Another Republican announces candidacy for President of the United States.
Only the best people!
I would definitely make my pregnant wife stand there in high heels.
It’s real:
— Santiago Mayer (@santiagomayer_) January 26, 2023
Yeah, that’s who I want to be taking that 3 am phone call!
Read about his candidacy here. (No, really, don’t bother. No point in linking.)
Looked like we needed an open thread, and this is as good a start as anything.
h/t BC in Illinois
Open thread.
WaterGirl
Comment from BC in Illinois, from a mostly dead thread. Seemed like a good start for an open thread.
jackmac
Rollan WHO?
Liberty University grad. That’s all I need to know. PASS.
Old School
His candidacy is more important than the life of the mother.
JPL
@WaterGirl: Oh my!
Damien
Wait wait wait. Are you trying to tell me that a Republican West Virginian would be more concerned about his image as a virile daddy than the health of a pregnant woman?
I find this entire conclusion suspicious! Suspicious I say! /s
Wapiti
@Old School: sounds like the candidacy might be stillborn.
Baud
I am going to assume that every Republican announcing their candidacy is doing so in an attempt to get ahead of a DOJ criminal investigation.
Old School
@Wapiti: In his defense, he did make over to her faster than Trump would have in a similar situation.
justawriter
Let me guess, his main qualification is that his twatter account is followed by BOTH Donald Trump and Elon Musk
scav
Add a C&W soundtrack and it’ll be a GQP campaign video classic: ♬ Faint By Your Man ♬.
Jess
Funny in a tragic sort of way–I hope his wife is okay and that he doesn’t take it out on her later. I could see someone like him doing that…
JPL
@Jess: Well, if you consider that he kept on with his speech rather than seek medical attention, I will assume that he wasn’t happy with her behavior.
What a jackass.
Kay
@Jess:
Me too. That he is the last to go to her- oof- she has to watch that video.
Ken
SCOOP! IDENTITY OF CATTURD REVEALED!
WaterGirl
We obviously don’t have to continue talking about this hideous creature, but I did think a bit of point and laugh at the asshole candidate might be a good start for the open thread we needed.
If you have ever “stood up” as a member of a wedding party, they warn you about not locking your knees as you stand there, because people who do that often end up fainting. I don’t know the why or how of that, but I do know that’s a thing.
That was my thought when I first say her swaying before she dropped to her knees. I do hope she’s fine, and I suspect that she is.
If only Melania had known the trick when Trump was announcing, but at least future R candidate’s wives have that trick up their sleeves.
patrick II
Every time I see someone who is a graduate of Liberty I think of the young lady, just out of Liberty Law school who was appointed to a fairly high position in the Bush Justice Department. During an interview she was asked about her inexperience. She wasn’t worried because she was a product of a good Christian education and ” I know all of the answers “.
Kay
@WaterGirl:
Well, it’s good. That video has a lot of information she needs in it.
la caterina
I think it’s the dad, Rollan Roberts, who is a WV state senator. The son, Rollan Roberts II, is the one running for Pres. He doesn’t seem to hold any elected office. Maybe Cole can clue us in when he returns from vacation.
HumboldtBlue
Only the best people you say?
West of the Rockies
@Jess:
Yeah, I bet his thoughts were, “Seriously? She has to pass out now?”
geg6
John Cole must be so proud of his state.
geg6
@Ken:
You made me spit soda at my desk. You owe my employer a monitor. ;-)
FelonyGovt
@WaterGirl: OMG yes I was the Matron of Honor (sounds like a prison guard) at my sister’s wedding. I remember standing there, carrying a really heavy bridal bouquet, in high heels in the heat and humidity of Long Island in the summer. Surprised I didn’t pass out.
I feel bad for that poor pregnant lady with the asshole husband.
Kay
They’re already more unpopular than the Democrats. “Hunter Biden!” If people didn’t care about Hunter Biden in 2016, and they didn’t, why would they care now?
