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The Republicans

batmagadanleadoff Jan 03 2022 12:44 PM

I have friends that vote Republican. (Unfortunately). But most of then are honest and relatively self-aware. So maybe they vote GOP because they're one-issue people who, for example, might be so strongly opposed to abortions that they can't bring themselves to vote Dem. Or they might be kind of very well-off money-wise and believe that they'd be better off economically with GOP fiscal policies in place. But they're reasonably honest about the state of things. They know what a despicable piece of shit Trump is and that he'll go down as one of, if not the very worst US President ever. They know he's a sociopathic crook who can't go five words without telling a lie. They know all this. They just hold their noses and close their eyes when they pull the lever for Trump. They'd never insult somebody's intelligence by using John James to defend Trump against accusations of obvious racism. They'd never gloat over Andrew Cuomo's downfall as if he was the worst politician of this era. And then gloat 32 more times just in case you didn't catch it the first 31 times. So who the hell are these delusional Trump and Marjorie Taylor-Greene lovers? I still can't believe they're out there, but I know they are because I read and watch the news every day. Because while I know GOP voters, I'm not really close with the GOP fanatics of today. I still can't believe that this country once elected Trump to run it, even accounting for our stupid, fucked up Electoral College.

Benjamin Grimm Jan 03 2022 12:57 PM Re: The Republicans

Even harder to believe is that after four years of seeing Trump in action, about 73 million people* voted to re-elect him. * I think that was the number.

metsmarathon Jan 03 2022 02:08 PM Re: The Republicans

i'm surrounded by these people. they really do believe him to be their savior, the only one paying attention to their needs. and because he claims so well to pay attention to their needs and wants and desires and especially their fears, they're willing to go along with whatever ruinous policy he proposes, and any criminal act. they're in a fucking cult. there's bunch of them in a parallel cult that think themselves such high quality free thinkers that they all think the same unique thoughts (as people like joe rogan); these rather clever sheep are convinced that they truly are lone all very independent lone wolves who all just happen to be in the same exact-minded pack.

Ceetar Jan 03 2022 03:00 PM Re: The Republicans

A lot of it's "both sides are bad" "All politicians are bad/crooks/self-interested" and it allows them to basically hand-wave all the actual evil stuff because they're basicallly not thinking about it, and not paying attention to it, and genuinely believe it's in the same stratosphere as what the dems are doing. Just look at the recent huff about Nancy Pelosi's option buys, it's a drop in the bucket and really nothing compared to the grift the republicans pulled just before implementing policy that benefits it, but if you're not actively paying attention to it besides the passing headline/tidbit, I could see how they seem the same. While checked out of the process, and legitimately believing you're choosing between two bad guys, it's easy to just vote party lines because that's what you did 20 years ago. Probably something like 90-95% of people have already made up their minds on A LOT of things, and politics is one of them. These are the people, that no matter how many crime studies you show them, truly believe cops are there to make neighborhoods safer and that they protect us and society is merely aggregating the bad apples. And sure, maybe the whole system is a little broken, but conceptually "fixing the cops" is not our job and we needs cops so it's just not something they invest any brain power in except when you yell at them to tell them they're wrong and then they just dig into the position they've already established decades ago, without critical thought. These people still see the attack ads though. They still see the mountain of misinformation. And the narrative is always "new" stuff the democrats are proposing and boogy men an just nonsense. Republican platforms, so much as they exist, are mostly about PREVENTING disaster. They're lies, but most people are not making informed decisions.

Edgy MD Jan 03 2022 05:34 PM Re: The Republicans

If I truly believed that both sides are just as bad, I'd happily vote for one of 1,000 third-party candidates, or write in any one of hundreds of millions of Americans, so I have a lot of trouble believing anybody who comes at me with that false equivalency. Calling President Trump one of the worst presidents ever is a compliment. The bottom of the rankings may be filled with Pierces, Hardings, and Buchanans, but under them is 100 feet of toxic waste before you get to President Trump. I could talk all day about Nixon and Hoover and Harding and Dubya, or any and all of the slave-owning presidents. None of them exercised nihilism as a political philosophy. On the other hand, I repeated variations on the above about a million times from 2015 to 2020. But I'm not sure I convinced anybody.

kcmets Jan 03 2022 05:55 PM Re: The Republicans

=metsmarathon post_id=83964 time=1641244103 user_id=83] i'm surrounded by these people. they really do believe him to be their savior, the only one paying attention to their needs. and because he claims so well to pay attention to their needs and wants and desires and especially their fears, they're willing to go along with whatever ruinous policy he proposes, and any criminal act. they're in a fucking cult. there's bunch of them in a parallel cult that think themselves such high quality free thinkers that they all think the same unique thoughts (as people like joe rogan); these rather clever sheep are convinced that they truly are lone all very independent lone wolves who all just happen to be in the same exact-minded pack.

