Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

We’re not going back!

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

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

“Joe Biden deserved better than he got from some folks in his own party.”

“They not like us!” (that’s for sure!)

Be a traveling stable for those who can’t find room at the inn.

The gop couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

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

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

This fight is for everything.

Bark louder, little dog.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

“Let’s not pretend [Trump] wants to engage in high-minded discourse.”

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

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

He really is that stupid.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Every day Vance writes another chapter in the book called “Worst VP Pick Ever”.

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / Thursday Morning Open Thread: Repubs Trying to Dodge Consequences

Thursday Morning Open Thread: Repubs Trying to Dodge Consequences

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Now that the Senate has made it clear his vaunted impeachment is going nowhere, I guess Green plans to slither back home to Tennessee and present his ‘achievement’ as a personal best. Per the Associated Press, “House Homeland chairman announces retirement a day after leading Mayorkas’ impeachment”:

Tennessee Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Green on Wednesday announced that he won’t run for a fourth term, pointing to the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas just the day before as among the reasons it is “time for me to return home.”

“Our country – and our Congress – is broken beyond most means of repair,” Green said in a statement. “I have come to realize our fight is not here within Washington, our fight is with Washington.”

As chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, Green was a driving force behind the Mayorkas impeachment push over border security in a deeply partisan and highly unusual attack on a Cabinet official. His panel conducted a months-long investigation of Mayorkas, his policies and his management of the department, ultimately concluding Tuesday that his conduct in office amounted to “high crimes and misdemeanors” worthy of impeachment…

Green flirted running for governor in 2017, but suspended his campaign after he was nominated by former President Donald Trump to become the Army secretary. He later withdrew his nomination due to criticism over his remarks about Muslims and LGBTQ+ Americans, including saying that being transgender is a disease. He also urged that a stand be taken against “the indoctrination of Islam” in public schools and referred to a “Muslim horde” that invaded Constantinople hundreds of years ago.

After winning the congressional seat in 2018, Green once again made headlines after hosting a town hall where he stated, without citing evidence, that vaccines cause autism. He later walked back his comments but not before state health officials described the Republican as a “ goofball.”…

Presumably because it’s frowned upon to use the (correct) word ‘asshole’ in an official document.

Green’s not the only Repub sidling towards the exits:


And, of course, there’s another ugly cloud lurking on the GOP horizon…

Reader Interactions

157Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    Our country – and our Congress – is broken beyond most means of repair,” Green said in a statement. “I have come to realize our fight is not here within Washington, our fight is with Washington.”

    Our Congress worked great under Nancy Pelosi.

  9. 9.

    Leto

    @Baud: so they run on the same bog standard Repub message: it’s broken, we broke it, but we can’t work here because it’s broken. Also standard far right “our fight is with Washington.” Just /yawn

    @satby: they always manage to send worse people. Republicans haven’t sent their best in over a hundred years

  10. 10.

    Eunicecycle

    @satby: I read that these reps retiring are all in safe R seats, so unfortunately they will probably be replaced by Rs who may be worse than they are. Because they will be MAGA. But the current reps know they will be in the minority, which isn’t fun. The only fly in the ointment may be that the new R candidates will need money and if Trump sucks up all the cash the state parties will be starved. Which is great for us.

  11. 11.

    Mike E

    @Baud: It reminds me of the scene in Casablanca where Louie shuts down the casino because, shock, there’s gambling going on there.

    Cole is correct, what’s happening at the RNC is a Sopranos level bust-out of a money laundering operation. “Nice democracy you have here, it’d be a shame if *something* happened to it!”

  12. 12.

    OzarkHillbilly

    My own Rep, the inestimable and useless Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer* is retiring too. Rats, ships. Whoever replaces him will no doubt be worse.

    *I was in the oleaginous Jason Smith’s district until the redrawn map in 2020. Luetkemeyer was certainly better than Smith, but so is a warm, wet, dog turd.

  14. 14.

    Central Planning

    I think Dana Houle is wrong with her “satisfaction with what they’re doing w their power” reason for republicans leaving.
    NOBODY leaves when they acquire the power of their dreams. That’s when they stay. Those staying home and not running for re-election know they can’t win and their party won’t be in power.

  15. 15.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I thought you lived in the SW part of Misery?  Didn’t realize you were in the same district I was and we shared that same piece of shit representative.

    We dealt with him when he was Director of Tourism for the state. Terribly unimpressive white bubba from Miller County.

    Edit: oh, I see, the district was redrawn after I left.  Still, sorry you had him.

  17. 17.

    Leto

    @Mike E: idk, Republicans have found their king of grifters. I hope this grifting black hole hurts every single down ballot race in which they try to participate. Fuck’em.

  19. 19.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Central Planning:

    NOBODY leaves when they acquire the power of their dreams. That’s when they stay. Those staying home and not running for re-election know they can’t win and their party won’t be in power.

    That’s true, but the power of those committee chairmanships largely depends on their being gatekeepers for legislation.  In a post-policy GOP, they don’t have much power even when they win.

