US Politics: October 2022 "...they've already started the killings!"

Thanks MTG for the title...

"Democrats want Republicans dead, and they've already started the killings" -- Marjorie Taylor Greene pic.twitter.com/aYJA5t5jwN

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 1, 2022

Good evening!

"It was a time of the Demorats
In the year after twenty-one
Now the lesson is over
And the killin's begun"

He’s running

It's a wrap. @GavinNewsom has acted on all 1,166 bills that landed on his desk this year. He signed 997 of them (85.5%) and vetoed 169 (14.5%), compared with about 8% he vetoed last year.

— Scott Shafer (@scottshafer) October 1, 2022

The term for this sort of rhetoric is “accusation in a mirror,” and scholars of genocide identify it as a major warning sign when political leaders start talking like this. https://t.co/t9aNNoIBQ9

— Seth Cotlar (@SethCotlar) October 2, 2022

These great folks know exactly what @gretchenwhitmer has done to all of us. Thanks to the Gratiot County GOP for this video! pic.twitter.com/GbgvnftPfY

— Tudor Dixon (@TudorDixon) October 3, 2022

lol at "Graham died alone."

https://preview.redd.it/nkioluyvsdm21.jpg?auto=webp&s=ea7388fd77e3225f4c706be1a4b1cdd6c98e175d

A+ Janis Joplin impression on "Just look around, maaaaannn..."

The fact that millions of dollars will be poured into TV buys in Michigan (for a commercial that apparently cost $1.98 to create) is both bleakly funny and barf inducing.

Tudor Dixon another Pseudo-Pynchon political name.

Trump-backed Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon another one for the 'Politicos With Pynchon-esque Names' list.

― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, August 2, 2022 5:30 PM (two months ago)

:D

Goodnight Folks!

lol

i've done it too, several times over. i remembered the first time you said it because i definitely agree that it is pynchonian

running mate Mason Dynasty

That ad has to be parody.

compare that ad to this one

Louisiana ranks 50th in crime, 48th in education, and 46th in health care. I’m running for Congress to stop this race to the bottom because our children deserve better. pic.twitter.com/OfFQHuPTzU

— Katie Darling for Louisiana (@katie4louisiana) October 3, 2022

Katie Darling sounds like a Steely Dan song.

Or Lou Reed/Louvin Brothers collabo.

She's running against Steve Scalise. I don't think she's got much of a chance.

EXCLUSIVE: Herschel Walker, an anti-abortion absolutist, paid for an abortion in 2009. We have the receipts. Literally. Me @thedailybeast https://t.co/IzOEEg4quN

— Roger Sollenberger (@SollenbergerRC) October 3, 2022

This will be hand-waved away by Georgia Republicans.

Roy Moore didn't abort the teens he hit on!

This will be hand-waved away by Georgia Republicans.

Most for sure, but there is a hard core that it could affect around the edges. Especially for any racist who was already chafing at voting for a Black guy. Serious abortion people are serious. They're a tiny part of the "pro-life" group, but they're real.

Hey, first they were mad at him for having kids out of wedlock. Now they’re mad at him for not having kids out of wedlock.

They'll just say he's changed.

The killings have already begun...

NEW from @kylietcheung: Dr. Oz's research experiments at Columbia killed 329 dogs and inflicted extensive suffering on them, violating the Animal Welfare Act multiple times, for which Columbia quietly paid a fine. https://t.co/WzQfPzlTuI

— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) October 3, 2022

xxp people most opposed to abortion are serious and real, but they will gloss over any news about Walker and his history and vote Republican.

oz is toast. americans hate one another, but we love our dogs.

I don't think Herschel Walker is gonna be able to handwave this away.

I tuned out for an hour is the herschel walker story going any better for him pic.twitter.com/lUf0uzM0xp

— kilgore trout, death to putiner (@KT_So_It_Goes) October 4, 2022

Flop, meet sweat:

I'd largely thought Walker could pull this off despite his baggage. I'll see what sort of response he mounts, but given text messages tonight, Georgia GOP'ers are praying for Dr. Oz to win. Walker hasn't mounted a good response to any attack, and this is brutal, probably a KO.

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) October 4, 2022

why am i only seeing headlines about the abortion? this is obviously more serious and horrific.

He's the one guy who can say "I do not recall" and I'll actually believe him.

— Jamie Lawson (@shelbymustang) October 4, 2022

Love erickson's backpedaling since:

I thought we all knew this. Also, old news and people do change over time. https://t.co/HhPgtRYJP0

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) October 3, 2022

And fwiw Christian Walker appears to be a pretty hard-right anti-woke DeSantis supporter.

this tweet raises a lot of questions answered by the tweet

I LOVE my son no matter what

— Herschel Walker (@HerschelWalker) October 4, 2022

Never thought i could hate someone more, but that article on Oz just made me… shake with anger

I just love the idea that Trump wants to prove in court he's not an insurrectionist, racist, Russian-lackey or that he shares some traits w/Hitler. (It will never get that far. Because he would be obliterated. Unless current CNN owners want to throw him a bone and "settle." Ugh.) https://t.co/aSzCDCaPEN

— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) October 3, 2022

Yeah that suit to me feels mostly like he's working the new owners ahead of the '24 election. There's a strategy to it that doesn't have much to do with winning in court.

I saw a great Fetterman ad ripping Oz a new one on fb today.

luv 2 clear up any confusion about whether i love my son on the eve of an election

There's a strategy to it that doesn't have much to do with winning in court.

Well, yeah. He pretty much never wins anything in court but he knows that MAGAnauts love 2 see him punching back at THE MEDIA (whatever that means). The details are not important but the pugnaciousness very much is.

Walker's son is on a tear:

I’ve stayed silent for nearly two years as my whole life has been lied about publicly. I did ONE campaign event, then said I didn’t want involvement.

Don’t you dare test my authenticity. Here is the full story: pic.twitter.com/ekVEcz8zq3

— Christian Walker (@ChristianWalk1r) October 4, 2022

I’ve spoken to nearly all of the people who have attacked me and told them quietly that I didn’t want to be involved.

Now they’re blaming me for everything I’m not responsible for. It’s disgusting. pic.twitter.com/rhMRNHMDaC

— Christian Walker (@ChristianWalk1r) October 4, 2022

Did a Google dive on Christian and ... wish I hadn't

poor christian, couldn’t have happened to a better guy :’(

Not watching a Christian Walker video for less than $500.

herschel walker and his son playing out family drama on twitter is just an unbelievably sad state of affairs. there are no winners here other than me and the other people enjoying it immensely.

— world famous art thief (@CalmSporting) October 4, 2022

It's a damn shame.

they honestly need to throw a hail mary and get Coach Tuberville in there. walker has zero positive qualifications other than playing football. let's get the campaign back to football. the 2-minute warning has come and gone, and walker is in the red zone. he's down by 3. but walker can't go for a "field goal" here -- you know he's playing to win. let's get Coach on the field, let's see what he has in the playbook, and let's see if walker can execute on the fundamentals here at the end of the football game election

Getting an Auburn man to stump for a Georgia man is not necessarily the best call here.

"You go to war with the Army you have -- not the Army you might wish you have"

- Offensive Coordinator Donald Rumsfeld

I’m thinking he’s going to call an audible (threaten to kill another family member)

Back to the basics, three yards and a cloud of profanity

Let's see what the puntdits are saying

That didn't take long

Republicans Rally Behind Herschel Walker After Abortion Report

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/republicans-rally-behind-herschel-walker-after-abortion-report/ar-AA12AuZm?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=W069&cvid=e9714d1a81f64886b0a85ed801c5c37e

As long as they have power, they don't give a solitary fuck what their politicians do. I'm convinced that convicted serial killer who ate babies live on stage would get elected, as long as he made the right rumblings about abortion and suppressing the liberals.

Dr Oz tortured puppies just to own the libs, so I'm okay with that

It's October already and control of the US Senate is at stake. Of course the national party apparatus is furiously doing damage control. The obvious hypocrisy of doing so isn't even a tiny speed bump in their way and won't be for a lot of Republican voters either.

I have a number of Republican friends in Georgia who are deeply involved in state politics. Not one of them was happy that Herschel Walker was going to be the candidate. At least one of them predicted exactly this kind of implosion. And yet, I would be willing to bet that every one of them will still vote for him.

A Republican running for governor in Colorado became the latest candidate to campaign on a thoroughly debunked claim that a growing number of students are dressing up as "furries" and self-identifying as animals in public schools, even though it’s been rejected repeatedly by school and state officials around the country.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/colorado-gop-governor-candidate-latest-to-fall-for-student-furries-hoax-here-s-how-many-others-have-been-duped/ar-AA12BclS?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=W069&cvid=860736f38eb64bc78eac228676d31ea9

i just want to point out that this is the perfect time to take a shit in a republican's litter box. their cat will forgive you

No, their cat will take a retaliatory shit in their bed.

never forget:
https://wamu.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/gettyimages-669449750_wide-51db6bae1a379d147e432b1057e89aad6bef881b-760x428.jpg

forgetting is a form of mercy

Funny thing. We're just about 4 weeks from a midterm election that will decide who controls Congress plus a lot of Governors and some state level Attorneys General races that include some vehement 2020 election deniers, but the US politics thread is mighty darn quiet compared to any month from about December 2015 to June 2021. I think the few ilx political discoursers who remain are just about exhausted, or else are staying mum because they don't wish to be personally attacked. I don't take this as a great sign for the future health of ilx. NB: I haven't checked in on ilm lately to see how our flagship forum is faring.

personally i think i know exactly how everything is going to go down, it all

we are all on life support. it's 4th and long. coach is mad, and their coach is mad. elon musk is trying to take over ilx, and we have to show that we don't belong to his troll army. there's just a lot going on

I have not been posting for the simple reason that I have been creating X

luv 2 clear up any confusion about whether i love my son on the eve of an election

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, October 4, 2022 4:16 AM (eighteen hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

the best thing about Trump is that he will never say that he loves his terrible sons

the US politics thread is mighty darn quiet compared to any month from about December 2015 to June 2021. I think the few ilx political discoursers who remain are just about exhausted, or else are staying mum because they don't wish to be personally attacked. I don't take this as a great sign for the future health of ilx.

Good morning!

btw I don't agree? We hit daily lulls. Plus, we post less frequently during Democratic presidents.

Everything is a horror, what’s the point of talking about it endlessly?

It was only in the Trump era that the US politics threads became monthly. If things are slowing down, we’re just reverting to previous practice. Anyway we’ll soon have more to talk about when the Republicans take the House.

Sounds like the administration is starting to panic because they can't talk middle east countries out of slashing oil production ahead of the midterms. Get ready for more high gas prices and bellyaching.

KM and tables OTM. There may be mildly pleasant surprises to come but mostly it just feels like things are going to get way worse very abruptly after the elections so what's there to even talk about, is where I'm at. There will be plenty of time for a leisurely postmortem once democracy has been fully dismantled.

I exhausted my good mournings during the Trump era. Ain't happening again.

“Where’s the REDACTED FOR NATIONAL SECURITY REASONS?”

KM and tables OTM. There may be mildly pleasant surprises to come but mostly it just feels like things are going to get way worse very abruptly after the elections so what's there to even talk about, is where I'm at.

I put up a Facebook post the other day about this, how a lot of people (liberals in particular I think) don't quite grasp how bad and ugly shit is about to get — even compared to the current shitty ugly state — after the midterms. Things are going to get (even more) unhinged.

I still have hope that midterms won't be that bad, they'll lose the House but maybe pick up a few Senate seats because the candidates the Republicans are running are just so god awful. still doesn't change the fact that Republicans will take control eventually and that just may be the end of democracy in this country as we know it. can't wait to find out!!

I saw a photo of the three liberal justices last night, with a caption that they had “won” the oral arguments regarding the court’s longer term project of gutting the VRA.

See y’all next summer on that, ooooof

oh well

Huge news that the White House had been trying to avoid: “I am concerned, it was unnecessary,” President Biden told @ArletteSaenz this morning when asked about the cuts. https://t.co/VTICBaESaK https://t.co/7iJmbi1OeM

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) October 5, 2022

Responses are saying they're not "real cuts." I'm not sure what they mean.

does not involve actual dismemberment

if only there had been some sort of warning for the united states to use less oil, some sort of unifying, global environmental reason. or, if somehow humanity didn't respond to that with unity and compassion, instead a cold-hearted pragmatic militaristic appeal that maybe it's not a good idea to be completely addicted to oil to the extent that you're dependent on an oil cartel for national security.

but instead this came right out of nowhere!!!

if only we had more time! if only there were alternatives to oil!

For years they were crowing about how the U.S. was now the largest net oil producer on the planet, but that involved all kinds of nasty tar sands that require heavy processing

The stuff that bubbles up from the ground in Saudi Arabia is like light Karo syrup, you can drink it straight from the well

if only there had been some sort of warning for the united states to use less oil

Carter kept it too real. What the country really wanted all along was Reagan using white supremacist dog whistles to push us across the line into the fantasy land of Morning In America.

(Wow didn’t realize the official title of the “morning in America” ad was Prouder, Stronger, Better. Sure sounds like some Trumpist fashie BS.)

Work it prouder, make it better
Do it faster, makes us stronger
More than ever, hour after hour
Work is never over

Sure sounds like some Trumpist fashie BS

Didn't Trump just straight-up steal MAGA from Reagan? Reagan's was "Let's Make America Great Again," Trump just dropped the somewhat inclusive part

If you're gonna steal, steal from the best

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_America_Great_Again#/media/File:Let

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yydNF8tuVmU

oh lol sorry president k

https://www.macleans.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/MAC10_GILMORE_POST01.jpg

There is a lot to borrow from

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Lindbergh/Germany-and-the-America-First-movement

worth it!

https://i.imgur.com/J1pU3AG.jpg

'You old killer, you!'

So in New Hampshire, Paul LePage, a right-wing terrorist who made his mark as Governor by shaming and oppressing the poor (more than they already are shamed and oppressed, I mean) is trying to revive his chances to get back into office by saying he would veto any proposed ban on abortion after 15 weeks. The level of cynicism is . . . well, I can't say it's shocking, but it's sickening.

I can't stop watching the Tudor Dixon ad. it reminds me of that old Farmers Only commercial where the dog talks

"Oil production is not the only thing you cut, amirite, Mo?"

It reminds me of this weird syndicated politics show from the 90s where a conservative Mr. Rogers would walk around this fake diner and talk to the fake trucker or the fake waitress or the real Eric Weisbard from Spin about the issues of the day.

"No one fucks with a Biden." pic.twitter.com/vvio6mqlyr

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 5, 2022

Lead singers when the drummer is getting more attention after the show pic.twitter.com/jlH4lrD9aN

— eve6 (@Eve6) October 6, 2022

That shirt tho

lol @ Ron

"here's the deal, i need that shirt for when i tell the cornpop story...what is it gonna take?
"

get that pic thrown up on any available billboard in florida

omg that Nick Adams guy is coming to speak within driving distance of me. It's like I conjured him by talking about him. Maybe I should go.

