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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Thursday Morning Open Thread: The CPAC Clown Parade Is Back in DC

Thursday Morning Open Thread: The CPAC Clown Parade Is Back in DC

by Anne Laurie|  February 22, 20186:03 am| 169 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Republicans in Disarray!, Assholes, Clown car, Flash Mob of Hate, Good News For Conservatives

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Of course the first thing I see as I pull up to the Gaylord hotel for CPAC is @SebGorka hopping into his “Art of War” Mustang pic.twitter.com/KqQ7838EFq

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) February 22, 2018


.

… and this year, they have a drum major!

Remember when we could laugh at these creeps, grifters, bloviators, and post-college hopefuls trolling on Craigslists’ M4M?

CPAC 2018, Feb 22nd:

10:35 AM Mike Pence

11:35 AM Marion Le Pen

12:30 PM Don McGahn

https://t.co/YVNGjWVvGh pic.twitter.com/KoYhXtg9zK

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) February 19, 2018


.

I want a better acronym than “Clowns Pandering to Aging Christofascists”. Any suggestions?

One extremely promising-for-parodists panel has already been cancelled…

This is going to be the wildest CPAC panel by far pic.twitter.com/Qe9fXrVg2w

— Will Sommer (@willsommer) February 20, 2018


The Conservative Political Action Conference hasn’t even started and a snafu is once again stealing the limelight ahead of the annual event.

News of the last-minute chaos emerged on Wednesday morning when Pamela Geller, the radical anti-Muslim activist who was organizing a discussion on the “suppression of conservative views on social media,” canceled her event over being asked by the American Principles Project, the organization sponsoring the panel, to remove Jim Hoft as a speaker after he spread conspiracy theories about a student survivor of last week’s Florida shooting.

“APP made Hoft’s presence a make-or-break issue,” Geller said in an email to CNN. “I was not prepared to drop a speaker from a free speech panel because leftists have chosen him as their next target.”

It’s the third consecutive year CPAC has been marred by controversy before even starting. Last year, right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was scrapped as a keynote speaker when it was revealed he made comments that appeared to endorse pederasty (Yiannopoulos later said he used “imprecise language” and does not advocate illegal behavior). And the year before, then-candidate Donald Trump generated headlines when he abruptly decided to pull out of his planned speech…

Terry Schilling, executive director of the American Principle’s Project, told CNN he had contacted Geller on Tuesday night to tell her that, for such reasons, including Hoft would distract from the panel’s intent.

“Going after these kids is just completely unacceptable, and from my point of view, it was going to take over the media coverage of the panel,” Schilling said.

Geller responded by scrapping the entire panel.

Schilling said he resents how Geller handled the matter.

“The thing that’s upsetting to me is that I did this directly with her. I was honest with her, I was direct with her,” Schilling said. “She decides to go to Breitbart on the radio this morning without even giving me a heads up.”

“It’s just crazy and it’s why conservatives lose,” he added. “It’s because they’re all about personalities.”…

But not (as of right now) LaPierre’s “surprise appearance” (speaking of religious nutters):

The Left has proven that they want to both silence and disarm those they disagree with. Wayne LaPierre of the @NRA will take the fight to them LIVE from the #CPAC2018 stage in just 8 days. #ATimeForAction pic.twitter.com/VMSrYjnmld

— Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) February 13, 2018

Organizers of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) are keeping the name of a top National Rifle Association (NRA) executive off its official schedule amid criticism of the group after the death of 17 people in a school shooting in Florida…

The NRA is a major sponsor of the annual event, hosted by the American Conservative Union. LaPierre has regularly appeared at the major conservative gathering over the years, where he has rebuffed calls for increased gun control.

LaPierre will still speak at this year’s conference, but organizers are unsure if they will give advance notice of his speech ahead of time, according to the Examiner…

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Reader Interactions

169Comments

  1. 1.

    rikyrah

    February 22, 2018 at 6:08 am

    Good Morning,Everyone ???

  2. 2.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 22, 2018 at 6:08 am

    And all of this doesn’t even mention the D’Souza d’isaster!

    ETA: Good morning, rikyrah! ?
    I’m going back to bed now ?

  3. 3.

    rikyrah

    February 22, 2018 at 6:08 am

    UGH???? to that hatefest

  4. 4.

    Anne Laurie

    February 22, 2018 at 6:13 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    And all of this doesn’t even mention the D’Souza d’isaster!

    D’Souza’s turned into that weird kid who ate a bug on a dare, back in third grade. Now everyone’s in fifth grade, and he’s still sidling over to kids on the playground asking ‘wanna see me eat a bug?’ The girls shriek and/or run away, and the boys mostly clobber him, but he’s so desperate for attention that he can’t stop himself…

  5. 5.

    LAO

    February 22, 2018 at 6:15 am

    I expect the Geller panel will be replaced by a panel devoted to the issue of teenage rudeness.

    Good morning everyone.

  6. 6.

    Chyron HR

    February 22, 2018 at 6:24 am

    Wayne LaPierre of the @NRA will take the fight to them LIVE from the #CPAC2018 stage in just 8 days.

    Taking the fight to us by giving a speech to a crowd of his supporters, huh?

  7. 7.

    satby

    February 22, 2018 at 6:25 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning ?

    Woke up feeling marginally better. That’s starting the day off right.

  8. 8.

    Amir Khalid

    February 22, 2018 at 6:29 am

    When I read of a Republican administration is run by a grifter who puts saboteurs in charge of federal agencies, of a Republican Congress that can’t be bothered to do anything but dismantle the Democratic party’s legislative work, of a Republican agenda of taking from the rest to give to the rich, I wonder what “political” action” there is for a CPAC to discuss.