  21. 21.

    Bupalos

    I won’t go the full “here’s why this is bad for Democrats” thing….but

    Folks do need to take seriously that that party falling apart to where all it does is rail about broken politics between bouts of breaking politics, making people’s lives worse, increasing inequality, and destroying the environment….that isn’t going to end that party or neccessarily make governance or elections any easier. This is a potentially self-reinforcing cycle where making people more stressed, angry, and depoliticized continues to systemically erode democracy without winning elections.

  22. 22.

    H.E.Wolf

    Newcomers (i.e., the Republican replacements for highly-placed Republican reps who retire) will have less experience, less institutional knowledge, and less clout than their predecessors.

    Whereas the newcomers on the Democratic side will have canny, experienced colleagues to teach them the ropes as part of the majority in the House.

    Another case for satby’s aspirational 🌞!

  23. 23.

    CaseyL

    I watched a snippet of an interview with a Trump supporter, who gave as his reason for support the Covid relief check sent out early in the pandemic. When the interviewer pointed out that the Biden Administration had sent out an even bigger check, the guy stood there with his mouth hanging open, and finally came up with “But Trump signed his himself.”

    There are clearly enough dumbfucks like this to keep the GOP in power, but I do wonder how they manage to get through daily life without sticking their fingers into electrical sockets.

  24. 24.

    NorthLeft

    I would like to believe that Mr. Green has hit his limit of shame and sees that the future in the House looks pretty bleak, especially after 2024, but honestly…….no.

    If he had enough and actually wanted to do something positive for his country he would either quit right now or vote differently. Neither will happen, especially the voting.

  25. 25.

    Geminid

    @Mike E: This Republican House Majority reminds me of the 1962 Mets, and Casey Stengel saying, “Can’t anybody here play this game?”

  26. 26.

    topclimber

    Looks like Speaker Moe is complaining that Biden won’t meet him privately.

    I think Biden should do it, with the proviso that DHS Secy Mayorkas sits in, too. Being that the GQP is a threat to US security and all. And to show just how futile the GQP game is.

  28. 28.

    Layer8Problem

    @Bupalos:  I won’t go the full “here’s why this is bad for Democrats” thing….but

    At least stick to the All Internet Traditions rulebook and explain why it’s Good News for John McCain.

  30. 30.

    Scout211

    GOP, the party of liars (just like their dear leader, Trump).  Of note, yesterday:

    APTexas-based True the Vote filed complaints with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in 2021, including one in which it said it had obtained “a detailed account of coordinated efforts to collect and deposit ballots in drop boxes across metro Atlanta” during the November 2020 election and a January 2021 runoff.

    A Fulton County Superior Court judge in Atlanta signed an order last year requiring True the Vote to provide evidence it had collected, including the names of people who were sources of information, to state elections officials who were frustrated by the group’s refusal to share evidence with investigators.

    In their written response, attorneys for True the Vote said the group had no names or other documentary evidence to share.

  32. 32.

    fancycwabs

    I assume former Nashville mayor Megan Barry (Green’s likely Democratic opponent) is raising a ton of money, but it’s very unlikely that he’d lose a race that he won in 2022 by 22 points, against a popular, well-funded candidate.

    As it is, all of the Republican loons who ran in the 5th district last time (including several who were disqualified for being carpetbaggers) will pull petitions to run in the 7th district with the promise that they’ll move if they win.

    (Full disclosure–I was the Democratic candidate for congress in Tennessee’s 6th District last time, so there’s a little inside baseball here)

  33. 33.

    Jeffro

    “TRUMP IS ABOUT TO LOOT THE RNC” is not a bad campaign talking point.

    The chaos that is about to happen on the right will surely be something to behold.  Pass the popcorn!

  34. 34.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Scout211: ​ Sounds to me like the judge should impose some hefty fines on them. If not, the SoS can always sue for filing false reports.

  36. 36.

    Jeffro

    “I have come to realize our fight is not here within Washington, our fight is with Washington.”

    Where is this mythical, all-powerful “Washington” that the GOP seems to always want to run against?  Can “Washington” be lured away from its hoard of gold and silver, and be slain by a stout-hearted warrior?  Or does “Washington” need to be tracked down in the Forbidden Forest, cornered, and pierced with a +3 Lance of Gibberish?

    Other countries where people just…govern…must be like, “grow. the ENTIRE. fuck. up.”

  37. 37.

    Scout211

    @topclimber: I think Biden should do it, with the proviso that DHS Secy Mayorkas sits in, too. Being that the GQP is a threat to US security and all. And to show just how futile the GQP game is.

    OTOH, refusing to meet with Speaker Johnson is a powerful statement of “you broke it, you fix it.”  Meeting with Johnson is what Johnson wants in order to make it appear that Biden is the problem and he is “willing to work with Biden” to fix it.

    IMHO, Biden has done the right thing.

  38. 38.

