this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2024
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We have definitely been transported to an alternate universe

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[–] [email protected] 196 points 3 weeks ago (8 children)

Really wild to see MTG appear to be on the correct side twice in a week. I wonder what the goal of the party is aside from distancing themselves from a losing candidate.

[–] JesusSon 170 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (12 children)

I think she woke up and realized a government shutdown right before an election caused by ineffectual republican leadership might hurt them in the down-ballot. Or we woke up Sunday on the next timeline because the earth exploded, and everyone died Saturday night. It's been a crazy week and it's only Tuesday.

Edit: looks like a shutdown before the election due to ineffectual republican leadership is back on the menu boys.

[–] [email protected] 80 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

I mean yeah that's sound political strategy, but you're telling me MTG woke up and possessed the self reflection necessary to realize that?

I think it's more believable that we all died.

[–] JesusSon 19 points 3 weeks ago
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[–] StrongHorseWeakNeigh 40 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

I think this is absolutely the correct interpretation of this. Shutting down the government because repubs don't want to play ball weeks before an election is only likely to hurt their chances.

[–] Brunbrun6766 34 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yeah but they do this every election year, and their supporters never care

[–] chronicledmonocle 27 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

They don't until their social security checks stop flowing.

[–] negativenull 26 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)
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[–] ultranaut 21 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

This is exactly it. Shutdowns are not popular, if they shutdown the gov before the election it is going to cost them significant votes. They are already worried about the impact of Trump on down ballot candidates, a shutdown will almost certainly cost them seats. This is MTG expressing her panic because she realizes how stupid the GOP is behaving with an election about to happen.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

What surprises me the most is that out of all the Republicans, it's her that realizes how stupid this is.

[–] billiam0202 21 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Of course she does.

She's terrified that if the Dems take the House back, she'll lose her committee seats again. Like all small-government advocates, she wants power.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 weeks ago

Or she's jealous that someone else is fucking Trump so she's causing problems.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The Earth exploding and everyone waking up in a new timeline, having absorbed our prime selves, is somehow more likely now than it was 5 years ago.

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[–] SassyRamen 59 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Putin said he wants Harris to win, she took that literally 😂

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 weeks ago

haha. beautiful

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[–] [email protected] 54 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

She might've been hit by a stray neutrino or something? Flipped a random bit?

[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

LOL how many bits is MTGOS anyway...

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[–] The_Picard_Maneuver 21 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Is she trying to distance herself from the maga side of the party after seeing the polls predicting a big defeat this election?

Very strange to see.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

My spitball theory is that she sees this new Loomer person coming to eat her lunch as token crazy maga lady, so she's trying to get off her sinking ship.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Priority #1 is always to remain elected so that you can stay "on the take".

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[–] themeatbridge 94 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

MTG hasn't suddenly grown a ethocortical gland. She's getting polling numbers that scare her, and she wants to win reelection. Georgia is turning purple for a variety of reasons, and a government shut down would be bad for her campaign.

[–] TrueStoryBob 30 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I haven't seen polling specifically for her district but, while Georgia is very purple (and has been since like 2014), her district is gerrymandered to hell and back to not be anything other than red. I think I saw that it's one of the deepest red districts in the country.

[–] themeatbridge 19 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Deep red refers to voter registrations. It's generally a very good indicator which was they will go, but this election is anything but politics as usual.

I'm not privy to her internal polling, but I'll bet she saw numbers than people in her district are concerned about Trump, see a lack of leadership in the GOP, and are considering staying home rather than show up for her. Angry people show up to vote, and if enough people say they are going to vote Trump out, then she doesn't want to be on his boat when it happens.

Another possibility is that she's testing the waters for a Senate or Governor run in 2026. She doesn't need to move towards the center if she can bash people to her right. It makes her look reasonable and conciliatory without actually being either one.

Either way, she's not doing this because of principles. She's doing it for personal benefit, because she's a conservative.

