Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

The revolution will be supervised.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

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

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / RNC Open Thread: Liars in Love

RNC Open Thread: Liars in Love

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RNC Open Thread:

(Mike Luckovich via GoComics.com)

 
I went to check on how things were going in Milwaukee today, and this was my first hit:


Poor Milwaukee!

The RNC ‘security’ hasn’t droned any protestors yet, but some of their imported rent-a-cops did kill a homeless dude, which I guess gives Ohio bragging rights at the afterparties…

(Ohio, not sending its best)

Coda, speaking of terrible makeup jobs…

Reader Interactions

190Comments

  1. 1.

    LanceThruster

    The fact of them being so undeniably awful should be cause for introspection as to why Dems are not trouncing them in the polls. Get that wrong; expect more of the same tight races.

  2. 2.

    different-church-lady

    The only solace I have right now is that there’s still a lot of time for Trump to make big mistakes.

  6. 6.

    Scout211

    Remember all the face painted purple hearts at the RNC making fun of John Kerry?

    The cosplay continues, but now the badge of honor is an ear bandage.

    This is crazy con.

  10. 10.

    zhena gogolia

    Thanks for the RNC highlights, AL. I don’t think I can actually watch them. 😂

    I guess these are the people who will be ruling us for the rest of my natural life. Thanks, George, Adam, and Nancy!

  11. 11.

    m.j.

    This 2025 thingy seems a whole lot like what happened when Bush Jr. got his war on in Iraq and didn’t know what to do with it after.

  13. 13.

    TBone

    “It looks like he’s on something. I hope Matt Gaetz gets the help he needs. And most importantly, I hope the young women get the justice they deserve.” — Kevin McCarthy

    McCarthy: Yeah, with his partner in jail because they paid underage women for sex and drugs. Yeah, that’s what I’m referring to.

    https://crooksandliars.com/2024/07/kevin-mccarthy-matt-gaetz-fight

    I think those two might be running interference for the Epstein matter that keeps surfacing:

    https://x.com/Acyn/status/1813319936644890951

    Just a thought.

  15. 15.

    Harrison Wesley

    Got plenty of Florida representation in those shots, both Nosferatu and Balloon Head.

  16. 16.

    different-church-lady

    @TBone:

    I think those two might be running interference for the Epstein matter that keeps surfacing:

    I’m almost envious: they belong to a party that’s capable of doing things like running interference.

  17. 17.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @LanceThruster:

    You’re not working hard enough here. Come on, you can post even more pie for everyone!

    Still a great sci-fi porn name. You ought to take advantage of that.

  21. 21.

    Chris Johnson

    I do not understand why the lying media hacks working directly for Trump’s owners don’t simply attribute their lies to the Dem leaders they make every effort to tie them to.

    Twice tonight after work I’ve gone to read one of those NEW articles talking about how significant it is that thus-and-so Dem heavyweight (for instance, Obama) is now pressuring Biden to drop out.

    And if it’s not ‘allegedly’ or ‘reportedly’ (read: WE MADE IT THE FUCK UUUUUP), it is in the case of the Obama story, ‘according to multiple people familiar with his thinking’ unquote.

    UNNAMED ANONYMOUS PEOPLE WHO ARE SAID TO KNOW WHAT HE’S LIKE???

    Fuck, man, _I’m_ familiar with his thinking. I think he thinks you’re an asshole!

    I’m balancing a growing rage with the realization that these fucking people have nothing else, are getting nothing from any real dems, and ALL they’ve got is trying to make us stroke out.

    God only knows why they don’t dare to attribute this stuff to the actual people directly. If they’re this dedicated to treason, what’s a little slander between friends? What the hell is stopping them from simply claiming the public figure talked to them and said the things? They cannot seriously be that worried about being sued, Donald Trump will surely pay all their legal bills. Vladimir Putin surely has their back. Why are they even fucking around?

    FUCKEM, off to exercise and bedtime. I’m an hour past schedule as it is. grrrr.

  23. 23.

    NotMax

    Fingers crossed the costs for fumigation were included in the arena rental contract.

  24. 24.

    Almost Retired

    Trump made his convention entrance with his theatrical bandage intact.  I’m sure even Vincent Van Gogh would say “enough with the ear bullshit.”

  26. 26.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Will_Bunch in OP: I’m watching Kristen Welker and Lester Holt drone on and on about how great Republicans are doing on “toning it down” here in Milwaukee This as delegates are waving placards, “Mass deportation now!”

