Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
This post is in: Education, GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Sports
In order to own the libs, Trump voters elected a moronic despot who got college football cancelled. https://t.co/sUH5agXDjk
— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) August 10, 2020
Why did the Big Ten seem to abruptly change course over the weekend, you ask?
"Myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle, has been found in at least five Big Ten Conference athletes and among several other athletes in other conferences." https://t.co/xsFUhXkoXy
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) August 10, 2020
JUST IN: Big Ten votes to cancel football season: report https://t.co/qYrvaxbC09 pic.twitter.com/WkNorkqaLR
— The Hill (@thehill) August 10, 2020
The GOP Death Cult doesn’t give a shite about the unpaid gladiators; they just want their Base to stay diverted. Per the Washington Post:
… Trump is widely popular in many states where college football is a cultural touchstone, including the Deep South and parts of the Midwest, and he has called for the on-time and in-person reopening of schools throughout the pandemic. The president on Monday joined other congressmen in supporting players’ calls to play on, though they did not initially address the players’ other message, in support of forming a union…
america needs a functional government https://t.co/uKJkSgnVpI
— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 10, 2020
Jim Jordan demands Ohio State reopen its showers. https://t.co/SKWY5wMCQb
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) August 10, 2020
America needs the USPS; football meh https://t.co/UH4iiFXP8e
— julie ingersoll (@julieingersoll) August 10, 2020
probably shoulda done your goddamn job five goddamn months ago then https://t.co/LsEeUTNO8A
— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 10, 2020
*spends five months doing dick-all about covid and shooting college football in the head*
WHO WOULD DO THIS https://t.co/4t26yHaHor
— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 10, 2020
this is like vegas closing the casinos – you don’t voluntarily walk away from billions of dollars for a virus that’s “under control” and “being contained” and “going to disappear” https://t.co/hgKICiX2yY
— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 10, 2020
Hillary wouldn’t have had to cancel football.
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) August 10, 2020
https://t.co/es4dU5W9F5 pic.twitter.com/EQ0wk4VBzl
— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 11, 2020
but now today it must be retconned into some STUNNING NEW LIB TREACHERY as if just last night george soros punched the button to EXECUTE PROTOCOL NO BALL
— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 10, 2020
“Donald Trump screwed up our pandemic response and now we don’t get college football.
If we re-elect him we won’t get college football next year either.
I’m joe Biden and I approve of this message”
put on every tv
400 electoral vote margin
the end
— bdodgy (@bdodgy3) August 10, 2020
This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., GOP Death Cult, NANCY SMASH!, Open Threads, Repubs in Disarray!, Trumpery
Since the GOP Death Cult would rather kill their own voters than negotiate in good faith, Lord Smallgloves found himself cheated of a Big Daddy Feelgood Story to start off his weekend golfing excursion. To make it up to himself, he decided to force the media to follow him to the gilted confines of his New Jersey club. The event will go down in the history books next to the bunker scene from Downfall:
Trump is so desperate for a rally that he is going to have a press conference in front of his golf buddies during the wine and cheese hour at his country club. I am not making this up.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) August 7, 2020
Aside from the clear public health issues, the optics of POTUS addressing his country club members who pay at up to $350,000 to join while millions of Americans don't know how they'll cover rent this month as expanded unemployment benefits have expired is—an interesting choice. https://t.co/0Fl9ihm9do
— Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) August 7, 2020
Awaiting @POTUS presser in Bedminster. Many members of his club are here not social distancing and not wearing masks.
A club official just told the crowd to “spread out a little bit” because “the tweets are going out” about their noncompliance with NJ regulations pic.twitter.com/bzyLVwqS0u
— Toluse Olorunnipa (@ToluseO) August 7, 2020
Trump: "The Democrats are cheating on the election." (No.) "If you look at what they're doing even with these negotiations. That's an influence and an unfair influence on an election." (Total nonsense. Democrats passed a relief bill and want to spend more than Republicans do!)
