etted voters who will still be on the Kansas voting rolls when Koblach is done (three of whom, in an ironic twist, will turn out to be Koblach himself wearing different wigs), continues to insist that there must have been such fraud because, well, he really, really believes it with all his heart and all his soul and we live in an era where Truth is measured by strength of belief, not factual accuracy. Given the court filing attesting that such fraud does not actually exist, one may draw the relevant conclusions about Koblach’s heart and soul on one’s own.
32.  For the first time in American history, a party that controlled all three branches of the federal government couldn’t get out of its own way long enough to keep the lights on. Next time try governing, guys.
33. They had a deal on the table that would have kept this from happening. The Democrats got DACA and CHIP, and the GOP got significant money for border security. All it needed was der Sturmtrumper to get out of the way. This was the meeting that degenerated into the “shithole” comment, in case you’re wondering.
34. The GOP is in full “blame the other guys” mode, but consider: they own all three branches of government. They ended DACA without anything to replace it. They let CHIP die despite the fact that it would be cheaper for the American taxpayer to renew it and despite the outright moral failure of using children’s health as a political bargaining tool (I’ve learned over the years not to get into moral arguments with right-wingers, as all I get out of them is older). They couldn’t even get all of their own party on board with the grab-bag of special interest giveaways and failed policies that got thrown into the Continuing Resolution. They blew their shot at avoiding a 60-vote threshold during the failure to repeal the ACA, a program that is saving American lives and money and is broadly popular among the electorate. They spent the rest of their time in power on useless pandering to the worst elements of their base (“some fine people”) rather than governing. Der Sturmtrumper has repeatedly called for just this shutdown and now he has it. The #TrumpShutdown is real and will likely be here for a while.
36. For those who think the Democrats are forcing the military to work without pay, remember that it was Mitch McConnell, at 1:17am on the night he engineered this shutdown, who objected to a floor vote to continue military pay and benefits for the duration of the #TrumpShutdown. You know, the Romans eventually figured out that treating a swollen and powerful military poorly tends not to work out well for a republic. I wonder how long it will take the GOP to figure that out.
37. The last time the government shut down, back in 2013 when the GOP Congress decided that petty partisan politics was more important than doing their jobs (wow, familiar…), Fox “News” asked der Sturmtrumper “Who’s gonna bear the brunt of the responsibility if indeed there is a shutdown of our government?” And der Sturmtrumper responded, “Who gets fired? Well, it always has to be the top. Problems start form the top. And they have to get solved from the top. The president’s the leader. And he’s gotta get everybody in a room and he’s gotta lead!” I wonder if he still feels that way.
38. So far the main thing der Sturmtrumper has done about the #TrumpShutdown is, as usual, send out junior-high-level rage-Tweets blaming the Democrats. One accused them of “holding our Military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal immigration.” This led Senator Tammy Duckworth – a decorated combat veteran – to respond with “I spend my entire adult life looking out for the well-being, the training, and the equipping of the troops for whom I was responsible. I will not be lectured about what our military needs by a five-deferment draft dodger.” Put some ice on that burn, Donny.
39. Well, he did say he’d run the country like one of his businesses. Most of those shut down too.
40. Apparently #TrumpShutdown was the top trending topic on Twitter on the night the federal government was shutdown. You can’t fool all of the people all of the time, boys – we’re onto you.
41. Just in case you were wondering about the level of maturity in the White House, know that after the #TrumpShutdown happened, they changed the outgoing message on the telephone comment line to blame the Democrats for it. Seriously – I’ve known third-graders more mature than this lot.
42. According to the Washington Post, which has been tracking such things, der Sturmtrumper has made over 2100 false or misleading claims in the year he’s been in office. That’s about 5.9 per day, on average. What’s impressive, according to the Post, is that when confronted with hard evidence that he’s lying he does not, as most politicians will, drop the false claims and move on. Instead he doubles down on them, sure that his cultish base will believe him over reality. And really, can you deny it?
42. In yet another example of the fact that the GOP can’t handle basic facts, the latest right-wing conspiracy theory is that Medicaid is fueling the opioid epidemic. They point to the undeniable fact that opioid abuse is higher among the poor and in states that expanded Medicaid. Except that correlation isn’t causality, as anyone who has taken a basic statistics class could have told them. Medicaid expansion happened in 2014, nearly two decades after opioid abuse rates started rising and three years after the CDC called the opioid crisis an epidemic. Most opioid problems are caused by fentanyl and heroin rather than the prescription opioids that can be obtained by Medicaid. And opioid overdoses have been increasing across all American social classes, not just the poor. So nice try, guys. Next time try some reality for a change.
43. I think I’ll let conservative columnist David Frum have the last word here. Frum has a new book out, Trumpocracy, that makes some interesting points. He describes the “chaos” of der Sturmtrumper’s regime and the corrosive effect this is having on American institutions and values. He talks about the increasing inequality of this country and the consequences this will have if not addressed. And perhaps most importantly, he discusses the complete abdication of the Republican Party from restraining a rogue president of their party. In an interview with Sean Illing, Frum puts it clearly.
And if they think the posts are too long, wait ‘till they see the comments!
6. Okay, you get some points back for “deplorable embarrassment’, even if you’re not the first to refer to 45 as deplorable.
12. Stonekettleing. Be right back.
14. Memories. Short.
19. Never take a last place team lightly? Oh, wait...
22. I’d like to place an order of 1100 ea. for the hat (We need to make America not embarrassing again) and, frankly, I don’t care what they cost.
24. Listening. Intently, btw. And, couldn’t possibly agree more.
25. Hard to justify a Police State if the citizenry are not barricaded in fear within their bunkers. You asked.
28. Happy to sign on as the aggrieved party. It will probably end up as a class action suit and all we’ll get is a 6 week subscription to TV Guide. Also, I forget (see my response to #14 above), do I need to get babtazered to join your church? Or can I just start attending meetings on an informal basis?
37. See my response to #14 and #28 above.
38. Tammy = Hero.
39. And bankrupt, to boot.
41. My Great granddaughter is a first grader. Oh, I forgot. You haven’t met her yet. See. #s 14, 28 & 37.
42. Or some marijuana.
43. Last Word is a Lawrence O'Donnell thing. Copyright infringement? I think not. Annnnnd, even if I had the time, that quoted paragraph is terrifying enough to keep me from reading his book. The Exorcist gave me nightmares for weeks, and it wasn’t all that bad, in hindsight.
5. Sometimes a bit of understatement helps the larger message, I suppose. Although there is definitely a time and a place for those other letters, sarcasm or not.
6. I figured I'd throw in the allusion there.
7. How many B-52s can you even park in Denmark? They could rent space in Russia, which I suspect that der Sturmtrumper may already be considering since they own everything else he touches.
12. Actually it wasn't a Stonekettle post - it was one of his Facebook posts. Although perhaps he incorporated it into a blog post too.
22. I think Andy Borowitz may actually be selling them.
25. It is, isn't it? This is why they spend so much time trying to make us afraid. I will not be afraid. I am an American. These colors do not run. Not even from my own government.
26. You are more than welcome to be part of the Church of the Enlightened Mind! All you have to do is adhere to the One Commandment ("Don't be so damned stupid") and raise a celebratory glass while speaking the