as Christina Greer put it on Jonathan Capehart’s show this morning, “Listening to what Mike Pence has said this morning makes me glad I don’t know any moral cowards.”
Before I even read this - just finished a book by Pat Schroeder (Colorado Rep 1972-1996) called "24 Years of House Work AND the place is still a mess. She just passed away about a week ago. Want to see how little "family issues" have progressed and how much politics has remained the same?
Really worth reading - I started it yesterday & finished this morning. Boy if only we had more like her!
And TC, will go back & read your piece later-promise.
McCarthy "directing relevant committees to immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy" is an unnecessary waste of time and of the taxpayers' money, since this is indeed a fact, and he has all the proof he needs readily at hand: his pay stub.
"And I, for my part, I just feel like it’s just not what the American people want to see." Welp, Mr Pence, the American people didn't want to see four years of dismantlement of our country, the lies, grift, stupidity, divisiveness, hatred, politization/weaponization of DOJ, DOE, USPS, on and on, under your dear leader's and your (!) administration. Also, to which Tuesday are these dimwits referring? OK, back to the postcards to WI.
As I recall, that quote about what Americans don’t want to see referred to the indictment, arrest and trial of the former president... and he’s so very wrong. Because THIS American very much wants to see the indictment, arrest and trial of the former President.
I also think sitting presidents should not be immune to criminal indictments and convictions. That's what vice presidents are for, to take over when the president turns out to be a criminal. And, yes, impaneling a jury in such a case would be problematic, but the law must prevail or we get the kind of lawlessness that is DJT. We don't want a legally immune king, which is what I thought the USA was all about.
Some time in the very near future the "media" must begin to end their interpretation of what the gop is doing as "conservative" and that we're dealing with a once political party called republican. This party is a Fascist party now. Maybe it should be called GFP. It has nothing to do with the whole notion of Republic - where the people are participants in ways that are not primarily about burning things down or hanging people outside statehouses, or keeping women from having health care. As long as pundits keep calling what the gop is shoveling "conservative" the whole notion of conservative loses all meaning. And isn't that the point? Make language meaningless OR even worse, able to mean whatever some demagogue says it means ala Kellye Ann Conway. These folks have been reading putin's playbook, and orban's whom they worshipped at the "conservative" whatever it is a year ago in Texas. Sickening. There is no normalizing this junk being spewed by the ever back-slapping happy Sununu or the morality revenant pence. He has the perfect name - pence - not worth much!
Actually, what happened is back in the 50s, the word "conservative" was hijacked by people who politically were anything but; now it describes them and "actual conservatives" are left trying to explain how "we're not them."
Orwell was correct in "Politics and the English Language," that all meaning can be wrung out of words; therefore, all meaning can be wrung out of the thinking process. That's on full display at the rallies where thugs and knuckleheads have to have something to call themselves, and conservative at least links them to a clan.
I used to maintain that people should be required to read "Politics and the English Language" on an annual basis. then I slowly realized that a lot of people wouldn't be able to understand it, as simple as it is.
but a thorough steeping in a whole bunch of Orwell's essays (for me, his greatest "single" achievement, along with "Homage to Catalonia") should be required of anybody who seeks to write about politics. "1984" and "Animal Farm" are (of course) required reading, but they're not exactly typical of anything else he wrote.
isn't it weird as fuck that there is no extant recording of Orwell's actual VOICE?
and doesn't it still seem weird that the piece he was most terrified of publishing was "Such, Such Were the Joys?"
I like to remember that the actual "Conservatives" weren't an especially fabulous group to begin with, well before the Birchers et al co-opted the term. I mean, say, James Burnham...? wasn't he sort of theoretically ok with Nazis at a certain point? and Buckley in his youngest days was a pretty thoroughgoing pig. the English guys fare a little better, but at their best, they're not really very interesting (Oakeshott, Scruton et al).
I saw the Pence quote and had a clear sense that if I kept reading, that's all the day would be about, so I avoided it.
still, I wish the NY case had more teeth. like, say, the Georgia case, which is a slam dunk if anything ever was.
and the cries of "Soros" are nothing if not (barely) veiled antisemitism.
Yes, I think the early conservatives were very anti-intellectual, believing there were limits to what mankind could figure out, so why bother. It's a cozy mental retreat, a hiding place in tradition if you will, because once you figure something out you may have a responsibility to make corrections.
I agree with you about the NY case, especially because it plays so neatly into the argument that it's political persecution. The matter should have been dispatched long ago, but much of that is Cohen's own doing. Alas! But wouldn't be wonderful if the Georgia indictment dropped first and suddenly, followed quickly by NY and then the DOJ? Doesn't it seem there's a lot of "no, you go first" going on?
