Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

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

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Giving up is unforgivable.

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

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

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

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

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

Republicans in disarray!

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

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

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

“But what about the lurkers?”

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "Stories from the Road" / Real House Betas of DC

Real House Betas of DC

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As Betty noted below, these bitches are fighting like Jill and that Vand der pump lady and that awful Frankel woman, and it is right out there in public, and it is messy as fuck and getting messier.

Real House Betas of DC

Donald Trump could accidentally end up doing the funniest fucking thing that would actually probably be a service to the country and the world while also fracturing the electorate that voted for him. We’ll see.

In other news, Maxwell brought a live chipmonk that is now in locked in the downstairs bathroom while I corral Steve (have to find him first) and lock both cats in the room with me and then open up the door to the bathroom to let the critter find its way out the back door. Figured it could use a few minutes locked in a room to take a breather and chill the fuck out.

And no, there was no blood.

Reader Interactions

277Comments

  2. 2.

    HinTN

    That chipmunk ain’t gonna go outside, Cole. You need to get in there and stun it so you can carry it outside. This is why our cat door is one way (out only)!

    ETA: Those sumbitches stink. They piss in their own nest. I can regale you with our chipmunk tale. Good luck.

  3. 3.

    Suzanne

    Man, I hope this goes on and on.

    I’m, like, rooting for more angry tweets from the shitter.

  4. 4.

    Bupalos

    If it’s Kayfabe, it’s some pretty committed kayfabe:

    Time to drop the really big bomb:
    @realDonaldTrump
    is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!

  7. 7.

    catclub

    And no, there was no blood.

    Yet?

    Family lore is that once there was a pet gerbil. The cat spent all her time sitting on the cage of pet gerbil. Gerbil died of heart failure/stress.
    No blood.

  10. 10.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    This will be a big nothing-burger.

    Donny will go all TACO on Edolf’s sweet, sweet, gubmint contracts.

    Just more distraction.

  11. 11.

    dmsilev

    Musk threatening to primary GOP Reps who vote for (whatever), and actually starting putting up money to do so, that would be meaningful. Third party yammering, less so.

    Though I will note that TSLA is down about 14% on the day, so maybe some of the meme-stock nitwits are deep enough into Trump’s cult that they are bailing on Swasticar.

  12. 12.

    Betsy

    If that chipmunk were a juvenile, and needed assistance, and couldn’t go out on its own, I would just say that they make the smartest, cleanest, cutest little pets in the world.

    They will recognize your car and spring lightly across a huge yard to run up your jeans and get on your shoulder to be petted

    They will take a whole stem of broccoli from your fingers with their outstretched arms and hands and instantaneously stash it in their cheek in the most adorable and deft way.

    They groom themselves so cleanly and minutely with their tiny teeth and tiny hands that they have no fleas or other parasites.

    They are absolutely as clever and intelligent as any cat or dog.

    They will sleep inside a sock turned halfway back on itself.  There is nothing cuter than a puffed-up sleeping chipmunk curled up in a sock.

    They carefully keep their WC separate from their stashes of vegetables and grains and water.

    They sit up on their hind feet and squeak at the world when they hear a bird calling from a tree.

    They have russet and brownish-black and cream-colored stripes on a beautiful background of tawny tan fur.

    Their whiskers are always a-quiver and so adorable.

    They run in a hamster wheel just like a hamster or gerbil.

    NEVER BUY A CHIPMUNK, but if you are lucky enough to have to rescue one that your cat finds half-drowned after a hurricane at only 6 weeks old, you now have the cutest pet ever known.

  13. 13.

    Bupalos

    I keep trying to type a thought about Trump letting Elon break in to government data and systems, but I can’t seem to do it without some version of “I wonder if Trump is having second thoughts about….” which is just a self-refuting kind of sentence.

  14. 14.

    btom89

    I was actually going to come on here and comment about this.  Is this scorched earth?  Can either one come back from this fight?  I mean….Trump is fickle and narcissistic.  How can Elon possibly get back in his good graces when he’s burned that bridge?  Again, no good guys here in this fight.  Neither one of them is sympathetic at all.  I’m amazed that it’s happening right now in real time.

  16. 16.

    Suzanne

    @dmsilev: The Elmo fans and MAGA always seemed like an uneasy alliance to me. Convenient for a while, probably has served its purpose. I guess now we’ll see whose dick is bigger,

    (Toad from Mario Kart vs. Botched Implant, OH GOD NO.)

  17. 17.

    Another Scott

    @catclub: When I was a kid, we had a cat that was fascinated by a small pet fish I picked up somewhere and had in a big fishbowl.  He would watch it with great interest for long periods of time.

    Until one morning he didn’t.

    I looked over at the fishbowl and saw the poor fishy floating, with a single small claw mark in its side…

    :-(

    Good luck Cole!

    (Just about everything with 47 and “business” is performative to a great degree.  If Melon bends a knee even a little, or says that it was all a ruse to flush out traitors in the Senate, or …, then everything will be forgiven.  47 has no persistence of memory – everything that matters is the current instant and how he’s feeling…  But, meh, whatever, 47 and Melon will work something out or not and life will go on.  Don’t get distracted!  We have elections to win!!)

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  18. 18.

    jonas

    You could probably pinpoint some moment in the past 72 hours among the tweets, interviews, and puddles of flop sweat where Elon Musk realizes his association with Trump will destroy his whole world.

    Musk is realizing a fundamental truth all oligarchs in authoritarian regimes ultimately have to understand: the czar made you and he can unmake you. Musk thinks Trump needs him more than he needs Trump. When Trump ultimately controls the levers of federal power, there’s virtually no limit to the way he can fuck with you, including making a lot of your wealth disappear overnight. If Tesla stock is worth shit, Musk is worth shit.

