Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We still have time to mess this up!

After roe, women are no longer free.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

I was promised a recession.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

This blog will pay for itself.

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

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Optimism opens the door to great things.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

I really should read my own blog.

White supremacy is terrorism.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

DeSantis transforms Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Bark louder, little dog.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

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Free Speech 2, DeSantis Regime 0

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Here’s some good news on a beautiful Friday morning:

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A federal judge has once again blocked a law that would ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory in Florida’s public education institutions, from kindergarten through college.

Multiple lawsuits have been filed against the state of Florida’s education leaders and the governor regarding the implementation of the Stop WOKE Act, or the “Individual Freedom Act,” which was passed in 2021…

According to the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, state officials tried to appeal the block, but Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker rejected their challenge. For now, that means the law cannot be enforced for Florida’s public colleges and universities.

I’m pretty sure the 11th Circuit is a wingnut-majority court. BTW, the “WOKE” in the “Stop WOKE Act” stands for “Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees,” which is so tortured and embarrassing that I can’t even.

Maybe FL Dems should fight cringe with cringe and file “Facilitate Unity and Community for Kids by Redistricting Our Neighborhoods” legislation, or “FUCK RON Act” for short.

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

141Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    You’ve got a job as the National Acronymator in the Baud! administration, BC.

    ETA: or is it acronymist? Either way, it’s yours.

  2. 2.

    danielx

    Maybe FL Dems should fight cringe with cringe and file “Facilitate Unity and Community for Kids by Redistricting Our Neighborhoods” legislation, or “FUCK RON Act” for short.

    This idea has merit. Merit, I say!

  3. 3.

    tobie

    Oh, Betty Cracker, may your inspired rhetoric become a meme. I will tell my Florida mother to start asking her neighbors about the FUCK RON Act. She will be into this.

  5. 5.

    Cameron

    I still have a faint hope the Feds will pop him for human trafficking for his stunt with those immigrants in Texas.

  7. 7.

    Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)

    Could someone explain to me how this bozo is considered to be smarter than Trump?

    OT, could we see fewer photos of TFG and the Swanson heir on this nearly Top 10,000 site? We know what their ugly, swarmy mugs look like, and do not need to be reminded.

    OT again, it’s Stormy Daniels’s birthday. Raise a glass in her name.

  10. 10.

    SFAW

    @Cameron:

    I still have a faint hope the Feds will pop him for human trafficking for his stunt with those immigrants in Texas.

    And I still have a faint hope that I’ll wake up tomorrow good-looking, and with a full head of hair.

    Unfortunately, there probably ain’t enough drugs in the world for me to see that in a mirror.

  11. 11.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: I think you’d favor my proposed “Prescription for Revitalizing American Industry to Save our Environment for the Babies And Unborn Deal,” i.e., the PRAISE the BAUD Act.

  12. 12.

    SFAW

    Maybe FL Dems should fight cringe with cringe and file “Facilitate Unity and Community for Kids by Redistricting Our Neighborhoods” legislation, or “FUCK RON Act” for short.

    If only there were some reasonable way to “santorum” this.
    ETA: Betty, I hope you don’t mind, but I posted your proposal on LGM. Just trying to build “critical mass” for it.​ I can delete it if you wish.

  15. 15.

    C Stars

    The media sucks and I am not finding many articles about it, but wasn’t there a rather large protest in Tallahassee for student and LGBTQ rights? Were any BJers there? I find these protests a very hopeful sign. It’s become a habit for liberals in liberal states to say “Why don’t you just move away?” but the folks who stay and protest and work to make things better deserve our support.

    https://www.wmnf.org/midpoint-lgbtq-and-trans-voices-from-the-capitol-protest/

  16. 16.

    UncleEbeneezer

    “Maybe FL Dems should fight cringe with cringe and file “Facilitate Unity and Community for Kids by Redistricting Our Neighborhoods” legislation, or “FUCK RON Act” for short.”

    Ma’am…(slow golf clap over “Did you ever know that you’re me heeeeerrrrooooo”), lol

  19. 19.

