Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

A Senator Walker would be an insult to the state and the nation.

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

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

A dilettante blog from the great progressive state of West Virginia.

This really is a full service blog.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Come on, man.

A Senator Walker would also be an insult to reason, rationality, and decency.

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Reader Interactions

269Comments

  5. 5.

    Schlemazel

    Nice to see that they stuck an ad for a wingnut movie at the start of 60 Minutes. “Chappaquiddick – the true story” should be a treat for the whole family

  6. 6.

    Corner Stone

    Aaaaannnndd, my son just came back home from the park with friends. This is going to be fun!

  14. 14.

    Elizabelle

    First up: the spanking.

    It happened.

    He kept his undies on. Boxers or briefs, we don’t know.

    But she shut him up from talking about himself.

    You remind me of my daughter. Beautiful, smart, a woman to be reckoned with.

    Broaches going on The Apprentice. You’re gonna shock a lot of ppl.

  15. 15.

    Corner Stone

    @Baud: “Just some more porno, kiddo.”
    “Oh. There’s not another hooker in your room, is there?”
    “Maaayyyybbbeee…”

  16. 16.

    eric

    if only there was an institution that could have figured this all out before the election…..

  17. 17.

    Elizabelle

    Missed some, but Trump is perched on the bed, and she realizes what she’s gotten herself into.

    You put yourself into a bad situation …. you deserve this. (her self-talk)

    Says she does not find him physically attractive.

  19. 19.

    Elizabelle

    They screwed, they stayed in touch.

    He never asked me not to tell anyone. He called while she was around other ppl.

  21. 21.

    Elizabelle

    He was watching Shark Week when she arrived for meeting at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Made her watch whole episode. She declined more bed time.

  23. 23.

    gkoutnik

    Spotted dick was a delicacy – an eagerly-awaited, rarely-experienced – ‘pudding’ on special days in the 18th and 19th century British navy.

    And, of course, whatever it means today… tonight…

  24. 24.

    Elizabelle

    Only the one sexy time, in 2006. She never got the Celeb Appr gig, he never got more Stormytime.

    Now: a man is approaching Stormy and her baby daughter in a parking lot. Leave Trump alone. Be a shame if something happened to her mom.

  27. 27.

    dmsilev

    @Corner Stone: Remember when there was all that moaning and groaning (no, not that kind) about how Bill Clinton’s actions meant that parents would have to explain oral sex to their kids? A more innocent time.

  29. 29.

    Elizabelle

    M Cohen proferring the NDA. Signs, becuz story will stay buried and her daughter won’t hear the story.

    Delaware Corporation …

  33. 33.

    dmsilev

    @LAO: Let us pose this question: Would $130K convince _you_ to have sex with Donald Trump, even just once?

  35. 35.

    Elizabelle

    She believes … that she was doing the right thing; turned down large payday because not a kiss and tell; doesn’t want her daughter and family exposed to the story; also wants to protect her pron career.

    Says Anderson did not even buy her breakfast.

    Pressured to sign statements …

    Signed because she perceived no choice.

  36. 36.

    Corner Stone

    @LAO:

    Wait. She only had sex with him once and she got 130K? Decent pay day.

    She’s a chump. Melania is going to get millions for only one sexy time.

  42. 42.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @LAO: Not surprising to me; the interviews I’ve watched with Avenatti show a pretty calm, smart, and confident guy. It ain’t his first rodeo. He kinda reminds me of one of the best trial lawyers I ever met.

  47. 47.

    Corner Stone

    @Elizabelle:

    She’d recognize the guy who threatened her.

    So: no Cabinet post for him.

    It was Wilbur Ross. But he was wearing his SS armband at the time so it’s hard to distinguish now.

  49. 49.

    Elizabelle

    Her silence was purchased 11 days before the election, which may run afoul of campaign finance laws.

    Wendell Potter up as expert. It’s 130K in kind contrib from Cohen to the Trump campaign. If done on behalf of Trump, it’s coordinated in kind contrib.

  50. 50.

    Elizabelle

    Sounds like Cohen’s in more trouble than Trump, particularly if Trump did not pay him back.

  53. 53.

    zhena gogolia

    Okay, I can see this is the only way to watch this show — via BJ comments section.

    We just had a delicious beef-barley vegetable soup courtesy of Balloon Juice, now I’m getting Stormy Daniels highlights.

    I’ve chosen Barbara Stanwyck and Clifton Webb in Titanic, but I’ll be checking in.