    Bupalos

    We’re getting to be 2 years on from passage of the IRA and practically none of the new consumer-facing or business oriented climate provisions are ready to roll, and won’t be in time for campaign season. And now will be subject to another election. This was a huge lost opportunity.

  40. 40.

    Soprano2

    OT, I think it’s time for my oldest dog to make the journey over the rainbow bridge. :-(  Last night I had to help him get up, and he could barely walk to the kitchen to eat. When he got there he promptly laid down on the floor and ate that way, kind of lying on his stomach. Somehow he got back in the living room, but he’s been lying in basically the same place since last night. He peed on the floor while he was lying down, then this morning he pooped while he was lying down. I don’t think he can stand up for more than a few seconds anymore. I knew this was coming, he’s had bad arthritis for awhile and he has a tumor in his stomach that the doctor said might or might not be cancer, but when he went to the vet in December she said it was bigger than it had been before, and I can see it now when I look at him. He’s been losing weight even though he still eats fine. I don’t know if he’s in pain or not, I ve been giving him meds for it but last night he kept rising up and then plopping down pretty hard. This is such a tough decision, but if he can’t walk and get around I don’t think there’s anything else I can do. When the vet saw him in December she said she’d be surprised if he made it through the winter. I guess I’ll see how he’s doing when I get home from work, and decide from there.

  41. 41.

    Matt McIrvin

    @CaseyL: He probably believed Trump paid that out of his own money, like many people who got the checks. That was the point of Trump signing it.

  43. 43.

    Another Scott

    @Central Planning: +1

    They don’t try every trick in the book to gain and hold power to just walk away. I’m sure we remember Tom Delay’s redistricting antics in Texas. He and his minions didn’t flip Texas blood red through out-of-cycle gerrymandering just to walk away. (Delay only left because he was forced out after being indicted. These days, even indictment isn’t enough to get them out – witness Paxton.)

    There’s never enough power to satisfy the GQP. They never give it up unless they see a disaster coming or are forced to.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  47. 47.

    Soprano2

    @Michael Bersin: Thanking the police, while I saw a video on Twitter of some (unarmed) fans tackling one of the shooters while the cops stood around nearby. I don’t know the veracity of the video, but it looked legit.

  49. 49.

    artem1s

    @Scout211: 

    Meeting with Johnson is what Johnson wants in order to make it appear that Biden is the problem and he is “willing to work with Biden” to fix it.

    True. and besides, Biden already made a deal with the last GOP Speaker and he reneged on it. So Johnson doesn’t need a meeting with Biden. He needs to follow thru on the deal the GOP already has on the table.

  50. 50.

    Ken

    @topclimber: Looks like Speaker Moe is complaining that Biden won’t meet him privately.

    I’d hesitate to meet privately with a man who’s been calling himself the next Moses, especially if I were one of the two people standing between that person and the Presidency.

    I’m sure Biden isn’t thinking about that; just that Johnson is a liar.

  51. 51.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I had no idea you were that close all those years.  Maybe that was by design. ;)

    No rurl MO congressional district is a good one.  Leutkemeyer was a generic, central Misery mediocrity but I’m guessing the state GOP will trot out one of the many real crazies that they groom in the state legislature.

  52. 52.

    TBone

    Dodgeball. Why do you need comprehensive, retroactive immunity if you’re innocent? I remember the difference between evidence that exonerates and banning any/all evidence at an impeachment.  Calvinball!  Is Comer Fudd coming back soon with the Hurr Durr report as grounds for impeachment?

  53. 53.

    Betty Cracker

    @Scout211: I agree Biden is right to refuse to meet with Pastor Pornhub. Maybe tell him when Repubs are done negotiating with themselves, they can apply again, but until they can take “yes” for an answer, they can go pound sand.

  54. 54.

    Soprano2

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: It is, he’s still alert and seems happy, but the flesh is weak and getting weaker. It was easier with our husky, she was in so much pain in spite of the meds that it wasn’t even a question what to do. I’ll never forget her crying when we took her to the car; we had to support her back legs with a sling, and she still howled and cried the whole way. She was on the maximum dose of pain meds and still hurt that much.

  57. 57.

    Marcopolo

    @Bupalos: Um, I thought the ~$130M in gov’t credits that have been given out for buying EVs (buyers can now claim them upon purchase & not have to wait for tax season) was part of that. Seems public facing.

  58. 58.

    Kosh III

    “Senior Republicans fear Trump will tap the RNC to cover legal bills again”

    Yes please, let him use every penny so that there is nothing for any campaign anywhere.

  59. 59.

    Kay

    I’m watching the Fani Willis hearing. I won’t be able to watch all of it. Willis is not there yet. Nathan Wade (lead prosecutor) is there and so are Trump’s lawyers.

    The Trump claim is that Willis improperly benefitted financially from her relationship with Wade because Wade paid for vacations he and Willis took together. Trump’s team also claim Willis and Wade lied on an affadavit – where they swore that the relationship began after Wade was appointed. The affidavit (if it exists) seems like a problem to me.

