First up, Rolling Stone has more detail from a confidential source on the charges for which Trump may soon be indicted by the DC grand jury that’s looking into the failed January 6 coup:
THE SPECIAL COUNSEL’S letter to Donald Trump related to Jan. 6 listed the federal statutes under which Trump is expected to be charged, including conspiracy, obstruction, and civil rights violations, according to a source with knowledge of the contents of the target letter.
Special counsel Jack Smith sent the letter to Trump on Sunday, informing him he was a target of the Justice Department. Trump on Tuesday announced he’d been sent the letter via a post on the social media platform Truth Social.
The letter mentions three federal statutes: Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States; deprivation of rights under color of law; and tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant. It does not offer further details, nor does it detail how the special counsel believes Trump may have violated the statutes, the source tells Rolling Stone.
I have a theory about why Trump waited until Tuesday to rant insanely about receiving the target letter: He wanted to step on DeMeatball’s MSM debut — an interview with Jake Tapper that aired on CNN yesterday at 4 PM. Mission accomplished!
Speaking of the most odious Florida Man to ever emerge from the peninsula (and I include the late bath salts ingester in Miami who tried to eat a random person’s face), DeSantis badly needs a reset. But WaPo’s Jen Rubin doesn’t see it happening: (gift link)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination is among the most overhyped, worst-performing and comically awful in memory. His run is right up there with the 2016 presidential campaigns of former Florida governor Jeb(!) Bush and former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker. Like Walker, DeSantis faces the real possibility he might not even make it to the primary contests beginning in January.
Consider that he is “shaking up” his staff (firing about a dozen people), burning through money, struggling in the polls and shedding donor support. When your money men are looking at a candidate who polls in low single digits (Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina), it might be time to wonder if gracefully exiting early would be preferable to staying in for an embarrassing performance that would effectively end aspirations for higher office.
I hope she’s right. My husband and I watched Tapper’s 15-minute interview with DeSantis, which CNN annoyingly doled out in chunks over the course of an hour-long program.
(Quick aside here: I’ve been writing at this site for 12 years or so, and I’m tired of referring to the spouse as “my husband” or “the spouse,” etc., so henceforth, I will call him Bill. Okay?
I’m mindful that there are Bills who comment here, including an extraordinarily talented photographer, but that Bill lives on the opposite side of the continent, and I’m confident it will be clear from context when I’m talking about my Bill or our shutterbug Bill.)
Anyhoo, Bill and I watched the DeSantis interview, and DeSantis came across as a peevish dick because DeSantis is a peevish dick.
But Tapper did a shit job, in my opinion. He asked DeSantis about Trump’s legal troubles and the state of the campaign and got the usual evasions and excuses. He asked about the plan DeSantis has to “rip woke out of the military” (to sum up: argle-bargle WOKE). Tapper did briefly push back on DeSantis’s claim that servicemembers are eager for this overhaul — Tapper cited DOD survey data that says otherwise.
DeSantis responded that Tapper could go into any VFW hall or American Legion post and find plenty of support for the DeSantis plan. Well, no shit! That was the end of that line of questioning. But mostly, I fault Tapper for what he didn’t ask.
He didn’t ask about the state-funded migrant relocation stunts or taxpayer-supported personal militia. He did not press DeSantis about the insurance crisis in Florida, the politically motivated abuse of power, the book banning, the teacher shortage, the growing brain drain, the racial disparities in election police voter entrapment operations, etc., etc.
Tapper treated DeSantis like a normal candidate, not an authoritarian governor who is running to the right of the would-be tyrant Trump so that he (DeSantis) might inherit the remnants of a fascist cult. That tells me the MSM learned nothing from American democracy’s near-death experience circa 2016 – 2021 — or, worse, learned the wrong lessons.
Also, it tells me that if DeSantis wasn’t a wooden-headed numpty, if he possessed even a small fraction of Trump’s carnival barker cunning, he would sense the opportunity inherent in our crappy MSM celebrity journalists’ “view from nowhere” and horserace approach to covering politics. But Rubin is probably right, and DeSantis is probably toast.
