Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The arc of the moral universe doesn’t bend itself. it’s up to us.

We’re not going back!

Please don’t feed the bears.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

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

If marriage is the equivalent of selling yourself into slavery, women with self respect should reject the offer.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

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

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

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

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

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

The words do not have to be perfect.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

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

When the time comes to make an endorsement, the pain of NYT editors will be palpable as they reluctantly whisper “Biden.”

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

The willow is too close to the house.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

You are here: Home / Isn’t it romantic?

Isn’t it romantic?

by | 192 Comments

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Heh.

The close of the Breitbart article is great too:

The Post is owned by Nash Holdings LLC, a holding company for billionaire Amazon founder and open borders champion Jeffrey Bezos.

The newspaper formally endorsed Moore’s Democratic opponent Doug Jones in the Senate race.

In a series of articles, Breitbart News has documented Jones’s close associations with far-left groups financed by George Soros that push open borders and a host of radical causes.

Reader Interactions

192Comments

  1. 1.

    Ian G.

    These people would vote for Idi Amin if they thought it would “trigger” liberals. There simply is no one on the right too awful for them.

  3. 3.

    patrick II

    Romancing them while they were that young was the only way he could assure himself of getting a virgin as the good lord intended.

  5. 5.

    mai naem mobile

    Theres something creepy about a 30+ yr old guy dating somebody under 20. That is not normal. I think it’s disgusting when you have a 30 yr old dating a 60 yr old but at least the 30 yr old knows what theyre doing.

  7. 7.

    rikyrah

    Trump’s next immigration target: people living legally in U.S. after disaster struck their countries. He’s going after Hondurans now. He is a hateful, dark hearted man. Resist. https://t.co/tAjGYQxBFe pic.twitter.com/KXkNUP69UG

    — Russell Drew (@RussOnPolitics) November 9, 2017

  8. 8.

    James E. Powell

    Is George Soros really funding far-left groups that favor open borders and host of radical causes? Because I’d like to form one of those groups this weekend. I could use the money for the holidays.

  9. 9.

    Kay

    It’s truly disturbing how many moral scolds are personally repulsive. You hate to say it’s almost a guarantee, but it’s almost a guarantee. The more they’re shrieking about the Ten Commandments the worse they are as far as personal behavior.

  13. 13.

    Kay

    Also- based solely on my experience any pol who uses “judge” as some kind of bullshit to claim superiority or get stuff is a bad person. Run from that pol. They’re always the worst of the bunch.

  15. 15.

    D58826

    I realize for the fundies what withKing Solomon and his 500 wives and concubines the question is irelevent but was Moore married at the time?

  16. 16.

    Ian G.

    @mai naem mobile:

    When I was 32, I got engaged…to my now wife who was 27 at the time.

    When I was 28, I had a drunk hookup with a woman who I later found out was 23, and my first reaction was, “what’s wrong with you, Ian? She’s barely out of college!”

    But I’m a secular humanist heathen who needs saving by Godly men like Moore.

  22. 22.

    Mnemosyne

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Funny how one of our totally not Russian! trolls makes very similar claims about Bezos. Almost like both claims are part of a two-pronged propaganda campaign against the Washington Post so people from both the left and the right will distrust their anti-Trump reporting … ?

  23. 23.

    Capri

    Interesting tidbit – Another person who hates Soros is Putin, because he supports democracy in the new countries that were established when the USSR broke up. What a co-winky dink that Putin and the alt-right have the same boogyman.

  27. 27.

    D58826

    @JPL: Ironically Song of Solomon and some of the psalms can get pretty racy. David wrong a psalm to his BFF Jonathon that would fit quite nicely on any gay bar in America. But of course they were just friends

  28. 28.

    Roger Moore

    @Yarrow:
    Who does Bannon suggest as a replacement for Yertle? I think Trump really wants somebody in charge of the Senate who’s thoroughly implicated by Trump/Russia, because otherwise they might let the investigation progress. I can’t think of anyone who’s better for him than Senatortoise McConnell.

  32. 32.

    Roger Moore

    @Capri:

    What a co-winky dink that Putin and the alt-right have the same boogyman.

    Antisemitism is a hell of a drug.

  33. 33.

    Bruce K

    At this point, Breitbart’s heirs seem to be doing some sort of demented experiment to see how far the IOKIYAR principle can be pushed…

  34. 34.

    Emma

    @D58826: OK, you’re way out of line now. That image should never have been planted in my brain.You owe me six gallons of the best bleach.

  35. 35.

