Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

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

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

Let there be snark.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Giving up is unforgivable.

You are here: Home / You can’t be too strong

You can’t be too strong

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I wish I could say I found this story surprising (h/t old friend Jim Newell):

A text message sent in January to U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy by a woman with whom he had an extra-marital relationship took him to task for an anti-abortion statement posted on Facebook from his office’s public account.

“And you have zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week when we thought that was one of the options,” Shannon Edwards, a forensic psychologist in Pittsburgh with whom the congressman admitted last month to having a relationship, wrote to Mr. Murphy on Jan. 25, in the midst of an unfounded pregnancy scare.

[….]

The congressman has been lauded by the Family Research Council, for his stance on abortion, as well as for family values, generally. He also has been endorsed by LifePAC, which opposes abortion rights, and is a member of the House Pro-Life Caucus, an affiliation that is often cited by his office.

Actually, I don’t wish I was surprised. I’m glad I already knew what hypocritical pieces of shit most pro-life Congressmen are.

It’s like the old saying, a surgery is minor only when they operate on someone else. I guess abortion is murder only when somebody else knocks up his mistress.

Reader Interactions

106Comments

  4. 4.

    dedc79

    This is the kind of story I figured would break regarding Trump in the lead-up to the election, but it never did. You just know he’s paid for abortions, probably a whole lot of them, and the women won’t come forward because he made them sign non-disclosure agreements.

  5. 5.

    Droppy

    As long as he hasn’t gone too lefty – like helping a poor person in some way or secretly trying to improve the lives of average citizens – he’ll be ok. Just blame the woman for being a slut, say it was a sin for which he has been forgiven, and offer to cut some taxes. All set.

  6. 6.

    trollhattan

    The recent poll results showing that fundys who forgive the president’s shortcomings have gone from, was it 30% to 70%?, with the change in presidential hue tells us all we need about the odds that Republican bedroom peccadilloes will be punished in the court of public opinion. Representative Mark Sanford, anyone?

  8. 8.

    Corner Stone

    OMFG! David French is rolling Chuck Todd by spewing the most asinine, stupid, ridiculous, garbage fucking BS fuckery I have ever heard. Why isn’t someone punching French through the tubes??!

  9. 9.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    You know the gun humpers’ argument that bad guys are going to get guns and do harm anyway, so why make certain guns illegal? Why don’t they ever apply that to abortion? Like women are going to get them anyway so why make it illegal? Hell why not make theft legal? It’s not like people aren’t stealing stuff anyway.

  11. 11.

    Corner Stone

    AAARRRGGGHHHH!!! This LV shooting was not “highly unusual”!! It was completely usual you fucking fuck!
    That is the whole fucking problem!

  12. 12.

    trollhattan

    BTW, excellent & sly reference to “Squeezing Out Sparks” Doug! Still listen to him regularly, the catalog has aged gracefully and the attitude is needed badly.

  14. 14.

    Steve in the ATL

    Don’t say “Pro-life”–it’s a dishonest right wing term. These people are simply anti-abortion.

  17. 17.

    Major Major Major Major

    Remember that time Sarah Palin was explaining her pro-life cred, and she said she was really glad she had the choice to not have Trig, even though she ultimately decided to have him? Even used the word ‘choice’. Good times.

  18. 18.

    japa21

    I don’t think LV can keep out of thread so I am going to post this here. Penzey’s has done it again. Again, a note from the owner and President of the company. Normally I would just post excerpts but this time I am doing the whole thing.

