Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

If rights aren’t universal, they are privilege, not rights.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

Let me file that under fuck it.

The willow is too close to the house.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

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

Trump should be leading, not lying.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

You are here: Home / Economics / Grifters Gonna Grift / Late Night Open Thread: In Search of A New Mark Grievance

Late Night Open Thread: In Search of A New Mark Grievance

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Candace Owens needs a new grift, because she & her British husband had to sell their Twitter knock-off at a discount after Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) imploded. Per Variety:

Parler, the self-described “uncancelable free-speech social platform” that catered to right-wing users — which was nearly acquired by Kanye West last year — has been shut down by its new owner.

“No reasonable person believes that a Twitter clone just for conservatives is a viable business any more,” Arlington, Va.-based digital media company Starboard said in announcing Friday that it had acquired Parler. The terms of the deal are not being disclosed; Starboard said it expects the deal to be accretive by the end of the second quarter of 2023…

In October 2022, Kanye “Ye” West and Parler had announced a provisional agreement for the music artist and entrepreneur to buy Parler. West appeared to be motivated to buy Parler after he was temporarily suspended from Twitter and Instagram over antisemitic posts. In December, Parler announced that the deal had been called off by mutual agreement. That came shortly after West appeared on Alex Jones’ Infowars show, where among other things West expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler. West had already been met with a major backlash over his antisemitic statements, including Adidas canceling its sneaker deal with him.

Owens’ old running buddies in the Ye campaign aren’t doing too well right now, either…

When Kanye West and his white nationalist adviser Nick Fuentes dined with Donald Trump last fall, the iconic rapper and quixotic 2024 presidential candidate managed to grab all the wrong kinds of headlines.

But since that Mar-a-Lago summit, Kanye West—now preferring to go simply by “Ye”—hasn’t managed to grab much attention at all. And the disappearing spotlight, according to people close to West’s operation, is because his presidential campaign has been on hold for months amid a civil war among West’s lieutenants and a lack of interest from the megastar himself.

As other Republican presidential hopefuls ramp up their White House bids, West’s political team of far-right influencers has found a new foe: each other. After once working together to elect West—or at least get him more attention through media appearances on fringe outlets like InfoWars—West campaign staffers like Fuentes, Jan. 6 rally organizer Ali Alexander, and British provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos have turned on one another…

This month, however, the fight over the ruins of West’s campaign turned more serious. The rival sides lobbed unconfirmed accusations that their enemies had participated in various improper activities. Yiannopoulos even set up a hotline asking for dirt on Alexander.

“I was disappointed by, and am now disgusted with, my former protégé,” Yiannopoulos added in a lengthy statement to The Daily Beast. “Nicholas has shown himself incapable of humility, growth, gratitude, strategy, teamwork, political judgment, and basic honesty.”

Amid the fighting, Alexander has portrayed himself on social media as still close to West’s presidential bid. But Camacho, the producer, doubts there’s much of a presidential run to speak of.

“Ali is all over Twitter representing Ye, as if he’s part of his campaign, all this stuff,” Camacho said. “And it’s completely bullshit.”

If the rumors are true, Ali Alexander also sold out his Jan6 comrades to the FBI, so he probably wants to look very busy elsewhere. At least one constant remains, though: Everything Trump Touches Dies.

Reader Interactions

77Comments

  1. 1.

    Tony Jay

    “Nicholas has shown himself incapable of humility, growth, gratitude, strategy, teamwork, political judgment, and basic honesty.”

    I’m pretty sure there’s a saying pulled from the world of baseball that applies here.

  3. 3.

    HumboldtBlue

    Talk about grabbing all the wrong headlines, two weeks after getting his ass handed to him by the two Justins, Tennessee speaker Cameron Sexton has seen his name linked with stealing from taxpayers to the tunes of tens of thousands of dollars, and now he has grabbed the headline for showing his ass — literally — in texts he sent of himself in various stages of undress to a sexy blonde woman who happens to be a lobbyist married to the vice comms director for Governor Lee.

    Sexton’s sordid affair came to light because like Trump, he wasn’t satisfied by flying under the radar, stealing money, lying about where he lives and in what house he lives in, and now he is being literally pantsed on the public stage.

    And to cap this whole sordid mess off, the blonde lobbyist who has now been identified as Sexton‘s mistress is married to… wait for it… THE DEPUTY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR GOV BILL LEE.

    You’re a sick, sick puppy, Cameron. You fucked around. Tennessee found out.

