• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Infrastructure week. at last.

This really is a full service blog.

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

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

In my day, never was longer.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

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

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Mobile Menu

  • Winnable House Races
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Balloon Juice 2023 Pet Calendar (coming soon)
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • War in Ukraine
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • 2021-22 Fundraising!
You are here: Home / So I Elected an Axe Murderer

So I Elected an Axe Murderer

by John Cole|  September 8, 201712:22 am| 105 Comments

This post is in: Sociopaths

FacebookTweetEmail

Well attempted. And with a hammer:

The Broward County Republicans are in turmoil today after revelations that a freshly elected member of their executive board is a man who once was charged with attempted murder in the savage claw-hammer beating of a then-classmate at a Los Angeles prep school for multi-millionaires’ children.

Four months after 28-year-old Rupert Tarsey was elected secretary, party officials have found out the young philanthropist and supporter of President Donald Trump is really Rupert Ditsworth.

And a decade ago, the then-Beverly Hills teenager was charged with attempted murder in Los Angeles after hitting Harvard-Westlake School classmate Elizabeth Barcay over the head at least 40 times, splitting her skull open.

I audibly snorted and woke the pets when I got to this part of the story:

For years, he quietly volunteered on Republican campaigns, including Trump’s. Then in May, Tarsey presented himself at the election for the party’s executive board. He won a three-candidate race for secretary with 75 votes.

Tarsey’s real identity was discovered by a member who alerted local GOP Chairman Bob Sutton over the Labor Day weekend.

“We were blindsided,” said Sutton, a schoolteacher. “He’s a member of the Knights of Columbus, for Christ’s sake…

I’m laughing again.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « We Have Trees
Next Post: Late Night Schadenfreude Open Thread: Albino Manatee Slapfight! »

Reader Interactions

105Comments

  1. 1.

    MoeLarryAndJesus

    September 8, 2017 at 12:24 am

    Make American Psycho Again

  2. 2.

    Frankensteinbeck

    September 8, 2017 at 12:25 am

    That attempted murder story is horrific. And you, of all people, Cole, know why shit like this is baked into Republicanism. When you build your philosophy on being mean and hateful and hypocritically self-righteous, this is exactly the kind of person who rises to power.

  3. 3.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    September 8, 2017 at 12:27 am

    Four months after 28-year-old Rupert Tarsey was elected secretary, party officials have found out the young philanthropist and supporter of President Donald Trump is really Rupert Ditsworth.

    so he was born in a Wodehouse novel and changed his name to Game of Thrones?

  4. 4.

    bemused senior

    September 8, 2017 at 12:30 am

    I tweeted that to you, probably not the only one, knowing you would appreciate it.

  5. 5.

    ? Martin

    September 8, 2017 at 12:33 am

    I don’t understand why they’re upset about this. After all, they elected an admitted sexual assaulter to the White House. Seems like the shame over prior misdeeds boat sailed quite a while ago.

  6. 6.

    sukabi

    September 8, 2017 at 12:33 am

    So are they disappointed that he’s only an attempted murderer?

  7. 7.

    chopper

    September 8, 2017 at 12:34 am

    somehow this story is not at all shocking to me.

  8. 8.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 8, 2017 at 12:35 am

    John, you left out the most telling paragraph from that story:

    Now, local GOP bigs are desperate for Tarsey to resign and worried about the image of the party in the overwhelmingly Democratic turf of former DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.

    They can’t just kick him out? A fucking attempted murderer?

  9. 9.

    M. Bouffant

    September 8, 2017 at 12:36 am

    The Knights of Columbus: Objectively fascist. Probably pretty patriarchal too.

  10. 10.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 8, 2017 at 12:36 am

    Also, “young philanthropist”?

  11. 11.

    Another Scott

    September 8, 2017 at 12:39 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Who also (based on the excerpts here) (apparently) tried to hide his identity under an assumed name?

    :-/

    This is another example that “80% of life is showing up”. There are lessons for our team, also too. If good people don’t show up, bad people win…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  12. 12.

    Mike J

    September 8, 2017 at 12:47 am

    I remember few years ago on this very blog we had a discussion on claw v ball peen hammers for problem solving.

