Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

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

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

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

No one could have predicted…

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

Democrats are back in array!

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

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I knew that Jeff Sessions was remarkably dumb, but Jesus Christ, this:

SESSIONS: This was very improper language, and he’s acknowledged that.

TWS: But beyond the language, would you characterize the behavior described in that as sexual assault if that behavior actually took place?

SESSIONS: I don’t characterize that as sexual assault. I think that’s a stretch. I don’t know what he meant—

TWS: So if you grab a woman by the genitals, that’s not sexual assault?

SESSIONS: I don’t know. It’s not clear that he—how that would occur.

That’s his fucking defense? It’s not sexual assault because the mechanics of grabbing a woman by the pussy are opaque to him? The nerve on these old white men.

Reader Interactions

258Comments

  1. 1.

    Tom Levenson

    Someone called this the 2016 Todd Akins moment. Sen. McCaskill then tweeted that the comparison was unfair to Akins. This, she said, was much worse.

    /burn
    /truth

  3. 3.

    Trentrunner

    “Women and their silly insistence on ‘bodily autonomy’ or whatever…”

    Jeff Sessions, probably

  4. 4.

    David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch

    I’m wondering if Hillz uses the rest of her oppo material. They have more of Trump on tape abusing women and freely using the N-word.

    I wonder cuz I could see how the “liberal media” would get mad at Clinton for running up the score. Just the same way they got mad at her for the alt-right speech.

    also too, when Jimmy Johnson was coach of the U he would run up the score and it freak out the media.

  5. 5.

    MattF

    Note that Sessions served as US Attorney in Alabama during the 80’s and was Attorney General of Alabama in the 90’s. So, his claim of ignorance isn’t remotely credible.

  6. 6.

    shomi

    Pretty dumb to try answer the question in the first place. Should do what any semi smart dickless Republican would do now a days and cowardly walk away from the media as fast as he can.

  7. 7.

    anon

    Let’s see, AL’s gov? check. Speaker of house? check. Chief justice? check. Clearly it’s now their federal politicians turn

  8. 8.

    skerry

    Someone tried to mansplain to me that you could not “grab a pussy” because vaginas are internal.

    Thanks

  13. 13.

    Mnemosyne

    OT, but you know that the cold going around your office is a nasty one when you call in sick at 7:30 am and discover you’re actually the 5th person to call in that day. ?

  14. 14.

    skerry

    Someone tried to mansplain to me that you could not “grab a p*ssy” because v*ginas are internal.

    Thanks

    (not sure which word got me in moderation)

  15. 15.

    PPCLI

    A stroll down Jefferson Sessions memory lane (from Wikipedia). A tawdry tale, but with a happy ending:

    In 1986, Reagan nominated Sessions to be a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.[7] Sessions’s judicial nomination was recommended and actively backed by Republican Alabama Senator Jeremiah Denton.[8] A substantial majority of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which rates nominees to the federal bench, rated Sessions “qualified,” with a minority voting that Sessions was “not qualified.”[9]

    At Sessions’ confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, four Department of Justice lawyers who had worked with Sessions testified that he had made several racist statements. One of those lawyers, J. Gerald Hebert, testified that Sessions had referred to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as “un-American” and “Communist-inspired” because they “forced civil rights down the throats of people.”[10]

    Thomas Figures, a black Assistant U.S. Attorney, testified that Sessions said he thought the Klan was “OK until I found out they smoked pot.” Sessions later said that the comment was not serious, but apologized for it.[11] Figures also testified that on one occasion, when the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division sent the office instructions to investigate a case that Sessions had tried to close, Figures and Sessions “had a very spirited discussion regarding how the Hodge case should then be handled; in the course of that argument, Mr. Sessions threw the file on a table, and remarked, ‘I wish I could decline on all of them,'” by which Figures said Sessions meant civil rights cases generally. After becoming Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, Sessions was asked in an interview about his civil rights record as a U.S Attorney. He denied that he had not sufficiently pursued civil rights cases, saying that “when I was [a U.S. Attorney], I signed 10 pleadings attacking segregation or the remnants of segregation, where we as part of the Department of Justice, we sought desegregation remedies.”[12]

    Figures also said that Sessions had called him “boy.”[7] He also testified that “Mr. Sessions admonished me to ‘be careful what you say to white folks.'”[13]

    Sessions responded to the testimony by denying the allegations, saying his remarks were taken out of context or meant in jest, and also stating that groups could be considered un-American when “they involve themselves in un-American positions” in foreign policy. Sessions said during testimony that he considered the Klan to be “a force for hatred and bigotry.” In regards to the marijuana quote, Sessions said the comment was a joke but apologized.[11]

    In response to a question from Joe Biden on whether he had called the NAACP and other civil rights organizations “un-American”, Sessions replied “I’m often loose with my tongue. I may have said something about the NAACP being un-American or Communist, but I meant no harm by it.”[9]

    On June 5, 1986, the Committee voted 10–8 against recommending the nomination to the Senate floor, with Republican Senators Charles Mathias of Maryland and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania voting with the Democrats. It then split 9–9 on a vote to send Sessions’ nomination to the Senate floor with no recommendation, this time with Specter in support. A majority was required for the nomination to proceed.[14] The pivotal votes against Sessions came from his home state’s Democratic Senator Howell Heflin of Alabama (ironically, Sessions would succeed Heflin in the Senate just a decade later). Although Heflin had previously backed Sessions, he began to oppose Sessions after hearing testimony, concluding that there were “reasonable doubts” over Sessions’ ability to be “fair and impartial.” The nomination was withdrawn on July 31, 1986.

    Sessions became only the second nominee to the federal judiciary in 48 years whose nomination was killed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

  17. 17.

    Betty Cracker

    I wonder if Sessions would consider it a sexual assault if I clapped his withered old twig and two berries in a panini press. I’m guessing “yes.” This isn’t rocket surgery.

  20. 20.

    pacem appellant

    I’m a white man, but I’m not quite old yet. Is this what’s in store for my future?

  21. 21.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    Jesus H. Christ. Every goddamned election cycle Republicans somehow end up talking about sexual assault. Every goddamned time. And every goddamned time, we have to hear this shit. Am I the only woman who almost feels like I’m under siege every time these jerkwads open their fucking mouths?

  24. 24.

    Keith G

    Spent time with my regular doctor today. Her assessment about Trump:

    He’said fucking crazy. How could anyone support him.

    I do owe that woman my life. There are so many reasons to love her.

  25. 25.

    Mnemosyne

    @pacem appellant:

    Only if you start off as a bigoted asshole. I know many old white men (some of them commenters or lurkers on this very website!) who are not bigoted assholes in their old age because they weren’t bigoted assholes as young men, either.

  26. 26.

    chopper

    are the basic mechanics of grabbing a woman’s crotch beyond this guy’s ability to grasp? it’s not like ‘well, first you hover in place for five seconds…’

  27. 27.

    Schlemazel

    @pacem appellant:
    I am an old white man & no, it does not have to be. If you are not a soulless evil bastard before you get old you do not necessarily become one just by aging

  30. 30.

    sukabi

    @MattF: or, he doesn’t believe that anything a male does to a woman constitutes assault of any kind.

    He is one of those “women don’t have rights over their own bodies” @$$holes.

  32. 32.

    trollhattan

    @Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:
    A good deal of Pence’s droning during the VP debate was dog-whistling to the womb-bothering fundies so guessing you aren’t alone, it’s just that this ticket has bifurcated in their women-repressing methodology.

  33. 33.

