It’s a lesson won by massive heartbreak, but I think most Democrats now accept that we’re a big tent. It’s messy and maddening, and there are loudmouths who declare ownership for their faction, privilege their causes above all others, nurture intramural grievances endlessly, blah blah blah. We’re human, so that means lots of us are assholes. But mostly we acknowledge we need each other, because we know cooperation is the only avenue to power in a big, diverse country with two viable political parties.
It seems like Republicans used to understand that better than Democrats — the old “fall in love” vs. “fall in line” cliche comes to mind. Maybe not so much anymore. As you’ve heard, Trump is attempting to install his daughter-in-law as co-chair of the RNC. Here are Lara Trump’s qualifications, according to Lara Trump:
“Anyone who is not on board with seeing Donald Trump as the forty-seventh president and America-loving patriots all the way down the ticket being supported by the RNC is welcome to leave because we are not playing games,” Lara Trump said.
“We have no time to waste,” she continued. “We have to ensure that every single penny of every dollar donated goes to causes that people care about. That’s part of the reason that I think I’m such a great fit for this: There’s no one more loyal to Donald Trump and the Make America Great Again movement than this person you’re looking at right here; than me…”
“Every single penny will go to the number one and the only job of the RNC,” Trump told Newsmax last month. “That is electing Donald J. Trump as president of the United States and saving this country.”
Bold assertions from Mrs. Gums, but recent GOP primary results seem to show some resistance to the full MAGA takeover. Trump will win the nomination if he doesn’t choke to death on a Big Mac between now and the convention. And conventional wisdom holds that Repubs will fall in line. But Haley’s campaign suspension announcement was hardly a ringing endorsement: (ABC News)
“I congratulate [Trump] and wish him well. I wish anyone well who would be America’s president,” she said. “Our country is too precious to let our differences divide us.”
She didn’t explicitly endorse him, however, saying: “I have always been a conservative Republican and always supported the Republican nominee. But on this question, as she did on so many others, Margaret Thatcher provided some good advice when she said, ‘Never just follow the crap. Always make up your own mind.'”
“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it, who did not support it,” she added. “And I hope he does that. At its best politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people.”
Does anyone think Donald Trump believes he has to “earn” votes? Fuck no. His mob boss takeover of the RNC will be completed in a couple of days, and as the spouse of Eric made clear, Republicans who aren’t on the Trump train can go fuck themselves. Also, all of the RNC money will go to Trump’s army of lawyers, and donors who don’t like that can fuck off too.
I don’t know, guys — maybe explicitly rejecting coalition politics and demanding that everyone in the party join the Trump cult of personality will work out great for the homogeneous Republican Party. But in a close election that will depend on turnout and how independents break, etc., I like our fractious, squabbling crew’s chances a lot better than theirs.
Open thread!
waspuppet
I can’t find the clip right now, but Trump this week literally said “I don’t need any more votes. I have all the votes I need.”
I’m not sure how much more plainly he has to spell it out.
Baud
QFT.
Leto
Idk, they’re arguing about that in the Super Tuesday thread below. It’s the same argument we’ve been having here on the blog for a few years now.
I hope they do that, and in the process fucking starve all the down ballot races.
Geo Wilcox
I’d rather be in a messy tent than in a cult.
Manyakitty
@Geo Wilcox: amen to that.
SiubhanDuinne
Can’t
Breathe
Laughing
Too
Hard
CaseyL
Open thread, so here is something to brighten everyone’s day: xkcd explains why nuclear submarines in space aren’t a great idea (YouTube).
Kay
The Republican struggles with loyalty versus common sense and patriotism is fascinating. I see it up close where I live – you bet your ass a lot of Chamber of Commerce Republicans are uncomfortable with Trump. They’re not just uncomfortable with the criminality and racism and lying – they’re uncomfortable with the incompetence – the people he hires.
The drug use in the Trump White House is just a perfect issue to reach these people on. They’ll be horrified.
Manyakitty
@SiubhanDuinne: frankly, that’s probably the most charitable way to describe her, bless her heart.