  13. 13.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 8, 2017 at 12:47 am

    @? Martin: …and the pedophile that was Speaker of the House.

  14. 14.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 8, 2017 at 12:51 am

    @Mike J: I am team claw.

  15. 15.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    September 8, 2017 at 12:55 am

    Did I miss something? Did this loser get convicted, do time? Did his victim recover from 40 claw hammer blows to the head? Has he been on the lam this whole time? Have they started procedures to remove him from his position?

  16. 16.

    Mnemosyne

    September 8, 2017 at 12:57 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Don’t worry, the bros will be by right on schedule to tell us that DWS is worse now that her curséd name has come up.

  17. 17.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    September 8, 2017 at 12:59 am

    @West of the Rockies (been a while):

    Okay, read the link I somehow missed. I am astounded by the human capacity for vile behavior, especially by wealthy Republicans.

  18. 18.

    GregP

    September 8, 2017 at 12:59 am

    Remember. A roofing hammer has straighter claws so that they will, when swung vigorously, dig into plywood to prevent a fall.

    Team roofing claw.

  19. 19.

    Mnemosyne

    September 8, 2017 at 1:00 am

    @West of the Rockies (been a while):

    Affluenza at work:

    According to the Times, Tarsey’s parents rushed him into psychiatric treatment as Barcay recovered painfully and eventually attended the school prom in a wheelchair.

    At first, California prosecutors filed the case in juvenile court, but it was dismissed. They tried it again in adult court.

    “In the end, I pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor,” Tarsey said. “It’s not the charges that matter, it’s what happens in court.”

  20. 20.

    TS

    September 8, 2017 at 1:01 am

    These are the people who voted for Donald trump – not at all surprising.

  21. 21.

    ? Martin

    September 8, 2017 at 1:02 am

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): Look, he’s a privileged white dude. It was just a misunderstanding. Besides, did you see that hat she was wearing? She was totally asking for it.

  22. 22.

    rikyrah

    September 8, 2017 at 1:02 am

    Pitiful.
    But, this is who they are

  23. 23.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 8, 2017 at 1:02 am

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): On the last part, they seem to be waiting on him to resign. Anyways, seems he was just An Excitable Boy.

  24. 24.

    LeonS

    September 8, 2017 at 1:03 am

    Wasn’t Ted Bundy an up and comer in the Republican party?

  25. 25.

    Lounger

    September 8, 2017 at 1:03 am

    @Frankensteinbeck: I have not seen a better summary of the modern GOP.

  26. 26.

    ? Martin

    September 8, 2017 at 1:04 am

    Tsunami warning issued for southern mexico/central america

    EVALUATION
    ———-

    * AN EARTHQUAKE WITH A PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE OF 8.0 OCCURRED
    OFF THE COAST OF CHIAPAS, MEXICO AT 0449 UTC ON FRIDAY
    SEPTEMBER 8 2017.

    * BASED ON THE PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE PARAMETERS… WIDESPREAD
    HAZARDOUS TSUNAMI WAVES ARE POSSIBLE.

    TSUNAMI THREAT FORECAST
    ———————–

    * HAZARDOUS TSUNAMI WAVES FROM THIS EARTHQUAKE ARE POSSIBLE
    WITHIN THE NEXT THREE HOURS ALONG SOME COASTS OF

    MEXICO… GUATEMALA… EL SALVADOR… COSTA RICA…
    NICARAGUA… PANAMA… HONDURAS AND ECUADOR

  27. 27.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 8, 2017 at 1:04 am

    @Mnemosyne: Of course, she headed the “corrupt DNC” that cleared the way for “The Worst Candidate in the History of Mandkind”(aka, crowning the Queen).

  28. 28.

    Wapiti

    September 8, 2017 at 1:07 am

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): My guess: he was rich and white, so no time, and juvenile records sealed.

  29. 29.

    Mnemosyne

    September 8, 2017 at 1:07 am

    @? Martin:

    Well, c’mon, she should have had a better story than, I don’t remember what happened because I suffered a massive traumatic brain injury. How is a judge and jury supposed to figure out what happened when it’s he said/she said like that?

  30. 30.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 8, 2017 at 1:07 am

    @? Martin:

    YIKES!

  31. 31.

