The Week in Tweets and Memes
This week provided plenty of bright moments, and so here is my weekly round-up of things I come across in the course of my research. This is offered as a thank you to my paid supporters, so become one during the month of February for the monthly cost of a custom coffee drink, and continue to enjoy a few laughs each Saturday morning while supporting the rest of my work through the week!
The week kicked off with the State of the Union. President Biden’s unexpectedly stellar performance, especially where he owned the GOP and negotiated the budget with them in 2 minutes, on live TV, getting them to stand up for seniors and their right to the earned benefits of Social Security and Medicare, led to some internet celebrations:
And of course some Dark Brandon memes, complete with ice cream coolness.
On the crazy side of the aisle, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s decision to troll Biden by walking the Capitol hallways with a balloon backfired rather beautifully on her.
And her choice of a white fur coat drew some apt commentary:
But it was her outbursts during the speech that produced internet gold.
Her idiocy continued through the week as she used her time during Oversight Committee hearings to complain about how her Twitter account had been banned. Michael Harriet of The Grio summed it up well.
All of this highlighted to America that the “normal” side of politics was in fact the Democrats, while the “crazy” side was clearly led by MTG (sorry, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders).
Speaking of whom, she was not let off easily for her low energy, bizarre tribute to Trump that served as the official GOP response to the SOTU. Here was my favorite take:
Later in the week, her team emerged with a truly strange meme of her, which is saying something these days, to which the GOP awkwardly added an even stranger tagline.
I assume they meant govern and hunt.
That forced smile, though, kinda makes you wonder if that dog is part of some horror movie.
The Oversight Committee got off to a rocky start for the GOP, which hoped to show that the FBI (under Trump, let’s not forget) somehow had interfered in the 2020 election on behalf of Biden by pressuring Twitter to throttle a questionable story about Hunter Biden and his laptop. Yes, that again. Speaking of Hunter…
The GOP Committee witnesses all denied the FBI had anything to do with their decision to try and stop the proliferation of what might have proven to be potential Russian disinformation about a presidential candidate on the eve of an election, and the GOP provided no evidence that it did. But facts are pesky things.
Democrats smartly used the occasion to highlight real instances where Trump had sought to intervene with Twitter content or was given wide latitude on his own abusive tweets. That resulted in what will forever be the Pussy Ass Bitch Moment, which I had on repeat on my tablet.
I’m with JoJo from Jersey on this.
And of course, the old standby, which still checks out here.
My go-to enfants terribles, Reps. Lauren Boebert and George Anthony Zabrovsky Devolder Santos, didn’t disappoint, providing ever new reasons for us to shake our heads and laugh at the absurdity of their presence in Congress. Here was genius Rep. Boebert with the WTFism of the week, trying to blast Joe Biden in real time during the SOTU:
Rep. Ted Lieu was having none of Boebert’s revisionism:
And it now appears Rep. Santos (checks notes) actually stole puppies. From the Amish.
Fascinatingly, George seems to have new competition for “reinventor of personal history in Congress” and the “claiming of Jew-ish roots that simply are nonexistent.” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna asserted she has Ashkenazi roots and that her father was a “Messianic Jew.” But per reporting by the Washington Post, relatives of Luna (formerly Mayerhofer—these Congressmembers and their name changes!) say her father was a practicing Catholic, and “According to several family members, [grandfather] Heinrich Mayerhofer, who died in 2003, served in the armed forces of Nazi Germany when he was a teenager in the 1940s.” So that’s pretty awkward.
Santos may need to up his game!
President Biden ordered something shot down from the skies over Alaska. We all assumed it was another Chinese spy balloon. Commentator David Frum FTW on this moment:
Speaking of giant stuffed Pikachus…
In other parts of the internet, the culture wars raged. There was a lot about food and drink.
There was a heated discussion of that liberal, Patagonia-adjacent cereal, Grape Nuts, which trended briefly on Twitter.
I personally love them. On yogurt though, not a whole bunch in a bowl. That’s just excessive.
Finally, I felt completely seen by this last one. Planes are literally the only place I ever ask for this drink. That may have to change. It’s 2023 after all.
Enjoy your weekends, and don’t forget to tip your bartenders and waitstaff!
Jay
So many laugh-out-loud ones! Can’t even pick just one favorite, but Sarah Sanders is sure at the top of the list, especially when you add the comment about the dog and Friday….
Thank you.
How do I choose the best "joke?" Is it pussy-ass bitch, or Grape-Nuts; grapes don't have nuts, that's misogyny? David Frum on shooting down objects in the sky to win a Pikachu? The weird Sarah Huckabee whatever photo and comment?
Thanks for all the laughs Jay, worth the price of membership for sure.