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You are here: Home / Open Threads / ‘How high, sir?’

‘How high, sir?’

by Betty Cracker|  April 29, 20223:54 pm| 130 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Violent Insurrection at the Capitol

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Even my normie husband was outraged by the latest leaks of the Mark Meadows texts, this time featuring exchanges with Fox News’ slabheaded prime-time shock-jock Sean Hannity. “Jesus Christ,” the mister muttered while reading CNN’s exclusive on the laptop. “Did you SEE this?” Yep, I’d seen it:

On the afternoon of Election Day, Hannity texted Meadows at 1:36 p.m. to ask about turnout in North Carolina. Two hours later, Meadows responded:

“Stress every vote matters. Get out and vote. On radio.”

“Yes sir,” Hannity replied. “On it. Any place in particular we need a push.”

“Pennsylvania. NC AZ,” Meadows wrote, adding: “Nevada.”

“Got it. Everywhere,” Hannity said.

Of course, after all we’ve seen from the Trump and Fox people, no one is surprised by proof that prominent employees of a so-called news network coordinated with the White House on a reelection campaign. I mean, Hannity did MAGA rally appearances. Like many things associated with the Trump crime family and Murdoch propaganda network, these incidents are both outrageous and commonplace.

So much so that at first I wondered if CNN was recycling previously released texts because I remembered something earlier about Fox News personalities being all up in the White House’s business.

But yeah, this is new — the previous texts from Hannity, Frau Ingraham, etc., were expressing alarm on January 6th, first in a “Daaaa-duh! You’re embarrassing meee!” tone, followed by PR advice on how to ride out the unfortunate optics of the violent insurrection.

Fox News claims Hannity isn’t a journalist, and lord knows that’s true. But I’m pretty sure the planet would crack in half and all life on earth would immediately cease if it were revealed that Joy Reid or Rachel Maddow was taking marching orders on Election Day voter turnout from Ron Klain.

Anyhoo, I think Fox News still classifies Brian Kilmeade and Maria Bartiromo as “journalists,” and while that does violence to the definition of the word, it also makes the following revelation problematic:

In one noteworthy text, Bartiromo messaged Meadows on the morning of November 29, less than an hour before she was set to conduct Trump’s first interview since Election Day. The text included questions she planned to ask Trump.

“Hi the public wants to know he will fight this. They want to hear a path to victory. & he’s in control,” Bartiromo texted at 9:21 a.m. “1Q You’ve said MANY TIMES THIS ELECTION IS RIGGED… And the facts are on your side. Let’s start there. What are the facts? Characterize what took place here. Then I will drill down on the fraud including the statistical impossibilities of Biden magic (federalist). Pls make sure he doesn’t go off on tangents. We want to know he is strong he is a fighter & he will win. This is no longer about him. This is about ????. I will ask him about big tech & media influencing ejection as well Toward end I’ll get to GA runoffs & then vaccines.”

My first thought was: what a bunch of pathetic, servile ass-clowns. My second thought was that the January 6th committee is doing a pretty good job of leaking this stuff out prior to the upcoming hearings.

I hope the committee releases the schedule soon so I can clear mine. It’s gonna be must-see TV. Maybe the normie will even watch!

Open thread!

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Reader Interactions

130Comments

  1. 1.

    Keith P.

    April 29, 2022 at 4:00 pm

    In other GOP news, Madison Cawthorn’ s Scandalpalooza enters the weekend, as text and videos came out that look a hell of a lot like he’s bangimg and/or blowing an aide (he claims is a cousin)

  2. 2.

    David Hunt

    April 29, 2022 at 4:01 pm

    It is a sad comment about myself and the U.S. at the moment that I wasn’t the least bit surprised or shocked by this. I have hard time even being angry about it.

  3. 3.

    Gravenstone

    April 29, 2022 at 4:05 pm

    (he claims is a cousin)

    Not exactly helpful there, Mads…

  4. 4.

    sab

    April 29, 2022 at 4:05 pm

    Sorry BC, but this is so disturbing I don’t want to even read.

    In my defense, I don’t even talk to my brother anymore since he joined a RWNJ political cult at his job.

  5. 5.

    p.a.

    April 29, 2022 at 4:06 pm

    And by Monday it will be memory-holed. Can’t wait for FTFNYT to come out with a “Fox’s Transformative Journalism Subverts the Playing Field” article inthe Style section.

  6. 6.

    zhena gogolia

    April 29, 2022 at 4:06 pm

    Started to read the post but got to “slabheaded” and had to stop and applaud ?

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    April 29, 2022 at 4:06 pm

    I hope the committee releases the schedule soon

    Commencing June the 9th according to the committee chair.

  8. 8.

    Betty Cracker

    April 29, 2022 at 4:07 pm

    @Keith P.: Gotta admit I’m enjoying the spectacle of that tree-punching Nazi getting hung out to dry by his own fucking tribe.

  9. 9.

    Betty Cracker

    April 29, 2022 at 4:11 pm

    @NotMax: For real? I am on vacation that week! Hahaha!

  10. 10.

    Ken

    April 29, 2022 at 4:12 pm

    @Gravenstone: Brings back memories of my one RHPS viewing, where Riff-Raff and Magneta are doing something… weird, and the whole audience yells “Incest is best! Keep it in the family!”

  11. 11.

    NotMax

    April 29, 2022 at 4:12 pm

    @<a href="https://balloon-juice.com/2022/04/29/how-high-sir/#comment-8500038"NotMax

    Expect the Sunday blatherklatches to be stuffed to the rafters with Rs on June 12.

