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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

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You are here: Home / Jan 6: Insurrection / Tuesday Afternoon Open Thread: Patriots Or Republicans — Choose One

Tuesday Afternoon Open Thread: Patriots Or Republicans — Choose One

by Anne Laurie|  December 6, 20222:58 pm| 122 Comments

This post is in: Jan 6: Insurrection, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Republican Venality

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During Congressional Gold Medal ceremony for Jan. 6 police, representatives of those receiving awards shake hands with Schumer then walk past McConnell and McCarthy. pic.twitter.com/YGjKXRGtiZ

— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) December 6, 2022

(Sad-sack Kevin McCarthy doesn’t even put his hand out. Some ‘Leader’.)

FLASH: Family of officer Brian Sicknick refuses to shake hands with Sen McConnell and Rep McCarthy at Congressional gold medal ceremony. Brian’s brother Ken Sicknick tells me why ====> pic.twitter.com/Y34CI8MCTi

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) December 6, 2022

McConnell and McCarthy – the entire GOP care less about people. look at Nancy’s compassion – honoring law enforcement that were at the Capitol ????????… I am so proud to be a Democrat and not a member of the Hateful Dead pic.twitter.com/RKwOydYIQ0

— Longjacket ????????? (@Longjacket2) December 6, 2022

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Reader Interactions

122Comments

  1. 1.

    jackmac

    December 6, 2022 at 3:05 pm

    The incoming GOP House “leadership” is already being treated with disdain. And it’s just going to get worse. So not much will get done for the next two years, but at least we can enjoy Republicans in Disarray.

  2. 2.

    Andrew Abshier

    December 6, 2022 at 3:07 pm

    The Capitol Police know who they are protecting.  They also know who is looking out for them.

  3. 3.

    Kay

    December 6, 2022 at 3:12 pm

    So funny. McCarthy keeps looking around. Is he that stupid? He really doesn’t know they are deliberately snubbing him?

  4. 4.

    Ken

    December 6, 2022 at 3:13 pm

    Sad-sack Kevin McCarthy doesn’t even put his hand out.

    At least he avoids looking as pathetic as McConnell, standing there with his out, being ignored.

  5. 5.

    Ohio Mom

    December 6, 2022 at 3:18 pm

    I saw the video of the honorees snubbing McConnell and McCarthy earlier today and I laughed out loud. Then I watched it two more times to savor it.

  6. 6.

    VOR

    December 6, 2022 at 3:20 pm

    @jackmac: And they are not going to learn from the experience. Instead, they will choose victimhood and spend the next two years throwing a tantrum about how they were snubbed. It will be the language of abusers – look what you made me do.

    Very little will get done for the next two years. The Republicans will pout about giving Biden a win, even on things like re-naming post offices. The House will run stupid investigations but there are a limited number of bills which will actually pass.

  7. 7.

    brendancalling

    December 6, 2022 at 3:23 pm

    It would have been nice if one of the cops got caught on mic telling M&M to shove their medal up their treasonous asses.

  8. 8.

    Tony Jay

    December 6, 2022 at 3:24 pm

    Special shout out to the evolutionary dead-ends masquerading as the Metropolitan Police Department’s ever so very, very Special Operations Division for chatting shit at Michael Fanone during the ceremony.

    Go shoot yourselves in the junk, GOP Cops, spare the future from any more fucktard mistakes.

  9. 9.

    MisterDancer

    December 6, 2022 at 3:24 pm

    @VOR: It will be the language of abusers – look what you made me do.

    Abuse is, indeed, their primary tactic. Even their “snowflaking” is, itself, an abuse of other’s empathy and emotional depth.

  10. 10.

    Belafon

    December 6, 2022 at 3:26 pm

    NEW: Members of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Special Operations Division heckled former Officer Mike Fanone at the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony, Fanone tells me.

    “They called me a piece of shit and mockingly called me a great fucking hero while clapping,” he said.

    https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/1600168579303104513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&force_isolation=true

  11. 11.

    JML

    December 6, 2022 at 3:26 pm

    I appreciate the fact that the Sicknick Family didn’t just snub those bastards but also confirmed it publicly and said why. No pretending it wasn’t intentional.

  12. 12.

    Kay

    December 6, 2022 at 3:26 pm

    I didn’t know Gomert presented a flag flown over the capitol on 1/6 to the insurrectionists.

    Wow. They are far out there in wackoland. Twenty years ago this would have been limited to Right wing militias. Now they’re House members.

  13. 13.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 6, 2022 at 3:32 pm

    I love Nancy’s reaction.

  14. 14.

