It took longer than it should have, but Britain is showing us what happens when a political party draws red lines. As David Frum explained on the podcast yesterday, Boris Johnson was ousted as PM because the Conservatives told him that it was time to go. He writes in The Atlantic: “Johnson will leave office for much the same reason, and in much the same way, as his predecessors Theresa May, David Cameron, and Tony Blair left it: because he lost the confidence of his party.” The contrast with the GOP is stark. JVL makes the point in the Triad:
Happy Friday. A GOP Senate meltdown?Speaking of the lack of guardrails…. ![]() Jon Fasman @jonfasman "Like a shitshow on a train in the middle of a wreck." Amazingly, in the context of this story, I don't think that's a mixed metaphor. https://t.co/wQPohI6CbHLet’s start with this amaaaaazing story out of Georgia: “Herschel Walker Lied About His Secret Kids to His Own Campaign” The dazzling quote:
This does not appear to be hyperbole. Roger Sollenberger reports:
** That’s bad. But Arizona’s Nazi-adjacent GOP senate candidate may be worse. The NYT is reporting that Blake Masters — the Trumpist Peter Thiel-backed candidate — has a long trail of bizarre musings dating back to his days as a Stanford undergraduate. Masters shared his deep thoughts about history and politics on the chat room of CrossFit, which was his favorite workout.
As the Times notes dryly: “He did not address Pearl Harbor or say whether he thought the United States should have ignored it.”
Jonathan Chait sums up Masters’s worldview:
Chait notes that Masters has been enthusiastically endorsed by Neo-Nazi blogger Andrew Anglin on the white-supremacist site “The Daily Stormer”. This does mean that Masters is actually a Nazi, Chait writes.
** And then there is Pennsylvania. Via Politico: Where in the world is Dr. Oz? The GOP hopeful has gone dark on TV since he won Pennsylvania's Senate primary, prompting finger-pointing among Republicans about what he's up to. Holly Otterbein reports:
** Meanwhile, in Missouri: “As Greitens Drama Roils Missouri GOP Senate Race, Dems Seen Gaining Ground.” You know things are going badly when one of your oldest friends records something like this: ![]() ** As Blake Hounshell noted a few days ago:
More hyped dudsSavvy readers offered more examples of highly touted presidential front-runners who turned out to be duds. In yesterday’s Morning Shots, I mentioned Fred Thompson, Rick Perry, Gary Hart, Jeb (!) Bush, Ed Muskie, Wesley Clark, Scott Walker, and America’s Freaking Mayor. But they weren’t alone. Remember Bill Bradley? Or Texas Senator Phil Gramm? How about former Texas Governor John “Big Hat, No Cattle” Connally? I’m actually old enough to remember when this guy was the Savior of the GOP: And who could forget this? Quick Hits1. Ground Truths in UkraineReuben F. Johnson is a defense technology and political-military affairs correspondent who was based in Kyiv for more than 20 years. He was captured and held by the invading Russian Army for more than two weeks in March 2022. He writes in today’s Bulwark:
2. The Most Pathetic Men in AmericaYou really have to read this piece by Mark Liebovich: “Why Lindsey Graham, Kevin McCarthy, and so many other cowards in Congress are still doing Trump’s bidding.”
Liebovich gifts us with the definitive Lindsey Graham proctological exam:
Cheap Shots![]() Wait, it gets worse: You’re a free subscriber to Morning Shots. For the full experience, become a paid subscriber. |
Unlike the GOP, The Brits Still Have Guardrails
July 08, 2022
0