Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Bark louder, little dog.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

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

One way or another, he’s a liar.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

The willow is too close to the house.

I really should read my own blog.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Let me file that under fuck it.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

You are here: Home / Open Threads / More Meadows Texts

More Meadows Texts

by | 154 Comments

This post is in: , ,

The timing is a coincidence, but days after Phony Stark rolled out the floptastic Twitter Files, Josh Marshall’s TPM team started dropping the Meadows Texts — text messages to and from then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and GOP lawmakers. Holy hell, the contrast between the two document dumps!

You’ve got hard-right culture warriors rummaging through the underwear drawers of a social media company’s dithering executives on the one hand. On the other, a plucky team of actual independent journalists reveals coup-plotting communications between the White House and elected Republicans. TPM made some of the texts public for the first time and provided context around others we’ve seen before.

Tom posted about the first tranche yesterday. The latest installment features blathering from Georgia 12th Rep. Rick Allen, who sent Meadows links to a Romanian crackpot’s YouTube channel alleging that “identities of ’50 million’ U.S. citizens were stolen via Ukraine in 2009 and 2018 to be used for voting in the 2020 election as part of a ‘$100 billion’ plot involving illegal immigrants, blackmail and Romanian officials.”

Okay then. But as nutty as that is, this from Rep. Allen is somehow even scarier:

More Meadows Texts

This person who believes Satan and Jesus were duking it out over electoral votes is one of the 435 members of the House of Representatives, and most of us have never heard of him because he doesn’t stand out in that chamber as especially deranged. Yowza.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

154Comments

  2. 2.

    scav

    Florida better look to its laurels:  Georgia is hard on its heels for deranged loopiness.  Might even go to overtime á la World Cup.

  3. 3.

    R-Jud

    @scav: Georgia is certainly punching above its weight w/r/t the kookiness of its US House delegation, but the fact that the state has two Democratic senators means it can’t be considered TRULY bananas.

    Besides, raven and Subaru Dianne live there. ;-)

  6. 6.

    cmorenc

    The House Committee better finish and actually publish its report on 1/6 – McCarthy & Co. will never let it see the light of day and put away all the supporting documentation in a dark hole if they don’t, though they won’t be able to entirely hide it from the Justice Dept.  Instead, we’ll get a looking-glass mirror gross distortion report exonerating Trump and Congressional supporting cast of 1/6 from responsibility and straining to portray it all as Nancy Pelosi’s fault that anyone’s feathers were ruffled that date.

  8. 8.

    Soprano2

    I can’t get over the idea that they actually believe God is using the “imperfect implement” of TFG to do his will. Why did God pick TFG and not any of the other 15 Republican candidates who were running in 2016? At least most of them don’t deviate from the ideal of Christianity as much as TFG does. It’s just rationalizing them picking the most openly bigoted candidate is all that is.

  10. 10.

    trollhattan

    Rep. Allen clearly a German infiltrator–just look at him capitalize all the Nouns. Arrest the spy!

  11. 11.

    Sure Lurkalot

    Unfortunately, being a fanatical religious wing nut is not actionable. Not even one in service to sedition.

    In total agreement with the contrast between the TPM vs. the Twitter files especially in terms of investigatory journalism but not seeing much there there yet. Hopeful though.

  12. 12.

    The Moar You Know

    Minister to Trump?  Be far more use to drag your AK down to the beach to shoot at a hurricane.

    I know that anyone can run for office, with very few limits, but damn, can we make a psych eval part of the process?   This example of Congressional greatness is 100% unmoored from reality.

  13. 13.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Jack Smith Issues Subpoenas To Two More States In Trump Investigation

    Election officials in Nevada and New Mexico were among the targets of some of the most recently revealed subpoenas originating with an investigation led by recently selected Special Counsel Jack Smith, whose area of authority includes the Justice Department probe into political schemes after the 2020 presidential election to keep Trump in power despite his loss.

    In both states, officials were directed to provide any communications with Trump and associates of his like attorney John Eastman, who helped lead the effort to formulate a plan by which Pence could’ve supposedly blocked the certification in Congress of the last presidential election results. Others whose communications with officials were sought with these subpoenas include Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, according to a Nevada report about that state’s involvement. In Nevada, the reported subpoena was directed to the Clark County Election Department, whose geographical area of authority is the most populated county in the state and has been a target of conspiracy theories about the handling of elections after the elections of both 2020 and 2022. In New Mexico, a subpoena was directed to the office of the Secretary of State, whose team indicated they didn’t have any communications covered by the demands but were happy to make the search.

