If there is a master plan to keep the government funded through March 1, no one seems to know what it is yet on Capitol Hill. https://t.co/b6mPTES3qn
— KWWL (@KWWL) February 22, 2024
Be a lot more fun if so many innocent peoples’ lives weren’t hanging on the results, but I’ll take some consolation in Preacher Johnson getting handbagged by his own team. Per CNN, “Speaker Mike Johnson once again stuck in the middle as funding deadline looms”:
… With just days until a partial government shutdown and lawmakers out on recess until next week, House Republicans are divided over the best path ahead with Speaker Mike Johnson yet to make a call and House and Senate appropriators still haggling over conservative policy riders deemed poison pills by Democrats.
It’s a messy and complicated situation that comes as Johnson is still grappling with how to lead his unruly and narrow majority and as patience is running thin for the inexperienced speaker who has already punted several funding deadlines since taking the gavel.
“Now, we are in a fully Johnson-run House, and he’s got to own all the decision making in the 12 appropriations bills. That’s probably not best for him. Probably not best for public policy either,” Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said. “It’s actually drug out what is sort of inevitable here, which is we will either perform to the (spending caps) or have a government shutdown.”
In January, Johnson announced a deal with the Senate to fund the government at $1.66 trillion much to the frustration of his right flank. But the fight over where that money goes and what programs get funded has dragged on for weeks now, with appropriators working around the clock to try and reach a deal before the next government funding deadline on March 1. Johnson is facing pressure from members of the House Freedom Caucus to include dozens of policy riders that would never pass in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Earlier this week, Johnson huddled with members of his leadership team in Florida, but sources present said that Johnson didn’t articulate or lay out a specific path to keeping the government funded, instead summarizing how the process worked and signaling he hoped a deal could come together next week that he could put on the floor…
Sources involved tell CNN that House and Senate appropriators have been working in good faith to try and finish each of the 12 appropriations bills, figuring out how to dole out $1.66 trillion in funding that leaders agreed to earlier this year. But, those same sources say a series of controversial policy riders had slowed progress. Complicated issues have been kicked up to the leadership level where it’s not clear they can be resolved quickly, especially if Johnson digs in. And if negotiators can’t announce a deal by the weekend or early next week, it’s unclear how even a few of those bills could pass in time.
That means Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer could be staring down yet another short-term spending patch, something that Johnson has repeatedly said he didn’t want to do, in part because it could land him in hot water with his right flank. Congress has already passed three, short-term spending bills – called a “continuing resolution” or “CR” – since September to keep the government funded for this fiscal year – one of which triggered a motion to oust Kevin McCarthy from the speakership. Now, appropriators are warning Congress will soon need to turn its attention on passing next year’s bills. ..
For months, Johnson has struggled to control and contain his shrinking majority. Members of the House Freedom Caucus have continued to tank procedural votes known as rules on the House floor, and the House failed to impeach Mayorkas the first time because of attendance issues (he was later impeached in a subsequent vote). Johnson also had to pull plans to vote on a reauthorization of section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for a second time last week because of divisions in GOP ranks, and Johnson is still grappling with how to handle moving ahead with aid to Ukraine, something that defense hawks in his conference are clamoring for and isolationist conservatives have warned could end his tenure as speaker…
Elsewhere: (Hi, TFG!)
NEWS: 2 resolutions now circulating within RNC that could slow Trump's takeover if passed
1 would ensure RNC remain neutral/not take on staff from a campaign until candidate is nominee
2 bar the RNC from paying candidate legal bills unrelated to this election w/ @DanielStrauss4— Kristen Holmes (@KristenhCNN) February 24, 2024
RNC member Henry Barbour has submitted two resolutions for the party’s members to consider that would block the party from paying the legal bills of any candidate and require the party to be neutral until a candidate gets 1,215 delegates, per drafts. pic.twitter.com/MN8xcKQTOa
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) February 24, 2024
Previously…
House Republicans wonder: ‘Is it worth it?’@MZanona and @AnnieGrayerCNN on the growing number of House Republicans in a rush to get away from their colleagues
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) February 19, 2024
"High-profile Republicans head for the exits amid House@GOP dysfunction" https://t.co/UzjHvj82T6 #DemsInDisarray 😆 pic.twitter.com/qTOEZq5hxa
— Prof Michael E. Mann (@MichaelEMann) February 19, 2024
Punchbowl (Politico for people with even shorter attention spans), sensing blood in the water, piles on…
… This is the most chaotic, inefficient and ineffective majority we’ve seen in decades covering Congress. It started this way under former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and has gotten worse under Johnson.
And things aren’t going to get easier. The House is leaving town today by 2:30 p.m. for the 13-day Presidents Day recess. When members return on Feb. 28, there will be only three days to fund a huge swath of the federal government or face a partial shutdown. There’s another full shutdown deadline a week later.
Fair or not, there’s a tremendous amount of criticism focused on Johnson right now. The 52-year-old Louisiana Republican — speaker for just 113 days — is a very pleasant man. But he and his top aides, most of whom are new to the leadership, have still failed to get a feel for governing successfully. And hanging over this is the possibility of another motion to vacate if Johnson alienates hardline conservatives…
Johnson truly keeps his own counsel. His leadership colleagues often begin the week having no idea what the speaker is thinking or what he hopes to achieve. The speaker was also particularly hamstrung by having House Majority Leader Steve Scalise out for the last six weeks. Scalise has deep relationships across the conference and a true sense for fault lines within the GOP. Johnson has at times ignored the guidance of House Majority Whip Tom Emmer as well.
“There’s always this internal struggle [for Johnson] being a movement conservative and then having to be pragmatic. So that’s playing out a lot,” said a top Republican of Johnson. “It feels like chaos. Rudderless.”
Some of the power centers in the House Republican Conference seem more eager to buck Johnson than help him. House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), for example, has been yanked around on the rewrite of FISA, a top priority for the outspoken conservative. Many factions in Johnson’s conference feel the same way on other issues.
Unlike speakers before him, this House Republican Conference was built without Johnson’s input or effort. McCarthy was the lead architect for this majority, having traveled incessantly for hundreds of candidates across the country. Former Speaker Paul Ryan led two committees, helping build relationships with dozens of lawmakers as he wrote budgets and passed bills. Former Speaker John Boehner had two stints in leadership, led a committee and traveled all year for the GOP.
Johnson has done none of that. He’s a backbencher plucked from obscurity to be the third-highest-ranking official in the American government…
Suzanne
But I’ve been assured that Biden is old.
Steeplejack
Nothing on the South Carolina Republican primary? Trump won, obviously, but Haley put up surprising numbers (40%). Not good news for Trump, who is basically an incumbent (in the primary context) and should be polling like one.
Jackie
TIFG wants a shutdown, thinking it will hurt Biden. Whatever TIFG wants is what his puppet, Johnson will do.
