Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

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

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Why did Dr. Oz lose? well, according to the exit polls, it’s because Fetterman won.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Consistently wrong since 2002

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

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

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

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

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

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

The next time the wall wtreet journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

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Late Night Lovers’ Quarrel Open Thread (Rooting for Injuries)

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Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Don’t You Think He Looks… Tired?

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Guess it’s true that the rigors of the office ages every president, even the ones who don’t even pretend to be doing the job (looking at you, Warren G!).

Actually, I’d assume yesterday’s performance just meant his handlers have been recalibrating whatever mixture of pharmaceuticals they use to keep him more-or-less on topic and in line… but even the intimation that he’s losing it is bound to drive Tang the Conqueror further out of his tiny mind, so let’s all speculate!

Decompensation or not, he’s not a happy camper right now, and November 2020 is still a long way down the road for a guy who gets bored so easily…

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Monday Morning Open Thread: Rules Lawyers

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Most dogs are rules lawyers:


“You told me not to jump in the pool. You *didn’t* tell me not to paddleboard.”

So are most Political Twitter Experts, especially at the ends of the horseshoe…

A feel-good story to start the week:

… King has not received a single contribution this year from a political action committee associated with a sitting member of Congress. Corporate PACs and interest groups have also completely shunned him. Through the first six months of the year, King received just two contributions from third party political entities: $2,000 donations from PACs associated with two former members of Congress, Lamar Smith (R-TX) and the infamous Todd Akin (R-MO)…

King is dealing with that lack of resources as he faces very immediate threats to his incumbency. His 2018 Democratic opponent, former professional baseball player J.D. Scholten, lost by fewer than three points last year, and is making another run for the seat. This time around King also has a formidable Republican primary opponent, state senator Randy Feenstra, who has already scored endorsements from influential Iowans such as evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats. At the end of July, Feenstra’s campaign committee reported having $337,314.30 cash on hand, compared to King’s $18,000…

Correction: This piece originally stated that individual donations to King were down considerably. In fact, they are roughly on par with previous cycles. The congressman’s financial troubles are due to a drop in corporate and political donations.

But there are still some sane people left in Iowa…

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Election 2020 Open Thread: BS Economics

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And when we run out of the right paper to print currency, we’ll have the Treasury fax some more over! This is not actually fair to the Sanders campaign; reading the article, Kelton is identified as just one of Sanders’ economic advisors, and mostly interested in promoting her own messianic interest in M.M.T. (modern monetary theory):

… Kelton is the foremost evangelist of a fringe economic movement called Modern Monetary Theory, which, in part, argues that the government should pay for programs requiring big spending, such as the Green New Deal, by simply printing more money. This is a polarizing idea…

One the other hand, that the Sanders campaign is willing to embrace such a polarizing idea — or, at least, that the campaign hasn’t made an effort to either explain M.M.T. or stand Kelton back a tad — doesn’t really soothe our lowly Democratic anxieties about being labelled the party that wants to steal voters’ money and give it to unworthy third parties…

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Late Night Open Thread: But Who Was the Target Audience?

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Could we cynics have been wrong in assuming that Trump’s support of A$AP Rocky was nothing but a cheap ploy to reassure his white Base that he was Not A Racist? Well, with so many grifters inveterate self-promoters each telling a different story, it’s hard to be sure:

… According to new details provided by sources involved, Trump’s role in pushing for Rocky’s release started with a reality television megastar calling the West Wing, a mysterious entertainment industry “fixer” and two Trump supporters. The president’s allies who connected Rocky’s team with the White House hoped to facilitate a scene that would bolster Trump’s image among African-Americans. Instead, they say they were left angry when Rocky failed to thank Trump or those around him…

Darrell Scott and Kareem Lanier entered the picture a few days after Rocky was detained. Scott, an Ohio pastor, was one of Trump’s highest-profile African-American surrogates during the 2016 campaign and went on to serve on his transition team. Lanier is the co-chairman of the Urban Revitalization Coalition, a nonprofit led by Scott dedicated to promoting elements of the Trump agenda to the black community. The two men, who were hardly household names, have become a regular presence at the White House at events focused on addressing African-American issues.

Scott and Lanier said they became involved after hearing from a man named Hassan Muhammad, who describes himself as a “fixer” for high-profile figures in the entertainment industry. In a pair of phone conversations this week, Muhammad, who has no web presence and was unwilling to name any of his contacts, said an associate of Rocky’s reached out to him about the rapper’s situation…

TL, DR: These two high-profile surrogates seem to have convinced Jared Kushner that the Oval Office Occupant making a huge public fuss (always one of Trump’s favorite things) would improve his status with The Blacks. And Jared, publicity expert, jumped at the possibility! It’s not as though guys like this might’ve had ulterior motives, right?…

… Both Lanier and Scott were upset that Rocky never acknowledged the assistance he had gotten. Lanier attributed this to the potential blowback that an African-American celebrity like Rocky could face for embracing Trump.

“One of the problems that we have as a culture — and I’m talking about black Americans — is herd mentality,” Lanier said. “Right now it’s popular for those guys to bash President Trump.”

The two men said they were left disappointed that Rocky didn’t thank the White House — even behind the scenes.

“All he had to do was do a two-minute call to say thank you,” said Scott. “Rocky hasn’t even called us and said, ‘Hey, man, thank you guys. I appreciate it,’ in private. Just in private.”

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Repub Venality Open Thread: Mick Mulvaney Gets Caught Telling the Truth

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They’d throw him off the GOP Titanic for this, but Mulvaney’s the Acting Head of Everything They’ve Still Got… and possibly the only one who’s figured out how to work the light switches in the Oval Office.

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Open Thread: Appreciating the 1619 Project for Its Detractors

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I’m nowhere near finished reading the NYTimes‘ whole 1619 Project (wish I’d found a print edition yesterday, frankly), but IMO it will have an impact on The Discourse similar to that of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Atlantic article. And, yes, one sure signifier of its importance is the volume and intensity of the hatred directed against it by the Usual Suspects (few, if any, of whom could’ve read so much as Nikole Hannah-Jones’ introductory essay before taking their grievances public). The pushback was, thankfully, immediate…

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