Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

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

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

T R E 4 5 O N

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

Shut up, hissy kitty!

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Excellent Links / Friday Night Open Thread: We’re Good, They’re… Fekked Up

Friday Night Open Thread: We’re Good, They’re… Fekked Up

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Seems like an accurate appraisal:

In early February, Republicans brought an FBI veteran to Capitol Hill whom they hoped would expose a “deep state conspiracy” among Democrats and their accomplices in the intelligence community. The GOP witness was part of a network of “whistleblowers” — funneled to congressional Republicans’ new Weaponization of Government panel by allies of Donald Trump — to reveal covert attacks on the former president and broad, anti-conservative discrimination.

But before the interview was over, it was the GOP witness who was failing to answer difficult questions — and Democratic committee staff doing the asking…

According to portions of transcripts reviewed by Rolling Stone and sources familiar with the exchange, Hill repeatedly declined to respond to the questions and cited his First Amendment rights. (He’d later go on a conservative talk show to accuse Democrats of trying to paint him as a “right-wing nut job” because they couldn’t handle his message.) As the exchange went on, Hill’s attorney, Jason Foster, begged the Democratic counsel to stop asking about his client’s tweets.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the chair of the new House Judiciary’s “weaponization” subcommittee, opened its first hearing vowing that he’d heard from “dozens and dozens” of whistleblowers about “the political nature at the Justice Department.” Indeed, powerful players from Trump’s orbit have invested in recruiting intelligence community veterans, hoping to produce bombshell revelations and must-see TV to rival the results of the Jan. 6 committee.

But so far, Republicans have brought only three of those whistleblowers to Capitol Hill for questioning, and have not scheduled any additional interviews after completing the most recent in mid-February. In the interviews conducted to date, witnesses have offered contradictory responses, maintained fringe and violent online presences that undermine their credibility, and failed to demonstrate first-hand knowledge of alleged FBI wrongdoing.

The results have left Democrats gleeful and even some Republicans deeply unimpressed. A “dumpster fire,” is how one Democrat with knowledge of the at-times combative interactions terms the proceedings. “Clearly there is room to grow and improve before [more] public hearings,” a Republican familiar with the process tells Rolling Stone. But the work so far, the Republican says, has been “very much amateur hour,” adding that airing this “stuff on live television would make us look like morons.” (Sources spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the sensitive matters.)…

But if the whistleblowers aren’t able to produce what Jordan has promised, it will be a serious blow to Republicans’ plan to use control of the House to refocus the public away from Trump’s proximity to an insurrection and onto an alleged anti-conservative conspiracy.

The whistleblower pipeline comes from a collaboration between Jordan, other MAGA lawmakers, and top officials in Trump’s orbit. Whistleblowers have received payments and legal counsel through this loose network; one whistleblower, Stephen Friend — a former FBI agent who brought concerns about the agency’s questioning of Jan. 6 protesters to Republicans — even received a job…

After Jordan and his cohorts concluded their first “Weaponization” hearing last month, several figures in the right-wing media elite — who are staunchly loyal to Trump and the GOP and already primed to just run with the party’s claims and supposed bombshells — reacted with head scratches. “I’m sick of these hearings,” Jesse Watters, a Fox News host and a buddy of Trump’s, complained on-air after the inaugural House Weaponization of the Federal Government subcommittee hearing. “Make me feel better, guys. Tell me this is going somewhere. Can I throw someone in prison? Can someone go to jail? Can someone get fined?”….

Well, maybe! But Jesse won’t be happy when it turns out to be the Repubs who get dinged, will he?

Reader Interactions

131Comments

  1. 1.

    Suzanne

    “Make me feel better, guys. Tell me this is going somewhere. Can I throw someone in prison? Can someone go to jail? Can someone get fined?”

    I mean, to be fair, this is how I feel every morning at work.

    In case you had a week like mine…. Cookie butter ice cream is a thing and you should have some.

  2. 2.

    Quinerly

    May have been posted….Page 6 is reporting that Kellyanne and George Conway divorcing after 22 years and 4 children.

  3. 3.