    JoyceH

    December 6, 2022 at 3:37 pm

    From the other side of the aisle (nominally), how does it come about that Biden is in Arizona touting the huge new computer chip plant to be built there and Sinema is a No Show?

  15. 15.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 6, 2022 at 3:38 pm

    @JoyceH: She’s not even mailing it in these days.

  16. 16.

    geg6

    December 6, 2022 at 3:39 pm

    @JoyceH:

    I’d venture that it comes about because Sinema is a classless piece of garbage.  Gawd, I despise her.

  17. 17.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    December 6, 2022 at 3:42 pm

    McConnell and McCarthy are scummy and scummier.

    The fact that McConnell wouldn’t even defend his wife from Trump’s racist attack tells you everything you need to know about this cowardly scumbag. McCarthy is simply worthless beyond words.

  18. 18.

    Ella in New Mexico

    December 6, 2022 at 3:44 pm

    @JML:

    I appreciate the fact that the Sicknick Family didn’t just snub those bastards but also confirmed it publicly and said why. No pretending it wasn’t intentional.

    I would have loved to see the shock on M & M’s faces if someone had said “excuse me, but how in God’s name do YOU two think you belong here?”

  19. 19.

    David 🦃The Establishment🥧 Koch

    December 6, 2022 at 3:45 pm

    Yup.

    Meanwhile, boundless raconteur Biden entertains Mark Kelly, Gabby Giffords and Ruben Gallegos on Air Force One

    (photo)

  20. 20.

    JML

    December 6, 2022 at 3:47 pm

    @Ella in New Mexico: indeed. sometimes you have to call out even the shameless.

  21. 21.

    Captain C

    December 6, 2022 at 3:48 pm

    @JoyceH: Given how checked out she probably is these days, I’m guessing she’s off doing something sybaritic and self-indulgent, as she probably will for the rest of her life while living high on her Congressional pension and whatever speaking fees and sinecures she can get.

  22. 22.

    Geminid

    December 6, 2022 at 3:49 pm

    @JoyceH: This makes me think that Sinema will not run for reelection. Her team may have taken private polls that show she will likely lose a primary against Ruben Gallego.

  23. 23.

    Tony G

    December 6, 2022 at 3:53 pm

    @Andrew Abshier: “Support the police my ass.”  Police officers are supported by the fascists only when an unarmed Black person has been killed.

  24. 24.

    MattF

    December 6, 2022 at 3:55 pm

    Trump Org. GUILTY on all counts.

  25. 25.

    JoyceH

    December 6, 2022 at 3:55 pm

    Trump Org guilty on all counts.

  26. 26.

    Tony G

    December 6, 2022 at 3:56 pm

    @Captain C: Thank you for teaching me a new word: “sybaritic”.  I’ll use it the next time I play Scrabble.  (And, yeah, that word definitely applies to Cinema.)

  27. 27.

    David 🦃The Establishment🥧 Koch

    December 6, 2022 at 3:56 pm

    BRAKING

    Trump Organization found GUILTY on all 17 counts in NYC tax fraud trial after only 9 1/2 hours of deliberation.​​​

  28. 28.

    Gary K

    December 6, 2022 at 3:56 pm

    @JoyceH: It’s called a Congressional medal. Biden’s not part of Congress.

  29. 29.

    raven

    December 6, 2022 at 3:59 pm

    @David 🦃The Establishment🥧 Koch: Xin Loi assholes.

  30. 30.

    Belafon

    December 6, 2022 at 3:59 pm

    @Gary K: I don’t think you’re replying to the right thing.

  31. 31.

    Scout211

    December 6, 2022 at 4:03 pm

    @MattF: Yes!

    Link

    CNN — 
    A Manhattan jury has found two Trump Organization companies guilty on multiple charges of criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records connected to a 15-year scheme to defraud tax authorities by failing to report and pay taxes on compensation for top executives.
    The Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp. were found guilty on all charges they faced.

  32. 32.

    UncleEbeneezer

    December 6, 2022 at 4:04 pm

    @David 🦃The Establishment🥧 Koch: “BRAKING”

    Don’t stop!!!  Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

  33. 33.

    Mike in NC

    December 6, 2022 at 4:07 pm

    HaHaHa. Might not be such a joyous holiday season at Mar-A-Lago now.

  34. 34.

    Ken

    December 6, 2022 at 4:09 pm

    @Scout211: I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of ketchup bottles were suddenly thrown against the wall.

    An uncharitable person (yo!) might ponder whether the timing of the Taibbi “report” on the Hunter Biden dick pics was timed as a distraction.

  35. 35.

    David 🦃The Establishment🥧 Koch

    December 6, 2022 at 4:10 pm

    Only. The. Best. People.

