Interesting that you state that there should be a 'societal death penalty' for anyone who choses to participate in assisting Putin by promoting his TV station here in the US. I got bounced off Twitter (Permanent ban they said) for a similar statement about Trump last night. I plan to appeal by discussing this removal from Twitter w/Gavin Newsom, and other Ca. State Representatives. How is this acceptable behavior for a social platform?
2022 Left wing authoritarianism: We make you get life-saving vaccines utilizing amazing American technology and also require virus-protecting facial masks.
2022 Right wing authoritarianism: We buddy up with brutal dictators who roll tanks into town and kill, maim and destroy. It's pretty equal isn't it? I think we need to convoy.
The absolute petulance of Republicans today, the pathetic whining about the tyranny of masks, when the people of Ukraine are arming themselves to save their surrounded cities. Disgraceful.
Is there a term yet for when you subscribe to a group substack ($80 annually for Arc Digital on January 8) and the writer (Cathy Young) you signed up for moves to another substack that you already subscribe to?
Amanda's on a roll! Keep the incoming coming - or, as renowned Doctor of Journalism Hunter S. Thompson put it, chase them like rats across the tundra...
The Ding-Of-Bat, "Christina Pushaw," tweeted, "Why would you expect the Governor of Florida, at a conference in Florida, to talk about Russia and Ukraine?"
1. Because It is the most important story/issue on the planet.
2. If he wants to be president in 2024 (two years from now), the 'Guv'na" will have to strap-on some concept of foreign policy beyond having lived in the desert of Iraq.
3. What a perfect name for D-of-B, except that she misspelled it.
"Pshaw" is an interjection used to express impatience, contempt, disbelief, etc.
Patriots is a misnomer for the GOP sellout party of cowards. I’m embarrassed to be lumped in as an American with them. Whining about Covid restrictions when I just watched a 6 year old sustain deadly injuries in Ukraine. Disgusting.
It's sort of amazing that the tail end of Covid is timed with the Ukrainian invasion as it juxtaposes whining about masks & mandates with people literally fighting for their lives and being super brave about it.
Along with comparing the mandates to the holocaust...the GOP continues to prove its shallow knowledge of history...even as history is made currently with the Russia invasion.
It's always some version of "THEY hate us and THEY are out to get us!" It isn't really clear who "they" are, but there's a clear sense of being victims of an immense conspiracy of evil. If more and more people show up on the side of evidence-based sanity (e.g. Bill Barr saying the "rigged election" claims have no factual basis), that just shows how vast and deep the conspiracy really us, and how unfair everything is to the True Believers.
I think there are people who get their sense of righteousness from always being on the opposite side of any issue from the people they've designated as their ideological enemies -- even if that pits them against pretty much the whole civilized world.
Welcome Cathy Young to the Bulwark. I am a huge fan and her insights are so valuable. Seeing the growth of this organization is the one few bright spots during the last six years.
I like how Tom Cotton and Ron DeSantis can excuse their silence about Trump and the Right being on the side of Putin by simply saying they can't speak for others they only speak for themselves or it's not part of their job to have an opinion on it. And yet they turn right around, almost in the same breath, and all of a sudden it is their job to speak for Democrats when claiming they are for things like vax concentration camps, rampant socialism, excessive "wokism" or whatever it is they want to complain about or start complaining about countries like Australia and Canada as if those two countries are something the Governor of Florida can comment on but Russia's invasion of Ukraine is not.
I have no time for these idiots. But I have to make time for DeSantis because he's the governor of my state and he needs to go.
DeSantis only won in 2018 by less than 1% to Andrew Gillum who was not that great of a candidate.
I am backing Nikki Fried for Governor who has won a statewide race in the recent past for Agricultural Commissioner. I don't like Crist because I think he's too squishy. But he is connected. If he wins the primary he will have my vote because this election is too important and I would love to see DeSantis and his humiliation.
I agree about Fried being the better politician. I wonder if Christ is the better candidate. Just like with Biden in 2020, I want the person with the best chance of defeating DeSantis to win the primary.
I look at Crist and his fake, spray-on tan and just feel icky. But people seem to like him. I'll vote for him if he makes it out of the primary, but my preferred candidate is Fried.
