Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

“Squeaker” McCarthy

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

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

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

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Republicans in disarray!

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

DeSantis transforms Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Random Escapism From RNC/Trump Hell

Random Escapism From RNC/Trump Hell

by | 163 Comments

This post is in: 

I thought we might want a little space that’s completely (well mostly) free of our second-time-farce production of Triumph of the Will, so here’s some random thoughts for a Wednesday night.

I had a productive day on my book, as it happens, so in my attempt to [ETA: keep] my head in late 17th century London, here are a couple of tidbits.

First, I’d say this was a pretty good day’s work:

“Th., Jan. 22nd [1680]–Society met, read Lewenhook. Archimedes refuted. Diurnall motion of Earth established.”

That’s from Robert Hooke‘s diary.  All I’ve can say is that I’ve gotten less done in some years.

Next, with the possible exception of Betty (and Charles Pierce), I’m not sure any of us will come close to the magnificence of 18th century invective.  Here’s publican and satirist Ned Ward on those he met on an amble through the Royal Exchange in 1698 or 1699:

We then proceeded and went on to the Change, turn’d to the Right, and Jostled in amongst a parcel of Swarthy Buggerantoes, Preternatural Fornicators, as my Friend call’d them, who would Ogle a Hand­some Young Man with as much Lust, as a True-bred English Whoremaster would gaze upon a Beautiful Virgin. Advertisements hung as thick round the Pillars of each Walk, as Bells about the Legs of a Morris-Dancer, and an Incessant Buz, like the Mur­murs of the distant Ocean, as a Diapason to our Talk, like a Drone to a Bagpipe. The Wainscote was adorn’d with Quacks Bills, instead of Pictures; never an Emperick in the Town, but had his Name in a Lacquer’d Frame, containing a fair Invitation for a Fool and his Money to be soon parted; thus he that wants a dry Rogue for himself, or a Wet-Nurse for a Child, may be furnish’d here at a Minutes warning. After we had squeez’d our selves thro’ a Crowd of Bumfirking-Italians,  we fell into a throng of strait-lac’d Monsters in Fur, and Thrum-Caps, with huge Logger-Heads, Effeminate Wastes, and Buttocks like a Flanders-Mare, with Slovenly Mein, Swinish Looks, whose upper Lips were gracefully adorn’d with T—d-colour’d Whiskers, these, with their Gloves under their Arms, and their Hands in their Pockets, were Grunting to each other, like Hogs at their Pease; these, my Friend told me, were the Water-Rats of Europe, who Love no Body but themselves, & Fatten upon the Spoils, & Build their own Welfare upon the Ruin of their Neighbours.

Prosperity,_with_Harlot's_Smiles_LACMA_M.46.5.3

I guess the resonance there is with the fine tolerance for strangers and immigrants seen here.  Certainly, like supporters of a presidential candidate of the elephantine persuasion Ward’s got no time for one group in particular:

There likewise was the Lords Vagabonds the Jews, who were so accurs’d for their Infidelity, that they are generally the richest People in all Nations where they Dwell…

Old hates mature — like wine into vinegar — and so we attain our present circumstance.

Anyway, to finish on a high note, consider this wise beast:
Tikka staring

That’s a “Lord what fools these mortals be” gaze if ever there was one.  Alternatively “Why has my hooman again failed to feed me?”

Open thread….

Image:  William Hogarth, Prosperity, with Harlot’s smiles,” from “A Rake’s Progress,” 1735.

Reader Interactions

163Comments

  1. 1.

    Omnes Omnibus

    This post gives me a strange sense of déjà vu.

    ETA: I find it interesting that Ward was a High Church Tory.

  2. 2.

    Uncle Cosmo

    Um, Tom, make that Triumph of the Can’t. Apostrophe optional; just as stylish & a propos without.

    This set of kkklowns make the March On Rome look like a maneuver executed by a precision drill team.

  3. 3.

    David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch

    Joy Reid Verified account ‏@JoyAnnReid 6h6 hours ago

    Serious question: has any news outlet seen or interviewed Meredith McIver? Asking because of the GOP candidate’s history of using aliases.

