Over the last week or so the GOP has been making a bunch of weird statements meant to show that they are tough, but all they do is expose the party’s inherent weakness and ridiculousness.
For example, last week Pete Hegseth informed news outlets that they’d have to agree to abide by 3 basic principles in order to have access to the Pentagon. The first problem with this statement was that reporters were already abiding by those 3 basic principles, but nonetheless only one news outlet signed the loyalty pledge, and that was the wacky GOP outlet One American News. Not even Hegseth’s old employer FOX News would sign on to his nonsense.
The second problem with it was that Pentagon news conferences now don’t break news. Anything the Trump Department of Defense does now is just a propaganda effort. There’s no need to have the credentials to walk the halls there is no actual news there. Plus you don’t need to be on site to break news or post a leaked story.
This leads to another problem: if there are no reporters credentialed who can be fed stories to publicize then the Defense Department is stuck with sending out press releases. And that carries its own problems because now new outlets feel freer to hit back with facts:
Another place where the GOP is shooting itself in the foot is Mike Johnson’s insistence that the Democrats are somehow responsible for a government shutdown when the Republicans control both houses of Congress. The truth of course is that Senate Republicans have the votes to end the shutdown—on their terms—any time they chose because they’ve already added 3 new exceptions to the filibuster rule this session. And the more that Johnson repeats his stupid complaint, the more people learn that the Republicans are the ones keeping the government closed and then they start spreading those facts themselves. I’m kind of amazed that he is still doing it, given how stupid it is.
Another area where the Republicans are becoming increasingly frantic is this weekend’s No Kings protests. They began to ramp up their characterization of the protests as terrorist activities which are tied to the shutdown:
Mike Johnson: "We're so angry about it. I mean, I'm a very patient guy, but I've had it with these people. The theory we have right now — they have a hate America rally that's scheduled for October 18 on the National Mall. It's the pro-Hamas wing and antifa people … "
It’s ridiculous and it’s not gaining any traction, so the GOP response has been to get more hysterical:
Emmer: "These guys are playing to the most radical, small, and violent base in the country. You'll see them on Saturday on the Mall. They just do not love this country."
Pam Bondi ramped it up further on Tuesday night:
HANNITY: Antifa is working against the American people. What would that be called?BONDI: It would be called organized crime. And that's what they're doing … they are no different than MS-13
Just a reminder who these protestors really are:
It is so important that every response to this authoritarian encroachment contain both a healthy does of ridicule of the trump thugs and be made of ridiculousness itself. Protestors in silly costumes or riding their bikes naked is a direct contrast to how seriously these trump dipshits take themselves with tactical gear and their cosplay. I hope Saturday turns the ridiculous dial to 11.
The GOP is earnestly saying increasingly ridiculous things in its quest for domination. The response has to be even more ridiculous and surreal.
I’ll leave you with the correct ear worm:
🐸 Kermie is my hero!
[0 days of peace in Gaza since “Mission Accomplished” was declared on 10-13-25! 🤬]
One memory of the Second War on Portland I’ll keep is Kristi Noem deriding Portlanders as “pansies” to her boss. I guess she thought that her homophobic slur would provoke us, not realizing that it made her ineffectual visit to her embattled facility* look even more buffoonish. All those heavily-armed beef boys cowed by a bunch of people in inflatable animal costumes is a show of profound weakness.
*Speaking of facilities, did the folks in charge at the ICE building let Kristi go tinkle while she was there.
they did not open the bathrooms to Cosplay Barbie. a small but significant victory.