Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Fight them, without becoming them!

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

The only way through is to slog through the muck one step at at time.

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Stand up, dammit!

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

How stupid are these people?

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

The revolution will be supervised.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

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

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

“In this country American means white. everybody else has to hyphenate.”

The lights are all blinking red.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Late Night Open Thread: You Get the Behavior You Reward

Late Night Open Thread: You Get the Behavior You Reward

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That’s a well-known behaviorists’ maxim: If the critter (person, child, animal) you’re working with gets what they want (even if that’s only attention) when they’re misbehaving, they have no reason to stop misbehaving.


Compare & contrast!

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79Comments

  4. 4.

    lgerard

    Santos now hanging with Boebert and Gaetz.  I guess he decided to be in the bad boy caucus.

  5. 5.

    JWR

    Santos standing next to Gaetz and Boebert for the swearing in. Nice start to a hopefully brief congressional career.

  6. 6.

    Chetan Murthy

    @HumboldtBlue: I somehow feel like I should recognize the tune.  That kid’s got a great future in show business: she’s mastered not feeling even a teeny bit shy.

  7. 7.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JWR:

    Did you notice that Boebert remained seated during the oath of office? She clearly has huge contempt for the job she was elected to do. No surprise.

  12. 12.

    mrmoshpotato

    As tensions boiled over on the House floor during the speaker votes, Republican Mike Rogers of Alabama started to charge toward Matt Gaetz before Richard Hudson physically pulled him back.

    The alleged sex trafficker deserved the fight that was coming for him.  Shame that Rogers was stopped.

  15. 15.

    mrmoshpotato

    You ever leave a job and secretly hope everything will fall apart once you're gone?Nancy Pelosi is living your dream.— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) January 4, 2023

    BWHAHaHAHA!!!!!

  16. 16.

    Edmund Dantes

    @SiubhanDuinne: when they were hard lobbying Gaetz and Boebert to switch one of their present votes you could read her lips saying “it won’t be me”.

  18. 18.

    eclare

    IMO, this behavior will not wear well with most Americans.  Yes, my state will continue to be a cesspool, but I am very optimistic about GA, NV, AZ, etc.  People like Game of Thrones on their teevee, not in their lives.

  19. 19.

    JWR

    @NotMax:

    Now what am I supposed to watch?

    Episodes of Laugh-in, streaming free on tubi! (Yeah, I finally hooked up the Roku 3.) And ya  know, I didn’t appreciate that show enough when it first aired, mostly because I was only 10 years old at the time.

  20. 20.

    CaseyL

    @eclare:  It’s a one-week wonder of a story, and will vanish by Monday.  For the MSM, when it comes to covering the GOP, all past atrocities go into the Bin of Forgetting; they’re too eager to cover the next sparkly bit.

    I really would like to see Jack Smith get moving on indictments.

  21. 21.

    mrmoshpotato

    @sukabi: Now I need to watch Leo’s metal version.

    And Fallon can still go fuck himself for sucking Dump’s ass.  “Oh haha!  Let me see if your shit bag hair is real!  This is fun!  You aren’t a fat, orange fascist who should’ve been aborted by your mother.  No, not at all.”

  22. 22.

    eclare

    @CaseyL:   I don’t know…people in the midterms voted for sanity.  I think they will again in 2024.

    And I have no doubt House Republicans will manage to keep the chaos going daily until election day 2024.  I don’t think there will be a chance for the media to ignore how batshit crazy the House Republicans are.

  23. 23.

    NotMax

    @JWR

    (Yeah, I finally hooked up the Roku 3.)

    Now permit me to tell you about the rest of the religion….

    ;)

  24. 24.

    eclare

    @mrmoshpotato:   I have never found Fallon funny, although I like other late night shows like Colbert and Kimmel.  Plus to me there is something off about his affect, it’s creepy.  But a lot of people do like him.

  26. 26.

    columbusqueen

    By the time Joe & his posse finish with them, the Freedum Caucus will be turned into chopped meat for Commander’s food bowl.

  28. 28.

    opiejeanne

    @HarlequinGnoll: According to Bloomberg:

    “…Special Counsel Jack Smith has tapped Ray Hulser, a veteran prosecutor who previously led the Justice Department’s public integrity section, and hired David Harbach, who previously served as counsel to a Trump adversary, former FBI Director James Comey, according to the person who asked to remain anonymous.
    The two attorneys have prosecuted some of the most high-profile public corruption targets of both political parties in recent years, including cases against Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and former presidential candidate and Senator John Edwards. …”

  30. 30.

    Amir Khalid

    So it has finally ended, the way it was always going to end: Kevin with the gavel that he has turned into a booby prize. I pity the fool.

  31. 31.

    eclare

    @Amir Khalid:   Yes but he has been damaged: humiliated for days, and who knows what he bargained away to get the job.