    Mnemosyne

    September 8, 2017 at 1:10 am

    @Wapiti:

    I’m also guessing there was a quiet civil settlement between the parents to pay for her medical bills, past and future. That would tend to estrange a son from his parents.

    But now I’m worried about the guy’s pregnant wife. I’m assuming he either didn’t tell her about this or told her a very sanitized, self-serving version.

  32. 32.

    LurkerNoLonger

    September 8, 2017 at 1:12 am

    Holy shit! The future of the Republican Party. Tarsey/Ditsworth 2024. He can be his own running mate.

  33. 33.

    John Revolta

    September 8, 2017 at 1:12 am

    Damn. If I was the lawyer, I’d argue that somebody who hit someone in the head 40 times with a claw hammer and didn’t kill them must really not have been attempting to murder them at all. Maybe even TRYING NOT to.

  34. 34.

    Ruckus

    September 8, 2017 at 1:13 am

    Now that’s a privileged fucking asshole.
    He’s 6ft fucking 2 and he beat her in the head with a hammer 40 times and got off with a fucking misdemeanor?
    That’s some privilege, that rich white fucking privilege.
    I mean I know it existed, sure. Of course I know it’s wrong. But it’s this wrong?
    I know he’s a republican and of course a drumpf supporter, that’s a given, but I’m flabbergasted that he only got a misdemeanor. They let him fucking walk and she’s in a wheel chair. And that’s in blue CA. Would he have gotten a ticker tape parade in say Alabama?

  35. 35.

    Mnemosyne

    September 8, 2017 at 1:14 am

    @John Revolta:

    Apparently he claimed it was self-defense.

    No, I’m not kidding. It’s in the link.

  36. 36.

    Roger Moore

    September 8, 2017 at 1:15 am

    @? Martin:

    I don’t understand why they’re upset about this. After all, they elected an admitted sexual assaulter to the White House.

    And they had a serial pedophile as Speaker of the House. They just can’t help themselves when it comes to choosing criminals as leaders. Seriously, fuck these guys.

  37. 37.

    Mnemosyne

    September 8, 2017 at 1:17 am

    @Ruckus:

    I lived on the Westside for 15 years. The fact that someone who got away with attempted murder went to Harvard-Westlake is … not a surprise.

  38. 38.

    ? Martin

    September 8, 2017 at 1:17 am

    @Roger Moore: Well, to their credit, they didn’t know that the serial pedophile was such when they elected him. Trump, on the other hand, admitted to it on tape, and they still elected him.

  39. 39.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 8, 2017 at 1:20 am

    @Mnemosyne: Harvard-Westlake, when Beverly Hills High School is just not good enough.

  40. 40.

    Roger Moore

    September 8, 2017 at 1:21 am

    @? Martin:

    Well, to their credit, they didn’t know that the serial pedophile was such when they elected him.

    So far as we know. I’m not giving them an ounce of credit.

  41. 41.

    NotMax

    September 8, 2017 at 1:24 am

    OT: Home again, home again, jiggedy freaking jig. 16 hours from walking in the doors at JFK to waling in the door of the abode.

  42. 42.

    lgerard

    September 8, 2017 at 1:26 am

    “He’s a member of the Knights of Columbus, for Christ’s sake“.

    You don’t often see people quoted saying that in a newspaper, it made me laugh….even though this is serious

  43. 43.

    Ruckus

    September 8, 2017 at 1:26 am

    @Mnemosyne:
    I’m not all that surprised that he did it, but that he got away with it so fucking easily. His life doesn’t seem to have been altered at all. Her life?
    I don’t disgust easily. I’m not surprised all that easily, even, or especially, about evil people.
    I am however disgusted with the courts and prosecutors. And fucking republicans.

  44. 44.

    danielx

    September 8, 2017 at 1:31 am

    From what I’ve read and heard of Florida politics, I can’t see why an attempted murder charge a decade ago would necessarily disqualify one for elected office in Broward County.* Stranger things have happened down there.

    However…

    Rupert Fucking Ditsworth?

