I hope there are eventually some teeth to any of this.

4/15/2022 10:34:54 PM

Tennessee seems to be leading the march to fascism.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2022/04/18/tennessee-bill-penalizing-homelessness-passes-legislature-after-debate-citing-hitler/7287979001/

Quote :

"The bill also makes it a felony to camp on all public property, unless otherwise specified. Current law, makes it a felony to camp on all state property."

Quote :

"Sponsors Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta, and Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, have defended the bill as a tool local law enforcement could use to address homelessness."

4/20/2022 12:07:32 PM

How hard is it for politicians to just never invoke Hitler or the Holocaust in any point they're trying to make?

Very hard for some, evidently.

4/20/2022 2:08:18 PM

Freudian slip for the GOP.

4/20/2022 2:27:58 PM

I keep wondering, is the GOP’s descent into madness enough to slow growth in Southern cities?

We all know a large group of Southern cities have been growing like crazy over the last decade and especially the last 5 years. As a region, an argument could be made that Southern cities are the most economically dynamic locations in the entire country. Exclude states like Texas and Florida for now where the states’ economies are so large and varied a certain amount of economic inertia will likely carry their growth forward.

But states like Tennessee? Nashville is literally the epicenter of all the recent growth in the entire state and it has absolutely exploded economically. Educated people are moving to Nashville for decent COL, an accessible city, ok weather, and all of the job opportunities. Like most cities in this country that are growing and creating wealth, that means the area has started to lean more and more blue.

Well, can all of this anti-gay, everyone is pedophiles, anti-abortion, anti-public education legislation/hysteria that has suddenly become the priority in every Southern state slow that growth and movement of people? If you live in Nashville, you can’t even send their typical conserva-Dem to Congress anymore as the cities district got gerrymandered into three separate rural districts. Instead smooth brains in Cookeville are going to be picking your congressperson. So without representation and living in a state that is actively trying to move backwards, and a state that has shown it is willing to punish dissent, doesn’t that change the calculus on how attractive of a place it is to live?
Is it enough to slow the growth we’ve seen?

4/21/2022 6:57:44 AM

Economic realities outweigh social and cultural preferences for a lot of people. I'd guess that Nashville and other red state urban areas will continue growing for as long as their COL remains less than similar cities in bluer states.

4/21/2022 12:44:03 PM

Companies will do their public relations and marketing stunts to show they’re not on the side of the regressive policies but quietly acquiesce. They benefit from anti labor organization efforts. The GOP is flexing with these socially regressive policies. Most of these states have implemented stricter voting rules. For those not disenfranchised they will choose their own material comfort over the social issues that don’t impact their lives.

4/21/2022 1:30:40 PM

Normally I’d agree with Y’all, but the current attack on Disney and whatever that Texas border stunt stopping the Ag trucks was suggest that these episodes are getting riskier for business. In Florida’s case, it seems like the GOP has whipped up its voters to a place where nothing but complete capitulation by Disney is acceptable. I’m really interested to see if/how that one unwinds itself.

4/22/2022 7:10:47 AM

I believe that we will see the rise of urban areas/alliances that will begin to wall themselves off from state law the best they can, in the same vein the states try to block the federal government.

4/22/2022 10:34:54 AM

What a dystopian time we live in where we have to side with a giant corporations over authoritarian bigots.

4/22/2022 11:23:33 AM

Trouble in paradise

Quote :

"Warring Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert had to be separated at GOP conference: report "Their confrontation grew so heated that at least one onlooker feared the Greene-Boebert back-and-forth might escalate beyond the verbal cage match..." https://t.co/8lFUAyZTLD "

4/29/2022 4:57:31 PM

4/29/2022 7:17:39 PM

So what was the disagreement? MTG being too overt with the white nationalism?

4/29/2022 7:38:31 PM

They should reenact this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burr%E2%80%93Hamilton_duel

We know they both carry.

4/29/2022 8:16:04 PM

The new shiny object is the “ministry of truth.”

https://www.foxnews.com/media/lara-trump-biden-ministry-of-truth-disinformation.amp

4/29/2022 9:22:14 PM

The comments section on Fox News articles is always an interesting echo chamber. These people don't possess critical thinking skills.

4/30/2022 8:00:32 AM

Murkowski and Collins are using their fainting couches over being lied to

Graham and McConnell are trying to make the leak the story

Media needs to make sure they own this

5/3/2022 8:34:33 PM

Jd Vance won the Ohio primary for the gop

Its amazing that Vance is a painfully obvious fake,& apparatchik for billionaires & the gop can still get a bunch of working class people with no common interests to rally around him

Meanwhile Hillary actually had spent most of her career working for the disenfranchised and is branded as an elite And democrats can’t figure out how to overcome this

I wish soros and the other billionaire Jews that supposedly run the democrats were anywhere near as conniving and clever as the gop claim to be. Meanwhile you have Peter thiels successfully mounting a multifaceted attack on democracy.

