Maybe I’m naive, but I think it’s possible that the GOP tanking the border bill will be disastrous for them politically and may handicap the entire party coming into a critical election year. The bill has provisions Republicans demanded — on camera! — as necessary to address an “existential threat” to the nation.
And now they’re killing it on the say-so of a defeated, unpopular, criminally indicted buffoon because he wants to preserve border demagoguery as a signature issue for his campaign? How is that a good look?
Even Fox News is skeptical, citing the Border Patrol Union’s endorsement of the bill. Biden-Harris HQ highlighted this exchange on Threads that shows a Fox couch clown accusing Republicans of tanking the bill because Trump told them to:
Post by @bidenharrishqView on Threads
Yes, our political media sucks rancid raccoon dicks and cannot be counted upon to report the story straight, and yes, U.S. citizens have approximately half the attention span of a fruit fly, so maybe none of this will matter come November. That’s the conventional wisdom. But the confluence of events weaves a simple narrative that is supported by copious foreshadowing, and none of it is flattering for Republicans.
Biden and other Democrats are running on protecting democracy and opposing autocracy, upholding individual freedom and using the power of the government to make ordinary people’s lives better. The GOP’s actions on the border bill demonstrate how their party threatens democracy and undermines freedom at home and abroad by doing the bidding of defeated autocrat wannabe Trump and leaving Ukraine to the tender mercies of Putin, which is positively shameful.
Republican actions on the border bill also underscore the truth of Democrats’ warnings about “extreme MAGA Republicans” since a hard-fought bipartisan compromise is being jettisoned at the behest of Trump and his MAGA sycophants, including the fanatical Speaker Johnson and assorted other MAGA weirdos like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, etc.
As a committed partisan, I’ve always considered bipartisanship overrated, but the low-info ninnies who mostly decide our elections seem to prize it, and the crappy political media regards it as the ultimate marker of seriousness. Tanking this bipartisan bill underscores the clownishness of the House GOP caucus, who’ve spent their entire turn in the majority accomplishing nothing but obstruction and thus demonstrating repeatedly that they are not fit to lead.
The Senate GOP is also knuckling under to Trump’s transparently corrupt election issue extortion scheme, which shows there are no reasonable Republicans left. WE knew that already, but lots of our fellow citizens are still learning. Maybe it will stick. Maybe it won’t.
But as we enter an election year with a senate map so brutal that Florida and Texas may represent our best pick-up opportunities, this could be helpful. It sounds like Biden intends to hammer the point:
Good.
Open thread.
Alison Rose
“They can have their perspectives.”
The new “alternative facts”.
Oy vey.
Baud
Agree. We should at least try.
Elizabelle
“Afraid of Donald Trump. … Afraid of Donald Trump.”
And then he kind of scoffs. Perfect.
Urza
I’m making a point to comment on articles about this. If there is an invasion as they claim, then the Republicans preventing the bill from passing and getting everything they want makes them traitors to America for preventing Biden from stopping the invasion. If its not urgent like they say then they’ve been lying to their base for decades. Either way its horrible cognitive dissonance for the true believers and we should force that on them as much as possible.
oklahomo
It is interesting to see videos starting to appear where the “Army of God” people are perplexed that it’s not a complete war zone once they arrive at the border.
Manyakitty
@oklahomo: good. Maybe they’ll tell their friends.
Urza
@Manyakitty: Their friends won’t believe it if it didn’t come from rightwing media.
terry chay
Agreed. The electorate either keeps it an election issue or it doesn’t. If they do, the tanking of the bill, with sound bites makes this an easy win against Trump or any R incumbent. If they don’t then they can’t use the only issue they poll better than the Democrats on.
Its worth remembering that they tanked it because Republicans normally poll better than Democrats on “the economy” and “defense” and those two issues are strongly D, in spite of headwinds from the media (which wants to lipstick a pig in order to make revenue in a D blowout election year).
Manyakitty
@Urza: even if it comes directly from them? I thought wingnuts had to heal their own.
Miss Bianca
@oklahomo: Are they really? I’ve seen a couple videos on a blog that one of the other commenters (Tbone, maybe?) linked to, but didn’t realize they were starting to percolate into the wider media world.
MattF
I think the dissonances will pile up and voters on the margins will tire of following the ever-shifting party line. There is more than a little irony in the combination of authoritarian discipline and obedience to the ever-shifting whims of The Leader.
rikyrah
That’s Dark Brandon coming to whoop some GOP azz.
