That female state legislator is delulu: her side "play nice?" WTF?? Who sacked the Capitol when they lost an election? Who is constantly calling the opposing side names? It isn't the Ds.
I've gotta read more Joe Perticone. This cracked me up multiple times, especially the fashion critiques 😂 Thanks for the brief moment of levity (and the linked video of Mike Johnson being a moron).
My Jon Husted story (he was SofS here before Lt. Gov):
Before cool stuff like no-excuse-required absentee voting and early voting, my precinct was in a church. Although ID wasn’t yet a requirement, Husted put out a notice that his poll workers needed to demand photo ID.
When I got to the table to get my ballot the young poll worker asked for my ID. I replied, “You don’t need it.” We went back and forth (civilly) a couple of times and then I said, “Let’s call Husted’s office and make them give you an actual Revised Code statute number for the ID requirement. They won’t, because there isn’t one.”
Then I swear I heard him say, “He works here.” I didn’t think that was odd because we live in the same suburb and I figured it was quieter at the church than the Secretary’s office, especially on Election Day. I said “Great! Where’s his office? We can speak to him about this in person.”
He looked confused, so I repeated the gist of what I said and he said, “No, he WORSHIPS here.” At that point I gave him a “why tf do I want to know that?” and took my ballot.
I wonder if the kid thought I would just show up the next Sunday and talk to Husted about my complaint.
Husted is a dick, a completely useless meat puppet whose job is to gaze adoringly at homely little Mike DeWine (think Kermit), while being blonde and athletic and making Gov. Mike look even less attractive.
OT, Sherrod is five points up on Bernie Moreno the Used-Car Millionaire and wannabe-Mussolini-Fan-Club president. So that’s good.
Maher minimizes the Israeli right's predation in Gaza and the West Bank. His take on covid is skewed too. But he's spot on with many of the other criticisms of the Dems. The Dems are glad to call out the cavalry at misused pronouns, but when that cavalry gallops past the folks in Palestine, OH, there are necessary questions.
Democrats have scant reason for happiness these days. The defenestration of Kevin McCarthy and his ongoing pathetic attempts to remain relevant fill me with glee.
In 1933 Deutschland the call for unity was 'Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer'. In 2024 America the Republicrat call for unity is 'Fight, Fight, Fight'. If you don't see the difference perhaps it is because at least in my opinion there is none.
McCarthy: "It sent a clear message to those who just want chaos and wanna work with the Democrats: that doesn’t work." Republicans don't want to "work with" Democrats; they want to control everyone. You stated there was "very little ideological disparity" so, they're all on board with Project 2025 and the hate and harm it represents. Joy Greggo, a delegate from Delaware, says that retaliation is not a "good look" (not that it's bad), she talks about the rule of law but, at the end of the day she said that "...we (Republicans) tend to try to play nice." I guess she missed J6, or all the Christmas cards with the families posing with their gun collections, or refusing to vote for legislation that their constituents want. Or, she's living in her own alternative world, which she has a right to do. I've watched both Republican and Democratic conventions in the past. I even watched the 2016 and 2020 conventions, but I can no longer stomach the constant, non-stop lies and hatred, direct and implied through Republican policies. Republicans hurt people and don't care. I'm thoroughly tired of the attempts to normalize it all by discussing costumes and selfies and witty repartee.
I don't speak Republican word salad. Please translate Mr. Former Speaker's statement: "It sent a clear message to those who just want chaos and wanna work with the Democrats: that doesn’t work." Which Agents of Chaos want to work with Democrats?
Remember when Dems bailed him out on the budget deadline and then he bad-mouthed them the next day on TV? If you are Kevin McCarthy, you don't have to make sense or tell the truth. Just run your mouth and hope that the people listening aren't critical thinkers. (When they are Republicans, they usually aren't.)
I think it was more like "you're ugly and you smell bad too" (insofar as it had any actual meaning).
For somebody who thought being Speaker of the House was the thing he coveted most in the world, to say "work with the other party" as an insult is ... oh xit never mind.
I learn something new every day. I can’t always remember the Italian I’ve just spent 2 hours learning on Babbel, but that is going to stick in my mind now. Brilliant😄
I live in Brazil, so Portuguese is always top of mind. My husband and I are learning Italian, too (on Duolingo) for a trip to Italy that was postponed because of the pandemic but that we still hope to make, and love it. As you can imagine, Portuguese is a huge help in learning Italian -- many, many parallels.
