US Politics, January 2022 — a pro-God, pro-family, pro-bitcoin state

Same deal in TN. We're already at a 7-2 split in our congressional delegation — in a state that votes 37-40 percent Democratic in statewide races — but now they've chopped up Nashville among three different Republican-leaning districts. So we're going to have 11 percent Democratic representation in our delegation. It's not "representative" in any actual way, but is almost certainly legal. This is how the GOP takes back the House without even having to flip any seats in the midterms. (Which they will probably also do.)

of course the ny dems are gerrymandering in retaliation and all you hear is republican whining.

if you don’t like it, pass the fucking john lewis act

I'm slightly nervous about the possibility of Illinois seeing a Republican governor soon. While the downstate folks hating the Democratic governor is nothing new (though their Pritzker hate seems even more intense than usual), there are enough the "small business" capitalist bootlicking DINO types in Chicago that are blaming their pandemic failures on him to the point that I'm worried we might be surprised.

don't even get me started about Wisconsin right now

Take Back MO Rally

this is one of the best photos I've seen of the kind of wide-eyed christian fascism that's permeates the state:

https://i.imgur.com/x6yC11n.png

On the anniversary of the January 6th Insurrection, the “Take Back MO Rally” was held on the first floor rotunda of the Missouri State Capitol without any objection. The event was organized by Rep. Ann Kelley, a vocal advocate of the election fraud theory, who stated the date of the rally was just pure coincidence. The rally began with prayers led by a Missouri pastor, asking the lord to watch over the Jan. 6th Insurrectionists still incarcerated for storming the nation's Capitol. This was followed by various state politicians assuring the completely maskless crowd that the recent omicron surge was fabricated, argued that implementing CRT in schools would only create Marxist children, and cautioned that America’s morals were in danger of being dismantled by “them”, although there was never an explanation of who exactly “them” was. The infamous "My Pillow Guy" was originally billed to be the main speaker, however he was a no show. Instead, the pinnacle of the day was a lecture by Dr. Douglas Frank, a physics teacher from Ohio who claims he discovered an algorithm proving the 2020 election was rigged. Despite his findings being widely disproven, he told the crowd he would “summarize his discovery from a 3 hour presentation to just 20 minutes” which was met with a “hell yeah” from the crowd. As Dr. Douglas Frank showcased his findings via PowerPoint, many of the rally attendees jotted notes and took photos of his findings to add to their own research. The event ended 2 hours early with the physics teacher performing an experiment. He took out a ‘metallic singing rod’ which he rubbed to initiate a high pitched screech, which he asked “isn’t this annoying?” to the crowd. He then explained “the truth about our election being stolen…annoying isn't it? The truth is annoying”. More photos at @riverfronttimes

i will say that it is gutsy as hell to do this in public, and his triumph over the enraptured crowd must have felt exhilarating:

he event ended 2 hours early with the physics teacher performing an experiment. He took out a ‘metallic singing rod’ which he rubbed to initiate a high pitched screech, which he asked “isn’t this annoying?” to the crowd. He then explained “the truth about our election being stolen…annoying isn't it? The truth is annoying”.

looooool
these are brule's rules

US Politics, January 2022 - "Isn't this annoying?... Annoying, isn't it?"

*crowd looks at each other in astonishment*

he's right about some things, you know?!

well i dunno, there are lots of other people around here who seem to think it's right though so

https://i.imgur.com/PXOVryW.png

transcription of the notes of the guy up front

evidence:
Doug Frank - doctor
    graph: registered voters
    trump victory guaranteed by algorithm
                                (99.99% probability
                                   20% chance of evolution)
    mypillow promo: PATRIOTMO
                     (40% off first pillow)
            Zionist club penis enhancement committee
      
      Doctor Doug: "I have more promo codes following my presentation"
 
 
loud annoying sound experiment
          

HAY! DOCTOR DOUG!