  36. 36.

    Dadadadadadada

    December 6, 2022 at 4:12 pm

    @Mike in NC: I’d lay odds that no place befouled by TFG’s presence has ever had a joyful holiday, or any other occasion.

  37. 37.

    Elizabelle

    December 6, 2022 at 4:13 pm

    Good to see guilty on all counts.  Penalty is just $1.62 million, which is woefully inadequate, but maybe there will be follow on effects.

  38. 38.

    rikyrah

    December 6, 2022 at 4:14 pm

    Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) tweeted at 11:44 AM on Tue, Dec 06, 2022:
    NEW: Special Counsel Jack Smith just subpoenaed officials in Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin for Trump communications in the January 6th investigation. Jack Smith is no nonsense and will follow the facts wherever they lead. Trump should be so scared right now.
    (https://twitter.com/Victorshi2020/status/1600184308903202816?t=DI7cCKkH7x0I-X6G0qgopQ&s=03)

  39. 39.

    Geminid

    December 6, 2022 at 4:14 pm

    @Tony G: Sybaritic derives from Sybaris, a Greek city on the southeast Italian coast renowned in Classical times for its luxury.

    And hey, if you are into Scrabble, don’t forget “xeric” and “xeriscape.”

  40. 40.

    geg6

    December 6, 2022 at 4:15 pm

    Batten down the ketchup at MAL!  Hopefully they have a large inventory.

  41. 41.

    Ken

    December 6, 2022 at 4:16 pm

    @David 🦃The Establishment🥧 Koch: Hey, they got away with it for fifteen years. That indicates some talent, if only for fraud.

  42. 42.

    Elizabelle

    December 6, 2022 at 4:16 pm

    Two Access Maggie Haberman updates to the FTF FNYTimes series of updates; just like a twitter feed.

    Trump and his children and his company now face a civil suit filed by the New York attorney general accusing them all of widespread and pervasive fraud over a decade.

    and

    Even without Trump personally being charged, this is a devastating day for him. He has long sought to avoid having criminality attached to his name in any way shape or form.

    Or accountability.

  43. 43.

    rikyrah

    December 6, 2022 at 4:16 pm

    They are ridiculous

     

    Hamilton Nolan (@hamiltonnolan) tweeted at 9:07 AM on Tue, Dec 06, 2022:
    “White House reporters using lofty language about democracy to whine about not getting holiday party invites from the White House” is the highest level of humiliation fetish I can even imagine https://t.co/fP9H2gpAAm https://t.co/HqVPND9NIR
    (https://twitter.com/hamiltonnolan/status/1600144896886644736?t=rdYRfb_MKGPikcfKuKcPVw&s=03)

  44. 44.

    Alison Rose

    December 6, 2022 at 4:17 pm

    Delicious.

    While prosecutors stopped short of indicting the former president, they invoked his name throughout the monthlong trial, telling jurors that he personally paid for some of the perks and even approved a crucial aspect of the scheme. The prosecution also sounded a drumbeat of damning evidence that spotlighted his company’s freewheeling culture, revealing that pervasive illegality unfolded under Mr. Trump’s nose for years.
    The company’s conviction — coupled with the prosecution’s explosive claim at trial that Mr. Trump was “explicitly sanctioning tax fraud” — could now reverberate through the 2024 presidential race, providing early fodder for opponents and their attack ads.
    It also might lay the groundwork for the district attorney’s office to intensify its wider criminal investigation into Mr. Trump’s business practices — and hush money paid to a porn star who said she had an affair with him — an inquiry that gained momentum in recent months, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

  45. 45.

    geg6

    December 6, 2022 at 4:18 pm

    @rikyrah: ​
     
    As a great man once said, fuckem.

  46. 46.

    A Good Woman

    December 6, 2022 at 4:21 pm

    @geg6:

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Better get your order in now because I just don’t believe they have sufficient quantities at MAL for this.

  47. 47.

    UncleEbeneezer

    December 6, 2022 at 4:22 pm

    This trial is not to be confused with the half dozen other legal challenges currently targeting the former president. Trump is facing a quickly developing Department of Justice criminal investigation into the way he tried to cling to power in 2020 by lying to the American public about supposed voting fraud and inciting an attack on Congress, plus a probe into the way he kept classified documents at his Palm Beach mansion-club. He’s also the target of a local Georgia criminal investigation into his attempts to intimidate an elections official there into flipping that election’s results.

    This trial is also separate from the civil case brought on by the New York Attorney General, who is trying to shut down the company and seize its assets over the way it regularly lied about its real estate portfolio—making up non-existent building space and inflating valuesto obtain better bank loans or maximize tax-write offs on donated land.