    Humboldtblue

    @Kay:

    You hate to say it’s almost a guarantee, but it’s almost a guarantee.

    I don’t hate to say it because it’s true. The most devoted followers, the most vocal and opinionated and vociferous the believer the more nasty skeletons you’ll find in the closet. They use church as a shield, just as the run of the mill racist GOP fuck does, because it gives them access to victims and a veneer of respectability in the community.

  38. 38.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    So I see, Moore the notorious anti-gay likes women boyishly slim. No subtext here.

  40. 40.

    Mnemosyne

    @Yarrow:

    Meh. I think that’s more because most people assume that anyone who’s homophobic must be gay themselves, and Pence is very homophobic. But it’s also true that many people are homophobic to make excuses for their own sexual failings, like cheating on their wives or dating teenage girls. They think that if there’s someone else out there whose sexual “sins” are worse, that makes them better and less of a sinner.

  41. 41.

    Brachiator

    @Yarrow:

    Bannon calls for McConnell to resign

    Dueling calls for resignation. McConnell says that Moore should step aside. Bannon wants McConnell to stand down. What a circus. And The Great Orange Ringmaster isn’t even in the country.

  43. 43.

    Amir Khalid

    @mai naem mobile: A 30-year-old woman involved with a 60-year-old man presumably knows what she’s doing, as you say; so while it raises eyebrows, it’s not wrong at all unless one party is exploiting/abusing the other.

    @Roger Moore:
    It wouldn’t surprise me if Bannon wanted (figuratively speaking) to shoot a man in Reno just to watch him die.

  45. 45.

    El Caganer

    So…no actual rape. This wouldn’t have anything to do with that wee little gun he was waving around during his Roy Rogers moment, would it?

  46. 46.

    TenguPhule

    @El Caganer:

    So…no actual rape.

    So far.

    Remember, these are just the ones who are speaking up.

    If he did the same to women of color, somehow I doubt he was a southern gentleman about it.

    Unless by southern gentleman we’re talking a slaver.

  47. 47.

    TenguPhule

    @Amir Khalid:

    It wouldn’t surprise me if Bannon wanted (figuratively speaking) to shoot a man in Reno just to watch him die.

    What makes you think he’d restrict himself to being figurative?

  48. 48.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne:

    Meh. I think that’s more because most people assume than anyone who’s homophobic must be gay themselves, and Pence is very homophobic.

    Pence is about as uptight as it is possible to be. Yeah, he could be in the closet. He also reminds me of English prime minister William Gladstone, who tried to save pr0stitutes, but also had to punish himself.

    His predilection for pornography has been noted above. In 1849 Gladstone began to scourge himself to counter stimulation from it. By 1851 he was also scourging himself after conversations with prostitutes during which he felt he had allowed himself to be excessively excited. Sometimes he went to their homes or lodging houses for talks long into the night, sometimes for tea.

    I can easily imagine Pence trying to punish himself for having impure thoughts. Probably shouts “Mommy” while he is whipping himself.

    But it’s also true that many people are homophobic to make excuses for their own sexual failings, like cheating on their wives or dating teenage girls.

    I don’t think this is true at all. But whatever.

  49. 49.

    The Moar You Know

    Haven’t a clue. I just know that Bannon wants to blow up the Republican party. I’m sure Putin is happy with his work.

    @Yarrow: Yep. As part of destroying America. I mean that literally. I don’t know if he’s paid or pissed or what the deal is, but he very specifically wants to destroy this nation.

  50. 50.

    Brachiator

    @Amir Khalid:

    @TenguPhule:

    It wouldn’t surprise me if Bannon wanted (figuratively speaking) to shoot a man in Reno just to watch him die.

    Bannon is a phony tough guy. If he tried to shoot a guy in Reno, he would probably end up shooting himself.

  52. 52.

    LAO

    @lgerard: Alabama has a “sore loser law,” so I’m not sure Strange can run as a write in (unless of course Moore pulls out of the race, which he will never do).

  54. 54.

    Roger Moore

    @Brachiator:

    And The Great Orange Ringmaster isn’t even in the country.

    There’s probably a connection there. When the big bully is out of town, all the littler bullies are emboldened.

  57. 57.

    A Ghost To Most

    Any Sturgill Simpson fans: he busked in front of the CMA Awards. to protest fascism and that “fascist fucking pig” Rump. He’s my hero, and the best thing in country music for years.

