Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

Somebody needs to explain to DeSantis that nobody needs to do anything to make him look bad.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

I am pretty sure Katy Tur wasn’t always such a bootlicking sycophant.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

The new republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Found liable for massive fraud, is required to post a massive bond, gets a break, then files a *fraudulent* bond!

Bogus polls are all they’ve got left. Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls a year from now.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

“Let’s not pretend [Trump] wants to engage in high-minded discourse.”

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

You are here: Home / Economics / Free Markets Solve Everything / Friday Night “Comic” Relief Open Thread

Friday Night “Comic” Relief Open Thread

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That’s at least one Republican quite happy with the timing of the Flynn indictment…

Rep. Blake Farenthold used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment claim brought by his former spokesman — the only known sitting member of Congress to have used a little-known congressional account to pay an accuser, people familiar with the matter told POLITICO.

Lauren Greene, the Texas Republican’s former communications director, sued her boss in December 2014 over allegations of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment…

…[I]n a joint statement both Greene and Farenthold prepared at the time of the settlement but never released — a copy of which was shared with POLITICO by Alderman on Friday — the two confirmed they reached a deal in part to save taxpayer dollars.

“[A]fter it became clear that further litigating this case would come at great expense to all involved — including the taxpayers — the parties engaged in mediation with a court-appointed mediator,” the statement read. “After extensive discussion and consideration, the parties jointly agreed to accept the solution proposed by the mediator.”

The statement added: “The parties believe that the mediator’s solution saves the parties, and the taxpayers, significant sums that would be expended in further discovery and/or trial.”…


… It was unclear Friday afternoon whether the discovery would have political ramifications for Farenthold, who rode the Tea Party wave to Congress in 2010. The 55-year-old hails from the the southeast corner of Texas, a safe area for Republicans.

However, a federal panel ruled over the summer that the district was drawn primarily based on race and violated the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act. Farenthold has said he would seek reelection, despite the fact that the make-up of his district may soon change and include more Democratic areas.

The filing deadline for someone to challenge Farenthold is Dec. 11….

(You don’t like those pics? Pro tip: Do *not* google “Farenthold ducky pajamas”… )

In case anyone was wondering…

… This week, BuzzFeed News reached out to every congressional office and asked whether the office — to their knowledge — had been the subject of an OOC request or if they had settled a complaint with any former or current staff members.

More than half of the congressional offices didn’t respond to requests to see if their offices were involved in any OOC requests: specifically, 244 House offices didn’t respond for comment, and 49 Senate offices did not respond for comment.

More than a third of House offices said they hadn’t been the subject of an OOC request and they had never reached a settlement with an employee related to a request.

Offices for Reps. Raul Grijalva, Lucille Roybal Allard, Blake Farenthold, and Danny K. Davis have all had OOC requests, according to spokespeople, but none had reached settlements with employees.

Grijalva and Roybal Allard had claims filed against their offices but they were both dropped before settlements were reached, according to spokespeople.

Davis said he was the subject of an OOC investigation because of a trip to Azerbaijan reported by the Washington Post in 2013.

A spokesperson for Farenthold referenced an OOC investigation into the sexual harassment allegations from a former employee that was settled out of court in 2015…

Spokespeople for 51 Senate offices said that the offices had not been the subject of an OOC request and that they had not settled any claims with employees, including a spokesperson for Sen. Al Franken, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by six women as of Thursday…

Reader Interactions

82Comments

  4. 4.

    Mnemosyne

    Speaking of comic relief, I’m going to be heading to Target and trying to figure out how to drive one of their electric carts around the store.

    If you hear about someone involved in a slow-speed chase down Colorado Blvd in an electric shopping cart, that’ll be me. ?

  6. 6.

    NotMax

    A BILL

    Proposed,

    Official garb for all and any Congressional staff, employees and interns shall be bubble wrap.

    ;)

  8. 8.

    hellslittlestangel

    I’d want a payoff of at least $84,000 just if I had to use the bathroom after Farenthold.

  11. 11.

