by lying the the public to gain enough support to grab power, and then turning on the people that provided that support.

    The 1930s German populace weren’t all evil – they were lied to at a time when they were vulnerable to believing those lies. Should they have seen through those lies? Maybe, but none of us are perfect that way. We’re just as susceptible to the problem – it just takes a different set of lies to hook us, and we may need a different kind of vulnerability.

    Trump turned the GOP into a hardcore white christian nationalist party. Most republicans are unaware of this because they’ve embraced the process of white supremacy without realizing the goal of that process because it’s not bluntly stated (though its starting to be).

    Most elected Republicans are aware of this, which is why Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney are saying it out loud and warning the  party off of staying on this path, and why McCarthy and Hawley and Cruz are doubling down because they either see near-term benefits of staying on the path, or because they’re down with the goal. But most republican voters don’t pay that close of attention to things.

    Plus, the leadership’s job is to keep the voters on board and will frame things and lie and all that to to keep them there. So if the GOP is a full white christian nationalist party, and that’s offensive to half of GOP voters, well, they’re not going to say that out loud – they’ll describe things to keep the coalition intact, which requires disavowing the Jan 6 folks who were VERY clear on their goals as not being part of the movement (antifa, dontchaknow).

    I think a lot of Republican voters are like Cole. Once he could see through the facade, he steadily went all hippy granola liberal. That doesn’t apply  to elected officials, though. They know what’s up.

    That’s why I’ve been saying that the real crime here was the big lie that the election was stolen, and everyone who supported that lie or gave it room to grow. The biggest fault for some of these people is that they believed the President and their elected officials, which we are supposed to do. We’re supposed to be able to believe them.

  110. 110.

    Geminid

    February 25, 2021 at 5:19 pm

    @Jeffro: The people who put out Bearing Drift have an interesting take on Virginia politics. Self-described  conservatives, they are like Eisenhower Republicans. Although D.J. McGuire gave up on the party, calls himself a Democrat now. A good example of their thinking is M.D. Russ’s indictment of the Republican party of today, titled “Trump is the Republican President.”

  111. 111.

    Just Chuck

    February 25, 2021 at 5:21 pm

    @WhatsMyNym: I don’t know of any that specifically treat multiple citizenships as opposed to ignoring other citizenships, but there’s still a handful of countries like Japan that do make their citizenship exclusive with others.

    There are international treaty conventions that address multiple citizenship, mostly the one that prevents you from being drafted in a country you don’t actually live in.  That’s all I know of.

  112. 112.

    Uncle Cosmo

    February 25, 2021 at 5:26 pm

    @leeleeFL: ​Former Failing Fascist Fool: 4F – in honor of his bone spurious.

  113. 113.

    Uncle Cosmo

    February 25, 2021 at 5:27 pm

    @p.a.: Well of course wouldn’t the anti-science party also be the anti-counting party?​

    It’s fershur the Party of No-Counts!

  114. 114.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    February 25, 2021 at 5:35 pm

    @Martin: But most republican voters don’t pay that close of attention to things.

    I’m gonna stop you right there. We are in the mess we’re in right now precisely because Republican voters are WORSE than their representatives. Over half would follow Trump to a new party. The other half would happily reelect Donald Trump on the Republican party ticket. They’ve been radicalized by forty years of hate radio and television propaganda. THEY are the issue, not their representatives.

  115. 115.

    Bill Arnold

    February 25, 2021 at 5:52 pm

    @Punchy:

    So what happens to the Qanon hard-asses on the dawn of March 5th, when Biden awakens from the WH and does WH things?

    It’s possible that the mainstream QAnon narrative will be that Trump was indeed sworn in on March 5, in a hidden ceremony. If Trump encourages it in any way, e.g. with any vague statement, it could gain traction amongst the anointed. From that might flow things like Patriotic Americans not paying taxes, and/or not obeying Federal laws, etc.
    I am waiting in related anticipation – the house at the entry to my development is still flying a Trump2020 flag on a 30 foot flagpole, below an American flag that it is desecrating.
    Here’s a pic from Jan 20 2020 17:10 EST – Trump2020Flag_2021-01-20-17:10.jpg

  116. 116.

    Ajabu

    February 25, 2021 at 6:34 pm

    @NotMax: 
    I know the thread is dead but I want to speak to this anyway:
    Both Caesars, Julius and Augustus, wanted to be named for warm months so they simply moved the last four back and inserted theirs into mid summer.

  117. 117.

    MisterForkbeard

    February 25, 2021 at 6:56 pm

    @Bill Arnold: They’re already claiming that Trump is still secretly president ANYWAY, so of course they’re still going to claim this starting March 5th as well.

    Sworn in twice maybe, because he’s twice as presidential.

  118. 118.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    February 25, 2021 at 6:57 pm

    @Ajabu: Fun fact: both of them were fine with having the Caesar Salad named after them until the Cobb guy got a salad named after him, then they insisted on getting a full month each.

  119. 119.

    Mary Ellen Sandahl

    February 25, 2021 at 7:26 pm

    @NotMax: ​
    The Roman New Year began not in January but when Spring started to show itself, namely March. So January and February were the last 2 months of the old year. March (named for the battle god Mars) was also the beginning of the war-campaigning season. And that’s all I know about that!

  120. 120.

    brantl

    February 25, 2021 at 8:46 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone): How about Goldemort?

  121. 121.

    brantl

    February 25, 2021 at 8:52 pm

    @West of the Rockies: That would imply we have a present Fat Ass.

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