GOP Incompetence – Page 9

Open Thread January 12, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:56 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 122023

Yesterday, there was news about Damar Hamlin. I didn’t report when he was moved from the hospital he was originally in to one nearer home, because he was still hospoitalized. But now, after probably every test they could come up woth, he has been released from the hosppitsl entirely.

You may see a theme in the short takes today. I am beginning to see some thoughtful reporting about what Republicans are threatening to do, and what they can’t, or, if they can, why it cannot have the effects they claim it will. However, if they are able to get control of all three houses (Representatives, Senate, and White), it will be a different story. Campaign 2024 begins now.

Cartoon – 12 0112Cartoon.jpg

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – Democrats Have Little to Fear From GOP House Investigations
Quote – [McCarthy] announced Republicans’ intent to investigate everything from active criminal investigations being conducted by the Justice Department to “the withdrawal of Afghanistan [sic], to the origins of COVID, and to the weaponization of the F.B.I.” A resolution to create a special House Judiciary Committee “select subcommittee” to get this laundry list of investigations done will be voted on later this week. The intention to make this committee the Republican answer to the Jan. 6 Committee was made clear by Rep. Chip Roy’s disclosure that Speaker McCarthy has promised the select subcommittee at least as much funding and staffing as was given to the Jan. 6 committee.
Click through for details. The advice contained in this artocle is good, but probably unnecessary. No elected Democrat is going to be stupid enough to blow off a request from a lawfully formes committee just because it is made up of idiot and the request is laughable. None of us has anything to hide.

Crooks & Liars – No, House GOPers Can’t Block Additional IRS Funding
Quote – Maybe these Republicans would have been happier if they’d done high school theater when they were kids, and gotten it all out of their systems. Because there’s no way, no how they get to stop this IRS funding. They just have to be seen trying to stop it to make their donors happy!
Click through for exactly why not. (Not that you don’t already know this if you have ever seen Schoolhouse Rock.)

Food For Thought

Open Thread January 11, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:55 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 112023

Yesterday, after having set my alarm and arisen for it three days in a row, I slept in. But I still managed to find some cool stuff, one of the coolest of which was a Mother Jones article about coolness at government agencies. In sure we’ve all seen the occasional example of a government agency putting out some kind of warnin with verbiage and phrasng which draws attention because of its humor, but I didn’t realize it was becoming a trend. If you’re looking for an extra chuckle today, this is the place.

I also got an email from my cousin that the Army Corps of Engineers has a downloadable cat calendar for this year. My first thought was, “Why would th Army Corps of Engineers put out a calendar with cats?” But as soon as I looked at the cover it was immediately obvious …. and then it just got better. Also, this is not from the entire Corps, but specifically from the Portland (OR) District. TomCAt would have absolutely loved it.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Huff Post – Republicans Who Voted To Overturn The 2020 Election Get Top Committee Posts
Quote – House Republican leaders on Tuesday announced their picks for powerful committee chairs in the new Congress, and most of them have an inherent character flaw: They voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results after fueling the lie that the election was stolen from Donald Trump. “Our committee chairs represent the very best of our conference,” House Majority Leader Scalise (R-La.) said when announcing the GOP’s choices for chairmanships.
Click through fpr details. Of course this is bad news. But probably not more so than we expected.

The 19th – Two stories
Quote 1 – The Presidential Citizen Medal is one of the nation’s highest civilian honors, given to those who have “performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens.” Today marks the first time Biden has awarded this medal. Of the 12 recipients, four are women.
Quote 2 – [R]eproductive rights advocates and physicians say, the rights of infants born by any method, including after an attempted abortion, are already protected by a bipartisan 2002 law that established that infants have the rights of a full human. Live births after an attempted abortion are exceedingly rare, and the proposed measure would take away power over medical interventions from families and physicians.
Click through to one or both. As I’ve said, the 19th tends to focus on women, and these are no exception, One is good news, the other bad news.

Food For Thought

Open Thread December 30, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:12 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 302022

Yesterday, my eyebrows were raised hearing that I25, north of Denver, southbound was closed by a 25 vehicle crash, at about 2:30 p.m. (Then, to rub it in, the station played “Journey through the snow” from the Nutcracker.Clearly, Denver and points north have snow. We don’t. We have dry ground. That shouldn’t be surprising, given that in the years I have lived in Colorado, I have seen things liek an actual line on the roadway with snow north of it and dry ground south of it. Many places in the US and the world use the saying, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes.” Only Colorado, in my experience, scan say, “If you don’t like the weather, just move about a hundred feet – in any direction.” Of course, it isn’t always true – but it can be true fairly often. Also, I did receive confirmation to see Virgil Sunday. ( was getting nervous!)