  19. 19.

    catclub

    @Betsy: They will take a whole stem of broccoli from your fingers with their outstretched arms and hands and instantaneously stash it in their cheek in the most adorable and deft way.

     

    Will they do the same with brussel sprouts?  asking for a friend.

  20. 20.

    Dave

    TACO always disappoints but one can certainly hope that he is sufficiently degraded to really lash out at once fellow travelers of convenience.

    Why does this feel like Thiel screwing over Musk once again.

    Continuing to resent I have to care about the pathologies of billionaire tech bros because we’ve given them entirely too much leeway.

  21. 21.

    jonas

    @Bupalos: DOGE may have been messing around in gov’t data systems, but it’s Peter Thiel and Palantir who now have the keys to federal data, a power which I’m sure they’ll be using only for good.

    I wish there was a way to blow up the relationship between Thiel and Trump, but Thiel’s too smart to be a prima donna like Musk. Unfortunately.

  23. 23.

    dmsilev

    I guess Musk is finding out that, as the adage goes, an honest politician is one who stays bought. Donald Trump is …not an honest politician.

  24. 24.

    Professor Bigfoot

    “Night of the Long Knives,” except we don’t yet know who has the longer knife.

  25. 25.

    catclub

    @Another Scott: ​
     

    47 has no persistence of memory – everything that matters is the current instant and how he’s feeling…

    This is unfortunately untrue. Trump remembers every insult. Ask Jack Smith and his subordinates.
    Ask NOAA 4 years after they made fun of the sharpie Hurricane path.

  26. 26.

    dmsilev

    @Suzanne: Thanks. I didn’t really want to eat that muffin that I had just bought. Or anything else for the rest of the day either.

  27. 27.

    JaySinWa

    @Suzanne: I guess now we’ll see whose dick is bigger,

    With any luck they will end up emasculating each other. At least we can hope for serous [political] injuries.

  30. 30.

    Another Scott

    @catclub: Sure, there’s the “hit back 10x harder” stuff.   True.

    But “Little Marco” Rubio was his enemy until he wasn’t.  Etc.

    Buttering up 47 heals a lot of his wounds.

    But, we’ll see, I guess.  There’s probably no way to escape this distracting drama.

    Thanks.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  31. 31.

    Betsy

    @catclub: Yes.

    There are a few vegetables that should be given to chipmunks only in limited amounts.  I think Brussels sprouts are on the OK list but would be good to check the interwebs for chipmunk rehab advice that includes a list of good/bad foods.

    Surprisingly (to me), they need to eat more vegetables and grains and a bit of fruit than nuts.  They do eat nuts, but too many nuts tend to make them pork out unhealthily.

  32. 32.

    JerseyBeard

    Is there a toxic or lethal level of popcorn consumption?

    Asking for a friend.

  33. 33.

    JaySinWa

    Good, bad or ugly?

    Kyle Griffin

    ‪@kylegriffin1.bsky.social‬

    David Jolly, the former Republican congressman from Florida, just announced that he’s running for governor of the state as a Democrat.

    June 5, 2025 at 1:05 PM

  35. 35.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    I hope you are right.  Yet, I fret this play happening right now is more WWE to divert us from the MAGA murder bill sitting in front of the senate.

    Few are talking about the Medicaid cuts based on the Georgia cuts that failed miserably (unless Georgia’s goal was to ensure as few Georgians as humanly possible).  The cuts to Obamacare subsidies are terrible too.

    Why?  So billionaires can keep their mega tax cuts and Trump can make ICE the largest federal law enforcement force.  Barking madness the entire horrible bill is.

    Nonetheless, I hope you are right.

  36. 36.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @JaySinWa: I’ve been looking forward to seeing Betty Cracker’s take on this guy; it will be informative— and hilarious.

  40. 40.

    RandomMonster

    And no, there was no blood.

    Good news in terms of the chipmonk. In terms of the Trump-Musk fued, it’s highly desired.

  41. 41.

    Bupalos

    @dmsilev: I think Tesla tanking is a nod to the reality that Trump can really fuck up its shit.

    He doesn’t even have to do anything, that stock is trading on bullshit about robotaxis or speculation about robot soldiers and drones and suchlike.  For any of it the path would have to be greased by federal approvals and cooperation if not outright patronage.

    That’s why it ran up like mad in reaction to the election. Tesla really has little of particular value beyond Musk’s relationship with Trump. Now Elon flipped out, as he is wont to do, and of the potential competitors in these speculative spaces, they went from having the best relationship in the government to the worst.

  43. 43.

    JML

    I see the fighting between the E-Fool and the Current Occupant and I root for injuries.

  44. 44.

    West of the Rockies

    I had a beloved pet chipmunk as a kid when they were still legal in California.   Great little pet.

  45. 45.

    geg6

    @JerseyBeard:

    Seriously.  I just got a grocery delivery and did not realize I only have enough popcorn for a small bowl.  I had no idea that today would turn out to be a popcorn feast day.

  47. 47.

    trollhattan

    @Betsy: ​
    Those little bastards can stuff their little chipmunk cheeks so full they look like they’re about to explode. Fall in the mountains they’re REALLY focused on gathering for winter.

    Here in the lowlands we have the day and night shifts of squirrels and rats, but no chippers.

  48. 48.

    Old School

    New Elon:

    In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts,
    @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately

  49. 49.

    Suzanne

    Mr. Suzanne just texted me, “:::waving pennant reading “INJURIES”:::”.

  51. 51.

    Suzanne

    I wish WaterGirl was here with cake. I’m fasting today, but that’s because I didn’t know today was gonna be funny.