    Xavier

    Surely CRT and “woke” are too poorly defined to be enforceable restrictions, in addition to being restrictions on speech.

  23. 23.

    Gravenstone

    These fuckweasels know damned well that CRT is not taught at any level below college (graduate, really), but by the time they’re done it should be known everywhere.

  26. 26.

    Ken

    Working at the University of Florida, folks are really bothered by this and the DEI areas are all working on name changes to avoid issues.  Is there a Stacey Adams for Florida?  I am just here since August and keep looking for someone that can invigorate and motivate Dems here.  I don’t live in fear, and refuse to do so.  But someone needs to be preaching hope and positives to contrast with the rethugs selling fear all the time.

  27. 27.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @danielx: The whole Children-As-Property sentiment (which is still, sadly common) is absolutely central to the current freakouts over Gender Affirming Care (for Transgender kids) and the battles against Wokeness/CRT.

  28. 28.

    Subsole

    @Boris Rasputin (the evil twin):

    He is smarter than Trump because the folks who go to the right parties are desperately hoping he will be their new Ronald Reagan.

    Nasty, brutish and mean, but with an affable face and genteel manner that makes the hate go down smooth at the local kountry klub.

    Essentially, he’s Christie 2.0. Or Rubio 2.0. Or Ryan 2.0. Or…

     

     

    (You’d think the fact they have to roll a new model of these drones out every 24 months would be a hint…)

  31. 31.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday expanded the state’s civil rights law to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, a change long sought by LGBTQ advocates.
    Previous bills to add protections for the LGBTQ community to prohibit discrimination in housing, employment, education and public accommodations stalled under GOP control of the Legislature. They were among the first reintroduced at the start of this year’s legislative session in which Democrats hold majorities in both the state House and Senate.

    Whitmer called it a “new day in Michigan” that’s “been a long time coming” during a signing ceremony Thursday.

    “Michigan is a state where we stand up for people’s fundamental freedoms,” she said. “I am so proud to be here, and I’m excited to put our state on the right side of history.”

  32. 32.

    hells littlest angel

    Still. it’s nice living in a state where judges don’t routinely have to strike down blatantly unconstitutional assaults on the citizenry.

  34. 34.

    geg6

    Maybe FL Dems should fight cringe with cringe and file “Facilitate Unity and Community for Kids by Redistricting Our Neighborhoods” legislation, or “FUCK RON Act” for short.

    Make it so!

  35. 35.

    hells littlest angel

    @Omnes Omnibus: He can speak in complete and grammatically correct sentences.

    @Subsole: … with an affable face and genteel manner that makes the hate go down smooth at the local kountry klub.

     

    You folks are seeing a very different Ron DeSantis than most people are.

  37. 37.

    SFAW

    @Subsole: ​

    with an affable face

    Hunh, never seen “punchable” spelled that way …

    and genteel manner

    … nor “dickish” spelled that way.​

  39. 39.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @hells littlest angel: We were asked why he is perceived as smarter than Trump.  I, for one, was not attempting to do anything other than answer that question.  I think he will flame out the way Scott Walker did and I think he is dangerous as fuck just like Scott Walker was.  Those opinions, however, weren’t relevant to the question that had been asked.

  40. 40.

    oatler

    I would trust Ron D to ankle himself constantly from now on. Problem is the oft-courted Florida Man vote.

  41. 41.

    Nora

    @cmorenc: Having graduated from Harvard Law School, let me assure you that the reputation for brilliant thinkers is definitely unearned.  I think of people I went to law school with, and shudder to imagine most of them in positions of power.

  42. 42.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @cmorenc: Part of that is the tendency for Ivies (and they are not the only schools that do it) to make legacies a big part of their admissions:

    How legacy admissions affect you college admissions chances

    “The legacy advantage is visible on elite college campuses across the country. In addition to Harvard, fellow Ivies, Penn (22% of early applicants to the Class of 2025) and Brown (10% of the Class of 2025) also admit large numbers of legacies. Princeton, with its minuscule 3.98% admissions rate (Class of 2025), has been known to admit over 30% of legacy candidates.

