181 Comments

Republicans have been brainwashed for 30 years by Rush and Fox and now the other outlets to believe that you have every right to analyze any and all issue's strictly on the basis of its immediate financial impact to you. Now that's one of politics most basic appeals and a person and a families most basic reality but its a short cut in leadership and citizenship. They say "I didn't vote for Trump to raise my kids....I voted for him to lower the price of eggs". In some ways Democrats see America as and extended family and local community....Republicans see it as a monopoly game that produces or does not produce individual material gain

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Sadly, you are right. Nothing is too low for many Americans.

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Godspeed to you, Mark, on your future endeavors.

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He'll go great on Dancing with the Stars

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Best line ever: 'He has portrayed himself, to a degree, as the mythical Icarus who fell to earth after flying too close to the sun—in his case, having possibly snorted it.'

Happy holidays, Mark. I'll miss your commentary and videos. Good luck at Axios and come back to visit!

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I would not be shocked in the least if rapist, junkie, creep Matt Gaetz actually gets a boost in MAGA world out of this damning ethics report. Especially in Florida with its Top Gun wannabe Governor, crank Surgeon General urging parents not to vaccinate their children against preventable diseases like measles that inevitably led to an outbreak of measles, out of control property insurance crisis, worthless Senators who won’t do anything to address climate change or even acknowledge the existence of climate change, and failing public schools where high school students learn that African Americans benefited from slavery.

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"One close ally who talked to Gaetz said the former congressman should take a page from 'The Godfather.'"

It may not be fully understood how much all these people, and none more so than the Next Occupant of the White House himself, desperately want to be mobsters.

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Correction: MAGAtville. You missed the 't'.

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I'm with Marc. Although nobody should be so cynical on December 24th, of course Matt Gaetz has a bright future in MAGAVille. All he has to do is refuse to leave. This is working beautifully IRT for Pete Heghead, who will obviously get his DOD job. For which he must send Joni a bouquet of flowers.

As with Petey, this tactic will open new MAGA vistas for Matt. There won't be enough white-washing time for Florida Ron to put him into Rubio's seat. Which is more fascinating now that first daughter-in-law has cancelled herself here. My bet is we'll see more of Eddie Munster's double, in some future venue. He just needs to take a short tour paddling among the Everglade swamp cypresses before his comeback.

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Re: .."all the hypocrites in the House who have used tax money to cover up their sexual depravity."

MTG has threatened to "out" this alleged depravity too. I say to both her and Gaetz, go for it. The longer you pretend you have some kind of proof without ever producing it, the more we'll know you're completely full of **it.

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Well, MTG does have some general expertise here. Her subcommittee show and tell of Hunter Biden's "sexually explicit" home movies proves her cred. So we can confidently leave this kind of thing up to her.

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Gaetz should be top GOP candidate for governor or Little Marco’s seat. That’s what the people there want.

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"Gaetz hails from Florida, the heart of MAGAville."

Too many states are contending for the title of "the heart of MAGAville[,]" with several being more sunk in the morass that is the MAGA (bowel) movement: Texas, Louisiana, N Carolina, Alabama or Oklahoma as examples. Rather, the Free State of Florida is reminiscent of the stench that emanates from an unwashed, uncircumcised penis.

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"operatives and political pros here said they really could see Gaetz—now radioactive—making a successful return to elected office"

Within the New GOP, a radioactive scandal's half-life is no more than a couple news cycles. By 2026, Gaetz will be considered just another MAGAdroid RINO considering the large number of voters who have the memory of a turnip.

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"there’s a good chance Trump would endorse Gaetz, whom he nominated to be the next attorney general before his hasty withdrawal"

Unless the political landscape changes dramatically before 2026, IMO, there's more than just a good chance that TFG will endorse Gaetz for whatever position in which he chooses to run. TFG "owes" it to him after Gaetz took the bullet and removed himself from consideration as AG instead of TFG having to withdraw his nomination. (The simpatico between these two very fine folk runs deep: one has credible accusations of statutory rape, and the other has been held liable for what Judge Merchan said was the equivalent of rape.)

