Ron Johnson voted against the $95 B aid package to Ukraine. That POS's reason for doing it was because he apparently loved Tucker Carlson's interview with Putin...which who in the hell saw, except for Russians and Putin-lovers...and good old Russian Ron decided that it was a waste of money because Putin 'wasn't going to lose'....or some such b.s.
It's always hard to pick the worst MAGA/GQP Senator, but he is ALWAYS in contention because of the stupiid reasons he gives for doing the things he does!
Mine too. What an asshat he is. And after July 4 in Moscow, he got worse. What the hell was that all about. Why was stupid Jill Stein there? Questions...
yep, without a doubt. i remember senator Shelby from Alabama who was a decent man, was there and looked scared to death. he did not run for re-election.
If I had to bet, Vlad showed them the receipts for all the money he has funneled through the RNC, the NRA, and various state parties. And maybe he included a special message from Harlan Crowe explaining how they came to own SCOTUS.
No politician is super decent. Im from Alabama and my dem friends liked him. I think he use to be a Democrat. Compared to all the Alabama Republicans he was a good guy.
I bet he was forced into the entire thing. He had a scared expression on his face. Seems to me he was getting off an elevator and was terrified. Guess putin told them his plans for their party or their families were in trouble. Who knows but he sure git out of politics
Insightful column today. There must be something being held over the R's....I mean, how could virtually ALL of them turn to the dark side? I hope I live long enough to find out because nothing is ever a secret forever. "Fuckity Bye" 😂😂 I'll be using THAT all week.
Malcolm Tucker is the reason why I couldn't watch the Capaldi episodes of Dr. Who. I just kept expecting him to yell "FUCKITY BYE!" as he waltzed into the Tardis.
Thank you, JT. I just checked and “In the Loop” appears to be available for free (with ads) on YouTube. Hadn’t heard of it and looking forward to checking it out.
I’ve been thinking that from the beginning. Seeing Lindsay’s text and hearing his praise of President Biden,then watching him turn on a dime was enough.
I know this is simplistic and redundant; but, there is something horrible going on in our world right now. Unless and until the decent, well-considered conservatives in our country decide Trump is the actual threat to our democracy, we’re forced to vote and harangue and hope for the best and goddamn if that doesn’t piss me the hell off! It’s like watching a baby stroller head off a cliff and we’re frozen in place, unable to do anything but fret. I fucking hate this feeling in my gut.
That’s certainly a part of this current situation since we can trace the faultlines back to the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. As always, the promise of a genie’s lamp creates unknowns. Once the cap of state-sponsored repression was lifted from Islamic republics, radicals rushed in to fill the void. On cue, the abstract fear of nuclear annihilation was replaced by the actuality of local religious and political violence. It’s not too much of a stretch to see how Putin was able to maneuver regressive Russian politics in order to (re-)create a wounded, vengeful, revanchist Russia that poses a threat to immediate, democracy-loving neighbors as well as the globe in general.
there is something horrible going on. the fascist billionaires over the world are forming a New World Order and trump will be their useful idiot and possibly be 25th shortly in office. his vp, actually theirs, pick will be interesting.
If we don't keep the WH and at least the senate or take the house, we're finished.
Putin also knew the crazy ass fake Christians would get on board if you took away abortions and gave them power.
A big part of Project 2025 is killing any response by government to climate crisis and regulatory bodies. Koch Enterprises wants all that anti fossil fuel and regulation noise silenced.
The other half of Project 2025 is Leonard Leo's Opus Dei push for Christian Nationalism. Trad women, gay people lobotomized or purged, and every womb monitored. Not hard to do with today's technology.
Enforcement? The military will be called in to stop the insurrectionists - anyone opposed to Trump - day one.
TRUMP HAS 50 BILLIONAIRES FUNDING HIM TO ENSURE THEIR PERMANENT WEALTH AND POWER. This is REAL.
Great piece Jeff! I’ve wondered the same thing myself, and it’s the only thing that explains why a once respected party has collectively entered into a Faustian bargain with Donald Trump, and why so many people that once were honorable and respected would now be willing to debase and diminish themselves for someone so undeserving. Keep saying, in your own unique way that which needs to be said, and, more importantly, heard! Thank you Jeff.
I agree. I looked up the word “coward” in the dictionary and it showed me a group photo of all those anti Trumpers whose silence is defeating! Not sure who’s worse, those cowards or the ones who bent the knee.
Thanks Jeff -as always provocative. I don't think it's "kompromat". I think it is that upon GOP/MAGA self-reflection -they simply recognize they have a product that will not sell.