Well now my untreated ADHD needs to sort them all into houses. Trump is very clearly House Lannister. Gold toilets? Tywin Lannister had one. The Bidens/Dems are obviously House Stark, steadfastly obeying all the rules, even to the point of death. We need a determined Targaryen on dragonback to disrupt the whole feudal system. That was Bernie, but he's too old now. Sigh.
If I'm being honest, Trump is Targaryen-ish, except he hasn't broken the system, he's just exposed how easily corruptible it is.
House Targaryen ruled for over 300 years because they had dragons. But once the dragons died out, House Targaryen fell swiftly and dramatically. There's a metaphor in there somewhere with irl politics today, and someone smarter than me will find it lol.
Sometimes things need to burn so something better can grow in its place. If everything was going great in America, neither Bernie nor Trump would exist.
I will never understand people who fear Bernie Sanders more than Trump.
Fire is fire. A controlled fire can help clear out the underbrush. An out of control fire burns down the forest, with no guarantee that the forest will grow back. Something else might grow back. It's the "let's burn it all down, with no thinking, crowd" that I find particularly dangerous, regardless of why they want to burn it down.
Bernie Sanders is a genuine patriot who has loved and served this country faithfully for decades. No scandals. No drama. A truly dedicated public servant and just a good human being.
Bernie would actually drain the swamp. The Oligarchs of this country would never allow it. They prefer to own their politicians like JD Vance and Clarence Thomas.
Yep. As you said before, some people fear Bernie more than Trump. I think some of this is due to people feeling like they are losing out and admire/want those who fight to keep their own stuff and maybe take someone else's. These guys might think that they will somehow benefit from proximity to these takers. Low/no concept of the common good.
Bernie destroyed his own prospects by not joining the Democratic Party. You can’t expect to be nominated as president of a rowboat if you won’t get inside the boat.
If he had joined the party he’d have been president.
I’ve never voted for Bernie but to include him in a paragraph with Trump is ludicrous.
Bernie helped move the US a little to the left, and that’s ok. I can’t imagine thinking it’s acceptable for people to earn $7.25/hour while working FT and trying to raise a family. Paying some attention to the climate is a worthwhile endeavor. And corporations are the devil.
I don’t know how much longer we’ll have him. I hope it’s a long time. He’s a treasure.
"And [McCarthy's] open about seeking revenge against those who orchestrated his demise."
Well of course he is, the need to seek vengeance is a critical part of the makeup for members of the New GOP. It's long past the time when politicians strongly argued with each other (even intra-party) on policy or possible legislation and then went out and had a beer together.
-----
"McCarthy was not granted a speaking slot at the convention, despite being both a member of Republican leadership for the better part of the past decade"
And why, exactly, would he have been given a slot at the podium when Trump [sic] himself has deemed McCarthy as persona non grata? He stood up against the MAGAdroids by going bipartisan rather than let the government shut down, and he never was fully committed to the MAGA (bowel) movement. "You're either with us or against us, there is no middle ground. Screw up just once and you're toast."
-----
"a major fundraiser for the Republicans, who took back the House of Representatives thanks in part to money the former speaker brought in."
There is no one in the New GOP who can raise money like McCarthy did. Without the fund raising powerhouse there is, imo, a good possibility that the Dems might retake the House; that and the fact that the RINOs have let the extremists win in the primaries while a majority go down in flames in the general election to moderates on the other side of the aisle.
-----
"For the sake of bringing the nation together, all criminal investigations into the former president should be dropped."
That will surely close the political chasm with which we are currently suffering... not. I believe that a majority of Americans want to see justice done, even if that means an acquittal in any given case. I also believe that the average American rejects a two-tiered justice system: one of leniency for Trump [sic] and any other MAGAdroid accused of breaking the law and another for us just plain folk. Plus, dropping the cases would give horrendous optics to the rest of the free world; we might talk the talk but we don't walk the walk when it comes to equal justice under the law.
Yes, I don’t know if I’m just alone in this, but CNN and other outlets and serious journalist should now be focusing on the way, seconds after a horrific assassination attempt, a bleeding Donald Trump turned and repeatedly shouted at his crowd, “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!’.
