Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Trump makes a mockery of the legal system and cowardly judges just sit back and let him.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

The choice is between normal and crazy.

The Supreme Court is corrupt. Democrats must win in November and force court reform.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Republicans don’t trust women.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

If marriage is the equivalent of selling yourself into slavery, women with self respect should reject the offer.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

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

When the time comes to make an endorsement, the pain of NYT editors will be palpable as they reluctantly whisper “Biden.”

The revolution will be supervised.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Dead end MAGA boomers crying about Talyor Swift being a Dem is my kind of music. Turn it up.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Zooming with Steve Benen about His New Book (and Open Thread)

Zooming with Steve Benen about His New Book (and Open Thread)

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This post is in: 

Hey BJ peeps, we are planning to have a zoom with Steve Benen about his new book: Ministry of Truth.

Ministry of Truth spent a couple of weeks on the New York Times’ hardcover non-fiction bestseller list, and just this week, it debuted on the New York Times’ audiobook bestseller list. (Steve thinks he fact that Rachel Maddow did the audio might’ve had something to do with this!)

“A fierce takedown of right-wing mendacity committed in the service of a bigger lie.” — Kirkus Reviews

The zoom with Steve Benen will be on a Saturday, mostly likely starting somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 pm Eastern.

The book itself sounds super-interesting, and this post is to get a feel for who might be interested in participating.

To find out more about the book check out this link to a pdf file:  MINISTRY OF TRUTH

The big question is timing.

Do we do it in October before the election, or after the election?  Steve is good either way.

Will we be too busy and distracted before the election?  Or would the zoom be a welcome distraction?

If you’re interested in participating in the zoom, let us know your preference on timing in the comments.

Otherwise, open thread!

 

 

Reader Interactions

29Comments

  1. 1.

    Dangerman

    I vote before. Just in case you know who wins. In which case, I’ll be drinking heavily*

    *Alcohol not allowed per pharmacist. MD says a little is OK. So, presently (no alcohol 5 years), any nonzero amount is heavily.

  3. 3.

    rikyrah

    Been a fan of Benen ever since he created

     

    The Lies of Mitt Romney

    During the 2012 campaign

     

    Benen was Daniel Dale before Daniel Dale

  9. 9.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Big fan of Steve Benen, and as it happens, Ministry of Truth is coming up next in my TBR queue. I would love a zoom session with him, and a Saturday afternoon, around 3:00pm Eastern, is perfect for me — but any weekday evening would also be fine. I think I’d prefer to have it before the election, but I don’t feel strongly about that.

    Thanks for doing this, John. Should be a lot of fun as well as very informative.

  11. 11.

    karen marie

    Will the zoom be recorded and posted anywhere?

    I don’t do zoom but I’d love to hear the conversation after it’s done.

  14. 14.

    trollhattan

    This could be fun. Popcorn, anybody?

    Man oh Mann Act.

    September 7, 2024 at 4:48 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

    “Rep. Matt Gaetz may soon face a document dump in federal court that could expose — for the first time — details about the alleged sex parties tied to the accusations that Gaetz had sex with an underage teen,” NOTUS reports.

    “The trove of information — which is expected to include sworn testimony from a number of people involved in the alleged sex parties — is the ironic result of the congressman’s friend, Florida lobbyist Chris Dorworth, dropping a civil lawsuit that sought to bury the scandal.”

    “A federal judge will now decide whether the accounts of several key witnesses should be made public by Sept. 19, including a ‘declaration’ from Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend that one source familiar with the matter described as ‘candid,’ as well as the never-before-seen deposition of the woman who claims she was sex-trafficked when she was 17.”

    Trump’s advice to Gaetz: “You should get yourself you own island.”

  16. 16.

    JWR

    Forget where to source this, but here you go:

    Why Trump’s word salad on child care matters:
    – He still can’t speak coherently about public policy
    – Evidence of deterioration
    – He doesn’t understand the basics of his own tariffs plan
    No wonder the White House called him out. https://t.co/AQPAENEl2K

    — Steve Benen (@stevebenen) September 6, 2024

    Trump really think’s tariffs are taxes paid to us by other countries and all that money lands in a large money bag labeled $$$ TARRIFS $$$ which acts as Trump’s personal slush fund, right? I mean, he’s an idiot, is he not?

  17. 17.

    TBone

    @trollhattan: good, I hope the records and depositions are released!

    That lawsuit continued for over a year, with lawyers interviewing the lobbyist, his wife, Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend, and several young women, according to court filings. Dorworth’s lawyers tried to mark those transcripts as “confidential” to keep them from the public. But in July, defense lawyers banded together to push back on the blanket of secrecy.

    Dorworth ultimately dropped the woman from the lawsuit.

    Throughout August, defense lawyers repeatedly challenged Dorworth’s secrecy requests, this time seeking to expose his text messages as well. Dorworth dropped his lawsuit entirely on Thursday.

    But a Friday night court filing from the Greenberg family lawyer, Frederick Wermuth, indicates that the matter isn’t settled yet. Defense lawyers are now seeking to “recover their attorney’s fees,” and they want the depositions released publicly.

  19. 19.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I was just watching (please don’t ask) a clip of TCFFG’s lawyer Alina Habba, and I’m ashamed, as a woman and a feminist, that my very first reaction was “What a fucking virago! What a harpy, what a fishwife, what a bitch!” Not proud of it, to be sure, but it’s the truth. Every negative female stereotype from antiquity applies to her.

    IMO, of course. YMMV.

  23. 23.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @NotMax:

    She truly is a blight on womankind.

    ETA: Sorrynotsorry. Not the teeniest, tiniest, weeist, itty-bittyest, nanoparticlest soupçon of sorry.

  24. 24.

    Spanish Moss

    Thanks for organizing, WaterGirl! I am interested. I have a slight preference for before the election.

  27. 27.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @SiubhanDuinne: I saw a short reel of Alina H.

    Pretty. Kind of well-spoken. They ( those pro- maga speakers) all start off seeming reasonable, and it turns little by little, a few sentences in. like watching an epoch times ad.
    if you’re hypnotizable, it might get you. They are well trained in sales, and pr, and overcoming objections. It pissed me off entirely, her trying to convince me that since she’s childless but able to stand there without a man, it proves the shit we’re mad at jdvance for saying, is silly. It’s convoluted. And it’s an attack, and it felt like subtle gaslighting.
    grrr

  28. 28.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @SiubhanDuinne: how about, what a betrayer of truth, and betrayer of womankind.
    gets around any distasteful politically incorrect anti woman slurs. We don’t have any good words, for it, she’s worse than a creep, if we had a word for being a creep or a shithead. Harpy is pretty good. One kind of feels one is insulting oneself. It’s tricky. She really is some special kind of bitch, no?

    elle est vraiment merde.

    [if my imperfect French phrase is supposed to have an article, does that make me inarticulate?]

  29. 29.

    Don

    Even on a Saturday, during football season, I’ll be there. I’m a fan of his work, own the latest as well as the former, and can’t wait to hear from him. Count me in.

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