Nick Adams says he will be giving a speech next week at E. Tenn State about “how the most persecuted group in the USA are straight, white, christian men,” and “the need for men to be men, and women to be women.” pic.twitter.com/mICr6gUann

— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) October 5, 2022

if you have any questions just raise your hand. then tilt it down slightly

So now, apparently, the woman who had an abortion paid for by Herschel Walker also had a child by him, "undercutting the Georgia Republican Senate candidate's claims that he didn't know who she was."

it won't matter

“We're just about 4 weeks from a midterm election that will decide who controls Congress plus a lot of Governors and some state level Attorneys General races that include some vehement 2020 election deniers, but the US politics thread is mighty darn quiet compared to any month from about December 2015 to June 2021. I think the few ilx political discoursers who remain are just about exhausted, or else are staying mum because they don't wish to be personally attacked. I don't take this as a great sign for the future health of ilx”
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Tuesday, October 4

“a lot of people (liberals in particular I think) don't quite grasp how bad and ugly shit is about to get — even compared to the current shitty ugly state — after the midterms. Things are going to get (even more) unhinged.”
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, October 5, 2022 

yes

Yeah, that's what I said when the story first broke.

“I still have hope that midterms won't be that bad, they'll lose the House but maybe pick up a few Senate seats because the candidates the Republicans are running are just so god awful”
frogbs, Wednesday, October 5, 2022

That’s delusional. We’re not going to “pick up a few Senate seats”.

not with that attitude!

spend less time complaining here and more time door knocking and phone banking.

Yep.

We’re not going to “pick up a few Senate seats”.

― Dan S, Wednesday,

No, but we may pick up one or two.

Was at dinner with a friend last night who recently spent a day canvassing in Wisconsin. She said it went OK (better than some other places in the US where canvassers have apparently been told to take a break, for their own safety), and that the focus was entirely on local races, which often come down to handfuls of votes. She said she did the same thing in Michigan the last time around (canvassing for local elections) and was shocked how many people she met that were registered to vote but had no idea an election was imminent.

(She also learned that when they say something like "thanks for stopping by" in Wisconsin, that really means "fuck you.")

I've been listening to the podcast The Wilderness, in which Jon Favreau does focus groups with voters, and that's something that he repeatedly emphasizes: Most people are simply not paying attention to politics as much as we are. He did a focus group with young people in Orange County, all of whom voted for Biden in 2020. They seemed reasonably well-informed about *issues* but largely did not know or care about the day-to-day machinery of Beltway politics.

Hell I even find it to some degree among elected officials. I was talking to a local officeholder here yesterday about the cancellation of a drag show at a local nature center (mentioned on the trans politics thread) and how it was part of this nationwide smear campaign against LGBTQ people and trans people in particular, and the official seemed genuinely unaware that that campaign even existed. (Including the attacks on pediatric gender-affirming care in our own state's most prominent hospital.) To them it was just some local crazies getting mad, he didn't connect it to any broader politics. (This official is a cishet white guy, so.)

nbd

A majority of Republican nominees on the ballot this November for the House, Senate and key statewide offices — 299 in all — have denied or questioned the outcome of the last presidential election, according to a Washington Post analysis.

Candidates who have challenged or refused to accept Joe Biden’s victory are running in every region of the country and in nearly every state. Republican voters in four states nominated election deniers in all federal and statewide races The Post examined.

Although some are running in heavily Democratic areas and are expected to lose, most of the election deniers nominated are likely to win: Of the nearly 300 on the ballot, 174 are running for safely Republican seats. Another 51 will appear on the ballot in tightly contested races.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/10/06/elections-deniers-midterm-elections-2022/

also, just want to note this quote, because i think Trump over the years has made a habit of blurting out exactly what he wants to happen:

“I don’t believe we’ll ever have a fair election again,” Trump told the crowd. “I don’t believe it.”

i wonder the last time trump took a real question. i assume that he would say the recent "elections" in ukraine to annex the four territories were as clean as a whistle

I feel like among the mistakes people might make in thinking about "election deniers" is assuming that this is all or mostly posturing and opportunism. Some of that for sure, but one thing I've learned from close consistent contact with red-state Republicans is that way more of them than a lot of us would like to think really believe all this shit. Even some of the smarter ones spend all their time sealed in the conservative media bubble and have essentially no contact with any contradicting facts or data. So I mean, are they capable of acting on things they really believe? Hell yeah.

i think once they get to this point, what they really believe no longer matters. what matters is if they're willing to go along with another attempt to steal an election. the piece ends with this doofus from NH:

Don Bolduc, a retired brigadier general who won the Republican Senate primary in New Hampshire in early September, declared during an August primary debate: “I signed a letter with 120 other generals and admirals saying that Trump won the election, and, damn it, I stand by my letter. I’m not switching horses, baby. This is it.”

But days after his win, Bolduc shifted his attention to the general election against Sen. Maggie Hassan (D), who is favored to win her bid for reelection. As he did so, his position on whether Biden had won two years ago shifted, too.

“I’ve done a lot of research on this, and I’ve spent the past couple weeks talking to Granite Staters all over the state from every party, and I have come to the conclusion — and I want to be definitive on this — the election was not stolen,” Bolduc said in an interview on Fox News.

Days later, he suggested to a podcast aligned with the QAnon extremist ideology that he had simply bowed to political reality, and that “the narrative that the election was stolen, it does not fly up here in New Hampshire.”

Then he repeated a sentiment that has become common among GOP candidates who stop short of denying the 2020 outcome but continue to cast doubt on the integrity of U.S. elections, even though experts and election officials say their claims are not true.

“What does fly,” Bolduc said, “is that there was significant fraud and it needs to be fixed.”

for normal people, non-politicos, what we really believe is the most important thing (i think). my "actions" amount to voting and the delicate game of posting about politics on twitter and losing followers because it's too annoying. the more i "act", the worse i make it for this country. my very existence is a negative for humanity.

for a politician, it's only their actions that matter, because who knows wtf they "believe". it's only what they do, and clearly there are many hundreds of GOP officials who will gladly steal the election if that's what they think they're supposed to

"I’ve done a lot of research on this." Sure, buddy.

It truly ins't tough to make me laugh...

It is so very telling that the supposedly horrible thing that Herschel Walker did, according to the media, was support the pro-life position -- not knock up a woman and pay for her abortion. Because if he were pro-choice, this would not be a story.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 6, 2022

have you ever eaten poop

— bitch wife expert (@magickfart) October 6, 2022

obviously I have trust issues when it comes to polls like this but I guess this story matters to someone

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-05/warnock-opens-12-point-lead-on-walker-in-georgia-senate-race

Almost all of the polling was completed before the evening of Oct. 3, when the Daily Beast reported that Walker had paid for a former girlfriend’s abortion 13 years ago.

lol oops it was paywalled for me but hey even better

though knowing GOP voters maybe this actually makes him more popular cuz being such a blatant hypocrite just owns the libs so much. didn't work for Roy Moore though.

pretty sure Roy Moore would've won in this environment

It's stories like the Herschel Walker abortion payment and Oz's puppy mangling that confirm the right wing attitude that a free press is comprised of 'enemies of the people', which in turn confirms the left wing attitude that the right wing has awfully exclusionary ideas about who 'the people' are.

didn't work for Roy Moore though.

It's a mixed bag. Access Hollywood worked out okay for a certain guy whose name I will not type.

Lord Alfred sadly otm

I've been listening to the podcast The Wilderness, in which Jon Favreau does focus groups with voters, and that's something that he repeatedly emphasizes: Most people are simply not paying attention to politics as much as we are. He did a focus group with young people in Orange County, all of whom voted for Biden in 2020. They seemed reasonably well-informed about *issues* but largely did not know or care about the day-to-day machinery of Beltway politics.

― jaymc, Thursday, October 6, 2022 7:52 AM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I’ve been following this podcast this season, and man. I hope Democratic political professionals are listening.

They are, but only to each other.

First: I’m pardoning all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession. There are thousands of people who were previously convicted of simple possession who may be denied employment, housing, or educational opportunities as a result. My pardon will remove this burden.

— President Biden (@POTUS) October 6, 2022

wow

legitimately huge

very cool move, Joe

Did he tweet that exactly as the Hunter Biden thing was announced? “The Hunter Biden thing” being our upcoming national nightmare as soon as the GOP controls either the house or senate?

fox news is gonna have a stroke deciding what to be angry about

Sorry, forget I mentioned it at all. The hunter stuff is a recurring nightmare, the pardons are actually important

if he legalizes it right before midterms I will finally accept that the Dems have some political savviness

woah. didn't see that one coming. huge life-changing news for a lot of people, and hopefully steering things towards further changes for a whole lot more.

he should go full-bore and bring Tommny Chong out on the stump

this is good on the merits afaict, but is also great electoral politics.

genuinely surprised to be saying either of those things about a democratic policy announcement.

Damn, Joe!

how many simple weed possession convictions are federal, though? seems like they'd only get involved with bigger cases

I'm not sure he'd have authority for state cases (someone can correct me). Bit he did recommend governors do likewise.

I'm sure DeSantis and Abbott immediately got to work, "yes boss!" like.

But, yes, this is good news.

John Sinclair can finally get a job now

We did it, Joe. https://t.co/c98UTPRihF

— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) October 6, 2022

how many simple weed possession convictions are federal, though? seems like they'd only get involved with bigger cases

― Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, October 6, 2022 3:32 PM (seventeen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/us/politics/biden-marijuana-pardon.html

The pardons will clear about 6,500 people who were convicted on federal charges of simple possession of marijuana from 1992 to 2021 and thousands more who were convicted of possession in the District of Columbia, officials said. Officials said the president would urge governors to follow his lead for people convicted on state charges of possession.

Park rangers are sometimes feds, so I imagine some of these citations came from National Parks, Monuments and the like

have to assume that this will encourage/give cover that allows many many/most governors to do something similar?

the thinking reactionary's reactionary is out

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/06/sasse-expected-to-resign-from-senate-00060812

ha.. slate calls him Dank Brandon

Joe deleting half of Kamala’s CV lol

— Screamer Jim (@HeheWaitWhut) October 6, 2022

ok lol

Screamer Jim scoring imaginary points.

Biden 2024 campaign theme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaZVAzgGAMk

Ben Sasse is likely to accept the presidency of the University of Florida

Fuckin hell what a dystopia

he should be president of Florida University instead

haha

His statement announcing his resignation from the UNITED STATES SENATE begins "The University of Florida is uniquely positioned to lead this country through an era of disruption." One of the most Ben Sasse things I've ever seen

— Aaron Fritschner (@Fritschner) October 6, 2022

Meanwhile:

Former Leader of Proud Boys, Jeremy Bertino, Pleads Guilty To Seditious Conspiracy for Efforts to Stop Transfer of Power Following 2020 Presidential Election https://t.co/ttcTuV8RJk

— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) October 6, 2022

He has agreed to cooperate with the government and may be entering the federal witness protection program.

— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) October 6, 2022

not too proud for a little federal witness protection

Pride goeth before a fall.

Oh I see pic.twitter.com/RkeO4FXqEw

— Nhu-Y (@neweyno) October 6, 2022

Was OPEC's snub just the beginning?
By ARIANNA SKIBELL 10/06/2022 06:00 PM EDT

Presented by Chevron

It was a gentleman's agreement. Saudi Arabia exported barrels of oil around the world, and the United States offered security guarantees to the kingdom.

But on Wednesday, OPEC — the Saudi-led cartel of oil-producing countries — announced it would make deep cuts to oil production, despite the Biden administration lobbying for the exact opposite.

The move highlights a new dynamic at play that could weaken Saudi-U.S. ties and scramble traditional power relationships in global oil markets.

The White House quickly threatened to bring an antitrust suit against OPEC and accused the oil cartel of aligning with Russia, which stands to benefit from the cuts. Members of Congress have proposed cuts in military assistance to the kingdom as fears mount over rising gasoline prices and, let’s be honest, midterm election results.

Strained relationship

The Saudi-U.S. relationship has faced increasing political strain in recent years, as POLITICO’s E&E News reporter Benjamin Storrow notes in a story today. The kingdom was none too pleased when the Obama administration supported protesters during the Arab Spring. Relations didn’t improve when, as a presidential candidate, Joe Biden pledged to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” after its murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Saudi Arabia also has new friends. Its ties to Asia have become more important, and the United States is far less reliant on Gulf oil production than it once was.

“The market has moved on, things have changed a lot,” Ben Cahill, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Ben.

Russia’s at it again

OPEC officials said their decision to cut production is an effort to provide more stability in the market ahead of a potential recession. But some analysts say the timing and circumstance of the announcement implicate Russia.

The European Union is advancing a proposal to cap the price of Russian oil to punish the Kremlin for invading Ukraine. But the cap threatens OPEC’s ability to direct oil markets.

OPEC announced it would cut production in a meeting featuring a Russian deputy prime minister, perhaps a sign of its alliances. The move undermines U.S. and European efforts to curtail Moscow’s enormous energy revenue while Europe battles surging prices triggered by the war with Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the threat of climate change pervades the background. The latest oil chess move comes as the U.S. and Europe are plotting a shift away from fossil fuels, which could pose an existential crisis for OPEC members that rely on the sale of crude.

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/power-switch/2022/10/06/was-opecs-snub-just-the-beginning-00060700

it’s looking like Fetterman will win and Warnock will win (I hope?), but I’m worried that Cortez Masto will lose. If that happens we will just maintain the 50-50 balance

I think Kelly in Arizona and Hassan in New Hampshire will keep their seats, but the democrats challenging incumbents in Wisconsin and Florida and the open seats in Ohio and North Carolina are lost causes, so I don’t see much pick-up, maybe one seat if Cortez Masto wins

Fox News CEO warned against 'crazies' after 2020 election, Dominion says
October 6, 20225:30 AM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
DAVID FOLKENFLIK

Besieged by angry viewers, denounced by then-President Trump, questioned by some of its own stars, Fox News found itself in a near-impossible spot on Election Night 2020 after its election-analysis team announced before any other network that Joe Biden would win the pivotal swing state of Arizona.

Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott proved so flummoxed by what ensued that she warned colleagues, "We can't give the crazies an inch."

That's according to the account of a lawyer for Dominion Voting Systems, which is seeking $1.6 billion from Fox in a defamation suit over false allegations on the network that the company committed election fraud. A trial date is set for April in Delaware.

The voting machine and technology company's attorney, Justin Nelson, revealed Scott's remarks in a court proceeding earlier this week, in which he argued that Dominion's legal team is entitled to receive the employment contracts of 13 Fox News executives, including Scott. She has served as CEO since 2018. (Dominion is also suing Fox Corp., the network's parent company.)

In a ruling Wednesday, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis affirmed that Dominion should receive the contracts — the point of contention in the hearing.

For days after the election, Trump and his top aides demanded the network rescind its announcement of Biden's victory in Arizona, even pressuring the network's controlling owners, Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch. In the weeks that followed, a cadre of Fox News stars hosted Trump's advisers — and even Trump himself — to peddle baseless conspiracy theories of election fraud. Many of those false claims asserted without evidence that Dominion's technology and machines had been used to rig the vote and to cheat Trump out of the White House.

According to Nelson's remarks at the hearing, senior Fox News executives interceded to try to block Fox Business stars Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo from having Trump's campaign attorneys, Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, on their shows to repeat such lies. In late 2020, Dobbs and Bartiromo hosted Trump's advocates to make those accusations.
Fox's attorney, Justin Keller, did not dispute the remarks attributed by Nelson to Fox News CEO Scott. Nor did he deny that executives sought to intervene in the two programs' efforts to book Powell and Giuliani even though their claims had been discredited. Instead, he made a broader argument against allowing scrutiny of the executives' contracts, saying that was unnecessary given how many documents the network has already turned over to Dominion.

