The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

[beantownbubba]

From the MSNBC website. The first paragraph quotes The New Republic:

"Over the span of about 30 minutes Thursday morning, Trump made 31 posts about Carroll on Truth Social. Although he didn’t say anything himself, he shared stories from conservative outlets attacking her and comments from internet users calling her “creepy.” He also shared media interview clips and social media posts that appear to come from Carroll, all stripped of context so as to paint her as some sort of sexual deviant.

"To be sure, it was unsettling to see the former president use his social media platform to go after Carroll so furiously over the course of 28 minutes. (The tirade began at 10:45 a.m. eastern, and wrapped up at 11:13 a.m. eastern.)

"But then Trump did it again about nine hours later, publishing 40 additional items to his online platform. Most featured this text: “Except for a Fraudulent Case against me, I had no idea who E. Jean Carroll was. She called her African American Husband an ‘ape,’ and named her Cat ‘Vagina.’ Look at her Tweets, Stories, and the CNN Interview about her. The Judge on the Case is another Highly Partisan Clinton-Appointed Friend. He should have recused himself long ago!”

"The Republican published this exact same message, word for word, over and over and over and over and over and over again for nearly an hour."

How can this man be a major party candidate for President of the United States of America? How can over 40% of the American electorate support this man for President? How can this not be the lead story on every media outlet until this man is forced out of the race? Yet my google search for this story found only 4 unique links to the story, The New Republic, MSNBC, The Daily Beast and Newsweek.

There is no other person in the country who could possibly get away with this or anything remotely like this. Seriously: Imagine Joe Biden or Mitch McConnell or Matt Gaetz or AOC or the CEO of any company in this country or the president of any university in the country doing this. They'd be gone before they hit send on the 40th entry. This is foaming at the mouth, tin hat wearing straight up crazy, yet apparently "it's just Trump." Once again, if you're trying to figure out who we are as a country...

I think every person who reads this should post the quoted portion on their own social media sites.

[chuckrh]

From the MSNBC website. The first paragraph quotes The New Republic:

"Over the span of about 30 minutes Thursday morning, Trump made 31 posts about Carroll on Truth Social. Although he didn’t say anything himself, he shared stories from conservative outlets attacking her and comments from internet users calling her “creepy.” He also shared media interview clips and social media posts that appear to come from Carroll, all stripped of context so as to paint her as some sort of sexual deviant.

"To be sure, it was unsettling to see the former president use his social media platform to go after Carroll so furiously over the course of 28 minutes. (The tirade began at 10:45 a.m. eastern, and wrapped up at 11:13 a.m. eastern.)

"But then Trump did it again about nine hours later, publishing 40 additional items to his online platform. Most featured this text: “Except for a Fraudulent Case against me, I had no idea who E. Jean Carroll was. She called her African American Husband an ‘ape,’ and named her Cat ‘Vagina.’ Look at her Tweets, Stories, and the CNN Interview about her. The Judge on the Case is another Highly Partisan Clinton-Appointed Friend. He should have recused himself long ago!”

"The Republican published this exact same message, word for word, over and over and over and over and over and over again for nearly an hour."

How can this man be a major party candidate for President of the United States of America? How can over 40% of the American electorate support this man for President? How can this not be the lead story on every media outlet until this man is forced out of the race? Yet my google search for this story found only 4 unique links to the story, The New Republic, MSNBC, The Daily Beast and Newsweek.

There is no other person in the country who could possibly get away with this or anything remotely like this. Seriously: Imagine Joe Biden or Mitch McConnell or Matt Gaetz or AOC or the CEO of any company in this country or the president of any university in the country doing this. They'd be gone before they hit send on the 40th entry. This is foaming at the mouth, tin hat wearing straight up crazy, yet apparently "it's just Trump." Once again, if you're trying to figure out who we are as a country...

I think every person who reads this should post the quoted portion on their own social media sites.

1 of my basic tenets of life: people are fucking stupid. & they're breeding!

[Zip City]

It's a cult. Plain and simple.

[beantownbubba]

Many here have observed many times that it's pointless to respond to every Trump provocation. Yet periodically, one outrage or another slips past one's defenses and requires an outlet. Trump's claim that he could have negotiated his way out of the Civil War is one such outrage. Seriously??!!