    HumboldtBlue

    Nicolle Wallace and guests shredded this committee today, it was fun to watch. In essence, Jordan has dragged out some disaffected former FBI agents who couldn’t hack in the Bureau, to say bad things about Dems, and they are flailing as they try to do so.

  4. 4.

    Mike in NC

    We could have gotten rid of that senile bag of shit Grassley, but voters in Iowa love him. I was sent on a business trip to DesMoines around 1993. In January! They also adored Rush Limbaugh, who I heard in more than one shop I visited. I was there for 3-4 days and it only felt like a month. Funny how so much of the Midwest has decided to be part of the Confederacy in the 21st century.

  6. 6.

    hitchhiker

    @Quinerly:

    I assumed that was happening. People have been snarking for the last few years about how it was all a game to the two of them, but I see him on tv and twitter enough to believe that he’s genuine in his disgust for Trump and contempt for the people who know better but continue to enable him.

    Marriage can survive a lot of things, but contempt isn’t one of them.

  9. 9.

    eclare

    @Quinerly:   Whoa!  But not really a surprise.  I always wondered if they deliberately played both sides to make money or if they were true believers.  Guess we have an answer.  Hopefully this will be better for their kids, not living in what must be a hostile environment.

  11. 11.

    columbusqueen

    @Quinerly: I feel bad for the kids, & a little bit for George, who had to watch his wife throw everything else away for power & fame. Kellyanne can go rot, however.

  14. 14.

    Scout211

    Whut?

    Trump has decided to forget about fixing the nation’s ills that he has harped about for years.  He’ll just start fresh!  Hmm, I wonder just who will qualify for his new fresh “freedom cities.”

    CNN — 
    Former President Donald Trump on Friday proposed building up to 10 futuristic “freedom cities” on federal land, part of a plan that the 2024 presidential contender said would “create a new American future” in a country that has “lost its boldness.”

    Commuters, meanwhile, could get around in flying cars, Trump said – an echo of “The Jetsons,” the classic cartoon about a family in a high-tech future society. Work to develop vertical takeoff and landing vehicles is already underway by major airlines, auto manufacturers and other companies, though widely seen as years away from reaching the market.

  15. 15.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Quinerly:

    Some had wondered if it all was performance art.

    I know I did.

    @hitchhiker: He should’ve divorced her when she went to lie her face off for the orange shitstain for money.

  24. 24.

    John Revolta

    Airing this “stuff on live television would make us look like morons.”

    NOW you’re worrying about this?

    People, that boat has sailed, left the station, and gone over the proverbial horizon.

  26. 26.

    hitchhiker

    @mrmoshpotato:

    He should’ve divorced her when she went to lie her face off for the orange shitstain for money.

    Yeah. I think he was among the people who tried to pretend that Trump was just a rando asshole who would be easy to contain and groom into a “good” Republican. That didn’t last long in his case. He was one of the Lincoln Project guys for awhile, until their older daughter went on social media and aired a bunch of family shit.

  27. 27.

    zhena gogolia

    Republicans brought an FBI veteran to Capitol Hill whom they hoped would expose a “deep state conspiracy”

    whom would expose — no, just no.
    That should be “who.”

  28. 28.

    mvr

    Of course in the long run the right wing anti-education folks are going to lose, even in Florida. But it is very sad that this super smart articulate undergrad from New College has to deal with this shit and have at least part of her education messed with. Lucky for us she’s already smarter than most of the FL legislature.

  29. 29.

    Another Scott

    Yay Team Blue!

    Meanwhile, Phys.org – Thinking about getting a second cat?:

    […]

    Your new cat needs to stay in their room for several days. This will help them settle down and allows you to introduce them to your existing cat via scent.

    Scent, especially facial pheromones, helps cats identify other cats that they are bonded with and is important for maintaining bonds between cats. Swap cloths that each cat has slept on, and toys. Place these somewhere the cats will come across them in their own rooms, but away from beds, bowls and litter trays.

    Neither cat should show signs of avoidance or aggression towards the cloths before you progress. Then you can directly swap scent between the cats. Stroke one cat, especially around the cheeks and area in front of the ears, and then go directly to the other cat and stroke them. Repeat in the other direction.

