Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself.

He really is that stupid.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

In my day, never was longer.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

This fight is for everything.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

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

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

The willow is too close to the house.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

You are here: Home / Politics / No Fucks Left To Give, And Not Apologizing For It

No Fucks Left To Give, And Not Apologizing For It

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This guy is having a ball!

Gerry Connolly represents VA-11.
Virginia has 5 Republican members in the House and 6 Democrats.
Gerry Connolly has been in the House since 2009.

This video is 4.5 minutes.  I love to see the Ds taking the fight to the Rs.

Iran – JCPOA
Afghanistan
Putin – election interference
Ukraine – denying weapons, dirt on political opponent
NATO – obsolete
Paris Agreement

“Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!”

I don’t know how Anthony Blinken kept a straight face.

Nebraska is lucky to have this woman as State Senator.  We are all lucky to have her.

h/t to the people who linked to these in the comments, or maybe I found them on twitter.  By the time I had a chance to watch them, I had no idea where they came from.  Out yourselves, please if you linked to these in the comments!

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

123Comments

  2. 2.

    Doc Sardonic

    Nice to see Democrats grabbing the republicans by the scruff and kicking them in the ass till their noses bleed.

  4. 4.

    bbleh

    The aide behind Connolly was fun to watch too.  Like, he managed mostly to keep a slightly smirking smile on his face, as befits an aide to a Member making a mocking speech, but a couple times he looked pretty close to just guffawing out loud (which of course Would Not Do).

  7. 7.

    Shana

    Gerry’s my congressman and I couldn’t be prouder. I like no-f*&cks-left-to-give legislators when they’re on the side of right.

  8. 8.

    EarthWindFire

    Gerry Connolly is my Congressman!!! And, yeah, he gives no fucks and has a district that doesn’t either.

    Megan Hunt has been getting the pearl clutching treatment on Twitter. Delurked to tell those jerks that if my coworkers threatened my kid with their proposals (her kid is transgender), I don’t like you would be my mildest response.

  9. 9.

    jonas

    That Connelly guy needs a shot at guest hosting The Daily Show. Sounds like he’d be good at it.

  10. 10.

    Jeffro

    Gerry was my congressman back when we lived up in Fairfax, and he’s The Bomb.

    I like this new “fighting Dem” spirit!  Mock the Rs (roundly, roundly I say!), point out there many many lies, and keep on chugging.

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    Now I have to watch Connolly again to catch the guy behind him.  I was mostly watching Blinken to make sure he didn’t laugh.  Total straight man, Anthony Blinken.  Kudos.

  14. 14.

    Betty Cracker

    State Sen. Megan Hunt to Repub colleagues:

    “Don’t say hi to me in the hall. Don’t ask me how my weekend was. Don’t walk by my desk and ask me anything. Don’t send me Christmas cards — take me off the list. You don’t know me. We have no relationship.”

    Damn! Her son is trans, and the Repubs activated Mama Bear Mode. Never activate Mama Bear Mode, Repubs!

  17. 17.

    Warblewarble

    ot. Rondestench has a new campaign video “TOP GOV” geddit, where he struts around in a flying suit like a cut price Dubya, looking “STRONG” and steely, Are all his advisors in tRUMPS camp. This shit is far beyond parody.

  18. 18.

    randy khan

    Connolly used to be my rep and a lot of people here still have warm feelings about him.  (Our current rep is Don Beyer, and he’s quite good, too.  We are lucky.)

  20. 20.

    Doc Sardonic

    @bbleh: You are exactly correct as to Republican anatomy & physiology. I firmly believe this should be regular order for our Democratic politicians, mockery to the point beyond cruelty, this time is no time to be nice or play fair.

  22. 22.

    Another Scott

    Gerry used to be my Congressman – the border got moved north and I’m in Beyer’s district now.  Both are great guys in very safe seats.

    Things like this are, it seems to me, a good argument for expanding the House.  Make districts smaller so that representatives can forcefully represent their constituents.  No both-sidesing clear issues like these.  Recognize, and call out, the truth.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  25. 25.

    Another Scott

    Thanks for the pointer to Sen. Hunt’s comments.  Good for her.

    These laws aren’t a game.  She’s right to call them out.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  26. 26.