    Wade opens with saying Team Trump has engaged in “flagrant” misrepresentations – they’re liars- I find that credible! :)

  60. 60.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Soprano2: Sorry to hear this, it’s always tuff. I knew it was time for Woof when he lay down in the snow in sub zero temps and my wife could not get him up to come back inside.

  63. 63.

    Brit in Chicago

    There’s that tweet (or whatever) speaking of “the final demise” of the Republican party as if it were a certainty, but I keep seeing polls suggesting that Trump is pretty much 50/50 to win in November. What gives? Do you have evidence that I have not seen? I sure  hope you do, but if not should we be repeating assertions which are not evidence-based?

  67. 67.

    Kosh III

    The D candidate to replace Green will be Megan Barry who has some baggage.
    She had to resign as Mayor and was convicted of a felony because she was having an affair with her bodyguard and using the people’s money to cover it up.
    Even without that it’s going to be a hard sell because of gerrymandering.

    I used to live in Nashville but now am south of there in a deep red county.

  68. 68.

    Mousebumples

    I’m excited that my GOP Rep (Gallagher) is retiring! Gerrymandered seat, so I’m not sure if we can flip it, but I’m hoping abortion and WisDems can boost turnout for a Blue Wave flip. 🤞

  69. 69.

    Kay

    They say they have a witness who will testify that the Wade/Willis relationship began in October of 2019 – she’ll (that witness) will be first up (if judge allows it- there’s an objection). I think judge will allow though. The objection is bullshit.

  70. 70.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    “Our country – and our Congress – is broken beyond most means of repair,” Green said in a statement. “I have come to realize our fight is not here within Washington, our fight is with Washington.”

    Our fight is not to cooperate with each other, but against the notion of cooperation itself.

  71. 71.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Betty Cracker:

    I agree Biden is right to refuse to meet with Pastor Pornhub.

    He really is a master at this political stuff. I often feel it was better he didn’t get into the WH until the 3rd time around because his very adroit inside-politics skillset is often put to the test.

  72. 72.

    Brit in Chicago

    @Kay: From what I heard, if she takes a leave of absence before the hearing concludes then the trial can go on as scheduled (with an assistant DA taking her place), whereas if she does not there is a danger that the whole thing will be delayed for months. Anyone know whether that’s true. If so, why doesn’t she take the leave?

  73. 73.

    danielx

    Senior Republicans fear Trump will tap the RNC to cover legal bills again https://politi.co/49CdNUy

    I’d say that fear is well founded. After all, the RNC paid his legal bills for a while, why should a little thing like running for president prevent them doing so again? They’re sitting on top of a pile of cash and Trump has a criminal’s view of other people’s money. It should be his money, actually it IS his money, the only issue is how to get that money into his own possession.

    After all, his attorneys have to be paid somehow and it isn’t going to be money from his (allegedly) vast fortune that pays them.

  74. 74.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    @Scout211: Meeting with Johnson is what Johnson wants in order to make it appear that Biden is the problem and he is “willing to work with Biden” to fix it.

     

    SURE meet with Johnson. On a tour of the Ukrainian/Russian front lines.

     

    Now someone needs to teach Biden how to say, in Ukrainian, “this guy is why you don’t have ammo”

  76. 76.

    Geminid

    @OzarkHillbilly: I looked at that map and saw that it is somewhat of a mirror image of the two Illinois Congressional districts across the Mississipi. There’s a 15th(?) CD that starts on the River north of the St. Louis suburbs and runs northeast to the Indiana border, turns south and then returns to the River south of the suburbs. There’s another, the 13th(?), that runs from East St. Louis northeast through Springfield and east to Champagne-Urbanna and Champagne County.

    The 15th is rural and very red, while the 13th includes enough city and suburban voters to be a light blue. This was a nifty piece of gerrymandering by the Democrat-controlled legislature, and it helped put the capable Nikki Budzinski into Congress.

    It also set up a primary in the red district between two Republican Representatives, Chamber of Commerce-type Rodney Davis and MAGA-type Mary Miller. Now Miller works on Capitol Hill, and Davis works a few blocks away on K Street.

  77. 77.

    rikyrah

    Cole’s tweet.

     

    I thought that was obvious to everyone.

    He already gets the small donations from the rubes.

    Now, he wants the larger donations that have been going to the RNC.

    It’s not like you can’t see the pattern with his thievery.

    I mean…come on, now.

  78. 78.

    rekoob

    @Soprano2: Very sorry to hear this. If it comes to this, know that you’re doing the best for him and that the crossing is peaceful for him and your family.

  79. 79.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: ​ I once visited Bonnots Mill while waiting for my birds to get processed in Loose Creek. Even took a picture or 3 of your hotel, but had no idea that it was yours. If I’d known I would have stopped in and said hey.

  81. 81.

    rikyrah

    @danielx:

    Senior Republicans fear Trump will tap the RNC to cover legal bills again https://politi.co/49CdNUy

     

    But, these are the people who put Voldemort in charge of the Senate Campaign Committee, and had the nerve to get an attitude when the committee came up missing funds..

