Open Threads

Looks like the House Ethics Committee report on Matt Gaetz will be released.  Let’s hear from America’s biggest man baby, the subject of said report:

[some whining redacted] House Ethics will reportedly post a report online that I have no opportunity to debate or rebut as a former member of the body.

In my single days, I often sent funds to women I dated – even some I never dated but who asked. I dated several of these women for years. I NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18. Any claim that I have would be destroyed in court – which is why no such claim was ever made in court.

My 30’s were an era of working very hard – and playing hard too. [some bullshit redacted]

I was expecting “she sure didn’t look 17” but I guess the tactic of never admitting anything is the hill he’s going to die on.

Since we’re on the subject of alleged and convicted molesters who don’t live in the basement of a pizza restaurant, let’s check in with the Diocese of New Orleans, where a 93-year-old priest was sentenced to life in prison for raping a 16 year-old boy in 1975.  The priest decided not to apologize to his victims after his guilty plea.  His attorney explained that “his client had expressed remorse for his actions through his guilty plea.”  I don’t know about you, but in my opinion, the Catholic Church is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Republican Party.

Moving to Texas, here’s a long Washington Post story about a small-town police chief who worked at 8 Texas police departments in 11 years and was repeatedly accused of sexual misconduct.

A Post investigation identified 47 heads of law enforcement agencies who were charged with crimes involving child sexual abuse from 2005 through 2022. Three-quarters of them worked in departments with less than 10 cops.

I would also wager a fair amount that every cop in these little Texas towns voted for Trump and every other Republican on the ballot.

None of them drag queens, not a single one.

Checking in With the Party of MolestationPost + Comments (61)

Seems like this has worked in the past, let’s keep it going! Democrats’ playbook to beat Republicans in 2 years: work with them now:

Democrats, who are already planning their comeback after being swept out of power in Washington last month, have said they’ll oppose President-elect Donald Trump and his allies when their values collide but are open to cooperation on a range of issues, including immigration, federal spending and entitlements. […]

“This is how these battleground Democrats are anyway, but I think it will manifest itself in, ‘Take me up on this offer, let’s go.’ And if you don’t, then, ‘OK, I can work with that, too,'” said one Democratic strategist working on House races. “I think for a battleground Democrat, it’s a win-win approach. You have the possibility of working on a bill and a law which you can say, ‘I delivered,’ or you create receipts to bring back to voters to say, ‘I kept on trying.'” […]

“The opportunity to work in a bipartisan way, to increase your own bipartisan credentials becomes very important,” said Dan Sena, the executive director of House Democrats’ campaign arm in 2018. “I just think it’s important at large for the caucus to pay attention to the fact that ultimately, in two years from now, the Republican trifecta is going to get a thumb up or a thumb down from the country, and that’s ultimately going to dictate who has control of House.”

“If I were the Democrats at large,” Sena added, “I would be pretty aggressive in holding the Republicans and then the Trump administration accountable.”

How can you expect voters to interpret the whipsaw from claims that Republicans want fascist government, to “we’re going to aggressively work with these guys”? How do you hold them accountable when the bills you’re going to pass on a bipartisan basis are almost certain to have poison in them for the people that we’ve said we want to protect? I don’t get it. This is especially true in the face of news like Trump planning to go after progressive non-profits, ICE already feeling its oats by deporting a woman with newborn twins (born in the US), and Bobby Polio Jr ready to ban all vaccines.

Ro Khanna is again quoted in the piece, and the reason why he’s quoted is because there’s a lot of silence on the Democratic side and he’s ready to fill the media vacuum. For example, the only example of pushback on Bobby Polio that I’ve found is Elizabeth Warren. Good for her.

The great Aimee Mann again has some wisdom for Democrats mentioned in this piece: it’s not going to stop until you wise up.

You’re Sure, There’s a Cure, And You Have Finally Found ItPost + Comments (228)

Well, things aren’t going so great for Justin Trudeau.  Yesterday, his deputy PM and finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, resigned.  This is a big deal — she was a key advisor and member of his cabinet.  She wrote him a letter.