I’m of the belief a GQP shutdown will hurt the GQP badly – especially as it’s an election year.
Baud
@Jackie:
They’ve never done it before in an election year.
Anne Laurie
@Suzanne: Theoretically, Trump could’ve been calling out Mercedes Schlapp, wife of CPAC founder Matt Schlapp. Or that’s the current argument, at least.
There’s so much to ding Dementia Don with, I wouldn’t bother with debatable one-offs like this.
XeckyGilchrist
Who’d have thought that a couple hundred narcissistic rugged individualists would have problems working together?
bbleh
@Jackie: certainly has done them no good before. What are they, zero for three? two certainly.
@Baud: kinda agree with Jackie that, if anything, election year will make blowback worse.
Anyhoo, I LOVE how they’re all piling on Pastor Mike. Qevin at least had to be evicted formally, but this feckless schmoe is just gonna be embarrassed — or stampeded — into resigning. Please at least let us see some serious internal bloodletting before they finally figure out a plan of succession.
Villago Delenda Est
What would be shocking is if this godbothered git actually had a plan.
smith
@Steeplejack: She’s slipped below 40% now, with 65% of the votes in. Still, you’d expect TFG, as a quasi-incumbent, to get votes like an incumbent, like, say, 96.2%.
Frankensteinbeck
My reading of all of this is that Johnson is an incompetent in over his head. He has no strategy and no coherent goals. He’s running around in circles flailing his arms like Kermit the Frog. The delays at this point serve no purpose other than him trying to put off telling the teacher that he didn’t do his homework.
schrodingers_cat
@Steeplejack: I saw your post about your new iPad. Mine just arrived this morning. What case are you getting? Did you get the pencil?
Suzanne
@Anne Laurie: I mean, the audience was having a standing ovation for Melania at the time.
David 🏈 Mahomes! 🏈 Koch
Woah. Anne Hathaway at the SAG awards is absolutely stunning (link)
Baud
@Frankensteinbeck:
That’s my impression too. He’s waiting for Jesus to take the gavel.
Unfortunately for him, Mary didn’t raise no fool.
David 🏈 Mahomes! 🏈 Koch
@Suzanne:
at least he’s not calling her “Melanie” anymore. so there’s that.
Soprano2
@Suzanne: This is the kind of thing that makes me lean toward thinking he has dementia.
Hubby update – he’s a lot better, he’s out of the ICU and in a regular room. The downside of that is less attention, the upside is it means he’s closer to getting out. The doctor replaced the stents yesterday. He said one of them was completely blocked with over 200 small stones. No wonder his kidneys were so backed up! I’m still hopeful he’ll be home on Monday, it all depends on his kidney function improving.
Doc Sardonic
@Villago Delenda Est: Fear Not, for he has been anointed as Moses, and will lead all of America into the Promised White Land.
Soon as that happens monkeys will fly out of my ass.
dmsilev
The Washington Post had an amusing, for fans of train wrecks, story earlier today: GOP elder statesmen’s message to Johnson: Stop dithering
Elder Statesman #1: Paul “let Granny eat cat food” Ryan
Elder Statesman #2: Pat “designated post-defenestration substitute for Kevin McCarthy” McHenry
Yes, that’s what counts as an elder statesman among the GOP these days. And the really really sad thing is that indeed, compared to Mike Johnson, they do in fact carry gravitas. Grading on a curve and all that.
Baud
@Doc Sardonic:
Party time! Excellent!
princess leia
@Soprano2:
Glad to hear that!!!
Urza
Leadership that doesn’t have long term plans communicated to their employees usually means they don’t actually have plans or know what they’re doing.
Suzanne
@Soprano2: Oooooh good news!
I hope you are also taking care of yourself!
kindness
Johnson hopes to pray the disarray away.
Funny thing though…his Jesus is nothing like the one I was raised with.
Frankensteinbeck
@Baud:
That… is a possibility I didn’t consider. He may literally be waiting for Jesus to save him, hoping for an actual miracle, because he’s a shit-for-brains, self-important, ‘I am God’s special boy’ evangelical.
Jackie
@Baud: There’s always a first time, and with TIFG calling the shots, this may be the time.
Certainly the MAGA gang in the House support a shutdown; if Johnson bucks TIFG and turns to the Dems to avoid a shutdown, he’ll almost certainly be the TIFG’s ex-puppet.
smith
@dmsilev: Seriously, they’ve had so many retirements among experienced members, including, if I recall correctly, 6 committee chairs, there will be no institutional memory left on that side of the aisle. It will be all performance art all the time by Goobers who think a Congressperson’s job is to misbehave in front of the cameras.
Quadrillipede
@Suzanne: Trump is just senile at this point. Now I’m starting to worry he might be fading too quickly to make it to the rematch in November…
Jackie
@Frankensteinbeck: Kermit 🐸 has more class and integrity in one toe than Johnson has in his entire body.
Sure Lurkalot
@schrodingers_cat: I really like the Speck cases for iPads, better than the Apple case. I’ve bought them at Target, Best Buy and the last one on Amazon. Protective but not heavy, six slots to set up the pad depending upon use.
dmsilev
@Quadrillipede: As long as his body can make vague twitching motions, he’ll be the Republican nominee.
ArchTeryx
@Quadrillipede: I don’t want a fair fight. I want him beaten like a rented mule in November, and for him to take the entire party down with him. He loses bad enough, it might even save us the Senate.
bbleh
@Suzanne: @Soprano2: second both motions. Good news is good! And take care of yourself too! (Learned the hard way.)
p.a.
@schrodingers_cat: I have a case that looks like an old school black & white composition book, which I think is pretty cool. The case comes (came?) with a generic rubber tip stylus; I don’t know if the iPad pen does more stuff. My iPad is 3+years old, but I assume this style case is still available.
Sure Lurkalot
@Soprano2: Fingers crossed that your husband continues to improve and gets to come home soon.
hueyplong
@Jackie: Yes, when “never happened before” goes up against “Trump wants it,” I’m not betting my own money against what Trump wants.
bbleh
@Quadrillipede: @dmsilev: I just hope there’s no way Our Media can avoid entirely showing the decline. It’s a LONG time until November, the pressure on him will increase super-linearly, and more exposure is not just inevitable but sought-after by campaigns, but Our Media have a strong interest in presenting him as viable, and the Institutional Party (ie those other than the Cultists, who would wait by his tomb for a resurrection) won’t have many alternatives …
Geminid
A shutdown could really hurt VA02 Rep. Jen Kiggans. Plenty of active and retired military in her coastal district, as well as civilian federal employees and contractors.
Same for whoever the Republicans run in VA07, Abigail Spanberger’s district. But those red-district Republicans don’t seem to care about their purple-district colleagues.
Jackie
@Quadrillipede:
And that’s a BAD thing?