5/3/2022 11:09:42 PM

5/4/2022 2:49:54 PM

Part 2/2 of that tweet

"If so and if you're under 18, DM me!"

5/4/2022 5:37:40 PM

Well, that Madison Cawthorn video is something.

5/4/2022 7:31:05 PM

Every time I think we’ve hit peak stupid, it gets worse.

5/4/2022 7:54:51 PM

5/4/2022 7:55:34 PM

You guys don't get buck naked and fuck your cousins faces?

5/5/2022 6:21:30 PM

just dudes being dudes.

5/5/2022 7:33:12 PM

This sounds about right

https://www.vice.com/en/article/93bpd3/indiana-andrew-wilhoite-accused-wife-killer-primary

Quote :

"... Forty-year-old Andrew Wilhoite won 60 votes on Wednesday in his campaign to take a seat on the Clinton Township Board—despite being jailed on a felony murder charge. Wilhoite was one of three names on the GOP ballot running for three open seats, which means that all three will advance to the general election. Court records say Wilhoite told police he hit his wife Elizabeth in the face with a gallon-sized cement flower pot during a late-night argument on their front porch over his recent extra-marital affair in late March. Wilhoite told police she fell down after the blow, and that he placed her body in his pickup truck and drove her to a nearby creek, where he threw her in, according to court documents. ..."

[Edited on May 6, 2022 at 1:05 PM. Reason : ]

5/6/2022 1:05:07 PM

Anyone else catching these Steve Schmidt tweets? Scandalous!

The gist:
-Russia affiliated Republican operatives worked on the McCain campaign in 2008 and borderline bankrupted it.
-Sarah Palin is probably dumber and a bigger liar than you thought
-Meghan McCain is a bigger piece of shit than you ever imagined, and her father was embarrassed by her conduct during the campaign. Really a vast majority of the content is him savaging Meghan over and over about how much of a spoiled brat she is.

Pretty juicy stuff, and he just keeps adding threads dragging mccain and Palin. Pretty great.

5/9/2022 2:22:34 PM

Palin is dumber than I thought? I don't know man, that's a pretty bold statement

5/9/2022 4:16:07 PM

^I report, you decide.


I’m realizing now after reading his substack that I’m not even catching some of the events he’s referencing (John McCain lying about relationship with a lobbyist?). 2008 was a long damn time ago.

5/9/2022 8:28:53 PM

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/juliareinstein/susan-collins-police-chalk-message-abortion

Lol what a fucking coward

5/10/2022 9:25:02 PM

https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-cash-machines-behavior-is-nothing-short-of-scandalous

Quote :

"According to the 13 campaign finance experts interviewed for this article, WinRed has not disclosed possibly tens of millions of dollars in PAC expenses. In doing so, WinRed, which Republican leaders forced on campaigns in the 2020 election, has kept secret the identities of the people and firms who work for it and provide its services... Former FEC commissioner Ann Ravel reviewed WinRed’s filings, and called them 'absurd' and 'nothing short of scandalous.' 'I can't think of any mechanism or loophole that would permit this.'"

Quote :

"PACs are required by law to disclose their expenses. ActBlue—WinRed's Democratic non-profit counterpart—reports a range of costs common to virtually all functional PACs. Those payments cover expenses like staff salaries, transaction fees, travel and meals, Uber rides, rent, administrative costs, communications, legal and accounting work, payroll taxes, and bank fees. WinRed’s PAC claims to pay for none of those things... ... according to filings with the Federal Election Commission, the PAC paid a grand total of $1,522.55 for the 2020 election... [ActBlue] reported spending a little over $42 million on operating costs, about one percent of its total. To put that in perspective, WinRed PAC's $1,502.55 budget was around 3.57 thousandths of 1 percent the size of ActBlue's. If WinRed expended 1 percent of its $2.24 billion—ActBlue's approximate rate—its operating budget would be $22.4 million."

5/12/2022 9:00:05 AM

Quote :

"With the Pennsylvania primary on Tuesday, Trump-endorsed US Senate candidate and noted New Jersey resident Mehmet “Dr. Oz” Oz offered a pretty lewd final pitch to voters: In a Monday interview with Sean Hannity, the controversial celebrity doctor directed voters to imagine him in bed with them. “So, when you go to bed at night, put your head on that soft pillow, you’ll know Oz will be doing exactly what you want him to do if you were there next to him,” he said, causing the entire nation to dry-heave."

5/17/2022 12:39:02 PM

^It's a stupid throwaway comment, but it was not given or meant in a sexual context. And yes, this meant I had to take one for the team and actually listen to part of a Hannity interview. I was hoping the statement was at the end, but it wasn't. The context and meaning was that you should rest easy knowing that Dr. Oz is fighting on your behalf just as he would be if you were there by his side directing him. It's not about him being in bed with you or vice versa. There's plenty to attack, but this is pretty weak:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KUnKgU_zHU&t=253

It is time-stamped to save you the indignity.

