Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Joe Biden can go out like FDR, not by dying in office, but by crushing the fascists.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

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

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

A consequence of cucumbers

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

This country desperately needs a functioning Fourth Estate.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

T R E 4 5 O N

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Democrats have delivered the Square Deal, the New Deal, the Fair Deal, and now… the Big Joe Biden Deal.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

When we show up, we win.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / Face Full of Mace

Face Full of Mace

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After her dumb “Scarlet Letter” stunt, I dismissed Nancy Mace (R-SC) as a Dollar Tree Kyrsten Sinema — an attention seeker whose phoniness and lack of principle were obvious to all observers. There was the evolving rationale for tanking Kevin McCarthy, most recently attributed by Mace to his failure to “move on women’s issues,” a claim that strains credulity coming from a Repub.

There was also Mace’s refusal to support Scalise for Speaker because he “attended a white supremacist conference and compared himself to David Duke.” Again, if you feel that way, you’re a Republican why? 

But I regret to inform you that Mace is a PR maven who may be playing the long game. The Daily Beast obtained an internal staff handbook from Mace’s office that reveals the congresswoman’s office is more PR shop than legislative hub:

Well before her fateful vote to remove Kevin McCarthy from the House speakership, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) arrived on Capitol Hill as a freshman lawmaker with a grandiose vision of her role in government.

In a strategy memo she wrote in 2021, Mace described herself as “THE freshman thought leader on federal issues,” according to a copy obtained by The Daily Beast.

She even gave herself a brand name: “NATIONAL NANCY.”

NARCISSISTIC NANCY would be a better fit. The DB piece details how Mace requires her comms staff to issue a press release per day and book Mace on national TV programs between one and three times per day, in addition to six appearances on local channels per week.

That doesn’t leave a ton of time for legislating, which may explain why the only bill she’s ever sponsored that became law was renaming a Hilton Head P.O.

“It is not normal for a member to prioritize media and comms over actual legislation like that,” another former Mace staffer told The Daily Beast. “In my experience with and in other offices, comms serves to promote what the member is doing legislatively. In Mace’s office, legislation served to get her more media opportunities.”

However, Mace did manage to move a bipartisan bill to the floor before McCarthy got yeeted — Katie Porter (D-CA) cosponsored the bill, which proposes removing the college degree requirement for cybersecurity expert hiring by the federal government.

That’s all well and good, but Mace tortured the name of that bill into a self-referential promo: Modernizing the Acquisition of Cybersecurity Experts Act, or MACE Act.

An aside: this is one of my dumbest pet peeves, but I really hate bill names that are contrived for branding purposes, such as the USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) and Florida’s stupid Stop WOKE Act (Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act). If I were congresswoman for a day, I’d propose the Stop coming up with contrived names To brand your Fucking Unexceptional bills (STFU) Act.

I digress, but the point is, Mace has an instinct for self-promotion that would make a Kardashian blush, and after seeing her recent appearance on The Daily Show, where she inundated every topic the host raised in a tsunami of winsome bullshit, I’m afraid we’ll be stuck with her for the long haul. She is slicker than owl shit, as my mom used to say. I’d be happy to be wrong because I’m already thoroughly sick of her.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

121Comments

  2. 2.

    Geminid

    I was surprised Rep. Mace did not make a splashy TV appearance during last week’s Speaker drama. I thought maybe she had laryngitis or something.

  3. 3.

    owlbrick

    She is slicker than owl shit, as my mom used to say.

    I always heard it said as goose shit, but maybe I’m biased.

  5. 5.

    Soprano2

    OT – Filed under “things that happened that you cannot believe actually happened” is that about an hour ago my former manager’s mother – the bartender we fired because she was stealing from us – called me, crying, asking if I would loan her rent money if she gave me the title to her car. She said she hadn’t found a job yet, but somehow would pay me back in two weeks! I told her no, I don’t want the title to your car, you’re going to have to find another way. If it were someone who worked for me I would try to help them, but fuck her she stole from me! She can find someone else to help her. Oh, the latest thing we found out she did was to tell the people in the Monday/Tuesday night pool league that if they bought a drink they got a free shot! She didn’t run that by anyone, she just did it. That’s crazy, she was giving them top shelf stuff for free just for buying a $3 beer. So she can find someone she didn’t steal from to help her pay her rent. If she hadn’t stolen from us she would still have a job.

  6. 6.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    I’d propose the Stop coming up with contrived names To brand your Fucking Unexceptional bills (STFU) Act.

    Stop the contrived names To brand your Forgetable Useless bills (STFU). Re-named.. for the children!

  7. 7.