  48. 48.

    Matt McIrvin

    December 6, 2022 at 4:23 pm

    @Tony G: Apparently the police don’t support the police unless they stick to right-wing omerta.

  49. 49.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 6, 2022 at 4:24 pm

    So a fine is the only consequence?

  50. 50.

    Elizabelle

    December 6, 2022 at 4:24 pm

    The two top stories on the FTF NY Times website at the moment.  Headlines and blurbs.  Schadenfreude City.

    Trump Organization Found Guilty in Tax Fraud Scheme

    Remarkable Rebuke of Former President’s Company.

    [Remarkable seems a strange word choice, kind of an FTF NY Times euphemism.  Like “audacious”, which they’ve also pulled out for Trump related criminal acts, a word which has positive connotations.]

    and

    House Jan. 6 Committee to Issue Criminal Referrals, Chairman Says

  51. 51.

    Elizabelle

    December 6, 2022 at 4:25 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:  Weisselberg goes to prison for a season.  Literally.  Like 100 days.

    But:  there are more cases gearing up against the Trump family and its hangers on.

  52. 52.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    December 6, 2022 at 4:25 pm

    Since it’s open thread; video from a guy who does drive threw of small town does a drive threw of  Jackson, Mississippi.

    Highlights

    •  Jackson is more dangerous that Detroit.
    • He drives threw downtown Jackson at 4:00pm on work day and there is no traffic.
    • The roads are trashed,  piles of trash on the side.
    • Even the good neighborhoods have abandon houses.
    • He asked the locals why? They said corrupt politicians. he asked why do the vote these politicians back in office, the locals had no reply.
    • The suburb I live is bigger than Jackson, a state capital and largest city in Mississippi.
  53. 53.

    UncleEbeneezer

    December 6, 2022 at 4:26 pm

    @Ken: Wouldn’t surprise me.  The whole thing began with Russian disinformation in 2014 (didn’t Musk recently have a call with Putin?), and this bullshit by Musk/Taibbi looks an awful lot like an attempt to replicate Hillary’s Emails (which was timed to distract from Trump’s “grab her by the p…” story.

  54. 54.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    December 6, 2022 at 4:28 pm

    @Ken: I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of ketchup bottles were suddenly thrown against the wall.

    Isn’t this a double tap on Trump, since on top of all, his own staff was ripping Trump off of the money Trump was trying make off of tax fraud? lol

  55. 55.

    Tony G

    December 6, 2022 at 4:29 pm

    @Geminid: She can be a photogenic teleprompter-reader on Fox News.  Her true calling.

  56. 56.

    Elizabelle

    December 6, 2022 at 4:31 pm

    Oh, Jesus.  The FTF NY Times, a few stories below, on their website front page.

    For Sunak, Like Biden, Dullness Could Be a Secret Weapon

    President Biden and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain share a challenge: operating in the wake of larger-than-life predecessors.

    Dullness.  And, tee hee, that 6-week PM Liz Truss was sure larger-than-life.  We are talking BoJo??
    Larger than life?  Maybe the clown shoes.  For both “predecessors.”

    Fuck the fucking New York Times.

  57. 57.

    geg6

    December 6, 2022 at 4:35 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    As someone IRL explained to me, this will make it very difficult to ever get any kind of outside funding from, say, a bank and it will have an effect on any possible cases against Trump or his evil spawns related to their business conduct.

    Not sure how true this is, but it sounds right to me.

  58. 58.

    Elizabelle

    December 6, 2022 at 4:36 pm

    @David 🦃The Establishment🥧 Koch:

    Biden sure looks “dull.”

  59. 59.

    randy khan

    December 6, 2022 at 4:39 pm

    @rikyrah: You know what’a s really nice touch in that article is that it takes, oh, 80% of the word count of the story before it gets around to mentioning that Trump didn’t even hold parties for the press for the last three years of his Administration.

  60. 60.

    Brachiator

    December 6, 2022 at 4:42 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    President Biden and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain share a challenge: operating in the wake of larger-than-life predecessors.

    What a dumb shit headline.

    And wrong on so many levels.

    And strictly speaking, Sunak’s predecessor was Liz Truss. Not exactly larger than life.

  61. 61.

    Ken

    December 6, 2022 at 4:43 pm

    @geg6: I think I read that the NYAG was seeking the “corporate death penalty”, whereby the Trump Organization would be dissolved.  I think there were possible further sanctions against the board (Trump and the spawn), which would block them from serving on any other corporate boards in New York.

  62. 62.

