Worthy of note that even Goldwater lightened up on gays in the military in his later days. Then, too, he was more about governing than he was in "getting right with Jesus."
House Republicans have devolved to the point where not even right wing bigots are pure enough for them. They are living, breathing, arguments for the importance of church-state separation. When people convince themselves they're operating under divine sanction, they are capable of any horror. With these people in charge, how long would it be before the morality police were roaming the streets?
I've read elsewhere in the political press that the Republican party is inching towards a true schism. It's obvious that the turmoil has caused its impotence and whether it's punishing economic positions, bigoted cultural positions - it all ALL stems from the evangelical infection of the party.
Oh man, I hope so, but I've become a pessimist who expects the worst. After Trump won the GQP nomination, people were saying that was the end of the party. And I believed it.
I mean, who the hell out there would vote for this clown, and how could anyone take the Repug Party seriously after that?
The party itself, imo, would splinter leading to a very odd collection of voting blocs that would attempt to find coalition and after finding no success would form a new much smaller party that would take the place of the Republican party. The remains would become independents and eventually drift away to the Greens and possibly Democratic party. It's sort of already happening with ouster of Channey and Kinzinger to name two.
Why do you think that a dude who spent nearly every second of his adult life with 12 other dudes, and never once marrying, would have anything to say about gay couples, other than the more the merrier?
Marjorie Traitor Greene mentions the *snicker* 'values' of Republicans?
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Values? Republicans? We've seen those alleged values in action over and over. The "Pro-life" party? Party of Family Values? Party of Personal Responsibility? Party of Law and Order? In what alternate reality?
Family values from the divorcรฉ? Pro-life values from the lady who harassed a child who survived a school shooting over her own desire to carry a weapon of death. Boebert, also divorced and a gun fellator was caught lying about her campaign finances, personal responsibility forsooth. How many Republicans have been caught carrying guns in places theyโre legally banned? Law and Order my ass. And, Jesus Christ, the number of GOP men who get caught cheating on their wives (sometimes with men) is so large itโs easier to find the few who havenโt.
Republican values are for other people, not for them to follow.
They talk about law and order yet engage in the very voter fraud/suppression they falsely accuse Democrats of. They backed and continue to back the play of a man who fomented an insurrection to prevent a legal certification.
Itโs all projection. Theyโre getting away with their shit because theyโre so vociferous in accusing the left of everything theyโre guilty of. It puts the left on the defense rather than addressing the behaviors and crimes of the right. Itโs kind of a criminal projection Gish Gallop.
Rules for thee and not for me, protection for me and not for thee.
And God help us if there's another Insurrection. The second will likely succeed if only because the first one normalized the idea. MAGAts are stupid and will forget about how Trump threw his allies under the bus the first time.
The first one failed even though the cops were caught unaware. Next time, the military gets involved and they send in the drones to paint the place red.
I keep thinking they see the first one as a "practice run." The second time, they'll be twice as vicious. They might even be smart enough to not wait until the certification day. They could just decide to storm in on a regular session and still catch the police unawares while they gun down everyone on the wrong side of the aisle.
Unlikely, yes. Both that they'll be that smart and that they can convince enough people to actually murder congressmembers rather than just chanting about it and wasting time smearing feces all over the place.
Or they'll just wait until after hours and torch the Capitol building, then pin it on a patsy and use that as a pretext to turn the President into a dictator and purge members of the opposition from the legislature. Maybe... oh, say, a month or so after taking power?
A mass of Rambo wannabes would attract attention from far away. Even if these low-watt bubbas were to storm in and start shooting, the military...the real military...would still be sent in and would make short work of them.
They take hostages? They'd be considered terrorists. The US doesn't negotiate with terrorists.
I'm sure a lot of capitol police officers are politically conservative, but I expect if there is ANY gathering of civilians around the Capitol following claims of voter fraud in the future, they are going to be in a 'turn off the body cameras and remember Sicknick' kind of mood.
A second insurrection would be a lot more problematic (for Trump) than the first. It is easy to sell voter fraud in a national general election of millions of anonymous votes. Tons of unknowns you can use there to cast aspersions. It's much harder to claim there was a miscount or fraudulent vote added when it's 435 House members stating their public vote for the record, you need 290 of those votes to succeed, and 210 of them are Democrats who stand in front of the cameras and say "Nay." Because a President Trump in 2027 overturning the 22nd Amendment so he can run in 2028 would require exactly that.