    Betsy

    This is what happens when the essential elective link between “elected” representatives and the people (from whom all legitimate governmental power derives) is severed.  Her seat and others are so gerrymandered and pre-selected by those in power that the accountability is lost, and so she and other such tyrants* are able to do whatever they please, irrespective of legitimacy or responsiveness to the people.

    *and I use that word intentionally because that is what the Founders meant by tyranny — unaccountable power.  We libs need to reclaim the term.

  8. 8.

    evodevo

    @Soprano2: Yep sounds like some former tenants we had in Mr.Evodevo’s mother’s house…they stiffed us on a couple thousand in rent, we turfed them out, they later qualified for SSI and got a lump sum $7k payment, put it down on a house they couldn’t afford (neither one had a job), and when that went south, wanted to know if they could MOVE BACK INTO OUR RENTAL HOUSE when they heard we were rehabbing it due to all the damage they did while renting.  Some people are definitely lacking in the logic department LOL

  10. 10.

    Soprano2

    @evodevo: I figure she thinks I’m still a good mark, since she stole from us for several months. Evidently her daughter the former manager wasn’t keeping an eye on anything at all.

  12. 12.

    Leto

    The fact she was the first female graduate of The Citadel just helps reaffirm my belief that The Citadel should be closed, as well as the fact that most Citadel grads I’ve known were just shitheads.

  13. 13.

    Geminid

    There is a Voting Rights Act lawsuit that might result in Mace’s district being redrawn. In 2020, she beat Joe Cunningham in the same district he won in 2018, but by 2022 redistricters had cut out a lot of the Democrats, who were mostly Black, and added Republican precincts. It might be fun to watch Mace try to win a 50-50 district next year.

  15. 15.

    Leto

    @Geminid: the last two times we lived in SC, the first time Jim Clyburn was our rep. We received orders elsewhere but came back 5 years later. During that time redistricting happened and instead of being in his district, we were now in… Mick Mulvaney’s district. Roughly ten years later when I retired, I made it a point to tell my supervisor to request the flag from Clyburn’s office. I don’t remember who replaced Mulvaney, but I wasn’t going to let a Republican be involved in any part of that process.

  17. 17.

    Memory Pallas

    I remember an interview with Madison Cawthorn where he said something about being one of a new breed of Republican congressperson all about “comms not legislation.” So Nancy Mace is not alone.

  18. 18.

    m.j.

    All I’ve ever noticed about Mace is that she really loves her tits and she wants everybody else to love them too.

  19. 19.

    skerry

    @HumboldtBlue: Owl poop is not greasy or slick like goose poop. Owls produce pellets which are generally pretty solid and consist of bones and fur that they cannot digest.

    Goose poop is oily and a hazard.

  20. 20.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @Betty Cracker:

    One of my aunts graduated from The Citadel. She’s an evangelical nutcase.

    That kind of thing always floors me. Part of being an evangelical nutcase is conforming to “biblical” gender roles. A proper evangelical woman will marry young and have lots of babies for Jesus, not try and usurp a man’s place at the Citadel. Did she become a nutjob later?

  22. 22.

    Betty Cracker

    @Memory Pallas: Funny you should mention that because in the original version of this post, I started off with a recollection of reading Cawthorn implosion post-mortems that attributed his fall to lack of constituent service and laser focus on PR instead. My thesis was that Cawthorn fell not because of his media-first strategy but because he’s a moron. Basically, he blew what could have easily been a low-effort job for life because of his big fat mouth and that slicker operatives could use that same strategy to get ahead. But it got to be too much of a digression, so I cut the Cawthorn bit. I edit for you guys! ;-)

  24. 24.

    HumboldtBlue

    Calling all lawyers as well as those who aren’t lawyers but want to chip in any way! (also, EFF doesn’t get enough love around here)

    California Attorney General Rob Bonta has issued a legal interpretation and guidance for law enforcement agencies around the state that confirms what privacy advocates have been saying for years: It is against the law for police to share data collected from license plate readers with out-of-state or federal agencies. This is an important victory for immigrants, abortion seekers, protesters, and everyone else who drives a car, as our movements expose intimate details about where we’ve been and what we’ve been doing.​

     

    @skerry: ​ 

    As the perfesser said, this is why read this blog.

  26. 26.

    wjca

    @Betsy: Her seat and others are so gerrymandered and pre-selected by those in power that the accountability is lost,  [Emphasis added]

    You mean like Santos was?

    Somehow I have a problem with assuming someone’s invisible hand is responsible for choosing all the nut cases we see in office.

