Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

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

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

Republicans do not trust women.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Watching the GOP Hit Rock Bottom and Keep on Digging

Watching the GOP Hit Rock Bottom and Keep on Digging

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These guys would be hilarious were it not so insane:

The Ohio Republican Party’s leaders called on Rep. Anthony Gonzalez to resign for voting to impeach former President Donald Trump, a stunning rebuke of one of their own.

On Friday, the party’s governing board called on Gonzalez, R-Rocky River, to resign in a divided vote. They also voted to censure Gonzalez and nine other members of Congress for “their votes to support the unconstitutional, politically motivated impeachment proceeding against President Donald J. Trump,” according to the resolution.

Gonzalez was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which left five people dead. He is the third to be censured for the vote by his state party, following Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and South Carolina Rep. Tom Rice.

I’m fully convinced that were Trump to run in 2024, he would have a better than even chance of winning. Trumpism has not been defeated, it’s stronger now that it was before. Strong koolaid.

Also, that fucking idiot who predicted Peak Wingnut should never be allowed post his thoughts publicly again.

Reader Interactions

148Comments

  1. 1.

    J R in WV

    Also, that fucking idiot who predicted Peak Wingnut should never be allowed post his thoughts publicly again.

    Historical research tells us that was a old fart name of John G Cole… Love you dude for being so honest. You were just being an optimist, which I have trouble with also too… If you can’t be optimistic, what are we living for,anyways.

    ETA to fix a typo, and also too to call Frist. I’ll probably get last also too.

  2. 2.

    CaseyL

    It’s an ongoing coup attempt, and I do wish the Dept of Justice was taking more serious notice than it seems to be doing.

    The ones now running the GQP seem very confident they have a winning plan.

    Considering the enormous deep pockets underwriting the ongoing coup (Koch, Mercers, Putin) I am not sure they’re wrong.

  4. 4.

    J R in WV

    @CaseyL:

    I would think that any of those folks still contributing to the party of Jan 6th insurrection should be indicted for fomenting insurrection, which is not legal.

    That was one thing back when the Rebugnant Q party was still pretending to be a political party, but now that they’ve asserted that they are a revolutionary party in favor of totalitarianism, it’s all different now. Indict them in the DC district, where they can get a really fair trial in front of a jury aware of the criminal behavior of January 6th. Then send them to Gitmo. The funders of the insurrection are the head of that effort, not the stupid guys who videoed their own criminality.

    We need to put the funding heads of the insurrection away long before the next election.

    ETA: And confiscate their now illegal fortunes~!!~

  5. 5.

    randy khan

    It is remarkable to me how the Republicans managed to keep the evangelicals and the economic conservatives together for decades, and now they are fracturing because some people were against subverting elections.  It shows that it was all about power, and not about ideology, from the very start.  (Granted, we’ve known that for a while, but this is very graphic evidence of it.)

  6. 6.

    Kay

    Imagine how bad they’ll be when they expel all the non Trump cultists. So, next cycle.

    It’s not just the House. Lockstep Trump loyalty will determine any new senators on that side too. We’re already seeing it in Ohio.

    Sometimes I like to imagine what the media coverage would look like if the Democratic Party had signed on to this bizarre personality cult. He didn’t even win his re-elect and they are MORE worshipful and groveling toward him, not less.

  8. 8.

    StringOnAStick

    @CaseyL: I have to hope that the DOJ is working diligently, carefully avoiding leaks or hints given the power of who/what is being investigated.  I say “have to hope” because at this point I am two steps from suicidal depression about it and sure my internet commenting history will put me in an extermination camp fairly quickly should the forces of evil gain control.

    We all spout off here like we have complete immunity to what would happen if they gain full control, and that might be a real failure of imagination on our parts.  Too late now though.  I also wonder if now is the digital version of living in Germany in 1932.

    I have to go outside and work in the dirt before my 2 steps becomes 0.5.

  9. 9.

    jonas

    Trump may be tightening his stranglehold on the GOP, but I don’t see his unique brand of batshit insanity/ignorance/incompetence making a broad comeback nationally. If he did, Republicans wouldn’t be so desperate right now to rig the voting system. They know they can’t win if people are actually allowed to vote.

  10. 10.

    Kay

    Just a reminder- the entire Republican Party is marching lockstep behind a person who did not even win re-election. He wasn’t even a popular President, see: did not win re-election.

    Has this ever happened before? That one Party molds their whole approach on the loser in an election?

    It’s this weird repudiation of merit. The measure is supposed to be winning. He lost. People had a chance to offer Donald Trump continued employment! They declined to renew his contract.

  12. 12.

    Kay

    Maybe they believe their own lies at this point and really think he won.

    That actually makes more sense. That at least has them following someone they believe WON the relevant competition at issue here.

    Either way I guess it doesn’t really matter since they all have to pretend he won, or they get booted out.

  14. 14.

    Nicole

    @StringOnAStick: I’m in the “The DOJ is working on it; we’re just not hearing about it” camp.  They’re still arresting people who were there Jan 6, as they get them identified.  Justice moves very slowly, and better they go slowly and get it right than rush and screw it up.  I still doubt I’ll ever see Trump behind bars, but I’m beginning to think I might see Giuliani there.

