Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

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

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

This blog will pay for itself.

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

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

“woke” is the new caravan.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

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

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Bark louder, little dog.

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

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

Ah, the different things are different argument.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

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

You are here: Home / Politics / GOP Death Cult / Late Night Cheapjack Horrorshow Open Thread: In Palm Beach, the RNC Kisses the Ring

Late Night Cheapjack Horrorshow Open Thread: In Palm Beach, the RNC Kisses the Ring

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Take heart, fellow Democrats! If not for human decency, basic intelligence, and a rudimentary sense of self-preservation, you too could be spending your time and money kissing up to a senile criminal at his subtropical lair…

… Since Trump left office, at least six Republican candidates have held fundraisers at the former president’s Florida properties. This weekend, at least six more events will be put on by GOP-allied groups.

The events show that Trump has maintained his status as the party’s central figure, even after the violent effort by supporters to overthrow the election results on his behalf, and a post-presidency exile in which he has rarely left his own property.

That control has allowed Trump to continue his unprecedented and lucrative business relationship with his own party. Republicans will pay Trump just to be where he is — or even, in some cases, where they hope he might be…

And what do the hopeful donors get for their money?

Per CNN:

Former President Donald Trump repeated familiar lies about the 2020 election and insulted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Saturday when speaking to Republican National Committee donors gathered for the first time since Trump’s defeat, a person in the room told CNN…

Trump went through an extensive recounting of debunked claims the election was stolen from him, including detailed complaints about individual states, and insisted the results were rigged, the person in the room said. In addition to insulting the Republican Senate leader — which received huge applause — the former President was highly critical of Dr. Anthony Fauci and once again took aim at former Vice President Mike Pence, whom he said had failed him in certifying the Electoral College results, according to the same person in the room.

The former President spoke generally about party unity, lamenting that Republicans don’t stick together as well as Democrats, the person said…

With the party completely out of power in Washington for the first time in four years, GOP donors have been eager to hear from leaders about how Republicans can win back the House and Senate in 2022 and the White House in 2024. But the question of how big a role Trump will and should play in the GOP future looms…

While the Palm Beach location was a concession of convenience to Trump, the presence of other Republican White House hopefuls is meant to signal the RNC’s official policy of neutrality toward the 2024 primary.

The potential candidates include three of Florida’s top elected officials: Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, both of whom may also run for president, spoke at the retreat too.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has been making moves that suggest a White House run, was scheduled to appear but did not.

Most of the donors attending the retreat were both staunch Trump backers — one was spotted on Friday walking out to the Four Seasons pool deck donning a blue “Make America Great Again” ballcap — and faithful Republicans looking to build the party back.

That endeavor is more complicated for the sizable number of GOP donors who are not so enamored with Trump but want to help the party regain power in Washington…

TFG’s no tiger, but he is a big, mean, stupid, potentially poisonous predator. Maybe the new RNC motto should be You can ride the Komodo dragon, but can you dismount?

Reader Interactions

65Comments

  1. 1.

    Comrade Colette

    Wait, that’s Josh Mandel? I’ve seen photos of that little weasel before, but I always assumed he was just some smarmy Young Republicans intern who got in the way of his betters the camera.

  2. 2.

    laura

    If you’re going to pay to listen to the fatuous gasbag continuing to deny the reality that he’s a loser you deserve to stand in the buffet line between Neom and Cotton.

  3. 3.

    Yutsano

    You can ride the Komodo dragon, but can you dismount?

    Hey now! Komodo dragons don’t deserve to be tarred with such slanderous associations!

  5. 5.

    pablo

    The pisser is, he’s going to run in 2024 because being President is the only way to stay out of jail, and he will bring down with mighty vengeance anyone who dares run against him.

  8. 8.

    Shalimar

    Republicans want an abusive asshole for their leader.  Can we please start the 2024 primaries by acknowledging that none of the 18 candidates Trump humiliated in 2016 is going to be it?  Rubio in particular has no chance.

  9. 9.

    Mallard Filmore

    @pablo:

     

    The pisser is, he’s going to run in 2024 because being President is the only way to stay out of jail, and he will bring down with mighty vengeance anyone who dares run against him.

    I wonder if Biden’s DOJ will honor the “90 days before an election” tradition.

  12. 12.