Why Dominion hopes Fox News CEO's warning could help make its case
Fox News and its chief trial attorney, Dan Webb, declined to comment for this article, as did Dominion's lawyers. However, the arguments that played out during a hearing Tuesday reflected a looking-glass world: Dominion depicted the network's executives as scrambling to rein in the chaos engendered by its stars, while Fox's attorneys were effectively arguing the executives had little time, ability or inclination to do so.

In his exchanges with the judge, Keller, the Fox attorney, drew a line distinguishing between a host or producer "who are sometimes pre-scripting material for the show that is going to be tethered to a specific channel's telecast" and a network executive.

"That person is going to be far removed from the day-to-day operations of editorial control and discretion over the particular channel's telecast," he said.

Beyond Scott, the executives whose contracts are being sought include Jay Wallace, Fox News' president and executive editor, and Meade Cooper, the executive vice president of primetime programming.

Fired Fox News politics editor: Trump's ire at election night call led to 'panic'
HOUSE JAN. 6 COMMITTEE HEARINGS
Fired Fox News politics editor: Trump's ire at election night call led to 'panic'
Nelson, the Dominion attorney, retorted by citing a document obtained from Fox that "talks about the daily editorial meeting that occurs, including almost all of these executives that we're looking at right now."

Dominion appears to be drilling down on its argument — hotly disputed by Fox — that the network's executives knowingly allowed such false conspiracies to air on its programs to boost their audiences because their pro-Trump viewers had abandoned them after the Arizona call.

Under U.S. Supreme Court rulings, Dominion has to prove Fox demonstrated "actual malice" to win a defamation case. That means either knowingly broadcasting false and damaging information, or doing so with reckless disregard for the truth.

"Fox sought to profit off a lie. That's the allegation," Judge Davis summarized. "Whether that's true or not, we'll stay for the trial."

A new book reveals how Fox journalists acted behind scenes
In their new book on Trump, The Divider, journalists Peter Baker and Susan Glasser reveal that Fox anchor Bret Baier cited intense pressure from Trump's team to explore whether and under what circumstances the Arizona call could be reversed. Fox did not withdraw its projection. The authors also reported that Wallace, the head of news, overruled his election-analysis desk and instructed his anchors to not announce that Biden had won Nevada, too.

What ensued involved a split screen. Fox became the last network to project Biden's win of the presidency despite being the first to make the Arizona call that proved accurate. And while its reporters often unraveled election fraud allegations, many of Fox's biggest stars tolerated, amplified and even embraced them, Dominion's lawyers noted.

No one at Fox would directly comment on Baker and Glasser's assertions, other than Baier, who released a statement taking some issue with how his objections were framed. One person inside Fox with direct knowledge of its election coverage told NPR the delay in calling the full White House win for Biden involved a technical glitch in a control room as one show transitioned to the next at the top of the hour.

In hosting Fox's first post-election interview with Trump that November, Bartiromo echoed Trump's disproven allegations of electoral fraud, saying, "This is disgusting and we cannot allow America's election to be corrupted." She told viewers in mid-December that "an intel source" told her that Trump had won the election. Bartiromo, officially designated as a news anchor, never returned to explain on what grounds the source made that statement. (Fox no longer publicly characterizes her as an anchor, which had rooted her in the news side of Fox, as opposed to an opinion host.)

In December 2020, Dobbs contended on the air that Trump's opponents within the government had committed "treason," and later suggested any action by a Republican officeholder to uphold Biden's victory might have been "criminal." His departure from the network was hastily announced the day after another election-software company, Smartmatic, filed its own $2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox for defamation surrounding similarly false accusations of fraud. That case is not as far along in the process.

Fox News' lawyers argue Trump's claims on election fraud — even though false — are 'inherently newsworthy'
Fox has dismissed both suits as efforts to stifle legitimate coverage of inherently newsworthy allegations - election fraud — made by inherently newsworthy people — including the then-sitting U.S. president and his top campaign advisers. Fox never did back down from its projection of Arizona for Biden, its original sin in the eyes of Trump and his campaign. As viewers abandoned the network for harder-edged fare on Newsmax, OANN and elsewhere, some Fox stars served up incendiary rhetoric and challenged the legitimacy of Biden's pending certification in early January.

Even so, under Scott and her team, Fox fired former political director Chris Stirewalt weeks after the election. The network also announced the retirement of Washington Managing Editor Bill Sammon — who is among the executives whose contracts were sought by Dominion. Both men had been involved in the decision to project Biden's win in Arizona. Other digital reporters were laid off too. And the network shifted to give a greater emphasis to opinion, turning over two hours of programming that had been reserved for news reports to shows led by Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld.

In recent weeks, Dominion has argued that Fox host Jeanine Pirro — a former district attorney and New York state judge, as well as a Trump confidant — sits at the heart of its case. NPR previously revealed the existence of an anguished email from a Fox News producer begging colleagues to keep Pirro off the air because she was circulating lies about election fraud from dark corners of the internet.

Fox producer's warning against Jeanine Pirro surfaces in Dominion defamation suit
UNTANGLING DISINFORMATION
Fox producer's warning against Jeanine Pirro surfaces in Dominion defamation suit
Dominion's legal team asked the court to compel additional testimony from Pirro late last month, after Fox invoked a reporter's privilege to shield her from some questions during her deposition. A ruling on whether Pirro must return for questioning has not been made public.

As with the Scott admonition about "the crazies," Dominion's legal team is seeking to use those exchanges to show that Fox knowingly allowed Dobbs, Pirro, Bartiromo and their guests to peddle false claims that defamed the company and set the country on edge ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021 siege of the U.S. Capitol.

According to filings reviewed by NPR, Dominion is also asking the court to compel additional testimony from Fox star Sean Hannity, a close adviser to Trump. Dominion's attorneys are seeking to bar "improper assertions of reporter's privilege," arguing that Fox inappropriately asserted reporter's privilege for Hannity during earlier questioning as well, though the full filing is sealed. He was deposed in late August, according to court records.

Fox News has repeatedly defended its conduct by invoking the importance of free-speech principles bound up in the First Amendment, saying the Smartmatic and Dominion cases are attempts to chill independent reporting and commentary.

Fox Corp. CEO and Executive Chairman Lachlan Murdoch has taken a seemingly conflicting stance halfway across the globe in Australia, where the media magnate and his family now live. A political columnist for the magazine Crikey accused the Murdochs of being "unindicted co-conspirators" in the insurrection at the U.S. Congress by Trump supporters because of the false fraud allegations and the hyper-charged rhetoric ahead of the planned rally.

In that case, Murdoch is accusing a much smaller media outlet of defamation. He has forced the site to pay out for highly critical commentary several times previously; Crikey says it intends to use the suit as a test case for recent changes in libel law in that country. Media outlets have less legal cover in Australia than they do here in the U.S.

Maddy Lauria contributed to this report.

that is not a very interesting article

but the democrats challenging incumbents in Wisconsin and Florida and the open seats in Ohio and North Carolina are lost causes

Mandela Barnes, who's running against Ron Johnson in Wisconsin, is in no way shape or form a lost cause. This race has been close, has stayed close, and will be close, like every statewide race in Wisconsin except those involving the unexpectedly popular Tammy Baldwin. Barnes doesn't have much of a track record but he's a gifted young politician and Johnson has made the mistake of going from "generic Republican" to someone genuinely unpopular in his state. Johnson might still win! But it's nothing like a sure thing.

I like Barnes, but from what I've read the money and ads against him has been enormous and he's been sunk by them

yeah they're on TV constantly. they also seem really kinda racist

"kinda"

Georgia Lieutenant Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) thinks a certain former president is to blame for the ever-growing possibility that the GOP loses the Georgia Senate race for Sen. Raphael Warnock’s (D-GA) seat thanks to nominee Herschel Walker’s burgeoning scandal over an abortion he paid for.

Duncan, who isn’t running for reelection, told CNN anchor Anderson Cooper on Thursday night that the problem was less about Walker and more about the “process” Georgia Republicans went through to choose him as their nominee.

“We didn’t ask who was the best leader, we didn’t ask who had the best resume. Unfortunately, Republicans looked around to see who Donald Trump supported,” the lieutenant governor said. “And [Walker] was a famous football player, and so he became our nominee, and now we’re paying the price for that.”

seriously, this is refreshing. this is maybe the one honest thing i've heard from a GOP politician in the last 10 years

No, bro. Remember when Kevin McCarthy admitted #Benghazi was a sham concocted to hit Clinton's poll numbers?

i had forgotten about that! but no, i'm sorry. it doesn't do it for me.

On Tuesday, McCarthy bragged to Fox News’ Sean Hannity that “everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi Special Committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping.”

i mean, that is 95% of the way toward telling the truth. but still, it leaves a step for the listener to fill in, that final connection. but it's definitely an outstanding example of GOP honesty.

also, i found that quote above in a politico story from the time, and the subsequent paragraph is the most politico of all time

The comments undermined House Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy’s (R-S.C.) efforts to keep his panel’s work focused on the Benghazi attacks and stay above the political fray.

unfortunately, gowdy's heroic investigation ended up not really leading anywhere, and he was forced to accept a bunch of money to be on fox news all the time instead. hard to read that article from back in the old days, when he was in the thick of it and trying to do something powerful for america, knowing what a enormous soft cushion made of money that he had to gently rest his head on instead

Getting the feeling Oz's campaign is secretly a Christopher Guest Political Mockumentary

Did Dr. Oz seriously give a speech while standing next to Hitler's car?? https://t.co/0DVwItMzZ4

— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) October 7, 2022

that's taking the Simpsons is now real life thing too far imo; the joke doesn't work if you just literally reenact bits

F around with the Armenians and find out what happens.

not too proud for a little federal witness protection

My cousin's on Bertino's (public) defense team. Obviously he's not sharing details with the fam but it's definitely the highest-profile case he's worked on.

GOP primary debate 2016: "This is the A-Team. No on this dais is being investigated by the FBI."

GOP 2022: "abolish the FBI"

guys

https://i.imgur.com/CtJaxES.jpg

remember they debated in front of Reagan's plane

ERICA

Erica, you can't be here! This place is filled with children!

Erica, which bachelor do you pick?

Bobby Jindal admitted he chose his first name from the Brady Bunch, which I thought was refreshing candor

mxp
Loudest dog whistle everrrr.

not too proud for a little federal witness protection

― Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, October 6, 2022 4:53 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Lol

Will Ben Shapiro produce a Proud Boys Goodfellas?

"That new short order cook Jim Smith sure has a lot of anger issues... wonder what his deal is?"

Walker tried to pressure woman into a 2nd abortion.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/07/us/politics/herschel-walker-abortion.html?smid=tw-share

A retired couple in Lansing had their cars and property vandalized by the tolerant people of ANTIFA because the couple supports President Trump.

Another example of the radical left’s “fight like hell” tactics, courtesy of Gretchen Whitmer. pic.twitter.com/z23H44WBbN

— Tudor Dixon (@TudorDixon) October 7, 2022

i was skeptical at first, but look, it says right there: "ANTIFA REVENGE"

that's gotta be antifa

Good morning!

News account mentions the same couple had a flagpole cut down by vandals last year. That’s a lot of attention for Antifa to pay to one retired couple. But hey maybe Antifa knows something about this couple that we don’t.

The husband changed his name in the late 40s from "Wolfgang Scherholz" to "Wally Smith."

As a card-carrying member of said ANTIFA, I can verify this is legit - this is straight of the manual, they're lucky the card wasn't torched as well

you fuck with antifa, you're gonna get your van sprayed

Here's the clip pic.twitter.com/soeG3dixP4

— Ariel Elias (@Ariel_Comedy) October 9, 2022

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/people-shot-lee-zeldin-home_n_63437bd5e4b0281645361d19

Thread title accurate

(Lee Zeldin looks like something a stoned Zep fan would spray paint on the side of a wash)

Zeldin on gun control: a ‘flawed system’ that Democrat-sponsored bills won’t fix: The NY-1 representative's record on gun control measures has earned him top ratings and funding from gun advocacy groups, including the NRA

Idk what this source is, was just going for the easy gotcha: https://riverheadlocal.com/2019/08/06/zeldin-on-gun-control-a-flawed-system-that-democrat-sponsored-bills-wont-fix/

Riding with the AZ pollswatcher gets claustrophobic on headphones: be ready, stand by for some anxious (incl. eager) breathing all the way, on his part at least:
(this is what us Red Staters, maybe others, can expect Nov. 2, and as someone says near the end, it's the new grassroots normal, no matter what happens with and to Trump)
(this ep also incl. some other, better watching)

Watching the Watchers
People taking it upon themselves to keep an eye on those in charge.

Yeah I heard that and it is a very special flavor of batshit.

ilx has informed me not to trust institutions to save us.

But what is there to do about those crazies, except A. vote harder (including all the usual donate, canvass, phone bank, GOTV stuff, and...

B. Hope there are some grownups in those jurisdictions who will smack those weirdos down and say, "No, sir, we are not going to act on your suspicion about multiple sightings of a blue (or maybe green) Honda Civic (or maybe Toyota Corolla) sighted in multiple precincts. There are literally millions of those cars and... You know what? Fuck it. Just, no. Sit down, and also shut up."

donating to eva diaz is probably more useful than the average donation (see thread)

Normally with Give Smart we have a big slate of candidates to feature but right now we really need to highlight Eva Diaz, who needs contributions right now more than any other state legislative candidate in the country. Please let me explain https://t.co/2mv6YtHCIk

— Aaron (the Give Smart guy) (@BobbyBigWheel) September 30, 2022

done, thanks, caek.

ActBlue used to be very focused only on the tight-but-winnable races where out-of-state dollars could make the difference; seems to be more scattershot these days

actblue is a credit card processor for democrats. it's not focused on anything in particular and never has been.

B. Hope there are some grownups in those jurisdictions who will smack those weirdos down and say, "No, sir, we are not going to act on your suspicion about multiple sightings of a blue (or maybe green) Honda Civic (or maybe Toyota Corolla) sighted in multiple precincts. There are literally millions of those cars and... You know what? Fuck it. Just, no. Sit down, and also shut up."

― the floor is guava (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, October 10, 2022 11:46 AM (eighteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Here to point out that this is exactly why actual leftists are against free speech absolutism and the "free speech" arguments of the right— it allows for unhinged, dangerous, fascist bullshit to seep into the consciousness of those paying attention to certain channels. "These weirdos" are absolutely the sort of people who believe that it is their god-given right to spout any amount of insane bullshit and because it is their opinion, and 'opinions are facts, man, you're trying to take away my free speech.'

[more xp in response to same Ye Mad Puffin post]

Right this converges with that Q thread you offered helpful thoughts in:

If you think that this is all about entrenching power, yes that's true. But it's also true that their path to power runs through the votes and actions of ppl wo love trollerific culture-war bullshit like bathroom bills, 1607, CRT, pronouns, Little Mermaid, Comet Ping-Pong pizza, Hunter's laptop, etc.

Which is specifically what they were saying in Jared Holt's podcast. The remedies available to us are voting, and taking this shit seriously enough to get the word out that it's a serious threat to civil society. This OTOH is exactly what we should not be doing (with due respect to the posters):

I'm not saying it won't work but it feels pretty desperate.