  16. 16.

    MattF

    @randy khan: The Reagan/Republican coalition was southern racists, evangelicals, libertarians, neocons, and oligarchs. Neocons were the first to go rogue, followed by a chunk of libertarians and a few oligarchs. The others are still lined up. But that doesn’t add up to a stable majority.

  17. 17.

    JMG

    The fear Republican elected officials have of Trump is that if they don’t support him blindly, he will actually bolt the party, thus destroying it.

  20. 20.

    West of the Rockies

    It would sure be super amazingly awesome if the DOJ and/or state DOJ’S  and the multiple civil cases soon begin to roll forward and expose Trump and his dingleberries for what they are.  Anytime now would be fine…

  21. 21.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Glenn Greenwald, November 2025

    ”President Gaetz continues to surprise people with his bold moves. Ever since his come-from-behind, electrifying Electoral College landslide that came about due to legislative body determinations with regard to suspect ballots in several red states (despite an apparent commanding raw vote win for the now disgraced and jailed President Biden, awaiting trial), his priorities have clearly been directed toward dealing with the neoliberal warmongers of the corporatist DNC. With the help of an unprecedentedly GOP dominated House and Senate, his Justice Department is capably led by the aggressive attorney general Kris Kobach, utilizing newfound power once the statute of limitations was lifted in order to truly, fully examine the crimes of Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, John Kerry, Condoleeza Rice and George W Bush. As they wait in pretrial detention, special counsel Larry Klayman has vowed that no stone will be left unturned, and that a trial would certainly be held by the spring of 2028.

    Justice demands no less.

    Corporatist media made a hypocritical point of his pardon of his prison cellmate after his inauguration (the Supreme Court having vacated his sex trafficking conviction on a 6-3 vote in April of 2024, as part of his race was run from prison), but who among us wouldn’t have used our power to benefit a close friend?

    By his judicious use of the military to put down the rising domestic political violence that is fomented by corporate media interests and neoliberal warmongers, the United States is no longer in a position to threaten other nations and can focus on keeping people safe within its borders.

    Please generously support my Substack, and don’t forget to check out my 5 volume “Securing Democracy” book set, as Jair Bolsonaro won’t depose himself.”

  24. 24.

    Brachiator

    On Friday, the party’s governing board called on Gonzalez, R-Rocky River, to resign in a divided vote. They also voted to censure Gonzalez and nine other members of Congress for “their votes to support the unconstitutional, politically motivated impeachment proceeding against President Donald J. Trump,” according to the resolution.

    Sometimes I think that the lesson that the GOP took from Watergate and Nixon is “never abandon your guy, even if he is trying to tear down democracy.”

    I don’t think we are doomed, but I do believe that the Republicans are damned.

    By refusing to condemn Trump, especially in the light of the attack on the Congress, the GOP has declared itself to be the party of autocracy.

  25. 25.

    Kay

    Benjy Sarlin
    @BenjySarlin
    Trump lost and R’s lost the Senate, yet R’s near-universally conclude they need him. Why? They’re not wrong exactly. Trump’s leverage isn’t so much his ability to grow the GOP, it’s that he could *destroy* them if he wanted and not think twice about doing so. It always has been.

    They keep giving them excuses but why? Why should anyone extend that to them? They say they love Trump and they behave as if they love him every day. What happens if we just accept them at their word and deed? Why give them excuses they’re too cowardly to offer themselves?
    The Republican Party deeply admires and intends to follow Donald Trump as their leader. If they want to deny that, they can. They choose not to.

  26. 26.

    oldster

    A few months, I found it hilarious. When I thought his chances of a come-back were well and truly over.

    Nowadays, I am starting to feel the return of the horrible anxiety I felt for the previous four years. I know that he is not going to rest until he returns to power, legally or illegally. And that means that I will not be able to rest until he is no longer in a position to do that. My gut hurts.

    This whole movie is too much like the horror film where the killer comes back from the dead. I’m not laughing, and I’m not enjoying it.

  28. 28.

    yellowdog

    @jonas: They are not desperate to rig the voting system. It is a well thought out plan for a permanent GQP majority. Do you think all these voter suppression/nullification bills just popped into the heads of GQP legislatures? Federalist Society, maybe. I have not seen any legal expert say that we will be successful in challenging these laws in the courts.

  30. 30.

    sstarr

    “One thing that humbles me deeply is to see that human genius has its limits while human stupidity does not.” – Alexander Dumas.

  31. 31.

    Kay

    The local GOP members on the Bd of Elections here are operating as if Biden stealing the election is fact.

    This is going to have real repercussions, all the way down to the local level. The idea they have that they can promote this big lie and there won’t be any real damage is just fantasy. You have to accept consequences for the things you do and it doesn’t have to be “legal consequences” to matter. This delusion they have fed their base is the theory their base are operating under. They will and are acting on it.

    We’re all going to pay for it.

