Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

I don’t recall signing up for living in a dystopian sci-fi novel.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

The National Guard is not Batman.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

This is dead girl, live boy, a goat, two wetsuits and a dildo territory.  oh, and pink furry handcuffs.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

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

Be a wild strawberry.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

They spent the last eight months firing professionals and replacing them with ideologues.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

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

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Saturday Morning Recap Open Thread: The Impeachment KKKlownshow, So Far

Saturday Morning Recap Open Thread: The Impeachment KKKlownshow, So Far

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Saturday Morning Open Thread: The Impeachment KKKlownshow, So Far

(Ann Telnaes via WashingtonPost.com)

The impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden was already a disappointment before it started on Thursday. In prepared testimony, two of the three witnesses called by Republicans explicitly said there was not enough evidence to warrant removing President Joe Biden from office. This included Jonathan Turley, the law professor and Fox News contributor, who said, “I do not believe that the evidence currently meets the standard of a high crime and misdemeanor needed for an article of impeachment.”…

Republican Lauren Boebert asked Turley, “Where does selling access to an executive office fall in terms of what justifies an impeachment inquiry and what is deemed an impeachable offense?” and got an extended legal discussion, which included multiple references to the U.S. code. “I shouldn’t have asked Turley a question,” she told a staffer, disappointed, as she got up to leave the hearing room. “He was a crappy witness.”…

The hearing began in chaos when the top Democrat on the committee, Jamie Raskin, almost immediately made a motion that the committee subpoena Rudy Giuliani and Lev Parnas, the former New York mayor’s associate in the 2019 effort to gather dirt on Biden in Ukraine. While almost all the committee’s Democratic members were present, most of the Republicans were not. This meant that the vote dragged on and on as Republicans scrambled to get everyone to show up to vote it down. In order to eat up time during the wait, members who had already voted kept on asking if they were recorded as voting in order to avoid the awkward silence as things dragged on.

Few Republicans were in the hearing room for the duration. Instead, they wandered in and out, bringing coffee and energy drinks to stay alert as the hours ticked by. The Democratic seats were mostly occupied for the first half of the proceedings, and Raskin appeared to grin throughout. In contrast, Comer sat mostly grim-faced and spent time peering at his iPhone when not expressing exasperation at Democrat Dan Goldman for repeatedly asking for unanimous consent for the same deposition from one of Hunter Biden’s business partners to be introduced into evidence again and again. By the end of the hearing, in a near empty room, a visibly peeved Comer was agreeing to this yet again, “for the seventh time without objection,” as Goldman continued to use the deposition to play defense for Biden…

All throughout the hearing, the specter of a likely government shutdown loomed over the proceedings. As they spoke in turn, every Democrat sat next to an iPad, propped up for the television audience, on which the seconds ticked down toward a shutdown. Repeatedly, Democrats raised this pending shutdown to argue that Republicans were simply using the hearing as a distraction from Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s repeated struggles to manage his deeply divided caucus. But based on the emptiness of the room and the banality of the hearing, it just wasn’t much of a distraction.

Other GOPbots besides the egregious Boebert are unhappy — there wasn’t enough clowning for some:

But maybe there’s a pony buried at the bottom of this huge pile of…

Saturday Morning Open Thread: The Impeachment KKKlownshow, So Far 1

(Clay Bennett via GoComics.com)

Reader Interactions

124Comments

  1. 1.

    Mousebumples

    Happy Saturday!

    Reminder that we have a postcard & music thread tonight at 8pm blog time. Hope to see you there!

  2. 2.

    Chief Oshkosh

    And GOP lawmaker also expressed some disappointment with their performance thus far, telling @AnnieGrayerCNN: “I wish we had more outbursts.”

    So why wasn’t the GOP lawmaker NAMED? Juliet Foxtrot Charlie, why is anyone treating these fuckups with kid gloves anymore?

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Just caught up with Rep. Garcia who told me there was palpable surprise from GOP members in the room when Turley said this. They’re in a bit of “freak out” mode now, he said, because Turley was supposed to be one of their “star witnesses.”

    What did they expect after they put him under oath? The same lies and idiocy he peddles on FOX?

  6. 6.

    Scout211

    Posted on the HouseWays and Means  Committee official government site, a very different hearing than actually occurred.  I tried to read the whole thing and watch the cherry-picked videos posted there but I just could not.  If you have a strong stomach, be my guest.