Think of the desperate mad scramble and internal fight the GQP vs MAGA would have trying to replace him on the ballot at the last moment!
hueyplong
@Jackie: And don’t forget the explosion of conspiracy theories.
zhena gogolia
@Soprano2: I’m glad he’s better!
Villago Delenda Est
@hueyplong: I’d put money in popcorn futures.
West of the Rockies
Just in — the GOP fiscal plan: 1.3 trillion to erect a golden Trump statue; a buck ninety-eight for education, welfare, defense, and whatever is needed.
Frank Wilhoit
At some point, Putin will order Trump’s doctors to give him steroids. The effects will be impossible to conceal or to mistake for anything else.
Shalimar
@Quadrillipede: This is a party that made Ron DeSantis appear human for 4 years by not letting him talk to anyone. I’m pretty sure Trump can keep showing up and reading off of teleprompters for years before his decline gets so bad that Republicans have the guts to replace him.
Soprano2
@Suzanne: I am, I’m not staying overnight at the hospital because I have to get my sleep and take care of our dog and cat.
raven
@Soprano2: Happy Birthday!
Jeffro
speaking of GOP slap-fights, Kathleen Parker’s bitter tears in the Post tonight bode well for the Democratic Party
so VERY many bitter tears 😳😂
Shalimar
We’re getting primary ads in southern Alabama now. The current local House member Jerry Carl votes about as MAGA as possible. His opponents (I didn’t see which one paid for the ad) are running ads calling him a friend of Joe Biden for supporting Ukraine aid. I do not think this is the winning issue they think it is, but I guess the point is mentioning Jerry and Biden in an ad as many times as they can in 30 seconds.
Soprano2
@raven: Thanks! Not how I planned to spend it.
Xavier
“third highest-ranking official in the American government”
God bless the Secret Service.
Frankensteinbeck
@Shalimar:
And then DeSantis ran for president, the lights turned on, and the cockroach scurried back into the filth. It’s really hard to hide a presidential candidate.
Jeffro
Highlights from Ms. Parker’s piece in the WaPo:
As Jamelle Bouie and many others have noted over the years, a very large part of trump’s “pull” is just his made-up TV persona from The Apprentice. “Oooo…big star…and look/listen, he’s repeating the things I want to hear!”
Sorry Kathleen! We could have used your ‘input’ back in 2016, but if I recall correctly, you were too busy slagging Hillary to push away the partisan blinders from your eyes. Too bad, so sad!
CaseyL
I wouldn’t bet against a deliberate (as opposed to incompetence-driven) government shut down by the GOP. They want chaos; they want the country to come apart at the seams; they do not like any of the programs needing funding. They want TFG to take the oath of office on a pile of bones and ashes.
Now, whether the rest of the country wakes up to that fact is an open question. They won’t if the MSM has its way.
Villago Delenda Est
@kindness: Or Jimmy Carter was raised with.
Jeffro
@Jeffro: and…scene:
Steeplejack
@schrodingers_cat:
I got a really good deal on a (new) iPad Pro from Woot last August, and it came with an Apple Smart Folio, which provides basic protection and does the magnetic wake/sleep thing. It can prop up the iPad at several angles, but I have a separate tablet stand on my desk that I use. (The Folio doesn’t interfere with that.)
Then later I got an extremely good deal from Woot on an Apple Magic Keyboard, which I bought because I would like to do a lot of writing on the iPad and also use it as my travel computer. I haven’t used the keyboard very much because (a) I haven’t been traveling and (b) I am using the iPad mostly to stream video (which it is excellent for).
Just received the Pencil 2 a few days ago and haven’t even opened it yet.
Basically, I have barely scratched the surface of the iPad’s potential so far, but I’m very glad I got it and am looking forward to exploring it more. I got it to replace a Samsung Galaxy S2 tablet dating from 2016. I liked that a lot, but I could see that an iPad could do a lot more. The upgrade was definitely worth it.
smith
@Jeffro: From the Parker piece:
What handcuffs? Did he do a stunt I haven’t heard of? I don’t recall that he’s been handcuffed at any of his arraignments or anywhere else. This is pure MAGA fantasy, and neither the reporter doing that interview or Ms Parker bothered to point it out.
moonbat
I predict Johnson gets rolled. It’s the only thing he’s good at.
If he had a tiny brain rolling around that hair sprayed noggin of his, he’d be praying that the Dems’ discharge petition takes Ukraine funding out of his hands and that a couple more defections lose him the majority thus relieving him of all responsibility as speaker.
I’m sort of hoping that his Moses delusion turns out to be true. He’s going to lead the Congressional Republicans into the Sinai where where they will wander directionless and powerless for the next forty years as punishment for worshiping the golden (bronzed?) idol Trump and his tacky golden high-tops.
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
ETA: I also looked at the Zugu case and liked it a lot. Thought about pairing it with a small Bluetooth keyboard for writing and travel.
schrodingers_cat
@Soprano2: I hope he continues to improve. Take care of yourself too.
schrodingers_cat
@Steeplejack: I have an old Logitech keyboard from my earlier iPad which I still use as a glorified Kindle. I haven’t yet decided what to get for a case. But I am definitely getting the paperlike screen protectors
It makes writing on the screen feel like you are writing on paper. I am thinking of getting it for my drawing tablet also.
Mousebumples
I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks the reason he “keeps his own counsel” is because HE doesn’t know what he’s thinking or is hoping to achieve. Trump win, Dems lose is probably the main point of his ambition?
Admittedly, he’s not smart enough to say hell no to taking this job with the chaotic caucus he has.
I wonder if there are enough retiring GOP “moderates” to form a coalition with Dems to appoint a retired GOP someone to be a caretaker Speaker through the year. Unlikely, but might end up helping GOP electoral outcomes in the longer term (and hopefully Ukraine and govt workers in the shorter term).
Steeplejack
@Soprano2:
Fingers crossed 🤞 for the hubby’s rapid recovery.
Steeplejack
@Doc Sardonic:
Where can we sign up for the golden calf? Sounds like a better option at this point.
Captain C
@Jeffro:
This, and in some cases add in his WWE persona.
Jeffro
Yup.
“Idiocracy” is here, on the GOP side.
PPCLI
@Suzanne: His handlers are breathing a sigh of relief that he didn’t call her “Alina”.
rikyrah
They are so cute with these resolutions at the RNC.
HE👏🏾IS👏🏾GOING👏🏾TO👏🏾ROB👏🏾THEM👏🏾BLIND👏🏾
steve g
I think you meant sandbagged, but I kinda like handbagged. Smacked over the head with one, for instance.
Steeplejack
@schrodingers_cat:
Yeah, I was eyeballing one of the Logitech keyboards. Was even thinking about using it with my cell phone as my traveling device.
Can you type well enough on the Logitech? I’m a speedy touch typist.
