Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

We still have time to mess this up!

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Let there be snark.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Second rate reporter says what?

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

No one could have predicted…

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Late Night Open Thread: A Face Crying Out for A Fist

Late Night Open Thread: A Face Crying Out for A Fist

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If only being a ferret-faced ratfvcker were a felony… From the Mother Jones article:

… In August 2013, MainJustice published an article referring to a 2010 incident in which O’Keefe and his associates posed as telephone technicians to gain access to the offices of then–Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.). O’Keefe and three others ultimately pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of entering federal property under false pretenses.

In its original article, MainJustice said that O’Keefe was “apparently trying to bug” Landrieu’s offices. After O’Keefe complained, the website changed the sentence to read that O’Keefe and his associates “were trying to tamper with Landrieu’s phones.” Still, O’Keefe sued, alleging that both characterizations were defamatory because they implied he had committed a felony. MainJustice countered that the language wasn’t defamatory because the substance of the article was true, and the site accurately described the legal proceedings triggered by the episode.

The court didn’t find O’Keefe’s case convincing…

Nah, nobody ever mistook you for more than a piddling little misdemeanor-level criminal.

More at the link. I’m sure Project (No) Veritas will use this as the tag for another round of begging emails, but O’Keefe seems to be past his sell-by date even in conservative media — it’s been a long, rocky downhill path since his ACORN-busting days.

Reader Interactions

49Comments

  1. 1.

    David Koch

    Obama commutes sentences of 22 people in federal prison

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Tuesday shortened the prison sentences of nearly two dozen drug convicts, including eight serving life in prison, in an act the White House said continues Obama’s push to make the justice system fairer by reducing harsh sentences that were handed down under outdated guidelines.

    Obama has now approved a total of 43 commutations during more than six years in office. Eggleston noted that Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, had commuted only 11 sentences during his two terms.

  2. 2.

    TheMightyTrowel

    OT because I need to rant.

    I’m having a real moment of incandescent fury – i’ve been kept out of a hiring process for a job I advocated for and for which I even wrote the job description. This is the third time my colleagues have kept me off hiring panels. The previous two times I was given ultimately specious reasons (2013a: “someone at your junior level cannot be on this sort of panel.” except that someone at the same junior level as me WAS included; 2013b: “even if no one on the ctte does undergrad teaching it doesn’t matter because this is a largely research position in a region you don’t work in” except that the position is 60% UG teaching).

    I haven’t been given a rationale for this one yet, but it’s getting harder and harder to avoid noticing that I’m also the only woman in my dept and my male colleagues continue to be treated as more experienced/knowledgeable than me whether or not that reflects reality. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

  5. 5.

    fuckwit

    @David Koch: And how many of Bush’s 11 sentence commutations were for co-conspirators in Bush Crime Family operations, eh? Maybe like all of em? I seem to remember one Scooter Libby being convicted for some felony he committed for Bush… and immediately pardoned by Bush.

  6. 6.

    Tommy

    @fuckwit: Yes. I am not a law suit kind of guy. I hate that our society seems to sue nonstop. But I know a women can do the same job as a male. If they won’t promote you might want to sue. Or at least walk into HR and say buck up people.

  8. 8.

    NotMax

    Coding fix. @fuckwit

    and immediately pardoned by Bush.

    You may remember it, but it never happened. Bush commuted Libby’s sentence (a decision I disagree with) but refused, contrary to abject pressure from Cheney, to issue a pardon for any or all of Libby’s four convictions.

  9. 9.

    David Koch

    @fuckwit: ya bring up a good point, while libby wasn’t pardoned, he sentence was commuted. So of 11 commutations, one was to silence scooter. what a mutherfucker.

  10. 10.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @TheMightyTrowel:

    Sexism can be horrendous in academia, and not necessarily in the departments that you’d think. I knew someone working on her PhD in linguistics who was told flat out that she would never be offered a tenure position because she’d had a child and therefore was clearly not serious about her career. To make it worse, it was a senior woman who told her this.

  11. 11.

    Tree With Water

    @David Koch: Notable abuses of the pardon system aside, it just might be my favorite constitutional power granted the Executive Branch. That said, has any president ever pardoned convicts en masse before, citing an appeal for judicial reform as his reason for the pardons? I can’t recall anything like it happening before.

  12. 12.

    Mandalay

    @fuckwit:

    And how many of Bush’s 11 sentence commutations were for co-conspirators in Bush Crime Family operations, eh? Maybe like all of em?

    Well, to be fair, you are kind of assuming that the drug convicts with commuted sentences are not members of Obama’s drug cartel.

    It’s possible I suppose, but Fox News and Joe Scarborough will be clarifying this for us in the morning.

  13. 13.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @fuckwit:

    As NotMax recalls, Scooter was commuted, not pardoned, which means that legally he is still a convicted felon and (IIRC) had to give up his law license in his home state because that’s one of the penalties convicted felons have to deal with.

    It was apparently a big point of contention between Bush and Cheney and one of the things that caused a breach between them during the second term. Cheney pushed hard for his buddy Scooter to get a full pardon, and Bush refused.

  14. 14.

    Tree With Water

    @Mandalay: You naif. Bill and Hillary had every member of their cartel whacked after she decided to run in 2008. And then they whacked the whackers. It was like their first order of business..

  15. 15.

    Mandalay

    Mike Pence might be feeling a bit sore around his toilet area right now, but the Governor of Arkansas is in even deeper doodoo. The CEO of Walmart took a big shit down Asa Hutchinson’s throat this evening, and I suspect it left a nasty taste in his mouth:

    “Every day, in our stores, we see firsthand the benefits diversity and inclusion have on our associates, customers and communities we serve. It all starts with our core basic belief of respect for the individual.