    Here is the intro paragraph:

    Oversight Committee exposes President Biden’s abuse of public office for his family’s financial gain

    WASHINGTON – Today, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability held a hearing titled “The Basis for an Impeachment Inquiry of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.” At the hearing, witnesses testified that evidence uncovered has passed the threshold to open an impeachment inquiry into the conduct of President Joe Biden. While Democrat members engaged in political stunts, Republican members highlighted evidence, including financial records, emails, texts, and witness and whistleblower testimony, showing President Joe Biden lied to the American people about his knowledge and participation in his family’s corrupt international and domestic business schemes. Under an impeachment inquiry, the House Committees on Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary, and Ways and Means will continue to follow the evidence to determine whether President Biden committed impeachable offenses under the U.S. Constitution.

  10. 10.

    MomSense

    They are running the Benghazi playbook again.  This whole thing is designed to damage Biden before the election and to try and neutralize legitimate concerns about Trump’s criminality.
    The media seemed determined to play this as if it’s legitimate and by doing so are distorting the truth AGAIN.
    This is why they keep harping on Biden’s age.  They have no real scandals or criticism of the administration’s competence but they think they have to be critical to maintain balance so it’s stupid story after story about age.
    I also think the media want Trump back as president because he was very good for their click$, $ub$cription$, and rating$.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    @MomSense:

    I haven’t been watching much media, but the things I’ve seen haven’t made the GOP look good.

    I agree that a lot of what we’re seeing this year is reminiscent of 2016.  There hoping that’ll work again because they have nothing else.

  13. 13.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud:

    The lack of evidence proves how far up the chain the cover up goes!

    Brings back memories of when our inspectors didn’t turn up any evidence of Saddam’s alleged WMDs, and that just showed how well Saddam had hidden them.

  14. 14.

    MomSense

    @Baud:

    For discerning people who pay attention they definitely see that the Republicans are out of control. I’m worried though about the people who aren’t really paying attention but are hearing this in the background.  It can reinforce their apathy and sort of pox on both their house’s government is never there for me crowd.  We know from that former GOP staffer who wrote about the strategy of congressional Republicans obstructing government so that people would blame government as a whole and disengage from voting.
    We all need to reach out to the normies and non political people in our circles to find out how they are interpreting these events.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    @MomSense:

    No argument.  I’m just not sure the background information this time isn’t worse for the GOP than it was in 2016. But my bubble is small.

  17. 17.

    MomSense

    @Baud:

    For discerning people who pay attention they definitely see that the Republicans are out of control. I’m worried though about the people who aren’t really paying attention but are hearing this in the background.  It can reinforce their apathy and sort of pox on both their houses, government is never there for me crowd.  We know from that former GOP staffer who wrote about the strategy of congressional Republicans obstructing government so that people would blame government as a whole and disengage from voting.
    We all need to reach out to the normies and non political people in our circles to find out how they are interpreting these events.

    ETA so focused on changing autocorrect Mormons back to normies I missed the autocorrect apostrophe

  21. 21.

    Scout211

    @Baud: I haven’t been watching much media, but the things I’ve seen haven’t made the GOP look good.

    I only read the news stories posted on the internet but I am seeing a difference in the reporting this time, too.  The media focus this time has been more on the incompetence of the committee and the lack of evidence (and the false witnesses).  Even the soundbites posted from the hearings highlight the Democrats on the committee making the Republicans look like the clowns that there are. It’s a subtle difference, but a difference that is frustrating the crazy caucus, Comer in particular

    This difference may be because this particular set of Republican clowns are so over-the-top clowns this time that there is no subtlety to their fake accusations and made up “scandal.” Or maybe it’s because the “evidence” for Hillary’s Benghazi was easier to conceal and manipulate into a “scandal.”  Or maybe the media is just getting tired of being played and then accused of journalistic malpractice.

    Or maybe they all just hated Hillary.  Ding, ding, ding!

  22. 22.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    We had dinner last night with a couple who usually vote D. I was dismayed to hear them talk about how much Biden has deteriorated mentally and how he can’t even deliver a prepared speech without stumbling. The message has wormed its way even into these folks who would never vote for Trump

    ETA: The wife said Biden just sounds old while Trump sounds so much more lively. Now she’s bi-polar and not always reliable, but cripes.

  24. 24.