    Full disclosure I never attended college, although I did guide my daughter through the college admissions, FAFSA and finding scholarships minefield.  Good times. Thank FSM that’s over!

  47. 47.

    Geminid

    @Subsole: Republican elites also fear that Trump will get wiped out in the general election, and drag a lot of Republican candidates down with him. I think that’s a large part of why they are rallying to DeSantis.

  48. 48.

    MattF

    OT. Can we declare a boycott on articles with headlines that begin ‘Here’s…’ ? I’ve gone from ‘I am not amused any more’ to ‘I hate it’ to ‘It must stop right now’.

  49. 49.

    Jeffro

    More bad news for DeMeatball (and the GOP in general): DeSantis is slipping in the polls against trumpov

    How important is it that Mr. DeSantis is losing ground? It may wind up not mattering much in itself, but it could say something important about the challenges facing the DeSantis campaign.
    So far, there’s little evidence that Mr. DeSantis has suffered serious or irreparable damage, even if he’s lost ground against Mr. Trump. His favorability ratings, for instance, remain strong: The new Quinnipiac survey showed him with an exceptional 72-6 favorability rating among Republicans. If the national conversation around issues and events becomes more favorable, his position against Mr. Trump could easily rebound.
    But there is a chance this episode betrays a deeper problem for Mr. DeSantis, even if the attacks themselves haven’t been especially harmful. He and his team have failed to respond to the attacks or shift the conversation, and it’s possible that’s because he and his allies don’t think they can safely engage the former president.* It would help explain why Mr. Trump’s attacks have largely gone uncontested. It would help explain their effort to narrow areas of substantive disagreement with Mr. Trump, including on a topic like Ukraine in which Mr. DeSantis is now at odds with around half of his own likeliest supporters.
    It wouldn’t be surprising if the DeSantis team was hesitant to engage someone who remains popular among Republicans and who has, shall we say, an ability to engage asymmetrically, as his “groomer” attacks highlighted.** That’s a lesson the GOP learned all too well in 2016.

    *someone please explain to me how DeSantis & Co. expect to win against a rival who they can’t “safely” “engage”.  Especially a rival who intends who run if/when under multiple felony indictments, has absolutely no problem piling lie upon lie, etc.

    **I don’t know what to think – of this reporter or the world in general – when “essentially calling someone a pedophile” = “engaging an asymmetrical attack”.

  51. 51.

    Roger Moore

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    The whole Children-As-Property sentiment (which is still, sadly common) is absolutely central to the current freakouts over Gender Affirming Care (for Transgender kids) and the battles against Wokeness/CRT.

    I don’t think so.  The people pushing these things use schools and “think of the children” as the thin edge of the wedge on these issues, but they absolutely do not stop there.  Places that have banned gender affirming care for kids have quickly moved on to banning it for adults, too.  Places that have pushed against wokeness/CRT also go after DEI programs and ESG investing.

  52. 52.

    Subsole

    @hells littlest angel:

    How so?

    I think he’s a jumped-up sub-assistant junior vice principle (jg) who absolutely hates kids and thinks most adults are just overgrown kids. In a word, he’s an asshole.

    In some sense he is more familiar with the levers of power than Trump. That may give him the appearance of intelligence because he knows how to efficiently manipulate the system, but ultimately he’s rock-fucking stupid. Just like Trump.

    What I am saying is the people who keep saying he’s smarter than Trump want him to be Reagan 2.0 so they can feel good about voting for a less gauche fascist.

    He ain’t even Romney 2.0. They’re in for the shock of their wasted little lives.

  53. 53.

    Jeffro

    @Boris Rasputin (the evil twin):

    @Subsole:

    @cmorenc: he’s not a good Plan A for the GOP, that’s for sure.

     

    @Geminid: Republican elites also fear that Trump will get wiped out in the general election, and drag a lot of Republican candidates down with him. I think that’s a large part of why they are rallying to DeSantis.

    Per that NYT article I just posted (about DeSantis’ polling going down within the GOP)…those elites better think of something else quick, because they’re about to get stuck with Orangemandias all over again and get wiped out next year.

  55. 55.

    Subsole

    @SFAW:

    That’s the joke. The folks boostering this guy want him to be that.

