DL Open Thread Monday June 26 2023
Your liberal policy making apparatus at work. See how things quickly go from something some guy said to something Republicans use in attack ads.
On Friday in NYC, the annual Drag March for Pride Month got under way in Tompkins Square Park. It was the expected array of fabulous, fantastic, and/or delicious people decked out in outrageous finery, crossing and uncrossing gender lines. The march is the cause of the latest right-wing freak out over a perceived LGBTpocalypse because of a portion of a chant.
One part of the marching group chanted, “We’re here! We’re queer! We’re not going shopping!” as an anti-capitalist stance by some queer organizations going all the way back to at least the 1990s. The freak out is because in the video clip that made the rounds of Nutsyzania (and apologies for linking to a right-wing dipshit for this) you can hear one guy and maybe one other person chant, “We’re here, we’re queer, and we’re coming for your children.” It’s a clever joke playing on the worst fears of the most ignorant motherfuckers out there. It is so insignificant, like a flea fart in a hurricane, but conservative media, including Fox “news” and the New York Post and assorted cockmites of the right have picked up on that little bit of a sound bite and treated it like the entire goal of Pride Month is to force kids to go on puberty blockers or some such shit.
The usual fuckers did the usual fuckery, leaping in to do their best dance of fake outrage. “This movement grooms minors to have mastectomies and castration and fuels a multi billion dollar medical child abuse industry,” screamed rat banshee Marjorie Taylor Greene.
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There is no fucking way he made a contribution.Former President Donald Trump spoke Thursday at a fundraiser on behalf of defendants charged for their participation in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, a Trump campaign official told CNN.
The fundraiser was hosted at Trump’s private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on behalf of the Patriot Freedom Project, a group that assists families of those charged in the riot. At least one defendant was in attendance, along with some family members of others charged in the insurrection. Trump’s remarks come as prosecutors at both the state and federal level continue to investigate his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
NBC News first reported on Trump’s remarks at the event.
A Trump campaign official verified the authenticity of a video posted on Twitter of the former president’s remarks, during which Trump said he planned to make a contribution to the group.
“I’m gonna make a contribution,” Trump told the crowd at his club. “There have been few people that have been treated in the history of our country like the people that you love, like the people that have gone through so much.”
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There are no moderate Republicans
Eighteen Republicans currently represent districts carried by Biden in 2020. They were either beneficiaries of low turnout in California and New York, or sitting incumbents who pulled off reelection thanks to midterm dynamics. In a sane world, they would be finding ways, the way Blue Dog Democrats do, to cast key votes against their leadership, thus building a narrative of “independence” they could sell to voters come election time.
Here are those 18 House Republicans that represent districts won by Biden, with the president’s margin of victory, courtesy of Daily Kos Elections:
- Juan Ciscomani (AZ-6), Biden +0.1
- Nicholas LaLota (NY-1) +0.2
- David Schweikert (AZ-1) +1.5
- Jen Kiggans (VA-2) +1.9
- Young Kim (CA-40) +1.9
- Thomas Kean Jr. (NJ-07) +3.9
- Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1) +4.6
- Marcus Molinaro (NY-19) +4.6
- Michelle Steel (CA-45) +6.2
- Don Bacon (NE-2) +6.3
- Brandon Williams (NY-22) +7.5
- George Santos (NY-3) +8.2
- Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-5) +8.9
- Michael Lawler (NY-17) +10.1
- John Duarte (CA-13) +10.9
- Mike Garcia (CA-27) +12.4
- David Valadao (CA-22) +12.9
- Anthony D’Esposito (NY-4) +14.5
Remember, the current Republican House majority is just nine seats, meaning that Democrats only need to flip five to regain the majority. It’s a target-rich environment, even before drilling down into Republican-held seats in narrow-Trump districts. Abortion, issues of freedom, and the improving economy are all conspiring to make the Republican hold on the House tenuous at best.
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I nearly forgot the big story of the weekend – the coup that wasn’t. That’s was crazy, wasn’t it?
Here is a twitter thread from a guy who seems to know what he is talking about.
Yep! “The coup that wasn’t” caught me off guard, suspect it was orchestrated for a surprise ending. As for retaking the house it’s a chance to silence the braying jack asses of the far right and their Fascist foolishness. No surprise but the Republicans continue to see the LGBT community as the enemy, driven by the stupidity and hatred that religion does best. Time will heal these wounds, the gays are out of the closet and their never going back. Truly stupid propaganda aimed at the hicks in the sticks or not.
The Thirty Years religious war drained Germany of about 30% of it’s citizens. Counting that and the destruction of German infrastructure, it’s amazing Germany did not ban all religion as a threat to the kingdom then.
Truth! The Thirty Years War takes a back seat to the truly endless Hundred Years war. War kills millions, drains a nations wealth and slaughters young men, destroys priceless art and architecture and yet we do it again and again. I’m surprised the usual suspects in Washington have yet to beat their favorite percussion instrument The War Drum. But they will.
Another billionaire cracks up one of his toys:
James Crown, a businessman and socialite who was part of Chicago’s wealthy Crown family, suffered evident blunt force trauma after failing to navigate a turn and hitting an impact barrier at Aspen Motorsports Park in Woody Creek…Crown, who owned the Aspen Skiing Company, among other business ventures, was 70 years old at the time of his death.
bamboozer – I think the Hundred and One Years War was a little worse.