Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

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

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickle?”

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

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

Republicans don’t trust women.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

In my day, never was longer.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / In My Mind and In My Car

In My Mind and In My Car

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I was part of a discussion about Liz Cheney’s possible Presidential run on the local public radio station today. You can listen to it here, if you’re interested. I haven’t listened, but I think I mixed up “pro-life” and “pro-choice”. Liz has a 100% rating from a pro-life (not pro-choice) organization, in addition to her other wonderful attributes as a candidate, which include her 2021 statement that waterboarding isn’t torture.

I didn’t get to say this on the air, but I think we need to coin the term “Cheney ratio” which measures the number of votes Cheney received in the primary as compared to the number of pieces on her in DC media. I think that ratio is approaching 1:1 now.

Reader Interactions

228Comments

  1. 1.

    Nicole

    That’s the hard thing about doing stuff like radio, you say some thing wrong and you can’t rewind, you’ve gone too far.

  2. 2.

    Ken

    So in the “make fetch happen” race for the 2024 Republican nomination, we have

    • DC trying to make Cheney happen
    • Fox trying to make DeSantis happen
    • TFG trying to make TFG happen

    I’m torn; the Willy Wonka “suspense is unbearable – I hope it lasts” meme, or a “rooting for injuries” one?

  4. 4.

    Kent

    Liz Cheney is a hard-core conservative Republican who has values.  They just aren’t the values of that any of us actually share:

    anti-abortion

    tax cuts for the rich and neutering of the IRS

    deregulation and subsidy for the fossil fuel industry

    climate change denial (or the more subtle GOP approach of putting short-term economic gain over any climate action that has costs)

    opposition to public healthcare in any form

    privatization of public education (vouchers, charter schools, etc.)

    And so forth on down the list.

    Where she differs from the MAGA hordes is that she actually has consistent values.  They, on the other hand, are part of a cult that seems to have no real policy ideas at all. Whatever Trump says and they are all for it.  The one exception being Covid vaccines apparently.  It probably frosts Trump that he can’t get any credit for his ONE domestic policy success, Project Warp Speed.

  6. 6.

    Paul in KY

    I would love for her to run for Pres on GOP side in 2024, IF she could get in the debates. I’m pretty sure they would fix it so she can’t…but a fella can dream, can’t he?

  7. 7.

    Kent

    @Paul in KY:I would love for her to run for Pres on GOP side in 2024, IF she could get in the debates. I’m pretty sure they would fix it so she can’t…but a fella can dream, can’t he?

    She will get into the debates, but will be assigned to the Kiddie Table along with the other women like Nikki Haley and the non-white candidates like Bobbie Jindal.  And any RINOs like Larry Hogan who might run.  They won’t let her share a stage with Trump and the “big boys”

  8. 8.

    Joseph Patrick Lurker

    @Mistermix

    As another blogger recently observed,

    Enough Already with the Cheney

    Also too, the latest iteration of your screen name “wegners shoppers club member mistermix”

    has surpassed peak lameness.

    For the love of God, could you try to come up with something better.

  9. 9.

    Baud

     I think I mixed up “pro-life” and “pro-choice”

    No worries. The GOP often mixes up pro-America and pro-Russia.

  14. 14.

    wegners shoppers club member mistermix

    I believe the refund procedure is to Venmo Cole $20 to make sure your Venmo works, then he sends you a refund.  Try it and find out!

  15. 15.

    patrick II

    How is Cheney going to run?  As a Republican?  They had announced no debates, but that may well change has Trump gets weaker.  Is her goal to win or take out Trump? If Trump runs, there may still be the “no debates” rule, which would make her campaign pretty useless I think.  If goal is taking out Trump, does she run if he is in jail?  There would have to be debates then, but she has zero chance of winning, what would be the point if her goal is to remove Trump?  I don’t think she would go third party, and if she did, would she take more votes away from Trump or Biden? Would she take away more votes from (possibly) DeSantis or Biden?

    Anyhow, I am sure I will read about all of those options and others in the not too distant future.

  23. 23.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @patrick II: Jamie Raskin said Liz C will pursue trump to the gates of hell. I like the image.

    If she runs not for president but against trump, it could get interesting. We have a few recent examples of the effect that kind of personalized, focused, some might say vindictive, grudge campaign can have even with a candidate who has no real hope.

  26. 26.

