Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Elections aren’t won by handwringing, cowering, and/or bashing your own candidates.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Motown is Joe-Town!

Republicans in disarray!

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

It looks like winning debates is a black job!

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you don’t.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’

Dead end MAGA boomers crying about Talyor Swift being a Dem is my kind of music. Turn it up.

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

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

The arc of the moral universe doesn’t bend itself. it’s up to us.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sunday Evening Open Thread: The GOP, Now A Full-Scale Mafia

Sunday Evening Open Thread: The GOP, Now A Full-Scale Mafia

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“No leaks. . . . This is how we know we’re a real family here.” (Although you can’t really blame Putin for the Huckabees — our own homebred Southrun criminal class has been living its Thieves Code since the Three-Fifths Compromise was ‘enshrined’ in the Constitution.)

Reader Interactions

103Comments

  2. 2.

    Dangerman

    A whole pile of them are going down. I’m going to run out of cake mix and frosting (probably mix first, so I’ll still have frosting, thus, not a total emergency).

  3. 3.

    Splitting Image

    As the Trumpers wrest control of the Republican party away from the moderates, let us remember that moderate Republican Barry M. Goldwater uttered a warning about the risk of letting those moderates take control of the party.

  5. 5.

    CaseyL

    I’d like to know where Jean-Michel Connard got his numbers, since SFAIK selling out one’s conscience has worked out very well financially for GOPsters/gangsters.  (I’d also question whether any of them actually had a conscience to start with.)

  10. 10.

    Butter Emails

    @CaseyL:

    Collectively they have at times had full control of the world’s most powerful military and largest economy and yet they kiss the butts of and shower billions of dollars on billionaires and millionaires in exchange for campaign donations, the occasional fancy meal, some free plane rides and a few million dollars worth of insider trading opportunities when they could have it all.

  11. 11.

    prostratedragon

    That’s an abysmal statement of values for someone claiming to be a Christian.

  12. 12.

    Jeffg166

    The Federalist party died in 1824.

    The Whig party died in 1854.

    Looks like the Republican Party should be dead by 2024.

  14. 14.

    Alison Rose

    If instead of listening to dumb evil people, you’d rather listen to a smart good person, this WIRED video with structural engineer Dr Nehemiah Mabry answering questions about cities and skyscrapers and bridges and such was way more interesting than I expected. He actually explains stuff in ways I can understand…although I wish I hadn’t seen the photos of the tallest bridge in the world because FUCKIN YIKES. But it’s super interesting and he’s very engaging.

  15. 15.

    eversor

    @prostratedragon:

    It’s really not.  Patriarchy is baked into the old testament, new testament and what Christ himself said.  All three parts of which are vastly more extreme than todays current GOP and even several of the worst theocracies out there on patriarchy.  If anything these guys need to become more patriarchal to be actually Christian.  They are too “woke” on that already.

  16. 16.

    Geminid

     

     

    @CaseyL: Last night Trump’s team posted a list of the Texas electeds who have endorsed Trump. It included Texas’s Lt. Governor and Attorney General, but not the Governor. Eleven if the state’s US Representatives were on the list, but 14 Reps and the two Senators were not.

    Most of this latter group are on the fence, waiting to see which way the wind blows. Many of the Representives are in safe seats, but a few should polish up their resumes if Trump is the nominee..

    There are twenty or so other purple district Republicans who will likely be out of a job if Trump wins the nomination. This in general is why Republican elites hope to nominate someone else, and wanted to get behind DeSantis. But as they say in the boxing biz, “Ya gotta have somebody to beat somebody,” and DeSantis is looking like he’s not “somebody.” Maybe Pompeo is.

    But this is Karl Rove’s problem, not mine. It seems likelier than not that Trump will shamble into the general election like a zombie candidate, and I’m fine with that.

  18. 18.

    Roberto el oso

    Evangelicals scolding one another about disloyalty in airing their filthy laundry in public have come a long way from Paul’s advice to “avoid even the appearance of sin”.

  20. 20.

    Quinerly

    How am I just learning that Boebert finally got her GED on her 4th attempt, at age 34, in 2020? Just a few months before her election to Congress.

  21. 21.

    Cameron

    Here in the Sunshine State the Florida NAACP is considering calling for a national boycott by visitors in response to the various vile initiatives of the state government.  When asked to comment, the guv called the move a “stunt.”  Were I a member of the FL NAACP, I would take this as high praise indeed, since nobody knows from “stunt” like Sassy Boots.  Shipping immigrants from Texas to New England on the Florida taxpayer’s dime?  Now that’s a stunt.

  22. 22.