"Work" in what sense? The Q people are a subset of Trump true believers, who are a subset of Republican party members. This does not grow his potential voter base by one person.

Every election hinges on responsible people not letting themselves off the hook for doing the work of keeping a civil society functioning. The wealthy power grabbers are always playing a long game and they never give up on protecting their interests and adding every new slice of power they can accrue. This has been true since forever. Complacency or hopelessness are their best allies.

Fully agree with table on being "against free speech absolutism and the 'free speech' arguments of the right." And viborg otm on remedies.

Election Day is less than a month away. Democrats in Arizona and across the country are fighting tooth and nail to beat back MAGA fascists. You know what that means for Kyrsten Sinema? Perfect time for a Paris getaway with the girlies!!!! pic.twitter.com/vEvUqDbNd1

— Primary Sinema Project (@PrimarySinemaAZ) October 10, 2022

Sinema Squad: Coming Soon To HBO MAX!

on some barenaked ladies shit

I mean, sinema is clearly some kind of fifth column element within the democratic party

re: above, FWIW I also understand the counterargument that goes "Crazy thrives on attention, so stop giving these attention-cravers oxygen - ignore them and they will stop mattering."

There is a Floridian individual whom I have duly ignored for long time. Have tried hard not to even type the letters of his name for years. Haven't participated in the usual "OMG did you HEAR what he just said?" ritual. And yet that individual has not gone away. He is (so I hear) still influencing national politics, and not in good ways.

Sinema being out of the country is a positive for Democrats in Arizona.

Many xps Zeldin is my congressional representative and he reminds me of someone that was bullied in school and thought the best way to behave as an adult was to be a bully to everyone that doesn’t go with him.

Good Fetterman profile by Rebecca Traister: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/john-fetterman-dr-oz-pennsylvania-senate-race.html

Apparently the whole social media strategy was not only Fetterman's idea, he actually made some of the memes himself:

Social media offered a recuperating Fetterman a way to reach voters he wasn’t seeing in person or speaking to on television. In early June, Katz entered a campaign group chat to say Fetterman had made a “Running Away Balloon” meme in which Oz was reaching for the yellow orb labeled PA SENATE RACE but was being hugged by the pink blob labeled LIVES IN NJ. Hebert remembered thinking, “Wait, John can do graphic design? The candidate himself is making a meme …” The campaign tweeted it out.

Two days later, Fetterman had another idea, in response to news that Oz had spelled the name of his purported Pennsylvania hometown incorrectly on his candidacy statement. (It’s Huntingdon Valley, not Huntington.) This time, Fetterman’s chosen meme was Steve Buscemi’s 30 Rock appearance as an old guy pretending to be a teen, with the caption, HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW PA RESIDENTS?

When that one took off, it became a free-for-all among campaign staffers. “It created this fun atmosphere,” said Hebert. “John’s rule for it was basically: Be funny, but don’t be mean.” “Especially after nearly dying,” Fetterman said of that distinction, “I had no malice in my heart.”

Tim Ryan and JD Vance both say the U.S. should defend Taiwan if China invades. Vance says Taiwan, because of semiconductors, is more important to U.S. interests than Ukraine.

— James Hohmann (@jameshohmann) October 10, 2022

I am sympathetic to Taiwan but the idea that we could endure even a Cold War style conflict with China is ridiculous. To wit: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/u-s-officials-worried-about-chinese-control-american-drug-supply-n1052376

The US public likes to hear tough talk about China and politicians of all stripes love to talk tough, so everybody's happy thinking what tough guys they are. Reality has nothing to do with it.

Yikes.#OHSenDebate pic.twitter.com/Mo9N6U2L06

— Tim Ryan (@TimRyan) October 11, 2022

Spliced the Trump Rally Ass Kiss clip with tonight’s debate pic.twitter.com/HrFbhTOYp9

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 11, 2022

Cool but does it move a single vote?

Like, is there an R voter who values "dignity" over the tribal reflex of voting R?

Most of those voters left long ago, I suspect.

So we're down to the almost-mythical undecided or independent or, gah, "persuadable" voter.

Hate to sound all Pauline Kael itt, but I legit have never met an undecided or persuadable voter. Everyone I know was either born into their tribe, or has been successfully sorted into their tribe. And then they dug in their heels.

Theoretically those unicorns must exist (I've read about them, kinda, I guess) but the effort to reach them seems disproportionate to their numbers in even the rosiest of scenarios.

GOTV, not persuasion, is the key that unlocks any close election. But in a system where 50% + 1 vote wins it all, you still try for every vote you can grab any way you can grab it.

there's also a legit case to be made that a significant number of Rs are not aware of just how shitty their candidates are

I feel like "undecided" in practice is most likely to mean "don't really like any of them/don't really care about this bullshit." In which case I do think various kinds of things can move them one way or another, but what those things are probably vary a lot by the voter. And they're usually pretty low-information, influenceable if somebody gets their attention good or bad.

Today’s ep of The Wilderness featured a Latono voter in NV who said in the same breath that he is probably going to vote for DeSantis is 2024 (would vote for Trump if he was younger) but he also really loves AOC.

🙃 🤯😫

Yeah, the thing that those voters on The Wilderness (all Latinos in NV) seemed to value most was a candidate who would think for themselves, not just go along with their party or their donors. Ideology was a secondary concern.

I don't know if Tim Ryan conveyed it well in that clip, but I feel like his message worked along those lines: "This guy presents himself as a free-thinker, but he's actually deep in the pocket of politicians and billionaires, he's not going to fight for YOU." The point is (or should be) less about dignity and more about integrity.

xp who wouldn't dump the current old white president for a young white president?

xp I think Ryan is also playing on the emotions of R voters, trying to make them feel grossed out by Vance’s weaselly opportunism so they feel less inclined to go to the polls on election day.

Trump got a lot of mileage out of humiliating his opponents, especially Jeb! It’s not a pretty form of politics but it plays well in the psychosexual hellscape that is the modern American zeitgeist, especially on the right where they are always calling people “cucks.”

Truly SHOCKING news.

I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue & stoke anti-white racism, actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms, are… pic.twitter.com/oAuTnxZldf

— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) October 11, 2022

That's the final straw, she's lost my vote!

Re upthread

Fair points, moodles and treeship

A republican staying home is the next best thing to a democratic vote

Tulsi is leaving the party?

I am shocked, shocked.

Love how she fills her tweet with "an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness undermining our God-given freedoms" and a supporter tweets "You make a good point and an excellent example how to disagree but stay civil on social media!"

Oh, were you still in the party?

“anti-white racism”

How could this screed possibly read as coming from a “common sense independent-minded” viewpoint? This could have been written by any far-right conservative hack. And flipping the script and calling on Democrats to leave the party, as if it weren’t the R’s who have gone off the deep end in recent years. Honestly, given the timing, this feels like a flex by Putin.

independent thinkers realize that anti-white racism is the only bad kind of racism

This is likely her gambit to get picked as Trump's running mate

Fitting I guess, since she already devastated Kamala in a debate

The only tulsi I like is in my tea, thanks.

Where do i get my "Driven by cowardly wokeness" bumpersticker?

I know there's a right-wing media context for this (HUNTER'S LAPTOP) but what a weird thing to try to make an issue of.

what a monster pic.twitter.com/Nmj2HZl3BO

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 11, 2022

I heard the clip. I don't give a damn about Hunter Biden and even less about Joe Biden's problems with his kid's addictions, but Biden sounds like a human being? I can't imagine a similar call from Trump to Eric except along the order of, "Hey, you fuck, stop touching my soap without gloves!"

It's like Oz going after Fetterman for his stroke, just the total embrace of playground bully tactics without even a pretense of not kicking people when they're down. As with so many things, it was all there before Trump, but he made it look like a winning strategy. (Plus also I think people are just enjoying being as mean as they wanna be too much to stop.)

Driven by cowardly wokeness gotta say it in a james hetfield voice with a 'yayaaaa!' at the end

Hetfield voice would be like "Driven by cowardly wokeness-AHHH!"

Real men hate their kids

xp I could also hear Tom Araya just shouting it at full throat

The way Hetfield writes lyrics it would be "By cowardly wokeness driven-yeah!"

Hetfield voice would be like "Driven by cowardly wokeness-AHHH!"

Reads more like MES

Tusli: "It's still 'We the People,' right?"

the only people that care about Gabbard are Republicans and people who still play Tradewars on BBSes

i guess i assumed she'd already gone independent a couple years ago

I assumed that the moment she voted Present or whatever for impeachment and disingenuously claimed she was standing in the center.

I'd forgotten about this low point in her career: Her decision to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and her skepticism of claims that he had used chemical weapons gave rise to public disagreement from establishment Democrats...

A @propublica examination of how redistricting maps were drawn show that Gov. DeSantis' office appears to have misled the public and Legislature.https://t.co/2C4TpjYvVT

— The Palm Beach Post (@pbpost) October 11, 2022

he also just had his Surgeon General make up lies about mRNA vaccines. fucking hate his racist, fascist ass, and we have just about no chance in Hell in unseating him according to latest polls. :(

even if they take him to court over the maps, SCOTUS will uphold his.

Ron DeSantis looks like a motherfucker with some dark secrets

yeah, he always looked like some character actor playing a baddie on Kojak. Don't think I've ever seen him smile, maybe when he's trafficking vulnerable migrants

Well, if past is indeed prologue, we'll find out those dark secrets soon enough while also being told that, "goshdarn it, there just isn't anything we can do about them".

Forget the "post-truth" bullshit, what we live in is the "post-consequence" era for Christian nationalist white males in positions of authority.

Think it's more that they're trying to prolong that era, which is the only era this country has ever known.

You aren't wrong, but somehow it just feels worse now. Like, at least 20-30 years ago they would feign some hand-slapping to make it feel like "something is being done", but we don't even get that feint anymore.

Yeah, I think people who thought it would somehow be a relief for the masks of civility to come off so we can see them for who they really are were wrong. Those masks have some actual restraining effect. It's worth something for people to pretend to respect each other.

on't think I've ever seen him smile, maybe when he's trafficking vulnerable migrants

He looked positively joyful when he signed the bill marginalizing trans girls.

https://nbc-2.com/news/sports/2021/06/01/gov-desantis-signs-bill-barring-transgender-females-from-womens-sports/

that looks like forced class picture smile.. like his cheeks are gonna crack and fall off

So _this_ is what it’s like when people stop being polite and start getting real. xp

"goshdarn it, there just isn't anything we can do about them"

"We tortured some folks"

really tempted to call DCF and try to have someone take Ronnie's kids away

I don't usually wish harm on people, but De Santis would have benefited from getting his ass kicked when he was younger.

I have no problem saying that it would have been better for everyone else on the planet if he’d wandered around the wrong corner in New Haven and been murked while he was a Yalie.

XP he strikes me as the kind of person that was and took away the wrong lessons from it.

Oh, were you still in the party?

― “uhh”—like, this is an insane oatmeal raisin cookie “uhh” (President Keyes), Tuesday, October 11, 2022 8:57 AM (eight hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

This was my reaction.

Yeah, I think people who thought it would somehow be a relief for the masks of civility to come off so we can see them for who they really are were wrong. Those masks have some actual restraining effect. It's worth something for people to pretend to respect each other.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, October 11, 2022 4:06 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I agree with this very strongly

Yeah

Not saying and doing the shitty things is better than doing and saying the shitty things. Bottle that shit up, stew in it, just shut up about it and let the rest of us fuckin live

Wokeness is driving me
Cowardly
Absolute horror

Re: this conversation, tbf this is what anti-fascists were saying for years, all while attending counterdemos against white supremacists and fascists only to have their asses beaten by cops. So many people thought ignoring this shit works— it doesn’t.

And the hits just keep coming:

Nury Martinez also makes crude comments about Jews and Armenians in leaked recording

If Trump is reelected, he will pardon her.

he'll do a bunch of stuff

Concerns over political influence on the selection of the next president ensued from the UF community, exacerbated by a new Florida transparency law that largely kept the university’s search under wraps. Some community members felt their fears were validated by Sasse’s sole finalist status — pointing to his past seven years in Congress as a Republican senator.

Sasse leaves early, protestors take a seat in President’s Ballroom

Sasse left the student forum about 15 minutes early, prompting around 300 protestors to enter the room and chant for Sasse to leave the Swamp. Protestors on stage called Sasse homophobic and racist in between yelling from the audience.

“Get the f—k,” a protestor on stage called out.

“Out of our swamp!” The crowd roared in response.

he'll do a bunch of stuff

the best stuff

yikes

Senate Majority PAC goes there on Dr. Oz and the dog experiments story. The Democratic Super PAC says its beginning a multimillion dollar buy on the topic. pic.twitter.com/k14S2oAg8q

— Jacob Rubashkin (@JacobRubashkin) October 12, 2022

Yip!

xxpost follow-up:

During a loud and contentious council meeting Tuesday – the first meeting since the scandal broke – Acting President Mitch O’Farrell proposed “major reform of the city charter, city council and how we approach redistricting, representation – the topics at the center of this crisis.”

Council President Nury Martinez at City Hall on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022 in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles City Council president resigns from leadership role after audio leaked of her racist remarks
He called for expanding the council and an independent redistricting commission to map out representation of the “diverse metropolis.”

Sorry, meant to snip that caption in the middle. Anyway, maybe *something* good will come of this.

Soon Alex Jones will identify dog 6313 as a crisis actor.

um

Prager: "There's no secular argument against adult incest. Brother and sister want to make love, what's your argument? That they're going to produce mentally retarded offspring? That's nonsense. It takes many generations of inbreeding to do that"https://t.co/L6X82TfYvp pic.twitter.com/oy9ECQRyWv

— Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) October 12, 2022

Is this one of these dickheads who try to make the argument that morals are not possible without the idea of divine enforcement?

There's a person who is totally in love with espousing challops.

Yup, the taboo against incest is not based upon purely disinterested reasoned argument. It's a taboo. They work like that. Pointing out that fact has no purpose except to prove you're so wonderously smart you figured out that it's a taboo. Good boy!

fuck the bible

took a moment for the pic to load on my screen, and yep, that's exactly a guy who looks like he's ok with incest

Based on porn search data, the incest-fantasy vote isn’t one you want to disregard.

Courting the hot stepmother vote.

See, people think we can live without the greatest source of wisdom and morality in the history of the world, the Bible. That's what they think. Even some secular conservatives think that. They don't realize that they're living on the fumes of the Judeo-Christian value system. But if you ultimately extract those flowers from the soil that nurtured them, those flowers will wither and die. I don't want to see that happen.

What are you talking about nobody else has ever had prohibitions against killing or raping people, it's only becz of Bible fumes that we know not to flay and eat our neighbor and lock his six wives and 27 children in our basement to farm for future community barbecues.

*hypothetically

Santorum's 'people will be marrying dogs next!!!!' made even stupider for 2022.

It always gets framed as a gotcha when anti-choice men pay for their mistresses’ abortions, but it’s not a contradiction. The principle is not against abortion; it’s in favor of male control of women’s bodies. https://t.co/j8uKutZ7tO

— Moira Donegan (@MoiraDonegan) October 3, 2022

That is absolutely true, and also none of these jagoffs think ANY rules should apply to them. They're for other people.

Is anyone watching?

Oh, shit - they held a fake elector vote REHEARSAL

Was watching a little, but it just felt so disheartening.

