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

yeah the GOP has kind of reached their logical endpoint, they've left themselves no other option but triple down

i really want to hope that by doing this their influence will just start to whither, but I live in the USA and know better

this will continue to be a problem until democrats take concrete action on any number of voting issues, which they have shown zero interest in doing so far

mass disenfranchisement opens the door to these GOP crazies

xp to Alfred- yeah I don’t give a shit about Liz Cheney, I’m more thinking about what this means for the GOP- again I kind of don’t give a shit, but I was hoping Trump’s loss would lead them to look beyond his particularly toxic brand of politics and move on. But if not… interesting, disturbing, maybe that’s a good thing if it backfires for them or if it proves out that he’s an anchor dragging the GOP out of power. But time will tell! Disturbing in that the GOP is bound to win some elections going forward no matter what, so if we’re looking at Trumpy candidates going forward instead of Romney/McCain type candidates for the GOP… I’m disturbed.

It's more the duration of the story than the story itself I was posting about. Report on it, yes. But two days later, it's basically the same headline--GOP fracture, "hot mic," Cheney will be voted out. Until there's something new to add, move on. Which I realize is a bigger complaint about the media in general.

epistantophus and clemenza both tom

otm too

Lol

I think I'd like to be Tom Seaver--epistantophus?

Tom Hagen

this guy gets it

I truly think it will have absolutely zero effect one way or the other on their electoral prospects. https://t.co/WqFR4gPFsJ

— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) May 5, 2021

the thing is though republican voters will not vote for a democrat. and there a lot of them so the potential for another crazy motherfucker winning the presidency is high enough for me to hope the republicans figure their shit out

I think I'd like to be Tom Seaver

Today's Tom Seaver he gets high on you

Considering how histrionic some of the state GOP reaction has been, there is a deep well of crazy out there. I think it is just T-minus so many days until something goes down that will make what happened on 1/6 look like a kegger.

Maybe it will die down, but there are too many people funding and making money off the lunacy. It is not even like Fox News or any of the profit centers fleecing this audience has changed, if anything they are doubling down on the whackamole lunacy.

Hayes is otm of course but it should be said that this sort of lunacy does seem to help the Democrats - 81 million people voted for Joe Biden for God's sake

I dunno, when there are only two parties, and one of them is packed with lunatics, anything less than total obsolescence makes me a little nervous. I don't know how much this helps the Dems, but I also don't know how much it hurts the GOP. It fact, more lunatics and less regular losers might even *help* them at the polls these days, or at least help them enough.

does it help enough to overcome the immense structural advantages that the republicans currently have and are working day and night to make even bigger?

xp

Thank you for your honesty, Senator.

This is the whole ballgame. McConnell said this almost verbatim during the Obama era. Time to learn from our mistakes. We have the majority, let’s use it and not worry about pandering to a party that just admitted it’s not interested in governing.pic.twitter.com/8hwfngH9OP

— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) May 5, 2021

does it help enough to overcome the immense structural advantages that the republicans currently have and are working day and night to make even bigger?

xp

― the mai tai quinn (voodoo chili),

It helped enough to get Biden elected but not enough to lose 12 House seats. President Manchin needs to support voter reform.

Whew.. I was worried McConnell was gonna yammer some platitude about cooperating across the aisle for the good of the American people...

I've said it several times before but thinking the Republican party will go away is pure fantasy. Roughly 40% of the country has a conservative mindset; they will vote for anyone who is to the right of Democrats.

40% of ILX is conservative

more lunatics and less regular losers might even *help* them at the polls these days

I feel like four years ago GOP paired Trump with Pence, to try to mitigate a bit of Trump's bluster and braggadocio with some midwestern churchiness. Now that they've discovered that batshit bluster *is* what sells to their base they'll abandon any semblance of "normalcy" and go full-on lunacy party. Bring on Trump/Gaetz 2024.

https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/EYLQT5GRTM23LOTY55YHET3JVM.png

"What about me, Donald?"

they'll abandon any semblance of "normalcy" and go full-on lunacy party.

They road tested that one in Alabama with Roy Moore vs. Doug Jones. It went poorly enough that Alabama sent their first Democrat to the US Senate in ages. That's in Alabama, mind you. The R's biggest problem rn is that Republican primary voters will continue to embrace full-on lunacy, even when it delivers general election losses.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E0o20DJUYCE7Y4g?format=jpg&name=medium

DT peed in that coffee.

Roy Moore is the bottom of the barrel, and even he lost to Doug Jones by only about 1.5%. That is not a margin that make me comfortable.

And then Doug Jones got beat by the human equivalent of a deflated football.

