Republicans have at long last elected a House speaker: Representative Mike Johnson, a fundamentalist Christian who was also once called a key “architect” in Congress’s efforts to overthrow the 2020 election.

Johnson finally secured the speaker’s gavel after Republican infighting left the House without a speaker for 22 days. He secured 220 votes.

Johnson is a four-term congressman representing Louisiana. His win also represents the rise of the MAGA front in the Republican Party. Earlier Wednesday morning, Donald Trump endorsed Johnson as House speaker—after quickly killing Mike Emmer’s nomination the day before.

  • orclev@lemmy.world
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    This next election is going to be an absolute shitshow. I guarantee they’ll refuse to certify the election, and they’ll try to hijack the electoral college (again).

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      The 119th Congress will be seated on January 3rd 2025 and the presidential election certification will be January 6th. So if the Dems win the majority in 2024, they won’t have the power to deny certificatation outright. Though, I’m sure a minority will still object to every swing state like they did in 2020, just to draw it out.

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        And even if the 119th Congress was exactly the same as this one, the House Republicans can only do so much.

        First, they would need to object to Electoral Votes with a Senator. (Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be hard for them to do.) Next, the House and Senate would separate to vote on each objection. Only if both chambers voted to set the Electoral Votes aside would they be set aside.

        With a Democratic Senate, this won’t happen.

        So the House Republicans can slow things down, but they won’t be able to overturn elections. This isn’t to say that there aren’t threats on the state and local level. There are. And if the Republicans gain control of the House and Senate, I could see them sustaining objections because “it must be fraud if Biden won,” thus giving the election to Trump. That just shows why it’s more important than ever to vote blue.

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      I’m betting on this guy not lasting until November 2024 (not sure what the over/under is on November 17, 2023).

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        How do you think he’ll get removed? It took them this long to agree on someone to elect, it seems unlikely enough of them would agree to remove him. They could maybe get the Democrats along with a small subset of Republicans to vote him out like the last time, but I’m not sure the Democrats would be up for that. Maybe if they wait until right before the election, but I can’t imagine the GOP being dumb enough to oust the speaker right before elections happen (although that does raise the question of who certifies the election if there’s no speaker. I’m assuming the speaker pro tem?).

        • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
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          How do you think he’ll get removed?

          Via the same rule through which McCarthy was removed. After years of a Motion to Vacate the speakership requiring much more than a single vote, the GOP demanded that it be reverted to an older, single vote rule before McCarthy would be considered for speaker. This is before the first vote was ever cast, and that rule still stands. It was written into the 118th Congress rules and has not been rescinded.

          In other words, the GOP can do this over and over and over again, as many times as they get a call from Putin to do so. They can oust any and every speaker at will, keeping Congress at a standstill and the government in chaos as long as they can get a simple GOP majority vote.

          But they won’t have to, because this asshole is one of the Rs that voted against the continuing resolution that is the only thing keeping government open right now. When that 45-day clock runs out in November, the new Speaker is going to stonewall just like he did before, and will likely keep his seat throughout any government shutdown he succeeds in creating.

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            They can oust any and every speaker at will, keeping Congress at a standstill and the government in chaos as long as they can get a simple GOP majority vote.

            They don’t need a GOP majority vote. They need a house majority vote. And unless dems have some compelling reason to keep the republican speaker (unlikely), it only takes a handful from the GOP to oust the speaker. I think McCarthy only lost 8 republican votes.

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          The only possible chance the democrats don’t collectively vote him out, given the chance, is if the budget hasn’t gone through yet. Otherwise, they will take any call to eject the speaker as an opportunity to oust him.

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          I tend to agree, but let’s remember that Republicans ousted McCarthy, it only took one member requesting to call for a vote, and they had had a giant number of votes to get him in initially. Those maga Republicans are nutty, I wouldn’t count on them not getting pissed off and trying to break all the toys again.

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        “this one’s marked Jesus Christ”

        “Yeah we count those as for the Republican”

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        Hopefully, but I also doubt that will stop them trying to elect him anyway. Or if not him I’m sure they’ll find someone worse. I doubt we’re going to see another Democrat elected in the next few elections that doesn’t result in them trying to refuse to certify the election and just in general whine and complain while throwing around baseless accusations. If we’re lucky that’s as far as it goes, but considering how many parallels to 1920s Germany we’re seeing lately I’m very worried the MAGAts recent fascist dabblings are just a taste of things to come.

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        Outrageously false.

        There is nothing that even comes close to settling that in any state at this point. Any speculation on the matter is as good as a handful of shit. Less, maybe.