    Gretchen

    I wish it were getting some traction that Leeann Tweeden, the original complainant against Franken, led the charge in lying about Shirley Sherrod being a racist who discriminated against white farmers. By the time the truth got out, Sherrod had been fired. Yes, absolutely, believe the women, but we don’t have to believe a woman who is on video lying to get a prominent Democrat fired, when she says something unverifiable likely to get another prominent Democrat fired, the week after he went hard after Jeff Session lying.
    Most of these powerful men used their power against people subject to their power. Franken was a powerful SNL star who could make or break an unknown actor or intern, yet none has come forward, while literally dozens of women who worked with him during that time said he never disrespected them nor had they heard of anyone else who was disrespected. Same with people he worked with in the Senate. A dozen came forward in support of him, none against. He wrote a law in consultation with a rape victim to improve procedures so they can get justice. This story is quite different from all the others, and the right wing has a strong reason to take him down. This feels like a hit, and even if he stays on, he’s badly wounded.

  12. 12.

    B.B.A.

    @debbie: I’ve already seen it. I can’t unsee it.

    Ruben Kihuen (D-NV) has also been accused of sexual harassment. That makes 3 Dems and 1 Repug so far. I know there’s more than that, hopefully we can even up those numbers somehow.

    Since you’re all so irritated by it, I’m not going to even refer to…wait, does that count as referring…aw, dammit.

  13. 13.

    John Revolta

    Speaking of this: we need to stop letting the cops use taxpayer $$ to pay off their goddamn brutality lawsuits.
    You wanna stop police brutality? Let the fucking police unions pay the damages..

  15. 15.

    Ken

    Kudos to Buzzfeed for the hard work, but I’d think the easier way to find out who’s on the list is to get the list. Have any news organizations tried that?

  20. 20.

    Ken

    @Marcion: I’m old enough to remember that it was read, and they brought in a speed-reader to do it. Or am I so old that I’m confusing it with some other bill?

  23. 23.

    Gretchen

    That’s why they put out those lies, so when they actually do that, everyone says “both sides”. Peggy Noonan was on tv today saying this reminded her of how Obamacare was rushed through before anyone could read the bill. She didn’t get any pushback. Both sides.

  25. 25.

    gene108

    @Gretchen:

    This feels like a hit, and even if he stays on, he’s badly wounded.

    One thing I admire about Bill Clinton is that for all the hit jobs on him, he didn’t get taken down. He won in 1992 and 1996.

  29. 29.

    Marcion

    I was speaking about the wingnut claim of course.

    Gonna be a lot of campaign ads in this shambling abomination; hopefully, if they can do this with reconciliation, we can undo it with a bare majority the same way.

  30. 30.

    Yarrow

    @Omnes Omnibus: If Senators are flying home tomorrow, I’d expect their reception to be rather chilly. Especially those who got thank yous last time, like Collins, Murkowski, McCain.

  32. 32.

    gene108

    Watching the USC-Stanford game.

    My fuck-all Rep. Tom MacArthur (NJ-3) was the only member of the NJ delegation to vote for the tax bill in the House. All Democrats and four of five Republicans voted against it.

    Anyway, there was just an ad about how the tax bill will give $1200 back to the typical family and we are all better off with more of our money and we should thank Tom MacArthur.

    Makes me sick, they are trying to polish this turd for Tom.

  33. 33.

    Another Scott

    I got curious about Comey’s tweet today. It looked to me like a picture of Great Falls on the Potomac River, just north of DC. Google Image Search says that indeed is what it is.

    I’m sure it wasn’t an accident that he picked that picture. ;-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  36. 36.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Ken: Congress makes the rules about the rules that Congress follows and the rules for how Congress follows them. Everything clear now?

  37. 37.

    Adam L Silverman

    @PsiFighter37: Gonna be kind of hard to jam the House. McConnell can’t take the Senate into recess for more than 3 days and they have to have a CR done, even a short term one, by the end of next week or the government shuts down. So this will likely be sent to conference and it’ll sit for a good long time while they try to keep the lights on and the doors open. They also need a sequester waiver and they’re going to need a debt ceiling increase pretty soon too.

  39. 39.

    Ken

    @Adam L Silverman: Oh, that part I got. I’d just hope that it’s pursued further.

    It would also be nice if someone asked the obvious related questions, “Does Congress have any other secret slush funds?” and “Where is the funding coming from?”

  40. 40.

    B.B.A.

    @Adam L Silverman: Let’s just hope they don’t realize that all this procedural bullshit is just there to get in the Democrats’ way, they hold all the cards, and they can freely ignore it.

  42. 42.