    Mat

    Is Cheney someone I would ever vote for? No. And I lost count of the number of grieving articles about her loss to a Trumpist whacko on yesterday’s NYT front page. Today’s conventional wisdom is that Trump has solidified his hold on the R party, and that this will be true until indictment day. In fact, no one knows.

    ETA: Nym should be MattF. I tend to hold my iPad upside down, so the commenter info gets mushed sometimes.

  34. 34.

    Elizabelle

    @hilts:

    “Have you watched CNN much lately?”

    “No.  It got Lichted.”

    The media owners REALLY don’t want to pay more taxes, do they?

  36. 36.

    Elizabelle

    @Mat:   Hi MattF.

    I know.  Conventional wisdom.  Is conventional!

    I think a lot of these asshats sit around interviewing each other.

  38. 38.

    RaflW

    Some total trash PAC spammed me onto their list this week with two emails gushing about Liz. The outfit has some dude I’d never heard of called Brian Lemek at the helm.

    They made the mistake of having a text box on their unsubscribe page. Probably filtered, so my f-bombing may not get read. But seriously, fuck Liz “Trump get out of jail free the first time” Cheney.

  39. 39.

    RaflW

    And Liz Cheney for President is an Underpants Gnome exercise (though TBF, a lot of pundits are gonna need new undies after they cream themselves in the initial excitement. Feeeeel the Jeb-mentum!)

  41. 41.

    Kathleen

    @Baud: Since you’ve been on the Fritz The Hippo beat, I thought you might enjoy this video (My link foo is very bad)

    edited by WG: link didn’t work and it was breaking the margins so I removed it.

  42. 42.

    Ken

    @Leto: the prerequisite of “you’ll accept whoever the nominee is” that’ll get her.

    That prerequisite should also get Trump, but of course they won’t ask it of him. (And they know any answer they got would be meaningless.)

    She could also use it with the same sort of weasel words they eventually forced out of TFG about the election; “Now that the delegates have been counted, it is clear that <name> according to that process got the most votes, so must technically be considered the nominee of the Republican party…”

  43. 43.

    Elizabelle

    And the wonderful Margaret Sullivan, former FTF NYTimes ombudsman, most recently with the WaPost, is leaving.  Double hit.  Her tweet from August 16:

    I just wrote the last words of my last column. (It’ll run online Sunday morning; in print in
    @PostStyle
    on Monday.) Well, it’s been a pretty fun 42 years in newspapers. Overall.

    We need them.  We need the Eric Boehlerts.  We do not need the Access Sally buckraking shits who hold information for their books.  Ka ching.

  46. 46.

    eclare

    @Elizabelle:   From the NPR article, Stelter was critical of the influence of one of the big investors in WarnerDiscovery.

    So Stelter had to go.  SNOWFLAKE!

  51. 51.

    RaflW

    @hilts: I never watched the show (have condo-based cable, but barely use it). But I’ve followed Stelter on twitter for a few years. He has a sizeable cadre of haters, but I suppose they all do.

    I’ve viewed him as aware of the decay of democracy, and willing to report on it, but with low-impact and in a dusty Sunday corner of the TV landscape.

  52. 52.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @lurker: My mom loved her some Jim Croce. And Olivia Newton John’s death brought back the horrors of Please, Mister, Please (B-17) playing loud in the kitchen. And we had avocado appliances.

  53. 53.

    germy shoemangler

    Elon Musk went to Kevin McCarthy’s Party last night in Wyoming—to celebrate Liz Cheney’s loss.

    While speaking at the MAGA party, Musk asked everyone to deny that he was there. Musk made sure that no press was allowed anywhere near the property—then people started posting selfies pic.twitter.com/4UllA57rRg

    — Arctic Friend (@FriendEden100) August 17, 2022

  54. 54.

    Suzanne

    Yeah, she sucks. She can have, like, one brownie point for sucking consistently. #headpat

  55. 55.

    hilts

    @Elizabelle:

    Damn!!

    2022 has been a lousy year for media criticism: the death of Eric Boehlert, Margaret Sullivan’s departure from the Washington Post, and the cancellation of Reliable Sources.

    I hope that 2023 can bring us some truly good news such as an indictment and conviction of Donald Trump for one of his multiple crimes!

  56. 56.