ETA: “But I am definitely getting the paperlike screen protectors.” Yes! I saw those on someone’s YouTube video of how they customized their iPad. Very interesting.
rikyrah
@Soprano2:
Glad to hear that he is getting better🙏🏽
smith
@steve g: Yes, made me think of those Monty Python sketches with respectable ladies duking it out with their handbags.
Jeffro
Btw folks Nikki Haley getting nearly 40% of the vote against ‘incumbent’ trumpov is HIGHLY encouraging for November. If even a fraction of those folks stay home, vote 3rd party, or (gasp) switch to Biden, we are looking at a big win!
geg6
This all warms the cockles of my heart, I must say.
Matt McIrvin
@Frank Wilhoit: Remember when he got COVID pneumonia and they put him on Regeneron monoclonal antibodies, the antiviral drug remdesivir… and steroids (dexmethasone)? Made him feel like Superman, which he attributed to Regeneron?
(The steroid was also probably what actually kept him from dying, according to at least one article I read.)
Steeplejack
@schrodingers_cat:
I thought AshLee’s “iPad Mini makeover as a Kindle” is very interesting. (Lots of non-Kindle details, too.) She seems like a good source on all things iPad.
wjca
Although it would be nice if they managed to fund the government first. Even if only temporarily.
Another Scott
@Jeffro: +1
TheHill has him at 60.01% with 90% of the vote in.
Sad.
Cheers,
Scott.
wjca
Unless an ME has formally declared him dead, expect him to be on the ballot; no substitute in sight. After all, even ChatGPT can manage to generate stuff no less coherent than TIFG himself. Combine that with some text to speech software, and use only video appearances, and the cult will believe.
Doc Sardonic
Not sure who or what to assign as the Golden Calf that we could sign onto, the Bronze Fuckwit (no gold, Tish James and E. Jean Carroll are getting that), is that but only for the MAGAts.
CaseyL
@Jeffro:
SC is an “open primary” state: you don’t have to be a GOPer to vote in the GOP primary.
So I’m not sure how many Haley votes are actually Republicans. They may be Democrats or independents just voting against TFG, with no intention of voting GOP in November.
Tony G
Putting aside for the moment the fact that these people are theocratic fascists … a “13-day Presidents Day recess”???? What the hell is that? What organization or business in the United States closes for 13 days for the made-up holiday of Presidents Day? What a big “fuck you” to all the people who actually have to work for a living at normal jobs. Just sickening.
Roberto el oso
I assume Mike Johnson will be dethroned before too much longer. Hopefully after he caves on the funding and budget issues. He can then continue to claim he’s a latter-day Moses, who was allowed to gaze upon the land of milk and honey but forbidden from entering therein.
schrodingers_cat
@Steeplejack: Thanks I will look it up.
Chetan Murthy
[deleted]
Mike in NC
@Jeffro: Parker’s description of South Carolina is spot-on. A shithole state.
Jackie
@CaseyL: Steve Kornacki was saying 4% Dems. So minuscule. More independents, but those are potential Biden voters.
Steeplejack
@Chetan Murthy:
Kathleen Parker link at #52.
ETA: You disappeared!
Frankensteinbeck
@CaseyL:
Toss that idea out. People went on about it in New Hampshire, but it was the same percentage of votes not registered Republican as in other elections. This is a known factor, and it didn’t affect other primaries. Trump’s fundraising is way down from the last two elections. Yeah, he’s winning, but the passion is gone.
Chetan Murthy
@Steeplejack: After I posted my comment asking for a pointer, I continued reading, and found Jeffro’s comment with extract and delicious editorial comments! *Chortle
Kristine
@p.a.:
My laptop case is the same style. It came with keyboard and touchpad protectors; I use the keyboard protector because it keeps dust and fine crumbs off the keys. The only issue is that it also blocks the backlighting.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@CaseyL:
I know a few diehard GOPers who won’t vote for the Orange Fart Cloud. They’d die before voting for *any* Dem meaning they’ll vote for Haley here in the primary but come Nov, they’ll vote GQP on the rest of the ticket except for Hair Furor.
They’re hopeless voters in terms of switching but I’ll take a non-vote wherever I can get it.
Jackie
Off topic, but related in a way, Howard Buffet, son of Warren has via the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, emerged as a stalwart ally to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion, injecting $521,779,225 into humanitarian assistance for Ukraine as of January 2024. Seriously, bless him!
https://www.businessinsider.com/howard-buffett-gives-500-million-to-ukraine
Melancholy Jaques
@Jeffro:
Is she though? If she were smart, she would not have run for president this time.
Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)
@Frankensteinbeck:I ‘d take Kermit the Frog over GQP anarchy any day. The Muppets are fun and have songs!
teezyskeeyz
@wjca: I mean at some point the deepfakes will be so good Trump doesn’t ever have to die. He’ll just “record” videos forever.
NotMax
@Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)
If, on occasion, cannibalistic.
:)
different-church-lady
Once again Trump can’t crack 60% of his own primary voters.
Once again this will be headlined as TRUMP INVINCIBLE.
Steeplejack
@schrodingers_cat:
Couple of things:
“Getting work done on an iPad” (Wirecutter). Accessories and stuff. Let me know if it’s paywalled.
Logitech Folio Touch Case for iPad Air for $80 at Woot. Representative of good deals that occasionally come up.
Kent
Well, to be fair. They are both foreign imports to I can see where the confusion comes from.
prostratedragon
@Jackie: Better things an actual rich person can do with half a billion dollars.
Kent
No, she’s smart. By doing this she has launched herself into instant frontrunner status for 2028.
No matter who wins in 2024, they will be near instant lame ducks. The media will be revving up the 2028 campaign within months of the inauguration. And 2028 will truly be an epic election as it will feature open primaries in both parties and a whole new generation. If Trump loses in 2024 he won’t be back for a 4th try in 2028 at the age of 82.
Another Scott
If there were any remaining doubt that Jonathan Turley is a hack, this should eliminate it.
🤡
[ groucho-roll-eyes.gif ]
Cheers,
Scott.
Geoduck
He’ll be running until he’s dead and buried. And even that might not stop him getting on some red-state ballots.
Kent
I mean I hope to God he does just for the entertainment value alone and watching him blow up the GOP primary. By then all four of his trials will have reached culmination so he may have other problems.
But his “base” is dying off way faster than it is being replenished. There will always be plenty of conservatives in this country. But the younger version aren’t going to be Trumpers. They’ll go in a different direction.
Frankensteinbeck
@Geoduck:
He may try, but he’ll be a blip. If he loses 2024, the loser stink is too great. It’s weighing him down now.
Jackie
@Kent: Maybe a whole new generation of candidates for ‘28.