The most disturbing part of that show was that all those women were only a couple years older than myself (I think one was my age) when it started. They were all gray haired grannies at 50. Iโm nowhere near being a gray haired granny. What is with the older generations looking so dang old so young? I donโt know any 50 year olds that are full on gray.
Iโm not 50 yet, and I only have one or two glitter hairs that have been hanging out for about a decade. I look like Iโm in my 30s, but Iโm only a couple birthdays away from 50.
Lately, I've been going several month between haircuts, and when I get it cut, I do it really short. It looks very grey at first, transitions to a sort of medium brown, then goes back to grey when it gets long.
My 26 year old son is turning gray already. His father started at the same age. Most of my husband's hair is silver now. I am turning gray now, it's okay, I turn 60 in 21 days.
The far-reich bigots of the GQP are so foaming-at-the-mouth rabid they thought nothing of jettisoning McCarthy, the party's biggest and best fundraiser.
They can't govern. They're not interested in governance. They're too busy engaging in demagoguery and hypocritically telling others to "get right" with an imaginary being they themselves refuse to obey.
Floriduhian Matt Gaetz engineered this. I've read articles that say Gaetz is extremely intelligent. So now I am wondering if this is exactly what he wants. A non functioning government.
With Anarchy, people will accept anyone who promises order. They think setting fire to the current system will put them on top. But the current situation shows they'd be too busy fighting amongst themselves over who got the power to bring any order or stability to the country.
Such people are NOT long-haul thinkers. All they see is what's in front of them and they fail to consider long-term consequences ... or they simply don't care about them.
Ironic isn't it? Wealthy conservatives sell low taxes and deregulation to poor people by making them imagine how nice a low tax rate will be when they are rich. Meanwhile convincing themselves that when they break the system, how nice it will be for them when they themselves emerge on top. Both outcomes being about equally as likely.
To โget rightโ with Jesus convert to Judaism and strive to practice the faith the failed messiah preached. Jesus wanted to reform the Judaic faith. Paul created a religion that worships Jesus the messiah. Or go all atheist and jettison this cargo cult all together.
The tail is wagging the dog. This is not to say that the GOP 'dog' is moderate, it isn't. But it is to say that the most extreme 8-10 GOP reps are the determining factor in viable speaker candidacy. Very telling to me was that in the latest slate of candidates, not one of them voted to confirm the 2020 election results. The GOP group of 8-10 extremists is blackballing anyone they see as not sufficiently extremist.
With 212 members and 218 needed for a majority, it kinda amazes me that the Dems have not tried to peel off 6 GOPers running in 'purple' districts with some sort of "switch parties, and we'll agree to some budget adds to help you win reelection" deal. Or maybe they have, and nobody is there yet.
It may actually be worse than the tail wagging the dog. Ultimately, it's one person: Donald Trump. His disapproval effectively doomed Emmer, because those eight to 10 extremists you mentioned would never dare to take any action Donnie disapproved of. Those extremists are essentially in thrall to Trump. He says, they do, that simple.
If I were a big GOP donor, I would not be waiting for generational change. My response to this would be "we need to primary these bustards right the frak now...just like we did with the TEA party when they went from useful anti-Obama tool to actually thinking they should have power." And then I'd use my money and influence to get national GOP to fund exactly that.
More difficult and long-term, they need to dial back on the gerrymandering. No I am not saying anything as sane as "stop trying to rig the vote." I have no illusions on that front. I am saying that when the GOP gerrymanders for a 5% margin of victory instead of a 2% margin of victory, extremist legislators are the result. If the party wants House members who are Republican but also bipartisan deal-makers, they need to gerrymander such that the best bet to win the district is a Republican who needs to some independent support to carry the general, rather than a Republican who doesn't.
Thatโs if the GOP donors arenโt interested in what this is. But it seems like they are, this is exactly what they are looking for. A dysfunctional government at best, but the theocratic authoritarian dictatorship Trump is promising. So the extremist candidates are precisely the way to accomplish it. They donโt want bipartisanship, they want total control.
Folks like the Kochs and Peter Thiel are not dominionists. They are economic conservatives who probably consider religious conservatives to be "useful idiots." I fully expect them to want to rein in the current extremists for the sake of passing a budget (with tax cuts and deregulation benefits for them). Richard Uihlein could be a dominionist though. He's very socially conservative.
We also have Zuckerberg and Musk getting involved and theyโre clearly looney toons right along with MTG and Gaetz. The Kochs are dying off and Theil may not have the influence he once had with the others encroaching. I think the donors as well as the party have lost the plot.