  32. 32.

    yellowdog

    @oldster: It isn’t about him anymore. Even if he kicks the bucket they (the GQP) will continue their attacks on democracy. And they have the ability to destroy it.

  33. 33.

    Another Scott

    @Kay: Are we sure that PPP isn’t secretly trolling running the polls that are saying that TFG is so popular among them?

    Where’s the Deep State and the Illuminati when we really need them??!!

    “New Poll by MAGAForever shows that most Republicans agree that only Montana has a state government run on MAGA Principles and those voters plan to move there before The Storm of the 2022 elections… fnord…”

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  34. 34.

    J R in WV

    I’m hoping once the first set of Capitol insurrectionists are convicted of rebellion against the government, everyone who contributed to the Q Party for Insurrection after January 6th is indicted for being financial supporters of the Insurrection, in violation of all kids of Federal statutes.

    Confiscate their wealth, put them away for a V. long time.

    They can pick a large number cutoff, I don’t want them to waste time and resources on people who contributed $5-25, but people over a 3 digit number need to pay hard.

  36. 36.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    By the way, Peak Wingnut is an asymptotic function.

  38. 38.

    Brachiator

    @yellowdog:

    They are not desperate to rig the voting system. It is a well thought out plan for a permanent GQP majority.

    Yep. They are using every nasty trick they can to regain and keep power.

    Do you think all these voter suppression/nullification bills just popped into the heads of GQP legislatures? Federalist Society, maybe. I have not seen any legal expert say that we will be successful in challenging these laws in the courts.

    Even if they lose in lower courts, the Supreme Court will be very accommodating to these voter suppression schemes.

    And the Republicans have figured out that they can’t keep pushing the lie about fighting non-existent voter fraud. Instead they now talk about “insuring the integrity of the voting process.”

  41. 41.

    CindyH

    @yellowdog: That’s my fear – that the courts will say that states can do what they want in determining how to run their elections.

  42. 42.

    Miss Bianca

    @Kay:

    Maybe they believe their own lies at this point and really think he won.

    I have to think that that’s what’s happening. Which is really scary.

  44. 44.

    taumaturgo

    I see little from the Democrats in the sense of urgency when it comes to attacking the big lie, voter suppression, and gerrymandering. Is understandable the democrats concentrating on governing and taking care of the Covid pandemic, but politics today are as important as the eradication of the virus. The shit show vote-counting in Arizona should be shot down by now, sending a clear message that these shenanigans are toxic to our democracy and won’t be tolerated.  A greater effort at stopping the big lie meme is needed since it is transforming from a joke to being codified into law in important southern battleground states. Gerrymandering continues unabated and voter suppression in the name of safeguarding the vote will make voting more difficult for the democrats base. Imagine in the 2022 midterms that the democrats somehow win a narrow victory at the polls and GQP disavowed the results, it won’t be pretty since over 70% of the GQP are delusional and to this day believe the big lie. If we considered the attack on congress a horrible incident, the next insurrection will be 10x worse. The so-called moderate GOP is agonizing and only small numbers are crossing over to the democrats. Is an uphill battle, critical, and goes to the core and survival of our form of government. Trump was taken for granted and I hope the same mistake is not repeated with these cult followers because we could wake up to a nightmare after election day in November 2022.

  47. 47.

    Ramiah Ariya

    I think a lot of this is because there is money in siding with Trump now. The truth is guy like Trump always attracts a lot of people who want to make quick bucks – look at Brad Parscale. The more “Trumpist” someone is, you can be sure the more unscrupulous and thug-like that person will be.

  48. 48.

    Miss Bianca

    @Brachiator:

    Sometimes I think that the lesson that the GOP took from Watergate and Nixon is “never abandon your guy, even especially if he is trying to tear down democracy.”

    Fixed that for ya.

    I don’t think we are doomed, but I do believe that the Republicans are damned.

    I’m with you on that one.

  49. 49.

    Ksmiami

    @taumaturgo: Might be easier to let them die of Covid since no one seems to be able to say the GOP are fascists and need to be burnt to the ground

  50. 50.

    Kay

    @Ramiah Ariya:

    I feel like the only real value we got from the Lincoln Project was they knew the cult won in the GOP. They never had any illusions that there would be a return to normal. They would know! :)

  51. 51.

    mrmoshpotato

    The Ohio Republican Party’s leaders called on Rep. Anthony Gonzalez to resign for voting to impeach former President Donald Trump, a stunning rebuke of one of their own.

    NO CULT!  NO CULT!  YOU’RE THE CULT! YOU’RE THE CULT!

    This would also be hilarious if their cult leader wasn’t such a whiny ass titty baby.  I mean, seriously, you worship a manbaby who has whined for decades about not getting his ass kissed?  I’d pity these people if they weren’t racist, fascist shitbags.

  52. 52.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    I have to say The Wingnut Event Horizon is true. I am now finding it really hard to understand them they are off in their own parallel world.  I suspect what’s going to save us is what saved the country on 1/6- they are so delusional they can’t plan their coups correctly. Not to mention they are so lazy they wouldn’t be ready for the inevitable counter coup.