The GOP product, at its core, is "Hey people, the reason you aren't free from having to work 3 jobs to pay rent and make car payments is because we haven't cut taxes for the wealthiest 'job creators' yet because the Commie Marxist liberals want people to pay their fair share. Also, they want to continue to keep the borders open so people can come here and steal that backbreaking exploitive work working the agricultural fields of central California -you know, those high-paying jobs you covet." And those social fabric destroying liberals want witches (sorry, went all 'Justice' Alito there for a moment) women to be able to make their own decisions about their bodies.
Anyone who is not a completely brainwashed MAGA cultist, or anyone with an IQ over 75 (wait, is that redundant?) understands their product is a complete bag of, well, you know.
Essentially their choice is the uphill battle of pushing that toxic bag of dung uphill to sell it, or to simply point at Orange Trumputin (the guy with the awesome healthcare plan) and tell their willfully ignorant cult base to vote for the Orange Treason Weasel -because he 'works' in mysterious ways.
The irony is that Adam Swift, the father of capitalism, plainly said that those to whom much has been given have a greater responsibility to help those who have not. The Republicans have turned away from that idea.
I agree that the GOP product is a bag of shit and only dupes, imbeciles and lemmings are interested in buying it. At the same time it has seemed obvious that the orange demented fuckface has been twisting the arms of some of his most ardent ass kissers. It’s true that he can get all kinds of info on everyone and even if he didn’t come up with a plan to manipulate these people you can depend on shitheads like Miller to have implemented one.
In 💯agreement. There may be some kompromat somewhere, but I also think that it is the attitude of self interest. The king is dead, long live the king. In being a politician, looking at where your own power resides. You delete shame, and there is no other option but to support the current choice.
I think there might be a very snarky guide to becoming a prominent GOP member authored by you and available at fine bookstores everywhere in your future!
There seldom is a certain "Only Thing" behind people's decisions to do the wrong thing.
Some may be compromised, some may be greedy, some may be lazy, some may be stupid, some may be fearful. Some may be ego-committed to being blind to the truth.
It might not to be sure. But he’s the horse that has excited and distracted the MAGA/Putin base. Who else will entertain the willfully ignorant? Tim Scott? Nikki “I’d sell my family to be relevant” Haley? Kristi “Have you seen my dog?” Noem?
There are plenty of ambitious Republicans who could have run against Biden for president, pulled McConnell along for the ride and been free of Trump. McConnell should have seen the Jan 6 impeachment as an easy exit from the man he hates. And he could have put forward a compelling Republican candidate, younger and shining to go after Biden. It would have worked. But he didn't impeach Trump. Why? He should have known the wheels of justice move much more slowly than Trump's social media accounts and that Trump had no intention of going away if he could run for office and stay out of jail. Why, why why didn't McConnell play this better?
His McD's grease-stained lil' black book is clearly chock full of all the deets on the shady shit all the R's have done, and boy is there plenty, to keep them in line. As you say, mob-boss 101 level shit.
Well, the guy who ate McDonald’s for a year and whose background bears some similarities to former president Shitstain, dropped dead at age 53 the other day. They say that correlation is not causation, but maybe sometimes it is.
Spurlock sacrificed his health for a great documentary, he had imagination and verve; he apologized for harm he may have caused. Both qualities (sacrifice for the greater good, remorse and contrition) are foreign to the Trump universe. Although the fast foods link is interesting.
I remember the non-leak of the Russian GOP hack job but never imagined that the classified files could be tailor made to Republican dirt. Could it be that Graham and Co. are fighting so hard to delay that trial because they don't want the info outed in court? Now that's an interesting theory.
Everyone already knows that Graham is gay AF. What else could they have on him? Exposing him as gay would not be a huge shock to the population. I can't imagine anything else. They must fear for the safety of their families and loved ones because that's what gangsters do, go after your family.
And we all know that Tim Scott is gay. He makes a fool of himself every time he speaks. He was never married and never seen with a woman. Maybe he and Lindsey are a thing. The woman he’s dating is all a facade to make people think he is straight.
I’m not into conspiracy theories either, but man, have I wondered about this too. What does Putin hold over Dementia Dumpster? And moving down the food chain into the rethuglicans, you don’t have to be John Lecarre to imagine what the former KGB agent has dug up about their shady business. Once people like that gain the power they covet, they’ll sell their souls to hang onto it.
Remember all those GOP senators who spent the 4th of July 2017 in Moscow? Think that was a trade delegation?