    Hoodie

    @Kent: It was interesting that Cheney voted in favor of the bills to protect same sex marriage, contraception and to regulate guns.  Those were pretty much litmus tests for MAGA loyalty.  Not saying she isn’t pretty hard core conservative and generally very hawkish, but you have to wonder whether some of her prior votes were more a matter of party loyalty than ideological commitment.  My guess is she’s more of a national defense type conservative harkening back to before the GOP became  a cult.  She’s definitely going to be pro-business, anti-environment (exceptions relating to outdoor sports interests like hunting and fishing), and will never see a defense budget she doesn’t want to double.

  57. 57.

    germy shoemangler

    This was a big Biden win from April that few people talk about. The Postal Reform Act, like many Biden accomplishments, addresses a problem we've been trying to fix for a generation.

    Ending the prefunding requirement was a Biden campaign promise and a longtime Dem goal. https://t.co/sd02ZpUmdE

    — What Biden Has Done (@What46HasDone) August 17, 2022

    If it can't be shoehorned into cynical horserace analysis the major dailies and the nets aren't interested. https://t.co/TBiEUHKIoD

    — Brent Cox (@titivil) August 17, 2022

  58. 58.

    lurker

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: you are causing some disturbing memories to come up on my end, just based on those references.  not sure we ever had avocado appliances, but we had a lot of yellow on some of the walls (which was great when one of us kids threw grape juice against the wall… ;-]).  relatives did have avocado appliances though…

  59. 59.

    hilts

    @RaflW:

    I never viewed Reliable Sources as having much influence, but Stelter did provide a platform to individuals I had not seen or heard from elsewhere and that should count for something.

  62. 62.

    RaflW

    @Elizabelle: They don’t want to risk being shut down in an Orban-style fake democracy once DeSantis or similar wins (ptuh-ptuh feh, not invoking that! Just aware of the risks).

  64. 64.

    Elizabelle

    From the WaPost on cancellation of Brian Stelter’s CNN show:

    Licht, under the oversight of Warner Bros. Discovery chief executive David Zaslav, has indicated that he wants to take CNN in a more neutral, less opinionated direction — though he has been slow to enact big changes, opting instead to take some time studying the network’s programming and speaking with employees before deciding how the network needs to change.

    Neutrality.  At a time when the GOP is declaring war on the FBI; trying to out individual agents.

    I think events might overake Mr. Licht.

  66. 66.

    Steeplejack

    @germy shoemangler:

    The “More Tweets” section after that one is quite the cesspool of unhinged MAGAmania. My favorite:

    Thank you @TuckerCarlson for having our Sheriff Ray Cross from Dade County on your show to tell about the illegals getting off Gov Abbott’s buses in NW GA on their way to DC.

    No town is safe from Biden’s border invasion.

    1/2 pic.twitter.com/tcRAnZHBw8

    — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) August 18, 2022

    It’s Joe Biden’s fault that Abbott is passing the problem along? 🤔

  70. 70.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Hoodie: She was willing to fuck over same sex marriages (and her sister) when it was to her political advantage.  We just found the one line she would not cross.  “I oppose violent coups,” should be a baseline not an applause line.

  71. 71.

    lurker

    @Hoodie: she previously came out pretty strongly against same sex marriage, causing a public rift with her publicly out lesbian sister.  Wonder how much of that was theater, and how much was evolution in thinking as she got used to her sister being married…

     

    at the time, it seemed particularly hateful to make a public stance out of opposition to gay marriage when her sister had been publicly out for a while, and it seemed like dad was siding with the kid pursuing the family business (running for office) over the kid who he had previously seemed to support publicly in her unusual stances.  I may be misremembering part of this, but there was an op-ed from Mary Cheney at the time that made it clear her sister and dad had betrayed her.

     

    …

    and I see that Liz Cheney came out last year saying her earlier stance was wrong, so clearly I am not up to speed on all of this…

  73. 73.

    Steeplejack

    @germy shoemangler:

    She is good!

    Popehat is a daily check-in for me. (I don’t have a Twitter account, so I don’t get “notifications” or whatever they’re called.) Solid legal takes and links, good sense of humor and occasional appearances by Murderball the cat.

  75. 75.

    Martin

    Pretty sure Lizs job right now is to run in 2024 and sue Trump as being ineligible to run under the 14th amendment. Only a competing candidate will have standing to sue, so someone needs to be in that race to do it. She may not be able to beat him in the vote, but she might be able to beat him in court.

  76. 76.

    germy shoemangler

    By the way, everyone praising Liz Cheney for standing up to the corruption of the Republican party, Democrats have been doing that every day for years.