    Then Kristen Welker and Lester Holt are xenophobic bigots who don’t see threats against immigrants as serious.

    When these conversations come up, I’ve mastered breathing fire to avoid my head exploding.

  30. 30.

    Geminid

    @TBone: I don’t think McCarthy and Gaetz are running interference. Those guys hate each other’s guts.

    I hope McCarthy runs into Bob Good. No love lost between those two either.

  34. 34.

    Hilbertsubspace

    @LanceThruster: Every time the Republicans do something awful the Democratic Party (or someone in it) is blamed.

    There’s a “law” for it.  Murc’s law.

    I’ve seen how this operates in every day interactions with people.

    So basically the worse the Republicans are, the worse it is for us.  It’s Trump’s awfulness that’s panicked our party, and outside influencers are trying to feed the spiral.

  38. 38.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @different-church-lady: You don’t think the bullet did that, do you?

    No, he had a meeting to discuss an endorsement from Mike Tyson. I’ll let you figure out for yourself how that went.

  42. 42.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Almost Retired:

    So on we worked, and waited for the light,

    And went without the meat, and cursed the beer.

    And Donald Trumpov, one calm summer night,

    Went home and put a Kotex on his ear.

    — Edward Arlington Robinson, probably not

  43. 43.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    So, I’m a young white cis-het guy who is a union member who has donated to and voted for Dems. My voter record identifies me as a Dem and I live a red state. How much danger am I realistically in?

    Like, I don’t make this about myself, I’m likely not in the most danger, but this is a new scary potential reality for me

  45. 45.

    JWR

    I haven’t been following the sh*tshow up in Milwaukee and wondered where the Hell’s Mike Pence? (Yeah, only partially snark.)

    But I might watch the cult leaders speech, just to see how or if it differs from his American Carnage inaugural.

  46. 46.

    Jay

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation:

    I thought that happened when he was interviewing Mike Tyson for the “Black” VP spot to increase his lead amongst black male voters from the 45% he got in that poll, all three guys polled and maybe bump it up to 4.

  55. 55.

    Chris Johnson

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Not. They are going to be hunting each other in dead earnest within a month. One of the Republican candidates from somewherever has already made ads about RINO hunting season.

    They are 100% going to be more interested in hunting each other than you. They might randomly attack homeless people, or LGBTQ, as you’d expect, but right now and for the next few months they will be hunting and dominating each other, not you.

  56. 56.

    Chris

    @different-church-lady:

    “Starting a war on false pretenses is just like shipping weapons to a friendly democracy currently enduring an attempted ethnic cleansing, which is just like shipping weapons to another friendly nation currently performing an act of ethnic cleansing, which is just like reducing our economic dependence on the world’s largest dictatorship,” apparently.

  58. 58.

    MisterForkbeard

    @LanceThruster: Because half the country really likes the awful and the media refuses to call it out or focus on it.

    This is a longterm problem.

  59. 59.

    TBone

    FTFNYT ‘On Politics’ Headline:

    Republicans Get Pumped for Trump’s Muscular Finale

    Eye bleach, stat!

  72. 72.

    frosty

    @Jay: We never were. We’re an *almost* Top 10000 Blog. Considering how few blogs are left, maybe we’ve moved to Almost Top 1000!!

  73. 73.

    Jay

    @TBone:

    Pie cures the troll, skipping by cures the troll, not Beetlejuicing them but making fun of them, cures the troll.

    Like Matt Gaetz, engaging just leads to horrible things, lots of STD’s and a walk of shame

  75. 75.

    TBone

    @Jay: I did not engage, are you confusing me with someone who did?  I commented to someone who did, stating that he’s like an STD.  No contact with porn name at all. I don’t even watch porn!

    Oh wait, are you referring to the beard?  Oops.

  76. 76.

    3Sice

    Neoliberalism/third way had a good run, but that time has passed. The only political force that can defeat fascism is Keynesianism.

  79. 79.

    Harrison Wesley

    @TBone: Whut, he’s gonna flash them some of that 6’3″/218-lb bod that Doc Johnson Jackson Jetson WTFever says he has?

  81. 81.