    ? Martin

    Billy Bush’s NBC voicemail says he is ‘busy making America great again’

    Whelp. Anyone want to co-host the Today show? I think there will be an opening in about 30 days.

  36. 36.

    Kay

    Univision viewers scored the debate 92-8 for Clinton

    92/8!

    This is just a fun post-debate day. After the horror of Trump looming around and stalking Clinton I deserve this.

  39. 39.

    hueyplong

    @? Martin: Not sure Bar is going to be a fan of Billy Bush’s voicemail recording.

    Nor of his failure to mention the Access America video during the Jeb! campaign’s few moments of life.

  41. 41.

    OzarkHillbilly

    In other news, Sen Jeff Sessions wondered if a man had a baseball bat shoved up his @n@l cavity, would that be sexual assault?

  42. 42.

    Mnemosyne

    @Kay:

    I don’t know how many commenters we have who follow the Spanish-language media, but is Tim Kaine appearing on every channel and radio talk show like I assumed he would be?

  43. 43.

    ? Martin

    @skerry: Yep, that’s been going around the twitters. Mansplaining that grabbing someone’s püssy is impossible may be the platonic ideal of mansplaining.

  44. 44.

    trollhattan

    @Kay:
    Does this increase or decrease the odds I get my dream of a taco truck on every corner? I don’t know how to score this at home.

  45. 45.

    Kay

    I know Trump keeps his hair longer in the back because he’s losing his hair, but it makes him look more stalker-ish and threatening for some reason. It kind of sinks his head into his shoulders in a hulking fashion. Horrifying visual.

  47. 47.

    Baud

    TWS: So if you grab a woman by the genitals, that’s not sexual assault?

    SESSIONS: I don’t know. It’s not clear that he—how that would occur.

    It’s a purely hypothetical gotcha question. Sessions had no way of knowing if she deserved it.

  49. 49.

    Gravenstone

    The evil little fucker was also A-Okay with Trumpenstein siccing his AG on Hillary should he somehow ascend to the Presidency. Deranged doesn’t begin to describe Jeff Sessions.

  50. 50.

    hovercraft

    @Timurid:
    They can try, but their favorite barometer the polls, say different. The real people said she won, the pundits, said he won, because they love spectacle. Chris Koufinas had a NC focus group with 31 undecided, of the 15 women 13 found his answer on the tape unsatisfactory. At the end the majority said she won, 1 said he won. Luntz had him winning, but CNN also had her as the winner. It was funny watching the coverage last night trying to give to him, and then having to pivot after the insta polls come in. This morning on Morning Joe they simply pretended that the insta polls didn’t exist and proclaimed him the blowout winner. Apparently Joe and Mika spent the weekend stewing in their juices about the media coverage and the rats fleeing the ship. They were both saying that after last night the rats would have to come crawling back to their Lord and Master after he vanquished the passive lady. While most of the guests didn’t agree with them, they did so gently.

  56. 56.

    SFAW

    @burnspbesq:

    Kimchi quesadillas for eveyone!

    Too weird for words. I love Korean, I love Mexican, but that is just a bridge too far.

    I know, I know — I should try it first. OK, next time I’m out your way, I will. (Of course, I can try to find them in Flushing, I guess.)

  57. 57.

    ? Martin

    @hueyplong: Jeb probably knew about it. Sounds like a lot of lot of people knew about it. A lot of oppo goes unused early in the campaign because the public can’t absorb it. You have to work up to these things.

    That’s why Clinton is in some ways a great candidate. The GOP has already blown through all of this, and you either buy it or you don’t. Now that means that Clinton has high negatives, but it also means that the likelihood of an October Surprise is pretty close to zero. You know exactly what you are working against, and you work those numbers directly. With Obama it was a lot more unknown. Same with Sanders. Same with Trump. Clinton is just a matter of grinding out the votes.

  58. 58.

    psycholinguist

    So, here’s a thought experiment. Trump gets hammered, as do the down-races. He blames it on voter fraud, never concedes, etc. His followers are convinced. Trump likes making money campaigning (what a great way to create business for his properties, right), so he and Ailes start their media company and target, as he did last night, the 27%ers. Rush Limbaugh is doing it now and Trump wants a piece of that pie. Then, in 2020, he runs again, and his base is there to make sure he gets his, hell he might even pull out another primary win, because like this year, the racist vote in the primary doesn’t allow you to go left, and you aren’t going to out-deplorable Trump, especially not the second time around.

    I really don’t know how the republicans get out of this without expanding their base, but that would mean repudiating the rhetoric they’ve been using the last 30 years, and kicking the religious right to the curb, and I don’t think they can do that. This can’t be good for our country, to have a non-functioning opposition.

  61. 61.

    ? Martin

    Looks like the federal government just fact-checked Trump.

    During Sunday’s debate, Donald Trump once again said he doesn’t know whether Russia is trying to hack the U.S. election, despite Friday’s statement by the U.S. intelligence community pointing the finger at Putin — and despite the fact that Trump was personally briefed on Russia’s role in the hacks by U.S. officials.

    A senior U.S. intelligence official assured NBC News that cybersecurity and the Russian government’s attempts to interfere in the 2016 election have been briefed to, and discussed extensively with, both parties’ candidates, surrogates and leadership, since mid-August. “To profess not to know at this point is willful misrepresentation,” said the official. “The intelligence community has walked a very thin line in not taking sides, but both candidates have all the information they need to be crystal clear.”

  62. 62.

    Schlemazel

    2 interesting bits that came to light today:
    While Sec Clinton was speaking Drumpf wandered over to her podium & read her notes . . . yup, totally rigged (BTW – Drumpf actually got 1 more minute of speaking time that Hillary so his whine about getting cut off? Yeah, not so much)

    There is a story making the rounds that Melanoma plagiarized her apology from one Hillary made. Don’t bite, it is false. But she did in fact wear a “pussy-bow blouse” to the debate . . . I was more concerned about the fact she was totally covered, worried the monster might have smacked her around.

  64. 64.

    Betty Cracker

    There’s just not enough popcorn in the world…

    But in a potentially ominous sign for the party, Kellyanne Conway, Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, also offered a note of warning for Republicans fleeing Mr. Trump. Mr. Ryan, she noted on television, had been booed by Trump fans over the weekend in Wisconsin after asking Mr. Trump not to attend a political event in his home state.

    Ms. Conway also repeatedly indicated that she was aware of Republican lawmakers who had behaved inappropriately toward young women, and whose criticism of Mr. Trump was therefore hypocritical.

    If this keeps up, I may have to reconsider my atheism…

  66. 66.

    Schlemazel

    2 interesting bits that came to light today:
    While Sec Clinton was speaking Drumpf wandered over to her podium & read her notes . . . yup, totally rigged (BTW – Drumpf actually got 1 more minute of speaking time that Hillary so his whine about getting cut off? Yeah, not so much)

    There is a story making the rounds that Melanoma plagiarized her apology from one Hillary made. Don’t bite, it is false. But she did in fact wear a “pu**y-bow blouse” to the debate . . . I was more concerned about the fact she was totally covered, worried the monster might have smacked her around.

  67. 67.

    jl

    Would be interesting to get Sessions’ deep philosophical thoughts on correct semantics on grabbing dick versus balls, versus male crotch in general.
    A ball grab probably not sexual, since violence on balls obviously refers to routine maintenance of accepted social power relations and hierarchy?

  70. 70.

    burnspbesq

    @SFAW:

    I would trade all of our crazy SoCal fusion food trucks for the halal truck from the corner of 53rd and Sixth.

    Except the gourmet grilled cheese truck. We’re keeping that one.