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        I wonder if that also makes write-ins invalid…

        Like is he just removed from the ballot, or is he ineligible altogether?

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          Election law varies from state to state. But generally from what I gather, a write-in candidate is only valid if the candidate registers with the state in advance.

          If there’s a winning plurality for Mickey Mouse in your state for a statewide office, it won’t matter. The state won’t be forced to see if there’s anyone there that has the name Mickey Mouse and then pick which (if more than one) was the individual meant by the voters. Someone has to register with the state saying that they’re going to run a write-in campaign for office with name XYZ.

          Note that these details are a bit of a side track. The above person was talking about Trump being excluded due to the 14th amendment. However that doesn’t say “not on the ballot” — it invalidates people from office entirely. If applied to Trump, the not being on the ballot would be a consequence of being determined ineligible for office, not a method to make him unable to win. Also it’s all moot: while I think on the face of it the correct action would be to apply the 14th amendment to Trump, the fact of the matter is that this will not happen. States are not going to be willing to risk the political backlash from going down that path, so they will not.

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              What I’ll say is the only states doing this wouldn’t vote for him anyhow. It’s important that this happen, but let’s be real.

              “All states” is the only thing that would directly, functionally impact results.

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            Colorado already did and it has stated it’s Consitutional and allows a 2/3 vote in the U.S. Congress to overturn. We won’t back down from that, the law is the law.

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              I AM a lawyer, and from what I can see, you’re close but (perhaps unintentionally) misrepresenting the facts, unless you are referring to some other previous action. A judge this week decided to allow a case to proceed that will determine, amongst other things, whether the events of January 6 “constituted an insurrection” and whether Trump “engaged” in insurrection.

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                I’m referring to what our State Legislators are saying that they will ignore the Supreme Court if they don’t follow the Consitution in favor or partisan politics. The law is the law and the Supreme Court cannot rewrite what the Consitution says.

        • MorrisonMotel6@lemm.ee
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          No. Not really. Not even a little bit.

          There ARE legal challenges in some states, however. To date, none of those are even close to being settled

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          Sure, lets start with racism, homophobia, ignorance, religion and greed. What other reasons do these idiots have for voting for politicians even pond scum looks down on?

          Either way, they’re supporting shitty people and making life worse for everyone else just because they can, so fuck em.

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            Because they are idiots who don’t like the idea that government is imposing on their lives. Forced healthcare, gun restrictions, food restrictions, etc. But yeah let’s paint every single one of them as Nazis. That’s definitely healthy.

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              But yeah let’s paint every single one of them as Nazis. That’s definitely healthy.

              L2read friend, I never said you/they were Nazis, you just might be super sensitive to the fascistic nature of the party. Might be something to reflect on.

              I only mused on why idiots constantly vote against their own best interests and continue to elect people that actively make their lives worse. The fact you list ‘forced healthcare’ as a reason to vote for these dipshits is honestly more sad than anything. But hey, enjoy your freedom to pay for the opportunity to be told to fuck off and die when the insurance don’t pay your medical procedure.

              I’d love to say that’s a problem that will solve itself, but innocent people will be harmed because of the choices republicans force on the rest of the country. So again, fuck republican voters. I would love to still have compassion for their situation, but I’ve but I long ago ran out of sympathy for those who actively reject the idea of compassion to others.

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            I think we’re saying the same thing, but just assigning numbers and using language with slight variations.

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              I agree that we’re trying to say the same thing but the other person who commented is trying to make it an indexing problem so I apologize:

              When you’re the president, you are the president. You are not in the line of succession. You are not 0th or 1st in line to be president because you aren’t in the queue.

              When you are riding a rollercoaster, you aren’t first in line to ride the rollercoaster. You’re not in line. The person who didn’t make it on the ride is first in line

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              The President isn’t in line to be President. He IS the president. This isn’t an array indexing problem.

              When you’re on the roller coaster, you are not first in line to be on the roller coaster. The person who just barely didn’t make it on is first in line.

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    “Breaking: Giant piece of shit selected by a bunch of other pieces of shit. Nation shocked”

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          They do, these asshats just refuse to believe they elect more than just greedy assholes, they elect the worst of the worst kinds of people so they need to deflect and say “you elected a jerk too so everything is even and I don’t have to worry about the people I elected.” It’s ridiculous.

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            I am really unsure what makes Pelosi a piece of shit. Also, your joke doesn’t make sense because they don’t have the votes to elect anyone.

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              What doesn’t make her a piece of shit ? Think non pieces of shit press for everyone to close thier business except for when she wants to get her hair done ?

