Great column! One of the many common themes I’ve noted when I see clips of GOP MOC town halls is the absolute cluelessness of these elected officials. They are tone-deaf to a degree that is shocking. And, I mean this sincerely, thanks for using words like “cromulent.” I had to look it up. Unlike these hapless legislators, I am open to and enjoy learning new things.
Gotta love these Rethugs, telling their constituents to behave and not get upset and not worry so much about the federal government, etc. Insulting much???
"Generating content of them getting yelled at by angry constituents, which is is definitely a service to democracy" is precisely why the GOPturds don't want to do it.
The tactic to put down competitors such as liberals will eventually be part of the right's downfall. Trump last week said that he preferred the current liberal prime minister of Canada because he'd rather deal with liberals, ( basically Canadian democrats) when his republican compadres have been brainwashed by trump to hate and fear liberal leaning people. The division within the republican party is growing that eventually they will turn on each other and will as a result weaken their power. Instead of fighting republicans we are best to focus on helping where we are best able creating the world we wish to live in, with or without federal funding.
the tactic in Boebert's district's town hall should be the beginning of a trend...Screaming at a cardboard cutout of her is a good first step
Last month I suggested making full effigies of the GOP congresspeople who don't show up, sitting them in a chair, dowsing them in lighter fluid and igniting them...It involves NO actual violence but sends as clear a message as you can WITHOUT resorting to violence...
"R.S. (he won't say if that stands for "Red Squirrel") is a staunch Conservative who voted for Brexit, favors bombing Strasbourg, and cares nothing for penal reform. He would also stimulate the British economy by taxing all foreigners living abroad. He holidays at Bognor Regis, and enjoys the sound of two bricks being smashed together.
Democrats have town hall too. Just attended a meeting with my Congressman, and I’m not happy. I asked about LGBTQ rights, and in particular about trans rights under direct assault. He assured me, “we’re not throwing trans people under the bus”, then continued, “but we can’t allow this tiny minority” ( he repeatedly said “defending one trans person”) “to distract us from the big picture, and we can’t afford to let the Republicans paint us as the party of minorities instead of a party of the people.”
Looks like we’re being thrown under the bus again. The Democrats will continue to ignore minorities while asking us for donations and paying lip service. I wrote him back this morning reminding him that we’re under threat NOW, but I expect a form letter.
By now, I think we all recognize 'distraction' for the codeword it is, and I don't know why politicians seem unaware of that. Too busy signaling to the narrow-minded, I guess.
Aside from the moral failing of throwing anyone under the bus, it's also massively misreading the last election - one where Democrats did almost nothing to respond to bigotry, and lost. So the answer is to respond to bigotry even less? It just doesn't make sense.
consultants get paid whether the candidates win or lose...If you keep losing with the SAME consultants then its contingent on YOU to get NEW FUCKING CONSULTANTS...
I dunno, maybe get consultants that are IDEOLOGICALLY motivated instead of some politically neutral PR firm or whatever...Dems are CLEARLY getting TERRIBLE advice....Why do they keep going back to the SAME GODDAMN PEOPLE
Greg Casar . Sophomore. Which means the party leadership pays almost as little attention to him as to their base. I did like that he referred to two halves of the party, the “fighting” part and the “turtle up and hope the kicking stops eventually” half.
Greg Casar. From Texas. Also asked our State red, Erin Zwiener, about reigning in Ken Paxton (whom I mistakenly called “Bill Paxton. Got a little Freudian there). Got kind of a “What can we do?” response. She’s an out lesbian, so I expected a little more from her.
I had a random thought ... is there anything stopping an agency or a judge from hiring private security? Is there anything that says the Federal judiciary, who are handing down decisions, from hiring private security to ensure those decisions are being carried out?
Or the required congressional votes...Even if the republican congress wanted to gut the DOJ, they would NEVER go on record and vote to gut it...That's what Elon is for...So GOP congresspeople can just throw up their arms and say: sorry, there was nothing we could do to stop this...Elon is their 'get out of jail free card'...Or so they THOUGHT....The reactions at the town meetings suggest otherwise
Told the evening crowd that my best friend had a heart attack on Wednesday. She's in the hospital for a week to get her blood thinners out of her system so that they can do a triple bypass and valve replacement.
This woman ate hardly any meat, and only poultry and fish, rarely used butter, loved her veggies and legumes. Kept as active as she could. Still, genetics caught up with her.