    — I Smoked Allen Weaselberg (@BlackKnight10k) August 17, 2022

  81. 81.

    trollhattan

    @germy shoemangler: I’ll give Musk this, when he shows up somewhere, whoever was the weirdest fucker in the room beforehand slides directly into second place.

    Like a Bond archcriminal from the 1980s.

  85. 85.

    Elizabelle

    @Martin:  I am lazy.  What is the precise issue under the 14th Amendment?

    Interesting idea re LC’s motive for being a presidential candidate.

  86. 86.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @germy shoemangler:

    While speaking at the MAGA party, Musk asked everyone to deny that he was there. Musk made sure that no press was allowed anywhere near the property—then people started posting selfies

    Laughing so damned hard.

  89. 89.

    Tony Jay

    Cheney may play the role the Village wants her to, she may not. Whatever the choice, it’ll be as purely a cold-blooded political calculation as her decision to front the anti-Trump sect in the first place.

    My money is on her serving out her term on the Committee with an eye to sinking her boot as far up Donny’s slack derriere as she can in the process, then taking a few months off to take proper stock of the post-election landscape in the wake of (we hope) an historical G.O.P. shellacking, before she decides if its in her long term interests to don the warhelm of House Traditional Republican and rides across the quivering backs of the pundocracy towards the throne they’ve prepared in her size.

    If the Democrats win big (yes please) the G.O.P. civil-war is on, and there’s worse places to represent the tax-cutting, bomb-dropping, dogwhistling brand of pre-Trump Republicanism that atop the ‘most favoured expert’ list of the DC Village.

  91. 91.

    Elizabelle

    @Steeplejack:   What a beautiful little guy.  Very sad.

    Henry Engel was born on September 29, 2015. When he was still an infant, his parents noticed that he was not reaching his developmental milestones, and he underwent numerous medical exams to discover the cause. A genetic test ultimately provided the answer: Henry had a mutation in his MECP2 gene. MECP2 mutations cause Rett syndrome, a disorder that typically affects girls after their first birthday, robbing them of learned skills and leaving them with cognitive deficits, loss of speech, and a variety of motor difficulties.

    In 2018, Henry and his family came to Texas Children’s Hospital’s Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI). Since then, Henry’s mutation has been studied by Dr. Huda Zoghbi, who discovered that MECP2 mutations cause Rett syndrome.

  94. 94.

    Gravenstone

    @Paul in KY: I believe it was Immanetize yesterday who argued her role in the 2024 campaign would be to first, run as a candidate. That role would then afford her the standing to file suit against Trump to disqualify him under the 14th (?) amendment on the basis that his actions on and around 1/6 make him no longer qualified to hold federal office. So she’d basically be a political suicide bomber with a single, immense target.

    Apologies for the myriad ways I’ve surely butchered this retelling.

  102. 102.

    patrick II

    @Leto:

    @patrick II:

    On second thought, there is not a member of the modern Republican party who will honor that rule.  They will demand a recount.  Especially Trump if DeSantis beats him.

    I suppose Liz might honor that rule though, although to teach a lesson she might not.

  103. 103.

    germy shoemangler

    @patrick II:

    I’m trying to imagine a debate between DeSantis and Trump.

    DeSantis has copied so many of Trump’s mannerisms, as well as the blue suit/red tie costume (inspired by Popeye’s Wimpy?) it would be like the “two spidermen pointing at each other” meme.

  107. 107.

    germy shoemangler

    @Steeplejack:

    I don’t see the attraction.

    I just found it interesting that the Donald has the same taste in decor as that other monster did.

  112. 112.

    Elizabelle

    It’s frightening how many (Republican) politicians got their start as TV news anchors.  Or on air reporters.

    The horrible Keri [Kari Lake] whatever nominee in Arizona.  Who spoke of DeSantis’s BDE (ugh).

    The Indiana congresswoman who just died in the head on crash [Jackie Walorski] — she’d been a TV reporter.  She was also an anti-abortion type.

    We probably have a few in the Democratic ranks too, although I can’t think of any at the moment …

    Thinking of that with Mistermix’s blogpost title.  From Video Killed the Radio Star.  With radio, you used to get more detail.  Of course, it was Hitler and Goebbels’ medium, too.  They would be running a Fox News operation now.  Or videos straight to social media.

  120. 120.

    Central Planning

    @Martin:

    Only a competing candidate will have standing to sue, so someone needs to be in that race to do it.

    Does that mean the Democratic nominee could sue?

  121. 121.

