Vaccines, Infrastructure, and Kids In Cages: US Politics April 2021

Well well

🚨 The Times has reviewed receipts from Cash App and Apple Pay that show payments from Gaetz and Greenberg to one of the women, and a payment from Greenberg to a second woman. The women told their friends that the payments were for sex with the two men https://t.co/TCS3mC6tkk

— Patricia Mazzei (@PatriciaMazzei) April 2, 2021

What is love?

this is so funny pic.twitter.com/tRJYeqca3C

— Sarah Jones (@onesarahjones) April 2, 2021

"...and looks forward to marrying the love of his life." Who hasn't been born yet.

ok can we clarify the Nestor thing now

My "Matt Gaetz has never paid for sex" T-shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered etc. etc.

Lol nickn

Thread: The story of how @mattgaetz became a target of the Trump justice department is even crazier and weirder than you can imagine.

It involves blockchain, blatant fraud by a local tax collector, and a scheme to steal people’s government ID.

This is NOT AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE.

— Brianna Wu (@BriannaWu) April 1, 2021

^ now THAT was an interesting tweet thread!

weird how Twitter's trending topic on this starts "Rep. Matt Gaetz says he’s a victim of 'criminal extortion'"

Read that as "I did heinous criminal things that made me easy to blackmail."

I mean, Twitter, the news, whatever, if it's the feds he's already cooked

Meanwhile, a different Gaetz story from CNN:

Sources say Gaetz used his phone to show images of nude women, boasting that he slept with them. He showed such images even while on the floor of the U.S. House.
https://t.co/Lo1buyCjHa

— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) April 2, 2021

Sorry I wasn’t up on the latest

Might as well collate this Gaetz story from circa 2013 itt:

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz accused of creating sex game with 'points' for sleeping with staff

"The point system for the game, which was rumored to continue in 2014 and 2015, demeaningly awarded one point for a having sex with a lobbyist, two for a staffer, three for another legislator and six for a married legislator."

Creep

and he really doesn't look the sort

But how would they prove it to gain the points?

Oh, I know....

You got to be pretty damn clueless to be rattling the gates of power and have this type of lunacy going on in the closet then not expect it to blow back. White trash with money.

Boehner speaks!

In the 2010 midterm election, voters from all over the place gave President Obama what he himself called “a shellacking.” And oh boy, was it ever. You could be a total moron and get elected just by having an R next to your name—and that year, by the way, we did pick up a fair number in that category.

Boehner then chuckled ruefully, swirling a large glass of red wine before draining it in a single thirsty sip

OH COME ON!

— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) April 1, 2021

That Boehner piece is pretty amazing. Too many quotable paragraphs, but the conclusion is particularly choice:

There is nothing more dangerous than a reckless asshole who thinks he is smarter than everyone else. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Senator Ted Cruz.

Yeah, holy shit at the Boehner article. Old man dngaf swag for days.

NB: Hope Boehner dies soon.

Boehner then chuckled ruefully, swirling a large glass of red wine before draining it in a single thirsty sip

while counting the money he is making off legal weed that he as against during his time in congress.

I can't imagine anyone loving red wine enough to make it their drink of choice. Always with dinner and occasionally with lunch, but just, like, glass after glass? Ick. Never.

No, that’s incorrect; red wine is delicious.

I can’t believe Gaetz paid for sex with CASHAPP!

i can! it's typical white man privileged behavior to not think that any of this shit will come back to you so who cares.

lol fox news just quickly mentioning the very improved job numbers that came out and moved on real quick

I can't imagine anyone loving red wine enough to make it their drink of choice. Always with dinner and occasionally with lunch, but just, like, glass after glass? Ick. Never.

Noted!

Gaetz and Greenberg at AIPAC in 2018 pic.twitter.com/3CChzmZuMY

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) April 2, 2021

According to three people with direct knowledge of the incident: Greenberg visited the Lake Mary, Florida branch of his tax collection agency that weekend. Grainy surveillance footage captured Greenberg standing near a manager’s desk with another man. Greenberg forgot to set the alarm on the way out, which concerned the assistant branch manager when she walked into the office Monday morning. That employee was surprised to find that driver licenses—which are normally turned in when expired at the tax office for shredding—were scattered all over the desk instead of in the appropriate disposal basket. She reviewed the camera footage and alerted her boss, who in turn contacted Greenberg via text.

“Did you happen to visit the Lake Mary Office on the weekend?” the text message read.

The image obtained by The Daily Beast shows that Greenberg allegedly responded: “Yes I was showing congressman Gaetz what our operation looked like. Did I leave something on?”

