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You are here: Home / Archives for Politics / Domestic Politics

Domestic Politics

Quiet, Piggy! (Open Thread)

by Betty Cracker|  November 28, 20251:19 pm| 119 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Assholes, General Stupidity

Yesterday on his janky social media platform, the demented shitbag that 49.81% of U.S. voters elected “president” spewed forth a multipart hateful tirade that even the most unhinged druncle at a random Thanksgiving dinner would be unable to match:

(1/8) A very Happy Thanksgiving salutation to all of our Great American Citizens and Patriots who have been so nice in allowing our Country to be divided, disrupted, carved up, murdered, beaten, mugged, and laughed at, along with certain other foolish countries throughout the

(2/8) World, for being “Politically Correct,” and just plain STUPID, when it comes to Immigration. The official United States Foreign population stands at 53 million people (Census), most of which are on welfare, from failed nations, or from prisons, mental institutions,

(3/8) gangs, or drug cartels. They and their children are supported through massive payments from Patriotic American Citizens who, because of their beautiful hearts, do not want to openly complain or cause trouble in any way, shape, or form. They put up with what has happened

(4/8) to our Country, but it’s eating them alive to do so! A migrant earning $30,000 with a green card will get roughly $50,000 in yearly benefits for their family. The real migrant population is much higher. This refugee burden is the leading cause of social dysfunction in

(5/8) America, something that did not exist after World War II (Failed schools, high crime, urban decay, overcrowded hospitals, housing shortages, and large deficits, etc. ). As an example, hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia are completely taking over the once great

(6/8) State of Minnesota. Somalian gangs are roving the streets looking for “prey” as our wonderful people stay locked in their apartments and houses hoping against hope that they will be left alone. The seriously retarded Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, does nothing,

(7/8) either through fear, incompetence, or both, while the worst “Congressman/woman” in our Country, Ilhan Omar, always wrapped in her swaddling hijab, and who probably came into the U. S. A. illegally in that you are not allowed to marry your brother, does nothing but

(8/8) hatefully complain about our Country, its Constitution, and how “badly” she is treated, when her place of origin is a decadent, backward, and crime ridden nation, which is essentially not even a country for lack of Government, Military, Police, schools, etc…

(1/5) …Even as we have progressed technologically, Immigration Policy has eroded those gains and living conditions for many. I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U. S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden

(2/5) illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s Autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country, end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our Country, denaturalize migrants who

(3/5) undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization. These goals will be pursued with the aim of achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations, including

(4/5) those admitted through an unauthorized and illegal Autopen approval process. Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation. Other than that, HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL, except those that hate, steal, murder, and destroy everything that America stands for — You

(5/5) won’t be here for long!

Lies as usual, but the question is how much damage the feeble-minded, flailing narcissist will be able to inflict in the short term. His powers are fading as rapidly as the tattered remains of this partially removed bumper sticker. I’m more convinced of that than ever after a holiday visit to MAGAland.

Faded remnants of a nearly illegible Trump bumper sticker.

None of the usual suspects in my life were willing to defend the orange pustule now. All they’ve got left is “but Biden.” But they know their grocery and electricity bills are rising and insurance is increasingly unaffordable while Trump and his billionaire buddies are pillaging the entire planet.

The current state of affairs doesn’t seem sustainable. The question is, can we hang in there for a year? Not that we have a choice, but I really don’t know the answer to that.

Open thread.

P.S.: A “permanent pause” isn’t a thing, Piggy.

Quiet, Piggy! (Open Thread)Post + Comments (119)

Epstein, Epstein, Epstein

by Betty Cracker|  November 12, 20251:02 pm| 216 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Open Threads, Politics, Assholes

Is the Epstein scandal blowing up in Trump’s ugly orange face again? Maybe! (NYT gift link)

House Democrats on Wednesday released emails in which Jeffrey Epstein wrote that President Trump had “spent hours at my house” with one of Mr. Epstein’s victims, among other messages that suggested that the convicted sex offender believed Mr. Trump knew more about his abuse than he has acknowledged.