I'm pretty much on board with this post word for word.

Lefty Specialist Jan 03 2022 06:54 PM Re: The Republicans

A lot of it's "both sides are bad" "All politicians are bad/crooks/self-interested" and it allows them to basically hand-wave all the actual evil stuff because they're basicallly not thinking about it, and not paying attention to it, and genuinely believe it's in the same stratosphere as what the dems are doing. Just look at the recent huff about Nancy Pelosi's option buys, it's a drop in the bucket and really nothing compared to the grift the republicans pulled just before implementing policy that benefits it, but if you're not actively paying attention to it besides the passing headline/tidbit, I could see how they seem the same. While checked out of the process, and legitimately believing you're choosing between two bad guys, it's easy to just vote party lines because that's what you did 20 years ago. Probably something like 90-95% of people have already made up their minds on A LOT of things, and politics is one of them. These are the people, that no matter how many crime studies you show them, truly believe cops are there to make neighborhoods safer and that they protect us and society is merely aggregating the bad apples. And sure, maybe the whole system is a little broken, but conceptually "fixing the cops" is not our job and we needs cops so it's just not something they invest any brain power in except when you yell at them to tell them they're wrong and then they just dig into the position they've already established decades ago, without critical thought. These people still see the attack ads though. They still see the mountain of misinformation. And the narrative is always "new" stuff the democrats are proposing and boogy men an just nonsense. Republican platforms, so much as they exist, are mostly about PREVENTING disaster. They're lies, but most people are not making informed decisions. Yeah, this. Only about 20% of Americans actually pay close attention to politics and the rest only tune in close to an election where they see a barrage of fear ads. Republicans are much better at those than Democrats. But the Supremes may hand Democrats Roe v. Wade on a platter to fire up the base in a whole different way this time. 40% of Americans are party-line voters, both Republican and Democratic, regardless of who's running. Messaging doesn't matter to these people. And about 10-15% of Americans are Beavis and Butthead voters, that know a certain candidate is bad but they want to watch the world burn because their own life sucks and they want everyone else to be miserable too. This number is increasing. About 99% were Trump voters. He was a narcissistic, sexually abusive criminal and they loved it. 35-40% of Americans don't even bother to vote. These are the people that Stacey Abrams was so successful in turning out in Georgia last November and January. It's why I'm happy she's running for Governor this year. And others should take note.

Edgy MD Jan 03 2022 08:40 PM Re: The Republicans

I kind of prefer Ms. Abrams as an organizer and advocate rather than as a candidate.

Lefty Specialist Jan 04 2022 05:51 AM Re: The Republicans

Well, she wasn't going to stay on the sidelines forever, and she can do a lot as a governor to drag Georgia kicking and screaming into the 21st century. She can also help pull Raphael Warnock over the line in the Senate race.

Ceetar Jan 04 2022 08:01 AM Re: The Republicans

I know the republicans are more shrewd than the democrats, mostly because they've broken the rules to benefit them and are good at playing within the rules they make, but I think if they DO in fact get the media to write "roe v wade is overturned" in black and white they'll lose a lot of their base that just turns out on that one-issue, because "job done". It's possible they're aware of this and that's why they've been doing this "effectively" repealing it for decades, and not actually as precedent to repeal in full, but we'll see. Eventually the tide of young people being more democratic than old people will push the current republicans out, no matter what cheats they can codify, but perhaps that's why the recent push towards fascism took off, because they know it was coming to a head. The only things republicans are actually good at is manipulating the system and the democrats to win elections. Which is why the democrats should fix loopholes and stupid rules like the filibuster whenever they can, but they can't, because the only thing republicans are actually good at is.. it's a loop. The biggest protections to voters in recent years was all the mail in ballots in 2020, and it feels like almost all of the credit has to go to Covid for that. The Republicans tried to sabotage the post office further, but it was too late.