Kay
I worried that the Never Trumpers would pull the D Party Right but they’ve been admirably restrained on that. My husband says “they’re not restrained, they just have no intention of voting for Democrats after Trump is gone, so they don’t care” :)
Leto
@Kay: will the drug use affect their voting in Nov? Or will it be a case of, hold their nose and vote for the tax cuts? All of this was on display in 2016 and 2020. Did they vote for Joe? Or was it the usual case of, “well, yeah he’s an imperfect vessel and he does unconventional things, but he’s not a Demonrat!”
SiubhanDuinne
Wait. Did she really say that? (Either “she” — Maggie or Nikki.)
Dangerman
Which tells us what we already know; Trump could get smoked by double digits but he still won the election (rigging, dead people, whatever).
We get 1/6, Part 2. I’ve heard it said no one would show up but the hard cores but …
How people like Ginni Thomas and Guilliani look at themselves in the mirror is beyond me. Have some shame.
Leto
@Kay: having them sit out a good, long number of cycles is also a win.
Baud
@Kay:
Not nearly enough of them.
If we lose though, my guess is that there will be a big push to move us to the right a la Clinton.
Betty Cracker
@SiubhanDuinne: LOL, I think it’s supposed to be “crowd,” but I am going with ABC’s transcript. Whether you’re talking about “conservatives” in the UK or US, the terms are interchangeable.
trollhattan
Lara and Eric make quite the power couple.
“Get in line, or get the fuck out and burn in hell!”
“I’m Eric.”
And, scene.
Kay
@Leto:
Some switched. That was sort of countered in rural Ohio by the rabid intesity of Trump voters though. There’s MAGAS locally who are hurting the brand. We are doing this cool thing locally, as a town. We demolished an elementary school and built park on the site. The park is designed so handicapped kids can use it – it’s really state of the art and they expect it will be a local “destination” for families with kids with issues. Just a lovely idea. But the Trumpers are objecting to the projected cost of the bathrooms on the site – the bathrooms are designed for adults with handicapped kids too, so more expensive. It’s just this fucking NASTINESS.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: I don’t trust these Never Trumpers at all but will take their votes, thank you very much.
MisterForkbeard
@Leto: “And by electing Trump, I mean paying off all his fines the next time he sexually assaults someone”
mrmoshpotato
Cleanup in aisle 5! Bring the sarcasm mop!
gene108
From a link in the OP:
(Emphasis mine)
Fascinating correlation by Lara on who gets hurt by Trump’s legal troubles.
SiubhanDuinne
@SiubhanDuinne:
(Lost edit window.) I checked the ABC link provided, and it does say “Never just follow the crap,” as a direct quote from Haley giving a direct quote from Thatcher. But the real quote, of course, is “Never just follow the crowd,” and it seems like a very odd typo/uncaught autocorrect/deliberate act of childish trolling.
Ruckus
@Geo Wilcox:
Yep!
It may be messy but it is humanity and not everyone in life walks in lock step, which is one reason I’m a democrat. We at least try to do the most for the most, not the least for the chosen one. Especially when the chosen one is a complete and utter asshole with a rather large felony count folder with his name on it, who can’t do anything for anyone else but himself and he fucks that up on pretty much every possible occasion. Not really the definition of a democracy.
mrmoshpotato
@Leto:
It’s pretty much done, because Dump doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself.
jonas
Trump and Republicans really don’t even give a shit if they win anymore. They’ll always and forever claim that they were cheated no matter what and start the grievance grift all over again. Wash, rinse, repeat. It’s a fucking cult, not a political organization.
Lapassionara
Just saw a headline, re Mitch McConnell has endorsed Trump. They will fall in line.
Any ideas how we can help turn NC blue? We definitely need more states.
Frankensteinbeck
@Dangerman:
Who gives a shit who shows up? Biden will be President. Not Trump. The capitol won’t be bizarrely underdefended, which I’ve still never heard explained. The national guard won’t be under the orders of a guy who wants the attack to work. Also, if the election isn’t ratified, Biden remains president.
mrmoshpotato
@CaseyL: 🎶Just say no to rocket submarines, rocket submarines, rocket submarines🎶
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: I wondered, too. I thought maybe that was a typo for “crowd”
edit: I see that Betty Cracker at #16 agrees.
Mike E
@Lapassionara: yep, program NYers and Floridiots’ GPS to keep driving elsewhere. November is looking pretty bad here in NC and I am desperate to move back to Pa.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
I read in fhe front page of the Times today, because I won’t pay for it, that Mitch McConnell endorsed Trump, stating per the Times that he has “the requisite support of the Republican Party.”