Put him in jail. Put him in JAIL. Put him in FUCKING JAIL!

— LOW (@lowtheband) October 13, 2022

It’s disheartening for sure, but it’s essential.

For anyone not watching, this isn’t just a summary. There’s new information.

I caught some of the early parts, damning as hell and vital to get on the record regardless of any consequences it might or might not lead to.

Is anyone watching?

i am, but in the interest of not wanting to feel worse about myself and others, i have learned not to mention it.

actually, i was going to mention it, just before it started, but a fact-finding mission led me to disheartenment as well. i had read something the other day, about this hearing, which referenced a poll which showed that vast numbers of americans - i think it was either 5 or 10% - had changed their opinions on jan 6 due to the hearings. many of them were people who no longer believed in the Stolen Election bullshit, but there were also some that modified their opinion by indicating that while they still thought the election was stolen, they no longer believed that jan 6 was a "peaceful protest". so, you know, progress.

so, as i began to put in the work for a "hey i'm going to watch this hearing but since so many people believe it's a horrible thing for me to do i need to justify it somehow" post, i tried to figure out what that poll was - the one i half-remembered from an article from 2 days ago that i couldn't remember at all - and instead came upon many polls from this august and september which showed that the hearings had very little, if any, demonstrable effect on the american public. here's one

https://i.imgur.com/0DDV6II.png

here are a couple others:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/26/politics/cnn-poll-january-6-trump
https://www.npr.org/2022/07/21/1112546450/a-majority-thinks-trump-is-to-blame-for-jan-6-but-wont-face-charges-poll-finds

anyway, i was disheartened and began to believe the negative voices

That which is new only confirms what is already amply evident, but the addition of still more evidence and specific details may have real significance at whatever future date that grand juries may bring indictments against Trump or other people closer to the center of power. It's just infuriating that he wasn't convicted during his second impeachment, immediately after Jan. 6. Fuck you, McConnell. Burn in hell.

I agree this is essential to air, vital to document and important to push through, but I also firmly believe it won't lead to a single fucking iota of consequence for a single elected official involved.

otm, sadlyi

I prefer to hold onto my slim hopes right up until the moment they are crushed by events.

It's just infuriating that he wasn't convicted during his second impeachment, immediately after Jan. 6.

i can no longer remember what the impeachment charges even were, for that second one. to me, i felt like it was "you...did....that", the most obvious thing in the world. reality took a big PKD-sized dent in the forehead that day

They just announced they're going to vote on whether or not to subpoena Trump.

I'm not a statistician, but if margin of error is 2% (?) in these polls the 'after' numbers could be slightly higher, and that small margin may be enough to tip some really close state elections?

I agree it's disheartening, especially the 'Trump was directly responsible' line shifting down 4 points *after* the hearings.

Jon is sadly probably OTM.

I guess one could take the line that Trump is too fucking stupid and inept to be "directly" responsible.

re: the subpoena, can't trump just refuse to come or delay or appeal or whatever until it's close enough to the 2024 election (the day after the mid-terms) that a bunch of people will go along with "well i guess we gotta let america decide at the polls in 2024"?

a punishment would change public opinion.

public opinion will not change and lead to a punishment.

unfortunately no one with any power here gets that afaict.

this footage of pelosi and schumer must be new, right? new to me.

Investigations involving Trump are layering atop one another. As the committee’s hearing continues to unfold, the Supreme Court has just denied Trump’s request that it intervene in the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation and stay part of a 11th Circuit ruling. The denial means 103 documents marked as classified will stay out of the special master-overseen privilege review process ordered by a Trump-appointed federal judge in Florida, so the government does not have to show the sensitive files to Trump’s legal team.

phew, good news. i was worried they were going to fuck that up. it's amazing to find that there is still some sort of line the conservative majority won't cross?

Footage is amazing, Pelosi to Atty. Gen. Rosen (who is like, "I don't wanna say, it's up to experts on the ground") "Now just pretend it's the Pentagon, or the White House: you could be making a plan while the police action is taking place"---paraphrasing the last few words of that. but she's the best kindergarten teacher ever, reminding me of the post-attack President Laura Roslin (once such a teacher, then Minister of Education) on Battlestar Galactica---also they're glancing at CNN, seeing what's happening outside---

She's having to call Hogan and Northam and DC Mayor, not getting much response from Feds for some reason

a punishment would change public opinion.

public opinion will not change and lead to a punishment.

unfortunately no one with any power here gets that afaict.

aw shit, they're calling him in

The “USA!” chant has never sounded quite so terrifying.

Subpoena approved unanimously of course, criminal referrals of stooges t.b.a.

Trump will just stall and hope the House changes to a Republican majority in November, after which McCarthy can disband the committee and vacate the subpoena. crazy as it seems, an attempted violent coup to overthrow the last election won't rate anywhere near high gas prices in determining the outcome of the next election

Oh shit Pelosi's grandchildren were looking out the window of her office---several leaders' families were in the building on this historic day---

DEFUND THE GOP:

Leading GOP megadonor to stay neutral in 2024 primary

Adelson, the widow of the late Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, has spoken to an array of potential candidates over the last year and has relayed that she will be sitting out the primary, regardless of who is seeking the nomination.

The list of possible contenders who’ve spoken with Adelson includes Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Florida Sen. Rick Scott and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson...

Put him in jail. Put him in JAIL. Put him in FUCKING JAIL!

— LOW (@lowtheband) October 13, 2022

SCOTUS has refused to hear his appeal of Mar-A-Lago Docs rulings.

Can no one rid us of this meddlesome ex-president?

Only Adderall and Big Macs can save us now.

yeah why won't he just DIE DIE DIE

Big men come up to me with tears in their eyes and say, "Sir, it would be a favor to humanity if you were to expire."

The list of possible contenders who’ve spoken with Adelson includes Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Florida Sen. Rick Scott and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson...

Does Pence really think he has a shot, or is he just a grifter too? Which specific faction of the GOP does he think he appeals too?

It still galls me daily that Trump is the only president who got through his term without being visibly, quantifiably aged by the job. I mean, tbf, he was essentially a walking mass of rancid custard beforehand but still. I'm almost certain he'll outlive most of us. There is no justice.

Trying to decide if the MAGAts are going to turn on the Supreme Court now, or spin it into something about how since there weren't any dissents it proves that this is covering up the real work of Trump being crowned King of America by the Court in secret.

Which specific faction of the GOP does he think he appeals too?

what's left of the Santorum wing

It still galls me daily that Trump is the only president who got through his term without being visibly, quantifiably aged by the job.

Honestly, the dude didn't smoke or drink, which was a huge help. But he's also worn makeup and styled/dyed his hair for years.

He's like a lot of aging celebrities, a lot of money goes into making him look not young but sort of ageless.

Trump looks like a nightmare when they catch him without makeup and three cans of Aquanet, he definitely aged over his term but as above he's been hiding his aging for 30 years anyway.

Meanwhile, in Texas... I don't know what the budget or air schedule is for this ad but I hope it's huge.

Holy shit

pic.twitter.com/fRz1zgBp04

— Olivia Julianna 🗳 (@0liviajulianna) October 13, 2022

^^My friend directed that! And another one plays the doctor!

https://dailynationtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/LG-TRUMP-FANS-OFFPLAT-1-780x470.jpg

Yeah he's like the Dick Clark of ex-Presidents

https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/07/NINTCHDBPICT000750066971.jpg

There's a good book about presidential drinking habits. Among recent presidents the only two who were more than social drinkers were Poppy Bush and Obama. Reagan had a cocktail or wine at dinner, Clinton at most a beer, W and Trump were teetotalers.

W was more a dry alcoholic than a teetotaler

Yeah, my bad.

Trump avoided presidential aging by not doing any work!

He looks like shit.

the only presidency that aged everyone else

Looks like Hannibal Lecter wearing flayed face of DJT.

Kelsey Grammar looks like a motherfucker with some dark secrets. Trump doesn't have any left maybe, or if he does, not sure I want to know.

No I don't but I will when they're all over the news again and again and

and he's still stumble-strutting along.

https://www.reelreviews.com/images/stories/2019/v-mini-series-lg.jpg

oh and of course it's not really choosing the economy/quality of life/feed the babies over highfalutin concerns about orange hair dye-drinkers overrunning the House and maybe Senate, because Congress can't fix inflation. They can cancel some funding, finally concerned with deficits, but that won't do it of course.

this is turning into a very rococo thread

cherubs, scrollwork, and gold filigree?

just excessive adornment of narratives around people who don’t deserve any of our consideration, but since they are public and we are reality show addicts we are all glued to their stories

It's actually Diet Rococo.

More like ro-caca.

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) was hospitalized overnight for observation after not feeling well on Thursday, his office said.

The Senate is not scheduled to take votes until after the midterm elections, but the episode is a reminder of how fragile the Democratic majority is in the 50-50 chamber, where Vice President Harris possesses a tiebreaking vote.

i have no idea about his health. hopefully he'll be fine. but if he did have to step down, the Vermont governor would appoint the temporary successor until a special election can be held. The governor of Vermont is Phil Scott (R)

didn't Biden win in VT by like 35 points? how do they have a Republican governor?

last time i went on a 2-minute wikipedia fact-finding mission about election results, i completely fucked up and gained only a sense of broken dignity

however, that was the past. looks like vermont elects governors every 2 years and they love their phil scott

Dahlia Lithwick otm: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/10/january-6-hearings-ending-trump-subpoena.html

its so wild that Trump is still walking free despite 1) trying to violently overthrow the government and 2) stealing a bunch of top-level secret documents, to say nothing of the dozens of cases of fraud and sexual assault

I know it is too convenient and kind of lazy to just blame shit on him and I know the pandemic wreaked havoc with a lot of folks' mental health, but I do think a large part of why America's asshole id is running rampant right now is because from the top down there just aren't any fucking consequences. I remember it being notable when I'd see some boomer go off on a poor retail worker, but now it's a rare week when I don't see someone just being an absolute raging asshole to people.

slate article otm.

also, on top of all that, they ended with a subpoena, which he will never show up to anyway. either the GOP will take over the house and squash it, or he just won't show up and it won't matter. 24/7 news will ponder the question of whether or not DOJ can or will enforce the law. then something crazy and unexpected will happen and we will all forget for a while. many months would pass. and then his whole "contempt of congress for ignoring the subpoena" thing would just become one of his many dozens or hundreds of ongoing crimes

Lawmakers could ask the Justice Department to charge Trump with contempt of Congress. Stephen Gillers, a professor of constitutional law at New York University, noted that federal prosecutors may refuse such a request. Alternatively, the department could add contempt to later charges “if it indicts him,” Gillers said.

Contempt of Congress is a rarely used criminal statute meant to ensure that people comply with congressional subpoenas. The case of Stephen K. Bannon, the right-wing podcaster and longtime Trump confidant, provides a road map of what could happen.

In July, Bannon was convicted of contempt of Congress for his refusal to provide documents or testimony to the Jan. 6 committee. Bannon’s sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 21. Each of the two misdemeanor charges is punishable by at least 30 days, and up to one year, in jail.

No one has been incarcerated for contempt of Congress in more than half a century, since the red-baiting hearings of the Cold War era.

Stanley Brand, a former counsel to the House of Representatives who has represented some of the Jan. 6 witnesses, said it would be legally complicated to enforce a subpoena of a former president.

“There is a very low probability we will ever see it happen,” Brand said. “How do you make a case for needing to do this when you are a legislative body, not a grand jury — though it has been acting like one?”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/10/13/trump-subpoena-jan-6-hearings/

sadly otm, I do not expect anything to happen as a result of these hearings. maybe some low level staffer will get probation or whatever. the stealing classified documents thing might get him, because that's quite serious in a way that goes beyond culture war politics. but I doubt it. most likely the only people to suffer any consequences are those investigating him in the first place.

haha, alfred the last couple paragraphs of that slate piece are some of the most good mourning! / trenchant i've seen you link to!

xp - I mean, I would argue that trying to violently overthrow the government should also go beyond culture war politics, but this is the hellscape we live in and your point stands.

cheers! xpost

it is bleak. the turnover of the statehouses to stop the steal people, across the country, from the election workers all the way up to the attorneys general, governors, senators, even. it seems like a constant news item to me because the post has people like greg sargent who repeatedly draw attention to it. but i don't get the sense that anyone cares. everyone is exhausted. meanwhile it's a foregone conclusion -- the near future, already rehearsed, analyzed, debated, and even emotionally beginning to come to terms with , right now, before it happens -- that they're going to try to steal the election again. and again.

I know a lot of people care, but what are we supposed to do? Call our Congressman? Both federal and state governments are set up in a way that allows them to be taken over by bad actors - if one side thinks democracy is paramount, and the other works tirelessly to ensure votes for the other party don't count, then that's the side that wins. And when they win, they can appoint whatever judges they want to the Supreme Court, confirmed by Senators from states with 0.01% of the population, who will then make rulings that are both evil and massively unpopular, cuz that's just how it works now in the Greatest Democracy on Earth. I live in a state where Democrats need to win by like 25 points just to get equal representation on the state legislature. Kinda like how nukes keep the world safer, cuz no one would dare start a conflict which could kill everyone on the planet, UNLESS one guy decides to just put a red line down that says "give me everything I want or I'll nuke you". Whatever. Things are bleak and the only thing I take comfort in is how utterly inept the GOP is. They wanna turn this country into "us vs. them", well let's see how it goes when you declare war on the side which produces all the GDP. A lot of people are going to suffer. It sucks. What can we do?

I've been thinking about this a lot too. It's mind-blowing that we're even speculating about his run. I know, intellectually, there's not much that can stop him (barring the cooperation of his accomplices), but... I just work a lowly position in customer service, and it's laughable to think that I would have even gotten an interview had I applied while being the subject of multiple legal investigations.

And despite all this, I bet the media will still treat him as a legitimate candidate, albeit a "controversial" one. My first awareness of politics was Gore/Bush when I was a high school freshman, and being baffled how the media was treating a clear incompetent moron like Bush like a "serious” candidate, instead of an Alan Keyes. Hell, I remember a headline in my local paper after a debate claiming that Gore's performance would hurt him because he came across as too smart.

And the worst of it is that, as mentioned above, it’ll all probably be completely legal (by the newly created standard, of course). And the Dems will all just go along because, well, it’s the rules. One wonders what it would take for Dems do do their own (justified) January 6, should that happen.

yes, if an election really is straight up stolen by a state legislature or congress, will there even be a significant response or will people just shrug and move on with their lives?

There would be a significant and ongoing response, which would in turn give an opening Trump/DeSantis and GOP governors to enact martial law restrictions of various kinds, to calm street violence etc.

"We need your help. Can you give $5 to ensure we can mail a petition to Congress to re-legalize the Democratic Party?"

I remember it being notable when I'd see some boomer go off on a poor retail worker, but now it's a rare week when I don't see someone just being an absolute raging asshole to people.

I have noticed this too but felt like I must be hallucinating. The other day while driving I paused to let someone go ahead of me and they flipped me off anyway.

