352 Comments
User's avatar
Troublesh00ter's avatar

Charlie Kirk was a liar and a bigot. There, I said it. Worse, he seems to have encouraged a whole new generation of liars and bigots who are convinced that Charlie was the best thing since sliced bread, and Ms. Andreatta gives all appearances of being one of that number.

And I am frankly disappointed that more people aren't seeing through all of his (and her) bullshit.

Expand full comment
XJC's avatar

You think he was lying? I assure you he spoke sincerely held beliefs. Those beliefs are perverse, bigoted, and odious.

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

He lied when he talked about qualifications for responsible positions and suggested that the standards for such positions was – shall we say, "modified" – for minority candidates. Any self-respecting person holding such a position, regardless of their majority or minority status, might be tempted to kick ol' Charlie in the gonads for such a suggestion.

But being that Kirk is dead, that would be wasted action.

Expand full comment
Len Koz's avatar

Can I kick his wife's 2nd husband (Vance) in the gonads?

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

Don't let me stop you! [not that I would!]

Expand full comment
Matri's avatar

Join the line.

Expand full comment
Runfastandwin's avatar

A “sincerely held belief “ can still be a lie though.

Expand full comment
NOGODZ20's avatar

I look at her and listen to her and am reminded of the following...

"That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain."

-- Hamlet

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

Oh, yeah, that works.

Expand full comment
wreck's avatar

"My oldest daughter had a lot of trauma as a child. Something really terrible happened to her when she was very young that I would hope never would happen to any other child."

I'm guessing the trauma was having an ignorant racist moron as a mother.

Expand full comment
Len Koz's avatar

^THIS

Expand full comment
Joe King's avatar

𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑁𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠? 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑢𝑝 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒.

No, Mayor Andreatta. Christian Nationalist is a name we give to people like you who are far right nationalist claiming that the country was founded to be a Christian nation. What would that really look like to you? If the United States is officially a Christian nation, what would be the status of people who aren't Christians? Who gets to define Christianity? You do realize that there are plenty of Christians who don't teach the hateful stuff you regurgitate regarding LGBTQ people and civil rights for people who are not white.

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒’𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑛𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚.

You, Madame Mayor, are what was unsafe about that room.

Expand full comment
PhillyT's avatar
18hEdited

I honestly would have so much more respect for them if they just owned their hate and didn't twist themselves into pretzels to try and still appear or present as morally upright people. But they want to have their cake and eat it too, they genuinely love the rhetoric, hate and perceived superiority and hate that they can't have both. That is why they get so irritated when they get called out or their own words are used against them, because they are hypocrites and they see themselves as good people, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

Expand full comment
Olga Bourlin's avatar

There are two things Republicans hate: 1) Being called racist; and 2) Black people.

That's Christian Nationalism hiding under religious garb.

Expand full comment
Tinker's avatar

This woman went to a public high school in California. Are they no longer teaching that our nation was founded by people who were tired of a king, who ruled by divine right, ruling by royal edicts? Or did the bible college she went to manage to remove everything she already learned and dump garbage into her head?

Expand full comment
John Smith's avatar

Christian fascist don’t know real history (world or local), in fact the Christian fascists really don’t know anything unless they were told what to think!

Expand full comment
Joe King's avatar

It's the latter. Although the fact that she chose to go to a b̶i̶g̶o̶t̶ bible college suggests she didn't learn much at her public school.

Expand full comment
Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

“There’s nothing unsafe about this room.”

Immediately proven wrong as folks left the room to harass and bully their classmates who weren’t in the room.

Expand full comment
Holytape's avatar

People like her don't realize that in an us versus them, would she's a them. Sure she is white and a Christian, but she's a woman. She's not going to get a seat at the table.

Expand full comment
Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

Under the table still count, somehow.

Expand full comment
Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

Hmmm, and just what is she going to be doing under the table?

Expand full comment
Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

Leur cirer les pompes, bien sûr.

Expand full comment
Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

She'll be polishing something, but it won't be shoes.

Expand full comment
Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

If you insist. French expression du jour : astiquer le braquemart.

Expand full comment
NOGODZ20's avatar

They certainly have no trouble coming up with names for people outside their far-right religious anthill.

