Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

This really is a full service blog.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

Petty moves from a petty man.

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

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

When I was faster i was always behind.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

“woke” is the new caravan.

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

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

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

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Repub Cowards, Posturing Bravely

Open Thread: Repub Cowards, Posturing Bravely

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This post is in: 

Mr. Charles P. Pierce, at Esquire == “Republicans Are Using the Los Angeles Protests to Get Trump’s Budget Bill Passed”:

Expecting influential Republicans to step up and stop the ongoing madness? Have you been asleep for ten years? Joe Perticone of the Bulwark stopped by the Capitol today to gather some depressingly familiar quotes from our national legislators.

“I think he needs to restore order,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). “I’m mainly concerned about public safety and the president has clearly got authority in his federal capacity to deal with the National Guard. So, plenty of precedent.”

“I don’t think that the president had any choice,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). “These weren’t just protests, these were riots. And it was clear that the governor and the mayor—the mayor’s idea of containment was to give them a hug and a cup of hot cocoa. And the president did what he had to do.”

Cornyn is a sack of hair, and Kennedy is the guy who once was a Rhodes Scholar and talks in the Senate like Lonesome Rhodes’s dumber brother…

Meanwhile, the Republicans are using the destruction of constitutional order as a means to get the Big Plug Ugly passed because there’s increased funding in it for more bulked-up dudes in masks and camo. From CBS News:

House Speaker Mike Johnson said on X on Monday that the legislation, which addresses Mr. Trump’s tax, energy and immigration priorities, “provides the ESSENTIAL funding needed to secure our nation[’]s borders.” Republicans call the legislation the “one big, beautiful bill … The lawlessness happening in LA is ANOTHER reason why we need to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill IMMEDIATELY,” Johnson said, pledging that Congress will support Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who he said are “fighting to keep Americans safe against illegal aliens AND the radical left.”

Wow. That is so far from the facts on the ground that Speaker Moses probably is somewhere over Delaware by now…

Reader Interactions

143Comments

  2. 2.

    JoyceH

    Interesting. So our holy Speaker believes that rather than being detained, the governor of California should be subjected to a medieval torture that often results in death. Huh. Can we please clarify exactly WHICH god Johnson is praying to all the time?

  4. 4.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Johnson is one little passive aggressive little shit. Small wonder he has the kind of problems he has with his caucus.

  5. 5.

    WereBear

    In Southern accents, his name can sound like “My Johnson announced…”

    And I take my laughter where I can get it, these days.

  6. 6.

    JWR

    L.A. Mayor Bass and a bunch of regional Mayors are holding a joint press conference which opened with Bass emphatically calling for an end to the raids. Damn straight

    ETA. Oh noes, one of them is speaking some sort of foreign language, (yes, it’s Spanish), and it’s being carried live!

  7. 7.

    Citizen Alan

    Are there any sort of Vegas betting odds on whether Pastor Mike will someday be outed as a pedophile? You know, like former Speaker Dennis Hastert was?

  8. 8.

    Geminid

    John Cornyn is polling way behind Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for next year’s Republican Senate primary. The two men are known quantities in Texas, and I doubt if Cornyn can turn this race around. But maybe he’ll unload $20 million or so worth of attack ads on Paxton trying.

  12. 12.

    JoyceH

    @Geminid: Is that good news for Democrats? Ken Paxton strikes me as completely unlikable but somehow he keeps getting elected. Though he was impeached for corruption and there was some tacky infidelity involved in the story so the oppo ads could be entertaining.

  13. 13.

    JoyceH

    Will some reporter please ask Johnson about the tar and feathers quote. Ask if he supports torture and since he recommended it instead of arrest, does he advocate mob violence?

  15. 15.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Kennedy has a graduate law degree from Oxford, but he was not a Rhodes Scholar.

  17. 17.

    TEL

    I’m predicting a fair number of house R’s announcing retirement within a couple of months of whatever shit sandwich of a budget passes, if it manages to pass at all. They won’t be staying around long enough to answer for the economic downturn we’re getting. So Anne Laurie’s spot on about cowardice being their basic political attribute.

  19. 19.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    Ah the the joys of teaching 2nd graders. A found note “Mr. Old Dan and Little Anne is a fucking bitch.  Nobody like’s him.  He smell like shit.  He so fat that When he sit on the chiar it break’s.  He is so nasty that When he go in the shower the shower dons’t work.”