Kim, I was thinking the same thing! Ron Johnson from Wisconsin was there among others. That was shady AF.
Ron Johnson voted against the $95 B aid package to Ukraine. That POS's reason for doing it was because he apparently loved Tucker Carlson's interview with Putin...which who in the hell saw, except for Russians and Putin-lovers...and good old Russian Ron decided that it was a waste of money because Putin 'wasn't going to lose'....or some such b.s.
It's always hard to pick the worst MAGA/GQP Senator, but he is ALWAYS in contention because of the stupiid reasons he gives for doing the things he does!
He’s Joe Bidens least favorite senator.
Mine too. What an asshat he is. And after July 4 in Moscow, he got worse. What the hell was that all about. Why was stupid Jill Stein there? Questions...
Remember it was Senator Ron Johnson who tried to hand the fake elector slate to Pence on 1/6
IF the dems win the senate (please please please) Johnson needs to be expelled.
To give the election to the bloated yam. The patients are running the asylum.
It's all about the rubles, and Putin likes to show them who is boss, by making them collect in person.
Mine too😡
They were collecting their Rubles.
I am assuming that all of what Jeff says is true, and more that we cannot imagine because none of us lives such corrupt dirty lives.
That's why it is so jaw-dropping to the average American.
Bingo, Putin likes to make them come to him, then get some Kompromat. In case they grow a spine.
Charles, off topic but did you see the news angel hernandez "retired"?
I did.
Yep.
yep, without a doubt. i remember senator Shelby from Alabama who was a decent man, was there and looked scared to death. he did not run for re-election.
If I had to bet, Vlad showed them the receipts for all the money he has funneled through the RNC, the NRA, and various state parties. And maybe he included a special message from Harlan Crowe explaining how they came to own SCOTUS.
YES you are 100000000% right. Margerie three toes is on his payroll for sure. All thise guys. I want ti know about the FBI people
Don't think Shelby was super decent really. But I split hairs compared to the outright thieves and liars in our federal guv now
No politician is super decent. Im from Alabama and my dem friends liked him. I think he use to be a Democrat. Compared to all the Alabama Republicans he was a good guy.
He was a Democrat at one time.
Curious about what made you think he looked scared. He organized the trip. I wonder what spooked him?
I bet he was forced into the entire thing. He had a scared expression on his face. Seems to me he was getting off an elevator and was terrified. Guess putin told them his plans for their party or their families were in trouble. Who knows but he sure git out of politics
While Trump's meeting with Putin is seared into my brain, I had forgotten about that trip! I read a bit more on it just now, and HOLY SHIT. WTFF??!!
I wish the Dems would use that footage of the Putin meeting where Trump slunk out like a beaten dog. That shit is powerful.
Yes that was sure a show of power and dominance on Putin's part. He is the dom daddy in that relationship, for sure.
In a way, it probably was. Trading rubles for loyalty.
Insightful column today. There must be something being held over the R's....I mean, how could virtually ALL of them turn to the dark side? I hope I live long enough to find out because nothing is ever a secret forever. "Fuckity Bye" 😂😂 I'll be using THAT all week.
fuckity-bye is from the 2009 movie "In The Loop," which is a must-see satire of the run-up to the Iraq war
Ohh I thought it was from "The Thick of It" but turns out "In The Loop" is the spin-off movie.
yup, the Malcolm Tucker character appears in both the TV show and the movie.
Malcolm Tucker is the reason why I couldn't watch the Capaldi episodes of Dr. Who. I just kept expecting him to yell "FUCKITY BYE!" as he waltzed into the Tardis.
Thank you, JT. I just checked and “In the Loop” appears to be available for free (with ads) on YouTube. Hadn’t heard of it and looking forward to checking it out.
one small positive about Google AI is that you just have to search the name of the movie and get a list of everywhere it is streaming, including free.
Same here!
Best movie ever❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ extra points for referencing it
You should watch the show "The Thick of It" where that gif comes from. It's a political comedy series from the UK but it's absolutely hilarious!
Too bad Trump isn't facing his NEXT character....
I’ve been thinking that from the beginning. Seeing Lindsay’s text and hearing his praise of President Biden,then watching him turn on a dime was enough.
Yes!! Fuckity bye! 🤣🤣
I know this is simplistic and redundant; but, there is something horrible going on in our world right now. Unless and until the decent, well-considered conservatives in our country decide Trump is the actual threat to our democracy, we’re forced to vote and harangue and hope for the best and goddamn if that doesn’t piss me the hell off! It’s like watching a baby stroller head off a cliff and we’re frozen in place, unable to do anything but fret. I fucking hate this feeling in my gut.