    Petorado

    “… saves the parties, and the taxpayers, significant sums that would be expended in further discovery”

    Why does this sound so much like taxpayer dollars being used as hush money?

  50. 50.

    jl

    Whenever Farenthold surfaces in the news, I have to wonder whether he is some sort of hoax or spoof.
    Maybe he’s really an Onion staffer under deep cover for a very long project? Or, reincarnation of Andy Kaufman?

  51. 51.

    Mary G

    @Mnemosyne: You need a lot of room to turn because they don’t corner well and make sure the one you choose has enough in the battery (looking at you, Stater Brothers ).

  52. 52.

    Duane

    @Ken: The wheelbarrow should work. People go into stores, get a tv, grill etc.(in the box), and walk out like they own it. I’ve been told.

  55. 55.

    David Fud

    I guess the debt ceiling might work out in our favor, since the $1.5Trillion (or whatever stupendous amount of money) will bust the deficit completely. Let them keep owning it as the economy goes south and the middle class gets screwed and Democrats will gain a new area of “most trusted”: the budget and the deficit.

    Fiscal conservatives my ass.

  62. 62.

    Yarrow

    @NotMax: Or, “This bill lowers the deficit.” Because it’s only $1.474 trillion instead of $1.5 trillion. See, that’s lower.

  66. 66.

    Yarrow

    @Ken: My zip code crosses into a Freedom Caucus member’s district. I’ll be sure to mention this deficit issue when I call on Monday. “The Representative promised he wouldn’t increase the deficit! How can he vote for this bill? He needs to stand firm and vote no!”

  70. 70.

    catclub

    @Ken: I think the tea partiers would be more likely to vote against if it forgot to defund planned parenthood.

  71. 71.

    Mnemosyne

    @Mary G:

    The Target one wasn’t too terrible. And the battery was fully charged, possibly because it was the one designed for their larger customers (up to 500 lbs!) so it didn’t get as much use. They only had one other cart and it only had one bar of battery, so of course I took the jumbo cart.

    Most people were kind enough to laugh when I said, “Sorry, it’s my first day driving this thing.”

  72. 72.

    Tokyokie

    Farenthold’s district is NOT safely Republican. It’s major city is Corpus Christi, and it’s considered part of the heavily Hispanic Rio Grande Valley. It’s a district the Democrats should have targeted several cycles ago.

  76. 76.

    Noah Brand

    Well, fuck. My wife and I will be seeing a tax hike soon, unless the wild instability of the U.S government right now somehow makes this new law disappear or become moot.

    Which is not hugely comforting, because “wild instability” is not usually what I want in a government?

  77. 77.

    Alex

    Does anyone else find it jarring that Politico’s style guide causes them to refer to her as his “former spokesman”? I was expecting a more salacious twist to the story at first— it’s just not a gender neutral way to refer to a singular person.

  78. 78.

    jl

    @eemom:

    ” Dump’s “legislative achievement” weekend just got worse. ”

    But that just means that Trump tells the truth. He does grab them by… Aw shit I give up. I can’t finish it. I’ll just wait until the WH press office says it.

  79. 79.

    2liberal

    the coastal states should form a coaltion to undo what the tax bill did. left coast+mass+NY+some scattered midewest states should form a coalition with a healthcare plan, and a common tax system that undoes what the national republicans did.

  80. 80.

    opiejeanne

    @Mnemosyne: We had to stop my dad from using those motorized shopping carts and wheelchairs because he was a terror. He rolled over a woman’s foot and thought it was funny, and yes he was in his late 80s but no, he was not senile. Gah.

  81. 81.

    J R in WV

    Yeh, I went to an HEB with Dad on his first or second try with the electric shopping cart. O-M-G it was terrifying and hilarious. He was alternately scared and excited. Doing a 3-point turn in the middle of a narrow aisle, I thought he was going to know ALL the groceries off the shelves like a 4.4 R earthquake.

    But he never hit anyone, nor did any damage to anything other than knock some cans onto the floor, which was my part of the errand – I was there to recover his errors. He was there to fill that basket.

  82. 82.

    Shalimar

    As the tweet notes, everything other than the settlement was reported 3 years ago and Farenthold still got re-elected twice. Money buys a lot at that level, and he is basically a spoiled rich manchild with no job skills who bought himself something to do every day.

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