  12. 12.

    jonas

    April 29, 2022 at 4:14 pm

    @Keith P.: videos came out that look a hell of a lot like he’s bangimg and/or blowing an aide (he claims is a cousin)

    Wait, wut? As in “Dude, are you banging one of your aides here in this video?” and he’s like “Pffft! No. That’s my cousin”?

  13. 13.

    Kay

    April 29, 2022 at 4:14 pm

    @Keith P.:

    His defense is I was having sex with my cousin?

  14. 14.

    Roger Moore

    April 29, 2022 at 4:17 pm

    I don’t think it’s that unusual for the media to provide questions in advance. It doesn’t seem that unreasonable to me, at least if the goal is to get answers rather than to make the person look stupid for having to think for a while before responding. Admittedly, Bartiromo was doing more than that- she was suggesting answers- but giving a general idea of the topics and even some specific questions doesn’t seem outrageous to me.

  15. 15.

    zhena gogolia

    April 29, 2022 at 4:18 pm

    There are US citizens, thousands of them, who went to the polls and voted for Marjorie Taylor Greene and Madison Cawthorne.

  16. 16.

    Steeplejack

    April 29, 2022 at 4:18 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    It was “Frau Ingraham” for me. ?

    Speaking of whom . . .

    @IngrahamAngle: My mom worked as a waitress until she was 73 to help pay for our college, even helped with loan repayment. Loan forgiveness just another insult to those who play by the rules.

    @5DollarFeminist: Pretty sure Laura Ingraham could have afforded to pay off those loans herself any time in the past 35 years. Admitting that she let her mom wait tables into her 70s to pay off that debt isn’t really the flex she thinks it is.

  17. 17.

    trollhattan

    April 29, 2022 at 4:19 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    +1. The judges would also accept “hooplehead.”

  18. 18.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    April 29, 2022 at 4:19 pm

    only surprise to me here is that Hannity is yes-sirring Meadows and not the other way ’round

  19. 19.

    trollhattan

    April 29, 2022 at 4:21 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Pretty telling the Party is Just Fine with MTG’s antics but Cawthorn seems to be a bridge too far.

    He might have more time to spend with his punching log very soon.

  20. 20.

    WaterGirl

    April 29, 2022 at 4:23 pm

    @Kay: I know this is the absolute wrong response but I can’t stop laughing.

  21. 21.

    germy

    April 29, 2022 at 4:26 pm

    @Steeplejack:

     

    My mom worked as a waitress until she was 73 to help pay for our college, even helped with loan repayment. Loan forgiveness just another insult to those who play by the rules.

    — Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) April 28, 2022

    trying to piece together the timeline here and the only conclusion i’ve reached is that laura ingraham’s mom was working as a waitress paying her student loans when she was like 40 years old and on television https://t.co/sdot8Uz3dC

    — melatonin (@lavenderashtray) April 28, 2022

  22. 22.

    NotMax

    April 29, 2022 at 4:27 pm

    @trollhattan

    Did someone say log?

    :)

  23. 23.

    AliceBlue

    April 29, 2022 at 4:28 pm

    “Pls make sure he doesn’t go off on tangents” LOL.

  24. 24.

    Alison Rose ???

    April 29, 2022 at 4:29 pm

    @Kay: Ah, yes. The Giuliani Defense.

  25. 25.

    danielx

    April 29, 2022 at 4:34 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: ​
     
    It’s true – Hannity is used to lips being firmly affixed to HIS fat ass, not the other way around.

  26. 26.

    Tenar Arha

    April 29, 2022 at 4:34 pm

    @Betty Cracker: There is definitely an art to undermining this kind of candidate. I kinda appreciate it in isolation, and wish they’d do it to Boebert & Greene too.

    Unfortunately then I think about how they all really could have done that to DJT in 2016, or after the first impeachment, or after the insurrection, & I get so angry I can’t even read the stories because I’ve given myself a tension headache.

  27. 27.

    danielx

    April 29, 2022 at 4:36 pm

    @Kay:

    Ranks right up there with “taking a wide stance”, doesn’t it?

  28. 28.

    Ruckus ??

    April 29, 2022 at 4:38 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    I’ve stated here once before when I worked in pro sports I was interviewed on live TV. The interviewer had all his questions written out. He made it sound spontaneous but when the camera was on me he was checking his notes.

  29. 29.

    Captain C

    April 29, 2022 at 4:38 pm

    @Keith P.:

    videos came out that look a hell of a lot like he’s bangimg and/or blowing an aide (he claims is a cousin)

    Because that makes it OK, or better at least.

  30. 30.

    Ken

    April 29, 2022 at 4:39 pm

    @Kay: Ah, yes, the old “I’ll admit to sadomasochistic necrophiliac  bestiality* to distract from what I’ve really been doing” defense.

  31. 31.

    VOR

    April 29, 2022 at 4:39 pm

    @Roger Moore:  I remember the Right losing their mind when Donna Brazile told the HRC campaign there might be a question about lead in the pipes for a debate held in Flint, Michigan. A city where the lead in the pipes was the #1 issue. Gosh, who could have guessed there would be a question about that? But it was a big talking point on the right about journalists feeding questions to Dem politicians.

  32. 32.

    Betty Cracker

    April 29, 2022 at 4:40 pm

    @Roger Moore: General idea of topics? Yes. Actual questions, including the sources to cite and stage directions like “make sure he doesn’t go off on tangents” because we need big strong daddy not loopy mad grandpa? Pretty sure that runs afoul of journalistic standards.