    Is it Friday, yet.

  20. 20.

    Betty Cracker

    @Geminid: I didn’t know Cornyn was so far behind, but since he’s somewhat less vile, it makes sense. Do you think it would be easier for a Dem to win against Paxton? (And by “easier,” I mean in the sense that it would be “easier” for me to bench press a Clydesdale than an elephant…)

  22. 22.

    Trollhattan

    @Citizen Alan:

    Gotta be boys, otherwise it’d be brushed off “Oh, he might have strayed but that little hussy dressed so provocatively can you really blame him?”

  23. 23.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Geminid: Senator Cronyn could run as an independent, I suppose.  How anybody sane supports the very crooked Ken Paxton is beyond me.  Is using tax payer money to fund your mistress normal in magaland now?

  24. 24.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @JoyceH: Who knows?  Last I heard, Texas Goypers want Governor Abbott to call a special session so they can redraw the maps again.   Why?   The Texas Goypers are concerned they have not cheated adequately.

  26. 26.

    Trollhattan

    @Geminid: If that vile fuck can unseat a semi-ambulatory current senator then Texas is far more gone that I thought. And I think Texas is more or less permanently self-fucked already.

  29. 29.

    Ten Bears

    My Johnson? Wasn’t that a Duck Dynasty spinoff?

    Did anyone else see his leap into politics was financed by three Russian Oilagarchs?

    He’s treating the Governor of the fourth largest economy in the world, an economy without which the US economy would fall precipitously behind, the equivalent of an Uppity Negro. That’s reason enough right there to never send Washington DC another dime to be redistributed to the welfare states. At least The Rez is self-sufficient, the South is utterly dependent on handouts. Anytime they want to leave is just fine with me …

  35. 35.

    Lyrebird

    @Betty Cracker: A few DKos posts have shown Allred with higher numbers against Paxton than against Cornryn.  Sorry not to have citations on this one.

  36. 36.

    scav

    Danish (supposed) precedent might suggest we all wear tee-shirts emblazoned “Foreign Invader”

  37. 37.

    Splitting Image

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker:

    Brian Wilson, Leader of the Beach Boys and Pop Genius, Dies at 82

    Damn, first Sly Stone and now Brian Wilson.

    A bad week for music.

    At least Mike Love and Bruce Johnston are still around, singing Brian’s music in support of the big fat orange guy.

  38. 38.

    Josie

    @JoyceH: ​ It could be good news for Dems depending who they nominate to run against him and how much money they can raise. Texas is a super expensive state to run in, and Paxton is pretty good at raising money. If there ever was an election that could turn the tide, this one might be the one.​
     ETA: My son tells me that I am an eternal optimist and that a Dem can’t win in Texas. I refuse to give up. :-)

  39. 39.

    lowtechcyclist

    @rikyrah: ​
     

    DHS posted this sign asking people to report all “foreign invaders.”

    Well hell, they’ve got masks on and drive unmarked vehicles, who’s to know if they’re foreign or not? But they’re rounding people up and don’t seem to pay any attention to people’s Constitutional rights, so I have to assume they’re foreign. I’d better call that hotline!

    The number is 866-DHS-2-ICE, and it would be a shame if the switchboard got overloaded with calls.

  43. 43.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Lyrebird:

    I’ll believe it when I see it.

    Yes, Dems need to be active 24/7/365 in TX, I’m not one of those self professed progressives who shit on red states writ large forgetting there’s a lot of *us* still in those red states.

    But…every time I hear about TX electing a (D) statewide to an office of note, usually accompanied by glowing praises for whatever newest, greatest Dem Candidate of the Day is gonna finally, we-really-mean-it-this-time, win us the big one, I think, it’s the promise of controlled nukular fusion all over again…always just a few years off.

    This would be one of those times where even a shitty Dem ala some many of us routinely bash on in here, would win, it would be great.  Maybe Fetterman’s shtick (and lies) would work in that context?

    Ted Cruz, the Most Punchable Face in the Senate, re-elected.  Paxton, a true shit of a human being (like Abbot) already starts ahead in the game.

    I know BCrack talks about the craptastic nature of the Dem party in Floriduh, can anybody who’s conversant in TX politics care to edumacate us on the party there?

