TheFerret
TheFerret's JournalIt Was a Lovely Constitution. A Shame We Had to Terminate It. (Ferret)
It is with the heaviest of hearts I come to you from Donald Trumps surprise second term. Id hoped wed avoid this scenario, what with that landslide election he lost, but I foolishly forgot about the self-destruct clause the founders wove into the Constitution, triggered, as every schoolchild knows, whenever two idiot billionaires are wrong about the First Amendment at the same time.
(Yeah, yeah, links, etc. here: https://showercapblog.com/it-was-a-lovely-constitution-a-shame-we-had-to-terminate-it/)
And while I feel the leap to terminating the whole dang Constitution was a touch unwarranted here, I suppose this is just how history happens now, driven by the misconceptions of the morons with the richest daddies. Doesnt strike me as any way to run a railroad, but at any rate, I am legally obliged to inform you the second inauguration was the single most attended event in human history, by several orders of magnitude.
Its all so stupid and exhausting. I dont specifically remember a plague of oddly confident dumbasses in the Old Testament story, but maybe God was just saving the good shit for a culture that needed a really special lesson.
Im starting to understand why Republicansre demanding so many investigations into Hunter Biden, since they seem to believe his dong is powerful enough to make millions of voters ignore a mismanaged pandemic and a crashed economy, and re-elect the blithering jackass responsible for both, even though he thinks the questions at the end of a cognitive test are difficult.
The must be some penis, is all Im saying.
It would be really cool if anyone involved in inventing or disseminating this breathtakingly dumb narrative cared that they were so completely incorrect about the First Amendment, or shadow banning, or the mystical election-granting powers of Hunter Bidens laptop, but I suppose that would require any number of qualities thatve fallen out of fashion on the Right: thoughtfulness, humility, decency
I shouldntve even brought it up.
Anyway, yeah, the 45th President of the United States and frontrunner for the GOPs 2024 presidential nomination once again used the first, flimsy excuse presented to call for the overthrow of the entire constitutional order, he does that sort of thing from time to time, especially when hes feeling cornered
sometimes people dress up and build gallows, its a whole thing.
Off-Brand Orbáns casual fascism earned mostly silence from institutional Republicans, though it did get one whole minute on Fox News, and a brief, lonely round of applause from Paul Gosar, who likes to remind us from time to time that theres a white nationalist dentist with a not-quite-functioning brain serving in the House of Representatives.
Between this and the Ye/Fuentes dinner, Republicans have been offered a steakhouse dessert cart of off-ramps, but I guess theyre watching their weight, though they always seem to find room for one more slice of electoral defeat.
Which brings us to the Georgia Senate runoff, and the most welcome end to the freakiest goddamn election cycle of my lifetime. Oh Herschel, I think Ill miss you most of all, though I certainly hope you come to no harm in the never-ending war between vampires and werewolves, to which I assume you now return.
The state of conservative thinking has fallen so far that they apparently need debates and postmortems to figure out what went wrong in the 2022 midterms. Yeah, its a mystery, fellas.
Perhaps the answers lie in the chemtrails Doug Mastriano has been studying in his newfound free time, or the halo of Charmin-soft light surrounding Kari Lake on her wingnut media tour, or the unceasing parade of weirdos meeting with the drooling fop yall have, for reasons which have never been quite clear to me, chosen to worship.
Why, in smoky cloakrooms, deep state pubs, and Clinton Foundation organ-harvesting lounges, talk has even turned to candidate quality, a blasphemous assault on a tried-and-true system that rewards those bold enough to paint game show hosts on their lawn.
In Republicans defense, the object of their adulation rewards them with a reliable stream of humiliation and defeat, and I think by now, we have to assume theyre into that. The Dotard was already a first ballot Loser Hall of Famer, but I think hes doing some of his finest work right now. Watching Donald Trump lose is like watching Jordan in the playoffs, while Picasso paints Guernica on the backboard.
How can one man lose so often and so massively without simply dissipating in the wind? Most losers would lose the unlosable midterms and call that a fine days work, but not our Donald. Just this week, he faced potential criminal referrals from the January 6th committee, amidst a fresh wave of subpoenas from the new special counsel, to say nothing of the classified documents that keep popping up in his possession or, oh yeah, the seventeen felony tax fraud convictions. Its like a century of Cubs baseball every three days.
Yes, victories have been hard to come by for the GOP of late, though they did sneak a reversal of the Pentagons Covid vaccine mandate into the NDAA, a triumph for the forces that would see more preventable diseases spread through our military, forces thatre surprisingly well-represented on Capitol Hill.
I wouldnt worry, though, John Bolton will save the Republican Party. Hes gonna jump into the primary ysee, and Trump doesnt stand a chance against that Hanna-Barbera-but-vaguely-genocidal charisma.
Milo Yiannapolous was fired from Kanye Wests presidential campaign, apparently losing a power struggle to Nick Fuentes; fortunes shift swiftly in the grifter game of thrones.
Speaking of which, I confess I havent allowed myself to indulge in fantasies of Kevin McCarthys yearslong crawl though MAGA sewage ending in one final Coachella porta-potty rather than the speakership; it feels like asking Santa for the shiniest toy in the Marshall Fields window when you know mom and dad cant afford it
but to sell so much of your soul, only to trip over the likes of Matt Gaetz and Andy Biggs at the finish line
oh man, I would walk out of that movie satisfied.
Not since Fox called Arizona have I seen Cult45 as incensed as that time an American citizen got released from unjust captivity in Putins Russia. Theyre, uh, not taking the Brittney Griner news well, are they? Ye gods. An unusually ugly tantrum thrown by the ugliest tantrum-throwers in an ugly, ugly movement. Salty, no doubt, from the tears shed over the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.
Heck, even the House sponsor of DeSantistans odious Dont Say Gay law got indicted for wire fraud. Maybe he can share a cell with the election denier who voted illegally nine times. Of course, the real action on the anti-gay Right happens on the grassroots/terrorist level, as we saw in Columbus, and possibly Moore County, North Carolina.
I see we started exporting QAnon at some point, and all the fuckwit terrorist plotting that goes along with it. My apologies to Germany, though you have to admit its exciting we got in on the ground floor of the hot, new, global madness economy.
I think were going to be a leader in the field for the foreseeable future. That said, Ive had my fill for the time being, so Ill sign off here. Dont lose too much sleep over Sinema, friends. And stay safe; its still pretty weird out there, and we need ya.
Kanye. Elon. Trump. Gosh, Where Did It All Go Wrong? (Ferret)
I hope that like me, youre still enjoying the hey-that-wasnt-so-badness of the recent midterms, though of course theres ample fuckery to discuss tonight. On the Right, it is a time of reflection. Or it would be, if anybodys brain still worked over there.
(Is it even comprehensible anymore without the links? https://showercapblog.com/kanye-elon-trump-gosh-where-did-it-all-go-wrong/)
Theyre doing another one of those How in the Bright Twinkling Fuck Did We Blow This autopsies, but they recruited Christian nationalist venture capital ghoul Blake Masters for the advisory council. Good luck. Watching the chum from the red wave that wasnt settle at the bottom of the tank, you cannot but be awed by the pure, incandescent unteachability of these people.
And certainly, the intersection of fascism and failure is not one where top drawer talent tends to congregate, but the future of the GOP looks
hoo. Bit grim.
After failing damn near every test of basic human decency for years, expectations of political courage from the Republican Party are appropriately low, but I feel like the Ye/Fuentes dinner was like the teacher taking pity on the paste-eating kid and giving him a sticker for spelling his name right.
And yet.
So, the former Kanye Wests public breakdown slash Neo-Nazi media tour swung by Mar-a-Lago for a dinner party, with prominent anti-Semite Nick Fuentes in tow. Thats an easy one, fellas. Do you realize how fucked up it is, how warped your party has become, that any of you did anything except condemn it, at the top of your lungs, at the earliest opportunity?
Especially here, in the immediate aftermath of the third consecutive election this idiot game show hosts fashy shenanigans cost you. Cognitive test-passing abilities notwithstanding, hes not exactly a hot prospect with a bright future, yknow? Can yall just take the goddamn off-ramp, pick up a fucking bucket, and join the rest of us in fighting the fire yall started? Please?
No, somehow it took still more vileness from Ye, a stream of babbling bigotry that shocked even Alex Jones, to make the House GOP recant their allegiance to Americas most famous Jew-hater, so thats another Tootsie Pop we finally got to the center of. Congratulations on barely beating out Parler, by the way.
Thats about where the Republican Party lives these days, just outside Parler, and I dont think you should need an autopsy report from Blake Masters (though he keeps a couple under his mattress) to figure out how America got so sick of your shit.
Lookin at YOU, Arizona Republicans. Goddammit you guys, must we really do this? No off-ramps will be taken by the Republican Party of Arizona, no fit shall remain unpitched, but you cant make anyone pay attention to your tired act. The brief, feeble rebellion of some rural county whose name I refuse to look up garnered less attention than a frivolous macaroni lawsuit, or Mitt Romneys all too fleeting beard, but by all means, keep trying to make Kari Lake happen.
Hey, maybe Americas just sick of loud, crazy, hateful assholes, ever think of that?
Look at the way your shitty little movement responded to the mass shooting in Colorado Springs. Look at what Ben Shapiro said. What Matt Walsh said. What Herschel Walker said, on the campaign trail. If your stomach can take it, watch Trump attorney Jenna Ellis obscene take.
Loud. Crazy. Hateful. Assholes. When you put it like that, the electoral drawbacks seem clear, dont they?