Expand full comment
James Scammell's avatar

Sadly, in my view, Madame Mayor is a very sick THEIST animal.

… 🦘🦘🦘

Expand full comment
James Scammell's avatar

Please remember that we are just ordinary thinking human beings, as there is no such thing as an atheist … but the Mayor and too many others are brain dead THEISTS.

Expand full comment
Maltnothops's avatar

When someone tells you that they are a shitty person, believe them.

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

And when someone tells you that they are a shitty person, then tries to walk it back, believe what they said the FIRST time!

Expand full comment
Joe King's avatar

Isn't trying to walk it back when facing consequences for shitty behavior part of the definition of a shitty person?

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

The first part is declaration. The second is VERIFICATION!

Expand full comment
larry parker's avatar

The airlines didn't lower their standards. You know who did, though. ICE and the Border Patrol.

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

Offering a $50,000 sign-on bonus? That positively SCREAMS desperation!

Expand full comment
Matri's avatar

Plus cutting training time.

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

I shudder to think what their "training" looks like!

Expand full comment
Ethereal Fairy's avatar

They only get it if they last five years, and they will be fired before that happens.

Expand full comment
larry parker's avatar

Somebody lowered the standards for mayor.

Expand full comment
Jane in NC's avatar

It's astonishing that in the year 2025 people like Andreatta still think they can get away with making bigoted, homophobic, and defamatory comments about high school students and people like MLKjr and no one outside that small room will ever hear about it. She wasn't 'taken out of context', she was recorded saying the very things she claims were 'out of context.' The only thing that was authentic in her speech is that she 100% represented the bigoted, racist, homophobic views espoused by Charlie Kirk. The damage caused by Kirk and his acolytes like Andreatta didn't take long to filter out to the student population after her speech, because kids sitting in that room, indoctrinated in hate, then turned around went after fellow students. Kirk contributed nothing of value during his life, and his legacy continues to inflict harm after his death.

Expand full comment
Kukaan Ei Missään's avatar

"Republicans love calling people “Socialist” or “Marxist” without elaboration because those words sound scary."

Socialist/Marxist: Someone whose politics I dislike.

Somebody ask her whether she has actually read any Marx or Engels and watch her squirm

Expand full comment
John Smith's avatar

Christian fascists don’t read books, they (Christian fascists) prefer to burn them (books).

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

Also ask her how she likes her local police, fire department, and library. 😉

Expand full comment
Kay-El's avatar

I’ve been called Marxist and Socialist so many times, I take it as a badge of honor. At least I’m not a fascist.

Expand full comment
GMT's avatar

Excellent observation of the racist POS mayor. (Don’t care to use her name) So proud of the students that confronted the racist POS in real time. Their pushback is crucial. This generation must ensure that their future is not commandeered by racists, homophobes, misogynists - yes Christian Nationalists. Nothing good comes from people insisting that other people are different and that it’s a bad thing.

Expand full comment
Old Man Shadow's avatar

[American exceptionalism]

Tell me why America is exceptional out of every nation on the Earth, please. Because I'm not seeing it. I see a nation with lofty rhetoric about liberty and freedom, but not much else.

Expand full comment
dammit barry's avatar

We arre truly exceptional at pushing meaningless platitudes. Anything more requires efforts we are unwilling to shoulder

Expand full comment
larry parker's avatar

We have the Kardashians and Jersey Shore.

Expand full comment
wreck's avatar

And Pauly Shore.

Expand full comment
Len Koz's avatar

Is he still around? See? There is no god.

Expand full comment
Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

We are number one in mass shootings and mass incarceration. Also, maternal mortality, infant mortality, lack of healthcare access, and rapidly declining life expectancy. But most of those things are connected.

Expand full comment
XJC's avatar

Americans are exceptionally good about talking about how exceptional they are.

Expand full comment
oraxx's avatar

Charlie Kirk was a awful human being, and the people who followed him are just as bad.

Expand full comment
Tinker's avatar

𝐵𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑖𝑑...

You see, it's not that they are unqualified because they can't do the job. They are unqualified because they couldn't afford the training or they didn't get the job through a friend of their daddies.