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                That’s it? That’s the one? Donald Trump has multiple credible accusations of rape and Nancy was hypocritical… I know that is what aboutism but I am hoping to all get out that you are some sort of lefty purist.

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                  Any victim of Donald can take the proper steps to file civil suits and go to the police. Unfortunately nothing is done against Nancy and Newsom and the others that broke thier own rules during covid

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      Please tell me I’m wrong. I hope I’m fucking wrong. Wtf America

      Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

      I’ll start with the good news first

      You’re wrong. He’s not third in line for the US presidency.

      The bad news is

      He’s second. VP -> Speaker

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          I got into wine about a month ago and wish I had sooner. It really isn’t as expensive as I thought it would be. I can buy a bottle of stuff I and my wife enjoy for about 20 bucks.

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            You might enjoy the app Vivino. It lets you scan wines with your phone and see ratings and notes about it.

            It’s made finding great wines less of a gamble when wanting to try something new.

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              Thanks! The guy at my local wine store suggested that one as well. I will definitely check it out.

              I am not going to be like those guys spitting into buckets with bottles too expensive to open. I am going buy a bottle each week and me and my wife will enjoy it together. Then we will try something new the next week. Also I want to learn how to pair it with food and occasions.

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          It would require two people to either die or resign. Granted the President is like 130 and the Presidency ages you in dog years so the likelihood he dies in office is higher than most. But then there’s a healthy Kamala Harris next up who gets to pick her own VP, who would then become first in line.

          While I disagree with Kamala Harris on pretty much everything and don’t think she would make a good President, she’d be a lot better than this wanker.

          The down side is it does position him high in the Republican Party making him a presumptive front runner unless another option emerges.

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          He and the Republican conference look so ridiculous that it will diminish the Republicans’ election chances in 2024. Voters don’t want abortion to be banned and feel iffy about January 6th, so there’s a strong chance that 2024 will be dismal for Republicans.

      • Richard@lemmy.world
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        So all the Republicans would have to do is assassinate the President and they have their own puppet in the office to sabotage the nation?

    • stillwater@lemm.ee
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      America elected the fucking Republicans to House majority. They chose this.

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          California isn’t. We have an independent third party organization that draws the districts.

          Heck Massachusetts is actually gerrymandered to hell and gone, but that’s just because of the Dems sense of fair play. They made sure that the Republicans have a single district that they have a shot at winning. Gerrymandering isn’t always a bad thing. It’s just always a bad thing when Republicans are doing it.

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            Gerrymandering is a bad thing in a fair democratic system with political parties that believe in democracies. When one of the parties doesn’t believe in democratic principles, it is good to remove them from power, and gerrymandering towards the Democrats has that effect.

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              They didn’t gerrymander towards the Democrats anywhere. Massachusetts was gerrymandered by Democrats for Republicans. Without the gerrymandering, the Republicans wouldn’t win an election anywhere in Massachusetts.

    • ntma@lemm.ee
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      Hey it could be worse. You could be living in China or India.

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    Is this a surprise to anyone? It’s not like the pool of candidates had anyone worth a damn anyway.

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      Right? It was ALWAYS going to be someone like this because it was always going to be a Republican. This is what voting for Republican’s means. You get whacko assholes in charge.

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        Pretty much. Author could have wrote this two weeks ago, and then tweaked a few details before sending it to the editor.

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      and the pool of potential candidates is even more shallow when considering that the insurrection caucus has enough votes to make a would-be speaker sink or swim

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    Election liar*

    “Denier” implies they actually believe this nonsense. But they know full well it is, as Bill Barr put it, “bullshit”.

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        Because there’s no evidence. Trump filled dozens of lawsuits and every single one was dismissed.

        Or how about the fact that Trump declared the election that he won was stolen?

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              I think you are wrong. I do believe that stupid people can believe stupid things. Internal narrative is a powerful force.

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        Some might, but most of them know it’s a tool. Remember how quickly they fell in line after Trump became the nominee in 2016? They have a personality cult that they can exploit. Some of them might also be able to justify it to themselves as it being “stolen” because the wrong types of people (read: black folks and women) were allowed to vote.

        Trump was a tool that let them pack the courts and massively shift public discourse. Republicans in Congress probably all know he’s full of shit, but he also got Roe overturned.

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          Remember how quickly they fell in line after Trump became the nominee in 2016?

          Republicans establishment hated trump during his 2016 run up and did whatever they could to not let him succeed. Not sure what you are on about.