“For the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada,” said Freeland in a letter to the prime minister.

“Our country today faces a grave challenge. The incoming administration in the United States is pursuing a policy of aggressive economic nationalism, including a threat of 25% tariffs.

“We need to take that threat extremely seriously.”

Freeland wrote that Canada needs to keep its “fiscal powder dry today” so they have the reserves for a “coming tariff war”.

She warned Trudeau that “costly political gimmicks” need to be done away with as they can make Canadians doubt whether the government understands the “gravity of the moment”.

“That means pushing back against ‘America First’ economic nationalism with a determined effort to fight for capital and investment and the jobs they bring. That means working in good faith and humility with the Premiers of the provinces and territories of our great and diverse country, and building a true Team Canada response.”

Trudeau apparently wanted to replace her with Mark Carney, former governor of the Bank of England and Bank of Canada, and she didn’t want to roll over and give someone else her job.

Anyway, Trump decided to double-down on shitting on Canada when he heard the latest:

“The Great State of Canada is stunned as the Finance Minister resigns, or was fired, from her position by Governor Justin Trudeau,” Trump posted on his site, Truth Social.

“Her behavior was totally toxic, and not at all conducive to making deals which are good for the very unhappy citizens of Canada. She will not be missed!!!”

Ever since Trudeau flew to Mar-a-Lago, kissed up, and had his picture taken with Trump, Trump has been making dominance displays, proposing to annex Canada and make it our 51st state.

Tellingly, Trump has not gone after Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico.  She did not go to Mar-a-Lago, and as far as I know, has only had one phone call with Trump since the election.  Here’s what she said about Trump calling Mexico a state:

Asked on Monday about Trump’s suggestion that Mexico should become a state of the United States due to the trade imbalance between the two countries, Sheinbaum expressed her desire to cease “dialogue” with the former and future U.S. president “through the media.”

On Tuesday, she explained that what she meant was that her government won’t respond to every “declaration” made by Trump with a public statement of its own. […]

Sheinbaum said Tuesday that her government will “always” defend Mexico as a “free, sovereign and independent country” in the face of insults, accusations and attacks, but emphasized that “everyone has a different way of communicating.”

“This question of entering into permanent dialogue … [by responding to] every statement that is made [by Trump], I don’t think that helps us in the bilateral relationship, right?” she said.

She’s also been quite vocal about the US role in Mexican cartel violence in Sinaloa.

I post on this a fair amount, but I think Claudia is playing it a lot smarter than Justin.  She’ll probably have her time in the barrel, but not capitulating and flying to Mar-a-Lago was the smart move, and picking and choosing which bullshit provocations merit a response is also wise.

(Oddly enough, the President of Mexico does not have an airplane.  AMLO sold the 787 that Enrique Peña Nieto bought when he was in office.  Claudia flew economy to the G20 meeting in Rio last month.)

Justin, There’s No AnswerPost + Comments (81)

First, this guy (state senator from Pennsylvania) is dumb and funny:

He now says this was a “joke” which is what all unfunny Republicans say when they’re caught saying something dumb, racist, sexist, abusive or (fill in the blank with a bad thing).

Second, MTG and the real point of this post:

This be the verse:

1. I have a shiny toy, it kills and destroys.
2. There aren’t many uses for my shiny toy, so I have to dream some up.
3. To dream those up, I need to imagine a world where I, a privileged member of one of the most privileged groups on earth, is threatened.
4. Then I can talk about using my shiny toy to attack imaginary threats.  It makes me feel better about my investment and bothers other people because my shiny toy is really fucking dangerous, especially in my incompetent/crazy hands.

One of the rentals where we stayed in the Denver area last year overlooked the garage of a serious StarWars cosplayer.  It was just wall-to-wall stormtrooper regalia —  the very definition of a harmless hobby.  Unfortunately, the cosplay that the MTGs of this country have chosen uses killing machines instead of replicas of blasters, so now we have to give a shit about it.

(All of this is via Digby.)

It’s Cosplay All the Way DownPost + Comments (142)