    Chet Murthy

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Different but complementary answer from @Chris Johnson:

    No, as long as you don’t do anything to aid the targets of the Party, the enemies of the people.  An important task of all authoritarian regimes is to foreclose all possibility of alternatives.  That means that anybody who opposed the Party (or even just didn’t give full-throated support) when it was on its way up, needs to be silenced.  Some will be offered the chance to join the Party, but even those who are not will be expected to be completely silent, politically.  And again, of course, you’ll be expected to not aid any undesirables,  unpersons, enemies of the people, who by their very nature will be deemed criminals.

  83. 83.

    different-church-lady

    So, if the drinkable form is vampirism, is there a smokeable/vape-able form of cannibalism?

  86. 86.

    3Sice

    1. Hot swap for an undervetted, underprepared candidate.

    2. ????

    3. Profit like it’s 1994 again.

  87. 87.

    Geminid

    Speaking of chuds, I was researching the Khazars a couple weeks ago and learned about the original Chuds. These were a Finnic people active in east Baltic politics around 1000 C.E.

  88. 88.

    Jay

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation:

    Closeted or Out, stay of Grinder and just go to one of the many Bars and Nightclubs hosting drag shows to keep ReThugs out. You might meet the love of your life, or an excellent beard.

    I fully understand why women would rather encounter a Bear in the woods than a strange man. Bears are safe, large, furry, a little bit shy, tend to dress a little downscale, but are fun, good dancers and really belt it out at kareoke.

  91. 91.

    different-church-lady

    @Jay: ​Sure, but do they shit in the… wait, I’m sorry, I can’t do it, it’s too easy…

  93. 93.

    Layer8Problem

    @different-church-lady:  There was a certain dose of the Kool Kids Kaucus in there too:  “Who cares, she didn’t even TRY in Michigan, so she didn’t earn my love.  And she was unlikable, totally, unlike whoever the Republican candidate was, so why did she even bother?”

  97. 97.

    Jay

    @TBone:

    Naw, I was just pointing out the various cures for the STD’s that are trolls.

    Havn’t seen Prickly pear or his companion Extinct Guaicuruan  around today.

  98. 98.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @schrodingers_cat:  Interesting. It also looks like the Biden campaign is developing different sources of funding apart from the blackmailers, which would reduce dependence on them. This is good.

    ETA: I love that letter.

  99. 99.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Jay:

    I don’t pie anyone because I’m not repelled by shit on the sidewalk. What I do find unusual about shit on the sidewalk of the internet is that the doo-er likes to stand proudly next to their pile of shit and take comments from passersby. If this was reality they would be taking selfies of them with their pile of shit to show everyone.

    I’m more like “Wow, look what that poor critter is eating.”

    I just noticed that if you type “Adam Shiv” into Duckduckgo that Adam Shiff’s wiki page is the first link.

  101. 101.

    3Sice

    This is such an awful lie from Disney that you have to wonder how bad the pre-screenings went:

    ‘Grown Men’ Were ‘Sobbing’ During ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Camera Tests Because Hugh Jackman Showed Up in Wolverine’s Yellow Suit

  105. 105.

    Cliosfanboy

    @Jay:

      Years and years ago when the web was new I joined an online discussion board and needed an online name. I’m a big guy with a beard and an old girlfriend called me her “big teddy bear’ so I chose DaBear as my online name. And then I began wondering why all these guys kept coming onto me. I kept having to say “sorry dude, I’m straight.” And then someone told me what “a bear” was. OHHHHHHHHHHH.

  106. 106.

    Eyeroller

    @schrodingers_cat: I got dogpiled a couple of nights ago from some Nancy stans for suggesting that there is evidence suggesting this to be the case.  But there is evidence not based on crap reporting and rumors and gossip. (There’s plenty of that as well so it’s hard to separate the wheat from the chaff.)

  107. 107.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Eyeroller: Raskin and Schiff were handpicked by her to lead the two impeachment trials and those are the two have gone on record asking Biden to step down. My hunch is based on that fact. Its seems to be too much of a coincidence.

  108. 108.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @3Sice: ‘Grown Men’ Were ‘Sobbing’ During ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Camera Tests Because Hugh Jackman Showed Up in Wolverine’s Yellow Suit

    Never underestimate the immaturity of those who want their pure adaptations.  Some very boring folk have been holding their nut for 20 years to see that costume.

  110. 110.

    Jay

    @different-church-lady:

    C’mon, we all do that.