Think about that while you wheel Herschel around Georgia Weekend-at-Bernies-style, ducking new abuse allegations and hoping no reporter corners you on the divisive werewolf/vampire issue. Your moms must be so proud of you.
Ah well, I wouldnt worry, not with Kevin McCarthys steady hand on the tiller. Hell lead you through these turbulent times, hes real good at leadin, just give him a minute to finish capitulating to Fuentes associate Marjorie Taylor Greene; she needs her committees back, ysee, if he wants her support for Speaker, and oh yeah, also a blank check from taxpayers to investigate every internet hoax she falls for. (And folks, she falls for em all.)
Thingre gonna change round these parts under Marshal McCarthy, youll see. Theyre gonna READ THE CONSTITUTION OUT LOUD WHY DONTCHA CRY ABOUT IT LIBTARD and admittedly it gets a little murky after that, but the Constitution-reading part, thats down in INK. Theyre gonna read the shit outta that Constitution. That and Marjorie Taylor Greenes committees. Consider it a contract, America.
Maybe the future of the party is Mike Pompeo, whos bold enough to eer-so-lightly criticize his old boss, though never ever ever by name, like some Ministry of Magic functionary J.K. Rowling doesnt want you to respect. When hes not busy cowering or groveling, Mike enjoys picking fights with teachers unions, and deluding himself that doing so will help him get elected President.
While were on the subject of Republican leadership, please tell me there are debates in the RNC chair race. Scalpers could charge me whatever they wanted to watch Mike Lindell spar with Ronna Romney? I Dont See Any Romneys over the issues of the day.
Incidentally, Madison Cawthorn, destined to be remembered as too big a loser for the McCarthy caucus, ouch offered some parting wisdom on the issue of masculinity, in case anybody couldnt get into the Kyle Rittenhouse seminar.
Twitters still in rich-kid-smashing-his-new-toy-against-the-wall-wondering-why-it-wont-work mode. Elon, mobilizing the full capacity of his genius intellect to combat his advertiser flight problem, restored Covid disinformation, as well as accounts suspended for hate speech and inciting violence, including, of course, the Dotards, and several prominent global brands were crushed to death in the ensuing stampede to line up to sponsor the entirely predictable wave of slurs that followed.
And while Wee Donnie One-Term would surely love to return to his older, much larger platform, hes locked into his sad, shabby knockoff, which has somehow failed to achieve cultural dominance under the leadership of cow-vanquished sycophant Devin Nunes. Which is surely unwelcome news for anyone attempting to wring profits from a $44 billion investment in an online playground for blackpilled dipshits. And once again we find ourselves at the limit of the loud, crazy, hateful asshole model.
What else, what ellllllllse
I always like to drift off at night to the slow, steady pitter-patter of Donald Trump losing in court. House Ways and Means finally got ahold of those covetously guarded tax returns, part of a broader trend of cynical stall tactics finally playing out. Oh, and Aileen Cannons courtroom is not, after all, a one-stop shop for recently dethroned autocrats who need large, clumsy crimes retroactively legalized.
Speaking of the rule of law, look out, federal prison system, theres a new subpar softboi gang headed your way, and I hope youre ready for a lot of tedious arguments about whether or not theres a constitutional right to have your birthday cake baked in the shape of Mike Pence hanging from a gibbet.
Yes, Stewart Rhodes and his doofus buddies got their cosplay revolutionary asses convicted of some big, fat federal crimes, including seditious conspiracy. Seditious conspiracy. Cant wait to see what Texas school boards strip from the history textbooks when they get to this year, yknow?
Meanwhile, Joe Bidens quietly doing Joe Biden stuff: winning elections, creating jobs, and delivering overdue changes to the Democratic primary calendar, all without sharing a single meal with a single Nazi. But by all means, ask Blake Masters to help you unravel the mystery before you. I hope youre paying him.
I will be conducting my own autopsy, of the craft beer sampler in the fridge, by Sunday at the latest. You stay safe out there, friends. Oh, and the paste-eating kid was me. Obviously.
This Asshole Again (Ferret)
Dunno about you, but Im still riding high on last weeks wave of catharsis. Making sandwiches from leftover schadenfreude. Knocking ascendant American fascism on its ass gives one a warm, healthy glow, dont you agree?
(This cant possibly make sense without the links, so click here: https://showercapblog.com/this-asshole-again/)
Im sure you enjoyed the steady trickle of election news this week. It was like the closing stages of a night at one of those Brazilian steakhouses where they keep dropping by your table to tempt you with succulent meats. Oh, I couldnt possibly have one more b-wait, Adam Laxalt lost? Ill make room. Maybe one last serving of Slate of Trump-Endorsed Weirdos Goes Down in Flames.
That Arizona vote count was exquisitely paced, my compliments to the local deep state. First Finchem, (and if you havent already, treat yourself to his Twitter meltdown*) then Thiels pet ghoul, and finally, Kari Lake, a crushing disappointment to those who like their autocracy best when its lit like mid-period Joan Crawford.
There doesnt seem to be as much stomach to keep election denialism going this time around, (because of all the losing, probably) but Im sure Lake is willing to spend as much of Mike Lindells money as it takes to keep her face in front of the endlessly bilkable MAGA mob. Her first move was to fly down to Mar-a-Lago to meet with the 45th President of the United States and a pro wrestling promoter, because thats just how shit works in this, our healthiest of all possible democracies.
Anyway, given expectations, I barely minded when they finally announced that Kevin McCarthy would, in fact, gain just enough rope in the Congress to come to hang himself, heading a tiny, tottering majority, held together with scotch tape, anal leakage, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, (but I repeat myself) assuming he isnt accidentally killed in some Freedumb Caucus hazing ritual first.
One cant help but draw comparisons, with one of the most significant and effective House Speakers in history passing the torch this week. Nancy Pelosis accomplishments are too impressive to even discuss in my crass little blog, whereas K-Dawg sold American democracy out at every opportunity for the chance to spend two years stage-managing The Hunter Biden Show. And hes the very best theyve got.
Honesty, watching the turdpit knife fight taking place in whats left of the Republican Party, now that weve skimmed the last microscopic traces of decency off the top
its been a bit nauseating, but Im generally enjoying myself. Its not so much an intraparty civil war as the worst human beings alive clawing at one anothers eyes over the keys to a used death cult.
Decisively defeated for the second time this year, Sarah Palin says people should completely stop donating to the GOP, and I suppose Id feel stranger about thinking, Sarah Palin is right! Everybody should listen to Sarah Palin! if I hadnt spent the last couple years sharing Bill Kristol tweets.
Rick Scott is so used to failing upwards, he actually asked for a promotion after blowing $200 million as head of NRSC with nothing to show for it except a slightly smaller spotlight on Joe Manchin. Didnt get it, oddly.
Even within a movement defined by big lies and livestock dewormer consumption, Mike Pence stands out as uniquely delusional, and so hes shuffling around on his sad little book tour, ahead of a doomed Dont Lynch Me, Vote For Me! presidential run, and I think well all be grateful for the comic relief during the infuckingterminable campaign to come.
Because, as you know, the Once and Future Crotchtumor officially reinflicted himself upon the nations politics, in a rambling, unendurable, Stephen Miller-scripted diatribe, titled American Carnage II: Yes I Just Cost You the Senate But I Really Dont Want to Go to Prison Boogaloo.
The announcement event was, as you can imagine, the bottom-feedingest shindig on the white nationalist social calendar. Like, already-forgotten Hitler youth Madison Cawthorn showed up, but Matt Gaetz sent his regrets. Matt. Gaetz. Good lord, how much loserstink do you have to emit to repel that clout-hungry pervert? Only Donald Trump knows.
But the Republican establishment is gonna stand up to him this time. For real and for serious. Not like Charlottesville or Lafayette Square or either impeachment trial or the Capitol Riot or that time he made Lindsey Graham give MBS a lap dance at Camp David.
Itll work, too. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Why, the QAnon Shaman was so impressed with Rupert Murdochs Florida Man Makes Announcement slight in the New York Post, he immediately endorsed Larry Hogan.
Of course, the whole moderate Republican plan is to lob the occasional plausibly deniable half-criticism, Mike Pompeo-style, while privately praying shiny new special counsel Jack Smith incarcerates their problems away. Real profiles-in-courage shit.
That special counsel appointment was the cherry on top of a rough legal week for MAGA, between the Weisselberg testimony and the Oath Keepers trial and the former McConnell/Paul aide convicted of funneling Russian money to the Trump campaign and the federal judge blocking DeSantistans fashy little Stop Woke law and the news about Off-Brand Orbán abusing the IRS to target enemies and laundering foreign bribes through his D.C hotel and Im setting the newspaper down before this paragraph collapses under the weight of the links.
We also learned Herschel Walker would rather be a werewolf than a vampire, and so long as hes not a Senator, I say let him do what he wants.
Some news: taking a page from Elon Musks playbook, I will be demanding a loyalty pledge from all readers going forward. Im still futzing around with the language, but Im willing to accept your tithe in beer, Im not a monster. Additionally, taking the immediately following page, I will now spend all available time demonstrating my personality defects to the world, at great personal cost, for reasons which I assure you make perfect sense to my therapist.
Okay, folks, I am going to go toast Nancy Pelosi until I cant see straight. And just a heads up, NO BLOG NEXT WEEK, on account of the Thanksgiving holiday; may you navigate any interactions with Q-curious family members with minimal screaming/bloodshed. See you in December!