I have never thought of Zuckerberg or Musk as dominionist. But frankly I don't know much about their religious backgrounds. I would agree that Musk is happy to break systems if it gets him more personal power, so he might support dominionism even if he isn't a true believer.
This time, it's a "loan" paid to Clearance-sale-Clarence, by a healthcare executive named Anthony Welters, to buy a stupidly expensive RV back in 1999. According to Welters, Thomas made a series of interest-only payments before the "loan" was "forgiven" (meaning he'd have had to report the remainder as income, and on his disclosure forms)- although he only provided proof that ~$20k of $267k had actually been paid back by the Justice. It is, of course, worth noting that Thomas has cast his vote in favor of the healthcare industry over the interests of the public every time a healthcare-related case has come before the court during his tenure. I'm ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ that's just a coincidence, ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต?
A newly-published study by the University of Maryland concluded that domestic terrorists receive much lighter sentences upon conviction than foreign terrorists do. Three guesses as to why, and only the first guess counts.
First he has to sell everything he owns. Matthew 19:21-24
Jesus told him, โIf you want to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the destitute, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come back and follow me.โ 22 But when the young man heard this statement he went away sad, because he had many possessions.
23 Then Jesus told his disciples, โI tell all of you[aa] with certainty, it will be hard for a rich person to get into the kingdom from heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into the kingdom of God.โ
He has to welcome immigrants:
Leviticus 19:33-34
โWhen a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God."
1 Peter 4:9
Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.
He needs not to marry:
1 Corinthians 7:1
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry.
So yeah, maybe he does need to get right with Jesus.
๐๐๐ซ๐ค ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐, ๐ข๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ [๐๐๐ฉ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ง] ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฒ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ'๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ฌ๐จ, ๐ข๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐ฒ, ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐. ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐. ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ก๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐, ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ง'๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ง'๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐. ๐ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ, ๐'๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ.
๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ฐ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ
And it is causing them to eat their own. It's not enough for them to be far right Christian bigots, any hint of compromise will ostracize.
Worthy of note that even Goldwater lightened up on gays in the military in his later days. Then, too, he was more about governing than he was in "getting right with Jesus."
Back when Republicans knew the difference between governing and ruling.
House Republicans have devolved to the point where not even right wing bigots are pure enough for them. They are living, breathing, arguments for the importance of church-state separation. When people convince themselves they're operating under divine sanction, they are capable of any horror. With these people in charge, how long would it be before the morality police were roaming the streets?
๐โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ฆ'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐, ๐กโ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฆ โ๐๐๐๐๐.
THIS. Of course, this. And while we're at it, sing along with me, now; you know the words!
๐โ๐๐ ๐ ๐คโ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ .
-- Voltaire
Authoritarian don't value freedom. The want submission and obedience. And when they meet strong resistance, they get violent.
Like in North Korea for example.
Authoritarians hate freedom.
I've read elsewhere in the political press that the Republican party is inching towards a true schism. It's obvious that the turmoil has caused its impotence and whether it's punishing economic positions, bigoted cultural positions - it all ALL stems from the evangelical infection of the party.
Good job God.
I would be happy if a schism i the R party happened. That would, I hope, make the Rs more EDIT: IMPOTENT, not important.
While probably so, it would be the death knell of the party. In fact that's why they tolerate the loons, they've read the writing on the wall.
"it would be the death knell of the party."
Oh man, I hope so, but I've become a pessimist who expects the worst. After Trump won the GQP nomination, people were saying that was the end of the party. And I believed it.
I mean, who the hell out there would vote for this clown, and how could anyone take the Repug Party seriously after that?
Well, ask a stupid question....
The party itself, imo, would splinter leading to a very odd collection of voting blocs that would attempt to find coalition and after finding no success would form a new much smaller party that would take the place of the Republican party. The remains would become independents and eventually drift away to the Greens and possibly Democratic party. It's sort of already happening with ouster of Channey and Kinzinger to name two.
Autocorrected from impotent to important. Sorry.
So Emmer needed to "get right with Jesus," in re: his vote to protect gay couples, eh? And just WHAT did Jesus say about gays and Lesbians?
I'm waiting...
Why do you think that a dude who spent nearly every second of his adult life with 12 other dudes, and never once marrying, would have anything to say about gay couples, other than the more the merrier?
Maria (not the "virgin") was almost a part of their group too, don't forget that.
Marjorie Traitor Greene mentions the *snicker* 'values' of Republicans?