Cartoon – (background if you are interested)

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – Far Right Turns on ‘Faker’ & ‘Liar’ Marjorie Taylor Greene
Quote – In a phone interview with The Daily Beast, [far-right radio host Stew] Peters said that Greene was “actually a threat to national security” and declared that she would “burn in hell” one day. “Marjorie is NOT America First, but regrettably a faker and a liar who raised millions claiming she would impeach Biden, and now backs a man for Speaker who refuses to impeach Biden,” he said Friday evening. Additionally, Peters—like many other far-right pundits—engaged in an extremely sexist attack referencing the allegation that Greene had an affair with a “tantric sex guru” ahead of her recent divorce.
Click through for details. This may sound like good news – but it isn’t really. The iissue is that she’s not extreme enough for those who are turning against her. We might be able to use that to our advantage in the battle for the Speakership, but I don’t know that our delegation is savage enough to do so.

Crooks & Liars – Blue America Says #DraftLucas
Quote – Blue America started running [a #DraftLucas ad campaign] across Missouri [Monday] morning before dawn. So far, the ads are on Facebook and Instagram. We’re primarily asking people in Missouri to join us in calling to #DraftLucas– and anyone else… please use #DraftLucas on social media.
Click through for details and video ad. This is really for Nameless, as the rest of us aren’t big social media users – but useit when you can (maybe put it in an email signature?)

Food For Thought

Video Thread 12/24/2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:10 pm Open Thread, Politics

Dec 242022

Glenn Kirschner – Despite criticism, J6 committee’s criminal referral of Donald Trump to DOJ was right thing to do

Farron Balanced – Republicans STILL Don’t Understand Why The Public Hates Them

Puppet Regime – Zelensky vs Santa Claus

Rocky Moutain Mike – Elon Musk is Watching Your Feed

Wild Groundhog Won’t Let Woman Go Home Without Her

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump’s move with McCarthy….

Open Thread December 21, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:49 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 212022

Yesterday, Joyce Vance shared this link at the New York Times for the Executive Summary of the January 6 Committee’s Report. This is not the full report, but it is 154 pages, so it still may be a bit long for anyone who has a life. I also placed a grocery order for tomorrow.

Also, the top tentative news was that President Zelenskyy might be in Washington DC today, and if so, may address a joint session of Comgress this evening. Of course, evening in Washington is pretty much afternoon elsewhere. I could not find a specific YouTube channel for Congress as a whole like the one the January 6th Committee has/had. But you can bet if that happens, and if it isn’t classified, everyone will carry it live. So keep an eye out – I certainly will – and I’ll post a link afterwards even if it takes me all day/night to find it.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

PolitiZoom – A British Village Displays Its Feelings For Vladimir Putin In Graphic Terms
Quote – “A penis-headed statue of Vladimir Putin has been erected in the village of Bell End to commemorate him as “Bellend of the Year” in protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”… And it doesn’t stop there. The villagers also gave eggs to passers-by in case they wanted to throw them at the statue.
Click through. There are photos. I personally am speechless. (Correction: there is no village called ‘Bell End’ but there is a Bellend Road, which is where the statue is. ‘Bell end” is British slang for the tip of I’m sure you can guess what)

The Daily Beast – Onetime Friends Lauren Boebert and MTG Go to War Against Each Other
Quote – At Turning Point USA’s winter student conference on Monday, Boebert said that her support for McCarthy isn’t as firm as Greene’s—before ripping into the Georgia Republican over her belief in “Jewish space lasers.” But Greene wasn’t about to let Boebert get the last word, with the 48-year-old firing back at her younger colleague on Monday evening with a trio of tweets accusing Boebert of partaking in “high school drama.”
Click through for story. I never in a million years expected to be saying that it appears Boebert is a little smarter than Marge … but it certainly looks like it. Maybe she just has better advisers. (Anyone know a word which roughly means the same as “disarray” but begins with an “R”?)

Food For Thought

Video Thread 12/15/2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:52 am Open Thread, Politics

Dec 152022

Glenn Kirschner missed another day (I hope he’s alright), and I can’t find him on Political VOices Netwrok either. So here is Lawrence with Neal Katyal, who aregued the right side of Moore v Harper before SCOTUS last week.