Willets Point Jan 04 2022 08:41 AM Re: The Republicans

I know the republicans are more shrewd than the democrats, mostly because they've broken the rules to benefit them and are good at playing within the rules they make, but I think if they DO in fact get the media to write "roe v wade is overturned" in black and white they'll lose a lot of their base that just turns out on that one-issue, because "job done". It's possible they're aware of this and that's why they've been doing this "effectively" repealing it for decades, and not actually as precedent to repeal in full, but we'll see. I do wonder about this too. Conservative Catholics and Evangelical Protestants basically consider one another to be Satan but have been united to support Republicans behind reversing Roe v. Wade. Does that coalition hold if the Republicans finally achieve that after 50 years of promises?

Fman99 Jan 04 2022 09:23 AM Re: The Republicans

The whole thing makes me sick. I'm still doing way too much doom-scrolling. I can't help myself.

A Boy Named Seo Jan 04 2022 09:24 AM Re: The Republicans

Willets Point wrote: I know the republicans are more shrewd than the democrats, mostly because they've broken the rules to benefit them and are good at playing within the rules they make, but I think if they DO in fact get the media to write "roe v wade is overturned" in black and white they'll lose a lot of their base that just turns out on that one-issue, because "job done". It's possible they're aware of this and that's why they've been doing this "effectively" repealing it for decades, and not actually as precedent to repeal in full, but we'll see. I do wonder about this too. Conservative Catholics and Evangelical Protestants basically consider one another to be Satan but have been united to support Republicans behind reversing Roe v. Wade. Does that coalition hold if the Republicans finally achieve that after 50 years of promises? I don't see any sides changing or passions diminishing. They'd immediately start campaigning (and fund-raising) on the "libs want to make abortion legal again" which would be 100% true.

MFS62 Jan 04 2022 10:38 AM Re: The Republicans

We have a fundamentally anti-democratic opposition that knows it can't win fair elections and has a Manichean, religious, apocalyptic world view. That's not healthy. Lots of legit worry, but we've come through worse and this global anti-democratic wave does seem to be ebbing, so I'd cross my fingers that democracy will survive. But we have to fight them every way we can, especially at the ballot box while that is still a valid option. Later

Edgy MD Jan 04 2022 10:52 AM Re: The Republicans

To be clear, there's still plenty of legal abortion without Roe, so yeah, certainly the clash goes on.

Centerfield Jan 04 2022 11:09 AM Re: The Republicans

So who the hell are these delusional Trump and Marjorie Taylor-Greene lovers? I still can't believe they're out there, but I know they are because I read and watch the news every day. Because while I know GOP voters, I'm not really close with the GOP fanatics of today. I still can't believe that this country once elected Trump to run it, even accounting for our stupid, fucked up Electoral College. The Murdochs and Zuckerbergs of the world realized that you can make a killing capitalizing on people's insecurities. We focus on the uneducated, rural folks, but there are plenty of "sophisticated" people who feel left out, disrespected, disregarded. Fox and FaceBook memes tell them they shouldn't take a back seat. That they should fight back, and they're feelings are just as worthy as everyone else. Don't like immigrants? You shouldn't! Immigrants are bad! Don't like having to change your language? You shouldn't have to! All those leftists are to blame! Why do we have many genders when there's always been just two? Grown men are in your daughter's locker room. Christmas has been banned. Caravans of Central Americans are coming to rape your wives. Tell them what they want to hear. Rile them up. Then laugh all the way to the bank.

batmagadanleadoff Jan 04 2022 12:02 PM Re: The Republicans

Edgy MD wrote: To be clear, there's still plenty of legal abortion without Roe, so yeah, certainly the clash goes on. IF the Supremes overrule Roe, a GOP controlled Congress can then pass Federal legislation totally banning abortions everywhere in the US. That proposed legislation would no longer be unconstitutional insofar as the constitutional right to an abortion provided by Roe would no longer exist.

Edgy MD Jan 04 2022 12:07 PM Re: The Republicans

That's certainly theoretically possible, but neither Congress nor the White House are GOP controlled, and certainly not controlled beyond a filibuster-proof majority, and then legislation would return the the court on other grounds. And many states would be non-compliant and sue the federal government again and again, and so the clash goes on.

batmagadanleadoff Jan 04 2022 12:13 PM Re: The Republicans

Edgy MD wrote: That's certainly theoretically possible, but neither Congress nor the White House are GOP controlled, and certainly not controlled beyond a filibuster-proof majority, and then legislation would return the the court on other grounds. And many states would be non-compliant and sue the federal government again and again, and so the clash goes on. The GOP isn't in control today. 2024's another story.