  7. 7.

    pat

    I am reading the first comment and thinking, You can’t make this shit up!

    Good grief,  Have these people no shame???

    Guess not.

  8. 8.

    Jerzy Russian

    Is there one thing that is objectively better in American society since Candice Owens opened her pie hole?

  9. 9.

    pat

    On the other hand, with a name like SEXton, what do you expect?  Got to live up to the name, huh?

  10. 10.

    NotMax

    @HumboldtBlue

    Two Kutztown memories (was a funky hamlet back when):

    1) Going to hear a talk and Q&A session by John Dean not many years after Watergate.

    2) Truly cinematic moment — late in the evening of a party held there, witnessed an irate besotted guest throw the contents of a full glass a of champagne directly and accurately in the face of the hostess before storming out.

  12. 12.

    Aussie Sheila

    Slightly OT, I just saw a Doug Jones clip on twitter re gun madness. It was very good. Apologies for not linking, not sure how to. What a decent and thoughtful man. If people can find it, it bears retweeting out. I usually don’t write/post about the gun slaughter but even my slight detachment from the madness is getting undermined.

    I can almost physically feel the grief of the parents, children, loved ones and friends. I don’t know how people can see all this and not want to make it stop.

    Great grief is not just emotional, it is physical. It literally makes you heart sick and your stomach roil.
    It is social suicide. Unbelievable.

  13. 13.

    Chris T.

    Somewhat serious question: what do you do after you steal two million dimes? If you go into a bank and try to deposit them, they’re going to be suspicious.

    Even if there are ten people involved, that’s still two hundred thousand dimes apiece. That’s a lot of coins!

  14. 14.

    Brachiator

    Can you name one objective thing that has gotten better in American society since women were given the right to vote?

    So, I presume from this monumental bit of stupidity that Candace Owens does not vote.

  15. 15.

    Aussie Sheila

    @Brachiator:

    It would be better if she didn’t . But she is such an obvious stupid troll in the tiny bit I have seen of her, that it appears she is being paid by another right wing billionaire to be as floridly stupid as she can.

    The question is, does she have any measurable influence that could harm the ability of Dems to gotv next year? I have no idea.

    But the sheer contempt  of the US right for its putative audience never fails to amaze. I guess that’s what happens when roughly 30% of the population either can’t or don’t vote, even in Presidential election campaigns. Such contempt is not unknown elsewhere in the English speaking world, but it is rarely so richly rewarded.

  18. 18.

    Princess

    @Aussie Sheila: She is there to provide cover for racist Americans who vote GOP to claim they are not racist for voting GOP because look, CandaceOwens ClarenceThoma sTimScott ThomasSowell… She doesn’t change a single vote.

  19. 19.

    Brachiator

    @Aussie Sheila:

    The question is, does she have any measurable influence that could harm the ability of Dems to gotv next year? I have no idea.

    No one really pays any attention to her. I suppose she makes some money on the right wing speaker circuit, and as an occasional guest on a conservative pundit show.

  21. 21.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Yiannopoulos even set up a hotline asking for dirt on Alexander.

    “I was disappointed by, and am now disgusted with, my former protégé,” Yiannopoulos added in a lengthy statement to The Daily Beast. “Nicholas has shown himself incapable of humility, growth, gratitude, strategy, teamwork, political judgment, and basic honesty.”

    Hmmmm… Bad writing or confused writing? I mean Alexander’s first name is Ali, and Nicholas’ last name is Fuentes. This will eat at my inner pedant all day.

    @Aussie Sheila: Candace Owens is what the GOP refers to as a “useful n….” Uhh, let’s just go with “useful idiot.” for this conversation.

  24. 24.

    lowtechcyclist

    If those three characters – Milo, Ali, and Nick Fuentes – were in a car together, it would be hard not to pray for it to get stuck on the railroad tracks just ahead of the train.  Bonus points if Candace Owens was in there too.

  25. 25.

    Aussie Sheila

    @Shalimar:

    I see. Glad she has no influence. She is truly terrible. It’s the rank idiocy I can’t stand, as well as the assumption that her audience is as stupid as she is.

  29. 29.

    Baud

    Jeez. The MJ crew is talking about “normies” now.  I feel like I need a new word for them.

    At least they’re talking about abortion.

  30. 30.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    I hope the GOP runs with this messaging of taking the franchise away from women. The dipshit who ran against Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan said something similar and he got destroyed in the last election along with the GOP in general.