  9. 9.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 22, 2018 at 6:33 am

    @Anne Laurie:

    D’Souza is what happens when someone who needed to be bullied daily in school isn’t bullied.

  10. 10.

    ET

    February 22, 2018 at 6:37 am

    Even more clown-y this year. Didn’t think that could happen but there doesn’t seem to be a bottom to the pit over there.

  11. 11.

    Mustang Bobby

    February 22, 2018 at 6:38 am

    @Anne Laurie: He is a walking wedgie waiting to happen.

  12. 12.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 22, 2018 at 6:38 am

    @Amir Khalid: War is merely the continuation of politics by other means. -Clausewitz

  13. 13.

    Kay

    February 22, 2018 at 6:38 am

    @Chyron HR:

    And Wayne LaPierre will win this fight with everyone who doesn’t go to CPAC. Because they’re not there! Technically a default.

    It’s brilliant, really. Art of War.

  14. 14.

    Immanentize

    February 22, 2018 at 6:40 am

    Here near Boston, it was about 75° and later today it’s going to snow. Not good for staving off colds or flu

  15. 15.

    Aimai

    February 22, 2018 at 6:43 am

    @Chyron HR: Live. There’s the problem.

  16. 16.

    Immanentize

    February 22, 2018 at 6:43 am

    @Kay: L Pierre is young. Only 68. I thought he was older. It seems like he’s been around forever…. He has gotten more rabid each year it seems.

  17. 17.

    Amir Khalid

    February 22, 2018 at 6:43 am

    @Immanentize:
    All in the same day? That is unfathomable to me. Makes me kind of glad I live in the tropics.

  18. 18.

    Baud

    February 22, 2018 at 6:44 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning.

  19. 19.

    satby

    February 22, 2018 at 6:47 am

    @Immanentize: @Amir Khalid: Unusually warm weather like that turning into snowy weather often means deep snow, at least in Chicago. The two record breaking big snows followed unseasonably warm weather.

  20. 20.

    Amir Khalid

    February 22, 2018 at 6:47 am

    @rikyrah:
    Good, um, … well, it’s evening over here.

  21. 21.

    Amir Khalid

    February 22, 2018 at 6:49 am

    @satby:
    The warm weather loads the air with humidity, and then it all comes out as snow when the temp drops below freezing. Is that about how it works?

  22. 22.

    Immanentize

    February 22, 2018 at 6:50 am

    @Amir Khalid: makes me wish I did live in the tropics!

  23. 23.

    rikyrah

    February 22, 2018 at 6:52 am

    @satby:
    Feel better, satby??

  24. 24.

    Immanentize

    February 22, 2018 at 6:53 am

    @satby: it looks like only an inch today, but yes, warm air followed by cold mass can lead to much shovelling.

    But mostly I don’t want to/can’t afford to get sick just now (I know famous last words).

  25. 25.

    Baud

    February 22, 2018 at 6:53 am

    Go Team USA!

  26. 26.

    rikyrah

    February 22, 2018 at 6:54 am

    @Immanentize:
    It was 60 on Tuesday.
    Yesterday, it was 34, but felt high teens.
    Nothing but ‘get you sick’ weather.??

  27. 27.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 22, 2018 at 6:54 am

    @Immanentize: I’m 59 but every time I look at his face i feel older and older.

  28. 28.

    Immanentize

    February 22, 2018 at 6:55 am

    @Baud: Go where?

  29. 29.

    Kay

    February 22, 2018 at 6:56 am

    @Immanentize:

    I think he looks mid-sixties. I don’t understand the gun culture – the LOVE of the things- but I don’t (100%) understand car culture either, motorheads, but they’re completely harmless so I can be like “oh! That’s interesting!” with people like my middle son and never really think about it at all and I appreciate that on their part.

    I’m not an expert but I think Gorka bought the wrong car for the image he seeks to portray. Mustangs aren’t asshole cars. They’re fun and light hearted and friendly :)

  30. 30.

    Kay

    February 22, 2018 at 6:57 am

    @Baud:

    Go Team USA!

    Watching the Olympics or just your morning ritual?

  31. 31.

    Baud

    February 22, 2018 at 6:58 am

    @Immanentize: Anywhere they want.

  32. 32.

    BruceFromOhio

    February 22, 2018 at 6:59 am

    Wayne LaPierre of the @NRA will take the fight to them LIVE from the #CPAC2018 stage in just 8 days.

    Unless its a steel cage match, not interested.

  33. 33.

    satby

    February 22, 2018 at 7:00 am

    @Amir Khalid: exactly!
    @rikyrah: thanks, getting there.

  34. 34.

    Baud

    February 22, 2018 at 7:00 am

    @Kay: Catching up on last night’s game.

  35. 35.

    Elizabelle

    February 22, 2018 at 7:01 am

    Who cares about these pikers? Fuck them.

  36. 36.

    WereBear

    February 22, 2018 at 7:06 am

    As long as the evil clowns have fans, they will be a problem.

  37. 37.

    Baud

    February 22, 2018 at 7:06 am

    @Kay:

    Although maybe it should be a morning ritual.

  38. 38.

    debbie

    February 22, 2018 at 7:07 am

    Just heard on NPR that LaPierre won’t be appearing. What a pussy.

  39. 39.

    MomSense

    February 22, 2018 at 7:08 am

    The VP and White House Counsel are appearing before and after Marine Le Pen?

