Deferred Thursday Tweets -- "both metaphorically *and* literally a dumpster fire."

Deep in the heart of Texas

Ken Paxton’s office is now both metaphorically *and* literally a dumpster fire. https://t.co/YvcIKlJVxu

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) May 25, 2023

Popcorn Alert!: Texas Rolls Out Epic GOP on GOP Shit Show https://t.co/M0YUNms5xX

— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) May 24, 2023

Reprobate AG Paxton calls on Texas Speaker to resign for being drunk on the job https://t.co/TzOrjNgwoS

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 23, 2023

  

It is very possible that the Republican TX House will impeach AG Ken Paxton as soon as tomorrow. In TX, an official is immediately removed from office until his trial. https://t.co/osQNBjMq76

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 25, 2023

I actually live a few blocks from Warner's Studios.

The new HBO Max (MAX) has eliminated writer/director credits in their interface in favor of a vague "Creators." This is what Raging Bull currently looks like. It's so fucking over. pic.twitter.com/gPveQ469GB

— John Frankensteiner (@JFrankensteiner) May 24, 2023

I'm no expert on the particulars of this issue. But given that this is not a decision with immediate near-term costs for Warner/Discovery this just adds to evidence that the Zaslav & the folks running the company are pure garbage. Remember, same team plowing CNN into the ground. https://t.co/FjGFcO4cmS

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 24, 2023

I'm sure the striking writers won't use this as an excuse for mockery.

On the plus. side, lowest US unemployment rate in 54 years.

On the negative side ... https://t.co/PjvrEWpGLn

— David Frum (@davidfrum) May 24, 2023

Rampell is one of the journalists you should be listening to

As I have been saying, repeatedly, Republicans still have not proposed specific cuts because they themselves *cannot agree on what to cut*
How do you negotiate with someone who doesn’t actually know what they want? https://t.co/QOQHte8OJO https://t.co/PviaKFyTs4

— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) May 25, 2023

Ironically, calling this a hostage situation is the one point AOC and Matt Gaetz agree on.

More from Gaetz, who rejects any debt limit compromise with the White House: “I think my conservative colleagues for the most part support Limit, Save, Grow, & they don't feel like we should negotiate with our hostage.”

Default would almost certainly throw US into recession

— Joseph Zeballos-Roig (@josephzeballos) May 23, 2023

AOC on CNN: "I want to be clear about what the Republican Party is taking hostage. It is not Democrats. It is the entire US economy." pic.twitter.com/2uQR5U1kL4

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 24, 2023

Um what?

Ronna McDaniel Says Possible U.S. Default ‘Bodes Very Well for the Republican Field’ in 2024https://t.co/6Y0ymbRIV8

— Ammar Moussa (@ammarmufasa) May 25, 2023

Layers of wrong

Even the idiotic comparison doesn't hold up because it's an argument for not paying credit card bills for items you've already bought. That, of course, leads to collection agencies, cancelled accounts and bankruptcy. https://t.co/q9TwddSpix

— Chris Bury (@ChrisBuryNews) May 24, 2023

An interesting alternate take.

.@Lawrence: What if Joe Biden is doing everything right in the debt ceiling negotiations? https://t.co/GG6MRYZlnB pic.twitter.com/MHIS97oWxu

— The Last Word (@TheLastWord) May 24, 2023

Abortion notes: the six-weeks ban is becoming the new red state standard, and anecdotally but unsurprisingly, that appears to be widening the gender gap.

BREAKING: Twenty-seven male South Carolina legislators passed a ban on abortions after six weeks Tuesday, over the objections of all five women in the state Senate—including three Republicans. https://t.co/WwyIji495f

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) May 23, 2023

NEW: The Nebraska teenager charged for allegedly taking abortion pills that her mom ordered has plead guilty to one felony and faces up to two years in prison. Her mom faces up to eighthttps://t.co/WHzHjjpCw8

— Susan Rinkunas (NEW ACCT) (@SusanRinkunas) May 23, 2023

Also in gender gap news.

Conservative-dominated state legislatures in Texas, Nebraska, and Louisiana seek to overturn no-fault divorce in their respective states. @CNNhttps://t.co/y9ysBQlTkc

— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) May 23, 2023

Astroturf.

11 individual people were responsible for 60% of all book bans. There is NOT a nationwide movement of people calling for censorship — there’s a coordinated + organized effort leveraging attention + targeting key elected officials. https://t.co/d6n8lmWRum pic.twitter.com/dq4Z0dH0wU

— Amanda Litman (@amandalitman) May 23, 2023

Actually, I'm surprised the Protocols haven't been coming up more often.

Exclusive: The Florida mom who got Amanda Gorman's poem banned apologizes for promoting “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." https://t.co/83L9KBKGQU

— JTA | Jewish news (@JTAnews) May 25, 2023

Wow Democrats just laughed at Marjorie Taylor Greene when she asked them to abide by decorum of the House pic.twitter.com/2jrLFyAEWg

— Acyn (@Acyn) May 24, 2023

Check out the text at the fifteen second mark.

Trump rolls out a new ad attacking Desantis as a “swamp creature.” pic.twitter.com/TnWTAh5BMp

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 24, 2023

Remember this quote when you get to the penultimate tweet.

"There are two kinds of people in politics: those who think DeSantis is a viable national candidate, and those who have met Ron DeSantis.”

-From @davidfrum's piece on a "man radically and pathetically unready for national leadership."https://t.co/0qkEBirIxi

— Scott Stossel (@SStossel) May 25, 2023

Nate Silver probably reveals more than what he intends here, and he's speaking for a large segment of the pundit class. Most of the non-backsliding NeverTrumpers objected less to the man's character and more to his attacks on democracy, rhetoric of hate, and nascent fascism. By that standard, the only candidate they shouldn't treat with disdain is Asa Hutchinson, and it would take at least two black swans for him to get the nomination.

Remains pretty amazing to me how disdainfully the NeverTrump crew treats Republican candidates other than Trump.

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) May 24, 2023

Though indictment can certainly qualify as black swan

"The subpoena’s demand for records related to foreign ventures since 2017 suggests Smith is exploring whether there is any connection between Trump’s deal-making abroad and the classified documents..."

FWIW, two words come to my mind: Saudi Arabia.https://t.co/SzPHRV7fST

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) May 24, 2023

Indoctrination by globes.

Kandiss Taylor, who ran for governor in 2022 and recently became a Georgia GOP district chair, is a flat earther: "Everywhere there's globes ... and that's what they do to brainwash." pic.twitter.com/PEz1sqOTvA

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) May 22, 2023

A homeless man...

"A daring act of bravery from a man living on the street helped save a Phoenix family from an apartment fire early Thursday morning. Joe Hollins is being called a hero for what he did."https://t.co/uMtEIk3FN2

— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) May 21, 2023

And in closing.

For any prime number p ≥ 5 , p²-1 is a multiple of 24

— Fermat's Library (@fermatslibrary) May 21, 2023

There are only 10 types of people in the world:

those who understand binary and those who don't.

🤓 pic.twitter.com/MX4TE5FXp4

— Fermat's Library (@fermatslibrary) May 21, 2023

IT BEGINS https://t.co/Cwlda6UtKO

— Iron Spike (@Iron_Spike) May 19, 2023