Trump can't even point to a single successful negotiation of any remotely serious issue during his term, much less an issue as consequential as the Civil War. His status as a "great negotiator" is simply the result of self-promotion not results. But even if he were the world's greatest negotiator, what could he have possibly done to avoid the Civil War? Is he not aware that the Civil War did not simply appear one day in 1861 but had been the subject of repeated negotiations, debates and legislation (including the Constitution) dating back to the founding of the Republic? That slavery/secession/civil war was THE biggest item on the agenda in the 1860 election? That the country's greatest minds, political, philosophical, religious and economic had attempted again and again to avoid the war ultimately without success? But somehow Trump would have figured it out, huh? The very claim demeans the importance of the issues and the sacrifices and suffering by so many that characterize those times. And by inference, Trump attempts to diminish the accomplishments of Abraham Lincoln, America's greatest president, a person, politician and president that Trump can't hold a candle to. It's kind of like Mario Mendoza claiming that he could outhit Ty Cobb.

But of course reality is not relevant here. As with everything else Trump, he just makes the claim and by making it, the claim gains a certain amount of currency. Just like recently claiming that he will fix health insurance, conveniently forgetting that he was already president for 4 years and did nothing to improve health insurance. Just like he blames Biden for the ignominious end to the Afghanistan war while conveniently forgetting that Biden was implementing an absurd plan put in place and initiated by...Trump ( I'm not suggesting that Biden is blameless, but criticism from Trump is particularly absurd). And then there is the "how can this possibly be back in the news?" news of the draft dodging Trump criticizing, demeaning and insulting John McCain's heroism and integrity. The unmooring of news and politics from facts, reality and reason continues to be scary, disheartening and wearying. It's the flood of bullshit itself as much as the [lack of] substance of any specific lie, distortion or exaggeration that is so overwhelming.

[cortez the killer]

Many here have observed many times that it's pointless to respond to every Trump provocation. Yet periodically, one outrage or another slips past one's defenses and requires an outlet. Trump's claim that he could have negotiated his way out of the Civil War is one such outrage. Seriously??!!

Trump can't even point to a single successful negotiation of any remotely serious issue during his term, much less an issue as consequential as the Civil War. His status as a "great negotiator" is simply the result of self-promotion not results. But even if he were the world's greatest negotiator, what could he have possibly done to avoid the Civil War? Is he not aware that the Civil War did not simply appear one day in 1861 but had been the subject of repeated negotiations, debates and legislation (including the Constitution) dating back to the founding of the Republic? That slavery/secession/civil war was THE biggest item on the agenda in the 1860 election? That the country's greatest minds, political, philosophical, religious and economic had attempted again and again to avoid the war ultimately without success? But somehow Trump would have figured it out, huh? The very claim demeans the importance of the issues and the sacrifices and suffering by so many that characterize those times. And by inference, Trump attempts to diminish the accomplishments of Abraham Lincoln, America's greatest president, a person, politician and president that Trump can't hold a candle to. It's kind of like Mario Mendoza claiming that he could outhit Ty Cobb.

But of course reality is not relevant here. As with everything else Trump, he just makes the claim and by making it, the claim gains a certain amount of currency. Just like recently claiming that he will fix health insurance, conveniently forgetting that he was already president for 4 years and did nothing to improve health insurance. Just like he blames Biden for the ignominious end to the Afghanistan war while conveniently forgetting that Biden was implementing an absurd plan put in place and initiated by...Trump ( I'm not suggesting that Biden is blameless, but criticism from Trump is particularly absurd). And then there is the "how can this possibly be back in the news?" news of the draft dodging Trump criticizing, demeaning and insulting John McCain's heroism and integrity. The unmooring of news and politics from facts, reality and reason continues to be scary, disheartening and wearying. It's the flood of bullshit itself as much as the [lack of] substance of any specific lie, distortion or exaggeration that is so overwhelming.

It's pointless to respond to every Trump provocation.

Self-promotion not results.

Trump attempts to diminish the accomplishments of....

He just makes the claim and by making it, the claim gains a certain amount of currency.

Trump criticizing, demeaning and insulting....

Unmooring of news and politics from facts.

It's the flood of bullshit itself as much as the [lack of] substance of any specific lie, distortion or exaggeration that is so overwhelming.

I extracted the essence of Trump from your post above, bubba. Well done.

[beantownbubba]

Greater legal and philosophical minds than mine can argue about whether Governor Greg Abbott of TX is literally a murderer but for damn sure he is one bloodthirsty motherfucker.

At the very least can we finally stop referring to anti-abortionists as "pro-life." No doubt some abortion foes meet that description but as a political movement? No way.