https://i.imgur.com/RkW2QdK.png

HAY! I wanted to start out with a general statement, which is that I also have an algorithm that proves -- without a shadow of doubt in my heart, follow the money -- that President Trump won the election. We all know he did and I think we should all be doing our own research

I'm just praying that America will pray the rosary to make all abortions go away

I'm going to be completely frank and say that the number one bit of voter and demographic analysis that is being ignored is how incredibly fucking stupid many people are in the United States, and how proud these stupid people are about their stupidity. Mix in those who've bought bootstraps ideology and Christian ethno-nationalism and you have a significant portion of the population who are, by any objective measure, slobbering, mean-spirited fools.

It is not lost on me that some of this is by design, as keeping people dumb and entranced by shiny objects, Gods, fear, and lottery-like chances at "making it" is part and parcel of US hypercapitalism and the GOP's general platform. But there's only so much of the rise in vengeful morons that can be explained by these hegemonic forces.

(Not exclusive to the US, of course).

those people look really unhealthy, not really about body size per se, they just look like they don't know how to take care of themselves

Case in point:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/20/opinion/biden-independent-voters.html

Read before lunch.

A huge number of white people in the U.S. lost their damn minds when a black man got elected president.

I'm still utterly baffled by the Qberts' obsession with the upcoming resurrection of JFK Jr.

Table otm. It's the stupidity, stupid. And selfishness. And racism/xenophobia.

Depressing that I can't just blame tilt towards mouthbreather dbag populism on older generation and wait for them to just die out. So many people my age are just horrible people who are made more horrible by their pervasive cynicism.

Janet: Please be moderate, like you used to be, and don’t tell me that I have to wear a mask anymore.

is that an actual quote? lmfao.

Case in point: dumb motherfuckers are everywhere, and they vote.

I wonder how much of that would translate to any given year/President/etc., so much of it's the usual media-driven pablum about crime being worse than ever:

I think they’ve taken us back to cave man time, where you would walk around with a club. “I want what you have.” You’re not even safe to walk around and go to the train station, because somebody might throw you off the train, OK? It’s a regression.

how is it that every single "independent voter" parrots the exact same talking points from Tucker Carlson

Jimbeaux OTFM

Scott: This is the problem. This is the problem.

Frank Luntz: What’s the problem?

Scott: That people think these things. That the election was rigged, that it was stolen, that Biden’s a puppet. I mean, this is the problem in the country, that people believe this stuff.

Janet: But he ran as a moderate, and he hasn’t done anything moderately. It’s been all listening to the progressives.

Scott: Well, Trump ran as the least racist person in the world, he said, and we know how that turned out. So, I mean, people say things.

Kristine: That’s irrelevant.

Out of Beckett.

Waiting for God! Out!

“So, I mean, people say things.”

They do, they do

They open their mouths and certainly, words pour forth

It's the pride that grates me most. Some guy at the gym last week was loudly complaining that he had been told to wear a mask and he was like, "everybody thinks I'm an asshole, but guess what? I don't care! I'm a proud asshole!" and I thought "how can people even talk to each other when the starting point in a conversation is 'I don't care what you think, the more you disagree with me, the better I will feel about myself!'?" That is Trump's psychosis writ large across the Republican party. There's no ideology, it's just feeling good about pissing off anyone who disagrees with you.

OTFM. Trump just gave them license to be the assholes polite society said they shouldn't be.

Because this destruction was emanating from such an inept source, who seemed (at that time) merely comically thuggish, who seemed to know so little about what he was disrupting, and because life was going on, and because every day he/they burst through some new gate of propriety, we soon found that no genuine outrage was available to us anymore. If you’ll allow me a crude metaphor (as I’m sure you, the King of las Bromas de Fartos, will): a guy comes into a dinner party, takes a dump on the rug in the living room. The guests get all excited, yell in protest. He takes a second dump. The guests feel, Well, yelling didn’t help. (While some of them applaud his audacity.) He takes a third dump, on the table, and still no one throws him out. At that point, the sky has become the limit in terms of future dumps.