It’s galling – to me, anyway – how the No Labels group and others want to replace Biden and TIFG with OTHER 70+ year olds such as Manchin, Romney and the like. 😵💫🤦🏼♀️
Frankensteinbeck
@Kent:
They’ve heard good things about this ‘Hitler’ guy.
NotMax
@Frankensteinbeck
“More and more people are finding out about him every day.”
//
eversor
I saw a church this morning not burnt to the ground with shouts of “hate” and rocks being thrown at the people going there. So we are thus still christian. And so, patriarchy, violence, death, heirarchy, thus and always until I don’t see a cross. And if I see I a cross death to all those against patriarchy. I take up arms against my own kind, I help guide my relatives to destruction. All of this, for that cross.
Chetan Murthy
Sigh. Our religious nutter troll is back. Let’s not feed him, maybe he’ll go away.
Jackie
@Chetan Murthy: My favorite slice of pie appeared. Being that I only have one individual pied, it’s easy to guess who.
Frankensteinbeck
@NotMax:
He sounds like a real mensch!
EDIT – I’m a Jew, I get to make this joke.
hitchhiker
Narrator: He is not a very pleasant man. He’s creepy as fuck. He’s also the person who lobbied all his crazy friends in the House to refuse to certify the 2020 election. He’s also the person who claims to have no checking account, and who took campaign funds from a TX company majority-owned by 3 Russian oligarchs, one of whom was also a backer of the honeypot known as Maria Butina. Did I mention he’s creepy af? Every picture of him gives me the willies.
Anoniminous
@Steeplejack:
In the old days presidential candidates who couldn’t win their own state would be written off.
wjca
Depends on Trump losing (please!). Otherwise his VP will be crowned the favorite. (No, the MSM won’t accept that there might not be a non-Trump election in 2028.) Which, given the level of non-entity TIFG is certain to select, is particularly ridiculous. But anyone seriously doubt they would?
TriassicSands
Yes, Bozo the Clown might be “a very pleasant man” and he might be adorable if he were in the circus, although, I suspect, he wouldn’t be very funny given his primary focus in life. Unsurprisingly, clowns don’t make good House Speakers. This particular clown has no identifiable credentials or characteristics that would recommend him for his current job (or the one he held immediately before his elevation to Speaker) and wanting to turn the U.S. into a theocracy is not something any elected official in the government should want to do. In a democracy, or a system that professes to be one, religion must be a private matter, kept out of politics, and with absolutely no role whatsoever in legislation.
wjca
Every member of Congress, by law, takes an oath upon assuming office:
Johnson, necessarily, did so at the start of each term. If he wants to turn the United States into a theocracy, he is in violation of that oath. But perhaps breaking an oath given before God doesn’t bother him. Although any sincerely religious person would refuse to do so.
Odie Hugh Manatee
I wonder when we are going to get around to discussing the fact that the Republican party, governments in conservative areas and many churches are now run by people who would have been called KKK not too long ago. Look at them, white nationalists using the bible as a shield to enable the takeover of American society. The old time Republicans like Grassley embraced the KKK as a strategy while never intending on delivering the goods for them. KKK sympathetic politicians have been replacing the old time bastards and have just about seized complete power of the party for themselves. The South has conquered the GOP and the country is next.
The Republican party has fully embraced the KKK and they intend to rule over all. Say it loud and say it daily. Make them deny it if they can.
Peke Daddy
@Another Scott: Corruption of blood is forbidden by the Constitution.
Steeplejack
@Anoniminous:
Nobody expects Haley to win. But that she is getting any support at all is a sign of Trump’s weakness.
piratedan
@Steeplejack: agreed and to be fair, what are the odds that Trump makes it to November without at least one conviction?
What would the GOP do then? Elevate his VP to the top of the ticket? What happens if the shoe drops prior to the convention?
Despite the MSM obfuscation machine, the courts don’t appear to be bothered by the blather.
Villago Delenda Est
@Another Scott: A baby grand cannot fall on Turley a nanosecond too soon.
TriassicSands
That depends on whether one considers a religious zealot to be sincere. I know what you mean, but do we consider Alito sincere? What about Barrett? They certainly think they are sincere. Particularly in the case of Barrett, I doubt, based on what I’ve read and what she has written, that there is anything more important in her life. They’re fanatics, as is Johnson
When a person is delusional, the word “sincere” presents problems. At least, I think so.
steve g
@Another Scott:
“the criminal history of the great-great-grandfather of Joe Biden”
I hope they point out that we each have eight great-great-grandfathers, as well as eight great-great-grandmothers. Only 1/16th of Joe’s genes come from that guy, so nothing to worry about.
TriassicSands
@wjca:
I’ll add this: What percentage of Republicans would you say told the truth when they took the oath of office? Does anyone think Trump was sincere or being honest when he took the oath? I’m not implying that Trump has anything to do with religion, but rather as an example of how easy it is for people to not take the oath of office seriously. Numerous judges have been viewed as having lied when they took an oath to tell the truth before their Senate hearings.
CaseyL
@wjca: Religious fanatics have no problem at all violating oaths: they believe their Higher Calling allows them to lie about everything, to everyone, in pursuit of their divine goal. “God will forgive me, for I do His bidding.”
Also, they’re mostly lying to unbelievers, who don’t count anyway.
David 🏈 Mahomes! 🏈 Koch
@Steeplejack:
imagine the media feeding frenzy if Biden lost 40% of the primary vote in South Carolina or any state.
yellowdog
@Jackie: Any not Trump Republican will get a LOT more votes than Trump would. We have a better chance of beating TIFG than Haley/Desantis/whoever.
Ksmiami
@ArchTeryx: yep. I want the GOP to explode into millions of bits in November.
yellowdog
@Roberto el oso: As long as he keeps kissing Trump’s ass he will be Speaker. No one will defy Trump.
TriassicSands
@Jackie:
Yes, but it isn’t simply about the internal strife or even the quality of the candidate. What matters is the quality of the electorate and that puts Democrats at a disadvantage in every election. They win because they are generally so far superior to the Republicans that even many stupid and ignorant voters can tell the difference. However, today the always poorly informed electorate is ever more easily swayed by the poor coverage of the media and by things like Biden’s age.
Personally, I suspect that if Haley ran against Biden, although she might not win, she would attract far more Democrats (who are sure Biden is too old or who won’t vote for him because of his Israeli policy) and Independents (who are always iffy) than Trump ever would. If she lost, it would probably be because tens of millions of truly crazy Republicans (and I’m not limiting that to MAGAts) might refuse to vote for her and would, instead, write in the name of one bloated, orange, demented criminal. I don’t want to see that tested, but it would be “interesting.”
TriassicSands
@Roberto el oso: @yellowdog:
I don’t know. I think it could go either way. Kissing Trump’s ass isn’t sufficient to maintain his support. He can turn on anyone at any time. And with such a tiny majority and more that enough truly crazy GOP representatives, all it would take to send Johnson packing would be a few of them.