*Shower Caps Blog is not responsible for any hubris-related service interruptions on any social media platforms, and may not be held liable.
Maybe the Real Red Wave Was the Litter Boxes Our Furry Kids Pissed In Along the Way (Ferrrrrrret)
So, how fucking ready were you for this mood shift? I myself feel refreshed and renewed to a degree seldom seen outside shampoo commercials. And friends, I needed that. I needed it so hard.
(Makes loads more sense with links, promise: https://showercapblog.com/maybe-the-real-red-wave-was-the-litter-boxes-our-furry-kids-pissed-in-along-the-way/)
We last convened amidst the cacophonous obscenity of the Republican Partys closing argument before the midterms, a hideous mishmash of transphobic hate, threats to poll workers, bolder-by-the-day anti-Semitism, and cackling celebration of an act of terrorist violence targeting a political foe, and the truth is, Id never been more frightened in my life.
No, not even on January 6th, this felt more
premeditated? This wasnt We Must Accept This Butthole-Mouthed Thugs Ugliness to Get Our Tax Cuts, this was Fuck Civilization Lets DO This Thing Somebody Give the Order Cmon Cmon CMON ALREADY.
What Im saying is, I found the romping Nazis salivating over the power to come portion of the program unenjoyable. Stressful, even. Watching the little bastards stumble furiously about, running face-first into walls and flinging accusations at each other has been goddamn delightful, however.
Because the red wave turned out to be more of a hey-you-should-have-a-doctor-look-at-that bloody piss trickle on Americas shoes; a significant problem, certainly, and a revolting one, but maybe, just maybe
manageable.
The fight is nowhere close to over, and lord knows this wad of weirdos won more power than any truly healthy democracy would allow, but the coalition of the decent showed up, folks. America smacked the bully right in the mouth, mid-hammer joke, and it sure is satisfying, watching him scamper away crying.
When you work so closely with Donald J. Trump, (the J stands for managed to fail at the casino business) you come to expect a certain amount of mortifying failure, but youd have to be the Greek god of stepping on your own dick to blow a midterm election in the middle of inflation like this. Fortunately for the future of freedom, were talking about a lifelong loser so starved for Ws, hes spent years bragging about passing a cognitive test.
Yeah, the GOP let it all ride on the idiot game show host, and now theyre busted and trying to talk the pawn shop down the street into taking Stephen Miller for 50 bucks and a case of Heineken. Good. Thank all the gods in all the heavens that your despicable endeavors failed so spectacularly.
We turned back something scary, folks. Or at least gave it a good, sturdy kick in the nards. Something for Republicans to think about before they pursue these mad tactics again.
Because though a distressing number of election deniers won Tuesday, the biggest, darkest play, to seize swing state election infrastructure in the name of the voices in Mike Lindells head, flopped. Ring the damn bells. The fewer cultists in the vote-counting room the better, as my grandpappy used to say.
On a purely personal level, Im thrilled to finally evict so many of MAGAs skeeviest freaks from my cranium. My god, I wont have to write about Doug Mastriano ever again, at least not until five years from now when he gets kicked out of a Dennys for shouting slurs at the waitstaff.
I dont have to think about Don Bolduc anymore, though I bet I coulda gotten some mileage out of calling him Senator Kitty Litter, had it come to that. I get to forget about Tudor Dixon and J.R. Majewskis lawn and the television quack and the skull-faced Thiel puppet and I could keep going but I dont have to anymore so I wont. I bet the inside of my head even smells nicer now.
Parenthetically, Id like to congratulate Tulsi Gabbard on her exquisite timing. Enjoy your new team, kid.
Anyway, since were in another of those moments of temporary lucidity when Republicans notice what a massive fucking loser Donald Trump is, theyre flailing about wildly for any less suicidal alternative, so I guess we can go ahead and call it: the two-year Criscolump slap fight between the Dotard and Ron DeSantis has officially begun!
Ron-Ron did win big on Tuesday, having catered to the Florida electorates lunatic desire to be lied into early graves, so hes the savior du jour for the go-along gang, with delusionally messianic campaign ads to match.
Looks like Rupert Murdoch is fully aboard the DeSantis train, (no vaccination required, so ya takes yer chances), and even Mikes Pompeo and Pence have the knives out, and I bet the MAGA mob is totally willing to abandon their Turd God at establishment Republicans urging this time, thats a really good plan. He can go by Ron!
Heard it all before. And sure, DeSanctimonious is weak as fuck; may this moment of smug theatre criticism warm you next time you find yourself sucking cheeseburger crumbs out of the carpet at Mar-A-Lago. Lyin Ted wasnt exactly Shakespeare, but it turned a man with one of the most impressive resumés in America into a quivering mound of bologna jello.
It aint up to you. Its up to the mob. You mayve noticed there arent a lot of stories about mobs that spontaneously set down their torches and pitchforks and start listening to old men in suits.
Heck, Tom Cottons already abandoned the Unsettlingly Ambitious White Creep lane to Rick Scott and Josh Hawley, purely out of fear of one of those nicknames. A whole party of trembling sycophants, living in mortal terror of a doddering manchilds playground taunts. Odd it hasnt worked out.
And since Off-Brand Orbán cleverly backed himself into announcing his third campaign from atop the still-smoking wreckage of his latest debacle, well be kicking off the circular firing squad right away. Wee, inadequate, baby hands notwithstanding, the old prick is pulling no punches; he even figured out a way to lob a racist insult at People Magazines reigning Whitest Man Alive, Glenn Youngkin. No doubt the GOP would love it if hed just slink silently away, but hey, if you havent internalized the goddamn snake story by now, I cant help you.
Anyway, theres more than enough loserstink to go round, as members of Donnie One-Terms legal team learned this week, when they were sanctioned for one of their frivolous lawsuits. Cant imagine thats the last time well encounter that headline.
I know youre probably worn out from laughing at Donald Trump, but I need you to dig down deep, and find that second wind, because we have to laugh at Kevin McCarthy now. Its always tricky business, getting Mephistopheles to cough up those wages, innit, Kev? Well, I suppose you werent really doing anything with that soul anyway.
It wasnt supposed to be this way. It was supposed to be fun. You were gonna hand Ukraine to Uncle Vlad and kick Dems off their committees and map every mole on Hunter Bidens ass and crash the whole dang global economy, but now youre looking at a razor-thin majority at best, and Marjorie Taylor Greene says if you dont get her one of them Jewish space lasers for her office, shell sic the Proud Boys on you, assuming the feral assclowns of the Freedom Caucus dont get you first. The stakes in authoritarian musical chairs are no joke, lil man. Youre the one who insisted on playing.
Oh, and save some listless snickering for Rick Scott, who reportedly shelved what wouldve been an absolutely adorable challenge to Mitch McConnells leadership once the full scope of the party faceplant became clear. My condolences to the brownshirt mens choir that spent six weeks rehearsing Tomorrow Belongs to Me for Rickys launch announcement.
Still, there does seem to be a bit of a movement afoot to dethrone Yertle for Trumps failings, to which I say
do yall need any help? Any at all? Ive got my own luchador mask.
While largely delightful, the news wasnt all good, of course; far from it. And therell be plenty of time for that, Im sure Kari Lake in particular has some well-rehearsed bullshit planned for the days to come, but for just this one week, I think were allowed to strut a bit. We deserve it.
Because the good news keeps rollin on in. Looka here, Alex Jones owes another half billion to the people he terrorized, and I had to stop watching clips of Steve Bannon melting down because the neighbors complained about the giggling.
Meanwhile, the mighty imperial legions of Czar Vladimir the Terrible (At His Job) are doing what they do better than anyone in the world: shambolically retreating. In the background, Elon Musk continues throwing the sort of tantrum one throws when one realizes one spent forty-four billion dollars to inconvenience Kathy Griffin. What a strange coincidence that so many of the modern Rights icons of masculinity turned out to be blithering nincompoops, hellbent on self-destruction.
Yes, a rough week for fuckheads, asshats, and crotchtumors of all stripes. And I will drink to that, my friends. I am going to crack another Tank 7 tallboy and roast marshmallows in the bonfire Elons making of his fortune; you stay safe out there, weve still gotta send Herschel Walker packing yet.
More Songs About Cat Litter and Violence (Ferret)
Hey folks, who wants to chuckle nervously as the clock ticks down to the batshittiest midterm election of our lifetime? Happening Here Bingo was a lot more fun back when everybody didnt black out their card every single week.
(It always makes more sense with the links, so why not click here: https://showercapblog.com/more-songs-about-cat-litter-and-violence/)
The Republican Candidate Refuses to Agree to Accept Election Results square is free, of course. The Election Officials Getting Death Threats square is free. And so is the Terrorist Attack on a Venue That Hosted a Drag Queen Event square, and I guess nobody gets too excited anymore when the caller shouts, Democratic Candidate Assaulted Outside His Own Home.
And thats just the background noise. A single paragraphs unwieldy bingo metaphor. Were in the last days of an election cycle, parties and candidates are making their final pitches, and the MAGA GOPs closing argument is pretty goddamn gross, friends: authoritarianism, anti-Semitism, and big, big lies.
Lies about everything. Lies about basically inconsequential shit, and lies about the most important shit in the world. Lies designed to drive people violently insane, and whenever somebody snaps, and, say, assaults the Speaker of the Houses husband with a hammer, lies about the very victims of their massive, sustained campaign of lies, because weve arrived at the Wallowing Gleefully in Our Obscenity stage of this thing.
