Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

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

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Republicans in disarray!

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

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

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

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

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

Consistently wrong since 2002

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

People are complicated. Love is not.

You cannot shame the shameless.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

Bark louder, little dog.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Open Thread: Cease & Desist (Griefing the Grift)

Open Thread: Cease & Desist (Griefing the Grift)

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Repubs in disarray!

The GOP Death Cult’s internal warz are much more entertaining, now that I don’t have to pay attention…


Reader Interactions

156Comments

  2. 2.

    mrmoshpotato

    Neil Young should respond on behalf of the RNC, etc telling Dump to go huff Putin’s farts.

  3. 3.

    Wag

    Trump only cares about himself, and I hope that the GQP never learns that lesson, and continues to try and stay within his sphere of influence until they implode.

  4. 4.

    p.a.

    I’m surprised tRump doesn’t make Uday & Qusay give blood and turn over the $$$ regularly to stay in the will.  Although… maybe that’s part cause of their obvious mental issues.

  6. 6.

    The Moar You Know

    Former Guy can C&D the shit out of any organization he wants but they can keep using his name.  And pictures, unless he took them himself.  And they will.  If he sues he loses.

    Just started thinking I don’t want to see any Former Guy selfies, dear God spare us all from that.

  8. 8.

    The Moar You Know

    Hillary and AOC could make bank if Trump is right on the law.

    @Baud: As you might expect from a guy of his demonstrated mental firepower, detailed knowledge of the law, and ability and willingness to spend whatever it takes to get the best legal representation – he’s dead wrong.

    Now, that being said he can fuck up their Christmas but good, and I suspect he will unless they cut him in on a LOT of the loot.

  13. 13.

    cain

    I mean, can you imagine Pelosi and AOC sending C&D letters to GOP fundraisers asking them not to use their names? haha – same energy.

  16. 16.

    craigie

    Next up: Trump sends his hordes to raid RNC headquarters.

    Would totally watch that on PPV.

  19. 19.

    Nicole

    Oh, the man who has spent his whole life trying to be the most famous person in the room now learns that when you’re famous, lots of different organizations and people can use your visage without paying you. Especially if you’re a politician.

    Heh. Heheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheh.

  20. 20.

    RSA

    So the “leader of the Republican Party” demands that the Republican Party cease using his name and likeness?

    Donald, I knew Voldemort. You are no Voldemort.

  21. 21.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Nicole:

    when you’re famous, lots of different organizations and people can use your visage without paying you

    It’s so good.  And you’d think Assclown the Mobster would know that with his bigliest brain.

  22. 22.

    Ken

    Trump sees monetizing control of the GOP as his central revenue stream for the future.

    Someone should send the RNC et al pictures of the wounds caused by lampreys, with the caption “Your future.”

  24. 24.

    Baud

    @Ken:

    Someone should send the RNC et al pictures of the wounds caused by lampreys, with the caption “Your future.”

  26. 26.

    Ken

    @Baud: The War on Christmas is over. Christmas won. Thanksgiving was a casualty, and Halloween only held out because of support from the candy industry.

  27. 27.

    craigie

    “When you’re famous, anyone can grab you by the name. They let you do it.”

    Bwa ha ha!

  31. 31.

    Ruckus

    @mrmoshpotato:

    It may be the biggliest brain on the planet, it’s still made out of wet and diseased cardboard and therefore provides no actual intellectual information to the world or itself, nor has the capability of an actual brain, even from say the one of a small ant.

  36. 36.

    Kent

    The GOP is so going to regret not ripping off the Trump band aid back on November 6 or so, when it was clear that Biden had won.  I don’t think there is any precedent in American history, maybe even world history, of an entire political party lining up so religiously behind a LOSING candidate.

    For the rest of us I guess all we can do is pop the popcorn.

  37. 37.

    sdhays

    LOL. I saw a headline about this yesterday, but I thought it must mean outside Republican supporting groups. Silly me, I should have known it would be completely ridiculous.

  38. 38.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Kent:

    For the rest of us I guess all we can do is pop the popcorn.