I honestly don’t think there is any way to be sure what will happen. No on is more unreliable that Trump. His only competition is some of the craziest Republican representatives.
I am skeptical that Johnson, who has been Peter Principled far, far above his “respective level of incompetence,” would ever willingly give up his current position. It’s kind of like a hapless fellow who can’t make a little league baseball starting lineup suddenly finding himself pitching in the World Series for the Dodgers or Yankees. On the other hand, he does seem, at least dimly, to understand that shutting down the government is not a measure of success. We shall see.
It’s not that no one would, but whether there is anyone left who would.
sab
@TriassicSands: I still think the “problem” with Biden’s age is a problem with his VP, so I can’t see people preferring Haley to Biden/Harris. Misogynist or racist voters really wouldn’t have any alternative but to stay home.
Chetan Murthy
@sab: winner winner chicken dinner. [Just my opinion, and I could be completely wrong, but] Sure, Haley would bleed squishy Dems and esp independents from us. But she’s lose a shit-ton of the bigots that form the MAGAt base. A shit-ton.
I’ve been pretty profoundly convinced by that This American Life episode about the MI GOP and Kristina Karamo. There’s a new grassroots rising up in the GOP: they’re White Christian Nationalists, and as hard as Haley will try, she ain’t that. It’s like the Jews in Spain who converted to Catholicism (Marranos) that the Inquisition then proceeded to torture and murder: they weren’t really Christians in the eyes of the Inquisition, and Haley isn’t really white.
And for these MAGAts, that’s what really matters.
Citizen Alan
@eversor: Eversor is drunk again.
sab
@Chetan Murthy: I think you and I had a disagreement a few years back about whether subcontinent Indians were perceived as not white in America. When I grew up in one part of Florida in the 1960s they were clearly not African American and therefore sort of white.
Coming from Texas, you disagreed.
Decades later from my childhood I think things have changed a lot and you are completely correct.
sab
@Citizen Alan: OT I posted an apology to you a few threads back. Used your comment to vent and in the process implied that you had said things that you hadn’t said.
ETA and wouldn’t have said.
Chetan Murthy
@sab: Growing up, I had only white friends. I mean, I was the son of a successful doctor, a family of the smartest kids in town: of course my friends were all white. But even among them, I was called things like “little Indian boy” (this, by a girl my own age, and of course, for a chance to be her boyfriend I’d have given my left arm). Even among my closest “friends” I was regarded as asexual, and among less close friends and esp. acquaintances, I’d get called things like “wetback”, “camel-jockey”, and …. worse. So even as I was sort-of an “honorary white person”, it was clear I wasn’t white, and never would be.
I will say this: here in California, I’ve never felt such pressures. That’s because all around me, I see the evidence of interracial marriages and mixed-race children. I see groups of young people of all different ethnicities, many mixed-race couples, and lots and lots of Indians in all sorts of roies in society. So what you initially believed, I feel is true, here in California. It’s part of why I love California so much.
sab
@Chetan Murthy: I suspect that while I was comfortable with their presence in my white America in Florida the tiny handful of Indian kids were not feeling comfortable. Their parents were professionally comfortable, but that didn’t much help the kids.
Ditto for my experience in NE Ohio, where there were many more Indian kids than black kids in my high school
ETA My family ( dating back almost to the Mayflower) is pretty much interracial now, and all those kids have left Ohio. Asian Americans went to California. Black kids went east to Virginia
So things haven’t changed. I just finally noticed what they were.
Chetan Murthy
@sab:
You hit it on the head here:
I was all of those things until my 30s, and really only was able to shed most of them in my 40s after living in CA for a good number of years. When I would see little white children, I found them endearing, in a way I could not see little Indian (or Black, or Hispanic) children. It’s only been in the past ten years, after 7+ years in CA, that that started to change, and of course today I find all small chldiren to be sweet and endearing, as is only natural and healthy. I remember the point where I started making eye contact and smiling at Black people I’d pass on the sidewalk: another sign that I was slowly recovering from all that hellish childhood.
Citizen Alan
@sab: No problem. i saw neither the apology nor whatever comments led to it. And I can certainly post stupid things. Usually because I’ve gone to long without my meds, which can cause me to slip into Eversor-land.
sab
@Chetan Murthy: I was raised in the South and we had black caregivers that I loved dearly, so you were later on bridging that gap than I was.
I never understood anti-black prejudice. They were always people I loved a lot.
TriassicSands
It’s not quite that simple. They could, depending on their sensibilities vote for a third party candidate or write in a name.
Every election, people do that, and many Democrats attribute Gore’s loss to Nader’s candidacy. Even there, it wasn’t that simple, although Nader in Florida was a huge contributing factor to Gore’s ultimate loss. Other contributing factors were the butterfly ballot, Joe Lieberman, and the SCOTUS. Without any of those, Gore would probably have won. Joe Biden, may well have won the presidency in 2020, because of the Libertarian Party. In key states that he won, the Libertarian vote was greater than was Biden’s margin of victory.– Georgia Biden’s margin less than 12K Libertarian vote >60K– Arizona Biden’s margin 10,467; Libertarian vote >50K– Wisconsin Biden’s margin 20,682; Libertarian vote >38KIf all the Libertarians stayed home, Biden still would have won, but I don’t think they would have stayed home. What is scarier, is that in ranked choice voting, Biden would almost certainly have lost.
Of course, the biggest effect of third party candidates is usually to take votes away from someone, since their candidate isn’t going to win in a presidential election. So, if racists and misogynists refused to vote for someone on that basis, they might well be the cause of or contribute to that candidate’s loss, but technically, they do have an alternative to staying home. And many of those people still do vote.
Chetan Murthy
@sab: You’re not a racist, that’s all it is. I was raised among racists, and I imbibed that racism. So I was pretty racist against Black people (and of course, other Indians) for a good part of my life.
In India, there’s a version of this sort of prejudice. The upper castes have that sort of prejudice against the lower castes, and the untouchables and tribes. And each lower caste has that prejudice against all the ones lower than them. It’s all pretty sick. I remember reading an article about some girl from a lower/middling caste, who ran off with a boy from an infinitesimally lower caste; the village elders caught up to them, brought them back, and strung them up by wire, hanging them. As a punishment, and a warning to anybody else who tried such proscribed caste mixing.
The structure of racism in America (and colorism in India) is all about inducing every group to be prejudiced toward all the groups below them in the hierarchy. It’s like my friend from Brazil, who is anti-immigration (after all, he came here the “right” way). It’s kick down, suck up.
sab
@TriassicSands: Who is the third party candidate here? Nikki Haley is running as the Republican, presumably hoping Trump drops dead or is convicted of one of his many crimes. ( Don’t we all.)
The Minnesota trustfund guy is a joke, and running as a Democrat (why?)