  40. 40.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 22, 2018 at 7:08 am

    OK, I’m going to be a snot here, so indulge me.

    I’ve owned two ragtops. First when I was in my teens, second when I was in my early 30s. Each time, they were modest, but a lot of fun (I loved buying them and loved selling them – they’re a pain in the ass, cold in winter, noisy, and your interior isn’t nearly as durable). Anyway, Gorka’s Mustang is a modest modern model, like my second was. (Teen model was a bit of a beater).

    I’d never get a vanity plate for it. If I had a classic antique in perfect condition, sure. A plate like that on a pedestrian ride screams “idiot”. The other thing that occurs to me is that Gorka should be able to go up in scale – Corvette, Cadillac, BMW ragtops should all be in reach for him, unless he’s a financial disaster.

  41. 41.

    Baud

    February 22, 2018 at 7:08 am

    @Elizabelle: Right. Whatever they’re doing worked in 2016. So many people hopped on to their culture.

  42. 42.

    Kay

    February 22, 2018 at 7:09 am

    So we had a youth make a “threat” so now he’s suspended and really his life will be a living hell for the next 6 months.

    This threat was pretty clearly a joke but they have to understand that schools are freaking out – it’s not a funny joke anyway and God they will pay for it in this environment so they need to understand that they can’t joke about this.

    For some people joking is a way of blowing off steam, IMO, but this joke they will pay for so they have to find another topic.

    Schools are in an impossible position. The cost of getting it wrong is SO HIGH they will hugely overcompensate and can you blame them? They know as sure as the sun comes up the first question will be “could they have prevented this”?

  43. 43.

    Amir Khalid

    February 22, 2018 at 7:09 am

    @Kay:
    They — or some of them, anyway — are also pretty serious sports cars, from what I gather. Going by the soft top on that one, though, I think Seb sees himself as a cool dude who likes the feel of the wind blowing through his hair.

  44. 44.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    February 22, 2018 at 7:10 am

    Sara‏ @NeckleFreck

    I just feel like my heart is going to burst because it’s full of rainbows

    (photo)

    11:18 PM – 21 Feb 2018

    eta: fixed link

  45. 45.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et Al.)

    February 22, 2018 at 7:10 am

    Is it already time for this shit show again? Wasn’t it at one of these freak shows where some fuckwad upset even other right wing nuts when he said slaves were just lousy ingrates for not thanking their owners for the free food and shelter they got? These people are the worst of the right wing nuts. Pining for slavery, that’s so 2013. I’m guessing this year we’re going to be treated to three days of outright nazi nostalgia.

  46. 46.

    debbie

    February 22, 2018 at 7:11 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I look at his face and am filled with rage. What I wouldn’t give for a “dialog”!

  47. 47.

    debbie

    February 22, 2018 at 7:12 am

    @Elizabelle:

    You have to care. They stand in the way of fixing this mess.

  48. 48.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    February 22, 2018 at 7:12 am

    Daniel Pinnola‏ @D_Pinnola81

    DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?!?? USA women win gold on 38th aniversery of the miracle on ice. ? #USAvsCAN

    11:16 PM – 21 Feb 2018

    3 replies 31 retweets 128 likes

    SouthPaw‏ @jeremiahdgilfoy

    If seeing the girls cheering and celebrating didn’t give you goosebumps. Then you don’t have a heart. #USAvsCAN

    11:17 PM – 21 Feb 2018

  49. 49.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 22, 2018 at 7:13 am

    @Kay:

    Mustangs aren’t asshole cars.

    They are if an asshole is driving it.

  50. 50.

    Kay

    February 22, 2018 at 7:15 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    I sort of get loving fast cars and car people accept all kinds of regulation so we get along just fine.

  51. 51.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    February 22, 2018 at 7:18 am

    shauna
    ‏✓ @goldengateblond

    Look, Canada, you got Justin Trudeau and we got … well, let’s just say we needed this. #USAvsCAN
    (video)

    58.5K views

    111 replies 526 retweets 1,882 likes

  52. 52.

    germy

    February 22, 2018 at 7:19 am

    Geller responded by scrapping the entire panel.

    Schilling said he resents how Geller handled the matter.

    Christ, they’re so warlike they even battle each other.

  53. 53.

    GregB

    February 22, 2018 at 7:19 am

    Is there open carry at this convention?

  54. 54.

    germy

    February 22, 2018 at 7:21 am

    Art Of War?

    Has gorka ever seen combat? He wears uniforms, but has he ever actually… fought in a war?

  55. 55.

    Amir Khalid

    February 22, 2018 at 7:23 am

    @Immanentize:
    So Wayne LaPierre is the same age as Bruce Springsteen. Hmm.

  56. 56.

    pablo

    February 22, 2018 at 7:24 am

    The I.Q. of DC just went down 70 points.

  57. 57.

    GregB

    February 22, 2018 at 7:24 am

    @MomSense:

    A fascist sandwich on white bread.

  58. 58.

    Kay

    February 22, 2018 at 7:25 am

    I know this is a hobbyhorse of mine but Americans have to stop shoving all their problems off on public schools.

    Schools can’t fix everything. They can’t fix systemic racism and poverty and nutrition and mental and physical illness and violence and also churn out high test scores and good citizens.

    This is a dodge. It’s every other fucking sector and leader shirking their responsibilities and duties and shunting it off on one of the country’s FEW universal public institutions. Tell someone else to do something.