Mitch, if the Republican Party jumped off a cliff, would you? Please?
WaterGirl
Wow, Mitch. Just when I thought you couldn’t go any lower.
Miss Bianca
@gene108: I love how “causes we believe in” is Trump-speak for “bailing Trump out of his legal troubles.”
Kay
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation:
Clarence Thomas will announce his retirement immediately, if Trump wins.
mrmoshpotato
@Kay:
Are the Republicans of which you speak just now realizing this?
kindness
When Lara Trump announced she would spend every RNC dime on Trump/Trump’s many defense lawyers rather than the party candidates as a whole, I thought she bit off a bit too much to chew. But I’m not a Republican, so what do I know?
Narya
@Kay: and Alito
Baud
@Kay:
Agreed. Alito might wait a minute.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
Not until first announcing Trump’s absolute immunity.
Fear not, though, Trump will not win.
Leto
@Kay: after my motorcycle accident, my mindset on handicap accessibility changed. It’s mainly because I didn’t have the perspective of how they were used/designed*. It’s not that I didn’t think about it, it’s more that like so many people I didn’t have to interact with it. And you’re right, there’s just a nastiness to it. The thought of spending just a bit more to make sure that everyone can have access… they basically want all disabled persons to just stay at home, never to be seen again. Just like “good ole days”.
*should I have needed to been almost killed, and left with permanent mobility issues in order to have this empathy/basic perspective? No, but it did help crystallize a lot of things.
SiubhanDuinne
@Betty Cracker:
Agree that’s the conservative view, but I listened to NH’s speech in real time this morning and she definitely said “crowd.” This is totally on ABC — I just can’t figure out whether it was through ignorance, incompetence, or maliciousness :-)
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
Forty years too late is better than never.
Kay
@Narya:
I think that’s why Ginni Thomas was so engaged in the insurrection. They thought Thomas could step down and start really cashing in. Ooops!
Leto
@Kay: @Baud: Sandra Day O’conner, pt 2: Grifter Boogaloo
Ken
As they say, “One Nation, One People, One Leader.”
Baud
@Kay:
Their RV isn’t getting any younger.
TBone
Smirk
https://crooksandliars.com/2024/03/did-russian-army-attack-golf-carts-why-yes
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
Neither is Clarence’s Thomas…
Leto
@Kay:
idk, I think the offer that John Oliver put up ($1M for life and a brand new, fancy $1m Wal-mart mobile) is pretty generous/sweet. Plus the lifetime speaking fees he’ll be able to get from FedSoc universities/aligned institutions.
Kay
@Leto:
We’ve been spending some time in Denmark and Denmark is horrible for handicapped people. My daughter pointed it out to me – she’s a PA and thinks about these things. I said “they don’t seem to have people on oxygen, wheelchairs, etc.” Oxygen came up because they are smokers – smoking is still quite acceptable there. She said “oh, they have the people. COPD doesn’t stop at the US border. They’re just trapped at home, up five flights without an elevator”.
Bostondreams
@Lapassionara:
24/7 shares and spreads of the utterly horrific things the Repub nominee for governor in that state has said, to start.
Relatedly, that party nominated a homeschooler for state superintendent of schools. Ugh.
Baud
Maybe they’ll replace Thomas with a fetus.
mrmoshpotato
@Kay:
@Narya:
@Baud: Has anyone seen any developments in what caused Anthony Kennedy to run away from the court like his hair was on fire?
I’m still like WTF? on that.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
I don’t think they trust the younger generation. They have cause.
Baud
@mrmoshpotato:
Not I.
Frankensteinbeck
@WaterGirl:
McConnell is the ultimate partisan hack. Of course he will endorse the Republican nominee, no matter who that is.
Narya
@mrmoshpotato: I always figured it had to do w his son and Deutsche Bank but those were only guesses.
eta typo
Ruckus
@Kay:
Remember, they are perfect, just ask them. Everyone else is a faulty human being. It’s an art form, to think that they are perfect, when in fact they are not just flawed but disasters. I see SFB as the perfect conservative – pure shit but the pure shit that his followers want to be. They think they look up to him. But it’s really looking sideways. SFB thinks he’s perfect. He may actually know better, that he’s pure shit, but he’ll absolutely never admit it.