    He ain’t. He’s Trump without the crude sense of theater and Romney without the charm.

  58. 58.

    hells littlest angel

    @Subsole: If you look at DeSantis and see an affable face and a genteel manner, then … I don’t know, but remind me not to buy from your dealer

    He looks like a block of Plastilina that came to life and is angry about it.

  59. 59.

    oatler

    @MattF:

    That kind of boycott would put The AV Club out of business (“I’m So Fucking Sick of Rihanna’s Frosted Tips”).

  62. 62.

    Brachiator

    @Jeffro:

    I don’t care about the Republicans, other than to enjoy the present confusion in GOP ranks. But the idiocy of the political media is always a problem.

    But there is a chance this episode betrays a deeper problem for Mr. DeSantis, even if the attacks themselves haven’t been especially harmful. He and his team have failed to respond to the attacks or shift the conversation, and it’s possible that’s because he and his allies don’t think they can safely engage the former president.* It would help explain why Mr. Trump’s attacks have largely gone uncontested.

    The Beltway press is hot for a Trump v DeSantis political fight. But Trump’s “attacks” are political bullshit that everyone is familiar with, but expect Trump to do simply because that is what he does. But this is not substantive political debate or even conventional political campaigning, just empty spectacle.

    And as long as DeSantis continues to be propped up by the press, there is no reason for him to change his strategy. The media is trying to gin up a fight because it will be good for them. If voters don’t care, then neither should DeSantis.

  64. 64.

    Roger Moore

    @EmbraceYourInnerCrone:

    It’s not just legacy admissions, either.  They also let people buy their kids’ way in with large donations.  That said, I think that stuff is mostly for undergraduate admissions rather than the graduate programs.

    I suspect the bigger problem with the law schools is the old boys network.  There are already a disproportionate number of Ivy League lawyers in the judiciary and the upper tiers of white shoe law firms, and those people are biased in favor of other Ive Leaguers.  That means an Ivy League law degree opens a lot of doors, and getting in the door is a huge step toward making it.  Needing to go to the right law school has become a self-perpetuating system.

  67. 67.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Roger Moore: Absolutely.  I’m not saying it’s ALL about Children-As-Property (and nothing else).  It’s definitely part of something bigger and more expansive.  But this particular branch of it (the emphasis on kids behaving “right”, not being forced to learn anything that challenges their parents’ worldviews etc.) has a long history in Conservative organizing and manufacturing “Panics.”  As much as they definitely use Think-Of-The-Children as a bullshit justification, I’ve also seen enough genuine fear from these assholes over the years to believe there is quite a bit of sincerity to their feelings too.

  68. 68.

    Almost Retired

    I’m on the “he’ll flame out” team, but not before Puss ‘n Boots and his wife the Caped Crusader spend a lot of time confusing voters in diners and eating fried dick on a stick at the Iowa State Fair.

  69. 69.

    matt

    the Merit-Enhancing Achievement for Teachers By Annulling Legal Liability Act, or MEATBALL Act.

  74. 74.

    Chris

    @Baud:

    So why do they have so much trouble defining woke?  The definition is in the law.

    Isn’t the whole point of “woke” that it’s a meaningless word that means “anything a conservative doesn’t currently like?”  Kind of like “socialism.”

  78. 78.

    Renie

    @tam1MI:  As a New Yorker, I welcome this.  Jay Jacobs has been ineffective for years and should have been gone by now.  But he knows too many ‘important’ people in politics and won’t leave.  This is an embarrassment for him and hopefully will push him out.

  79. 79.

    Ken B

    Somewhat off topic, but since this thread is about short, shitty fascists having legal woes…

    The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Putin for war crimes.

    Edited to acknowledge that I missed an earlier comment.

  80. 80.

    Alison Rose

    @Gin & Tonic: Yeah. Not gonna count those chickens.

    Also:

    The court also issued a warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights.

    I don’t know what’s more Orwellian than russia having a department for “children’s rights”.

  84. 84.

    Subsole

    @Geminid:

    If they think Puddin’ Fingers Ron ain’t gettin’ rolled in the general…man.