    Donald Trump wants retired Marines who are volunteers patrolling schools with rifles because then he’s off the hook. He “took care” of “the problem”. By dumping it on public schools and walking away. They have ENOUGH on their plate. Public schools were never intended to solve every social problem. This was supposed to be a team effort.

    This is compounded by the fact that Donald Trump is no friend of public schools. His policies harm them. Conservatives have a lot of godammned nerve shoving their gun problem off on the public schools they hate.

  59. 59.

    debbie

    February 22, 2018 at 7:25 am

    News of the last-minute chaos emerged on Wednesday morning when Pamela Geller, the radical anti-Muslim activist who was organizing a discussion on the “suppression of conservative views on social media,” canceled her event…

    She’s advocating for Putin again?

  60. 60.

    Amir Khalid

    February 22, 2018 at 7:27 am

    @germy:
    Has he read all of Sun Tzu’s book, or just brief excerpts that he quotes a lot? I suspect the latter.

  61. 61.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 22, 2018 at 7:27 am

    Mueller Eyes Sketchy Loans Manafort Got From Bank Of Trump Campaign Advisor Among the many things that sketchy, this really sticks out:

    Scrutiny of the loans began last year as the various investigations into Manafort’s finances were heating up. As other outlets noted at the time, the $16 million in loans were huge for a bank of such a relatively small size. They amounted to nearly 24 percent of the bank’s reported $67 million of equity capital and 5.4 percent of the bank’s total assets.

    To a single individual.

  62. 62.

    satby

    February 22, 2018 at 7:27 am

    @germy: he’s a total poseur.

  63. 63.

    SFAW

    February 22, 2018 at 7:29 am

    @germy:

    Has gorka ever seen combat? He wears uniforms, but has he ever actually… fought in a war?

    Does pretending to be an SS Obergruppenfuehrer, when he was a kid, count for anything?

    And by “kid,” I mean when he was in his teens, 20s, 30s, and 40s. [To paraphrase Henry Hyde: “When I was young and a fascist, I was young and a fascist.”]

  64. 64.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 22, 2018 at 7:30 am

    @germy: You have to ask?

  65. 65.

    SFAW

    February 22, 2018 at 7:32 am

    @debbie:

    She’s advocating for Putin again?

    You’re thinking of Stein, not Geller. Easy mistake to make.

  66. 66.

    Kay

    February 22, 2018 at 7:33 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    That is a lot. You have to love the arrogance of the the Trumpsters. People had turned a blind eye to their sleaze and crime and corrupt practices so long they thought they could publicly run the government and that would continue.

    All they had to do was remain in the private sector and they could have retired fat and happy but that wasn’t enough. More. They want more.

  67. 67.

    Kay

    February 22, 2018 at 7:40 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    But we know that, right? That money isn’t enough. Power is what they want and to have that they have to control the state.

    Trump’s weekly tweets where he directs the national police to go arrest his personal enemies are what this is ABOUT. That’s the kind of power they want. Billions of dollars isn’t enough.

    Ivanka and Jared came to DC because what they HAD, were HANDED, wasn’t enough. They want the state seal. They want the big plane in the background that says not “Trump” or “Kushner” on the side but the United States of America.

  68. 68.

    Baud

    February 22, 2018 at 7:41 am

    @Kay: They do want respect from the rest of us. They ain’t getting it, and that’s pissing them off.

  69. 69.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 22, 2018 at 7:43 am

    @Kay: They always want more. I find it amazing how easily they sucker supposedly sophisticated people into their schemes.

  70. 70.

    Peale

    February 22, 2018 at 7:43 am

    @germy: lol. Of course not. He’s the type of asshole who imagines that when the race war comes, his genius will lead to a brevet six star admiral/ field marshal assignment. Because he once read Sun Tzu one afternoon.

  71. 71.

    Amir Khalid

    February 22, 2018 at 7:44 am

    @Kay:
    They always want more. Beyond a certain point, normal people see this as greed. They see it as ambition.

  72. 72.

    Baud

    February 22, 2018 at 7:44 am

    ‘Jeopardy!’ host Alex Trebek to moderate Pennsylvania governor’s debate

    Better or worse than Chuck Todd?

  73. 73.

    Kay

    February 22, 2018 at 7:46 am

    @Baud:

    It’s funny because it’s a real vulnerability. They’re really needy people. Love and respect they can’t buy and that drives them crazy. The ego! “Love ME, respect ME”

    It’s such an imposition. Even if they were decent people I would recoil from their demand that we love them. But that wouldn’t happen, because decent people don’t make that demand.

  74. 74.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 22, 2018 at 7:49 am

    @Baud: All answers will have to be in the form of a question.

    @Kay:

    decent people don’t make that demand.

    They don’t have to.

  75. 75.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 22, 2018 at 7:50 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    Cliff’s Notes…

  76. 76.

    El Caganer

    February 22, 2018 at 7:51 am

    So the Left wants to silence and disarm those who disagree with them, while the Right would only imprison or execute them? Or am I reading too much into this?

  77. 77.

    Kay

    February 22, 2018 at 7:51 am

    @Baud:

    Worse, I think.

    They were running low on bad celebrity moderators after Matt Lauer so they had to bring in their second string bad celebrity moderators.

    Good moderators is impossible.

  78. 78.

    Peale

    February 22, 2018 at 7:54 am

    @Amir Khalid: Amir, sir. It looks like I might be in KL and Penang for a few days in August. Want to try to plan an ASEAN regional medtup?

  79. 79.