What we are witnessing are the long, dark tentacles of one Vladimir Putin wrapping around the planet and corrupting everything.
That’s certainly a part of this current situation since we can trace the faultlines back to the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. As always, the promise of a genie’s lamp creates unknowns. Once the cap of state-sponsored repression was lifted from Islamic republics, radicals rushed in to fill the void. On cue, the abstract fear of nuclear annihilation was replaced by the actuality of local religious and political violence. It’s not too much of a stretch to see how Putin was able to maneuver regressive Russian politics in order to (re-)create a wounded, vengeful, revanchist Russia that poses a threat to immediate, democracy-loving neighbors as well as the globe in general.
yes
there is something horrible going on. the fascist billionaires over the world are forming a New World Order and trump will be their useful idiot and possibly be 25th shortly in office. his vp, actually theirs, pick will be interesting.
If we don't keep the WH and at least the senate or take the house, we're finished.
Putin also knew the crazy ass fake Christians would get on board if you took away abortions and gave them power.
The fascist billionaires are gearing up to dominate populations and all wealth and resources because climate change is REAL.
A big part of Project 2025 is killing any response by government to climate crisis and regulatory bodies. Koch Enterprises wants all that anti fossil fuel and regulation noise silenced.
The other half of Project 2025 is Leonard Leo's Opus Dei push for Christian Nationalism. Trad women, gay people lobotomized or purged, and every womb monitored. Not hard to do with today's technology.
Enforcement? The military will be called in to stop the insurrectionists - anyone opposed to Trump - day one.
TRUMP HAS 50 BILLIONAIRES FUNDING HIM TO ENSURE THEIR PERMANENT WEALTH AND POWER. This is REAL.
Yes, thank you: our troubles predated Putin. As Pogo said, 'We have met the enemy and he is us."
..although there may well be kompromat as well.
And it's REAL scary!
I feel the same and wonder if we should all register Republican and kill them off the ballot? Maybe we could make change happen.
Play THEIR game! 👍🏼
Should we do it? Only works if we overload the party. How would we organize this?
Great piece Jeff! I’ve wondered the same thing myself, and it’s the only thing that explains why a once respected party has collectively entered into a Faustian bargain with Donald Trump, and why so many people that once were honorable and respected would now be willing to debase and diminish themselves for someone so undeserving. Keep saying, in your own unique way that which needs to be said, and, more importantly, heard! Thank you Jeff.
And it makes you wonder why the Republicans who fled in 2017 are still silent. Paul Ryan, Jeff Flake, etc.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/congressional-republicans-left-office-in-droves-under-trump-just-how-conservative-are-their-replacements/
Why aren't they and Trump's former cabinet members holding weekly press conferences to warn the public?
I agree. I looked up the word “coward” in the dictionary and it showed me a group photo of all those anti Trumpers whose silence is defeating! Not sure who’s worse, those cowards or the ones who bent the knee.
It’s not fat Donny that has the kompromat
Agreed. More than likely it’s Putin, working through Trump.
Remember, the albino rapist only released what Putin told him to.
Thanks Jeff -as always provocative. I don't think it's "kompromat". I think it is that upon GOP/MAGA self-reflection -they simply recognize they have a product that will not sell.
The GOP product, at its core, is "Hey people, the reason you aren't free from having to work 3 jobs to pay rent and make car payments is because we haven't cut taxes for the wealthiest 'job creators' yet because the Commie Marxist liberals want people to pay their fair share. Also, they want to continue to keep the borders open so people can come here and steal that backbreaking exploitive work working the agricultural fields of central California -you know, those high-paying jobs you covet." And those social fabric destroying liberals want witches (sorry, went all 'Justice' Alito there for a moment) women to be able to make their own decisions about their bodies.
Anyone who is not a completely brainwashed MAGA cultist, or anyone with an IQ over 75 (wait, is that redundant?) understands their product is a complete bag of, well, you know.
Essentially their choice is the uphill battle of pushing that toxic bag of dung uphill to sell it, or to simply point at Orange Trumputin (the guy with the awesome healthcare plan) and tell their willfully ignorant cult base to vote for the Orange Treason Weasel -because he 'works' in mysterious ways.
The irony is that Adam Swift, the father of capitalism, plainly said that those to whom much has been given have a greater responsibility to help those who have not. The Republicans have turned away from that idea.
Yes. Adam Smith. It is clear that responsibility and MAGA/GOP go together like waterfalls and a toxic post-apocalyptic barren landscape.