    Splitting Image

    @Alison Rose:

    I’d bet dollars to donuts these “women should have no authority over men” types have a secret dominatrix fetish.

    It’s been out of the bag since the word “cuck” started floating around as an insult among alt-right-wingers. It is absolutely an insult in certain parts of the BDSM scene. Jerry Falwell Jr. and his wife actually got outed for being part of that particular scene.

    There are progressive areas within the BDSM scene, but as a whole the community is perhaps a touch more reactionary than Iowa’s evangelical Christians.

  28. 28.

    Geminid

    @Cameron: Some of DeSantis’s minions may face criminal charges over the Martha’s Vinyard stunt. A couple weeks ago Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar announced that he had forwarded results of his investigation imto the matter to the county DA.

    Salazar would not say if he recommended prosecution, but it sounded like he did. Hoever, Salazar said that DeSantis was not a subject, just the participants who acted in Bexar County. That would include Florida public safety official Larry Keefe, who was at the airport, as well as retired Army sergeant Perla Huerta, who recruited the migrants into the scheme. Last October, Sheriff Salazar said there could be a charge of “unlawful restraint” because the migrants were lured onto the airplane under false pretenses.

    There is also a civil lawsuit by a Massachusetts civil rights law firm on behalf of the migrants. That could involve DeSantis.

    Because they are witnesses to a potential crime, the migrants involved have protected status and cannot be deported.

  30. 30.

    Cameron

    @Geminid: I had heard some noises that there might be Federal charges connected with interstate human trafficking, but I guess that didn’t go anywhere.

  32. 32.

    Quinerly

    @Jackie:

    There is a meme going around. I fact checked it. The 4 times taking it startled me. It’s true. She even had to take a prep course in 2020 to pass it.

    I keep flashing on my month long camping trip with JoJo Sept 2021, thru Southern Colorado. This is the trip that I decided to permanently move to NM on. I hit Colorado from Kansas. My first sightseeing stop was the Sandcreek Massacre site. Camped near there and worked my way across that most Southern part of Colorado. Her district includes Durango and goes all the way over Mesa Verde (I camped there for a few days). I was shocked about the number of Boebert signs in Durango. Then I was in Cortez, CO looking for a restaurant for a decent dinner. Had camped in a state park near there before landing in Mesa Verde. Way too many Trump/Boebert 2024 signs (professionally made). I beat feet. No dinner for me!

  33. 33.

    Geminid

    @Cameron: The federal investigation hasn’t gone anywhere yet. It seems like the Justice Department would at least bring a civil action, but my knowledge in this area is general at best. Maybe they will.

  34. 34.

    hells littlest angel

    Jimmy “The Gent” Conway said it more succinctly: “Never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut.”

  36. 36.

    Geminid

    @Jackie: Margorie Taylor Greene for Senator? I bet Jon Ossoff is shaking in his boots! With laughter

    But that seat isn’t up until 2026. It probably won’t be a problem for McConnell by then.

  39. 39.

    Jackie

    Did anyone watch Jen Psaki’s new show today?

    It was good!

    “Jim Jordan’s dream of running interference for Donald Trump crushed by Jen Psaki”

    “On Sunday morning, former White House press secretary Jen Psaki served notice to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) that he doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on as he tries to keep Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg from investigating Donald Trump.”

    snip

    “”I’m not freaking out about what [House Speaker] Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) or Jim Jordan are up to because I’m not sure they really thought all of this through,” the smiling Psaki began. “For one, these Republicans have gone out on a limb — way out, way out on a limb. To start with they are defending Trump before they even know what charges he might face.””

    YouTube link to the segment is embedded at the end of the article:

    https://www.rawstory.com/jim-jordan-alvin-bragg/

  41. 41.

    Quinerly

    @Geminid:

    MTG really is running for VP. I hate being a traitor to my own sex but the catfight over Trump between Kari Lake and Marge could be epic. I will enjoy it.

  45. 45.

    Geminid

    @Jackie: My Atlanta friend pointed this out. Republicans assume that this indictment will be about just the Stormy Daniels affair. But they may be surprised by indictments for other crimes.

  46. 46.

    Quinerly

    @Cameron:

    I’ll be blunt and elitist 😉. We would cringe if we knew her IQ. Maybe even feel sorry for her for a couple of seconds.  This really isn’t about education. I’m in a mood tonight. I’m blaming medication. Severe sinus headache.

  47. 47.

    Jeffro

    It’s really amazing how little they have all sold their souls for on the GOP side.