    A decent enough Politico long form piece on the state of the Senate race and the incumbent fluff of hair:

    https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/05/14/cornyn-paxton-texas-gop-primary-infighting-00346390

  46. 46.

    Old School

    <Thing that happened today> shows exactly why my preferred policy should be implemented.

  48. 48.

    Trollhattan

    ICE has enough dudes for LA and then some.

    At least two more men who were attending hearings at Sacramento Immigration Court were handcuffed and detained Wednesday morning. The detentions occurred while more than eight men in plainclothes, who appeared to be federal authorities, were stationed around different floors of the courthouse.

    The presence was much larger than when officials detained an immigrant last week and appeared to be a continuation of the new and controversial practice that has troubled attorneys, angered activists and increased fears for immigrants. Some were asked if they were from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    One, who was involved in last week’s arrest, deflected and said he was waiting for an attorney while standing by an elevator on the first floor where the ICE office is located. He later went to the fourth floor, where court proceedings take place. He was overheard using a radio to ask if he was able to leave where he was stationed.

    A volunteer with the activist organization NorCal Resist, who did not want to be identified, said one man who was detained was seeking asylum. He was handcuffed in a hallway after just leaving his hearing. He is from Venezuela, according to court records.

    https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article308401280.html#storylink=cpy

    Schutzstaffel so popular the first time we’re relaunching the brand.

  51. 51.

    Nancy

    Perhaps the johnson doesn’t know what tarred and feathered means. Maybe I’m giving him too much credit. He lusts for pain and humiliation for Gavin Newsome.

    As a child, I somehow got into hot asphalt that was being spread with tar products, I assume. Blisters from a tiny splash. I was in pain that was minimal compared to what the torture he imagines would have been.

    Perhaps someday, he’ll experience similar pain but it’s unlikely to change his sanctimonious self.

  53. 53.

    Redshift

    Don’t like to question Charlie Pierce, but I think it would be more accurate to say Johnson is using the ICE raid situation to try to get his bill passed.

    We still need to keep fighting it tooth and nail, but since most of what ordinary citizens can do is repeatedly call our reps and especially get anyone we know with a GOP senator to call theirs, immigration action doesn’t really keep us from that fight.

    Also, it’s good to keep in mind that the entire reason they have to cram as much of their agenda into one “big billionaire bill” is because their caucus is a bag of rats and Johnson and the other leaders are really bad at getting legislation passed, so anything significant that’s not in this bill probably won’t get through Congress at all this session.

  55. 55.

    TONYG

    @JoyceH: Well, it’s Texas.  What is completely unlikeable to normal people is apparently just fine with the good people of Texas.  Another state that is dragging down the rest of the country.

  59. 59.

    Lobo

    Here is what you can do.  Call Senators and demand they use the Congressional Review Act.  With the recent changes in the use of it by the Republicans, 30 senators can move to review a rule, regulation, etc.  It is privileged and will use up 10 hours of senate time.   Trump has created enough rules to allow them to use it to shut down the senate.  100’s of rules at 10 hours each.  Do the math.

  60. 60.

    Sean

    @Lyrebird:

    The dude who hoovered up millions and then napped through the entire election? Jesus Christ, I hope we can find a candidate who actually wants to run a campaign here instead.

  61. 61.

    Mai Naem mobile

    A friend sent me a fb post of a guy who taped a bunch of either ICE or national guard(I’m assuming ICE) guys with their vehicles in  a mostly vacsnt strip center not far from me. This was from a few hours ago. There were a few raids in west Phoenix yesterday. I’m kind of surprised they are in my area unless they’re trying to get foreign ASU students. Most of those wouldn’t be hanging around after the school year especially in this state in the current climate.

  63. 63.

    Lyrebird

    @Sean: That’s who the pollsters offered…  I hope y’all net a really great nominee!

    Whether @Josie:’s suggestion or otherwise – I’m no longer in the state, not gonna pretend to have the pulse of the place.

  64. 64.

    Sean

    @Josie: Honestly, I’d favor anyone who isn’t going to run a consultant forward sham of a campaign like Allred did. I’ve said here before, his looked like the TX dem campaigns of the early 2000s. Lost causes from the start, meant as nothing more than an exercise in vanity.

