Open Thread - Conservative Media's Watergate

The Republican Party’s attempted impeachment fiasco and beleaguered House Speaker Mike Johnson were the subjects of late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert’s opening monologue Wednesday night. Colbert observed that while the House Republicans targeting Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “never identified a specific high crime or misdemeanor for the impeachment, which is usually kind of a thing,” the event was still historic. It's only the second time in America that a Cabinet member has been impeached.

Passing off a Lara Trump song as new Taylor Swift was just too cruel. Source: Daily Beast Taylor Swift fans have been counting down the seconds until the release of her much-anticipated new album, The Tortured Poets Department, which arrives today. But it was the Swifties who ended up being tortured when Jimmy Kimmel decided to prank a few of them by attempting to pass “Anything Is Possible,” Lara Trump’s painful-to-hear new single, off as a track from Swift. Spoiler alert: No one was impressed. And some of the shocked reactions. “Honestly, it’s not very good” was about the nicest thing anyone said about the tune.

MAGA Rep. Anna Paulina Luna told CNN today that she respectfully disagreed with the actual facts behind why Ukraine is not part of NATO after she claimed they did not want to join the alliance. CNN host John Berman interviewed the extreme right-wing Congresswoman about Speaker Johnson's tenure leading the House Republicans and the funding of Ukraine when she spewed this outrageous lie.

There was a bipartisan border deal that Donald Trump instructed Republicans to reject. Still, they tell Democrats that the border is neglected, and they're using that to hold up direly needed aid to Ukraine. It seems obvious that if the border is addressed, it would leave the former President without a central campaign platform: hating immigrants, building the wall, etc.

At a time when more high earners are leaving New York state, or at least are claiming to, state officials are stepping up already intense scrutiny to make sure those residents have actually moved. Because for the ultrarich, even an extra day in the wrong place could mean millions in income-tax liability.

Omarosa Manigault Newman yesterday recalled the measures that fellow aides used to take to prevent Trump from falling asleep in meetings and ceremonies. So it turns out his constant accusations of Sleepy Joe really are projection! Via HuffPost: The onetime “Apprentice” contestant-turned-Trump critic explained that because her former boss ― who reportedly preferred intelligence briefings full of pictures ― “cannot focus, nor can he sit still for long,” they would build events “specifically to address his attention deficit.” “We would break up the events so that he be stimulated and not fall asleep,” Newman remembered to MSNBC’s Jason Johnson. “We could slide him different information or news articles that he could read while the long proceedings were going on, anything to keep him focused so that he wouldn’t just get up and walk out,” she added. Newman suggested Trump will find it difficult, therefore, to sit through his hush money trial where proceedings can be “very boring.” He’s already reportedly fallen asleep in court, she noted. It is “highly likely” Trump will “blow up” when hearing testimony he doesn’t like, she added, saying the “worst place you can allow Trump to be Trump is in a courtroom.” read more