Can we stop discussing Trump

i believe that coach tuberville is just the man to win the war. yeah, we were down before in the earlier quarters. we lost some battles. but now it's 4th and long, and we're on the 40-yard line and it's a little too long for a field goal. but coach says it's just as well because america doesn't tie in wars, america wins the football game. and coach says we don't even need time outs to win back this nation. we just need to keep our air game solid and make sure we get out of bounds and save some clock time.

us politics 2021: drenched in sweat, we love you coach

what about me
it isn't fair
I've had enough now I want my share

President Tuverville is fucked if we have to invade Bear Bryant Stadium IIRC

Tuberville? More like Mr. Potato Head.

Because his name is "tuber" and he has a potato for a brain.

https://i.imgur.com/hmiyPbq.pnghttps://i.imgur.com/hmiyPbq.png

I could only spot 4 differences, what is the 5th?

https://cdn.eldeforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/theyre-the-same-picture-pam-the-office-meme.png

In the first he's saying. "c'mon, man", while in the second he's saying "malarkey".

you philistines, the one on the bottom has an implied extratextual presidential halo while the one on top does not

Hard times for Rowdy Rudy!

Rudy Giuliani, the former personal lawyer for ex-president Donald Trump, has reduced the size of his personal entourage, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The news of Giuliani’s shrinking entourage comes after years of stories suggesting he might be having financial difficulties — or is at least seeking creative ways to make money as he manages his growing legal woes.... Giuliani accidentally left a voicemail for a reporter in which he said, “The problem is we need some money.”

"Accidentally"

true or false:

I don't think people appreciate that the US is in a little two-year window between being ruled by vicious lying authoritarian morons the last time and being ruled by vicious lying authoritarian morons the next time. Take some big breaths, cause we're going back under soon.

— David Roberts (@drvolts) May 6, 2021

More true than false, probably, but also a prime example of the needless doom-tweeting that led to my break from twitter.

i hear that. i took a break for a few weeks and i'm like a moth to the flame i guess.

tbf to roberts, the vast majority of his writing is about how he thinks the problem can be fixed. he doesn't usually just end it, like that. alas

good to have you back, though

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/05/2022-midterms-democratic-odds-low.html

Dems are doomed to lose house says Eric Levitz :

To keep the House in 2023, Democrats need Biden to stay popular, the Democratic base to stay mobilized, and Manchin & CO. to embrace a ban on gerrymandering.

At present, only one of those things is happening

xp <3

This Elie Mystal piece from The Nation is excellent.

I am not worried about what Mitch McConnell will do should Republicans take back the Senate in 2022. I am not worried about what Republicans will do should they retake all of government in 2024. I am not worried, because I already know the answer: When Republicans have power again, they will do “the worst.” I don’t waste a lot of time or mental energy contemplating the worst, because history has shown that I am simply not creative enough to imagine what evil Republicans will come up with next. No matter where I think the bottom is, Republicans will always find a new one.

Unfortunately, many centrist and moderate Democrats seem paralyzed by the fear of what Republicans will do if they take back the Senate or the White House. They’re afraid to pass sweeping policy or procedural reforms because of how they think Republicans will punish Democratic politicians in the future. It’s hard to even have a debate about big, structural changes to how government functions because too many arguments devolve to “If Democrats do anything, Republicans will be super mean.”

...

I will acknowledge that Republicans will use any action by Democrats as an excuse to further vitiate democracy, should they get a chance. If Democrats kill or even just weaken the filibuster, Republicans will use whatever small Senate majority they’re able to cobble together to ram through the most divisive and extremist laws they can think of. If Democrats add four justices to the Supreme Court, Republicans will add 10 when they get a chance. If Democrats prosecute Trump for corruption and tax fraud, Republicans will prosecute Joe Biden for having ice cream before dinner if they have to. That is their way.

Republicans are not bluffing when they promise retribution should Democrats use the power they have won. But so what? How is that any worse than what we have now? Republicans supported a whole-cloth lie about the results of the last election, which led directly to a massive insurrection against the government. Many of their voters were willing to capture and kill elected representatives or quietly supported those who would. Republicans have chosen to pursue power at any cost, and yet there are Democrats like Joe Manchin who think defending procedural gridlock will “heal” these divides.

Who in their right mind thinks Republicans won’t use all the power they have in, say, 2025 just because Democrats showed restraint in 2021? Republicans never hold their fire because they’re afraid of the Democratic response. They never say, “If we’re not careful, we might piss off Chris Coons.”

...

If securing voting rights means Democrats have to break the filibuster to pass legislation (and it does), then they must do that. If enforcing the constitutional protections of the right to vote means Democrats have to add justices to the Supreme Court (and it does), then Democrats must do that. If these and other acts of protecting democracy mean Lindsey Graham will go on Fox News and angry-cry while vowing vengeance, Democrats must risk that and sell tickets to the meltdown. Voting rights, voting access, and voting certification are among the only things that matter.