Healthy stuff, in other words.
Well, the Elon Musk era of Twitter launched on the entirely predictable wave of hate speech, followed by the entirely predictable advertiser and user exodus, followed by the entirely predictable manchild meltdown. From the bottom of the $44 billion hole he dug, Musk attempted to cast the avoidable results of his own pudding-headed decision-making as an assault on fundamental human rights, as has become standard operating procedure for narcissistic billionaire fuckwits the world over.
Elon. Buddy. You built that, bro. You and you alone. As your expensive new toy erupted with slurs, what did you do? You let the world know, in no uncertain terms, that the new boss, a genius, filters information exactly as well as that one kid from high school in your Facebook feed who periodically brags that shes about to meet JFK Jr.
Your First Amendment rights are intact, kiddo, its just that theres little economic benefit in sponsoring your credulous platforming of a Weekly World News-level hoax about the Pelosi attack. Get your ad revenue out of the drooling maniacs youre so eager to serve, Mr. Free Speech Champion; thats how the market works.
Incidentally, I dont know that the American Right is gonna get a clearer off-ramp than Conspiracy-Addled Asshat Attempts House Speakers Assassination, but since taking it would require a thimbleful of decency, theyre opting for another lurch towards fascism instead.
Yeah, that family values party sure does find it hilarious that one of their dutifully indoctrinated drones assaulted an 82-year-old man in his home. The gags arent particularly funny, but they dont need to be, when the point is reveling in your power to inflict harm.
Charlie Kirk, chairdork of the junior brownshirt org Turning Point USA, wants somebody to pay the attackers bail haw haw haw you could throw him a party with a hammer-shaped cake and you could invite Kyle Rittenhouse how dare they call us deplorable truly it is we who are the Real Victims Here️.
It is in fact profoundly unjust, as Ronna NotRomney whined, to imply Republicans had anything whatsoever to do with this completely random act of violence, just because the would-be assassins social media feed is indistinguishable from an RNC staffers, or just because of the GOPs years of targeting Pelosi with dehumanizing, frequently violent rhetoric, oh look, heres a Republican Congressman firing a gun next to a #FirePelosi hashtag a few days before the attack, and heres a pro-Trump insurrectionist talking about how badly hed like to hang Nancy Pelosi but otherwise this kind of thing hardly ever happens, though Id consider it a personal favor if you wouldnt check.
Dont check anything, actually. Ever. Pay no attention to the fact that Halloween came and went without a single rainbow fentanyl tablet making its way into a single trick-or-treaters repurposed pillowcase; just stand by, with hammers and nail guns at the ready, while we work out what youre supposed to be afraid of next.
Maybe itll be JD Vances imaginary horde of migrants seeking taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgeries. Theyre coming in a caravan, I hear. Theyre headed to your town on Antifa buses, each bearing as much kitty litter as they can carry, so their furry children have something to pee in.
I have grown so weary of writing about kitty litter, my friends. I shouldnt have to write about kitty litter this much, this is not a cat blog, though I bet in the alternate reality where I started a cat blog five years ago, Im significantly more cheerful.
No, Im stuck with Don Bolduc, who generated multiple litter-based headlines this week, because he will not, by gawd, be made to renounce the Kids Shitting in Litter Boxes Because of Wokeness myth. Did Moses not bear tablets of stone from pon the mountaintop, proclaiming, in the Lords own hand, that furry kids shit in litter boxes because of wokeness literally all the time, you heathen deep state commie bastards?
All kindsa wacky laws on them tablets, but of course the big one is We Get To Be In Charge Forever And Ever No Matter What. (It always is.) Not exactly compatible with democracy, and theyre growing increasingly comfortable saying so; for example, Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels, who promises, Republicans will never lose another election if he wins, which is pretty much every swing state GOP Secretary of State candidates explicit plan as well.
And in Texas, some Republican Party officials have taken their voter harassment campaign door-to-door, adding that essential we know where you live element to the climate of fear theyre so meticulously crafting.
Violence and intimidation. Focused assaults on electoral infrastructure. I mentioned the anti-Semitism, yes? Its only when your violent anti-democracy movement is extra-super-not-even-semi-fascist that it embraces anti-Semitism in the immediate run-up to a national election, right?
With the likes of Kanye and Kyrie hogging that particular spotlight, the Mastriano campaign knew it would need to act boldly to stand out; luckily, Dougies wife had a demented, dominionist ace up her sleeve.
Sorry this post is so grim, chums, but this is grim shit were discussing. Well, lets rattle off a few quick gags and land this fucker.
I see Herschel Walker challenged Barack Obama to a resumé competition, and I have to say, if the metrics used in the evaluation are Abortions Personally Financed, or Number of Abuse Allegations, there are definitely some merits to his boasting.
Stephen Miller added his uniquely subpar mewl to the cacophony of mediocre white guy shrieking that constitutes the Republican GOTV strategy, hoping to mobilize the crucial Creepy Middle-Aged Dudes Still Frothing Mad About Some Shit From High School corner of the MAGA coalition. Gross.
Longtime readers know Im hardly a Donald Trump fan, but I think we should hear him out on this impeach Mitch McConnell thing. Stopped clocks, folks.
A labyrinthine plot, worthy of the great antagonists of detective fiction, to shield Trump family assets from New York Attorney General Letitia James investigation, by hiding them under sunglasses and a fake mustache, somehow came up short, a rare miss from the whackjob carousel that represents Donnie Dotard in court.
Trump Organization II, brought to you by the criminal mastermind behind such classics as, No One Will Notice the Stolen Nuclear Secrets and, Maybe If Somebody Lynches Mike Pence I Get To Stay President. How he failed to denuclearize North Korea Ill never understand.
Welcome news from Brazil, where voters rejected fascism and failure, though given other international election results, the jury is still out on the elusive Is Humanity Capable Of Learning Fucking Anything question.
Anyway, I know nobody reading this needs to me to remind them to VOTE IN THE GODDAMN MIDTERMS, but a man has obligations to his catchphrase. When next we meet, well know a lot more about precisely how scary our neighbors are, thatll be somethin to talk about. Stay safe out there til then, friends.
PS - Hey Elon
I bet if you keep hitting Twitter with a wrench like that, moneyll just fall out. Someday. Cool investment, champ.
The One Where the Guy Tries to Kill Nancy Pelosi With a Hammer (Ferret/Shower Cap)
Well, the midtermsre just around the corner, and thingsve gone more or less apeshit. Welcome to election season in the madhouse; sure am glad everybodys so heavily armed.
(O, the links that await ye on my blog site!: https://showercapblog.com/the-one-where-the-guy-tries-to-kill-nancy-pelosi-with-a-hammer/)
So, turns out, when you spend a couple years driving folks violently insane with persecution fantasies, your politics turn a bit screwy. In a lot of ways, its surprising it took us this long to arrive at the Hammer-Wielding Assassin phase of the show.
But were there, folks. Masked maniacs in tactical gear menacing voters in Arizona. Election policy succumbing to the demented demands of conspiracy theorists in a rural Republican community in Nevada. Election offices hemorrhaging staff under a bombardment of harassment and nuisance requests. Fast-congealing plans to use the coming results in Pennsylvania to test-drive new attacks on the election system, as MAGA gears up for the big one in 2024.
Basically, the mewling white resentment cult we call the Republican Party has declared open season on democracy, and now we get to find out how many furious weirdos answer the call this time round, wheeeeee. I wonder what silly costumes theyll wear as they attempt to murder us with whatever household tool or small appliance happens to be nearest at the moment their brain finally breaks.
God knows Paul Gosars ready to boogaloo. Lookit the way he lights up at the mere mention of shooting immigrants. Nothing semi- bout Congressman Szell, friends. Feels like it should be a bigger story, doesnt it?
Oh Cap, thats just how Republicans are nowadays, theyre angry and racist and growing more authoritarian by the dang minute and they spend their time daydreaming about violence. I suppose youre right; I guess Im just attached to the old-fashioned notion that every single step these freaks and losers take towards fascism deserves to be front page news.
Like, when Kanye showed up to the picnic unexpectedly bearing a tuna casserole and Stormfront-level anti-Semitism, they slid him into the conga line without missing a beat or making a fuss. People do conga lines at picnics, right? Please dont tell my high school English teachers about this blog.
(Watching the Pelosi story unfold while I draft this post. Hammer Dork spent his life in the wingnut disinformation bubble, you say? Hours flinging all the latest lies around Facebook, you say? Huh.)
As expected, the Pennsylvania Senate debate offered Republicans an irresistible opportunity to once again prove Adam Serwers famous hypothesis, and also for dog-torturing telequack Mehmet Oz to opine that abortion decisions really oughta stay between a woman, her doctor, and local political leaders, yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikes.
Since theyre to be deputized as Junior Theocrat Rangers in charge of every womb that wanders within 100 yards, lets check in some of those local political leaders, shall we? See what theyre about?
Obviously, Herschel Walker is ready to hit the ground running here, given his extensive, hands-on experience with the abortion issue, which it feels like were learning more and more about every day. Anybody have the Tootsie Pop owls phone number? Id like to find out how many abortions financed it takes to get to that elusive candy center where wingnut evangelicals actually hold themselves to those standards theyre always bellowing about.
Anyway, were gonna need some clarification on the mechanics. For example, with Marsha Blackburn cavorting with Proud Boys at an anti-trans hate rally, and Marco Rubios campaign hiring white supremacist canvassers, we have to ask, does this apply only to elected officials, or would the umbrella extend to any brownshirts in their entourage? Precisely how many militarized incels will be consulted in each individual birthing vessels reproductive health decisions?