No. He’s not going to let up.
danielx
Logical consistency is not a Republican strong point, but that’s hardly a problem for the base. They have become accustomed to shifting their viewpoint according to TFG’s whims, sometimes on a daily basis.
dmsilev
@Alison Rose:
One gets the sense that the GOP’s perspectives are the sort of warped drive-you-mad non-Euclidean geometries that H.P. Lovecraft loved to write about.
Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Trump R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn
Urza
@Manyakitty: Its more likely that those who were there and didn’t see an invasion will be convinced they were just in the wrong place than that they will convince anyone that its all a scam. Doubling down on the belief is required to preserve the ego built upon it, and anyone who actually drove cross country to participate has definitely built their mind around the idea that it is a huge problem. Admitting it isn’t means admitting you’re wrong and have been duped and that almost never happens in someone who was already close minded enough to accept it to begin with.
dmsilev
@rikyrah: The old political stereotype is that the Republicans are the Daddy Party and the Democrats the Mommy Party. Dark Brandon is directly calling out the lie in that stereotype, pointing out that the “daddies” are a bunch of wimps.
Manyakitty
@Urza: ugh. I wish you were wrong.
Alison Rose
I do really like the “show some spine” thing, like with Newsom calling them pathetically weak. That’s important — the GOP always like to act like they’re the big tough ones and Democrats are wimps, so making it clear just how weak and cowardly and scared the Republicans are all the time is hitting them where it hurts. I want them to be asked to their faces, “Why are you all such trembling little babies in the face of Trump, or a mother and her child seeking safety, or putin? Aren’t you embarrassed to be such chickenshits? Don’t you have any pride at all?”
I know they’ll find ways to twist it, but I’d love to see all of them asked this stuff on live TV on a regular basis.
Urza
@dmsilev: Wish he’d point out that they’ve always been wimps and liars.
jonas
Happy to be wrong, but my assumption is the MSM will ferociously bothsides this and make it appear that it’s just “more gridlock” in Congress. So I’m glad to see Biden and his advocates getting out in front of that and laying the blame squarely where it belongs.
UncleEbeneezer
Just Security has a good piece on the possibilities of the timeline for the 1/6 Trial based on what comes next after the DC Court ruling.
TLDR- they show three main possible ways it could go. Two of the three would get the trial started and completed before the election. Only the third, (SCOTUS grants Stay with no limits) would push it past the election.
Betty Cracker
@danielx: True, but the MAGA base is irrelevant for our purposes. It’s the normies who need a goddamn epiphany.
Elizabelle
I don’t understand why we allow Fox News and its ilk to spew lies and disinformation into our public sphere, and make billions off it.
It is very tenuous to try to have a democracy when you have so many (willfully) misinformed people.
The Founders were wrong about a lot of things, and did not get to observe Joseph Goebbels and the Nazis close up.
“More speech” cannot drive out brainwashing, which is what rightwing media and many churches provide. I don’t believe people who are so blithe about “more speech is the answer” when you have an audience without the ability to critically analyze, and who tend to believe what they see with their own eyes.
I worry about the deepfakes and last minute lies that are going to air as Election Day draws closer.
All the more reason to get voters to bank their votes as early as possible.
oklahomo
@Miss Bianca: These were on You Tube and clips from local media at the border. Don’t know if it will seep into mainstream or not, but it was funny to hear them say shit like “This isn’t what I expected; this isn’t that bad!”
delphinium
@Urza: Of course both Abbott and DeSantis have also aided and abetted this “invasion” since they intentionally transported people across state lines. Not that I expect the media to bring this up or question them about it.
p.a.
Per TPM, Senate REPUBLICANS now advocating for a bill to finance Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, without any border linkage. Which was the original Dem attempt. Rethugs demanded the linkage with the border “crisis”.
Among all the bigotry, fascism, lies etc, I blame those turds for italics/bolding exhaustion as well.
eclare
Joe wore a tie with Ukraine’s colors and a Ukrainian lapel pin.
Tony Jay
Sounds like the GOP will be praying hard to Those Below for a story to hit the News cycle about a (reportedly) undocumented (possibly) trans (potential) serial-killer in Texas (believed to be) targeting white tweens through an (unverified) Taylor Swift fanpage.
Then they can easily explain away their cowardly torpedoing of this bill by pointing south and howling “See? See?!?! SEE!?!?” while the titans of jounamalism nod sagely and pivot to blaming Biden for ignoring Republican concerns in pursuit of an election issue advantage.
Gotta be odds available on that somewhere.
eclare
@Alison Rose:
When Steve Doocy calls you on your BS you’re flailing.
Elizabelle
@eclare: Thank you for pointing that out. I love that he was doing that.
I wish that conservative hero Winston Churchill could come back and kick the GOP in the ass for delaying Ukraine aid.