    That would be the perfect scenario except the GOP still maintains enough power to fuck us all over while they tear themselves apart.

  40. 40.

    Baud

    OT

    President Biden has nominated two female generals to elite, four-star commands, the Defense Department announced, months after their Pentagon bosses had agreed on their promotions but held them back out of fears that President Donald J. Trump would reject the officers because they were women.

    NYT link.

  42. 42.

    Feathers

    @Baud: Griefing is fucking up a an online game or online space just for fun. Most canonical would be to kill people on your own team in a multiplayer game. I will out myself as having hung out in Second Life, griefers would show up and be loud, break shit, and graffiti whatever they could. Sexually assaulting other players, usually women, is a particularly odious form of griefing, and is usually separated from the general term these days. Back in the day the distinction was not made.

  43. 43.

    debbie

    Just last week he said he was remaining with the Republican Party rather than a third party! Dude’s trying to choke his own!

  44. 44.

    dexwood

    Though it’s been said many times, once more can’t hurt. Fuck trump. Hope he has a choked on a cheeseburger experience.

  47. 47.

    CaseyL

    @Kent:

    I don’t think there is any precedent in American history, maybe even world history, of an entire political party lining up so religiously behind a LOSING candidate.

     

    On the GQP side, a lot of history of doing exactly that.

    Nixon lost in ’60; won elections and GQP loyalty in ’68.
    Reagan lost a try for the GOP nomination in ’76, and came back in ’80 to become the GOP idol/saint.

    Bush the Elder lost then won, too, but the GOP never really loved him the way they did Nixon and Reagan.

  48. 48.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Kent:

    The GOP is so going to regret not ripping off the Trump band aid back on November 6 or so, when it was clear that Biden had won. 

    They can’t.  Dump is the GOP.  He’s both their leader and their base – racist, fascist, white trash.

  51. 51.

    StringOnAStick

    Remember what his niece Mary Trump said, that he’ll never leave politics because it’s the best money he’s ever made.

  52. 52.

    WaterGirl

    Two headlines at the Washington Post, one right after the other.

    Narrow victory on relief bill shows warning signs for Biden agenda

    Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief plan reflects seismic shifts in U.S. politics

    Don’t these people talk to each other?

  55. 55.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: And Alexander Vindman is pissed!  I read his op-ed (or something he wrote for Lawfare) at the time, and he was not impressed with the decision by the top brass to wait so as not to piss off the baby-commander-in-chief.

  56. 56.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    @Ruckus: to borrow a phrase from Issac Asimov: “They didn’t have minds.  Not even little white mice minds.”

  57. 57.

    StringOnAStick

    @Jay: He had that arrest record and was given Too Secret clearance; I wonder who facilitated that?

  59. 59.

    Ken

    @dexwood: Hope he has a choked on a cheeseburger experience.

    “I think Dad’s choking.”

    “Hmm. I think you’re right.”

    “We should do something, don’t you think?”

    “Well…. Yes, but what?”

    “Let me check the net… It says something called the ‘Heimlich’.”

    “How do you do that?”

    “You put your arms around him –”

    “Whoa. You put your arms around him.”

    “I can’t get my arms around him.”

    “Well, is there something else we could do?”

    “Probably, but I don’t think it matters anymore…”

  60. 60.

    JWR

    @mrmoshpotato:

    And you’d think Assclown the Mobster would know that with his bigliest brain.

    And don’t forget about the greatest genes! After all, Dr. Ronnie said he may well be walking this Earth come 2146. (Oy, to our progeny.)

  62. 62.

    Millard Filmore

    @WaterGirl: 

    And Alexander Vindman is pissed! I read his op-ed (or something he wrote for Lawfare) at the time, and he was not impressed with the decision by the top brass to wait so as not to piss off the baby-commander-in-chief.

    Would a promotion veto damage their future career in the military?

  63. 63.

    Kent

    @CaseyL: Those aren’t really equivalent examples.

    Nixon lost in 1960 and went into obscurity and it took a long time for him to fight his way back into GOP leadership, 8 years in fact.  Nixon did not even run in 1964.  That primary was largely between Goldwater and Rockyfeller.