    …

    The Nevada subpoena apparently sought compliance on a short timeframe, with a grand jury appearance by December 9

  15. 15.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @cmorenc: More importantly, the House better share everything with DOJ so that it can compare testimony and figure out which witnesses ore reliable.  DOJ bring bring indictments until that happens, according to Former FBI Director, Andrew McCabe.

  16. 16.

    scav

    @R-Jud: I did hesitate momentarily over the two Senators, but then the sheer nearness of the Walker-Warnock result tipped me over.  The crazifacation factor in GA is massive strong.  Alas, there are jackals in all sorts of dangerous settings and I would never hold them responsible for their neighbors.  (Just as I absolve myself for having blood kin there, so you can be assured it’s an authentic impulse.  Plus, what about poor Betty?!)

  18. 18.

    Scout211

    I was very impressed* with the quality of our nation’s Republican leaders from their texts that were released by TPM yesterday today.

    As “gid” is my witness, there are 34 Republicans who send texts with typos, spelling errors and off the wall auto-correct errors more often than I do! Now that’s impressive.

    *and by impressed, I mean appalled.

  19. 19.

    jonas

    Mother of God, where do Republicans find these crackpots? I thought Paul Gosar and MTG were the loopiest of the loopy, but damn, it’s a crowded field. Also, God doesn’t use fascist, child-caging orange fatbergs to do His will.

  21. 21.

    ian

    @RedDirtGirl: In my opinion, news organizations rarely promote a different orgs story/scoop.  Doing so drives readers and traffic over to the different org.  This was true back even for Watergate, where none of the other media outlets wanted to cover the story initially until it became too big to ignore.

    It is one of the many failures of profit-driven journalism.

  26. 26.

    Damien

    @jonas: how do you know? Given what god endorsed in the Bible, would it really be surprising? Not like SFB was bashing out the brains of babies, and God’s certainly chill with that

  30. 30.

    sdhays

    @zhena gogolia: I had to read that 10 times to (I think) understand what he was trying to say.

    And can you imagine Donny being “ministered to”? “Get the F— away from me, bow down and bring me more ketchup to throw in your general direction!! Jesus F—ing Christ!!”

  31. 31.

    David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch

    These people are Looney Toones.

    Biden attends mass weekly and is personal friends with Pope Francis, while Dump doesn’t even know how to hold a bible.

  33. 33.

    Scott

    They all fit in this category:

    They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

    TITUS 1:16

  34. 34.

    Frankensteinbeck

    That text reads like a standard white evangelical trying to sound loyal while saying he isn’t sticking his neck out with actual actions.  Yes, they’re nuts and think everything is religion, with a focus on the struggle of God vs Satan.  The phrasing that we recoil from as delusional gets nods of approval from his constituents and many, many of his colleagues.

    And as I mention occasionally, in 1980 they could say this shit in public and be praised for it.  They are royally, royally pissed that these days most of the population reacts with contempt instead.

  35. 35.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    These guys have to be stoned out of their minds, that Allen text is basically a stream of conciseness.

  36. 36.

    piratedan

    @R-Jud: I dunno man… AZ is STILL AZ… It was a close race to have Kelly win against the Hirsute Steven Miller clone, we have manic pixie senator and we have both Biggs and Gosar and a deep deep bench that ran for public office in 2022 (Hammadeh, Finchem and Lake) which is one helluvah trifecta and to top that, Rusty fucking Bowers wasn’t MAGA enough for the AZ GOP so they primaried him.  I’ve not even mentioned that we just had a convicted financial mbezzlar return to office (Schweikewrt) and the only reason you don’t know Debbie Lesko is because to outdo Gosar and Biggs you really got to set yourself on fire, y’know?

  37. 37.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @WaterGirl: I dunno.  Apples/Oranges but:

    Elizabeth De La Vega & Harry Litman say subpoena to Rafferty to testify indicates that investigation (GA Election Interference) is nearing the end.

    Renato Mariotti says subpoenas for documents from False Electors indicates that one is probably in the early stages.