    If there was ever a name that positively dripped with money and entitlement, that’s it. It lacks only a III or IV at the end to be perfect. As witnessed by the fact that he was “….rushed into psychiatric treatment by his parents.” Where he was safe from all that legal unpleasantness and indeed convicted of no more than a misdemeanor to which he plead no contest. Clearly favored of the gods and with access to high quality legal talent as well, with excellent connections. Grandfather owned the Dunes? Most excellent damn connections.

    It appears Rupert agrees this is no big thing, as he sits in his two million dollar beachfront condo.

  45. 45.

    Ruckus

    September 8, 2017 at 1:31 am

    How did the guy that alerted the guy know who this asshole was?

  46. 46.

    Another Scott

    September 8, 2017 at 1:32 am

    Magnitude 8 earthquake of Mexico’s coast – http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-41197831

    Sheesh.

    Maybe the Cubs winning really did signal the start of the Apocalypse?

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  47. 47.

    Roger Moore

    September 8, 2017 at 1:33 am

    @Ruckus:

    I’m not all that surprised that he did it, but that he got away with it so fucking easily. His life doesn’t seem to have been altered at all. Her life?

    The prosecutors were so worried about not ruining his life with a felony conviction that they ignored what he had done to her life. It’s a paradigm case of privilege.

  48. 48.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 8, 2017 at 1:37 am

    @danielx:

    Grandfather owned the Dunes? Most excellent damn connections.

    Vegas, possibly Organized Crime connections.

  49. 49.

    GregB

    September 8, 2017 at 1:38 am

    @Another Scott:

    I think the election of the Anti-Christ in November was the true harbinger

  50. 50.

    Major Major Major Major

    September 8, 2017 at 1:38 am

    @Another Scott: Everybody knows Bowie was the one holding reality together.

  51. 51.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 8, 2017 at 1:38 am

    @Another Scott: I was the lone voice in the wilderness that kept warning y’all about this, but you didn’t listen to ol’ Bill.

  52. 52.

    seaboogie

    September 8, 2017 at 1:40 am

    @Roger Moore: So basically Betsy DeVos rescinding Title IX so those dear, dear boys don’t have their futures ruined based on their “youthful indescretions”.

  53. 53.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 8, 2017 at 1:40 am

    @Major Major Major Major: Saturday will the 34th anniversary of me seeing him at The Big A.

    ETA: Madness and The Go-Go’s opened for him.

    ETA2: Disneyland in the morning/early afternoon and Bowie in the evening.

  54. 54.

    Roger Moore

    September 8, 2017 at 1:44 am

    @seaboogie:

    So basically Betsy DeVos rescinding Title IX so those dear, dear boys don’t have their futures ruined based on their “youthful indescretions”.

    Exactly.

  55. 55.

    lgerard

    September 8, 2017 at 1:44 am

    @danielx:

    If there was ever a name that positively dripped with money and entitlement

    It’s Rupert Tumin Ditsworth

    even better

  56. 56.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    September 8, 2017 at 1:45 am

    @NotMax: Welcome home!

  57. 57.

    Ruckus

    September 8, 2017 at 1:48 am

    @Roger Moore:
    Sure is.
    So if you are white and rather wealthy you can quite possibly get away with attempted murder. Good to know if I ever get rich and have an occasion to attempt to beat a girl to death with a hammer. That I was carrying in my back pack for no apparent reason. Now I own a fair number of hammers from decades of working with metal and wood but if I’d have known that I could attempt murder with no significant penalty whatsofuckingever, I’d have worked much harder to be rich so i wouldn’t have missed the opportunity if it ever became necessary. Of course I would also have had to have been a major fucking asshole, a republican, a drumpf supporter, and really just an all around major jack off.
    But I repeat myself.

  58. 58.

    Amir Khalid

    September 8, 2017 at 1:50 am

    I don’t get why the party is just crossing its fingers and hoping he resigns. Have they no procedure in place for removing him? Can’t the party chair have a quiet word in his ear about the good of the local party? Does the membership not want him to go?

  59. 59.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 8, 2017 at 1:51 am

    @Amir Khalid: He’s a member of the Knights of Columbus, so he’s good.

  60. 60.

    gammyjill

    September 8, 2017 at 1:51 am

    Dear god, he even looks like a dick. What a punchable face…

  61. 61.

    danielx

    September 8, 2017 at 1:53 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    That was my thought…attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, lord knows what all else, and he pleads to a misdemeanor? Somebody had some serious juice.