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 8, 2020
Trump says he's looking at doing an executive order to require health care providers to cover preexisting conditions, which is already the law of the land thanks to the Affordable Care Act he hates so much pic.twitter.com/2EG5iL9DCA
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 7, 2020
That particular lie was so egregious, the rebuttals were trending on twitter all night.
Pres Trump says he looking to take executive action that would:
-Defer payroll tax until to the end of year and be retroactive to July 1
-Enhance unemployment benefits until end of 2020
-Defer student loans and forgive interest until further notice
-Extend eviction moratoriums— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) August 7, 2020
Asked when he might sign these executive orders he talked about on coronavirus relief, Trump says "it could be by the end of the week." He says he's not worried about the legality, though "probably we get sued."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 8, 2020
I would give anything to see a reaction shot of the guys in the golf club trying to follow this bag of marbles that Trump is spilling all over the place
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) August 7, 2020
Trump's paying Bedminster customers boo when a reporter points out that many of them aren't wearing masks, violating New Jersey law. Trump defends them by describing them as "peaceful protesters" of the media, then ends the news conference to a round of applause. pic.twitter.com/5DVow55B1G
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 8, 2020
really spectacular friday night appearance by biden’s campaign spokesman
— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 7, 2020
Yeah, I know — it’d be funnier if not for all the human suffering this monster is inflicting on the innocent.
Saturday Morning Open Thread: Squatter-in-Chief Throws Himself A Pity ‘Presser’Post + Comments (229)
This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Election Year, Foreign Affairs, GOP Death Cult, Repubs in Disarray!, Trumpery
The family is holding a private service. Please respect their privacy in this difficult time. https://t.co/GxibCsmBGd
— Jason Kander (@JasonKander) August 3, 2020
What’s he gonna do at Gettysburg, mourn the loss? https://t.co/mr7gBedxDi
— Tentin Quarantino (@agraybee) August 4, 2020
When you dither too long for Plan B to be effective…
… Despite the surging coronavirus pandemic, which forced Mr. Trump to cancel the convention in Jacksonville, Fla., after moving it from its original location in Charlotte, N.C., he and his advisers are counting on some form of the spectacle to serve as a boost to the flagging incumbent as he heads into the final stretch of the campaign.
Mr. Trump has said he plans to travel to Charlotte to thank delegates who are still planning to gather there for meetings and the official roll call, despite the state’s social distancing requirements…
In meetings at the White House, Trump advisers have also discussed the possibility of returning to Mount Rushmore for an encore performance. And they have proposed to Mr. Trump other national monuments closer to the White House that could serve as outdoor vistas for his renomination speech on Aug. 27.
One such venue that drew Mr. Trump’s attention was Gettysburg, a wide-open national park with a built-in theme about a country divided against itself. The aides thought the setting would flatter Mr. Trump by allowing him to draw a comparison he loves: one between himself and Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Trump delivered a speech at Gettysburg during his campaign four years ago, calling it an “amazing place” and suggesting that the country was as divided as it had been during the Civil War. He also said that the election was rigged against him and that he planned to sue the women who had accused him of aggressive sexual advances (he never did).
A White House official said the president was leaning toward a series of speeches that could be held outdoors in different places, and a stage that would serve as the main hub of activity all week in Washington. It is also not yet clear if any of the ambitious plans will come to fruition for a convention set to start on Aug. 24…
So far, however, little except an overarching theme about the “forgotten men and women of America” has been finalized, and Mr. Trump has been characteristically indecisive about signing off on any plans. Tim Murtaugh, the campaign’s communications director, said the convention would still be “a celebration of the accomplishments of President Trump on behalf of all Americans.”…
The group involved in the convention planning from within the White House includes veterans of Mr. Trump’s 2016 election effort. Among them are Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, who is overseeing his entire re-election effort; Kellyanne Conway, the White House counselor and 2016 campaign manager; Hope Hicks, a senior adviser; and Stephen Miller, the chief speechwriter. Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, has also been deeply involved, along with Justin Clark, the deputy campaign manager; Jason Miller, the campaign strategist; and one of Mr. Trump’s go-to pinch-hitters, Tony Sayegh, a former top official in the Treasury Department who also helped the White House communications department navigate Mr. Trump’s impeachment.
