Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

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

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

This blog will pay for itself.

No Justins, No Peace

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Let’s finish the job.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

We are aware of all internet traditions.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you don’t.

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

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

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

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

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

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Reader Interactions

83Comments

  5. 5.

    Ian

    You missed the London review of books, and your wallet. Maybe the pop-up adds don’t have all of your info, but they sure have mine.

  6. 6.

    Villago Delenda Est

    A Trump attorney has sent a threatening letter to the NYT, in reference to the accusations of those two women.

    They’re going to need to get really busy, because a lot more women are coming forward.

  7. 7.

    GxB

    A rendition of Europe’s “The Final Countdown” that was somehow more hideous and, paradoxically, better than the original.

  10. 10.

    Mnemosyne

    Trader Joe’s has a lot of great pre-popped popcorn options in the chip aisle. I particularly like their version of Chicago Mix (caramel corn and cheese corn mixed together), but the simplicity of the Olive Oil Popcorn is hard to beat.

  12. 12.

    hovercraft

    @Redshift:
    And Tiger Woods, who can forget the way they just kept coming and coming. I know that in his case he was just an asshole who couldn’t keep it in his pants, NOT a an abuser or a rapist. But sheesh I thought it was never going to end.

  14. 14.

    maeve

    Trumps endgame—

    He says he put 100 million into his campaign – if its a “loan” (which is usual) the campaign can pay him back. So from here on out its him ginning up the rubes for donations – he’s used to walking away from failing enterprises – while pocketing as much dough as he can,

  15. 15.

    PeakVT

    You missed of hours of gloating, schadenfreude, laughing and pointing, and other such guilty pleasures.

    Guilty because obviously Trump had to victimize so many women for this moment to happen, and that was certainly horrible for them. The upside is that he’s denied himself the presidency for sure. I doubt his policy positions would be any better if he wasn’t a serial molester, but now there is no chance he will be able to implement them, or sign the atrocities Ryan and McConnell would have put on his desk.

  16. 16.

    scav

    @GxB: I suddenly somehow switched over into a inchoate in-progress reworking of The Twelve Days of Christmas while reading the Guard’s list of new allegations. The “Two Miss USA” primed the “Fiiiivve Teenage Girls!”

    Two Miss USA contestants who claimed Trump deliberately walked in on them when they were naked in a dressing room. Five Miss Teen USA contestants also told Buzzfeed he had entered their dressing room while the young women – aged between 15 and 19 – were getting changed.
    Two women, Jessica Leeds and Rachel Crooks, who allege Trump groped or kissed them without consent – one in the first-class seat of an aircraft.
    A claim by another woman, Mindy McGillivray, that she was groped at a Trump event at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida.
    An account by Natasha Stoynoff, a reporter for People magazine, who says Trump forced himself on her shortly before she was due to interview him and his wife in 2005.
    An incident in which Trump appears to sexualise a 10-year-old girl, with video recording him saying of the child: “I am going to be dating her in 10 years. Can you believe it?”

  18. 18.

    Mart

    @Big R: I toured Orville Redenbacher’s original farm (after he was dead). They allegedly said he got the perfect popcorn through enhanced natural selection, but most competitors have mostly caught up. I still think Orville’s is the best and well worth a few extra dollars.

  19. 19.

    hovercraft

    @eric:
    I think that our Betty is fortunately past his preferred window, 10 to 35 years old. So she should be safe from attack going forward.

  21. 21.

    Mike J

    Donald J. Trump Verified account @realDonaldTrump
    Pervert Anthony Wiener will never be able to get away from his perversion-the cure rate is ZERO.

  24. 24.

    Lizzy L

    No popcorn in the house!! This is clearly a serious deficit which I will remedy tomorrow. Olive Oil Popcorn sounds like just the thing.

    It’s Full Employment for Lawyers week at The Times. I can’t see how filing suit helps him in any way. I wonder, by filing suit, is Trump hoping to cut off any more stories in the Times about his behavior? Because First Amendment. Maybe one of the lawyers could comment — Omnes?