Edgy MD Jan 04 2022 12:23 PM Re: The Republicans

My point remains that the cultural clash over abortion will not end with a reversal of the Roe v. Wade decision.

batmagadanleadoff Jan 04 2022 12:24 PM Re: The Republicans

Edgy MD wrote: My point remains that the cultural clash over abortion will not end with a reversal of the Roe v. Wade decision. Well yeah, naturally. Who would disagree with that?

batmagadanleadoff Jan 04 2022 12:29 PM Re: The Republicans

But we have to fight them ... especially at the ballot box while that is still a valid option. If that's all the Dems do, this country's in big, big trouble. The GOP is passing laws on who gets to count the votes, how the votes are counted and if the votes gets counted at all. Dems can't overcome those laws by simply voting. Was it Stalin who said (paraphrasing): "It's not who votes. It's who count the votes".

Fman99 Jan 06 2022 05:23 AM Re: The Republicans

It wasn't Stalin, it was just another in a long parade of shitty memes on social media.

MFS62 Jan 20 2022 09:24 AM Re: The Republicans

Does Mitch McConnell think Blacks aren't American? https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2022/01/20/mitch-mcconnell-african-americans-vote-much-americans/6590081001/ After a vote to move the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to the Senate floor failed Wednesday, McConnell was asked by a reporter about concerns among voters of color. "Well the concern is misplaced, because if you look at the statistics, African American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans," McConnell responded. Mitch didn't just miss a word, he's apparently missed a lot of history. Later

batmagadanleadoff May 02 2022 04:27 PM Re: The Republicans

Edgy MD wrote: To be clear, there's still plenty of legal abortion without Roe, so yeah, certainly the clash goes on. IF the Supremes overrule Roe, a GOP controlled Congress can then pass Federal legislation totally banning abortions everywhere in the US. That potential legislation would no longer be unconstitutional insofar as the constitutional right to an abortion provided by Roe would no longer exist. Edgy MD wrote: That's certainly theoretically possible, but neither Congress nor the White House are GOP controlled, and certainly not controlled beyond a filibuster-proof majority, and then legislation would return the the court on other grounds. And many states would be non-compliant and sue the federal government again and again, and so the clash goes on. The GOP isn't in control today. 2024's another story. The next frontier for the antiabortion movement: A nationwide ban Advocates and some GOP lawmakers have started mobilizing around potential federal legislation to outlaw abortion after six weeks of pregnancy By Caroline Kitchener Today at 8:00 a.m. EDT Excerpt: Leading antiabortion groups and their allies in Congress have been meeting behind the scenes to plan a national strategy that would kick in if the Supreme Court rolls back abortion rights this summer, including a push for a strict nationwide ban on the procedure if Republicans retake power in Washington. The effort, activists say, is designed to bring a fight that has been playing out largely in the courts and state legislatures to the national political stage — rallying conservatives around the issue in the midterms and pressuring potential 2024 GOP presidential candidates to take a stand. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/05/02/abortion-ban-roe-supreme-court-mississippi/ Told you so. If it was up to me, the first and main thing on the Dem agenda once Biden amd this Congress were sworn in would've been to try and get DC and PR their statehoods. Without the Senate, the Dems are impotent. Which they probably are anyways. I'm kinda hoping that not only does the GOP pull this national abortion ban off, but that they kill the filibuster to do so. Maybe, maybe that, will finally light a fire under this pathetic Dem party. Provided Putin doesn't blow up the USA first.

Lefty Specialist May 02 2022 06:28 PM Re: The Republicans

And right after that (or perhaps in concert), they'll be looking to ban contraceptives. Republican extremists believe Griswold v Connecticut was wrongly decided, and they've got the justices to overturn it. They just need a state with the guts to pass a law banning them. Idaho perhaps. And don't assume that a) Puerto Ricans are clamoring for statehood, and b) they would automatically elect two Democratic senators. DC is a lock on both counts.

batmagadanleadoff May 02 2022 07:37 PM Re: The Republicans

Unprecedented!! SCOTUS draft opinion leaked! Never happened before. Court will overrule Roe v Wade. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473