    It’s time for our representatives to stop doing the job the gun lobby is paying them to do, and start doing the job they were elected to do. If only after Sandy Hook Congress would have shown a tiny fraction of the courage the heroes of Sunday night displayed, thousands less would be grieving today.
    We were planning to start our free shipping with just $20 spending instead of the usual $30 in an emailing yesterday, but with the news out of Las Vegas it seemed right to hold off. Visiting family out that way over the years we’ve stayed at that very location a half dozen times. Just this past July, looking out those windows down onto the Strip, I never imagined… For those that forever lost loved ones, for those forced to witness that loss, for everyone who makes up the greater community of the southern end of the Strip, there will be an extra weight to be carried for years to come; for many for the rest of their lives. And for what? It really is something right out of the Bridge on the River Kwai. It really is “Madness.”
    I think we were all ready for the prepared, well-rehearsed NRA talking points that this is not the place—that now is not the time—to talk about why so many lives must be lost time after time. And those well-rehearsed words were indeed delivered by so many of our elected officials beholden to today’s NRA. But where in the past their unified repeating of these words had somehow created a sense of unified defense, this time they just ring hollow. Yesterday so many across so many platforms were already willing to challenge the gun lobby and say of course directly in the wake of a shooting like Las Vegas it is absolutely both the place and time to talk sense about guns. This is something very different, something very hopeful.
    Yes, to swear to uphold the Constitution is to swear to uphold its Second Amendment, and with it Americans’ right to keep and bear arms. But it’s also equally a pledge to regulate militias well. As much as it seems today we are willing to accept individuals as militias, clearly in the quantity and types of weapons possessed by Sunday night’s shooter we’ve failed to uphold the half of the second amendment that its writers felt came first. The right to keep and bear arms is undeniable, but there is no right to self regulate the type or quantity of arms and ammunition that can be kept. That job falls to Congress.
    The time has come for our leaders in Washington to take inspiration from the heroes in Las Vegas who had the courage to time and again place themselves in harm’s way to save those who fell around them. It’s time for our representatives in government to stop doing the job the gun lobby is paying them to do, and start doing the job they were elected to do. If only after Sandy Hook Congress would have shown a tiny fraction of the courage the heroes of Sunday night displayed, thousands less would be grieving today.
    At the heart of cooking is the notion of when we look out for and take care of each other the world becomes a better place. Letting the gun industry write our gun laws is pretty much the opposite of taking care of each other. All it takes is a bit of backbone to cast the simple common sense votes that each year could save hundreds of thousands of Americans from losing loved ones to senseless gun violence. No one should have to witness what so many in Las Vegas witnessed Sunday night. Please speak out, and please don’t wait. Now is always the time.

  24. 24.

    FlyingToaster

    @japa21: Bill Penzey has addressed that on the website and in his newsletter. He lost a few customers for his vocal support of the Women’s March, and subsequently gained more customers than he lost. I was able to add two family members to his customer base myself.

    The man’s been out of fucks left to give for a long time.

  26. 26.

    Ian G.

    Graham Parker. Excellent. That song always reminds me that abortion isn’t really about politics, or at least it shouldn’t be. It should be a personal decision and nothing more.

    I’m pro-choice because, as a man, I can’t imagine the tough situations a woman must be in where they would need an abortion.

  27. 27.

    Kay

    Read the memo at the link. He’s awful.

    Another — a six-page memo to Mr. Murphy purportedly written by his chief of staff, Susan Mosychuk — described a hostile workplace in which Mr. Murphy repeatedly denigrated employees, threatened them and created a state of “terror.”

  29. 29.

    eemom

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Don’t say “Pro-life”–it’s a dishonest right wing term. These people are simply anti-abortion.

    seconded. It makes me crazy when our side does that.

    PLEASE, do NOT perpetuate that most vile of lies EVER AGAIN.

  30. 30.

    Brachiator

    Did any reporter ever ask Trump how many abortions he had paid or provided for over the years?

  31. 31.

    eemom

    @A Ghost to Most:

    IOKIYAR.

    While I’m at it, I fucking HATE that shit, too. It implies a resignation to the hypocrisy that needs to be called out every day, all the time.

    And what does repeating that stupid, boring ass meme for the gazillionth time accomplish, exactly?

  34. 34.

    Corner Stone

    It looks like the House has passed the 20 week abortion ban bill? And are threatening McConnell to not let it get filibustered?

  35. 35.

    Elizabelle

    I find this kind of a sour topic. Not interested in it, really. Can hypocrisy sustain a long thread? Maybe. There’s enough awfulness in the world. Who cares about this philanderer.

  36. 36.