[–] grue 18 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I'm sorry but, as a Georgian, I'm pretty sure she has a 0% chance of either losing her district or getting elected to statewide office, no matter what she does.

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[–] ccunning 68 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)
[–] [email protected] 52 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

That was a great explanation.

I remember hearing an interview with John Boehner on NPR (former Republican Speaker of the House) a few years ago. He was talking about the government shutdown that happened shortly after far right wing was elected in 2010. Apparently, a few of them barged into his office after the shutdown and demanded to know why the government had actually shut down.

And Boehner was like, "Um...you said you wanted it to?"

And the right wingers said, "Well we didn't think it would work!"

These are irresponsible people who think they should just get to play games in life.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 weeks ago

And the right wingers said, "Well we didn't think it would work!"

I recall a number of voters who voted in favor of Brexit who were interviewed and said things like "but I didn't think it would actually happen!"

I also seem to recall a similar sentiment in a case where people voted to strip funding from a local library in Michigan, then were shocked when the library had to close.

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[–] just_another_person 36 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Wow. He really nailed it in a very simple way. Nice job.

[–] ccunning 37 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Jeff Jackson is amazing. He’s not my representative, but he’s running for state wide office(Attorney General, N.C.) this year. Don’t be surprised if you see more of him.

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[–] [email protected] 60 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

She's seeing the potential writing on the wall and is attempting to come across as moderate all of a sudden so that when the Republican party purge of MAGA begins, she can hopefully be overlooked by it.

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[–] [email protected] 49 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Her voter base of Joe Rednecks don't have a passport, and stopped paying attention to the wherabouts of their birth certificate once it got them their first gun.

Voter suppression suddenly doesn't feel so good, when it puts your seat on the line...

[–] AdamEatsAss 24 points 3 weeks ago

Honestly this might not even be that far off. I could see a lot of people opposing requiring presenting documents to vote because they don't want the government to be able to track them.

[–] Professorozone 11 points 3 weeks ago

Ah, that explains her sudden interest, however fleeting, in sanity.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Pretty hopeful news actually.

MTG is among the most seemingly dedicated to being a horrible, bigoted piece of shit, and yet even she is recognizing that a platform of being a horrible, bigoted piece of shit is no longer serving her.

Fuck her forever. But I'll take this specific brand of opportunism as a positive sign.

[–] barsquid 16 points 3 weeks ago

No it is happening because it is close to the election. Would be fucking wild to yet again convincingly prove they are incapable of governance while just weeks away. Even this hollering gibbon can see that. Any other time she would be doing the usual racist MAGA bullshit and refusing to cooperate.

[–] AstridWipenaugh 11 points 3 weeks ago

This is the difference between a normal racist and a high functioning racist that knows a failed state can't effectively oppress the people.

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[–] ceenote 32 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Seems like we've reached the point where most voters realize that virtually all government shutdowns have been the Republicans' fault.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 3 weeks ago

It’s probably because preceding each shutdown they loudly proclaim that they will shut down the government and blame the dems… and then they do…

[–] eran_morad 26 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] comador 21 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

She's up for reelection? That's the only way I can see her actually going counter to her bullshit antics.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

The GOP has used the threat of a government shutdown many times to hold this country hostage. And when it comes to remembering who's at fault for it, most of the U.S. electorate has the memory of a crack-addled ferret. But if you have a government shutdown THIS close to an election, some of them just might remember who caused it.

[–] Chocrates 21 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Uh has anyone done a brain slug check recently?

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[–] ATDA 14 points 3 weeks ago

Either there's writing on a wall or she got hit by a brontosaurus bone and thinks she's a functioning Congressional member...

[–] InverseParallax 14 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)
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[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)
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[–] captainlezbian 12 points 3 weeks ago

Never give them what they want in exchange for them doing the bare minimum. The Dems just need to send flyers to government workers whose representatives got them furloughed.

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