    As for Reagan?  He lost his 1976 primary challenge to Ford.  But he never lost a single general election, either as governor, or president.

    Show me another example where the loser in a presidential election has maintained such a tight grip on party loyalty as Trump is doing now.  I honestly can’t think of any

    It would be like the GOP doubling down on Hoover in 1932.

  64. 64.

    Ken

    @WaterGirl: I wonder if there’s a way to record their official date of promotion as back when it should have been done, for purposes of seniority and pension.

  65. 65.

    Mike in NC

    @Baud: Yep, that story came out a little while back about how Trump only wanted to promote white men to the highest military rank. Asshole.

  66. 66.

    WaterGirl

    @StringOnAStick: I don’t have the source, but I read that his clearance had either been denied or taken away, and then it was given back to him.

    I suspect this is just part of the “fuck your decisions on clearance, we’re keeping anyone we want to keep, and you can’t stop us” program.

  68. 68.

    Geminid

    Yesterday trump also denounced Lisa Murkowski, and promised that next year he would go to Alaska to work for her defeat. A few days before, he slagged Murkowski for supporting Native American Deb Haaland’s nomination for Interior Secretary, said Murkowski had betrayed Alaskans. He probably does not know that in 2010, after she was edged out in a primary by a tea party crank, the powerful Alaskan Native Corporations were  key supporters of Murkowski’s successful write-in campaign. Labor unions gave her strong backing as well.

    Alaska has a novel electoral system, and will hold a ranked-choice jungle primary, followed by a November run-off between the top four finishers. So trump has made his brag and will likely follow through. But it seems like the only challenger who could unseat Murkowski would be a Democrat. The vindictive trump would consider that a victory, though, and this is what people like Karl Rove fear.

  69. 69.

    PsiFighter37

    @Kent: They have the call that trying to get out the racist, uneducated, unengaged low-information white voter is a better bet than bothering to try and change their policies and appeal to a larger swathe of the country. To be fair, it helped them a lot downballot in 2016. But they should see that without the clown actually on the top of the ticket, it has been quite destructive overall (2018 elections, the Georgia Senate runoffs).

  70. 70.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: This morning I was listening to the Lawfare podcast that was the “hearings with no bull” where they cut out all the grandstanding and bullshit and just give you questions and answers.

    They don’t do a good job of identifying who is asking the questions and who is answering.  It was the Dept of Defense, the FBI, the National Guard and one other agency.

    So I can’t tell you who said it, but someone said “the word was that we shouldn’t upset the president by talking about white nationalists violent extremists in our reports”.

    After listening to that podcast, I want Wray out of the FBI at the soonest possible moment.  All the FBI answers were evasive and filled with bullshit and non-answers.

  71. 71.

    CaseyL

    @Kent: In terms of Party loyalty, T* is indeed unique (excepting perhaps William Jennings Bryan, but he never won).

    I’ve mentioned this before, but the GQP has behaved like a supersaturated solution, attracting the very worst people – the most ignorant, the most bigoted, the most authoritarian – until the whole Party crystallized around them.  The idolatry is a consequence of the authoritarianism.

  74. 74.

    WaterGirl

    @Geminid:

    But it seems like the only challenger who could unseat Murkowski would be a Democrat. The vindictive trump would consider that a victory, though, and this is what people like Karl Rove fear.

    I would happily see her replaced by a democrat!

  75. 75.

    MattF

    My take is that The Former One wants licensing fees. Pretty soon he’ll send a C&D letter to Twitter demanding payment for any uses of his name or image. Whatever.

    Also, he’s claiming that he has control over uses of his name and image, which could be useful in deterring news coverage of, um, whatever.

    Also, Twitter sayth he’s on the outs with Kushner. Whatever.

    ETA: Also, a reminder of just how crazy the Qfolk are now.

  76. 76.

    Baud

    Of course, Andrew Jackson lost and then used that loss to come back strong.  Probably the most Trump-like president we’ve had.

  77. 77.

    mrmoshpotato

    @JWR: Oh yeah!  “And he’s the healthiest preznint ever!  Gonna live to eleventy bazillionzillion!”