    PsiFighter37

    It is abjectly clear that the House GOP is just full of clowns at this point. I do wonder how Paul Ryan and Orange Julius would have handled having a 4-seat majority, though…my guess is, not very much better. Nancy Pelosi got a ridiculous amount accomplished next to Kevin McCarthy with the same majority, and the ‘Squad’ never did anything to nuke legislation except score an own goal on themselves by voting against the infrastructure bill…and not changing the outcome.

  26. 26.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Baud: I said I thought Biden was competent and had done a good job.  I said his history as a stutterer has always affected his delivery of speeches. Then I repeated some of the nuttier things Trump has said lately: He beat Obama, Biden will start WWII, etc.

  31. 31.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    What did they expect after they put him under oath?

    My current theory is that a lot of the House Republicans and the ones running the show expected easily uncovered evidence that Biden was taking bribes.  They are in a constant echo chamber that there must be fire in all this smoke, and they’ve swallowed that lie even though there isn’t any smoke.

    And I mean, that’s not a hard delusion to sell.  Think about it from their end.  They know Biden is evil.  He’s a Democrat president and he does all this evil stuff like appoint colored people to positions of power.  They know everybody takes bribes.  They and all their friends do.  They’ve heard a few gotchas that they want to believe, like the ‘big guy’ email.  Surely all they have to do is ask the questions, because they know what the answers must be.

    It’s the same with how they got pantsed like this investigating the DOJ.  They know that white conservatives are the actual oppressed people, and they know that everybody abuses their power to target their enemies.  Whether someone is actually guilty only matters for how easy it is to go after them, not whether you do it.  So of course if they ask anyone Republican leaning in the DOJ it will all come out that Garland is unfairly targeting conservatives and the Trump prosecutions are politically motivated.

    The answers they’ll get are so obvious they never check ahead of time.  Then the real world punches them in the face.  Again.

    @MomSense:

    They’re trying, but I don’t think it’s going anything like it did last time.

  32. 32.

    Geminid

    Gal Luft, Comey’s missing witness, is said to be on the run but wherever he is, Luft is Tweeting up a storm: more alleged “evidence” of “Biden corruption” and a lot of whining about his “political persecution.” His Twitter heading shows a picture of a chained Samson straining against two pillars.

    On July 11, Talking Points Memo published a good article about Mr. Luft. The Justice Department had just revealed an 8-count indictment of Luft for activities iincluding sales of strike drones to Kenya, rockets to Libya, trading in sanctioned Iranian oil and lying to federal investigators.

    I think the indictment dated from November, 2022 but had been kept secret. Cyprus authorities arrested Luft in Cyprus last March on an Interpol warrant. Luft told reporters he he had been framed, jumped bail 11 days later, and has kept out of sight since.

    After his arrest, Luft also claimed he had been en route to Turkiye to oversee delivery of 100 tons of earthquake relief supplies. Speculation is that is that he snuck out of Cyprus by way of the “Republic of Northern Cyprus” that is sponsored by Turkiye, so Luft might have gotten his chance to visit Turkiye after all.

    Tourism is perhaps Turkiye’s biggest industry. And they like to say, “What happens in Turkiye stays in Turkiye.”

  33. 33.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    “Biden sounds old and stumbles occasionally with his stutter when speaking in public, and isn’t trying to destroy lives. Trump sounds so lively in his stupidity and drive for white nationalist Christofascist authoritarianism with him at the head and his family to succeed him.  Whosoever shall I vote for?”

    Thats a helluva take.

  34. 34.

    Suzanne

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I think that’s a good tactic, turn it back to TFG.

    I do think age is affecting how Biden speaks. There are times I watch him and I will admit that I cringe. I don’t think he’s making bad decisions, and he has a good team of people around him. I also recognize that my choice is binary: Old Guy or Evil Fascist Old Guy. That’s it.

    Would I prefer, in another timeline, to vote for someone like Kamala Harris or Gretchen Whitmer or Raphael Warnock for President in 2024? Yeah, I probably would. But those aren’t my choices. I would also prefer to be a millionaire, and have a hot pool boy.

  36. 36.

    UncleEbeneezer

    I love the way Goldman speaks.  He doesn’t pull any punches but he’s also very precise with his words.  And when interviewers (or fellow Reps) try to change the subject or bait him into some bullshit he’s very good at swerving and resisting the bait.  Notice how the interviewer tried to bait him into some kind of “But shouldn’t we still have concerns about Biden?” bullshit:

    Still, there’s a real case to be made that the president didn’t do enough to step in the way of his son’s international business dealings. Do you think he didn’t do enough to try and stop his son?