    Baud

    February 22, 2018 at 7:54 am

    @Kay:
    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Fine. I’ll call off my annual Love Baud! drive.

  80. 80.

    Immanentize

    February 22, 2018 at 7:54 am

    @Amir Khalid:
    Ha!! This reminds me of an old New Yorker cartoon which had a balding overweight man carrying a briefcase shambling along on the sidewalk … Caption was: Man with same birthday as Mick Jagger.

  81. 81.

    Baud

    February 22, 2018 at 7:55 am

    @Kay: Could have been Pat Sajak.

  82. 82.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 22, 2018 at 7:55 am

    @El Caganer: Head? Meet desk.

  83. 83.

    hueyplong

    February 22, 2018 at 7:56 am

    @Baud: Pondering how Jeopardy guy would go about being worse, but recent history has taught us that no bar is too low for someone to limbo under it.

  84. 84.

    clay

    February 22, 2018 at 7:56 am

    @Baud: “Worse than Chuck Todd”

    I don’t understand what this means.

  85. 85.

    Baud

    February 22, 2018 at 7:56 am

    @Kay:

    I wish Sean Connery (or the guy that plays him on SNL) would run for governor of Pennsylvania.

  86. 86.

    Kay

    February 22, 2018 at 7:58 am

    @Baud:

    IMO Chuck Todd’s problem is he knows cable news is bad- poor quality, not helpful or informative- so he’s defensive. I give him credit for that awareness although it makes him annoyingly defensive.

    He’s conflicted. I think he would be happier in another job, although he didn’t ask my advice. I took this management seminar once about how your job has to align with your principles or you will be unhappy- not necessarily unsuccessful at the job but unhappy- and I believe that.

    Although, to be fair, I am easily convinced at seminars of any kind and that’s really right up my alley :)

  87. 87.

    Baud

    February 22, 2018 at 7:58 am

    @clay:

    It’s one of those concepts like the sound of one hand clapping that’s intended to make you contemplate reality.

  88. 88.

    Kay

    February 22, 2018 at 8:00 am

    @Baud:

    Just keep your guard up. We speak wingnut. We know the language. We’ll know it when we hear it.

  89. 89.

    NotMax

    February 22, 2018 at 8:00 am

    organizers are unsure if they will give advance notice of his speech ahead of time

    So they’re desirous to have the NRA appear by thrusting its head in through the back door of the Gaylord?

    (Honestly, this stuff writes itself.)

  90. 90.

    Procopius

    February 22, 2018 at 8:01 am

    @Amir Khalid: Me too. Any time it gets below 24°C is too cold for me. Of course over 40°is also not good. Hoping we don’t get a May like 2016. There’s no El Nino this year, so the omens are auspicious.

  91. 91.

    Patricia Kayden

    February 22, 2018 at 8:01 am

    @LAO: Geller’s panel was pointless. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. have the right to decide who gets to use their forums. They don’t have to turn over their platforms to those who engage in racist, hateful, demeaning or violent speech. Geller and her imps aren’t being censored when they are denied the ability to spew nonsense on privately owned social media outlets.

    Perhaps, CPAC should offer a panel on the true meaning of censorship and free speech so they can educate themselves.

  92. 92.

    Lapassionara

    February 22, 2018 at 8:02 am

    Good morning, everyone.

    I know this is OT, but I don’t know why Jared getting so much classified info, when he does not yet have a permanent security clearance and probably never will have, given his debts, is not a bigger story.

    Did I miss something, or wasn’t the reason for the “lock her up” chants the alleged mishandling of classified information?

  93. 93.

    Baud

    February 22, 2018 at 8:06 am

    @Lapassionara:

    No, the reason for the chant was the “her” part.

  94. 94.

    Kay

    February 22, 2018 at 8:07 am

    @Baud:

    I don’t have any strong feelings about Oprah yeah or nay- I’m ambivalent on Oprah- but I thought she did a bad job with her panel of bipartisanship. She made the same mistake they all do- she let the conservatives adopt the mantle of “the norm”- the standard we are all measured by. Can’t do that. It’s a HUGE advantage for them and it showed- they talked more than the liberals.

  95. 95.

    rikyrah

    February 22, 2018 at 8:07 am

    @Kay:
    I was reading a Twitter feed where they brought up that the arming teachers won’t work with Black teachers, and ICAM.
    My grandmother, mother, aunts, sister–all educaters. Hell to the no. Armed Black folk with the police coming?
    Are you out your god-damned minds???

  96. 96.

    NorthLeft12

    February 22, 2018 at 8:07 am

    @Baud: I chose sleep over watching another classic Canada/US women’s hockey final. Congrats to the US women from a disappointed, but very proud Canadian.

    BTW, I absolutely hate shoot outs. Whether in hockey or soccer. For some reason Canadian teams [Toronto FC, men’s hockey, and now the women] suck at them. Bring back the good days when they used to play until exhaustion and someone scored a real goal.

  97. 97.

    rikyrah

    February 22, 2018 at 8:08 am

    @Lapassionara:
    Top secret information for me and not thee.

  98. 98.

    rikyrah

    February 22, 2018 at 8:09 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    The only person who reported on this at the time was Maddow. She made the exact point of the article.

  99. 99.

    NotMax

    February 22, 2018 at 8:11 am

    @NotMax

    No edit function, otherwise would scratch the word ‘appear’ and pencil in ‘spout off.’

  100. 100.

    rikyrah

    February 22, 2018 at 8:11 am

    @Baud:
    Better.

  101. 101.

