Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Fight them, without becoming them!

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

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

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

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

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

The arc of the moral universe doesn’t bend itself. it’s up to us.

This country desperately needs a functioning Fourth Estate.

ha ha ha! Nice try weird people.

No Justins, No Peace

Please don’t feed the bears.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

I desperately hope that, yet again, I am wrong.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

White supremacy is terrorism.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

In my day, never was longer.

Donald Trump, welcome to your everything, everywhere, all at once.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Afternoon Open Thread: This Seems Bad…

Afternoon Open Thread: This Seems Bad…

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…for Republicans

I’m not sure what it going on. I’m on hospice watch for Zander – he has liver cancer and we can discuss what that means later, when I’m not sleep deprived.

But to distract myself, I popped in the Xewer to see what’s-what:

My favorite:

And I know Crockett is a favorite here and she does not disappoint.

 

There seems to be a LOT going on in these hearings and going so badly FOX is not caring them live today and if I had more brain cells functioning I’d dig up more stuff. But I’m sure someone in the comments will provide a good, concise location to see the Hindenburg that is this hearing today.

Open thread

Reader Interactions

104Comments

  3. 3.

    TaMara

    @Baud: Thanks. It sucks, but he’s been healthy and happy until about 4 weeks ago and it’s been super fast, so I guess I can be grateful for that. Still sucks.

  5. 5.

    WaterGirl

    I have been posting some of the video tweets of the hearings, but I hadn’t seen those.

    Holy fuck-ski!  That first tweet, Trump and Lindsay!   I haven’t seen the Crockett one yet, that should be a treat!

  6. 6.

    Ohio Mom

    @TaMara: I’m sorry too. I hope Zander has an easy transition.

    Years from now, someone is going to write a play about Lindsey Graham and it will be a tragedy. He knew better. I’m not sure if some of the others can think straight enough to have any perspective, they are so personality-disordered.

    Not that I have any personal sympathy for any of them. Traitors, every last one of them.

  7. 7.

    Manyakitty

    So sorry about Zander. We lost Heisenberg around a month ago and are still bereft. Much like so many other things, he experienced a slow decline, and then it all hit at once over his last two weeks. Sending all the love and strength.

  10. 10.

    lowtechcyclist

    What impresses me about that second tweet is, here is yet one more Democratic Congressperson that I’d never heard of before, who is quite intelligent and has put in the work.  We just absolutely have the best House Democratic Caucus of my lifetime.  These people are amazing.  Our side keeps getting better and better people elected, and their side’s people keep getting dumber and more gullible and more dependent on Fox News to feed them their lines, hell, their entire agendas.

    Absofuckinglutely proud to be a Democrat.

  11. 11.

    mrmoshpotato

    Afternoon Open Thread: This Seems Bad…

    Oh crap!

    …for Republicans

    Haha!  Oh goody!

     

    Echoing comments about Zander.  Sorry you’re going through this.

  12. 12.

    Jackie

    {TaMara}, I’m sooo sad for you. Sending you lots of hugs. Give Zander some pets from me.

  13. 13.

    lowtechcyclist

    You’re in my thoughts and prayers, TaMara.  Give Zander some skritches for me.

  14. 14.

    Tony Jay

    +++ JACKAL NEWS UPDATE +++

     DID JOE BIDEN PAY RUSSIAN AGENT TO HIDE EVIDENCE OF HUNTER CORRUPTION? NEUTRALS SAY ‘YES’

    Cornered by expert GOP questioning, Democrat stooge Lev ‘The Worm’ Parnas today admitted that he pushed Russian Hoax disinformation for money, leaving open the possibility that ‘treasure troves of irrefutable evidence’ may have been among the secret files removed from Hunter Biden’s laptop and hidden in former Vice-President Biden’s mysterious Delaware safe-house.

    “It’s not unlikely,” said House Impeachment Leader Comer, fresh from his brutal cross-investigation of the Russian mole, “Possibilities are real things with roots and doors onto other worlds where America learns the truth about Biden Family racketeering. We won’t rest until integrity flowers in the White House dirt again.”