  57. 57.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    @Kay: There are people that believe that reality makes feelings. (like most of us) There are also WAY to many people who believe that feelings make reality.  That’s really the problem that we are having with the trumpists.

  58. 58.

    Brachiator

    @taumaturgo:

    I see little from the Democrats in the sense of urgency when it comes to attacking the big lie, voter suppression, and gerrymandering.

    I don’t agree with you. The Democrats are doing all they can. But the GOP controls the states where voter suppression laws are being passed. Or they have Republican governors in place who can block state legislatures who try to do the right thing.  And right now, it also looks like the Supreme Court will rule in favor of these odious laws.

    The shit show vote-counting in Arizona should be shot down by now, sending a clear message that these shenanigans are toxic to our democracy and won’t be tolerated.

    Apart from finger wagging, what do you propose be done?

    I think that the DOJ will do more, but don’t they have to wait until a law is actually passed?

  59. 59.

    Nora Lenderbee

    @James E Powell:  @MattF: Yes, and northern racists. And an awful lot of people who were tired of dealing with the unpleasant reality of the 1970s and wanted to be told everything was wonderful again.

  60. 60.

    Kay

    They’re dead serious. They want to know why Ted Cruz (!) isn’t loyal enough to Donald Trump:

    Lauren Windsor
    @lawindsor

    NEW VIDEO: @TedCruz wants you to know that HE led the effort to overturn the election in the Senate… take that, Josh Hawley!

     

    They told them over and over Trump won the election. They’re understandably wondering why Joe Biden is the President. Clearly someone didn’t do their job, or Donald Trump and his sleazy family would still be stealing from us.

    The idea that Ted Cruz, or any of them, can “walk this back” is ludicrous. They now live in the reality they created.

  61. 61.

    Mike in NC

    Today’s issue of USA Today showcases some bigly Trumpian corruption in the case of one Kenneth Braithwaite, who apparently spent 8 months as Secretary of the Navy and managed to blow $2.3 million on boondoggle trips around the world. In fact, he made 22 trips in order to “build morale” which is such an utter crock of shit.

  64. 64.

    kindness

    I disagree with you John.  Sure, Trump would get every vote he got in 2020 but he wouldn’t get any more.  Middle of the roaders, moderates, independents are all happy with President Uncle Joe and happy to see Trump in their rear view mirror.

    The Republican Party though….they are insisting everyone drink the Koolaide every single day.  The menu is always the same flavor.  The Jonestown Special.

  65. 65.

    Kay

    Republicans really are different than Democrats, because if Democratic electeds had told the base over and over that their candidate had won and the election was stolen Democrats would turn on the leaders of the Democratic Party.

    The leaders of the GOP failed to seat Donald Trump and the GOP base doesn’t turn on them, no, instead they turn on the 5 people who never said he won.

  66. 66.

    Buckeye

    Dad got transferred here to Dayton in summer 1980, right before I started HS.

    I never liked the Ohio GOP, but they weren’t completely insane.

    Now they are.

  69. 69.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @MattF: If Trump and his supporters were capable of planning and doing hard work they would taken advantage of the opportunity the pandemic gave them and Trump would have cruised threw to reelection. Just look at Cuomo, he was despised in New York before the pandemic, but just trying to deal with the problem Cuomo was a hero during it and now the pandemic is gone Cuomo is back to being in the dog house. If Trump had merely followed Cuomo’s example Trump would have won fair and square.  Trump lost because he is an incompetent, woo believing, lazy, buffoon.

  70. 70.

    mrmoshpotato

    @HumboldtBlue: LOL!  Jen’s all “Who are these media figures?  Do they have names?  Where’s your historical data?  We both know you’re full of shit.”

  71. 71.

    Kay

    @Jim Appleton:

    Pretending they won means they don’t have to grapple with any of the reasons they lost. Incumbents aren’t supposed to lose, especially incumbents who corruptly use the entire federal apparatus as a campaign team. Donald Trump got all the help in the world, and then some. They still couldn’t drag his ass over the finish line.

  72. 72.

    WaterGirl

    @Kay:

    Pretending they won means they don’t have to grapple with any of the reasons they lost.

    They know why they lost.  Because those people got to vote.  They will do their best to make sure that never happens again.  It’s our job to make sure they aren’t successful.

  74. 74.

    Kay

    Glenn Kessler
    @GlennKesslerWP
    ·5h
    Elise Stefanik had a chance to avoid Four Pinocchios. All she had to do was admit she was wrong. instead she doubled down, even after we showed her false claim — 140,000 suspect votes in Fulton County — was based on a misreading of a Trump lawsuit.

    They better get used to it. Blatant lying is the brand. It spread and took root.
    In the book about Theranos, the blood testing company that was built on lies, one of the people who quit wrote a resignation letter. In it he says he can’t work there because everyone lies, about everything, all the time. It was systemic. It had to be. The only way to prop it up was to keep lying.

  75. 75.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Kay:

    He picked the wrong side. I bet Trump gave the order to get rid of him. 