For what it’s worth, Bill, a faithful Democrat but thoroughgoing normie who has never once read this or any other blog, wasn’t half as critical of Tapper’s performance as I was. But he agreed DeSantis came across as a petulant prick as usual.
Open thread!
Baud
BillinBooniesFL
Baud
I think you meant DeSantis here.
Baud
Sounds like a pretty boring interview. Not sure if it’ll help him reset his campaign.
NotMax
Mr. Cracker too formal? :)
Cameron
I don’t have a TV, so missed out on the DeSantis Wokefest. I actually hope that he stays the course in his quest. An early dropout would be very humiliating, and what is currently a sullen aphid would turn into a rage aphid, who would take his humiliation out on those of us, woke or merely conscious, who live in the Sunshine State. Wouldn’t be pretty.
Hilbertsubspace
I’m glad to see DeSantis failing. He’s not just a punchclock villain, he’s genuinely awful. He blights Florida and by extension America by his presence.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: Fixed — thanks!
@NotMax: I have used that in the past, but it didn’t feel right since he’s from Buffalo, New York and is therefore not a cracker in the sense the term is used here in Florida.
Cameron
@Betty Cracker: Buffalo Bill? Cool!
Yarrow
Remember the time that Jake Tapper commented on Balloon Juice to defend his appearance on Laura Ingraham’s radio show?
RaflW
Kyle Griffin at MSNBC says NBC News has confirmed that ex-Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has been cooperating with the Special Counsel’s investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
frosty
Hi Bill! (from another Bill). I envy all you people who have a nickname with the same first letter abbreviation as your full name. Us Williams and Roberts and Richards aren’t as lucky.
Betty Cracker
@Cameron: I agree, but there are scenarios to game out beyond how a rageful DeSantis might take revenge on blue parts of Florida. For example, if DeSantis stays in as an also-running who continues to trail Trump by double-digits, he’ll block the path of the people currently trailing him in the polls, making them less viable.
That could be good for Dems, maybe? If you think Biden’s best shot is to defeat Trump again? And that DeSantis is too extreme to win a general election?
On the other hand, if Trump does collapse before fall 2024, either literally by stroking out or in the polls due to revelations about his crimes, and DeSantis is still in the race, the donors and base could consolidate behind him. The mainstream media would start giving him tuggies too. That would mean there’s a less than zero chance DeSantis could become POTUS, a truly horrifying prospect.
I drive myself crazy running these scenarios through my mind sometimes, even though I know it’s utterly pointless! Then I remind myself I can only control what I personally do, and vow to do what I can to prevent ANY Repub from becoming president.
NotMax
@frosty
Not to mention the Xanders.
;)
Yarrow
Here’s hoping that DeSantis failing on the national stage has benefits for Florida, as Florida voters see his dickishness on display and reap the pain of his policies. Maybe they’ll look for different options next election.
RaflW
It really says volumes (and none of it good) about Florida that the state’s voters chose a second helping of Ronda’s nasally inflected authoritarian claptrap. Thank FSM there’s term limits, because I don’t trust the Villages brigade to have any better judgement in 2026.
Of course, the fever swamp (literal, in this case) will find someone else as venal and stupid for that cycle. Can Democrats get their poop in a pile in time?
Alison Rose
Tapper is so maddening. Sometimes he can be good, but often he’s just another mid talking-head quasi-journo. How the hell do you have DeSantis in front of you and NOT ask him “hey what’s with all this evil culture-war shit that most people think are stupid and/or cruel”?
MattF
Back in 2016 there were people who actually defended Jeb!– even right here, on this blog! Remember the Brinks trucks? But there’s no one defending DeSantis, anywhere. Except… maybe… his wife.
Azhrie139
Reminder, cable news is largely on the side of the fascists.