Betty Cracker
Poor thing. I hope she’s okay.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
If the cast of Newsmax generated ratings, Chris Licht and Lachlan Murdoch would be in a bidding war for them, and MSNBC would be trying to figure out which ones they could pick off without pissing off Rachel Maddow
Cameron
@HumboldtBlue: Oh dear. A self-hating Jew.
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I encourage them to hold congressional hearings on why Newsmax wasn’t purchased by a cable company, consistent with the requirements of “free speech”.
Maybe they can get that 27% down to 17. I swear the east coast wingnuts are the worst. I prefer southerners. Less malicious and nasty.
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
These people now actually believe that the First Amendment REQUIRES people to buy their crappy, garbage products.
Ken
@Kay: I wonder how many of that 27% were won over by the “humiliate Kevin McCarthy for a week” campaign? That’s what I call the right priorities.
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Not watching Rumble? First Amendment violation! Woop woop- Glenn Greenwald will pull you over and take you to free speech jail.
khead
Getting a serious Duke brothers vibe from that video.
Moritmer, your brother’s not well…
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@khead: FUCK HIM!
Made me a Don Ameche fan!
Jeffro
Can I just suggest that the answer to this idiot and the one in the previous thread (Marianne Williamson) would be to promote a constitutional amendment that you have to have actual *qualifications* to run for (and eventually, serve as) president?
Like having served as:
State Gov for 4 years or more prior to filing
US Rep or Senator for 6 years prior to filing
It would get rid of so. many. grandstanding. losers
ETA: and no more Ye nonsense
ETA: and no more worries that our Idiocracy would elect President Swift or President “The Rock” Johnson. It’s a serious job, America!
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Directv is a regime?
kindness
Didn’t OAN do the same thing NewsMax is doing now? Trying to sue their provider I mean? Yea I think they did. Funny thing too is they all think it’s their 1st Amendment right to be carried by a private company. This is the unfortunate point in history where the ‘I’m Just A Bill’ cartoon guy comes out and just shoots himself.
Jeffro
@Kay: that’s the ‘crazification’ thing I mentioned earlier…it’s unreal.
Please proceed, GQP
Jeffro
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Hakeem Jeffries could have a field day with this…
“So let me get this straight? No network or media platform – or hell, any business anywhere in America – can ever drop a low-performing content creator or “news” site regardless of their contractual demands or poor performance? That’s the deal? Keep far-right networks and businesses on the air and in the marketplace, even when the demand for their ‘product’ has plummeted?”
“That doesn’t sound like the ‘invisible hand’ to me. That sounds like…I don’t know…either the ‘invisible middle finger’ to the American consumer or the ‘invisible gravy train’ to insurrection-cheering propaganda outfits.”
Suzanne
@justawriter:
And Catturd!
eclare
@Jeffro: No love for Taylor? She’s come out as pretty liberal, we could do worse.
The Moar You Know
@Kay: they’ve got two certain “yes” votes on the Supreme Court for that. Might as well bring the case and see if they get lucky.
Kay
@Jeffro:
They’re already behind on the generic ballot and they havent even started “work” yet. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.
eclare
@kindness: I have argued with people for years about who the First Amendment protects them from. It does no good. Such snowflakes. My cable package does not include TCM, which is insane considering all the niche, weird stations I get. Never occurred to me to call my rep about it.
Jeffro
@eclare: Oh, she rocks, but it’s not about her. It’s about having some (any?) standards for president. It would clear out the ‘noise’ candidates and their nonsense. Make these folks do some work other than having a gazillion followers on InstaBook or eighty million downloads.
(and make them have an actual track record of how they’d govern, too)
Jeffro
@Kay: I’m excited to hear Kevin’s reaction.