  27. 27.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @HumboldtBlue: St. Louis is on the border of Illinois. We have many situations where someone commits a crime in one state and flees across border to the other. Picking them up on the traffic cams helps locate the criminal. A law like that would be a bad thing here.

  29. 29.

    Betty Cracker

    Relevant to earlier discussions, via Politico:

    Fetterman (D-Pa.) on Thursday proposed internal sanctions for any senator who is indicted for offenses such as mishandling classified information, being charged as a foreign agent or compromising national security. His resolution would strip any senator facing those charges of their committee assignments, access to classified information or briefings, power to request earmarks and power to use government funds for international travel.

    Go Fetterman!

  32. 32.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: ​ 

    I think the law is aimed at preventing California law enforcement from sharing information for non-criminal acts, I haven’t gotten in the weeds of the measure yet, but there is a vast difference between a guy fleeing the state after robbing a bank and someone who drove to California from Texas, maybe for some healthcare related issues.

  34. 34.

    Jude

    Damn, you’re great writer.

     

    Sometimes I’ll read an amazing post here, stop and go, who was that? And then it’s you. I’ve now trained myself to go, ‘Betty Cracker wrote that, din’t she?”

  36. 36.

    Eric S.

    @Leto: the fact that most Citadel grads I’ve known were just shitheads.

    My anecdata comes from a dataset of 1 but I fully agree.

  37. 37.

    prostratedragon

    @Betty Cracker:  Now that seems reasonable, maybe with an internal hearing and an opportunity to apply for reinstatement on acquittal. One reason for these gaps in the rules is the conviction in the past that they’d eventually be abused, which I share, but looks like time for a tack.

  39. 39.

    Geminid

    @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: Do you know much about St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell? He made some news three days ago when he dropped his run for US Senator and said he would challenge Rep. Cori Bush instead. Former St. Louis County Executive Dooley just announced he is backing Bell.

  42. 42.

    Yutsano

    Ugh. Yet another Republican clown show. Could we talk about something more interesting?
    Like the fact that I got the job and I’ll be moving back to Seattle in December? 😁​

  43. 43.

    Leto

    @Eric S.: grew up in Charleston, for a good number of years had a relative who was a grad (aunt’s second husband), and have worked with a number of them professionally.  Large enough data set for me.

  48. 48.

    Tony G

    @Leto: I just did a little Wikipedia lookup of The Citadel.  “In January 1861, Citadel Academy cadets manning a battery on Morris Island fired the first shots of the conflict when they shelled the Union steamship Star of the West which was attempting to resupply Fort Sumter. ”  Treason in defense of slavery.  Firing on a United States military ship.  In a logical world that has some justice, The Citadel and all of the other military schools of the Confederate States of America would have all been shut down in 1865, with their buildings turned into schools and dwellings for the freed black former slaves.  We are still living with the legacy that the Confederate states were not sufficiently punished in 1865.

  49. 49.

    WaterGirl

    Oh my god, I am going to have to read this a few paragraphs at a time because the anger and disgust I  feel after just the first block quote is overwhelming.

  51. 51.

    Ramalama

    Since this is an open thread (but excellent post by Betty Cracker), I am hoping one of you Jackals can tell me about a much earlier post – maybe by Cole – in which he and some of youse – exclaimed the virtues of an ice circulation system to help speed up healing for injured leg-type body parts.Rather than just packing ice on said torn knee parts. Can anyone recommend such a system or product or point me to the post where so many people had informed opinions thusly?

    The closest I got while searching here was (somehow) a post by Tom L here about how Trump denied he’d ever met Putin despite saying he’d had  a relationship with Putin, this in 2016.

    Anyone?

  52. 52.

    Josie

    @skerry: ​
     After retirement, I worked in a bird sanctuary. One of the lessons we did with fifth graders was dissecting owl pellets. The owls digest their catches and vomit the pellets up. They are not poop. The kids loved finding the bones in the pellets and figuring out what animal the owl had eaten.

  53. 53.

    mrmoshpotato

    NARCISSISTIC NANCY would be a better fit. The DB piece details how Mace requires her comms staff to issue a press release per day and book Mace on national TV programs between one and three times per day, in addition to six appearances on local channels per week.

    Someone doesn’t know the responsibilities of US Representative!

  56. 56.

    Joseph Patrick Lurker

    Several months ago, Mace was a guest on Real Time and Bill Maher praised her as a shining star who represented the future of the Republican party.

  57. 57.

    Redshift

    @wjca:

    Somehow I have a problem with assuming someone’s invisible hand is responsible for choosing all the nut cases we see in office.