  58. 58.

    Corner Stone

    @JPL:

    I read the transcript, and Cohen could be in trouble. sad

    I am incredibly sad to consider Cohen may be fucked.

  62. 62.

    B.B.A.

    @Elizabelle: Cohen never said he paid the $130k. He said he facilitated the payment. Which means he paid the ~$100 filing fee for the LLC and set up the bank wires, and the money actually came out of the campaign.

  65. 65.

    Elizabelle

    “Thuggish behavior, from people in power.”

    No! Where have we seen that before?

  69. 69.

    Mary G

    @JPL: ‘s right about what will set Twitler off:

    Standout part of this interview is Stormy Daniels saying she wasn’t attracted to Trump. He was incredibly proud of the “Best Sex I Ever Had” NY Post front page. That won’t sit well.— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 25, 2018

  70. 70.

    Cheryl Rofer

    There’s really nothing here that we haven’t heard already, except for the death threat in the parking lot.

    Although I don’t blame Daniels for wanting to set the record straight. There’s also been a lot more than what we heard.

  72. 72.

    Elizabelle

    Avenatti says Trump never signed the agreement, so Stormy is. not. reneging on the deal.

    Stormy will not say if she has text messages or video or pics.

  76. 76.

    Elizabelle

    Great photo of Mueller. He is looking at Michael Cohen and his Russian endeavors.

    Anderson: Could Mueller investigate the Stormy payment?

  77. 77.

    Fair Economist

    @Elizabelle: Rumor on the internet is that there were contemporaneous payments to Cohen from the Trump campaign adding up to $129,9xx, so the Trump campaign did reimburse him, and both Cohen and the campaign are guilty of money laundering on top of the other campaign finance issues.

  81. 81.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    One of the things I find hardest to understand is how so many Tяump voters spent eight years whining that the rest of the world was laughing at us because we had an ineffectual loser running the country, but now that the rest of the world really is laughing at us, they just wave it away like it means nothing. I don’t understand these people. Not. One. Bit.

  83. 83.

    Elizabelle

    What Stormy would say to Trump: “He knows I’m telling the truth.”

    And it’s a wrap.

  85. 85.

    Elizabelle

    Jemma Jamison thinks Stormy should have kept her trap shut. She’s in no win situation; might alienate half her fan base.

  87. 87.

    Ruckus

    @Corner Stone:
    You can’t have typed that with one word correct first time because you had to be laughing hard enough to almost fall out of your chair.
    You weren’t serious were you?

  88. 88.

    Elizabelle

    @JPL: Ta. I cannot type as fast as they can talk. And there was not much news, really, except a creep in a parking lot. And that the magazine spanking thing actually happened.

  89. 89.

    LAO

    What I don’t understand, and maybe someone can explain it to me, is how (1) you can claim there was no sexual relationship between Trump and Daniels but also (2) sue Daniels for 20 breaches of the NDA (when that breach is the claim of a sexual relationship). Both can’t be true.

  96. 96.

    Corner Stone

    @Elizabelle:

    Jemma Jamison thinks Stormy should have kept her trap shut. She’s in no win situation; might alienate half her fan base.

    Or maybe Stormy has pissed off half her fan base so badly they are going to hate fap to her videos at record levels.

  97. 97.

    Elizabelle

    Surfing channels. Antonio Banderas and Woody Harrelson movie; maybe AB is a boxer.

    BUT: was this scene filmed at the Mad Greek in Barstow (?), CA? (Or Baker, I forget…) Anyway, looks like it. Love that place.

  99. 99.

    eric

    @LAO: here is what i dont get….liquidated damages cannot be excessive or they would then be unenforceable, so given crowd sourcing, why would an NDA scare any woman? it isnt defamation if it is true, and given he is an adulterer, I dont see any actual damages….but that is just me

  100. 100.

    Mnemosyne

    @LAO:

    Because #1 is for plausible deniability to the general public, and #2 is to try and get her to STFU by suing her into oblivion.

    ETA: Also remember that conservatives think that anyone can file a lawsuit anywhere at anytime, so she MUST have sued him and this is just the countersuit to protect himself. Move along, nothing to see here.

  101. 101.

    Fair Economist

    @Elizabelle:

    Jemma Jamison thinks Stormy should have kept her trap shut. She’s in no win situation; might alienate half her fan base.