  71. 71.

    Jonny Scrum-half

    I know that older white men are the biggest demographic supporting Trump, and I acknowledge that too many of them have been acting as if it’s a personal affront for Obama to have been elected President and for Blacks to be upset about getting killed by police and the like, but lines like “the nerve on these old white men” just rub me the wrong way. I don’t recall any posts generalizing against young Black athletes based on numerous allegations of sexual misbehavior that have been in the news. More importantly, I don’t think that these sorts of generalizations are helpful in a broader, societal sense, because they tend to deepen divisions along racial lines rather than focusing on the actual statements or conduct of particular individuals.

  73. 73.

    David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch

    Peter Hamby @PeterHamby

    Man, the panic from GOP strategists actually working on Senate and House races sure does sound different from the “Trump won!” punditry.

    10:08 AM – 10 Oct 2016

    780 retweets 1,510 likes

    mike murphy ‏@murphymike

    85% of pundits are clueless. Sad but true.

    10 retweets 48 likes

    Did anyone see Hardball Friday? Tweety went full Noonan and dismissed the disastrous polling results, saying numbers don’t tell you anything, what you have to do is “study the culture and personality of a state” to determine who will win.

  74. 74.

    Jibeaux

    I’ve been married for quite some time, and I would be very taken aback if my husband did that out of the blue.

    A comment from the 538 podcast was “so, Donald Trump has no game.” It’s really true. He wasn’t bragging that he’s able to charm or seduce women, which would just be icky. He’s actually bragging that he uses sexual assault. A guy with money and celebrity have a little bit of a head start on having a consensual affair. SAD!

  75. 75.

    Anoniminous

    @psycholinguist:

    Trump got 14 million votes in the GOP primary. He’ll get at least 32.9 million in the election (122 million x .27.) Fox News averages 2 million viewers/day so there is plenty of audience for a Trump Channel.

  76. 76.

    ? Martin

    @SFAW: Burnsey is almost certainly referencing Kogi Taco. They’ve been around here for a number of years and kimchi quesadillas is on their menu. Korean shortrib tacos are amazing, btw. Thankfully they have a truck in my area pretty regularly.

  77. 77.

    Calouste

    @skerry: Ask him if he is willing to let another man grab him by the ass, because, hey, it’s internal, right? (We can take it as a given that the person in question will also be a homophobe besides a misogynist).

  81. 81.

    Kay

    “I think the handwriting is on the bathroom wall: Men need to stay out of the ladies’ room,” Patrick said. “This isn’t about equal rights. This isn’t about being against anyone or anti-any person. This is about common sense, common decency and allowing women to have comfort when they’re in the bathroom.”

    Yet. Enthusiastically supporting a man who hangs around backstage at beauty pageants so he can see the 19 year old contestants undressed.

    Feels he has a right to because he owns the pageant. So if he owned a restaurant he’d be skulking around hoping to see the wait staff change before their shift, right? Might look into security footage at those casinos. See if anyone large and dumb is hanging around the employee lockers. Just gross.

  83. 83.

    ? Martin

    @Jibeaux: It sounds more and more like Trump bought Miss America/Miss Universe simply so he’d have the authority to walk into their dressing room when they’re naked.

  84. 84.

    Iowa Old Lady

    Yesterday, kos posted a link to the 2008 scene in Grant Park. I got all teary watching it again, and it occurred to me that I feel cheated. I want national rejoicing that the country is now able to elect a woman president. That night in 2008, the media and even Rs were saying what an amazingly wonderful moment this was for the country, not because of Obama exactly, but because of history. I want to feel that about a woman president. And Trump has turned it into crap.

  85. 85.

    Anoniminous

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

    Tweety went full Noonan and dismissed the disastrous polling results, saying numbers don’t tell you anything, what you have to do is “study the culture and personality of a state” to determine who will win.

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!

    (*pause for breath*)

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!

    Their HORSE! RACE! has jumped the fence at the off turn, galloped through the parking lot, and is heading for the far, green, hills.

  88. 88.

    Humdog

    @burnspbesq: My favorite from the Forbes list:

    Trump may be pregnant: Less likely but if this is the cause, he is probably in his third trimester, and the sniffles should resolve within a few weeks of delivery.

    Given their deplorable knowledge of human reproduction, it is possible they go with this reason. But then he’d disgust himself, so…

  91. 91.

    trollhattan

    @Anoniminous:
    Jayzes, that’s thick. Would love to have Tweety say it in front of an actual pollster. Hell, even Luntz would do.

    But what would Tip O’Neill say?

  92. 92.

    Mnemosyne

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

    Tweety went full Noonan and dismissed the disastrous polling results, saying numbers don’t tell you anything, what you have to do is “study the culture and personality of a state” to determine who will win.

    Disney’s Zootopia, an animated cartoon about overcoming bigotry, made over $1 billion worldwide. Hamilton is probably the biggest Broadway show of the last 30 years. “Luke Cage” had a huge debut on Netflix with no major characters who are white. Blog favorite Luvvie Ajayi has hit the NYT Bestseller List with her book, I’m Judging You.

    The pundits are out of touch with what the American people want to see and what they want their country to be like.

  96. 96.

    NorthLeft12

    Yep, real SCOTUS material. The citizens of the US owe a large debt of gratitude to those Senators that kept him out of the Supreme Court.
    Bad news; the idiot voters of Alabama put him into the Senate. Sad.

  99. 99.

    slag

    @Kay: I was just having a discussion with someone convincing him that gender neutral bathrooms lead to less “creepy old man”ness because they de-categorize, thereby minimizing “othering”. Finally, he imagined “Star Trek bathrooms” and got on board with the concept.

    Apparently, going boldly into the future means treating everyone as just people.

  100. 100.

    RaflW

    Sweet jebus the man will hold office until 2021.

    Also, I’m curious why TWS ran this. It’s helpful, surely, to know what an awful ass Sessions is. But it feels like an oppo drop by conservatives. It’s confusing.

  101. 101.

    Roger Moore

    He kept telling the interviewer to stop, but they refused to take no for an answer… ETA: They kept forcing their question on him no matter how hard he refused to answer it.

  102. 102.

    SFAW

    @burnspbesq:

    for the halal truck from the corner of 53rd and Sixth.

    Is that “The Halal Guys”? I hear they’re pretty awesome, although I’ve never been.

    @? Martin:

    Korean shortrib tacos are amazing, btw.

    Not surprising, although it must be tough nibbling around the bone.
    Be that as it may: there’s just something about kimchi as the base layer for a taco that is disconcerting.

  103. 103.

    Gin & Tonic

    @SFAW: The halal food trucks/carts in NYC now are like Ray’s Pizza – there’s one on nearly every corner.

  104. 104.

    ? Martin

    @RaflW:

    Also, I’m curious why TWS ran this. It’s helpful, surely, to know what an awful ass Sessions is. But it feels like an oppo drop by conservatives. It’s confusing.

    TWS would still like to have a reason to exist after Nov 8. If the GOP turns into the püssy-grabbing party, then they might as well pack it up.

  105. 105.

    hovercraft

    @? Martin:

    A senior U.S. intelligence official assured NBC News that cybersecurity and the Russian government’s attempts to interfere in the 2016 election have been briefed to, and discussed extensively with, both parties’ candidates, surrogates and leadership, since mid-August. “To profess not to know at this point is willful misrepresentation,” said the official. “The intelligence community has walked a very thin line in not taking sides, but both candidates have all the information they need to be crystal clear.”