    Mike in Pasadena

    I noticed Rep. Connolly had to discipline the witness a few times, “Did that administration have a name?” “Did that president have a name?” “And who was that president?” Sec Blinken finally stopped with the polite (meaning weak) weaseling to avoid naming names. Some Democrats are afraid to use Republicans’ names, too many are afraid of calling out TFG by using his name. “Trump,” shout it out when you get the answer right, Trump did those awful things. Excellent video.

  27. 27.

    Hoodie

    @Another Scott: Related story.  My 90-year old former Trump supporting FIL was having problems getting his Army pension checks after moving into assisted living.  I called Beyer’s office and they were on it immediately, having a DOD rep call my wife the next day to straighten things out.   I don’t know if it was cause and effect, but the old guy’s TV is now constantly tuned to CNN.  For years before that, it had been tuned to Fox.

  34. 34.

    Baud

    (CNN)Prosecutors in Brazil have agreed to a deal with Rep. George Santos in a case in which he is accused of defrauding a Rio de Janeiro area clerk of $1,300 over clothes and shoes in 2008, documents obtained by CNN show.
    A petition from Santos’ attorney requesting a deal says Santos would agree to formally confess to the crime and pay damages to the victim, a Rio de Janeiro area clerk, as is required under Brazilian law.

  37. 37.

    trollhattan

    Excellent videos both, and from very different perspectives.

    Hilarious to watch Blinken’s diplomat’s firmware in action.
    “And what was the name of that administration?”
    Click, whir, engage, “That would be the Trump Administration.
    By all rights Megan Hunt should have Sass’s senate seat.

  38. 38.

    RaflW

    @EarthWindFire: Megan Hunt is absolutely amazing. Nebraska will probably manage to be as much of a shithole about trans issues as ND, SD, IA, WY etc. But not without an absolutely epic fight.

    She should be a model for Democratic resistance in many other states.

    Semi-relatedly, I saw that a Missouri rabbi put out a plea (sorry it’s twtr) last night for Jewish leaders across the country to focus in on the MO legislature. They really are being a testing ground for some of the most outrageous christofascist bullshit.

  41. 41.

    Redshift

    I wasn’t always a big fan on Connolly when he was county board chair (a bit too “pro-business” for my taste), but he was always a great speaker and campaigner for all local Democrats, and he’s been excellent in the House.

  42. 42.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Have we all heard that Alvin Bragg received a death threat and white powder in the mail this afternoon?

    Buckle your seatbelts. TFG is going to try a Putin, throwing all his remaining troops at every ongoing court case simultaneously.

    Other legal news I heard today was that the judge in another case, I think the E. Jean Carroll case, has said the jury will be anonymous. Also that trial is absolutely going to start in late April (25th or 26th, I forget which). In case you’re getting impatient for any of this stuff to actually make it into court.

  43. 43.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Another Scott: ​
     

    These laws aren’t a game. She’s right to call them out.

    Exactly. There are issues where people of good will can disagree, but this isn’t one of them.

    This is: do trans people count as people, or not? Before that (and yet again now, dammit), it was (is) do gays, or women, or Black people, count as people, or not?

    As the late, great Terry Pratchett said, sin is treating people as things. That’s what this is about, whether it’s Blacks, or women, or gays, or trans persons, or other genderqueer people. They’re people, dammit, and anyone who insists on treating any of the above as lesser beings, or even treating whether they are or not as an open question, can go fuck themselves.

  47. 47.

    NotMax

    OT.

    BFD (Big Friday Deal).

    The air force commanders of four Nordic countries agreed on a plan to operate their fighter jets as one fleet.

    Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark will develop a “common Nordic Warfighting Concept for Joint Air Operations,” they said in a press release shared with Semafor, adding that the operation will be developed using NATO frameworks.

    The four countries plan to integrate their air command and control operations, and combine their education and training exercises after meeting to sign the agreement last week.

    Norwegian-language news site Aftenposten noted that the combined forces will operate 250 modern-combat aircraft, rivaling numbers seen in European superpowers like the U.K. and France. Source

  53. 53.