    She is *so* wrong. P0rnhub searches for Stormy Daniels are up since this started, and even more in red states than blue states.

  102. 102.

    Elizabelle

    It is the Mad Greek. Yea.

    Jesus just appeared in a parking lot. That has never happened when I visited. And it is Baker, CA. Halfway between Las Vegas and LA.

  103. 103.

    Quinerly

    @Corner Stone: I guess everyone has checked out his Wiki page by now. He is a racecar driver in his spare time… LaMans, etc. I’m surprised no one has brought up that he sued The Apprentice and Mark Burnett a few years back. Out of court undisclosed settlement.

  105. 105.

    The Dangerman

    Didn’t the Playboy Gal say she was told she looked like Ivanka? Donald, you incestuous, horny fucker.

    ETA: Oh Oh, used a bad word. I assume it wasn’t fucker.

  106. 106.

    JPL

    So I am now watching Call the Midwife, but it’s going to take awhile to forget about the dropping trou show.

  107. 107.

    donnah

    I thought Stormy came across very well. She said she hasn’t anything to gain by coming forward, and potentially a lot to lose, business-wise. I believe her story and I hope her lawyer is as sharp as he looks in the interview.

    Yes, I am biased against Trump. But even though I’m sure Stormy got good coaching, she certainly came across as someone who wanted to tell her side of the story and be on record. I hope she really rocks the boat and Mueller can add her info to the puzzle.

  111. 111.

    WaterGirl

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.): I was raised catholic and went to catholic grade school, and even though there are surely little catholic children praying for me as a “fallen away” catholic, I cannot bring myself to swear with these particular names included:

    Jesus. What a shit show. I’m not watching it, but, holy Christ, what a shit show.

    Still, I find it incredibly gratifying to read that particular turn of phrase! thank you so much

  112. 112.

    LAO

    @raven: I swear to FSM, I was asking a legit question. I try not to take inconsistent positions in a single defense but that’s just me.

  113. 113.

    Corner Stone

    Only Cole could be talking about the size of Stormy’s pupils…and I actually believe that is what he noticed.

  117. 117.

    Ruckus

    @eric:
    As others have said, it was to shut her (or anyone else) up. He can afford the lawyers, she (they) couldn’t.
    Opening up the NDA, in court would be bad for him, but because of the amounts, it would never get there. The only reason she is in the position she is in now is that, first he’s the president (and the asshole he is) and second the NDA isn’t signed and she now has a good lawyer.

  118. 118.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @Quinerly: I didn’t know he’d sued and settled with those parties. Based on what I’ve seen of his interviews, I suspect he’s not prone to filing suits that aren’t strong.

  119. 119.

    WaterGirl

    @Elizabelle: Surely she will gain as many new fans as she loses. Or, like Penzey’s, she may gain MORE new customers than she loses.

  121. 121.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    @p.a.: Have read nothing but good things re: Mr. Ianucci’s latest. Also, I am expecting great and wonderful things from Mr. Isaacs!

  123. 123.

    eric

    @Ruckus: my point is that even if it is signed and even they both signed it, the law does not allow excessive liquidated damages, even of the parties put it in the agreement. It is a fine line when drafting settlement agreements to set a “reasonable” damage amount. Anything more than one hundred thousand is almost certainly not enforceable. It can be a modest multiple of the money exchanging hands…. So, i dont think they are scared at all of any suit to enforce it. if they call her a liar, then she has a defamation counterclaim….good times.

  126. 126.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @LAO: I imagine the argument is that the NDA is to prevent her from talking about what never happened because even the (purportedly false!) claim carries reputational damage. Which given Cheeto Mussolin’s reputation is sort of laughable. But I suspect that’s the position w/r/t the inconsistent positions. Took me a while.
    @raven: Ahem.

  130. 130.

    LAO

    @Ruckus: We need an opinion from a civil litigator. Am I crazy for thinking that DT’s signature probably wasn’t necessary. Don’t lawyers sign things for clients all the time?

  137. 137.

    WaterGirl

    @Mary G: That is reminding me of some website that summarized the Sunday morning shows in a similar way.

    Does anyone know what website I am thinking of and whether it still exists? That was a great way to find out what happened on the morning shows without the risk of slitting your wrists by watching.

    Speaking of watching, i am about to watch 60 minutes, which I haven’t done in YEARS.

  138. 138.

