Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

Everybody saw this coming.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

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

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Republicans do not trust women.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

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

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

When I was faster i was always behind.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

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Republican Politics

Friday Morning Open Thread: Pathetic, Yet Ugly

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it is fun to read profiles of this guy which play him up as some diabolical mastermind and then watch him in action and see a huge loser

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— jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) May 1, 2025 at 9:59 AM

This is a cheapjack revival of a show nobody much enjoyed the first time. Stephen Miller has his current position precisely because he salves the senile insecurities of his “boss”… and those of the Oval Office Occupant’s voting base, as well.

I wouldn’t be shocked to hear Miller prattling on about those beatniks & flappers living a life of sin, just hopping trains & traveling to pool halls to smoke opium & drink moonshine with negroes & anarcho-syndicalists

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— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) May 1, 2025 at 3:50 PM

Stephen Miller to John Roberts on Fox News: "It is our opinion that Fox News needs to fire its pollster."

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) April 29, 2025 at 1:15 PM

Maybe Stephen Miller will demand the House fire THEIR pollster, too. ??
punchbowl.news/article/whit…

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— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) April 29, 2025 at 1:59 PM

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Friday Saturday Morning Open Thread: Waiting for the Next Doc Dump

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This Politico piece makes the fighting within the Trump administration sound like something from the Clinton or Reagan administrations, when instead it’s a bunch of incompetents, grifters, & lunatics doing their own thing w the senile president not controlling them www.politico.com/news/2025/04…

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— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) April 10, 2025 at 3:31 PM

We're told FDA Commissioner Marty makary has now greenlighted a plan to address at least some of agency's steep layoffs: hire contractors to replace laid-off federal employees
"It's a waste," one laid-off FDA official said
www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-rep…

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— Alexander Tin (@alexander-a-tin.bsky.social) April 11, 2025 at 9:36 PM

Something that may be worth saying is that with agencies floating contractors, Elon seeming less important, spending continuing to go up and the GOP senate plan..

The vought/elon "completely destroy state capacity" wing seems to be losing power quickly.

— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) April 11, 2025 at 10:26 PM

Florida's economy is so fucking screwed rn

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— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) April 11, 2025 at 9:50 PM

The silly thing about all this is that there simply aren't that many "criminal illegal aliens." That's why these guys are upping the volume.

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— Cheryl Rofer (@cherylrofer.bsky.social) April 11, 2025 at 5:10 PM

It’s too late to keep out ideas from South Africa

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— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) April 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM

<del>Friday</del> Saturday Morning Open Thread: Waiting for the Next Doc DumpPost + Comments (320)

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Catching Up

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All over but the shouting… which [*sigh*] will not be over for weeks, or months…

Please don’t spend time right now on primaries. Durbin is 80 & has <$2m COH; he/Peters/Shaheen are retiring. Gillibrand/King aren’t up until 2030. 2028 Schumer will be 78; he’ll prob retire. So that’s only Hassan/Schatz/Fetterman/Cortez Masto, in 2028
There will be a lot of work for us before then…

— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 5:47 PM

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that few of the Y votes could lose a primary over this, & none next year. Looks to me like a lot of Sen Dems were afraid the CR would fail, but were also afraid of the Dem base if they voted no. So Dems who mostly can’t be punished by Dem voters did the dirty work /2

— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) March 14, 2025 at 5:56 PM


 

Millions of people in South Asia celebrated Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, on Friday by smearing each other with brightly colored powder, dancing to festive music and feasting on traditional sweets prepared for the occasion.

The raucous spring festival sees Hindus take part in a kaleidoscopic celebration of the end of winter and the triumph of good over evil. The festival is a national holiday in India, while in Nepal it’s a two-day event that began Thursday. It’s also observed in other South Asian countries as well as among the Indian diaspora.

Holi has its origins in Hindu mythology and lore and celebrates the divine love between the Hindu god Krishna and his consort Radha, and signifies a time of rebirth and rejuvenation.

Across the country, people, mostly dressed in all white clothes, celebrated the festival by hurling colored powder at each other. Children, perched on rooftops and balconies, flung water balloons filled with colored pigments at passers by.

Groups of young men also used water guns to chase people down in public parks and on the roads, while others danced on the streets to music blaring from speakers…

Photos to put Mardi Gras to shame.

Everybody gets a colorful badge!

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Saturday Morning Open Thread: Catching UpPost + Comments (132)

Monday Morning Open Thread: Budget Crunching the GOP’s Dishonest Continuing Resolution

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Republicans are determined to shut down the government and crash the economy.
We will not be party to their toxic scheme.