    But Goldman smartly redirects:

    That’s not what they’re alleging. That’s not an impeachable offense. And that’s not what this is based on. What we do know, from witness testimony, is that President Joe Biden had nothing to do with Hunter Biden’s business interests, received no financial benefits from his business interests, took no official action other than the Burisma action, related to Hunter Biden’s business interests. And never even discussed his business with Hunter, according to the only witness they have who says anything about the conversations that Joe Biden had with business associates of Hunter Biden. So they keep moving the goalposts here and trying to manufacture, through innuendo, some wrongdoing. But there’s no high crime and misdemeanor, there’s no low crime and misdemeanor. There isn’t any crime and misdemeanor that they are alleging that they can support here.

    You can tell he is a former Federal Prosecutor.

  37. 37.

    Mousebumples

    @Suzanne: I also recognize that my choice is binary: Old Guy or Evil Fascist Old Guy. That’s it.

    Agreed. Even if Trump isn’t the nominee for some unexpected reason (strokes out, loses support, whatever), it’s still Old Guy Who Supports Democracy vs Person Who Supports A Racist Theocracy* (*or whatever term you want to use).

    I’m voting for the Dem nominee 100 out of 100 times. And that’s Joe Biden.

  38. 38.

    p.a.

    @Frankensteinbeck: Yes, this.  Fux “News” etc did their job too well.  As many have pointed out, they created these numbnuts for their votes, but then the numbnuts took over the organizations and got elected.  Now the Big Money Boyz old line cons are trying to re-saddle the raptors they engineered.

     

    I don’t know if the BMB’s want the economy tanked via shutdown to whack the creeping success of the middle class under Joe/Dems despite what it will do to their own portfolios, or if they’d prefer a low/no damage solution and attack Joe’s successes by other means.  It’s out of their hands.

  39. 39.

    Baud

    @Suzanne:

    Biden has always been occasionally cringey when he speaks.  I remember the memes in 2020.

    I actually have noticed fewer gaffes.  It’s what he used to be known for.

  42. 42.

    eversor

    On the MSM.

    Years ago, before he became a crank, Taibbi commented on why journalists like GOP politics.  Was about the Bush V Kerry election.

    The Bush team was having fun.  They were evil, but they were having fun with it.  They were remarkably open about what they were doing and each day had some fun crazy.  Plus they had great food and drinks.  In comparison the Kerry campaign was boring, bland, didn’t create headlines, and had crappy food and drinks.  This dynamic infected the coverage of the campaigns.

    Boba Costa made a similar comment a bit back as well that he covers the GOP because conservative politics is just more fun.  McCain was who he was in part for throwing cookouts, taking people gambling, wining and dining, and constantly in trouble.

    It’s stupid and it’s silly but it’s what we as a nation are.  People want the circus and the party that’s fun.  Even if it’s full of assholes.  People don’t want the highschool debate club that’s no fun.  Talking about issues gets you nowhere.  It’s all culture war and the candidates.

  43. 43.

    jonas

    @MomSense: I’m worried though about the people who aren’t really paying attention but are hearing this in the background.

    That’s *exactly* what they’re counting on — TVs in car dealerships and barbershops and military bases across the country tuned to Fox with the sound off, but with the scrolling chyron reading “Republicans investigate Biden bribery allegations”. They completely don’t give a shit about what any of the witnesses actually say, whether there’s any, you know, “evidence” of any kind, etc.

  44. 44.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Baud:

    I only want to be worked on by doctors under disciplinary sanction for substance abuse and malpractice bordering on incompetence.  Plus, infection control by insisting on masks and gloves is woke communism.

  45. 45.

    mrmoshpotato

    “Picking witnesses that refute House Republicans arguments for impeachment is mind blowing. This is an unmitigated disaster,” said senior R aide.

    Your entire party is an unmitigated disaster, Asshat!

  46. 46.

    lowtechcyclist

    @PsiFighter37:

    the ‘Squad’ never did anything to nuke legislation except score an own goal on themselves by voting against the infrastructure bill…and not changing the outcome.

    IOW, the ‘Squad’ never did anything to nuke legislation, full stop.

  47. 47.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Unless you have drunken/drank(?) the Right Wing Kool Aid, nothing Trump says ever makes sense.  He’s completely incoherent.  How the F have your D-voting friends not noticed this?  Biden’s mental faculties are clearly, exponentially sharper than Trump’s.  Period.

