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You are here: Home / Archives for 2024 Elections

2024 Elections

Who Can’t Find Their Pants Now?

by Tom Levenson|  June 2, 20236:53 pm| 110 Comments

This post is in: 2024 Elections, Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity

We’ve all noted the ongoing GOP and Co. drumbeat on Joe Biden’s alleged mental decline/incapacity.  C.f. the loathsome Nancy Mace declaring that in the debt limit farrago “Republicans got outsmarted by a President who can’t find his pants.”

Who Can't Find Their Pants Now? 1

This is an obvious dog whistle, (“Be very afraid of the president-in-waiting”) and, as with every GOP/fascist accusation, it is also a confession.

Exhibit A:

Who Can't Find Their Pants Now?

 

I mean: that’s exactly what an organized mind, capable of sequential reasoning and clearly connected to empirically verifiable representations of reality, would say, amirite? (That was from Trump’s response to DeSantis’s Twitter campaign launch fiasco.)

Trump is increasingly reminding me of late first-term, early second-term Reagan. That’s when the cognitive decline was present, but mask-able in most settings, including any in which he was working from a prepared script.

Obviously, I have no more information on Trump’s neurological status than anyone else outside the omertà circle surrounding TFG.  But the point isn’t whether Trump is in fact tumbling into dementia, but that he’s already amply demonstrated to those outside the cult that he’s got serious problems distinguishing what he wants to be true from what is, in fact true–and more on point, that he’s not in any meaningful sense a less risky cognitive bet as a potential octagenerian president than Dark Brandon is.

He’s an old guy with crappy diet and exercise habits who possesses none of the habits that support intellectual flexibility as one ages.

But we know this. The question, as always, is how the mainstream media will handle the question of age and mental function.

The answer, as always, is “Badly.”

Open, this is, a thread.

PS: Why yes.  I did turn in my MS to my editors.*  Why do you ask?…Which is another way of saying that I hope to be a little more present around the joint than I have been.  No promises–I may go full time into my beachcomber avocation. But at least there’s a bit more mental space w/in my skull.  Nice to see you all…

*Many more stages to come, as the herd of authors here will attest. But a milestone nonetheless.

Image: Anon, print, undated.

Who Can’t Find Their Pants Now?Post + Comments (110)

How To Lose Your Network in Thirty Days

by John Cole|  June 2, 20232:37 pm| 182 Comments

This post is in: 2024 Elections, Our Failed Media Experiment

Written, directed, and starring Chris Licht:

How are we gonna cover Trump? That’s not something I stay up at night thinking about,” Chris Licht told me. “It’s very simple.”

It was the fall of 2022. This was the first of many on-the-record interviews that Licht had agreed to give me, and I wanted to know how CNN’s new leader planned to deal with another Donald Trump candidacy. Until recently Licht had been producing a successful late-night comedy show. Now, just a few months into his job running one of the world’s preeminent news organizations, he claimed to have a “simple” answer to the question that might very well come to define his legacy.

“The media has absolutely, I believe, learned its lesson,” Licht said.

Sensing my surprise, he grinned.

“I really do,” Licht said. “I think they know that he’s playing them—at least, the people in my organization. We’ve had discussions about this. We know that we’re getting played, so we’re gonna resist it.”

Licht, in fact, had not learned his lesson:

While CNN has consistently trailed both Fox and MSNBC this year, the network has been particularly under pressure as it has been attempting to pivot from its left-leaning coverage during the Trump administration.

But that has seemingly come at the expense of its core audience.

In recent weeks, Newsmax–a conservative cable network outlier–has topped CNN in several time slots — particularly with Eric Bolling beating Cooper’s main show, “AC306,” at 8 p.m.

CNN chasing wingnuts is like Joe Manchin and other blue dogs chasing Trump voters. They fucking hate you, they don’t care what you have to say or how you say it, and a core part of their cultural identity is fucking hating you. So stop sucking up to them, stop firing talent inexplicably, and stop making yourself unpalatable to the other 75% of the country who fucking hates MAGA.