Oh, and worth mentioning again, she had no chest pain. Stomach ache, terrible diarrhea, and extreme confusion. Her husband (who had a triple bypass in November!) thought that it was maybe a stroke, and got her to the hospital ASAP.
I didn't exhibit the classic symptoms of a heart attack either, just that something felt off in there, a little tightening. Drove myself to the ER where they informed me I was in the middle of a heart attack and they had already summoned my flight to Reno and the nearest Level 2 trauma center. Now I am undead!
good call on the husband's part! women often have 'atypical' symptoms when they are having a heart attack --as opposed to the classic chest pain-- stomach ache, confusion. Also, luck and genetics are a far bigger factor than most of us would like to imagine. I hope she has a swift recovery!!
' FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X last week that the FBI is “already taking action to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.”
“This isn’t about politics—weaponizing law enforcement against ANY American is not only morally reprehensible but also endangers lives, including those of our officers,” he wrote. “That will not be tolerated.” '
Daddy is still in the hospital. He has a heart flutter, and is being treated for it. He is also depressed, feeling like he's a burden, but he is not! Still, feelings are funny things. Also, he isn't eating much, so he is being given a medication to help with the depression, which has a side effect of increasing appetite. He has started drinking Boost, and eating cereal, so that is something. His blood sugar is back up. If he starts eating more, he will get stronger, and will do better with therapy.
Meanwhile, my youngest and her family are driving down from Detroit so that LucyJane can meet her great-grandpa, and he can meet her. They were planning a trip in June, and may still come down then. Daddy isn't ready for hospice yet, but my daughter felt the need to come now, and my SIL was able to work it out with work to do so. It's a short trip, just the weekend.
As I've said, feelings are funny things, and we all have them. That is why it's so stupid of the "fuck your feelings" crowd to be that way. Even they have feelings, but they are denying others' humanity, and then whine when said others don't respect their feelings.
Feelings are funny things. I have been wondering if there is such a thing as "stretching an emotion. " If feelings are the conscious expression of unconscious emotions, then stretching out capacity to feel is what a hard, hard time does. It's about enduring things that the normal daily mind doesn't have to engage. Maybe.
No amount of logic can help. Sending love instead.
Best wishes that your daddy continue to improve, with his family all around it sounds positive. Having people around you that care can make all the difference.
I had not planned to go visit the fam for Tday but then dad got the big C. We generally avoided driving for TDay, for obvious reasons, but hubby and I discussed it and decided we had to bite that bullet. Glad I did. Your youngest is wise
Mike Flood is such a lying asshole! The crowd should (B)eat Mike Flood.
Great column! One of the many common themes I’ve noted when I see clips of GOP MOC town halls is the absolute cluelessness of these elected officials. They are tone-deaf to a degree that is shocking. And, I mean this sincerely, thanks for using words like “cromulent.” I had to look it up. Unlike these hapless legislators, I am open to and enjoy learning new things.
Salon headline proves itself evergreen:
https://www.salon.com/2020/03/31/trump-admits-youd-never-have-a-republican-elected-in-this-country-again-if-voting-access-expanded_partner/
Sure sounds like that made Project 2025.
Internet outage last night, so I'll be doing BlueSpot's Blues Spot on Friday. : (
You missed the “up” in the middle of that last sentence of your post.
Gotta love these Rethugs, telling their constituents to behave and not get upset and not worry so much about the federal government, etc. Insulting much???
"Generating content of them getting yelled at by angry constituents, which is is definitely a service to democracy" is precisely why the GOPturds don't want to do it.
The tactic to put down competitors such as liberals will eventually be part of the right's downfall. Trump last week said that he preferred the current liberal prime minister of Canada because he'd rather deal with liberals, ( basically Canadian democrats) when his republican compadres have been brainwashed by trump to hate and fear liberal leaning people. The division within the republican party is growing that eventually they will turn on each other and will as a result weaken their power. Instead of fighting republicans we are best to focus on helping where we are best able creating the world we wish to live in, with or without federal funding.
the tactic in Boebert's district's town hall should be the beginning of a trend...Screaming at a cardboard cutout of her is a good first step
Last month I suggested making full effigies of the GOP congresspeople who don't show up, sitting them in a chair, dowsing them in lighter fluid and igniting them...It involves NO actual violence but sends as clear a message as you can WITHOUT resorting to violence...
Kind of like hitting Biden effigy with a baseball bat, or showing him tied yp on the boot of a car. That was just good clean fun, wasn't it?
Spam Blondie would still make a Federal arson case out of it.
FUCK her...