    I honestly think Trump is more dangerous, because the pod-people haven’t imprinted on ol’ Ronnie the way they have el supremito pendejito.

  85. 85.

    Subsole

    @West of the Rockies:

    In truth, I think the average dick is a lot more likely to stand up for what it wants than Puddin’ Fingers Ron.

    Guy is loud, yes. Vicious, yes. But he seems like he’d fold up pretty fast in an actual fight.

     

    Like, Obama or Clinton would reduce this man to jelly.

  88. 88.

    Marc

    @rikyrah: 10x the chance to get into Princeton if you’re a legacy over another non-legacy candidate

    There are legacies and then there are legacies.  To qualify as a legacy for admissions purposes, ones family must have donated more than some threshold amount of money to the institution over the years.  Simply being the child (or grandchild) of a graduate is not enough.

  92. 92.

    Chris

    @Baud:

    To be fair, no one defines socialism correctly, especially the socialists.

    Fair.

    I can’t decide which word suffers the most from having been defined to broadly and so many times that it’s essentially meaningless, “socialism” or “capitalism.”  The former can mean anything from the USSR to modern-day Iceland, while the latter can mean anything from the Belgian Congo to, well, modern-day Iceland.

  94. 94.

    mrmoshpotato

    TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A federal judge has once again blocked a law that would ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory in Florida’s public education institutions, from kindergarten through college.

    I know this is good news, and DeathSentence can go fuck Dump, but I didn’t know what CRT was before all the RWNJs decided it was their Helen Lovejoy “Oh won’t someone pllllllease think of the children!” cudgel.

    Seeing as how it’s a theory taught in law school from what I’ve read, I congratulate all of the 5-year-old law students in Florida!

  97. 97.

    West of the Rockies

    @Subsole:

    I agree.

    I think Ron looks like a classic gargoyle:  a squat, glowering lump of hostility.   And yet he appears terrified of Trump.  His reputation as a tough guy-turned wimp is getting baked in by the day.

    If he doesn’t return fire soon, I think he goes from “he’s above such insults” to “what the Hell’s wrong with this guy” territory fast (at least with the bully-fluffing base).

  98. 98.

    Ruckus

    @SFAW:

    Hair? You still have dreams about having HAIR?

    I stopped having those long, long ago, after it all fell out and landed on my face. Seems like at least 2 lifetimes ago.

    You could do what I saw on an airplane ride, on another old geezer sitting in front of me. Three parallel strands of extremely long hair, maybe a half a dozen hairs each went from right to left, about 1/2 inch apart and looking glued on. I mean come on when it all falls out and you are bald, you don’t try to hide it with the funniest thing I’ve ever seen on a head and this was an over 4 hr flight, which of course meant there was nothing else to look at till we landed.

  99. 99.

    Ruckus

    @dmsilev:

    It’s not a low bar, it is laying on the ground. You can’t lower it any more without a shovel. ronnie seems to keep digging though.

  100. 100.

    tam1MI

    @Baud:

    Terrible to have to spend that money, but hopefully it will also signal to other state parties to do better.

    I”d like to see something similar done in Florida.

  101. 101.

    scav

    @EmbraceYourInnerCrone: I’d surmise a lot of people want a degree, but are more than indifferent about getting an education, and certainly not tempted by developing any self-sustaining pursuit of knowledge. Especially for their darling offspring which not ever be exposed to anything other than carbon copies of their parents’ perfection.  Get the piece of paper & the list of contacts of the appropriate sort, done, dusted.  Florida may just be getting rid of the meatspace impediments to the smooth functioning of the degree photocopier.

  103. 103.

    Ruckus

    @Subsole:

    If they could take a hint they might have noticed.

    But alas they can’t take a hint, find a brain, remove their heads from their lower orifice, have a cognizant thought, or an incognizant one…. They could claim to have an IQ below that of a squash, except that their IQ is below that of a squash.

  105. 105.

    mrmoshpotato

    @tECHIDNA:

    I don’t know whether to feel punchy or despair for our country’s media. 