  78. 78.

    Gravenstone

    @debbie: Dude realized that starting a new party from scratch was too much time/effort/money to be worth the effort.

  79. 79.

    Elie

    @Jay:

    I read somewhere that a big part of the QAnon social psychology is anti-social…. filled with fear but also violence resulting from fear.  I’ll try to find the source.

  88. 88.

    Edmund Dantes

    @Jay: how he ever got a top secret clearance to begin with… that whole system needs to be re-thought.

  90. 90.

    Kent

    @Geminid: Former Alaskan here.  In my judgement, with the ranked choice primary system, Murkowski is basically Senator for life.  She sits across the broad middle and there isn’t enough room on her right or her left for a meaningful challenger.

    Trump is entirely full of hot air.  There is zero chance he actually goes to Alaska to campaign for some MAGA idiot challenger.   He is just futilely trying to extract punishment on those GOPers who voted for impeachment.  But it will have no effect on Murkowski

    Likewise, he will have no ability to primary and defeat Jaime Herrera Beutler here in the WA-3rd because we don’t have a GOP primary here in WA either.  We have a single jungle primary which makes it basically impossible to challenge her from the right.

  91. 91.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Kent: Nixon didn’t go into obscurity after 1960, he ran for Governor of California and lost to Chairman Jerry’s dad, Pat.  After the loss, he said the famous words to the press, “You won’t have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore”.

  92. 92.

    sdhays

    @Timill: I always thought Stevenson got the 1956 nomination because no one else really wanted to be the sacrificial lamb going up against Eisenhower, not because he had a lock on the party.

  96. 96.

    Geminid

    Republican leaders know trump is bad news for the party, but they just cannot control their primary voters. This was shown in 2016. Their best hope is for trump to collapse physically or mentally. They would have him poisoned if they thought they would get away with it.

    But even if trump were to shed his bloated mortal coil tomorrow, the trump fanatics will still be big problem for the GOP. These folks believe that the party betrayed them when it’s leaders did not effectively defend trump’s rightful victory. They will be on a RINO hunt, and trash like Gaetz and Greene will be egging them on.

  97. 97.

    Fair Economist

    @Geminid:

    Alaska has a novel electoral system, and will hold a ranked-choice jungle primary, followed by a November run-off between the top four finishers. So trump has made his brag and will likely follow through. But it seems like the only challenger who could unseat Murkowski would be a Democrat. The vindictive trump would consider that a victory, though, and this is what people like Karl Rove fear.

    Murkowski getting unseated now requires strong Democratic *and* Trumpist candidates. With the top four IRV system now it’ll come down to her and two such candidates after the weakest of the top 4 gets eliminated. If Murkowski is 3rd in first place votes among those three she’s out. If not, she’ll win via the dropped candidate’s voters mostly having her as the next choice. She’d be best off by taking a genuinely centrist approach, because with Trump against her she needs to not piss off too many Democrats, but I’m not seeing it as of yet.

    Part of her problem with demonstrating centrism is that with the filibuster she can’t get something through on normal order with just her and the Democrats, and even when it just takes 50+1 there are going to be very few cases where Manchin will be “no” and she would be “yes”. Haaland’s appointment might have actually been one of those, but Manchin has backed off on his opposition.

  98. 98.

    JWR

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: 

    “You won’t have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore”.

    Shoulda kicked him harder when we had the chance. Instead, Ted Kennedy praised Ford for pardoning Tricky Dick.

  99. 99.

    Frankensteinbeck

    Calling it:  Trump’s income has nosedived.  I don’t care what Republicans say on polls to trigger the libs.  Trump has gotten no action but CPAC since the inauguration.  His government grift is dead.  His properties are bleeding money.  And the sweet, sweet cultish cash the GOP base was so willing to pour on him to overturn the election diminished to a trickle when he didn’t overturn the election.  Why is he threatening the RNC now?  Because he needs that money.  His name still has some power as a shibboleth, but nobody’s opening their pockets for a loser to try again.

  101. 101.