  54. 54.

    JML

    @Suzanne: lol, love it.

    can we get more republican tools involved? royal rumble between all of them, let the whole thing collapse.

  55. 55.

    geg6

    @Old School:

    OMG, I need the LMAO emogi and mean old Cole has forbidden them!  We should get a pass on special occasions such as this.

  58. 58.

    PsiFighter37

    Fight! Fight! Fight!

    I feel like I’m back in a middle school cafeteria.

  59. 59.

    Bupalos

    @jonas: Oh Elon is his own special kind of freak, but I think this schism should generally damage the relationship between the tech futurists and white nationalists/religious right. I think it’s almost sure to progress to a point that it brings out some other underlying conflict. These folks really just do not belong in bed together.

  60. 60.

    Scout211

    I thought Katie was supposed to be hired by Elon for “communications” and as his  “liaison.”  Hmm.  Where is she in this very public dick measuring contest?

    I guess my wild ass-theory that she was a spy for the White House may be out the window now if she is allowing Elon to participate in this public display.  Too overt for espionage.  LOL

    Or . . . .  maybe she is doing just what Stephen set her up to do. Maybe she is pushing Elon to do this so that Trump can look all manly and more powerful than Elon when he fights back from the oval office.  Hmmmm.

    Or maybe they are just two pitiful egotistic assholes who are suffering from public narcissistic injuries of the nth degree and are acting out like two middle school teens boys.

    But still . . . I’m watching you, Katie.

    ETA:  clarity

  62. 62.

    Baud

    @Scout211:

    I’ll believe this is real when Stephen Miller goes after Elon for his immigration status.

    Speaking of, if I were a white South African refugee, I might be feeling a little nervous right now.

  63. 63.

    Bupalos

    @JML: Just before this really broke out I think EmptyG and some others were tweeting about regretting their vote for the Big Bursting Bubble.

    This may be a public schism that was going to happen no matter what, that is happening right now because things are shifting below the surface. I can hope so anyway.

  64. 64.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Another Scott: Once during a period of heavy rains and flooding, in the days when we still had our troublesome but sweet cat Nestor, a little snake got into our basement. I chased it around for a while but it was faster than I was and I decided I’d just let it find its way out by whatever mysterious means it got in.

    A few hours later I found it dead in the middle of the basement floor, uneaten but with two precise bite marks in its neck. I suspect Nestor.

  69. 69.

    Jay

    I am not happy with the writers this season, they have gone off script.

    https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com

    The Felon Husk/TACO slap fight,

    TACO having a sadz that the Nazi’s lost in his meeting with the German President,

    Egg prices dropping 400% so you are eating eggs again,…….

  72. 72.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    Please, oh, please, let this Trump/Musk fight be a modern remake of Downfall, with the twist that it destroys the party but not the nation…

  73. 73.

    rattlemullet

    Man, it sure is great that we have two 12 year old mental giants running the country. It would be great if these two fuck wads destroyed each other so completely that the harm done to each other is irreparable one goes broke and the other goes to the looney bin. It certainly seems to be heading that way if we were only so lucky. God, how did the American electorate get so dumbed down and the voting process so rigged to vote for these type of people, meaning all republicans.

    8647 and 86 all republicans.

  74. 74.

    Jackie

    All the world is both appalled and laughing at this 5th grade level of public feuding between the president of the USA and the world’s richest man boy, while grabbing bowls of popcorn. It’s like watching Pong.

    I’m laughing, yet so embarrassed at this public display of childishness temper tantrum-ing. OY

  75. 75.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    Never fear Edolf, that brilliant “Democratic” stragetist, MattY said this today on twitter:

    “I feel like Jeffries and Schumer should give Elon Musck a call and tell him about the Democratic Party’s longstanding interest in electric cars, solar panels, space exploration and balanced deficit reduction.”

    So, I guess that means MattY now thinks Edolf is one of the so-called “good billionaires”.

  76. 76.

    They Call Me Noni

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I am going to clutch my pearls and take in the bitch slapping while these two idiots prove to the right that they are equally shallow and dangerous. If only the right had enough sense to actually see it. Right now it’s just reality show entertainment.

  78. 78.

    wjca

    @jonas: I wish there was a way to blow up the relationship between Thiel and Trump, but Thiel’s too smart to be a prima donna like Musk.

    Thiel already got what he wanted from Trump: his boy Vance as VP — i.e. the successor in place.  If Trump goes down, for Thiel it’s a plus.  Having Musk do the dirty work is icing on the cake.

  79. 79.

    rattlemullet

    What’s that sign post up ahead, not the twilight zone, but the ultimate nightmare, we have entered

    the nazi gilded age of greed and stupidity.

  81. 81.

    Scout211

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    Matt Yglesias:  “I feel like . . .”

    Dear Matt, I hate to tell you this honey, but we really don’t give a shit about all your feels.  And really? A column about your feels?  Pitiful. Bless your heart!

  84. 84.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Betsy: I suspect there may be adorable photographs wrapped up inside that post of yours.  I could use a picture of a chipmunk sleeping inside a rolled up sock.

  85. 85.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Bupalos: that is why I fear this whole event is a performance.  Maybe Elon is a clueless participant, but boy, does he make an excellent wrasslin’ villain.

  86. 86.

    Eolirin

    I’m other news I am having a pretty severe panic attack for no immediately apparent reason. I’m glad I refilled my benzo script. But bleh.

  87. 87.

    Suzanne

    @wjca: Thiel has some big fucken dreams for the country that go past Vance. He wants a monarchy. He also apparently wants to live forever.

    Can he go to Mars with Elon? Tell them they’ll live longer.

  89. 89.

