Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Second rate reporter says what?

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

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

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

A Senator Walker would also be an insult to reason, rationality, and decency.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Infrastructure week. at last.

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

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

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Bark louder, little dog.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

This blog will pay for itself.

The willow is too close to the house.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

“But what about the lurkers?”

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / Friday Night Flights Open Thread: Repub Enablers in Disarray!

Friday Night Flights Open Thread: Repub Enablers in Disarray!

by | 96 Comments

This post is in: , , , , , ,

Peter Baker of the FTFNYTimes, last seen valiantly fluffing Brave Deciderer Jared‘s choice to disagree with TFG:

Maggie Haberman, consummate professional: Nothing personal, Mr. Kushner. We’re just divesting an underperforming asset, targeting a better return from our newly contrarian position…

At the other tip of the horseshoe, looks like I was right about how brilliantly Caroline Edwards’ testimony was positioned:

Klown klaxon coda: Cameo from a blog favorite chewtoy –

Reader Interactions

96Comments

  2. 2.

    CarolPW

    Having long blond hair was an asset in the video of the government overthrow attempt – you could see Edwards’ hair below her helmet and see how badly they trashed her.

  3. 3.

    lollipopguild

    Tracey’s comment about Dems is a confession of what cons want to do to the Dems.  Every accusation is a confession. Also trump complaining about how bad Barr was as an employee is funny because every employee of trump’s including his own kid was a “bad” hire!

  4. 4.

    Ken

    I suppose it’s too much to hope that the reason for the lack of commercials is that no advertisers wanted to purchase time, knowing what Fox would be delivering?

  5. 5.

    Raoul Paste

    And yet, if you mention these details about no commercials and the back of Caroline Edwards head to a Fox news watcher, they would rationalise it all away.
    Nobody wants to realise that they’ve been played for a sucker for a long time

  7. 7.

    dmsilev

    @Ken: Fox can, if need be, dispense with ad revenue; most of their money comes from ‘carriage fees’, money that cable companies pay them that’s per subscriber (not per viewer). The real way to hurt Fox finances is to encourage people either to drop cable entirely or at least switch to a package that doesn’t include Fox.

  8. 8.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Raoul Paste: They won’t, actually. They say “THAT’S all you have? They didn’t show her face? Look at all the lying CNN does!” and pretend that you have no other arguments.

  10. 10.

    stinger

    So Jared was in charge of The Wall, Middle East peace, medical stockpiles, and a half-dozen other things, but once he’s “interested in” pardons, that’s all he can think about? Can’t spare a moment to consider the threatened resignation of White House counsel?

  11. 11.

    Baud

    Democrats Want To Destroy Anyone That Challenges Their Message And Power

    Democrats, no.
    Baud, yes.

  12. 12.

    Kay

    Substacker tackles the big issues – just don’t cancel them for their boring, made up anecdotes about people they encounter.

    Michael Tracey
    @mtracey
    8h
    Saw a big group of charter school kids having their end-of-year “field day” at local park. Half are masked up. Teacher says it’s out of habit, because the school still requires masks inside the building

  13. 13.

    Mousebumples

    I thought I had heard awhile ago that the boycotts of all the Faux News nonsense meant that most of their $$ came from cable deals versus commercials. Ring any bells for anyone else?

  14. 14.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Kay: I’m sure this isn’t made up. My kids often wear masks to school even when they didn’t have to. They kind of like it – it feels safer, protects their face from the sun and is warmer on cold mornings.

    The real question is why anyone should care. Kids wanna wear masks, kids can wear masks.

  16. 16.

    Kay

    Maggie Haberman
    @maggieNYT
    ·21h
    Mentioning the pardons process as an aside was also stunning to Kushner’s former colleagues, many of whom privately criticized his involvement in them throughout the presidency

    Why would they “stunned” he was talking about the pardon process if “many” of them criticized him for being involved in the pardon process? They knew he was running the pardon process and that’s what he said he was doing.
    Privately criticized of course. Only to Maggie Haberman. The usual profile in courage on the Right.
    Oh, well. Maybe he’s got info on which GOP House members begged for pardons. They would have to go thru The Prince, right?