Assuming a reporter is willing to
do their jobbe bold enough to ask.Kay
@eclare:
But look what conservatives have done here. They have told us that DeSantis’ STATE action to ban speech is not a First Amendment issue while private actors choosing not to buy their (crap) product IS a First Amendment issue. This is more than “not understanding”. This is redefining an entire concept. It’s EXACTLY wrong.
The Moar You Know
The Simpsons, as usual, got there first:
@kindness:
I’m an Amendment-to-Be,
Yes, an Amendment-to-Be,
And I’m hopin’ that they’ll ratify me.
There’s a lot of flag burners
Who have got too much freedom,
I wanna make it legal
For policemen to beat ’em.
‘Cos there’s limits to our liberties,
Least I hope and pray that there are,
‘Cos those liberal freaks go too far.
Gin & Tonic
Just got home from an MRI. For a non-invasive medical procedure, this was surprisingly uncomfortable.
Time for a cocktail.
kindness
@eclare: Call Tucker Carleson and tell him how you are being oppressed by a WOKE corporation. Your local Republican Congress critters will be on it after Tucker’s next broadcast.
HumboldtBlue
Only their best. I have no clue as to how reliable this Florida news site is, but a former inmate at Guantanamo has some words for DeSantis.
dmsilev
@Gin & Tonic: That’s because of all the magnetic vaccine particles you have inside you. MRIs are bad for that sort of thing you know.
Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)
I still refuse to believe this Rollan Roberts guy is for real. It’s got to be an elaborate troll. From his website:
It’s either performance art or he’s mentally ill.
Gin & Tonic
@dmsilev: Thank you. I knew I needed a physicist to explain things for me.
SiubhanDuinne
@Cameron:
Self-hating-ish.
JPL
@HumboldtBlue: Even if true, Desantis approval rating would go up.
Sure Lurkalot
@eclare:
I didn’t call my council person but this shit is by design. My package included TCM for a while and then mid contract, they cut off access. When I called them on it, they had put it on a special purchase tier as a sports AND ENTERTAINMENT add on. IOW, bundled it with 99% sports stations and then argued it wasn’t popular enough to include in the tier I was in or too popular not to force me to pay more for it. I got it comped for the rest of my contract but now pay xtra for it and the sports stations I have never watched.
Frankly, like the airlines, the home entertainment delivery system could use one giant overhaul.
The Thin Black Duke
@Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA): Why not both?
HumboldtBlue
@JPL:
Sadly, true.
mrmoshpotato
@HumboldtBlue: This fuckin’ guy…
I already sick of hearing about this lying, apparently racist too, motherfucker. He can fuck off into the Sun already.
And take Dump and Apartheid Bitchboy with him.
Roger Moore
@Baud:
That’s totally unfair! Some of them are hoping to grift from their campaign, and some of them are completely delusional and think they have a chance. I would assume some of them are also publicity hounds who are hoping to make it into the national news for a while. Of course some of them fit into more than one category, or possibly even all of the above.
lgerard
Rollan Roberts is not a graduate of Liberty University.
He is a graduate of Pensacola Christian College, which if FAR worse.
dnfree
@Jeffro: Your criteria would have gotten rid of Barack Obama, who had not served at the federal level for 6 years. Never mind the birth certificate.
Suzanne
Here’s Rod Dreher, talking about hanging out with Viktor Orban:
This doesn’t sound homoerotic at all, nuh uh, not even a little bit.
In all seriousness, I hope the CIA is trailing Dreher. This is dangerous.
Martin
@HumboldtBlue: I’ll be honest, ‘participates in torture’ make Ron seem like a much more interesting person than my current impression of him. Not a better person, but definitely more interesting.
Princess
@Old School: I promise you, the cheese sandwich he had for lunch is more important than the mother. She’s just an imperfect vessel.
UncleEbeneezer
@Gin & Tonic: If you have any amount of claustrophobia it’s really not a fun undertaking. Hope you get good results/info.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jeffro: It is as bad an idea today as it has been every time you propose it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
listening to the Nicolle Wallace program and this story is fucking wild, and one of those when I wish I could get my hands on a dead-tree copy of the dread NYT
Roger Moore
@Kay:
There’s that number again.
dmsilev
@Gin & Tonic: Years of dedicated study allow me to bring such insights to you.