    Tokyokie

    @SFAW: Best live show I ever saw was Graham Parker and the Rumour at the Armadillo in Austin in 1977. The show was really late at night (meaning no beer sales for the ‘Dillo) because the band added the gig themselves to the meager tour Mercury funded. I’ve always loved the fellow and never understood why he didn’t become more popular than he did.

  37. 37.

    Villago Delenda Est

    As far as I’m concerned the FRC is a terrorist organization as much as the NRA is.

    Wipe them out. All of them.

  40. 40.

    FlyingToaster

    @eclare: Any herb I can’t grow in the garden. They’re my lifeline for Epazote. WarriorGirl would live on Crystallized Ginger if I let her. The various Indian spices (balti, sate, etc.).

    My mom buys blends (because cooking isn’t one of her skills).

  41. 41.

    A Ghost to Most

    @Ian G.: I’m pro-choice because in 1972, a female friend got pregnant, and almost died trying to end it with a coat hanger. My wife has her reasons as well. Almost 40 continuous years supporting Planned Parenthood.

    Fuck Komen.

  42. 42.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud: I would so prefer that.

    When do we get to see a pic of your pups?

    I am without pets for now. Saw a WaPost commenter name I liked: dogless infidel. C’est moi.

  44. 44.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud: Yes, although I learned that one can take pets to Barcelona. But I am a bit rootless right now while I decide, do I stay or do I go? And might be unfair to a pup, although …

    But these days, could totes use a pup to hug on and commiserate with.

  45. 45.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @trollhattan: Mark Sanford’s sin wasn’t fucking some woman not his wife.

    It was going AWOL from his duties as governor without bothering to tell his staff he’d be away from the country, let alone the state or the capital.

  46. 46.

    Baud

    @Elizabelle: If you have the time and energy, you can foster dogs. That way you don’t have the long term commitment while you figure out what to do next.

  47. 47.

    GregB

    I’m fine with anti-choice as a descriptor for these hypocritical, sanctimonious pud-bags.

  48. 48.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud: Thought about that, but who is going to get a dog away from one, once bonded? Also thought of being a foster parent to hospice dogs.

    Also thinking I should get my butt in gear and sign up for in-home pet and other animal sitting. Around the country for a while. That could be good. I am getting restless again.

  55. 55.

    japa21

    @eclare: Any of their regular straight spices are great. As someone pointed out a while ago, they have several types of cinnamon and the Vietnamese cinnamon is out of this world.

    We do use some of the mixes, specially their pot roast seasoning.

  57. 57.

    Baud

    @Elizabelle:

    I am getting restless again.

    I understand. Some years ago – never mind how long precisely – having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world.

  62. 62.

    Duane

    If men could get pregnant, every convenience store in the country would sell birth control, and every hospital would provide abortion.

  64. 64.

    Aardvark Cheeselog

    Someplace I once saw a list of stories from people who worked at abortion clinics. One of them concerned a patient who the staff recognized as a frequent protester who tried to keep patients from entering the clinic, using the most inflammatory kind of language (you don’t want to be a baby-murderer, that kind of thing).

    One of the staff asked her how she squared that with using the clinic herself, and was told something like “it’s different for me, I really need the procedure” or words to that effect.

  65. 65.

    FlyingToaster

    @schrodingers_cat: I don’t know if they’re actually Indian; they could be Pakistani or Afghan.

    HerrDoktor calls them “Indian”, and he’s the chef. I’m just the procurement officer.

    For instance, Balti.

  67. 67.

    efgoldman

    @A Ghost to Most:

    Forced-birther works for me.

    When I read news stories on the air, I always used the terms “proc-choice” and “anti-choice”.
    No one ever complained.

  70. 70.

    schrodingers_cat

    @FlyingToaster: I think balti is a wok type thingie, you throw together a bunch stuff with lots of spices. Balti would more likely be a spice blend. I buy my spices whole and blend them myself, that gets the best results.
    -spice snob.

  71. 71.

    efgoldman

    @Corner Stone:

    And are threatening McConnell to not let it get filibustered?

    What can the house threaten him with? And how could he stop it?
    I doubt that this bill is a nuke-the-legislative-filibuster hill to die on for McTurtle

  74. 74.