    Like…you put a crook in charge of the bank and are surprised when money goes missing?

  82. 82.

    Kay

    I’m having trouble with Trump’s theory here. It just seems a stretch to say money taken from someone’s salary that ended up paying for a vacation is “unjust enrichment”. That’s kind of stretching the “money is fungible” idea out until it snaps. I mean, say they had no romantic relationship but were just work friends and he bought her lunches “with HIS SALARY!” (dramatic music) – is that a conflict?

    I kind of see their dilemma. It SOUNDS like a conflict, maybe it should be a conflict, but I can’t slot it into any of the conflict ethical rules I am familiar with.

  83. 83.

    Chief Oshkosh

    Seems like some of them are realizing that they shit the bed and it’s not all that much fun rolling around in it. Some of the others are actually too fucking stupid to know where the smell is coming from.

  84. 84.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @rikyrah: Like…you put a crook in charge of the bank and are surprised when money goes missing?

    Their only choices to handle their money are crooks or the aggressively clueless.  Can you blame them for going with the crooks?

  85. 85.

    TBone

    @Kay: hoo boy, the unjust enrichment gambit coming from THAT guy.  The one who ran the Hotel Emoluments in DC!  Who charged the Secret Service to use his facilities! So rich.

  86. 86.

    danielx

    @rikyrah: ​ Yup. The RNC has money woes already. I’m sure handing someone named Trump the key to the cash box will solve that problem.​ 
    By the time he’s finished, there won’t be a Republican National Committee. After, its ostensible reason for existence is…electing Republican candidates. The only Republican candidate Trump gives a shit about is Donald J. Trump.​

  87. 87.

    Barbara

    @Kay: It would be a conflict if Trump paid for their lunch.  It might be a conflict if they paid for the lunch of one of his co-defendants.  If we are both on the same side and you are paying for my lunch, that’s not normally what is meant by a “conflict.”

  89. 89.

    Geminid

    @Betty Cracker: Joe Biden should tell Johnson:

    “Mike, I’m awfully busy these days. Just let me know when you, Chuck, Mitch and Hakeem have something worked out, and I’ll be glad to see you guys then…and Mike? If you’re having problems with your Caucus, Nancy says she’ll be happy to sit down with you and give you some pointers.”

  90. 90.

    Kay

    @Brit in Chicago:

    I don’t know. I think the issue they’re most vulnerable on is probably the affidavit. But almost no one gets charged with criminal perjury and they won’t be either.

    I was on a bar complaint committee for ten years- we took complaints about allegedly unethical lawyers and applied state ethics rules to see if they violated. Lawyer’s ethical rules are written to protect clients. Willis’ client is the county. She’s a prosecutor so she has an additional duty – “fair administration of justice”, always something like that. I don’t see how the relationship harmed the client (the county). I have tried to fit it in because it sounds hinky as hell but I haven’t been able to actually slot it in anywhere.

    But if they lied in a sworn statement that’s a problem.

  91. 91.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Soprano2: That’s so sad. When the mobility goes, it’s hard to watch. Consider, though, you cared for him and kept him safe as long as his body could hold together. You were a blessing for each other.

  92. 92.

    Kay

    @Barbara:

    That’s what I’m struggling with. I used a really simple analysis on the bar ethics committee, starting with “who is the client”? (which kicks 50% of them out, honestly) and then on from there. I can’t fit this into an actual ethical rule.

  93. 93.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Mousebumples: By a WI SC ruling, WI has drawn up a new map that is much fairer to DEMs (I read GOP should still get a majority but it will be a much smaller majority). I suspect you can find it to see where you will end up.

  96. 96.

    Kay

    @Barbara:

    Trump’s lawyer is struggling right out of the box – she called Wade’s former law partner and now she is impeaching him – I know not why :)

    Because this theory is weak! She has a hard theory here.

  98. 98.

    Kay

    @Barbara:

    But Trump’s lawyer is competent. He seems to know to hire better people when his fat ass is actually on the line, as opposed to the people he hires to work for the United States.

  100. 100.

    waspuppet

    I am STILL waiting for someone who gets paid six or seven figures to cover national politics to remember — oh, an entire month back — when Ronna Don’t Say Romney McDaniel said the RNC couldn’t open its bank account to Donald Trump, who had just lost an $88.3 million lawsuit by E. Jean Carroll, because there was still another Republican president candidate. Then there was a move to just have Trump declared the nominee, but it failed.

    Then for some mysterious reason they can’t comprehend, Trump unloaded on Nikki Haley for not dropping out.

    Then just totally out of the blue, Trump demanded Ronna Don’t Say Romney McDaniel resign.

    Now in an incredible coincidence, she’s going to be replaced by one of Trump’s state campaign managers (an election denier*, of course) and Trump’s daughter-in-law.