    Doesn’t count, just like the FBI Director and the Justice Department, and the IRS, and the media, and the non Trump voters, and the facts, have all been tainted by the black man in the White House, who is stealing the country away from “Real Americans.”

  107. 107.

    David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch

    Patrick Marley ‏@patrickdmarley 6m6 minutes ago

    I asked @SeanDuffy the question about Trump four or five times before he hung up on me.

    He wouldn’t tell me if he supports Trump as the nominee. Told me I should have called spokesman instead of him.

    0 replies 11 retweets 4 likes

    This was one of Trump’s biggest supporters – bigly. He was one of a few to speak at the convention.

    Now he’s in full retreat.

    It’s the Fall of Saigon all over again.

  108. 108.

    Punchy

    I don’t characterize that as sexual assault. I think that’s a stretch. I don’t know what he meant

    This needs to be made into a commercial and played 50,000 times. Tagline: “The GOP believes holding your hoo-hah is not sexual assault”. I’m sure women will find it funny. Or something.

  109. 109.

    Seanly

    @Timurid:

    And then reload and empty the clip err magazine (for our gun-fetishists) again.

    To switch to a sports metaphor, we’re about halfway through the 3rd quarter in a college football game. The favored team has a respectable, but not insurmountable lead. No lead of under 3 touchdowns is safe in these circumstances. Nobody faults a coach for keeping his starters out there when it isn’t a blowout. A series of fumbles & some bad defense and the hated opposition is right back in it. I don’t want things to be in question come November 8.

  111. 111.

    jl

    I never gave much credence to idea that Trump could bust up the GOP. Though I may have let some overenthusiastic thoughts on it leak into a few of my comments, though. But I never imagined this mess.

    How close have the Dems ever come to nominating a nutcase?: Trump tried out with our team a couple of times in the past, but IIRC, Dems said no thanks.

    I think I’ll send Sessions a query on the proper interpretation of kick in the balls versus a tearing a guy’s balls off? Are those really bad? How does those actions subtly interact with the male anatomy? Important questions.

  112. 112.

    Face

    I think I’m going to watch Sean “Ins” Hannity this evening. Before dinner, natch. I have a feeling his take will be so delightfully dumb as shit that I can actually laugh at these pukes for once.

  113. 113.

    Kenneth Fair

    To be fair to Senator Beauregard T. Whistlebritches, what Trump said he did is not technically “sexual assault” under Alabama law. It’s actually “sexual abuse in the first degree“:

    Section 13A-6-66. Sexual abuse in the first degree.

    (a) A person commits the crime of sexual abuse in the first degree if:

    (1) He subjects another person to sexual contact by forcible compulsion; or

    (2) He subjects another person to sexual contact who is incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless or mentally incapacitated.

    (b) Sexual abuse in the first degree is a Class C felony.

    So everything’s hunky dory, y’all. It’s not sexual assault, it’s just sexual abuse. In the first degree.

  114. 114.

    hovercraft

    @David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch:
    Yes I saw that. Funny how when it’s close they say why isn’t she blowing him away, but then when she stretches her lead it’s these numbers aren’t real, people are lying. People want change, this is a change election and she’s not change, she’s more of the same. They should just go ahead and say we want change, Hillary is boring and we don’t want to have to cover her boring administration for the next 4 years.

  115. 115.

    Jonny Scrum-half

    @Humdog: You obviously can be dismissive if you want. And I realize that I’m sounding dangerously like the people who complain about why white people can’t use certain language that’s commonly used in rap songs. However, I really don’t understand how it’s productive to use language that can only deepen divisions that already are causing a lot of problems in the country.

    I don’t know if you read conservative blogs, but a meme is that Obama has utterly failed in his promise of “racial healing.” It’s frustrating to me when I read that because it’s so obvious that most of the racial tension is not Obama’s fault, but rather the reactionary response of white conservatives to the fact that a Black man was elected President. I know that it’s tempting to use similar rhetoric in response to BS like that, but ultimately I find it dangerous when we don’t take every opportunity to try to stop the talking-point-type of arguments and get down to real communication. I think that making flippant comments about “whites” or “older white men” is counter-productive.

  116. 116.

    ? Martin

    @Jonny Scrum-half: Jeez dude. Don’t ‘All Lives Matter’ the thread, okay?

    Collectively, we’ve been assholes. By virtue of who we are we were able to rise to positions of authority and shape policy in this country. You personally may not be an asshole, or me, or Botsplainer, but Paul Ryan cancels out at the very least a few hundred thousand well-behaving white males. Toss Beauregard on the pile, then Trump, and so on and we’re pretty seriously outgunned by only about 30 guys.

  117. 117.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: Nope. Many of the rest of us do too. And they totally do not comprehend that for women who’ve experienced this, it’s a visceral response. Perhaps that’s a willful failure of comprehension, but they. do. not. fucking. get. it. at all. It will reach a tipping point with a woman they know – and perhaps even care about – and they’ll get an earful, or a faceful.

  121. 121.

    Dork

    @Punchy: It’s locker room talk, buddy. Are you saying that women cant be in locker rooms? Go to the weight room and tell the field hockey team they cant have locker rooms. Go tell each beanpole on the volleyball court “No lockers for you” (then ask them about the weather up there). Interrupt the make-out sessions going on on the softball field and let the pitchers know they’re now changing in the mop closet.

    If I’ve learned one thing from Trump, its that to be a responsible American and for the safety of all runny and throwy broads, we must prevent chicks from using locker rooms.

  123. 123.

    Kropadope

    @? Martin: Is there a Christian equivalent to Shariah Law that we can call the Republican agenda so as to scare voters with unfamiliar words?

  127. 127.

    David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch

    @hovercraft: I saw Beltway dimwitt Susan Page of USA Today say last week “Hillary should be losing because people want change”.

    Of course it made no sense as Obama has 58% approval rating.

    It occurred to me this is what they say to themselves at their Georgetown cocktail parties (people want change) to rationalize how their darlings (Kasich, Lil’ Marco, ¿Jeb?) got crushed by a short fingered vulgarian. They refuse to acknowledge that Trump won because their base is racist, sexist, anti-Semitic.

  128. 128.

    Jeffro

    Just think of all the effort the GOP has gone to, over 3-4 DECADES, to try and bring Hillary Clinton down…and she STILL beat them & is heading to the Oval Office in January. I mean, all the smears, all the air quote “investigations”, all the dollars, all the man-hours, and she still stood up there last night against Trump’s slime fest. Amazing.

  129. 129.

    Hal

    @srv: An entire production team had to have known about the remarks for a decade plus. I wonder how many friends and family of those people have heard the story of Trump and Billy Bush over the years? It was only a matter of time. Bush was probably sweating this whole election season.

  130. 130.

    bystander

    @Betty Cracker:

    I wonder if Sessions would consider it a sexual assault if I clapped his withered old twig and two berries in a panini press…

    Anyone invited Chez Cracker for lunch should be forewarned.