  62. 62.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    September 8, 2017 at 1:54 am

    @Another Scott: damn

    The United States Geological Survey issued a tsunami warning right after the quake hit. The Associated Press reported that the quake was felt in the capital, Mexico City.
    “I felt the earthquake in our neighborhood near downtown,” said Joel Petterson, a New York Times employee on vacation in Mexico City. “Our building started swaying about 20 minutes ago, and many people went out into the street.”

  63. 63.

    Ruckus

    September 8, 2017 at 1:55 am

    @Amir Khalid:
    He’s a wealthy white boy, with an attempted murder in his past. He’s their kind of guy. They don’t want to can him, that would be uncouth. If he resigns, there is no real controversy and everybody just gets on with the whatever it is that republican politicians do. Besides they don’t want to ruin his life, it must be worth it, the courts didn’t do anything. Oh and I forgot, for christ’s sake he’s in the knights of columbus! ETA They must be so fucking proud!

  64. 64.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 8, 2017 at 1:57 am

    @danielx:

    Somebody had some serious juice.

    or and offer the judge or prosecutor couldn’t refuse. May the head of a horse?

  65. 65.

    lgerard

    September 8, 2017 at 1:57 am

    @danielx:

    This sounds very dubious to me. Is there any evidence to support his story as to what the outcome was?

  66. 66.

    danielx

    September 8, 2017 at 2:01 am

    Goddammit.

    Now I’m going have Maxwell’s Silver Hammer as an earworm while I’m trying to go to sleep.

  67. 67.

    Amir Khalid

    September 8, 2017 at 2:02 am

    By the way, who or what are the Knights of Columbus?

  68. 68.

    Mary G

    September 8, 2017 at 2:03 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I saw Bowie at the Santa Monica Civic really early in the 70s, before my date had ever heard of him. It was a New Year’s Eve show and I had to refuse to leave because he freaked out in the parking lot about what the other concertgoers were wearing. He ended up loving the music, though.

  69. 69.

    danielx

    September 8, 2017 at 2:07 am

    @lgerard:

    About ten different articles, but his exact quote in the Miami Herald was:

    “In the end, I pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor,” Tarsey said. “It’s not the charges that matter, it’s what happens in court.”

    Self entitled little monster, isn’t he? From another source:

    If Tarsey acted in self-defense in 2007, why did he and his mother settle the civil action case? “To make it go away,” he told me.

    Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/ent-columns-blogs/jose-lambiet/article171549182.html#storylink=cpy

  70. 70.

    Amir Khalid

    September 8, 2017 at 2:08 am

    @Ruckus:
    If what Rupert Ditsworth did was so embarrassing to his family that they made him change his name, I don’t imagine he gets much moral support from them now, or any benefit from their influence.

  71. 71.

    danielx

    September 8, 2017 at 2:08 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    The Catholic Rotary Club, which covers a multitude of sins.

  72. 72.

    Mary G

    September 8, 2017 at 2:11 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Only a Republican with serious affluenza and sociopathy could still be refusing to quit a party position and not even apologize for hitting a woman in the head 40 times with a hammer with a claim of self-defense. I smell a YOOGE civil settlement for a lot more than just medical bills to get the victim to go along.

    @Amir Khalid: Catholic adult fraternity, most really rich guys. Alleged to be for charitable purposes, but mostly drinking. telling racist/sexist jokes in comfort (overheard that, no personal knowledge) and networking AKA bragging about how much money they have. Lots of bishops and cardinals.

    ETA: Wiki via Google

    The Knights of Columbus is the world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization. Founded by Father Michael J. McGivney in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1882, it was named in honor of the mariner Christopher Columbus.

  73. 73.

    frosty

    September 8, 2017 at 2:17 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    Can’t the party chair have a quiet word in his ear about the good of the local party?

    He probably owns another hammer, hmmm?

  74. 74.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    September 8, 2017 at 2:21 am

    @Amir Khalid:
    http://www.kofc.org/un/en/todays-knights/what-we-do.html

    From the moment of our founding in 1882, charity has been the first principle of the Knights of Columbus. We are Catholic men of faith and men of charitable action.