Yarrow
@Betty Cracker: If Trump collapses you’re going to see a bunch of candidates jump in the race like Gov Abbott in Texas and Gov Youngkin in Virginia. DeSantis can’t hold up under scrutiny so there’s a good chance someone else would win in a non-Trump primary. But Republican voters want Trump, so unless he’s physically incapacitated or dead I don’t see the primary going any other way. If he’s incarcerated he can still run.
Alison Rose
@Betty Cracker: Ofbetty :P
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I couldn’t make myself hit play, but I’ve seen the clip where Tiny D says something about “post birth abortions”, and Jake “Fox News is our sister network!” Tapper just rolled with it
Didn’t he manifest here to defend himself around the time of that press room folderol?
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Is that the new term for what they used to call partial birth abortions?
Betty Cracker
@Alison Rose: Agree. At some point he recognized the grave threat Trump represented — belatedly, IMO, but once he understood how serious it was, he could and often did respond appropriately. For example, he stopped letting people lie about the election on air unopposed. But he still searches high and low for the “both sides” angle and always will. Occupational hazard!
rikyrah
Neither do I.
The longer Dolt45 is in this race, the longer DeathSantis has to cling to those rabid right-wing positions of his. And, they will firm up around him, so the beloved ‘ pivot to the middle’ that the MSM would love to give him credit for, can’t happen.
Alison Rose
@Betty Cracker: Forget “woke mind virus”, our problem is the media’s “both sides virus”.
Cameron
@Betty Cracker: True that there’s a possibility DeSantis could become POTUS. I agree that keeping Republicans out of government at any level should be the baseline for political activity. And, since he’s so anti-woke, should people be calling him “Ron Zombie?”
Ken
@Betty Cracker: @Yarrow: They may not give up on Trump even if he is dead, considering how many Q cultists think one of the deader Kennedies will be reappearing soon.
They definitely won’t be giving up on him if he’s merely on trial, in prison, or not on the ballot. See the screenshots in Ben Collins’ “Good luck to the GOP in dealing with this” tweet from the earlier open thread. Being on trial just shows that he was right about the deep state conspiring against him!
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yes — he did roll with that absurd claim in the moment! He clarified it later by asking DeSantis what a “post-birth abortion” is off camera and then repeated the bullshit answer from DeSantis on camera.
Chief Oshkosh
Sure, it’s fine to call him “Bill,” but what’s his real name?
MattF
@rikyrah: Outflanking Trump is a doomed strategy. “Go down that road, and then shoot yourself in the head”.
Geminid
I can’t wait for Chris Christie to unload on DeSantis in the upcoming debates. I don’t think Christie has a viable path to the nomination, but he promises to be an equal opportunity wrecking ball along the way.
The Moar You Know
The only lesson they learned is that Trump made them more money than they’ve ever seen before or since. The welfare of the democracy they work in is really not their concern.
Expect them to behave accordingly.
OzarkHillbilly
@Chief Oshkosh: If she told you she’d have to shoot you.
JoyceH
What irked me is that Tapper didn’t even do a real time fact check when DeStupid talked about how those librul states permit abortion up to and after the time of birth. How hard would it have been to ask “Which states have legalized infanticide?”
(oh, and greetings from rural Marin County, where I’m on my first vaca in years and YEARS.)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Geminid: I despise him but I’ll watch from a distance as he sorta kinda accidentally uses his bullying instincts as
an allya co-belligerent.Baud
@JoyceH:
Or how that fanciful claim justifies a six-week cut off, which DeSantis signed into law
Barbara
And all those folks sitting around at the VFW Halls are just itching to get back into the field, right? I mean, what an idiot.
Ken
@Barbara: Maybe that’s DeSantis’s plan for Florida agriculture — send all the VFW retirees into the fields to pick tomatoes
Oh, wait, you meant field in the military sense.
Alison Rose
@JoyceH: Rural Marin? Let’s see…Stinson Beach? Bolinas? San Geronimo? Woodacre?
John S.
@Yarrow:
Yeah, I wouldn’t put too much faith in the Florida electorate.