    Sister Golden Bear

    December 6, 2022 at 4:43 pm

    Speaking of reichwingers, during the past four days:

    – A gay CA state senator got a “groomer” bomb threat and death threat. (today)

    – A drag venue in Myrtle Beach, SC has to be evacuated after a bomb threat that cited “grooming,” and also made specific threats against six people. (Sunday)

    – A venue in San Antonio was forced to cancel all future drag show after multiple online threats, following false accusations that a child was left unattended at a drag show. (Sunday)

    – Proud Boys and others attempted (but failed) to stop at drag queen story hour in Staten Island, NY. (Saturday)

    – Power was sabotaged in Moore County, NC. (Saturday) It turns out the sheriff who “prayed with” a Jan. 6 participant who implied it was done to block a drag show has been photographed with her at an event previously.

    – Armed Proud Boys, Patriot Front and Nazis forced the cancellation of a drag queen story hour in Columbus, OH (Saturday).

    They’re escalating, and quickly.

  63. 63.

    Jackie

    December 6, 2022 at 4:48 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Allen Weisselberg goes to prison.

    This is only one of several lawsuits heading to trial. The Civil lawsuit by NYC’s AG is the *biggy* as she can basically dissolve TFG’s empire if she prevails.

  64. 64.

    Leslie

    December 6, 2022 at 4:48 pm

    @Ken:

     

    I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of ketchup bottles were suddenly thrown against the wall.

    Nominated.

  65. 65.

    UncleEbeneezer

    December 6, 2022 at 4:48 pm

    Michael Flynn’s bid to delay his testimony before the Fulton County grand jury later this week has failed.

  66. 66.

    geg6

    December 6, 2022 at 4:54 pm

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    So far, it seems we are having a good national news day (even as the site has had such bad news).  Here’s hoping that bodes well for Georgia.  I want lots more of the good guys winning.  I know I haven’t gotten sick of winning yet.

  67. 67.

    James E Powell

    December 6, 2022 at 4:56 pm

    @Ohio Mom:

    I saw the video of the honorees snubbing McConnell and McCarthy earlier today and I laughed out loud. Then I watched it two more times to savor it.

    I don’t know how you stopped at two.

  68. 68.

    Geminid

    December 6, 2022 at 4:57 pm

    The Moore County, North Carolina public school system announced that schools will be closed tomorrow and Thursday, and possibly open Friday.

    No word yet on possible suspects in Saturday evening’s attacks on two Duke Power substations. Besides local law enforcement, the FBI and North Carolina’s State Bureau of Investigation are on the case.

    Duke Power says they’ll have power to almost all of the 40,000 residents who lost it by 11:59pm Wednesday..

  69. 69.

    rikyrah

    December 6, 2022 at 4:57 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    For Sunak, Like Biden, Dullness Could Be a Secret Weapon

     

    They resent the competence of Biden and his Administration.

    Completely resent it.

    They prefer chaos and nonsense.

  70. 70.

    Steeplejack

    December 6, 2022 at 4:59 pm

    @DSupervilleAP: NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s company found guilty of tax fraud in scheme hatched by top executives.

    @nycsouthpaw: “So weird the IRS didn’t catch this in their neverending audit over the last 8 years or whatever.”

  71. 71.

    rikyrah

    December 6, 2022 at 4:59 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    – Power was sabotaged in Moore County, NC. (Saturday) It turns out the sheriff who “prayed with” a Jan. 6 participant who implied it was done to block a drag show has been photographed with her at an event previously.

     

    This was DOMESTIC TERRORISM.

  72. 72.

    Manyakitty

    December 6, 2022 at 5:00 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    Seriously. That was super gross.

  73. 73.

    dr. bloor

    December 6, 2022 at 5:01 pm

    It’s gonna take Beltway Media about twelve seconds to turn this into the award recipients being vengeful and petty, with Moscow Mitch and Qevin emerging as the victims, yet again.

  74. 74.

    Geminid

    December 6, 2022 at 5:01 pm

    @Tony G: Sinema will land on her feet. I’ve never seen an ex-Senator who wanted to make good money not make it.

  75. 75.

    Miss Bianca

    December 6, 2022 at 5:04 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear: Jesus. WTF with these assholes: “we didn’t get to overthrow the government, so now we’re going after Drag Queens”? I just do not get it – but I am frightened about it. Fuck, I am so sick of being frightened by these armed rw dirtbags.

  76. 76.

    PaulWartenberg

    December 6, 2022 at 5:08 pm

    We need a thread later tonight for the trump tax fraud news, but we also need to keep John’s ode to his friend Tammy up at the top of the page for awhile longer… /crying

  77. 77.

