(WARNING: SATIRE! MAYBE!) Wheeling, West Virginia The recent Republican nomination of disgraced former Alabama State Supreme Court Judge Roy Moore has sent shockwaves among political circles. Accused of sexual misconduct by, as of this writing, five women when they were ...read more

• By Frederic Poag
  Nov 9, 2018

Barely a month after Republicans voted a self-confessed pussy grabber to be president, but before they elected a pretend Montana cowboy who assaulted a journalist as a congressman, there was Captain Clay Higgins. A disgraced former police captain who was essentially forced to ...read more

• By Mike Redmond
  Dec 20, 2018

After Donald Trump 'joked' about Second Amendment people shooting Hillary Clinton and her Supreme Court picks, it is now time for the Republican Party to put an end to this madness. Because enough is enough is enough.  This means the party must officially disavow themselves from ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

In the spring of 2013, months after President Barack Obama dispatched Republican Mitt Romney to win a second term, the GOP decided to do some soul searching. The RNC produced an exhaustive autopsy of what went wrong and concluded that, among other things, the party had to be ...read more

• By Eric Lutz
  Nov 9, 2018

The only way to survive if you're a modern day member of the Republican establishment is to have a very short memory. That's the only possible explanation for how the kind of cognitive dissonance is avoided that would shut down the entire central nervous system of a normal, ...read more

• By Chez Pazienza
  Nov 9, 2018

Steve Schmidt seems like a good guy. Between his thick Maryland accent, his moderate conservatism and the fact that he pronounces "Clinton" as "CLI'in," he appears earnest and personable, in spite of his politics. Like Michael Steele, he's an MSNBC conservative, and therefore ...read more

• By Bob Cesca
  Nov 9, 2018

This is a repost of a 2013 article, but entirely relevant when looking at what is happening to the Republican Party during this election cycle. The Greenberg and Carville report gave a stunning insight into the sheer scale of the dysfunction in the Republican Party, and exposed ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

It seems like months ago when Donald Trump accidentally let it slip that women who have illegal abortions should be punished somehow. In reality, it's only been two weeks since Trump said what most anti-choice conservatives have secretly known all along -- that if abortion is ...read more

• By Bob Cesca
  Nov 9, 2018

It should be abundantly clear by now that the Republicans have no interest in keeping their party on life support while the Trump cancer ravages their internal organs. With the convention rapidly approaching on July 18, there still doesn't appear to be a plan for how the RNC ...read more

• By Bob Cesca
  Nov 9, 2018

Paul Krugman's latest Op-Ed neatly sums up the hypocrisy of the GOP's shock over Donald Trump's tactics in one painfully truthful paragraph. He writes:  Republican political strategy has been exploiting racial antagonism, getting working-class whites to despise government because ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

On Saturday night, Chris Christie and Marco Rubio unwittingly revealed the default Republican position on every policy ranging from healthcare to taxes and the environment. What is that response? In one word: Obama In a surprisingly brutal takedown, Chris Christie called Rubio ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

In an interview with the Huffington Post, Noam Chomsky spelled in no uncertain terms why every conscientious American needs to ensure a Democrat becomes president at the end of this election cycle. “Today, the Republican Party has drifted off the rails,” Chomsky told the Huff ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

If current polls are any indication, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's presidential campaign appears to be on political life-support. So the question that should be asked is how did the perceived frontrunner for the republican nomination in 2013 become such a marginalized ...read more

• By Robert Covington, Jr.
  Nov 9, 2018

It is hard to know whether to feel sorry for the hapless Jeb Bush, who cannot gain any traction in this presidential campaign whatsoever.  Bush is the one mainstream Republican candidate who isn't completely insane, and if successful in the primaries, would pull the party back ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

America has been a continental mass of symbolism since its inception. The Declaration of Independence symbolized a permanent divorce from Great Britain. We have seen the evolution and growing significance of the American flag as an ode to nationalism. The Statue of Liberty ...read more

• By Robert Covington, Jr.
  Nov 9, 2018

The election of a Black president, particularly Barack Obama, spelled disaster for the GOP from day one. What we are seeing today in the form of a Trump political devolution and the outlandish acting out of the Bundy progeny is a symptom of a party that has collapsed. The ...read more