    Pretty much everyone says MAL indictments probably sometime early next year and will likely be first shoe to drop.

    INAL

  38. 38.

    Barbara

    @Frankensteinbeck: In the case of Trump, and probably Herschel Walker, the gap between “profession” that God is using them as his holy instruments and the reality of their messy, not to say depraved, personal life is just too great.  It’s just tedious beyond belief to listen to these people slobbering like this.

  42. 42.

    rikyrah

    @cmorenc:

     

    The House Committee better finish and actually publish its report on 1/6 – McCarthy & Co. will never let it see the light of day and put away all the supporting documentation in a dark hole if they don’t,

     

    They should send it all to the Senate, who should continue the hearings.

  44. 44.

    emmyelle

    A very dear friend of mine who I have known and loved for 40 years is currently struggling with meth addiction and meth-induced psychosis. Unlike Rep. Allan, my friend is not religious. He is very much into politics, though, and other than the god reference, he sounds just like this guy. This is all a grand struggle, all being controlled by some omniscient, omnipotent power, all for some cosmic justice, and we must surrender ourselves to be used by it to bring about good.

    Someone needs to do a tox test on Allen. Or an evaluation for psychosis.

  45. 45.

    ETtheLibrarian

    Rep. Allen is so up his a** he has no idea that Meadows was likely rolling his eyes and the inner core of tRump world would have laughed at that text and him if they had seen it.

  46. 46.

    FelonyGovt

    This is truly frightening. I knew that many Congress critters were conventional, boring Chamber of Commerce types and bears of very little brain, but this holy warrior shit is off the charts.

  47. 47.

    VOR

    @WaterGirl: My read of a recent post by Emptywheel is that so many Congress Critters being part of J6 investigations was a major reason for appointing a special counsel. It’s not just the optics of the DOJ itself going after a former President, it’s the optics of investigating several members of Congress of a different political party than the current President. This is especially an issue because control of the House has such a narrow margin that the prosecution and conviction of a handful could flip control of the House. Just look at how many current GOP House members were contacting Meadows about J6!

  49. 49.

    piratedan

    @VOR: kind of quaint isn’t it, the left has to show an observance of the niceties and strict, if not reluctant adherence to the rules of Law and impartiality….

    whereas on the other side….

    1. Ima gonna promise that we’re gonna investigate the Biden DOJ and Homeland and we’re gonna imnpeach Dr. Fauci and how dare you impinge our right to free speech thru an attempted violent overthrow of the country and 200 years of peaceful transfer of power.
    2. anything that we say out loud or on camera or in text or online is a “joke” and can’t be taken seriously
    3. we make the rules, we’ll let you know when we think that you should be allowed to question our integrity… hint: never
  50. 50.

    PaulWartenberg

    The Republican leadership of today has been stewing in a pot of fearmongering and religious purity since the 1980s. We’re talking 30 years of this to where the men and women in their 30s-to-50s genuinely believe the Fox Not-News Grand Narrative of a Reaganesque Utopia. If only those dread libruls and uppity (expletives) knew their place.

    These Meadows texts are matching the texts we’ve seen already from Ginni Thomas, you know, the wife of Clarence. Ye Gods. Even away from the cameras and the spotlights, the wingnuts truly believe their bullshit. Which makes them dangerous.

    https://noticeatrend.blogspot.com/2022/03/what-republicans-believe-in-dark-of.html

  51. 51.

    geg6

    @RedDirtGirl:

    They will be forced to.  Maddow and Morning Joe both led with this story, Maddow last night and MJ this morning.  MJ is nothing if not one of the story boosters for any political stories.  Also seeing Frum and the Bulwark people boosting the story today.  And the fact that TPM is rolling this out over several days means it has time to simmer before it boils.

  52. 52.

    Betty Cracker

    My idiot governor (Miami Herald):

    Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday said he asked the Florida Supreme Court to impanel a statewide grand jury to “investigate any and all wrongdoing in Florida with respect to COVID-19 vaccines.” DeSantis said he expects the grand jury will bring “legal accountability for those who committed misconduct.”

    The governor has previously raised concerns about side effects from mRNA COVID vaccines and has railed against vaccination requirements by some employers…

    DeSantis’ announcements came at the end of a 90-minute roundtable with Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo that focused on harms from the COVID-19 vaccine. The majority of public health experts say COVID-19 vaccines are safe and serious side effects are extremely rare.

