129 Comments
User's avatar
oraxx's avatar

It's hard to miss the fact there are no Republicans on this list. Republicans pander to the preachers while viewing human decency as a character flaw. I don't know who is using whom when it comes to Republicans and the preachers, but it is a symbiotic relationship that has done enormous damage to this country.

Joe King's avatar

“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.”

― Barry Goldwater

oraxx's avatar

I didn't agree with Goldwater on many things but he was right about the preachers. He was also someone who would have never sold his country out under any circumstances. I don't think that can be said about any of today's Republicans.

Len Koz's avatar

Today's Republicans sell out our country daily.

Hyder Simpson's avatar

Feel compelled to note that it was Goldwater who urged the party to coax the segregationists from the Democratic Party in order to increase the political power of the Republican Party. He might not sell out his country but his conception of the country was fairly small and narrow. And he was clearly willing to sell out some members of the country to secure political power which seems to be the primary strategy of the Republican Party today.

Stephen Brady's avatar

Hard to believe that I heartily agree with Barry Goldwater on something but he nailed this one.

Psittacus Ebrius's avatar

They are now looking to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges.

Holytape's avatar

Free thoughts sounds like communism. What, do they not believe in the free market capitalism? People should pay for their thoughts. That's what has made America great for generations!

NOGODZ20's avatar

Still not a single Republican (or even Independent).

Maybe they should form their own Caucus. Given how Republicans roll, how about the Thought-free Caucus?

Walt Svirsky's avatar

How about “Fidelity Free?” That kinda rolls off the tongue.

Daniel Rotter's avatar

"(or even Independent)"

There are actually no Independents in the House of Reps. Literally all members in this Congress are Democrats or Republicans.

NOGODZ20's avatar

Wasn’t sure of the makeup. Took a guess.

Bensnewlogin's avatar

All of the members of the free thought caucus are Democrats. There’s not one republican in there.

Does that mean Republicans are not free to think? So it would appear.

Does it mean that Republicans charge to think? So it would appear.

Does it mean that Republicans don’t think unless they are paid? So it would appear.

Does it mean that Republicans only want to think about cauc? So it would appear, at least to hear them Rail on about what people who are allegedly free do with their caucs.

Does it mean that Republicans cauc up? Always.

Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

Just following orders is not an excuse. It wasn’t for WWII it won’t be for this.

User's avatar
Comment removed
Jun 9, 2025
Comment removed
NOGODZ20's avatar

Don't give him any ideas.

Psittacus Ebrius's avatar

But he did say that egg prices are down 400%! We must give credit when it's due.

Kay-El's avatar

Good news that there’s more free thinkers. The bad news is the others brains are still in captivity and/or being held for ransom. Hopeful that some can escape without their brains being permanently altered by the evil cosplayer and his henchmen.

Bonnie Boyce's avatar

Interesting how republicans universally fear free thought.

Troublesh00ter's avatar

Can't have freethought around a dictator, and that's what Donnie Dumb-Ass thinks he is.

Bonnie Boyce's avatar

Fear is the most powerful motivation behind the behaviors of both Republicans and most religion folks

Guerillasurgeon's avatar

And the hatred that comes from fear.

Troublesh00ter's avatar

"Gatling laser?!?" Oh, SWELL! 🤦‍♂️

Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

The Gatling gun was an early machine gun, firing multiple bullets very quickly. It had several barrels turned on a crank, you see it in movies about early mob activities. A Gatling laser would likely have a similar appearance and fire many lasers very quickly, destroying the dvd. (This is not how lasers work, but it’s a funny mental image.)

Here’s a link. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatling_gun

Joe King's avatar

𝐴𝑠 𝐼’𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝑝𝑒𝑟ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑎𝑢𝑐𝑢𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡, 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡, 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒… 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑦, 𝑛𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒—𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡-𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎—𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠.

Shocking? No. Refreshing? Yes.

This news provide a small bit of hope for the future in the midst of the shitshow. Although, the lack of coverage by the reich-wing media might be partly due to their belief that the theocracy they are trying to force would make any non-Christian group irrelevant.

Troublesh00ter's avatar

Two more members. GREAT! Honestly, I DO wish that at least ONE of them had an (R) next to their name, but in this day and age, that is probably a bit much to ask. So now we're up to 30. The real hell of it is, the REAL number should be 535, if those in Congress genuinely cared about State / Church separation. Sadly, there are a whole lot of Congresspersons who not only don't care about it; they want to see it abolished.

