447 Comments

Sorry, folks: I put Senator Chuck Grassley in Ohio rather than Iowa in the letter I sent out. Correcting it now on the webpage.

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Please leave him there, we don't want him.

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Hey, Jim, take him back !! Here in OH we have our own problem makers.....Jim Jordan, Bill Johnson, JD Vance.

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You DO have some doozies . . . So the messaging for victimization is a bell-ringer in Ohio? JD Vance’s book was such a piece of narcissistic BS; he has NO IDEA as to the meaning of his roots.

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Vance’s book was an unintended but damning indictment of his background.

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Vance couldn’t seem to get over HIMSELF or that he was accepted at an Ivy League school—but just look at who else went to Ivy League schools TO FILL QUOTAS: DeathSantis, Ted Cruz, Marco -the-Rubeo…to name a few

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Indeed it was. I was irked all the ways through it.

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I read that book and thought this is regressive BS.

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Nasty regressive BS.

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I was born in Ohio and lived there most of youth. It "seemed" saner and more harmonious before Republican Gov. Rhodes took over. I saw more a lot more ugly stuff after that. Meanwhile "Reaganomics" reamed out middle class jobs, so the "solution" was to trust more Republicans??

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It’s the Shock Doctrine. Read up on “Dark Money” and “Democracy in Chains.” The program of misinformation and weaponizing propaganda has been carefully constructed since the Reagan era.

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The reason it seemed saner in your youth is because 90% of white Ohioans agreed at that time about how to treat the rest of the people in Ohio, and they were successful in keeping those people entirely powerless without needing to exert any effort in the process, nor even to acknowledge the fact that they were doing it. Now, only 60% of white Ohioans are on board with the project, which makes it require obvious effort and obviously brutal methods, physically and politically.

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It was! You had John Glenn. How lucky can you get!

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IMO a great antidote to JD Vance is the late Joe Bageant (1946–2011), whose books can still be found if you look hard enough: DEER HUNTING WITH JESUS, RAINBOW PIE: A REDNECK MEMOIR, and WALTZING AT THE DOOMSDAY BALL, a collection of his journalism and other essays edited by Ken Smith (who died in 2016). Many of Joe's essays are available at https://www.joebageant.org/, which is being maintained in his memory. (I discovered Joe Bageant on AlterNet around the time Bush II was re-elected.)

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Yes. He explains that culture clearly, sympathetically where sympathy is deserved and with good humor where it isn’t.

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The bidding war to take Grassley has begun!

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Don’t let Grassley come to Wisconsin! We have our own troubles with Ron Johnson and his donors!!

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Pamela, we're sending you MJT. You might as well have them all, and we'll remember your sacrifice with grateful hearts....

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I meant MTG. Need more coffee.

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Lol, what did OH do to you to warrant such a vile act?

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Didn't Ohio produce Gen. W.T. Sherman? He's not very popular down here, y'know...

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Well, Pamela, uh, actually nothing. I have family in Archbold.

We just need to get rid of MTG, and Canada won’t take her. And hey, you already have Gym Jordan, and now Grassley!

She is really harshing our buzz here in Georgia….

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Gus and Pamela, as a compromise, and because they think so much of Putin and autocrats, I'd suggest that they be sent to a gulag somewhere in Siberia. Maybe Mama Bear Palin could send them some cookies on occasion, since she can see Russia from her house.

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In the face of the present day mountain of sad news stories there are people like you who offer such fun humor! Thank you.

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Thank you, J. Nol, I often think I'm whistling while passing the cemetery, but it beats believing that we're all doomed. I do believe that there are more intelligent, realistic people out there than the MTGs and Gym Jordans, and realism will eventually win.

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We definitely don’t want him either! Vance is worse, though, maybe we could trade. At least Grassley is old.

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Grassley, Trump; just a couple on the republican list waiting in line for Beelzebub to decide if his furnaces are hot enough for these fools. The Devil has his standards to uphold after all, which means we may be stuck with them here until Hell freezes over 😱.

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I worry that the Devil may fear that Trump is too much competition. And Republican souls are a dime a dozen.

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oh, good one! Thank you Mr. Graham! I laughed, but you could be uncomfortably close to the truth as well.

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Speculation is that should he pass the gov could appoint Pat Grassley, the grandson and current speaker of the Iowa House, to fill the vacancy. Ugh.

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Just what I was going to say! U

Ugh.

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Jim, if only it were that simple! We would send Ohio MJT, and Ohio could take one for the team....

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I meant MTG! No way to correct on my phone app. What the....

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Hang in there Gus, even with coffee, technology is a challenge. We get your meaning. :)

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Jim, Nebraskan here seconding your suggestion! Time for Mr. Grassley to get back to farming!