    Remember who you’re talking about.  It’s POLITICO. :)

  106. 106.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    I’d prefer the “Facilitate Unity and Community for Kids through Grassroots Organization and Participation” or FUCK GOP act. The FUCK RON act addresses only one part of the problem. We all know this is a broader issue.

  108. 108.

    Geminid

    @Subsole: I think DeSantis would lose in the general election. But Trump has a bigger potential downside, and that is just with the baggage he carries now. Democrats can win back the House and hold the Senate no matter which of the two lead the ticket. Trump could lead Republicans into a massacre, though.

  111. 111.

    Sandia Blanca

    Inspired by Betty and the above commenters, we propose the Crotchety Old Liberals Enhancements Act.

  112. 112.

    Captain C

    @Subsole:

    I think he’s a jumped-up sub-assistant junior vice principle (jg) who absolutely hates kids and thinks most adults are just overgrown kids. In a word, he’s an asshole.

    Although judging by the photos that got leaked, he likes the older teen girls enough to buy them booze (the purpose for which is left as an exercise for the reader).  Maybe when he says ‘groomer’ it’s a little bit of a projection?

  113. 113.

    Burnspbesq

    @Xavier:

    Surely CRT and “woke” are too poorly defined to be enforceable restrictions, in addition to being restrictions on speech.

    As with anti-abortion legislation, the vagueness is the point. And yes, there are strong legal arguments here, but who wants to volunteer to be the test-case defendant and risk jail time.

  114. 114.

    Captain C

    @hells littlest angel:

    If you look at DeSantis and see an affable face and a genteel manner, then … I don’t know, but remind me not to buy from your dealer

    I can see “genteel” in comparison to TFG (though few others), but “affable,” no.  The one skill TFG seems to have is convincing his marks that he’s a nice guy and on their side right up until he has their cash or good/services in hand and has reamed them with the Dildo of Consequences.  DeSuck and “affable” don’t belong in the same chapter, let alone sentence.

  116. 116.

    Ruckus

    @Geminid:

    I think that’s a large part of why they are rallying to DeSantis.

    And that’s going to make it better?

    Or just less obvious that he is just a lessor SFB? (Or is he?)

    I think they are rallying to dumbsanta because that’s really all they’ve got in the race to the very bottom of the barrel. They’ve got zero idea of an actual government, getting rid of racism, managing the countries financial interests, not going to war, not hating for hates sake, actual leadership, humanity…. Their type have been going in this direction for centuries and are stuck in one gear and that is hate and distain that they are no better than a dumpster full of rotted food and have no idea how to change that.

  118. 118.

    Anoniminous

    @Baud: ​
     
    Truth.

    And incredibly annoying since it is really simple:

    Socialism: from each according to their ability, to each according to their work

    Note: definition approved by K. Marx, the ol’ Commie hisself!

  119. 119.

    sdhays

    @Geminid: I think there’s a real threat to Republicans not running Dumpy. He drove yuuuge turnout among the far right in 2020. It’s not clear at all that a lot of those new/irregular voters have been converted to diehard Republican voters regardless of Trump’s presence on the ticket.

    I’m not counting any chickens or making predictions, but it seems to me that it’s plausible that Trump as the Republican candidate could help Republicans take the Senate and maybe hold the House while Trump himself loses in a landslide (well, similar to 2020 with maybe some extra padding), while someone else might perform similarly against Biden but lacks the coattails to save the House or retake the Senate.

    Of course, if someone else is the Republican nominee, all bets are off if Trump isn’t dead or somehow otherwise permanently silenced. A pissed off and betrayed Trump could lead to Democrats improbably gaining seats in the Senate and taking the House.

  120. 120.

    Subsole

     

     

    @Captain C: El caudillo is working with Chris Rufo. And I would bet folding American cash that dude has some nasty, nasty skeletons in his crawlspace.

    So, yeah. Groomer? Maybe. Trafficker? Deffo.

  121. 121.

    sdhays

    @K-Mo: Bravo!

    ETA: This is so perfect. If Ron does announce that he’s running, Florida Democrats should actually introduce this. It’s the perfect troll because when the media explains it – and they will, because it’s entertaining and doesn’t deal with (ick!) policy – they’ll be letting everyone know about the pudding story. Ha!