    I don’t even know if I believe that anyone can win here. I’ve lived in Texas my entire life and I’ve never once seen a shred of evidence that any victories are “just around the corner.” Democrats haven’t won statewide since the 90’s. Every local victory is crushed by the legislature, and we’ve earned the distinguished accomplishment of ranking 50th in personal freedoms. It’s exhausting. I’m fucking angry all the time. I don’t even know what the fuck we’re doing anymore.

  66. 66.

    JoyceH

    Just saw on Nicolle Wallace that ICE is raiding the strawberry fields. These idiots really are going to tank our food supply in pursuit of Stephen Miller’s sick fixations, aren’t they?

  67. 67.

    Elizabelle

    Whoa, had not realized the Arlington Memorial Bridge was going to be closed all day Friday to Monday at 6:00 am.  That’s going to be a huge disruption.

    And good luck visiting your family member interred there on the Army’s birthday (weekend).  It is all about TRUMP.  Elderly widow:  you get to use Metro and your very own legs to walk the mile or more (uphill!) to the gravesite.  RFK Jr. applauds you for that!

    Just got this email from Arlington National Cemetery:

    Traffic Advisory: Army Birthday Parade Road Closures

    On Saturday, June 14, the Army Birthday Parade will cause multiple road closures throughout the Washington, D.C. metro area. The following road closures will directly impact access to Arlington National Cemetery (ANC):

    Friday, June 13, 6 p.m.—Sunday, June 15, 6 a.m.: George Washington Memorial Parkway will be closed between U.S. Route 50 and I-395 in both directions.

    Friday, June 13, 12:01 a.m.—Monday, June 16, 6 a.m.: The Arlington Memorial Bridge (including the circle) will be closed.

    Washington Boulevard, north of Route 110, as well as Boundary Drive, may also be impacted by closures throughout the weekend.

    Memorial Avenue will remain open during this time. We highly encourage ANC visitors to use the Metro during this timeframe.

  68. 68.

    Josie

    @Sean: ​
     I read recently that James Talerico might be interested. He would be a good campaigner but doesn’t have the name recognition yet of the others.

  69. 69.

    Sean

    @Belafon: Yeah, and it is no coincidence that his margin was a hell of a lot narrower than anyone else who has run here since 1995.

    I’d support Beto again (although I don’t think he’d want to), but I’d also support anyone who ran with that sense of urgency and vigor, which actually seemed borne out of a desire to serve and improve lives.

    @Josie : Talerico could make for a decent candidate. Just hope whoever it is puts up a real fight.

  70. 70.

    Marc

    Hmm, wonder what would happen if there were widespread rumors in various cities that there were pedophiles driving around in fake ICE vehicles.

  72. 72.

    Sheldon Vogt

    @JWR: Where is the discipline from LA for the officer who fired a rubber bullet at the Australian reporter?

  75. 75.

    Captain C

    @JoyceH: Whoever the god of sadism and hypocrisy is.  By his own standards, Johnson should be impaled Vlad-style, but as I am at least somewhat ethical I don’t think we should make that his actual fate (though I also shouldn’t be the 12th man on the jury that takes up this notional case).

  76. 76.

    Captain C

    Also, I will mention again that I suspect that Johnson and his son use their porn-tracking apps to inform each other of the depraved stuff that they find and enjoy on line.

  77. 77.

    JoyceH

    @Elizabelle: Will Melania be attending the parade? And have you noticed they’re not even trying to pretend she lives in the White House this time?

  78. 78.

    Geminid

    @Betty Cracker: Theoretically a bitter Republican Senate primary could open a path for a Democrat. But Texas seems to be a solid R+6 state so it would take a very strong Democratic candidate and a very favorable political environment to knock Paxton out.

     

    @JoyceH:

     

    @Trollhattan: I think this primary race says more about Texas’s Republican Party base than about Texas as a whole.

  81. 81.

    prostratedragon

    @Nancy:

    Perhaps the johnson doesn’t know what tarred and feathered means. Maybe I’m giving him too much credit.
     
    You are. He’s a Southerner, and it was an alternative to or a part of a lynching. He should be called out on it repeatedly.

  82. 82.

    Captain C

    @HopefullyNotcassandra:

    How anybody sane supports the very crooked Ken Paxton is beyond me.

    I think you’ve answered your own question here.

    Is using tax payer money to fund your mistress normal in magaland now?

    Perhaps not normal, but definitely aspirational.

  83. 83.

    Captain C

    @rikyrah:

    DHS posted this sign asking people to report all “foreign invaders.”