I fully appreciate maybe shock does weird things to a human being and none of us know for sure how we would respond to such a violent act. Myself? I’d like to think my instant reaction would be, if in a state to even speak, to ask if everyone was okay. It therefore concerns me that even amidst terrifying chaos, Trump instantly reached for an inflammatory word and a clenched fist, especially as, admittedly unbeknownst to him, one of his supporters was tragically lying dead just metres away, in the bleachers. Yet Trump was essentially, “I’m ok”… then instantly back to the combative rhetoric.
Not only Trump's actions, but the Secret Service was complicit. Having him stand upright before they knew the threat wasn't ongoing, keeping him upright and stationary for a photo op....I hope whatever investigation is done looks into those actions as well. But I'm doubtful, since now that photo is "iconic" and emblazoned on every piece of clothing possible so that the grift can continue.
That female state legislator is delulu: her side "play nice?" WTF?? Who sacked the Capitol when they lost an election? Who is constantly calling the opposing side names? It isn't the Ds.
Her transcript sounded like she may have been a little tipsy. But to be fair, Republican talking points always come off that way.
I just saw a clip of a drunk Rudy walking right off the side of the stage and falling into the chairs.
https://x.com/RachelBitecofer/status/1813325892585939421
Oh dear! Couldn't have happened to a more deserving creature.
My whole night just brightened.
And Trump fell asleep.
We have to take our joy where we can find it!
Drunk Uncle, Rudy edition.
These MAGAts don't have any ideas. They're all about stealing the country and its resources from the rest of us.
"Try" is just another way to say no. They try to play nice, but the Democrats are evil blood suckers, so they can't really play nice.
“Unity” is about the party coming together, not the country.
Thank you at least somebody can see that. Kevin can be as good a little fascist as the rest of them.
I've gotta read more Joe Perticone. This cracked me up multiple times, especially the fashion critiques 😂 Thanks for the brief moment of levity (and the linked video of Mike Johnson being a moron).
He's got the dry, wry humor and knowing cultural references down pat.
And the way he writes about people you also see them standing before you, his descriptions are so good.
My Jon Husted story (he was SofS here before Lt. Gov):
Before cool stuff like no-excuse-required absentee voting and early voting, my precinct was in a church. Although ID wasn’t yet a requirement, Husted put out a notice that his poll workers needed to demand photo ID.
When I got to the table to get my ballot the young poll worker asked for my ID. I replied, “You don’t need it.” We went back and forth (civilly) a couple of times and then I said, “Let’s call Husted’s office and make them give you an actual Revised Code statute number for the ID requirement. They won’t, because there isn’t one.”
Then I swear I heard him say, “He works here.” I didn’t think that was odd because we live in the same suburb and I figured it was quieter at the church than the Secretary’s office, especially on Election Day. I said “Great! Where’s his office? We can speak to him about this in person.”
He looked confused, so I repeated the gist of what I said and he said, “No, he WORSHIPS here.” At that point I gave him a “why tf do I want to know that?” and took my ballot.
I wonder if the kid thought I would just show up the next Sunday and talk to Husted about my complaint.
Husted is a dick, a completely useless meat puppet whose job is to gaze adoringly at homely little Mike DeWine (think Kermit), while being blonde and athletic and making Gov. Mike look even less attractive.
OT, Sherrod is five points up on Bernie Moreno the Used-Car Millionaire and wannabe-Mussolini-Fan-Club president. So that’s good.
On Bill Maher I watched Kevin McCarthy lie without a shred of conscience on the usual GOP talking points. Same old spineless POS Kevin.
He fit right in with Bill then.
Maher minimizes the Israeli right's predation in Gaza and the West Bank. His take on covid is skewed too. But he's spot on with many of the other criticisms of the Dems. The Dems are glad to call out the cavalry at misused pronouns, but when that cavalry gallops past the folks in Palestine, OH, there are necessary questions.
The cavalry wasn’t responsible for East Palestine, as railroads are privately owned.
The Feds did offer help five hours after the accident but our Republican governor said the state would be fine.
In this case, the cavalry will be Norfolk & Southern.
After January 6, when everyone was still shaken, he was the first to kiss the ring. We could have been done with Trump but for him.