Who else is out there RFK jr.? Don’t make me laugh.
TriassicSands
My mother grew in the South and “loved” her parents’ “help.” But she was definitely a racist. When her children took her to task for that, her excuse was always, “Well, that’s what everyone thought” –that African Americans were inferior to White people. My mother may have viewed African Americans the way she would view a pet. She could “love” it, but didn’t consider it her equal. She simply went along with the norm and never bothered to think for herself. Yes, it’s horrendous, but so is racism. For my part, that way of thinking is completely alien to me. I like or don’t like people based on who they are, not “what” they are. My brother and sister feel the same way I do, and my sister now has a daughter-in-law who is African American. That might have killed my mother had she lived to see it.
Despite your own attitude, didn’t you know people like that?
sab
@Chetan Murthy: I had friends in Israel say the same thing. They hated every new immigrant group as it came in. Until the Ethiopians came in after the Georgians, It was easy to hate the Georgians (normal immigrants) and very difficult to hate the Ethiopeans (nice nice people) .
sab
@TriassicSands: We were not native Southerners. We were transplants from an abolitionist area. I just thought our black help was our help and I was a tiny child and they appeared to love me (and to this day I thought and think that they did.)
Chetan Murthy
@sab: A few years ago, I read a sci-fi short story about the first human mission to Mars. They encounter these really shabby creatures on a ruined planet. The story is about the first video transmission back from Mars. All sorts of people are gathered in a hotel ballroom to watch the video: reporters of all kinds. And the punchline of the story, as the video comes in, is that all these reporters are turning their noses up at these Martians, poor and shabby as they are. And the story sort of ends with the words of the Black waiters in the hotel, as they remark that now maybe they’ll have somebody to look down upon. Finally.
TriassicSands
@sab: I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing. My point was simply that, in general, voters always have an alternative to just staying home. That is true in every election. Will there be enough to change the outcome? That depends on the election and the candidates. I already know several Republicans who say they will not vote for Trump, but will not stay home and definitely will not vote for Biden.
Reading comment sections in both the Post and Times, I frequently encounter people who don’t like Trump, but they hate Democrats and Biden. It won’t matter who is or isn’t on the ballot, they will not stay home and they will vote against Biden. I have no idea how many people feel that way, but millions of people said they didn’t like Trump in 2020, but Trump received more votes than any other presidential candidate in history, except for the man who defeated him. In my experience, black and white statements — they have no choice but to stay home — are rarely accurate.
Laughter is good for us, so if I make you laugh, I’m OK with that.
It’s 2:17AM here; I’ve got to think about going to sleep. Goodnight.
sab
@sab: My mother’s helper was not just a casual employee.
She was just a high school girl, but she was the central person in my life when I was a baby and toddler, and when she went back to North Carolina college I was devastated. I never really got over it. Still have trust and abandonment issues.
Lacuna Synecdoche
A majority of the country has blamed Republicans for every shutdown over the past 30 years.
I see no reason to think this year will be any different in that respect.
brantl
@Frankensteinbeck: Kermit was a lot smarter, even without the hand inside him….
sab
My dad has vascular dementia. We pay my dad’s nurse’s aide a lot, but it is very, very, extremely stressful work, which she also did for her own grandmother. I don’t think she would be working for us if she did not actually like or love our family.
Frankensteinbeck
@yellowdog:
They defied Trump when he declared McCarthy’s successor. More like ignored him. Johnson got the job because everyone was sick of the mess and nobody personally hated him.
Of course, in such a divided congress, he only has to rule a dozen Senators and Representatives to cause havoc.
Chris T.
@Suzanne:
Isn’t that her Car Porn Name? “Mercedes Headlights”, or something like that…
lowtechcyclist
@Villago Delenda Est:
Pretty much. ‘Moses’ appears lost in the desert of his own mind.
lowtechcyclist
This is amazing – the MSM (CNN in this case) is being backed into a corner where they’ve got no choice but to report that it’s the Republicans that are a disaster area. Not Congress, not the House, but “House GOP dysfunction.”
It’s hard to imagine what a train wreck it must actually be, behind the scenes, to drag an admission like that out of any part of our MSM with their religious commitment to bothsidesing.
lowtechcyclist
@Lacuna Synecdoche:
This. In past years, though, the Rethugs at least were smart enough to shut down the government when the next Congressional election was over a year away, so that voters would have other things on their minds by the next time they had to vote.
The election’s still eight months away. It’ll be an interesting experiment they’d be running, to see if eight months is enough time for people to move on and mainly be voting about other things.
If the shutdown lasts for just a couple of weekdays (for a shutdown that starts on a Friday night, that first weekend will barely be noticed), my guess is people will forget about it, unless there’s a sequence of such mini-shutdowns. But if the government shuts down for a couple of weeks, I think it’ll really hurt them in November.
SteveinPHX
@different-church-lady: Saw your comment & would have to agree 100%. I listened to radio news overnight, looked at internet news now. Everyone presenting this primary as great landslide.
That 40% lost in SC may not come back to him and could cost him dearly in Nov. I think it will.
Baud
Via reddit, I don’t know about this at the time but at least there was some small measure of justice.
This is where Trump judges come from.
brantl
@Matt McIrvin: Just another bad dide effect of steroids.
Ken
Trump gets a bare D-minus from Republican voters. I suppose it’s an improvement from the F’s he got in New Hampshire and Iowa.
Tony G
@Mike in NC: From my perspective (as a narrow-minded resident of the New York City Metropolitan Area) ALL of the states of the former Confederacy are shit-hole states. But maybe South Carolina is the shittiest.
lowtechcyclist
@SteveinPHX:
That is so fucking bizarre. He’s been the presumptive nominee all along. DeSantis might’ve been able to challenge Trump if DeSantis had been a reasonable facsimile of a human being, but the rest of them started off as a bunch of political dwarves, and still are. Haley is just the only one who hasn’t thrown in the towel yet.
And yet the best he can do against the last remaining dwarf is a 60-40 win. Landslide, my ass. More like quicksand.
Ken
@hitchhiker: Yeah, “a very pleasant man” is how the neighbors traditionally describe the serial killer in movies.
Spanky
@Tony G: I can see you’ve never been to Mississippi.
Spanky
@Ken: That Hitler guy sure loved his dogs!
lowtechcyclist
@Tony G:
This Virginia expat begs to differ.
Geminid
@Tony G: Mississipi is shittier than South Carolina, if you want to put it in those terms. But even if I thought this way, I wouldn’t call Georgia or North Carolina shithole states, and certainly not Virginia. Come on down and see for yourself.
Tony G
@Melancholy Jaques: Well, also, as the daughter of immigrants from India, Nikki Haley is NOT WHITE. That’s a deal-breaker for the contemporary Republican base.
Tony G
@Spanky: True. Mississippi is another place that I never plan to go to unless forced to do so at gunpoint.