As my old man used to say: Almost as much brainpower in that gang to fuel a lightbulb… just not a very bright one.
Unless the #OctoberSurprise is that Trump has discovered a way to bring the 150,000+ people who've died of coronavirus back from the dead, I really don't see it being a game-changer.
— Daily Trix (@DailyTrix) August 2, 2020
And then there’s the TikTok issue, again…
I would say it is government extortion, with no legal basis. https://t.co/bP2fzfKNNy
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) August 3, 2020
Slumlord explicitly refers to demanding ‘key money’ from a tenant before allowing them access to ‘his property’ (i.e., America’s share of the internet):
This is insane.
It also violates everything Republicans ever said they stood for. https://t.co/nHpiSFLL0i
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) August 3, 2020
Yes, Chinese ownership raises particular concerns because of state/party influence over business conduct, and geopolitical rivalry. But if anyone thinks these broader issues begin and end with a company being Chinese or not, they're kidding themselves.
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) August 4, 2020
If anyone deserves a cut of the sale for creating value, it's the TikTok teens that fucked with Trump's Tulsa rally. https://t.co/CO6ZuoZpz6
— Daily Trix (@DailyTrix) August 4, 2020
Tuesday Morning Open Thread: All the ‘Spectacle’ of A Train WreckPost + Comments (126)
This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Show Us on the Doll Where the Invisible Hand Touched You
Treasury Secretary Mnuchin tells @MarthaRaddatz “there’s no question” that $600 unemployment insurance is a disincentive to find a job in “some cases.”
“There are cases where people are overpaid,” he adds when pressed about study refuting his argument. https://t.co/HNQgCe39RN pic.twitter.com/1zceOdxULW
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) August 2, 2020
JUST IN: McConnell says more than a third of Republican senators will not vote for any coronavirus relief package https://t.co/nDYfPGhH8u pic.twitter.com/mhZdOO0XqR
— The Hill (@thehill) August 1, 2020
This is at least the third time this week Sen McConnell has said a large portion of his caucus thinks we should do nothing more on coronavirus. https://t.co/PIoFqNtN2q
— Dan Yoken (@yokendan) July 31, 2020
Just when there appears to be a glimmer of positivity in coronavirus relief negotiations, the president re-floats a payroll tax cut, which is a dealbreaker for Democrats and has little support even with Republicans. pic.twitter.com/ej7UHVfILQ
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) August 1, 2020
With Congress saying no, Stephen Moore falls on Trump to declare an “economic emergency and announce that the Internal Revenue Service will immediately stop collecting the payroll tax”https://t.co/YDttXyl95V
— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) August 2, 2020
“The unemployment insurance worked,” Konczal said. “It showed us that our government has the capacity to ensure people’s economic security through deep depression and global health crisis in a way that should surprise us.”
I know how to kicker it, sayin.https://t.co/haIEiBhgHM
— Mike Konczal (@rortybomb) July 31, 2020
Late Night Open Thread: The GOP Death Cult Leaders Despise American VotersPost + Comments (121)
This post is in: COVID-19 Coronavirus, Excellent Links, GOP Death Cult, Trump Crime Cartel
So the White House made the explicit decision that it was a better political call to let people die in the blue states and blame the governors then try to fix the testing situation. https://t.co/1fKA5vhfWa
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) July 30, 2020
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) July 30, 2020
This excellent read has been getting a lot of social-media attention… but in case you haven’t seen it yet, it’s worth reading the whole thing! Katherine Eban, at Vanity Fair — “How Jared Kushner’s Secret Testing Plan “Went Poof Into Thin Air”:
On March 31, three weeks after the World Health Organization designated the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic, a DHL truck rattled up to the gray stone embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Washington, D.C., delivering precious cargo: 1 million Chinese-made diagnostic tests for COVID-19, ordered at the behest of the Trump administration.