    Geminid

    @Elizabelle: Mike Pence made his name with a talk radio show before he won his Congressional seat.

    Offhand, I can’t think of any Democratic Reps or Senators who moved to politics from broadcast media. Most seem to have started out as politicians or made lateral moves from business, like Rep. Sean Casten and Senator Hickenlooper.

    There are a number of miltary veterans like Duckworth, Sherrill, Houlihan, Gallegos, Crow, Golden and Luria. Also, Moulton and Auchingloss from Massachusetts. Elise Slotkin and Abigail Spanberger are CIA veterans.

  123. 123.

    Immanentize

    @Kent: I am not sure she could get into the Republican primary at all. All the RNC would have to do is require everyone* to sign an agreement that they will support the GOP nominee after the primaries are finished. How could she do that? No, she will go spoiler party.

    *Everyone except for Trump who would never ever sign such a pledge. It would destroy his Apprentice brand.

  126. 126.

    Steeplejack

    @Geminid:

    Since Mike Pence is now “former,” I’ll throw out Al Franken as a Democrat who moved from broadcast media to politics.

  127. 127.

    Immanentize

    @ian: Cole sent me a refund. With a kind letter of apology, handwritten in lovely cursive on ivory paper.

    Sorry, losers.

  128. 128.

    Another Scott

    @Elizabelle: Jimmy Carter won the 1970 governor race in Georgia running against Hal Suit – a local TV news anchor in Atlanta. Jimmy beat him by almost 19 points.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  133. 133.

    NoraLenderbee

    @lurker: same sex marriage

    ……

    and I see that Liz Cheney came out last year

    She’s now running as a Log Cabin Republican?

  135. 135.

    Roger Moore

    @Elizabelle: ​
     

    I am lazy. What is the precise issue under the 14th Amendment?

    The 14th Amendment blocks people from office if they have participated in insurrection or rebellion. The argument is Trump participated in an insurrection on Jan 6, so he’s ineligible for office.

  137. 137.

    Geminid

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon:

    I thought of Franken. He was known for his work on Saturday Night Live. I always thought, though that Franken broke through as an author. His book denouncing Limbaugh hit at a really good time and won him a wider audience.

  139. 139.

    Tony Jay

    @germy shoemangler:

    Tomorrow’s papers, today.

    Daily Mail – “CURRY CAUSES CANCER – Foreign Food A Killer?”

    Daily Express – “BE LIKE DIANA – Drop The Pounds For Britain”

    Daily Telegraph – “NUTRITION DEMENTIA LINK – Brussels Plot Revealed”

     The Sun – “GRUEL IS COOL! – Flat Chests and No Bum = Sexy Fun.

  143. 143.

    Another Scott

    @Immanentize:

    Liz has formed The Great Task PAC.

    The FEC document, which was filed at 2:01 a.m. ET Wednesday, also showed that Cheney had changed her House campaign committee, “Liz Cheney for Wyoming,” to a leadership PAC named “The Great Task.”

    A Cheney spokesperson told Politico on Wednesday that in the coming weeks, the congresswoman “will be launching an organization to educate the American people about the ongoing threat to our Republic, and to mobilize a unified effort to oppose any Donald Trump campaign for president.”

    Members of Congress and other notable political figures frequently use leadership PACs to raise money toward advancing their political agendas.

    Cheney can use her new leadership PAC to raise money, bankroll her travel, make political contributions, and as nonpartisan research organization OpenSecrets notes, “fund expenses that are ineligible to be paid by campaign committees or congressional offices.”

    It’ll be interesting to see who donates to it.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  144. 144.

    The Lodger

    @Elizabelle: Closest I can think of is my old Oregon state senator, Mark Hass, who was a TV news anchor in Portland for about 17 years, did two terms in the state senate, and tried for Secretary of State a couple years ago but didn’t make it.

  146. 146.

    Elizabelle

    @Geminid:   That’s true re Franken.  But, he was more of an entertainer.  Precedent for that.  The Great Saint Reagan.

    Wondering more about journalists, and especially the broadcast type.

    Also, FWIW, I love that in Britain the anchors are “news readers.”  None of this fiction that Lester Holt or Brian Williams are out there news gathering.

  147. 147.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @Elizabelle:

    It’s frightening how many (Republican) politicians got their start as TV news anchors.  Or on air reporters.

    Interesting corollary is the phenomenon of formerly reputable journalists devolving into batshit crazy journalists such as Lara Logan, Maria Bartoromo, and John Solomon.