    NorthLeft12

    February 22, 2018 at 8:11 am

    @rikyrah: Canada just armed our border guards a couple of years ago in a very controversial move. Now the union for the guards is trying to negotiate a large wage increase so they are paid the equivalent to police officers……wait for it….because they have guns.
    FYI, about 52% of the guards voted in favour of having guns. A few border guards I know retired earlier than planned because of this.

  102. 102.

    Bobby Thomson

    February 22, 2018 at 8:11 am

    I thought war was supposed to ride a red horse.

  103. 103.

    Lapassionara

    February 22, 2018 at 8:12 am

    @Baud: too right

  104. 104.

    Another Scott

    February 22, 2018 at 8:13 am

    The Gaylord National is just up the street and across the river from us. It’s great that that part of Maryland got the development, but we’ve never been tempted to spend much time there. A couple of years ago we had a visitor stay at one of the hotels there – he had the place to himself, practically. There’s a ~ $1.4B MGM casino there now, too. Dunno how much business they get.

    When it first opened, there were stories in the news about how it was going to contribute to the traffic mess. It’s never been a problem, AFAICS.

    As long as they have CPAC there it’s another reason to never go.

    The only thing these places understand is money. Vote with your dollars, also too.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  105. 105.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 22, 2018 at 8:14 am

    @germy:

    He wears uniforms, but has he ever actually… fought in a war?

    Answer seems to be “no.” I have this bookmarked from a while ago.

  106. 106.

    chris

    February 22, 2018 at 8:15 am

    Old joke from the 80s:

    What’s the difference between a Z28 (or a Mustang) and a dog?

    A dog has its asshole on the outside.

  107. 107.

    MomSense

    February 22, 2018 at 8:18 am

    @GregB:

    A fascist sandwich on white bread.

    Perfect.

  108. 108.

    NotMax

    February 22, 2018 at 8:19 am

    Any suggestions?

    Conclave Prattling Antediluvian Claptrap?

  109. 109.

    Calouste

    February 22, 2018 at 8:19 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Talking about indictments, I found it interesting that the van der Zwaan, the Dutch lawyer that was indicted earlier this week, was working in London. Just like Papadopoulos.

    Whatever Russian agents there are in London are not just there waiting for a stray foreigner connected to the shitgibbon’s campaign to come around. They are there to influence British politics, and if course the main suspect there would be Nigel Farage.

  110. 110.

    NotMax

    February 22, 2018 at 8:21 am

    @GregB

    Heavy on the Russian dressing.

  111. 111.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 22, 2018 at 8:22 am

    And in other political news, Alexei Navalny was arrested, again. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that he was arrested on Feb 22, with the elections coming on March 18 (he can be held for 30 days under the law.)

  112. 112.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 22, 2018 at 8:22 am

    @Lapassionara: I read that Jared no longer has a provisional security clearance or any other kind of security clearance for that matter. Which begs the question, just exactly what does he do in his office all day?

  113. 113.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 22, 2018 at 8:24 am

    @Calouste: Russians have been in London for ever. There’s a reason it’s called Londongrad.

  114. 114.

    NotMax

    February 22, 2018 at 8:24 am

    Happy Washington’s birthday, y’all.

  115. 115.

    MattF

    February 22, 2018 at 8:25 am

    Jim Hoft is pretty famous. Try googling ‘stupidest man on the internet’.

  116. 116.

    raven

    February 22, 2018 at 8:26 am

    @Immanentize: Thank you!

    Crimson flames tied through my ears, rollin’ high and mighty traps
    Pounced with fire on flaming roads using ideas as my maps

  117. 117.

    danielx

    February 22, 2018 at 8:29 am

    Annual gathering of the usual suspects. Every time I see a picture of Wayne LaPierre, I wonder if he really does froth at the mouth when delivering a public address.

  118. 118.

    raven

    February 22, 2018 at 8:31 am

    @chris: I have a friend who is building a Cobra from a kit.

  119. 119.

    Starfish

    February 22, 2018 at 8:32 am

    @Calouste: He is also the son-in-law of a Russian oligarch who co-founded Alfa Bank, the bank that had a computer pinging Trump tower.

  120. 120.

    GregB

    February 22, 2018 at 8:33 am

    How are these maniacs getting guns?

    Florida has a physician gag law.

    This point needs to be driven home. The NRA has demanded such laws.

  121. 121.

    NotMax

    February 22, 2018 at 8:33 am

    If the cosmos has a sense of humor, there’s a booth selling XXL T-shirts right next to one hawking XXS condoms.

  122. 122.

    Baud

    February 22, 2018 at 8:33 am

    @Starfish:

    The collusion tree seems to have only one fork and it leads to Putin.

  123. 123.

    Jeffro

    February 22, 2018 at 8:42 am

    I’ve been talking with My RWNJ dad and brother, jokingly, for years about what a bonding experience it would be for the three of us to attend CPAC together …

    … but I have a funny feeling that they would start slipping into a Fox News- like trance within the first hour while I would probably be sick all day

    Probably should stick to family cookouts on the weekends

  124. 124.

    SFAW

    February 22, 2018 at 8:42 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I read that Jared no longer has a provisional security clearance or any other kind of security clearance for that matter.

    I thought it was that Kelly was trying to get his Kushner’s interim clearance ended, and that Jarvanka were screeching to Daddy. so Kelly might not succeed.

  125. 125.

    NotMax

    February 22, 2018 at 8:47 am

    @SFAW

    Pillow talk persuasion.