    Ruckus

    @Kent:

    Is the take away that the GQP likes shitty losers? (see my comment above)

    It would make sense, given their entire scam.

  103. 103.

    Raoul Paste

    @Jay: Is this the guy who had the top secret clearance???

    If so, heads should roll

    Oops, I see this was covered at number 57

  105. 105.

    germy

    @debbie:

    His family is … interesting:

    Subhead: Freddie Klein had the “perfectly suburban” background.

    ¶4: He had “increasingly fiery social and political views” but “a forgettable professional record.” https://t.co/ToL30Q1sx3 pic.twitter.com/tb2NFzLTPn

    — emptywheel (@emptywheel) March 6, 2021

    If a “perfectly suburban” background includes family members in high-level positions in military dictatorships, sure. His uncle served in major economic rules in two Argentine dictatorships and went on to play a big role in the conservative establishment. https://t.co/Bo6qw3jANt

    — Mark Healey (@HealeyParera) March 6, 2021

  106. 106.

    Kent

    @Fair Economist:Murkowski getting unseated now requires strong Democratic *and* Trumpist candidates. With the top four IRV system now it’ll come down to her and two such candidates after the weakest of the top 4 gets eliminated. If Murkowski is 3rd in first place votes among those three she’s out. If not, she’ll win via the dropped candidate’s voters mostly having her as the next choice. She’d be best off by taking a genuinely centrist approach, because with Trump against her she needs to not piss off too many Democrats, but I’m not seeing it as of yet.

    Yes, but it’s not just the IRV system, there are no longer closed party primaries in AK and most Alaskans are neither GOP nor Dem but independent.  Current registration statistics have independents at 57%, Republicans at 25%, Democrats at 14%, and Alaska Independence party at 3%.  So Murkowski technically doesn’t even need a single GOP or DEM vote to win a majority.  All of those folks will be voting in the single primary, not just the GOP or DEMs.

    No way she ends up 3rd place in an open state-wide primary because the vast majority of mainstream independent types who aren’t that politically engaged will just vote for her on name recognition alone.

  107. 107.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Ruckus: 

    Is the take away that the GQP likes shitty losers?

    The takeaway is that the GOP base demands absolute obedience to the principle of “Fuck you, libtards.” I admit, Trump is the first person to try and convince the base on a big election that they can overturn it even after it’s clear they can’t, but nobody who has watched GOP politics for even a decade should be surprised the base leaped for that lie like they were being offered the lotto jackpot numbers.

  109. 109.

    germy

    There is so much packed into the $1.9T stimulus plan passed by the Senate today that it’s gained almost zero attention for shoring up the pensions of more than a million workers and retirees under multiemployer pension plans. Kind of amazing.

    — Dave Jamieson (@jamieson) March 7, 2021

  110. 110.

    Geminid

    @Fair Economist: I have no first hand knowledge of Alaskan politics, but my impression is that many Alaskans care less about their Senators’ ideology, and more about their ability to bring home the bacon. A few hundred million dollars of federal funding goes a long way among such a small population. And they want administration of the large federal lands to work in their favor. Murkowski cleaned up in these areas during the last Congress, and more or less defending these gains and adding to them could be Murkowski’s reelection ticket.

    Defending Alaskan interests in upcoming climate change legislation will play a part as well. Murkowski and her friend Joe Manchin wrote an interesting op-ed for the Washington Post last spring that lays out their objectives in this area. The gist was: “We two energy state Senators know climate change denialism is politically a dead duck, and we are ready to deal on the clean energy transition, so long as our citizens are taken care of (and here’s how).” Some of Murkowski’s reelection will be fought out in the Senate Energy Commitee that Manchin chairs, and in House/Senate conference negotiations.

  112. 112.

    Elie

    @Jay:

    There is an association between QAnon practice and antisocial behavior. A lot of these folks who have been arrested have histories of brushes with the law and other antisocial behavior.