They went from Jeb Bush to Rick Scott to Ron DeSantis, so the quality of their governors is decreasing. And on top of that, because Rick Scott was such a terrible Governor, the good people of Florida decided to make him a Senator.
japa21
Tapper, like so many “journalists” really want to see the GOP succeed, just not with Trump at the head. Whether they truly believe that Trumpism is not what the GOP is all about or not (and I think not) they are not going to attack other Republicans as fascist or any other euphemism that means the same thing.
So the big article in the FTFNYT yesterday or the day before about how Trump wants to establish an authoritarian government is just about Trump and not about how any of the GOP candidates (except maybe Hutchinson) would also try to do the same thing.
JoyceH
@Alison Rose: Bolinas. We had dinner in Stinson Beach the other day. This is all sooo Not-Virginia!
Yarrow
@Ken: Oh, they won’t give up on him. But if he’s dead he can’t be elected. Although I guess if he dies too close to the election his name could be on ballots.
John S.
@Yarrow:
There’s no evidence that the reanimated corpse of TFG would be any different than the current version.
NotMax
@John S.
“It’s the best we could come up with to ensure he stays away from the state. Florida doesn’t elect ambassadors, y’know?”
//
Alison Rose
@JoyceH: Wow, an out-of-towner in Bolinas is a rare occurrence! I’m impressed you managed to find it without the road sign. My parents worked in Bolinas my whole life until they retired (Mom first, then Dad some years later), and I also worked out there with my Dad for a year. (At Commonweal, in the giant white building on Mesa Road, if you happen to go that way. If you ask anyone in town, they’ll know it.) Plus I had girlfriend in my early 20s who lived there, so it is a familiar little hamlet for me :)
Manyakitty
@Yarrow: far out. I forgot all about that.
Brachiator
His name isn’t Soda? Soda Cracker.
Good post. The only bad thing is that the fall of DeSantis just clears the stage for Trump. He must love this.
Historical note. Before Trump entered the 2016 contest, everyone knew that Jeb would be the nominee. I don’t recall people seeing his campaign collapse from the jump. The media tried to push DeSantis, but this was more a matter of great expectations, not actual performance.
Yarrow
@Manyakitty: It created quite the little firestorm at the time. DougJ ftw. Tapper trying to defend his fecklessness and failure as a journalist in comments. Good times.
tobie
Can someone name one notable thing Tim Scott had done in the Senate? I can’t think of a single piece of major legislation he’s authored, a revealing line of questioning in hearings or a powerful floor speech he’s given. But boy is the media devoting puff pieces to him.
Elizabelle
Jake Tapper is such a weenie. If he were interviewing Senator Joseph McCarthy in the day, he’d probably ask him about cheese curds.
Kay is right, about how bad these “major” journalists are at their jobs. Cowardly. No courage to put events in context, in the event they even have that ability.
Tapper has a new novel out. It’s about if Evel Knievel (the motorcycle daredevil) ran for president, in 1977. Perhaps he points out how inadequate EK would be in the role of POTUS.
Of course, he could do that in his day job. With real candidates.
The thing is, you know they would come on like assassins against Biden. “Look at these polls. Why are you so unpopular? Aren’t you too old to run again? Why are the Republicans saying these things about your record?”
WaPost:
Jake Tapper imagines what would happen if Evel Knievel ran for president
The CNN anchor’s third novel, ‘All the Demons Are Here,’ is a thriller set in 1977
Got that: PT Barnum or Evel Knievel. Not Hitler, Mussolini, Pinochet, Franco, or any serious historical figure you could more adequately compare Trump to? Albeit, they were all men of much greater ability and ambition than TFG. But by comparing Trump to showmen and self-promoters, he’s kind of waltzing past the danger a TFG — and his backers — pose.
This fucker could deal more adequately with demons in his day job, dontchathink?
Manyakitty
@Yarrow: indeed. And so many familiar names. Delicious 😎
Ken
@Yarrow: Ah, yes, I remember those days, when news reporters thought that bloggers were the most important online figures. Of course this was before twitter allowed reporters to turn themselves into the most important online figures, next to catturd.