  153. 153.

    Immanentize

    @Gravenstone: It wasn’t me! And considering other 14th A litigation about insurrection, the plaintiff does not need to be a candidate. If a person is constitutionally banned from seeking or holding office, every voter would have standing, it seems.

  155. 155.

    Another Scott

    @Central Planning: In Martin’s earlier long comment on this a day or so ago, he said the time between the Democratic candidate getting the nomination and the election would be too short for the courts to get involved – or if they did, they wouldn’t rule before the election (and wouldn’t want to have no GQPer on the ballot if TFG were struck).

    IANAL, but it’s a decent argument.

    A group in MA is trying to keep TFG off the ballot using the 14th Amendment. The July 2022 story says the Commonwealth Attorney’s position is that the person must be convicted first.

    Fein said there is a legal standard that would qualify the January 6 riots as an insurrection, and the question is whether Trump engaged in the insurrection – which, Fein argues, the Republican then-president’s incendiary speech did. “As the framers of the Constitution foresaw, anyone who would do this is a danger to the republic,” Fein said. “Donald Trump should not be allowed anywhere near public office again because the fact that he did this already indicates that the danger of him doing even worse in the future is a far greater risk than our country can tolerate.”

    But Galvin, a Democrat, says Fein’s interpretation is incorrect. Galvin agrees the law could potentially apply to Trump based on evidence that has emerged about Trump’s role in the January 6 riots. But Galvin said the statute that defines an insurrection is in the criminal code, and to become ineligible for office on that basis requires a criminal conviction.

    “You just can’t say ‘he must have done it,’” Galvin said. “I think it’s certainly deserving of review given the information that’s been created and presented so far. But it requires the Justice Department to begin and conclude a criminal investigation.”

    Galvin said if the Department of Justice files criminal charges and Trump is convicted for participating in an insurrection, Trump could likely be disqualified from the ballot. Without that, Galvin said, he lacks authority to keep Trump off. Galvin said he would like to see the Justice Department review the issue and, if prosecutors bring charges, “do it sooner rather than later,” before a presidential campaign.

    Free Speech for People has filed similar cases seeking to keep Republican members of Congress involved in the January 6 riots off the ballot, including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn, and Arizona Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar. All the suits have either been dismissed by judges, or in Cawthorn’s case became moot after he lost his primary.

    Lawyers get paid to argue about anything. It would be a big battle and would be unlikely to be decided quickly.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  161. 161.

    Immanentize

    @rikyrah: I saw that this morning and nodded along. It is exactly what I voted for. Biden has been responsible for forgiving Billions in student loans — to the worthy, the cheated, and to public servants. Keep it up!

  162. 162.

    Kropacetic

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker: Also too, the latest iteration of your screen name “wegners shoppers club member mistermix”

    has surpassed peak lameness.

    I swear Oz has marshalled the flying monkeys, or a cadre of the oddest internet trolls ever, and set them on this here almost top 10,000 blog.

    Is that an honor?

  164. 164.

    Another Scott

    @Immanentize:

    NPR – Trump Abandons Pledge to Support Republican Nominee (from March 30, 2016)

    TFG, Cruz, and Kasich were left at that point, and they all were walking away from it.

    Kasich may have been speaking for all the candidates when he added, concerning the pledge first raised at last August’s debate, “You know, frankly, all of us shouldn’t have even answered that question.”

    Duh, ya think? When you let a monster like TFG in??

    (groucho-roll-eyes.gif)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  166. 166.

    Steeplejack

    @Elizabelle:

    Yes, when she was doing strictly news-reader stock-market stuff on the business channel. That’s how she got the “Money Honey” nickname.

  169. 169.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Immanentize:

    Wait, I thought you were getting a house in upstate NY. Now you’re buying a condo in Rhode Island.

    Are you running for the Senate from Pennsylvania or something?

     

  171. 171.

    Kropacetic

    @SiubhanDuinne: Wait, I thought you were getting a house in upstate NY. Now you’re buying a condo in Rhode Island.

    Are you running for the Senate from Pennsylvania or something?

    In the triangulate-county area.

  174. 174.

    Tony Jay

    @Steeplejack:

    It’s true. Privatisation of national utilities has been a multi trillion pound scam that has turned Britain into a ripped-off basket case. Everyone else has nationalised utilities that are so profitable they can afford to buy up chunks of ours, but we can’t have that, because profit sovereignty!