--George Saunders, "Love Letter"

its also the extent to which these guys just brazenly lie about everything, even when they know they're on video doing the exact opposite. Trump even floating the possibility of just saying the Access Hollywood video was faked. who gives a shit, there's no consequences

the sky has become the limit in terms of future dumps

Maybe we could have George Saunders just write all our new thread titles, paid by crowdfund

how incredibly fucking stupid many people are in the United States

I said something very much like this to my (liberal/progressive) dad after I'd been a reporter out in the world for long enough to see the abundant evidence of it. I remember he accused me of being an elitist. lol

I was just saying to a friend last week that if anything chases me out of journalism for good, it will be the relentless exposure to dumb people. I go to local government meetings or watch legislative hearings, and it's just a parade and a cavalcade of idiots, supported by idiots, sometimes getting yelled at by other idiots. Nobody fucking knows anything, nobody does the tiniest bit of homework, it's just morons all the way down.

That's not even an ideological objection, though I have lots of those too. It's just about the level of knowledge and understanding of anything.

tipsy, I've tons of respect for your work and fortitude.

Who benefits from a completely uninformed electorate?

Thanks. One a these days I'm gonna chuck it all and open a cocktail bar.

Frank Luntz: We’re going to do a word and phrase for the Democrats and word or phrase for the Republicans. Scott, give me a word or phrase to describe the Democrats.

Scott: Cohesiveness. The anti-hate. Calmness, I would think.

Don: Revolution. Revolutionary.

Dickie: Fair.

Jim: Sometimes too liberal, but together.

Alice: They’re more, like, people-oriented.

Travis: Sneaky.

Janet: He stole mine.

Tenae: Crazy.

Azariah: Sweet talkers.

Kristine: Chaotic.

Mark: Radical.

Julia: Going toward socialism.

Nick: Smooth talkers.

Jules: Currently intolerant.

Frank Luntz: OK, now give me a word or phrase to describe the Republicans.

Jules: Very loud.

Nick: They don’t represent everybody.

Julia: Have to regroup.

Kristine: Wrong direction. I can’t think of one word.

Mark: Weak.

Azariah: Ruthless.

Tenae: Inconsistent.

Janet: Uncivil.

Jim: Dishonest and cowardly.

Alice: More business-oriented.

Travis: Arrogant.

Dickie: Capitalistic.

Don: Unnecessarily divisive.

Scott: Chaotic.

a Le Tigre song

Tipsy, you already know I expect to get a fucking phone call if you do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaDhY2OpeR0

you know it WmC

"Trump just gave them license to be the assholes polite society said they shouldn't be."

Which is why I wouldn't support Trump even if I 100% agreed with all his "positions". Just the worst possible role model.

One of the few consolations I'm hoping for is that some of these ding-dongs learn the hard way that saying "lol no" to a subpoena doesn't work quite the same when you are Joe Magaman from middle Nebraska, despite what Trump and his craven cronies think.

The worst possible role model who has still somehow been embraced by religious conservatives to the point where that guy in the photo above wears a shirt with a giant Q with a cross inside it. I'll never wrap my head around it. xp

Evangelicals in 1996: "Character matters."

Evangelicals in 2016: "Character doesn't matter."

xp the moment is way passed, but Karl's MO posts earlier were a literal manifestation of "in rod we trust"

Evangelicals in 1996: We hate non-white people, and impress our own ethno-nationalist religious beliefs onto a Godhead who would totally disapprove of everything we stand for.
Evangelicals in 2016: We hate non-white people, and impress our own ethno-nationalist religious beliefs onto a Godhead who would totally disapprove of everything we stand for.

I mean I get your point, jimbeaux, but I guess anyone with any fucking brains could see through it in 96. I could, and I was 12.