5/17/2022 1:02:11 PM

I mean, I know he actually wasn't telling people to imagine that he was in bed with them doing whatever sexual things they wanted him to do, and I realize it's really not a big deal at all. Just thought it was a weird/funny thing to say.

5/17/2022 1:08:42 PM

Strange phrasing for sure, but based on context and delivery, I wouldn't have even had the thought. Breaking the text out separately leads to those comparisons.

But still, screw that snake oil salesman. Hope he loses.

John Fetterman can go toe-to-toe with him in the general if he doesn't stroke out first.

5/17/2022 2:08:39 PM

(i looked for a Dr. Oz thread in chit chat to post it, but there wasn't one, so I threw it in here)

5/17/2022 2:10:38 PM

It's fine, but where's your quoted text from, and was that article written as a serious critique, or just a joke?

5/17/2022 3:46:41 PM

Not a serious critique, hence the "...causing the entire nation to dry-heave.". I think it was AV Club or something.

5/18/2022 10:53:43 AM

Quote :

"YES HE SAID THAT: Senator Bill Cassidy on the state of Louisiana having one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the nation: "We wouldn't be much of an outlier if you subtract the African American population from our numbers." https://t.co/YCunflTaL3"

5/20/2022 9:15:17 PM

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/michigan-governor-fraudlent-signatures

Quote :

"A signature forgery scandal has turned the race for the GOP nomination to be Michigan's next governor on its head: Two leading Republican candidates did not collect enough signatures to qualify for the primary ballot after invalid signatures were excluded, according to a report from the state's Bureau of Elections... Thirty-six petition circulators — campaign workers hired to collect signatures — 'submitted fraudulent petition sheets consisting entirely of invalid signatures,' according to the Bureau. In all, according to the Bureau's report Monday, these circulators submitted at least 68,000 invalid signatures across nominating petitions for 10 candidates."

Quote :

"If the Board of State Canvassers heeds the Bureau of Elections' report and disqualifies 5 out of 10 Republican gubernatorial contenders, that could open the door for Tudor Dixon — who's denied that Joe Biden won Michigan in the 2020 election and on Monday received the endorsement of the wealthy DeVos family, Michigan's most influential political kingmakers. Dixon, notably, is also the only candidate to receive a shout-out at Donald Trump's rally in Michigan last month: The former president called her 'fantastic' and 'brilliant.'"

5/24/2022 8:40:45 AM

This is petty, and not a serious critique, but this lady is an American congresswoman!

Quote :

"First there was “gazpacho” police. Now Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has made another equally as amusing vocabulary flub in an attempt to get across her latest conspiratorial claim about Democrats and “fake meat,” which she says is manufactured in a “peach tree dish.” ... “Which is very bad because Bill Gates wants you to eat this fake meat that grows in a peach tree dish so you’ll probably get a little zap inside your body that’ll say ‘No, don’t eat a real cheeseburger, you need to eat the fake burger,'” Greene said with conviction. "

5/31/2022 11:35:23 AM

In before she plays it off as being an attempt at humor since she represents the Peach State.

5/31/2022 11:42:12 AM

At least she can spell burger?

5/31/2022 2:33:29 PM

https://www.businessinsider.com/ben-sasse-nebraska-republican-party-want-strongman-daddy-figure-2022-6

Quote :

"He said the left wants a powerful "benevolent bureaucracy" while the right wants a "strongman daddy figure." He said his party "exists increasingly as a vehicle for the grievances of the angriest, oldest folks.""

6/3/2022 3:05:34 PM

Quote :

"Tech investor and Arizona Senate hopeful Blake Masters blames gun violence on “Black people, frankly” https://t.co/0FBw02mJJx"

6/5/2022 10:39:44 PM

^Isn't it obvious? I mean, if black people didn't exist then white supremacists wouldn't have to shoot up a grocery store in Buffalo.

6/6/2022 1:48:42 AM

the War On Drag Queens certainly is something

it’s gotta be exhausting to be so upset over such small things on a regular basis

6/6/2022 10:51:56 PM

Need to deflect from the 1/6 trials and the gun control issue

Honestly really scummy how they target the lgbt community so frequently

6/7/2022 12:56:20 AM

https://www.fireboebert.com/

From the same PAC that went after Cawthorn.

Their dirt on Boebert (caveat lector of course):

- She worked as an escort through SugarDaddyMeet.com
- She met Ted Cruz while working as an escort (not clear if Cruz was a client, though he apparently donated a significant amount of money to her campaign)
- Two abortions, one a result of her work as an escort
- A 2020 drunk driving incident with injuries

6/15/2022 1:29:21 AM

I seem to recall rumors during the Obama presidency that Senator Ted Cruz was a patron of a Washington, D.C. brothel, but I don’t think those rumors led anywhere.

6/15/2022 7:31:42 AM