Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

No one could have predicted…

It’s a doggy dog world.

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

This country desperately needs a functioning Fourth Estate.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Bogus polls are all they’ve got left. Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls a year from now.

So many bastards, so little time.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

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

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

He really is that stupid.

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Flick Picked

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Election 2: Becoming Tracy Flick | Beyond The Box Set | Podcasts on Audible | Audible.com

I saw a piece the other day mentioning that these people are not “scared” of Trump — they realize that the Trump train is the way to be successful, so they hitch a ride. Stefanik’s bio shows a person with well-attuned get-ahead radar: born to relatively wealthy business owners, attended a private prep school, went to Harvard, worked for Josh Bolton in the GWB administration, managed Paul Ryan’s debate prep, elected as a pro-life Republican in a then-moderate now-Trumpy Congressional District. You don’t get where she is at 36 as a Republican by letting your conscience be your guide. Any moderate words that came out of her mouth were to get elected, and any Trumpy words that come out of her mouth are so she can get ahead.

Reader Interactions

75Comments

  2. 2.

    Nicole

    As I said a few days ago, reminder that Tracy Flick was working for a Republican Congressman at the end of the film. It’s not a bad comparison.

    That said, as Flick was working class, and Stefanik has been a person of privilege her whole life, I still have much more sympathy for the fictional character doing what she sees necessary to get herself up the ladder. As opposed to the one already born near the top and eager to pull it up after.

  4. 4.

    Kay

    The 300 dollar a month child tax credit advances start this summer

    Democrats should put some money into targeted outreach to lower income parents about it –

    the parents themselves are talking about it where I live

  5. 5.

    Citizen Alan

    @Nicole:  My first two jobs post law school were working for Republican judges.  I would hope that people would not judge my politics 15 years later solely on that.

  6. 6.

    Kay

    Lower income parent “normies” won’t know the 300 monthly is a Biden/Democrats initiative unless Biden/Democrats claim it

  7. 7.

    guachi

    Is it just me or does turning Trumpy affect someone’s looks? Stefanik has looked hollow recently.

  8. 8.

    Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix

    @Kay: It occurs to me often that Democrats don’t have anything like the kind of free media that Republicans get.  For example, no big media outlet is going to visit a red state daycare and talk to parents dropping off about how they’ve been helped by the Recovery Act.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    They should.  And our rank and file people on social media should do as well.  That’s where a lot of people get their information from these days, and most people aren’t following @Democrats.

  10. 10.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Kay: I recently sent postcards to voters (not all Dems) in Georgia letting them know about Democratic initiatives that help them. Perhaps Ohio Dems could do the same?

  13. 13.

    Another Scott

    Congratulations, @EliseStefanik.

    We may not agree on anything politically right now but given how easily—opportunistically—you change your mind on such things, one day we probably will.

    — Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) May 14, 2021

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  16. 16.

    Betty Cracker

    Other breaking news (WaPo):

    House Democrats and Republicans announced a deal on legislation Friday to establish a commission to investigate the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. The top members of the Homeland Security Committee agreed to a 10-member panel to study the “facts and circumstances … as well as the influencing factors” that provoked the attempted insurrection.

    Hmmm.

  17. 17.

    Roger Moore

    Any moderate words that came out of her mouth were to get elected, and any Trumpy words that come out of her mouth are so she can get ahead.

    Yep. Being a loyal apparatchik is the way to get ahead in today’s Republican party. The big thing that’s changed is how high you have to climb in the party before you can stop being an apparatchik and start expressing your own opinions. This is what got Cheney in trouble. It used to be that by the time you got into a leadership position in your House, you had the right to have some degree of individuality and make some policy suggestions. Today, there is only Trump and a bunch of followers.

  18. 18.

    natem

    We don’t know much about yet about the significance of Stefanik’s rise within the GOP House ranks, except for this: Dems in Disarray

  21. 21.

    Betty Cracker

    I saw an ad touting Democratic initiatives on the relief money, vaccination surge, etc., the other day while briefly watching MSNBC or CNN. No idea how prevalent that is since I’m not watching a lot of political TV these days, but I was glad to see it. We really do need to get better at claiming credit for popular stuff.

  24. 24.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Kay:

    @Baud:

    I agree. I have to say I have seen YouTube ads of the Biden admin and Dems touting the American Recovery Plan

  25. 25.