And I'm hoping that is where these gentlemen and ladies come in.

Joe King's avatar

We are not likely to see one with an (R) until they flush the Christian Nazionalism from their ranks. IOW, likely never.

Troublesh00ter's avatar

I would like to think that, once Trumpism gets washed out of the Republican party (presuming that's possible, and I'm just enough of an optimist to think it is), we might get more than a couple (R)s in the ranks of the Congressional Freethought Caucus.

But yeah ... it'll be a while.

Joe King's avatar

Christian Nazionalism and Trumpism are almost the same thing. Trumpism just adds a layer of mean-spirited bullying on top of the Christian Nazionalist cruelty and conformity.

Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

I have a feeling that when all is said and done with this crap, there won’t be a Republican Party anymore. The Democratic Party will likely split and we will have a completely new party created. We will still have conservative and liberal voices, they just won’t be republicans and democrats. Hopefully, though, the split will shift the Overton window left again.

Troublesh00ter's avatar

There's a good chance that you're right, though whether a fragmentation of our two major parties is a good thing or a bad one is major-league TBD.

And the outcome is anything but certain.

Walt Svirsky's avatar

If the Republicon “hive mind” allowed even one of its drones to think outside the fascist box, AnusMouthPantLoad’s big fat pumpkin head would explode.

User's avatar
Comment removed
Jun 9, 2025
Comment removed
Daniel Rotter's avatar

"There's a midget standing tall/and a giant beside him about to fall."

-from "Stand" by Sly and the Family Stone

I've always loved that song lyric.

larry parker's avatar

Yo, Adrian!

Oops, wrong Sly.

Condolences to the Family Stone.

Holytape's avatar

Well, some heard about the free flights to El Salvador and wanted in on the action.

User's avatar
Comment removed
Jun 9, 2025
Comment removed
Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

I don't think even North Korea or Afghanistan deserves that.

Matri's avatar

Does this mean the National Guard operating in L.A. is actually illegal, according to the Posse Comitatus Act?

Especially since the state governor specifically did NOT give permission.

https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8cbe7b73b3bea4064217b8bdfb97538a8d97d81ef79a3d76fc6c92e16e659e4f.jpg

larry parker's avatar

Yes, it's illegal. Will anybody do anything about it? No (probably not).

RegularJoe's avatar

It depends on what they're doing.

I expect at some point it'll be a mess, and I have no faith in SCOTUS doing anything.

Matri's avatar

I have faith in SCOTUS doing The Wrong Thing.

User's avatar
Comment removed
Jun 10, 2025
Comment removed
Matri's avatar

Or as the MAGAts call it: “American Values”.

NOGODZ20's avatar

Marriage between one man and one woman? Like, ever? Can't divorce for any reason? Can't get remarried if a spouse dies?

How about adultery? Some cities/areas in the bible belt also have high rates of infidelity. In Texas alone, there's Dallas, Houston and even Fort Worth. One study of the users of the Ashley Madison "dating" (read: cheating) service website found that the most common religious affiliation among the study's participants were *drumroll* Evangelical Christians. The religious don't seem to take one man/one woman very seriously. Hell, even Adam and Eve never married.

Bottom line? I've said it before and I'll say it again: Christians did not invent marriage and they don't own it.

Guerillasurgeon's avatar

Don't forget all the religious leaders who commit adultery, divorce their wives, and engage in gay sex at various times. But then we are preaching to the choir here I guess.

NOGODZ20's avatar

The bible belt is the biggest consumer of porn (including gay porn) in this country. The bible belt has the highest rate of divorce in this country.

"Do as I say, not as I do," xtians cry.

Matri's avatar

Don’t forget kinkiest porn search keywords.

Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz's avatar

Examples?

For research purposes only.

Guerillasurgeon's avatar

The correct way to phrase this is "asking for a friend." :)

User's avatar
Comment removed
Jun 9, 2025
Comment removed
Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

The bible belt, where barnyard commandos take another meaning.

Len Koz's avatar

Is Mike Johnson aptly named or what?

janyce p's avatar

Congratulations to the The Congressional Freethought Caucus