    Does a Putin-sponsored and -backed failson surrounded by a bunch of sadistic thieves and opportunists count?

  84. 84.

    sab

    @Old Dan and Little Ann: My third grade grand-daughter, during last months complicated horrible funeral arrangements, demanded to know why she couldn’t swear when all the adults around her were. Fun times.

  87. 87.

    Steve LaBonne

    @Captain C: Look up why Giuliani moved NYC’s emergency response center to the World Trade Center, AFTER the WTC had already been bombed once.

  89. 89.

    Captain C

    @Steve LaBonne: Don’t have to look that up.  It’s one of the (many) reasons Rudy’s one of two contenders for worst NYC mayor of my lifetime (the other being the current leprechaun eater).

  94. 94.

    Geminid

    @Sean: I thought Beto O’Rourke set himself back with his 2020 presidential run, at least with Texas voters. That’s water under the bridge though.

    At least O’Rourke helped transform El Paso politics. I read about this in Rep. Veronica Escobar’s Twitter biography. Escobar holds the Congressional.seat O’Rourke vacated to run against Ted Cruz in 2018, and before that was El Paso County Judge, which is a powerful position in Texas’s system.

    A decade earlier, Escobar, O’Rourke and fellow activists Susie Bird and Steve Gomez plotted a successful takeover of El Paso Democratic politics from an entrenched “machine.” The four were known locally as “the Progressives.” It’s an interesting story.

  96. 96.

    Another Scott

    I just finished voting (dropped off my absentee ballot) in the Virginia Primary.  No line!

    I’m debating on whether to attend the No Kings event in Alexandria on Saturday.  (Parking can be a challenge on Saturdays even without big events…)

    Meanwhile, … NotebookCheck.net:

    Chinese EV owners can now spend less time charging and more time driving, thanks to BYD’s flash charging tech. The Chinese electric car maker is bringing the innovation to Europe, even as its sales continue to balloon on the continent.

    BYD VP Stella Li shared the news in Belgium’s capital city, Brussels. She said the benefits of ultra-rapid charging would extend to even older EVs, which would need about 30 percent less time to fill up.

    BYD will roll out the new 5-minute chargers in Europe in the next 12 months. It will initiate the build-out from its dealerships and is already engaging local partners to expedite the process.

    The 1000-volt flash tech will make charging EVs comparable to traditional fuel stops. Li said it would be a game changer and boost drivers’ confidence in electric mobility. Her company has begun installing the new chargers in China following a launch in March.

    BYD is gunning for the top spot in the European EV market as it competes with Tesla. Li said sales in the continent are growing by 10 percent every month. BYD will support the expansion of its footprint with a manufacturing facility, R&D, and new regional headquarters in Hungary. The company is committed to “build in Europe to sell in Europe.”

    The MAGATs want to turn back the clock, or stand astride history and yell STOP. The rest of the world is moving forward, with or without us.

    Forward!!

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  97. 97.

    Geminid

    @cain: There’s been an intra-party feud going with Texas Republicans for a couple years. I’m watching from a thousand miles a way, but it looks like what I’ve seen in Virginia and maybe Georgia too: a Chamber of Commerce/Country Club wing on one side, and a coalition of “Tea Party” cranks and Bible Thumpers on the other.

    Short term, I don’t think this will change Texas’s general election dynamic. Long-term, who knows?

  98. 98.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Ten Bears: if Dixie left, what happens to Houstonians?  To the Atlanteans?  There are a lot of yellow dog donkeys loose, kicking and most of all living down south   What happens to them if the United States divide?

    once in this country we tolerated fascism in Dixie.  I don’t think we can afford to tolerate fascism down there again.  Fascism is a spreading corruption.

    My last thought is reflexive revulsion for all twisted, upside down putin-think.  Those jerkwads would dearly love to see our country split in two and endlessly bickering (and I fear warring) with each other.  The regime in Russia now, just as much as the Soviets previously, funds every secesh movement in our country.

  99. 99.

    Salty Sam

    @Sean: I’ve lived in Texas my entire life and I’ve never once seen a shred of evidence that any victories are “just around the corner.”… I’m fucking angry all the time. I don’t even know what the fuck we’re doing anymore.

    Same here-  I’m at the breaking point.