    What superhuman sleuthing skills it’s going to take to figure out any connection between these totally unrelated incidents! Maybe — just maybe — Donald Trump isn’t a billionaire? Maybe he’s so leveraged that his net worth is actually zero? And he needs this money to pay not only E. Jean Carroll, not only the Engoron judgment that’s coming, but whatever number of millions/billions he owes Putin, MBS and whatever collection of Chinese bankers he’s been laundering money for for decades.

    Impossible, I’m being told! He’s worth tens of billions of dollars! He said so himself! What more proof do you need?

    *(Just to be clear, there’s no such thing as an election denier. No one actually thinks the 2020 presidential election was stolen. They just don’t think they should have to accept it, and they’re using this lie to justify their actions up to and including violence. Because that’s how it works in the countries they openly and explicitly prefer to this one.)

  101. 101.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: ​
    Sheeeit, when my muscle cramps are at their worst, so bad I can’t walk or even crawl, I beg my wife to shoot me. So far, she has refused. I think she takes secret pleasure in my misery.

  102. 102.

    Geminid

    @OzarkHillbilly: That reminds me of another Casey Stengel quote:

    “Don’t cut my throat, I may want to do it myself later.”

    Stengel also said, “The key to managing is keeping the five guys who hate you away from the four who haven’t made up their minds.”

  103. 103.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Hah!  I know (knew) the chicken processing place in Loose Creek.

    One thing we always said about living there, best pan fried chicken ever was in the places in the area. One reason: uber fresh chickens that had been clucking that morning.

  104. 104.

    Brit in Chicago

    @Kay: You know more about this than I do, and so I expect—and certainly hope—that your relatively optimistic take is the correct one. But if it turns out that the trial is held up when Willis could easily have prevented that then I will be, let’s say, not best pleased. (understatement)

  105. 105.

    Matt McIrvin

    @waspuppet: A lot of these people think the earth is flat and the sky is a dome. I don’t find it hard to believe that many of the rank and file really do believe the stolen-election claim, in the sense that they believe anything. They may have a fairly elastic conception of reality.

  106. 106.

    Kay

    There’s some local Atlanta civil rights figures there at the hearing. I wonder if Team Trump will go all racist – his lead lawyer seems smart but who knows?

    Atlanta is just fascinating as a kind of hub of AA culture in the US. I lived there briefly (coupla years) as a young, directionless gad about, and it was my first exposure to a big city where black people are the majority of “prominent people” and have this long history of civic involvement, and of course the AA art scene is Atlanta is also nationally known.

    I guess we shouldn’t be surprised GA flipped blue first.

  107. 107.

    Mousebumples

    @OzarkHillbilly: By a WI SC ruling, WI has drawn up a new map that is much fairer to DEMs (I read GOP should still get a majority but it will be a much smaller majority). I suspect you can find it to see where you will end up.

    That’s for the State Legislature. There is a suit ongoing for US House districts, but from what I’ve read, the lawsuits were separated to try to keep the USSC out of the State Constitution/State Leg appeal.

    But maybe I can be represented by Dem State Rep and State Senators, too!

  109. 109.

    Kay

    @Brit in Chicago:

    This is horrible to say but it is the truth – I don’t have that much hope for the legal proceedings against Trump. I’ve suffered a profound loss of confidence in the legal system and process the last 10 years or so. I don’t think the legal system met the challenge of Trump – more than Trump. I don’t think the legal system met the challenge of rich and powerful people capturing it. We just weren’t up to it. Not strong enough. Not brave enough. We protected The Institution over what The Institution was supposed to stand for and that was a profound error.

    I watch the various hearings like I’d watch a baseball game, and I don’t care that much about baseball. I think we either beat him in elections or we lose the country. I was glad she brught the indictment. That alone might serve as a warning to other conservative insurrectionists.

  111. 111.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: ​ He retired a few years back, which is why I now drive to Mennonite land in Morgan County. It’s a nice enough drive, and there is a lake nearby I can fish in, but dawg the drive home takes twice as long as the drive there.

  112. 112.

    Geminid

    @Kay: Atlanta also has a very good public transportation system. MARTA was likely enabled by the political power of the city’s Black community.

  116. 116.

    Kay

    @Brit in Chicago:

    I just look at my little county and see a plethora of “conflicts” like the one Trump is claiming. The juvenile judge is friends with the city prosecutor in my county – the two women have taken trips to Europe together- and judge just appointed former city prosecutor to the magistrate’s position. I think the juvenile judge is a good and ethical judge – but she does take trips with her friend from muni court!  There’s no conflict there. So is “having sex” what takes it out to “conflict”?

  118. 118.

    japa21

    @waspuppet:

     

    *(Just to be clear, there’s no such thing as an election denier. No one actually thinks the 2020 presidential election was stolen. They just don’t think they should have to accept it, and they’re using this lie to justify their actions up to and including violence. Because that’s how it works in the countries they openly and explicitly prefer to this one.)