    With just a few tweaks and a bit more effort, they could be at least as competitive as they are now if not more so.  Human beings are suckers for pitches based on envy, greed, retribution, and the rest of the Republican canon.

  48. 48.

    Jackie

    @Baud: 😂

    She’s the Jen we enjoyed watching behind the podium smacking Peter Doocy down. I love her dry sense of humor!

  49. 49.

    Jeffro

    I also think Mike Huckabee’s “Two Virtues” mini-speech deserves a far wider airing in this country.

    The cognitive agony dissonance from the religious right alone is worth it.  Where’s the Lincoln Project when you need a good ad up on RWNJ networks, stat?

  51. 51.

    Quinerly

    @Baud:

    My money is on Trump picking a woman as his running mate if he is the Repug nominee. In fact, I bet if he’s not the nominee, whoever is will pick a woman running mate.

  52. 52.

    Carlo Graziani

    @Baud:

    Anyone who puts her on as Veep has a death wish.

    Oh, come on. Sarah Palin worked out so nicely after all.

  53. 53.

    Quinerly

    @Cameron:

    It’s a huge district. Granted, I’m an outsider and I know we have several people here from her district that can weigh in. Having never spent any time in that area, I got my eyes opened in Durango. I kinda had an image in my mind of it being Liberal. When she was originally elected, Rifle, CO and its location meant nothing to this St. Louis woman.

  55. 55.

    Another Scott

    ICYMI, …

    I had no idea that one of the world's first suicide hotlines was inspired by a teen girl who killed herself when she got her period. She didn't know what it meant and thought it was a divine punishment. Gifting this article because it's mindblowing. https://t.co/Y3T0H0vXEZ

    — Colleen Mondor (@chasingray) March 26, 2023

    The monsters want to take us back to those times. We cannot let them win.

    (via nycsouthpaw)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  59. 59.

    Jackie

    @Jackie: Psaki also interviewed Eric Holder (Obama’s AG) about the upcoming Supreme Court election; they both agreed this election will be the most important election of 2023.

  60. 60.

    RaflW

    Speaking of far right politicians who may have critically overreached, the protests in Israel have really ramped up since Bibi fired the defense minister. Universities are closing, trade unions are threatening a general strike, and there have been huge street demonstrations this evening (it’s now past 3:30am there). The Tel Aviv morning will be interesting to see

    eta: Zamir just resigned

    Asaf Zamir @AmbAsafZamir
    The past 18 months as Israel’s Consul General in New York were fulfilling and rewarding, but following today’s developments, it is now time for me to join the fight for Israel’s future to ensure it remains a beacon of democracy and freedom in the world.

  62. 62.

    Quinerly

    @Cameron:

    I believed he couldn’t possibly win until around noon on election day. Will never forget it. Voted very early, dropped Poco off at a new groomer who had just opened in my neighborhood, went to breakfast at a dive diner. Then drove out to Trader Joe’s in the county. Was pushing the cart to my car and a wave of almost sickness came over me. I kid you not…it hit me like a ton of bricks that Trump was going to win. I literally felt faint. Got back to my neighborhood and picked up my dog. Started drinking at a bar a couple of blocks from my old house. I never drink to the point of a hangover, but I put in a good 8 hrs of drinking that day. Horrendous hangover the next day….

  63. 63.

    Geminid

    @RaflW: Laura Rozen has been following these events on her Twitter feed. She’s mainly linking to Israeli sources.

    The news that Netanyahu had dismissed his Defense Minister hit at 11pm there, and tens of thousands of Israelis immediately took to the streets. At one point protesters surged through barriers in front of Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence, and police used water cannon to drive them back.

  65. 65.

    Lyrebird

    @Cameron: ​
     

    Thanks very much for the update. In my professional specialty, the number one annual conference is near Tampa. Last year I did a probably pointless boycott. I also have family in the area, family almost as cool as Betty Cracker but limited in what they can do by old age.

    Anyhoo, glad to hear what might be brewing.

  66. 66.

    Cameron

    @Quinerly: At that time I was still an active alcoholic and had only recently moved to Florida, so the event didn’t really register as anything abnormal.  New place, screwed-up mind – why not a bizarro for president? Shoot, I probably wouldn’t have batted an eye if Jill Stein had won.

  67. 67.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Quinerly: I live in Colorado but not Boebert’s district, which is indeed huge. Like many states, Colorado’s blueness is cities…mainly Denver, Boulder, Aspen.

    We took a western slope vacation to see Mesa Verde and hike, circling back to Denver after a day at the Dunes. We stayed at an AirBnB in Dolores, a funky cabin on acreage built and hosted by 2 crazy smart liberals.  They said the area is about 40% Dem on a good day and they fight the good fight.