    Cameron

    The idea that owning/having means you don’t need building/making is going to sink this country to the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Private equity is piracy.

  15. 15.

    NotMax

    Once got ’em hooked up and working, really enjoying the major upgrade in computer speakers which, contrary to the USPS site, did arrive today. Yay! Box a little banged up, contents unaffected.

    Gonna have to trim the budget for the rest of the month and into the beginning of May to balance out the modest extra expense, but worth it.

  17. 17.

    NotMax

    @The Pale Scot

    The addition of a subwoofer (plus acoustically better upright left and right channels) rocks.

    Bonus: They’re quite attractive to look at. Discontinued model, but there’s still some out there at various vendors. Slightly higher priced though Amazon. Finding a pl;ace which would ship to Hawaii was the bugaboo; finally, after months and months of checking and rechecking, that option opened up. Only real design negative is that the power switch is on the back of the subwoofer.

  23. 23.

    Chris T.

    @NotMax: Shipping (or lack thereof) to Hawaii was a factor in our deciding to move to Washington instead. Not the main one, which was climate related (HI is too hot for my partner … maybe even too hot for me).

    (We figured we can always visit, once we can travel again without threat of dying from some stupid virus)

  25. 25.

    Sebastian

    @NotMax:

    That rotary volume control puck is the best thing since sliced bread. I have one from a different vendor and it’s my most favorite gadget ever.

    Good speakers transform and upgrade a space. Good call, glad that worked out!

  26. 26.

    The Moar You Know

    I bet the place stinks.   Literally.

    Trump predicts GOP will retake Congress in 2022 and White House in 2024 in speech to party donors

    Blowout city for Dems in the next two election cycles.   Betting against this tub of rancid oleomargarine has won me a lot of money over the last few years.

  28. 28.

    Amir Khalid

    @pablo:
    I have a feeling TFG won’t run in 2024: he’ll be in prison by then.

    This TFG-ist Republican party looks more and more like a political suicide cult to me. Its base and its leaders are clinging to a man who led them to failure in 2018 and 2020, to disgrace in 2021, and is now sowing division by threatening to purge it of those disloyal to him.

    When he goes to jail, and I’m all but certain he will, the party will need to free itself from his thrall and find itself a new path. It will entail some time as a minority party. It is going to require the sort of moral self-appraisal that a lot of people don’t have the stomach to take on, especially if they’ve been encouraged over the past few years to indulge their worst impulses.

  31. 31.

    SFAW

    a senile criminal at his subtropical lair…

    There used to be a RI Mafia don* who, in his later years, often wandered outside in his bathrobe. I’m not sure if it was ever determined if he was demented, or just putting on a “hey, look, I ain’t competent to stand trial” performance. In That Fecking Guy’s case, I know the answer.

    * I think it was Gennaro “Jerry” Angiulo, but Gin & Tonic probably remembers better than I. Pretty sure the much-missed efgoldman would also remember.

  32. 32.

    SFAW

    @Amir Khalid:

    and I’m all but certain he will,

    My, aren’t you an optimistic chap? This is Cy Vance Jr. we’re talking about — the same Cy Vance Jr. who declined to go after That Other Junior when he had the chance (years ago). I seem to recall reading something about a timely contribution to his re-election campaign.

  34. 34.

    2liberal

    @SFAW:

    There used to be a RI Mafia don* who, in his later years, often wandered outside in his bathrobe. I’m not sure if it was ever determined if he was demented, or just putting on a “hey, look, I ain’t competent to stand trial” performance. In That Fecking Guy’s case, I know the answer.

    * I think it was Gennaro “Jerry” Angiulo, but Gin & Tonic probably remembers better than I. Pretty sure the much-missed efgoldman would also remember.

    Not an  RI  mafia guy, rather NYC

     

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Gigante

  40. 40.

    artem1s

    @Amir Khalid:

    When he goes to jail, and I’m all but certain he will, the party will need to free itself from his thrall and find itself a new path.