Mr. Trump has emphatically denied any involvement in or knowledge of Mr. Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation. He has said that he and Mr. Epstein, the disgraced financier who died by suicide in federal prison in 2019, were once friendly but had a falling out.

But Democrats on the House Oversight Committee said the emails, which they selected from thousands of pages of documents that were released by their panel on Wednesday, raised new questions about the relationship between the two men. In one of the messages, Mr. Epstein flatly asserted that Mr. Trump “knew about the girls,” many of whom were later found by investigators to have been underage. In another, Mr. Epstein pondered how to address questions from the news media about their relationship as Mr. Trump was becoming a national political figure.

Trump’s spokes-liar Karoline Leavitt alleged House Dems cherry-picked the documents “to distract from President Trump’s historic accomplishments, and any American with common sense sees right through this hoax and clear distraction from the government opening back up again.”

In the words of my generation, as fucking if! 

Republicans retaliated a couple of hours ago by releasing more than 20,000 documents and claiming Democrats are implicated too. Reporters are poring over them as we speak.

According to the Times, Epstein was corresponding via email with Larry Summers in 2018, though nothing salacious has bobbed to the surface so far. I don’t give a fuck about Summers and don’t think the broader public will either.

If I were an enterprising reporter, I’d start by searching every name on the Mar-a-Lago membership list. If I were a Democratic member of Congress, I’d keep right on insisting on the release of all the files.

Open thread.

Epstein, Epstein, EpsteinPost + Comments (216)

Sunday Morning Open Thread

by Betty Cracker|  October 19, 20258:30 am| 294 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity

Baud alerted us to a fascinating story in the overnight thread: Thieves broke into the Louvre and stole nine items of “incalculable value,” allegedly what remains of the French crown jewels. BBC live feed here.

We are now getting more details about how the robbery unfolded.

The French Interior Ministry says that at around 09:30 local time (08:30 BST) a number of individuals got into the Apollo Gallery via a window, which they broke.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez says three or four thieves involved used a goods lift on a truck outside the building.

Once inside, the thieves stole jewels that were in display cases and then left on motorbikes. Nunez says the robbery took seven minutes.

A precise list of what was stolen is being drawn up.

Beyond their commercial value, the ministry says the items have an incalculable historical and cultural value.

Damn! It sucks that it happened at all, but personally, I’m glad the thieves decided to take valuable rocks rather than masterpieces painted by humans like da Vinci, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Vermeer, etc.

***

The president posted an AI slop video that depicts him wearing a crown and flying a fighter jet that dumps runny shit all over American cities. No, really, that happened.

Trump posts AI video showing him literally dumping shit on America

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 18, 2025 at 10:36 PM

Probably no reporters will ask Mike Johnson and John Thune about that because it’s just normal now, government by toxic 4chan weirdos. Millions of Americans inflicted a narcissistic injury on Trump by taking to the streets, so it’s our fault, really.

***

Republicans say we’re too broke to subsidize healthcare for Americans, but somehow they found enough change in the sofa cushions to give Kristi Noem and her psycho boyfriend a pair of Gulfstreams:

When government service becomes a path to luxury and riches it ceases to be “service.” Noem, like all Trump’s top officials is looting Treasury and stealing from taxpayers. Trump and his minions are amassing staggering wealth and living like royalty at taxpayer expense. Gift Article.

[image or embed]

— Predictive Stupidity (@onemoney.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 1:15 PM

I believe Noem and the abusive side-piece are also living in a palatial house at government expense too. Y’all, we can’t go on this way.

Open thread!

Sunday Morning Open ThreadPost + Comments (294)

#NoKings in Florida (Open Thread)

by Betty Cracker|  October 18, 202511:13 am| 62 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, No Kings Oct 18, 2025, Open Threads

Good turnout for our local #NoKings protest this morning at the old county courthouse!

More than 1200 at the #NoKings rally in my Trumpy little Florida town. Much bigger than the last protest (because things are so much worse). Power to the people!

[image or embed]

— Betty Cracker of Florida (@bettycrackerfl.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 10:52 AM

We saw at least one inflatable frog, an inflatable unicorn, a guy in a chicken suit and an inflatable t-rex. Lots of American flags. Many passing cars honked horns in solidarity.