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              isn’t that pretty par for the course? you support your own side? democrats became team biden too, even though they hated him during the primaries.

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    For those who are concerned, no, he’s not going to be able to run a far-right agenda (but he might try! 🍿) Anything that he could get through the house is likely to die in the Senate, and even then Biden wouldn’t sign it.

    That said, there is some scary bi-partisan shit that might get passed. There are at least two keep internet porn from kids laws that are really about don’t say “gay” on the internet But both parties really don’t like the public being able to freely deliberate and opine about how our government officials conduct themselves.

    What we can expect is more of the Greatest Show on Earth. Republican infighting and stupid shenanigans should continue unabated. Republican representatives will provide plenty of campaigning content for their Democratic rivals running against them in 2024.

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      that are really about don’t say “gay” on the internet

      I’ve seen claims that banning saying gay is what makes lgbt people happy. Like Putin.

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      I don’t think the problem lies in the ability to push far right agendas. They are not smart enough anyway to have ideas. The problem is that tea party religious zealots are really good at breaking down the government from doing what’s supposed to do. They will probably freeze any meaningful change till the next election, so that they can later cry that the public sector is inefficient and useless. And their base will drink it like coolaid

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      “Hey its not a good idea to let children have unfettered access to pornography on the internet” “YOU JUST DONT WANT KIDS TO BE GAY!”

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        Where are the parents? Or daddy state has to take care of your children also?

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        Why is censorship the answer? Can’t parents and the educational system teach children to avoid it themselves and be responsible with their internet usage? That seems like a much more holistic answer to this problem.

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          are you anti censorship? seems people on this site are very happy censoring things they believe to be problematic.

          and yes, telling kids about something that they will enjoy but telling them to stay away from it has worked many times before. There is way too much pornographic content on social media sites that children use, and its almost a guarantee they will encounter it. The web didn’t used to be like that.

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        Maybe parents shouldn’t let their kids have unrestricted access to the internet? I’m not sure why so many folks think it’s alright to just hand a small child an iPad and never check what they’re doing.

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        “Hey censorship isn’t a good idea.” “YOU’RE JUST TRYING TO MAKE MY KIDS GAY!” Two can play the strawman game. Parents should do anything with their children or just not have them.

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          Are you anti censorship? Seems a lot of people are okay censoring things they find problematic i.e. transphobia, racism, etc

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    His opening statement as Speaker explicitly denigrates atheists.

    Edit: So glad to see that the Speaker of the “People’s House” as he so much likes to call it decided it would be a good idea to use his first speech as that Speaker to shit on some of those People.

    Fucking fascists.

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          I think that was way worse than denigrating atheism. Sounds like he’s on the warpath to define the US as a Christian nation with Christian laws.

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            Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so generous. I’ve been dying on a couple of stupid hills today, and I don’t have the energy left to do it again, so I was choosing my words in order to be less likely to be challenged.

            When I heard that, I thought, “Well, atheists are going to be the next boogeyman.”

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              I’m sure he’ll demonize anyone who doesn’t worship “the right god.” (The right god, of course, being the exact one he worships.) Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, etc will all be seen as second class citizens as well.

            • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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              We could be. There really is no way to prove or disprove the claim. Much like the barbaric virgin and homosexual “tests” practiced in some places you get whatever results you want. Man X says he is a theist, the state says he is not, there is no way to tell if he is lying or not.

              The enemy has to be everywhere. The enemy has to be weak and strong. The enemy has to win by deceit defeated by virtue and strength. The enemy has to prey on the innocent. The enemy must blend in so no one can be trusted, no one is above scrutiny, except of course the demagogue who is yelling about them as a threat.

              The conspiracy is everywhere but the conspirators can only be found on occasion. No one thinks about sex as much as a Purtain who “sees” plots of it every where.

              So new laws will be written. Freedom of religion means freedom from “forced conversion”. Teachers will be silenced from mentioning anything that can even be construed as advocating for non-belief. Religious leaders will inform their congregation solemnly that 40% of them are atheists. The census will start asking about religious data and enforcing non-compliance. The FCC will be pushed to act on those “oppressing religion”. The big Internet companies will be hit with suits for defamation for hosting atheist programs. Freedom of religion will be viewed by the courts as freedom to choose from options not freedom from the options.

              There are no atheists countries there is not much of an atheist community. Much like the LGBT there will just be big government crushing individuals.

            • samus12345@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              You, sir, are demonstrably wrong! Let me post a long response citing multiple sources to correct you!

              …Nah, you’re good. Ain’t nobody got time for that (or so you’d think).