  58. 58.

    eric

    @Roger Moore: the big bully has a russian prostitute problem: they were admittedly offered by the Russians, but he (purportedly) said ‘no thanks.’ this is at the event for the “incident” in the Steele dossier.

  60. 60.

    Brachiator

    @mai naem mobile:

    Theres something creepy about a 30+ yr old guy dating somebody under 20. That is not normal

    Uh, have you ever been down South?

    @Amir Khalid:

    I think it’s disgusting when you have a 30 yr old dating a 60 yr old but at least the 30 yr old knows what theyre doing.

    A 30-year-old woman involved with a 60-year-old man presumably knows what she’s doing, as you say; so while it raises eyebrows, it’s not wrong at all unless one party is exploiting/abusing the other.

    I think some of this supposed discomfort over age differences is just weird. After the age of consent and a degree of maturity, why should it be anyone’s business?

    ETA: There is an upcoming film about a love affair between a 17 year old man and an older doctoral student, Call Me By Your Name. Critics praised it when it showed at various film festivals. It looks quite charming. Critics and commentators are falling all over themselves to say that here age difference doesn’t matter because … reasons.

  61. 61.

    trollhattan

    @Brachiator:
    McConnell v. Bannon. So conflicted.

    Bannon’s hubris is so vast I have to believe he’ll be nutted by doctrinaire Republicans before he gets too much deeper into their shit.

  62. 62.

    rikyrah

    @Mnemosyne:

    Did you see old pictures of Pence?

    Gaydar pinging like a muthaphucka looking at them. He’s done a good job of getting rid of them, but, there have been a few floating around the internet.

  63. 63.

    Barbara

    @Yarrow: This is the Bannon who confidently predicted that Gillespie was going to win in Virginia because he was following Corey Stewart’s lead. I bet McConnell is really bowled over with his insight and acumen. Bannon thinks he is a political genius when really, he just got lucky in capitalizing on circumstances to get Trump elected. His alleged brilliance is fading with every new statement.

  64. 64.

    rikyrah

    @TenguPhule:

    If he did the same to women of color, somehow I doubt he was a southern gentleman about it.

    Unless by southern gentleman we’re talking a slaver

    Guess I’m not the only one thinking like this.

  65. 65.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brachiator:

    You may want to read some of the posts at Love Joy Feminism — it’s written by a blogger who was raised by ultra-religious homeschoolers. She has one up about Moore today, but she’s done a lot of writing about sexual ethics in that community and how they use homophobia to make themselves feel more righteous despite their own sexual sins.

  66. 66.

    trollhattan

    @A Ghost To Most:
    That’s so great, and puts this bit into context.

    The hosts of Fox & Friends on Thursday turned on country music stars who mocked President Donald Trump during the 51st Annual CMA Awards. Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley began the show with jokes about both Hillary Clinton and President Trump. But it was the jabs at the current president that crossed the line for several Fox News hosts.

    “Remember in the olden days when football wasn’t political and so many things weren’t political?” Fox News host Steve Doocy complained. “Now, as it turns out, the CMAs have gotten very political.”

    Co-host Brian Kilmeade, however, seemed willing to cut the singers a break: “I like the fact that they opened up with a few hits on Hillary Clinton — which Seth Meyers and all these other guys don’t do — and I thought they balanced it out.” Doocy argued that the Country Music Awards program was not supposed to “get political.”

    “Where’s Dolly [Parton], where’s Garth Brooks?” co-host Ainsley Earhardt opined. “They don’t get political. Listen, Charlie Daniels — Charlie Daniels talked about how he likes the old country better than the new country. Really? It’s hitting country music now?”

    Funniest thing I’ve read in weeks.

  68. 68.

    lgerard

    @LAO:

    Alabama has a “sore loser law,”

    That may prevent Strange from being on the ballot, but I don’t think it would apply to a write-in candidacy.

    Between the Bentley fiasco, the scam Strange pulled to get appointed to the Senate, and the ongoing dumpster fire that is Roy Moore, it would seem that all of Alabama’s republicans are sore at this point.

  69. 69.

    Mnemosyne

    @rikyrah:

    I’m not totally ruling it out. I’m just saying that, most of the time, when a guy’s wife bans him from being alone with any woman, ever, it ain’t because he’s secretly gay.

  70. 70.

    catclub

    @Brachiator:

    After the age of consent and a degree of maturity, why should it be anyone’s business?

    the thirty year old is probably taking advantage of the 60y.o.

  71. 71.

    LAO

    @Brachiator: I’m super confused — a movie about a 17 year old and 24 year old’s affair, is the same as 32 year old dating a 14 year old? or a 34 year old dating a 16 year old?