    Today’s passage of HB1228 threatens to undermine the spirit of inclusion present throughout the state of Arkansas and does not reflect the values we proudly uphold. For these reasons, we are asking Governor Hutchinson to veto this legislation.”

    — Doug McMillon, Walmart CEO

    Wingnut lunacy is the gift that keeps on giving.

  16. 16.

    Mandalay

    @Mandalay: And here’s a doozy of a pithy quote to Governor FuckFaceAssholeHatemonger…..

    On Monday, Acxiom Corp., one of Arkansas’ largest employers and a longtime supporter of workplace diversity, announced the marketing technology company’s firm opposition to the bill. In a letter to the governor, the company wrote,

    “The bill inflicts pain on some of our citizens and disgrace upon us all.“

    Whoever came up with that line should be working for Obama.

  18. 18.

    Mandalay

    @Mandalay: …..And the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce also objected to the the bill, simply stating,

    “This is bad for business and bad for Arkansas.“

    Go on Governor Dumbass….sign the bill now you vile, stupid fuck.

  20. 20.

    Hal

    Man that dude is ugly. Looks like the adult version of that elf that wanted to be a dentist in that old Rudolf animated Christmas specials.

  21. 21.

    opiejeanne

    @fuckwit: I thought W refused to pardon Scooter Libby, and that was why Cheney was so pissed off at him at Obama’s first inauguration. Maybe it was someone else.

    ETA: never mind, NotMax got there before me.

  22. 22.

    opiejeanne

    @Mandalay: He did veto a terrible bill today, Senate bill #79 which would have made street photography illegal within the state. It pretended to be about protecting people’s right to privacy but it was really to stop private citizens from photographing or recording things that might embarrass the cops or the Powers That Be.

    Let’s hope he pays attention to what his friends are telling him as well as the furor over Indiana’s bill and vetoes the one in Arkansas.

  23. 23.

    Steeplejack

    Late reading the threads, as usual, but it’s slightly weird because I’m on Pacific time this week and it’s only midnight. But I’m 3:00 a.m. tired, so I’m going to bed. Carry on.

  24. 24.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Steeplejack: Bed at midnight? What kind of Night Owl are you? Please see the Night Owl Association Courtesy desk and surrender your Night Owl card.

  25. 25.

    Tree With Water

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): Cheney must have lost his mind if he thought GW was about to grant a full pardon to an operative who outed a CIA operative in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy to wage war, and who was caught doing it. Getting busted was the real crime in GW’s eyes. [from memory]: “As usual, Mr. Phelps, should you or any of your team be captured, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your activities”. And that’s exactly what Bush did.

  26. 26.

    Mandalay

    @opiejeanne: Wow! That is some vile legislation. IANAL but I suspect Hutchison’s legal crew told him that it would crumple like a cheap suit when challenged, and it needed to be filed in the nearest trash can ASAP.

    We have idiots and hatemongers writing insane legislation to control our lives that the public opposes. And the only requirement those bozos have to meet to cause mayhem is to be better at getting elected than their opponent. On a practical level the system is broken.

  28. 28.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    It’s not really jet lag, but some part of my brain is stubbornly staying on Eastern time. Weird. Plus I’m trying to blend into the schedule of my host, who is not a night owl.

  34. 34.

    fuckwit

    OK OK, of Bush’s 11 commutations, one was for the noxious co-conspirator in his administration’s illegal warmongering, Scooter Libby.

    My question is: of Shrub’s other 10 commutations, how many more of those were also his cronies. Or banksters. Or income tax evaders.

    It’s such a contrast. Obama is providing relief to an oppressed community and making whatever attempt to repair the families and communities destroyed by the War on Some Drugs. Very glad to see it.

    Bush was letting at least one of his employees off the hook for breaking the law in his service… and I wonder how many more like that too.

  38. 38.

    Zinsky

    I am not a violent person and have been in a total of two fist fights in my 58 years on this planet, but I would happily kick the shit out of this O’Keefe asshole if I ever, ever met him in person…

  40. 40.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): Which indicates that the deserting coward has more political sense than the Dark Lord. Or, perhaps, it’s just more of the deserting coward’s tendency to think that loyalty is a one way street.

  41. 41.

    aimai

    @TheMightyTrowel: I am so, so, sorry. I can’t recommend anything that will take the rage away except a two week course in buddhism followed by tons of icecream–or the other way around. I really don’t know what you should do.

  42. 42.

    Bystander

    When the Great Satan of Retail (Walmart) and the visible corporate arm of Mormonism (Marriott) tell you you’ve effed up, you might want to bend over to give it one last kiss goodbye. Looks like Asa and Mikey may end up BBFs.

  44. 44.

    Barry

    @NotMax: It was suggested that Bush commuted Scooter’s sentence because he cpuld atill appeal and take the Fifth. If he had been
    pardoned, Scooter could have been compelled to testify.

  45. 45.

    boatboy_srq

    @TheMightyTrowel: I have a DBA friend who faces the same kind of situation every day: she’s talented, capable and eminently qualified, but keeps getting treated like entry-level grunts. Here’s one more vote (two, if my friend knew about this discussion) for having a quiet chat with HR: either they can help you fix the problem, or they’ll show you that it’s time to look for somewhere else that you’ll be appreciated and respected. Ditto on aimai’s recommended ice cream, too.

  47. 47.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    “This is bad for business and bad for Arkansas.“

    @Mandalay: Pissing off the entire state business community is one way to achieve political change, but I don’t think it’s going to be a change anyone who voted for this abomination will like.

    There’s plenty of “business friendly” Republican types out there who don’t give two shits about any of the social issues, and all it takes to get them into office and into power is money.

    In a contest between the Tea Party Medicare Scooter Brigade and the State Chamber of Commerce, I know who I’d put my money on…the people with money.

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