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Values? Republicans? We've seen those alleged values in action over and over. The "Pro-life" party? Party of Family Values? Party of Personal Responsibility? Party of Law and Order? In what alternate reality?
Family values from the divorcรฉ? Pro-life values from the lady who harassed a child who survived a school shooting over her own desire to carry a weapon of death. Boebert, also divorced and a gun fellator was caught lying about her campaign finances, personal responsibility forsooth. How many Republicans have been caught carrying guns in places theyโre legally banned? Law and Order my ass. And, Jesus Christ, the number of GOP men who get caught cheating on their wives (sometimes with men) is so large itโs easier to find the few who havenโt.
Republican values are for other people, not for them to follow.
They talk about law and order yet engage in the very voter fraud/suppression they falsely accuse Democrats of. They backed and continue to back the play of a man who fomented an insurrection to prevent a legal certification.
Itโs all projection. Theyโre getting away with their shit because theyโre so vociferous in accusing the left of everything theyโre guilty of. It puts the left on the defense rather than addressing the behaviors and crimes of the right. Itโs kind of a criminal projection Gish Gallop.
Rules for thee and not for me, protection for me and not for thee.
Projection/DARVO. Once again I'm reminded of the following...
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2023/09/05
And God help us if there's another Insurrection. The second will likely succeed if only because the first one normalized the idea. MAGAts are stupid and will forget about how Trump threw his allies under the bus the first time.
The first one failed even though the cops were caught unaware. Next time, the military gets involved and they send in the drones to paint the place red.
I keep thinking they see the first one as a "practice run." The second time, they'll be twice as vicious. They might even be smart enough to not wait until the certification day. They could just decide to storm in on a regular session and still catch the police unawares while they gun down everyone on the wrong side of the aisle.
Unlikely, yes. Both that they'll be that smart and that they can convince enough people to actually murder congressmembers rather than just chanting about it and wasting time smearing feces all over the place.
Or they'll just wait until after hours and torch the Capitol building, then pin it on a patsy and use that as a pretext to turn the President into a dictator and purge members of the opposition from the legislature. Maybe... oh, say, a month or so after taking power?
A mass of Rambo wannabes would attract attention from far away. Even if these low-watt bubbas were to storm in and start shooting, the military...the real military...would still be sent in and would make short work of them.
They take hostages? They'd be considered terrorists. The US doesn't negotiate with terrorists.
Yes, I have very dark expectations. I hope I will be proven wrong.
I'm sure a lot of capitol police officers are politically conservative, but I expect if there is ANY gathering of civilians around the Capitol following claims of voter fraud in the future, they are going to be in a 'turn off the body cameras and remember Sicknick' kind of mood.
A second insurrection would be a lot more problematic (for Trump) than the first. It is easy to sell voter fraud in a national general election of millions of anonymous votes. Tons of unknowns you can use there to cast aspersions. It's much harder to claim there was a miscount or fraudulent vote added when it's 435 House members stating their public vote for the record, you need 290 of those votes to succeed, and 210 of them are Democrats who stand in front of the cameras and say "Nay." Because a President Trump in 2027 overturning the 22nd Amendment so he can run in 2028 would require exactly that.
Mike Johnson is Speaker of the House. A man who was enthusiastically for the first insurrection.
I think MTG was referring to Snickers bars. She likes them.
Now I'm thinking of this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5syJjBQ_k6o
I miss Betty, Someone said the Golden Girls were all almost gone. Um, no. Betty was the last surviving cast member before her own death.
MTG in no Betty White.
The most disturbing part of that show was that all those women were only a couple years older than myself (I think one was my age) when it started. They were all gray haired grannies at 50. Iโm nowhere near being a gray haired granny. What is with the older generations looking so dang old so young? I donโt know any 50 year olds that are full on gray.
I'd recommend Hot In Cleveland. It's the spiritual successor to Golden Girls, and even stars Betty White at her absolute snarkiest.
I'm 71 and still mostly brown-haired. My dad's genes at work.
I think they had fake hair mostly.
Estelle Getty sure did. And extensive makeup/clothes/glasses that aged her for the part.
Get rid of all that rig and she looks completely different. She looks the same age as her 3 costars.
Especially in several episodes that featured flashbacks, and she played the younger version of herself.
I'm pretty close, but I'm not 50 yet. I did know a girl who had quite a bit of grey at the end of high school.
Iโm not 50 yet, and I only have one or two glitter hairs that have been hanging out for about a decade. I look like Iโm in my 30s, but Iโm only a couple birthdays away from 50.