    Rugosa

    @catclub: ​
     My kid had a hamster who we’d put in a hamster ball to run around the apartment. The cats – two of them at the time – would watch the ball for a bit, then look at me as if “It’s a rodent. You’re playing with a rodent. Traitor.”

  91. 91.

    Gretchen

    Rumor has it that Stephen Miller’s wife dumped him for Elon.

    I was with someone recently whose ex was cheating on them. Angry, vindictive and wanting to hurt the other person as much as possible was the reaction. I ran that reaction past two friends who had been cheated on by spouses, and they felt that the reaction was totally normal and common. So Miller has Trump’s ear, and if he wants to do whatever possible to hurt Elon……

    These guys all forget how Putin deals with oligarchs who cross him. Taking all their stuff is just the beginning.

  93. 93.

    Eolirin

    @Gretchen: That’s the thing that never made sense to me about these guys. The world they’re trying to build is one in which they always have to watch their back and they’re one shift in favor away from having everything taken from them before “falling” out a window. It’s not the way anyone would want to live. It’s not like they’re not already massively advantaged by their wealth.

  95. 95.

    Suzanne

    The menswear guy continues to be the best thing about the internet:

    elon and trump are meeting outside uniqlo on sunday 5pm. 3251 20th Ave, San Francisco, CA, 94132

  96. 96.

    patrick II

    Tramp can cancel all of Elon’s government contracts that he wants to as long as Ukraine’s starlink stays uninterupted.

  97. 97.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Baud: it is a distraction from the murderousness of the bill.  It also feels so very Vince McMahon gets his.

  101. 101.

    They Call Me Noni

    What is Musk referring to when he says DJT is in the Epstein files?  I don’t recall reading any nefarious details. Can anyone educate me?  Spill the tea as they say.

  102. 102.

    trollhattan

    Gosh, now I get to sleep again.

    “Israel has reassured the White House that it won’t launch an attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities unless President Trump signals negotiations with Iran have failed,” Axios reports.

  103. 103.

    Eolirin

    @Suzanne: Thiel was always the most dangerous of the tech bros. He’s got his hooks in deep now. It’s not going to end well for the rest of us.

  104. 104.

    wjca

    @patrick II: Tramp can cancel all of Elon’s government contracts that he wants to as long as Ukraine’s starlink stays uninterupted.

    Trump is totally in the tank for Putin.  It’s one of the extremely few areas where he’s been consistent.  So Elon can strike back at Trump by supporting Ukraine.  If it occurs to him.

  105. 105.

    trollhattan

    @They Call Me Noni: ​
    I assume it’s an ooga-booga threat from Elmo while of course, there are photos of Trump and Epstein in circulation already so, okay?

    We still don’t have that pee tape, either.

    Give me shots of Trump shoving Ivana down the stairs and now we’re talking.

  106. 106.

    catclub

    @Bupalos: but he really can throw a hissy fit with the best of them.

     

    ummm…… If he happens to own the media in question.

  107. 107.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    Theil’s got plenty of Dems pushing various, trickle-down policies from the Federal level on down to state and local so his influence is on both sides.  It’s hysterical to see him hammered and then one of his biggest twitter policy shills referenced glowingly.  The cognitive dissonance…it burns.

  108. 108.

    Jay

    @They Call Me Noni:

    DJT and Epstein were “best buds” back in the day. Lots of photos of them hanging out at social events with underaged girls. Lot’s of passenger manifests for Epstein’s Pedo Plane with TACO listed.

  109. 109.

    Eolirin

    @Jay: I’ll be fine. I’ve gotten enough of a handle on this shit that it’s mostly annoying rather than dangerous. Like my hands aren’t steady and I have to keep rereading sentences because my brain isn’t absorbing the information the first time or my eyes are skipping around. But I’m still with it enough cognitively that between the ativan and some time that’ll just stop and nothing will get worse in the mean time.

    It’s uncomfortable. But what isn’t nowadays?

  111. 111.

    gvg

    @Baud: Well we DO have an interest in those things.

     

    We also have an interest in fainess, civil rights, Women and minorities and other things.

     

    I personally have an interst in things that WORK, good engineering and engineers that don’t lie. I suspect a fair number of other democrats share this trait as well.

  113. 113.

    Citizen Alan

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: To be fair, it might just mean that he thinks Elon is such a crass, simple-minded fool that he could be manipulated into bankrolling Dems and undermining the GOP out of sheer spite and egoism.

  114. 114.

    Bupalos

    @HopefullyNotcassandra: I could see this being kayfabe if there were genuine underlying unity of purpose between the Musk wing and the Bannon/theocrat wing. And if there were something functional to gain from it. But there really isn’t anything I can see, and these people really do not belong in bed with each other. Like, what would they be running kayfabe for, and why wouldn’t these people truly hate each other’s guts? Trump is not capable of hearing the phrase “you wouldn’t have won if not for me” even as an act. I just don’t think the people involved here are capable of acting this out.

    I think Elon is going to lose (on paper) an ungodly amount of wealth here, but I think Trump is going to be very significantly damaged as well, I’ll be interested to see how he contains the damage.

  116. 116.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Is there any chance that Hegseth, Miller, Noem, Gabbard or any of the other bund members can be collateral damage in this fight?

  117. 117.

    Jay

    @Eolirin:

    I am glad that you have a handle on things and are experienced enough to deal with it well.

    Take care , please.

  120. 120.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @HopefullyNotcassandra:

    Even noted odious MAGA pols like Hawley and MTG have been making noises about some of the “bad stuff” in there that they didn’t read before voting on it.

    My take is they’re simply trying to cover themselves with the few constituents who might actually have an independent, critical thought about their grandma’s health care out in Bumfuck ‘Murka.