    In 2016, the Knights of Columbus set a record in charitable giving for the 18th consecutive year. Our charitable donations increased from $175 million in 2015 to a new total of $177,500,673 in 2016. In addition, we achieved our highest level of charitable service in 2016, volunteering more than 75 million hours of service. The number of service hours contributed by Knights rose in 2016 by more than a million over the previous year’s total.

    Our charitable activities encompass an almost infinite variety of local, national and international projects. Our own unique charities include the Christian Refugee Relief Fund, Disaster Relief, Ultrasound Initiative, and Coats for Kids. We also partner with international charities including Special Olympics, the Global Wheelchair Mission and Habitat for Humanity.

    Through our Building the Domestic Church initiative, Knights and their families have greater opportunities to participate in a variety of activities that deepen their faith, promote the New Evangelization, and strengthen our parishes. These activities include the Family Fully Alive Devotional Program, Father’s Day Affirmation of Wedding Vows, Food for Families and the Keep Christ in Christmas Campaign.

    “We are answering Pope Francis’ call to go to the peripheries,” Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said. “We can reach half way around the globe to help those in need and we can reach to our neighbor next door. And we do that every day. That makes us witnesses to the faith.”

    If you’d like to be a part of an international organization of nearly 2 million Catholic men whose principal work involves helping others in need, we’d like to meet you and invite you to join us.

  75. 75.

    M. Bouffant

    September 8, 2017 at 2:23 am

    @Amir Khalid: Friends of the Fasces.

  76. 76.

    Villago Delenda Est

    September 8, 2017 at 2:23 am

    @sukabi:

    I am presently incarcerated, imprisoned for a crime I did not even commit. “Attempted murder,” now honestly, did they ever give anyone a Nobel prize for “attempted chemistry?”

    — Sideshow Bob

  77. 77.

    lgerard

    September 8, 2017 at 2:25 am

    @danielx:

    This is all based on his statements, not on court records.

    I suspect he spent a considerable time, like 3 years in the mental hospital after he was charged
    He then plead guilty to a felony afterwards, but only received an extended period of probation due to the time he spent locked up in the hospital
    The period of probation expired recently, and that is why he has come out of the shadows

    He hopefully committed voter fraud, and will give Kris Kobach someone to investigate

  78. 78.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    September 8, 2017 at 2:26 am

    @Mary G: they sound nice

    The Knights have also been active in political campaigns across the United States against gay marriage, contributing over $14 million to the cause. In 2008, they were the largest single donor in support of Proposition 8. A financial contribution of over $1 million was made to support the successful initiative to define marriage within the California State Constitution as a union solely between a man and a woman.[103][104] The Knights have also made financial contributions of $1 million to support similar ballot campaigns in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington.[3][105] […]
    Many famous Catholic men from all over the world have been Knights of Columbus. In the United States, some of the most notable include John F. Kennedy; Ted Kennedy;[114] Al Smith;[118] Sargent Shriver;[119] Samuel Alito; John Boehner;[120] Ray Flynn;[121] Jeb Bush;[122] and Sergeant Major Daniel Daly,[123] a two-time Medal of Honor recipient, once described by the commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps as “the most outstanding Marine of all time”.[124]

  79. 79.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 8, 2017 at 2:29 am

    @Mary G: Yes, but I got to go to Disneyland before the show.

  80. 80.

    lgerard

    September 8, 2017 at 2:29 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    Evidently his mother divorced Ditsworth and he took his mother’s maiden name when she reverted to it

    He is a mamma’s boy

  81. 81.

    scav

    September 8, 2017 at 2:30 am

    Born to be a Trump supporter, over and above mere team R. It’s not just pusies one can grab but heads one can hammer if one is a rich and white male (someone whose future is important enough to matter and not be imperiled). Why should shooting somebody in the street or beating them there matter at all to their right-minded supporters? Even to bring such incidents up is mere politics and a distraction from more important matters. Clearly the Broward County GOP has picked up a bad case of political correctness if not outright socialism and needs to be drained.

  82. 82.