    Ladapo is the crackpot DeSantis imported from California to head up the anti-vax movement — the guy who infamously appeared with the “demon sperm” nutcase.

  53. 53.

    apocalipstick

    I am an ordained Baptist minister.  I have a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree. I will tell you, as a former professional in the the field, that is theologically bugnuts.

  54. 54.

    Sanjeevs

    @VOR: The Special Counsel is not supposed to investigate those that were in the Capitol on J6. Which presumably includes Senators and Reps

  55. 55.

    Scout211

    @cmorenc: December 21 release and final public hearing on Monday the 19th..

    CNN — 
    Rep. Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection, told reporters the committee will hold its final public meeting on Monday and that the panel’s full report will come out December 21.

    Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, said the committee will approve the panel’s final report on December 19 and make announcements about criminal referrals to the Justice Department, but the public will not see the final report until two days later.

    “We will do all of the business of the committee on the 19th,” Thompson said, which includes voting on the final report.

  56. 56.

    Jess

    I told my father (moderate libertarian, usually votes Dem) back before Cheeto was elected that the Republican part had declared war on everyone else back in the Clinton era (at least), and that we needed to wake up and deal with that reality. He dismissed me as being overly paranoid. I’m saddened but not surprised to be proven right.

  57. 57.

    VOR

    @Sanjeevs: He’s not going after the grunts who carried out the attack, he’s going after the planners. For example, the Special Counsel has subpoenaed communications about the fraudulent slates of electors in various states. There were members of Congress involved in that side of the plot, hence planners.

  59. 59.

    TriassicSands

    The great thing about religious zealots is their absolute certainty based on absolutely no real evidence.

    Message to the communist infidels at Balloon-Juice:

    “Hey, there is no chance I’m wrong because I get my information straight from God (delivered during prayer or from Jesus-inspired, reliable sources like Q and Fox News), the omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent being that created the universe, but who still has time to communicate directly with me. Why just last weekend He shone his light upon my favorite football team and gave them an overwhelming victory! Praise Jesus!”

    “Naturally, since my opponents — that is you guys — are dominated by Satan (and gays, lesbians, trans people, and communists, not to mention minorities) we must employ every means available in our titanic battle against absolute evil. People like you don’t have the right to vote or have any say in how you or the country go forward.”

    Jesus’ message to us is clear: “Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women! And make sure they can’t vote.”

  60. 60.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Russian Military and Intelligence Agencies Procurement Network Indicted in Brooklyn Federal Court

    Charges in Connection with Task Force KleptoCapture’s Mission to Hold Accountable Corrupt Russian Oligarchs and Enforce Robust Export Restrictions

    Publicly filed court documents, including a 16-count indictment unsealed today in Brooklyn, charge five Russian nationals – including a suspected Federal Security Service (FSB) officer – and two U.S. nationals with conspiracy and other charges related to a global procurement and money laundering scheme on behalf of the Russian government in which the defendants allegedly conspired to obtain military-grade and dual-use technologies from U.S. companies for Russia’s defense sector, and to smuggle sniper rifle ammunition, in violation of new U.S. sanctions imposed earlier this year.

  63. 63.

    Steve in the ATL

    @TriassicSands:
     

    Why just last weekend He shone his light upon my favorite football team and gave them an overwhelming victory!

    At least he was right about this part!

  65. 65.

    WaterGirl

    @Betty Cracker: Unrelated to your comment, but… last night on Pod Save America the boys were saying that DeSantis will crash and burn as soon as he tries to go national.  Something about in this age of personality where that is ever important, he basically has none and will flop like a dead fish.

  66. 66.

    Brachiator

    @Betty Cracker:

    Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday said he asked the Florida Supreme Court to impanel a statewide grand jury to “investigate any and all wrongdoing in Florida with respect to COVID-19 vaccines.” DeSantis said he expects the grand jury will bring “legal accountability for those who committed misconduct.”

    And this guy wants to be president?

  69. 69.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Sanjeevs:

    (a) John L. Smith is appointed to serve as Special Counsel for the United States Department o f Justice.