Democrats have scant reason for happiness these days. The defenestration of Kevin McCarthy and his ongoing pathetic attempts to remain relevant fill me with glee.
In 1933 Deutschland the call for unity was 'Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer'. In 2024 America the Republicrat call for unity is 'Fight, Fight, Fight'. If you don't see the difference perhaps it is because at least in my opinion there is none.
And Kinder, Kirche, Küche (children, church, kitchen) as the ideal locations for the Aryan hausfrau.
Excellent observation, James. Thanks 🇺🇸💙❣️
McCarthy: "It sent a clear message to those who just want chaos and wanna work with the Democrats: that doesn’t work." Republicans don't want to "work with" Democrats; they want to control everyone. You stated there was "very little ideological disparity" so, they're all on board with Project 2025 and the hate and harm it represents. Joy Greggo, a delegate from Delaware, says that retaliation is not a "good look" (not that it's bad), she talks about the rule of law but, at the end of the day she said that "...we (Republicans) tend to try to play nice." I guess she missed J6, or all the Christmas cards with the families posing with their gun collections, or refusing to vote for legislation that their constituents want. Or, she's living in her own alternative world, which she has a right to do. I've watched both Republican and Democratic conventions in the past. I even watched the 2016 and 2020 conventions, but I can no longer stomach the constant, non-stop lies and hatred, direct and implied through Republican policies. Republicans hurt people and don't care. I'm thoroughly tired of the attempts to normalize it all by discussing costumes and selfies and witty repartee.
I don't speak Republican word salad. Please translate Mr. Former Speaker's statement: "It sent a clear message to those who just want chaos and wanna work with the Democrats: that doesn’t work." Which Agents of Chaos want to work with Democrats?
Remember when Dems bailed him out on the budget deadline and then he bad-mouthed them the next day on TV? If you are Kevin McCarthy, you don't have to make sense or tell the truth. Just run your mouth and hope that the people listening aren't critical thinkers. (When they are Republicans, they usually aren't.)
I think it was more like "you're ugly and you smell bad too" (insofar as it had any actual meaning).
For somebody who thought being Speaker of the House was the thing he coveted most in the world, to say "work with the other party" as an insult is ... oh xit never mind.
I found that baffling, since HE worked with Democrats and POTUS.
He’s a sad little man. I bet Bakersfield is really boring after the well-oiled machine that is the House.
The 8 GOP that voted no to Kevin along with the democrats.
"MAGAA or MAGOA? The people shall decide." "Mágoa" is Portuguese for "wound", so that's definitely the one that I'm routing for.
I learn something new every day. I can’t always remember the Italian I’ve just spent 2 hours learning on Babbel, but that is going to stick in my mind now. Brilliant😄
I live in Brazil, so Portuguese is always top of mind. My husband and I are learning Italian, too (on Duolingo) for a trip to Italy that was postponed because of the pandemic but that we still hope to make, and love it. As you can imagine, Portuguese is a huge help in learning Italian -- many, many parallels.
Just like Spanish was a lot easier because I knew French pretty well at the time...
I can suss out quite a bit of any romance language because they are so similar
Plus, know some Latin helps too
Well now my untreated ADHD needs to sort them all into houses. Trump is very clearly House Lannister. Gold toilets? Tywin Lannister had one. The Bidens/Dems are obviously House Stark, steadfastly obeying all the rules, even to the point of death. We need a determined Targaryen on dragonback to disrupt the whole feudal system. That was Bernie, but he's too old now. Sigh.
If I'm being honest, Trump is Targaryen-ish, except he hasn't broken the system, he's just exposed how easily corruptible it is.
House Targaryen ruled for over 300 years because they had dragons. But once the dragons died out, House Targaryen fell swiftly and dramatically. There's a metaphor in there somewhere with irl politics today, and someone smarter than me will find it lol.
Dragons burn everything down. If you are willing to wreak destruction, you scare the others into submission.
Sometimes things need to burn so something better can grow in its place. If everything was going great in America, neither Bernie nor Trump would exist.
I will never understand people who fear Bernie Sanders more than Trump.
Fire is fire. A controlled fire can help clear out the underbrush. An out of control fire burns down the forest, with no guarantee that the forest will grow back. Something else might grow back. It's the "let's burn it all down, with no thinking, crowd" that I find particularly dangerous, regardless of why they want to burn it down.