  17. 17.

    stinger

    Not a 50+ dude myself, but Officer Edwards has beautiful hair, and I think if I were that demographic and saw her from the back I’d be curious enough to change channels to check her out from the front.

  20. 20.

    RedDirtGirl

    OT – I was too late to the previous 1/6 thread to reply to several comments/questions about the cops not using their guns that day. I wanted to say that I remember one of them testifying a few months ago, (maybe Michael Fanone), that he knew that if he drew his weapon, it would be used against him, and unleash a whole other level of violence.

  21. 21.

    Ken

    @Kay: Maybe he’s got info on which GOP House members begged for pardons. They would have to go thru The Prince, right?

    Only for the initial price quote. After that it depends on whether the check clears.

  22. 22.

    The Moar You Know

    Democrats Want To Destroy Anyone That Challenges Their Message And Power

    Where do I sign up for this?

  23. 23.

    Anne Laurie

    @stinger: So Jared was in charge of The Wall, Middle East peace, medical stockpiles, and a half-dozen other things, but once he’s “interested in” pardons, that’s all he can think about?

    Jared, like any good MBA, was most interested in whatever issue could be monetized immediately.   The Middle East ‘peace process’, stealing from PPP funds, and Waaahl-related grifting had all individually been excellent for his bottom line, but the sale of papal indulgences pardons to rich, desperate cronies had an end date certain.

  24. 24.

    gene108

    I wonder what tricks Fox News will pull on Monday?

    I guess the Fox & Friends hosts will be on all day commercial free, so no Fox News viewer changes the channel.

  25. 25.

    Kay

    @Ken: 

    AOC is like a dog with a bone about Boebert revealing where Pelosi was. She’s been saying it for months. It is clear to me that AOC believes Boebert deliberately put Pelosi in danger. I just don’t think that’s a wild eyed accusation.

  28. 28.

    Kay

    Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
    @AOC
    Hey quick question Boebert, did you ask for a pardon after tweeting the Speaker’s location on Jan 6th?
    You and the KKK Caucus have been really quiet about it today and given how much y’all have to say I’m not sure why no one’s responding to this simple question

  30. 30.

    gene108

    @dmsilev:

    Fox can, if need be, dispense with ad revenue; most of their money comes from ‘carriage fees’, money that cable companies pay them that’s per subscriber (not per viewer).

    One night of no ad revenue shouldn’t be a big loss for any major network, but it’s still taking away from the money going to Rupert and Lachlan just wee little bit.

  31. 31.

    TaMara

    So according to the ratings data – on any night Tuckems gets 3 mil viewers and the Jan 6 hearings last night drew 20 million over all networks , that does not count streaming data, to my knowledge.

    I think regardless of how FOX treated it, more people cared to watch it. And that does not count local news coverage on the late-night news and morning shows, which usually get a lot of local viewers.  Many local papers led with it.

    Faux News can do what it wants, but it looks like Americans care.

  34. 34.

    Michael Cain

    @dmsilev:

    At least for Xfinity (Comcast), the only package that doesn’t include Fox News is the lowest basic group: local broadcast stations, local government channel(s), and education channels.  If you want anything else, Fox News comes with it.  I believe that Dish and Directv’s cheapest packages include FN.

    Unless you’re in an insider position, you have no idea what deals Fox provides content aggregators like cable and satellite.  Eg, they may offer the aggregators a cheaper price for Fox Sports plus Fox News than for Fox Sports alone.  I used to be in the business; the price sheets from the content companies were insanely complicated.

  35. 35.

    CaseyL

    20 million viewers is an amazing number – in a time where people do have other places to go, if they really don’t want to watch. I hope the high numbers keep coming.

    People reminiscing about the Watergate Hearings forget that the stations showing the hearings got a LOT of flack from people for pre-empting “their” soap operas.

  37. 37.

    piratedan

    @Kay: wondering if one thing that comes out of this as a positive outcome that the Congress can control; is to boot sitting members who engaged in Sedition, be they in the Senate or in the House and state that they can no longer hold any federal office.