Elizabelle
@Yarrow: LOL.
Yarrow buried the lede. Tapper graced us with his presence on a thread entitled Careerist sociopaths.
For real.
Craig
@Alison Rose: I love that weird town. My friend Sam grew up there. Years ago I dropped by there for a beer on my way home on a long motorcycle ride. Went to Smiley’s. Got a bud. Got the cold shoulder from the entire bar. Then asked the bartender if she knew my friend. ” Oh, yeah. She’s coming in to cover a shift in half an hour”. The whole bar shifted and the guy sitting next to me introduced himself and offered to buy me a beer. Nice running into her when she showed up. Weird California.
Yarrow
@Elizabelle: DougJ called it as he saw it!
CaseyL
@tobie: He’s a person of color (so GOPers can say they’re not racist) who supports fascism (which GOPers want).
Actual accomplishments? Not important at all – particularly since, once he is in office (all the gods forbid) he’d just take orders from the Federalist Society, like Trump mostly did.
mrmoshpotato
@Chief Oshkosh: Hug him, and squeeze him, and call him George.
Steeplejack
I always thought “the mister” was pretty cool and funny.
brantl
@John S.: I don’t know of many things of less value than Jeb Douche.
rikyrah
@The Moar You Know:
Absolutely no lie told
mrmoshpotato
@brantl: The entire family of Dumbass J Dump perhaps? Including all of his wives and the daughter he doesn’t want to fuck.
Gin & Tonic
@Steeplejack: She could refer to him as “Mr. Bill”
rikyrah
@tobie:
He torpedoed the George Floyd Criminal Justice Reform Act.
Fair Economist
@Betty Cracker:
Pretty clear at this point that no crime is too awful to make 80% of Republican voters stop supporting Trump. Even imprisonment wouldn’t stop them, not that that will happen before November 2024 anyway. The only chance for the other Republicans is Trump dying or developing some profound disability.
NotMax
brantl
Prescott? George? Other George? Neil?
Ken
I think you’re right, but would amend it to “developing some profound and undeniable disability.” His supporters are experts at ignoring his existing ones.
Wapiti
@frosty: My granddad was a Bill, and I always thought it was very neat that he could abbreviate his ‘official’ name to Wm ____ and it was very clear that meant William.
Baud
We are all Bill.
Alison Rose
@Craig: Bolinas is definitely kooky, and proud of it!
JoyceH
@Alison Rose: Commonweal! My brother in law worked there!
Alison Rose
@Wapiti: My grandpa (on Dad’s side) had an opposite situation, where his nickname made everyone think of the wrong full name. He went by Walt, but it was short for Walden, not Walter. Numerous times in his life, he’d get forms or letters or namecards or somesuch with “Walter”.
Alison Rose
@JoyceH: Seriously?? When? What’s his name, if you don’t mind sharing? My parents both left quite a while ago, but who knows…
Baud
@tobie:
He’s a black Republican who’s not old. What more do you want?
Betty Cracker
From The Hill:
Huh. I think it would be a lot easier to crowd-fund Smith’s team than Trump’s dumb wall.
Yarrow
@tobie: @CaseyL:
just looked up Tim Scott. According to Wikipedia he’s 57 and not married. Both of South Carolina’s senators are middle-aged men who aren’t married. Isn’t that unusual?
NotMax
@Alison Rose
According to canon, the G in Maynard G. Krebs stood for Walter.
feebog
Betty:
Regarding the Florida insurance crisis. If you feel it’s within your area of expertise, would you consider a post on this specifically? Would be good to know some specifics beyond the headlines.
eldorado
i find this acceptable if we can also refer to the other bill as ‘Buttershug Bill’
sdhays
I’m so old I remember when the “normal candidate” treatment involved discussing the candidate’s current record.
Also, if you interview Ron DeSantis without a plan for making him define “woke” and talking about whatever he wants to do without spewing rightwing shorthand, then you’ve phoned it in. I mean, his own lawyers just defined it as “the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them”. Was that not worthy of discussing with Gov. “Noun-Verb-Woke”?