  131. 131.

    hovercraft

    @David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch:
    61 insults, 39 women: Trump’s long history of misogyny

    Princess Diana
    Princess of Wales
    She had the height, she had the beauty, she had the skin – the whole thing. … She was crazy, but these are minor details.
    Trump on The Howard Stern Show discussing how much he’d like to sleep with Princess Diana, who had died three years earlier (BuzzFeed)

    Gail Collins
    New York Times columnist
    The Face of a Dog!
    Trump’s response to a column in Newsday calling him a “financially embattled thousandaire” (New York Times)

    Rosie O’Donnell
    comedian
    Can you imagine the parents of Kelli … when she said, ‘Mom, Dad, I just fell in love with a big, fat pig named Rosie’? Can you imagine the expression on their face?
    How Trump talked about Rosie O’Donnell’s relationship during their ongoing feud (Fox News)

    Gloria Allred
    lawyer
    I think Gloria would be very very impressed with [my pen!s].
    Trump on TMZ after Gloria Allred sued him on behalf of a transgender woman barred from the Miss Canada pageant. Allred had said Trump didn’t have to show his genitals to prove his sex. (TMZ)

    Brande Roderick
    Former Playboy playmate, Celebrity Apprentice contestant
    It must be a pretty picture. You dropping to your knees.
    Trump’s response when told that a contestant was so desperate to stay on the show she’d gotten on her knees to plead (Mediaite)

    Bette Midler
    singer
    .@BetteMidler talks about my hair but I’m not allowed to talk about her ugly face or body — so I won’t. Is this a double standard?
    Trump and Bette Midler started a Twitter feud in 2012 that led Trump to attack her appearance (Twitter)

    Via Vox

  132. 132.

    singfoom

    Someone should grab Jeff Sessions dick and ask him if he feels like he’s being assaulted. I am not volunteering for this crime. Then if he’s still confused, they can read him the code as referenced by Kenneth Faire and say, “Well ok, you’re technically right, it’s sexual abuse, not assault.”

    Section 13A-6-66. Sexual abuse in the first degree.

    (a) A person commits the crime of sexual abuse in the first degree if:

    (1) He subjects another person to sexual contact by forcible compulsion; or

    (2) He subjects another person to sexual contact who is incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless or mentally incapacitated.

    (b) Sexual abuse in the first degree is a Class C felony.

    Seriously dangerous asshole there.

  137. 137.

    hovercraft

    @Jeffro:
    That’s why last night happened. The Trump “brain trust” is now comprised of all Arkansas Project alumni. They have all built their careers on destroying the Clintons. They are failing and failing in the most spectacular fashion. So they have decided to bring the house down with them.

  138. 138.

    Humdog

    @Jonny Scrum-half: “You obviously can be dismissive if you want”

    Thanks for the permission, I am relieved I got your ok. Old white dudes have a lot to answer for, just look at the OP. And here you are dirtying up the thread with #NotAllOldWhiteMen. Grab a clue, you are perpetuating the problem.

  139. 139.

    sukabi

    @Anoniminous: what are the going to do if one of their horses succeeds at committing political suicide?

    They managed to revive McCain’s 08 campaign after he’d suspended it (Lehmans) and again after he smothered it (Palin), but damn they keep humpin’ this one even though it’s hitlers reanimated corpse.

  141. 141.

    Chris

    @psycholinguist:

    I really don’t know how the republicans get out of this without expanding their base, but that would mean repudiating the rhetoric they’ve been using the last 30 years, and kicking the religious right to the curb, and I don’t think they can do that. This can’t be good for our country, to have a non-functioning opposition.

    The best case scenario is that we end up like we did in the post Civil War era, with the far right party reduced to a regional rump with only limited influence on national level politics. We’re not nearly at that point, though.

  142. 142.

    piratedan

    @David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch: these people really don’t want change… change is coming back to your home on the coast of South Carolina and finding the remnants of a foundation slab… THAT’S change.

    These folks simply want better… They don’t want to spend 45 minutes on hold to talk to someone to get their insurance issues untangled… they don’t want to have to wait two weeks for the new appliances to be delivered. They would prefer not having to use the pharmacy cross town because that’s the only one on their plan.

    we’re being done a disservice by our media in its complete misrepresentation of our language and interpretation of meaning and motive.

  144. 144.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Mary G:

    Yesterday I ate Greek yogurt and cottage cheese. Also ear canals and exploding sinuses.

    How did you prepare the ear canals? I’ve heard they can be pretty tough.

  145. 145.

    RaflW

    Oh, and you know how you follow up with Sessions? You ask him how he thinks a Trans man grabs a woman’s parts in a bathroom. He’d know exactly how that happens.

    These people are beneath contempt.

    eta: Serious apology to trans people. I know what total bullshit this all is. But they go there in the trans panic game, and then can’t even fathom it for a straight guy what assault is.

  146. 146.

    cokane

    it’s not dumb. they just don’t care.

    Trump’s rise can be pretty much solely blamed on never taking the concerns of blacks, browns, muslims and most damning women, seriously.

  148. 148.

    Jonny Scrum-half

    @? Martin: I appreciate your explanation, and generally agree, but I’ll try to make my point one more time. Your reference to “All Lives Matter” is relevant, because that’s the response that de-railed a lot of what BLM was trying to accomplish. I understand why it’s a distraction to respond to BLM by saying “all lives matter,” but not everyone was willing to listen to those sorts of explanations. In my view, BLM made a mistake in messaging by, for example, not adding the word, “too” to its name. (Again, I know that it was implied, but that’s not how many people chose to understand it.)
    Same thing here – we can use effective language, or language that’s counter-productive. I think flippant comments about how white people are lame or evil or deluded or whatever are unhelpful to society as a whole.

  149. 149.

    PsiFighter37

    Another Wikileak batch dropped – virtually nothing of note in it. The Ecuadorians should boot his ass out; I have to imagine he is an insufferable asshole to live with. Can’t even deliver the goods.

  152. 152.

    Punchy

    @Gin & Tonic: I’m interested in how the exploding sinuses tasted. I’ve heard a bit garlicky, but it depends on the level of detonation, I suppose.

  154. 154.

    Mnemosyne

    @Mary G:

    Yikes! So far, my sore throat is fairly mild — I had soup and a baked potato for dinner last night, but I’m having cheese and crackers for lunch today.

    I’m somewhat prone to strep throat, so I usually monitor sore throats closely, and this one has stayed pretty much the same level of moderate ouchiness for the past couple of days. Phew!

  156. 156.

    dmsilev

    @RaflW: I’m afraid Halperin has the staying power of a cockroach. If ‘this is excellent news for John McCain’ couldn’t get rid of him, I’m not sure anything can ruin his reputation.

  158. 158.

    D58826

    Last night there was some criticism of Hillary for ‘missed opportunities’ to respond to ‘old little hands’. I wonder if that was deliberate on her part – just let him talk he will bring his own wood/fuel and matches to set himself on fire. No help needed from Hillary. Only thing she didn’t have on the stage was a big bowl of popcorn.

  159. 159.

    Jeffro

    Btw everyone, Alex Jones is taking this well…he has it ON GOOD AUTHORITY that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are literally (and I’m using that correctly) demons, complete with sulfur stench and flies around them all the time EVEN INDOORS…

  160. 160.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Gosh, Trump said “fuck” and “pussy”.

    Well, those are very very bad.

    What he was communicating, though, is not really a problem at all!

    /Jayuff Sayshuns

  164. 164.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @WereBear: I understand that, which is why I suspect one of those women – who did not completely internalize their view that it’s her fault (of course!) – may hear one too many remarks once too often and simply lose her shit. Which they will deserve 752 times over.

  165. 165.

    Brachiator

    @srv:

    “I think it was timed,” Mr. Falwell said. “I think it might have even been a conspiracy among establishment Republicans who have known about it for weeks and who tried to time it to do the maximum damage to Donald Trump, and I just … I just think it just backfired on them.”

    Mr. Falwell said his charge is based on “some independent information” he has received, but he refused to name names.

    Not only are the rats deserting a sinking ship, they are gnawing on each other as they scramble out.

  170. 170.