Or too much coffee after lunch. One or the other.
UncleEbeneezer
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I often think that Barr was a cold-blooded, cynical political operative, much like Mitch McConnell, exploiting trump and his supporters to advance the Republican political agenda. But maybe Barr was a true believer, and truly nuts
“You fuck with me, I’ll fuck with you”?
VOR
@Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA): I’m so old I remember Bobby Jindal scoffing at money being spent on volcano monitoring. Soon afterwards a volcano erupted in Alaska and threatened plane travel in the area and residents of Anchorage.
Roger Moore
@Jeffro:
I think you need to cast your net at least a little bit wider. Just as some examples:
I think the fundamental problem is with voters being willing to elect idiots. If you introduce extra qualifications, the voters who want to elect idiots will just elect better qualified idiots, like George W. Bush.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Attorney General Plump Joe Pesci?
I wonder if he’ll still be the darling of the media circuit.
Baud
@Roger Moore: “A better qualified idiot” is a great campaign slogan.
HumboldtBlue
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
to advance the
RepublicanRussian political agendaAM in NC
@Old School: For the win!
Suzanne
@Baud: You’re so elitist, with your qualifications.
Sister Golden Bear
In today’s
ethnictrans cleansing news…FTFNYT finally has a non-hit piece about trans people, putting the spotlight on the more than 150 bills introduced just this year by Republicans trying to legislate us out of existence. Yes, I know it’s a FTFNTY article, but you should still read it. It’s absolutely chilling. It details the many, many ways that they’re trying to eradicate us from public existence.
In it, the Christofascists outright admit, on the record, that their focus on trans youth were just a pretext to eventually ban all gender affirming care. They never cared about children.
If you missed my posts from yesterday, Republicans in several states want to ban trans-related medical procedures to those under age 26 — that age is not accidental, since it’s the age when secondary sex changes are completed. Not only do they want trans people to go through forced puberty, but this also means that trans people will be more identifiable (i.e. less able to “pass”) which will make them easier targets to the anti-trans discrimination laws that they also want to enact. Some of laws would make a felony for the trans person to even consent to these procedures. The name of some these bills are openly referencing a Biblical verse about killing people “for the sake of the children.”
This is not a “cultural war” this is ethnic cleansing against trans people. And a replay of Christofascist Republican. anti-gay campaigns dating back to the 1970.
HumboldtBlue
Speaking of sending only the best, Adam Schiff has announced his run for senate.
Baud
@VOR: I’m thankful he didn’t criticize asteroid monitoring.
Baud
@Suzanne: Did Dreher take writing lessons from Peggy Noonan?
Roger Moore
@Baud:
Sadly, though, not one you can use until you get some better qualifications.
Princess
@Sister Golden Bear: thanks for this. So many of my friends have trans kids. The cruelty here makes me ill.
Scout211
My internet has been up and down since the great storms of January, so I apologize if this has already been posted:
Attorney John Eastman Charged with Multiple Disciplinary Counts by the State Bar of California
Ken
“And that is the prison where we hold political dissidents without trial, and over there are the interrogation rooms, and that is the drainage for the abattoir under the execution cells…”
Suzanne
@Baud: Possibly. Combine that with the psychological discomfort which must be resultant from conflicting desire to adhere to conservative religion but (I suspect) deeply closeted orientation….plus the nastiness of wanting to see your “enemies” suffer…. and you get these steaming piles of insanity.
prostratedragon
@khead: Oh thanks for that reminder. It’s like the whole point of the movie was to make a setting for that moment.
trollhattan
@Betty Cracker: She won’t be okay until she divorces Rollan. (Rollan? Seriously? Somebody do a “Rawhide” setup.)
trollhattan
@Baud: Shoe-nuzzling certainly not out of the question.
