A Perfectly Reasonable Amount of Schadenfreude about Things Happening to Trump & His Enablers (Part 1)

The BBQ Pit
3786

The most straightforward solution to the gerrymandering problem is to apply an objective measurement of district compactness (e.g. add up each district’s ratio of area to perimeter*) and establish a rule that no map can be accepted if challenged by the presentation of another map that meets the basic requirements of districting (e.g. generally equal district population) and beats the first map’s compactness score by some set percentage.

*Possibly with a weighting factor to reward district boundaries that follow preexisting jurisdiction boundaries and natural boundaries such as rivers.

3787

“Gutless” is the most charitable explanation.

3789

Well, it was meant to be a conspiratorial, “psst, hey”, not a diss.

3790

But really, it was jam-packed. To the rafters.
Overflowing. Onto the streets. And into traffic.

Odd - checked google for a Fox story on this - nothing - so Elmer Fudd’ed my way over to the Fox website and tried my best to patiently scroll down the story list, but gave up.
Surely the Orange Mold will put the usual spin on it, harkening back to his huuuuuge insloguration.

3791

Yeah, with a bit of - “If we do this to Trump and the GOP, imagine what they will do to us!”

Well, they’re gonna do it anyway, so you might as well play hardball while you can.

3792

[quote=“Aspenglow, post:3766, topic:925537, full:true”]

I would say that the difference is that the Senate and its committees aren’t law enforcement agencies and do not investigate crimes. Exposing criminal wrongdoing is not the focus or purpose of their investigation.

Sure, there may be some significant overlap between the Senate investigation, which has the ostensible purpose of figuring out what happened in order to develop legislation that makes sure it doesn’t happen again, and a criminal investigation with the goal of indicting and prosecuting the wrongdoers - but I don’t think that the law enforcement agencies should be abrogating their duties to investigate crimes — a crime that involved an attempt to take away MY civil right to cast a vote that counts- to the Senate in order to save money.

I’m glad the DOJ is no longer under corrupt leadership but am not as confident about the FBI. I was very disturbed by Christopher Wray’s insistence (in a Congressional hearing) that he didn’t see a clear connection between Trump’s election loss and January 6th and his description of the Stop The Steal movement as “scattered online disputing of the election.”

Yes, he was probably trying to cover his ass after the massive FBI intelligence failure that made January 6th possible. I don’t think he’s a bad person, but I think he had to constantly compromise his integrity during Trump’s Presidency in order to keep his job. When people do that, even good people, especially good people, they come up with psychological justifications for doing so. Once that pattern of justification is in your head, it’s hard to drop it and face the truth of your actions, so you keep doing it.

That’s how corruption works.

ETA - I posted this in another forum yesterday.

IMHO, there is already plenty of evidence that supports charges of seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States against Jeffrey Clark and Mark Meadows, at minimum.

I do NOT think that everything needs to be tied together and linked to January 6th in order for it to be legally actionable. I think that might be a mistake, the same mistake that was made with Mueller/Russia - which is tying EVERYTHING to the one thing that can’t be definitively proven and may not even be true.

Even if they can’t find absolute proof that Trump planned for his supporters to overrun the Capitol on January 6th and that he thought the plan would work, there’s still plenty of wrongdoing to go around.

3793

Or perhaps true believers in the “it’s okay when Republicans do it” philosophy.

But probably “gutless.”

This. The idea that Republicans will stay their hands from vicious skullduggery if Democrats are nice to them, has been disproven time and time again.

Of course a GOP returned to power will indict Democrats for fabricated crimes. Refraining from indicting Republicans for actual crimes will not keep the Republicans from erecting gallows (again) on Capitol grounds.

3794

AKA: “He probably won’t beat me if I fold the laundry right this time.”

3795

I don’t think that’s necessarily the motivating factor. It’s more along the lines of Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.

3796

Daddy only hits us because we are bad.

3797

A lot of folks, including some folks here, seem to think that’s not so bad, as long as the new monster is our monster.

3798

No, they really do not.