  26. 26.

    Anoniminous

    Deseret News, the official unofficial newspaper of the Church of Latter Day Saints reported today Poll: Trump falls into tie with Clinton among Utah voters

    The poll shows Clinton and Trump tied at 26 percent, McMullin with 22 percent and Libertarian Gary Johnson getting 14 percent if the election were held today. Y2 Analytics surveyed 500 likely Utah voters over landlines and cellphones Oct. 10-11 The poll has a plus or minus 4.4 percent margin of error.

    In 2012 Obama got 24.69% against Romney but 34.22% against McCain in ’08. Using the latter as the upper bound we can say she has quite a bit of space to improve.

  27. 27.

    yazi

    @Lizzy L I think he projects confidence with the suit. And he can easily drop it after election day.

  28. 28.

    hovercraft

    @maeve:
    The money he loaned his campaign in the primary, he claimed he had turned it into a donation. When it still showed as a loan on his FEC report and the media called him on it, he then donated the 50 or 60 million to the campaign, and it was verified on the FEC report. I don’t know about any additional funds.

  30. 30.

    NotMax

    @Lizy L

    Suit threatened, not filed.

    And never shall be. It’s his M.O.

    @Villago Delenda Est

    Mm-hm. This from a campaign which has pointedly ignored cease and desist letters from the owner of the Rolling Stones song among others.

  32. 32.

    ? Martin

    So my current theory is that every time Trump gives a thumbs up, he’s signaling that he’s currently having an erectiøn. Guessing that’s the only way anyone would ever know.

  34. 34.

    SFBayAreaGal

    I love myself some good ole kettle popcorn. It has to have the right combination of salt and sweetness. Yummy.

  38. 38.

    ? Martin

    @slag: Not just scoffing, but acting as though it’s a completely foreign concept to him – both that liberals are fine with anything so long as there is consent, but also that consent is a minimum standard:

    But if the left ever senses and smells that there’s no consent in part of the equation then here come the rape police. But consent is the magic key to the left.

    It’s not the magic key. It’s the legal key. That’s how all laws are written – consent is the standard. Under 18 – can’t consent. Unconscious or incapacitated – can’t consent. It’s astounding that people are still just discovering this.

  42. 42.

    Anoniminous

    The news out of Utah means the formerly rock-solid GOP Mormons are in play. Which means a look south is indicated.

    There are 418,959 Mormons in Arizona figure half are women so Rule of Thumb 100,000 votes shift from R to D. In 2012 Obama lost by 208,422 votes so that number is enough to throw the edge to Clinton and an increase in Hispanic votes could put her over the top. Granted it is a stretch but it’s not a swing for the bleachers.

  43. 43.

    mike in dc

    Mika’s going to have a constipated look on her face, because she was trying to fluff Trump back up, along with JoeScar. She can’t casually dismiss multiple allegations of sexual harassment, including one by a fellow member of the media.

  44. 44.

    slag

    @? Martin:

    It’s astounding that people are still just discovering this.

    Coming to mind is John Oliver’s recurring point that rock bottom keeps getting higher above us.

  45. 45.

    Roger Moore

    @Lizzy L:

    I can’t see how filing suit helps him in any way.

    The best explanation I’ve heard so far is that Trump is used to relatively penny-ante lawsuits against people who will be forced to settle to avoid costly litigation, i.e. he bullies people weaker than him. He isn’t used to dealing with big companies like The Times that probably have insurance, and in any case would see defending the suit as a cost of doing business. I sincerely doubt he’s thought things through, and his lawyers are probably afraid of trying to explain the problems a suit like this will cause him, especially when he’s as angry as he is right now.

  46. 46.

    WarMunchkin

    RUSH LIMBAUGH: You know what the magic word, the only thing that matters in American sexual mores today is? One thing. You can do anything, the left will promote and understand and tolerate anything, as long as there is one element. Do you know what it is? Consent. If there is consent on both or all three or all four, however many are involved in the sex act, it’s perfectly fine. Whatever it is. But if the left ever senses and smells that there’s no consent in part of the equation then here come the rape police. But consent is the magic key to the left.