Just do good journalism. Jesus christ Jay Rosen has been screaming into a vacuum for the entire Trump administration and beyond. Maybe fucking listen to him.

How To Lose Your Network in Thirty DaysPost + Comments (182)

I smell a rat…

by Betty Cracker|  June 2, 202312:45 pm| 112 Comments

This post is in: 2024 Elections, Activist Judges!, Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity

Legal analysts seem to agree that Disney’s lawsuit against Ron DeSantis has a decent chance of succeeding because DeSantis helpfully bragged in public that he changed the company’s tax status, overthrew its board, etc., to punish Big Mouse for opposing the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The suit was originally assigned to a judge appointed by President Obama. But here’s a curveball: (Rolling Stone)

THE FLORIDA FEDERAL judge assigned to the court case brought by Disney against Gov. Ron DeSantis has recused himself after learning last week that “a relative within the third degree” held 30 shares of Disney stock.

Judge Mark Walker wrote in court documents filed Thursday that he must step aside since his relative’s “financial interest” could be affected by the case. “The size or dollar amount of the third-degree relative’s financial interest is irrelevant,” he wrote.

“Even though I believe it is highly unlikely that these proceedings will have a substantial effect on The Walt Disney Company, I choose to err on the side of caution — which, here, is also the side of judicial integrity — and disqualify myself,” Walker wrote.

The case has been reassigned to a Trump appointee, Allen Winsor, who represented Trump during Impeachment I. So, I’m not sure if the change helps DeSantis or not; I guess it depends on whether Winsor is a true believer or not.

Walker’s relative’s stock is worth less than $3,000. I appreciate that Walker has more scruples than 10,000 Clarence Thomases, but could Walker’s relative not have sold the stock before the trial? Something doesn’t smell right about this whole thing.

I smell a rat…Post + Comments (112)

Late Night Open Thread: Ron DeSaster In New Hampshire

by Anne Laurie|  June 2, 20232:45 am| 92 Comments

This post is in: 2024 Primaries, Republican Stupidity, Ron DeSaster

After declining to take audience questions after his first New Hampshire campaign event today, Ron DeSantis lashed out at a reporter for asking him about it while he was chatting with members of the crowd individually.

Here’s the video, via @NBCNews —> pic.twitter.com/Z2WtLy0JNj

— Jonathan Allen (@jonallendc) June 1, 2023

My understanding is Ron read a book on how to be normal published in the 1950s.

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 1, 2023

show full post on front page

There is a certain kind of Republican who is rooting for Ron DeSantis with the same kind of manic energy one roots for a 5* freshman running back because Ron DeSantis getting the nomination would be proof that they still understood what was going on in the world

— Jane Coaston (@janecoaston) June 1, 2023

But at least DeSaster has a high-quality staff to support him…

Ron DeSantis campaign leaker was invited to donor meeting by staffer he met on a dating app https://t.co/g6aUusHRpO

— Raw Story (@RawStory) May 31, 2023

Oh my god. Jeff Roe had him wearing a Glenn Youngkin fleece vest!! It’s like his signature move now.

“Jeff…he has no personality. Sounds like a robot and hates people.”

“Get him a fleece vest!”

It’s going to be 87° in Des Moines today. https://t.co/dxlDZ2rIZl

— Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) May 31, 2023

there is no meaningful anti-trump movement in the republican party, just as there wasn't during the 2016 republican primary and there wasn't during all four years of his term. it's his party and it'll be his until he croaks.

— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachi) May 30, 2023

Late Night Open Thread: Ron DeSaster In New HampshirePost + Comments (92)

SunBund Report: The Pissed Off Majority Strikes Back!

by Betty Cracker|  June 1, 202312:04 pm| 62 Comments

This post is in: 2024 Elections, LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights, Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity

An incident in Hernando County, Florida was the subject of a recent SunBund report on this here blog. It involved a radical right-wing school board member, “Moms for Liberty” GOP operative Shannon Rodriguez, who ratted out her kid’s fifth-grade teacher for showing students a Disney movie that had a gay character. There was national coverage of the controversy, just the latest embarrassment for Florida.