  33. 33.

    terraformer

    April 29, 2022 at 4:40 pm

    Agreed on the slow leaks. It’d really be something if Dems (and the two Rs) can carefully, methodically, and deliberately paint a picture of what happened before, during, and after that day. The coordination. The plans. The expectations. I was burned by Mueller – I think most of us were.

    But damn, they seem to have the goods. I’m hopeful they’ll hit it out of the park.

    FSM knows this country needs a collective enema – one that expels all these kooks as the traitors they are

  34. 34.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    April 29, 2022 at 4:41 pm

    I don’t watch Fox. Am I right that as looney and trump-sucking as she’s been, she’s still on the farm team? Fox Business Weekend? I wonder which Murdoch she pissed off. I gather only two matter.

  35. 35.

    The Moar You Know

    April 29, 2022 at 4:43 pm

    as text and videos came out that look a hell of a lot like he’s bangimg and/or blowing an aide (he claims is a cousin)

    @Keith P.: just went and looked it (kinda wished I hadn’t).  Totes OK if you’re cousins in that fine example of a state.  Probably help him in the election.

  36. 36.

    Sure Lurkalot

    April 29, 2022 at 4:43 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Pretty telling the Party is Just Fine with MTG’s antics but Cawthorn seems to be a bridge too far.

    Equal opportunity outing. It started with Cawthorn’s outing of the coke-fueled orgies, which judging by the response, is an allegation more likely true than not and is definitely something the fine reporters at the NYT could investigate if they weren’t so busy interviewing Trumpies and gathering zingers for their book deals.

    I do wonder how Mange’s latest attacks on the Catholic church are going to fly. Five of the six RW SC justices are Catholic and while her vitriol goes to the church’s leadership, what does it say about the laity? I know many think she’s bulletproof but I do note that she seems rattled now that proof of her lying and complicity is being exposed. I can see her mouth spouting off something incriminating (to herself and others) before her brain neurons fire.

  37. 37.

    debbie

    April 29, 2022 at 4:45 pm

    This does contrast with Trump’s insistence that night that he was ahead, frankly, he had won. ??‍♀️

  38. 38.

    NotMax

    April 29, 2022 at 4:47 pm

    @The Moar You Know

    “The family that blows together grows together.”

    //

  39. 39.

    Captain C

    April 29, 2022 at 4:47 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    There are US citizens, thousands of them, who went to the polls and voted for Marjorie Taylor Greene and Madison Cawthorne.

    And I suspect that a nontrivial percentage of them have banged at least one cousin, or tried to.

  40. 40.

    The Moar You Know

    April 29, 2022 at 4:48 pm

    It started with Cawthorn’s outing of the coke-fueled orgies, which judging by the response, is an allegation more likely true than not 

    @Sure Lurkalot: Agreed.  My default with that asshole is that everything he says is a lie.  And I would have dismissed it as such if not for the GOP response.

  41. 41.

    UncleEbeneezer

    April 29, 2022 at 4:48 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Not if Hannity was (rightfully) assuming that Meadows was speaking on behalf of their beloved Emperor-God-King.

  42. 42.

    JPL

    April 29, 2022 at 4:50 pm

    @Sure Lurkalot:  The gay was a bridge too far.  Tillis mentioned insider trading, but that seemed odd, because he never complained about anyone else.   Now we know.

  43. 43.

    Roger Moore

    April 29, 2022 at 4:51 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    As I said, telling the person what you’re going to ask about is OK.  I honestly don’t mind telling them the exact wording of the question.  In practice, they’re going to have an answer they want to give that will respond to something different from your exact question anyway.  Obviously telling the person how to answer is out.

  44. 44.

    Dangerman

    April 29, 2022 at 4:51 pm

    @jonas:

    That’s a Schitt’s Creek ending (“It’s OK; that’s his Sister”).

  45. 45.

    Captain C

    April 29, 2022 at 4:52 pm

    @The Moar You Know: Also the fact that he used the phrase “key bump” without prompting.  As someone pointed out on Twitter, most people who don’t do key bumps don’t know the phrase “key bumps.”  Even if he was lying about the orgies, you know he’s done some serious partying.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, just his awful politics.

  46. 46.

    Kay

    April 29, 2022 at 4:58 pm

    Madison Cawthorne is not going to end up in legal trouble for having sex with a man who may or may not be his cousin. He’s going to get into legal trouble for paying for the cousin’s expenses and giving him gifts paid for with either campaign funds or staff funds.

    Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter and his wife, Margaret, routinely – and illegally – used campaign funds to pay personal bills big and small, from luxury vacations to kids’ school lunches and delinquent family dentistry bills, according to a stinging 47-page indictment unsealed Tuesday. The charges of wire fraud, falsifying records, campaign finance violations and conspiracy were the culmination of a Department of Justice investigation that has stretched for more than a year, during which the Republican congressman from California has maintained his innocence.

  47. 47.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    April 29, 2022 at 4:59 pm

    There’s nothing wrong with consensual sex, regardless of gender or orientation. The dude is a Hitler fan. Republicans are okay with that, but being bisexual or gay? That’s where they have a problem.

    All Republicans have these days is their hate.

  48. 48.

