Sadly, These Are Not Serious People

[jfish26]

I don't think you actually believe that.

Or at least I hope you don't.

I suppose where we reach middle ground is that what I referred to as his real work, is probably also functionally irrelevant at the moment. But nor do I think he called a lid and peaced out to the Parcheesi room of the White House.

[Shirley]

I don't think you actually believe that.

Or at least I hope you don't.

I suppose where we reach middle ground is that what I referred to as his real work, is probably also functionally irrelevant at the moment. But nor do I think he called a lid and peaced out to the Parcheesi room of the White House.

Maybe I'm missing something, because I don't get the outrage about Biden "calling a lid". A "lid" means there won't be any public appearances, so the White House press corp. can go home.

In addition to releasing the Joint Statement on Israel with the leaders of multiple western countries yesterday, Biden was also "voluntarily" interviewed by the Special Counsel investigating his possession of classified documents on Sunday, and yesterday, too.

What am I missing?

[japhy]

For my part, I think the blame here lies almost entirely with Hamas, rather than Matt Gaetz or Joe Biden. Again, my apologies for giving you the opposite impression.

You really know how to suck all the joy out of a thread.

[Shirley]

For my part, I think the blame here lies almost entirely with Hamas, rather than Matt Gaetz or Joe Biden. Again, my apologies for giving you the opposite impression.

You really know how to suck all the joy out of a thread.

^^^

Think how I feel.

I was ~ ¾ of a page into a reply when I looked up,
saw it was close to midnight, and decided to finish it in the morning.
When I woke up, all the joy was gone.

[japhy]

Think how I feel.

Exhausted?

[Shirley]

Trump: "And you get a waiver, and you get a waiver..."

[DCHawk1]

FWIW,

Biden's statement and KJP's press conference were both quite solid.

[JKLivin]

For my part, I think the blame here lies almost entirely with Hamas, rather than Matt Gaetz or Joe Biden. Again, my apologies for giving you the opposite impression.

You really know how to suck all the joy out of a thread.

^^^

Think how I feel.

In need of a life outside these boreds?

[Shirley]

You really know how to suck all the joy out of a thread.

^^^

Think how I feel.

In need of a life outside these boreds?

[Shirley]

Based on GOP standards, does Santos deserve a promotion to the senate, or election as speaker?



Today, we delve into the recent 23-count superseding indictment filed against Rep. George Santos (R-NY) by the Department of Justice (DOJ), outlining a saga of alleged fraudulent acts and identity theft that shakes the core of our democratic process.

The charges encompass a range of fraudulent activities, from conspiracy and wire fraud to false statements and identity theft. The indictment particularly highlights Santos’s alleged manipulation of campaign funds to garner undue financial and political support, painting a disconcerting picture of deceit at the heart of our electoral process .

The DOJ accuses Santos of fabricating fundraising reports to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and unauthorized charges on campaign contributors’ credit cards. The indictment further outlines how Santos, in collusion with his campaign treasurer, allegedly inflated campaign fundraising numbers to mislead the FEC and the public, aiming to qualify for a program that provided financial and logistical support to his campaign .

But the indictment doesn’t stop at financial deception. It’s claimed that Santos stole identities of donors and family members, using their credit card information to fraudulently boost his campaign’s financial standing. These charges come as a heavy blow, revealing the extent to which political ambition can allegedly twist ethical boundaries, and leave unsuspecting victims in its wake .

Further adding to the gravity of the situation, 10 new criminal counts were unveiled, revealing additional alleged schemes during Santos’s campaign, extending the scope of his purported fraudulent activities .

[...]

[Shirley]

Republicans have nominated the guy who once referred to himself as: "like David Duke, without the baggage", Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, as their next speaker.

But, there's no guarantee yet that he'll get the required 217 votes from republicans once the vote is brought to the house floor. (Scalise is roughly 100 votes away from the amount needed, and several republicans have already said they're not voting for Scalise, but that might be bluster, to give them bargaining power...?)

In a private meeting of only republicans, Scalise defeated Trump's pick, Gym Jordan, 116 to 91, (or something like that, I'm not looking it up).

Will another group of > 5 republicans get together to block Scalise, because he wasn't Trump's pick and is therefore less likely to toe Trump's line like everyone knows that Jordan would?

It looks like there's more drama to come once republicans bring the vote to the house floor. Do whatever you need to do now to prepare yourself for a veritable cornucopia of performative speeches in the near future, because




"That's entertainment!"

Watch this channel!

[jfish26]

The present state of the Republican Party is that they’re so busy appeasing a racist, traitorous, lecherous cancer (who is rapidly decompensating and loses every election he touches) that they can’t quite pick as their leader between a self-professed “David Duke without the baggage” and an unserious, dim bomb-thrower who by all evidence was part of a massive sexual assault coverup, and meanwhile their policy priorities are (1) align with Russian imperialist aggression, (2) say there’s good people on both sides of Israel/Hamas and (3) maybe if we get around to it we’ll go against obvious public sentiment and ban abortion nationwide, AND ALSO lol the globe is NOT really burning down you guys and we should build a manned wall across our 2000 mile southern border and just in case we’re sending Rangers and SEALS into Mexico.

But yes tell me more about how “voter fraud” is to blame for this lot losing elections.

[Shirley]

The present state of the Republican Party is that they’re so busy appeasing a racist, traitorous, lecherous cancer (who is rapidly decompensating and loses every election he touches) that they can’t quite pick as their leader between a self-professed “David Duke without the baggage” and an unserious, dim bomb-thrower who by all evidence was part of a massive sexual assault coverup, and meanwhile their policy priorities are (1) align with Russian imperialist aggression, (2) say there’s good people on both sides of Israel/Hamas and (3) maybe if we get around to it we’ll go against obvious public sentiment and ban abortion nationwide, AND ALSO lol the globe is NOT really burning down you guys and we should build a manned wall across our 2000 mile southern border and just in case we’re sending Rangers and SEALS into Mexico.