I'm just shaking my head again like Jack Crabb at the end of Little Big Man. I can hear your obscenity laden cries of outrage from here, Tom.
Pence most assuredly does NOT know what most Americans want. This American wants Pinocchio that used to reside in the White House to be soundly punished for his habitual oral diarrhea of untruths.
Reading what Ms. Goon said literally elevated my respiration rate and I felt a hot clinch in my core, I had to resort to 4-7-8 breathing to recover myself.
All these dastardly operatives are interested in nothing but their own power and wealth. I am convinced that they are dancing to the tune of an evil puppet-master, because there isn't a single coherent thought between all of them. Grrrr . . . .
And Sununu's reference to "overly negative ways", is there an acceptable level of negative ways? And the thing that is most disturbing about all of this bullshit is that there are sorry people out there that are eating it up with a spoon, and the sources of all this know that what they are spewing will be uncritically believed and embraced.
There is hope in the horizon if we last long enough. The conservative Evangelical Protestant churches are hemorrhaging, down considerably and now only 13.7% of the US population, a trend that will only increase as the older generations die off and the younger people continue to book feet out their doors. So far, they have not trued to correct what is driving the young people out of their churches, but have instead doubled down on their heresies, driving the young out at an increasing pace. At some point, they will be so few, no one will care about them.
I think that Pence will just split the ticket if he runs for the GOP nomination, which would be beneficial for TFG, but essentially it would only be a vanity move on Pence's part, no? I cannot believe that Pence thinks he is a viable candidate. Snowball's chance in hell comes to mind.
Mother’s little boy is a toxic blob of jello. I despise him along with the rest of the lying fascists you quoted. I’m usually a very caring person but that comes to screeching halt with this group, and the rest of the mendacious Republicans. I particularly loathe Stefanik who has slunk so low bowing to the orange nazi, her nose is brown..or maybe orange. Marge T Goon is a deplorable albeit dangerous idiot. And the rest are all lying scumbags. I’m feeling nauseous as well.
Well no Frankom, probably nothing can penetrate their tiny pea sized brains. Mike Pence was chosen to be VP because he has no moral fiber and is as moldable as Play-dough. His time as VP is as close as he will get to the Oval Office. Those other nitwits are just performing monkeys like in the days of organ grinders.
TC, I had to quit reading about halfway through because I also thought I was going to throw up. I'm traveling and facilities are not available. I am so tired of these stupid Republican antics. These people make Beavis and Butthead look intellectual.
It is totally baffling to us realists how these unmoored people can continue to live in their bubble of make-believe. is there nothing that can penetrate into their addled minds?
Meanwhile, Ashley Parker, who MSNBC puts on the air as though she's a reporter, co-wrote a Washington Post article (with her colleague Michael Scherer) about how Pence is now "unmoored" from Orange Wannabe Hitler. As if we needed further proof that the overwhelming majority of the DC political media are treasonous or abettors of treason and should be prosecuted.
That would be the Ashley Parker whose demeaning words and matching facial/voice demeanor about President Biden’s address to the country as U.S. was leaving Afghanistan, is the reason I stopped subscription to WAPO.
The evening of the mid-terms, you wrote you went out on a limb (cable shows I assumed), to take a peak at results and that there would be no real red-wave. (Wasn’t it D. Wasserman, 48 hours before, who predicted Dems would lose 30 seats?)Thank you again for reminding me why I stopped all Sunday political shows when the “not Mueller’s report” came out.
Substack Saviors: Letter’s From an American, First Edition, TCinLA (That’s Another Fine Mess), Lucian Truscott Newsletter, Joyce Vance’s Civil Discourse, The Status Kuo, Chop Wood Carry Water, Hopium Chronicles, Talking Points Memo, Steady, Thinking About, The Warning, The Daily.
All of this smoke and mirrors about the “politicization” of the DOJ is pure crap. There are no Democrat crimes vs Republican crimes ... there are just crimes. And while we all haggle over word choices, because the Republicans are so damn good at throwing in an inappropriate word to skew their narrative and incite outrage, on BOTH sides, they’re the ones performing in said circus... they’re all dangerous clowns. If I wasn’t afraid of clowns before I definitely am now. But nobody ever says a word about the politicization of the Supreme Court, the captured, bought and paid for SCOTUS...who can’t even form a code of ethics for themselves. Maybe the corruption IS too big, but I still see DA’s trying to clean it up. While Republicans throw smears with no viable options. Also, they don’t believe in separation of church and state. So rich! But they believe in freedom of speech, because LIES, and the right to bear arms, because SECESSION... must needs stop now before my speech becomes unhinged and obscene.