    If it’s a National Park it might be a full bathroom, but it’s still “in the woods”. If it is a State or Provincial Park, it might be toilets and sinks, but it’s “still in the woods”, if it’s a Forest Service Site, might be a outhouse, but it’s “still in the woods”, on a trail or off trail, it’s a hole dug into the topsoil with your garden trowel, as deep as the topsoil is, and you burn the TP, make sure that it’s out and rebury it, but…….. if you are a rock climber or mountaineer, it’s in a heavy duty zip lock bag and you pack it out, but,…….still.

    Everybody poops.

  111. 111.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Eyeroller: Once I saw Pelosi’s interview where she persisted in saying that “we’ll know when Biden makes his decision” multiple times after Biden has announced his very clear intent and the interviewer reminded her of this, I knew.

  112. 112.

    NotMax

    @3Sice

    Comic book Wolverine is 5’3″ or 4″ (too lazy to look it up).

    Until they digitally shrink Jackman he’s just cosplaying.
    ;)

  115. 115.

    Eyeroller

    @schrodingers_cat: ​Immediately after the debate, either the same night or the next day, she was very lukewarm in her comments. If she had come out in strong support of Biden we may not be in this situation. There have also been suggestions that the House members have been running to her — not Jeffries — with “mah internal polls” and she’s “taking notes.” I think she’s undermining Jeffries but that’s a speculation so don’t take it too seriously. Then a week or so ago she had another very ambiguous and lukewarm statement which she later insisted (with some justification but not entirely) was misreported by the NYT. At this point there’s sufficient smoke that I think there’s at least some fire.

  116. 116.

    Eolirin

    @Eyeroller: We really should stop speculating. It’s impossible to sort out what’s real and what isn’t right now.

    Biden is either going to drop out in the next week or so or he’s not and will get the nomination wrapped up in a little over two weeks.

    At which point hopefully everyone will shut the fuck up and we can get on with trying to beat Trump with whoever it ends up being. Hopefully without completely fracturing the fucking party in the process.

  117. 117.

    Kathleen

    @unrelatedwaffle: Welker: While some in the media were disappointed that Trump didn’t make Vance bite the head off of a live bat as a sign of undying fealty, most were impressed at how much time Trump has spent in prayer during the proceedings.”

  119. 119.

    Jay

    @Eyeroller:

    So far, in the reporting, there has been so much imaginary “smoke” created that most of the so called Media can be replaced with a LLM, a smoke machine and a green screen.

  120. 120.

    Eyeroller

    @Eolirin: ​The problem is we’re already fractured. There’s a major loss of trust in the “leadership” including Obama. I do sincerely hope that if Biden sticks to what he’s saying–that he’s staying in–that they’ll give up and go all in to support him.

    Meanwhile we’ve lost three weeks of being able to hit the opposition since our electeds have been focused on attacking their own President and not Trump. They don’t seem to appreciate how this might affect those precious polls they keep citing. It has confused normies and independents and demoralized partisan Democrats.

    Why people never seem to listen to Hillary is beyond me. We should just rename her “Cassandra Clinton.”

  123. 123.

    Eolirin

    @schrodingers_cat: OMFG, have you not been paying attention to anything I’ve been saying for the last three weeks?

    I think my position on this is extremely clear and it’s not on the get rid of Biden side of things.

    But this is all completely beyond our ability to affect in any way and the media noise around this is so intense that it’s impossible to figure out what’s really going on behind the scenes and we’re wasting time and energy on pointless speculation when we could be finding things to highlight from the RNC to signal boost to normies so that they maybe turn out to vote against the insanity coming out of there or literally anything else that’s more productive than trying to figure out who’s secretly behind the attempts to shiv Biden and what their motivations may be.

  124. 124.

    different-church-lady

    @Eyeroller: At this point I don’t care which direction it breaks. I’m just pissed off beyond belief that if we’re going to replace Biden we seem to be doing it in the stupidest way possible.

  125. 125.

    Omnes Omnibus

    While we cannot know how all of this is going to play out, there are some Democratic “leaders” for whom I have lost a great deal of respect.  There also are some for whom I have gained a lot of respect.  It is interesting to see what people do when the chips are down.

  126. 126.

    Jay

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Erolirin is not saying that President Joe Biden will or won’t drop out. They are pointing out that Friday next week is the deadline.

    Not the one “dictated” by the “unnamed senior Democrats”, but the one dictated by the Convention and Idaho.

  129. 129.