    I’ve had two conversations today, and neither of them ended well.  An old friend from high school (54 years!) who laughed dismissively at my saying “we are rapidly approaching a fascist police state”.  Then an hour later, a call from my 92 yr old mom, who started spouting Fox News lies at me…. I managed to get out “I love you Mom, but this is not going to end well.  Goodbye.” before I hung up on her.

    Breaking point indeed.  But DAMN! it hurts…

  104. 104.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @lowtechcyclist: the last time one of those lines got spammed, was it not fans of the South Korean phenom Jung-Ji-Hoon, otherwise known as Rain?
    That was the phone line this ugly old president set up for people to make claims of bs voting fraud.  It got inundated with sheer goofiness.

    Whosever teenage fans did that, it was a thing of beauty.

  105. 105.

    Salty Sam

    @rikyrah:    it’s not that Texas is Red.    Texas is voter suppressed

    This is true.  And yet, at the behest of the White House,  Tx GOP is working to do another mid-cycle re-drawing of Congressional districts in order to gerrymander it even more.  I just can’t take it anymore…

  108. 108.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @JoyceH:

    This is how Republicans & their flacks have been talking about Democrats for 30 years or more. It is just accepted by everyone, including Democrats.

  110. 110.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Nancy: once our forebears in this country tarred and feathered the snake oil salesman that came to down to fleece them.  That is if the townsfolk could catch the conmen.

    Today, we are ruled by a party of cons who openly take bribes from foreign countries while eliminating federal policing of crime in order to focus all law enforcement at hard-working immigrants.

  113. 113.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Sean: Stay sane.  The paxtons of this world want you burned out.  Go to dark sky country if you are close and unplug.  Go anywhere gorgeous, quiet and outdoors.  My advice to use as you will.

  114. 114.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @JoyceH: the Fresno strawberries ?  Fresno is having enough trouble with the strawberries this year.

  115. 115.

    NaijaGal

    @Geminid: ​
     

    Old New York Times article sent to me by a friend:

    How Two Billionaire Preachers Remade Texas Politics “They control Republican politics in the state. Now they’re poised to take their theocratic agenda nationwide.”

    Presents Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, who made their fortune in oil and want to steer government towards Christian rule. They helped primary Republicans who don’t toe their line and are big supporters of Ken Paxton. Texas is in deep trouble. Money in politics at its worst.

  116. 116.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Sheldon Vogt: right now, LA wants the Feds out.  LAPD is Los Angeles.  They belong.  800 marines from Pendleton belong on the ocean, if not Pendleton.  CAlifornia’s National Guard belongs at home enjoying the perfect June gloom

    LAPD will investigate the incident.  LAPD will follow their procedures and California law.  Due process takes time.  The rule of law is not hasty.  Thank providence!

  117. 117.

    Trollhattan

    @Eunicecycle:

    Similar, and just as deadly over the long haul.

    “A major US government website supporting public education on climate science looks likely to be shuttered after almost all of its staff were fired, the Guardian has learned. Climate.gov, the gateway website for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa)’s Climate Program Office, will imminently no longer publish new content, according to multiple former staff responsible for the site’s content whose contracts were recently terminated. “The entire content production staff at climate.gov (including me) were let go from our government contract on 31 May,” said a former government contractor who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. “We were told that our positions within the contract were being eliminated.” Rebecca Lindsey, the website’s former program manager, who was fired in February as part of the government’s purge of probationary employees, described a months-long situation within Noaa where political appointees and career staff argued over the fate of the website…”

  118. 118.

    Geminid

    @Salty Sam: If Texas Republicans are doing another round of redistricting, it may be a sign of weakness. In 2018, they lost a suburban seat near Houston, and another one near Dallas because their 2011 gerrymander broke down. Texas Republicans could be looking at a similar situation now.

  122. 122.

    Trollhattan

    @Betty:

    Sounds like game recognize game. Orban hates EU, loves Russia so why not China? Hungary’s GDP is #56

  123. 123.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Steve LaBonne: that was the most egregious Giuliani mayor move.  I have others embossed on my memory, too.

    Remember when the Rudy threw his wife and kids (Andrew-15 and Caroline-11) out of Gracie Manor? He had a side piece who he did marry.  Remember he claimed he was right with the Lord because he was “impotent” due to prostate cancer.  This was around the same time he appeared on SNL in drag, which caused no wingnut the sort of apoplexy drag gives them today.

