They want someone to say the loud part even louder

Mark Sumner of Daily Kos reported the Conservative Political Action Conference is in session (well, maybe it finished today). Sumner wrote:

It’s time to retire the phrase “saying the quiet part out loud.” Because Republicans have canned the whole idea of a quiet part. Whether it’s throwing in their lot with Vladimir Putin or treating “The Handmaid’s Tale” as a guidebook for life, They are saying all the parts loudly. At this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, the loud parts include an open disdain for the whole idea of democracy.

There is open support of Putin and other dictators, which are apparently cool now. Democracy isn’t.

Nothing made that clearer than right-wing activist Jack Posobiec, who spoke on a panel hosted by conservative strategist Steve Bannon. "Welcome to the end of democracy," said Posobiec. "We are here to overthrow it completely. We didn't get all the way there on Jan. 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it and replace it with this right here."

Do we cheer there are plenty of empty seats? Or cringe that Posobiec got thunderous applause?

This is what CPAC attendees are there for now. They don’t want to hear anything about policy. They’re not even that enthused about Donald Trump. What they want now is redder meat, for someone to say the loud part even louder. They want another swing at a violent government overthrow, and they’ll cheer anyone who offers to give them that chance.

Aldous Pennyfarthing of the Kos community wrote that Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of the nasty guy and his nomination to co-chair the Republican National Committee, said RNC funds should be used to pay the nasty guy’s legal bills. That was quickly squelched by the campaign. Lara then said that she “will make sure that every penny is used properly. It should be going to fight for Nov. 5 for the causes that we care about.” That sounds a lot like Lara thinks all of RNC’s money should go to her father-in-law’s campaign. Never mind the needs of candidates for House, Senate, and state legislatures. Which, for Democrats, is probably a good thing. Kos of Kos also reported on what Lara said. He quoted a phrase Pennyfarthing didn’t: the “number one and only job” of the committee is to elect the nasty guy, including paying his legal bills (donors would be delighted to do that! Wouldn’t they?). It’s doubtful the RNC’s current cash on hand of $8 million would do much for the nasty guy’s half billion legal debt. Kos pointed out another place the RNC help could go – the state Republican parties with legal expenses from the 2021 coup attempt. But the nasty guy is well known for not helping his minions. Yesterday I wrote about the rise of Christian Nationalism in the Republican Party. Greg Dworkin, in a pundit roundup for Kos, quoted Ryan Burge, who writes “Graphs About Religion” on Substack.

I think it's fair to say that the results point to the fact that Christian Nationalism is fading in the general population. That's evident in a number of these statements. For instance, in 2007, 55% of folks said that the government should advocate Christian values. In 2021, that share had dropped to just 38%. That's substantial.

Malcontent News posted a cartoon, saying he got it from the President of Latvia. I can’t make out the author’s signature. The cartoon shows an upset Ukrainian soldier looking at boxes of ammo from the West. One has shells, another has guns, and four more have word balloons with the words, “Bla. Bla. Bla.” In a Ukraine update Sumner marked two years since the invasion began. At the moment things are at a stalemate, though with Ukraine short of ammo Russia has made small gains (with big losses of men and equipment). Sumner noted back on the first day of the invasion Mark Hertling, the former commander of US forces in Europe wrote down what he thought were Putin’s immediate goals: * Execute Regime Change in Kyiv * Destroy Ukraine’s Army * Subjugate Ukraine’s population * Control All Black/Azov Sea Ports, Establish Land Bridge to Crimea. * Weaken the West: Further Divide NATO/US Pundits thought the first four would happen quickly. They didn’t – well that land bridge to Crimea is still being fought over. Zelenskyy is still firmly in control.

But on that last one—to weaken the West and divide NATO and the U.S.—Putin has scored a major victory. Week by week, day by day, Russia has gained more control over the Republican Party in the United States. Assistance to Ukraine passed overwhelmingly in the early days of the conflict, but since then, creeping Russian influence over Republicans has grown in both the House and Senate, reaching the point where positions that seemed outrageous two years ago now dominate the Republican Party. At the heart of this issue is an idolization of Putin as an authoritarian strongman who holds all the wealth and power imaginable, doling out slices of each to his friends based on their loyalty. It’s precisely this model that has made Donald Trump such a fan. Putin has helped cement his spot at the top of the GOP pantheon with large doses of racism, misogyny, and hatred for the LGBTQ+ community, not to mention a solid dose of cold-hearted death to his enemies. That’s the kind of leader that makes Ted Cruz swoon.

Achieving one goal in five might be all Putin needs. At the moment this is a drone war. Both sides are deploying them effectively and neither side has a way to thwart the drones of the other. Walter Einenkel of Kos reported Rep. Jim Jordan talked to reporters and pretended (as Einenkel wrote) “it’s no big deal that an FBI informant has been charged with lying about Joe and Hunter Biden’s Ukrainian business ties.” To explain his position Jordan said three facts. Two of them are very much true. The third is a lie.

Unfortunately for Republicans trying their best to target Joe Biden and his family, there is no there there— and there never has been. At every stage of this political theater production, Reps. James Comer and Jim Jordan have had to admit they have no actionable evidence.

Joan McCarter of Kos reported that Justice Samuel Alito still hates same-sex couples. A case was brought by an employee of the Missouri Department of Corrections (I’ll leave the details to McCarter). It was appealed to the Supremes. For technical reasons the high court refused the case. Even Alito agreed with that. But because the case involves a conflict between LGBTQ people and religious beliefs Alito felt the need to write a five-page screed against same-sex marriage. He’s upset that those with religious beliefs against LGBTQ people would be, in his words, “labeled as bigots and treated as such.” Yup, they would be and deservedly so. Wrote McCarter:

Alito and Thomas are using their opinions and statements to invite future challenges. Just how determined they are to do that shows in the fact that while Alito agreed with the rest of the court in turning this one case down, he made sure that this statement exists to invite future challenges.

And how is that invitation going? D’Anne Witkowski, in her Creep of the Week column for Pridesource, wrote first about Greece approved marriage equality, the first Christian Orthodox country to do so. Then she wrote about a new Tennessee law that allows individuals to refuse to officiate marriages based on personal beliefs. But that’s already in Tennessee law. So why a duplicate law?

“There’s nothing in the law right now that says anybody has to do any kind of marriage at all, so there’s no clarification that this bill provides,” Eric Patton, a minister in Tennessee told WKRN. “This bill does nothing, essentially, except open the opportunity for a lawsuit.” Ding, ding, ding! It’s all about the suit, baby. Drunk on their power after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, conservatives are going after marriage equality, just as so many predicted.

I may not post much this coming week. Brother is coming for a visit.