    UncleEbeneezer

    April 29, 2022 at 5:01 pm

    @terraformer: The Dems laid it all out perfectly with regards to showing that Trump tried to extort Ukraine in the first Impeachment.  Their case was iron-clad.  Schiff, Goldman, Vindeman etc., all did their jobs well.  The problem is that there was no way that ANY CASE made by Dems was going to convince Senate Republicans to vote for Impeachment, or get Trump voters to abandon him en masse.

    The audience this time is Dem voters and Trump-To-Biden voters that we need in November.  It should also be much more news-worthy (and likely to be picked up by MSM) since there will be lots of mentions of sitting Housemembers, Senators, Governors, Sec of States, Trump family members, Vice President Pence, wives of Supreme Court Justices, in addition to all the Oathkeeper, Proud Boy, 3%er etc. Nazi terrorist groups, Alex Jones, Rudy, Hannity etc.  Also there will be video, texts, phone records etc. and all centered around something we all saw happen in real time.  I don’t think comparing this to the first Impeachment or Mueller Report (which still had/generated a ton of shocking headlines) is apt.  I think this is gonna be WAY bigger.

  49. 49.

    Suzanne

    April 29, 2022 at 5:03 pm

    @The Moar You Know: I don’t think the coke orgies thing is real. Those people all act like they haven’t been laid ever, not even one time. If they were really having coke orgies, I think they would be less likely to be such douchebags.

  50. 50.

    delk

    April 29, 2022 at 5:08 pm

    Maddy is complaining that they are digging up stuff from his early 20’s to smear him. He’s currently 26 years old.

  51. 51.

    JPL

    April 29, 2022 at 5:09 pm

    @Kay: That makes more sense, although I think a lot of the party is homophobic.

  52. 52.

    Bex

    April 29, 2022 at 5:09 pm

    @Sure Lurkalot: Depends on which faction in the Catholic church you’re talking about.  Greene has to be popular with the far right “traditional” Catholics.  She just did an interview with a group called Church Militant, an organization that wants Pope Francis gone.

  53. 53.

    Roger Moore

    April 29, 2022 at 5:13 pm

    @Suzanne:

    Sadly, I think you’re wrong.  There are absolutely people who are publicly uptight about sex and drugs because they want to hide their private shenanigans.  The worse they are in private, the more uptight they appear in public to make up for it.

  54. 54.

    Jeffro

    April 29, 2022 at 5:20 pm

    @Keith P.:Cawthorn’ s bangimg and/or blowing an aide (he claims is a cousin)

    Weird…Cawthorn has an “aide”…Gaetz has an “adopted son”…3 Toes has multiple boyfriends on top of oh whoops being married…

    …Party of Family Values, amirite America?

  55. 55.

    Amir Khalid

    April 29, 2022 at 5:22 pm

    @trollhattan:

    I think the difference is clear: MTG is as obnoxious and embarrassing as all hell, but she is at least pissing outside the tent. Unlike Madison Cawthorn.

  56. 56.

    Roger Moore

    April 29, 2022 at 5:23 pm

    @Jeffro:

    Anyone who has read the Bible would agree that Republicans reflect the kind of family values on display in Genesis.

  57. 57.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 29, 2022 at 5:23 pm

    @Suzanne: No.  Not at all.

  58. 58.

    MomSense

    April 29, 2022 at 5:23 pm

    @Suzanne:

    I think they watch

  59. 59.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 29, 2022 at 5:25 pm

    @Jeffro:

    Sorry, who is “3 Toes”?

  60. 60.

    Jeffro

    April 29, 2022 at 5:25 pm

    @Roger Moore: agreed

    the coke orgies thing is totally a thing.  The guy hangs out with Stone and Gaetz

  61. 61.

    Scout211

    April 29, 2022 at 5:26 pm

    The Madison Cawthorn ethics complaint that was filed recently (I posted a link to it in a thread yesterday) is full of scandalous accusations and clear ethics violations that are mainly misuse of funds. This article in Business Insider suggests that the ethics complaints will likely have very little effect on his term in office because these complaints tend to move slowly through the investigation process.

    It seems if you are a loyal GOP caucus member, all of your open secrets are kept secret. If you defy the caucus or embarrass the caucus, you will pay the price with a whisper campaign or smear campaign. I think MadCaw is too immature and arrogant to hear the warning from leadership.

    Who obtained that personal video?  Who leaked the video now? And why release all this old information about his short-lived marriage? Insider trading (involving bitcoin undisclosed or something, something)?

    Easy answer. The primary is coming up soon and it is all timed to have effect on the voters.

    I actually started to feel a little sorry for this young man yesterday, especially if he feels he has to keep his sexuality in the closet.

    But then I slapped myself out of it.

  62. 62.

    Jeffro

    April 29, 2022 at 5:26 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Marjorie Taylor Greene

  63. 63.

    Chief Oshkosh

    April 29, 2022 at 5:30 pm

    @p.a.: It’ll be a good bookend to the Rolling Stone piece whinging on  that the collapse of beltway media is due to…wait for…the successes Obama had at those dumbassed Press Dinners. It’s all because Democrats brought Hollywood to DC!!

    Of course, not a feckin’ word about the role of Fox in the decline of the press…

  64. 64.

    Kay

    April 29, 2022 at 5:30 pm

    Teaching has been my passion for the past 12 years. I am proud to call myself an educator. For the first two years, I taught first grade. It prepared me to effectively teach kindergarten while also focusing on kids’ social and emotional development. I have enjoyed working in Florida schools over the past six years, as has my partner, Jeramiah, who is also an educator. However, recently there has been a major cause for concern.

  65. 65.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 29, 2022 at 5:41 pm

    @Jeffro:

    Thanks. I don’t get the nickname.