    Could be that the Ohio Rethuglican party is that far gone too.

  76. 76.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    Republicans really are different than Democrats, because if Democratic electeds had told the base over and over that their candidate had won and the election was stolen Democrats would turn on the leaders of the Democratic Party.

    Win, lose, doesn’t really matter.*

    *Historically speaking. 2021 has been a welcome change so far.

  78. 78.

    Cacti

    The war for the GOP is over.  The fascists won hands down.

    I wouldn’t be surprised in the near future if the MAGAchuds didn’t do a “Night of the Long Knives” type event for those disloyal to fuhrer Trump.

  80. 80.

    Baud

    @HumboldtBlue:

    LOL. “Different people.” I’m starting to think they do it on purpose to get retweeted on the theory that there’s no such thing as bad publicity.

  82. 82.

    Nobody in particular

    @J R in WV:

    So true. But I didn’t know it was John. Still, a round of applause for his honesty. He can learn from experience! Hope springs eternal but we live in the world Hume’s Guillotine cleaved from the idealistic worlds postulated by people who write books like The Way Things Ought To Be. That would be that idiot Rush Limbaugh.

    There’s a great essay on this at Rational Wiki, I meant Wikii. Is-Ought explained: prefaced by this alleged quote from Socrates… or Plato.

    Whenever, therefore, people are deceived and form opinions wide of the truth, it is clear that the error has slid into their minds through the medium of certain resemblances to that truth. —Socrates

    Certainly, no one in their right mind hopes for the destruction of all, but in the universe we inhabit, it is a cold fact that it could happen in the blink of an eye. I think it is fine to expect that “love will conquer hate,” but that’s a normative position. As to John’s point, I really think we are beyond the point where Trump really matters anymore. WRT to Hillary’s stance on fighting disinformation… Hallelujah! But the problem goes way beyond the real troubles she’s starting with. John is right, once radicalized, these rebels – because that’s what they are, and I don’t mean like James Dean- because we are dealing with Tom Petty’s Rebels without a clue. The Big Lies.

    Which statement is the accurate and true Jefferson:

    A. The Bible is mostly BULLSHIT.

    — Thomas Jefferson

    Or

    B. When tyranny becomes law, resistance and rebellion is a duty

    — Thomas Jefferson

    It’s A. But he did think the Sermon on the Mount was a philosophical “Diamond in a Dunghill.”

    Many Jefferson quotes are spurious. Many quotes on the net and in books are spurious, Einstein never said half the shit people say he did. As Control, played by John Hurt, barks in “the greatest spy story ever told,” Le Carre’s Smiley’s People and Tinker Tailor, “Nothing is Genuine!

    Not B. That’s more in accord with Thoreau.

     

    “When injustice is/becomes law, resistance is/becomes duty” has been credited to such famous figures as Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) and Nelson Mandela, but there’s no evidence that either person ever said it. One Wiki Answer has stated that the expression comes from the Civil War, when the Confederate States of America had allegedly used “When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty.” However, the “tyranny?rebellion” version became popular from about 2008; Google Books doesn’t show a single match for that phrase.

    “When injustice becomes law, opposition is a duty” was used in West Germany in 1979 and “When injustice becomes law, nonviolent resistance becomes duty!” was spoken by Petra Kelly (1947-1992)—who co-founded the German Green Party in 1979—at a rally in Nuremberg in 1983.

    The saying appears to have been popularized in Australia. A 1983 pamphlet, published in Sydney by Women’s Action Against Global Violence, was titled Pine Gap, the images: When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty. The Green Left has used “When injustice becomes law resistance becomes duty” since at least 1992.

    “When injustice is/becomes law, resistance/rebellion is/becomes duty” has been printed on many gift items, such as T-shirts, bumper stickers and posters.

  83. 83.

    J R in WV

    @Mike in NC:

    …Kenneth Braithwaite, who apparently spent 8 months as Secretary of the Navy and managed to blow $2.3 million on boondoggle trips around the world. In fact, he made 22 trips in order to “build morale” which is such an utter crock of shit.

    Now, now, Mike. I’m sure those trips boosted Braithwaite’s morale no end!! AT least until he saw the story in the paper. I wonder if an IG is looking into those trips, finding out who approved the travel plans, etc, etc.

    All he needs now is a copy of the indictment and a list of good lawyers with experience in government theft and corruption defense…

  86. 86.

    Nobody in particular

    @HumboldtBlue:

     

    Freedom of the press? One of these days I’ll dig up my collection of verified Jefferson quotes. Before his time in the WH he loved the free press. He hated banks and cities. After time in the fishbowl, he hated the press as much if not more than the other two.

  89. 89.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Every interaction Ted Cruz must be thinking “thank God they haven’t figured out that I was supposed to do something”

    I don’t understand why the Trumpsters never get to the next question. “If you’re such a brave Trump defender, why is Joe Biden President?” One would think failing would make them appear weak, but it has made them …stronger?

  90. 90.

    H.E.Wolf

    When I read predictions of disaster (some of them based on excellent observations, hat tip to Kay as always), I ask myself: What would Stacey Abrams – and a host of other women of color – do?