    Nicole

    @Benw: I’m so glad you’re enjoying it! Tom Breihan is such a funny writer; I hope he sticks with the column the whole way through (I think he’s been getting offers for bigger things, thanks, at least in part, to the column).

    Also, my mind was blown this week to learn from his entry on “Dirty Diana” that Eddie Van Halen did only the solo for “Beat It”- the rest (and the bass) was Toto’s guitarist, Steve Lukather.

  26. 26.

    Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix

    @Betty Cracker: Dems appoint the chair; Rs appoint the vice-chair.  All subpoenas have to be approved by chair and vice chair.  I’m assuming vice chair Gym Jordan won’t approve shit.  This thing is basically DOA given the current state of the R party.

  27. 27.

    Betty Cracker

    My husband came home early today due to a gout flareup, and he’s piled on the couch with a foot elevated and trying to find a movie or TV show to watch. Of all the people I’ve ever known in my entire life, he takes the longest to choose something to watch. I mean, I don’t give a damn because I’m not watching — I’m supposed to be working, so I’m doing that or procrastinating here or looking at Twitter. But I still want to say, “Oh my God, just pick something already!” :)

  32. 32.

    germy

    During Tubby’s reign, I referred sometimes to a Never Trumper-adjacent group called the Just-the-Tip Trumpers. They were slightly different from Never Trumpers (though in many cases not so’s you’d notice) in that, while (like Never Trumpers) they would tut-tut the President’s boorish behavior, Just-the-Tip Trumpers would nonetheless, through moues of disapproval and sometimes tears, approve of pretty much all of his policies (and, when they conflicted with rightwing orthodoxy — as with his failure to even pretend to give a shit about the deficit — just sigh and suck it up).

    And while the Never Trumpers thought Tubby’s influence was wholly malignant and wanted to get back to Conservatism With Good Taste, the Just-the-Tip types, as the name implies, were always willing to let him stick it in just a bit and call it love because they thought that was what Republican voters wanted. (Rod Dreher was the ne plus ultra of this tendency, though since Tubby lost Dreher acts as if he never knew the guy, preferring the embrace of Viktor Orbán.)

    https://edroso.substack.com/p/the-return-of-the-just-the-tip-trumpers

  33. 33.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @O. Felix Culpa: The postcard effort is a low-cost outreach for the organizers, since the volunteers pay for the cards and stamps (I like to use the pre-stamped cards from the USPS). The organizers just need to write a good (!) text, develop mailing lists (of 25 names each), and solicit volunteers who preferably follow instructions.

    The prepared text names the local Democratic congresspersons and senators who voted for the legislation and the resulting specific direct financial benefits for the postcard recipients. This is a great way to reach the rank and file who might not be highly on the internet and other social media

    ETA: If there aren’t local Democratic congresscritters, I suppose one could instead tout that the DEMS did these good tangible things for you.

  34. 34.

    RaflW

    Nine voted “Present”, as if that somehow registers as anything other than hiding under your desk while the plutonium-laced dust settles around you.

  35. 35.

    Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix

    @Baud: You’re right, I misread what I was looking at.  So vice-chair can be some Trumpy asshole who’s not in Congress, same difference.

    @Betty Cracker: No, that was a joke.  It’s going to be a Gym Jordan type (not a Member of Congress) though, since he will be appointed by the House and Senate Republican leadership.

  36. 36.

    Barry

    @O. Felix Culpa: “The postcard effort is a low-cost outreach for the organizers, since the volunteers pay for the cards and stamps (I like to use the pre-stamped cards from the USPS). The organizers just need to write a good (!) text, develop mailing lists (of 25 names each), and solicit volunteers who preferably follow instructions.”

    Would you please post organizing info?

    Thank you!

  43. 43.

    egorelick

    People like Stefanik should alert us to the fact that it is NOT ABOUT TRUMP. It is about power. The GOP are straight up fascists at this point; Trump is just a vehicle for them to further their fascist agenda.

  44. 44.

    Fair Economist

    @Baud: Pretty sure the pic is real; but the lack of any link makes me doubt it was a current event, and thus the rest of the story. Also the problem is obviously a car fire, not an explosion.

  47. 47.

    nevsky42

    Wait a sec…she managed Paul Ryan’s debate prep?  The same Paul Ryan that was stomped into a fine paste by Joe in ’12?  Nice job, there.  I still watch that debate for fun from time to time.