    I think Joe was right.  There may not be a functioning Republican party by 2024.  The GQP has been completely failing to free itself from authoritarianism and facistism since Nixon at least.  Each and everytime, instead of deciding to not ‘be the party of stupid’ they doubled down and say ‘hold my beer’.  I’m at least a couple of decades over thinking they can be saved or that they will decide to save themselves.  They are addicted to the chaos.  Some addicts hit bottom and decide to admit they have a problem and start the process of recovery. The GQP just digs down so establish a new bottom and anyone who doesn’t start digging with them (see Graham, Lindsey) gets thrown out of the club (LP Project).  I think there will be a long period where the various factions claiming to be the Lincoln Party, TeaParty, @REALGQP, @REALGOP, @REALTrumpublicans,  etc, will fight over what remains of the party donor lists.  But for now it looks like WinRed has control of the fundraising apparatus and they are fleecing TFG’s rubes for all they are worth. Perhaps if TFG becomes too toxic or his base runs out of money, WinRed will move on to another mark.  This is where the party is going to rip itself to bits. In order to keep current donors and attract new ones, they are going to have to discredit the other factions.  Me, I’m not interested in reconcilation, I’m rooting for injuries.

  43. 43.

    D

    Chuck sliced and diced Dems on MTP with “Why can’t Biden…?”, then moved on to his true guest of honor, Asa Hutchinson, then moved on to “domestic extremism”…

    h

  46. 46.

    cain

    @pablo:

    The pisser is, he’s going to run in 2024 because being President is the only way to stay out of jail, and he will bring down with mighty vengeance anyone who dares run against him.

    I hope Trump runs it will deflate the shit out of the rest of those candidates. They also if Trump gets defeated in the primaries that people will stay home and the GOP vote will be depressed.

  47. 47.

    cain

    @Amir Khalid: ​When he goes to jail, and I’m all but certain he will, the party will need to free itself from his thrall and find itself a new path. It will entail some time as a minority party. It is going to require the sort of moral self-appraisal that a lot of people don’t have the stomach to take on, especially if they’ve been encouraged over the past few years to indulge their worst impulses.

     

    They seem pretty dedicated to nationalism and fascism. I mean I think it’s only going to get worse – fueled by right wing evangelicals.

    I hope we have the strength to hold it off because otherwise it’s going to turn into a blood bath.

  48. 48.

    J R in WV

    I agree with Amir, wise political observer that he is. Even if The Former Guy doesn’t wind up in jail, a long shot by itself, he won’t be in any kind of shape to run a campaign for elected office.

    TFG could barely walk by the end of the 2020 campaign; he couldn’t both walk and talk at all. Even after being in recovery at “home” for months he still appears to have trouble talking.

    And Cyrus Vance Jr is not the only court case TFG will face — he’s vulnerable in GA and DC at least, as well as potential Federal charges regarding to the Jan6 insurrection~!!~

    So Many Questions for TFG and his minions:

    • Why exactly did the Proud Boys know more about the National Guard movement than the Capitol Police did?
    • Why exactly did it take well over an hour for DoD to approve the movement of the National Guard to defend the Capitol and the Legislature?
    • Who was in charge of that decision that day?
    • Why were so many people appointed to DoD positions just a few days before the end of the Administration?
    • Did any of them have any qualifications for such a senior appointment besides promising to support TFG’s insurrection?

    I suspect if those people were interviewed by stone faced counter intelligence agents AND criminal agents working in tandem, and were offered a few days to decide if they were going to cooperate for a lighter plea and less jail time, some of them would rat out TFG and spell out their promises to support a planned insurrection in the heart of our nation.

    Particularly if they were already indicted and being held to await trial in the distant future.

    Those who don’t turn state’s evidence should face life in Florence CO with the other traitors and terrorists.

    ETA: If I could guarantee TFG’s imprisonment I would let a whole lot (not all, some were serious instigators) of the small fry traitors walk with minimal punishment, a felony with a little jail time to prevent them from owning a firearm would do it for me. Trump needs to go down, and hard!

  50. 50.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    So calling Moscow Mitch a dumb son of a bitch gets massive applause? Do they realize they could, like choose a different majority leader if they hate the guy so much?

  51. 51.

    J R in WV

    @WaterGirl: ​
     

    @D: If they dems weren’t able to push back, then we need better Dems on those shows. Who were the dems on the show?

    Chuckles Toad doesn’t need to have a Democrat on when he’s going to punish the Democratic party — that might spoil his fun!