  74. 74.

    Brachiator

    OT: Just ran across this. Jimmy Kimmel urging idiots to sign up for “Trumpcare.”

    Hilarious,

    Especially the Twitter messages praising Kimmel for “changing his mind” about Trump.

  79. 79.

    Tilda Swintons Bald Cap

    Saw some tweets from local media that rumors about Moore have been around for many years.

  81. 81.

    HeleninEire

    Had a job interview today. It went really well. BUT. I don’t wanna get a job!!! I love my life here without a job. Says the whiney baby.

  82. 82.

    trollhattan

    @SatanicPanic:
    Yeah, I thought both he and Dolly were odd choices then realized they’re the only country stars the Fox morons could name-check without endorsing Willie. Which obviously don’t work too good, do it?

  84. 84.

    trollhattan

    @bobbo:
    The more bible-thmpery the more likely they’re up to their necks in the nasty. Pence and Santorum must have vast closets of awful.

  85. 85.

    Ian G.

    @A Ghost To Most:

    I was talking about Sturgill in an earlier thread, wondering aloud if he was a lefty based on songs like “Turtles all the Way Down”, which is something the Grateful Dead might have written. And then I saw the news about his busking show last night, to answer my question.

    “Metamodern Sounds in Country Music” rocks.

  86. 86.

    trollhattan

    @HeleninEire:
    You need to find a pub to think this over, stat!

    Do they still do Armistice Day over there? We’ve watered ours down to generic Veterans Day, and nobody here connects it to 11:11 on 11/11 any longer.

  88. 88.

    Tilda Swintons Bald Cap

    Then there’s this:

    Keith Schiller — longtime bodyguard to President Donald Trump — said this week that after a meeting about the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow, a Russian associate offered to send “five women” to Trump’s hotel room, but Schiller declined the offer on his boss’ behalf.

  89. 89.

    Brachiator

    @catclub:

    After the age of consent and a degree of maturity, why should it be anyone’s business?

    the thirty year old is probably taking advantage of the 60y.o.

    What’s that song that has the lyrics “keep on using me until you use me up.”

    If everyone is happy, what’s it to me or you?

    @LAO:

    I’m super confused — a movie about a 17 year old and 24 year old’s affair, is the same as 32 year old dating a 14 year old? or a 34 year old dating a 16 year old?

    If it were a “hot” high school teacher having an affair with a student, people would be screaming about “unequal power, etc.” So is age only a factor in a complex issue of authority, etc.?

    But let’s say a 32 year old and 17 year old. Still no problem? Or why a problem?

    ETA: When I was growing up, a college freshman or junior could date a high school senior, but a grad student was considered to be out of bounds. However, in college a mature looking college freshman was knocking boots with a 28 year old woman who was a school teacher, and getting admirable glances from guys and gals both.

  92. 92.

    HeleninEire

    @trollhattan: LOL my favorite pub is hiring, but they are also a hotel. They are hiring for front desk persons. Work with people. OH HOLY HELL NO.

  96. 96.

    ThresherK

    From Springsteen to Rodgers and Hart (and one of the Chevalier / MacDonald bonbons), and I have no idea which pop performer or song brings the squick that Moore has shown.

  97. 97.

    Ian G.

    @A Ghost To Most:

    BTW, I saw Jason Isbell retweeted Doug Jones today. I feel for Jason (and the Truckers). I can’t imagine what it must be like to be lefties who sincerely love Alabama only to see it in the hands of crazy people who voted for people like Roy Moore.

  98. 98.

    Mike J

    Alabama State Auditor:

    “Take the Bible. Zachariah and Elizabeth for instance. Zachariah was extremely old to marry Elizabeth and they became the parents of John the Baptist,” Ziegler said choosing his words carefully before invoking Christ. “Also take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus.”

  100. 100.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brachiator:

    But let’s say a 32 year old and 17 year old. Still no problem? Or why a problem?

    32 year old and 17 year old is illegal statutory rape in most states. It sometimes is not illegal if the older person is female and the younger person is male, but most states have been trying to get that particular piece of sexism out of their statutes.

  102. 102.

    rikyrah

    @eric:

    @Roger Moore: the big bully has a russian prostitute problem: they were admittedly offered by the Russians, but he (purportedly) said ‘no thanks.’ this is at the event for the “incident” in the Steele dossier.

    I believe everything in the Dossier to be true.