We are humans, none of us is perfect. Some are great at one thing, some are smart, some are not, but the difference is that politically we democrats look at the whole, how can we make the whole better, which will make life better for all of us. They look at how can I get ahead. Their way doesn’t actually work well, if you think that your position is to help society because that’s not how they work. Down at it’s very basic level conservatives really only give a damn how they benefit and everyone that doesn’t look like them or talk like them or act like them can go screw themselves. It’s why shitforbrains is their chosen leader. He’s one of them, a useless POS who thinks the world revolves around the stick up his butt.
Kay
@Leto:
I think that kind of envy Thomas has can happen to people who spend all their time with rich people but are not rich themselves.
I find it amusing because they always insist they would have been rich but for public service, or whatever. Facts not in evidence. I have no idea how well Clarence Thomas would have done in the private sector and either does Clarence Thomas.
trollhattan
@Frankensteinbeck: Was not especially on pins and needles over this. Water is wet, Turtle is Turtle.
mrmoshpotato
@Ruckus:
That’s a new version of “People who think the world revolves around them.”
I like it.
Lyrebird
I live in hope that that’s one of those cointel-sensitive investigations that going on without a ripple…
Totally off topic: I haven’t tried your simple frosting recipe yet, but I will, AND weren’t you also the source of that poached pear tart recipe? I forwarded it to a dear friend who’s an amazing cook, and she was able to do it gluten-free and use only cider for added sweetening so I could have some, and it was AMAZING.
Thank you!
Hoodie
@Mike E: At a recent Dem precinct event I met a couple from Florida who had just moved to Raleigh to get out of the nuttiness down there. They might be having some buyer’s remorse with Robinson heading the state GOP ticket. That said, even though he was LtGov (a pretty meaningless office), he’s probably too nutty for the governor’s mansion and Josh Stein stands to beat him even if Biden doesn’t win NC. Stein won reelection as AG in 2020, coming somewhat close to Cooper’s numbers.
NC is competitive if we can get turnout. Some state pols told me that the problem recently has mostly been in the Charlotte metro area. The Triangle is growing like crazy and getting bluer every year. Starting to see a similar phenomenon to the ring counties of Atlanta, i.e., the Triangle suburbs are increasingly diverse and getting bluer as a lot of the transplants now are of Latino or Asian descent.
trollhattan
@Kay:
If no longer on the court, and thus of no further use, how many Thomas family “friends” ghost the everloving fuck out of them?
[Phone rings]
“Fuck, it says Ginni.”
[declines call]
“I need to go to Verizon for something.”
lowtechcyclist
@CaseyL:
Omigod, I had no idea Randall did YouTubes! That was great!!
Narya
@Lyrebird: I’m so glad! I can see that it would be pretty easy to de-gluten it. Also works w hazelnut in the crust and/or frangipane (though there’s more oil in hazelnuts I think so some tweaking might be needed)
trollhattan
@Narya: The Kennedy thing remains smelly as last month’s garbage, but they seem to have wriggled out of it with no consequences. And just look who we have as a replacement!
Jackie
BettyCracker:
I’ll settle for him choking on a KFC chicken bone.
Ken
@trollhattan: Harlan Crow owns the house where Thomas’s mother lives. I would expect if he resigned, she’d be out on the streets within a few hours.
(There’s a clause in the purchase agreement preventing that, but he’s a billionaire; what’s she going to do, sue him?)
Hoodie
@Kay: IIRC Thomas didn’t make it in the private sector, i.e., he went to the public sector because no white shoe firm would give him a job out of Harvard Law. Of course, he’d never say that was because of racism. That guy has all kinds of weird going on.
Leto
@Kay: well, there’s something that the Danes can improve. Honestly, most of Europe can improve on that. +1 for ADA.
Regarding Thomas: idk, he might have. Went to an elite college, was accepted and graduated from Yale, but potentially due to discriminatory practices, didn’t get accepted at big law firms. If you look within his graduating peer group, there’s probably stuff that tracks with that. But then he took the track of trying to destroy the laws/agencies that were supposed to help fix that. I understand your stance though (facts not in existence) . Did you see this?
Federal judge orders minority-business agency opened to all races
Right up his alley and what he’s actively helping.