  48. 48.

    citizen dave

    @Betty Cracker: Seinfeld “Men don’t care what is on TV.  We only care what ELSE is on tv”  I confess I am much the same; torment my wife by spending too much time watching shorter youtube videos vs. an actual show.  (Side note: Finished the last episode of Season 2 of Atlanta last night.  It was a cool one, a flashback to when Earn was a kid–the FUBU jersey one.  Not as great as the Teddy Perkins episode–that one is all time great.)  Read the other day they are making a Season 3 this summer.

  55. 55.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Barry:

    @O. Felix Culpa: “The postcard effort is a low-cost outreach for the organizers, since the volunteers pay for the cards and stamps (I like to use the pre-stamped cards from the USPS). The organizers just need to write a good (!) text, develop mailing lists (of 25 names each), and solicit volunteers who preferably follow instructions.”

    Would you please post organizing info?

    Thank you!

    I can’t speak for O. Felix Culpa, but this organization (recommended to me recently, although I haven’t yet tried it out) is doing something along the lines described.

    https://www.turnoutpac.org/postcards/

  57. 57.

    germy

    Ken Buck nominating Chip Roy for conference chair, w/ Lauren Boebert seconding his nomination.

    Buck compared Stefanik’s Club for Growth Score Card to the Squad: “if we were picking the Republican most likely to join the squad, it would be a different story” — got some groans

    — Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) May 14, 2021

  60. 60.

    Paul M Gottlieb

    This is a vile slander on Tracy Flick! Sexually exploited by one slime ball teacher, and cheated out of an election victory by another slime ball, yet she is supposed to be the villain of that story. Her real sin? Being a girl who tried too hard! Stefanik is simply a shameless opportunist more than willing to enthusiastically endorse the most outrageous lies, if it will help her climb the greasy pole. She doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Tracy Flick!

  61. 61.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Barry: I’d love to, but unfortunately the most recent postcard campaign I worked on is over. I’ll post a link if/when they start up again. The organization I worked with in this instance was ActivateAmerica (formerly Flip the West). They were very well organized.

  62. 62.

    Kay

    22 an hour at Matsu in Ohio, advertised as “new wage!” :)

    That’s higher than the UAW negotiated starting wage at GM.

    I feel some real urgency to keep Republicans out of power, because if we can keep them out one more cycle I think we’ll start to see what a country with a fairly prosperous working class looks like. Start to see. They’ll have money to spend, Biden is providing subsidies, the great wheel of commerce will spin, etc.

    I think people will like it if they see it in action.

  64. 64.

    kmeyerthelurker

    I don’t understand the confusion behind the GOP hitching their fortunes to Trump.  They really don’t have a choice.  The hard conservative base, those who will always turn out to vote in primaries & midterms, worship the man like a God.

  65. 65.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Paul M Gottlieb: I have always felt that there is more than a trace of misogyny in the characterization/vilification of Tracy Flick.

    Elise Stefanik, on the other hand, has worked hard to earn her reputation as a slimy opportunist.

  67. 67.

    Kay

    And that’s without infrastructure. Infrastructure will just turbocharge it.

    They’ll ruin everything. Don’t let them in.

  69. 69.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Barry: I did a little more digging in Activate America’s website and found that they have several ongoing postcard efforts. Link HERE.

  70. 70.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    At this rate, workers are going to start complaining about the estate tax.  I’m getting a little worried the GOP can make inroads.

  71. 71.

    Geminid

    I hope the Commission delivers a thorough report. In the meantime, we will learn more from criminal prosecutions; journalists; and civil lawsuit discovery, which can be very far reaching, and sometimes produces actionable information about criminal acts.

    The lawsuit filed by Attorney Robble Kaplan on behalf of people injured by the fatal Unite the Right car attack that killed Heather Heyer may be a template for civil action. This lawsuit will not go to trial until this September, but it has already put severe financial pressure on organizers like Richard Spencer and The League of the South, among others.

    Interestingly, the ranking minority member who along with Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson introduced the legislation that will establish the Commission, is John Katko (NY). Katko is one of the ten House Republican impeachers. He also nominated Elise Stefanik for Conference Charwoman this morning.

  73. 73.

    Geminid

    @kmeyerthelurker: The hardcore trumpers are a very vindictive bunch. Many are convinced that trump would be president if the RINO establishment had not stabbed him in the back. And they make way more noise than then the Republicans who drift away because the party has been taken over by crazies.

    Meanwhile, Independent voters are looking on. They may not participate in intra-party fights or primaries, but they still vote on Election Day

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