Earlier this week, Hernando County held its first school board meeting since it was put under that harsh spotlight. So many people showed up that the meeting spanned more than eight hours to give those who wanted to speak a chance to state their case.

Although hard-right instigators put out cattle-calls that drew out-of-county wingnuts (including the inexplicably Proud Boys), the emerging consensus is that the community is fed up with right-wing, god-bothering, DeSantis sycophants attacking their teachers and administrators.

And keep in mind that Hernando is a deeply conservative county that is more than 90% white and voted for Trump over Biden by 30 points in 2020 and DeSantis over Crist by 40 points in 2022. So it’s not just the libs who are sick of the “Moms for Liberty” busybodies.

A WaPo column describes the Hernando County school board meeting (gift link):

The scene featured teachers pointedly declaring that right-wing attacks are driving them to quit, even as parents and students forcefully stood up on their behalf, demanding a halt to the hysteria…

At the meeting, right-wing parents and a minority of the school board amplified the usual attacks: Pornography in classrooms, indoctrination, wokeness. Watching them, it was impossible to avoid the sense that they were relishing every second of the tumult they’ve unleashed…

But the real story of the night was the response. Again and again, parents and students forcefully defended teachers. They cast the right’s attacks, the censoring of educators and the removal of books as the real threats to education…

Just as a car wreck commands attention, the ugliness of right-wing culture-warring often transfixes the news media. But another story is beckoning: Ordinary parents everywhere and their elected representatives are responding, and declaring that they’ve had enough.

The article also outlines pushback happening in other states, and the authors are right — we need to hear more about the parents, teachers, administrators and elected officials who are fed up with this bullshit and fighting back! The backlash is organic, in sharp contrast to the astroturfed GOP “Moms for Liberty” nitwits.

There’s already a teacher shortage in Florida, and these unhinged attacks are driving more people out of the profession. The teacher Rodriguez targeted about the Disney movie has already resigned. At the meeting, the county’s teachers union president said nearly 50 more are planning to resign. Hernando County math teacher Alyssa Marano, who is also resigning, said this to the crowd:

“No one is teaching your kids to be gay. Sometimes, they just are gay. I have math to teach. I literally don’t have time to teach your kids to be gay.”

The response in Hernando County is incredibly heartening. Even though my kid is grown and the “Moms for Liberty” political operatives aren’t targeting our local schools yet, I plan to show up at every school board meeting. I hope people nationwide who are disgusted by these deranged attacks on our schools are prepared to do the same.

It’s up to us to stand up to these fascist bullies. They are not the majority, and the only way they win is when we don’t show up. So let’s show up and chase these fanatics right back under their rocks.

SunBund Report: The Pissed Off Majority Strikes Back!Post + Comments (62)

Monday Evening Open Thread: Back Into the Workday World

by Anne Laurie|  May 29, 20238:31 pm| 212 Comments

This post is in: 2024 Elections, Excellent Links, Open Threads

I mean it's pretty good that we went from "Biden will massively cave" to "what was the point exactly?" in the course of like a week. https://t.co/tc19V1jrZn

— The Biden Accomplishments Guy™ (@What46HasDone) May 28, 2023

the median voter wants an extraordinarily expansive welfare state which offers benefits to no one and the world's largest military, which never goes to war, with a balanced budget funded by taxing only five billionaire pedophiles

— basque astronaut (@revhowardarson) May 28, 2023

This is probably the best argument for taking the debt ceiling deal as Biden did. Whatever is least disruptive over the next year & a half is also what probably best serves his chances in 2024.