Keep screaming---I mean writing---all the crapola that comes out of the mouths of scum. They are vermin---and, let's face it, REAL evil. No need to mince words now---they are spewing lies and worse. Democrats need to load up the verbal guns and get out there in the street............
Thanks TC. Keep up the good work---and head to the you know where to clear it out when you need to......
All true TC. Here in Florida we have a front row seat to the making of a Fascist. Our governor wages war on DEI, trans, drag and liberal university programs. Meanwhile seas rise, car thefts explode, insurers pay penny’s on the dollar for storm damage, then double and triple premiums. Florida legislators responded by making it harder to sue insurers for bad faith. It’s a waking nightmare. Frankly the Stormy Daniels case seems like the least of our concerns.
It is. But someone has to go first, hew a path, break the dam ... before 23 ends, there could be so many trials pending he will have no time to campaign. And if he runs his mouth (which he will) spewing threats... he may need to be confined... I mean, in high school a dumb boy called in a bomb threat... just to see what would happen, no actual bomb. And he was a kid. He was removed from his home and placed in juvenile detention... I think he was there for 5 years. For a phone call ...
During his days as a House member he was known as "Dense," even by his own colleagues. He is a very unholy combination of sanctimonious, unctious, and dumb. What he said doesn't surprise me so much as it proves the rule. I would like to know what Trump has on all of them to be such obsequious toadies.
Why would a real news organization give air to folks like Pence and company.
You answered your own question. Real ones don’t
The QUESTION
Before I even read this - just finished a book by Pat Schroeder (Colorado Rep 1972-1996) called "24 Years of House Work AND the place is still a mess. She just passed away about a week ago. Want to see how little "family issues" have progressed and how much politics has remained the same?
Really worth reading - I started it yesterday & finished this morning. Boy if only we had more like her!
And TC, will go back & read your piece later-promise.
McCarthy "directing relevant committees to immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy" is an unnecessary waste of time and of the taxpayers' money, since this is indeed a fact, and he has all the proof he needs readily at hand: his pay stub.
So glad I don’t watch Sunday morning programming anymore. Thank you for the update, TC.
Nauseating, every single minute
"And I, for my part, I just feel like it’s just not what the American people want to see." Welp, Mr Pence, the American people didn't want to see four years of dismantlement of our country, the lies, grift, stupidity, divisiveness, hatred, politization/weaponization of DOJ, DOE, USPS, on and on, under your dear leader's and your (!) administration. Also, to which Tuesday are these dimwits referring? OK, back to the postcards to WI.
As I recall, that quote about what Americans don’t want to see referred to the indictment, arrest and trial of the former president... and he’s so very wrong. Because THIS American very much wants to see the indictment, arrest and trial of the former President.
I also think sitting presidents should not be immune to criminal indictments and convictions. That's what vice presidents are for, to take over when the president turns out to be a criminal. And, yes, impaneling a jury in such a case would be problematic, but the law must prevail or we get the kind of lawlessness that is DJT. We don't want a legally immune king, which is what I thought the USA was all about.
Some time in the very near future the "media" must begin to end their interpretation of what the gop is doing as "conservative" and that we're dealing with a once political party called republican. This party is a Fascist party now. Maybe it should be called GFP. It has nothing to do with the whole notion of Republic - where the people are participants in ways that are not primarily about burning things down or hanging people outside statehouses, or keeping women from having health care. As long as pundits keep calling what the gop is shoveling "conservative" the whole notion of conservative loses all meaning. And isn't that the point? Make language meaningless OR even worse, able to mean whatever some demagogue says it means ala Kellye Ann Conway. These folks have been reading putin's playbook, and orban's whom they worshipped at the "conservative" whatever it is a year ago in Texas. Sickening. There is no normalizing this junk being spewed by the ever back-slapping happy Sununu or the morality revenant pence. He has the perfect name - pence - not worth much!
“Conservative” is a curse word. On a par with the worst the language has to offer…
Actually, what happened is back in the 50s, the word "conservative" was hijacked by people who politically were anything but; now it describes them and "actual conservatives" are left trying to explain how "we're not them."
Orwell was correct in "Politics and the English Language," that all meaning can be wrung out of words; therefore, all meaning can be wrung out of the thinking process. That's on full display at the rallies where thugs and knuckleheads have to have something to call themselves, and conservative at least links them to a clan.