• By Garland Nixon
  Nov 9, 2018

If you want to make a serious, non-biased assessment of America's biggest political figures, one way to do it would be to look at the intellect of their supporters. While Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have their share of political groupies, it wouldn't be a stretch to ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

For anyone serious about running for President, stopping an election campaign to do a book tour would be completely unthinkable. Given most Republican politicians aren't serious people in the first place, it should not come as a surprise that Ben Carson is putting his campaign ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

Jeb Bush is having a great deal of trouble understanding Hillary Clinton's position on the Keystone Pipeline, illustrating an apparent genetic inability to comprehend the English language. Here was Bush's tweet on Clinton's straightforward answer about her position on the ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

Last week, Presidential candidate Marco Rubio declared that organizations like Planned Parenthood are creating a profit incentive for abortions. He told an Iowa-based TV station: I just think you’ve created an industry now — a situation where very much, you’ve created an ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

Speaker of the House of Representatives-Republican leader John Boehner announced his resignation to a somewhat surprised media on September 25th, 2015. Speaker Boehner stated his last day will be October 30th, 2015 and offered his support to Majority leader Kevin McCarthy to ...read more

• By Robert Covington, Jr.
  Nov 9, 2018

On September 16 th 2015, the Republican Party will hold its second Presidential debate at the Reagan Library in California and CNN will air and moderate the event. The same cast of characters (Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, John Kasich, Ted Cruz, Mike ...read more

• By Robert Covington, Jr.
  Nov 9, 2018

Yes, yes, yes, yes! "I just wanted regular potatoes!" --Chris Christie "You just froze a baby! You just froze a baby!" --Rand Paul "Well, I have a pigeon. Lucas Don Velour." --Donald Trump And, holy shit, the Ben Carson sections are insanely hilarious. ...read more

• By Bob Cesca
  Nov 9, 2018

Despite the immense entertainment value of watching last night's Republican debates, the reality of the sheer idiocy of one half of the country's political establishment is no laughing matter. The fact that a clown like Donald Trump was able to bully and dominate the rest of the ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

Dismantling the lunacy of right wing morons takes up an inordinate amount of time here at the Banter - so much so that the staff often suffer from 'Jon Stewart Fatigue Syndrome' (JSFS). The legendary comedian decided to end his nightly show because he got ground down from ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Feb 17, 2016

Over the weekend, Donald Trump not only defied one of the biggest no-nos in America political culture, he smashed it over the head and literally urinated on it. Speaking to at the Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa, Trump astonishingly questioned John McCain's war hero ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

Jeb Bush is the frontrunner for the GOP primaries, and has in recent times positioned himself as a sensible moderate. The truth is that Jeb Bush is neither sensible, or a moderate. While it may be 'centrist' in America to say things like: 'I don’t think the science is clear what ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

When Mike Huckabee visited a shooting range in Johnston, Iowa on Monday, he was asked by an audience whether he thought the government should be able to limit 'what type of arms a person a law abiding person can purchase'. Huckabee gave a rather alarming answer: We should have ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

Other than an unfortunate incident that involved me accidentally ingesting half a bag of weed infused Chex Mix and going into an alternate dimension for 48 hours (a long story for another time), I've never really used Marijuana as it just doesn't do all that much for me. ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

What is fiscal conservatism? Officially, it's the language of serious-minded politicians everywhere who believe in spending within our means, keeping a balanced budget, and ensuring fiscal stability for the next generation of Americans. In reality, it's always been a toxic ...read more

• By Tom McKay
  Dec 20, 2018

We've covered Benjamin Netanyahu's horrendously ill judged speech before Congress a fair bit here at the Banter, discussing the political implications of the speech and 'Bibi's' serial lies about the threat Iran poses to the Middle East and the rest of the world. A more ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Feb 17, 2016

Speaker John Boehner's office announced on Thursday that on September 24, Pope Francis will become the first pope to address a joint meeting of Congress. Unlike Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming address, Francis' speech will be far less friendly to the ...read more

• By Michael Luciano
  Dec 20, 2018

Under President Obama, the rich have gotten richer, income inequality has gotten worse and there are more people in poverty than ever before. Under this president, his policies have not worked. Their liberal policies are good every four years for a campaign, but they don’t get ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Feb 22, 2016