Expand full comment
Eric's avatar

Judging by her own statements, she isn't a very articulate or thoughtful person. In fact, there's nothing about her statements that suggests she has much of anything going on upstairs. Which is entirely the point: the political climate these days had emboldened these low-wattage intellects to spout whatever useless drivel comes to mind and claim it's all "protected speech."

Expand full comment
Maltnothops's avatar

Starting off with an OT: Yesterday I mentioned that 218 House members signed a discharge petition that forces a vote on extending ACA subsidies. The vote comes after 7 legislative days. Mike Johnson has now closed the House, meaning that no legislative days are going by. The subsidies will end on Dec. 31st and as long as the House is shut down, there will be no votes even on the GOP “plan”.

Expand full comment
Linda's avatar

Johnson is a pro-death snake. Honestly, it’s about time people should have to face the consequences of their votes and decisions. Unfortunately, everyone else is harmed in the process as well.

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

I think it's time that Johnson was kicked out of the Speaker's chair.

Expand full comment
Maltnothops's avatar

There are rumors that MTG was trying to do that as her parting shot. It takes 9 Republicans to force a vote on voting out the Speaker. I’m wondering if the House being shutdown prevents a vote on the speakership. It may be — this pure speculation on my part — that he will keep the House closed until MTG resigns.

Expand full comment
Linda's avatar

Someone needs to keep track of every person who dies unnecessarily next year due to not having health insurance and send Mike Johnson a card in the mail each time:

Human #8,567,094

Thoughts and Prayers

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

Gee, can you say, "Running scared," boys and girls? I KNEW that you could!

BTW, back when the GOP was looking for a new Speaker, didn't they have a rule that only ONE HOUSE MEMBER was needed to call to remove a Speaker?

Expand full comment
Tinker's avatar

That was the concession the idiot caucus made to vote for Kevin McCarthy.

Expand full comment
Maltnothops's avatar

Yes, that was the rule then. And they came to the reasonable conclusion that it was a stupid rule.

Expand full comment
Linda's avatar

I wish. They put him in that position because he’s a loyalist freak who’s on a mission to ban women and the trans community from participating in life.

Expand full comment
dammit barry's avatar

It is holiday season. They can't be working. They need time to prepare for holiday parties and schmoozing

Expand full comment
Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

Drinking eggnog and eating Xmas ham that their constituents can't afford.

Expand full comment
Joe King's avatar

Rat bastard.

Expand full comment
Whitney's avatar

OT: I don't know about anyone else, but I've noticed a phrase that keeps coming up lately, and it's made another appearance in this article. "American exceptionalism" isn't something that I remember from childhood, and seems to be little more than 'back in the 1950s when things were going good for the US and not so much for everyone else'.

I can tell it's being used as something of a MAGA dog whistle; I've heard Trump use it often enough I would guess that's why it's being used so much now. Perhaps it's me, but that phrase sounds more like something I'd hear in a modern ad; sure it sounds good, but at the end of the day it doesn't have much meaning. It's just decoration on an average or below average product intended to fool others into thinking it's worthwhile. In short, it's completely on-brand for the Trump presidency and those who voted for him as there is no actual substance to be had. An exceptional America is something to be built and earned, and right now, more bridges to that exceptionalism are being burned or torn down than are being built.

The bottom line here is that America cannot have bigots, misogynists, and racists for leaders and be 'exceptional' in any worthwhile way. Being truly long term exceptional requires group effort from every individual; looking down on others is not something an exceptional nation can afford at any level. People of color, women, LGBTQ+, and many other minority groups have plenty to offer the United States, and denying their accomplishments and abilities is foolish at the fundamental level. Ms. Andreatta isn't just wrong here, she's actively fighting against what she's claiming (pretending?) she wants.

Expand full comment
Boreal's avatar
11hEdited

It's a RWNJ phrase. When wimmen were barefoot and pregnant, "colored folks" knew their place and queers were in the closet. During this era the US used its power to topple democratically elected governments to help oil companies and other corporations with their profits at the expense of other countries' democracies and citizens.

Expand full comment
Guerillasurgeon's avatar

It's comes up more outside the US than inside I suspect. Often sarcastically.

Expand full comment
Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

American exceptionalism = white supremacy

Expand full comment