    Of course, large majorities are in favour of renationalisation, including large majorities of Tory voters. So the geniuses at the top of NuNew Labour have just tossed their manifesto promise to do just that because ewwww, Corbyn cooties!

    We’re doomed.

  175. 175.

    Geminid

    @Steeplejack: I guess Franken was. I never listened to Air America back then.

    More recently, there was a Charlottesville station that featured Stephanie Miller, Thom Hartman and Randi Roades. Commercial radio stations chased it off the air, said it was taking too much advertising for its community radio license.

  178. 178.

    Immanentize

    @SiubhanDuinne: Ha!

    No, the idea is to get the upstate NY place as a long term home for retirement after it is fixed up. But I am keeping my great job for many years, I hope (until, I suppose, those jokers at LGM tell me I must give up my tenure). But at the same time I am getting the old farm shack in NY, I have decided to sell my too-big house here near Boston. I’m just knocking around a four bedroom place alone except for my cat. Then, I want to move to a not too expensive (ha) condo still on the MBTA commuter line. Providence fits that bill perfectly. Also great food town also, as Raven says — near the ocean with good fishing. So I have again overextended myself in my efforts to keep mortality and grief at bay.

  180. 180.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @hilts:

    I couldn’t remember who John Malone was, so I looked him up. And holy shit:

    By most estimates, Malone is the largest private landowner in the United States, possessing upwards of 2.2 million acres (3,437 square miles), more than twice the size of Rhode Island.[5]

  181. 181.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Immanentize:

    Gotcha. I knew some, but obviously not all, of that.

    And yeah, there’s something about taking on massive projects that is definitely a mechanism for coping with grief and the awareness of one’s own mortality. I know all too well. 

  183. 183.

    Tony Jay

    @cain:

    ZOMG!

    VINDALOO-NACY! – Curry Conspiracy revealed as foreign agents of Madras Mafia gloat “there are two billion of us curry eaters and rapidly expanding”

  184. 184.

    ian

    @Steeplejack:

    Sheriff Ray Cross from Dade County on your show to tell about the illegals getting off Gov Abbott’s buses in NW GA on their way to DC

    It sounds to me like the people she doesn’t want in her district were brought there by Gov Abbott.  I truly despair of understanding MTG.  Would forcing them to stay on the bus the whole time have made her happy?  Keeping them in Texas?  Or is anything short of shooting them at the border a bridge to far?

  186. 186.

    Roger Moore

    @ian:

    Would forcing them to stay on the bus the whole time have made her happy? Keeping them in Texas? Or is anything short of shooting them at the border a bridge to far?

    I think she wants them loaded into cattle cars and sent to camps.  It’s what her Leader would want.

  191. 191.

    ian

    @Immanentize:

    Pedantry moment-  The GOP retreat was in Teton Village.  Jackson Hole is the nearby ski resort.  Jackson is the nearest major town.   The retreat was not held in Jackson Hole.   And it is in Wyoming.

  192. 192.

    moops

    I hope losing her primary makes her determined to completely destroy the GOP, instead of just Trump.

     

    A man can dream.

  193. 193.

    Steeplejack

    @Immanentize:

    So I have again overextended myself in my efforts to keep mortality and grief at bay.

    You could do worse. It’s a noble endeavor.

  199. 199.

    stinger

    @Elizabelle: One of Iowa’s four US Reps, Ashley Hinson (R), was a reporter/anchor for an eastern Iowa news station for 10 years, then spent two terms as a state Rep before running for the House.

    This year, she’s being challenged by Liz Mathis (D), who was a reporter/anchor for two eastern Iowa news stations for a total of 25 years, then has been a state Rep since 2011.

    The two actually overlapped at KCRG-TV for a couple of years.

  200. 200.

    Another Scott

    @Steeplejack: Heh.  I would expect nothing less.

    Popehat’s twitter feed has lots of lawyer stuff today.  Lots of things seem to be happening in several venues…  (Don’t ask me to explain it though.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  201. 201.

    Steeplejack

    @ian:

    C’mon, man. Teton Village is like 10-12 miles from J-hole and is part of the area resort “infrastructure.” And it’s clear that Immanentize meant “not really Wyoming” in the sense of not typical of the state. It’s not like the GQP would end up on some random farm in Bison Dick. J-hole is like Aspen or La Jolla.

