Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Reality always gets a vote in the end.

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

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

When I was faster i was always behind.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

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

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

In after Baud. Damn.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

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

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

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

You would normally have to try pretty hard to self-incriminate this badly.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Late-Night “Sports Diplomacy” Open Thread: The Unearned Entitlement of the Ignorant Kleptorati

Late-Night “Sports Diplomacy” Open Thread: The Unearned Entitlement of the Ignorant Kleptorati

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Good for Mr. Kenworthy, especially since he *is* now taking flak from some of the dumbest people on the internet. Backstory:

At least she didn’t manage to spark an international incident (so far)…



And it seems like Ivana or one of the nannies taught her some manners…


.

Thing is, Darling Daughter doesn’t see any reason why she can’t go toe-to-toe with the diplomatic and security professionals, because she’s the celebrity daughter of a rich man with power, so how hard could any job be for her? After all, Daddy’s majestic aura gives even his mere employees unexpected competencies…

Reader Interactions

34Comments

  2. 2.

    Viva BrisVegas

    A consistent thing with Trump headlines is many are so absurd they seem false

    We are through the Looking Glass people.

  3. 3.

    Citizen Alan

    Before shitgibbon leaves office, I expect him to go full-on Caligula and a point or horse or something like that to a cabinet-level position.

  4. 4.

    Aleta

    Every word I heard her speak for the cameras was about herself, even when the subject was the athletes. Every photo I saw was a product placement of herself.

    And what right do any of them have to be there when they support policies that deny equal rights to the athletes representing the US? If I recall, even her very special branded unoriginal child care proposal excluded gay and trans couples and singles.

  5. 5.

    Darkrose

    I love Adam Rippon, but I want Gus Kensworthy to be my BFF. He has absolutely zero fucks to give, and all the shade to throw, and it’s beautiful.

  6. 6.

    Aleta

    Trump wants to name his personal pilot as head of the Federal Aviation Administration, which has a budget in the billions

    It’s not absurd; it’s not his friends (he has none). It’s everyone who knows about something illegal, and anyone who’s been close enough to damage him. Also people he expects will use their power to get him out of trouble.

    Within weeks of leaving his job as director of Oval Office operations, (Trump’s former bodyguard Keith) Schiller’s private security firm, KS Global Group, began collecting $15,000 a month for “security services” from the Republican National Committee.

    According to an RNC official, Schiller is being paid for security consulting on the site selection process for the 2020 Republican National Convention. Schiller’s fee comes out of the RNC’s convention fund, not its campaign fund, the official noted.

    Since October, the RNC has paid Schiller’s firm a total of $75,000, according to its latest disclosure reports. The most recent payment was on Jan. 31. If the RNC continues paying Schiller at this rate until the 2020 Republican National Convention, his total fees will likely be north of $500,000.

    Individual contributors can give $101,700 per year to the RNC’s convention account (a lightly regulated funding stream). The same rules apply to the Democratic National Committee’s convention fund.

    Schiller has remained largely out of sight since leaving the Trump administration — with one notable exception. In early November, Schiller testified before the House Intelligence Committee, where he denied allegations contained in the infamous Steele dossier.

  8. 8.

    Brachiator

    @Citizen Alan:

    Before shitgibbon leaves office, I expect him to go full-on Caligula and a point or horse or something like that to a cabinet-level position.

    You mean like naming his golf cart to be Secretary of Transportation?

  10. 10.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    of a rich man with power

    there is no evidence that he’s rich. It’s more likely that he’s deeply in debt.

  11. 11.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Aleta: Wow. So it costs around $500,000 for one person to select a location for the next convention? Isn’t Trump able to bribe his witnesses without using RNC funds? Not normal.

  16. 16.

    Anne Laurie

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    there is no evidence that he’s rich. It’s more likely that he’s deeply in debt.

    Of course, but does Ivanka know that? Melania, okay — I suspect ‘don’t spend money in a way that raises flags about his credit-worthiness’ is in her pre-nup. But as far as all reports go, Ivanka’s idea of finance is that of a spoiled ten-year-old; Daddy has a money tree, and the only barrier to getting everything you want is charming/persuading the old man into plucking some more bills for you. Look at how much credit-card debt she & her husband are reported to be paying interest on; neither one of them understands that there are limits.

  17. 17.

    Anne Laurie

    @RobNYNY:

    Why is this announcement coming from Treasury and not State? Where is Rex Tillerson?

    Mnuchin’s trophy wife Louise Linton parties with Ivanka. Tillerson’s wife, I strongly suspect, Does Not.

  18. 18.

    Adria McDowell

    A. This dummy is really trying too damn hard. She legit thinks she can be president one day.

    B. She looks like she’s added another layer of plastic to her face. Good for her, I guess.

    C. General Kelly is just kissing ass to keep his job. Guarantee he will do nothing about Jarvanka’s lack of clearance despite all the posturing.

    D. Gus Kenworthy is my new fave.

  19. 19.

    Magda in Black

    Sometimes I wonder if it wouldnt be better to be uninformed and oblivious. Sometimes I have second thoughts about having taken the red pill.
    These people exhaust me. My disgust-o-meter is constantly red-lining.
    How does one recharge?