Lately, I've been going several month between haircuts, and when I get it cut, I do it really short. It looks very grey at first, transitions to a sort of medium brown, then goes back to grey when it gets long.
My 26 year old son is turning gray already. His father started at the same age. Most of my husband's hair is silver now. I am turning gray now, it's okay, I turn 60 in 21 days.
I started acquiring white hairs on my head since I was about 13. Lone hairs spread out across my head instead of clustered like streaks.
The amount fluctuates, too. Some days it's barely noticeable unless you're looking for it, other days every third follicle is white.
And recently I've discovered that even some of my nosehairs have turned white. And I'm only 43!
I found my first white hair at 26.
Earth 535? Or the world of lies they've convinced themselves are true.
The far-reich bigots of the GQP are so foaming-at-the-mouth rabid they thought nothing of jettisoning McCarthy, the party's biggest and best fundraiser.
They can't govern. They're not interested in governance. They're too busy engaging in demagoguery and hypocritically telling others to "get right" with an imaginary being they themselves refuse to obey.
Floriduhian Matt Gaetz engineered this. I've read articles that say Gaetz is extremely intelligent. So now I am wondering if this is exactly what he wants. A non functioning government.
Thinking about all of this, I am reminded of a quote from a certain someone who unabashedly desired the failure of the state:
๐ผ'๐ ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก. ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ฆ ๐กโ๐ ๐ ๐ก๐๐ก๐, ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ก'๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐, ๐ก๐๐. ๐ผ ๐ค๐๐๐ก ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ค๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ฆ'๐ ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐ก.
-- Steve Bannon
I genuinely believe that THIS is the goal of the Reich Wing of what used to be the Republican Party.
With Anarchy, people will accept anyone who promises order. They think setting fire to the current system will put them on top. But the current situation shows they'd be too busy fighting amongst themselves over who got the power to bring any order or stability to the country.
Such people are NOT long-haul thinkers. All they see is what's in front of them and they fail to consider long-term consequences ... or they simply don't care about them.
Which explains the environmental mess we're in due to man-made climate change.
I think that's Gaetz. He's not an anarchist. He just wants power and he sees playing the bombthrower as his ticket to that, damn the consequences.
Ironic isn't it? Wealthy conservatives sell low taxes and deregulation to poor people by making them imagine how nice a low tax rate will be when they are rich. Meanwhile convincing themselves that when they break the system, how nice it will be for them when they themselves emerge on top. Both outcomes being about equally as likely.
Sounds like Matt "I Like 'Em Young" Gaetz, all right.
I think a non functioning government is exactly what Matt Gaetz wants.
Edit: And some underage girls to date. But that goes without saying with him.
"Faith-based bigotry..."
Nope, sorry, once again it's bigotry-based faith.
To-may-to, to-mah-to.
Works out the same. :)
To โget rightโ with Jesus convert to Judaism and strive to practice the faith the failed messiah preached. Jesus wanted to reform the Judaic faith. Paul created a religion that worships Jesus the messiah. Or go all atheist and jettison this cargo cult all together.
The tail is wagging the dog. This is not to say that the GOP 'dog' is moderate, it isn't. But it is to say that the most extreme 8-10 GOP reps are the determining factor in viable speaker candidacy. Very telling to me was that in the latest slate of candidates, not one of them voted to confirm the 2020 election results. The GOP group of 8-10 extremists is blackballing anyone they see as not sufficiently extremist.
With 212 members and 218 needed for a majority, it kinda amazes me that the Dems have not tried to peel off 6 GOPers running in 'purple' districts with some sort of "switch parties, and we'll agree to some budget adds to help you win reelection" deal. Or maybe they have, and nobody is there yet.
It may actually be worse than the tail wagging the dog. Ultimately, it's one person: Donald Trump. His disapproval effectively doomed Emmer, because those eight to 10 extremists you mentioned would never dare to take any action Donnie disapproved of. Those extremists are essentially in thrall to Trump. He says, they do, that simple.
And that's disturbing AF.
If I were a big GOP donor, I would not be waiting for generational change. My response to this would be "we need to primary these bustards right the frak now...just like we did with the TEA party when they went from useful anti-Obama tool to actually thinking they should have power." And then I'd use my money and influence to get national GOP to fund exactly that.