  66. 66.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 29, 2022 at 5:42 pm

    @Jeffro:

    …Party of Family Values, amirite America?

    Sure, they just have multiple families.

  67. 67.

    Ruckus ??

    April 29, 2022 at 5:46 pm

    @Suzanne:

    If they were really having coke orgies, I think they would be less likely to be such douchebags.

    Too busy being coke heads? Or dead?

  68. 68.

    debbie

    April 29, 2022 at 5:50 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    She actually wears three-toed shoes, something like this. It’s a runner thing.

  69. 69.

    Cameron

    April 29, 2022 at 5:50 pm

    America’s Favorite Governor said today the fun-loving, family-friendly, full-service Florida legislature will soon give him a “constitutional carry” bill to sign.  Another token added towards completion of the Wingnut Master Collection.  Just imagine the good times at picnics on the 4th – now there’s some real fireworks for you!

  70. 70.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 29, 2022 at 5:52 pm

    @debbie:

    Thanks. All new to me.

  71. 71.

    Betty Cracker

    April 29, 2022 at 5:55 pm

    Good work, Swalwell!

    Republicans love to falsely accuse Dems of teenage grooming. It’s just a play for the Q vote. But boy do they keep stacking up the charges. Don’t stop calling them out on their bullshit. https://t.co/4RhV6odxm8

    — Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) April 29, 2022

  72. 72.

    Mike in NC

    April 29, 2022 at 5:57 pm

    @Cameron: A reminder that the Fat Orange Clown frequently referred to himself as “America’s Favorite President, me!” What a basket case. Yesterday I drove past some pinhead who was selling ‘Trump 2024’ merchandise at a couple of tables. I wanted to stop and ask if he had any toilet paper. The grift just never ends with that brain-damaged man-child.

  73. 73.

    lowtechcyclist

    April 29, 2022 at 5:58 pm

    From Rolling Stone (also reported by other outlets):

    Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert reportedly almost came to blows over Greene’s appearance at a white nationalist event in February, to the point that someone had to step in between them to de-escalate the confrontation. Three people close to the Freedom Caucus confirmed the spat to Politico, which took place during a meeting of the caucus’ board of directors.

    Pity they didn’t scratch each other’s eyes out.

  74. 74.

    bjacques

    April 29, 2022 at 6:02 pm

    I just wish Cawthorn weren’t too hapless to strike back at the people gunning for him. For all the videos concerning him turning up now, couldn’t he have made some of his own?

  75. 75.

    lowtechcyclist

    April 29, 2022 at 6:05 pm

    @Cameron:

    America’s Favorite Governor said today the fun-loving, family-friendly, full-service Florida legislature will soon give him a “constitutional carry” bill to sign.  Another token added towards completion of the Wingnut Master Collection.  Just imagine the good times at picnics on the 4th – now there’s some real fireworks for you!

    Here’s the part that I can’t wrap my mind around: Florida’s economy is very much dependent on old people wanting to retire there.  If I’m 75 years old, do I want to live in a place where people openly carry guns around? Hell, no!

    I mean, I personally wouldn’t be crazy about it now, but I understand that it’s some people’s ideal world.  But after a certain point in life, you really don’t want to be in an environment that seems threatening, you want a place that feels safe.  I’d think that for most oldsters, that would mean a place where people aren’t openly toting guns around.

  76. 76.

    Kay

    April 29, 2022 at 6:05 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    When the allegations became public — largely because of the legislative ethics investigation — Doe faced unrelenting harassment from some of von Ehlinger’s supporters. Her name, photo and personal details about her life were repeatedly publicized in “doxxing” incidents. One of the people who frequently harassed her was in the courthouse to attend the trial, but law enforcement banned the man from the floor where where case was being heard.

  77. 77.

    Subsole

    April 29, 2022 at 6:07 pm

    Man.

    Remember how so many very well-paid Ivy League communications majors clutched their monogrammed civility pearls until their heads popped OFF when Obama called out Bill-O the Clown back in the backwhen…??

    It’s nice, I suppose, that CNN finally caught up to the rest of us… a decade late and a million lives short….

  78. 78.

    Suzanne

    April 29, 2022 at 6:08 pm

    @Ruckus ??: When I went through my brief partying phase, I was a blast. I was having way too much fun to find time to be a dickhead, and I was in too good a mood anyway. These assholes seem small and bitter to me. Not fun.

    Like, take Paul Gosar as an example. This dude sucks. He’s not having any fun ever, except for the semi that being a white nationalist gives him. Orgies? No way. He has to take a bottle of Viagara to maintain anything.

    Maybe Gaetz has orgies. Certainly he looks high all the time.

  79. 79.

    Anonymous At Work

    April 29, 2022 at 6:08 pm

    Great News on the Disney Front:

    Disney fired (allowed to resign with dignity) its communications and government relations chief.  Former BP executive and Pentagon spokesman under Shrub, he was hired 3 months ago and was probably either part of “pacify the GQP” initiative or was himself the ‘mastermind’ behind the strategy.
    https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/geoff-morrell-disney-communications-chief-203612623.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

    Failed as utterly as only a GOP political appointee is capable.

    Hopefully Disney will now tell teh GQP to pound sand.

    Also, this about how rating agencies might seriously downgrade Florida’s credit rating if DeathSantis tries to ignore Disney’s publicly-guaranteed debt: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/disney-fiasco-could-ominous-consequences-185401161.html

  80. 80.