But yes tell me more about how “voter fraud” is to blame for this lot losing elections.

I think you're being too hard on republicans. Yeah, it would be nice to have a functioning government that was able to consider and pass legislation, and wasn't poised to face yet another republican-engineered shutdown in 5 weeks. But who can blame republicans for the chaos gripping their party by the throat, after democrats rigged the 2020 election, and stole the government? At least, that's what Jordan and Scalise believe, based on their refusal to say otherwise yesterday, when asked who won the 2020 election.

And, if you think govenmenting is difficult, imagine how hard it would be if you had to make the veritable Sophie's Choice between being led by Jim Jordan, who goes to 11 on the MAGA scale, or, if you're willing to settle for a moderate like Scalise instead, who only rates a 10.

Republicans are showing us that governmenting, like adulting, is really, really hard, and if it takes them another month or two to get their shit together, that would be better than rushing into anything.

[jfish26]

The present state of the Republican Party is that they’re so busy appeasing a racist, traitorous, lecherous cancer (who is rapidly decompensating and loses every election he touches) that they can’t quite pick as their leader between a self-professed “David Duke without the baggage” and an unserious, dim bomb-thrower who by all evidence was part of a massive sexual assault coverup, and meanwhile their policy priorities are (1) align with Russian imperialist aggression, (2) say there’s good people on both sides of Israel/Hamas and (3) maybe if we get around to it we’ll go against obvious public sentiment and ban abortion nationwide, AND ALSO lol the globe is NOT really burning down you guys and we should build a manned wall across our 2000 mile southern border and just in case we’re sending Rangers and SEALS into Mexico.

But yes tell me more about how “voter fraud” is to blame for this lot losing elections.

I think you're being too hard on republicans. Yeah, it would be nice to have a functioning government that was able to consider and pass legislation, and wasn't poised to face yet another republican-engineered shutdown in 5 weeks. But who can blame republicans for the chaos gripping their party by the throat, after democrats rigged the 2020 election, and stole the government? At least, that's what Jordan and Scalise believe, based on their refusal to say otherwise yesterday, when asked who won the 2020 election.

And, if you think govenmenting is difficult, imagine how hard it would be if you had to make the veritable Sophie's Choice between being led by Jim Jordan, who goes to 11 on the MAGA scale, or, if you're willing to settle for a moderate like Scalise instead, who only rates a 10.

Republicans are showing us that governmenting, like adulting, is really, really hard, and if it takes them another month or two to get their shit together, that would be better than rushing into anything.

“Sure, [all of the above], but have you considered that full employment is actually bad news for Biden?”

- NYT

[Sparko]

Trump and Charlie Kirk are basically letting their antisemetic freak fly too. Yow. Trump praising Israel's enemies and Kirk equating Zionism with Marxism. I wondered when these guys would just openly admit this stuff. This is old school hate speech from the Third Reich

[jfish26]

Trump and Charlie Kirk are basically letting their antisemetic freak fly too. Yow. Trump praising Israel's enemies and Kirk equating Zionism with Marxism. I wondered when these guys would just openly admit this stuff. This is old school hate speech from the Third Reich

Again, I wonder if this is finally when the Rs toss Trump over the side.

All relevant evidence - going back to 2016! - suggests that Trump is highly unlikely to win in 2024. All relevant evidence suggests that Trump is an anchor around the neck of all other R candidates.

And now that guy is going to cross the pro-Israel lobby?

Being God-King of the Crazy Third wouldn't even get you a 20 hour AOL free trial anymore.

[Shirley]

Trump and Charlie Kirk are basically letting their antisemetic freak fly too. Yow. Trump praising Israel's enemies and Kirk equating Zionism with Marxism. I wondered when these guys would just openly admit this stuff. This is old school hate speech from the Third Reich

Again, I wonder if this is finally when the Rs toss Trump over the side.

All relevant evidence - going back to 2016! - suggests that Trump is highly unlikely to win in 2024. All relevant evidence suggests that Trump is an anchor around the neck of all other R candidates.

And now that guy is going to cross the pro-Israel lobby?

Being God-King of the Crazy Third wouldn't even get you a 20 hour AOL free trial anymore.

R's can't "toss Trump over the side". His hold on the cult, I mean, the republican base, is too thorough. Don't get me wrong, when I heard recently that since the last debate Nikki Haley is gaining traction and beginning to challenge DeSantis for 2nd place, my sphincter immediately tightened. In another world at another time, (2028?), Haley could/can be a huge threat since it's almost a given (to me) that she would challenge any democratic candidate for the white female suburban voter that's currently not a fan of Trump. But if Trump were to feel as tho he's been slighted by the party he has bestowed all his gifts on, I think he'll go scorched-earth on whoever they forsake him for instead, and try to sabotage their chances by withholding the support of his cult.

A mitigating possibility would be that if by the time the Republican National Convention comes around next summer it looks like Trump's likely going to prison soonish and the republican presidential candidate alternative makes it explicit that they will pardon him if they're elected. But with appeals and delays etc., I'm not sure that will be a known known in any of the cases against Trump by then, unless the case in Georgia, which can't be pardoned away, looks to be an imminent incarceration threat.

[Shirley]

I'm no germaphobe, but there's no way I would do this, (for free).

Republicans, is this part of the Trump Cult initiation process?

Gross, but props to Nancy Mace, republican rep from South Carolina, for going first.

[KUTradition]

that’s ~10 seconds i wish i had back

[Shirley]

that’s ~10 seconds i wish i had back

sorry