    To clarify further, the people you are talking about are those that are in a position to know better. Unfortunately, they have convinced a non-inconsequential portion of the electorate who are themselves, now, election deniers.

  119. 119.

    stinger

    @Soprano2: ​
     After reading the first line of your comment, I couldn’t read the rest, having been through that too many times myself — and with a very strong likelihood of having to go through it again multiple times in the future. Sending you strength and hugs.

  120. 120.

    Manyakitty

    @Soprano2: oh no. We’re still bruised from saying goodbye to Heisenberg last week. So very difficult to make that call for a beloved friend. Sending you all the love.

  121. 121.

    Kay

    One thing I think is happening is Trump’s lawyer has a kind of uphill climb on “honesty”. Judge seems to not be giving her benefit of doubt on “good faith”. I don’t know if this is because of her behavior or because Donald Trump and the people Donald Trump hires and associates with are generally considered liars (60- 65% of people polled think Trump is a liar).

    She’s really defensive about it. When the witness she called questioned a statement she made she offered to show judge her phone (it was about a claim that she texted back and forth with the witness).

    SHE may not be a liar but she walks in there carrying the Trump liar reputation – which is well earned. Sometimes credibility matters and court is still one of the places it does matter. Judges know which lawyers are reliable and which are liars. I think it’s fair that their reputation precedes them, that they get dinged for hanging out with a pack of liars and of course Dear Leader wouldn’t know the truth if it bit him in the ass.

  123. 123.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    Atlanta is just fascinating as a kind of hub of AA culture in the US. I lived there briefly (coupla years) as a young, directionless gad about, and it was my first exposure to a big city where black people are the majority of “prominent people” and have this long history of civic involvement, and of course the AA art scene is Atlanta is also nationally known.

     

    Atlanta,

    Like Washington DC,

    has had a Black Professional Class

     

    FOR GENERATIONS

    That PREDATES Brown v Board.

    As my mother told me when I was growing up…

    Atlanta was nice – for Black people, even before the Civil Rights Movement. Compared to the rest of the Jim Crow South.

    I do believe that’s because of the HBCU’s that are anchored in Atlanta. There was a nice chunk of Black people who came to Atlanta for college, graduated and never left.

  124. 124.

    RaflW

    Late to this, but good g-d that AP story about Greene’s retirement is shite. It frames his sham impeachment as if it has merit. It’s complete bullshit, but the fuckwads at the AP can’t say it.

  125. 125.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: Is the lawyer in question Ms. Merchant? From what I’ve read, she’s not a typical Trump hack; she’s allegedly respected in the local legal community. But it’s fair that the client’s reputation as one of the most prolific liars in human history would attach to his representative.

    Seems like it would be tough to establish who’s telling the truth about the timeline of the relationship on witness say-so without some contemporaneous evidence. Also, it seems like there’s no way Willis and Wade would claim their relationship started in 2022 unless they were absolutely certain no evidence to the contrary existed. It would not only be ruinous to the case but also their careers.

  126. 126.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    This is horrible to say but it is the truth – I don’t have that much hope for the legal proceedings against Trump.

     

    Kay,

    It’s been slow and grinding, but, it has been moving forward.

    There are some main points coming up:

    1. The Supreme Court is going to have to decide if they want to retain any shred of appearance of credibility
    2.  Jack Smith has to request for the removal of that hack Cannon.
    3.  The NY AG’s lawsuit fine decision should be coming up.
    4. The Manhattan DA’s trial begins in March.

     

    Peanut shouted at the tv when she heard something about the Orange Menace…
    WHY is he allowed to run?  Shouldn’t he be in jail?

    I asked her if she really wanted an answer that…and, what did she think my answer would be…

    She rolled her eyes…sighed…and then said

     

    ” White Supremacy.”

    I said, you’re damn right, White Supremacy. You are getting a front row seat to it and White Privilege.

    Because, if it had been Barak Obama who had done this…

     

    – ANYONE OTHER THAN A WHITE MAN..

    They would already be in jail. There would be absolutely no hand-wringing. No pontification of ‘ legal questions’. There would be no ‘legal questions’ that needed to be debated.

    They would be under the jail. Period.

    I will stand 10 toes down on that.

  127. 127.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    It was a real education for me, because I had always only been around white people. I temped in offices for a while and I have this vivid memory of being told to take notes at a meeting in an office tower, going to the location and into the meeting and realizing I was the only white person in the room. It was management of a fast food franchise- a company that owned a bunch of restaurants, so not restaurant managers but managers of the comapny that owned restaurants.

  128. 128.

    VFX Lurker

    @Brit in Chicago: There’s that tweet (or whatever) speaking of “the final demise” of the Republican party as if it were a certainty, but I keep seeing polls suggesting that Trump is pretty much 50/50 to win in November. What gives? Do you have evidence that I have not seen? I sure  hope you do, but if not should we be repeating assertions which are not evidence-based?

    1. Electoral College
    2. Voter suppression
    3. Indirect voter suppression (convincing people to vote third-party or to not vote at all)

    Vote. Donate. Volunteer. It’s all I can do between now and November.

