(Image via AP) In a matter of weeks on the job, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has managed to checkmate Trump over his government shutdown in spectacular fashion. Not only has Pelosi refused to back down from Trump's childish threats over his border wall, she has managed bullied the ...read more
We are exactly where we belong. Not necessarily as individuals, but collectively for sure. The extended partial shutdown of the federal government is the logical conclusion not just to the first (and hopefully only) half of the Trump presidency, but to the past several decades ...read more
In 2019, president Trump appears to be working extremely hard to make the Democrats' job of opposing him as easy as humanly possible. Facing a career defining stand off with the House, Trump is laying it all on the line in order to get his infamous border wall. And the ...read more
As the government shutdown grinds on, Trump's survival in the White House becomes ever more precarious. Democrats and Republicans are locked in a deadly battle with each side making bold demands and refusing to cede ground. Nancy Pelosi, the new Speaker of the House, has ...read more
Few people in the Trump Administration are as loathsome as Stephen Miller, or, as Pod Save America's Jon Lovett calls him, "the C+ Santa Monica fascist." With the exception of Trump himself, he is more responsible than anyone else for crafting the immigration policies that have ...read more
In example number 4297 of the White House directly contradicting president Trump's manic outbursts, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders came out today to refute the notion that Trump is advocating a government shutdown. From The Hill: The White House on Tuesday insisted that ...read more
“What I use in the battle for the mind Hit it hard like it supposed Pulling no blows to the nose” ...read more
After the barely coherent, and goddamn terrifying, transcript of Donald Trump's AP interview blasted its way across the internet Sunday night into Monday morning, it became increasingly clear that Trump isn't going to cause a government shutdown if his border wall wasn't funded ...read more
It really is infuriating when the media try desperately, in the name of supposedly achieving "balance," to draw equivalencies between the Republicans and the Democrats these days. What makes it so infuriating isn't just the fact that each side's sins aren't equal in the ...read more
The schadenfreude wore off quickly. Observing the tea party suffer a political defeat, with other Republicans like Rep. Pete King (R-NY) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) piling on, was entertaining for a solid 24 hours until the grim realization set in that this rogue faction of ...read more
Remember a year-and-a-half or so ago when it looked like the Tea Party had been sufficiently cowed, driven back to their trailers and rest homes by the very melting pot electorate they so feared? Remember when it looked like we'd never have to see Sarah Palin again, that like ...read more
"It was a surreal end to what will go down as a surreal episode in American history, and a somehow fitting one. On a literal level, it’s the story of a woman who, for reasons still unknown, lost it in a very public way. But as a metaphor, oh boy. Grabbing the place reserved ...read more
Marco Rubio isn't thinking about what's good for the country at a time like this, nor is he even thinking as far as the 2016 general election for president that he hopes to win -- all he's thinking about is securing the 2016 Republican nomination. And that's why he's taking ...read more
Update: 10:27P ET (Chez Pazienza) The Senate has approved a deal to stave off the debt ceiling crisis and reopen the government by a vote of 81-18. The House has likewise approved the deal by a vote of 285-144, with 87 Republicans choosing to break ranks. Keep in mind that ...read more
"This party is going nuts. So many people I run into who are normal people -- and I hate to use that term -- they just can't understand what's going on." - Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) on the Republican Party. Peter King, the Republican who once accused President Obama of going on ...read more
There have been so many unbelievable comments to come from the Republicans and the Tea Party types during this whole ridiculous debt ceiling hostage situation. But I think Lindsey Graham may now be ready to step up and definitively take the award for the most jaw-dropping and ...read more
It's easy to be distracted from what's going on in Washington right now. In fact, it's probably preferable to be distracted from it. It seems almost impossible to wrap your head around the likelihood that the United States government is about to potentially be plunged into ...read more
The tea party put on quite a show on Sunday. Billed as the "Million Veterans March," roughly 300 people turned out to hear Sarah Palin and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) deliver brief remarks about "the Obama shutdown," followed by a ceremonial gathering of government barricades from ...read more
Sarah Palin wrote another Facebook post in which she outlined why defaulting on the debt is an impeachable offense. That, in and of itself, doesn't make any sense since it's Congress which is tasked with voting to raising the debt ceiling in order to prevent a default, not the ...read more
“It became necessary to destroy the town to save it.” That was a quote that reporter Peter Arnett extracted from an unnamed major after the United States unloaded a massive attack on the village of Ben Tre in Vietnam. Here is the full quote from Arnett’s article: ‘It became ...read more
Our guide to the biggest political flops of the week: The Shutdown (duh) As the government shutdown enters its second week and with the next debt ceiling showdown looming, it’s easy to see why a new poll is out showing Americans’ concerns with dysfunction in Washington are at a ...read more
Speaker Boehner has apparently offered a deal to raise the debt ceiling by $1 trillion, lasting roughly six weeks, while demanding that the government remain shut down until he and the president can work out a budget deal. As Josh Marshall wrote, Boehner is keeping both ...read more
The Republican misinformation geyser continues to erupt unabated. Today, let's focus on a pair of statements from tea party champions Sarah Palin and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) who seem to completely misunderstand the deficit, the debt ceiling, the economic status of the United ...read more
I pick on Salon quite a bit but I've always said that there are some really terrific people on-staff there, you just have to wade through a lot of nonsense to get to them. To wit, Brian Buetler seems to have taken over much of the political heavy lifting from the always ...read more