Bad aggressive driving is demonstrably up nationwide: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fatal-car-crash-increase-risky-driving-rcna43969

My somewhat-COVID-obsessive brother speculates this is cognitive impairment from "brain fog." My own guess is a general loosening of social bonds and individualist entitlement as a result of both Trump and the pandemic. But who knows?

someone just being an absolute raging asshole to people.

my friend told me that she was walking behind a lady that had an absurdly long trail of toilet extending from the back of her pants and trailing onto the floor, and that she approached her to politely and gently tell her so she could avoid embarrassment, and before getting a word out, the lady yelled "BACK THE FUCK OUT OF MY FUCKING FACE".

good luck w/ yr butt

Bad aggressive driving is demonstrably up nationwide

there was a time where I would get baited into minor altercations with other drivers, but now I'm too terrified of them, I just move to the next lane and let them aggro drive by me.

^^

yep, I hesitate to even honk to warn someone when they are about to do something stupid/dangerous, lest I get shot

I've had guys jump out of their cars to yell at me.

Driving feels like being in a bar where some guys are looking for a fight

one time 9 years ago this dude was driving aggressive and cut me off in traffic, and I was having a bad week and shot him the bird, and dude began actively trying to make me wreck, slamming on his brakes every few seconds at random intervals, and then when I'd try to pass him in the lane on the left, he started moving over so I couldn't leave the lane. eventually other people got pissed at him and started honking at him for almost hitting them, and I managed to pull over and calm the fuck down.

needless to say....I don't flip people off anymore.

imagine that guy is probably a Senator now

Years ago my wife and I were driving into the city in our then three week old car and this aggressive dude kept tailgating people and switching lanes constantly, at one point he almost swiped right into us and I honked at him. Didn't even flip the bird or make any gesture, just honked. He flew out in front of us, brake checked us and then got behind us to tailgate again. We quickly got off at the next exit and he kept following us. Even as I started turning down random side streets he stayed right on our ass, so at the point my wife was understandably freaking out. Not wanting to end up lost in an unfamiliar neighborhood with some psycho chasing us, I pulled over to the side of the road in front of a fire station hoping it'd be populated. Dude pulled up next to us and swiped his passenger side mirror against our car, leaving a giant scratch/gouge the entire length of the car. I got the license plate and description and called the cops, hoping to at least get a police report for insurance purposes. The cop's response? "What do you want us to do about it? I'm sure he's long gone."

Me, I've gotten more confident about responding to aggression: I flip the bird, yell "fuck you," anything to dare these fuckers into killing this invulnerable faggot.

Just this morning a guy cut me off and I honked at him. He started doing that slamming the brakes thing and I swerved around him and passed him. I realized that this kind of thing is so common that I don't even have a physical reaction anymore.

I'm sure all of you have realized this already but it really is dawning on me just how much the recent insanity of the GOP isn't really Trump's doing but rather a product of social media, or rather phones and the internet in general. We have all experienced firsthand just how bad it is for your mental health to have this much news in your life and honestly I bet it's even worse for right wingers. In the Bush era they'd get a half-hour of FOX News each day or maybe would sit down after work to read some crackpot's email newsletter or whatever. Now these people are checking their phone every 5 minutes and watching podcasts while they work, just getting a steady stream of disinformation telling them that everything they see is a lie, everyone is out to get you, every scientific fact is made up, etc. I mean if you watched that stuff as much as the people I know do you'd probably go insane too. This is why they're so adamant about "censorship", they know the real obstacle is getting booted off Twitter or Instagram or Facebook or whatever, because I honestly believe that half these people would become a hell of a lot more reasonable & rational if they just logged the fuck off for a couple weeks. To me, that's how you "fix" the problem, however you want to define it - you may say that people like MTG, Trump, Bobert, Gaetz, etc. are so unreasonable and insane that they shouldn't be allowed to hold office, but the reality is a huge chunk of their base has been conditioned like dogs to believe the same shit they do! They really do represent the people that voted them in!

I think there has been some success in pressuring hosting services to drop harmful sites (see the whole Keffals/Cloudflare/Kiwifarms thing) but I wonder if there is going to be some coordinated movement to go after the advertisers - like any company running ads during Tucker Carlson's White Power Hour oughta be named and shamed a lot more than they are. It should be nothing but MyPillow ads and gold coins to commemorate that one time Trump totally got a hole in one. It's a sad state of affairs but maybe this is where it starts?

I'm sure all of you have realized this already but it really is dawning on me just how much the recent insanity of the GOP isn't really Trump's doing but rather a product of social media, or rather phones and the internet in general.

I'm utterly shocked,shocked at this level of cynicism:

Governor Ron DeSantis has made voting easier in certain Florida counties battered by Hurricane Ian – but only Republican-leaning ones.

DeSantis signed an executive order on Thursday that eases voting rules for about 1 million voters in Lee, Charlotte and Sarasota counties, all areas that Hurricane Ian hit hard and that all reliably vote Republican.

Meanwhile, Orange county, a Democratic-leaning area which experienced historic flooding from the storm, received no voting exception..

There would be a significant and ongoing response, which would in turn give an opening Trump/DeSantis and GOP governors to enact martial law restrictions of various kinds, to calm street violence etc.

xpost And now real life is morphing into the comments section of real life. It's a treat to be alive.

i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again frogbs otm

xpost

i have no idea about his health. hopefully he'll be fine. but if he did have to step down, the Vermont governor would appoint the temporary successor until a special election can be held. The governor of Vermont is Phil Scott (R)

― Karl Malone, Friday, October 14, 2022 9:07 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I said this the last time there was a Patrick Leahy health scare, but Phil Scott did promise to appoint a Democrat (er, a Dem-caucusing independent) to replace Bernie Sanders in the event that Sanders had been nominated to Biden's cabinet.

I've said it before, but the Cliven Bundy standoff, while not the first incident by a long shot, was the first thing that made me worry that the typical conservative bullshit was about to escalate to another level. nobody died or anything, but it was how confident they were occupying land
based on the flimsiest of reasoning, combined with the confidence in which they trained weapons on federal agents, while becoming overnight celebrities to conservative voters and politicians. that the Bundys got away with two occupations almost scot free (there was the one death) legitimized armed defiance of federal officials.

There would be a significant and ongoing response, which would in turn give an opening Trump/DeSantis and GOP governors to enact martial law restrictions of various kinds, to calm street violence etc.

This was apparently the plan for January 6, blame it on”Antifa” and Trump invokes the Insurrection Act and the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers arrest all the Democrats and patrol the streets at night.

― Lord Pickles (Boring, Maryland), Friday, October 14, 2022 2:16 PM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

Basically the thing that made Trump's plan fall apart was Pence not listening to his Secret Service detail and remaining at the Capitol so the election could be certified. If certification was delayed a few days/weeks Trump planned to invoke the Insurrection Act.

Waco for me.

xpost

nobody died or anything

Actually... Robert LaVoy Finicum, was shot and killed during an attempt to arrest him after he reached toward a handgun concealed in his pocket

wasn't that the second occupation?

Oh I thought we were talking about the bird sanctuary

Great link from that Lithwick upthread: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/spread-word-about-dangerous-independent-state-legislature-theory Spread the word indeed.

i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again frogbs otm

xpost

― Tracer Hand, Friday, October 14, 2022 1:16 PM (nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

xp to jaymc I missed that! It’s good to hear, of course. I wonder if he still has the backbone to do that when it’s a 50/50 senate? Maybe it was the last time around - I don’t recall Leahy’s previous scare(s)

A Thread to Note Moments of Inappropriate Anger: IRL on ILX and elsewhere

Bad aggressive driving is demonstrably up nationwide

I have noticed soooooo much more bad driving in my city this summer and fall than ever before. Like, numerous people running red lights, near-collisions. I almost got run over by a bus. I'm not sure if it's a real phenomenon - my guess is that people are more distracted.

I have noticed this too but felt like I must be hallucinating. The other day while driving I paused to let someone go ahead of me and they flipped me off anyway.
― treeship., Friday, October 14, 2022

America in microcosm

I work in insurance and yeah auto claims from bad driving are way up

I have no idea why some people are simply literally never allowed to drive again or for a lengthy period of time after they’re caught or charged with doing something. There is a case currently going thru the court system here where a woman was basically racing a friend (former MLB pitcher Scott Erickson!) and she plowed over and killed two young children. She had her license suspended for a year and is now back on the road. There are a lot of ppl who should have their licenses revoked and their cars crushed into a small cube idk, I think some people are psychologically unequipped to be behind the wheel.

*are not simply

The problem is that most Americans live places where it is pretty much impossible to do basic daily things like go to work or buy food without access to a car. So when licenses are suspended or revoked, they just drive anyway.

And to add to the anecdotes, one thing I've seen often enough for it not to seem more than mistakes is people making left turns at red lights when there's no traffic in the intersection. It's not that they don't see the red light, because they're at a complete stop. But then they just go.

"no coppy no stoppy"

Yeah, always been some of it. But this is several times in broad daylight at city stoplights, not 2 a.m. at the country crossroads.

I also see a big sense of entitlement with drivers, obviously related to tailgating and red light running ("well I'm IMPORTANT and must be where I'm going first"), but especially wrt people absolutely refusing to make a mistake or miss a turn. Instead it's, "this is my god given right to tear ass across four lanes of moving traffic because I only just now realized my exit". God fucking forbid someone have to lose time by going to the next exit or going an extra block to compensate for the missed turn.

I witnessed a U-Haul van attempting to bump into a car that didn’t let them merge, and then the passenger in the car leaned out the window and gestured with a switchblade. Which didn’t seem to deter the U-Haul driver.

Honestly that’s not even in the top twenty of most egregious things I’ve witnessed.

death race 2000 was set 20 years too early

Now these people are checking their phone every 5 minutes and watching podcasts while they work, just getting a steady stream of disinformation telling them that everything they see is a lie, everyone is out to get you, every scientific fact is made up, etc. I mean if you watched that stuff as much as the people I know do you'd probably go insane too.

I guess this is kind of a Godwin's Law type comparison, but the American right-wing mediasphere (including all of its social media tributaries) makes me think about the role that Hutu radio played leading up to and during the Rwandan genocide.

yep, I hesitate to even honk to warn someone when they are about to do something stupid/dangerous, lest I get shot

I honked (once, short) at a car sitting at a green light a few years ago - a couple of blocks later it's alongside me at another light and the guy in the passenger seat is flashing a chrome Beretta at me. I was too baffled to be afraid and the driver reached over and smacked him upside the head and then takes off through the red to get some distance between us.

It has definitely limited the number of honks since (unless they're crossing into my lane and about to hit me...).

people making left turns at red lights

One thing I've noticed in Oakland is when I'm waiting at a red light, someone will pass everyone else on the right (usually in a bike lane) and just blow through the light like it's not even there.. so infuriating

I know I’ve stated similar positions before and been shouted down about it, but I have to say again: if this Greatest Democracy on Earth is so totally gamed and skewed toward literal fascists, lite-fascists, and a modicum of shills for neoliberalism (because that’s what Dems are, sorry y’all), then the issue for me becomes that it isn’t worth saving.

The question becomes whether Democrats are advocating for change that will have material benefits for a majority of the population, or whether they are coming from a position of ‘returning to normal.’ The latter isn’t going to work with a lot of
people because their normal was fucked up before Trump and just continues to get more fucked up, and so they’ve given up.

I haven’t, but I won’t lie: after my experiences in this life, I am always against the fascists and the tanks, but I’m also getting super fucking tired of spending what little spare energy, time, and money I have to “save” something that I’m not even sure ever existed.

wow this thread has really taken us somewhere unexpected

"...they've already started the killings!"

I haven’t, but I won’t lie: after my experiences in this life, I am always against the fascists and the tanks, but I’m also getting super fucking tired of spending what little spare energy, time, and money I have to “save” something that I’m not even sure ever existed.

― broccoli rabe thomas (the table is the table), Friday, October 14, 2022 3:47 PM (thirty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i think it was zizek who said the role of the left right now might just be to fight to preserve the (limited) achievements of liberal society so that someday, years after we are dead, the possibility for emancipatory politics might emerge once again.

it sucks but maybe there is something to this. it's hard to imagine anything "good" happening politically in america. the most you can hope for is that the right wing's advance is halted.

So, someone created a fake story, slapped @abbyohlheiser's byline on it even though they haven't worked at The Atlantic since 2014, which has led to a bombardment of harassment, and now a U.S. Senator is sharing said fake article. pic.twitter.com/sKTS26ENd1

— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) October 14, 2022

And then...

Ted Cruz is a liar. Also, the "But doesn't it say something about society that it COULD have been real!?!?!?" stuff doesn't cut it. https://t.co/Cxzf9j4L4I pic.twitter.com/NnTInFVlei

— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) October 14, 2022

I am (work with) many police

Zizek’s solution is always to simply support the status quo, which he always says we must do after going on a long and slightly incomprehensible rant against the status quo. I don’t trust people who do that kind of shit, don’t understand how anyone takes Zizek seriously tbh

Did anyone watch the Georgia senate debate?

Nope. National press was gonna #bothsides it.

Herschel Walker drew head scratches, online derision and a moderator's rebuke after he brandished a sheriff's badge in the debate for Georgia's Senate race on Friday. It was an honorary badge often given to celebrities in sports or entertainment. https://t.co/18kK3AXRx2

— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 15, 2022

it's that time of the debate when everybody has to pull out their badge

Loved the moderator calling it a prop and telling him to put I away.

This is the badge I use to get people into my van

Not only did I play football, but, this town gave me a badge for it!

It went like this:

Warnock argues for Medicaid expansion while Walker is unclear
Georgia is one of 12 states not to expand Medicaid and currently has an estimated 1.5 million uninsured residents.

Walker, when asked by the moderator if the federal government should step in to make sure everyone has access to health care, began a confusing non-response.

“Well, right now, people have coverage for health care. It’s according to what type of coverage do you want. Because if you have an able-bodied job, you’re going to have health care,” he said. “But everyone else – have health care is the type of health care you’re going to get. And I think that is the problem.”

Walker continued to say that Warnock wants people to “depend on the government,” while he wants “you to get off the government health care and get on the health care he’s got.”

To note: Warnock, as a US Senator, is on a government health care plan.

Walker also gave a puzzling response to Warnock’s attack on his opposition to federal legislation capping the price of insulin for people with diabetes.

“I believe in reducing insulin, but at the same time, you have to eat right,” Walker said. “Unless you have eating right, insulin is doing you no good. So you have to get food prices down and you got to get gas prices down so they can go and get insulin.”

Warnock responded by telling viewers who require the drug that Walker was, in effect, blaming them for their struggles accessing it.

Warnock, on the subject of his pledge to close the Medicaid gap, was asked how he would pay for it.

“This is not a theoretical issue for me,” he replied, invoking the story of a nurse in a trauma ward who lost coverage when she became sick and, as he put it, died “for lack of health care.”

“Georgia needs to expand Medicaid,” Warnock continued. “It costs us more not to expand. What we’re doing right now is we’re subsidizing health care in other states” – a reference to the state’s refusal to accept federal funds that residents already pay into.

‘You have a prop’
The debate within the debate over Warnock’s support for police, in which the senator pointed to his support for legislation that backed smaller departments, was briefly derailed when Walker pulled out what appeared to be a police badge.

The moderator quickly admonished Walker, reminding him that props were not allowed onstage.

“You have a prop,” the surprised moderator said. “That is not allowed, sir.”

Moments earlier, Warnock – in response to Walker’s claims that he has “called (police officers) names” and caused “morale” to plummet – said that his opponent “has a problem with the truth.”

Warnock then hit Walker with a callback to a more than two-decade-old police report in which the Republican discussed exchanging gunfire with police and a subsequent false claim from Walker that he previously served in law enforcement.