    Ruckus

    @eric:
    I get what you are saying but you also have to look at drumpf and his lawyers.
    First, look how many top people are unwilling to work for him now.
    Second, this is how he’s worked his entire life. Fuck the little people, both literally and figuratively, and then not pay them. In this particular case it appears to have been that he did pay but dropped the ball on making her think that she wouldn’t be able to sue him and it would cost her everything if she tried. He apparently didn’t sign the agreement. I believe the term is null and void?

  139. 139.

    lamh36

    ‪I’m LMBAO at folks disappointed at CBS intverview w/ Stormy Daniels…what y’all really expected CBS to air the damn sex tape (or pics if they exist) LIVE on broadcast network air? CBS…the ones who got Janet Jackson banned over a nipple…CBS, the net for old people?‬

  140. 140.

    eric

    @Ruckus: likely no. His performance (payment) is enough even without the signature. It just has to be HIS performance. that is the catch

    ETA: of on his behalf. that is campaign issue though

  142. 142.

    WaterGirl

    @LAO: @Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: I gave up trying to understand conflicting defenses decades ago when I worked as an advocate for rape victims. At one trial, the defense was: he didn’t have sex with her, but if he did have sex with her, it was consensual.

    At the time, I could not believe there was no open laughter in the courtroom.

  143. 143.

    lgerard

    I think I am more happy about sez who Cohen getting nailed then any other aspect of this

    I am sure he will be invoking the Dinesh D’Souza defense

  146. 146.

    Ruckus

    @LAO:
    When I owned my corp, I had to sign everything myself. None of the lawyers could do that. Maybe they weren’t willing to sign a document giving them that power or CA law precludes that but no, I had to sign every scrap of paper.
    As everything drumpf does involves a corp of some sort, for the distance and supposed protection of that I’d bet it’s the same pretty much across the land, as the owner or CEO of the corp, he has to sign. Otherwise he’s signing away all his rights and control. You see him doing that?

  148. 148.

    Corner Stone

    @WaterGirl:

    That is reminding me of some website that summarized the Sunday morning shows in a similar way.

    Does anyone know what website I am thinking of and whether it still exists?

    I think you may be reminded of this site:
    The Bobblespeak Translations
    Looks like it has been dormant for a while. Culture of Truth used to also comment here, so who knows what happened?

  152. 152.

    Quinerly

    @Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: I read his Wiki page a couple of weeks back… Hit on it when I was fact checking that he was Jonathan Turley’s research assistant at GWU (Turley said Avenatti was brilliant) and the Rahm Emanuel connection. (plus, he worked on one of Biden’s Senate campaigns years ago) Avenatti honed his skills representing Don Henley and Glenn Fry and suing the NFL. Check out his slick website at http://www.avenatti.com.

  153. 153.

    Elizabelle

    I’d be up for another thread with cedar waxwing photos.

    Some of my favorite birds.

  154. 154.

    Pete Downunder

    @lamh36: lamh86 – I’m still waiting for an email.

    LAO – have not practiced in US for a while but if Dilt 45’s only obligation was to pay the $$ and that was done I don’t see need for his signature.

    ETA I see Eric got there first for LAO

  155. 155.

    E

    @LAO: Well people can contract for anything. Here, they made an agreement not to discuss a certain thing. Whether that thing they mutually agreed not to discuss ever actually happened or not may not be relevant to the enforceability of the contract. It’s not a great argument but you can imagine some kind of situation where Trump knew there were photos out there with him standing next to a porn star, smiling, and so he agreed to pay her six figures not to ever talk about it. Whether that story would be even remotely believable at this point is a good question. Certainly he can show damages to his sterling reputation and, hmm, I am thinking that under contract it may not be a defense that he is a public figure (as it would be in defamation). Pretty far out of my wheelhouse here though . . . .

  157. 157.

    Corner Stone

    @lamh36: It was a good interview. It will keep this issue top of mind for a while. And the best bonus may be that it triggers Trump into tweeting something nasty and hateful.

  158. 158.

    Ruckus

    @eric:
    I don’t get that. She is signing away her rights, in this case to talk and/or sue. And it doesn’t have to be a valid contract? Are you saying that by paying he’s agreed with the entire premise that whatever it is that she can’t talk about actually did happen and he’s agreeing with everything even if he didn’t sign?
    I sort of get that, but I had it in my quotes that unless a deposit and a signed copy of the quote was returned, that the quote was null and void and I could just return the check with no liability. Did I have to state it and enforce it that way or could I just have cashed the checks?