    Brachiator

    @Jeffro:

    . ..Btw everyone, Alex Jones is taking this well…he has it ON GOOD AUTHORITY that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are literally (and I’m using that correctly) demons, complete with sulfur stench and flies around them all the time EVEN INDOORS…

    No, that’s Dubya. Remember what Hugo Chavez said about him?

    . Yesterday the Devil came here. Right here. And it smells of sulphur still today.

  172. 172.

    Mary G

    @raven: Jealous! The only time I ever got to sit in the good seats was when Reggie Jackson hit three home runs. Not that fun.

  173. 173.

    Jeffro

    @David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch: LOL. The SNL skit writes itself…Trump, sniffling, edging closer to Hillz…just trying to confirm if it’s sulfur…

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Alex Jones: Mental hospital escapee.

    Yeah, I mean is there a manual for the various levels of mental illness that comprise the modern Republican Party? Even just ranking the delusional scale they use would be something…or maybe a graph with “delusion” on the X-axis and “mendacity” on the Y-axis?

  176. 176.

    Humdog

    @Jonny Scrum-half: Flippiant comments? In a post where a former prosecutor blandly ignores sexual assault, or sexual abuse in his home state, you repeatedly pick the nit that not all old white dudes are this problematic. In a thread where women have reported feeling flashes of PTSD at having sexual assault ignored or pooh poohed as no big deal locker room talk. That is the issue here, once again, clear sexual predation is being ok’d as boys will be boys. Why the hell is now the time to talk about the poor maligned 35% of old white men unfairly binned in with those who support this guy? Maybe you would have a point if we were commenting on a USA Today article where the readership is more varied, but here, at Balloon Juice, you are repeatedly calling for sympathy and a change of vocabulary for what you see as the wronged group in this story. Doing here is agreeing with the idea that sexual assault is no big deal as you derail the thread to reallocate our sympathies to old white guys. Please stop now.

  178. 178.

    Calouste

    @PsiFighter37: Ecuador must not have strong labor laws. Having to work for years under the same roof as an accused rapist fleeing justice is a stressful work environment for women, and worth suing over.

  181. 181.

    karen marie

    @Iowa Old Lady: No, only if you let him. I am sure that on the night of November 8, after the polls close, and HRC is announced as the next president, you will feel great joy. There is always fear about “what next,” because the world doesn’t stop after momentous victory, but don’t let that touch your pride.

  182. 182.

    pluky

    @Kenneth Fair: Thank you. The man is an attorney, once considered for the federal bench for crying out loud. There had to be some way he knew he could justify that weaseling disavowal.

  183. 183.

    Mnemosyne

    @WereBear:

    Uh-oh — I didn’t think internet viruses worked that way! ?

    The annoying thing to me is that I rarely get sneezy colds, but this seems to be a sneezy one. Damn it.

  185. 185.

    cleek

    Dear Jeff,

    No matter where you grab a woman, without permission, for the sole purpose of unilaterally starting a sexual encounter, it’s sexual assault.

    -cleek

  188. 188.

    Peale

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

    study the culture and personality of a state”

    Which I’m sure will involve thinking what the stereotypical white male will be thinking, who will look like Archie Bunker, with only the accent changing. Cause the default voter for Tweety is always his cranky Irish Great Uncle who died in 1982.

  189. 189.

    Van Buren

    @psycholinguist: Yeah, it would certainly suck to have to endure the overreach by Democrats. All those progressive policies bettering our lives and saving the planet. Much better to have a coherent Republican party obstructing 90% of the agenda.

  190. 190.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @Schlemazel:

    While Sec Clinton was speaking Drumpf wandered over to her podium & read her notes

    I noticed him peering at her podium and wondered whether he was trying to sneak a look at her playbook. And then I wished that the top note, in huge black marker all-caps, said

    PUSSY THIS, DONALD!

  191. 191.

    Immanentize

    As I was driving back to Boston from Upstate NY this morning, I heard a guest on Tom Ashcroft’s On Point say that he agreed with Trump about getting a special prosecutor and putting Hillary in jail. I want those people who say this to be asked — and if Hillary becomes President? Are you cool with her doing the same thing to Donald?

    Meanwhile, the trees were beautiful on the hills along route 88.

  192. 192.

    geg6

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    And Trump has turned it into crap.

    Bullshit. You’re letting him turn it into crap for you. Myself, I can guarantee you that I will be doing something similar to what I did on election night 2008: crying, while drinking a glass of champagne and thinking of my mom and grandmothers and all the women who fought for this to happen throughout the course of American history. I’m not going to let that fucking creep and his even more creepy minions ruin that accomplishment. An accomplishment that all American women should celebrate.

  194. 194.

    Blue Galangal

    Apropos of sexual assault, the following came across our campus alert system.

    Sexual assault includes sexual conduct or contact, as well as other activity of a sexual nature, without the consent of the other person or when knowing the other person is unable to consent because of age, or impaired mental or physical condition (e.g. impairment due to drugs or alcohol). Sexual assault can range from voyeurism and public indecency to rape. Consent is informed, freely given, verbal, mutual, and can be withdrawn at any time. For campus and community gender-based and sexual assault support services visit [URL].

    Important Safety Reminders:
    Responsibility for sexual assault lies with the perpetrators, not the survivor. Most offenders assault someone they know. No one deserves, asks for, or provokes sexual assault. The following safety reminders may reduce your risk of sexual assault, but only the perpetrator can prevent an assault:

  195. 195.

    Jonny Scrum-half

    @Humdog: I will stop, because you’re continually missing my point. I’m not asking for sympathy for “old white guys.” I’m noting my belief that the language that we use to convey our arguments can be counter-productive, which should matter if you’re interested in living in a functioning democracy, where the citizens try to persuade others to support their positions.
    If I don’t bring it up in the thread where the problematic language (in my opinion) is used, where am I supposed to bring it up?
    That’s a question that doesn’t require a response, because to the extent that I had a point I’ve either made it or not by now.

  199. 199.

    singfoom

    @Immanentize:

    I heard a guest on Tom Ashcroft’s On Point say that he agreed with Trump about getting a special prosecutor and putting Hillary in jail. I want those people who say this to be asked — and if Hillary becomes Presdidnt. Are you cool with her doing the same thing to Donald?

    Well, of course they’re not comfortable with her doing that to Donald, he hasn’t KILLED AMERICANS with his EMAIL CRIMES. At least, that’s the response I think you would get. I wouldn’t be comfortable with Hillary appointing a special prosecutor to prosecute Donald Trump after she wins the election.

    I DO think that the NY attorney general will most likely file some charges against Trump around his clear and willful violations of the law around his charitable Foundation. That said, I would hope the Clinton administration stays the FUCK AWAY from the prosecution of Donald Trump. Because even if they do and don’t touch it with a 100 foot pole, the morons will say it was revenge.

  200. 200.

    stinger

    @Iowa Old Lady: No, he hasn’t. We don’t give him that power over us. I will be crying and laughing and talking to pictures of my (deceased) grandmothers and aunts the night of her election, and again on the day of her inauguration, and rejoicing every day in between. I broke one or two barriers in my day (Army), but she is sailing right over the ultimate one with dignity and grace and calm competence. This is HISTORIC. The failed realtor with a string of failed marriages and a string of bankruptcies is nothing but a dim orange blip on history’s timeline.

  201. 201.

    MattF

    Trump, right now, haranguing the troops in PA:

    “I love blue collar workers… I consider myself in a certain way to be a blue collar worker.” –

  203. 203.