    Feel better!

  70. 70.

    Geminid

    @Geminid: Also, the Times of Israel and the Jerusalem Post are good sources for reporting on Israeli politics in general. This whole controversy over Netanyahu’s judicial power grab has dominated their coverage the last few weeks. Israeli politics have been contentious in the past, but not like this.

  71. 71.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Jeffro:

    I also think Mike Huckabee’s “Two Virtues” mini-speech deserves a far wider airing in this country.

    Yeah, I’m thinking, doesn’t this guy remember the two Great Commandments that Christ said summed up the Law and the Prophets?  I don’t recall anything about loyalty or a zipped lip in either of them.

  72. 72.

    Quinerly

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    I actually liked Dolores! It had a sweet little vibe. Pretty sure I hit a funky little cafe there, near a public park that JoJo enjoyed. I did spend some time in Mancos and found it nice. Fun microbrewery with a great band outside the afternoon I was there. I had met a park ranger at the state park who suggested the brewery. Ended up hanging with him and other like minded locals. Mancos is on my list for a return visit.

  74. 74.

    Bill Arnold

    @Alison Rose:

    I’d bet dollars to donuts these “women should have no authority over men” types have a secret dominatrix fetish.

    It would not be very difficult to further encourage the use of the “every accusation is a confession” heuristic as a weapon among those directly involved in GOP infighting. Thoughts? One concern is that it would also be pointed at non-GOP people.

  75. 75.

    ...now I try to be amused

    Whenever I hear someone extol loyalty as their primary value, I remember that “Meine Ehre heisst Treue” (“My Honor is Loyalty”) was the motto of the Nazi SS.

    @Jackie:

    “I’m not freaking out about what [House Speaker] Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) or Jim Jordan are up to because I’m not sure they really thought all of this through,” the smiling Psaki began. “For one, these Republicans have gone out on a limb — way out, way out on a limb. To start with they are defending Trump before they even know what charges he might face.”

    The GOP handed Trump a blank check when their senators refused to convict him in both impeachments. They’re still paying for it. The second acquittal may go down in history as Mitch McConnell’s greatest miscalculation. It was the time he could have cut their losses — Trump had already lost the election — but McConnell thought he needed the Trumpists for the Georgia runoffs. Talk about selling your birthright for a mess of pottage.

  77. 77.

    Geminid

    @…now I try to be  The Georgia Senate runoffs were held on January 5, 2021. They were a done deal by the time the Insurrection took place the next day and set the second impeachment in motion. I’m not saying that McConnell should not have persuaded 18 other Republicans to vote for conviction, just that the Georgia Senate runoffs did not influence McConnell to let Trump off.

  78. 78.

    Bill Arnold

    @Geminid:

    Also, the Times of Israel and the Jerusalem Post are good sources for reporting on Israeli politics in general.

    The news.google.com “world” feed has been having plenty of sections on the Israeli theocracy-tinted authoritarianism v judiciary crisis as well. (As far as I can tell, google’s news subcategories are auto-identified. )

    I keep that world feed open in a browser tab.

  79. 79.

    Gvg

    @Alison Rose: Aide to the politician whose staff has been saying his wife is the mastermind controlling his image. I don’t believe she has any influence over him and never did. That was just a trial ballon story they were selling us to see if it would help him. That kind of story has helped other politicians fairly recently. Ivanka was supposed to be able to sweet talk Trump for instance and I think I have heard others including democrats. The men are responsible for their own actions.

  80. 80.

    Cameron

    @Gvg: I do believe the bit that she’s trying to get him to interact more with his audiences, even attempting to seem human.  Which attempt has been an abject failure as far as I can see.

  81. 81.

    ...now I try to be amused

    @Geminid:

    The Georgia Senate runoffs were held on January 5, 2021. They were a done deal by the time the Insurrection took place the next day and set the second impeachment in motion.

    Oops! Thanks for the correction.

    That makes McConnell’s decision even more cowardly and stupid.

  82. 82.

    Regnad Kcin

    “Drop the bomb, exterminate them all.”

    Alternatively:

    “Nuke the entire party from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.”

  83. 83.

    Steeplejack

    I’ve got to throw in this quip I saved from Stephanie Ruhle’s show in late January. Jason Johnson: The GOP is “a dime-store front for a terrorist organization.” Seems apt.

  84. 84.

    Geminid

    @…now I try to be amused: McConnell seemed inclined towards impeachment right after the Insurrection. Something changed his mind. Maybe other Senators told him they would risk permanently alienating Trump’s most ardent supporters.