    2,631 retweets 3,991 likes

    The pleasingly alliterative name of Donald Trump’s employee, the woman who supposedly helped to write Melania Trump’s speech for the RNC and which turned out to contain passages that matched Michelle Obama’s 2008 speech word for word, has no verified Twitter account and no LinkedIn profile.

    At the time of writing, no credible news outlet has tracked down Meredith McIver.

    Serious buzz on twitter that Trump has made up the name “Meredith McIver” the same way he made up “John Miller”.

  4. 4.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    I had a productive day on my book, as it happens, so in my attempt to my head in late 17th century London, here are a couple of tidbits.

    This is the greatest sentence I’ve read in quite some time, and I’m including experimental poetry.

    I don’t even want to know what it was supposed to mean, I like it that much.

    I made an attempt to my head once but ended up requiring several more strokes.

  5. 5.

    TheMightyTrowel

    Also working on a book today. Trying to find something not trite to say about Indigenous technological change at the point of colonial contact.

  8. 8.

    EBT

    I should take a cue from you and work on my own project instead of listening to something that will send me apoplectic.

  11. 11.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Tom Levenson:

    Precisely. I assume something like “to clear my head of” but it is a beautiful thing the way it is. Maybe in parentheses?

    ETA: Perfect. I had it completely backwards but who’s counting.

  12. 12.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    So, has anyone heard anything from St. Bernard of Burlington, leader of the “revolution” and the bearer of many promises to do everything he can to fight Trump?

  13. 13.

    NotMax

    Never before knew that Ned Ward frequented the pre-Disneyfied Times Square.

    Oh, and it’s Triumph of the Shrill this time around.

  14. 14.

    TheMightyTrowel

    @Tom Levenson: cheers. Right now it’s innovating is a process…translation of foreign technologies into indigenous cultural framework…resistance leads to retranslation something something hybridity…. sigh

  16. 16.

    Tom Levenson

    @TheMightyTrowel: You ever wander into the thickets of the Chinese essence/Western substance dichotomy. My dad wrote about the two contexts in which that same frame was used — Late 16th c. with Matteo Ricci trying to persuade his Chinese hosts of hte possible value of Western learning, and late 19th c., when Chinese reformers tried to persuade their fellow elites that Western technological superiority did not threaten Chinese values or the value of Chinese culture. Both attempts failed, for different, but complementary reasons. Not exactly what you’re on about, but distant kin at least, perhaps.

  18. 18.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    Turning to non-convention-related coverage: there was an attempt on Tom Levenson’s head today in 17th century London, film when it’s invented.

  20. 20.

    Tom Levenson

    @TheMightyTrowel: As for me, I abandoned the day when it became clear I still hadn’t quite figured out the transition from bumfirking Italians to the publication of the first stock-market daily quotations. I’ll get there…

  22. 22.

    TheMightyTrowel

    @Tom Levenson: Actually I’ve kind of skimmed the edge of this but I’d love more suggestions for further reading. The book is on technological change and innovation using archaeological data and from a broadly sts perspective. Why innovations are resisted and rejected – how conservatism can be a dynamic and valuable response is one key chapter

  25. 25.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Tom Levenson

    : bumfirking Italians to the publication of the first stock-market daily quotations.

    Hookers and blow have always been a staple of the finance industry.

  26. 26.

    drdavechemist

    Hooke was an interesting character, based on the biography I read a few years ago, The Man Who Knew Too Much. One could argue that he had the bad timing to be the second most accomplished Englishman at both physics and architecture at a time when the greatest in each field (Isaac Newton and Christopher Wren, respectively) was at his peak. The lack of recognition that Hooke felt he was due left hm rather bitter, and nowadays all many know him for is the force law for springs and are unaware of his many other accomplishments.

  27. 27.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Tom Levenson: Kudos for good sportism, I had a long day and then one (1) Lagunitus IPA with dinner and I’m such a lightweight these days that I get buzzed on even that so impulse control may be slightly less firmly in place than usual.

  28. 28.