    (b) The Special Counsel is authorized to conduct the ongoing investigation into whether any person or entity violated the law in connection with efforts to interfere with the lawful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the Electoral College vote held on or about January 6, 2021, as well as any matters that arose or might arise directly from this investigation or that are within the scope of 28 C.F.R. § 600.4(a). This authorization does not apply to prosecutions that are currently pending in the District of Columbia, as well as future investigations and prosecutions of individuals for offenses they committed while physically present on the Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021. Those investigations and prosecutions remain under the authority of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Further delineation of the authorizations between the Special Counsel and the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia will be provided as necessary and appropriate.

    (c) The Special Counsel is further authorized to conduct the ongoing investigation referenced and described in the United States’ Response to Motion for Judicial Oversight and Additional Relief, DonaldJ Trump v. United States, No. 9:22-CV-81294-AMC (S.D. Fla. Aug. 30, 2022) (ECF No. 48 at 5- 13), as well as any matters that arose or may arise directly from this investigation or that are within the scope of 28 C.F.R. § 600.4(a).

    (d) The Special Counsel is authorized to prosecute federal crimes arising from the investigation of these matters. The Special Counsel is also authorized to refer to the appropriate United States Attorney discrete prosecutions that may arise from the Special Counsel’s investigation.

    (e) Sections 600.4 to 600.10 oftitle 28 ofthe Code ofFederal Regulations are applicable to the Special Counsel.

  71. 71.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @UncleEbeneezer: My read of that is that the rioters who were physically in the Capitol and already have pending cases, are not in Smith’s purview.  Pretty much everything else is, including Conspiracy to Obstruct by several Congresspeople, possibly.

  72. 72.

    geg6

    Completely off topic, but if anything can put me in a good mood, it’s when I hear “What Is Love.”  My favorite post-Beatles tune by any Beatle.

  73. 73.

    Mike in NC

    While driving through rural Georgia a few years back we saw all sorts of billboards dedicated to the KKK and Confederacy. Wife saw them in North Carolina, too, but that was 1970s.

  74. 74.

    piratedan

    @UncleEbeneezer: that was my understanding when Garland assigned him.  Essentially, find out how far and how deep this goes, document the crimes you find and prosecute them.

  75. 75.

    David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch

    Biden, with his aviators on, is killing this marriage equality speech.

  87. 87.

    CaseyL

    @David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch: His speech and Harris’, retracing the steps leading to today.

    I remember when Gavin Newsom unilaterally declared same sex marriage legal in San Fransisco – back in 2004!  – and how people from all over the country wired bouquets to the hundreds of couples waiting in that long, long line.

    Newsom caught flak for grandstanding, but my fondness for him started on that day.  And I think it was one of the first times the country as a whole had a chance to see how much and how widespread support for marriage equality was.

  90. 90.

    C Stars

    @PaulWartenberg:

     

    Even away from the cameras and the spotlights, the wingnuts truly believe their bullshit.

     

    Yes, that is my main takeaway from these texts. I thought the majority of these folks were just venal and putting on an act for their poorly educated constituents. Turns out a lot of them are really fucking crazy.

  91. 91.

    Betty Cracker

    @WaterGirl: I sure hope they’re right!

    @CaseyL: Grandstanding or not, it was the right thing to do, and I’ve liked him ever since. I still question his judgment for marrying Guilfoyle, but I have a few appalling exes so no room to throw stones…

  94. 94.

    UncleEbeneezer

    THREAD: Election officials in GA, WI, MI, AZ and NV have received subpoenas from the special counsel demanding their communications with the following list of conspirators. Let’s go through the list. 1/

    Kenneth Chesebro, Justin Clark, Joe DiGenova, John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, Boris Epshteyn, Rudi Giuliani, Bernard Kerik, Bruce Marks, Cleta Mitchell, Matthew Morgan, Kurt Olsen, William Olson, Stefan Passantino, Sydney Powell, Bill Stepien, Victoria Toensing, James Troupis, Lin Wood, Jr.

  95. 95.

    C Stars

    @Betty Cracker:  He might have a bit of a weakness there. I know two women he hit on when he was mayor (and married to Guilfoyle). And I don’t travel in SF political circles, just happen to live in the Bay Area.

    But yeah, I think he’s a pretty good politician, if perhaps a bit in the mold of Bill Clinton.

    ETA MAYOR not governor.

  96. 96.