Old School
@p.a.:
Wow! That’d be something if it comes to pass.
TBone
@Elizabelle: K.B.O.!
“Keep Buggering On” was a rallying thought delivered to both friends and family, and was abbreviated to “KBO” when in polite company. Knowing first hand as a soldier and a leader the dangers of a defeatist mindset and poor morale, Churchill would keep the people around him motivated and inspired with his words.
https://conwaystewart.com/en-us/blogs/blog/churchill-heritage-collection-kbo
Alison Rose
@eclare: I know, right??
Geminid
Florida Senator Rick Scott tweeted that this legislation is not a border security bill but an immigration bill and that he’s glad to oppose it. Former Rep. Deborah Mucarsel-Powell wants Scott’s job, and she responded:
Mucarsel-Powell represented Dade County from 2019-2021, and identifies herself as a “Mother, Latina, first South American immigrant elected to Congress.”
Baud
Biden really has a nice swagger to him.
TBone
@Baud: I dig it.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
No lie told. Understanding and navigating this non-ideal situation is politics 101.
eclare
@Elizabelle:
Hell, I’ll take first term Reagan, but just in some sort of defense position. Not president.
Baud
@TBone:
He’s a complicated man
But no one understands him but
his womanDr.Jill.Jackie
It absolutely sounds like Biden isn’t going to let the REASON the Border bill failed be swept under the rug.
Just as soon as the caravan spooky stories start percolating by TIFG and the MAGA GQPers, Biden will remind everyone ie voters WHY the Bill was scuttled and by WHOM.
I predict a lot of ads (The Lincoln Project?) with TIFG complaining about the open border bringing drugs, rapists and murderers interspersed with Biden showing TIFG and his MAGA syncopates saying he doesn’t want border control until AFTER THE ELECTION. TIFG wants a border problem because it will HELP HIM at the ballot box.
Biden isn’t going to let voters forget WHO wants an open border and WHY.
eclare
@Baud:
Excellent.
TBone
@Baud: issat Tom Jones? Whoa-ah whoah-ah whoa-wo
Elizabelle
@TBone: Got to say, had never heard KBO. More the “Keep Calm and [Kick GOP Ass] …”
It is not hard to see why we didn’t hear of this phrase, given the word’s current meaning. (And wouldn’t that have been a contemporary meaning too?)
Fuck Around and Find Out has more swagger.
lowtechcyclist
Just to clarify why Florida and Texas are the closest thing to Senate pickup opportunities we’ve got, even though they’re both long shots, check out the big chart at the link – the second table under this heading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classes_of_United_States_senators#List_of_current_senators_by_class
The left-hand column is the seats up for election in 2024. Sort the table by Cook PVI, and it’ll all become clear. Other than FL and TX, the next-best pickup opportunities are MS, IN, and MO, all in the R+10 and R+11 range.
So holding the seats we’ve got (other than WV, which is gone) is key. I’m really glad about what we’ve done for Four Directions in Montana; it could really make the difference.
zhena gogolia
@eclare: He actually does it more than most others on Fox.
zhena gogolia
@Elizabelle: It had the same meaning then.
Geminid
@lowtechcyclist: Deborah Mucarsel-Powell encourages Democrats by pointing out that Rick Scott won his two races for Governor and one race for the Senate by less than 1% each time, and he has never run in a Presidential year.
Baud
@Geminid:
Too bad FL has gone so Republican. Makes it more of an uphill climb.
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia: I would think so. First encountered it in a few books with boys off at boarding school. Which were written around that time.
So: what a weird expression to be using.
Miss Bianca
@oklahomo: lol – sounds like a Cletus Safari in reverse!
lowtechcyclist
@dmsilev:
That stereotype is about 30 years out of date, but then the stereotype that the GOP is better on the economy is further out of date than that, and that doesn’t seem to stop the media from buying into it.
We need a new stereotype. Mine is: the Dems are both the Mommy and the Daddy party, and the GOP is the drunken uncle who can’t hold a job because he’s always arguing with his co-workers rather than getting anything done.
Jackie
@Alison Rose: Or as Fetterman asked, “When are you going to get your balls out of Trump’s desk drawer?”
Baud
@oklahomo:
@Miss Bianca:
Reminds me of those Ninja guys that were looking for viter fraud in Arizona and found more votes for Biden.
Alison Rose
@Jackie: LOLOL
Jackie
@eclare: TIFG wants Doocy removed from Faux and Friends and moved to the weekend version. Doocy’s been pushing back against TIFG for several months now.
eclare
@Jackie:
Huh, didn’t know that.
zhena gogolia
@Elizabelle: They use it all the time, like “bugger off.” I don’t think it has the same charge for Brits that it does for us. Whereas “shag” sounds really obscene to them. The Austin Powers movie title was scandalous.