Tony G
@Geminid: You’re right. I guess those three are better. I have visited those three state, years ago. (Actually New York State and New Jersey have their shit-hole characteristics too. Rudy Giuliana, Chris Christie and Bob Menendez come to mind!)
OzarkHillbilly
@Tony G: I am living proof that Mississippi is survivable. At least as long as one doesn’t actually live there.
@Tony G: Over the years I have had reason to visit all of the old Confederacy. Each of them are worth visiting and a D can find like minded people in all of them. Just not very many.
eta: now that I think about it, I’ve never been to S Carolina.
Matt McIrvin
@Tony G: Schools in New England usually have a week-long “winter break” starting on President’s Day (in addition to their spring break, which happens later than in most places, usually some week in mid- to late April). I think it was an adaptation to people wanting to go on ski vacations. But that’s much shorter.
lowtechcyclist
I’ll even put in a good word for South Carolina – well, Columbia, anyway. Lived there for three years while working towards my doctorate at USC (that’s University of South Carolina – the original USC, thankyewverymuch, even though my dad graduated from the west coast upstart USC), met and married my wife there, and it was a really nice place to live. So I’m fond of the place, and always will be.
Tony G
@Captain C: Yes, I think that that dumb-ass “The Apprentice” show is 99% of the reason for Trump’s national appeal. I’ve lived in or close to NYC for most of my life and, in this region (where Trump lived until he moved to Florida a few years ago) Trump has been a clown, a punchline, a laughingstock since he was a crooked real estate guy (wasting his Daddy’s money) in the early eighties. Until that “Apprentice” show most people in other parts of the country had never heard of Trump. A nation of dumb-asses. These are the same people who thought (for example) that Sylvester Stallone (who had as much military background as Trump) was a bad-ass Vietnam veteram because of that Rambo movie.
lowtechcyclist
@Another Scott:
And with 99% of the vote in, CNN has him back down to 59.8%. Can’t even break 60% against a weak opponent. Very sad!
Tony G
@Matt McIrvin: Well, you’re right — schools do that. (And colleges — forget about it — colleges take big breaks throughout the year.). So, it’s not just Congress. I guess it just particularly infuriates me when Congress does it. (The reason, I suppose, is to give them an opportunity to suck up to their donors.)
Gvg
@Tony G: I think you and we are being too optimistic here. Some of the republicans don’t think of her as white but not all. We said things like that here about Romney not being “Christian” enough but he got the nomination and didn’t lose that badly. Haley was elected twice in South Carolina which is indeed very racist. Florida voted for Obama once, and I knew it could. Racists and other kinds of bigots can be very inconsistent and make exceptions. They can like one individual for various reasons such as charm, the situation, or yes, a suck up. In this case tribalism will get most.
Haley would mostly appoint terrible people, but I do think she wants to move past Trump to the more normal politics she succeeded in before. If she got the chance, it would be because Trump fell for one of the possible reasons. The actual circumstances would impact what she thought she had to do to keep their voters together. Her instincts aren’t that good luckily.
if the republicans don’t die out, it’d settle for a party that thinks they need to obey the law too. Hah!
Frankensteinbeck
@lowtechcyclist:
The dogwood trees are beautiful and they are everywhere.
@lowtechcyclist:
I said awhile ago that he’s winning by default, and now he’s barely winning by default. Nikki Haley is an ‘also ran’. 40% of the vote in the first 3 primaries have been protest votes by people who know Trump’s going to win the nomination anyway. That’s not exactly a sign of strength.
Gvg
@Tony G: it’s supposed to be a chance to hear their constituents. Congress is supposed to check in with the actual people they represent and it does work better if they go listen to their voters several times a year and not just their colleagues or the beltway press. The thing to report is if each had open houses or forums with their voters or just their donors. I bet their is a difference between republicans and democrats.
Yes, this timing with the budget emergency does not hit me as ethical or responsible.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
I’ve been a couple times to Charleston, SC. First was a work trip. In the off time some of us went on a plantation tour. That was the first time I’d run into southerners who were still pissed about Sherman’s March.
Second was eclipse chasing a few years ago.
Also spent about five minutes once in Mississippi. We were a civilian group scheduled to board a new Navy ship leaving Pascagoula. Got a call in Maryland that morning that as there was a hurricane coming in, if we wanted to be on that ship we needed to be aboard by 6 pm.
We made it somehow. That was an interesting ride.
Frankensteinbeck
@Gvg:
I remember when Republicans stopped doing that because some of them were getting yelled at in town halls. Ran away in terror and hid. It was pathetic. I wonder if they started doing town halls again or they just stopped forever?
NotMax
@Tony G
2024 Congressional calendar (.pdf. file).
@Frankensteinbeck
Ah, but are they “just the right size?”
Chief Oshkosh
@Baud: Given Johnson’s demeanor (only one externality concerns him, the will of Trump; the rest Jesus will take care of) and his inexperience (he has no idea how bad an election-year shutdown will likely be), I really think we’re in unchartered waters now. Previous third rails just don’t register.
Princess
@Gvg: I absolutely agree. Most Republicans would find it very validating to vote for a Black or brown woman who hated all the same people they hate in the right way. They have a firm belief that because they recognize “ the good ones” that makes them not racist and they’d use their vote for that candidate as a permanent sign of that.
Chief Oshkosh
@Soprano2: I’m glad to hear he’s doing better. I’m a longtime stone producer, but not nearly like that, and not with all the other challenges. I’m thinking of you, FWIW.
Do you have access to care-giver care?
Barry
@Frank Wilhoit: “At some point, Putin will order Trump’s doctors to give him steroids. The effects will be impossible to conceal or to mistake for anything else.”
Putin desperately wants Trump to win.
it would give him soooooo much – victory in the Cold War.
Barry
@Mike in NC: “Parker’s description of South Carolina is spot-on. A shithole state.”
An SC Senator once said of his state “too small to be a country, too large to be an insane asylum”.
Miss Bianca
@Jeffro: Damn, Skippy – Parker all but calls them “ignorant goobers” in so many words.
and to think how Obama got roasted for his “clinging to guns and religion” remarks. Or HRC for the “basket of deplorables”.
Are the long sporks of the GOP going to come out for Kathleen now? Or not, because after all she’s only some pointy-headed pundit for some paper no one in South Carolina reads?//
Juju
@Jeffro: Ms Parker either didn’t remember, or was too stupid to pick up on BS when she heard it. Trump was never handcuffed, so that woman who was interviewed was making stuff up, and Parker didn’t know, or the interview didn’t happen. I don’t watch CNN, so I don’t know. I also don’t believe Trump has ever set foot in a Waffle House, he seems to only do his rallies, so she’s out of touch there too. But yeah, my heart is breaking for Ms Parker. Boo hoo.