Juju
@RaflW: Rhonda is not an insult. Rhonda is actually a very nice woman and using the feminine form of anything as an insult is offensive.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Juju: Thank you.
JoyceH
@Alison Rose: Michael Rafferty. He retired from there, oh, some years ago. Sigh – we’re all getting old. But I guess it beats the alternative.
catclub
Inability to tell the truth is not a disqualifier.
catclub
@eldorado:
favorite nickname I read in a book was Butterfly for Flutter Byers.
Of course, flutter was already a nickname for a tout at the track.
No One You Know
@rikyrah: Should be in an ad on “What Republicans Voted Against.”
sdhays
Don’t jump to conclusions. You can see her reaction when he tried to hug her at his nomination event in 2016.
Juju
@John S.: He might look better.
The Lodger
@Alison Rose: You all should thank FSM it wasn’t Waltine.
Juju
@Brachiator: I was guessing Ritz.
The Lodger
@Juju: I know a lot of people want help from Rhonda.
Pittsburgh Mike
“Trump on Tuesday announced he’d been sent the letter via a post on the social media platform Truth Social.”
Sounds like Jack Smith sent this letter via Truth Social :-)
Dorothy A. Winsor
@The Lodger: LOL. I see what you did there.
Ken
That should bring the investigation to a screeching halt, just as soon as that gets incorporated into a House bill, passed by the House, passed by the Senate, survives conference committee, and is signed by President Biden.
I miss the good old days when “performance artists wasting government money” meant actual artists getting a $10,000 NEA grant to dance in a chicken costume on the steps of MOMA.
patrick II
I was in Virginia when Younkin ran, and If it is not Trump, for whatever reason, it will be Younkin. In Virginia he ran to the middle, but the MAGAs still recognize him for who he is. He is smooth and looks good on TV, and he is taller than the other candidates. I know that sounds petty, but Trump was the tallest of the candidates in the Republican primary in 2015. He is also rich. They like their rich (God smiles on them) manly men. Younkin is dangerous.
Juju
@The Lodger: I believe she would do her best to help however she could.
The first time I heard that song I thought it was “ Help me Honda”.
Alison Rose
@JoyceH: Oh man, yeah, my parents worked with him! Well, he and his…brother? Cousin? Mark, I think? Unless my brain is mixed up and I’m creating two people out of one, but I feel like there were two…
My parents are Nadine and David Parker, see if they recognize the names :) Dad was there from 1978 to 2005, Mom from I think around 1984 or 85 until…hmm, 2002 or so I think.
rikyrah
@patrick II:
And, he has governed as a MAGA. Can’t run away from that.
laura
@JoyceH: Girl- there is so much excellent cheese to be had in West Marin! https://cheesetrail.org/trail-map/
Geminid
@patrick II: I’m hoping Youngkin takes a big hit in Virginia’s legislative elections this fall. He won’t be on the ballot, but his reputation as a formidable purple state politician will be.
As for height, Youngkin may be 6’5″, but 5’6″ Senator Louise Lucas dunks on him with gusto. Sometimes she’ll pants Youngkin and take his lunch money on the way down.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@NotMax: Did he spell it Gaultier?
Brachiator
@Geminid:
Has Christie moved the needle in any poll? The political media like him because he can reliably fill time on a pundit show. But the GOP base don’t want to hear what he has to say.
Gretchen
The most infuriating part of the Tapper interview was DeSantis making the absurd claim that Democrats are in favor of late term and even post birth abortion. Republican candidates, including Trump and Rubio, make this claim all the time and never, ever receive any pushback. Really, doctors deliver a full-term, healthy baby and ask the mom if they should kill it or does she want to take it home? And Tapper just moved on.
patrick II
@rikyrah:
Are you saying Younkin doesn’t have a good chance to take the Republican primary? Yeah, unlike the governor’s race, he now has a MAGA record. But which candidate in the Republican primary with a chance (only if Trump is gone) doesn’t? Probably Christie. And as much as dislike Christie, Trump is at 50% in Republican polls and Christie is the only one making a play for the other 50%.