    ColoradoGuy

    December 6, 2022 at 5:10 pm

    Sybaritic Sinema certainly exposes the Green Party for what it is: a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) scam that uses the branding of the Democratic Party as a sales tool.

  78. 78.

    Elizabelle

    December 6, 2022 at 5:15 pm

    @rikyrah:  Exactly.  I cannot speak about Sunak, but with Biden, one if his superpowers is competence.

    That headline and approach is whack.  The FTF NYTimes has some fascist-curious among its editors (and owners?) whether it wants to admit that or not.

  79. 79.

    Tony G

    December 6, 2022 at 5:18 pm

    @Belafon: Cops heckling a former cop from their own department who almost died in the line of duty???   What the hell is going on?  What is the percentage of cops throughout the country who are Trump-cult fascists?  Is it 50%?  90%?  That’s a lot of “bad apples”. Repulsive.

  80. 80.

    Tony G

    December 6, 2022 at 5:19 pm

    @ColoradoGuy: That sounds about right.  Like AmWay but with unsuccessful presidential candidates every four years.  (Maybe Tusi next year?)

  81. 81.

    Steeplejack

    December 6, 2022 at 5:21 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields and Emily Grace Rainey at a Back the Red White & Blue event in Southern Pines on Oct. 17, 2020.
    pic.twitter.com/6t83FNWR1Q

    — Silent Sam I Am (@SilentSamIAm) December 5, 2022

    Background from a thread a couple of nights ago.

  82. 82.

    Jackie

    December 6, 2022 at 5:23 pm

    Has anyone mentioned that Michael Flynn must testify?

    https://edca.2dca.org/DCADocs/2022/3725/223725_OG999_12062022_13373748_i.pdf

    Trump’s day is getting worse by the hour. Hopefully the cherry on top will be when the winner of the Georgia Runoff is Senator Warnock!

  83. 83.

    Citizen Alan

    December 6, 2022 at 5:27 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: My personal definition of “a good cop” is “if you personally witnessed another cop engage in police brutality, would (a) stop it, (b) report it, and (c) be willing to testify about it?” If the answer to any of those questions is “no, you’re not a good cop.” Of course, by that definition, there are no good cops, because any cop who did meet that standard would be chased out of the profession forthwith in fear for his life.

  84. 84.

    Steeplejack

    December 6, 2022 at 5:28 pm

    @rikyrah:

    ‘Intentional vandalism’ makes it sound like they spraypainted the gate so hard the electricity went off.

    — southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) December 5, 2022

  85. 85.

    Ken

    December 6, 2022 at 5:30 pm

    @James E Powell: I don’t know how you stopped at two.

    You wouldn’t want to end up like Helen in Death Becomes Her.

  86. 86.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    December 6, 2022 at 5:31 pm

    I am definitely not a Sinema fan, but I will point out she’s been in the news a lot lately over the immigration deal she worked on. So, I’m not sure ‘checked out’ is a fair criticism. As for the other criticisms, please continue!

  87. 87.

    Citizen Alan

    December 6, 2022 at 5:32 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Jackson, Mississippi is what every Republican wants every metropolitan area to be. It is majority black but ruled over by a white supremacist apartheid legislature that has spent decades starving it of funds while facilitating white flight for anyone with the money to move across the county line to lily-white Madison (it used to be lily-white Clinton, but black people started moving out there too so the whites changed direction from South of Jackson to North of it).

  88. 88.

    Tony G

    December 6, 2022 at 5:38 pm

    @Citizen Alan: Most lines of work have a tendency to protect the worst people and to attack those people who rock the boat.  That’s the case even with boring professions like I.T. and accounting. The difference with cops, however, is that cops are armed with deadly weapons and have, in effect, a license to kill.  Therefore, any cop who really tried to stop a corrupt or brutal cop has a good chance of actually getting killed.  Therefore, the best that a “good cop” can do would be to look the other way — or leave the force altogether.  This means, in effect, that a police force will tend to attract and retain the most corrupt, brutal people.  One of my uncles was an urban cop in New Jersey.  He was a good man in family life, so I like to think that he was a “good cop”.  But if he was a “good cop”, that probably meant that he kept out of trouble himself while looking the other way when his fellow cops were brutal.  Fantone broke the wall of silence by testifying to the January 6th committee.  Hence the childish heckling.  And maybe his life will be ended by an “unfortunate accident”.

  89. 89.

    frosty

    December 6, 2022 at 5:40 pm

    @Citizen Alan: I suspected that’s what was going on in Jackson. “Why did you vote for them?” They didn’t. Th lack of investment is from a white power structure at a different level.

    At least that’s what it sounds like to me. Any Mississippians are welcome to chime in.