Organizers were walking the line, passing out water and urging folks to stay calm and deescalate if anyone tried to bait us. Very few people yelled rude stuff at us, and there were no rolling coalers like there were at the June protest.

One Duck Dynasty dude lookalike on a Harley rolled by slowly and yelled IDIOTS at us. A group of feisty Latina women standing adjacent to Bill and me called that dude a pendejo, but that was about it.

The atmosphere was festive. The Latina women got Bill to take their pictures while holding up their signs.

One of the women told us she’s an immigrant who has been here for 45 years. She said she’s not afraid of the local Trump cult assholes, that they are weak losers. I think she’s right. I think we will win.

Open thread!

#NoKings in Florida (Open Thread)Post + Comments (62)

Mike Johnson did NOT SEE this coming…

by Betty Cracker|  October 16, 20251:13 pm| 164 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality

Why do all these Nazis* keep working/voting for and getting elected to Mike Johnson’s political party? ‘Tis a mystery. (The Guardian)

Johnson condemns Young Republicans group chat messages
The House speaker has condemned racist, sexist and homophobic messages from a Young Republicans group chat that were leaked this week.

“We roundly condemn any of that nonsense,” Johnson said, while underscoring that he didn’t know the members of the chat accused of sending the messages. “Somebody posted a photo of me standing next to these guys wearing tuxedos. Obviously, I think it was at the inauguration, and people are just coming up and asking for selfies … I’ve never heard of that person in my life.”

Johnson also said he couldn’t comment on the ongoing investigation into an image of American flag with a digitally altered swastika symbol seen in congressman Dave Taylor’s legislative office. The Republican lawmaker representing Ohio referred the matter to Capitol police and said that “the content of that image does not reflect the values or standards of this office, my staff, or myself, and I condemn it in the strongest terms” in a statement.

“Anybody in any party who espouses it, we’re opposing that,” Johnson said plainly today.

It’s just SO WEIRD that Nazis keep popping up in Republican group chats, selfies with Mike Johnson and in Republican legislative offices on Capitol Hill, y’all. Why does this keep happening?

Open thread!

*Reference to a timeless classic from The Onion.

Mike Johnson did NOT SEE this coming…Post + Comments (164)

Beware The Reactionary Centrists

by Betty Cracker|  October 14, 202511:22 am| 222 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity

Here’s a cartoon that cleverly illustrates how right-wing extremism gets mainstreamed by ostensibly liberal pundits:

New comic: Pundit Bro Doom Loop www.dailykos.com/stories/2025…

[image or embed]

— Jen Sorensen (@jensorensen.bsky.social) October 1, 2025 at 10:21 PM

That’s definitely a thing, liberal pundits bonding with right-wing extremists over their shared experience of people being mean to them on the internet. And people ARE mean to each other on the internet, and it really sucks to be on the receiving end of a dumb, self-righteous pile-on.

But the proper response isn’t to assume the ideas or actions that attracted the pile-on deserve a mainstream platform because they’re “out there.” It’s to examine the ideas or actions on their own merit.

Charlie Kirk’s murder is a recent and extreme example of how this plays out. It’s possible to condemn the shooting without implying Kirk had anything worthwhile to contribute. The latter mainstreams extremism.

***

A Bluesky post by commenter Sister Golden Bear a while back highlighted a related phenomenon. She reposted a cite from a Prospect article about how “reactionary centrists” are driving politics in the UK to the right, with disastrous results for trans people in that country.

“In 2012, 60 trans-related articles were published by Britain’s media. By 2022, it was more than 7,500, according to figures from Trans Media Watch. The media is not responding to public rage against vulnerable minorities; it is helping to create it.” www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/709…

[image or embed]

— ryan cooper (@ryanlcooper.com) October 1, 2025 at 9:52 AM


In her post, SGB points out that the NYT is playing the same role here in the U.S. Other oligarch-owned platforms and news outlets are also all-in on the effort. Now that an oligarch family has put Bari Weiss is in charge of CBS News, we can expect that formerly venerable source to double down on its reactionary narratives too in the guise of centrism and objectivity.