Will the local political leaders all be as craven and obsequious as Blake Masters and JD Vance? And, if so, how will they balance these new slut-flogging duties with their time-intensive day job, tongue-bathing the hindquarters of a guy whos spent years boasting about passing a cognitive test?
(Whats that? Glenn Youngkin debuted his tight five on the Pelosi attack while her husband was still hospitalized with injuries inflicted by a MAGA terrorist? On the campaign trail, no less? Gee, theres certainly no culture-wide rot there!)
Maybe were just not getting local enough. Lets check in on the gubernatorial candidates, Im sure they will prove qualified, trustworthy supervisors to the nations assorted whores and jezebels.
The Mastriano campaign was unavailable for comment, as they were far too busy impugning the Jewishness of opponent Josh Shapiro, and spending Gab founder Andrew Torbas money, but you know Dougies always down for a little dominionism.
But youll have to speak up if you want Tudor Dixon to hear you over the brain-devouring maggots. Dixon, who we must assume is, as the partys nominee for governor of the whole state, the very best Republican in all of Michigan, apparently believes Covid-19 was part of a decades-long Democrat conspiracy to reinstate slavery, which, like so many things Republican candidates spew these days, is closer to believing the Trix Rabbit wants you to kill some recurring insurance commercial character than it is to anything real.
(Oh, and I see the Everything I Dont Want to Believe is a False Flag contingent completed its thorough study of the Pelosi/hammer incident. Say what you will about their conclusions, theyre speedy.)
Really, the only prerequisite to obtain the uterus-policing powers of a Local Political Leader️is blind fealty to the ever-expanding litany of Crazy Fake Shit MAGA Believes, like medication designed to deworm livestock will cure a virus or Donald Trump, a 239-pound man who cares about ordinary people like me, won the 2020 presidential election. Shit, New Hampshire Senate candidate Don Bolduc gets pissy when you understate the length of his cult membership.
If anybodys looking to snap that last thread and go stark raving nuts tonight, may I recommend the article in the Times documenting the mad tangle of pillow money and Mike Lindells personal mental health issues fueling the spread of the Big Lie? Dont read this one over any vats of experimental chemicals, folks.
Boy, if theres one thing recent American history has taught us, its that theres no practical limit to the damage one emotionally stunted rich prick can inflict with a sufficiently large platform. Good thing nobodys selling any massive social media platforms to thin-skinned manchildren, huh?
(Hammer Dork shared Lindells videos on Facebook, you say? And me without my fainting couch.)
Incidentally, while I appreciate the contribution to the historical record, I fear Bob Woodwards Trump tapes are hitting the market at a commercially suboptimal moment; Im not sure anyones hoping Santa leaves Hours of Narcissistic Pandemic-Era Whining in their stocking, yknow?
I tell you what, I bet nepotism is nothing to fuck with when youre dealing with the spawn of the very mouth of ascendant American fascism; anyway, Tucker Carlson named his kid Buckley, because fucking of course he did.
I see the Trump/DeSantis softboi slapfight is heating up, and golly, thats gonna be embarrassing. Two lumps of weapons-grade mediocrity dueling for the MAGA mobs attention and adulation. Living in history is gross, and I hate it.
With all the grim shit going down, I thought it was right kind of Ted Cruz to waddle out and step on a few rakes for our amusement. In these post-decency days, nothing warms the soul quite like watching people remind an asshole hes an asshole.
except maybe watching the gears of justice work their slow n steady will on these thugs. Another clock just ran out on Mark Meadows, I always enjoy those stories. Our old pal Jacob Wohl swung by, to plead guilty to felony fraud. Remember Jacob Wohl? Simpler times, man. Nobody was gonna build a gallows because they thought Elizabeth Warren was gettin a piece on the side, yknow?
Nowadays the right-wing kooks are more like Albuquerque Head, who earned every minute of his 7 1/2 year sentence at the Capitol Riot. Or, you know, the fellow who broke into Nancy Pelosis home with a hammer and sent her husband to the hospital.
So yeah, this was the one where the guy tries to kill Nancy Pelosi with a hammer, and I dunno about you folks, but Ive never been so excited to VOTE IN THE GODDAMN MIDTERMS. Something about a tornado of malice and violence just makes me feel like standing up to be counted. You stay safe out there, so you can do the same.
Weeks Deep In a Litter Box Hoax, You're So Nuts You Got Banned From Newsmax? I'm Honestly Impressed.
Not that anybody asked, but life trapped inside the shitty Ken Kesey fanfic that is American society is, um, not awesome. Im gonna leave such a Yelp review when we come out the other side of this madness.
(Makes more sense with the links, promise. And its o-so-shiny here, too: https://showercapblog.com/weeks-deep-in-a-litter-box-hoax-youre-so-nuts-you-got-banned-from-newsmax-im-honestly-impressed/)
And we are gonna come out the other side, by the way. Which I only mention because many seem tove wandered into one of those of patches of despair n defeatism Dems are so fond of wallowing in. I certainly respect such a time-honored tradition, but, yknow
finish up your smoke break, okay? Theres stuff to do.
Because admittedly, Republican batshittery has been accelerating at an absolutely ungoddamnsettling rate. Theyre really fuckin going for it, the fashy little creeps. One poll goes their way, they get reeeeeeal cocky. Suddenly these platform-averse lightweights cant stop bragging about their revanchist plans.
Its not so much a coherent doctrine as a manifesto smeared on the walls in crap. Theyre gonna pass a national dont say gay law and hand Ukraine to Putin gift-wrapped and put Fauci on trial and kick Democrats off their committees and then theyre going to make it illegal for Ivermectin to not cure Covid and once thats all wrapped up, America wont have any problems at all prosperity forever CHECKMATE LIBTARDS!
Oh, and we cant forget the debt ceiling. Either Democrats agree to draconian cuts to the safety net, or McCarthys gang of incontinent howler monkeys blows up the global economy. I guess were pretending theres some MAGA mandate for Paul Ryan-style austerity? I wouldnt do that, fellas. If you really wanna try replacing your bases health insurance with the Hunter Bidens Laptop Variety Hour, just remember: youre also the ones that sold them the torches and pitchforks.
Anyway, you better give Marjorie Taylor Greene a really fancy uniform, Kev, with tassels and shiny buttons, oh, and POWER, too, lots of it, or youll be sorry. Lets quote her directly:
I think that to be the best speaker of the House and to please the base, he's going to give me a lot of power and a lot of leeway, and if he doesn't, they're going to be very unhappy about it."
Ah, the not-particularly-thinly-veiled threat of mob violence. Wonder where she picked up that trick? Nuthin semi- about that, folks. That is a bona fide American fascist, and her star is on the rise.
As she ascends in Republican politics, here in the run-up to the midterms, Marj is bringing her particularly unhinged brand of anti-Semitism with her, with plenty of help from Kanye West, and, of course, the Dotard himself. You knew it would come to this, it always does, but its still pretty terrifying to witness.
Speaking of Kanye, theres nothing quite like the wingnut grifter feeding frenzy that descends on a mentally ill rich dude who loses his Twitter account for hate speech. For the eminently reasonable investment of a couple of tacky t-shirts, Candace Owens bailed out her husbands somehow-even-crappier-than-Truth-Social online bigot gathering hole
anyway, the line to pick this asshats pocket forms to the left.
Boy, if theres anyone anywhere who is decisively not impressive enough to talk about himself in third person, its Utah Senator Mike Lee, but theres a lot of unearned self-confidence in the Republican Party these days, I suppose.
Somehow, despite deploying sophisticated tactics like pitching a fit at your own witness, John Durham lost his pathetic excuse for a case, to the consternation of the seething resentment cult that expected him to have Hillary Clinton in irons by now. JFK Jr.s not coming back either, sorry. Its hard on their poor, little minds, because the laws so different here in the real world than it is in the shows they watch on teevee. The
news shows.
Like, therere people who watched or heard Joe Rogan and Tulsi Gabbard jabber about furry kid litter boxes, and walked away believing theyd gained valuable information about the world around them. I would be mad if they had kids shitting in litter boxes, too. But thats not actually happening. So.
Id be super mad if I thought the Democratic Party was a sinister cabal that trafficked children for satanic rituals, but believing that is like believing Duck Tales is a documentary show.
I can only imagine how furious Id be if I believed half the shrieking horseshit clogging up Lara Logans brain. She got banned from Newsmax, folks. BANNED from NEWSMAX. Thats like getting kicked out of a Mike Lindell sex party for being too creepy.
Anyway, the great thing about made-up problems is they can lessen or worsen or disappear completely, depending on the needs of the moment. Should these bastards take power, theyll run for re-election swearing they made America great again, cuz you never hear about kids shitting in litter boxes anymore.
Probably their very most favorite fake thing to believe is that theres no conceivable way voters might reject any of the deranged nincompoops they nominate for office. Tucker Carlson is only too happy to platform Kari Lakes insidious lie that her victory is the only possible legitimate electoral outcome. And surprise, surprise, youre already seeing voter harassment in Arizona, by self-deputized vigilante nitwits, trained and deployed by prominent conspiracy theorists, like Cleta Mitchell, John Eastman, and Steve Bannon.
Yes, the same Steve Bannon who just received a 4-month sentence for contempt, and the same John Eastman whose emails were deemed, by a federal judge, tove triggered the crime fraud exception to attorney-client privilege. Criminals, is what Im saying. Criminals are organizing their own, personal voter intimidation armies.