    […]

    Interesting. Worth a click.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  32. 32.

    columbusqueen

    @Suzanne: Exactly, & with four children to boot. The former divorce attorney that I am is going, “You stupid dumb bitch.” She’ll really find out how dumb she is if the children wash their hands of her.

  33. 33.

    Quinerly

    @eclare:

    We have had some snow in Santa Fe. I just got back from 12 days in Silver City, NM. Lots of wind. Snow on the Black Range. I did make it to Gila Cliff Dwellings and the Catwalk. Beautiful. Love me some Catwalk.

  36. 36.

    mrmoshpotato

    @hitchhiker: Yeah.  One of the asshoies who was surprised that their monster factory finally created a monster.

    I have no sympathy for anyone who acts like the Rethuglicans suddenly became a “shitpiie of bigots and imbeciles” (h/t driftglass) in 2015.

  38. 38.

    Anne Laurie

    @columbusqueen: KellyAnne is the very avatar of a Jersey Girl, and oppositional defiance disorder is their mantra.

    George, IIRC, is a corporate lawyer — and a very successful one.  Corporate lawyers are positively allergic to phrases like high-level investigation and possible federal indictments.

    I do feel for their kids, and even for him (first photo I remember seeing of him, back when Trump was just getting into the race, George was holding K’s coat and looking like he could not believe his good luck at having hooked up with her).

    But KellyAnne is absolutely enjoying herself, so…

  41. 41.

    Quinerly

    POS Don Jr at CPac:

    “Pennsylvania managed to elect a vegetable. I’d love for John Fetterman to have good gainful employment. Maybe he could be like a bag guy at a grocery store, but is it unreasonable for me to expect, as a citizen of the United States of America, to have a US Senator have basic cognitive function?”

  43. 43.

    ema

    OT: Walgreens gives in to terroristic threats and will not dispense a safe, effective, and legal medication. Luckily, only uterine containers use this medication so it’s not like this really counts.

  44. 44.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Anne Laurie: I thought Conway had worked for Ken Starr, but checking wiki he was an unpaid volunteer on Paula Jones’s legal team, so still part of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy around The Clenis. I’m not one to shun converts, but I also have a long memory.

  45. 45.

    Sure Lurkalot

    RIP David Lindley. Will cue up El Rayo Ex, condolences to your friends and family.

  48. 48.

    mvr

    @Quinerly: Oh Shit! That sucks. David LIndley was brilliant. I just love Mercury Blues (or whatever the title is of the song w “Crazy bout a Mercury” in the chorus.) And lots more. Got to see him twice. once w full band in LA (drove hours since LA area is big). And once in a small acoustic show here in Lincoln.

    He seemed frail then, a few years ago now.

    Glad I went.

  49. 49.

    patrick II

    @Quinerly: I noticed George was losing significant weight when I last saw him on TV. I should have guessed..​​​ I​​​

  50. 50.

    Quinerly

    @eclare:

    I actually loved it more than the cliff dwellings. I drove out to the Catwalk early and was the only one there for about an hr. Kinda surreal the way it is hidden. Gila Cliff Dwellings were cool, but I’ve done Mesa Verde, Bandelier, Puye, and some in AZ. The walk up to Gila was actually the best part.

    My last night in the area was a bit of a downer. Was in a cool bar in Pinos Altos, NM. Ended up seated next to a nut case female dentist at the bar. The whole ball of wax….Covid denier, Biden and HRC are pedophiles, Jan 6 was staged by the FBI, Obama wasn’t born in the US and is Gay, and Michelle is a man. They live and breathe amongst us. And a practicing dentist to boot.

  51. 51.

    mrmoshpotato

    @columbusqueen:

    She’ll really find out how dumb she is if the children wash their hands of her. 

    I hope they do.  What an absolute monster to have as a mother.

  52. 52.

    NotMax

    @Quinerly

    ::cough:: Strom Thurmond ::cough::

    (Not to imply any equivalence between the late bigot’s dearth of competence and Fetterman’s service. Don-Don’s statements are unwarranted, unsupported and odious mudslinging.)

  55. 55.

    Mallard Filmore

    @Scout211: 

    Commuters, meanwhile, could get around in flying cars

    Being retired, I have too much time to refresh YouTube’s main suggestion page. Yesterday and today L.A. channel 7 had live police chases.