***

Trans rights are a major focus of reactionary centrism, and so is immigration. A couple of excerpts from the Prospect piece:

(Reactionary centrists) are people who—while not exactly supportive of the political right—tend to view it as without agency, as if the radicalisation of US conservatism is the result of people responding to the excesses of social justice, incivility from the left or cultural disrespect. So-called reactionary centrists both blamed the victims of the populist right, and spent a lot of time humanising the perpetrators.

If only liberals could understand what drove Maga voters. Reactionary centrists admonished liberals to be very careful in their language, to not call very obvious fascists fascist, lest they be further provoked. The solution was to give ground; if democrats made appeals to the centre, particularly if they moved right on immigration and trans rights, they could regain votes lost to Trump. …

This desire to meet the hard right halfway, to find a middle point, is hopelessly exploitable. In an age of radicalisation, you simply get pulled further and further to the right, while tacitly validating those values at every step…

Emphasis mine: it’s a form of Murc’s Law, i.e., only Democrats have agency, in action. The article’s author, Toby Buckle, borrows the U.S. term “reactionary centrist” to describe what’s happened to Labour in the UK under PM Kier Starmer:

The motivation for this move against LGBT rights seems to have been to take the issue off the table for voters. Morgan McSweeney, the Starmer aide most associated with the government’s political strategy, operates on classic reactionary centrist logic: we need to meet the public where it’s at and understand the concerns of defectors to Reform (while aggressively ignoring the concerns of the, much more numerous, defectors to the Lib Dems or Greens).

To put it mildly, this has not worked. The theory was that feeding the wolf would starve it. But, somehow, the beast is stronger than ever. Reactionary centrists simply cannot account for this outcome. All they can think to do is keep throwing more meat.

The only thing I know about Labour is what I read about it here from Tony Jay and Rose, but we see the same impulse described above in U.S. politics. The phrase “meeting voters where they are” isn’t inherently bad, IMO — you have to show up were voters can hear your message.

But tacitly validating existing  prejudices is fatal; it inexorably moves the framing to the right and throws vulnerable people under the bus. It also doesn’t work to take issues off the table for voters.

Ten years ago, there wasn’t widespread hysteria about trans people in the U.S. Remember in 2016 when Trump said Caitlyn Jenner could use any bathroom she chose? The right deliberately manufactured anti-trans hysteria, which implies that it can be dismantled too. The same goes for immigration and reproductive rights and other issues Dems are urged to “moderate” on to win elections.

The article notes that while the Democratic Party has some members who could be described that way, reactionary centrists don’t dominate the party like they do in the UK. I think that’s true and hope and trust we can keep it that way.

Open thread.

Beware The Reactionary CentristsPost + Comments (222)

Power of the Unexpected (Open Thread)

by Betty Cracker|  October 13, 20255:00 pm| 209 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Fuckery, Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity

Some folks sure are worried about the upcoming No Kings protests:

Sean Duffy: "The No Kings protest, Maria, really frustrating. This is part of antifa, paid protesters. It begs the question who's funding it."

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 13, 2025 at 8:22 AM

This flunky too:

Bessent: "No Kings means no paychecks. No paychecks and no government."

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 13, 2025 at 8:55 AM

Mike Johnson and assorted other GOP congresscritters were peddling the same lie last week. They’re saying the millions of patriotic Americans who are expected to turn out for next Saturday’s No Kings rallies are paid agitators, antifa, Hamas, etc. Fuck that noise.

I was inspired and entertained by Portland protesters’ embrace of humorous costumes to render Noem/Trump’s lies about their city ridiculous.

Heros

[image or embed]

— Mack Steele (@macksteele.bsky.social) October 13, 2025 at 10:56 AM

I even thought about acquiring an alligator costume myself for next weekend to pay local tribute to the idea. But the more I think about it, it’s probably better to show up as a white Southern voter who rejects this fascist bullshit. There’s more than one way to find power in the unexpected.

Open thread!

Power of the Unexpected (Open Thread)Post + Comments (209)

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