“One thing that I haven’t done is I haven’t pretended to be a police officer and I’ve never, ever threatened a shootout with police,” he said.

Warnock also argued that his support for greater scrutiny of police didn’t undermine his support for law enforcement.

“You can support police officers, as I’ve done, through the COPS program, through the invest-to-protect program, while at the same time, holding police officers, like all professions, accountable,” he said.

The bit about having to get food and gas prices is true in general, but the Senate can't do it. In itself, pretty real for Walker.

Somewhere out there a kid got a police costume for Halloween that’s missing a badge.

— Dan Rather (@DanRather) October 15, 2022

BREAKING: even madison cawthorn's mouth is gross and unacceptable

“I have to get to a floor speech real quick,” the North Carolina Republican said. Cawthorn, 27, who was partially paralyzed in a car accident in 2014, pivoted in his wheelchair and rolled out to the sidewalk, crossing Independence Avenue and heading toward the Capitol.

Inside a nearly empty House chamber, Cawthorn read a one-minute speech in which he declared that “America cannot be saved through legislation.”

“Christ, not Congress, will be what saves this country,” he said in an emphatic baritone.

Cawthorn left the Capitol building, stopping at the corner of Independence and New Jersey avenues, a tin of Grizzly chewing tobacco on his lap. “I gotta grab my food real quick,” he told The Washington Post before heading to another nearby corner to await a delivery driver.

As he lingered, a solitary figure in a stream of lunchtime passersby, the congressman spat tobacco juice on the sidewalk.

Herschel Walker is by far the least coherent politician I’ve ever seen. The idea that millions of voters will choose him over Warnock is ridiculous.

listen, sure, he may be a football player who pieces together parts of sentences he have heard about the topic at hand and can fool an AI machine into believing he's real over 40% of the time. but he's OUR football player who pieces together parts of sentences he have heard about the topic at hand and can fool an AI machine into believing he's real over 40% of the time.

also, re: The idea that millions of voters will choose him over Warnock is ridiculous.

madison cawthorn lost his primary by only 1,300 votes

sorry, last painful quote of the morning.

‘No President has done more for Israel than I have. Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S,’ Trump said on his Truth Social app.

in my evangelical church, every week they passed out a free "magazine" to everyone. since the services were long and were filled with adults i trust talking in tongues and stopping on the ground and crying, on a weekly basis, i would often just read the magazine and pretend i was anywhere else on earth. in my memory, the magazine was called the Zion, or the Christian Zion, the Zionist, something like that. i can find no trace of it on the internet, so i can't fact check myself. maybe if someone else was in hell on sunday mornings in the 80s and 90s they can help me refresh my memory.

from life and experience, christian evangelicals have an enormous, really fucking weird problematic relationship with jewish people and especially christian zionism. there are many millions of evangelicals who deeply want the apocalypse to happen as soon as possible

jeez, look at the date of this article

https://religionnews.com/2021/01/06/how-the-shofar-emerged-as-a-weapon-of-spiritual-warfare/

Jan 6, 2021

"Shofar blowing, as in today's Jericho March, has become commonplace in many political demonstrations far removed from any Jewish or Israel-related themes."

Herschel Walker is by far the least coherent politician I’ve ever seen. The idea that millions of voters will choose him over Warnock is ridiculous completely unsurprising naked tribalism.

Fixed

Greg: So what got you into, uh, "carpentering"? Carpentry?
Kevin: I guess I'd have to say Jesus. He was a carpenter, and I just figured if you're gonna follow in someone's footsteps, who better than Christ?
Greg: Hmm.
Jack: Greg's Jewish.
Kevin: Are you?
Greg: Yeah.
Kevin: Mm-hmm. Well, so was J.C. Wow. You're in good company.

Heh

It took me a minute or two to remember where that was from.

there are plenty of evangelicals who refuse to admit that Jesus was Jewish

Like he worshipped himself or something

"Big time Eagles fan" Dr. Oz will be watching tonight's game from one of his 10 homes (and cheering on the Cowboys, let's be honest) pic.twitter.com/dhoo6MYQkF

— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) October 16, 2022

Well, yeah.

what do Don 'n' Ghost of Glenn think of the race?

DON: I've been chronicling the spectacle of American politics in my songs for years, from "Inside Job" and "Dirty Laundry" all the way back to "The Last Resort" and "On The Border" during the Eagles days. I've been keeping up with the news--particularly CNN--and this year's Senate race is one for the ages. When the best the GOP can offer is a washed-up football player, a hillbilly venture capitalist, and a TV quack...and they all are coming way too close to winning...I think I feel new song coming on.

GLENN: Even though she's not actually running this year, I personally feel something coming whenever I hear the words "Kyrsten Sinema".

DON: Well, yeah.

After the Oz of summer have gone

Just this weekend alone we've seen a renewed round of intense anti-semitism, Tudor Dixon's defense of blackface being a good thing, actually, and whatever the fuck that MTG unhinged debate rant was. Not only is the hatred and racism no longer veiled, it's just fucking right out there in the open. Shit just feels so bleak right now.

I mean, yes, I realize it has hardly been hidden for the last six years either, but candidates specifically seem to be flaunting it even more openly and boldfaced than ever before.

"Shofar blowing"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trump_Prophecy

the answer my friend is blowing in th e wind

that's the fictionalized version of it (although based on a "true" story), but another link within that is the guts of it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Apostolic_Reformation

not that anyone ever calls themselves that. but that's the guts of what's "wrong" with so many horrible people -- they truly believe that they are prophets or apostles, and that god is directly speaking to them through dreams. it's always a fucking dream with these people. it's a dream in the dumb movie, it's a dream in real life. people in my family had "dreams" that led them to do a lot of hateful bullshit. once you accept that you or another "christian" is being spoken to by god, and that maybe you'er also a new prophet or apostle, or at least a small component of something that might be related to a real prophet or apostle, the rest of life is obliterated. all experienced reality and pleading from children is swept aside and, in an incredibly stupid twist, stephen colbert's concept of "truthiness" becomes what they _actually do and believe_, including racist pronouncements that they believe to be divinely directed because they heard it in a "dream"

i also enjoyed this guy, rick joyner

When Rick Joyner of the MorningStar Ministries was listed, he announced that "there will likewise be a horde of false apostles released" continuing: "Our team received two very specific dreams warning about false 'apostolic movements' that were built more on organization than relationship. The dreams indicated that these were trying to bring forth apostles that were really more like corporate CEOs, and the movement that they led had the potential to do great damage to the church. The enemy's intent with this false apostolic movement was to have the church develop a deep revulsion to anything that was called apostolic."[16]

listen, flock -- recently a list came out and i was named as a prophet of the new age, ok? and that's right, so please, please -- keep giving me money so that i can keep having visions. but i want to tell you -- some other people were also named as prophets, and THOSE guys are totally corrupt

This is a long and storied American tradition. I thought it might have reached its peak when Joseph Smith got divine revelations that he was supposed to have sex with as many women and girls as possible, but it's kept going and going.

you grow up thinking it’s important to tell the truth

but then, you can start a sentence with the words "Our team received two very specific dreams” and totally get away with it

judging by the roughly 1000 emails i've received in the past week, feels like the dems are a bit nervous about the nevada senate race

if Herschel Walker wins in Georgia and Adam Laxalt wins in Nevada we'll lose the Senate. hoping that doesn't happen

“Senator Herschel Walker” is more of an existential terror than GOP control of the Senate.

Damn, a Warnock piece! As much of one as we're likely to get, for a while anyway!

POLITICO Playbook: Raphael Warnock’s two worlds
By EUGENE DANIELS and RYAN LIZZA

With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

... We definitely have Georgia on our minds here at Playbook. The Senate race in the Peach State — pitting Sen. RAPHAEL WARNOCK against football legend HERSCHEL WALKER — is likely the most consequential Senate race on the map this year. Early voting begins today.

There’s nothing better as a reporter than getting out of the swamp to see what voters are thinking and saying for yourself — so Eugene headed to Atlanta for a check-in.

What he found is a sense that the scandal-ridden Walker is sucking up all the political oxygen in the state. Even Warnock campaign aides admit surprise when reporters call to talk about the sitting senator and not about Walker’s travails.

As grandson of a Baptist preacher, Eugene felt compelled to visit Warnock’s church, Ebenezer Baptist — the spiritual home of Rev. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., whose historic pulpit is located just steps away from the massive, modern sanctuary where Warnock now preaches.

In a story out this morning, Eugene explores how Warnock is a man in two worlds. At Ebenezer, no one calls him “senator.” It’s “reverend,” and members of his flock will correct you immediately. But while he enjoys a deep connection with his congregation, some Black political strategists worry that Warnock has not yet secured the broad support he’ll need from Black voters to earn a full term.

Georgia’s Senate race has remained close for months, with Warnock holding a slight — but far from sure — advantage. Those at Ebenezer know it’s because the same issues playing out nationally are felt more acutely here.

“Georgia is not immune from everything that's happening in the country,” said ED JENNINGS, an 11-year member of Ebenezer. “We've had a challenging economy, and the basic issues for Black people are no different than anybody else. If I’m paying $4 at the gas station, that's a problem for me.”

A recent Quinnipiac poll showed Georgians ranking inflation as their top issue, with a 29-point lead over the second-place issue, abortion. Twelve percent of Democrats ranked inflation as their top issue versus 73% of Republicans.

But, Jennings said, there are signs of a shift — starting with gas prices: “We’re now down around here to around $3. You’re seeing a resurgence in legislative wins, new energy around Dobbs that has kicked things into a new level where things are not where they were.”

Much of the effort to reelect Warnock has focused on Walker’s alleged personal failings, of which there are many — reports that he has played a minimal role in some of his children’s lives, a well-documented history of domestic abuse allegations and recent accusations that he paid for a then-girlfriend’s abortion in 2009. (POLITICO has not independently verified the abortion reports, which Walker has denied.)

Warnock’s campaign and allied groups have spent tens of millions of dollars elevating those claims. But some Democrats are starting to wonder if Georgia voters are hearing too much about Walker’s liabilities and not enough about Warnock’s assets.

As one Democratic pollster told Eugene: “There could be a misstep here in trying to disqualify Walker so much and not to requalify what Warnock has actually done. [Voters] get it. They understand Walker is the big bad wolf. They like Warnock. But they don’t have anything really good to say. They don’t know what he’s been doing.”

LaTOSHA BROWN, co-founder of the Atlanta-based voting rights group Black Voters Matter, told Eugene, “Their sole focus on [Walker] as an individual is not working. He’s a Black man. A Black man being flawed, a Black man not having integrity, a Black man not taking care of his children — ain’t that what they think about us anyway?”

It appears that Warnock himself isn’t entirely sure how to handle his opponent. At Friday’s debate, likely the only meeting between the two men, Warnock ventured only the most glancing attacks on Walker, preferring instead to highlight his own efforts to work across party lines in the Senate and far-right GOP policy positions.

But on another debate stage Sunday night — without Walker — Warnock found a sharper tone. Asked about attacks he’s weathered, Warnock parried by saying that Walker “doesn’t tell the truth about himself.”

“He said that he graduated from college. He didn’t. He said he was valedictorian of his class. He wasn’t. He said he started a business that doesn’t even exist. And the other night, when I said he pretended to be a police officer, he presented a badge as if that were proof that he really is a police officer, and now he wants us to think that he’s a senator.” Full debate report from AP’s Bill Barrow

Warnock added: “I think the people of Georgia are wise and discerning.”

BADGE OF HONOR — Hours after her “SNL” corporate colleagues cracked fun at Walker’s viral debate moment, NBC’s Kristen Welker asked him about the badge he flashed on stage. Walker said one badge was given to him by the sheriff of Johnson County, where he grew up: “Everyone can make fun, but this badge give me the right — wait, let me finish. If anything happened in this county, I have the right to work with the police in getting things done.” The sheriff confirmed that account.

More from the transcript: “I have badges from all over the — all over Georgia, even from Chatham County. I had to — wait, wait, I had from Chatham County, which is a county, which is a county, uh, which is a county from — *SHOWS BADGE* oh, I have it upside down. Right, which is a county from where Sen. Warnock is from. I have an honorary sheriff badge for that county with limited rights.”

xp
that's a clever thing to say, but GOP control of both the House and Senate would be a disaster.

We're at most going to pick up a senate seat in PA. we'll keep AZ and NH, but by all accounts Mandela Barnes in WI and Tim Ryan in OH are not going to win their races, so either Warnock or Cortez-Masto has to win.

also, Politico is a hack website that leans right-wing fwiw

i cannot believe ryan is going to lose Ohio, didn't vance basically stop campaigning and disappear until the debate recently? fuck you Ohio.

warnock is polling ahead of walker and has never polled behind him, so I'm concerned but I still refuse to believe he's going to lose, but wtf do I know, this country is filled with imbeciles

I won't count Mandela Barnes out yet, though admittedly he is being massively outspent

anyway the Herschel Walker thing is seriously depressing, he's probably the worst candidate for a Congressional office that I've ever seen. he is exactly what all the shitheads on Truth Social keep saying Joe Biden is. when he says he doesn't remember paying for an abortion I believe him!

brain damaged, mentally ill, and a fucking idiot

that's a clever thing to say, but GOP control of both the House and Senate would be a disaster.

Yes, that's why I said "existential terror" and not "bigger disaster."

We've had a GOP President and Senate for most of my life but Walker would be, by some lengths, the most depressing major political figure of my life. We reached Caligula's Horse within a decade of the birth of MAGA.

There’s a November thread title in here somewhere:

“I have badges from all over the — all over Georgia, even from Chatham County. I had to — wait, wait, I had from Chatham County, which is a county, which is a county, uh, which is a county from — *SHOWS BADGE* oh, I have it upside down. Right, which is a county from where Sen. Warnock is from. I have an honorary sheriff badge for that county with limited rights.”

brain damaged, mentally ill, and a fucking idiot

Good morning!

One morning last year, around 60 sheriffs and deputies gathered outside Houston for a training that proved to be less about enforcing laws than about subverting them. After a prayer from a pastor dressed like George Washington (wig, frilly collar, musket), the crowd heard from Gary Heavin, the founder of the Curves International fitness chain, who called the 2020 presidential election of Joe Biden “blatantly, in-our-faces stolen.” Then he turned to the reporters in the room (“propagandists”) identifiable by our masks (“diapers”), and said, “I don’t know whether this is going to scare you or comfort you, but just about every person in this room is armed.” The room erupted in cheers. 1

Heavin was helping the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association fund this training, but the dominant presence that day was the group’s founder and director, Richard Mack. With his Reaganesque swoosh of dark hair and the cadence of a country preacher, he delivered his organization’s central message: that sheriffs, within their counties, are more powerful than any state or federal authority, and that they can resist “tyranny” by refusing to enforce laws they believe violate the U.S. Constitution. “This is a peaceful and effective process, à la Martin Luther King, à la Gandhi, à la Rosa Parks,” he said.

The Anti-Defamation League calls Mack’s organization an “anti-government extremist group,” while he prefers to invoke Barry Goldwater’s 1964 battle cry: “Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice.” Since founding the group in 2011, Mack estimates it has trained at least 800 sheriffs. Agencies in several states, including Texas and Virginia, have allowed officers to use these events for professional education credits.