  121. 121.

    rattlemullet

    @Jackie: No, not in my opinion, They are afraid of tRump. A more cowardly bunch cannot be found, in politics. They are followers not leaders or independent thinkers, they also like a moral compass. The founders were fully aware that for the constitution to work men (at that time in history), require moral courage to do what’s right for the country and not themselves or there ilk.

  122. 122.

    NeenerNeener

    @HinTN: Yeah, one of my friends had a chipmunk that lived in her coat closet for the entire winter. One of the cats brought it in; it escaped said cat and dived into the closet and she couldn’t get it out. She gave up and fed it daily. She found its little dead body when she went to feed it one day in spring.

  123. 123.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Citizen Alan: ​
    Heh heh, you give The Turd too much credit for deeeeep thinking.

    That being said, I’m sure we’ve got plenty of Dems thinking exactly that.

  125. 125.

    Bupalos

    @HopefullyNotcassandra: Empty G has never read a bill period, that’s just a kind of cover story to paper over something that perhaps is much more substantive in terms of alliances being broken and formed.

    Today is a Big Fucking Deal. We’re going to be looking at a significantly different political landscape over the next week or two I think.

  126. 126.

    Bill Arnold

    @trollhattan:

    President Trump signals negotiations with Iran have failed

    Given that Trump is close to incapable of admitting that negotiations have failed, this is good.

  127. 127.

    Jeffro

    @Baud:Where is JD and why isn’t he asking whether Elon even said thank you?

    reporter to JDivans: “Mr Vice President, whose side are you on when it comes to trumpov vs musk?”

    (JD’s head explodes)

    (reporter’s karma score blasts upwards into infinity)

    DO IT, snooze media!

  130. 130.

    Ruckus

    @dmsilev:

    Some could be looking at this as strictly a monetary thing.

    We are seeing far more electric cars coming on the market, from companies not tesla or having anything to do with muskie’s bank accounts and they are likely to start selling soon. muskie has stepped upon himself with spiked shoes, and there is likely a fair percentage of people (with a growing list) that will want nothing more to do with him or his vehicles. Speaking of shooting one’s self in a soft and serious spot, muskie seems to have at least tried to shoot himself in a very not good spot, his seemingly rapidly degrading operational and thought lump.

  131. 131.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Omnes Omnibus: ​
     Oh, I do hope so.

    [Back to my massive address-update project. USA residents certainly do move around a lot. I sometimes feel like that minor character in “Angels in America” who’s a realtor: “Here, have a house. Stay put.”]

  132. 132.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Gretchen:  a multiplicity of rumors flying so fast, Snopes did a look see

    According to snopes, rumor has it that there was a throupling and an dethroupling along the way.  The rumors are thick, slick and coming from inside the MAGA-upside down.  There was even a Democratic entrant to the gossiping.  The Democratic Party posted a picture of an empty hotel room chair.

    https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/06/02/stephen-miller-wife-musk/

    Stephen Miller is also purportedly left-handed.

    There are lots of people saying this.  Where the beef actually is, if there is any, is in no way clear.

    There were also an enormous number of “leaks” from anonymous MAGA-upside down suggesting many nasty drug related things about Mr. Musk last week.

  133. 133.

    Jeffro

    Musk really did it!  The “trump is in the Epstein files” tweet is Fox News’ headline, right now!

    holy SHIT

    I may have to break my ‘no political discussions with my RWNJ family members’ rule…hmm…

  137. 137.

    Gretchen

    Miller is reportedly a lefty, which is consistent with Musk’s black eye on the right side of his face

  138. 138.

    JoyceH

    @Bupalos: I doubt if any Congress person ever reads every bill. But that’s what staff is for. People who genuinely come to Congress to be a legislator have a legislative staff who can create a “Cliff Notes” on a bill. I doubt if Empty Gee even has a legislative staff because she came to town to be a performer. She’ll have a comms and production staff.

  139. 139.

    Jeffro

    @Bupalos:Today is a Big Fucking Deal. We’re going to be looking at a significantly different political landscape over the next week or two I think.

    I think you are right.

    The long, looooong overdue RWNJ civil war may well finally be here.

  140. 140.

    Bill Arnold

    @Jackie:

    Are Vance and Repug leaders behind closed doors poring over the 25th Amendment?

    If they are sufficiently ruthless, Section 1 is being pondered, though maybe not out loud. Bold mine.

    Section 1: In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

    They really should clean up all the male pronouns, hm..

  141. 141.

    Baud

    There’s a post on Reddit that says Musk has now endorsed impeachment. Not sure if it’s real.

  146. 146.

    dmsilev

    @Baud: Washington Post says yes:

    Elon Musk appeared to support the idea that President Donald Trump should be removed from office, as the two former allies continued publicly sniping at each other Thursday.

    “Yes,” Musk wrote on X in response to a post that proposed Trump be impeached and replaced by Vice President JD Vance.

  150. 150.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @They Call Me Noni: this president is everywhere in the Epstein files already released.  Mr. Epstein had numerous phone numbers for Mr. Trump and Mr. Trump left many, many phone messages.  Mr. Trump also flew the Lolita Express.  This came out last summer.

    Business Insider and Newsweek both published stories suggesting Mr. Trump might be DOE 174 in the case against Mr. Epstein.
    https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-doe-174-jeffrey-epstein-documents-1859152

    https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-doe-jeffrey-epstein-documents-unsealed-2024-1#:~:text=He%20had%20been%20secretly%20disguised%20as%20'Doe%20174.’&text=A%20federal%20judge%20unsealed%20the,before%20the%20judge%20unsealed%20it.

  155. 155.