[beantownbubba]

I don't know if this article is right or wrong in pinpointing the criminal cases against Trump as being the turning point in turning college educated Republicans edging away from Trump back into the Trump/MAGA camp, but I am a big believer in the law of unintended consequences so the argument has a lot of appeal to me. As always, be careful what you wish for...

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/14/us/p ... oters.html

[Flea]

I don't know if this article is right or wrong in pinpointing the criminal cases against Trump as being the turning point in turning college educated Republicans edging away from Trump back into the Trump/MAGA camp, but I am a big believer in the law of unintended consequences so the argument has a lot of appeal to me. As always, be careful what you wish for...

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/14/us/p ... oters.html

The criminal cases may well be a turning point, but the word that stood out to me most in the article was "fear". The right wing echo chamber has frightened their little sheeples to the point that they are incapable of rational decision making.

[beantownbubba]

Jonathan V. Last in the Bulwark:

"Here is a thing that is 100-percent true about Trump and MAGA: They cannot fathom how they could have lost to Biden because Biden doesn’t compete on the same field they do. They think that political victory comes from giant rallies and media manipulation; culture war crusades and shitposting.

"Biden doesn’t play any of those games. He just governs.

"And it’s clear that over the last seven years, MAGA and Trump haven’t figured out how to run against that.

""The entire Trump strategy rests on hoping that an advantageously distributed 47 percent of the country has moved past any interest in governing and is motivated entirely by postmodern grievance.

"And maybe that will happen in 2024.

"But it hasn’t happened yet."

Right now Last is saying some of the smartest, most insightful things I am reading about the current political situation and this is a good example.

[beantownbubba]

So long, Ron. What a pathetic, pointless, expensive campaign. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

He will not be missed and he can't even run for governor of FL next time 'round. I can't imagine he'll be a factor come '28 but in political years, that's a lifetime away so I guess anything can happen.

[pearlbeer]

So long, Ron. What a pathetic, pointless, expensive campaign. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

He will not be missed and he can't even run for governor of FL next time 'round. I can't imagine he'll be a factor come '28 but in political years, that's a lifetime away so I guess anything can happen.

You're assuming governor will be an elected position in '28.

[beantownbubba]

So, yesterday I saw the headline that the Supreme Court had ordered TX to give the feds access to the border with Mexico to allow the feds to take down the barbed wire fence that TX has erected on the border. That was to me a very clear-cut decision, the obvious conclusion being obvious, but today I came to learn that the decision was 5-4. That is incredible to me. I guess we need to be thankful for Amy Coney Barrett (I insist on thinking of Roberts's vote on this one to be a given which may be overstating the case).

This is about as open and shut as it gets (says silly me) and I just don't have the imagination to even guess at what the 4 thought they were doing and why. The Court did not issue a written opinion much less dissenting opinions so there's no way to know what the basis for any Justice's vote was. But it is some crazy shit when the Supreme Court can't even agree on what is essentially black letter law about federal government's supremacy over and control of the border. It does not bode well for future decisions on a variety of actual and potential subjects and once again brings the legitimacy of the Court into question. There are even overtones of the Civil War since it's possible that the minority is viewing the case through a "states' rights" lens (although without a written opinion it's impossible to know).

[beantownbubba]

Taking a few minutes to mourn the three dead soldiers in Jordan, to express my condolences to their families and to hope for the best and speediest recovery for the injured.

[beantownbubba]

The Democratic Party and its leading spokespeople, including the President, need to start hammering the Republican Party and its leaders and nut caucus on border/immigration issues much more than their current tentative steps. Right. Now. Loudly. Often.

I sincerely believe that there is a substantial majority of this country that does not think the government should be run to create election controversies as opposed to either solve problems or to stay out of the way. The level of cynicism involved in the Republicans' current position is astonishing by BTT (before trump times) standards and we lose something simply by not mounting the appropriate level of outrage and pushback. The recalcitrant, posturing Republicans should either get their act together (as that term was understood in the BTT) or get lost (either physically or by being voted out of office). Of course their gamble is that they will not lose at the ballot box with this strategy but if they're right it will be a lousy, really bad, no good, awful day for all of us.

To be clear I'm really talking about process here, not the substance of the eventual law, if there should be one. Right now the details are secondary compared to (a) doing something and (b) moving the whole beltway away from destructive, cynical posturing even a couple of baby steps in the direction of governing.