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— Hakeem Jeffries (@hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social) March 9, 2025 at 9:51 AM

The Hill reports that “Dozens of major conservative activist leaders and organizers are urging conservatives in Congress to support a clean continuing resolution (CR) to avert a government shutdown in a memo organized by the Conservative Action Project”, which is a pretty good indicator Rep. Jeffries and his fellows are correct that it’s a very bad offer.

Per the Washington Post, house news for the town whose monopoly industry is politics, “Republicans unveil another extension to try to avert government shutdown” [gift link]:

With less than a week to go before a March 14 shutdown deadline, President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) are pushing a bill that would extend current funding levels until the end of the fiscal year in late September.

The measure unveiled Saturday, known as a continuing resolution, or CR, would stave off a politically costly shutdown if it passes.

But it would also mean that Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress and the White House, would largely keep funding set by President Joe Biden last year, rather than allow the appropriations committees to set new spending levels — hardly the win they were hoping for.

It is also not guaranteed to pass the narrowly divided House, where Republicans have a 218-214 majority and have had to rely on Democrats to pass previous funding measures to keep the government open. As it is, House Republicans can afford to lose only a single vote if all lawmakers are present. [see below]

The House Republican plan trims spending from the 2024 fiscal year by $13 billion in nondefense spending. It would increase funding for veteran health care and defense in an attempt to assuage defense hawks. And it includes more flexibility for the White House to direct funding, according to House GOP leadership aides, including a request by the administration for more money to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement…

The bill does not include disaster relief for fires in California earlier this year or funds that legislators take back to their districts for community projects. It also does not raise the debt limit, which Congress must address in the coming months.

By bypassing the yearly appropriations process, Congress would cede some of its power to dictate how money is spent — which is exercised through that process with more specificity — and give the Trump administration more leeway over federal spending. Democrats argue that a continuing resolution would make it easier for Elon Musk, who oversees the U.S. DOGE Service, to drastically slash the size of government because it continues current funding levels without as much specificity about how the money should be spent…

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Late Night ‘Beyond Parody’ Open Thread: Tucker Carlson Interviews Sam Bankman-Fried

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Effective altruism, they call it. Per the NYTimes, “Sam Bankman-Fried Ramps Up Effort for a Pardon From Trump” [gift link]:

Consulting with a lawyer who has ties to President Trump. Reaching out to Washington lobbyists. And sitting for a jailhouse interview with Tucker Carlson.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced cryptocurrency mogul who was once a top Democratic donor, has embarked on a long-shot campaign to secure a pardon from the Trump administration, six people with knowledge of the matter said.

The effort has been driven by a small group of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s supporters, including his parents, Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried, who are trying to help their son escape the 25-year prison sentence he received after he was convicted of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering in the collapse of his crypto exchange, FTX.

There is no indication that the Bankman-Frieds and their allies have reached Mr. Trump directly or discussed a potential pardon with his White House advisers.

But the push appears intended to capitalize on Mr. Trump’s transactional approach to clemency. The president has favored pardon seekers with connections to him — either personally or through lawyers and lobbyists — and claims of prosecutorial misconduct that echo his own grievances about the cases against him.

As part of the clemency effort, Mr. Bankman and Ms. Fried, who are Stanford University law professors and longtime active Democrats, are consulting with Kory Langhofer, an Arizona lawyer who worked for Mr. Trump’s 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns. Politically connected businesspeople and Washington lobbyists have also received outreach from intermediaries who claim to be allies of Mr. Bankman-Fried, three people with knowledge of the situation said…

So far, the push does not appear to have gained traction, the people with knowledge of the matter said. The only indication that Mr. Bankman-Fried may be making headway came this week, when he got an audience with Mr. Carlson, who is close to Mr. Trump. On Thursday, the former Fox News host published a 43-minute interview with Mr. Bankman-Fried that was recorded via video call…

… Mr. Bankman-Fried does not fit the profile of someone Mr. Trump would instinctively pardon. The former crypto mogul not only donated to Democrats, but also voiced opposition to Mr. Trump. His conviction was celebrated by Elon Musk, the president’s close adviser.

Still, Mr. Trump has shown a willingness to grant clemency to people whose causes have resonated with him or who have access to his circle of Republican allies. During the election campaign, he was enthusiastically backed by crypto executives, who urged him to act on several policy priorities. Among them: a pardon for Ross Ulbricht, a cult hero in the crypto world who was serving a sentence of life in prison for running the online drug marketplace Silk Road. Mr. Trump issued the pardon within days of his inauguration…

You can buy Trump’s love — but you need a really big sum to do so.