Gosh, Cap, when you put it like that, it sounds kinda scary.
Yeah, it does. Lotta folks on the Right are saying and doing some pretty freaky shit these days. I know its horror movie season, but if you really want to send a chill down your spine, check out the shit theyre test-driving over at The Federalist. And Lauren Boebert is honored to be serving during the end times laps Wes Craven on his best day.
Theyre getting restless over there. They want to get to part where they get to hurt people. They want to start locking up the groomers and the sluts and that internet cow that made fun of Devin Nunes and the BLMers and the deep state and I hope you dont think this stops because it doesnt.
You see, they have no choice but to impose their values on the rest of us, for we are sinners and they are godly, anyway, another one of their candidates got arrested, for, um, well, for masturbating next to a preschool playground, but I believe we were discussing Republican moral purity, which we can all agree is beyond reproach.
Gotta appreciate Ron DeSantis casual corruption in using Hurricane Ian as an excuse to ease voting rules
but only in Republican areas. Another authoritarian strut down the runway, casting flirty glances at the megadonor class. Same lemon-fresh new power grab scent, with a fraction of the fuss.
I had some really witty, insightful things to say about Liz Truss, but I already cant remember who she was. Liz Tuss, Lizzzzzzz Trussssss
nope, not ringing any bells, though I feel strangely compelled to make lettuce jokes, and I have the same headache I used to get every time I got cornered by a libertarian at a college party.
In Ukraine, Putins now just snatching dudes off the street and feeding them straight into the front line meatgrinder, hoping the West runs out of bullets before he runs out of dudes. Oh, and trying to outsource as much of his debacle as possible to Iran, before that regime collapses. Pretty standard superpower shit.
Yeah. Its a lot. Its a whole fucking lot, and I get why its discouraging, but if it makes you feel any better, the aforementioned real-world legal system has been tap-dancing all over these maniacs balls, more or less constantly. From Capitol rioters to saucy subpoena-dodgers like Lindsey Graham, the slow n steady law keeps catching up to these fucks.
Especially the chap on the other end of that attorney-client privilege exception. So many depositions and dismissals, people have trouble figuring out where to send the new subpoenas. I guess he stole highly classified state secrets about China and Iran. Just like he stole from the Secret Service. Or from his own foundation. Hes got a pocketful of purloined restaurant mints right now, I guarantee it. Hes a thief, thats all, and of the pettiest type imaginable.
and they worship him for it.
Well, thats my spooky bedtime story, muah hah hah
hoo. Anyway, Im hearing the siren song of the hazy IPA I picked up yesterday, so Ill sign off here. You stay safe out there, we need ya to VOTE IN THE GODDAMN MIDTERMS, yknow
And So Here We Are, Watching a Crazy Man Wave a Toy Badge Around, Calling It "Politics" (Ferret)
If youre just tuning in, and O how I envy your blissful ignorance if you are, a substantial chunk of the American electorate has gone quite insane, and seems determined to stay that way. They simply will not be enticed from the madhouse, though it is filling with sewage and infested with angry badgers and also on fire. Its the damndest thing.
(Makes more sense with links, promise: https://showercapblog.com/and-so-here-we-are-watching-a-crazy-man-wave-a-toy-badge-around-calling-it-politics/)
From a certain angle, the United States is a public pool, one we must all share, and I just wish dudes like Kanye West and Elon Musk would stop peeing in it. Or maybe the trouble is the people who like the pee. People who, in fact, only come to the pool at all to get pissed on by fit-pitching celebrity dipshits. Republicans, in other words.
Kanye. Elon. Trump.
Thats what the House Judiciary Committee GOP tweeted out, and since no name a more emotionally-stunted trio of asshats follow-up ever arrived, one can only assume their intentions were complimentary. Neither Musks Dunning-Kruger diplomacy dress-up, nor Yes anti-Semitic freakout seem to have prompted anyone involved to reevaluate this proclamation of allegiance, and all Im saying is Republicans are bad at choosing role models, and more people should say so.
Take Mike Flynn, for example, recruiting an army of God from amongst Christian nationalisms most pliable rubes. Or Roger Stone, who certainly sounds tougher salivating to get right to the violence than melting down into a puddle of softboi rage when his second pardon fails to materialize.
Or that one guy. Mouth like a butthole. Never quite figured out how pants work. Used to be President, I think. Poor role models, these men.
Somehow, Off-Brand Orbáns rallies keep getting dumber and racister, which, now that I think of it, must be what happens to any room Tommy Tuberville enters, but still.
Certainly no semi-fascists in the crowd that went apeshit over election-denying Nevada Secretary of State candidate Jim Marchants proposal to predetermine the results of the 2024 presidential election. Or anywhere in a party ruled by Big Lies and bigger liars.
And you know youre in a healthy democracy when you see stories about Marjorie Taylor Greene belching up the white nationalist Great Replacement theory at a Trump rally alongside ones about Marjorie Taylor Greene working her way back into Kevin McCarthys good graces.
Boy, lately weve been getting a nice, leisurely tour of K-Dogs many deficiencies, havent we? Kevin McCarthy is so perfectly, cartoonishly unfit for the job he seeks, and may soon attain, that he feels like a lazy writers device, like the antagonist in some direct-to-video Shrek sequel.
Marjorie Taylor Greene should not be a difficult ethical test to pass. She is a raging anti-Semite and a habitual inciter of violence, and dumber than a bucket of mallets to boot. Seriously, Kev, this is one of the easy ones, theyre not even asking you to identify a drawing of a horsey or anything. You are not a strong enough man to steer a fucking dinghy during a storm of this magnitude. Stand the fuck down before anybody else gets hurt, you weaselly little nothing.
Theyre already emitting piercing, giddy shrieks about government shutdowns, of course. Boy, that little ritualll be extra fun with vindictively regressive proto-fascists at the table, wont it? Lets let Lauren Boebert decide whether to raise the debt ceiling or not, thatll turn out well.
An explosive new report from the crack team over at Sean Hannitys fading I Hate All the Same People Tucker Carlson Does Remember Me? Show revealed that President Biden
oh, I hesitate to even say it
loves his son. I apologize for exposing the reader to such disturbing words and ideas, and I humbly beg your forgiveness.
Let us cleanse our minds of the preceding unpleasantness with a far more virtuous example of fatherhood: Herschel Walker. Rick Scott and Tom Cotton lent their Lugosian charms to his meth den trash fire Senate campaign, where they were treated to a folksy little fable about a bull who could probably teach us all a lot about life, if only Herschel Walkers brain worked well enough to tell a story.
John Durhams latest sad, sordid attempt to wring something resembling relevance out of his caffeine-free Shasta special counsel investigation arrived at the fighting-with-your-own-witness-and-losing stage almost immediately, which was pretty darn hilarious
and then it got worse.
Tulsi Gabbard emerged to beg for attention this week, and didnt get much. Moving on.
The persecution of Alex Jones continued, and its getting so you cant even build obscene levels of personal wealth by terrorizing survivors of incomprehensible tragedies in this country anymore. It probably struck you as fairly distressing that so many prominent Republicans leapt to such a monstrous taintmaggots defense, but you have to remember how essential the right to rile up their feral base with malicious lies has become to their project.
Ted Cruz once again proved that all the Ivy League education in the world doesnt mean shit once you invite the MAGA brainworms in, uncritically sharing a hoax of the approximate sophistication of Not Actually Throwing the Ball to Confuse the Dog, and maybe automatically believing anything that allows you to hate your political opponents a little more isnt the best information-filtering strategy for these complicated times. Especially if youre, yknow
a Senator.
Well, the January 6th commission returned from hiatus with their latest episode of American Horror Story: Recent/Current History. Sure was somethin, that time the shittiest of all possible game show hosts broke our peaceful transfer of power streak. I liked that streak. We should start a new one.
But yeah, turns out the Turd Reich began plotting Operation: Just Lie About Losing and Hope Nobody Complains months in advance, in case anyone was wondering how the President of the United States spent his time and energy while COVID-19 tore through the world. As always, the strategy relied heavily on loudly demanding the enforcement of imaginary laws, and hey, thats good enough for Aileen Cannon.
Seems those Secret Service communications the committee got hold of had some tales to tell, huh? Woooooooooo. Somebody oughta look under the hood over there, Im not sure that organization is operating at maximum efficiency. Sure does chill one to the fucking core, seeing the many, many, (MANY) extremely specific warnings they chose to ignore.
It turns out when you take people who openly fantasize about political violence and feed them a steady diet of bullshit justifications for political violence, what comes out at the end is terrorism, whodve guessed?
Anyway, the committee issued the Dotard a subpoena hell blow a few million donor dollars more defying, so now America can get back to waiting for November 8th to see if any of this, or indeed anything at all still matters, which is not as fun as it sounds. Doesnt really sound fun, I suppose.
Low candidate quality is a knife that cuts both ways when youre running against a cult that worships mediocrity. Youd think that after a dignity-annihilating performance like the one he gave against Tim Ryan in Ohio, JD Vance would exile himself to some far-flung island, to spend the rest of his days hiding in shame and composing hillbilly porn, but MAGA voters want a groveling sycophant for a Senator, not to make laws or fix problems, but to battle Lindsey Graham for space at the foot of the bed at Mar-a-Lago.
They want Ron Johnson, not in spite of his petty mean-spiritedness but because of it. Not in spite of his pudding-brained susceptibility to conspiracy theories, but because of it. Not in spite of his mold-ridden mind or cancer-chewed soul but
well, you get the picture.