    Jeffro

    @singfoom:

    I DO think that the NY attorney general will most likely file some charges against Trump around his clear and willful violations of the law around his charitable Foundation. That said, I would hope the Clinton administration stays the FUCK AWAY from the prosecution of Donald Trump. Because even if they do and don’t touch it with a 100 foot pole, the morons will say it was revenge

    They can say it was ‘revenge’, they can say it’s whatever they want to say – they will anyway. Let’s have the various investigations – Trump U, GropeGate – play out how they will, according to the letter of the law. No reason why the prosecutor(s) of each cases can’t publicly ‘walk’ folks through what happened, why charges were brought, and so on.

    I mean, it’s Trump, he’ll lie & deny, then appeal, then appeal again – whatever. But for once, let’s have the rule of law and not worry about what morons, bullies, and right-wing nut jobs think.

  204. 204.

    Immanentize

    @singfoom: No President should ever openly call for the investigation and prosecution of any individual who isn’t a war criminal or someone guilty of some equally egregious series of crimes. Especially not a political opponent. Like you suggest, that is what our state and federal prosecutors are for. This is such a norm-busting statement. It is the one that worries me the most. Trump is going to lose this election, but will criminalizing the losers of future elections now be something that’s possible?

  206. 206.

    Larkspur

    Has anyone read actress Amber Tamblyn’s account of being assaulted in the exact way being discussed? It’s over at Buzzfeed and it ought to clear up any confusion about whether getting your pussy grabbed is assault or not. Needless to say, trigger warning.

  207. 207.

    singfoom

    @Jonny Scrum-half:

    I will stop, because you’re continually missing my point. I’m not asking for sympathy for “old white guys.” I’m noting my belief that the language that we use to convey our arguments can be counter-productive, which should matter if you’re interested in living in a functioning democracy, where the citizens try to persuade others to support their positions.

    You’re tone policing. Which is fine honestly, sometimes tone can be problematic. In this case, mistermix actually used this language.

    The nerve on these old white men.

    THESE being the operative term that you seem to be ignoring. He didn’t end with ALL White men. So he was describing a group of old white men that were defending Trump’s actions. You’re bothered by that usage. Ok, fine. Noted. He didn’t say all white men are bad. I’m sure there’s a fainting couch nearby for you to collapse on if all this rudeness has given you the vapors.

  209. 209.

    Lizzy L

    Trump has posted his threat/pledge/promise to put Hillary Clinton in jail on his FB page. The guy’s only tactic is doubling down. No wonder he wanted to own a casino.

    It’s like watching the Charge of the Light Brigade, played out over months.

  213. 213.

    Soylent Green

    This can’t be good for our country, to have a non-functioning opposition.

    We have had a non-functioning opposition for the last eight years. The only thing they do is obstruct. They are sworn enemies of progress. Get them out of the way for a few cycles and maybe the nation can accomplish something.

  214. 214.

    hueyplong

    As an oldish white male, it is my position that Jonny Scrum-half might be too much of a hothouse flower to survive the season.

  216. 216.

    NorthLeft12

    @Anoniminous:

    so there is plenty of audience for a Trump Channel.

    Based on Deadbeat Donald’s history with business ventures [airlines, university, casinos, hotels, vodka, steaks, magazine, pro football, etc.] this should turn into another spectacular failure.

  217. 217.

    Roger Moore

    @singfoom:

    I wouldn’t be comfortable with Hillary appointing a special prosecutor to prosecute Donald Trump after she wins the election.

    I don’t think he’s done anything that justifies a special prosecutor. Whatever crimes he’s committed are ordinary crimes that can be investigated by the normal criminal process. At the same time, I don’t want those ordinary prosecutors to handle him with kid gloves because they’re afraid of being accused of carrying on a vendetta; that way lies impunity for anyone who manages to run for high office.

  220. 220.

    trollhattan

    @Immanentize:
    The prosecution threat caught a lot of folks short and I hope it has legs. I would have loved it of Hillary had warned Trump, “You know, Donald, if you’re elected there’s a very good chance congress will appoint a special prosecutor to investigate you. Why take the chance?

  221. 221.

    RaflW

    Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s Virginia campaign chairman was fired Monday for promoting a protest outside the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C., NBC News reports.

    Republicans in disarray!!
    OK, we knew that already.
    Months ago.

    Oh, and dude kicked to the curb is attempting a run for VA governorship.

  224. 224.

    Jeffro

    I’m confused as to why this would get the VA chair of Trump’s campaign fired? You’d think he’d be a hero to Trumpkins (and Bossie in particular)

  225. 225.

    patrick II

    I have been watching Westworld on HBO, an allegory on power, humanity and cruelty. The way the “visitors” treat the robot “hosts” is not very different from how Columbus treated the natives, or how slave owners treated their slaves. Westworld is an interesting if very, very dark take on what happens when some people are given absolute power over others they consider less human than themselves.
    And although, as far as I know, Donald hasn’t personally killed anyone, his sense of genetic superiority would make it nearly inevitable that he would if fate had put him in a position where he could gain from it and get away with it. I have little doubt that he would jail Hillary given the opportunity, his respect for others is so low.

  226. 226.

    singfoom

    @Roger Moore:

    I don’t think he’s done anything that justifies a special prosecutor. Whatever crimes he’s committed are ordinary crimes that can be investigated by the normal criminal process. At the same time, I don’t want those ordinary prosecutors to handle him with kid gloves because they’re afraid of being accused of carrying on a vendetta; that way lies impunity for anyone who manages to run for high office.

    I agree. He has not done anything that justifies a special prosecutor. I was merely answering Immanetize’s question from my viewpoint. I don’t want them to handle him with kid gloves either, I just think it’s vitally important that the Clinton administration does NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING that will give the idiots more ammunition that it’s revenge. They’ll do it anyway…

  227. 227.

    Chris

    @Immanentize:

    This is such a norm-busting statement. It is the one that worries me the most. Trump is going to lose this election, but will criminalizing the losers of future elections now be something that’s possible?

    I’ve stopped trying to make predictions about “norm-busting” things. The attempted impeachment of a president for lying about a blow-job, the deciding of an election by Supreme Court fiat so blatant that they had to add a “this court case shouldn’t be used as precedent” clause, and the Iraq War are all things that I wouldn’t have even conceived before they, in fact, happened. The only thing I’m positive about is that we haven’t seen it all yet, even with Trump.

  228. 228.

    stinger

    @stinger: Sorry, IOL — I hadn’t read far enough in the comments to see that others had posted similar replies. I meant mine to be supportive — hope it didn’t come across as piling on!

  230. 230.

    TriassicSands

    @singfoom:

    That said, I would hope the Clinton administration stays the FUCK AWAY from the prosecution of Donald Trump.

    I don’t think there is any chance a Clinton administration will go after Trump, but I’m perfectly comfortable with the NY State AG filing charges against him. In the case of a sleaze like Trump, with all we’ve read and seen about his dealings, it’s hard to maintain an innocent until proven guilty mindset. I would hope that if the NY AG does file charges against Trump, the evidence will be compelling and the state’s case airtight. It could be hard to get a fair-minded jury in NY; one that won’t have at least one Trump fan on it. If that happens, even an airtight case won’t suffice.

    If they (anyone) ever does file criminal charges against Trump for something, what are the chances Trump won’t try to buy off or threaten a juror (through a third party, of course)? We know he’ll whine incessantly about the judge being biased against him, because, let’s face it Martha Raddatz and Anderson Cooper and Judge Curiel, and Lester Holt and everyone who doesn’t do D-bag’s bidding is against him.

  231. 231.