    Geminid

    @schrodingers_cat: I really think this is unrelated to the Impeachment. Schiff and Easkin were obvious choices for those roles. Schiff and Pelosi are tight but that was the case before the impeachment.

  130. 130.

    Scout211

    @Eolirin: We really should stop speculating. It’s impossible to sort out what’s real and what isn’t right now.

    Thank you.  Cosigned.

    I guess it’s just the nature of both political parties.  When there is a crisis in the Democratic Party, everyone tries to figure out who is to blame but ends up in finger-pointing and blaming everyone until it looks like a big circular firing squad.

    And the Republicans just blame Democrats and circle the wagons around the party no matter who is really to blame for the crisis.

    I don’t want to be part of a party that is basically a protection racket, but still I wish the finger-pointing and blaming would calm down a bit.

  132. 132.

    Eyeroller

    @Geminid: I think that’s her point, that Schiff and Raskin are Pelosi’s most trusted Members to do what she thinks needs to be done.​

  133. 133.

    3Sice

    @Eyeroller:

    However they imagined it to play out, the éminence grise routine turned a bad beat for both her and Barack.

    Dropping the gavel and chopping down staff has left her ass exposed in ways that weren’t anticipated.

  134. 134.

    Eolirin

    @Eyeroller: Believe me I am aware. That’s why I put the completely qualifier there. There is damage, but the party has not yet been completely rent apart into irreconcilable factions at war with each other. There is still room to try to mend some of that damage.

    But we can’t do anything fucking thing about any of this until it’s over either. We should stop wasting energy chasing our tails with impossible to verify speculation and do something useful.

  136. 136.

    different-church-lady

    @Eolirin:

    There is still room to try to mend some of that damage.

    Unfortunately that also means there’s still room to damage things even further.

  137. 137.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Chris Johnson: Well as I expected, the Right has been circulating a meme claiming that the would-be assassin was trans. Just like they’ve been claiming for any other mass shooter of note.

    So yeah, we’re gonna be higher up on the hit lists. The random woman whose photo was used in the meme is terrified for her safety. With good reason.

  143. 143.

    Mapaghimagsik

    Sweet Jesus on a stick, you were not kidding about the botox. Just… wow.

  144. 144.

    Eyeroller

    @Sister Golden Bear: Oof, it didn’t help (I assume) that the young man looked a bit effeminate.  He was just a depressed, suicidal kid who wanted to go out in a blaze of “glory” by taking down somebody famous, and Trump happened to hold a rally 50 miles from his house.

  145. 145.

    Eolirin

    @different-church-lady: Of course. I hope we avoid that though.

    But more than that we just don’t need to borrow trouble. Things we can’t control are going to go the way they go. We’ve got enough we can do to worry about.

  146. 146.

    Kathleen

    @Omnes Omnibus: From Mueller She Write Tweet (I don’t know how to embed tweets):

    “Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, her husband former President Bill Clinton and Biden campaign co-chair and media mogul Jeff Katzenberg have all made pleas to donors, asking them to stick with Biden, according to people briefed on the matter.” https://cnbc.com/2024/07/18/democratic-donors-biden-drop-outIkamala-harris.html

    I think this is the link to her tweet (I see you on Twitter): https://x.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1814087703916626150

  147. 147.

    tam1MI

    I’m seeing on my newsfeed that the Republican party is making a hard push to woo disenfranchised Biden voters.  Based on what happened in 2016, I am willing to bet that they will get some takers.  I am also willing to bet that the Coup D’Etat Caucus has no plan in place whatsoever to either woo those voters back or find new voters to make up for the loss.

  148. 148.

    karen marie

    @LanceThruster:  Most people are not paying attention and have never paid attention.  An alleged 2020 Biden voter was interviewed on NPR yesterday.  She said she’s voting for Trump this time because “we need a businessman in the White House.”

    That was the argument in favor of Bush the Younger.

    She is old enough to have been a young adult in 1999 but she clearly didn’t pay attention to how that worked out.

    Also interviewed was a person who voted for Trump in 2020.  She was very clear she was not going to be so foolish a second time.

    For the average voter, whether you vote Trump or Biden boils down to how stupid you are.  The more stupid vote Trump.

  149. 149.

    different-church-lady

    @tam1MI: ​It really feels like we’re in “one weird trick” territory.

    And if they try it, the trick better fuckin’ work.

  151. 151.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Jay: The post is from a satire site, but it’s well-documented phenomenon that Grindr usage soared in cities where past GNCs have been held — and the poor rent boys worked themselves into exhaustion.