Bernie Sanders is a genuine patriot who has loved and served this country faithfully for decades. No scandals. No drama. A truly dedicated public servant and just a good human being.
Bernie would actually drain the swamp. The Oligarchs of this country would never allow it. They prefer to own their politicians like JD Vance and Clarence Thomas.
Yep. As you said before, some people fear Bernie more than Trump. I think some of this is due to people feeling like they are losing out and admire/want those who fight to keep their own stuff and maybe take someone else's. These guys might think that they will somehow benefit from proximity to these takers. Low/no concept of the common good.
Bernie destroyed his own prospects by not joining the Democratic Party. You can’t expect to be nominated as president of a rowboat if you won’t get inside the boat.
If he had joined the party he’d have been president.
I’ve never voted for Bernie but to include him in a paragraph with Trump is ludicrous.
Bernie helped move the US a little to the left, and that’s ok. I can’t imagine thinking it’s acceptable for people to earn $7.25/hour while working FT and trying to raise a family. Paying some attention to the climate is a worthwhile endeavor. And corporations are the devil.
I don’t know how much longer we’ll have him. I hope it’s a long time. He’s a treasure.
My Kevin misses you, Joe! If you see my former Congressman Dan Crenshaw, aka the House version of JD Vance, I'm sorry lol.
Excellent article, Joe. Kevin McCarthy just got publicly taunted to his face by the ever-shameless Matt Gaetz:
https://youtube.com/shorts/CjuwNf2zjUU?si=epxVHKOTiM7JbPuc
"And [McCarthy's] open about seeking revenge against those who orchestrated his demise."
Well of course he is, the need to seek vengeance is a critical part of the makeup for members of the New GOP. It's long past the time when politicians strongly argued with each other (even intra-party) on policy or possible legislation and then went out and had a beer together.
-----
"McCarthy was not granted a speaking slot at the convention, despite being both a member of Republican leadership for the better part of the past decade"
And why, exactly, would he have been given a slot at the podium when Trump [sic] himself has deemed McCarthy as persona non grata? He stood up against the MAGAdroids by going bipartisan rather than let the government shut down, and he never was fully committed to the MAGA (bowel) movement. "You're either with us or against us, there is no middle ground. Screw up just once and you're toast."
-----
"a major fundraiser for the Republicans, who took back the House of Representatives thanks in part to money the former speaker brought in."
There is no one in the New GOP who can raise money like McCarthy did. Without the fund raising powerhouse there is, imo, a good possibility that the Dems might retake the House; that and the fact that the RINOs have let the extremists win in the primaries while a majority go down in flames in the general election to moderates on the other side of the aisle.
-----
"For the sake of bringing the nation together, all criminal investigations into the former president should be dropped."
That will surely close the political chasm with which we are currently suffering... not. I believe that a majority of Americans want to see justice done, even if that means an acquittal in any given case. I also believe that the average American rejects a two-tiered justice system: one of leniency for Trump [sic] and any other MAGAdroid accused of breaking the law and another for us just plain folk. Plus, dropping the cases would give horrendous optics to the rest of the free world; we might talk the talk but we don't walk the walk when it comes to equal justice under the law.
fnord
You in a cheesehead. I couldn't be more proud.
Yes, I don’t know if I’m just alone in this, but CNN and other outlets and serious journalist should now be focusing on the way, seconds after a horrific assassination attempt, a bleeding Donald Trump turned and repeatedly shouted at his crowd, “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!’.
I fully appreciate maybe shock does weird things to a human being and none of us know for sure how we would respond to such a violent act. Myself? I’d like to think my instant reaction would be, if in a state to even speak, to ask if everyone was okay. It therefore concerns me that even amidst terrifying chaos, Trump instantly reached for an inflammatory word and a clenched fist, especially as, admittedly unbeknownst to him, one of his supporters was tragically lying dead just metres away, in the bleachers. Yet Trump was essentially, “I’m ok”… then instantly back to the combative rhetoric.
Not only Trump's actions, but the Secret Service was complicit. Having him stand upright before they knew the threat wasn't ongoing, keeping him upright and stationary for a photo op....I hope whatever investigation is done looks into those actions as well. But I'm doubtful, since now that photo is "iconic" and emblazoned on every piece of clothing possible so that the grift can continue.