    I mean, does he want a medal for this?

  47. 47.

    Mary G

    Liz Meriwether in NY Magazine has written a story about Hillary’s locker room talk:

    The truth was, it was just Hillary being Hillary. Shortly after the inauguration, she had started showing up in locker rooms all over Washington and refusing to leave. Congressmen, senators, lobbyists, powerful men were all forced to change in the bathroom stalls when they could, which meant that no one could just hang out and talk anymore. If any of the men complained, the next day they were gone. It was better to just keep your head down, move quickly, and try to get out of there, but the lawn chair and the Au Bon Pain was new. Things were getting worse.

    Mike Pence was standing in front of the mirror, softly weeping. “Do you guys really think my butt cheeks look like two wet apple pies?” he asked, with fear in his voice. If he couldn’t fill out a suit anymore, then who was he? Would people still listen to him? Paul Ryan rushed over and put an arm around his friend: “Of course I don’t think that. You have a beautiful butt, Mike. You’ve got the most squeezable ass of any governor I’ve ever met. It’s like a Koosh ball. I wish I could play with it when I’m sad.”

    “You’ve got the ass of a European soccer player, Mike,” Ben Carson called out. “Seriously, I’d give anything for your ass.” Mike Pence nodded and wiped away his tears. Hillary just laughed.

    “You let that butt get any saggier, and you’re gonna be out of a job, pal,” she said. “Ugh. I hate when men get old. It’s so gross. It’s like watching a snowman melt. No one wants to fuck Frosty, even with the little button eyes.” 

  49. 49.

    Lizzy L

    Statement from NYT:

    Prior to publication, we did hear from representatives for Donald Trump demanding that The Times refrain from publishing and accusing our reporter of dishonest journalism. We responded by publishing our story.

    In other words, f**k off.

  51. 51.

    Aleta

    @Villago Delenda Est: Could it be that (like some ‘tree surgeons’) his lawyers are advancing their own interests by convincing him to sue while there’s still some loose cash around — or perhaps he is hoping that today’s threats may discourage some of tomorrow’s stories ?

  54. 54.

    craigie

    A Trump attorney has sent a threatening letter to the NYT

    Maybe he’s threatening to quit the Trump disorganization.

  56. 56.

    ? Martin

    @MikeTheZ: Only two polls out of AZ even cover the tape – and both only barely. He’s moved AZ blue on the basis of national polling alone. Actually, it’s because of trend lines from those two most recent polls.

  58. 58.

    Adam L Silverman

    @WarMunchkin: Someone should remind Rush that he lives in Florida, which is 1) a stand your ground state and 2) affectionately known as the Gunshine State. Not seeking consent in Florida can get you ventilated. I’d argue it could get you ventilated in a lot of places outside of Florida.

  60. 60.

    sigaba

    @PeakVT:

    Guilty because obviously Trump had to victimize so many women for this moment to happen, and that was certainly horrible for them.

    Your point is well taken. Our forefathers used to throw virgins into volcanoes in order to appeas the Gods and secure their virtue.

    If a few women must be groped by Trump, and not thrown into volcanoes, in order to vouchsafe the United States of America, LET US CALL THIS PROGRESS.

  61. 61.

    ? Martin

    The beauty of this election is that the Clinton campaign isn’t going to back off for a second. She’s got 30 years of revenge to extract. She’s going to make the GOP suffer.

  63. 63.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    First story on the local news: the reports about Trump’s sexual assaults; second story: Hillary’s emails. Both sides.

  64. 64.

    piratedan

    the thing about AZ, is that it makes you take a real look at those McCain/Kirkpatrick numbers. Now RCP had that at as a +18 for McCain and for all we know, that’s still accurate, McCain is one one of the few who distanced himself from Trump, recently. Kirkpatrick has now come out with ads that show McCain supporting Trump with statements over 60 times in the last two years. Those ads hit the airwaves this week.