Tony Jay
The thing is, nothing is ever static. Stench might well complete his leveraged takeover of the GOP in time to turn it into a Fines & Damages Disbursement machine, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he gets total control over the mostly unified political alliance that previously traded under the name of The Republican Party.
Total control means a lot of GOP voters probably stay home. It means a lot of GOP donors pull in their horns and refuse to allow Stench the pleasure of spending on their tab. It means Independents feel icky about pulling the lever for the GOP and Democratic waverers get drawn back to necessity. It means the people in the Party machinery who know what they’re doing get elbowed aside by the people who only know how to suck up to El Dementio. It means down ticket races are starved and uncoordinated and everything – EVERY DAMN THING – is increasingly all about keeping the wolves of destiny from chomping through Stench’s powdered wattle before he meets his destiny on Election Day.
A Stench Party isn’t the old Republican Party, it’s not even the leaderless, devil-dealing Party that allowed Stench to grab it by the pussy back in 2016. A Stench Party is an out-of-control getaway jalopy hurtling at breakneck speed down a twisting mountain road with parts flying off and the engine on fire, driven by a demented meth-head with both eyes on the rear view mirror and no clue how to steer.
Not making any predictions today, but I’d much rather be in the corvette with Joe.
Barry
Clarence will leave SCOTUS feet first:
He is well paid by his donors.
There is no accountability, save to his donors.
The work is easy.
There are massive psychological rewards, if one is a sadist.
Denali5
It is sad but true that accessibility and other issues for people with handicaps would never have happened in today’s Congress. The erosion of women’s rights and the lapse in the Civil Rights Act are the tell. We are going backward and quickly.
Bupalos
@Dangerman: If I had to predict a single scenario for a post-Trump loss, it would be a much more decentralized and hybrid form of insurgency. I think they might lean in to kinds of destabilization that leave it up to local police to interpret and excuse, and try to form more a kind of grassroots coalition of light treason winked at by law enforcement.
But I wouldn’t want to predict. The number of potential scenarios here is pretty much endless. I do think it’s safe to say the threat to democracy doesn’t end with this election or even the next couple.
SiubhanDuinne
@mrmoshpotato:
I am too. I keep thinking it was something very significant. We may never know — or perhaps one or two obscure people need to die and then whatever-it-was will finally be public.
Brachiator
This is more than “fall in line” politics.
This is a cult. With Trump’s family installed in key positions.
Jackie
@Manyakitty: I remember reading somewhere TIFG didn’t like Lara and tried to convince Eric to marry someone he preferred. Then he saw her on FAUX? raving about how wonderful and smart her FIL was… and we all know how that ended.
Flattery is the key to that thing that resides in TIFG’s chest. Oh, and money, which goes without saying.
Hoodie
@Tony Jay: Into the gates of Valhalla you shall ride eternal, shiny and chrome!
Mr. Bemused Senior
Free association leads me to Howl’s Moving Castle
TBone
The fear playbook failed on these (unlike the Supremacists Court):
https://boltsmag.org/houston-austin-da-elections/
Jackie
@Dangerman:
There is no image reflected. Just a blank silver space on the wall.
Baud
@TBone:
👍
cain
@Kay: I look forward to him having to hold on for another 4 years. I hope he feels very tired. Then when we win again 4 years later – him feeling tortured that they can’t replace him with another conservative judge. OH yeah, gonna enjoy that feeling.
cain
@Leto: I had that when it comes to small letters for shampoo and conditioner bottles. WTF, yo – you can’t have glasses in the shower so it’s tough to figure out which one is what or how to read the instructions if it is a new product!
cain
@Kay: Europe in general is awful. Especially for metro/subway/trains. Trying to take baggage up and down the stairs. Just ridiculous.
The EU should have a disabilities act like we did.
geg6
@Baud:
But John Oliver offered them a brand new one, much higher end than the one they currently go to Walmart to sleep in the parking lots! Plus a million a year from his own pocket! He still has time to accept!
Leto
@cain: I was going to say that the UK has decent DA for their trains, and other public systems. They do have ramps/elevators for their museums and such. But then I remembered, they’re not part of the EU anymore. /headshake; and yes, f tiny letters on bottles intended for shower use!
cain
@Brachiator:
Meanwhile, GOP are desperately trying to investigate the Biden “crime” family – going after Hunter while the entire Trump family is taking over everything in the party.