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Response Team Trump Open Thread: ‘Inoperative Statements’ Wetware Upgrade

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It’s the hair-flip at the end that makes it… up to the moment. Sure, Elon has his trash-talking code kiddies, but can *they* dismiss their God-Emperor’s most inflammatory / insane statements in front of a room full of baying presstitutes with such sneering elan?

“None of us knew he was going to say that, there’s no way to make it sound not-crazy, so next question”

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— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) February 5, 2025 at 1:34 PM

Ron “This is the operative statement. The others are inoperative.” Ziegler — to whom Leavitt is compared more often than I, for one, would be entirely comfortable with, in her place — would be proud. Or at least envious.
***********

I’ve been looking for a slot to use this for the last week. From the Guardian, “Trump’s press chief shows she’s more than capable of going full North Korea”:

“Clear a path!” shouted the big shots of TV news as they tried to squeeze their way through reporters packed like sardines into the White House briefing room to get to their front-row seats. Tempers frayed, foreheads perspired and necks strained similar to those of passengers itching to get off a plane.

The first press briefing of a new administration is always a standing-room-only event. This time, it was the second Donald Trump administration and the debut of Karoline Leavitt, who pointed out that she is the youngest person to serve as White House press secretary. The 27-year-old beats the record of Ronald Ziegler, who was 29 when he was Richard Nixon’s spokesperson.

If you’re loyal enough, you’re old enough. On Tuesday, Leavitt showed the media hordes and TV viewers that she is more than capable of going full North Korea. Smoothly, serenely and pugnacious-enough-but-not-too-much, she defended her boss’s federal funding freeze and draconian immigration crackdown. She also talked him up as a sort of Renaissance man and Goat (greatest of all time) rolled into one.

In Leavitt’s telling, Trump is “the most transparent and accessible president in American history” and there has never been a president who communicates “as openly and authentically”. He is “the hardest-working man in politics” and “there is no negotiator better”. His policies are “wildly popular” and he is responsible for a new “golden age”.

Her slick delivery style, with almost no “ums”, “ahs” or verbal stumbles, was a radical departure from the way Trump’s first ministry of untruth began…

… Leavitt, who worked at the White House in Trump’s first term and ran for Congress at the age of 23, is the most finely honed version of all. She personifies the Trump 2.0 upgrade: faster, smarter, leaner, meaner, better organised and less chaotic. Executive actions have been more ruthlessly targeted and leaks have been fewer. In the struggle between incompetence and malevolence, malevolence is winning…

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Montana State Senate Republicans in Disarray!

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Things aren’t going smoothly in the Montana State Senate.

I don’t pretend to understand exactly what they’re fighting for or what they are fighting about, but I still like what I’m seeing!  9 Republicans apparently took a principled stand and didn’t vote in lock step with their party leadership.

Are there any Montana peeps who have more information?

I hope we see more of this in response as the extremist Republican party tries to rule!

Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, said Thursday night that he has “big concerns” about the remaining 86 days of the 69th Legislature after his fractured Republican majority failed to coalesce around leadership’s preference for the chamber’s rules.

“When you have, at the very beginning of session like this, a group that says, ‘Hey, we’re not going to affirm the majority’s decisions, the voters’ decision that the majority Republicans made back in November,’ it strains things,” Regier told reporters following a failed vote to take up a resolution on rules governing the body. “I mean the vote’s right there — going to the Democrats to buck the majority.”

The vote on the fourth evening of the Legislature was to adopt comprehensive rules governing the operations, decorum, and committee functions within the chamber, which became controversial.

On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, made a successful bid to change the rules Republican leadership wanted.

The change called for limiting a new Executive Review Committee in order to redistribute the small number of minority party members to other committees.

Nine Republican lawmakers, including former Senate President Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, joined the Democrats to pass those rules.

Republican leadership tried this week to revert to their initial plan, but failed Thursday night, as the same nine Republicans and all Democrats voted down an amended proposal from leadership.

Republican leaders stressed the amendment included concessions to the nine defectors.

“At some point you just say, ‘We’re going to move on with business, and I guess if you guys and the Democrats want to control the floor, that’s your prerogative,’” Regier said to the nine.

“I mean, we’ll be back. We’ll have permanent rules, we got to keep moving and get this squared away,” he added. “But in the meantime, there’s going to be committee meetings happening and we’ll get things ramped up here.”

ON MONDAY, the Senate approved temporary rules in order to begin functioning, and the Senate will continue to operate under them and may do so indefinitely.

h/t realbtl

Open thread.

 

Montana State Senate Republicans in Disarray!Post + Comments (39)