    NotMax

    Talk about yer common clay…

    But it wasn’t until yesterday when I saw a Republican member of Congress suggest that the nation’s public libraries be replaced with “church-owned” alternatives. Consider this missive Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana published on Twitter:

    “Over time, American communities will build beautiful, church owned public-access libraries. I’m going to help these churches get funding. We will change the whole public library paradigm. The libraries regular Americans recall are gone. They’ve become liberal grooming centers.”

    Source

  60. 60.

    TriassicSands

    There you go again, Democrats, just being mean, MEAN I say, to those poor Republicans. Gerry Connolly must be stripped of his committee assignments and publicly flogged.

    How dare he us facts to argue his case. That is so unseemly, and so unfair, because the Republicans would NEVER do that!

    Shocking!

  64. 64.

    TriassicSands

    @NotMax: The libraries regular Americans recall are gone. They’ve become liberal grooming centers.”

    Yep, they’re trying to groom small “d” democrats and well-read, informed citizens.

    Have they no shame?

  65. 65.

    Another Scott

    7Veritas4 is having a Q&A thread:

    Alvin is close.

    Fani is close.

    The MaL docs case had some big wins this week…the J6/election interference case as well.

    People are already working around the clock. His unhinged threats will only keep them motivated to get it right.

    — Jack E. Smith ⚖️ (@7Veritas4) March 24, 2023

    Make it so.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  66. 66.

    EarthWindFire

    @Shana: I’m in Mosby-2 since redistricting. Sort of surprised the name hasn’t been changed yet since the name of our polling place was.

    I’m not a FCDC committee member but I pass out sample ballots every general election. I went to the FCDC meeting after Trump’s inauguration and was both pleased and horrified by the crowd. There had to have been at least 500 people there and I don’t do well in large groups. But I always look for volunteer opportunities. Are you involved with them?

  68. 68.

    EarthWindFire

    @Gin & Tonic: IIRC Connelly is originally from Boston. Or maybe that was the former Northern VA representative named – wait for it – Moran.

  70. 70.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Betty Cracker:

    It’s not the same, but it’s still far better than any of the other sites I have signed up for. All your regulars are still active, so grab some wine and some glasses and get back out there!

  72. 72.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @WaterGirl:

    Agreed, Gerry Connolly is a great asset to the Democratic caucus!

    OT

    Can you provide the source for that cool graphic image appearing at the top of this post?

  73. 73.

    HypersphericalCow

    I don’t think a Senator should beat another Senator with a cane.

    but an aluminum telescoping baton that can make it through security…?

  74. 74.

    cliosfanboy

    @Redshift: ​
     same here. I had real doubts about him at first, but he’s been great. Beyer is my Congressman though, and he’s great too! 👍

  77. 77.

    WaterGirl

    @Wyatt Salamanca: I wish I could.  I found that graphic in the early days of Covid when I was looking for a banner image for the new Information Is Power topic I had just made.

    edit: and I see that Scott found it.

  81. 81.

    RevRick

    @BlueGuitarist: Yes, make the House have districts roughly equal in size to that of the smallest district (Wyoming). I would also offer statehood to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands as one state, and smoosh our Pacific Island territories into Hawaii.
    We should cease being a colonial/imperial power.

  82. 82.

    RevRick

    @Anyway: Unfortunately, the Constitution prohibits depriving a state of its two Senators, so the Dakotas with four becoming Dakota with two is a no-no.

  83. 83.

    Redshift

    @EarthWindFire: Volunteers are very much appreciated! I hated those giant meetings, too. They’ve actually gotten better – they went virtual during the pandemic, and it looks like they may remain hybrid forever. You can keep up with everything without the crowd, and you can hit the mute button if someone is getting annoying. 🙂

    I’m a precinct captain in Mason district.

  84. 84.

    Helen

    @NotMax: Had twelve years of parochial school, mostly taught by nuns in the 1960’s. Exposed to all types of contemporary literature, taught that the Bible was not meant to be interpreted literally, and had my first exposure to women’s lib. What happens when ‘church’ libraries don’t toe the fundamentalists’ line?

  87. 87.

    Another Scott

    @RevRick: I still like the idea of requiring that each state have at least as many US representatives as it has US senators.

    Roughly 288,500 people per district, roughly 1144 representatives. 634 electoral votes to win the Presidency.