    Such a stalwart of sadism that Rudy Giuliani.  How our media determined he was America’s mayor will always boggle my noodle.

  124. 124.

    Ken B

    @Geminid: That was my thinking too.

    Another possibility with Gerrymandering is that you spread your voters too thin, and if something happens to suppress their votes, then you have the potential to lose a lot of seats all at once.

    I don’t expect that to happen in Texas  any time soon, but it’s always a possibility.

  126. 126.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Geminid: I think the fight was more “Friday Night Lights”/protect the local schools versus cons for profit schools taking public education dollars.  The Lights guys won and won and won.  So, the other side primaried them all, except for the one they had been primary-ing since 2018.

    I don’t know how that breaks down into social groupings.  Somebody from Texas jump right in.

  128. 128.

    mrmoshpotato

    NBC Nightly News is hoping the two shitstains will kiss and make up to continue destroying the US government.

    Added – and of course they’re paying attention to the minority of assholes being violent.

  130. 130.

    NutmegAgain

    @rikyrah: It’s been my understanding that the Musk family did too. That they were members of the Canadian Nazi Party (the what now?) and moved to SA when apartheid was formalized because they thought inscribing all the racisms into law was so dandy.

  132. 132.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Betty: BYD is also building factories in Brazil, Indonesia, Türkiye, & has plans to build factories in Mexico, Vietnam, & possibly India. It & other Chinese companies, & the PRC government in general, are agnostic as to how their economic partners are organized politically.

    Hungary has rolled out the red carpet for Chinese EV & batteries makers, & has a well established auto manufacturing supply chain that is deeply integrated w/ the German auto industry. Unlike Germany, France & Italy, Hungary does not have domestic auto brands to protect from the Chinese competition (even if manufactured locally). Unlike Poland, there is far less skepticism of anything Chinese resulting from the PRC’s entente w/ Russia.

    Spain is another favored destination for Chinese automakers looking to manufacture in the EU, because the Spanish government has also rolled out the red carpet, due to similar economic factors as Hungary.

    OTOH, lots of PRC battery makers are investing in France & Germany.

  133. 133.

    JoeyJoeJoe

    @Geminid: In addition to losing the 7th and 32nd districts in 2018 (which were safely Republican as recently as 2014), republicans almost lost or won by a few points in districts 2, 3, 6, 10 (I think), 21, 24, and 31).  All of these had been considered safe seats, and a couple were drawn specifically to be safely Republican

  134. 134.

    Sister Golden Bear

    They’re just itching to start the Second Civil War…

    Florida AG: We’re Sending State Troops To Help In CA

    Florida law enforcement can look forward to serving a federal mission on the road in the foreseeable future. That’s according to Attorney General James Uthmeier, who said that “we’ll be sending any resources we have to California to help the President carry out his mission.”

    Uthmeier’s comments, made on the Sean Hannity radio show, preceded Gov. Ron DeSantis telling a national television audience that California officials thought Florida State Guard troops on Los Angeles streets would somehow “inflame the situation” regarding demonstrations against ICE.

    But the AG posted the comments to X after it was reported that California officials rejected Florida’s offer of help, suggesting that if Washington made the ask, Florida would send reinforcements regardless of local wishes.

    “Riots” my ass, there was less shit going down than after the Lakers won the title. I’ve seen far more civil unrest in a Trader Joe’s parking lot, as Fake Werner Herzog will attest.

  135. 135.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    Florida AG: We’re Sending State Troops To Help In CA

    Has Newsom told DeathSantis to go fuck himself with his fuck-me boots yet?

    I think California will win this war between the states.

  140. 140.

    Bupalos

    Our best hope is that this country is too big and diverse to actually control the way Trump hopes to. Rachel Maddow alluded to what is likely our best advantage: Not that we have “strongholds” in LA and Boston, but that there are lots and lots of people in places like Alabama and Texas and Indiana actually hate this shit, and don’t want this performative cruelty and revolution of stupidity. I think Trump is essentially smarter and in a better position to be strategic than us, but he labors under an even more distilled version of the kind of error we make here- of thinking that “this part of the country is this way, that part of the country is that way.” It’s all way more marginal than we think. There will be No Kings protestors in every nook and cranny of this country on Saturday. It won’t be overwhelming anywhere, and probably not that impressive in media terms. But it will be as ineradicable as the flea beetle.

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