  90. 90.

    Ken

    December 6, 2022 at 5:40 pm

    @Elizabelle: Biden sure looks “dull.”

    While in the Mirror Universe, Dark Brandon says to an aide, “Make that reporter’s life less dull.”  Probably while stroking a white Persian cat.

  91. 91.

    UncleEbeneezer

    December 6, 2022 at 5:59 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear: I hope something comes of this idea:

    “We need to start bringing Section 1985 claims against proud boys and neo-nazi orgs showing up armed to LGBTQ events. This is exactly what the Ku Klux Klan act was supposed to prevent. The fact that they wear masks and are armed makes it an even easier claim to prove.”

  92. 92.

    cain

    December 6, 2022 at 5:59 pm

    @Steeplejack: Does this dude have friends in the IRS? Looks like that should be investigated as well.

    Perhaps a special taskforce needs to be put together like in Untouchables.

  93. 93.

    evodevo

    December 6, 2022 at 6:01 pm

    @Tony G: ​
      I’d estimate minimum 50%…that job automatically attracts right winger authoritarians…

  94. 94.

    karen marie

    December 6, 2022 at 6:01 pm

    @Ken: They got away with it longer than that.   That’s only what was charged and proven.

  95. 95.

    karen marie

    December 6, 2022 at 6:03 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:   The “organization” will have its ability to get contracts impinged by the felony convictions.

  96. 96.

    Steeplejack

    December 6, 2022 at 6:03 pm

    @cain:

    I think @nycsouthpaw was snarking, but, yeah, it’s a sad commentary. The IRS is sorely understaffed and underfunded. Trump apparently didn’t even need friends there.

  97. 97.

    Sister Golden Bear

    December 6, 2022 at 6:04 pm

    @rikyrah: Absolutely domestic terrorism.

    @Miss Bianca:

    WTF with these assholes: “we didn’t get to overthrow the government, so now we’re going after Drag Queens”?

    It’s part of the efforts to conflate drag queens and trans people, in service of the “scary trans people in bathrooms” moral panic, as well as tarring the entire LGBTQ+ communities as “groomers.”
    Attacking a tiny minority group as the first stage of normalizing domestic terrorism, and taking steps towards genocide. They’re already starting the say the quiet parts outside, i.e. we should all be killed. And it won’t stop with us.

    @Steeplejack: Thanks! I’d booked marked the tweet, but the bird hellsite seems to have unbookmarked

    @UncleEbeneezer: I’d like to see Section 1985 charges brought as well. Unfortunately, I suspect it’s going to take more bloodshed before that happened.

  98. 98.

    Bill Arnold

    December 6, 2022 at 6:06 pm

    @Geminid:

    Sinema will land on her feet. I’ve never seen an ex-Senator who wanted to make good money not make it.

    She could be made toxic. Might be worth doing.

  99. 99.

    Geminid

    December 6, 2022 at 6:09 pm

    @Steeplejack: There is reporting on Rainey in the Army Times. One article was from the days following the January 6 Insurection. It reported on her trip to DC that day as organizer of Moore County Citizens for Liberty, and said that she was still on active duty but had resigned her commission after an adverse finding in a disciplinary proceeding a couple months before.

    The Army wasn’t saying what the charges were, but they may have related to an incident that Spring when she took down police tape at a playground so her son could play in an area closed because of pandemic restrictions. Rainey posted video on Facebook and was subsequently charged with destruction of public property.

    Rainey was a Captain when she resigned, and served in the psyops command at Fort Bragg, in nearby Cumberland County next to Fayetteville.

  100. 100.

    Sister Golden Bear

    December 6, 2022 at 6:09 pm

    @Bill Arnold: Usually ex-Senators are able to peddle “access” as lobbyists. But given all the bridges Sinema has burned with her peers, I’m not sure that’s going to be a strong selling point for her.

  101. 101.

    Bill Arnold

    December 6, 2022 at 6:10 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    Fuck, I am so sick of being frightened by these armed rw dirtbags.

    They want that fear; it is a right-wing tactic. Don’t give it to them.

  102. 102.

    cain

    December 6, 2022 at 6:12 pm

    @Alison Rose: I don’t think his GOP opponents would be able to attack him on his fraud.

  103. 103.

    Geminid

    December 6, 2022 at 6:15 pm

    @Bill Arnold: How are you going to do that? The people who will hire Sinema don’t care about what politically engaged Democrats think. Hell, most Democrats don’t care about what politically engaged Democrats think.

  104. 104.

    cain

    December 6, 2022 at 6:21 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Apparently, only when their access to “fun”, “social” and weddings that they have no businesses being part of is when they are the most rabid when it comes to governmental checks on freedom.