    NotMax

    @Roger Moore

    Have used both versions here previously. When it comes to the hours of strained haranguing from the convention stage, deliberately chose the one with that ‘r’ in it.

  29. 29.

    scav

    @Tom Levenson:

    I still hadn’t quite figured out the transition from bumfirking Italians to the publication of the first stock-market daily quotations.

    The critical attention paid to things being up and down in a market environment is tempting, but the Italian element still left dangling (which is contextually sad).

  32. 32.

    TheMightyTrowel

    @Tom Levenson: ugh I’ve been there. Getting from Schumpeter to the gendered pattern of linguistic innovation* was the big one in chp 1

    *spoiler alert: adolescent girls are responsible for most linguistic change–both in terms of vocab and in terms of grammar/phonetics. This is true cross culturally and, at least in the post medieval period, historically. Other women rapidly pick it up and it spreads but add non standard and often mocked language forms until their sons learn it from them a generation later at which point it becomes standard mainstream usage.

  33. 33.

    Ferdinand

    Thanks for the open thread! I’m days away from a business relaunch in the Denver area myself. Finished up the biz card design in Photoshop today over by the pool in my apartment complex, and the website’s coming along nicely. (I’m a Drupal pro, for the site builder crowd.) Part of my upcoming work looks like it will involve media projects for Colorado Democrats. Yippee!

  35. 35.

    NotMax

    @TheMightyTrowel

    Gag me with a spoon.

    ;)

    More seriously, don’t discount adolescent males. For example, words and phrases which have filtered into common usage from surfing culture.

  38. 38.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    Hookers and blow have always been a staple of the finance industry.

    Worst financial adviser firm I ever used.

  39. 39.

    Mike in NC

    @David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch:

    Serious buzz on twitter that Trump has made up the name “Meredith McIver” the same way he made up “John Miller”.

    Many good con artists will use multiple identities. Trump must have an entire desk drawer filled with bogus drivers licenses, passports, credit cards, stationery, etc.

  42. 42.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Mike in NC: Via Digby this was a pretty damning quote pointing to the likelihood that it was him:

    Trump told the New York Times, he’s going to deal with this head-on by having Melania talk about “women’s issues” and Ivanka about “her passion for gender equality.” He also says he’s planning to edit their remarks himself and add “ideas, jokes, points about Trump.”

  44. 44.

    Peale

    @Mike in NC: He strikes me as the kind of guy who’d submit bogus financial statements and corporate records to people when trying to secure loans knowing that they won’t check everything. I would not be surprised in the least to find three or four names of boards of directors of various paper corporations and pass through dummy entities set up with alias of Trump and his children listed as external board members preferred shareholders. For all we know Meredith McIver owns 1/2 his golf course in Scotland.

  46. 46.

    NotMax

    @scav

    Little known that he changed his name from Schlongspeare.

    “Nobody wants to see that plastered on the cover of a folio, Willie.”

    :)

  47. 47.

    Juju

    Tom, you used to tell tales of your kitchen renovation foibles. I’m assuming that since you are still here on this planet, that the renovation is complete. My guess is that if renovation was still going on that you’d have hung yourself in a closer by now. Did you ever post pictures of the completed kitchen?

  49. 49.

    TheMightyTrowel

    @scav: not that i know of because so much of language learning happens when children are young enough to be largely in their female relatives’ care. That said this is not my area at all – I’m an archaeo not a linguist – but it’s accepted truth in linguistics since the 80s and every study backs up that the primary language innovators are female adolescents but that their innovations are not recognized or accepted as licit for a generation which is, more or less, when their male children are grown enough to communicate widely. Similar patterns have been found in tonal shifts or changing pronunciation in modern us cities and female correspondence from 14-16th centuries. It’s a neat area and 100% of the time is met with ‘but what about this slang a guy made up’ (sorry notmax) – these innovations ate actually about the structure of language itself not just a few gnarly new words

  51. 51.

    rikyrah

    DA PHUQ?

    …………………

    BuzzFeed’s D.C. bureau chief wrestled to ground at RNC party
    07/20/16 10:16 AM EDT

    CLEVELAND— BuzzFeed’s Washington Bureau Chief John Stanton was wrestled to the ground by security at his outlet’s own party at the Republican National Convention, a party with a theme celebrating blacklisted reporters.