    They’re so deluded by their own BS I could actually see it happening.

  31. 31.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    Dump just ran an attack ad on CNN savaging DeathSantis for repeatedly voting to cut social security and to privatize Medicare .

     

    Good times.

  34. 34.

    raven

    Gov. Brian Kemp delivered a scathing rebuke of Donald Trump on Saturday as he urged national Republican leaders to set aside the former president’s obsession with his 2020 election defeat and focus on issues that can attract broader support.

    “Not a single swing voter in a single swing state will vote for our nominee if they choose to talk about the 2020 election being stolen,” Kemp said at the Republican National Committee’s meeting in Nashville.

  35. 35.

    Baud

    @raven:

    Anticipating his run in 2028.

    ETA: Currently looking like 2028 will be wide open on both sides.  May be easier to name people who won’t be running.

  41. 41.

    bbleh

    Every time I hear/see/read about the occasional crazed cannibalistic fits of the Right, I’m reminded of the Suckophant from Yellow Submarine.  It sucks up everything around it, and when there’s nothing left, it sucks up itself.

  45. 45.

    lowtechcyclist

    @raven:

    The real question is, did Kemp have the guts to actually name Trump as the person he was criticizing? Or did he talk around that key detail like all the others?

    They can’t solve their problems if they can’t even bring themselves to name them.

  48. 48.

    sab

    @Baud: Jeez. Right down the memory hole that Joe Scarborough got his start in public life by defending an anti-abortion murderer. Ineptly defending because he didn’t have the legal chops to do it well ( and apparently didn’t care.) But it did get him the public attention he needed to get elected to Congress.

  49. 49.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Gvg: ​ I wanna see Fucker Carlson on the sidewalk in front of FOX headquarters with a box full of crap and tears on his face. The same goes for Hannity, Dobbs, Pirro, Ingraham, the Dooceys, etc etc etc.

    I wanna see an Enron repeat.

  50. 50.

    Mike S. (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)

    @HumboldtBlue:  A great little bookstore. I’m not surprised they are doing this.*

    It’s where I go to sell my used science fiction books. (I almost never let any hardback books leave my house, once they’re here they stay!)

    *I’m also not surprised by the local reactionaries on the school board. a “fine” example of our Berks County “patriots” in action.

  56. 56.

    Kay

    Amid all the attention on this month’s elections in Wisconsin and Illinois, one outcome with major implications for 2024 flew under the national radar: School board candidates who ran culture-war campaigns flamed out.
    Democrats and teachers’ unions boasted candidates they backed in Midwestern suburbs trounced their opponents in the once-sleepy races. The winning record, they said, was particularly noticeable in elections where conservative candidates emphasized agendas packed with race, gender identity and parental involvement in classrooms.
    “We are hopeful that as more people learn about Moms For Liberty and contribute to our PAC, we will be able to win more races,” organization co-founders Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich said in a statement. “The majority of those [endorsements] were first time candidates who did not win, and that just gives us a great bench of folks to have trained and ready to run again to fight for parental rights in future elections.”

    the Republican National Committee last year encouraged candidates to broaden their message beyond culture wars and court independent voters with a more nuanced message focused on parental involvement and student educational development.

  57. 57.

    Kay

    Just FYI to the RNC, every school board candidate runs on parental involvement and student educational development. No one needs to pay Moms for Liberty or Christopher Rufo for that.

  58. 58.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    the Republican National Committee last year encouraged candidates to broaden their message beyond culture wars and court independent voters with a more nuanced message focused on parental involvement and student educational development use more code words.

  59. 59.

    trnc

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Judge delays Dominion and Fox News trial amid reports of settlement talks

    Say it ain’t so! I hope Dominion wants to see FOX blood on the court room walls like ketchup at Marred-a-Lardo.

    If the settlement includes frequent and long term statements across their shows that Fox lies for entertainment purposes, I’ll allow it. No amount of money that allows Fox to otherwise avoid responsibility is worth it, and I’m having trouble imagining Dominion getting anywhere close to a billion smackers.

  60. 60.

    trnc

    @Kay: the Republican National Committee last year encouraged candidates to broaden their message beyond culture wars and court independent voters with a more nuanced message focused on parental involvement and student educational development.

    So the RNC started pushing democratic candidates?

  61. 61.