  103. 103.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Gravenstone:

    A broad gap? Quite the contrary, as Prince Hilarion articulated charmingly in Princess Ida (Gilbert & Sullivan):

    (Enter Hilarion)
    Hilarion.
    To-day we meet, my baby bride and I —
    But ah, my hopes are balanced by my fears!
    What transmutations have been conjured by
    The silent alchemy of twenty years!

    Ida was a twelve-month old, 
Twenty years ago! 

    I was twice her age, I’m told, 
Twenty years ago! 

    Husband twice as old as wife, 
Argues ill for married life; 

    Baleful prophecies were rife, 

    Twenty years ago, 

    Twenty years ago!

    Still, I was a tiny Prince,
    Twenty years ago!
    She has gained upon me, since
    Twenty years ago!
    Though she’s twenty-one, it’s true,
    I am barely twenty-two;
    False and foolish prophets you
    Twenty years ago,
    Twenty years ago!

  105. 105.

    LurkerNoLonger

    @Tilda Swintons Bald Cap:

    a Russian associate offered to send “five women” to Trump’s hotel room, but Schiller declined the offer on his boss’ behalf.

    Bullshit. Trump would never refuse a freebie.

  107. 107.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Major Major Major Major: I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he didn’t just say that Joseph was the father of Jesus.

    and that, no excusing child molestation, will be what will cause him electoral difficulties in Alabama

  108. 108.

    debit

    @Mike J: If only Moore had knocked up these girls so they could have ushered in a new age of saints and multiple sons of god.

  122. 122.

    Ian G.

    @Mike J:

    In 21st century America, we’re citing ancient middle eastern myths to defend pederasty by a candidate for one of the most important legislative positions in the country.

    I wonder how much of our savings I can give to the Jones campaign before my wife gets physically violent with me to make me stop?

  124. 124.

    Duane

    When we were teenagers, my friends and I knew fourteen was too young. A 30 year-old man dating a fourteen year-old(or any teenager) would’ve been run out of our small town in southwest Missouri. Or worse.
    Alabama, if you think this behavior is acceptable, you’ve got a big problem.

  125. 125.

    sm*t cl*de

    @Mike J:

    “Take the Bible. Zachariah and Elizabeth for instance. Zachariah was extremely old to marry Elizabeth and they became the parents of John the Baptist,” Ziegler said

    Luke 1:5-25 says nothing of the age when Zachariah married Elizabeth, only that they were the same age (both old at the time of ensuing events).
    The Alabama State Auditor is a biblically-ignorant religious fraud, making stuff up as an apologist for pedophilia, Imma shocked.

  128. 128.

    TenguPhule

    @Ian G.:

    In 21st century America, we’re citing ancient middle eastern myths to defend pederasty by a candidate for one of the most important legislative positions in the country.

    And people who actually vote will actually take the argument seriously.

    And people wonder why I despair sometimes.

  137. 137.

    Corner Stone

    @Duane: “Was that wrong? Should I have not done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorance on this thing because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing was frowned upon, you know, ‘cause I’ve worked in a lot of offices and I tell you people do that all the time.”

  140. 140.

    KithKanan

    @Mnemosyne: Strangely enough to me as a Californian, 32/17 is *legal* in most states. 31 states have age of consent of 16, another 8 states set it at 17. Only 11 states set it at 18.

  144. 144.

    JPL

    A thirty something should not be dating a high school student. The age of consent should not matter.

  147. 147.

    Corner Stone

    @JPL: Just like other stories of this kind, I think we’ll probably see this get blown up very shortly. If he did it to four…

    I also honestly believe we’re going to find out the truth about Sen Rand Paul’s incident. The neighbor may be unstable but the almost desperate scent in the air to get people to believe the “lawn dispute” story makes me very sceptical.

  148. 148.

    Another Scott

    @JPL: I’m not sure how much we can go by official data on party funding of campaigns any more, what with so many Super PACs and the like.

    Gillespie supposedly wasn’t getting much official donations, but seemed to have no problems filling the DC airwaves with ads.

    IOW, Moore’s official fundraising numbers could be abysmal and it might not matter. All it takes is a billionaire (or tinpot dictator) or two to give him more money than he could hope to spend.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  149. 149.

    Aleta

    Parts of a piece by Jia Tolentino in The New Yorker

    Over the past year, I realized, I had also allowed myself to forget the sheer repulsiveness of some of Trump’s offhand comments about women: that he told his friends to “be rougher” with their wives, that he seemed to regularly joke about dating teen-agers. I recently shared the piece (written a year ago) on Twitter and received more than two hundred replies, many of which asked the same sort of question: Why isn’t anyone doing anything about this? Why don’t these women press charges against the President? Why don’t they get together and sue him? Where are all these accusers now?

