US politics: Rovenber is coming.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

These shitheels can’t be more openly fascist than this:

 

[Maithanet]

30 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

These shitheels can’t be more openly fascist than this:

Don't say that Scot.  You know they can get a lot more fascist. 

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

1 hour ago, Maithanet said:

Don't say that Scot.  You know they can get a lot more fascist. 

Fair point.

[Mindwalker]

After watching a bit of Graham's press conference... did he seem a tad drunk?

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

4 minutes ago, Mindwalker said:

After watching a bit of Graham's press conference... did he seem a tad drunk?

I have to wonder if Graham isn’t attempting to undermine the QNut caucus.  They aren’t going to reject this… they’d piss off their base.  But bringing this back to the frony burner could hurt their candidates.  Is this an attempt to win back the Republican Party from the Trumpanistas?

[Maithanet]

14 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

I have to wonder if Graham isn’t attempting to undermine the QNut caucus.  They aren’t going to reject this… they’d piss off their base.  But bringing this back to the frony burner could hurt their candidates.  Is this an attempt to win back the Republican Party from the Trumpanistas?

That seems like incredibly wishful thinking.  I've never gotten the impression that Graham was playing 4d chess.  I think it is much simpler. 

Graham believes the reason that Republicans are getting killed is because they are getting accused (correctly) of banning ALL abortions.  He thinks that if he can show that Republicans are reasonable and only want to ban MOST abortions that it will put Democrats on the back foot.  He wants to change the debate from "Republicans ban abortions" to Democrats support "late term" abortions. 

But of course this is incredibly motivated reasoning on his part, because everybody knows that at 16 weeks a child isn't even close to viable and thus nowhere near "late term".  Instead what he has done is just make clear that Republicans are indeed trying to ban abortion nationwide.  So if you are a woman in Maryland or California, Republicans are coming for you too. 

[Mindwalker]

You mean because he's a moderate christofascist?

ETA: This was in reply to Scot's post.

[LongRider]

This one's for you Scott.

 

[Zorral]

Ken Starr has died. may he rest in pee.  Now, if only Newter would too, preferably of breast cancer while his wife leaves him.

~~~~~~~~~~

That national ban for 'after 15 weeks' is  blue states' ban. The red states have already effectively banned abortion across the board, leaving women voters to die in o so many ways. So much for states deciding . . . .

[Mindwalker]

Btw, if the Republicans got control of the House and the Senate, no way would they uphold that 15 weeks law.

ETA: All the media seem in attack mode regarding Fetterman. I just typed in his name in Startpage (which uses google results) and it's all critical headlines, both about his health, his debating Oz, or older issues.

WaPo editorial board is calling for the release of his medical records. I hope they're asking the same of Herschel Walker.

 

[LongRider]

Good reading!

 

[DMC]

7 hours ago, Mindwalker said:

As for Graham, I assume it's for the base, he has to keep them happy until his next primary - far away as it is. Can't harm to put in the extra mile, otherwise an even nuttier candidate might challenge him.

6 hours ago, Larry of the Lake said:

If Trump doesn't run maybe LG's got his eye on another Presidential bid.  Could be for fundraising purposes too.

I don't think this is about Graham's own ambitions.  He has no reason to worry about reelection for himself at all right now, and I think he knows his presidential aspirations are over.

What this could be, simply, is the GOP worried about turning out the religious right.  Talk about "what have you done for me lately," but now that they got Roe overturned perhaps the lobbying groups are demanding action.  And frankly this is not without some basis - the enthusiasm gap, which the opposition party should inherently be winning in a midterm - has essentially evaporated for Republicans.  

It should also be noted that Graham introduced a version of this bill in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2021 - albeit it was a 20 week ban instead of 15.  It's also interesting to see the reactions from the rest of the conference.  Most don't sound too enthused, but notably while McConnell clearly is not on board his #2 John Thune is.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

1 hour ago, Mindwalker said:

You mean because he's a moderate christofascist?

ETA: This was in reply to Scot's post.

Well… yeah.  He plays nice with the people… he sees as crazy.  Then tries to stab them in a way they don’t see as a stab.  Probably too much to really see coming from Graham.  

[Mindwalker]

27 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Well… yeah.  He plays nice with the people… he sees as crazy.  Then tries to stab them in a way they don’t see as a stab.  Probably too much to really see coming from Graham.  

I guess we view him very differently.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

3 minutes ago, Mindwalker said:

I guess we view him very differently.

Maybe…

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Whatever Graham's motivations were, it seems he's stepped on a rake here. He divided his own conference while giving Dems an easy PR win. And not that it matters, but it's just another example of how full of shit he is. 

[DanteGabriel]

2 hours ago, Zorral said:

Ken Starr has died. may he rest in pee.  Now, if only Newter would too, preferably of breast cancer while his wife leaves him.

Good.

Rolling Stone ain't what it used to be, but this is a good headline.

Ken Starr, Who Turned a Blind Eye to Rape and Defended a Sex Trafficker, Dead at 76

[DMC]

There's also the possibility that, as a proper southern gentleman, Graham was just helping out his old friend - Lindsey Graham saves Biden’s big day:

Quote

A higher-than-expected inflation report was threatening to black out President Joe Biden’s big celebration Tuesday of party-line legislation designed to bring down prices. The subsequent plunge of markets seemed to ensure a painful head-meets-wall day inside the White House.

And then, Sen. Lindsey Graham offered an unexpected soft landing. The South Carolina Republican’s 15-week national abortion ban immediately diverted and divided Republicans and left Biden’s aides shocked at the political lifeline they’d just been handed. [...]

So obvious was the apparent ill-timing of the bill’s introduction that one White House aide said a Republican lobbyist friend joked that Graham appeared to be working for the Biden administration. Other aides suggested that the comments continued a Democratic winning streak that started mid-summer and began to imagine holding onto both houses of Congress.

“Dems might need to send gift baskets and champagne to Graham and other Republicans for their selfless act of service today,” another Democratic official told POLITICO.

 

[Jace, Extat]

I'm not gonna tell you I told you so then so I'm telling you now that I'm telling you now that when then comes around you're gonna feel even stoopider for how quickly you let that poison called hope bloat your dreams past their proper placement in slumber.

Hope belongs in the bottom of a well with unwanted children. Cast yours away sooner and you'll be better for it.

[Varysblackfyre321]

8 minutes ago, Firebrand Jace said:

I'm not gonna tell you I told you so then so I'm telling you now that I'm telling you now that when then comes around you're gonna feel even stoopider for how quickly you let that poison called hope bloat your dreams past their proper placement in slumber.

Hope belongs in the bottom of a well with unwanted children. Cast yours away sooner and you'll be better for it.

Quote

noting that a slew of studies on the relationship between trust and health and finances find that thinking the worst tends to lead to worse results in terms of earnings and well-being.

https://qz.com/1329802/cynicism-isnt-as-smart-as-we-think-it-is/
I get the draw and comfort in just seeing/expecting for the worst possible circumstance, but it shouldn’t  be mistaken for the inevitable circumstance or most likely.