    Milwaukee newspaper quoted an anonymous Grindr user who claims the number of blank profiles, indicative of men who want to hook up very anonymously, spiked when the GNC came into town. “The Grindr user said on a normal day you’d encounter maybe 10 users with no profile photo, but Thursday, when he checked the app, he said he stopped counting at 50 blank profile photos.”

    Grindr’s status page listed no outages, but outages were reported Downdetector, although those reports are submitted the public and could be gamed.

  153. 153.

    Gvg

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation: Actually, I thought she was showing some signs of forgetfulness. The kindest excuse I could think of was she might have been sleep deprived or distracted by something going on with her husbands health. Other people said she was less than perfectly groomed, very unlike her.

    i would not be surprised to hear she has her own issues right now.

  154. 154.

    zhena gogolia

    @Kathleen: Katzenberg helped to greenlight Airplane! 

    ETA: I didn’t mean that as snark, I just read a book about the movie and Katzenberg’s name made me think of it.

  155. 155.

    karen marie

    @schrodingers_cat:   I’m really surprised at how many people believe the anonymous attacks on Pelosi.  Ask yourself, who gains from negative stories about her.

    She’s not stupid.

  156. 156.

    Trivia Man

    I have never seen TCFG this happy. True joy on his face, no dozing off, sincere grins… all it takes is an over the top wrestling heel to shout and rip his shirt.

  162. 162.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Eyeroller: Doesn’t matter. They’ve been claiming any mass shooter of note is trans — and that’s evidence why we need to be eliminated. They would’ve done the same if he looked like Rambo.

    @zhena gogolia: As I said in a thread downstairs, for LGBTQ+ people, facing existential threats from the Christofascists and bigots is another day ending in “y.”

  163. 163.

    JWR

    Hulk Hogan threatened every low-life scum who doesn’t support Trump had better watch out. Next up is Franklin Graham, looking eerily like his forbear, now jizzing his deep prayer all over the podium.

  164. 164.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Gvg: Hmmm…I see you, there…

    In this instance I’m not inclined to dispute this, turn about being fair play and all…

  165. 165.

    Old School

    Did any reporter ever determine if Trump is staying in Milwaukee or Chicago this week?

    I haven’t seen it reported one way or the other.  (Not that I’ve looked for it.)

  166. 166.

    Maxim

    @Jay: I saw a video earlier on FB, taken in Romania, of some bears doing a sideways shuffle-dance alongside some cars passing through a wooded area. It was a strange sight.

  168. 168.

    Trivia Man

    Don looks bored as hell listening to Eric. I bet Eric wishes his dad looked at him the way he looks at Hulk. And now he’s dozing off again. Even with a baby on his lap.

  169. 169.

    Kathleen

    @zhena gogolia:  I love that movie! Read a story (can’t remember where maybe Twitter) that Barbara Billingsley didn’t understand her script instructions to “talk jive”. She talked with the 2 Black actors in the scene and they got together for lunch and worked it out. I love behind the scenes stories!

  170. 170.

    Trivia Man

    Tone it down? Praising crazy moms for liberty and bemoaning the renaming of military bases. Somehow I don’t see those getting any new voters.

  171. 171.

    Trivia Man

    Love the split screen. Don Jr visibly laughing at some side remark while Eric somberly rants about DEAD SOLDIERS IN UKRAINE.

  172. 172.

    Avalune

    I remember watching the WW cartoon show with Hulk Hogan and Junk Yard Dog and whatnot. I was a little Hulkster. Never meet your heroes or some such. I kind of miss when I didn’t really know fuck all about politics sometimes but alas, can’t put it back in the bottle. And lecture about morality and duty and blah blah I know I can’t be ignorant to it but sometimes I miss when I was because knowledge is tiresome.

  177. 177.

    Trivia Man

    Shocking cameo tonight – the third lady deigns to show up in public (but not until orange head left his seat so she wouldn’t have to sit next to him)

  180. 180.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    @zhena gogolia: ​
      interesting Katzenberg story: “Beverly Hills Cop” was originally a violent, action script starring Stallone, but Sly insisted on very expensive special effects, which Katzenberg didn’t want to finance so he took the script away and gave it to Murphy who turned it into a light hearted, buddy cop comedy, ala “48 HRS”.

  181. 181.