    And what would they want me to do, in support of their efforts?

  93. 93.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I’m still mad they denied Biden the election night he earned. Churlish, nasty people. Biden would never do that.

    That ridiculous period where they were too scared of the giant loudmouth to call the state. Pretending the loser won takes something away from the winner. It’s a theft. Especially for Biden who beat an incumbent which is an upset.

  94. 94.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    They’re not stronger, in the sense that a cornered animal is not in a strong position.  They are just acting like an animal in that position would act.  In both cases, it only works if we are intimidated by it.

  95. 95.

    Puddinhead

    I would love to hear the Ohio GOP try to explain why the impeachment effort was unconstitutional.

  96. 96.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    That does suck.  What sucks even more is we keep inheriting their messes.  We never get a real honeymoon period.

  101. 101.

    Matt

    The GOP has been a party of criminals, for criminals, and by criminals since at least Nixon – this is just the mask finally falling all the way off.

  102. 102.

    Rand Careaga

    @StringOnAStick:

    sure my internet commenting history will put me in an extermination camp fairly quickly should the forces of evil gain control

    I mean no disrespect, but unless you have a much higher public profile than your commenting history, you’ll be left contemptuously alone. Yeah, at some point in your scenario you could be denied a job or fired from the one you have, but do you imagine that these goons are remotely competent enough to move “fairly quickly” all the way down to you as they implement their dystopia? I mean, I have a blog with a readership in the mid-one figure in which I routinely trash Trump and all his works, and I’m not worried about them coming for me in 2025.

  103. 103.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I am patiently waiting for the day when the answer to the question “Where’s Greenwald’oh?” is “Lying in a Rio dumpster with his blood pooling on the rusty bottom…”

    Motherfucking neonazi shill can’t die soon enough. And I hope he suffers before he loses consciousness.

  104. 104.

    gvg

    @WaterGirl: ​
      Pretty much all the major media outlets. She said it in interview, but she is talking about in a year. Basically I gather she thinks that job has a burnout and she planned to do it for a year, told Biden at the time. I am unclear if it is a year from her start or a year from now. Seemed reasonable to me. I am sure Biden will find another good one with that much time to look. I think I saw it in Washington Post first, a few days ago.

  105. 105.

    Miss Bianca

    @Uncle Cosmo: OK, you’ve treated us to your snuff fantasies about gloating over Greenwald’s end in a Rio dumpster well over half a dozen times now. WE GET IT – you’re a fucking ghoul. And since your fantasies never actually change, you’re a tiresome fucking ghoul as well.

    And since talk is cheap, and you make it even cheaper every time you open your yap and dump your steaming load of contemptuous and contemptible horseshit all over every thread you post in, why don’t you just shut the fuck up for a while? Jesus, dude. Flash from Earth: You’re neither as smart, witty, or as much of a badass as you obviously think you are.

  106. 106.

    WaterGirl

    @gvg: That makes me sad because she is so very good at it.  But smart to look out for herself, and I’m sure if she changes her mind, she can keep the job for as long as she likes.

  108. 108.

    James E Powell

    @taumaturgo: 

    I see little from the Democrats in the sense of urgency when it comes to attacking the big lie, voter suppression, and gerrymandering.

    I agree that the screaming should be louder and more universal among elected Democrats.

    I have no faith in the federal courts to be of any help. In fact, I expect them to be hostile toward Democrats for the rest of my life. May every supposedly liberal who did not vote for Al Gore & Hillary Clinton suffer for it.

    We should all do what we can within our own circle of tote baggers and squishy liberals. Make it known, make it important.

  109. 109.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @traumaturdo: ​You “see little” because you’re blinder than a bat and stupider than your median MAGAt. The Administration is under no obligation to pander to a fuckhead like you.

  110. 110.

    James E Powell

    @Nora Lenderbee:

    Recently some friends and I were talking about how much of our current political nightmares have roots in the 70s.

    We couldn’t come up with a satisfactory answer to this question: When did “Democrats hate the troops!” become a thing? Was it George McGovern? Carter giving draft amnesty? Who? What?

  111. 111.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Miss Bianca: Go fuck yourself. You and the rest of the political imbeciles on this dogforsaken blog.
    ETA: And just FTR, the day I take anything you (or any of the rest of the political and cultural imbeciles on this blog) say seriously will be a few days after I depart this mortal coil.

  112. 112.

    J R in WV

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    Welcome back to the pie safe — this time permanently.

    I have an intense dislike for Greenwald, but I do not need to hear your violent fantasies about that rat any more, ever.

  113. 113.

    James E Powell

    @Kay:

    I thought that the LP had impact on the Beltway & kept them from attacking Biden with their usual pro Republican coverage. They all loved Trump but LP made it harder for them to say so in public.

    I could be wrong.

  115. 115.

    Comrade Misfit

    I don’t see Trump winning.  The same circumstances that caused moderate Republicans and independents to turn away from him in 2020 are being amplified as time goes on.

    A raft of convictions related to Trump’s allies and the batshit insurrectionists of January 6th will cement the turn away from Trump.