Your weekly furry art dump:
https://substack.com/profile/156971387-the-wanderer/note/c-102197417
Monty Python squirrel!
From my notes:
"R.S. (he won't say if that stands for "Red Squirrel") is a staunch Conservative who voted for Brexit, favors bombing Strasbourg, and cares nothing for penal reform. He would also stimulate the British economy by taxing all foreigners living abroad. He holidays at Bognor Regis, and enjoys the sound of two bricks being smashed together.
He also swears that his brain does not hurt."
Does he have a handkerchief on his head?
"taxing all foreigners living abroad"
Hahahaha!
Could he be meaning . . . TARIFFS!?!?!!??
Democrats have town hall too. Just attended a meeting with my Congressman, and I’m not happy. I asked about LGBTQ rights, and in particular about trans rights under direct assault. He assured me, “we’re not throwing trans people under the bus”, then continued, “but we can’t allow this tiny minority” ( he repeatedly said “defending one trans person”) “to distract us from the big picture, and we can’t afford to let the Republicans paint us as the party of minorities instead of a party of the people.”
Looks like we’re being thrown under the bus again. The Democrats will continue to ignore minorities while asking us for donations and paying lip service. I wrote him back this morning reminding him that we’re under threat NOW, but I expect a form letter.
We nee to clean out the detritus in our party as well...I am TOTALLY down with....
The pastor Niemöller quote applies. Pretty much directly.
If you won't fight for those being downtrodden, then what good are you? I hope this person gets primaried.
By now, I think we all recognize 'distraction' for the codeword it is, and I don't know why politicians seem unaware of that. Too busy signaling to the narrow-minded, I guess.
That's disappointing, to say the least.
Raises brow
We can't allow this tiny minority to distract us from the big picture?
What on earth is bigger than civil rights?
I would expect the same people would be crying the same song during the 60s about black rights.
Or women’s right to vote
Or the right to marry, who you choose
Hell slavery was probably pretty unpopular in some parts
Of America too might’ve lost some votes if they pushed
to abolish it….
*screams*
You beat me to it. How have civil rights become a fringe issue?
the same way that protecting democracy and the constitution have been framed as lefty extremist fringe issues...
Yup.
Aside from the moral failing of throwing anyone under the bus, it's also massively misreading the last election - one where Democrats did almost nothing to respond to bigotry, and lost. So the answer is to respond to bigotry even less? It just doesn't make sense.
Those asshole "political consultants" keep telling the Democrats to move towards the center or risk losing votes. It's bullshit. It's PROVEN bullshit.
It isn't the 1% of the population, you DIPSHIT. It's the 70% of the populations THAT SUPPORTS the 1%. Fucking idiots.
STOP LISTENING TO POLITICAL CONSULTANTS.
consultants get paid whether the candidates win or lose...If you keep losing with the SAME consultants then its contingent on YOU to get NEW FUCKING CONSULTANTS...
I dunno, maybe get consultants that are IDEOLOGICALLY motivated instead of some politically neutral PR firm or whatever...Dems are CLEARLY getting TERRIBLE advice....Why do they keep going back to the SAME GODDAMN PEOPLE
The same assholes tried to sell the fall of Roe as a distraction. Yeah, no.
It's funny how everything is a distraction
It's just a distraction!!!!!
But...it is hurting real people right now?
STILL A DISTRACTION!
Democrats are already in the center. What they are telling them to do is move further right.
They should stop listening to them
Wow ... that is some smarmy rationalization.
It's the tiny minority that is doing the distracting, not the gigantic whopping right wing noise machine targeting them
who is your congresscritter?
Greg Casar . Sophomore. Which means the party leadership pays almost as little attention to him as to their base. I did like that he referred to two halves of the party, the “fighting” part and the “turtle up and hope the kicking stops eventually” half.
Greg Casar. From Texas. Also asked our State red, Erin Zwiener, about reigning in Ken Paxton (whom I mistakenly called “Bill Paxton. Got a little Freudian there). Got kind of a “What can we do?” response. She’s an out lesbian, so I expected a little more from her.
I had a random thought ... is there anything stopping an agency or a judge from hiring private security? Is there anything that says the Federal judiciary, who are handing down decisions, from hiring private security to ensure those decisions are being carried out?
$1 credit card limits.
Is there anything that says the Department of Education can't hire armed guards to keep the droogies out of the building without a warrant?