    JR in WV

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    No, he hasn’t. He can’t.

    Hold your head up high and join all the other Democrats at Hillary’s Victory Speech in NYC. I assume it will be in NYC, is there a park or stadium in Brooklyn that would hold a 100 million delighted people? I guess not, but we can all celebrate where we are.

    New Yorkers can celebrate in NYC, and Iowans in Iowa. Etc.

    Trump can’t turn this ship aside, we have the momentum, and righteousness is behind us.

  232. 232.

    shomi

    So cute that the “single payer or I’m not voting” crowd around here are now making “I cancelled my subscription to the NYT’s and signed up with WaPo” statements. Like they are accomplishing something and it’s not all going to just even out and they are not going to just go back eventually. Like they haven’t cried wolf enough and people are gonna take them seriously.

    Or more likely they never subscribed in the first place.

  236. 236.

    JR in WV

    @Jonny Scrum-half:

    Are we allowed to criticize white racist bigot terrorists? Because those are the people who hate and despise the best president of our lifetimes. Those are the people who want to elect Trump Dictator of the American Fascist State in order to put blacks, gays and women back in that box where they had to cower and step aside into the gutter when a real white man came down the sidewalk.

    Where are you from? How old are you? When I was a kid I saw the “Whites Only” signs in Jim Crow states! It was a shock to me because, while West Virginia had de facto segregation by tradition in some arenas, there were no Jim Crow laws, and in most of the state black men and white men worked together underground.

    Your rambling protests seem to be messages from the unicorn spheres, where rainbows and jelly beans are daily weather. They make no sense to me. I’m an old white man, and I despise Trump, and Sessions, and The MSM pundits that are called liberal but work their souls off for the right-wing politicians and positions.

    Wake up and smell the smoke, Jonny, if Trump gets elected (which seems unlikely, thank god) a big bunch of bitter white men would march your ass into a real holding camp, not a make-believe FEMA camp in an abandoned Wal-mart.

    Not all White Men are bigots, but most bigots are white men, and their abused girlfriends and wives…

  237. 237.

    chopper

    @shomi:

    the “single payer or I’m not voting” crowd around here

    you high on something, son? or just plain stupid.

  240. 240.

    RaflW

    This, BTW, is a delightful admission I’ just got from Michael Tomasky. He tweeted his surprise that HRC’s camp put up a video with a woman voter saying she “doesn’t always agree with Hillary.”

    I tweaked him slightly, and this is his response:

    @mtomasky
    @Snowman55403 I’ve spent 17 years writing columns saying: acknowledge the flaws, it’s persuasive!

    Well! After 17 years, she listened. Congratulations on a concern troll trope that is old enough to drive. Soon it will be able to vote!

    eta: Actually, i’m sure she didn’t. But the coincidence, it’s fantastic news for his concern trolling.

  241. 241.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @? Martin:

    And to add onto what you said, there are turds in the punch bowl of every race, ethnicity, sex, religion, etc. Gather a hundred Buddhist monks or Lutheran ministers, a hundred white Aussies or a hundred black Congolese, a hundred straight cis men or a hundred lesbians, and there will be a pinch of jerks in every batch. We white males are not jerks because of genetics; we have some unenlightened (unwoke) members because we’ve set the dominant culture, we made the rules and control the bank — we have a conscious or unconscious expectation of privilege. That’s my thinking. YMMV.

    If it helps, yes, that blanket “all white men” is not correct or artfully phrased. But if you aren’t one of those cats referred to by that phrase, assume it’s not you being addressed. We’ve been snoozing in a Matrix of privilege… Pass it on. Tune in, turn on, and break the mold.

  242. 242.

    SFAW

    @chopper:

    you high on something, son? or just plain stupid.

    Both. And an asshole to boot.

    That’s his thing — “you all fucking suck!”

    Not sure who he gets to do his typing, because his reading “comprehension” indicates illiteracy.

  243. 243.

    rudi

    Sessions doesn’t care about Trump grabbing women’s vaginas. He wants Trump to grab his junk in the locker room.

  244. 244.

    SFAW

    @Roger Moore:

    Then you should stick to the bulgogi tacos and burritos.

    Don’t tease me like that — unless you know of any place near Boston that has them.

    I’m still trying to find a decent fish taco place in these parts. One place we went to, we got sick. (And not because we have delicate stomachs — pretty sure the fish was bad. Maybe that’s why the place was empty, and went out of business a month or two later.)

    Queens would be a backup — going to be there next week. (I don’t remember whereabouts you live.)

  247. 247.

    Jonny Scrum-half

    @JR in WV: It’s ironic that I’ve been accused of needing a fainting couch, when a mild comment that generalizing about white guys is counterproductive causes people to respond as they have.
    Jesus Christ, I agree that Obama is a very good President, and that too many whites have been willing to be misled by reactionaries about the state of the country. All I’m saying is that if you’re looking to reduce racial tensions and enact a liberal agenda based on facts, it’s probably not a good idea to communicate in ways that further divide us by race. I don’t see why that statement is even debatable, much less the reason for push-back.

  248. 248.

    bemused

    @Jeffro:

    If there were crimes to be found, they would have been found. Considering all those millions the rightwing has spent trying to pin something on the Clintons for 30 years, they have to be either incredibly incompetent or it’s simply the huge scam that it is.

  249. 249.

    KithKanan

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): VERY true. According to a friend who has befriended a number of Buddhist monks and even gone and visited some of their monasteries in India… befriending Buddhist monks online as an american woman will get you many, many unwanted dick pics.

  250. 250.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @Jonny Scrum-half:

    FWIW, I have a teenage daughter who is still figuring out her own sexuality. As an ally, I visited Autostraddle for a time, a website devoted to and written by lesbians and trans women. I wanted to educate myself and learn how to be as supportive as possible. I saw lots of “all men are pigs” material and suggested in the comments that some men aren’t terrible. I mostly got shouted down. I rarely visit the site anymore. A few sympathetic comments made it clear that the Autostraddle community agreed with my essential point, but that it was a safe space of sorts and such expansive rhetoric (“men… Amirite?”) wasn’t going to be reigned in anytime soon. I was told, “If you aren’t one of those men, assume the language is not being targeted at you.”

  255. 255.

    JR in WV

    @Jonny Scrum-half:

    Funny how someone who hasn’t ever commented at a site before can come along, trying to make meaningless points, and takes umbrage when everyone else at the blog, people with years of exposure to each other, all comment about how FQed up your remarks are.

    So be going away, your points will be welcome at Glenn Beck’s place, or Trump’s place, or Alex Jones’s place.

  256. 256.

    JR in WV

    @Jonny Scrum-half:

    In the eyes of everyone in the B-J community, you are the only person trying to divide people by race here. We B-J-ers are talking about a group of white men, maybe a majority of that sub-set of America, who believe in Trumpism.

    You seem bound and determined to deny that there is a group of white men dedicated to electing a racist, violent, old white man, himself dedicated to hatred of the “Other” whether that’s black, Hispanic, Muslim, Arab (which isn’t the same thing as Muslim), Asian, or female.

  257. 257.

    JR in WV

    @gogol’s wife:

    Thanks. As an Old (65) White (as wonder bread) Man myself, I’m not one of those OWM supporting Trump, so I feel ideally placed to tell off this new troll. Really, lots of young white men seem to be supporting Trump, which is harder to understand than the old guys.

    And in other cultures, other markers are used in bigotry. It isn’t always black/white, and much of Trump’s bigotry is aimed at others who aren’t necessarily darker than he. We really need an answer to bigotry before it kills us all off.

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