    I think you misread, she said the seat was pre-selected for unaccountability, not the candidate. You’d think if they’re going to put all that effort into gerrymandering, they’d put some into ensuring the permanent occupants of those seats aren’t compete idiots, but either the higher-ups like it this way, or it’s another case if the monster escaping the lab.

  67. 67.

    Leto

    @Tony G: one of The Citadel’s more distinguished members, Pat Conroy ruffled a lot of alumni feather’s when he started writing his novels and included them in it. You might have seen two of his more famous novels via film: The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini. The one that earned their particular ire was The Lords of Discipline. They eventually patched things up, but his work is still relevant.

  70. 70.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @Geminid: Wesley Bell has done a decent job as prosecutor and is definitely more moderate than Cori Bush.

  72. 72.

    Martin

    @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: Consider how much revenue a CA police department could generate selling Texas license plate photos to Ken Paxtons office.

    Technology is not inherently good or bad – how it gets exploited and monetized determines that and increasingly it becomes bad for those reasons. I’m willing to bet that subpoenas for that information would result in the information being shared by a court. Generally that requires that the crime the data is being requested for is a crime in the local jurisdiction.

    Just because a law prevents police departments from releasing information doesn’t mean it prevents courts from doing so. But courts and cops have VERY different standards.

  73. 73.

    Lyrebird

    content warning, YUCK

    @Leto: The only one I’ve known thus far was a very polished and energetic person who had clearly enjoyed the debasing hazing stuff and told tales of them testing out different ways to kill mice, e.g. can they be hanged.

  74. 74.

    Martin

    I like the shot/chaser aspect of SBF getting on the stand and essentially admitting he didn’t know the legal requirements of his own company, and then Don Jr and Eric getting on the stand and doing the exact same thing.

    I don’t know, seems like a pretty simple legal feedback loop could be established here if you build a business too complicated for the executives to understand, they become liable for all of the businesses bad acts. That would solve a LOT of problems.

  77. 77.

    Suzanne

    Interesting piece in FTFNYT this morning about how the Chinese government wants to push women back into the home to have lotsa babies and care for old people!

    Faced with a demographic crisis, a slowing economy and what it views as a stubborn rise of feminism, the party has chosen to push women back into the home, calling on them to rear the young and care for the old. The work, in the words of Mr. Xi, is essential for “China’s path to modernization.”
    But to some, his vision sounds more like a worrying regression.
    “Women in China have been alarmed by the trend and have been fighting back over the years,” said Yaqiu Wang, the research director for Hong Kong, China and Taiwan at Freedom House, a nonprofit based in Washington. “Many women in China are empowered and united in their fight against the twin repressions in China: the authoritarian government and the patriarchal society.”

    We’ll see the same push here.
    “Stubborn rise of feminism” LAWL.

  81. 81.

    ArchTeryx

    @skerry: I hate to say it but the pellets aren’t pooped, they’re regurgitated. The whole POINT of forming pellets is to protect the delicate lower digestive tract from stuff that could harm it, and lots and lots of birds, not just owls, do that.

    The poop itself is like most bird poop: Mostly just liquid uric acid with a very small amount of solid waste. Goose poop is the way it is because they’re herbivores, and ALL herbivores use the digestive strategy of “eat a lot, take a few percent off the top, poop the rest out.” And they really don’t give two hoots about where they poop. Kind of like Mace, except out the other end.

    The more you know!

  85. 85.

    Lapassionara

    @Geminid: this race will be interesting, and I am glad that Wesley Bell decided to forego the race for Senate. Lucas Kunce has been in the Senate race for a while now, and I am hoping that he puts up a good fight against Josh Hawley. Kunce was hoping to be the Democratic nominee for the Senate race against Eric Schmitt two years ago, but a political newbie with a famous name (one of the Busch’s) got the nomination. So now he is running again, against an incumbent, but one famous for hightailing it out of the senate chambers on January 6. We’ll see.

  89. 89.

    WaterGirl

    That’s all well and good, but Mace tortured the name of that bill into a self-referential promo: Modernizing the Acquisition of Cybersecurity Experts Act, or MACE Act.

    Another wave of rage just rolled over me.

  91. 91.

    zhena gogolia

    @m.j.: I saw a screenshot of her talking to (? Tapper? somebody) and I couldn’t believe it! Stormy Daniels would be embarrassed.

  93. 93.

    Geminid

    @Lapassionara: I like Lucas Kunce’s style. He seems like the ideal candidate to run against Hawley. Politico Magazine had a big writeup on Kunce in November of 2021, when he was cranking up his candidacy for Roy Blunt’s seat

    The Bush vs. Bell race will get some national attention, I think. I found out about it on Ragnarok Lobster’s twitter feed.