— chatham harrison is tending his garden (@chathamharrison) May 28, 2023

Gift link: Will Leitch, for the New York Times, “Trump Is Back, to Make Families Fight Again”:

… Families across America that were so divided by the Trump era have only started to heal in the last couple of years — and now we’re facing the real possibility of a sequel.

I’m dreading, and I sense that [my cousin] and many other Americans are dreading, having to go through this gantlet so soon again. Politics have divided families in ugly ways, and I do sense that the Biden era, for many, has been a chance to try to heal. But the wounds may be about to be reopened.

One of the implicit, but central, selling points of a Joe Biden presidency was that, if he did his job right, the average American wouldn’t have to pay much attention to him. The “normalcy” Mr. Biden vowed to return us to was partly about making the executive branch a functioning arm of government again, and about no longer being the (very scary) joke that the country had become globally during the Donald Trump presidency.

But at home, for many Americans, it was about something simpler than that: It was about returning to a world where we did not have to talk and fight about politics all the time. It was about being in your own home, among your own family and being able to forget, if just for a little while, that politics were happening at all — or at least assume that reasonable people were taking care of it.

show full post on front page

The Trump years made this impossible, and the ubiquitousness of politics, the sense that you had to be screaming about the state of the world at all times, fractured families across the country. What had once been merely some awkward moments at Thanksgiving became constant fissures pitting kids against parents, siblings against siblings, generation against generation…

Things have not been perfect, and there are still people desperately trying to fight about everything — there’s always that relative who insists on making sure you saw his “Let’s Go Brandon” hat. But with the easing of a pandemic that scrambled the planet, you have been able to walk around in the world for at least a few minutes at a time without worrying that it would explode. Maybe you even mended some fences with the people who, no matter how much you may disagree with them, you love…

My cousin and I disagree on many things, and there have been times — as when I saw her on Facebook cheering on the buses of “patriots” on their way to Washington on Jan. 5, 2021 — when I thought our relationship was essentially over. This was not long after she, someone who detasseled corn in the vast Illinois fields alongside me when we were both children, called me an “elitist deep stater.” It was difficult to wrap my mind around how much had changed: I had gone from affably disagreeing with her about Mitt Romney to wondering if she’d lost touch with reality entirely.

But the fact remains: I love my cousin, and my cousin loves me. It is impossible to imagine my life, who I would be, without her place in it, and I’m sure she feels the same way. She has known me forever in a way so few people have. I’ve enjoyed reconnecting and have even thought, “If our relationship can survive 2020, it can survive anything.” But can it survive that twice? I am not sure. I suspect many families across the country are wondering the same thing…

Keep America normal – reelect President Joe!

Keep in the back of your mind even if this deal goes through all house GOPers voted for crushing spending cuts in the House outline bill. That’s going to be a centerpiece of ads in 2024.

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 28, 2023

Monday Evening Open Thread:  Back Into the Workday World

Monday Evening Open Thread: Back Into the Workday WorldPost + Comments (212)

Late Night Dumb Nastiness Open Thread: Botox vs Clearasil

by Anne Laurie|  May 28, 20232:43 am| 48 Comments

This post is in: 2024 Primaries, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Republicans in Disarray!, Ron DeSaster, Schadenfreude

DeSantis Aide Christina Pushaw Spars with 16-Year-Old Trump Supporter Over Botox, Ukraine https://t.co/59n1idvELp pic.twitter.com/O6d6U348y2

— Jezebel (@Jezebel) May 26, 2023

LET.THEM.FIGHT.gif:

… Pushaw, fairly famous at this point for her face that (for whatever reason!) doesn’t move, went at it with “GOP Josh,” a high school student by day and popular pro-Trump Twitter user by night. At the very least, the online altercation between the ~32-year-old DeSantis aide and 16-year-old Trump supporter took on the critically important issues of the day: Pushaw’s alleged botox injections (and a little bit about Ukraine, too!).