    With their star witness exposed as a conduit for anti-Trump lies, the salient question of today’s hearing is undeniably how long can House Democrats continue to shield Hunter’s corrupt Kiev connections from justice’s steely finger?

    +++ JACKAL NEWS UPDATE +++

    +++ WE DISTORT – TO DERIDE +++

  19. 19.

    Butch

    We need more Crocketts and Moskowitz-es and far fewer Dick Durbins.

    I lost our kitty Moorea (the island where we found him and brought him home) to the same thing.  I’m so sorry.  They’re with you forever and then suddenly it seems like such a short time.

  20. 20.

    Quadrillipede

    Wow, Republicans are just not good at any of this any more, are they? I’m starting to wander if the House majority is gonna last all the way to November…

  21. 21.

    JPL

    Thank you for all the clips and we have some pretty good people.   A week ago, I thought maybe let two or three ask questions but I was wrong.  They are all good.

  22. 22.

    MattF

    The one lesson that Rs have learned from TFG is ‘Never Back Down’. Never, never, never. So, now, they are stuck in quicksand and continue to sink.

  23. 23.

    japa21

    First and most important, TaMara, thinking of you and Zander. There’s a reason Mrs. Japa and I decided no more pets but it is amazing how often we think, well, maybe.

    Secondly, I am surprised the GOP hasn’t figured out a way to prevent any Dems from being in these hearings. There isn’t a Dem in the House, I think, that can’t destroy any of the GOP gambits. Senate, there may be a couple who can’t.

  24. 24.

    CaseyL

    Oh, no.  I am so very and incredibly sorry to hear about Zander.   Sending you and him much love. (I lost a kitty to cancer in November 2022: from diagnosis to euthanasia was about 2 months.)

    While there is some entertainment value in seeing the GOP continue debasing itself right through the gutter and into Stygian depths previously unplumbed by US politicians, they are dragging the government and the country down with them, which makes the entertainment rather less enjoyable. A more toxic, useless collection of human-shaped parasites is hard to imagine.

  25. 25.

    Mike in NC

    Great to hear from Rudy’s stooge Lev Parnas again. He named his company Fraud Guarantee so you just know he’s on Team MAGA.

  27. 27.

    WaterGirl

    Parnas: “I believe Bill Barr should be investigated for the coverup and trying to silence me to get the truth out of what really happened in Ukraine.”

    I would like to second that.

  32. 32.

    West of the Rockies

    I don’t know how the pasty, dreary Comer keeps himself from stepping into traffic. What a stooge.  To be so fucking dumb and so damned sure of oneself.

  33. 33.

    dnfree

    @lowtechcyclist: Raja is my representative.  We had Sean Casten and now have Raja because of the 2020 Illinois redistricting.  Both are excellent, and Lauren Underwood is excellent, and Eric Sorensen is excellent.  We are surrounded by excellence.

  38. 38.

    dexwood

    Ms. Stansbury is my rep and the daughter of an old friend of ours going back to our Ice Age college days. She has always impressed us even as a child.

  39. 39.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @lowtechcyclist:

    She took that left turn at Albuquerque!

    ETA: This is the “Political Positions” section of Rep. Stansbury’s Wikipedia entry:

    In a questionnaire created by the Adelante Progressive Caucus, Stansbury pledged support for Medicare for All legislation, a federal assault weapons ban, the D.C. statehood movement, canceling student loan debt, federal marijuana legalization, and several other progressive policies. She was endorsed by abortion rights group Voteprochoice.

  40. 40.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    Big scritches for Zander and always remember, he doesn’t fear death, he just fears the pain of today.  Spare him as much of that pain as you can bear.

  46. 46.

    Quadrillipede

    @West of the Rockies: I don’t know how the pasty, dreary Comer keeps himself from stepping into traffic.

    You could argue that white supremacy harms white people — by teaching them to be unreflective self-entitled bigots whith no capacity for self-improvement (in addition to the harms it inflicts more overtly on BIPOC).

  51. 51.

    Leto

    Rep Crockett to Bobulinski: bitch, did I stutter? Shut your damn mouth!

    She brought out the mom voice. Woe be to anyone when she does that. Lordy.

    TaMara: so sorry about Zander.

  55. 55.