    From interestingTom Edsall column in NYT
    In “Who Supports QAnon? A Case Study in Political Extremism,” Uscinski and Enders explore what they identify as some of the characteristics of the QAnon movement: “Support for QAnon is born more of antisocial personality traits and a predisposition toward conspiracy thinking than traditional political identities and motivations,” they write, before going on to argue that

    While QAnon supporters are “extreme,” they are not so in the ideological sense. Rather, QAnon support is best explained by conspiratorial worldviews and a predisposition toward other nonnormative behavior.

    Uscinski and Enders found a substantial 0.413 correlation between those who support or sympathize with QAnon and “dark” personality traits, leading him to conclude that “the type of extremity that undergirds such support has less to do with traditional, left/right political concerns and more to do with extreme, antisocial psychological orientations and behavioral patterns.”
    Here is the link https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/03/opinion/qanon-conspiracy-theories.html

  113. 113.

    SFAW

    @germy:

    Scott Adams has certainly turned into quite the nut job. [Yes, I know he’s been that way for awhile. I just hadn’t seen any of his wingnut “wisdom” before.]

  114. 114.

    Gravenstone

    @germy: We have a serious mental health crisis at the national level. So many people parading their delusions, psychoses and neuroses in public.

  115. 115.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Kent:

    What about all of the new voter suppression bills in states around the country? And the new conservative SCOTUS majority hostile to voting rights?

  116. 116.

    Elie

    @Gravenstone:

    That is totally true.  The availability of mental health care and the quality of ANY mental health care is a true public health crisis.  The scope of the problem underlies many of our social and political problems.  We are butt fuck crazee and the state of psychiatric care is unable to address our needs.  God help you if you have a kid who needs major care.  We do not have treatment or facilities to take care of the most severe, so you know the less acute are not even considered.  It is catastrophic to our country and all of our wellbeing.

  117. 117.

    Ruckus

    @WaterGirl:

    Wouldn’t matter if they did.

    They love publishing both side stories, gets them eyeballs and income. They obviously do not give a damn about the actual news, only eyeballs and income.

  118. 118.

    Ruckus

    @Jay:

    Not if you wanted to hire someone with zero scruples, or someone who wouldn’t even know how to spell scruples.

  119. 119.

    Geminid

    @JaySinWA: Sociologists and political scientists call this phenomenon “negative partisanship.” Rachel Bitecofer makes a good exposition of the concept in her February 2020 New Republic article titled “Hate is on the Ballot.” A very illuminating analysis of voting patterns since the 2014 cycle, applied to the then upcoming November 2020 election. Maybe even more worth reading now.

  120. 120.

    Ken

    My hobby is doing my soul good tonight.  I joined Project Gutenberg distributed proofreaders, and tonight I’m proofing pages from James Hiatt’s The voter’s text book (1868).  In the chronology of events for 1865, some refreshingly honest reporting:

    March 17.–Rebel Congress adjourned, sine die.

    March 19.–Rebel General Johnson defeated at Bentonville, North Carolina.

    March 25.–Rebels attack General Grant and got soundly whipped.

    (Of course, April 14 is just down the page…)

  121. 121.

    Ruckus

    @WaterGirl:

    It’s very good, but this says a metric ton of how things often work/don’t work in the military.

    Too often, senior leaders succumb to situational ethics. They convince themselves that they are indispensable and serve as the only guardrail to more egregious abuses of power. But that is vanity—the kind of hubris that has felled too many officials both in the past four years and throughout the history of military affairs.

  123. 123.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Baud: It would be cool if the RNC started referring to Trump as the Former Guy to avoid a lawsuit.

    I like to think of him (on the rare occasions when that happens) as a Crime Family Guy. Crappo di tutti Crappi. But that’s just me.

  125. 125.

    Just Chuck

    There are still lawyers who will work for Trump?  Was the C&D printed in Comic Sans?

  126. 126.

    Martin

    This isn’t surprising. Trump will look to route all fundraising through his PAC in order to gain his likeness and name, he’ll take a cut, and then decide how to dole out the money. And this can all be credited to John Roberts and Samuel Alito. And good luck making sure no Russian money isn’t laundered through there.

    And he and Q are two sides of the same coin. A fascist movement needs to have their opponents dehumanized which is what Q does. Trump just needs to point and give it credibility. The voting moves are just putting that in action.