The argument began in earnest when Pushaw shared a screenshot of a tweet by someone with “MAGA” in their username insulting her appearance: “Call me ugly all you want… must be tough when you can’t call me WRONG,” she wrote, followed by a string of emojis. That’s when GOP Josh chimed in, pondering, “How much of the $1M DeStablishment raised yesterday will go towards your Botox?”…

“Does your mom know what you are doing on the internet,” Pushaw shot back, instigating a right-wing war of characteristically not-sick burns. GOP Josh rejoined, “Does your boss know that you’re a foreign National?” in apparent reference to reports last year that Pushaw registered as a foreign agent due to her former work for the former president of Georgia, a former Soviet republic. Don’t worry—Pushaw, originally from California, had a classic locked and loaded in the barrel for this one: “I know Gavin Newsom thinks he is a dictator but California isn’t a foreign country,” she tweeted back.

This seems to be the first full-out Twitter exchange between the two, but a cursory scroll of Pushaw’s abundant tweets shows GOP Josh has long been on the DeSantis aide’s ass. And after Pushaw stopped replying to him on Thursday, he continued to heckle her, replying to a tweet from Pushaw disparaging the Trump campaign by asking point-blank, “Why do you spend all day on Twitter?”…

went down a little rabbit hole on this woman’s wikipedia and apparently she’s only 32 and her previous employers were the Koch brothers, then Mikhael Saakashvili, then DeSantis, all in rapid succession https://t.co/GDgcmUur8k

— knife-wielding hemophiliac (@NickTagliaferro) May 26, 2023

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Truly, Pushaw seems like… a piece of work, and the perfect press secretary for the Tallahassee caudillo. A Washington Post article from last year:

… In the 14 months since joining DeSantis’s staff, she has transformed the typically button-down role of gubernatorial press secretary into something like a running public brawl — with Twitter as her blunt-force weapon. Her usual targets: Democrats, the news media and anyone else she deems insufficiently supportive of DeSantis’s agenda and her own conservative politics.

She has knocked The Washington Post as “the Pravda of DC,” implied that Chelsea Clinton is “a grifter,” and referred to President Biden as “a seemingly senile 79-year-old aspiring dictator.” She invoked a notorious antisemitic trope about the Jewish Rothschild family while criticizing pandemic-related restrictions in November. (She deleted that tweet after describing it as “an attempt at sarcasm.”) In January, she questioned whether a neo-Nazi demonstration in Orlando was organized by Democratic staffers. (She walked that one back, too.)

Pushaw’s attacks on national news organizations and reporters can not only be blistering (“slobbering regime sycophants”), but they can also run on for hundreds of tweets and retweets — once prompting Twitter to suspend her account temporarily for “abusive” behavior.

She has also been credited — or blamed — for helping make the incendiary term “groomer” mainstream in GOP circles. In early March, she used the word, once reserved to describe pedophile behavior, to characterize anyone who opposed a DeSantis-favored bill restricting discussions of sexual orientation and gender in schools. “If you’re against the Anti-Grooming Bill, you are probably a groomer or at least you don’t denounce the grooming of 4-8 year old children,” she tweeted.

While conspiratorial QAnon followers had previously used the term “groomer” to tar their enemies, its use took off among conservative politicians and pundits after Pushaw’s tweet, and has thereafter been widely used to demonize Democrats and educators who discussed sexuality or gender identity with young children…

It’s been suggested Pushaw wants to be the next Kellyanne Conway, but I think she’s really best suited to be Press Secretary to the (*ahem*) ‘God-Emperor of Twitter’, if only that dude had the smarts to pay a professional instead of trying to insult all his many enemies with nothing but his own feeble wits.

babylon bee readers are trying to be pissed that one of the writers just got fired for being hostile to desantis's press secretary, but a bunch of people pointed out he swears. now they're getting sidetracked arguing about whether it's ok for the site's owner to use bad words pic.twitter.com/32ZkMnj6XJ

— 🐇🐙🐛 @[email protected] 🐝🐞🦑 (@SC_Griffith) May 27, 2023

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