3799

Perhaps not bad yet, but on his way. What you’re describing is at least moral weakness. Still having a conscience that needs to be overruled doesn’t make you good. Not if you choose to not listen to it. This is garden variety evil if you ask me. Most evil comes about by people choosing to override their conscience, not by total lack of it. Psychopaths are far rarer than weak people.
Let’s hope he doesn’t sleep at night, that might give him a chance of return.

3800

Well, if the normal monster-fighting methods are out the window, what’s the answer?

3801

Horse hockey. I’m ready to gaze in the abyss, with binoculars and a searchlight, and let the chips fall where they may. No More Mr. Nice Guy.

3802

With this electorate and media, I wouldn’t be surprised if trying to out-Republican Republicans just cause even huger Democratic losses across the country. That’s the problem when one side can do literally anything they want and be cheered by their voters.

Also, isn’t this straying from the topic? I came for schaedenfreude, not for The Republic is Dead Part 14. Let me have this.

3803

All this low-level schadenfreude is getting tiresome. I want to see some SCHADENFREUDE! Somebody send me a notification when these people start going to jail already. It’s taking longer than we thought.

3804

Further back than that. I think the GOP’s current assault on democracy began when Ronald Reagan got in bed with the Evangelical Christian right. That’s when Democrats gradually shifted from being “wrong” or “misguided” to being “evil” and “traitorous”. A political opponent you can compromise with; but an enemy of God can only be crushed.

3805

Yes, there is an undeniable overlap between ‘abused spouse’ psychology and the reaction of many Democrats to GOP-unprincipled-shamelessness.

We may be discussing two different things. I am not one of those who urge Democratic politicians to ‘fight dirty just the way the Republicans do’ or ‘don’t bring a knife to a gun fight’ or any similar formulation.

I am one of those who urge Democratic politicians and Justice Department officials of any persuasion to enforce the law. The alternative–which we may be seeing in action–is ‘we’d better give them a pass because if we don’t they’ll take revenge on us later.’ The latter philosophy is a recipe for living under a boot stamping on a human face forever.

Moving in a principled manner to enforce the rule of law is not monstrous. But passivity in the face of monstrousness is not a viable substitute.

ETA: we will return to our regularly-scheduled schadenfreude momentarily.

3806

Look, I have a lot of built-up Schadenfreude re: Rump. I wrote this… I’m thinking that it might be therapeutic if I shared it here:

< Somewhere Deep in Mar-A-Lago >

“Gosh, it disturbs me to see you Donald
Looking so down in the dumps!
Every guy here, he’d love to be you, !
(Even with the “Bad Hair of the Trumps”!)”

…
“There’s no man in town as admired as you
You’re everyone’s favorite guy
Everyone’s awed and inspired by you
(I’d say ‘oh-me-too’ but then you know… I LIE…!)”

…
“No one’s slick as The Don
No one’s quick as The Don
No one’s head’s as Incredibly Thick as The Don
For there’s no man in DC half as manly
(Next to Gaetz, he’s a pure paragon!)
You can ask any Tom, Dick, or Stanley…”

(“He’s off on Air Force One? Oh Thank Heavens! He’s Go-ooooone…!”)

“Who tweets Darts like The Don?
Who cools Hearts like The Don
Who greets the G20 like Egg Salad Farts like The Don!
As a specimen, yes, he’s intimidating!
(Yes, he likes “Specimen Cups”, Does That Don!!!)”

“No one fights like The Don
No one Bites like The Don
No one takes ‘Stupid’ to daring New Heights like The Don”

“When he speaks, all the White Supremacists Quiver
(And Westboro Baptists all say a prayer)
You’d think Indictments’d tell him “Come Hither”
But since Garland’s AG … its like… THERE’S NOBODY’S THERE…!”

"No one BUYS like the Don,
No one LIES like the Don,
(Leaves Puerto Rico to ALL FUCKING DIE like the Don)
In Charleston, the Torches chant Louder,
He has “Boths Sides” white sale appeal.

But Fuck Him, Cause Ole Pence took a Powder…
(That ‘Brave Man’ lost all his Balls… and now he KNEELS…!)"