  20. 20.

    Citizen Alan

    It is pointless and depressing to play the “just imagine if” game again, but I would remind everyone that Chelsea Clinton has a doctorate in international relations and could never get away with doing something like this without the GOP going batshit crazy. It would be an impeachable offense if president Hillary Clinton had allowed her daughter to do one tenth of what Sitgibbon’s daughter-wife has gotten away with.

  21. 21.

    Kay

    You must LOVE the Trumps. It’s not enough they get jobs they haven’t earned. They won’t go away until they get what they deserve from you, what they are OWED, your loyalty and affection.

    Having once worked in a place where nepotism was unchecked, what it ends up feeling like is an imposition. You feel like the idiot parents who foisted their grown kids on you are imposing, like they know it’s an impossible situation for employees who are not relatives and they know that and they don’t care. The kids don’t care, either. Ivanka isn’t uncomfortable with this- as far as she’s concerned the fact that it makes the rest of us look like we live in a banana republic is our problem. It’s going great for her.

    I also think it’s weird that Trump constantly lavishing unearned praise on his children is characterized as evidence of how devoted he is to them. Giving your kids jobs they didn’t earn and the over the top public promotion of them shouldn’t be portrayed as some universally accepted metric of parental affection. I don’t know what it is but there are PLENTY of people who love their kids and don’t do this. My daughter has a career. She doesn’t measure our affection for her by how loudly we promote her greatness at her career or give her employment opportunities. It’s not an exchange or a transaction. The upside of that for her is if she sucks or fails at her job she still has our affection, because it wasn’t a transaction. We’re not her boss. We don’t do performance reviews. It’s a different relationship altogether.

  22. 22.

    Anne Laurie

    @Magda in Black:

    How does one recharge?

    For me, at least, having engrossing hobbies that have nothing to do with politics is a great help. Obsessing over finding the perfect patchwork pattern for a great fabric find, or tracking down the perfect accessory to highlight one’s collection, is energy-replenishing (even when I never quite get around to *making* the quilt once I’ve acquired the right materials). Or reading not-current books; at the moment, bios of Queen Victoria’s daughters & Shirley Jackson, plus all the Nina Bawden I can track down — none of it “non-political” but they give me perspective.

  23. 23.

    randy khan

    I recall Trump talking, maybe a year ago, about how he thought the FAA ought to be led by someone who was a pilot. I didn’t imagine he meant *his* pilot.

  24. 24.

    randy khan

    @RobNYNY:

    Why is this announcement coming from Treasury and not State? Where is Rex Tillerson?

    My guess is that the sanctions are financial in nature, and Treasury is in charge of such things.

  25. 25.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Trump is running out of people to appoint, partly because competent people won’t work for him, and partly because of the enormous amount of personal loyalty he demands. His pilot has demonstrated the personal loyalty, and Trump has no idea what it takes to run the FAA. That said, at least a pilot has to learn the FAA rules for what he does. His “science advisor” is a 31-year-old political science major.

  26. 26.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: You’re right — it is a different kind of relationship altogether. As a narcissist, Trump doles out parental approval when he thinks his children reflect well on him. If Ivanka gained 75 pounds or dumped Jared for a black guy, Trump would change his tune. This is probably why Don Jr. sounds so desperate to make the Trump-Russia investigation go away — his stupid email comments are the most glaring example of collusion to date, something Trump Sr. probably berates him for on the regular.

  27. 27.

    Bookeater (formerly JosieJ)

    @Brachiator:

    You mean like naming his golf cart to be Secretary of Transportation?

    Honestly, it might be a better choice than Chao—at least it’d do no harm.

  28. 28.

    NorthLeft12

    Okay, hold it a minute…..did Ivanka actually walk in with the athletes and officials in the closing ceremonies?

    I don’t watch the ceremonies, and did not read anything in any other media about her walking in with them, so did it actually happen, or did she just represent the US delegation/administration?
    I would be far more pissed about walking in with people who had sacrificed and worked hard a number of years to get here, rather than just take a seat in the stadium to watch.
    Of course, this is the way the rich and powerful always operate; let the peons do all the grunt work, then claim all the glory because they invested some money, served as a figurehead, or usually, just because they can.

  30. 30.

    prostratedragon

    Asked if she had the appropriate security clearance, Mnuchin said, “She has the appropriate access to brief the president.”

    We can certainly see that Mnuchin is no diplomat.

  31. 31.

    John

    @Citizen Alan:

    Before shitgibbon leaves office, I expect him to go full-on Caligula and a point or horse or something like that to a cabinet-level position.

    He’s half way there. Most of his cabinet members are horse’s asses.

  33. 33.

    brettvk

    @Ian G.: This is an excellent point – and I’d bet all of my pitiful annual AGI that Ivanka’s never heard of either woman.

  34. 34.

    LeeM

    @NorthLeft12: I don’t remember her or Jared being there, but Pence and Mother were. It’s such an insult to the competitors who earned the right to wear the uniforms of Team USA – through blood, sweat and tears – rather than being born into a privileged family.

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