Weve joked before about whether the pollstersre appropriately weighting for the sheer number of Republican voters who will be incarcerated for crimes committed in their turd messiahs name, but between the insurrectionist militia twits and the Antifa Arsoned Me hoaxsters and the Lets Swing By the School Board Meeting to Lob Death Threats at Trans Kidscrowd, it may be worth actually investigating.
Then of course theres the question of how many of MAGAs most fervent have dewormed their way to livestock heaven. God love em, theyre still at it, too. That Ladapo quack they installed as Surgeon General of DeSantistan actually used some random, non-peer-reviewed study as justification to issue official guidance against vaccination, because thats just the sort of thing you do when you measure success in mobile morgues.
Um, hope nobody got too attached to Liz Truss. Zounds.
Looks like somebody gave Vlad Putin the most appropriate birthday gift possible, a firm-but-gentle reminder that he has no business going around starting wars or annexing things, but was he grateful? Nooooooooooooooo.
In the latest of a series of acts of strategic petulance destined to be mocked for the remainder of human history, Pootie Tang dipped deep into his dwindling missile stash to put on a little murder show to briefly distract Russias bloodthirsty wingnut media from all the defeat n humiliation n whatnot, with the entirely predictable consequence of earning Zelensky another shopping spree through the ol NATO armory. Oh, and Ukraine intercepted more than half your barragewith their old shit, so I hope yall enjoyed your war crimes, your opponents are more determined and better armed than ever.
Anyway, Im confident Ive proven my bad at picking role models thesis, so Im going to proceed to the drinking portion of the evening now. You stay safe, my friends, its gettin pretty weird out there.
PS - I wasnt really able to follow the Warnock/Walker debate tonight, but I am pleased to report my sky-high expectations were met and exceeded. Holy crap.
Some Week, Huh, Herschel? (Ferret)
Fellow frogs, I know its nice n cozy here in the boiling water, but do you ever hop out of the pot for a minute, just to take it all in? It happened gradually, day by day, but our status quo got all sorts of fucked up, didnt it? 31 different flavors of batshit. Weren't we gonna stop this shit from becoming normalized?
(Makes more sense with links, plus its much shinier over on the blog site: https://showercapblog.com/some-week-huh-herschel/)
Like, Donald Trump casually lobbed a death threat at Mitch McConnell, and we couldnt be bothered to so much as yawn. Death threat wrapped in a racist insult of his wife, in fact, and if Yertle even responded publicly, I havent seen it.
Ho hum. This is just life now, I guess. The 45th President of the United States and overwhelming frontrunner for the Republican Partys presidential nomination in 2024 incites violence so frequently that it barely registers anymore. Just lumbers around his tacky-ass golf resort, stewing in resentment, occasionally recollecting the name of someone hed like to see killed, and angrily mashing out a half-assed Will No One Rid Me Of This Troublesome Senate Minority Leader post on his failing social media site with those tiny, inadequate fingers of his. Very fun and normal.
Rick Scott, who is alive today solely because of the courage and sacrifice of the hundreds of Capitol Police officers who stood between him and the lynch mob the leader of his party unleashed last January 6th, could not bring himself to even lightly condemn this call to murder, feebly spinning it as merely a matter of an irascible old mans penchant for teasing nicknames, which, in light of all the MAGA violence weve seen, and will surely continue to see in days to come, is absolutely fucking obscene.
Hey, Senator, death threats sure are an unequivocal evil, to be condemned automatically, under all circumstances, amiright? Well now, slow down there, son, dont put words in mmouth! Wait, what? When did the discourse take this merry turn? Did I miss a meeting?
Ted Cruz went a step further, lending the legitimacy and prestige of his office to one of Chaya Raichiks vile Libs of TikTok dogpiles, you know, the ones thatve led to all those death threats targeting childrens hospitals and doctors. Republicansre gonna save a whole buncha money on polling and consultants once they realize MORE GAS FOR THE FIRE! MORE! is the only tactic they ever deploy anymore.
I guess I just miss the bipartisan consensus on the inherent undesirability of political violence. We should revisit that, yknow? Or we can just go on pretending that everythings fine, because Susan Collins hasnt made the QAnon Shaman her chief of staff
yet.
Incidentally, we see you slinking away, Ben Sasse. Hey, remember how you used to lecture the rest of us about your superior morals, and write whole books about your lofty principles, and then remember how you were tested, and how you failed, spectacularly and comprehensively, every single day of your life, for years? Hmmmmmmm? Well, Ill remember for both of us.
In the devasting aftermath of Hurricane Ian, Ron DeSantis sprang into action like a man possessed, disrupting relief workers to stage a self-aggrandizing photo op, and railing madly against a pro-hurricane national regime media that apparently exists within the confines of his imagination, somewhere between the delusions of grandeur and the tentacle porn. I wont bore you with sordid details about lives lost or property destroyed, god knows the Governor isnt interested in any of that, but just on the level of theatre criticism, Operation: Make Ron-Ron Appear Presidential sustained heavy damage, though the Dukakis in Boots look is sure to resonate amongst the MAGA incel base.
Honestly, I cant even keep up with all the Herschel Walker news anymore; the man is a goddamn whirlwind of hypocrisy, financing abortions and abandoning or abusing whatever kids slip through the cracks, yet still finding time for media appearances that make Tommy Tuberville look like Daniel Webster.
Now, yall just completed the grinding, decades-long process of stealing bodily autonomy rights from tens of millions of Americans because you say this shit is murder. The murder of an innocent child, your words, not mine. Your (incessantly-bleated) belief, not mine. So Herschel Walker is a murderer now. Thats how this works. He took out a hit on his own kid. Sent a jaunty little get well card, and went about his regular, daily desecration of every other value you bloviating assclowns profess to hold. Surely he cannot be permitted to hold public office now. Surely.
The actual response from the religious right has been a resounding LETS GET THIS BABY-KILLER TO THE SENATE, of course. Such naked, seething will to power is more honest than Rick Scotts befuddled stammering, I suppose, but must it be wed to radical kakistocracy as well?
Throughout their primaries, the standard seemed to be And the Shittiest Among Ye Shall Lead, so the field were left with is like a police lineup from a Law & Order: SVU episode about some serial clown rapist. Republican electoral politics in 2022 is a shower drain clogged with white nationalists, insurrectionists, and valor thieves.
And I would dearly love to believe that there are conservative voters in Pennsylvania whore down with a buffoonishly out-of-touch telequack but not a buffoonishly out-of-touch telequack who tortures and kills dogs, but I fear the terms of the partisan disagreement over what constitutes fitness for office are somewhat broader at this moment in American history.
This rampaging toddlerwad nominated 299 election deniers. Two hundred and ninety-nine. If a political party ran 299 candidates who claimed that ramming half a box of frozen pizza rolls up your ass every Tuesday at 4:45 prevented colon cancer, youd say theyd gone bonkers, but were supposed to accept zealous converts to the Church of Horse Dewormer as reasonable people with valid grievances, instead of what they are, which is manic assholes looking for any excuse to throw the next first punch.
Lets be honest about the state of the debate, folks. Were not squabbling over tax rates or environmental regulations right now; the GOPs lone, momentary nod to anything resembling policy was a brief, off-key, karaoke rendition of a couple of old Newt Gingrich ditties. No, its far freakier shit were considering nowadays. Americas going through one of those Rule of Law or Nah? phases, and some of the boys shes bringing home lately have me concerned.
Stop the Steals Ali Alexander can barely conceal his lust for violently enforced Christian fascism, whereas Daily Wire weirdo Matt Walsh seems more interested in impregnating 16-year-old girls, but the unifying theme seems to be furious creeps pushing everyone else around, and I certainly see what the furious creeps get out of it, Im just not sure why they expect the rest of us to acquiesce.
Like, the defense in the January 6th Oath Keepers trial that got underway this week amounts to so, we expected to receive a magical Go Apeshit, Boys! order from President Crotchrot, and proceeded accordingly, even in the absence of such an order, which is pure, fascist Calvinball.
But thats the demand MAGA makes of the world: license to lash out based on whatever dipshit delusion happens to seize hold of your broken brain. You cant make me take a vaccine, I decide what science is! I took those nuclear secrets because I decided theyre mine! I invaded Ukraine because I decided its mine! We get to violently overturn elections that dont go our way because pizzagate Ashli Babbitt deep state Hunter Bidens laptop fUrRY kIDs aRe SHiTtiNg iN bOXeS!!!!
Society cannot function this way, people. Obviously. Obviously. Maybe if kids were actually shitting in boxes, some jarring corrections would indeed be required, but kids are not shitting in boxes, no matter what the Republican candidate for Minnesota Governor, Dr. (DOCTOR!) Scott Jensen says. And the 2020 election was not stolen. And no one is going to put fentanyl in your shitty kids Halloween sack. And sorry, Doug Mastriano, your crusade to rid schools of the scourge of pole dancing has never, for a single passing instant, been necessary.
Your problems dont deserve solutions, because theyre not real. We cant spend our precious time, energy, or resources dealing with the made-up shit you maniacs fling at the walls all day. We have enough problems here in the real world, perhaps the largest of which is the embarrassing, culture-wide tantrum you little turds insist upon subjecting the rest of us to, here in the otherwise placid Dennys of life.
