The Diddly Awards

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Do you give a damn about the future of this country?

You wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t. It’s never been more obvious that American democracy is fragile. And while the corporate media goes all in on horse-race journalism, we're digging for what matters: the ties between right-wing extremism and the GOP, dirty deeds done by billionaire-funded super-PACs, the how-this-affects-you implications of the candidates’ positions. One thing that can reliably stop liars, grifters, and extremists? Truth-telling independent media. And right now, we need your support.

We know you give a damn about this country’s future. So while the corporate media goes all in on horse-race journalism, we've spent this election season digging for the stories that matter. One thing that can reliably stop liars, grifters, and extremists is truth-telling independent media. And right now, we need your support.

Illustration by: Peter Hoey

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NOMINEE 1
Senator Joe Biden (D-Del.), the first Democrat to announce that he was exploring a run for president, explained that he doesn’t lust after the executive office, saying, “I’d rather be at home making love to my wife while my children are asleep.”

NOMINEE 2
Rep. Gresham Barrett
(R-S.C.) held a “Shag ‘n’ Eat” fundraiser.

NOMINEE 3
Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.)
joined his fellow Democrats in denouncing the Republican
“culture of corruption” and the cronyism associated with earmarks—the process that lets members insert a line in a bill to provide funding for a special constituent in the home district. But later in the same speech, noting that he’s likely to become the chairman of an appropriations subcommittee, Moran promised supporters, “When I become chairman, I’m going to
earmark the shit
out of it.”

NOMINEE 4
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) doesn’t just support building a wall at the border; he wants to run 2,000 miles of electric fence on top of it, carrying “the kind of current that would not kill somebody, but it would simply be a discouragement for them to be fooling around with it. We do that with livestock all the time.”

NOMINEE 5
Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) told her then-campaign adviser, Ed Rollins, that God had instructed her to stay in the Senate race against Democrat Bill Nelson.

NOMINEE 6
John Jacob (a Republican congressional candidate in Utah) blamed Lucifer himself for sabotaging his campaign: “There’s another force that wants to keep us from going to Washington, D.C. It’s the devil is what it is.” He added, “I don’t know who else it would be if it wasn’t him. Now when that gets out in the paper, I’m going to be one of the screw-loose people.”

WINNER! Katherine Harris, whose comment prompted Rollins to reply, “Maybe God wants Nelson to stay a senator and that’s why he’s encouraging you to stay in.”