MFS62 May 03 2022 06:28 AM Re: The Republicans

Unprecedented!! SCOTUS draft opinion leaked! Never happened before. Court will overrule Roe v Wade. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473 I'm afraid that is only the first step in the Republican's authoritarian goal of the deprivation of American rights. If Republicans win both houses and the presidency in 2024 they will pass laws to declare both abortion and contraception illegal and then go after Medicare and, ultimately, Social Security (an aim of Republicans since they were passed. If they win the 2022 Congressional and Senatorial majorities, Biden would veto anything like that they pass. Hopefully this will galvanize support for Democrats among voters of both parties in the upcoming mid-term and presidential elections. BTW- has anyone asked Susan Collins how she feels about her Supreme Court votes? Later

batmagadanleadoff May 03 2022 06:44 AM Re: The Republicans

Unprecedented!! SCOTUS draft opinion leaked! Never happened before. Court will overrule Roe v Wade. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473 I'm afraid that is only the first step in the Republican's authoritarian goal of the deprivation of American rights. If Republicans win both houses and the presidency in 2024 they will pass laws to declare both abortion and contraception illegal and then go after Medicare and, ultimately, Social Security (an aim of Republicans since they were passed. If they win the 2022 Congressional and Senatorial majorities, Biden would veto anything like that they pass. Hopefully this will galvanize support for Democrats among voters of both parties in the upcoming mid-term and presidential elections. BTW- has anyone asked Susan Collins how she feels about her Supreme Court votes? Later The lines are so gerrymandered, thanks to the scumbag extremist hack SCOTUS, that Dems need historic margins of victory just to eke out a small majority in the House.

batmagadanleadoff May 03 2022 06:59 AM Re: The Republicans

Unprecedented!! SCOTUS draft opinion leaked! Never happened before. Court will overrule Roe v Wade. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473 I'm afraid that is only the first step in the Republican's authoritarian goal of the deprivation of American rights. If Republicans win both houses and the presidency in 2024 they will pass laws to declare both abortion and contraception illegal and then go after Medicare and, ultimately, Social Security (an aim of Republicans since they were passed. If they win the 2022 Congressional and Senatorial majorities, Biden would veto anything like that they pass. Hopefully this will galvanize support for Democrats among voters of both parties in the upcoming mid-term and presidential elections. BTW- has anyone asked Susan Collins how she feels about her Supreme Court votes? Later The lines are so gerrymandered, thanks to the scumbag extremist hack SCOTUS, that Dems need historic margins of victory just to eke out a small majority in the House. And what's the difference how Dems vote? The GOP passed laws all over the country allowing GOP state legislatures to pick the election winners without even bothering to count the actual votes. With each passing day, it's becoming more outrageous that Manchin and Sinema wouldn't vote to pass a Federal voting rights bill without bi-partisan support. It's like the WWII allies refusing to liberate Auschwitz without first getting permission from the Nazis temselves to do so.

Willets Point May 03 2022 07:27 AM Re: The Republicans

Of course there's a simple solution - kill the filibuster, expand the court (6 new justices to bring the number of legitimate justices on the court up to 9), and pass legislation protecting abortion rights as well as for voting rights and protecting LGBTQ people from discriminatory state laws. Plus they could also pass popular legislation like student loan debt forgiveness and Medicare For All and have so many voters turn out in upcoming elections that they will have supermajorities for generations. Or, you know, they can do the usual Democratic thing and use is as an excuse to blame Bernie and the Squad while looking fruitlessly for moderate Insurrectionists who will work with them on bipartisan solutions.

MFS62 May 03 2022 12:12 PM Re: The Republicans

Susan Collins says "she was lied to". (Original Yahoo content, no blind link) https://www.yahoo.com/news/susan-collins-supreme-court-leak-roe-abortion-kavanaugh-gorsuch-172603085.html Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Tuesday that if a report suggesting that the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade is accurate, she was misled in her conversations with two justices who had told her that the landmark 1973 abortion ruling was settled law. Later

smg58 May 03 2022 12:43 PM Re: The Republicans

That makes her almost as smart as the Ukrainians who handed Russia back all the nuclear arms in their country in exchange for a promise that Russia would never attack them. But if she's angry enough to end the filibuster on this, I'd still return her call.

batmagadanleadoff May 03 2022 01:19 PM Re: The Republicans

Does Collins sincerely believes she was lied to, or was she just gaming the system all along, trying to thread the needle in order to satisfy both her party and the Dem voters she would need in her upcoming 2020 Senate re-election bid?