    It would solve a lot of problems. Therefore, it won’t happen anytime soon. :-(

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  88. 88.

    Shana

    @EarthWindFire: Yep, precinct captain for what used to be OakMarr precinct (it just got renamed) for the past 15-ish years. I’ve met a lot of great people, and a couple I’d be happy to never see again, but it’s also like herding cats sometimes.

  91. 91.

    Suzanne

    So in complete contrast to all these assholes calling Michaelangelo’s David statue pornographic, I recently joined a Facebook group dedicated to the work of Egon Schiele. So now my feed is filled up with, well, lots of tits and ass. But it’s art.

  93. 93.

    Suzanne

    @RevRick: My neighbor down the street works at the local UU church and she has a Little Free Library. I like to put all kinds of trash and smut (like Faulkner) in there.

  95. 95.

    Brit in Chicago

    @Raoul Paste: “My God, Blinken is scary smart and well spoken.  Total command of the facts.”

    One of many things to like about Uncle Joe is that he has chosen really good and well-qualified people for the major positions in the administration—and mostly, as far as I can tell, for the less positions too. Quite a contrast from TFG.

  96. 96.

    VOR

    @NotMax: So what’s stopping these churches from setting up their own libraries right now? Oh yeah, money. Libraries cost money to operate.

    Dingus is really talking about shifting public funds over to religious groups.

  97. 97.

    Jeffro

    @Another Scott: that’s an excellent idea!

    The American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ report (Our Common Purpose) has something like this listed as a step towards better representation, although I don’t think they go far enough.

    (Who cares what the current size of the Capitol is?  Why should that limit democracy?  Why would you open with “add 50 reps ” when you could open with “add 700 reps”? =)

  98. 98.

    Jeffro

    @Brit in Chicago:One of many things to like about Uncle Joe is that he has chosen really good and well-qualified people for the major positions in the administration—and mostly, as far as I can tell, for the less positions too. Quite a contrast from TFG.

    I have to admit, the extremely low quality of trumpov hires was surprising to me.  (Yes, I’m stupid).  But I always assumed that the GOP Powers-That-Be would use him as a puppet and have a ton of effective wingnut welfare goons ready to spring into action at all levels, the better to bring about their RWNJ heaven on earth.

    Turns out, being RWNJ seems to inhibit excellence in anything but grifting.  Funny, that.

  99. 99.

    VOR

    @Jeffro: The book “The Fifth Risk” was eye-opening about TFG’s low quality hires. His top priority was loyalty to Trump and competence was way, way down the list of desired attributes.

    I think it was Madison Cawthorn who admitted he hired his staff for comms, which really meant their ability to get him onto Fox News. He wasn’t hiring people for their policy knowledge.

  100. 100.

    Elizabelle

    Gerry Connolly was my congressman for a long time.  I eventually moved out of his district, but he is the real deal.

    In early adulthood he gave some thought to becoming a priest, but married and has one daughter, and is an exceptionally good Congressional rep.  Glad to see him getting some acclaim.

    He apparently throws an excellent St. Patrick’s Day fete each year.

  101. 101.

    brantl

    That woman is going to teach them that once you really piss someone off, your life will be hell.

  105. 105.

    James E Powell

    @RevRick:

    Unfortunately, the Constitution prohibits depriving a state of its two Senators, so the Dakotas with four becoming Dakota with two is a no-no.

    So what you’re saying is we need a time machine.

  106. 106.

    kalakal

    @VOR:

    So what’s stopping these churches from setting up their own libraries right now?

    They’ve had the chance to set up public libraries for centuries. Never took it.

    Public libraries as we know them didn’t really start until the late nineteenth century. Maybe the public had got tired of waiting for the churches.

    Damn right it’s about giving tax payers money to fundies

  107. 107.

    kalakal

    Both those clips are great in different ways. And kudos to Blinken for keeping a straight face. I’d have cracked up

  108. 108.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Redshift: ​
     

    Past time for another Northern Virginia Balloon Juice meetup, so we can find out (or remember) how many of us already know each other IRL. 🙂

    If you have one, this Virginia expat would love to make the drive across the Wilson Bridge to join you folks!

  112. 112.

    Jackie

    Welp, no more #1 seeds left in the men’s NCAA basketball tournament!