Anyhow, in the presidential election independents will make the judgment and they are not known for their deep political thinking. Of the Republican candidates, Younk has the best chance to charm them with bullshit. I think. Who else?DeSantis?
Burnspbesq
ICYMI, DOJ has filed notices of appeal in the cases involving Rhodes and the other Oath Keepers who crimed on 1/6. We don’t know why—and won’t until briefs get filed—but the most reasonable speculation is that they think Judge Mehta erred in giving those mugs much more lenient sentences than the guidelines called for.
There’s also the possibility that they’re playing a long game here. One of the fundamental principles of Federal sentencing is that persons convicted of similar crimes should receive similar sentences. Viewed in that light, the lenient Oath Keepers sentences for seditious conspiracy could be seen as setting an upper bound on potential Trump sentences.
Will be interesting to watch this develop.
C Stars
@Craig: I have had some experiences in Bolinas in the last decade that made me realize it’s mostly tech assholes buying a piece of the CA coast and scared white people who’ve lived there forever. Pretty town, but I actually tend to think of it as an example of the very worst of CA leftist elitism.
C Stars
@Gretchen: So common that I’ve started to wonder if perhaps they simply don’t know? Haven’t done enough research on the subject matter to realize it’s not a real thing? Very strange phenomenon, for sure.
Geminid
@Brachiator: Christie might win some delegates in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, maybe California too. He might even win a plurality in my state, since Virginia has open primaries and he’ll appeal to Independents.
But like I said, I don’t think Christie has a viable path to the nomination. His impact will depend upon his ability to tear down Trump and DeSantis.
The Moar You Know
@Alison Rose: it took me under a minute to find your full name, address, phone, and birthday with that post. You absolutely should not be posting that shit online. Ask one of the front pagers to pull it.
rikyrah
@patrick II:
Now that he has a clear MAGA record, all the bullshyt that he pretended to be in the middle – that’s gone.
I wasn’t even thinking GOP primary, I was thinking about his solid MAGA record running in the General Election.
Betty Cracker
@feebog: It’s a great idea, but P&C insurance is way outside my area of expertise. I’ve seen some analyst comments that attempt to explain why it’s so bad here. From that, I understand there are FL-specific factors (apart from hurricanes and geography) that make our costs the highest in the country, including statehouse-approved roofing scams. If I see one of those analyses that seems informative, I’ll be happy to share! But from my own personal knowledgebase, all I know is we’re getting screwed!
Omnes Omnibus
@patrick II: Without Trump, the whole GOP side changes. I don’t think we can predict the way it would change. Except that doonybrook wouldn’t be a bad description.
patrick II
@rikyrah:
I was thinking primary mostly.
Omnes Omnibus
@The Moar You Know: Maybe good advice, but still more than a bit creepy.
Bupalos
@Azhrie139: I’d say it’s entirely and definitionally on the side of the fascists. Even when not in an intentional way. Cable news is politics as spectacle and entertainment. That whole idea never fails to serve fascism.
Eyeroller
@Baud: I’m a bit late to respond here but no, they mean that literally, that Democrats think it should be legal to kill healthy newborns if the parents want to do so. Some of it seems to be a twisted version of what my former governor, a pediatric neurologist, said a few years ago about “comfort care” for dying newborns. The rest is just QAnon level crap.
Citizen Alan
@Alison Rose:
I can top that. I have a former roommate who went by Bob, real name William. As I recall the story, a teacher got his name wrong in 1st grade, but he liked Bob better than Bill. So he didn’t correct it. His family continued to call him Bill fir a few years before giving up and accepting Bob as his name.
Bupalos
@Omnes Omnibus: I’m definitely rooting for someone to take over for Trump on that side, even at a slightly higher risk of losing the presidency for a cycle. It’s just a structural thing, destabilization on that side would be a good thing even if the individual at the top was worse than Trump. It would open the idea within that movement that “we could change leaders” and decouple it from a single charismatic personality.