Centerfield May 03 2022 02:13 PM Re: The Republicans

=batmagadanleadoff post_id=91189 time=1651605595 user_id=68] Does Collins sincerely believes she was lied to, or was she just gaming the system all along, trying to thread the needle in order to satisfy both her party and the Dem voters she would need in her upcoming 2020 Senate re-election bid?

Of course she knew. Everyone is full of shit.



And the biggest liars are the ones pretending to care about fetuses or babies or whatever. They don't give a shit about any of this. All of this is just a ploy to get the votes of the religious right so that they can continue to give themselves tax breaks.



The only thing that matters to anyone is money and power.

seawolf17 May 03 2022 06:14 PM Re: The Republicans

CF is 100% correct.

batmagadanleadoff May 04 2022 09:39 AM Re: The Republicans

Here's what I think Dems need to do. I have other ideas, lotsa them, but this ones the most realistic. They need to go out and campaign and practically beg the electorate to come out and vote for them in November. They need to explain to the voters that they need more votes. More representatives. And especially, more Senators. Not all voters understand that. Enough with the promises. They can't deliver what they need to deliver, what their voters want, without larger majorities. Beg. Make this as urgent and as desperate as it truly is.

TransMonk May 04 2022 11:52 AM Re: The Republicans

Isn't that what the D message was in 2018 and 2020? I'm not sure how long they can beg before they get ignored for not having their shit together.

seawolf17 May 04 2022 12:23 PM Re: The Republicans

Isn't that what the D message was in 2018 and 2020? I'm not sure how long they can beg before they get ignored for not having their shit together. Exactly. I don't know how this is different. If anything, I think there's frustration that we DID hand them a "majority" and they've done fuckall with it. Problem is, the alternative is "not voting," because nobody with any sense is voting for these GOP assholes. So someone's going to win a Senate seat in November with like 15% of the electorate showing up.

batmagadanleadoff May 04 2022 12:25 PM Re: The Republicans

So what do these disillusioned voters think is gonna happen? That they're gonna get, from the GOP, what they were hoping to get, but didn't, from the Dems? What? The GOP is gonna deliver a Voting Rights Bill and codify the right to privacy? There's no other way to do this other than to burn down the whole place. Except that it's the GOP voters that have all the guns and bombs.

Willets Point May 04 2022 12:45 PM Re: The Republicans

How many times can Lucy pull away the football before Charlie Brown falls into spiraling depression about the futility of everything?

batmagadanleadoff May 04 2022 01:29 PM Re: The Republicans

You say that they need to pass their ambitious agenda to get more voters, and thus, larger majorities. I say it's the other way around.

Willets Point May 04 2022 02:11 PM Re: The Republicans

I'm saying that they need to get off their asses and do one fucking thing that they promised in their election campaigns before the country fully falls under fascist rule.

seawolf17 May 04 2022 03:52 PM Re: The Republicans

Willets Point wrote: I'm saying that they need to get off their asses and do one fucking thing that they promised in their election campaigns before the country fully falls under fascist rule. This. We've waited WAY too long for anything of substance to happen.

batmagadanleadoff May 05 2022 12:52 PM Re: The Republicans

Former Trump advisor says the Supreme Court leak is an 'insurrection' worse than the Capitol riot https://www.businessinsider.com/jenna-ellis-calls-scotus-leak-insurrection-worse-capitol-riot-2022-5 Yeah, right. The leak is the problem. Not the monstrosity of the apparent decision itself, which the GOP is totally silent on. There's not even a law prohibiting the leak. And since the supermajority of the court is GOP-appointed, the overwhelming odds are that one of their own leaked it, anyways. Meanwhile, the court has no apparent problem with Thomas presiding over cases involving the disclosure of his own wife's outrageous and treasonous emails. But that leak. Oh my. And the leak is worse than trying to install a presidential candidate by force and extreme violence after he lost the election. What a bunch of gaslighting scumbags. Every single fucking day. And the Dems are still scared shitless to tangle with these scumbags on their own extreme and ruthless terms.