    Subsole

    April 29, 2022 at 6:09 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Yep. May he soon have much company.

     

     

    (I’m just waiting for the shoe to drop on Ben Shillpiro.)

  81. 81.

    RaflW

    April 29, 2022 at 6:11 pm

    @VOR: CNN fired Brazile for that. Fox will take the ‘attacks’ on Hannity (aka desire for some very, very low-bar ethical minimums) as a sign that they’re on the correct path.

  82. 82.

    Another Scott

    April 29, 2022 at 6:12 pm

    @Keith P.: Claims he’s his 3rd cousin once removed:

    Perhaps you have heard someone say, “He is my third cousin, once removed.”“Removed means that this person is one generation younger than your third cousin. He’s the child of your third cousin. The common ancestor is your great-great-grandparent, and the third cousin once removed’s great-great-great-grandparent.

    Pretty tenuous “cousin” relationship there.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  83. 83.

    Jeffro

    April 29, 2022 at 6:12 pm

    @Betty Cracker: iz our Ds learning to play offense??

    Encouraging!

  84. 84.

    Kay

    April 29, 2022 at 6:13 pm

    Just an ordinary Right winger with banal, ordinary Right wing ideas that are portrayed as new:

    Techmeme
    @Techmeme
    Sources: Peter Thiel, Jack Dorsey, and others who disliked Twitter’s direction pushed Elon Musk to launch a bid; Musk is dismayed that Trump is still banned (Wall Street Journal)

  85. 85.

    Sure Lurkalot

    April 29, 2022 at 6:14 pm

    @Roger Moore: Anecdotal and different than kink, I was once friends with a personally religious couple–the husband was a workmate of my spouse. Another workmate of theirs was having an affair that we all knew about.

    We went on a beach vacation and the husband talked about how wrong the affair was and how horrible it was for the cheater’s wife and daughters.

    It wasn’t a couple months later that the husband left my friend and their young son for a woman with whom he had been having an affair for OVER A YEAR.

  86. 86.

    Subsole

    April 29, 2022 at 6:15 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Eh. They have never shown mercy, and have been downright cruel to people for infinitely less (look how they’re treating the journalist who aired out the Libs of TikTok lady).

    They built this world, they can damn well live in it with us. Fuckem.

     

    @germy: That fits. Every accusation is a confession, and they always accuse people of being lazeabout moochers living off mommy and daddy’s work…I could absolutely see these folks being the kind of hopeless case they look down on in public.

  87. 87.

    Cameron

    April 29, 2022 at 6:16 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: Well, we did have an unfortunate contretemps on a golf course down here when an enraged golfer shot a dude who was walking his dog on the golf course, and then proceeded to beat said dude with a golf club.  Golfer was in his 70s.  Who wouldn’t want to retire in a paradise like this?

  88. 88.

    Subsole

    April 29, 2022 at 6:16 pm

    @NotMax:

    It’s big, it’s heavy, it’s wood!

  89. 89.

    Betty Cracker

    April 29, 2022 at 6:17 pm

    @Kay: Repulsive and cruel degenerates. As my elderly neighbor used to say, “They should die in a fire.”

  90. 90.

    Ken

    April 29, 2022 at 6:19 pm

    @Roger Moore: Anyone who has read the Bible would agree that Republicans reflect the kind of family values on display in Genesis.

    I was also thinking of Judges, chapters 19-21; the “Levite’s concubine” story. It starts with a woman being gang raped and dismembered, passes through one attempted and one successful genocide, and ends with a mass abduction and rape.

    Or, Friday nights on K Street, if Cawthorn is to be believed.

  91. 91.

    debbie

    April 29, 2022 at 6:24 pm

    @Kay:

    Reading your link, it’s sickening how much harassment she’s suffered.

  92. 92.

    Subsole

    April 29, 2022 at 6:27 pm

    @The Moar You Know: Nope. That only works for girl cousins. If he’s bobjobbing someone, he’s toast. For all their “JudeoChristianer than thou” posturing, conservatives take a very Spartan outlook on sex. Id est: it’s all good, as long as the man is TAKING pleasure from someone lower down the hierarchy. If he GIVES pleasure, he’s a pussy, an un-man, and fair game for destruction. If he gets abused by someone higher up the chain, well then he’s just a bitch, an un-man, and fair game for anyone who wants to have him.

    Basically it’s organizing your social dynamics on prison-shower lines.

     

     

    Sigh.

    These people live such a miserable, exhausting ideology…

  93. 93.

    Geminid

    April 29, 2022 at 6:28 pm

    @Jeffro: Maybe there were Adderall orgies. That seems to be a popular recreational drug now. One of the potential witnesses against Matt Gaetz is a DJ who pleaded guilty to a charge of distributing Adderall. His sentencing is now in the hands of the same federal judge who will sentence Gaetz wingman Joel Greenburg.

    The judge has granted a couple postponements of Greenberg’s sentencing. I think next month’s court date will see a sentence. It’s time for prosecutors investigating Gaetz to put up or shut up. My hope is that they’ll have a Gaetz indictment by then, and that they will have Gaetz wrapped up so tight on multiple felonies that the best lawyers Gaetz’s rich father can buy can’t get him off.

  94. 94.

    Subsole

    April 29, 2022 at 6:29 pm

    @Sure Lurkalot: I expect the Catholic justices will lie back and think of a world without Roe…

  95. 95.

    Frank Wilhoit

    April 29, 2022 at 6:29 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Actually, no.  They were voting against the Democratic Party.  It is not the same thing, even if the result is the same.