Geminid
@UncleEbeneezer: Cuccinelli saw a lot, and I bet he told the grand jury about it. He’s no true believer with some special loyalty to Trump.
Cuccinelli has been a conservative lawyer-politician for 20 years at least. I’ve watched him, and while his politics are horrible Cuccinelli strikes me as a smart man, too smart to try and pull the wool over Jack Smith’s eyes.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Roger Moore: James Buchanan had an awesome fucking resume.
trollhattan
Texas Republican senator decides to tell us what we already goddamn knew, just because.
“Anytime soon” = never, and the horse you rode in on.
Barry
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: “But maybe Barr was a true believer, and truly nuts”
I believe that he’s a full-on Catholo-fascist, Opus Dei level.
By that, I do not mean ‘right-wing Catholic’, but an actual fascist.
HumboldtBlue
When you’ve lost The National Review. Charles Cooke rakes Trump (no linking, however).
UncleEbeneezer
Speaking of the
bestworst people…Novak Djokovic’s dad, Srdjan Djokovic was posing with the pro-Putin rally last night just outside Rod Laver Arena.Last week, Novak complained that he was being “publicly lynched” because people were questioning a bathroom break he took during a match when he wasn’t allowed to.
The Australian Open tournament is currently not allowing the crowd to boo during matches (free speech!), a brand new rule they imposed in anticipation of crowds booing Djokovic for last year’s Covid/Deportation f*ckery.
UncleEbeneezer
@Geminid: Apparently he didn’t have a lawyer with him, so hopefully he didn’t just plead the fifth repeatedly. He is probably being asked about the voter-machine seizure plan and/or the missing secret service/DHS texts from 1/6.
WaterGirl
@Scout211: It’s about time, and it’s a start. But these people need to face more consequences than just not getting to be an attorney anymore.
Q: If you are disbarred in one state, are you disbarred in all states? Or does state X say if you are disbarred anywhere you can’t practice in Y state. But State Z can allow you to practice if they want?
buggrit
@UncleEbeneezer: How about hissing? Is hissing allowed?
Gin & Tonic
@UncleEbeneezer: The Australian Open is apparently allowing people with russian flags and t-shirts with big letters “Z” on them, so I expect nothing but more Serbian scumbags.
HumboldtBlue
@WaterGirl:
As far as I know, each state has its own bar standards, and you must pass each specific state bar exam to be able to serve as a lawyer in that state. My BiL took the Cali bar exam three times and failed to pass, but passed the bar in both Illinois and Florida (where has been a lawyer for the past 20 years).
Sister Golden Bear
@Princess: I appreciate your thanks. Sometimes I feel like I’m just screaming into the void.
Baud
@Sister Golden Bear:
The void is always listening.
Brachiator
@HumboldtBlue:
I love how the right is finally treating Trump like the loser he is.
The wild card is whether Trump himself is truly out of gas, or can still rally enough idiot voters to at least make a showing in the primary.
UncleEbeneezer
@Gin & Tonic: Is Serbian support for Putin/Russia pretty common, I take it?
UncleEbeneezer
@Sister Golden Bear: Echoing the thanks. I often have already seen the articles as I follow some of the same people you do, but I always really appreciate your added context, insights and perspective.
Roger Moore
@UncleEbeneezer:
Yes. Russia backed Serbia against all the other Yugoslav successor states, especially Kosovo, and the Serbians- especially Serbian revanchists- seem to be favorably inclined toward Russia because of it.
Leslie
@Sister Golden Bear: These people are so grotesquely despicable. Reading about the research into certain psychedelic drugs vastly increasing people’s empathy, I wish that it were ends-justifying-the-means possible to put that stuff in the water and dose the monsters en masse.