I also find it highly unlikely though.
The Pale Scot
Billy Honorary Cracker?
Works for M
Gretchen
@Eyeroller: that’s why it’s absolutely maddening that interviewers and debate moderators never correct it. Due date abortions? Post birth abortions? Sure, no problem.
The Pale Scot
@Chief Oshkosh:
Why don’t we just call him Bruce?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ojhtq51Ya8
Alison Rose
@The Moar You Know: My full name is all over the internet, as is my current city, which is enough to find what you found. I doubt there are random psychos hanging out on Balloon Juice, waiting for someone to drop some personal info so they can SWAT them or something.
But okay, if WG or BC or someone wants to go into my comment at #97 and take out the company name or something, go for it.
Baud
@Alison Rose:
Nominated!
Ryan
“I hope she’s right. My husband and I watched Tapper’s 15-minute interview with DeSantis, which CNN annoyingly doled out in chunks over the course of an hour-long program.”
Reminds me of a few years ago when we saw Rachel cover 2 pages of Trump’s tax returns over an hour. Of course, at that time, we had no information.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud:
@Alison Rose: Sociopaths? I mean, there are a lot of lawyers around.
Geminid
@Baud: We’re not random!
MisterForkbeard
@JoyceH: Marin County is lovely! I live about 20 minutes north, and I’ve always enjoyed the area.
TriassicSands
Of course he did, Betty, because that has been the norm and among the most serious problems of the MSM for several years now (or more). They treat Republicans like normal elected officials who are just trying to do their best for their constituents and all Americans. All the obstruction, clownish behavior, and absurd performance “art” is just treated as though that is how politicians should behave and always have.
The GOP has become a mob of authoritarian obstructionists who support and/or excuse insurrection, presidential criminal behavior, overturning elections, and massively unproductive actions, but to the MSM the GOP is just a bunch of normal guys and gals trying to help govern the country for its, and not their, benefit.
lee
My understanding is that both are struggling to get new members. Mostly because of issues like this.
IIRC there was a post on /r/Veterans a few years back how a VFW Hall would not allow gay members which caused the younger generation to completely abandon it.
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid:
Sez you! I’m pretty random, just ask my wife!
Omnes Omnibus
@lee: Hell, my WW2 vet grandfather wouldn’t join the Legion or VFW because of their politics. This was back in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
Paul in KY
@Alison Rose: He should have gone by ‘Wald’, in hindsight…
Paul in KY
@patrick II: Agree. He is not to be misunderestimated.
Dan B
@Yarrow: You’re surprised that there are two conservative / reactionary Senators that are either closeted or incels? Sex, especially homosex, is cause for serious fainting and fanning of brow in SC.
EthylEster
Tapper is simultaneously a moron and an asshole. That is all.
karen marie
My theory is that people like Tapper – TV news celebrities – “don’t take their work home with them.” In other words, Tapper himself is completely ignorant of any of the actual issues because he doesn’t read news reports or listen to radio or other TV reports about actual issues. Why would he bring up something he doesn’t know even exists?
JustRuss
Or, they’re very much in favor of it. The leopards won’t be eating their faces.
Also, a hearty welcome to better-half Billy Cracker.
.
Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937
As a Western New Yorker, Go Bills!
Yarrow
@Dan B: I’m surprised that both of SC’s Senators are unmarried, middle-aged men. It seems like it would make people, you know, talk. Why is it that South Carolinians only elect unmarried men as their Senators? Hmmmm…..
Odie Hugh Manatee
When you two go on a trip, do you call it “Bill & Bet’s Excellent Adventure”?
Viva BrisVegas
Greetings from the intersection of the technical, if not actual Dateline, and the Tropic of Capricorn.
On the way from Norfolk Island to Nukualofa, Tonga.
Just to show that the internet is everywhere.
Paul in KY
@karen marie: He knows. Trust me.