    Jay C

    @Tony Jay:

    I chortled out loud at this, then realized that a very similar version of your satire probably will appear on some RW “news” outlet, likely by tonight, and be taken *seriously* by its slack-jawed viewership…

  57. 57.

    White & Gold Purgatorian

    Condolences and wishes for comfort to you and Zander. Liver ailments just suck.

    I just read that a group of House Republicans are proposing to raise the Social Security retirement age and reduce SS benefits for high earners. That is going to be soooo popular … amongst people who tend to vote for Republicans. Is the info bubble so strong they believe voters will reward their crazy ideas?

  58. 58.

    Jeffro

    The dam is definitely breaking, thank goodness

    Next up: evidence of which republican members of Congress got paid.  In rubles, that is.

  61. 61.

    CaseyL

    @White & Gold Purgatorian: Maybe the GOP is giving up on everyone but “Whites Who Couldn’t Get into College and Can’t Get Laid and Resent Those Who Did and Do” and “Oligarchs of No Particular Nationality.”

    The former to vote for them, and the latter to finance them.

  62. 62.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Quadrillipede: Indeed, this is the central theme of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together

    by Heather McGhee:

    Heather McGhee’s specialty is the American economy—and the mystery of why it so often fails the American public. From the financial crisis of 2008 to rising student debt to collapsing public infrastructure, she found a root problem: racism in our politics and policymaking. But not just in the most obvious indignities for people of color. Racism has costs for white people, too. It is the common denominator of our most vexing public problems, the core dysfunction of our democracy and constitutive of the spiritual and moral crises that grip us all. But how did this happen? And is there a way out?

    McGhee embarks on a deeply personal journey across the country from Maine to Mississippi to California, tallying what we lose when we buy into the zero-sum paradigm—the idea that progress for some of us must come at the expense of others. Along the way, she meets white people who confide in her about losing their homes, their dreams, and their shot at better jobs to the toxic mix of American racism and greed. This is the story of how public goods in this country—from parks and pools to functioning schools—have become private luxuries; of how unions collapsed, wages stagnated, and inequality increased; and of how this country, unique among the world’s advanced economies, has thwarted universal healthcare.

    But in unlikely places of worship and work, McGhee finds proof of what she calls the Solidarity Dividend: the benefits we gain when people come together across race to accomplish what we simply can’t do on our own. The Sum of Us is not only a brilliant analysis of how we arrived here but also a heartfelt message, delivered with startling empathy, from a black woman to a multiracial America. It leaves us with a new vision for a future in which we finally realize that life can be more than a zero-sum game.

  64. 64.

    Citizen Alan

    @Ohio Mom: In the sense that MacBeth was a tragedy in that every single bad thing that happened to him was a result of his own mendacious and self-serving choices.

  66. 66.

    Quadrillipede

    I think perhaps the most notable difference between today’s Republicans and ten-years-ago Republicans, is that the old ones were pretending to believe ridiculous things.

    Reality will hit you in the face if you try to ignore it for too long…

  69. 69.

    azlib

    TaMara,

    Sorry to hear about your cat. We have 3 cats right now plus one foster. We have gone through quite a few cats at end of life. It is a hard thing to go through. They really are family. We have also fostered 318 cats since 2010 for a local pet rescue outfit. Cats are a joy, but it is hard to watch them cross the rainbow bridge.

  71. 71.

    Joy in FL

    So sorry about Zander. May he experience a smooth transition and love along the way. And you as well, as his human.

  74. 74.

    Tony Jay

    @Jay C:

    Just think of the stupidest, most contra-factual take on any GOP failure, dip it into an extra sugary pot of hot stupidity, then run it through an Enstupiding Engine and imagine a fulminating prick saying it out loud.

    My job is easy.

  75. 75.

    Mousebumples

    Best wishes to you, Tamara, and Zander and your other well loved pets. Such a difficult time for you all.

  79. 79.