    Right now we’re counting on Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney <spit> to keep the fascists from fully taking over the GOP. I don’t like our odds on that one.

  127. 127.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Geminid: They would have him murdered if they thought they could get away with pinning the act on an African-American, Latino, immigrant, registered Democrat, or as many of the above as possible.

    Fixed that 4U!​

  128. 128.

    Martin

    @JaySinWA: Cleek’s law is a restatement of Frank Wilhoit’s:

    Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition …There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.

    If you accept that as being true, then you can see how they don’t think what they are saying is hypocritical. Of course Trump and cheat and lie and Obama can’t. One is bound by a set of rules and the other isn’t.

  129. 129.

    lowtechcyclist

    Near the beginning of South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut, you hear a newscaster in the background say:

    It’s been six weeks since Saddam Hussein was killed by a pack of wild boars and the world is still glad to be rid of him.

    Reminds me of how I feel about the absence of a certain orange person.

  130. 130.

    Geminid

    @JaySinWA: This Cleek cat was breaking ground then, as the concept of negative partisanship has gained currency among poltical scientists since then. Bitecofer incorporated negative partisanship into the model she used to predict a 42 seat Democratic pick up in the 2018 midterm House elections. She was an upstart, a lecturer at a 3rd tier Virginia public university, and her prediction was pooh-poohed by more established pundits. In the event, though, Democrats flipped 40 seats (Bitecofer said several seats were left on the table for lack of investment).

    But even if Cleek’s Law has long been a thing on this forum, the Bitecofer article is well worth the ten minute read. Her analysis comes from a strong social science base, and makes pundits like Nate Silver look like political cub scouts.

  132. 132.

    cain

    oh shit, it was Kate that made Meghan cry – damn that bitch. Then leaked it the other way around!

  133. 133.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    Oooh – one of the few times when having your name be your brand can really grab you by the – uh, edible tree seeds, usually in a shell… OH! Grab you by the NUTS!

    Odds are, the one and only thing they must avoid is using the font that Trump uses for branding, because that might be trademark infringement.

  134. 134.

    Morzer

    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/manchin-support-filibuster-open-reconciliation

    It seems that Joe Manchin is tiptoeing towards the idea that the filibuster can be “reformed” when the circumstances are right:

    Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) on Sunday said that he stood by his opposition to eliminating the filibuster entirely — but he left the door open to reforming the procedural rule.

    Appearing on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Manchin maintained that he won’t change his mind when it comes to his opposition against getting rid of the filibuster — but expressed that he is open to making it “a little bit more painful” to use.

  135. 135.

    WaterGirl

    @cain: I thought about putting something up for that, but Anne Laurie has a Biden post in half an hour, and I don’t want to pre-step on that.

    You can just talk about it here.

  139. 139.

    WaterGirl

    @zhena gogolia: I typically don’t care much about the royal goings on, but this is kind of interesting to me, maybe because I really liked Meghan in Suits.

    I’m interested enough that I am recording it, in case I hear about anything interesting and want to watch something directly.

    Kind of sad, though, to have the whole fairy tale princess thing and then have it turn into an ugly hornet’s nest.  They looked so amazingly happy on their wedding day.

  140. 140.

    cain

    So, Prince Harry, the day has come when you burn your relationship with Britain. We've begged you not to do this. But, to be clear, your wife won't take this country down. Everyone who declares war on The United Kingdom loses, you're about to join the list #HarryandMeghanonOprah pic.twitter.com/p6BvfE6H1j— André Walker (@andrejpwalker) March 7, 2021

    This loon.. I tell you. He’s getting dragged all over the place. The best part was when he took a shot at the Irish.. that shit went down hard :D

  141. 141.

    cain

    @WaterGirl: ​Kind of sad, though, to have the whole fairy tale princess thing and then have it turn into an ugly hornet’s nest. They looked so amazingly happy on their wedding day.

     

    It reveals the deep racism in the British press. I’ve had an axe grind with those assholes since Diana died. I’m looking for payback.