    Did your friends enjoy the Trump years?  Do they want more of that?  Do they know that every President has this person known as a Vice President, who is ready to step in at a moment’s notice and that VP Harris is incredibly smart and qualified?

    Sorry, not mad at you…the level of stupid of what your friends said just really sets me off.  It’s such a sad reminder of how freaking cluelessness of so many Americans.  We all have to deal with them.  My late FIL (who was also Bi-Polar) totally would have said this stuff too, if he were around.  In fact, I’m pretty sure we had this same conversation with him a few months ago.

  48. 48.

    mrmoshpotato

    Republican Lauren Boebert asked Turley, “Where does selling access to an executive office fall in terms of what justifies an impeachment inquiry and what is deemed an impeachable offense Would you like a handjob?” (allegedly)

  51. 51.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Suzanne:

    I would also prefer to be a millionaire, and have a hot pool boy.

    I suspect that at some point, Jerry Falwell Jr will become available again and your wish could become true in theory, but on the bad side, you’d have to live with Jerry….

  53. 53.

    Geminid

    @Baud: I thought Biden was somewhat tentative when he started his Presidential campaign, but grew more confident when he won his first primary, in South Carolina.

    I think that confidence still manifests today in Biden’s speeches and remarks. I saw one commentator rank Biden’s recent Tucson speech very highly among modern presidential speeches, and that did not surprise me at all.

  54. 54.

    lowtechcyclist

    @OzarkHillbilly: ​
     

    Bush couldn’t find them at the WH Correspondents gala either, and he looked everywhere, even under the tables.

    That still pisses me off after all these years. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died as a result of our invasion, and millions fled to other countries, which helped destabilize the region. And then when it turned out his casus belli for invading was nonexistent, he makes a fucking joke out of it.

    And to add insult to injury, our courtier media thought it was a hoot. Way to speak truth to power, guys. Villago delenda est, indeed.

  55. 55.

    Yarrow

    @eversor: This may have been true in the past but it’s hard to imagine the TFG team doing anything to make it fun to cover him. He’s not organized enough to have people taking reporters gambling or drinking, plus he’s too cheap to spend money on them. Publicly he puts reporters in pens and tells people to attack them. In 2016 there was a circus and novelty aspect. That’s no longer the case.

    Biden may not be quite as fun as the R examples you gave but he’s an experienced pol. He knows he needs to keep the press happy. It wouldn’t surprise me if it’s more fun to cover him than TFG.

  57. 57.

    M31

    and the GOP witnesses who refuted everything are actually the good witnesses

    the mid-level witnesses are piles of dog poo with tiny MAGA flags stuck in them

    the bad witnesses, don’t ask

  58. 58.

    Suzanne

    @Baud: He sounds older to me than he used to. His voice used to be …. sharper? Older people often get a mushy, soft quality to their speech. Look, Biden has been in the public eye for a long time. We’ve seen him age, and it’s not really reasonable to blow it off by saying that he’s always sounded like this. He hasn’t. He sounded different back in his VP days. He sounded different four years ago.

    Again, though…. the choice is binary. None of this is to say that we shouldn’t vote for the guy, given the situation in which we find ourselves.

  61. 61.

    Geminid

    @mrmoshpotato: I think you might be particularly interested in one of the Democratic candidates who will be featured tonight. That would be Russet Perry, candidate for the Virginia 31st Senate District seat.

  64. 64.

    Yarrow

    Re media coverage:

    One candidate floated executing America’s top general, jokes about a man getting his skull bashed in with a hammer, incited an insurrection to overturn an election, committed fraud, is liable for rape, and is facing 91 indictments.

    The other is 80 years old.

    So, both sides.— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) September 29, 2023

  65. 65.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I’m hearing this more and more from reliable D voters in my circle. Someone has figured out how to market these ideas to them. These people are politically aware, much more so than what I’d call “normies,” but bin into the category of NYT/Atlantic/WaPo readers who think that Brooks may be making a good point every once in a while.

    Years ago I was proud of myself when I got them to see the bullshit of The Mustache of Understanding, but I guess one must be constantly vigilante against backsliding!

  66. 66.

    lowtechcyclist

    @OzarkHillbilly: ​
     

    They’ve been smoking their own supply for decades.