    Plus, there are two to three congressional districts that are up for grabs, a key one is Giffords old district that was won by Martha McSally two years ago by less than 150 votes. She’s been running ads relentlessly the last two months. Her opponent just went ahead and tied her as being a GOP puppet who votes party line 90% of the time and only crosses the line when it comes to the military, essentially stating that she’s a one trick pony. Plus in Kirkpatricks old district in northern arizona where it appears that may be a Dem hold right now as of the last time I checked. Prescott may be better informed on that race. Plus whether Kristin Sinema will be back was also in question at the start of this election season, but Ms. Suzanne and Karen Marie are more informed than I.

    If AZ is trending blue, we may not get McCain, but we may be looking at a house seat gain and perhaps some flips in the state lege.

  66. 66.

    JordanRules

    @? Martin: Full circle! She deserves some ‘get back’.

    The women coming forward do not have an easy road ahead of them.

    New journalists emerge and get on the record! All this chicken to roost migration that is leaving the GOP in shambles. Finish Him

  67. 67.

    RaflW

    NYT retweeted the story link well after getting the letter from the lawyer. They’re feelin’ fine about their story.

  68. 68.

    Tokyokie

    @Adam L Silverman: Take it from an old newspaper hand, the saying is, “Never pick a fight with folks who buy ink by the railroad tanker.”
    Also probably not a good idea to pick a fight with the news organization that probably has the best journalism legal talent in the country.

  69. 69.

    piratedan

    @Tokyokie: true, unfortunately they’ve spent the majority of their time on the NYT editors vendetta with Clinton. I don’t mind the research and the investigation, every candidate should be vetted, but I have a hard time with forgiveness for people insinuating guilt when none exists.

  70. 70.

    jk

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    “First story on the local news: the reports about Trump’s sexual assaults; second story: Hillary’s emails. Both sides.”

    This sounds like Joe and Mika on Morning Blow.

  71. 71.

    RaflW

    @Upthread

    Statement from NYT:
    Prior to publication, we did hear from representatives for Donald Trump demanding that The Times refrain from publishing and accusing our reporter of dishonest journalism. We responded by publishing our story.

    I’m just gonna mention that there was quite the pile-on around Balloon Juice not long ago at all of people cancelling their subscriptions to the NYT. And I’d respectfully ask that some of you cancellers re-subscribe (I was and remain a Sunday home delivery guy (two 7 day digitals included) guy).

    YMMV, but we need real newspapers that do reporting, and are not gonna back down to bullshit lawsuit threats.

    Thank you, and good night.

  72. 72.

    Jesse

    @? Martin: The thing that really gets me is that he’s so… surprised? contemptuous? of the idea that, if everybody’s into it, “we” won’t call the Rape Police, because if everyone’s into it, it’s not our fucking business– and yeah, I see the pun.

  74. 74.

    piratedan

    @jk: you can bet that the e-mails may even be first with Morning Blow. Okay, the e-mails were released.. What was in them? Just the fact some some hackers released some private e-mails tells us what exactly? Do they indicate how Hillary executed the perfect murder of Vince Foster? How she consigned the folks in Benghazi to their fate? Or indicate how she can hold a grudge against all of the women that Bill pursued and bedded? Did she crow how she intended to flaunt the Constitution with her treatment of official government documentation handling? How she corrupted Bernie Sanders wife with a sweetheart deal at the University she worked at? Was she checking real estate listings for dormant volcanic lairs? Advertising for henchmen?

  75. 75.

    TriassicSands

    Way back when the NY Times hired Ross Douthat to write a conservative/right wing column I read his column for a short time. It was much too religion oriented for my taste — and apart from that his columns were lame and boring. So, I quit reading him.

    During the campaign this year I’ve read a few of Douthat’s column’s and, if anything, he is worse than ever, but tonight (belatedly) I discovered what may be his worst column ever. It’s called “A Trumpism of the Left” in which he speculates about the likelihood that the Democrats could nominate someone like Trump. The column is such a mess, so inane, and trying so hard to wield the both sides do it argument that I gave up part way through.