    If the DOJ acts on it or not, I believe that Congress has that power to at least expel them, sure, let Rupe put them on his payroll, at least they won’t be on ours.

  40. 40.

    TaMara

    @CaseyL: My GG being one of them, LOL. We were staying with her while our house was closing. Man, that church-going woman could swear a blue streak when her soaps were messed with!

  43. 43.

    gene108

    @HumboldtBlue:

    I’m not sure how much direct viewer ship matters, because many more times of people will be informed by what comes across their social media feeds and news feeds.

    But it’s good to know so many people are interested in 1/6 versus Benghazi.

  45. 45.

    HumboldtBlue

    @stinger: ​ 

    That would go for anyone, we always want to see the speaker’s face, it adds so much to the testimony.

  48. 48.

    Ken

    @O. Felix Culpa: Me too, but as I’m not as moral as you a software developer who wanted to gather information for WaterGirl, I tried to edit one.

    The comment was opened in the edit box and I could make changes. When I saved it, I was taken back to the thread. The comment was not changed, and it did not show the edit option for the other comments

    EDIT: I am able to edit my own comments. Unless you don’t see this line, in which case I am not.

  49. 49.

    CaseyL

    Refusing to subsidize Fox was one reason I cut the cord and went to all-streaming on my laptop.  Another reason was the way Comcast kept coming up with new ancillary charges every month, so my cable bill kept getting larger and larger.
    One of the unexpected benefits of getting rid of my TV was re-arranging the living room.  Where the TV used to be is a sweet little nook of wall art, an oversized armchair, and a table with one of those glass-lily table lamps.  Makes the room so much lovelier.​

  54. 54.

    David ☘The Establishment☘ Koch

    Average age of MSNBC viewer is 44

    Average age of Fox News viewer is embalmed

  55. 55.

    gene108

    @piratedan:

    If the DOJ acts on it or not, I believe that Congress has that power to at least expel them, sure, let Rupe put them on his payroll, at least they won’t be on ours.

    It takes 2/3’s of the members in the House to expel someone from the House and 2/3’s of Senators to expel someone from the Senate.

    The last person to be expelled from Congress was House member Jim Traficant, in 2002, for the bribery, racketeering, etc. stuff he was eventually convicted of. Prior to that Rep. Michael Myers was expelled, in 1980, for his involvement in the Abcsam scandal.

    I doubt any Congressional Republicans today will vote out anyone in their party from Congress for any reason, other than breaking ranks with the official Republican position on an issue and voting with Democrats.

  58. 58.

    David ☘The Establishment☘ Koch

    @gene108: ​
    Hmm, I’m wondering if there is an official Republican position on being caught with a dead girl or live boy

  63. 63.

    sdhays

    @O. Felix Culpa: I had the option to edit several different commenters’ comments about an hour ago. I tried editing one to see how serious it was, and BJ didn’t take my edit (fortunately!).

  64. 64.

    Chris T.

    That photo of Mango Mussolini keeps reminding me of what I saw the time his hair lifted in the wind and exposed the scars from his scalp rotation-and-reduction. The reason his cotton candy front swoop looks so weird is that it’s not front-of-head hair!

  65. 65.

    Kristine

    @Michael Cain:

    At least for Xfinity (Comcast), the only package that doesn’t include Fox News is the lowest basic group: local broadcast stations, local government channel(s), and education channels.

    I finally cut the cord last month. I’m glad I no longer help support FN.

  66. 66.

    Redshift

    @TaMara: It’s also important to remember that while Fox is the most watched news network, the nightly news shows on the broadcast news networks still draw 2-3 times more viewers.

    And the audience for the hearing was the times that

  69. 69.

    Ruckus

    @Raoul Paste:

    “Nobody wants to realise that they’ve been played for a sucker for a long time”

    A sucker that lasts 30 yrs really is likely to not be very good.

  71. 71.

    stinger

    Watched the hearing live, and watching it again now. One thing I noticed both times is how smooth the AV support is. No waiting while an aide or intern brings up the right video or image. Good job, AV persons!

  74. 74.

    Kent

    @Baud:

    @HumboldtBlue:

    It’s been said before, but on of the worst things about Trump is how he made people like Pence look good.