  159. 159.

    John Revolta

    @lamh36: This. WE didn’t hear anything new, but we’re a bunch of political junkies here.
    Also, Avenatti keeps saying that there’s a lot more still to come out. Could be bullshit but, I’m buying popcorn futures.

  160. 160.

    LAO

    @Corner Stone: Also, I think she presented the affair in a light most likely to humiliate Trump. He appeared to be weak and pathetic. I think it was a triumph for her.

  161. 161.

    eric

    @Ruckus: Presumably, she has agreed not to disclose their interactions (not sure how it is worded in the agreement). He is paying her to “not disclose.” The law has no problem with that. He can only sue her for his damages (the $130,000) . Anything more would have to be (1) actual damages for telling the truth (not so easy to prove or (2) a set or liquidated amount that must be reasonable in light of the amount paid.

    (I can wait for her to do a video acting out what happened. That would break pronhub’s servers.)

  164. 164.

    ewrunning

    @WaterGirl: Charlie Pierce used to do a post on Mondays he referred to as “What are the gobshites saying these days,” but he stopped some time last year.

  165. 165.

    Matt McIrvin

    @debbie: Apparently he doesn’t tweet about Stormy Daniels. She’s the only one of them he doesn’t tweet about. Maybe the only person in the world.

  167. 167.

    marcopolo

    So this thread is probably dead but I just read this interview with Cynthia Nixon & if I lived in NY state I can definitely see myself getting on her bandwagon and supporting her against Cuomo:

    I think that one of the most important things that we have to do in this campaign—and one of the most important things we have to do as a state—is address racial and economic injustice. The entire state has been negatively impacted by Andrew Cuomo’s massive budget cuts to corporations and the wealthy, but I think that some areas, some neighborhoods, have been impacted a lot more than others. They feel the punch much harder, because they’re more vulnerable. So that’s why I wanted to start in Brownsville. I wanted to talk to people. And when I’m speaking to people in low-income communities of color, there are a number of issues that keep popping up: protecting undocumented people, the subways, and a whole host of things. But by far the number-one issue that keeps coming up is the lack of affordable housing and the tyranny of landlords. Our government, particularly in New York State, is so owned by the real estate lobby. Our rent laws have been shredded.

    I think we only have to look at the election of Donald Trump to see that we are so clearly not living in a post-racial society. Maybe even less than we thought we were. I’ve been speaking out and doing fund raisers, for Planned Parenthood and NARAL, since I was 13. My mother was a breast cancer survivor, so I’ve been speaking out about the importance of early detection since about that time. Since I fell in love with my wife [in 2012 Nixon wed longtime partner Christine Marinoni, who recently stepped down from her role as special adviser for community partnerships in New York City’s Department of Education], I’ve been doing LGBTQ stuff, and before that, I did a lot AIDS stuff in the eighties and nineties. But my main kind of activism that I’ve been doing over the past 17 years, since my oldest kid entered kindergarten, is fighting for funding for the public schools. Our schools are very, very segregated, certainly in this city, and this state. Once you get involved in fighting for the system as a whole, you meet a lot of different kinds of people and you get to hear about their experiences. I’m an ardent Democrat, but I feel that the party’s increasing reliance on corporate money and the demands of wealthy political donors means they are more and more removed from working class people. If the Democratic Party is going to stand for what it says it’s going to stand for, we have to, as you say, not just call on African-Americans when it’s election time and then forget about them the rest of the time. They’re our core base. They’re our most loyal voters. But also, when things like Donald Trump happen—and frankly, when things like Andrew Cuomo and his massive disinvestment in our state happen—they’re the hardest hit. And they’re the first hit.

    A real Democrat doesn’t slash taxes on the wealthy. A real Democrat doesn’t slash corporate taxes. A real Democrat doesn’t give away billions of dollars in economic development money to his cronies and his donors with no strings attached. A real Democrat doesn’t lose us $25 billion in revenue in eight years—money our state desperately needs to put into our schools, our transit system, and our public housing. The fact of the matter is, our working class doesn’t look like the working class from 1955. Our working class is largely women and people of color—it’s people like social workers and daycare workers, people who run senior centers and after-school youth programs and people who work in schools. We need to fund those things. We need to fund those things because we need those services. We also need to protect the people who are doing those jobs, and make sure there’s $15 minimum wage—not just in the city, but in every part of the state.

  169. 169.