I used to maintain that people should be required to read "Politics and the English Language" on an annual basis. then I slowly realized that a lot of people wouldn't be able to understand it, as simple as it is.
but a thorough steeping in a whole bunch of Orwell's essays (for me, his greatest "single" achievement, along with "Homage to Catalonia") should be required of anybody who seeks to write about politics. "1984" and "Animal Farm" are (of course) required reading, but they're not exactly typical of anything else he wrote.
isn't it weird as fuck that there is no extant recording of Orwell's actual VOICE?
and doesn't it still seem weird that the piece he was most terrified of publishing was "Such, Such Were the Joys?"
I like to remember that the actual "Conservatives" weren't an especially fabulous group to begin with, well before the Birchers et al co-opted the term. I mean, say, James Burnham...? wasn't he sort of theoretically ok with Nazis at a certain point? and Buckley in his youngest days was a pretty thoroughgoing pig. the English guys fare a little better, but at their best, they're not really very interesting (Oakeshott, Scruton et al).
I saw the Pence quote and had a clear sense that if I kept reading, that's all the day would be about, so I avoided it.
still, I wish the NY case had more teeth. like, say, the Georgia case, which is a slam dunk if anything ever was.
and the cries of "Soros" are nothing if not (barely) veiled antisemitism.
Yes, I think the early conservatives were very anti-intellectual, believing there were limits to what mankind could figure out, so why bother. It's a cozy mental retreat, a hiding place in tradition if you will, because once you figure something out you may have a responsibility to make corrections.
I agree with you about the NY case, especially because it plays so neatly into the argument that it's political persecution. The matter should have been dispatched long ago, but much of that is Cohen's own doing. Alas! But wouldn't be wonderful if the Georgia indictment dropped first and suddenly, followed quickly by NY and then the DOJ? Doesn't it seem there's a lot of "no, you go first" going on?
yes there does. if the Georgia case drops first, that really WILL be something.
I'm just shaking my head again like Jack Crabb at the end of Little Big Man. I can hear your obscenity laden cries of outrage from here, Tom.
Pence most assuredly does NOT know what most Americans want. This American wants Pinocchio that used to reside in the White House to be soundly punished for his habitual oral diarrhea of untruths.
Reading what Ms. Goon said literally elevated my respiration rate and I felt a hot clinch in my core, I had to resort to 4-7-8 breathing to recover myself.
All these dastardly operatives are interested in nothing but their own power and wealth. I am convinced that they are dancing to the tune of an evil puppet-master, because there isn't a single coherent thought between all of them. Grrrr . . . .
And Sununu's reference to "overly negative ways", is there an acceptable level of negative ways? And the thing that is most disturbing about all of this bullshit is that there are sorry people out there that are eating it up with a spoon, and the sources of all this know that what they are spewing will be uncritically believed and embraced.
There is hope in the horizon if we last long enough. The conservative Evangelical Protestant churches are hemorrhaging, down considerably and now only 13.7% of the US population, a trend that will only increase as the older generations die off and the younger people continue to book feet out their doors. So far, they have not trued to correct what is driving the young people out of their churches, but have instead doubled down on their heresies, driving the young out at an increasing pace. At some point, they will be so few, no one will care about them.
But the MAGAt parents are indoctrinating at a fast clip, on every front
that's 4 in, hold for 7, exhale for 8, correct?
does Pence really think ANYBODY in that wretched party is going to vote for him? does he really think he represents TFF "without the baggage?"
he does, of course, have his own shit baggage.
Yes, you are correct about 4-7-8 breathing.
I think that Pence will just split the ticket if he runs for the GOP nomination, which would be beneficial for TFG, but essentially it would only be a vanity move on Pence's part, no? I cannot believe that Pence thinks he is a viable candidate. Snowball's chance in hell comes to mind.
God, I wish Ike would resurrect and kick every arse in his party. Although I know that he would not claim a one of them.
Mother’s little boy is a toxic blob of jello. I despise him along with the rest of the lying fascists you quoted. I’m usually a very caring person but that comes to screeching halt with this group, and the rest of the mendacious Republicans. I particularly loathe Stefanik who has slunk so low bowing to the orange nazi, her nose is brown..or maybe orange. Marge T Goon is a deplorable albeit dangerous idiot. And the rest are all lying scumbags. I’m feeling nauseous as well.
All pretending to be human…
Well no Frankom, probably nothing can penetrate their tiny pea sized brains. Mike Pence was chosen to be VP because he has no moral fiber and is as moldable as Play-dough. His time as VP is as close as he will get to the Oval Office. Those other nitwits are just performing monkeys like in the days of organ grinders.
