Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Second rate reporter says what?

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

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

Bark louder, little dog.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

I really should read my own blog.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

White supremacy is terrorism.

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

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

You are here: Home / Elections / 2022 Elections / You Love to See It Open Thread: Repubs in Disarray!

You Love to See It Open Thread: Repubs in Disarray!

by | 92 Comments

This post is in: , , , ,


R strategists and pols thought they could run on nothing but “Let’s Go Brandon!” against a doddering fool 20 points underwater and win the House with 250 and the Senate with 54 on an 8-point national margin. Based on 2021 election results, this assumption was reasonable.

R strategists and pols absolutely did not expect to be facing a probable D Senate gain and possible D House hold with a president on a trajectory toward positive net approval by election day, and they would not have traded that for Dobbs.

It is so embarrassing for them that they find it necessary to excuse a dramatically unusual midterm shellacking even though we are two months from election day and they could still very well win.

Reminder:

Reader Interactions

92Comments

  1. 1.

    SpaceUnit

    Maybe trump could shoot somebody on 5th Avenue and get away with it, but in overturning Roe v Wade the Republican Party shot its own dick off on Main Street.  Their crying is music to my ears.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    I’d of course want a special master to decide whether the shooting was protected by executive privilege.

  7. 7.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Meh, I only have so much sympathy and I seem to have used it all on a 96 y/o Englishwoman.  None left.  Oh well.

  11. 11.

    dmsilev

    @geg6: Have you looked at what CNN’s new management is trying to do to the network? “Yes” would be the answer to your question.

  12. 12.

    raven

    This guys x lives around the corner.

     

     

    ATLANTA — Americus attorney William McCall Calhoun, Jr., did not mince words when posting to social media before, during and after the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot.

    In the months leading up the riot, Calhoun, 59, made numerous irate posts on Facebook, Twitter and Parler, often referencing his stockpile of guns and ammo and predicting “civil war.”

    “My AR15 set up will do head shots at 200 meters no problem. You have no clue what’s coming,” he tweeted in October 2020.

    “War is coming. It’s the only way to deal with our domestic Communist problem. Ruthlessness is in order,” he wrote in another 2020 post, according to court records.

  14. 14.

    Geminid

    Republican candidates have to do well among Independents to carry many purple states and districts. Last week the Wall Street Journal reported on a poll that showed Independents favoring Democrats over Republicans by 38-35% on a generic Congressional ballot. The WSJ article said that a comparable poll in March had Republicans up by 12%.

    And this morning Politico featured an article titled “GOP donor pool unexpectedly shrinks as midterms near.” One item: individual donors to Democratic platform ActBlue increased fom 2 million in the latter half of 2021 to 2.5 million the first half of this year. Republican donors to Win Red dropped from 956,000 to 913,000 over the same period. Sad!

  19. 19.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Just made appointment for my Booster and Flu shot on Saturday morning!!!

    Temps are gonna FINALLY drop after a week of 100+ degrees.  And as a Jansen->Moderna guy who got my booster in October of 2021, I’m excited to get more defense against Omicron.

  21. 21.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @satby:

    This breaks my heart. My grandmother was from Uvalde. She would be absolutely devastated at what has happened there in the last few months.

  22. 22.

    Delk

    Does anyone even pay attention to direct mailers? We have a recycle bin in our mailroom and at election time that’s where they end up. Nobody even brings them up to their unit.
    Oh, and yesterday I turned 60.

  24. 24.

    Ten Bears

    Pretty convenient, the Queen of England (not America) kicking the bucket like that. All we’ll hear out of your mainstream, multi-millionaire monkey media for the next two weeks will be the Queen this and England that so just forget about it, everyone else will.

  26. 26.

    Roger Moore

    @Delk:

    Does anyone even pay attention to direct mailers?

    I will occasionally look at the ones that are a collection of endorsements.  I don’t pay a lot of attention, but it’s interesting to see who is trying to slip someone by down-ballot.

  27. 27.

    p.a.

    Uvalde Memorial Park, current reports 2 shot, conditions unknown.  This does not meet the definition of a mass shooting.  America, fuck yeah! 🤬

    ETA: If tRump were to shoot Mitch, I’d support a pardon.

  29. 29.

    dww44

    @Omnes Omnibus:  Along these lines spouse just checked in on the coverage on Newsmax and Fox. Tucker was on with that pained expression he always assumes. The chyron across the bottom was:

    The Left Hates that Great Britain Has Done So Much For Civilization

  30. 30.