    At least as far as the Rethugs in Congress go, I’d say it just dates back to the 2010 midterms. Especially given that both 2006 and 2008 were big Democratic years, Fox News hadn’t been around long enough to have people elected to Congress who’d grown up politically while absorbing their bullshit. But by 2010 a generation of Fox News watchers were running for Congress, and they got swept into Congress in that year’s Tea Party wave.

    And the inmates have been running the GOP asylum ever since.

  67. 67.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Then the real world punches them in the face. Again.

    Well, the real world needs to put more snap into its uppercuts and jabs. Maybe even throw a roundhouse or a haymaker every once in a while..

    But you make excellent points. They’re lazy and the believe their own bullshit. And they’re just not that bright.

  68. 68.

    Edmund dantes

    @eversor: literally McCain had a tire swing that the reported loved. That’s where that saying came from about McCain.

    they openly admitted that they loved going on his tire swing at the ranch or vacation home while they weee embedded with McCain on the campaign.

  71. 71.

    SteveinPHX

    I had lunch with a couple friends yesterday & we all agreed that Biden may stumble and/or stutter some, but the part of his brain that  does critical thinking and absorbs information from his team still works just great AND he makes good decisions!

  72. 72.

    SFAW

    @Chief Oshkosh: ​
     

    Well, the real world needs to put more snap into its uppercuts and jabs. Maybe even throw a roundhouse or a haymaker every once in a while..

    I realize it does not speak well of me as an alleged “person,” but frankly, I’d rather see the real world knee them in the cojones and then kick them in the head.

    Repeatedly.

  73. 73.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Yarrow: Nah, I’m not that good. Autocorrected to that, and part of my mucous-filled forehead said “Huh. I guess that’s right…”

    Our household if full of coughing, snorting, sneezing, wheezing this morning. A far cry from “Laughing, joking, drinking, smoking…”

  74. 74.

    Geminid

    @mrmoshpotato: Russet Perry is running to represent a suburban/exurban district in the Northern Virginia Piedmont.

    I hear Perry named her son Kennebec. He likes to be called “Ken,” though.

  77. 77.

    Jeffro

    Briefly going a little OT to pat myself on the back and award myself an Armchair Pundit Bronze Medal here…check this out:

    On Thursday, in response to Betty’s asking how to get 5-6 of the “Seven Mehs” off the stage so that 1 could take on trump directly, I noted:

    I don’t think they can do it on their own, not at all.  The only way I think they can defeat trump is for the GOP’s truly big donors to come together and decide to buy each of these clowns out of the race until they’re down to 1 trump opponent.

    (I’ll spare you the details – just deleted paragraphs* about what would work for each of them)

    And then the big donors have to decide if they want to try and run with Ron (if they’re dumb) or Haley (if they’re not as dumb).

    And then – no more debates.  DeSantis or Haley just starts holding pressers, giving speeches, etc solely with the topic of “we can’t win with this loser, and we shouldn’t run with a felon at the top of the ticket”. “He had his chance and he failed you, GOP voters.  But I won’t.”  That kind of thing.

    (And then we saw Bob Costa’s reporting on GOP donors’ panicking and possibly ‘drafting’ Smiling Glenn Youngkin into the race.  Which is interesting, but was not going to work for a multitude of reasons.)

    Well guess what?  GOP Megadonors Have Summoned Will Hear “Pitches” from DeSantis and Haley Camps (link is gifted)

    A network of megadonors whose biggest members have stayed on the sidelines in the Republican presidential primary will meet next month in Dallas as advisers to two of the candidates hoping to defeat Donald J. Trump will make one of their last pitches for support, according to two people briefed on the matter.
     
    The multiday event will feature advisers to Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, according to the two people. It will be hosted by Harlan Crow, the wealthy real-estate developer who backs Republicans and who has recently drawn attention for his friendship with and financial ties to Justice Clarence Thomas. Mr. Crow is hosting a separate fund-raiser for Ms. Haley next week, according to Bloomberg News.
     
    The donor network, known as the American Opportunity Alliance, was founded a decade ago by a group of billionaires, including the hedge fund executive Paul Singer; Kenneth Griffin, another prominent investor; and members of the Ricketts family, which owns the Chicago Cubs.