  129. 129.

    Soprano2

    Thanks everyone, this is hard. I’ll update after I go home tonight and see how he is. I thought it was time once before, and then he was OK, so I might be wrong, but this time it seems worse. I know we’re heading here eventually.

  131. 131.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @CaseyL: When the interviewer pointed out that the Biden Administration had sent out an even bigger check, the guy stood there with his mouth hanging open, and finally came up with “But Trump signed his himself.”

    You can’t reason someone out of an opinion they formed emotionally.

  132. 132.

    Paul in KY

    @Soprano2: It’s time. Know you gave him a great life and helping him go out peacefully and painlessly is your last kindness.

    My condolences to you and your family.

  136. 136.

    Jinchi

    @topclimber: I seriously doubt Biden refuses to meet privately with Johnson.  I also think Johnson would become the center of all Qanon theories if anything came of it.

    Although maybe he means “secretly” instead of “provately”.

  138. 138.

    Mousebumples

    @OzarkHillbilly: ​My bad, I must have misread.

    No worries. Both are super gerrymandered, and hopefully we’ll end up with fair maps for both. It might just be a few more years for congressional districts.

  143. 143.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Per Meidas Touch, Judge Juan Marchand has dismissed Trump motion for some nonsense or other, criminal trial will begin March 25 come hell or high water. This is the one Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is prosecuting. 34-count indictment.

    So The Former Guy is on track to run as a convicted felon.

  144. 144.

    Gretchen

    @Soprano2:Sympathy.  We’re in the same situation. Our Watson seemed fine yesterday morning. The daycare called and said he was drinking and peeing a lot. He seemed listless so we took him to the emergency vet. It took both of us to get him into the car. A few thousand dollars and cat scans later, he has nodules on his spleen, a neoplasm on his heart, and the question is whether he’s got a few days, a few weeks, or with treatment maybe a year.  Sweetest dog ever.

  145. 145.

    Gretchen

    @Jinchi: It would be stupid for Biden to meet privately with Johnson, who is a proven liar. Pastor Mike would just come out of it and say that Biden said things he hadn’t said. Meet with Jeffries, McConnell, and Schumer, or not at all.

  146. 146.

    steve g

    Politico is calling Trump “president” in their reporting. What is up with that? He is not the president. He can be referred to as former president if need be. Getting it wrong makes Politico look kinda stupid.

  148. 148.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    AP Headline via Anne Laurie @ Top:

    House Homeland chairman announces retirement a day after leading Mayorkas’ impeachment

    Just wanted to note that – since AP appears to be basing its headlines on presumed correlation – this headline could just as easily read:

    House Homeland chairman Mark Green (R-TN) announces retirement a day after Lara Trump announces her run for RNC co-chairperson

  149. 149.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    steve g:

    Politico is calling Trump “president” in their reporting. What is up with that? […] Getting it wrong makes Politico look kinda stupid.

    To be fair, Politico makes Politico look kind of stupid.

  150. 150.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    @Leto:

    Republicans haven’t sent their best in over a hundred years

    Worse, I suspect Republicans have been sending their best.

    The bar for best Republican these days is lower than a cockroach’s knees.

  151. 151.

    emjayay

    @Baud: Green, if capable of self-awareness: I have met the enemy, and it is me. Also all the other Republicans in Congress.

  152. 152.

    jlowe

    Our Representative is high-ranking member in the House and has a lock on this district in part because there’s not much of a pulse in the local Democratic party. Still retiring.

  153. 153.

    emjayay

    @Soprano2: I’m sure many of us have been there, including me. It’s time.

    The worst thing was that my deaf and near blind dog was clearly entirely with it in the brain department even at 22. She tried to look out of the car window but could not get up that far.

    She was the vet’s oldest dog or cat patient and would not have lasted much longer because food would not stay down. Fortunately they are unable to understand what is happening to them at the vet’s other than that she was comfortably in my lap and the nice vet lady was there, and then went to sleep.

  154. 154.

    emjayay

    @Scout211: Odd about True the Vote when they had their very own documentary film that conclusively showed rampant ballot stuffing, or something. Maybe they forgot.

  155. 155.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @BC in Illinois: Falsely accusing any mass shooter who gets media attention of being trans or non-binary standard procedure for Republicans these days. Part of their efforts to paint us as “violent extremists” (their words) who need to be eliminated with extreme prejudice.

  156. 156.

    Paul in KY

    @emjayay: My beautiful Mongo got a nice shot of cat opium and was feeling good when the vet administered the shot. He lasted about 20 secs. Poor guy had mouth cancer.

  157. 157.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Sister Golden Bear: I’m still shocked I haven’t heard the name “Taylor Swift” come up in connection with the Kansas City shooting. The Republican Party has been getting away with promoting violence under protected speech for too long. Then they turn around and blame populations that Democrats are known to protect.

    Now too many people are too acclimated to even question it.

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