Just as a by the way, I wonder how it's possible to teach American history/social studies/civics these days. Because the reality is sure not the way they drew it up way back when.

[beantownbubba]

I thought we had reached the ultimate in political conspiracies with "pizzagate." I mean, come on, the place didn't even have a basement (where the nefarious activities supposedly took place). But this Taylor Swift stuff is way, waaaay behond. Pentagon psy ops? Biden campaign dirty tricks? NFL complicit by rigging game results? And that's just the beginning; I can't even keep up with it all. I don't even get what the point of the fake AI pornographic pictures is and I don't even want to know (or look). This is way past sad or even stupid. It's out there in a world actually disconnected from reality. It no longer even matters whether this nonsense is being peddled by cynics who know better or by the truly deranged. The results are the same.

Later today I will be seeing some European friends for the first time in over a year. I can't even imagine what they're going to say or what I can possibly say in response.

[pearlbeer]

Momma always said stupid is as stupid does.

The Gravy Seals are reported to be just south of Austin and although small in numbers, they are also lost and confused. Probably a psyop of some sort, maybe sponsored by the swifties or bud light.

https://www.wired.com/story/day-one-tak ... voy-texas/

[pearlbeer]

[pearlbeer]

Hate to agree with Ann Coutler on anything, but....

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ann-coult ... ica-is-die


But, it does remind me of an all too true song by Hammel on Trial....

[youtube]https://youtu.be/E5NzP_yPaNc?si=TFI8pi5fLbzeaPA-[/youtube]

[beantownbubba]

I sincerely believe that there is a substantial majority of this country that does not think the government should be run to create election controversies as opposed to either solve problems or to stay out of the way. The level of cynicism involved in the Republicans' current position is astonishing by BTT (before trump times) standards and we lose something simply by not mounting the appropriate level of outrage and pushback. The recalcitrant, posturing Republicans should either get their act together (as that term was understood in the BTT) or get lost (either physically or by being voted out of office). Of course their gamble is that they will not lose at the ballot box with this strategy but if they're right it will be a lousy, really bad, no good, awful day for all of us.

To be clear I'm really talking about process here, not the substance of the eventual law, if there should be one. Right now the details are secondary compared to (a) doing something and (b) moving the whole beltway away from destructive, cynical posturing even a couple of baby steps in the direction of governing.

Is there not a single House Republican who will initiate that "no confidence in the Speaker" process that toppled Kevin McCarthy? All it takes is ONE. ONE.

This fiasco may be unparalleled in the post-Civil War history of Congress (I don't have the expertise to say but I'm pretty sure there are not many examples of this level of "party over country," party over good sense and cowardly submission to a cult of personality).

Given his previously discussed insulation from political retribution and his longstanding status as a power player in Washington, Mitch McConnell's role in sinking the Senate's approval will be a model for decades to come on how not to act like a senator.

This is horrendous.

[pearlbeer]

I hope the dems bring the border bill up for a vote daily. It’s a great talking point, paired with Chip Roy’s “we have nothing to run on” comments.

I do hope that the ol turtle is also regularly reminded, that with a few more votes to convict, he could be out of this mess.

But if the goal is eroding faith and trust in our institutions, job well done. The Congress is fucking useless, old, corrupt and incompetent.

[beantownbubba]

But if the goal is eroding faith and trust in our institutions, job well done. The Congress is fucking useless, old, corrupt and incompetent.

Mic drop.

[tinnitus photography]

But if the goal is eroding faith and trust in our institutions, job well done. The Congress is fucking useless, old, corrupt and incompetent.

Mic drop.

and if the non-olds vanguard are shitheads like Gaetz, Boebert, MTG and Stefanik - well, we're fucked.

[beantownbubba]

But if the goal is eroding faith and trust in our institutions, job well done. The Congress is fucking useless, old, corrupt and incompetent.

Mic drop.

and if the non-olds vanguard are shitheads like Gaetz, Boebert, MTG and Stefanik - well, we're fucked.

Sadly, there is no counter argument to that observation. I could add more names like Vance, Hawley etc etc but it just adds insult to injury. These are seriously difficult, threatening times.

[beantownbubba]

I don't hear the expression "lead, follow or get out of the way" much these days. That's too bad because I think it's very good advice applicable to many situations. Now comes Speaker of the House Mike Johnson who has apparently chosen to proceed on a "none of the above" basis. Unfortunately the path he is choosing is both obscure and a failure. IOW, he has no idea what he is doing. It turns out that having an incompetent Speaker of the House is, surprise!, bad for the country.