  94. 94.

    cope

    @owlbrick: My usual metaphor for something slippery is “slicker than deer guts on a doorknob” but that’s just me.

    ETA: Hearty congratulations to Yutsano on the new job and relocation.

  95. 95.

    C Stars

    @Josie:

    @JaySinWA:

     

    Yes, my kids have come home on various occasions eager to show me the zip lock bag full of owl vomit that their teachers let them bring home. In fact I think I remember one teacher at some point was fundraising to buy owl vomit. It’s a hot item for the elementary school set.

  97. 97.

    frosty

    @owlbrick: ​
     When I was growing up it was “slicker than deer guts on a doorknob”.

    (Uh oh, did I put the period in the right place?)

  98. 98.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @Geminid: I would vote for Bell. Rep. Bush has always been too progressive for me. If she won the primary, I would absolutely vote for her in the general, though. She is definitely sincere and well intended. We just have policy differences. For example, I was not happy with her vote against the infrastructure bill.

  103. 103.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker: ​
     

    Several months ago, Mace was a guest on Real Time and Bill Maher praised her as a shining star who represented the future of the Republican party.

    Not exactly a shining star, but she’s the apotheosis of the direction the Rethugs are headed. Fuck legislation, we’re all about the PR.

  104. 104.

    Dan B

    @Yutsano: Congratulations!  Escape from Eastern Warshington is nigh!!

    We have friends considering Tieton.  A gay couple.  ????  The town was taken over by artists but, it’s tiny.

  107. 107.

    Steve in the ATL

    @JaySinWA:
     

    I have a relative that used to collect and sell owl pellets as a side gig.

    Can we all agree that we did not expect to encounter this sentence today?

    And thank you for making me feel better about my own relatives!

    Steve in the SBN

  108. 108.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Leto: One of my neighbors was a Citadel grad. He and his wife were right out of central casting wrt to being upper middle class/upper class NEPOs, but I give them full credit: they both worked hard and gave tons back to the community via donations of money and loads of donations of their time and sweat. The exceptions that prove the rule? I don’t know.

  109. 109.

    sab

    Damn. We have a doe deer camped out in our fenced backyard. She has been lying there all afternoon, chomping her cud. On one hand, she is munching her way through our blackberry bushes, which definitely need to be thinned out. On the other hand, she probably has ticks, she may be planning to winter over so we’ll be stuck with her until any bambis can jump the fence, and our pitbull desperately needs to pee now but is impulsive enough to challenge a deer four times her size.

  110. 110.

    ArchTeryx

    @sab: I’d put my money on the pitbull.  Deer are prey animals, and while they’ll vigorously defend their territory, they prefer to run and hide, particularly the does.

  112. 112.

    Bill Arnold

    @Ramalama:
    I tried when you asked (but before looking at replies) with
    site:balloon-juice.com “ice pack” cole
    That did it. It was over-specified (self slaps wrist). Dropped the “cole” and it still worked.

  113. 113.

    sab

    @ArchTeryx: Pitbull and neighborhood deer have a history. About three years ago, when pitbull lived next door in another fenced yard, deer had actual bambis and wouldn’t let the pitbull into the yard at all. Came up to the bottom of the deck steps and stomped and snorted in a threatening manner.

    New German shepherd on the other side. Previous owner used to toss apples out to the deer. New owners would shoot deer if we weren’t in town. Deer may find our yard the best of bad options. I don’t want pitbull to get her brains kicked in by a deer.

  115. 115.

    Bee Girls

    @skerry: Owl castings or pellets are the undigested bits of the critters they eat, bones, fur, etc. held in their crop until it’s full then “coughed” out to the ground around their nest or roosting area. All raptors, owls, falcons, hawks, kestrels etc do this. Their poo is pretty much like all bird poo, quantity and smell being the issue for bigger birds especially carrion and fish eaters.

    If you want to know what’s been dinner, you can usually collect the castings from the ground by the tree or roost without really bothering the owl etc (unless they’re nesting and more defensive) and pick them apart. Castings/pellets dry out quickly and aren’t typically smelly.

    When I was doing wildlife rehab which included lifetime care of non releasable imprinted and or healthy but flightless raptors etc, we’d do workshops for school kids as part of our education programs where they got to dissect the castings and help identify the menu items.

  117. 117.

    Skippy-san

    You are not wrong. Nancy Mace is worthless and has done nothing except scheme to get elected to Congress. She did not even do four full years at the Citadel but still claims she was a history maker as the first female graduate. She is evil and unfit to wear the ring.

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