  116. 116.

    catclub

    @Kay: Maybe they believe their own lies at this point and really think he won.

    I think this is a lot of it.  I just hope that 10% of republicans refuse to vote for the big lie party.   evidence so far looks a lot more like 1%

  118. 118.

    catclub

    @The Moar You Know: ​
     

    The Constitution says it.

    Constitution says lots of power is delegated to the Federal legislature to control federal elections. IF they want to.

    They have not taken that very seriously.

  119. 119.

    catclub

    @Kay: ​
     

    The idea that Ted Cruz, or any of them, can “walk this back” is ludicrous. They now live in the reality they created.

    and they like it that way.

  120. 120.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Comrade Misfit: The popular votes don’t matter if the state legislature can just nullify them, which is definitely the direction the Republicans are going in… and we could have a lot of wingnut legislatures installed in the 2022 midterms to make that happen.

  121. 121.

    moops

    @Kay:   The current party line is the Trump didn’t lose the election, it was stolen from him.

     

    All those terms have varying degrees of literalness for everyone in the GQP, but the phrase could come out of any member of the party and not be countered.

  122. 122.

    sdhays

    @Matt McIrvin: That’s just silly. Of course, TFG might run again in 2024, but 3 years is a very long time for an unhealthy old man, and a lot is going to happen that could make running again more or less attractive to him.

    I still think his deplatforming has essentially neutered him. Yes, the GQP is all in on worshipping Dump, but the GQP itself is now more in the driver’s seat rather than being at the whim of Dump’s tiny fingers. I think his actual personal influence is leaking out like a balloon with a hole in it.

  124. 124.

    Another Scott

    @sdhays: +1

    I like to remember that he didn’t really want to win the first time – he just wanted to become the “important politician/leader” that his rich buddies were and get their respect/fear and grift off it via a new TV show/network.  I think he’s trying to get back into that mode now.  He’s counting on his lawyers and appointees to protect him.  He’s counting on the norm of not prosecuting presidents to protect him.  Maybe he’s counting on dying before the check comes due…

    He won’t work to try to win again – he’s allergic to work, but he’ll glower and scream and demand that everyone do his bidding or else, to try to keep the money coming in.  But he’s too old and weak and unpopular to even risk one of his super-spreader rallies.

    Eventually, something is going to be the Emperor’s New Clothes/Wizard of Oz denouement with him.  That’s when the remaining GQP will finally start to seriously fracture.  There are too many people with too much ambition to simply let a crazy old narcist traitor continue to dictate who holds power in the party.  The knives will come out eventually – they always do.

    (Of course, I thought Hillary was going to win easily, so don’t bet any money on this vision of mine…)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  126. 126.

    TJWeston

    Trump’s finished and the GOP is in tatters. The contra-narrative is dancing as fast as it can to contradict these facts but it’s only a matter of time until it runs out of steam. We’re enjoying the calm as the storm finishes passing through and most of us have no interest in returning to the days of his Reign of Errors. If I’m dreaming, don’t wake me up.

  127. 127.

    Matt McIrvin

    @sdhays: I figure he’ll get re-platformed sometime before ’24. Facebook and Twitter will let him back on sooner or later.

  128. 128.

    Morzer

    I suspect that TFGs revenge and retribution narrative, for want of a better term, is going to fail for one reason: it’s increasingly boring and without the help of the QAnon kooks it’s just going to devolve into tedious, bitter whining by a nasty old creep whose mental decay is increasingly obvious. Sure, people are hopped up on various delusions at this point, but it’s hard to sustain that kind of rage against the world for years without any new plot twists. Calm, competent Joe Biden is taking the heat out of the room – and that’s going to leave the crazies increasingly isolated. I think TFG probably will run in 2024 for various financial, legal and psychological reasons – but I am confident that he will lose even more bigly than he did this time around.

  129. 129.

    Morzer

    @Matt McIrvin: Twitter shows no signs of doing so and Facebook has basically just extended its time out by 6 months.  I think it’s reasonably likely that TFG never gets his megaphone back from them.

  132. 132.

    WaterGirl

    @Matt McIrvin: I’m not sure about that.  I listened to an hour-long Lawfare discussion this afternoon, related to Facebook and (tangentially) Twitter.

    They were all in agreement, I believe, that Twitter is perfectly content to let Facebook hang in the wind, trying to figure out what to do.  They think Twitter won’t let him back on, because then if Facebook blocked T*****, then it would be Twitter that would be hanging in the wind.

    I hope they are right.

  133. 133.

    Geminid

    The Ohio Republican State Commitee can call for Anthony Gonzales to resign, and he can call for them to pound sand. They are just so many “activists,” selected by a larger pool of similar district and county commitee members. They did not put Gonzales in that seat, and they can’t deny him a place on the primary ballot.

    Maybe the trump functionary challenging Gonzales in next year’s primary can beat him, but I would not bet on that, just as I would not bet against fellow impeachers Peter Meijer and Adam Kinzinger in nearby Michigan and Illinois either. For one thing, there will be more than one ambitious trumpist trying to take them down. And trump is a trash magnet who attracts some really shoddy imitators.