    CaseyL

    @Delk: ​
     

    Nearly everyone I know ditches the mailers. Even if you want to know more about a candidate, the mailer isn’t a useful source of information: of course it’s going to make the candidate it’s hawking look like the best thing since Nutella.

    Like with everything else political, I guess the trick is to find the few “independent” voters who might be swayed by something as basic as a mailed flyer. “Hey, they sent me one! They must be really interested in my vote!”

    I’m going canvassing this weekend, in Seattle’s very very liberal 46th District (my home district, in fact). We’re less concerned about the local races than we are about motivating people to turn out for the Senate race. Whatsername Smiley is polling very close with Patty Murray, which boggles belief.

  32. 32.

    dmsilev

    @p.a.:

    ETA: If tRump were to shoot Mitch, I’d support a pardon.

    God, no. I mean, we’d be rid of McConnell and Trump would be on trial for a state-level felony that all of his Fed. Soc. judicial hacks wouldn’t be able to cover for. Seems like a win-win situation.

  34. 34.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @CaseyL: I recently used a mailer to help me decide my vote in a nonpartisan school board election where I didn’t know the candidates. A slate of them were on this mailer talking about how they had to cut funding. That told me I was voting for the other guys!

  35. 35.

    Geminid

    @HumboldtBlue: At their May convention Utah Democrats voted to endorse McMullin’s independent bid instead of running their own candidate. The move was controversial. Several senior politicians advocated for this course and the proposition carried by 800+ votes to 500+ votes. Democrats are running a full slate of candidates at other levels

  37. 37.

    mrmoshpotato

    @geg6:

    And seriously, could the MSM possibly be more useless? 

    Nope.  Not at all.  Would be better if only independent journalism existed given how fucking useless a lot of these asshats are.

  42. 42.

    Librarian

    At least one of the front pagers here thought that the overturn of Roe would not have much effect on the election. Even some people here got that wrong.

  43. 43.

    Geminid

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Democrats here sure were in disarray over the Utah party’s decision! I remember going at it hammer and tongs that evening with an Ohio jackal.

    This was a singular decision that Utah Democrats made. Most were certain that a Democrat would not win even in a three person race. I think they saw McMullin as similar to Romney and preferable to a radical like Lee.

    There may even be some synergy between the McMullen campaign and Democratic down ballot candidates. It’s an experiment that is unlikely to be repeated, though. I think McMullin has a chance this year only because a lot of conservative Latter  Day Saints church members despise Trump and Lee is closely associated with him.

  44. 44.

    cain

    @Geminid: That might prove interesting in 5 years for re-election. Given that McMullin will have less votes since no Democrat will vote for them.. given of course, our democracy survives and we are not in a civil war.

  45. 45.

    cain

    @mrmoshpotato: As I understood it – back in the 20s and 30s there was a ton of independent journals. All of them were kind of nuts or so I remember. I think I read it here in this blog site.

  46. 46.

    cintibud

    Aside from support or lack of support for TFG, is there any real policy difference between Lee and McMullin?

  48. 48.

    Steeplejack

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Evan McMullin has been a never-Trump gadfly for quite a while. He ran for president in 2016 and got 21.5% of the vote in Utah (vs. 0.5% nationwide). He endorsed Joe Biden in 2020 and has received the endorsement of the Utah Democratic Party this year. Would almost have to be a better senator than Mike Lee. He does seem to have waffle-y positions on abortion and same-sex marriage, i.e., against them but [“reasonable” hand-waving]. 🤔

  52. 52.

    Steeplejack

    Somebody clue me in: I’ve had the two original COVID shots and the two boosters. Is this COVID booster that people are talking about now their fifth shot or did they hold off on getting the fourth shot (second booster) until now?

  54. 54.

    Percysowner

    @Steeplejack: This is the 5th shot. It is formulated for the Omicron variant of COVID and should provide more protection from that. This is good, because the Omicron variant is, last I heard, the primary variant.

  55. 55.

    danielx

    @dmsilev:

    Unanimous objection from Federalist Society jurists: but did McConnell deserve it?  That is the weighty question before this august body

    Answer: Richly. Let’s move along, nothing to see here.

  56. 56.

    geg6

    @Steeplejack:

    I’ve had two original jabs and two boosters.  I am scheduled to get the newest one next Saturday.  The new one is reformulated for the newest versions of the virus.