Realitys been a problem for right-wing shitbirds all over the world. Putins losing territory on the ground in Ukraine quicker than he can annex it on paper, and now the bloodthirsty blogger class he cultivated has turned on him, because I guess they dont read Frankenstein in Russian, either. Still, something about watching Vlad flounder seems to trigger MAGAs instinctive loser-worship, because theyre circling the wagons around him like he paid to abort his kid or somethin.
President Biden announced he would pardon a bunch of low-level marijuana offenders, and Tom Cotton got so sad at all the unnecessary suffering thatll now be avoided that he had to head over to Dr. Ozs place to torture puppies for a couple hours.
The Deposed Dotard is still hanging onto stolen classified documents, by the way. And hes suing CNN, which Im sure will go exactly as well as his previous legal escapades. I would love tove made hilarious jokes about these developments, but I plum ran out of time this week, Herschel ran me ragged.
Good lord. By Grabthars Hammer, I need a fucking beer. Well, back into the pot, everybody. Stay safe out there
safe as you can, anyhow.
The One With James Madison's Flute (Ferret)
Friends, knowing whats in store for you in the paragraphs to come
.well, I hope you like white grievance, cuz youre getting a heapin helpin of it tonight. The lunch lady is dispensing softboi whinging with an industrial-grade scoop this week. Plop. Plop. Plop. I apologize in advance.
(And yeah, its all much more fun in living color, with news links, here: https://showercapblog.com/the-one-with-james-madisons-flute/)
The general consensus, amongst the least impressive specimens in circulation anyway, is that Our Culture Is Being Destroyed Because A Successful Black Woman Was Permitted to Touch This Flute Not One of Us Had Ever Heard Of Until Two Minutes Ago. Many a fit was pitched. MANY.
Somehow theyve convinced themselves that when they melt down publicly over stuff like this, theyre merely blowing the faintest of dog whistles, ever so gently, rather than yelping like a Junior Klansman who got his robes caught in the rusty old lawnmower he was listlessly dry-humping.
Listening to Ben Shapiro whine about Lizzo playing James Madisons flute is like being locked in a sauna with a fifty gallon drum filled with spoiled vanilla pudding that shrieks somehow. Why does anyone choose to live this way? Isnt it exhausting? Dont you just irritate the living shit out of yourself? See, the reason we know your culture sucks is that youre incapable of emotionally navigating extremely minor, completely inconsequential changes to the world around you.
You dont need to set your hair on fire every time they change the box butter comes in, yknow. You dont need to show up armed to drag queen bingo. And if Mr. Potato Head happens to go woke, you always have the option of simply shrugging and moving on with your life, which I would argue is the only sensible response to fluctuations in the volatile world of potato toy branding.
It would almost be funny, were the wingnut media bubble not so liberally seasoned with voices like Roger Lets Get Right to the Violence Stones. Its a nifty little assembly line theyve put together; the Shapiros and Hannitys rile em up, out-and-out maniacs like Mike Flynn give em a radicalizing shove with mad tirades about war-declaring governors, and before you know it, youve got Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and various ancillary asshats running about, rioting and firing nail guns.
You see a lotta headlines n thinkpieces these days, in our sickly, Cillizzafied, political press, about the profane competition taking place between Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott, as they vie for squeals of glee from the bloodthirsty MAGA mob.
Im told Kayleigh McEnany has pitched hosting a game show, as a lead-in to Tucker Carlsons White Power Hour, where Republican governors construct dueling obstacle courses (at taxpayer expense, of course) for asylum seekers to cross, while staffers hurl slurs from the stands. Itll be like American Ninja Warrior, only a little
yknow
Nazier.
Course, the Dotards mostly mad because these wannabes keep stealing his best ideas, though in his version, the federal government would deliberately transport rapists and murderers to liberal cities in order to destabilize them, which strikes me as a rather odd thing for a fellow to want to do to a country hes president of, but I suppose the world looks different through spite-tinted glasses.
Anyway, you cant get anywhere in Republican politics anymore without performative cruelty to the nonwhite. You can see the panic in Glenn Youngkins eyes as he tremblingly protests Virginia is a border state, which it absolutely isnt. If Virginia were a border state, Glenn would have his own migrants to traffic, but he doesnt, which is why hes all pouty in the first place.
Now, Doug Mastriano is a fully post-dog whistle Republican candidate, unashamedly embracing professional anti-Semites like Andrew Torba and Jack Posobiec, as well as Christian nationalists like Lance Wallnau, all while daydreaming of prosecuting women for murder over abortions. Pennsylvania voters seem decidedly unenthusiastic about the prospect of being governed by their embarrassing racist uncle who got the whole family banned for life from Chilis, thank god.
Arizonas Kari Lake brings a lot more media savvy to many of the same terrifying ideas, so shes polling better than Doug, which isnt awesome. Is this an awkward time to mention that she hired an admitted heroin dealer to work on her campaign? And not just any heroin dealer, but one who plotted the assassination of an FBI informant?
But its John Fetterman whos SOFT ON CRIME hes got SCARY TATTOOS because hes in a GANG just like THOSE PEOPLE did I mention they let a BLACK LADY play JAMES MADISONS FLUTE?
Ted Cruz thought he might gin up a little attention for himself by being the lone vote on the Senate Rules Committee against the electoral count reform bill, but as such a well-known asshole, his braying faded into the background, as per usual. Sure is cute watchin the lil fella try, though!
By now, Im sure youre well acquainted with that familiar trope of the omnipresent Turd Reich tell-all genre: the he was even weirder and dumber and racister than you knew anecdote, something about Donald Trump trying to stick his finger in the King of Thailands ear, or the time he locked himself in a West Wing bathroom and, fearing starvation, devoured eleven rolls of toilet paper before the locksmith arrived, eight minutes later. Anyway, Maggie Habermans book was always gonna be the Oops! All Berries version of that.
We got new details this week about that almost incomprehensibly pathetic 2019 incident where the government tried to hide a whole-ass destroyer from President Shithead on an overseas trip, because he was feuding in his mind with the dead guy whose name was on the side of the boat, and I guess if I were in the market for a personality to build a cult around, I would rule out the debilitatingly insecure ones right off the bat.
Juggling both law and order as only a Republican attorney general can, Ken Paxton fled a subpoena server in a truck driven by his state Senator wife, probably straight to Aileen Cannons house.
I gotta get me one of them Judge Cannons, by the way. Looks pretty handy, owning your own, personal, private, federal judge
specially one so willing to accept custom orders on short notice. The law is whatever your tenth-rate strip mall legal team needs it to be, Mr. Trump, sir! You could throw quite a party with power like that.
I guess Ginni Thomas professed her sincere, religious belief in the Big Lie to the January 6th commission, which triggers the constitutional right to overthrow the government, as every pigtailed schoolchild knows. Pretty cool this loon was texting Q shit to the Presidents Chief of Staff during an attempted autogolpe, huh?
Speaking of SCOTUS, its always delightful when Sammy Alito adds his gasbag wail to the cacophony of wingnut grousing, isnt it? Look, either take the speech rights, too, or learn to deal with criticism of your theocrat tyranny, you preening taintblister.
Sometimes I wonder how we fell so far down this shitty, shitty rabbit hole
then I see something like Chuck Todd interviewing Congresswoman Nancy Mace about her partys intention to impeach President Biden, without it ever once occurring to either one to mention a potential justification for such an extreme measure, and
I get it. I mean, I weep uncontrollably for an hour or two, but I get it.
So, Mike Lee says its overreach for the FBI to arrest a Catholic father of seven accused of twice assaulting a 72-year-old abortion clinic volunteer, because Mike Lees political and religious beliefs align more closely with the attacker than the victim in this instance, and golly, what a fun, healthy, not-at-all-semi-fascist standard that is! Apropos of nothing, please enjoy this link to Evan McMullins campaign site.
J.R. Majewski, who youll remember from last weeks tale of stolen valor, may not be particularly good at lying, but you gotta give him an E for effort. This time next week, hell be claiming he led the Bin Laden raid, only the deep state wont let anybody know. For any Republican strategists out there, this is another really useful cautionary tale about the dangers of selecting candidates based on the game show hosts they paint on their lawn.
Apparently, in the red states, if youre really good at football, they let you steal millions of dollars from the poor now. Yeah, they just snatch the money away from the neediest and most vulnerable, and deliver it (by horse-drawn carriage no doubt) directly to wealthiest people they can find. Keep electing Republicans, Mississippi, its really working out.
Hey, party at my place in seven months when the fashy new government installed in Italys low-turnout election this week collapses. Get it out of your system, kids.
The young men of Vlad Putins reborn Soviet Empire seem curiously uninterested in their glorious leaders gracious invitation to get puréed by HIMARS in Ukraine, and are instead fleeing their homeland in droves, fancy that.
For whatever audience remained, Poots went ahead with his sad, petulant, completely illegal annexation ceremony, held at the Moscow branch of Four Seasons Total Landscaping, where he ranted like some incel trying to get Don Jrs attention on Truth Social. It was all very impressive. Superpower shit. Truly.
(Man, imagine all the weird, weird shit Putins saying to Russian Maggie Haberman right now.)
Anyway, in the time it took you to scroll through this silliness, Ive sold 783 Ashli Babbitt Died For James Madisons Flute bumper stickers to the Dont Fauci My Florida email list I bought off DeSantis. Rube-bilking is a growth industry, and daddy needs beer money.
Ill see yall in a week. You stay safe out there, therere roving gangs of clowns trying to force-feed rainbow fentanyl to your kids, yknow.
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Member since: Fri Mar 24, 2017, 06:48 PMNumber of posts: 658