  96. 96.

    Kay

    April 29, 2022 at 6:36 pm

    @Frank Wilhoit:

    The Republican running against Cawthorne in the primary wants Democrats to vote for her to help get rid of Cawthorne. She offers those Democrats absolutely nothing – she’s far Right- but apparently feels it is the job of Democrats in that district to get rid of an embarrasing problem for the Republican Party and also elect her, so a win for Republicans and a win for her.

    Entitled. Just like the moron she’s replacing.

  97. 97.

    TM

    April 29, 2022 at 6:36 pm

    Bartiromo: “This is no longer about him. This is about ????.”

    That is precious.  It says so much

  98. 98.

    S. Cerevisiae

    April 29, 2022 at 6:36 pm

    @Mike in NC:  I would guarantee that was cheap Chinese knock off merchandise because grifting the rubes is easy, the good news is that the Orange Blob doesn’t get a dime when they do.

  99. 99.

    kalakal

    April 29, 2022 at 6:37 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    It was “Frau Ingraham” for me.

    I heard horses neighing and whinnying when I read that

  100. 100.

    Subsole

    April 29, 2022 at 6:38 pm

     

    @Kay: Figures. Scratch a Libertarian, find a Nazi.

  101. 101.

    Dan B

    April 29, 2022 at 6:44 pm

    @Keith P.: I wonder if Fucker Tar-l-son and the rabidly anti-gay Rusdian guy who has the I’m Not Gay reality TV show with much male six-pack buff sexiness plus strutting and showing off to rival male Baboon displays will also be found diddling each other because they’re constantly horny and “girls” steer clear.

    I guess if they don’t kiss they’re not fags….

  102. 102.

    Jinchi

    April 29, 2022 at 6:51 pm

    @TM: It took me a minute to realize Bartiromo was suggesting Trump say “This isn’t about me.”

    Which is hilarious because I doubt he could even think the words without self combusting.

  103. 103.

    Kay

    April 29, 2022 at 6:51 pm

    @Subsole:

    I’m a little surprised and I had low expectations. I thought he would be more subtle about being Right wing, at least for a while.

    Another Rupert Murdoch. Oh, joy.

    I don’t think Twitter turning into Fox will harm ordinary people much. Liberals will find somewhere else to go. The people who will be most harmed are media people. They’re the only group who benefit financially from using it to promote their work. Maybe that’s why they’re all kissing Musk’s ass.

  104. 104.

    Gvg

    April 29, 2022 at 6:56 pm

    @Suzanne: uh, past Republican conventions and cpac have involved a lot of reports of prostitution profits etc. The people who attack sex are hypocrites. There are also Russian spy’s and probably others. Getting laid does not fix what is wrong with these people.

  105. 105.

    Roger Moore

    April 29, 2022 at 6:58 pm

    @Suzanne:

    When I went through my brief partying phase, I was a blast. I was having way too much fun to find time to be a dickhead, and I was in too good a mood anyway. These assholes seem small and bitter to me. Not fun.

    Not everyone reacts to this stuff the same way.  You went through a partying phase because you wanted to have fun, and you thought partying was a good way to do it.  You’re basically a positive person, and you don’t think there was anything really wrong about the partying, so you had fun doing it.  The Republican assholes are a completely different thing.  They’re basically negative people, and they’ve been taught that stuff is wrong even though- maybe because- they enjoy it.  They feel bad, so they party to feel good.  After the party is over, they’re guilty, which makes them feel worse than they did before.  Now they’re really unhappy, so they want to party some more to make themselves feel better, and the process continues.  It’s a nasty spiral.

  106. 106.

    kalakal

    April 29, 2022 at 7:02 pm

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Here’s the part that I can’t wrap my mind around: Florida’s economy is very much dependent on old people wanting to retire there.  If I’m 75 years old, do I want to live in a place where people openly carry guns around? Hell, no!

    Pretty sure this would apply to tourists as well.

    Florida’s theme parks market as family friendly fun. If the locals think the place is so dangerous they have to be visibly carrying guns to protect themselves outsiders are not going to think, “That’s where we’ll take the kids!”. This goes double for foreign tourists who bring a ton of money in, they’re going to vote with their feet.

  107. 107.

    Ocotillo

    April 29, 2022 at 7:04 pm

    @Kay:   I’m lost here.  Isn’t Dorsey the “owner” of Twitter now?  Why would he not like the direction it was taking?

  108. 108.

    sab

    April 29, 2022 at 7:06 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: I spent my childhood in Florida. The olds want to retire somewhere warm. They don’t think it through beyond that. And California is too expensive.

    Me, I want to retire somewhere where iguanas don’t fall from trees in every cold snap, and where there is good medical coverage. I e Ohio.

  109. 109.

    JanieM

    April 29, 2022 at 7:07 pm

    @Roger Moore: Not to mention that sex can about all kinds of things other than “fun.”

  110. 110.

    kalakal

    April 29, 2022 at 7:11 pm

    @Ocotillo: He resigned as CEO last November. It may well have been jumping before being pushed.

  111. 111.

    Dan B

    April 29, 2022 at 7:13 pm

    @Kay: Their God is a vengeful god probably modeled after their own parents.  Anybody steps one inch out of line and the hammer gets brought down.  Chaos to prevent disorder and the end of white civilization.  Seems to be moving towards straight, misogynistic, white civilization at a head spinning pace.

  112. 112.