    I’m not going up there when carjacked flying cars careening across flight paths are possible.

  58. 58.

    Shalimar

    @Quinerly: Around 3 years ago there was a story that basically said George had moved to New York to work out of his firm’s office there and he rarely saw Kellyanne anymore.  I think the only reason they waited this long to make the split official was for the children.

  59. 59.

    Quinerly

    @NotMax:

    I interned on Capitol Hill in 1982. Thurmond had that much younger wife, who I think had been Miss South Carolina. They had several children together when he was ancient. We called him “Sperm Thurm.”

  61. 61.

    pat

    @ema:

    I will be transferring our prescriptions from Walgreens to the pharmacy associated with our hospital and can only hope that they will not go down this path too.

    Thankfully they are not associated with the catholic church, like the other major hospital in town.

  65. 65.

    Quinerly

    @NotMax:

    This chick was certifiable. Had just gotten back in town from Australia where she is now practicing. She left the country she said when Obama was re elected. First went to Singapore then Australia. There’s a story there but I can’t quite figure it out. I got her full name. I never volunteered mine. Looked her up on line after because the whole encounter was so jarring. I canceled my prime rib order and left without finishing my beer. She had had a practice in Silver City and Albuquerque totaling 30 years. Pres of the dental association in NM some years back.

  67. 67.

    columbusqueen

    @ema: My aunt just declared a fatwa against Walgreens on her Facebook page. She really wants them to go bankrupt because of the pill decision. 73 & still fighting the good fight.

  68. 68.

    prostratedragon

    Late late show on TCM will be The Killers from 1946, or as I call it, The Hat Movie. Remember, Kitty is innocent.

  69. 69.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Shalimar: I think in her book, which came out a year ago, she talks about asking him to go to a marriage counselor and he said, “What’s the point?”

  72. 72.

    Captain C

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Yeah.  One of the asshoies who was surprised that their monster factory finally created a monster.

    I have no sympathy for anyone who acts like the Rethuglicans suddenly became a “shitpiie of bigots and imbeciles” (h/t driftglass) in 2015.

    I’m old enough to remember the 1992 Republican National Convention being described as a narrow-minded “hate-fest” in the major media.  And that was when patrician Papa Bush was President.  They’ve been on this path since Goldwater and the Civil Rights victories in the mid-’60s.

  73. 73.

    NotMax

    @Steeplejack

    Ry Cooder. Capitol Records (IIRC) sent a press release to radio stations sometime in the early 1970s with the big print headline “Wry Kudos For [name of album].”

    Being hip don’t come easy.
    ;)

  74. 74.

    mvr

    @Steeplejack: ​
     Those are great. Remember hitch hiking to SFO from PDX and buying Bop til you Drop at a used record store. Many good songs on that record. One I kind of disliked because it seems kind of homophobic to me at the time.

  75. 75.

    mvr

    @pat: ​
     Quit Walgreens when I learned they backed ALEC at least 4 years ago. Now there is no going back.

  76. 76.

    Quinerly

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Pretty sure I read that Ivanka had suggested to Kellyanne to get couple’s therapy. That Kellyanne put that in her book. Ugh.

  77. 77.

    Amir Khalid

    Republicans brought an FBI veteran to Capitol Hill whom they hoped would expose a “deep state conspiracy”

    And immediately I thought, “Fox Mulder?”

  87. 87.

    hitchhiker

    @mrmoshpotato:

    My sense is that they all knew the monsters were there, and were happy to use/abuse them. They just didn’t see the day coming when the monsters would take over, because they all thought it would be easy to control them.

    Trump’s big innovation was to demonstrate that if you’re shameless enough, nobody can fuck with you.

    Conway, Stevens, Wilson, Sykes, et al have a lot to answer for. I have a long memory, too. They wanted those judges and tax cuts, by god, and they got them.

    That said, I’d rather have them out in public blowing up the Republican narrative than sitting home on their piles of ill-gotten money and keeping their damn mouths shut.

  89. 89.