And fucking it up. lol. They got no one to blame but themselves – they won’t even investigate themselves when the Trump family hoovers all the money.
TBone
@Baud: fElon Skum foiled again! 🤣🔥💜
TBone
https://digbysblog.net/2024/03/06/the-big-money-boyz-and-their-tax-cuts/
Betty Cracker
@Tony Jay:
Nailed it!
Brachiator
@Kay:
I don’t believe that they are uncomfortable with the criminality and lying and racism, but I can see that they might be uncomfortable with the incompetence. It’s bad for the bottom line.
Drug use? Who knows. But if they can be persuaded to vote for Biden, that’s fine with me.
Captain C
@Dangerman:
In Giuliani’s case, he’s probably looking in the mirror with a severe case of beergoggles (or in his particular case, whiskeygoggles).
TBone
Cybertruck on auto pilot unplanned rapid disassembly.
Kay
@cain:
My daughter in law told me her bus route to work just disappeared one day. They sent it elsewhere. No notice. She said “it’s okay for me- I can take the bike – but what about all the handicapped people on the bus – they don’t have cars”. Her whole apartment complex complained and one day the bus reappeared. It’s like “walkable cities are great but these people can’t walk“.
Kay
@Brachiator:
The worst thing you can call a moderate Republican is “incompetent”. A lot of their self image depends on them being seen as good managers. I think it’s fun for D’s because it’s stealing what they thinl of as their issue – like us saying “freedom is keeping the Supreme Court out of the examining room with you and your physician”.
Jackie
@WaterGirl: Since he endorsed TIFG right after Haley bowed out, I think McConnell was hoping a miracle would happen and he could give her his endorsement. But no miracles today.
His standing with his MAGA cronies is already below water, his capsulation means little at this point – EXCEPT for crowing rights for TIFG. Should TIFG win the Election (he WON’T!) I wouldn’t be surprised to see McConnell retire at year’s end.
Soprano2
@Kay: They’re so nasty toward anyone who isn’t exactly like them. It’s gross. One of my friends who dated my sister a long time ago posted a meme about being concerned he ran over a dog, but then found out it was climate change protesters so that was OK. I commented to him on FB “What’s wrong with you, don’t you know my sister could have been one of those people?”. Just gross stuff.
We have a “miracle ballfield” here in one of the city parks that’s designed for kids with disabilities. It’s pretty cool.
Tony Jay
@Betty Cracker:
Should have made it “…an out-of-control getaway Cybertruck” shouldn’t I?
KrackenJack
@Kay:
Quick! Put Tom Cruise in a Ginni Thomas suit!
Brachiator
@cain:
I am somewhat surprised that a political party with so many greedy, selfish bastards would roll over for Trump. They must see him as useful to plutocrats. But he is unreliable and will betray them in a heartbeat.
AlaskaReader
I have to reject the premise, it’s a simplification that doesn’t work for me,
….assholes who willfully base their lives and their beliefs on the inhumanity of said lives and beliefs have forfeited any claim to human-ness or humanity.
I can no longer give those people any benefit of doubt.
Granting such people the benefit of the doubt allows them to think their inhumanity stands on equal terms with humanity.
History should show you that has led to tragic ends.
I believe it is better to draw a clear line and always rise to defend it.
Soprano2
@Kay: I imagine it’s pretty tough to retrofit all those old buildings. Even here, I think they grandfather old buildings until they make improvements. I know of one dive bar in Springfield (not ours) where the bathrooms are definitely not handicap accessible.
rikyrah
@Geo Wilcox:
not one lie told.
Jackie
@Kay:
Only if the GQP wins the Senate. Schumer learned the “rules” from McConnell.
patrick II
@Jackie:
Trump bragging about Kim Jung Un’s “love letters” still seems surreal to me. I don’t mean that hyperbolically. How could that be true in the real world?
Baud
@Jackie:
Hard to believe we keep the Senate if Trump wins, but otherwise agree.
Betty Cracker
@AlaskaReader: I don’t give assholes the benefit of the doubt either; my point is assholes walk among us and always will. There are asshole Democrats. There are many more asshole Republicans. Fact, IMO.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Kay: I doubt Thomas will retire. Its too easy and profitable a gig. He doesn’t care if it hurts the integrity of the court. He doesn’t care if he’s unpopular. He whines a LOT, but he loves the money and power.
rikyrah
@Dangerman:
Not saying that they won’t show up. Just saying it’s an entirely different scenario. There WILL be police present. There WILL be National Guard. There WILL be paddywagons ready for them. No going home after insurrection this time.