  126. 126.

    chris

    February 22, 2018 at 8:47 am

    @raven: Fun! My father was a car nut and he salivated over the originals so a Cobra has always been one of my if-I-ever-had-the-money cars. The other one, after Vanishing Point, is a ’70 Challenger.

  127. 127.

    Lapassionara

    February 22, 2018 at 8:47 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I think he does still get to review classified information. I think he is known to have made good use of his temporary clearance.

    No telling what he is doing with it. He needs to refi 666 5th Ave. soon. So, under pressure.

  128. 128.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 22, 2018 at 8:48 am

    @SFAW: Yeah, I don’t know. That’s why I prefaced it with a “I read…” I only read it in one place and don’t recall where.

    @Lapassionara: It is really hard to tell exactly what is going on. It’s skeevy and they know it, so they are burying any info about it deep.

  129. 129.

    JPL

    February 22, 2018 at 8:49 am

    @SFAW: Trump can grant Jared clearance.
    but her emails.

  130. 130.

    Amir Khalid

    February 22, 2018 at 8:49 am

    @Peale:
    I’d be interested. Feel free to get my email from a frontpager. Look forward to hearing from you and finally getting to do a Balloon Juice meet-up.

  131. 131.

    Amir Khalid

    February 22, 2018 at 8:52 am

    @Bobby Thomson:
    Ferraris are very very expensive.

  132. 132.

    James Hare

    February 22, 2018 at 8:52 am

    I thought I noticed a foul stench in the air when I left the house this morning. Why couldn’t these assholes have their party somewhere that likes their kind?

  133. 133.

    Starfish

    February 22, 2018 at 8:54 am

    @Jeffro: Someone should go blog CPAC for Balloon Juice. I am just not sure if it should be you or rikyrah. I am not sure we could pay her enough to do it.

  134. 134.

    Immanentize

    February 22, 2018 at 8:57 am

    @raven:
    Damn, you are one of the youngest people now that I (virtually) know.

    “Equality,” I spoke the word as if a wedding vow….

  135. 135.

    Amir Khalid

    February 22, 2018 at 9:01 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    I think Jared has SIL level clearance: POTUS is free to share any info, no matter how highly classified, with anyone he pleases.

  136. 136.

    NotMax

    February 22, 2018 at 9:03 am

    In boring and mundane real life, yesterday scrubbed the refrigerator doors to a fare thee well, sanded them down after they were dry, thoroughly brushed away any stray dust, removed the handles, strategically placed painter’s tape* and also have newspaper guards in place. Was planning on doing the painting during the wee hours so it could dry while I’m asleep (should that come) but it turned chilly and have decided to wait until the temp warms up during daytime.

    *Is that stuff a marvelous invention or what?

  137. 137.

    Duane

    February 22, 2018 at 9:14 am

    D’Souza, Hoft, Milo, LaPierre… It seems republicans have a lot to hide. Funny that.

  138. 138.

    Alain the site fixer

    February 22, 2018 at 9:23 am

    @Peale: have some good food for me, wish I could be there as it’s been far too long since I’ve been in that neck of the woods. Please do send some pictures, from the meetup or not, for On the Road! And aren’t you in the Philippines? I’d love to post more pictures from thereabouts, whenever you’d like to share!

  139. 139.

    Procopius

    February 22, 2018 at 9:25 am

    @Kay: “For some people joking is a way of blowing off steam, IMO, but this joke they will pay for so they have to find another topic.” Blowing off steam? To me that’s like saying some people are able to make really humorous jokes about disabled people and Poles. I just don’t get it. It’s like when people about to board a plane ask the agent, “Are you sure my bag got on this plane? Wouldn’t want to blow up some other.” That’s supposed to be funny, relieve tension? Put people at ease? I agree this kid is going to suffer a lot more than if he had done it last month, and that’s probably not fair, but it was a really, really stupid thing to do.

  140. 140.

    JR

    February 22, 2018 at 9:42 am

    @Chyron HR: He’s planning a mass shooting at CPAC. Classic wrestling face turn.

  141. 141.

    Mnemosyne

    February 22, 2018 at 9:56 am

    @Lapassionara:

    Did I miss something, or wasn’t the reason for the “lock her up” chants the alleged mishandling of classified information?

    Trick question: they exaggerated what Hillary did to immunize themselves when they committed their own crimes.

    IOW, it was projection. Again.

  142. 142.

    Calouste

    February 22, 2018 at 9:59 am

    @Mnemosyne: Also setting the tone for 2020, when they could lock up the opposition candidate, just like they do in Russia.

  143. 143.

    Another Scott

    February 22, 2018 at 10:00 am

    @Starfish: Zod no.

    Reuters has a live stream or something (banner at the top of their home page). For those silly enough to want to waste time on it…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  144. 144.

    Jeffro

    February 22, 2018 at 10:01 am

    @Another Scott:

    The only thing these places understand is money. Vote with your dollars, also too.

    Vote with your dollars AND make sure you let the business know why you aren’t going there/buying their stuff/hiring their service. 10x the impact.

  145. 145.

    Jeffro

    February 22, 2018 at 10:04 am

    @Starfish: We could both go, and kind of be a support for each other if it gets to be too much? (Although more likely it’d be like taking a friend to the zoo…”ooo, look at those poo-flinging monkeys! Check out that herd of lemmings, rikyrah!”…stuff like that)

  146. 146.

    danielx

    February 22, 2018 at 10:09 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Actually that would apply to virtually every make and model; I’ve seen assholes driving everything I can think of.

  147. 147.