The Republican Party's geyser-like misinformation campaign regarding the government shutdown, accompanied by continued misinformation about the Affordable Care Act and the debt ceiling, has been almost too powerful to follow as it whizzes by. The latest line, which appears ...read more
It's Tuesday morning everyone - time to find out what the hell is going on in the world. Here's what you need to know (at least until the afternoon): 1. Government Clusterfuck Created By America, Not Washington D.C Media pundits and politicians specialize in turning politics ...read more
There's a new meme going around Republican circles. Evidently, if the United States doesn't raise the debt ceiling -- the nation won't default on its debt obligations and everything will be just fine. In an appearance on CBS This Morning, for example, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) ...read more
Last week, we proved that the congressional Republicans and Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) have been serially lying whenever they've said that Congress is "exempted" from the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. In fact, not only is Congress not exempt, but Obamacare ...read more
By Kim Barker, ProPublica The taped speech sounded almost like a confession, even a hostage plea. "My name is Chris Galvin," the faceless voice said, blaring out over the microphones in a conference room in the basement of the Hyatt Regency hotel in Bethesda, Md., on Wednesday ...read more
Another Monday is here so it's back to the grind with you. Here's a little reading material to keep you entertained while contemplating how sorry you are that the weekend's over. 1. The Beginning of the End You've probably figured out by now that any time Jonathan Chait has ...read more
In the months following the gun massacre at Sandy Hook, Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) went on a rampage against the president for daring to enact new gun regulations through a series of executive orders. Stockman, along with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), introduced the "Restore the ...read more
As we enter day four of the government shutdown and its accompanying clown show, there appears to be a flicker of light inside the increasingly dark tantrum tunnel. The New York Timeslearned last night that Speaker John Boehner announced to his colleagues in a closed-door ...read more
Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX), a tea party congressman, has taken the exploitation and politicization of the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC one step further by publicly scolding a National Park Service ranger tasked with keeping the memorial closed to visitors during ...read more
It’s official. The world has gone mad. The government has closed. The zoo has closed (THE ZOO. Capitals and repetition are needed) Lamar Odom takes crack. The Simpson’s are going to kill off a character. Bridget Jones is a widow. Simon Cowell is going to be a father. ...read more
"People keep talking about how this has to be a great negotiation, but there isn't any negotiating a law. We negotiate on all these other topics, but this was put into law, and (Obama) was reelected on it. It was reaffirmed, it was passed through the Supreme Court -- it's a law. ...read more
The debate over the government shutdown over Obamacare has provoked some pretty serious debate on these pages, with readers weighing in with their thoughts on the gigantic clusterfuck in Washington. We get some great insights from readers in the comments section here at the ...read more
Yesterday, I posted a quick piece here on the entirely expected outrage the Republican party is aiming at the mainstream media over its coverage of the government shutdown. Since not every outlet is portraying this petulant tantrum by the House Republicans as a tale of brave ...read more
The Tea Party faction of the Republican Party has successfully brought the federal government to its knees over Obamacare. Concerned by what Michele Bachmann coined the 'crack cocaine of dependancy', the Tea Party wants America to wean itself off the government and become ...read more
Rachel Maddow turned this into an epic segment tonight at the very beginning of her show on MSNBC and I swear the point made on the air and at her blog can't be circulated far or wide enough. Here's the fact: While every single news outlet in America is covering the shutdown ...read more
A debate's been raging for a while now over whether Republican leaders actually believe the bullshit they steadily shovel or if they simply know how to pander to their base. The conservative entertainment complex -- Fox News, talk radio, etc. -- exists solely to inflate and ...read more
The folks over at Think Progress have a story up noting how the mainstream media are bringing their typical “pox on both your houses” approach to reporting on a government shutdown caused by House Republicans’ temper tantrum over Obamacare. Some examples of the MSM’s ...read more
Dear America, I love you guys, I really do. You gave the world Jazz, Rock n Roll, and Jimi Hendrix. You created the environmental movement, pioneered women's rights and sent a man to the moon. You just elected the first black man in the history of Western democracy to run ...read more
If it turns out that President Barack Obama can make a deal with the most intransigent, hardline, unreasonable, totalitarian mullahs in the world, but not with Republicans, maybe he’s not the problem. - Jon Stewart on the government shutdown over Obamacare Jon Stewart was on ...read more
"I think the reason is because President Obama can't wait to get Americans addicted to the crack cocaine of dependency on more government health care. Because, once they enroll millions of more individual Americans it will be virtually impossible for us to pull these benefits ...read more
For a brief moment in time on Monday, it looked like Rep. Pete King (R-NY) might've attained enough moderate votes to pass a "clean" continuing resolution to finance the government for another six weeks without de-funding the Affordable Care Act. It was a glimpse into what a ...read more
Last week on Fox & Friends, Steve Doocy, speaking in an incredulous, leading tone of voice, asked his co-hosts, "What percent of Americans now have health insurance because of the Affordable Care Act?" I'm sure you can see where this is going. Brian Kilmeade didn't bother to ...read more
James Fallows weighs in on the astonishing behavior of the GOP and their threats to shut the government down over the funding of Obamacare: This isn't "gridlock." It is a ferocious struggle within one party, between its traditionalists and its radical factions, with results ...read more