    At BuzzFeed’s “Red, White and Blacklisted” party, held on the rooftop of a swanky hotel in downtown Cleveland, reporters sipped cocktails, one named after Stanton, while scenes of McCarthy-era hearings played via giant projector. Katie Couric, Chris Soules of “The Bachelor” and TV writer and producer Liz Meriwether all mingled and at one point, Republican strategist and Fox News contributor Karl Rove stuck his head in to see what was going on.

    But it was former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani who created the most drama. Giuliani, drinking a scotch neat and smoking a cigar, was leaving the party with his giant entourage when Stanton tried to ask him a question.
    According to several witnesses, security — which was heavy while Giuliani was around and included men in bulletproof vests — wrestled Stanton to the ground near the elevator banks.
    “John was reporting and asking the mayor a question, which resulted in a misunderstanding with hotel security,” a BuzzFeed spokesperson said.
    “None of Mr. Giuliani’s employees or security were involved,” said John Huvane, CEO of Giuliani Security & Safety.

  54. 54.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @TheMightyTrowel:

    Trying to find something not trite to say about Indigenous technological change at the point of colonial contact.

    I believe The Wisdom and Collected Sayings of Melania Trump will help.

  58. 58.

    Tom Levenson

    BTW all: ducking out to cook/eat supper. In the meantime: friend don’t let friends vote Republican.

  59. 59.

    Credenzal Jocularity

    @The Lodger:
    She did a not-very-subtle palm down arm straight salute In the ending flourish that I expect to be screen capped and meme-ified.

  60. 60.

    NotMax

    @TheMightyTrowel

    One of my minors in college was in Linguistics. Pre-80s.

    Historically, would certainly grant added weight to the influence of oral history storytellers of both sexes across cultures and tribes.

  61. 61.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @The Lodger:

    I’ve heard of Laura Ingraham for years, and in fact I’ve probably seen her on the T&V screen on occasion. But is it wrong of me to note that I honestly cannot tell one blonde conservative from another? (Per Adam last night, I get that they’re all interchangeable, and now I know why.)

  62. 62.

    rikyrah

    BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

    Pace e Bene
    ‏@cmpnwtr
    RW GOP columnist Jennifer Rubin to vote for Hillary Advises how Hillary Clinton can win over horrified Republicans

  63. 63.

    Peale

    Amir, If you’re around (and you usually are) I was wondering if you could fill me in on the laws protecting reporters in Malaysia. One of my Maylasian friends posted up an article today about the US DoJ filing the Kleptocracy Act seizure of the assets of your county’s sovereign wealth fund. He was outraged, justifiably. But the whole article didn’t have a single name of a single official attached to it. It was like the fund looted itself. Nameless officials used the fund to pay off the Vegas gambling debts of other nameless officials. I was chatting with him about how odd that was. I figured it was related to libel or defamation risk. I thought as a reporter you might know – can a reporter be sued or jailed for putting in the name of an alleged crook in an article?

  65. 65.

    scav

    @TheMightyTrowel: I was just thinking about who moves as a means of language transmission and flexibility (and vague notions of the creations of pidgins and creoles) because the womens’ (or perhaps mens’) circles will be differentially exposed to linguistic differences and have to adapt / innovate (on a day to day constant basis within group). The lag in general acceptance does rather suggest womens’ circles being more active, but the adolescent females seems a bit trickier. I’ve just got a geography/anthro combo going so tend to go straight to spatial factors (which can certainly lead one astray).

  66. 66.

    rikyrah

    TWITTER TRUTH

    ……………

    Kragar @Kragar_LGF
    Post a black persons mugshot on twitter and you’ll get their life history in an hour.
    “Meredith McIver” 4+ hours and we still got nothing
    4:01 PM – 20 Jul 2016

  70. 70.

    dmsilev

    @rikyrah: Memo to Hillary: It’s a trap! Don’t listen to anything Rubin says, or at the very least, do the opposite of what she suggests.

  72. 72.