    Mousebumples

    Keeping TFG stuff out of the respite thread…

     

    https://bsky.app/profile/kilgoretrout.bsky.social/post/3ko5mvik3lt2i

    I keep saying this but trump has been in the public eye so long we don’t notice it anymore – this is the most cash poor motherfucker you’ve ever seen. just look how he goes about his life like a disheveled slob caroming from free event to free event. cut off his credit & he’s eating ketchup packets

    he doesn’t do any of the other shit billionaires who aren’t sweating it do. no wacky sports cars, no $10K shoes, no cristal fountains, no flings on yachts gobbling cavier & foie gras off supermodels. just a rumpled ass suit from 1997 and some golf clubs on a glorified muni in his yard

  81. 81.

    Percysowner

     

    @TaMara:

     I’m so sorry about Zander. I’m glad that he was happy and healthy until now. That was how my second to last cat was when he died. He was his normal self, right up until he literally fell over on the floor. I rushed him to the vet and was told he had lung cancer and that it was time to say goodby. Later I read that cats are often like that with cancer, showing no symptoms until it is far too late.

    Hugs and love to you.

  82. 82.

    hueyplong

    Zander is fortunate to have a good owner to show him across to conclude a loving relationship.

  83. 83.

    WaterGirl

    @Leto: Did you hear the indignant and incredulous “Excuse me?” from him after she told him to hush because she was speaking and hadn’t asked him a question?

    The tone of his “Excuse me????” said it all:

    Uppity bitch, who the hell are you to talk to me that way?  You can’t talk to me that way.

  85. 85.

    Betty

    @japa21: This seems to be a case where the younger House members are willing to be more aggressive than some of the old time Democrats in the Senate. Whitehouse and Warren are certainly two exceptions.

  86. 86.

    Jackie

    I’m sure Ken Buck is crying into his beer… He has two days before he does a zippatidooda zippity day ala Boehner…

    The House Freedom Caucus voted to remove Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) from the group Tuesday night, a dismissal that comes days before he is set to retire from Congress, The Hill reports.

  87. 87.

    Bill Arnold

    @White & Gold Purgatorian:

    reduce SS benefits for high earners.

    The intent of this part is to try to taint Social Security as “Welfare for Old People” among the rest of the voting population; a wedge tactic. Have the Republicans forgotten this, or do they believe that they can propagandize around it among those of Social Security age? Have they heard of filial responsibility laws[1], and are they ready for their parents to move in with them?
    [1] Also the Fifth Commandment: “Honor your father and your mother, in order that your days be lengthened on the land that the Lord, your God, is giving you.”

  88. 88.

    Bex

    Zander has known love because of you.  He is a very lucky kitty and knows that in his own way.

  90. 90.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @TaMara:

    My thoughts are with you and your Zander. It’s tough to spend years of joy with your furry kids and then too quickly they are gone. A day in our lives is a week in theirs.

    It’s worth every bit of it to know that you gave them a good home, security and lots of love.

  93. 93.

    Westyny

    Love the links, TaMara, and very sorry to hear about Zandar.  You certainly have given him his best life.

  95. 95.

    Gvg

    @Quadrillipede: Reminds me that I think slavery was bad for the owners too. Absolute power, corrupts absolutely.

    I also think the old fashioned concept that wife’s must always be submissive to the husband, was corrupting too.

    Both made people worse morally. This does not mean anyone has an excuse to turn the subject into comparing who had it worse.

  96. 96.

    TBone

    @TaMara: the kindness required to the right thing is a gift. It seems to me you’ve got it in spades. Even though it felt awful every time we went through it, we know our loved ones deserve the best we can give: the strength of kindness.  I send my best hopes for extra strength for you and yours.

  99. 99.

    Quadrillipede

    @Gvg: Both made people worse morally. This does not mean anyone has an excuse to turn the subject into comparing who had it worse.

    I think you can also make a case for the extreme isolation and paranoia that having too much wealth can cause, and the diminished mental health that results. (Not sure examples are necessary.)

    Divide et impera is a concept old enough to have a Latin name. Maybe some kind of grassroots, bottom-up movement to expose people to ideas from civics and game theory (etc) might help on the margins with reachable folks. It’s a tough problem to solve though, history seems to indicate…

  103. 103.

    Ann Marie

    I’m so sorry about Zander.  I’ve lost three cats to various cancers and it really sucks.  A cat doesn’t understand that a lot of people he’s never met are thinking about him, but we are.

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