    TriassicSands

    @C Stars:

    Emperors can hire/appoint Grand Inquisitors — and fire (i.e., execute them) if they don’t measure up. Both, however, get their power directly from God, who doesn’t tolerate deviations from The Word.

    Needless to say, the point is unlimited, unquestioned power.

  98. 98.

    TriassicSands

    @Betty Cracker:  I have a few appalling exes so no room to throw stones…

    Oh, no, you dated Don Jr? Betty, what were you thinking?

    But, if you were to throw stones and “accidentally” hit Don Jr., I’d understand.

  99. 99.

    Tony G

    @WaterGirl: Yeah, and I’ve never heard of this particular fascist lunatic.  In a normal country a guy like this would never have been elected to any office, not even dogcatcher.  In a halfway normal country there would be stories every day about this particular Christian-fascist — but in the present day United States he’s just another one of the many dangerous psychopaths in the GOP congressional delegation.  This country is in a real mess.

  102. 102.

    Ruckus

    @PaulWartenberg:

    I think it was before the 80s. Read about the depression and the concepts of finance and government 50 yrs prior. The wealthy people of the day were no different than those of today, it is all about the money, not the humanity. It’s like they are wealth addicts, whose entire lives are about money, not living, not enjoying, money. And yes living takes money. But it doesn’t take MONEY!

  103. 103.

    TriassicSands

    @R-Jud: …but the fact that the state has two Democratic senators means it can’t be considered TRULY bananas.

    Or maybe the “state” is crazy and Atlanta is not. (With some exceptions in both areas.)

  104. 104.

    CaseyL

    @Betty Cracker: What Newsom does, IMO, is effective grandstanding: he clarifies issues, awakens people, and punches back.  I’ve never disliked him for that; quite the opposite.

    @C Stars: Well, considering what we know now about Guilfoyle, I’m not sure I can blame him.  😉

  105. 105.

    WaterGirl

    @UncleEbeneezer: So it sounds like Jack Smith can’t prosecute ME if I was on the grounds that day, having broken into the capital with the mob.

    But if I were, say, a member of the House, he couldn’t prosecute me for something I did at the Capital building on Jan 6, but Jack Smith COULD prosecute me as a Representative if I had been involved in the planning of Jan 6 or any of the election schemes.

    Does that sound right to you guys?

  106. 106.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch:

    Biden attends mass weekly and is personal friends with Pope Francis, while Dump doesn’t even know how to hold a bible.

    Yes, Biden might be a strong believer in God, but Trump has Gid on his side. God won’t be too happy about it, given the whole ‘take no other gods before me’ business. In the end, it will be a diety showdown.

  107. 107.

    Cameron

    I thought the Ukrainian cyber-voters matched up pretty well with Jewish space lasers, but weren’t really game-changers.  That piece of religibberish, though, that was above and beyond, like the Sermon on the Mount as delivered by Ionesco.

  108. 108.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @WaterGirl: Yes.  Basically “Smith can oversee everything, except these over here because they are already being handled by USAttorneys of DC.”  Not sure why that is the case, but yeah, that’s how I read it.  I guess the logic could be the desire to have Smith only focussing on the bigger fish because the smaller ones are already far enough along and you have to draw a line on the scope of his duties somewhere.

  110. 110.

    Cameron

    @Betty Cracker: Yeah, there’s something to investigate – the local politicians who managed to have vaccination sites located where their buddies/donors were.  I’m sure that was coincidence, of course.

  111. 111.

    Steve in the ATL

    @tybee: ​
     and JPL and a couple in the Macon area and the musician who plays at ATL…we are legion! And totally not crazy.

  113. 113.

    Bill Arnold

    @apocalipstick:

    I am an ordained Baptist minister. I have a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree. I will tell you, as a former professional in the the field, that is theologically bugnuts.

    Thank you.
    I would very much like to see direct, vigorous, informed vivisections of those bugnuts theologies.

  114. 114.

    UncleEbeneezer

    CNN —  The Justice Department has tried to gain access to Republican Rep. Scott Perry’s text messages as part of a criminal investigation into 2020 election interference, facing off with his lawyers in a secret court proceeding after seizing his phone, CNN observed at the courthouse and sources familiar with the investigation said.

    The investigative work, now overseen by special counsel Jack Smith, is significant given that Perry texted then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows about advice from a “cyber forensic team” he was in touch with after the 2020 election.