    I mostly root for the underdogs so I’m really enjoying March Madness this year! Hoping #15 Princeton hangs on tonight!

  113. 113.

    sdhays

    @Mike in Pasadena: I noticed Rep. Connolly had to discipline the witness a few times, “Did that administration have a name?” “Did that president have a name?” “And who was that president?”

    Personally, I thought it was pitch perfect. Blinken is Secretary of State of the United States of America, not a partisan actor regardless of how much Republicans beat him up. Connelly it’s Connelly’s role to take the wind out of the sails of the partisan attacks, so needing to prod Blinken to name Trump just emphasized how the partisan attacks on Blinken himself were stupid and nasty.

  115. 115.

    Ohio Mom

    @kalakal: Blinken’s ability to keep a straight face is why he’s a diplomat and neither one of us is. I hope he’s not like this in his personal relationships.

  116. 116.

    Jackie

    @HumboldtBlue: I know! I was really stoked to watch Alabama go down 😁

    I’m rooting for the Zags – as I’m an eastern Washingtonian – but also rooting for #15 Princeton 🤞🏻🤞🏻

    I was sorta rooting for Houston (maiden name) Cougars (eastern WA connection) but just getting a kick out of the zillions of busted brackets 😁😁

  117. 117.

    Jean

    @Redshift: That would be good, RedShift.  How about Chesterfield or Richmond as alternatives?  You helped me when I was first getting involved in volunteering for campaigns.  I might have met you virtually at FDL.  Not sure.

  118. 118.

    bbleh

    @RevRick: But what if the two states become one state? I mean, the whole two-Dakotas thing was a power-grab from the start.  What if the federal authority, in whatever form and by whatever means, decided that TWO Dakotas were no longer to be part of the Union?

    For other states it would be a minor but significant gain: their Senators’ votes would be slightly more significant.

    And think how it could spread! Coalitions of states trying to throw others out, or consolidate them, for the sake of power.  Populous Eastern states working to combine thinly-populated Western states, even as large Western states try to combine tiny Eastern states! A new national divide!

    I’m gonna go to bed now.

  119. 119.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    Slightly OT, and perhaps this is a dead thread, but is there any interest in a BJ get-together in the SF Bay area?  I live in Belmont.

  121. 121.

    mvr

    @Betty Cracker: Megan Hunt is right about that. She isn’t the only one doing the fillibustering. Michaela Cavanaugh has been doing it for weeks, made a deal to stop for this one cloture vote, and now will be back  doing it with Hunt.

    Unfortunately, the Nebraska legislature is currently a shitshow. There should be 18 D votes to hold the line on the several shit bills mostly written out of state that we are seeing (a gun bill, an abortion ban, the anti-trans bill, a tax breaks for private schools bill that must have been written by the DeVos family, unsustainable tax cut bills, bills implementing a voting ID bill that will require notaries for absentee ballots, and likely a lot I don’t know about.)  But one D (the leg is nonpartisan but we know party affiliation) is not going to help stop the abortion bill, they only got 17 votes on the anti-trans bill, Omaha D legislators are not sufficiently wise to vote against the DeVossy bill, and it is very demoralizing.

    And the majority Rs will very likely will change the rules next session because they are pissed it is taking so long to steamroll the Ds on issues no one but the crazy base and theocrats care about.

  122. 122.

    mvr

    @mvr: Apparently they want to try the rule change next week,

    https://www.wowt.com/2023/03/24/nebraska-legislature-rule-change-proposed-senators-brace-more-filibusters/

    I’m hoping they fail and I fully support the filibuster of all these bad bills. But I’m feeling a bit queasy about the prospects. My rep is solid. So I don’t feel like there is much more I can do besides publicize the crap as best I can, and vote against the R (who happens to be one of the votes for these bad bills in her role as a legislator from another part of Lincoln) running against our mayor in LIncoln.

  123. 123.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @M31: [T]he pics of De Santis in his flight suit and helmet were laughable, immediately on tw*tter there were hundreds of reposts of the Dukakis in a tank picture, it was lovely.

    How about a nice picture of DroneStains in his Navy uniform with a big grin holding a large beaker of urine? Since that’s what he mostly did…

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