    A few of Trump’s accusers have spoken to the media since the Weinstein story broke. (snip)

    There is a single ongoing piece of litigation against the President, a civil defamation suit lodged by Summer Zervos, the former “Apprentice” contestant, who … is represented by Gloria Allred. … One of her court filings in Zervos’s lawsuit lists seventeen statements made by Trump during the campaign in an attempt to discredit his accusers’ stories: the women were telling “false allegations and outright lies,” he said; their stories were “100% fabricated and made-up”; Zervos “wishes she could still be on reality TV.”

    Zervos is asking for three thousand dollars in damages, a sign that the lawsuit is not financially motivated; the goal is a systematic reëngagement with the truth about Trump’s sexual misdeeds. Her lawyers have filed a wide-ranging subpoena that seeks all records from the Trump camp concerning any accusations of sexual misbehavior made during the campaign, as well as anything related to statements made by Trump himself on the “Access Hollywood” tape. …

    Trump has attempted to get the case dismissed through a variety of arguments—that it was a matter of “political opinion” when he said his accusers were liars, that a sitting President can’t be sued in state court. A judge is expected to rule on whether the subpoena’s discovery will be granted, and whether the case can proceed to the New York State Supreme Court in the relatively near future, possibly before the end of the year. Zervos, for her part, has refrained from speaking to the media since the Inauguration.

    Why aren’t there more civil lawsuits? Why aren’t Trump’s accusers dominating the news cycle with harrowing op-eds? Weinstein’s case is illuminating. Ronan Farrow’s latest piece details the sickening array of options available to Weinstein in his yearlong project to coerce and discredit the actresses and journalists who hoped to articulate the story of his behavior: there were multiple private investigation firms and spies of all kinds in play.

    Weinstein’s case is different from Trump’s in crucial ways, of course: our President is not accused of orchestrating a complex undercover campaign to harass and threaten his sexual-assault accusers. (Although, after he called them liars at his campaign rallies, a vocal fraction of his political supporters have been happy to do that on their own.)

    Still, at a time when a Hollywood producer is hiring ex-Mossad agents to go after alleged rape victims—a time when, Weinstein stories notwithstanding, multiple press outlets have been hounded, threatened, and even exterminated by the wealthy and vengeful—it would take an astonishing amount of courage to continually reiterate a sexual-assault claim against the volatile and virtually invulnerable President of the United States.

    It seems almost cruel to wish, at this point, that these women would keep speaking. They already did. … They gave the details of where and when; they spoke about how it had affected them. A poll last October found that sixty-eight per cent of registered voters believed their stories. Only fourteen per cent believed that Trump had not made unwanted sexual advances toward women. So it’s not that we didn’t hear Trump’s accusers, or even that we didn’t believe them. We knew that they weren’t lying, and we elected him anyway. Our response when victims speak up now has to be shaped by the magnitude of that failure.

  150. 150.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Donald J. Trump‏ @realDonaldTrump Sep 27

    Spoke to Roy Moore of Alabama last night for the first time. Sounds like a really great guy who ran a fantastic race. He will help to #MAGA!

    11,973 replies 14,343 retweets 62,974 likes

  151. 151.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Corner Stone:

    I also honestly believe we’re going to find out the truth about Sen Rand Paul’s incident. The neighbor may be unstable but the almost desperate scent in the air to get people to believe the “lawn dispute” story makes me very sceptical.

    Last I saw Paul’s people were strongly denying that it was a landscaping thing and pointing to his scrubbed #nevertrump Facebook page.

  153. 153.

    Duane

    @Corner Stone: Yeah, no excuses for perving on teenagers. Should be enough to end his candidacy, but I thought that about Trump and his “locker room talk.” My faith in our electorate is sorely miguided.

  154. 154.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Mnemosyne: Her blog should be required reading for those who did not groyw up in that culture. It gives insight into the mind-set of those who put Trump in office.

  155. 155.

    Kay

    @TenguPhule:

    And people wonder why I despair sometimes.

    I used to think you were a tad pessimistic but honestly the facts are now before us and these people are just horrible You have to buck up and carry on but we would be kidding ourselves if we denied we are surrounded by deviants and criminals and rogues. There’s literally no limit to how bad this can get. We’ll have Senators who are ankle bracelet – wearing sex offenders and as long as the 1% get their tax cut no one will object.