    Quinerly

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Actually I was out of the mood for food and beer. Really cool bar/restaurant that dates back to the 1880’s…..The Buckhorn Saloon. I had been there a few nights before and it was pretty empty and pleasant then. I don’t eat a lot of red meat anymore. Had probably one of the best steaks in years that first night there and an incredibly interesting conversation with a local guy of Spanish descent that had just traced some of his roots back to some Jewish blood. I had read a bunch of stuff a few years back on the Crypto Jews of NM…plus, there was a great documentary on PBS on it. So hearing his story was fun and cool.  The crazy dentist was such a jarring experience after that original visit there.

  90. 90.

    mrmoshpotato

    @hitchhiker:

    They just didn’t see the day coming when the monsters would take over, because they all thought it would be easy to control them. 

    Exactly.

    I’d rather have them out in public blowing up the Republican narrative than sitting home on their piles of ill-gotten money and keeping their damn mouths shut.

    Agreed, but I still hate the bastards.

  92. 92.

    Dan B

    @Scout211:  I can’t wait for all the mid-air road rage by the “freedom” people.  They’ll be meeting JFK Jr.*

     

     

    *Who I wish was still with us.  And the other lost Kennedys.

  102. 102.

    eclare

    @Omnes Omnibus:   Never seen that movie, but I couldn’t make it through the clip.  Watching any kind of sadistic dental work freaks me out, which is where it looked like that was headed.

  103. 103.

    Ha Nguyen

    After watching some of Walgreen’s commercials, I’ve always thought its upper management was racist and/or misogynistic. No black people and every female was in a long dress.

  104. 104.

    Quinerly

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I remember reading years ago that dentists had the highest suicide rate of the professions. A quick Google tells me they are now #2 behind doctors.

  106. 106.

    eclare

    @Ha Nguyen:   When I got one of my covid shots here, the entire staff at Walgreens was wearing DEI t-shirts, for what it’s worth.  It would be really difficult to boycott Walgreens in Memphis, they own this market.

    ETA>  There are two within one and a half miles from me, and one is a 24 hour pharmacy.

  116. 116.

    RaflW

    MTG headlined CPAC tonight and couldn’t fill a ballroom. People like her and Jordan can get lots of twitter engagement and Fox/Newsmax hits, and keep their lopsided seats (though Boebert damn near didn’t last fall). But their horrible shtick doesn’t really sell beyond the crazification factor.

    That should be the news coming out of CPAC. But old Donnie Dazzlehands will speak this weekend and our very disappointing press will ohh and ahhh over it.

  124. 124.

    Barry

    @eclare: “Watching any kind of sadistic dental work freaks me out, which is where it looked like that was headed.”

     

    I had that done to  me by an Army dentist.

  127. 127.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @HumboldtBlue: Honestly don’t know what the R’s thought would happen given that the Senate has investigatory powers too, and the J6 committee has all the receipts.

    I guess they thought this would play out like Benghazi but the Dems can fact check this stuff in real time and make them look like clowns. That’s how these BS “investigations” were always going to play out. Why they couldn’t see that going in…either they thought they could control the narrative no matter how sketchy their “evidence” was (which, given the MSM’s track record maybe wasn’t the worst bet to place), or they’re dumb enough to think they’d actually dig up some real evidence (also plausible).

    I suppose maybe they thought the Dems would just lay down and be doormats and let the misinfo go unopposed, but those days are gone.

  130. 130.

    StringOnAStick

    @wenchacha: Maybe a hundred years ago, but not within the time frame for this crazy dentist.  Plus they make the dental assistants mix up the “silver” filling material in a device called an amalgamator, which is supposed to limit any escape of fumes.

    The deal with dentists is that it’s in general a very conservative profession here in the US.  If you have a D or even slightly liberal dentist, tell your friends to go there because they are rare. The smart R nutjobs keep their politics out of the office, but look for things like bibles in the waiting room or the types of books/magazines, though most got rid of all that in early Covid.  Sometimes the staff will tip you off but they have to be extremely careful or they also might be fellow nutjobs too.  I’m so glad I’m retired out of dentistry, the only good thing about Covid for me.

  131. 131.

    SteverinoCT

    Seen in a “QI” clip:

    Knock, knock.

    Who’s there?

    To.

    To who?

    No, it’s “to whom!”

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