    Quinerly

    @LAO: Was it really an affair? I guess I’m old fashioned… is a one night fuck really an affair? ?

  173. 173.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Corner Stone: *That’s* what it was. My brain was going around and around and getting nowhere on that. Didn’t the author of that also comment here from time to time?

  182. 182.

    efgoldman

    @Corner Stone:

    Culture of Truth did comment here once in a while

    Wasn’t it a Romneybot/McWalnuts troll in the “unlimited corporate ca$h” mode?

  183. 183.

    jl

    Not watching. I’m wallowing in my new supersized butterfly puddle out here on the left cost.

  184. 184.

    Millard Filmore

    @WaterGirl:

    That is reminding me of some website that summarized the Sunday morning shows

    CrooksAndLiars.com used to, and maybe still does, have a Sunday Morning BobbleHead review. Not a parody but it might be what you saw.

  185. 185.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    I don’t understand these people.

    The key is ‘truthiness’. Like a lot of Colbert’s jokes, there was wisdom in it. This is built into humans. It’s way easier to believe what feels true than what the facts tell you is true. In psychology, the term is ‘rationalization.’ The conservative movement is built on truthiness, and has been for years. Evangelical Christianity is built on it. They know what the world is like because their dogma tells them what it must be like, and facts don’t matter. It’s not hard to find someone willing to lie to you anyway.

    In this case, Obama was black, polite, and believed in piece. The way they view the world, it is obvious to them that the rest of the world has contempt for him and evil exploits him. Trump is white, specifically elected to refute the black man, and is a mean, bullying shit. Their dogma says bad guys will cower and the rest of the world will be intimidated into respecting him, and thus America.

    They do not care about the facts. They KNOW what is true. Facts that don’t match bounce off, ignored. Often you’ll see this because they change the subject. They don’t have a counterargument, but if they can get away with never acknowledging your facts, it’s easier to wipe them out of their memory.

  186. 186.

    Quinerly

    @Gin & Tonic: Thank you. I was half way joking but I’m sick of it being called an “affair.” Yes, it certainly is cheating. Call it that. Call it adultery. Call it a one night stand with a porn star. In related news, I encourage everyone to check out Stormy’s Wiki page. I was impressed. ?

  187. 187.

    Gin & Tonic

    @efgoldman: No, s/he did some “translations” of the Sunday morning news shows. Always referred to David Gregory as “Dancin’ Dave.”

  190. 190.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Quinerly:
    We have reached peak Balloon Juice, an argument about whether the word ‘affair’ is appropriate to marital infidelity based on whether it implies a multiple rather than single incident duration.

    Okay, no, it will only be peak Balloon Juice if the whole thread gets wrapped up in the argument and profanity starts to fly.

  191. 191.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Quinerly:

    I was impressed. ?

    Don’t tell me, let me guess. You were impressed by how she was President of her 4-H Club in high school?

  195. 195.

    efgoldman

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    it will only be peak Balloon Juice if the whole thread gets wrapped up in the argument and profanity starts to fly.

    You’re wrong.
    Go fuck yourself.

  196. 196.

    Quinerly

    @John Revolta: For FOUR HOURS.
    I spit my beer out when I heard how a 60 year old Trump went for 4 hours with a porn star…..

    watching Shark Week

  198. 198.

    raven

    In the late 1960s, the exploding popularity of underground FM radio allowed for the broadcast of songs of a length that had been previously unimaginable in rock (and, for the most part, folk) music. Arlo Guthrie’s 18-minute “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” (more popularly known simply as “Alice’s Restaurant”) may have been the most renowned of these, following a loose talking folk-blues format to relay an amusing shaggy dog of a tale. Somewhat less remembered, though likewise a big FM favorite in its time, is Jaime Brockett’s 13-minute “Legend of the U.S.S. Titanic.” Like “Alice’s Restaurant,” it too followed a talking folk-blues format, and also threw in knowing countercultural references, albeit with a mania that seemed like Brockett was going to jump right off the grooves and into a straitjacket. Unlike Guthrie, however, Brockett was unable to build upon his marathon monologue to sustain a long-running career as a recording artist. Indeed, “Legend of the U.S.S. Titanic” wasn’t even too typical of his work, the rest of his debut album leaning toward introspective folk ballads. It was “Legend of the U.S.S. Titanic,” however, that most listeners bought the LP for, and which would come to overshadow not only the rest of the album, but Brockett’s entire career.