    Gonzales’ district is now something like R+10. That may change next year with a new redistricting system.

    This will be a high stakes election for Ohio, with contests for Governor and other state-wide offices, an open U.S. Senate seat, and with Congressional and statewide legislative races on a new map. Ohio Democrats have some real opportunities. I hope they are up to the challenge, and I wish the Republicans a bitter and divisive primary season.

  134. 134.

    debbie

    @Geminid:

    For one thing, there will be more than one ambitious trumpist trying to take them down. And trump is a trash magnet who attracts some really shoddy imitators.

    They will have to resort to out-crazying each other to get any attention. I hope I don’t break an eye from rolling them too hard.

  135. 135.

    Another Scott

    @WaterGirl: Twitter made it clear that TFG is never coming back in their statement on 1/8.

    […]

    Due to the ongoing tensions in the United States, and an uptick in the global conversation in regards to the people who violently stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, these two Tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President’s statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior from this account in recent weeks. After assessing the language in these Tweets against our Glorification of Violence policy, we have determined that these Tweets are in violation of the Glorification of Violence Policy and the user @realDonaldTrump should be immediately permanently suspended from the service.

    […]

    Since Z’s policy is to hide behind fig leaves while letting RWNJ trolls do whatever they want as long as it brings him clicks and dollars, I suspect FB will let him (or minions speaking for him) back on shortly.

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  136. 136.

    feebog

    Late to the party cause I’ve been working all day, but the thought of Trump running again is nonsense.  He is going to be indicted in multiple jurisdictions, not to mention several civil cases.  Manhattan D.A. NY Attorney General, SDNY, Fulton County GA, are all going to be chewing his ass up and spitting it out legally.  Good luck running from a federal prison or from some prison camp in Georgia.

  137. 137.

    Geminid

    @feebog: There may also be federal money laundering charges against trump. They could probably be brought in any jurisdiction he’s bought and sold property, subject to the statute of limitations.

    I tend to think criminal proceedings will be dragged out, though, and that even if indictments come down before the year is out, trump will still not be in prison in 2024. But your comment suggests to me an interesting question: what if trump tries to make a promise to pardon him a litmus test for Republican presidential primary contenders? I think that would be poison in the general election, but trump cares about nothing and no one but himself. If he goes down he will not balk at pulling the Republican party down with him.

  138. 138.

    They Call Me Blue

    @Comrade Misfit: In normal times I’d completely agree. But in normal times large numbers of Americans wouldn’t be getting brainwashed into believing that the country was being run by blood drinking pedophiles and agents of the deep state.

  139. 139.

    They Call Me Blue

    @feebog: Do you think there is a more than .000001% chance of getting a jury in GEORGIA to unanimously convict Donald Trump of a crime?

  140. 140.

    schrodingers_cat

    I’m fully convinced that were Trump to run in 2024, he would have a better than even chance of winning.

    I disagree with this statement. The chances that he runs again are nowhere near 50% and if he could not win as incumbent chances that he is going to make a comeback in national politics and win the presidency seems slim to none. When has a defeated one term president came back to win the Presidency again?

  141. 141.

    Rick Taylor

    John Cole,

    When you predicted Peak Wingnut, it made perfect sense to me! How could the Republican party go any lower than it already had? Oh, how naive I was.

  142. 142.

    Geminid

    @schrodingers_cat: Grover Cleveland did it 1892. But I think this is an exception that proves the rule, and that your skepticism as to trump’s 2024 prospects is well founded.

  143. 143.

    ns

    @Rick Taylor:

    Cole also wrote

    Or is this premise completely flawed, and wingnut is a renewable resource and will experience a dramatic surge on the first day of an Obama Presidency?

    Just wait until the first day of the Harris Presidency – the wingnuttia cup will runneth over.

  144. 144.

    feebog

    @They Call Me Blue: 

    Do you think there is a more than .000001% chance of getting a jury in GEORGIA to unanimously convict Donald Trump of a crime?

    I suggest you look at the demographics of Fulton County GA. Trump may be surprised to learn a jury of his peers is a majority of black folks.

  147. 147.

    StringOnAStick

    @Rand Careaga: Maybe the experience of communist East Germany and their security state, which made ratting out your neighbours a common thing, is instructive.  The internet and big data now make it even easier.  If you don’t realize how deeply the fascist Right truly and completely hates us and wants us not just out of power but out of their sight, you might want to take a closer look.  The crazy isn’t just performative anymore; these nuts truly believe Biden stole the election and if someone committed to the cause believes something that horribly illegal occurred, then no step is too far for them.  I think the country is in greater danger now that it was when tRump was POTUS.

    I had really wanted to believe that the great pair of D’s in the WH was going to change the political path for the better and there was reason to think the slide into tRump’s crazy had been stopped.  Instead they’ve become even more crazy and are changing the rules to stay in power forever.  What has happened under Urban in Hungary is the template; his takeover was assured once he took over their judiciary.  How far are we from that?

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