Jackie
@eclare: This is the latest article that probably caught my eye, but there are other sources:
https://www.rawstory.com/amp/unwatchable-trump-steve-doocy-2667009784
trnc
That probably wouldn’t sound good to the people who have sometimes voted for those wimps and liars, so it’s fine if they think it’s a decline that they don’t want to encourage.
eclare
@Jackie:
Thanks! Seems like a fairly innocuous fact check, but I realize anyone challenging TIFG on anything draws his wrath.
trnc
“We” don’t. The courts have, although maybe that’s changing a bit with the Dominion and Smartmatic lawsuits.
piratedan
@lowtechcyclist: as an intermittent optimist, I am kind of jazzed that we may actually take the Senate despite the terrain.
people are pissed that the GOP is STILL doing culture war shit. Dobbs is very much in play, as we’ve seen evidenced in every election since. The economy is doing better, Biden is up front trying to fix what he can for who he can and the blame for a LOT of the crap that is befalling the nation can be truthfully be laid at the feet of the GOP.
The GOP at the state level response to Dobbs has been nothing short of rabid and I fully believe that women (and those of us who support them) are taking notice, as have the advocates and families of those who are Trans (and the rest of the rainbow) by watching this national freakout. Same is true for guns, people want more controls, not less. They want more services to help those in need, not less. They want to save the planet if they can, not do less.
The pollsters don’t want to recognize this because its not asked and that is due entirely to horse race framing and most questions being used are adopting GOP issues.
trnc
They probably have a Diamond and Silk for every demographic.
trnc
For democrats. Republicans who eschew bipartisan compromises are men and women of principle who will always fight for what they believe.
wjca
Georgia used to be considered hopeless, too. Not unreasonably, considering its state government. Yet see who are the current senators from Georgia. Uphill is a long, long way from impossible.
cain
@oklahomo: haha – yes, there has been some videos on twitter/X about it. They thought they would be seeing hordes of people hammering to get in.
What they saw was basically peace and quiet.
jackmac
This got me thinking about narratives and how slow they are to dislodge and disprove.
But it happens. When was the last time you heard from Republicans who espoused (with a straight face):
—Family values.
—The sanctity of marriage between a man and woman
—Strong and reliable national defense.
—Fiscal responsibility.
—Personal responsibility.
They ain’t got nuthin’ these days. Changing the narrative is slow and the MSM can’t be relied on to help. But it eventually the hypocrisy sinks in.
cain
@Old School:
That’s going to fuck over the House GOP because they’ve loudly been claiming they can’t fund anything without border wall. Now that they said it is dead – we can now move on to just funding the Ukraine/Taiwan/Israel thing.
they’ll have to say no to that as well of course, but it’s going to be harder and harder to keep saying no in an election year. A lot of House republicans are going to be very nervous.
They could pull a coup and work with the Democrats if given enough pressure – of course, in a purple district they could still survive.
Bill Arnold
@Tony Jay:
Image seen in comments at LGM: maybe it will work:
Praying man: Thank you for sending us Donald Trump! Answer from below: You’re welcome.
cmorenc
Late to the threads on immunity, but Fox news’ website had a headline (i am paraphrasing, but accurately ) “DC Circuit decides Immunity Issue” – without stating what the ruling was. Click on the headline and all you got was a link to a .pdf file of the court’s opinion – in the original font and typesize and format used by courts – no summary explanation by fox of the essential decision of no immunity. They knew they could’t ignore the event, but they sure tried hard to bury the story since there was no way to put any Trump-favorable spin or look! squirril!! Distraction inti it.
Jeffro
Knew it, knew it, KNEW. IT.
“Why did Joe Biden link these policies together, anyway? Straight upperdownvote!” – MAGA pols
I want that aid for Ukraine very, very badly, so if aid for Israel and Taiwan is tied in with that, fine; Joe will still mock the shit out of them for the next 9 months about the made-up “existential crisis at the border”.
suzanne
The FTFNYT newsletter this morning was pretty dark about Ukraine’s chances for any sort of victory and suggested that it’s probably time to accept some loss of territory.
The tenor was such that even more money wouldn’t be that helpful.
I’m sure that gave the GOP some confidence that they can fuck this up and no one will remember and that it won’t affect the outcome anyway.
Jeffro
annnnnnd the GOP just failed to impeach Mayorkas
LOLOLOLOL
Manyakitty
@suzanne: holy shit, seriously? That is some bullshit. I wonder how many rubles it cost.