TC, I had to quit reading about halfway through because I also thought I was going to throw up. I'm traveling and facilities are not available. I am so tired of these stupid Republican antics. These people make Beavis and Butthead look intellectual.
It is totally baffling to us realists how these unmoored people can continue to live in their bubble of make-believe. is there nothing that can penetrate into their addled minds?
Cults are not a new thing, but this one is a whopper
Meanwhile, Ashley Parker, who MSNBC puts on the air as though she's a reporter, co-wrote a Washington Post article (with her colleague Michael Scherer) about how Pence is now "unmoored" from Orange Wannabe Hitler. As if we needed further proof that the overwhelming majority of the DC political media are treasonous or abettors of treason and should be prosecuted.
That would be the Ashley Parker whose demeaning words and matching facial/voice demeanor about President Biden’s address to the country as U.S. was leaving Afghanistan, is the reason I stopped subscription to WAPO.
The evening of the mid-terms, you wrote you went out on a limb (cable shows I assumed), to take a peak at results and that there would be no real red-wave. (Wasn’t it D. Wasserman, 48 hours before, who predicted Dems would lose 30 seats?)Thank you again for reminding me why I stopped all Sunday political shows when the “not Mueller’s report” came out.
Substack Saviors: Letter’s From an American, First Edition, TCinLA (That’s Another Fine Mess), Lucian Truscott Newsletter, Joyce Vance’s Civil Discourse, The Status Kuo, Chop Wood Carry Water, Hopium Chronicles, Talking Points Memo, Steady, Thinking About, The Warning, The Daily.
Substack Saviors: Intended to write Today’s Edition (not First Edition). Robert Hubbell does superb work writing Today’s Edition.
"Substack Saviors" ✅
All of this smoke and mirrors about the “politicization” of the DOJ is pure crap. There are no Democrat crimes vs Republican crimes ... there are just crimes. And while we all haggle over word choices, because the Republicans are so damn good at throwing in an inappropriate word to skew their narrative and incite outrage, on BOTH sides, they’re the ones performing in said circus... they’re all dangerous clowns. If I wasn’t afraid of clowns before I definitely am now. But nobody ever says a word about the politicization of the Supreme Court, the captured, bought and paid for SCOTUS...who can’t even form a code of ethics for themselves. Maybe the corruption IS too big, but I still see DA’s trying to clean it up. While Republicans throw smears with no viable options. Also, they don’t believe in separation of church and state. So rich! But they believe in freedom of speech, because LIES, and the right to bear arms, because SECESSION... must needs stop now before my speech becomes unhinged and obscene.
It’s all crap, they know it, I know it, you know it. They will never stop digging and accusing Dems of their evil.
It’s all projection
it was never anything but. which makes it easy to identify their crimes, Karen. just wait for their next accusation...
I love your picture David. Such a beautiful family.
I have always been afraid of clowns Carla and now I know why.
Keep screaming---I mean writing---all the crapola that comes out of the mouths of scum. They are vermin---and, let's face it, REAL evil. No need to mince words now---they are spewing lies and worse. Democrats need to load up the verbal guns and get out there in the street............
Thanks TC. Keep up the good work---and head to the you know where to clear it out when you need to......
All true TC. Here in Florida we have a front row seat to the making of a Fascist. Our governor wages war on DEI, trans, drag and liberal university programs. Meanwhile seas rise, car thefts explode, insurers pay penny’s on the dollar for storm damage, then double and triple premiums. Florida legislators responded by making it harder to sue insurers for bad faith. It’s a waking nightmare. Frankly the Stormy Daniels case seems like the least of our concerns.
It is. But someone has to go first, hew a path, break the dam ... before 23 ends, there could be so many trials pending he will have no time to campaign. And if he runs his mouth (which he will) spewing threats... he may need to be confined... I mean, in high school a dumb boy called in a bomb threat... just to see what would happen, no actual bomb. And he was a kid. He was removed from his home and placed in juvenile detention... I think he was there for 5 years. For a phone call ...
And the old Cubans are protesting a baseball game, meanwhile supporting the very form of government they escaped.
Never mind alternate facts, it’s an alternate universe.
During his days as a House member he was known as "Dense," even by his own colleagues. He is a very unholy combination of sanctimonious, unctious, and dumb. What he said doesn't surprise me so much as it proves the rule. I would like to know what Trump has on all of them to be such obsequious toadies.
Greed works, if it’s green enough. Poor old Soros still getting screwed by the pooch. The vermin have no bottom
I read this. Twice. I have no coherent words that are not profanity, blasphemy, or vulgarity to utter.
Why am I unsurprised?