    So there you go, folks.  The way to beat trump is to get DeSantis and Haley on the same team (probably as a D/H ticket?) and then *buy everyone else off as follows:

    • Hutchinson: “here’s $2M for your PAC…now step off”
    • Christie: “keep banging on trump until it’s time to bang on Biden…here’s $2M for your PAC…now step off”
    • Burgum: “we know you’re already wealthy, but if you want a cabinet position…step off”
    • Pence: “you have NO chance, but if you want to make some serious wingnut welfare giving speeches…or maybe a nicely-paid position at one of our ‘think’ tanks…step off”
    • Ramaswamy: “by all means, stay in, kid: you’re just pulling votes from trump.  Or we could set you up with some wingnut welfare.  Or we could keep those insider-trading stories coming in the media…it’s up to you”

    Anyway, the blessed GOP mega donors have about a month to sort it all out and get going, otherwise, it’ll be way too late.

    (And they’re still fucked anyway: trump is not just going to go quietly.  But it’ll be fun to watch!)

  78. 78.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Suzanne: I see what you’re seeing. And like you and SteveinPHX at #71, I think his critical thinking and his decision making skills are fine. Plus there are the fantastic people he surrounds himself with. Also like you, it wont change my vote, but I do see it.

  79. 79.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Jeffro: ​

    Anyway, the blessed GOP mega donors have about a month to sort it all out and get going, otherwise, it’ll be way too late.

    I’m afraid that the GOP mega donors are arrogant self-absorbed assholes who will be completely on board with this plan as long as all the other GOP mega donors agree to do it their way. Exactly. In ever detail.

  82. 82.

    Another Scott

    Turley is a GQP hack. He said that he thought the House passed the threshold for having an impeachment inquiry (starting around 1:22), while also saying he didn’t see any evidence to support an impeachment yet. Because they are just starting the inquiry, you see.

    It’s oh so serious, and the House is being oh so serious about this serious thing, and Turley is serious when he’s talking about how serious it is.

    (groucho-roll-eyes.gif)

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  86. 86.

    WaterGirl

    @Geminid:

    I think you might be particularly interested in one of the Democratic candidates who will be featured tonight. That would be Russet Perry, candidate for the Virginia 31st Senate District seat.

    Featured where?

    edit: I did enjoy the potato joke.  But featured, where?

  87. 87.

    zhena gogolia

    @Suzanne: I don’t care what the fuck his voice sounds like. He isn’t a fascist dictator. And I’m not going to put anything negative about him into my mind or into my mouth until we’re safely on the other side of this election.

    Adolf Hitler had a very strong voice. So what.

  90. 90.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: I think Russet Perry is one of the Democrats who’ve been featured in the Virginia campaign threads. But maybe I’m getting them mixed up with one of the Garden Threads.

  91. 91.

    Ken

    @Geminid: “Russet Perry” might also be in a dog thread. Presumably there is a Russet Perrydoodle, because people are hybridizing poodles with everything.

  92. 92.

    No One You Know

    @Yarrow: Especially because he’s got a fine sense of the absurd and a genial good humor in public. I’ve enjoyed the flashes of temper as well. He’s relatable because he’s so human. And,  oh God, the things he’s suffered.

  94. 94.

    Suzanne

    @MagdaInBlack: Mr. Suzanne is a speech-language pathologist, and he says that older people often develop a “sibilant S” and some other sounds change, as gums recede a bit with aging and there can be other changes in the mouth. He says Biden has a bit of that stuff going on, but that it’s obviously not a sign of mental decline.

    He is super-observant of sounds and can be very precise in identifying what’s wrong and using technical terms, whereas I hear it and just say, “I don’t know how to describe it, it just sounds like someone is talking with mashed potatoes in their mouth”.

  96. 96.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Suzanne: The only reason I care, if care is the right word, is because it is this superficial stuff that the “he’s to old” brigade grab on to. Same with the Fetterman detractors. Superficial bs.

    And please thank Mr Suzanne for his explanation.

  101. 101.

    Baud

    @Suzanne:

    I’m not saying he doesn’t sound older.  I’m saying I haven’t noticed a drop off in the content or delivery, other than sounding older.  But I don’t watch every speech.

  103. 103.

    WaterGirl

    @zhena gogolia: Not everyone agrees, I’m sure.

    But what you described is how I feel about it, too.  It doesn’t seem helpful to make any statements that even mildly agree, or appear to agree, that age is an issue.   So I am definitely not gonna be one of the people who helps contribute to any doubts or concerns.

  105. 105.

    Ohio Mom

    @Frankensteinbeck: I certainly follow your imagined line of thinking, Republicans think everyone is as crooked as they are, so sure, Biden must be a crook.