More difficult and long-term, they need to dial back on the gerrymandering. No I am not saying anything as sane as "stop trying to rig the vote." I have no illusions on that front. I am saying that when the GOP gerrymanders for a 5% margin of victory instead of a 2% margin of victory, extremist legislators are the result. If the party wants House members who are Republican but also bipartisan deal-makers, they need to gerrymander such that the best bet to win the district is a Republican who needs to some independent support to carry the general, rather than a Republican who doesn't.
Thatโs if the GOP donors arenโt interested in what this is. But it seems like they are, this is exactly what they are looking for. A dysfunctional government at best, but the theocratic authoritarian dictatorship Trump is promising. So the extremist candidates are precisely the way to accomplish it. They donโt want bipartisanship, they want total control.
Folks like the Kochs and Peter Thiel are not dominionists. They are economic conservatives who probably consider religious conservatives to be "useful idiots." I fully expect them to want to rein in the current extremists for the sake of passing a budget (with tax cuts and deregulation benefits for them). Richard Uihlein could be a dominionist though. He's very socially conservative.
We also have Zuckerberg and Musk getting involved and theyโre clearly looney toons right along with MTG and Gaetz. The Kochs are dying off and Theil may not have the influence he once had with the others encroaching. I think the donors as well as the party have lost the plot.
I have never thought of Zuckerberg or Musk as dominionist. But frankly I don't know much about their religious backgrounds. I would agree that Musk is happy to break systems if it gets him more personal power, so he might support dominionism even if he isn't a true believer.
๐๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฑ๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐๐ฐ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ด?
They might be too busy getting their faces eaten to do anything.
Weren't they the ones standing in the corner with their fingers in their ears and their eyes shut, singing, "La, la la, la la"?
OT- Oh look, it's time for yet another Uncle Thomas corruption story!
https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-clarence-thomas-motorcoach-loan-ethics-afed2073e0d7cf4a994256ce35d5063f
This time, it's a "loan" paid to Clearance-sale-Clarence, by a healthcare executive named Anthony Welters, to buy a stupidly expensive RV back in 1999. According to Welters, Thomas made a series of interest-only payments before the "loan" was "forgiven" (meaning he'd have had to report the remainder as income, and on his disclosure forms)- although he only provided proof that ~$20k of $267k had actually been paid back by the Justice. It is, of course, worth noting that Thomas has cast his vote in favor of the healthcare industry over the interests of the public every time a healthcare-related case has come before the court during his tenure. I'm ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ that's just a coincidence, ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต?
As much of a coincidence as water making stuff wet.
Well, water doesn't make stuff wet when it's frozen. Hah, katchink.
Clearance Clarence.
Rodger, Rodger.
What's our vector, Victor?
You just don't like Thomas because he's a black conservative who's not a part of the "Democrat plantation"/HEAVY sarcasm.
Please tell us Rep. Allen, when (and how) did trump "get right with Jesus"?
When he tear gassed a bunch of people to get to a church.
In order to hold the Bible upside down.
And all without once actually stepping inside the church.
That's how DQ tests their Blizzardยฎ.
OT- Here's a piece of news that will surprise precisely nobody: https://apnews.com/article/domestic-extremism-international-terrorism-sentencing-disparities-0ef19a71d3d75a1d663704ede7dfc0ed
A newly-published study by the University of Maryland concluded that domestic terrorists receive much lighter sentences upon conviction than foreign terrorists do. Three guesses as to why, and only the first guess counts.
Hillary Obama's bike ?
Nah. Barack Biden's emails!
Jesus Christ!
Not a guess, an expletive.
Ok, the new guy, Johnson, is a young earth creationist, but is he a flat earther?
Just how deep is the bat shit?
Just the fact that he's a Young Earth Creationist should be disqualifying all by itself, full stop.
If you have to ask, it's deep enough to drown in.
Exactly, He has to get right with Jesus.
First he has to sell everything he owns. Matthew 19:21-24
Jesus told him, โIf you want to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the destitute, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come back and follow me.โ 22 But when the young man heard this statement he went away sad, because he had many possessions.
23 Then Jesus told his disciples, โI tell all of you[aa] with certainty, it will be hard for a rich person to get into the kingdom from heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into the kingdom of God.โ
He has to welcome immigrants:
Leviticus 19:33-34
โWhen a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God."
1 Peter 4:9
Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.
He needs not to marry:
1 Corinthians 7:1
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry.
So yeah, maybe he does need to get right with Jesus.
No, no, no, no.
Not the wimpy, hippie Jesus from that silly ol' bible.
The huge buff Jesus from the God's Gym t-shirts.
You know, American Jesus, White Jesus, the Jesus god always intended to give the world.