  205. 205.

    topclimber

    @Immanentize: She could always go with the caveat that her pledge is dependent on the RNC running a fair process. Said caveat to be delivered late in the game. Said process sure to be anything but fair.

    Really it only works for her  if she gets to chew up TFG on the debate stage. So if the debates are rigged (e.g. she gets no time on them) or non-existent, she has a way out.

    I guess the other avenue is that if she can consistently rack up 29% or more of the GOP vote, particularly in states less fire-engine red than Wyoming, she can amass a decent number of delegates. Gives her a way to cause trouble on the platform committee, etc.

    If DeSantis also gives it a go, maybe the split works out that she can grab some winner take all states.

    Well, that was fun. Back to reality now.

    ETA: 29% is the GOP sanity factor?

  206. 206.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Immanentize: Not particularly near, but this is Rhode Island we’re talking about, so the distances are not vast.

    I kind of suspected what your plan was, but wasn’t going to ask – but I see someone else pried. Anyway, there’s been quite a bit of new residential (condo) construction in the area immediately adjacent to the train station. I haven’t been in those buildings, but from the outside they seem kind of soulless. If you go a little farther afield, such that it might be necessary to ride a bike to the train station, there are converted industrial buildings that seem a lot nicer, if you’re into the loft-type space. Also in the bikeable radius, the West End is very nice, and has quite a few large 3-story residential buildings (not like Charlestown 3-deckers, nice) that have been condo-ized. I had a co-worker who was in a similar situation as you, ended up downsizing and bought a floor of one of those buildings and loves it. But you won’t be able to walk to the train.

    If you’re in downtown, you’ll have to think about where to park your car. If you’re in the West End, or around Valley St you’ll find on-street parking pretty easily, but if it’s a smaller detached building check on driveway space.

    The good beaches and fishing are a ~45 minute drive.

  208. 208.

    Steeplejack

    @Another Scott:

    If you’re talking about Bison Dick, I used that because Popehat had a story a day or two ago about how his fiancée’s (now wife) grandfather once gave him an elaborate leather wallet with a bison in full glory embossed on it. No explanation, no closure.

    And it comes from a tradition of (hopefully) funny but plausible place-names that I mostly remember from Mike Royko’s old columns, e.g., Lard Lake, IA; Bobo, MS, and some others. Can’t find any now. Maybe it was from his book(s).

  211. 211.

    Dan B

    @rikyrah: OMG Hope this is not what it looks like.  Fallout could make grain radioactive – famine in Africa and the Middle East plus inflation worldwide.  And a humanitarian disaster for Ukraine and likely beyond.

  212. 212.

    Roger Moore

    @Steeplejack:

    And it’s clear that Immanentize meant “not really Wyoming” in the sense of not typical of the state.

    How not typical is it?  It’s one of only two areas in the state where Cheney was ahead in the primary.  The other is Laramie, home of the University of Wyoming.

  217. 217.

    kalakal

     

    @Steeplejack:  Same with water, electricity etc. EDF (Electricite de France owned by the French govt) E.on ( German) , Scottish Power ( Spanish)

  219. 219.

    Another Scott

    @Steeplejack: :-)  I had an old guy as a teacher in grade school science class who would often mention “West Overshoe, Nebraska” when he was telling stories.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  220. 220.

    Tony Jay

    @Wyatt Salamanca:

    Also has the authentic rasp of Cleveland’s third most frequented glazed pottery showroom. Or one of those Franco-American import companies that don’t get the joke.

    “Eet is pronounced ‘Bee-son’. Why it is you laugh?”

    Also too, I’m sure the whole ‘Forward’ thing wasn’t at all inspired by the name of Italy’s current neo-fascist movement. Just a total coinkydink.

  221. 221.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    George Clooney’s father, IIRC was a beloved local news anchor who ran for Congress, but he lost

  223. 223.

    Geminid

    @Dan B: Ukraine President Zelenskyy met with UN chief Guterres and Turkish President Erdogan today in Lviv. One topic they discussed was grain shipments, and they also talked about the Zaporizhne nuclear plant. At a joint  press conference afterwards, Erdogan warned of “another Chernobyl.”

    @CherylRofer has been posting a lot of  material about the plant, with good links, on her Twitter account.

  225. 225.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @Tony Jay:

    I’m sure the whole ‘Forward’ thing wasn’t at all inspired by the name of Italy’s current neo-fascist movement. Just a total coinkydink.

    Thanks for reminding me, I’d forgotten that fact.

    Andrew Yang is beyond pathetic.

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