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"Some fellow Republicans agree that negative saturation media coverage isn’t as deadly as it used to be, especially in GOP politics"

It's true that overdosing on negative coverage isn't as fatal as was, and especially within the New GOP. In fact, MAGAdroid voters thrive on negative reporting of their fellow tribe members, considering it a badge of honor when applied by the MSM, and will reward them by overwhelmingly voting for them in primaries. What the cultists fail to note is, with the exception of TFG for whatever reason, the negativity doesn't sit well with the balance of the electorate, as witnessed by the number of MAGA candidates who easily won a primary only to go down in flames during the general election.

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"And people don’t believe the media like they used to,” [Tyson] said."

I have to wonder if Trump [sic] and his proxies aren't causal for the rapid decrease in trust after their incessant squawking about "fake news" for the last eight years. Trust was already trending downward, but the RINOs have greased the slope and then gave a vigorish push to the truth. Plus, the bloviating, bovine scat, misinformation, and disinformation coming from the Right wingnut media as been boosted by the MSM by its lack of countercoverage and by its repetition of RINO talking points with no pushback.

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"more primary voters than you think will say ‘He’s married, he’s moved on, and this is a political hit job.’ That’s why I won’t say he’s done.”"

The quote references *primary* voters and not voters in toto. See above re general elections.

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"One of those times, she said, he gave her $400 cash. But when she gave a deposition in a separate civil lawsuit, the woman denied she was “escorting” or doing “sex work”"

* Just because someone took part in a sex parties doesn't make them either escorts or sex workers;

* The 17 year old states that Gaetz gave her $400 on one occasion, but at no other time is money mentioned. As we've seen time and time again, the RINOs cherry-pick parts of Congressional testimony to make their point while the balance contradicts their assertions.

fnord

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Heavens to MAGAtroyd! What excellent eloquence and elaborations.

"the Free State of Florida is reminiscent of the stench that emanates from an unwashed, uncircumcised penis." - I was kind of wondering what that miasma was I was smelling when I Iast visited Flori-duh.

"voters who have the memory of a turnip." - Is that a bit of vegaphobia I'm sensing? As a healthy, meaty, ripe-for-picking turnip, I find that very offensive and must report you to the moderators. (Where's a good biased, woke moderator when you need one?)

"I have to wonder if Trump [sic] and his proxies aren't causal..." - Wonder? The only reason one has to wonder (as opposed to state outright) is because there hasn't been a definitive publication connecting the dots... yet. But we should not lose hope. Likely there's dozens of university grads doing their theses on this as we speak. If there isn't, there should be.

"He’s married, he’s moved on, and this is a political hit job.’ " - Given the US has cornered the market on pornography (24.52% global market share with the UK running a dismal second at 5.49%) it should come as no surprise that the electorate has become numbed to the frat-boy-ification of its society - excusing more and more heinous acts because - well, ma - there's 15,000 videos of others doing the same thing!! (As they sit (or whatever) in the comfort of their own home, and then head to church on Sundays wearing their hypocritical best.)

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I am going to miss you Marc...hope you show up once in a while

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Did I miss something? Flake off while reading? Where's Marc going?

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Axios. Bulwark's loss, but Axios' great gain. Here's to Marc's success there!

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Axios stole him ...he starts in January I beleive

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18hEdited

Matt Gaetz will hold a position in the White House within the next ten months. Trump loves to surround himself with other bad boys for downward social comparison. "I might be a pig, but I'm no Epstein, amirite?"

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Well, every father ends up giving his idiot son a job in the factory, eventually.

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"That Gaetz is considering a run at all underscores just how unmoored and raucous the political ecosystem has become. In the past, a bipartisan ethics report by one’s colleagues would be deeply problematic on its own; one in which findings of statutory rape were made public would be a political death knell."

You understand we just put a convicted rapist, whose actions were condemned by a bipartisan congressional committee in the White House? He will be governor of FL if that is what he wants and t***p will provide the full throat endorsement as long as he remains loyal.

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I disagree. Doing bad things is the point. Don’t apologize, be proud of it. Gaetz is young , strong, and he likes to fuck. He’s proud of that. The MAGA folks like that in a man.

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With a lot of help from ED meds.

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Well, you can't do coke and no pick me up in that kind of situation. Pardon my frankness! 🙃

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To appropriate a Matt Gaetz quote and tinker with it a bit:

'The men who have to pay for sex are the ugly ones no one wants to have sex with willingly for free!'

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