    Seriously, Todd is an active RussoRepublican tool, and should face the same hard time all the other insurrectionists face. His finances should be poured over by expert forensic accountants until he turns on his manipulators.

  52. 52.

    Aziz, light!

    @artem1s: I think the Make Rich People Richer Party may well retake Congress 18 months from now, with the White House to follow. They gained ground in the last election, which was alarmingly close. If HR1 cannot be passed, they will keep ramping up suppression in states we need. Four hundred years of white supremacy in America isn’t going to end overnight. The era of disinformation will still be in full swing, and as always, voters can and will be persuaded to vote against their interests. I’ll be sanguine about our future when the GQP is formally dissolved and not a moment before. 

  53. 53.

    Geminid

    @artem1s: I am definitely rooting for some injuries in next year’s Georgia Republican primaries. In Virginia, the Chamber of Commerce types who used to call the shots in the party have spent the past ten years in a debilitating power struggle with a coalition of “populist” tea party cranks and bible thumpers. I see early signs of this dynamic among Georgia Republicans, who need a unified party to stave off the surging Democrats.

  55. 55.

    Mike in NC

    @J R in WV: Tune in on Tuesday evening for the PBS Frontline special on the “American Insurrection”. Hope to hear names being named.

  58. 58.

    Another Scott

    @Amir Khalid: Being in prison is no guarantee he won’t run, of course.

    LaRouche:

    LaRouche began his jail sentence in 1989, serving it at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minnesota. From there he ran for Congress in 1990, seeking to represent the 10th District of Virginia, but he received less than one percent of the vote. He ran for president again in 1992 with James Bevel as his running mate, a civil rights activist who had represented the LaRouche movement in its pursuit of the Franklin child prostitution ring allegations. It was only the second-ever campaign for president from prison.[154] He received 26,334 votes, standing again as the “Economic Recovery” party.[155] For a time he shared a cell with televangelist Jim Bakker. Bakker later wrote of his astonishment at LaRouche’s detailed knowledge of the Bible. According to Bakker, LaRouche received a daily intelligence report by mail, and at times had information about news events days before they happened. Bakker also wrote that LaRouche believed their cell was bugged. In Bakker’s view, “to say LaRouche was a little paranoid would be like saying that the Titanic had a little leak.”[156]

    Viktor Kuzin, a member of the Moscow City Council and a founder of the Democratic Union in Russia,[157] travelled to Minnesota in 1993 to meet LaRouche in prison, and afterwards participated in international campaigns to exonerate LaRouche.[158] An advertisement calling for exoneration was published in several U.S. newspapers, signed by Kuzin, Civil Rights attorney J. L. Chestnut, former Ugandan President Godfrey Binaisa, and others.[159] Chestnut was interviewed in the Tuscaloosa News saying that when he met LaRouche, “I told him that he might as well be black and in Alabama.”[160]

    History certainly rhymes again, doesn’t it??

    The grift and the cult will continue no matter where he is, until he is gone. And even then, there will attempts to animate his corpse.

    Follow the money, and watch the Russians.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  59. 59.

    Parfigliano

    @Amir Khalid: TFG will never spend a day in prison.  America doesnt have the political courage to jail a President.  He wont even be charged.

    Anything out of NY will magically turn into a civil fine which he wont pay.  He looted a charity and wasnt charged.

  61. 61.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @rikyrah: While is this outrageous, but it doesn’t surprise me one bit. After all the pedo scandals lately it seems a big drive to get into power for a lot folks is just to fuck kids.

  63. 63.

    J R in WV

    @Mike in NC:

    @J R in WV: Tune in on Tuesday evening for the PBS Frontline special on the “American Insurrection”. Hope to hear names being named.

    I certainly would, but we no longer receive any PBS stations over the air. Sad! Perhaps we can get it online later on? Hope they name names also too.

    But PBS, right? “We don’t know who could have done such a horrible thing!! Wasn’t it horrible??”

  64. 64.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    @J R in WV: ​

    @J R in WV: ​
      Frontline has all their films online (link). Their Jan 19 film on Biden overcoming a debilitating stutter, deemed “retarded” in the 40s and his affinity with minorities in the very early 60s is tear jerking.

  65. 65.

    Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)

    @SFAW:  In New York it was Vinny “the Chin” Gigante who pulled that act. They caught him out eventually

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