    Gvg

    April 29, 2022 at 7:16 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: Not all old people are alike. Florida became a place for olds to retire to because of the weather and cheap cost of living. It helps if a lot of their friends moved to the same area. We grew a lot which equals not as cheap to live anymore.

    Some old people are basically paranoids and want guns to protect themselves. They don’t really know their fears are baseless and don’t understand statistics. They also don’t usually understand that as they get older, guns won’t save them. Eyesight, reflexes, strength and cognitive functions go down.

    Other people see guns as a threat to them, not a protection. Both types always exist.

    Honestly, I don’t think Florida is in control of this. There are just a lot of people who buy into this mindset. They picked the nutty politicians. Also most people don’t understand economics, so the fact that this can “hurt” our prosperity just can’t be understood. It doesn’t factor into political choices because most voters don’t know it will happen.

  113. 113.

    Roger Moore

    April 29, 2022 at 7:17 pm

    @Another Scott:

    Claims he’s his 3rd cousin once removed

    What he doesn’t say is he’s also his first cousin and his second cousin three different ways…

    Honestly, I shouldn’t make fun of this kind of thing.  My grandmother’s parents were first cousins and (IIRC) first cousins once removed.  Marrying cousins is one of those things that happens in close-knit communities that exclude outsiders.  It’s inevitable, because everyone in a close-knit community is a blood relative one way or another.

  114. 114.

    Almost Retired

    April 29, 2022 at 7:24 pm

    @Roger Moore:   Ain’t that the truth. My mom’s family and my dad’s family were among the first 150 settlers in the rural county where I grew up (and promptly left), and half the town was some sort of cousin.  I had to check the tables of consanguinity before I asked a girl to prom.

  115. 115.

    Frank Wilhoit

    April 29, 2022 at 7:25 pm

    @Kay: It is something more, and worse, than mere entitlement.  I am not quite sure what it ought to be called.

  116. 116.

    NotMax

    April 29, 2022 at 8:02 pm

    @Frank Wilhoit

    Delusions of pander?

  117. 117.

    Steeplejack

    April 29, 2022 at 8:04 pm

    @kalakal:

    Ha! True.

  118. 118.

    Suzanne

    April 29, 2022 at 8:20 pm

    @Roger Moore: That’s true. I don’t feel like there is anything inherently bad about enjoying things. Obviously there are some lines that are inappropriate to cross, and everything can be done to excess, but for the most part…. life is for enjoying.

  119. 119.

    Jeffro

    April 29, 2022 at 8:26 pm

    @Geminid: it does seem to be the RWNJ drug of choice, along with steroids and mainlining hate

  120. 120.

    Jeffro

    April 29, 2022 at 8:28 pm

    @Kay: speaking of making the Dems do all the work…where’s the snooze media on this?  Where’s the “two nutjob Rs – what kind of choice is THAT?” headline re: NC-11?

  121. 121.

    Ruckus ??

    April 29, 2022 at 8:39 pm

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Pity they didn’t scratch each other’s eyes out.

    That wouldn’t have improved their outlooks on life. Or maybe it actually might have.

  122. 122.

    Mike J

    April 29, 2022 at 8:40 pm

    Fox is LIVID about this. Furious.  Fuming.

    About the fact that it leaked, not about the actual content.

  123. 123.

    Kathleen

    April 29, 2022 at 8:46 pm

    @VOR: And “The Left”.

  124. 124.

    Ruckus ??

    April 29, 2022 at 8:55 pm

    @Suzanne:

    You’ve actually hit on a very important point.

    A lack of concept of humanity, it’s foibles, it’s fun and it’s crap.

    We all are exposed to these on a daily basis. But if you don’t have the personality or upbringing to see anything but the crap, the world really, really doesn’t make sense or look good. I think that part of conservatism is that real fun and humor is missing and conservatism is trying to make sense of the world without that real fun and humor. And one can’t make any sense of the world without real fun and humor, because life is finite, life is often horrendous, tedious, painful. You have to be able to laugh at it some days otherwise you just cry or run away screaming. OR. You become a conservative who thinks that structuring every thing one way will make it work out. And it never really does because life just isn’t all that kind and funny and enjoyable if you can’t see the point of it, which is to enjoy the damn journey for what it is. You can’t make it better if you can’t laugh about it.

  125. 125.

    Gravenstone

    April 29, 2022 at 10:58 pm

    @trollhattan: Pretty telling the Party is Just Fine with MTG’s antics but Cawthorn seems to be a bridge too far.

    MTG is pissing out of their tent. Cawthorne seems intent on pissing into it, and all over them.

  126. 126.

    Liminal Owl

    April 30, 2022 at 6:43 am

    @Captain C: I’m more cynical; I suspect a nontrivial percentage have molested or raped younger members of their immediate family.

  127. 127.

    Liminal Owl

    April 30, 2022 at 6:50 am

    @Bex: One would think so, except that fundygelicals are more likely to claim that Catholics are not Christians but Satanist pedophiles etc., especially the hierarchy. (Yeah, I know.  I wish that some percentage of priests hadn’t validated the pedophilia claims.)

  128. 128.

    Liminal Owl

    April 30, 2022 at 7:16 am

    @Subsole: Very good point. Thank you.

  129. 129.

    Liminal Owl

    April 30, 2022 at 7:23 am

    @Almost Retired: https://youtu.be/py99y2bZyQg

  130. 130.

    SWMBO

    April 30, 2022 at 5:43 pm

    @Suzanne: ​
      I think MadCaw thought they were having coke orgies and was angling for an invite.

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