Or maybe not. At the very least, the latest ad from the Republican National Committee is designed to scare the pants off nearsighted, mouth-breathing ignoramuses who are utterly clueless about what's happening in the world and whether President Obama is legitimately to blame for ...read more

• By Bob Cesca
  Nov 9, 2018

(Image via Addictinginfo) Pizza King, Pokeman movie quoter,  and one time Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain has been ramping up his media appearances  of late, potentially testing the waters for a 2016 Presidential campaign, or maybe to promote his new internet TV ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

Democrats and the activist left have managed to achieve several victories in the last several weeks -- while almost entirely ignoring the issue itself. Concurrent with a resurgence of interest in Edward Snowden and NSA surveillance, given the premiere of Laura Poitras's ...read more

• By Bob Cesca
  Nov 9, 2018

If you thought the Republican Party couldn't get any more tone-deaf when it comes to attracting female voters, think again. A report by two major Republican groups obtained by Politico shows that the GOP is aware of what everyone else has known for a long time: Republicans "fail ...read more

• By Michael Luciano
  Nov 9, 2018

Enough. I don't want to hear anything else from the congressional Republicans about President Obama's golf game or "bad optics" -- not after watching the new video released by Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). Briefly put, it's a video about his toy monkey. I'm not making that up. ...read more

• By Bob Cesca
  Nov 9, 2018

One of the most admirable things about the GOP used to be their messaging ability. Even if you disagreed with their policy positions the capability to disseminate talking points was a thing of beauty. They framed the discussion, and you found yourself on defense the whole way. ...read more

• By Frederic Poag
  Nov 9, 2018

Political rhetoric naturally lends itself toward emphatic declarations of historical certainty.  Phrases like “Never before in our history!” or “This is the moment when (insert X political event)” become go-to phrases.  Writers looking for a bit of Nostradamus gravitas make ...read more

• By Frederic Poag
  Nov 9, 2018

As the GOP continues to fail miserably at reaching out to women (or anyone else who is not an old white man), Todd Akin continues to helpfully make the rounds talking about "legitimate rape," as he did in an interview on MSNBC Thursday morning. In case you missed it, ...read more

• By Tommy Christopher
  Nov 9, 2018

Poor Cleveland. The city's trying to get LeBron back, but so far all they've got is the Republican National Convention. That's right. On Tuesday, Cleveland was announced as the lucky winner of 2016's RNC location search, beating out Dallas in the final round of selections. ...read more

• By Tom McKay
  Nov 9, 2018

“Son, never disrespect what a man does for a living. I don’t care if it’s mopping floors or working as an executive in an office. Every job is there for a reason, and someone has to do it.” – Francis Eugene Poag, Jr. I’m standing in the bag room next to the carousel with Jacob. ...read more

• By Frederic Poag
  Feb 17, 2016

Obamabot, noun, - An invective used in blog comment sections to discredit the poster as an unthinking zealot who unquestioningly supports President Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States of America. Usually I try to put something clever the first few sentences of an ...read more

• By Frederic Poag
  Nov 9, 2018

Last week, Bill Maher told the New York Times that his show will attempt to oust a sitting member of Congress. Moreover, he will ask his viewers to help him select the congressperson that is both terrible enough and in a competitive enough race to get the bullseye put on their ...read more

• By Bryce Rudow
  Nov 9, 2018

Maybe Bill O’Reilly had a point: sometimes it’s best just to shut up. Certain members of the GOP can’t seem to help themselves, and much like the strategy the Grand Old Party has embraced, it shows no sign of abating. I’m specifically talking about the War on Women. I know ...read more

• By Frederic Poag
  Nov 9, 2018

I don’t trust the Republican Party. This goes beyond disagreeing with them on every single policy position they hold. As a party, they’re deceitful, manipulative, and wholly disingenuous.It’s not even a question anymore; it’s verifiable fact. Their brand is badly damaged and ...read more

• By Frederic Poag
  Nov 9, 2018

The money men in the Republican party are clearly aware that they have a very, very big problem going into the midterms in 2014 and the general election in 2016. The problem? Their party is made up of 'fools' - apparently something they're now getting serious about. Writes Matt ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018