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No loyal American should want him anywhere in the nation. He belongs in Russia.

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Heather thank you for your letters. They keep us informed . You are a true American warrior! Your "pen" is a powerful weapon with which to fight for truth and freedom.

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That old fool hasn’t done anything for Iowa, so just put him out to pasture . . . WHEREVER.

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Remember how he tipped off the plan to not certify 2020, because Pence either wouldn’t or wouldn’t be there for some reason that Grassley would not explain? Grassley needs to be subpoenaed by Jack Smith!

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Ted, I do remember. But without a big font script in front of him, I don’t think Grassley himself could ‘recall.’

But I bet Jack Smith does….

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Yeah Gus!

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Grassley has, however, done PLENTY to help himself and his family. I understand he has taken a considerable amount of $$$ in farm bailout funds over the past two decades.

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I have said this for years Why was he even testifying, comes off as doddering.

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But since the Republican leadership's whole agenda is to hog tie the federal government and make it impotent at least domestically, isn't he doing exactly this?

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😂😂😂😂😂😂

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Grassley should be sitting in a rocking chair on a porch contemplating nature. Enough is enough.

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Does he have enough marbles to “contemplate?”

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Or a cot in a cell.

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Heather, makes no difference WHERE you put him - its still Grassley - hes still 89 (4 years older than I am) and TOO OLD to be in Congress!

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Senator Feinstein is 89 years old and she should leave along with Grassley.

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I completely agree! I'm sure there are others but then, on the other hand, there are a few older "gentlemen" who actually are still capable. Not those two tho.

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Agreed. Why isn't she just stepping down.

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The age of dottage varies, but I want to see Democrats excite the young again. There are votes going to waste there, and it is they who will live with our follies.

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I am closer to Joe's age, but I want to see some younger people running.

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Yes my memories of the young JFK and his family in the White House, gave many of us young people back then a sense of optimism. The same for Obama and his family.

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Heck.., I'd just as soon he (err ah Sen Grease-ly) be put in a portable toilet.., for that matter. Yeah.. a two-holer at that, with his pal Gym. /s/s/s/s (I was informed to use /s symbol when being sarcastic, so there)

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Would work for me - BOTH of them.

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No problem. I’m not even sure Chuck knows where HE is half the time. 😂

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See! He probably was seen wandering aimlessly about Ohio!

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And that's an indigo blue bandana on his head if the photo is true.

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Perhaps we could put the dear senator somewhere else

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Heather, my guess is that many Ohio residents would be happy if Chucky relocated. . . .

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My question would be - why dont they vote him out or look for someone to replace him? Seems like that would be the most common sense way to "relocate" him.

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Maggie, it's clear that common sense left town over six years ago, sad to say.

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Seems like its left the whole country!

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Unfortunately. Still, I'm probably being too optimistic, but lately I've seen signs that things might be improving. Maybe it's just Biden's great performance at the SOTU address, coupled with the Red Tsunami not materializing.

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There have been only occasional sightings in the last 40 years. Biden made some mention of something that went horribly wrong ~40 years ago.

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I agree. It has been going steadily downhill since Reagan, culminating with tFg and his motley crew. I'm hoping that the love affair with fascists will lose its luster soon.

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You would think that the vast majority of humans would have rejected tyranny centuries ago, but it has shown real staying power. That said, it seems that Republicans are going way out on a limb. That's dangerous to everybody the further out they get, but it could well be about to break under their own weight. We might also be able to saw it off, in a controlled descent over water; and I smelled some sawdust in the SOTU.

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I think we all know the answer to this question.

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And Dan Goldman - the best new thing to happen to Congress, who sits on all three of these bullshit "committees" managed to own every one of the dumbass Republican witnesses, as well as leave Jungle Gym Jordan sputtering about what he was doing with the "whistleblower" witnesses..

To the retired FBI agent who wrote a book: "Is it your testimony that what you just read as your statement is the same as the introduction to your book?"

"Well, they are similar."

"Next time you're here, let us know and we'll set up a table over in the corner where you can hold a book signing."

Debbie Wasserman Schultz's takedown of the moron Jonathan Turley was beautiful, only bettered by Gerry Connolly zinging him that his experience working for government was as an intern.

Talk about shooting fish in a barrel.

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Yes, TC, Goldman wasted no time on his brilliant questions and that quote about him setting up a table so he could do a book signing was hilarious! I was chuckling as I was watching it. Wassernan-Schultz took Turley to task when he wouldn’t agree to the words she chose but he offered his own. She got him in the end which was a joy to watch. Connelly zapped Turley too. I was happy to see the Dems call the absurdities out about i these investigations. Looking at Gym in a big boy seat just made me ill. And bless Jamie Raskin! Here, the man is fighting for his life, yet he is showing up and giving hard cold facts and the Repubs are

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(Continuing...) getting played, big time. I love it because payback’s a bitch!