  58. 58.

    Steeplejack

    @Percysowner, @geg6:

    Okay, got it. I seemed to remember people saying back in the spring that they were going to wait to get the “new” booster in the fall (as their fourth shot).

    I’ll see about getting the new one when I schedule my flu shot. (Also still need to schedule my shingles shot!)

  60. 60.

    Ken

    (Auditioning for a Serious Pundit:)

    If Democrats pick up a couple of Senate seats, and McMullin wins as an independent, he should caucus with the Democratic majority to have more influence in the Senate.

    (How’d the audition go? I was trying for that Serious Pundit mix of politics and brain damage.)

  61. 61.

    Geminid

    @cain: McMullin has promised that if he wins he won’t caucus with either party. I think he’ll still get a couple Commitee assignments no matter who is in the majority. Chuck Schumer and his caucus certainly would want to get on McMullin’s good side. He may end up like Angus King, a relative moderate who runs without Democratic opposition.

    Utah is a unique state because a large majority of its citizens are LDS, or Mormons. They tend to be conservative but have a different view of the present day Republican party than many other conservatives. A lot of Republicans who might not agree with the theocratic tendencies of the party’s Evangelicals don’t mind them because the Evangelical voters help them win political power.

    LDS members see things differently. They ended up in Utah because back east they were lynched, burnt out and otherwise targeted for their faith by Christians. And while Trump himself is only a nominal Christian, his bullying spirit has helped bring out the worst in many Evangelicals, and I think LDS members notice this.

  64. 64.

    Evap

    The weirdest thing happened, I got a text from Ron DeSantis asking me to donate to the GOP senate candidate in Nevada.  I get lots of texts like this from Democrats, but never from the GOP.  I wonder how my phone number got into that list??

  66. 66.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Evap: I emailed John McCain about the Military Commissions Act back in the day, and wound up on AZ Republican mailing lists for years. The last couple of years, I am somehow on lists for Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Lauren Boebert, and some pro-life outfit. I’m often tempted to mail the prepaid envelopes back with dirty pennies or glitter, but I always forget and thrown them

  69. 69.

    Ken

    @Evap: I got a text from Ron DeSantis asking me to donate to the GOP senate candidate in Nevada.

    Text back that you’re tapped out because you donated to the Republican running in Florida, Charlie Crist.

  70. 70.

    Steeplejack

    I’m laughing because I just had a sudden fantasy of hard-nosed Stephanie Ruhle, coming up at 11:00 on MSNBC, being all weepy and maudlin because it turns out she’s a rabid Queen Elizabeth fan.

  72. 72.

    zhena gogolia

    It’s one thing to not be a fan of the Queen, but the constant dancing on her grave here all day is pretty distasteful.

  73. 73.

    HumboldtBlue

    @zhena gogolia: ​

    Meh, my Galway auntie doesn’t mind. Her father, a country doctor and avowed pacifist, was an original member of Sinn Fein. There is plenty of fawning and respectful coverage out there, and there is also the visceral reaction from people who have suffered for centuries under the British monarchy.

    They’re gonna respond too. There are only 22 countries that have not been invaded by Britain. That’s a lot of people who felt the lash.

  74. 74.

    Tony G

    I read the New York Times article about this train wreck and, honestly, I don’t see how the shortfall could NOT be due to Scott stealing a lot of that money.  From what I can understand, Scott’s “brilliant strategy” was just to bombard potential donors with an avalanche of emails and text messages — in other words, spam.  Spam, by its nature, is cheap — that’s why there’s a lot of it, most of which is ignored by its recipients.  But, because sending emails and texts is so cheap, an unsuccessful spam really should not be losing much money.  The money disappeared somewhere.  Most likely into the back accounts of Scott and a few cronies.  No honor among  thieves.

  75. 75.

    Scout211

    So TFG is not happy with the DOJ appeal.

    Ha Ha Ha!

    The former president on Thursday lashed out in a post to his Truth Social network after the DOJ signaled it would appeal a judge’s approval of a special master that has said it will slow its investigation of Trump’s alleged hoarding of classified documents. The appeal is the latest in the legal wrangling following the FBI‘s court-approved search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in August.