    One representative can call to remove him at any moment for anytime.  Start the next luttuce.

  32. 32.

    mrmoshpotato

    @eclare: I’m a fan of Colbert, Kimmel, and Meyers.  I particularly like Seth’s A Closer Look segments because it’s him just blatantly calling out bullshit.

  34. 34.

    Yutsano

    So we’re about to go from one of the most effective speakers the House has ever had to one of the most ineffective (and possibly shortest tenured) speakers ever. I hope Kevin decided it was worth the price.

  35. 35.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @eclare:

    One representative can call to remove him at any moment for anytime.

    Does that include Democrats? Could they call for his removal once a day for the rest of the term, just to keep Kevin on his toes?

  37. 37.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Yutsano:

    So we’re about to go from one of the most effective speakers the House has ever had to one of the most ineffective (and possibly shortest tenured) speakers ever. I hope Kevin decided it was worth the price. 

    Yeah.  That about sums it up.

  38. 38.

    Amir Khalid

    @Yutsano:

    I am struck by how oblivious Kevin is to the consequences of his winning strategy. He has traded away the power and authority of the Speaker — and doomed himself to two years of ineffectual flailing. Of being the butt of jokes on late-night TV.

  41. 41.

    Ruckus

    @Amir Khalid:

    Oblivious Kevin.

    Actually quite a good name for him.

    So I guess that we can now look forward to 2 yrs of not actually having an operating federal law making system.

  42. 42.

    VeniceRiley

    Now we can move on to crucial work for the people: Getting Hunter Biden’s dick pics on c-span.

  44. 44.

    Geminid

    @Martin: Re: how you win purple districts.

    Sharice Davids won the Kansas 3rd CD without Ms. Porter’s stunts. Porter is a decent legislator, maybe even above the median in the talented House Class of 2018. But I think Sharice Davids could win Katie Porter’s purple district. I’m not so sure Katie Porter could win Davids’.

  46. 46.

    Shalimar

    I thought McCarthy would be so weakened that they would turn to Scalise.  I’m happy to be wrong for now, and still think Scalise will be Speaker by July.  No one really cares who is driving a clown car.  That isn’t an important position in the act.

  50. 50.

    sab

    Ohio had a similar ugly standoff over the speakership. Two thirds of the Republicans in the Ohio House wanted Derek Merrin. (Derek Merrin is the guy who wanted doctors to have to reimplant ectopic pregnancy fetuses.) One third of the Republicans in the Ohio House did not want him, so they got together with the Democrats and elected Jason  Stephens. Stephens is very right wing but he is not batshit crazy and is willing to work with Democrats in the few areas where we all agree on stuff.

    The Ohio Republican Party was furious, and voted to censure the 22 Republicans who voted with the Democrats to elect a very right wing but not crazy Republican Speaker. Apparently the clown show in Washington is what they would have preferred.

  52. 52.

    WereBear

    It is like the national body is trying to get over a bad infection, but we can’t ever get to the pockets of infection that keep us sick.

    Maybe, with all the Confederate statues toppling and the increasing speed of their descent into delusional madness, we’ve got a crisis, we’ve got intravenous antibiotics, we can clean out more of these ugly wounds.

  53. 53.

    Betty Cracker

    @Geminid: I read Porter may take a run at Feinstein’s seat, and so might Adam Schiff. Do you know if they would have to resign their House seats to run? It would be a shame to lose either one.

  54. 54.

    Geminid

    Congress clearly needs something. Is it Yuuyaraqin, the code of the Alaskan Yup’ik people?

         “For me, Yuuyaraq is just being human, to live and survive, to live honorably.”

    -Marie Meade, Yup’ik culturer bearer and language teacher.

    Mary Peltola, Yup’ik salmon fisher and Congresswoman for Alaska, describes the values of Yuuyaraq:

        “So much of Yuuyaraq is setting aside your own ego, setting aside yourself,” said Peltola.”Really thinking about about other people, thinking about the community, thinking about the knowledge that has been passed on to you.”

    This is from a recent article put up by Alaska Public Media titled, “Mary Peltola and the Art of Yuuyaraqing.”

    Peltola on other Yuuyaraq values:

        “One of the best ones is to have a sense of humor.”

    A link?

    https://www.alaskapublic.org/2023/01/06/mary-peltola-and-the-art-of-yuuyaraqing

  55. 55.

    HinTN

    @WereBear:

    we’ve got a crisis, we’ve got intravenous antibiotics, we can clean out more of these ugly wounds

    I hope so because the alternative is the death of “government established by the people for the people.”

  56. 56.

    Baud

    @Geminid:

    So much of Yuuyaraqin is setting aside your own ego, setting aside yourself,” said Peltola.”Really thinking about about other people, thinking about the community,

     
    Sounds awful.