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And. Jamie Raskin was wearing a head scarf given his aggressive treatment protocol but, still hitting hard on all cylinders.

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Frankly, I prefer it to his died hair. Seems to fit him stylistically, too

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He looks totally badass. Kind of like Steven Van zandt.

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Yup, badass on E Street.

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Van Zandt turns out to be as much a fan of Raskin as Raskin is of Van Zandt. So much so that Raskin's Twitter feed shows him in a bandana/headscarf that Stevie sent him!

https://twitter.com/jamie_raskin/status/1624476400420810752

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Correction: Payback's a pussy-assed-bitch. ;-})

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Steve, that particular phrase made my day, although it is inaccurate--because those of us who are anatomically p*ssy *ssed b*tches (in case substack gets upset about the use of such language) want nothing to do with TFG, that serial rapist, misogynist, deranged p*cker-headed tub of lard. Amusingly, Thursday's NY Times Xword puzzle contains a clue that's a George Burns quote that might be apt here: "Having sex at 90 is like trying to play golf with a rope." I am sure that TFG has difficulties in both departments--and apparently he cheats at both.

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Sizzlin', Linda!!!

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Lol here Linda!

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I saw a pejorative for T***p on Twitter this morning I hadn't seen before that made me giggle: "Old Yam Tits".

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Now that brings up an image. LOL.

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😋🤣

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Oh, Linda, I didn't know that one, and I loved George Burns! Thank you for a really good LOL!!!

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LOL. I have the image of trying to hit a golf ball with a rope. Also love that pab is now part of the Congressional record.

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Yes that tickled the heck outta me, too.

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Linda, you're great, but don't hold back - say what you really think. 😉

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Linda Mitchell, KCMO -

I wouldn't have posted it but for the phrase originating from a woman - Chrissy Teigen, and being spoken out loud by another - the incredibly brilliant former Twitter head of content, Annika Collier Navaroli - in Congress.

There's a great meme - can't post here, and you may have seen it - but it shows up a lot under #PAB on Twitter.

Top reads:

The next time you visit the library of

congress ask to see the PAB transcript.

[[elegant professional b&w head-shot/photo of Chrissy Teigen]]

Tell them Chrissy sent you.

And I agree, TFG has problems in "both" departments - and in a lot of "legal" ones as well!

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Thanks for the big laugh I got from that George Burns quote! I really really don't wish to think about that quote in regards to Mangolini however.

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Perhaps substitute dental floss for rope?

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Just for the record!

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Well damn, I’m missing all the fun here....guess I need to tune into C-Span next week

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So is playback. I could watch our adults spanking the unruly children and sitting them in timeout. And yes, in this case, I sincerely mean “spanking” in every sense of the word.

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Raskin is a gem. Great to hear Goldman’s incisive commentary. With both wit, intelligence, and facts, they restore my belief that people of good faith will help is navigate the incredible cesspool of posturing and ignorance populating the House and politics right now.

The Dems did a great job. But….just think … as the Repubs dream up more sensational made for tv “investigations” we might even be gifted w the likes of “Santos” cross examining Dems on shoe thefts in the cities across America. Jordan Boebert Green Johnson Gosar Santos, (…and the list do go on and on!…) will provide the awfully dull TV entertainment series: “Lives of the Blockheaded DC Wannabees”

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Though most TV series are dull (I except “Servant of the People,” which I binge watched), the title of yours would initially at least provoke an audience.

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On what channel did these hearings appear? I checked C-Span 1 and 2; one was the British Parliament and the other was the US Senate waiting for a vote.

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It was available on YouTube on a couple of channels. I no longer have cable or even a TV and am able to see everything newswise on YouTube.

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As well as a bunch of channels on YouTube that are worse than Fox.

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MSNBC played clips in the evening programs.

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C Span 2 carried the hearing live for a while but encountered technical problems and disappeared before conclusion. Did see Jamie Raskin’s spirited speech.

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"Technical problems" huh? Wish we could give MTG technical problems....

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Yo! Maybe It was in a transmission relayed by a UFO (err.., UAP) while hovering over a powerful communications site down-under near Woomara. /s

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The hearings may not have been broadcast on C-Span on cable. You usually can watch live or later, video, at C-Span online.

Here's the link to yesterday's hearing by the House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. https://www.c-span.org/video/?525922-1/hearing-oversight-justice-department

And here's the link to Wednesday's hearing about Twitter and Hunter Biden's laptop. https://www.c-span.org/video/?525786-1/twitters-response-hunter-biden-laptop-story

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It was live on MSNBC

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The bandana is a beacon. When Jamie Raskin grows hair again, it should go in the congressional museum.

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