Oh, and in case anybody has forgotten, we still don't have a federal budget for the fiscal year that started 10/1/2023. Typically, the various responsible parties (and I use that term very loosely) would be hard at work by now on next year's budget.

[vt3pinandy]

I think Mike is way to busy monitoring his son's internet usage and hiding his own to work on the budget or the border security bill. I truly amazed the minions have not run him off and can only wonder whose on deck. I have found a chat here for now and thank you Bubba for your observations on what we are becoming and why. Look forward to seeing you in Athens and having some face to face.

[beantownbubba]

David French's weekly newsletter gets to the heart of the MAGA delusion on Putin and Ukraine. It's a newsletter, not a newspaper column so I can't link to it and I don't think i can paste the whole thing here, but here are the last 2 paragraphs. Find the rest if you can.

"America has made profound and catastrophic foreign policy mistakes in the past. But never in my lifetime have we been on the verge of a mistake so profound and catastrophic that was the direct result of theories and ideas that were so shallow, stupid and frankly bizarre.

There are still millions of Republicans who want to support Ukraine. But if the last eight years have taught us anything, it’s that in any clash between traditional Republicans and MAGA, traditional Republicans typically surrender. And so it is here. At the beginning of the war, only 9 percent of Republicans believed the United States was supplying too much aid to Ukraine. Now that number is a plurality of 48 percent. MAGA is once again dragging the G.O.P. into its bespoke reality, and the consequences could be catastrophic for Ukraine, Europe and the future of American security."

Among other things, French talks about the MAGA belief that Putin is a good and admirable guy. That's partly what he's referring to as "shallow, stupid and frankly bizarre" but to me that doesn't even capture quite how out there this construct is. It is literally beyond belief, yet here we are.

[beantownbubba]

Look forward to seeing you in Athens and having some face to face.

See you soon!

[pearlbeer]

David French's weekly newsletter gets to the heart of the MAGA delusion on Putin and Ukraine. It's a newsletter, not a newspaper column so I can't link to it and I don't think i can paste the whole thing here, but here are the last 2 paragraphs. Find the rest if you can.

"America has made profound and catastrophic foreign policy mistakes in the past. But never in my lifetime have we been on the verge of a mistake so profound and catastrophic that was the direct result of theories and ideas that were so shallow, stupid and frankly bizarre.

There are still millions of Republicans who want to support Ukraine. But if the last eight years have taught us anything, it’s that in any clash between traditional Republicans and MAGA, traditional Republicans typically surrender. And so it is here. At the beginning of the war, only 9 percent of Republicans believed the United States was supplying too much aid to Ukraine. Now that number is a plurality of 48 percent. MAGA is once again dragging the G.O.P. into its bespoke reality, and the consequences could be catastrophic for Ukraine, Europe and the future of American security."

Among other things, French talks about the MAGA belief that Putin is a good and admirable guy. That's partly what he's referring to as "shallow, stupid and frankly bizarre" but to me that doesn't even capture quite how out there this construct is. It is literally beyond belief, yet here we are.

I totally agree here, but I think its also time we stop being surprised and clutching our pearls. This shit has been going on and getting worse for the better part of a decade. The current form of the GOP has no interest nor ability in governing. Soundbites and owning the libs is all they care about, they literally refuse to even have a platform. The media et al, IMO need to stop with the "OMG OMG OMG WTF!??!?" articles and get cut and dry.

The Republican Party refuses to pass their own legislation to deal with the border, which is making all of American less safe.
The Republican Party refuses to support Ukraine, which is making all of American less safe.
The Republican Party refuses to fund our government, which is making all of American less safe.

...I can go on, but I think just repeating the above over and over and over and over would make small steps towards accountability, which is basically nonexistent at the moment.

[beantownbubba]

I suppose that in certain circles being designated "the least trusted man in Washington" by the New York Times in headline sized font would make one a bankable celebrity. But on the whole I have to think that it's a title most would try to avoid. Well, Mark Meadows, today is your day in the spotlight. I hope you enjoy it.

[beantownbubba]

I think its also time we stop being surprised and clutching our pearls. This shit has been going on and getting worse for the better part of a decade. The current form of the GOP has no interest nor ability in governing.

Agreed. I've now tried to explain 3 times why I think I was aiming at a different target that is still worth some time & effort trying to understand but since I can't articulate it, I'm probably wrong.