    Old School

    @Baud: Elon replied “Yes” to this:

    Ian Miles Cheong
    @stillgray 1h

    President vs Elon. Who wins?

    My money’s on Elon. Trump should be impeached and JD Vance should replace him.

  165. 165.

    Jeffro

    ok I did it, I couldn’t resist

    I sent my RWNJ dad and bro the Fox News article about all of the catfighting going on, asking for their opinions

    “…gosh, could it be true that trumpov really IS in the Epstein files?  that Musk really could tank the ‘big beautiful bill’?”

    LOLOLOLOLOLOL

  167. 167.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Bupalos:  I did not have Empty G criticizing this president (which she is doing here) on my bingo card this week

    I hope the change is for the better!

  174. 174.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

     

    @Ishiyama: I believed you.  It made sense.  I just missed it somehow.  I only meant to convey that Peter Thiel’s palantir was like Saruman.

  176. 176.

    Jay

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Felon Husk has a 20 person Bodyguard team around him at all times, some deputized as US Marshalls so they can be armed in Government buildings, airports and other “secure spaces”. I would guess that his “convoy” when he travels on the ground, has a bunch of EW jammers and other stuff.

    He’s probably not going to get Prigozhin-ed

  186. 186.

    Suzanne

    Man, the meme game is strong right now. Every one of them has me in hysterics.

  188. 188.

    Eolirin

    @Suzanne: Memes game turnin’ us all into little Neros, loling while the world burns.

    Though I guess it’s better than the alternative at times.

  191. 191.

    Suzanne

    @Eolirin: The only good thing about losing this election is that we can at least sleep better, knowing that we didn’t FA.

    The inevitable FO is shared, of course.

  194. 194.

    Jackie

    @Suzanne:

    Steve Bannon suggested deporting Elon Musk out of the country, the New York Times reports.

    Said Bannon: “They should initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status because I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately,”

    And it’s only Thurs!!! I hope there’s still popcorn on the shelves tomorrow when I go grocery shopping!

  195. 195.

    cmorenc

    @Citizen Alan: Muskrat would be far more likely to be goaded into actually using his bankroll to sew chaos into the ‘26GOP primaries, and not merely as a speculative thought experiment.

  196. 196.

    Jeffro

    @Suzanne: fave so far is just a quote:

    This reminds me of the correspondence between Jefferson and Adams, if you dipped their letters in grease, set them on fire, and dropped them in a dumpster, which was also on fire.

  198. 198.

    Jeffro

    @Baud: my 2nd or 3rd most sincerest hope at the present time is that some enterprising reporters will shove microphones in front of Brian Kemp and Glenn Youngkin and ask, “care to comment, Governor?”

    PLEASE SANTA I’VE BEEN SO GOOD THESE PAST SIX MONTHS!

  199. 199.

    Matt

    The DOGE boys should be real real worried – they’re all up to their eyeballs in obvious federal crimes, and if their patron loses favor that could turn into very hot water very fast.

  203. 203.

    cmorenc

    @Omnes Omnibus: If you were granted a wish that one, but only one of Hegseth, Noem, or Miller would get taken out as collateral damage in the internal feuds going on in Trump’s inner circle, which would you choose?
    You could of course hope the other two would also get ejected ignominiously, but it’s only guaranteed for the one you choose.

  206. 206.

    Splitting Image

    @cmorenc:

    If you were granted a wish that one, but only one of Hegseth, Noem, or Miller would get taken out as collateral damage in the internal feuds going on in Trump’s inner circle, which would you choose?

    Miller.

  207. 207.

    Jackie

    @cmorenc:

    Hegseth, Noem, or Miller

    Why can’t they be bundled together (hog-tied with zip ties)? Everything comes bundled these days.

    ETA If I must choose… Miller. But I don’t want to choose <stamps foot>

  209. 209.

    Splitting Image

    @Jackie:

    Why can’t they be bundled together (hog-tied with zip ties)? Everything comes bundled these days.

    In a perfect world, they would be bundled together with Curtis Yarvin’s entrails, but we can’t always have everything that we want.

  212. 212.

    Gravie

    Re: the chipmunk. Our late, lamented kitty showed up at the back door one afternoon, making that weird guttural yowling that announces something momentous and probably disturbing, with a chipmunk hanging from his mouth. He had the critter’s whole head in his mouth, with the little body dangling limply. I freaked, and yelled “drop it! Drop it”, which he did, just inside the door to the living room. Said critter was still alive and immediately streaked off into the living room to hide behind, or in, the furniture. I immediately realized my mistake — in order to catch the critter, I was going to have to let the cat loose in the living room to hunt it down. It was the best of an array of bad options, so that’s what I did. Kitty quickly nabbed the chipmunk and I herded them to the backdoor, closed it behind us once we were outside, then yelled “drop it!” again. (Hey, it worked the first time.) It was successful again, and that chipmunk took off like it was shot out of a cannon, never to be seen again.

  216. 216.

    Bill Arnold

    @Jackie:
    We might get to find out whether or not Musk’s young techies have installed kill (deadman) switches in the Federal Government computer systems.
    Or backdoors for Russian ransomware gangs.

  217. 217.

    Geminid

    @dmsilev: I think Chief of Staff Susan Wiles still.wields the most power in this administration. We don’t hear much about Wiles but that does not reflect on her power or lack of it; I think it’s more the opposite.

    Politico Magazine published a long article on Susan Wiles in early 2024 that is well worth reading; not for Wiles’ words because she did a good job of telling the reporter nothing. The biographical material is interesting though, including the fact that Wiles served as Ronald Reagan’s Chief of Staff after he left the White House in early 1989, and was sinking into dementia. The past may be prologue here.