    Mary G

    September 8, 2017 at 2:43 am

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: “Ultrasound Initiative” jumped out at me from your post, and it’s as disgusting as I thought:

    The Knights of Columbus established its Ultrasound Initiative to equip medically certified prolife
    pregnancy care centers (PCCs) with modern technology that will enable expectant mothers to
    see and hear their babies in utero.
    When a state or local council raises half of the cost of
    purchasing an ultrasound machine for a PCC, the Supreme Council will match that amount,
    enabling the PCC to buy the ultrasound machine.

    Nothing says cheapskate rich Republicans like “we’ll pay half, if you pay half.” That’s a commitment to life, all right.

    While I was looking at their website, the biggest controversy was the change in the 4th degree uniform, which was controversial. Evidently the younger members refuse to wear it. I couldn’t find a picture, but I’m imagining something out of Gilbert & Sullivan. The new one is basically a dark suit that regularly costs $510, but is on sale for $382.50. You must be measured by a professional tailor before ordering, and you may still wear an ornamental sword with it if you wear gloves. Good grief.

  83. 83.

    seaboogie

    September 8, 2017 at 2:43 am

    Your modern (and probably always) GOP:
    Munny.
    Assload of munny.
    Egregious act that would shock anyone, and a possible innocent ruined for life
    Welp – this happens, sometimes – we shouldn’t ruin his future.
    He should probably run for office – from the sanitorium – it’s like crafts, for the wealthy.
    Yeah – he’s more whack than we thought.
    Hope he quits – fingers crossed – what else can we do?

  84. 84.

    seaboogie

    September 8, 2017 at 2:43 am

    Your modern (and probably always) GOP:
    Munny.
    Assload of munny.
    Egregious act that would shock anyone, and a possible innocent ruined for life
    Welp – this happens, sometimes – we shouldn’t ruin his future.
    He should probably run for office – from the sanitorium – it’s like crafts, for the wealthy.
    Yeah – he’s more whack than we thought.
    Hope he quits – fingers crossed – what else can we do?

    Thank GOD we don’t have a black president anymore!

  85. 85.

    Mary G

    September 8, 2017 at 2:47 am

    @Mary G:

    I’m imagining something out of Gilbert & Sullivan.

    Heh.

  86. 86.

    ? Martin

    September 8, 2017 at 2:53 am

    @Mary G: And people act as though cosplay is a modern notion.

  87. 87.

    mai naem mobile

    September 8, 2017 at 2:56 am

    Rupert’s wife’s name is Beata. Spelled like that Beata. You couldn’t make this shit up.

  88. 88.

    Jay S

    September 8, 2017 at 3:00 am

    Here is a contemporaneous report of the charges .

  89. 89.

    Jay S

    September 8, 2017 at 3:04 am

    @seaboogie: “At least we don’t have Hillary” /sarcasm

  90. 90.

    Sab

    September 8, 2017 at 3:10 am

    My late father in law considered joining the Knights of Columbus after converting to Catholicism to marry his wife. Part of the initiation/hazing process was staging a fake murder that everyone was sworn to secrecy to cover up. He was a tough guy but this shocked him enough that he didn’t join. A religious allegedly philanthropic organization with a fake murder cover up as part of its initiation rites. Weird. And Alito went along with that and is now on the Supreme Court.

  91. 91.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    September 8, 2017 at 3:20 am

    @Sab: That’s messed up. The only way I could see that being anyway OK is if you refused that messed up idea, you passed the rite.

  92. 92.

    bjacques

    September 8, 2017 at 4:14 am

    Sometime in the 1980s, the Harris County Democratic Party elected as chairman one Claude Jones, whose name was, er, easier on the ear that that of his rival. Jones turned out to be an avid Lyndon LaRouche supporter, but they couldn’t get rid of him. Instead they reorganized the executive structure to effectively strip him of his power.

    I’m guessing the Catholic Church realized they couldn’t ignore that secular fraternal organizations were the bread and butter of American working class and petit-bourgeois men’s life, all the way back to the Loyal Order Of Water Buffaloes in prehistoric times, so decided to go with the flow. It’s unfair to call them fascist for using the fasces that was a common symbol in the US, until 1945 anyway, but damn, that kind of hazing would really do a number on anyone who had been in a war zone.

    Anyway, they’re stuck with Patrick Bateman for awhile.

  93. 93.