  58. 58.

    Geminid

    @WereBear: Thank you so much!

    The article is worth checking out just for the picture of Representative Peltola on the first day of Congress. A sharp dressed woman:

        As befitting the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress, she wore a black kispuk for the occasion, a traditional Yup’ik dress with big pockets trimmed in red. She also wore mukluk boots made of fur and hide.

  59. 59.

    WereBear

    @Baud: Turns out Maslow studied the Blackfeet tribe and based much of his self-actualization theory on their culture.

    But, like the Seven Nations governmental ideas which Franklin put into our governmental system, that’s been quietly shushed up.

    Because that can’t be.

  61. 61.

    Ken

    @NotMax: Now what am I supposed to watch?

    The vote on the rules package is scheduled for Monday, followed by formation of committees. I’m sure that will be filled with the sort of healthy discussion and nuanced debate that we’ve just seen.

    Unfortunately now that they’re sworn in, CNN loses control of the cameras.

  62. 62.

    Geminid

     

     

    @Betty Cracker: I don’t think Porter can run for both seats if it is a regular election. If Senator Feinstein resigns early I guess the Governor will choose someone to fill out her term, as happened in the case of Vice President Harris.

    Representatives Barbara Lee and Adam Schiff are reported to be considering a run. Also, some people say Governor Newsom might go for it.

  63. 63.

    sab

    @Betty Cracker: Since Congresspeople elections are every even year, they probably would have to choose which to run in and not run for the other.

    Too bad Feinstein won’t gracefully resign and let the Democratic governor replace her. Is that how it works in California? In Ohio that is pretty much standard practice among retiring officeholderss if the Governor is of the same party, so that the appointed replacement can run as an imcumbent

    ETA Geminid beat me to it, and as always said it better.

  68. 68.

    Geminid

    @Baud: At least one Democrat should make it past the jungle primary into the general election.

    It will be a crowded field, though. Maybe the Republican candidates will cancel each other out. If not, a Dem vs. Rep contest wouldn’t be a bad thing.

  70. 70.

    Scout211

    As discussed last night in comments, in the new rules to be voted on Monday, the wording has changed for vacating the Speaker. See both the rules and the rules analysis here.

    This is from the analysis:

    Resolution Declaring the Office of Speaker Vacant. Subsection (q) strikes language from rule IX to allow any member to offer a privileged resolution declaring the Office of Speaker vacant

  71. 71.

    Anya

    @Geminid: I am so glad I am not the only one not that impressed with Potter’s stunts and the attention she gets. Don’t get me wrong, I am so happy she is in congress and I think she does good work but she can still be as affective without the stunts. Just like, Sharice Davids, Lauren Underwood is in a purple district and is very affective and gets results without the media presence and stunts. It’s always interesting to me who the internet focuses and who they ignore.

  72. 72.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @opiejeanne: This is just Garland’s 11-dimensional chess to give cover for his plan to quietly kill any chance of indictments against Trump and other big fish!

    Seriously though, the argument that Garland is afraid to indict Trump now has a couple major problems:

    • Grand Juries, subpoenas, seized phones, cooperation from key witnesses (Oathkeepers, Proud Boys, Cassidy Hutchinson etc.)

    • Garland hires Jack Smith, who has a reputation for being an aggressive attorney, willing to go after big fish regardless of political fallout.

    • Garland has said that he will defer to Smith on charging decisions

    • Smith hiring people known for prosecuting high level corruption

    And from the very beginning, Garland’s DOJ has fought Executive Privilege, Attorney Client Privilege, and every other attempt by Trump and his minions to withhold testimony, documents etc. and is fighting for “Obstruction” to cover even the people who weren’t there on 1/6.

    We can’t know who will be indicted/not but all signs sure point to the fact that Garland has set the table to make high-level indictments, up to and including Trump.

  74. 74.

    Chris Johnson

    @Starfish: Upthread there’s a reddit link with a picture of him raising his hand to take the oath while flashing a super-obvious white power sign. So basically he’s R-Fascist, which should surprise nobody. Is it another lie? I don’t think that’s relevant. Colors, shown.

  76. 76.

    kindness

    The die has been cast.  There will be no debt ceiling bill passed from this House.  Biden needs to start drawing attention to that right now.  The MSM won’t be our friend on this either.

  78. 78.

    StringOnAStick

    My understanding is there is a grand jury seated in D.C. That runs until March, though I am not sure when in March.  What I’ve read is that actions coming from this remaining grand jury are likely where the indications of indictments will come from.  Kevin may not hold that gavel for very long based on this, as well as the fact that his caucus is batshit crazy.

    It makes some sense that the insane 20 went for broke on this Speaker fight just for the chaos, because they know what they did and they very likely know by now that the DOJ knows too.  Might as well go down swinging I guess.

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