    How low can it go? We’re nowhere near bottom yet.

  156. 156.

    Kay

    Now we find out Louis CK insists random women watch him masturbate. What is with that particular manifestation of this? Is that like something they all agreed on? They’d all do this very specific horrible thing?

  157. 157.

    Jack the Second

    @mai naem mobile:

    Theres something creepy about a 30+ yr old guy dating somebody under 20. That is not normal. I think it’s disgusting when you have a 30 yr old dating a 60 yr old but at least the 30 yr old knows what theyre doing.

    That’s because you don’t view women as property, which has to be maintained by the husband.

    If you’re living in a culture where the symbolism of giving away the bride is not really considered symbolic, of course you encourage a relationship between your teenage daughter and a 30-something well-to-do professional. He’s a proven breadwinner, and responsible, after all. You’d have her marrying someone her own age, barely able to support himself let alone her? Or worse, becoming an “old maid” of 30 who no one will ever want to marry, and worse, you’ll be stuck supporting?

  158. 158.

    eric

    @Kay: just pay someone that wants to get paid to watch. How hard is that mr. rich person? but no, they would rather HUMILIATE someone. that is the part that gets them off

  160. 160.

    lamh36

    @MattMurph24
    29s29 seconds ago
    More
    Kellyanne Conway just said “we have to listen to both sides” re Roy Moore.

  161. 161.

    Brachiator

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    Except that’s all besides the point – 14 is way under the age of consent.

    I’ve got no problems with the prohibition related to age of consent.

    Btw, I listened to a sad news story that some states permit marriage when one party is 14, with parents consent. In almost all cases, the younger person is female.

  163. 163.

    rikyrah

    @Corner Stone:

    I also honestly believe we’re going to find out the truth about Sen Rand Paul’s incident. The neighbor may be unstable but the almost desperate scent in the air to get people to believe the “lawn dispute” story makes me very sceptical.

    I believe Helen’s theory about the Paul incident.
    I DO NOT believe the bullshyt about a ‘lawn dispute’.

    WAYYYYYY too personal an attack.
    And, when, in ANY WAY, would Rand Paul NOT want to ‘ make an example’ of someone.

    Uh huh
    Uh huh

  164. 164.

    Corner Stone

    @Kay: Didn’t we know Louis CK has been a perv for years now? I don’t mean the “everybody knows but no one mentions” thing, but like people had come forward a few years ago.

  166. 166.

    Brachiator

    @Kay:

    Now we find out Louis CK insists random women watch him masturbate. What is with that particular manifestation of this? Is that like something they all agreed on? They’d all do this very specific horrible thing?

    It’s like potty training gone horribly wrong.

  167. 167.

    Ian G.

    @Kay:

    How low can we go? I’m dead serious when I say these people would vote for a reanimated Ted Bundy if he would cut taxes and annoy liberals. Trump was on to something when he said he could shoot someone on 5th Ave, wasn’t he?

    And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Trump also had the good sense to back Luther Strange in the primary, didn’t he?

  168. 168.

    clay

    It really seems like our culture has reached a tipping point where sexual harassment and abuse will no longer be kept quiet or tolerated. I’d guess Trump being in power saturated the atmosphere enough that the Weinstein thing made the dam burst wide open.

  171. 171.

    Aleta

    (around 11:30 am)

    Nicole Silverberg‏Verified account
    @nsilverberg
    Here are the Senators so far who don’t think that accusations from multiple women & 30+ sources of Roy Moore’s sexual abuse of minors are enough for him to step down:
    @JeffFlake
    @SenateMajLdr
    @SenMikeLee
    @SenShelby
    @SenToomey
    @SenatorTimScott
    @SenatorCollins

    btw, McCain supposedly said ‘should step down’–no if.

  173. 173.

    dmsilev

    @Ian G.:

    And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Trump also had the good sense to back Luther Strange in the primary, didn’t he?

    He did, and so did just about all of the GOP Senators. Part of me wonders whether someone in that group, Mitch McConnell or similar, had something to do with this story coming to light.

  174. 174.

    Ian G.

    BTW, if this were a Dem politician who did this, Fox News would be wall to wall wingnut faux tough guys talking about how they would have beaten to death any man who touched their teenage daughter.

    But it’s OK for a Holy Man to do this in Alabama. And Pakistan. And they wonder why we call them the American Taliban.

  175. 175.

    Yutsano

    @Aleta: The Turtle did say something about Moore puling out but was a weasel about it at the same time. I thought Collins had said something too but it’s been busy at work so hard to keep up.