    Peale

    @rikyrah: Isn’t she supposed to help Mrs. Trump with marketing her business? There is no such thing as someone in charge of marketing who has left no forwarding address, online trace of themselves, or no one can remember meeting.

  73. 73.

    Mnemosyne

    Note to self: reading history books about how everyone in the Regency Era was walking around unbathed and with rotting teeth is kind of a buzzkill when trying to write a romance novel. Eeeeewwwwww.

  74. 74.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @rikyrah:

    Well, at least he shares the racism. He followed that line by saying he’d prefer “short guys in yarmulkes” as his accountants.

  76. 76.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @rikyrah:

    5. Elevate the qualities Trump lacks; support the values he derides. Trump lacks empathy, intellectual curiosity, patience and tolerance — some of the critical traits of successful presidents.

    So she’s suggesting that Hillary Clinton should stop being intolerant, thick-headed and incurious, and without any feeling for others.

    This is the problem when right-wing Republicans try to act like reasonable people, they’re still looking at things from the FOX News bubble.

    “If Hillary Clinton just admitted that she killed Vince Foster, then people might believe her again!”

  77. 77.

    rikyrah

    Ann KirkpatrickVerified account
    ‏@Ann_Kirkpatrick
    BREAKING: Kirkpatrick out-raises McCain in second quarter by nearly $250,000

  80. 80.

    Mnemosyne

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I’m wondering if pundit Kathleen Parker has been heard from yet. She’s been known to have occasional moments of lucidity, especially when it comes to things that could adversely affect her bank account, like the financial meltdown.

  81. 81.

    Credenzal Jocularity

    Come on Cmd. Collins, let’s see one RNC speech without the Thunderdome chanting “Lock her up!”

  82. 82.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @SiubhanDuinne: I can’t tell them apart either.

    Alert! Theorizing on standards in women’s appearance ahead: I used to do this writing exercise with students where I’d cut pictures of women’s faces from magazines and pass them out. Students had 5 to 10 minutes to write a description of their pictures. Then I’d tape the pics to the wall and the students would read their descriptions aloud while everyone else tried to guess which picture they wrote about. It was fiendishly difficult to describe conventionally pretty models in a recognizable way. Bella Abzug’s pic was in the pack, and the class could always pick her out, but blond model #5? No way. Beauty standards flatten out women’s appearance. They’re not allowed to have individualities. Those get coded as oddities.

    The appearance of conservative blondes tends to be uniform like that. It’s only a tendency, and it’s often an appearance that’s not attractive to me, but it does seem to happen.

  85. 85.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @NotMax:

    Aleatoric is a great word. It’s rare to have an opportunity to drop it, appropriately and correctly, into the conversation.

    @Mnemosyne:

    Lawsamercy, I haven’t thought of Kathleen Parker in years! I’ll wander off and see what I can find.

  86. 86.

    Schlemazel Khan

    @David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch:
    Apparently she is a real person that really works for the ass. But she is also a registered Dem so I think that verifies my belief that the rick roll was put in the speech on purpose as a giant FU! to the Drumpf candidacy. The poor woman has actually co-authored books with ‘ol ferret head.

  87. 87.

    NotMax

    Sorry, MSNBC, it is in no way, shape or form “Breaking News” that Pence will be nominated tonight.

    Journlism, we hardly knew ye.

  88. 88.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Iowa Old Lady: Exhibit A.

    That’s what the (male) idea of female beauty has so often been, “perfection” which means an ironing out of differences, which is to say loss of individual character.

    When I saw Trump surrounded by his family at one of the events before the convention that’s exactly the video I thought of, and I think even mentioned that here.

  89. 89.

    Credenzal Jocularity

    @NotMax:
    She did it! Easily the most positive message this week. Although you know who ELSE threw in a non-sequitir space exploration campaign promise to try to dupe the Trekkie Bloc.

  93. 93.