Jackie
@Baud: True.
We know what we Dems have to do! Outvote the Rethugs!
catclub
6 votes on the SC?
rikyrah
@schrodingers_cat:
I don’t trust them either. They are only good for ads. They really are excellent with messaging. I don’t even count on their votes.
rikyrah
@Kay:
And Alito.
Both to be replaced by 40 something carbon copies of themselves.
Paul in KY
@Kay: He seems like a guy who will die on the bench. He loves the ability to stick it to Dems too much.
rikyrah
@Leto:
Yes….those bygone wonderful days of yore.
Paul in KY
@TBone: That sound like a Monty Python sketch. Bet the troops really liked em. “Comrade, your assault vehicle will be the Tractov Golfer Elite II. Functionally similar to the Toro RangePro ™”
Sister Golden Bear
@cain: Some parts of Europe have elevators and sometimes ramps for public transit in new locations. But yes, stations in some cities <looking at you Paris> and most of the countryside are pretty abysmal for accessibility.
rikyrah
@Tony Jay:
I really do wanna see who is actually giving money to the RNC, now that they know it’s just going to legal bills
rikyrah
@Kay:
The competence of Biden and his Administration must drive them nuts.
I know it drives the MSM nuts.
Gretchen
@Leto: Trump was frank about this. He said out loud that he didn’t want visibly wounded veterans at his events. Ugh.
Having twins opened my eyes to access. My daughter’s school wasn’t accessible, and the principal’s office was on the 2nd floor, so when she was sent home sick, I had to stand outside with the twin stroller and wave to them to send her down. This was 30 years ago. That school has since burned down and been replace with an accessible one.
MisterForkbeard
@rikyrah: They get around this by pretending that Biden and his hires are incompetent. Doesn’t take any evidence, it’s just a bare assertion
cain
@Brachiator: and they keep being called fiscally responsible – no matter how many times there are financial scandals in the various local parties.
The media likes to keep leaning tropes from the 50s – none of them are true. Middle americas are not all farmers, they are all industrial farms now using immigrant labor.
cain
@Sister Golden Bear: Paris is exactly where I was thinking of. Even far flung places like Brno, Czechia have elevators.
Citizen Alan
@Soprano2:
It’s so exhausting. I feel like I’m trapped in a zombie horror flick. Only it’s a weird zombie horror flick in which the zombies are not quite as aggressive but are much smarter. Indeed, smart enough to form a political party that is devoted to thwarting any anti-zombie measures by the government while advancing policies that will kill us all slowly or else force us to voluntarily become zombies ourselves. Even if Shitgibbon died tomorrow, it would do nothing about the fundamental problem of 70+ million Americans who are irredeemable monsters ruled by cruelty for cruelty’s sake.
mrmoshpotato
@Captain C:
While banging his cousin.
mrmoshpotato
@rikyrah:
Exactly. Biden ain’t gonna let Trump trash insurrectionist shitstains just walk away if they wanna be Trump trash insurrectionist shitstains in 2025.
Ruckus
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation:
Forty years too late is better than never.
Possibly. Maybe yes, if you look at the overall big picture of the lifetime of humans, but the reality is that history goes to shit every so often because of humanity and that humanity has 2 feet that seem to have a mind of their own (or none at all) and often both of them get in the way of forward movement.
I believe that conservatives think that their ideals will at least keep them where they are (because of course they deserve it!) and that allowing everyone to actually be equal will screw them. I’ve been doing this political thing for a lot of decades and it seems to me that conservatives have really just wanted themselves to be on top and everyone else can sleep in the dump..
Tony Jay
@rikyrah:
Gomez Addams considered it briefly, but there’s evil mischief, and then there’s evil mischief.
Ruckus
@mrmoshpotato:
Are the Republicans of which you speak just now realizing this?
Yes, SOME OF THEM are.