    Elizabelle

    OT: I have spent the day reading up on Tom Petty tributes. He was something special.

    I think this was among the most poignant. LATimes following his younger daughter’s instagrams yesterday. Tom had two daughters; older — Adria — is a film/video director. Younger is Annakim Violette. She looks so much like him, and you can tell she’s been crying. He would buy her matching jackets to some of his concert costumes.

    Daughters of his first marriage, and he’s got a grandchild too. Anyhoo: with some great photos of him younger.

    HuffPost had a story with slightly different photos. Tom was quite photogenic. I have not seen a bad photo of him. He would have been stunning as a woman.

    One unknown fact (to me, anyway): Petty’s lineage included Native Americans, and he reported he was the blondest in the family; his relatives had dark skin and hair. Maybe produced more empathy in him.

  78. 78.

    FlyingToaster

    @schrodingers_cat: You’re entirely welcome. But as I tend to be the one stuck at the mortar & pestle, I’m happy to let him use a shortcut if he’s willing.

    That being said, I can make a kick-ass berbere out of Penzey’s ingredients ?

  80. 80.

    efgoldman

    @Baud:

    Turning him over on his back?

    Seriously, even in the days of real speakers with actual power, there wasn’t a lot they could do institutionally to force the senate to act in a certain way. They MIGHT be able to screw up legislation which the senate majority wants, but these RWNJs are so incompetent at legislating, who could tell the difference?

  81. 81.

    Shana

    @eclare: I’m particularly fond of the New Curry I think it’s called, and Fox Point. The Sandwich Sprinkle is nice, and their saffron is, relatively speaking, quite cheap. We have a store near me and I go a couple of times a year at least.

  84. 84.

    p.a.

    Hoo boy. Good thing we have sober leadership in Washington: BBC reports Catalonia to declare independence in several days. Putin’s fingerprints on this at all?

  85. 85.

    efgoldman

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    About what I’d expect.

    When he was reading his prepared text about, i think, Puerto Rico yesterday, he sounded like nothing as much as the computer simulation voices kids at MIT created in the 1980s. Not a hint of emotion, empathy, or caring; reading words by rote that someone handed him; not meaning a word of it, sounding like a third-grader made to read something in front of the class that he never meant.
    What a vile human being.

  86. 86.

    MomSense

    @Elizabelle:

    I listened to Tom Petty radio today. His friends and fans were calling in for a sort of online wake. It was a perfect tribute with equal parts tears and laughter.

  93. 93.

    trollhattan

    @Villago Delenda Est:
    He’s a pip. I seem to recall him playing games of chicken with his family–them on the ground and he in his airplane. I’m sure he’s a wonderful addition to the House.

  96. 96.

    Calouste

    @p.a.: Undoubtedly, but the conservative government in Madrid have done everything they could to make things worse.

  97. 97.

    Catherine D.

    @Elizabelle: I have done breed rescue for many years. They’re lovely to have in the short term, but I’ve always been happy to see them off to forever homes.

  100. 100.

    J R in WV

    @schrodingers_cat:

    “Balti would more likely be a spice blend.”

    From their web site:

    Hand-mixed from: coriander, garlic, ginger, cumin, dundicut chilies, Ceylon cinnamon, brown mustard seeds, cardamom, clove, fennel, fenugreek, charnushka, ajwain, star anise, black cardamom, cilantro, anise seed and bay leaf.

    Sounds tasty to me. I usually add my favorite flavors to blends, or toss some blend into something I’m making with other flavors in it already.

  101. 101.

    Peale

    @Corner Stone: yep. We seem to have mass shootings with at least a dozen fatalities 2-3 times per year. It’s hardly the discovery of a second moon orbiting the earth.

  104. 104.

    Big Picture Pathologist

    @eemom:

    No, anti-CHOICE works better. You can be anti-abortion personally while still allowing women to decide for themselves.

  106. 106.

    seaboogie

    I am feeling howling outragage tonight – and this issue is one of them (and personal), and also the least of them. I think I left my “can’t evens” in the Donner pass.

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