    I look at Biden and see someone who always wanted to be president and even if he was tempted (hard for me to imagine) knew that shenanigans would screw up his long range goal.

    If anything, I remain amazed that he succceeding walking a line between supporting Hunter in a fatherly way and keeping out of it all. Now that is political skill.

  108. 108.

    Brit in Chicago

    @Suzanne: “Would I prefer, in another timeline, to vote for someone like Kamala Harris or Gretchen Whitmer or Raphael Warnock for President in 2024? Yeah, I probably would.”

    But do you think that any of the people you name would be more likely to win than Uncle Joe? On grounds of policy I’d be ok with any of them (and they all seem competent, though none have anything like Joe’s relevant experience), but winning comes first in my book. A loss which made TFIG (or RdiS) President would be a disaster.

  109. 109.

    S Cerevisiae

    @Geminid: Kennebec? Seriously?
    that’s the name of a county in Minnesota which is taken from a mispronounced Ojibwe word (ken-ā-bec = snake)

    I wonder if he knows that?

  110. 110.

    Brit in Chicago

    @lowtechcyclist: Agreed. Trump is the worst person to have been President (let’s say in the last 100 years—my knowledge is a bit shaky going further back) but in terms of damage done Bush Jr. is worse, and so is the sainted Ronnie. But a second Trump term could outdo them all.

  111. 111.

    wjca

    @Suzanne: Competence is boring and doesn’t drive clicks. They have to create dramatics.

    That may be why they are highlighting the ineptness of Comer and his committee farce.  It’s readymade drama.  Complete with visible screwups in picking witnesses, great wailing by (mostly anonymous) staffers, and obvious an “Republicans in disarray!” narrative — which provides novelty.

  112. 112.

    JeanneT

    @Eyeroller:  Even considering the stutter challenge for Biden, it’s not a surprise that a person who has spent a long life in politics would develop damaged vocal cords: so much talking and speechifying!  I have been wondering if Biden works with a vocal coach.  For some people, guided vocal exercises can really help make the voice clearer and more resonant.

  114. 114.

    Bill Arnold

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I was dismayed to hear them talk about how much Biden has deteriorated mentally and how he can’t even deliver a prepared speech without stumbling.

    I listened to Biden’s recent UN address and the delivery was fine. The emotional flow and rhythms aligned with the actual content, unlike Trump-rambles, where the rhythms and emotional flow are everything, and the “content” is just time filler.
    Long speeches are hard to do perfectly. Anyone who thinks otherwise is clueless. Even with considerable practice, nearly all humans will stumble occasionally. It is rare to see/hear anything over a paragraph or two delivered) perfectly, with precision emotional flow, by any amateur. (Respect for those who do audio books well, good storytellers, and the like.)

  115. 115.

    BellaPea

    I would really, really love to see someone punch Comer in his big stupid fat mouth. And I am not a fan of violence. I think I read somewhere that he was credibly accused of sexual assault…???

  117. 117.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: Russet Perry is a she. Ms. Perry was born in Texas, and her parents probably gave her a name that’s been in family for generations. Maybe a Russet Perry fought alongside Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto.

    Texans are known to do stuff like that. But I still like to think Perry was named after a potato.

  118. 118.

    Bill Arnold

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    My current theory is that a lot of the House Republicans and the ones running the show expected easily uncovered evidence that Biden was taking bribes. They are in a constant echo chamber…

    This correct, IMO.

  119. 119.

    Geminid

    @S Cerevisiae: Young Kennebec might not know this. They say there is some dark family history behind the name, but that Great-grandfather “Dutch” Perry* took it with him to his grave.

    * The elder Perry’s given name was German Butterball, but that’s quite a mouthful so people naturally called him “Dutch.”

  120. 120.

    suzanne

    @Brit in Chicago:

    But do you think that any of the people you name would be more likely to win than Uncle Joe? On grounds of policy I’d be ok with any of them (and they all seem competent, though none have anything like Joe’s relevant experience), but winning comes first in my book. A loss which made TFIG (or RdiS) President would be a disaster. 

    I genuinely don’t know the answer to this question, because it’s so far away from the current reality. My point is that I really only have two choices, so my vibes of preferring someone younger are not worth leaning into.

  123. 123.

    Eyeroller

    @JeanneT: Also one’s voice naturally changes with aging, due to the same overall sagginess we acquire in other tissues affecting the vocal cords and other muscles, and it does not at all necessarily indicate any health concerns.

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