batmagadanleadoff May 05 2022 01:15 PM Re: The Republicans

Collins Claims Kavanaugh and Gorsuch Misled Her. She's Wrong Senator Susan Collins says that Samuel Alito's draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade is “completely inconsistent with what Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh said in their hearings and in our meetings in my office.” Ramesh and Ed have debunked this claim. Conceding that long-established precedents should be treated with more weight does not preclude the possibility that those decisions were wrongly decided and should be overturned. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/collins-claims-kavanaugh-and-gorsuch-misled-her-shes-wrong/ I've been thinking the same thing all along. I don't know what Collins was told in her private meetings with the nominees, but publicly, all they said was that Roe was established precedent, more or less and that it deserves the proper respect. But every standing decision is precedent ... up until the moment it's overruled. They should've been asked whether they thought that Roe was properly decided, which they weren't. Or whether they themselves would vote to overrule Roe if they had the chance. Watching the testimony again these past few days, as it's being constantly replayed, I thought the questioning was awful. I usually do. Anyone can draft questions ahead of the hearing. It's the follow-up, the improv, where the home runs are hit - when the questioner then addresses the answers given. This requires the questioner to be quick on her feet because the responses aren't properly anticipated. It's easy for me to sit here and armchair quarterback the whole thing but admittedly, questioning witnesses is a very difficult thing to do. It looks much easier than it actually is. Ever had conversations you could take back, or wish that you'd said something you didn't? I definitely did. And some of those conversations where I thought of the right comeback or follow-up after the moment had passed and it was too late, I'm still replaying in my head decades and decades later. I'm sure it happens to everyone. It's just that you'd expect better from US Senators with all the resources they have and given the gravitas of the moment.

MFS62 May 05 2022 07:15 PM Re: The Republicans Edited 1 time(s), most recently on May 06 2022 09:21 AM

If you were wondering what the GOP would go after when Roe vs Wade is shot down, it could be public education: https://news.yahoo.com/greg-abbott-reveals-gop-plan-212837789.html?bingParse=&fr=sycsrp_catchall (from Rolling Stone) The Austin American-Statesman reports that Abbott on Wednesday said Texas “will resurrect” a 1982 Supreme Court case requiring states to provide free public education to all children, including the children of undocumented immigrants. “Texas already long ago sued the federal government about having to incur the costs of the education program, in a case called Plyler vs. Doe,” Abbott said on a conservative talk radio show. “And the Supreme Court ruled against us on the issue. … I think we will resurrect that case and challenge this issue again, because the expenses are extraordinary and the times are different than when Plyler versus Doe was issued many decades ago.” Later

batmagadanleadoff May 05 2022 07:21 PM Re: The Republicans

Michigan is considering amending its Constitution to codify the right to abortions. It's doable because it'll be a statewide vote and so its scumbag GOP legislators cant gerrymander the vote. Also, many Michigan prosecutors and AG's are announcing that they won't prosecute or enforce any abortion restrictions no matter how Dobbs is ultimately decided. I wonder how that plays out when someone from a scumbag pro life county has an abortion in Derroit and then goes back home to Handmaid's Tale Village?

ashie62 May 07 2022 09:02 AM Re: The Republicans

If they can forgive someone 10K of student debt they can lop 10K off my mortgage.

Johnny Lunchbucket May 07 2022 10:14 AM Re: The Republicans

Whopper of a story in the WaPo detailing a wealthy R donor in Texas who paid a disgraced former cop $200k+ to ram electrician's van off the road and hold the driver at gunpoint suspecting he was transporting ballots fraudulently filled out by Hispanic children (because, how would it be believable were it not hispanic kids) when it turned out he was only an electrician on his way to work. Worse the bankroller (an associate of Texas' Lt. Gov and friend of the My Pillow Gyuy, denied knowledge of the event in court but a tape has surfaced of him describing the events before those hearings. Maga was right, there was election fraud all right

batmagadanleadoff May 07 2022 01:00 PM Re: The Republicans

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Whopper of a story in the WaPo detailing a wealthy R donor in Texas who paid a disgraced former cop $200k+ to ram electrician's van off the road and hold the driver at gunpoint suspecting he was transporting ballots fraudulently filled out by Hispanic children (because, how would it be believable were it not hispanic kids) when it turned out he was only an electrician on his way to work. Worse the bankroller (an associate of Texas' Lt. Gov and friend of the My Pillow Gyuy, denied knowledge of the event in court but a tape has surfaced of him describing the events before those hearings. Maga was right, there was election fraud all right MSNBC has been covering this story on and off, since it first broke about a year and a half ago. The GOP electorate has been radicalized. And we're supposed to feel sorry for those nutjob fuckers and their QAnon ideas as they drag the country into fascism, authoritarianism and a 15th century dark age theocracy.