  115. 115.

    Bill Arnold

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    Don’t worry, DeSantis just announced he’s petitioning the Florida Supreme Court to allow a statewide grand jury to investigate “vaccine misconduct.”

    Not sure, but I believe this is related to marketing claims that SARS-CoV-2 vaccines would help prevent spread of SARS-CoV-2. This was certainly true of the better vaccines prior to the spread of Delta ; in many low-exposure cases the vaccines would be effectively sterilizing (getting lucky at eliminating all virus), and even if not, drastically reduced severity would reduce shedding.
    They will be struggling to provide defensible science showing no effect on spread that is not contradicted by better science.
    Plus the companies involved will have very very good legal representation.

  116. 116.

    SuzieC

    @CaseyL: I vividly remember that too.  Wasn’t the first couple to be married a pair of 90 year old women who had been together for decades?  I remember seeing it on the news and crying.

  119. 119.

    Martin

    @Bill Arnold: Tough lift. Just suppressing symptoms will reduce the spread. In a stochastic model, reducing almost any variable produces benefits. That’s why you attack communicable disease along every available vector – a 5% improvement along 20 different vectors can be the difference between a pandemic and a regional outbreak.

  122. 122.

    jnfr

    These texts that TPM got are quite amazing. Ari Melber is covering them tonight too. TPM deserves major credit for this.

  123. 123.

    J R in WV

    @Scout211: ​

    I was very impressed* with the quality of our nation’s Republican leaders from their texts that were released by TPM yesterday today…..*and by impressed, I mean appalled.

    The one who impressed me the most was the one who urged trump to impose marshall law on the nation to delete the actual election results. I’m a Marshall University graduate, and I guess plenty of students there would make the same error regarding marshall law… but so sad for a member of congress to make such a ignorant mistake~!!~​

  124. 124.

    Argiope

    @Betty Cracker: FL has lost its damn mind (& by FL, read DeSantis et al.) That surgeon general sent out “guidance” to all healthcare providers telling them to be sure they explained all possible vaccine risks to patients as well as the official FL Dept of Health stance that they do not recommend COVID vaccines to healthy children or adolescents or mRNA vaccines for males aged 18 – 39.  Colleague in FL is spitting nails mad because she knows it’s misinformation they are asking clinicians to spread.  Concerned her license could be held up if she protests.

  126. 126.

    lowtechcyclist

    @FelonyGovt: ​
     

    This is truly frightening. I knew that many Congress critters were conventional, boring Chamber of Commerce types and bears of very little brain, but this holy warrior shit is off the charts.

    Fifty years ago, I used to know people who talked like Rep. Allen, but they were in an obscure Pentecostal fellowship group, not in the halls of Congress.

  127. 127.

    dww44

    @The Moar You Know:  the way I see it everyone of our 50 states has its share of  MAGAT’s.  There’s plenty of craziness all over the US; it’s just that some states are politically under the thumb of the GOP.  Please don’t paint us all with the same brush.  We ARE ALL in this together.

  128. 128.

    lowtechcyclist

    @J R in WV: ​
     

    The one who impressed me the most was the one who urged trump to impose marshall law on the nation to delete the actual election results. I’m a Marshall University graduate, and I guess plenty of students there would make the same error regarding marshall law… but so sad for a member of congress to make such a ignorant mistake~!!~​

    He probably meant the Marshall of the Supreme Court.

  130. 130.

    Gvg

    One of the things the rise of Trump really proved to me is that a lot of the self proclaimed evangelicals are not even basic Christians. I mean they have not even enough awareness of the real principles to notice that they are not following the rules. I sort of got used to their overlooking ministers cheating on their wives and confessing and repenting, and rich ministers decades ago but these people have been evidently only talking to each other for long enough, that they have gone past knowing enough to know when to lie and now just think their gibberish is really biblical. They are culturally nuts. They have been taught so many wrong things that they can’t see rationally.

    it is not just a few either. It is many if not most, because they are voting for the kooks instead of primarying them and picking real Christians who actually know what the Bible says. I have issues with them too, but the kooks are really scary and seem to come in many unpredictable subgroups, mostly violent ones. The evangelicals vote for the kooks, so this is who they are.