  207. 207.

    mai naem mobile

    I watched almost all of it. Didn’t hear much new except for a few details about the sexytime with Dolt. Didn’t really need to know that. I am so completely impressed by Avennatti. Not surprised he’s got a Rahm Emanuel connection. Ive always said about Rahm that he may be an asshole but at least he’s our asshole. I wouldn’t like to face him if he was on the other side.

  220. 220.

    efgoldman

    @Ruckus:

    The little blue pill will do that.

    For shark week?
    Discovery used to hang a huge inflatable shark on their building to promote shark week. Maybe that’s how they got it so big.

  222. 222.

    efgoldman

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    if the effects last longer than that, call your medical professional.

    Nobody ever seems to have that affliction on the cable emergency room shows mrs efg watches from time to time.

  223. 223.

    Quinerly

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: The Google can be your friend.

    It’s a classic.

    Bonus… I do seem to recall that a particular former Ivory Snow star did run for president.

    I don’t even know if we are on topic anymore. Open Thread? ?

  227. 227.

    cmorenc

    @dmsilev:

    @LAO: Let us pose this question: Would $130K convince _you_ to have sex with Donald Trump, even just once?

    Nor would I for 10x that amount, but OTOH I am a married heterosexual guy. I’ll let each women answer for herself, though I doubt there are many takers here on BJ.

  228. 228.

    James E. Powell

    @raven:

    My friends and I used to sing along with it, kind of acting it out. You gotta let it out Captain!

  229. 229.

    Quinerly

    @cmorenc: I seriously doubt I would even watch an hour of Shark Week with Trump for $130,000….That’s what we really should be discussing.

  230. 230.

    Gin & Tonic

    Poking around the Interwebs after my last comment, I find that somebody wrote his PhD dissertation, in music, at Duke, on Miles’ Tribute to Jack Johnson.

    Many conversations have been had here about electric guitar players. Anybody who doesn’t recognize John McLaughlin as one of the all-time masters of the instrument isn’t playing with a full deck, IMO.

  234. 234.

    Sab

    @efgoldman: I used to have an Ivory Snow box with Marilyn Chambers on it. She looked very sweet holding the baby. I kept it for a few years. I’d buy new soap and refill the old box. Then I got a temp job out of town, my roommate used up all the soap and threw the box away. Grrr. Telling her ahead of time wouldn’t have helped. That roommate had attitudes. I should have taken the box with me.

  238. 238.

    Ohio Mom

    @Sab: Some unsolicited advice: is your granddaughter signed up with her county’s board of developmental disabilities? Also, have her parents talked to an elder care attorney to make sure that their assets are sheltered to protect granddaughter’s eligibility for Medicaid and SSI?

    It is never too soon to do these things. I wish I could go into greater depth but it is my bedtime. Just wanted to catch you since I see you are on this thread.

    Nighty-night all!

  239. 239.

    rikyrah

    @Mary G:
    I read that, got sad, and then pissed at the NRA muthaphuckas who snarled that without the shooter, no one would know who these kids are. Azzhole, THAT IS HOW THEY WISH THEIR LIVES WERE ??

  241. 241.

    MomSense

    Glad I missed it. My kid sent me a recording of his band which I listened to as I walked the beach and watched the sunset. There were hundreds of people at the beach and when the sun went out of view we all let out a spontaneous cheer. It was a sweet, human moment.

    I just hope we all don’t have to suffer through dick pics or sex tapes. Although if I hear he has a nether comb over, that may tempt me to sneak a peek.

  243. 243.

    ewrunning

    @Gin & Tonic: That was Charlie Pierce, I think. When Gregory was running Meet the Press, Charlie invariably referred to it as “Dancin’ Dave’s Disco Dance Party.”

  244. 244.

    Mnemosyne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    They met for sex more than once, though. The fact that “Shark Week” intervened doesn’t mean the intention wasn’t there.

    (And I don’t mean “Shark Week” metaphorically, though apparently some women use it that way now.)

  245. 245.

    Sab

    @Ohio Mom: Thank you for following us. I liked you years before this hit our fan.

    Yes she is signed up with the county. No about trust stuff because she and I don’t have enough assets yet to bother.

  246. 246.

    NotMax

    @efgoldman

    Enough jackals here ought to remember the joke that it is sufficient to cut to the punchline.

    “I’ve talked it over with my sister and we give you $5000 and a half interest in the business.”