Starting to feel like Gaetz is patient zero in an epidemic I've long predicted would follow in Trump's wake, namely people who breathlessly watched him recklessly do whatever he wanted while suffering no consequence and thought 'I want a piece of that' without ever realizing that few people are that lucky. And that Trump-level recklessness is basically the express lane to Lucklessville.

I think the idea that what the Republican base really wants is a candidate who does all the stuff they wish they could do (be rich, talk shit, dunk libs, get laid) is going to drive Republican behavior for quite some time

I just looked at Matt Gaetz’ venmo and he apparently knows a lot of extremely young looking women lol

— the artist fka coincelpro (@peachofababy) June 17, 2020

Wait, he had one?

Luke Ball, the communications director for Rep. Matt Gaetz, has resigned, according to a person familiar.
Ball quit out of principle, according to the person. @LACaldwellDC

— Chris Jansing (@ChrisJansing) April 2, 2021

after years of doing a job that required he have no principles, he found a principle

This is why you always involve your key support staff in your orgies with child sex slaves, and get it on video — so they can't quit on you when you come to a few bumps in the road.

When @SpeakerBoehner was recording his audiobook I was told by sources that during these wine-soaked sessions he would deviate from the book’s text and insert random violent attacks on @tedcruz. Well, here’s some tape (listen to the end): pic.twitter.com/NFCQ2QFdTT

— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) April 2, 2021

lmao!!

Fuck John Boehner obviously BUT he's also right about a lot of that stuff obv. I'm watching this dynamic play out in real time here locally, where our dominant county GOP is being progressively taken over by crazies. It used to have two pretty well-defined factions: the "silk stocking" crowd, who hate taxes but are relatively socially moderate and believe in functional competent government, and the more rural-based GOBs who mostly view local government as a patronage program. Now we have this whole third contingent of suburban evangelical libertarian anti-mask Trumpoids — a good many of whom have moved here recently from out of state, fleeing "Taxifornia" or whatever — and they are huge assholes who basically hate everyone, including the established party people. They have no governing philosophy beyond never raise taxes and pwn the libs, they're terrible at government, and they're big on social media theatrics. Not a promising evolution.

of course boehner can both be right about how he's helped destroy the country _and_ an asshole

Let us never forget this hero: pic.twitter.com/bWIk5zAe6s

— MaryJoy (@tweetsfromhere) April 2, 2021

Gaetz's chin is a poem.

Feel like you're underrating his forehead

https://i.redd.it/3222a1v87v661.jpg

Something's up

🚨🚨Capitol staff just got this text message

I’m in the Capitol and will keep everyone posted here. pic.twitter.com/ydQGyCJcof

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) April 2, 2021

This as well

Large police presence and two stretchers being brought out pic.twitter.com/EmidoLP0PT

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) April 2, 2021

Gaetz's chin is a poem.

― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, April 2, 2021 11:29 AM (forty-seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

A villainelle

Kinda reminding me so far of that tragic case a few years back

Appears that a car smashed into the barrier. Two people are on stretchers. Can’t see whether it’s an officer or civilian pic.twitter.com/Ud5WYGyKFu

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) April 2, 2021

There are reports (unconfirmed) that two @CapitolPolice officers have been shot.

— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) April 2, 2021

Has there every been talk of Maryland just annexing D.C.? I know there's no strategic political benefit, but they would at least be able to have representation

neither wants that

It has been talked about a lot (that is, retroceding all but the "monumental core" back to Maryland).

After all, that's precisely what happened to the Virginia portion.

It would, in a technical sense, grant DC residents representation, but that representation is diluted into Maryland's where it doesn't make much difference. A sizable chunk of Maryland's population is DC suburbs anyway. vc is right that Maryland may not want the territory gained by such a move, for various reasons.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-administration-return-billions-border-wall-funding-trump/story?id=77423458

Is this the project people were talking about when they said the Biden administration was going to fill in holes in the wall?

Construction under the prior administration blew large holes into the Rio Grande Valley’s flood barrier system to make way for a border wall.

Big beautiful holes, no doubt.

No idea how real this is, but it feels like progress

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/29/politics/border-patrol-unaccompanied-minors/index.html

Nice little story to end the April thread

https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article251069219.html

o_O

Samsel is the second Kansas lawmaker to be arrested this year. Former Senate Majority Leader Gene Suellentrop, a Wichita Republican, was charged with felony eluding and fleeing from police and also faces misdemeanor charges of drunk and reckless driving after allegedly driving the wrong way on Topeka highways on March 16. He was forced to step down from his leadership post.

jesus that gets increasingly dark

I mean, I'd still vote for him a second time, sure, but if this sort of thing happens again I'd definitely reconsider voting for him a third time.

Feels like we’re lucky that didn’t turn into something much worse.

US Politics May 2021: Joe Manchin's Choose-Your-Adventure Book