    Steeplejack

    February 22, 2018 at 10:10 am

    @NotMax:

    Mmm, Russian dressing . . . Might have to gear up (pants!) and hit the deli for lunch. I’m due for a pastrami on rye with provolone.

  148. 148.

    Leto

    February 22, 2018 at 10:14 am

    @raven: Right down the road from my workplace there’s someone selling their Cobra kit car. Looks really nice, appears to have been garage kept. That’s pretty much been my dream car since forever.

  149. 149.

    Sab

    February 22, 2018 at 10:23 am

    Call your Congresscritter.

    Mine is a lefty Democrat with 94% NRA rating.

    I called to tell him that I am an automatic D vote, but I have grandchildren in public schools who are at risk.

    Told his office I would never vote for a Republican, but I might stay home in November. Not true, but he doesn’t need to know that.

  150. 150.

    NotMax

    February 22, 2018 at 10:26 am

    @Steeplejack

    Nom, nom, nom.

    Although am a tangy deli mustard on pastrami purist myself.

  151. 151.

    bystander

    February 22, 2018 at 10:28 am

    @Kay:

    Mustangs aren’t asshole cars. They’re fun and light hearted and friendly :)

    They are when they’re driven by assholes. Simple, really. Examples of the Shit Midas Principle abound.

  152. 152.

    Steeplejack

    February 22, 2018 at 10:28 am

    @NotMax:

    I go either way. And you brought up Russian dressing!

  153. 153.

    danielx

    February 22, 2018 at 10:34 am

    Mmmmmm….Promised the daughter unit lunch at Fat Dan’s Chicago Deli today. Italian beef and greasy home fries to die for.

  154. 154.

    Another Scott

    February 22, 2018 at 10:37 am

    @Jeffro: +1

    “I was considering buying a bunch of Platinum Package tickets for CPAC, but your invited speakers are so offensive that I have decided instead to donate the money to Giffords.org and will urge my fellow True Conservatives to do likewise until CPAC stops being a tool of nutcases and the NRA…”

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  155. 155.

    NotMax

    February 22, 2018 at 10:39 am

    @Steeplejack

    Completely, totally, entirely understood. As for cheese, there is no wrong answer. Except casu marsu.

    Casu marzu is considered by Sardinian aficionados to be unsafe to eat when the maggots in the cheese have died.

    Personally lean towards muenster. Cheesy (in the best sense) but not assertive enough to clash with the spiciness of the pastrami.

  156. 156.

    Jeffro

    February 22, 2018 at 10:41 am

    @Another Scott: Love it!

  157. 157.

    bluefish

    February 22, 2018 at 10:43 am

    @Kay: Thank you. Right on!

  158. 158.

    glory b

    February 22, 2018 at 11:12 am

    Just heard on a radio news break that McMasters is on his way out. I didn’t hear the whole story though.

  159. 159.

    Chip Daniels

    February 22, 2018 at 11:14 am

    I know it shouldn’t but it still surprises me to see how fragile people like Gellar are, that at the slightest hint of resistance they shriek and flounce out of the room.

  160. 160.

    Sherparick

    February 22, 2018 at 11:22 am

    @Chyron HR: Its time to let our Asshole Freak Flag fly, and the rest of you should sit down and shut up about it is the Right Wing definition of “Free Speech.”

  161. 161.

    Jake the antisoshul soshulist

    February 22, 2018 at 11:26 am

    Who cares about Woodstock for wingnuts.

  162. 162.

    MoxieM

    February 22, 2018 at 12:12 pm

    @Immanentize: or Fibro flares. Yesterday was heavenly, but I honestly would prefer a little consistency.

  163. 163.

    Miss Bianca

    February 22, 2018 at 12:17 pm

    @Kay: Preach it. And I’m with you – I think Democrats need to make public education a THING. And they need to raise the points that you just did – a campaign of “making public schools SCHOOLS again – not combination fortress, prison, hospital psych ward, grocery store, day care center, etc – ” by RESTORING government funding and oversight to other programs and institutions meant to perform these other functions.

    Damn. Doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker.

  164. 164.

    JDM

    February 22, 2018 at 12:18 pm

    Is CPAC still a gun free zone as it has been in the past? Why?

  165. 165.

    catclub

    February 22, 2018 at 12:37 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    If seeing the girls cheering and celebrating didn’t give you goosebumps. Then you don’t have a heart. #USAvsCAN

    what if you are canadian?

  166. 166.

    low-tech cyclist

    February 22, 2018 at 12:56 pm

    Just for the record, National Harbor is NOT in DC. It’s technically in Prince George’s County, but really it’s the equivalent of an island. It’s fenced off from local roads – you can only get there off the Interstate. Parking’s absurdly expensive (even though free parking is abundant just outside the fence) and it’s poorly served by public transit.

    Hideous place. Appropriate location for CPAC.

  167. 167.

    J R in WV

    February 22, 2018 at 3:06 pm

    @NotMax:

    Had smoked ham and swiss on home-made bread with olives on the side kin my mouth when I read these comments! ;-)

  168. 168.

    Barney

    February 22, 2018 at 4:29 pm

    CPAC: Crooks Plundering America, Ceaselessly

  169. 169.

    John Goodrich

    February 22, 2018 at 4:31 pm

    Long time lurker, first time poster. Gorka’s two special ops bumper stickers explain a lot. Though he was employed at McDill and working with them, he wasn’t one of them. There’s no way I’d drive around with those stickers unless I had personally earned the green beret. I don’t understand how people take these pretenders seriously.

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