  247. 247.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Mnemosyne: I didn’t watch it. Does what happened constitute an affair? I am not making an argument. I honestly wonder what people’s opinions are. To me, an affair implies at least a few months and multiple sexual encounters. YMMV.

  250. 250.

    Mnemosyne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Speaking strictly in theory, to me a one-night stand is something that happens once and then you never see the person again. If it’s an affair, you plan to see the person more than once. You could probably call it a “short” or “abortive” affair since they only managed to have sex once, but I think the intention was there.

  252. 252.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Mnemosyne: I go with one night stand, then fling, then affair. OTOH, I have never done any of the above when I was in a committed relationship, let alone a marriage.

  253. 253.

    Mnemosyne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I just got done watching “60 Minutes” (G wanted to see it) and it sounds like, of those options, this was more “fling” than “affair.” They had sex once, they saw each other a few times, he would call her to keep in touch and claim he was still trying to get her a slot on “The Apprentice,” but it was never a regular thing.

  254. 254.

    StringOnAStick

    He called her supposedly to “keep in touch” but you just know he did it just to enjoy his feelings of conquest over her, bragging to himself that he nailed a prin star. Yuck.

  256. 256.

    smintheus

    I think we on the left shouldn’t invest any of our credibility in backing Daniels’ evolving stories. I have no faith in anybody’s ability to figure out where her facts end and half-truths or self-serving lies begin with the story she’s spinning now. The business about the unspecified guy threatening her in a parking lot seems especially dubious; it practically screams calculated lie, intended apparently to justify her earlier denials that the affair occurred. She’s a grifter who now pretty clearly sees a big payday for herself by backing out of her non-disclosure agreement.

    There are less obviously shady characters who allege that they had affairs with Trump. I think there’s only so much (little) political advantage to banging on about Trump’s affairs, even less if the central figure is an admitted liar like Daniels. Trump’s supporters aren’t going to abandon him because he slept with a porn actress. They knew about Melania’s background and still voted for him.

  257. 257.

    Sab

    @Quinerly: zzYeah. Kind of like I felt at the time.

    Of course, she is still practicing law and I don’t have to, so there is some justice in the world.

  260. 260.

    Mnemosyne

    @smintheus:

    The issue isn’t the affair. The issue is whether or not the payoff was paid for with campaign funds. As was mentioned in the “60 Minutes” piece, that’s exactly what John Edwards was prosecuted for doing.

  264. 264.

    Tehanu

    @Gin & Tonic:
    I just bought a John McLaughlin CD with bits and pieces from his whole solo career as well as a couple of cuts from the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Normally I don’t even like jazz but he is something special. Met him a couple of times back in the 1970s and you could not ask for a nicer, kinder person to play music that would ream out your brain and return it to you with deeper perception than you’d ever experienced. Lovely guy it was, and is, a privilege to hear.

  266. 266.

    Dmbeaster

    @LAO: For this type of agreement, a signature is not mandatory to create the agreement. The lack of a signature is significant evidence of a lack of an agreement (since it was set up for signature, which implies the parties expected a signature to create an agreement), but paying the money is significant evidence that there was an agreement anyway. Put another way, although the parties expected a signed contract, they mary have gone forward with the agreement without bothering to sign it. Except Cohen undercut that by claiming he paid it, and allegedly DT knew nothing about it. That is powerful evidence there was no agreement. No signature and no knowledge means DT did not agree to it.

    Agents sign contracts for principals all the time, and its legal to create a contract. Its a question of what authority the principal gave to the agent to bind the principal. But a lawyer typically does not have that authority for a settlement agreement, and clearly cannot have that authority if the client does not know about it.

    In this case, Cohen was signing for an entity, but how that entity is a party to the agreement makes no sense. The entire agreement is oddball by using fake names and a mystery entity for making the payment and receiving the benefit.

    The $1,000,000 penalty is laughably unenforceable. Cohen is a clown when you examine all of the stupid stuff in his document. His rash and slap-dash remarks have since screwed it up completely. Its a very interesting lawsuit by Daniels.

  269. 269.

    smintheus

    @Mnemosyne: I agree. There’s no doubt that Trump paid her off, which raises all kinds of political and legal issues for him. What he actually did with Daniels is probably not capable of proof and she is not particularly credible. There’s no gain from investing in her narrative; Trump and his lawyer minion have already admitted to what can hurt them.

    @Joe Miller: Heaven forbid that somebody might post something you don’t agree with.

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