    Trump is more or less toxic waste that contaminates absolutely EVERYONE who comes into his orbit.  Other than Pence who was a pretty boy air head useless waste of space (who was going down in IN) before he joined Trump. Can you think of a SINGLE politician who joined the Trump Administration and and had their status and credibility elevated as a result?  A single one?  Even the generals like John Kelley and Jim Mattis had their reputations tainted by joining Trump’s orbit.

    In fact, the only GOPers who seem to have elevated their status through Trump are those who did so by defying Trump like Liz Cheney, Mike Pence, and Mitt Romney.

  76. 76.

    HumboldtBlue

    @gene108: ​

    Yeah, I no longer have a good sense about how impactful those numbers are in light of a dramatically new media age.

  78. 78.

    Craig

    @HumboldtBlue: She’s not wrong. I’ve always liked The TL. I’ve been in the recording studio she mentions, and there were a couple of bars around where you could smoke, only one of them still exists. Always an adventure in The Tenderloin.

  80. 80.

    Mike in NC

    Clearly this country has a massive deficit of mediocre white men, as proven by the Fat Orange Clown.

  83. 83.

    Ruckus

    @Leto:

    Damn that’s harsh.

    4th grader, Illiana Trevino has heart attack – from stress visiting her best friends grave. One of the teachers that was shot and died, Irma Garcia, her husband Jose had a stress heart attack and died. At least Illiana didn’t die.

  84. 84.

    Ruckus

    @Kent:

    “Trump is more or less toxic waste that contaminates absolutely EVERYONE who comes into his orbit.”

    100000% this.

  87. 87.

    Ruckus

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Saying more or less in this context is not a measurement of the toxic waste dump that is shit for brains or that fucking guy or whatever  degrading thing you want to call #45. It is saying no matter what you call him he is a worthless piece of shit. And I doubt that Kent will disagree with me.

  89. 89.

    Ruckus

    @Ruckus:

    What I am trying to say is that this concept that we need weapons of war in our homes is complete and utter fucking bullshit. The rational that conservative leaders are using, the guns, the bullshit is all about the money. They don’t give two shits how they make it, that they never earn it in any way, that their policies kill even their own supporters and create murderers out of their supporters, they just don’t give a fuck because it gets them power and money. They talk about god as if they actually give a fuck, but they don’t, it is all about the power and that this power gives them money. Because they sure as hell can’t actually earn money by creating anything, be it a product or service or even a rational idea. They are left using death as an ideal for power and money. Last time I looked that wasn’t a positive in that book they seem to like to say they believe in. And yes I’ve read that book, I’ve seen that over the decades many of the people that say they think this book is the one true concept are fucking lying. Their one true concept is money and the easiest way to get that is to use the concept of religion to sell their bullshit, which is they believe anything that gets them money and the power to make sure they get more money is the one true way.

  92. 92.

    Tony G

    @CaseyL: That’s right.  I was a teenager during the two years of the Watergate investigations.  There was a lot of support for Nixon right up until the end, especially among the older generation — and then Reagan was elected about six years later.  Angry, bitter white men have always been with us.

  94. 94.

    Brit in Chicago

    @CaseyL: 
    It’s a big country. If it’s 20 million people, that’s slightly over 6% of the population. That seems kind of a small number to me.

    But maybe it’s 20 million households, rather than people—anyone know? That might get it up to 50 million viewers, which is better, but I still wonder how many of those are people whose minds could be changed.

  95. 95.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Tony G: Angry, bitter white men have always been with us.​

    As have smug knowitall media types clambering over one another to smear, besmirch and discredit in the eyes of the electorate a Democratic POTUS who’s a more decent human being than the bunch of them put together. (Sound familiar?)

  96. 96.

    J R in WV

    @Brit in Chicago: ​
     

    The Neilson number (If they haven’t changed their methodology) is of TV sets tuned to the Hearing. It doesn’t include everyone watching MSNBC or CNN or any network via streaming/the internet.
    then when they dropped the audio (the audio was dropped, who know where that happened?) and then I brought up ABC News on a different laptop.

Comments are closed.