Charlie Christ. He's a former Republican who is widely respected in the state on both sides of the "traditional" aisle. I think he has a legitimate shot IF he can win the Democratic primary.
I know there are Republican leaders whose heads aren’t up their arses, but must it only be Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger who speak out? As a lifelong Dem, I usually had tons of respect even for those Republicans I vehemently disagreed with, but except for Cheney & Kinzinger the rest have shredded any legitimacy they may have had in my opinion. Democrats aren’t the enemy. They seem to be the only ones fighting against what surely will become the “new” voting fraud — those handpicked and put in place to count the votes. To think all the lies & outrageousness from the right (stolen election, Covid disinformation, politicization of public health recommendations, lies about the vaccine, just for starters) all stems from the big lie and the even bigger liar. But sadly, no one on the right has the guts to speak the truth! They all seem to wait til their careers are no longer on the line. It’s only then they speak up and out by writing books about all they witnessed. It’s sickening.
It's the book writing that really infuriates me. Where are the ones who worked for the Trump administration and who have already called Trump a moron, an idiot, etc., etc.? Where are Tillerson - a supposedly smart former CEO and secretary of state - and all the others? Have they been bought and sold by Trump/Putin and others that they're still covering for that traitor years after they left? They should all be screaming from the rooftops about him.
I've wondered the exact same thing. It sure seems like many of these GOP folks observed Trump behavior that had to be jaw dropping for them. Somehow many of them decided that it wasn't their job to warn the public about it. Self-preservation and group-think I believe were a couple of the barriers to publicly talking about it....even today.
I sure wish one of those who served in the Trump administration, witnessed the incompetence and treachery, and are now writing books, would address exactly that issue. With honesty. Why did they stay silent, but are now spilling it all for a payday? I think the answer is weak character; otherwise they would address it.
Has to be more than that, I think. Those people were already successes, they have friends, contacts, etc. that put anything Trump had to shame. Considering that more people voted for Biden, I would think that if they opened their mouths, they'd be praised to the hills if they brought Trump and his ilk down. I'm back to thinking what are they afraid of and who did they sell their souls to. Can't be Trump.
Take the time to read the interview with Fiona Hill in Politico. Hill has a clear eyed, unvarnished assessment of Putin. She's not one to exaggerate or overstate. So when she talks about Adolph Hitler in the same sentence as Putin and notes World War III started a while ago, I listen.
I said this last week, but was a little more vague. I see no other path for this conflict than a nuclear showdown between Putin and the rest of the world. I'm not predicting launches, but I am predicting that Putin will eventually be cornered and he WILL threaten to use nukes. How this will get de-escalated is beyond me, but even Putin wants to live so there's that...
I really don't get what McCarthy gains by letting Gosar and MTG hang around. He could collaborate with Pelosi to remove them both from office and since they're from safe districts, he'd not lose a seat. It's really shortsighted for him not to eliminate them
It's the "collaborating with Pelosi" part that is the problem. For McCarthy's voters if McCarthy is seen as collaborating with Pelosi about anything it will be worse for him than allowing a few GOP House members to give speeches to anti-Semitic, white supremacist groups.
McCarthy's district here. Yes, they are that awful and then some. His very muted statement yesterday has restarted the howls of RINO across the land here. They want him to be fully Maga in all it's awful glory. They hate him about the same as the rest of us do, but for different reasons.
A Republican rep locked in a Trumpy vs Trumpier primary may well bring in MTG to campaign and raise money. Of course she will demand support for her to have more power in Washington. Didn't she endorse one of the lowlifes running for Senate in Ohio, and isn't that lowlife boasting of that endorsement?
Interesting that you state that there should be a 'societal death penalty' for anyone who choses to participate in assisting Putin by promoting his TV station here in the US. I got bounced off Twitter (Permanent ban they said) for a similar statement about Trump last night. I plan to appeal by discussing this removal from Twitter w/Gavin Newsom, and other Ca. State Representatives. How is this acceptable behavior for a social platform?
2022 Left wing authoritarianism: We make you get life-saving vaccines utilizing amazing American technology and also require virus-protecting facial masks.
2022 Right wing authoritarianism: We buddy up with brutal dictators who roll tanks into town and kill, maim and destroy. It's pretty equal isn't it? I think we need to convoy.