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2022/10/18/does-your-sheriff-think-he-s-more-powerful-than-the-president

https://i.imgur.com/KgFsUxr.png

what does it mean, when asked if one agrees that the sheriff's authority supercedes the federal or state government in one's county, to be "neutral"

After a prayer from a pastor dressed like George Washington (wig, frilly collar, musket), the crowd heard from Gary Heavin, the founder of the Curves International fitness chain

Okay I officially want to opt out of this timeline

Thxbye

hey sheriffs, lemme introduce myself with a few words before i get into the part where we all agree that you're above the law and a vital part of the next election which we will steal, i mean, which we will stop from being stolen, from us: *points at frilly collar and wig&* ~i'm a compleeeeeeeete dumbass!~

*sheriffs murmur in general approval*

in many ways, you lovable sheriffs are like, say, martin luther king, gandhi, and rosa parks

*more murmurs, growing approval*

fwiw, I will absolutely help people break unjust laws— the second question in that graphic is not the same as the first.

are you a sheriff?

oh i didn't see that it was only respondents from sheriffs. sorry.

Also no need to be a dickhead.

sorry for being a dickhead

Only the band Sheriff is allowed to break laws

Because they're Canadian

Lovable sheriff: Andy Griffith as Andy Taylor. Affable, generally easy-going, firm when necessary.

Unlovable sheriff: Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham. Rapist, killer, oppressor of the downtrodden.

fwiw you’re describing about half the country here

I wouldn't want half the country in the senate either

Me neither, just pointing out an obvious fact.

Not enough seats iirc

hence the killings

We need to make laws that prohibit idiots from taking office

except those laws will be made by Republicans and we know their definition of idiot

"...they've already started the killings wanking!"

Arizona GOP candidate who said he wanted “our children protected [from] the progressive left" was arrested for masturbating outside of a preschool

“I’m sorry. I fucked up. I’m really stressed.”

Officials say it's too late to remove him from the ballot https://t.co/fzZN0EgItp

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) October 19, 2022

Of course he's stressed, that's why he needed a wank.

I would not be surprised in the least if he won.

This isn’t really funny, but - yes, I did crack up laughing when I saw his excuse.

lmao reminds me of when Manitowoc bar legend "Big Jim" got arrested for DUI after blowing a .24 and was quoted in the paper as saying "yeah, it's pool night"

He should move to Sweden! They allow PUBMAST there!

In a statement about his suspended campaign, Kaufman didn’t address the arrest, but said he “will never stop fighting to protect the United States Constitution and the values that make America the greatest country in the world.”

Fun as far as it goes. But he wasn't running for congress or anything especially exalted, it was, um, a college governing board post, right?

"At least he wasn't INSIDE the preschool, like some filty pedo Libtard!" - typical AZ voter

"At least he HAS a penis, unlike some neutered woke communist!" - typical GOP scumbag

"He was watching interracial porn, he doesn't see color"

"He was looking at Kids of Color ..."

“He was watching Larry Clark’s ‘Kids’.”

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgOjjNOWsAANye-.jpg

This is the way the Durham investigation ends
This is the way the Durham investigation ends
This is the way the Durham investigation ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

You just wait 'til he releases the report!! You just wait!!

i can't -- my eyes are on maricopa. i kept my eyes there.

he shoulda taken it to Judge Judy

"Randy Kaufman" sounds like a character from the porn remake of Taxi

Danny DeVito plays himself, presumably

Hahaha, fuck these people

Right-wing superhero movie ends 'in disaster' after $1 million in funders' cash goes missing: report

https://www.rawstory.com/rebels-run/

It's always a fucking grift. Always.

there's someone else besides manchin and sinema

Biden also told Dem donors in Philly that while 51 votes will guarantee his party continues to control the Senate, he "actually" needs 53 votes to pass his agenda.  

"We need 51. We actually need 53," Biden said, prompting murmurs of agreement from the crowd.

— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) October 20, 2022

Kamala probably

Happy Steve Bannon is (probably) going to jail day, for all who celebrate.

Doesn’t he get to appeal whatever sentence he gets, which will take until next summer? (Blogger emptywheel is where I got this info)

He can still be imprisoned while he awaits appeal, right? His total arrogant lack of remorse def. hurts him in this regard.

Good morning!

He can still be imprisoned while he awaits appeal, right?

yeah, it depends. first, i don't know much, at all, about anything, so don't read this. in order to get a release pending appeal, you have to prove you're not a flight risk or a danger to the community, and then convince the judge who just sentenced you that you have a legit shot at winning the appeal. to me, bannon is very obviously a dangerous man to all communities. he is openly trying to create the conditions for armageddon and he has convinced many people that armageddon is literally happening right now, enriching himself off from his manipulations all along the way. the courts don't give a fuck about any of that. instead, he is, at the moment, guilty of not showing up for a subpoena. the feds recommend 6 months in prison. would the judge deny him bail during the appeals, when appealing will take another 9 months? i don't know. what happens, hypothetically, when that's denied, bannon serves his 6 months (at best, since that's the max DOJ can ask for), and then a few months later he wins his appeal? it seems more likely to me that with a relatively short sentence, they'd just let him go free until the appeal is decided. trump can always pardon him as soon as he steals the election

i found a great source, msnbc.com. what an unimpeachable source of news!

https://www.msnbc.com/congress/jan-6-hearings/live-blog/live-updates-analysis-steve-bannon-sentencing-rcna52566#rcrd5994

Could Bannon actually be sent to jail today?

Federal District Court Judge Carl Nichols — a Trump nominee — will decide today whether Bannon is sentenced to six months in jail and a $200,000 fine (the Justice Department’s recommendation), probation alone (what Bannon himself has asked for), or something in between.

But even if Nichols determines that Bannon deserves time behind bars, don’t expect him to be remanded, or taken to jail, immediately. That’s because Bannon intends to appeal his conviction after he is sentenced — and Judge Nichols, who has repeatedly signaled sympathy to Bannon’s legal argument, could decide that any sentence should be stayed pending appeal.

Here’s why:

Bannon’s planned trial defense was that in refusing to so much as show up for his testimony, he was simply following the advice of his lawyer, Robert Costello. Specifically, Costello maintains — including in a filing yesterday — that he advised Bannon that 1) Trump had invoked executive privilege in response to the subpoena to Bannon; 2) because the Jan. 6 committee would not allow Trump’s lawyers to attend Bannon’s deposition and Trump is the privilege holder, there was no way for Trump to protect his privilege; and 3) under DOJ policy, if the privilege holder’s counsel cannot attend testimony impacting that privilege, the subpoena is invalid and unenforceable.

Reliance on the advice of counsel is a real, if risky, defense. Among other things, it requires a defendant to waive privilege over all his communications with the lawyer on whose advice he supposedly relied. But Bannon never got that far. Instead, before trial, Judge Nichols ruled that Bannon could not use an advice of counsel defense because of a 60-year-plus case, United States v. Licavoli.

The statute under which Bannon was convicted punishes those who “willfully” refuse to give testimony or produce documents to a congressional committee. It doesn’t matter if, in failing to appear, Bannon was relying on his lawyer’s advice.

In the lead-up to his trial, Bannon argued to Judge Nichols that Licavoli shouldn’t govern his case because it relies on cases that have themselves been overruled and the Supreme Court has clarified what it means to be willful in criminal contexts. But Nichols, while moved, said his hands were tied: While Bannon might have ample “arguments to the Court of Appeals on why Licavoli should be overruled,” he himself “has no power to disregard a valid and on-point or seemingly on-point holding from a higher court.”

Bannon also argued that Licavoli could be ignored because the defendant in that case was not dealing with a president’s assertion of executive privilege. There too, however, Nichols was unpersuaded, noting Bannon gave him “no reason to believe the [intent] element [for contempt of Congress] can or should be different depending on the circumstances of specific cases.”

As a district court judge, Nichols is indeed duty-bound to follow D.C. Circuit precedent. But there’s reason to believe the D.C. Circuit could, on Bannon’s appeal, overturn Licavoli and force DOJ to try Bannon all over again. And given that possibility — and Nichols’ own admission that if he were deciding the issue from scratch, he would have sided with Bannon — I just don’t see Bannon locked up any time soon.

Bannon’s planned trial defense was that in refusing to so much as show up for his testimony, he was simply following the advice of his lawyer, Robert Costello. Specifically, Costello maintains — including in a filing yesterday — that he advised Bannon that 1) Trump had invoked executive privilege in response to the subpoena to Bannon; 2) because the Jan. 6 committee would not allow Trump’s lawyers to attend Bannon’s deposition and Trump is the privilege holder, there was no way for Trump to protect his privilege; and 3) under DOJ policy, if the privilege holder’s counsel cannot attend testimony impacting that privilege, the subpoena is invalid and unenforceable.

if you follow this argument all the way through, it can make sense. bannon was just following his lawyer's advice not to show up! he's so unfairly persecuted! but step 1) in that sequence is that the lawyer advised Bannon that Trump, who was not the president at the time, invoked executive privilege to Bannon's subpoena. an ex-president can invoke executive privilege? to me, until recently, this was a very obvious NO. but now? fuck, who knows! it depends on how corrupt you are. and if this gambit works, does that mean that if i can just get a corrupt lawyer to tell me that something that is obviously a crime is not a crime, i can do whatever i want? better call saul

it's the logical endgame of referring to these bozos by their elected titles for decades after they've been out of office

xposts

anyway, josh in chicago, sorry to be negative on what should be a happy day with bannon going to jail. i just think they're actually above the law now, for real

If he doesn't actually report to jail and spends the next 4 months shit talking, I can't imagine that will go well for him either.

i won't fart up the thread with any more long excerpt. here is a precious GIFT washington post article that has all the counterpoints of why, actually, even though trump was not president and bannon hadn't been his advisor in several years, maybe trump can exert executive privilege. none of it passes the common sense test for me, but all that matters is that if even 1% of this is plausible to a judge who may feel like they're slightly beholden to the federalist society and the congressional support that installed their mediocre asses into the judicial system, that's all they need

Trump is right: Former presidents can assert executive privilege
He might not win his case, but his argument has merit.
by Saikrishna Prakash

Saikrishna Prakash, a law professor and Miller Center senior fellow at the University of Virginia, is the author of “The Living Presidency: An Originalist Argument Against Its Ever-Expanding Powers."
October 29, 2021

---

I don't want to link to a certain essay published in The Federalist the fascists openly call for the demolishing of democracy. Excerpts:

To stop Big Tech, for example, will require using antitrust powers to break up the largest Silicon Valley firms. To stop universities from spreading poisonous ideologies will require state legislatures to starve them of public funds. To stop the disintegration of the family might require reversing the travesty of no-fault divorce, combined with generous subsidies for families with small children. Conservatives need not shy away from making these arguments because they betray some cherished libertarian fantasy about free markets and small government. It is time to clear our minds of cant.

In other contexts, wielding government power will mean a dramatic expansion of the criminal code. It will not be enough, for example, to reach an accommodation with the abortion regime, to agree on “reasonable limits” on when unborn human life can be snuffed out with impunity. As Abraham Lincoln once said of slavery, we must become all one thing or all the other. The Dobbs decision was in a sense the end of the beginning of the pro-life cause. Now comes the real fight, in state houses across the country, to outlaw completely the barbaric practice of killing the unborn.

Conservatives had better be ready for it, and Republican politicians, if they want to stay in office, had better have an answer ready when they are asked what reasonable limits to abortion restrictions they would support. The answer is: none, for the same reason they would not support reasonable limits to restrictions on premeditated murder.

On the transgender question, conservatives will have to repudiate utterly the cowardly position of people like David French, in whose malformed worldview Drag Queen Story Hour at a taxpayer-funded library is a “blessing of liberty.” Conservatives need to get comfortable saying in reply to people like French that Drag Queen Story Hour should be outlawed; that parents who take their kids to drag shows should be arrested and charged with child abuse; that doctors who perform so-called “gender-affirming” interventions should be thrown in prison and have their medical licenses revoked; and that teachers who expose their students to sexually explicit material should not just be fired but be criminally prosecuted.

A D.C. federal judge sentenced Stephen K. Bannon to four months in prison on Friday for contempt of Congress, charges that stemmed from him dodging a subpoena issued by the January 6 committee last year.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols for the District of Columbia also imposed a $6,500 fine. Nichols said that he would stay the execution of the sentence so long as Bannon filed a “timely” appeal.

xp tipsy mentioned that article last night: Is the West Experiencing a Right-Wing Drift?

why is CNN doing PR for Trump

Trump Force One is back -- Donald Trump's Boeing 757 has a new paint job and has been seen on the tarmac in West Palm Beach, Florida https://t.co/VgLwGPgsxb pic.twitter.com/amHAiqGSuT

— CNN (@CNN) October 21, 2022

i can't remember, but did we discuss CNN's right wing "drift"? it happened a few months ago, was signaled by ownership, personnel changes and by the content of what they're airing

I can't keep up with the rightward drift.

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/3634717-changes-spark-chatter-of-cnn-is-shift-from-left-to-right/
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/09/where-is-cnn-headed-harwood-stelter-licht
https://slate.com/business/2022/09/cnn-trump-harwood-stelter-licht.html

I've spent many Midnights awake fighting for hardworking Ohioans. I wouldn’t have it any other way. pic.twitter.com/0nObaVnOjm

— Congressman Tim Ryan (@RepTimRyan) October 21, 2022

maybe he does crank for his constituents

Nice

Matt Walsh's trans-bashing rally with Marsha Blackburn et al is going well.

HAPPENING NOW: “FASCISTS FUCK OFF!”

Counterprotestors have overrun the area the Daily Wire’s anti-trans anti-freedom anti-vandy rally had tried to section off for their rally with right wing electeds (Marsha, Jack Johnson, Lamberth, Tuksi, etc) at 4pm. pic.twitter.com/2kEiBZ1Ssi

— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) October 21, 2022

👍🏽

In other rally news ...

At the QAnon conference today headlined by Eric Trump and Michael Flynn, the speaker says the ‘Angel of Death’ is coming for various govt officials, and God is reinstating Trump to the presidency by the end of the year. pic.twitter.com/i7tyWOdWlB

— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) October 21, 2022

Oh I see that was already posted in the Q thread. But I think it's an instance where the Q thread bleeds significantly into the regular politics thread.

Cruz is on The View this morning, and so far most of his dialogue has been covered up by climate change protesters shouting from the studio audience.

god, what i would give to be in that studio audience

why are you watching The View

i would be yelling at him, incredibly loudly, about something different

XP I was hoping Anna Navarro would bite off his head and the whole panel would feast on his blood.

oh, that's cool!

He has blood?

I thought he was just full of soup and Crisco

no, that's me this afternoon

Be funny if Trump's entrance music was Slayer's "Angel of Death," just go full pro wrestling.

Merrick Garland presser at 1:30 p.m. EST.

All cued up and ready to go:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ec/CocteauTwins-Garlands-small.jpg

Garland announces Trump actually dead, doppelganger roaming around since 2021

Is it happening?

Looks like this one’s gonna be a jam sesh

https://www.aol.com/garland-hold-news-conference-significant-144441109.html

yeah I'm pretty curious about this

https://www.justice.gov/live

supposedly starting soon

Garland is like the Axl Rose of politics, he goes on when he's ready, dammit.

you know where you are?!?
you're in the Justice Dept babee

Lol

welcome to America
it gets worse here every day

It just started

I love that opening chord!