    Douthat is having a hard time dealing with the fact that his beloved GOP has been taken over by…well, by exactly the kind of train wreck it’s been headed toward for decades. He can’t face the fact that the Republican Party is rotten to the core — there is not kernel of goodness buried deep down from which a new, enlightened, and praiseworthy party can grow. He hates Trump, but can’t admit that the GOP is filled with despicable, white men who are racist, women-hating, bigots. He wants to love Paul Ryan, the intellectual heart of the Republican Party, but Paul keeps disappointing — not by having worthless policy proposals that are both cruel and hugely dishonest, but by continuing to stick with Trump after each new revelation (news to no one who’s been paying any attention at all) that should have ended Trump’s campaign. Because there is Douthat’s other problem. The Republican base is just as despicable as Trump himself.

    As far as I know, Douthat hasn’t yet stated or even implied what he will do on election day. I expect that, if he announces anything, it will be a face-saving (he thinks) choice to write-in some supposedly righteous conservative, since he can’t vote for Trump and HRC is evil personified. So, he’ll make a meaningless gesture, which will be fitting after so many meaningless columns.

  77. 77.

    TS

    @mike in dc:

    Mika’s going to have a constipated look on her face, because she was trying to fluff Trump back up, along with JoeScar. She can’t casually dismiss multiple allegations of sexual harassment, including one by a fellow member of the media.

    But she can say multiple times – what about the email – what about Bill Clinton – and she will. Interesting to see if Halperin has found some new options – I’m just waiting to see his face when it finally hits him that President Clinton is a reality.

  79. 79.

    Turgidson

    @TriassicSands:

    Douche Hat is just barely more intellectually honest about the Trumpocalypse than George f’ing Will, who will cling to the fiction that he was a total anomaly and not at all representative of the psychosis that has eaten the party whole. George “Trains are Collectivism” Will thinks it’s still the Party of Buckley or whatever, and Trump just hoodwinked all those high-minded thoughtful conservatives into voting for him for reasons no one could possibly understand. Certainly not him, anyway. This is all some temporary unpleasantness and the party will resume being respectable once Trump slinks off in shame. Which is an even more unhinged and self-unaware belief than most of the bullshit Trump spews.

    What will likely happen is that the party will go right on being a cult of braindead, hateful lunatics, but they will mostly reunite under the banner of Hating (and eventually impeaching) Hillary, launch an even more vicious round of obstruction, win the next midterms in the lowest turnout election since women got the vote, and crow about how they won a mandate to turn back everything Hillary and Obama have done.

    Douche Hat has at least grappled with what brought the GOP to this point, but still spends most of his time trying to figure out a way to cover the whole thing in Both Sides vomit, or referring to HIS Republican Party as “THEY” and thinking he’s absolved himself of any role in this, too. Not a chance, Chunky Bobo. Not a fucking chance.

  80. 80.

    Amir Khalid

    @TriassicSands:
    Douthat was hired to replace the disaster that was Bill Kristol. Chunky Bobo turns out to have been e like-for-like substitution — reflexiively right-wing, consistently wrong on the facts, shaky (at best) grasp of logic. As I recall, Chunky wrote a book on post-WWii Christianity in the US that in its NYT review was slammed for precisely these failings.

  81. 81.

    Joel

    @MikeTheZ: I honestly don’t love 538’s magic fairy dust this season. Nate’s trying hard to distinguish himself from the pack but the polling doesn’t support a change in Arizona (yet!).

  82. 82.

    scav

    @RaflW: nope, not yet, although they may be learning. They convinced me one way over a decade plus, it’ll take a while more to get me back. (Esp. in comparison with the current wapo and guard and with a less than unlimited budget.)

  83. 83.

    Singing Truth to Power

    @Mart: I have sneered at Boy Scout popcorn all of my adult life, but was forced (by lack of other options late at night) to open a can and pop a bowl. Man, I am sorry I sneered. It is mighty fine popcorn.

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