  131. 131.

    lowtechcyclist

    @zhena gogolia: ​
     

    I like “judge not less you be judged” This guy really knows his Bible. //

    I especially liked that phrase in the same text that he referred to “the deceit, lies, and hypocrisy of the enemy.” I guess somehow that isn’t judging.

  132. 132.

    geg6

    Been pretty busy this afternoon and am just catching up.  So I’m delighted to see, based on the latest TPM text reporting, that Mark Meadows is going to be going through some things.  And in Elmo news, he is apparently not paying the rent on any of the Twitter offices, is considering backing out of paying any severances and has dumped the Twitter legal team and hijacked the SpaceX legal team to try to put out the dumpster fire.  I just can’t with this loser.

  133. 133.

    raven

    The U.S. Senate runoff was being audited Wednesday and Thursday in most Georgia counties, where election workers will count paper ballots by hand so they can be compared to the results from the computer tally on election night.

    Election officials said Tuesday the audit will show voters whether results were accurate when Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock defeated Republican Herschel Walker by over 99,000 votes, or 2.8 percentage points.

  134. 134.

    dww44

    @Mike in NC: but we didn’t gift him all on our own.  Came to the state as a teen in a military family.  Finished Hs and college here.  Family roots in Pa. Never ever had a Southern accent.  Went off to Congress and never came back to GA to live.  Now he grifts on TV.

  136. 136.

    raven

    I know BJ has become a soccer blog but I want to note the passing of Mike “The Pirate” Leach, most recently the head coach at Mississippi State. He was truly one-of-a-kind who had a very different perspective on the game and on life.

     

    Leach was, simply put, a genius — both athletically and culturally. The man could be rough around the edges. He was known for publicly calling out players who didn’t perform to his standards. Sometimes, it was unsightly; for the most part, his players swore by him.

  137. 137.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @WaterGirl: In all fairness, sometimes I just say “fuck it” when there’s a typo in a text because it’s just not worth the effort to fix it.​

    And in all fairness, a substantial fraction of those who post on this site are happy to emulate you – even on the odd occasion when they actually notice a typo (“fuck it, not worth it”). But of course the same peeps are deelighted to hoot and holler and point and mock when the opposition misspells anything…and you wonder why they despise us??

  138. 138.

    Haroldo

    @geg6:

    Yes, I posted quickly before a meeting and never noticed that autofill decided it should be love.

    Well, all you need is love.

  139. 139.

    JPL

    If Warnock had run against a republican with less baggage, it’s doubtful that he would have won.   The democratic party has some work to do in GA.   It’s time to take credit for the good economic news in the state.

  141. 141.

    The Moar You Know

    Read about the depression and the concepts of finance and government 50 yrs prior. The wealthy people of the day were no different than those of today, it is all about the money, not the humanity.

    @Ruckus: I am reading some pre-Sumerian text, more than 6000 years old, in which the ruler of a province tells the people that the way they are going to take care of the widows and orphans is by cutting their taxes.  I shit you not.  The bullshit has been around literally forever.

  146. 146.

    Martin

    @FelonyGovt: The Chamber of Commerce guys are almost all out of politics now. You have a few guys like Mitt still in there, but the GOP is basically 100% culture war now. That’s all McConnell is there to do – he just does it via judges and obstruction.

  147. 147.

    Martin

    @JPL: I’m not sure that’s possible. Walkers base insisted that the GOP nominee have baggage. You’re basically saying that if the GA GOP weren’t who they are, that the result of the election would have been different. I mean, yeah, of course. The GOP had other options – they wanted Walker.

  149. 149.

    Geminid

    @Martin:  Herschel Walker had no political base of his own in Georgia and never even would have run for Senate, much less been nominated by the Republicans, had it not been for Trump’s sponsorship of his candicacy. Absent Trump’s influence, Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black would have been the likely nominee and Black would have been a stronger candidate than Walker.

  150. 150.

    BigJimSlade

    @WaterGirl: Yeah, it’s like an over-the-top creative writing project that someone is actually saying, “no, really, I believe exactly this.”

  154. 154.

    Paul in KY

    @raven: He was a right wing weirdo also. Now, he was a multi-millionaire, so he did have some sane/tax related reasons for voting GQP.

    Was our Offensive Coordinator at UK back in the Mummeian Era.

Comments are closed.