Watch the Winter of Fire on Netflix, send out your cancellation notice to Roku and Sling, #LIBERATEUKRAINE.
The absolute petulance of Republicans today, the pathetic whining about the tyranny of masks, when the people of Ukraine are arming themselves to save their surrounded cities. Disgraceful.
Is there a term yet for when you subscribe to a group substack ($80 annually for Arc Digital on January 8) and the writer (Cathy Young) you signed up for moves to another substack that you already subscribe to?
Stackwhacked?
Lol.
That picture of Pat reminds me of the goblins that work at Gringotts bank
Amanda's on a roll! Keep the incoming coming - or, as renowned Doctor of Journalism Hunter S. Thompson put it, chase them like rats across the tundra...
The Ding-Of-Bat, "Christina Pushaw," tweeted, "Why would you expect the Governor of Florida, at a conference in Florida, to talk about Russia and Ukraine?"
1. Because It is the most important story/issue on the planet.
2. If he wants to be president in 2024 (two years from now), the 'Guv'na" will have to strap-on some concept of foreign policy beyond having lived in the desert of Iraq.
3. What a perfect name for D-of-B, except that she misspelled it.
"Pshaw" is an interjection used to express impatience, contempt, disbelief, etc.
Oh, and the little fact that Russian oligarchs have a lot of laundered money stashed in Miami real estate.
Patriots is a misnomer for the GOP sellout party of cowards. I’m embarrassed to be lumped in as an American with them. Whining about Covid restrictions when I just watched a 6 year old sustain deadly injuries in Ukraine. Disgusting.
It's sort of amazing that the tail end of Covid is timed with the Ukrainian invasion as it juxtaposes whining about masks & mandates with people literally fighting for their lives and being super brave about it.
Along with comparing the mandates to the holocaust...the GOP continues to prove its shallow knowledge of history...even as history is made currently with the Russia invasion.
It's always some version of "THEY hate us and THEY are out to get us!" It isn't really clear who "they" are, but there's a clear sense of being victims of an immense conspiracy of evil. If more and more people show up on the side of evidence-based sanity (e.g. Bill Barr saying the "rigged election" claims have no factual basis), that just shows how vast and deep the conspiracy really us, and how unfair everything is to the True Believers.
I think there are people who get their sense of righteousness from always being on the opposite side of any issue from the people they've designated as their ideological enemies -- even if that pits them against pretty much the whole civilized world.
Welcome Cathy Young to the Bulwark. I am a huge fan and her insights are so valuable. Seeing the growth of this organization is the one few bright spots during the last six years.
Cathy Young is a huge get. Love her writing!
I like how Tom Cotton and Ron DeSantis can excuse their silence about Trump and the Right being on the side of Putin by simply saying they can't speak for others they only speak for themselves or it's not part of their job to have an opinion on it. And yet they turn right around, almost in the same breath, and all of a sudden it is their job to speak for Democrats when claiming they are for things like vax concentration camps, rampant socialism, excessive "wokism" or whatever it is they want to complain about or start complaining about countries like Australia and Canada as if those two countries are something the Governor of Florida can comment on but Russia's invasion of Ukraine is not.
I have no time for these idiots. But I have to make time for DeSantis because he's the governor of my state and he needs to go.
Serious question - Is there anyone in Florida who can replace him?
Only about a million other Republicans. DeSantis is expendable.
DeSantis only won in 2018 by less than 1% to Andrew Gillum who was not that great of a candidate.
I am backing Nikki Fried for Governor who has won a statewide race in the recent past for Agricultural Commissioner. I don't like Crist because I think he's too squishy. But he is connected. If he wins the primary he will have my vote because this election is too important and I would love to see DeSantis and his humiliation.
I agree about Fried being the better politician. I wonder if Christ is the better candidate. Just like with Biden in 2020, I want the person with the best chance of defeating DeSantis to win the primary.
I look at Crist and his fake, spray-on tan and just feel icky. But people seem to like him. I'll vote for him if he makes it out of the primary, but my preferred candidate is Fried.
Charlie Christ. He's a former Republican who is widely respected in the state on both sides of the "traditional" aisle. I think he has a legitimate shot IF he can win the Democratic primary.