This purchase did not appear in any government database. Nor was there any contract officer involved. Instead, it was documented in an invoice obtained by Vanity Fair, from a company, Cogna Technology Solutions (its own name misspelled as “Tecnology” on the bill), which noted a total order of 3.5 million tests for an amount owed of $52 million. The “client name” simply noted “WH.”
Over the next three months, the tests’ mysterious provenance would spark confusion and finger-pointing. An Abu Dhabi–based artificial intelligence company, Group 42, with close ties to the UAE’s ruling family, identified itself as the seller of 3.5 million tests and demanded payment. Its requests were routed through various divisions within Health and Human Services, whose lawyers sought in vain for a bona fide contracting officer.
During that period, more than 2.4 million Americans contracted COVID-19 and 123,331 of them died of the illness. First in New York, and then in states around the country, governors, public health experts, and frightened citizens sounded the alarm that a critical shortage of tests, and the ballooning time to get results, were crippling the U.S. pandemic response.
But the million tests, some of which were distributed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to several states, were of no help. According to documents obtained by Vanity Fair, they were examined in two separate government laboratories and found to be “contaminated and unusable.”…
Though Kushner’s outsized role has been widely reported, the procurement of Chinese-made test kits is being disclosed here for the first time. So is an even more extraordinary effort that Kushner oversaw: a secret project to devise a comprehensive plan that would have massively ramped up and coordinated testing for COVID-19 at the federal level…
Countries that have successfully contained their outbreaks have empowered scientists to lead the response. But when Jared Kushner set out in March to solve the diagnostic-testing crisis, his efforts began not with public health experts but with bankers and billionaires. They saw themselves as the “A-team of people who get shit done,” as one participant proclaimed in a March Politico article…
The group’s collective lack of relevant experience was far from the only challenge it faced. The obstacles arrayed against any effective national testing effort included: limited laboratory capacity, supply shortages, huge discrepancies in employers’ abilities to cover testing costs for their employees, an enormous number of uninsured Americans, and a fragmented diagnostic-testing marketplace…
By early April, some who worked on the plan were given the strong impression that it would soon be shared with President Trump and announced by the White House. The plan, though imperfect, was a starting point. Simply working together as a nation on it “would have put us in a fundamentally different place,” said the participant.
But the effort ran headlong into shifting sentiment at the White House. Trusting his vaunted political instincts, President Trump had been downplaying concerns about the virus and spreading misinformation about it—efforts that were soon amplified by Republican elected officials and right-wing media figures. Worried about the stock market and his reelection prospects, Trump also feared that more testing would only lead to higher case counts and more bad publicity. Meanwhile, Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, was reportedly sharing models with senior staff that optimistically—and erroneously, it would turn out—predicted the virus would soon fade away.
Against that background, the prospect of launching a large-scale national plan was losing favor, said one public health expert in frequent contact with the White House’s official coronavirus task force.
Most troubling of all, perhaps, was a sentiment the expert said a member of Kushner’s team expressed: that because the virus had hit blue states hardest, a national plan was unnecessary and would not make sense politically. “The political folks believed that because it was going to be relegated to Democratic states, that they could blame those governors, and that would be an effective political strategy,” said the expert.
That logic may have swayed Kushner. “It was very clear that Jared was ultimately the decision maker as to what [plan] was going to come out,” the expert said…
The gamble that son-in-law real estate developers, or Morgan Stanley bankers liaising with billionaires, could effectively stand in for a well-coordinated federal response has proven to be dead wrong. Even the smallest of Jared Kushner’s solutions to the pandemic have entangled government agencies in confusion and raised concerns about illegality…
Ms. Spiers was the editor of the NY Observer when Prince Jared decided to buy, and destroy, it:
Can confirm that Jared is both malicious and stupid. https://t.co/ePjGQrXnsq
— Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers) July 31, 2020
If you're surprised by Jared Kushner's callousness re: people in blue states dying of covid-19, you should know it's not an aberration. Here's what I wrote in early May: https://t.co/Djmd6qF0SX pic.twitter.com/SBad1kaIts
— Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers) July 31, 2020
I think people underestimate the extent to which both Jared and Trump are angry at blue state elites for never really accepting them. They both have massive inferiority complexes, even with all of their wealth and privilege. So of course they're happy to let, say, NYC die. https://t.co/U19DkzxPqR
— Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers) July 31, 2020
They want validation from competent, smart people too, and the only way to get that is to be competent and smart themselves. Which would take work, and humility, neither of which they're up for. So not getting approval from those quarters makes them angry, too.
— Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers) July 31, 2020
maggie, who works at the new york times, did not consider it newsworthy that her friend (the authoritarian president) was intentionally murdering her state https://t.co/08oL1nG85J
— etaoin shrdlu (@Theophite) August 1, 2020
she uncritically covered trumps claims of wealth when she was at the ny post and politico and i think she still essentially sees him as a clownish, harmless, self-aggrandizing NYC real estate guy instead of 'what if a cable news channel had nuclear codes'
— le loup garou (@turdducken) August 1, 2020
they’re job shopping for the next era
— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) July 30, 2020
This post is in: GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Repubs in Disarray!, Assholes
Sticking to their own side.https://t.co/STdWx4gtvP pic.twitter.com/d5dNVxTHMT
— Tom Toles (@TomTolesToons) July 27, 2020
Gonna be hard for the Friday Doc Dump to top yesterday’s headlines, but I’m sure the GOP Death Cult will do their best!
Here’s the day so far: it’s 11:22am pic.twitter.com/iUKAH3qYza
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 30, 2020
BREAKING: Senator Ron Johnson once again just blocked legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
As nation watches funeral service for John Lewis.
— Vanita Gupta (@vanitaguptaCR) July 30, 2020
Summary of the week:
Monday: McConnell unveils his plan
Tuesday: GOP senators trash the plan
Wednesday: Meadows/Mnuchin/Pelosi/Schumer meeting goes nowhere
Thursday: objection theater on the floor
Friday: alcohol, pain, tears
Next week: deal??— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) July 30, 2020
Notice – "The house passed their bill" and the Senate has't, but Americans have lost faith in "government."
The problem is the Republican Party. The problem is that it's often presented as "congress" or "washington gridlock" or "government." https://t.co/jr2ExLVjmn
— David M. Perry (@Lollardfish) July 31, 2020
if you're a reporter who is unable to accurately communicate that senate republicans are the incompetent failures here, then you're a reporter who can't do your job any better than they are doing theirs. https://t.co/KMrqEaw4uP
— golikehellmachine (@golikehellmachi) July 31, 2020
It’s long past time to take action on the COVID crisis
Today, @SenSchumer and Senate Democrats demanded passage of the Heroes Act, House-passed legislation to provide financial support and PPE for American families and frontline & essential workers
But Republicans objected pic.twitter.com/vCbXKKRJ2n
— Senate Democrats (@SenateDems) July 30, 2020
Friday Morning Open Thread: Mere Anarchy Is Loosed Upon the… GOPPost + Comments (251)
This post is in: COVID-19 Coronavirus, GOP Death Cult, Open Threads
… Then again, maybe they are!
This is the Republican running to replace John Lewis.
I'm not kidding. https://t.co/TB5gghawzw— Charles Gaba (@charles_gaba) July 30, 2020
(I know it’s a safe blue seat but JFC…)
— Charles Gaba (@charles_gaba) July 30, 2020
It was widely reported that Matt Pottinger, deputy national security adviser, was wearing a mask. And some NSC staffers might have followed his lead. Are they still wearing masks? It’s hard for any official to justify an anti-mask order after what happened to Robert O’Brien. https://t.co/GdTu5jyyHZ
— Edward Wong (@ewong) July 30, 2020
Most staffers in members’ offices—as opposed to committee staff—are twentysomethings starting their careers. They aren’t risking a 30 year career, they’re risking a 3 year career. They choose to work for people who spread murderous disinformation. I feel zero sympathy for them.
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) July 30, 2020
Thursday Evening Open Thread: The GOP Death Cult Is *Not* Sending Their BestPost + Comments (232)