  218. 218.

    hotshoe

    @cmorenc: ​

    @Omnes Omnibus: If you were granted a wish that one, but only one of Hegseth, Noem, or Miller would get taken out as collateral damage in the internal feuds going on in Trump’s inner circle, which would you choose?

    Well, ya didn’t ask me, but my vote:
    MILLER
    Seems to me) that Hegseth is less harmful; skated on Whiskeyleaks somehow, and is doing demented things to destroy the competence of US armed forces like firing all the high-ranking women — but still not as harmful to civil society as Miller (well, not yet anyway).
    I’d bet money) Noem is nothing at all in a couple of years. Like pretty-girl Palin, she will barely be a footnote in history. In the meantime, she’s steering DHS in extra-ugly ways; unlike Hegseth she is truly trying to ruin our society, so it’s almost a toss-up with Miller …
    Miller) the absolute epitome of The Reich senseless cruelty, with enough brains and energy to put his murderous desires into action. And now, if rumors are to be believed, extra angry since his wife left him to stew about his own inadequacy. What will he do? Advise TACO to impose even more deadly policies …
    Never a good thing when the man behind the throne is a Poisonous Lizard Person.

  219. 219.

    Bill Arnold

    @Baud:

    Does John Roberts’s immunity decision cover a Veep that commits a crime to become president?

    Good question. Thinking this through like an amoral member of the Trump II administration (a large group of candidates), the perpetrator might need to force a resignation first[1], before performing whatever action is used to cause the state transition from aliveness to deadness. I presume the baton of presidenthood is passed instantaneously to the VP, like it is with the monarch of Great Britain.
    Alternatively and more straightforwardly, the new POTUUS could immediately pardon the perpetrator.
    [1] Recorded by a secure camera, e.g. some sort of evidence camera that cryptographically signs/timestamps videos and puts them on the blockchain.

  222. 222.

    schrodingers_cat

    This is clickbait. Within a week Elon will be back in the fold. Trump and his assorted hangers on are providing what white people wanted, a show with a side of xenophobia and other assorted bigotries.

  223. 223.

    tam1MI

    @schrodingers_cat:Am I the only one to not find any of this  amusing or interesting.

    Well, at least it beats the 56,845,864th iteration of “The Democrats Suck”.

  227. 227.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Jay: his minions are also everywhere inside the government and can purportedly turn off government spending at will.

  228. 228.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Ishiyama: no apologies necessary

    The Tolkien is strong in you.

    Mixing references to say I appreciate the correction.

  229. 229.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @cmorenc: who replaces them?  Can we send them all to Mars?  I long for the smell of competent federal governance in the morning!

  230. 230.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @schrodingers_cat: no you are not, Maybe it’s my skepticism turned up to eleven but it feels like manufactured drama to distract people and especially to distract the media, who already have the attention span of a mosquito. Oh look Washington slap fight. And maybe I’m over sensitive but the common comparison to women fighting and how comical fights between women are is honestly annoying as hell. But what do I know.

  231. 231.

    Jay

    @HopefullyNotcassandra:

    I doubt that, when the Institute for Peace got their “house” back, the one that the DOGshit boys tried to steal, it was a rat and cockroach infested warren, full of Frathouse garbage and bags of ditchweed pot.

    As  Muskwatch points out, over and over, they don’t have a fucking clue about anything, how things work, don’t work or even how to read a contract or count.

    They are good at stirring up shit and breaking stuff they don’t understand, and that’s it.

    At least Animal House was just a movie.

  232. 232.

    Eolirin

    @Baud: Collectively we are/were. I’ll stand by that. If more people were active and engaged over the last couple of decades we might not be here.

  234. 234.

    Eolirin

    @schrodingers_cat: I’m not so sure that’s true. I think we’re seeing the result of two extreme narcissists inevitably coming to blows as their ego defenses prevent them from backing down.

    It’s small and pathetic and unsurprising. Ultimately it won’t matter. The actual power players will sit in the shadows and continue to operate behind the scenes.

  235. 235.

    geg6

    @EmbraceYourInnerCrone:

    Try reading Josh’s latest post at TPM.  He’s looking at it from all sides and came to the same conclusion I did.  This is real and may possibly not last, but it only hurts them both, so we should be all “let’s you and him fight.”  I agree.

  239. 239.

    Eolirin

    @schrodingers_cat: Elon may be *dead*. That’s how this would play out in Russia. It’s not about ideology, it’s about power structures. Elon just got turfed and it’s unclear he’s got enough of his own power base to survive being run over by Trump’s. Being out on the outs is dangerous the further we slide into autocracy

    There are a lot of parallels with the way Prigozhin broke with Putin here, and the consequences of doing so. Elon’s been assuming he’s the one who everyone will back over Trump in how he’s been acting up to this point. He’s about to find out how wrong that is. And I don’t think his ego is going to be able to handle it, so my expectation is we’ll see more doubling down until he’s made to go away.

  241. 241.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Ishiyama:  Did the enormous spiders give you nightmares?

    I did not discover the Hobbit until 7th grade.  The Hobbit was a much thumbed paperback hiding behind some Michener books at my favorite used book store.  Sometimes I still think about the kid who stuck it there.  I do hope they finished before I stole it from them.

    In 5th, I was in deep conversations with Mrs. Who, Mrs. Which and Mrs. Whatsit, while furiously trying to memorize the periodic table just in case.

  242. 242.

    dww44

    @JaySinWa: I like that.  He comes across as intelligent and classy.  And Florida is overdue for a bit of class at the statewide political level.

  243. 243.

    Ishiyama

    @HopefullyNotcassandra: Jeanie Gurda talked about The Hobbit at show & tell. A few days later, when we were visiting some friends of my mother (the Stephensons), I saw a copy on their bookshelf. I was captivated by the first sentence: “In a hole in the ground, lived a hobbit.” The rest is history.