TriassicSands
And now they’re killing it on the say-so of a defeated, unpopular, criminally indicted buffoon because he wants to preserve border demagoguery as a signature issue for his campaign? How is that a good look? — B. Cracker
Yes, but in the midst of all those negative attributes, there are one or two important considerations missing. Trump is all those things, but he is also worshiped by millions and feared by many more, all of whom will support him in 2024. As is so often the case, Democratic turnout will determine whether we have a catastrophic defeat, a narrow victory, or a decisive repudiation of a fascist criminal.
If our electorate weren’t so pathetic, a landslide victory for Biden would be guaranteed. We’re unlikely to see that or anything close to it. Any margin of victory is acceptable, but the smaller it is, the more likely will be post-election unrest or even violence. (Of course, a landslide Biden victory would just convince the MAGAts that the election was even more rigged than in 2020. There is no adequate response to that level of idiocy.)
Jeffro
annnnnnnnd there will be no criminal charges against Joe Biden for having classified document
LOL
L
OLOLOL
LOL again
Manyakitty
@Jeffro: more like this.
Joe Falco
@wjca: Georgia resident here. I won’t understate the importance the presidential election cycle had on Georgia elections to help us deliver 2 (D) senators to DC. There is room for hope.
Betty Cracker
@TriassicSands: See reply at #22 to a similar observation — MAGA reactions are irrelevant for our purposes. Of course they’re going to stick with Trump. It’s a cult!
Citizen Alan
@rikyrah: #spineless needs to be a hashtag on Shitter, stat.
gene108
@lowtechcyclist:
Good link. The link uses Cook Partisan Voting Index to determine how much a state leans towards Democrats or Republicans. Six states are D+10 or greater. 17 states are R+10 or greater, with two R+20 and West Virginia at R+23.
The only Republican that serves in a D+ state, per the CPVI, is Collins in Maine (D+1).
The map generally does no favors for Senate Democrats at any time in the near future.
WaterGirl
Betty, I am so jealous of your ability to come up with a perfect title like that.
YY_Sima Qian
I say hit GOP on their bad faith, incompetence & inability to govern. Don’t hit them through justifying the merits of the deal, especially the specific elements related to border “security”. Most GOP supporter (whether they self-identify as R or I) are immune to arguments about policy, especially during an election year when the electorate is at its most tribal. OTOH, the border “security” provisions of the deal, while not terrible, is also not good. My guess is that DHS/ICE/CBP have very low favorability ratings among Dem coalition, so giving the impression that Congressional Dems are fully supportive of doubling the budget of ICE/CBP (the most Fascist-sympathetic part of the federal government) or restricting the qty of asylum seekers at the border, are just as liable to demoralize parts of the Dem coalition as suppressing parts of the R’s support. In any case, Dems should not be proactively reinforcing the nativist framing that there is a “crisis” along the southern borders & that the southern borders are not “secure”. Just like “Red Scare”/”Yellow Peril”/militarism, that is a race to the bottom that the Dem will never win & should not join (on both policy & moral grounds).
Focus on the aid to Ukraine aspect, which I think is popular among the Dem coalition. Don’t mention the aid to Israel aspect, which is unpopular among the Dem coalition. Keep it vague on border “security”, just go w/ “Ds & Rs had a deal to address R’s concerns, but the R’s backed out because they are too chicken to stand up to Trump”. Use focus group tested vocabulary that paint the Rs as “feckless”, “weak”, “cowardly”, “traitorous”, “confused”, & “unreliable”. As much as it pains me to type this, most voters respond more to such character attacks than policy nuance.
Gvg
@Urza: Nixon interfering in Vietnam talks, but not widely known for years. Reagan and Iran to defeat Carter. Habit of theirs, but it didn’t get known on time to matter. Still it says a lot about what they tolerate for seeking power. People should be warned.
Would it help to point the past out too?
Betsy
The president did a nice job today of encapsulating what Republicans are doing, using phrases like “weaponizing the issue for political gain” and other excellent sound bites that capture their hypocrisy and treachery.
Manyakitty
@YY_Sima Qian: this is excellent. Hopefully, there’s at least a few different outreach plans.
Paul in KY
@oklahomo: My poor 98 year old mother thinks hordes of them are at the border trying to get in like World War Z zombies. She doesn’t even watch Fox News…
Paul in KY
@dmsilev: Yup! Or that Trump is one of those rat things in a people suit that Stephen King writes about in his ‘Dark Tower’ series.
Paul in KY
@zhena gogolia: My born-in-Warrington mother could not believe they put that in a movie title!
Paul in KY
@Gvg: Also bad on Humphrey and Carter’s campaigns to not know they were ratfucking us/them.