  142. 142.

    cain

    Watching the Brits come out against her.. just wow. Black woman twitter is totally like watching with tea. lol.

  144. 144.

    Ken

    @cain: André, huh? With the la-dé-dah acuté Frénch accént, évén.  Not exactly a British name, is it? Yet from your note about his Irish comments, trying to out-Anglo the Saxons.  I’m sure that will work out well for him.

  145. 145.

    cain

    @Feathers: Yes, I believe the word she uses instead is “family members”.

    I think the fact that she was given the Diana treatment, and nearly felt like taking her own life. WTF. This family is destructive. Glad they got the hell out of there. Also a big fuck you to the British press.

    And it’s not like any of us don’t believe her – we very much do since we saw that same shit go down with Diana.

  147. 147.

    cain

    @Ken: ​
     

    @cain: André, huh? With the la-de-dah acuté Frénch accént, évén. Not exactly a British name, is it? Yet from your note about the Irish, trying to out-Anglo the Saxons. I’m sure that will work out well for him.

    That sub thread was a fun read. Watching the Irish jump down his throat… you go after those folks, better not miss! I carry water for the Irish.

  148. 148.

    karen marie

    @Geminid: Back in November, after the election, there was talk that Junior and his “mama-girlfriend” want to take over the RNC.

    They deny it. No surprise – they’d have to not only work but show results. Hahahaha.

  149. 149.

    Geminid

    Now I hear that the RNC is pushing back on trump, and and their lawyers have served him with a Sleaze and Regrift order.

  151. 151.

    Sloane Ranger

    I don’t know what happened inside the Royal Family. No-one outside does or ever will. It’s worth noting that the UK gutter press always slags off Royal spouses. If they’re Royal themselves,  they’re too posh and foreign to boot. If they’re not Royal, they’re too common, by definition. The UK press did that with Philip and Kate Middleton before they sank their teeth into Meghan. Was Meghan’s race a factor? Yes. It made the attacks more vicious than normal.

    What normally happens is the Royal spouse waits out the press until they find a nice new Royal to sink their teeth into. At which point, they just become another Royal. Would this have happened with Meghan? I don’t know. We never had the opportunity to find out.

    I think one major issue is that the Royal Family is meant to be apolitical. What this means in practice is that they aren’t allowed to speak out about any even remotely contentious issue. Hell, Charles still gets dragged for talking about architecture and climate issues. As an American, with your strong free speech traditions, this was always going to be a challenge for Meghan.

  152. 152.

    cain

    @Sloane Ranger: ​
     

    I think one major issue is that the Royal Family is meant to be apolitical. What this means in practice is that they aren’t allowed to speak out about any even remotely contentious issue. Hell, Charles still gets dragged for talking about architecture and climate issues. As an American, with your strong free speech traditions, this was always going to be a challenge for Meghan.

    That doesn’t explain the experience of Diana whose life was a non-stop shit show. Her death was caused by the UK press as far as I am concerned. I think they would have given the same treatment to Meghan who was also emotionally traumatized and abandoned by the royal family.

    Fuck them. If they are shit scared about this interview – good.

  154. 154.

    Morzer

    @Ken:

    “Maybe we should try the Putin Maneuver…”

    “I am not familiar with that medical term”

    “Well, you drag the patient up to the 20th floor and throw him out of the nearest window into an empty swimming pool.”

    “That would certainly dislodge the substance clogging up his throat… ”

    “It’s the ethical thing to do. Now, you take those tiny little feet and I take the tiny little arms and a swing and a miss and away we go.”

  155. 155.

    Original Lee

    The cognitive dissonance would have been breathtaking back in 2014, but now it’s just sad. What I’m perturbed about is that none of the media bothers pointing out that if Mango Mobster is truly the duly elected President for the next four years, he can’t run again in 2024. By failing to refute the Big Lie every time they talk about the 2024 campaign, the media becomes even more complicit.

  156. 156.

    Chris T.

    @cain: I am Irish, or at least half Irish by descent. Enough to make me a Person of Extreme Whiteness. Like the hard-to-see girl here, although as the one commenter said, it only takes a few seconds to turn lobster red in the sun.

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