I agree that the GOP product is a bag of shit and only dupes, imbeciles and lemmings are interested in buying it. At the same time it has seemed obvious that the orange demented fuckface has been twisting the arms of some of his most ardent ass kissers. It’s true that he can get all kinds of info on everyone and even if he didn’t come up with a plan to manipulate these people you can depend on shitheads like Miller to have implemented one.
In 💯agreement. There may be some kompromat somewhere, but I also think that it is the attitude of self interest. The king is dead, long live the king. In being a politician, looking at where your own power resides. You delete shame, and there is no other option but to support the current choice.
Very true Janan. Post-Eisenhower, shame has not been part of GOP DNA.
I like to joke they have to have their shame-gland* removed to be in that party.
*Yes, I made the term up, but it fits.
I think there might be a very snarky guide to becoming a prominent GOP member authored by you and available at fine bookstores everywhere in your future!
Something along the writing styles of Andy Borrowitz, and Jeff Tiedrich combined?
Yes -and/or Mad Magazine -with George W. on the cover.
This.
There seldom is a certain "Only Thing" behind people's decisions to do the wrong thing.
Some may be compromised, some may be greedy, some may be lazy, some may be stupid, some may be fearful. Some may be ego-committed to being blind to the truth.
Some may not know the truth.
Some may be all of those things.
Yep. And some may be taking lots of money from AIPAC, which is supporting Trump: https://prospect.org/politics/altercation-aipac-goes-full-trump/
That doesn’t explain the complete capitulation to Donny
It might not to be sure. But he’s the horse that has excited and distracted the MAGA/Putin base. Who else will entertain the willfully ignorant? Tim Scott? Nikki “I’d sell my family to be relevant” Haley? Kristi “Have you seen my dog?” Noem?
Trump is their circus.
Follow the money...
Always. Thank you Diana.
There are plenty of ambitious Republicans who could have run against Biden for president, pulled McConnell along for the ride and been free of Trump. McConnell should have seen the Jan 6 impeachment as an easy exit from the man he hates. And he could have put forward a compelling Republican candidate, younger and shining to go after Biden. It would have worked. But he didn't impeach Trump. Why? He should have known the wheels of justice move much more slowly than Trump's social media accounts and that Trump had no intention of going away if he could run for office and stay out of jail. Why, why why didn't McConnell play this better?
Because he is an old dog, who knows to use the tool at hand.
His McD's grease-stained lil' black book is clearly chock full of all the deets on the shady shit all the R's have done, and boy is there plenty, to keep them in line. As you say, mob-boss 101 level shit.
But shitbags gotta shitbag
Well, the guy who ate McDonald’s for a year and whose background bears some similarities to former president Shitstain, dropped dead at age 53 the other day. They say that correlation is not causation, but maybe sometimes it is.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Spurlock
I like the way you are thinking!
Thank you for the link. But Morgan didn't "drop", he had cancer. Not a heart attack, as the verb dropping may infer.
I'll take any fatal malady for DLFF, Alex.
Spurlock sacrificed his health for a great documentary, he had imagination and verve; he apologized for harm he may have caused. Both qualities (sacrifice for the greater good, remorse and contrition) are foreign to the Trump universe. Although the fast foods link is interesting.
Come on Karma!
I remember the non-leak of the Russian GOP hack job but never imagined that the classified files could be tailor made to Republican dirt. Could it be that Graham and Co. are fighting so hard to delay that trial because they don't want the info outed in court? Now that's an interesting theory.
Everyone already knows that Graham is gay AF. What else could they have on him? Exposing him as gay would not be a huge shock to the population. I can't imagine anything else. They must fear for the safety of their families and loved ones because that's what gangsters do, go after your family.
Little boys
absolutely
and little hands
They must fear for the safety of their families
Yes I think you hit the nail on its head...............
And we all know that Tim Scott is gay. He makes a fool of himself every time he speaks. He was never married and never seen with a woman. Maybe he and Lindsey are a thing. The woman he’s dating is all a facade to make people think he is straight.
She is what is called a “beard” something you hide behind. I think Josh “hauling ass” Hawley has the same arrangement.
…and a good one! To me, it seems the only plausible theory of the demise of the 🐘party!
I’m not into conspiracy theories either, but man, have I wondered about this too. What does Putin hold over Dementia Dumpster? And moving down the food chain into the rethuglicans, you don’t have to be John Lecarre to imagine what the former KGB agent has dug up about their shady business. Once people like that gain the power they covet, they’ll sell their souls to hang onto it.
Putin loves tRump because tRump destroys America for him.