    Geminid

    @Kay: This trend bodes well for Virginia Democrats this fall. The Democratic House of Delegates minority announced their platform a few weeks ago. It’s based a a number of bills introduced in the latest session, with a theme of “a 21st-century education” for every child in Virginia. Their announcement contrasted this approach with the Republicans’ focus on stupid culture war battles.

    This fall, Democratic campaigns will center education along with abortion rights and gun safety. They are on the right side of majority opinion in all three areas.

  62. 62.

    Kay

    @Geminid:

    Oh, I’m glad. Education has been winning for Democrats a long time though. It was central to Whitmers win(s) in MI, Wolf (the prior D governor) in PA and of course Tony Evers in WI, who was the Superintendent of Public Instruction prior to being governor. An anti public schools mayoral candidate just lost in Chicago too- Paul Vallas.

    Democrats have won and can continue to win on education by being pro public schools, especially in the midwest.

  63. 63.

    Kay

    @Geminid:

    Philadelphia mayor’s race will be an interesting education bellweather too. Helen Gym is running. She’s the pro public schools Democrat.

    Seated in 2016, Philadelphia City Councilmember Helen Gym is a long-time community organizer who leads a human rights agenda rooted in housing, education, and racial and economic justice through municipal policy. A former public school teacher and parent organizer,

    I promoted her city council election on Balloon Juice- she’s moving up! :)

  68. 68.

    RedDirtGirl

    @trnc: I know Dominion’s lawyers just have to do what’s right for their client, but I really want a courtroom battle!

  72. 72.

    Jinchi

    Candace Owens grift relies on her being a black woman willing to argue that the world was a better place before people like her were given civil rights and a public voice.

    She doesn’t have to be particularly good at it.

  73. 73.

    artem1s

    @OzarkHillbilly: ​ 
    interesting that Fox thinks it might be able to settle for less.
    A Fox spokesperson claimed on Monday that Dominion was reducing the amount of money it was seeking in damages. The spokesperson pointed to a Friday email in which a Dominion lawyer said that the company would not present a claim on “lost profit damages” to the jury because it was duplicative of “the lost enterprise value damages”. In its original 2021 complaint, Dominion claimed $600m in lost profit damages in addition to $1bn in lost enterprise value. Fox has argued that Dominion is inflating the financial damage it suffered.
    “The damages claim remains. As Fox well knows, our damages exceed $1.6bn,” a Dominion spokesperson said in a statement.
    Even if Dominion were ready to settle for less, I think they may take it to trial anyway. They want Fox held accountable for their collusion to spread disinformation and lies.
    Other experts say the evidence against Fox is so strong that this case could show existing media standards still provide workable protections under which outlets can be held accountable.

  74. 74.

    moops

    How do losers like Milo keep getting more and more pitches to them right over the plate?   Republicans seem to be allowed 18 strikes before they are called out.

     

    Next you will tell me O’Keefe is managing someone else’s GOP campaign.

  75. 75.

    Ruckus

    @What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?:

    They’re so deluded by their own BS I could actually see it happening.

    They have an agenda which they think gives them power. And it did at one point in time and in some places. Mostly places that the general concept of life in the 21 century hasn’t changed all that much. From the 19th century. The same kind of people are in charge and getting wealthy, the same kind of followers are still following. The major difference is that there are people that live there that aren’t the same kind of followers. Tradition is stronger in conservative areas and that does not allow as much change. And as an old fart I can absolutely say – this world is a changing. Communications goes both ways – makes some hardened to what they are losing and makes others want to change far faster. The numbers are just on the wrong side in conservative areas. Also in those conservative areas most of the people in charge really, really fight change because they make coin off of not changing. In their world there is a fixed amount of money and they want more than their share. In a liberal area the concept of a rising tide works, sure the rich get richer but so do the rest of us. Take CA or actually most any larger population area. Far more people can do OK and it doesn’t require the kind of physical work it did 60-70 yrs ago just to survive. I’m not saying that life is always easier but working sure can be easier if not sometimes any less boring.

  76. 76.

    wenchacha

    @Aussie Sheila: When my son’s best friend was murdered at the age of 21, there were so many of his young friends in absolute disbelief and pain. Personally, I kept trying to walk us back to a day or week or some time before, and CJ would be back.

    My son was in his sophomore year at college, and just heartbroken. About a year later, a friend of my daughter’s shot himself and died. The tragic death of young people used to be car wrecks or some terminal illness. As a country, we actually tried to fix those problems.

  77. 77.

    West of the Rockies

    West wants to be left alone.   Cool.  We don’t want to hear from again.  Ever would be good.

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