  245. 245.

    Bupalos

    @cmorenc: Noem I think is the structurally dangerous one. They can’t easily replace the weird role she fills I don’t think. Hegseth and especially Miller basically grow on trees.

  249. 249.

    Ruckus

    @jonas:

    What the stock is actually worth and what it costs can be 2 different things. Most often there isn’t a lot of difference but it is possible. And what it’s actually worth to us can be different than what people will pay for it. Tesla is at $284.70/share which is down today 14.26% or $47.35/share. elon owns approximately 13% of tesla stock.

  250. 250.

    Ruckus

    @jonas:

    The reality is that neither shitforbrains nor musky are worth 2 shits as humans, regardless of their bank balances. Both are pompous, arrogant jack offs, one has more money and one is president. Neither make this country a better place. However, and it pisses me off to say it but elon does own a company that makes a car of the future – today. Now soon we will be seeing other manufacturers selling electric vehicles (some already do Nissan, Hyundai ). Ford makes an electric pickup truck, Lightning and Mustang E , UPS now uses electric delivery vans and has approximately 1000 of them and seems to be liking them, at least 24 manufactures manufacturers now produce for sale, or will have electric cars/pickups for sale very soon.

    And don’t forget that a lot of earlyish cars were battery electric.

  251. 251.

    Ruckus

    @jonas:

    Musk is seemingly doing his best to destroy his own world all by himself. shitforbrains is just making it easier to dislike him.

  254. 254.

    Ruckus

    @dmsilev:

    musky is likely just looking at what might get him the best side of the deal. His worldly concept is that the sun revolves around him of course, so anything that moves him higher up the bank account level is likely better than what/where he’s at now.

  255. 255.

    Ruckus

    @Baud:

    Naw, not a fork in the road, it’s a huge freaking sink hole. Walk around it and possibly it’ll work out ok. Take a step forward without looking and fall a rather long way down, trying to remember what you’ve heard about hell – all the way to the bottom…..

  256. 256.

    Ruckus

    @schrodingers_cat:

    NO.

    Except that right now it’s all we got. And laughter is far better than running around at night in your PJs screaming Holly Fuck over and over and over at the top of your lungs.

  260. 260.

    Paul in KY

    @Betsy: I dislike them, only because they take my mulch and then make a whole lot of shallow tunnels all over the yard. They are a very cute animal, though.

  262. 262.

    Shalimar

    @cmorenc: Of those 3, Miller.  If I had to pick one member of the administration, I would put Vought above him for the amount of damage done.

  263. 263.

    Paul in KY

    @Matt McIrvin: I had a cute green iguana once, named Rover. I drunkenly left him out of his tank one night (also had 2 kittens). I awoke that morning to find the back half of poor Rover in the cat litter box.

    Wish I’d taken better care of him.

  268. 268.

    Paul in KY

    @Baud: It might cover a POTUS who has to off his/her Veep for ‘official national security’ reasons.

  272. 272.

    artem1s

    @Matt: ​ 

    The DOGE boys should be real real worried – they’re all up to their eyeballs in obvious federal crimes, and if their patron loses favor that could turn into very hot water very fast.

    They have broken so many laws already that even if Orangemandius does pardon them it’s going to be hard to write the pardon to cover all potential offenses. I wouldn’t bet on this administration’s General Counsel getting them right even if they were inclined to take the time to write some sort of blanket immunity for them.
    And I certainly wouldn’t bet on JV remembering or caring to pardon anyone who doesn’t have a 7-8 figure bankroll for future campaign donations. He’s not gonna pardon Soutpiel Nazi’s poor Muskrat cousins any more than TCF paid for the J6 traitors’ legal fees.
    Dumbass kids who don’t know their history. Their gonna get stuck using a Nuremberg defense – “I only burned down the part of the government I was order to, your honor”.

  274. 274.

    artem1s

    @hotshoe: Are former National Guardsman subject to military tribunal? Cause the military have a way to take care their own when it comes to royal fuck ups. So my choice would be Miller too.

    And the first felon thinks the troops are rubes and suckers so I don’t see Hegseth on the shortlist for a pardon.

  275. 275.

    artem1s

    @Bill Arnold: Does John Roberts’s immunity decision cover a Veep that commits a crime to become president?

    IIRC Darth Cheney claimed the VP wasn’t part of the executive branch so he couldn’t be investigated or subpoenaed over the Valerie Plame scandal. I can’t remember if “Worst Justice of All Time, Even Worse Than Roger Taney” Roberts had to weigh on that one.

  276. 276.

    artem1s

    @Paul in KY:

    Orthanc (Isengard) had it’s own Palantir. The one at Minas Ithil was taken to Mordor. The one at Minas Tirith was also corrupted partially because Denethor couldn’t keep his grubby hands off it and he couldn’t overpower Sauron’s will and so he was shown only what Sauron wanted him to see and it eventually drove him mad. So it was fouled even though Sauron never physically touched it.

    But even Galadriel warned Frodo that using the seeing stones was dangerous.  The Palantir were artifacts from the Undying Lands and, like the One Ring, would ultimately corrupt and cause the downfall of any mortal who tried to use them to keep power and obtain immortality.

  277. 277.

    Paul in KY

    @artem1s: Know all that. They were ‘corrupted’ cause Sauron had one and would fuck with anyone that tried to use one of the others still available. The one at Orthanc and the one at Minas Tirith would have worked fine if Sauron hadn’t been ‘on the line’, so to speak.

    After Sauron’s demise, the one at Orthanc would have worked fine again, just no others that could be used with it.

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