    PPCLI

    There likewise was the Lords Vagabonds the Jews, who were so accurs’d for their Infidelity, that they are generally the richest People in all Nations where they Dwell

    I imagine that other parts of this guy’s writings would indicate anti-Semitism, which was the overwhelming default position in 1680 in England. (It was only 25 years earlier that Cromwell had quietly allowed Jewish merchants to migrate to England, following an official expulsion that had lasted over 350 years. There was substantial unhappiness with the decision.) But this particular remark doesn’t in itself indicate a poor opinion of Jews. Rather it is a sarcastic observation on/rejection of the idea that the Jews are hated by God: If God really detested them, they wouldn’t be prosperous. But they are.

  94. 94.

    dmsilev

    Note to current speaker: No, giving a short speech in Spanish will not convince Latinos to vote for Trump.

  96. 96.

    NotMax

    Oh come on. Really? Background color on the big screen behind the Hispanic person speaking at the moment is light brown.

  98. 98.

    Roger Moore

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Beauty standards flatten out women’s appearance. They’re not allowed to have individualities. Those get coded as oddities.

    Maybe that’s why it’s considered gauche for two women to show up at an event wearing the same dress: they aren’t allowed any individuality of their own appearance, so clothes become the only way of telling them apart. Meanwhile, men are allowed to have our own faces, so we can all wear indistinguishable suits.

  99. 99.

    K488

    @Mnemosyne: Raymond Chandler has one of his characters in The Long Goodbye comment on just that. Memorable line: “Their fingernails stank of stale gravy.” Makes me wince every time I read it.

  100. 100.

    dmsilev

    dKos liveblog:

    Our next guest tells the crowd she always dreamed of being in the circus. And now here she is!

  101. 101.

    Credenzal Jocularity

    @dmsilev:
    At least he seemed like he practiced. I almost had BINGO with his littany of Obamawoes, but I needed Solyndra or Dr. Gates.

  102. 102.

    rikyrah

    Bill MaherVerified account
    ‏@billmaher
    Trump’s sons (Douchbag Von Fuckface and Thurston Shitbag the 3rd,you’ll recall) look like the date rapist in every after school special ever

  107. 107.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @K488: Fussy question, but would one actually detect the scent of someone else’s fingernails.

  108. 108.

    dmsilev

    So, I was curious to see whether Trump’s June FEC report was up yet (nope). Went to fec.gov and did a search for filings from candidates named Trump. The first one in the listing is “Trump, Don’t Vote For”, running for President under the Communist Party banner. Also of note, “BERNIE SUPPORTERS FOR TRUMP” appeared in mid June, just a couple of days after the DC primary.

  111. 111.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I can’t, I just simply cannot. Please, someone, put up a fresh thread when the major speeches begin. Because this is just painful, this energy guy.

  119. 119.

    schrodinger's cat

    @Iowa Old Lady: I think this is a very American thing, the standardization of what is beautiful. Hollywood and fashion industry have a very narrow definition of what is beautiful. I find much more variation in who is considered beautiful/handsome among Indian actors or even British actors for that matter.

  122. 122.

    Punchy

    That cat has a nice isosceles triangle on his face. That’s a sin of a good pet. Sorry to go off on a tangent.

  123. 123.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    ”Twas brilliant, and the slight trove
    Did gyre and gamble in the WABE.
    All missy were the boron rove,
    And the moderates out grave.

    See what I mean?

  125. 125.

    Quinerly

    Pence, family, and aids join in prayer when they all get out of his motorcade in the parking lot at the convention.

  126. 126.

    NotMax

    Hm. Scott Walker wearing the exact same tie as did Trump, Jr. last night.

    Is there a coin operated rack o’ ties backstage?

  129. 129.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Punchy:

    Wouldn’t it be fun to have an entire set of triangular cats? Not just isosceles, but scalene, right, equilateral, acute, and obtuse.

  136. 136.

    hovercraft

    Scotty is showing the country why he couldn’t hack it as a candidate, god he is awful. We get it America deserves better than Drump, and don’t worry we’ll get it with Hillary.

  141. 141.

    Felonius Monk

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    scalene

    My Dear Lady – You just said tonight’s magic word, SCALENE. And for your wizardry with words you will receive a complete 4 DVD set of the 2016 Rethuglican Convention. The full and complete 4 days of RNC-CLE.