    “So now the FBI & Biden Department of ‘Justice’ leakers are going to spend Millions of Dollars, & vast amounts of Time & Energy, to appeal the Order on the ‘Raid of Mar-a-Lago Document Hoax,’ by a brilliant and courageous Judge whose words of wisdom rang true throughout our Nation, instead of fighting the record setting corruption and crime that is taking place right before their very eyes,” Trump said in the post.

    In a follow-up post, Trump rehashed his long-running grievances with federal law enforcement agencies, accusing them of leaking information, lying and planting “fake evidence.”

  76. 76.

    Barbara

    @HumboldtBlue: ​I don’t feel sad that QEII is dead — as things go, she lived a great and long life that intersected with my own life not at all. I have definitely celebrated when someone no longer has power over me (like Scalia) but I think it’s bad form to actually rejoice in someone’s death. In the case of Ireland, the queen’s death changes nothing.

  78. 78.

    Tony G

    @Ken: I, who have never voted for a Republican in my 66 years, routinely get fundraising solicitations from the Republican Party.  Nice job with the “targeted ads”, kids.

  79. 79.

    Barbara

    @Evap: ​I have no idea how I ended up on the RNC’s list of potential donors, but I get at least 2 emails daily. Occasionally I get them from individual candidates as well. Nothing like the volume I get from the other side.​

  80. 80.

    Tony G

    @raven: What is it with the ZZ Top beard on this jackass?  I guess he thinks that the beard plus is arsenal of guns make him have a bigger dick.

  81. 81.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Barbara: ​

    We all have feelings. And her death just may have a dramatic impact on Ireland’s future, considering the northern Unionists refuse to allow the new Sinn Féin-led government to be seated.

    It’s not about feelings, it’s about very real and very impactful historical reasons.

    There is plenty of respectful and kind coverage, and that same coverage will continue for the next two weeks at least. If that’s so, there’s also time for the people who view the monarchy in a far different light than us, to dance, laugh, sing, not give a shit or be mean about it. Those voices matter, despite these calls for “civility,” something that was never extended to their forebears and for those who still suffer under the monarchy’s rule.

  82. 82.

    Tony G

    @Tony G: Yeah, I just looked it up.  Apparently, sending one million emails costs about $100.  Scott didn’t burn through tens of millions of dollars because of the “cost” of his “strategic campaign” (which was, essentially, sending spam solicitations).   Where did the money go, Lebowski?  Typical crummy reporting by the New York Times, by the way, to just quote the participants without doing any analysis.  Stenography, as usual.

  83. 83.

    scav

    @Steeplejack: Some people may have mentioned skipping their 4th booster, waiting an extra bit so they could leapfrog more quickly into the better tuning of the bivalent shot.

  84. 84.

    James E Powell

    @Librarian:

    At least one of the front pagers here thought that the overturn of Roe would not have much effect on the election. Even some people here got that wrong.

    I said that many times. I will wait till election results to don the hair shirt.

  85. 85.

    jonas

    @UncleEbeneezer: ​
      Just got mine this evening — Pfizer. Hoping for a mild reaction this time around. My other shots have all been Moderna and they each threw me back on my ass for about 24 hours.

  86. 86.

    Barbara

    @HumboldtBlue: ​I don’t mean to suggest anyone in Ireland should cancel parties or close down bars. And sorry to say, but I don’t see the queen’s death having any impact whatsoever on Unionist recalcitrance. It’s the kind of situation where celebration just highlights the sense of frustration and powerlessness.

  87. 87.

    jonas

    @Tony G: ​
     

    What is it with the ZZ Top beard on this jackass?

    Maybe he’s trying to go for that Duck Dynasty look. Those guys are all MAGA idiots, too.

  88. 88.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Barbara:

    It’s the kind of situation where celebration just highlights the sense of frustration and powerlessness.

    OK, that works too. But the Nationalists did take power, they are being prevented from governing by Unionists, something’s gonna break one way or another.

    The dancing and singing and honking and mocking are senses of frustration and powerlessness, that’s why they’re impactful, that’s why they mean something.

    The embodiment of their oppression has been weakened, and for those oppressed, that’s worth a dance.

  91. 91.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Librarian: The reasoning was that abortion access had already been eroded in many red states to the point that abortion rights functionally barely existed, and it didn’t seem to have hurt national Republican prospects, so an outright overturning of Roe that eliminated them entirely in those states probably wouldn’t be a problem either. Obviously there was a difference that this analysis wasn’t catching.

Comments are closed.