I know there are Republican leaders whose heads aren’t up their arses, but must it only be Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger who speak out? As a lifelong Dem, I usually had tons of respect even for those Republicans I vehemently disagreed with, but except for Cheney & Kinzinger the rest have shredded any legitimacy they may have had in my opinion. Democrats aren’t the enemy. They seem to be the only ones fighting against what surely will become the “new” voting fraud — those handpicked and put in place to count the votes. To think all the lies & outrageousness from the right (stolen election, Covid disinformation, politicization of public health recommendations, lies about the vaccine, just for starters) all stems from the big lie and the even bigger liar. But sadly, no one on the right has the guts to speak the truth! They all seem to wait til their careers are no longer on the line. It’s only then they speak up and out by writing books about all they witnessed. It’s sickening.
It's the book writing that really infuriates me. Where are the ones who worked for the Trump administration and who have already called Trump a moron, an idiot, etc., etc.? Where are Tillerson - a supposedly smart former CEO and secretary of state - and all the others? Have they been bought and sold by Trump/Putin and others that they're still covering for that traitor years after they left? They should all be screaming from the rooftops about him.
I've wondered the exact same thing. It sure seems like many of these GOP folks observed Trump behavior that had to be jaw dropping for them. Somehow many of them decided that it wasn't their job to warn the public about it. Self-preservation and group-think I believe were a couple of the barriers to publicly talking about it....even today.
I sure wish one of those who served in the Trump administration, witnessed the incompetence and treachery, and are now writing books, would address exactly that issue. With honesty. Why did they stay silent, but are now spilling it all for a payday? I think the answer is weak character; otherwise they would address it.
Has to be more than that, I think. Those people were already successes, they have friends, contacts, etc. that put anything Trump had to shame. Considering that more people voted for Biden, I would think that if they opened their mouths, they'd be praised to the hills if they brought Trump and his ilk down. I'm back to thinking what are they afraid of and who did they sell their souls to. Can't be Trump.
Exactly this.
Take the time to read the interview with Fiona Hill in Politico. Hill has a clear eyed, unvarnished assessment of Putin. She's not one to exaggerate or overstate. So when she talks about Adolph Hitler in the same sentence as Putin and notes World War III started a while ago, I listen.
I said this last week, but was a little more vague. I see no other path for this conflict than a nuclear showdown between Putin and the rest of the world. I'm not predicting launches, but I am predicting that Putin will eventually be cornered and he WILL threaten to use nukes. How this will get de-escalated is beyond me, but even Putin wants to live so there's that...
is Ronny D opposed to MMR and DTaP vaccine mandates in schools as well? If not, why not?
I really don't get what McCarthy gains by letting Gosar and MTG hang around. He could collaborate with Pelosi to remove them both from office and since they're from safe districts, he'd not lose a seat. It's really shortsighted for him not to eliminate them
This is the best explanation I have seen in print. McCarthy's district here, and this is pretty much what I have been thinking. From last week:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/us/politics/kevin-mcarthy-speaker.html
It's the "collaborating with Pelosi" part that is the problem. For McCarthy's voters if McCarthy is seen as collaborating with Pelosi about anything it will be worse for him than allowing a few GOP House members to give speeches to anti-Semitic, white supremacist groups.
Reagan collaborated with Tip and Rs were fine. Surely, Rs in McCarthy's district can't be so awful as to punish him for doing the right thing
McCarthy's district here. Yes, they are that awful and then some. His very muted statement yesterday has restarted the howls of RINO across the land here. They want him to be fully Maga in all it's awful glory. They hate him about the same as the rest of us do, but for different reasons.
It's now a long, long, long way from Reagan and saner Rs.
Narrator: They are that awful.
MTG is a fundraising superstar. We underestimate how popular crazy is on the right.
How much of that money does anyone not named MTG see though? WTF should a GOPer Rep from Oregon care what she raises if they never see it?
A Republican rep locked in a Trumpy vs Trumpier primary may well bring in MTG to campaign and raise money. Of course she will demand support for her to have more power in Washington. Didn't she endorse one of the lowlifes running for Senate in Ohio, and isn't that lowlife boasting of that endorsement?