    Here the Georgia runoffs may have played a role. There was a striking disparity between the dropoffs in the Democratic vote and the Republican. Ossoff’s vote dropped by about 90,000 from November to January, I think, while Perdue’s dropped by over 240,000. This was contrary to the historic pattern of a larger Democratic dropoff in runoff elections.

    Part of this can be credited to Democratic effort, but observers thought that Perdue’s poor performance was due to disgusted Trumpers staying home, in order to punish party leaders for failing to “Stop the Steal.” McConnell got a hard lesson in how badly disaffection among Trump’s hard core supporters could hurt McConnell’s party.

    Ever since then, Republican leaders have struggled to figure out how to ditch Trump and still keep his supporters. They have yet to come up with a solution. There probably isn’t one.

  87. 87.

    Matt McIrvin

    Isn’t this stuff straight out of Haidt’s claims about liberal vs. conservative moral foundations? We don’t really value loyalty as an end in itself, loyalty as a virtue even among criminals performing atrocities, the way they do. And, of course, the insistence on male supremacy is their “authority/hierarchy” thing.

  88. 88.

    Jackie

    @Geminid: McConnell genuinely believed/hoped once Biden was inaugurated, TFG would retire to the background and focus on cheating on golf. He, and many, many republicans were wrong and are paying the price even now.

  90. 90.

    Geminid

    @Jackie: There was a recent Politico article about the fight between Trump and DeSantis. The reporter noted that four of Trumps campaign operatives, including Susan Wiles and Tony Fabrizio, used to work for or closely with DeSantis. They know the guy, and they know his deficits. I don’t know how Mrs. DeSantis fits into all this, but these operatives are going to spread “insider” dirt on her regardless of how true it is.

  91. 91.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Jackie: seems to me someone, maybe several someones, is/are putting an awful lot of effort into making Mrs DeSantis some kind of star. Maybe it’s all true, but it smacks of effort, which someone as politically savvy as those someones want us to think she is wouldn’t let show

  92. 92.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Gvg: both Bushes did that with some success, “his wife is pro-choice”. Okay, and…?

    but as I recall it was useful to both. Romney had less luck with it.

  93. 93.

    cain

    @Geminid: Why is this criminal still holding on to power? I find it amazing that despite everything that has happened that Israel want to keep going hard right.

  94. 94.

    RaflW

    @Geminid: It was Louis Fishman, Associate Prof Brooklyn College, retweeted by someone I follow who got me to take notice. He ended quite a thread with “Tomorrow will be a huge; in history of Israel we have never seen its society at such a breaking point. Here’s a clip of the police attacking and arresting protesters head on. Highway is now clear. A new day tomorrow.”

  96. 96.

    ...now I try to be amused

    @Geminid:

    …four of Trumps campaign operatives, including Susan Wiles and Tony Fabrizio, used to work for or closely with DeSantis.

    Very interesting. They wouldn’t be doing this if they thought DeSantis was the future of the GOP, or if they thought Trump had no future in it.

  97. 97.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Quinerly: It would be close. I think Marge would win. She’s smarter than Kari who has gone down the QAnon rabbithole. Marge is more performative.  Kari knows how to present herself better because of her tv anchor experience so she may take it.

  98. 98.

    frosty

    @Alison Rose: ​You’re right. I’m an engineer and I know a lot of that stuff but even so he was really engaging and explained it well.​
     

    Nice bridge!

  99. 99.

    Mai Naem mobile

     

     

    @Geminid: Fabrizio is the one who was paid by Manafort for the 2016 polling.  Guess they’re trying to get the old team back together. Jason Miller’s back. It’ll be interesting to see if any of the latest guys subpoenaed by Jack Smith will stay away from TFG.

  100. 100.

    Geminid

    @cain: It is not clear that Israel wants to continue to go “hard right.” Netanyahu has power by virtue of a 64-56 Knesset majority won in the last Israeli election. On November 1, the total votes of the anti-Netanyahu and pro-Netanyahyu blocs were almost equal. But because two anti-Netanyahu  parties failed to reach the 3.25% threshold for Knesset representation, their votes were wasted and what would have have been a 60-60 standoff became a 64-56 majority for Netanyahu instead..

  101. 101.

    AWOL

    @eversor: Thank you for continuing to not be an apologist for a genocidal belief system that just ceased its last explicit genocide a mere 78 years ago and will gladly float the idea to the murderous rubes soon.

  102. 102.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @RaflW: it is now time for me to join the fight for Israel’s future to ensure it remains a beacon of democracy and freedom in the world.

    Nothing to do with today’s events, but remains…?

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