    LanceThruster

    @MisterForkbeard: I’ve long-ceased expecting the MSM to do anything not in line with the agenda of their corporate overlords. Gotta love media consolidation.

  183. 183.

    LanceThruster

    @Odie Hugh Manatee: it was created in the early ’80s as a character name for a Compuserv online game called MegaWars. My friends chose handles like Kirk and Hans Solo, but I wanted something original that sounded like Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon. But yeah, I also like the Dirk Diggler double-entendre. On the Larry Johnson blog (former CIA officer), after seeing the nature of my observations, PM’d me asking, “Longinus?” Apparently what I wrote and the name connection had him mistaking me for someone he knew (cool code name, bro). It kind of spooked me this spook think I was some other spook.

    But the best validation for me was somewhere towards the end of the ’80s, I learned that in the Crash Nebula story line – a cartoon within a cartoon in “The Fairly Odd Parents”, that Lance Thruster was a character there. Still haven’t seen the episode though but had an email exchange with the voice talent.

    I think my track record holds up pretty well. The 2016 primary shenanigans showed there are risks in such tactics. It was like the final scene in “A Face in the Crowd.” Biden was also expected to have a short shelf life, but changing the expiry date like Apu for the milk in the Kwik-E-Mart was a nice, if unexpected touch. When I saw Schiff go public, I knew the green light had been given from higher up and it was only a matter of time.

    Trump is on the DNC… both for their risky pied piper strategy, and their failure to beat their ringer. RBG really helped screw the pooch with the current SCOTUS make-up and probably not the legacy she had hoped for. I read it was so that Hillary could preside over her retirement honors and select her replacement. Instead of chickens hatching, they came home to roost.

    Also puts hanging onto abortion rights as an election bargaining chip and ignoring other opportunities to codify them into prespective. Like a movie trope, “Don’t worry.. I won’t drop it.” [crash] And they used the “Biden Rule” as an excuse for no confirmation hearings. Even Obama admitted he should have pushed harder. Use the bully pulpit to at least make the attempt. Guess they felt Hillary was a sure thing so why bother.

    Unless there’s a PUMA backlash out to punish party for Joe making the decision that only Joe can make (he said he’s staying in… that settles it, no?), them I’m fairly optimistic for Kamala’s chance and I’m hardly a fan. She got my vote for AG and Senator, and I’ll go full K-hive with her here, should this happen.

  184. 184.

    LanceThruster

    @Hilbertsubspace: he was the DNC’s handpicked pied piper. They played chicken with the fate of the nation in their pursuit of power… and lost.

    That albatross needs to be hung around their collective necks in perpetuity.

  185. 185.

    kindness

    The MSM is Democrats opponent just as much as Donald Trump is.  And if Joe Biden bows out the MSM will never let go of shredding Democrats.  It will get pathetically ugly.  Another reason I want Joe to stay in.

  187. 187.

    Darkrose

    @schrodingers_cat: FWIW, this blog post from Tuesday quotes Pelosi as saying:

    Harassed in a hallway by ABC’s Rachel Scott, Nancy Pelosi said she thinks Biden can win and complained elsewhere that, “I think the President is great. And there are some misrepresentations of what I have said. I never said he should reconsider his decision. The decision is the president’s. I don’t know what’s happened in New York Times that they make up news.”

    Solnit also notes:

    When Senator Richard Blumenthal said, “I am deeply concerned about Joe Biden winning this November, because it is an existential threat to the country if Donald Trump wins. Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee has my support,” MSNBC tweeted that Blumenthal said, “I am deeply concerned about Joe Biden.”

    I don’t know Pelosi personally, so I absolutely could be wrong, but I genuinely think that if one of the most effective House Speakers ever believed that Biden should step down, she wouldn’t do it through half-assed, whiney leaks to the press, and she would do it much more effectively without shattering the Democratic coalition.

    I think it’s also worth noting that some of the Dem representatives who’ve been saying Biden should step aside, like Jared Golden, are the same ones who tried to oust Pelosi for being too old and ended up failing in humiliating fashion. Like I said, it’s possible, but I have a hard time imagining that if she thought Biden needed to step aside for the good of the party, she’d fuck it up this badly.

  188. 188.

    Geminid

    Golden was not part of the effort to keep Nancy Pelosi from being Speaker that Seth Moulton, Tim Ryan and Kathleen Rice announced after the 2018 midterms. They caved the next month. A handful of other members joined in but Golden was not one of the them.

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