Any time you operate around the general public (and I have done this a fair amount) you will find that a segment of the public lives in their own little worlds. In the current world the communications, like what we are doing here, cover a hell of a lot more ground than we ever used to do. And of course it works both ways, good and bad. But the one thing humanity doesn’t/hasn’t really changed is how involved a segment of any population will or won’t be. Humans follow guidelines, some self inflicted, some laying around waiting to be picked up, some complete bull and shit. The world has changed a lot over the last 2-4 decades because we actually can communicate with a lot more humans, a lot more often and in a lot more depth. Like we are doing now. And some people watch faux news and some of them get caught up in the concept that faux news projects and promotes. One of the things faux concentrates on is police action and what that means to the faux viewers. Of course it doesn’t have to be true or realistic, all it has to do is be repeated often enough. Now that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t discuss these issues, it means that the presentation of this in this fashion is meant to show that some people are gangsters and want you to die and therefore you want conservative politicians that will work to protect the citizens of this country and liberals do not. They of course don’t say this, but they show the concept. Repetitiously. Subtly.
Ruckus
@Jackie:
From what I’ve seen and heard we likely won’t have to look very hard or far to see shitforbrains and his rapidly declining ability to think or speak. I’ve known people that are 10 yrs older than him that have their shit in a very small pile. He doesn’t and he’s getting worse rapidly. He’s never really taken care of himself and the farther in age and stupid he gets, surrounded by his idiot sons, the far more obvious it will become to many that he is what we’ve known all along – shit on 2 feet and a “brain” that has completely leaked out any concept of thought and reality.
RaflW
“Our conservative cause badly needs more people” is anathema to what now passes for mainstream Republicans. Its why they’ve pretty successfully disenfranchised millions of voters. Its why they’re deeply invested in gerrymanders. Its why Trump is plainspoken about nullifying elections that don’t chose him.
So, Haley, I offer a very measured and specific “Bless your heart.”
Ruckus
@waspuppet:
It’s not him that has to spell it out.
It’s all the people that vote for him despite that he is rapidly getting senile. Some of that is because he sets his own ass on fire (figuratively speaking) on a regular basis and while he’s getting worse at being anything like a normal shitforbrains, he is seemingly not aging well. Sure, he doesn’t have a lot of competition in the race to be the rethuglican candidate for president, but if you can stomach it, watching him going forward will turn off many of his prior supporters. I’ve written here before that he’s only 3 yrs older than me but what I’ve been hearing lately is that he’s starting to show a lot of his underlying stupidity, that his mental health is declining somewhat rapidly. And as the now oldest, last remaining family member – I was the youngest and I now live in a 55+ apartment complex, several people are in their 90s, one is 97, I can tell you that once decline starts it never slows down, it only gets faster. As someone who has seen a lot of people get way up there in their senior years – when the last of the decline starts, the loss of logical thinking (even bad logical thinking!) goes by the wayside. It becomes pure survival of a person without the ability to survive. It’s very rare to not pick up downward speed as time marches on.
And from what I’m seeing and hearing about shitforbrains is that soon I’ll have to capitalize that when discussing him. Or change it to shitwithoutbrain. Those of you in the older seniors end of this journey likely know of what I speak.
AlaskaReader
@Betty Cracker: yeah, not any doubt from me as to where you stand, Betty, I just wanted to comment on the phrase as it was presented later all by itself and without any other continuity or direct context.
I have heard people, (not you), attempt to use similar phrasing in an attempt to ‘justify’ giving those assholes and their asinine views some agency because …’we are all human’ and ‘everyone deserves to be heard’.
Ceding any ground to that argument is a fool’s errand.
I’m likely not wrong in guessing you agree. Sorry if it seemed as if it was pointed at you. Not my intention at all.
Ruckus
@Kay:
It’s just this fucking NASTINESS.
It’s actually just nasty selfishness. You know ME, ME, ME, ME………
Ruckus
@gene108:
Fascinating correlation by Lara on who gets hurt by Trump’s legal troubles.
Well you know, he is superior to everyone else, just ask him….. Or any of the people who think his shit doesn’t stink. (Of course they may just think shit smells wonderful, which is why they like ShitForBrains.)
Ruckus
@SiubhanDuinne:
ignorance, incompetence, or maliciousness
Let’s see, isn’t that the 3 guiding lights of the rethuglican party……
Ruckus
@Betty Cracker:
We all have an asshole.
We don’t all act like one, shit shooting out on a regular basis.