    Sab

    September 8, 2017 at 4:16 am

    @bjacques: Actually, he had been in a war zone. South Pacific in WWII.

    And although he didn’t become a Knight of Columbus, he did remain a devout Catholic for the rest of his life.

  94. 94.

    Sab

    September 8, 2017 at 4:25 am

    @Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]: I agree with you but that’s not how it worked.

  95. 95.

    Ksmiami

    September 8, 2017 at 4:49 am

    @? Martin: All I can say is FFS 2017- Worst year ever

  96. 96.

    Just One More Canuck

    September 8, 2017 at 7:48 am

    @Mary G: you mean this:

    https://www.kofcsupplies.com/index.php?app=ecom&ns=prodshow&ref=1492&sid=2792h2w76102hv5qa0p0wx3k8b2d6y2f

  97. 97.

    bemused

    September 8, 2017 at 8:06 am

    @Sab:

    That’s incredibly bizarre and creepy.

  98. 98.

    NorthLeft12

    September 8, 2017 at 8:26 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: In my former days as a Roman Catholic I was invited to join the Knights. Their stance [the same as the Church] on SSM and abortion made my decision relatively easy. It was tougher to quit the church all together….because…….history.

  99. 99.

    J.

    September 8, 2017 at 8:27 am

    Bang bang Rupert’s claw hammer came down upon her head,
    Bang bang Rupert’s claw hammer made sure she was almost dead.

  100. 100.

    Citizen_X

    September 8, 2017 at 10:22 am

    @bjacques:

    all the way back to the Loyal Order Of Water Buffaloes in prehistoric times

    Heh.

  101. 101.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    September 8, 2017 at 10:35 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Rupert Ditsworth would make a great name for a Roderick Spode/Lord Sidcup acolyte.

  102. 102.

    opiejeanne

    September 8, 2017 at 12:16 pm

    @bjacques: My understanding is that the K of C was formed because of the oath that the Masons use that declares no man between us and God, i.e., no priests above us. The Catholics found that disturbing so they formed their own club. I have heard of Masons who are Catholics but they are rare.

  103. 103.

    J R in WV

    September 8, 2017 at 12:32 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Probably already answered, the KoC is a fraternal order for Catholic men, probably mostly Italian to begin with (Columbus, right>? haha) but now less exclusive perhaps. Like the Ancient and Free Masons, which Catholics are forbidden to join as the Masons worship science and knowledge, or did once. Much folderol going on at both groups. Masons are split into many substrands. KoC are still intact, raise lots of money for their church.

  104. 104.

    J R in WV

    September 8, 2017 at 1:57 pm

    @bjacques:

    all the way back to the Loyal Order Of Water Buffaloes in prehistoric times

    And what exactly do you have against the Water Buffaloes? They work hard, they donate that work to the community, they almost never cause any trouble, and they don’t have any sketchey belief systems about other buffaloes OR human beings.

  105. 105.

    workworkwork

    September 8, 2017 at 5:01 pm

    My dad was a member of the KoC. In his defense, we lived in a small town and he was one of the few folks who didn’t work for Huge Chemical Co. I think he did it for the networking.

    As far as I know, he wasn’t a member when I was a kid. But I found the sword and he explained it was a KoC thing but he didn’t say much more about it.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8

Recent Comments

  • Ivan X on Cake Watch: Day 2 (Mar 28, 2023 @ 11:08pm)
  • Jay on War for Ukraine Day 398: Ukrainian Air Defense! (Mar 28, 2023 @ 11:05pm)
  • Jay on War for Ukraine Day 398: Ukrainian Air Defense! (Mar 28, 2023 @ 10:47pm)
  • Anotherlurker on Russian Affairs Open Thread: The Child Snatchers (Mar 28, 2023 @ 10:45pm)
  • Matt McIrvin on Cake Watch: Day 2 (Mar 28, 2023 @ 10:41pm)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
We All Need A Little Kindness
Classified Documents: A Primer
State & Local Elections Discussion

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
TaMara
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Join the Fight!

Join the Fight Signup Form
All Join the Fight Posts

Balloon Juice Events

5/14  The Apocalypse
5/20  Home Away from Home
5/29  We’re Back, Baby
7/21  Merging!

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!