HumboldtBlue
@Roger Moore:
They’re Slavs, and the mutual support between Russia and Serbia goes back centuries. It’s not a new phenomenon, just look at the origins of WW1.
@Leslie:
Fantastic Fungi on Netflix is most definitely worth a watch.
Gin & Tonic
@UncleEbeneezer: Yes.
hells littlest angel
“Keeping EVERY American safe — uh — keeping almost EVERY American safe …”
WaterGirl
@hells littlest angel: Keeping the right Americans safe. You know, the ones that matter.
karen marie
@Baud: Hear hear.
karen marie
@trollhattan: Do we think she now understands why he was so impatient that she become pregnant? She and the unborn child are mere props to further his delusional ambition.
FelonyGovt
@Sister Golden Bear: You’re not screaming into the void here. I’ve got to believe all this performative cruelty will come back to bite Republicans in the ass, but it can’t happen soon enough.
sab
@Jeffro: Under your rules Obama wouldn’t have qualified.
karen marie
@Gin & Tonic: I read this morning the people with Russian flags were removed.
UncleEbeneezer
@HumboldtBlue: On the flip side, The Last Of Us on HBO is amazing but will definitely make you feel a whole other kind of way towards fungi, lol.
Roger Moore
@HumboldtBlue:
There’s something more than common Slavic identity, since most of the rest of Yugoslavia was also Slavic- it’s right there in the name- and doesn’t have the same relationship with Russia. I think you’re probably right about it being a result of the long-time relationship between Russia and Serbia. Serbia was an independent country, and one that Russia strongly supported, while most of the rest of future Yugoslavia was part of the Holy Roman/Austro-Hungarian Empire. I probably is also related to Yugoslavia having managed to stay out of the Warsaw Pact and thus avoid the nastiest side of Russian imperialism.
UncleEbeneezer
@Roger Moore: That’s what I figured. I’ve been listening to the American Psyop podcast about Wesley Clark Jr’s incredibly strange story and there’s a lot of ties to the Balkan wars which I don’t know much about, but there are definitely a lot of Serbian-Russian connections. Also connections to Sean Stone (Oliver’s son), The Young Turks, 3%ers, mystical cults, Tulsi Gabbard, Standing Rock, AIM, Qanon, even Kanye. It’s wild!!
HumboldtBlue
@Roger Moore:
I didn’t realize Poland was a Slavic nation, not sure why other than ignorance (don’t get started on the Balkans, where I wear my ignorance like a cloak).
And I agree with you in that Serbia has long been an independent nation and its relation with Russia have been nation-to-nation while others have been subsumed under outside empires for centuries.
WaterGirl
@UncleEbeneezer:
??
Ruckus
Don’t know where to put this but I just listened to a talk by CA gov Gavin Newsom from 2 days ago about shootings and guns, and this is about the most authentic talk by a politician I’ve ever heard. Given the shootings in CA over the last few days in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay I’d suggest that a listen to Newsom will be worth anyone’s time. I am quite impressed and while in the past I’ve thought that he’s a decent governor, my opinion has gone up quite a few points.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XYiZSahFgU
HumboldtBlue
@WaterGirl:
Clark served as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO from 1997 to 2000, commanding Operation Allied Force during the Kosovo War. He’s written a book about the experience and has shared his thoughts on the current Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Sister Golden Bear
@UncleEbeneezer: @FelonyGovt:
Thanks. I would much prefer to write about other things than the
ethnictrans cleansing, and doing so is personally difficult for me, but people need to know what’s unfolding.I’m relatively safe in California, but I admit I’m at the point of dusting off my 2016 plans for how to leave the country if necessary.
WaterGirl
@HumboldtBlue: You mentioned an “incredibly strange story”. That’s what I was asking about.
TerryC
@JPL: He stopped his speech.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@WaterGirl: It was Uncle Ebeneezer who mentioned the very strange story
GibberJack
@Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA): Well isn’t that spacial.
GibberJack
@Baud: Great for a nym too.