  176. 176.

    Aleta

    Nicole Silverberg‏ @nsilverberg 2h2 hours ago
    I was told to delete a tweet I wrote about Louis CK abusing women before I applied to a high-profile comedy job because the people conducting the hiring process might not like it. These women who have spoken up are brave, and we owe them so much.

    Nicole Silverberg‏ @nsilverberg 2h2 hours ago
    The shit that women take so that we can advance in our careers so that we can one day change the culture is astounding. I was told to delete that tweet by friends, who were advising I do so to protect me from being punished for speaking up.

  177. 177.

    Corner Stone

    @Aleta:

    & 30+ sources of Roy Moore’s sexual abuse of minors

    I have not had time to read the whole article yet but what is the reference to the “30+ sources” part?

  178. 178.

    Felonius Monk

    @Brachiator:

    And The Great Orange Ringmaster isn’t even in the country.

    Thank FSM. Is there any way we can prevent him from coming back?

  179. 179.

    JR

    @Brachiator: Well, I guess I’m fucking prudish but I don’t exactly love the idea of celebrating the relationship between a fully adult graduate student and a high schooler. Sounds like something Polanski would wholeheartedly approve.

    But setting that aside, the Roy Moore stuff sounds straight up molester to me. Even if they were of the same age those “cabin in the woods” encounters sound rapey as shit.

  180. 180.

    SatanicPanic

    @Aleta: McCain did say that. Good for him, he’s done good things multiple times this year. Rob Portman said their accusations are “on the record” so he assumes they are true. Kind of weaselly, so I give him half a star.

  181. 181.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Rick Wilson‏ @TheRickWilson

    A meaningful % of my party are insisting nothing is real in a carefully research story with four on the record statements from victims.

    In related news, a meaningful % of my party believed Hillary Clinton was part of a child cannibalism and sex ring in a pizza restaurant .

    440 replies 3,232 retweets 7,229 likes

  182. 182.

    Mnemosyne

    @Kay:

    That’s been more than rumor for a few months, but I think it got pushed to the back burner during the election. The women I saw talking about what he did seemed very credible.

  184. 184.

    Aleta

    @Yutsano: I think the complaint is that all of those Senators said “He should step down if he is guilty.” Rather than simply “he should step down,” as McCain did. (The explanation I read is that since he denies it and time has passed, he will never be proven guilty. So the complaint against Collins etc. is that by saying ‘if’ those Senators are playing it safe and not demanding anything. And that the WaPo story is credible enough, because it is carefully researched and names corroborating witnesses to the stories of each of the named women. To be fair, the story just broke and that boilerplate answer seems pretty typical as an immediate response.)

  185. 185.

    Aleta

    @Corner Stone: I read it, but was also surprised at the 30; each woman had friends and family who were aware it had happened, so I guess they are all in the count?

  186. 186.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @rikyrah:

    WAYYYYYY too personal an attack.

    Yes, the bruised lungs and cracked ribs make it sound like Rand Paul was curb stomped by this guy, doesn’t it? Little bit more than stop blowing leaves on my lawn. What, was Paul doing this guy’s wife?

  187. 187.

    D58826

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    In related news, a meaningful % of my party believed Hillary Clinton was part of a child cannibalism and sex ring in a pizza restaurant .

    Well anybody who would do E_MAILS then a child cannibalism and sex ring in a pizza restaurant is small potatoes and totally believable . In fact the missing 30k e-mails are probably the detailed plans for both operations.(sigh and sarcasm)

  188. 188.

    jl

    Really, innocent affectionate little avuncular kisses? Huh? Hioiscuddanode? News reports I heard said he forced himself on her and groped her, and forced her to grope him. Well, I am sure Breitbart got the story straight and all the other news outlets misunderstood the woman. Fake News? Gosh.

    Edit: I wonder if the other women accusing Moore of the same kind of assault were also ‘misunderstood’?

  189. 189.

    J R in WV

    @rikyrah:

    @TenguPhule:

    If he did the same to women of color, somehow I doubt he was a southern gentleman about it.

    Unless by southern gentleman we’re talking a slaver

    Guess I’m not the only one thinking like this.

    Most southern gentlemen who weren’t slavers felt very disadvantaged, don’t you all think?

  192. 192.

    RobNYNY

    @KithKanan:

    And a lot of states have “Romeo and Juliet” laws where the age of consent is lower if the older actor is less than four years older than the younger actor.

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