    Thank you for playing.

  142. 142.

    Fair Economist

    @Mnemosyne:

    Note to self: reading history books about how everyone in the Regency Era was walking around unbathed and with rotting teeth is kind of a buzzkill when trying to write a romance novel. Eeeeewwwwww.

    Alternate history, dear, alternate history. It’s not like the actors/actresses of Hamilton blacken their teeth.

  143. 143.

    Eris Discordia

    @Mnemosyne: you might want to check out a couple of books by Ruth Goodman. She wrote How to be a Tudor and How to be a Victorian not exactly your era, I know, but she’s an actual historian who has reenacted those times and not like those dumb tv shows where they get suburbanites to go live on a farm for two months. She say very interesting things about unwashed bodies, etc. also, are you willing to share your name on Ravelry?

  145. 145.

    schrodinger's cat

    @SiubhanDuinne: Acute and obtuse are angles. The triangles classified according to the length of their sides are

    Equilateral : All three sides are congruent
    Isosceles: 2 sides are congruent
    Scalene: All sides have different length.

  148. 148.

    Credenzal Jocularity

    @Major Major Major Major:
    This season always brings out the lurkers like me. I was looking for something that said “I feel like I know you all since I’ve read and respected your work for years” without actually saying that.

    Oh wait. Blew it.

  149. 149.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @Felonius Monk:

    Yessss, it’s the complete 2016 RNC convention on DVD! And if you act now, you’ll also receive the life-size poster of Donald J. Trump and the Mike Pence edition of Trivial Pursuit!

    How much would you pay now? But wait! You’ll also receive….

  150. 150.

    hovercraft

    Since little Marco is taped, I guess he won’t need any water. What the hell? Was that a preview of his 2020 campaign commercials?

  155. 155.

    scav

    @NotMax:

    Little known that he changed his name from Schlongspeare.
    “Nobody wants to see that plastered on the cover of a folio, Willie.”
    :)

    Catching up. Because Speare is so utterly without imagery.
    The arms of Willie Schlongspeare could have been
    ‘Gules (red), on a bend (diagonal bar) sable (black), three spears of the first (i.e. red), steeled argent (with a silver tip)’ and we won’t even get into what might have been his supporters.

  156. 156.

    Brachiator

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Wouldn’t it be fun to have an entire set of triangular cats? Not just isosceles, but scalene, right, equilateral, acute, and obtuse.

    Most cat lovers I know would swear that you could never have an obtuse cat.

  160. 160.

    Mnemosyne

    @Eris Discordia:

    I’ve seen Goodman’s books but I wasn’t sure where she started her Victorian era. If she has some early Victorian stuff, I still might be able to use it.

    I’m not really active on Ravelry right now, except for keeping some patterns on there. I really need to do a serious update of my account.

    ETA: As I’m sure you know, technically the Regency Era is the last couple of decades of the Georgian Era, while the Victorian Era was quite different. Interesting that as women pushed for more rights, their clothes and corsets became more and more restrictive.

  161. 161.

    J R in WV

    @rikyrah:

    Bullies will out, ain’t they?

    Never trust a group of bullies, together they lose all contact with reality, which is obscured by their common vision of beating the crap out of someone who “deserves it”. Like the host of a party they were barging in on.

    This is who Republicans want to elect, bullies.

  162. 162.

    Origuy

    @Eris Discordia: Goodman made a series for the BBC about an experimental archaeology project in France to build a complete medieval castle using period tools and techniques. The castle is called Guedelon. Well outside the Victorian era, I’m afraid. The series was fascinating, though.

  163. 163.

    Amir Khalid

    @Peale:
    We have libel and slander laws modelled on those of Britain, more or less. But editors tend to be scared shitless of what the home affairs ministry can do to a paper’s publication licence — during my first hitch at The Star in the late 1980s, we lost ours for seven months over our coverage of a crackdown on the opposition. No publication licence, no paper. In the mainstream media here, one treads very very carefully when reporting on national politics or certain business stories. Better to leave a source unnamed and a hole in the story, than to have the paper shut down.

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