                • CashewNut [UK]@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  conniption

                  Dear Diary. Today I learnt a new word. I will probably forget it in 5mins but what I know for sure is I will have many conniptions when I quit vaping nicotine and I’ll probably wish I’d remembered the word so I could satisfyingly label them as such when I do.

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            I’ve run in largely Christian circles for most of my life, and that’s how the conservative Christians I know have been talking about communism as long as I can remember, that its most important feature is that it’s atheistic. I don’t think it’s actually indicative of any change or advancement of their position. Also, I’m pretty sure the GOP is technically less Christian now than it’s ever been.

            • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.ca
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              That’s not what he’s focused on imo. I think he emphasized the religiousness of the US.

        • samus12345@lemmy.world
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          That damn motto is so annoying, It just gives Christofascists something to point at and say, “See? This is a Christian nation!”

            • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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              Well these things are tied together. Their god didn’t want me the way I was made to be. I tried living his way and it was misery to me. I tried atheism and while there were no major objections I felt something was missing and when I found my gods that went away. My gods respect how I am. They see beauty in the variety of humanity.

              This is America. Here my religion is just as good as anyone else’s or their lack of one. And if he doesn’t like it he can go to Iran and see how much he likes theocracy.

              • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Their god didn’t want me the way I was made to be. I tried living his way and it was misery to me.

                Just wanna say . . . FUCK that god with a rusty lawnmower blade. Sideways. In all your imperfection you are perfectly made, as we all are, and fuck anyone who can’t handle that.

                And since you mention it, why is it that all these authoritarians/slavery advocates/theocrats all so convinced that should their dream government arrive they will be on the right side of it? I guess they’re so busy hating others that they really do not see that the rights being stripped from others are also their own, and when it comes time to work for the company store or down the mines or as cannon fodder, they and theirs will have to go too, just like the rest of us.

                But if they’re doing this just waiting for sky daddy to make the second leg of his round trip, convinced he will come to save them from the world they are creating for the rest of us, I can only hope they live long enough to enjoy the double betrayal.

                • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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                  Exactly. There’s a story I really like in which the gods Enki and Ninmah have a contest where one attempted to create a person too disabled to be useful to the gods and the other found a use. It wasn’t the same use that others got, but their own. We all carry our value, we all have something to contribute. You can’t make a mute person into a great orator, but give them a pen and they may amaze you with their words nonetheless.

                  And yeah I’ve always thought their attitude on the world burning while they wait for Jesus to come back is kinda stupid. Like beyond the “you’ve been stood up for quite a few centuries and he was supposed to only be a few years” aspect. If my house catches fire, I call the fire department, and manage to quench the flames before they arrive thanks to me and some neighbors going to town with extinguishers they’re not going to be mad at me. You can just stop global warming and bring about peace and if he shows up what’s he going to do chide you for making peace without its prince present, file a grievance?

                  Fuck that. I’m going to try to make a world we can live in happily.

    • elrik@lemmy.world
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      I caught that too, but I can’t recall if it was before or after he talked about his absent wife on her knees (you know, because she was praying for her husband to receive a mandate from God so he could ascend to the speakership).

      • Nougat@kbin.social
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        I heard him talking about his wife on her knees, “Really? You’re going there, dude?”

  • raynethackery@lemmy.world
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    The Secret Service needs to keep President Biden and VP Harris far apart from each other. We can’t afford to have this man become President.

    • Uriel238 [all pronouns]@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      That is actually routine, especially when they’re traveling or making public appearances.

      But when McCarthy had the gavel, it was just as nightmarish imagining he could be POTUS.

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      I wonder if there’s be conversations around that topic during the whole fiasco. Like, sure McCarthy wouldn’t have been good either, but this is much more dangerous.

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    Makes you wonder what their problem with Gym Jorden was. Must be behind on his cock sucking duties.

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    He said “Guns don’t shoot people; teaching evolution shoots people.”

    • Konala Koala@lemmy.world
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      While Hakeem Jeffries would refute that by saying “Teaching evolution doesn’t shoot people, guns shoot people” and have you seeing that is much more accurate while wishing it was him who had gotten the 220 votes to become Speaker of the House.

    • Reality_Suit@lemmy.one
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      Didn’t Jesus specifically teach against the concept of being an evangelical?

      Edited to make more sense

      • JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca
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        Pretty much.

        Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

        Or just spray it all over Facebook

        • Chocrates@lemmy.world
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          I wonder, was that added because early christian “cultists” were persecuted pretty badly? Maybe similar to why there is stuff about pork, because of trichinosis