  123. 123.

    Ruckus

    @Brachiator:

    If the press takes SFB and deathsanta out of the running they have no contest to write about – they are left with one side in a political wilderness. And politics can’t be one sided, that is not what we are supposed to be. We are supposed to be 2 sides to the same coin but of course we are aren’t any more. We are 2 sides to 2 wildly different coins. Politics as a government and politics as a hate mobile to hang from the ceiling.

  125. 125.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @scav: Pretty much, heaven forfend their spawn learn about people from different places, different religions, different languages or different ways of thinking/being.   (side note – the people who have public freak outs about other people conducting their lives in something that is not English just astound me.)

  127. 127.

    RaflW

    @Ken: “someone needs to be preaching hope and positives to contrast with the rethugs selling fear all the time”

    Amen to this, and not just in Florida. Some Dems are doing it. I think Govs Walz, Polis and Whitmer are each, in somewhat different ways, mapping out how to move legislation and public sentiment towards government that helps people and gets sh*t done. And are willing to openly say it!

  128. 128.

    Geminid

    @sdhays: This may be a situation where Republicans can’t win without Trump, but they can’t win with him either. I think that a majority of Independents have soured on him, and that would hurt Republicans in purple states and districts. But if disgruntled Trumpers stay home, that will hurt Republican candidates too. And Trump will be a very sore loser if he gets beaten for the nomination.

    My impression is that Republican elites would rather ditch Trump. But it’s not like they get to pick their poison. They find it hard now to even influence voters, much less control them. And Trump is already attacking DeSantis as the establishment’s choice. That could be a good line of attack, because the more feral Republicans hate the so-called RINOs as much or more than they hate Democrats.

  129. 129.

    Splitting Image

    @Subsole:

    Essentially, he’s Christie 2.0. Or Rubio 2.0. Or Ryan 2.0. Or…

     

     

    (You’d think the fact they have to roll a new model of these drones out every 24 months would be a hint…)

    It’s like the philosophy behind venture capitalism. Most of the start-ups will fail, but eventually one will succeed. Then, WHEEEE!! Tax cuts as far as the eye can see!

  131. 131.

    Splitting Image

    @EmbraceYourInnerCrone:

    Pretty much, heaven forfend their spawn learn about people from different places, different religions, different languages or different ways of thinking/being. (side note – the people who have public freak outs about other people conducting their lives in something that is not English just astound me.)

    I generally prefer hearing people around me speak in a language I can’t understand. I used to have a bad habit of listening in to conversations, especially riding the subway when there is nothing else to do. If they were speaking Italian or Chinese, or authentic frontier gibberish, I would eventually nod off.

  132. 132.

    greebe

    @Alison Rose: I find it more satisfying to picture Ronny using his fingers as a fork rather than a spoon to eat the pudding. I’m just going to hold that image in my mind for while.

  133. 133.

    Eunicecycle

    @UncleEbeneezer: that was great. The same guy has lists of articles going back over 100 years on “People don’t want to work anymore” and “Men are getting more feminine”!

  135. 135.

    planetjanet

    There is a bill being discussed in the Florida legislature that would limit instruction and discussion of sexual health to the 6-12 grades only.  State Rep. Ashley Gantt (D) asked the bill’s sponsor if that would prevent girls from talking about their menstrual cycles.  He admitted that it would.  Seems the sponsor did not think about girls starting their cycles as early as 4th or 5th grade.   This is just insane.

    https://wapo.st/3FsLZVZ

  136. 136.

    Citizen Alan

    @Geminid: The republicans might be damned either way,. But I think they will go with Desantis over trump if only because, with trump, the best case scenario is another four years of trump being president. The downsides are the same either way, but Desantis becoming president is probably the only scenario with an upside.

  141. 141.

    glory b

    @Jeffro: They are hoping that Democratic Attorneys General and District Attorneys will get convictions. That way, they can publicly rail against them while secretly being thankful that they’re prayers have been answered. It’s a win/win for them.

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