Or the required congressional votes...Even if the republican congress wanted to gut the DOJ, they would NEVER go on record and vote to gut it...That's what Elon is for...So GOP congresspeople can just throw up their arms and say: sorry, there was nothing we could do to stop this...Elon is their 'get out of jail free card'...Or so they THOUGHT....The reactions at the town meetings suggest otherwise
well, can't hire private security if you do not exist anymore
Told the evening crowd that my best friend had a heart attack on Wednesday. She's in the hospital for a week to get her blood thinners out of her system so that they can do a triple bypass and valve replacement.
This woman ate hardly any meat, and only poultry and fish, rarely used butter, loved her veggies and legumes. Kept as active as she could. Still, genetics caught up with her.
Oh, and worth mentioning again, she had no chest pain. Stomach ache, terrible diarrhea, and extreme confusion. Her husband (who had a triple bypass in November!) thought that it was maybe a stroke, and got her to the hospital ASAP.
I didn't exhibit the classic symptoms of a heart attack either, just that something felt off in there, a little tightening. Drove myself to the ER where they informed me I was in the middle of a heart attack and they had already summoned my flight to Reno and the nearest Level 2 trauma center. Now I am undead!
Best of luck to your bestie.
good call on the husband's part! women often have 'atypical' symptoms when they are having a heart attack --as opposed to the classic chest pain-- stomach ache, confusion. Also, luck and genetics are a far bigger factor than most of us would like to imagine. I hope she has a swift recovery!!
yay for her hubby!
Hope all goes well!
Sending good thoughts that your friend's surgery is successful and she heals up quickly.
Good thinking on his part, and best wishes for a swift recovery!
False flag
‘I just fell to the ground’: Some of Trump and Musk’s most public supporters targeted in a wave of swatting incidents
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/20/media/trump-musk-conservative-influencers-swatting/index.html
' FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X last week that the FBI is “already taking action to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.”
“This isn’t about politics—weaponizing law enforcement against ANY American is not only morally reprehensible but also endangers lives, including those of our officers,” he wrote. “That will not be tolerated.” '
You almost had it there, Sparky.
It is so interesting to read the narrative when THIER intimidation tactics are turned ON THEM.
Yep. False flag.
lol
Fitting because chances are they have swatted others
After reading the article it seems they got too far off the reservation.
SER on Public Notice:
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀
Gavin Newsom's new podcast demonstrates a failed way of engaging with MAGA extremists.
https://www.publicnotice.co/p/gavin-newsom-podcast-bannon-kirk-yuck?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=501423&post_id=158963998&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=3i9ct&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Particularly 'failed' because Newsom was so focused on finding places to agree with them.
And never once noticed that no matter how hard he contorted himself, they did not bother doing the same at all
The only correct way of engaging with MAGA extremists is to tell them to fuck the fuck off and when they get there, fuck off some more.
Daddy is still in the hospital. He has a heart flutter, and is being treated for it. He is also depressed, feeling like he's a burden, but he is not! Still, feelings are funny things. Also, he isn't eating much, so he is being given a medication to help with the depression, which has a side effect of increasing appetite. He has started drinking Boost, and eating cereal, so that is something. His blood sugar is back up. If he starts eating more, he will get stronger, and will do better with therapy.
Meanwhile, my youngest and her family are driving down from Detroit so that LucyJane can meet her great-grandpa, and he can meet her. They were planning a trip in June, and may still come down then. Daddy isn't ready for hospice yet, but my daughter felt the need to come now, and my SIL was able to work it out with work to do so. It's a short trip, just the weekend.
As I've said, feelings are funny things, and we all have them. That is why it's so stupid of the "fuck your feelings" crowd to be that way. Even they have feelings, but they are denying others' humanity, and then whine when said others don't respect their feelings.
Feelings are funny things. I have been wondering if there is such a thing as "stretching an emotion. " If feelings are the conscious expression of unconscious emotions, then stretching out capacity to feel is what a hard, hard time does. It's about enduring things that the normal daily mind doesn't have to engage. Maybe.
No amount of logic can help. Sending love instead.
All the best to you and your family.
I'm glad he's eating, and that he'll get to meet his great-grand. Hugs, Linda.
Best wishes that your daddy continue to improve, with his family all around it sounds positive. Having people around you that care can make all the difference.
Thanks. Nice sentiments. Even when things look hopeless there is no need to be helpless. All the best.
:hugs:
I had not planned to go visit the fam for Tday but then dad got the big C. We generally avoided driving for TDay, for obvious reasons, but hubby and I discussed it and decided we had to bite that bullet. Glad I did. Your youngest is wise