    Not you know Jan 6th which they are already bored of or what other corruption that is happening elsewhere. But damn, how angry that they can’t hit some posh party.

    They probably don’t know any real people outside the beltway because I’m sure most of us would only react by sneering at them.

  105. 105.

    Miss Bianca

    December 6, 2022 at 6:21 pm

    @Bill Arnold: I live with these people.

  106. 106.

    Brachiator

    December 6, 2022 at 6:27 pm

    Was speaking with someone at work who was saying that the weather in Athens, Georgia was terrible.

  107. 107.

    Geminid

    December 6, 2022 at 6:29 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear: I expect a hedge fund would hire Sinema. She saved them many times what ten years of her salary would total.

    And Senator is a prestige job, no matter how much people like you and me despise this one. She could make good money speaking at trade group and industry conventions. Those people love centrists.

    But I still think Sinema could cash in with a line of women’s workout apparel. Sportswear “tough enough for a Triathlon, but stylish enough for Starbucks.” She could get the financial backing, and there is be big money to be made in that sector.

  108. 108.

    Ruckus

    December 6, 2022 at 6:30 pm

    @VOR:

    A Tantrum.

    That perfectly describes these spoiled children known as the rethuglican side of the aisle.

    The retantrums.

    That’s better than the rethuglicans, more descriptive of who they are. Spoiled brats who think the world owes them everything because of their hate and inability to actually accept that their shit stinks just like everyone else’s.

  109. 109.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 6, 2022 at 6:48 pm

    @Geminid: I think it was Suzanne who predicted Sinema would wind up on The View. It wouldn’t surprise me.

  110. 110.

    Mike in NC

    December 6, 2022 at 6:51 pm

  111. 111.

    Geminid

    December 6, 2022 at 6:59 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: She might want a lower profile. But there is no telling what Sinema will do. She’ll have some good options.

  112. 112.

    Jackie

    December 6, 2022 at 7:18 pm

    @Brachiator: It’s rainy and cold. Just saw a MSNBC reporter saying apparently the polling places are different than the same polls were for Nov 8. Voters are being turned away because they’re at the wrong polls!😠

  113. 113.

    eachother

    December 6, 2022 at 7:27 pm

    In the early aughts, it was difficult to find a place to eat in Jackson, MS after seven PM.  I looked around for something with a little local flavor.  Only found a chain thing off the interstate ramp.

    For the most part, the whole place was closed.  Apart from the above.

  114. 114.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 6, 2022 at 8:21 pm

    @eachother: ​
      Jackson, MS on a Saturday night.

  115. 115.

    Ruckus

    December 6, 2022 at 9:16 pm

    @cain:

    Dude doesn’t have friends anywhere. He has “friends.” Or as it’s more commonly known “friends of connivance.”

  116. 116.

    Tony G

    December 6, 2022 at 9:33 pm

    @Jackie: Jesus.  The official who decided to change the polling places is a criminal.

  117. 117.

    Tony G

    December 6, 2022 at 9:35 pm

    @Geminid: “workout apparel”.  Isn’t that shorts and a tee shirt in warm weather; sweat pants and a sweat shirt in cold weather?  Apparently I’m ignorant of marketing trends.

  118. 118.

    Tony G

    December 6, 2022 at 9:38 pm

    @Bill Arnold: It’s easy for me to say, because I’ve never faced a bomb or a loaded gun — but screw these right wing terrorist assholes.  The United States has faced and survived violence from people much more lethal than these cowardly dipshits.  Fuck them.

  119. 119.

    Tony G

    December 6, 2022 at 9:40 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear: Right wing terrorists are cowards who attack only those who they perceive as weak.

  120. 120.

    Tony G

    December 6, 2022 at 9:43 pm

    @evodevo: Unfortunately, that’s probably true.  I’m well aware of the fact that as a middle-aged, “middle class” white guy I am the person who the cops would target.  “White privilege” as the kids say.

  121. 121.

    Anyway

    December 7, 2022 at 8:36 am

    @Geminid:

    But I still think Sinema could cash in with a line of women’s workout apparel. Sportswear “tough enough for a Triathlon, but stylish enough for Starbucks.” She could get the financial backing, and there is be big money to be made in that sector.

    Women’s apparel branding is a low bar – every has-been 90s/aughts teen/pop-star has an apparel line.  Hedge funds are where she rakes it in.

  122. 122.

    Anyway

    December 7, 2022 at 8:38 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I think it was Suzanne who predicted Sinema would wind up on The View. It wouldn’t surprise me.

    Yes, I can see that.

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